Search

Maintaining and improving ecological resilience is of great practical significance for the Yellow River Basin to reduce potential ecological risks and deliver sustainable development. Based on the essential characteristics of evolutionary resilience, this paper developed an ecological resilience index system of "resistance-recovery-reconstruction-renewal" and calculated the ecological resilience of 75 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2007 to 2021 with the improved TOPSIS method. Then the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of ecological resilience were analyzed using the gravity center-standard deviation ellipse, Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition, and spatial autocorrelation analysis. Furthermore, the dynamic spatial Durbin model (DSDM) was used to investigate the influencing factors of ecological resilience. The main results are as follows: (1) The ecological resilience of the Yellow River Basin showed an overall fluctuating upward trend, and the average annual growth rate in the downstream region was larger than in the upstream and midstream regions. (2) Cities with similar levels of ecological resilience were distributed in a "large settlement, small scattered" pattern. The center of gravity shifted to the southeast, and the spatial distribution exhibited a "northwest-southeast" pattern and a trend towards an "east–west" pattern. The primary source of spatial differences was the intensity of transvariation. (3) The ecological resilience in the Yellow River Basin showed significant spatial clustering, with the H–H clustering area shifting from the Hubao-Eyu urban agglomeration to the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration, and the L–L clustering area mainly distributed around the Central Plains city cluster. (4) The ecological resilience of the Yellow River Basin exhibited significant snowball, spillover, and siphon effects in time, space, and space-time dimensions, respectively. In the short and long term, population density and openness significantly positively affected the ecological resilience of local and surrounding cities. Urbanization had a long-term effect on ecological resilience without a short-term effect. GDP per capita and industrial structure only imparted a significant positive influence on local ecological resilience. The negative spatial spillover of the intensity of financial investment in technological innovation gradually turned into a positive effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of young people is crucial for the future and development of a nation. It is the collective responsibility and imperative mission of society to ensure the holistic well-being, both physically and mentally, of young individuals. Therefore, it is essential to thoroughly comprehend the factors that influence their health in order to expedite the exploration of effective solutions. The objective of this study is to comprehend the mechanisms that underlie the correlation between physical exercise behavior and psychological resilience among teenagers, while also examining the mediating role played by social sensitivity and need to belong. So put forward the hypothesis: (1) physical exercise behavior can positively predict the psychological resilience. (2) Social sensitivity and need to belong plays a mediating role between physical exercise behavior and psychological resilience. (3) Social sensitivity and need to belong plays a chain mediating role between physical exercise behavior and psychological resilience. Using the cluster sampling method, a total of 1106 students (with an average age of 15.7 and a standard deviation of 0.598) who met the requirements were surveyed from Shandong Province in China. Standard scales were utilized to assess Physical Exercise Behavior, Psychological Resilience, Social Sensitivity, and Need to Belong. For data analysis, Pearson's correlation analysis and bias-corrected percentile Bootstrap method were sequentially conducted. (1) The present study did not find any significant methodological bias, and the observed correlations between physical exercise behavior, psychological resilience, social sensitivity, and need to belong were all statistically significant; (2) Based on the self-determination theory, this study elucidates the relationship between physical exercise behavior and psychological resilience among teenagers. The findings indicate that physical exercise behavior positively predicts the need to belong and psychological resilience, while negatively predicting social sensitivity. Similarly, social sensitivity negatively predicts the need to belong and psychological resilience. Moreover, the need to belong directly and positively predicts psychological resilience. Importantly, all hypotheses proposed in this paper were empirically supported. (3) The indirect effect of the path mediated by social sensitivity is 0.009, while the indirect effect of the path mediated by need to belong is 0.033. Additionally, the combined indirect effect of both social sensitivity and need to belong as mediating variables is 0.014. (4) The cumulative sum of all these indirect effects amounts to 0.056. Based on the self-determination theory, we propose a chain mediation model, specially, physical exercise behavior can significantly positively predict psychological resilience, among which, social sensitivity and need to belong play a significant mediating role between Physical exercise behavior and psychological resilience. In addition, the adoption of good physical exercise behavior can enhance the psychological resilience of adolescents by diminishing social sensitivity and augmenting the need to belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic posed huge hurdles to green economic recovery and the tourism sector. This paper examines challenges in the Zhejiang, Fujian, and Shandong provinces of China' coastal tourism and green economic growth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To assess this impact, the study used econometrics models based on the Chinese provincial data from March 2020 to April 2021. According to the results, coastal tourism's related income fell drastically regardless of where the people live. Fisherman's earnings dropped by 26%, while captains and owner's earnings dropped by 49% on average. This also resulted in a shortage of food supply that endangered food security. During the pandemic, the number and duration of tourism trips dropped in all study locations. In addition, results indicated that in the wake of COVID-19, lower economic growth and recessions resulted in a significant decline in green investments. The paper proposes that to achieve green recovery and the recovery of the tourism sector, the local and central governments need to increase green investments and the literacy of the people in charge of coastal tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to promote the rapid development of the use of straw resources in China has become one of the important ways to achieve high-quality development in society. This paper adopts econometric methods and takes Shandong Province as the research object to build a set of "financial expenditure—intermediate path—straw resource utilization level" promotion path methodology system, aiming to consider the impact intensity of financial expenditure (as an important means for the government to stimulate the development of straw resource industry) on straw resource utilization level through different paths. The results show that the impact of the two intermediate paths of the development level of waste resources and the development level of infrastructure development are the most obvious. For every 1% increase in fiscal expenditure, the utilization level of straw resources will increase by 2.693% and 2.437%, respectively. The financial expenditure has a positive impact on the level of straw resource utilization through education level, agricultural development foundation, energy conservation and environmental protection investment, and innovative R&D investment, that is to say, the financial expenditure through the above paths is of positive significance for improving the level of straw resource utilization. Among them, the path with the lowest impact intensity is innovation R&D investment, and it is suggested that innovation R&D investment should be inclined to straw utilization technology. The above conclusions can provide scientific theoretical guidance for the further improvement in the utilization level of straw resources in Shandong Province, and also provide reference for the government departments when formulating industrial adjustment plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power system security assessment is one of the most important aspects of wind integrated power system due to intermittent and stochastic nature of wind. This paper proposes a nonparametric method for security risk assessment. Parzen window density estimation is utilized to obtain probability density functions for wind power, generation and load profiles. Correlation between independent and dependent samples of load, wind power and generation is replicated by a spatial transformation of probability distributions of random variables using Cholesky decomposition. Probabilistic