Evaluating Sugarcane Bagasse-Based Biochar as an Economically Viable Catalyst for Agricultural and Environmental Advancement in Brazil through Scenario-Based Economic Modeling

The increasing global demand for sustainable agricultural practices and effective waste management has highlighted the potential of biochar as a multifaceted solution. This study evaluates the economic viability of sugarcane bagasse-based biochar in Brazil, focusing on its potential to enhance agricultural productivity and contribute to environmental sustainability. While existing literature predominantly explores the production, crop yield benefits, and carbon sequestration capabilities of biochar, there is a notable gap in comprehensive economic modeling and viability analysis for the region. This paper aims to fill this gap by employing a scenario-based economic modeling approach, incorporating relevant economic models. Findings include that biochar implementation can be economically viable for medium and large sugarcane farms (20,000 - 50,000 hectares) given the availability of funding, breaking even in about 7.5 years with an internal rate of return of 18% on average. For small farms, biochar can only be viable when applied biochar to the soil, which in all scenarios is found to be the more profitable practice by a large margin. Sensitivity analyses found that generally, biochar becomes economically feasible at biochar carbon credit prices above $120 USD/tCO2e, and at sugarcane bagasse availability percentages above 60%. While the economic models are well-grounded in existing literature, the production of biochar at the studied scales is not yet widespread, especially in Brazil and uncertainties can result. Reviewing the results, the land application scenario was found to be the most viable, and large farms saw the best results, highlighting the importance of scale in biochar operations. Small and medium farms with no land application were concluded to have no or questionable viability. Overall, sugarcane bagasse-based biochar can be economically viable, under the right circumstances, for agricultural and environmental advancement in Brazil.

Decadal variations in the community status of economically important invertebrates in the Bohai Sea

With the decline of fish stocks,the proportions of economically important invertebrates like crustaceans and cephalopods have increased in the Bohai Sea.The community structure and trophic level of economically important invertebrates were analyzed using the bottom trawl survey data collected by the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute in the Bohai Sea in May and August of 1958–1959,1982,1992–1993,2004,2009 and 2015.A total of 37 species of economically important invertebrates,belonging to 5 orders,24 families,were captured.The biomass densities of economically important invertebrates in the Bohai Sea displayed an overall downward trend from 1982 to 2015.Oratosquilla oratoria and Loligo spp.were the most dominant species in the past 30 years,the biomass proportion of O.oratoria increased gradually in both May and August from 1982 to 2015.Moreover,biodiversity indices of economically important invertebrates in the Bohai Sea appeared to decline from 1982 to 2004 and then increased in 2015.Similarly,the mean trophic level of economically important invertebrates declined from 1982 to 2004 and increased slightly in 2015.Overall,although the proportions of invertebrates have increased,the biomass densities in the Bohai Sea have displayed an overall downward trend from 1982 to 2015.The increases in the biodiversity and trophic level of economically important invertebrates after the 2000s,possibly benefit from stock enhancement projects implemented by governments at different levels and national fishery management measures such as the“double-control”of the total number and engine power of fishing vessels and summer moratorium of fishing.

Paths for the Coordinated Development of Rural Economy and Environment in Economically Underdeveloped Areas——A Case of Huaian,China

Taking Huaian as an example,the rural economic and environmental problems in economically underdeveloped areas are expounded.The results show that rural areas in economically underdeveloped areas confront with lagged economic development,serious environmental pollutionand scarce shortage of equipments for treating environmental pollution.The causes of problems are analyzed,including inadequate fiscal supportfrom the local government;unscientific system for assessing government officers' performances;backward ideas in environmental protection and im-perfect laws and regulations on environmental protection.Based on these causes,the strategy of employing the circular economy to promote the co-ordinated development of rural environment and economy in economically underdeveloped areas is put forward.The strategy covers transformingthe way of agricultural production;adjusting agricultural production structure;positively collecting funds and increasing the input on handling rural en-vironmental problems;strengthening the efforts on promotion and education,and forming the healthy habits of consumption;enforcing supervisionand establishing a professional administration team for protecting rural environment;laying stress on rural technological innovation and strengtheningthe force of expansion;accelerating the path of industrialization and promoting the industrialization of villages and towns vigorously.

Empirical Study on Factors Influencing Farmland Circulation in Economically Developed Areas

Farmland circulation is the foundation of development of regional farmland market.With the aid of survey data of Jiangsu Province and using Heckman two-stage method,this paper analyzed factors influencing farmland circulation from supply and demand of land.Results showed that non-agricultural employment,social security level,and regional economic development level are key factors.In view of these factors,it is recommended to improve rural labor quality,establish perfect rural social security system,and constantly improve rural security level,which are fundamental ways to promoting farmland circulation and improve circulation market.

