Spatial distribution of intangible cultural heritage resources in China and its influencing factors.

Exploring the spatial distribution of China's intangible cultural heritage resources and its influencing factors is an important foundation for their protection and development and a key step toward the integration of culture and tourism. To analyse the geographical distribution patterns of China's 3610 intangible cultural heritage resources and their influencing factors, we comprehensively applied methods such as spatial analysis and geodetectors. The main findings are as follows: (1) In terms of spatial distribution, China's intangible cultural heritage resources are unevenly distributed, with an overall agglomeration-type distribution. The distribution in the north‒south direction is more significant, with more resources in the east than in the west and more resources in the south than in the north. (2) In terms of the spatial distribution of various types of intangible cultural heritage sites, North and East China have always been areas with a high kernel density. (3) In terms of spatial trends, there is a clear correlation between the distribution of intangible cultural heritage resources and the state of economic development and historical and cultural heritage, i.e., the more economically developed and culturally rich a region is, the more resources of intangible cultural heritage there are. (4) The causes of the distribution of China's intangible cultural heritage resources are complicated, the influence of social factors is much greater than that of natural factors, and multidimensional interactions have a relatively significant impact. This study is conducive to the planning and protection of China's intangible cultural heritage resources at the national and regional levels and provides a reference for the sustainable development of China's intangible cultural heritage resources.

Embrittlement Mechanisms of HR3C Pipe Steel at Room Temperature in Ultra-Supercritical Unit.

HR3C steel is an austenitic high-temperature-resistant steel. Because of its good strength and high-temperature performance, it has been widely used in ultra-supercritical power plant boilers. With the increasingly frequent start-up and shutdown of thermal power units, leakages of HR3C steel pipes have occasionally occurred due to the embrittlement of HR3C pipe steel after a long service duration. In this study, the embrittlement mechanisms of HR3C pipe steel are investigated systematically. The mechanical properties of the pipe steel after running for 70,000 h in an ultra-supercritical unit were determined. As a comparison, the pipe steel supplied in the same batch was aged at 700 degrees Celsius for 500 h. The mechanical properties and the micro-precipitation of the aged counterparts were also determined for comparison. The results show that the embrittlement of HR3C pipe steel in service for 70,000 h is obvious. The average impact absorption is only 5.5 J, which is a decrease of 96.7%. It is found that embrittlement of HR3C steel also occurs after 500 h of aging at 700 °C, and the average value of impact absorption energy decreases by 70.4%. The comparison experiment between the in-service pipe steel and the aged pipe steel shows that in the rapid decline stage of the impact toughness of HR3C steel, the M23C6 carbide in the microstructure has a continuous chain distribution in the grain boundary. There were no other precipitated phases observed. The rapid precipitation and aggregation of M23C6 carbides leads to the initial embrittlement of HR3C steel at room temperature. The CRFe-type σ phase was found in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) image of the steel pipe after 70 thousand hours of use. The precipitation of the σ phase further induces the embrittlement of HR3C pipe steel after a long service duration.

The coupling relationship and driving mechanism between urbanization and ecosystem services in the Yellow River Basin from a multi-spatial scale perspective.

Rapid urbanization has led to ecological destruction and associated issues. Macro policies wield substantial influence over urbanization and its relationship with the environment. Without considering the differences in scale, macro policies may be ineffective at addressing urbanization's adverse impacts on the environment, and even worsen this relationship. We used data on 622 counties, 76 prefectures, and 7 urban agglomerations in the Yellow River Basin to examine the development level, coupling coordination degree, and spatial patterns of urbanization and ecosystem services at three scales during 2000-2020. Further, we explored the driving mechanisms in the relationship between urbanization and ecosystem services. We found that: First, the coupling coordination was relatively low but showed an upward trend. A sizeable spatiotemporal difference existed, with higher (lower) coordination in the east (west). Second, the coupling coordination of each scale exhibited significant spatial positive correlations. The low-value heterogeneous region was embedded around the agglomeration region, and polarization was significant. The larger the scale, the stronger the agglomeration effect. Further, the coupling coordination spatial agglomeration effect of each scale gradually weakened over time. Third, the spatial and temporal distributions of coupling coordination and its agglomeration characteristics at different scales differed. The urban agglomeration scale showed significant overall coordination or agglomeration characteristics, and prefecture and county regions showed local and unique characteristics within urban agglomerations. Fourth, the dominant factors influencing the spatial patterns of the coupling coordination at the county, prefecture, and urban agglomeration scales differed. The interaction and factor detection showed linear and double-factor enhancements. We find that economic development, government policies, environmental protection, and natural factors are the combined effects of urbanization and ecosystem services. Our research method can provide a reference for other river basins, and the results can help governments in formulating policies for sustainable development at different spatial scales.

