Beijing Municipal Government

A recent paper expands the well‐known geographically weighted regression (GWR) framework significantly by allowing the bandwidth or smoothing factor in GWR to be derived separately for each covariate in the model—a framework referred to as multiscale GWR (MGWR). However, one limitation of the MGWR framework is that, until now, no inference about the local parameter estimates was possible. Formally, the so‐called “hat matrix,” which projects the observed response vector into the predicted response vector, was available in GWR but not in MGWR. This paper addresses this limitation by reframing GWR as a Generalized Additive Model, extending this framework to MGWR and then deriving standard errors for the local parameters in MGWR. In addition, we also demonstrate how the effective number of parameters can be obtained for the overall fit of an MGWR model and for each of the covariates within the model. This statistic is essential for comparing model fit between MGWR, GWR, and traditional global models, as well as for adjusting multiple hypothesis tests. We demonstrate these advances to the MGWR framework with both a simulated data set and a real‐world data set and provide a link to new software for MGWR (MGWR1.0) which includes the novel inferential framework for MGWR described here.

Abstract Using data from 3212 enterprises in China's A‐share market during the 2007–2018 period, this paper investigates the relationship between green innovation (GI) and enterprise value by using ordinary least squares (OLS) and two‐stage least squares (2SLS) regression. We find that for every 1% increase in the proportion of the number of the enterprise's green patent applications, the enterprise value (Tobin's Q) will increase by 0.023. Moreover, GI still has a positive lag effect on enterprise value after 2 to 6 years. However, the positive effect of GI on enterprise value may only exist in young non‐state‐owned enterprises. At the same time, GI has better performance in heavy pollution industries and non‐high‐tech industries. Moreover, we prove that the improvement of profitability may be a mechanism for GI to affect enterprise value, with a mediating effect accounting for 26.1% of the total effect. The finding on the causal relationship between GI and enterprise value in this study is of great significance for further understanding of the practical value of GI and has certain reference value for the formulation of incentive policies for different industries and enterprises.

Abstract Using the data of Chinese listed enterprises in 2007–2020, we investigate the relationship between green innovation (GI) and enterprise reputation via OLS regression, IV‐Lasso, and random forest. Findings show that GI can improve enterprise reputation, and it has a significant positive lag effect. Additionally, we compare the different effects of green patent applications and approved green patents. A possible mechanism is that GI reduces the pollution emission of enterprises. GI also performs better in improving the reputation of coastal enterprises, state‐owned enterprises and large‐scale enterprises, and old enterprises. Our finding on the causal relationship between GI and enterprise reputation is of great significance in further understanding the practical value of GI activities, and it has certain reference value for the policy formulation of governments and decision making of enterprises.

Abstract Using 2016 data from the National Migrant Population Dynamic Monitoring, this article establishes a relationship network to describe migrant workers' interprovincial hukou transfer intention in China. Spatial analysis methods and the eigenvector spatial filtering gravity model are employed to examine the spatial pattern and determinants of the hukou transfer intention network. The results show that (a) most interprovincial migrant workers in China are less educated, middle aged, with middle‐ or low‐income levels, and job oriented, and their average interprovincial hukou transfer intention is 0.361; (b) there is significant network autocorrelation in the intention network, which presents a clustered and unbalanced spatial pattern where higher ranking intention flows from relatively less developed regions to more developed megacities; (c) provinces' hukou attractiveness to migrant workers demonstrates a random spatial pattern, but the hukou exclusion patterns are spatially concentrated: The north‐east provinces are hotspots, whereas several central and north‐east provinces are cold spots; (d) among geographical factors, distance exerts a negative influence on migrant workers' hukou transfer intention, whereas population size does not matter at origin or destination. Socio‐economic factors, especially disposable income, play the most significant role in impacting migrant workers' hukou transfer intention; and (e) as for individual factors, migrant workers' interprovincial migration is an economic decision based on family development: Those with more children, higher ratios of income to cost, or higher education levels are reluctant to transfer their hukous . Besides, the job and housing conditions of migrant workers are also closely related to their hukou transfer intentions.

