Predicting China's CPI by Scanner Big Data

Scanner big data has potential to construct Consumer Price Index (CPI). This work utilizes the scanner data of supermarket retail sales, which are provided by China Ant Business Alliance (CAA), to construct the Scanner-data Food Consumer Price Index (S-FCPI) in China, and the index reliability is verified by other macro indicators, especially by China's CPI. And not only that, we build multiple machine learning models based on S-FCPI to quantitatively predict the CPI growth rate in months, and qualitatively predict those directions and levels. The prediction models achieve much better performance than the traditional time series models in existing research. This work paves the way to construct and predict price indexes through using scanner big data in China. S-FCPI can not only reflect the changes of goods prices in higher frequency and wider geographic dimension than CPI, but also provide a new perspective for monitoring macroeconomic operation, predicting inflation and understanding other economic issues, which is beneficial supplement to China's CPI

Institutional Change in Water Rights in China: A Study of Water Rights Confirmation and Registration in Delingha City

To achieve the transformation of water rights institution in China from the administrative management to the property rights institution, it is of high significance to discuss the principle of rights confirmation, institution connection, and change. In this paper, we present the process, result, experience, and problems of the authors’ involvement in water rights confirmation and registration in Delingha as the methods designer of water rights confirmation. The conclusions of this paper follow: (1) Equity must be the priority while considering the principles of water rights confirmation. Complying and verifying the results of historical water distribution, strengthening public participation, and selecting persuasive and scientific indicators are the main components that are embodied in the concept of equity. (2) Water rights confirmation is to recognize and revise the distribution result of the old institution. Macroscopically, based on the administrative upper limits set by the “Three Red Lines” and ecologically sustainable requirements, the dual-control method of “matching water use and the Three Red Lines” and “matching water consumption and available water resources” was used to control the total distribution of water rights. From a microscopic point of view, the water abstraction permit was the core indicator of water rights confirmation, after checking with other data. (3) The institutional logic, the responsibilities and roles of the government, and the intellection of water users have changed after the confirmation of water rights. Registration is the key to distinguishing water rights from the traditional administrative institution

Serum Tumor Markers for Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Background and objective Progress has been made in research of lung cancer tumor markers in recent years, and these tumor markers have been used in clinical application. This study is to evaluate the regimens of six serum tumor markers in lung cancer diagnosis. Methods The serum levels of the six tumor markers (NSE、pro-GRP、CYFRA21-1、SCC、p53 antibody and CA199) were detected in 80 healthy adults, 170 patients with lung cancer and 80 patients with respiratory infection by ELISA. Results The levels of the six tumor markers in patients with lung cancer were remarkably higher than those in healthy adults and patients with respiratory infection (P<0.01). The levels of the NSE、pro-GRP in patients with small cell lung cancer were significantly higher than those in other subtypes of the lung cancer (P<0.01); The levels of the CYFRA21-1、SCC in patients with squamous carcinoma was remarkably higher than that in other subtypes of the lung cancer (P<0.01). The sensitivity of the NSE、pro-GRP in diagnosing small cell lung cancer was remarkably higher than that in other subtypes of the lung cancer (P<0.01); The sensitivity of the CYFRA21-1、SCC in diagnosing squamous carcinoma was remarkably higher than that in other subtypes of the lung cancer (P<0.01). The sensitivity of the tumor markers combinations in diagnosing lung cancer was remarkably higher than that of the single marker (P<0.01). Conclusion Detection of the six tumor markers is helpful for diagnosis lung cancer. Combination of NSE and pro-GRP is more economic than other combinations in diagnosing small cell lung cancer; Combined CYFRA21-1、SCC is more economic than other combinations in diagnosing squamous carcinoma

Effect of non-thermal effects in microwave heating on the rheology and chemical properties of petroleum asphalt

This study systematically analyses the rheological properties of typical petroleum asphalt heated by microwaves at different temperatures through viscosity, penetration, dynamic shear, low-temperature bending, and other rheological tests. The results show that the non-thermal effect of microwaves enhances the fluidity of petroleum asphalt in the high-temperature viscous flow state, becomes softer in the medium-temperature viscoelastic state, and becomes hard and brittle in the low-temperature glassy state. The effect of microwaves also causes some specific changes in the properties of bitumen, including softening point and glass transition temperature in the opposite direction, as well as a large difference in the response of bitumen of different viscosities. The chemical changes in microwave-heated bitumen were analyzed using component tests and microscopic observation. It was found that microwave heating homogenized and dispersed the asphaltene aggregates into small particles, with the heavy components significantly reduced and the light components increased

