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This paper explores the intersection of spirituality and martial arts through an in-depth examination of Shaolin Kung Fu as practiced within the Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province, China. Conducting fieldwork from April 2018 to August 2020, the study employs theories of practice and embodiment to understand how religious teachings are interwoven into physical movements and martial practices. This phenomenological analysis of bodily movement integrates the physical body with the sense of self, highlighting the relationship between individual habitus and the agency of the moving body, referred to as the "lived body." It argues that Shaolin martial artists engage in a form of dynamic embodiment, where Chan Buddhist doctrines are embedded within the "lived body," influencing both movement and perception. This process allows practitioners to interpret and interact with their socio-cultural environment through a religious lens, highlighting the deep connection between spiritual beliefs and bodily actions. The paper presents a comprehensive approach, combining intensive participant observation, historical analysis, and a close look at both the communal and individual aspects of monastic life and learning. By examining narratives, daily routines, and pedagogical methods, the study reveals how the socio-cultural setting of the monastery fosters collective habitus and transforms the individual habitus of practitioners. It shows how this transformation contributes to the development of a spiritual dimension in their martial performance. By highlighting the link between the habitus, the lived body, and the dynamic embodiment, the paper extends the current discourse on embodiment, offering a novel perspective on the relationship between spirituality, culture, and physical practice in the context of Shaolin Kung Fu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon policies are essential for facilitating manufacturing industries' low-carbon transformation and achieving carbon neutrality in China. However, recent studies usually apply proxy variables to quantify policies, while composite indices of policy intensity measured by objectives and instruments focus more on the national level. It is deficient in direct and comprehensive quantification for low-carbon policies. Hence, having extended the meaning of policy intensity, this paper constructs a low-carbon policy intensity index quantified by policy level, objective and instrument via phrase-oriented NLP algorithm and text-based prompt learning. This process is based on the low-carbon policy inventory we built for China's manufacturing industries containing 7282 national-, provincial- and prefecture-level policies over 2007–2022. Lastly, we organize the dataset in two formats (.dta and.xlsx) for multidiscipline researchers. Apart from the inventory and intensity for each policy, the policy intensity is also aggregated to national-, provincial- and prefecture-level with sub-intensity for four objectives and three instruments. This dataset has potential uses for future studies by merging with macro and micro data related to low-carbon performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of data-driven innovation (DDI) on firm performance, based on an exploratory case study of a manufacturing firm in China's textile and apparel industry. It explores the influence of various contextual variables on the firm's DDI and suggests ways to enhance DDI and thereby firm performance. Extending the literature on DDI, the paper proposes and validates a theoretical framework that incorporates the influence of various contextual factors on firms' DDI. The findings show that (1) individual context is associated with DDI; (2) organizational context is associated with DDI; and (3) DDI is associated with firm performance. This paper extends our understanding of how firm performance can be improved through DDI and shows that DDI should match a firm's contextual environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water has remained a source of contentious and cooperative politics among states since the Sumerian civilization. The field of hydro-politics, since its emergence in the 1990s, had taken note of dams as both a source of conflict between riparian neighbors owing to their threat to the life and property along the transboundary banks, and as a source of cooperation through effective water and knowledge sharing and infrastructural development, promoting peaceful negotiations in good faith in these matters. In this regard, the narrative and practice of infrastructural development by the great powers in their weaker riparian states to enhance their growth has emerged as a new means to increase great power states' power and influence in the international arena. China, in its race against the United States, has emerged as the world's largest dam builder, having extended its construction footprints across many parts of the globe. As rapid industrial development and resultant climate change intensifies the hitherto prevalent water crises, China, through a spate of dam-building among other things, has ensured its water, and consequently food, supply through the accumulation of real and virtual water networks, in a world where basic necessities are gradually becoming scarce. Through a descriptive study, this paper attempts to answer the question of what the implications of China's domestic, regional and global behavior of extensive hydro-infrastructural development are beyond the contemporary economic and political gains for itself. It argues that the objectives of