Conversion of carbon dioxide to valuable petrochemicals:An approach to clean development mechanism

The increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide and the global warming due to its greenhouse effect resulted in worldwide concerns. On the other hand, carbon dioxide might be considered as a valuable and renewable carbon source. One approach to reduce carbon dioxide emissions could be its capture and recycle via transformation into chemicals using the technologies in C1 chemistry. Despite its great interest, there are difficulties in CO2 separation on the one hand, and thermodynamic stability of carbon dioxide molecule rendering its chemical activity low on the other hand. Carbon dioxide has been already used in petrochemical industries for production of limited chemicals such as urea. The utilization of carbon dioxide does not necessarily involve development of new processes, and in certain processes such as methanol synthesis and methane steam reforming, addition of CO2 into the feed results in its utilization and increases carbon efficiency. In other cases, modifications in catalyst and/or processes, or even new catalysts and processes, are necessary. In either case, catalysis plays a crucial role in carbon dioxide conversion and effective catalysts are required for commercial realization of the related processes. Technologies for CO2 utilization are emerging after many years of research and development efforts.

Melastatin-related transient receptor potential 2 channel in Aβ_(42)-induced neuroinflammation: implications to Alzheimer's disease mechanism and development of therapeutics

Alzheimer’s disease （AD） is an age-related eurodegenerative disease that represents the most common cause of dementia among the elderly people. With the increasingly aging population, AD has presented an overwhelming healthcare challenge to modern society; the World Alzheimer Report 2015 has estimated that 46.8 million people worldwide lived with dementia in 2015 and this number will rise to 74.7 million in 2030 and that the total cost of dementia was 818 billion in US$ in 2015 and will reach two trillion in 2030. Post-mortem studies have identified two histopathological hallmarks in the brains of AD patients; extracellular senile plaque with elevated deposition of amyloid β （Aβ） peptides, and intracellular neurofibrillary tangle composed of hyper-phosphorylated microtubule-associated protein tau.Etiologically, progressive neuronal loss within the cerebral cortex and hippocampus regions of the brain leads to irreversible decline in, and eventually complete loss of, memory and other cognitive functions that afflict AD patients. The widely-accepted amyloid cascade hypothesis for AD pathogenesis holds that accumulation and aggregation of neurotoxic Aβ peptides, due to imbalance of their generation and clearance as a result of changes in genetic makeup, aging and/or exposure to environmental risk factors, is a major and early trigger of AD. This hypothesis has continuously gained support by preclinical and clinical studies （Selkoe and Hardy, 2016）. However, the intensive and costly drug discovery efforts over the past decades based on such a hypothesis have proved extremely frustrating in developing effective therapeutics to treat or slow down the progress of AD, highlighting the need for more research to improve our understanding towards the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which Aβ peptides bring about neurotoxicity and cognitive dysfunction.

The Clean Development Mechanism and Sustainable Development in China's Electricity Sector

The Clean Development Mechanism,a flexibility mechanism contained in the KyotoProtocol, offers China an important tool to attractinvestment in clean energy technology and processesinto its electricity sector. The Chinese electricitysector places centrally in the country’s economy andenvironment, being a significant contributor to theacid rain and air pollution problems that plague manyof China’s cities and regions, and therefore a focusof many related energy and environmental policies.China’s electricity sector has also been the subjectof a number of economic analyses that have showedthat it contains the highest potential for clean energyinvestment through the Clean DevelopmentMechanism of any economic sector in China. Thismechanism, through the active participation frominvestors in more industrialized countries, can helpalleviate the environmental problems attributable toelectricity generation in China through advancingsuch technology as wind electricity generation, cleancoal technology, high efficient natural gas electricitygeneration, or utilization of coal mine methane. Inthis context, the Clean Development Mechanismalso compliments a range of environmental and energypolicies which are strategizing to encourage thesustainable development of China’s economy.

