Exploring resistance to change in Chinese children's sports schools: An analysis of multiple external and internal perspectives.

The development of sports in children is crucial. Unlike European and American sports clubs, China uses children's sports schools as its main form of competitive sports training. However, with the changing economy and mindset in China, this approach is facing challenges and is in urgent need of changes allowing the school and its internal staff to be more sustainable as they can adapt and survive in the overall market. This change means that such schools can no longer simply rely on government assistance but rather must be more in tune with the market economy and gain competitiveness. Zhangjiakou, China, one of the host cities for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, has a good overall sports atmosphere. Its municipal government attaches importance to sports development, including children's sports, with several children's sports schools that are typical of this study. Accordingly, seven Zhangjiakou sports schools were selected for investigation through field research and sampling. Moreover, the sources of resistance to change in Zhangjiakou children's sports schools were analyzed from multiple perspectives, including external politics and economy, internal group and individual perspectives, using data from questionnaires and in-depth interviews.

Discovery and biological evaluation of cholic acid derivatives as potent TGR5 positive allosteric modulators.

In this study, twenty-two novel cholic acid (CA) derivatives were designed and synthesized as potential Takeda G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) using structure-based drug design (SBDD). GloSensor cAMP accumulation assay was employed to assess the functional activity and allosteric mechanism of final compounds. Biological results showed that all target compounds were able to activate the TGR5 in the cAMP formation assay. Remarkably, compound B1, selective methylation of 7-OH in CA, exhibited 5-fold higher activity for TGR5 compared to that of CA. Moreover, B1 positively modulate the functional activity of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) in TGR5, indicating that B1 is a TGR5 PAM. On the other hand, 12-carbonyl derivative A1 displayed 7-fold higher potency for TGR5 relative to CA. Unexpectedly, compound A1 exhibited the same positive allosteric effect as B1, suggesting that A1 is a TGR5 PAM as well. Molecular modeling study revealed that 12-carbonyl in A1 and 12-OH in B1 formed H-bolds with the key amino acid Thr131, which are significant for TGR5 allosteric property. Taken together, we found two potent TGR5 PAMs A1 and B1 through SBDD, which could be used as lead compounds to further study TGR5 allosteric functionality.

[Precipitation variation reconstructed based on tree-ring width data for the past 399 years in the eastern Yinshan Mountains, China]. / åŸºäºŽæ ‘è½®å®½åº¦æ•°æ®é‡å»ºçš„é˜´å±±ä¸œéƒ¨è¿‡åŽ»399年降水变化.

Based on the tree-ring increment cores of Pinus tabuliformis collected from the eastern Yinshan Mountains, the tree-ring width chronology was developed. The correlation coefficients were calculated between the chronology and monthly mean temperature and monthly precipitation during the instrumental period of AD 1952-2007. The results showed that the highest correlation was found between the total precipitation from September of previous year to June of current year and the chronology (r=0.73, n=56, P<0.01). Based on the correlation, the September of previous year to June of current year total precipitation variation was reconstructed in the eastern Yin-shan Mountains during the past 399 years (AD 1619-2017). The reconstruction explained 54.9% of the variation in the total precipitation from September of previous year to June of current year for the calibration period (AD 1952-2007). Both the 'leave-one-out' cross validation and split-period validation showed that the model was relatively robust, with sufficient skills of estimation and high reliability. At the decadal scale, there were four wet periods (AD 1619-1663, AD 1705-1711, AD 1945-1963, and AD 1979-2017)) and four dry periods (AD 1734-1767, AD 1786-1814, AD 1839-1867, and AD 1888-1942) in the past 399 years. Among those periods, the AD 1979-2017 was the wettest period, and AD 1888-1942 was the longest dry duration with the driest period at the late 1920s. Results of power spectral analysis revealed cyclic fluctuations of precipitation series on 2-7 years and 125 years. In addition, the comparison with other reconstructions and spatial correlation analysis indicated that the reconstructed precipitation series well represented regional scale precipitation variation.

JSQE: Joint Surveillance Quality and Energy Conservation for Barrier Coverage in WSNs.

