Purpose: To present a method for systematically mapping diversity of publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities in terms of publication type, publication language and co-authorship....Purpose: To present a method for systematically mapping diversity of publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities in terms of publication type, publication language and co-authorship.Design/methodology/approach: In a follow-up to the hard partitioning clustering by Verleysen and Weeren in 2016, we now propose the complementary use of fuzzy cluster analysis, making use of a membership coefficient to study gradual differences between publication styles among authors within a scholarly discipline. The analysis of the probability density function of the membership coefficient allows to assess the distribution of publication styles within and between disciplines.Findings: As an illustration we analyze 1,828 productive authors affiliated in Flanders, Belgium. Whereas a hard partitioning previously identified two broad publication styles, an international one vs. a domestic one, fuzzy analysis now shows gradual differences among authors. Internal diversity also varies across disciplines and can be explained by researchers’ specialization and dissemination strategies.Research limitations: The dataset used is limited to one country for the years 2000–2011; a cognitive classification of authors may yield a different result from the affiliation-based classification used here.Practical implications: Our method is applicable to other bibliometric and research evaluation contexts, especially for the social sciences and humanities in non-Anglophone countries.Originality/value: The method proposed is a novel application of cluster analysis to the field of bibliometrics. Applied to publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities, for the first time it systematically documents intra-disciplinary diversity.展开更多
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise worldwide and in developing countries like Botswana. Unhealthy eating habits and lack of proper nutrition knowledge cause non-communicable diseases and affect adolescen...Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise worldwide and in developing countries like Botswana. Unhealthy eating habits and lack of proper nutrition knowledge cause non-communicable diseases and affect adolescents. It is in adolescence that eating habits are formed that persist till adulthood. Lifestyle interventions are needed to curb NCDs in adolescents. This paper reports the findings of a study that aimed to validate a lifestyle intervention program and its effect on food intake, physical activity, and nutrition knowledge. It was a clustered randomized control trial study conducted in four (4) junior secondary schools. There were 46 participants, 21 in the control and 25 in the intervention arm, who were blindly assigned to each arm by a statistician. Information and skills on nutrition were imparted using the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills model. The program was implemented for eight (8) weeks hourly after school. A questionnaire was used to collect data pre- and post-intervention. Number, proportion, percentage, and independent t-test (mean and SD or median and IQR, p-value) were calculated using numerical and categorical data. The findings showed that the lifestyle intervention was valid, and there was a slight decrease in the intake of sweets among participants in both trial arms (p = 0.066). There was no significant difference in terms of food intake. Only a small number of participants still ate a few fruits, and there was no change in vegetable intake in both trial arms (p = 0.641). There was no change in the intake of fried foods in both trail arms (p = 0.402). Regarding nutrition knowledge, there was a slight significant difference of p = 0.079 between the trial arms. Though the effect of the lifestyle intervention program was not statistically significant, the results are promising, especially if the duration could be increased to a longer period and a larger sample size included.展开更多
Adolescence is a crucial time period with especial vulnerability for development of mental health problems.Growing interest is focusing on the determinants of positive mental health in order to find the key concepts t...Adolescence is a crucial time period with especial vulnerability for development of mental health problems.Growing interest is focusing on the determinants of positive mental health in order to find the key concepts that could be influenced in the promotion of mental well-being of adolescents.In this study we aim to explore the relations between self-esteem,character strengths and experience of social inclusion as determinants of adolescents’positive mental health controlled for selected sociodemographic background factors.The study population(n=195)consisted of comprehensive school students who filled in an electronic questionnaire of adolescent’s mental well-being in Fall 2019.The questionnaire included measures of Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale(WEMWBS),VIA Youth-measure 96,Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Experience of Social Inclusion Scale.The methods included group comparisons and General Linear Model computed by SPSS 24.0.The strongest association was found between positive mental health and self-esteem(β=0.789,p<0.001),followed by character strengths of hope and kindness and experience of social inclusion.Interestingly,family’s socioeconomic factors did not associate significantly with positive mental health in the final statistical model.In terms of our results,it seems that self-esteem,character strengths and experience of social inclusion might have stronger association with adolescents’mental well-being than family’s socioeconomic determinants.Therefore,it should be discussed whether psychological determinants overcome the individual effect of poor socioeconomic status as factors that influence positive mental health.Further studies are needed to establish these results more firmly.展开更多
Background: To facilitate effective program designs aimed at assisting youth avoid unnecessary negative reproductive health outcomes, there is need to understand determinants of condom use among adolescents. Objective...Background: To facilitate effective program designs aimed at assisting youth avoid unnecessary negative reproductive health outcomes, there is need to understand determinants of condom use among adolescents. Objectives: To determine demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors associated with adolescent condom use in Botswana. Methods: Logistic regression models were employed to analyse a weighted sample of 221 adolescents aged 15 to 19 years from the 2012 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey who had a sexual relationship during the 12 months preceding the survey. Results: A majority of adolescents were current and consistent condom users (81% and 72% respectively). Both current and consistent condom use were positively associated with secondary or higher education, unemployed, high perception of severity of HIV to health and high self-efficacy perception. However, being female, non-Christian, having medium or comprehensive HIV/AIDS related knowledge and high perceived personal risk to HIV infection were negatively associated with both outcomes. Although being 18 to 19 years, having multiple sexual partners and high perception of condom attributes were positively associated with current condom use, they were negatively associated with consistent use. Conclusions: The study showed that in addition to demographic and socioeconomic factors, psychosocial factors are important predictors for condom use among adolescents.展开更多
