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Purpose: The success of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is impacted by significant pre-surgical attrition rates and poor postoperative follow-up. This study focused on geographic variations in attrition rates and surgical outcomes for MBS practice for which the patient population is drawn from nine Chicago neighborhoods, to examine whether suboptimal weight loss or reduced adherence to the program varied across neighborhoods. Methods: Patients who presented for their initial MBS consultation at the University of Illinois (UI) Health's program between January 2019 and December 2020 were identified from electronic medical records. Demographic and medical information was extracted, along with postoperative weight at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. The Chicago area was divided into nine geographic regions. The outcomes of interest were preoperative attrition rate, postoperative compliance to follow-up appointments, and postoperative weight loss for each group and by residential neighborhood. Results: A total of 1202 patients were included in this analysis, of whom 423 (35%) underwent surgery and 780 did not, representing a pre-surgical attrition rate of 64.9%. Age, sex, and race/ethnic distribution varied markedly across geographic regions. Postoperative weight loss varied significantly in neighborhoods with higher proportions of residents from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds. Preoperative attrition and postoperative compliance did not differ across geographic regions. Conclusion: Patients' residential neighborhoods may influence weight loss after MBS. Preoperative and postoperative compliance did not vary by residential neighborhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States of India like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal along the Ganga River, endure natural disasters periodically, resulting in repeated trends of economic loss and damages. Especially, most of the districts of Bihar, India, are prone to floods. Based on this background, this study aims to assess the flood vulnerabilities across districts of Bihar, India, employing data from the Central Water Commission from 1953 to 2020. Further, we explore trends and patterns of loss and damage due to flood risks in Bihar. Using the flood vulnerability integrated method and the principal component analysis, the index is constructed by incorporating the three major indicators: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. This study is unique, and advances from previous studies in using a greater number of variables in exposure indicator. The proxy variable for each indicator is identified through both inductive and deductive approaches, and the composite index is constructed using all three indicators. Also, we identify the districts with high level of education and per capita income are less likely to expose flood vulnerability. The comparison of the districts reflects wide range of variation in terms of flood vulnerability as per their adaptive capacity and sensitivity. Specifically, these findings align with Target Sustainable Development Goal 11.5. This study addresses the policy for disaster prevention, risk reduction, and mitigation measures, as well as the enhancement of the capability of adaptation to floods by the affected community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones (TCs) and their associated intense rainfall are among the most significant natural disasters. Exploring the characteristics of tropical cyclone precipitation (TCP) has always been a challenging issue in TC research. This study utilized the TC track data from the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship and precipitation data from the multi-source weighted-ensemble precipitation covering the years 1980–2019, to examine shifts in precipitation rates and peak precipitation levels before and after TC landfall. The results highlight several key findings: (1) Precipitation during the TC landfall process is relatively stable beforehand but tends to decrease slightly after landfall. Generally, the maximum precipitation occurs during the landfall. (2) From 1980 to 2019, the rate of precipitation changes before landfall has significantly increased. Conversely, after the year 2000, the rate of precipitation changes after landfall has significantly decreased. (3) Over the past 40 years, while peak precipitation levels of landfalling TCs have remained relatively constant, the total precipitation has shown an increasing trend, particularly in regions like the main island of Hainan, southern Zhejiang, and Shanghai, which are characterized by high peak precipitation. The results help clarify the TC processes and provide reference points for parameter selection in regional TCP modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) who are most likely to respond to the Janus kinase (JAK) 1/2 inhibitor baricitinib (BARI) are known to have an impacted body surface area (BSA) ≤ 40% and severe itch (numerical rating scale [NRS] ≥ 7], collectively termed 'BARI itch-dominant' patients. Our objective is to build on our previous work by providing a body region-specific, clinical characterization of the BARI itch-dominant patient at baseline and their response to BARI 4 mg. Methods: BREEZE-AD7 was a phase 3 trial in adults with moderate-to-severe AD receiving placebo or 2 mg or 4 mg BARI in combination with topical corticosteroids. Assessing only data from BARI itch-dominant patients, we summarized the baseline characteristics and conducted body region-specific analyses on Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) data in order to report the response to placebo versus BARI 4 mg within this patient subtype. Results: BARI 4 mg was highly effective across all body regions; at week 16, 75% improvement was seen in EASI scores (EASI75), and response rates with BARI 4 mg (head/neck, 58.3%; trunk, 69.2%; upper extremities, 61.5%; lower extremities, 87.5%) all exceeded those with placebo (head/neck: 37.5%; trunk, 40.6%; upper extremities, 18.8%; lower extremities, 40.6%) as well as the overall EASI75 rates of the intent-to-treat (ITT) population (BARI, 48.0%; placebo, 23.0%). At baseline, most BARI itch-dominant patients presented with involvement of all regions (mean regional BSA 22.7%–40.3%), highest in the head and neck, mean EASI region scores of 15.7–24.0, and considerably severe sign ratings (mean EASI sub-scores: 1.4–2.3, out of 3), especially for erythema. Conclusion: BARI itch-dominant patients exhibit AD involvement across all body regions and considerable sign severity, especially erythema. In response to BARI 4 mg, EASI quickly improved across regions, substantially more so in this subtype than in the ITT population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judgments pertaining to sexuality can often serve as a mirror, reflecting the cultural norms and values of a specific country or region. In the current study, we employ provincial panel data to examine the temporal and spatial variances in the attitudes of the Chinese populace towards "same-sex sexuality." Our findings indicate that the Chinese public's stance on same-sex sexual behavior is equivocal. It is neither wholly embraced nor entirely rejected. While there has been a