Dual Pressure Research Articles

Positive Psychology-Based Intervention for Enhancing Happiness and Well-being in Working Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

With the changing social environment, working mothers have become the role of more and more women, but the dual pressure of professional and family roles has brought them a balance dilemma. This study takes married female teachers in a vocational college in Harbin as the respondents and explores their job satisfaction, family satisfaction and emotional experience through empirical analysis, with a view to providing useful curriculum design and development for improving the subjective well-being of working mothers. At the same time, this study also shows that improving the subjective well-being of working mothers requires the joint efforts of all parties, including the support and assistance of family members, workplace units and society as a whole. Therefore, in order to achieve a win-win situation for both working mothers and family happiness, a favorable social environment needs to be established so that women can receive adequate support and recognition in the workplace and at home.

Financial sustainability and capital leverage of microfinance institutions in China: The mediating role of profitability

This study primarily investigates the effect of financial sustainability on capital leverage in microfinance setting. In doing this, this study looks at operating performance of 45 commercial microfinance institutions under current dual pressure of downturn and deleveraging in China. Empirically, this study employs the system GMM to observe a robustly small and negative impact of financial sustainability on capital leverage. Furthermore, this study presents a conclusion with evidence by mediation analysis that profitability exhibits a suppressing effect on the relationship between financial sustainability and capital leverage. Theoretically, this study verifies that the impact of financial sustainability on capital structure obeys the pecking order theory.

Carbon capture and liquefaction from methane steam reforming unit: 4E’s analysis (Energy, Exergy, Economic, and Environmental)

Excessive fossil–fuel consumption to meet increased energy demand is considered as the main reason of the climatic change. To prevent this devastating change, hydrogen has gained much attention as an intermediate to replace fossil–fuel–based energy systems by sustainable green energy system. Since most of the H2 is produced through natural gas process, a trade–off in terms of huge amounts of CO2 emissions should be concerned. Accordingly, integration of the H2 production and carbon capture facility actively, called blue H2, emerges as a workable alternative. In addition, with the rise in CO2 demand, the liquefaction of captured CO2 has become an attractive strategy in terms of long–term storage and transportation. Therefore, a comprehensive study is performed to assess the feasibility of an integrated system based on carbon capture using monoethanol amine and four CO2 liquefaction systems such as Linde-Hampson, dual pressure Linde-Hampson, vapor compression refrigerant, and absorption refrigerant systems (later will use as case 1 to 4, respectively). Based on energy and exergy evaluations, case 4 reflects the higher efficiencies with specific energy consumption of 0.188el and 0.733th GJ ton CO2-1 and exergy efficiency of 85.55 %. In addition, techno-economic analysis calculates unit LCO2 production of each case; 22.19, 21.35, 21.00, and 24.60 $ ton-1 for cases 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The quantified climate change impacts were estimated by life-cycle assessment; 0.629, 0.620, 0.608. and 0.674 kg CO2-eq kg LCO2-1 for cases 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Furthermore, analytic hierarchy process is performed to provide comprehensive guidelines of liquefied CO2 production under technical, economic, and environmental aspects.

Spatial-Temporal Evolution and Improvement Measures of Embodied Carbon Emissions in Interprovincial Trade for Coal Energy Supply Bases: Case Study of Anhui, China.

On account of the long-term dependence on energy trade and the phenomenon of embodied carbon emissions in interprovincial trade (ECEs-IPT), energy supply bases (ESBs) in the economic integration regions (EIRs) are under unprecedented dual pressure of achieving carbon emissions (CEs) reduction targets and ensuring security and stability of the energy supply. This problem has attracted more and more attention and research by experts and scholars. This paper took Anhui, the coal ESB of the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB), as an example and took the key stage of rapid development of regional economic integration (REI) and accelerated the realization of CEs reduction targets in YREB from 2007 to 2017 as the study period. From the perspectives of regions and industry sectors, we calculated the transfer amount of ECEs-IPT in Anhui among the YREB, analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution pattern of ECEs-IPT, and revealed the industrial characteristics of ECEs-IPT. Then, we classified the industry sectors and proposed the direction of industrial improvement measures. The results showed that, during the decade, the amount of provinces undertaking the net ECEs-IPT outflow from Anhui increased significantly and spatially expanded from only Jiangxi Province to almost all of the YREB. In addition, 39.77% of the net ECEs-IPT outflow of Anhui was concentrated in petroleum processing, coking, and nuclear fuel processing (RefPetraol), metal smelting and rolling processing (MetalSmelt), and electricity and heat production and supply (ElectpowerProd) that trade with Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. The analytical model and results will provide a useful reference for the global similar coal ESBs, especially the coal ESBs within the EIRs, to formulate improvement measures for regions or even the world to ensure stability of the energy supply and achieve regional CEs reduction targets.

