Search Results (1,492)

This study investigates the involvement of the Hellenic Police in the management of natural disasters. The legislation governing police participation in disaster management in Greece is based on the general framework of civil protection policy, outlining the responsibilities assigned to various agencies for handling emergency situations. The role of the Hellenic Police is particularly significant and proactive in both the prevention and management of natural disasters, with specific responsibilities and duties. Key areas of Hellenic Police involvement in disaster management include the following: 1. prevention and public awareness; 2. risk identification and management; 3. evacuation of areas, organized removal and relocation of citizens and traffic management; 4. cooperation and coordination with other authorities and services; 5. support for rescue teams; and 6. security and order in affected areas. Full article

Climate change is increasingly affecting the aquaculture sector, particularly in estuarine systems that support high-value production. In the Galician Rías Baixas, where shellfish farming is a cornerstone of the coastal economy, rising sea temperatures, sea-level rise, and changing precipitation patterns pose significant risks to mussel aquaculture. This study presents a spatially explicit Aquaculture Suitability Similarity Index (ASI) designed to identify alternative cultivation areas that replicate the environmental and logistical characteristics of historically successful mussel farms. The ASI integrates a set of environmental variables (water temperature, salinity, biogeochemical quality, current velocity, and wave height) and technical constraints (depth and distance to port), with factor weights derived via expert elicitation using the Delphi method. Results show that most waters are highly similar to current farming areas, suggesting strong potential for spatial expansion or relocation. In contrast, areas near the mouths of the rías and the adjacent continental shelf show lower suitability due to greater oceanic exposure and associated logistical challenges. The ASI provides a robust, transferable tool to inform aquaculture spatial planning and climate adaptation strategies. Its methodological framework can be adapted to other regions and species, supporting evidence-based decision-making for sustainable aquaculture development. Full article

This paper addresses the critical challenge of deploying a minimum number of wireless charging pads (WCPs) in obstacle-rich, large-scale Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks (WRSNs) to sustain drone operations. We assume a single base station, stationary sensors, convex polygonal obstacles that drones must avoid, and that both the base station and WCPs provide unlimited energy. To solve this, we propose the Outside-to-Inside Onion-Peeling (OIOP) strategy, a novel two-stage algorithm that prioritizes the coverage of the most remote sensors first and then refines the deployment by removing redundant pads while strictly adhering to obstacle constraints. Simulation results demonstrate OIOP’s superior efficiency: it reduces the number of required pads by approximately 10.83% ± 1.30% and 12.16% ± 1.59% compared to state-of-the-art methods (SMC and MC) and achieves execution times that are 58.02% ± 2.44% and 72.09% ± 2.88% faster, respectively. The algorithm also exhibits remarkable robustness, showing the smallest performance degradation as obstacle density increases. Full article

China’s rural revitalization strategy has entered a new stage of development, in which optimizing the layout of rural settlements constitutes both a critical component and an urgent task for promoting integrated urban–rural development. Important ecological function areas play a vital role in maintaining ecological security; however, research focusing on the evaluation and optimization of rural settlement suitability within these regions remains limited, thereby constraining their sustainable development. Accordingly, this paper selects Shiyan City, situated within the core water source area of China’s South-to-North Water Diversion Project, as a case study. From an ecological perspective, a suitability evaluation system for rural settlements is developed, specifically tailored to important ecological function areas. This system integrates ecological factors including geological hazards, vegetation coverage, soil and water conservation, and soil erosion. Utilizing GIS spatial analysis and the minimum cumulative resistance model, the study assesses the suitability of rural settlements within these important ecological function areas. Furthermore, it proposes corresponding optimization types and strategies for rural settlements in such areas. The findings indicate the following: (1) The rural settlements in the study area demonstrate a “large dispersed settlements and small clustered settlements” distribution pattern, exhibiting an overall high-density agglomeration, though their internal layout remains fragmented and disordered due to geographical and ecological constraints. (2) The spatial comprehensive resistance values in the study area exhibit significant heterogeneity, with a general pattern of lower values in the north and higher values in the south. The region was categorized into five suitability levels: high yield, highly suitable, generally suitable, less suitable and unsuitable. The highly suitable areas, despite their limited spatial extent, support the highest density of rural settlements. In contrast, unsuitable areas occupy a substantially larger proportion of the territory, reaching 46.83%. These areas are strongly constrained by topographic and ecological factors, limiting their potential for development, and the spatial layout of villages requires further optimization, with emphasis placed on ecological conservation and adaptive sustainability. (3) Rural settlements are categorized into four optimized types: Urban–rural integration settlements, primarily located in high yield areas, are incorporated into urban development plans after optimization. Adjusted and improved settlements, mainly in highly suitable areas, enhance service quality and stimulate economic vitality post-optimization. Relocation and renovation settlements, including those in generally suitable and less suitable areas, achieve concentrated living and improved ecological livability after optimization. Restricted development settlements, predominantly in unsuitable areas, focus on ecological conservation and regional ecological security post-optimization. This study integrates ecological function protection factors with spatial optimization zoning for rural settlements in the study area, providing scientific reference for enhancing residential safety and ecological security for rural residents in important ecological function areas. Full article

