Search Results (133)

China’s National Famous, Special, Excellent, and New Agricultural Products are key rural economic assets, yet their spatial patterns and sustainability drivers remain underexplored. Based on the geospatial data of 1932 National Famous, Special, Excellent and New Agricultural Products in China, this study systematically analyzes their spatial distribution pattern by using GIS spatial analysis techniques, including the standard deviation ellipse, kernel density estimation, geographic concentration index and Lorenz curve, and quantitatively explores the driving factors of sustainable development by using geographic detectors. The research results of this paper are as follows. (1) The spatial distribution shows a significant non-equilibrium characteristic of “high-density concentration in the central and eastern part of the country and low-density sparseness in the western part of the country” and the geographic concentration index (G = 22.95) and the standard deviation ellipse indicate that the center of gravity of the distribution is located in the North China Plain (115° E–35° N), and the main direction extends along the longitude of 110° E–120° E. (2) Driving factor analysis showed that railroad mileage (X10) (q = 0.5028, p = 0.0025 < 0.01), highway mileage (X11) (q = 0.4633, p = 0.0158 < 0.05), and population size (X3) (q = 0.4469, p = 0.0202 < 0.05) are the core drivers. (3) Three-dimensional kernel density mapping reveals that the eastern coast and central plains (kernel density > 0.08) form high-density clusters due to the advantages of the transportation network and market, while the western part shows a gradient decline due to the limitation of topography and transportation conditions. The study suggests that the sustainable development of National Famous, Special, Excellent, and New Agricultural Products should be promoted by strengthening transportation and digital logistics systems, enhancing cold-chain distribution for perishable goods, tailoring regional branding strategies, and improving synergy among local governments, thereby providing actionable guidance for policymakers and producers to increase market competitiveness and income stability. The study provides a quantitative, policy-oriented assessment of China’s branded agricultural resource allocation and its sustainability drivers, offering specific recommendations to guide infrastructure investment, e-commerce logistics enhancement, and targeted subsidy design for balanced regional development. The study highlights three key contributions: (1) an innovative integration of geospatial analytics and geographical detectors to reveal spatial patterns; (2) clear empirical evidence for policymakers to prioritize transport and digital logistics investments; and (3) practical guidance for producers and brand managers to enhance product market reach, optimize supply chains, and strengthen regional competitiveness in line with sustainable development goals. Full article

Background/Objectives: Inequalities in access to nursing professionals represent a significant challenge to achieving equity in healthcare systems. In decentralized countries like Italy, disparities in the distribution of nurses persist despite a universal national health system. This study investigates the extent and determinants of regional inequality in the distribution of the nursing workforce in Italy. Methods: A retrospective ecological analysis was conducted using administrative data from official national sources (ISTAT, Ministry of Health) concerning the number of nurses and population per region, along with Human Development Index (HDI) data from 2021. Descriptive statistics, the Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve, and Pearson correlation were used to assess inequality and identify influencing factors. Results: The national Gini coefficient was 0.136, indicating a moderate degree of inequality in the distribution of nurses across Italian regions. A strong positive correlation was observed between HDI and nurse-to-population ratio (r = 0.76, p < 0.001), suggesting that more developed regions have higher nursing density. Conclusions: Despite a universal healthcare system, Italy shows persistent regional disparities in nurse distribution. These findings emphasize the need for targeted policies and coordinated planning to reduce inequalities and ensure equitable access to nursing care across all regions. Full article

