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Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate the impact of various types of intergovernmental fiscal transfers on local public education expenditure at the county level in China and to estimate the leakage of categorical subsidies for rural compulsory education. Design/Approach/Methods: It is a quantitative study. The paper constructs a quantile regression model and adopt data collected in 2007 for 1,985 counties in China to examine the impact of relevant fiscal transfers. Findings: The results reveal that most intergovernmental fiscal transfers exert a substitution effect on the local education expenditure, whereas subsidies for rural compulsory education from the Central Government have a crowding-out effect on education investments from local financial resources. Although the subsidy program generally narrows the education expenditure disparity across counties, there are heterogeneous effects across different regions. Originality/Value: The paper estimates and compares the impact of fiscal transfers on both the level and disparity of local public education in different regions, and provides a possible explanation for the crowding-out effect of fiscal transfers in China.

The northern permafrost regions are increasingly experiencing frequent and intense extreme events, with a rise in the occurrence of compound extreme events. Many climate-related hazards in these areas are driven by such compound events, significantly affecting the stability and functionality of vegetation ecosystems. However, the cumulative and lagged effects of compound extreme events on vegetation remain unclear, which may lead to an underestimation of their actual impacts. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal variations in compound extreme events and the vegetation response to these events in the northern permafrost regions from 1982 to 2022. The primary focus of this study is on examining the cumulative and lagged effects of compound extreme climate events on the Kernel Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (kNDVI) during the growing seasons. The results indicate that in high-latitude regions, the frequency of extreme high temperature–precipitation compound events and high temperature–drought compound events have increased in 58.0% and 67.0% of the areas, respectively. Conversely, the frequency of extreme low temperature–drought compound events and extreme low temperature–precipitation compound events has decreased in 70.6% and 57.2% of the areas, with the high temperature–drought compound events showing the fastest increase. The temporal effects of compound extreme events on kNDVI vary with vegetation type; they produce more cumulative and lagged effects compared with single extreme high-temperature events and fewer effects compared with single extreme precipitation events, with compound events significantly affecting forest and grassland ecosystems. Notably, extreme high temperature–precipitation compound events exhibit the strongest cumulative and lagged effects on vegetation, while extreme low temperature–drought compound events influence wetland and shrubland areas within the same month. This study underscores the importance of a multivariable perspective in understanding vegetation dynamics in permafrost regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a promising composite cathode prepared by electrodepositing MnCoP nanostructures on hydrothermally grown NiCo2S4 on Ni foam. The cathode has a capacitance of up to 7780.0 mF cm–2 at 1 mA cm–2, good rate performance (6340.0 and 4464.0 mF cm–2 at 10 and 60 mA cm–2), as well as cycling stability with 81.8% maintenance of its original capacitance after 7000 cycles at 20 mA cm–2. The energy density achieved by the supercapacitor, which consists of this cathode, an activated carbon anode (on carbon cloth), and 2 M KOH aqueous solution electrolyte, is 0.488 mWh cm–2 at 0.800 mW cm–2. Furthermore, it exhibits good cycling stability as it retains 84.8% of its initial capacitance even after 20 000 cycles at 20 mA cm–2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theaflavins (TFs) are a kind of bioactive compound that formed during the fermentation stage of black tea. TFs play a vital role both in the sensory quality and the biological activity of black tea. However, the complex composition of black tea and the low content of TFs in black tea (0.3%–0.7%) make the technology for the preparation of high‐purity TFs a great challenge. This review provides an updated overview for extracting, synthesizing and purifying of TFs. Molecular imprinting technology, an efficient method for extracting bioactive compounds, will be a promising method for the preparation of TFs with high purity. Overall, this review can provide a scientific basis and technical support for the preparation of TFs with high purity and will be helpful for the in‐depth development and further research of TFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercapacitors display promising electrochemical performance with high power density and excellent cycle stability. However, their low energy density limits their advancement in a broader range of applications. To enhance their energy density, we proposed self-assembled spinel NiMn2S4 nanoflakes grown on nickel foam which we successfully prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The NiMn2S4 electrode delivers a high capacitance of 2096.7 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1, with an exceptional rate capability (~720.6 F g−1 at a very high current density of 100 A g−1) and good cycle stability (~85.1% retention of the initial capacitance after 7000 cycles with the Coulombic efficiency around 100%). The as-fabricated asymmetric supercapacitors based on NiMn2S4 nanoflakes//active carbon demonstrate an energy density of 73.6 W h kg−1 at 800.5 W kg−1 and adequate cycling performance of ~84.6% capacitance retention at 15 A g−1 after 10000 cycles. The results reveal that the nanostructured NiMn2S4 is an excellent electrode material for high-performance energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]