Penal order is closely linked to the broader social order in China and the disciplinary side of its maintenance. This article seeks to demonstrate, through the case of performance making, what order ...means to the Chinese prison authority, and how prisoners comply with and sometimes defy the system based upon various motivations. Using data from an ethnographic study on performance making in a men's prison during 2015–2018, this study aims to understand how an 'exemplary order' is maintained, and what kinds of compliance and resistance can be found. The findings suggest that “theatre in prisons” is not a Western invention to be borrowed, but a long-established institutional mechanism of order mainetence in China, as participation in prison's activities represents compliance with the regime order. However, compliance is also utilized by the prisoners not only for hedonistic gains but also for gaining social capital, which can have a strong positive influence on their quality of life inside and earlier release. This study will also demonstrate how the Chinese penal order maintenance shares similirities with modes of soft power found in British prisons, as well prisoner-officer collaboration found in other Global South countries, with a twist
This methodological reflection is based on the author's own experience taking part in participatory theater projects in mainland Chinese prisons over the past 5 years. This article demonstrates how ...the author's participation in prison theater projects secured otherwise unattainable research access by forming collaborations with various organizations. Participatory theater workshops also offered the space for sustaining long-term rapport. This research note discusses why trusting relationships are the most important guarantee to obtaining valid data in Chinese prison research. The findings contribute to understanding methodological challenges and innovations of conducting fieldwork in criminal justice systems with no formal research access channels.
Scientific issues relevant to interactions between aerosols and the Asian monsoon climate were discussed and evaluated at the 33rd ＂Forum of Science and Technology Frontiers＂ sponsored by the ...Department of Earth Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Major results are summarized in this paper. The East Asian monsoon directly affects aerosol transport and provides a favorable background circulation for the occurrence and development of persistent fog-haze weather. Spatial features of aerosol transport and distribution are also influenced by the East Asian monsoon on seasonal, inter-annual, and decadal scales. High moisture levels in monsoon regions also affect aerosol optical and radiative properties. Observation analyses indicate that cloud physical properties and precipitation are significantly affected by aerosols in China with aerosols likely suppressing local light and moderate rainfall, and intensifying heavy rainfall in southeast coastal regions. However, the detailed mechanisms behind this pattern still need further exploration. The decadal variation in the East Asian monsoon strongly affects aerosol concentrations and their spatial patterns. The weakening monsoon circulation in recent decades has likely helped to increase regional aerosol concentrations. The substantial increase in Chinese air pollutants has likely decreased the temperature difference between land and sea, which favors intensification of the weakening monsoon circulation. Constructive suggestions regarding future studies on aerosols and monsoons were proposed in this forum and key uncertain issues were also discussed.
In 2013, China issued the “Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution” (“Ten Statements of Atmosphere”) and implemented a series of pollution reduction measures from 2013 to 2017. In ...key regions of China, the mass concentrations of particulate matter with aerodynamic equivalent diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM
2.5
) have dropped significantly. However, the contributions of meteorological changes to PM
2.5
reduction are largely uncertain, which has attracted particular concern from the government and the public. Here, we investigated the impact of large-scale and boundary layer (BL) meteorological conditions on aerosol pollution and estimated the contributions of meteorological changes to PM
2.5
reduction based on in-depth analysis and diagnosis of various observed meteorological elements and an integrated pollution-linked meteorological index (PLAM, which is approximately and linearly related to PM mass concentration). In this study, we found that the meteorological conditions worsened in 2014 and 2015 and improved in 2016 and 2017 relative to those in 2013 in key regions in China. In 2017 relative to 2013, only ∼5% (approximately 13% of the total PM
2.5
decline) of the 39.6% reduction in PM
2.5
mass concentrations can be attributed to meteorological changes in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region, and only ∼7% (approximately 20% of the total PM
2.5
decline) of the 34.3% reduction can be attributable to meteorological changes in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. Overall, the PM
2.5
reduction due to meteorological improvement is much lower than the observed PM
2.5
reduction in these areas, which indicates that emission reduction during the five-year implementation of the “Ten Statements of Atmosphere” is the dominant factor in the improvement in air quality. The changes in meteorology and climate are conducive to PM
