The paper focuses on the application of a multilevel, integrative and territorial approach to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. It points out the problems of the sectoral approach and discusses international recommendations that can be integrated into the planning methodology. The case study is the area of Djerdap National Park, which has an already established international and national importance. The research suggests that the cultural heritage in the area, with the exception of the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual localities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The interna-tional and national importance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the inte-gration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Historically, urban development has always been centered on coastal areas – with access to waterbodies – seas, rivers and canals being a significant advantage for movement and trade. With most of the world’s megapolises located on coasts, land reclamation offers a solution for the expansion of city centers which are otherwise restricted by the coastline. The current understanding of urban regeneration and development on reclaimed lands is defined in this study, answering the basic questions of what, why and how. This study aims to assess the urban regeneration on reclaimed coastal land based on the principles of sustainable development defined by existing studies. The literature review establishes a theoretical framework and defines performance-based benchmarks identifying the spatial indicators of urban development. Composite indicators namely open space coverage, land use mix, percentage of coast for people, accessibility to public transportation and amenities, availability of pedestrian paths and cycling tracks and adequate road networks are considered for this framework. The conclusions are drawn based on the results of the analysis of spatial layout using GIS as a tool to map and empirically measure each indicator. The framework is validated using a major land reclamation project, West Bay, in the coastal urban area of ​​the city of Doha. The results determine that West Bay has achieved a good level of sustainability, although there are areas that could be enhanced to further improve the overall sustainability of urban development. These findings can serve as a guide for policymakers and various stakeholders for sustainable urban planning on reclaimed coastal lands.

Questions：SAP in mountainous cities of China serve as crucial carriers for species and wild food, constituting potential green infrastructure. These patches should be recognized as locally specific resources. This study investigates the transformation characteristics of the landscape patterns of SAP, along with their elements, across urban-rural gradients, providing foundational support for the planning of conservation and utilization strategies. Location: Yongchuan area of Chongqing in southwest China. Methods: The study investigated urban-rural gradient-based transformation of SAP. A four-direction transect space was selected and divided into uniform sample squares. Fragstats 4.3 calculated the landscape index of SAP, and Spearman correlation coefficients in SPSS were used to evaluate the influence of landform and artificial factors on agroforestry patch transformation. Results: 1) Patch area (PA), Plaque density (PD), and CLUMPY of SAP systematically transform, showing increased SAP areas and higher connectivity with greater distance from the city, resulting in reduced patch fragmentation. However, Edge density (ED) and Largest plaque index (LPI) exhibit irregular transformation patterns. 2) With increased distance from the city, woodland patch area and connectivity increase, leading to decreased fragmentation, dispersal, and lower fractal dimensions. Conversely, Cultivated land follows the opposite trend. garden land patch area, fractal dimension, fragmentation, and dispersal all increase, while connectivity decreases. 3) Landscape pattern transformations of SPA are significantly influenced by artificial factors. Woodland patches are influenced similarly by landform and artificial factors. In contrast, cultivated land and garden land patches are more significantly impacted by artificial factors. Conclusions: SAP exhibit differentiated conservation and utilization measures across urban-rural gradients. Small patches located far from urban centers may benefit from systematic conservation measures to prevent further fragmentation and erosion in peri-urban areas.

This paper is focused on typical rural settlements in the Stara Planina Mountain area in Serbia. They are distinguished by their authenticity, identity and character, and they have still not been destroyed by inappropriate development as is the case in some other mountain areas in Serbia, where the effects of urbanization, globalization and homogenization are obvious. Consequently, there is a need to prevent these effects in mountain areas where there is a threat of disbalance between development and the inherited natural and cultural values. The paper starts from several important concepts that relate contemporary approaches to cultural heritage preservation, place morphology and planning future development. The concept definitions from recent documents from related fields are used. These concepts are then applied to the area of Stara Planina Mountain and its rural settlements. The necessity for an integrative approach to planning this area with significant natural and anthropogenic potential is pointed out, including its integration into international programs of sustainable development.

In the last decades, the impacts of urbanization on the hydrological cycle have led to an increase in the frequency and magnitude of urban flooding events, also amplified by the effects of climate change. Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) provide a revolutionary change in this field, improving the sustainability and resilience of cities. This research explores the integration of different SuDS with the aim of significantly reducing both flow volume and celerity of floods in a residual urban catchment area of metropolitan city of Querétaro (Mèxico), where extreme rainfall frequently occurs. This catchment is a representative suburb of urban pressure and environmental degradation problems. Currently, managing storm water under climate uncertainty through a multi-disciplinary approach is a major concern in this urban area. A 1D-2D coupling model of shallow water equations, finite volume method, unstructured meshing method, and hybrid parallel computing application defined the optimal configuration of SuDS at catchment scale to reduce the flood vulnerability in Querétaro. Specifically, in this paper we explore the management issues of the proposed SuDS configuration that acts as a water resource system with multiple purposes. A generic simulation model called MODSIM was applied to simulate the designed urban drainage system under a balanced IPCC future climate scenario in terms of reliability, resilience and vulnerability against water scarcity.

Bicycle transport stands at the forefront of sustainable mobility initiatives, a cornerstone of European Union policy. While support for cycling is crucial, its advancement hinges upon the presence of high-quality, secure infrastructure for cyclists. Safety emerges as a paramount concern, influencing the viability of cycling as a mode of transportation, yet its perception varies among user demographics. Considering this, this article endeavours to examine and contrast cycling infrastructure across various European nations, alongside analysing statistics pertaining to fatal traffic accidents involving cyclists. In our paper, we have chosen the Netherlands as a representative of building quality cycling infrastructure with many years of experience, and two countries that are developing conditions for cyclists, Slovakia and Poland. We have applied a correlation between the length of the transport infrastructure and the number of cyclists killed. The findings point to the substantial correlation between the quality of cycling infrastructure and the incidence of accidents. This correlation underscores the pressing need for robust infrastructure development and safety measures to bolster cycling as a safe and viable transportation option. We have employed the Shapiro-Wilk test for normal distribution to verify the input data and process the Pearson correlation to investigate the correlation between cycling infrastructure and road accident fatalities of cyclists.

Residential segregation refers to the phenomenon where people of different socioeconomic backgrounds live in spatially separated areas. It is essential to ensure equitable access to urban amenities for all residents in pursuit of the normative values in urban planning. To achieve this planning goal, the disparity in accessibility to urban amenities needs to be appropriately diagnosed. Private apartments and public rental apartments are representative types of residences where residential segregation is likely to occur in the context of South Korea, since these two types show considerable differences in the education, income, and occupations. The objective of this study is to develop an analysis framework for diagnosing the difference in accessibility to urban amenities between the two residential types, and to empirically demonstrate their utility in the planning process. The empirical analysis conducted on Seoul revealed that not only were there significant local variations in accessibility between the two segregated residential areas, but the overall differences across the entire area were also pronounced. The proposed framework is useful in supporting decision-making processes for locating new public facilities or identifying regional priorities for guiding the placement of private amenities, with the aim of mitigating differences between segregated residential areas.

Channel bends are one of the most important characteristic features of natural streams. These bends often create the conditions for a hyporheic zone, which has been recognized as a critical component of stream ecosystems. The streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity (K_v), vertical hydraulic gradient (VHG) and Darcian flux (DF) in the hyporheic zone were estimated at 61 locations along a channel bend of the Beiluo River during July 2015 and January 2016. All the streambed attributes showed great spatial variability along the channel bend. Both upward fluxes and downward fluxes occurred during the two test periods, most of studied stream sections were controlled by downwelling, indicating stream water discharge into the subsurface. The average downward flux was higher at the downstream side than at the upstream side of the channel bend, especially in July 2015. The distribution of streambed sediment grain size has a significant influence on the variability of K_v; high percentages of silt and clay sediments generally lead to low K_v values. Higher K_v at the depositional left bank at the upstream site shifted toward the erosional right bank at the downstream site, with K_v values positively correlated with the water depth. This study suggested that the variabilities of K_v and VHG were influenced by the stream geomorphology and that the distribution of K_v was inversely related, to a certain extent, to the distribution of VHG across the channel bend. K_v and VHG were found to have opposite effects on the DF, and the close relationship between K_v and DF indicated that the water fluxes were mainly controlled by K_v.

This work aimed to assess and characterize the air quality in what concerns particulate pollution in urban-industrial environments. The main objectives were to study the spatial variability of the deposition flux of particulate pollution identifying areas with higher deposition, associate the variability with climatological variables and with possible surrounding emitting sources. The method for collecting the deposited particles was based on the standard NF X 43-007. Sampling for particulate pollution took place between April 2015 and February 2016, through seven sampling campaigns. Maps of the spatial dispersion for the particulate pollution were obtained through statistics and geostatistics techniques. Elemental identification by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used but only in two sampling campaigns. The results show that the sampling campaigns that took place during hot and dry periods, 2nd and 3rd, present higher deposition flux: 2.04 g/(m2 x month) and 1.72 g/(m2 x month), respectively. Lower deposition fluxes were registered in the 6th and 7th campaigns: 0.23 g/(m2 x month) and 0.24 g/(m2 x month), respectively. It was also observed a recurrent high deposition at specific sampling points which may be due to both the nearby road traffic and the presence of chimneys. SEM analysis allowed to associate repetitive element deposition, at the same sampling point, to the same emitting source.

The personalist ethics of Edith Stein and her feminist thought are intrinsically interrelated. This unique connection constitutes perhaps the main novelty of Stein’s ethical thought that makes her a forerunner of some recent developments in feminist ethics, particularly ethics of care. A few scholars noticed the resemblance between Stein’s feminist personalism and care ethics, yet none of them have properly explored it. This paper offers an in-depth discussion of the overlaps and differences between Stein’s ethical insights and the core ideas of care ethics. It argues that both Stein and care ethicists relocate a certain set of practices, values and attitudes from the periphery to the center of ethical reflection. This includes relationality, emotionality and care. The paper finally argues that it is plausible and fruitful to read Stein’s advocacy of ‘woman’s values and attitudes’ in a critical feminist way, rather than as an instance of essentialist difference feminism.

In order to study the effect of explosion load on the flexural performance of RC beams, two RC beams of the same size were carried out explosion test and bearing capacity test successively. Piezoelectric intelligent aggregate was embedded in the beams in advance to monitor the damage state of the beams, which realized the whole process of damage monitoring of the concrete inside the structure from explosion damage to compression damage.Based on wavelet packet analysis and residual bearing capacity damage evaluation criteria, the beam damage was quantitatively evaluated, and the bending bearing capacity of RC beam after explosion damage was compared and analyzed.The results show that the change of concrete strain gauge signal, the phenomenon of crack development and the increase of internal crack development index indicate that the RC beam is damaged by explosion load.After explosion damage, the damage index of the beam increases and the residual bending capacity decreases, which proves that the piezoelectric intelligent aggregate sensor can effectively monitor the bending capacity change of the component after explosion damage.

Confronting the dual challenges of rapid urbanization and climate change, although extensive research has investigated the influencing factors and practical strategies of urban carbon emissions and urban vibrancy, respectively, the unclear mutual nexus between them and the development strategy of collaborative optimization requires further in-depth analysis. This study explores the delicate balance between urban vibrancy and low-carbon sustainability within the confines of Beijing’s Fifth Ring Road. By integrating OpenStreetMap, land use, population, and building carbon emission data, we have developed a reproducible method to estimate total carbon emission and emission intensity per capita. Furthermore, we have introduced vibrancy index data to distinguish the vibrancy evaluation of residential and non-residential land and applied cross-combinational classification technology to dissect the spatial correlation between urban carbon emissions and urban vibrancy. The results reveal that the four combination typologies show more significant differences and regularity in residential land. Based on the discovery of spatial correlation, this study puts forward corresponding development strategy suggestions for each typology based on geographical location and the requirements of urban development policies of these four combination typologies. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of integrating carbon emissions and urban vibrancy comprehensively in sustainable urban planning and proposes that various land use combinations need targeted development strategies to achieve this goal, which need to consider population, energy, service facilities, and other diverse aspects.

Globalization, knowledge economy, information technology advancements, and the rise of learning societies contribute to the concept of a learning city. The study examines the economic indicators of Yazd city, Iran, in the context of learning city development. A descriptive-analytical approach with a survey method and cluster sampling was employed. Data analysis involved Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test, single-sample T-test, simple linear regression, and Kendall's W test. The normality test confirmed data normality. The T-test indicated that experts perceived the current state of most variables in Yazd as undesirable. Regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between the economic index and independent variables. Kendall's W test prioritized areas based on economic indicators, with the top 7 and bottom 5 areas identified for focused interventions. The study emphasizes the need to prioritize areas within Yazd based on their economic indicators. This prioritization informs strategies for enhancing social and legal aspects of Yazd's transformation into a learning city. Further research should explore effective methods to cultivate a full-fledged learning environment in the city.

