Inferior Class Research Articles

Analysis of the Water Quality Status and Its Historical Evolution Trend in the Mainstream and Major Tributaries of the Yellow River Basin

The Yellow River basin, an area of extreme water scarcity, has faced significant challenges in water quality management due to rapid economic and social development since the 1980s. This study analyzes the water quality evolution over nearly 40 years, focusing on primary pollutants like chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and permanganate index (CODMn). In the 1990s, sections of the river were severely polluted, with some areas failing to meet the lowest national standards. In 2000, 32% of the river water was classified as inferior Class V. However, enhanced water resource management and stricter pollutant regulations introduced after 2000 have significantly improved water quality. By 2010, water quality reached its nadir, with 16% of water classified as inferior Class V and 25% as Class IV–V. By 2020, water quality showed marked improvement, with a significant reduction in segments classified as inferior Class V and Class IV–V. Recent years have seen water quality stabilize, with COD meeting Class I standards and NH3-N and CODMn meeting Class II standards based on national criteria. The study also highlights discrepancies in water quality between the mainstream and tributaries of the Yellow River. While the mainstream generally maintains good water quality, many tributaries remain severely polluted. In 2022, 85% of the water in tributaries was classified as Class I to III, 12.3% as Class IV to V, and only 2.7% as Class V. However, all water in the mainstream reached Class I–III, with 86% achieving Class II and 14% achieving Class I. A detailed analysis of the Huayuankou section over the past three decades shows a general decline in pollution indicators. Seasonal water quality fluctuations, correlated with flow rates and temperatures, were observed, often exhibiting normal distribution patterns. These findings underscore the effectiveness of sustained pollution control and the need for continuous, adaptive management strategies to improve and maintain water quality in the Yellow River basin.

Meta-lasso: new insight on infection prediction after minimally invasive surgery.

Surgical site infection (SSI) after minimally invasive lung cancer surgery constitutes an important factor influencing the direct and indirect economic implications, patient prognosis, and the 5-year survival rate for early-stage lung cancer patients. In the realm of predictive healthcare, machine learning algorithms have been instrumental in anticipating various surgical outcomes, including SSI. However, accurately predicting infection after minimally invasive surgery remains a clinical challenge due to the multitude of physiological and surgical factors associated with it. Furthermore, clinical patient data, in addition to being high-dimensional, often exists the long-tail problem, posing difficulties for traditional machine learning algorithms in effectively processing such data. Based on this insight, we propose a novel approach called meta-lasso for infection prediction following minimally invasive surgery. Our approach leverages the sparse learning algorithm lasso regression to select informative features and introduces a meta-learning framework to mitigate bias towards the dominant class. We conducted a retrospective cohort study on patients who had undergone minimally invasive surgery for lung cancer at Shanghai Chest Hospital between 2018 and 2020. The evaluation encompassed key performance metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, precision (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy. Our approach has surpassed the performance of logistic regression, random forest, Naive Bayes classifier, gradient boosting decision tree, ANN, and lasso regression, with sensitivity at 0.798, specificity at 0.779, precision at 0.789, NPV at 0.798, and accuracy at 0.788 and has greatly improved the classification performance of the inferior class.

Spatial-temporal Variation in Water Quality of Rain-source Rivers in Shenzhen from 2015 to 2021 and Its Response to Rainfall

Rain-source urban rivers have the characteristics of small water capacity， lack of dynamic water supply， and being easily polluted. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of river water quality and the response of characteristic pollutants to rainfall based on daily rainfall data and 21 water quality indicators of nine major river basins in Shenzhen （excluding Shenzhen-Shantou） from 2015 to 2021 by using the single-factor assessment method， comprehensive pollution index method， hierarchical cluster analysis， and Pearson correlation. The results showed that： ① in 2015， the water quality of most sections in the whole region was inferior Class V water. After October 2018， the overall water quality of rivers was greatly improved， which was consistent with the background of Shenzhen's special water control activities in 2018. By 2021， the water quality of approximately 62% of sections reached Class Ⅰ-Ⅲ water standards. ② The water pollution in the densely populated western part of Shenzhen was more serious than that in the eastern part， and the water pollution in the lower reaches of the estuaries and tributaries was more serious than that in the upper reaches. ③ The water quality of the Pingshan River， Guanlan River， Longgang River， and Maozhou River was significantly affected by rainfall. ④ The main characteristic pollution indexes of the Shenzhen River were DO， permanganate index， COD， BOD5， NH4+-N， TP， petroleum， and anionic surfactant. For the Pingshan River and Longgang River， rainfall increased the concentrations of TP and NH4+-N. For the Maozhou River， rainfall increased the concentrations of TP and COD. For the Shenzhen River， rainfall increased the concentrations of COD， TP， and NH4+-N. The above results reveal the spatio-temporal variation in rain-source river water quality in Shenzhen and its response to non-point source pollution caused by rainfall events and provide a scientific reference for building a higher quality water environment in Shenzhen.

