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Abstract This essay analyzes a robust body of C and N stable isotopes from human and animal collagen and plant remains (n = 423) in the area of Lower Yangtze River dating to 8000–4300 cal. BP, combined with new isotopic data recovered from the Zhelin site in Shanghai, to explore the dietary differences between coastal region and the inland core area of the Liangzhu culture (5300–4300 cal. BP). Our findings suggest that the food variety of the peripheral inhabitants of the core area of the Liangzhu culture may became less diverse over time, while at the same time their reliance on a few domesticated species (rice and pigs) increased. It may be a result of the growing economic and cultural influence of the populations in the inland core Liangzhu area.

Abstract Studying language evolution brings a crucial perspective to bear on questions of human prehistory. As the most linguistically diverse region on earth, East and Southeast Asia have witnessed extensive sociocultural and ethnic contacts among different language communities. Especially, the Kra-Dai language family exhibits tremendous socio-cultural importance in these regions. Due to limited historical accounts, however, there are several controversies on their linguistic relatedness, ambiguities regarding the divergence time, and uncertainties on the dispersal patterns. To address these issues, here we apply Bayesian phylogenetic methods to analyze the largest lexical dataset containing 646 cognate sets compiled for 100 Kra-Dai languages. Our dated phylogenetic tree showed their initial divergence occurring approximately 4000 years BP. Phylogeographic results supported the early Kra-Dai language dispersal from the Guangxi-Guangdong area of South China towards Mainland Southeast Asia. Coupled with genetic, archaeological, paleoecologic, and paleoclimatic data, we demonstrated that the Kra-Dai language diversification could have coincided with their demic diffusion and agricultural spread shaped by the global climate change in the late Holocene. The interdisciplinary alignments shed light on reconstructing the prehistory of Kra-Dai languages and provide an indispensable piece of the puzzle for further studying prehistoric human activities in East and Southeast Asia.

Abstract Noble and commoner in the medieval China capital of Chang’an (modern-day Xi’an) engaged in an intricately intertwined agricultural and pastoral economy. The period represents the peak of the integration of nomadic and agricultural populations in early China. Here we firstly reported human collagen δ 13C and δ 15N values for eight middle age nobles whose lifespans cover roughly a century (AD 503–604) and who include a Northern Zhou, Emperor Wu (北周武帝) and his consort, Empress A’shina (阿史那皇后). We also consider stable isotopic evidence from nine individuals in commoner burials in the Chang’an region, likewise dating to the sixth century. This century-long dietary profile provides direct archeological evidence for dietary variability at this core metropolitan population. Constructing a comparative model using existing historical human isotopic data (n = 1233) from northern China and its northern Steppe, we find a marked regional divergence in noble and commoner dietary patterns. We trace this back to the considerable variety of agricultural and pastoral dietary practices, likely pointing to different economic and geographic backgrounds of the individuals under study. We argue that a two-way relationship between shifting pastoral and agricultural practices was reflected to separate degrees at the elite and commoner level. This study offers an improved understanding of the multiplicity of dietary patterns and associated lifeways for the metropolitan societies of medieval northern China.

The aim of this paper is to understand how outsourcing remanufacturing operations to different OEMs agents (i.e., the retailer or third-party remanufacturer) affected a supply chain's sustainable issues. Although outsourcing strategies have been well studied in the remanufacturing literature, existing research has focused primarily on operational options between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and third-party remanufacturers (3PRs). In practice, however, many brand name retailers have recently created business models in which product remanufacturing is an integral part. The question showed the retailer or the third-party, which was the right remanufacturer for OEM's remanufacturing outsourcing? To answer this question, we developed two models for an OEM that had two options for remanufacturing outsourcing: (1) outsourcing remanufacturing to a 3PR (Model T) or (2) to its retailer (Model R). Using these two models, we addressed the questions: from the profit-maximizing perspective, how does outsourcing remanufacturing operations to retailers create strategic issues that are different from those with 3PRs? Which is more profitable for the OEM, 3PR, retailer, and the total supply chain? From an environmental impact perspective, how does outsourcing remanufacturing operations to retailers create strategic issues different from those with 3PRs? Which is more beneficial for our environment? Our analysis revealed that if the OEMs cared about economic performance, outsourcing the remanufacturing operations to the 3PR was a practical strategy. Conversely, if they cared about environmental sustainability, outsourcing the remanufacturing to the retailer was the preferred strategy. Numerical studies further validated our conclusions

