Microstructure and mechanical properties of Co-28Cr-6Mo-0.22C investment castings by current solution treatment

This study examined the impact of current solution treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the Co-28Cr-6Mo-0.22C alloy investment castings.The findings reveal that the current solution treatment significantly promotes the dissolution of carbides at a lower temperature.The optimal conditions for solution treatment are determined as a solution temperature of 1,125°C and a holding time of 5.0 min.Under these parameters,the size and volume fraction of precipitated phases in the investment castings are measured as6.2μm and 1.1vol.%.The yield strength,ultimate tensile strength,and total elongation of the Co-28Cr-6Mo-0.22C investment castings are 535 MPa,760 MPa,and 12.6%,respectively.These values exceed those obtained with the conventional solution treatment at 1,200°C for 4.0 h.The findings suggest a phase transformation of M_(23)C_(6)→σ+C following the current solution treatment at 1,125°C for 5.0 min.In comparison,the traditional solution treatment at 1,200°C for 4.0 h leads to the formation of M_(23)C_(6)and M_(6)C carbides.It is noteworthy that the non-thermal effect of the current during the solution treatment modifies the free energy of both the matrix and precipitation phase.This modification lowers the phase transition temperature of the M_(23)C_(6)→σ+C reaction,thereby facilitating the dissolution of carbides.As a result,the current solution treatment approach achieves carbide dissolution at a lower temperature and within a significantly shorter time when compared to the traditional solution treatment methods.

Agricultural Investment Project Decisions Based on an Interactive Preference Disaggregation Model Considering Inconsistency

Agricultural investment project selection is a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem,as agricultural projects are easily influenced by various risk factors,and the evaluation information provided by decisionmakers usually involves uncertainty and inconsistency.Existing literature primarily employed direct preference elicitation methods to address such issues,necessitating a great cognitive effort on the part of decision-makers during evaluation,specifically,determining the weights of criteria.In this study,we propose an indirect preference elicitation method,known as a preference disaggregation method,to learn decision-maker preference models fromdecision examples.To enhance evaluation ease,decision-makers merely need to compare pairs of alternatives with which they are familiar,also known as reference alternatives.Probabilistic linguistic preference relations are employed to account for the presence of incomplete and uncertain information in such pairwise comparisons.To address the inconsistency among a group of decision-makers,we develop a pair of 0-1mixed integer programming models that consider both the semantics of linguistic terms and the belief degrees of decision-makers.Finally,we conduct a case study and comparative analysis.Results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed model in solving agricultural investment project selection problems with uncertain and inconsistent decision information.

Impact of the carbon market on investment benefits of power-grid enterprises in China: a system dynamics analysis

The power grid,as the hub connecting the power supply and consumption sides,plays an important role in achieving carbon neutrality in China.In emerging carbon markets,assessing the investment benefits of power-grid enterprises is essential.Thus,studying the impact of the carbon market on the investment and operation of powergrid enterprises is key to ensuring their efficient operation.Notably,few studies have examined the interaction between the carbon and electricity markets using system dynamics models,highlighting a research gap in this area.This study investigates the impact of the carbon market on the investment of power-grid enterprises using a novel evaluation system based on a system dynamics model that considers carbon-emissions from an established carbon-emission accounting model.First,an index system for benefit evaluation was constructed from six aspects:financing ability,economic benefit,reliability,social responsibility,user satisfaction,and carbon-emissions.A system dynamics model was then developed to reflect the causal feedback relationship between the impact of the carbon market on the investment and operation of power-grid enterprises.The simulation results of a provincial power-grid enterprise analyze comprehensive investment evaluation benefits over a 10-year period and the impact of carbon emissions on the investment and operation of power-grid enterprises.This study provides guidelines for the benign development of power-grid enterprises within the context of the carbon market.

