The Influence of Subjective Socioeconomic Status on Life Satisfaction: The Chain Mediating Role of Social Equity and Social Trust

Life satisfaction is significantly influenced by social capital, a key sociological term that links people to their social surroundings. Through a survey of 17,217 Chinese residents, this study investigated the probable processes of how subjective socioeconomic status affects life satisfaction within the framework of social capital. The results indicate that there is a positive correlation between subjective socioeconomic status and life satisfaction. Subjective socioeconomic status influences citizens’ life satisfaction not only through the independent mediating effects of perceived social equity and social trust, but also through the chain mediation of perceived social equity and social trust. This research advances our knowledge of the mechanisms behind the association between subjective socioeconomic status and life satisfaction. In improving citizens’ life satisfaction, we should not only provide sufficient subjective socioeconomic status to improve it, but also focus on the improvement of their social equity perceptions and social trust

Exergoeconomic Analysis and Optimization of a Biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle Based on Externally Fired Gas Turbine, Steam Rankine Cycle, Organic Rankine Cycle, and Absorption Refrigeration Cycle

Adopting biomass energy as an alternative to fossil fuels for electricity production presents a viable strategy to address the prevailing energy deficits and environmental concerns, although it faces challenges related to suboptimal energy efficiency levels. This study introduces a novel combined cooling and power (CCP) system, incorporating an externally fired gas turbine (EFGT), steam Rankine cycle (SRC), absorption refrigeration cycle (ARC), and organic Rankine cycle (ORC), aimed at boosting the efficiency of biomass integrated gasification combined cycle systems. Through the development of mathematical models, this research evaluates the system’s performance from both thermodynamic and exergoeconomic perspectives. Results show that the system could achieve the thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency, and levelized cost of exergy (LCOE) of 70.67%, 39.13%, and 11.67 USD/GJ, respectively. The analysis identifies the combustion chamber of the EFGT as the component with the highest rate of exergy destruction. Further analysis on parameters indicates that improvements in thermodynamic performance are achievable with increased air compressor pressure ratio and gas turbine inlet temperature, or reduced pinch point temperature difference, while the LCOE can be minimized through adjustments in these parameters. Optimized operation conditions demonstrate a potential 5.7% reduction in LCOE at the expense of a 2.5% decrease in exergy efficiency when compared to the baseline scenario

Co-production of hydrogen and multi-wall carbon nanotubes from ethanol decomposition over Fe/Al2O3 catalysts

International audienc

Intelligent Energy Management for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Bus with Limited State Space

Tabular Q-learning (QL) can be easily implemented into a controller to realize self-learning energy management control of a plug-in hybrid electric bus (PHEB). However, the “curse of dimensionality” problem is difficult to avoid, as the design space is huge. This paper proposes a QL-PMP algorithm (QL and Pontryagin minimum principle (PMP)) to address the problem. The main novelty is that the difference between the feedback SOC (state of charge) and the reference SOC is exclusively designed as state, and then a limited state space with 50 rows and 25 columns is proposed. The off-line training process shows that the limited state space is reasonable and adequate for the self-learning; the Hardware-in-Loop (HIL) simulation results show that the QL-PMP strategy can be implemented into a controller to realize real-time control, and can on average improve the fuel economy by 20.42%, compared to the charge depleting–charge sustaining (CDCS) strategy

Porcine Circovirus Type 4 Strains Circulating in China Are Relatively Stable and Have Higher Homology with Mink Circovirus than Other Porcine Circovirus Types

Porcine circovirus type 4 (PCV4) is a newly identified porcine circovirus (PCV) belonging to the Circovirus genus Circoviridae family. Although several groups have conducted epidemiological investigations on PCV4 and found that PCV4 also exists widely in pigs, there are few reports on the origin and evolution of PCV4. In this study, the genetic relationship between PCV4, mink circovirus (MiCV), bat circovirus (BtCV), PCV1, PCV2, and PCV3 was analyzed, and the consistency of viral proteins in three-dimensional (3D) structure and epitopes was predicted. We found that the genome and protein structure of PCV4 was relatively stable among current circulating PCV4 strains. Furthermore, PCV4 was more similar to MiCV in terms of its genome, protein structure, and epitope levels than other PCVs and BtCVs, suggesting that PCV4 may be derived from MiCV or have a common origin with MiCV, or mink may be an intermediate host of PCV4, which may pose a great threat to other animals and/or even human beings. Therefore, it is necessary to continuously monitor the infection and variation of PCV4, analyze the host spectrum of PCV4, and establish the prevention and treatment methods of PCV4 infection in advance