load flow is performed for determining the branch flows and bus voltages of the power system for N − 1 contingency analysis. Risk assessment is performed by quantifying the probability and severity indices for branch flows and bus voltages. The proposed method is tested on modified New England 39-bus system and extended for simplified power grid of Shandong province, China. Simulation results and comparisons demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the internal relationship between urbanization process and cultivated land change can reveal the differential law of different urbanization processes and effectively protect cultivated land resources. Using the land-use change analysis method, this paper analyzed the quantity and quality change of cultivated land during the process of urbanization in the Bohai Rim region from 1990 to 2020 and explored its driving mechanism. The results show that the urbanization level in the Bohai Rim region increases by 31.06%, and 120 km2 farmland will be occupied for every 1% increase in urbanization level. The level of urbanization is higher in Beijing and Tianjin, medium in Liaoning and Shandong, and lower in Hebei. The area of cultivated land decreased year by year, and the decrease in dry land was the largest, followed by paddy land. Hebei, Shandong, and Liaoning have a high contribution rate to the reduction in cultivated land around the Bohai Sea. Population urbanization, spatial urbanization, and other factors have a significant impact on the study area, while economic urbanization and life urbanization show different laws. It is suggested that the development of urbanization can be promoted in a timely and appropriate manner, and the harmonious development of urbanization can be promoted by optimizing the layout of land use and avoiding excessive occupation of cultivated land at the expense of food security and ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plastic shed vegetable (PSV) cultivation has become an important vegetable production system in China, which accounts for about 1/4 of the total vegetable production of China. Shandong is the largest facility vegetable growing area in China. Continued years of high-input, high-output planting methods have brought some problems to the surrounding environment. Salinization has not only affected the soil and groundwater environment, but also the growth of vegetables. A comprehensive understanding of soil salinization in plastic shed vegetable fields is important for the sustainable development of the vegetable farming industry. In this paper, random survey sampling was used to collect soil samples from representative PSV production areas in Shandong Province, and the soil salinization status, acidification status, salt ion composition, and the main causes of soil salinity were studied in the survey area. Our study found that the salinized soils (mild, moderate, and severe levels) in the surveyed areas accounted for 40% of the total samples, and the total soluble salt (TSS) increased with the increase of the planting years. After continuous planting for 10 years, the soil pH showed a downward trend, indicating that salinization and acidification occurred simultaneously. A significant positive correlation was observed between TSS and soil organic matter (SOM) (r = 0.4773**). Principal component analysis found that , , , , Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, and Na+ had higher positive loads on principal component 1, the factor loads were 0.557–0.927, and the contribution rate reached 34.928%. Correlation analysis also showed that TSS was positively correlated with the concentrations of these ions (P < 0.01). The soil salinization status should be closely monitored and regulated by regulatory authorities to improve environment and soil health through balanced fertilization, thereby improving the yield and quality of vegetables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese Green Climate Fund (GCF) is expected to launch by the government in the foreseeable future to support local governments in climate change adaption and mitigation. Lessons from experiences of international financing and allocating mechanisms provide valuable references for establishing the Chinese GCF. This study aims to explore the feasibility of several well-recognized schemes for financing and allocating the Chinese GCF among China's 30 provinces. These include: financing schemes of historical emission responsibility (HR), ability-to-pay (AP) and preference score compromises (PSC); as well as allocating schemes of carbon emissions intensity (CI), carbon emissions per capital (CC), GDP per capital (GC) and PSC. This study derives several important findings. Firstly, given different financing schemes, the coastal economically developed provinces including Shandong, Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Zhejiang would collectively shoulder most of the financing responsibility (almost 70% in total) and play central roles in climate financing. Shandong province presents high financing responsibilities mainly due to its export trades of primary products which rely on the development of high-polluted industries. Other three provinces show high financing responsibilities mainly due to the rapid growth of their industries (petrochemical, steel, building materials, electric power, etc.) for economic development. Secondly, the inland economically backward provinces including Shanxi, Ningxia, Guizhou, Xinjiang, and Gansu would be the top five largest recipients of the funds, obtaining more than 30% of total disbursements. The innovations and contributions of the present study are as follows: Firstly, this paper systematically explored the feasibility and alternative schemes for Chinese GCF for the first time. Further, it introduces PSC methods based on diversified approaches to explore suitable financing and allocating schemes. The schemes proposed would establish theoretical foundations for the Chinese GCF and would also promote the development of other kinds of financing for China and countries with similar economic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring and predicting the regional groundwater storage (GWS) fluctuation is an essential support for effectively managing water resources. Therefore, taking Shandong Province as an example, the data from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On (GRACE-FO) is used to invert GWS fluctuation from January 2003 to December 2022 together with Watergap Global Hydrological Model (WGHM), in-situ groundwater volume and level data. The spatio-temporal characteristics are decomposed using Independent Components Analysis (ICA), and the impact factors, such as precipitation and human activities, which are also analyzed. To predict the short-time changes of GWS, the Support Vector Machines (SVM) is adopted together with three commonly used methods Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA), Auto-Regressive Moving Average Model (ARMA), as the comparison. The results show that: (1) The loss intensity of western GWS is significantly greater than those in coastal areas. From 2003 to 2006, GWS increased sharply; during 2007 to 2014, there exists a loss rate − 5.80 ± 2.28 mm/a of GWS; the linear trend of GWS change is − 5.39 ± 3.65 mm/a from 2015 to 2022, may be mainly due to the effect of South-to-North Water Diversion Project. The correlation coefficient between GRACE and WGHM is 0.67, which is consistent with in-situ groundwater volume and level. (2) The GWS has higher positive correlation with monthly Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) considering time delay after moving average, which has the similar energy spectrum depending on Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) method. In addition, the influencing facotrs on annual GWS fluctuation are analyzed, the correlation coefficient between GWS and in-situ data including the consumption of groundwater mining, farmland irrigation is 0.80, 0.71, respectively. (3) For the GWS prediction, SVM method is adopted to analyze, three training samples with 180, 204 and 228 months are established with the goodness-of-fit all higher than 0.97. The correlation coefficients are 0.56, 0.75, 0.68; RMSE is 5.26, 4.42, 5.65 mm; NSE is 0.28, 0.43, 0.36, respectively. The performance of SVM model is better than the other methods for the short-term prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land cover change affects the carbon emissions of ecosystems in some way. The qualitative and quantitative understanding of carbon emissions from human activities (e.g., land cover change, industrial production, etc.) is highly significant for realizing the objective of carbon neutrality. Therefore, this paper used GlobeLand30 land cover maps, annual average normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) data, annual average net ecosystem productivity (NEP) data and statistical yearbook data from 2000 to 2020 to explore the relationship between land cover change and carbon emissions. Specifically, it included land cover change, carbon storage changes influenced by land cover change, spatial and temporal analysis of carbon sources and sinks, land use intensity change and anthropogenic carbon emissions. The results of the study show that the