Influence of Urbanization on Haze

2013 ◽  
Vol 807-809 ◽  
pp. 92-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Juan Mao ◽  
Yan Jun Meng ◽  
Jing Jiao Pu

Defense Meteorological Satellite-Operational Linescan System night-time emission data was applied as a proxy approach to assess urbanization level. Using this approach, it was found the spatial distribution of annual haze days was consistent with that of night-time light intensity in Zhejiang. The intensities of haze and night-time light in Northeastern Zhejiang were greater than those in Southwestern Zhejiang, and the same intensities were higher in coastal areas (than inland areas). The distributions of haze and night-time light both presented the features of regional clusters and boundary crossing between urban and rural areas. From 1960 to 2010, the annual haze days exhibited three change phases separated by two change jumps around 1979 and 2000. The first and second change jumps corresponded to the reform and opening-up and to the intensified urbanization, respectively. A close relationship between haze and total night-time light was found, and the correlation coefficients were higher than 0.9. In the long term, a negative correlation between relative humidity and visibility was observed, but the synchronous delaying trends of relative humidity and visibility reveal that the visibility delay was induced by increased pollutants. A comparison of the change trends of relative humidity, particle concentration, and visibility in Hangzhou and Linan indicates that an atmosphere with drier and heavier air pollution surrounds urban areas. Therefore, urbanization has a significant impact on haze.

Author(s):  
Bhuyan KC

The paper was to throw some light on the risk factors for diabetes disability among Bangladeshi adults of 18 years and above residing in both urban and rural areas. In investigating the adults, it was decited to cover 50.1% males and 49.9% females to maintain the national level of sex ratio in the sample. The respondents were interviewed when they were visiting some diagnostic centres in urban and semi-urban areas. The percentage of diabetic respondents included in the sample was 67% and 25.5% of them were suffering for 10 years and above, 6.4% were disable against 4.8% total disable respondents in the sample, and obese adults were 30.2%. Diabetic disable adults in the sample were 4.3%. The most responsible variable for diabetes disability was obesity followed by longer duration of diabetes, sedentary activity, smoking habit, being housewife, being married, etc. These variables were identified on the basis of risk ratio and correlation coefficients of variables and discriminant function scores. Beside these variables, rural people, Muslims, adults of ages 40-50 years, illiterate people had more risk of facing the problem of diabetes disability.


2022 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-07
Author(s):  
K.C. Bhuyan

The paper was to throw some light on the risk factors for diabetes disability among Bangladeshi adults of 18 years and above residing in both urban and rural areas. In investigating the adults, it was decided to cover 50.1% males and 49.9% females to maintain the national level of sex ratio in the sample. The respondents were interviewed when they were visiting some diagnostic centres in urban and semi-urban areas. The percentage of diabetic respondents included in the sample was 67% and 25.5% of them were suffering for 10 years and above, 6.4% were disable against 4.8% total disable respondents in the sample, and obese adults were 30.2%. Diabetic disable adults in the sample were 4.3%. The most responsible variable for diabetes disability was obesity followed by longer duration of diabetes, sedentary activity, smoking habit, being housewife, being married, etc. These variables were identified on the basis of risk ratio and correlation coefficients of variables and discriminant function scores. Beside these variables, rural people, Muslims, adults of ages 40 – 50 years, illiterate people had more risk of facing the problem of diabetes disability.


Author(s):  
Marek Angowski ◽  
Aneta JAROSZ-ANGOWSKA ◽  
Marcin LIPOWSKI

Over the last years, the economic and social structure of enterprises has undergone some important changes, especially because of the introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). ICT is one of the fundamental elements driving the innovation and competitiveness of business activities which greatly influences the development of rural areas, both in economic and social terms. This publication focuses on the analysis and evaluation of the use of ICTs by enterprises in the Lubelskie Voivodeship with particular emphasis on rural areas. In the publication the authors use statistical analyses based on information from surveys conducted among entrepreneurs by the Marshal Office of the Lubelskie Voivodeship. The paper evaluates the following issues: the degree of computerisation of the company, the use of information technology in the company, the activity of the company on the Internet. The main objective of this study is to identify the relationship between the degree of computerisation and the company's innovation-oriented activities and to identify differences between companies located in urban and rural areas. The studies carried out have demonstrated that the differences in the computerisation of enterprises located in rural and urban areas are negligible and that there is a close relationship between the degree of computerisation and innovation in enterprises located in rural areas.


