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Some ancient Chinese paper artifacts dyed with amur cork tree bark extracts are currently preserved to different extents in museums and libraries worldwide. As traditional natural plant dyes, the long-term performance of the amur cork tree bark extract-dyed handmade paper has been questioned under a preserved environment. The photodegradation process of the extract-dyed papers was examined under accelerating artificial UVA irradiation conditions according to China national standard-paper and board- accelerated aging (exposure to light). Changes during aging were analyzed by optical observation and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), pH, and tensile strength and folding endurance tests. The results showed that the main components from extracted dyes played an important role in affecting the photodegradation properties of dyed paper. The changes in surface color, pH, morphology and mechanical properties after the artificial UVA accelerated degradation tests revealed that a suitable concentration of the extract dyes for maintaining the long-term irradiation stability of the paper is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore whether and how urban road transport (URT) development affects haze pollution. One of the innovations of this paper is that URT development is measured by road accessibility with novel digital elevation model datasets, which have been used by few scholars. The endogenous problem caused by revere causality issue in the relationship between URT development and haze pollution is also considered. Based on the panel data of prefecture-level cities of Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region in China from 2011 to 2018, this paper uses long-lagged values of URT development as the instrumental variable, employing the two-stage least squares (2SLS) method. The study shows that URT development leads to an increase of haze pollution. Moreover, mechanism tests based on moderating and mediating models support the finding that decreasing haze pollution resulted from better connection effects, while rising agglomeration effects tend to bring about increasing haze pollution, and the latter effect is larger in magnitude than the former. Current URT development may have long-term negative consequences for livability of YRD cities, and urban decision makers should reconsider the effectiveness of the current road transport investment and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with financial information, whether corporate social responsibility disclosure has impacts on debt financing cost has obviously become a heated topic in the academic. This paper selects A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets of China from 2013 to 2017 as sample to study the impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on debt financing cost, including bond financing cost and bank loan cost. In addition, this paper divides the sample into voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure group and mandatory corporate social responsibility disclosure group and studies whether the effects of voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure and mandatory corporate social responsibility disclosure on bond financing cost and bank loan cost are different. The empirical results are presented as follows: Firstly, enterprise disclosing high-quality corporate social responsibility report is more conducive to reducing the debt financing cost. Specifically, corporate social responsibility disclosure significantly lowers both the bond financing cost and bank loan cost. Moreover, the reduction impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on bond financing cost is greater than that of bank loan cost. Secondly, enterprises voluntarily disclosing corporate social responsibility reports are more conducive to reducing the debt financing cost than that of enterprises mandatorily disclosing corporate social responsibility reports. Thirdly, non-state-owned enterprises are more conducive to reducing debt financing cost than that of state-owned enterprise. The enterprises with more market competition are more conducive to reducing the debt financing cost than the oligopolistic enterprises. Finally, this paper concludes and gives policy implications. This paper amplifies the literature regarding the economic consequences of corporate social responsibility disclosure and improves the understanding of the impact of corporate social responsibility disclosure on debt financing cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's demand for paper products increases, China's paper industry faces enormous pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By using material flow analysis in combination with input–output analysis, this study measured the waste paper recovery rate in a more accurate method and analyzed the impact of waste paper recycling on the carbon emissions from China's paper industry. China's waste paper recovery rate estimated in this study was close to 70% in 2017, much higher than that of 48% obtained with the traditional method. The regression results displayed a negative relationship between waste paper recovery rate and CO2 emissions per unit of paper consumption during 2000–2017 in China. The rolling regression results further indicated that the impact of waste paper recycling was becoming stronger on reducing CO2 emissions per unit of paper consumption in China. Since an inverted "U" shape relationship exists between waste paper recovery rate and its reduction effect on carbon emissions from the paper industry, the regression results suggested that China's waste paper recovery rate has not reached the optimal level with regard to carbon emissions from China's paper industry. Thus, although China's waste paper recovery rate has reached a relatively high level, currently waste paper recycling is still an effective method to reduce carbon emissions from China's paper industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparing with cities, rural communities especially those declining rural communities have become vulnerable to natural disasters owing to their backward socioeconomic conditions. Taking Xun County of China's Henan Province as the study area, the paper aims to evaluate rural community resilience to flood by unveiling the connection between individuals' cognition, follow-up actions and the community resilience. Research results show that: (1) The logic chain exists as individual's cognition to disaster leads to their constructive actions to cope with disaster, which contribute to community resilience. (2) At the cognition dimension, individual's knowledge reserve of disaster prevention and their recognition to local authority are playing an important role in their decision making and follow-up behaviors when disaster occurs. (3) At the action dimension, individual's familiarity with the disaster preparedness, efficient information transmission when disaster occurs and villagers' following order and their unity of action all contribute to community resilience to disaster. The paper proposes ways to improve rural community resilience to disasters based on the research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud model similarity algorithm is an important part of cloud modelling theory. Most of the existing cloud model similarity algorithms suffer from poor discriminability, poor classification, unstable results, and low time efficiency. In this paper, a new similarity algorithm is proposed that considers the triangular cloud model distance and shape. First, according to the D T distance formula, a new exponential closeness measure is defined, with which the distance similarity of cloud models is characterized. Then, the shape similarity is calculated according to the variance of the cloud model cloud drops. Finally, the two similarities are synthesized to define a similarity algorithm for determining the distance from the D T distance formula and shape based on the triangular cloud model (DDTSTCM). In this paper, discriminability, stability, efficiency and theoretical interpretability are taken as the evaluation indices. Equipment security system capability evaluation experiment, cloud model differentiation simulation experiment and time series classification accuracy experiment are set up to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm in terms of the four above aspects. The experimental results show that DDTSTCM has good differentiation and excellent classification effects. In the classification experiment for the time series, the average classification accuracy of DDTSTCM reaches 91.78%, which is at least 2.78% higher than those of the other seven commonly used algorithms. The CPU running efficiency of DDTSTCM is also extremely high, and the average CPU running time of group training is always on the order of milliseconds, which effectively reduces the time cost. Finally, a case study is conducted to analyse a risk assessment problem for China's island microgrid industry, and the evaluation results based on DDTSTCM are in line with human cognition and have good value for engineering applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to evaluate the beneficiation plant environment in a more scientific and reasonable way, this paper took the workshop environment of the beneficiation plant as the research object. This paper divided the beneficiation plant into 7 evaluation units according to its functions. The evaluation indices are dust, noise, light environment, microclimate, benzene, toluene and xylene. This paper combines the G1 method and the entropy weight method to evaluate the weight of each evaluation index, the element extension model of the concentrator working environment is established by the element analysis method, and the matter element analysis method is used to establish an evaluation index system of a beneficiation plant in East China. The results show that the evaluation level of the breaking workshop and the auxiliary facilities are unqualified, the auxiliary facility is qualified, the culling workshop, culled yard and accessory building are medium, the screening workshop and grinding workshop are good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, there exists a huge debate for a long time on whether a double dividend, reducing pollution emissions and boosting employment, can be achieved by intensifying environmental regulations. In this paper, we use two data sets on provincial environmental legislation and Chinese manufacturing firms during 1998–2013, to estimate the impact of provincial environmental legislation on the