Paper-Based Sensor with Bioinspired Macrogrooves for Dual Pressure and Mechanical Strain Signal Detection

Paper-Based Sensor with Bioinspired Macrogrooves for Dual Pressure and Mechanical Strain Signal Detection

Five Forces Model Analysis of Enterprise Strategic Management——Take Haidilao Hotpot Catering Company as an Example

With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, customers' service requirements for the catering industry are also increasing. As a result, the catering industry is under the dual pressure of competition from competitors and customer requirements. And Sichuan Haidilao hotpot Catering Company is a differentiated service-oriented strategy; Always uphold the concept of "customer first, service first"; Persist in striving to meet the various needs of consumers; Companies that promote personalized service. This is an important reason why Haidilao hotpot is invincible in the fierce competitive environment. In order to get more market share, to achieve a higher profit level, occupy a more favorable position in the market, enterprises in addition to improve their competitiveness, but also the rational analysis of external competitive environment, strategy, under the influence of a variety of factors, enterprise how to effective analysis of external competitive environment is a concern. As a strong support for the enterprise analysis of the competitive environment, the Porter five-force model plays an important role in the formulation of enterprise strategy. By using the five-force model, we can clearly and effectively recognize the competitive environment of the enterprise and make strategy. This article will analyze the success of Haidilao hotpot from the perspective of the five forces model. This paper analyze the competitive strategy management of Haidilao, and provide some suggestions for the future development of Haidilao. The model analysis shows that there is no high entry barrier; Haidilao industry has little external unique business model; but the industry has strong internal competition.

Dual Fabry-Perot interferometers gas pressure sensor in a parallel configuration based on a hollow core Bragg fiber and the harmonic Vernier effect.

An ultra-high sensitivity parallel-connected Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPIs) pressure sensor is proposed and demonstrated based on hollow core Bragg fiber (HCBF) and harmonic Vernier effect. The HCBF functions as a micro Fabry-Perot cavity and possesses low transmission loss. One FPI acts as the sensing unit while the other FPI is used as the reference unit to generate the Vernier effect. The sensing FPI was prepared by fusion splicing a section of HCBF between a single-mode fiber (SMF) and a hollow silica tube (HST), and the reference FPI was fabricated by sandwiching a piece of HCBF between two SMFs. Two FPIs with very different free spectral ranges (FSRs) in the fringe pattern were connected to the 2 × 2 coupler parallelly, which realizes the harmonic Vernier effect and ensures the stability of the interference fringe. Laboratory results exhibited that the pressure sensitivity can be enhanced to 119.3 nm/MPa within 0-0.5 MPa by the proposed sensor. Moreover, low-temperature crosstalk of 0.074 kPa/° was achieved. Compared with the traditional optical fiber gas pressure sensor, the advanced sensor features high sensitivity, stability, easy fabrication, and fast response, which can be a promising candidate for real-time and high-precision gas pressure monitoring.

Path selection and mechanism innovation of improving railway energy efficiency – from foreign experience and Chinese practice