The increasing intersection of psychotherapy, cognitive science, neuroscience, and systems engineering beckons us to rethink what it means to talk the language of the human mind in the clinical setting. This position paper proposes the idea of entangled autopoiesis, a metatheoretical paradigm that addresses the mind and therapy not as linear processes but as self-organizing, adaptive processes enfolded across neural, cognitive, relational, and cultural domains. Psychotherapy, from this viewpoint, is less a corrective technique and more a zone of systemic integration, wherein resilience and meaning are co-created in the interaction of embodied brains, lived stories, and relational fields. Neuroscience informs us about plasticity and regulation; cognitive science emphasizes the embodied and extended nature of cognition; and systems engineering sheds light on feedback, emergence, and adaptive dynamics. Artificial intelligence appears as a double presence: as a metaphor for complexity and as a practical tool able to chart patterns below human sensibility. By adopting a complexity-aware epistemology, we advocate a relocation in clinical thinking—one recognizing the psyche as an autopoietic network, entangled with culture and technology and able to renew itself in therapeutic encounters. The implications for clinical methodology, therapist training, and future interdisciplinary research are discussed. Full article

For the correct evaluation of climate trends and climate variability, it is important to remove non-climatic biases from the observed data. Such biases, referred to as inhomogeneities, occur for station relocations or changes in the instrumentation or instrument installation, among other reasons. Most inhomogeneities are related to a sudden change (break) in the technical conditions of the climate observations. In long time series (>30 years), usually multiple breaks occur, and their joint impact on the long-term trends and variability is more important than their individual evaluation. Benova is the optimal method for the joint calculation of correction terms for removing inhomogeneity biases. Cenova is a modified, imperfect version of Benova, which, however, can also be used in discontinuous time series. In the homogenization of section means, the use of Benova should be preferred, while in homogenizing probability distribution, only Cenova can be applied. This study presents the Benova and Cenova methods, discusses their main properties and compares their efficiencies using the benchmark dataset of the Spanish MULTITEST project (2015–2017), which is the largest existing dataset of this kind so far. The root mean square error (RMSE) of the annual means and the mean absolute trend bias were calculated for the Benova and Cenova results. When the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is high, the errors in the Cenova results are higher, from 14% to 24%, while when the SNR is low, or concerted inhomogeneities in several time series occur, the advantage of Benova over Cenova might disappear. Full article