Risk assessment of oil and gas investment environment in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative

With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative, China is deepening its cooperation in oil and gas resources with countries along the Initiative. In order to better mitigate risks and enhance the safety of investments, it is of significant importance to research the oil and gas investment environment in these countries for China's overseas investment macro-layout. This paper proposes an indicator system including 27 indicators from 6 dimensions. On this basis, game theory models combined with global entropy method and analytic hierarchy process are applied to determine the combined weights, and the TOPSIS-GRA model is utilized to assess the risks of oil and gas investment in 76 countries along the Initiative from 2014 to 2021. Finally, the GM(1,1) model is employed to predict risk values for 2022-2025. In conclusion, oil and gas resources and political factors have the greatest impact on investment environment risk, and 12 countries with greater investment potential are selected through cluster analysis in conjunction with the predicted results. The research findings may provide scientific decisionmaking recommendations for the Chinese government and oil enterprises to strengthen oil and gas investment cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road Initiative.

How R&D investment promotes green technology innovation in the context of digitalization?-An empirical analysis based on provincial panel data

Green technology innovation is an important driving force and source to promote my country’s high-quality development,and it is the core path to achieve sustainable development.This paper uses my country’s provincial panel data from 2016 to 2019 to study the impact mechanism of R&D investment on green technology innovation,and introduces the level of digitization,using the panel threshold model to discuss its role in the impact mechanism of R&D investment on green technology innovation.The study found that when the level of digitalization in a region is low,increasing R&D investment does not necessarily improve the ability of green technology innovation;when the level of digitalization is relatively high,R&D investment has a positive role in promoting green technology innovation.Therefore,it is necessary to improve policies to encourage enterprises to increase investment in research and development;at the same time,it is necessary to promote the coordinated development of digital foundation,digital investment,digital literacy,digital economy and digital application,and promote the deep integration of digitalization and green technology innovation.

National Social Investment Programmes in Nigeria:A Descriptive Analysis of the Socio-Economic Contributions of N-Power Programme in Benue State

This study analysed the socio-economic contributions of N-Power programme amongst the beneficiaries of the scheme in Benue State.Prior to the introduction of N-Power programme,successive administrations in Nigeria have made concerted efforts towards improving the standard of living of the citizenry through the execution of various welfare or social intervention programmes,but not much successes were recorded.Learning from the mistakes of the past regimes,and by way of deliberate state policy,the Buhari’s government initiated a multi-pronged social investment policy,one of which is the N-power programme that came onboard in 2016,which also doubles as the subject of this study.To achieve the goal of this study,a combination of desktop research and survey design was employed.Questionnaires were administered to 390 respondents through a combination of stratified and random sampling techniques.The results of the survey were matched with that of the secondary data obtained through online websites and other related sources.The result indicated that N-Power made positive contributions to the socio-economic life of the beneficiaries in Benue State:specifically,the scheme contributed in poverty eradication,employment generation,skills acquisitions and capacity building.However,some aspect of our findings revealed that the programme has a number of challenges such as:inadequate cash support,delay in monthly cash transfer to beneficiaries,distance participants had to move to their work stations,absence of posting in N-Teach scheme,and lack of adequate working tools amongst others.To salvage this problem the paper recommended the following solutions:expansion of the scheme to cover N-Teach and other aspects,increment in the monthly cash transfer to cushion the high rate of inflation,support for the participants/beneficiaries in transportation and logistics,enrolment of more youth into the various schemes,proper monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the schemes amongst others.

Chinese Enterprises’ Investment in Southeast Asia Continues Unabated

As we all know,Southeast Asia has become a hot destination for Chinese enterprises to invest in.The latest report shows that Southeast Asia continues to attract China’s capital,within which the medical industry has become an important area for Chinese enterprises to invest in,and the investment activity has gradually warmed up despite fluctuations.

How to Further Attract and Stabilize Foreign Investment

During the Two Sessions,how to attract foreign investment to China and how to further optimize the business environment for foreign investment have become hot topics in the economic field.The 2024 government work report proposes increased efforts to attract foreign investment.It will continue to reduce the negative list of foreign investment access,completely lift restrictions on foreign investment accessto the manufacturing industry.

