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Habitat is the basic condition for human beings to survive and live. Taking Huizhou Cultural and Ecological Reserve as the research direction, the evaluation system is constructed by selecting three indicators of social layer, economic layer, and natural ecological layer. The research team used the entropy weights-TOPSIS assessment methodology to analyze the Habitat Environment Indices (HEIs) in different regions and at different times of the year. Gray correlation methodology was used to identify key drivers of Habitat quality. Findings: First, rural human settlements show a trend of recovery after a decline in 2013. Second, Jixi County (0.550) was ranked first in the overall evaluation. It is also consistently in first place in year-to-year changes. Third, the spatial pattern shows that the southeastern region is of higher quality, while the northern region is relatively backward. Fourth, the social (S) and natural ecological (NCE) layers are the dominant influences on the quality of village settlements. The secondary factors are mainly the proportion of good days in a year (0.977), the number of rural households (0.974) and the area of green space in gardens (0.974). The study achieves the purpose of enhancing the adaptability of the rural environment in the Huizhou Cultural and Ecological Reserve and provides a reference for enhancing the adaptability of related protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the quality of life and the spiritual and cultural well-being of the inhabitants progress, the current rural infrastructure has challenges in adequately addressing the physical and psychological requirements of individuals. This work presents a method for evaluating rural habitats by utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) signals and virtual reality (VR) technology to address the existing gap in physiological data evaluation in rural areas. We choose as experimental images the current situation (C1–C5) scenes of five rural main street nodes as well as the comparative transformation scenes (T1–T5). It then assesses the subjects' subjective cognition and level of relaxation–arousal responses using the α/β value in the EEG data and the three subjective scale indexes of "Interest", "Comfort", and "Vitality". The study's findings demonstrated the following: 1. All three scores increased in the transformation scenarios, and subjects' subjective assessments varied significantly across all five sets of scenes. 2. In all α/β values where significant differences existed, every electrode demonstrated a relaxation response in the transformation scenes (T1–T5) compared to the current scenes (C1–C5), whereas the T8 electrode demonstrated the only arousal response. 3. The Pz electrode in the parietal lobe area was found to be the most sensitive to the visual response to the green landscape and the form of the building façade along the street, and the T8 electrode in the right temporal lobe area was the most sensitive to the response to the overall perception of the surrounding environment, according to a comparison of the longitudinal α/β value. More options for rural streetscape design as well as fresh insights and methodologies for assessing the rural human environment in the future are anticipated from this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on challenge, quite typical of developing or industrializing regions, of converting a former rural settlement into a town. We analyse the urban process of Pirescoxe, a former hamlet in the riverside of Loures (Lisbon Metropolitan Region), observing the key episodes of historical formation of its current built structure, but highlighting a particularity, which was the recent conversion of elements of rural memory, built and unbuilt, into elements of cohesivity in an otherwise discrete suburban space. This analysis discloses aspects of the process of transformation of Pirescoxe over time, through its regional context, and accounting for the evolution of its typical building forms. It stems from observation of photographic and cartographic elements, historical and contemporary, as well as of the urbanization plans that transformed this space. The conclusion notes how the most decisive intervention in Pirescoxe was the one that more strongly emphasized the ruins of the rural past as elements of memory and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African & Mediterranean Journal of Architecture & Urbanism (AMJAU) is the property of Ecole Nationale d'Architecture 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.)

Copyright of Cities, Communities & Territories / Cidades, Comunidades e Territórios is the property of Instituto Universitario de Lisboa, DINAMIA-CET 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 the theoretical and practical field applied to land use planning, the rural has been associated with a generic conception of empty, useless space or as residue of the different real estate processes. In this way, the production of the rural habitat is almost always reduced to partial, discontinuous measures and clearly dependent in political and economic terms on the urban dimension. This article presents some results of a research carried out in three agrarian reform settlements in the state of São Paulo, a territory characterized by the intensification of the struggle for land and its precarious conditions, marked by the lack of infrastructure, services, support for production and housing. In other words, peasants who permanently face two struggles: initially, they fight to occupy the land and later they fight to remain on it. We intend to demonstrate the relevance of social housing in the production of rural habitat in Brazilian agrarian reform territories, based on the processes and contradictions inherent to its implementation. From a theoretical-methodological point of view, this work points out that the critical construction is carried out from the object, supported by categories of analysis complementary to the study in the field. It becomes essential to situate the question of rural social housing at another level of reflection, understood as a ‘socio-spatial phenomenon’, which simultaneously integrates the production of built environments, the question of land, technological and productive processes, work and effective participation of the community.

