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An extended STIRPAT model was constructed to explore the impact of green consumption behaviors on carbon emission. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2019, this paper analyzed the effect of green consumption behaviors, regional population size, economic development level and technological level on carbon emission, and then forecasted the carbon emission in eastern, central and western China from 2020 to 2035. The results demonstrate that carbon emission increases with the expansion of population size; green consumption behaviors have a significant moderating effect on carbon emission and alleviate the pressure of population growth on carbon emission; instead of following the environmental Kuznets curve, the trend of carbon emission shows an inverted "N" curve with economic growth; There is a positive correlation between technological progress and carbon emission; the increase in the level of consumers' expenditure and the ratio of the secondary industry output value over the total GDP lead to an increase in carbon emission, while the improvement of the urbanization level reduces carbon emission. Policy implications and prospects are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial activity plays a crucial role in upholding the functional stability of vegetation–soil ecosystems. Nevertheless, there exists a paucity of studies concerning the impact of sand-fixing vegetation (Haloxylon ammodendron) on the structure and functional attributes of soil microbial communities. We employed Illumina high-throughput sequencing and PICRUSt2 functional prediction technology to investigate the characteristics of soil bacterial community structure, diversity, and metabolic functions in an artificial H. ammodendron forest, and RDA analysis and the Mantel test were used to reveal the main environmental factors affecting the structure and ecological functions of soil bacterial communities. The findings revealed a significant increase in the principal nutrient contents (organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus) in the H. ammodendron forest soil compared to the mobile dune soil, while a reduction of 17.17% in the surface soil water content was observed. The H. ammodendron forest exhibited a significant enhancement in the diversity and richness index of soil bacteria. Specifically, Actinobacteria (24.94% ± 11.85%), Proteobacteria (29.99% ± 11.56%), and Chloroflexi (11.14% ± 4.55%) emerged as the dominant bacterial phyla, with Actinobacteria displaying significantly higher abundance compared to the mobile dune soil. PICRUSt2 analyses revealed that the predominant secondary metabolic functions of soil bacteria were carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and the metabolism of cofactors and vitamins. Additionally, the tertiary metabolic pathways exhibited greater activity in relation to enzyme function, nucleotide metabolism, energy metabolism, and antibiotics. The RDA results demonstrated that SOM, AK, and pH collectively accounted for 82.4% of the cumulative contribution, significantly influencing the bacterial community. Moreover, the Mantel test revealed that the metabolic function of soil bacteria primarily relied on five environmental factors, namely SOM, TN, AK, pH, and EC. This study significantly advances our understanding of the structural and functional changes in soil bacterial communities during the reclamation of sandy land through the establishment of artificial H. ammodendron forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, digital technology and finance are becoming increasingly intertwined. At present, digital finance has altered the competitive environment of commercial banks, and the traditional competitive edges in service scenarios and channels, customer information, and capital have been challenged. Based on perfect competition and technology spillover effects, this study attempted to measure the impact of digital finance on commercial banks' total factor productivity (TFP) and its mediating and moderating mechanisms. We have used the data envelopment analysis-based Malmquist productivity index to measure the total factor productivity of 132 commercial banks in China between 2011 and 2019. The results show that (a) digital finance significantly enhances the TFP of commercial banks; (b) risk taking partially mediates the relationship between digital finance and TFP. The study further tests the effect of the nature of property rights and the moderating effect of diversification. The findings suggest that digital finance significantly improves the TFP of non-state-owned commercial banks but has no significant effect on the TFP of state-owned commercial banks. Additionally, the implementation of diversification can strengthen the effect of digital finance on TFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the 2017 China General Social Survey data, with 5,439 observations as research objects, this paper empirically tests the impact of flexible employment on workers' wellbeing and introduces labor income as mediator and social security as moderator to explore the mechanism of action. The empirical results show that: flexible employment has an inverted U-shaped relationship with workers' wellbeing, which indicates that increasing employments' flexibility will first rise and then reduce their perceived subjective wellbeing after reaching the peak; labor income plays a mediating role in the relationship of flexible employment and wellbeing of workers; social security moderates the mediating effect of labor income whereas the moderating role in the relationship between flexible employment and workers' wellbeing is not observed. Implications and future development of flexible employment are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital technological innovation is reshaping the pattern of industrial development. Due to the shortage of digital talents and the frequent mobility of these people, the competition for talents will be very fierce for organizations to realize digital transformation. The digitization transformation