main land cover changes in Shandong province during 2000–2020 was cultivated land conversion to artificial surfaces. Among them, the area of cultivated land converted to artificial surfaces from 2000 to 2010 was 4930.62 km2, and the proportion of cultivated land converted to artificial surfaces from 2010 to 2020 was as high as 78.35%. The total carbon stock of vegetation affected by land cover change decreased by 463.96 × 104 t and 193.50 × 104 t in 2000–2010 and 2010–2020 respectively. The spatial and temporal distribution of carbon sources and sinks differed more markedly from 2000 to 2020, and land use intensity changes in Shandong Province showed an upward trend. Of the total energy production, industry has the largest energy consumption, followed closely by total energy consumption in transportation, storage and postal services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's food security has always been a high priority issue on the political agenda with rapid urbanization affecting agricultural land, and it is challenged by several factors, such as human activities, social politics and policy. Shandong is an important grain-producing province and the second most populous province in China. In this paper, the spatiotemporal characteristics of grain yield and their potential influencing factors were explored at the county level in Shandong by using panel data over a 19-year period. The location Gini coefficient (L-Gini) and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) were used to study the spatial agglomeration characteristics of grain yield, and spatial regression methods (SRMs) were used to analyse the influencing factors. The results indicated that grain yield increased from 38.3 million metric tons to 53.2 million metric tons in 2000–2018, with a growth rate of approximately 28.0%. The increase in grain yield in Shandong was due to the driving effect of radiation from high-yield counties to surrounding moderate-yield counties. This revealed an upward trend of spatial polarization in Shandong's grain yield. In 2000–2018, the L-Gini and global Moran's I increased from 0.330 to 0.479 and from 0.369 to 0.528, respectively. The number of counties in high-high (HH) and low-low (LL) agglomeration areas increased, and the spatial polarization effect was significant. SRMs analysis showed that irrigation investment and non-grain attention have significant positive and negative effects on grain production, respectively. The spatial relationship between grain yield and its influencing factors was explored to provide a reference for formulating scientific and rational agricultural policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blue Economy (BE), as a novel approach fostering the sustainability of oceans and coastal areas for economic growth, is considered an enabler for sustainable and inclusive development. The paper contributes to the emerging literature on the development of a participative BE by presenting an innovative Quadruple Helix model, which not only connects domestic government, academia, firms and users but acts as a driver boosting the foreign exposure of the country in this specific domain. The model is tested in Qingdao, an exemplary city included in the Blue Economic Zone of the Shandong Province in China, through an exploratory approach based on desk research integrated with semi-structured interviews with eight experts. The findings suggest that Qingdao is built on a Triple Helix where the government holds a leading role in defining the domestic and international activities of academia and businesses, as in the case of the Blue Silicon Valley and the Qingdao West Coast New Area. Contrary, structures and practices fostering the involvement of civil society were not retrieved, even if projects to develop a sustainable Quadruple Helix model are expected by exploiting international collaboration. Furthermore, the findings show that to promote international partnerships in BE it is imperative to define a common and shared language at the global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing variations in rock pore structure under high-temperature thermal cycles is of great significance for the development of deep resource. In this paper, red sandstone from Linyi, Shandong Province, was heated to 200 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C, and 600 °C, followed by five cold thermal cycles. The transverse relaxation times (T2) of red sandstone treated at various temperatures were observed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and the porosity and the characteristics of the pore structure were analyzed. The results show that the variations in the pore structure of red sandstone occur primarily owing to the escape of pore water, thermal expansion, and the decomposition of some minerals. In the range of 200 to 500 °C, the escape of free water, bound water, and structural water in the sandstone resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of pores with a volume of r < 0.1 μm. At 573 °C, the phase transition of quartz and the high-temperature decomposition of calcite led to a marked increase in the proportion of mesopores (with a volume of 0.1 μm < r < 1 μm), and the connectivity between pores increased. At the same temperature, the number of mesopores and macropores increases with increases in the number of cycles. At 600 °C, the number of mesopores in sandstone increased significantly after five thermal cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper used original survey data in Shandong province of China to depict local farmers' perceptions of combined climatic and market risks, and their adaptive behaviors. Two Logit models were developed to capture the empirical relationship between farmers' risk perception of the combined risks and adaptive behaviors. Results show that farmer's risk perception of climate change and market significantly affected their adoption behavior of adaptive measures, including perception of rainfall decrease, gale decrease, drought increase, and price fall of agricultural products. Moreover farmers' adaptive behaviors are more sensitive to their perceptions of extreme climatic events. Addition of demographic factors can improve the explanatory capacity of the Logit model. As illustrated by the models, male and better educated farmers have greater willingness to take actions for averting risks, while household heads with bigger farm are more reluctant. A majority of respondents chose to construct farm structure for irrigation and water conservation to avert climatic risks. Insurance, which is regarded as an effective tool to help farmers mitigate risks and avoid losses, has not been sufficiently accepted by farmers in rural areas in Shandong province. This underscores the need of effective communication of knowledge to enhance farmers' coping capacity and to encourage their active response to risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a linear programming and production theory-based nonparametric approach that is generally used for efficiency analysis. Older DEA models, such CCR and BCC, can only identify decision-making units (DMUs) efficient or inefficient. The super-efficiency DEA model enables efficient DMUs to be ranked. A change in efficient DMUs can be measured using Malmquist index model, and the Malmquist productivity change index can be decomposed multiplicatively into an efficiency-change component (Effch) and a technical change component (Techch). This paper analyzes the water use efficiency in Shandong Province between 2006 and 2015 using Malmquist productivity index (TFP). The results show that: (1) the mean of super-efficiency scores of 17 cities in Shandong Province for the period 2006–2015 is between 0.965 and 2.760; (2) the water use efficiency was positive in 2006–2007, 2007–2008, and 2013–2014; however, it was negative in the other periods between 2006 and 2015; and (3) technical change is the key influencing factor on water use efficiency of 17 cities in Shandong Province. So, we suggest that Shandong Province encourage technological innovation to promote water use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the location results for the parent lightning strokes of more than 30 red sprites observed over an asymmetric mesoscale convective system (MCS) on 30 July 2015 in Shandong Province, China, with a long-baseline lightning location network of very-low-frequency/low-frequency magnetic field sensors. The results show that almost all of these cloud-to-ground (CG) strokes are produced during the mature stage of the MCS, and are predominantly located in the trailing stratiform region, which is similar to analyses of sprite-productive MCSs in North America and Europe. Comparison between the location results for the sprite-producing CG strokes and those provided by the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) indicates that the location accuracy of WWLLN for intense CG strokes in Shandong Province is typically within 10 km, which is consistent with the result based on analysis of 2838 sprite-producing CG strokes in the continental United States. Also, we analyze two cases where some minor lightning discharges in the parent flash of sprites can also be located, providing an approach to confine the thundercloud region