Outcomes of the Clean Development Mechanism in Argentina

This paper summarizes the results of the implementation of the CDM in Argentina during the first period of commitment of the Kyoto Protocol. From a total of sixty- five projects ideas, forty-four achieved registration under the CDM EB while the rest remained approved at national level (12), under evaluation (2), suspended (5) or rejected (2). Most of the projects focused on the generation of electricity from renewable energy, mainly wind energy and the use of landfill gas and methane for energy. Emissions reductions achieved 33.4% of the expected CERs up to 2012 with strong differences among sectors. Results demonstrated that under the current Argentina’s energy policy framework, the income by the selling of CERs covered less than 6% of the incremental costs for renewable energy projects. A sensitivity analysis to evaluate the impact of CDM in the coverage of incremental costs for renewable energy based on the prices of both the energy in the local market and the CER demonstrated that the best conditions would only cover 15% of those costs. The contribution of CDM to technology transfer in Argentina was minor considering that 45% of the projects qualified as type III where technological learning and capacity building were limited at the level of operation and maintenance of a foreign technology. Domestic and external barriers that prevented a better performance of CDM projects in terms of GHG mitigation, technology transfer and the contribution to a sustainable development were also analyzed.

Research on regional capability constructive models of clean development mechanism

Global climate change has been identified as the first of the top ten environmental problems in the world. As climate change will have serious effects on the social and economic development and everyday, living of people in the world, many of the countries and governments are taking untiring efforts to combat climate change. As one of the important mechanisms of reducing greenhouse gas （GHG） emissions in the Kyoto Protocol, Clean Development Mechanism （CDM） has not only provided chance for developed countries to fulfill greenhouse emission reduction obligations, but also provided an opportunity for developing countries to combat climate change under the sustainable development frame. The dual objectives of developed countries＇ GHG emissions＇ reduction obligation achievement and developing cotmtries＇sustainable development will be achieved under the CDM. As a country with responsibility; China has been positively developing CDM projects and promoting energy saving and emissions reduction during the three yeors after the Kyoto Protocol came into force, and CDM projects development has always been in the front tank in the world. However; as the vast clime within China, notable differences occur in different regions. In order to promote the CDM development in China, it is necessa^T to have regional CDM capability construction in accordance with the practicality in different regions. Based on the Slat Analysis of developed CDM projects and current CDM development status in China, problems in the CDM development of China, including the inefficiency in small and medium-sized CDM Projects＇ development, over centralization of CDM development scope and especially the differentiated provincial CDM projects developing capability are pointed out in the paper： What＇s more, reasons for the problems are analyzed from fire leading.factors, including policy orient, information asymmetry and weak CDM capability, In order to promote CDM projects development in China, a new CDM capability, construction model is put forward in the paper.

Analysis of Summer Cold Vortex Activity Anomalies in Northeastern China and Their Relationship with Regional Precipitation and Temperature

The Northeastern China cold vortex(NCCV)is one type of strong cyclonic vortex that occurs near Northeastern China(NEC),and NCCV activities are typically accompanied by a series of hazardous weather.This paper employed an automatic algorithm to identify the NCCVs from 1979 to 2018 and analyzed their circulation patterns and climatic impacts by using the defined NCCV intensity index(NCCVI).The analysis revealed that the NCCV activities in summer exhibited a strong inter-annual variability,with an obvious periodicity of 3-4 years and 6-7 years,but without significant trends.In years when the NCCVI was high,NEC experienced negative geopotential height anomalies,cyclonic circulation,and cooler temperature anomalies,which were conducive to the maintenance and development of NCCV activities.Furthermore,large amounts of water vapor converged in NEC through two transportation routes as the NCCVs intensified,leading to a significant positive(negative)correlation with the summer precipitation(surface temperature)in NEC.The Atlantic sea surface temperature(SST)anomalies were closely related to summer NCCV activities.As the Atlantic SST rose,large amounts of surface sensible and latent heat flux were transported into the lower troposphere,inducing a positive geopotential height anomaly that occurred on the east side of the heat source.As a result,an eastward diverging flow was formed in the upper troposphere and propagated downstream,i.e.,the eastward propagating Rossby wave train,which eventually led to a coupled circulation in the Ural Mountains and NEC,as well as more intensive NCCV activities in summer.

