Beyond statistical significance:Embracing minimal clinically important difference for better patient care

The minimal clinically important difference(MCID)represents a pivotal metric in bridging the gap between statistical significance and clinical relevance,addressing the direct impact of medical interventions from the patient's perspective.This comprehensive review analyzes the evolution,applications,and challenges of MCID across medical specialties,emphasizing its necessity in ensuring that clinical outcomes not only demonstrate statistical significance but also offer genuine clinical utility that aligns with patient expectations and needs.We discuss the evolution of MCID since its inception in the 1980s,its current applications across various medical specialties,and the methodologies used in its calculation,highlighting both anchor-based and distribution-based approaches.Furthermore,the paper delves into the challenges associated with the application of MCID,such as methodological variability and the interpretation difficulties that arise in clinical settings.Recommendations for the future include standardizing MCID calculation methods,enhancing patient involvement in setting MCID thresholds,and extending research to incorporate diverse global perspectives.These steps are critical to refining the role of MCID in patient-centered healthcare,addressing existing gaps in methodology and interpretation,and ensuring that medical interventions lead to significant,patient-perceived improvements.

Thoughts on the Ways out of Breeding Industry under the Important Task of Ecological Civilization

The difficulties and problems faced by the breeding industry in China are investigated.On the basis of analysis and thinking,combining the requirements of pollution control by breeding and the construction of ecological civilization at the current stage,the ways out for the development of breeding industry under the important task of ecological civilization are proposed:reforming and innovating and firmly establishing a new thinking of healthy breeding;upgrading industries to make them adapted to the new mode of economic development;treating sewage separately to ensure a clean environment;improving information platform and promoting the application of Internet+new technologies;and improving the legal system and forming a new mechanism for breeding pollution control.

An Integrated Analysis on the Synergistic Reduction of Carbon and Pollution Emissions from China’s Iron and Steel Industry

Decarbonization and decontamination of the iron and steel industry(ISI),which contributes up to 15%to anthropogenic CO_(2) emissions(or carbon emissions)and significant proportions of air and water pollutant emissions in China,are challenged by the huge demand for steel.Carbon and pollutants often share common emission sources,indicating that emission reduction could be achieved synergistically.Here,we explored the inherent potential of measures to adjust feedstock composition and technological structure and to control the size of the ISI to achieve carbon emission reduction(CER)and pollution emission reduction(PER).We investigated five typical pollutants in this study,namely,petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants and chemical oxygen demand in wastewater,particulate matter,SO_(2),and NO_(x) in off gases,and examined synergies between CER and PER by employing cross elasticity for the period between 2022 and 2035.The results suggest that a reduction of 8.7%-11.7%in carbon emissions and 20%-31%in pollution emissions(except for particulate matter emissions)could be achieved by 2025 under a high steel scrap ratio(SSR)scenario.Here,the SSR and electric arc furnace(EAF)ratio serve critical roles in enhancing synergies between CER and PER(which vary with the type of pollutant).However,subject to a limited volume of steel scrap,a focused increase in the EAF ratio with neglection of the available supply of steel scrap to EAF facilities would lead to an increase carbon and pollution emissions.Although CER can be achieved through SSR and EAF ratio optimization,only when the crude steel production growth rate remains below 2.2%can these optimization measures maintain the emissions in 2030 at a similar level to that in 2021.Therefore,the synergistic effects between PER and CER should be considered when formulating a development route for the ISI in the future.

Research Progress and Prospects of Total Factor Productivity in the Construction Industry

The high-quality development of the construction industry fundamentally stems from the significant improvement of total factor productivity.Therefore,it is of crucial significance for promoting the development of the construction industry to a higher level by scientifically and accurately measuring the total factor productivity of the construction industry and deeply analyzing the influencing factors behind it.Based on a comprehensive consideration of research methods and influencing factors,this paper systematically reviews the existing relevant literature on total factor productivity in the construction industry,aiming to reveal the current research development trend in this field and point out potential problems.This effort aims to provide a solid theoretical foundation and valuable reference for further in-depth research,and jointly promote the continuous progress and development of total factor productivity research in the construction industry.

FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Innovative technologies significantly propel the development of casting industry

At this memorable moment,we are excited to celebrate the 20th anniversary of CHINA FOUNDRY journal.Since its inception in August 2004,this academic platform dedicated to disseminating Chinese casting technology has traversed two full decades.Over this period,we have received strong support from numerous domestic and international industry experts and scholars.

Striving for progress while maintaining stability is the most important goal of China's textile industry--Interview with Mr.Sun Ruizhe,President of the China National Textile and Apparel Council,International Textile Manufacturers Federation

The past year was an unusual year.After experiencing the great impact of the COVID-19 and conflicts between countries,the world economy continued to be in a downturn,and various risks and challenges far exceeded people's expectations.In the past few years,the world and times are changing in an unprecedented way.Faced with risks and challenges,China's textile industry,with tenacity,patience,firmness and decisiveness,has passed the most difficult time and explored the way to survive in difficulties.

Land-population-industry based village evolution and its influencing factors in the upper Tuojiang River

With economic development and urbanization in China,the rural settlements have experienced great change.To explore the evolution process of rural settlements in terms of land,population and industry can reveal the development law of rural spatial distribution,population structure and industrial economy in different stages and regions.Studying the development status and evolution characteristics of villages in the upper Tuojiang River basin in Southwest China in the past 20 years are of significant value.The upper Tuojiang River basin includes the main types of terrain found in the Southwest region:mountainous,plains,and hills,exhibiting a certain typicality of geographical characteristics.This study took towns and townships at the town-level scale as the basic unit of research,and constructed an evaluation system for village evolution based on'land,population,and industry'.It employed Criteria Importance Through Inter-Criteria Correlation(CRITIC)analysis to examine the characteristics of village evolution in the area from 2000 to 2020,and used geographic detector analysis to identify the leading factors affecting village evolution.The results show that:(1)From 2000 to 2010,villages in the upper Tuojiang River basin experienced significant changes,and the pace of these transformations slowed from 2010 to 2020.(2)From a comprehensive perspective,from 2000 to 2020,villages in hilly areas show a decline,while villages in plain areas near the city center show a positive urbanization development.(3)Road accessibility and distance from the city center are the main factors that explain the spatial differentiation of village evolution degree in the study area.This study elucidates the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of villages in the upper Tuojiang River basin and identifies the primary factors contributing to their changes,which will provide a reference for investigating the development of rural areas in different terrains of Southwest China.

Identification of Important FPGA Modules Based on Complex Network

The globalization of hardware designs and supply chains,as well as the integration of third-party intellectual property(IP)cores,has led to an increased focus from malicious attackers on computing hardware.However,existing defense or detection approaches often require additional circuitry to perform security verification,and are thus constrained by time and resource limitations.Considering the scale of actual engineering tasks and tight project schedules,it is usually difficult to implement designs for all modules in field programmable gate array(FPGA)circuits.Some studies have pointed out that the failure of key modules tends to cause greater damage to the network.Therefore,under limited conditions,priority protection designs need to be made on key modules to improve protection efficiency.We have conducted research on FPGA designs including single FPGA systems and multi-FPGA systems,to identify key modules in FPGA systems.For the single FPGA designs,considering the topological structure,network characteristics,and directionality of FPGA designs,we propose a node importance evaluationmethod based on the technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution(TOPSIS)method.Then,for the multi-FPGA designs,considering the influence of nodes in intra-layer and inter-layers,they are constructed into the interdependent network,and we propose a method based on connection strength to identify the important modules.Finally,we conduct empirical research using actual FPGA designs as examples.The results indicate that compared to other traditional indexes,node importance indexes proposed for different designs can better characterize the importance of nodes.

Towards a Climate Service for the Tea Industry:A Collaborative Approach between the UK and China