tapped by the sprite-producing CG strokes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the stability of a super-large section chamber group, an analysis was conducted based on the in-situ geological conditions of a super-large section chamber group utilized as a coal gangue separation system at the Longgu Coal Mine. Field measurement and numerical simulation were employed to analyze the failure area and stress state of the surrounding rock under varying chamber spacings. The results indicate that the extent of the plastic zone significantly expands when the spacing between chambers is less than 2.0 times the chamber width. When the distance between chambers is 1.5 times the chamber width, it results in the rock pillars being entirely within the plastic zone. As the chamber spacing decreases, the tangential stress within the rock pillar range increases. When the chamber spacing is 2.5, 2.0, and 1.5 times the chamber width, the maximum tangential stress is 1.19, 1.46, and 1.18 times that in the case of a single chamber, respectively. Based on the displacement analysis, it was observed that as the distance between the chambers decreases, there is a notable increase in the displacement of the pillar sides and chamber top, indicating a higher risk of collapse. Integrating the plastic area and stress analysis allows for the categorization of the rock pillar area into four sections: the broken area, loose area, stable area, and firm area. Drawing upon the theoretical solution of the plastic zone of a circular chamber and the equivalent radius method, an approximate solution for the plastic zone of a non-circular chamber has been provided. Furthermore, the minimum reasonable spacing between chambers in a super-large section chamber group is provided as a distance criterion for the failure of a double chamber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving access to HIV/AIDS healthcare services is of great concern to government and policymakers striving to strengthen overall public health. How to reasonably allocate HIV/AIDS healthcare resources and maximize the equality of access to healthcare services across subdistrict areas has become an urgent problem to be solved. However, there is limited research on this topic in China. It is necessary to evaluate spatial accessibility to improve the accessibility and equity of HIV/AIDS healthcare services. In this study, the improved multi-modal two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) and inverted 2SFCA (i2SFCA) methods are used to measure the spatial accessibility of HIV/AIDS healthcare services and the crowdedness of the healthcare sites in Shandong Province, China. Then, the theoretical supply and the optimal spatial distribution of resources are calculated and visualized by minimizing the accessibility gaps between demand locations. This study showed that the spatial accessibility of HIV/AIDS service resources in Shandong Province was concentrated and unevenly distributed, and the accessibility scores in the marginal areas of prefecture-level cities were significantly lower than those in other areas. Regions with a large number of doctors had significantly higher levels of spatial accessibility. The ART accessibility scores in the southwest of Shandong Province were higher than those in other regions. As the travel friction coefficient increased, the accessibility scores formed an approximately circular cluster distribution centered on the healthcare sites in geographical distribution. More ART drugs needed to be supplied in marginal areas and more doctors were needed to work on HIV/AIDS in urban areas to address the spatial distribution imbalance of HIV/AIDS healthcare services. This study profoundly analyzed the spatial accessibility of HIV/AIDS healthcare services and provided essential references for decision-makers. In addition, it gives a significant exploration for achieving the goal of equal access to HIV/AIDS healthcare services in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pesticide use contributes to national food security. The dissipation pathways and degradation mechanisms of pesticides have been widely studied and pesticide residues have remained a focus of public concern. However, studies on the migration and transformation behaviors of pesticide residues in real-world greenhouse soils are insufficient. Therefore, in this study, we collected greenhouse soil from Shouguang, Shandong Province, and investigated the photodegradation and leaching of 17 common pesticides, which leave residues in the soil and are the most frequently used pesticides in Shouguang. The environmental behavior of pesticides in greenhouse soils will provide new information on pesticide residues in the real environment and provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of pesticide pollution in greenhouse soils. Results: The photodegradation of trifloxystrobin followed a first-order kinetic equation, whereas those of emamectin benzoate, chlorantraniliprole, buprofezin, difenoconazole, pyraclostrobin, boscalid, tebuconazole, isoprothiolane, metalaxyl, and oxadixyl followed second-order kinetics. The half-lives of 17 pesticides under light and dark conditions ranged from 2.5–104 (mean: 36.2) and 2.6–110 (mean: 31.4) days, respectively. The half-lives of emamectin benzoate, pyraclostrobin, and metalaxyl in the light were 86.6%, 68.5%, and 94.5% of their half-lives in the dark, respectively. Chlorantraniliprole, metalaxyl, nitenpyram, diethofencarb, acetamiprid, carbendazim, and oxadixyl were leached to ≥ 90% in aqueous solution. Six pesticides, avermectin B1A, emamectin benzoate, trifloxystrobin, difenoconazole, pyraclostrobin, and buprofezin, were difficult to leach from aqueous solutions. Conclusions: The degradation rate of some pesticides was higher in the light environment than in the dark. The leaching potential of the leachable pesticides was nitenpyram ≫ metalaxyl > acetamiprid > carbendazim > diethofencarb ≈ chlorantraniliprole > isoprothiolane > oxadixyl > boscalid ≈ tebuconazole > hexaconazole. Pesticides that are easy to leach but not easily degraded, such as chlorantraniliprole and metalaxyl, have a high potential risk of groundwater pollution, and additional degradation technologies should be used to reduce their pollution risk. The study of the photodegradation and vertical migration behavior of various pesticides is conducive to providing references for the agricultural use and pollution control of pesticides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the deepening exploration of the study on corporate social responsibility (CSR), CSR has progressively gained significance for enterprises. This study aims to analyze the impact of fashion companies' information disclosure on the intention of Chinese consumers who purchase clothing by providing information related to the environment, suppliers, manufacturing processes, and pricing. An experimental study was conducted using stimuli on 412 consumers in Shandong Province, China. The research results are as follows. First, it was found that consumers' perception of Corporate Social Performance (CSP) has a positive effect on the authenticity of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) message and consumers' subjective norms. Second, CSR message authenticity and consumer subjective norms mediate the perception of CSP in the process of leading to purchasing activities. Third, consumers perceive the authenticity of a company's CSR activities according to the degree of transparent information disclosure of the cost and manufacturing process of its products. This study shows that the CSR information provided by the company is authentic depending on the degree of CSR information transparency of the company, and that it leads to a purchase intention when consumers judge that the company's CSR activities are authentic. Accordingly, it is suggested that many fashion companies' CSR activities lead to product purchases when they are continuously conducted on environmental, social problems, and transparency in the production process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of the sustainable development of resource-based cities is still one of the hotspots in today's social research. Taking Jining, Shandong Province, as the research object, this work combines a relevant emergy evaluation index system with system dynamics, establishes a resource-based city emergy flow system dynamics model, and studies sustainable development path in the next planning year. In the work, the key factors affecting the sustainable development of Jining are obtained through the coupling of regression and SD sensitivity analysis, and some scenarios are set up by combining them with the local 14th Five-year plan. Besides, the appropriate scenario (M–L–H–H) for Jining's future sustainable development is chosen in accordance with regional circumstances. That is, during the 14th Five-year Plan period, the appropriate development ranges for the growth rate of social fixed assets investment, the growth rate of raw coal emergy, the growth rate of grain emergy and the reduction rate of solid waste emergy are 17.5–18.3%, − 4.0 to − 3.2%, 1.8–2.6% and 4–4.8%. The methodology system constructed in this article can serve as a reference for similar studies, and the research