gradual progression towards a more accepting attitude towards this form of sexual behavior, the level of tolerance remains relatively conservative in comparison to international standards. Moreover, significant regional disparities are evident. To further investigate these regional differences in attitudes towards sexuality in China, we employ a panel regression analysis with fixed time effects. The outcomes of this study provide substantial evidence in support of the social construction of sexuality. That is, the shifts in the sexual attitudes of the Chinese populace can be attributed both to the subconscious influence of traditional Chinese culture and the shaping effects of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our work sheds light on the joint role of human capital and geography during the early stages of the transition from stagnation to growth in early twentieth century Greece. We uncover a robust association between geography and literacy. We also show that geography is correlated with land inequality and thus establish that land distribution is a channel through which geography influences literacy. Finally, the impact of geography on human capital formation weakens with industrialization. Our work contributes to the literature on geography and human capital in the transition from stagnation to growth since Greece was at the early stages of the industrial era during the study period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Review of Regional Research 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.)

The debate on optimal bank capital and size and their association with bank performance is still ongoing and high on policy makers' agenda. This study analyzes the impact of capital and size on bank performance for 1053 banks operating in the EU and MENA regions over the period 2009–2020. The results show that capital is an important determinant of bank performance as it is highly significant in both regions; however, banks' performance in MENA seems to be more responsive to changes in the capital ratios. Further, while bank size has a positive non-linear relationship with profitability in the EU region, it does not seem to have a significant impact in the MENA region. This study contributes to the literature by providing a strong empirical evidence that more capital is associated with higher profitability in regions characterized by different levels of development, contrary to the bankers' belief that capital is costly. Regulators may find this conclusion to be useful and in line with their objective of boosting bank resilience and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a new dataset combining the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and Understanding Society (UKHLS), this paper examines the current state of intergenerational income mobility in the UK. This extends previous evidence in several directions, with a focus on younger cohorts of individuals born between 1973 and 1992. I find evidence of considerable intergenerational persistence in the transmission of resources at the household level with an intergenerational elasticity of 0.26 and a rank coefficient of 0.30. This picture of mobility remains at the individual level and under a range of robustness tests that address traditional methodological concerns. While mobility is relatively low at the national level, I find meaningful differences in income mobility rates across the country. More generally, regions with lower income in the North of England display substantially lower levels of both relative and absolute income mobility than regions in the South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change mitigation scenarios generated by integrated assessment models have been extensively used to support climate change negotiations on the global stage. To date, most studies exploring ensembles of these scenarios focus on the global picture, with more limited attention to regional metrics. A systematic approach is still lacking to improve the understanding of regional heterogeneity, highlighting key regional decarbonisation measures and their relative importance for meeting global climate goals under deep uncertainty. This study proposes a novel approach to gaining robust insights into regional decarbonisation strategies using machine learning techniques based on the IPCC SR1.5 scenario database. Random forest analysis first reveals crucial metrics to limit global temperature increases. Logistic regression modelling and the patient rule induction method are then used to identify which of these metrics and their combinations are most influential in meeting climate goals below 2 °C or below 1.5 °C. Solar power and sectoral electrification across all regions have been found to be the most effective measures to limit temperature increases. To further limit increase below 1.5 °C and not only 2 °C, decommissioning of unabated gas plants should be prioritised along with energy efficiency improvements. Bioenergy and wind power show higher regional heterogeneity in limiting temperature increases, with lower influences than aforementioned measures, and are especially relevant in Latin America (bioenergy) and countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Former Soviet Union (bioenergy and wind). In the future, a larger scenario ensemble can be applied to reveal more robust and comprehensive insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe the development and state of archaeological surface survey in the Mediterranean. We focus especially on surface survey as a means of documenting long-term settlement patterns at various scales, as an approach to the archaeology of regions, and as a pathway to the interpretation of past landscapes. Over the last decades, the literature on Mediterranean survey has increasingly emphasized a distinct set of practices, viewed both favorably and critically by regional archaeologists in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. We show that Mediterranean survey in fact comprises several discrete regional traditions. In general, these traditions have much to offer to wider dialogs in world archaeology, particularly concerning sampling and research design, the interpretation of surface assemblages, and the integration of complex, multidisciplinary datasets. More specifically, survey investigations of Mediterranean landscapes provide comparative data and potential research strategies of relevance to many issues of global significance, including human ecology, demography, urban–rural dynamics, and various types of polity formation, colonialism, and imperialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using regional data for Italy over the 2004–2019 period, this paper investigates the relationship between government effectiveness and inequality. For our empirical purposes, ordinary least squares, instrumental variable (IV) and generalized methods of moments regressions have been employed. Our evidence indicates that improved government effectiveness has some role in reducing inequality in the most developed regions of the North, but has no effect in both the Centre and in the peripheral Southern regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Femoral head coverage in patients with hip dysplasia (DDH) is typically quantified using 2D measurements of the lateral