Search Results (429)

With the acceleration of urbanization in China, water resources have become a key factor restricting regional sustainable development. Current research primarily examines the temporal or spatial variations in the water resources ecological footprint (WREF), with limited emphasis on the integration of both spatial and temporal scales. In this study, we collected the data and information from the 2005–2022 Statistical Yearbook and Water Resources Bulletin of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA), and calculated evaluation indicators: WREF, water resources ecological carrying capacity (WRECC), water resources ecological pressure (WREP), and water resources ecological surplus and deficit (WRESD). We primarily analyzed the temporal and spatial variation in the per capita WREF and used the method of Geodetector to explore factors driving its temporal and spatial variation in the YRDUA. The results showed that: (1) From 2005 to 2022, the per capita WREF (total water, agricultural water, and industrial water) of the YRDUA generally showed fluctuating declining trends, while the per capita WREF of domestic water and ecological water showed obvious growth. (2) The per capita WREF and the per capita WRECC were in the order of Jiangsu Province > Anhui Province > Shanghai City > Zhejiang Province. The spatial distribution of the per capita WREF was similar to those of the per capita WRECC, and most areas effectively consume water resources. (3) The explanatory power of the interaction between factors was greater than that of a single factor, indicating that the spatiotemporal variation in the per capita WREF of the YRDUA was affected by the combination of multiple factors and that there were regional differences in the major factors in the case of secondary metropolitan areas. (4) The per capita WREF of YRDUA was affected by natural resources, and the impact of the ecological condition on the per capita WREF increased gradually over time. The impact factors of secondary metropolitan areas also clearly changed over time. Our results showed that the ecological situation of per capita water resources in the YRDUA is generally good, with obvious spatial and temporal differences. Full article

The phenomenon of arable land non-agriculturalization has become increasingly severe, posing significant threats to the security of arable land resources and ecological sustainability. This study focuses on Dachang Hui Autonomous County in Langfang City, Hebei Province, a region located at the edge of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan cluster. In recent years, the area has undergone accelerated urbanization and industrial transfer, resulting in drastic land use changes and a pronounced contradiction between arable land protection and the expansion of construction land. The study period is 2016–2023, which covers the key period of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei synergistic development strategy and the strengthening of the national arable land protection policy, and is able to comprehensively reflect the dynamic changes of arable land non-agriculturalization under the policy and urbanization process. Multi-temporal Sentinel-2 imagery was utilized to construct a multi-dimensional feature set, and machine learning classifiers were applied to identify arable land non-agriculturalization with optimized performance. GIS-based analysis and the geographic detector model were employed to reveal the spatio-temporal dynamics and driving mechanisms. The results demonstrate that the XGBoost model, optimized using Bayesian parameter tuning, achieved the highest classification accuracy (overall accuracy = 0.94) among the four classifiers, indicating its superior suitability for identifying arable land non-agriculturalization using multi-temporal remote sensing imagery. Spatio-temporal analysis revealed that non-agriculturalization expanded rapidly between 2016 and 2020, followed by a deceleration after 2020, exhibiting a pattern of “rapid growth–slowing down–partial regression”. Further analysis using the geographic detector revealed that socioeconomic factors are the primary drivers of arable land non-agriculturalization in Dachang Hui Autonomous County, while natural factors exerted relatively weaker effects. These findings provide technical support and scientific evidence for dynamic monitoring and policy formulation regarding arable land under urbanization, offering significant theoretical and practical implications. Full article

Zoning policies play a critical role in shaping the geography of urban and suburban development in the United States. Using data from the National Zoning and Land-Use Database and tract-level census data from 42 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, we classify metros into four zoning regime types based on the relative restrictiveness of urban and suburban land-use policies and compare trends in population growth and neighborhood change across these regimes. Our findings show that suburban areas have outpaced urban cores in population growth across all zoning configurations, with the most pronounced growth occurring in metros where restrictive urban zoning coexists with permissive suburban regulation. This growth is disproportionately concentrated in affluent suburban neighborhoods, suggesting a spatial sorting of access to resources and amenities. We also find that urban–suburban gentrification gaps are the smallest in these asymmetrical zoning regimes, suggesting that permissive suburban land use may facilitate spillover effects from constrained cores. These findings suggest that zoning asymmetries shape not only the geography of growth but also the spatial dynamics of gentrification. We argue for a metropolitan perspective on land-use governance to better understand the interconnected nature of suburbanization and the spatial expansion of gentrification. Full article