2.5
reduction but do not dominate the substantial improvement in air quality. Similar to the above regions, in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, the impact of meteorological changes on the annual averaged PM
2.5
concentration from 2013 to 2017 was relatively weak, and the PM
2.5
reduction was mainly due to emission reductions. During winter 2017 (January, February, and December of this year), the meteorological conditions improved ∼20% in the BTH region (observed total PM
2.5
reduction: 40.2%) and ∼30% in the YRD region (observed total PM
2.5
reduction: 38.2%) relative to those in 2013, showing the meteorological factors played more important role in the decrease of PM
2.5
in winter of these years in the two regions, respectively. The meteorological conditions in winter 2016 were 14% better than those in winter 2017, but the PM
2.5
reduction in winter 2016 was still less than that in winter 2017, reinforcing the significant contributions of the increasing efforts to reduce PM
2.5
emissions in 2017. The substantial progress of strict emission measures was also confirmed by a comparison of several persistent heavy aerosol pollution episodes (HPEs) with similar meteorological conditions. It is found that the decrease of PM
2.5
mass caused by emission reduction increases year by year, especially the decrease of PM
2.5
concentration in 2016 and 2017. In China, HPEs mainly occur in winter, when meteorological conditions are approximately 40–100% worse than in other seasons. This worsening is partly due to the harbor effect of high topography, including downdrafts and the weak wind zone, and partly due to the increasingly stable regional BL structure caused by climate warming. For the formation of HPEs, it occurred under regional stagnant and stable conditions associated with upper-level circulation patterns, including the zonal westerly winds type and high-pressure ridges. After pollution formation, PM
2.5
with mass accumulated to a certain degree can further worsen the BL meteorological conditions. The feedback effect associated with worsening conditions dominates PM
2.5
mass explosive growth. In the context of high air pollutant emissions in China, unfavorable meteorological conditions are the necessary external conditions for the formation and accumulation of HPEs. Therefore, reducing aerosol pollution significantly during the earlier transport stage is critical in reducing persistent HPEs. Currently, even under favorable meteorological conditions, allowing emissions without restriction is also not advisable because aerosol pollution allowed to accumulate to a certain extent will significantly worsen the BL meteorological conditions and close the “meteorological channels” available for pollution dispersion.
The vision of reaching a carbon peak and achieving carbon neutrality is guiding the low-carbon transition of China’s socioeconomic system. Currently, a research gap remains in the existing literature ...in terms of studies that systematically identify opportunities to achieve carbon neutrality. To address this gap, this study comprehensively collates and investigates 1105 published research studies regarding carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. In doing so, the principles of development in this area are quantitively analyzed from a space–time perspective. At the same time, this study traces shifts and alterations in research hotspots. This systematic review summarizes the priorities and standpoints of key industries on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Furthermore, with an emphasis on five key management science topics, the scientific concerns and strategic demands for these two carbon emission-reduction goals are clarified. The paper ends with theoretical insights on and practical countermeasures for actions, priority tasks, and policy measures that will enable China to achieve a carbon-neutral future. This study provides a complete picture of the research status on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, as well as the research directions worth investigating in this field, which are crucial to the formulation of carbon peak and carbon neutrality policies.
Pharmacologic inhibition of PARP is the primary therapeutic strategy for BRCA mutant ovarian cancer. However, most of patients carry wild-type BRCA1/2 with no significant clinical benefits from PARP ...inhibitors, calling for the needs to further understanding and developing new strategy when employing PARP inhibitors to treat ovarian cancer. Here, we show that ferroptosis, a form of regulated cell death driven by iron-dependent phospholipid peroxidation, is partly responsible for the efficacy of PARP inhibitor olaparib. Mechanistically, pharmacological inhibition or genetic deletion of PARP downregulates the expression of cystine transporter SLC7A11 in a p53-dependent manner. Consequently, decreased glutathione biosynthesis caused by SLC7A11 repression promotes lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis. Furthermore, ferroptosis perturbation results in significant resistance to olaparib without affecting DNA damage response, while boosting ferroptosis by ferroptosis inducers (FINs) synergistically sensitizes BRCA-proficient ovarian cancer cells and xenografts to PARP inhibitor. Together, our results reveal a previously unappreciated mechanism coupling ferroptosis to PARP inhibition and suggest the combination of PARP inhibitor and FINs in the treatment of BRCA-proficient ovarian cancer.