Neo-liberalism has dominated policy formulation and implementation for three decades and been influential in reshaping urban housing provision in different countries. However, the nature and impact of neo-liberal housing policy developments are also affected by previous arrangements, the exact nature, timing and pace of policy change and by how governments and markets have responded to emerging global and local challenges. This paper examines neo-liberal urban housing reform and market development in China and focuses on market performance and government responses following initial reform. The era of neo-liberal housing policy has been associated with turbulence, market changes and unequal housing and asset distribution. Housing reform and regulation policies have changed frequently in response; and this maturation of the neo-liberal system has important implications for policy and the structure and operation of the market.

Probiotics are live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts, confer health benefits on the host. In this study, 13 strains of Bifidobacterium were isolated from three samples of breast-fed infant feces. The isolates were identified based on conservative gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. In vitro tests included survival under simulated gastrointestinal tract conditions, aggregation, hydrophobicity, intestinal epithelial cell adhesion, antimicrobial activity, and antibiotic resistance according to international guidelines for probiotics. The results suggest that B. bifidum, B. adolescentis, and B. breve had high adhesive ability compared with B. longum and B. catenulatum/B. pseudocatenulatum group strains. In particular, B. bifidum IF3-211 has a highest adhesion index (8273 ± 247 and 18,009 ± 1476 adhering bacteria per 100 HT-29 and Caco-2 cells, respectively), far higher than the two reference strains, B. lactis Bb12 and B. longum BBMN68. B. adolescentis IF1-11 showed highest autoaggregation (82.52 ± 0.24 %) and coaggregation (45.59 ± 4.16 %) with L. monocytogenes among isolates. In conclusion, B. bifidum IF3-211 and B. adolescentis IF1-11 showed promising characteristics as probiotic candidates that have good potential for application in food industry.

