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This paper aims to theoretically and empirically test whether the Weather Index Insurance for Mutton Sheep (WIMS) which protects the herders from increased feeding costs resulting from drought and snow disasters promotes the income of herders in China’s Inner Mongolia or not. We have applied the OLS, PSM, and quantile regression models using field survey data from 261 herders in Xilin Gol, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region for our objective. The findings demonstrate that the WIMS significantly increases the overall and high-income herders’ income, but has no significant effect on herders’ income at other income levels.. According to the results, we recommend that as the subsidized agricultural insurance product, the government should expand the pilot region of WIMS to furtherly test its income effect and consider reducing or exempting insurance premiums for low-income herders to reduce their financial pressure.

This paper based on coal strata structure of mine working face, a one-to-one physical model of coal and rock concealed disaster-causing abnormal body is designed and constructed which is used to study the geophysical response characteristics of coal strata and hidden geological anomalies.Selected pulverized coal, gravel and sand, cement as raw materials to study similar material ratio and manufacturing process experiment of coal seams, roofs and floors, collapse columns and faults in Xinyuan Mining by applying the orthogonal design method.In addition, a variety of parameters on physical property were tested.Based on the experimental data of physical parameters such as wave velocity, resistivity and dielectric constant, the optimal construction ratio of each geological structure in the underground physical model was determined by comparing the original coal samples and the comprehensive detection results.Coal powder, sand and cement contents of 55 %, 10 % and 25 % were selected for coal seam simulation; The sand cement ratio is 3 and gypsum cement ratio is 2∶8 for the roof of coal seam; The ratio of sand cement ratio is 2.5 and gypsum cement ratio is 3∶7 for coal seam floor; The test proportions of sand 57.5 %, coal 10 %, gypsum 4.5 % and cement 18 % were selected for the collapse column.The above provides quantitative support for laboratory construction of mining detection equipment technology test platform of the project.

The molecular conformation of giant molecule acceptors (GMAs) plays a significant role in regulating the intermolecular interactions and their photovoltaic performances in organic solar cells (OSCs). For the linear GMA GT‐l, the stronger homo‐molecular interaction causes its aggregation being weakly affected by the donor, thus forming an ordered molecular stacking and proper phase separation in its blend film. The star‐shaped GMA GT‐s‐based blend film shows a dominant hetero‐molecular interaction that suppresses the aggregation of the donor and acceptor, resulting in smaller phase separation and more uniform vertical phase distribution. While for another star‐shaped GMA GTs, the weakest hetero‐molecular interaction causes its blend film to form larger phase separation. Therefore, the GT‐l based OSC with PM6 as donor shows the highest charge mobilities, the fastest charge transfer (CT) process, reduced energy loss and less charge recombination, contributing to a higher power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.03%. Comparatively, the PCEs of the OSCs based on GTs and GT‐s are 18.05% and 17.58% respectively. Notably, all the three GMAs based OSCs show excellent thermal stability and long‐term storage stability. This study provides a facile strategy by tuning the linking unit and its connecting mode for designing highly efficient and stable organic photovoltaic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weather index insurance for mutton sheep (WIMS) is the first weather index insurance product that addresses the increased feeding cost-related risk of grassland animal husbandry herders in China. In 2019, the WIMS was implemented as a pilot project in 11 county regions of Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, China. Since the implementation of this product, the purchasing rate has varied from region to region, as the highest purchasing rate was 84.3%, while the lowest was only 1.8%. This research uses the double hurdle model to identify the factors affecting herders' purchasing behavior. This paper reports a survey study of 535 participants herders in the Xilin Gol League. The result indicates that herders' age, disaster risk evaluation, insurance awareness, pasture area, and neighborhood purchasing decision significantly impact herders' purchasing propensity. Disaster evaluation, insurance awareness, pasture area and location significantly impact the purchasing degree of herders. The study suggests that young herders and herders with large pasture areas should be motivated to purchase insurance. In addition, new methods should be applied for the publicity of this insurance product; Investments should be focused on the automatic weather monitoring station projects in pastoral areas to reduce the basis risk of the insurance.