On 2 December 2020, an earthquake with a magnitude of M_w 4.5 occurred near the city of Thiva (Greece). The aftershock sequence, triggered by ruptures on or near the Kallithea fault, continued until January 2021. Seven months later, new seismic activity began a few kilometers west of the initial events, with the swarm displaying a general trend of spatiotemporal migration toward the east–southeast until the middle of 2022. In order to understand the physical and statistical pattern of the swarm, the seismicity was relocated using HypoDD, and the magnitude of completeness was determined using the frequency–magnitude distribution. In order to define the existence of spatiotemporal seismicity clusters in an objective way, the DBSCAN clustering algorithm was applied to the 2020–2022 Thiva earthquake sequence. The extracted clusters permit the analysis of the spatiotemporal scaling properties of the main clusters using the Non-Extensive Statistical Physics (NESP) approach, providing detailed insights into the nature of the long-term correlation of the seismic swarm. The statistical pattern observed aligns with a Q-exponential distribution, with q_D values ranging from 0.7 to 0.8 and q_T values from 1.44 to 1.50. Furthermore, the frequency–magnitude distributions were analyzed using the fragment–asperity model proposed within the NESP framework, providing the non-additive entropic parameter (q_M). The results suggest that the statistical characteristics of earthquake clusters can be effectively interpreted using NESP, highlighting the complexity and non-additive nature of the spatiotemporal evolution of seismicity. In addition, the analysis of the properties of the seismicity clusters extracted using the DBSCAN algorithm permits the suggestion of possible physical mechanisms that drive the evolution of the two main and larger clusters. For the cluster that activated first and is located in the west–northwest part, an afterslip mechanism activated after the 2 September 2021, M 4.0 events seems to predominately control its evolution, while for the second activated cluster located in the east–southeast part, a normal diffusion mechanism is proposed to describe its migration pattern. Concluding, we can state that in the present work the application of the DBSCAN algorithm to recognize the existence of any possible spatiotemporal clustering of seismicity could be helping to provide detailed insight into the statistical and physical patterns in earthquake swarms. Full article

Amid China’s rural–urban integration and rural revitalization, the Centralized Residence of Farmers Policy (CRFP) emerges as a pivotal tool to optimize rural spatial structure and land-use efficiency, yet its implementation risks—particularly risk coupling effects—remain underexplored. This study addresses this gap by constructing a holistic risk assessment framework and empirically examining CRFP in L Town, Shanghai; it employs a multi-method approach, integrating the Delphi method, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Cumulative Impact Model (CIM) to develop and validate a comprehensive risk assessment framework. This framework evaluates five key dimensions: policy content, implementation subjects, resource guarantees, target groups, and environmental adaptation. Empirical analysis of relocated farming households in L town reveals that the overall risk level of CRFP implementation falls within the moderate-risk range. Key identified risk factors identified include public opinion control, clarity of implementation standards, communication feedback accessibility, reliability of information resources, and effectiveness of implementation strategies. Based on these findings, the study proposes several risk mitigation strategies: aligning policies with local realities to promote high-quality social development, fostering collaborative digital governance through multi-stakeholder engagement, ensuring law-based policy formulation with transparent and supervised processes, enhancing public input through effective interest communication mechanisms, improving information dissemination with inclusive public participation, and adopting flexible implementation strategies. This research addresses fragmentation issues in the existing literature with a unified indicator system and provides actionable solutions that offer significant theoretical and practical value for advancing rural revitalization in the context of urban–rural integration. Full article

The phenomenon of counterurbanization, understood as the migration of urban residents to rural areas beyond the suburbanization zone, includes both permanent relocation to the countryside and seasonal migration. The aim of the study is to identify the relationship between newcomers or people temporarily staying in rural areas and their permanent residents, with particular emphasis on the impact of the former group on the local community. The research was conducted in 2023 in 18 villages from different regions of Poland. It was assumed that the villages studied were located outside the zones of strong influence of large urban centers, including outside metropolitan areas. Surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted aimed at both permanent residents of the villages living there from birth and newcomers. The group of newcomers was divided into two categories—new residents who settled in the village in the last few years and owners of second homes who stay in the village temporarily. It can be generally stated that the newcomers from the city, when organizing their life in the countryside, are more active and more frequently initiate contact with the permanent residents than this takes place in the opposite direction. The purpose of the contact is to acquire information, useful for settling down or maintaining the estate, as well as for daily functioning in the countryside. The interactions between the representatives of the two groups considered are usually short-lived and momentary, and they take place usually in the central square of the village, in the street, or in a shop. Conversations concern daily life in the village and private matters. Encounters at home or in other places, which might be conducive to deeper exchange of knowledge and experiences and which might establish conditions for undertaking joint initiatives, are much rarer. Full article

