Strategic motivations for Sino-Western alliances: a comparativeanalysis of Chinese and Western alliance formation drivers.

This paper compares the key drivers of Sino-foreign alliance formation from the perspective of both Chinese and Western alliance partners. Our results indicate that Chinese companies enter into alliances with Western companies mainly to get accesses to international markets and to develop their technological and managerial competences further, while Western partners aim to gain access to the local customer and supplier bases of their Chinese counterpart as well as to the complex distribution systems found in the Chinese market. In analyzing the differences among Chinese and Western alliance motives, this paper shows how the initial deficiencies in the Chinese institutional environment has shaped the strategic motives of local companies and consequently lead to the diverging alliance formation motives in Sino-foreign alliances.Strategic alliances, China, Innovation, Internationalization

Strategic Partnering with Chinese Companies: Hidden Motives and Treasures

In this paper we aim to investigate the key drivers of international alliance formation from the perspective of Chinese companies. Our results indicate that Chinese companies enter into alliances with Western companies mainly to get accesses to international markets and to develop their technological and managerial competences further. Therefore we can say that Chinese companies particularly value task-related criteria when selecting Western partners. Nevertheless we also find that Chinese companies also include 'soft' factors such trust, compatibility or reputation in their partner selection process. We therefore conclude that in searching for Western partners, Chinese companies try to find a combination of 'hard' competencies such as technology and other resources as well as more 'soft' attributes such as trust, mutual understanding and commitment.Strategic alliances, China, Innovation, Internationalization

Ethnomedicinal Analysis of Toxic Plants from Five Ethnic Groups in China

researchToxic plants are important elements of ethnomedicine. Ethnomedicinal knowledge on toxic plants recorded from five indigenous people, Dai, Lahu, Miao, Tujia, and Wa in south and southwestern China, was summarized and analyzed based on available literature. A formula has been developed to evaluate toxic plants in the ethnomedicine of different ethnic groups using the Average Use Values (AUVs) of them. In total, 118 toxic plants often used as ethnomedicines were found from the five ethnic groups. These toxic plants were mainly distributed in 21 families, i.e., 75.4% of species and 68.1% of genera were concentrated in the 21 families. Araceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Fabaceae are 4 important families which contain rich toxic plants. Eleven toxic plants were thought to be deadly toxic. These toxic plants were often used medicinally to treat injuries from falls, broken bones, and skin problems. Most toxic plants were medicinally used for multiple purposes in the five ethnic groups. The medicinal role of toxic plants was ascertained by comparing the AUVs or UVs in these ethnomedicines. The culture and the resources available were two main factors affecting ethnic healers selecting and using toxic plants

Association between immunoglobulin G N-glycosylation and lupus nephritis in female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: A case-control study

Background: Lupus nephritis (LN) is a crucial complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and has important clinical implications in guiding treatment. N-glycosylation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) plays a key role in the development of SLE by affecting the balance of anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory responses. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of IgG N-glycosylation for diagnosing LN in a sample of female SLE patients. Methods: This case-control study recruited 188 women with SLE, including 94 patients with LN and 94 age-matched patients without LN. The profiles of plasma IgG N-glycans were detected by hydrophilic interaction chromatography with ultra-performance liquid chromatography (HILIC-UPLC). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to explore the associations between IgG N-glycans and LN. A diagnostic model was developed using the significant glycans as well as demographic factors. The performance of IgG N-glycans in the diagnosis of LN was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and the area under the curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated. Results: There were significant differences in 9 initial glycans (GP2, GP4, GP6, GP8, GP10, GP14, GP16, GP18 and GP23) between women with SLE with and without LN (P \u3c 0.05). The levels of sialylated, galactosylated and fucosylated glycans were significantly lower in the LN patients than in the control group, while bisected N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) glycans were increased in LN patients (P \u3c 0.05). GP8, GP10, GP18, and anemia were included in our diagnostic model, which performed well in differentiating female SLE patients with LN from those without LN (AUC = 0.792, 95% CI: 0.727 to 0.858). Conclusion: Our findings indicate that decreased sialylation, galactosylation, and core fucosylation and increased bisecting GlcNAc might play a role in the development of LN by upregulating the proinflammatory response of IgG. IgG N-glycans can serve as potential biomarkers to differentiate individuals with LN among SLE patients

