County Area Research Articles

Women’s Football Prospects in City of Zadar and Zadar County

The research conducted is focused on status and prospects of women’s football in the city of Zadar and Zadar County. Since football is the most famous sport in the world, and thus also in the mentioned area, it transcends the category of sport. The concept of sport is not unambiguous and it has no unique generally accepted definition. The aim of the research was to determine the satisfaction of the respondents with the status and popularity of women’s football in the city of Zadar and Zadar County.The research used a method of survey and a suitable questionnaire in order to investigate satisfaction of respondents with social status of women’s football in the city of Zadar and Zadar County. The respondents included 78 sports employees, coaches and players of women’s football from the city of Zadar and Zadar County area. The aim of this research is to establish the level of satisfaction of the respondents with social status of women’s football and the level of its popularity growth in the city of Zadar and Zadar County. Moreover, the aim is also to establish the level of socialization of such population achieved by participating in women’s football. According to this research it is possible to confirm the hypothesis that participants are not completely satisfied with social status and the popularity growth of women’s football in the city of Zadar and Zadar County and that the level of socialization is improved by participating in such activity.

Public psychological crisis reports: an investigation during the remission of COVID-19 in China

PurposeThe COVID-19 outbreak has been effectively controlled in China, but the resulting public psychological crisis is a latent, persistent and torturous disaster. This crisis affects not only the individual’s health but also social stability. This study aims to reveal the structure and situation of public psychological crisis during the remission period of the COVID-19 epidemic.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire survey of the psychological crisis was conducted from February to May 2021. Data was collected from 1,056 respondents from different provinces in China.FindingsThe findings reveal the dangerous risks of public psychological crises. The specific results are as follows: first, a hierarchical state structure of psychological crisis is constructed and characterized as a significant gradient decline, namely, anxious state>panic state>depressive state>hostile state. Second, 43.939% of respondents reported an anxious state, 46.780% reported a panic state, 40.909% reported a depressive state, 28.883% reported a hostile state and 22.254% of the respondents had four psychological crisis states. Third, those with 56–65 years of age, equal or below high school and PhD, with monthly family incomes of ¥50,000–¥100,000 and living in the county and city areas have relatively high levels of psychological crisis.Originality/valueThis study enriches the research on the evolution of the psychological crisis in terms of structure and periods. This study also provides substantial evidence for hierarchical intervention and differentiated intervention of psychological crisis.

