Surface modification by ligand growth strategy for dense copper bismuth film as photocathode to enhance hydrogen production activity

Hydrogen production from photoelectrochemical(PEC)water splitting has been regarded as a promising way to utilize renewable and endless solar energy.However,semiconductor film grown on photoelectrode suffers from numerous challenges,leading to the poor PEC performance.Herein,a straightforward sol-gel method with the ligand-induced growth strategy was employed to obtain dense and homogeneous copper bismuthate photocathodes for PEC hydrogen evolution reaction.By various characterizations,it was found that the nucleation and surface growth of CuBi_(2)O_(4)layer induced by 2-methoxyethanol ligand(2-CuBi_(2)O_(4))demonstrated a decent crystallinity and coverage,as well as a large grain size and a low oxygen vacancy concentration,leading to the good ability of light absorption and carrier migration.Consequently,under simulated sunlight irradiation(AM1.5G,100 mW/cm^(2)),the 2-CuBi_(2)O_(4)photocathode achieved an enhanced photocurrent density of−1.34 mA·cm^(−2)at 0.4 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode and a promising applied bias photon-to-current efficiency of 0.586%.This surface modification by ligand growth strategy will shed light on the future design of advanced photoelectrodes for PEC water splitting.

Growth strategy and TFP growth:comparing China and four Asian tigers

This paper compares the total factor productivity(TFP)growth performance of the Chinese mainland and the Four Asian Tigers during their high-growth period and examines the effect of growth strategies pursued by these economies on TFP growth using a state-space model.Our research results show that TFP growth is quite limited in these economies,which is mainly attributed to their growth strategy.No significant productivity gains arise from the rapid growth of investments,trade openness,and an undervalued currency in these economies.The TFP growth is even found negatively related to trade openness for South Korea,the exchange rate undervaluation for Chinese Taiwan and Singapore,and the falling relative price of capital for the Chinese mainland,Singapore and South Korea.Government interventions encourage long-term TFP growth for the Chinese mainland and Taiwan,but hinder it in other economies.Higher inflation reduces TFP growth in Chinese Taiwan and Singapore.

The U.S. Post-crisis Era Sustainable and Balanced Growth Strategy： Policies and Assessment

The financial crisis in 2008 dragged the U.S. economy into the dilemma of imbalanced and sluggish growth. Thus, the federal government carried out the sustainable and balanced growth strategy. This paper draws the framework of U.S. new growth strategy and summarizes the main measures applied in last five years. Further, it assesses the comprehensive strategic effects on economy and finally discusses the future challenges for the U.S..

Market presence in China Strengthened Network Growth and Dual-Chinese-Hub Strategy

In the end of 2007, Air China Limited (hereinafter "Air China") and Shanghai Airlines, formally joined Star Alliance at a ceremony held in the new Terminal Three at Beijing Capital International Airport. With the addition of the two Chinese airlines, Star Alliance now has 19 member carriers operating 17,000 daily flights to 897 destinations in 160 countries.……

Height growth, diameter-height relationships and branching architecture of Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata in early regeneration stages in Anhui Province, eastern China: effects of light intensity and regeneration mode

To determine the growth strategies during early regeneration stages of two major coniferous species （Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata） in a secondary mixed coniferous forest in the Huangshan region of Anhui Province, eastern China, we examined height growth, diameter-height relationship and the relationship between main stem and lateral branch elongation in saplings, with a particular focus on the effects of light intensity and regeneration mode （seedlings versus sprouts）. When light intensity was sufficiently high, the extension growth of main stems was greater and more positively related to initial size for P. massoniana than for C. lanceolata. The slenderness of the stem form increased in the following order： C. lanceolata seedlings 〈 P. massoniana seedlings 〈 C. lanceolata sprouts. P. massoniana became less slender with increasing light intensity. P. massoniana had shorter branches than C. lanceolata given the same main stem elongation. Growth allocation depended more strongly on light intensity for P. massoniana than for C. lanceolata, with more growth allocated to the main stem under dark conditions. These results suggest that P. massoniana is a typical shade avoider; this species gives priority to extension growth of the main stem, especially when it is shaded. In contrast, C. lanceolata is a shade tolerator; this species allocates more biomass to radial growth of its main stems and to extension growth of branches. Based on these results, the ecological characteristics of P. massoniana and C. lanceolata and the roles of seedlings and sprouts are discussed in relation to stand dynamics of the mixed forests of P. massoniana and C. lanceolata in eastern China.

Foreign Subsidiary Competitiveness： The Key to a Multinational Corporation＇s （MNC） Global Growth

A multinational corporation （MNC） should have its foreign subsidiaries become more competitive so that it can better compete globally and grow. Managing foreign subsidiary＇s competitiveness is vital for overall, long-term, and global organizational growth. Strategic global leadership, vision, and culture among the top managers of headquarters and foreign subsidiaries are vital for enabling the subsidiaries to pursue their vision of improved competitiveness. Sustained growth and improved competitiveness in the global organization＇s multiple country environments then become the means for an MNC＇s overall strategic enhancement.

