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Multi-packer completion strings have played a pivotal role in secure exploitation of oil and gas, increasing production and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. While the integration of multi-packer structures has proven advantageous in oil and gas exploration, it has introduced complexities in load distribution, consequently giving rise to safety concerns. This study undertakes a thorough examination of the mechanical analysis pertaining to multi-packer completion strings. We present an analytical model for predicting the axial forces acting on the multi-packer string, utilizing the geometric constraint arising from the immobility of packers. It is demonstrated that the pressure differentials at the packers exhibit uniqueness in relation to both initial and boundary conditions, as well as the geometrical constraint. This paper provides an analytical solution for these pressure differentials. Novel concepts regarding the eigen-matrix of an N-packer completion string, influenced solely by Poisson's ratio, a virtual (N + 1) th packer and the eigen-depth and eigen-ratio of two adjacent packers, are proposed and their applications are discussed. Furthermore, this paper delves into a deeper examination of the multi-packer string's underlying mechanism. A consistent algorithm grounded in geometric analysis is developed based on the analytical model. Validation of our model is performed using three practical cases across various operation conditions, and the results demonstrate the efficacy of this methodology in accurately predicting failure occurrences. Sensitivity analysis results further substantiate the robustness of this method in practical applications. Additionally, it has been shown that strategically positioning the packers in areas where the string is highly prone to fractures significantly enhances the safety of the multi-packer string system. The findings presented in this paper offer a foundational framework for analyzing the mechanical behavior of constrained strings. Furthermore, there is potential for the development of the analytical model to incorporate additional factors, such as string system with packers of semi-free or free movement. The proposed method is also of fundamental significance for safety evaluation of string systems in carbon storage projects, which is obtaining increasing attention in the context of carbon neutralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There have been few longitudinal studies on Chinese bus drivers and the individual differences in the relationships between organizational justice and job satisfaction. This study examined the organizational justice and job satisfaction in bus drivers and the individual differences in this relationship. Methods: A two-wave longitudinal study design was employed. A first survey was conducted on 513 Chinese bus drivers in October 2021 that collected socio-demographic information and asked about their perceptions of organizational fairness. A second survey was conducted six months later that asked about role overload and job satisfaction and assessed their proactive personality type. An effect model was then used to explore the moderating effects of role overload and proactive personality type on the relationships between organizational justice and job satisfaction. Results: Both procedural and interactive justice predicted the bus drivers' job satisfaction. Proactive personalities and role overload were found to enhance this relationship. Conclusions: Organizations could benefit from screening at the recruitment stage for drivers with highly proactive personalities. Relevant training for drivers with low proactive personalities could partially improve employee job satisfaction. When viewed from a Chinese collectivist cultural frame, role overload could reflect trust and a sense of belonging, which could enhance job satisfaction. Finally, to improve employee job satisfaction, organizations need to ensure procedural and interactive justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural gas distributed energy is recognized as a pivotal means to enhance energy efficiency and mitigate carbon dioxide emissions through localized energy cascading. Positioned as a key option for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, this system optimizes energy utilization near end-users. While maximizing energy efficiency, it is imperative to address potential environmental challenges. A thorough, comprehensive environmental assessment, facilitated by the life cycle assessment method, proves instrumental in meeting this standard. Employing this method enables an intuitive grasp of the environmental strengths and weaknesses inherent in natural gas distributed energy within the power structure. This insight serves as a foundation for informed project decision-making, fostering the growth of the industry. We selected six environmental impact assessment categories based on the CML 2001 method, and conducted the life cycle analysis across four stages. China's inaugural natural gas distributed energy demonstration project was chosen as a model case, and an environmental impact assessment inventory was established, utilizing survey data and literature for comprehensive data collection and analysis. Results from case testing yield environmental impact assessment outcomes, with a specific sensitivity analysis for stages with notable environmental impact factors. The study underscores that the operation phase has the highest environmental impact, comprising 78.37% of the total combined environmental impact, followed by the fuel production phase. Comparative analyses with coal-fired and conventional natural gas power generation, based on dimensionless literature data, reveal that abiotic resources depletion potential is the primary contributor to the environmental impact of 1 kWh of electricity product, constituting 52.76% of the total impact value, followed by global warming potential. Concrete strategies have been outlined for decision-making in both the operational and planning phases of natural gas distributed energy projects. The strengthening of policies is pinpointed towards grid connection and scale expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the trend of national cultural confidence and the growing appreciation for aesthetic diversity, traditional apparel from different countries or regions has become a driving force in the clothing industry. Hanfu, an emerging trend that industrializes traditional culture, has garnered increasing attention from consumers. Thus, with the objective of exploring the psychological antecedents of Hanfu consumers' purchase intentions from the perspectives of product identification, cultural motivation, and consumers' perceived authenticity, the present study was empirically conducted with a sample of 823 respondents. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to examine the proposed research model. The results demonstrate that consumers' identification with Hanfu and cultural motivation positively influence object-based and existential authenticity, as well as purchase intention. Furthermore, the mediating effect of perceived object-based authenticity is confirmed, indicating its significance in shaping consumers' purchase intentions, while the mediating effect of existential authenticity is found to be insignificant. Research findings could contribute to the understanding of the psychological mechanisms driving consumers' purchase intentions towards traditional clothing and highlight the importance of consumers' perceived object-based authenticity in the market of traditional cultural clothing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interval pairwise comparison matrices are widely accepted for practical decision making problems when the decision maker is unable to provide an exact judgment on the alternatives. However, as measuring the preference consistencies in pairwise comparison decision making problems is important, this paper proposes a new interval pairwise comparison matrix consistency measure, the average geometric consistency index, that assumes that the preference in a given interval follows the lognormal distribution. This geometric consistency measure accounts for the interval boundaries and uncertainties. As it is often difficult to rationally rank alternatives when interval pairwise comparison matrices are highly uncertain and/or inconsistent, we propose an optimization model to reduce the inconsistencies of these matrices while minimizing information loss and controlling uncertainties. An interval priority vector is derived to rank the alternatives. The feasibility and efficiency of the models are demonstrated using numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the increased frequency, intensity, and duration of extreme weather events have significantly challenged power systems, there has been an increased interest in resilient power systems. This article establishes a multicriteria resilience evaluation framework for urban power systems from a physical–cyber–human system perspective, in which the two principal elements responsible for power system function degradation are described, the three major domains comprising urban power systems are explained, four core capacities that positively contribute to power system resilience are proposed, and 15 (11 objective and four subjective) power system resilience evaluation indicators are identified. Fuzzy hesitant judgment and a Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) aggregation method are employed to minimize the expert divergence and maximize the group consensus. A validation method is designed and a comparison with commonly applied performance‐based and attributes‐based evaluation methods is conducted. The applicability of the evaluation framework is verified using data from four Chinese municipalities: Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, and Tianjin. It was found that Shanghai's resilience was the best, and Chongqing's physical resistance disadvantages would result in the greatest difficulties in coping with extreme event disturbances. Physical, cyber, and human domain resilience enhancement strategies are given for different cities separately. This study provides a practical tool to evaluate, compare, and enhance power system resilience for governments and public utilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mixed treatment of municipal sludge and food waste can generate renewable energy, solve the environmental and economic challenges caused by this waste, and has attracted significant research attention. Using environmentally friendly anaerobic co-digestion of municipal sludge and food waste can improve the effects of anaerobic mono-digestion and produce more biogas. However, as the municipal sludge and food waste managers are different, balancing the interests of both managers is needed to encourage anaerobic co-digestion development. By fully considering the interests of the local authority, the waste water treatment plants, and the food waste anaerobic digestion treatment plants, this paper developed a bi-level optimization approach based on Stackelberg equilibrium theory to resolve the conflicts between the different stakeholders, in which uncertain parameters were used to describe the uncertainties. The proposed model was then applied to a real case in Chongqing, China, to test its practicality, and scenario analyses under different policy parameter values were conducted to provide guidance for local authorities, waste water treatment plants, and food waste treatment plants. The proposed approach was found to provide balanced strategies for all three stakeholders, increase the renewable energy output of municipal sludge and food waste treatment 14.2 times, and reduce carbon emissions by 50%, thereby protecting the environment and achieving a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Because acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major cause of death, China faces the challenge of improving its quality of care. This study provides context‐specific evidence of association between 30‐day mortality and hospital characteristics in China to extend the understanding of hospitalized AMI patients. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 67,619 hospitalized AMI patients at 372 tertiary and secondary hospitals in Sichuan, China, between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2020. Using a hierarchical logistic regression model to control risk factors, we explored relationships among 30‐day mortality, hospital level, AMI volume, and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) timeliness. Locally weighted scatterplot smoothing was used to observe the trends of 30‐day mortality with increased AMI volume and PCI timeliness. Results: After risk factor adjustment, the 30‐day mortality model demonstrated that a lower hospital level and smaller AMI volume were associated with higher 30‐day mortality (medium‐volume: OR = 1.511, 95% CI (1.195, 1.910); small‐volume: OR = 1.636, 95% CI (1.277, 2.096); other tertiary: OR = 1.190, 95% CI (1.037, 1.365); secondary: OR = 1.524, 95% CI (1.289, 1.800)). Similarly, 30‐day mortality was higher for patients at hospitals with a low PCI timeliness (low timeliness: OR = 1.318, 95% CI (1.079, 1.610)). Scatterplot smoothing showed hospital 30‐day mortality first reduced quickly and gradually stabilized with increased AMI