City In Central China Research Articles

The Study of New Model for Urban Governance in Guangzhou

With the development of China’s economy and society, citizens have strong will to participate in urban governance, but the failure of public participation has occurred occasionally. As one of the central cities in China, Guangzhou has taken the lead in embarking urban governance reformation, and set up a public advisory committee among the people’s livelihood projects to coordinate the relationship among all interests’ parties. This diversified participatory governance model has achieved significant results in practice, but also encountered new resistance. The paper explores the reasons why the Public Advisory Committee (CPA) model is hindered in other livelihood projects and puts forward some countermeasures to optimize the urban governance reform in Guangzhou.

Characteristics and Source Analysis of Trace Elements in PM2.5 in the Urban Atmosphere of Wuhan in Spring

The concentrations of PM2.5 and trace elements with hourly resolution were measured during May 2014 in urban residential area of Wuhan, the biggest city in central China. During the period of measurement, the average temperature was approximate 25°C without domestic heating and cooling. The average concentration of PM2.5 was 95.53 µg m–3, which was higher than the limit of Ambient Air Quality Standard of China GB3095-2012 (75 µg m–3, Level 2). A sand storm original from Northwestern China was also recorded. Concentrations of major trace elements (K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Se, Pd, Ag, Cd, Au, Hg, Pb, Co, Sn, Sb, Tl) were comparable to previous studies, except for Ba and Ca with more than doubled concentrations (103 ng m–3, 1,792.49 ng m–3) due to the storm. Enrichment Factor (EF) and Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) were employed to characterize the emission sources. The computation of EF showed that Zincs was highly enriched. Four sources, biomass burning (63.2%) might mainly related to power plants using bio-waste burning and bio-related cooking activities, metallurgical and steel industries (14%), dust crustal (12.5%) and dust associated with vehicular traffic (10.4%), were identified in decreasing order of average percentage contribution to the PM2.5 mass with the aid of trace elements. The orientations of emission sources were also addressed.

Computing and Modeling of the Impact of Science and Technology Investment on Economic Growth with Econometric Analysis in the Agricultural Metropolis: A Case Study of Suzhou City in Central China

Computing and Modeling of the Impact of Science and Technology Investment on Economic Growth with Econometric Analysis in the Agricultural Metropolis: A Case Study of Suzhou City in Central China

Detection and phylogenetic analysis of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus in central China based on the ORF3 gene and the S1 gene.

BackgroundPorcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) has increased in severity in China since 2010. To investigate further the infectivity, genetic diversity and molecular epidemiology of its causative agent, the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), we assessed 129 clinical samples, which were the intestinal tissue of piglets with severe diarrhea, from 17 cities in central China. Both the spike (S) glycoprotein (S1, 1–789 amino acids (aa)) and the full-length ORF3 gene of 21 representative field strains from 21 farms in 11 cities were sequenced and analysed.MethodsPEDV was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and S1 and ORF3 sequences were processed by the Clustal W method via DNAMAN 8 software, and phylogenetic trees were constructed by the neighbor-joining method using MEGA 6 software.ResultsThe prevalence of PEDV was 92.25% and was detected in 119 of 129 samples, with 94.03% (63 of 67) of pig farms harbouring the disease. According to the phylogenetic analysis of the S1 genes, our isolates all fell into group G2 (variants) and showed a close relationship to isolates from Chinese (HN1303, CH/ZMDZY/11 and AJ1102), Korean (AD01), American (MN, IA1, IA2 and 13–019349) sources, and these isolates differed genetically from other Chinese (LZC, CH/HNZZ/2011 and SD-M) and Korean (SM98) strains as well Japanese (83-P5 and MK) strains. In addition, our isolates differed from attenuated vaccine strains, CV777 (used in China) and DR13 (used in Korea). According to our derived amino acid sequence analysis, we detected one novel variant PEDV, viz: CH/HNLY, with 4-aa insertion/deletion (RSSS/T) at position 375 and 1-aa (D) deletion at position 430 compared to the CV777 attenuated strain. These mutations were located on the receptor binding domain. Our ORF3 gene analyses showed that the prevalent PEDV isolates were variants, and the isolated strains differed genetically from the vaccine strains.ConclusionsThese findings illustrated the existence of genetic diversity among geographically distinct PEDV strains, and our study has provided an impetus to conduct further research on the PEDV receptor binding protein and on the new and efficacious vaccines design.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12985-016-0646-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Modeling urban growth boundary based on the evaluation of the extension potential: A case study of Wuhan city in China

