Southeast Asian Studies (SEAS) in China has experienced significant changes in the past twenty years. China's rising political and economic power has stimulated growing demands for better understanding of the wider world, resulting in the rapid development of area studies in recent years. Although SEAS in China predated the relatively recent notion of ‘area studies’ by at least half a century, the boom in area studies has profoundly transformed the field, most notably by attracting a large number of scholars to conduct policy-relevant research. Not only does the ‘policy turn’ reflect shifts of research paradigms in the field of SEAS, but it is also consistent with some larger trends prevailing in China's higher education sector and rapidly changing society in general. This article shows that SEAS in China has grown even more imbalanced, as indicated by the rapid growth of language programmes, absolute domination of short-term policy research, and further marginalisation of humanistic subjects. To respond, Chinese universities have adopted new approaches to SEAS depending on their distinct disciplinary foundations, language coverage, faculty interests, and local governments’ policy preferences.
Quantitative identification on reactive sites of target organic molecule during photocatalysis can help to get deep insight into the pollutant degradation pathway and energy evolution process. In this study, a new class of silica aerogel supported TiO2 (TiO2/SiO2) photocatalysts were fabricated via a two-step approach, and applied for adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of phenanthrene. Anatase crystalline structure was formed upon calcination at 400 and 600 °C, while mixed crystal interphases of anatase and rutile were generated at 800 °C (anatase:rutile = 0.67:0.33). The higher calcination temperature resulted in better crystallinity of TiO2, higher photocatalytic activity, and reduced adsorption affinity toward phenanthrene. TiO2/SiO2-800 (TiO2/SiO2 calcined at 800 °C) showed minimal phenanthrene uptake ( 5.2%) but the strongest photocatalytic activity, and it was able to completely degrade phenanthrene within 3 h. The SiO2 aerogel component in the composite enabled the pre-concentration of phenanthrene on the photoactive sites, while the nanoscale mixed-phases of anatase and rutile of TiO2/SiO2-800 act as an efficient transfer medium for photo-induced charge carriers. Moreover, the formed Ti–O–Si linkage in TiO2/SiO2-800 induced formation of Ti3+ under solar light irradiation, promoting photoexcited electron trap and separation of electron-hole pairs. Based on the degraded phenanthrene intermediates/products, theoretical calculations according to the density functional theory (DFT) reveal that the atoms of phenanthrene with high electrophilic Fukui index (f -) are the most reactive sites towards the radicals. Potential energy surface profile for phenanthrene degradation further reveals the intermediates energy evaluation via radicals attack.
Purpose – It is widely accepted that business excellence comes from firm-specific factors. However, it is still unclear how institutional relatedness – the degree of embeddedness with the dominant institutions that confer resources and legitimacy, influences the business excellence of the firm. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of three kinds of institutional relatedness, i.e. home government ties, initial public offerings (IPOs) and alliances with foreign firms, on the business excellence of Chinese firms. Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a sample of firms enlisted on the “Most Respected Companies” rank in China during the period 2002–2015 and their paired firms who are absent from the list, by means of ordinary least square regression estimator, to explore the relationship between institutional relatedness and business excellence. Findings – The empirical results suggest that IPOs and alliances with foreign firms significantly strengthen firms’ business excellence. Furthermore, home government ties have positive effects on outbound IPOs and alliances with foreign firms but hinder business excellence. Originality/value – This study extends the business excellence literature by characterizing institutional rather than firm-specific factors from an institution-based view. It also enriches research on outcomes of institutional relatedness through investigating empirically its impact on business excellence. The findings provide new insights into the dual role of home government ties in achieving business excellence.
Surface-washing agents are an option to enhance the removal of oil spilled or stranded on shorelines. The use of nanocellulose-based nanofluid as a surface-washing agent was studied by investigating its reactivity and effectiveness. Salinity was found to be the most influencial factor to facilitate oil removal with the nanofluids. Cations from salt can promote the adsorption of nanocellulose on the oil/water interface by reducing the surface charges. The experimental results revealed the nanocellulose could be effective at low concentrations but an excess of nanocellulose hindered oil removal due to an increase in fluid viscosity. A miscibility model was applied to verify this finding in a thermodynamics context. The biotoxicity tests showed that nanocellulose-based nanofluid did not have negative effects on algae growth and introducing nanocellulose into an oiled culture medium can actually mitigate the toxicity of the oil on algae. A comparison in removal efficiency with other surfactants demonstrated the potential value for shoreline cleanup due to the superior effectiveness of nanocellulose-based nanofluids. Overall, a nanocellulose has a high potential for application as a surface-washing agent for shoreline cleanup due to the low cost, low toxicity, and high efficiency.
Severe haze events with exceedingly high-levels of fine aerosols occur frequently over the past decades in the North China Plain (NCP), exerting profound impacts on human health, weather, and climate. The development of effective mitigation policies requires a comprehensive understanding of the haze formation mechanisms, including identification and quantification of the sources, formation, and transformation of the aerosol species. Haze evolution in this region exhibits distinct physical and chemical characteristics from clean to polluted periods, as evident from increasing stagnation and relative humidity, but decreasing solar radiation as well as explosive secondary aerosol formation. The latter is attributed to highly elevated concentrations of aerosol precursor gases and is reflected by rapid increases in the particle number and mass concentrations, both corresponding to nonequilibrium chemical processes. Considerable new knowledge has been acquired to understand the processes regulating haze formation, particularly in light of the progress in elucidating the aerosol formation mechanisms. This review synthesizes recent advances in understanding secondary aerosol formation, by highlighting several critical chemical/physical processes, that is, new particle formation and aerosol growth driven by photochemistry and aqueous chemistry as well as the interaction between aerosols and atmospheric stability. Current challenges and future research priorities are also discussed.