Root hairs create an enormous surface area to aid plants in nutrient and water acquisition, anchorage in the soil, and microbe interactions. Root hairs develop in two stages, including initiation and tip growth. Initiation occurs when a portion of genetically determined epidermal cells develop wall loosening and form a disc-shaped area of cell swelling. Tip growth happens after initiation when the root-hair “bud” elongates in a polarized fashion to eventually reach a tubular outgrowth with an apical dome (Grierson et al., 2014Grierson C. Nielsen E. Ketelaarc T. Schiefelbein J. Root hairs.Arabidopsis Book. 2014; 12: e0172Crossref Google Scholar). Polarized growth has been studied in several model systems, including the pollen tube and root-hair cells in plants, hyphae elongation in fungi, and axon extension in animal nerve systems. Calcium gradients and oscillations play a key role in controlling the direction and growth rate of these cell models. In all cases, however, the mechanism of calcium signaling has not been fully understood. In animal systems, some calcium channels have been identified that could mediate calcium fluxes (Akiyama and Kamiguchi, 2015Akiyama H. Kamiguchi H. Second messenger networks for accurate growth cone guidance.Dev. Neurobiol. 2015; 75: 411-422Crossref PubMed Scopus (14) Google Scholar). However, little is known about the Ca2+ transporters that mediate Ca2+ fluxes in plant cells. Recent studies have identified CNGC-type channels as essential for pollen tube growth and fertility (Frietsch et al., 2007Frietsch S. Wang Y.-F. Sladek C. Poulsen L.R. Romanowsky S.M. Schroeder J.I. Harper J.F. A cyclic nucleotide-gated channel is essential for polarized tip growth of pollen.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2007; 104: 14531-14536Crossref PubMed Scopus (208) Google Scholar, Gao et al., 2016Gao Q.F. Gu L.L. Wang H.Q. Fei C.F. Fang X. Hussain J. Sun S.J. Dong J.Y. Liu H. Wang Y.F. Cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 18 is an essential Ca2+ channel in pollen tube tips for pollen tube guidance to ovules in Arabidopsis.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2016; 113: 3096-3101Crossref PubMed Scopus (113) Google Scholar). Although a causal relationship between CNGCs and a calcium gradient in pollen tubes has yet to be established, these studies suggest that CNGCs may be a major group of channels involved in Ca2+ fluxes in plant cells. To identify the ion channels responsible for calcium influx at the tip of root hairs, we analyzed candidate transporter families and the expression patterns of individual genes. This approach led to the identification of Arabidopsis AT2G24610, which encodes cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 14 (CNGC14), as a highly expressed gene in roots. As a member of the CNGC family, the CNGC14 protein is predicted to contain six transmembrane domains, S1–S6, with a pore domain (P loop) between S5 and S6, and a C-terminal cyclic nucleotide-binding domain overlapping with a calmodulin-binding domain (reviewed in Ma and Berkowitz, 2011Ma W. Berkowitz G.A. Ca2+ conduction by plant cyclic nucleotide gated channels and associated signaling components in pathogen defense signal transduction cascades.New Phytol. 2011; 190: 566-572Crossref PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar). We examined the expression pattern of CNGC14 further by producing transgenic lines harboring CNGC14 promoter-GUS reporter. Histochemical analysis (Figure 1A) showed that CNGC14 was strongly expressed in root hairs and root meristem. Like many other CNGC channels, CNGC14 was localized in the plasma membrane as shown in the epidermal cells of Nicotiana benthamiana transiently transformed with 35S-GFP-CNGC14 fusion construct (Supplemental Figure 1). To determine AtCNGC14 function, we acquired and examined the phenotype of two different mutant lines of CNGC14. One was a T-DNA insertion line (SALK_206460), referred to as cngc14-1 here, which contained the T-DNA insertion in the seventh exon of the gene. The homozygous cngc14-1 lacked detectable CNGC14 transcript (Supplemental Figure 2), as analyzed by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). The other mutant is an RNA interference transgenic line expressing an artificial microRNA173 that targets CNGC14. This line, named cngc14-miR173, showed a drastically reduced level of CNGC14 transcripts and thus represented a severe knockdown line (Supplemental Figure 2). At the whole-plant level, both mutants exhibited normal growth and development throughout their life cycle when grown in the soil under normal greenhouse conditions. When the roots of wild-type and mutant seedlings grown on half-strength Murashige and Skoog medium (1/2 MS) in Petri dishes were examined, however, both the cngc14-1 and cngc14-miR173 lines had very short and sometimes branched root hairs without an apical dome, whereas they did not show defects at the root-hair initiation stage (Figure 1B). Interestingly, those short root hairs were observed when the mutant roots grew into the medium. If roots grew on the 1/2 MS medium surface (exposed to the air), we did not observe significant differences in root-hair length between mutants and wild-type plants. The short-root-hair phenotype of cngc14-1 could be complemented by expression of a transgene consisting of CNGC14 native promoter in front of its own coding region fused with YFP (Figure 1B). Furthermore, the YFP signals in the complementation lines were clearly observed at the plasma membrane of root hairs, especially on the apical dome (Figure 1C). When measuring root-hair growth, we found significantly shorter root hairs in cngc-14-1 and cngc14-miR173, but the plants harboring pCNGC14:YFP-CNGC14 in the cngc14-1 mutant background showed similar root-hair morphology to the wild-type (Supplemental Figure 2). Some CNGC members, including CNGC18, have been shown to conduct a Ca2+-permeable cation current when expressed in heterologous cells (Zhou et al., 2014Zhou L. Lan W. Jiang Y. Fang W. Luan S. A calcium-dependent protein kinase interacts with and activates a calcium channel to regulate pollen tube growth.Mol. Plant. 2014; 7: 369-376Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (98) Google Scholar, Gao et al., 2016Gao Q.F. Gu L.L. Wang H.Q. Fei C.F. Fang X. Hussain J. Sun S.J. Dong J.Y. Liu H. Wang Y.F. Cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 18 is an essential Ca2+ channel in pollen tube tips for pollen tube guidance to ovules in Arabidopsis.