The urban growth boundary (UGB) concept is useful in the field of urban planning, but models that can simulate the change in UGBs remain limited to date. In this paper, we propose a model known as UBEM that can simulate the future UGB. UBEM combines historical trajectories of UGB development and its extension potential in each azimuth to predict the future UGB for one city. UBEM consists of two parts: 1) the radiation method (RM) is used to describe the incremental length between the urban boundaries. In RM, urban centroids are used as the origin points to generate a set of radial lines from each azimuth, and we calculate the total and annual urban boundary length increments for each azimuth. 2) the extension pressure of the urban boundary is evaluated for different azimuths based on the potential value, which is generated by selecting a set of variables that are related to urban growth potential. Multiple time series maps were used to calibrate the model to reduce the randomness in future modeling. We compare the calibrated modeling result with those generated by the uncalibrated UBEM and a separate null model, applying two goodness of fit metrics to evaluate model accuracy: percent area match (PAM) quantity and PAM location were used to demonstrate that the calibrated UBEM performed better than the uncalibrated UBEM and null model when modeling the change in the urban boundary. Wuhan City in central China is used as a case study to test the viability of UBEM and predict the future UGB in 2020. The predication result offers helpful guidelines for Wuhan's future urban planning and UGB design.

Investigation of molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in department of critical care medicine

Objective: To investigate the feature of antimicrobial resistance, homology and other molecular epidemiology of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) in Department of Critical Care Medicine(ICU). Methods: From October 2010 to December 2011, 149 strains of MRSA were collected and identified through sputum culture of patients from 10 ICUs of 10 teaching hospitals distributed in 9 chinese central city of China. Susceptibility testing to 18 kinds of antibiotic was performed, the method of pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to analyze the homology, and the technique of multilocus sequencing typing (MLST) was used to identify the sequence type (ST). Results: Antibiotic susceptibility testing implied that vancomycin, daptomycin and linezolid are 100% sensitive to collected 149 strains of MRSA. Cotrimoxazole resistance rate is about 0-11.1%. Rifampicin resistant rate was less than 25% in 2 hospitals; the resistance rate of gentamicin and moxifloxacin were more than 80% besides of 50% to70% in 3 hospitals; beta lactam resistant rate was 100%. In 149 strains of MRSA, the main types of PFGE were J (28.9%), C (19.5%), G (10.7%), F (8%)types. J, C, G types mainly distributed in the North, while the F type only distributed in the Guiyang region. The MLST type: 8 ST types were determined ultimately. In which, was dominated by ST-239(67 strains, 45%), distributed in the South and North; followed by ST-5 (54 strains, 36.2%), mainly in the Northeast region (χ2=26.42, P<0.01). Conclusions: Vancomycin, daptomycin and linezolid are 100% sensitive drugs to MRSA in ICU; Higher regional homology for MRSA were observed and it is probably that homologic disseminated infection exited in ICU. It is necessary to enhance continuous monitoring and take effective nosocomial infection control action to avoid MRSA homologic outbreak.

Evaluating the Governing Factors of Variability in Nocturnal Boundary Layer Height Based on Elastic Lidar in Wuhan.

The atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), an atmospheric region near the Earth’s surface, is affected by surface forcing and is important for studying air quality, climate, and weather forecasts. In this study, long-term urban nocturnal boundary layers (NBLs) were estimated by an elastic backscatter light detection and ranging (LiDAR) with various methods in Wuhan (30.5° N, 114.4° E), a city in Central China. This study aims to explore two ABL research topics: (1) the relationship between NBL height (NBLH) and near-surface parameters (e.g., sensible heat flux, temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity) to elucidate meteorological processes governing NBL variability; and (2) the influence of NBLH variations in surface particulate matter (PM) in Wuhan. We analyzed the nocturnal ABL-dilution/ABL-accumulation effect on surface particle concentration by using a typical case. A long-term analysis was then performed from 5 December 2012–17 June 2016. Results reveal that the seasonal averages of nocturnal (from 20:00 to 05:00 next day, Chinese standard time) NBLHs are 386 ± 161 m in spring, 473 ± 154 m in summer, 383 ± 137 m in autumn, and 309 ± 94 m in winter. The seasonal variations in NBLH, AOD, and PM2.5 display a deep (shallow) seasonal mean NBL, consistent with a small (larger) seasonal mean PM2.5 near the surface. Seasonal variability of NBLH is partly linearly correlated with sensible heat flux at the surface (R = 0.72). Linear regression analyses between NBLH and other parameters show the following: (1) the positive correlation (R = 0.68) between NBLH and surface temperature indicates high (low) NBLH corresponding to warm (cool) conditions; (2) the slight positive correlation (R = 0.52) between NBLH and surface relative humidity in Wuhan; and (3) the weak positive correlation (R = 0.38) between NBLH and wind speed inside the NBL may imply that the latter is not an important direct driver that governs the seasonal variability of NBLH.

Microplastics pollution in inland freshwaters of China: A case study in urban surface waters of Wuhan, China

Microplastics have been considered as an emerging pollutant in the aquatic environment. However, research about microplastic pollution in inland freshwaters of China is insufficient. The present study investigated the levels of microplastics in surface water of 20 urban lakes and urban reaches of the Hanjiang River and Yangtze River of Wuhan, the largest city in central China. Microplastic concentrations ranged from 1660.0±639.1 to 8925±1591n/m3 for the studied waters, with the highest concentration found in Bei Lake. Microplastic abundance in lakes varied markedly in space, and negatively correlated with the distance from the city center (p<0.001), which confirmed the important role of anthropogenic factors in microplastic distribution. Urban reaches of the Hanjiang River and Yangtze River were found to have relatively lower levels of microplastics than most of the studied lakes. The major type of microplastics among the studied waters was colored plastic, with fiber being the most frequent shape. More than 80% of microplastics in number had a size of <2mm. Polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene were the dominant polymer-types of microplastics analyzed. This study provided important reference for better understanding microplastic levels in inland freshwaters.

Land use/cover change and the urbanization process in the Wuhan area from 1991 to 2013 based on MESMA

Rapid urbanization leads to rapid land use/cover change that can cause a severe deterioration of living environment in urban areas. Although numerous research projects have explored land use/cover change and the urbanization process with remote sensing data, only a few have focused on the analysis of their temporal and spatial variations in a visualized method using sub-pixel imaging techniques. In this study, Wuhan, the largest developing city in Central China, was chosen as the experimental region. Six scenes from Landsat images were selected, covering a lengthy period. To solve the problem of mixed pixels in urban areas, the spectrum of each image was selected individually and multiple endmember spectral mixture analysis (MESMA), a sub-pixel imaging soft classification technique, was applied. The land-use dynamic and time-series land-cover fractional maps were produced to evaluate the land use/cover change situation. Next, the land-cover change intensity was calculated and the dominant land-cover change intensity is proposed as a virtualized method of analyzing the urbanization process during each period covered by the Landsat images. The results of the study demonstrate that the land-cover categories and fractional information were effectively acquired following the implementation of MESMA. This information shows that the built-up areas in Wuhan have expanded at an average rate of 4.36 % rate in the last 20 years. The urbanization process has resulted in the transformation of the natural landscape to anthropogenic urban built-up areas. It is surprised that these transformations have not been smooth. In addition, the urbanization process exhibits different patterns during each period.