国家重点生态功能区县域环境空气质量时空变化分析

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 国家重点生态功能区县域环境空气质量时空变化分析 DOI: 10.5846/stxb202103300828 作者: 作者单位: 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家重点研发计划项目（2016YFC0500205）；国家自然科学基金项目（41571391） Spatiotemporal analysis of environmental air quality in counties of national key ecological function areas Author: Affiliation: Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:评估国家重点生态功能区县域空气质量改善状况，对落实国家生态文明建设与重点生态功能区转移支付制度具有现实意义。以国家重点生态功能区转移支付县域空气质量为评价对象，基于2015年至2019年的空气质量监测站点日均值数据，对环境空气质量状况和变化进行了评价分析。研究结果表明：国家重点生态功能区转移支付县域空气质量总体表现较好且仍在稳步提升，转移支付政策对2015-2019年国家重点功能区空气质量的改善有着明显的推动作用。优良天数比例超过90%的县域占比由2015年的33.77%提高到2019年的69.52%，水源涵养区的优良天数占比由2015年的72.71%提高到2019年的92.09%，空气质量改善效果最为显著。2015-2019年间，细颗粒物（PM2.5）污染占比明显下降，臭氧（O3）污染占比大幅上升，主要超标污染物由颗粒物逐渐转为颗粒物和臭氧。当前防风固沙区的主要超标污染物为可吸入颗粒物（PM10）和细颗粒物，其他三类生态功能区为细颗粒物和臭氧。重点生态功能区的空气质量存在着显著的空间差异，空气污染表现出显著的空间聚集特征。在四类国家重点生态功能区中，生物多样性区的空气质量最好，水源涵养区次之，水土保持区稍差，防风固沙区最差。国家重点生态功能区承担着保障国家生态安全的重要功能，今后仍需持续加强国家重点生态功能区空气质量监测力度，细化生态系统建设评估指标体系，为生态环境保护措施的有效实施和国家重点生态功能区生态环境建设的管理决策提供科学依据。 Abstract:Evaluation of the environmental air quality in counties of the national key ecological function areas is of practical significance to the implementation of the ecological civilization construction and transfer payment system for the national key ecological function areas. Took the air quality of transfer payment counties in the national key ecological function areas as the evaluation object, the status and changes of ambient air quality were evaluated and analyzed based on the daily average data of air quality monitoring stations from 2015 to 2019. The conclusion of the research indicated that the overall air quality of transfer payment counties in the national key ecological function areas was generally good and improving, transfer payment policy has a significant promoting effect on the improvement of air quality in the national key functional areas from 2015 to 2019. The proportion of counties with more than 90% good air quality days increased from 33.77% in 2015 to 69.52% in 2019, and the water conservation areas` proportion of excellent air quality days increased from 72.71% in 2015 to 92.09% in 2019, with the most significant improvement in air quality. Between 2015 and 2019, with the significantly decreased in proportion of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution, and increased in the proportion of ozone (O3) pollution, the main non-attainment pollutants were gradually changed from particulate matter to particulate matter and ozone. At present inhalable particles (PM10) and fine particulate matter were the main over standard pollutants in the sand fixation areas, and fine particulate matter and ozone were the other three types of the national key ecological function areas. There were significant spatial differences in air quality in the national key ecological function areas, and air pollution exhibited significant spatial aggregation characteristics. Among the four ecological function areas, the air quality of the biodiversity conservation areas was the best, followed by the water conservation areas, the water and soil conservation areas was slightly worse, and the sand fixation areas was the worst. The national key ecological function areas undertake the important function of guaranteeing national ecological safety. In the future, it is still necessary to continue to strengthen the air quality monitoring of the national key ecological function areas and refine the evaluation index system of ecosystem construction, so as to provide a scientific basis for the effective implementation of ecological environment protection measures and the management decision-making of ecological environment construction of the national key ecological functional areas. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Spatial-temporal Characteristics and Source Apportionment of Ambient VOCs in Southeast Mountain Area of China

Seasonal variations and sources of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were conducted at the county and rural sites in a mountain area of southeastern China. The results showed that the pattern of VOC concentrations was dominated by oxygenated VOCs (37.6%) and alkanes (25.8%), followed by halocarbons (16.8%), alkenes (11.9%), aromatics (6.87%), and alkynes (1.04%). Based on the OH radical loss rate (LOH) and ozone formation potential (OFP) analysis, alkenes had the highest chemical activity, especially the contribution of isoprene in rural areas. Aromatics contributed the most to secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formation in both county and rural areas. Source apportionment of VOCs were quantified by the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, including industrial emissions and combustion burning (30.1% and 43.3% in the county and rural areas, respectively) and vehicle exhausts (30.3% and 10.8%), followed by solvent usage (17.1% and 5.2%), liquid petroleum gas (LPG) usage and fuel evaporation (14.2% and 10.0%), and biogenic source (8.3% and 30.6%). The backward air trajectories showed that air mass in spring was mainly originated from the intercity transmission, while the air clusters in autumn came from the northern areas through long-range transport. The study was helpful to understand the pollution characteristics in the mountainous area and provides a scientific basis for local O3 and PM2.5 pollution control.

The Impacts of Internet + Rural Financial Industry on County Economy and Industrial Growth Algorithm

In recent years, commercial banks and rural financial institutions in and below the county area have developed rapidly, and the number of outlets has increased rapidly. But for the vast rural areas of the country, the number of outlets is still limited. At present, there are still a large number of areas with zero financial coverage in rural the country. The development of the financial industry in a region not only affects the level of local economic growth but also has a good effect on improving the income level of local residents and changing the way of local economic development. To better develop rural finance and county economy, this paper constructs an artificial neural network model and FA model to predict the rural finance industry, and four indicators are selected to test the performance measurement of the model. The hit rates of the five models are 54.65%, 53.75%, 59.78%, 65.1%, and 73.08%, respectively. The model proposed in this paper has the highest hit rate and can predict rural finance more accurately as well, allowing for clearer changes in county economic and industrial growth.