Hypoxylon jianfengense Hai X. Ma

Hypoxylon jianfengense Hai X. Ma & Z. K. Song, sp.nov. (Fig. 3) MycoBank: MB839550, Facesoffungi number: FoF 09870. Etymology:— In reference to the locality where the species was collected. Holotype: — CHINA. Hainan Province, Jianfengling National Natural Reserve, Mingfeng Valley, saprobic on decaying wood, 23 October 2020, Haixia Ma (FCATAS 845). Sexual state: — Stromata pulvinate to effused-pulvinate, continuous, with inconspicuous or slightly conspicuous perithecial mounds, 0.1–0.2 cm thick; surface Dark Brick (60), Livid Vinaceous (83) and Brown Vinaceous (84); yellowish-brown granules immediately beneath surface and between perithecia; yielding Dark Green (21), Isabelline (65) and Dull Green (70) pigments in 10% KOH; tissue below the perithecial layer inconspicuous, brown to black, woody to carbonaceous, 0.2–0.5 mm thick. Perithecia tubular to long tubular or obovoid, black, 0.2–0.3 mm broad × 0.6–0.9 mm high. Ostioles umbilicate, encircled with black areas 87–198 µm diam on stromatal surface, opening lower than stromatal surface. Asci cylindrical, with eight uniseriate ascospores, 69–161 µm total length × 5.5–7.7 µm broad, the spore-bearing portion 60–83 µm long and stipes (5–) 12–82 µm long, with amyloid and discoid apical apparatus bluing in Melzer’s reagent, 0.7–1.2 µm high × 1.8–2.4 µm broad. Ascospores smooth, light brown to dark brown, unicellular, inequilateral ellipsoid, with narrowly rounded ends, 10.3–13.6 × (4.2–) 4.7–6.1 µm (n=39, M=12.1 × 5.5 µm), with conspicuous straight germ slit spore-length on the convex side; perispore dehiscent in 10% KOH, with conspicuous coil-like ornamentation in SEM; epispore smooth. Asexual state:— Undetermined. Additional specimens examined: — CHINA. Hainan Province, Jianfengling National Natural Reserve, Mingfeng Valley, on decaying wood, 23 October 2020, Hai X. Ma (FCATAS 847). Note: —Despite the strong statistical support reflected on the phylogenetic relationships with H. invadens J. Fourn., this species exhibits conspicuous distinction in the teleomorph. The most striking feature of H. invadens is that its stromata grow on aborted primordia of Hypoxylon fragiforme (Pers.: Fr.) J. Kickx f. to form hemispherical stromata. In addition, H. jianfengense can be distinguished from H. invadens easily by its pulvinate to effused-pulvinate stromata and tubular to long tubular perithecia, while the latter has glomerate stromata and subglobose to obovoid perithecia (Fournier 2014). Furthermore, the first non-volatile secondary metabolites were isolated from H. invadens (Becker et al. 2020) and these seems to be a strong chemotaxonomic marker to separate other species. Morphologically, H. jianfenense resembles H. trugodes in obovoid, tubular, to long tubular perithecia. However, the latter differs by Pure yellow (14) or Amber (47) pigments extracted in the 10% KOH, smaller size of apical apparatus (0.3–0.8 µm high × 1.5–2 µm broad) and ascospores (8–11 × 3.5–4.5 µm) (Ju & Rogers 1996).Published as part of Song, Zikun, Pan, Xiaoyan, Li, Changtian, Ma, Hai-Xia & Li, Yu, 2022, Two new species of Hypoxylon (Hypoxylaceae) from China based on morphological and DNA sequence data analyses, pp. 213-224 in Phytotaxa 538 (3) on pages 220-221, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.538.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/633677

Experimental Investigation of the Performance of Corn Straw Fiber Cement-Stabilized Macadam

Recently, the application of plant fibers to improve the cementitious mix performance has attracted interest in the field of road materials owing to advantages of environmental protection and cost-effectiveness. As a planting crop, corn exhibits the advantages of being a more abundant resource with a wider distribution than those of other plant fibers. In this study, the effect of corn straw fiber on the properties of cement-stabilized macadam (5% cement) was investigated with the fiber length and content as variables. The test results revealed that the addition of a small amount of fiber marginally affects the compression density of cement-stabilized macadam. At a fiber length of 10 mm and a fiber content of 1%, the maximum increase in the compressive strength was 18.8%, and the maximum increase in the splitting strength was 35.4%. Moreover, at a fiber length of 15 mm and a fiber content of 1%, the shrinkage coefficient was reduced by 29%, and the crack resistance of cement-stabilized macadam was enhanced. In addition, the dry&ndash;wet cycle durability of cement-stabilized macadam was improved