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2016; 113: 3096-3101Crossref PubMed Scopus (113) Google Scholar). We examined the channel activity of CNGC14 in Xenopus oocytes using the two-electrode voltage-clamp (TEVC) method. The TEVC recording showed that the oocytes injected with CNGC14 cRNA displayed large hyperpolarization-activated inward currents in the presence of 30 mM CaCl2, whereas the water-injected controls only showed negligible background current. It is well known that Xenopus laevis oocytes possess a calcium-activated chloride channel (CaCC), which is activated by elevated intercellular calcium. This CaCC activity has been used as a reporter for functional cloning of proteins that mediate calcium elevation (Hansen and Bräuner-Osborne, 2009Hansen K.B. Bräuner-Osborne H. Xenopus oocyte electrophysiology in GPCR drug discovery.Methods Mol. Biol. 2009; 552: 343-357Crossref PubMed Scopus (12) Google Scholar). We thus added a well-characterized CaCC inhibitor DIDS (300 μM) into the bath solution and found a strong reduction of the inward current (Figure 1D and 1E), indicating that the endogenous CaCC in Xenopus oocytes was activated, making up the major portion of the inward current recorded in CNGC14-expressing oocytes. The result suggests that CNGC14-mediated calcium influx triggers the intracellular calcium elevation, which in turn activates CaCC in the oocytes. To explore the ion selectivity of CNGC14, we found that Mg2+ but not K+, Na+, or Ba2+, elicited inward currents (Supplemental Figure 3). These results indicate that CNGC14 constitutes a calcium-permeable cation channel that has very different ionic selectivity from CNGCs in animal cells. This is consistent with results reported on other CNGCs in Arabidopsis (Gao et al., 2016Gao Q.F. Gu L.L. Wang H.Q. Fei C.F. Fang X. Hussain J. Sun S.J. Dong J.Y. Liu H. Wang Y.F. Cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 18 is an essential Ca2+ channel in pollen tube tips for pollen tube guidance to ovules in Arabidopsis.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2016; 113: 3096-3101Crossref PubMed Scopus (113) Google Scholar). However, under the whole-cell recording mode, the CaCC current interferes with analysis of the calcium current. Further detailed analysis of calcium influx through CNGC14 must be pursued using the macropatch recording procedure or using expression systems that lack CaCCs. Many studies (using a vibrating probe or fluorescence resonance energy transfer [FRET] sensor Cameleon 3.6) showed that a polarized Ca2+ influx at the root-hair tip was essential for generating an apical Ca2+ gradient required for tip growth (Schiefelbein et al., 1992Schiefelbein J.W. Shipley A. Rowse P. Calcium influx at the tip of growing root-hair cells of Arabidopsis thaliana.Planta. 1992; 187: 455-459Crossref PubMed Scopus (129) Google Scholar, Monshausen et al., 2008Monshausen G.B. Messerli M.A. Gilroy S. Imaging of the Yellow Cameleon 3.6 indicator reveals that elevations in cytosolic Ca2+ follow oscillating increases in growth in root hairs of Arabidopsis.Plant Physiol. 2008; 147: 1690-1698Crossref PubMed Scopus (193) Google Scholar). CNGC14 is localized to the plasma membrane of root-hair tips and mediates Ca2+ influx in Xenopus oocytes. We thus hypothesized that CNGC14 may be the missing channel that transports Ca2+ into root hairs to generate the apical Ca2+ gradient. To test this hypothesis, we crossed the transgenic plants expressing the FRET probe, Yellow Cameleon 3.6 (YC3.6) (Monshausen et al., 2008Monshausen G.B. Messerli M.A. Gilroy S. Imaging of the Yellow Cameleon 3.6 indicator reveals that elevations in cytosolic Ca2+ follow oscillating increases in growth in root hairs of Arabidopsis.Plant Physiol. 2008; 147: 1690-1698Crossref PubMed Scopus (193) Google Scholar), with the cngc14-1 mutant. Compared with wild-type plants, the mutant plants showed an altered pattern of calcium elevation in the root-hair tips. The amplitude of calcium elevation in the cngc14-1 mutant was about 50% of that in the wild-type. The frequency of oscillations also differed between mutants (4–6 peaks per min) and the wild- type (2–4 peaks per min) in elongating root hairs (Figure 1F). Combining all the results shown here, we conclude that CNGC14 is a calcium-permeable cation channel essential for apex-focused Ca2+ changes and therefore regulates the polarized tip growth of root hairs. However, we cannot exclude the possibility that other channels in addition to CNGC14 also contribute to the calcium influx responsible for root-hair growth. We show here that the calcium signals in the root hairs of cngc14 mutants are abnormal but not completely abolished. This abnormality in the Ca2+ signature, to our understanding, is significant, because it is linked to the extensive impairment of root-hair elongation in the mutants. Therefore, we conclude that CNGC14-mediated calcium influx is essential for the root-hair tip growth under the described conditions. A recent study by Shih et al., 2015Shih H.W. DePew C.L. Miller N.D. Monshausen G.B. The cyclic nucleotide-gated channel CNGC14 regulates root gravitropism in Arabidopsis thaliana.Curr. Biol. 2015; 25: 3119-3125Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (99) Google Scholar showed that CNGC14 is involved in auxin-dependent gravitropism. The GUS expression pattern (Figure 1A) shows that CNGC14 is indeed highly expressed not only in root hairs but also in the root apex where auxin-regulated root growth takes place. In this regard, another study (Rigas et al., 2013Rigas S. Ditengou F.A. Ljung K. Daras G. Tietz O. Palme K. Hatzopoulos P. Root gravitropism and root hair development constitute coupled developmental responses regulated by auxin homeostasis in the Arabidopsis root apex.New Phytol. 2013; 197: 1130-1141Crossref PubMed Scopus (97) Google Scholar) suggested that root-hair growth and gravitropism are both regulated by auxin and may be coupled to each other. It is tempting to hypothesize that CNGC14 is a critical component in auxin-regulated events in the roots. Further work is needed to dissect the mechanism of CNGC14 action in both gravitropism and root-hair morphogenesis, linking calcium signaling with auxin response. This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0300102-3) and National Natural Science Foundation of China grants 31270297, 31470356 (to L.-G.L.) and a grant from the National Science Foundation IOS1339239 (to S.L.).