firms' employment growth with a difference-in-difference (DID) model. Results showed that (1) after the implementation of environmental legislation, the employment growth of regulated manufacturing firms decreases significantly by 3.07%, and this result is robust to alternative tests. (2) Local environmental legislation reduces employment growth mainly via the influencing mechanism of the firm's entry and exit, export, and innovation. (3) The local environmental legislation has heterogeneous impacts on employment growth in different industries and different regions, and the estimated effect is more obvious in high-pollution industries and areas with strong enforcement. (4) Environmental legislation significantly improves job destruction and reduces job creation, resulting in a − 3.86% job net increase. Due to the long-term implementation of extensive economic growth mode, China's ecological environment has been deteriorating since the 1990s, and environmental pollution has attracted more and more social attention. Until 2013, the Communist Party of China put forward 'ecological civilization', and building a beautiful new China with harmonious coexistence between man and nature has become an important development strategy. Meanwhile, starting from the implementation of the Two-Control-Zone policy in 1998, China has implemented numerous environmental policies in just ten years. These environmental policies have greatly improved the quality of China's ecological environment, but their economic effects have been controversial. Given the special historical period, this paper helps assess the impact of Chinese environmental policies on employment and provides a more objective policy evaluation and implications for improving existing laws and regulations to achieve higher social welfare. To achieve this goal of balancing the improvement of the ecological environment and high employment level, environmental policies firstly should be flexible to ensure that the environmental standards follow the firm's characteristics and regional characteristics to avoid "one size fits all". Particularly, for regions with poor economic development or having a single industrial structure, the implementation cycle of the environmental policies should be extended to ensure that they have enough time to achieve industrial restructuring and complete the environmental protection goals. Secondly, we find that environmental legislation hurts employment growth by limiting export decisions, so the government should use multiple channels to stabilize export when implementing environmental legislation. Thirdly, technological R&D and innovation play an important role in the effect of environmental legislation on firms' employment growth. Therefore, the government should provide a more flexible environment for firms' R&D and innovation with appropriate fiscal policies and technical support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy shortage and excessive carbon emissions have become the main constraints to the sustainable development of China's logistics industry. Improving the efficiency of the logistics industry is crucial to promoting regional ecological environment protection and sustainable development of the logistics industry. In this paper, the efficiency of China's logistics industry in 2013–2019 is evaluated by using the non-oriented EBM model considering the unexpected output, and then the influencing factors of the efficiency of the logistics industry in the central region are analyzed by using the panel Tobit model. The results show that the logistics industry in the central region is at a low efficiency level. Factors, such as the level of economic development, industrial structure and technical level have a significant positive impact on the efficiency of the logistics industry in the central region, while factors such as government support and logistics infrastructure have a significant negative impact on the efficiency of the logistics industry in the central region. Finally, the paper puts forward some targeted recommendations for the sustainable development of the logistics industry in the central region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the historical context and current dynamics of the transboundary water issues between India and China. Both countries share multiple transboundary river basins, with the Brahmaputra River being one of the most significant. The importance of the Brahmaputra River to both nations goes beyond just providing resources. It has implications for national security, regional stability, and human livelihoods. However, China's upstream control over the river and its extensive dam-building projects have raised concerns in downstream India and Bangladesh about potential impacts on water availability, agriculture, and livelihoods. The river system is critical for the socioeconomic well-being of millions of people, yet the competing demands for water resources have led to geopolitical tensions. The paper highlights China's strategic use of water resources, including plans for large-scale dams, which India views as a potential threat to its water security. It also underscores the importance of a nuanced understanding of hydropolitics, emphasizing the need for human security, particularly water security, in addressing these challenges. It argues that while "water wars" are unlikely, "water tensions" are significant and must be addressed through comprehensive bilateral agreements and collaborative efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key scientific problem to be solved in this paper is the optimal development and utilization model and the economic evaluation model of China's land-phase shale oil and gas resources, and the purpose of the research is to promote the large-scale commercial development and utilization of China's shale oil and gas resources, and to safeguard China's oil and gas energy security and the sustainable development of the economy. The article proposes to adopt the small surface element volume method (oil content rate method) to evaluate the pure shale oil resources, adopt the Cobb–Douglas production function model as the optimization model to measure the boundary production capacity of shale oil and gas, construct the optimal development and utilization model for shale oil and gas resources considering the five first-level safeguard indexes, namely, science and technology (A), capital (K), talents (L), reserves (S) and ecological environment (E), and establish the basic constraint model for the optimal development and utilization of shale oil and gas resources. The basic constraint model, as well as the evaluation model of economic coefficients for the development and utilization of shale oil and gas resources were established. The pure shale oil resources are mainly calculated based on the movable oil content of shale. In the paper, the S1 of normal pyrolysis (300 °C) is regarded as movable oil, and the sum of S1 and evaporated hydrocarbon (light hydrocarbon) loss is the movable oil content of shale. The integrated geological-physical exploration-engineering comprehensive evaluation of China's land-phase shale oil-rich and high-yielding "sweet spot" is an important prerequisite for the realization of shale oil and gas resources to build production scale and effective development, and the least-squares method is used to estimate the average production function, the distance to the maximum value of the residuals, and the boundary capacity production function. The average production function and residual maximum distance are estimated by the least squares method, and the production function of the boundary capacity is derived, and the quotient of the boundary capacity and the actual capacity is calculated to get the capacity utilization rate, which can be used to analyze the potential of future shale oil and gas growth. The development of shale oil and gas resources in a target block requires comprehensive consideration of the first-level guarantee indicators such as science and technology (A), capital (K), talents (L), reserves (S) and ecological environment (E), as well as more than 10 s-level indicators and a number of third-level indicators, in order to ensure that the oil companies maximize their profits by organizing the development and production. The economic coefficient can be expressed as the ratio of economically recoverable resources to geological reserves. The larger the economic coefficient for the development and utilization of shale oil and gas resources is, the better the economy of the area is, and the larger the proportion of shale oil and gas resources that can be exploited. There is little special literature on the optimal development and utilization model of shale oil and gas resources and energy security among many research results at home and abroad. The evaluation of pure shale oil using the small surface element volume method (oil content rate method) and the construction of the boundary capacity calculation model, the optimal development of the basic constraints model and the economic evaluation model that we have determined, although they can not yet fully cover all the links and factors related to the development and utilization of shale oil and gas resources, are not yet fully covered by our research work. However, our research work has given the model more geological and economic theoretical connotations, and provided an economic basis and technical reference for the large-scale and commercial development and utilization of shale oil and gas resources as an effective alternative to oil imports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green manufacturing has become a necessary way to promote new industrialization and realize the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2012 to 2022, this paper constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system for the green manufacturing development level and introduces the TOPSIS- Gray correlation method to comprehensively measure the green manufacturing development level of China as a whole and the four major regions in the eastern, central, western, and northeastern parts of the country. The regional differences, distribution dynamics and evolutionary trends of China's green manufacturing development level are also explored with the help of the Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation and Markov chain methods. Research Findings: (1) The green manufacturing development level in China is on an upward trend, with an overall spatial distribution pattern of "East is superior and West is inferior". (2) There are regional differences in the green manufacturing