center edge angle (LCEA) and anterior center edge angle (ACEA). However, as the morphology of DDH is complex and varies between patients, 2D measurements may not predict the true 3D femoral head coverage. Herein, 2D and 3D coverage were quantified before and after curved periacetabular osteotomy (CPO) and their relationships were assessed. Materials and methods: Forty-three hips that underwent CPO for DDH were analyzed. For 2D evaluation, LCEA was quantified from X-rays and CT images. The ACEA was measured from CT images (CT-ACEA) and digitally reconstructed radiographs generated from CT images (DRR-ACEA). Three-dimensional coverage was quantified from CT reconstructions of the hip and evaluated in the anterior, superior, posterior, and inferior regions of the femoral head. Two-dimensional measurements were correlated to 3D coverage to assess their relationships. Results: The median preoperative 3D percent coverage was 17.7, 36.1, 56.1, and 14.6% for the anterior, superior, posterior, and inferior region, respectively. After CPO, all LCEAs and ACEAs increased significantly (all p < 0.001). For the 3D coverage, anterior and superior coverage significantly increased while the posterior and inferior coverage decreased (all p < 0.001). Moderate to strong correlations were detected between the two LCEAs and the 3D superior coverage in both the preoperative and postoperative period. For the correlation between 3D anterior coverage, no significant correlation was found between the CT-ACEA while a moderate correlation was found between the DRR-ACEA (rs = 0.41, p = 0.023). Conclusions: Our results indicate that the LCEA can be used to predict 3D coverage in the superior region of the femoral head. However, as the CT-ACEA or DRR-ACEA had no or only moderate correlation between the 3D anterior coverage, these measurements are not recommended for evaluating/estimating the 3D anterior coverage in patients with DDH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the existing literature has evaluated the energy rebound effect (ERE) from various aspects, the estimates of different types of ERE obtained by different methods still deserve further discussion. For this reason, by analyzing the pros and cons of assessment methods, this study offers a comparison between the direct and economy-wide EREs based on China's transportation sector during the period of 2003–2019. Specifically, on the basis of the translog cost function, we use the dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) method with seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) to evaluate the sectoral direct ERE. Considering that the direct ERE estimation is limited by its strict assumptions, this article further assesses the sectoral ERE from a macro perspective. By constructing the dynamic two-stage panel function, the generalized method of moments (GMM) was adopted to estimate the sectoral economy-wide ERE. The empirical results demonstrate that first, capital and labor relative to energy are Morishima substitutes; second, the sectoral short-term economy-wide ERE in China was 71.60%, while the long-term economy-wide ERE was 32.00% during the study period; third, there are significant regional differences in the EREs of Chinese transportation industry both for the short and long term, and the east China demonstrated the highest sectoral economy-wide ERE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National and international research documents a relationship between greater economic inequality and higher homicide rates. However, much of this work uses simple cross sections at high levels of aggregation rather than longer time series of cities or districts and lacks controls for a more substantial range of confounding factors. Using longitudinal Canadian provincial-level data over the period 1982 to 2017, we occasionally find a positive correlation between inequality and homicides rates. However, the relationship between income inequality and homicide rates in Canada reverses to become negative when looking at Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs). Moreover, the province-level result between greater inequality and homicide rates also appears to break down once accounting for regional effects. We conclude that much of the literature that finds a relationship between greater economic inequality and homicide rates needs to be re-examined within a longer time and more disaggregated framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid acceleration of digitalization in response to the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic in 2020 has necessitated the development of policy strategies to manage the new phase of digital transition. The public sector has been particularly impacted during critical pandemic phases, requiring the assurance of uninterrupted essential service delivery to citizens. Despite eGovernment being recognized as a crucial element for digital recovery and innovation by European institutions, there is a need to consider the potential distortive impact of poorly informed digital policies, which could worsen existing territorial inequalities and hamper national economic resilience, as exemplified in the case of Italy. To address this, the present study proposes the creation of a regional eGovernment indicator based on the recovery and resilience goals outlined in M1C1 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This indicator identifies primary functional objectives for the digital transition in Public Administration. The methodology for synthesizing the indicator utilizes the Peña distance method, providing a more robust measurement compared to techniques found in the literature. Additionally, it enables the production of a spatial and temporal comparison of regional performance, offering policymakers a tailored tool to monitor recovery performance at the regional level. The indicator underscores a significant digital divide between northern and southern Italy, highlighting regions like Lazio that exhibit opposing trends compared to their respective macro-areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of potential toxic elements (PTEs) in soils is usually conditioned by parental material or anthropogenic sources. To achieve correct land management and land degradation neutrality, it is necessary to spatially detect them. However, there are several areas over the world with high concentrations of PTE but without efficient maps and tools to correctly find solutions and apply control measures. The current study attempts to identify the concentrations, sources, and spatial distributions of the main PTEs such as As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in a non-explored area combining fieldwork and geostatistical analysis. In order to accomplish this goal, a total of 90 soil samples were collected in agricultural and natural areas in the Piedemonte Llanero, Colombia. The chemical analysis was conducted by acid digestion and determined through ICP-OES. Then, ordinary kriging was applied to spatially analyze the most vulnerable areas. Our results demonstrated the effectiveness of these techniques and it is noted that the agricultural areas presented the highest concentrations and represented the potential source of PTEs. On the other hand, the natural areas presented the following concentrations of