China's dam-building transcend short-term economic and political gains, as it attempts to ensure the possibility of China's long-term hydro-stability in its quest to emerge at the lead of the evolving global order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Constraints and incentives of the ecological policy have an important impact on the coordinated development of ecological areas. Based on the panel data of 1613 counties in 23 provinces in China from 2002 to 2019, this paper analyzes the impact of this policy on economic development using the quasi-natural experiment of the transfer payment in national key ecological functional areas (TPNKEFA) and studies the impact of the transfer payment scale on economic development based on the panel threshold model. First, the results reveal that the TPNKEFA can significantly boost economic development, compared with the control group, TPNKEFA can increase gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita GDP by 6.14% and 10.72%, the results have been validated by some placebo tests, and the impact of this policy on economic development is sustained and effective. Second, heterogeneity results show that TPNKEFA has the greatest positive effect on the economic development in the eastern region, followed by the central region, and the least positive effect on the western region. Furthermore, the TPNKEFA facilitates local economic development primarily by increasing human capital in ecological functional areas. Third, the capital scale of TPNKEFA has the double-threshold effect on economic development, the larger the scale is, the stronger the effect is. The capital size of TPNKEFA has the greatest impact on regional economic growth in eastern region, whereas it has the weakest impact in western region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of 625 industrial listed enterprises of China from 2012 to 2020, this paper employs the method of propensity score matching–difference in difference to investigate the effect of financial–industrial integration on the enterprise's green development performance and the moderating role of green technology innovation on the relationship between the two is also addressed. It finds that first, financial–industrial integration has a significant promoting effect on the improvement in green development performance of enterprises, and green technology innovation has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between the two. In addition, the effect of financial–industrial integration on enterprise's economic and social performance is not significant, and it mainly promotes enterprise's green development by stimulating environmental performance. Moreover, the degree of financial–industrial integration has a moderate range in which the role of financial–industrial integration can be better played. Further, compared with state-owned enterprise and large-scale enterprise, financial–industrial integration is more conducive to the green development of non-state-owned enterprises and small-scale enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, environmental damage caused by economic development has been increasing in China's Yellow River basin (YRB), one of the country's most important economic zones. Finding an appropriate governance model is a prerequisite to ensuring the coordinated development of the YRB. Traditional analysis focus on city or province level, which is less accurate and ignores the interaction between spaces. This paper explores the distribution, spatial relationships and influencing factors of the level of coordinated development at county level in the YRB and its impact on the study area's environment. This investigation aims to provide scientific support for the region's governance. We used the equivalent value method, the entropy method, a coupling coordinating degree model and the double-fixed spatial Durbin model to quantify, spatialize and assess the relationship between the value of ecosystem services and economic development and to analyze the drivers of ecological changes and the spatial interaction effects in the YRB from 2010 to 2020. The results show that (1) The degree of ecological-economic coupling coordination in the YRB steadily increased over the study period and is high in eastern areas but low in the western area. The growth rate is fast in the east and slow in the west and the gap has gradually enlarged. (2) Adjusting the industrial ratios alone cannot improve the level of local coordinated development. The intensity of government public expenditure support can significantly affect the coordinated development level of local, and the intensity of the impact on the neighboring areas depends on the difficulty of intercommunication between areas. (3) Increasing rural disposable income in mountainous areas can effectively increase the level of local coupling coordination but can also lead to a decrease in coupling coordination in the surrounding areas. (4) The influence of the normalized difference vegetation index on coupling coordination depends on local land values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The serious consequences of climate warming have increasingly become a globe agenda in recent decades. China has been actively participating in various initiatives to address global climate change and has made commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Although the logistics industry is regarded as the "new driving force of national economic development", its carbon intensity is relatively high. Therefore, whether the logistics industry can develop in a green and low-carbon way is very crucial. This paper takes