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As China's economy progresses towards high-quality development, the construction of science and technology think tanks, with talent construction as the key, has become an important supporting force and occupies a unique position in the national innovation system. In recent years, with the rapid expansion of the number of think tank talents, how to evaluate and manage think tank talents has become a key factor in the development of think tank influence and competitiveness. Based on the experience of talent team construction at home and abroad, Taking the typical science and technology innovation think tanks of Henan Province as an example, this paper analyzes the current situation and status quo of science and technology innovation think tank talents, and finds problems in the talents, Summarize the factors that affect the talent construction and development of science and technology innovation think tanks, From the perspective of six dimensions of competency model, four first-level indicators of talent quantity, talent quality, talent ability and talent contribution of science and technology innovation think tank and 16 subordinate second-level indicators are constructed for talent evaluation of think tank. Ahp is adopted to set questionnaires and collect data with Likert5-level scale, and yaahp software is used to verify the weight verification evaluation effect. Invite experts in the field to score the evaluation indicators. The research results show that the talent evaluation index of science and technology innovation think tank based on competency model pays more attention to the standardization, integration and systematization of the talent evaluation of the think tank, and the system is scientific and reasonable. It can provide reference and reference for promoting the construction, evaluation and development management of scientific and technological innovation think tanks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The information released by the public on various social media platforms can assist experts in decision-making, thus improving the reliability of the decision-making results and increasing their likelihood of gaining public support. However, the determination of how to fully integrate public opinions with expert opinions and in what aspects to realize the integration is a research topic worthy of attention. Based on this, this paper proposes a multi-subject weighted information fusion method that fully considers public opinion. First, the Bayesian subject model is used to obtain the attribute set of public opinion, and the sentiment analysis technique is used to calculate the reference attribute weights. Second, public opinion is utilized to improve the traditional best–worst method to determine the subjective attribute weights of experts at a faster rate. Third, expert weights are determined using "knowledge" and attribute weights are defined at the aggregate level. Fourth, the cluster weights are determined according to the proximity of the clustered opinions to the public opinions, and the clustered opinions are then summarized to get the overall decision-making information, thus scientifically realizing the synergistic decision-making between the public and experts. Finally, the case of a rainstorm emergency in Henan Province, China, is used to analyze and determine the best plan that matches with the actual situation, and the results are then compared with the findings of existing research to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Huayuankou flood event (1938–1947) refers to the prolonged flooding caused by the artificial bursting of the Yellow River embankment at Huayuankou during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945). It recreated the historical scenes of frequent floods in the lower Yellow River region of China since the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1911), with the counties along the Jialu River in the eastern plains of Henan especially becoming the disaster-stricken areas. The flood lasted for nearly nine years until the completion of embankment restoration work in 1947, causing long-term and extensive environmental impacts. This paper discusses this catastrophic historical flood event caused by human factors, the warfare strategies and hydraulic technology that acted as drives, and the location factors and historical context leading to the start of flooding in flood-prone areas of Henan. Based on spatial perspectives and the historical GIS approach, the paper compiles and integrates historical documents and maps with archival material and topographic maps from the 1930s and 1940s to present the extent of the flood, the associated disasters, and the persistent effects of official relief strategies and political situation in the wider context, examining how the Huayuankou flood was used as a military tactic, but with unpredictable disastrous consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes high-resolution ERA5 hourly data from 1980 to 2020 and long-term normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) time series obtained from remote sensing and applies trend analysis, correlation analysis, lag analysis, and other methods to study the spatiotemporal characteristics of extreme rainfall at daily and hourly scales in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain. The paper explores the NDVI's variability and its relationship with extreme hourly precipitation and analyzes the main factors affecting it. The study made the following observations: (1) The extreme daily precipitation in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain shows a decreasing trend, with a 13.6 mm/yr reduction rate. In contrast, the proportion of extreme rainfall to total precipitation generally exceeds 20%, and the intensity of extreme rain has gradually increased. The spatial distribution pattern of extreme rainfall follows the distribution pattern of China's rain belts, with the terrain being an important influencing factor. The high-incidence areas for extreme rainfall are the Huaihe River region and the Shandong Peninsula. (2) The observed significant increase in hourly extreme precipitation events in the Shandong and Henan provinces of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain has led to an increased risk of flooding, while the corresponding events in the northwest region of the Plain have exhibited a gradual weakening trend over time. (3) The extreme hourly precipitation in the Huang-Huai-Hai plain shows a frequent and scattered pattern, with decreasing intensity over time. Extreme precipitation mainly occurs in the first half of the night, especially between 19:00 and 21:00, with extreme hourly rainfall intensity fluctuating between 0.2 and 0.25 and the proportion of rainfall to total precipitation reaching as high as 10%. The spatial distribution of extreme hourly rainstorms during the peak period (19:00–21:00) exhibits a high rainfall volume, intensity, and frequency pattern in the eastern region, while the western part exhibits low rainfall volume, intensity, and frequency. (4) The incidence of extremely heavy rainfall in an hour has exhibited a more significant increase compared to extreme daily events in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, primarily in the form of backward-type precipitation. Hourly extreme precipitation events in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain are affected by terrain and land use/cover change (LUCC), with the micro-topography of hilly areas leading to a concentrated distribution of precipitation and LUCC suppressing extreme precipitation events in arid climates. (5) At the ten-day scale, the spatial distribution of the NDVI shows a gradually increasing trend from northwest to southeast, with the highest NDVI value reaching up to 0.6 in the southern part of the study area. For extreme hourly precipitation, there is no significant change observed at the multi-year ten-day scale; while the NDVI in the northern and central parts of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain shows a significant decreasing trend, in contrast, it presents a significant increasing trend in the southern region. (6) Finally, the correlation between NDVI at the ten-day scale and extreme hourly precipitation exhibits a decreasing pattern from north to south, with a correlation coefficient decreasing from 0.48 to 0.08. The lagged correlation analysis of extreme hourly rainfall and NDVI for one, two, and three ten-day periods shows that the lagged effect of extreme hourly precipitation on NDVI is negligible. Analyzing the correlation between extreme hourly rainfall and NDVI for different months, the impact of extreme hourly precipitation on NDVI is predominantly negative, except for June, which shows a positive correlation (0.35), passing the significance test. This study offers a scientific foundation for enhancing disaster warning accuracy and timeliness and strengthening the research on disaster reduction techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Henan Province is the birthplace of Chinese civilization and one of the earliest human settlements, which means that the area has an important national cultural