The Structure and Formation Mechanism of a Sea Fog Event over the Yellow Sea

In this paper, a heavy sea fog event occurring over the Yellow Sea on 11 April 2004 was investigated based upon observational and modeling analyses. From the observational analyses, this sea fog event is a typical advection cooling case. Sea surface temperature(SST) and specific humidity(SH) show strong gradients from south to north, in which warm water is located in the south and consequently, moisture is larger in the south than in the north due to evaporation processes. After fog formation, evaporation process provides more moisture into the air and further contributes to fog evolution. The sea fog event was reproduced by the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System(RAMS) reasonably. The roles of important physical processes such as radiation, turbulence as well as atmospheric stratification in sea fog's structure and its formation mechanisms were analyzed using the model results. The roles of long wave radiation cooling, turbulence as well as atmospheric stratification were analyzed based on the modeling results. It is found that the long wave radiative cooling at the fog top plays an important role in cooling down the fog layer through turbulence mixing. The fog top cooling can overpower warming from the surface. Sea fog develops upward with the aid of turbulence. The buoyancy term, i.e., the unstable layer, contributes to the generation of TKE in the fog region. However, the temperature inversion layer prevents fog from growing upward.

CDM Project Activities in China's Iron and Steel Industry:Current Status,Barriers and Development Strategies

China is now facing huge pressure from both the domestic concern of energy security and the global community's call for emission reduction commitment.As one of the major energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters,China's iron and steel industry has a huge clean development mechanism(CDM) potential.This article both quantitatively and qualitatively analyzes the current status of CDM project activities in the iron and steel industry in China,including characteristics of approved project types,applicable methodologies,and potential technology fields.From the perspective of project implementation,the article summarizes development barriers such as high investment risk,difficulty in project identification,strict requirements on PPDs,long registration waiting time,and etc.Policy suggestions are also put forwarded to help better promote the development of CDM projects in the iron and steel industry.

Preface for Special Issue on“Key Mechanical Problems of Marine Energy Development Equipment”

There are abundant energy reserves such as oil,natural gas,hydrate,and wind energy in the ocean.Countries around the globe are competing to advance their marine energy development technologies.The exploitation of marine resources relies on cutting-edge industrial equipment.After decades of R&D endeavors,China has obtained most of the key technologies for the design,production,testing,and field application of marine energy development equipment(Xie and Zeng,2021).

Creative Industrial Cluster： Three- Stage Development and the Case of Beijing＇s 798 Art District

This paper presents a three-stage hypothesis on the development of creative industrial clusters, which includes stages of agglomeration, interfacing, and network development. In the first stage, micro-entities concentrate geographically in a creative industrial cluster in search of resources. The second stage reflects the need for building identity. Finally, the third stage is the outcome of multi-dimensional expansion. As a creative industrial cluster develops, its focus moves from geographic concentration to division of labor and the creation of novel systems. Using this three-stage framework, this paper conducts an empirical study on Beijing＇s 798 District （＂798＂）. Our study finds that the ＂self-destruction ＂phenomenon （which appeared after 798 had reached the stage of network development in a low-level capacity） is essentially the product of a squeezing effect of commercial prosperity on art production. Our study further examines four models of art-commerce integration and explains the ways in which creative industrial clusters are different from conventional industrial clusters： a creative cluster is a platform of integration for culture, commerce, and technology. Its course of development is characterized by novelty, emergence of identity through interfacing, and network cooperation.

China's Processing Trade Development for Mechanical and Electrical Products

Since the launch of the economic reform and opening to the outside world, China has seen rapid growth in its export of mechanical and electrical products, with its export

Speeding Up the Transformation of the Operational Mechanism And Further Developing the International Market

According to customs statistics, China’s exports of machinery and electric products in 1996 were worth US$ 48.21 billion, an increase of 9.9 percent over the preceding year, and 8.4 percent higher than the growth rate of the nation’s total exports. The proportion of machinery and electric product exports in the nation’s total foreign trade volume\ increased from 29.5 percent in 1995 to 31.9 percent in 1996, a growth at 2.4 percent.