Functional diversity of copepod assemblages along a basin-scale latitudinal gradient in the North Pacific Ocean

The northern Pacific Ocean is one of the most sensitive areas globally to climate change. Copepods typically account for between 60% and 90% of mesozooplankton in the open ocean. Because copepods are a key link in marine food webs, their response to environmental changes is an important topic in marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relationships. The relationship between copepod assemblages and the marine environment in the northern Pacific Ocean from a traits-based perspective has been largely unknown until now. In this study, we used the functional traits and geographic distribution of 177 copepod species along a latitudinal gradient, ranging from 4°S to 46°N in the northern Pacific Ocean, to evaluate the latitudinal variation of functional diversity and assembly rules of copepod assemblages. Based on a cluster analysis of four key functional traits, seven functional groups were identified. Redundancy analysis revealed environmental preferences for different functional groups. Large carnivores showed a stronger preference for higher temperatures than small carnivores, Omnivores and herbivores showed a stronger preference for higher chlorophyll a concentrations. The distribution of detritivores was nearly independent of temperature and chlorophyll a concentration. Most functional diversity indices showed non-linear decreasing trends along the latitudinal gradient. These trends remained stable in the tropic and subtropic regions (WARM and NPSG), but decreased sharply in the Kuroshio extension and Pacific subarctic gyres regions (KURO and PSAG). A null model revealed the assembly rules of copepod assemblage significantly varied with latitude: environmental filtering was dominant in the KURO and PSAG, whereas both environmental filtering and limited similarity played important roles in the WARM and NPSG, in addition to the neutral process. Our results suggested that with ocean warming, a northward shift in the distribution range of specific functional groups (such as large carnivores) might significantly alter the biodiversity and ecosystem function of zooplankton communities in the Kuroshio extension region. This study highlights the importance of a traits-based approach in the study of biodiversity and ecosystem function in pelagic ecosystems at large scales

Agglomeration of Productive Services, Industrial Structure Upgrading and Green Total Factor Productivity: An Empirical Analysis Based on 68 Prefectural-Level-and-Above Cities in the Yellow River Basin of China

Improving green total factor productivity (GTFP) is the inherent requirement for practicing the philosophy of green development and achieving regional high-quality development. Based on panel data for 68 prefectural-level-and-above cities in the Yellow River Basin of China from 2006 to 2019, we measured their GTFPs and degrees of productive-services agglomeration using the non-radial directional distance function and industrial agglomeration index formulas, respectively. Furthermore, we empirically investigated the interactive relationship between agglomeration of productive services, industrial-structure upgrading, and GTFP using the dual fixed-effects model, the mediating-effect model, and the moderating-effect model. The findings were as follows. (1) Both specialized and diversified agglomeration of productive services significantly improved the GTFPs of cities in the Yellow River Basin, and the promoting effect of specialized agglomeration was stronger than that of diversified agglomeration. (2) The diversified agglomeration of productive services (hereinafter referred to as diversified agglomeration) made a significant contribution to GTFP in all sample cities of the Yellow River Basin, while the specialized agglomeration of productive services (hereinafter referred to as specialized agglomeration) only significantly improved GTFP in the upstream cities and had no significant effect on the midstream and downstream cities. (3) When examined according to city size, specialized agglomeration was found to have a positive impact on the GTFPs of small and medium-sized cities in the Yellow River Basin but a non-significant negative impact on large cities, while the effect of diversified agglomeration on GTFP was found not to be significant. (4) Industrial-structure upgrading played partially mediating and negative moderating roles in the process of specialized agglomeration affecting the GTFPs of cities in the Yellow River Basin, but it did not become a mediating channel and moderating factor that influenced diversified agglomeration in relation to GTFP