PTEs Cr (17.10 mg/kg), As (2.92 mg/kg), Cu (7.57 mg/kg), Ni (8.63 mg/kg), Cd (0.17 mg/kg), Pb (8.80 mg/kg), and Zn (27.57 mg/kg) lower than agricultural soils. This information was a key first step to be presented to the policymakers and stakeholders to organize soil sustainable management plans for the Piedemonte Llanero in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Since energy is one of the basic inputs for development, emerging economies should make an effort to investigate the environmental impacts of their fast economic growth. However, large emerging economies present significant regional heterogeneity that is usually uncounted for. This study uses the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) model and regional data on the 27 Brazilian states to investigate the growth-CO2 nexus under distinct development stages. To perform this analysis, we divided the states into three groups according to their average annual GDP (i.e., richer, intermediate, and poorer regions). The results suggest that richer and poorer regions, particularly, present economic and demographic developments that are environmentally costly. Also, population and per capita GDP have the largest influences on CO2 emissions. The roles of the industrial sector and the ascending service sector are also subject to criticism. Moreover, Brazil arguably suffers from technological stagnation as its energy intensity is growing and boosting CO2 emissions. We discuss the policy implications of these findings and suggest a future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the roles different categories of infrastructure investment play in promoting economic growth across regions in Turkey. There are two different approaches, namely partial least squares structural equation modeling and standard errors corrected for heteroskedastic using panels to compute regional physical, social and financial infrastructural indices and their impacts on income. Overall, the results reveal that differences in infrastructural endowments across Turkish regions explain a significant portion of regional disparity in per capita income. While financial infrastructure has a positive direct effect only, physical and social infrastructures contribute both directly and indirectly. We suggest that policy makers focus primarily on investing in physical infrastructure in order to mitigate the regional income disparity. Secondly, improving education, health and housing facilities as well as financial activities would contribute further diminishing income disparity across regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we show a new clustering technique (k-gaps) aiming to generate a robust regionalization using sparse climate datasets with incomplete information in space and time. Hence, this method provides a new approach to cluster time series of different temporal lengths, using most of the information contained in heterogeneous sets of climate records that, otherwise, would be eliminated during data homogenization procedures. The robustness of the method has been validated with different synthetic datasets, demonstrating that k-gaps performs well with sample-starved datasets and missing climate information for at least 55% of the study period. We show that the algorithm is able to generate a climatically consistent regionalization based on temperature observations similar to those obtained with complete time series, outperforming other clustering methodologies developed to work with fragmentary information. k-Gaps clusters can therefore provide a useful framework for the study of long-term climate trends and the detection of past extreme events at regional scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the efficiency of hotel and restaurant sector across all of the thirteen regions in Greece. For our purpose, DEA models were applied in order to evaluate the tourist efficiency and competitiveness of different regions in Greece. The application of this frontier method permits the calculation of efficiency scores based on a series of inputs (number of local units, number of employees and investments) and output (turnover). For the years, 2002–2013, with respectively constant and variable returns to scale models, the empirical analysis shows the differences in the efficiency performance of the Greek regions. More specifically, Attica and South Aegean can be regarded as "moving ahead" regions, whereas some other like, Thessaly, Central Macedonia, Central Greece and Epirus can be considered as "falling further" regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the study of some Middle Palaeolithic assemblages from Mediterranean Iberia to examine Neanderthal occupation patterns and territory management strategies, paying special attention to raw material procurement and technological behaviours, zooarchaeological data and microspatial patterning. The site occupation types are variable, and some of the results may have more importance than is immediately apparent, but there does not seem to be a single cultural, functional, temporal or environmental explanation. Rather, the wide variability in the technical behaviours observed can be explained with reference to the particular requirements of the populations in each specific region. The results obtained allow us to interrogate the data and, drawing comparisons with the southwest European context, establish an initial approach to Neanderthal subsistence strategies and mobility in a region so far little known in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The framework of regional analysis allows superior discrimination as well as better identification of the shape of a population distribution in a hydrological frequency analysis. The aim of this study is to incorporate the better of regional concept while performing an at-site frequency analysis. The study proposes a new method in the form of sub-sampling technique with the aid of a regional distribution selection procedure to choose an appropriate probability distribution function for frequency analysis. The technique is evaluated against common distribution selection methods: a widely used goodness-of-fit method in Anderson–Darling (AD) and a popular graphical assessment tool in L-moment ratio diagram (LMRD). The performance is evaluated by applying the technique to gauged annual maximum daily precipitation data series of 24 stations located across China. It is found that the technique accomplished a better performance in discriminating among distributions which or else may not be achievable only by the AD or LMRD test. In general, all results indicate that the proposed technique can be an attractive means in discriminating as well as identifying the best distribution for at-site frequency analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population movements (international and internal migration) and changing fertility and mortality patterns have significantly affected demographic structures. Investigation of the relationship between (evolving) population structures and economic downturns is a key issue in economic demography. Analysis of compositional changes in regional population structures over a sufficiently long time interval may provide an informed knowledge to better understanding of this relationship and the underlying socioeconomic context in