PurposeUnder the dual pressure of resources and environment, many countries have focused on the role of railways in promoting low-carbon development of integrated transportation and of even the whole society. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive study on methods to improve railway energy efficiency in other national railways and achievements made by China’s railways in the past practice, and then to propose ways in which in the future China’s railways could rationally select the path of improving energy efficiency regarding the needs of the nation's ever-shifting development and carry out the re-engineering for mechanism innovation in energy conservation and emission reduction process.Design/methodology/approachThis paper first studies other national railways that have tried to promote the improvement of railway energy efficiency by the ways of technology, management and structural reconstruction to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Among them, the effect of structural energy conservation and emission reduction has become more prominent. It has become the main energy conservation and emission reduction measure adopted by foreign railway sectors. The practice of energy conservation and emission reduction of railways in various countries has tended to shift from a technical level to a structural one.FindingsKey aspects in improving energy efficiency include re-optimization of energy structure, re-innovation of energy-saving technologies and optimization of transportation organization. Path selection includes continuing to promote electrified railway construction, increasing the use of new and renewable energy sources, and promoting the reform of railway transportation organizations.Originality/valueThis paper provides further challenges and research directions in the proposed area and has referential value for the methodologies, approaches for practice in a Chinese context. To achieve the expected goals, relevant supporting policies and measures need to be formulated, including actively guiding integrated transportation toward railway-oriented development, promoting innovation in energy-saving and emission reduction mechanisms and strengthening policy incentives, focusing on improving the energy efficiency of railways through market behavior. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to new phenomena in the railway industry for track and analysis.

Social Challenges Faced by Health Service Providers in Managing COVID-19

The purpose of the paper is to shed light on the social and personal experiences of the front-line service providers in a pandemic situation with a view to extend the service triangle model which doesn't employ the social dimension of service delivery. This research pursues the exploratory research approach as it tries to propose a new insight into a service delivery model. The paper is developed based on archival method. The major national newspapers of the country have been scanned to find out the issues of front liners during the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak. The people like the doctors and nurses who have to come in direct contact with COVID-19 patients have to face dual pressure: pressure from their job responsibilities and pressure from social and family life. They found inadequate support for the health service producers from their workplace and society, which cause person-role conflict. This paper concludes that the need for social support for the health service providers is crucial in delivering adequate health service during a pandemic.

Comprehensive Utilization and Sustainable Development of Bauxite in Northern Guizhou on a Background of Carbon Neutralization

As a developing country, China is also a major producer and consumer of mineral resources. At present, China is still in a critical period of rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, which will inevitably lead to huge resource consumption. It is only 30 years between the peak carbon consumption and the timepoint planned to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. Coming from a background of dual pressure in terms of the total amount and intensity of “carbon neutrality”, the development and utilization of mineral resources has become one of the important factors in affecting and realizing carbon neutrality in China, and comprehensive utilization has become increasingly important. There are abundant bauxite resources in northern Guizhou, more than 700 million tons, and an industrial resource chain could be built around bauxite. The ore-forming process of bauxite is very complex, and there are enrichment phenomena of other useful elements in the ore-bearing rock series, among which the enrichment of associated Ga, Li and rare earth elements is very obvious. It is of great economic and scientific significance to study the migration law of associated Ga, Li and rare earth elements and to find out whether these elements in bauxite have development value. On the basis of systematically collecting and sorting previous research results, this study carried out supplementary tests on some areas with insufficient data; summarized and studied the migration law of associated Ga, Li and rare earth elements in the Wuzhengdao bauxite deposit in northern Guizhou; and conducted a feasibility analysis on the development and utilization prospects of associated Ga, Li and rare earth elements.

Does regional integration improve economic resilience? Evidence from urban agglomerations in China

Under the dual pressure of “slow-burn” challenges and acute shocks, increasing economic resilience is gaining attention around the world to ensure the security and stability of economic activities. With the goal of achieving sustainable development, the China is exploring an innovative, coordinated, green, open, shared and secure development path for the regional economy. Using panel data for 241 cities at the prefecture level and above in China from 2010 to 2019, this research considers urban agglomeration planning as a quasi-natural experiment of regional integration and use a difference-in-differences method to explore the effect of regional integration on economic resilience. The results show the following. 1) Regional integration does improve economic resilience after various robustness tests. 2) The policy effect of regional integration on economic resilience varies by time, region, and urban structure. 3) Urban size structure and industrial structure are important ways in which regional integration affects economic resilience. Our findings enrich the theoretical study of the relationship between regional integration and economic resilience and provide a new path to improve regional economic resilience and achieve sustainable development.