As the quality of life and the spiritual and cultural well-being of the inhabitants progress, the current rural infrastructure has challenges in adequately addressing the physical and psychological requirements of individuals. This work presents a method for evaluating rural habitats by utilizing electroencephalography (EEG) signals and virtual reality (VR) technology to address the existing gap in physiological data evaluation in rural areas. We choose as experimental images the current situation (C1–C5) scenes of five rural main street nodes as well as the comparative transformation scenes (T1–T5). It then assesses the subjects’ subjective cognition and level of relaxation–arousal responses using the α/β value in the EEG data and the three subjective scale indexes of “Interest”, “Comfort”, and “Vitality”. The study’s findings demonstrated the following: 1. All three scores increased in the transformation scenarios, and subjects’ subjective assessments varied significantly across all five sets of scenes. 2. In all α/β values where significant differences existed, every electrode demonstrated a relaxation response in the transformation scenes (T1–T5) compared to the current scenes (C1–C5), whereas the T8 electrode demonstrated the only arousal response. 3. The Pz electrode in the parietal lobe area was found to be the most sensitive to the visual response to the green landscape and the form of the building façade along the street, and the T8 electrode in the right temporal lobe area was the most sensitive to the response to the overall perception of the surrounding environment, according to a comparison of the longitudinal α/β value. More options for rural streetscape design as well as fresh insights and methodologies for assessing the rural human environment in the future are anticipated from this study.

This study examines the impact of farmer entrepreneurship (FAE) on the willingness of farmers to participate in domestic waste management (DWM) using farm household data from the China Labor-force Dynamic Survey (CLDS). The results show that (1) FAE can significantly boost the willingness to participate in DWM, and the conclusion still holds after adopting the CMP (conditional mixed process) model to solve the endogeneity problem. (2) From the perspective of entrepreneurial motivation, opportunity-driven entrepreneurs (ODEs) are more willing to participate in DWM than necessity-driven entrepreneurs (NDEs). In terms of the education level of rural residents, those with high levels of education (HEDU) are more likely to participate in DWM than those with low levels of education (LEDU). (3) Socioeconomic status (SES) and sociometric status (SMS) play a mediating role between FAE and willingness to participate in DWM. In other words, FAE can improve the willingness to manage domestic waste by enhancing SESs and SMSs. This study provides empirical evidence and policy implications on how to promote rural DWM and improve rural habitat in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses issues of rural space and rurality using as a research hypothesis the concept of integrated territorial redevelopment. We started the research with the question of overcoming the urban-rural dichotomy, presenting the formulations proposed by the culturalist, anti-urbanist and naturalist tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries, up to the new city--countryside partnership that is delineated, more recently, by international territorial strategies. The concept of integrated territorial redevelopment focuses on the notion of self-sustaining development and the relationship between territorial vocation and territorial tendency. The Village is assumed as a spatial social planning unit, both in its legal--instrumental dimension and in its rural habitat configuration. In the case study, in a region with low population density, the proposal for the activation of rural villages and the revitalization of the agro-sylvo-pastoral systems of the surrounding areas was elaborated on the basis of territorialization models based on endogenous factors in terms of their sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rural habitat in the Aures region is an excellent example on vernacular and human architecture. It reflects how inhabitants of this region responded to their requirements in an ingenious way and how local builders have succeeded to respond to challenges of climate, building materials and cultural expectations despite the particularly harsh environmental conditions of the Aures. The aim of this study is to determine the strategies used in vernacular constructions to deal with the severe climatic conditions that prevail in the Aures region. Precisely, rural dwellings in Ain Zaatout village (Beni Ferah) were studied to emphasize the importance of the architectural properties of the traditional houses in terms of thermal performance and climatic adaptability. In this regard, an extensive literature review was carried out on previous studies that investigated the Aures settlements. Accordingly, a comprehensive knowledge on typical Aurassien village and various data including spatial organisation, architectural characteristics and construction materials and techniques have been gathered. Based on this background, a qualitative analysis supported by field measurements was conducted. Then, two representative houses were selected as case studies for monitoring comfort parameters in summer period. Finally, the traditional and contemporary houses were compared in terms of their thermal performance. Through this study, the most frequently used strategies and their effectiveness were derived. The results indicate that vernacular rural habitat in the Aurassien villages is creatively adapted to the environmental conditions and uses various climate responsive strategies. The study additionally reveals that vernacular constructions in the Aures are more adapted to the climate constraints and social needs than contemporary residential buildings. These results were confirmed by hydrothermal values where main indoor temperature in a traditional rural house was less than external values by 3 °C and more humidified, while in modern house indoor temperature records were more than the exterior by 1°C. Thus, vernacular climatic responsive strategies must be considered as a reference for nowadays environmental issues in rural areas. Moreover, they can be feasible for contemporary buildings and, consequently, they could contribute greatly towards improving indoor thermal comfort whilst reducing buildings energy demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista AUS is the property of Revista AUS 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.)