volume and PCI timeliness. Conclusion: Patients admitted to tertiary grade A hospitals, large‐volume hospitals, and high‐ or medium‐timeliness hospitals were more likely to survive at 30 days. Policymakers should focus on improving the outcomes at hospitals without these characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As starting university is a critical independence milestone for many young people, it would also be the best time to provide them with some financial education (FE). Although there have been many initiatives aimed at enhancing individual financial literacy (FL) and/or financial decision-making, meta-analyses have shown that the effectiveness of FE has been mixed. This study examined the driving forces behind the decision by college students to enroll in a targeted financial literacy curriculum (FLC) and the impact of this attendance on their FL. An endogenous switching model (ESM) was employed to account for the heterogeneity in the decision to attend or not attend the FLC and to counteract any unobservable characteristics. It was found that students with higher self-perceived FL did not prefer to attend the FLC; however, for others, FLC attendance was found to significantly boost their FL in areas such as financial knowledge (FK), financial attitude (FA), and financial behavior (FB), especially for the non-attendees under the counterfactual framework. These "non-attendees" were observed to have some characteristics (e.g., prior knowledge) that made them more financially literate regardless of attendance; however, if they had attended the FLC, they would have gained a greater FL than the attendees. As the FL of the attendees would have been much lower if they had not attended, the FLC appeared to be particularly important for the attendees, which strengthened the case for making the FLC a compulsory part of a general college education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The boundaries of talent management (TM) are shifting. However, there remains insufficient understanding of the impact of context and stakeholders within the conceptualisation of TM. Considerable confusion remains about how TM is conceived and defined in the Chinese context. Even less is known about how to reconceptualise Chinese TM in a changing new context. This review adopts a new theoretical lens of talent value to reconsider the current definitions of Chinese TM and presents a framework for re‐examining the relationships between the components of Chinese TM. Integrating the findings of the academic and practical literature, this article proposes a model to identify key contextual factors of the new context to observe and analyse the impacts of contextual changes on the concept of Chinese TM. By reviewing the English and Chinese literature on TM in the Chinese context, we bridge the knowledge gap and provide non‐Chinese readers with insights into the Chinese TM phenomenon and ways of conceptualisation that will be relevant to multinational firms operating in China and cross‐country comparative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pollution emissions permit systems (WPEPS) and constructed wetland systems (CWS) are widely but independently used to balance regional economic development and ecosystem health. In this paper, a watershed scale framework that incorporates a CWS into a WPEPS is proposed for regional economic and ecosystem health sustainability. A strategy that integrates three allocation principles: per capita emissions, economic utility, and water quality contributions, is established for the initial CWS-incorporated WPEPS emissions permit allocations. To quantitatively verify the effectiveness of the CWS-incorporated WPEPS, a bi-level optimization model is formulated, in which fuzzy random variables are employed to describe the system uncertainties. The model is then applied to a practical case in the Chaohu watershed, China, to assess the effects of changing watershed management targets, from which practical insights are obtained on the initial emissions permit allocation strategies and the CWS coordination effects. It has proved that the integrated watershed management of the CWS-incorporated WPEPS is more able to rationally allocate the limited water pollution emissions permits and better balance the Chaohu watershed economic development to ensure ecological health sustainability. The CWS-incorporated WPEPS model under uncertainty can be used to guide local governments when formulating their sustainable watershed management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have examined minimum cost consensus models from the moderator’s perspective. However, current dual models aimed at deriving a maximum return have been limited to special cases. A further problem has been the return allocation to the individuals. With this in mind, this article presents two general dual consensus models, the first of which is a minimum cost consensus model, and the second of which allows the different individuals to have different tolerance levels. In both models the individual opinions and the group opinion are connected using a weighted average operator. To understand the economic significance of these models, some properties, such as the weak duality property, the optimality property, and the strong duality property are given. The relationships between the individual opinions, the unit costs, and the unit returns are also proven, and the core return allocation problem is addressed. It was found that in both cases, the costs the moderator needed to pay to a given individual were precisely equal to the returns the individual deserved. Numerical case studies were used to illustrate the proposed models, with the simulation results providing insights into the practical use of these optimization consensus models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the level of post-traumatic growth in a large sample of Chinese adolescent earthquake survivors (n = 5195) and relationships among self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, and post-traumatic growth. This cross-sectional study indicated that the prevalence of post-traumatic growth among adolescent survivors was 14.8 percent. Post-traumatic growth was independently associated with self-esteem, severity of exposures, and avoidance facets of post-traumatic stress disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder was found to be partially mediated by self-esteem on post-traumatic growth; and post-traumatic stress disorder was also a mediator between earthquake exposure and post-traumatic growth. This study suggests that future longitudinal research and clinical practice should test whether promoting self-esteem can enhance post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study