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The booming digital economy is promoting industrial upgrading and transformation, providing an opportunity for the industrial low-carbon development. Based on input–output analysis and panel data regression, the impact of the input of intermediate digital products on Chinese industrial carbon intensity from 1997 to 2017 has been evaluated. The results reveal that the input of China's intermediate digital products can significantly reduce industrial carbon intensity, and significantly reduce the carbon intensity of non-energy-intensive industries. It has also been discovered that the input of intermediate digital product manufacturing can significantly reduce the carbon intensity of different types of industries, while the input of the intermediate digital products services industry has no significant effect on the reduction of industrial carbon intensity. Channel analysis shows that the input of the intermediate digital products can reduce industrial carbon intensity by improving productive efficiency and promoting innovative technology. In the current climate, it is especially necessary to increase the input of the intermediate digital product manufacturing industry in industrial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the interconnections among industrialization, urbanization, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and carbon emissions (CO2e) across 31 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries from 1998 to 2020. In addition, it analyzes how education moderates these relationships. This study employs CO2e as the explained variable, while industrialization, urbanization, and FDI serve as explanatory variables, with education as a moderator. This research utilized Hierarchical regression analysis to examine how education moderates the associations among industrialization, urbanization, FDI, and CO2e. Additionally, to validate the reliability of our results, we utilized the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The results of this study imply that CO2e levels increase with the level of industrialization and urbanization. The pursuit of education also contributed to the increase in CO2e. Moreover, education and industrialization have detrimental effects on CO2e. To fill this gap in the existing literature, this study investigates the relationship between industrialization, urbanization, FDI, and CO2e, a domain with scarce empirical investigations. Furthermore, this study contributes uniquely to the literature by investigating the moderating influence of education on the relationships between independent variables and CO2e. This original aspect of this research aims to enhance our understanding of the complex connections between these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent stabilization work at the Ludlow Massacre Site National Historic Landmark revealed new insights into memorialization activities over time. The site commemorates a battle between striking miners and the Colorado National Guard which culminated in the destruction of a striking miners 'tent colony by fire causing the deaths of two women and eleven children in a cellar. The United Mine Workers of America erected a monument and preserved that cellar in cement sometime after 1918. Unexpected finds encountered during preservation work on the cellar raise issues related to collective memory, memorialization, and scale. These finds offer new understandings of changes made at the site by the strikers and the UMWA since the massacre in 1914. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions in the industrial sector have received widespread attention around the world, and achieving carbon peak in the industrial sector has become an important component of achieving sustainable development. However, there are significant differences in the level of industrial development across different regions in some countries, and a differentiated peak path needs to be formulated accordingly. In this paper, we construct a methodology system for industrial carbon peak, which includes "sector clustering—factor decomposition—scenario analysis—path selection." We design a national industrial carbon peak path at the provincial level and conduct empirical analysis using China as an example. The results show that industrial investment scale is the most important factor promoting the growth of carbon emissions in each plate. The Chinese government's goal of achieving carbon peak in the industrial sector before 2030 is highly reasonable and feasible. By comprehensively considering emission reduction effectiveness and implementation difficulty, the best industrial peak path is selected. The corresponding ratio of China's industrial carbon emissions in 2030 to the benchmark year is most likely to be between 1.043 and 1.054, and the degree of implementation difficulty is moderate. In addition, several differentiated macro-policy recommendations for each cluster's development are proposed based on their actual development, which can provide useful references and guidance for local governments in formulating their development plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanobacteria are a diverse group of prokaryotic organisms that have been the subject of intense basic research, resulting in a wealth of knowledge about fundamental cellular processes such as photosynthesis. However, the translation of that research towards industry-relevant applications is still limited. To understand the reasons for this contradictory situation, we conducted a quantitative survey among researchers in the cyanobacterial community, a set of individual interviews with established researchers, and a literature analysis. Our results show that the community seems to be committed to embracing cyanobacterial diversity and promoting collaboration. Additionally, participants expressed a strong desire to develop standardized protocols for research and establish larger consortia to accelerate progress. The results of the survey highlight the need for a more integrated approach to cyanobacterial research that encompasses both basic and applied aspects. Based on the survey and interview results as well as our literature analysis, we highlight areas for potential improvement, strategies to enhance cyanobacterial research, and open questions that demand further exploration. Addressing these challenges should accelerate the development of industrial applications based on cyanobacterial research. Cyanobacteria have been the subject of intense basic research, but translation towards industrial applications remains limited. Here, Schmelling and Bross conduct a survey among researchers in the cyanobacterial community, as well as a literature analysis, to highlight potential strategies to enhance cyanobacterial research and accelerate the development of industrial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization is occurring at an unprecedented rate in developing countries like Ethiopia, especially with the rapid growth of industrialization. However, this urbanization and industrial development surge puts immense pressure on preparing and implementing city spatial plans. Urban spatial planning plays a crucial role in shaping the development of cities, aiming to create livable and sustainable urban development. The plan-making process and its subsequent implementation often encounter challenges that hinder the realization of planned objectives. Galan and Dukem, cities near Addis Ababa's capital, have seen substantial industrial investment in recent decades. This article explores the challenges associated with urban spatial planning and industrial development while proposing alternative approaches. The paper relies on information gathered from primary and secondary sources, including expert surveys and key informants' interviews. The research highlights that industrial developments have led to significant and uncontrolled changes in urban land use and urbanization in the study areas. Due to the lack of clear planning guidelines and institutional capacity, the study cities are experiencing haphazard development without effective urban spatial plans. Proximity to Addis Ababa has driven the urbanization process through increased investments. The article contends that effective management of urbanization and industrialization can create enjoyable living conditions and foster job growth. Macroeconomic policies, including industrial policies, should pay attention to spatial elements and prevent policy-making processes that are "space-blind". This, however, requires clairvoyance and a high level of expertise, integrating inputs from advocacy planning and community participation to bridge gaps and ensure effective urban spatial plans and industrialization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most Latin American countries entered