findings can aid the government in formulating pertinent plans for resource-based cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar, a soil conditioner containing significant amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), has gained widespread popularity in agricultural practices due to its advantages in improving soil fertility and carbon sequestration. While biochar may increase soil black carbon (BC) and PAH contents, the quantitative accumulation of BC and PAHs in different soil environments under varying biochar addition dosages remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the content and composition of black carbon (evaluated using benzene polycarboxylic acids, BPCAs) and PAHs in soils treated with different biochar addition dosages from two long-term experimental farmlands in Ningxia (5-year) and Shandong (7- and 11-year), China. Results showed that increasing cumulative biochar dosage caused elevated contents of black carbon and PAHs, accompanied by decreases in their retention efficiencies. Contrasting retention was observed between sites, with the Shandong site characterized by higher retention efficiencies of BPCAs and lower retention efficiencies of PAHs, possibly owing to its higher temperature, more sandy soil texture, less irrigation, and lower sunlight intensity. Despite both black carbon and PAHs originating from biochar and sharing similar condensed aromatic structures, there was no significant correlation between the contents of black carbon and PAHs, indicating distinct behaviors and fates of these compounds. These findings emphasize the importance of optimizing biochar addition dosages and considering site-specific environmental factors for effective soil black carbon sequestration through biochar application. Highlights: Increasing biochar dosage caused higher black carbon and PAH contents but lower retention efficiencies. The retention efficiencies of black carbon and PAHs were highly site-dependent. Optimal biochar dosages and site-specific considerations are crucial for effective soil carbon sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature as an important indicator of climate change, accurate temperature prediction has important guidance and application value for agricultural production, energy management and disaster warning. Based on the advantages of CEEMDAN model in effectively extracting the time–frequency characteristics of nonlinear and nonsmooth signals, BO algorithm in optimizing the objective function within a limited number of iterations, and BiLSTM model in revealing the connection between the current data, the previous data and the future data, a monthly average temperature prediction model based on CEEMDAN–BO–BiLSTM is established. A CEEMDAN–BO–BiLSTM-based monthly average temperature prediction model is developed and applied to the prediction of monthly average temperature in Jinan City, Shandong Province. The results show that the constructed monthly mean temperature prediction model based on CEEMDAN–BO–BiLSTM is feasible; the constructed CEEMDAN–BO–BiLSTM model has an average absolute error of 1.17, a root mean square error of 1.43, an average absolute percentage error of 0.31%, which is better than CEEMDAN–BiLSTM, EMD–BiLSTM, and BiLSTM models in terms of prediction accuracy and shows better adaptability; the constructed CEEMDAN–BO–BiLSTM model illustrates that the model is not over-modeled and adds complexity using Friedman's test and performance comparisons between model run speeds. The model provides insights for effective forecasting of monthly mean temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interpreting changes in climate extremes indices and related large-scale teleconnection factors is critical to addressing intensified climate change. The spatiotemporal trend in SU25 (summer days) and ID0 (icing days), as well as the contribution rates of large-scale circulation factors, were investigated using daily maximum temperature data from 93 stations in the Shandong Peninsula and 8 metrics of large-scale teleconnections from 1961 to 2017. The results showed that SU25 increased significantly while ID0 decreased significantly in the Shandong Peninsula during the study period. SU25 ranged from 66.3 to 155.1 days and gradually declined from inland to coast. ID0 ranged from 4.7 to 24.8 days and decreased roughly from north to south. SU25 had a significant negative correlation with longitude, while the trend of SU25 had a significant positive correlation with longitude. ID0 had a significant positive correlation with both latitude and longitude, while the trend of ID0 had a significant negative correlation with both latitude and longitude. The abrupt years of SU25 were concentrated in 1965, 1976, 1977, 1994, 2007, and 2012, respectively. The change point of ID0 at each station was most concentrated in 1970, 1972, 1986, and 1988, respectively. In the future, SU25 in most stations will continue to increase, while ID0 in almost all the stations will decrease. The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) was the most important factor influencing SU25 change. Both the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and AMO made significant contributions to the ID0 change. The combined results of the two factors were usually greater than the results of the single circulation factor, and the contributions to SU25 and ID0 were mostly nonlinear enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific estimation and dynamic monitoring of CO2 emission trends are an important basis for formulating regional differentiated carbon reduction strategies. Using the integrated nighttime light data, this study estimated CO2 emissions in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) and Yangtze River Basin (YZRB) and discussed the similarities and differences of the spatial distribution of CO2 emissions for the two river basins. The results showed that: (1) The CO2 emissions in the two basins continued to rise, but the growth rate decreased from 2000 to 2018, showing an overall convergence trend, but have not yet reached carbon peak. (2) The high emission and high agglomeration areas were located in Shandong Province in the downstream of the YRB, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia in the midstream and upstream, and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). (3) Compared with the YRB, the growth rate of CO2 emissions in the YZRB is slower, and the growth rate declines greatly. In the YRB, it had higher CO2 emissions amount, wider area of high carbon emissions and more obvious spatial agglomeration than that in the YZRB. (4) According to CO2 emissions and economic development level, 220 cities of the two river basins were classified three types: low CO2–low development, high CO2–low development and high CO2–high development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Yellow River Basin has a wealth of tourism resources, a long history of folk sports, and strong legislative support, all of which are advantages for the growth of the sports tourism sector. This study constructs an evaluation index system based on panel data from nine provinces and regions in the Yellow River Basin from 2011 to 2020, and then measures the development index and analyzes the driving factors using the entropy method, coupling coordination degree model, kernel density estimation method, and grey correlation analysis method. The findings demonstrate that (1) the Yellow River Basin's overall level of growth in the sports and tourist sectors exhibits a consistent and upward trend and that Shandong and Henan provinces clearly have an edge over other provinces in terms of development. (2) The geographical development pattern was lower Yellow River > upper Yellow River > middle Yellow River, and the coupling coordination status shifted from slight disorder to good coordination. (3) There is a close connection between sports tourism and variables including population density, financial prowess, and infrastructure growth. The employment population index has the smallest link with invention patent authorization. The macro-policy framework should therefore be strengthened in the future, the sports tourism infrastructure should be improved, and the Yellow River basin's unique sports tourism resources should be fully utilized in order to increase brand influence. In addition, new sports tourism products should be developed in response to market demand and consumer preferences, and enterprise innovation and research and development efforts should be increased in order to achieve high-quality development transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic development has rapidly progressed since the implementation of reform and opening up policies, posing significant challenges to sustainable development, especially to vegetation, which plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem service functions and promoting green low-carbon transformations. In this study, we estimated the fractional vegetation cover (FVC) in Shandong Province from 2000 to 2020 using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. The spatial and temporal changes in FVC were analyzed using gravity center migration analysis, trend analysis, and geographic detector, and the vegetation changes