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•PARP inhibition promotes ferroptosis by repressing SLC7A11 in ovarian cancer.•Ferroptosis represents a critical mechanism mediating the efficacy of PARP inhibitor.•Olaparib-induced ferroptosis is independent of olaparib-induced DNA damage.•Olaparib combined with FINS is a promising strategy for BRCA wild-type ovarian cancer.
China has been experiencing fine particle (i.e., aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 μm; PM2.5) pollution and acid rain in recent decades, which exert adverse impacts on human health and the ecosystem. ...Recently, ammonia (i.e., NH₃) emission reduction has been proposed as a strategic option to mitigate haze pollution. However, atmospheric NH₃ is also closely bound to nitrogen deposition and acid rain, and comprehensive impacts of NH₃ emission control are still poorly understood in China. In this study, by integrating a chemical transport model with a high-resolution NH₃ emission inventory, we find that NH₃ emission abatement can mitigate PM2.5 pollution and nitrogen deposition but would worsen acid rain in China. Quantitatively, a 50% reduction in NH₃ emissions achievable by improving agricultural management, along with a targeted emission reduction (15%) for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, can alleviate PM2.5 pollution by 11−17% primarily by suppressing ammonium nitrate formation. Meanwhile, nitrogen deposition is estimated to decrease by 34%, with the area exceeding the critical load shrinking from 17% to 9% of China’s terrestrial land. Nevertheless, this NH₃ reduction would significantly aggravate precipitation acidification, with a decrease of as much as 1.0 unit in rainfall pH and a corresponding substantial increase in areas with heavy acid rain. An economic evaluation demonstrates that the worsened acid rain would partly offset the total economic benefit from improved air quality and less nitrogen deposition. After considering the costs of abatement options, we propose a region-specific strategy for multipollutant controls that will benefit human and ecosystem health.
The 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming below 2 °C and pursue efforts to even limit it to 1.5 °C relative to pre-industrial levels. Decision makers need reliable information on the ...impacts caused by these warming levels for climate mitigation and adaptation measures. We explore the changes in climate extremes, which are closely tied to economic losses and casualties, under 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming and their scenario dependence using three sets of ensemble global climate model simulations. A warming of 0.5 °C (from 1.5 °C to 2 °C) leads to significant increases in temperature and precipitation extremes in most regions. However, the projected changes in climate extremes under both warming levels highly depend on the pathways of emissions scenarios, with different greenhouse gas (GHG)/aerosol forcing ratio and GHG levels. Moreover, there are multifold differences in several heavily polluted regions, among the scenarios, in the changes in precipitation extremes due to an additional 0.5 °C warming from 1.5 °C to 2 °C. Our results demonstrate that the chemical compositions of emissions scenarios, not just the total radiative forcing and resultant warming level, must be considered when assessing the impacts of global 1.5/2 °C warming.
Emission factors of particulate matter （PM）, element carbon （EC）, organic carbon （OC）, SO2, NOx, CO, CO2, and ten ions （Na^＋, NH4^＋, K^＋, Mg^2＋, Ca^2＋, Fˉ, Clˉ, NO2ˉ, NO3ˉ, SO42ˉ） were estimated from ...the domestic burning of four types of commonly produced crop residues in rural China： rice straw, wheat straw, corn stover, and cotton stalk, which were collected from the representative regions across China. A combustion tower was designed to simulate the cooking conditions under which the peasants burned their crop residues in rural China, to measure the emission factors. Results showed that wheat straw had the highest emission factor for the total PM （8.75 g/kg） among the four crop residues, whereas, corn stover and wheat straw have the highest emission factor for EC （0.95 g/kg） and OC （3.46 g/kg）, respectively. Corn stover also presents as having the highest emission factors of NO, NOx, and CO2, whereas, wheat straw, rice straw, and cotton stalk had the highest emission factors of NO2, SO2, and CO, respectively. The water-soluble ions, K^＋ and Clˉ, had the highest emission factors from all the crops. Wheat straw had a relatively higher emission factor of cation species and Fˉ, Clˉ, NO2ˉ than other residues.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Next-generation metabolomics is becoming a powerful emerging technology for studying the systems biology and chemistry of health and disease. ...This mini review summarized the main platforms of next-generation metabolomics and its main applications in lung cancer including early diagnosis, pathogenesis, classifications and precision medicine. The period covers between 2009 and August, 2017. The major issues and future directions of metabolomics in lung cancer research and clinical applications were also discussed.
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