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Many experts suggest that the human being explore marine resources and marine new energy sources to alleviate the shortage of land resources and the ecological degradation. However, island coastal zones are considered to be fragile ecosystems; their geographical location and natural characteristics, their biodiversity and associated ecosystems, and their exposure to diverse land and sea conditions all make them highly vulnerable to environmental changes and human activities. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve the goals of environmental protection and sustainable development on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation and understanding of islands.

Due to the importance of island groups, this paper conducts evaluation studies on them. Using the Delphi, AHP and TOPSIS methods, this study evaluated quantitatively the comprehensive development level and comprehensive development potential of island groups in terms of resources, natural environment, economy and society. Innovatively using them as two subsystems, the present study combined the coupling coordination model and the obstacle factor calculation method.

The prospective index of comprehensive development was applied to the Changdao Island Group in Yantai, Shandong Province as an example, and the final evaluation revealed that the comprehensive development prospect of this island group had an upward trend from 2010 to 2017. Future efforts should be made to improve its economic and social conditions and economic development status, apart from promoting its comprehensive development by improving human resources management, increasing the GDP growth rate, and improving fresh water and electricity supply.

This study takes the integrated development level of the island and the integrated development potential of the island as two subsystems, and the innovative application of the coupling coordination degree model is used to calculate the integrated development index of the island to understand the development status of the island area. On the basis of this model, the obstacle factor identification method is designed to identify the main obstacle factors, and on the basis of evaluation and identification, specific measures to ensure the sustainable development of the island area are effectively proposed.

This research examines the impact of the National Rural E-commerce Comprehensive Demonstration Project (NRECDP) on poverty reduction and income growth in rural China.

The study develops a theoretical framework, which considers the role of geographical, technological, institutional and cultural factors for the e-commerce poverty alleviation (e-CPA) model. Empirically, this study applies the difference-in-differences (DID) model and the event study approach to evaluate the effectiveness of NRECDP on the basis of large-scale county-level and household-level panel data spanning 2010 to 2020.

The study found that the NRECDP, as a government-led, information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled, market-based program, has led to a significant increase in per capita output of primary industry employees, as well as in the disposable income of rural residents, especially those in national-level poverty-stricken (NP) counties. The interventions of the NRECDP achieved these positive outcomes through transportation and Internet infrastructure improvement, ICT adoption and human capital accumulation in impoverished towns and villages in remote rural areas. These effects are larger in the eastern region of China, followed by the central region, whereas the weakest effects were found in the western region. However, we found little evidence of the NRECDP increasing household developmental expenditure.

The study findings have important practical and policy implications for rural e-commerce development and self-sustained poverty alleviation solutions. The research revealed the significance of government NRECDP interventions for increasing rural income, reducing living costs, and empowering the rural population in its multiple social roles, namely, as consumers, producers, employees and microentrepreneurs. The local cultural context may also play a role in ICT adoption and entrepreneurship cultivation with a downstream effect on the effectiveness of e-CPA practices. Policymakers would need to ensure a supportive entrepreneur-friendly environment for rural e-commerce development and continue implementing progressive policies for poverty alleviation.

This study explores poverty alleviation issues in China by developing for the first time a multi-faceted framework that is subsequently tested by both county-level and household-level large-scale observations. Also, it is the first study to provide nationwide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of e-CPA in narrowing down the spatial and digital divides in China. In addition to the impact of geography, technology and governmental support, this study also sheds light on the role of culture in the adoption and diffusion of digital technologies and as a source of local entrepreneurial opportunities.

It was verified that the micro-texture in the front and back of the tool at the same time had a positive effect on improving the milling behavior and surface quality of the tool. The purpose of this study is to explore the rationality of simultaneous placement of micro-textures on the front and rear surfaces of ball-end milling cutters, analyze the influence of micro-texture parameters on tool milling behavior and workpiece surface quality, reveal its internal mechanism, and obtain the best micro-texture parameters by optimization.

First, the mechanism of micro-texture is studied based on the energy loss model. Second, the orthogonal experiment is designed to analyze the influence of micro-texture parameters on tool milling behavior and reveal its mechanism by combining simulation technology and cutting experiment. Finally, the parameters are optimized based on the artificial bee colony algorithm.

The results show that the simultaneous placement of micro-texture on the rake face and flank face of the tool has a positive effect on improving the milling behavior and surface quality of the tool. Taking milling force, tool wear and surface roughness as the evaluation criteria, the optimal parameter combination is obtained: the rake face micro-texture diameter is 50 µm, the distance from the micro-texture is 200 µm and the distance from the cutting edge is 110 µm; the diameter of the micro-textured flank is 40 µm, the distance from the micro-texture is 170 µm and the distance from the cutting edge is 130 µm.

Taking milling force, tool wear and surface roughness as the evaluation criteria, the optimal parameter combination is obtained: the rake face micro-texture diameter is 50 µm, the distance from the micro-texture is 200 µm and the distance from the cutting edge is 110 µm; the diameter of the micro-textured flank is 40 µm, the distance from the micro-texture is 170 µm and the distance from the cutting edge is 130 µm, which provides theoretical support for the further study of the micro-textured tool.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2023-0022/

The purpose of this paper is to prepare a dual-encapsulated halloysite nano-container to release the capsuled inhibitor as an additive for corrosion protection of epoxy coating.