Barrier coverage is a fundamental issue in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Most existing works have developed centralized algorithms and applied the Boolean Sensing Model (BSM). However, the critical characteristics of sensors and environmental conditions have been neglected, which leads to the problem that the developed mechanisms are not practical, and their performance shows a large difference in real applications. On the other hand, the centralized algorithms also lack scalability and flexibility when the topologies of WSNs are dynamically changed. Based on the Elfes Sensing Model (ESM), this paper proposes a distributed Joint Surveillance Quality and Energy Conservation mechanism (JSQE), which aims to satisfy the requirements of the desired surveillance quality and minimize the number of working sensors. The proposed JSQE first evaluates the sensing probability of each sensor and identifies the location of the weakest surveillance quality. Then, the JSQE further schedules the sensor with the maximum contribution to the bottleneck location to improve the overall surveillance quality. Extensive experiment results show that our proposed JSQE outperforms the existing studies in terms of surveillance quality, the number of working sensors, and the efficiency and fairness of surveillance quality. In particular, the JSQE improves the surveillance quality by 15% and reduces the number of awake sensors by 22% compared with the relevant TOBA.

[Impacts of human activity on Bayin River runoff as revealed by tree rings in Qaidam Basin, China]. / åˆ©ç”¨æ ‘è½®æ­ç¤ºäººç±»æ´»åŠ¨å¯¹æŸ´è¾¾æœ¨ç›†åœ°å·´éŸ³æ²³å¾„æµé‡çš„å½±å“.

Evaluating the impacts of human activity on river runoff has important implications for regional water resource management. Here, we used seven tree-ring width chronologies to establish a regional mean tree-ring width chronology from the northern mountain of Delingha, Qaidam Basin. We conducted the correlation, moving correlation and regression analysis of regional mean tree-ring width chronology with runoff data from Bayin River gauge station. Then, we stimulated the June runoff of Bayin River from 1956 to 2002. The results showed that the highest correlation coefficient was found for June runoff (r=0.63, P<0.01), and their moving correlation coefficient decreased after 1986. Based on the stable relationship between tree-ring width chronology and the June runoff during 1956-1986, we built the reconstruction function, which was explained 50.8% of observed runoff. The stimulated runoff during 1987 to 2002 was significantly higher than the observed runoff (3.01 m3·s-1, P<0.001). These results indicated that human activity from the upper river had significant impacts on Bayin River runoff. Human activity should be considered as an important factor to protect security of sustainable water resource utilization for future water resource development and utilization in Bayin River region.

Specific response of earlywood and latewood δ18O from the east and west of Mt. Qomolangma to the Indian summer monsoon.

This study reports the earlywood and latewood δ18O time series from two hemlock sites located to the east (EQ) and west (WQ) of Mt. Qomolangma (Everest) in the Himalaya. The latewood δ18O series from both sites were highly consistent, whereas the earlywood δ18O values for the two sites show variations over the investigation period. Climate response analysis revealed that the dominant control on latewood δ18O values at both sites was the precipitation amounts of the middle/peak periods of upstream Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). However, for EQ- and WQ-Earlywood, the main controls were precipitation amounts during the early and middle phases of the upstream ISM, respectively. The upstream amount effect could have accounted for earlywood and latewood δ18O variance. Combined with moisture transport models, we found that source water incorporated into latewood at both sites was derived mainly from the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea during middle/peak ISM precipitation. However, during the early ISM, the high ridges of Mt. Qomolangma may block most of the moisture that originates from the Bay of Bengal, which results in a stronger signal of early ISM being recorded in EQ-Earlywood δ18O. The influence of the ISM on WQ-Earlywood is delayed until the middle ISM.

Temperature reconstruction and volcanic eruption signal from tree-ring width and maximum latewood density over the past 304 years in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.

This study presents a 304-year mean July-October maximum temperature reconstruction for the southeastern Tibetan Plateau based on both tree-ring width and maximum latewood density data. The reconstruction explained 58% of the variance in July-October maximum temperature during the calibration period (1958-2005). On the decadal scale, we identified two prominent cold periods during AD 1801-1833 and 1961-2003 and two prominent warm periods during AD 1730-1800 and 1928-1960, which are consistent with other reconstructions from the nearby region. Based on the reconstructed temperature series and volcanic eruption chronology, we found that most extreme cold years were in good agreement with major volcanic eruptions, such as 1816 after the Tambora eruption in 1815. Also, clusters of volcanic eruptions probably made the 1810s the coldest decade in the past 300 years. Our results indicated that fingerprints of major volcanic eruptions can be found in the reconstructed temperature records, while the responses of regional climate to these eruption events varied in space and time in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.

Tree-ring-based reconstruction of streamflow for the Zaqu River in the Lancang River source region, China, over the past 419 years.