of China's service industry is far ahead of that of industry and agriculture. It is of great significance to study the organizational management and talent management of service enterprises to reduce the negative impact of insufficient talent reserve and meet the needs of digital development. Based on 378 valid questionnaires from China's service industry, this paper applied polynomial regression and a response surface model to analyze the impact of two kinds of person-environment fit on work engagement and individual creativity. The results show that: (1) under the combination of high morality and high talent, work engagement and individual creativity are the highest; (2) individual creativity is stronger under the condition of high morality and low talent than under low morality and high talent; and (3) work engagement mediates the influence of morality and talent on individual creativity. The research reveals the internal mechanism by which morality and talent cooperatively promote individual creativity, which provides theoretical guidance for management practice of service firms to improve individual creativity in the process of digital transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A watershed ESPs construction method integrating MCR model and circuit theory from the perspectives of ecosystem services and ecological sensitivity was proposed. • The ecological sensitivity weights of different regions were applied for constructing the ESPs of the YRB. • The distributions of ECs and EPPs presented spatial differences in the ecological environment of the YRB. • The proposal of optimizing ESPs can promote the ecological protection and high-quality development of the basin. Safeguarding ecological security is one of China's important development strategies. Identifying ecological security patterns (ESPs) is an effective way to collaboratively develop ecological and environmental security in different regions. Currently, studies on the construction of regional ESPs mainly focus on the innovation of ecosystem service functions, ignoring the differences in ecological sensitivities of different ecological environments on a large scale. In this paper, taking the Yellow River Basin (YRB) as an example, six important ecosystem service functions were selected to identify ecological sources (ESs), ecological sensitivity weights were set according to the ecological environment characteristics of different regions, and the ecological resistance surfaces (ERSs) were determined. And the ESPs of the YRB were further investigated based on the Minimum Cumulative Resistance (MCR) model and circuit theory. The research findings indicate:(1) We had identified 218 ESs on the YRB, covering an area of 387,165 km2, which was 19.36 % of the entire study area and highly concentrated in the upstream areas. There were 532 ecological corridors (ECs) identified with a total length of 39,015.95 km, with less distribution in the lower reaches of the YRB. There were 201 ecological pinch points (EPPs) mainly in forests and grasslands. (2) ERSs constructed with different sensitivities weights had a significant impact on the distribution of ECs and EPPs. There were significant variations in the ESPs of the YRB. The upstream areas were notably more secure than the middle and lower reaches, indicating an overall lower level of ecological security. (3) Different ecological sensitivity weights were adopted in different regions, which was more suitable for the construction of ESPs with regional environmental differences. This study provides a wise direction for coordinating the ecological protection and achieving high-quality development in the YRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A quantitative design method for anti-dislocation deformation joints is proposed. • The proposed method is validated by similarity model tests and numerical analyses. • The tunnels with anti-dislocation deformation joints achieve better performance. • The proposed method can mitigate the damage of the tunnel due to fault dislocation. Given the rapid development of Chinese transportation networks, a substantial number of tunnels are under construction or will be built in mountainous areas. However, certain tunnels must be constructed through active fault zones and will be destroyed by the dislocation of active faults. In the present Chinese codes, three measures are suggested, including over cutting the cross-section, setting up anti-dislocation deformation joints, and strengthening the lining, but there is a lack of quantitative design method. In this study, we present a design method for anti-dislocation deformation joints to improve the anti-dislocation ability of the tunnel passing through active fault. First, formulae related to the design method for anti-dislocation deformation joints were proposed to consider different fault and tunnel parameters. Then, the proposed method and the formulae were validated by experimental model tests and numerical analyses. The experimental models were prepared according to the geological data of the Beichuan-Yingxiu fault in Sichuan Province, China. Models on 1:30 scale were subjected to fault dislocation tests in two cases: tunnels with ordinary linings and tunnels with anti-dislocation deformation joints. The test results show that the longitudinal strain of the lining with anti-dislocation deformation joints in the fault fracture zone decreased to 32% of that of the ordinary lining, and the transverse strain also significantly decreased. The maximum normal stress between the surrounding rock and lining was approximately 80% of the value for the ordinary lining. The lining with anti-dislocation deformation joints experienced less damage than the ordinary lining. The results of numerical calculation suggest that anti-dislocation deformation joints determined by the proposed method could effectively reduce the forces and bending moments of the lining. The proposed method for anti-dislocation deformation joints could be used to mitigate the seismic damage of tunnels passing through active fault zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]