The European Union Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC; WFD) aims to achieve a good ecological and chemical status of all bodies of surface water by 2027. The development of an integrated guidance on surface water chemical monitoring (e.g. WFD Guidance Document No. 7/19) has been transferred into national German law (Ordinance for the Protection of Surface Waters, OGewV). For the majority of compounds, this act requires a monthly sampling frequency to assess the chemical water quality status of a surface water body. To evaluate the representativeness of the sampling strategy under the OGewV, high-frequency online monitoring data is investigated under different sampling scenarios and compared with current, monthly grab sampling strategy. About 23 million data points were analyzed for this study, three chemical parameters (dissolved oxygen, nitrate-nitrogen, chloride concentration) and discharge data were selected from four catchment of different sizes ranging from 51391 km² to 84 km² (Elbe, Vereinigte Mulde, Neiße and two stations at Lockwitzbach). In this paper we proposed short-term online-monitoring (STOM) as a sampling alternative. STOM considers the placement of online sensors over a limited duration and return interval. In general we: (I) compare the results of conventional grab sampling with STOM, (II) investigate the different performance of STOM and grab sampling using discharge data as proxy for analyzing event-mobilized pollutants and (III) investigate the related uncertainties and costs of both sampling methods. Results show, that STOM outperforms grab sampling for parameters where minimum/maximum concentrations are required by law as the probability to catch a single extreme value is higher with STOM. Furthermore, parameters showing a pronounced diurnal pattern, like dissolved oxygen, are also captured considerably better. The performance of STOM showed no substantial improvements for parameters with small concentration variability, as nitrogen-nitrate The analysis of discharge events as a proxy parameter for event-mobilized pollutants proved that the probability of capturing samples during events is significantly increased by STOM.

Commuting is a vital travel channel for college students throughout their higher education career; nevertheless, excessive commute time negatively impacts students’ school satisfaction, academic achievement, health, and quality of life. Meanwhile, few studies have explored students’ commute time, covering a large population and scope. Therefore, this study analyzes the dwelling type that influences college and graduate students’ school commute times in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, using data from the 2016 Household Travel Diary Survey. This study uses spatial data on housing development to classify five dwelling types (i.e., new town, housing site development, Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi-do). A multiple linear regression model empirically analyses students’ household and personal characteristics. The results reveal that dwelling type significantly affects students’ commute time. Specifically, Students living in Seoul have a shorter commute to school than those living in new towns. Socioeconomic characteristics have less effect on college and graduate students' school commute time. This study discusses the problem of excessive commuting of college and graduate students in new towns.

Nitrogen (N) is an essential macro nutrient for crop growth; therefore, N deficit can greatly limit crop growth and production. In the North China Plain (NCP), winter wheat is one of the main food crops, and its yield has increased from approximately 4000 kg ha-1 to 6000 kg ha-1 in the last two decades. Determining the proper N application rates at different growth stages and in all seasons is very important for the sustainable and high production of wheat in the NCP. A field experiment with five N application rates (250, 200, 150, 100, and 40 kgN·ha-1, designated as N250, N200, N150, N100, and N40, respectively) was conducted during the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 winter wheat seasons to investigate the effects of the N application rate on water- and fertiliz-er-utilization efficiency, and on the crop growth and yield of winter wheat under sprinkler fer-tigation conditions. The results showed that, in the N application range of 40-200 kg ha-1, crop yield and water- and fertilizer-use efficiencies increased as the N application rate increased; however, further increases in the N application rate did not have additional benefits. The N up-take after regreening of winter wheat linearly increased with crop growth. Considering the wheat yield and N-use efficiency, the optimal N application range was 200 kg ha-1, and the best top-dressing strategy was equal amounts of N applied at the regreening, jointing, and grain-filling stages. The results of this study will be useful for optimizing field N management to achieve high wheat yield production in the NCP and in regions with similar climatic and soil environment conditions.

Today's city needs more than ever methodological devices that ensure a specific urbanism, in keeping with the complexity of relationships that occur in the urban space. Networks or systems of diverse nature must be activated to achieve a certain success of the city, even more so in its fragile central fabrics. The study is focused on the historic neighborhoods of the city of Jaén (Spain), which have a high vulnerability index. The aim is to establish a strategy to revitalize their urban and social capital and improve their articulation with the rest of the urban and territorial structure. A methodological proposal for the analysis of vulnerability factors and an urban and cartographic analysis of the public space is addressed through an interweaving of a triple network: environmental, social, and urban. For this purpose, the configuration of this overlapping network of analysis and formulation of criteria is presented, which considers the urban multiplicity and promotes new dynamics for the integrated urban regeneration of the area and for the activation of public and collective urban spaces.

Extracting the economic value by integrated utilization of space in old communities is crucial for encouraging independent participation from enterprises and residents, reducing reliance on government leadership and fiscal investment. This study starts from the active perspective of spatial assets, constructs a value activation framework for old community spatial assets by balancing "endogenous demand" and "exogenous opportunities." By enhancing "economic value" through "use value," five methods for value extraction and overall project utilization paths are proposed, guided by a dynamic "cost-revenue" balance. Using multi-source data, we identify the spatial assets of 1,096 old communities in central Guangzhou and apply a market comparison method for economic value assessment. Additionally, the study offers recommendations on timing and project portfolios for regeneration efforts, along with strategies for establishing a coordinating implementation entity and fund account. This research provides strategic insights for advancing the regeneration of old communities by tapping into their macro-level economic potential.

The resilience of towns and cities refers to their ability to adapt and recover when confronted with pressures or challenges. This study employs ten variables as indicators to assess the resilience of urban areas by analyzing official data and constructing a multilevel mixed-effects structural equation model. The empirical findings demonstrate that enhancing resilience significantly influ-ences urban service functions, such as strengthening healthcare systems, stabilizing the real estate market, and addressing socio-economic challenges. Specifically, factors such as healthcare re-sources, housing demand, population structure, and social security exhibit varying levels of resil-ience, which profoundly impact the spatial distribution of these factors and socio-economic de-velopment. Disparities in healthcare resource allocation, demographic aging trends, and shifts in the housing market closely correlate with resilience levels in different regions. Additionally, the study emphasizes that improving resilience not only boosts the reliability and security of urban services but also ensures that communities receive necessary support and protection during times of adversity. Consequently, policymakers should recognize the pivotal role of urban resilience in resource allocation and social equity, devising corresponding strategies to enhance the resilience of these areas.

Areas covered with vegetation play a key role for life on Earth and should be inventoried in a clear and complete manner in order to improve the process of its protection and development. Data showing the amount of greenery in areas most deformed by humans, i.e. urbanized areas, are particularly important. Local governments need to know how to invest theirs limited sources in the quality of life of residents by supplementing the urban fabric with additional vegetation. The article presents a proposal for how to calculate the degree of greenness of cities based on remote sensing data. Additionally, a novel method was proposed to help in planning the development of areas covered with vegetation, taking into account the spatial distribution of the local population. The result was a comprehensive method presenting the actual natural situation in a specific city.

Global dust events have become more frequent due to climate change and increased human activity, significantly impacting air quality and human health. Previous studies have often focused on simulating cross-regional dust transport based on atmospheric parameters; however, comprehensive monitoring of dust events remains challenging. Therefore, this study utilized Fengyun-4A (FY-4A) satellite Advanced Geostationary Radiation Imager (AGRI) imagery, Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) lidar, and other auxiliary data to conduct three-dimensional spatiotemporal monitoring and cross-regional transport analysis of two typical dust events in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region of China using four dust intensity indices (Icsd, Dust Detection Index (DDI), Dust value (DV), and Dust Strength Index (DSI)) and the HYSPLIT model. We found that among the four indices, DDI was the most suitable for studying dust in the BTH region, with a detection accuracy (POCD) of > 88% at all times and reaching a maximum of 96.14%. Both the 2021 and 2023 dust events originated from large-scale deforestation in southern Mongolia and the border area of Inner Mongolia, with dust plumes distributed between 2 and 12 km being transported across regions to the BTH area. Further, when dust aerosols are primarily concentrated below 4 km and PM10 concentrations consistently exceed 600 µg/m³, large dust storms are more likely to occur in the BTH region. The findings of this study provide valuable insights into the sources, transport pathways, and environmental impacts of dust aerosols.

It is currently difficult to obtain accurate fine dust information in residential areas due to the insufficient number of air quality monitoring systems and spatial imbalances. Therefore, a detailed particulate matter dispersion model including factors such as land use and meteorological information was developed in this study and used to create fine dust concentration distribution maps. The fine dust concentration distribution maps currently available to citizens were compared with those obtained by dispersion modeling, and population distribution data were employed to compare the populations exposed to fine dust according to the two methods. The results of the existing method and the developed particulate matter dispersion model differed significantly. For instance, the PM2.5 concentrations in Daejeon, South Korea, on February 17, 2018, were 56% “Good” and 44% “Moderate,” according to the existing method, while they were 31% “Good,” 26% “Moderate,” 28% “Unhealthy,” and 15% “Very Unhealthy,” according to the dispersion model. Furthermore, the existing method indicated that no portion of the population was exposed to poor fine dust concentrations, while the proposed model revealed that over 170 thousand people were exposed to such concentrations. These results on fine dust distributions will contribute to sustainable urban and environmental planning.

In this study, we attempted to verify the hypothesis that total metals bound to dust of different particle sizes may reflect pollution levels, but cannot predict its bioavailability and risks in human health assessments. Dust samples were collected using active sampling method; during the dry season months of November, 2014 to March, 2015 at different locations in Akure (7˚10ʹN and 5˚15ʹE). The samples were sorted into different particle sizes (< 10µm, 10 – 50 µm, >50µm), analyzed for some physicochemical properties and assessed for metals bioavailability using two-step physiological extraction method. The amount of metals (Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, Zn and Mn) released in each particle sizes were determined using Perkin-Elmer 6000 Inductively Coupled Plasma - Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) analysis. The results showed that bioavailability of some metals (Cd, Ni, Pb, and Zn) decreases with increasing particle sizes, however, the reverse trend was observed for Mn, Cu and Fe concentrations. This may be attributed to some combination of physicochemical characteristics of the dust and metal speciation. Hence, it was concluded that metal bioaccessibility in dust can best be described by the knowledge of physicochemical characteristics. The exposure dose of the metals showed that cancer risks due to inhalation were very high when compared to other exposure routes (ingestion and dermal contact). The calculated non-cancer (HQ) and cancer risk (HI) for humans in the area showed values higher than unity, indicating possibility of the metals’ body burden.

As argued by ‘Declaration of Concrete Environment (2010)’ of Korea and ‘Declaration of Asian Concrete Environment (2011)’ of six Asian countries, concrete as a single material has lately shown extremely large impact on environmental issues such as climate change. Assessment of environmental impact from concrete material and production has considerable importance. Concrete is a major material used in the construction industry that emits a large amount of substances with environmental impacts during its life cycle. Accordingly, technologies for the reduction in and assessment of the environmental impact of concrete from the perspective of Life Cycle Assessment must be developed. At present, the studies in relation to greenhouse gas emission from concrete are being carried out globally as a countermeasure against climate change. In this study, a sustainable concrete mix design algorithm was designed using correlation analyses, and its carbon emission and cost reduction performances were assessed. Using correlation analyses, the concrete strength, w/b and s/a ratios, and CO₂ emissions were identified as major variables of concrete mix design that influenced other variables. Also, this study aims to evaluate the CO₂ emission reduction performance of the algorithm-deduced sustainable concrete mix design, and therefore, the CO₂ emissions of the sustainable concrete mix design are compared with those of the actual concrete mix design applied to the construction of the office building A in South Korea.