Alternative highland adaptations: organ masses and fur insulation in Afroalpine rodents

AbstractAnimals inhabiting high altitudes are exposed to low ambient temperatures and hypobaric hypoxic conditions. Such dual environmental pressure reinforces mechanisms to counteract demanding thermal environment and, at the same time, physiological constraints of reduced partial oxygen pressure. We investigated how a community of rodents inhabiting the Ethiopian Highlands responded to such dual pressure. We measured internal organ masses (spleen, kidney, liver, heart, and interscapular brown adipose tissue) and fur properties (length and density of hairs) inArvicanthis blicki,Lophuromys flavopunctatus,Otomys helleri,Stenocephalemys albocaudatus,S. sokolovi, andS. albipes. Phylogenetic vector and mixed regression analyses showed that all species, except forA. blicki, had large internal organs and long and/or dense fur, indicative of high internal heat production and good insulation properties. Instead,A. blickihad the largest interscapular brown adipose tissue, but the poorest fur insulation. The link between organ masses and fur insulation suggests different physiological heat economics among the rodent species. Furthermore,O. hellerihad the most similar lengths of hind and forelimbs, indicative of cursorial locomotion, that coincides in this species with large spleen. Cursorial species, which depend on endurance running, may require large spleens to secure a storage and on‐demand release of red blood cells for aerobic physiology during prolonged exercise in high altitudes. Altogether these findings suggest different mechanisms of maintaining thermal and exercise performance under inseparable hypoxic‐thermal conditions of the high‐altitude environment among the studied rodents.

Toward a Socio-Political Approach to Promote the Development of Circular Agriculture: A Critical Review.

Under the dual pressure of ensuring global food security and coping with the effects of climate change, many countries have proposed projects of circular agriculture to mitigate the vulnerability of agricultural systems. However, due to the different utilizations of agricultural resources in different countries, there are still some important limitations and obstacles to the promotion of agricultural recycling technologies. This review discusses global circular agriculture projects from a social science perspective. We found that (1) current research on circular agriculture is concentrated in the field of natural sciences with a focus on technological upgrading, neglecting social, political and economic research; (2) top-down circular agriculture projects rely on infrastructure and technical inputs for management, which undermines the focus on public participation and is limited by the timing and intensity of state intervention; (3) the development model led by enterprises or associations relies on cooperation and benefit games with farmers, and its sustainability depends largely on changes in the regulation of the agricultural waste utilization system. Based on this, this review argues that circular agriculture projects are not only technical issues in the field of natural sciences, but also strongly influenced by social development. For future research, we strongly recommend cross-disciplinary cooperation, not limited to technology development.

Parametric analysis and thermal-economical optimization of a parallel dual pressure evaporation and two stage regenerative organic Rankine cycle using mixture working fluids

The thermal-economical optimization on a parallel dual pressure evaporation and two-stage regenerative organic Rankine cycle (DTRORC) using mixture working fluid is conducted in this study. The comparison between DTRORC and other ORC systems from the viewpoint of thermodynamic performance and economic performance is discussed. The effects of six key operation parameters on exergy efficiency and LEC are addressed. The bi-objective optimization for maximizing exergy efficiency and minimizing LEC are examined. The Pareto-optimal solutions using TOPSIS, LINMAP and Shannon&GRA decision-making methods are obtained and compared using offset factors. Results indicate that DTRORC obtains 1.75% higher thermal efficiency, 3.5% higher exergy efficiency and 1 kW higher net power than DORC, and 0.8% higher thermal efficiency, 2.5% higher exergy efficiency and 0.5 kW higher net power than DRORC. The optimal solution of the LINMAP decision-making method is chosen for mixture working fluids, while that for Pentane and R245fa are LINMAP and TOPSIS decision-making methods, respectively. From the viewpoint of Pareto-optimal solution, the exergy efficiency of R245fa/Pentane is 2.40% higher than that of Pentane and 1.39% higher than that of R245fa, while the LEC of R245fa/Pentane is 0.58% lower than that of Pentane and 3.42% higher than that of R245fa.