of different land use types were analyzed to reveal the internal driving mechanism of FVC changes. Our results indicate that vegetation cover in Shandong Province was in good condition during the period 2000 to 2020. The high vegetation cover classes dominated, and overall changes were relatively small, with the center of gravity of vegetation cover generally shifting towards the southwest. Land use type, soil type, population density, and GDP factors had the most significant impact on vegetation cover change in Shandong Province. The interaction of these factors enhanced the effect on vegetation cover change, with land use type and soil type having the highest degree of influence. The observational results of this study can provide data support for the policy makers to formulate new ecological restoration strategies, and the findings would help facilitate the sustainability management of regional ecosystem and natural resource planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the effectiveness of movie character analysis for teaching psychotic symptomatology to medical undergraduates. We randomly selected two of six medical schools in Shandong Province, China, then randomly assigned eight undergraduate classes at those schools to intervention or control groups. The intervention group (n = 162) participated in seminars in which psychotic symptoms were explored through analysis of movie characters. The control group (n = 165) participated in conventional seminars. The participants in both groups were surveyed with a custom-designed questionnaire, and their knowledge was assessed using a written exam. Compared to the control group, the intervention group showed greater interest in the topic (t = 5.63, p < 0.001), better understanding of psychotic symptoms (t = 2.37, p = 0.02), and greater acceptance (t = 9.80, p < 0.001). In addition, the intervention group showed significantly greater knowledge on the written exam (t = 5.78, p < 0.001). Analyzing movie characters can improve the teaching of psychotic symptomatology and should be further explored and promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater drought is an abnormal water deficit phenomenon caused by an imbalance of the groundwater budget. The researches on groundwater drought mostly rely on hydrological and land surface models. However, the limited thickness of soil moisture and the smaller number of models may lead to calculation bias. Thus, we use the mean and median of hydrological output variables of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) data, and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to calculate groundwater storage change and further construct the Drought Severity Index (DSI) to study groundwater drought in typical years over North China Plain (NCP). Results indicate that the groundwater storage anomaly calculated by CMIP6 combined with GRACE has higher correlation and smaller RMSE to the monitored well data than GLDAS. All groundwater drought indices identified severe-exceptional drought in northern and southern Hebei Plain and northwest Shandong from April to June 2012, compared with the spatiotemporal changes of the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI). In addition, up to 11 CMIP6 models showed a downward trend from north to south consistent with the DSI drought indices. Interestingly, the drought index calculated by GRACE and GLDAS showed an obvious aridity trend from 2003 to 2006, while other indices showed the opposite changes. In conclusion, the groundwater drought indices calculated by GRACE and CMIP6 can reflect the monthly drought and trend change of groundwater. Our findings provide a novel perspective for identifying groundwater drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work proposes the virtual restoration of the Bodhidharma polychrome sculpture from the Lingyan Temple in China. Based on scientific analyses and simulation experiments, exterior colours and textures were virtually restored by combining 3D scanning and multi-view 3D reconstruction. At the same time, an efficient cultural relics high-fidelity information 3D modelling method was proposed. Colours and textures are essential for polychrome cultural relics, reflecting the historical appearance and technology. Due to long periods of natural ageing and the destruction of environmental factors, the colours and textures of polychrome sculptures are often altered or radically changed, making it difficult for people to appreciate the initial appearance. With the rapid development of digital technology and high-fidelity 3D modelling, virtual reality technology allows us to restore the appearance of cultural relics. This study expands the dimension of cultural relics exhibition, provides new perspectives for archaeology, art history and cultural heritage research, and provides a reference for the virtual restoration and digitalised archive of other cultural relics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

niversity stage, especially the freshmen stage, is a high incidence stage of students' psychological problems. Effective sampling investigation and statistical analysis of freshmen's mental health problems are conducive to solve freshmen's problems and prevent further crises. In the past 4 years (2018–2021), using Chinese college students' mental health screening scale, we have taken probability proportionate to size sampling investigations about the mental problems to 9882 freshmen in 45 public universities in Shandong Province near the end of their first semester. Based on these data, we conducted the comparison of anxiety and depression for post pandemic era vs. pre pandemic era by analysis of variance, and analysed the influencing factors for anxiety and depression by linear regression and canonical correlation analysis. The results indicate the extents of anxiety and depression in post pandemic era are significantly more severe than pre pandemic era. Inferiority complex, obsession and somatization are the main effect factors of anxiety and depression. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first systematical investigation and analysis for the mental problems among freshmen in the whole Shandong Province before and after the epidemic. The research results are conducive for the mental health counseling and intervention of freshmen's mental problems, and also helpful for policy making and prevention for psychological crisis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on nighttime light data and statistical data, this study calculated the level of urban–rural integration (URI) of Shandong province, researched spatial heterogeneity of URI levels by local spatial autocorrelation analysis, Geodetector, and geographically weighted regression, and analyzed its influencing factors and spatial heterogeneity. The results concluded that: (1) The spatial pattern of urban–rural integrated level is consistent with the level of regional economic development in Shandong province. The level of URI is higher along the Qingdao–Jinan railway and along the coast, whereas the level is lower in southwest Shandong and northwest Shandong. (2) The cities of Yantai and Weifang are High–High cluster areas of urban integration, and Jining is a Low–Low cluster area. The spatial agglomeration characteristics are not significant in other cities. (3) Among the main factors affecting URI, the explanatory power of the rural population with high school or technical secondary school education or above, the area of urban construction land, and the secondary and tertiary industry GDP to the spatial pattern of URI in Shandong province are 73.58%, 62.08%, and 58.66%, respectively. As the key factors, spatial heterogeneity, such as north–south differences, southwest-to-northeast differences, and east–west differences, is evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater is an important water source for domestic, industrial, and agricultural use in the western part of Zoucheng, China. Understanding its hydrochemical characteristics and formation mechanisms is important for the sustainable development and utilization of groundwater. In this study, 36 water samples were collected during the wet and dry seasons, respectively, and the hydrochemical components such as K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl−, SO42−, HCO3−, NO3−, F−, TH, and TDS were analyzed. A graphical method, correlation analysis, and principal component analysis were applied to explore the hydrochemical characteristics and evolution mechanisms of groundwater in the study area. The results show that the orders of the anion and cation concentrations of karst groundwater and pore groundwater are Ca2+ > Na+ > Mg2+ > K+ and HCO3− > SO42− > Cl− > NO3− > F−, respectively. On the whole, the karst groundwater quality is better than the pore groundwater quality, which in turn is better than the surface water quality. In addition, water quality in the dry season is better than water quality in the wet season for all the three water sources. The hydrochemical types of groundwater are complex and changeable. Compared with dry seasons, HCO3 and SO4 type water increase during the wet seasons, while the Cl type and Mg type water decrease. Na type is significantly more prevalent in pore groundwater than in karst groundwater. The chemical formations of karst groundwater and pore groundwater in the dry and wet seasons are mainly affected by water–rock interactions and human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global warming, global and regional extreme precipitation events occur frequently, causing severe drought and flood disasters. This has a significant impact on productivity and human life. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the characteristics of extreme precipitation and its spatiotemporal variation. In this study, we investigate the dominant variation patterns of extreme precipitation (EP), which is characterized by indices, and also analyze its potential causes in the Shandong province of China during 1961–2015 using the daily precipitation data from 123 metrological stations. The results show that there has been a dry trend in the Shandong Province in the past 55 years, that is, with the decrease in precipitation, most of the extreme precipitation index has basically showed a downward trend to varying degrees. In particular, the increase in the number of consecutive dry days (CDD) and the decrease in the number of consecutive wet days (CWD) can better explain the drought in this region. After the 1980s, the extreme precipitation index basically showed an upward trend to varying degrees, indicating that extreme precipitation events have shown an increasing trend in recent years. The spatial distribution of each extreme precipitation index generally increased from north to south. The mutation of each extreme precipitation index occurred in the 1970s and 1990s, and there was a main period of 0.9–2.2 years. In terms of influencing factors, the NINO3 area can be used as the critical sea area for the response of extreme precipitation to SSTAs in the Shandong Province. The research results are helpful to understand the temporal and spatial variations of extreme precipitation and have very important reference value for the prediction of and response to climate change and extreme events in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to solve regional ecological inequity in carbon emissions, building a balanced ecological compensation mechanism is paramountly important. With the help of the carbon transfer mechanism, the study is designed to evaluate the ecological compensation of grain trade within urban, rural areas, and provinces in China. This current study applied the carbon footprint model of grain crops in various provinces and measures d the inter-provincial and urban–rural carbon transfer through a multi-objective optimization model. Obtained results show that the carbon footprint of crops for per-unit production of corn, wheat, and rice is higher in the southwest and northeast region than that of the northwest and southeast region, but across the regions, a net carbon sink trend was observed. The carbon footprint of wheat production in Inner Mongolia and rice in Shandong showed a net carbon emission effect and had negative externalities toward environmental protection. Carbon balance can be attained with a balance carbon payment system, but a proper carbon payment mechanism is not developed in China. Hence, concerning establishing a scientific and reasonable time-worthy carbon ecological compensation policy is urged by this current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific analysis revealed the materials and techniques used in the process of making polychrome sculptures providing a solid foundation for the protection and restoration of the painted statues. In addition, the analyses revealed changes in colour schemes applied to the sculptures can provide the basis for the virtual restoration of the painted statues. In order to carry out scientifically-informed protection and restoration of the Bodhidharma statue from the Lingyan Temple, Changqinq, Shandong, several analytical methods such as optical microscope (OM), Micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-RS), scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM–EDS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were employed. Analyses clearly reveal the information including the stratigraphic structure and the composition of pigment. The use of silver foils and golden yellow pyrophyllite mineral to replace gold foils were found in the gilding paint layer in the later repainting after the Song Dynasty. This work reports the coexistence of emerald green (Cu(C2H3O2)2·3Cu(AsO2)2) and the degradation product lavendulan (NaCaCu5(AsO4)4Cl·5H2O) in large areas of the paint stratigraphy and on the surface confirming that the degradation of emerald green is related to the thickness of the paint layer; in thinner paint layers emerald green is transformed in lavendulan, while thicker layers of contain both lavendulan and emerald green, suggesting an environmental source of chlorides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze regional factors and spatial distribution of children's vision impairment in Shandong province, to explore the spatial changes brought by time and their influencing factors, so as to provide scientific basis for prevention of childhood vision impairment. This study covers five complete cross-sectional surveys from 2013 to 2017, involving about 29.24 million students. Spatial autocorrelation and hotspot analysis methods were used to analyze spatial features. The associated factors were analyzed by multinomial logistic regression. The vision impairment prevalence showed a trend of decreasing first and then increasing from 2013 to 2017, with slight changes. In terms of regional spatial differences, Weihai and Yantai have the highest VI rates in all years, and there was a large-scale spatial aggregation phenomenon. The southern low-value clusters, however, showed a trend of weakening from year to year. Further exploration revealed that economic factors and number of full-time teachers were verified as risk factors for regional vision impairment levels. The slight rebound of the prevalence of vision impairment and the high rate in the eastern and northern regions of Shandong province need more attention. It is suggested that relevant departments should focus on the influence of regional economic and educational factors when formulating relevant strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Advances in Atmospheric Sciences is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In eastern China, coal mining has damaged a large amount of farmland, posing a great threat to food security. Backfilling with coal waste, fly ash, and sediments from rivers is an effective method to restore farmland. This study was conducted at the reclaimed area (RA) and the undisturbed area (UA) in Shandong Province, China. Soil and plant analyzer development (SPAD) of corn was selected as an indicator of crop growth. Multi-spectral data was obtained by the unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a camera. By analyzing the correlation between SPAD and spectral bands, the common vegetation index is improved. Different regression methods were used to construct the SPAD inversion model. The distribution of corn SPAD was monitored to objectively evaluate reclamation technology. The results are as follows: (1) the vegetation index improved using the red-edge band has a higher correlation with SPAD, and the largest coefficient of determination (R2) value is 0.779; (2) the optimum inversion model for both jointing stage (R2 = 0.676) and milky stage (R2 = 0.661) is the linear regression model; the optimum model for both tasseling stage (R2 = 0.809) and filling stage (R2 = 0.830) is the partial least squares regression model; (3) the SPAD inversion map of RA and UA obtained by the optimum model shows that the corn grown in RA is slightly better than in UA. This study realized the rapid and efficient monitoring of the reclamation effects based on multi-spectral imagery and verified the feasibility of backfilling reclamation with Yellow River sediment in coal mining subsidence areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Red discolorations are an effloresce phenomenon detect on the surface of stone objects and considered as damage factor in both esthetic and conservation points of view. It is very difficult to remove and seldom report about their weathering mechanism. Recently, numerous of red discolorations have affected the limestone objects of Lingyan Temple in Shandong province, one of the most important building materials in China. In order to set up the appropriate conservation remedy, it is essential to identify the origin, characteristics, composition, and the formation process of red discolorations. Several analytical and investigation techniques, such as X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Micro-Raman spectroscopy (Raman), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were used to better understand the red discolorations. The results demonstrated that the discolorations on limestone surface have been caused by carbonic acid weathering process. The red discolorations consisted mainly of kutnohorite (Ca(Fe,Mg,Mn)CO3) and iron oxides. They showed tabular, lamellar, and granular morphologies, which originated from the in situ carbonic acid weathering of kutnohorite. After rainfall, the Ca, Mg, Mn ions