China’s Shifting Policies towards Sustainability: A Low-carbon Economy and Environmental Protection

China is currently not only the most populous country on earth, but also the world's largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter. As China's population growth continues contributing to the overall global population increase, the country remains a significant player in the global problems related to climate change. The Chinese government, however, has recognized that a low-carbon economy is in the country's long-term economic and social interests and this is now a key part of its national development strategy. This paper examines the evolution of policies for sustainability in China and explores their compositions, functions and operational mechanisms. Some emerging features and trends in China's development model are examined, arguing that they represent a clear shift towards sustainability. Further problems and challenges associated with this change and how they impact on China's policies and strategies are also discussed

Risk analysis of GM crop technology in China: modeling and governance

This paper aims at analyzing risks management of genetically modified (GM) crop technology in China, including risk classification, risk generating mechanisms and its governance. Firstly, we seek to create a three-dimensional model capable of assessing the risks of GM crop technologies. Based on this model, the risks of GM crop technologies can be divided into eight types, depending on the high or low risks levels associated with social hazard, technology uncertainty and economic harm. China’s GM technology is currently located in the high risk zone of thismodel, particularly in themarket of GMsoybean. In order to tackle this risk, the article introduces the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a useful tool to explore its risk assessment and governance. Lastly, we suggest the Chinese government needs to construct an efficient governancemechanismwhich should be able to balance actors’ interests and reduce or avoid risks induced by GM crop technologies

Clean development mechanism in China: Regional distribution and prospects

Late in 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol came to an end, it was further extended to December 2020. This was based on the strong realisation that the clean development mechanism (CDM) projects have been playing an important role globally, particularly in promoting clean development in China. Based on a review of international and domestic sources, the paper analyses the progress in the development of CDM projects both globally and in China.China has attracted the lion share of CDM investment in terms of projects located in this country and the global annual certified emission reductions under this mechanism. Due to the relative easiness of implementation, the main area of investment is new and renewable energy. China's fast economic development, open door investment policy, political stability, high educational and technological standards and reliable infrastructure are all encouraging the interest of foreign investors seeking to reduce their domestic carbon footprint. In order to facilitate the location of CDM projects, the Chinese government formulated a series of policies and regulations as well as established national coordinating groups for climate change, CDM Designated National Authorities and projects auditing boards, which are responsible for projects application, auditing and management.There are however large differences in the regional distribution of Chinese CDM projects. Provinces, such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Hunan and Gansu (located in central and western China) are attracting more projects because of their rich hydro and wind resources while there are very few projects in the eastern already developed parts of the country. This trend is consistent with the CDM's main goal to assist less developed regions to achieve a more sustainable development

High-dimensional quantile mediation analysis with application to a birth cohort study of mother-newborn pairs

MOTIVATION: There has been substantial recent interest in developing methodology for high-dimensional mediation analysis. Yet, the majority of mediation statistical methods lean heavily on mean regression, which limits their ability to fully capture the complex mediating effects across the outcome distribution. To bridge this gap, we propose a novel approach for selecting and testing mediators throughout the full range of the outcome distribution spectrum. RESULTS: The proposed high-dimensional quantile mediation model provides a comprehensive insight into how potential mediators impact outcomes via their mediation pathways. This method\u27s efficacy is demonstrated through extensive simulations. The study presents a real-world data application examining the mediating effects of DNA methylation on the relationship between maternal smoking and offspring birthweight. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Our method offers a publicly available and user-friendly function qHIMA(), which can be accessed through the R package HIMA at https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=HIMA

Risk analysis of GM crop technology in China: modeling and governance

This paper aims at analyzing risks management of genetically modified (GM) crop technology in China, including risk classification, risk generating mechanisms and its governance. Firstly, we seek to create a three-dimensional model capable of assessing the risks of GM crop technologies. Based on this model, the risks of GM crop technologies can be divided into eight types, depending on the high or low risks levels associated with social hazard, technology uncertainty and economic harm. China’s GM technology is currently located in the high risk zone of thismodel, particularly in themarket of GMsoybean. In order to tackle this risk, the article introduces the Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a useful tool to explore its risk assessment and governance. Lastly, we suggest the Chinese government needs to construct an efficient governancemechanismwhich should be able to balance actors’ interests and reduce or avoid risks induced by GM crop technologies

The usefulness of serial ultrasound in thyroid mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma

BackgroundMucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is an extranodal lymphoma with an indolent natural course. The thyroid gland is an uncommon site of involvement. We aimed to investigate serial ultrasound features and the disease progression during the clinical course of thyroid MALT lymphoma.MethodsWe searched our hospital’s pathology database (5,418 patients with thyroid malignancy) between January 2000 and July 2022. The medical records and serial ultrasounds of 11 patients with 12 thyroid MALT lymphoma foci were analyzed retrospectively.ResultsAn enlarging neck mass, dyspnea, B symptoms, and neck lymphadenopathy were seen at diagnosis in 9 (9/11, 81.8%), 3 (3/11, 27.3%), 2 (2/11, 18.2%), and 9 (9/11, 81.8%) cases, respectively. Eleven cases were concomitant Hashimoto thyroiditis. Common ultrasound features included bilateral or unilateral asymmetric goiter or large, solid, and very hypoechoic nodules (11/12, 91.7%) interspersed with linear, reticular hyperechoic, and enhanced posterior echoes (11/12, 91.7%), and neck lymph node involvement (10/11, 90.9%). The Thyroid Imaging and Reporting Data System (TIRADS) categories showed higher diagnostic accuracy (11/12, 91.7%) than real-time ultrasound (2/12, 16.7%) in evaluating thyroid lesions for recommendation of fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Serial ultrasound showed self-limiting changes in three cases, relapse in three cases after subtotal thyroidectomy and chemotherapy, large cell transformation (LCT) in one case after left lobectomy, partial remission in one case, and complete remission after chemo/radiation in four cases; progression to enlarged thyroid nodules occurred in three cases without treatment, with no obvious change observed after diagnosis. Three patients died during follow-up.ConclusionOn sonograms, solid large thyroid nodules or goiter with very hypoechoic and enhanced posterior echoes in the setting of Hashimoto thyroiditis should raise suspicion for MALT lymphoma. TIRADS categories can improve the ultrasound diagnostic efficacy for malignancy. Serial ultrasound examinations demonstrated self-limiting and indolent natures of thyroid MALT lymphoma

Prepregnancy body mass index and risk of preterm birth: association heterogeneity by preterm subgroups

Background: To evaluate the association between prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with early vs. late and medically-induced vs. spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) subtypes. Methods: Using data from the Boston Birth Cohort, we examined associations of prepregnancy BMI with 189 early (<34 completed weeks) and 277 late (34–36 completed weeks) medically-induced PTBs and 320 early and 610 late spontaneous PTBs vs. 3281 term births (37–44 weeks) in multinomial regression. To assess for mediation by important pregnancy complications, we performed sequential models with and without hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, chorioamnionitis, and gestational diabetes. Results: Prevalence of prepregnancy obesity (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m2) was 28% among mothers with medically-induced PTBs, 18% among mothers with spontaneous PTBs, and 18% among mothers with term births (p = <0.001). After adjustment for demographic and known risk factors for PTB, prepregnancy obesity was associated with higher odds of both early [OR 1.78 (1.19, 2.66)] and late [OR 1.49 (1.09, 2.04)] medically-induced PTB. These effect estimates were attenuated with inclusion of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and gestational diabetes. For spontaneous deliveries, prepregnancy obesity was associated with decreased odds of PTB (0.76 [0.58, 0.98]) and underweight was nearly associated with increased odds of PTB (1.46 [0.99, 2.16]). Conclusion: Prepregnancy obesity is associated with higher risk of medically-induced, but not spontaneous PTB. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and gestational diabetes appear to partially explain the association between prepregnancy obesity and early and late medically-induced PTB

A Population‐Based Twin Study on Sleep Duration and Body Composition

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/93648/1/oby.2011.274.pd

Analyses of associations between three positionally cloned asthma candidate genes and asthma or asthma-related phenotypes in a Chinese population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Six asthma candidate genes, ADAM33, NPSR1, PHF11, DPP10, HLA-G, and CYFIP2, located at different chromosome regions have been positionally cloned following the reported linkage studies. For ADAM33, NPSR1, and CYFIP2, the associations with asthma or asthma-related phenotypes have been studied in East Asian populations such as Chinese and Japanese. However, for PHF11, DPP10, and HLA-G, none of the association studies have been conducted in Asian populations. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to test the associations between these three positionally cloned genes and asthma or asthma-related phenotypes in a Chinese population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two, five, and two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the identified top regions of PHF11, DPP10, and HLA-G, respectively, were genotyped in 1183 independent samples. The study samples were selected based on asthma affectation status and extreme values in at least one of the following three asthma-related phenotypes: total serum immunoglobulin E levels, bronchial responsiveness test, and skin prick test. Both single SNP and haplotype analyses were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that DPP10 was significantly associated with bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and BHR asthma after the adjustment for multiple testing; while the associations of PHF11 with positive skin reactions to antigens and the associations of HLA-G with BHR asthma were only nominally significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study is the first one to provide additional evidence that supports the roles of DPP10 in influencing asthma or BHR in a Chinese population.</p