An Improved Iterative Fitting Method to Estimate Nocturnal Residual Layer Height

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) is an atmospheric region near the Earth’s surface. It is significant for weather forecasting and for the study of air quality and climate. In this study, the top of nocturnal residual layers—which are what remain of the daytime mixing layer—are estimated by an elastic backscatter Lidar in Wuhan (30.5°N, 114.4°E), a city in Central China. The ideal profile fitting method is widely applied to determine the nocturnal residual layer height (RLH) from Lidar data. However, the method is seriously affected by an optical thick layer. Thus, we propose an improved iterative fitting method to eliminate the optical thick layer effect on RLH detection using Lidar. Two typical case studies observed by elastic Lidar are presented to demonstrate the theory and advantage of the proposed method. Results of case analysis indicate that the improved method is more practical and precise than profile-fitting, gradient, and wavelet covariance transform method in terms of nocturnal RLH evaluation under low cloud conditions. Long-term observations of RLH performed with ideal profile fitting and improved methods were carried out in Wuhan from 28 May 2011 to 17 June 2016. Comparisons of Lidar-derived RLHs with the two types of methods verify that the improved solution is practical. Statistical analysis of a six-year Lidar signal was conducted to reveal the monthly average values of nocturnal RLH in Wuhan. A clear RLH monthly cycle with a maximum mean height of about 1.8 km above ground level was observed in August, and a minimum height of about 0.7 km was observed in January. The variation in monthly mean RLH displays an obvious quarterly dependence, which coincides with the annual variation in local surface temperature.

Ecosystem Services Valuation of Lakeside Wetland Park beside Chaohu Lake in China

Wetland ecosystems are one of the three great ecosystems on Earth. With a deepening of research on wetland ecosystems, researchers have paid more and more attention to wetland ecosystem services such as flood mitigation, climate control, pollution prevention, soil-erosion prevention, biodiversity maintenance, and bio-productivity protection. This study focuses on a lakeside wetland ecosystem in Hefei, a city in central China, and estimates the value of ecosystem services such as material production, air purification, water conservation, biodiversity, recreation, species conservation, education and scientific research. We adopted the market value method, carbon tax method, afforestation cost method, shadow engineering method and contingent value method (CVM) using questionnaire survey data during the study period. The results show that the total value of the ecosystem services of Lakeside Wetland Park was 144 million CNY in 2015. Among these services, the value of society service is the maximum at 91.73 million CNY, followed by ecological service and material production service (42.23 million CNY and 10.43 billion CNY in 2015 respectively). When considering wetland ecosystems for economic development, other services must be considered in addition to material production to obtain a longer-term economic value. This research reveals that there is scope for more comprehensive and integrated model development, including multiple wetland ecosystem services and appropriate handling of wetland ecosystem management impacts.

The Short-Term Effect of Ambient Temperature on Mortality in Wuhan, China: A Time-Series Study Using a Distributed Lag Non-Linear Model.

