Nature has provided a fantastic array of enzymes that are responsible for essential biochemical functions but not usually suitable for technological applications. Not content with the natural repertoire, protein engineering holds promise to extend the applications of improved enzymes with tailored properties. However, engineering of robust proteins remains a difficult task since the positive mutation library may not cooperate to reach the target function in most cases owing to the ubiquity of epistatic effects. The main demand lies in identifying an efficient path of accumulated mutations. Herein, we devised a computational strategy (greedy accumulated strategy for protein engineering, GRAPE) to improve the robustness of a PETase from Ideonella sakaiensis. A systematic clustering analysis combined with greedy accumulation of beneficial mutations in a computationally derived library enabled the redesign of a variant, DuraPETase, which exhibits an apparent melting temperature that is drastically elevated by 31 °C and a strikingly enhanced degradation toward semicrystalline poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films (30%) at mild temperatures (over 300-fold). Complete biodegradation of 2 g/L microplastics to water-soluble products under mild conditions is also achieved, opening up opportunities to steer the biological degradation of uncollectable PET waste and further conversion of the resulting monomers to high-value molecules. The crystal structure revealed the individual mutation match with the design model. Concurrently, synergistic effects are captured, while epistatic interactions are alleviated during the accumulation process. We anticipate that our design strategy will provide a broadly applicable strategy for global optimization of enzyme performance.

Recent studies have shown that the high standard of living enjoyed by people in the richest countries often comes at the expense of CO 2 emissions produced with technologies of low efficiency in less affluent, developing countries. Less apparent is that this relationship between developed and developing can exist within a single country's borders, with rich regions consuming and exporting high-value goods and services that depend upon production of low-cost and emission-intensive goods and services from poorer regions in the same country. As the world's largest emitter of CO 2 , China is a prominent and important example, struggling to balance rapid economic growth and environmental sustainability across provinces that are in very different stages of development. In this study, we track CO 2 emissions embodied in products traded among Chinese provinces and internationally. We find that 57% of China's emissions are related to goods that are consumed outside of the province where they are produced. For instance, up to 80% of the emissions related to goods consumed in the highly developed coastal provinces are imported from less developed provinces in central and western China where many low-value-added but high-carbon-intensive goods are produced. Without policy attention to this sort of interprovincial carbon leakage, the less developed provinces will struggle to meet their emissions intensity targets, whereas the more developed provinces might achieve their own targets by further outsourcing. Consumption-based accounting of emissions can thus inform effective and equitable climate policy within China.embodied emissions in trade | regional disparity | multiregional input-output analysis A s the world's largest CO 2 emitter, China faces the challenge of reducing the carbon intensity of its economy while also fostering economic growth in provinces where development is lagging. Although China is often seen as a homogeneous entity, it is a vast country with substantial regional variation in physical geography, economic development, infrastructure, population density, demographics, and lifestyles (1). In particular, there are pronounced differences in economic structure, available technology, and levels of consumption and pollution between the well-developed coastal provinces and the less developed central and western provinces (2).In the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Change Conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, China committed to reducing the carbon intensity of its economy [i.e., CO 2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP)] by 40-45% from 2005 levels and to generating 15% of its primary energy from nonfossil sources by 2020 (3). In the meantime, China's 12th 5-year plan sets a target to reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 17% from 2010 levels by 2015 (4), with regional efforts ranging from a 10% reduction of carbon intensity in the less developed west and 19% reduction in east coast provinces. Thus, the regions that produce the most emissions and use the least advan...

a b s t r a c tChina's urbanization has been a notable global event. The National New Urbanization Plan (2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018)(2019)(2020) unveiled by the Chinese Central Government revealed a new path for urbanization that accommodated unique Chinese characteristics. The most notable aspect was the transfer from land-centered urbanization to people-oriented urbanization. Given that land urbanization was the key to the previous orbit, this manuscript aims to analyze the evolution and challenge for land-centered urbanization, and way forward for people-oriented urbanization in China. With increasing urban populations and expanding industrial activities, China has experienced vigorous land urbanization and an uneven population distribution pattern since 1978. Land-centered urbanization has created some economic and social benefits, but has also posed many adverse impacts. The issues of the loss of arable land, the phenomenon of "ghost cities," and the urban heat island effect have become critical challenges. Eight suggestions from two perspectives are recommended in this manuscript for achieving new-type urbanization in China. We should give priority to this issue of the citizenization of peasant migrants. Government, scientists, and the public can all combine to influence the development trajectories of China's new-type urbanization.

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With the aid of an empirical case study of the automobile industry in China, we explore how, under certain political^economic conditions, the investments of transnational corporations (TNCs) can be shaped to meet the state's objectives. We develop the concept of`obligated embeddedness' to capture the dynamics of this process. We show that foreign direct investment in the automobile industry in China is a type of market-led and embedded investment which is characterised by joint ventures and the follow-up network configurations. However, to achieve such obligated embeddedness on the part of TNCsöand for the state and its citizens to gain its benefits öthe state not only has to have the theoretical capacity to control access to assets located within its territory, but also the power actually to determine such access.

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An hourly dataset of automatic weather stations over Beijing Municipality in China is developed and is employed to analyze the spatial and temporal characteristics of urban heat island intensity (UHII) over the built-up areas. A total of 56 stations that are located in the built-up areas [inside the 6th Ring Road (RR)] are considered to be urban sites, and 8 stations in the suburban belts surrounding the built-up areas are taken as reference sites. The reference stations are selected by using a remote sensing method. The urban sites are further divided into three areas on the basis of the city RRs. It is found that the largest UHII generally takes place inside the 4th RR and that the smallest ones occur in the outer belts of the built-up areas, between the 5th RR and the 6th RR, with the areas near the northern and southern 6th RR experiencing the weakest UHI phenomena. On a seasonal basis, the strongest UHII generally occurs in winter and weak UHII is dominantly observed in summer and spring. The UHII diurnal variations for each of the urban areas are characterized by a steadily strong UHII stage from 2100 local solar time (LST) to 0600 LST and a steadily weak UHII stage from 1100 to 1600 LST, with the periods 0600-1100 LST and 1600-2100 LST experiencing a swift decline and rise, respectively. UHII diurnal variation is seen throughout the year, but the steadily strong UHII stage at night is longer (shorter) and the steadily weak UHII stage during the day is shorter (longer) during winter and autumn (summer and spring).

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