Economically Challenged Women in Disaster Risk Management: Toward a Resilient Filipino Community

The social and cultural norms shape gender roles which sometimes deprive women of the opportunity to prepare for natural calamities. But the disastrous effect of natural disasters spares no one. It knows no gender. Most of the time, women more than men bear the worse of consequences. The study measures and describes the impact of disaster preparedness sessions on the perception of economically challenged women in Philippines. By using a mixed qualitative and quantitative research method the study found that: 1) the majority of women participants are willing to undergo training in disaster preparedness;2) their awareness in disaster preparedness improved from “basic” to “high” level;3) their level of action in disaster preparedness is still on the “planning stage” and;4) the program effectively changed their attitude towards disaster preparedness and mitigation. The study provided insights on the potential of women in disaster preparedness toward a disaster resilient Filipino community.

Designing resilient and economically viable water distribution systems:a multi-dimensional approach

Enhancing the resilience of critical infrastructure systems requires substantial investment and entails trade-offs between environmental and economic benefits.To this aim,we propose a methodological framework that com-bines resilience and economic analyses and assesses the economic viability of alternative resilience designs for a Water Distribution System(WDS)and its interdependent power and transportation systems.Flow-based net-work models simulate the interdependent infrastructure systems and Global Resilience Analysis(GRA)quantifies three resilience metrics under various disruption scenarios.The economic analysis monetizes the three metrics and compares two resilience strategies involving the installation of remotely controlled shutoffvalves.Using the Micropolis synthetic interdependent water-transportation network as an example,we demonstrate how our framework can guide infrastructure stakeholders and utility operators in measuring the value of resilience invest-ments.Overall,our approach highlights the importance of economic analysis in designing resilient infrastructure systems.

Sources of inaccuracy when estimating economically optimum N fertilizer rates

Nitrogen rate trials are often performed to determine the economically optimum N application rate. For this purpose, the yield is modeled as a function of the N application. The regression analysis provides an estimate of the modeled function and thus also an estimate of the economic optimum, Nopt. Obtaining the accuracy of such estimates by confidence intervals for Nopt is subject to the model assumptions. The dependence of these assumptions is a further source of inaccuracy. The Nopt estimate also strongly depends on the N level design, i.e., the area on which the model is fitted. A small area around the supposed Nopt diminishes the dependence of the model assumptions, but prolongs the confidence interval. The investigations of the impact of the mentioned sources on the inaccuracy of the Nopt estimate rely on N rate trials on the experimental field Sieblerfeld (Bavaria). The models applied are the quadratic and the linear-plus-plateau yield regression model.

Economically Optimal Rates and Nutrients Use Efficiency Indices of Maize to the Application of Different Rates of Nutrients in Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The use of balanced fertilizers in adequate amount is very important to increase crop productivity and production in Ethiopia. The study was executed to quantify maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield response to different rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulfur (S) under balanced fertilization of other nutrients. On farm trials were conducted at seven sites on 8 farmers’ fields in Negele Arsi districts, west Arsi zone of Oromia region for three consecutive cropping seasons (2014-2016). Six rates of N, P, S and eight rates of K treatments established separately for each nutrient were laid out in randomized complete block (RCB) design with three replicates per farm. Nutrient response function modelling showed that 184, 20 and 80 kg•ha−1 were the agronomic optimum rate for N, P, and K, respectively. Mean agronomic efficiency (AE) of N, P and K were recorded at the lower rates of these nutrients, application of 46, 10 and 20 kg•ha−1 N, P and K resulted in 19.1, 61.0, and 24 kg additional grain yield•kg−1 N, P and K, respectively. Also, the mean partial factor productivity (PFP) of N, P and K were 77.6, 370 and 158 kg additional grain•kg−1 applied N, P and K respectively. Economically optimal rate (EOR) of N, P and K were 48 - 114 kg•ha−1 N with CP 8 - 3.5, 12 - 20 kg•ha−1 P with CP 18 - 4.5 and 32 - 53 kg•ha−1 K with CP 8-4, from these rates net returns of US$487.23 - 143.30, US$698.16 - 498.3 and US$359.31 - 193.63 could be obtained respectively. To conclude, application of 84, 12 and 40 kg•ha−1 N, P and K could be recommended for the production of maize.