the ranks of middle-income levels almost simultaneously with Japan and South Korea. However, while Japan and South Korea embarked on the path of economic development through technological innovation and industrial upgrading, Latin America fell into the middle-income trap. By examining the history of industrial and technological development in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, three representative countries in Latin America, this paper finds that the fundamental reasons for Latin America falling into the middle-income trap lie in the tension between the choice of industrialization path and primitive accumulation, as well as the institutional deficiencies in technology and industrial development. Latin America, which has fallen into the middle-income trap, finds it hard to upgrade its technology and is trapped in premature industrialization and the middle-technology trap. It can be said that Latin America has fallen into a double trap, which reinforces each other and forms a solid trap pattern. The warning from the Latin American experience is that late-developing countries need to maintain an open attitude during the process of technological catching up, build a complete technological innovation system, enhance industrial and technological governance capabilities, and seize the window of opportunity for technological and industrial upgrading. Otherwise, there is a significant risk of falling into the middle-income trap and even the double trap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of industrial IoT technology, a growing number of intelligent devices are being deployed in smart factories to digitally upgrade the manufacturing industry. The increasing number of intelligent devices brings a huge task request. Fog computing, which is an emerging distributed computing paradigm, is widely applied to process the device data generated in smart manufacturing. However, as fog nodes are resource limited and geographically widely distributed limitations, proper fog node placement strategies are critical to enhance the service performance of fog computing systems. In this paper, we study the problem of fog node placement in smart factories and divide it into two scenarios, fixed device and mobile device fog node placement, depending on the mobility of the devices. The fog node placement model and objective function are built in the two scenarios, and two improved heuristic algorithms are proposed to obtain the most optimal placement scheme. In addition, we perform simulation experiments based on existing intelligent production line prototype platforms and devices to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms. The IGA reduces latency by an average of 586.7 - 1089 ms over the benchmark algorithm, saving 18.3 - 39 % in energy consumption. The total latency of IMOA is reduced by 59.8 - 68.5 % , and the maximum latency is reduced by 48.8 - 69.2 % . The experimental results show that the proposed algorithms outperform other benchmark algorithms in terms of task response time and energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are widely released into the environment as a result of increased urban and industrial development in recent years. The bulk of PTEs are cancer-causing and harm human health by producing free radicals. As a result, it is crucial to monitor, evaluate, and limit the effects of the elements on human health. In this study, levels of PTEs (As, Cr, Cd, Ni, Co, and Pb) in pharmaceutical effluents discharged along the Asa River around the Ilorin metropolis and their seasonal variations were evaluated. Water samples were collected from eight different locations over a two-season period along the river and analyzed for PTEs using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer. As, Cd, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Co had mean PTE values in the effluents (both seasons) of 0.0258, 0.0233, 0.00193, 0.0176, and 0.0164 mg/L, respectively, with As and Pb surpassing the WHO standard. Maximum temperature and pH were measured for the physicochemical parameters in the wet season, whereas electrical conductivity and total dissolved solids were seen in the dry season. The average values of the metals in the human risk assessment for carcinogenicity were As > Cd > Pb > Cr > Ni > Co, with As above the recommended threshold in several locations. However, all of the metal hazard indices were < 1, indicating that the waters were suitable for domestic purposes. Nonetheless, the relevant authorities should mandate that pharmaceutical effluents be treated before being released into bodies of water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of the optimized three-section squared-off cascade is compared with that of a match abundance ratio cascade (MARC) for the enrichment of 92Mo and 100Mo isotopes from their natural composition to 99.99%. Two codes, namely, 3SQC–PSO and MARC–PSO, are developed for optimizing 200 centrifuge cascades using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithms. The objective function is to maximize the cascade capacity, recovery factor, and the D-function and to minimize the total interstage flow. A comparison of the results shows that a MARC is able to enrich 100Mo with the highest recovery and production capacity. Due to the fact that more than one separation step is required for the separation of 92Mo, a MARC is beyond the capability to separate it to 99.99%, but a squared-off cascade is capable of making this. Therefore, if the goal is the separation of all or some of isotopes of an element, the squared-off cascade is the preferred option for economical industrialization and reducing installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Internet data to carry out geographic study has become an academic hotspot in recent years. We referred to the "Zhongke Beauty Index" and crawled 530 thousand POIs (POI: Point of interest) to carry out regional construction evaluation in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. The results showed that: (1) Geographic big data provided detailed information for fine-grained regional research, and the POI evolution tree model revealed the shortcomings of regional development. (2) The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei comprehensive beauty index in 2019 was 0.21, and Beijing and Tianjin are far ahead of Hebei in terms of ecology and culture. Specifically, the POI types of eco-environment construction of research area were single; the industrial development construction presented a trend of multi-center gathering; the social harmony construction has formed a gathering circle in Beijing; the eastern and central regions were the dominant regions in terms of institutional improvement construction; and the cultural inheritance construction was the shortest board in research area. (3) The evaluation ranking was sensitive to the population and the size of the area in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. When evaluating, the uncertainty caused by the characteristics of indicators and POIs should be fully considered. This article indicated the shortcomings in five dimensions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and can provide reference for the evaluation of regional construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), which serve as alternatives or supplements to lithium-ion batteries, have been developed rapidly in recent years. Designing advanced high-performance layered NaxTMO2 cathode materials is beneficial for accelerating the commercialization of SIBs. Herein, the recent research progress on scalable synthesis methods, challenges on the path to commercialization and practical material design strategies for layered NaxTMO2 cathode materials is summarized. Co-precipitation method and solid-phase method are commonly used to synthesize NaxTMO2 on mass production and show their own advantages and disadvantages in terms of manufacturing cost, operative difficulty, sample quality and so on. To overcome drawbacks of layered NaxTMO2 cathode materials and meet the requirements for practical application, a detailed and deep understanding of development trends of layered NaxTMO2 cathode materials is also provided, including high specific energy materials, high-entropy oxides, single crystal materials, wide operation temperature materials and high air stability materials. This work can provide useful guidance in developing practical layered NaxTMO2 cathode materials for commercial SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western European societies, ecologies, and economies were significantly impacted by industrialization after WWII. Steadily increasing urbanization and the abandonment of traditional agricultural activities led to a rapid erosion of local environmental knowledge (LEK). We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews in Padua, one of the