With the transformation of industrial enterprises in China, the relocation of numerous factories has led to the emergence of retired industrial parks with serious pollution. This study investigated the contamination of benzene-based pollutants (BBPs) in soil and their relationship with soil texture, physicochemical properties, and microbial communities at a former factory site in Shanghai. The results indicated that benzene and toluene were the main pollutants in the region, accounting for 25.7–36.1% and 7.6–10.2% of the total pollutants, respectively. The horizontal contamination distribution pattern of BBPs at different sampling points were clearly related to the functional zoning of the area. Sampling points close to workshops and bathrooms possessed higher contamination levels of BBPs than those close to warehouses and office buildings. With the increase in sampling depth, the gradually rising soil density and soil porosity ratio reduced the adsorption capacity of soil for BBPs, thereby promoting the volatilization and release of BBPs in deeper soil layers to a certain extent, resulting in a “shallow > deep” trend for the content of BBPs. The abundance of norank_f__norank__o_norank__c__Bathyarchaeia in the soil may be the main functional microorganisms affecting the distribution of BBPs. Styrene and chlorobenzene exhibited significant correlations with microbial communities, primarily involving bacteria (Desulfobacterium, Thermincola, and Trichlorobacter) and archaea (including norank_f_Nitrosopumilaceae, norank_f_norank_o_norank_c_Nitrososphaeria, and Methanocella). This study identifies and analyzes the BBP contamination characteristics in a typical retired industrial park in Shanghai, providing valuable references for risk assessment and microbial remediation of such contaminated areas. Full article

This study examined the relationship between residential environment satisfaction, neighbor relations, and the intention of continuous residence. Previous research has not comprehensively analyzed the combined effects of these factors. Accordingly, this study investigated the influence of residential environment satisfaction on the intention of continuous residence and analyzed the mediating role of neighbor relations. Residential environments were categorized into commercial facilities, medical facilities, childcare/educational facilities, and cultural facilities. Respondents aged 20 years and above were selected from Innovation Cities where public institution relocation had been completed. Data were collected from 1606 participants through an online survey. Hypotheses were tested using mediation analysis. The results showed that residential environment satisfaction positively influenced the intention of continuous residence, with satisfaction with medical facilities having the strongest effect. In addition, neighbor relations had both direct and indirect positive effects on the intention of continuous residence, underscoring their importance in encouraging residents to remain. In many developing countries where the private market is less developed, state-owned enterprises play a crucial role in the national economy, and development is often concentrated around their locations. In the long term, relocating public institutions could serve as a strategy to address regional disparities. The findings of this study thus offer important policy implications. Full article

The Gadouras Reservoir, Rhodes Island’s primary water source, experiences recurrent whiting events—milky turbidity from calcium carbonate precipitation—that challenge treatment operations, with impacts compounded by a major 2023 wildfire in this fire-prone Mediterranean setting. To elucidate these dynamics, a pragmatic, multi-source monitoring framework integrates archived Sentinel-2 and Landsat imagery with treatment-plant records (2017–mid-2025). Unitless spectral indices (e.g., AreaBGR) for whiting detection and chlorophyll-a proxies are combined with laboratory measurements of turbidity, pH, total organic carbon, manganese, and hydrological metrics, analyzed via spatiotemporal Hovmöller diagrams, Pearson correlations, and interrupted time-series models. Two seasonal whiting regimes are identified: a biogenic summer mode (southern origin; elevated chlorophyll-a; water temperature > 15 °C; pH > 8.5) and a non-biogenic winter mode (northern inflows). Following the wildfire, the system exhibits characteristics that could be related to possible hypolimnetic anoxia, prolonged whiting, a ~50% rise in organic carbon, and a manganese excursion to ~0.4 mg L⁻¹ at the deeper intake. Crucially, the post-fire period shows a decoupling of AreaBGR from turbidity (r ≈ 0.233 versus ≈ 0.859 pre-fire)—a key diagnostic finding that confirms a fundamental shift in the composition and optical properties of suspended particulates. The manganese spike is best explained by the confluence of a wildfire-induced biogeochemical predisposition (anoxia and Mn mobilization) and a consequential operational decision (relocation to a deeper, Mn-rich intake). This framework establishes diagnostic baselines and thresholds for managing fire-impacted reservoirs, supports the use of remote sensing in data-scarce systems, and informs adaptive operations under increasing climate pressures. Full article