Conservation of the Important Agricultural Heritage Systems in the Economically Developed Area:Experiences,Problems and Solutions——A Case Study of Zhejiang Province

Zhejiang Province,located in the Yangtze River Delta region,is representative of China’s economically developed areas.It enjoys superior natural conditions and a long history of agriculture,and is a comprehensive agricultural area with integrated development of agriculture,forestry,animal husbandry and fishery.It has nurtured the farming culture represented by Hemudu culture and Liangzhu culture,which have given rise to numerous precious Agricultural Heritage Systems.At present,Zhejiang Province has three of the world’s Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(GIAHS)and 12 China Nationally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(China-NIAHS),so it not only has the largest number of heritages in China,but it has also attained remarkable achievements in heritage conservation.Taking Zhejiang Province as an example in combination with the rural revitalization strategy,this paper summarizes the achievements in the protection of Important Agricultural Heritage Systems(IAHS)in Zhejiang Province during the past 15 years from the aspects of increasing farmers’income,cultural Inheritance and industrial upgrading,as well as the conservation experiences in government promotion,community initiative,enterprise participation,technology driving and social linkage.Further,in view of the problems that exist in the current heritage protection,such as imperfect management of heritage sites,low participation of community residents,lack of special protection funds,and imperfect provincial management system,the following countermeasures and suggestions are put forward:(1)Improve the management mechanism for the conservation and development of Agricultural Heritage Systems;(2)Develop regional public branding of agricultural products in Agricultural Heritage System sites;(3)Increase the Agricultural Heritage System science education as well as cultural and creative product development;(4)Carry out the evaluation and recognition of IAHS at the provincial level;and(5)Provide substantial support and input to the conservation and utilization of IAHS.This study can provide some guidance for the conservation of IAHS in Zhejiang Province and it provides important reference for IAHS in the economically developed areas in China.

Research on the Construction of Intellectual Property System and Optimization of Business Environment in China

With the rapid development of globalization and information technology,intellectual property has been one of the key drivers of economic growth,and the construction of intellectual property system has become an important criterion for measuring the quality of business environment.This article is intended to explore the current status of intellectual property system construction in China,the challenges,and its relationship with the business environment,to propose the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions.The study finds that the legal system of intellectual property in China is gradually improving,and judicial and administrative protection are continuously strengthened.However,the challenges still remain such as frequent infringements,rights hard to protect and insufficient international cooperation.These issues not only affect the legitimate rights and interests of innovation entities,but also for the market fairness and the level of the business environment.Therefore,this article proposes that strengthening the perfection of the intellectual property legal system,enhancing intellectual property services and support capabilities,strengthening international cooperation and exchanges,and accelerating the cultivation of composite talents.It aims to provide theoretical references for the construction of intellectual property system and the optimization of the business environment,promote the high-quality development of economy and enhance the global competitiveness of the country.

Economically Challenged

Policy makers must wrestle with how China can maintain stable GDP growth while overcoming inflation and natural disasters some economists believe that the country’s red-hot economic growth could slow down slightly this year. Yu Yongding,Director of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,forecasts that China’s gross domestic product(GDP) growth rate,which was 11.9

Genetic and genomic analyses for economically important traits and their applications in molecular breeding of cultured fish

The traits of cultured fish must continually be genetically improved to supply high-quality animal protein for human consumption.Economically important fish traits are controlled by multiple gene quantitative trait loci(QTL),most of which have minor effects,but a few genes may have major effects useful for molecular breeding.In this review,we chose relevant studies on some of the most intensively cultured fish and concisely summarize progress on identifying and verifying QTLs for such traits as growth,disease and stress resistance and sex in recent decades.The potential applications of these major-effect genes and their associated markers in marker-assisted selection and molecular breeding,as well as future research directions are also discussed.These genetic and genomic analyses will be valuable for elucidating the mechanisms modulating economically important traits and to establish more effective molecular breeding techniques in fish.

Impacts of Future Changes in Heavy Precipitation and Extreme Drought on the Economy over South China and Indochina

Heavy precipitation and extreme drought have caused severe economic losses over South China and Indochina(INCSC)in recent decades.Given the areas with large gross domestic product(GDP)in the INCSC region are distributed along the coastline and greatly affected by global warming,understanding the possible economic impacts induced by future changes in the maximum consecutive 5-day precipitation(RX5day)and the maximum consecutive dry days(CDD)is critical for adaptation planning in this region.Based on the latest data released by phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project(CMIP6),future projections of precipitation extremes with bias correction and their impacts on GDP over the INCSC region under the fossil-fueled development Shared Socioeconomic Pathway(SSP5-8.5)are investigated.Results indicate that RX5day will intensify robustly throughout the INCSC region,while CDD will lengthen in most regions under global warming.The changes in climate consistently dominate the effect on GDP over the INCSC region,rather than the change of GDP.If only considering the effect of climate change on GDP,the changes in precipitation extremes bring a larger impact on the economy in the future to the provinces of Hunan,Jiangxi,Fujian,Guangdong,and Hainan in South China,as well as the Malay Peninsula and southern Cambodia in Indochina.Thus,timely regional adaptation strategies are urgent for these regions.Moreover,from the sub-regional average viewpoint,over two thirds of CMIP6 models agree that maintaining a lower global warming level will reduce the economic impacts from heavy precipitation over the INCSC region.