Predicting depression intensity from microblogs and social media posts has numerous benefits and applications,including predicting early psychological disorders and stress in individuals or the general public.A major ...Predicting depression intensity from microblogs and social media posts has numerous benefits and applications,including predicting early psychological disorders and stress in individuals or the general public.A major challenge in predicting depression using social media posts is that the existing studies do not focus on predicting the intensity of depression in social media texts but rather only perform the binary classification of depression and moreover noisy data makes it difficult to predict the true depression in the social media text.This study intends to begin by collecting relevant Tweets and generating a corpus of 210000 public tweets using Twitter public application programming interfaces(APIs).A strategy is devised to filter out only depression-related tweets by creating a list of relevant hashtags to reduce noise in the corpus.Furthermore,an algorithm is developed to annotate the data into three depression classes:‘Mild,’‘Moderate,’and‘Severe,’based on International Classification of Diseases-10(ICD-10)depression diagnostic criteria.Different baseline classifiers are applied to the annotated dataset to get a preliminary idea of classification performance on the corpus.Further FastText-based model is applied and fine-tuned with different preprocessing techniques and hyperparameter tuning to produce the tuned model,which significantly increases the depression classification performance to an 84%F1 score and 90%accuracy compared to baselines.Finally,a FastText-based weighted soft voting ensemble(WSVE)is proposed to boost the model’s performance by combining several other classifiers and assigning weights to individual models according to their individual performances.The proposed WSVE outperformed all baselines as well as FastText alone,with an F1 of 89%,5%higher than FastText alone,and an accuracy of 93%,3%higher than FastText alone.The proposed model better captures the contextual features of the relatively small sample class and aids in the detection of early depression intensity prediction from tweets with impactful performances.展开更多
This document describes the creation of an informative Web GIS aimed at mitigating the impacts of flooding in the municipality of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, a region that is highly sensitive to climate change. Burk...This document describes the creation of an informative Web GIS aimed at mitigating the impacts of flooding in the municipality of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, a region that is highly sensitive to climate change. Burkina Faso, which is undergoing rapid urbanization, faces major natural threats, particularly flooding, as demonstrated by the severe floods of 2009 that caused loss of life, injury, structural damage and economic losses in Ouagadougou. The aim of this research is to develop a web map highlighting the municipality’s flood-prone areas, with a view to informing and raising awareness of flood risk reduction. Using the Leaflet JavaScript mapping library, the study uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript to implement web mapping technology. Data on Ouagadougou’s flood zones is generated by a multi-criteria analysis combining Saaty’s AHP method and GIS in QGIS, integrating seven (7) parameters including hydrography, altitude, slope, rainfall, soil types, land use and soil moisture index. QGIS processes and maps the themes, PostgreSQL with PostGIS serves as the DBMS and GeoServer functions as the map server. The Web GIS platform allows users to visualize the different flood risks, from very low to very high, or the high-risk areas specific to Ouagadougou. The AHP calculations classify the municipality into five flood vulnerability zones: very low (24.48%), low (27.93%), medium (23.01%), high (17.11%) and very high (7.47%). Effective risk management requires communication and awareness-raising. This online mapping application serves as a tool for communication, management and flood prevention in Ouagadougou, helping to mitigate flood-related natural disasters.展开更多
Mpox disease is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus, genus Orthopoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. The incubation period is usually 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days while symptoms and signs may persist f...Mpox disease is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus, genus Orthopoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. The incubation period is usually 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days while symptoms and signs may persist for 2 to 5 weeks. Although, the clinical features are usually less severe when compared to the deadly smallpox, the disease can be fatal with case fatality rate between 1% and 10%. In Imo State, Nigeria, there has been a changing epidemiology of the disease in the last 6 years and the frequency and geographic distribution of cases have progressively increased. This study aims to conduct a review of the disease epidemiology between 2017 and 2023 and implications for surveillance in Imo State. Surveillance data from the Surveillance Outbreak Response and Management System (SORMAS) was extracted between January 2017 and December 2023 across the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Imo State. A line list of 231 suspected cases was downloaded into an excel template and analyzed using SPSS<sup>®</sup> version 20 software. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and associations were tested using Fischer’s exact at 0.05 level of significance. Of the 231 suspected cases, 57.1% (132) were males, 42.9% (99) were females and the modal age group was between the ages of 0 - 4 (32.5%). Eight (8) LGAs (districts) accounted for 71% (n = 164) of all the suspected cases. 21.2% (49) were confirmed positive, 27 males (55.1%) and 22 females (44.9%) (p > 0.05). Modal age group was 20 - 24 (22.4%, n = 11), 18% (9) were children under 14 years, p > 0.05. Case fatality rate was 8% (n = 4). There was no significant association between mortality and age group. Five (5) LGAs accounted for about 60% (29) of all confirmed cases. These LGAs contribute only 20% to the total population in the State. Only 5.6% and 4% of suspected and confirmed cases, respectively, had knowledge of contact with an infectious source. The study described the epidemiology of Mpox outbreaks between 2017 and 2023 and the findings have significant implications on detection and outbreak response activities.展开更多
Land surface temperature (LST) is a phenomenon that significantly affects the environment, the cities’ liveability, and the citizens’ well-being. This Study aims to perform a comparative study of the microclimate an...Land surface temperature (LST) is a phenomenon that significantly affects the environment, the cities’ liveability, and the citizens’ well-being. This Study aims to perform a comparative study of the microclimate and Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) phenomenon of two metropolitan cities of India, i.e. Jaipur and Ahmedabad, using MODIS Satellite data, whereas Landsat Data was used to analyse the Land Surface Characteristics by an index-based approach. The Study’s findings reveal that Ahmedabad has 35.53 per cent of the total area classified as having a low potential, and 13.55 per cent is designated as a high potential LST zone. Meanwhile, in Jaipur, 30.45 per cent of the city’s total area is identified as a low potential LST zone and 12.69 per cent as a high potential LST zone. This Study highlights the importance of mitigating the UHI phenomenon in urban centres for the overall well-being of city dwellers. It will help policymakers and stakeholders comprehend plans and take initiatives to minimise the effects of the UHI phenomenon on rapidly growing cities. .展开更多
This study aimed to analyze the suitability of the planned Trans Jateng bus stop points with user service distances. Quantitative descriptive research method was employed in this study. The population in this study we...This study aimed to analyze the suitability of the planned Trans Jateng bus stop points with user service distances. Quantitative descriptive research method was employed in this study. The population in this study were the corridors of the Trans Jateng bus plan, land use, the national urban system, and the surrounding community. The independent variable in this study was the distribution of planned Trans Jateng bus stop points in the Susuwono area, whereas the dependent variable was the appropriateness of the planned Trans Jateng bus stop points with user service distances and surrounding land use. Spatial analysis, environmental analysis, suitability analysis of bus stop locations, and buffering were utilized as data research methods. The results of the study showed that 1) the buffering of the planned bus stop points in the Surakarta area was categorized as maximal, 2) the service distance of the Trans Jateng bus plans in the Sukoharjo District area was categorized as moderately optimal to less than optimal, 3) the service coverage of the Trans Jateng bus stop points was categorized as moderately maximal up to less than optimal based on the buffer map of the planned Trans Jateng bus corridor in the Wonogiri District area. This study concluded that the Trans Jateng bus stop plan is dominated by moderately maximum service coverage.展开更多