Typology of rural settlements in the West Herzegovina Canton

The paper presents the typology of rural settlements in the West Herzegovina Canton. Since the middle of the 20th century, the rural areas of the Canton have been facing numerous negative economic and demographic processes. Given that, according to the OECD criteria, they make up over 90% of the county's area, they therefore deserve more attention. Based on the analysis of existing typologies, a new typology was created for the purposes of this paper, which is based on a disaggregated model, and six types of rural settlements were defined based on the analysis of natural geographic and socioeconomic factors.

Parameter assignment for InVEST habitat quality module based on principal component analysis and grey coefficient analysis.

The Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model is a concise approach to evaluate the status of habitat quality for supporting ecosystem management and decision making. Assigning parameters accurately in the InVEST model is the premise for effectively simulating habitat quality. The purpose of this study is to propose an available method for assigning the important parameters in the Habitat Quality module of InVEST. Herein, the methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and grey relational analysis (GRA) were utilized to assign the weights of threat factors and the sensitivity of each habitat type to each threat factor, respectively. Through a case study of the habitat quality of Fuzhou City, we find that using PCA and GRA methods to assign parameters is feasible. Generally, the habitat quality of Fuzhou City in 2015 and 2018 was above the fair suitable level, and the proportion of fair suitable and good suitable habitats was about 83%. The areas with higher habitat quality were mainly concentrated in forest, wetland and grassland ecosystems. The spots with lower habitat quality were scattered all over the main urban areas of districts and counties, and their periphery. GDP per capita and population density were the main factors that affect the habitat quality of Fuzhou City. Narrowing the economic imbalance gap is an important way to reduce population shift and relieve the pressure of the urban environment in economically developed areas. This study is expected to provide an effective method for assigning parameters in the InVEST Habitat Quality Module and support regional ecosystem conservation.

Ecological compensation strategy of the old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March based on ecosystem service value evaluation

The conflict between ecological protection and socio-economic development in the old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March can be addressed by ecological compensation. In this study, we collected 2018 data of land use, net primary productivity of vegetation, climate factors and so on. The ecosystem service value of 310 counties in the old revolutionary base areas was calculated using the data and modified equivalent factor. Then, the regional differentiated ecological compensation estimation method was applied to estimate the priority and amount of ecological compensation within the area. We further proposed the ecological compensation strategy adopted for the old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March. The results showed that the total value of ecosystem services in the old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March amounted to 2593.74 billion yuan in 2018. Forest services took the highest proportion (58.8%), followed by grassland and waters. The total amount of ecological compensation made for the old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March reached 183.405 billion yuan. Compared with this amount, there was a large gap in the actual compensation funds available to the region. In addition, the total amount of ecological compensation accounted for only 0.04% of the aggregate GDP in this area, which put some strain on local fiscal resources and showed certain viability in ecological compensation. In 2018, totally 100 old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March were designated as the priority areas for ecological compensation, consistent with the national key eco-function zone policy. However, there were deviations in the allocation of ecological compensation funds, with some priority areas receiving no compensation. As for the compensation strategy, it is necessary to put in place a diversified, market-oriented and comprehensive ecological compensation mechanism to increase the sources of ecological compensation funds at first. Then, efforts should be continued to optimize the spatial selection of ecological compensation in the old revolutionary base areas along the route of Long March and to improve the efficiency of regional ecological compensation mechanism.