Urbanization is one of the most important challenges contributing to the trend of replacing agricultural land with high-value land uses, such as housing, as well as industrial and commercial activities, as a result of significant population growth. To face these challenges and improve urban sustainability, integrating an embedded concept of spatial planning, taking into account urban and peri-urban agriculture, will contribute to mitigating food security issues and the negative impact of climate change, while improving social and economic development. This project aims to analyze land use/cover changes in the Casablanca metropolitan area and its surrounding cities, which are undergoing rapid urban growth. To achieve this, time series of remote sensing data were analyzed in order to investigate the spatio-temporal changes in LU/LC and to evaluate the dynamics and spatial pattern of the city’s expansion over the past three decades, which has come at the expense of agricultural land. The study will also examine the relationship between urbanization and agricultural land use change over time. The results of this study show that Casablanca and its outskirts experience significant urban expansion and a decline in arable lands, with rates of 45% and 42%, respectively. The analysis of SDG indicator 11.3.1 has also shown that land consumption in the provinces of Mediouna, Mohammadia, and Nouaceur has exceeded population growth, due to rapid, uncontrolled urbanization at the expense of agricultural land, which highlights the need to develop a new conceptual framework for regenerating land systems based on the implementation of urban and peri-urban agriculture in vacant sites within urban and peri-urban areas. This will offer valuable insights for policymakers to investigate measures that can ensure sustainable land use planning strategies that effectively integrate agriculture into urban development. Full article

Objectives: To evaluate the immediate and short-term changes in intraocular pressure (IOP) following intravitreal injection (IVI) of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents and to identify the clinical and procedural factors associated with IOP elevation after treatment. Methods: This retrospective study included 118 eyes from 115 patients who underwent IVI with anti-VEGF agents at Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital between September 2024 and January 2025. IOP was measured at three time points, namely before injection, within 1 min after injection, and at 30 min, in selected eyes with a post-injection IOP ≥ 25 mmHg. Differences in IOP elevation were analyzed according to the disease type and anti-VEGF agent. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to identify clinical factors associated with IOP elevation. Results: Mean IOP significantly increased from 13.9 ± 3.3 mmHg at baseline to 39.2 ± 12.4 mmHg immediately after injection (p < 0.001), with 79.7% of eyes showing an IOP ≥ 25 mmHg. Among those remeasured, IOP decreased to 17.7 ± 6.5 mmHg at 30 min. Significant differences in IOP elevation were observed among anti-VEGF agents (p < 0.001), with aflibercept at 2 mg and 8 mg showing greater increases than other agents. Multivariate analysis identified higher baseline IOP, history of glaucoma, absence of prior vitrectomy, and use of aflibercept (2 mg or 8 mg) as significant risk factors for greater post-injection IOP elevation. Conclusions: Transient IOP elevation ≥ 25 mmHg was observed in the majority of eyes after IVI but typically resolved within 30 min. Aflibercept use, high baseline IOP, glaucoma history, and absence of prior vitrectomy were associated with greater IOP elevation. Careful monitoring and attention to injection volume may be warranted, particularly in high-risk patients. Full article

Monitoring urban growth through simulation models is becoming increasingly vital for the sustainable management of cities. Although various raster-based models have been developed over the past three decades, the irregular, fragmented, and heterogeneous geometric structure of urban areas poses significant challenges to effectively modeling complex land use and land cover (LULC) transitions. To address these limitations, this study proposes a novel urban growth simulation model based on vector cellular automata (VCA). In this model, dynamic neighborhood relationships are flexibly established using an algorithm called growth vectors (GVs). Open-access data from four time periods between 1990 and 2018 were utilized for three major European metropolitan areas: Istanbul, Berlin, and Madrid. During the calibration phase, the model was trained using three machine learning algorithms: Random forest, support vector machine, and multi-layer perceptron. For the simulation phase, an adaptive VCA-based urban growth model was developed to predict LULC changes through to 2040. The results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can achieve a satisfactory level of accuracy in modeling urban growth. Full article