European countries. Based on these premises, Greece was considered a paradigmatic case of sequential economic expansions and recessions, impacting the structure of resident population in the last four decades. In this work, changes over time in population structures by age in Greek regions were explored (1981–2017) using a multi-temporal principal component analysis. A diachronic analysis of compositional effects of economic downturns on regional population structures indicates spatially-heterogeneous demographic processes in Greece. The subsequent recession has represented a turning point in Greek demography, consolidating changes in traditional family structures, while stimulating out-migration at younger ages to Northern and Western European regions and containing immigration from developing countries. Metropolitan areas and coastal districts had more rapid population dynamics, while peripheral rural regions experienced more rapid changes towards aging. Population aging had a short-term impact on regional population structures in Greece, with possibly negative consequences for the ability of the country's economy to recover from crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a cleaner, high-efficiency, and low-carbon fuel, natural gas has been an important fuel resource for China. To achieve a substantial increase in natural gas demand, China has sought to reform its natural gas pricing mechanism. Employing a set of unbalanced panel data for China's 30 provinces covering 1999–2015, this study aims to estimate the evolving price and income elasticities of natural gas demand and explore the effect of natural gas price reform in China. For this purpose, a series of econometric techniques allowing for cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity is utilized. The results suggest that although natural gas demand in China still lacks negative price elasticity, the phenomenon is improving. Moreover, the estimates suggest that natural gas demand in China is indeed becoming increasingly sensitive to income changes. Our estimates also provide strong evidence in favor of the effect of natural gas price reform on the change in price elasticity as the price elasticity decreases in five of the seven regions. In addition, the results indicate large variations in the change in price and income elasticities of natural gas demand across China's regions. Natural gas demand is becoming more price inelastic in Southwest China and Northwest China, while such demand in North China and East China responds less sensitively to income changes. These findings offer several policy suggestions for the reform of China's natural gas market at the national and regional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this paper is to quantify and explain the main trends and determinants of long-term agricultural water apparent productivity (WAP). The WAP shows the economic value of products per cubic meter of water used and is calculated as the ratio between the value of agricultural production and its water use (the water footprint). In order to understand economic and agricultural structural changes, we use index decomposition analysis, novel in the study of WAP. This approach is consistently multidimensional (results for different crops and provinces are analyzed) and multilevel (different levels of crops and regional disaggregation are combined), and hence applications are possible for different regions and settings. In the case of Spanish agriculture (analyzed here), the study is of particular importance, given the profound political, economic, and agricultural transformations experienced in the twentieth century. Furthermore, given Spain's particular environmental conditions—such as the high number of sunshine hours and the unequal distribution of rainfall—the spatial and temporal differences are notable in terms of crop production composition, economic value, and water footprint. The results show a 27% increase in agricultural WAP from 1955 to 2005–2010, totally explained by an improvement in water efficiency (intensity effect reflecting the use of water relative to the production attained) that happened in most areas of the country. The relative variations in the regional composition of the water footprint (share effect), and especially the crop production patterns (composition effect), contributed to a slowdown in total WAP at the country level. However, the share and composition effects encouraged the WAP's growth in South and Southeast Spain, areas that produced high value-added crops with large water needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of environmental innovation on employment in 85 Russian regions (federal subjects) for the period 2010–2014. In particular, we use latitude and longitude coordinates to compute the distance between Russian regions according to haversine formula. In this way, we measure the spillovers as the weighted sum of R&D capital stock on the basis of computed distance. The contribution to the literature is to explore whether environmental innovations are labour-friendly or labour-saving in Russia. From the empirical results of least squares dummy variable corrected (LSDVC) estimator, we observe different results by Federal Districts (groupings of the federal subjects) of the Russian Federation. The finding is very important in terms of policy implications for supporting employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: For Germany, regional variation of procedure rates of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) performed for carotid stenosis have so far not been analyzed at a national level. The aim of this study was to assess small area estimates of procedure rates among German regions, and to identify regional characteristics, which are associated with the regional frequency of procedures.Methods: German diagnosis-related groups (DRG) statistics (2012-2014) were analyzed. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for procedural codes were set according to German quality assurance measures in combination with the diagnosis of carotid stenosis (I65.2). Rates of CEA and CAS were indirectly standardized for sex and age.Results: In total, 88,182 procedures were performed (73,042 CEA; 15,367 CAS). The overall procedure rate varied between 13.2 per 100,000 (Augsburg) and 89.2 per 100,000 (Wilhelmshaven). Spatial analysis revealed that regional distribution was significantly clustered.Conclusion: The rates of CEA, and especially of CAS showed high regional variation. The spatial distribution was significantly clustered. In addition to the regional prevalence of diabetes mellitus, smoking and obesity, socioeconomic factors, such as income and debts were correlated with the overall frequency of CEA and CAS. No significant association was found between indicators of health infrastructure (e. g. density of hospital beds, vascular surgeons and angiologists) and the overall procedure rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the regional bi-linear control problem of an important class of hyperbolic systems. The objective is to bring the state solutions at time T close to a desired observations wd only on a sub-region ω along the spatial domain Ω. We prove the existence of solution by minimizing sequence method. The adjoint system of this problem is introduced and