Evaluation of the Sustainable Forest Management Performance in Forestry Enterprises Based on a Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model: A Case Study in China

Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) can fully use forest resources and improve the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of forest areas. Forestry enterprises play a crucial role in the implementation of SFM. However, the previous literature on SFM pays little attention to the subject of forestry enterprises. This paper aims to extend research on SFM from a macro perspective to the micro level of forestry enterprises. Taking the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) as a theoretical framework and the Montreal Process Criteria and Indicators (MP C&Is) as a basis, this paper constructs an indicator system to evaluate the performance of SFM of forestry enterprises from economic, social, and environmental aspects. Then, we apply the hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) methods, i.e., the Best–Worst Method (BWM) and the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) method, to construct the methodological system for SFM performance evaluation of forestry enterprises. Through a questionnaire survey of 68 academics and researchers, we determine the weights of the SFM indicators and select a representative forestry enterprise as a case study. The effectiveness of this SFM performance evaluation model is then demonstrated through its application to the case study of forestry enterprises in China. Through the application of the model, this paper evaluates the enterprise’s SFM performance over the five-year period 2017–2021 and proposes appropriate policy recommendations and improvements. It is found that environmental factors are the primary factors of SFM in forestry enterprises. Forestry enterprises should not only pay attention to economic benefits but also to the use of forest resources and the protection of forest ecosystems to better achieve SFM

Treatment with intravenous alteplase in ischaemic stroke patients with onset time between 4.5 and 24 hours (HOPE): protocol for a randomised, controlled, multicentre study

Background While intravenous thrombolysis is recommended for patients who had an acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) within 4.5 hours of symptom onset, there are few randomised trials investigating the benefits of thrombolysis beyond this therapeutic window.Aim To determine whether patients who had an AIS selected with the presence of potentially salvageable tissue on CT perfusion at 4.5–24 hours after stroke onset (for stroke with unknown onset time, the midpoint of the time last known to be well and symptom recognition time; for wake-up stroke, the midpoint of the time last known to be well or sleep onset and wake up time) will benefit from intravenous thrombolysis.Design HOPE is a prospective, multicentre, randomised, open-label blinded endpoint trial with the stage of phase III. The treatment allocation employs 1:1 randomisation. The treatment arm under investigation is alteplase with standard therapy, the control arm is standard therapy. Eligibility imaging criteria include ischaemic core volume ≤70 mL, penumbra ≥10 mL and mismatch ≥20%.Study outcomes The primary outcome is non-disabled functional outcome (assessed as modified Rankin Scale score of 0–1 at 90 days).Discussion HOPE is the first trial to investigate whether intravenous thrombolysis with alteplase offers benefits in patients who had an AIS presenting within 4.5–24 hours, which has the potential to extend time window and expand eligible population for thrombolysis therapy

Reactive plasma deposition of high quality single phase CuO thin films suitable for metal oxide solar cells

Copper oxides are of great potential as active optical absorbing materials for low-cost solar cells based on sustainable and green materials resources. In this work, CuO thin films are deposited at room temperature by reactive sputtering deposition using a novel high target utilization system (HiTUS). The films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV–vis-near infrared absorption spectroscopy, and Hall measurement. The results showed that the deposition rate, phase structures, optical, and electrical properties of copper oxide films were strongly dependent on the sputtering power and the oxygen flow rate. The as-deposited films were characteristically polycrystalline, without evident preference in crystal orientations. This led to highly compact films without the formation of through-thickness columnar grain boundaries typical to conventional reactive magnetron sputtering deposited films. Optical absorption spectroscopy showed that all the CuO films from this work exhibited an indirect optical bandgap about 1.5 eV, without evident effect from the oxygen flow rates. Hall measurement revealed that the CuO films were of p type conductivity, with their hole concentration being readily tunable in a wide range of 1017–1022 cm−3. The ability for refined tuning of the concentration of charged carriers (holes) is critical in realizing the great potential in engineering delivery of CuO photovoltaic (PV) cells with high efficiency