most industrialized areas of Italy, to identify changes and drivers of change in plant foraging. We documented the use of 56 plant, fungal, and animal taxa, including the most foraged Humulus lupulus, Silene vulgaris, and Papaver rhoeas. These are mainly prepared in risottos, frittatas, and boiled mixtures. During their lifetime, 68% of the interviewees redirected their foraging area, 25% completely abandoned their foraging practice, and 7% abandoned foraging but resumed it after retirement. Changes in the foraging area and foraging abandonment were mainly driven by increased pollution and lack of land accessibility, as well as partially related lifestyle changes and (micro)climate change. In the face of such changes and with the aim of re-establishing the connection between peri-urban communities and their land, some local committees are struggling to take back the unused spaces of the industrial area and prevent future loss of land accessibility and consequent loss of LEK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has made great achievements in industrial development and is transforming into a powerful manufacturing country. Meanwhile, the industrial land scale is also expanding. However, whether industrial structure upgrading achieves the purpose of restraining industrial land expansion remains unanswered. By calculating the industrial land structure index (ILSI) and industrial land expansion scale (ILES), this study analyzed their temporal and spatial distribution characteristics at both regional and city levels from 2007 to 2020 in China. Results show that industrial land expansion presents a different trend in the four regions, the ILES in the eastern region is the largest, and the speed of industrial land expansion has declined since 2013, but it has gradually increased since 2016. The ILSI of the eastern and central regions is higher than that of the western and northeastern regions. Furthermore, a spatial Durbin model (SDM) has been established to estimate the spatial effect of industrial structure upgrading on industrial land expansion from 2007 to 2020. Notably, industrial structure upgrading has not slowed industrial land expansion. The eastern and western regions require a greater amount of industrial land while upgrading the industrial structure. The improvement of the infrastructure level and international trade level has promoted industrial land expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The booming development of the digital economy is not only greatly affecting the establishment of a modernized industrial system but also contributing to tourism innovation and a new pattern of smart tourism. This study proposes a measurement system for the digital economy from the perspective of digital infrastructure, integrated industrial development and the environment on the basis of Chinese city-level data from 2011 to 2018. First, the empirical discussion indicates that the digital economy can accelerate the recovery of the tourism and travel market at a faster pace. Additionally, it can have an indirect effect on tourism development by influencing the employment structure, economic growth, the innovation level and educational progress. Furthermore, spatial econometric analysis reveals that tourism development exhibits spatial autocorrelation and spatial agglomeration. The influence of the digital economy shows a strong negative spatial spillover effect, which diminishes as the geographical threshold value increases. In addition, a difference-in-differences (DID) model and a spatial difference-in-differences (SDID) model derived from the "Broadband China" policy are used to establish causality between the digital economy and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bangladesh, being the fastest growing economy in the South Asian region, necessitates a comprehensive study to evaluate the influence of various socio-economic factors. The primary objective of this study is to get a comprehensive understanding of the concept of sustainable development and its relationship to carbon emissions. This analysis will specifically consider the current status of economic and anthropogenic activities within the context of Bangladesh. This research examines the aforementioned matter by utilizing the latest accessible yearly data spanning from 1990 to 2020, as well as employing advanced econometric models including the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag approach and frequency domain causality test. The analysis of empirical data reveals that the economic growth experienced in Bangladesh has yielded a discernible and favorable influence on the degradation of the environment, in both the immediate and extended periods. Nevertheless, it is crucial to acknowledge that the observed impact holds no statistical significance. Furthermore, it is apparent that energy consumption has a substantial impact on the escalation of carbon emissions, in both the immediate and prolonged periods. Additionally, the processes of industrialization and foreign direct investment have also exerted adverse effects on short-term carbon emissions. A frequency domain causality test is used in this work to do a robustness analysis and confirm that there are causal links between economic growth, energy use, development, and carbon emissions over a range of time frames, such as the short, middle, and long terms. The above studies have given us a lot of useful information about how economic growth, energy use, industrialization, and environmental sustainability all affect each other in Bangladesh. Bangladesh should prioritize the formulation of policies and regulations that are centered around specific goals. These objectives include: (a) enhancing government engagement in activities related to environmental innovation, (b) integrating ecologically sustainable development targets by adopting renewable energy sources, and (c) devising strategies and initiatives to attract foreign direct investment, facilitate knowledge exchange, and promote energy-efficient manufacturing to stimulate economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of digital industrialization on regional pollution control and carbon reduction in China is an area that remains largely unexplored despite being a new driving force in promoting high-quality economic development. This study constructs a combined system synergy model to measure the synergistic governance effect of regional pollution and carbon reduction in China from 2011 to 2020 and then estimates the direct impact and spatial spillover effect using a spatial dual-weight model. Our findings indicate that digital industrialization has a greater impact on regional pollution reduction and carbon reduction as geographical distance decreases, with the spillover effect with close geographical relationships being higher than that of adjacent. Furthermore, the heterogeneity analysis reveals that the added value of digital technology and services has a significantly positive effect, while the spatial spillover effect of the added value of digital infrastructure is significantly negative. Finally, our mechanism judgements prove digital industrialization can impact the level of regional co-governance of pollution and carbon reduction through source prevention, process control, and end-treatment. Our study provides a factual basis for further promoting China's environmental pollution control and carbon reduction behavior and offers a method to use different spatial weights in depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—are committed to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, which focuses on mitigating climate change. To attain this goal, it is crucial to emphasize the significance of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality. This study contributes to the literature by examining the potential role of these factors in environmental sustainability in the BRICS economies from 2000 to 2021, utilizing cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) estimation and other novel econometric techniques. Accordingly, the study suggests that BRICS governments and policymakers prioritize the use of ICT in the industrial and institutional sectors to achieve faster environmental sustainability in the short-run, as per the CS-ARDL results. However, the study advises caution in the long-term as the interaction between ICT and renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality may not favour environmental quality. Although the renewable energy sources interaction with ICT may not yield immediate progress, strong measures need to be taken to ensure that short-term gains are not nullified. In conclusion, the study highlights the potential of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality in achieving environmental sustainability in the BRICS countries, while recommending cautious measures