used to characterize the optimal control. A numerical approach is developed and illustrated successfully by simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key objective of this paper is to understand the space-time dynamics of metrics of changes to major employment centres in Sydney over the period 1981-2006. The following research questions are addressed: (1) what influence do the key centres exert on employment distribution over the metropolitan area? (2) are the key centres part of polycentric urban structure? (3) how accessible are these centres for the workforce and what are their respective labour catchment areas? These questions, in turn, allow an assessment of the official centres policy in Sydney which has been a feature of spatial plans since 1948. Eleven centres have been selected for this investigation: Sydney CBD, North Sydney, Parramatta, Liverpool, Penrith, Inner-city, Chatswood, Macquarie Park, Bankstown, Blacktown and Hornsby. The first five centres are at the top of the centres hierarchy as identified in the Metro Strategy 2005 and in previous metropolitan planning strategies, and the other six centres are in the next level of emphasis but all have the characteristics of important centres. The analysis included the maps of journey to work trips to the centres, influence circles of centres, employment preference functions and tabular data on levels of employment. The results of the analysis indicate that apart from the CBD, North Sydney, Parramatta and Inner city the remaining centres appear to exert little influence on employment distribution over the metropolitan area. The evidence also for a strong polycentric structure in the metropolitan Sydney does not appear to be present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal 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.)

Copyright of Hydrogeology Journal 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.)

I employ high quality register data to present new facts about income mobility in Sweden. The focus of the paper is on regional differences in mobility, using a novel approach based on a multilevel model. This method is well suited when regions differ greatly in population size, as is the case in Sweden. The maximum likelihood estimates are substantially more precise than those obtained by running separate OLS regressions. I find that few regions are statistically significantly different from the Swedish average when measuring mobility in relative terms, while a greater number of regional differences emerge when focusing on absolute outcomes. Compared to growing up in the least favorable region, children from the most favorable region with parents located at the 25th percentile in the income distribution reach higher income ranks corresponding to approximately one monthly salary for an average Swedish worker per year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Left atrial arrhythmia substrate assessment can involve multiple imaging and electrical modalities, but visual analysis of data on 3D surfaces is time-consuming and suffers from limited reproducibility. Unfold maps (e.g., the left ventricular bull's eye plot) allow 2D visualization, facilitate multimodal data representation, and provide a common reference space for inter-subject comparison. The aim of this work is to develop a method for automatic representation of multimodal information on a left atrial standardized unfold map (LA-SUM).Methods: The LA-SUM technique was developed and validated using 18 electroanatomic mapping (EAM) LA geometries before being applied to ten cardiac magnetic resonance/EAM paired geometries. The LA-SUM was defined as an unfold template of an average LA mesh, and registration of clinical data to this mesh facilitated creation of new LA-SUMs by surface parameterization.Results: The LA-SUM represents 24 LA regions on a flattened surface. Intra-observer variability of LA-SUMs for both EAM and CMR datasets was minimal; root-mean square difference of 0.008 ± 0.010 and 0.007 ± 0.005 ms (local activation time maps), 0.068 ± 0.063 gs (force-time integral maps), and 0.031 ± 0.026 (CMR LGE signal intensity maps). Following validation, LA-SUMs were used for automatic quantification of post-ablation scar formation using CMR imaging, demonstrating a weak but significant relationship between ablation force-time integral and scar coverage (R 2 = 0.18, P < 0.0001).Conclusions: The proposed LA-SUM displays an integrated unfold map for multimodal information. The method is applicable to any LA surface, including those derived from imaging and EAM systems. The LA-SUM would facilitate standardization of future research studies involving segmental analysis of the LA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimation of precipitation amounts associated with different return periods is an important task for the planning and design of many types of infrastructures. In this study, regional frequency analysis based on L-moments is proposed to estimate the annual maximum daily precipitation quantiles in the Taihu basin, China. The Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution is used to describe the frequency distributions of extreme rainfall events. At-site frequency analysis results based on L-moments are compared with those obtained from regional analysis. The 95% confidence intervals of estimated precipitation quantiles are calculated using Monte Carlo simulations (MCS). Uncertainty assessment results indicate that regional analysis is more robust and more accurate than at-site analysis. Furthermore, when conducting regional frequency analysis, the estimation of precipitation quantile confidence intervals can be simplified by assuming normality for the MCS results. The variation of the precipitation quantiles' sample statistics for different return periods is expressed as a function of the return period. The proposed methods are useful for the Taihu Basin and are recommended for other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid advances and diversifications in new fields of science and technology, new journals are emerging as a location for the exchange of research methods and findings in these burgeoning communities. These new journals are large in number and, in their early years, it is unclear how central these journals will be in the fields of science and technology. On one hand, these new journals offer valuable data sources for bibliometric scholars to understand and analyze emerging fields; on the other hand, how to identify important peer-reviewed journals remains a challenge-and one that is essential for funders, key opinion leaders, and evaluators to overcome. To fulfill growing demand, the Web of Science platform, as the world's most trusted research publication and citation index, launched the Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) in November 2015 to extend the universe of journals already included in the Science Citation Index Expanded, the Social Sciences Citation Index, and the Arts & Humanities Citation Index. This paper profiles ESCI, drawing some comparisons against these three established indexes in terms of two questions: (1) Does ESCI cover more regional journals of significant importance and provide a more balanced distribution of journals? (2) Does ESCI offer earlier visibility of emerging fields and trends