Background/Objective: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death and tumors with an extremely poor prognosis. In the present study, novel biomarker candidates useful for the early diagnosis and prognosis of human invasive PDAC were investigated. Methods: Biomarker candidates were first selected based on the proteomic/bioinformatic and clinico-pathological analyses of 10 and 100 patients with PDAC, respectively, operated at Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital (Exp. 1). Next, the expression and secretion of the target protein and its EV mRNA were investigated in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in a Balb/c nude mouse model. In addition, the protein and EV mRNA levels of candidate molecules were measured in the blood serum of 36 PDAC and 10 IPMN patients, and diagnostic significance was assessed (Exp. 2). Results: A significant elevation of peroxiredoxin 3 (PRX3), a mitochondrial matrix protein, was found in PDAC via LC-Ms/Ms analysis. In Exp. 1, PRX3 overexpression was found in PDAC and PanIN lesions and was associated with a tumor infiltrative growth pattern (INFc) and poor overall 1-year patient survival. The prognostic value was significantly improved when PRX3 was combined with serum SPan-1 and DUPAN-2 markers in survival analyses. Furthermore, the PRX3 protein and its extracellular vesicle (EV: exosome and oncosome)-incorporated mRNA were secreted at detectable levels from PANC-1, MIAPaCa-2, and SW1990 cells into the blood of Balb/c nude mice bearing tumors. The overexpression of PRX3 was positively correlated with that of cancer stem cell marker CD44 variant 9 (CD44v9), P-Nrf2, and FOXO3a, as well as the generation of reactive oxygen species. In Exp. 2, a significant increase in PRX3 protein and EV mRNA was detected in the blood serum of PDAC subjects compared to IPMN patients and healthy controls. Significantly higher PRX3 protein levels were found in the IPMN group. The elevation of PRX3 EV mRNA was significantly associated with poor patient survival. Conclusions: These results indicate that PRX3 may become a novel early biomarker for PDAC diagnosis and prognosis. Full article

In advanced countries such as the USA and China, some cities are characterized by “knowledge spillover industries”, which play crucial roles in driving innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. However, the excessive expansion of megacities in China has led to the overabsorption of labour from other cities. The unchecked growth of individual megacities causes metropolitan malaise and regional imbalance, further limiting the emergence of new “knowledge spillover” cities, which is detrimental to overall economic development. This study analyses China’s employment population structure to identify the critical population size required for the formation of “knowledge spillover” cities. The results show that 10 million is the unique threshold for which cities with populations above this size see a significant improvement in the prominence of “knowledge spillover” industries. Therefore, a population base of approximately 10 million is essential for these cities to thrive. This result suggests that China should pay more attention to the construction of urban agglomerations as geographic or administrative units to better distribute resources and promote balanced regional development. This approach can help foster the emergence of more “knowledge spillover” cities, thereby enhancing national innovation capacity and economic growth. Full article

This article analyses the impact of urban sprawl on the Valencia Plain aquifer system from 1990 to 2018, focusing on land use and land cover (LULC) changes and their environmental implications. The study applies the Weighted Environmental Index (WEI), a composite indicator based on a functional landscape perspective, to quantify changes in the environmental value over time. The WEI combines CORINE Land Cover and World Settlement Footprint data to enhance spatial resolution and urban land detection. The results show a significant territorial transformation, with urban surfaces expanding by 70% and rainfed agricultural areas declining by over 59%. Consequently, the WEI decreased from 44.80 in 1990 to 40.68 in 2018, representing a 9.2% reduction in the environmental value. These changes threaten the sustainability of key ecosystems such as the Albufera Natural Park and indicate a reduced capacity to deliver ecosystem services, including aquifer recharging, biodiversity conservation, and climate regulation. The findings underscore the need for integrated land-use planning, the protection of peri-urban agricultural areas, and the implementation of nature-based solutions to counteract the environmental impacts of urban growth in Mediterranean metropolitan contexts. Full article

