Has China's war on pollution reduced employment? Quasi-experimental evidence from the Clean Air Action.

The Clean Air Action implemented in China between 2013 and 2017 strengthened air pollution regulation to an unprecedented level, advancing the country's war against pollution. Although its effect on air quality improvement has been witnessed and evaluated, its influence on employment, which determines the overall desirability and efficiency of the policy, has remained unaddressed with reliable empirical evidence. We provide causal estimates of the aggregate effect of the Clean Air Action, one of the largest and most recent environmental programs in China, on labor demand. Utilizing the cross-city variations in regulatory stringency measured by the air quality targets, we adopt the difference-in-differences propensity score matching method to estimate the effect. We find that during the program's first two years, the Clean Air Action did not bring significant negative impacts on economy-wide employment or labor demand in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors. It also did not reduce employment in the more disaggregated sectors of mining, manufacturing, and utilities supply. These findings are robust across different econometric specifications. To explain our results, we examine the output effect and the substitution effect, and find that on the aggregate levels, the Action did not cause significant changes in the inputs of labor and capital as well as the elasticity of substitution but led to a significant drop in the total output. Possible explanations for these findings are discussed. Our study empirically reveals that the short-term negative impacts on the macro economy from the latest air pollution regulation in China are characterized by output reduction rather than employment shocks. It also potentially contributes to the timely evaluation of the causal effects of environmental policies in China and provides evidence-based suggestions for the adjustment of the ongoing regulation to achieve higher social welfare.

[Butterfly species diversity and its conservation in Wuyunjie National Nature Reserve, Hunan Province of China].

By using line-transect method, an investigation was conducted on the species diversity of butterfly in Wuyunjie National Nature Reserve, Changde City of Hunan Province from June 2008 to September 2010. Aiming at the main factors including plant species richness (D) , mean elevation (E) , average distance from stream/river (F), and human interference level (K) that affecting the species richness of butterfly in 31 segment-level transects in 4 line-transects, multiple regression analysis was made, and the diversity and similarity of the butterfly communities in the experimental zone, buffer zone, and core zone of the Reserve were compared. A total of 147 butterfly species were collected, belonging to 94 genera and 10 families, among which, 4 species was nationally conserved species. Multiple regression analysis showed that D, E, and K were the three most major factors affecting the distribution of butterfly. The species richness of butterfly had significant positive correlation with D (P < 0.01), and negative correlations with E and K (P < 0.05). The species diversity and evenness index of butterfly were higher in core zone than in experimental zone and buffer zone, dominance index was the highest in experimental zone, and a higher similarity index (0.526) was observed between buffer zone and core zone. To conserve the species diversity of butterfly in the Reserve, efforts should be made to protect the plant species richness, keep the natural forest succession, decrease the human interference properly, and tighten up the management of butterfly habitat.

Effects of sublethal doses of malathion on responses to sex pheromones by male Asian corn borer moths, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée).

We evaluated the sublethal effects of malathion treatment on the behavioral responses of male Asian corn borers, Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée), to their sex pheromones. Doses of malathion causing 1-50% mortality were topically applied to Asian corn borer male moths. The survivors were tested for behavioral and electroantennogram (EAG) responses to their sex pheromones. Sublethal doses of malathion affected males' ability to locate a pheromone source. In wind tunnel tests, male moths treated with sublethal doses of malathion took 2.5 to 12 times as long to take flight as control moths. Malathion-treated male moths were 60-96% less likely to locate a sex pheromone source than control moths. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the proportions of males performing each key stage were significantly correlated with the doses of malathion, but not with the time since treatment. Sensitivity and specificity of perception to pheromones in male moths were also disrupted by sublethal doses of malathion. The EAG responses of males treated with malathion decreased 0.13 mV on average compared with control moths. In addition, the ratios of pheromone components that elicited the largest responses shifted from approximately 5:5 to 1:9 (E/Z) and 9:1. We conclude that treatment with sublethal doses of malathion significantly reduced the likelihood that male Asian corn borers could successfully locate a normal female releasing sex pheromones.

