Search Results (5,859)

The coordinated development of the rural economy and the ecological environment remains a central challenge in China’s rural revitalization agenda. Against this backdrop, the rapid expansion of the digital economy (DE) has the potential to reshape traditional development pathways and ease the longstanding tension between economic growth and environmental sustainability. However, existing studies have predominantly examined the economic or environmental effects of digitalization in isolation, leaving its role in fostering their coordinated development largely unexplored. Using balanced panel data for 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2021, this paper constructs an index of the coupling coordinated development of the rural economy–environment (CREE) and employs a two-way fixed-effects framework, complemented by mediation analysis, panel threshold regression, and a spatial Durbin model, to examine the impact of the DE on CREE and its transmission mechanisms. The results show that the DE significantly enhances CREE on average. This positive effect, however, is non-linear and conditional: it emerges only after rural educational attainment exceeds a critical threshold, and its marginal contribution diminishes as the level of digital development increases. Mechanism analyses indicate that the DE promotes CREE primarily by stimulating technological innovation and advancing urbanization, while improvements in the structure of human capital further strengthen this relationship. Spatial econometric evidence reveals pronounced spillover effects of the DE on CREE across regions, with spillovers based on economic distance outweighing those associated with geographic proximity. By adopting a coupling perspective that integrates economic and environmental dimensions, this paper clarifies the non-linear dynamics, transmission channels, and spatial diffusion processes through which the DE contributes to rural green development. The findings underscore the importance of strengthening rural education foundations, deepening the application of digital technologies, and enhancing regional coordination to fully harness the DE’s role in promoting coordinated economy–environment development. Full article

Licorice is an important specialty crop that links agricultural production, processing and trade, and rural livelihoods in the arid and semi-arid regions of China. Using UN Comtrade data for HS 130212 from 1990 to 2024, this study evaluates the international Trade Competitiveness of China’s licorice exports and identifies the sources of export growth. A multi-indicator static framework is constructed, combining International Market Share (IMS), the Trade Competitiveness Index (TC), the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage index (RSCA) and the Revealed Competitive Advantage index (CA). The results show that China maintains a relatively large and stable global market share and a persistent net export position, but its comparative and net Competitive Advantages are weaker than those of high-end suppliers such as France and Israel, revealing a pattern of “large scale but weak competitiveness”. To capture dynamic drivers, an extended Constant Market Share (CMS) model is applied to decompose China’s licorice exports into world demand, structural and competitiveness effects. The decomposition indicates that export growth has gradually shifted from being mainly driven by global demand expansion to relying more on improvements in product competitiveness and market reconfiguration, particularly in emerging markets. These findings suggest that upgrading product quality and processing, strengthening standards and branding, and promoting more inclusive value-chain development are essential for transforming China’s licorice exports from scale expansion to high-quality growth and for enhancing rural incomes in producing regions. Full article

Quantifying e-waste in Sub-Saharan Africa remains constrained by scarce data, weak institutional reporting, and the dominance of informal sector activity. We present the first nationwide assessment of e-waste generation and Random Forest-based national forecasting in Sierra Leone. A mixed-methods survey administered 6000 questionnaires across all 16 districts, targeting households, institutions, enterprises, and informal actors. The study documented devices in use, storage, and disposal across the following six categories: ICT, appliances, lighting, batteries, medical, and other electronics. Population growth and device adoption simulations were combined with lifespan distributions and a Random Forest model trained on survey and simulated historical data to construct e-waste flows and forecast quantities through to 2050, including disposal fate probabilities for repurposing versus discarding. The results showed sharp spatial disparities, with Western Urban (Freetown) averaging about 10 kg per capita compared to 1.8 kg per capita in rural areas. Long-term district patterns were highly concentrated: 50-year annual averages indicated that Western Area Urban contributes 15.3% of national totals, followed by Bo (12.7%) and Western Area Rural (12.1%), with the top five districts contributing 59.1%. By 2050, total national e-waste entering reuse and disposal pathways was projected to reach 23.4 kilo tons per year (kt yr⁻¹) with a 95% uncertainty interval (UI) of 11–42 kt yr⁻¹ (and a 99% interval extending to 50 kt yr⁻¹), corresponding to 0.9–3.4 kg/capita/year. Household appliances dominated total mass, ICT devices exhibited high reuse rates, and batteries showed minimal reuse despite high hazard potential. These findings provide critical evidence for e-waste policy, regulation, and infrastructure planning in data-scarce regions. Full article