the green logistics efficiency of China's provincial logistics industry as the research object. The Super-SBM model is used to measure the China's green logistics efficiency, then the general dynamic characteristics is depicted by kernel density analysis. With the GML (Global Malmquist-Luenberger) index model, the reasons for the changes in green logistics efficiency are explained. Finally, Moran's I index is used to analyze the spatial correlation of green logistics efficiency in each province. The results show that the green logistics efficiency in China is at a low level, but with an upward trend. China's green logistics efficiency has a significant positive spatial correlation, showing a zonal pattern of high in the east and low in the west, and a polarization phenomenon. In addition, the bottleneck of the overall development of green logistics efficiency in China depends on the level of green technology. Furthermore, the results also imply that green technology advancement is an inherent key factor for green logistics efficiency to achieve growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultimate frisbee has gained great attention and enjoyed explosive growth in China from 2019 to 2022 (especially in 2022), but has also aroused heated controversies in cyberspace, typically in the football community. This paper explores the forms and underlying reasons for conflicts between the two sports. Through field observation, in-depth interviews, and a survey of amateur participants in both frisbee and football, the paper finds that conflicts between the two sports, which arise from ultimate frisbee's quest for legitimacy, are exaggerated as a result of the mediatization of sports. The study further revealed that Frisbee, as an alternative sport, exhibits notable cultural distinctions from football, a traditional sport. This divergence in sports culture mirrors the generational gap. Consequently, the conflict between the two sports is more of an intergenerational conflict within the realm of sports culture, reflecting the overall transformation of Chinese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2012, China's economic growth rate has been much higher than the world average; its economic aggregate ranks second in the world, people's living standards have risen significantly, and absolute poverty has been historically eliminated, laying a solid foundation for solid promotion of common prosperity. However, China is still in the primary stage of socialism, and the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development has not been fundamentally solved. It is urgent to monitor the status of common prosperity construction in all regions. By constructing an evaluation index system of common prosperity, this paper uses spatial correlation analysis model and geographically weighted regression model to assess the comprehensive development level of common prosperity quantitatively, reveal the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and analyze the main influencing factors. The results show that the comprehensive development level of China's common prosperity has been continuously improved. It gradually presents a spatial distribution pattern with Beijing-Shanghai as the development pole and the eastern coastal area as the highland, and there is a significant positive spatial correlation, but the local spatial heterogeneity has increased. The development level of common prosperity is affected by multiple factors, and the increase in per capita GDP is the leading factor in promoting common prosperity. Therefore, we should focus on promoting high-quality economic development, coordinated regional development and expanding middle-income groups, so that all people can enjoy the fruits of reform and development and ultimately achieve common prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integral development of agriculture and tourism heavily depends on natural resources, especially agricultural resources, and it also may contribute to the sustainability of agriculture. The sustainability of agriculture is usually measured by the agricultural eco-efficiency. The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the impact of the agriculture and tourism integration on agricultural eco-efficiency, so as to reflect the role of the agriculture and tourism integration on promoting agricultural sustainability. Applying panel data of 19 provinces in Yangtze River Basin and Yellow River Basin in China from 2008 to 2019, this paper uses a PSTR model to demonstrate the impact of agriculture and tourism integration on agricultural eco-efficiency and its mechanisms. It is found that in the study area, the integration of agriculture and tourism can contribute to improvements in agricultural eco-efficiency, and when levels of integration are high, the promotional effect is enhanced. However, impacts vary among different regions to some extent. In terms of influencing mechanisms, inputs of agricultural labor, sown crop area, effective irrigation area and other factors decrease with continuous improvements of integration. The input of pesticides, fertilizers and other factors does not decrease in the initial stage of integration but undergoes a rapid decrease after crossing a threshold value. And it demonstrates that the integration of agriculture and tourism is beneficial for improving the agricultural eco-efficiency, so that it will contribute to agricultural sustainability. Meanwhile, this paper offers a new research perspective for discovering effects of agriculture and tourism integration, providing implications for formulating regional policies for the integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conflict between agricultural production and environmental protection, especially vegetable production, is one of the world's most prominent concerns. The acceptance degree and possible response of new agricultural operation subjects, represented by Farmers Professional Cooperatives (FPCs), to green production policies are a core issue that must be considered when designing environmental policies in the future. Based on field survey data of 192 FPCs of vegetables in Shanghai, China, this paper uses a choice experiment method to test the willingness of cooperatives to adopt green production behaviors under different policy settings and to identify the differences under different operation scales. The results show that both mandatory policies and incentive policies have an impact on the willingness of cooperatives to adopt green production behaviors, but significant differences exist among FPCs of different operation scales. Specifically, the willingness of large-scale FPCs to adopt green production behavior is affected by key technology training and income subsidies, whereas the willingness of small-scale FPCs is only affected by income subsidies; the willingness of medium-scale FPCs is simultaneously affected by key technology training, income subsidies, and penalties. Therefore, when formulating relevant policies in the future, policy-makers should consider local conditions, including the endowment heterogeneity of the production and operation subjects, so as to enhance the level of green production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strengthening the protection and utilization of water resources is very important for the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB). The YREB spans the three regions of the East, Middle and West of China, which is not only the inland river economic belt with the largest economic aggregate in China, but also the leading demonstration belt for the construction of ecological civilization. This paper uses the minimum distance to the strong frontier (mSBM) model to evaluate the industrial water resources green efficiency (IWRGE) in the YREB from 2000 to 2018, taking the industrial gray water footprint as bad output, which can more accurately measure the water efficiency of the current industrial sector. Then, compared with the traditional industrial water resources utilization efficiency (IWRUE), the temporal and spatial differences and influencing factors of the IWRGE are further analyzed. The results are as follows: First, the IWRUE in the YREB has been improved to a certain extent in the sample period, and there are obvious differences in provinces. The IWRUE of economically developed provinces is higher than economically underdeveloped provinces. Second, the IWRGE after adding industrial gray water footprint is lower than the IWRUE in the YREB, indicating that the IWRUE without considering the cost of water ecological damage is "false high". Third, the IWRGE in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the YREB shows a "U" type change trend of "decreasing first and then rising". Fourth, the IWRGE in the YREB shows an obvious spatial distribution pattern of "both ends high and intermediate low". The pressure to save industrial water and reduce pollution is especially intense in the middle reaches. Finally, economic growth, property right structure, and opening up can significantly promote the IWRGE, while water endowment, water structure, technological progress, and environmental regulation significantly inhibit the improvement of the IWRGE. [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]

The "Dual Carbon" initiative is a two-stage carbon reduction goal proposed by China, with significant implications for global climate change mitigation. This article examines the impact of the "Dual Carbon" strategy on China's forestry development and explores how to leverage this strategy to facilitate the transformation and advancement of the forestry sector. Current review indicated that forestry has the advantage of achieving higher emission reduction targets at a low cost. Starting with an overview of the "Dual Carbon" strategy, this paper analyzes the carbon sequestration potential of plants and soil, and the challenges and opportunities faced by forestry development under this framework. Furthermore, we outline implementation pathways for forestry development, aiming to provide insights for the progress of China's forestry sector. Overall, it should be noted that the priority is to vigorously develop timber resources, and we also need to vigorously develop and protect forestry talent with the support of China's policies. By trapping into the carbon storage capabilities and leveraging carbon trading mechanisms of forests, a favorable ecological environment can be created, thus achieving the goal of carbon neutrality. Highlights: • Forest development and its carbon sinks, attributed to plant and soil have the potential in carbon sequestration process, thus helping China achieve carbon neutrality. • The supply of forest products and the balance of economic growth and environmental protection are the key difficulties under the "Dual Carbon" strategy. • Trading forest carbon sinks can boost China's sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: China has made great progress in ecological restoration. However, there have been no analyses on ecological restoration for specific terrestrial ecosystems. This study identified the important knowledge gaps and advances related to terrestrial ecological restoration in China. Results: 7973 papers published between 