Areas Of Central China Research Articles

Association between epigenome-wide DNA methylation changes and early neurodevelopment in preschool children: Evidence from a former impoverished county in Central China.

Existing epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) investigating the association between DNA methylation (DNAm) and child neurodevelopment have been predominantly conducted within Western populations, and yielded inconsistent results, leading to a significant gap within non-Western setting, particularly in resource-limited rural areas of Central China. To investigate the association between altered epigenome-wide DNAm and neurodevelopment in preschool children from resource-limited rural areas of Central China. This case-control study involved 64 preschoolers. We assessed children's neurodevelopment using the Gesell Developmental Diagnostic Scale. The neurodevelopmental potential was expressed as a global developmental quotient (DQ) score. We conducted an EWAS with an Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC v1.0 BeadChip array, using blood samples from 32 suspected developmental delay children (DQ scores < 85) and 32 controls (DQ scores ≥ 85). Differentially methylated probes (DMPs) and differentially methylated regions (DMRs) between the suspected developmental delay and control groups were analyzed. Multivariate linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between global DQ scores and DNAm. Functional enrichment analyses were conducted using Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). The BECon tool was utilized to estimate the concordance of CpGs between blood and the human brain. A total of 66 DMRs (PFDR < 0.05) were identified between the two groups, but no DMPs were found. After FDR correction, 844 methylated CpG sites exhibited significant associations with the global DQ scores in children. Genes annotated by methylated CpGs were enriched in the "oxytocin signaling pathway", "mTOR signaling pathway", and "thyroid hormone signaling pathway". They were also involved in the "regulation of cell development", "cell-cell junction", and "ATPase activity". Among the top 20 CpGs, nine global DQ scores related-CpGs had blood-brain DNA methylation correlations, and six CpGs among them had an absolute Spearman correlation coefficient bigger than 0.2. Preschoolers from a former impoverished county exhibited epigenome-wide DNAm changes strongly linked to early neurodevelopment. This study enhances our understanding of the epigenetic landscape associated with early neurodevelopment, and suggests the potential for developmenting epigenetic biomarkers that could facilitate the early identification of children at a higher risk of compromised neurodevelopment, as well as holding implication to inform novel interventions, especially in underprivileged regions.

Spatio-temporal Evolution of Coupling Coordination Degree between Urbanization and Tourism Industry: A Case Study of Rural Revitalization Strategy of the Wuling Mountain Area in Central China

China is currently at a critical juncture in implementing the rural revitalization strategy, with urbanization and tourism development as crucial components. This study investigates 41 counties (cities) in the Wuling Mountain area of central China, constructing an evaluation system for the coordinated development of these two sectors. The coupling coordination degree is calculated using a combination weighting method and the coupling coordination degree model. Spatio-temporal evolution characteristics are analyzed through spatial autocorrelation, while the geographic detector explores the driving factors of spatial variation. The findings reveal a significant increase in coupling coordination between urbanization and tourism, transitioning towards a coordinated phase. Spatially, urbanization and tourism exhibit positive correlations, with high-value clusters in the southeast and northwest and low-value clusters in the south. The geographical detector identifies industrial factors as the most critical drivers of spatial variation. This study offers novel insights into the dynamics of urbanization and tourism, contributing to the broader literature by providing practical implications for regional planning and sustainable development. The results are relevant to the Wuling Mountain area and serve as a reference for similar regions globally. However, the study has certain limitations, such as regional specificity and data availability, which should be considered in the context of this research.

Systematic Characterization of the Oligosaccharide Profile of Human Milk in Rural Areas of Central China: Quantitative Tracking of Human Milk Oligosaccharide Composition during 12 Months of Lactation.