a new group-buying mechanism originated in China where the new mechanism adopts a fixed group price rather than a dynamic pricing mechanism. We employ a sensitive parameter, reflecting the initial customer’s seeking and communication cost and formulate this new group-buying business as a game model. First, we formulate the basic model as a Stackelberg game where the website is the leader and the seller is the follower. Our result shows that the group-buying mechanism is more efficient when the value ofis smaller, and there is also an upper bound forto adopt group-buying mechanism. Second, we establish three other group-buying game structures by considering different market power between the website and the seller. By comparing the maximum revenues and optimal decisions obtained under different market structures, some interesting and valuable managerial insights are established such that when to adopt a group-buying mechanism or a non-group-buying mechanism and how to make a decision optimally based on adopted mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Aim: Psychotic‐like experiences (PLEs) are common in adolescents who have experienced or are experiencing trauma. However, the potential relationships between exposure to a major earthquake, negative life events or maltreatment and PLEs in Chinese adolescents are poorly understood. Therefore, this study explored the prevalence of PLEs and the psychosocial correlates in adolescent earthquake survivors. Methods: A total of 6132 adolescents from 11 primary and high schools in the areas most severely affected by the Ya'an earthquake completed questionnaires on earthquake exposure, maltreatment, negative life events and PLEs, which included paranoid ideation and psychoticism. Results: It was found that earthquake exposure significantly contributed to the PLEs, child maltreatment explained a significant amount of the PLE variances, emotional abuse had the most important PLE role and negative life events also explained a large amount of the PLE variances, of which interpersonal difficulties and academic pressure had the greatest effects. Conclusions: Interventions should seek to reduce parental emotional abuse, reduce academic performance pressure, improve interpersonal skills and resolve interpersonal difficulties, and specific interventions should target children and adolescents exposed to the earthquake to prevent PLEs, schizophrenia or other mental illnesses arising from multiple traumas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides saving money and providing convenience, carpooling can result in environmental benefits to society; therefore, it is important to promote and improve daily carpooling services. However, some conflicts related to carpooling match rates and environmental protection have been influencing user satisfaction. To broaden the carpooling service scope and improve service flexibility, an environment and user benefit-oriented carpooling service model was developed that included mixed user groups, different user types, multiple origin and destination pairs, a time window and user attitudes, and considered the cost and time efficiency requirements of the users to guarantee individual benefits and provide more reasonable matches. A 0–1 nonlinear optimization model was built to describe the model and an improved genetic algorithm based on a nearby matching principle designed to find the optimal solution. Finally, a case simulation from Chengdu city was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and the influence of different user attitudes on the carbon emissions and match rates, from which it was found that the proposed carpooling mode was able to provide a more systematic carpooling plan, avoid the increased carbon emissions from potential mismatching due to time and efficiency losses, and guarante the maximum social benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration contributes significantly to carbon emissions, and has become a serious problem in China, which has seen an exponential rise in waste over the last twenty years due to rapid urbanization and the associated consumer economy growth. To tackle this issue, this paper develops a leader-follower optimized approach for economic and environmental equilibrium in incineration power plants that includes a carbon allowance allocation scheme (IPP-CAAS) under combustion and pollutant limitations. In the leader-follower (bi-level) game, the regional authority on the upper level determines the carbon allocations and environmental targets and the IPPs on the lower level develop schemes to maximize revenue under the upper-level restrictions. By employing uncertain parameters for the carbon and power conversion fluctuations, the approach is able to more accurately depict the industry characteristics of waste incineration process in this carbon-economy balance problem. The robustness and practicality of the proposed methodology was then validated through a case study. Scenario analysis under different political parameters indicates that the proposed methodology can assist the authorities to achieve carbon-economy trade-off and under serious carbon-control situations, encourage the IPPs to reduce their blended coal ratios, and invest in low-carbon incineration technology. Managerial insights on further industrial developments are also given for the authority and relevant practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consistency test is a vital component of pairwise comparison matrices if meaningful results are to be guaranteed, and it has been studied extensively since the analytic hierarchy process was developed by Saaty. However, when using the existing methods, it is imperative to carry out matrix operations, which are usually not intuitional. In this paper, a direct method, from the perspective of 3 tuples, is proposed to test and improve the consistency of a pairwise comparison matrix, which is far more intuitional and easier to understand. In the proposed 3 tuples iterative method, only simple mathematical calculations are needed, without the need for matrix operations. Furthermore, the calculation of Saaty's consistency ratio is only conducted to verify the proposed method. Some related theorems and propositions are proved mathematically or verified by random simulations. The proposed method is applied to some published examples to verify its effectiveness and practicability. Finally, we provide an improved iterative method, which is based on the 3 tuples iterative method. The improved iterative method and the 3 tuples iterative method are closely linked and each has its own different perspective. Moreover, they are applied on different occasions and reinforce one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To avoid social and economic losses, governments need to control rumor propagation by releasing official rumor-refuting information (ORI) to dispel the rumors. Therefore, understanding the complex competition mechanism between ORI and rumors is key to successfully refuting rumors. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of the function of ORI in suppressing and quashing rumors. First, the influencing factors were determined from which a competition model was constructed and the quenched mean-field method employed to determine the rumor outbreak threshold. It was found that public cognition could affect the rumor threshold and lead to rumor depletion, which was confirmed in a model simulation. The simulation results also indicated that government credibility and the release time of ORI played a critical role in controlling rumors. Specifically, it was found that when government credibility was high, the ORI release was able to quash the rumor spread. And it is shown that the government should release the ORI as soon as possible, and ensure the continuous dissemination of ORI to dispel rumors effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Germacrone, a natural product isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Rhizoma Curcuma, has been reported to exhibit antitumor activities in vitro. To further understand the antitumor mechanism of germacrone, we investigated the growth inhibitory effect of germacrone on the human prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 (androgen independent) and 22RV1 (androgen dependent). Materials and Methods: Prostate cancer cells were cultured with different concentrations of germacrone, and cell viability was measured by MTT assay. The levels of proteins were measured by Western blotting. Cell apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry. Images of autophagy-related protein staining were captured by fluorescence microscopy. Autophagic flux was assessed by detecting the LC3B-II level. Results: Our results indicated that germacrone treatment significantly inhibited cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 259 μM for PC-3 cells and 396.9 μM for 22RV1 cells. Germacrone-treated cells also exhibited induction of autophagy, as evidenced by elevated LC3B-II protein expression levels and punctuate patterns. Additionally, an autophagy inhibitor enhanced the growth inhibitory effect of germacrone. Moreover, the phosphorylation of Akt and mTOR was inhibited in germacrone-treated prostate cancer cells. Conclusion: Germacrone induced apoptosis and autophagy in prostate cancer cells by inhibiting the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. Germacrone treatment also led to the activation of protective autophagy. These findings suggest that germacrone may potentially contribute to the development of a new therapeutic agent for prostate cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to examine the associations of suicidality with psychological distress, somatic symptoms, and stressors in medical school students. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of medical students at a large, top-ranked medical school. A total sample of 662 medical students (269 men) completed a battery of self-reported questionnaire. Of the respondents, 136 (20.5%) reported having suicidal ideation, 40 (6.0%) reported having planned suicide, and 10 (1.5%) reported having attempted suicide during the previous year. Students from rural areas and the 3rd year of study reported higher levels of suicidal ideation than their counterparts. General pain/fatigue was associated with suicidal ideation and planning, while interpersonal difficulties were associated only with suicidal ideation. This study provides evidence linking severe psychological distress, general pain/fatigue, interpersonal stress and psychosocial factors with suicide risk among Chinese medical students which provides targets for future psychological interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an integrated system health management oriented condition monitoring and maintenance decision-making model is proposed, which uses intelligent mobile agents to achieve real-time monitoring and to realize life cycle maintenance decision-making for multistate systems (MSSs). The model is applied to an aircraft engine system numerical example, the results of which illustrate that the proposed system and model have the ability to provide efficient and accurate engine system maintenance decision-making information and provide detailed health condition information. The feasibility of the proposed system and model is demonstrated and MSS frequent maintenance decisions are recorded and revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With an increasing number of people sharing feelings and opinions online, the online platforms have become one of the most important channels for public opinion dissemination. Moreover, recurring online public opinion has become a primary form of online public opinion and has begun to have major effects on prompting social change. Therefore, this paper establishes a novel dynamic dissemination model to systematically study the recurrence of online public opinion. Through an in-depth analysis, three major influencing factors are determined, a recurrence probability function is identified, and then a SIR-I-based dynamic dissemination model is successfully developed, for which the uniformly asymptotically stability is fully proved. A case study from "Child abuse in Ctrip kindergarten" is conducted to demonstrate the validity of the proposed model. The parameter analysis proved that controlling of the public opinion heat, control effectiveness, event topic relevance, and recurrence time point is an effective way to manage the recurrence dissemination, and that opinion leaders play an important role in dissemination. Meanwhile, comparative analysis shows that our model efficiently characterized the dissemination process of recurring online public opinion. As our paper expanded the research cycle of public opinion to its recurrence, it not only enriches online public opinion dissemination model development, but also provides a reference for quantitative analysis of recurring online public opinions dissemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is already resulting in extreme devastation in the earth, with carbon dioxide emissions produced by coal-fired power plants being the largest contributor. Therefore, integrated coal purchasing, blending, and distribution strategies are playing a more important role in large-scale coal-fired power enterprises due to the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and operational costs. In this study, a