Background: Subclinical respiratory impairment among non-smokers in regions with haze-affected regions is still under-recognized, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study assessed the prevalence of subclinical respiratory impairment among non-smoking adults and examined its determinants and associations with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 244 non-smoking adults (18–65 years) from three rural districts underwent standardized spirometry and completed the Thai WHOQOL-BREF-26. Subclinical impairment was defined as an FEV₁/FVC < 0.70 or FVC < 80% predicted in the absence of symptoms. Demographic, occupational, and environmental information was obtained through structured questionnaires. Statistical analyses included non-parametric tests, univariate linear regression, and logistic regression. Results: A total of 37 participants (15.2%) had subclinical respiratory impairment. No demographic, occupational, or environmental factors such as sex, age, BMI category, agricultural work, marital status, and self-reported pollution exposure were found to be independently linked to impaired lung function. There was no correlation between spirometry indices and any WHOQOL-BREF domain. Elderly participants (>50 years) reported a higher level of physical and psychological HRQoL. Those with a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) were more likely to have a lower environmental quality of life. Farmers reported a better QoL, while women reported a lower QoL than men. Conclusions: Subclinical respiratory impairment occurs frequently in non-smoking rural adults exposed to haze pollution in Chiang Mai, and isn’t presently assessed by general HRQoL instruments. These findings support early spirometry screening for asymptomatic adults in polluted regions, as well as more stringent air cleanliness strategies to prevent the evolution towards overt respiratory pathology. Full article

Background: Leptospirosis is an important zoonosis that can present as a self-limited influenza-like illness or progress to severe, including life-threatening multiorgan dysfunction. We report the epidemiology, clinical profile, and correlates of severity among adults hospitalized patients with leptospirosis diagnosed in central Romania over a period of 17 years. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, single-center cohort study of adults admitted between 1 January 2008 and 1 December 2025 with laboratory-confirmed leptospirosis. Confirmation was based on positive anti-Leptospira IgM serology, with repeat testing when the initial result was equivocal and confirmation with a microscopic agglutination test. We extracted demographic, exposure, clinical, laboratory, treatment, and outcome data from medical records. The modified Faine score was also calculated using admission data. Results: Sixty-four patients were included in this analysis, of which 53 (82.8%) were male patients. Admissions peaked in 2023–2025 (34/64, 53.1%) and in the August–September months. Reported exposures were predominantly peri-domestic (46.9%), followed by rural/animal-related occupations (20.3%) and freshwater contact (17.2%). Severe disease occurred in 26/64 (40.6%), was more frequent in men (p = 0.021), and was more common pre-pandemic than during/after the pandemic (p < 0.001). Severe cases were associated with oliguria/anuria, hematuria, and jaundice, alongside higher urea/creatinine and bilirubin, lower hemoglobin and lymphocyte percentages, and a longer hospitalization period. One in-hospital death occurred (1.6%). Serogroup identification was available for 10 patients (15.6%) (pre-pandemic only). The mean modified Faine score was 27.5 ± 6.0. Conclusions: In this temperate-region cohort study, hospitalized leptospirosis showed a marked male predominance, a late-summer peak, and a substantial burden of severe disease. Early renal and hepatobiliary manifestations with concordant laboratory abnormalities may support timely risk stratification and escalation of care, while expanded molecular diagnostics and systematic typing are needed to clarify temporal trends and guide prevention. Full article

