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The final year design project is one of the most important components of any undergraduate engineering program. Fair and efficient project allocation procedures can be vital in ensuring a great student experience and exceptional learning out of these projects, which then could contribute in shaping students' future prospects. In this paper, we review a wide range of project allocation strategies used in various universities at undergraduate levels. We then focus on the project allocations in transnational education (TNE) contexts, which inherit additional allocation challenges. We highlight these challenges and provide recommendations to solve them. We present and compare project allocation strategies adopted at two of the largest TNE programs in China. We also present the factors that influence the project allocations, particularly regarding TNE provisions. Finally, we describe the challenges associated with the project allocations in the TNE scenario, along with proposing some feasible solutions to address these challenges.

FinTech has raised the risk-taking level of financial institutions. This paper aims to explore FinTech Credit (FTC) scale of non-financial institutions and the risk-taking level of financial institutions into Opiela's model, constructs objective functions and constraints for representative financial institutions by conducting theoretical analysis and research hypothesis. It also explores the relationship between FTCscale and the proportion of agriculture-related loans. Based on the balanced panel data of 31 provinces and municipalities in China from 2009 to 2017, the individual fixed effects model is used to test the research hypothesis. Then, based on the balanced panel data of 31 provinces and municipalities in China from 2009 to 2017, the research hypothesis was tested using an individual fixed-effects model to explore the relationship between FTCscale and the proportion of agriculture-related loans. The results show that the FTCscale can increase the share of agriculture-related loans in financial institutions. Still, the percentage of agriculture-related loans and e-commerce factors increase at a marginal decreasing rate. Furthermore, the study shows that marketization and real estate development also indirectly affect the proportion of agricultural loans through the mediating part of the FTCscale. Finally, policy recommendations are proposed to develop FTC and the implementation of rural revitalization strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China continues to expand its outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) in countries along the "Belt and Road," Chinese investment enterprises face an increasingly complex external environment, in which the influence of institutional distance and cultural distance has become more prominent. According to China's OFDI panel data of 94 countries from 2003 to 2017, especially the data of 61 countries along with the "Belt and Road," this study demonstrates that institutional distance, in general, promotes China's OFDI to countries along the "Belt and Road," whereas cultural distance inhibits OFDI. Moreover, the inhibition effect of cultural distance is significantly more substantial than the promotion effect of institutional distance, indicating that cultural distance is more important than institutional distance. Also, the promotion and inhibition effects are generally consistent with each other in different periods, but they are different due to the imbalance of economic development among the countries. In the subdivision dimension, institutional distance like Control of Corruption, Voice, and Accountability, and cultural distance like Masculinity vs. Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and long-term vs. short-term Orientation exert more significant influences on China's OFDI than the other subdivision dimensions. Therefore, China should pay special attention to the investment effect of specific dimensions of institutional distance and cultural distance in promoting the "Belt and Road," and continuously optimize the investment layout along the "Belt and Road" in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant growth and development are challenged by biotic and abiotic stresses including salinity and heat stresses. For Populus simonii × P. nigra as an important greening and economic tree species in China, increasing soil salinization and global warming have become major environmental challenges. We aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying tree tolerance to salt stress and high temprerature (HT) stress conditions. Transcriptomics revealed that a PsnNAC036 transcription factor (TF) was significantly induced by salt stress in P. simonii × P. nigra. This study focuses on addressing the biological functions of PsnNAC036. The gene was cloned, and its temporal and spatial expression was analyzed under different stresses. PsnNAC036 was significantly upregulated under 150 mM NaCl and 37 °C for 12 h. The result is consistent with the presence of stress responsive cis-elements in the PsnNAC036 promoter. Subcellular localization analysis showed that PsnNAC036 was targeted to the nucleus. Additionally, PsnNAC036 was highly expressed in the leaves and roots. To investigate the core activation region of PsnNAC036 protein and its potential regulatory factors and targets, we conducted trans-activation analysis and the result indicates that the C-terminal region of 191–343 amino acids of the PsnNAC036 was a potent activation domain. Furthermore, overexpression of PsnNAC036 stimulated plant growth and enhanced salinity and HT tolerance. Moreover, 14 stress-related genes upregulated in the transgenic plants under high salt and HT conditions may be potential targets of the PsnNAC036. All the results demonstrate that PsnNAC036 plays an important role in salt and HT stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxic metal(loid)s (TMLs) in agricultural soils cause detrimental effects on ecosystem and human health. Therefore, source-specific health risk apportionment is very crucial for the prevention and control of TMLs in agricultural soils. In this study, 149 surface soil samples were taken from a coal mining region in northwest Bangladesh and analyzed for 12 TMLs (Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Cu, As, Se, and Hg). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) and absolute principal component score-multiple linear regression (APCS-MLR) receptor models were employed to quantify the pollution sources of soil TMLs. Both models identified five possible sources of pollution: agrochemical practice, industrial emissions, coal-power-plant, geogenic source, and atmospheric deposition, while the contribution rates of each source were calculated as 28.2%, 17.2%, 19.3%, 19% and 16.3% in APCS-MLR, 22.2%, 13.4%, 24.3%, 15.1% and 25.1% in PMF, respectively. Agrochemical practice was the major source of non-carcinogenic risk (NCR) (adults: 32.37%, children: 31.54%), while atmospheric deposition was the highest source of carcinogenic risk (CR) (adults: 48.83%, children: 50.11%). NCR and CR values for adults were slightly higher than for children. However, the trends in NCR and CR between children and adults were similar. As a result, among the sources of pollution, agrochemical practices and atmospheric deposition have been identified as the primary sources of soil TMLs, so prevention and control strategies should be applied primarily for these pollution sources in order to protect human health., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Potentially toxic element (PTE) contamination in Wainivesi River, Fiji triggered by gold-mining activities is a major public health concern deserving attention. However, chemometric approaches and pattern recognition of PTEs in surface water and sediment are yet hardly studied in Pacific Island countries like Fijian urban River. In this study, twenty-four sediment and eight water sampling sites from the Wainivesi River, Fiji were explored to evaluate the spatial pattern, eco-environmental pollution, and source apportionment of PTEs. This analysis was done using an integrated approach of self-organizing map (SOM), principle component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and indexical approaches. The PTE average concentration is decreasing in the order of Fe > Pb > Zn > Ni > Cr > Cu > Mn > Co > Cd for water and Fe > Zn > Pb > Mn > Cr > Ni > Cu > Co > Cd for sediment, respectively. Outcomes of eco-environmental indices including contamination and enrichment factors, and geo-accumulation index differed spatially indicated that majority of the sediment sites were highly polluted by Zn, Cd, and Ni. Cd and Ni contents can cause both ecological and human health risks. According to PCA, both mixed sources (geogenic and anthropogenic such as mine wastes discharge and farming activities) of PTEs for water and sediment were identified in the study area. The SOM analysis identified three spatial patterns, e.g., Cr-Co-Zn-Mn, Fe-Cd, and Ni-Pb-Cu in water and Zn-Cd-Cu-Mn, Cr-Ni and Fe, Co-Pb in sediment. Spatial distribution of entropy water quality index (EWQI) values depicted that northern and northwestern areas possess "poor" to "extremely poor" quality water. The entropy weights indicated Zn, Cd, and Cu as the major pollutants in deteriorating the water quality. This finding provides a baseline database with eco-environmental and health risk measures for the Wainivesi river contamination., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

River water and sediment embody environmental characteristics that give valuable environmental management information. However, indexical and chemometric appraisal of heavy metals (HMs) in river water and sediment is very scarce in Island countries including Fiji. In this research, forty-five sediment and fifteen water samples from the Nakuvadra-Rakiraki River, Fiji were analyzed for appraising spatial distribution, pollution, and source identification of selected heavy metals (HMs) using the coupling tools of self-organizing map (SOM), compositional data analysis (CDA), and sediment and water quality indices. The mean concentration of HMs increased in the order of Cd < Co < Pb < Cu < Zn < Ni < Cr < Mn < Fe for sediment and Cd < Pb < Cu < Ni < Zn < Co < Cr < Fe < Mn for water, respectively. The outcomes of the enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index and contamination factor index varied spatially and most of the sediment samples were polluted by Pb, Mn, and Cu. The potential ecological risk recognized Cd, and Pb as ecological and public health risks to the surrounding communities. Based on SOM and CDA, three potential sources (e.g., point, nonpoint and lithological sources) of HMs for sediment and two sources (e.g., geogenic and human-induced sources) of HMs for water were identified. The spatial patterns of EWQI values revealed that the northern and northeast zones of the studied area possess a high degree of water pollution. The entropy weight indicated Ni and Cd as the main pollutants degrading the water quality. This study gives a baseline dataset for combined eco-environmental measures for the river's water and sediment pollution as well as contributes to an inclusive appraisal of HMs contamination in global rivers., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Although mining is essential for human economic development, is amongst the most polluting anthropogenic sources that influence seriously in water resources. Thus, understanding the presence and concentration of heavy metals in water and sediment in the vicinity of mines is important for the sustainability of the ecosystem. In this work, a multidisciplinary approach was developed to characterize the contamination level, source apportionment, co-existence, and degree of ecological and human health risks of HMs on water resources in the Vatukoula Goldmine region (VGR), Fiji. The outcomes suggested significant contamination by Cd (range: 0.01-0.95 g/L), Pb (range: 0.03-0.53 g/L), and Mn (range: 0.01-3.66 g/L) in water samples surpassed the level set by Fiji and international laws, whereas higher concentration of Cd (range: 2.60-23.16 mg/kg), Pb (range: 28.50-200.90 mg/kg) and Zn (range: 36.50-196.66 mg/kg) were detected in sediment samples. Lead demonstrated a strong significant co-existence network with other metals (e.g., Mn, Ni). Source apportionment recognized four source patterns (Cd, Pb, Ni, and Mn) for water and (Cr, Cd-Pb, Mn, and Zn) for sediment which was further confirmed by principal component analysis. The mine inputs source mainly contributed to Cd (66.07%) for water, while mineral processing mostly contributed to Zn (76.10%) for sediment. High non-carcinogenic (>1) and carcinogenic (>10 -4 ) health risks, particularly in children, are related to the elevated Cd, Pb and Cr contents from the VGR. Uncertainty analysis demonstrates that the 90th quantile of Cd led to higher carcinogenic risk. Pollution indices disclosed a moderate to extremely contamination status mainly along the Toko dam which poses high ecological risks identified by index calculation. However, sediment quality indicators based on probable effect levels showed that there was a 75% of likelihood that the concentrations of Cd and Pb adjacent to the VGR have a severe toxic impact on aquatic lives., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)