Browsing by Author "Tang M"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Analysis of China’s Agri-food Imports In an Extended Gravity Model
    Shakur S; Tang M; Ngo T
    Since 2000, China has changed from a net exporter to a net importer of agri-food products to a point such that food security and agricultural trade balance are a major concern to Chinese authorities. This research estimated the effect of the ten explanatory variables that have impacted on China's accelerated food imports from 19 trading partners over 2000-2014. An extended gravity model that include economic, demographic, geographic factors and China's free trade agreements (FTAs) to 5 commodity groups separately, in addition to an aggregated data to allow a deeper understanding about the topic. Results from the research suggest that they all have varying but significant impacts on China’s agri-food imports. Agri-food imports to China are predicted to increase. For Chinese authorities to concentrate on own agricultural development and cost-effective trade with other
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    Natural Variation in Chromium Accumulation and the Development of Related EST-SSR Molecular Markers in Miscanthus sinensis
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2024-07-05) Nie G; Liu A; Ghanizadeh H; Wang Y; Tang M; He J; Feng G; Huang L; Zhang X; Tani E
    Soil pollution by heavy metals is a serious environmental concern globally. Hexavalent (VI) chromium (Cr) is one of the main pollutants causing groundwater and soil heavy metal pollution. Miscanthus sinensis is a C4 perennial grass species with a high level of heavy metal tolerance. This species can effectively remove Cr from soils and maintain desirable biomass production under Cr stress. This research aimed to characterize and compare Cr accumulation in 58 genotypes of M. sinensis and to develop Expressed Sequence Tag–Simple Sequence Repeat (EST-SSR) markers associated with Cr tolerance. The results show that the pattern of translocation of Cr in plants differed among the 58 M. sinensis genotypes following treatment of 200 mg/L of Cr6+; however, in most genotypes, the Cr was primarily accumulated in roots. A total of 43,367 EST-SSRs were identified, and 88 EST-SSR primer pairs corresponding to candidate genes involved in Cr accumulation in M. sinensis were selected for validation. Subsequently, 170 polymorphic loci generated from 24 validated EST-SSRs were used for the population structure and marker–trait association analysis. Based on a general linear model (GLM), a total of 46 associations were identified (p < 0.05), with 14 EST-SSRs markers associated with target traits. Among them, four genes related to ABC transporters, wall-associated receptor kinases, as well as two high-affinity sulfate transporters (ST), were identified under Cr stress (p < 0.05). The results of this study help to accelerate the screening across M. sinensis genotypes for desirable traits under Cr stress and provide a platform for M. sinensis genetic improvement and molecular-marker-assisted breeding.
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    The Active Role of the Internet and Social Media Use in Nonpharmaceutical and Pharmaceutical Preventive Measures against COVID-19
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-01) Xie T; Tang M; Zhang RJ; Liu JH
    During the COVID-19 pandemic, does more internet and social media use lead to taking more- or less-effective preventive measures against the disease? A two-wave longitudinal survey with the general population in mainland China in mid-2020 found that during the COVID-19 pandemic, internet and social media use intensity promoted the adoption of nonpharmaceutical and pharmaceutical antipandemic measures. The first wave of data (n = 1014) showed that the more intensively people used the internet/social media, the more they perceived the threat of the pandemic, and took more nonpharmaceutical preventive measures (e.g., wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and washing hands) as a result. The second wave (n = 220) showed firstly the predicted relationship between internet/social media use intensity and the perceived threat of the pandemic and the adoption of nonpharmaceutical preventive measures by cross-lagged analysis; secondly, the predictive effect of internet/social media use on the adoption of pharmacological measures (i.e., willingness to vaccinate against COVID-19) and the mediating role of perceived pandemic threat were verified. The article concludes with a discussion of the role of the internet and social media use in the fight against COVID-19 in specific macrosocial contexts.