The size of global and China’s economy expanded rapidly in recent years, and working on emission of carbon dioxide increased due to environmental change. The relationship between decoupling, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions has been examined extensively, but economic growth efficiency can decouple from carbon reduction efficiency is less explore area specially in country like China. Our work extracted respective productive for economic growth and reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and further evaluated the decoupling relationship at the efficiency level for China’s provinces during 2005–2017. Economic growth efficiency showed a downward trend, whereas the efficiency in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions showed a slight improvement in the whole of China, which was consistent with China’s strong negative decoupling. All three geographic regions in China had an enormous division between efficiency and its decoupling status. In particular, the eastern provinces had the highest efficiency, but the central region exhibited the highest decoupling. Furthermore, the overall performance of the two efficiency indices declined gradually from the eastern provinces to the western provinces and, over time, more provinces improved their decoupling relationship. Above results also helpful to policy implications, which were conductive to balance economy and environment.

Han/non-Han interactions were engrained among the border regions of ancient Imperial China. Yet, little is known about either the genetic origins or the lifeways of these border peoples. Our study applies tools from ancient deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and stable isotope analysis to the study of a Han dynasty population at the Shichengzi site in modern-day Xinjiang. Isotopic analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of human (n = 8), animal (n = 26), and crop remains (n = 23) from Shichengzi indicated that dietary patterns among site inhabitants could be split among agro-pastoral and agricultural groups based on differences in the collagen 15N ratios. DNA analysis divided the four Shichengzi samples into two groups, with one group primarily harboring the ancient Northeast Asian (ANA) related ancestry, while the other showed a dominant Late Neolithic Yellow River (YR_LN) related ancestry. Both ancient DNA and stable isotope evidence point to the Northeast Asian origins of pastoralists and East Asian origins of Han agriculturalists, who, nonetheless, shared a single burial space at Shichengzi. This study thus provides clear evidence for the multiple origins and identities of populations across the porous border represented by the Han Empire and surrounding regions and proposes a new model for the interpretation of border culture in early Imperial China.

Due to its high bonding energy and low self-diffusion coefficient, silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics cannot form a dense structure with prolonged high-temperature insulation or by raising the sintering temperature. To improve the density of the sintered Si3N4 ceramics, additives are added to promote the rearrangement–dissolution–precipitation process of the crystal grains. However, the liquid phase formation temperature of different sintering aid chemical compositions varies, making it challenging to isolate the mechanism and the effect of liquid phase formation temperatures on sintering. Hence, we developed three sintering aids, namely Y2O3-Al2O3 (YA), Y2Si2O7 (Y2S), and Y2Si2O7-Al6Si2O13 (Y2SM), with homologous elements and different liquid phase formation temperatures. These sintering aids can form a liquid phase with SiO2 on the surface of Si3N4 at varying temperatures. We analyzed the sintered Si3N4 ceramic’s density, volume shrinkage rate, and microstructure to verify the YA’s lower liquid phase formation temperature effect, providing more rearrangement time and increasing sintering density. Conversely, sintering aids with too low liquid phase formation temperatures are more prone to volatilize during high-temperature sintering stages, thereby reducing sintering density. This research found that different liquid phase formation temperatures do not affect the α→β phase transition temperature of Si3N4 ceramics. We also evaluated the Y2S sintering aid contents’ effect on Si3N4 ceramics sintering. The results revealed that aiding sintering with too little Y2S content is insufficient for liquid phase production, and hence does not improve sintering density. Conversely, excessive liquid phase can improve density and refine grain size but increases weight loss rate during sintering due to volatilization.

Despite decades of investigation, consensus has yet to be reached on when and where wheat replaced millet as the primary crop in the core regions of early Imperial China. Previous studies have suggested that wheat cultivation likely became widespread prior to or during the Han Dynasty (202 BC–AD 220). Here, we tested this hypothesis by applying archeobotanical tools to plant remains found in five pottery model granaries (cang) entombed in a newly excavated late Western Han burial at the Longzaocun cemetery in the Guanzhong Basin. This analysis allowed us to explore the extent of wheat expansion and agricultural strategies in the heartland of early dynastic China. Macro- and micro-botanical evidence shows that the Longzaocun residents consumed two kinds of crops: foxtail and common millet. Combining these findings with previous studies, we argue that millet-based multi-crop farming dominated the regional agricultural system during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 8) and analyze the political and cultural motivations for the Han people’s usage on millet crops from the burial concepts and fiscal systems. Echoing previous studies, we argue that millets remained the most valuable subsistence food for inhabitants of the Loess Basins in the Han core, and that wheat was not cultivated on a large scale in this area during the Western Han Dynasty.