The Relationship between Water Resources Use Efficiency and Scientific and Technological Innovation Level: Case Study of Yangtze River Basin in China

The Yangtze River Basin’s water resource utilization efficiency(WUE)and scientific and technological innovation level(STI)are closely connected,and the comprehension of these relationships will help to improve WUE and promote local economic growth and conservation of water.This study uses 19 provinces and regions along the Yangtze River’s mainstream from 2009 to 2019 as its research objects and uses a Vector Auto Regression(VAR)model to quantitatively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupling coordination degree(CCD)between the two subsystems of WUE and STI.The findings show that:(1)Both the WUE and STI in the Yangtze River Basin showed an upward trend during the study period,but the STI effectively lagged behind the WUE;(2)The CCD of the two subsystems generally showed an upward trend,and the CCD of each province was improved to varying degrees,but the majority of regions did not develop a high-quality coordination stage;(3)The CCD of the two systems displayed apparent positive spatial autocorrelation in the spatial correlation pattern,and there were only two types:high-high(H-H)urbanization areas and low-low(L-L)urbanization areas;(4)The STI showed no obvious response to the impact of the WUE,while the WUE responded greatly to the STI,and both of them were highly dependent on themselves.Optimizing their interaction mechanisms should be the primary focus of high-quality development in the basin of the Yangtze River in the future.These results give the government an empirical basis to enhance the WUE and promote regional sustainable development.

Research of Technology Readiness Assessment for Aerospace Projects

Two problems were found in recent applications of TRLs in aerospace projects.One is how to accurately evaluate the readiness level of a given technology in a project using the TRL scale.The other is how to deal with the diversity(different types) of technologies involved in an aerospace project.To solve these problems,a technology readiness assessment(TRA) method based on three maturity characteristics is established,and this method is adapted according to the features of different types of technologies.The proposed method has been successfully applied to aerospace projects and enables great effectiveness and accuracy in assessing new technologies.

Relationship and Boundary Between Market and Government in Corporate Innovation

It is the view of this paper that both market and non-market mechanisms can stimulate corporate innovation and have their respective areas of application. As a major developing country, China should create a national innovation policy system to coordinate these incentives in order to promote economic transition and upgrade through corporate innovation. Innovation policies are determined by a country's technology level. The premise for most advanced economies to follow market-based incentives is a foundation of early-stage non-market policies, as their governments frequently resorted to non-market means such as state-owned enterprises in the early stage of development. This paper also concludes that technological uncertainty can well describe the technological characteristics of industries. For industries with less technological uncertainty, non-market means are more likely to succeed. Lastly, this paper employs the dimensions of both technology level and industrial technology characteristics for a quantitative analysis on the scope of industries to which the two incentive mechanisms are applicable, divides them into quadrants in order to discuss the boundary between market-based and non-market incentives, and explore ways to achieve effective interplay between government and market.

Effect of the Technological Status of Small Cow-Calf Farm Producers on the Induction to Resumption of Ovarian Activity of Dual-Purpose Cattle Raised under Topical Conditions

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of the technological level in small-scale dual-purpose cow-calf Bos indicus female operations on the resumption of the ovarian activity post-partum. A total of 13 small scale dual-purpose Bos indicus × Bos taurus operations were included in this experiment and they were classified according to their technological status as: high technological status (HT), medium technological status (MT) and low technological status (LT). Ninety-three mature cows were treated with either a CIDR (controlled internal drug release device) with estradiol benzoate (CIDR+EB) or alone (CIDR). At day 9 all animals received intravaginally a CIDR for nine days. At day 0, the CIDR was withdrawn and 24 hours later one dose of estradiol benzoate was administered to 51 cows (17 in HT, 17 in MT and 17 in LT), the remaining animals (n = 42) did not receive the estradiol benzoate administration (14 in HT, 13 in MT and 15 in LT). Comparisons were performed on serum progesterone concentrations after CIDR treatment. By day 7 after implant withdrawal, the proportion of cows that resume ovarian activity detected by progesterone concentration increased in all technological level farms, no statistical main effect was observed within technological level. By day 17 there was a significant main effect of technological level (P = 0.05) on the proportion of animal that resumed the estrous cycles, but neither a main effect of treatment (P = 0.97) nor an interaction between technological level and treatment (P = 0.98). Furthermore, technological level of the farm showed a tendency (P = 0.07) to affect that resume the estrous activity, and a significant effect of treatment was observed (P = 0.005) but no interaction between technological level and treatment. The proportion of cows that showed estrus was different across technological level (P = 0.02), the highest proportion of cows showing estrus regardless of treatment was in the HT: 90% (40% CIDR and 50% CIDR+EB), MT: 50% (13.3% CIDR and 36.7% CIDR+EB) and in the LT: 50% (18.8% CIDR and 31.3% CIDR+EB). In conclusion, the combination of a progestogen and estradiol benzoate resulted in a high proportion of cows that were induced to resume the ovarian activity and this treatment was particularly beneficial in the medium and low technological status of the farms.

Developing a TRL-oriented roadmap for the adoption of biocomposite materials in the construction industry

The construction industry is a major contributor to environmental pollution.The effect of the construction industry on the environment may be mitigated using eco-friendly construction materials,such as biocomposites.Once developed,biocomposites may offer a viable alternative to the current materials in use.However,biocomposites are lagging in terms of adoption and eventual use in the construction industry.This article provides insights into the steps for biocomposites to become a product that is ready to use by the construction industry in a structural role.The development and the adoption of such a material is tackled with the use of two concepts,i.e.,technology readiness level and roadmapping,and explored in a case study on the“liquid wood”.Furthermore,interviews in the construction industry are carried out to identify the industry’s take on biocomposites.A customized roadmap,which underlines a mostly nontechnical perspective concerning this material,has emerged.Additionally,the adoption and diffusion issues that the“liquid wood”may encounter are outlined and complemented with further recommendations.

Energy storage systems:a review

The world is rapidly adopting renewable energy alternatives at a remarkable rate to address the ever-increasing environmental crisis of CO_(2) emissions.Renewable energy system offers enormous potential to decarbonize the environment because they produce no greenhouse gases or other polluting emissions.However,the RES relies on natural resources for energy generation,such as sunlight,wind,water,geothermal,which are generally un-predictable and reliant on weather,season,and year.To account for these intermittencies,renewable energy can be stored using various techniques and then used in a consistent and controlled manner as needed.Several researchers from around the world have made substantial contributions over the last century to developing novel methods of energy storage that are efficient enough to meet increasing energy demand and technological break-throughs.This review attempts to provide a critical review of the advancements in the energy storage system from 1850-2022,including its evolution,classification,operating principles and comparison.