development level in China, and the differences are widening, with interregional differences being the main reason for this overall difference. (3) The country as a whole, the central region and the western region are polarized to varying degrees, with the rest of the country showing an improvement in polarization. (4) Without considering spatial factors, the development of green manufacturing in each province experiences "club convergence" in the short term, and it is difficult to realize rapid development. Considering spatial factors, China's green manufacturing development level is generally characterized by "elevated in proximity to high levels and suppressed in proximity to low levels", and in the long run, it shows a distribution trend toward the concentration of high values. The findings of this study can provide new ideas for promoting synergistic efficient development of green manufacturing in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2016, China has progressively relaxed family planning policies to stimulate birth rates. This paper examines the behavioral health repercussions of China's 2016 universal two-child policy (UTCP) by analyzing sleep pattern data from China Family Panel Studies. Napping is a composite indicator that denotes health outcomes, job quality, and personal well-being. It reveals work conditions and environments to some extent. UTCP may lead to heightened social expectations regarding pregnancy likelihood, and changes in social expectations within the workplace may make work environments less equitable and more stressful for females. Leveraging a difference-in-difference model, this paper explores how napping behaviors among the working-age cohort have responded to the policy shifts. Our analysis reveals a gender discrepancy in response to the policy, specifically, females exhibit a discernible reduction in the likelihood of napping, as well as in the duration of both daytime naps and daily sleep. Conversely, such effects are not significant among males. These results suggest policy consequences extend beyond individuals directly impacted by childbirth or contemplating parenthood. Hence, while promoting fertility is still the government's goal, policymakers are encouraged to consider the broader challenges the female population faces from social and workplace environment factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The power industry's low carbon transition is pivotal for achieving carbon reduction and sustainable development. This study uses the super epsilon-based measurement (Super-EBM) model and the Malmquist index to evaluate the power industry's low carbon transition efficiency using data from 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2020, and utilizes the Tobit model to comprehensively analyze the factors affecting the low carbon transition of power industry. In addition, this paper examines the spatial differences in the power industry's low carbon transition efficiency as well as its distributional characteristics and dynamic evolutionary patterns. Conclusion is drawn as follows this paper analyzes the regional differences, spatial distribution characteristics and dynamic evolutionary trends of the power industry's low carbon transition. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The power industry's low carbon transition efficiency in China shows an uptrend, with the western China region having the highest overall level of efficiency, greater fluctuations in the central China region, and more stability in the eastern China region, technological progress is a central factor in increasing total factor productivity, the efficiency of the power industry's low carbon transition is positively influenced by the electricity prices, and negatively influenced by the energy structure, environmental regulations and economic structure; (2) the Intraregional differences and hypervariable density are the main reasons sources of the overall differences in the efficiency of the power industry's low carbon transition; Intraregional differences in the eastern, central, and western China regions are decreasing year by year, but the efficiency of the power industry's low carbon transition in the western China region is still distributed in a multipolar way; (3) The dynamic evolutionary trends of the efficiency distribution of the low carbon transition in power industry is influenced by the type of spatial lag in the neighboring area. Where areas with low efficiency makes it difficult to achieve short-term leapfrog development, and areas with a cluster of high-efficiency provinces are prone to "Siphon Effect". The findings provide a theoretical basis for promoting the efficiency of the power industry's low carbon transition and coordinating the strategic adjustment of economic and environmental green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of regional terrestrial water storage change (TWSA) is of great significance for water resources planning and management, and early warning of extreme climate disasters. Aiming at the problem that the conventional methods on prediction of TWSA time series are difficult to be accurate, the six typical regions are selected in China as examples, including the upper reaches of the Yangtze River (UYR), the southwest region (SWR), the Liaohe River Basin (LRB), the North China Plain (NCP), the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), and the Pearl River Basin (PRB). The mascon product from GRACE/GRACE-FO provided by CSR is used to extract TWSA time series in six typical areas. The improved Back Propagation (BP) neural network, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network and the latest Bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM-attention) neural network model based on attention mechanism are proposed to predict and analyze the regional TWSA. In the experiment, the selection of the optimal model parameters such as the number of hidden layer nodes and the number of hidden units of the neural network model is tested and analyzed in detail. Meanwhile, the model prediction results are compared with the traditional least squares method and random forest (RF) prediction method. The root mean square error (RMSE), determination coefficient (R2), Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient (NSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were used to evaluate the accuracy of the predicted results. The results show that the improved BP, LSTM and Bi-LSTM-attention neural network models all achieve higher prediction accuracy in UYR and SWR areas. RMSE is less than 2.641 cm, R2 is as high as 0.8 or more, NSE is above 0.6, and MAPE is within 0.1. Compared with the least square method, the RMSE of the predicted results from three neural network decreased by 0.998 cm, 0.700 cm and 0.7563 on average, and the R2 increased by 81.75%, 69.89% and 72% on average. Compared with RFML method, the RMSE from three neural network is reduced by 0.601 cm, 0.316 cm and 0.360, and R2 is increased by 38.20%, 24.60% and 27.06% on average. NSE and RMSE are improved to varying degrees in the above regions. It shows that the improved BP, LSTM and BiLSTM-attention model used can effectively predict TWSA. The research methods and results in this paper can provide important reference for the rational utilization of regional water resources and disaster risk assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yangtze River (hereafter referred to as the YZR), the largest river in China, is of paramount importance for ensuring water resource security. The Yangtze River Basin (hereafter referred to as the YRB) is one of the most densely populated areas in China, and complex human activities have a significant impact on the ecological security of water resources. Therefore, this paper employs theories related to ecological population evolution and the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) model to construct an indicator system for the ecological security of water resources in the YRB. The report evaluates the ecological security status of water resources in each province of the YRB from 2010 to 2019, clarifies the development trend of its water resource ecological security, and proposes corresponding strategies for regional ecological security and coordinated economic development. According to the results of the ecological population evolution competition model, the overall indicator of the ecological security of water resources in the YRB continues to improve, with the safety level increasing annually. Maintaining sound management of water resources in the YRB is crucial for sustainable socioeconomic development. To further promote the ecological security of water resources in the YRB and the coordinated development of the regional economy, this paper proposes policy suggestions such as promoting the continuous advancement of sustainable development projects, actively adjusting industrial structure, continuously enhancing public environmental awareness, and actively participating in international ecological construction and seeking cooperation among multiple departments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of environment in promoting happiness has been well known, but the impact of the government's ecological environment policy on residents' happiness remains to be explored. This paper uses the first batch of pilot policies for the construction of eco-civilized cities in China (Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guizhou) as a quasi-natural experiment to empirically study the impact of ecological civilization construction in China on residents' subjective well-being. Using the data from the China Household Finance Survey and difference in difference method, we find that Chinese ecological civilization construction has significantly improved the happiness of local residents. Mechanism analysis shows that the "happiness effect" mechanism of Chinese ecological civilization construction by improving household income, health level, and the living environment of residents. In addition, the "happiness effect" of Chinese ecological civilization construction shows group heterogeneity, and ecological civilization construction plays a larger role in promoting the well-being of residents of low-asset families, urban families, and families that own their own houses. Finally, the "happiness effect" of Chinese ecological civilization construction shows regional heterogeneity, and the construction of ecological civilization has a more striking effect on improving the well-being of residents in Jiangxi province and Guizhou province. According to the authors' knowledge, the