Background/Objectives: With the global rise in chronic diseases among older adults, rehabilitation services have become essential, particularly for those with cerebrovascular and central nervous system (CNS) disorders, which lead to significant long-term disabilities. To determine the impact of designated rehabilitation medical institutions on the readmission rates of older patients with CNS disorders who receive surgical interventions. Methods: This was a population-based cohort study. Data was obtained from the National Health Insurance Service database (2002–2019). Fifteen designated institutions participated in the pilot project for convalescent rehabilitation. We analyzed the data of 1019 patients before and after the implementation of the designated rehabilitation institution. The study sample included (1) patients admitted to 15 designated institutions participating in the pilot project for convalescent rehabilitation and (2) patients diagnosed with conditions classified under the rehabilitation patient group, Rehabilitation Impairment Category 1 to 7. The intervention was the pilot project for designated rehabilitation institutions, launched in October 2017. The primary outcome of interest was the readmission rate of older patients with CNS disorders who received surgical interventions. Interrupted time series analysis with segmented regression was used to assess changes in the 30-day readmission rates. Results: Post-intervention, an 8% reduction in 30-day readmission rates (estimate, 0.9225; 95% confidence interval: 0.9129–0.9322, p < 0.0001) was observed. Subgroup analysis showed a significant decline in readmission rates across various patient groups, including those with disabilities, high Charlson Comorbidity Index scores, and extended hospital stays. The regions outside Seoul (capital city), particularly Gyeonggi/Incheon (areas around Seoul) and other areas (i.e., rural), also showed a significant decrease in readmission trends after the intervention. Conclusions: Designated rehabilitation medical institutions led to a significant reduction in readmission rates of older patients with CNS disorders, suggesting that these institutions effectively support recovery and reduce the burden of readmission for patients with severe conditions and those residing in non-capital cities. Full article

The complex topography and harsh natural environment of the Loess Plateau in Longzhong have been suffering from an undefined living circle structure, which has hindered rural planning and development. A rural community living circle is a spatial unit centered on meeting the needs of villagers, within which various service facilities are rationally allocated within a specific spatial scope. To refine its spatial patterns, the concept of living circles was introduced to address travel challenges. The extent of these living circles is affected by the accessibility of public service facilities and barriers to travel. Using land use data, DEM, population density, and road networks, this study employed the MCR model, gravity model, and ArcGIS spatial analysis to examine the patterns of rural community living circles. The focus was on analyzing the living circle structure of rural communities on the Loess Plateau in Longzhong, considering both natural and artificial environmental constraints. The results show: (1) Rural community living circles present multi-scale spatial features. The basic living circle covers a 15 min slow-travel area. The central living circle corresponds to village-level needs, accessible within 35 min by both slow and motorized travel. The town living circle covers a 10 km radius, reachable within 60 min by a mix of transport modes. The county living circle, dominated by motorized travel, represents the top tier of public service configuration. (2) Quantitatively, the delineation identified 2753 basic, 444 central, 19 township, and 1 county-level living circles in the Anding District of Dingxi City. The Northern, Eastern, and Southwest Zones suffer from fragmented mountainous landscapes, limiting mobility and accessibility. The Central Zone, however, benefits from a combination of mountainous terrain and river valley plains, offering superior service accessibility. (3) The analysis results based on the MCR model and gravity model aligned more closely with reality, reflecting the scale patterns of rural community living circles. The results of this study can provide theoretical guidance for rural planning, construction, and management in the hilly and gully areas of the Loess Plateau. Full article

The brown bear (Ursus arctos) occurs across several regions of Türkiye and occasionally damages beehives near rural settlements. This study examines temporal data and the spatial arrangement of beehive damage incidents recorded in the Ilgaz district of Çankırı, Türkiye during 2023–2024. The temporal data were evaluated across lunar phases. A chi-square test showed that incidents did not distribute evenly. A higher frequency was found during the Waxing Crescent phase. Spatial intensity was mapped using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), where bandwidth selection followed a cross-validation procedure. KDE results showed clear concentrations of incidents in the southern and southwestern parts of the district, while other areas recorded few or none. A Decision Tree (DT) classifier based on eleven environmental variables was used to identify predictors of incident presence. The DT achieved an AUC of 0.808. It identified “distance to settlement” as the primary separating variable, followed by “distance to road”, “distance to forest”, and the “Human Footprint Index”. Beehive damage followed a non-random temporal pattern across lunar phases. It clustered near settlements. Conflict timing followed both environmental conditions and human activity. The findings provide an empirical basis for reducing apiary losses and improving coexistence measures between local communities and brown bears in the Ilgaz region. Full article