Author(s):  
Katarzyna Zatońska ◽  
Piotr Psikus ◽  
Alicja Basiak-Rasała ◽  
Zuzanna Stępnicka ◽  
Maria Wołyniec ◽  
...  

(1) Background: Alcohol is a leading risk factor of premature morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to investigate the patterns of alcohol consumption in the PURE Poland cohort study baseline. (2) Methods: A Polish cohort was enrolled in the baseline study in 2007–2010. The study group consisted of 2021 adult participants of urban and rural areas from the Lower Silesia voivodeship in Poland (747 men and 1274 women). (3) Results: In the overall study population, 67.3% were current drinkers, 10.3% were former drinkers, and 22.4% were abstainers. Current use of alcohol products was more prevalent in men (77.2%), people living in urban areas (73.0%), and people with a higher level of education (78.0%). The percentage of current drinkers decreased with increasing age (from 73.4% in 30- to 44-year-olds to 48.8% in participants aged 64 and more). The majority of participants (89.2%) declared a low level of alcohol intake. The chance of high level of intake of alcohol was four times higher in men than in women (OR 4.17; CI 1.64–10.6). The majority of participants (54.6%) declared most frequent consumption of low-alcohol drinks (beer, wine) and 21% declared most frequent consumption of spirits. Current drinkers had almost 1.5-fold higher odds of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) than never drinkers (OR 1.49, CI 1.03–2.17; OR 1.66, CI 1.27–2.18, respectively). Former drinkers had higher odds for hypertension and CVD than never drinkers (1.73, CI 1.05–2.85; OR 1.76, CI 1.22–2.53, respectively). (4) Conclusions: In our cohort study, we observed several socio-demographic factors differentiating the patterns of alcohol consumption. The preventive programs should focus predominantly on men, people aged <45 years, and those with a higher level of education.


The Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Johnson ◽  
Dante J. Scala

Abstract This study of the 2018 congressional midterms demonstrates how voting patterns and political attitudes vary across a spectrum of urban and rural areas in the United States. Rural America is no more a monolith than is urban America. The rural-urban gradient is better represented by a continuum than a dichotomy. This is evident in the voting results in 2018, just as it was in 2016. We found that the political tipping point lies beyond major metropolitan areas, in the suburban counties of smaller metropolitan areas. Democrats enjoyed even greater success in densely populated urban areas in 2018 than in 2016. Residents of these urban areas display distinctive and consistent social and political attitudes across a range of scales. At the other end of the continuum in remote rural areas, Republican candidates continued to command voter support despite the challenging national political environment. Voters in these rural regions expressed social and political attitudes diametrically opposed to their counterparts in large urban cores.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leni Kang ◽  
Juan Liang ◽  
Chunhua He ◽  
Lei Miao ◽  
Xiaohong Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Breastfeeding is important for the physical and psychological health of the mother and child. Basic data on breastfeeding practice in China are out-of-date and vary widely. This study aimed to evaluate the progress of breastfeeding practice in China, as well as to explore the bottlenecks in driving better practice. Methods This was an observational study. We used data from the Under-5 Child Nutrition and Health Surveillance System in China for the period 2013–2018. The prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) were calculated for each year for subgroups of China. The Cochran-Armitage test was used to explore the time trends. The annual percent of change (APC) were calculated by log-linear regression followed by exp transformation. Results The prevalence of EIBF increased significantly from 44.57% (95% CI: 44.07, 45.07) in 2013 to 55.84% (95% CI: 55.29, 56.38) in 2018 (Ptrend < 0.001), with an APC of 4.67% (95% CI: 3.51, 5.85). And the prevalence of EBF increased rapidly from 16.14% (95% CI: 15.10, 17.18) to 34.90% (95% CI: 33.54, 36.26) (Ptrend < 0.001), with an APC of 14.90% (95% CI: 9.97, 20.04). Increases were observed in both urban and rural areas, with urban areas showing greater APCs for EIBF (6.05%; 95% CI: 4.22, 7.92 v.s. 2.26%; 95% CI: 1.40, 3.12) and EBF (18.21%; 95% CI: 11.53, 25.29 v.s. 9.43%; 95% CI: 5.52, 13.49). The highest EBF prevalence was observed in the East, but the Central area showed the highest APC. The prevalence of EBF decreased with increasing age within the first 6 months, especially after 3 months. Conclusion The prevalence of both EIBF and EBF in China are improving in recent years. The rural and West China could be the key areas in the future actions. More efforts should be made to protect and promote breastfeeding to achieve near- and long-term goals for child health.