Tree-ring width standard chronologies were created from juniperus przewalskii Kom data collected in the Lancang River Headwaters region. Statistical analysis results showed high correlation (r = 0.69) between the composite tree-ring chronology and instrumental streamflow records at the Xiangda Hydrological Station during the annual September-August interval. Streamflow of the Zaqu River in the Lancang river source region was reconstructed for the past 419 years. The model was stable and revealed 14 extremely dry years and 6 extremely wet years. The results showed relatively low streamflow periods occurred during 602-1614, 1633-1656, 1684-1697, 1712-1722, 1735-1753, 1817-1829, 1847-1861, 1874-1884, 1946-1959, 1961-1977, and 1990-2000. Relatively high streamflow periods occurred during 1615-1630, 1657-1678, 1698-1711, 1754-1783, 1803-1813, 1830-1840, 1862-1873, 1892-1909, and 1932-1945. Comparison with tree-ring based streamflow reconstructions and chronologies from surrounding areas provided a high degree of confidence in our reconstruction. The empirical mode decomposition analysis suggests the existence of significant periods with intervals of 2-4, 5-9, 11-16, and 26-50 years. Regional comparison indicated that our reconstruction was associated with large-scale atmospheric-oceanic variability, such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) index, Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) index, and East Asian monsoon variation. This research provides a useful foundation for water resource planning and management guidance in the Three-River Headwaters Region.

February-May temperature reconstruction based on tree-ring widths of Abies fargesii from the Shennongjia area in central China.

February-May temperature strongly affects ecological processes and socio-economics in central China, yet its long-term variability has not been thoroughly assessed due to the shortness of instrumental records. In order to improve the understanding of the regularities of temperature variability in central China, in this study, we present a new tree-ring chronology from the Shengnongjia Mountains in central China which provides a valuable 245-year record of temperature variability. The reconstructed temperature correlated strongly with February-May mean temperature records of the Fangxian meteorological station from AD 1958 to AD 2011, and the derived reconstruction explained 44.5 % of the instrumental temperature variation during this period. The study shows that this region experienced three warm periods and two cool periods, i.e., the major warm periods occurred in AD 1783-1806, AD 1879-1909, and AD 1975 to the present, whereas the cool intervals occurred in AD 1807-1878 and AD 1910-1974. This reconstruction could aid in the evaluation of regional climate variability in subtropical China.

Tree-Ring Dating of the Reshui-1 Tomb in Dulan County, Qinghai Province, North-West China.

Tuyuhun and Tubo were two important states that thrived in north-western China during AD 311-900 in parallel with the Han Chinese dynasties of Sui and Tang periods. The Reshui Tomb Cluster located in Dulan County of the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau is an important cultural relic of the Tuyuhun-Tubo age. The official excavations of the Reshui tombs were regarded as top events in archaeology in the 1980s and 1990s in China. The Reshui-1 Tomb is the largest one among the tombs in the area. Since its excavation, there have been debates on whether the owner of the tomb belonged to the Tuyuhun or Tubo ethnicity. Therefore, accurately dating the Reshui-1 Tomb has a critical place in studying the Tubo and Tuyuhun histories. We collected 7 discs and 11 increment cores of Qilian juniper (Juniperus przewalskii Kom.) from the exposed and fallen beams of the roof of the Reshui-1Tomb. The lengths of the 16 tree-ring records are between 69 and 152 years. Based on a previously developed master dating chronology using Qilian juniper samples from the eastern Qaidam Basin, the calendar dates of the 16 specimens were determined by the COFECHA program and visual dating procedure. The average inter-series correlation among the dated sample series is 0.696, indicating good quality of cross-dating. The year of the outermost rings is AD 715 for the 7 discs and 4 out of the 9 increment cores. Moreover, the ring-width variations of the samples are consistent with the existing chronologies from the region. The presence of late-wood of AD 715 in the samples indicated that the Reshui-1 Tomb was completed in late AD 715 or early 716, which means that the Reshui-1 Tomb was finished in the Tubo age. This date provides direct evidence for archaeologists to determine the owner's ethnicity and identify of the Reshui-1 Tomb.

Warming-Induced Decline of Picea crassifolia Growth in the Qilian Mountains in Recent Decades.

Warming-induced drought has widely affected forest dynamics in most places of the northern hemisphere. In this study, we assessed how climate warming has affected Picea crassifolia (Qinghai spruce) forests using tree growth-climate relationships and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) along the Qilian Mountains, northeastern Tibet Plateau (the main range of Picea crassifolia). Based on the analysis on trees radial growth data from the upper tree line and the regional NDVI data, we identified a pervasive growth decline in recent decades, most likely caused by warming-induced droughts. The drought stress on Picea crassifolia radial growth were expanding from northeast to southwest and the favorable moisture conditions for tree growth were retreating along the identical direction in the study area over the last half century. Compared to the historical drought stress on tree radial growth in the 1920s, recent warming-induced droughts display a longer-lasting stress with a broader spatial distribution on regional forest growth. If the recent warming continues without the effective moisture increasing, then a notable challenge is developed for Picea crassifolia in the Qilian Mountains. Elaborate forest management is necessary to counteract the future risk of climate change effects in this region.