in the long run to safeguard the progress made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial policy can play a role in India's elusive quest for jobs, particularly "good jobs," and technology upgrading as it seeks to traverse the first stage of industrialization driven by abundant cheap labor and high investment rates, to reach the second stage which requires higher productivity levels and a capacity to innovate. There are lessons to be learned from the past in the success stories of Asian industrialization—including some from India itself. Yet, the past may not be the perfect recipe for the future given a changing global landscape characterized by increasing industrial automation, rising concerns about market access, and the increasing interdependence between the manufacturing and services sectors. Going forward, the role of policy coordination in improving the effectiveness of industrial policy to spur India's industrialization will take center-stage. New policy directions that leverage possibilities of technological leapfrogging—including through the services sector—as well as the synergies between manufacturing and services will be equally important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the effect of trade openness on industrialization shows contrasting results. Using a new empirical framework, we contribute in this paper to the removal of this indeterminacy by studying the influence of trade openness on industrialization in a sample of Sub-Saharan African countries. We use the new measure of trade openness and approximate industrialization through three complementary indicators: manufacturing value-added as a percentage of GDP, manufacturing employment as a share of total employment, and the industrial competitiveness index. Estimations are carried out by a two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM). Over the period 1985–2014, our results show that in Sub-Saharan Africa, the level of industrialization is a decreasing function of trade openness. The magnitude of this negative effect is conditioned by very low levels of foreign direct investment and human capital. Our results, which stand up to many robustness checks, seem to support the implications of the infant industry argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encouraging the recycling of plastic packaging materials in express delivery is a necessary step toward environmentally friendly industrial development. In this study, we present a framework for analyzing the flow of materials in express plastic packaging, from production and manufacturing to consumption and recycling. In examining the use of recycled materials in post-consumer express plastic packaging and the destination of consumer packaging waste in 2020 and 2021, we found that 44.4% (1613.6 Gg) of the studied express plastic packaging was incinerated. Additionally, approximately 1296.6 Gg of express plastic packaging flowed into rural areas. Our calculations showed that the ΔRSE in 2020 was 15.1%, and on the condition that 25% separated collection with 80% recycling, ΔRSE would be − 0.5%. Results verified that separated collection is an important step in the recycling strategy for packaging materials. Survey data from universities in Beijing indicate that currently, 26% of college students are participating in the separate collection of packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging digital technologies are transforming logistics processes on a large scale. Despite a growing body of knowledge on individual use cases ranging from collaborative robots to platform-based planning systems in the frontline industrial development of Logistics 4.0, organizations lack a systematic understanding of the opportunities digital technologies afford for logistics processes. To foster such understanding, this study takes an intra-organizational perspective as a central starting point for digitalization initiatives toward Logistics 4.0. It synthesizes current academic research and industrial insights from a systematic literature review and an expert interview study through an affordance lens. The result is a catalog and conceptual framework of ten digital technology affordances in intralogistics (DTAILs) and 46 practical manifestations. Thereby, this study contributes to understanding and leveraging the opportunities digital technologies afford in a leading-edge information systems application domain. It serves as a foundation for further theorizing on Logistics 4.0 and for structuring strategic discussions among organizational stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive profile database of industrial wastewater in Taiwan has been developed. The dataset consists of 244 wastewater samples containing 52 metals and metalloid elements. A Naïve Bayes classifier was applied to establish robust composite profiles for each industrial category. Similarities in the composite profiles were examined using a hierarchical cluster analysis, and most composite profiles were distinct. Finally, 19 composite profiles of the industrial categories were subsequently retrieved and utilized to identify the marker species for each category. During the examination of marker species through statistical methods, three less noticeable characteristic species, Mo, Sb, and Co, were examined further: Molybdenum was confirmed as a marker species for the petrochemical industry, while antimony was identified as a marker for man-made fibers and finishing of textiles. Cobalt was also determined as a marker for nickel-based electroplating products. We compared the regulations of other countries with those of Taiwan in order to offer scientific advice regarding these three species. This study serves as an exemplary application of a profile database, showing how it can be used to analyze less noticeable marker species among the 52 elements for different industries. Moreover, the study results suggest that composite profiles generated from various industries hold potential as tools for future river pollution prevention. Overall, the continuous expansion of the database is highly recommended to increase its practicality and relevance for future research and regulatory efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial development and the associated generation of waste requires attention for their management, treatment, and reduction without further degrading the quality of life. Microbes and plant-based bioremediation approaches are some of the sustainable strategies for the biodegradation of harmful pollutants instead of chemical-based treatment. Bioaugmentation is one such approach where microbial strains with the ability to degrade the targeted pollutant are introduced in a polluted environment. Harnessing of microbes from various locations, especially from the site of contamination (indigenous microbes), followed by optimization of the strains, inoculum size, media, and genetic engineering of the microbes along with a combination of strategies such as bio stimulation, phytoremediation is being applied to increase the efficiency of bioaugmentation. Further, bioaugmentation is influenced by various factors such as temperature, the composition of the pollutant, and microbial inoculum which needs to be considered for maximum efficiency of the treatment process. It has numerous advantages such as low cost, sustainability, and easy handling of the contaminants however, the major limitation of bioaugmentation is to increase the survival rate of the microbes involved in remediation for a longer duration in such a highly toxic environment. The review discusses these various aspects of bioaugmentation in brief for its large-scale implementation to address the global issue of pollution and environment management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater is an essential resource that meets all of humanity's daily water demands, supports industrial development, influences agricultural output, and maintains ecological equilibrium. The objective behind this research is to find groundwater prospective zones and their sustainable development in Henan Province, located in the North China Plain, with the help of analytical hierarchical process (AHP) and frequency ratio (FR) models. Consequently, a groundwater inventory map was created, utilizing 70% of the data for training and 30% for testing purposes. The resulting maps were overlaid with groundwater levels and the locations of wells within the study area. The performance and validation of the models were assessed using the Area Under Curve (AUC) curve, which indicated an accuracy of 70% for the AHP model and 69% for the FR model. The study indicates that areas with suitable gradients and rainfall patterns generally have high groundwater prospective zonation (GWPZ), i.e., Zhumadian and Nanyang (ZN). However, AHP demonstrated a higher predictive capability in comparison