The apocarotenoid metabolite zaxinone regulates growth and strigolactone biosynthesis in rice

Strigolactone and abscisic acid are carotenoid-derived plant hormones. Here the authors describe the identification of zaxinone, a further apocarotenoid metabolite, which down-regulates strigolactone content and is required for normal growth and development in rice

A Comparative Analysis of Co-Production in Public Services

This study investigates current research trends in co-production studies and discusses conceptual approaches. The conceptual paper contains studies on co-production in the field of public administration. This study identifies significant gaps in the field of study by systematically examining 32 co-production research works. The study’s contributions include (1) defining two common characteristics of co-production, (2) classifying three forms of co-production by end-users, and (3) discovering that the aims and performance of co-production are more effective for service providers when the strategy is citizen-centric. Future research should (1) concentrate on the reasons for co-production failures or successes, (2) identify additional barriers to co-production in service production, (3) investigate influences on service providers as well as structural impacts on the co-production process, and (4) provide practical assessments of co-production research

Measuring Environmental and Economic Performance of Air Pollution Control for Province-Level Areas in China

This paper proposes an improved three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to measure the environmental-economic efficiency (EEE) of air pollution control for 30 province-level areas of China during the period of 2012 to 2016. In this model, capital, labor, and total energy consumption are the three inputs, while gross domestic product (GDP) and waste gas emissions represent the desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. This model allows the weights of economic growth and environmental protection to be adjusted as needed by policymakers; the model is adopted to evaluate the effects of government measures on environmental protection and economic growth. Ultimately, the effects from environmental factors and statistical noise are excluded from the EEEs of local governments and the managerial efficiencies are calculated. The results simultaneously reflect the local performance of air pollution control and economic development, which can be used to clarify the ranking of provinces nationwide

The governance dilemmas of urban shrinkage: evidence from Northeast China

While existing research has deepened our understanding of global urban shrinkage, studies on the governance of urban shrinkage in China remain deficient. Based on extensive field research in Suihua, in Northeast China, and applying an institutionalist perspective, this study explored two critical challenges faced by Chinese political institutions concerning their governance of urban shrinkage. First, the absence of well-articulated opinions and clearly defined policies of the central government render the governance of shrinking cities uncertain and over-dependent on the personal position of the shrinking city’s immediate superior. Second, the local economic development path of China’s shrinking cities often depends on land transactions and pollution-intensive industries, which appear not only to be the main cause of the worsening urban shrinkage, but also the biggest source of locally-generated income. As a result, re-industrialization as the apparently ideal strategy for local development in Northeast China undermines the local government’s attempts to counter urban shrinkage

Chinese National Air Protection Policy Development: A Policy Network Theory Analysis

Given its wide involvement in and recognition by international organizations, China has signed many international agreements and negotiations. This study verified how and the extent to which changes in exogenous factors (e.g., international agreements and negotiations) affect Chinese governmental air protection policy development. Previous studies on policy network theory have demonstrated that exogenous factors affected the development of domestic policies significantly, while in this study little evidence was found to demonstrate the influence of exogenous factors on changes in Chinese policy. Rather, internal factors have played an important role in both its development and transformation. These findings differ from study results on wealthy countries and other developing districts. This study then explores the causes of substandard policy outcomes. To probe this further, policy network theory is applied to explain the gap between the guiding principle of central government’s policies and local implementation in actual practice. By analyzing the strategies of policy actors and specific rules in current Chinese context, the associated limitations and obstacles in the process of policy-making and implementation can be explained from the aspect of bureaucratic system, energy market running mechanism and others. This paper recommends alterations in the current policy and structure based on these findings

Classifying Livelihood Strategies Adopting the Activity Choice Approach in Rural China

The classification of livelihood strategies is important for designing effective and targeted poverty-reducing strategies. This paper classified livelihood strategies adopting the activity choice approach and compared differences among income levels, asset endowments, poverty rates, and poverty causes of different household clusters to provide bases for the identification of targeted poverty-reducing strategies. By making the two-step cluster analysis, 2042 households were divided into four clusters. Agricultural households get a relatively low income because of the reliance on agricultural production and the lack of required assets to enter more remunerative livelihood strategies. Self-employment is the most remunerative livelihood strategy and high physical and financial capital accumulations are the premise of adopting a self-employed strategy. Featured with a medium-level income and asset endowments, wage-employed households benefit from a more-educated labor force and shoulder a heavy burden caused by children’s education at the same time. Besides, rural households face a series of social issues from labor migration, especially self-employed and wage-employed households. Non-labor households have a low-level income and asset endowments with older family members and an unhealthier labor force caused mainly by the aging population and accompanying diseases and disabilities. The transfer income-oriented non-labor households are the main object of poverty alleviation

Determinants of E-Government Services Adoption from the African Students' Perspective

The patronage of e-government services (demand side of e-government) is vital to the successful implementation of e-government initiatives. The purpose of this study is to explore the predictors determining the willingness of African students in China to adopt and use e-government services. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) will be used as the theoretical foundation for this research. Research instrument will be developed and administered to 500 African students in China. Factors such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and culture will be investigated to determine its significant impact on the willingness to use e-government services. This study is a research in progress. The outcome of this study will provide valuable recommendations to improve the provision of public services through e-government

Cultivating a friendly attitude: The master’s program of “one belt one road”, a think-tank for international students at harbin institute of technology

This paper describes a program for attaining a Master’s degree at Harbin Institute of Technology in China, named “Belt and Road Think-Tank for Talent Strategy”. This program is especially designed for cultivating the talents who will link the countries along “Belt and Road” with China under the new Silk Road cooperation framework. The program has designed an elaborate scheme of lectures to equip its candidates with scientific techniques in analyzing social problems and offers many opportunities to encourage students to participate in international debates. After two years of training, candidates in will be shaped into top-notch talents with a deep understanding of China. The port of Piraeus in Greece is introduced in this paper as an exemplary research thesis made by program candidates within the framework of this program. By analyzing the stakeholders involved, assessing the impacts brought by the project and resolving the value conflicts among diverse parties, responsible innovation is applied in mitigating the confrontation between a Chinese company (COSCO) and local Greek communities.Heritage & TechnologyEthics & Philosophy of Technolog