The COVID-19 outbreak is a global pandemic declared by the World Health Organization, with rapidly increasing cases in most countries. A wide range of research is urgently needed for understanding the COVID-19 pandemic, such as transmissibility, geographic spreading, risk factors for infections, and economic impacts. Reliable data archive and sharing are essential to jump-start innovative research to combat COVID-19. This research is a collaborative and innovative effort in building such an archive, including the collection of various data resources relevant to COVID-19 research, such as daily cases, social media, population mobility, health facilities, climate, socioeconomic data, research articles, policy and regulation, and global news. Due to the heterogeneity between data sources, our effort also includes processing and integrating different datasets based on GIS (Geographic Information System) base maps to make them relatable and comparable. To keep the data files permanent, we published all open data to the Harvard Dataverse (https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/2019ncov), an online data management and sharing platform with a permanent Digital Object Identifier number for each dataset. Finally, preliminary studies are conducted based on the shared COVID-19 datasets and revealed different spatial transmission patterns among mainland China, Italy, and the United States.

BACKGROUND: China's fragmentation of social health insurance schemes has become a key obstacle that hampers equal access to health care and financial protection. This study aims to explores if the policy intervention Urban and Rural Residents Basic Medical Insurance (URRBMI) scheme, which integrates Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) and New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS), can curb the persistent inequity of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) and further analyses the determinants causing inequity. METHODS: Data were derived from the Fifth National Health Service Survey (NHSS). A total of 11,104 households covered by URRBMI and 20,590 households covered by URBMI or NCMS were selected to analyze CHE and the impoverishment rate from medical expenses. Moreover, the decomposition method based on a probit model was employed to analyse factors contributing CHE inequity. RESULTS: The overall incidence of CHE under integrated insurance scheme was 15.53%, about 1.10% higher than the non-integrated scheme; however, the intensity of CHE and impoverishment among the poorest was improved. Although CHE was still concentrated among the poor under URRBMI (CI = -0.53), it showed 28.38% lower in the degree of inequity. For URRBMI households, due to the promotion of integration reform to the utilization of rural residents' better health services, the factor of residence (24.41%) turns out to be a major factor in increasing inequity, the factor of households with hospitalized members (- 84.53%) played a positive role in reducing inequity and factors related to social economic status also contributed significantly in increasing inequity. CONCLUSION: The progress made in the integrated URRBMI on CHE equity deserves recognition, even though it did not reduce the overall CHE or the impoverishment rate effectively. Therefore, for enhanced equity, more targeted solutions should be considered, such as promoting more precise insurance intervention for the most vulnerable population and including costly diseases suitable for outpatient treatment into benefit packages. Additionally, comprehensive strategies such as favourable targeted benefit packages or job creation are required for the disadvantaged.