to FR the broader context. Whereas GIS-RS methodology aligns with existing wells and field data that validate it in range of good and excellent. In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights for effective groundwater exploration and sustainable water supply planning in Henan Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the analysis of the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of 2879 attractions POI in Chengdu, this paper studies the spatial distribution types, spatial concentration, and equilibrium of attractions by using standard deviation ellipse, geographic concentration index, and kernel density estimation. Buffer analysis, near analysis, correlation analysis, and grey relation analysis are used to study the influencing factors of tourism in Chengdu. The results show that: (1) The overall attractions POI in Chengdu is in an east–west direction, and except for other types of attractions POI, the remaining types are also in an east–west direction. (2) The spatial agglomeration areas of different types of attractions POI in Chengdu were quite different. Among them, parks and city squares were mainly concentrated in the central urban areas, namely Jinjiang, Qingyang, Jinniu, Wuhou, and Chenghua, forming a prominent gathering area. (3) There were differences in the influence degree of each factor on the spatial distribution of attractions POI. Topography and drainage, transportation, tourist source market, and other factors significantly correlated with the distribution of attractions, which were the main factors affecting the spatial distribution of attractions. Industrial development and economic population were also important factors affecting the distribution of attractions. Tourism is an important thrust for urban development. The study of the spatial distribution of tourism and its influencing factors has clear guiding significance for later tourism development, which can help optimize the integration of tourism resources, promote the cooperation of regional tourism development and provide a basis for decision-making for tourism development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To cope with the potential threat caused by climate change, reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which are mainly derived from fossil fuels, is the top priority in curbing global warming. Taiwan claims that its target for intended nationally determined contribution is to achieve a 50% reduction in the level of business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, which is equivalent to a decrease in emissions by 20% compared to the 2005 level. To reach the intended nationally determined contribution target for 2030, planning a long-term project is necessary. Therefore, the study proposes a multi-objective optimization model to program the industrial structure of Taiwan from 2022 to 2030 for a near-optimal trade-off between gross domestic product and CO2 emissions. The results indicate that industries with high emission rates, such as the chemical material and primary metal industries, must impose actions to significantly reduce emissions. In addition, high energy-intensive industries should not expand their scales to maintain sustainable development. On the contrary, the electrical machinery industry should be further developed. The findings can provide helpful information for policymakers and serve as a reference for future industrial development in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TechTrends is a research journal in the field of Instructional Design and Technology. It was originally called The Educational Screen and has since evolved into a top quartile research journal. The purpose of the journal is to link research and practice to improve learning. TechTrends publishes various types of research, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, and action research. There are some common misconceptions about the journal, such as it not accepting action research or being exclusively for the AECT membership. The journal focuses on educational technology as defined by the United States Department of Education. The Editorial Board consists of members from different parts of the world, and they are responsible for reviewing manuscripts and accepting proposals for special issues. To become a reviewer, one must have a terminal degree in the field and demonstrated ability to publish research. The journal welcomes proposals for special issues, which should align with the scope of the journal and the field of instructional design and technology. The Editor-in-Chief would like to see more action research, practitioner-based research, and literature reviews in the journal. There are plans to introduce two new recurring columns in 2025, one focused on practitioners and the other for academic debate. Overall, TechTrends aims to serve the broader community in the field of Instructional Design and Technology. [Extracted from the article]

Our work sheds light on the joint role of human capital and geography during the early stages of the transition from stagnation to growth in early twentieth century Greece. We uncover a robust association between geography and literacy. We also show that geography is correlated with land inequality and thus establish that land distribution is a channel through which geography influences literacy. Finally, the impact of geography on human capital formation weakens with industrialization. Our work contributes to the literature on geography and human capital in the transition from stagnation to growth since Greece was at the early stages of the industrial era during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blockchain technology has the characteristics of distributed storage, peer-to-peer transmission, strong confidentiality, and convenient traceability. It has become an important application for accelerating the industrial digital transformation. After fifteen years of development, blockchain has become well-known to the public and been applied in the digital transformation of many fields. This paper analyzes the origin and development of blockchain, summarizes its attributes in detail, and systematically summarizes the importance of the blockchain in empowering digital transformation. To explore the active research fields and development prospects of blockchain, the analysis data are based on information from papers published from 2015 to 2023 in the core collection of the Web of Science database, which were analyzed by CiteSpace V6.2.R4. The software depicts blockchain literature information, such as main authors, published institutions, active research fields, and evolutionary trends, using knowledge maps. The advantages of blockchain are security, privacy, and the ability to create smart contracts and consensus mechanisms, and it has been applied to digital transformation in fields such as financial transactions, supply chains, and the Internet of Things management. This paper also discusses the high-level applications of blockchain in cutting-edge fields such as smart grids, e-healthcare, the Internet of Vehicles, and machine learning. The paper draws conclusions and implications from the findings and argues that, to accelerate the digital transformation of industry, it is necessary to adhere to the technological innovation of the blockchain and expand its application scope. Regulatory agencies and industrial associations must also strengthen their supervision and cooperation to ensure the safe and effective promotion of sustainable development in the digital economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study is to identify the spatial relationship between the population and production of the territories of the south of Yenisei Siberia (Krasnoyarsk krai without northern areas, the Republic of Tyva, and the Republic of Khakassia). The study was conducted using statistical, cartographic, and comparative geographic methods; urban districts and municipal areas were chosen as units of statistical observation. The main results include identifying the main urbanized areas and transport corridors in places of maximum population concentration. Thus, the demographic potential of the Krasnoyarsk part of the Trans-Siberian transport corridor makes up more than half of the region's population, while it receives migrants from peripheral territories. The branches of industrial specialization have been singled out, and a grouping of municipalities of the region has been carried out according to the volume of industrial production (four groups have been identified). The influence of the level of development and distribution of productive forces on the demographic situation and the transformation of settlement systems has been assessed. The correlation between the population size and the volume of industrial production for the set of urban districts is very high (0.98), and for the set of municipal districts it is very weak (0.28), indicating large differences. The consideration of cities as nodes of the supporting framework of the region's territory shows a very strong correlation between population and industrial development, which is obscured when the analysis is extended to the entire territory of municipal districts. The geographical aspects of spatial development are expressed in the strengthening of the central–peripheral gradients of the concentration of population and production. Modern market conditions through the strengthening of economic contrasts, the weakness of subsidized budgets, and the degradation of local infrastructure affect the demographic situation. In all the regions considered, the dominance of capital cities in terms of demographic and industrial potential has been noted; it is these administrative centers that are regional points of growth. The grouping of municipalities by production volume shows the unevenness of industrial development. The leaders and nodes of the supporting framework of the territory are cities with developed industries of great all-Russian, regional, or export significance, as well as centers with extractive industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the globalization's effect on the economy using a sample of thirty one developing countries over the period from 1981 to 2013. Globalization is captured by foreign direct investment, openness, and the KOF Globalization Index, measuring globalization along the economic, social, and political dimension. The Westerlund's (Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 69:709-748, 2007) cointegration test suggests that the models are cointegrated. The long-run outputs from the autoregressive distributed lag model disclose the following results. First, foreign investment exerts a negative effect on industrialization captured by industry added value and industry employments, whereas trade openness enhances industrialization. Second, the effect of globalization on industrialization is not homogeneous across regions, African industries being those in which the effect is less important. Finally, market size and human capital skill have a negative and significant effect on industrialization, while innovation, infrastructures, and natural resource effects are positive and significant. The industrial effect of globalization is more important in Asia and Latin America than in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropologists have long documented rituals that reinforce the social and spiritual aspects of killing and eating animals. The historical processes of modernization, industrialization, and the spread of market capitalism have driven many such references to sacredness out of meat production in North America, leading dominant social relations around meat into what Max Weber famously termed "disenchantment." In this article, I argue that re-enchanting discourses are one technique being used to develop the alternative production models of ethically raised meat—animals raised for human consumption with priority on sustainability and well-being. As people redesign a food system that resists the meat industry's churn of pigs, cows, and chickens from feed lot to factory, they are not just rearranging the material structures of production. They also foster discourses and practices of sacredness, mutuality, and wonder. Ethical meat advocates use these discourses particularly to make sense of conflicts regarding the non-commodifiable nature of mortality and harmony. This article draws on ethnographic research among Southern Wisconsin butchers, farmers, and customers as well as public discourse analysis to trace meaning-making strategies that powerfully counter the commercial meat industry by re-enchanting meat. [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]

Climate change repercussions such as temperature shifts and more severe weather occurrences are felt globally. It contributes to larger-scale challenges, such as climate change and biodiversity loss in food production. As a result, the purpose of this research is to develop strategies to grow the economy without harming the environment. Therefore, we revisit the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, considering the impact of climate policy uncertainty along with other control variables. We investigated yearly panel data from 47 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) nations from 1998 to 2021. Pooled regression, fixed effect, and the generalized method of moment (GMM) findings all confirmed the presence of inverted U-shaped EKC in BRI counties. Findings from this paper provide policymakers with actionable ideas, outlining a framework for bringing trade and climate agendas into harmony in BRI countries. The best way to promote economic growth and reduce carbon dioxide emissions is to push for trade and climate policies to be coordinated. Moreover, improving institutional quality is essential for strong environmental governance, as it facilitates the adoption of environmentally friendly industrialization techniques and the efficient administration of climate policy uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial development can bring huge economic benefits to the country and society. However, it has also caused serious environmental pollution, leading to serious health problems and medical burdens for people, and is often accompanied by the emission of polluting gases. Many companies specify that masks must be worn at work to prevent the inhalation of harmful gases. Quickly detecting whether workers are wearing masks has emerged as a topic of some importance. However, existing face detection networks have limited detection accuracy and considerably reduced performance for masked faces. Hence, most state-of-the-art face mask detection technologies are based on deep learning. In this study, we developed a new feature extraction module called Attention Residual Ghost Module based on attention mechanisms and residual structure. To improve performance, we construct CSP-ARG and ARG-PANert. We then fused attention between the two to obtain a new type of lightweight face mask detection model. The results of an experimental evaluation of the performance of our proposed approach on the public AIZOO and FMDD datasets showed that it achieved accuracy values of 93.4% and 89.3%, respectively, in terms of mAP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the environmental sensitivity of an area provides an early warning of potential land-use problems that can determine the location and extent of possible adverse effects for preventive planning and decision-making. The Coastal Zone Sensitivity Map supports the development of response strategies in potential oil spill programs. This project studies the 187-km coastline north of the Persian Gulf, including a special economic zone and a protected area. The proximity of various oil and gas development projects to the national park located in this area, and the possible threats of these industrial activities to the park's environment, highlight the importance of this study more than ever before. To prepare the environmental sensitivity map of this area, we studied the sensitive vegetation in the area, as well as the presence of birds, existing animal cover, susceptible organisms, fish, aquatic organisms, and types of beaches. This study revealed the existence of various species with conservation value in this area, including 13 species of birds, four species of reptiles and amphibians, nine species of mammals, five species of marine animals, and one plant species. By preparing an environmental sensitivity map, local authorities and decision-makers gain valuable insights into identifying vulnerable areas during oil spills or incidents that pose risks to the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of Industrial Internet of Things, big data, and multi-domain modeling, led to the emergence of digital twin (DT), providing a new approach to the cyber-physical production systems. In the traditional shipbuilding industry, a large number of hull parts are often tracked and transferred. During the hull parts picking and processing, the uncertainty from parts transfer tasks and logistics information often leads to low resource utilization. Therefore, a real-time resource allocation method based on DT for hull part smart picking and processing system (SPPS) is proposed. Firstly, a multi-agent model of the multi-gantry crane system is established in virtual space to achieve real-time task allocation, hence minimizing the transport time. Next, a real-time picking and processing scheduling policy is proposed to reduce the idle time of all workstations by estimating the time of parts arriving at target station and processing completion time. Finally, the services available in the DT