An FSV analysis approach to verify the robustness of the triple-correlation analysis theoretical framework.

Among all the gas disasters, gas concentration exceeding the threshold limit value (TLV) has been the leading cause of accidents. However, most systems still focus on exploring the methods and framework for avoiding reaching or exceeding TLV of the gas concentration from viewpoints of impacts on geological conditions and coal mining working-face elements. The previous study developed a Trip-Correlation Analysis Theoretical Framework and found strong correlations between gas and gas, gas and temperature, and gas and wind in the gas monitoring system. However, this framework's effectiveness must be examined to determine whether it might be adopted in other coal mine cases. This research aims to explore a proposed verification analysis approach-First-round-Second-round-Verification round (FSV) analysis approach to verify the robustness of the Trip-Correlation Analysis Theoretical Framework for developing a gas warning system. A mixed qualitative and quantitative research methodology is adopted, including a case study and correlational research. The results verify the robustness of the Triple-Correlation Analysis Theoretical Framework. The outcomes imply that this framework is potentially valuable for developing other warning systems. The proposed FSV approach can also be used to explore data patterns insightfully and offer new perspectives to develop warning systems for different industry applications.

Using multi-focus group method as an effective tool for eliciting business system requirements: Verified by a case study.

This research aims to explore the multi-focus group method as an effective tool for systematically eliciting business requirements for business information system (BIS) projects. During the COVID-19 crisis, many businesses plan to transform their businesses into digital businesses. Business managers face a critical challenge: they do not know much about detailed system requirements and what they want for digital transformation requirements. Among many approaches used for understanding business requirements, the focus group method has been used to help elicit BIS needs over the past 30 years. However, most focus group studies about research practices mainly focus on a particular disciplinary field, such as social, biomedical, and health research. Limited research reported using the multi-focus group method to elicit business system requirements. There is a need to fill this research gap. A case study is conducted to verify that the multi-focus group method might effectively explore detailed system requirements to cover the Case Study business's needs from transforming the existing systems into a visual warning system. The research outcomes verify that the multi-focus group method might effectively explore the detailed system requirements to cover the business's needs. This research identifies that the multi-focus group method is especially suitable for investigating less well-studied, no previous evidence, or unstudied research topics. As a result, an innovative visual warning system was successfully deployed based on the multi-focus studies for user acceptance testing in the Case Study mine in Feb 2022. The main contribution is that this research verifies the multi-focus group method might be an effective tool for systematically eliciting business requirements. Another contribution is to develop a flowchart for adding to Systems Analysis & Design course in information system education, which may guide BIS students step by step on using the multi-focus group method to explore business system requirements in practice.

Influence of Grain Orientation and Grain Boundary Features on Local Stress State of Cu-8Al-11Mn Alloy Investigated Using Crystal Plasticity Finite Element Method.

Reducing the local stress in the vicinity of the grain boundaries is a favorable way to improve the super-elastic properties of super-elastic alloys. The crystal plasticity finite element method (CPFEM) was applied in this study to simulate the deformation behavior and local stress of a super-elastic Cu-8Al-11Mn (wt.%) alloy containing single grains with various orientations, columnar grains with different misorientation angles, and tri-crystals with distinct grain boundary morphologies. The results indicated that the stress distribution of single grains presented obvious orientation dependence during deformation. Uniformly distributed stress was observed in grains with orientations of 0° and 90° when more slip systems were activated during deformation. With the increase in the misorientation angles of columnar grains, the stresses in the vicinity of the grain boundaries increased, which was related to the difference in the shear stress of the slip systems in adjacent grains. When the difference in the shear stress of the slip systems in two adjacent grains was large, a local stress concentration formed in the vicinity of the grain boundary. Compared with the triple-junction grain boundaries, the local stresses of the straight and vertical grain boundaries were smaller, which was closely related to the number of activated slip systems on both sides of the grain boundary. The above results were obtained experimentally and could be used to design super-elastic alloys with high performance.

A comparative analysis of the principal component analysis and entropy weight methods to establish the indexing measurement.