The creation of child-friendly communities has become a key goal in sustainable global development. However, South Korea continues to experience a shortage of childcare facilities, resulting in gaps in the public care system and a growing reliance on private educational resources. Ensuring spatial spaces and implementing rational planning for children’s spaces have become critical tasks in building child-friendly cities. This study analyzed the accessibility of childcare facilities by housing type in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, using the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, focusing on children residing in the district. It also evaluated whether these facilities were spatially and equally distributed. The findings are as follows. First, the overall accessibility to childcare facilities in Seongbuk-gu is limited, with significant disparities in accessibility depending on housing type. Second, the spatial equity assessment revealed high inequality indices for most facilities, particularly for those in apartment areas, which showed relatively higher levels of inequality. In conclusion, childcare facilities in Seongbuk-gu require substantial improvements in terms of both accessibility and equity. This study provides a policy framework for creating child-friendly communities and promoting equal access to care services for children by analyzing the spatial accessibility and equity of childcare facilities. Full article

We establish a correspondence between Lorenz curves and Pickands dependence functions, thereby reframing the construction of any bivariate extreme-value copula as an inequality problem. We discuss the conditions under which a Lorenz curve generates a closed-form Pickands model, considerably expanding the small set of tractable parametrizations currently available. Furthermore, the Pickands measure-generating function M can be written explicitly in terms of the quantile function underlying the Lorenz curve, providing a constructive route to model specification. Finally, classical inequality indices like the Gini coincide with scale-free, rotation-invariant indices of global upper-tail dependence, thereby complementing local coefficients such as the upper tail dependence index ${\lambda }_U$. Full article

We study the inequality of citations received for different publications of various researchers and Nobel laureates in Physics, Chemistry, Medicine and Economics using Google Scholar data from 2012 to 2024. Citation distributions are found to be highly unequal, with even greater disparity among Nobel laureates. Measures of inequality, such as the Gini and Kolkata indices, emerge as useful indicators for distinguishing Nobel laureates from others. Such high inequality corresponds to growing critical fluctuations, suggesting that excellence aligns with an imminent (self-organized dynamical) critical point. Additionally, Nobel laureates exhibit systematically lower values of the Tsallis–Pareto parameter b and Shannon entropy, indicating more structured citation distributions. We also analyze the inequality in Olympic medal tallies across countries and find similar levels of disparity. Our results suggest that inequality measures can serve as proxies for competitiveness and excellence. Full article

The Gini coefficient, while widely used to quantify inequality in biological size distributions, lacks the capacity to resolve directional asymmetry inherent in Lorenz curves, a critical limitation for understanding skewed resource allocation strategies. To address this, we extend our prior geometric framework of the rotated and right-shifted Lorenz curve (RRLC) by introducing two original asymmetry metrics: the positional shift ratio (P_L, defined as $x_c/\sqrt{2}$, where $x_c$ is the x-coordinate of the RRLC’s maximum value point) and the area ratio (P_A, defined as A_L/(A_L + A_R), where A_L and A_R denote the areas under the left and right segments of the RRLC). These indices uniquely dissect contributions of dominant versus small individuals to overall inequality, with P_L reflecting the peak position of the RRLC and P_A quantifying the area dominance of its left segment. Theoretically, P_L directly links to the classical Lorenz asymmetry coefficient S (defined as $S=x_c^{\prime }+y_c^{\prime }$, where $\left(x_c^{\prime },y_c^{\prime }\right)$ is the tangent point on the original Lorenz curve with a 45° slope) through S = 2 − 2P_L, bridging geometric transformation and parametric asymmetry analysis. Applied to 480 Shibataea chinensis Nakai shoots, our analysis revealed that over 99% exhibited pronounced left-skewed distributions, where abundant large leaves drove the majority of leaf area inequality, challenging assumptions of symmetry in plant canopy resource allocation. The framework’s robustness was further validated by the strong correlation between P_A and P_L. By transforming abstract Lorenz curves into interpretable bell-shaped performance curves, this work provides a novel toolkit for analyzing asymmetric size distributions in ecology. The proposed metrics can be applied to refine light-use models, monitor phenotypic plasticity under environmental stress, and scale trait variations across biological hierarchies, thereby advancing both theoretical and applied research in plant ecology. Full article

