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Using abandoned gas wells as geothermal resources for energy production is an effective way to extract geothermal energy from geological formations. These abandoned wells have the potential to significantly contribute in the rising global demand for energy without requiring the land disruption resulting from deep drilling or digging, processes necessary for energy extraction from geological formations via more traditional methods. In this paper, a method to extract geothermal energy from abandoned gas wells is proposed. The method offers an efficient, economical, and environmentally-conscious way to generate electricity. A mathematical model of a thermal and hydraulic coupling process is constructed, and a 3D numerical model is generated to study the process of geothermal energy extraction by retrofitting an abandoned gas reservoir into a geothermal reservoir. Using the model, heat extraction and fluid flow are analyzed over a period of 50 years. The heat production, electricity generation, and thermal recovery over the lifetime of the reservoir indicate that a commercially viable geothermal dual well system can produce geothermal energy effectively. Dual-well systems contain at least one injection well and one production well. They are composed of a two-way flow system in which the fluid flows into the reservoir via an injection well and returns from the production well having absorbed thermal energy from the surrounding rocks. Sensitivity analysis of the main parameters controlling the average outlet temperature of the fluid from the sedimentary geothermal system reveals that abandoned gas wells are a suitable source of geothermal energy. This energy can be harvested via a method whose use of reservoir fluids differs from that of the traditional method of closed-loop circulation via a borehole heat exchanger. Here, it is demonstrated that abandoned oil and gas fields can be repurposed to be geothermal energy sources that provide low-cost electricity and are economically sustainable.

Objective With the ongoing evolution of the healthcare system and shifts in cultural paradigms, there is a pressing need to delve into the medical decision-making behaviors of general Chinese public and understand their underlying motivations. This research seeks to elucidate the prevailing tendencies in these decision-making processes and to empirically validate the pivotal factors that shape their choices, offering valuable insights for healthcare policymakers and institutions. Method A comprehensive survey was administered to 2,696 Chinese residents to examine their medical decision-making patterns. These patterns were classified into two primary categories: Unilateral Decision-making (Doctor-dominant, Family-centric, and Patient-driven subtypes) and Collaborative Decision-making (Doctor-led, Doctor-Patient, Patient-Family, and Doctor-Patient-Family subtypes). Binary logistic regression analysis was employed to empirically pinpoint the significant factors influencing these decision-making frameworks. Results The study's analysis reveals distinct preferences in medical decision-making among Chinese residents. In the Collaborative Decision-making category, chosen by 70.81% of participants, the subtypes are as follows: Doctor-led (29.90%), Doctor-Patient (13.54%), Patient-Family (2.93%), and Doctor-Patient-Family (24.44%). The Unilateral Decision-making, preferred by 29.19%, includes Doctor-dominant (23.22%), Family-centric (1.74%), and Patient-driven (4.23%) models. The preference for Collaborative Decision-making is associated with higher educational levels, specific marital statuses (particularly married but childless), and choices of rural residents' basic medical insurance or occupational basic medical insurance. In contrast, Unilateral Decision-making correlates with males, individuals with religious beliefs, certain occupational roles (like civil servants), and holders of commercial or publicly funded medical insurance. Conclusion This study elucidates the complex interplay of socio-cultural and individual determinants shaping medical decision-making in China. The findings reveal a marked inclination towards collaborative models, closely linked to educational level, marital status, and specific insurance types, reflecting an evolving trend towards participatory healthcare. Simultaneously, the persistence of unilateral models, influenced by gender, religious beliefs, and occupational roles, highlights the heterogeneity within Chinese healthcare preferences. These insights are crucial for policymakers and healthcare practitioners, underscoring the need for adaptable, culturally attuned healthcare frameworks that cater to this diversity, thereby enhancing patient engagement and healthcare efficacy.

This paper investigates economic impacts of COVID-19 on households based on differences in the socio-economic status (SES). We determine the household-level effects of the COVID-19 shock using income sources, types of industries, communities’ resilience, household susceptibility, and relevant policy measures. For this purpose, we used primary data of 555 households collected through snowball sampling technique using an online survey questionnaire from different villages mostly located in Sichuan Province, China. Using step-wise binary logistic regression analysis, we estimated and validated the model. Results suggest the use of SES as a better measure for understanding the impacts of COVID-19 on different households. We find that households with low SES tend to depend more on farmland income and transfer payments from the government. Contrarily, high SES households focus more on business and local employment as sources of income generation. Poor households were less resilient and more likely to fall back into poverty due to COVID-19, while the opposite stands true for non-poor households with high SES. Based on the estimations, policies encouraging employment and businesses complemented with loans on lower interest rates are recommended, which may increase the SES, thus minimizing vulnerability and enhancing the households’ resilience towards poverty alleviation and economic shocks.

