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After almost three years of preparation, the tiered pricing for household electricity (TPHE) was implemented across China in July 2012. The feedbacks of household electricity consumption to the new pricing policy are investigated in this paper based on the micro household-level data from China’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey (CRECS). We document that electricity consumption of 82% surveyed households did not affected by the TPHE, which is in conformity with the principle that the TPHE policy based on. More importantly, factors that influence elasticity of household electricity consumption are examined by empirical model in this paper. Results indicate that factors such as the energy price, household income, and demographic attributes have significant impacts on residential electricity consumption. Further discussion outcomes show that the publicity of the TPHE, energy price and some other factors are strongly correlated with the probability that households change the inefficient and lavish pattern of electricity consumption. Future directions for the design and improvement of residential electricity pricing reform are thus suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to establish a novel, reproducible technique to obtain the BIC area (BICA) between zygomatic implants and zygomatic bone based on post-operative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. Three-dimensional (3D) image registration and segmentation were used to eliminate the effect of metal-induced artifacts of zygomatic implants., Methods: An ex-vivo study was included to verify the feasibility of the new method. Then, the radiographic bone-to-implant contact (rBIC) of 143 implants was measured in a total of 50 patients. To obtain the BICA of zygomatic implants and the zygomatic bone, several steps were necessary, including image preprocessing of CBCT scans, identification of the position of zygomatic implants, registration, and segmentation of pre- and post-operative CBCT images, and 3D reconstruction of models. The conventional two-dimensional (2D) linear rBIC (rBIC c ) measurement method with post-operative CBCT images was chosen as a comparison., Results: The mean values of rBIC and rBIC c were 15.08 ± 5.92 mm and 14.77 ± 5.14 mm, respectively. A statistically significant correlation was observed between rBIC and rBIC c values ([Formula: see text]=0.86, p < 0.0001)., Conclusions: This study proposed a standardized, repeatable, noninvasive technique to quantify the rBIC of post-operative zygomatic implants in 3D terms. This technique is comparable to conventional 2D linear measurements and seems to be more reliable than these conventional measurements; thus, this method could serve as a valuable tool in the performance of clinical research protocols.