Modern pollen-vegetation relationships along altitudinal vegetation belts in the Leigong Mountain of southwestern China

Understanding the distribution,dispersal,and correlation of modern pollen with vegetation in mountainous regions is essential for establishing accurate modern analogs for fossil pollen records.This study,conducted in Leigong Mountain on the YunnanGuizhou Plateau of southwestern China,involved the collection of 35 surface soil samples from diverse vegetation communities along an elevational gradient ranging from 1210 to 1875 meters.The results reveal a close correspondence between modern pollen assemblages and vegetation zones.Principal Component Analysis(PCA)results indicate that pollen assemblages can effectively distinguish between subtropical montane evergreen broad-leaved forest(SEBF)and subtropical montane deciduous broadleaved forest(SDBF).However,both SEBF and SDBF show significant overlap with subtropical montane evergreen-deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest(SEMF).Detrended Correspondence Analysis(DCA)results clearly distinguish the three vegetation zones,and the first axis of DCA shows a significant positive correlation with elevation(p<0.01,R=0.48).Discriminant Analysis(DA)successfully assigns 94.4%of the modern pollen samples to their respective vegetation zones.Pollen taxa such as Impatiens,Astertype,and Rosaceae exhibit significant indicative capabilities for the SEBF zone,effectively distinguishing this vegetation zone from others.Pinus and Alnus display overrepresentation in the Leigong Mountain region,while Quercus(D,deciduous-type)and Poaceae exhibit high representation in the SEBF zone.In the SEBF zone,both pollen diversity and richness are the lowest.Our study reveals the complex relationship between the richness and diversity of pollen and vegetation.The diversity and richness of tree and shrub pollen are found to be lower than those of the corresponding plants.The pollen-vegetation relationship elucidated in this study serves as a critical reference for reconstructing ancient environments from fossil pollen retrieved in this region.

A Brief Overview of the Development and Significance of Modern Scientific Medicine in China:Take Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College as an Example

Since the early 20th century,China has gradually established a clinical,educational,and research system centered around modern scientific medicine,which has now become the dominant force in China's medical and health system and services,with the construction and development of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College as the most prominent symbol.The scientific medicine in the new era requires close cooperation across multiple disciplines and fields to build a high-quality and efficient medical and health service system.It also involves combining the excellent traditional Chinese culture with Western medicine to explore a unique path of modern scientific medicine with Chinese characteristics.

Integration of traditional,complementary,and alternative medicine with modern biomedicine:the scientization,evidence,and challenges for integration of traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional medicine has garnered significant global recognition,with an estimated 80%of the global population using it.Therefore,it is essential to fully understand the integration of traditional medicines into current healthcare systems.This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the standard process to modernize traditional medicine scientifically in the context of modern biomedicine,further termed here as“scientization”.Specifically,we aim to summarize the advancements made in understanding the efficacy,effectiveness,and underlying mechanisms of herbal medicine.We also examined the transition from experience-to evidence-based medicine during acupuncture.Furthermore,we explore the development of universal safety and quality control standards.Finally,we discuss international trade and export markets for Chinese medical products.The development and integration of traditional medicine have allowed it to further improve human health,resulting in a more comprehensive health solution for the global population.

New Industrialization: Characteristics, System Development and Implementation Pathway

New industrialization in China, different from its past economic development pattern or patterns in developed nations, is the country’s theoretical innovation based on the positive and negative experiences of industrialization at home and worldwide. New industrialization has various novel characteristics, including new sources of efficiency, new factors of production, new organizational forms, and new constraints. In addition, it has certain particularities arising from modernization with Chinese characteristics. This article summarizes the characteristics of new industrialization from the perspectives of people-centered approach, quality-first concept, independent innovation, green low-carbon economics, digital-real integration, and open circulation. There are four systems for promoting new industrialization: A self-sustained scientific and technological system, a high-end advanced manufacturing system, a green low-carbon circular system, and a division of labor system with domestic and international circulation. The Chinese new industrialization proposes the pathway and policy measures considering the new global situation and the requirements of new goals of strengthening organization and leadership, reducing factor cost, accelerating independent technological innovation, smoothing domestic and international circulation, and optimizing competition environment.