present study is the first to study the impact of China's macroeconomic environmental policies on residents' happiness, and the present study contributes to the research on residents' happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become an extensive concern in biological and social research. As for urban–rural development, narrowing the disparities between urban and rural areas and leading to urban–rural integration is a tendency of urban–rural development worldwide and an inevitable way to create a sustainable human society. China is in a critical stage of significant challenges and opportunities with a scale and pace unique in history. Although some studies have begun to focus on sustainable urban and rural development, they have often neglected to assess issues related to rural areas. China has undergone the adjustment of rural structure and development policies, and the sustainable development of rural areas should be given enough attention. This study constructs a system of indicators related to rural public resources, aiming to assess whether there are distributional inequalities in spatial allocation. The calculations show that: (1) China's rural public resources allocation coefficient is stable at 0.2 to 0.3 at the national level. (2) Even under policy support, a significant decline rate change still occurs. (3) Western education resources are allocated relatively compared with eastern provinces, but resources are rarely in medical and social security. China has implemented a firm macro-control policy regarding resource allocation in rural areas. Furthermore, the government should continue to increase investment in human resources and public facilities to adjust regional differences. This paper analyzes the allocation structure of rural resources based on China's new policy theory. It has opened a new path in sustainable rural development governance and public resource allocation to provide constructive suggestions for sustainable rural development in China and other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In sedimentary basins, deep-seated overpressure conditions are frequently encountered. However, the precise origins of these overpressure conditions and the assessment of their formation times have long presented challenges. Previous studies have primarily relied on qualitative approaches to investigate overpressure origins, leading to substantial uncertainties in their findings. Based on theories such as the effective stress law, disequilibrium compaction, equilibrium depth, and nested fluid trapping containers in this paper, a new quantitative methodology is introduced for identifying the disequilibrium-compaction-induced origins of overpressure conditions. Additionally, the formation times of overpressure can be also estimated by nested fluid trapping container theory. This methodology is successfully applied to the northwestern Bozhong subbasin in the Bohai Bay Basin, China. The results indicate that the overpressure within the Dongying Formation of the northwestern Bozhong subbasin is primarily attributed to the disequilibrium compaction of mudstone, because the disequilibrium compaction of mudstone accounts for over 90% of the pressure in sandstone. Furthermore, the overpressure system in this area is not singular but comprises multiple nested relative fluid trapping containers. The application of nested fluid trapping container theory allows for an estimation of the overpressure's formation time, although further validation of these estimates is required. It should be noted that the method proposed in this paper is particularly suited for sedimentary basins with relatively weak tectonic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to enlighten current and future research trends on political connections by providing complete bibliometric mapping through network studies on political connections. Utilizing Biblioshiny, the Bibliometrics R package, multi-perspective research publications on political connections from 2003 to the third quarter of 2023 were discovered and analyzed. This bibliometric analysis provides valuable insights regarding current and future publications on political connections. The most prolific contributors, the most used keywords, the most productive countries and sources, the most cited publications, and the most productive sources of information are network analysis data about co-occurrence networks. The discourse revolves around issue mapping data on political connection studies. The search method used to find related literature is the Scopus database. This research contributes valuable information to help other researchers map ongoing and future investigations into political connections. This bibliometric analysis of 294 documents is the first regarding political connections known to researchers. This evaluation emphasizes annual publication trends, authors, publications, countries, organizations, and most productive sources, determining potential future research objectives. The research on political connections was published in early 2003. No papers were released on this subject for 3 years after 2003 (2003–2005), which shows that the growth of this academic field slowed down for ten years. There were significant changes in 2011, and many more linked papers have been released. Authors from the USA and China significantly contributed to the initial scientific journal papers on their political connections. Hong Kong, China, and Australia are recognized as leading nations in scholarly contributions to studying political connections. Chinese scholars spearheaded the collaborative publication effort focused on political connections, with the USA and Australian experts following suit. Based on indexed terms, political connections, sustainable development, and financial performance are trending keywords. These results show possible directions for further research into political connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How has China's privacy protection strategy been developed, with its broad scope and stringent requirements for data localization and cross-border data flows? What are the broader geopolitical implications of its divergence from Western models of data privacy? This paper argues that China's privacy protection strategy, characterized by its comprehensive regulatory framework and government access to data, is redefining the contours of global data governance and creating new geopolitical fault lines. Drawing on official documents, laws, regulations, and a case study, this paper highlights the evolution of the regulatory framework in response to emerging challenges posed by technological innovations and the wider geopolitical environment. This paper contributes to the broader discussion regarding the implications of China's privacy protection approach, highlighting potential normative clashes with countries that favor a more open digital economy. China's efforts in developing its own privacy protection strategy have also resulted in the formulation of global standards for data privacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection supervision is an important manifestation of ecological accountability system reform. Taking the implementation of China's central environmental protection inspection (CEPI) policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper applies the time-varying difference-in-difference (DID) model to identify the impact of the CEPI policy on the likelihood of enterprises' environmental violations. The main conclusions include: (1) the implementation of CEPI policy is conducive to inhibiting environmental violations. After a series of robustness tests, including the parallel trend test, the placebo test, the exclusion of policy interference, and the replacement of explained variables, the result remains robust. In terms of dynamic perspective, there is a lag in the impact of CEPI policy on enterprises' environmental violations. (2) The effect of CEPI policy is more prominent on samples of large enterprises, enterprises with highly concentrated equity, enterprises that polluted heavily, enterprises owned by executives with a political background, and enterprises that are situated in regions with higher level of marketization and more developed information infrastructure. (3) The CEPI policy can restrain the environmental violations of enterprises by a dual mechanism of releasing punishment and deterrence signals from the external governance, and forcing enterprises to enhance environmental management system from the internal governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrying out low-carbon economic cooperation under the belt and road initiative (BRI) is an important measure to actively respond to climate change and maintain global ecological security. With the continuous development of national strength, the Chinese government should actively fulfill environmental responsibility in the BRI economic cooperation. Existing studies have pointed out that the Chinese government can promote low-carbon economic cooperation in BRI through outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), and emphasized the significance of the Chinese government's participation. However, they have not revealed the relationship between China's environmental responsibility and the construction of a green BRI. To fill this gap, this paper analyzes the strategic choices and relevant influencing factors of the Chinese government, governments of countries along the BRI, and Chinese OFDI enterprises in the BRI low-carbon economic cooperation. Through parameter assignment and simulation, this paper draws the following conclusions: (1) The Chinese government should decide whether to take the initiative to fulfill environmental responsibility according to the economic development level of countries along the BRI; (2) The Chinese government fulfilling environmental responsibility is positive and effective for the responsible investment of Chinese OFDI enterprises; (3) The Chinese government fulfilling environmental responsibility can enhance the initiative of countries along the BRI to positive governance, but this enhancement is not last. More importantly, the environmental responsibility of the Chinese government is not simply to provide subsidies to countries along the BRI. Various measures must be taken by the Chinese government to fulfill its environmental responsibility in the BRI economic cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Durability is one of the technical bottlenecks restricting fuel cell electric vehicle development. As a result, significant time and resources have been invested in research