In response to public health emergencies, the importance of resilient medical facilities—such as large exhibition centers and sports venues that can be rapidly converted into temporary emergency hospitals—has become increasingly evident. This study focuses on these potential medical resources within megacities, using Shanghai as a case study. Employing advanced analytical tools including the kernel density two-step floating catchment area method, Lorenz curves, and Gini coefficient, we systematically evaluated the spatial allocation of 36 resilient medical facilities in Shanghai. The findings indicate that Shanghai’s resilient medical facilities ensure 4.5 emergency beds per thousand residents, with large exhibition centers and sports venues demonstrating exceptional conversion capabilities far surpassing those of ordinary public venues. However, the study also uncovers significant disparities in spatial allocation: these facilities are predominantly concentrated in the city center, leading to notable deficiencies in accessibility and equity for suburban areas. The opportunity for residents to access emergency medical services decreases progressively from the city center outward, a trend consistent across various travel time scenarios. The calculated Gini coefficient underscores an extremely uneven spatial configuration of resilient medical facilities, well beyond the warning threshold, suggesting substantial service disparities between different regions during emergencies, which poses potential risks to public health. Our research provides valuable insights for megacities aiming to more effectively address future public health challenges and enhance societal resilience. Full article

Background/Objectives: The uneven distribution of nurses in Albania is a major problem that compromises equitable access to health services. Rural and less developed regions suffer from a chronic shortage of nursing staff, while urban areas attract health professionals. This study aims to quantify the inequalities in the distribution of nurses in Albania, analyzing the nurse-to-population ratio and its impact on the quality of healthcare. The main objective of this study is to examine the distribution of the nursing workforce in Albania and assess regional disparities, using the Gini coefficient and the Human Development Index (HDI) to measure and compare inequalities between regions. Methods: This descriptive–analytical study was conducted in 2024. The data were collected from official sources, including the Albanian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curve were used to analyze the distribution of nurses in relation to the population and HDI of the different regions. The analysis included data on the number of nurses, population, and regional socioeconomic conditions. Results: The average nurse-to-population ratio in Albania is 28 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants, with significant variations between regions. Tirana has the highest ratio (60 nurses per 10,000 inhabitants), while Kukës and Dibër have the lowest values (10 per 10,000 inhabitants). The calculated Gini coefficient is 0.0228, indicating a very low level of inequality in the distribution of the nursing workforce. Conclusions: Inequalities in the distribution of nurses in Albania require targeted policy interventions. Policies are needed that incentivize health workers to work in less developed regions, through economic incentives, infrastructure improvements, and lifelong learning programs. These interventions are essential to reduce disparities and ensure equitable access to health services across the country. Full article

Previous studies on measuring the accessibility and equity of park green spaces (PGSs) often overlook differences in walking speeds across age groups, which may lead to research results that deviate from actual conditions. This study expands the current literature by investigating whether ignoring age-related differences in walking speeds affects the measurement of PGS accessibility and equity. The Gaussian Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (G2SFCA) method, along with the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient are used to measure and evaluate the accessibility and equity of PGSs in Wuhan, China, taking into account both average walking speed and variations in walking speed across different age groups. This empirical study reveals significant spatial disparities in walking speeds across Wuhan’s districts, ranging from 77.2 to 78.55 m per minute (m/min), with urban areas having faster walking speeds than suburban areas. This study finds that ignoring variations in walking speed across age groups leads to an overestimation of PGS accessibility and equity in Wuhan. Furthermore, regardless of whether average walking speeds or age-specific walking speeds are considered, spatial disparities in PGS accessibility remain evident, with urban areas demonstrating significantly better accessibility compared to suburban areas. Additionally, small changes in walking speed differences between age groups (−3% to 3%) have minimal impact on accessibility and equity results, demonstrating low sensitivity to variations in speed differences among groups. Overall, scholars and policymakers should consider differences in walking speeds among various populations when planning public facilities such as PGSs to ensure stronger policy support for vulnerable groups and achieve the goal of social equity. Full article