through upgraded science overlay maps? The results show that the ESCI has a positive effect on research assessment and it accelerates communication in the scientific community. However, ESCI brings little impact to promoting the inferior role of non-English countries and regions. In addition, medical science, education research, social sciences, and humanities are emerging fields in recent research, reflected by the lower proportion of traditional fundamental disciplines and applied science journals included in ESCI. Furthermore, balancing the selection of journals across different research domains to facilitate cross-disciplinary research still needs further effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of wheat in the Iberian Peninsula is strongly affected by climate conditions being particularly vulnerable to interannual changes in precipitation and long-term trends of both rainfall and evapotranspiration. Recent trends in precipitation and temperature point to an increase in dryness in this territory, thus highlighting the need to understand the dependence of wheat yield on climate conditions. The present work aims at studying the relation between wheat yields and drought events in the Iberian Peninsula, using a multiscalar drought index, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), at various timescales. The effects of the occurrence of dry episodes on wheat yields were analyzed, on regional spatial scale for two subperiods (1929-1985 and 1986-2012). The results show that in western areas, wheat yield is positively affected by dryer conditions, whereas the opposite happens in eastern areas. The winter months have a bigger influence in the west while the east is more dependent on the spring and summer months. Moreover, in the period of 1986-2012, the simultaneous occurrence of low-yield anomalies and dry events reaches values close to 100 % over many provinces. Results suggest that May and June have a strong control on wheat yield, namely, for longer timescales (9 to 12 months). A shift in the dependence of wheat yields on climatic droughts is evidenced by the increase in the area with positive correlation and the decrease in area with negative correlation between wheat yields and SPEI, probably due to the increase of dry events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the appropriateness of four major empirical methods [Lane and Kalinske, Einstein, Brooks, Chang-Simons-Richardson] for predicting suspended sediment loads (SSLs) in three major rivers in the Aegean Region, Turkey. The measured data from 1975 to 2005 were used to test performance of the models. It was found that Brooks method was more appropriate, among the others, for predicting suspended sediment loads from each river. The prediction results of Brooks method were further improved by the use of genetic algorithm (GA_Brooks) optimizing a fitting parameter and showing a comparable performance to those of artificial neural networks (ANNs) and neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS) models for the same rivers. GA_Brooks, ANNs, and ANFIS models can be used for predicting loads at a regional scale. The sensitivity analysis results revealed that suspended and bed material particle diameters affect suspended sediment loads significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising inequality and the lingering effects of the most recent economic recession continue to engender negative perceptions of access to opportunity in the United States. While prior research has established the importance of geography in understanding opportunity in metropolitan areas, little attention has been given to the spatial distribution of opportunity outside urban areas or its temporal variation. This article builds on existing frameworks for measuring opportunity to calculate a multidimensional opportunity index for counties in the lower 48 states and the District of Columbia for the years 2000 and 2010. We use exploratory spatial data analysis techniques to map and critically examine the geography of opportunity at both time periods across regions and three distinct county typologies with an emphasis on identifying clusters of high and low opportunity. We find that opportunity decreased on average for all counties from 2000 to 2010 as did its standard deviation, consistent with arguments that opportunity in the U.S. has both declined and converged. While the opportunity index remains highest in metropolitan and urban counties, nonmetropolitan and rural areas fared well with respect to the spatial clustering of high opportunity counties. Clusters of high opportunity counties shifted from the Northeast to Midwest regions, while clusters of low opportunity counties in traditional strongholds of persistent poverty like Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, and Lower Rio Grande Valley have become more fragmented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional analysis of suspended sediment yield (SSY) is commonly used to estimate sediment at a particular site where little or no information is available on sediment yield. In this research, the efficiency of three input selection and homogenization methods were evaluated in the estimation of SSY. Therefore, 42 sediment measurement stations and their upstream watersheds were selected and sediment rating curve was estimated by using regression models for each station. Mean annual SSY was estimated by using sediment rating curve and daily discharge. In the present study, in order to determine the independent variables in sediment yield, 11 physiographical, one climatic and two hydrologic variables of whole study watersheds were selected. Then the most effective independent variables were selected by using principal component analysis (PCA), Gamma test (GT) and stepwise regression (SR) techniques. After reducing 14 input variables to five (using PCA and GT) and two (using SR techniques), they are divided into homogeneous areas by Andrew curve (AC), cluster analysis (CA) and canonical discriminate function (CDFs) techniques. The watersheds were divided into two (using PCA-AC), three (using PCA-CA, PCA-CDFs and GT-CDFs), four (using GT-CA, GT-AC and SR-CA) and five (using SR-AC) homogenous regions. Multiple regression models to estimate mean annual SSY as a function of five (using PCA and GT) and two (using SR techniques) watershed characteristics were built in each homogeneous region, and compared to actual mean annual SSY in each station using relative error (RE), efficiency coefficients (CE) and relative root mean square error (RRMSE). The results showed that preprocessing the input variables by means of PCA and GT techniques has improved the homogeneous stations determination and the development models. According to the results, the best technique for determining homogeneous watersheds was AC technique with RE =49.24%, RRMSE =43.75% and CE =71.04%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A brief geoecological analysis of Russia's natural resources complex is presented in this work. The informational provision for the sphere of natural resources has worsened over the post-Soviet years. The role of industries based on mineral resources has been increasing. Imbalances are growing in the system of the extraction-processing-domestic consumption-export of mineral resources. The