1978 and 2020 were investigated and about 962 articles were used in this analysis after manually screening. Since the first large national ecological restoration project in 1978, the most frequently studied ecosystem has shifted from farmland ecosystems in 1978–2000 to forest ecosystems after 2000. Forests were the most common ecosystem type investigated, while less attention was paid to wetlands and riparian systems. Meanwhile, the most common ecological issue shifted from environmental pollution in 1978–2000 to the declining resource-carrying capacity of ecosystems after 2000. Studies of ecoregions on the Loess Plateau catchment accounted for more than 40% of papers reviewed in this study, with predominant emphasis on soil and water conservation functionality. Besides, revegetation and afforestation characterized most ecological restoration projects in China, but the natural restoration was relatively less adopted. Additionally, the important tool of reference ecosystem was only used in four studies. Conclusions: Ecological restoration has made significant progress in China. We investigated how the ecological restoration can be implemented more effectively. More projects should be implemented for restorative work in wetlands and riparian systems in future. The tradeoff between restorative activities, water resources, and carbon sink needs further research efforts. More emphasis on biodiversity conservation is warranted. Newly developed theory (e.g., stepwise ecological restoration) and the recently issued Chinese National Guidelines for Ecological Restoration Projects should be more effectively implemented in future restorative works. This study provides essential information for future restorative work in China. It also provides insights into the development of policy relevant to restoration and adaptive management during the U.N. restoration decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yue Opera is known as the second most important national opera in China. The costume is an important part of the performance of Yue Opera, which carries the culture and history of Yue Opera. The purpose of this paper is to attempt a virtual simulation of Yue Opera costumes through an understanding and analysis of Yue Opera costumes, as well as to use the extracted elements related to Yue Opera costumes for modern fashion design based on Yue Opera costume style. The research method of this paper is to draw 12 sets of traditional costumes of Yue Opera by understanding and studying the costume culture of Yue Opera and transform them into a 3D digital virtual presentation of the costumes. The costume elements are then extracted for costume design so that the designed fashions can reflect the cultural characteristics of Yue Opera, and then virtual simulation technology is used for costume display to realize the dissemination of Yue Opera costume culture. The use of three-dimensional virtual simulation technology to digitize costumes contributes to the preservation and dissemination of Yue Opera costume culture. Secondly, the design of modern fashion using the concept of Yue Opera plays a role in the preservation and dissemination of Yue Opera costume culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qin opera culture has a long history in China for thousands of years. It is the ancestor of Chinese opera. However, with the development of modern technology and the rise of new media, the protection and inheritance of traditional Qin opera culture is facing a new challenge and opportunity, its costume culture is the same. This paper analyzes the style and structure of Qin opera costumes, extracts the colors of the costumes, summarizes the costume patterns, and then uses the three-dimensional (3D) virtual visualization technology to virtually restore the Qin opera costume, and innovates the Qin opera costume. In this paper, twelve sets of traditional Qin opera costumes are virtually restored, and on this basis, the digital protection and innovative design of Qin opera series costumes are carried out, and all the restored costumes are displayed digitally in an all-round way. The combination of Qin opera costume and digital protection extends the application scope of virtual visualization technology and enriches the transmission mode of Qin opera costume. This study inherits and protects the traditional Qin opera costume culture better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "13th Five-Year Plan" of civil aviation energy conservation and emission reduction impacts China's domestic aviation exchanges. However, few researchers pay attrition to the impact of the 13th Five-Year Plan on aviation emissions. This paper intends to calculate the emissions of six pollutants (CO2, CO, HC, NOx, PM2.5, and SO2) in China's domestic airlines from 2014 to 2019 and explore the impact of the 13th Five-Year Plan on emissions changes. In this paper, the improved BFFM2-FOA-FPM method is used to unify the calculation of CO2 and other aviation emissions. The error rate between the estimate and the official data was about 6.45%. The results show that the 13th Five-Year Plan has impacted on aviation emissions, including the number of routes and airlines, aircraft configuration, air routes, and airline unit turnover emissions. Additionally, the 13th Five-Year Plan's effect is not significant, and it does not promote the reduction of emissions on domestic routes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The motivation for analyzing the impact of deep neural networks on enterprise performance is mainly due to the continuous deepening of enterprise information construction, shifting from traditional