This study was conducted to identify the actual degree of underdevelopment and spatial characteristics of rural areas in Korea, which are expected to face extinction due to population decline and aging. For this purpose, the spatial scope was set to Eup and Myeon areas classified as rural regions. To assess the degree of underdevelopment, previous studies were reviewed and analyzed to develop a comprehensive underdevelopment index, which was then applied to Eup and Myeon areas to classify them into growth regions, general regions, and depressed regions. Mapping the classified regions revealed that both growth and general regions were concentrated in the metropolitan area and southeastern regions, where Korea's population and resources are densely clustered. In contrast, depressed regions were found primarily in areas where agriculture is the main industry and in regions with unfavorable geographical conditions. This study is significant as it covers the entire nation of Korea, providing a method for identifying depressed regions and highlighting the regions that are developing. The findings can serve as fundamental data for the development of policies to address population decline in the future.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment has become a common trend in capital markets, and many institutional investors have publicly declared their long-term ESG investment target (ESGIT). This study focuses on investors who conduct strategic asset allocation (SAA) using composite indices but establish their ESGIT outside the SAA process. A mismatch could arise between investors’ planned and actual portfolios because they must pursue their ESGIT by asset selection, which inevitably makes the constituents of their portfolios different from those of composite indices. To scrutinize the potential existence of a misalignment between their SAA and ESGIT, this study analyzes actual stock and bond indices over the past decade using traditional mean-variance optimization. The results reveal significant differences between the expected and realized performances, and the misalignment is more significant when the analysis period is divided into two sub-periods: stable and volatile. Specifically, the results indicate that the efficient frontier constructed using ESG indices significantly differs from that constructed using composite indices, and that the difference between these two efficient frontiers becomes more significant during volatile periods. Furthermore, the results show that investors cannot meet their targets if their ESGIT is established outside the SAA process.

Study of gross alpha (GA) and gross beta (GB) activity in road and surface deposited sediments were performed in various geographical areas in three Russian cities. To perform radiation measurements, new methods were applied which allow dealing with low mass and low volume dust size (2-100μm) samples obtained after the size fractionation procedure. The 2-10 μm fraction size has the highest gross beta activity concentration (GB)– 1.32Bq/g in Nizhny Novgorod (NN) and Rostov-On-Don (RND) while the 50-100 μm fraction size in Ekaterinburg. This is maybe associated with the subsistence of radionuclides that conveyed through natural processes and anthropogenic applications. The highest gross alpha activity concentration (GA) in fraction sizes was found in Rostov-on-Don city within the 50-100 μm– 0.22Bq/g. The fraction size 50-100 μmhas a higher gross alpha activity concentration than 2-10 and 10-50 μmfraction sizes due to natural partitioning of the main minerals constituting the urban surface deposited sediment (USDS). The geochemical processes that occur during the formation and transportation of USDS are reflected in the observed dependencies.Developed experimental methods of radiation measurements allowed to the extent the methodological base of urban geochemical studies.

Quantifying the landscape pattern change can effectively demonstrate the ecological progresses and the consequences of urbanization. Based on remotely sensed land cover data in 1994, 2000, 2006 and a gradient analysis with landscape metrics at landscape- and class- level, we attempted to characterize the individual and entire landscape patterns of Shanghai metropolitan during the rapid urbanization. We highlighted that a roadscape transect approach that combined the buffer zone method and the transect-based approach was introduced to describe the urban-rural patterns of agricultural, residential, green, industrial, and public facilities land along the railway route. Our results of landscape metrics showed significant spatiotemporal patterns and gradient variations along the transect. The urban growth pattern in two time spans conform to the hypothesis for diffusion–coalescence processes, implying that the railway is adaptive as a gradient element to analyze the landscape patterns with urbanization. As the natural landscape was replaced by urban landscape gradually, the urban fringe expanded radically. The results also showed that the desakota region expanded its extent widely. Satellite towns witnessed the continual transformation from the predominantly rural landscape to peri-urban landscape. Furthermore, the gap between urban and rural areas remained large especially in public service. More reasonable urban plans and land use policies should push to make more of an effort to transition from the urban-rural separation to coordinated urban-rural development. This study is a meaningful trial in demonstrating a new form of urban–rural transects to study the landscape change of large cities from a strategic viewpoint. By combining gradient analysis with landscape metrics, we addressed the process of urbanization both spatially and temporally, and provided a more quantitative approach to urban studies.

The distribution of tiny sensors over a specific area was first proposed in the late 1990s as a concept known as Smart Dust. Several efforts focused primarily on computing and networking capabilities but quickly ran into problems related to power supply, cost, data transmission, and environmental pollution. To overcome these limitations, we propose using paper-based (confetti-like) chemosensors that exploit the inherent selectivity of chemical reagents, such as colorimetric indicators. In this work, cheap and biodegradable passive sensors made from cellulose could successfully indicate the presence of hazardous chemicals, e.g., strong acids, by a significant color change. A conventional color digital camera attached to a drone could easily detect this from a safe distance. The collected data was processed to define the hazardous area. Our work presents a combination of the smart dust concept, chemosensing, paper-based sensor technology, and low-cost drones for flexible, sensitive, economical, and rapid detection of hazardous chemicals in high-risk scenarios.

The variation of aerosols, especially dust aerosol, in time and space plays an important role in climate forcing studies. Aerosols can effectively reduce land surface longwave emission and re-emit energy at a colder temperature, making estimation of downwelling surface longwave radiation (DSLR) with satellite data difficult. Using the latest atmospheric radiative transfer code (MODTRAN 5.0), we simulate the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and DSLR under different land surface and atmospheric profile conditions. The results show that dust aerosol has an obvious “warming” effect to longwave radiation compared with other aerosols, that aerosol longwave radiative forcing (ALRF) increased with increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD), and that the atmospheric water vapor content (WVC) is critical to the understanding of ALRF. A method is proposed to improve the accuracy of DSLR estimation from satellite data for the skies under heavy dust aerosols. The AOD and atmospheric WVC under cloud-free conditions with a relatively simple satellite-based radiation model that yields the high accurate DSLR under heavy dust aerosol are used explicitly as model input to reduce the effects of dust aerosol on the estimation of DSLR. Validations of the proposed model with satellites data and field measurements show that it estimates the DSLR accurately under heavy dust aerosol skies. The root mean square errors (RMSEs) are 20.4 W/M² and 24.2 W/M² for Terra and Aqua satellites, respectively, at the Yingke site, and the biases are 2.7 W/M² and 9.6 W/M², respectively. For the Arvaikheer site, the RMSEs are 23.2 W/M² and 19.8 W/M² for Terra and Aqua, respectively, and the biases are 7.8 W/M² and 10.5 W/M², respectively. The proposed method is especially applicable to acquire relatively high accurate DSLR under heavy dust aerosol using MODIS data with available WVC and AOD data.

To promote of the rural revitalization strategy in China, this study attempts to summarize the gains and losses by the review of the design practice of rural buildings of the People's Commune in the late 1950s. Firstly, from the macro perspective, this paper gleans the relevant commune housing design cases in the Architectural Journal from 1958 to 1960 and summarizes the overall common design policies. Secondly, from the micro perspective, the paper analyzes the process of the investigation and creation through a concrete case. The paper concludes that the actual production and living needs of farmers must be taken into consideration in the process of the implementation of rural modernization, instead of simply putting the focus on standardized construction. Finally, the article points out the two characteristics of "rural modernity" reflected in the process of promoting rural modernization during the early stage of modern China: 1) collective wisdom and efforts; 2) combining local and foreign cultures. This article aims to provide a historical reference for current architects to carry out effective design practices in combination with rural development.

Dust storms play a crucial role in the climate system and the space environment of Mars and have a great impact on human’s Mars exploration activities. The Martian dust storms exhibit significant regional, seasonal and interannual variations due to various controlling factors such as the large-scale atmospheric circulation, varying solar radiation forcing, and Martial orbital and rotational motions and their coupling to the atmospheric dynamics. This paper focuses on the review of cur-rent understandings on Martian dust storms. This paper begins by elucidating the basic properties of dust storms, and their driving mechanisms and impacts on atmospheric dynamics, atmospheric electric property, space environment, topography, and Mars explorations. Then it introduces the observation methods on different platforms including orbiters and landers/rovers, and the da-tasets constructed based on these historical observations for Martian dust storms. Finally, we pro-posed the dust storm monitoring and forecasting for the upcoming Chinese Tianwen-3 Mars sam-pling returning mission. It concludes by depicting the future research topics to systematically un-derstand the Martian dust storms.

In the quest for more sustainable urban landscape development, the concept of ‘green infrastructure’ (GI) has become central in policy documents and as a multifunctional general planning tool. GI is not however a simple and unambiguous solution. While there in policy documents are claims for more and connected GI, actual urban development takes another direction. The densifying imperative is hard to combine with an increased and more connected GI. This paper argues for a critical and diversified approach to the concept of GI, to facilitate its implementation in urban planning and management. While GI most often is seen as a common asset and a public good, the actual land use negotiations and management responsibilities cannot be limited to a public service discourse, but should address more clearly a variety of actors. Linguistic as well as spatial definitions of the two relevant dichotomies of ‘green-grey’ and ‘public-private’ are crucial in GI location, design, construction and management, it is argued. Overarching representations of GI will be needed, but also – and linked to it – a spatial storm water plan and an overall plan for public space. The development over time will need an intersectorial implementation and management program. Thus some of the GI intentions may be implemented in planning processes, some through reorganisation and redesign of public space, and some by agreements with landowners.

Agricultural activities are the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, and carbon emissions from agricultural land use (CEALU) have become a hot issue across the world. However, few scholars explored the impact of agricultural land policies on carbon emissions, such as the High-standard farmland construction(HSFC) in China.Thus，by relying on provincial panel data for China for the period 2005-2017, the effect of the high-standard basic farmland construction policy on carbon emissions from agricultural land use per unit area and its regional differences were quantitatively analyzed using the difference-in-difference (DID) model. The results showed that: 1) China's CEALU per unit area presented a fluctuating upward trend during the period 2005-2017, from 392.58 kg/ha to 457.72 kg/ha, with an average annual growth rate of 1.31%. 2) The high-standard farmland construction(HSFC) policy produced a significant carbon emission reduction effect in agricultural land use, and reduced the CEALU per unit area by 10.80% on average. With the promotion of this policy, its carbon emission reduction effect in agricultural land use presented an overall increasing trend. 3) The carbon emission reduction effect of the high-standard farmland construction policy in agricultural land use was significant in central China, but non-significant in eastern China and western China.

During public health events, Active Mobility (walking and cycling) plays an important role in securing residents' travel. To enhance the resilience of urban transportation, this article integrates the travel environment elements for walking and cycling and constructs a travel environment for Active Mobility evaluation index system. This article uses survey data from the main urban area of Harbin in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2022, and combines the Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT) and Impact-Asymmetry Analysis (IAA) methods to analyze the satisfaction of the travel environment for Active Mobility. It proposes strategies for optimizing the travel environment for Active Mobility, ensuring residents' travel during public health events, guiding them to adopt Active Mobility, and improving urban transportation resilience. This research shows that Active Mobility can enhance urban transportation resilience. In addition, there are differences in resident demand for walking and cycling environments in the travel environment for Active Mobility. Residents are more concerned about the comfort of the walking environment, while they prioritize the convenience of the cycling environment.

This study aims to investigate the effects of cement kiln dust (CKD) on the hydration reactions and mechanical properties of cement and to evaluate its potential for use as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The key variables are the CKD type and incorporation rate. Cement paste and mortar specimens containing CKD were prepared to examine their effects on the cement hydration and mechanical properties. The impact on hydration was assessed using setting time measurements, heat of hydration tests, and thermogravimetric analysis (TG). In addition, compressive strength tests were conducted to evaluate the effect of CKD on the mechanical properties of the cement. The results indicated that CKD promoted early cement hydration and enhanced the early age mechanical properties. However, owing to its lack of pozzolanic reactivity, it did not significantly affect long-term hydration. Given that the effects of CKD vary slightly depending on its chemical composition, careful consideration of CKD's properties suggests that its potential use as a SCM is promising.

In the present work, a study has been carried out on the contamination of heavy metals in urban dust deposited on the roads of the city of Cartagena (Spain), in order to know the content of metals such as Ni, Zn, Pb, Cd, Cr and Cu. Likewise, the possible relationship of the concentration of heavy metals with the color of the sample, level of magnetism and traffic density was studied. Contamination was evaluated using several indices such as contamination factor (CF), enrichment factor (EF), geoacumulation index (Igeo), pollutant load index (PLI) and ecological risk index (RI). A total of 88 samples were taken in the urban area of Cartagena, and the metals were determined by acid digestion and measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The concentration of heavy metals in urban dust from Cartagena was Zn (672 mg/kg) &gt; Cu (248.9 mg/kg) &gt; Pb (227 mg/kg) &gt; Cr (82.7 mg/kg) &gt; Ni (47.7 mg/kg) &gt; Cd (4.1 mg/kg). Contamination levels were high in Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu, according to environmental indices. A correlation was found between magnetism and metal concentration, which was repeated for all metals except Cd. Dark-colored samples contained higher metal concentrations than light-colored samples. Meanwhile, streets with medium and low traffic intensity were found to have higher concentrations of heavy metals. This study's objective was to identify pollution hotspots caused by heavy metals in dust in the urban ecosystem of Cartagena city.