[Responses of Pinus koraiensis tree ring cell scale parameters to climate elements in Changbai Mountains].

Based on the tree ring samples of Pinus koraiensis collected from the low altitude areas of Changbai Mountains, seven standard chronologies for tree ring width and cell scale parameters were constructed. Parts of the chronologies were chosen for the correlation analysis with the climate elements in 1959-2007 at Donggang meteorological station, and the changes of the correlations between tree ring indices and climate elements before and after 1988 in which the climate changed abruptly were discussed. In the seven standard chronologies constructed, cell number had the best correlation with tree ring width. Both precipitation and air temperature were the limiting factors for the growth of P. koraiensis, but the chronologies had better correlation with precipitation than with air temperature, mainly manifested in the significant correlation between the chronologies and the precipitation in previous September and current May and June. Comparing with tree ring width, cell size could reveal more climatic information, mainly manifested in the positive correlation between the chronologies and the air temperature in March and the precipitation in May, and the negative correlation between the chronologies and the air temperature in May. After the abrupt change of air temperature in 1988, the responses of cell size to climate elements had some changes, mainly manifested in the decreasing sensitivity to monthly climate elements and the earlier response time.

[Effects of tanycytes transplantation on the motor function score and rubrospinal motor evoked potentials of adult rats after spinal cord completely transected].

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether tanycytes be able to support the regeneration of completely transected spinal cord in adult rats. METHODS: Subcultured tanycytes was transplanted into completely T8 transected spinal cord using the untranslated completely transected rats as control. After transplantation the rubrospinal motor evoked potentials were recorded below the injury level at the end of 12th week, assistant by Basso-Beatie-Bresnahan locomotor rating scale and histology method. RESULTS: At the end of 12th week the total peak amplitude of rubrospinal motor evoked potentials (MD = 133.2 microV, P < 0.01) and BBB locomotor rating scale (MD = 5.0000, P < 0.01) were both significantly improved in cell transplanted group compared with that in the untranslated control group, while the latency of the first peak was shortened (MD = 0.061 ms, P = 0.040). HE staining showed more integrity in transected spinal cords in cells transplanted groups. CONCLUSION: Transplanted tanycytes can support the regeneration of transected spinal cords in rats.

[Relationships between Sabina przewalskii radial growth and climatic factors at upper timberlines in eastern mountainous region of Qaidam Basin].

Based on the investigation data of Sabina przewalskii tree-ring width at six sites at upper timberlines in eastern mountainous region of Qaidam Basin, the standard tree-ring chronologies of S. przewalskii were established. Cluster analysis indicated that there existed geographical differences in the radial growth of S. przewalskii among the sites. Higher similarity was observed between two northern sites, and among four central and southern sites. Climatic factors had different effects on the radial growth of S. przewalskii of the two clusters. The radial growth of S. przewalskii was positively correlated with the precipitation in current year's June at northern sites, and with the air temperature in previous year's November and current year's July at central and southern sites.

[Variations of Picea crassifolia tree-ring cell structure and their implications to past climate in eastern margin of Qaidam Basin, Northwest China].

Tree-ring samples of Picea crassifolia were collected from the upper tree-line in the eastern mountainous area of Qaidam Basin in Qinghai Province. The tree-ring width and the cell number and size of the tree-ring were measured, and the standard chronologies for the early-wood cell number, late-wood cell number, total cell number of tree-rings, maximum cell size, and minimum cell size were constructed. By using correlation analysis and the response functions between cell characteristic indices and 1970-2000 climate factors at Chaka meteorological station which was close to the sampling site, the relationships between P. crassifolia growth at cell scale and climate factors were discussed. The results showed that the early-wood cell number was positively correlated to the wintertime temperature from previous October to current March, while the late-wood cell number was positively correlated to the minimum temperature in previous November and December and to the mean temperature in current July and August. Both the early-wood and the late-wood cell numbers were negatively correlated to the precipitation in July, and the early-wood cell number was positively correlated to the precipitation in May. The chronology of maximum cell size of early-wood was positively related to the precipitation in February, while that of minimum cell size of late-wood was positivelyrelated to the precipitation in August. It was concluded that the cell number and cell size could not only reveal the information of temperature change, which was recorded by tree ring width as well, but also provide additional information of precipitation. Since different types of tree-ring indices contained different climate information, multiple aspects of climate change information could be extracted from different tree-ring indices of the same species at the same site, and the cell level tree ring characteristics had great potential to supply the information regarding past climate.