Copyright of Biotropica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Copyright of Bitácora Urbano/Territorial is the property of Bitacora Urbano/Territorial 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.)

The state, within the framework of a development strategy in face of the risk and vulnerability implied by the housing deficit, promotes housing policies that influence the transformation of space and the configuration of the population's territorialities. However, state practices and representations on habitat problems respond to the degree of hegemony that it exerts, imposing itself on local habitat conditions and socio-cultural frameworks. In this sense, this work analyzes the logic of territorialization derived from the conceptualizations implied in Provincial Law No. 6.758/05, enacted for the production of rural housing in Santiago del Estero province. To achieve that goal, this work focused on four axes: the delimitation of the housing problem / solution, the guidelines regarding the policy execution process, the beneficiary and the housing solution. It was observed that the rural housing policy based on this Law would affect the space, implying a process of deterritorialization due to the modification of the characteristics of the previous dwelling system and another of reterritorialization due to the occupation of the new system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Ciencias Sociales (0797-5538) is the property of Universidad de la Republica, Faculdad de Ciencias Sociales, Departmento de Sociologica 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.)

Copyright of Spal: Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueologia de la Universidad de Sevilla is the property of Spal. Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueologia de la Universidad de Sevilla 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.)

Rural settlements are not only the main form of Chinese farmer residence, but also a space for rural production, living as well as other comprehensive functions, being an important part of rural land use. The impact of rural settlement changes on soil and water conservation is studied as it is of great significance for soil and water conservation. Based on the satellites of Xinbin County in 1992, 2001 and 2010, this study analyzes the distribution characteristics of rural settlements by using ArcGIS software spatial analysis function and landscape index method. At the same time, SPSS software is used to analyze the correlation between soil erosion and the size of rural settlements. The results show that soil erosion is positively correlated with rural settlement size and population density. The rural residential areas in Xinbin County are severely fragmented with scattered layout. Soil erosion shows a decreasing trend while increasing in distance from settlements. The bigger the scale, the more serious the erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of Chinese Rural Revitalization Strategy, how to improve rural regional environment and living quality is very important and urgent. At present, residential buildings in gully regions of the Loess Plateau have poor insulation and high-energy consumption. Thus, better ecological design can largely save energy and improve living comfort. The findings of this paper provide an insight into the ecological design potentials for reducing energy demand across rural regions in China. In this paper, we select three main types of residential buildings in gully regions and build energy demand models based on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method. The results show that the energy demand in the building use stage is extremely high in all three typical buildings, which account for around 90% of the whole life cycle. The energy demand of the traditional adobe residential building is lower than the brick-concrete structure buildings. The LCA method used in this paper can quantify the energy demand in each stage of life cycle, which helps to put forward the corresponding ecological design strategy. The research results can be used as a reference in the future development of this region and other rural regions in China.