This study, taking Anhui Province as a case study, systematically evaluated the spatiotemporal differentiation characteristics of six ecosystem services (biodiversity maintenance, water yield, carbon fixation, vegetation net primary productivity (NPP), soil retention, and crop production) from 2000 to 2020 through the integration of multi-stakeholder decision-making preferences and the Marxan model. Four conservation scenarios (ecological security priority, social benefit orientation, minimum cost constraint, and balance synergy) were established to explore the spatial optimization pathways of ecological protection zones under differentiated policy objectives. The findings indicated that: (1) The ecosystem services in Anhui Province exhibited a “low north and high south” spatial gradient, with significant synergies observed in natural ecosystem services in the southern Anhui mountainous areas, while the northern Anhui agricultural areas were subjected to significant trade-offs due to intensive development. (2) High service provision in the southern Anhui mountainous areas was maintained by topographic barriers and forest protection policies (significant NPP improvement zones accounted for 50.125%), whereas soil–water services degradation in the northern Anhui plains was caused by agricultural intensification and groundwater overexploitation (slight soil retention degradation covered 24.505%, and water yield degradation areas reached 29.766%). Urbanization demonstrated a double-edged sword effect—the expansion of the Hefei metropolitan area triggered suburban biodiversity degradation (significant degradation patches occupied 0.0758%), while ecological restoration projects promoted mountain NPP growth, highlighting the necessity of synergizing natural recovery and artificial interventions. (3) Multi-scenario planning revealed that the spatial congruence between the ecological security priority scenario and traditional ecological protection redlines reached 46.57%, whereas the social benefit scenario achieved only 12.13%, exposing the inadequate responsiveness of the current conservation framework to service demands in densely populated areas. This research validated the technical superiority of multi-objective systematic planning in reconciling ecological protection and development conflicts, providing scientific support for optimizing ecological security patterns in the Yangtze River Delta region. Full article

Italy and Greece share many structural and economic similarities, including high regional disparities and marked asymmetries between dynamic metropolitan areas and structurally weaker regions. Both countries also face high public debt and an aging population, conditions worsened by recent economic crises. These challenges have significant implications for sustainability, as economic hardship often leads to inefficient resource use, underinvestment in green infrastructure, and socially unsustainable outcomes. Promoting socio-economic and environmental sustainability thus requires addressing territorial inequalities through integrated policies that balance growth, equity, and ecological responsibility. This study introduces a spatiotemporal application of the Peña Distance (DP2) method, allowing for a dynamic and multidimensional analysis of socio-economic deprivation at the NUTS 1 level. The results confirm persistent disadvantages in remote Greek regions and Southern Italy, where youth outmigration and limited development opportunities are prevalent. These regions are affected by multiple, interconnected forms of vulnerability that compromise their prospects for long-term sustainable development, underlining the need for timely and coordinated interventions across different policy levels. Full article

International industrial transfer has driven rapid construction land expansion in emerging metropolitan areas, posing challenges for sustainable land management. However, existing research has largely overlooked the spatiotemporal patterns and driving mechanisms of this expansion, particularly in Southeast Asian metropolitan regions. To address this gap, we focused on the Ho Chi Minh City metropolitan area, utilizing construction land data from GLC_FCS30D to analyze the dynamics of construction land expansion during this period. Findings indicated that: (1) Continuous expansion of construction land, with the expansion rate during 2010–2020 being five times that of 2000–2010; (2) The spatial pattern evolved from initial infilling development in urban cores to subsequent leapfrogging and edge expansion toward peripheral counties and transportation corridors; (3) The expansion of construction land occurred alongside substantial losses of wetland and cultivated land. Between 2000 and 2020, the conversion of cultivated land to construction land increased significantly, particularly during 2010–2020 when cultivated land conversion accounted for 93.76% of newly developed construction land. Wetland conversion also showed notable growth during this period, comprising 3.86% of total newly added construction land; (4) Foreign direct investment (FDI) served as the primary catalyst, while industrial park development and transport infrastructure projects functioned as secondary accelerants. This study constructed a framework to systematically analyze the global and local driving mechanisms of metropolitan land expansion. The findings deepen the understanding of land-use transitions in emerging countries and provide both theoretical support and policy references for sustainable land management. Full article