The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant chang...The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have been observed in this area, leading to a reduction of natural forests. There were two separate methods of this study: firstly, to identify LULC changes across three different periods, spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) for the years 2001 and 2011, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 2021 were used as the primary data sources. The satellite images were preprocessed for various forest classes, including pretreatment of the top of atmosphere reflectance by using QGIS software’s semi-automatic classification plug-in (SCP), and ArcGIS was used for post-classification. A supervised classification approach was applied to the satellite images from 2001, 2011, and 2021 to generate diverse maps of LULC. Secondly, a household survey dataset was used to investigate influential factors. Approximately 220 households were interviewed in order to collect socio-economic information (including data on population growth, increased business activities, location of the area, agriculture land expansion, and need for settlement land). Household survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions and percentages, were applied to observe characteristics. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the socioeconomic factors related to LULC change in DNPF. Key findings indicated a decline in natural forest areas within the study site. Specifically, both dry dipterocarp forest (−11.35%) and mixed deciduous forest (−0.18%) decreased from 2001 to 2021. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 94%, 86%, and 89% for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively. In contrast, agricultural land increased significantly by 155.70%, while built-up land, and water bodies increased by 65.54% and 35.33%, respectively. The results also highlighted a significant increase in construction land, up to 65.54%. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between agricultural expansion and a reduction of forest areas, along with an increase in built-up land along the forest areas’ boundaries. Timber exploitation and charcoal production also contributed to the decline in forest cover. The logistic regression model identified significant determinants of LULC change, including the area’s location, agricultural land expansion, increased business activity, and the need for settlement land. These factors have influenced the management of DNPF. Urgent sustainable management practices and actions, including forest ecosystem protection, village agricultural zoning, water source and watershed protection and public awareness, are required to preserve the forest areas of DNPF.展开更多
Objective This study initially validates the Chinese version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children （PAQ-C）, which has been identified as a potentially valid instrument to assess moderate-to-vigor...Objective This study initially validates the Chinese version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children （PAQ-C）, which has been identified as a potentially valid instrument to assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity （MVPA） in children among diverse racial groups. Methods The psychometric properties of the PAQ-C with 742 Hong Kong Chinese children were assessed with the scale＇s internal consistency, reliability, test-retest reliability, confirmatory factory analysis （CFA） in the overall sample, and multistep invariance tests across gender groups as well as convergent validity with body mass index （BMI）, and an accelerometry-based MVPA. Results The Cronbach alpha coefficient （α=0.79）, composite reliability value （p=0.81）, and the intraclass correlation coefficient （α=0.82） indicate the satisfactory reliability of the PAQ-C score. The CFA indicated data fit a single factor model, suggesting that the PAQ-C measures only one construct, on MVPA over the previous 7 days. The multiple-group CFAs suggested that the factor Ioadings and variances and covariances of the PAQ-C measurement model were invariant across gender groups. The PAQ-C score was related to accelerometry-based MVPA （r=0.33） and inversely related to BMI （r=0.18）. Conclusion This study demonstrates the reliability and validity of the PAQ-C in Chinese children.展开更多
The BOF-key is the performance-based research funding system that is used in Flanders, Belgium. In this paper we describe the historical background of the system, its current design and organization, as well as its ef...The BOF-key is the performance-based research funding system that is used in Flanders, Belgium. In this paper we describe the historical background of the system, its current design and organization, as well as its effects on the Flemish higher education landscape. The BOFkey in its current form relies on three bibliometric parameters: publications in Web of Science, citations in Web of Science, and publications in a comprehensive regional database for SSH publications. Taken together, the BOF-key forms a unique variant of the Norwegian model: while the system to a large extent relies on a commercial database, it avoids the problem of inadequate coverage of the SSH. Because the bibliometric parameters of the BOF-key are reused in other funding allocation schemes, their overall importance to the Flemish universities is substantial.展开更多
The mortgage loan has evolved from a local lending instrument into a major global security and its role is unparallel to other financial instruments in the process of financial globalization. This paper explains how t...The mortgage loan has evolved from a local lending instrument into a major global security and its role is unparallel to other financial instruments in the process of financial globalization. This paper explains how technology and financial innovation transformed the mortgage loan from a local security into a premier global security traded worldwide. It examines the fundamental flaws of this process and why it does not work in regards to mortgage lending and the re-securitization products that were created through financial innovation. The findings show that regulation was unable to keep pace with financial innovation, which created an environment where actors in the financial service sector were able to behave geographically irresponsibly by using information asymmetries to their advantage by par- ticipating in moral hazard activities and engaging in other immoral and unethical business practices that were centered around localized geography, which ultimately contributed to the global financial crisis. It also examines the roll of financial innovation in regard to the Lehman Brothers Mini-Bond in Hung and its role as a driving force behind China＇s newly emerging shadow banking sector. It concludes with a policy recommendation and its implication for China＇s continued economic development.展开更多
Objective:To explore the meanings and domains for giving communities the capacity to be successful in dengue prevention and control.Methods:One hundred and twenty participants were purposely selected from 4 sub-distri...Objective:To explore the meanings and domains for giving communities the capacity to be successful in dengue prevention and control.Methods:One hundred and twenty participants were purposely selected from 4 sub-districts of 4 provinces in Southern Thailand with a high dengue incidence.Sixty community leaders and sixty non-community leaders participated in this study.In-depth interviews(IDIs),as well as focus group discussions (FGDs) with tape-recorders and note-taking,were used to collect data.All records were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by using the Colaizzi method for content analysis.Results:The findings showed that people view the creation of a sustainable dengue community program as possible only with the support of each community in its entirety:"everyone,every sector,all participating,and with continuing activities." Community capacity for dengue prevention and control was dependent on ten domains:1) stakeholder participation, 2) community leadership,3) a core-activities group,4) a problem-solving needs assessment,5) dengue information transfer,6) resource mobilization,7 ) a sense of community for the dengue problem,8) a dengue network partnership,9) critical dengue situation-management,and 10) continuing dengue prevention and control activities.Conclusion:These community capacity domains can be developed into an assessment tool for the community capacity-building process.Community capacity domains require community leaders and non-community leaders to clarify dengue prevention and control assistance required.展开更多