Renewing Chinese Investment in Indonesia’s Energy Sector

On April 1,the China RE Invest Indonesia 2024,a symposium cohosted by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in China,the Southeast Strategics(a business and investment research and advisory institute),and the Center for Strategic and International Studies(CSIS)Indonesia,took place in Beijing.Representatives from renewable energy investment companies,equipment manufacturers,financial institutions,government departments,renewable energy-related enterprises.

Which Cities are More Attractive for Business Investment?

A good business environment is the soft power and core competitiveness for urban economic development,and is a key element to attract business investment.Recently,the“Top 50 Cities with Business Investment Attraction”(hereinafter referred to as the Survey)released by the Big Data Research Institute of Qi Chacha shows that the siphonic effect of the first-tier cities is significant,and in the past five years,enterprises in Shanghai,Beijing and Shenzhen have been invested in the most frequently.

Research on the Threshold Effect of China’s Pharmaceutical Export Trade on Internal and External R&D Investment

Objective To study the threshold effect of export trade on internal and external R&D investment in China’s pharmaceutical industry,and to provide reference for some pharmaceutical enterprises to improve the investment.Methods The panel data of pharmaceutical industry in 25 provinces and cities in China from 2009 to 2019 were selected to conduct empirical analysis by establishing a threshold regression model,and a better export trade interval was obtained.Results and Conclusion There is a threshold value for the effect of new product export on both internal and external R&D expenditures,and the threshold values are 845.2788 million yuan and 318.4198 million yuan,respectively.There is a single threshold effect of export trade on both internal and external R&D investment in China’s pharmaceutical industry,and the effect of export trade on internal and external R&D investment changes from negative to positive as the export trade develops from low to high.

Innovative Strategies for Financial Investment Management Strategies of Enterprises in the New Era

With the in-depth development of economic globalization and the continuous emergence of new technologies,the importance of enterprise financial investment management strategy is becoming more and more prominent.The traditional financial investment management strategy can no longer meet the needs of enterprises in the new era and needs to be innovated with the times.For enterprises,the effectiveness and scientificity of financial investment management strategy will directly affect the competitiveness and long-term development of enterprises.Therefore,this study chooses the innovation based on the financial investment management strategy of enterprises in the new era as the research theme,aiming at exploring the innovative strategy to adapt to the needs of enterprises in the new era.

Research on the Investment Mode and Path of China’s Construction Waste Resourceization Industry

At present,China’s construction waste accounts for about 40%of the total municipal solid waste,with a large stock,a large increment,and a low rate of resource utilization,which is still a big gap compared with developed countries.However,the market prospect of the construction waste industry is relatively broad,the reuse value of the construction waste is high,so these resources should be fully utilized.This paper presents an in-depth analysis of projects in the construction waste resourceization industry,examining the industrial chain,development history,current status,investment and financing modes,and case studies.It proposes targeted strategies for companies to focus on the upstream and downstream segments of the construction industry’s value chain and explores the implementation of investment opportunities in construction waste resourceization.

Research on the Application of Virtual Simulation Experimental Teaching in the Securities Investment Course

With the rapid development of information technology and the increasing complexity of the financial market,the teaching methods and means of the Securities Investment course in universities are facing new challenges and opportunities.The purpose of this paper is to discuss the application and construction path of virtual simulation experimental teaching in the Securities Investment course.Firstly,it analyses the problems existing in the teaching of traditional securities investment courses,such as the disconnection between theory and practice and the single teaching mode.In order to solve these problems,this paper puts forward the necessity of introducing virtual simulation experimental teaching and details the specific application path of virtual simulation experimental teaching in the Securities Investment course.

Risk Assessment and Control in Medical Investment,Merger,and Acquisition

The risk assessment and control of medical investment,merger,and acquisition are crucial topics within the medical industry,encompassing various aspects of investment,merger,and acquisition within this sector.The process primarily targets the unique nature and associated risks of the medical industry,focusing on effective risk management and control strategies to facilitate the smooth progression of investment,merger,and acquisition activities.