heritage. Traditional villages are an important facet of this cultural heritage, and studying their spatiotemporal characteristics in different periods has important theoretical and practical significance for the sustainable development and protection of cultural heritage in the region. This paper takes the traditional villages of the Yellow River basin in Henan Province that were formed before 1919 as the research object. Information on the ancient river was obtained through a literature search as well as via field research, and the important tributaries of the Yellow River in different periods were mapped using ArcGIS 10.0 software. The nearest neighbor index, kernel density estimation, standard deviation ellipse and other methods were adopted to analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the traditional villages. The factors that influenced the evolution of traditional villages were explored in depth by combining changes in the course of the river and water conservancy projects. The results show that the formation of traditional villages along the Yellow River in Henan Province has experienced a historical track of growth, contraction, growth and prosperity and stability. The traditional villages along the Yellow River in Henan Province generally show a clustered pattern, forming a dense concentration of traditional villages in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The center of gravity shows a migration trend from southeast to northwest. In terms of influencing factors, the spatiotemporal evolution of the relationship between villages and their distance to water is closely related to climatic fluctuations, changes in channel, water conservancy projects and social and cultural factors. This paper deepens our understanding of the relationship between traditional village evolution and watersheds by improving the consistency between village spatial distribution and historical geography and provides a useful theoretical reference for the sustainable development of China's traditional villages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea plants are evergreen broad-leaved perennial shrubs, and their spectral characteristics are very similar to those of other evergreen vegetation, making it difficult to distinguish them. Currently, the most commonly used method of tea plantation extraction is machine learning, which classifies tea plantation through various feature combinations and algorithms. The disadvantage of these methods is that they require a large number of local training samples, making it challenging to produce an accurate model applicable to a large region. Furthermore, complex feature combinations and indicators may result in over-fitting, reducing the accuracy of the results. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a new algorithm suitable for tea plantation extraction in extensive regions. This paper uses Shihe District, Henan Province, China as a case in 2019, combined with Landsat-7/8 and Sentinel-2A/B images, and develops a new phenological-based algorithm to extract the tea plantation area. Firstly, we generated an evergreen vegetation map. Secondly, based on high-quality time series curves, the tea plant growth period was divided into seven parts to extract phenological indicators for classification. Finally, the tea plantation in the study area was extracted on a per-pixel basis. The overall accuracy of the algorithm is 87.59%, and the Kappa coefficient is 0.80. This study demonstrates the potential of the phenology-algorithms in extracting tea plantation areas and provides an advanced scheme and scientific basis for extracting tea plantation in other years, and also offers a reference for identifying tea plantation in other regions. Additionally, this paper generated a map of classified phenological indicators to provide guidance for monitoring tea plants growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since China's reform and opening up in 1978, the acceleration of industrialization and urbanization in China had led to dramatic changes in the pattern of urban-rural land use. In this paper, we focused on the rural industrialized areas in central China (Xinxiang County and Changyuan City of Henan Province). We used the average nearest neighbor index, spatial statistical analysis, and a structural equation model to analyze the spatiotemporal evolution and influencing factors of urban-rural construction land based on multi-source spatial data and survey data. The results showed that: 1) from 1975 to 2019, the spatial distribution of urban-rural construction land in rural industrialized areas had evolved from homogeneous distribution to local agglomeration. In terms of comparative analysis of cases, the spatial distribution of urban-rural construction land in Changyuan City had shown a trend from diffusion to agglomeration, and Xinxiang County had overall shown a spatial change from homogenization to agglomeration and then to regional integration development. 2) The hot spots with increased urban-rural construction land significantly expanded, and they had a high degree of spatial overlap with industrial development. Among them, Xinxiang County was concentrated in central and marginal areas, and Changyuan was mainly concentrated in central urban areas. 3) From the evolution of spatial proximity of urban-rural construction land, rural industrialized areas generally decline, showing the characteristics of internal differentiation in the rate of change. 4) Industrial development, social economy, the policy environment, and urban development played a positive role in promoting the expansion of urban-rural construction land in rural industrialized areas. To promote the optimal use of regional land and the integrated development of urban-rural areas, we should combine the advantages of regional endowment, formulate development strategies according to local conditions, and adjust the way that land is used in a timely manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eucommia ulmoides Oliver. (E. ulmoides) is a species of small tree native to China. It is a valuable medicinal herb that can be used to treat Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, hypertension, and other diseases. In addition, E. ulmoides is a source of rubber. It has both medicinal and ecological value. As ecological problems become increasingly prominent, accurate information on the cultivated area of E. ulmoides is important for understanding the carbon sequestration capacity and ecological suitability zoning of E. ulmoides. In previous tree mapping studies, no studies on the spectral characteristics of E. ulmoides and its remote sensing mapping have been seen. We use Ruyang County, Henan Province, China, as the study area. Firstly, using the 2021 Gao Fen-6 (GF-6) Wide Field of View (WFV) time series images covering the different growth stages of E. ulmoides based on the participation of red-edge bands, several band combination schemes were constructed. The optimal time window to identify E. ulmoides was selected by calculating the separability of E. ulmoides from other land cover types for different schemes. Secondly, a random forest algorithm based on several band combination schemes was investigated to map the E. ulmoides planting areas in Ruyang County. Thirdly, the annual NPP values of E. ulmoides were estimated using an improved Carnegie Ames Stanford Approach (CASA) to a light energy utilization model, which, in turn, was used to assess the carbon sequestration capacity. Finally, the ecologically suitable distribution zone of E. ulmoides under near current and future (2041–2060) climatic conditions was predicted using the MaxEnt model. The results showed that the participation of the red-edge band of the GF-6 data in the classification could effectively improve the recognition accuracy of E. ulmoides, making its overall accuracy reach 96.62%; the high NPP value of E. ulmoides was mainly concentrated in the south of Ruyang County, with a total annual carbon sequestration of 540.104835 t CM−2·a−1. The ecological suitability zone of E. ulmoides can be divided into four classes: unsuitable area, low suitable area, medium suitable area, and high suitable area. The method proposed in this paper applies to the real-time monitoring of E. ulmoides, highlighting its potential ecological value and providing theoretical reference and data support for the reasonable layout of E. ulmoides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and utilization of biomass energy based on the thermochemical conversion of crop biomass to produce hydrogen are of great significance for promoting China's ecological civilization construction, energy revolution, and low-carbon economic development. Henan province is one of the largest agricultural and pasturage provinces in China. Based on the analysis of the status and trends of Henan's biomass energy (BE) development, this paper summarizes the present status of the construction of ecological civilization (CEC) and the factors restricting its development. Challenges in developing biomass energy are analyzed systematically, and strategies and key technical directions for future biomass energy development are discussed. Finally, the paper presents countermeasures and