This article describes in a general way the design, the construction of a self-sustaining rural housing, the implementation of technologies through the use of applications such as renewable energies (Photovoltaic Systems, Solar Collector, Windmill), domotics, use of water resources, others; for its implementation as a training environment for the entire academic community of the agribusiness development center, SENA Chía Cundinamarca, which serves as a model to be implemented in the Colombian sphere. One of the aspects that has been taken into account are the regional development models which have shown a large deficit in access to self-sustainable rural housing, which include concepts of rural habitat and urban habitat with autonomous characteristics in relation to the use of of renewable energies, which would generate an awareness of the environment and the covering of basic needs of the human being in balance with nature, that is to say, minimizing negative impacts on the environment, through practical and experiential training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rabbit associated genotype 3 hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains were detected in feral, pet and farm rabbits in different parts of the world since 2009 and recently also in human patients. Here, we report a serological and molecular survey on 72 feral rabbits, collected along a rural-urban transect in and next to Frankfurt am Main, Central Germany. ELISA investigations revealed in 25 of 72 (34.7%) animals HEV-specific antibodies. HEV derived RNA was detected in 18 of 72 (25%) animals by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. The complete genomes from two rabbitHEV-strains, one from a rural site and the other from an inner-city area, were generated by a combination of high-throughput sequencing, a primer walking approach and 5′- and 3′- rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Phylogenetic analysis of open reading frame (ORF)1-derived partial and complete ORF1/ORF2 concatenated coding sequences indicated their similarity to rabbit-associated HEV strains. The partial sequences revealed one cluster of closely-related rabbitHEV sequences from the urban trapping sites that is well separated from several clusters representing rabbitHEV sequences from rural trapping sites. The complete genome sequences of the two novel strains indicated similarities of 75.6–86.4% to the other 17 rabbitHEV sequences; the amino acid sequence identity of the concatenated ORF1/ORF2-encoded proteins reached 89.0–93.1%. The detection of rabbitHEV in an inner-city area with a high human population density suggests a high risk of potential human infection with the zoonotic rabbitHEV, either by direct or indirect contact with infected animals. Therefore, future investigations on the occurrence and frequency of human infections with rabbitHEV are warranted in populations with different contact to rabbits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to determine the incidence and clinical manifestations of acute hepatitis E virus ( HEV) in HIV-infected patients. A prospective longitudinal study including HIV-infected HEV-seronegative patients was conducted; HEV seroconversion (to IgG and/or IgM) was the main outcome variable. All patients were tested for HEV antibodies every 3-6 months. For patients who developed HEV seroconversion, a data collection protocol was followed to identify associated clinical manifestations and analytical alterations. A total of 627 patients (89.9%) were followed during a median of 11.96 months ( IQR: 8.52-14.52 months) and formed the study population. Forty-one patients developed detectable anti- HEV antibodies (7.2 cases per 100 patients/year). Our study found a high incidence of HEV in HIV-infected patients in southern Spain strongly associated with a rural habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural revitalization is inseparable from the construction of human habitat, the coordinated development of rural culture and physical environment profoundly affects the quality of the habitat environment, and the improvement of the habitat environment requires a "soft and hard balance". Previous studies have focused more on the overall quality of rural habitat and neglected the coordination of habitat construction. The contribution of our study is the construction of an evaluation index system for the China Rural Habitat Coordinated Degree (CRHCD). The main research results show that the level of soft and hard environment of China's rural habitat is growing, but the construction of soft environment is a shortcoming. CRHCD leaps from nearly dysfunctional (0.440) to barely coordinated (0.538), and is in a transitional stage with stable spatial structure, showing the trend of "from point to line, from line to surface", and gradually developing from coastal to inland. Spatial convergence analysis shows that CRHCD converges fastest in the eastern region, while the northeastern region shows dispersion characteristics. Our results provide a theoretical basis and policy recommendations for the systematic coordination and regional balanced development of rural habitat in China. • The China Rural Habitat Coordinated Degree from the perspective of soft and hard environments were conceptualized. • Evaluation index system and quantitative methods for the China Rural Habitat Coordinated Degree were put forward. • The China Rural Habitat Coordinated Degree was measured and the spatio-temporal divergence pattern was explored. • Rural internal and external conditions can affect the spatial convergence of the China Rural Habitat Coordinated Degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the earthquake and tsunami that occurred on February 27, 2010, the reconstruction policy implemented by the Chilean government favored a process led by private actors and offered standard urban-oriented solutions for all affected territories. Rural zones of the Maule Region, however, had to deal with weak local institutions and the lack of economic incentives for private agents to intervene in these highly disperse and thinly populated areas. This paper reflects on the effects of reconstruction policies on the reality of rural communities and territories. The absence of policy frameworks specifically designed to deal with the rural habitat, which should be understood as both a set of physical features and the result of social, historical and identity-related processes, suggests that post-earthquake programs failed to identify the particular characteristics of the territory. This increased the precariousness of living conditions, the loss of heritage and identity and the intensification of migration to peri-urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ager: Journal of Depopulation & Rural Development Studies / Revista de Estudios sobre Despoblación y Desarrollo Rural is the property of Rolde de Estudios Aragoneses 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.)