BACKGROUND: As the world's largest coal producer, China was accounted for about 46% of global coal production. Among present coal mining risks, methane gas (called gas in this paper) explosion or ignition in an underground mine remains ever-present. Although many techniques have been used, gas accidents associated with the complex elements of underground gassy mines need more robust monitoring or warning systems to identify risks. This paper aimed to determine which single method between the PCA and Entropy methods better establishes a responsive weighted indexing measurement to improve coal mining safety. METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative mixed research methodologies were adopted for this research, including analysis of two case studies, correlation analysis, and comparative analysis. The literature reviewed the most-used multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods, including subjective methods and objective methods. The advantages and disadvantages of each MCDM method were briefly discussed. One more round literature review was conducted to search publications between 2017 and 2019 in CNKI. Followed two case studies, correlation analysis and comparative analysis were then conducted. Research ethics was approved by the Shanxi Coking Coal Group Research Committee. RESULTS: The literature searched a total of 25,831publications and found that the PCA method was the predominant method adopted, and the Entropy method was the second most widely adopted method. Two weighting methods were compared using two case studies. For the comparative analysis of Case Study 1, the PCA method appeared to be more responsive than the Entropy. For Case Study 2, the Entropy method is more responsive than the PCA. As a result, both methods were adopted for different cases in the case study mine and finally deployed for user acceptance testing on 5 November 2020. CONCLUSIONS: The findings and suggestions were provided as further scopes for further research. This research indicated that no single method could be adopted as the better option for establishing indexing measurement in all cases. The practical implication suggests that comparative analysis should always be conducted on each case and determine the appropriate weighting method to the relevant case. This research recommended that the PCA method was a dimension reduction technique that could be handy for identifying the critical variables or factors and effectively used in hazard, risk, and emergency assessment. The PCA method might also be well-applied for developing predicting and forecasting systems as it was sensitive to outliers. The Entropy method might be suitable for all the cases requiring the MCDM. There is also a need to conduct further research to probe the causal reasons why the PCA and Entropy methods were applied to each case and not the other way round. This research found that the Entropy method provides higher accuracy than the PCA method. This research also found that the Entropy method demonstrated to assess the weights of the higher dimension dataset was higher sensitivity than the lower dimensions. Finally, the comprehensive analysis indicates a need to explore a more responsive method for establishing a weighted indexing measurement for warning applications in hazard, risk, and emergency assessments.

Nanoprecipitate-Strengthened High-Entropy Alloys.

Multicomponent high-entropy alloys (HEAs) can be tuned to a simple phase with some unique alloy characteristics. HEAs with body-centered-cubic (BCC) or hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) structures are proven to possess high strength and hardness but low ductility. The faced-centered-cubic (FCC) HEAs present considerable ductility, excellent corrosion and radiation resistance. However, their strengths are relatively low. Therefore, the strategy of strengthening the ductile FCC matrix phase is usually adopted to design HEAs with excellent performance. Among various strengthening methods, precipitation strengthening plays a dazzling role since the characteristics of multiple principal elements and slow diffusion effect of elements in HEAs provide a chance to form fine and stable nanoscale precipitates, pushing the strengths of the alloys to new high levels. This paper summarizes and review the recent progress in nanoprecipitate-strengthened HEAs and their strengthening mechanisms. The alloy-design strategies and control of the nanoscale precipitates in HEAs are highlighted. The future works on the related aspects are outlined.

[Simple nucleus pulposus removal for the treatment of prolapsed and displaced lumbar disc herniation].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the clinical effect of the simple nucleus pulposus removal and small incision interlaminar window in the treatment of prolapsed and displaced lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: From February 2016 to February 2018, 35 patients with single-segment prolapse and displaced lumbar disc herniation were treated by the simple nucleus pulposus removal and small incision interlaminar window under general anesthesia. Among them, there were 21 males and 14 females;aged (42±17) years;27 cases of L4,5 segment, 6 cases of L5S1 segment, 2 cases of L3,4 segment;20 cases on the left side, 13 cases on the right side. Modified Macnab standard was used to evaluate postoperative symptoms and functional recovery. RESULTS: All the operations were successful and the operation time was 30 to 60 min with an average of 40 min, the intraoperative blood loss was 10 to 30 ml with an average of 20 ml. All the patients were followed up for 1 to 3 years with an average of 1.2 years. Thirty-five patients with low back pain and lower limb symptoms were significantly relieved or disappeared. According to modified Macnab standard, 29 cases obtained excellent results, 5 good, and 1 fair. CONCLUSION: Applying the concept of minimally invasive operation, small incision interlaminar window and simple nucleus pulposus removal for the treatment of prolapsed and displaced lumbar disc herniation has the advantages of short operation time, definite curative effect, and less trauma. And it is a safe and effective surgical method under the premise of strict control of the indications.

