As an important ecosystem type in the coastal zone, mangroves have important ecological functions, such as maintaining coastal biodiversity, preventing wind and consolidating the coast, promoting silt and building land. It is of great significance to understand the protected status of mangroves in the context of climate change and rapid urbanization. Based on the mangrove classification data from remote sensing interpretation, through vacancy analysis, the in-situ protection status of mangroves in China is analyzed. The results show that the total area of mangroves distributed in China is 264 km² (excluding the statistical data of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), of which 61.4% are protected in natural reserves. In terms of the main provinces where mangroves are distributed, the mangrove area distributed in Hainan Province is small but the protection proportion is high, while the mangrove area distributed in Guangxi and Guangdong Province is large but the proportion of protected areas is relatively low. Among the three mangrove types, Rhizophora apiculate-Xylocarpus granatum and Rhizophora stylosa-Bruguiera gymnorrhiza had high proportions (>90%) covered by reserves, but relatively small areas. In contrast, Kandelia candel-Aegiceras corniculatum-Avicennia marina had relatively low reserve coverage (52.6%), but a large area. The study puts forward the key areas of mangrove distribution outside the nature reserve, and suggests that they should be protected by delimiting ecological protection red lines.

The objective of this work was to evaluate the combined effect of bovine manure, Pseudomonas putida and Trichoderma aureoviride on the development of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). The promotion of plant growth by microorganisms may be a viable and sustainable alternative for lettuce crop management. The experimental design was entirely randomized with five treatments: T0 (witness without fertilization, P. putida and T. aureoviride), TE (cattle manure), TEB (cattle manure + P. putida), TEF (cattle manure + T. aureoviride), TEFB (cattle manure + P. putida + T. aureoviride) and ten repetitions each. The following variables were analyzed: germination velocity index (GVI), first count (FC), germination percentage (GP), leaf area index and productivity. The TEFB treatment proved to be a viable alternative for the production of lettuce, especially for small producers, since all the vegetable production in the region comes from family farming.

In this policy insight, the author lays out the context of the BRI and its role in global development. He also explains why the US should consider working with China on the BRI. The author opines on China’s possible approach and strategy to get global private investors to come on board for the massive BRI projects. He suggests that the global players can establish a third-party market cooperation and coordination mechanism to turn the BRI into a platform for win-win global collaboration.

In this study, nano-scale microstructural evolution in 6061-T6 alloy after laser shock processing (LSP) was studied. 6061-T6 alloy plate was subjected to multiple LSP. The LSP treated area was characterized by X-ray diffraction and the microstructure of the samples was analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. Focused Ion Beam (FIB) tools were used to prepare TEM samples in precise areas. It was found that even though aluminum had high stacking fault energy, LSP yielded to formation of ultrafine grains and deformation faults such as dislocation cells, stacking faults. The stacking fault probability (PSF) was obtained in LSP-treated alloy using X-Ray diffraction. Deformation induced stacking faults lead to the peak position shifts, broadening and asymmetry of diffraction. XRD analysis and TEM observations revealed significant densities of stacking faults in LSP-treated 6061-T6 alloy. And mechanical properties of LSP-treated alloy were also determined to understand the hardening behavior with high concentration of structural defects.

Application of nanoparticles have been proven to aid heat transfer in engineering systems. This work experimentally investigated the performance of a domestic refrigerator under the influence of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles dispersed in mineral oil based lubricant at different charges (40, 60 and 80 g) of LPG refrigerant. The performance of the system was then investigated using test parameters including: power consumption, evaporator air temperature (pull-down time), to attain the specified International Standard Organisation (ISO) requirement for standard evaporator air temperature with small refrigerator size. Results showed improved pull down time and steady state evaporator air temperatures for the nano-lubricant based LPG. Improvement of about 11.79% in coefficient of performance (COP) was obtained with Al₂O₃-lubricant based LPG at 40g charge on the refrigerator system, while reduction of about 2.08% and 4.41% in COP were observed at 60 and 80 g charge of LPG based on Al₂O₃-lubricant respectively. Furthermore, reduction of about 13.4% and 19.53% in the power consumption of the system were observed at 40 and 60g charges of Al₂O₃-lubricant based LPG, whereas at 80 g, an increase of about 1.28% was recorded. Using Al₂O₃-LPG nano-refrigerant in domestic refrigerators is economical  and also a better alternative to pure LPG.

Cucumber Variety ‘Drite L108’ (Cucumis sativus L. Cv. Derit L108) was selected as the test material. In the solar greenhouse, different days (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 d) of light (PAR < 200 µmol·m^-2·s^-1) and normal light conditions were designed with shading nets to observe the growth indexes of cucumber plants and the changes of antioxidant enzyme activities in leaves. The results showed that: (1) continuous low light increased the SPAD (relative chlorophyll) value of cucumber leaves and decreased the net photosynthetic rate. The longer the continuous low light days are, the smaller the net photosynthetic rate of cucumber leaves and the worse the photosynthetic recovery ability would be. (2) The plant height, stem diameter and leaf area per plant were lower than CK, and the above indexes could not return to the normal level after 9 days of normal light recovery; the yield and marketability of cucumber fruit decreased under continuous low illumination. (3) The activities of SOD (superoxide dismutase) and POD (peroxidase) in cucumber leaves increased, the activities of CAT (catalase) first increased and then decreased, and the content of MDA (malondialdehyde) continued to increase. The longer the days of continuous light keep, the more seriously the cucumber leaves were damaged by membrane lipid peroxidation. After continuous light for more than 7 days, the metabolic function of cucumber leaves was difficult to recover to the normal level.