Report on Cardiovascular Health and Diseases in China 2023:An Updated Summary

Since 1990,China has made considerable progress in resolving the problem of“treatment difficulty”of cardiovascular diseases(CVD).The prevalent unhealthy lifestyle among Chinese residents has exposed a massive proportion of the population to CVD risk factors,and this situation is further worsened due to the accelerated aging population in China.CVD remains one of the greatest threats to the health of Chinese residents.In terms of the proportions of disease mortality among urban and rural residents in China,CVD has persistently ranked first.In 2021,CVD accounted for 48.98%and 47.35%of deaths in rural and urban areas,respectively.Two out of every five deaths can be attributed to CVD.To implement a national policy“focusing on the primary health institute and emphasizing prevention”and truly achieve a shift of CVD prevention and treatment from hospitals to communities,the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases has organized experts from relevant fields across China to compile the“Report on Cardiovascular Health and Diseases in China”annually since 2005.The 2024 report is established based on representative,published,and high-quality big-data research results from cross-sectional and cohort population epidemiological surveys,randomized controlled clinical trials,large sample registry studies,and typical community prevention and treatment cases,along with data from some projects undertaken by the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases.These firsthand data not only enrich the content of the current report but also provide a more timely and comprehensive reflection of the status of CVD prevention and treatment in China.

不同工况和应用场景下CAES-CFP三联产系统特性分析

To meet the goal of worldwide decarbonization,the transformation process toward clean and green energy structures has accelerated.In this context,coal-fired power plant(CFPP)and large-scale energy storage represented by compressed air energy storage(CAES)technology,are tasked with increasing renewable resource accommodation and maintaining the power system security.To achieve this,this paper proposes the concept of a CFPP-CAES combined cycle and a trigenerative system based on that.Considering the working conditions of the CFPP,thermal characteristics of three typical operation modes were studied and some general regularities were identified.The results of various potential integration schemes discussion indicated that extracting water from low-temperature points in the feedwater system to cool pressurized air and simultaneously increase the backwater temperature is beneficial for improving performance.In addition,preheating the pressurized air before the air expanders via lowgrade water in the feedwater system as much as possible and reducing extracted steam contribute to increasing the efficiency.With the optimal integration scheme,2.85 tonnes of coal can be saved per cycle and the round-trip efficiency can be increased by 2.24%.Through the cogeneration of heat and power,the system efficiency can reach 77.5%.In addition,the contribution degree of the three compression heat utilization methods to the performance improvement ranked from high to low,is preheating the feedwater before the boiler,supplying heat,and flowing into the CFPP feedwater system.In the cooling energy generation mode,the system efficiency can be increased to over 69%.Regardless of the operation mode,the benefit produced by integration is further enhanced when the CFPP operates at higher operating conditions because the coupling points parameters are changed.In addition,the dynamic payback period can be shortened by 11.33 years and the internal rate of return increases by 5.20%under a typical application scenario.Regarding the effect of different application scenarios in terms of economics,investing in the proposed system is more appropriate in regions with multiple energy demands,especially heating demand.These results demonstrate the technical advantages of the proposed system and provide guiding principles for its design,operation,and project investment.

Does digitalization mitigate regional inequalities?Evidence from China

Regional inequality significantly influences sustainable development and human well-being.In China,there exists pronounced regional disparities in economic and digital advancements;however,scant research delves into the interplay between them.By analyzing the economic development and digitalization gaps at regional and city levels in China,extending the original Cobb-Douglas production function,this study aims to evaluate the impact of digitalization on China's regional inequality using seemingly unrelated regression.The results indicate a greater emphasis on digital inequality compared to economic disparity,with variable coefficients of 0.59 for GDP per capita and 0.92 for the digitalization index over the past four years.However,GDP per capita demonstrates higher spatial concentration than digitalization.Notably,both disparities have shown a gradual reduction in recent years.The southeastern region of the Hu Huanyong Line exhibits superior levels and rates of economic and digital advancement in contrast to the northwestern region.While digitalization propels economic growth,it yields a nuanced impact on achieving balanced regional development,encompassing both positive and negative facets.Our study highlights that the marginal utility of advancing digitalization is more pronounced in less developed regions,but only if the government invests in the digital infrastructure and education in these areas.This study's methodology can be utilized for subsequent research,and our findings hold the potential to the government's regional investment and policy-making.

