Enhance Plugging Performance of Microgel by Introducing Cationic Group

To enhance plugging performance of microgels, a series of microgels with varied cationic degrees was synthesized by inverse microemulsion polymerization with acrylamide and methylacryloxylethyl trimethyl ammonium chloride as monomers. The properties and performance of cationic microgels were examined by transmission electron microscope, dynamic light scattering analysis, viscosity measurement and plugging test. The results show that cationic microgel exhibits better ability in water adsorption and viscosity enhancement than nonionic microgels. It can efficiently plug formation with permeability lower than 1200×10-3 μm2 (mD), compared to 800 mD of nonionic microgels. The optimal cationic degree is 10%.Key words: Cationic microgel; Polyacrylamide; Profile contro

Assessing the Role of Inward Foreign Direct Investment in Chinese Economic Development, 1990-2007: Towards a Synthesis of Alternative Views

In the context of globalization, China has been widely regarded as the most successful country in the world in utilizing inward foreign direct investment (FDI) for economic development. The mainstream of the literature has produced a wide range of studies that are largely within the theoretical framework of neoclassical economics, and they tend to conclude that FDI has contributed significantly to Chinese economic development – through capital formation, export expansion, technology transfer, and the transformation of the economic structures and institutions. The objective of this paper is to assess the role of FDI in Chinese economic development with reference to the broader theoretical literature on FDI and late development, which encompasses structuralism and radical political economy along with neoclassical economics. From the perspectives of the broader literature, the analyses of the paper find that FDI in China has indeed promoted economic development in one respect (improving allocative efficiency), but has also had unfavourable effect in another respect (worsening productive efficiency), resulting in an overall impact that tends to be on the negative side. The mainstream story of China is thus judged to be partial, and the lessons to be drawn from the experience are arguably far more complex than have been hitherto perceived

The Effect of Betaine Surfactant on Carbonate Reservoir Wettability in Self-Diverting Acidizing Stimulation

Contact angle alterations of carbonate cores after immersing in spent acid with oleyl amido propyl betaine surfactant were measured to clarify the effect of viscoelastic surfactant on the wettability of carbonate reservoir during self-diverting acidizing. The results showed that spent acid solutions with hydrochloric acid and betaine surfactant induced core wettability to water-wetting for initially oil-wet rocks, and oil-wetting for initially water-wet rocks. Longer immersion time and higher concentration of surfactant enhanced the effects. The adverse wettability reversal for water-wet reservoir was eliminated by mutual solvent or brine postflush. Chemical mechanisms of the wettability alteration were interpreted

Comparison of Gross Primary Productivity Derived from GIMMS NDVI3g, GIMMS, and MODIS in Southeast Asia

Gross primary production (GPP) plays an important role in the net ecosystem exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and terrestrial ecosystems. It is particularly important to monitor GPP in Southeast Asia because of increasing rates of tropical forest degradation and deforestation in the region in recent decades. The newly available, improved, third generation Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI3g) from the Global Inventory Modelling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) group provides a long temporal dataset, from July 1981 to December 2011, for terrestrial carbon cycle and climate response research. However, GIMMS NDVI3g-based GPP estimates are not yet available. We applied the GLOPEM-CEVSA model, which integrates an ecosystem process model and a production efficiency model, to estimate GPP in Southeast Asia based on three independent results of the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation absorbed by vegetation (FPAR) from GIMMS NDVI3g (GPPNDVI3g), GIMMS NDVI1g (GPPNDVI1g), and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD15A2 FPAR product (GPPMOD15). The GPP results were validated using ground data from eddy flux towers located in different forest biomes, and comparisons were made among the three GPPs as well as the MOD17A2 GPP products (GPPMOD17). Based on validation with flux tower derived GPP estimates the results show that GPPNDVI3g is more accurate than GPPNDVI1g and is comparable in accuracy with GPPMOD15. In addition, GPPNDVI3g and GPPMOD15 have good spatial-temporal consistency. Our results indicate that GIMMS NDVI3g is an effective dataset for regional GPP simulation in Southeast Asia, capable of accurately tracking the variation and trends in long-term terrestrial ecosystem GPP dynamics

China’s economic growth, 1978-2007: structural-institutional changes and efficiency attributes