This study investigates changes in human milk oligosaccharide (HMO) composition over a 12 month breastfeeding period in rural central China. The HMO profiles of 97 mothers were analyzed by graphitized carbon liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. This method was simple to prepare samples and can simultaneously and absolutely quantify at least 20 neutral and acidic HMOs. All mothers were classified into four milk groups based on the presence or absence of specific α-1,2 and α-1,4-fucosylated HMOs. The main oligosaccharides in milk groups I and II were 2'-FL, LDFT, LNFP-I, and LNDFH-I, while LNT, 3-FL, LNFP-II, LNFP-V, LNDFH-II, and DFLNH-b were predominant in milk groups III and IV. Additionally, the lactation period was the primary factor affecting the concentration of individual HMOs. The concentrations of most HMOs decreased with lactation and stabilized after 180 days. However, the concentrations of 3-FL, LDFT, and LNDFH II increased gradually over the lactation period, and the concentration of 3'-SL decreased during early lactation (5-180 days) but increased during later lactation (180-365 days). Furthermore, Spearman correlation analysis revealed that maternal factors and infant factors may also affect the concentration of various HMOs. These findings provide fundamental insights for the development of a comprehensive human milk database.

Spatial and Temporal Variations’ Characteristics of Extreme Precipitation and Temperature in Jialing River Basin—Implications of Atmospheric Large-Scale Circulation Patterns

In recent years, extreme climate events have shown to be occurring more frequently. As a highly populated area in central China, the Jialing River Basin (JRB) should be more deeply explored for its patterns and associations with climatic factors. In this study, based on the daily precipitation and atmospheric temperature datasets from 29 meteorological stations in JRB and its vicinity from 1960 to 2020, 10 extreme indices (6 extreme precipitation indices and 4 extreme temperature indices) were calculated. The spatial and temporal variations of extreme precipitation and atmospheric temperature were analyzed using Mann–Kendall analysis, to explore the correlation between the atmospheric circulation patterns and extreme indices from linear and nonlinear perspectives via Pearson correlation analysis and wavelet coherence analysis (WTC), respectively. Results revealed that among the six selected extreme precipitation indices, the Continuous Dry Days (CDD) and Continuous Wetness Days (CWD) showed a decreasing trend, and the extreme precipitation tended to be shorter in calendar time, while the other four extreme precipitation indices showed an increasing trend, and the intensity of precipitation and rainfall in the JRB were frequent. As for the four extreme temperature indices, except for TN10p, which showed a significant decreasing trend, the other three indices showed a significant increasing trend, and the number of low-temperature days in JRB decreased significantly, the duration of high temperature increased, and the basin was warming continuously. Spatially, the spatial variation of extreme precipitation indices is more obvious, with decreasing stations mostly located in the western and northern regions, and increasing stations mostly located in the southern and northeastern regions, which makes the precipitation more regionalized. Linearly, most of the stations in the extreme atmospheric temperature index, except TN10p, show an increasing trend and the significance is more obvious. Except for the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), other atmospheric circulation patterns have linear correlations with the extreme indices, and the Arctic Oscillation (AO) has the strongest significance with the CDD. Nonlinearly, NINO3.4, Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), and SOI are not the main circulation patterns dominating the changes of TN90p, and average daily precipitation intensity (SDII), maximum daily precipitation amount (RX1day), and maximum precipitation in 5 days (Rx5day) were most clearly associated with atmospheric circulation patterns. This also confirms that atmospheric circulation patterns and climate tend not to have a single linear relationship, but are governed by more complex response mechanisms. This study aims to help the relevant decision-making authorities to cope with the more frequent extreme climate events in JRB, and also provides a reference for predicting flood, drought and waterlogging risks.

Revealing the Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Garlic Resource Cultivars and Screening of Core Cultivars Based on Specific Length Amplified Fragment Sequencing (SLAF-Seq).