dynamic equilibrium strategy for integrated coal purchasing, blending, and distribution under an uncertain environment is proposed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in large-scale coal-fired powered enterprises; the practicality and efficiency of which are verified using a real-world case. Sensitivity analyses under different carbon dioxide emissions levels and satisfactory degrees were also conducted to give insights into the conflict between economic development and environmental protection for large-scale coal-fired power enterprises, and balance short-term and long-term production plans. The results indicated that the proposed method was able to achieve economic-environmental coordination and sustainable development. Compared to previous studies, the developed model was found to be able to reduce carbon emissions by about 30% compared with the maximum carbon emissions and improve carbon emissions reduction performance to assist in mitigating climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In existing consensus models with optimization approaches, the modified preferences are often virtual values unrelated to the original rating scale. Furthermore, few optimization approaches have been developed to specifically deal with the consensus reaching process in uncertain multiple-criteria group decision making (MCGDM) problems. To investigate these issues, this paper is primarily interested in MCGDM optimization consensus models, in which the uncertain information can be represented using interval numbers. Integer optimization consensus models are established based on both the Manhattan distance and the Euclidean distance, and an antithetic-method-based particle swarm optimization algorithm is used to solve the nonlinear integer programming problems. Compared to existing approaches, the main characteristic of the proposed consensus models is that the generated preferences all belong to the original scales. A numerical example is given to validate the proposed models, and further simulation analyses shed light on the behavior of the developed models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and depressive symptoms in teenage survivors three years after the Ya'an earthquake to assess the differences between left-behind (LBC) and non-left-behind (non-LBC) children, and to explore predictors for PTSD symptoms and depressive symptoms. The participants were assessed using children's revised impact of event scale (CRIES) and short mood and feelings questionnaire (SMFQ), after which t tests, Chi square tests, and a multivariate logistic regression were conducted to examine the differences in the LBC and identify the associated predictors. It was found that the PTSD and depressive symptom prevalences were 13.10% and 20.75%, with the LBC having a significantly higher prevalence than the non-LBC. The PTSD and depression symptoms tended to be highly comorbid (r = .52, p < .001). Being female, being aged less than 15, having siblings, being an LBC, and having higher exposure were found to be associated with PTSD and depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the severity of post-traumatic stress and depressive disorders in Longmenshan adolescents after the 2013 Lushan earthquake, as well as relationships among earthquake-related exposure, post-earthquake negative factors, previous exposure to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, and level of earthquake impact (city). A cross-sectional survey was conducted among adolescents in Lushan (n = 1416), Baoxing (n = 1102) and Tianquan (n = 1265) at 3 years after the Lushan earthquake. Respondents were evaluated using the Earthquake Experience Scale, the Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist (ASLEC), the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13), and the Depression Self-Rating Scale (KADS-6). High levels of post-traumatic stress and depression symptoms were found among adolescents in the most heavily affected cities, and these symptoms were more severe in respondents exposed to the 2008 earthquake. PTSD correlated most strongly with earthquake exposure, whereas depression correlated most strongly with psychosocial stressors following the event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2 FSs) are powerful tools for dealing with linguistic information in decision making. However, there is a dearth of research regarding the consistency of preference relations based on IT2 FSs. In this paper, symmetric IT2 FSs and IT2 additive preference relations are defined, whilst at the same time a mapping method is proposed to convert IT2 numbers into the corresponding linguistic terms based on the ranking values for IT2 FSs, and some properties for symmetric IT2 FSs are proved. Then, we discuss the process for achieving consistency for IT2 additive preference relations. An algorithm is developed for the IT2 additive preference relation process for achieving consistency, and some desired algorithmic properties are proved. Finally, an actual case study is used in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decent Work is a key initiative launched by the International Labour Organization in 1999. The initiative is to promote decent and productive employment with decent conditions of freedom, equality, security and human dignity. In reviewing academic literature on decent work, existing studies have been conducted primarily from a legal and political economic perspective. It is also largely situated outside any national industrial relations framework, both theoretically and practically. Decent work is an advocacy initiative of ILO, but the promotion of universal values embodied in the notion (e.g. equality, fairness, justice and dignity) needs to be tailored to specific societal contexts. Drawing on existing academic literature, this review article examines ideological, institutional and cultural distances between decent work and the reality of employment in China. It argues that achieving decent work requires an ideological transition of 'traditional' Chinese work ethics and a cultural transition from collectivism and altruism towards individualism and an emphasis on individual rights. This study also examines and highlights regulatory enforcement deficits and the inadequate role of the trade union in facilitating the advancement of decent work at various levels. Finally, the article argues that the study of decent work should be mainstreamed as an integral part of decent industrial relations and ultimately, decent social relations. It calls for a multi-level and multi-disciplinary approach to examining the historical, political, economic, ideological and cultural context of specific countries in fulfilling the 'Decent