Study on the Design Strategy of Rehabilitation Space for Patients with Cognitive Disorders Based on the Environmental Adaptation of Disease Symptoms

Under the dual pressure of the large number of patients and the funding of expensive treatments, the established medical model is no longer able to meet the treatment needs of patients with cognitive disorders. Cognitive disorders cannot be cured, and the proposed MCI stage provides a window of opportunity for early intervention of the condition. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a high-risk potential conversion state prior to a diagnosis of cognitive disorder, where the person still has the ability to live but with the presence of cognitive damage. The theory of environment-facilitated rehabilitation has begun to be applied to the study of cognitive disorders prevention, but its effectiveness and the drivers of its pathological characteristics remain unclear. In this paper, we explore spatial design strategies for the rehabilitation of patients with cognitive disorders based on the adaptability of pathological characteristics, and provide new ideas for spatial interventions to prevent the condition. Firstly, this paper constructs the relationship between behavioral characteristics (roaming), pathological characteristics (cognitive impairment), and environmental factors interacting with cognitive disorder patients. Second, the feasibility of spatial design to assist the rehabilitation of the condition was demonstrated by analyzing spatial accessibility, visual visibility, and walking distance using the environmental modification of Yuexiu Elderly Service Center in Guangzhou as an example. The study concludes that environmental influences to improve the quality of rehabilitation and cognitive function are effective, mainly in the improvement of spatial communication depth and care efficiency variables.

Management of bronchomalacia in infants post-cardiac surgery using synchronized nasal DuoPAP: A novel technology.

Tracheo-bronchomalacia (TBM) is the weakness in the structural integrity of the cartilaginous ring and arch. It may occur in isolation with prematurity or secondarily in association with various congenital anomalies. Bronchomalacia is more commonly associated with congenital heart diseases. The conventional treatment options include positive pressure ventilation with or without tracheostomy, surgical correction of external compression and airway stenting. To use "synchronized" nasal Dual positive airway pressure (DuoPAP), a non-invasive mode of ventilation as an alternative treatment option for bronchomalacia to avoid complications associated with conventional treatment modalities. Prospective observational study conducted in Army Hospital Research and Referral from Jul 2019 to Dec 2020. We diagnosed seven cases of TBM post-cardiac surgery at our institute, incidence of 4.2%. Four infants were diagnosed with left sided bronchomalacia, 2 were diagnosed with right sided bronchomalacia and one with tracheomalacia. Those infants were managed by "synchronized" nasal DuoPAP, a first in ventilation technology by Fabian Therapy Evolution ventilator (Acutronic, Switzerland). All seven infants showed significant improvement with synchronized nasal DuoPAP both clinically as well as radiologically. None of the infant required tracheostomy and discharged to home successfully. The synchronized nasal DuoPAP is a low cost and effective treatment option for infants with TBM. It could be attributed to synchronization of the breaths leading to better tolerance and compliance in paediatric age group.

Pumped storage power station using abandoned mine in the Yellow River basin: A feasibility analysis under the perspective of carbon neutrality

Greenhouse gas emissions, mainly CO2, lead to global climate change, and the resulting ecological environment problems bring severe challenges to human survival and development. As the world’s largest developing country and carbon emitter, China is facing the dual pressure of socio-economic development and carbon emission reduction. In order to cope with global climate change and achieve the goal of carbon neutrality and carbon peak as soon as possible, China needs to accelerate the optimization of energy structure, gradually increase the proportion of renewable energy utilization, and accelerate the solution of the bottleneck problem of renewable energy storage. As an energy basin, the Yellow River basin is a key demonstration area to promote energy system reform in China. There are a large number of abandoned mines in the Yellow River basin, which provide a new idea to build pumped storage power stations using abandoned mines (PSPSuM) for renewable energy storage. From the perspective of multidisciplinary integration, this study deeply discusses the relevant evaluation principles and technical key points of constructing PSPSuM in the region, and preliminarily carries out the feasibility assessment. The results show that 91 PSPSuM can be built in the Yellow River basin, with a total installed capacity of 15,830 MW, comprehensively considering the aspects of spatial size, spatial structure and space stability.