Organic solar cells (OSCs) processed with non‐halogenated solvents usually suffer from excessive self‐aggregation of small molecule acceptors (SMAs), severe phase separation and higher energy loss (Eloss), leading to reduced open‐circuit voltage (Voc) and power conversion efficiency (PCE). Regulating the intermolecular interaction to disperse the aggregation and further improve the molecular packing order of SMAs would be an effective strategy to solve this problem. Here, we designed and synthesized two SMAs L8‐PhF and L8‐PhMe by introducing different substituents (fluorine for L8‐PhF and methyl for L8‐PhMe) on the phenyl end group of the inner side chains of L8‐Ph, and investigated the effect of the substituents on the intermolecular interaction of SMAs, Eloss and performance of OSCs processed with non‐halogenated solvents. Through single crystal analysis and theoretical calculations, it is found that compared with L8‐PhF, which possesses strong and abundant intermolecular interactions but downgraded molecular packing order, L8‐PhMe with the methyl substituent possesses more effective non‐covalent interactions, which improves the tightness and order of molecular packing. When blending the SMAs with polymer donor PM6, the differences in intermolecular interactions of the SMAs influenced the film formation process and phase separation of the blend films. The L8‐PhMe based blend film exhibits shorten film formation and more homogeneous phase separation than those of the L8‐PhF and L8‐Ph based ones. Especially, the OSCs based on L8‐PhMe show reduced non‐radiative energy loss and enhanced Voc than the devices based on the other two SMAs. Consequently, the L8‐PhMe based device processed with o‐xylene (o‐XY) and using 2PACz as the hole transport layer (HTL) shows an outstanding PCE of 19.27 %. This study highlights that the Eloss of OSCs processed with non‐halogenated solvents could be decreased through regulating the intermolecular interactions of SMAs by inner side chain modification, and also emphasize the importance of effectivity rather than intensity of non‐covalent interactions introduced in SMAs on the molecular packing, morphology and PCE of OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to achieve sustainable and healthy development, power companies must gradually abandon traditional energy sources and actively develop new energy sources, which could achieve green energy-saving and environmental protection effects. This requires an analysis of the key factors of new energy consumption, to clarify the causes of this problem and to take effective countermeasures to solve it. The application of new energy generation technology in power grids is a reasonable solution to the problem of new energy consumption, ensuring a continuous and sufficient supply of electricity resources to meet demand. This paper focuses on the key factors for the consumption of new energy and the measures to address them.

Although the copyright protection schemes supported by blockchain have significantly changed traditional copyright data management, there are still some data security challenges that cannot be ignored, especially the secure access and controllable management of copyright data. Quantum computing attacks also pose a threat to its security. Targeting these issues, we design and propose a blockchain copyright protection scheme based on attribute-based encryption (ABE). In this scheme, the security advantages of blockchain technology are utilized to ensure the authenticity and integrity of copyright data. Based on lattice cryptography and the decision ring learning with errors (R-LWE) problem, a new ABE algorithm that supports searchable ciphertext and policy updates is designed. Then, we introduce it into the blockchain copyright protection scheme, which enables secure access to copyright data and fine-grained control. In addition, the lattice cryptography can strengthen this scheme against quantum attacks. Through security analysis, our scheme can prove to be secure against adaptive chosen keyword attacks, selective chosen plaintext attacks, and adaptive chosen policy attacks in the random oracle model. More importantly, the comparison analysis and experimental results show that our proposed approach has lower computation costs and storage costs. Therefore, our scheme has better security and performance in copyright protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the influence of coal mining on the water richness overlying strata in the mining area using time-lapse electrical monitoring technology, four dataset acquisitions were completed with the same acquisition method, equipment, parameters, and processing flow. According to the characteristics of the data, major problems such as topographic correction, high-precision denoising, spatial and temporal normalization, and resistivity data inversion have been solved. Precise tomographic imaging was achieved through high-precision data processing and difference inversion. The results show that the electrical stratification characteristics of the overlying soil and rock layers are clear, the resistivity from the surface down gradually increases, and the electrical layers are not uniform locally. During mining, the overlying strata are affected by mining, the electrical