Garlic is an important vegetable and condiment that has good medical and health care effects. At present, the origin of Chinese garlic and its association with other types of quality are limited to the molecular marker level, and there are few reports at the genome level. Therefore, this study is based on the specific length amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) of 102 copies of garlic germplasm resources, the group structure, and further screening of the core germplasm. SLAF-seq of 102 garlic cultivars yielded 1949.85 Mb of clean data and 526,432,275 SNPs. Through principal component analysis, evolutionary tree, population structure, and genetic relationship analysis, all garlic cultivars were divided into 3 groups. Among them, Group 1 contains 45 Chinese cultivars and 1 Egyptian cultivar, which are distributed mainly in the coastal and central areas of China. Group 2 contains 36 Chinese cultivars and 1 U.S. cultivar, which are distributed mainly in Northwest China. Group 3 contains 19 Chinese cultivars, which are distributed mainly in Xinjiang, China. The genetic diversity results indicate that the fixation index (Fst) values of Group 1 and Group 2 are lower than those of Group 1 and Group 3 and that the diversity of nucleotides (π) of Group 3 is greater than those of Group 2 and Group 1. Finally, the 30 parts of the cultivars were used as the core germplasms, and there was no difference between the two cultivars in terms of core quality. In summary, this study provides tags for the determination of garlic molecular markers and genotypes and provides a theoretical basis for subsequent resource protection and utilization, genetic positioning of important agronomic traits, and molecular marking agglomeration breeding.

Impacts of urban-rural integration on landscape patterns and their implications for landscape sustainability: The case of Changsha, China

ContextLandscape patterns result from complex social-ecological interactions, such as urban-rural integration which is especially notable in China. However, the impacts of urban-rural integration on landscape sustainability remain understudied.ObjectivesOur objectives were to examine the impacts of urban-rural integration on landscape patterns and to explore its implications for landscape sustainability.MethodsThe study area is the Changsha metropolitan area in central China, which has undergone urban-rural integration since 2005. A three-step approach was used to (1) assess the spatiotemporal patterns of urban-rural integration dynamics with a multidimensional indicator system, (2) quantify landscape pattern dynamics using landscape metrics, and (3) explore the main drivers and processes involved in urban-rural integration responsible for the observed changes in landscape patterns through a time-fixed effects model.ResultsOur findings reveal a significant increase in the level of urban-rural integration in the Changsha metropolitan area from 2005 to 2020. Concurrently, the regional landscape has experienced increasing trends characterized by the loss and fragmentation of natural and agricultural patches, as well as heightened connectivity among constructed patches. Urban-rural integration exerts notable impacts on landscape patterns through processes such as societal convergence, economic interaction, technology sharing, and spatial interlinkage, subsequently influencing landscape (un)sustainability.ConclusionsThe different drivers and processes of urban-rural integration have varying effects on landscape patterns, with complex and intertwined impacts on landscape sustainability. Therefore, integrated landscape governance is imperative for addressing the disadvantages of urban-rural integration while strategically leveraging its advantages in various social-ecological contexts.

Whole-genome resequencing of tea grey geometrid provides insights into their population structure and adaptation to tea crops

Tea grey geometrid, Ectropis grisescens (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), is a chewing defoliator of high fecundity and gluttony, whose larvae heavily consume leaves and shoots, and consequently cause significant losses to tea crops in terms of both yield and quality. Nevertheless, a lack of population genome information has hindered previous research on the species as a tea crop pest. Here, we re-sequenced genomes of 43 tea grey geometrid individuals representing 13 distinct geographic regions and 12 individuals of its sibling species, the tea geometrid Ectropis obliqua (Lepidoptera: Geometridae), collected from four different sites in China. A genomic variation atlas of 627,569 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from whole-genome resequencing of 43 individuals was identified. Surprisingly, the populations of the tea grey geometrid (EG) are found to be assigned into two distinct subpopulations, EGA and EGB. The sample locations indicate that the subpopulation EGA is mainly distributed in the region of Zhejiang Province, where it co-occurred with tea geometrids (EO). The EGB subpopulation is distributed in the southern and central areas of China. Demographic history analysis has revealed fluctuations in population size of the tea grey geometrid over time, but following tea cultivation, the population size has started to stabilize. Meanwhile, the migration event analysis has uncovered a significant migration event between EGA and EO. Furthermore, genes (such as P-glycoprotein and lactase) under selection show possible metabolic adaptation of tea grey geometrid to the tea plants. These findings provide a broader foundation and additional resources for understanding the geometrid evolution and the genetic mechanisms underlying agriculturally important traits.