suggestions for CEC based on the development of BE, which will vigorously promote the development and utilization of BE and the process of CEC. This research provides a reference for the further development of BE and CEC in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing the working conditions of a dam using safety monitoring indices (SMIs) is a relatively intuitive and effective method for dam safety evaluation. Therefore, a reasonable and accurate method for determining the SMIs of a dam is of vital importance for dam safety assessment. However, the current methods for determining the SMIs of dams, especially roller-compacted concrete (RCC) dams, have many shortcomings, such as ignoring the construction process of the dam, the coupling effect among multiple physical fields, etc. In this paper, a novel SMI determination method considering the seepage–stress coupling effects was proposed for RCC dams with the assistance of a constructed seepage and stress coupling model so as to address the deficiency of existing RCC dams in determining SMIs. The coupled mathematical model was developed in COMSOL Multiphysics to establish a finite element analysis model of an RCC gravity dam in Henan Province, China. Moreover, the seepage anisotropy of the RCC construction layers was also considered in the model. Finally, the seepage, stress, and deformation characteristics of the RCC dam were analyzed based on the model, and the seepage and deformation SMIs of the dam were determined and compared with traditional methods. The results show that seepage, stress, and displacement fields are distributed similarly for both coupled and uncoupled models. However, in contrast to the uncoupled model, the hydraulic head contour distribution is more dispersed in the coupled model. Additionally, the stress and displacement simulated by the coupled model increase at different rates, with a more pronounced stress concentration near the dam heel. Comparing the seepage and stress SMIs of RCC dam obtained from different methods, it was found that the indices of dam seepage discharge and crest displacement that are calculated by considering the seepage–stress coupling effect and anisotropic characteristics of RCC construction layers are 34.78% and 31.98% lower than results obtained by ignoring these two effects, respectively. Therefore, it is crucial to consider the seepage–stress coupling effect and the anisotropic characteristics of RCC when determining the SMIs for RCC dams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of global urbanization, the continuous expansion and extensive utilization of urban and rural construction land has caused a large amount of arable land to be occupied, which seriously threatens national food security. This paper describes the spatio-temporal patterns of urban and rural construction land expansion and its occupation of arable land by using the urban and rural construction land expansion intensity, the urban and rural construction land expansion intensity difference index, and geo-detector model. It also explores the mechanisms through which the arable land was occupied. Results showed that construction land in both urban and rural areas expanded over the period 2009–2018 despite a large number of rural and urban migrants, and the major contributor to the rapid urbanization in China. This dual expansion could mainly be attributed to the tendency of these migrants to keep or even enlarge their rural construction land, which also resulted in a severer arable land loss than that caused by the expansion of urban construction land. Second, the rate of arable land occupied by urban and rural construction land in Henan province has been gradually slowing down, whereas the expansion of rural construction land is most dependent on arable land occupation. Third, according to the geo-detector model, the relationship between urbanization level and arable land occupied by urban and rural construction was the strongest, followed by the growth rate of fixed asset investment and the proportion of secondary and tertiary industries in GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the survival and development of traditional villages in China have been serious challenges. Rural tourism is regarded as an important way to solve rural problems, and the combination of rural culture and tourism has become a new power point for rural development. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the spatial distribution structure between traditional villages and rural tourism. In this paper, rural tourism was represented by the rural tourism characteristic village (RTCV), and Henan Province, China, was taken as a study area to analyze the distribution pattern and spatial correlation of rural tourism and traditional village (TV) and discuss the relationship between the spatial correlation and regional natural environment and socioeconomic factors. The results show that the coupling of the spatial correlation between RTCVs and TVs in Henan was clear. They could be divided into 5 regions based on geographical factors. In addition, the research summarized 4 typical spatial structures between TVs and RTCVs in Henan based on the regional symbiosis theory, and the spatial pattern formation mechanism of TVs and RTCVs was discussed based on three driving mechanisms. The spatial structure of the two can provide reference value for other developing countries and regions to achieve sustainable rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of the new normal economy, ecotourism maintains a good momentum of development. Therefore, it can be foreseen that industrial integration is an inevitable trend in the development of contemporary industries, and the integration of cultural industries and tourism industries will bring good effects to regional economic development. In order to fully study the impact of ecotourism and its applied technologies on regional economy and culture, this paper proposes research on the application of virtual reality technology in the coordination and interaction of regional economy and culture in the sustainable development of ecotourism. The approach of this paper is to study VR technology in digital tourism and then to evaluate the sustainability of ecotourism and economic culture. The role of these methods is to study the interaction process between the tourism industry, regional economy, and cultural industry. It explores the law of action between the three so as to achieve the purpose of system optimization. Taking Henan Province, China, as an example, this paper discusses the application of virtual reality technology in ecotourism and studies the impact of ecotourism on economy and culture. The experimental results show that the average value of ecotourism-economic-cultural coordination degree in Henan Province is 0.399, and it is urgent to apply virtual reality technology in ecotourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the transmission mechanism of the public sense of gain (PSG) and YB conservation and development, suggested to take the PSG as a better regulation and guidance for the sound development of the Yellow River Basin. Based on the data of CSS2019, this paper tried to exam the PSG at the opening stage of Chinese major strategy on YB Conservation and Development. An evaluation index system including 5 factor dimensions and 25 indices was constructed, and the normal distribution was used to fitting the survey data, after that, the dominance matrix method was applied to make decision based on PROMETHEE?. The empirical analysis results indicated that the PSG of the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River was lower than the overall level of China, while that of Henan and Shandong in the lower Yellow River were both higher than its national average; and the public generally had a higher sense of gain on government public service and social civilization, however, the PSG on individual self-fulfillments of Henan and Shandong and that on economic situations of the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River were both at a lower level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations (PPAPS) properly combine poverty alleviation and renewable power generation while also meeting rural energy demands. The fundamental problem is how to optimize the benefits of PPAPS during its limited lifetime. Using the post-operation of photovoltaic poverty alleviation power plants as a starting point, this paper proposes a model combining real option theory and cooperative game to determine the ideal contract period of service committed by the government to the operation and maintenance (O&M) company, thus providing a reference for both parties. The model's validity and applicability are verified by incorporating a PPAPS from Henan Province in China as an example; ultimately, the factors influencing the O&M contract period are ranked using the Sobol global sensitivity analysis. The results show that when the solar industry's environment is positive, the government is more inclined to sign long-term contracts with O&M companies. In contrast, the more the government invests in the facilities, the more likely both parties will sign short-term contracts. Furthermore, the O&M company's capital investment in the power station has a direct impact on the contract period. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed for future O&M contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of drinking water source security in the area of large-scale urbanization is conducive to maintaining urban security and human health. A comprehensive quantitative evaluation method has been established based on TOPSIS. Twelve indicators from three aspects, water quantity, water quality, risk warning and emergency response capability, are included in the evaluation index system. The weight of these indicators are calculated by AHP. TOPSIS is used to obtain the security index in different periods, and GIS method is used to draw the spatial distribution map of security grade. The evaluation method is applied to the security evaluation of urban drinking water sources in Henan Province, China. The results show that the overall safety of drinking water sources has improved, but it is still at the "basic safety" level. The security level of each city is closely related to watershed characteristics, water resources allocation and industrial layout. The paper puts forward some suggestions to enhance the safety of urban drinking water source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical parameter inversion model is an essential part of ensuring dam health; it provides a parametric basis for assessing the safe operational behavior of dams using numerical simulation techniques. Due to the complicated nonlinear mapping relationship between the roller compacted concrete (RCC) dam's mechanical parameters and various environmental quantities, as well as conventional statistical models, machine learning methods, and neural networks fail to consider the inputs of fuzzy uncertainty factors. Therefore, the accuracy, efficiency, and stability of inversion models are usually affected by their modeling methods. In this paper, a novel hybrid model for mechanical parameter inversion of an RCC dam is proposed, which uses a radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) to establish the nonlinear mapping relationship between the dam mechanical parameters and the environmental quantities, and the modified particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to find the optimal parameters of the model. The modified PSO algorithm makes the inertia weight ω dynamically adjust with the number of iterations to improve the randomness and diversity of the particle population, and population crossover and mutation are introduced to improve the global search ability and convergence speed of the algorithm. The proposed hybrid model is verified and comparatively analyzed by four typical mathematical test functions, and the results show that the proposed model exhibits good performance in parameter inversion accuracy, convergence speed, stability and robustness. Finally, the model is applied to the mechanical parameter inversion analysis of an RCC gravity dam in Henan Province in China. The results show that the proposed model is feasible and reasonable for practical engineering applications, and the relative error between the results obtained by inputting the inverted parameters into the numerical model and monitoring data was within 10%. The methodology derived from this study can provide technical support and a reference for the mechanical parameter inversion analysis of similar dam projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, three new species of the tribe Anthocoptini from China are described and illustrated. They are Aculops grewiaesp. nov. infesting Grewia biloba G.Don. (Malvaceae), Aculops koelreuteriaesp. nov. infesting Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm. (Sapindaceae) and Tegolophus pogonatherisp. nov. infesting Pogonatherum crinitum (Thunb.) Kunth (Poaceae). All of them are vagrants on lower leaf surface and cause no apparent symptom to their host plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dislocation between regional innovation and economic development directly influences the economic effect of regional innovation. However, no in-depth researches have been made on how to solve this problem. Using data from Henan Province, China, employing geographical detector technology, this paper focuses on testing whether the industry-university-research cooperation can contribute to coordinating the relation between regional innovation and economic development. It is shown that: 1) the industry-university-research cooperation in Henan Province is increasing gradually, and the network presents a core-edge structure, and the coupling degree between regional innovation and economic development is spatially unbalanced, which is similar to the spatial distribution of the intensity of industry-university-research cooperation; 2) as an important approach to effectively connect scientific researches with market demands, the industry-university-research cooperation can help form an interactive, interconnected, coupled and coordinated virtuous relation between regional innovation and economic development. Compared with the cooperation between organizations of the same type and the separate innovation of organizations, the improvement of the industry-university-research cooperation level can better coordinate the relation between regional innovation and economic development; 3) the cooperative innovation model between enterprises and universities can better promote the coupling between regional innovation and economic development, compared with many industry-university-research cooperation models. For underdeveloped areas lacking local knowledge base, industry-university-research cooperation should be considered as a long-term development strategy, especially using the knowledge sources of external universities and scientific research institutions to enhance innovation capability and achieve economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annual monitoring of the spatial distribution of cultivated land is important for maintaining the ecological environment, achieving a status quo of land resource management, and guaranteeing agricultural production. With the gradual development of remote sensing technology, it has become a common practice to obtain cultivated land boundary information on a large scale with the help of satellite Earth observation images. Traditional land use classification methods are affected by multiple types of land cover, which leads to a decrease in the accuracy of cultivated land mapping. In contrast, although the current advanced methods (such as deep learning) can obtain more accurate cultivated land mapping results than traditional methods, such methods often require the use of a massive amount of training samples, large computing power, and highly complex model tuning processes, increasing the cost of mapping and requiring the involvement of more professionals. This has hindered the promotion of related methods in mapping institutions. This paper proposes a method based on time series vector features (MTVF), which uses vector thinking to establish the features. The advantage of this method is that the introduction of vector features enlarges the differences between the different land cover types, which overcomes the loss of mapping accuracy caused by the influences of the spectra of different ground objects and ensures the calculation efficiency. Moreover, the MTVF uses a traditional method (random forest) as the classification core, which makes the MTVF less demanding than advanced methods in terms of the number of training samples. Sentinel-2 satellite images were used to carry out cultivated land mapping for 2020 in northern Henan Province, China. The results show that the MTVF has the potential to accurately identify cultivated land. Furthermore, the overall accuracy, producer accuracy, and user accuracy of the overall study area and four sub-study areas were all greater than 90%. In addition, the cultivated land mapping accuracy of the MTVF is significantly better than that of the maximum likelihood, support vector machine, and artificial neural network methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The photovoltaic poverty alleviation (PV-PA) policy is a promising policy innovation to achieve sustainable development in China. Based on first-hand field investigation data of 18 prefecture-level cities and 110 counties in China's Henan Province, this paper first evaluated the efficiency of PV-PA policy and analyzed its spatial correlation characteristics by adopting data envelopment analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis and social network analysis methods. The results show that: (1) the comprehensive efficiency of the PV-PA policy in Henan Province is good, and that of the prefecture-level is better than the county-level, with great differences; (2) comprehensive efficiency of the PV-PA policy shows a significant spatial agglomeration phenomenon at the county-level, and regional development imbalance exists; and (3) PV-PA policy network linkages at prefecture-level are relatively weak. Finally, this paper makes policy recommendations for optimizing project scale, promoting regional balanced development, strengthening supervision and management, and