Objective To in vestigate potential gender differences in the odds of overweight/obese, weight-related perceptions, and behaviors among Chinese school children. Methods Height, weight, and a survey of weight-related p...Objective To in vestigate potential gender differences in the odds of overweight/obese, weight-related perceptions, and behaviors among Chinese school children. Methods Height, weight, and a survey of weight-related perceptions and behaviors were measured in a nationally representative survey of 12,811 children in primary schools in China. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess gender differences, adjusting for confounders. Results Boys had higher odds of being overweight/obese compared to girls within both urban [adjusted odds ratio （OR） 2.30, 95% CI 2.00 to 2.65] and rural areas （OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.20）. Girls reported healthier diets （e.g., daily vegetables OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.85） whereas boys consumed fried food （OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.38） and sugar-sweetened drinks more often （OR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.34 to 1.65）. Gender differences included higher odds of boys perceiving themselves as overweight if they had more highly educated mothers （OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.68）, less educated fathers （OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.99）, and if they frequently consumed carbonated drinks （OR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.07 to 2.05）. Conclusion Childhood obesity prevention in China should be gender-focused, particularly for boys who reported an unhealthier diet but were less likely to see they were fat, even though more boys were overweight or obese than girls.展开更多
This paper presents mathematics models that describe and optimize the passenger flow at the airport security checkpoints by applying the queuing theory. Firstly, a Poisson process is used to estimate the flow of passe...This paper presents mathematics models that describe and optimize the passenger flow at the airport security checkpoints by applying the queuing theory. Firstly, a Poisson process is used to estimate the flow of passengers waiting for going through the security. Then, the Poisson distribution is combined with a multiple M/M/s model. Following that, an arrival model (passengers’ arriving at the checkpoints preparing for security examination and departure) with Gumbel extreme value estimation is described that predicts the busiest time in the busiest airport. Real case data collected from several major airports worldwide is used for creating a hybrid Poisson model to generate the simulation of passenger volume. At last, Markov Chain theory is applied to the analysis to randomly simulate the flow of enplaned passengers again, and the results of these two simulations are compared and discussed, revealing that the hybrid Poisson model is the more accurate one. After successfully characterizing the passenger flow mathematically, two methods for optimizing the passenger flow are then provided in two different respects: one is bypassing passengers and creating an express pass;while the other one promotes Pre-Check service application.展开更多
This study investigated the relationships among the parameters of dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton composition in tilapia ponds. Each pond (a total of 18 ponds) was sampled once in the dry, winter sea...This study investigated the relationships among the parameters of dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton composition in tilapia ponds. Each pond (a total of 18 ponds) was sampled once in the dry, winter season between January and March and again early in the rainy season between May and June. The data were analyzed by examining correlations among parameters as affected by season, altitude and culture system. Observations were made at sites located in 5 selected provinces of northern Thailand: Chiangrai, Chiangmai, Phayao, Lampang and Nakornsawan. Mean elevation of these areas range from 25 to 582 meters above sea level (masl) and were categorized into low (400 masl) elevation sites. Ponds were 0.8 - 2.0 m deep, 0.16 - 0.64 ha in area and could be further categorized into high and low input systems.Mean air temperature in winter ranged between 16.5°C - 35.8°C while mean water temperature ranged between 25.5°C - 27.1°C. In rainy season, air temperature ranged between 22.0°C - 37.3°C and water temperature ranged between 29.4°C - 31.8°C. The amount of chlorophyll-a in both seasons were comparable (p > 0.05), but chlorophyll-a in high input system was significantly higher (p 0.05) than in low input ponds. Only weak correlation was found between chlorophyll-a, DOmax and DOmin. Multifactor-ANOVA was used to analyze the difference of total bacteria and filamentous cyanobacteria in ponds based upon elevation, culture systems and season. Result shows that there is a significant interaction observed between elevation, culture system and season (p 0.05). Species diversity and composition of phytoplankton in fish ponds in 2 seasons revealed the presence of 90 genera of phytoplankton under all 7 divisions. Divisions Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta had the most number of genera identified in both seasons with Pediastrum spp., and Scendesmus spp., and Anabaena spp. as dominant genera/genus, respectively.展开更多
The ecology of Qilian Mountains has been seriously threatened by uncontrolled grazing and wasteland reclamation. This study examined the ecological changes on the southern slope of Qilian Mountains in China from the p...The ecology of Qilian Mountains has been seriously threatened by uncontrolled grazing and wasteland reclamation. This study examined the ecological changes on the southern slope of Qilian Mountains in China from the perspective of water conservation by classifying different clusters of water conservation functional areas to efficiently use limited human resources to tackle the water conservation protection problem. In this study, we used Integrate Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST) model to estimate water conservation and analyzed the factors that influence the function. The results of this study include:(1) from 2000 to 2015, the water conservation of the southern slope of Qilian Mountains generally showed an increasing trend, and the total water conservation in 2015 increased by 42.18% compared with that in 2000.(2) Rainfall, fractional vegetation cover(FVC), and evapotranspiration have the most significant influence on the water conservation of the study area. Among them, water conservation is positively correlated with rainfall and FVC(P<0.05) and negatively correlated with evapotranspiration(P<0.05).(3) The importance level of water conservation functional areas gradually increases from northwest to southeast, and the region surrounding Menyuan Hui Autonomous County in the southeast of the southern slope of Qilian Mountains is the core water conservation functional area. And(4) the study area was divided into five clusters(Cluster Ⅰ–Cluster Ⅴ) of water conservation, with the areas of Clusters Ⅰ through Ⅴ accounting for 0.58%, 13.74%, 41.23%, 32.43%, and 12.01% of the whole study area, respectively.展开更多
Challenges faced by African countries in achieving the goals of sustainable development are similar and trans-boundary. Previous analysis of Africa’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has largely b...Challenges faced by African countries in achieving the goals of sustainable development are similar and trans-boundary. Previous analysis of Africa’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has largely beennon-spatial, reducing the ability to find spatial relationships between countries and SDGs to help cooperationand proffer country-specific interventions. This study adopted techniques of exploratory and inferential spatialstatistics to assess the successes of African countries from 2016 to 2020 in achieving the goals of sustainable de-velopment. Also, the study sought to understand how the spatial synergies and trade-offs between SDGs vary percountry and time. The results revealed that spatial hotspots of countries with high SDGs scores were mostly con-fined to northern African countries with significant coldspots within central and eastern Africa and few patchesin western and southern Africa for 2016. In 2020, the number of countries forming hotspots reduced, with Cen-tral African countries as significant cold spots. Five main spatial relationships: positive linear, negative linear,concave, convex and undefined complex, were found among countries and the SDGs. However, these spatialrelationships were fluid as they changed over time and with different levels of influence from 2016 to 2020.The study concludes that generic solutions and policies by development agencies, governments, developmentfinance instiutions and other impact investors will not be enough in achieving the SDGs because of the spatialheterogeneity of the continent. Tailored and country-specific policies based on results of spatial statistics matter.展开更多