Discovery of late Early Cretaceous diorite porphyrite from the Shamuluo Formation in the Gaize area, Tibet: Response to the northward subduction plate rollback event of Bangongco-Nujiang Tethys Ocean

改则地区闪长玢岩位于藏西北班公湖-怒江成矿带西段北缘，呈岩脉状侵位在成岩于浅海环境的沙木罗组地层中，是班公湖-怒江特提斯洋向北俯冲造山消减过程的产物，而其岩石成因、地质意义和深部动力学过程等尚欠缺详细的研究。本文研究了发育于改则地区的闪长玢岩，对其开展了岩相学、锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年代学以及元素和同位素地球化学的研究，对其岩石成因、成岩构造地质背景、深部地球动力学过程等进行了分析和讨论，并对其含矿性进行了评价，为该地区下一步找矿方向提供了初步的设想。锆石U-Pb同位素年代测试显示闪长玢岩具有较多锆石结晶年龄段，相较于研究区出露的沙木罗组碎屑锆石年代学特征，其最新年龄段（117~126Ma）加权平均年龄为120.4Ma，可代表其结晶年龄。元素地球化学结果显示闪长玢岩具有弧岩浆的典型特征，属于高钾钙碱性和准铝质系列岩石，结合锆石微量元素等指标综合判断其属于I型花岗岩类岩石。本文综合全岩Sr-Nd-Pb同位素组成特征等分析认为，闪长玢岩形成于新生玄武质下地壳的部分熔融，岩浆源区残留相以角闪岩相为主，源区物质有少量沉积物组份的参与，侵位过程中分离结晶和地壳混染作用不明显。通过多种方法判别并结合区域构造背景，我们认为闪长玢岩成岩于班公湖-怒江特提斯洋北向俯冲板片折返的地球动力学背景。由于地处俯冲板片后端根部，改则地区闪长玢岩俯冲角度小于成岩于俯冲板片前端同时代的多龙矿集区中酸性岩浆岩，亦小于成岩于相同板片构造位置的103.5Ma的革吉闪长玢岩，暗示120.4~103.5Ma时班公湖-怒江特提斯洋北向俯冲板片仍处于持续折返阶段。由于其俯冲角度较小以及岩浆源区低氧逸度等因素导致其无法成矿。因此建议在多龙矿集区和改则县中间位置寻找可能的与俯冲背景有关的成矿靶区，但是否见矿还应考虑构造、围岩、后期保存等条件的影响。;The diorite porphyrite in Gaize area, located in the northern margin of the western section of the Bangongco-Nujiang metallogenic belt, emplaced into the Shamuluo Formation formed from shallow sea environment. It was the product of the northward subduction of Bangongco-Nujiang Tethys Ocean (BNTO). Taking diorite porphyrite in Gaize area as the research object, this paper studied petrography, zircon U-Pb chronology, elements, and isotope geochemistry, analyzed its petrogenesis and source characteristics, discussed its diagenetic tectonic background, described its deep dynamic process in detail, explained the possible reasons for its non-mineralization, and provided a preliminary idea for the next prospecting direction in this area. Zircon U-Pb isotopic dating shows that diorite porphyrite has many stages of age. Compared with the detrital zircon chronological characteristics of Shamulo Formation in the study area, the weighted average age of the latest age group (117~126Ma) is 120.4Ma, which can represent its crystallizing age. The element geochemical results show that diorite porphyrite is a typical island arc magma with high potassium calc-alkaline characteristics, belonging to quasi-aluminous series. Combined with the characteristics of zircon trace elements, the diorite porphyrite has the characteristics of I-type granitoids. Based on the analysis of the Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic composition of the whole rock, it is considered that the diorite porphyrite was formed in the partial melting of the juvenile basaltic lower crust, the residual facies in the magmatic source are mainly amphibolite facies, with the addition of a small amount of sediment components, and the separation, crystallization and crustal contamination in the emplacement process is not obvious. Through a variety of methods and combined with the regional tectonic background, we present that the diorite porphyrite was formed in the geodynamic background of rollback within the process of northward subduction of the BNTO. Because it is located at the root of the back end of the subducted plate, the subduction angle of the diorite porphyrite in Gaize area is smaller than that of the intermediate acid magmatic rock in the Duolong ore district, which formed from the front of the subducted plate at same time, and is also smaller than that of Geji diorite porphyrite, which is located at the same tectonic location of the subducted plate and formed at 103.5Ma. It is suggested that the northward subduction plate of the BNTO is still in the stage of continuous rollback during 120.4~103.5Ma. It cannot be mineralized because of its small subduction angle and low oxygen fugacity in the magmatic source area. Therefore, it is suggested to look for possible ore-forming targets related to the subduction background between the Duolong ore concentration area and Gaize County, but the influence of structure, surrounding rocks and late preservation should also be considered.