enhancing the cooperation between policymakers. • DEA was used to evaluate the efficiency of the PV-PA policy in China's 110 counties • Explored the spatial correlation patterns of the PV-PA policy efficiency • Constructed a spatial correlation network for the PV-PA policy efficiency • Comprehensive efficiency of PV-PA policy needs to be enhanced • Unbalanced development and regional uncoordinated situation needs improvement [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy of the drainage radius plays a vital role in the gas drainage effect, and the establishment of the drainage model and numerical calculation of the model has an essential value for the accurate determination of the drainage radius. Based on the elastoplastic constitutive model of mining coal and rock mass, effective stress equation, gas content equation, gas flow continuity, and control equation established by predecessors, the gas-solid coupling model of coal-rock deformation and pressure-relief gas flow in protective layer mining was established in this paper. The numerical simulation prototype was based on the mining engineering practice of a short-distance and underprotective steep seam mining in a mine in western Henan of China. COMSOL Multiphysics coupling software was used to numerically calculate the coupling model, and the influence radius of different mining pressure-relief area and different drainage time was obtained. The results show that under the same geological conditions and mining conditions, the impact range of drilling in the pressure-relief area of the protected layer is larger than that of the nonrelief area. As the working face of the protection layer advances, the pressure-relief area of the protected layer gradually increases, the influence range of the drainage borehole increases, the drainage borehole has undergone a process of initial stress-stress concentration-stress reduction-stress recovery successively, and the strike drainage radius is larger than the inclined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shangfanggou Mo–Fe deposit is a typical and giant porphyry–skarn deposit located in the East Qinling–Dabie molybdenum (Mo) polymetallic metallogenic belt in the southern margin of the North China Block. In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) multi-parameter geological modeling and microanalysis are used to discuss the mineralization and oxidation transformation process of molybdenite during the supergene stage. Meanwhile, from macro to micro, the temporal–spatial–genetic correlation and exploration constraints are also established by 3D geological modeling of industrial Mo orebodies and Mo oxide orebodies. SEM-EDS and EPMA-aided analyses indicate the oxidation products of molybdenite are dominated by tungsten–powellite at the supergene stage. Thus, a series of oxidation processes from molybdenite to tungsten–powellite are obtained after the precipitation of molybdenite; eventually, a special genetic model of the Shangfanggou high oxidation rate Mo deposit is formed. Oxygen fugacity reduction and an acid environment play an important part in the precipitation of molybdenite: (1) During the oxidation process, molybdenite is first oxidized to a MoO2·SO4 complex ion and then reacts with a carbonate solution to precipitate powethite, in which W and Mo elements can be substituted by complete isomorphism, forming a unique secondary oxide orebody dominated by tungsten–powellite. (2) Under hydrothermal action, Mo4+ can be oxidized to jordisite in the strong acid reduction environment at low temperature and room temperature during the hydrothermal mineralization stage. Ilsemannite is the oxidation product, which can be further oxidized to molybdite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents the first study on the Xinzhai Culture pottery from Huadizui site, China using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), and petrographic. Huadizui pottery is considered to be produced locally, and the raw materials for making pottery come from the Xiaoqinling‐Xiong'er Mountain and Songshan Mountain chain. There are at least two or three clay sources or workshops in the Huadizui site, which is evidenced by petrographic characteristics and the chemical composition of samples. All of the investigated samples were mainly related to quartz and feldspar pellets. The corresponding relationship between the characteristics of the matrix and pottery categories reflects potters pursuing the function of vessels at that time. The range of firing temperature of almost all vessels is between 750 and 950°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The extent of flooding in China is greater than in any other country. • Nearly 66% of China's landmass is submerged by flooding. • Financial toll of flooding accounts for approximately 1.42% of the annual GDP. • Various forms of climatic change contribute to flooding. The extent of flooding in China is more significant than in any other country. Our research reveals that approximately 66 % of China's landmass is submerged by flooding, affecting about 50 % of the population. Furthermore, the financial toll of flooding now accounts for approximately 1.42 % of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), which is almost 40 times higher than the corresponding figure for the United States. We have observed that Zhengzhou city in Henan province, which faced a devastating flood in 2021, received a significant amount of rainfall, specifically a total of 552.5 mm within a 24-hour period. The floods in Henan province in 2021 caused considerable damage, including impacting nearly 15 million people, resulting in almost 400 deaths, damaging over 10,000 square kilometers of agricultural land, causing almost $19 billion in economic losses, and leading to the collapse of over 35,000 households and damage to various properties. In a similar manner, the significant flooding that occurred in southern China in 2020 impacted approximately 7.1 million individuals across eight provinces and resulted in 54 fatalities, the collapse of 6,700 houses, and incurred a direct economic loss of US$3.33 billion. We found that rainstorms have significantly increased to 10 % in the last 60 years in China. In this paper, we delved into exploring the existing published articles, reports, and government and authoritative legal texts to analyze the causes and impacts of flooding in China's flood-prone regions and potential mitigation strategies to reduce the repercussions of distressing flood events. We believe this study will help policymakers by providing new insights while formulating policy to reduce the loss caused by high-level flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretically, agricultural insurance influences farmers' use of pesticides by changing the expected income of agricultural production. Full-cost insurance, with high guarantee and high compensation characteristics, may significantly affect farmers' pesticide use. First, this paper constructs a production function to characterize and compare the marginal incomes of insured and uninsured farmers under risk uncertainty and analyses how insured farmers can increase marginal income by increasing or reducing factor inputs. Considering scale differentiation, it discusses pesticide use strategies different types of farmers may adopt to maximize household utility. Second, using survey data of the pilot counties of full-cost insurance for wheat in Henan Province, China, the simultaneous equation model is used for empirical testing. The results reveal the following: (i) Farmers' insurance participation and pesticide application behaviour are not mutually independent. (ii) For the whole sample, full-cost insurance for wheat has a significant pesticide reduction effect. (iii) However, considering scale differentiation, pesticide application decreases significantly among insured ordinary farmers but does not change significantly among insured large-scale farmers. Third, policy measures are proposed to activate the green development function of agricultural insurance. • Construct a production function and a utility function to conduct mechanism analysis. • Estimate simultaneous equation model based on pilot area household level dataset. • Analyse the effect of full-cost insurance on pesticide input behavior. • Find full-cost insurance significantly reduces the pesticide use of ordinary farmers. • But insignificant effect on the pesticide use of large-scale farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric mercury is a crucial pollutant that must be well‐controlled to avoid damaging public health. It is thus necessary to understand from multiple perspectives the roles played by different industrial sectors, as well as their geographical distribution. Existing studies have overlooked the transmission sectors in the economic supply chains of the embodied atmospheric mercury emission network. In this paper, we offer a betweenness‐based account (BBA) for Chinese regions and industrial sectors in transmitting embodied atmospheric mercury emissions and in doing so have identified the transmitting hubs. Our results show that the Henan province acts as the transmission hub of the embodied atmospheric mercury emission network in China. The