The cutting of difficult-to-machine materials, including their preconditioning, often requires specialised tools and machinery. An alternative processing technology can be cutting materials with a water jet. From the initial stage, the selection of appropriate technological parameters will influence what further finishing treatments will be applied. Vibrations occurring during this process can negatively affect the quality of the cutting edges and surfaces. Therefore, this study analysed vibrations during water-jet cutting with variable technological parameters (speed vfi and pressure pi). To measure the vibrations, a three-axis accelerometer from SEQUOIA was used in water-jet cutting of three materials: aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, and steel. Based on the study, it was found that the maximum value of vibration amplitude reaches the lowest value of vibration acceleration for aluminum alloy (not exceeding 5 m/s2), regardless of the value of pressure during the cutting process. This, taking into account the material properties, indicates that aluminum alloy is the material most susceptible to the cutting process while maintaining a high quality of the cutting surface. Significantly higher values of vibration acceleration amplitude (reaching up to 60 m/s2) during cutting were registered for steel and titanium alloy in all zones and phases of the process (entry zone, cutting zone, and exit zones).

This study investigates the spatial and temporal dynamics of Paomo restaurants in Xi'an's central urban area from 2012 to 2023, leveraging Point of Interest (POI) data through a series of sophisticated analytical techniques. Methods including nearest neighbor distance, kernel density estimation, and band set statistical analysis were employed to thoroughly examine the evolutionary patterns and key drivers influencing the spatial distribution of these eateries. Our results highlight a notable trend of expansion from the central city to the periphery, characterized by significant spatial agglomeration. Initially concentrated in the city center, the distribution of Paomo restaurants has progressively shifted towards multiple distinct cores, reflecting the dual influence of urban policy initiatives and the dynamics of market competition. Furthermore, the research identifies several pivotal factors shaping this spatial distribution, particularly transportation access, residential quality of life, and the availability of commercial services. These findings demonstrate the profound effects of urban spatial reconfiguration and socioeconomic development on the specialized catering industry. The insights gleaned from this analysis offer valuable guidance for urban planners and policymakers, providing strategic recommendations for the spatial planning of specialty catering services to optimize urban layouts and foster sustainable economic progress.

Soil carbon (C) cycling under anoxic conditions is mechanistically linked to dissimilatory iron (Fe) reduction, which could be regulated by exogenous dissolved organic matter (DOM). However, the impact of complex exogenous DOM on soil microbial activity and C-Fe coupling in paddy soils remains underexplored. With a 100-day microcosm experiment, we determined that the molecular composition of DOM derived from organic fertilizers and biochar on paddy soil affects soil microbial community, Fe reduction, and C emissions. Our results indicated that biochar-DOM significantly promoted Fe reduction and accelerated CH₄ and CO₂ emissions, and organic manure-DOM increased soil CO₂ emissions, which was closely related to the molecular composition of exogenous DOM. DOM molecules with high aromaticity (AI_mod) and high DBE, including lignins-vascular plant-derived polyphenols, lignins-polycyclic aromatics (PA), and condensed aromatics-PA, promoted soil Fe reduction and CH₄ emissions by enriching soil Fe-reducing bacteria (FeRB), reducing methanotrophs, and facilitating r-strategists at the early stage of incubation. Conversely, DOMs with low AI_mod, low DBE and high H/C, such as lignins-highly unsaturated and phenolic compounds and proteins-aliphatic compounds, enhanced CO₂ emissions by facilitating recalcitrant C degradation and CH₄ oxidation at the late stage of incubation. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of the molecular composition of DOMs derived from organic amendments in regulating soil Fe reduction and C emissions. The findings offer novel insights into the effective utilization of agricultural resources and the mitigation of soil C emissions.

Urbanization-induced land use transition results in a decline in ecosystem services, which has implications for regional ecological security. In order to explore the relationship between ecosystem services and land use transition, this paper utilizes the InVEST model, geographically weighted regression model to examine the impact of land use transition on ecosystem services in the Dongting Lake area (DLA). The results showed that (1) During the period 2000-2020, the intensity and motivation of land-use transition showed obvious spatial and temporal heterogeneity with the variation of urbanization development. (2) Habitat quality and Carbon sequestrations showed a downward trend. In contrast, food supply followed an upward trend; soil conservation and water yield services initially increased and dropped later. The overall spatial changes in habitat quality and Carbon sequestration appear to be insignificant. Food supply shows significant differences in the plains compared to other areas; while soil conservation and water yield service shows significant changes in places other than the DLA. (3) From 2000 to 2020, land use transition dynamics, population density, GDP density, night lighting and transition intensity had mainly negative effects on ecosystem services. Only the Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) showed a positive effect on ecosystem services. The results of the research will provide valuable references for the development and implementation of spatial ecological restoration planning and land use policies in the national territory.

Amid escalating urbanization, devising rational commercial space layouts is a critical challenge. Leveraging machine learning, this study uses a Back-propagation (BP) neural network to optimize commercial spaces in Weinan City's central urban area. The results indicate an increased number of commercial facilities with a trend of multi-centered agglomeration and outward expansion. Based on these findings, we propose a strategic framework for rational commercial space development emphasizing aggregation centers, development axes, and spatial guidelines. This strategy provides valuable insights for urban planners in small and medium-sized cities in the Yellow River Basin and metropolitan areas, ultimately showcasing the power of machine learning in enhancing urban planning.

Earthquake events present a high risk in urban areas. Nador City is a Mediterranean city located in a dynamic zone with seismologic movement and a frequency of earthquake events per year. This worrying rate shows that earthquake risks can hinder the urban area and damage citizens and goods if urban risk management is not taken. This study defines the areas most threatened by seismic events to protect them as a priority. Using Geographic Information System, Corine Land Cover, seismic intensity, and socioeconomic vulnerability index, we mapped the urban vulnerability index. The adopted model determines urban vulnerability levels from urban land cover, topography, geologic factors, and geomorphologic factors. These approaches reveal that $70\%$ of Nador is under the damage of a seismic disaster. In addition, the main objective is to apply a new set of guidelines to map the intensity of risks and explain the distinct risk exposure level in Nador’s urban context.

In recent experimental studies, we reported the aggravating effects of Asian sand dust (ASD) on male reproductive function in mice. However, the effects of fetal ASD exposure on male reproductive function have not been investigated. The present study investigated the effects of fetal ASD exposure on reproductive function in male offspring. Using pregnant CD-1 mice, ASD was administered intratracheally on days 7 and 14 of gestation, and the reproductive function of male offspring was determined at 5, 10, and 15 weeks after birth. The secondary sex ratio was significantly lower in the fetal ASD-exposed mice than in the controls. Histologic examination showed partial vacuolation of seminiferous tubules in immature mice. Moreover, daily sperm production (DSP) was significantly less in the fetal ASD-exposed mice than in the controls. DSP in the fetal ASD-exposed mice was approximately 10% less than the controls at both 5 and 10 weeks. However, both the histologic changes and the DSP decrease were reversed as the mice matured. These findings suggest that ASD exposure affects both the fetal development and the reproductive function of male offspring. In the future, it will be necessary to clarify the onset mechanisms of ASD-induced male fetus death and male reproductive disorders.

The growing concerns about floods have highlighted the need for accurate and detailed precipitation data as extreme precipitation occurrences can lead to catastrophic floods, resulting in significant economic losses and casualties. Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM-IMERG) is a commonly used high-resolution gridded precipitation dataset and is recognized as trustworthy alternative sources of precipitation data. The aim of this study is to comprehensively evaluate the performance of GPM IMERG Early (IMERG-E), Late (IMERG-L), and Run Final (IMERG-F) in precipitation estimation and their capability in detecting extreme rainfall indices over southwestern Iran during 2001-2020. The Asfezari gridded precipitation data which are developed using a dense of ground-based observation were utilized as the reference dataset. The findings indicate that the IMERG-F performs reasonably well in capturing many extreme precipitation events (defined by various indices). All the three products showed a better performance in capturing fixed and non-threshold precipitation indices across the study region. The findings also revealed that both IMERG-E and IMERG-L have problems in rainfall estimation over elevated areas showing values of overestimations. Examining the effect of land cover type on the accuracy of the precipitation products suggest that both IMERG-E and IMERG-L show large and highly unrealistic overestimations over inland water bodies and permanent wetlands. The results of the current study highlight the potential of IMERG-F as a valuable source of data for precipitation monitoring in the region.

This short report extends our previous paper “Multiplicity of human scent signature” and transfers canine identification to digital processing of data. The question is whether current GCxGC-MS technology and computer-based identification can perform identification as well as canines. This would objectify the identification of persons. Working with digital scent samples enables the use of multiple scent signatures for more exact identification. More differently constructed signatures during the identification process may represent the key point in identification of persons in olfactronics. Several types of scent signatures were considered in this article. The digital scent signatures were constructed based on the relative contents of the chemical compounds in the samples and relative ratios of compounds in the samples. Further on the signatures were made from the parts of the original samples fractioned by the volatility of compounds and by the relative abundance of the compounds in the samples. These results confirm the scent multiplicity phenomenon in digital scent samples. Using differently constructed signatures may be the key point in identification of persons using digital scent samples. This approach enables a transition from subjectivity to objectivity and a change from physical olfactory to olfactronic processing of digital scent samples.

Air pollution knows no boundaries, which means for a city or a region to attain clean air standards, must not only look at the emission sources within its own administrative boundary, but also at sources in the immediate vicinity and those originating from long-range transport. And there is a limit to how much area can be explored to evaluate, govern, and manage as designated airsheds for cities and larger regions. This paper discusses the need from an official airshed framework for India’s air quality management, urban airsheds designated for India’s 131 non-attainment cities under the national clean air programme, and proposes climatically and geographically appropriate regional airsheds to support long-term planning. Between 28 states, eight union territories, 36 meteorological sub-regional divisions, and six regional meteorological departments, establishing the proposed 15 regional airsheds for integrated and collaborative air quality management across India is a unique opportunity.

As the world’s second largest economy, China ranks amount the world’s top nations when it comes to carbon emission, and therefore its attitude towards climate change is closely followed by all parties concerned. There have been few researches on the role of environmental governance in low-carbon city transformation process, especially the Chinese one. This paper analyses the role of government environmental regulation played in the low-carbon city transformation process by taking Shenzhen as the research object. One of the world's youngest super cities, it also happens to be the lowest carbon emission intensity city in China. Striving to explore green low-carbon development path for the whole country, Shenzhen provides practical experience for countries to cope with global climate change. However, its efforts to reduce the total carbon emissions failed, but it emphasized the carbon emission intensity, which is consistent with the international commitments made by the central government. China’s policy towards handling climate change relies on hierarchical governance arrangement. The strength of the NGOs in the country is weak and incomparable with the government’s, which has mastered most of the resources and is just a reality in China.

The concept of economic self-reliance, widely known by Thai people as the philosophy of sufficiency economy, has been widely promoted in rural Thai societies. By practicing this philosophy, it is expected that the citizens’ quality of life and local environments could be sustainably improved. This study aims to explore the contribution of the community practices of the sufficiency economy philosophy to rural villagers’ quality of life improvement, and to investigate potential factors that determine the trust of villagers in the philosophy. With the purpose to propose strategies which could enhance trust and promote villagers’ practices of the philosophy, the study investigated influences of three relevant factors on trust towards the philosophy. Those factors included factors related to cognitive-based trust, factors related to emotional-based trust, and factors related to demographic characteristics. Questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews with community leaders and local villagers were conducted in the Ban Jamrung community, in Thailand’s Rayong province. The results of the statistical analysis revealed that the residents who applied the sufficiency economy philosophy in their daily lives experienced a relatively better quality of life. Additionally, it was found that trust in the philosophy could be predicted more by rational factors than by emotional factors. These findings could be utilized to develop strategies to maintain and enhance the trust of the people in the philosophy of sufficiency economy.