Less evidence concerning the association between ambient temperature and mortality is available in developing countries/regions, especially inland areas of China, and few previous studies have compared the predictive ability of different temperature indictors (minimum, mean, and maximum temperature) on mortality. We assessed the effects of temperature on daily mortality from 2003 to 2010 in Jiang’an District of Wuhan, the largest city in central China. Quasi-Poisson generalized linear models combined with both non-threshold and double-threshold distributed lag non-linear models (DLNM) were used to examine the associations between different temperature indictors and cause-specific mortality. We found a U-shaped relationship between temperature and mortality in Wuhan. Double-threshold DLNM with mean temperature performed best in predicting temperature-mortality relationship. Cold effect was delayed, whereas hot effect was acute, both of which lasted for several days. For cold effects over lag 0–21 days, a 1 °C decrease in mean temperature below the cold thresholds was associated with a 2.39% (95% CI: 1.71, 3.08) increase in non-accidental mortality, 3.65% (95% CI: 2.62, 4.69) increase in cardiovascular mortality, 3.87% (95% CI: 1.57, 6.22) increase in respiratory mortality, 3.13% (95% CI: 1.88, 4.38) increase in stroke mortality, and 21.57% (95% CI: 12.59, 31.26) increase in ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality. For hot effects over lag 0–7 days, a 1 °C increase in mean temperature above the hot thresholds was associated with a 25.18% (95% CI: 18.74, 31.96) increase in non-accidental mortality, 34.10% (95% CI: 25.63, 43.16) increase in cardiovascular mortality, 24.27% (95% CI: 7.55, 43.59) increase in respiratory mortality, 59.1% (95% CI: 41.81, 78.5) increase in stroke mortality, and 17.00% (95% CI: 7.91, 26.87) increase in IHD mortality. This study suggested that both low and high temperature were associated with increased mortality in Wuhan, and that mean temperature had better predictive ability than minimum and maximum temperature in the association between temperature and mortality.

Land use dynamics and policy implications in Central China: A case study of Zhengzhou

The decisions of the central Chinese government have been a key driver of the urbanization process in large cities in eastern China, however their influence on the later-urbanizing cities in central China is unclear. The objective of this study was to use remote sensing data and spatial metrics to identify the relative influence of planning policies at various levels (relative to socioeconomic influences) on trends in landscape patterns in the rapid urbanization process of Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province and the core city of central China. Our results revealed that Zhengzhou's rapid urbanization process started about a decade after the eastern coastal cities due to the national development strategy (the Preferential Regional Development Strategy in 1980s and the Hinterland City Opening Policy in 1992), but boomed after 2000 due to increasing national support along with an increased number of planning policies at multiple levels. After 2004, the city experienced a critical landscape transition from a primarily agricultural to an urban-dominated landscape (which has not yet occurred over the whole region). Planning for an inter-city railway network and construction between cities increased the connectivity of urban space, but fragmented other land use types. Urban and green space expanded primarily into agricultural areas, reducing them in extent, simplifying their boundaries, and increasing their fragmentation; these changes likely reduce food production capacity. Trends in construction sites illustrate the exhaustion of land resources in Zhengzhou city and forecast a new round of urban growth in the adjacent cities (Xinzheng, Zhongmou and Xingyang). High-level policy intervention and scientific planning will be very important to urban-rural sustainable development for the region.

Factors affecting turnover intentions among public hospital doctors in a middle-level city in central China.

Objective The aim of the present study was to explore prominent factors affecting turnover intentions among public hospital doctors in urban areas, particularly in Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, a middle-level city in central China. Methods Questionnaires were used to collect data from 284 public hospital doctors. Pearson's Chi-squared was used to assess whether sociodemographic and other factors were related to the turnover intentions of public hospital doctors. Binary logistic regression was performed to determine the significant factors that influence turnover intentions. Results The analysis revealed that 28.2% of public hospital doctors intended to leave the hospital where they were currently employed. Dissatisfaction with working conditions and hospital management processes, as well as work pressures, were significant factors contributing to the turnover intentions of public hospital doctors. Conclusion Research into turnover intentions indicates that public hospital doctors surveyed in urban China give greater weight to their professional environment and career development rather than salary in their employment decisions. What is known about the topic? Turnover of medical staff is a concern to hospital administrators because it is costly and detrimental to organisational performance and quality of care. Most studies have focused on the effects of individual and organisational factors on nurses' intentions to leave their employment. Income dissatisfaction was one of the determining factors of turnover intentions in previous studies. What does this paper add? The satisfaction of public hospital doctors with regard to income is not a determining factor of turnover intentions. In contrast with findings of previous studies, the doctors in public hospitals in urban China in the present study gave greater weight to their professional environment and career development in their employment decisions. What are the implications for practitioners? The findings suggest that health service managers and policy makers should pay greater attention to the factors affecting public hospital doctors' turnover intentions. This study will be useful for optimising public hospital management and minimising the turnover of doctors in China.