Purpose: This paper presents an overview of different kinds of lists of scholarly publication channels and of experiences related to the construction and maintenance of national lists supporting performance-based rese...Purpose: This paper presents an overview of different kinds of lists of scholarly publication channels and of experiences related to the construction and maintenance of national lists supporting performance-based research funding systems. It also contributes with a set of recommendations for the construction and maintenance of national lists of journals and book publishers.Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on analysis of previously published studies, policy papers, and reported experiences related to the construction and use of lists of scholarly publication channels. Findings: Several countries have systems for research funding and/or evaluation, that involve the use of national lists of scholarly publication channels(mainly journals and publishers). Typically, such lists are selective(do not include all scholarly or non-scholarly channels) and differentiated(distinguish between channels of different levels and quality). At the same time, most lists are embedded in a system that encompasses multiple or all disciplines. This raises the question how such lists can be organized and maintained to ensure that all relevant disciplines and all types of research are adequately represented. Research limitation: The conclusions and recommendations of the study are based on the authors' interpretation of a complex and sometimes controversial process with many different stakeholders involved.Practical implications: The recommendations and the related background information provided in this paper enable mutual learning that may feed into improvements in the construction and maintenance of national and other lists of scholarly publication channels in any geographical context. This may foster a development of responsible evaluation practices.Originality/value: This paper presents the first general overview and typology of different kinds of publication channel lists, provides insights on expert-based versus metrics-based evaluation, and formulates a set of recommendations for the responsible construction and maintenance of publication channel lists.展开更多
文摘Purpose: To present a method for systematically mapping diversity of publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities in terms of publication type, publication language and co-authorship.Design/methodology/approach: In a follow-up to the hard partitioning clustering by Verleysen and Weeren in 2016, we now propose the complementary use of fuzzy cluster analysis, making use of a membership coefficient to study gradual differences between publication styles among authors within a scholarly discipline. The analysis of the probability density function of the membership coefficient allows to assess the distribution of publication styles within and between disciplines.Findings: As an illustration we analyze 1,828 productive authors affiliated in Flanders, Belgium. Whereas a hard partitioning previously identified two broad publication styles, an international one vs. a domestic one, fuzzy analysis now shows gradual differences among authors. Internal diversity also varies across disciplines and can be explained by researchers’ specialization and dissemination strategies.Research limitations: The dataset used is limited to one country for the years 2000–2011; a cognitive classification of authors may yield a different result from the affiliation-based classification used here.Practical implications: Our method is applicable to other bibliometric and research evaluation contexts, especially for the social sciences and humanities in non-Anglophone countries.Originality/value: The method proposed is a novel application of cluster analysis to the field of bibliometrics. Applied to publication patterns at the author level in the social sciences and humanities, for the first time it systematically documents intra-disciplinary diversity.
文摘Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are on the rise worldwide and in developing countries like Botswana. Unhealthy eating habits and lack of proper nutrition knowledge cause non-communicable diseases and affect adolescents. It is in adolescence that eating habits are formed that persist till adulthood. Lifestyle interventions are needed to curb NCDs in adolescents. This paper reports the findings of a study that aimed to validate a lifestyle intervention program and its effect on food intake, physical activity, and nutrition knowledge. It was a clustered randomized control trial study conducted in four (4) junior secondary schools. There were 46 participants, 21 in the control and 25 in the intervention arm, who were blindly assigned to each arm by a statistician. Information and skills on nutrition were imparted using the Information, Motivation, and Behavioral Skills model. The program was implemented for eight (8) weeks hourly after school. A questionnaire was used to collect data pre- and post-intervention. Number, proportion, percentage, and independent t-test (mean and SD or median and IQR, p-value) were calculated using numerical and categorical data. The findings showed that the lifestyle intervention was valid, and there was a slight decrease in the intake of sweets among participants in both trial arms (p = 0.066). There was no significant difference in terms of food intake. Only a small number of participants still ate a few fruits, and there was no change in vegetable intake in both trial arms (p = 0.641). There was no change in the intake of fried foods in both trail arms (p = 0.402). Regarding nutrition knowledge, there was a slight significant difference of p = 0.079 between the trial arms. Though the effect of the lifestyle intervention program was not statistically significant, the results are promising, especially if the duration could be increased to a longer period and a larger sample size included.
文摘Adolescence is a crucial time period with especial vulnerability for development of mental health problems.Growing interest is focusing on the determinants of positive mental health in order to find the key concepts that could be influenced in the promotion of mental well-being of adolescents.In this study we aim to explore the relations between self-esteem,character strengths and experience of social inclusion as determinants of adolescents’positive mental health controlled for selected sociodemographic background factors.The study population(n=195)consisted of comprehensive school students who filled in an electronic questionnaire of adolescent’s mental well-being in Fall 2019.The questionnaire included measures of Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale(WEMWBS),VIA Youth-measure 96,Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Experience of Social Inclusion Scale.The methods included group comparisons and General Linear Model computed by SPSS 24.0.The strongest association was found between positive mental health and self-esteem(β=0.789,p<0.001),followed by character strengths of hope and kindness and experience of social inclusion.Interestingly,family’s socioeconomic factors did not associate significantly with positive mental health in the final statistical model.In terms of our results,it seems that self-esteem,character strengths and experience of social inclusion might have stronger association with adolescents’mental well-being than family’s socioeconomic determinants.Therefore,it should be discussed whether psychological determinants overcome the individual effect of poor socioeconomic status as factors that influence positive mental health.Further studies are needed to establish these results more firmly.
文摘Background: To facilitate effective program designs aimed at assisting youth avoid unnecessary negative reproductive health outcomes, there is need to understand determinants of condom use among adolescents. Objectives: To determine demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors associated with adolescent condom use in Botswana. Methods: Logistic regression models were employed to analyse a weighted sample of 221 adolescents aged 15 to 19 years from the 2012 Botswana AIDS Impact Survey who had a sexual relationship during the 12 months preceding the survey. Results: A majority of adolescents were current and consistent condom users (81% and 72% respectively). Both current and consistent condom use were positively associated with secondary or higher education, unemployed, high perception of severity of HIV to health and high self-efficacy perception. However, being female, non-Christian, having medium or comprehensive HIV/AIDS related knowledge and high perceived personal risk to HIV infection were negatively associated with both outcomes. Although being 18 to 19 years, having multiple sexual partners and high perception of condom attributes were positively associated with current condom use, they were negatively associated with consistent use. Conclusions: The study showed that in addition to demographic and socioeconomic factors, psychosocial factors are important predictors for condom use among adolescents.