: This study examines the prospects of residential water demand management policy regulations in Ethiopia and their implications for sustainable water resource management. This study aims to evaluate the existing policy regulations and analyze their effectiveness in promoting efficient water use and conservation practices in residential areas. By considering the potential challenges and opportunities associated with these regulations, the research provides insights into the future of residential water demand management in Ethiopia and suggests strategies for enhancing sustainable water resource management. Integrated literature and policy document review, alongside observation and interviews, was used to assess the viability of residential water demand management policies. The assessment of current policy regulations for residential water demand management in Ethiopian urban towns has revealed significant shortcomings in promoting water conservation activities. Hence, there is a need for significant improvements in the current water resource policy guidelines, which lack specificity, particularly in residential water demand management conservation strategies. The lack of awareness among residents regarding the importance of conserving their limited water resources is evident. To address these challenges and ensure the sustainability of the water supply, the government and policy developers must engage with various stakeholders, including the community, in the process of revising current policy documents. A more precise and tailored approach is necessary for its effective implementation.

In air quality management, at urban and regional levels, road transport remains the cornerstone of residential, commercial, and industrial activities, and the vehicle exhaust emissions maintain the position of one of the key contributing sources. In Indian cities, big and small, vehicle exhaust emissions and dust from vehicle movement on the roads, contribute to as much as 50% of particulate matter pollution in a year. So, having access to a vehicle exhaust emissions inventory that is reliable and replicable is critical for air quality management and this exercise starts with access to vehicle stock numbers. These numbers are typically obtained from vehicle registration databases, traffic surveys, and other governmental records, and often require time consuming data cleaning protocols before they can used for emissions and pollution baseline analysis. This paper provides a cleaned and open-access vehicle stock database, as registered and in-use fleet, for the period covering 1993 and 2018, for all India and states, along with an estimate of age-mix of the vehicles using survival functions.

The exponential growth of user-contributed data provides a comprehensive basis for assessing collective perceptions of landscape change. A variety of possible public data sources exist, such as geospatial data from social media or Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). Key challenges with such ‘opportunistic’ data sampling are variability in platform popularity and bias due to changing user groups and contribution rules. In this study, we use five case studies to demonstrate how intra- and inter-dataset comparisons can help to assess the temporality of landscape scenic resources, such as identifying seasonal characteristics for a given area, or testing hypotheses about shifting popularity trends observed in the field. By focusing on the consistency and reproducibility of temporal patterns for selected scenic resources and comparisons across different dimensions of data, we aim to contribute to the development of systematic methods for disentangling the perceived impact of events and trends from other technological and social phenomena included in the data. The proposed techniques may help to draw attention to overlooked or underestimated patterns of landscape change, fill in missing data between periodic surveys, or corroborate and support field observations. Despite limitations, the results already provide a comprehensive basis for developing indicators with a high degree of timeliness for monitoring perceived landscape change over time.

This research analyzes the phenomenon of the reduction of urban green spaces in the post-socialist city. Belgrade was selected as a post-socialist city of the former Yugoslavia. The article analyses the views of urban planners on the reasons for the reduction of urban green areas in the post-socialist city based on semi-structured interviews with representative samples for urban areas. This result research confirms the hypothesis that post-socialist city planning reduces urban green areas due to the lack of new mechanisms in documents for the planning of urban green space. The concept of sustainability should connect and balance the skills of urban planners and focus on how urban planners develop and apply standards and protect them in market-democratic systems. In other words, a new mechanism of post-socialist city planning implies a balance between the private and public sectors. In the planning document, urban planners should find a common denominator between the public interest, citizens, investors, and spheres determined by the sustainable principles of the development. City institutions should provide opportunities for the application of those standards. With the new approach, planning would imply work in the service of citizens in the concepts of a sustainable and green city.

This study examines the impact of chainsaw chain type and tree species on the concen-tration of inhalable wood dust generated during motor-manual harvesting in forested areas. The chainsaw chain is a critical component, contributing not only to productivity but also to the oper-ator's health and safety. Wood dust creation during harvesting operations poses significant risks and necessitates careful attention due to its potential health effects. We investigated the effects by conducting real-world measurements of inhalable dust within the operator's breathing zone during forestry work. Two different chain types were evaluated: the commonly used 3/8" pitch chain (conventional chain) and the 0.325" pitch chain. Additionally, measurements were taken for three tree species: beech, oak, and pine (including both live and standing dead trees after a fire). Results showed that, overall, using the conventional 3/8" chain type yielded the highest concentration of wood dust for all three tree species. Notably, the highest wood dust concentration was observed in the burned Pinus brutia cluster, also with the 3/8" chain pitch. These findings emphasize the im-portance of understanding how chain type and tree species contribute to wood dust levels and provide valuable insights for enhancing operator health and safety during motor-manual har-vesting operations

Reminding the courier through wearable artificial intelligence devices to prevent accidents is not only beneficial to the courier's safety but also will save a lot of insurance premiums for express companies, therefore, it is worth investigating what factors can influence the acceptance of wearable artificial intelligence devices by couriers. Push-pull-mooring (PPM) theory and affective event theory (AET) are integrated to test couriers’ adoption to wearable safety detection devices. Social influence, perceived security, personal innovativeness and affective event reaction are applied to research model. Questionnaires are distributed among several listed express companies and 263 valid questionnaires are used for empirical test. Empirical results indicated that social influence, perceived safety, personal innovativeness and affective event reaction are positively related to usage with coefficients 0.218, 0.301, 0.698 and 0.309. Personal innovativeness has positively moderating effects on relationships between affective event reaction, perceived security and usage with coefficients 0.145 and 0.106, whereas has no significant moderating effect on relationship between social influence and usage. The research aims to help support the proliferation and adoption of wearable artificial intelligence devices to optimize the current state of the express industry and improve the interaction between couriers and managers, creating an active management strategy that will allow express companies to thrive. This study can help express companies reduce insurance costs and therefore reduce the premium pricing of insurance companies for the courier industry.. This study also provides design suggestions for the application of wearable artificial intelligence devices based on chat GPT in various working conditions.

As the world’s second-largest economy, China has undergone rapid industrialization and urbanization, leading to high energy consumption and significant carbon emissions. This development has exacerbated conflicts between human-land relations and environmental conservation, contributing to global warming and urban air pollution, both of which pose serious health risks. This study utilizes nighttime light (NTL) data from 2005 to 2019, combined with scaling techniques and statistical analysis, to estimate city-scale energy carbon emissions over a 15-year period. Our focus is on Northeast China, a traditional industrial region comprising 36 cities across three provinces, rich in natural resources but now facing severe aging challenges. We analyzed the spatial patterns of energy carbon emissions, while spatiotemporal evolution was assessed through spatial autocorrelation and dynamic changes. These dynamic changes were further evaluated using standard deviation ellipse (SDE) parameters and SLOPE values. Additionally, we examined the conflict between city-scale emissions and economic growth using the Tapio decoupling index. Our findings for the 36 cities over the 15-year period include: (1) Heilongjiang shows low emissions with a downward trend; Jilin shows overall improvement; Liaoning has high and steadily increasing emissions. (2) The global spatial autocorrelation of energy carbon emissions is significant, with a positive Moran’s I, while significant local Moran’s I clusters are concentrated in Heilongjiang and Liaoning. (3) The SDE shows the greatest changes in city-scale emissions occurred in 2015, followed by 2019, 2005, and 2010. (4) Emission growth across the 36 cities is fastest in Heilongjiang, followed by Liaoning and Jilin. (5) Tapio decoupling analysis shows overall positive decoupling in Heilongjiang, a decline in decoupling quality in Jilin, and no significant change in Liaoning. Finally, we recommend strategies to reduce emissions from the perspectives of government, industry, and residents. This research offers a quantitative foundation for achieving dual carbon goals and supports the implementation of policies focused on energy transition and sustainable urban planning.

Turkey is located in the heart of complex transition geography between Eurasia and the Middle East. In the grand scheme, the so-called Eastern Mediterranean Basin is almost amidst the dusty belt and a hot spot of climate change. The downstream location of dust carrying winds from the closer desert sources reveals Turkey as an open plane to particulate matter exposure throughout the year. In order to clarify this phenomenon, it is aimed to find out the desert dust climatology of Turkey via CALIPSO onboard Lidar. This prominent instrument enables us to understand clouds, aerosols and their types and relatedly climatic systems with its valuable products. In this study, 9-year CALIPSO derived pure dust product is formed to explain horizontal and vertical distributions, transport heights and case incidences. Results indicated mass and conditional abundancy are higher with the location shifts from west to east. In the same direction, dominant spring months change to summer and autumn. Mountain range systems surrounding Anatolia are the main obstacles against lofted and buoyant dust particles travelling to northern latitudes. Even if high ridges accumulate mass load on the southern slopes, it also enables elevated particles to reach the ground level of the inner cities.

The expression microarray technique was performed to investigate the differences in gene expression between Czech Large White pigs and wild boars in the longissimus lumborum et thoracis and biceps femoris muscle tissues. The NREP gene (neuronal regeneration related protein homolog) was selected for detailed study as an expressional and functional candidate gene. NREP plays a role in the transformation of neural, muscle and fibroblast cells and in smooth muscle myogenesis. Quantitative real-time PCR results confirmed that the porcine NREP gene was expressed in both skeletal muscles and significantly overexpressed in Czech Large White pigs compared to wild boars (P &lt; 0.05). We identified 9 polymorphic sites in genomic DNA of NREP gene. Six of these polymorphisms were in complete linkage disequilibrium and therefore only 4 polymorphisms were informative. Associations of these 4 polymorphisms (HF571253:g.103G&gt;A, HF571253:g.134G&gt;A, HF571253:g.179T&gt;C and HF571253:g.402_409delT) with meat performance traits were assessed in Czech Large White pigs. New polymorphisms in NREP gene were significantly associated with parameters of daily weight gain, lean meat and backfat thickness in Czech Large White pigs. Our primary study suggested that porcine NREP may play an important role in skeletal muscle growth, fat metabolism and meat performance traits.

A case-crossover study examined how PM_2.5 from Asian Dust Storms (ADS) affects the number of emergency room (ER) admissions for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and respiratory diseases (RDs). Our data indicated that PM_2.5 concentration from ADS was highly correlated with ER visits for CVDs and RDs. The odds ratios (OR) increased by 2.92 (95% CI: 1.22-5.08) and 1.86 (95% CI: 1.30-2.91) per increase 10 µg/m³ in PM_2.5 levels, for CVDs and RDs, respectively. A 10 µg/m³ increase in PM_2.5 from ADSs was significantly associated with increase in ER visits for CVDs among those 65 years of age and older (an increase of 2.77 in OR) and for females (an increase of 3.09 in OR). In contrast, PM_2.5 levels had a significant impact on RD ER visits among those under 65 years of age (OR=1.77). The risk of ER visits for CVDs increased on the day when the ADS occurred in Taiwan and the day after (lag 0 and lag 1); the corresponding risk increase for RDs only increased on the fifth day after the ADS (lag 5). In Taiwan’s late winter and spring, the severity of ER visits for CVDs and RDs increases. Environmental protection agencies should employ an early warning system for ADS to reduce high-risk groups’ exposure to PM_2.5.

With the ever-increasing popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles and other platforms providing dense point clouds, filters for identification of ground points in such dense clouds are needed. Many filters have been proposed and are widely used, usually based on the determination of an original surface approximation and subsequent identification of points within a predefined dis-tance from such surface. We present a new filter, Multi-view and shift rasterization algorithm (MVSR) is based on a different principle, i.e., on the identification of just the lowest points in in-dividual grid cells, shifting the grid along both planar axis and subsequent tilting of the entire grid. The principle is presented in detail and compared both visually and numerically to other commonly used ground filters (PMF, SMRF, CSF, ATIN) on three sites with different ruggedness and vegetation density. Visually, the MVSR filter showed the smoothest and thinnest ground profiles, with ATIN the only filter performing comparably. The same was confirmed when comparing ground filtered by other filters with the MVSR-based surface. The goodness of fit with the original cloud is demonstrated by the root mean square deviations (RMSD) of the points from the original cloud found below the MVSR-generated surface (ranging, depending on site, between 0.6-2.5 cm). The MVSR filter performed outstandingly at all sites, identifying the ground points with great accuracy while filtering out the maximum of vegetation/above-ground points. The filter dilutes the cloud somewhat; in such dense point clouds, however, this can be perceived rather as a benefit than as a disadvantage.