metallurgy, chemical, and construction industries generally play important roles in the transmission of embodied atmospheric mercury emissions across China. Henan's metallurgy sector, the third highest of all, is more closely linked with inter‐provincial sectors than the top two transmission sectors (the metallurgy industry of Jiangsu and the chemical industry of Shandong). This study can help policy makers improve mercury control measures by focusing on transmission processes for effective and comprehensive atmospheric mercury emission control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skywave refers to the electromagnetic wave reflected or refracted from the ionosphere and propagated in the form of a guided wave between the ionosphere and the Earth's surface. Since the skywave can propagate over large distances, it has been widely used in long-distance communication. This paper explores and demonstrates the feasibility of skywave for deep resource and energy exploration at depths of up to 10 km. Theoretical and technical advancements were accomplished in furthering skywave applications. A new solution method based on Green's function has been developed to study skywave propagation in a fully coupled lithosphere-air-ionosphere full space model. For the first time, the model allows one to study skywave distribution characteristics in the lithosphere containing inhomogeneity such as ore deposits or oil and gas reservoirs. This model also lays a foundation for skywave data processing and interpretation. On a parallel line, we have developed a multi-channel, broadband, low-noise, portable data acquisition system suitable for receiving skywave signals. Using the skywave field excited by a high-power fixed source located in central China, actual field surveys have been carried out in some areas in China including the Biyang depression of Henan Province. The initial results appear encouraging—the interpreted resistivity models prove to be consistent with those of seismic exploration and known geological information, and the exploration cost is only ∼1/4 to 1/10 that of seismic surveys. These initial successful applications of the skywave theory lay a solid foundation for further verification of the new method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the characteristics of high frequency and strong suddenness of dynamic disasters in deep coal mines, the traditional detection and evaluation techniques applied to shallow coal mine failed to accurately judge the risk degree of disasters. Therefore, it is of great significance to use advanced detection technologies and appropriate evaluation methods to improve the accuracy and efficiency of risk assessment in the process of coal mining. The present paper applies the rapid detection and multi-source dynamic detection technologies used in the field of mining with the purpose of improving the reliability of detection technologies for typical dynamic disaster. In this study, the data fusion technology was used to analyze data obtained from laboratory experiments, engineering survey, detection and historical data, so as to form the final dynamic and static indicators. Then, the new combined evaluation models with time series of coal and gas outburst as well as rock burst were established respectively to carry out the comprehensive risk evaluation using the least-squares method and the time-varying weight method. After the comprehensive analysis on the results of the above two evaluation models, the risk areas of the typical dynamic disasters were judged and classified. Finally, the evaluation models were coded to build an early-warning software platform that could achieve automatic evaluation and the actual 3D visualization of coal mining areas. The early-warning software platform was applied to risk assessment of dynamic disasters in Gengcun Coal Mine in Yima City, Henan Province, China. The results of the 6-month experiment showed that the risk assessment accuracy and reliability of the proposed evaluation models was 100% and 90% respectively, which indicates that the newly developed approach is reliable and can be recommended for applying in more coal mines to improve the process safety risk control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Certain edge failures in cyber–physical power systems (CPPSs) can cause cascading failures in the power system. Protecting these critical edges and essential equipment in the supporting communication network can avoid these failures. Here, based on complex network controllability regarding kinetic equations and considering the actual operating conditions of CPPSs, we filter out a class of transmission lines and a class of nodes in the power system communication network of the power system that show a significant impact on network controllability. We further validate the results of the filtering by examining the resulting network robustness. Through simulations, we observe that the power edges and communication nodes screened based on network controllability have the most significant impacts on system controllability. It is therefore crucial to protect these edges and nodes to achieve more stable power grid operation and prevent cascading failures. Finally, we validate our results using a case study on a city in Henan Province, China. Our simulations demonstrate that the addition of a communication system can enhance the controllability of the power system. • Different key components in both power grid and communication network are considered separately. • The impact of different coupling methods on the controllability of the system are evaluated. • The conclusions of this paper are validated in a real power grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence and utilization of gold beads in China were influenced by foreign civilizations and cultures, while the exploration of composite beads in China has been relatively limited compared to single-material beads. Metal foil glass beads represent a distinct type of composite beadwork popular in ancient times. This paper presents findings from a study conducted on a group of beads that were unearthed in Nanyang City, Henan Province. Theoretical calculations and CT imaging suggested that a particular class of gold beads, previously misidentified as single-material beads, actually consisted of gold foil wrapped around an inner layer of glass beads. Elemental analysis techniques such as pXRF, SEM and μ-EDXRF were used to reveal that the purity of the gold foil of the two differently shaped beads is around 95% and 98.5%, while the silver foil of the silver beads is also around 85% due to corrosion. Microscopic observation confirmed that the gold leaf was applied through foil-fusion gilding. Lead isotope analysis indicated that the gold beads originated from different sources, whereas the silver beads likely originated from the Central Plains region. Furthermore, the evidence of beadwork from Southeast Asia and South China supports the view that the gold beads may have been originally exotic but gradually adaptated through indigenous learning, allowing the creation of high-quality imitations. This study emphasizes the importance of scientific analyses for the proper determination of bead types and craftsmanship, and contributes to a better understanding of the ancient bead circulation network. • A special type of beadwork that wraps glass in a gold leaf is recognized. • The purity of the gold foil of two differently shaped beads is around 95% and 98.5%. • These gold beads may have originated in Southeast Asia and then spread to China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The palaeoecology of Ginkgo through deep time, including its ecophysiology and heterophylly, remains poorly understood due to the limitation of quantitative methods. In this paper, we report well-preserved leaves of Ginkgo henanensis sp. nov. from the Paleocene Dazhang Formation of Luanchuan, Henan Province, China. Our understanding of the ecophysiology and heterophylly of the genus has been improved by the discovery. These fossils are distinguished by heterophyllous leaves that can range in morphology from bilobed to multi-lobed forms. Thus, unlike other Cenozoic Ginkgo with entire-margined leaves, this is the first well-established Cenozoic taxon that has exclusively lobed leaves similar to Mesozoic-type ginkgos. A useful leaf ecophysiological functional trait that offers quantitative insights into morphological heterophylly and the mechanism of leaf shape selection is the dry leaf mass per area (LMA) of Ginkgo. Leaf shape changes, including the evolution of heterophylly, are linked to functional adaptation. There are two groups of LMAs for four fossil G. henanensis specimens: 120.9 g/m2 to 131.3 g/m2, and 184.5 g/m2 to 187.4 g/m2. The results of the reconstructed fossil LMAs, which serve as quantitative evidence of G. henanensis ' heterophylly, also point to the existence of various leaf survival strategies within G. henanensis. Additionally, both groups of G. henanensis have LMAs that are higher than those of extant Ginkgo biloba , indicating that this species has a slower return ecological strategy than its current equivalent. This strategy may have helped to decrease the rate of nutrient cycling, which