Previous studies have suggested that bird populations in east Asia were less affected by Pleistocene climatic fluctuations than those in Europe and North America. However, this is mainly based on comparisons among species. It would be more relevant to analyse geographical populations of widespread species or species complexes. We analyzed two mitochondrial genes and two nuclear introns for all taxa of Pica to investigate 1) which Earth history factors have shaped the lineage divergence, and 2) whether different geographical populations were differently affected by the Pleistocene climatic changes. Our mitochondrial tree recovered three widespread lineages, 1) in east Asia, 2) across north Eurasia, and 3) in North America, respectively, with three isolated lineages in northwest Africa, Arabia and the Qinghai‐Tibet Plateau, respectively. Divergences among lineages took place 1.4–3.1 million yr ago. The northwest African population was sister to the others, which formed two main clades. In one of these, Arabia was sister to Qinghai‐Tibet, and these formed the sister clade to the east Asia clade. The other main clade comprised the North American and north Eurasian clades. There was no or very slight structure within these six geographical clades, including a lack of differentiation between the two North American species black‐billed magpie P. hudsonia and yellow‐billed magpie P. nutalli . Demographic expansion was recorded in the three most widespread lineages after 0.06 Ma. Asymmetric gene flow was recorded in the north Eurasian clade from southwestern Europe eastward, whereas the east Asian clade was rooted in south central China. Our results indicate that the fragmentation of the six clades of Pica was related to climatic cooling and aridification during periods of the Pliocene–Pleistocene. Populations on both sides of the Eurasian continent were similarly influenced by the Pleistocene climate changes and expanded concomitantly with the expansion of steppes. Based on results we also propose a revised taxonomy recognising seven species of Pica .

Background: Previous studies have revealed ethnic disparities in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS); however, the literature regarding aging-related patterns of disparities in MetS and its components remains limited. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 28,049 subjects, consisting of one Chinese race and three American races, 18–85 years of age, from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 1999–2018) of the United States, and the Guangdong Gut Microbiome Project (GGMP, 2018) of China. MetS was defined in accordance with the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. A modified sliding-window-based algorithm was used to depict the trajectories of the prevalence of MetS with increased age. Logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate associations between MetS and its components. Results: The prevalence of MetS increased non-linearly with age, with growth speed reaching its maximum at approximately 40–50 years. Chinese subjects exhibited a lower prevalence of MetS than non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, and Mexican Americans in all age groups. The two most prevalent components in Chinese subjects were reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (42.0%) and elevated blood pressure (49.5%), and elevated triglyceride levels (36.3–49.5%) and abdominal obesity (55.8–55.9%) in Americans. Before 40 years of age, the top two MetS-associated components were abdominal obesity and elevated triglyceride levels in all races, while after 40 years, the prominent associations between MetS and its components varied among the different races and age groups. Conclusions: Although racial disparities in the epidemic of MetS varied with increased age, abdominal obesity and elevated triglyceride levels were the top two MetS-associated components in all younger adults of different races.

With the development of rural tourism, the cooperation of villages has become very important. Identifying the status and importance of each village can contribute to better understanding of the integrated rural tourism management and sustainable rural tourism development. The research focused on 46 villages of Yesanpo scenic spot in China (39°35′-40° north latitude, and 115°16′-115°30′ east longitude). Integrating the method of Geographical Information System (GIS) and social network analysis, the spatial centrality and interrelation of each village in Yesanpo tourism destination were evaluated. The results showed that Xinggezhuang is the spatial core village of the whole 46 villages in Yesanpo tourism areas; Xinggezhuang, Nanzhuang, Zhenchang, Daze, Liujiahe and Zishikou are sub-core villages of the six tourism spots. Magezhuang, Ximagezhuang, Eyu, Zishikou, Daze, Shangzhuang, Zhenchang and Xiazhuang should be support of the core villages, which provide subsidiary services and connects with other nodes. The results also indicated that the study of the village centrality will contribute to build an integrated hierarchy structure and to provide sufficient basis for further development of rural tourism destination.

The difference between urban and rural development levels (URDL) and the deficiency of rural development level have become the weak points for China to achieve balanced and high-quality development. In order to reveal the changing trend of urban-rural differences in China over the years and provide a reference for the policy-making of the balanced development of urban and rural areas and high-quality economic development, this paper uses the United Nations Development Program-adjusted Human Development Index (HDI) calculation method to calculate the urban and rural areas, based on 1995–2017 national time series data and provincial panel data. On this basis, this paper uses the Logarithmic Mean Weight Divisia to decompose the dynamic changes of the difference of URDL and analyzes the spatial equilibrium of the change trend of the differences of URDL, supplementing the shortcomings of the existing literature which only focuses on income, education, and other local areas and lacks continuity and comparison. The research finds that 1. based on the time series analysis of the difference of URDL, this paper firstly proposes the “inverted U” curve for the difference of URDL in China, which shows that the difference of URDL in China has experienced a process from expansion (1995–2001) to high fluctuation (2001–2011) to continuous convergence (2011–2017). 2. From the factor decomposition effect of the difference of URDL, the difference expansion period is caused by the increase in the gap between the Health Index, the Education Index, and the Income Index. With the decline in the gap between education levels and life expectancy, the growth trend of China’s urban-rural gap has been suppressed, and it has entered a high platform period with relative small fluctuation. After 2011, benefiting from the large decline in income level gaps, China’s urban-rural difference has entered a period of convergence. 3. From the perspective of the spatial evolution characteristics of the gap of URDL, the overall coefficient of variation of the country has shown a downward trend. The degree of spatial equilibrium is gradually increasing, and the overall changes in the east, west, and northeast are the same as the overall trend of the country. The decline in the northeast is the largest, the west is the second, and the east is the least. The middle shows a slight upward trend, but the value of each year is always smaller compared with other regions. Generally speaking, the gap of URDL is relatively good in the middle and northeast, followed by the east, and there is still much room for improvement in the balance of the west.