Work' agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS) is an effective tool to express the experts’ subjective evaluations in the processes of decision making. To solve the problem with both qualitative and quantitative criteria in the context of HFLTSs and the crisp weights of criteria being unknown, this paper proposes a new multicriteria decision making method. First, formulas are developed to convert the quantitative data into the hesitant fuzzy linguistic elements. Then, motivated by the ORESTE method, we develop a new global preference score function to aggregate the criterion weights and criterion values, both of which are expressed as hesitant fuzzy linguistic elements. To get the real relation between alternatives, three preference intensity formulas are proposed and a hesitant fuzzy linguistic indifference threshold is introduced. We establish a conflict test framework after detailed research on the threshold values. On these bases, a new hesitant fuzzy linguistic ORESTE method is developed and the calculation process of this method is described. A case study on supplier selection is then presented to illustrate the method. Finally, some comparative analyses with other methods are conducted to show the practicability and reliability of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable supply chain network design has attracted great attention of academia and industry in recent years. Baijiu is one of the world’s oldest distilled alcoholic beverages and plays a significant role in Chinese culture and Chinese people’s daily life. As the production and consumption of Baijiu have a significant influence on the economic, environmental, and social performance of supply chain management, sustainable supply chain network design decisions are critical to the long-term success of the industry. In concert with the rapidly growing Chinese economy, there is a growing demand for a sustainable Baijiu industry. Therefore, this paper constructs and optimizes a network decision-support model for a sustainable Baijiu industry network design. To achieve this, the Baijiu supply chain is examined and a model is proposed for a design that encompasses economic (costs), environmental (carbon emissions), and social (local employment and regional per capita GDP) dimensions. R language programming is then applied to solve the model. A case example indicated that S1 was the optimal decision for reducing costs, S2 was the optimal solution for minimizing carbon emissions, and S3 was the best for maximizing the social impact. Considering the situation of the Baijiu industry and the focal enterprise, it was concluded that S1 would be the best solution for the case company. And the results verified the effectiveness of the framework. This paper develops a systematic and effective approach that decision-makers can use to conduct sustainable network design for Baijiu enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Our study aimed to examine the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and their comorbidity and correlation with sleep problems among adolescent survivors 3 years after the 2013 Ya'an earthquake.Methods: A representative sample of 6132 adolescent students was analysed from 11 primary and high schools in the three counties most severely affected by the earthquake. Students were invited to complete the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale-13, Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire, the Adolescent Self-Rating Life Events Checklist, and Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders.Results: Three years after this major earthquake, 1-month prevalence of mental health problems was 13.1% for PTSD, 37.3% for anxiety, and 19.8% for depression. Among the participants who reported PTSD, 71.5% also reported anxiety, and 49.7% also reported depression. At least half of those with any type of mental health problem reported concurrent sleeping problems. Specific sleep risk factors were independently associated with increased risk of PTSD, depression or anxiety. Girls were more likely than boys to exhibit symptoms of PTSD, depression or anxiety. Older adolescents were more likely to have depression and anxiety.Conclusions: Mental health problems are prevalent with high comorbidity and are associated with sleep-related problems among adolescent survivors, even years after the occurrence of a major earthquake. Nightmares and difficulty initiating sleep are independently associated with PTSD. Insufficient sleep is independently associated with anxiety and depression. Sleep-related problems may be effective targets of preventive interventions, which may need to be optimised for gender and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the analytic network process (ANP) is much more flexible than the analytic hierarchy process in handling the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problems in which the criteria or subcriteria are interdependent, it has attracted many scholars’ attention and has been applied into many different areas. Given the powerfulness of intuitionistic fuzzy set in representing positive, negative, and indeterminate information, this paper investigates the ANP framework for the MCDM problems in which all the pairwise comparison judgment information over the objects are represented by intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. We first justify the way to decompose the MCDM problem into a holarchy and network structure, based on which, the intuitionistic fuzzy preference relations (IFPRs) can be constructed through pairwise comparisons over the goals, criteria, clusters as well as the elements. Considering that not all the IFPRs are consistent, we then propose a new method to derive the priorities from the IFPRs no matter the IFPRs are consistent or not. After that, we address the way to construct the supermatrix for those interdependent elements. The complete algorithm of intuitionistic fuzzy ANP (IFANP) is given and illustrated by a flow chart. To show the applicability and efficiency of the IFANP, we implement the method to a case study concerning the brand management of the six golden flowers of Sichuan liquor. Some comparative analyses are given to clarify the advantages and invalidation of the IFANP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions in air passenger transport have become increasing serious with the rapidly development of aviation industry. Combined with a tripartite equilibrium strategy, this paper proposes a multi-level multi-objective model for an air passenger transport carbon tax setting problem (CTSP) among an international organization, an airline and passengers with the fuzzy uncertainty. The proposed model is simplified to an equivalent crisp model by a weighted sum