Can annual land use plan control and regulate construction land growth in China?

Annual land use plan (ALUP) stands for the quota allocation of land converted to non-agricultural use, which has been in place since 1987 in China. Although the ALUP has been implemented for more than 30 years and has played an important role in China’s non-agricultural land growth management, little has been done to assess the effect of its implementation. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effect of the ALUP on controlling the growth of construction land in China. The province-level data on land use in China during the period of 2006–2013 were collected and then analyzed using panel data model. The results show that (1) the ALUP can effectively curb construction land growth, and the construction land decreased about 1721 ha with a 1% increment of the intensity of growth management. Construction land growth is closely related to the implementation intensity of the ALUP, which decreases 30,892 ha under strict implementation but increases an extra 181,451 ha with relaxed implementation; (2) the implementation effect of the ALUP shows significant differences between provinces, and the provinces of northwestern and eastern China show better performance than provinces from the southwest and central regions. National development strategy and region’s differentiation land policy may have contributed to this phenomenon; (3) taking both the goal achievement and effectiveness into account, the implementation of the ALUP is described as effective though not completely successful; and (4) for more efficiency and success, the study proposes some suggestions on improving policy implementation in the future

Prognostic Significance of Pretreatment Apolipoprotein A-I as a Noninvasive Biomarker in Cancer Survivors: A Meta-Analysis

Background. Numerous studies have reported the prognostic significance of serum apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) in various cancers, but the results have been inconsistent. The current meta-analysis was performed to investigate the association between ApoA-I level and prognosis in human malignancies. Methods. A literature search was performed using the electronic platforms of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, Wanfang, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases to obtain eligible articles published up to May 20, 2018. Pooled hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to assess the prognostic values of the ApoA-I level in cancers using STATA 12.0 software. Results. A total of 14 studies involving 9295 patients were included. The results indicated that low ApoA-I level was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) (HR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.44–0.61). Significant relationships between the ApoA-I level and OS were specifically detected in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC, HR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.54–0.73), colorectal cancer (CRC, HR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.19–0.76), and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, HR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.27–0.65). The subgroup analyses for OS also further confirmed the prognostic significance of the ApoA-I level in cancers. Moreover, lower Apo A-I was associated with unfavorable cancer-specific survival (CSS, HR: 0.47, 95% CI: 0.19–0.76) in cancers, and low ApoA-I level was clearly associated with inferior total time to recurrence (TTR, HR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.29–0.58) in HCC, poorer locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) (HR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.42–0.74 for LRFS; HR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.41–0.89 for DMFS) in NPC, and shorter disease-free survival (DFS, HR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43–0.84) in cancers. Conclusions. Low ApoA-I level might be an unfavorable prognostic factor in multiple malignancies, and serum ApoA-I could serve as a noninvasive marker to predict cancer prognosis

Five new species of Phintella Strand, 1906 (Araneae, Salticidae) from the Wuling Mountains, China

Five new species of Phintella are described from the Wuling Mountains, China: Phintella arcuata sp. n. (male and female), Phintella levii sp. n. (female), Phintella panda sp. n. (female), Phintella pulcherrima sp. n. (male and female), and Phintella wulingensis sp. n. (female). Distribution data, detailed morphological characteristics, and illustrations of body and genital organs are presented

Chemical compound identification and antibacterial activity evaluation of cinnamon extracts obtained by subcritical n‐butane and ethanol extraction

Four important Cinnamomum species in China including C. cassia, C. loureiroi, C. wilsonii, and C. burmannii were chosen to be extracted by subcritical n‐butane and ethanol. The chemical compounds of extracts were identified by GC‐MS and HPLC‐MS, and the antibacterial activities were evaluated by agar‐well diffusion assay and twofold microdilution broth method. There were 47 compounds identified in n‐butane extracts and 11 compounds in ethanol extracts totally. The major compounds in n‐butane extracts varied significantly among different Cinnamomum species, and (E)‐cinnamaldehyde and coumarin were major compounds for C. cassia with area percentage of 74.32%; (E)‐cinnamaldehyde and α‐copaene for C. loureiroi with area percentage of 67.83%; linalool, (E)‐cinnamaldehyde, and citral for C. wilsonii with area percentage of 58.74%; and eugenol, (E)‐cinnamaldehyde, and coumarin for C. burmannii with area percentage of 76.43%. The maximum compounds in ethanol extracts were (E)‐cinnamaldehyde and (Z)‐cinnamaldehyde, and others varied among the Cinnamomum species. All cinnamon extracts showed antibacterial activities that n‐butane extracts were much more sensitive than ethanol extracts. The inhibition zone for N‐butane extracts against Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella anatum was from 18.98 to 37.45 mm while for ethanol extracts from 7.11 to 10.11 mm. The minimum bactericidal concentrations for n‐butane extracts were ranged from 0.31 to 2.50 mg/ml and for ethanol extracts ranged from 20.00 to 160.00 mg/ml. N‐butane extracts of C. cassia and C. loureiroi processed much higher antibacterial activities than C. wilsonii and C. burmannii. N‐butane extracts of C. cassia and C. loureiroi have the potential to be used as food biopreservative

Dual-band high-gain shared-aperture antenna integrating fabry-perot and reflectarray mechanisms