Determinants of Modern Contraceptive Uptake among the Youth in Akuse Township in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality, Ghana

Background: Access to safe and effective contraception is crucial for sexual and reproductive health to be at its best. This allows improved pregnancy results and the avoidance of unintended births. Teenagers’ views on using contraceptives are influenced by the information available at their disposal. The study assessed the influential factors affecting the utilization of modern contraceptives among the youth in Akuse in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Methods: The data for the study were gathered from 378 consented youth aged 15 - 24 years using a quantitative cross-sectional study design and a well-structured questionnaire. Person’s Chi-Square test was adopted to measure the association between the outcome variable and selected independent variables. Logistic regression models were utilized to measure the odds of the factors influencing modern contraceptive use among the respondents. Results: The results of the study suggested a high knowledge level of contraceptives;however, the prevalence of utilization was low. The level of education and age were factors found to influence the uptake of contraceptives. A bivariate analysis to examine the association between selected socio-demographic variables revealed that educational level (p = 0.044), religious affiliation (p = 0.002), and ethnicity (p = 0.016) were statistically associated with modern contraceptive use among the respondents. All other tested demographic variables including the age groups, gender, marital status, and residential status proved otherwise at the observed p-values greater than the 0.05 threshold. Respondents who indicated staying with partners were 6.79 times more likely to use contraceptives compared to their counterparts staying with a parent, after controlling for all other covariates. Conclusions: Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that high contraceptive knowledge influences the choice of contraceptive preferred by the youth, and contraceptive use is also influenced by the advancement in age and educational level of the youth. It is however recommended that parents, guidance, and teachers be entreated to offer relevant and timely sexual information or education as these will most likely improve the uptake of modern contraceptives among the targeted population.

Overview of perspectives on cancer,newer therapies,and future directions

Theword“cancer”is associated with terrifying situations,and there is often an aggressive intent to cure.Uncertainty about survival and fear of disfigurement cause major turmoil in the minds of patients and relatives.Teamwork with multimodal care is the key to achieving satisfactory outcomes.Advanced imaging modalities have aided in early detection and derivation of optimal treatment plans.Although radical excision of tumors with neoadjuvant or concurrent chemotherapy/radiotherapy has long been the best management option,we have moved froma radical to a conservative approach.In advanced disease,the plan should be to provide supportive care and improve quality of life.Compassion and counseling play important roles.Nutritional support for correcting cancer cachexia is equally important during tumor excision.Newer therapies such as targeted therapy,stem cell therapy,and chemodynamic therapy are all focused on ensuring safe and efficient outcomes;however,the war against cancer continues to oscillate between hope and despair.

Frontier Progress of Landscape Character Assessment in China

The role of Landscape Character Assessment(LCA)at the level of territorial landscape governance spans both natural and social sciences.By analyzing the development history,research distribution,methods and applications of cutting-edge cases of LCA in China,the following conclusions are drawn:①the LCA research in China originated earlier than that in Europe,but has not yet been systematically applied to the implementation of urban and rural planning at all levels;②the fundamental theory of LCA in China has been well constructed,with three main research directions:technologyled,assessment-led,and assessment combined with other theories;③the development of LCA in rural areas is more mature than in urban areas,but the progress of research is uneven across regions;④the current research presents significant“bottom-up”academic characteristics,and there is an urgent need for government decision-making authorities and academia to jointly promote a“top-down”standardized governance mechanism to comprehensively promote the modernization of territorial landscape governance.

State,Communal,and Individual Identities in Iran

Cultural identity in Iran is comprised of four primary elements,each of which have proven to be highly resonant in the country political history.The vexing issue of modernity,and where individuals and collectivities are placed in relation to it,has been one of the most prominent of these elements of Iranian identity.A second constitutive factor has been the role of the state as a deliberate crafter of cultural,in turn directly influencing the salience,interpretation,extent,and direction of modernity,or its antithesis,in Iran.Equally defining has been the role and significance of religion,which has emerged as a marker of individual and collective,as well as political,identities.Nationalism,and its compelling impulse across Iranian society especially from the early 1900s and continuing until today,has also emerged as an integral and inseparable feature of Iranian identity.Together,these four elements―modernity,a culturally intrusive state,religion and religiosity,and nationalism―constitute fluid yet constant,sometimes complementary and sometimes competing,dimensions of Iranian identity.

Arnold Bennett’s Hotel Space and Modernity

Arnold Bennett is well-known for his regional novels that mainly represent domestic quotidian lives of his pottery town,especially the lower and middle class.However,his infatuation with the hotel space implicates his ambition to re-situate his characters within the parameters of hotel and create new types of characters,representing in new ways the subjectivity of characters and their relations with material space.Based on his hotel writing,this article intends to re-conceive the historical reasons of his obsession with hotel space and further probe the modernity deflected by his representation of domestic selves and modern public identities in hotel space.