Hypoxylon larissae Hai X. Ma

Hypoxylon larissae Hai X. Ma & Z. K. Song, sp.nov. (Fig. 2) MycoBank: MB839549, Facesoffungi number: FoF 09871. Etymology: —In reference to honour Russian mycologist Prof. Dr. Larissa N. Vasilyeva, who contributed to studies of pyrenomycetes. Holotype: — CHINA. Yunnan Province, Mopanshan National Forest Park, saprobic on dead wood, 10 November 2019, Haixia Ma (FCATAS 844). Sexual state: — Stromata effused-pulvinate with rounded margins, 1.2–5.9 cm long × 0.3–1.3 cm broad × 0.1–0.14 cm thick; with conspicuous perithecial mounds; surface Rust (39), Sienna (8), Fulvous (43), or Bay (6), distributed with tiny cracks; with orange-brown granules immediately beneath the surface and between perithecia; yielding Orange (7) and Luteous (12) pigments in 10% KOH; tissue below the perithecial layer inconspicuous, brown to black, homogeneous, 0.2–0.6 mm thick. Perithecia spherical to obovoid, black, 0.2–0.5 mm broad × 0.3–0.7 mm high. Ostioles umbilicate, with colored coating worn off exposing encircled black areas 70–182 µm diam on stromatal surface, opening lower than stromatal surface. Asci cylindrical, with eight uniseriate ascospores, 110–207 µm total length × 8.7–13.2 µm broad, the spore-bearing portion 86–130 µm long, and stipes 27–96 µm long, with amyloid and discoid apical apparatus bluing in Melzer’s reagent, 1.4–2.3 µm high × 2.9–4.9 µm broad. Ascospores smooth, light brown to dark brown, unicellular, inequilateral ellipsoid, with narrowly to slightly broad rounded ends, 15.5–22.9 (–23.6) × 7.3–10.6 µm (n=42, M=17.9 × 9 µm), with conspicuously straight germ slit spore-length on the convex side; perispore dehiscent in 10% KOH, with inconspicuous to conspicuous coil-like ornamentation in SEM; epispore smooth. Asexual state:— Undetermined. Additional specimens examined: — CHINA. Yunnan Province, Mopanshan National Forest Park, on dead wood, 10 November 2019, Hai X. Ma (FCATAS 846). Note: — Hypoxylon larissae is characterized by its effused-pulvinate stromata, conspicuous perithecial mounds, Orange (7) and Luteous (12) pigments extracted in 10% KOH, amyloid apical apparatus, light brown to dark brown ascospores with straight germ slit and perispore dehiscent. In both morphological and phylogenetic aspects, the new species seems to be very similar and close to H. fenderi (bootstrap value = 96%/87%/1; Fig. 1), which has both similar perithecia [obovoid, 0.2–0.4 (–0.5) mm broad × 0.3–0.6 mm high] and KOH-extractable pigment Orange (7) (Ju & Rogers 1996). Hypoxylon fenderi was originally described from Venezuela, and commonly found throughout the tropics. It differs from H. larissae by having smaller apical apparatus (0.5–1.2 µm high × 1.8–2.5 µm broad), smaller ascospores (9–12 × 4–5.5 µm) and sigmoid germ slit spore-length (Ju & Rogers 1996). Unfortunately, no molecular phylogenetic data have so far been generated for the holotype of H. fenderi. The work accomplished by Hsieh et al. (2005), Sir et al. (2019) and Cedeno et al. (2020) provided additional ITS, LSU, RPB 2 and TUB2 sequence data of the species from Mexico, USA and Panama respectively, was used in our phylogeny. Microscopically, H. larissae is also similar to H. diatrypeoides Rehm, both of which have the same size of ascospores with straight germ slit spore-length, perispore dehiscent in 10% KOH. However, the holotype of H. diatrypeoides from Brazil has restrictedly pulvinate stromata and bluing apical apparatus or not in Melzer’s reagent (Ju & Rogers 1996), while H. larissae has effused-pulvinate stromata and amyloid and discoid apical apparatus bluing in Melzer’s reagent. The phylogenetic analysis showed that H. larissae from China is distantly related to the clade of H. diatrypeoides from Mexico in the phylogram (Figure 1). The other specimen of H. diatrypeoides collected from New Zealand might be a different taxon, so our comparison was based on the type species of H. diatrypeoides.Published as part of Song, Zikun, Pan, Xiaoyan, Li, Changtian, Ma, Hai-Xia & Li, Yu, 2022, Two new species of Hypoxylon (Hypoxylaceae) from China based on morphological and DNA sequence data analyses, pp. 213-224 in Phytotaxa 538 (3) on pages 219-220, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.538.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/633677

Atomic-Scale Imaging of Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite Using Transmission Electron Microscope

Transmission electron microscope (TEM) is thought as one powerful tool to imaging the atomic-level structure of organic inorganic hybrid perovskite (OIHP) materials, which provides valuable and essential guidance toward high performance OIHP-related devices. However, these OIHPs exhibit poor electron beam stability, severely limiting their practical applications in TEM. Here in this article, the application of TEM to obtain atomic-scale image of OIHPs, main obstacles in identifying the degradation product and future prospects of TEM in the characterization of OIHP materials are reviewed and presented. Three potential strategies (sample protection, low temperature technology, and low-dose technologies) are also proposed to overcome the current drawback of TEM technology