How a New Cenozoic Geology and Glacial History Paradigm Explains Topographic Map Drainage System and Erosional Landform Evidence: Elbert and Lincoln Counties, Colorado, USA

Detailed topographic map drainage system and erosional landform evidence such as drainage route orientations, drainage divides, divide crossings (low points on drainage divides), erosional escarpments, and similar features in the east central Colorado Elbert and Lincoln County region are considered as pieces of a complex but solvable drainage history puzzle. A satisfactory solution to date has eluded investigators who have worked from the accepted Cenozoic geology and glacial history paradigm (accepted paradigm) perspective in which climatic and tectonic factors operating over long time periods lead to what might be considered to be a randomly determined regional drainage history. A new and fundamentally different Cenozoic geology and glacial history paradigm (new paradigm) in which immense and prolonged south-oriented continental ice sheet meltwater floods flowed across the Elbert and Lincoln County area which at that time was near the rising rim surrounding a thick continental icesheet created and occupied deep “hole”. Map evidence documents how northeast-oriented Republican River headwaters valleys eroded headward across must have been large southeast-oriented floods probably moving toward what at that time would have been an actively eroding and deep east-oriented Arkansas River valley head and how those massive southeast-oriented floods subsequently lowered the Colorado Piedmont surface before being beheaded and reversed when the deep northeast- and east-oriented South Platte River valley eroded headward to create in an identifiable sequence (from east to west) what are now long north-oriented South Platte River tributaries. New paradigm predicted massive and prolonged south-oriented meltwater floods flowing across what must have been a rising region explains much, if not all of the Elbert and Lincoln County detailed topographic map drainage system and erosional landform evidence.

Ion Selective Electrode Determination of Ammonia Nitrogen in Passaic River Waste Water in New Jersey Essex County Area

The percent ammonia nitrogen was determined in Passaic River waste water using Ion-Selective Electrode EPA Method 350.3. The intelligent ammonia sensor integrates ammonia electrode, pH electrode and Ammonia Ion electrode together to realize the in situ detection of ammonia. The test results have shown that the sensor is easy operation, low cost and no pollution. The ammonia is determined potentiometrically using an ammonia ion selective electrode and a pH/mV meter, having an expanded millivolt scale. The ammonia selective electrode uses a hydrophobic gas-permeable membrane to separate the sample solution from an electrode internal solution of ammonium chloride. Dissolved ammonia is converted to NH3 gas by raising the pH to above 11.0 with a strong base. NH3 gas diffuses the membrane and changes the internal solution pH that is sensed by the electrode. In single laboratory test results have been found 1.001 NH3-/L and 0.897 mg NH3-N/L, recoveries were 77.3% and 83.1%, respectively.

Do Citizen Science Methods Identify Regions of High Avian Biodiversity?

Citizen science may offer a way to improve our knowledge of the spatial distribution of biodiversity and endemism, as the data collected by this method can be integrated into existing data sources to provide a more robust understanding of broad scale patterns of species richness. We explored whether data collected by citizen scientists agree on identifying regions of high avian species richness in a well-studied state. We compiled and examined the number of bird species detected in each of the 77 counties of Oklahoma based on published range maps, museum collections, and by five citizen science methods: the USGS Breeding Bird Survey, the Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas, eBird, the Oklahoma Winter Bird Atlas, and National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Counts. We also quantified the number of species of conservation concern recorded by each method in each county. A total of 460 species were reported across the state, with the total number of species detected by each method ranging from 40% of this total (Winter Bird Atlas) to 94% of this total (eBird). In general, species totals were poorly correlated across methods, with only six of 21 combinations (28.6%) showing significant correlations. Total species numbers recorded in each county were correlated with human population density and county area, but not with mean annual temperature or precipitation. The total number of species of conservation concern was correlated with the total number of species detected, county area, and precipitation. Most of the citizen science methods examined in this study were not explicitly designed to identify regions of high biodiversity and so efforts to use these methods for this purpose should be employed only cautiously and with a thorough understanding of potential biases.