文摘Predicting depression intensity from microblogs and social media posts has numerous benefits and applications,including predicting early psychological disorders and stress in individuals or the general public.A major challenge in predicting depression using social media posts is that the existing studies do not focus on predicting the intensity of depression in social media texts but rather only perform the binary classification of depression and moreover noisy data makes it difficult to predict the true depression in the social media text.This study intends to begin by collecting relevant Tweets and generating a corpus of 210000 public tweets using Twitter public application programming interfaces(APIs).A strategy is devised to filter out only depression-related tweets by creating a list of relevant hashtags to reduce noise in the corpus.Furthermore,an algorithm is developed to annotate the data into three depression classes:‘Mild,’‘Moderate,’and‘Severe,’based on International Classification of Diseases-10(ICD-10)depression diagnostic criteria.Different baseline classifiers are applied to the annotated dataset to get a preliminary idea of classification performance on the corpus.Further FastText-based model is applied and fine-tuned with different preprocessing techniques and hyperparameter tuning to produce the tuned model,which significantly increases the depression classification performance to an 84%F1 score and 90%accuracy compared to baselines.Finally,a FastText-based weighted soft voting ensemble(WSVE)is proposed to boost the model’s performance by combining several other classifiers and assigning weights to individual models according to their individual performances.The proposed WSVE outperformed all baselines as well as FastText alone,with an F1 of 89%,5%higher than FastText alone,and an accuracy of 93%,3%higher than FastText alone.The proposed model better captures the contextual features of the relatively small sample class and aids in the detection of early depression intensity prediction from tweets with impactful performances.
文摘This document describes the creation of an informative Web GIS aimed at mitigating the impacts of flooding in the municipality of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, a region that is highly sensitive to climate change. Burkina Faso, which is undergoing rapid urbanization, faces major natural threats, particularly flooding, as demonstrated by the severe floods of 2009 that caused loss of life, injury, structural damage and economic losses in Ouagadougou. The aim of this research is to develop a web map highlighting the municipality’s flood-prone areas, with a view to informing and raising awareness of flood risk reduction. Using the Leaflet JavaScript mapping library, the study uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript to implement web mapping technology. Data on Ouagadougou’s flood zones is generated by a multi-criteria analysis combining Saaty’s AHP method and GIS in QGIS, integrating seven (7) parameters including hydrography, altitude, slope, rainfall, soil types, land use and soil moisture index. QGIS processes and maps the themes, PostgreSQL with PostGIS serves as the DBMS and GeoServer functions as the map server. The Web GIS platform allows users to visualize the different flood risks, from very low to very high, or the high-risk areas specific to Ouagadougou. The AHP calculations classify the municipality into five flood vulnerability zones: very low (24.48%), low (27.93%), medium (23.01%), high (17.11%) and very high (7.47%). Effective risk management requires communication and awareness-raising. This online mapping application serves as a tool for communication, management and flood prevention in Ouagadougou, helping to mitigate flood-related natural disasters.
文摘Mpox disease is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus, genus Orthopoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. The incubation period is usually 6 to 13 days but can range from 5 to 21 days while symptoms and signs may persist for 2 to 5 weeks. Although, the clinical features are usually less severe when compared to the deadly smallpox, the disease can be fatal with case fatality rate between 1% and 10%. In Imo State, Nigeria, there has been a changing epidemiology of the disease in the last 6 years and the frequency and geographic distribution of cases have progressively increased. This study aims to conduct a review of the disease epidemiology between 2017 and 2023 and implications for surveillance in Imo State. Surveillance data from the Surveillance Outbreak Response and Management System (SORMAS) was extracted between January 2017 and December 2023 across the 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Imo State. A line list of 231 suspected cases was downloaded into an excel template and analyzed using SPSS<sup>®</sup> version 20 software. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and associations were tested using Fischer’s exact at 0.05 level of significance. Of the 231 suspected cases, 57.1% (132) were males, 42.9% (99) were females and the modal age group was between the ages of 0 - 4 (32.5%). Eight (8) LGAs (districts) accounted for 71% (n = 164) of all the suspected cases. 21.2% (49) were confirmed positive, 27 males (55.1%) and 22 females (44.9%) (p > 0.05). Modal age group was 20 - 24 (22.4%, n = 11), 18% (9) were children under 14 years, p > 0.05. Case fatality rate was 8% (n = 4). There was no significant association between mortality and age group. Five (5) LGAs accounted for about 60% (29) of all confirmed cases. These LGAs contribute only 20% to the total population in the State. Only 5.6% and 4% of suspected and confirmed cases, respectively, had knowledge of contact with an infectious source. The study described the epidemiology of Mpox outbreaks between 2017 and 2023 and the findings have significant implications on detection and outbreak response activities.
文摘Land surface temperature (LST) is a phenomenon that significantly affects the environment, the cities’ liveability, and the citizens’ well-being. This Study aims to perform a comparative study of the microclimate and Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI) phenomenon of two metropolitan cities of India, i.e. Jaipur and Ahmedabad, using MODIS Satellite data, whereas Landsat Data was used to analyse the Land Surface Characteristics by an index-based approach. The Study’s findings reveal that Ahmedabad has 35.53 per cent of the total area classified as having a low potential, and 13.55 per cent is designated as a high potential LST zone. Meanwhile, in Jaipur, 30.45 per cent of the city’s total area is identified as a low potential LST zone and 12.69 per cent as a high potential LST zone. This Study highlights the importance of mitigating the UHI phenomenon in urban centres for the overall well-being of city dwellers. It will help policymakers and stakeholders comprehend plans and take initiatives to minimise the effects of the UHI phenomenon on rapidly growing cities. .
文摘This study aimed to analyze the suitability of the planned Trans Jateng bus stop points with user service distances. Quantitative descriptive research method was employed in this study. The population in this study were the corridors of the Trans Jateng bus plan, land use, the national urban system, and the surrounding community. The independent variable in this study was the distribution of planned Trans Jateng bus stop points in the Susuwono area, whereas the dependent variable was the appropriateness of the planned Trans Jateng bus stop points with user service distances and surrounding land use. Spatial analysis, environmental analysis, suitability analysis of bus stop locations, and buffering were utilized as data research methods. The results of the study showed that 1) the buffering of the planned bus stop points in the Surakarta area was categorized as maximal, 2) the service distance of the Trans Jateng bus plans in the Sukoharjo District area was categorized as moderately optimal to less than optimal, 3) the service coverage of the Trans Jateng bus stop points was categorized as moderately maximal up to less than optimal based on the buffer map of the planned Trans Jateng bus corridor in the Wonogiri District area. This study concluded that the Trans Jateng bus stop plan is dominated by moderately maximum service coverage.