Cooperative deformation in high-entropy alloys at ultralow temperatures.

High-entropy alloys exhibit exceptional mechanical properties at cryogenic temperatures, due to the activation of twinning in addition to dislocation slip. The coexistence of multiple deformation pathways raises an important question regarding how individual deformation mechanisms compete or synergize during plastic deformation. Using in situ neutron diffraction, we demonstrate the interaction of a rich variety of deformation mechanisms in high-entropy alloys at 15 K, which began with dislocation slip, followed by stacking faults and twinning, before transitioning to inhomogeneous deformation by serrations. Quantitative analysis showed that the cooperation of these different deformation mechanisms led to extreme work hardening. The low stacking fault energy plus the stable face-centered cubic structure at ultralow temperatures, enabled by the high-entropy alloying, played a pivotal role bridging dislocation slip and serration. Insights from the in situ experiments point to the role of entropy in the design of structural materials with superior properties.

Determination of temperature dependence of full matrix material constants of PZT-8 piezoceramics using only one sample.

Resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) was used to determine the temperature dependence of full matrix material constants of PZT-8 piezoceramics from room temperature to 100 °C. Property variations from sample to samples can be eliminated by using only one sample, so that data self-consistency can be guaranteed. The RUS measurement system error was estimated to be lower than 2.35%. The obtained full matrix material constants at different temperatures all have excellent self-consistency, which can help accurately predict device performance at high temperatures using finite element simulations.

Enhancing the performance of Mg-based implant materials by introducing basal plane stacking faults.

One of the keys to allowing Mg alloys to serve as biodegradable materials is how to balance their degradation behaviours and mechanical properties in physiological environment. In this study, a novel Mg-6Ho-0.5Zn alloy (wt%) containing profuse basal plane stacking faults (SFs) is prepared. This newly-developed alloy with SFs exhibiting uniform corrosion behaviour, low corrosion rate and high mechanical properties, as compared to the classic Mg-Ho based alloys (Mg-6Ho and Mg-6Ho-1.5Zn). Furthermore, the Mg-6Ho-0.5Zn alloy shows no significant toxicity to Saos-2 cells. An original uniform corrosion mechanism is proposed by combining the special defect structure, orientation of SFs and promptly effective corrosion film. The development of the new microstructure for Mg-Ho based alloys with desirable corrosion performance has important implications in developing novel degradable Mg-based implant materials.

A nanoscale co-precipitation approach for property enhancement of Fe-base alloys.

Precipitate size and number density are two key factors for tailoring the mechanical behavior of nanoscale precipitate-hardened alloys. However, during thermal aging, the precipitate size and number density change, leading to either poor strength or high strength but significantly reduced ductility. Here we demonstrate, by producing nanoscale co-precipitates in composition-optimized multicomponent precipitation-hardened alloys, a unique approach to improve the stability of the alloy against thermal aging and hence the mechanical properties. Our study provides compelling experimental evidence that these nanoscale co-precipitates consist of a Cu-enriched bcc core partially encased by a B2-ordered Ni(Mn, Al) phase. This co-precipitate provides a more complex obstacle for dislocation movement due to atomic ordering together with interphases, resulting in a high yield strength alloy without sacrificing alloy ductility.

Time domain characterization of magnetoelastic sensors: A pulse method for resonance frequency determination.

This paper presents a pulse method for determination of resonance frequency of magnetoelastic sensors. The method eliminates the bias field that is necessary in previous methods and also allows fast and accurate detection. The stability tests of the system show an average standard deviation of 129 Hz and an average drift of -10.4 Hz/h. This system allows simultaneous detection of two sensors. A simulation of the operation of one and two sensors was shown to be very similar to the real data plots from the test system. Real tests have shown that adding a second sensor does not affect the resonance frequency of the first sensor. The effect of pulse magnetic field on the characteristics of the resonance signal, including resonance frequency, amplitude, and Q-value of frequency domain signal, has been studied and real time detection using magnetoelastic sensors was demonstrated in a flowing system.