Tea is an important global commodity,with important tea-growing regions spanning across South America,Africa,and Asia,and burgeoning smaller-scale and artisanal tea production in the UK and Europe.In each of these regions,the quality and quantity of tea production,with their economic and social consequences,are highly sensitive to variations in the climate on both short-term weather,seasonal and climate change timescales.The provision of tailored climate information in a timely and accessible manner through the development,delivery and use of climate services can help tea-farmers and other relevant stakeholders better understand the impacts of climate variability and climate change on decision-making and a range of adaptive actions.This paper presents an overview of the Tea-CUP project(Co-developing Useful Predictions),a joint initiative between UK and Chinese partners,which aims to develop and implement solutions for improving robust decision-making.Co-production principles are core,ensuring that the resultant climate services are usable and useful;users'needs are met through close engagement and joint research and decision-making.The paper also reports on the exchange of knowledge and experiences,such as between tea growers in China and the UK,which has resulted from this collaborative work,fostering global knowledge sharing,enriching understanding,and driving innovation by integrating diverse perspectives and expertise from different countries.This is an unintended but valuable side-effect of the collaborative approach taken and highlights the benefits of a highly relational and multidisciplinary approach to climate services development that will inform future work in the field.

The Effects of Disruptive Thinking on the Food Industry*

This study aimed to understand disruptive thinking and how its ideas can change the food industry. This was achieved by identifying, studying, and understanding the impacts, current trends, and different disruptive ideas and innovations emerging in the food industry. The study was conducted through interpretive research philosophy by carrying out secondary data collection processes, where both qualitative and quantitative information was presented. Deductive approaches were also selected to apply existing theories and models, which were used to construct research hypotheses and present detailed findings. The study finds that, with disruptive thinking, enhancements in the product life cycle, new flavors, and improvements in food packaging have been possible. The supply chain, which is always considered a complex part of the food industry, has been streamlined, offering greater transparency and real-time tracking and improving quality control across distribution systems.

A Multi-Stage Differential-Multifactorial Evolutionary Algorithm for Ingredient Optimization in the Copper Industry

Ingredient optimization plays a pivotal role in the copper industry,for which it is closely related to the concentrate utilization rate,stability of furnace conditions,and the quality of copper production.To acquire a practical ingredient plan,which should exhibit long duration time with sufficient utilization and feeding stability for real applications,an ingredient plan optimization model is proposed in this study to effectively guarantee continuous production and stable furnace conditions.To address the complex challenges posed by this integer programming model,including multiple coupling feeding stages,intricate constraints,and significant non-linearity,a multi-stage differential-multifactorial evolution algorithm is developed.In the proposed algorithm,the differential evolutionary(DE)algorithm is improved in three aspects to efficiently tackle challenges when optimizing the proposed model.First,unlike traditional time-consuming serial approaches,the multifactorial evolutionary algorithm is utilized to optimize multiple complex models contained in the population of evolutionary algorithm caused by the feeding stability in a parallel manner.Second,a repair algorithm is employed to adjust infeasible ingredient lists in a timely manner.In addition,a local search strategy taking feedback from the current optima and considering the different positions of global optimum is developed to avoiding premature convergence of the differential evolutionary algorithm.Finally,the simulation experiments considering different planning horizons using real data from the copper industry in China are conducted,which demonstrates the superiority of the proposed method on feeding duration and stability compared with other commonly deployed approaches.It is practically helpful for reducing material cost as well as increasing production profit for the copper industry.

Investigation into the Methodology and Implementation of Life Cycle Engineering under China’s Carbon Reduction Target in the Process Industry

The industrial sector is the primary source of carbon emissions in China.In pursuit of meeting its carbon reduction targets,China aims to promote resource consumption sustainability,reduce energy consumption,and achieve carbon neutrality within its processing industries.An effective strategy to promote energy savings and carbon reduction throughout the life cycle of materials is by applying life cycle engineering technology.This strategy aims to attain an optimal solution for material performance,resource consumption,and environmental impact.In this study,five types of technologies were considered:raw material replacement,process reengineering,fuel replacement,energy recycling and reutilization,and material recycling and reutilization.The meaning,methodology,and development status of life cycle engineering technology abroad and domestically are discussed in detail.A multidimensional analysis of ecological design was conducted from the perspectives of resource and energy consumption,carbon emissions,product performance,and recycling of secondary resources in a manufacturing process.This coupled with an integrated method to analyze carbon emissions in the entire life cycle of a material process industry was applied to the nonferrous industry,as an example.The results provide effective ideas and solutions for achieving low or zero carbon emission production in the Chinese industry as recycled aluminum and primary aluminum based on advanced technologies had reduced resource consumption and emissions as compared to primary aluminum production.