Geothermal power generation employing Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology is a widely acknowledged and conventional approach for harnessing geothermal energy. In an innovative advancement, we propose a novel design integrating downhole thermoelectric power generation with a coaxial borehole heat exchanger. This design aims to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of geothermal energy utilization. In this innovative design, the geothermal well is divided into two distinct sections: a power generation section and a heat exchanging section, achieved through the implementation of a packer positioned from the uppermost part of the targeted zone. The process involves the injection of cold fluid downhole via an insulated pipe. Subsequently, a portion of the injected fluid is directed to flow in reverse within the casing-tubing annulus above the packer, while another portion circulates into the casing-tubing annulus below the packer before ascending through the tubing. This dual flow mechanism establishes distinct cold and hot sources for the thermoelectric generator, a key feature facilitated by this innovative design. Analytical models detailing of downhole temperature distribution for thermoelectric power have been meticulously developed. A comprehensive case study, focusing on a geothermal well with 3000 m length of power generation section and 500 m heat exchanging section, has been conducted. The results indicate that a significant generating capacity could be achieved with a higher wellhead temperature, and the payback period under different carbon tax scenarios is about 6–8 year. Furthermore, the effects of injection rate, fluid diversion ratio, and casing-tubing configuration on power performance and thermal-electricity efficiency are also discussed. This method not only enables the concurrent harvesting of geothermal energy and power generation but also operates consistently throughout the year. The results thus emphasize the viability and economic feasibility of the proposed approach.

Background Improper medical decision-making is a key issue in healthcare disputes worldwide. In China, medical malpractice lawsuits related to improper decision-making are on the rise, but research on the patterns and underlying factors of such litigation is limited. This study aims to analyze the characteristics and patterns of medical decision-making malpractice cases in China, with the goal of providing reference points for judicial processes and offering policy recommendations to prevent and mitigate doctor-patient conflicts. Methods This study selected medical damage liability dispute cases from the China Judgments Online platform between 2018 and 2024. Python was used for data cleaning, Chinese word segmentation, and stop-word filtering. A total of 439 cases involving improper medical decision-making were included for analysis. A Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model was applied to identify major themes, and differential analysis was conducted to explore the relationships among hospital level, identification method, damage outcomes, and degree of responsibility. Results In medical decision-making lawsuit cases, judicial identification requests were predominant, and patient death was more likely to trigger litigation. The medical parties often bore secondary responsibility. Statistically significant differences were found between hospital level and degree of responsibility ( P  = 0.034 < 0.05) and between hospital level and damage outcomes ( P  = 0.008 < 0.01). The LDA topic model revealed six main themes in the cases: medical behavior, evidence analysis, damage compensation, treatment effectiveness, patient rights, and legal applicability. Cluster analysis identified the main causes of improper decision-making, including insufficient informed consent, improper treatment plans, inadequate examinations, poor monitoring of conditions, insufficient consultations, incorrect diagnoses, improper medication, insufficient assessment, and lack of thorough patient history inquiry. Conclusions Improper medical decision-making is closely related to the responsibility awareness and communication skills of healthcare providers. Insufficient informed consent and improper treatment plans are the primary causes of improper medical decision-making. Effective communication between doctors and patients is a common problem across hospitals at all levels. To reduce improper medical decision-making, the following measures are recommended: emphasizing informed consent to reduce decision-making risk, strengthening team collaboration to improve decision-making ability, conducting thorough examinations to reduce uncertainty, developing individualized treatment plans, and promoting clinical decision support systems to avoid information omission.

Reactive powder concrete (RPC) is a novel high-performance building material widely used in large-scale engineering structures due to its superior mechanical properties and durability. However, structural failure can still occur under dynamic load impacts. Therefore, optimizing the mechanical properties and impact resistance of RPC remains a critical issue for enhancing its engineering applications. In this study, the mechanical properties and impact resistance of RPC were investigated by adjusting the water-cement ratio and incorporating supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), such as fly ash microspheres (FAM) and silica fume (SF). The effects of these adjustments on water absorption, strength, and impact resistance were assessed. Three water-cement ratios (0.16, 0.18, and 0.20) and various proportions of FAM and SF were selected to evaluate water absorption, compressive strength, bending strength, and impact resistance. The results indicated that reducing the water-cement ratio enhanced the densification of the concrete, reduced water absorption, and improved both compressive and bending strength. Specifically, when the water-cement ratio was 0.16 and FAM and SF were synergistically incorporated, the compressive strength reached 134.4 MPa, the bending strength reached 16.86 MPa, and the impact resistance was 22,838.4 J. Impact test results revealed that combining a low water-cement ratio with an appropriate amount of SCMs effectively increased energy absorption capacity and significantly slowed crack propagation. Analysis based on the Weibull distribution model demonstrated a more pronounced probability distribution of the number of impacts, suggesting that the optimization measures improved the impact resistance of RPC.