utilization of renewable natural resources is being ever more concentrated in compact areas near central locations and the main trunk roads. The boundaries of predominance in agriculture of plant cultivation are observed to have significantly extended from the latitudes of steppes in the 1980s to the tundra. As a result, the character and scales of agrarian impacts on natural complexes have dramatically changed. Important changes in the natural resources complex are not in conformity with the sustainable development criteria. A prominent role of natural complexes in the country's economy determines the priority of the Earth sciences in the country's science sphere, including geography and geoecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops an improved test of economic convergence or divergence using time series methods by introducing nonlinear trends in the form of logarithmic trend functions into the vector error correction model. The usefulness of the method is illustrated in an analysis of the growth pattern between Chinese regions in 1952-2007. Comparing all combinations of regional pairs, the analysis yields support for economic divergence in roughly half of the cases. In the other half, we instead find that regions have grown while maintaining stable income differences. As such, the results show the co-existence of divergence and conditional convergence among China's regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Droughts are complex natural hazards that, to a varying degree, affect some parts of the world every year. The range of drought impacts is related to drought occurring in different stages of the hydrological cycle and usually different types of droughts such as meteorological, agricultural, hydrological, and socio-economical are the most distinguished types. Hydrological drought includes streamflow and groundwater droughts. In this paper, streamflow drought was analyzed using the method of truncation level (at 70 % level) by daily discharges at 54 stations in southwestern Iran. Frequency analysis was carried out for annual maximum series of drought deficit volume and duration. 35 factors such as physiographic, climatic, geologic and vegetation were studied to carry out the regional analysis. According to conclusions of factor analysis, the six most effective factors include watershed area, the sum rain from December to February, the percentage of area with NDVI <0.1, the percentage of convex area, drainage density and the minimum of watershed elevation, explained 89.2 % of variance. The homogenous regions were determined by cluster analysis and discriminate function analysis. The suitable multivariate regression models were ascertained and evaluated for hydrological drought deficit volume with 2 years return period. The significance level of models was 0.01. The conclusion showed that the watershed area is the most effective factor that has a high correlation with drought deficit volume. Moreover, drought duration was not a suitable index for regional analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a decision-making process based on trust. Imagining the relationship between patients and physicians, based on the trust that the former put in the latter, which is the effect of experimental activities on the researcher's (and/or medical center's) reputation? Is it admissible to suppose a positive correlation between pharmaceutical clinical research and the return in terms of image for the medical care suppliers? This is the research question of this paper. Through empirical analysis, this work supports the proposed decision-making process and tries to answer this open issue. Considering Italy between 2002 and 2006, the analysis concerns the patients' mobility process among regions and how pharmaceutical research can affect patients' perception of the quality of medical treatments. Results suggest that mobility is clearly affected by a decision-making process based both on already existing good reputation (i.e., cognitive) and on confirmation of that image (i.e., behavioral). The latter is the phase in which the physician's effort in the informed consent session of an experimental activity might make the difference in the reputation of the health care suppliers and, therefore, be a key factor in hospitalization choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional frequency analysis is a useful tool for accurate estimation of precipitation quantiles than at-site frequency analysis, especially in the case of regions with a short rainfall time series. The use of meteorological information, combined with rainfall data analysis, could improve the selection of homogeneous regions. Starting from 1958, 198 meteorological configurations, related to extreme events, have been identified throughout the national territory of Italy. The reanalyzed meteorological data of the 40 Year Re-analysis Archive (ERA-40) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) have been analyzed to identify homogeneous regions with respect to the Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), the Q vector Divergence (QD) and the Vertically Integrated Moisture Flux (VIMF). The latter index appears to be the better candidate for finding regional homogeneity inside areas where high frequency values of CAPE or QD are present. The paper presents an application based on the delimitation of homogeneous regions using climatic indexes for the island of Sicily. By applying the proposed methodology, seven homogeneous areas over Sicily were found. The consistency of the final results has been validated by using a coupled approach based on the Valuation of Floods in Italy procedure (VAPI) and on the heterogeneity test of Hosking and Wallis (Water Resour Res 29:271-281, , ). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Karst cave tourism plays an important role in the overall tourism of Zhejiang Province, China. In analyzing the current status of karst cave tourism resources, it is crucial to develop a scientific system for optimizing resource exploitation and tourism development in the future. This study conducted an analysis of resource characteristics and regional structure in Zhejiang Province. Nearest neighbor index (NNI) method and accessibility index method were used for a comprehensive understanding of the effects of scale, strength, combination, and accessibility of karst cave tourism resources. Results indicated that karst cave tourism resources in Zhejiang Province have a significant regional influence, and that resource quality and exploitation are diverse in different regions. Among the regions, Jinhua had the highest exploitation proportion of over 60% and the lowest NNI value of 0.098. Furthermore, regional analysis inferred that different karst caves demonstrate diversity in accessibility to tourism markets, among which the Lingshan Cave, Fengshui Cave, and Xianqiao Cave reveal the highest accessibility index of 2.41. Finally, we put forward a karst cave tourism system in Zhejiang Province based on the Growth Pole Theory and set up an overall scheme for karst cave tourism development. From a regional perspective analysis, the study refined the methods for regional resource research and provided a strategic proposal for karst cave tourism in Zhejiang Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]