paper-based data acquisition methods to electronic data management. The data generated by the sales, production, logistics and other links of enterprises is also becoming increasingly large. How to scientifically and effectively process these massive amounts of data and extract valuable information has become an important issue that enterprises need to solve. The continuous and stable growth of China's economy has promoted the development and growth of enterprises, however, it has also made enterprises face a more complex competitive environment. The question of how to improve the performance of enterprises to enhance their competitiveness in the market has become a major issue to be addressed in the face of fierce competition and to ensure the long-term development of enterprises. In this paper, based on the research of firm performance evaluation, deep neural network is introduced to analyse the influence of ambidextrous innovation and social network on firm performance, and the theories of social network, ambidextrous innovation and deep neural network are sorted out and analysed, and a deep neural network-based firm performance evaluation model is established, and finally the sample data is obtained using crawler technology, and then the response values are analysed. Innovation and the improvement of the mean value of social networks are helpful to firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) is to become a major innovation and technology hub of global impact. Such a transformation is to take place in the midst of a policy-driven economy in GBA's Mainland region and a market-driven economy in Hong Kong and Macau. In this paper, we examine the uniqueness and complexities of logistics and trade facilitation in GBA. This study establishes a discourse in GBA's logistics and trade facilitation between government and non-government stakeholders. Based on the discourse, we provide a conceptual context on the unique aspects of GBA, pinpointing critical issues such as the coexistence of differing institutional systems and interplay between state planning and market economy. A major objective of the paper is to identify and conceptualize unique logistics and trade features of GBA development, and to highlight opportunities for academic and policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the common physical materials in Chinese archaeological excavations, ancient bronzes are an essential basis for studying the development of Chinese bronze culture, which is of great significance for exploring the development law of ancient human civilization and reconstructing ancient human society. As China's infrastructure advances, the number of bronzes unearthed by archaeological excavations continues to increase. However, environmental damage to artefacts is very complex, whether the buried environment of the artefacts or the above-ground environment when the artefacts are unearthed, leading to different health problems for the excavated bronzes. A scientific assessment of these bronzes needs to be carried out prior to extraction to inform staff how they should be extracted, moved, and transported and how they should be restored afterwards. In response to the above problems, this paper takes excavated bronzes from archaeological sites as the research object and, by analysing and studying the relevant industry standards and the disease characteristics of bronzes, establishes a three-tier indicator framework for assessing the health of bronzes in a layer-by-layer refinement and proposes quantitative indicators with typical correlations. Through extensive research and testing, we screened out efficient, non-destructive, convenient and reliable assessment and testing methods and assessment models that combine subjective and objective aspects suitable for archaeological sites. On this basis, the paper achieves a scientific and practical assessment of the health status of bronzes excavated from archaeological sites. After repeated experiments, a set of comprehensive methods for quickly and conveniently assessing the health status of excavated bronzes was proposed for the first time and successfully applied to the archaeological excavation site of Sanxingdui site in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging sub-synchronous interactions (SSI) in wind-integrated power systems have added intense attention after numerous incidents in the US and China due to the involvement of series compensated transmission lines and power electronics devices. SSI phenomenon occurs when two power system elements exchange energy below the synchronous frequency. SSI phenomenon related to wind power plants is one of the most significant challenges to maintaining stability, while SSI phenomenon in practical wind farms, which has been observed recently, has not yet been described on the source of conventional SSI literature. This paper first explains the traditional development of SSI and its classification as given by the IEEE, and then it proposes a classification of SSI according to the current research status, reviews several mitigation techniques and challenges, and discusses analysis techniques for SSI. The paper also describes the effect of the active damping controllers, control scheme parameters, degree of series compensation, and various techniques used in wind power plants (WPPs). In particular, a supplementary damping controller with converter controllers in Doubly Fed Induction Generator based WPPs is briefly pronounced. This paper provides a realistic viewpoint and a potential outlook for the readers to properly deal with SSI and its mitigation techniques, which can help