Integrated Supervision Center of Huaihua International Inland Port: The Feasibility and Essentiality

Building an integrated supervision center in Huaihua is feasible and essential because Huaihua City is at the center of the border regions of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Guangxi. In addition, it is a national transportation hub in China because of its distinctive geographic location, abundant resources and labor force. Due to the development of Huaihua International Inland Port, Huaihua has an excellent opportunity to be a logistics and trade center for inland areas in Central China. Given considerations in national strategies, food security, economic development and other factors, an integrated supervision center can be built in Huaihua, as it can promote the connectivity of the Wuling Mountain area and the neighboring provinces, contribute to regional economic development, and enhance China’s national security and supervisory capacity. The development of Huaihua as an integrated supervision center facilitates the processing, bonded warehousing and logistics distribution of high-quality imported commodities from neighboring countries, especially ASEAN countries.

The effect of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution on health inequality: an intergenerational perspective.

Air pollution poses a serious challenge to public health and simultaneously exacerbating regional & intergenerational health inequality. This research introduces PM2.5 pollution into the intergenerational health transmission model, and estimates its impact on health inequality in China using Ordered Logit Regression (OLR) and Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) model. The results indicate that PM2.5 pollution exacerbate the intergenerational health inequality, and its impacts show inconsistency across family income levels, parental health insurance status, and area of residence. Specifically, it is more difficult for offspring in low-income families to escape from the influence of unhealthy family to become upwardly mobile. Additionally, this health inequality is more significant in households in which at least one parent does not have health insurance. Moreover, the intergenerational solidification caused by PM2.5 pollution is higher in the east and lower in the west. Both the PM2.5 level and solidification effect are high in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Yangtze River Delta region and central areas of China, which is the focus of air pollution management. These findings suggest that more emphasis should be placed on family-based health promotion. In areas with high PM2.5 pollution levels, resources, subsidies and air pollution protection should be provided for less healthy families with lower incomes and no health insurance.

A Study of the Spatial–Temporal Development Patterns and Influencing Factors of China’s National Archaeological Site Parks

National Archaeological Site Parks are strategic projects in China for innovatively exploring the scientific protection and rational utilization of large heritage sites for the purpose of balancing urban development and protecting cultural heritage. Therefore, research on the spatial–temporal evolution and influencing factors of National Archaeological Site Parks can improve and optimize their management and pattern systems and is therefore of great significance for the sustainable development of large sites and their surrounding areas. Targeting the 135 National Archaeological Site Parks of China, this paper adopts the nearest-neighbor index analytical method, the kernel density estimation method, the standard deviation ellipse method, the method of constructing an indicator system, and an SPSS factor analysis method to analyze the spatial–temporal evolution and influencing factors of these parks. The findings are as follows: (1) In terms of the temporal evolution, the number of National Archaeological Site Parks increased from 2010 to 2022, and the ages and types of the large heritage sites they are built upon gradually became more balanced and diverse. (2) In terms of the spatial evolution, National Archaeological Site Parks form two high-density areas in Central China and East China. Their overall distribution is consistent with China’s “Hu Line”. (3) In terms of spatial–temporal evolution, the center of gravity of National Archaeological Site Parks’ distribution is advancing toward Southwest China, and the trend of a more balanced distribution is rising. (4) Finally, regional development, heritage tourism, historical resources, and government support were observed to be factors that affect the spatial–temporal patterns of the National Archaeological Site Parks. Based on these findings, we propose specific strategies for coordinating and linking the above four major influencing factors to promote the rational utilization of large heritage sites and the sustainable development of National Archaeological Site Parks. We aim to improve and optimize the management and pattern systems of National Archaeological Site Parks, to promote urban renewal based on large heritage sites, and to provide valuable insights for policy makers and heritage practitioners in other countries with historical resources around the world.

