Asian honey bee (Apis cerana) is the most important Chinese indigenous species, while its toxicological characteristic against neonicotinoids is poorly known. Here, we combined physiological experiments with a genome-wide transcriptome analysis to understand the molecular basis of genetic variation that responds to sublethal imidacloprid at different exposure durations in A. cerana. We found that LC₅ dose of imidacloprid had a negative impact on climbing ability and sucrose responsiveness in A. cerana. When bees were fed with LC₅ dose of imidacloprid, the enzyme activities of P450 and CarE were decreased, while the GSTs activity was not influenced by the pesticide exposure. The dynamic transcriptomic profiles of A. cerana workers exposed to LC₅ dose of imidacloprid for 1 h, 8 h, and 16 h were obtained by high-throughput RNA-sequencing. We performed the expression patterns of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) through trend analysis, and conducted the gene ontology analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis with DEGs in up- and down-regulated pattern profiles. We observed that more genes involved in metabolism, catalytic activity, and structural molecule activity are down-regulated; while more up-regulated genes were enriched in terms associated with response to stimulus, transporter activity, and signal transducer activity. Additionally, genes related to the phenylalanine metabolism pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, and mTOR signaling pathway as indicated in the KEGG analysis were significantly up-related in the exposed bees. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of Asian honey bee in response to neonicotinoids sublethal toxicity, and could be used to further investigate the complex molecular mechanisms in Asian honey bee under pesticide stress.

Flupyradifurone (FPF) is a novel systemic nAChR agonist that interferes with signal transduction in the central nervous system of sucking pests. Despite claims that FPF is potentially “bee-safe” by risk assessments, laboratory data have suggested that FPF has multiple sub-lethal effects on individual honey bees. Our study aimed to expand the studies to the effects of field-realistic concentration of FPF. We found a statistically significant decrease in the survival rate of honey bees exposed to FPF, whereas there were no significantly negative effects on larvae development durations nor foraging activity. In addition, we found that the exposed foragers showed significantly higher expression of ApidNT, CYP9Q2, CYP9Q3, and AmInR-2 compared to the CK group (control group), but no alteration in the gene expression was observed in larvae. The exposed newly emerged bees showed significantly higher expression of Defensin and ApidNT. These results indicate that the chronic exposure to the field-realistic concentration of FPF has negligible effects, but more important synergistic and behavioral effects that can affect colony fitness should be explored in the future, considering the wide use of FPF on crops pollinated and visited by honey bees.

“Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets ” (referred to as the “Two Mountains Theory”) plays an important role in the process of controlling environmental pollution. This article introduces this practice with an example of pollution control in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin (LMRB). The research considers that the upstream and downstream countries can carry out water pollution control by imposing fines on enterprises that cause ecological damage and investing in pollution control resources. Firstly, the differential game model of pollution control by individual countries and international cooperation is established. Then, a differential game model of joint pollution control with compensation mechanism is established under the cooperation framework. Finally, the feedback Nash equilibrium of each state is obtained. The study shows that in the process of industrial pollution control by countries in the LMRB alone, due to the one-way externality of water pollution control, the more downstream countries are, the more resources will be invested in pollution control and the fewer fines will be imposed on enterprises that cause ecological damage. At the beginning stage of management, if more pollution control resources are input, fewer countries will participate in cooperation, and the fines for polluting enterprise would be less. When the amount of fines for enterprises is relatively small, the establishment of a river pollution compensation mechanism is not conducive to the input of pollution control resources. On the contrary, it is beneficial for the state to invest in pollution control resources. The coordinated development of economic development and ecological civilization construction is the core purpose of the “Two Mountains Theory”. Therefore, the case of the LMRB fully illustrates the feasibility of the “Two Mountains Theory” based on cooperation.

Nowadays, in the North China Plain (NCP), most counties and suburban rural regions are promoting the "coal to gas" program under the situation of strong government support of large and medium-sized centralized biogas production (CBP) projects. This paper is aimed at the CBP projects, focuses on rural residents’ “willingness to use (WTU)”, “willingness to buy (WTB)” and the influencing factors for WTU/WTB. Through the analysis of rural residents from Hebei and Shandong provinces that belong to NCP in this survey, we find that 85% of respondents support the CBP program and the WTB is 63.15 CNY/year per capita, which is much lower than the cost of rural CBP in existing survey regions. The participation of rural residents is not only a manifestation of personal and family characteristics; understanding of environmental knowledge, attitudes, and household energy practices are more important. These non-economic factors seriously affect WTU/WTB. Hence, it is necessary to appropriately increase the government revenue to such projects, strengthen government guidance and publicity, improve the environmental knowledge and attitude of rural residents and guide residents’ practice. Based on a fully understanding of residents’ consumption decision mechanism, we establish a financial support mechanism due to the demand response, adopt a correct calculation for financial support, such as a reasonable subsidy rate, and seek the greatest commonality of cost, financial support, and demand.

This study investigates the law, distribution characteristics, and changing trend of the coordinated development of China’s aging industry and regional economy, as well as the factors which influence the degree of coordination between the aging industry and economic development on the provincial level. In doing so, we construct a comprehensive evaluation index system of the aging industry and regional economy development, introduce an entropy weight coupling model, and measure the coupling and coordinated development level of the two systems using data of 31 selected Chinese provinces (municipalities) from 2009 to 2019. The spatial Dubin model is then used to empirically analyze the influencing factors and spatial effect decomposition of the coordinated development of the aging industry and regional economy. We reach the following main results: (1) China’s aging industry is developing unevenly, with substantial regional differences, but these differences have narrowed in recent years. (2) China’s regional economic disparities have widened. The eastern regions have the highest level of development, while the northeast region’s growth rate of GDP has declined since 2014. (3) The coordinated development of the aging industry and regional economy in one region of China has a positive impact on its neighboring regions, and all Chinese regions exhibits high–high, low–low agglomeration characteristics in terms of their degree of coordination. (4) A variety of socioeconomic and demographic factors affect the coordinated development of the aging industry and regional economy. An important implication of these findings is that, China should improve population structure, population quality, and economic development quality in order to achieve a high-level coordinated development of the aging industry and regional economy.

Currently, the Chinese government is promoting the transformation of clean energy in rural areas to reduce the consumption of coal to cope with the smog. It is mainly based on “coal to gas”. The development of biomass resources in agricultural areas is an alternative means of energy supply. In order to improve rural energy structure, we propose to upgrade “coal to gas” to “coal to biomass” derived from centralized biogas production (CBP) and straw-briquetting fuel (SBF). This study deals with the question of financing such projects. The public–private partnership (PPP) model is seen as a response that can mobilize social capital to finance investments in these new modes of production and energy supply in rural areas. Based on an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the two projects considered above, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was carried out with the assistance of experts in order to clarify the strategic choices which are more suitable for investors. First, we built a PPP strategic-decision model. The decision model was divided into four strategies (pioneering strategy, struggling strategy, conservative strategy and striving strategy) and two development intensities (conservative and proactive). We used this method to construct a SWOT–AHP model of the PPP strategy for CBP and SBF based on the investigation from the experts. The strategic-decision model identified that a pioneering strategy based on opportunity type is promised for SBF, while a more aggressive type strategy in struggling strategy is essential for the CBP. In order to encourage investors to adopt a positive and optimistic attitude towards the two projects, the public authorities have a role of guidance to ensure the mobilization of the social capital necessary for the construction of the projects.