This study examines how Free-Floating Bike-Sharing (FFBS) affects the accessibility equity of public transit sytems by serving as a first-mile feeder. To evaluate accessibility improvements for various opportunities within a 30-min travel time, we construct a complete travel chain approach based on multi-source, real-world data from Nanjing, China. The results indicate that FFBS significantly enhances accessibility, particularly for job opportunities and green spaces, with improvements of up to 180.02% and 155.82%, respectively. This integration also enhances the accessibility equity of public transit systems, particularly in green spaces, with a Gini coefficient improvement of 0.0336. Additionally, we find that areas with low housing prices exhibit greater accessibility inequality, while those with moderate housing prices benefit more from FFBS integration. These findings can potentially support transport planners in optimizing and managing FFBS and public transit systems to facilitate sustainable and inclusive transportation networks. Full article

In recent years, precipitation concentration indices have become popular, and the daily precipitation concentration index has been widely used worldwide. This index is based on the Lorenz curve fitting. Recently, some biases in the fitting process have been observed in some research. Therefore, this research’s objective consisted of testing the performance of one alternative equation for fitting the Lorenz curve through the analysis of the daily precipitation concentration in Brazil. Daily precipitation data from 735 time series were used to fit the Lorenz curve and calculate the concentration index. Therefore, the goodness of fit was evaluated to determine which equation better describes the empirical data. Results show that the mean value for the concentration index based on Equation (1) was 0.650 ± 0.079, while the mean value based on Equation (2) was 0.624 ± 0.070. The results of the fitting performance show a better fitting with Equation (2) compared to Equation (1) as indicated by R², RSS, and RMSE values, R² = 0.9959 for Equation (1) versus 0.9996 for Equation (2), RSS = 252.78 versus 22.66, and RMSE = 1.5092 versus 0.0501. Thus, Equation (2) can be considered an alternative to improve the calculation of the concentration index. Full article

This work focused on demonstrating the use of dynamic time warping (DTW) as a metric for the elementary effects computation in Morris-based global sensitivity analysis (GSA) of model parameters in multivariate dynamical systems. One of the challenges of GSA on multivariate time-dependent dynamics is the modeling of parameter perturbation effects propagated to all model outputs while capturing time-dependent patterns. The study establishes and demonstrates the use of DTW as a metric of elementary effects across the time domain and the multivariate output domain, which are all aggregated together via the DTW cost function into a single metric value. Unlike the commonly studied coefficient-based functional approximation and covariance decomposition methods, this new DTW-based Morris GSA algorithm implements curve alignment via dynamic programing for cost computation in every parameter perturbation trajectory, which captures the essence of “elementary effect” in the original Morris formulation. This new algorithm eliminates approximations and assumptions about the model outputs while achieving the objective of capturing perturbations across time and the array of model outputs. The technique was demonstrated using an ordinary differential equation (ODE) system of mixed-order adsorption kinetics, Monod-type microbial kinetics, and the Lorenz attractor for chaotic solutions. DTW as a Morris-based GSA metric enables the modeling of parameter sensitivity effects on the entire array of model output variables evolving in the time domain, resulting in parameter rankings attributed to the entire model dynamics. Full article