With the ever-increasing popularity of unmanned aerial vehicles and other platforms providing dense point clouds, universal filters for accurate identification of ground points in such dense clouds are needed. Many filters have been proposed and are widely used, usually based on the determination of an original surface approximation and subsequent identification of points within a predefined distance from such surface. In this paper, we present a new filter. This Multi-view and shift rasterization algorithm (MVSR) is based on an entirely different principle, i.e., on the identification of just the lowest points in individual grid cells, shifting the grid along both planar axis and subsequent tilting of the entire grid – after each of these steps, one lowest point per cell is detected. The principle is presented in detail and compared both visually and numerically to other commonly used ground filters (PMF, SMRF, CSF, ATIN) on three sites with different ruggedness and vegetation density. Visually, the MVSR filter showed the smoothest and thinnest ground profiles, with ATIN the only filter performing comparably (although the profiles were somewhat thicker and not as complete as MVSR-acquired ground). The same was confirmed when comparing ground filtered by other filters with the MVSR-based surface. The goodness of fit with the original cloud is demonstrated by the root mean square deviations (RMSD) of the points from the original cloud found below the MVSR-generated surface (ranging, depending on site, between 0.6-2.5 cm). ATIN again performed closest to MVSR, with RMSDs of ground filtered points found above MVSR-based surface at individual sites ranging between 4.5-7.4 cm. The remaining filters performed comparable in the simplest flat area but poorly in rugged and much-vegetated sites, with RMSDs above the MVSR surface ranging at such sites from 21 to 95 cm. In conclusion, the novel filter presented in this paper performed outstandingly at all sites, identifying the ground points with great accuracy while filtering out the maximum of vegetation/above-ground points. The filter dilutes the cloud somewhat; in such dense point clouds, however, this can be perceived rather as a benefit than as a disadvantage.

Forming a clustered network structure has been proposed as a solution to increase network performance, scalability, stability and manageability in an ad hoc network. A good clustering algorithm aims to select cluster heads among available nodes so that a number of specific constraints are satisfied; thus the cluster head selection problem is a multiobjective optimization problem. This paper proposes an algorithm on the basis of ant colony optimization (ACO) to be used to solve this problem. The proposed algorithm is a simple, one hop cluster formation algorithm, to form a clustered structure with the minimum number of clusters. The centralized ACO-based clustering algorithm is evaluated and compared with other clustering algorithms in ad hoc networks in terms of cluster density.

The deposition of dust particles on solar panel modules constitutes a significant challenge, leading to a potential reduction in solar cell performance. This work tackles this issue by investigating the surface modification of a layer of transparent indium tin oxide (ITO), with a detailed analysis of the influence of its characteristics via different annealing conditions/processing. The ITO layer has been studied to enhance its characteristics for dust removal applications. Of particular note is that the developed ITO layer can be applied to dust removal using electrostatic or magnetic-based approaches. Thus, the correlation between annealing gas (using Argon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen), annealing temperature, and annealing ramping rate is explored with the obtained surface topography, as well as electrical and optical properties. The developed ITO layers annealed in the Argon medium at 600°C with an annealing ramping rate of 50°C/s showed smooth surface roughness, the highest electrical conductivity, and a relatively low refractive index. Such findings can play a crucial role in the future implementation of using the enhanced ITO layer for dust mitigation in solar panels, thus improving their long-term performance.

Urban rail transit hub platform is the most important area for passenger flow distribution. In order to calculate passenger flow volume in platform and evaluate platform service level during rush hours, this paper presents a method for modeling and simulation of passenger flow distribution in platform. Passenger flow distribution model (PFDM) is proposed based on the basic analysis and the superposition principle of passenger flow. Simulation design for PFDM is proposed by Anylogic, which contains simulation process and simulation model. Experiment results show that PFDM and simulation design are effective and accordant with the reality scenario, and the simulation precision is comparatively ideal. This research could provide a beneficial reference for train scheduling and operation management under the viewpoint of traffic safety and service level.

Knowledge about the formation energies of compounds is essential to derive phase diagrams of multi-component phases with respect to elemental reservoirs. The determination of formation energies using common (semi-)local exchange-correlation approximations of density functional theory (DFT) exhibits well-known systematic errors if applied to oxide compounds containing transition metal elements. In this work, we generalize, reevaluate and discuss a set of approaches proposed and widely applied in the literature to correct for errors arising from the over-binding of the O2 molecule and from correlation effects of electrons in localized transition-metal orbitals. The DFT+U method is exemplarily applied to iron oxide compounds, and a procedure is presented to obtain U values, which lead to formation energies and electronic band gaps comparable to experimental values. Using such corrected formation energies, we derive the phase diagrams for LaFeO3, Li5FeO4 and NaFeO2, which are promising materials for energy conversion and storage devices. A scheme is presented to transform the variables of the phase diagrams from the chemical potentials of elemental phases to those of precursor compounds of a solid-state reaction, which represents the experimental synthesis process more appropriately. The discussed workflow of methods can directly be applied to other transition metal oxides.

The effects of climate change health impacts on urban health care systems and vulnerable populations are a researched topic with foundations on urban risk management, urban health methodologies, and sustainable urbanization. As climate change is a dynamic and transformative global issue the gap between adaptation and mitigation efforts and urban planning relies, among other things, in the limitations of previous studies of risk management structures tailored to the existing strategy to calculate the uncertainties and predict their influence on urban systems and subsystems. Moreover, as climate and health is a well-researched issue, it is also complex as the methodologies and strategic approach to minimize health risks of climate change is intrinsically contingent to risk methodologies and policy-making processes that are efficient with support of knowledge-based information. This paper emphasis the need for focusing on urban health risk management methods that serves to identify potential opportunities, and then manage and take action to prevent adverse health effects. It also emphasizes the probability of events and their consequences, which are measurable both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Fine dust causes various disorders, including cardiovascular, neurological, renal, reproductive, motor, systemic, respiratory, and cancerous diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to study functional materials to prevent these problems. In this study we used various methods, including quantitative PCR, flow cytometry, ELISA, and Alizarin O staining, to study the beneficial effects of erucic acid against fine dust. Erucic acid and erucic acid-induced exosomes (EIE) strongly suppress the attenuation of osteocytic differentiation and inflammation induced by fine dust. Erucic acid effectively suppresses inflammation in fibroblasts exposed to fine dust. Notably, despite exposure to fine dust, EIE promoted osteocytic differentiation in adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) and osteogenesis in macrophages, in addition to phagocytosis. Dramatic upregulation of RunX2 and BMP7 by EIE indicates that it is a strong activator of osteocytic differentiation in ASC and protects them from the effects of fine dust. Moreover, EIE induces immune activity and acts as an osteogenic trigger for macrophages. Therefore, this study suggests the potential use of erucic acid and erucic acid-induced exosomes (EIE) as biomaterials to prevent environment-borne diseases.

Although fine dust can cause various disorders, including cardiovascular, neurological, renal, reproductive, motor, systemic, respiratory, and cancerous diseases, there are not enough research for an oral disease. In this study we used various methods, including quantitative PCR, flow cytometry, immunocytochemistry, ELISA, and Alizarin O staining, to reveal the preventive effects of hemp-derived biomaterials in periodontal cells against fine dust. In this study, the two biomaterials (MSE; mature hemp stem extract and IE; induced exosomes derived from gingival cells exposed to MSE) revealed three main biological functions against fine dust. First, two materials suppressed the levels of inflammatory genes and activated anti-inflammatory genes in gingival cells. Second, these materials activated differentiation to osteoblast, periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) and pulp progenitor cells (PPCs) from periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). Third, IE and MSE activated upregulation of LL-37 and down-regulation of MCP-1 in gingival cells and PDLSCs, respectively. Consequently, MSE and IE showed potential as a functional biomaterial in various fields, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and foods.

Previous studies separately addressed the impact of urban expansion on vegetation cover and thermal conditions, as well as its effect on moisture and drought indicators, using geospatial techniques. Some studies, such as those by Malah et al. (2021) and Niu and Li (2020), focused on assessing urban environmental quality using an environmental quality index without considering urban expansion. Meanwhile, other studies, like those conducted by Indrawati et al. (2020), primarily focused on evaluating urban environ-ments using an integrated environmental index consisting of four indicators (greenness, moisture, drought, and cumulative clustering). The study by Zhu et al. (2019) applied the same integrated environmental index (IEI) and, by comparing it with temperature, re-vealed a negative correlation illustrating the effects of the environmental index on land surface temperature (LST). These two studies could be utilized to construct an index assessing the environmental condition in Riyadh. This is the case in the present study, where the addition of a temperature indicator due to the hot desert nature of the study area created the Urban Environmental Thermal Index to evaluate the urban en-vironment and provide results suitable to this region. It is expected that the present study will align with the findings of previous relevant studies, showing a negative im-pact of urban expansion on urban environmental components.

Understanding the dynamics of land use and land cover (LULC) change in today's context of rapid urbanization is critical for sustainable urban planning and environmental conservation. Therefore, the research aim is to understand the LULC changes in Chattogram Metropolitan Area and to assess the policy implications of these changes for sustainable urban development. Through a comparative analysis of LULC maps for two periods (1997–2007; 2007–2017), we investigated the transformation of a detailed planning zone before and after detailed area plan (DAP) approval. Using a mixed-method approach integrating quantitative data with policy analysis, we elucidated the impacts of urbanization trends on local ecosystems—specifically the conversion of forest cover and waterscape use. The findings reveal a significant conversion of forested and waterscape areas to urban and peri-urban landscapes, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable planning interventions that focus on these peri-urban areas. The study further critiques the DAP's effectiveness, revealing a disconnect between regional policy implementation and local outcomes. This research proposes a validated, scalable framework for urban master plans that adapts to the complex socio-ecological contexts of rapidly urbanizing regions.

An emissions baseline for a city is the foundation to building an informed clean air action plan. This includes an understanding of the sources and their intensities to device cost-effective measures with the least health impacts. In an urban environment, emissions from road transport is one of the major contributors to the air pollution problem, and accounting for this sector requires a detailed profile of in-use vehicles, covering their age-mix, usage, and fuel economy. In this paper, we present a simplified framework to survey at select fuel stations to establish the necessary inputs and use them to build a localized vehicle emissions inventory. The methodology is illustrated with an application in the city of Patna, India. Here, the FuSS was employed to profile the in-use passenger vehicle characteristics by 19 trained students, over nine days and at ten fuel stations, to collect 9,775 survey points. The methodology outlined in this paper, along with the tools and training framework, is also replicable in settings other than the fuel stations.

The importance of contact with nature for human health was confirmed by numerous research. One of the sometimes neglected fields is the landscape design of hospital premises. This study focuses on the perception and preferences of prospective patients regarding the hospital site design. The methodology included anonymous survey with images and lists of adjectives. The online questionnaire was distributed using e-mails and social media from 4th May to 8th July 2024. The objective was to include all age groups. The results confirm previous studies and demonstrate the importance of landscape architecture design of hospital premises for the well-being of patients. The findings may inform the design of hospital sites.

This study investigates the land surface temperature (LST) distribution from thermal infrared data for analyzing the characteristics of surface coverage using the Vegetation-Impervious-Soil (VIS) approach. A set of ten images, obtained from Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper, between 2001 and 2010, were used to study the urban environmental conditions of 47 neighborhoods of Porto Alegre city, Brazil. Porto Alegre has had the smallest population growth rate of all 27 state capitals in the last two decades in Brazil, with an increase of 11.55% in inhabitants from 1,263 million in 1991 to 1,409 million in 2010. We applied the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory in order to test the influence of the economically-related scenario on the spatial nature of social-environmental arrangement of the city at neighborhood scale. Our results suggest that the economically-related scenario exerts a non-negligible influence on the physically driven characteristics of the urban environmental conditions as predicted by EKC theory. The linear inverse correlation R2 between household income (HI) and LST is 0.36 and has shown to be comparable to all other studied variables. Future research may investigate the relation between other economically-related indicators to specific land surface characteristics.

This study aims to spatially analyze the distribution characteristics of vacant homes in Asan-si, Chungcheongnam-do, and understand the differences in factors causing vacant homes by type. We use a variety of statistical methods to examine these factors and identify key influencing factors such as the number of vacant stores, changes in overall population, land use complexity, and physical characteristics of land and buildings. The findings reveal that the factors contributing to the occurrence of vacant homes vary significantly by region and property type, highlighting the need for region-specific policies. For instance, in old town areas, small lot ratios and land use complexity are significant, while in rural village, the average number of floors and land use complexity play a major role. This study underscores the diversity of factors influencing vacant homes, suggesting that policies should be tailored to the unique characteristics of different regions to effectively address this issue.

