Abstract Assessment and prediction analyses of the ecological environmental quality of river basins are pivotal to realize ecological protection and high-quality coordinated development. The PLUS and InVEST models were used to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of land-use in the Fen River Basin and simulate the spatial pattern of land-use under natural development (ND), ecological protection (EC), and economic development (ED) scenarios in 2030, as well as evaluate habitat quality (HQ) and its spatiotemporal variation characteristics from 2000 to 2030. From 2000 to 2020, the Fen River Basin consisted primarily of cultivated land, followed by forests, and then unused land. Habitat quality in the Fen River Basin showed a downward trend from 2000 to 2020. Between 2010 and 2020, the rate of decline decreased, and by 2030, the HQ in the EC scenario exhibited improvement compared to 2020. However, there was a reduction in HQ in the ND and ED scenarios and there were obvious heterogeneity in spatial distribution, showing the characteristics of "low middle and high edge.” The cultivated land was converted into forests, construction land, and grasslands, and the conversion of construction land and forests to cultivated land dominated the changes in HQ in the Fen River Basin.

ABSTRACT The decision-making process underlying tourist destination selection involves complex interactions between tourists and societies, historical environments, and destinations. Based on self-congruity theory and practice theory, this study examined the effects of tea-drinking habits, destination image self-congruence, destination cognitive image, and destination affective image on Chinese tourists’ intention to visit a tea destination. The results indicated that individuals’ tea-drinking habits had a significantly positive effect on destination image self-congruence, which in turn positively influenced travel intention. Cognitive image had a significant effect on travel intention, but it had no indirect effect through the mediation of destination image self-congruence. However, affective image had no significant effect on travel intention; it had an indirect effect through the mediation of destination image self-congruence. Theoretical and methodological implications are also discussed.

A PFTCM molecule with strong donor–acceptor structure was synthesized for data storage and secure memory devices.

Several infectious diseases have impacted global economies and equity markets. The volatility induced by equity markets is a triggering phenomenon for various markets, such as precious metals. Therefore, this novel study is an attempt to provide evidence regarding the effect of volatility in equity markets impacted by infectious diseases on the price variations of precious metals. Accordingly, this research utilized a “Non-Parametric Causality in Quantiles Technique” to analyze daily data from January 1997 to February 2022. Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium are selected as precious metals. The study's estimations signify the influence of EMV-ID on the prices of precious metals suggesting that EMV-ID is an impressive predictor of the metals' prices. The study's result indicates that gold is the most influenced metal; as EMV-ID significantly changes the prices of gold. The pronouncements of the current research paper will assist portfolio managers, financial experts, policymakers, and investors. Therefore, they should consider EMV-ID as a key factor in the volatility of precious metals.

This paper studies non-cooperative games, in which each player’s local objective function depends on its own decisions as well as those of other players. In these games, each player’s local objective function is differentiable, its decision is constrained by a local feasibility constraint, and the decisions of all players are coupled with an equality constraint. By analyzing the variational problem of the games, a distributed generalized Nash equilibrium seeking algorithm with fixed step sizes is developed based on the backward-reflected-forward–backward splitting. Each player performs a backward step followed by a forward–backward step, and the pseudo-gradient is evaluated at a reflection term. Moreover, the convergence of the proposed distributed algorithm is analyzed under standard assumptions using the operator theory and the convex analysis theory. Finally, the simulation results verify the effectiveness of the algorithm and the correctness of the theoretical analysis.

Badminton, a dynamic racquet sport demanding agility and power, features the overhead forehand smash as a pivotal offensive shot. Utilizing 3D motion analysis, this research delves into the intricate biomechanical facets underpinning this pivotal shot, with a dual focus on both novice and proficient players. Through a comparative analysis of these two player cohorts, the investigation aims to elucidate the fundamental factors influencing the quality of the forehand smash. Our findings reveal that skilled players exhibit significant improvements in smash quality, including a 60.2% increase in shuttlecock speed, reduced clearance height, and flight angle at release. These enhancements are associated with specific determinants, such as consistent positioning, racket angle at impact, and range of motion (ROM) in various joints. More crucially, full-body tension-arc formation and a four-segment whip-like smash contribute to these improvements. Unique to the whip-like smash is the rapid trunk and shoulder rotations in early whip-like control inducing passive elbow flexion and wrist over-extension, enhancing the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) effect of muscles for a more powerful smash. Emphasizing this uniqueness and the determinants simplify smash learning, potentially boosting training effectiveness. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of badminton’s biomechanics and offers practical implications for coaches and players to enhance their forehand smashes, especially among beginners.

Abstract The EU is China's second-largest commodity exporter. As the object of taxation via CBAM, discussing the impact of CBAM on China can provide a data basis for China to deal with the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism. Based on the analysis of the export trade relationship between China and the EU, this study uses the input-output model to calculate the embodied carbon of China's exports to the EU. In addition, the overall and industrial impact of CBAM on China's exports to the EU is compared and analyzed in four scenarios from the perspectives of direct and indirect carbon and embodied carbon, and the research shows that: (1) the machinery and equipment manufacturing industry is the industry with the most embodied carbon in China's exports to EU, accounting for 41.63%, and the seven industries, i.e. iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizer, cement, chemicals, polymers and electricity, covered by CBAM account for 10.89%; (2) Based on the taxation industry and taxation scope proposed by CBAM adopted on June 22, 2022, and under the current EU ETS carbon price of €70/ton, China will be levied $1.23 billion; (3) According to the taxation scope and taxation industry that may be expanded in the future mentioned in the CBAM proposal, that is, the expansion of CBAM tax scope from direct and indirect carbon to embodied carbon, and the expansion of industries from seven major industries to all industries of the China's export to the EU, the impact on China's exports to the EU is becoming more and more serious, the largest impact is 28 times that of the current proposal. In particular, the industries of machinery and equipment manufacturing, textiles, clothing, shoes, hats, leather, down feather and their products, woodworking products, furniture, and construction, where the impact of embodied carbon emissions is 16 times, 20 times, 56 times, and 14 times that of direct and indirect carbon emissions, respectively. Although these industries are not covered by the current CBAM text, they should not be ignored in the event of the taxable industries expanding in the future.

The combustion of a large amount of sulfur-containing liquid fuel has caused a series of environmental pollution problems, so the desulfurization of fuel oil is a very important and meaningful research work. Based on the high-activity catalyst, extractive oxidation desulfurization technology can efficiently and gently remove the organic sulfides in fuel. Heterogeneous catalysts encapsulating peroxophosphotungstate (TBA)3PW4 in the pores of zirconium-based MOFs (UiO-66 and UiO-67) were prepared for desulfurization of multicomponent simulated fuel combining extraction and oxidation. Reaction conditions, desulfurization efficiency of different materials and activity of different sulfides were optimized and analyzed. The results show that (TBA)3PW4@UiO-67 shows high catalytic activity due to its large window size, and has good reusability and structural stability.

Despite extensive research on student satisfaction in HEIs, notable gaps exist in investigating the profound impact of practical teacher training in education programs, particularly in China. This study examines the relationships between student satisfaction and its predictors in practical teacher training among Chinese undergraduates. Results show that expectation, perceived administrative service quality, perceived teaching quality, and perceived value are significant predictors of student satisfaction. However, image and teacher-student interaction have no significant relationships with student satisfaction. The six constructs represent 49% of the variance in student satisfaction. These findings indicate the necessity for enhanced management of practical teacher training programs.