Prevention strategies of postoperative adhesion in soft tissues by applying biomaterials:Based on the mechanisms of occurrence and development of adhesions

Postoperative adhesion(POA)widely occurs in soft tissues and usually leads to chronic pain,dysfunction of adjacent organs and some acute complications,seriously reducing patients’quality of life and even being life-threatening.Except for adhesiolysis,there are few effective methods to release existing adhesion.However,it requires a second operation and inpatient care and usually triggers recurrent adhesion in a great incidence.Hence,preventing POA formation has been regarded as the most effective clinical strategy.Biomaterials have attracted great attention in preventing POA because they can act as both barriers and drug carriers.Nevertheless,even though much reported research has been demonstrated their efficacy on POA inhibition to a certain extent,thoroughly preventing POA formation is still challenging.Meanwhile,most biomaterials for POA prevention were designed based on limited experiences,not a solid theoretical basis,showing blindness.Hence,we aimed to provide guidance for designing anti-adhesion materials applied in different soft tissues based on the mechanisms of POA occurrence and development.We first classified the postoperative adhesions into four categories according to the different components of diverse adhesion tissues,and named them as“membranous adhesion”,“vascular adhesion”,“adhesive adhesion”and“scarred adhesion”,respectively.Then,the process of the occurrence and development of POA were analyzed,and the main influencing factors in different stages were clarified.Further,we proposed seven strategies for POA prevention by using biomaterials according to these influencing factors.Meanwhile,the relevant practices were summarized according to the corresponding strategies and the future perspectives were analyzed.

Research progress on the development mechanism and exploratory protection of the scaling off on earthen sites in NW China

The scaling off is among the most pervasive and severe deterioration types.The scaling off developed on earthen sites in Northwest China has a special and complex binary structure composed of crusted and loose layers.Under the synergistic functions of external environmental elements such as rainfall,temperature,and wind,and rammed earth properties,this deterioration has gradually created the crust on the site’s surface,and has then evolved into exfoliation and finally fallen off,leading to the reciprocating progressive destruction of earthen sites.Therefore,determining the development mechanism of scaling off and implementing targeted protection measures for the scientific conservation of earthen sites has become essential.In this review study,the properties of the building material causing the binary structure and the coupling effects of water,temperature,salt,and wind on the development of scaling off were determined,and the quantitative evaluation system for this deterioration development was elaborated.After interpreting the reasons for the development of the scaling off,protective measures including chemical grouting,electro-osmosis grouting,and overlay applications were stated.This study also pointed out the research hotspots and shortage in the study process on the scaling off.The hotspots generally focused on the development mechanism of binary structure,quantitative assessment of the degree of development,and related scientific consolidation measures.The shortcomings around the above directions include less attention to the development characteristics and mechanism of scaling off on earthen sites under special environment types,optimization and applicability of quantitative evaluation models,and the development and feasibility of reinforcement slurries and methods.This study can be beneficial in providing theoretical support for the scientific conservation and engineering practice of the scaling off on the earthen sites.

An Optimal Model for Carbon Sinks of CDM Project to Build a New Countryside Based on Cyclic Economy under Uncertainty

Based on the status and characteristics of Clean Development Mechanism （CDM） renewable energy project and the mode of cyclic economy, aimed at achieving the maximum capacity of carbon sinks in the system, Lvjin Jiayuan—New Countryside Distripark CDM project in Wuchuan County was taken as an example for developing an interval linear programming （ILP） model to optimize the crops planting scheme and cows breeding scheme by using interval optimal method. The case showed that the optimized crops planting scheme and cows breeding scheme obtained from the optimal model was reasonable with relatively preferable overall performance. In the context of meeting economic benefits and fertilizer, electricity demand, [231 287.8, 273 312.7] t of CO2 could be absorbed and fixed, which had increased by [12.94, 33.46]% compared with the feasibility scheme of case project and provided technical support for making the decision in CDM project.