Migration choices for farming households in rural areas: Why new countryside locations are important for the inhabitants of traditional agricultural areas in central China

AbstractIn the urbanisation stage of bilateral urban–rural interaction, China is adopting various policies to achieve rural revitalisation and provide diverse destinations to which farmers can migrate. Most previous studies have focused on urban destinations; thus, new countryside locations are not as well understood in this context. This study focused on first migration practices to examine new countryside destinations for farmers in China. This study established a conceptual framework to explain the diverse migration destination options based on three aspects: human capital, economic characteristics, and social characteristics. Based on survey data from farming households in a traditional agriculture area in Xinxiang, a multiple logit model was used to examine why new countryside destinations were adaptive first migration destinations. The results indicated that farmers were influenced by land capital and low initial household incomes. Specifically, many farmers were attracted to new countryside locations close to their original villages because of the need for cultivated land and farming, thus providing a logical first move in the rural–urban migration process. Poorer households were willing to first improve their living conditions in this way. This suggests that new countryside construction can help achieve rural revitalisation.

Characteristics, source analysis, and health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements pollution in soil of dense molybdenum tailing ponds area in central China.

The issue of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) contamination of regional soil caused by mining activities and tailings accumulation has attracted wide attention all over the world. The East Qinling is one of the three main molybdenum mines in the world, and the concentration of PTEs such as Hg, Pb and Cu in the slag is high. Quantifying the amount of PTEs contamination in soil and identifying potential sources of contamination is vital for soil environmental management. In the present investigation, the pollution levels of 8 PTEs in the Qinling molybdenum tailings intensive area were quantitatively identified. Additionally, an integrated source-risk method was adopted for resource allocation and risk assessment based on the PMF model, the ecological risk, and the health risk assessment model. The mean concentrations of Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr, Zn, As, and Hg in the 80 topsoil samples ranged from 0.80 to 13.38 times the corresponding background values; notably high levels were observed for Pb and Hg. The source partitioning results showed that PTEs were mainly affected by four pollution sources: natural and agricultural sources, coal-burning sources, combined transport and mining industry sources, and mining and smelting sources. The health risk assessment results revealed that the risks of soil PTEs for adults are acceptable, while the risks for children exceeded the limit values. The obtained results will help policymakers to obtain the sources of PTEs of tailing ponds intensive area. Moreover, it provides priorities for the governance of subsequent pollution sources and ecological restoration.

Detection of Anaplasma in Haemaphysalis longicornis from Hilly Area in Central China

Detection of Anaplasma in Haemaphysalis longicornis from Hilly Area in Central China

Characteristics of injury mechanisms in children and differences between urban and rural areas in central China.

Some studies lack detailed analyses of the differences and characteristics of pediatric injury mechanisms between urban and rural areas. We aim to understand the characteristics, trends, and mortality rates of injury mechanisms in children in urban and rural areas in central China. In a study involving 15,807 pediatric trauma patients, it was observed that boys constituted the majority (65.4%) and those aged ≤ 3years were the most prevalent (28.62%). Falls (39.8%), burns (23.2%), and traffic accidents (21.1%) were identified as the top three injury mechanisms. The head (29.0%) and limbs (35.7%) were found to be the most susceptible to injury. Additionally, children between the ages of 1-3years exhibited a higher likelihood of sustaining burn injuries compared to other age groups. The main causes of burn injury were hydrothermal burns (90.3%), flame burns (4.9%), chemical burns (3.5%), and electronic burns (1.3%). In urban areas, the major injury mechanisms were falls (40.9%), traffic accidents (22.4%), burns (20.9%), and poison (7.1%), whereas, in rural areas, they were falls (39.5%), burns (23.8%), traffic accidents (20.8%), and penetration (7.0%). Over the past decade, the overall incidences of pediatric trauma have been decreasing. In the past year, the number of injured children was the highest in July, and the overall mortality rate due to trauma was 0.8%. Our findings revealed that in different age groups, the injury mechanisms are different in urban and rural areas. Burns are the second leading cause of trauma in children. A decrease in pediatric trauma over the past 10years indicates targeted measures and preventive intervention may effectively prevent pediatric trauma.