This work presents a dual-band high-gain shared-aperture antenna. The proposed antenna integrates both the Fabry-Perot and reflectarray mechanisms; the antenna works as a Fabry-Perot cavity antenna (FPCA) in the S-band (2.45 GHz) and as a reflectarray antenna (RA) in the Xband (10 GHz). The antenna has a simple structure made up of only two printed circuit board layers. The bottom layer acts as a source antenna, a ground plane for the FPCA, and as a reflective surface for the RA. The upper layer contains the source antenna for the RA and serves as a partially reflective superstrate for the FPCA. The FPCA and RA thus share the same physical aperture but function independently. As an example, we design, fabricate, and characterize an antenna that operates at 2.45 and 10 GHz with an aperture size of 300 × 300 mm2. The measured results are found to be in good agreement with the simulations. We show that the proposed antenna achieves a gain of 16.21 dBi at 2.45 GHz and 21.6 dBi at 10 GHz with a −10 dB impedance bandwidths of 2.39–2.66 GHz and 9.40–10.28 GHz. The isolation between the two antenna ports is found to be larger than 30 dB.Published versionThis work was supported by Stable-Support Scientific Project of China Research Institute of Radiowave Propagation (Grant No. A132101W09)

A high-efficiency near-field focused transmitting antenna based on the equal power divisions

For microwave power transmission (MPT), the transmitting (Tx) array with a tapered amplitude distribution can achieve a maximum beam collection efficiency, but it needs a feeding network with an arbitrary power division ratio; thus, it is complicated and costly in practical applications. This work explores realizing high transmission efficiency by a Tx array with the equal-ratio steps amplitude distribution (ERSAD). By using the ERSAD, the amplitude value of the central units of the Tx array is uniform, and the amplitude feeding of the edge units only needs equal power divisions. Thus, the amplitude feeding is greatly simplified. Besides, a compensated phase distribution is used to focus the radiating beam on the receiving aperture. To validate the proposed design, a Tx antenna consisting of 8 × 8 units with a total aperture size of 1 × 1 m2 is designed. The operating frequency and the focused distance are 5.8 GHz and 10 m, respectively. A 64-way microwave power source is used to adjust the amplitude and the phase of the Tx array, and an MPT experiment is conducted. The measurement shows that, compared with the 10 dB Gaussian amplitude array, the proposed array nearly has the same transmission efficiency against different receiving apertures.Published versio

Transcription factor E2F7 activates PKMYT1 to partially suppress adriamycin sensitivity in gastric cancer through the MAPK signaling pathway

Background: Adriamycin resistance remains an obstacle to gastric cancer chemotherapy treatment. Objective: The objective of this study was to study the role and mechanism of transcription factor E2F7 in sensitivity to ADM chemotherapeutic agents in gastric cancer. Methods: Cell viability and cell sensitivity were assessed by CCK-8 and IC50 values of ADM were calculated. The impact of ADM on cellular proliferative capacity was assessed through colony formation assay. The binding relationship between E2F7 and PKMYT1 was then verified by dual luciferase assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. ERK1/ERK2 and p-ERK1/p-ERK2 protein expression levels were detected by western blot. Results: In both gastric cancer tissue and ADM-resistant cells, a conspicuous upregulation of E2F7 and PKMYT1 was observed. Upregulated PKMYT1 was notably enriched in the MAPK signaling pathway. Enhanced levels of E2F7 were shown to not only drive gastric cancer cell proliferation but also engender a reduction in the sensitivity of these cells to ADM. Furthermore, PKMYT1 emerged as a downstream target of E2F7. Activation of E2F7 culminated in the transcriptional upregulation of PKMYT1, and silencing E2F7 reversed the inhibitory impact of PKMYT1 overexpression on ADM sensitivity in gastric cancer cells. Conclusion: E2F7/PKMYT1 axis might promote the proliferation and partially inhibit ADM sensitivity of gastric cancer cells by activating the MAPK pathway

Five new species of Synagelides Strand, 1906 from China (Araneae, Salticidae)

Five new species of salticids were collected from China: Synagelides emangou Liu, sp. nov. (♂, ♀) from Gansu province, and S. jinding Liu, sp. nov. (♂), S. serratus Liu, sp. nov. (♂, ♀), S. shuqiang Liu, sp. nov. (♂), and S. triangulatus Liu, sp. nov. (♀) from Jiangxi Province. All species are described and illustrated with photographs and SEM micrographs, and their distributions are also mapped

Urbanization's effects on the urban-rural income gap in China: A meta-regression analysis

The considerable gap between urban and rural areas in China has been one of those social problems during the urbanization process. Since the early 2000s, an increasing number of theoretical and empirical studies have discussed the association between urbanization and urban-rural income gap (URIG) in China. However, a very limited consensus has been reached so far, which makes it challenging to support formulating well-informed policies. To identify factors contributing to different conclusions of the effects of urbanization on URIG in China, we conducted a systematic literature review of 29 empirical studies and stepwise meta-regression analysis from 94 direct effect-size estimates. Our findings reveal that while urbanization is associated with larger URIG when URIG is measured via urban-rural income/consumption, urbanization is associated with smaller URIG when URIG is measured with inequality index (e.g., Theil index and/or Gini coefficient). Additionally, financial development is correlated with larger URIG. By contrast, human capital level, agricultural support policy, and farmland scale contribute to narrowing URIG. Finally, we did not find a significant publication bias from the primary studies. This work suggests that it is worth to conduct more in-depth analysis to examine the heterogeneous effects of different indicators of URIG and their associations with other potential driving factors. Future work is suggested to investigate the effects of financial development level, human capital level, agricultural support policy, farmland scale, and urban land scale on the relationship between urbanization and URIG. In the urbanization process, policymakers need to pay attention to the practice of remedying income-based urban-rural inequality