文摘The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have been observed in this area, leading to a reduction of natural forests. There were two separate methods of this study: firstly, to identify LULC changes across three different periods, spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) for the years 2001 and 2011, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 2021 were used as the primary data sources. The satellite images were preprocessed for various forest classes, including pretreatment of the top of atmosphere reflectance by using QGIS software’s semi-automatic classification plug-in (SCP), and ArcGIS was used for post-classification. A supervised classification approach was applied to the satellite images from 2001, 2011, and 2021 to generate diverse maps of LULC. Secondly, a household survey dataset was used to investigate influential factors. Approximately 220 households were interviewed in order to collect socio-economic information (including data on population growth, increased business activities, location of the area, agriculture land expansion, and need for settlement land). Household survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions and percentages, were applied to observe characteristics. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the socioeconomic factors related to LULC change in DNPF. Key findings indicated a decline in natural forest areas within the study site. Specifically, both dry dipterocarp forest (−11.35%) and mixed deciduous forest (−0.18%) decreased from 2001 to 2021. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 94%, 86%, and 89% for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively. In contrast, agricultural land increased significantly by 155.70%, while built-up land, and water bodies increased by 65.54% and 35.33%, respectively. The results also highlighted a significant increase in construction land, up to 65.54%. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between agricultural expansion and a reduction of forest areas, along with an increase in built-up land along the forest areas’ boundaries. Timber exploitation and charcoal production also contributed to the decline in forest cover. The logistic regression model identified significant determinants of LULC change, including the area’s location, agricultural land expansion, increased business activity, and the need for settlement land. These factors have influenced the management of DNPF. Urgent sustainable management practices and actions, including forest ecosystem protection, village agricultural zoning, water source and watershed protection and public awareness, are required to preserve the forest areas of DNPF.
基金funded by the General Research Fund(GRF)from Research Grants Council of Hong Kong(to PWCL,project number:GRF 244913)
文摘Objective This study initially validates the Chinese version of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children （PAQ-C）, which has been identified as a potentially valid instrument to assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity （MVPA） in children among diverse racial groups. Methods The psychometric properties of the PAQ-C with 742 Hong Kong Chinese children were assessed with the scale＇s internal consistency, reliability, test-retest reliability, confirmatory factory analysis （CFA） in the overall sample, and multistep invariance tests across gender groups as well as convergent validity with body mass index （BMI）, and an accelerometry-based MVPA. Results The Cronbach alpha coefficient （α=0.79）, composite reliability value （p=0.81）, and the intraclass correlation coefficient （α=0.82） indicate the satisfactory reliability of the PAQ-C score. The CFA indicated data fit a single factor model, suggesting that the PAQ-C measures only one construct, on MVPA over the previous 7 days. The multiple-group CFAs suggested that the factor Ioadings and variances and covariances of the PAQ-C measurement model were invariant across gender groups. The PAQ-C score was related to accelerometry-based MVPA （r=0.33） and inversely related to BMI （r=0.18）. Conclusion This study demonstrates the reliability and validity of the PAQ-C in Chinese children.
文摘The BOF-key is the performance-based research funding system that is used in Flanders, Belgium. In this paper we describe the historical background of the system, its current design and organization, as well as its effects on the Flemish higher education landscape. The BOFkey in its current form relies on three bibliometric parameters: publications in Web of Science, citations in Web of Science, and publications in a comprehensive regional database for SSH publications. Taken together, the BOF-key forms a unique variant of the Norwegian model: while the system to a large extent relies on a commercial database, it avoids the problem of inadequate coverage of the SSH. Because the bibliometric parameters of the BOF-key are reused in other funding allocation schemes, their overall importance to the Flemish universities is substantial.
基金Under the auspices of International Centre for China Development Studies,the University of Hong Kong
文摘The mortgage loan has evolved from a local lending instrument into a major global security and its role is unparallel to other financial instruments in the process of financial globalization. This paper explains how technology and financial innovation transformed the mortgage loan from a local security into a premier global security traded worldwide. It examines the fundamental flaws of this process and why it does not work in regards to mortgage lending and the re-securitization products that were created through financial innovation. The findings show that regulation was unable to keep pace with financial innovation, which created an environment where actors in the financial service sector were able to behave geographically irresponsibly by using information asymmetries to their advantage by par- ticipating in moral hazard activities and engaging in other immoral and unethical business practices that were centered around localized geography, which ultimately contributed to the global financial crisis. It also examines the roll of financial innovation in regard to the Lehman Brothers Mini-Bond in Hung and its role as a driving force behind China＇s newly emerging shadow banking sector. It concludes with a policy recommendation and its implication for China＇s continued economic development.
基金supported by the Thailand Nursing and Midwifery Councilthe Graduate School of Chulalongkorn University
文摘Objective:To explore the meanings and domains for giving communities the capacity to be successful in dengue prevention and control.Methods:One hundred and twenty participants were purposely selected from 4 sub-districts of 4 provinces in Southern Thailand with a high dengue incidence.Sixty community leaders and sixty non-community leaders participated in this study.In-depth interviews(IDIs),as well as focus group discussions (FGDs) with tape-recorders and note-taking,were used to collect data.All records were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by using the Colaizzi method for content analysis.Results:The findings showed that people view the creation of a sustainable dengue community program as possible only with the support of each community in its entirety:"everyone,every sector,all participating,and with continuing activities." Community capacity for dengue prevention and control was dependent on ten domains:1) stakeholder participation, 2) community leadership,3) a core-activities group,4) a problem-solving needs assessment,5) dengue information transfer,6) resource mobilization,7 ) a sense of community for the dengue problem,8) a dengue network partnership,9) critical dengue situation-management,and 10) continuing dengue prevention and control activities.Conclusion:These community capacity domains can be developed into an assessment tool for the community capacity-building process.Community capacity domains require community leaders and non-community leaders to clarify dengue prevention and control assistance required.
基金sponsored by the Young Scholar Scientific Research Foundation of China CDC[2010A205]PUMC Youth Fund and supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities[2017330014]
文摘Objective To in vestigate potential gender differences in the odds of overweight/obese, weight-related perceptions, and behaviors among Chinese school children. Methods Height, weight, and a survey of weight-related perceptions and behaviors were measured in a nationally representative survey of 12,811 children in primary schools in China. Logistic regression analyses were used to assess gender differences, adjusting for confounders. Results Boys had higher odds of being overweight/obese compared to girls within both urban [adjusted odds ratio （OR） 2.30, 95% CI 2.00 to 2.65] and rural areas （OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.55 to 2.20）. Girls reported healthier diets （e.g., daily vegetables OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.85） whereas boys consumed fried food （OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.38） and sugar-sweetened drinks more often （OR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.34 to 1.65）. Gender differences included higher odds of boys perceiving themselves as overweight if they had more highly educated mothers （OR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.68）, less educated fathers （OR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.99）, and if they frequently consumed carbonated drinks （OR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.07 to 2.05）. Conclusion Childhood obesity prevention in China should be gender-focused, particularly for boys who reported an unhealthier diet but were less likely to see they were fat, even though more boys were overweight or obese than girls.