Determination and analysis of groundwater ecological level in Changling County

In order to determine and analyze the groundwater ecological level in Changling County, a total of Landsat 8 series remote sensing images from 2017 to 2021, buried depth data of 51 groundwater observation Wells and 47 phreatic salinity detection data in 2021 were collected. Based on the field investigation and laboratory experiment, the spatial and temporal changes of groundwater level and vegetation coverage in the study area from 2013 to 2017 were determined by using remote sensing technology (the Environment for Visualizing Images) and geographic information system. Through the analysis of the vegetation coverage ratio and the relationship between the groundwater depth and diving salinity, we determine the appropriate growth of vegetation in the study area of diving level and diving salinity water. The results showed that from 2017 to 2021 in the average groundwater level and vegetation cover degree decline year by year, the study area northwest shallow depth of groundwater, vegetation cover degree better, however, in the central and eastern regions, the groundwater depth is larger and the vegetation coverage degree is poor. When the depth of local groundwater is 3.3–4.5 m and the phreatic salinity is less than 0.85 g/L, the ecological water level and phreatic salinity are suitable for vegetation growth in the study area. When the depth of local water is less than 3 m, soil salinization occurs in the surface soil near the lake marsh. When the depth of local water was greater than 8.4 m, the phenomenon of soil desertification appeared in some areas of central China.

A social emotional learning intervention to reduce psychosocial difficulties among rural children in central China.

Programmes based on social emotional learning (SEL) have been effective in reducing psychosocial difficulties in a number of countries. In Mainland China, there has been no empirical research on the prevention of children's psychosocial difficulties using the SEL approach. This study aimed to assess whether an adapted version of the SEL programme can reduce psychosocial difficulties of primary school children in rural China. The intervention consisted of 16 weekly 90-min class sessions, conducted among 206 children aged 8-12 years (with 290 controls) in a poor rural area of Central China. Self-report questionnaires were administered at baseline, post-intervention and 5-month follow-up. The results suggested that the programme (1) can reduce children's total difficulties (measured using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire) at post-intervention (d= -0.18) and 5-month follow-up (d= -0.19), (2) was more effective among children experiencing verbal abuse (d= -0.21) or physical abuse (d= -0.24) from caregivers and (3) was popular among more than 90% of the participants. The programme is cheap, easy to implement and can be delivered in school hours. Therefore, it has clear potential for replicability and sustainability.

Economic-ecological services and their trade-offs or synergies of agricultural landscapes in Xiangxi, central China

The scarcity of agricultural ecosystem services (ESs) caused by land use changes has become increasingly prominent, and the negative effects of agricultural production on ecosystems have been a constant concern. In this work, the geographic information system mapping method, the agricultural product supply (AS) model and InVEST model were applied to assess the economic and ecological services of agricultural landscapes. The interlinkages among them in Xiangxi were explored, a mountainous area in central China. The major conclusions drawn were as follows.1) From 2000 to 2020, the economic services (ESs1) of agricultural landscapes in Xiangxi increased by 96.6667%, and those of grain yield per ha (X1), cash crop output value per ha (X2), forestry output value per ha (X3), meat production per capita in rural areas (X4), and fishery output per ha (X5) were 39.0405%, 510.8462%, 297.6807%, 64.5947%, and 194.0348%, respectively. The spatial distribution of X1, X2, X3, X4, and X5 changed considerably, and the major influencing factors were human elements. 2) Ecological services (ESs2) increased by 5.13%, and those of carbon storage (CS, X6), water conservation (WC, X7), and N content in water (X8) were 1.0897%, 13.5808%, and −0.7406%, respectively. The distribution of X6, X7, and X8 was nearly unchanged and primarily influenced by natural factors 3) The relationship between ESs1 and ESs2 was not ideal. The dominant relationships between AS and CS were trade-offs, those between AS and WC were synergies, and those between AS and water purification were trade-offs. 4) The following suggestions are proposed: promote afforestation and vegetation protection policies, implement the best agricultural policies, increase investment in water conservation projects, adjust agricultural scale, and control the usage of agricultural chemicals. For the surrounding areas of more developed regions, strict environmental measures and agricultural policies are necessary. The methods used in this study are novel and can provide methodological references for similar studies. Moreover, it may offer useful suggestions for agricultural resource management and contribute to ecological civilization construction.