CO2-enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) has gained prominence as an effective oil displacement method with low carbon emissions, yet its microscopic mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study introduces a novel high-pressure microfluidic visualization system capable of operating at 0.1–10 MPa without confining pressure and featuring stratified porous media with a 63 μm minimum throat size to provide unprecedented insights into CO2 and CO2-foam EOR processes at the microscale. Through quantitative image analysis and advanced machine learning modeling, we reveal that increasing the CO2 injection pressure nonlinearly reduces residual oil saturation, achieving near-complete miscibility at 6 MPa with only 2% residual oil—a finding that challenges conventional thresholds for miscibility in heterogeneous systems. Our work uniquely demonstrates that CO2-foam flooding not only mobilizes capillary-trapped oil films but also dynamically alters interfacial tension and the pore-scale fluid distribution, a phenomenon previously underexplored. Support Vector Regression (R2 = 0.71) further uncovers a nonlinear relationship between the surfactant concentration and residual oil saturation, offering a data-driven framework for parameter optimization. These results advance our fundamental understanding by bridging microscale dynamics with field-applicable insights, while the integration of machine learning with microfluidics represents a methodological leap for EOR research.

Influenced by Confucian values, China’s medical decision-making emphasizes a family-centric and harmonious approach, contrasting with Western practices that highlight individual autonomy. However, there’s a global shift towards “patient-centered” care, promoting shared decision-making (SDM) between healthcare practitioners and patients. This study aims to advance the SDM model in China by analyzing the alignment in decision-making between doctors and patients. The focus is on addressing the absence of quantitative tools for SDM coordination. An SDM coupling coordination model was developed, and the coordination level was assessed using data from questionnaires filled by 210 doctors and 248 patients from three prominent Chinese hospitals. Doctors’ and patients’ preferences were categorized into four areas: treatment efficacy, cost considerations, potential side effects, and overall treatment experience. The coordination degrees, represented by “ D values,” for these areas were 0.6375, 0.5299, 0.5704, and 0.4586, respectively. A higher “ D value” signifies better alignment between doctors and patients. Treatment efficacy showed the strongest alignment, followed by costs and side effects, while treatment experience had the least alignment. In conclusion, the alignment in doctor–patient SDM in China is currently not optimal. Improvements necessitate a foundational “patient-first” approach in SDM, an emphasis on optimization in collaborative strategies, and the establishment of a comprehensive platform for collaboration and coordination in SDM.

CO2 flooding is an important method for improving oil recovery for reservoirs with low permeability. Even though CO2 could be miscible with oil in regions nearby injection wells, the miscibility could be lost in deep reservoirs because of low pressure and the dispersion effect. Reducing the CO2–oil miscibility pressure can enlarge the miscible zone, particularly when the reservoir pressure is less than the needed minimum miscible pressure (MMP). Furthermore, adding intermediate hydrocarbons in the CO2–oil system can also lower the interfacial tension (IFT). In this study, we used dead crude oil from the H Block in the X oilfield to study the IFT and the MMP changes with different hydrocarbon agents. The hydrocarbon agents, including alkanes, alcohols, oil-soluble surfactants, and petroleum ethers, were mixed with the crude oil samples from the H Block, and their performances on reducing CO2–oil IFT and CO2–oil MMP were determined. Experimental results show that the CO2–oil MMP could be reduced by 6.19 MPa or 12.17% with petroleum ether in the boiling range of 30–60 °C. The effects of mass concentration of hydrocarbon agents on CO2–oil IFT and crude oil viscosity indicate that the petroleum ether in the boiling range of 30–60 °C with a mass concentration of 0.5% would be the best hydrocarbon agent for implementing CO2 miscible flooding in the H Block.

This article aims to extend the current understanding of social networking in small creative traditional sectors in developing countries. Most of the relevant studies have tended to focus on developed countries while neglecting the developing countries perspective. However, our study stresses that small craft firms—subsector of creative industries—are not only significant for income and employment generation but these businesses also are dominant in most of the developing countries. Hence, this article develops a model to demonstrate the effects of social networking on innovation and thus entrepreneurial success in small creative firms from developing countries perspective. We empirically tested our proposed research model on a sample of 254 small creative firms in the craft sector located in Bangladesh. Our results suggest that small creative firms can and do benefit from establishing a cooperative relationship with buyers, suppliers, and designers. However, cooperation with competitors does not have a significant impact on innovation. The findings of our study have substantial implications for both practitioners and policymakers interested in enhancing innovation among small creative firms mainly craft sector. In particular, we argue that a small creative firm’s innovative activity benefits from close relations with suppliers and designers.