During the 1960 campaign of the Corinth Excavations, a Tang Dynasty coin was found in an ash and charcoal layer with deposits from the mid- to late 13th century ce and earlier. Considering similar coin finds from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, and the Chui Region, Kyrgyzstan, this article argues that the Corinth Tang coin is likely an Anxi Protectorate issue, though a Chui valley origin cannot be ruled out. This article discusses the origins, survival, and mobility of this minimal-value cash coin in a web of Eurasian connections, with particular focus on the connectivity of the Church of the East and the Jewish merchant network from the 8th to the 13th century ce.
Hu Z, Miao X, Shao L. Tests of Classical Gravity with Radio Pulsars. In: Bambi C, Cárdenas-Avendaño A Recent Progress on Gravity Tests. Challenges and Future Perspectives. ; 2024. pp. 61-99.
The heat energy resource in the deep earth (3 ∼10 km), which is carried by Hot Dry Rocks (HDR), has a huge capacity for geothermal power generation. As a type of conductive geothermal energy, HDR has low rock permeability, so that Enhanced/Engineered Geothermal System (EGS) is developed to artificially increase the heat exchange area and further extract the deep geothermal energy with the connected natural fractures and hydraulic stimulated fracture network. The coupled Thermal-Hydrological-Mechanical (THM) processes largely control the heat recovery efficiency from HDR, and thus real 3D reservoir scale investigations that account for the multiphysics coupling mechanisms are needed to inform geothermal energy recovery from HDR.In this work, we built a three-dimensional THM model for the EGS of Qiabuqia HDR (Zhang et al. 2018, Gonghe Basin, China) by taking advantage of the novel simulation framework, GEOSX (Settgast et al. 2022). As a rapidly growing open-source multi-physics simulator, GEOSX has highly scalable algorithms for solving complex fluid flow, thermal, and geomechanical coupled systems. Preliminary geological data of the targetarea has been acquired by exploratory wells (e.g., GR1, GR2, DR3, DR4). There is also a trial production well GH-01. In our model, we considered a dual-well utilization system. Our 3D model focuses on reservoir-scale THM coupling, and takes into consideration the geostress directions in configuring the faults and (hydraulic)fractures, which are explicitly handled with EDFM (Embedded Discrete Fracture Model) method. The simulated results of heat recovery efficiency under different production scenarios provide guidance information for engineering practices.
Teflon bag chambers have long been used for investigating atmospheric chemical processes, including secondary organic aerosol formation. The wall-loss process of gas-phase species in Teflon bag chambers has typically been investigated at around room temperature. Recent laboratory studies started employing Teflon bag chambers at sub-273 K conditions for simulating wintertime and upper-tropospheric environments. However, temperature dependence in vapor-wall-loss processes of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in a Teflon bag chamber has not been well investigated. In this study, we experimentally investigated wall-loss processes of C14–C19 n-alkanes in a 1 m3 Teflon bag for the temperature range of 262 to 298 K. Enhanced wall losses of the tested n-alkanes were observed following the decrease in temperature. For instance, 65 % of C14 n-alkane was lost to the wall 15 h after injection at room temperature, while the corresponding value was 95 % at 262 K. The experimental data were analyzed using a two-layer kinetic model, which considers both absorption of gas-phase species to the surface layer of the Teflon wall and diffusion to the inner layer. The experimental data demonstrated that absorption of gas-phase species by the surface layer was enhanced at lower temperatures. The temperature dependence in absorption was well accounted for using the equilibrium-dissolution model of organic compounds to the Teflon surface by considering reduced saturation vapor pressure at lower temperatures. On the contrary, diffusion of n-alkanes from the surface to the inner layer slowed down at reduced temperatures. Mechanistic studies on these processes will need to be conducted in the future to quantitatively predict the influence of temperature-dependent wall-loss processes of SVOCs on laboratory experimental results.
The reactions between CO2 slugs and crude oil induce a substantial amount of asphaltene precipitation and adsorption on the rock surface during the CO2 alternative water flooding process. When the subsequent water slug passes through the core pores after asphaltene adsorption, it will displace the previous CO2 slug. The wettability of water and CO2 on the asphaltene-adsorbed rock surface will directly determine the magnitude and direction of the capillary force of the two media, which in turn affects their flow resistance and flow pattern analysis. In this paper, the systems of CO2/water/sandstone and CO2/water/asphaltene adsorption sandstone were established by molecular dynamics simulation technology. The effects of asphaltene adsorption, thickness of the asphaltene adsorption layer, CO2 density, mass fraction and type of salt in water on the wettability of water on sandstone surfaces were studied. The results reveal that asphaltene adsorption significantly reduces the wettability of water on the original powerful water-wetting sandstone surface, making it easier to see how CO2 density affects the wettability of water on the asphaltene-adsorbed sandstone surface. The increased CO2 density will continue to lower the wettability of water on the asphaltene-adsorbed sandstone surface, even causing it to become wet with CO2. The adsorption thickness of asphaltene does not affect the wettability of water and CO2 on the asphaltene-adsorbed sandstone surface, and just a layer of 5A-thick asphaltene adsorption can significantly reduce the wettability of water on sandstone surfaces. Furthermore, a rise in salinity in water has a detrimental impact on the wettability of water on the asphaltene-adsorbed sandstone surface, with divalent salts having a stronger negative effect than monovalent salts.