Author(s):  
Chensong Lin ◽  
Longfeng Wu

Many empirical studies have shown evidence of multiple health benefits provided by green and blue spaces. Despite the importance of these spaces, investigations are scarce in details for blue spaces rather than green. Moreover, most research has focused on developed regions. A limited number of studies on blue spaces can be found in China with a focus on the city level. Outcomes have been mixed due to varying research scales, methodologies, and definitions. This study relies on a national-level social survey to explore how the self-rated health (SRH) of senior individuals is associated with local green and blue space availability in urban and rural areas. Results indicate that the coverage ratio of overall green spaces and waterbodies around a resident’s home have marginal effects on SRH status in both urban and rural areas. In urban areas, living close to a park can is marginally beneficial for older people’s health. Regarding different types of blue spaces, the presence of a major river (within 0.3–0.5 km) or coastline (within 1 km and 1–5 km) in the vicinity of home negatively affects SRH among the elderly in urban areas. Close proximity to lakes and other types of waterbodies with a water surface larger than 6.25 ha did not significantly influence SRH. These findings not only evaluate general health impacts of green/blue space development on senior populations across the county but inform decision makers concerning the health-promoting qualities and features of different green/blue spaces to better accommodate an aging population in the era of urbanization.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myung-Bae Park ◽  
Chun-Bae Kim ◽  
Chhabi Ranabhat ◽  
Chang-Soo Kim ◽  
Sei-Jin Chang ◽  
...  

Happiness is a subjective indicator of overall living conditions and quality of life. Recently, community- and national-level investigations connecting happiness and community satisfaction were conducted. This study investigated the effects of community satisfaction on happiness in Nepal. A factor analysis was employed to examine 24 items that are used to measure community satisfaction, and a multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of these factors on happiness. In semi-urban areas, sanitation showed a positive relationship with happiness. In rural areas, edu-medical services were negatively related to happiness, while agriculture was positively related. Gender and perceived health were closely associated with happiness in rural areas. Both happiness and satisfaction are subjective concepts, and are perceived differently depending on the socio-physical environment and personal needs. Sanitation, agriculture (food) and edu-medical services were critical factors that affected happiness; however, the results of this study cannot be generalized to high-income countries.


Author(s):  
Shamsul Azhar Shah ◽  
Nazarudin Safian ◽  
Saharuddin Ahmad ◽  
Wan Abdul Hannan Wan Ibadullah ◽  
Zulkefley bin Mohammad ◽  
...  

Happiness is an essential component to experience healthy ageing. Hence, understanding the factors that contribute to happiness is important. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with happiness among the elderly population in Malaysia. In this study, 1204 respondents were recruited from urban and rural areas in Selangor. A face-to-face interview was conducted using the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study questionnaire. The inclusion criteria include Malaysians who are 60-years old and above and can converse in the Malaysian language. Those who encounter less than seven scores for the Abbreviated Mental Test were excluded from the study. Among the 1204 respondents, 953 (79.2%) were happy. Sociodemographic characteristics showed that being a men, age of 60 to 74 years, and living in urban areas were significantly associated with happiness. A logistic regression model showed that locality (aOR 1.61), income category (Bottom 40% aOR 0.49; Middle-class group 40% aOR 1.40), social engagement (active aOR 1.77; less active aOR 1.25), receiving emotional support (aOR 2.11) and handgrip strength (aOR 1.02) were significantly associated with happiness. Thus, ensuring the elderly population in receiving emotional support and active social engagement among them can enhance their happiness level.


Author(s):  
Barbora Frličková

The paper analyses construction and use of a selected indicator of pro-poor growth – the rate of pro-poor growth. It further explains the interpretation of this indicator in absolute and relative terms and indicates how economic growth affects poverty and inequality. The selected indicator is applied to the example of Indonesia and compares pro-poor growth in urban and rural areas of the country, examines regional disparities in terms of pro-poor growth for the period 1996–2019. From the absolute interpretation, pro-poor growth is observed in both urban and rural areas over the whole period. In relative terms, results of pro-poor growth for the first partial period (1996–2000) differ. While there was a relative pro-poor growth in the rural areas, there was a strong pro-poor growth in the cities with a significant decline in inequality observed (incomes of poor people increased while the average income of the whole population dropped). Indonesia achieved trickle-down growth in both rural and urban areas in two remaining periods (2000–2010 and 2010–2019).


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