Understanding the drivers of regional economic growth requires examining the mesoeconomic conditions that influence the ability of small firms to scale. This study investigates how the local composition of firms—by size and sector—along with socio-economic and geographic characteristics, affects the prevalence of Scaled Firms across U.S. labor market areas. Using cross-sectional data from 2022, the analysis applies a log-linear regression model to examine the relationship between the density of micro, midsize, and large firms and the share of Scaled Firms (defined as employing 5–99 workers) within industry sectors. Covariates include household wealth, educational attainment, unemployment, population diversity, and metropolitan classification. The results show that the presence of midsize and large firms, along with regional human capital and economic context, is significantly associated with higher levels of small firm scaling. These findings suggest that the mesoeconomic context plays an important role in shaping regional economic growth outcomes and that the composition of local firm ecosystems may influence a region’s capacity for resilience and inclusive development. Full article

This longitudinal study applies decade-spanning socioeconomic indicators (2013–2022) from the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei urban agglomeration. An integrated analytical framework was developed, merging the super-efficiency slack-based measurement (SBM) methodology with entropic weighting techniques to quantify tourism efficiency and economic development. Subsequent phases employed a multi-method analytical cascade: coupling coordination assessment modeling for system interaction analysis, standard deviation ellipses for spatial dispersion characterization, and Markovian transition matrices for temporal pattern identification. The investigation concludes with evolutionary trajectory projections using gray system forecasting GM(1,1) modeling. The analytical findings reveal the following patterns: (1) Within the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan cluster, tourism efficiency demonstrates a consistent upward trajectory, manifesting spatial differentiation characteristics characterized by a dual-core structure centered on Tianjin and Baoding, with higher values observed in northwestern areas compared to southeastern regions. Concurrently, regional disparities exhibit progressive convergence over temporal progression. (2) The level of economic development in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei city cluster has been rising steadily, demonstrating a geospatial distribution of ‘central concentration with peripheral attenuation, with the north-east being better than the southwest’, and the gap between the regional differences has become broader over time. (3) The coupling between tourism efficiency and the level of economic development in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei city cluster has generally improved, with Beijing and Tianjin predominantly in a coordinated regime, and some cities in Hebei Province about to shift from dysfunctional to coordinated, and, spatially, the coupling and coordination in northern sectors demonstrate superior performance compared to southern counterparts nationally. (4) The coupling coordination degree of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei city cluster in the next eight years is predicted by the gray GM(1,1) prediction model and the overall continuation of the growth trend of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei city cluster over the past ten years, thus verifying the importance of the regional integrated policy frameworks in the system integration of the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan system. Full article

The circular economy has emerged as a pivotal strategy for cities to reconcile economic growth with environmental sustainability. However, its implementation in resource-dependent Gulf Cooperation Council contexts remains underexplored. This study is among the first to empirically assess circular economy readiness in a Gulf Cooperation Council industrial hub through a mixed-method approach, bridging the gap between expert perceptions and localized policy implementation. Focusing on the Dammam Metropolitan Area, Saudi Arabia, a critical industrial anchor for Saudi Vision 2030, this study combines a cross-sectional survey of 230 policymakers, industry leaders, and academics with descriptive/inferential statistics (SPSS) and qualitative thematic coding (NVivo). The findings identify renewable energy (mean = 4.10) and municipal waste management (mean = 3.78) as top sectoral priorities, aligning with national sustainability goals. Yet systemic challenges, including fragmented governance, limited public awareness (mean = 3.65), and funding gaps (mean = 3.52), underscore disparities between Vision 2030’s ambitions and localized capacities. Statistical analyses reveal strong associations between institutional fragmentation and financial inefficiencies (χ² = 23.45, * p = 0.010), while mid-career workforce dominance (54.8%) and underrepresentation of policymakers (6.5%) highlight governance gaps. The current study advocates hybrid strategies: stricter waste regulations (40.0% stakeholder priority), circular economy training programs, and public–private partnerships to scale waste-to-energy infrastructure and industrial symbiosis. Despite pragmatic optimism (48.7% foresee 21–40% recycling by 2030), limitations such as reliance on expert perspectives and exclusion of citizen voices necessitate future interdisciplinary and longitudinal research. By aligning regulatory rigor with inclusive governance, the Dammam Metropolitan Area can model a Gulf-centric circular economy transition, advancing regional sustainability while contributing actionable insights for resource-dependent economies globally. Full article