By addressing the challenges of management difficulties, insufficient integration of driver analysis, and single-dimensional analysis in the governance of illegal land use and illegal construction (collectively referred to as the “Two Illegalities”) under rapid urbanization, this study designs and implements a GIS-based governance system using Xiamen City as the study area. First, we propose a standardized data-processing workflow and construct a comprehensive management platform integrating multi-source data fusion, spatiotemporal visualization, intelligent analysis, and customized report generation, effectively lowering the barrier for non-professional users. Second, utilizing methods integrated into the platform, such as Moran’s I and centroid trajectory analysis, we deeply analyze the spatiotemporal evolution and driving mechanisms of “Two Illegalities” activities in Xiamen from 2018 to 2023. The results indicate that the distribution of “Two Illegalities” exhibits significant spatial clustering, with hotspots concentrated in urban–rural transition zones. The spatial morphology evolved from multi-core diffusion to the contraction of agglomeration belts. This evolution is essentially the result of the dynamic adaptation between regional economic development gradients, urbanization processes, and policy-enforcement synergy mechanisms. Through a modular, open technical architecture and a “Data-Technology-Enforcement” collaborative mechanism, the system significantly improves information management efficiency and the scientific basis of decision-making. It provides a replicable and scalable technical framework and practical paradigm for similar cities to transform “Two Illegalities” governance from passive disposal to active prevention and control. Full article

Ensuring affordable and reliable electricity access to areas with low population density is challenging, as network sparsity and lower connectivity rates can make it nearly impossible for electric utilities to cover the cost of interconnection without raising electricity tariffs. Utility providers that consider extending their networks to remote households must balance multiple and often conflicting objectives, including investment cost, grid resilience, geographical coverage, and environmental impacts. In this paper, a multi-objective decision-making framework is proposed for the electrification of rural households, considering traditional distribution network extension as well as microgrid deployment. In order to condense a wide range of spatial inputs into a tractable problem, a multi-criteria decision-making approach is adopted to identify and rank candidate sites for microgrid deployment that offer superior performance over a variety of technical, environmental, and economic criteria. A novel optimization model is then proposed using multi-objective Chebyshev goal programming, in which project costs, environmental impacts, and energy justice criteria are jointly optimized. The applicability of this framework is demonstrated through a case study of the Shiprock region within the Navajo Nation. The results indicate that the proposed methodology provides a balanced trade-off among conflicting objectives and identifies a priority order of loads to energize first under marginally increasing budgets. Full article

The essential prerequisite for the state to ensure the stable production and supply of grain and other key agricultural products is to enhance food security resilience and transform traditional agricultural production and management models. This study utilizes panel data from major grain-producing counties in China from 2012 to 2023. Adopting the 2020 “National Digital Rural Pilot Program” as a quasi-natural experiment, it applies a difference-in-differences (DID) model to assess the program’s impact on food security resilience and its underlying mechanisms. The results demonstrate that digital rural development has a significant driving effect on food security resilience, with more pronounced effects observed in Southern regions, areas endowed with abundant labor resources, and regions with lower economic development levels. Mechanism analyses indicate that digital rural development plays a role in enhancing food security resilience through scaled grain operations and agricultural technological progress. Furthermore, resource allocation efficiency and fiscal transparency exert a positive regulatory effect in impacting food security resilience through digital rural development. This study elucidates the mechanism through which digital rural development enhances food security resilience, offering valuable policy insights for the coordinated advancement of rural revitalization and agricultural digitization. Full article