To improve carbon efficiency for urban logistics service system composed of a third-party logistics service provider (3PLs) and an e-business enterprise, low-carbon operation game between them was studied. Considering low carbon technology investment cost and sales expansion effect of low carbon level, profit functions for both players were constituted. Based on their different bargaining capabilities, totally 5 types of game scenarios were designed. Through analytical solution, Nash Equilibria under varied scenarios were obtained. By analyzing these equilibria, 4 major propositions were given, in which, some key variables and system performance index were compared. Results show that the best system yields could only be achieved under the fully cooperative situation; limited cooperation only for carbon emission reduction would not benefit the system performance improvement; E-business enterprise-leading game’s performance overtook 3PLs-leading ones.

The dolomite dust-emulsified asphalt composite with excellent mechanical properties was successfully prepared using alkali activation. The effects of different alkali concentrations and emulsified asphalt contents on the mechanical properties of the materials were studied. The mechanical properties and microstructure of the composites were analyzed using compressive strength tests, bending strength tests, and SEM characterization. The experimental results show that the specimens have excellent mechanical properties: the 7-day compressive strength can reach 76.67 MPa, and the bending strength is about twice that of silicate-based geopolymer-emulsified asphalt composite. With an increase in emulsified asphalt content, the compressive strength of the samples decreases, while the bending strength increases first and then decreases. When the emulsified asphalt content is 1%, the bending strength of the sample is up to 28.81 MPa, which is 25% higher than that of the sample without emulsified asphalt. This indicates that an appropriate emulsified asphalt content can play a toughening role in the system, providing a new idea for designing high-toughness alkali-activated materials.

Residential dust is recognized as a major source of environmental contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and phthalic acid esters (PAEs). To characterize the thoracic dust fraction (PM10), a sampling campaign was carried out with an in-situ resuspension chamber in three rooms (kitchen, living room and bedroom) of four Spanish houses. Two samples per room were collected with, at least, a one-week interval. The PM₁₀ samples were analyzed for their carbonaceous content by a thermo-optical technique and, after solvent extraction, for 20 PAHs, 8 phthalate plasticizers (PAEs) and one non-phthalate plasticizer (DEHA) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In general, higher dust loads were observed for parquet flooring compared with tile. The highest dust loads were obtained for rugs. Total carbon accounted for 9.3 to 51%wt of the PM₁₀ mass. Plasticizer mass fractions varied from 5 µg g-1 to 17 mg g^-1 PM₁₀, whereas lower contributions were registered for PAHs (0.98–116 µg g^-1). The plasticizer and PAH daily intakes for children and adults via dust ingestion were estimated to be 3–4 orders of magnitude higher than those via inhalation and dermal contact. Potential carcinogenic and negligible non-carcinogenic risks arising from exposure to PAHs were found.

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particles concentration at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affect air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model – Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac diseases hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. The top five Statistical Area Level 4 regions with the most impact in term of mortality, respiratory diseases hospitalisation and cardiac disease hospitalisation are Far West and Orana, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, New England and North West, Sydney – Inner South West and either Central Coast (mortality) or Sydney – Parramatta (respiratory diseases hospitalisation) or Sydney – Inner West (cardiac diseases hospitalisation). Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burnings events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory diseases hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to fire event (24).

The identification of spatiotemporal heterogeneity, its key determinants, and the interaction effects between the driving factors of urban resilience (UR) within and between subregions is fundamental for understanding its underlying mechanisms. A resilience evaluation model was applied to analyze the temporal and spatial differences in UR in Hunan Province, China. The standard deviation ellipse was used to explore the spatial and dynamic evolution and direction of UR. A hot spot analysis identified clusters of cold and hot spots. The contribution of spatiotemporal differences in UR within and between subregions was assessed using the Theil index. A geodetector analysis determined the factors influencing UR and their interactions. There was an increasing trend in UR from 0.2692 in 2014 to 0.3422 in 2022. The number of cities with high resilience gradually increased from 2014 to 2022, while there was a decreasing gradient in UR from northeast to southwest across the province. High-resilience cities had positive spillover effects on the surrounding area. Hot spots were predominantly located in the northeast, while cold spots were concentrated in the southwest. The barycenter of UR shifted from northeast to southwest by 2018, before moving southeast by 2022. The Theil index values declined over time both within and between subregions. Per capita GDP, average wages of on-the-job employees, per capita social consumption, and doctor density enhanced UR. Two-factor interactions had a greater influence on the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of UR than single factors. Two-factor and nonlinear enhancements were identified as the primary mode of influence.

Considering characteristics of high river density, special underlying surface in plain river network region, and municipal drainage system function, river network drainage unit model is proposed, which is defined as a region surrounded by main river or embankment. Flood storage variety and control projects regulation of small rivers in each unit is simulated. With drainage catchment as an object, according to its drainage capacity, simplified municipal drainage model was developed. Coupling river network drainage unit model, simplified municipal drainage model and 2D flood routing model, urban flood analysis model for plain tidal river network region was developed, which could be applied to analyzing flood from upstream river, storm surge and local rainfall. Demonstration research was carried out in Puxi flood protected area in Shanghai.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted alphavirus that has re-emerged in recent decades, causing large-scale epidemics in many parts of the world. CHIKV infection leads to a febrile disease known as chikungunya fever (CHIKF), which is characterised by severe joint pain and myalgia. As many patients develop a painful chronic stage and neither antiviral drugs nor vaccines are available, the development of a potent CHIKV inhibiting drug is crucial for CHIKF treatment. A comprehensive summary of current antiviral research and development of small-molecule inhibitor against CHIKV is presented in this review. We highlight different approaches used for the identification of such compounds and further discuss the identification and application of promising viral and host targets.

Dhaka one of the fastest-growing megacities in the world is increasingly vulnerable to urban flooding due to rapid urbanization, inadequate drainage infrastructure, and climate change-induced extreme weather events. This study presents the development of an urban flood forecasting system for Dhaka City using the MIKE+ hydrodynamic modeling software. The system integrates detailed hydrological and hydraulic models to simulate urban flooding scenarios, accounting for complex drainage networks and catchment characteristics. Real-time data from river gauges, rainfall stations, and drainage systems are incorporated to enhance the accuracy and reliability of the forecasts. The model's predictive capability is validated against historical flood events, demonstrating its effectiveness in forecasting flood extents, depths, and durations in critical areas of the city. This system serves as a valuable tool for city planners, emergency response teams, and decision-makers, enabling proactive flood management and risk mitigation. The study underscores the importance of such advanced modeling tools in safeguarding urban populations and infrastructures from the increasing threat of urban floods in Dhaka and similar rapidly urbanizing cities.

Road dust resuspension, especially the particulate matter fraction below 10 µm (PM10), is one of the main air quality management challenges in Europe. Road dust samples were collected from representative streets (suburban and urban) of the city of Viana do Castelo, Portugal. PM10 emission factors (mg veh-1 km-1) ranging from 49 (asphalt) to 330 (cobble stone) were estimated by means of the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency method. Two road dust fractions (< 0.074 mm and from 0.0074 to 1 mm) were characterised for their geochemical, mineralogical and morphological properties. In urban streets, road dusts reveal the contribution from traffic emissions, with higher concentrations of e.g. Cu, Zn, and Pb. In the suburban area, agriculture practices likely contributed to As concentrations of 180 mg kg-1 in the finest road dust fraction. Samples are primarily composed of quartz, but also of muscovite, albite, kaolinite, microcline, Fe-enstatite, graphite and amorphous content. Particle morphology clearly shows the link with natural and traffic related materials, with well-formed minerals and irregular aggregates. The hazard quotient suggests a probability to induce non-carcinogenic adverse health effects in children by ingestion of Zr. Arsenic in the suburban street represents a human health risk of 1.58 x 10-4.

Summary: PURPOSE. Development of a drainless energy-saving technology for the processing of high-moisture iron-containing sludge from metallurgical production. RESEARCH METHOD. The regularities of the combined process of chemical dehydration of high-moisture iron-containing sludge by powdered waste of lime and dolomite, hardening and agglomeration by pressing in a single technological cycle on the developed experimental plant were studied. In the course of laboratory studies, the temperature of the mass, the rate of dehydration, the chemical composition of the mixtures, the appearance of the resulting briquettes, the weight loss during agglomeration-humidity of the mixtures, and mechanical strength of the briquettes were measured. RESULTS. New patterns have been established that have made it possible to develop a nonfiring method for producing iron-containing materials and self-healing briquettes. The essence of his method, which is one of the main provisions of scientific novel provisions, is to combine dehydration and self-hardening of the mixture with the process of shaping by applying external pressure to the hardening mixture in molds to obtain agglomerated material in the form of briquettes in a single technological cycle. The proposed technology does not require drying or firing, and a set of strength properties occurs as the material is cooled in air during the day. A new energy-efficient and drainless method for the production of iron-containing briquettes has been developed, which combines the processes of chemical dehydration and agglomeration in one technological cycle. CONCLUSION. The proposed project and technology will allow organization of production for the processing of high-moisture iron-containing sludge and the production a complex iron-containing material as a secondary metal-containing raw material for metallurgical plants for the production of steel and rolled metal. and dolomite dust from dry gas cleaning as dehydrating and binding materials, as well as screening of coke and coal as a reducing agents. The proposed technology also solves the problems of environmental pollution and land acquisition for the storage of production waste.

Real-time simulation of toxic gas dispersion is critical for emergency management in high-sulphur gas fields. The CALPUFF (California Puff model) gas dispersion model, a Lagrangian Gaussian Puff model, is often used in mountainous environments due to its ability to handle complex terrain and weather conditions. Verifying the accuracy of toxic gas dispersion simulations under mountainous conditions is vital for emergency response and rescue. In this article, CALPUFF and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) gas dispersion modeling are compared, studying emissions from a hypothetical pipeline breakout accident in a mountainous area, focusing on range of Semi-Lethal Concentration (LC$_{50}$), Immediate Danger to Life and Health Concentration(IDLH). Thirteen groups of simulation conditions are set up for the experiment, including static wind and winds from the east(E), south(S), west(W), and north(N) at speeds of 1, 2, and 3$m/s$. Comparative experiments between CALPUFF and CFD models show consistent results, confirming the feasibility of CALPUFF for near-field moutainous applications. The overall dispersion range deviation between two methods under calm or light wind of N, E and W is about 300$m$. However,the simulation results of the CALPUFF model and the CFD model show significant differences in S wind. In CALPUFF simulation that the toxic gases are channeled by the valleys, while in the CFD model the toxic gases climb over the mountain top and continue to spread and extend towards the northern valley. The evaluation of CALPUFF’s suitability for applications in near-field mountainous environments indicates its potential use for high-sulfur gas fields and gas dispersion simulations in emergency scenarios.

Carbon tax policies (CTP) are globally acknowledged for curbing energy consumption and emissions. Despite global adoption, China's reluctance to embrace a carbon tax, possibly due to effectiveness and public acceptance concerns, is notable. This study employs Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis to gauge Shanghai residents' preferences on four CTP attributes. Among Shanghai's populace, the annual cost of the carbon tax policy ranks highest (48.87%), followed by implementation transparency (24.72%), revenue utilization (16.68%), and policy implementers (9.73%). Notably, Shanghai residents exhibit an average annual willingness to pay of 1435.28 CNY, indicating increased acceptance. Enhanced public awareness of carbon tax policies significantly boosts willingness to pay, augmenting carbon tax revenues and fostering low-carbon technology development. Additionally, transparency improvements in carbon tax policy yield notable increases in willingness to pay, underscoring the link between understanding CTP and its perceived importance. These findings highlight the potential of carbon tax policies in advancing sustainability and transitioning to low-carbon economies.

We report the electrical characterization and the field emission properties of CVD-grown MoS₂ bilayers deposited on SiO₂/Si substrate. Current-voltage characteristics are measured in the back-gate transistor configuration, with Ti contacts patterned by electron beam lithography. We confirm the n-type character of as-grown MoS₂ and we report normally-on field effect transistors. Local characterization of field emission is performed inside a scanning electron microscope chamber with piezo-controlled tungsten tips working as the anode and the cathode. We demonstrate that an electric field of ~200 V/μm is able to extract current from the flat part of MoS₂ bilayers, which therefore can be conveniently exploited for field emission applications even in low field-enhancement configurations. We show that a Fowler-Nordheim model, modified to account for electron confinement in 2D materials, fully describes the emission process.