Optimal Quota-Share and Excess-of-Loss Reinsurance and Investment with Heston’s Stochastic Volatility Model

An optimal quota-share and excess-of-loss reinsurance and investment problem is studied for an insurer who is allowed to invest in a risk-free asset and a risky asset.Especially the price process of the risky asset is governed by Heston's stochastic volatility(SV)model.With the objective of maximizing the expected index utility of the terminal wealth of the insurance company,by using the classical tools of stochastic optimal control,the explicit expressions for optimal strategies and optimal value functions are derived.An interesting conclusion is found that it is better to buy one reinsurance than two under the assumption of this paper.Moreover,some numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis are provided.

THE OPTIMAL REINSURANCE-INVESTMENT PROBLEM CONSIDERING THE JOINT INTERESTS OF AN INSURER AND A REINSURER UNDER HARA UTILITY

This paper focuses on an optimal reinsurance and investment problem for an insurance corporation which holds the shares of an insurer and a reinsurer.Assume that the insurer can purchase reinsurance from the reinsurer,and that both the insurer and the reinsurer are allowed to invest in a risk-free asset and a risky asset which are governed by the Heston model and are distinct from one another.We aim to find the optimal reinsuranceinvestment strategy by maximizing the expected Hyperbolic Absolute Risk Aversion(HARA)utility of the insurance corporation’s terminal wealth,which is the weighted sum of the insurer’s and the reinsurer’s terminal wealth.The Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman(HJB)equation is first established.However,this equation is non-linear and is difficult to solve directly by any ordinary method found in the existing literature,because the structure of this HJB equation is more complex under HARA utility.In the present paper,the Legendre transform is applied to change this HJB equation into a linear dual one such that the explicit expressions of optimal investment-reinsurance strategies for-1≤ρi≤1 are obtained.We also discuss some special cases in a little bit more detail.Finally,numerical analyses are provided.

Design of the contingent royalty rate as related to the type of investment

This study investigates the design of the royalty rate in a first-price auction across three types of investments:incremental and lumpy with or without an exogenously given intensity.A bidder’s investment cost comprises private information.This,together with the stochastic evolution of the price of the output generated from the auctioned project,precludes the seller from setting the exact dates of investment with the winner.However,the seller can set the royalty rate to equate the winner’s royalty payment with the winner’s information rent so that the winner acts as if to maximize the seller’s revenue.We derive two main conclusions.First,compared with the case in which investment is lumpy with an exogenously given intensity,the seller can set a lower royalty rate on incremental investment because she can collect additional royalty payments from the winner,who has the option to later expand capacity.Second,the impact of output price uncertainty on the optimal royalty rate for the three types of investments exhibits two different patterns.When investment is either incremental or lumpy with an exogenously given intensity,greater output price uncertainty reduces the royalty rate.When investment is lumpy with variable intensity,greater output uncertainty raises the royalty rate.Our results imply that auctioneers may charge differential royalty rates for different types of investments.

A kinetic description of the impact of agent competence and psychological factors on investment decision-making

The kinetic theory is employed to analyze influence of agent competence and psychological factors on investment decision-making.We assume that the wealth held by agents in the financial market is non-negative,and agents set their own investment strategies.The herding behavior is considered when analyzing the impact of an agent's psychological factors on investment decision-making.A nonlinear Boltzmann model containing herding behavior,agent competence and irrational behavior is employed to investigate investment decision-making.To characterize the agent's irrational behavior,we utilize a value function which includes current and ideal-investment decisions to describe the agent's irrational behavior.Employing the asymptotic procedure,we obtain the Fokker-Planck equation from the Boltzmann equation.Numerical results and the stationary solution of the obtained Fokker-Planck equation illustrate how herding behavior,agent competence,psychological factors,and irrational behavior affect investment decision-making,i.e.,herding behavior has both advantages and disadvantages for investment decision-making,and the agent's competence to invest helps the agent to increase income and to reduce loss.

Increasing our return on investment in science:Start with better behavior

In August of 2022,I gave the opening keynote address at the 5th North American Congress on Biomechanics,in Ottawa,Canada.The topic of my talk was about whether the research ecosystem was getting a reasonable return on its investment in biomedical research.I provided several examples as to why I posed this question.