This paper examines the application of an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) for voltage regulation in a small-scale wind turbine (SWT) system intended for off-grid rural electrification in Uzbekistan. The proposed architecture consists of a wind turbine, a permanent-magnet DC generator, and a buck converter supplying a regulated 48 V DC load. While ANFIS-based control has been reported previously for wind energy systems, the novelty of this work lies in its focused application to a DC-generator-based SWT topology using real wind data from the Bukhara region, together with a rigorous quantitative comparison against a conventional PI controller under both constant- and reconstructed variable-wind conditions. Dynamic performance was evaluated through MATLAB/Simulink simulations incorporating IEC-compliant wind turbulence modeling. Quantitative results show that the ANFIS controller achieves faster settling, reduced voltage ripple, and improved disturbance rejection compared to PI control. The findings demonstrate the technical feasibility of ANFIS-based voltage regulation for decentralized DC wind energy systems, while recognizing that economic viability and environmental benefits require further system-level and experimental assessment. Full article

Rural governance is a key means of promoting sustainable rural development and is gradually evolving toward interdisciplinary research across multiple scales. How should governments at all levels implement precise policy to achieve rural revitalization goals? To reveal the multi-scale characteristics of rural spatial governance, this study proposes theoretical hypotheses and constructs a three-level analytical framework encompassing the municipal, functional area, and township dimensions. Taking Nanning City as a case study, it comprehensively employs global and local spatial autocorrelation methods to quantitatively analyze the spatial differentiation patterns and governance effectiveness across the five dimensions of rural revitalization at different scales. The results indicate that indicators such as ecological livability, industrial prosperity, life affluence, rural civilization, and effective governance all exhibit significant clustering patterns at various scales, with notable differences in the intensity of clustering across these scales. Specifically, the ecological livability indicator exhibits the strongest spatial agglomeration at the municipal level (Moran’s I = 0.578), industrial prosperity and affluent living show the strongest correlations at the functional area level (with average Moran’s I values of 0.281 and 0.414, respectively), while rural civilization and effective governance display the most pronounced clustering at the township level (Moran’s I values of 0.363 and 0.350). The findings provide direct evidence for implementing differentiated and precise rural spatial governance in Nanning City and similar regions, while also contributing to the optimization of cross-level policy resource allocation. Future research should further integrate multidisciplinary perspectives and expand the analysis of multi-stakeholder participation mechanisms. Full article

Education systems worldwide face a growing pressure to align with Sustainable Development Goal 4.7 by embedding Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into school life. This study examines how primary school headteachers in Cyprus interpret and enact sustainable leadership to advance ESD within a small, highly centralised system. Drawing on sustainable and distributed leadership theories and a whole-school lens, the study employed semi-structured interviews with ten headteachers from diverse regions (urban, rural, and semi-rural). Reflective thematic analysis identified four patterns: (1) leaders sought a strategic integration of ESD into planning and culture; (2) empowerment and participation were pursued through teacher working groups, student eco-councils, and community partnerships; (3) systemic constraints, a rigid curriculum, limited autonomy, and scarce professional development produced a policy–practice gap; and (4) leaders relied on adaptive, collaborative micro-practices to sustain momentum. The findings suggest that, in Cyprus, sustainable leadership operates as a values-based stewardship enacted through ‘quiet activism’. The study highlights implications for leadership development, such as reflexivity, systems thinking, and ethical reasoning, as well as policy design, such as time, autonomy, and structured support for whole-school ESD, in small-state contexts. Full article

Rural self-constructed homes in China’s cold-temperate regions often exhibit poor energy performance due to limited budgets and substandard construction, leading to a high reliance on active systems and low climate resilience. This study assesses four passive cooling strategies, nighttime natural ventilation (NNV), envelope retrofitting (ER), window shading (WS), and window-to-wall ratio adjustment (WWR), under 2040–2080 representative future climate conditions using energy simulation, multi-objective optimization, sensitivity analysis, and life-cycle cost assessment. Combined measures (COM) cut annual cooling demand by ~43% and representative peak cooling loads by ~50%. NNV alone delivers ~37% cooling reduction with rapid payback, while ER primarily mitigates heating demand. WS provides moderate cooling but slightly increases winter energy use, and WWR has minimal impact. Economic and sensitivity analyses indicate that COM and NNV are robust and cost-effective, making them the most suitable strategies for low-energy, climate-resilient retrofits in cold-climate rural residences. Since statistically extreme heat events are not explicitly modeled, the findings reflect relative performance under representative climatic conditions rather than guaranteed resilience under extreme heatwaves. Full article