Spatiotemporal Evolution and Improvement Potential of Agricultural Eco-efficiency in Jiangsu Province

This study evaluated the agricultural eco-efficiency (AEE) of 77 counties and districts in Jiangsu Province from 1999 to 2018 using the slack-based measure (SBM) of efficiency in data envelopment analysis (DEA) (SBM-DEA) and analyzed its spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and influencing factors. We found that 1) the overall AEE, pure technology efficiency (PTE), and scale efficiency (SE) exhibited a fluctuating downward trend. AEE exhibited a significantly positive spatial association and an increasingly widening regional inequality. 2) AEE featured the “high south” and “low north” spatial pattern, with the high-value regions concentrated around the Taihu Lake plain region in southern Jiangsu Province (Sunan) and low-value regions scattered across most of the northern Jiangsu Province (Subei) cities. The high-high and low-low spatial association types further confirmed the existence of the north–south agglomeration pattern. 3) PTE and SE exhibited a similar “high south” and “low north” spatial pattern to that of AEE. The areas with the growth trends of AEE, PTE, and SE were clustered in Xuzhou and Nanjing city and in the bordering regions between Yangzhou and the Huai’an city, and also between Changzhou and the Wuxi city. 4) Excessive redundant input and use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, agricultural diesel, labor, land, and agricultural carbon emissions, all have been the primary factors affecting Jiangsu’s AEE. Irrigation also considerably affected AEE, while mechanical power and agricultural film have minimal effects. The majority of counties and districts in the Subei, central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), and Ningzhen Yang Hilly region experienced excessive usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, agricultural diesel, labor, and land. The findings can improve understanding of the spatial association effect and underlying impediment of AEE and can further help policymakers promoting agricultural eco-efficiency.

Study on Consumer Preference for Traceable Pork With Animal Welfare Attribute

We determined consumer preferences for traceable pork attributes in 328 consumers in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China, based on a traceable pork attribute system composed of traceability, animal welfare, place of origin, and price attributes. Preference was studied using a Choice Experiment and Bayesian inference analysis. Results showed that the marginal utility of health welfare was lower than that of high-level traceability information and similar to that of place of origin but was higher than that of middle-level traceability information. A complementary relationship existed between dietary animal welfare and high-level traceability information and between health welfare and non-indigenous production. A substitution relationship existed between health welfare and indigenous production and between environmental animal welfare and non-indigenous production. The marginal utilities of health welfare and dietary welfare were higher than those of all price levels, and consumers accept a higher price as a result of increased production costs due to the inclusion of animal welfare information. Due to the harsh realities of COVID-19, China has recently approved the animal welfare attribute to be integrated into traceability market systems of new animal-derived food. The government should encourage manufacturers to produce diverse traceable animal-derived food not only to protect animal welfare and promote the construction of an ecological civilization, but also to develop new animal-derived food markets to satisfy different levels of consumer demand.

An Observational Study on HIV and Syphilis Rates and Associated Risk Factors Among Elderly Men in Wuxi, China

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a nationwide health problem in China, there were a reported 1,045,000 people living with HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by the end of October 2020, and the number of individuals aged 50 years and older living with HIV has also increased over the past two decades.Methods: A cross-sectional and 1:2 matched case-control studies were conducted from July to August 2016, in three community of Wuxi city, eastern China. A total of 1000 men aged 50 and over completed a face-to-face interview regarding their HIV-related knowledge and attitudes, as well as risk behaviors. All participants also provided a five-milliliter blood sample for syphilis and HIV testing.Results: Among the 1,000 participants, the mean age was 64.7±8.1 years. Less than half of the participants answered all HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)-related questions correctly (range 40.7%-63.9%). Younger men (χ2=23.175, P<0.05) with more education (χ2=52.054, P<0.05) were more knowledgeable about HIV compared to others. Less than 10% men knew where to get test for HIV, while only 2.1% had ever been tested. Serological testing showed that 20 participants were currently infected with syphilis and one person was tested positive for HIV antibody, however, none of them admitted having risky behaviors related to HIV/STDs. The 1꞉2 matched case-control indicated that only the AIDS-related attitudes were different between two groups (χ2=8.726, P=0.013), the conditional logistic regression analysis indicated that scores of AIDS health knowledge was the only significant prognostic factor for the infection (HR=0.754 (0.569-0.999), P=0.049).Conclusions: The overall HIV/STDs-related knowledge among elderly men in Wuxi, China was low. Further research aimed at identifying how these factors impact their sexual decision making can shed valuable insight into further prevention program in this population.

Methane Levels of a River Network in Wuxi City, China and Response to Water Governance

The majority of rivers are a CH4 source that accounts for an important proportion of annual global emissions. However, CH4 evasion from urban river networks has received disproportionately less attention than their contribution. The effect of water governance on water quality and CH4 emission in urban areas remains unclear. Water quality, CH4 concentrations, and fluxes from a river network in Binhu District, Wuxi City, and their response to water governance were analyzed in this study. CH4 concentrations in the investigated rivers ranged from 0.05 μmol L−1 to 16.37 μmol L−1 (2.47 ± 4.5 μmol L−1, medium 0.23 μmol L−1), and CH4 diffusive fluxes were 75.55 ± 171.78 μmol m−2 h−1 with a medium of 6.50 μmol m−2 h−1. CH4 concentration showed a significant correlation with water quality parameters, especially for NH3–N (r = 0.84, p < 0.001). Significant differences in water quality and CH4 levels were found between sites that had conducted water management and those that continued to exhibit poor water quality. Our analysis showed that rivers under water governance have a positive tendency toward water ecological restoration, and a significant decrease in CH4 efflux to the air can be achieved after extensive and intensified water governance.

Research on HOV Lane Priority Dynamic Control under Connected Vehicle Environment

The optimization of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane management can better improve the efficiency of road resources. This paper first summarized the current research on HOV lane implementation and analyzed and identifies the threshold of setting road HOV lane dynamic control under the connected vehicle environment. Then, the HOV lane priority dynamic control process was determined, and the operating efficiency and energy consumption evaluation method was proposed. Moreover, a case study in Wuxi City, China, was carried out. The results showed that, after implementing the HOV lane priority dynamic control, the total mileage of road network vehicles was saved by 4.93%, the average travel time per capita was reduced by 4.27%, and the total energy-saving rate of road network travel was 21.96%.