Rural policing in China: Criminal investigation and policing resources for police officers

This study examines the state of policing resources in rural areas of central China and investigates how police officers conduct criminal investigations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 police officers who had experience in criminal investigations in rural areas. The study found that police officers have developed a well-established model of criminal investigation that is effective in responding to minor crimes such as theft, drink driving, and fighting. However, there may be compliance issues with the criminal investigation skills of police officers. Additionally, rural areas lack policing resources compared to urban areas and do not have access to necessary police information resources. The results of this study suggest that rural policing in areas where resources are scarce should focus on improving the compliance of criminal investigation skills among police officers and increasing the allocation of police resources to rural areas. Policymakers and practitioners can benefit from the insights provided by this study when addressing the challenges faced by rural policing in China and other countries with similar circumstances.

The relationship of negative life events, trait-anxiety and depression among Chinese university students: A moderated effect of self-esteem

BackgroundNegative life events are major triggers for depression. How individual physical qualities and psychological resources affect the relationship between negative life events and depression in college students remains to be studied. Therefore, we constructed a structural equation model to explore the mediating effect of trait anxiety and the moderating effect of self-esteem in the relationship between negative life events and depression among college students. MethodsA total of 6224 Chinese college students (aged 16–25) in Jiangxi Province in the central area of China completed the online survey. A moderated mediation model was tested to verify the hypothesis. ResultsThe mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of negative life events on depression through trait-anxiety. Mediation was moderated by self-esteem, which significantly interacted with negative life events to reduce their effect on both anxiety and depression. LimitationsAll measures were self-reported. The cross-sectional design only provides evidence of correlation. ConclusionsThe results in this study revealed that self-esteem as a component of psychological defense mechanism to reduce the harm of environmental threats to individuals. Low self-esteem college students are more likely to have adverse effects when experiencing low-level life events. University mental health education reduces the effects of negative life events on trait anxiety and depression of college students by raising their self-esteem levels.

Exploring the spatial pattern of house collapse rates caused by extreme rainfall in central China: The role of natural and social factors

The collapse of houses represents a prominent hazard associated with floods, mudslides, and other disastrous events resulting from extreme rainfall. Nevertheless, previous research in this area has been insufficiently dedicated to comprehending the factors that specifically contribute to house collapse triggered by extreme rainfall. This study endeavors to address this knowledge gap by proposing a hypothesis that the occurrence of house collapse, induced by extreme rainfall, demonstrates spatial heterogeneity and is subject to the interactive impacts of various factors. In the study, we investigate the relationship between house collapse rates and natural and social factors in the provinces of Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces in 2021. These provinces are representative of flood-prone areas in central China. Spatial scan statistics and GeoDetector model were used to analyze spatial hotspot areas of house collapse rates and determinant power of natural and social factors on the spatial heterogeneity of house collapse rates, respectively. Our analysis reveals that the spatial hotspot areas predominantly concentrated in regions characterized by high rainfall, including areas along riverbanks and low-lying regions. Multiple factors contribute to the variations in house collapse rates. Among these factors, precipitation (q = 0.32) is the most significant, followed by the ratio of brick-concrete houses (q = 0.24), per capita GDP (q = 0.13), elevation (q = 0.13) and other factors. Notably, the interaction of precipitation and slope explains 63 % of the damage pattern, making it the strongest causal factor. The results substantiate our initial hypothesis and underscore the fact that the pattern of damage does not solely rely on a singular factor but rather on the interaction of multiple factors. These findings hold significance in advancing the formulation of more precise strategies aimed at bolstering safety measures and safeguarding properties within regions susceptible to flooding.