power engineers for the planning, economical operation, and future expansion of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Grand Canal of China has a rich intangible cultural heritage along its route. The intangible cultural heritage of folk songs is an important representative. The study of its distribution characteristics and influencing factors is of practical and social significance for promoting the protection and development of intangible cultural heritage in relevant areas and the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt. This paper uses the theories of musicology, geography, sociology, data statistical analysis and spatial analysis to analyze the distribution pattern of intangible cultural heritage items in the Grand Canal basin from the dimensions of geographical space and folk song genre, and from the perspective of natural and social conditions. The results show that the spatial distribution of folk songs in the Grand Canal basin shows a trend of "distribution along the river, two cores and two belts". Water system, landform and regional culture are the main influencing factors for the formation and dissemination of intangible cultural heritage of folk songs. At the same time, compared with the mountainous areas in western China, the economic and social development and frequent population flow in the Grand Canal basin lead to the diversified and unified musical culture characteristics of folk songs. Finally, this paper proposes the suggestions that the folk songs should be integrated into the local social and economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water security has attracted a lot of attention in the world, and water quality assessment is the main task to ensure water security. In China, as an important water supply route in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the South-North Water Transfer Middle Route is crucial to the economic development and health of people in the region. Therefore, an effective water quality prediction method is essential to prevent water quality degradation and water pollution in the South-North Water Transfer Line. In this paper, on the basis of the water quality data of 13 automatic monitoring stations in the middle of the Transfer Middle Route, we propose a water quality prediction method based on k-nearest-neighbor probability rough sets and PSO-LSTM algorithm. More specifically, we first introduce a novel model of k-nearest-neighbor probabilistic rough sets (KNPRSs) by combining k-nearest-neighbor algorithm and probabilistic rough sets. Then, an attribute reduction approach based on KNPRSs is developed, which can effectively eliminate the redundant attributes in water quality assessment and filter out the valuable feature attributes. Furthermore, we propose a water quality prediction method based on LSTM neural network model optimized by PSO algorithm. By introducing the PSO algorithm, the hyperparameters of the LSTM neural network are adaptively optimized to improve the accuracy of water quality prediction. At last, the historical data of three automatic monitoring stations along the route are selected, and six water quality indicators with practical forecasting value are used as the target, and a comparison experiment is conducted. The experimental results show that the KNPRSs-PSO-LSTM model can fully extract the key characteristics of water quality attributes, can be used to predict different target indicators at different stations, which is reliable, stable and efficient, can effectively improve the prediction accuracy, can be applied to the South-North Water Transfer Middle Route water quality forecasting and early warning work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering two risk contagion channels, namely interbank lending and common asset holdings, we introduce the bank's default probability into the DebtRank model to construct an improved one and measured the bank's systemic risk using the data of China's banking industry from 2016 to 2018. The research results indicate that the bank's systemic risk from two risk contagion channels is significantly greater than the sum of risks from every single channel. The original DebtRank that takes only a single risk contagion channel into account will underestimate the bank's systemic risk. In addition, state-owned commercial banks and joint-stock commercial banks are the risk centers of China's banking system, whose systemic importance changes dynamically. Furthermore, the ranking of the TLAC gaps show correlation with the ranking of the DebtRanks of Chinese G-SIBs. The results of this paper will provide a new way and a theoretical basis for identifying systemically important banks and strengthening the supervision of the banking system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasingly serious environmental pollution, stakeholders are paying more attention on the environmental behavior of enterprises. Our paper investigates how institutional investors affect the quality of corporate environmental information disclosure (EID). Using a sample of A-share listed firms from the heavily polluting industries in China during 2008 to 2016, we conduct correlation analysis, OLS regression, and Tobit regression methods and find that institutional investors' shareholdings are positively correlated with the quality of EID. When institutional investors increase 1% shareholdings of the firm, the EID quality improves by 0.03%. In addition, the high concentration of institutional ownership enhances the impact of institutional investors' shareholdings on the EID quality. But this positive correlation is only observed in companies