Rural households contend with numerous uninsured risks that hinder their ability to leverage profitable yet risky opportunities. We study whether the provision of insurance coverage for medical expenditure, one of the most substantial and unpredictable risk, can stimulate entrepreneurship and other risky financial decisions among rural households. We leverage the progressive nationwide rollout of a universal public health insurance program in rural China. We find that the introduction of health insurance led to a substantial increase in rural households engagement in entrepreneurship. This increase is mainly driven by the risk sharing of health insurance, rather than a reduction in realized medical expenses. The entrepreneurship-promoting effect is also evident at an aggregate level, fostering the growth of smallholder businesses in rural counties. Our findings shed light on the understudied, favorable impact of health insurance on household’s risk taking in rural markets of developing countries.
This book analyzes the wealth management of mid-high net worth individuals and families. As China's economy develops and people's living standards improve, more and more families are becoming well-off and the middle-income group continues to expand. After creating wealth and becoming rich, better guarding, spreading and enjoying wealth is not only an urgent challenge faced by more and more micro-families, but also an inevitable need to enrich and energize people's livelihood and the connotation of a good life.
Mid-high net worth people are an organic part of China's middle-income group, as well as the future coordinates of many families that have just crossed into the middle-income group. An accurate portrait of this group and an in-depth study of the needs, habits, ways and effects of their family wealth management and distribution are conducive to better responding to the demands of affluent families to "keep, pass on and enjoy wealth," as well as exploring the path of solidly promoting common prosperity at the micro-family level.
From this perspective, Institute of Social Science Survey of Peking University has conducted a panoramic analysis on mid-high net worth people from panel survey with more 16,000 households in China after 10 years of tracking and investigation, from six aspects: behavioral patterns, financial asset allocation, non-financial asset allocation, commercial insurance allocation, children's commercial medical insurance allocation and pension insurance allocation, the importance of which is self-evident. As the first systematic work on asset allocation and insurance protection of Chinese middle and high net worth families, although part of the purpose is to explore the demand for insurance protection and develop the commercial insurance market, there is no doubt that this study is an important reference for the government to formulate social security policies and for financial institutions to optimize the supply of family wealth services.
2015年夏于劳迪凯亚（Laodikeia） 古城区中心出土了公元114/115年行省总督斯卡普拉政令铭刻，此政令为研究罗马元首制时期行省治理提供了新资料。在该政令中，总督制定了标准和惩罚措施，以确保水质及水利设施，并要求地方行政系统设立新职位，调整现有的水资源分配、保护和使用的职权和责任。市政自治是罗马元首制的一个主要机制。总督这种介入地方事务的行为，对地方政府而言是一次重大的干预。总督虽然有理论上不受限的权力，但总督任期长度、总督幕僚和附随人员规模、历任元首和总督的治理先例以及地方上掌有政治社会权力或影响力的人士和群体等动态因素，都会影响总督行使权力的方式。劳迪凯亚《政令》为今人提供了衡量罗马帝国中央与地方关系的尺度，揭示了包括中央与地方当局之间的权力平衡、权力动态和共识建设等方面的宝贵信息。 In the summer of 2015, an inscription dating to AD 114/115 was found during the excavation of the ancient city of L aodikeia. This paper discusses how the inscription, which was likely issued by the provincial governor Marcus (Osto rius?) Scapula, can be useful in the study on the provincial governance during the Roman Principate. The governor established standards and punitive measures to ensure water quality and hydraulic facilities, created new municipal of fices, and adjusted existing duties and responsibilities for the allocation, protection, and use of water resources. Municipal autonomy was one of the major mechanisms of the Roman Principate. The governor's intervention in local affairs was expected in local governance, but much depended upon local elites and institutions to materialise his intervention. Although the governor had unrestricted power theoretically, other factors, such as the length of the governor's term, the size of the governor's staff and entourage, the precedents set by former emperors and governors, and local individuals and groups with political and social power or influence, created dynamic pretexts that required careful navigation when exercising power. The Laodikeia edict offered an opportunity to assess how power balance, power dynamics, and consensus-building between the central and local authorities may have been like from the lens of the provincial governor.