Temporal and spatial distribution of phytoplankton functional groups and role of environment factors in a deep subtropical reservoir

Phytoplankton and environment factors were investigated in 2015 and phytoplankton functional groups were used to understand their temporal and spatial distribution and their driving factors in Wanfeng Reservoir. Seventeen functional groups(B, D, E, F, G, J, Lo, MP, P, S1, T, W1, W2, X1, X2, Xph, Y) were identified based on 34 species. The dominant groups were: J/B/P/D in dry season, X1/J/Xph/G/T in normal season and J in flood season. Phytoplankton abundance ranged from 5.33×10~4 cells/L to 3.65×10~7 cells/L, with the highest value occurring in flood season and lowest in dry season. The vertical profi le of dominant groups showed little differentiation except for P, which dominated surface layers over 20 m as a result of mixing water masses and higher transparency during dry season. However, the surface waters presented higher values of phytoplankton abundance than other layers, possibly because of greater irradiance. The significant explaining variables and their ability to describe the spatial distribution of the phytoplankton community in RDA diff ered seasonally as follows: dry season, NH4-N, NO_3-N, NO_2-N, TN:TP ratio and transparency(SD); normal season, temperature(WT), water depth, TN, NH4-N and NO_3-N; flood season, WT, water depth, NO_3-N and NO_2-N. Furthermore, nitrogen, water temperature, SD and water depth were significant variables explaining the variance of phytoplankton communities when datasets included all samples. The results indicated that water physical conditions and hydrology were important in phytoplankton community dynamics, and nitrogen was more important than phosphorus in modifying phytoplankton communities. Seasonal differences in the relationship between the environment and phytoplankton community should be considered in water quality management.

Depositional Architecture and Evolution of Late Permian Reefs in Ziyun County,Southern Guizhou, China

The uppermost Permian reef complex in Ziyun County, southern Guizhou occurs as a third-order depositional sequence developed in the platform marginal break zone during the Late Permian transgressive period This paper deals with the evolution of the third-order sequence and depositional arthitecture of the sequence stratigraphic units with the analysis of outcrop sequence stratigraphy and chemostratigraphy. Thirteen parasequences which belong to four system tracts are recognized. According to their genetic facies features,three growth strategies of reef accrete from the systems tracts during sea level changes are distinguished as keep-up reefs, give-up reefs and catch-up reefs. In combination with an absolute water depth analysis by chemostratigraphic method, we establish an entire sea level curve of the third-order sequence and discuss its evolution and depositional response.

Strategic Thinking for Sustainable Development of Mining-Based Cities in China

Cities based on mining are distinctive from other cities in China. Their heavy dependence on minerals, a relatively undiversified industrial structure, seriously damaged ecological environment and the rather low degree of openness have all reduced their competitiveness, and severely constrained and hindered their sustainable development. In this paper the authors will study mining-based cities from the perspective of sustainable development, first by having a critical review of their features, and then by researching into strategic options to support their sustainable development.

Ontogenetic mechanisms underlying sexual size dimorphism in Urodele amphibians： An across-species approach

Why do two sexes of the same species differ in body size holds a long-standing question of evolutionary biology. While many across-species comparisons have focused on ultimate causes behind sexual size dimorphism （SSD）, only have a few been directed toward elucidating its ontogenetic basis. Urodeles are an amphibian group in which the direction and degree of SSD vary greatly among species. Using demographic data yielded by skeletochronology for 33 urodele species, the current study re- veals a positive across-species correlation between SSD and the sex difference in mean age of adult animals, and the latter in- creases with the corresponding difference in age at maturity; annual growth rate does not differ between the sexes. We conclude that extended longevities in one sex, which is mediated by delayed maturation, would allow it to grow for longer and get larger, with growth rate making a weak contribution to body size. The sex-specific divergence in ontogenetic trajectory might be ex- plained by potentially high growth costs of reproduction to females in association with stronger fecundity selection, and to males that are expected to experience stronger sexual selection [Current Zoology 59 （1）： 142-150, 2013].

Fine-control-valve of halide perovskite single crystal quality for high performance X-ray detection

Halide perovskite single crystals(HPSCs)provide a unique platform to study the optoelectronic properties of such emerging semiconductor materials,while the temperature induced crystal growth method often has an increased solute integration speed and/or unavoidable solute consumption,resulting in a soaring or slumping crystal growth rate of HPSCs.Here,we developed a universal and facile solvent-vola tilization-limited-growth(SVG)strategy to finely control the crystal growth rate by the fine-control-valve for high quality crystal grown through solution processes.The grown HPSCs by SVG method exhibited a record low trap density of 2.8×10^(8)cm^(-3)and a high charge carrier mobility-lifetime product(μτproduct)of 0.021 cm2/V,indicating the excellent crystal quality.The crystal surface defects were further passivated by oxygen suppliers as Lewis base,which led to a reduction of surface leakage current by two times when using for low dose rate X-ray detection.Such HPSC X-ray detector displayed a high sensitivity of 1274μC/(Gyair cm^(2))with a lowest detectable dose rate of 0.56μGyair/s under 120 keV hard X-ray.Further applications including alloy composition analysis and metal flaw detection by HPSC detectors were also demonstrated,which not only shows the bright future for product quality inspection and non-destructive materials analysis,but also paves the way for growing high quality single crystals and fabricating polycrystalline films.