Lymph node yield as a prognostic factor in clinically node negative oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

Objectives:To determine the prognostic significance of nodal yield in patients with clinically node-negative (cN0) oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC).Methods:This retrospective observational study included 40 patients with cN0 OCSCC who underwent treatment with at least 6 months of follow-up data from November 2012 to April 2020. We recorded the variables, including patient demographics, cancer site, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging, type of treatment, lymph node yield (LNY), histopathologic diagnosis, and recurrence. The recorded data were analyzed with descriptive and interferential statistics using specific tests.Results:Our study cohort comprised of 27 males and 13 females with a mean age of 60.08+13.153 years. Tongue (55%) was the commonly affected site. Seventeen (42.5%) patients belonged to TNM stage II. The mean LNY in our study was 38.65±25.41 (range 7-98). Following surgery, 19 (47.5%) patients further received adjuvant therapies. Recurrence was reported only in 4 (10%) patients. There was no significant difference between LNY and recurrence rate (p=0.892). Factors including, age (p=0.121), gender (p=0.209), site (p=0.519), size of tumor (p=0.416) did not influence the LNY.Conclusion:There is no correlation between LNY and recurrence in cN0 OCSCC patients in our study. Meticulous neck dissection and thorough pathologic reporting prevents TNM under staging and improves the overall survival and prognosis.

The feasibility of medical unmanned aerial systems in suburban areas.

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests (OHCA) are one of the biggest challenges facing medical systems world-wide. Each year, more than 420,000 Americans experience cardiac arrests with a survival rate of approximately 10%.1 A large challenge to treating OHCA continues to be rapid access to AEDs which can increase survival rates up to 40%.1 While pivotal to an OHCA patient's survival, AEDs are not always readily available. Advances in unmanned aerial systems (UAS) - commonly referred to as drones - can provide a solution since UAS have the ability to rapidly carry an AED payload to an emergency site. This study examined the potential use of UAS delivered AEDs in suburban areas by using the Charlottesville-Albemarle area as an example. This study was carried out by using Geographical Information Systems mapping. Specifications of the Eagle drone model by Flirtey were used to develop a beneficial drone placement plan. Models were created with drones at first responder stations. Coverage area of the drones at first responder stations was compared to coverage area of drone units placed at "ideal" locations in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County area. Population statistics were gathered from the GIS program Social Explorer, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The "ideal" location placement plan was then evaluated for an estimate of total population covered by the system. Finally, ideal drone placements were evaluated and compared to response time and distances versus a local EMS ground unit. With the derived ideal placements, 70.08% of the area would have drone coverage that could deliver an AED in less than five minutes and 97.97% of the area would have coverage in less than 10min. At minimum, 94.72% of the population would be covered by the ideal placements of drones within the area. Drone response time was significantly faster than ground EMS response by a factor of 5× (P value < .05). Drones were able to get to the incident scene of a theoretical OHCA faster without and with vertical response challenges. The results show that UAS delivery of AEDs is not only possible in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County area, but an effective way to decrease response time to improve chances of survival for a person experiencing an OHCA in similar suburban areas.