Executive green investment vision, stakeholders’ green innovation concerns and enterprise green innovation performance

During the 14th Five Year Plan period, the green transformation of China’s economic growth mode has become the top priority under the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goal. As an important focus of green transformation and development, manufacturing enterprises need to carry out green innovation to cope with the dual pressure of resource and environmental constraints and supply side structural contradictions. Based on the perspective of business ecosystem theory, this study uses fsQCA method to analyze the A-share listed manufacturing enterprise clusters in China’s Yangtze River Delta economic belt and the middle reaches of the Yellow River economic belt. The research found that: 1) Manufacturing enterprises engaged in green innovation has the characteristics of multi causality and concurrence, and there are mainly four driving paths of high performance level. 2) The vision of management and investment is the core supporting factor of green innovation performance. The business ecosystem structure, which combines environmental supervision and competitors’ green innovation concerns, is the core driving structure of enterprise green innovation. 3) Compared with the academic experience of senior executives, the driving effect of environmental investment plays a greater role in improving the level of innovation performance. The innovation of this study is to introduce the green investment vision of managers and the green innovation concerns of stakeholders into the research framework of green innovation driving paths of manufacturing enterprises, explore different green innovation paths across case sets, and discuss the heterogeneity of the impact of each path on the level of green innovation performance, providing a practical plan of green innovation for managers of manufacturing enterprises, and help them understand which business ecosystem elements can promote efficient green innovation.

Experimental and theoretical work on reverse osmosis - Dual stage pressure retarded osmosis hybrid system

Two-pass reverse osmosis desalination is a common process to treat high-salinity feed solution and provides a low-salinity permeate solution. This study investigated the significance of the energy generated by the dual-stage pressure retarded osmosis (DSPRO) from the reverse osmosis (RO) brine stream. The main components of the DSPRO-RO hybrid system are RO, pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), and energy recovery device, and their models are determined. Dymola software, using Modelica modelling language, was utilized for solving the hybrid system models. Two different flowsheets were built; the first included a two-pass RO, while the second is a hybrid of a two-pass RO (2RO)-DSPRO system. Seawater salinities of 40 and 45 g/L were the RO feed solution, and 1 g/L tertiary treated wastewater was the feed solution of the DSPRO process. The net specific energy consumption was calculated for the 2RO and 2RO-DSPRO systems for 40 and 45 g/L salinities. At a 47 % recovery rate and 40 g/L seawater salinity, the 2RO-DSPRO system was 14.7 % more energy efficient than the 2RO system. The corresponding energy saving at a 47 % recovery rate and 45 g/L seawater salinity was 17.5 %. The desalination energy for the 2RO system was between 3.25 and 3.49 kWh/m3, and for the 2RO-DSPRO system was between 2.91 and 2.97 kWh/m3. The results demonstrate the great potential of integrating the 2RO with the DSPRO to reduce desalination's energy consumption and environmental impacts.

How does the carbon market impact the economy-energy-environment system in resource-based regions of China? Empirical evidence from Shanxi Province

The question of whether carbon markets increase regional inequality has led to widespread discussion. Resource-based regions with carbon-intensive industries face the dual pressure of transformation and carbon reduction and are more sensitive to the carbon market. In this study, Shanxi Province, a typical resource-based province in China, was selected as the research object, and a system dynamics model of the carbon trading market was constructed to identify the impact of the carbon market on the economy-energy-environment (3E) systems of resource-based regions. Benchmarks, carbon trading, and enhanced carbon trading scenarios were set up around two key indicators, carbon price and total quota, to investigate the effects of combinations of industry and energy policies. The results revealed the following. (1) For the economic system, the carbon markets can have a negative impact on resource-based regions, and its shocks increase with rising carbon prices; however, in the long term, this impact can be repaired. For energy and environmental systems, the carbon market will benefit from reaching the goal of carbon peaking in advance by promoting energy saving and carbon reduction. (2) The impact of carbon quota constraints on the economic system tends to be negative, and their contributions to energy conservation and carbon reduction are relatively small. (3) The policy combination of the carbon market and industrial structure adjustment shows considerable benefits in all three systems; however, the impact of the policy combination of the carbon market and internal structure adjustment of high-carbon energy is weak in the long term. Based on these conclusions, we propose some suggestions at the national level. The government should increase the transfer payment to resource-based regions according to carbon market income, accelerate the cultivation of strategic emerging industries such as green manufacturing, and actively implement clean energy substitution strategies in resource-based regions. This study also provides policy recommendations for Shanxi Province that help formulate sustainable and coordinated development paths for resource-based areas with high carbon emissions and energy consumption.