Impacts of agri-food e-commerce on traditional wholesale industry:Evidence from China

Rapidly expanding studies investigate the effects of e-commerce on company operations in the retail market.However,the interaction between agri-food e-commerce(AEC)and the traditional agri-food wholesale industry(AWI)has not received enough attention in the existing literature.Based on the provincial panel data from 2013 to 2020 in China,this paper examines the effect of AEC on AWI,comprising three dimensions:digitalization(DIGITAL),agrifood e-commerce infrastructure and supporting services(AECI),and agri-food e-commerce economy(AECE).First,AWI and AEC are measured using an entropy-based combination of indicators.The results indicate that for China as a whole,AWI has remained practically unchanged,whereas AEC exhibits a significant rising trend.Second,the findings of the fixed-effect regression reveal that DIGITAL and AECE tend to raise AWI,whereas AECI negatively affects AWI.Third,threshold regression results indicate that AECI tends to diminish AWI with three-stage inhibitory intensity,which manifests as a first increase and then a drop in the inhibition degree.These results suggest that with the introduction of e-commerce for agricultural product circulation,digital development will have catfish effects that tend to stimulate the vitality of the conventional wholesale industry and promote technical progress.Furthermore,the traditional wholesale industry benefits financially from e-commerce even while it diverts part of the traditional wholesale circulation for agricultural products.

A Review on Security and Privacy Issues Pertaining to Cyber-Physical Systems in the Industry 5.0 Era

The advent of Industry 5.0 marks a transformative era where Cyber-Physical Systems(CPSs)seamlessly integrate physical processes with advanced digital technologies.However,as industries become increasingly interconnected and reliant on smart digital technologies,the intersection of physical and cyber domains introduces novel security considerations,endangering the entire industrial ecosystem.The transition towards a more cooperative setting,including humans and machines in Industry 5.0,together with the growing intricacy and interconnection of CPSs,presents distinct and diverse security and privacy challenges.In this regard,this study provides a comprehensive review of security and privacy concerns pertaining to CPSs in the context of Industry 5.0.The review commences by providing an outline of the role of CPSs in Industry 5.0 and then proceeds to conduct a thorough review of the different security risks associated with CPSs in the context of Industry 5.0.Afterward,the study also presents the privacy implications inherent in these systems,particularly in light of the massive data collection and processing required.In addition,the paper delineates potential avenues for future research and provides countermeasures to surmount these challenges.Overall,the study underscores the imperative of adopting comprehensive security and privacy strategies within the context of Industry 5.0.

Overview of the Development of the Soybean Industry in the United States,Brazil and Argentina and Its Lessons for the Development of the Soybean Industry in China

Since the 1950s,China has gradually moved away from complete self-sufficiency in terms of soybeans to a high dependence on imports,and its annual import of soybeans accounts for about 60%of the global soybean trade.Brazil,the United States and Argentina have seen rapid growth in the soybean industry in just a few decades,and now account for about 80%of the world’s annual production.On the whole,in addition to the unique resource endowment and the continuous expansion of international market demand,the strong support of the U.S.government.

Production and achievements of Sesamum indicum industry in the world:Past and current state

Sesame production is important in agriculture,food industry,and the crop diversity due to its rich nutritional profile and health benefits.Despite its significant value,sesame is still an orphan crop that has received little scientific attention,resulting in low yield compared to other major oilseed crops.This review offers a comprehensive overview of the present state of production,knowledge,and research advancements concerning Sesamum indicum on a global scale.The FAOSTAT database was extensively used to examine the global trends from 1961 to 2021.In the past 60 years,global sesame production has substantially increased,with Asia and Africa being the primary producers.The integration of omics technologies and biotechnological interventions has revolutionized our understanding of the genetic basis of sesame,enhanced productivity,invigorated stress resilience,and improved seed quality.High-throughput sequencing methods such as RNA-seq,RAD-seq,SLAF-seq,and GBS technology are used in various studies,linkage mapping,and identification of trait-associated markers.Fine linkage maps,and multi-omics studies such as genomics,proteomics,transcriptomics,and metabolomics have been employed in sesame research for gene and QTL mapping.Proteins and metabolic pathways related to oil content,yield,and stress tolerance were reported.Genes and QTLs related to yield and its components,drought,salt,and osmotic stress tolerance were discovered.Candidate genes associated with capsule shattering and seed shattering were recently revealed.For more achievement in sesame,it is important to enhance sesame production efficiency through mechanization,advanced agricultural practices,and knowledge dissemination to farmers.MAS and multi-omics integration should be particularly reinforced.The advancements in sesame production present a significant and promising opportunity for farmers,governments,and stakeholders in the agricultural sector.