in regions with a high marketization level. Our paper extends the research on the influential factors of EID and improves the understanding of the impact of institutional investors on corporate environmental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issues of housing and traffic in China's mega cities have become increasingly pressing problems, particularly for middle/low-income tenant workers. These tenants are from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, which has resulted in a significant geographical separation between their workplace and their residence. Although a large number of studies have confirmed that built environment factors have a solid impact on residents' commuting distance, few studies have investigated the mechanism underlying the nonlinear influence on middle/low-income tenants. This paper aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the key factors and nonlinear influencing mechanism of the built environment on middle/low-income tenant workers' commuting distance by establishing a gradient-boosting decision tree model, using Beijing as an empirical case. The paper reveals three primary findings: (1) An important nonlinear relationship between the surrounding built environment and peoples' jobs–housing spatial proximity can be observed for those middle/low-income tenant workers who use slow and public modes of commuting. Specifically, the density of public transport stations, road networks, and workplaces, and the land use mix play a dominant role. (2) A limited effect of built environment factors can be found for the same group of tenant workers who choose cars as their mode of commuting. (3) The differences in self-selected commuting modes have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between the built environment and jobs–housing situation among middle/low-income tenant workers. Given this, effective policy guidance for residents' travel modes is necessary to optimize the built environment indicators to achieve the best effect. In addition, we should consider giving priority to the matching indicators such as land use mix and resident population density. Another possibility is to strengthen the connection to the public transport stations, which in turn can optimize the walkability in residential environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are urgent ecological and environmental problems in the process of the utilization of urban construction land, promoting green utilization of construction land is conducive to urban sustainable development and high-quality economic development. Based on the panel data of 108 prefecture-level and above cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China from 2003 to 2017, this paper uses the super-efficiency SBM model to measure the green efficiency of urban construction land (GEUCL), analyzes its spatial–temporal evolution characteristics, and constructs the spatial autoregressive model to study its spatial spillover effects from the perspective of urban hierarchy. It is found that, in terms of temporal variation, the average efficiency value shows a fluctuating upward trend during the study period, rising from 0.27 in 2003 to 0.39 in 2017, the cumulative growth rate is 44.44%, with an average annual growth rate of 3.14%. In terms of spatial distribution characteristics, during the study period, the number of medium-efficiency and high-efficiency cities increases significantly, while the number of low-efficiency cities decreases sharply; high-efficiency cities always present scattered distribution, while medium-efficiency cities change from scattered distribution to agglomeration distribution. In addition, GEUCL has significantly positive spatial spillover effects between neighboring cities of different grades and between neighboring cities of the same grade, among them, the increase of GEUCL in higher-grade cities has significantly positive spatial spillover effects on that in adjacent lower-grade cities; the increase of GEUCL in lower-grade cities has significantly positive spatial spillover effects on that in neighboring higher-grade cities; GEUCL has significantly positive spatial spillover effects between neighboring cities of the same grade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities are the main spaces to study a low-carbon economy. This paper introduces basic concepts covering "tolerance of planning carbon emissions," "inevitable carbon emissions" and "excessive carbon emissions," then discusses the problem with optimal city carbon emissions under the condition of tolerance. Theoretical analysis and scenario analysis were employed. First, according to optimal allocation theory of resources, we discuss how optimal society carbon emissions take place. Then, the deviation of optimal city carbon emissions was explored and analyzed, which was mostly caused by the missing price of carbon emissions allowance, excessive carbon emissions, and so on. Third, we analyzed optimal city carbon emissions under different conditions, in which different types of tolerance were included. Results show that theoretical investigations on optimal city carbon emissions provide relative ideas for determining control index and optimizing control countermeasures. Policy implications include improving the control index of city carbon emissions through environment enhancement, setting a reasonable control index of city carbon emissions under the consideration of the relationship between city economy and its environment, and establishing trading allowance and compensation mechanism of city carbon emissions, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]