Halloysite nano-containers (HNT) were prepared by simultaneously implanting inhibitor benzotriazole (BTA) into the inside and outside of the halloysite using reduced pressure and layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly, respectively. The microstructure and morphology of treated HNT were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the anti-corrosion behaviors of the composite polyepoxy coating with inhibitor-loaded nano-containers BTA@HNT-2 were investigated using the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and neutral salt spray test.

Test results showed that the LBL assembly structure of the halloysite nano-container makes the BTA@HNT-2 nano-container be controlled and sustained to release BTA, relying on the pH. Very importantly, the obtained nano-container is also responsive to temperature, owing to the thermosensitivity polyelectrolyte out-shell of the HNT. The result showed R_ct of the composite polyepoxy coating can be sufficient to maintain higher than 8.510E+7 Ω·cm² over 72 h of immersion test. Moreover, the artificial induced defects on the coating surface were sufficiently inhibited in the presence of BTA@HNT-2 nano-container in the polyepoxy coating.

Use of the BTA@HNT-2 as corrosion inhibitor nano-container, with good anti-corrosion property and dual-responsive to pH and temperature, offers a significant rout to prepare smart anti-corrosion coating for protecting metal substrate.

The purpose of this paper is to provide readers with the main findings and conclusions of papers presented at the 2011 CAER‐IFPRI International Conference held under the theme “Is China entering a high food price era?”

The authors conduct a desk review of papers presented at the conference and provide a brief summary of the analytical tools, and main findings and conclusions of each presentation.

These reviews show that, while there seems to be an increase in the prices of agricultural commodities on the Chinese market, in real terms, these rises fall far below the increases in the prices of industrial commodities. Thus, expert views remain divided on whether China is entering an era of high food price.

The discussions initiated by the conference theme aroused researchers' curiosities for further studies into understanding the current level of food prices in China.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the China Agricultural Economic Review (CAER)'s second annual conference, which was organized by the CAER editorial office and International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The conference theme was “Agriculture and the Wealth of Nations”, aiming to explore the importance of agriculture as well as the relationship and interaction between agriculture and the whole economy. The attendees from 14 countries discussed the related issues, and a number of distinguished scholars and policy makers were also invited to present at the conference. This summary presents the topics covered at the conference and highlights discussion points.

Action items were identified which could be appropriately organized into the following sections: agricultural trade and rural labor issues; rural governance and public policy; climate change and food security; rural land and rural finance issues.

The paper illustrates how the academic platform established by the CAER‐IFPRI conference, enables scholars from varied cultures and fields to get together to share their researches and ideas.

This paper aims to clarify the relationship between wealth and trustworthiness with the goal of understanding why micro‐lending institutions grant loans to poor individuals countering well‐known models of credit markets and credit rationing, such as those proposed by Stiglitz and Weiss. Micro‐credit markets appear to be based on two conjectures: the poor are trustworthy, and their willingness to pay for credit is relatively high.

The paper simulates trust‐based lending in an experimental setting to determine whether the conjecture that the poor are trustworthy is plausible. By conducting the experiments in the USA, a wealthy developed country, and China, a developing country where formal micro‐finance institutions have not established a visible presence, it is possible to test the conjecture and draw cross‐cultural comparisons.

The paper finds that while the absolute level of family income had no significant effect on repayment behavior, US borrowers that perceived themselves as having a family income that was relatively lower than other US households repaid at higher rates. Therefore, evidence was found that trustworthiness might be a function of perceived relative wealth or social status rather than the absolute level of wealth or income.

The research results may be difficult to generalize because of the experimental approach and use of students as participants.

The paper includes implications for the administration of micro‐credit loans in China and other developing nations.

This paper experimentally tests a conjecture which appears to be the foundation of micro‐credit markets.

Historically, China's political attempts to provide access to rural credit has met with mixed results and an institutional structure that often strays from intended policy goals. Unlike Robin Hood of English lore, the emergence of financial institutions in China appears to have robbed from the poor to lend to the rich, with actions that severely depleted the lending resources required for rural development. Historically, there has been a close correspondence between financial depression and the many policy‐driven financial institutions that dominated the rural financial system in China. More recently, ongoing reforms are dedicated towards a gradual liberalization within the system. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to rethink the structure of rural finance in China, reviewing the current reform and putting forward the policy implications.

The paper explores the context of agricultural transition and political process as defined by the various interlinkages across the Chinese rural financial system.

The paper finds that there has been negligible progress in the evolution of the rural financial market in China. The policy‐led financial institutions ended up as merely a disbursement window and a costly drain on state budget. Institutional changes were locked in by patching up the existing institutions. The ongoing reforms projected by policymakers promote competition among different institutional lenders and thus potentially improve the financial services in rural areas.

This paper analyzes the new‐round reform of rural finance in China and brings forward the future direction of rural finance in China.