Race-ethnicity and COVID-19 Vaccination Beliefs and Intentions: A Cross-Sectional Study among the General Population in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Objective: The study was designed to compare intentions to receive COVID-19 vaccination by race–ethnicity, to identify beliefs that may mediate the association between race–ethnicity and intention to receive the vaccine and to identify the demographic factors and beliefs most strongly predictive of intention to receive a vaccine. Design: Cross-sectional survey conducted from November 2020 to January 2021, nested within a longitudinal cohort study of the prevalence and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 among a general population-based sample of adults in six San Francisco Bay Area counties (called TrackCOVID). Study Cohort: In total, 3161 participants among the 3935 in the TrackCOVID parent cohort responded. Results: Rates of high vaccine willingness were significantly lower among Black (41%), Latinx (55%), Asian (58%), Multi-racial (59%), and Other race (58%) respondents than among White respondents (72%). Black, Latinx, and Asian respondents were significantly more likely than White respondents to endorse lack of trust of government and health agencies as a reason not to get vaccinated. Participants’ motivations and concerns about COVID-19 vaccination only partially explained racial–ethnic differences in vaccination willingness. Concerns about a rushed government vaccine approval process and potential bad reactions to the vaccine were the two most important factors predicting vaccination intention. Conclusions: Vaccine outreach campaigns must ensure that the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on historically marginalized racial–ethnic communities is not compounded by inequities in vaccination. Efforts must emphasize messages that speak to the motivations and concerns of groups suffering most from health inequities to earn their trust to support informed decision making.

Predicting PM2.5 atmospheric air pollution using deep learning with meteorological data and ground-based observations and remote-sensing satellite big data.

Air pollution is one of the world’s leading factors for early deaths. Every 5 s, someone around the world dies from the adverse health effects of air pollution. In order to mitigate the effects of air pollution, we must first understand it, find its patterns and correlations, and predict it in advance. Air pollution prediction requires highly complex predictive models to solve this spatiotemporal problem. We use advanced deep learning models including the Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) and Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (ConvLSTM) to learn patterns of particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5) over spatial and temporal correlations. We model meteorological features with a time-series set of multidimensional weighted directed graphs and interpolate dense meteorological graphs using the GCN architecture. We also use remote-sensing satellite imagery of various atmospheric pollutant matters. We utilize government maintained ground-based PM2.5 sensor data along with remote sensing satellite imagery using a ConvLSTM to predict PM2.5 over the greater Los Angeles county area roughly 10 days in the future using 10 days of data from the past in 46-h increments. Our error results on the PM2.5 predictions over time and along each sensor location show significant improvement over existing research in the field utilizing spatiotemporal deep predictive algorithms.

Trends and constraints of utilization of preserved cowpea leaves among households in arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya: a convergent mixed method study

BackgroundAs much as local communities have employed traditional techniques of preservation to enhance availability and utilization of cowpea leaves, the efficiency of these techniques in achieving food security need to be established. The current study sought to document trends and constraints of utilization of preserved cowpea leaves in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) in order to overcome of seasonal availability of the vegetable.MethodA mixed method convergent design that included household survey of randomly sampled cowpea producing households and focus group discussion and key informant interviews with stakeholders in the ASAL areas of Kitui and Taita Taveta Counties of Kenya was conducted.ResultsThe study found that the utilization of preserved forms of cowpea leaves in the in-season was by 58% of the respondents. Three quarters (73.6%) of the households could not get the vegetables from their own sources during scarcity, whereas 25% did not consume the vegetables at all at such times. The preserved forms of the vegetables was utilized among 24.0% of the households, with significantly (p < 0.05) higher utilization in less arid areas. Households that were involved in commercialization of cowpea leaves and sale of the preserved forms in the open air market had significantly higher likelihood (p < 0.001, OR = 2.47 and p < 0.001, OR = 2.3, respectively) of utilization of the vegetables during scarcity. Emerging themes from the qualitative survey showed that weaknesses in the policy environment, stakeholder interest, marketing and accessibility to proper equipment were the deterrents of traditional preservation of the vegetable.ConclusionIn conclusion, the preserved forms of cowpea leaves promoted availability of the vegetable especially in the dry seasons. In as much as there is limited practising of preservation of the vegetables, its availability is enhanced through dehydration and other value-addition techniques among a significant number of the households.