Plants defense against herbivore damage is achieved through resistance and tolerance, of which resistance is composed of avoidance and antibiosis. Plants have developed various adaptations that facilitate escape from herbivory. We hypothesized that post-anthesis prostrate scapes in Taraxacum is an adaptation for avoidance of capitulum grazing by large herbivores. To test this hypothesis, we divided flowering into the following four stages based on the external appearance of the capitulum: green bud, yellow corolla, brown corolla, and white pappus stages. We conducted an experiment in natural pasture in Mongolia to artificially raise capitula and rosette leaves of T. collinum. We measured the natural height of capitula and rosette leaves of the Mongolian pasture and urban species, T. collinum and T. ceratophorum, respectively, and of the Japanese rural and exotic urban species, T. japonicum and T. officinale, respectively. We investigated natural grazing by livestock in the field of the capitula and rosette leaves of the two Mongolian species. In Mongolia, naturally short capitula at the green bud and brown corolla stages and rosette leaves of T. collinum were not grazed. However, artificially raised capitula and rosette leaves of T. collinum and the naturally high capitula and leaves of T. ceratophorum were grazed. Short capitulum and leaf height was shown to be effective for avoidance of livestock grazing in Mongolia. In Japan, T. japonicum and T. officinale showed similar scape behavior to T. collinum and T. ceratophorum, respectively. We discuss the reasons for the capitulum behavior differences in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of the Chinese rural revitalization strategy, the unique residential characteristics of local vernacular dwellings formed by profound historical and cultural accumulation, climate characteristics, and residential lifestyle have undergone profound change in the gully regions of the Loess Plateau. Accordingly, the contradictions of traditional vernacular dwelling protection, increasing living requirements, and ecological protection have intensified. In this paper, with the aim of optimizing courtyard layout for vernacular dwellings, the thermal performance and regional adaptability of different courtyard layouts were analyzed using Ladybug and Honeybee tools. According to the thermal simulation within the courtyard, the current optimal layout type was determined, and then, several ecological optimization designs were proposed for the further improvement of it. The results revealed that the improved vernacular dwelling model has better regional adaptability, which corresponds to the local living culture and living habits, saves land resources, and provides a better thermal comfort performance. This research not only has a positive function for the protection of local architectural culture, but also plays an essential role in improving residents' living comfort and living standards. We hope that the research results are meaningful and can be used as a reference for future rural construction in the Loess Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]