[Scanning electron microscopic observations of Monochamus alternatus antennal sensilla and their electroantennographic responses].

With scanning electron microscope (SEM), this paper observed the shape, category, amount and distribution of the main antenna sensilla of adult Monochamus alternatus, and tested their electroantennographic (EAG) responses to the main volatiles of Pinus spp.. There were seven types of antennal sensilla, i. e., sensilla trichoid, sensilla basiconica, sensilla digit-like, sensilla rod-like, sensilla bottle-like, sensilla bud-like and sensilla chaetica, among which, sensilla trichoid and sensilla basiconica were the most abundant on the antenna surface, and each of them could be divided into three subtypes. Two subtypes of sensilla digit-like could also be observed. The II and III subtypes of sensilla trichoid and I and II subtypes of sensilla basiconica had deep longitudinal grooves on their surface, the typical characteristics of olfactory receptor. The comparison of the EAG response of different parts of Monochamus alternatus antennae to alpha-Pinene showed that each volatile and their compounds could provoke significant EAG responses of both females and males. The dose-response test showed that there was a certain rule in the EAG responses of M. alternatus.

[Management of extensive deep partial thickness burn wounds by dermabrasion during early postburn shock stage].

OBJECTIVE: To explore new methods for the management of extensive deep partial thickness burn wounds. METHODS: Fifty burn patients with extensive deep partial thickness burn wounds were randomly divided into two groups: A and B groups. The patients in A group (n = 30) were treated with dermabrasion while those in B (n = 25) with conventional tangential excision. The first operation time in A and B groups was 12.3 +/- 10.7 hours and 47.2 +/- 11.5 hours, respectively. The patients' urine output, heart rate and arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) were monitored. RESULTS: The mean one setting operation area in A and B groups were (65.5 +/- 19.4)% and (64.8 +/- 18.7)%, respectively. All the indices remained stable in both groups during and after the operation. Nevertheless, the burn wound healing time (20 days averagely) in A group was 10 days shorter than that in B group. The incidences of internal organ injury and bacteremia in A group were much lower than those in B group. Furthermore, the hospitalization cost in A group was decreased compared with that in B group. And the scar after wound healing was much less obvious in A group than that in B group. CONCLUSION: Dermabrasion during early postburn shock stage for the management of deep partial thickness burn wound had many advantages such as: easy manipulation, less injury to patients, lower infection rate, less complications and quicker burn wound healing.

[Effects of deltamethrin on pheromone perception in male Asian corn borer (Ostrinia furnacalis)].

To investigate the effects of deltamethrin on male Asian corn borer (Ostrinia furnacalis) to perceive sex pheromone, the electro-physiological and behavioral response of topically treated male Asian corn borer to sex pheromone were tested with EAG sets and wind tunnel. The results showed that the summit response of male moths to varied ratios of pheromone blends was at E/Z = 1/9, 5/5 and 9/1, which was similar to that of control, but the EAG values were only 0.25 mV to 0.45 mV, which were significant lower than control by 0.15 mV to 0.35 mV. The low threshold dose of pheromone for treated males to perception was 1 ng, and the highest was 10,000 ng, which was also similar to control, but low by 0.1 mV to 0.5 mV in EAG values. This suggested that deltamethrin mainly affected the sensibility of peripheral reception system, while the preliminary recognition to the ratio of pheromone blends by peripheral reception system are not disturbed heavily. In wind tunnel test, a relative higher amount of males shifted to response to pheromone with E/Z ratios of 7/3 from E/Z = 1/1 of control males, and keep on response at this level to blends with more E12-14: OAc. The lowest dosage of pheromone effectively elicited response of males also shifted from 10 ng to 100 ng, and the highest doses for response declined to about 50,000 ng from 100,000 ng of control, which might result in a narrower band of effective doses. It is suggested that the sublethal dosage of deltamethrin not only affected the sensibility of male moth to perceive the pheromone, but also affected the specificity of pheromone perception.