This essay is an analysis of poetry written by Latinx Undocupoets in the United States. It focuses on three contemporary poets—Javier O. Huerta, Yosimar Reyes, and Javier Zamora. The author examines the way these poets navigate borderland identities by cultivating cultural mestizaje to advance a political project, where consciousness-raising and advocating for those who cross or are crossed by borders are the priorities. The author argues that three common themes related to transformation appear in the work of Undocupoets: rebirth, shapeshifting, and activism. These poets transform themselves and their communities by engaging in differential movement and relocating marginalized individuals and communities to positive social locations while portraying them in their full complexity—a postnationalist perspective that manifests itself in a borderlands framework. The author demonstrates how these writers formulate decolonial imaginaries and differential consciousness to relocate migrants and undocumented people to social locations that transcend the negative stereotypes that have historically shaped their identities and lived experiences. Through rebirth, shapeshifting, and activism, Undocupoets enact a form of agency and present new ways of seeing and understanding the migrant experience. Full article

Education has become one of the important drivers of residential mobility. The school district system in China has transformed school choice into a competition for housing ownership based on family capital, resulting in the capitalization of education and gentrification. Understanding the patterns of education-driven residential mobility is therefore of significant importance for urban planning, educational policy and social equity research. In this study, we depicted and analyzed the heterogeneity of residential mobility formed by the interaction of schooling choice, diversity of family characteristics, and housing preferences. Based on the household questionnaire survey conducted in Tianjin, we identified five typical education-driven residential mobility patterns by using the K-Prototype clustering algorithm. The empirical results implied that in China, particularly in megacities like Tianjin with a strict school district system tied to housing, wealthy families approach high-quality education through their socio-economic advantages for cultural reproduction; families sacrifice living conditions to access leading schools by acquiring old second-hand housing or smaller new-commercial housing; lower-income families relocate to within a short distance of the city center to change home ownership status for basic school eligibility; and families opting out of school districts achieve residential improvements and display greater locational diversity in relocation. Education-driven residential mobility is reshaping urban space, and may intensify socio-spatial stratification, even influencing long-term urban sustainability through patterns of resource allocation, neighborhood stability, and social equity. While this study focuses on Tianjin, the impacts of such school-housing-linked policies hold broader relevance for global cities facing similar challenges. Full article

In traditional Chinese timber architecture, “column reduction” (Jian Zhu Zao) and “column relocation” (Yi Zhu Zao) enhances spatial continuity, yet often produces bending-dominated, material-intensive frames. This study develops a generative frame system that encodes raised beam logic into a parametric line-model workflow and couples it with simulation-based optimization. Informed by case analysis, the tool implements three lateral strategies—ridge-support revision, insertion of inclined members, and inclination of originally horizontal members—and one longitudinal strategy—longitudinal truss formation—whose use is governed by a user-defined historical authenticity parameter. Structural responses were evaluated using Karamba3D, and cross-section sizing was searched using Wallacei under gravity-dominant loading. The results indicate clearer load paths, greater axial-force participation, and reduced bending, yielding lower maximum displacements at comparable self-weight; moreover, the performance ranking aligns with the calibrated authenticity loss schedule, suggesting that the authenticity controller also acts as a practical proxy for expected stiffness gains. The framework improves design and modeling efficiency while offering quantitative decision support for culturally sensitive conservation and imitation design. Limitations include line-model idealization, simplified timber and joint behavior, gravity-only loading, and a modest historical corpus. The approach is extensible to other traditional systems via parameter and rule adaptation. Full article