Deep brain regions such as hippocampus, insula, and amygdala are involved in neuropsychiatric disorders, including chronic insomnia and depression. Our recent reports showed that transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) with a current of 15 mA and a frequency of 77.5 Hz, delivered through a montage of the forehead and both mastoids was safe and effective in intervening chronic insomnia and depression over 8 weeks. However, there is no physical evidence to support whether a large alternating current of 15 mA in tACS can send electrical currents to deep brain tissue in awake humans. Here, we directly recorded local field potentials (LFPs) in the hippocampus, insula and amygdala at different current strengths (1 to 15 mA) in 11 adult patients with drug-resistant epilepsy implanted with stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG) electrodes who received tACS at 77.5 Hz from 1 mA to 15 mA at 77.5 Hz for five minutes at each current for a total of 40 min. For the current of 15 mA at 77.5 Hz, additional 55 min were applied to add up a total of 60 min. Linear regression analysis revealed that the average LFPs for the remaining contacts on both sides of the hippocampus, insula, and amygdala of each patient were statistically associated with the given currents in each patient (p < 0.05-0.01), except for the left insula of one subject (p = 0.053). Alternating currents greater than 7 mA were required to produce significant differences in LFPs in the three brain regions compared to LFPs at 0 mA (p < 0.05). The differences remained significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons (p < 0.05). Our study provides direct evidence that the specific tACS procedures are capable of delivering electrical currents to deep brain tissues, opening a realistic avenue for modulating or treating neuropsychiatric disorders associated with hippocampus, insula, and amygdala.

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are generally sensitive to oxidative stress caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Antioxidant enzymes, especially superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), can protect against ROS by eliminating superoxide and H(2)O(2), respectively. Lactobacillus rhamnosus is a valuable probiotic starter culture but is deficient in both SOD and CAT, and is thus likely to suffer from oxidative stress in industrial fermentation. To confer high level of oxidative resistance on L. rhamnosus , the SOD gene sodA from Streptococcus thermophilus and CAT gene katA from L. sakei were coexpressed in L. rhamnosus AS 1.2466. The enzyme activities of SOD and CAT were 147.80 ± 1.08 U/mg protein and 2.53 μmol of H(2)O(2) /min/10(8) cfu, respectively, in the recombinant L. rhamnosus CS. After incubation with 10 mM H(2)O(2), the survival ratio of L. rhamnosus CS was 400-fold higher than that of L. rhamnosus CAT. In long-term aerated conditions, viable cells of L. rhamnosus CS remained ∼10(6) cfu/mL after incubation for 7 days, while no living cells of the control were detected. These results showed that the cooperation between SOD and CAT could significantly enhance oxidative resistance in L. rhamnosus . To our best knowledge, this is the first report of two synergistic antioxidant genes being coexpressed in the same Lactobacilli.