[Chinese pine tree ring width chronology and its relations to climatic conditions in Qianshan Mountains].

Taking Chinese pine in Qianshan Mountains as a sample, the tree ring width chronology including standard, residual, and Arstan chronologies was established. The results showed that the tree ring width of Chinese pine had a higher correlation with the temperature in May - July and in September - November, and significant positive correlations were observed between the tree ring width and the extreme minimum temperature in July and mean minimum temperature in September. The chronology had significant or very significant correlations with the extreme minimum temperature in December and next January, mean minimum temperature in January, annual precipitation, and the precipitation in April, May and last December. Chinese pine had stronger responses to the monthly/yearly water vapor pressure and relative humidity. The yearly and most monthly evaporation had negative effects on the growth, being most significant for the evaporation in April - July. The narrowed tree rings recorded by the chronology demonstrated the 30 times of extreme drought since 1 800. The growth of Chinese pine in Qianshan Mountains was also affected by the climate changes on global and hemisphere scales. There existed 11-, 23- and 50- year- common periodicity between the chronology and solar activity, and 10-, 20- and 45- year- common periodicity between the chronology and geomagnetic activity.

[Tree-ring width chronology of ancient Chinese pine in Shenyang City].

In this paper, a master tree-ring width chronology of ancient Chinese pine in Zhaoling of Shenyang was developed, which included three chronologies, i. e., Standard, Residual, and Arstan chronology. The chronologies had significant correlations with the extreme minimum temperatures in January and April, precipitation in February, and yearly water vapor pressure. They had strong responses to the water vapor pressures in April, May, September and October, and significantly correlated with RES chronology. The chronologies had higher correlations with yearly, April, May, June, September, October and November relative humidity, among which, the correlations with yearly and May relative humidity were significant. The yearly and most monthly evaporation had negative effects on Chinese pine growth, with significant correlations between chronologies and May evaporation, but positive correlations were observed between chronologies and January evaporation. The Chinese pine growth in Shengyang was also affected by the global and hemisphere temperature anomalies. There were 32 extreme drought years corresponded to the extreme narrow or narrow rings in the chronologies during 1700 - 2004. Solar activity in 1703 - 2004 and geomagnetic activity in 1868 - 2004 also affected the chronologies, with high correlations between sunspot number and geomagnetic sudden commencement for STD chronology and ARS chronology, respectively. There were 11 yr, 23 yr and 50 yr common periodical band between solar activity and Chinese pine chronologies, and 10. 5 yr, 20 yr and 45 yr common periodical band between geomagnetic sudden commencement and Chinese pine chronologies.

[Relationship between graded spinal cord injury and rubrospinal MEPs in rats].

AIM: To explore an accurate neurophysiological technique that demonstrates small functional differences after spinal cord injury and assesses therapeutic interventions. METHODS: A modified weight drop (WD) technique was used at T8 in rats to build graded spinal cord injury model. Rubrospinal MEPs were recorded at T13 epidurally to monitor spinal cord function in end week 4 after graded spinal cord injury. The efficacy of this techniques to monitor spinal cord function was compared to BBB locomotor rating scale and histologic evaluation. RESULTS: A characteristic peak complex of rubrospinal MEPs in sham-operated group consisted of 5-7 positive waves and 4-5 negative waves emerging after red nucleus stimulation. The summed peak to peak amplitude (for practical reasons, called peak amplitude) was (195.25 +/- 34.35) microV and decreased following spinal cord injury. The latency of the first peak (positive wave) was (1.57 +/- 0.15) ms and prolonged following spinal cord injury. Significant Linear relationship existed between the peak amplitude and the BBB scores (r = 0.79) and between the peak amplitude and the residual matter obtained from the section with maximum tissue damage( r = 0.87). The close relationship between the latency of the first peak and the BBB scores (r = -0.88) and between the latency of the first peak and residual matter (r = -0.86) were observed. CONCLUSION: Amplitudes and latencies of rubrospinal MEPs are very valuable parameters to demonstrate small function differences. Rubrospinal MEPs can be used as a reliable measure for motor function prognosis after spinal cord injury.