On the Coupling and Coordination Development between Environment and Economy: A Case Study in the Yangtze River Delta of China

The coupling and coordination development of the environment and economy (CC2E) is one of the most vital issues to sustainable development. This paper adopted the coupling coordination model, projection pursuit algorithm, and random forest model to explore the spatial-temporal evolution and influencing factors of the CC2E in the Yangtze River Delta from 2015 to 2019, respectively. The results showed that: (1) The degree of coupling coordination (DCC) of the CC2E in most cities of the Yangtze River Delta has risen from primary coordination to intermediate coordination. (2) In the spatial perspective, the distribution of DCC is correlated with geographical location. The value of DCC in the western region was significantly lower than that of the eastern cities. (3) The influencing factors results showed that the GDP in the economic subsystem and the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in the environmental subsystem were the most influencing factors of DCC in the Yangtze River Delta. The established index system of CC2E and the measurements of CC2E provide a new idea for how to achieve sustainable development. Meanwhile, this study can provide recommendations for formulating the environmental protection and economic development policy.

An evaluation of coupling coordination between sports industry and health service industry in China

Depending on the strategy of "Healthy China", more and more people pay attention to health issues. The integration and development of sports industry and health service industry is an inevitable outcome of industrial transformation and upgrading and healthy life in the new era. Through constructing the evaluation index system of the coupling and coordination development degree between sports industry and health service industry, using entropy evaluation method and coupling and coordination degree model, this paper explore the comprehensive level and coupling and coordination development status of sports industry and health service industry in thirty-one provinces, municipality cities and autonomous regions of China from 2013 to 2017. The results of this paper show that the comprehensive China’s sports industry and health service industry both present an incremental development trend year by year, and are characterized by the distribution of "high in the east and low in the west" in space. The government’s policy support provides superior industrial supporting conditions for the development of sports industry. However, it is not conducive to the promotion of industrial economic benefits. In the health service industry, the rapid development of health insurance is beneficial to the integration of industrial resources and the perfection of industrial chain. Whereas as the core content of health service industry, health service has greater space for development; the coupling and coordination degree between the two industries rises from mild maladjustment to basic coordination, which is characterized by the distribution of "high in the east and low in the west" in space; among provinces, with Beijing, the Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong as the three development center points, it shows the spatial evolutionary process from "dispersion-type plaques" to "gathering type scattered surfaces".

Early Blindness Limits the Head-Trunk Coordination Development for Horizontal Reorientation

During locomotion, goal-directed orientation movements in the horizontal plane require a high degree of head-trunk coordination. This coordination is acquired during childhood. Since early visual loss is linked to motor control deficits, we hypothesize that it may also affect the development of head-trunk coordination for horizontal rotations. However, no direct evidence exists about such a deficit. To assess this hypothesis, we tested early blind and sighted individuals on dynamic sound alignment through a head-pointing task with sounds delivered in acoustic virtual reality. Participants could perform the head-pointing with no constraints, or they were asked to immobilize their trunk voluntarily. Kinematics of head and trunk were assessed individually and with respect to each other, together with spatial task performance. Results indicated a head-trunk coordination deficit in the early blind group; yet, they could dampen their trunk movements so as not to let their coordination deficit affect spatial performance. This result highlights the role of vision in the development of head-trunk coordination for goal-directed horizontal rotations. It also calls for clarification on the impact of the blindness-related head-trunk coordination deficit on the performance of more complex tasks akin to daily life activities such as steering during locomotion or reaching to targets placed sideways.