procedure and a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) transformation method. To solve the equivalent crisp model, a fuzzy logic controlled genetic algorithm with entropy-Bolitzmann selection (FLC-GA with EBS) is designed as an integrated solution method. Then, a numerical example is provided to demonstrate the practicality and efficiency of the optimization method. Results show that the cap tax mechanism is an important part of air passenger trans’port carbon emission mitigation and thus, it should be effectively applied to air passenger transport. These results also indicate that the proposed method can provide efficient ways of mitigating carbon emissions for air passenger transport, and therefore assist decision makers in formulating relevant strategies under multiple scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a rumor spreading model that considers three main factors: the event importance, event ambiguity, and the publics critical sense, each of which are defined by decision makers using linguistic descriptions and then transformed into triangular fuzzy numbers. To calculate the resultant force of these three factors, the transmission capacity and a new parameter category with fuzzy variables are determined. A rumor spreading model is then proposed which has fuzzy parameters rather than the fixed parameters in traditional models. As the proposed model considers the comprehensive factors affecting rumors from three aspects rather than examining special factors from a particular aspect. The proposed rumor spreading model is tested using different parameters for several different conditions on BA networks and three special cases are simulated. The simulation results for all three cases suggested that events of low importance, those that are only clarifying facts, and those that are strongly critical do not result in rumors. Therefore, the model assessment results were proven to be in agreement with reality. Parameters for the model were then determined and applied to an analysis of the 7.23 Yong-Wen line major transportation accident (YWMTA). When the simulated data were compared with the real data from this accident, the results demonstrated that the interval for the rumor spreading key point in the model was accurate, and that the key point for the YWMTA rumor spread fell into the range estimated by the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2013, a 7.0 Mw earthquake struck along the Longmen Shan fault in the city of Ya'an, Sichuan Province, China, causing serious damage. The invaluable contributions of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in dealing with this disaster highlighted the significance of government-NGO relationships in post-disaster reconstruction and the effect this has on the efficiency and quality of post-disaster reconstruction. This paper examines government-NGO relationships (GNR) in the post-Lushan earthquake period as a multi-stakeholder collaborative problem based on organizational lifecycle perspectives through the birth, growth, stability, and saturation stages. Two-year field research was conducted in the affected areas which identified the GNR as a bridged government-NGO relationship (BGNR) during the reconstruction period, with the Ya'an service center acting as the bridging organization. The BGNR's experience was compared to the previous Wenchuan earthquake, and the general BGNR post-disaster reconstruction situation is discussed on two dimensions: mutuality and organizational identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2013, a 7.0 Mw earthquake struck along the Longmen Shan fault in the city of Ya'an, Sichuan Province, China, causing serious damage. The invaluable contributions of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in dealing with this disaster highlighted the significance of government-NGO relationships in post-disaster reconstruction and the effect this has on the efficiency and quality of post-disaster reconstruction. This paper examines government-NGO relationships (GNR) in the post-Lushan earthquake period as a multi-stakeholder collaborative problem based on organizational lifecycle perspectives through the birth, growth, stability, and saturation stages. Two-year field research was conducted in the affected areas which identified the GNR as a bridged government-NGO relationship (BGNR) during the reconstruction period, with the Ya'an service center acting as the bridging organization. The BGNR's experience was compared to the previous Wenchuan earthquake, and the general BGNR post-disaster reconstruction situation is discussed on two dimensions: mutuality and organizational identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The education sector is an important pillar of a nation's economic and social development. Yet, limited research has been conducted on the performance management of those in managerial positions in the Chinese higher education sector context. Given the Chinese government's recent espoused ambition, and resource commitment, to build world‐class universities and world‐class disciplines, this is a significant gap. Drawing on data collected from 18 semi‐structured interviews and 693 survey responses, we examine the relationship between the extent to which performance evaluation is used for monitoring and decision‐making purposes, and role conflict, organizational citizenship behavior and performance. Our study contributes to existing knowledge on the performance management system in the Chinese higher education sector by revealing its unique characteristics underpinned by competing rationalities and demands on academic leaders. It highlights the need for improvement in human resource management if China is serious in building first‐class universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Of the Wenchuan earthquake victims, there was a special group who lost their only child, known as the Shidu parents. The purpose of this paper is to examine social support as a moderator between resilience and quality of life (QOL) in Shidu parents. A cross-sectional sample survey was conducted to collect data from 22 earthquake-stricken counties in Sichuan province. Of the Shidu parents from the Wenchuan earthquake, being of Han ethnicity, receiving a high monthly income, having a high education, having lost a younger child (18-27), and having lost a male child were all risk factors for a lower QOL ( p < 0.05). This study highlighted that different types of social support have different roles in building resilience and improving QOL. The results emphasized the importance of developing suitable social support strategies as mediators to improve resilience and the QOL in Shidu parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]