Spatiotemporal Characterization of Land Subsidence and Uplift (2009–2010) over Wuhan in Central China Revealed by TerraSAR-X InSAR Analysis

The effects of ground deformation pose a significant geo-hazard to the environment and infrastructure in Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China, in the eastern Jianghan Plain at the intersection of the Yangtze and Han rivers. Prior to this study, however, rates and patterns of region-wide ground deformation in Wuhan were little known. Here we employ multi-temporal SAR interferometry to detect and characterize spatiotemporal variations of ground deformation in major metropolitan areas in Wuhan. A total of twelve TerraSAR-X images acquired during 2009–2010 are used in the InSAR time series analysis. InSAR-derived results are validated by levelling survey measurements and reveal a distinct subsidence pattern within six zones in major commercial and industrial areas, with a maximum subsidence rate up to −67.3 mm/year. A comparison analysis between subsiding patterns and urban developments as well as geological conditions suggests that land subsidence in Wuhan is mainly attributed to anthropogenic activities, natural compaction of soft soil, and karst dissolution of subsurface carbonate rocks. However, anthropogenic activities related to intensive municipal construction and industrial production have more significant impacts on the measured subsidence than natural factors. Moreover, remarkable signals of secular land uplift are found along both banks of the Yangtze River, especially along the southern bank, with deformation rates ranging mostly from +5 mm/year to +17.5 mm/year. A strong temporal correlation is highlighted between the detected displacement evolutions and the water level records of the Yangtze River, inferring that this previously unknown deformation phenomenon is likely related to seasonal fluctuations in water levels of the Yangtze River.

Dynamic Changes of the Ecological Footprint and Its Component Analysis Response to Land Use in Wuhan, China

Humans’ demands for biological resources and energies have always been increasing, whereas evidence has shown that this demand is outpacing the regenerative and absorptive capacity of the planet. Since China is experiencing unprecedented urbanization and industrialization processes, how much impact this has imposed on the earth during economic development worldwide is conspicuous. Therefore, this paper tries to examine the environmental impact in detail and track its changes in a typical city of Central China, Wuhan, based on ecological footprint analysis. By calculating the ecological footprint and its components in terms of biologically productive land areas during the period of 1995–2008, it is found that the ecological footprint increased in fluctuations from 1.48 gha per capita to 2.10 gha per capita, with the carbon footprint contributing most within the whole time period. Compared to the tiny declining biocapacity of the region, a gradually aggravated ecological deficit in the city was observed, which increased from 1.12 gha per capita in 1995 to 1.79 gha per capita in 2008. Component analysis on the trends of the ecological footprint and ecological deficit reveals that the impact on the ecosystem induced by humans’ demands for resource production and energy consumption became greater than before, and cutting down the consumption of fossil fuels could reduce the carbon footprint and the overall ecological deficit of the city.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey of drug allergy among healthcare practitioners in central China: a multicenter study.