China and the Changing Global Economic Order

A better understanding of China’s modernization presents an insight into a changing world.AS China has developed,so too has the global economy.For the past 200 years or so,the structure of the global economy was dominated first by the British empire,and more recently by the U.S.as the global economic hegemon.This system of center-and-peripheries is now decentering,with a diversification of networks and connections creating a multinodal system of value growth and circulation.

NARRATIVES BEYOND BORDERS

Today,the world is undergoing major transformations unseen in a century.As the international landscape becomes increasingly complex,telling stories of the Chinese path to modernization in a comprehensive,vivid,and precise manner becomes even more crucial because it affects China’s external development environment and international influence.

自信自立、开放包容、公道正义、合作共赢

The year 2023 was a year of progress and harvest for China’s diplomacy.Six highlights demonstrate distinct Chinese characteristics,style,and ethos,and speak to China’s enhanced international influence,stronger capacity to steer new endeavors,and greater moral appeal in the new era.In 2024,China’s diplomacy will focus on the theme of building a community with a shared future for mankind and comprehensively serve Chinese modernization as the top political priority of the new era,break new ground while upholding fundamental principles,bear in mind the big picture,and make new headway in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.

The Book Publishing and Analysis of Modern Peking University Library

The paper is based on literature search,introducing and analyzing the book publishing situation of modern Peking University Library from the perspective of the publisher being Peking University Library and its predecessor.It is pointed out that the majority of the book printing methods published by the modern Peking University Library are lead printing,and among the types of Chinese library classification,catalogue of library collections is the most common.

Other Cities’Distribution Institutions for Publishing Books in Modern Chinese Libraries:Taking Huating Bookstore,the Shanghai General Distribution Office of Modern Zhejiang Library,as an Example

Many modern Chinese libraries have established distribution agencies in other cities to distribute books published or sold on consignment.Huating Bookstore,which was once the Shanghai General Distribution Office of Zhejiang Library in modern times,is one of them.On the basis of a brief description of modern Zhejiang Library and its book publishing,as well as the overview of Huating Bookstore,the paper introduces and analyzes the ZPL Publishing Book Catalogue sent by Huating Bookstore,and the ZPL publishing and selling consignment books issued by Huating Bookstore.It points out that Huating Bookstore is a bridge between the ZPL located in Hangzhou and various retail ZPL publishing bookstores in Shanghai.Their production and sales relationship is a mutually beneficial one.

Viewing Chinese modernization and Its Requirements for Human Rights Protection from the Perspective of Human Development

Modernization,as a specific stage in the historical development of human society,possesses a multi-layered composite structure,with each layer playing both a promoting and inhibiting role in human development and dignity simultaneously.Chinese modernization is a strategic choice made based on lessons learned from various experiences of modernization processes in other countries,reflecting judgments on the benefits and choices on the values of human development and dignity in modernization.It values the promotion of the free and well-rounded development of all individuals as its standard,demanding the full realization of the positive effects of modernization on human development and the overcoming of its negative effects.Human rights,aiming to promote the free and well-rounded development of every person as the ultimate value goal,are not only an intrinsic structural element of the modernization stage but also a social normative tool that restrains the direction of modernization development,aligning closely with the values pursued by Chinese modernization.Chinese modernization poses dual requirements for human rights protection:on the one hand,it demands the affirmation and promotion of the positive effects of modernization on human development and dignity through human rights standards,and on the other hand,it requires the prevention and mitigation of the negative effects of modernization on human development and dignity through human rights standards.There exists a certain tension between these two dimensions,necessitating an appropriate balance and thereby presenting corresponding requirements for China’s approach to human rights protection.

Pioneering a New Realm of Human Rights Civilization in the Chinese Path to Modernization——An Overview of the Symposium on“The Chinese Path to Modernization and the Promotion of Free and Comprehensive Human Development”

On October 14,2023,a symposium themed“The Chinese Path to Modernization and the Promotion of Free and Comprehensive Human Development”was held in Changchun,Jilin Province,China.More than fifty experts,scholars,and researchers from national institutions and universities engaged in discussions and exchanges on human rights on the Chinese path to modernization,including the path,practice,knowledge systems,and civilization forms of human rights.This symposium played a significant role in advancing the construction of the disciplinary system,academic system,and discourse system of human rights in China.