The aim of this research work is to study the influence of temperature, solar irradiation and wind dust on the production of solar energy. In addition, it aims to study the assessment of water quality, in particular groundwater used for cooling and cleaning photovoltaic panels (quality analysis). it's an important source, stable and sustainable can be used entirely for cooling and cleaning PV modules from the sales dust, in order to improve their performance. To date, all research studies carried out in this context of cooling and cleaning using water have not taken account of the nature of this water. We have taken a sample of water from a well in a rural area in the Darra Tafilalet region of Morocco. This region has an arid and semi-arid climate, with very high temperatures and dust-laden winds, particularly in summer. These meteorological characteristics influence the efficiency of cells, particularly photovoltaic (PV) panels, reducing their performance. Next, the water sample was analysed in the laboratory. The results obtained show that the groundwater in this area is very sensitive to cooling and cleaning photovoltaic panels. Moreover, these results indicate that the temperature, solar irradiation and wind-blown dust have a significant influence on energy production.

This study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the presence of heavy metals, including zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), chromium (Cr), and arsenic (As), in the dust found inside educational buildings and the top layer of soil in different areas of Vilnius. The study focuses on the analysis of topsoil samples gathered between 2011 and 2023, with a specific emphasis on dust samples obtained from 24 schools in 2022. The research reveals significant variations in the concentrations of heavy metals, providing a clear understanding of the complex relationship between sources of urban pollution, environmental processes, and the correlation between soil and dust contamination by heavy metals. Indoor dust in schools shows unique contamination patterns in contrast to topsoil, suggesting distinctive sources of indoor pollution, while there are some general similarities. This finding emphasizes similarities and distinctions between soil and dust in educational environments. The study utilizes advanced statistical methods such as Pearson correlation, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and hierarchical clustering to examine the distribution and characteristics of these metals. This study distinguishes itself by examining indoor dust in educational facilities and topsoil in Vilnius, providing crucial insights into the relationship between these two environmental matrices.

This study introduces a neural network-based approach to predict dust emission, specifically PM2.5 particles, during almond harvesting in California. Using a feedforward neural network (FNN), the research predicts PM2.5 emissions by analyzing key operational parameters of an advanced almond harvester. The model is trained on extensive field data from the almond pickup system, including variables like brush speed, angular velocity, and harvester forward speed. The results demonstrate a notable predictive accuracy of the FNN model, with a Mean Squared Error (MSE) of 0.02 and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 0.01, indicating a high degree of precision in forecasting PM2.5 levels. The study also finds a strong correlation between certain operational parameters and PM2.5 emissions, highlighting specific areas for optimization in harvesting techniques. By integrating machine learning with agricultural practices, this research provides a significant tool for environmental management in almond production, offering a method to reduce harmful emissions while maintaining operational efficiency. This model presents a solution for the almond industry and sets a precedent for applying predictive analytics in sustainable agriculture.

The climate change impacts on some regions of the planet faster and stronger. These areas are known as the hot spots for climate change and Cyprus (Nicosia) in the Mediterranean is one of these spots. This paper aims to analyze the significant changes of atmospheric aerosol characteristics in 2019 and during the extreme event of 25 April 2019. We study the aerosol optical thickness (AOT), Ångström exponent, single scattering albedo, refractive index (imaginary and real parts), size, and vertical distribution of aerosol particles during the event of a high atmospheric aerosol contamination over Nicosia in details. For this purpose, we used the ground-based lidar, observations of the sun-photometer AERONET Nicosia station, satellite products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and back trajectories of air movements calculated using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT). On 23–25 April, according to lidar and sun-photometer observations, strong aerosol pollution over Nicosia was detected. On April 25, 2019, the AOT value exceeds 1.0 at λ = 440 nm. Analysis of the optical and microphysical characteristics supported that the pollution consists of mainly Saharan dust and partly urban aerosols. This assumption was confirmed by HYSPLIT backward trajectories and MODIS images where air masses containing dust particles came from North Africa and from the Eastern part of Europe.

This article proposes a particular strategy to proceed with a progressive electrification of public transport systems in cities. Starting from a bus operation model, the possible electrification of two routes is analysed, one urban and another extra-urban in the city of Pisa. An estimate is made of the energy uses associated with certain operating modes. The maximum level of consumption is estimated at approximately 280 kWh per day per bus for the urban route and excluding some special days, less than 215 kWh per day for the extra-urban route, for which a hybrid bus is proposed. Starting from an estimate of the daily consumption for the management of the two routes, the sizing of a photovoltaic system distributed on some modular shelters which serves to power the same routes is carried out. The resulting system has a power of the order of 190-200 kW. The modular solution is also outlined, and an installation is proposed. The analyzed case lends itself to being easily replicated.

Traffic anomaly detection is crucial for urban management, yet current research is often confined to small-scale endeavors. This study collected nine months of real-time Wuhan traffic monitoring data from Amap. We proposed Traffic-ConvLSTM, a multi-scale spatial-temporal technique based on long and short-term memory networks (LSTM) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) to effectively achieve long-term anomaly detection at the city level. First, we convert the traffic flow data into image representation, which enables the capture of the spatial correlation between traffic flow and roads and the correlation between traffic flow and roads, as well as the surrounding environment. Second, The model utilizes convolution kernels of different sizes to extract spatial features at road-level, regional-level, and city-level scales, while incorporating temporal features of different time steps to capture hourly, daily, and weekly dynamics. Additionally, varying weights are assigned to the convolution kernels and temporal features of varying spatio-temporal scales to capture the heterogeneous strengths of spatio-temporal correlations within patterns of traffic anomalies. The proposed Traffic-ConvLSTM model exhibits improved performance over existing techniques in the task of identifying long-term and large-scale traffic anomaly occurrences. Furthermore, the analysis reveals significant traffic anomalies during holidays and urban sporting events. The diverse travel patterns observed in response to various activities offer insights for large-scale urban traffic anomaly management, providing recommendations for city-level traffic control strategies.

Objective: Main purpose of this study is to identify the ruderal plant species which spontaneously grows on the wall and roof surfaces in urban and sub-urban areas due to their limited ecological needs and to contribute to the creating of the sustainable green areas in urban environments by understanding the parameters that ruderals depend on while they require little maintenance and irrigation support if not no. Material and Methods: The main material of this study is the ruderal plants which were collected from totally 60 walls and 36 roof surfaces within six districts of Trabzon city –Akçaabat, Arsin, Çaykara, Of, Ortahisar and Yomra in Turkey. From these 96 habitats, 1540 plants samples form the walls and 448 plant samples from the roofs were collected. All the plant samples collected from the research area were identified in the herbarium of the faculty of forestry in Karadeniz Technical University. Apart from this, parametres affecting coverage rate of common species on three different habitats were analysed.Results: It was found that 448 samples from the roof surfaces distributed into 61 species while 1540 samples from the walls distributed into 196 species. Plus, according to the analyses, 28 species were found on all three different habitats. As a result of the observations, measurements and analyses, it is clear from the study that coverage rate of the plant species depends on anthropogenic interaction, daylight period and depth of the media but there is no relation with the number of the species on the surfaces.Conclusion: Ruderal plants are definitely important to study on, if the world wants the term sustainability to find its real meaning as they require nearly nothing to grow in hard conditions. In urban life, maintenance is getting more and more expensive for green areas in urban life and this makes it difficult for them to survive especially when cities have limited budget on this, which has often occurred all over the world recently. There is no doubt that ruderal plants offer a great opportunity for modern era urban areas with their limited needs to grow in hard conditions. Furthermore, when thinking about the fact a serious amount of the ruderal plants detected on all three basic habitats has a great landscape plant characteristics, the approaches to their usage in urban areas are really critical.

Cities are complex systems requiring urban design models that balance order and disorder. Collective creativity initiatives engage citizens in these processes, empowering bottom-up approaches that prioritize people and social well-being within urban development. This paper investigates an 'Urban Laboratory' as a case study, examining the potential of collective creativity to address urban complexity. The successful and ongoing project 'El Campo de Cebada' in Madrid, Spain, demonstrates how a community transformed a vacant lot into a vibrant social hub. The phases of this study include case selection, data collection, data analysis, and presentation of the results. This study identifies key enabling factors, including agents, management, social dynamics, infrastructure, and actions. These insights offer a methodological framework for designing future collaborative, resilient, and inclusive urban spaces, addressing the complex needs of communities within our cities.

Geijera Schott is a plant genus of the Rutaceae Juss. (rue and citrus) family, comprising six species which are all native to Oceania. Of the plants belonging to this genus, the most significant species that has a customary use is Geijera parviflora, which was used by Indigenous Australians, primarily as a pain reliever. Herein, a comprehensive review of the literature published on the genus Geijera from 1930-2023 was conducted. This is the first review for this plant genus and it highlights the chemical constituents reported to date, together with the range of pharmacological properties described from the various species and different parts of the plant. These properties include anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-parasitic, insect repellent, analgesic, neuroactive, and anti-cancer activities. Finally, a reflection on some of the important areas for future focused studies of this plant genus is provided.

Background: Long-range transport of dust aerosol has intense impacts on the atmospheric environment over wide areas. Methods: The annual and seasonal changes in meteorological parameters associated with the occurrence of dust storms were studied. The features of an intense dust storm and its transport characteristics were studied during June 7th to June 9th 2010 in Ahvaz city. Temporal and spatial distribution of Middle Eastern dust storm event was analyzed by models of HYSPLIT and WRF/Chem, and in- situ observations. Results: A disagreement between the occurrences of dust storms, temperature, relative humidity and rainfall, show the major source of dust storms over Ahvaz city are neighboring countries. Using HYSPLIT results, the dust particles are mainly transported from north western region of Iraq and eastern Syria to downward areas including Ahvaz city. The arrived Dust aerosols mixed with local anthropogenic emissions, led to the highest PM10 concentration of 4200 ppm. The model results were found to well reproduce temporal and spatial distribution of mineral dust concentrations according to in-situ measurements. Conclusion: The performance of WRF/Chem was acceptable for simulation of temporal and spatial distributions of dust storm events. Therefore, it can be taken as a reference in daily air quality forecasting.

The scale of China's floating population is very large, and it is a key group that needs attention in promoting the equalization of basic public services. This study explores the impact and mechanism of adjusting the urban household registration threshold on the acquisition of citizenship status by the "rural-urban" floating population, with the household registration threshold as the link. It was found that the threshold for household registration has an impact on the willingness of rural urban migrant population to settle down from two aspects. On the one hand, a high threshold for household registration implies the unaffordability of obtaining citizenship status for the "rural-urban" migrant population, which has a significant crowding out effect on their willingness to settle down. Moreover, the high skilled "rural-urban" migrant population without housing is more sensitive to the high threshold for household registration. On the other hand, from the perspective of urban scale, the increase in the threshold for household registration has had a crowding out effect on the floating population for Type I large cities, mega cities, and super large cities. The increase in the threshold for settling in mega cities has the strongest crowding out effect on the floating population, which means that as the urban population expands, the welfare benefits enjoyed by the floating population in these cities will decrease, leading them to be more inclined to leave these cities and seek development opportunities in other cities. This study effectively answers how the threshold for household registration affects the willingness of rural urban migrant population to settle, providing mathematical support for urban development.

It is concerning that Cameroon's urban centers are experiencing an alarming rise in air pollution as a result of urbanization, population growth, industrial activity, and transportation emissions. We examined the causes, health impacts, research methodology, case studies, and government measures to address the urgent issue of air pollution in Cameroon's urban regions. We have emphasized how Cameroon's air pollution levels have significantly increased as a result of causes like population expansion, urbanization, industrial emissions, and automobile exhaust A thorough discussion of the negative health impacts of extended exposure to air pollution is included, with special attention to the sensitivity of the old and young. These effects include respiratory disorders, cardiovascular ailments, and early mortality. We emphasized the pressing need for all-encompassing strategies to address air pollution, such as increased public awareness campaigns, stronger emissions regulations, the development of renewable energy sources, and better waste management. The techniques employed in studies on air pollution, like as epidemiological research and air quality monitoring, are also explained to provide light on the unique health dangers that Cameroonian urban dwellers must contend with. We emphasized in our conclusion the significance of joint efforts by legislators, medical professionals, and the general people to reduce air pollution and protect public health in Cameroon in order to create a cleaner and healthier future. In order to protect public health in the future, it is imperative that Cameroon's air pollution be addressed.

In order to achieve the elimination of the negative impacts of transport on road safety, the European Union is taking various measures resulting from its commitment to improve road safety. One of the instruments for achieving the objectives set is social legislation for the work of drivers in road freight and passenger transport. In line with the objective of improving the quality of working conditions for road transport drivers and road safety, the European Union applies Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 on the harmonisation of certain social legislation relating to road transport, which lays down rules on driving times, breaks and rest periods for drivers operating in road freight and passenger transport. The main objective of the paper is to assess the impact of social legislation on road transport safety by means of real research and to identify the factors influencing the violation of the legislation depending on the type of transports carried out in domestic or international road freight transport.