resistivity of the underlying aquifers increased to varying degrees, and the fluctuation of electrical resistivity increased while the aquifer's water content decreased. After mining, the overlying aquifer has the phenomenon of 'reduced resistivity and water recovery'. After a period of time, the overlying soil disturbance and overlying rock failure zone will gradually tend to be stable. Meanwhile, the aquifer structure and water content will also gradually recover. Our results could provide guidance for water resources protection in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is the primary producer of cotton, which is an indispensable crop worldwide. The agriculture sector depends on the climate and may be susceptible to future climate changes, such as increasing temperature, heavy rainfall, droughts, and floods directly impacting cotton productivity. This study empirically investigates the relationship between climate change variables and non-climate change variables on cotton productivity in Pakistan. An econometric technique, the "autoregressive distributed lag model" (ARDL), was employed on time series data from 1970 to 2018 to explore the existence and nature of the relationship among variables. The findings indicated the presence of co-integration among variables which confirms the long-run relationship among the variables. At the same time, the empirical results revealed that increases in temperature and rainfall positively affected cotton productivity. However, CO2 harms cotton productivity. Moreover, infrastructural changes positively affect cotton productivity in both the long and short run, while labor is negatively related to productivity. The area, fertilizer, and seed consumption showed a significant positive effect on cotton productivity. We employed the dynamic ordinary least squares (OLS), co-integration regression estimation, and the series test to validate the robustness of the finding. The finding of this study urges policymakers to devise a comprehensive policy to mitigate the adverse effect of climate change and upsurge water conservation. Furthermore, it is imperative to adopt environmentally friendly production inputs and modern techniques, which helps to gain sustainable cotton productivity. To conclude, the cotton crop is significantly affected by climate change subject to the region. Although this study analyzed the Pakistan case, the model can be generalized to all the developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the biocontrol efficacies of 14 endophytic bacterial strains were tested against Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) in pot experiments under greenhouse conditions. Bacillus subtilis strain E1R-j significantly reduced disease index and exhibited the best control (90.97%). When different formulations of E1R-j were sprayed 24 h before Bgt inoculation, fermentation liquid without bacterial cell and crude protein suspension displayed the similar effects; and they reduced disease index more than bacterial cell suspension (109 cfu mL−1) and fermentation liquid without protein. The control effects were not significantly different between 1011 and 109 cfu mL−1 of bacterial cell suspension but were higher than 107 cfu mL−1. Further observations showed that conidial germination and appressorial formation of Bgt were retarded by spraying E1R-j 24 h before Bgt inoculation. Compared with the water check, conidial germination and appressorial formation were decreased by 43.3% and 42.7%, respectively. In the treatment with E1R-j, the number of houstoria significantly reduced and the speed of mycelial extension was slowed down in the wheat leaves. Scanning electron microscopy observation revealed that E1R-j significantly suppressed the conidial germination and caused rupture and deformation of germ tubes. On the surface of wheat leaves, mycelia and conidiophores became shrinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimerized acceptors show promise in combining the high performance of small‐molecule non‐fullerene acceptors (NFAs) with the excellent stability of polymer acceptors. The central linking units that connect two acceptor molecules together have a profound impact on dimeric acceptor properties and structure‐performance relationships in blended thin films. It is seen that different linkers significantly affect the electronic properties and morphology in blended thin film. The electron‐donating linker elevates the absorption coefficient, affords a lower bandgap, and reduces energy loss, and thus better photovoltaic device performance. Better fibrillar morphology can be obtained. The best material DY‐EDOT‐based device shows a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.21%, an open‐circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.924 V, a short‐circuit current density (Jsc) of 25.20 mA cm−2, a fill factor (FF) of 78.19%, which is among the highest value for dimerized acceptors. This study reveals the fundamental importance of linker units in determining the dimerized acceptor properties and provides useful strategies for developing oligomeric and polymeric acceptors, which is critical in simultaneously improving the performance and stability of organic solar cells (OSCs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]