While functional MRI (fMRI) studies have mainly focused on gray matter, recent studies have consistently found that blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) signals can be reliably detected in white matter, and functional connectivity (FC) has been organized into distributed networks in white matter. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether this white matter FC reflects underlying electrophysiological synchronization. To address this question, we employ intracranial stereotactic-electroencephalography (SEEG) and resting-state fMRI data from a group of 16 patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. We find that BOLD FC is correlated with SEEG FC in white matter, and this result is consistent across a wide range of frequency bands for each participant. By including diffusion spectrum imaging data, we also find that white matter FC from both SEEG and fMRI are correlated with white matter structural connectivity, suggesting that anatomical fiber tracts underlie the functional synchronization in white matter. These results provide evidence for the electrophysiological and structural basis of white matter BOLD FC, which could be a potential biomarker for psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Abstract Oscillations in cytosolic free calcium determine the polarity of tip‐growing root hairs. The Ca 2+ channel cyclic nucleotide gated channel 14 (CNGC14) contributes to the dynamic changes in Ca 2+ concentration gradient at the root hair tip. However, the mechanisms that regulate CNGC14 are unknown. In this study, we detected a direct interaction between calmodulin 7 (CaM7) and CNGC14 through yeast two‐hybrid and bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays. We demonstrated that the third EF‐hand domain of CaM7 specifically interacts with the cytosolic C‐terminal domain of CNGC14. A two‐electrode voltage clamp assay showed that CaM7 completely inhibits CNGC14‐mediated Ca 2+ influx, suggesting that CaM7 negatively regulates CNGC14‐mediated calcium signaling. Furthermore, CaM7 overexpressing lines phenocopy the short root hair phenotype of a cngc14 mutant and this phenotype is insensitive to changes in external Ca 2+ concentrations. We, thus, identified CaM7‐CNGC14 as a novel interacting module that regulates polar growth in root hairs by controlling the tip‐focused Ca 2+ signal.

We analyze the contribution of universities to innovative performance in China's manufacturing sector. Our empirical analysis is based on a matched data set comprising about 20,000 large- and medium-sized companies aggregated at the three-digit industry level and information on university knowledge output for 31 provinces between 1998 and 2004. We show that universities’ impact on commercial innovation varies with the type of activity performed and is contingent on the manufacturing sector's investment in absorptive capacity. In addition, our results confirm organizational theory stating that there is a complementary relationship between capabilities to acquire and assimilate external knowledge on the one hand and the capacity to transform and exploit this knowledge on the other.

BACKGROUND: MYC transcriptional factors are members of the bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix) superfamily, and play important roles in plant growth and development. Recent studies have revealed that some MYCs are involved in the crosstalk between Jasmonic acid regulatory pathway and light signaling in Arabidopsis, but such kinds of studies are rare in wheat, especially in photo-thermo-sensitive genic male sterile (PTGMS) wheat line. RESULTS: 27 non-redundant MYC gene copies, which belonged to 11 TaMYC genes, were identified in the whole genome of wheat (Chinese Spring). These gene copies were distributed on 13 different chromosomes, respectively. Based on the results of phylogenetic analysis, 27 TaMYC gene copies were clustered into group I, group III, and group IV. The identified TaMYC genes copies contained different numbers of light, stress, and hormone-responsive regulatory elements in their 1500 base pair promoter regions. Besides, we found that TaMYC3 was expressed highly in stem, TaMYC5 and TaMYC9 were expressed specially in glume, and the rest of TaMYC genes were expressed in all tissues (root, stem, leaf, pistil, stamen, and glume) of the PTGMS line BS366. Moreover, we found that TaMYC3, TaMYC7, TaMYC9, and TaMYC10 were highly sensitive to methyl jasmonate (MeJA), and other TaMYC genes responded at different levels. Furthermore, we confirmed the expression profiles of TaMYC family members under different light quality and plant hormone stimuli, and abiotic stresses. Finally, we predicted the wheat microRNAs that could interact with TaMYC family members, and built up a network to show their integrative relationships. CONCLUSIONS: This study analyzed the size and composition of the MYC gene family in wheat, and investigated stress-responsive and light quality induced expression profiles of each TaMYC gene in the PTGMS wheat line BS366. In conclusion, we obtained lots of important information of TaMYC family, and the results of this study was supposed to contribute novel insights and gene and microRNA resources for wheat breeding, especially for the improvement of PTGMS wheat lines.

