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Sustainable cultivation of Lycium barbarum L. (L. barbarum) in northwest China faces challenges due to soil sickness. While previous studies have explored variations in L. barbarum's root-associated microbiota, the impact of soil properties on its growth performance and plant–soil feedback remains unclear. This study investigated changes in soil properties across topsoil (0–20 cm) and subsoil (20–40 cm) in primary L. barbarum cultivation regions of northwest China, evaluating seedling growth and plant–soil feedback through pot experiments. Results revealed significantly higher fresh shoot weights in seedlings cultivated in topsoil compared to subsoil, with plant–soil feedback showing an inverse trend. Redundancy analysis indicated positive correlations between both fresh weight and plant–soil feedback with electrical conductivity and dissolved nitrogen content, while negative correlations were observed with soil pH at both depths. Notably, dissolved organic carbon content negatively correlated with fresh weight and plant–soil feedback in topsoil, suggesting a potential relationship between continuous single-species plant litter input and soil sickness under monocropping conditions. These findings indicate that long-term input of a single plant litter type, rather than chemical fertilization, may primarily contribute to L. barbarum soil sickness in northwest China, providing valuable insights for developing sustainable cultivation practices for growing L. barbarum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between CEO compensation schemes and ESG greenwashing behavior in Chinese listed firms during the period 2013–2022. We find that a CEO's cash (equity) compensation has a significantly positive (negative) correlation with corporate ESG greenwashing behavior. From mechanism analysis, consistent with the agency problem view, firms engage in more severe ESG greenwashing behavior under a higher proportion of cash in the CEO compensation structure. Such distortion behavior is mitigated by higher internal control quality in firms having an equity incentive for their CEO under the convergence of interest viewpoint. Additional analysis reveals that corporates audited by large accounting firms and those with more media coverage exacerbate the positive correlation between CEO cash compensation and ESG greenwashing behavior, while government environmental regulations reinforce the inhibitory effect of CEO equity compensation on ESG greenwashing. Our results imply that different CEO compensation schemes can have opposite effects on limiting firms' ESG greenwashing behavior in the Chinese context. Furthermore, we highlight that the question of form over substance principle to certain external governance mechanisms, leading CEO to exacerbate impression management of ESG disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of inert N2 and CO2 into urea by electrocatalytic technology not only reduces the cost of urea synthesis in future, but also alleviates the environmental pollution problem caused by carbon emission in traditional industrial production. However, facing downside factors such as strong competitive reactions and unclear reaction mechanism, the design of high-performance urea catalysts is imminent. This study demonstrates that W18O49 system doped heteronuclear metals (TM = Fe, Co, Ni) can effectively solve the problem of competitive adsorption between N2 and CO2 and realize the co-adsorption of N2 and CO2 at diverse sites. Their theoretical limiting voltages for urea production on TM-W18O49 (TM = Fe, Co, Ni) systems are −0.46 V, −0.42 V and −0.52 V, respectively. The results are all lower than that of the contrastive voltage in pristine W18O49 system (-0.91 V), further indicating the rationality and necessity of single-atom doped strategy for the co-reduction of two molecules. Specially, Co-W18O49 can theoretically inhibit the side reactions of NRR, CO2RR, and HER, which deserve future experimental exploration in future. The study suggests that doping heteronuclear metal into transition metal oxides is a feasible scheme to solve competitive adsorption and improve catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have developed a method to improve the setup accuracy of a Varian Clinac 6/100 couch for delivering conformal arc therapy using a tertiary micro multileaf collimator (MLC) system. Several immobilization devices have been developed to improve the mechanical stability and isocenter alignment of the couch: turn-knob harnesses, double-track alignment plates, and a drop-in rod that attaches the couch to the concrete floor. These add-on components minimize the intercomponent motion of the couch's scissor elevator, which allows consistent treatment setup. The accuracy of our isocenter couch alignment is an improvement over the above devices, within 1 mm of their accuracy. The couch has been used with over 15 patients and with over 50 modulated conformal arc treatment deliveries at our institution.