The Historical Position and Value Dimensions of Human Rights Civilization

Human beings are the mainstay and the ultimate goal of civilization.The history of human civilization is a continuous struggle to realize the respect,liberation,protection,and development of humanity.Human rights are an achievement of humanity and a symbol of progress,and the human rights civilization is an important component of human civilization.Understanding and interpreting human rights from the perspective of human rights civilization means that human rights are not only a concept or an idea but also a grand historical and long-term social practice.Up to now,the development of human rights civilization has roughly experienced four awakening eras:initialization,revolution,popularization,and globalization.In terms of its value dimensions,it has the characteristics of progressiveness,diversity,commonality,inclusiveness,indivisibility,openness,and so on.The historical position of human rights civilization and the development of its value dimensions have shown to the world that human rights are the common wealth of humanity,and human rights belong to all mankind;human rights are historical,concrete,and developmental;the concept of human rights is constantly evolving,and its connotations and categories are constantly expanding;achieving the free and well-rounded development of every person is the highest value realm of human rights civilization.The Chinese modernization endows Chinese civilization with modern strength and opens up new horizons for human rights civilization.The new pattern of human rights civilization to be created by Chinese modernization not only possesses the common characteristics of human rights civilization but also enjoys Chinese characteristics based on its own national conditions,enriching and developing the diversity of human rights civilization for all mankind.

Based on the Advantages of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy, the Multiple Exploration of the Correlation between the Meridians and the Circulatory System of the Nervous System

The meridians,nervous system,and circulatory system are important components of tra‐ditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine.The meridians have a high degree of consistency with the distribution of the nervous and circulatory systems in modern medi‐cine,and are closely related in the process of disease treatment.Therefore,people often confuse the three.Based on the great advantages of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of nervous system and circulatory system diseases,the author has made diver‐sified exploration on its relevance in terms of origin,physiological anatomy,physiological function and clinical application.It is believed that meridians have their relative indepen‐dence,and the nervous and circulatory systems cannot completely replace meridians.However,meridians are closely related to the nervous and circulatory systems,and in clinical practice,meridians can be combined with the nervous and circulatory systems to guide the treatment of diseases.

Why Do the Imaginary and Imaginary Communities Emerge in Social Theory? National Imaginary in the Context of Globalization

The end of modernism questions reality and its theoretical description,and various attempts of postmodern rethinking of the social emerge-from denial,assertion of the disappearance of the social to its salvation through radical rethinking.Theorizing around the imaginary emerges and continues as a result of this rethinking.Cornelius Castoriadis,for example,absolutizes the concept of the imaginary,which,in his opinion,even contains the rational.Charles Taylor gives imaginary,though important,but limited role as a background knowledge.Speaking of the imaginary,one cannot,of course,ignore Benedict Andersen’s imaginary communities.According to Andersen,the“imagination”of a nation,like any other community,reflects not the fact that they are“invented”or“constructed”but that they are the result of human practice,that social reality is a socio-historical and cultural product.Nation differs from other communities in the style of representation,namely,the representation-understanding,first of all,of space and time.A specific moment in time is connected not only with the past and future,but also with the same moment in another time and space measurement.People in this case,communicate and socialize through books,newspapers,and national languages.Most importantly,the nation as an imaginary community opposes itself to other communities,distinguishes itself from them,and strives for autonomy.And the guarantee of autonomy is the sovereign state,the nation-state,therefore the nation is always connected with the state and the territory of the exercise of its monopoly right.That is,the nation is an imaginary community that is real only to the extent that it is correlated with the modern territorial state.According to the author,the transformation of the national imaginary under the conditions of globalization is characterized by the loss of attachment to the territory,by the fact that territoriality ceases to be the main,organizing principle of social life.Social practices are increasingly formed beyond borders,belonging to ethnicity,national identity is not determined by territory and citizenship.Despite this,we must not forget that globalization is not a finished project.The transformation of the national imaginary should be viewed not only as the emergence of new imaginary communities,whether national or transnational,but also against the backdrop of interaction and even struggle between traditional forms of social practices and new ones,as evidenced by the growth of ethnic conflicts and separatist movements.According to Appudurai,this is also a consequence of globalization processes.And how this confrontation will end,the question remains open.

Mastering Metaphors: A Possible Path to Understand Modern Poetry

Understanding modern poetry is a big problem for average readers because of all kinds of rhetorical devices filled with them,especially metaphors,which are hard for the readers to understand clearly.Thus,grasping metaphors would provide a possible solution to enhance the understanding of modern poetry.Based on the motivation to better understand modern poetry,the paper explores the 11 mechanisms of metaphors in modern poetry with examples in detail,i.e.,blending,mapping,frame shifting,image schema,conceptual integration,contextual grounding,inter-subjectivity,embodied cognition,recursiveness,juxtaposition,shape-moulding,by borrowing some concepts from Cognitive Linguistics,literary studies,and Rhetorics,which can be adopted as means and methods to understand modern poems.