with relatively high solubility were primarily leached from carbonatite phases. It was resulting in the sedimentation of red iron oxides through a chemical reaction and physical adhesion. Based on those analyses, a chelating agent (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid disodium salt) was chosen to remove theses red discolorations on the stone object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transforming China's economic growth pattern from investment-driven to consumption-driven can significantly change global CO2 emissions. This study is the first to analyse the impacts of changes in China's saving rates on global CO2 emissions both theoretically and empirically. Here, we show that the increase in the saving rates of Chinese regions has led to increments of global industrial CO2 emissions by 189 million tonnes (Mt) during 2007–2012. A 15-percentage-point decrease in the saving rate of China can lower global CO2 emissions by 186 Mt, or 0.7% of global industrial CO2 emissions. Greener consumption in China can lead to a further 14% reduction in global industrial CO2 emissions. In particular, decreasing the saving rate of Shandong has the most massive potential for global CO2 reductions, while that of Inner Mongolia has adverse effects. Removing economic frictions to allow the production system to fit China's increased consumption can facilitate global CO2 mitigation. The partial effects of saving rate changes on CO2 emissions remain unclear. Here the authors found that the increase in saving rates of China has led to increments of global industrial CO2 emissions by 189 million tonnes (Mt) during 2007-2012, while global CO2 emissions would be reduced by 186 Mt if the saving rates of China decreased by 15 percentage points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the enhanced thermal response test (ETRT) method has been used to determine the distribution of ground temperatures and effective thermal conductivities, there are a number of obstacles which limit the wide application of this technology in the discipline of geoengineering. In this literature, four aspects of ETRT technology were investigated: (a) acquisition of ground temperature, (b) installation of the heat exchange tubes, (c) optimization of the monitoring positions, and (d) the difference in thermal conductivity obtained by the ETRT and numerical simulation. To investigate these issues, a field trial was carried out in Heze, Shandong Province, China, and the corresponding numerical models were built. The results demonstrate that: (i) the conventional methods that infer undisturbed ground temperature using water in tubes have large errors, whereas the distributed temperature sensing (DTS) technique enables the measurement of precise temperature profiles; (ii) the thermal conductivity measured using double U-tubes reflects the soil thermal property more accurately than that for a single U-tube; (iii) it is more reasonable to install optical fibers outside the U-tube sidewall than inside the observation tube; and (iv) it is essential to quantitatively consider various interface thermal impedance when estimating ground thermal conductivities using numerical simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results from a 1-year study of radiocarbon and stable carbon isotope measurement of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of wet precipitation samples collected in the Shandong province of China. A total of 32 rainfall and 4 snow samples were collected from two coastal cities (Qingdao and Yantai) and one inland site (Taian) during 2014. Concentrations of DOC in the rainwater and snow samples varied widely from 28 to 616 μM. In general, rainwater originating from marine sources had relatively low DOC concentrations compared with continentally generated precipitation. Values of δC-DOC and ΔC-DOC in the snow and rainwater ranged from −19.0 to −29.4 ‰ and −23 to −494 ‰, with corresponding radiocarbon ages of 125 to 5410 years before present. The dominant DOC in the wet precipitation had a relatively old C age (average 2841 years) and a depleted C value (average −24.4 ‰), indicating the mixing of contemporary organic carbon with C-depleted fossil fuel-derived soluble organic carbon in the atmosphere. Using a dual isotopic two-endmember model, we calculate that 7 % to 52 % of DOC in the snow and rainfall originated from fossil fuels. It is estimated that the flux of DOC in continental rainfall of China is 23 × 10 g C yr and of this, 7.1 × 10 g C yr could be fossil-fuel OC. On a global scale, the DOC flux in rainfall is estimated to be 357 Tg C yr, and 110 Tg C yr could be fossil fuel-derived. Our study demonstrates that wet precipitation is an important removal process for old fossil fuel carbon from the atmosphere. This removal mechanism could play an important role in the carbon cycle, especially for the anthropogenically derived fraction, and it should be taken into consideration in global carbon cycle models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human astroviruses (HAstVs) are one of the leading viral agents of acute gastroenteritis. However, there is limited information on HAstVs in China. Here, we describe the molecular characterization of HAstVs in Shandong, China via sewage surveillance. A total of 23 sewage samples were collected from sewage treatment plants in the cities of Jinan and Linyi in 2013. After concentration via adsorption-elution method, 9 samples (39.1%) were positive by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) for the presence of the 719-nt HAstV nucleotide sequence. Genetic cloning and sequencing were performed on positive PCR products, and 26 HAstV sequences were obtained. Phylogenetic analysis on these sequences revealed 4 genotypes (HAstV-1, -2, -4 and -5), with HAstV-1 and -5 as the most common genotypes in Jinan and Linyi, respectively. Homologous comparison revealed Shandong sequences had relatively less genetic divergence among themselves than with foreign sequences. This study represents the first effort to investigate the genotypes and molecular epidemiology of HAstVs via sewage surveillance in China. The high detection rate in this study reflects that HAstVs circulated at a relatively high frequency in the local population, and demonstrates that environmental surveillance is an effective method in investigating circulating HAstVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populus wulianensis is an endangered species endemic to Shandong Province, China. Despite the economic and ornamental value of this species, few genomics and genetic studies have been performed. In this study, we performed a relevant analysis of the full-length transcriptome sequencing data of P. wulianensis and obtained expressed sequence tag (EST)-simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers with polymorphisms that can be used for further genetic research. In total, 8.18 Gb (3,521,665) clean reads with an average GC content of 42.12% were obtained. From the corrected 64,737 high-quality isoforms, 42,323 transcript sequences were obtained after redundancy analysis with CD-HIT. Among these transcript sequences, 41,876 sequences were annotated successfully. A total of 23,539 potential EST-SSRs were identified from 16,057 sequences. Excluding mononucleotides, the most abundant motifs were trinucleotide SSRs (47.80%), followed by di- (46.80%), tetra- (2.98%), hexa- (1.58%) and pentanucleotide SSRs (0.84%). Among the 100 designed EST-SSRs, 18 were polymorphic with high PIC values (0.721 and 0.683) and could be used for analyses of the genetic diversity and population structure of P. wulianensis. These full-length transcriptome sequencing data will facilitate gene discovery and functional genomics research in P. wulianensis, and the novel EST-SSRs developed in our study will promote molecular-assisted breeding, genetic diversity and conservation biology research in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shandong Province is an area of China with a high incidence of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS); however, the general epidemic trend of HFRS in Shandong remains unclear. Therefore, we established a mathematical model to predict the incidence trend of HFRS and used Joinpoint regression analysis, a generalised additive model (GAM), and other methods to evaluate the data. Incidence data from the first half of 2018 were included in a range predicted by a modified sum autoregressive integrated moving average-support vector machine (ARIMA-SVM) combination model. The highest incidence of HFRS occurred in October and November, and the annual mortality rate decreased by 7.3% (p < 0.05) from 2004 to 2017. In cold months, the incidence of HFRS increased by 4%, −1%, and 0.8% for every unit increase in temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall, respectively; in warm months, this incidence changed by 2%, −3%, and 0% respectively. Overall, HFRS incidence and mortality in Shandong showed a downward trend over the past 10 years. In both cold and warm months, the effects of temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall on HFRS incidence varied. A modified ARIMA-SVM combination model could effectively predict the occurrence of HFRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]