文摘This paper presents mathematics models that describe and optimize the passenger flow at the airport security checkpoints by applying the queuing theory. Firstly, a Poisson process is used to estimate the flow of passengers waiting for going through the security. Then, the Poisson distribution is combined with a multiple M/M/s model. Following that, an arrival model (passengers’ arriving at the checkpoints preparing for security examination and departure) with Gumbel extreme value estimation is described that predicts the busiest time in the busiest airport. Real case data collected from several major airports worldwide is used for creating a hybrid Poisson model to generate the simulation of passenger volume. At last, Markov Chain theory is applied to the analysis to randomly simulate the flow of enplaned passengers again, and the results of these two simulations are compared and discussed, revealing that the hybrid Poisson model is the more accurate one. After successfully characterizing the passenger flow mathematically, two methods for optimizing the passenger flow are then provided in two different respects: one is bypassing passengers and creating an express pass;while the other one promotes Pre-Check service application.
文摘This study investigated the relationships among the parameters of dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a and phytoplankton composition in tilapia ponds. Each pond (a total of 18 ponds) was sampled once in the dry, winter season between January and March and again early in the rainy season between May and June. The data were analyzed by examining correlations among parameters as affected by season, altitude and culture system. Observations were made at sites located in 5 selected provinces of northern Thailand: Chiangrai, Chiangmai, Phayao, Lampang and Nakornsawan. Mean elevation of these areas range from 25 to 582 meters above sea level (masl) and were categorized into low (400 masl) elevation sites. Ponds were 0.8 - 2.0 m deep, 0.16 - 0.64 ha in area and could be further categorized into high and low input systems.Mean air temperature in winter ranged between 16.5°C - 35.8°C while mean water temperature ranged between 25.5°C - 27.1°C. In rainy season, air temperature ranged between 22.0°C - 37.3°C and water temperature ranged between 29.4°C - 31.8°C. The amount of chlorophyll-a in both seasons were comparable (p > 0.05), but chlorophyll-a in high input system was significantly higher (p 0.05) than in low input ponds. Only weak correlation was found between chlorophyll-a, DOmax and DOmin. Multifactor-ANOVA was used to analyze the difference of total bacteria and filamentous cyanobacteria in ponds based upon elevation, culture systems and season. Result shows that there is a significant interaction observed between elevation, culture system and season (p 0.05). Species diversity and composition of phytoplankton in fish ponds in 2 seasons revealed the presence of 90 genera of phytoplankton under all 7 divisions. Divisions Chlorophyta and Cyanophyta had the most number of genera identified in both seasons with Pediastrum spp., and Scendesmus spp., and Anabaena spp. as dominant genera/genus, respectively.
基金financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program Project (2017YFC0404304)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41361005)。
文摘The ecology of Qilian Mountains has been seriously threatened by uncontrolled grazing and wasteland reclamation. This study examined the ecological changes on the southern slope of Qilian Mountains in China from the perspective of water conservation by classifying different clusters of water conservation functional areas to efficiently use limited human resources to tackle the water conservation protection problem. In this study, we used Integrate Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST) model to estimate water conservation and analyzed the factors that influence the function. The results of this study include:(1) from 2000 to 2015, the water conservation of the southern slope of Qilian Mountains generally showed an increasing trend, and the total water conservation in 2015 increased by 42.18% compared with that in 2000.(2) Rainfall, fractional vegetation cover(FVC), and evapotranspiration have the most significant influence on the water conservation of the study area. Among them, water conservation is positively correlated with rainfall and FVC(P<0.05) and negatively correlated with evapotranspiration(P<0.05).(3) The importance level of water conservation functional areas gradually increases from northwest to southeast, and the region surrounding Menyuan Hui Autonomous County in the southeast of the southern slope of Qilian Mountains is the core water conservation functional area. And(4) the study area was divided into five clusters(Cluster Ⅰ–Cluster Ⅴ) of water conservation, with the areas of Clusters Ⅰ through Ⅴ accounting for 0.58%, 13.74%, 41.23%, 32.43%, and 12.01% of the whole study area, respectively.
文摘Challenges faced by African countries in achieving the goals of sustainable development are similar and trans-boundary. Previous analysis of Africa’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has largely beennon-spatial, reducing the ability to find spatial relationships between countries and SDGs to help cooperationand proffer country-specific interventions. This study adopted techniques of exploratory and inferential spatialstatistics to assess the successes of African countries from 2016 to 2020 in achieving the goals of sustainable de-velopment. Also, the study sought to understand how the spatial synergies and trade-offs between SDGs vary percountry and time. The results revealed that spatial hotspots of countries with high SDGs scores were mostly con-fined to northern African countries with significant coldspots within central and eastern Africa and few patchesin western and southern Africa for 2016. In 2020, the number of countries forming hotspots reduced, with Cen-tral African countries as significant cold spots. Five main spatial relationships: positive linear, negative linear,concave, convex and undefined complex, were found among countries and the SDGs. However, these spatialrelationships were fluid as they changed over time and with different levels of influence from 2016 to 2020.The study concludes that generic solutions and policies by development agencies, governments, developmentfinance instiutions and other impact investors will not be enough in achieving the SDGs because of the spatialheterogeneity of the continent. Tailored and country-specific policies based on results of spatial statistics matter.
文摘Purpose: This paper presents an overview of different kinds of lists of scholarly publication channels and of experiences related to the construction and maintenance of national lists supporting performance-based research funding systems. It also contributes with a set of recommendations for the construction and maintenance of national lists of journals and book publishers.Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on analysis of previously published studies, policy papers, and reported experiences related to the construction and use of lists of scholarly publication channels. Findings: Several countries have systems for research funding and/or evaluation, that involve the use of national lists of scholarly publication channels(mainly journals and publishers). Typically, such lists are selective(do not include all scholarly or non-scholarly channels) and differentiated(distinguish between channels of different levels and quality). At the same time, most lists are embedded in a system that encompasses multiple or all disciplines. This raises the question how such lists can be organized and maintained to ensure that all relevant disciplines and all types of research are adequately represented. Research limitation: The conclusions and recommendations of the study are based on the authors' interpretation of a complex and sometimes controversial process with many different stakeholders involved.Practical implications: The recommendations and the related background information provided in this paper enable mutual learning that may feed into improvements in the construction and maintenance of national and other lists of scholarly publication channels in any geographical context. This may foster a development of responsible evaluation practices.Originality/value: This paper presents the first general overview and typology of different kinds of publication channel lists, provides insights on expert-based versus metrics-based evaluation, and formulates a set of recommendations for the responsible construction and maintenance of publication channel lists.