related to this area worldwide. Current durability research mainly focuses on the single cell and stack levels, which is quite different from the usage scenarios of actual vehicles. There is almost no research on developing durability test cycles on the fuel cell system level. This paper proposes a universal model for developing a durability test cycle for fuel cell system based on the China automotive test cycle. Large-scale comparison tests of the fuel cell systems are conducted. After 1000 h test, the output performance degradation of three mass-produced fuel cell system is 14.49%, 9.59%, and 4.21%, respectively. The test results show that the durability test cycle proposed in this paper can effectively accelerate the durability test of the fuel cell system and evaluate the durability performance of the fuel cell system. Moreover, the methodology proposed in this paper could be used in any other test cycles such as NEDC (New European Driving Cycle), WLTC (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure), etc. And it has comprehensive application value and are significant for reducing the cost of durability testing of fuel cell systems and promoting the industrialization of fuel cell electric vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effective forecasting of energy consumption structure is vital for China to reach its "dual carbon" objective. However, little attention has been paid to existing studies on the holistic nature and internal properties of energy consumption structure. Therefore, this paper incorporates the theory of compositional data into the study of energy consumption structure, which not only takes into account the specificity of the internal features of the structure, but also digs deeper into the relative information. Meanwhile, based on the minimization theory of squares of the Aitchison distance in the compositional data, a combined model based on the three single models, namely the metabolism grey model (MGM), back-propagation neural network (BPNN) model, and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, is structured in this paper. The forecast results of the energy consumption structure in 2023–2040 indicate that the future energy consumption structure of China will evolve towards a more diversified pattern, but the proportion of natural gas and non-fossil energy has yet to meet the policy goals set by the government. This paper not only suggests that compositional data from joint prediction models have a high applicability value in the energy sector, but also has some theoretical significance for adapting and improving the energy consumption structure in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of global urban development, there are urgent ecological security and environmental pollution problems, green development is the fundamental way for urban sustainable development, economic transformation and mitigation of ecological and environmental problems. Based on the panel data of 283 cities at prefecture level and above in China from 2003 to 2017, this paper analyzes spatial–temporal evolution characteristics of urban green development efficiency (UGDE) and the peer effects of UGDE between cities of different grades. It is found that during the study period, in terms of temporal evolution, the average UGDE in China increased from 0.47 in 2003 to 0.61 in 2017, with a cumulative growth rate of 29.79%, showing a rising trend in general. In terms of spatial evolution, the number of low-efficiency cities and medium-efficiency cities continued to decrease. The eastern region has always been the main distribution area of higher-efficiency cities and high-efficiency cities; in the central region, UGDE in most cities improved significantly; in the western region, UGDE has always lagged behind that in the eastern and central regions. In addition, the center of gravity of UGDE presented a trend of northwest migration in general, with a total displacement of 100.07 km, and UGDE showed a spatial dispersion trend. The empirical results indicate that the improvement of UGDE in large cities has a driving effect on that in neighboring medium cities and small cities through the positive peer effect, and the growth of UGDE in medium cities has a promoting effect on that in neighboring small cities through the positive peer effect; the increase of UGDE in medium cities has a positive peer effect on that in neighboring large cities, and the growth of UGDE in small cities has a positive peer effect on that in neighboring medium cities; UGDE promotes each other between large cities through the positive peer effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the carrier of enterprise water resources management disclosure, water information disclosure is a means of expression of enterprises' environmental responsibility. First, a corporate water information disclosure quality evaluation index system and evaluation method are established, and with the help of the projection tracing method of accelerated genetic algorithm, 27 paper companies in China are selected as a sample and the disclosure quality level is analyzed empirically. Then, the analysis is carried out in terms of three changes in vertical trends, horizontal trends and changes in laws, regulations and policies, and the results show that Chinese paper and paper product enterprises have low quality of water information disclosure, weak disclosure content and low voluntary disclosure. Finally, feasible suggestions are made based on the evaluation of disclosure issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural yellow plant dyes and traditional medicines were used widely on historical papers in ancient China for religious reasons and conservation considerations. This study aims to evaluate some traditional yellow botanical sources of dyes that contain different chemical colorant compositions in order to understand their effects on the properties of traditional handmade paper. The physical and chemical changes in paper specimens treated with plant dyes were studied by examining properties such as the color, pH, thermogravimetric (TG) characteristics, tensile strength, folding endurance and microstructure by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that different colorants had different toning effects and that the main components, including carboxyl and ketone groups, could affect the paper stability at high temperatures. The results also revealed that the mechanical properties of paper specimens were improved after treatment with plant dyes. The significant improvements in the tensile strength and folding endurance and the slightly higher decomposition temperature of Amur cork tree-dyed paper could be ascribed to the strong interaction between the colorants' main components and the fibers. The scientific evaluation of the property changes is therefore valuable information for weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the various yellow toning materials for paper conservation treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the exogenous shock of China's formal implementation of the environmental information disclosure system in 2008 to construct a quasi-natural experiment. Based on the panel data of prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2019, the propensity score matching and difference in difference (PSM-DID) approach was used to systematically evaluate the impact of environmental information disclosure on energy efficiency. Overcoming the difficulties in measuring environmental information disclosure and the endogenous problem, this paper investigates the energy-saving effect of environmental information disclosure and illustrates its mechanism for the first time. The results show that environmental information disclosure significantly improved energy efficiency, and public participation played an important role in energy conservation, a conclusion that remained true after a series of robustness tests. The test of the impact mechanism shows that environmental information disclosure can achieve the goal of improving energy efficiency by promoting industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation. This paper enriches the discussion on the relationship between environmental information disclosure and energy efficiency, and provides useful policy inspiration for improving the level of energy efficiency and achieving sustainable economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the current status of research in the field of metaverse, and to analyze the research progress and evolutionary trends in this field. Methods: Based on the bibliometric analysis, a total of 921 papers were obtained by searching the Web of science core database for the keyword "metaverse". CiteSpace was used to visualize and analyze the current status and trends of metaverse research in China. Results: Ireland is currently the country with the highest research impact. China is currently the country with the largest number of publications in this field, but the impact of the research is insufficient. The current research in the highly cited literature focuses on technical and history reviews of the metaverse as well as its development in the field of education. Artificial Intelligence and utaut2 are the underlying clusters of cited literature in this research area. Several research hotspots have been formed, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, digital twins and artificial intelligence. Conclusion: The current research on metaverse in various fields is basically in its infancy, but has a great potential for future development and will gradually penetrate into many different directions with many challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the intricate interactions between heritage and religion in modern China, as well as the broader social and political implications of these interactions in relation to national heritage policies and local developmental practices. By conducting a longitudinal analysis of the social history of Baosheng Temple, this research traces its transformations over the past hundred years from a historically religious site to a local built heritage dedicated to preserving and displaying religious relics. This transformation highlights a shift in the role of religious relics from carriers of practice and thought to focal points for heritage preservation, aimed at supporting nation-building and, more recently, promoting local development through the tourism industry. These changes reflect continuous local responses to broader social transformations towards a modern nation-state as well as the influence of Western ideas and practices. The