Bio-geomorphologic features and growth process of Tamarix nabkhas in Hotan River Basin, Xinjiang

Tamarix nabkha is one of the most widespread nabkhas, distributing in the arid region of China. Based on the observations outdoors and the simulation experiments in laboratories, analysis in this paper refers to the biological geomorphologic features and growth process of Tamarix nabkhas in the middle and lower reaches of the Hotan River, Xinjiang. And the results indicate that the ecological type of Tamarix in the study area is a kind of Tugaic soil habitat based on the deep soil of the Populus Diversifolia forests and shrubs. This type of habitat can be divided into three kinds of sub-habitats which demonstrate the features of ecological environment of Tamarix nabkhas during the differential developed phases. Meanwhile, the Tamar, ix nabkha can exert intensified disturbance current on wind-sand flow on the ground,and its root and stems not only have strong potential of sprouting but are characteristic of wind erosion-tolerance, resistance to be buried by sand and respectively tough rigid of the lignified branches, for it has a rather longer life-time. Thus, the wind speed profile influenced by the Tamarix nabkha is different from the Phragmites nabkha and Alhagi nabkha. And the structure of the wind flow is beneficial to aeolian sand accumulating in/around Tamarix shrub, which can create unique Tamarix nabkhas with higher average gradient and longer periodicity of life. Tamarix nabkha evolution in the area experienced three stages： growth stage, mature and steady stage and withering stage. In each stage, morphological features and geomorphic process of Tamarix nabkha are different due to the discrep- ant interaction between the nabkha and aeolian sand flow.

The Influencing Factors of sCER Price Dynamics Under the Clean Development Mechanism: Theory and Econometric Analysis

In order to explore the factors and their complex mechanism affecting the price dynamics under the clean development mechanism （CDM）, this article employs the secondary Certified Emission Reduction （sCER） carbon price as the study object, and analyzes its influencing factors from aspects of the international carbon-reduction policies, macroeconomic fluctuations, energy and similar carbon products prices. The innovation of this paper lies in： Introducing necessary factor （the developing countries pricing power） and the application of several international representative indicators to un- derline the ＂world＂ nature of CDM; utilizing different econometric models to obtain noteworthy and more robust results. The authors test the theoretical findings with multiple stationary time series from the launch of CDM to present （2008-2016）. The results reveal that sCER price fluctuation shows the characteristic of asymmetry and substantial persistence. There is a strong statistically significant relationship between macroeconomic conditions, coal and oil prices, with the price of sCER. The authors discover that the pricing power of developing countries indeed has a clear but small impact on the sCER price changes, whereas the price elasticity of supply under CDM is so weak. The interaction between EU emission allowances （EUAs） and sCER presents a shift from dependency to substitution.

A study of legal attributes of carbon emission rights in carbon trading

Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has given birth to an international carbon trading market prosperity, which provides developing countries with valuable opportunity to address climate change issues right along with economic development and environmental improvement to achieve sustainable development. However, most studies of CDM focus on economics, and few on its legal problems. CDM involves too many aspects. And the clear legal attribute of trading object is the basis of progress of the transaction and also the start point of legal protection. Therefore, this paper in accordance with the inherent principle of property rights economics, and environmental economics in CDM, only discusses CDM carbon emission right legal interpretation and its attribution. The paper recommends that in order to ensure and promote the carbon emission right trading, carbon emission right should be attributed into the system of real rights to be regulated by Real Right Law. In this way, carbon emission right can gain exclusive power of possession and use, which can achieve a clear right def inition of environmental goods in line with Coase's theory to protect Chinese prof it in carbon trading market and promote the development of the carbon trading market further.

On Teachers’ Professional Qualities Structure and Development Mechanisms in the Business English Discipline

Business English is a newly developed applied discipline quite different from the traditional English discipline, and it requires different qualities for Business English teachers. This paper attempts to explore the specific professional qualities required of Business English teachers and put forward teacher development mechanisms for the purpose of promoting professionalism of Business English teachers and facilitating construction and development of the Business English discipline.

Assessment of CDM Activities by a Generation Planning Model of the Chinese Power Grids

A generation planning model of six main power grids in China is developed to evaluate the potential of advanced power generation technologies into the Chinese power system as CDM （clean development mechanism）. It is investigated how delivered coal price, on-grid power price, and environmental protection may influence the potential of advanced thermal power generation as CDM projects. One finding from the baseline analysis is that coal price, on-grid power price, and environmental protection policy have only a small significance to the grid-wide specific CO2 emissions of thermal power generation up to the year 2026, while the best thermal generation mix is influenced largely by environmental protection policy. And it is found that not only the price of CER （certified emission reduction） and the length of crediting period but also on-grid power price and the reduction of air pollutants in the baseline have a significant influence on the potential of the CDM activities.