With the increasing demands of urban populations, achieving a balance between the supply and demand in the spatial allocation of urban green park spaces (UGSs) is essential for effective urban planning and improving residents’ quality of life. The study of UGS supply and demand balance has become a research hotspot. However, existing studies of UGS supply and demand balance rarely simultaneously improve the supply side, demand side, and transportation methods that connect the two, nor do they conduct a comprehensive, multi-dimensional supply and demand evaluation. Therefore, this study evaluates the accessibility of UGS within Hefei’s built-up areas, focusing on age-specific demands for UGS and incorporating various travel modes, including walking, cycling, driving, and public transportation. An improved two-step floating-catchment area (2SFCA) method is applied to evaluate the accessibility of UGS in Hefei’s built-up areas. This evaluation combines assessments using the Gini coefficient, Lorenz curve, location entropy, and local spatial autocorrelation analysis, utilizing the ArcGIS 10.8 and GeoDa 2.1 platforms. Together, these methods enable a supply–demand balance analysis of UGSs to identify areas needing improvement and propose corresponding strategies. The research results indicate the following: (1) from a regional perspective, there are significant disparities in the accessibility of UGS within Hefei’s urban center, with the old city showing more imbalance than the new city. Areas with high demand and low supply are primarily concentrated in the old city, which require future improvement; (2) in terms of travel modes, higher-speed travel (such as driving) offers better and more equitable accessibility compared to slower modes (such as walking), highlighting transportation as a critical factor influencing accessibility; (3) regarding population demand, there is an overall balance in the supply of UGS, with local imbalances observed in the needs of residents across different age groups. Due to the high specific demand for UGS among older people and children, the supply and demand levels in these two age groups are more consistent. This study offers valuable insights for achieving the balanced, efficient, and sustainable development of the social benefits of UGS. Full article

This paper examines the socio-economic significance of forest visits and the collection of forest berries and mushrooms (FBMs) in the Czech Republic, emphasising their role in enhancing human well-being and contributing to regional economies. Over a 30-year period, data were collected on the quantities and economic values of FBMs, alongside the intensity of forest visits by the Czech population. This study incorporates a detailed analysis of time series data on FBM collection, exploring trends and fluctuations in the harvested quantities and their economic value. A Lorenz curve analysis reveals significant disparities in the distribution of economic benefits, with a small segment of the population accounting for the majority of the FBM-derived value. Additionally, the research investigates the impact of forest visitation on well-being at the regional level, highlighting the relationship between forest access, visitation intensity, and public health benefits. This study also examines visitors’ expectations, motivations, and perceptions regarding an ideal forest for visitation, providing recommendations for effective marketing strategies. Furthermore, the study explores the contribution of FBMs to net income across different regions, demonstrating substantial regional variation in their economic importance. Notably, the analysis shows that the value of FBMs represents approximately 37% of the net income generated by traditional forestry activities, underscoring its significant economic potential. The findings emphasise the potential of territorial marketing strategies to enhance well-being, particularly in economically disadvantaged regions, and advocate for sustainable forest management practices to protect these valuable resources and ensure equitable access to the benefits provided by forest ecosystems. Full article

Reducing inequality and fostering economic growth is the tenth global goal of the United Nations for sustainable development. Rail transport significantly influences spatial structures, industrial distributions, and is vital for regional economic integration. Despite its importance, the impact of rail transport on economic equity has not been thoroughly explored in current literature. This study aims to fill this gap by evaluating the spatiotemporal characteristics of rail transport accessibility and its implications for economic equity in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area. We considered high-speed, intercity, and conventional rail transport and employ three distinct indicators—door-to-door travel time, weighted average travel time, and potential accessibility—to provide a nuanced assessment of accessibility in the region. Each indicator provides a unique perspective on how accessibility affects economic equity, collectively broadening the scope of the analysis. From 1998 to 2020, the evolution of rail transport and its consequent impact on regional economic equity is scrutinized. Advanced econometric methods, namely ordinary least squares, and spatial Durbin models, are combined with the Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve for comprehensive quantitative analysis. This approach highlights the dynamic influence of rail transport development on economic equity, contributing to the sustainable urban development discourse. The results reveal that although rail transport advancements bolster connectivity and economic growth, they also exacerbate regional economic inequality. This study provides valuable insights for urban planning and policymaking by elucidating the complex relationship between rail transport accessibility and economic equity. Our findings underscore the importance of implementing balanced and inclusive transport policies that foster growth and efficiency while mitigating socioeconomic disparities. Full article