The present study aimed to explore the effect of computerized multi-domain cognitive training (MDCT) on brain gray matter volume and neuropsychological performance in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (amnestic MCI). Twenty-one patients with amnestic MCI participated in a computerized MDCT program. The program targeted a broad set of cognitive domains via programs focused on reasoning, memory, visuospatial, language, calculation, and attention. Seventeen Participants completed the intervention and all completed a battery of neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive function while 12 out of 17 underwent 3 T MRI scanning before and after the intervention to measure gray matter (GM) volume. We examined correlations between the changes in neuropsychological scores and GM volumes across participants after the intervention. After training, we observed significant increases in GM volume in the right angular gyrus (AG) and other parietal subareas near the intraparietal sulcus (p < 0.05, FWE-corrected, 10000 permutations). However, we found no significant changes in neuropsychological test scores (p > 0.05). A correlation analysis revealed positive correlations between the changes in GM volume in the right AG and scores in the immediate recall component of the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) (r = 0.64, p = 0.024) and the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) (r = 0.67, p = 0.016). Our findings indicate that a computerized MDCT program may protect patients with amnestic MCI against brain GM volume loss and has potential in preserving general cognition. Thus, our non-pharmacological intervention may slow the rate of disease progression.

Abstract As the floating population has become a vital issue influencing China's economic and social development and aroused broad concern, many scholars have paid attention to the factors that influence settlement intentions of the floating population, while their spatial differences are usually neglected in extant studies. To rectify this situation, this study employs a multi‐scale geographically weighted regression model to investigate the spatial pattern of determinants on hukou transfer intentions of the floating population, based on the data of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2016. The results demonstrate that the effects of various determinants present different spatial patterns: part of significance pattern (the average residence time in destination cities, the ratio of rural hukou holders, the number of flows, the ratio of family income to family expenditure, the geographical location), the “East‐West” pattern (the ratio of self‐employed migrants, the average wage of employed workers), the “Southwest‐Northeast” pattern (the ratio of migrants in the secondary industry, the ratio of sharing town employees' social insurance, the ratio of floating population accompanied by children in destination cities, and the population density of municipal districts). Cities of different conditions should formulate different policies that are sensitive to their contexts.

This paper outlines a method for using the mathematics of fuzzy sets that is well suited to measure and characterize periurbanizing ( desakota) systems typical of China, Southeast Asia, and other areas experiencing rapid urbanization. Drawing on Kosko's ‘fuzzy hypercube’, we derive three distinct but interdependent measures: (1) extent of urbanization, (2) level of fuzziness, and (3) degree of entropy. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by using remote sensing data for Ningbo, China.

Abstract Interregional migration is a key issue affecting China's future pattern of urbanisation and regional development. In response to the phenomenon of network autocorrelation (NA) commonly found in migration networks, this paper combines eigenvector spatial filtering (ESF) with a negative binomial gravity model based on four‐stage panel data derived from censuses and population sampling surveys, and it analyses the factors that influenced China's interprovincial migration from 1995 to 2015. The results showed that (a) there is a significant spatial spillover effect in the interprovincial migration network. ESF can effectively capture NA in the data to reduce the model's estimation bias. The top 1.4% eigenvectors can extract high NA. (b) There is overdispersion in the interprovincial migration flows. A negative binomial regression gravity model is more appropriate for estimating the driving mechanism for migration than other models. (c) As with the initial variables of the gravity model, population size still exerts a great impact on both outflows and inflows. After considering the influence of NA, the effect of spatial distance is weakening. Additionally, economic, employment, social security, and educational factors are the main forces that are shaping the pattern of interprovincial migration. If the regional unemployment rate and average wages increase by 1%, the outflows and inflows increase by 0.351% and 0.502%, respectively; the coefficient of regional sex ratio at origin is also high, which has a close relationship with the migration motivations and gender differences in the employment market.

In China, rapid urbanization has increased the demand for urban land and intensified the conflict between limited land resources and urban development. In response, high urban density has been proposed to realize sustainable urban development. Achieving this goal requires an examination of the dynamics of urban density in China. Nighttime light (NTL) data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) are a good indicator of human activity. We applied NTL data to measure urban density in 70 major cities in China during 1992-2010. Based on temporal changes in NTL, we identified seven classes of urban density and clustered the distributions of urban density in 70 cities into six types. The dynamics of urban density were then obtained from the GDP density as an index of city development. The curves of urban density distribution gradually changed from a concave increase to W-shaped and S-shaped to a concave decrease, indicating that the current urban land use in China is unsustainable and that the shortage of land resources must be addressed. An examination of the distribution of urban density in Hong Kong revealed a different pattern and a potential solution for cities in mainland China.