Spatial-Temporal Coupling Coordination Relationship between Urbanization and Green Development in the Coastal Cities of China

With the rapid development of urbanization, coastal cities of China have made significant achievements in economic development. However, the eco-environment of these cities has been under tremendous pressure due to the interference of human activities. Therefore, it is of great significance to find the interrelationship between urbanization and regional development. As an environmental-friendly and social-inclusive way of economic growth, the level of green development (GD) represents the comprehensive status of regional economic, social, and ecological development. As few researchers have studied the relationship between urbanization and GD, especially in the coastal areas, this paper detailed an empirical investigation into the spatio-temporal variations of the coupling and coordination relationship between urbanization and GD in the coastal cities of China. The results showed that: (1) the coupling and coordination relationship is constantly improving, especially in big cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, all of which have entered into coordination development stage; (2) small prefecture-level cities, mostly agglomerated in the northeast and southwest of China, most of which lagged in urbanization, are still in the maladjusted coordination stage; (3) the contribution to the coordination relationship between urbanization and GD mainly comes from the industrial structure optimization and urbanization. However, at present the eco-environmental protection is not enough to support the coordination development between the two systems. Based on the findings of this paper, a series of policy implications for improving the coordination development between urbanization and GD is proposed.

Measurement of the Degree of Coordination in Regard to Carbon Emissions, Economic Development, and Environmental Protection in China

Driven by economic development, the dramatic increase in carbon emissions has led to global warming and a series of environmental problems. The question of how to ensure harmonized coordination between economic development, carbon emissions and environmental protection has become increasingly important. The conflicts between the use of energy and emission reductions in China have become more intense. It is an inevitable requirement for China’s sustainable development to promote a low-carbon circular economy and the simultaneous and coordinated development of carbon emissions, the economy and the environment. The present study took 30 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions directly under the Central Government) as the research objects (Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are not included in the study due to the lack of relevant data), and applied quantitative analysis methods, such as three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) models, coupling coordination degree models and spatial analysis models, to construct a measurement index system. On the basis of the measurement of its carbon emission efficiency, the level of China’s coordination degree in regard to carbon emissions, economic development, and environmental protection at both spatial and temporal dimensions was analyzed comprehensively in order to reveal its temporal and spatial characteristics. The conclusions are as follows: (1) China’s overall carbon emission efficiency displayed a gradual upward trend, although the overall level was not that high. Therefore, there is still much scope for further improvement. (2) The level of China’s coordination degree in regard to carbon emissions, economic development, and environmental protection showed a steady yet rising trend. All provinces reached different levels of coordination development, and there was no province that displayed a disorderly declining trend. However, the number of provinces that reached or went beyond the intermediate level of coordination development was quite limited. (3) The level of China’s coordination degree in regard to carbon emissions, economic development, and environmental protection displayed obvious spatial aggregation patterns at the provincial level, showing an apparent spatial dependence and heterogeneity. Over time, the level of spatial aggregation patterns in regard to coordination degree tended to weaken. Overall, the values were high in the eastern region and low in the western region, decreasing from the eastern coastal zone towards the western inland zone, thus demonstrating a contrasting east-west spatial distribution pattern.

Longitudinal Study of Motor Coordination Development in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Few studies have longitudinally investigated the development of the motor function in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this chapter, the author investigated trends in how the development of motor coordination ability is closely related to motor functions in children with ASD. The participants were children enrolled in a special education school for persons with developmental disabilities in Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. Among them, the study targeted 35 children who took the Body Coordination Test (BCT) continuously for more than three years. Although there were individual differences, the average score on the BCT increased with age. In particular, children with ASD showed moderate development, even during adolescence, when typical children experienced the plateau effect. The results suggest that children with ASD have great educational potential in adolescence.

Evaluation of Coordination between Cultural Tourism and Urban Economy of Gansu

As Gansu accelerates the building of green eco-industrial system, improving the quality and efficiency of cultural tourism industry has become an important driving force for the transformation of economic quality. To effectively optimize economic structure with tourism resources, a measurement index system of cultural tourism and urban economic development is established, based on which the coordination development model on cultural tourism and urban economy of Gansu is established. The paper can provide theoretical basis for evaluating, tracking and comparing the coordination level between cultural tourism and urban economy of Gansu. It can provide city managers with decision-making basis on developing cultural tourism, protecting cultural heritage and enhancing the comprehensive urban development level.