platform can be applied to optimize the system performance, taking the number of devices and the takt time optimization as examples. Several experiments in case study are carried out to verify the proposed method. The average utilization rate of all workstations is increased by 17.39%, and the standard deviation is reduced by 83.31%. The results have shown that the proposed method can effectively improve the workstation utilization rate and load balance. The maximum average number of parts in the station buffer, which is limited to 0.33, is kept at a low level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improved gravity model was used to determine the spatial correlation of carbon emission efficiency (CEE) among cities, and then the spatial correlation network of CEE of 284 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2019 was constructed for the first time. Based on the social network analysis method, the structural characteristics and influencing factors of the network were analyzed. It was found that: (1) The spatial correlation of CEE at city level is obvious, the overall correlation intensity is increasing, and the aggregation of correlation is significant. (2) The network shows a core–edge structure, cities with high economic development, such as Shenzhen, Beijing, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, occupying the center of the network, while cities with relatively weak development such as Heihe, Jiuquan, Baotou and Baoshan are at the edge. (3) The network can be divided into four plates, with sparse association within the plate and the strong spillover effect between the plates. (4) Spatial adjacency relationship, differences in economic development, industrial development, green technology innovation and energy consumption have significant positive effects on establishing a spatial network, while geographical distance has significant negative effects on it. The results can help governments to clearly realize the correlation of CEE between cities and identify the role that each city can play in improving the overall CEE, so as to provide guidance for governments to further formulate accurate carbon emission reduction policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of the implementation effect of the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy in promoting industrial low-carbon development is important for economic growth and carbon reduction in China. This paper takes the industry sector as an independent investigation object, and aims to examine the effectiveness of the policy in improving industrial low-carbon development. The industrial total factor carbon emission efficiency index (ITFCEE) is constructed to measure the level of industrial low-carbon development by the global frontier directional distance function. From the perspective of the multiple participants of the policy, we analyze the mechanisms of the policy, and construct the time-varying difference-in-difference model to test how LCCP policy impacts the ITFCEE. We conclude that (1) LCCP policy improves significantly the ITFCEE. (2) Heterogeneity analysis results show that the positive influence of LCCP policy is significant in cities with high industrial carbon emission intensity, high industrial structure upgrading, and high government expenditure. (3) The result of the mechanism analysis is that LCCP policy can benefit the ITFCEE by promoting enterprise green technology innovation, public environment concern, government technology support, and administrative regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rio Grande is a city located on a narrow industrialized and urbanized Brazilian peninsula, characterized by wetlands. Due to population growth, numerous urban backfilled regions were built to expand the territorial area of the city. Currently, more than 60% of the central area of the city comes from the grounding of wetlands. The material used for the expansion of the territory had a history of contamination from metals from the tannery and textile industries (mainly Hg) and urban solid waste. In addition to past sources, the city has an active industrial complex with fertilizer, petrochemical, and grain industries. This study evaluated the risks to human health caused by metals (Hg, Fe, Ni, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in original soils and backfills, considering the oral, inhalation, and dermal routes of exposure for children and adults using the tool human health risk assessment (HHRA) proposed methodology by USEPA. A total of 63.81% of the original soil samples and 57.14% of the backfill soil samples showed a non-carcinogenic risk (HInc>1) for at least one evaluated metal. Still, approximately 10% of the samples presented carcinogenic risk when the Cr was considered in the hexavalent form. The dermal (Hg, Ni, and Cr) and oral (Fe, Cu, and Zn) exposure routes had the greatest contribution to the total risk. The non-carcinogenic risk for Hg, Cr(VI), and Pb was heterogeneously distributed between the original soils and backfills and associated with the proximity to some pollution sources. Given the complexity of historical occupation in the municipality and the increasing industrialization, both the original areas and the backfills should be included in the risk management strategy to minimize risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current industrial operations pollute the world's land, water, and air with heavy metals. Metals' environmental behaviour and geographical distribution near the industrial production. Heavy metal contamination potential was assessed using geoaccumulation index, enrichment factor, and other criteria. Heavy metal concentrations have increased due to industrial waste, geochemical shifts, agriculture, and mining. Modifying cell structure, heavy metals can harm and cause cancer. We need to develop and conduct comprehensive monitoring to determine if industrial production and mining is causing elevated heavy metal levels nearby area in the zone. This review shares contemporary heavy metal contamination on its nature, origin, and extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of planning development in various countries shows that the core logic of planning is the spiral interweaving of control and development, and constantly makes corresponding adjustments to respond to changes and challenges in social and economic development. Most of the planning in western countries originated from control-oriented paradigm, then integrated development-oriented elements, and finally has evolved into comprehensive coordination-oriented planning paradigm. China's planning, which originated from development-oriented paradigm, has shifted towards control-oriented planning as represented by territorial spatial planning to tackle issues such as excessive consumption of resources. In the face of economic, social and environmental challenges, China's urban planning in the future should also move towards a comprehensive balance between control and development. The common thread of control is the sustainable development of economy, society, and environment. The common thread of development is to achieve the Chinese path to modernization. The content of control and development will vary with different spatial scales and time stages. Take Hubei's practice as an example, planning control is driven by the integrated management of watershed and planning development is led by the synchronization of new industrialization, IT application, new urbanization, and agricultural modernization. Hubei Province seeks to promote high-quality, sustainable development through comprehensive coordination-oriented planning that combines control and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microalgae can use carbon sources in sludge extract prepared from sludge. Moreover, the high concentration of CO2 and the large number of carbon sources in the liquid phase will promote microalgae growth and metabolism. In this experiment, Tetradesmus obliquus was cultivated with sludge extract at 30% CO2. Algae liquid (the name used to describe the fertilizer made in this research) was further prepared as lettuce fertilizer. The effect of different times of microalgae culture (10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 days) on the fertilizer efficiency of the algae liquid was evaluated by lettuce hydroponic experiments. The findings indicate that lettuce cultivated in algae liquid collected on the 15th and 30th days exhibited superior performance in terms of growth, antioxidant capacity, and nutritional quality. We analyzed the experimental results in the context of microalgae metabolic mechanisms, aiming to contribute experience and data essential for the development of industrial microalgae fertilizer production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated spectrometers offer the advantages