BackgroundDrug allergy (DA) is one of the most important contributors to iatrogenic morbidity and mortality. Currently DA remains a major challenge for healthcare practitioners (HCPs).ObjectiveTo assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of DA among HCPs in Central China.MethodsA 25-item self-administered DA questionnaire were developed and applied in our study. The questionnaire covered 3 domains: knowledge, attitudes, and practice patterns. From July 2015 to October 2015, HCPs in 7 cities of Central China anonymously participated in the cross-sectional study.ResultsA total of 350 HCPs participated the study, 91 questionnaires uncompleted and 259 were analyzed. Among the respondents, 166 (64.1%) were doctors, 55 (21.2%) were nurses and 38 (14.7%) were medical students. The mean knowledge precision was 59.8%. HCPs agreed that drug induced immediate allergic reactions were IgE mediated (83.4%) and happened within 6 hours after drug administration (89.6%), and epinephrine was the first choice for drug induced anaphylaxis (79.5%). They also agreed that penicillin skin test was valuable to predict allergic reaction (88.4%). However, high proportion of HCPs (66.0%) believed glucocorticoids had an impact on drug skin test rather than antihistamines (4.2%), 47.1% never performed positive and negative control during skin test. More than 90% of the respondents would take patients' allergic history before drug administration, 98.8% agreed that they should receive advanced training of DA knowledge and practice.ConclusionThe HCPs demonstrated a low level of knowledge regarding DA. Advanced education is urgently needed for better understanding and filling the gaps exist in knowledge and clinical practice of DA.

Analysis of Stormwater Management Systems: Sustainable Approaches for Wuhan, China

&lt;p&gt;With the rapid pace of urbanization and drastic transformation of economic form, Wuhan, a central city of China is facing serious inland inundation problems in recent decades. This study intends to alleviate Wuhan’s storm water management problems in a sustainable way and give suggestions as to the improvement of residential area storm water management and lakeside wetland protection. Based on the data provided by Geographical Information System, analysis is done to the land form of the whole city and the change of its lake areas, which evidently demonstrates the influences of economic development on the natural environment of the city and reveals the causes of the inundation problems. Taking the population growth, land use and climate change into consideration, this research argues that strategies such as green roof fostering, neighbor-hood water reuse and wetland conservation can make a difference in stormwater drainage and prevention of inland inundation in Wuhan.&lt;/p&gt;

Characteristics and Sources of Black Carbon in Atmospheric Dustfall Particles from Huangshi, China

Concentrations of carbonaceous particles in atmospheric dustfall particles in Huangshi, an industrial city in central China, were determined using a thermal-optical reflectance method. The black carbon (BC) contents in ninety-five dustfall samples ranged from 4.3 to 64.9 g kg^(-1) with an average of 17.0 g kg^(-1). These values were higher than those in world background soils and demonstrated serious contamination of the environment in this city. Overall, BC accounted for 17.6-71.3% (mean: 42.0%) of the organic carbon (OC), and BC and OC were positively correlated (r^2 = 0.90). Average char and soot contents were 8.01 g kg^(-1) and 8.65 g kg^(-1), respectively, and char/soot ratios ranged from 0.28 to 1.97 with an average of 1.01. All the measured carbonaceous species positively correlated with each another, suggesting their common sources. BC, char, and soot showed large spatial distribution variability, with high levels of BC adjacent to the presumed emission sources, such as a power plant and railway line. Analyses of BC/OC and char/soot ratios indicate major impacts from fossil fuel combustion, especially motor vehicle emissions and coal combustion. Industrial dusts related to coal use appear to be the major contributor to BC in dustfall, and this is likely related to the extensive industrial activities in the city, including metal smelting.

The Effect of Flow Experience and Social Norms on the Adoption of Mobile Games in China

This research examines the potential factors which influence users' intention to play mobile games. Through the employment of structural equation modeling technology, a research model extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) with flow experience and social norms is proposed. This research model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 565 users in the largest city in central China. And eleven research hypotheses were proposed. Eight hypotheses were positively supported on a significant level, while three hypotheses were rejected in this study. The result indicated that attitude and flow experience explained about 66% of users' intention to play mobile games. It was found that social norms did not have a direct effect on the intention to play a mobile game. However, it affected the attitude directly. In addition, flow experience, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness all had direct effects on users' attitudes toward playing a mobile game. The research findings demonstrated that flow experience play an important role in the adoption of mobile games.