The coordinated evolution of ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt,using the Dual-Carbon Targets

Carbon peak and carbon neutrality(dual-carbon)are important targets for the international response to climate change.The Silk Road Economic Belt is a strategic resource region and is important for future ecological environment and tourism development.Based on the“dual-carbon”targets,the Single index quantification,Multiple index synthesis,and Poly-criteria integration evaluation model were used in this study to measure the coordinated development index of the ecological environment,public service,and tourism economy along the Silk Road Economic Belt and to analyze its spatial and temporal evolution.Further,it explores the dynamic evolution and development trend of the three systems using the Kernel Density and Grey Markov Prediction Model.The results show that the coordinated development index along this region needs to be improved during the study period.Furthermore,the coordinated development index of the Southwest region is relatively higher than that of the Northwest region.From the development trend of the three systems,all of them develop in a stable manner;however,the tourism economy system is easily affected by external disturbances.The coordinated development index of the three systems changes dynamically and tends to be in a good state of coordination.There is a certain spatial and temporal heterogeneity.The gravity center of the coordinated development index has been in the Southwest region.During the forecast period,the coordinated development index along this region will improve significantly,while insufficient and unbalanced development will continue.

Building a pathway to One Health surveillance and response in Asian countries

To detect and respond to emerging diseases more effectively,an integrated surveillance strategy needs to be applied to both human and animal health.Current programs in Asian countries operate separately for the two sectors and are principally concerned with detection of events that represent a short-term disease threat.It is not realistic to either invest only in efforts to detect emerging diseases,or to rely solely on event-based surveillance.A comprehensive strategy is needed,concurrently investigating and managing endemic zoonoses,studying evolving diseases which change their character and importance due to influences such as demographic and climatic change,and enhancing understanding of factors which are likely to influence the emergence of new pathogens.This requires utilisation of additional investigation tools that have become available in recent years but are not yet being used to full effect.As yet there is no fully formed blueprint that can be applied in Asian countries.Hence a three-step pathway is proposed to move towards the goal of comprehensive One Health disease surveillance and response.

Understanding Urban Vitality from the Economic and Human Activities Perspective:A Case Study of Chongqing,China

The literature on urban vitality tends to focus on the built environment.This paper argues that some important processes in shaping vitality may be overlooked without examining the intensity and diversity of economic and human activities.Using newly developed spatial big data and adopting the methods of multi-indicator measurement and spatial analysis methods,we analyzed the pattern of urban vitality in Chongqing,a provincial city in western China and,on this basis,evaluated the creation and maintenance of urban vitality from the economic and human activities perspective.Our findings indicate that the impacts of economic and human activities are positive and significant.Among the three intensity and diversity indicators,economic intensity and population density show an effect on urban vitality stronger than that of economic diversity.However,economic diversity has the strongest superposition or interactive effect,and is thus an important foundation dynamic.The positive effect of population density on urban vitality is largely a result of Chongqing’s jobs-housing balance.The case of Chongqing highlights the importance of topographic features,historical inheritance,large-scale migration,and cultural activities in shaping the distinctive vitality pattern of a city.This study contends that the creation and maintenance of urban vitality can not be fully explained without incorporating the impacts of economic and human activities.It contributes to a comprehensive measurement of urban vitality and enriches its connotations.

Performance improvement in stepped solar still modified by sponge layer

In this paper,the experimental investigation on the performance improvement of conventional stepped solar still is conducted.The steps are covered by the porous material to improve the performance of the conventional device and increase the evaporation rate.All the parameters,including the temperature on the glass surface,the water temperature inside the evaporation zone,and the amount of water produced in both conventional and modified stepped solar stills are measured and compared.The efficiency of two devices and their exergy efficiency have been calculated.Finally,the economic analysis of both devices has been done to check the economic feasibility of the modified device.The amount of freshwater generated during one day was 2244.4 and 3076.2 mL/m^(2),respectively for the conventional and modified stepped solar stills.As a result,the amount of water produced in one day by modified stepped solar still is 35.5% more than the conventional one.Also,the costs for the conventional and modified stepped solar stills have been calculated as 0.0359 and 0.029$/(L·m^(-2)),respectively.