Game theory in network security for digital twins in industry

To ensure the safe operation of industrial digital twins network and avoid the harm to the system caused by hacker invasion,a series of discussions on network security issues are carried out based on game theory.From the perspective of the life cycle of network vulnerabilities,mining and repairing vulnerabilities are analyzed by applying evolutionary game theory.The evolution process of knowledge sharing among white hats under various conditions is simulated,and a game model of the vulnerability patch cooperative development strategy among manufacturers is constructed.On this basis,the differential evolution is introduced into the update mechanism of the Wolf Colony Algorithm(WCA)to produce better replacement individuals with greater probability from the perspective of both attack and defense.Through the simulation experiment,it is found that the convergence speed of the probability(X)of white Hat 1 choosing the knowledge sharing policy is related to the probability(x0)of white Hat 2 choosing the knowledge sharing policy initially,and the probability(y0)of white hat 2 choosing the knowledge sharing policy initially.When y0?0.9,X converges rapidly in a relatively short time.When y0 is constant and x0 is small,the probability curve of the“cooperative development”strategy converges to 0.It is concluded that the higher the trust among the white hat members in the temporary team,the stronger their willingness to share knowledge,which is conducive to the mining of loopholes in the system.The greater the probability of a hacker attacking the vulnerability before it is fully disclosed,the lower the willingness of manufacturers to choose the"cooperative development"of vulnerability patches.Applying the improved wolf colonyco-evolution algorithm can obtain the equilibrium solution of the"attack and defense game model",and allocate the security protection resources according to the importance of nodes.This study can provide an effective solution to protect the network security for digital twins in the industry.

Exploring Paths for the High-Quality Development of Forest-Based Wel ness Industry:A Case Study of Sichuan Province

The forest-based wellness industry,as a rapidly growing sector that integrates various business forms with extensive coverage and an extended industrial chain,is undergoing rapid development due to the increasing aging population and people's suboptimal health conditions.As a forerunner in developing the forest-based wellness industry,Sichuan province is known for its early development,proactive efforts,diverse models,and significant impact in this industry.It has achieved certain milestones in terms of top-level design,pilot demonstration,standardized guidance,and public awareness campaigns to promote the development of this industry.Therefore,this paper utilizes Sichuan as a case study to systematically summarize and analyze the key practices made by the province in promoting the rapid development of the industry by investigating the development trajectory of the forest-based wellness industry.Additionally,it examines the development trends of this industry from the perspectives of supply,demand,and consumption.Finally,this paper proposes several measures to facilitate the high-quality development of the forest-based wellness industry.These measures encompass nurturing specialized talent in forest-based wellness,enhancing market players'capabilities in this domain,conducting extensive research on technologies that promote this industry,actively seeking support from relevant policies,and promoting integrated development across diverse sectors.

Analyzing the transportation infrastructure-rural industry integration relationship in China

Transportation infrastructure is crucial to China’s economic growth because it substantially contributes to the holistic development of rural primary,secondary,and tertiary industries.This study innovatively examines transportation infrastructure and urbanization levels to explore,both theoretically and empirically,their relationship with the holistic development of primary,secondary,and tertiary industries in rural China,and the mediating role of urbanization on this relationship.We employed fixed-effects models,the entropy weight approach,mixed regression,and generalized method of moments to analyze the data of 30 provinces across China from 2013 to 2020.The results indicate that the construction of transportation infrastructure directly fosters the collective advancement of such industries in rural areas and that urbanization partially mediates the transportation infrastructure-rural industry integration relationship.However,the western region shows disparities in the integrated development of these sectors.Further analysis reveals that foreign investments amplify the positive influence of transportation infrastructure on rural industry integration.Essentially,the enhancement of rural transportation infrastructure,promotion of urbanization,implementation of strategic planning,and strengthening of support mechanisms are crucial aspects in the comprehensive development of rural industries and the achievement of rural revitalization in China.