findings of this research illuminate the evolving values associated with religious heritage and the corresponding implications for Chinese modernity within a secular state context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to quantitatively calculate the critical depth and critical load of mines affected by rock burst, and to achieve effective prevention and control of rock burst in coal mines, this paper proposes a mechanical model for predicting the occurrence of rock burst in coal mine roadways based on catastrophe theory. Additionally, a theoretical calculation formula for initiating rock burst is derived. The first step was to establish a mechanical analysis model, which directly correlated with the in-situ stress, physical and mechanical characteristics of the coal-rock mass, and engineering structural parameters. Following this, a mechanical instability criterion was derived for the key load-bearing circle within the surrounding rock of the roadway. In the final step, the critical depth and load for rock burst initiation were verified for 25 distinct coal mines in China that were prone to rock burst hazards. The research results demonstrate that the discrepancy between the theoretically calculated critical depth and the actual measured statistical values was less than 35%. In addition, the difference between the theoretically determined critical depth and the value calculated by Pan Yishan was less than 32%. Notably, the ratio of the theoretically calculated critical load to the uniaxial compressive strength of the coal-rock mass ranged from 0.38 to 1.93. This aligns with empirical data on rock burst occurrences, as set out in the engineering classification standards for rock masses. These research outcomes substantiated the practical utility of the proposed theory, thereby laying a robust theoretical groundwork for the quantitative control of rock burst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the perspective of configuration, this paper takes the region of manufacturing efficiency as the explanatory variable, selects eight antecedent conditions, and applies fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to study the paths and methods of improving manufacturing emission efficiency. The results of the study show that there are two configuration paths of carbon emission efficiency in manufacturing industry, namely, research frontier and technological innovation level and labour force structure, R&D investment, science and technology innovation level, manufacturing output value, and environmental regulation synergistic path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring food security is not only vital to the adequate supply of food in the world, but also the key to the economic development and social stability of various countries. Based on the panel data of 29 provinces in China from 2016 to 2020, this paper selects the number of foodborne diseases patients and iodine deficiency disease patients as reference objects, uses stunting rate of children under 5 years old, malnutrition rate of children under 5 years old, obesity rate of children under 5 years old, and newborn visit rate to measure improving nutrition, proposes Meta Entropy Two-Stage Dynamic Direction Distance Function (DDF) Under an exogenous Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to measure the efficiency of hunger eradication, food security, and improving nutrition under the influence of exogenous variable rainfall. The research results indicate that the sustainability of China's agricultural economy is insufficient, and the focus of attention should be different in different stages. In addition, the average efficiency of the three regions generally shows a decreasing level in the eastern, western, and central regions. In order to improve China's ability to guarantee food security, we must continue to strengthen the construction of agricultural infrastructure, increase policy support for green agricultural production, promote the diversification of agricultural production, and enrich people's agricultural product consumption varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residents' participation is crucial for sustainable old neighborhood regeneration. Residents' intentions to participate in the regeneration are low in China, resulting in unsustainable neighborhood development problems. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the drivers of residents' participation. Residents' behavioral mechanisms are deeply embedded in their social networks, especially in acquaintance social networks typical of old neighborhoods in China. By constructing a mediated moderation model based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and danwei system and taking the old neighborhood regeneration in Xi'an as a case study, this paper investigates the paths and mechanisms of the social network embeddedness, TPB, and danwei system on residents' participation intention. The results show that social network embeddedness can improve residents' intention to participate in regeneration through both direct and indirect pathways, and its indirect effect is much larger than the direct effect. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control significantly and positively mediated the contribution of social network embeddedness on participation intention. However, the specific mediating effect of attitude is significantly smaller than the other two. The danwei system has a significant moderating effect in the first stage of the relationship between social network embeddedness and participation intention. These imply that the extrinsic social factor of social network embeddedness is internalized as a driving force for convergence and motivation of residents' participation intentions mainly through the normative pressure and exchange of experiences between acquaintances and that the danwei system reinforces this extrinsic-intrinsic facilitation process through the danwei's "physical presence." These findings provide revelatory countermeasures for exploring the factors that motivate residents to participate actively in neighborhood regeneration and encourage their involvement at the intervention level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, several expressways have been designed as prefabricated box culverts with hinge connections, which have different structural features from the prefabricated culverts in other countries. The difference would contribute to the culvert–soil interaction of prefabricated box culverts, which could affect the earth pressure on the culvert. Based on the field test and numerical simulation method, a hinged prefabricated box culvert (HPBC) with a span of 4 m and a rise of 4 m was investigated, which was applied to the Xi-Yu expressway in China. The objective of this research was to investigate the vertical earth pressure on the top slab of the HPBC culvert at different backfill heights through the field tests. The FLAC3D software was employed to conduct further analysis of the effects of backfill height, backfill modulus, and foundation modulus on the vertical earth pressure on the top slab of HPBC. The differences between the HPBC and monolithic box culvert (MBC) were also examined. Furthermore, a revised method for calculating the vertical earth pressure on the top slab was put proposed and compared with the AASHTO method for calculating earth pressure on the top of culverts and the values taken from the Chinese culvert design code. The proposed method is capable of improving the accuracy of the earth pressure approach, making it more representative of actual conditions. Subsequently, the sensitivity analysis of backfill height, backfill modulus and foundation modulus to the vertical earth pressure concentration coefficient of the top slab was carried out by using the principle of orthogonal array analysis and the modified calculation method proposed in this paper. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the determination of culvert top earth pressure of HPBC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the concept of the "middle technology trap" as a critical challenge for China in transitioning from a middle-income to a high-income economy. It argues that overcoming this trap is essential for China to achieve high-quality economic development and sustain its growth momentum. The study compares China's technological landscape with that of both developed economies and those stuck in the middle-income trap, identifying the necessity of transitioning from applied to original technology for economic leapfrogging. Through comprehensive analysis, it is highlighted that China's current technological capabilities, although leading in certain areas, predominantly remain at an intermediate level, characterized by a significant reliance on foreign core technologies and a lack of original technological innovation. The paper further explores historical contexts, policy implications, and strategic reforms required to navigate this trap, emphasizing the importance of an open policy, the cultivation of a robust innovation ecosystem, and the strategic role of government in facilitating technological progress and industrial upgrading. It draws on the experiences of developed economies and successful latecomers, advocating for a "new whole nation system" that embraces openness and global integration, rather than isolation. By analyzing the complex interplay between technology diffusion, talent migration, industrial policies, and the global geopolitical landscape, this study provides insights into the systemic reforms and strategic initiatives China must undertake. It stresses the need for a balanced approach between leveraging external technologies and fostering domestic innovation capabilities to escape the middle technology trap and secure a position as a global technology leader. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on technology-led development strategies and offer policy recommendations for economies facing similar technological and developmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was unearthed in 1978 at Leiguudun in Suizhou City, Hubei Province, China. This is the largest wooden coffin in rock pit and vertical cave in the Warring States period in China. The large wooden coffin components provide reliable material data for the study of the feudal burial system in the pre-Qin period and have high value. In this paper, the wooden coffin excavated from the tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng was studied. By understanding the composition of wood, studying the weight gain rate, shrinkage rate, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and compression resistance, the wood reinforced by rosin and epoxy resin was compared, and the reinforcement effect and principle of the two reinforcement methods were discussed. The study found that the wood properties of rosin reinforced group were better than those of epoxy reinforced group in the aspects of compressive strength, weight gain rate and volume shrinkage rate, and the mechanical properties of wood were significantly improved. In addition, methanol or ethanol can be used to dissolve the rosin shellac in this strengthening process, which can achieve reversible strengthening treatment. The results provide valuable examples and research ideas for the selection of different conservation techniques of large wooden cultural relics unearthed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the Warring States Period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining and improving ecological resilience is of great practical significance for the Yellow River Basin to reduce potential ecological risks and deliver sustainable development. Based on the essential characteristics of evolutionary resilience, this paper developed an ecological resilience index system of "resistance-recovery-reconstruction-renewal" and calculated the ecological resilience of 75 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2007 to 2021 with the improved TOPSIS method. Then the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of ecological resilience were analyzed using the gravity center-standard deviation ellipse, Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition, and spatial autocorrelation analysis. Furthermore, the dynamic spatial Durbin model (DSDM) was used to investigate the influencing factors of ecological resilience. The main results are as follows: (1) The ecological resilience of the Yellow River Basin showed an overall fluctuating upward trend, and the average annual growth rate in the downstream region was larger than in the upstream and midstream regions. (2) Cities with similar levels of ecological resilience were distributed in a "large settlement, small scattered" pattern. The center of gravity shifted to the southeast, and the spatial distribution exhibited a "northwest-southeast" pattern and a trend towards an "east–west" pattern. The primary source of spatial differences was the intensity of transvariation. (3) The ecological resilience in the Yellow River Basin showed significant spatial clustering, with the H–H clustering area shifting from the Hubao-Eyu urban agglomeration to the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, and the L–L clustering area mainly distributed around the Central Plains city cluster. (4) The ecological resilience of the Yellow River Basin exhibited significant snowball, spillover, and siphon effects in time, space, and space-time dimensions, respectively. In the short and long term, population density and openness significantly positively affected the ecological resilience of local and surrounding cities. Urbanization had a long-term effect on ecological resilience without a short-term effect. GDP per capita and industrial structure only imparted a significant positive influence on local ecological resilience. The negative spatial spillover of the intensity of financial investment in technological innovation gradually turned into a positive effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews a large number of scholarly articles in the housing field spanning the last thirty years, from 1993 to 2022 by implementing bibliometric analysis method. We examine scientific outputs, identify influential articles, journals, international collaboration and evolution of research trends. Keywords such as "Housing price," "Housing policy," "Affordable housing," "Homeownership," "Housing market," "Urban planning," and "Neighborhood" have been identified as the most prevalently cited terms during this period. Furthermore, the prominence of terms such as "China," "Gentrification," "Public housing," "Social housing," "Homelessness," "Migration," "Urbanization," "Energy," "Inequality," "Land use," "Gender," and "Foreclosure" have grown in importance, pointing to future research trends. The analysis also reveals that articles pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic predominantly address the comprehensive effects of the virus on aspects of mental and physical health, consumer behavior, and economic and societal challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of urban development, it is very important to evaluate the influence of production factors reasonably and efficiently for the region to achieve efficient development. The principal aim of this investigation is to amalgamate the conventional measurement model characterized by robust interpretability with the non-parametric model characterized by limited interpretability, thereby enhancing the precision of research outcomes. Towards this objective, the study employs an optimized directional distance function integrated with a global Malmquist–Luenberger index to formulate a comprehensive total factor productivity measurement framework. In elucidating the homogeneous attributes of regions, departing from prior methodologies reliant on manual or direct algorithmic partitioning, this paper employs the K-means clustering algorithm for index discernment, abstracting the concept of K-means clustering centroids to encapsulate regional homogeneity, thereby delineating results through the visualization of regional development potential maps and the evolution of centroid-based clustering trend maps. The findings of the investigation illuminate common patterns of change across disparate regions, proposing a strategy for leveraging regional resource endowments towards a cohesive framework, thereby transcending constraints imposed by production efficiency limitations. Amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study draws upon provincial-level data spanning from 2000 to 2018 in China. The conclusive analytical outcomes underscore the pivotal role of energy factors in regional development efficiency, particularly within high-potential development regions, followed by the capital and labor factors. Concurrently, the study discerns a discernible hierarchical pattern among areas of development potential, which exhibits correlation with factor mobility dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional Chinese settlements (TCSs) embody millennia of human and cultural history, with the core culture serving as their essence. However, any damage incurred by these TCSs can result in the loss of core culture. In the era of China's digital transformation, there has recently been a significant push toward digital reforms within TCSs. Thus, this paper introduces a traditional settlement digitalization (TSD) framework with a specific focus on enhancing the preservation of TCS landscape gene through the perspective of landscape gene information chain theory. This research uses the Nanxun traditional settlement (TS), Huzhou, Zhejiang, China, the first TS listed as a World Cultural Heritage Site in China, as a case study, extracting and identifying the area landscape gene and digital visualization status. This article identifies the landscape gene information chain of the Nanxun TS and redesigns its digital visualization and application scheme under the TSD framework. This study reveals the notion of a digital landscape gene characterized by four key attributes: identical, interactive, immersive, and intelligent. The results of this study will help guide the sustainable protection, application and planning of the Nanxun TS and promote the study of other sections of landscape gene theory. This research not only contributes to the development of landscape gene information chain theory but also provides guidance for the digital transformation of other TCSs and cultural heritage sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water conservation has become a global problem as the population increases. In many densely populated cities in China, leaks from century-old pipe works have been widespread. However, entirely eradicating the issues involves replacing all water networks, which is costly and time-consuming. This paper proposed an AI-enabled water-saving control system with three control modes: time division control, flow regulation, and critical point control according to actual flow. Firstly, based on the current leaking situation of water supply networks in China and the capability level of China's water management, a water-saving technology integrating PID control and a series of deep learning algorithms was proposed. Secondly, a multi-jet control valve was designed to control pressure and reduce water distribution network cavitation. This technology has been successfully applied in industrial settings in China and has achieved gratifying water-saving results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lobopodians represent a key step in the early history of ecdysozoans since they were the first animals to evolve legs within this clade. Their Cambrian representatives share a similar body plan with a typically cylindrical annulated trunk and a series of non-jointed legs. However, they do not form a monophyletic group and likely include ancestors of the three extant panarthropod lineages (Tardigrada, Onychophora, Euarthropoda). Some species display astonishing protective devices such as cuticular plates and spines. We describe here the armor and molting process of Microdictyon from the early Cambrian of China. Microdictyon secreted ovoid paired cuticular sclerites that were duplicated in a non-synchronous way along the animal's body. The reticulated pattern and cuticular architecture of these sclerites have similarities to extant armored tardigrades that recently served in hypothesizing that tardigrades are possibly miniaturized lobopodians. Ecdysis and hard cuticular protection are now well documented in the whole spectrum of early Cambrian ecdysozoans such as soft-bodied scalidophorans, lobopodians and fully articulated euarthropods. We hypothesize that the secretion of sclerotized cuticular elements periodically renewed via ecdysis was a key innovation that opened large-scale evolutionary opportunities to invertebrate animal life, specifically ecdysozoans, both in terms of anatomical functionalities and ecological success. This paper presents exceptionally preserved fossils from the early Cambrian that show how molting occurred in some of the very earliest arthropod relatives, a trait which enabled continuous growth in animals with hard