The ‘credibility paradox’ in China’s science communication: Views from scientific practitioners

In contrast to increasing debates on China’s rising status as a global scientific power, issues of China’s science communication remain under-explored. Based on 21 in-depth interviews in three cities, this article examines Chinese scientists’ accounts of the entangled web of influence which conditions the process of how scientific knowledge achieves (or fails to achieve) its civic authority. A main finding of this study is a ‘credibility paradox’ as a result of the over-politicisation of science and science communication in China. Respondents report that an absence of visible institutional endorsements renders them more public credibility and better communication outcomes. Thus, instead of exploiting formal channels of science communication, scientists interviewed were more keen to act as ‘informal risk communicators’ in grassroots and private events. Chinese scientists’ perspectives on how to earn public support of their research sheds light on the nature and impact of a ‘civic epistemology’ in an authoritarian state

Cosmopolitan Risk Community in a Bowl: A Case Study of China’s Good Food Movement

Ulrich Beck fundamentally transformed our way of thinking about human interdependence through his three core theses on risk, individualisation and cosmopolitanisation. However, two commonly observed deficiencies in Beck’s grand theory were its Eurocentric orientation and a lack of empirical grounding. Based on 5 focus groups and 14 interviews with participants of the emerging Clean Food Movement in China, this paper extends the Beckian discussion outside Europe. Through examining how individuals understand both ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ risks associated with contemporary food consumption, this paper demonstrates that in the face of unpredictable and incalculable harms, risks are not seen as a ‘thing’, but are translated into ‘causal relations’. Subsequently, for Chinese stakeholders, the best way to safeguard food risks is to enact more visible and functioning interdependent relations in the food system. This in turn has given rise to new forms of communities which cut across conventional geographic, socio-economic and political boundaries. The paper deepens a Beckian theorisation in two ways. First, it demonstrates that the ‘enabling’ effect of risk towards a cosmopolitan society is not limited to obvious global crises, such as climate catastrophes and financial meltdown. In fact, the mundane yet intimate concern of putting ‘good’ food in one’s dinner bowl already presses actors to form new social solidarities that are cosmopolitan in nature. Second, it goes beyond Beck’s assertion that the risk society has culminated in a cosmopolitan moment, and explores how a performative cosmopolitan community reshapes the ‘relations of definition’ to mitigate risks on the ground

‘Aerial Silk Roads’: Airport Infrastructures in China's Belt and Road Initiative

10.1111/dech.12606Development and Change5141123-114

HIV infection and increased food insecurity are associated with adverse body composition changes among pregnant and lactating Kenyan women

Background/objectivesBody composition changes markedly during reproduction. In sub-Saharan Africa, impacts of HIV infection on body composition across pregnancy and lactation in the context of Option B+ antiretroviral therapy are unknown. Therefore, we sought to evaluate the role of HIV infection on body composition during pregnancy and lactation among Kenyan women.Subjects/methodsA cohort of pregnant women (n = 333; 50.5% HIV+, receiving ART) were enrolled at seven clinics in western Kenya. Two prenatal (mean ± SD: 23.6 ± 4.4 and 33.4 ± 2.0 weeks gestation) and three postpartum (6, 14, and 36 weeks) measurements included: individual-level food insecurity, height, weight, fat mass (FM), and fat-free mass (FFM) by bioimpedance analysis (BIA), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and triceps skinfold (TSF), allowing for AMA (arm muscle area) and AFA (arm fat area) derivation. Multivariable longitudinal regression models were used to relate HIV to body composition changes.ResultsIn longitudinal models, HIV-infected women had lower weight (ß = -3.0 kg, p = 0.003), fat mass (ß = -1.5 kg, p = 0.02), fat-free mass (ß = -1.5 kg, p = 0.01), TSF (ß = -2.6 mm, p < 0.001), AFA (ß = -3.9 cm3, p < 0.001), and MUAC (ß = -1.0 cm, p = 0.001), but not AMA (p = 0.34), across all observations. Food insecurity was inversely associated with AMA and MUAC postpartum (AMA ß-range = -0.47 to -0.92 cm3; MUAC ß-range = -0.09 to -0.15 cm, all p < 0.05).ConclusionsHIV infection was associated with lower weight, fat mass, fat-free mass, TSF, AFA, and MUAC values during pregnancy and lactation, while food insecurity was intermittently associated with body composition. This suggests that pregnant and lactating women living with HIV and food insecurity could benefit from nutritional support

Quantitative Proteomics Analysis Reveals Novel Insights into Mechanisms of Action of Long Noncoding RNA Hox Transcript Antisense Intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) in HeLa Cells

Long noncoding RNAs (IncRNAs), which have emerged in recent years as a new and crucial layer of gene regulators, regulate various biological processes such as carcinogenesis and metastasis. HOTAIR (Hox transcript antisense intergenic RNA), a lncRNA overexpressed in most human cancers, has been shown to be an oncogenic lncRNA. Here, we explored the role of HOTAIR in HeLa cells and searched for proteins regulated by HOTAIR. To understand the mechanism of action of HOTAIR from a systems perspective, we employed a quantitative proteomic strategy to systematically identify potential targets of HOTAIR. The expression of 170 proteins was significantly dys-regulated after inhibition of HOTAIR, implying that they could be potential targets of HOTAIR. Analysis of this data at the systems level revealed major changes in proteins involved in diverse cellular components, including the cytoskeleton and the respiratory chain. Further functional studies on vimentin (VIM), a key protein involved in the cytoskeleton, revealed that HOTAIR exerts its effects on migration and invasion of HeLa cells, at least in part, through the regulation of VIM expression. Inhibition of HOTAIR leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and ultrastructural alterations, suggesting a novel role of HOTAIR in maintaining mitochondrial function in cancer cells. Our results provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying the function of HOTAIR in cancer cells. We expect that the methods used in this study will become an integral part of functional studies of IncRNAs

Impacts of the Three Gorges Dam on microbial structure and potential function

The Three Gorges Dam has significantly altered ecological and environmental conditions within the reservoir region, but how these changes affect bacterioplankton structure and function is unknown. Here, three widely accepted metagenomic tools were employed to study the impact of damming on the bacterioplankton community in the Xiangxi River. Our results indicated that bacterioplankton communities were both taxonomically and functionally different between backwater and riverine sites, which represent communities with and without direct dam effects, respectively. There were many more nitrogen cycling Betaproteobacteria (e.g., Limnohabitans), and a higher abundance of functional genes and KEGG orthology (KO) groups involved in nitrogen cycling in the riverine sites, suggesting a higher level of bacterial activity involved in generating more nitrogenous nutrients for the growth of phytoplankton. Additionally, the KO categories involved in carbon and sulfur metabolism, as well as most of the detected functional genes also showed clear backwater and riverine patterns. As expected, these diversity patterns all significantly correlated with environmental characteristics, confirming that the bacterioplankton communities in the Xiangxi River were really affected by environmental changes from the Three Gorges Dam. This study provides a first comparative metagenomic insight for evaluating the impacts of the large dam on microbial function