of small sizes and high portability, enabling new applications in industrial development and scientific research. Integrated Fourier-transform spectrometers (FTS) have the potential to realize a high signal-to-noise ratio but typically have a trade-off between the resolution and bandwidth. Here, we propose and demonstrate the concept of the two-dimensional FTS (2D-FTS) to circumvent the trade-off and improve scalability. The core idea is to utilize 2D Fourier transform instead of 1D Fourier transform to rebuild spectra. By combining a tunable FTS and a spatial heterodyne spectrometer, the interferogram becomes a 2D pattern with variations of heating power and arm lengths. All wavelengths are mapped to a cluster of spots in the 2D Fourier map beyond the free-spectral-range limit. At the Rayleigh criterion, the demonstrated resolution is 250 pm over a 200-nm bandwidth. The resolution can be enhanced to 125 pm using the computational method. The authors propose and demonstrate a novel integrated spectrometer that measures any arbitrary spectrum with two-dimensional Fourier transform, breaking the scalability limit in chip-scale spectrometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pulp and paper industry is critical to global industrial and economic development. Recently, India's pulp and paper industries have been facing severe competitive challenges. The challenges have impaired the environmental performance and resulted in the closure of several operations. Assessment and prediction of the performance of the Indian pulp and paper industry using various parameters is a critical task for researchers. This study proposes a framework for performance assessment and prediction based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), Artificial Neural Networks, and Deep Learning (DL) to assist industry administration and decision-making. We presented a case study based on eight industries to demonstrate the methodology's applicability. This study analyses and predicts industry performance based on sample data observations over 30 years. The result suggests the DEA-DL-based efficiency prediction has an overall MSE of 0.08 compared with the actual efficiency. Furthermore, the efficiency rankings are compared between the three techniques. The results suggest that the integrated DEA-DL method is primarily accurate in most scenarios with the actual values. The findings of this study provide a comprehensive analysis of environmental performance for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anti-corrosion improvement of epoxy-based (EP) coatings through an eco-fridendly way is significant to industrial development. Phytic acid (PA) is a kind of natural corrosion inhibitor, but its use to enhance the anti-corrosion of EP is challenging due to their poor compatilibility. This problem is addressed by the modification of PA in this paper. First, PA is grafted to ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) to obtain modified PA (PA-EGDE) by the catalysis of tetrabutylammonium bromide. Subsequently, PA-EGDE is added to EP to fabricate PA-EGDE/EP coatings. When the PA-EGDE loading is 5 wt%, the PA-EGDE/EP coating exhibits best mechanical and anti-corrosion properties. The peeling force and adhesion failure rate are 2.03 MPa and 45.6%, and the hardness, flexibility and shock resistance are 2H, 1 mm and 50 cm, respectively. The corresponding Ecorr value of PA-EGDE/EP coating is -0.620 eV, which is much higher than that of EP coating (-0.797 eV); the impedance modulus is 108 Ω·cm2 after immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution for 30 days, which is much bigger than that of EP coating (106 Ω·cm2). Moreover, the anti-corrosion mechanism of PA in EP coating is thoroughly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for industrial development toward advanced and precision manufacturing has sparked interest in ultrafast laser-based micromachining methods, particularly emerging advanced machining methods, such as laser-induced plasma micromachining (LIPMM). The main challenge in laser micromachining is finding the optimal process in a large process space to achieve a comprehensive improvement in processing efficiency and quality as approaches that rely on trial-and-error are impractical. In this work, we combined data-driven machine learning and physical model into a cycle design strategy, in order to efficient capture the comprehensive optimization process of LIPMM with high material removal rate and high microgroove depth. Based on the small sample dataset and additional physical variables provided by the physical model, the optimal process in the whole process space can be obtained using only four design cycles and dozens of data groups, and the material removal rate and microgroove depth of which are improved comprehensively compared with the original data. The design strategy integrated with physical model presented here could be applied in a wide range of fields, and thus shows the promise of accelerating the development of laser micromachining processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following global warming and climate change issues, environmental policies are receiving renewed interest in the context of the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Using a panel of 17 African countries over the period 2000–2019 and based on ordinary least squared, Driscoll and Kraay standard error and generalized method of moment, this paper empirically analyses the effect of environmental tax regulation on industrialization. Our results establish a negative and significant effect of environmental regulation through green tax scheme on industrialization. These findings are consistent and robust to the use of an alternative dependent variable (Manufacturing) and other estimation methods. Also, by splitting the sample into monetary zone, the initial result is found to be consistently significant only in Non FCFA zone. Moreover, Quantile analysis reveals some heterogeneity across the industrialization distribution. Indeed, there is a threshold discrepancy between lower (0.25)–median (0,50) income countries in which the effects of environmental tax on industrialization is confirmed to be significantly negative and upper-income countries (0.75) where the effect is positive but not significant. These findings suggest that green tax regulations in our sample of selected African countries, destroy more industries than they could create. We therefore recommend that environmental tax policies should be moderate on African countries at least in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is an attempt to comparatively analyze the impact of renewable energy sources on air quality represented by particulate matter 2.5 concentrations utilizing panel data of 60 countries which are divided into two sub-panels industrialized economies and emerging industrial economies over the period 2010–2019. The study adopts both demand- and supply-side approaches and hence renewable sources are handled in two different structures, i.e., renewable energy consumption and production. Empirical results from both demand- and supply-side regressions strongly confirm the positive impact of renewable sources on air quality in all country groups, meaning that higher renewable energy production and consumption bring about improvement in air quality. In addition, this positive impact of renewables on air quality turned out to be higher in emerging industrial economies than that in industrialized ones. To be more precise, as all control variables are considered, a 10% increase in the production of renewable energy sources brings about a 0.66% improvement in air quality in industrialized economies while its impact is a value of 1.33% in emerging industrial economies. On the other hand, a 10% increase in consumption of renewable energy sources leads to a 0.62% improvement in air quality in industrialized economies and a 1.97% improvement in emerging industrial economies. As for control variables, industrialization gives rise to an increase in air pollution in all country groups, whereas economic growth and trade openness function as favorable factors for air quality. Although population density improves air quality in industrialized economies, it is found as one of the main pollutant factors in emerging industrial economies. Overall results proved that renewable sources improve air quality by reducing particulate matter 2.5 concentrations. Therefore, these countries, especially emerging industrial economies, should replace primitive energy sources like fossil fuels with renewables to bring down environmental degradation up to a reasonable level and increasingly continue to invest in renewable energy domain to reach their environmental sustainability targets. The study also provides some additional policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]