exoskeletons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Granular flows are common on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and the Hengduan Mountains in China, and their dynamic process processes have obvious erosional and entrainment effects. On the one hand, the volume of the granular flow increases by a factor of several or ten, which significantly increases its ability to cause a catastrophe; on the other hand, the eroded loose material affects the granular flow dynamics process and changes its state of motion. Methods: In this paper, the dynamic mechanism of granular flow erosion and entrainment is investigated by DEM simulation. Purpose: The effects of different substrate materials and substrate boundary conditions on granular flow erosion and entrainment are analyzed, and the effects of material mixing caused by erosion and entrainment on the state of motion of granular flow are discussed. It was verified that the kinetic mechanisms of granular flow erosion and entrainment includes impact erosion, ploughing, and shear abrasion. Results: And discovered that small matrix particle size, small matrix boundary friction, and small matrix thickness lead to stronger ploughing and shear abrasion; Large matrix fractal dimensions result in stronger ploughing and weaker shear abrasion, and the granular flow does not entrain large amounts of material to the accumulation zone. Meanwhile, the dynamics of erosion and entrainment of granular flow were investigated, and the results showed that: 1. The greater the erosion rate, the greater the velocity and kinetic energy of the granular flow, the greater the distance traveled, and the smaller the apparent friction angle (i.e., the greater the mobility). 2. The amount of small granules in a granular flow changes its fluidity, the more small granules there are, the more fluid it is. 3. The fit reveals that the substrate fractal dimension has the strongest effect on the velocity and kinetic energy of granular flow, followed by substrate thickness and substrate boundary friction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is the prerequisite for rural revitalization to recognize the evolutionary laws and different characteristics of rural areas. China's Rural Revitalization Strategic Plan (2018–2022) emphasizes the importance of rural territorial classification. The differences in resources, environment, economy, culture and so on in Jiangsu Province lead to obvious territorial classifications. Existing studies on rural development lack the differentiation of territorial types. Based on the complexity and comprehensiveness of the rural areas in Jiangsu Province, this paper selects the county as the basic unit and combines the "top-down" and "bottom-up" evaluation perspectives. Finally, we form a "two divisions and six zones" division scheme for rural areas in Jiangsu Province. Specifically, the two divisions refer to the Yangtze River Delta area and Huaihai area, and the six zones include Tai Lake plain area, Ningzhen mountainous and hilly area, Riverside plain area, Lixia River and coastal plain area, Huai River drainage area, and Xuhuai Plain area. By summarizing the laws and development orientation of different types of rural areas, it will provide a reference for realizing urban–rural integration and sustainable development in economically developed areas. It can also provide governance references for other economically developed regions with high population density and obvious urban–rural integration trends in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a severe challenge to the global economic recovery and China's economic growth. Although China has achieved stage victory against the epidemic, the impact and influence of the epidemic on China's economy will linger. On the positive side, the epidemic has led to a dramatic reduction in air pollution levels and a sharp slowdown in greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2. Forecasting China's CO2 emissions under the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic is crucial for formulating policies that contribute to smooth economic development and rational energy consumption. To this end, this paper improves on the traditional grey model, GM(1, N), by developing a novel fractional multivariate nonlinear grey model, FMNGM(q, N). These improvements include two key points. First, different power exponents are assigned to each relevant factor variable to explain their nonlinear, uncertain, and complicated relationships with the system characteristic variables. Second, the integer accumulation is changed to fractional accumulation to preprocess the data, and the Caputo-type fractional derivative is used to characterize the endogenous relationships among the system characteristic data. In addition, the quantum particle swarm optimization (QPSO) algorithm is used to optimize the above parameters with the goal of minimizing MAPE. The collected data on China's CO2 emission from 2001 to 2018 were divided into two parts according to different stages of economic development: 2001–2009 and 2010–2018. Both sets of data were modelled and analysed separately and compared with other models. Results showed that the proposed model had better prediction accuracy than other models. Finally, the model built using the 2010–2018 data was used to forecast China's CO2 emissions. Results show that China's CO2 emissions in 2020 under the impact of COVID-19 will decrease by approximately 3.15% from 2019 to 9893 million tons. The results bear important policy implications for planners in investment in clean energy and infrastructure to achieving the goal of a low-carbon transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poverty-stricken counties on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are characterized by ecological vulnerability and ecological degradation, which are vulnerable to economic development and human activities, thereby leading to frequent alterations of Land carbon sink changes. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the changes of land carbon sink capacity during the process of eradication of extreme poverty in poverty-stricken counties. Using remote sensing images and socio-economic data, this paper constructed land transfer matrix and land carbon sink model to analyze the changes of land carbon sink capacity in poverty-stricken counties and identified the relevant impact factors through geographic detectors. The results show significant changes in carbon sink-type land and a continuous decrease in the snow area, resulting in an obvious trend of grassland area decrease and barren area increase. Land carbon sink capacity of poverty-stricken counties during the eradication of extreme poverty is higher with an added value of 2.74 times than that before this period. Using the geographic detector to analyze the related factors, strong explanatory power was found in cash crops per capita, share of secondary industry, population density and per capita savings on the changes of carbon sink capacity in poverty-stricken counties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green economic development is an effective tactic for China to cope with the predicament of resources and the environment. As "smoke-free industries", producer services are becoming the main contributors to urban green economic development (UGED). The paper adopts the super-efficiency EBM model to estimate the UGED index of 268 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2019. Based on the theoretical analysis, econometric models are constructed to systematically test how the specialized and diversified agglomeration of producer services impacts UGED. The findings reveal that both agglomeration modes considerably enhance UGED in the local area and its surroundings. Diversified agglomeration exerts a stronger radiation and promotion effect than specialized agglomeration. In addition, the impact of the two agglomeration modes on UGED demonstrates pronounced heterogeneity in urban scales, economic development stages, and industries. Furthermore, mechanism studies suggest that agglomeration substantially boosts UGED by improving human capital, technological innovation, and upgrading industrial structure. As such, our findings serve as an empirical basis for understanding the mechanism of the impact of PSA on UGED and also offer significant insight for local governments to adopt differentiated industrial policies to enhance the positive agglomeration effect on UGED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shale oil development in Ordos Basin, China, primarily relies on the displacement of crude oil during the post-fracturing shut-in stage (PFSIS) of horizontal wells. Reservoir wettability significantly influences the shut-in duration and even the development approach. However, due to strong heterogeneity and super tight characteristics, the reservoir usually shows an mixed wettability, and it was usually hard to differentiate the wettability in different pore sizes. With this in mind, this study focuses on core samples from shale oil reservoir in the Longdong region of the Ordos basin to quantitatively analyze the reservoir wettability. Amott method combined with nuclear magnetic resonance is adopted in the paper to meed this end. And the optimal post-fracturing shut-in duration for Huachi and Heshui areas in the Longdong region are determined based on both wettability and field practice analysis as well as numerical simulations. Qualitative wettability evaluation reveals that the reservoir in the Longdong region is weakly oil-wet (oil-wet pores account for 58.9% and water-wet pores for 41.1%), and that larger pores are more water-wet, while smaller pores are more oil-wet. Field practice observes a noticeable two-stage decline in wellhead pressure, with pressure drop rates and water content decline rates following the order of neutral reservoir > weakly oil-wet reservoir > oil-wet reservoir during the post-fracturing shut-in stage. Numerical simulations indicate that the determination of the optimal post-fracturing shut-in duration for horizontal wells should consider reservoir properties, wettability, and injection volume. The final optimal shut-in durations for the Huachi and Heshui areas in the reservoir are determined to be 36 days and 43 days, respectively. Our study qualitatively distinguishes the wettability in different pores sizes and thus determines reasonable post-fracturing shut-in durations in different areas in Longdong region. The research has major implication for building a realistic method of wettability analysis in shale or tight oil reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]