supported Ginkgo to thrive in a wider variety of ecological niches in the Paleocene than it does today. These findings close a knowledge gap in the evolution of Ginkgo. • Species similar to the Mesozoic multilobed Ginkgo still present in the Paleocene. • The feasibility of existing methods to reconstruct the leaf mass per area of fossil Ginkgo is tested. • Heterophylly of fossil Ginkgo are quantitatively proved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tree ring is an ideal indicator of annual total grain production parameters. • Tree growth synchronized with grain production, and concurrent response to climate. • Reconstruction of total grain productivity based on dendrochronology. • To explore the relationship between total grain sown area and climate change. Climate change affects the growth of regional vegetation; both trees and grain crops often change concurrently, such that the annual radial growth of trees shows consistent inter-annual variations with the total grain crop productivity. However, it remains unclear whether they exhibit concurrent responses to climate factors, and that there lacks of the study on long-term high-resolution variations of grain crops productivity. This paper employs a Pinus massoniana tree-ring series from the Tongbai Mountains to analyze the correlations between tree-ring chronology, local climate data and grain productivity indicators (i.e., total sown grain areas (TSA), total grain outputs (TGO), and average grain yield per hectare (YPH)) of Henan Province in central China. The results indicate that temperature in March and August was the main limiting factor on tree growth, and the best concurrent relationship with tree growth was TSA, which has a correlation of 0.747 (p < 0.001) during 1959–2020. Therefore, a 124-year TSA series in Henan Province was reconstructed using tree-ring data from the Tongbai Mountains, which reveals there were two distinct low periods of total grain sown area in the 1920 s-1930 s and 1980 s-2000 s. There are significant cycles of about 2.57a (p < 0.01), 2.89a (p < 0.05), and 10.95a (p < 0.1), indicating that vegetation growth might be affected by large-scale climate forcing, such as ENSO (2-7a cycle) and sunspot activity (11a cycle). Overall, this study outlines a new approach to understand long-term changes in grain production, which is conducive to grain management and socioeconomic sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoltaic poverty alleviation power stations (PPAPS) are the foundation of poverty alleviation, whose operation and maintenance (O&M) status is the key to ensuring long-term poverty reduction advantages. As part of PPAPS′ O&M performance, the role of the O&M contracts has yet to be proven. This paper uses a three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and grey relation analysis (GRA) to analyze the O&M performance efficiency of PPAPS and the influencing factors of contract governance from field data of 110 counties in Henan Province, China. The results show that:1) the O&M efficiency of the PPAPS is relatively high and inconsistent across the region, which has not yet attained optimal productivity; 2) the present efficiency is mainly determined by the initial investment size and installed capacity; 3) the governance factors of O&M contracts affect the performance efficiency of PPAPS, which may lead to overestimation; and 4) longer contract term and higher performance incentive coefficients may result in inefficiencies at the initial stage of PPAPS′ use, while government subsidies allocation and timely O&M cost settlement have little impact on O&M efficiency. This paper proposes corresponding policy recommendations finally. • This paper focuses on the true O&M performance efficiency of PPAPS and influencing factors of contractual. • PPAPS′ O&M performance efficiency is relatively high with regional differences among counties. • The initial investment and capacity installed mostly determined the present efficiency. • Longer O&M contract terms and a higher achievements drive will result in inefficiency at the initial stage of PPAPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of global climate change and energy security pressures, biomass power generation has been regarded as an effective way to supplement the energy supply, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and alleviate environmental pollutants. This paper presents an integrated modeling framework to address the regional biomass power generation planning to facilitate biomass utilization in developing countries. By combining the geographic information system, multi-criteria decision-making approach, as well as the type-2 fuzzy inexact programming method, the proposed integrated framework could assist the optimal decision-making for the specific site and size selection of biomass power plants in the whole region as well as the optimal operation strategies under deep uncertainties. The proposed modeling framework is applied to the particular context of Henan, an agricultural province in China with great biomass potential. The results suggested that biomass power plants with a total capacity of 2.4 GW could be established, which could satisfy 6% of local electricity consumption and avoid 18.51 Mt of carbon emissions. The sensitivity analysis of the main economic parameters indicated that lower investment and operation costs were essential to stimulate the utilization of local biomass energy. A higher feed-in tariff is not encouraged due to the limited incentive effect but is a heavy burden for the government. Furthermore, the optimal strategies for biomass power generation planning under uncertainties could be suggested for different decision makers with various risk preferences to achieve a tradeoff between system cost and risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an institutional innovation in the market-oriented reform of China's energy sector, the policy effect of energy consumption license transaction (ECPT) is still lack of research. The pilot provinces of energy market-oriented reform are relatively scattered. Therefore, this paper aims to evaluate the spillover effect and regional differences of ECPT, so as to make up for the lack of research on China's market-oriented energy reform. Results show that ECPT has inhibitory effects on energy consumption and energy intensity. In addition, ECPT can reduce energy consumption and energy intensity in neighboring areas. The policy effect of ECPT shows the characteristics of strengthening with the evolution of time. Foreign trade, industrial structure and technological progress are the paths for ECPT policies to promote energy transformation. The implementation effect of ECPT shows significant regional differences, which has a significant role in promoting the energy transformation of Henan and Sichuan. Therefore, the central government must ensure the continuity of energy market-oriented reforms to release long-term policy dividends. Pilot provinces should not only play the role of domestic regional energy-saving cooperation, but also strengthen foreign trade and technological innovation to promote energy transformation. • ECPT has an obvious inhibitory effect on energy consumption and energy intensity. • ECPT has the spillover effect of energy saving on neighboring provinces. • The long-term effects of ECPT are stronger than the short-term effects. • Foreign trade, industrial upgrading and technological progress are the mechanisms. • The effect of ECPT shows significant heterogeneity in different pilot provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a real-time joint regulating reserve deployment (RRD) model of electric vehicles (EVs) and coal-fired generators (CGs) considering EV battery degradation. The superiority of the proposed model lies in the integration of the EVs' fast regulation speed and CGs' large regulation capacity. The whole optimization model is formulated under a two-stage Markov Decision Process (MDP) to correspond to the real-time RRD process. The user behavior characteristic and EV battery degradation are taken into account to stimulate the users to participate in RRD. Based on the formulated MDP, a piece-wise linear (PWL) function based scalable approximate dynamic programming (ADP) algorithm for different EV clusters is constructed to solve the real-time RRD model under uncertainties. A separable slope update method is proposed to update the slopes of PLF for different EV clusters with different user behaviors. The proposed ADP based real-time RRD algorithm (ADP-RTRRD) provides the approximate optimal real-time RRD policy with the empirical knowledge embedded through off-line training. Numerical simulation on a modified IEEE-39 bus system and Henan power grid in China verify the superiority of the proposed joint RRD model and the advantages of the proposed ADP-RTRRD algorithm. • Proposing the joint RRD model of EVs and CGs considering EV battery degradation. • Taking advantage of EVs' fast regulation speed and CGs' large regulation capacity. • Applying EV aggregation methods to simplify optimization complexity. • Reformulating the real-time RRD process under a two-stage MDP. • Proposing a scalable ADP algorithm to obtain approximate optimal solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting in 2013, China's key polluting firms have been required to install continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) and to publish the data for real-time oversight and public scrutiny. However, the CEMS data has rarely been used in local environmental law enforcement because its quality is still of great concern. A lack of criteria to evaluate data quality is one of the causes. In this paper, we design a comprehensive analytical framework for evaluating the quality of CEMS data, which includes completeness, accuracy, and authenticity. To demonstrate the applicability of the framework, we build a CEMS dataset for key polluting firms in Henan province from 2017 to 2019 by scraping the CEMS data from a public platform. We then conduct a comprehensive evaluation using our proposed framework. Some data quality issues are identified. About one-third of the firms did not meet official guidelines for data completeness. When comparing the CEMS data with onsite measurement results, we observe statistically significant inconsistencies in about one-fifth of the firms. In addition, we find evidence that some firms might manipulate CEMS data by strategically turning down the CEMS when a pollutant's concentration is expected to exceed the limit. Our framework can be expanded by incorporating more evaluation methods and data. We suggest that government agencies should implement a comprehensive framework to enhance the quality of CEMS data, thereby facilitating its application in law enforcement. [Display omitted] • Data quality evaluation criteria of continuous emissions monitoring systems. • Evaluating completeness, accuracy, and authenticity of the data in China. • Policy recommendations for the data quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A Convolutional Long Short Term Memory Network is used to predict the flood events based on deep learning techniques. • The spatial and time characteristics of floods in China are well modeled to overcome the shortcomings generated by merely relying on time-series analysis. • Different from traditional methods, the hydrological area is gridded into different watersheds for future processing using image processing methods. Floods cause substantial damage across the world every year. Accurate and timely prediction of floods can significantly minimize the loss of life and property. Recently, numerous machine learning models have been used for flood prediction, showing that their performance is preferable to traditional statistical models. However, the existing models neglect the spatial features of floods, which drive flood generation and concentration. In this paper, the area of interest is divided into grids based on longitude and latitude, and the rainfall and discharge collected by stations are combined into tensors according to station coordinates. Different from one-dimensional time series, our input feature is a two-dimensional time series with spatial information. Hence, combining a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) with a Long Short Term Memory Network (LSTM), we propose the convolution LSTM (ConvLSTM) to extract spatiotemporal features of hydrological information. The methodology is demonstrated using the hydrological data collected at the Xi County stations, located on the Huai River in Henan Province, China. Numerical results indicate that the relative error of arrival time is within 30%, and the relative error of peak discharge is within 20%, satisfying the 2005 Chinese Water Resource Standard on flood prediction permit error. The experiments also show that the ConvLSTM outperforms the recent models in terms of flood arrival time and peak discharge, thereby proving a promising alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small Shelly Fossils (SSFs) from the Cambrian are widely distributed and well known across different paleocontinents of the world. However, middle Cambrian SSFs from North China Platform have only rarely been documented until now. In this paper, we presented the first report on SSFs from bioclastic and oolitic limestones of the Zhangxia and Hsuzhuang formations of Henan province, North China. The carbonate-hosted fauna includes brachiopods (Micromitra sp., M. modesta, Eoobolus sp., and Schizopholis sp.), helcionellids (Oelandiellaaccordionata and O. aliciae), hyolithids, Hyolithellus sp., Chancelloriaeros, sponge spicules, echinoderm ossicles, and chancelloriid sclerites. In terms of preservation, the brachiopod shell valves of M. modesta appeared to be homogeneous, consisting of tightly packed phosphate grains. Eoobolus sp. is composed of primary layer and secondary baculate, both of which consist of tightly compacted phosphate grains. Schizopholis sp. has multiple-lamellar phosphatized microstructures that distinctly differ from the other brachiopods recovered from the Longwanggou section. A similar multiple-lamellar microstructure was also revealed in conchs of Hyolithellus, with tightly compacted phosphate grains. The argillaceous shell of Oelandiellaaccordionata and O. aliciae, and the calcitic inner molds of hyolith did not preserve any shell structure. The helcionellids O. accordionata and O. aliciae and the brachiopod M. modesta were reported for the first time from North China. The fauna is most similar to the middle Cambrian faunas of Australia, in the brachiopod and mollusk components; it is also similar in composition of brachiopods and mollusks to coeval faunas from South China. The new fauna of SSFs in the Yiyang Longwanggou Section indicated that the Hsuzhuang and Zhangxia formations are late Drumian to middle Guzhuangian in age, most likely correlating with the Murrawong Creek Formation of Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As energy security has been an increasingly hot topic in research, a reliable and sound framework for allaying energy security is necessary. In this paper, it establishes a methodological framework based on quantitative and qualitative approaches for measuring and improving energy security from a broad sense. Firstly, it interprets the conceptual framework of energy security composed by seven dimensions, and 28 indicators are designed for its assessment. Then, Fuzzy AHP is used to indicate the importance of the dimensions and indicators, and the hybrid model of GRA-TOPSIS is introduced to evaluate energy security performance. Further, a qualitative root cause analysis is conducted with Why-Why Diagram to identify the possible causes affecting energy security. After that, a case study is conducted to investigate energy security of Henan province in China within the period of 2005–2017. The results indicate that, energy security is no longer a single-dimensional concept, but a synthetic term, and the technological, environmental, social, even political aspects can be improved to enhance energy security. The methodological framework with quantitative and qualitative techniques can help achieve an all-around understanding of energy security. • Comprehensive criteria for assessing reginal energy security were developed. • Both quantitative and qualitative analysis for regional energy security were carried out. • Fuzzy AHP was employed to determine the weights of the criteria for energy security. • GRA-TOPSIS was used for security quantitative assessment. • Why-Why Diagram was used to identify the critical factors affecting regional energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Develop a dispatching scheme for DSUC incorporating multi-function demand response. • Design the LS and RC demand response to improve flexible ramping capability. • Accelerating solution method is proposed to reduce the computational burden. This paper proposes a two-stage data-driven unit commitment dispatching scheme, which coordinates the multi-function demand response of commercial air conditioning aggregators with thermal units to encounter the variations of load and wind power. In the proposed dispatching scheme, the flexible ramping capability of the thermal units is reflected in the coupling constraints between the ramping capacity and reserve capacity. To improve the flexibility of the whole system, multi-function demand response of commercial air conditioning aggregators is incorporated into the scheduling in both stages. In the day-ahead stage, load-shifting demand response reduces the ramping requirements by reshaping the load profile. In the real-time stage, reserve-capacity demand response releases the ramping capability by providing reserve for the rebalance of wind power fluctuation, which is represented by a data-driven uncertainty set. Since the dispatching scheme is formulated as a min–max-min problem, an accelerating solution method is developed to improve the computational efficiency, which combines the column-and-constraints generation algorithm and the specific property of the model. The simulation results tested on the modified IEEE 118-bus system and Henan power grid in China validate the effectiveness of the dispatching scheme and solution method in increasing flexible ramping capability, reducing wind power curtailment and load shedding, improving economic efficiency, and accelerating computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]