Prevalence and Correlates of SARS CoV-2 Among a Community-Based Sample Recruited Using Randomized Venue-Based Sampling. Essex County, NJ, 2020.

Disparities in morbidity and mortality related to COVID-19 based on race and ethnicity have been documented in the USA. However, it is unclear if these disparities also exist at the exposure stage. To determine this, studies are needed to document the underlying burden of disease, potential disparities through serologic surveillance. Additionally, such studies can help identify where along the disease spectrum (e.g., exposure, infection, diagnosis, treatment, death) and with regard to the structural factors that necessitate public health and/or clinical interventions. Our objectives in this study were to estimate the true burden of SARS CoV-2 in the community of Essex County, NJ, an early and hard hit area, to determine the correlates of SARS CoV-2 prevalence and to determine if COVID-19 disparities seen by race/ethnicity were also reflected in SARS CoV-2 burden. We utilized venue-based-sampling (VBS) to sample members of the community in Essex County. Participants completed a short electronic survey and provided finger stick blood samples for testing. We sampled 924 residents of Essex County, New Jersey. Testing conducted in this study identified 83 (9.0%) participants as positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Importantly, our findings suggest that the true burden of SARS-Cov-2 and the pool of persons potentially spreading the virus are slightly more than six times than that suggested by PCR testing Notably, there were no significant differences in odds of testing positive for SARS CoV-2 antibodies in terms of race/ethnicity where we compared Black and Latinx participants to other race participants. Our study suggests that disparities in COVID-19 outcomes stem from potential upstream issues such as underlying conditions, access to testing, and access to care rather than disparities in exposure to the virus.

A comparison of BG Sentinel and CDC trap attractants for mosquito surveillance in urban and suburban areas of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, Maryland, U.S.A.

Monitoring mosquito populations is crucial for vector-borne disease surveillance. Routine mosquito surveillance in many regions of the United States is performed either by vector abatement districts or public health departments. These surveillance programs often use multiple trap types and attractants to target key mosquito species, however setting different traps with varying attractants can be expensive and labor intensive. Because funding for mosquito control is highly variable throughout the U.S., some programs may be limited in their surveillance capabilities. To determine whether a single trap-attractant combination could provide specificity for key vector and nuisance species, as well as sensitivity for rare species, we compared the BG-Sentinel 2 and CDC miniature light traps paired with CO2, UV-LED, BG Lure, BG Sweetscent, octenol, or chicken feathers. Trapping was conducted biweekly from June/July-October 2019 and 2020 in Montgomery and Prince George's County, MD. BG traps collected significantly more Aedes albopictus than CDC traps when paired with BG Lure, Sweetscent, or octenol. BG/CO2 traps collected both the greatest number of total mosquitoes and Culex pipiens. BG/CO2, CDC/CO2, and CDC/UV traps provided the most diverse collections. Trapping with the CO2-baited BG-Sentinel is recommended as an effective strategy for general mosquito surveillance when resources are limited.

Crowding Out Development: Fiscal Federalism after the Great Recession

Since the onset of the Great Recession, austerity has become more common at the national and local levels throughout the OECD. As states pass expenditure responsibilities down to the local level, this causes a shift toward mandatory spending at the local level which may undermine discretionary spending for social and physical infrastructure. We use Census of Government Finance data from 2012 for all county areas in the continental US to model the expenditure gap between current operations and capital investment, and show how this crowd out affects growth. Our structural equation models find fiscal decentralization has direct negative effects on local growth and indirect negative effects on growth by increasing the local current-capital expenditure gap. This local expenditure gap is larger where decentralization of spending responsibility is higher and state aid is lower, especially in places with greater need (poverty, older infrastructure, and rural areas). In contrast to the theoretical claims of fiscal efficiency, we find fiscal decentralization may be undermining local economic growth by increasing the gap between local current and capital expenditure. We argue that fiscal federalism (decentralization) is “broken” in the US because states have structural incentives to shift fiscal responsibility downward to local government, and local governments face increased social and economic need, especially since the Great Recession.