China’s sustained rapid economic growth over the era of its systemic reform is of general importance for late development under globalization. This paper seeks to construct an explanation of the experience, which centers on the notion of an evolving development path that embodies an uneasy mix of the attributes of allocative and productive efficiency. In this light, the analytical findings of the paper give rise to two main propositions. First, in contrast to the general direction of market reform in the institutional dimension, China’s actual path of industrialization and economic growth has rather tended to contradict the principle of (endowment-determined) comparative advantage. It has been in the direction of capital deepening, especially since the early 1990s. Second, China’s reformed economic institutions have encompassed both market-supplanting and market-conforming elements. These are represented by state-owned enterprises and non-state-owned enterprises, respectively, with the former accounting for the improvement in productive efficiency while the latter accounting for the improvement in allocative efficiency. The paper concludes with a discussion on the significance and policy implications of the findings

Planning Systems of Tokyo Bay Area and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: Perspectives of Development and Space

Domestic research on the planning of the Tokyo metropolitan area of Japan mainly includes evaluation and comparative research. The former involves the perspectives of planning interpretation, experience summarization, and history evolution; the latter compares and analyzes the three major urban agglomerations in China against the Tokyo metropolitan area. On the whole, most evaluation studies focus on the metropolitan area planning itself, and rarely focus on that of each prefecture and county under the metropolitan area. The relationship between these lower-level and metropolitan area planning has received relatively little attention. Comparative studies mostly cover various fields such as economy, industry, environmental protection, and so on, but the discussion paradigm is generally based on "introduction to the current situation → inspiration and reference," with rare objective comparison made under a reasonable benchmark and appropriate framework. At the same time, comparative research on urban agglomeration planning itself is also uncommon. As important spatial representations of the economic development in China and Japan, with what important planning has the Tokyo Bay Area (TBA) and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) developed to date? How do these plans relate to each other? What are the characteristics and differences? What results did these similarities and differences ultimately lead to? Answering these questions is not only related to the construction effectiveness of the GBA itself, but also has certain significance for other urban agglomerations in China. In this context, we adopt "development" and "space" as the two perspectives to analyze the planning system of the two major bay areas from the aspects of planning property, background, target area, goal, regional positioning, and main measures. On this basis, the similarities and differences between the two are summarized in six aspects: historical background and relevant system, departmental and institutional system, vertical transmission mechanism, horizontal coordination mechanism, planning system characteristics and public participation. This study argues that the following: (1) The two bay areas have played leading roles in industrialization, urban system construction, and urban agglomeration planning system construction in each country, but there are differences in the historical backgrounds and relevant social systems. (2) Under the decentralization of powers, the setting and naming of departments and institutions of TBA are relatively flexible, and they participate in the preparation process of comprehensive planning in the form of "Council." Except for Hong Kong and Macao, the departmental settings of GBA are orderly, clear, and consistent in form. (3) In terms of vertical transmission system, the central-level planning of TBA is self-contained and continuous but that at the county-level is relatively free, and the upper-level planning is not absolutely mandatory; the relationship between the upper and lower levels of GBA-related planning is relatively clear but that at the regional-level has some flexibility in execution. (4) In the horizontal coordination system, the TBA has established two major joint meeting systems to coordinate regional governance and planning formulation, while planning has weakened the positioning to each city's functions. Furthermore, GBA has also established cooperation mechanisms with different levels of cooperation for various issues, and the characteristics of planning for the positioning of urban functions are still obvious. (5) In terms of planning nature, the developmental and spatial planning of TBA have been combined into comprehensive planning, and the spatial aspect has obvious characteristics of stock planning. GBA still formulates planning from three aspects of development, space, and urban and rural areas and is in the transition from incremental to stock planning. (6) In terms of public participation, TBA has broken through the traditional planning paradigm and has begun to involve micro-fields such as personal value, with a high degree of public participation. In recent years, GBA has continuously enriched the planning content and has also made progress in the construction of public participation mechanisms and awareness training, but there is still room for improvement

Financial governance and economic development: making sense of the Chinese experience

Despite fundamental market reforms, the Chinese financial system has remained a mixed system. From the perspectives of the mainstream doctrines of financial liberalization, this system is easily judged to be entailing serious allocative inefficiencies. Nevertheless, from alternative theoretical perspectives, the system might have been conducive to promoting productive efficiency. This paper argues that the actual experience does seem to indicate that, hitherto, the gains in productive efficiency have more than compensated for the losses in allocative efficiency. This judgement helps to make sense of the Chinese anomaly that a seemingly inefficient financial system has co-existed with the outstanding performance of financial deepening and economic development over the past three decades