Analysis of Change and Driving Factors of River Environmental Quality in China from 2002 to 2020

According to the river environmental quality, pollutant emission, and investment in environmental pollution control from 2002-2020, the change law and driving factors of river environmental quality in China were evaluated using canonical correlation analysis and the Spearman correlation coefficient to analyze the influence between environmental and pollutant emission/investment in environmental pollution control. The results indicated that the river environmental quality was improved significantly based on the proportion of Class Ⅰ-Ⅲ increasing from 29.1% to 87.4% and the proportion of inferior Class Ⅴ decreasing from 40.9% to 0.2% from 2002-2020. The emission of wastewater and domestic wastewater increased from 4.395×1010 tons and 2.323×1010 tons to 8.491×1010 tons and 6.598×1010 tons, respectively. However, emissions of industrial wastewater decreased from 2.072×1010 tons to 1.680×1010 tons. Investment in environmental pollution control increased from 110.66 billion yuan to 1063.89 billion yuan. The proportion of Class Ⅰ-Ⅲ in seven major river basins, river basins in Zhejiang and Fujian, southwest river basins, and northwest river basins showed a negative correlation for industrial pollutant emissions and a positive correlation for investment in environmental pollution control. The primary measure for the seven major river basins, river basins in Zhejiang and Fujian, and northwest river basins cut down the industrial pollutant emissions, in the order of COD>NH4+-N>total wastewater. The primary measure for southwest river basins increased the investment in environmental pollution control, in the order of industrial investment in environmental pollution control>urban environmental infrastructure construction investment and environmental protection investment in construction projects. These results can provide theoretical and policy suggestions for the improvement of river environmental quality during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period.

The Allocation of the Economic Value of Second-Generation Antipsychotics Over the Product Life Cycle: The Case of Risperidone in Sweden and the United Kingdom

ObjectiveThis article estimates the life-cycle value of risperidone as representative of second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) relative to haloperidol (first-generation antipsychotics). MethodsWe estimated the number of patients treated with risperidone in Sweden and the United Kingdom, from 1994 to 2017, using data of usage and volume sales. We collected data from the literature on the effectiveness (quality-adjusted life-years per patient per year), direct costs (health services), and indirect costs (productivity) of risperidone and haloperidol. We proxied the incremental value added by the new class (SGA) using a comparator from the inferior class. Next, we modeled the life-cycle uptake of risperidone to estimate the life-cycle incremental cost (ie, direct, indirect, and medicine costs), incremental quality-adjusted life-years, and net monetary benefit of risperidone. We also assessed the life-cycle distribution of the social surplus between the payer (consumer surplus) and the innovator (producer surplus). ResultsFor the United Kingdom, consumer surplus represents around 72% of the total surplus before patent expiration and around 95% after patent expiration. For Sweden, the consumer surplus represents around 94% of the total surplus before patent expiration and around 99% after generic competition. ConclusionThese results suggest that the value added by SGAs to the system is higher than the expected value estimated using cost-effectiveness analysis at launch.Pricing and reimbursement decisions could recognize the full life cycle of value of innovative medicines. This not only presents a challenge of estimation but also of assessing the appropriate division of shares of social value.

An "inferior class of white aliens". Italians and the labour movement in nineteenth- and twentieth-century San Francisco

early twentieth-century San Francisco. It studies the Italians' integration process through the lens of race by focusing on the racist policies adopted by labour unions, which only admitted "whites" and excluded Asian immigrants. Drawing on a wide variety of sources (the labour press, trade unions' records, employment data), I will reveal how Italians, although discriminated against and judged as racially inferior, were nonetheless recognised as "white" and therefore assimilated into the labour movement. I argue that this was made possible by the early development of a common "Caucasian" identity among European groups, modelled against Asian immigration, which reduced the tensions that prevailed elsewhere in the United States, namely between the "old stock" and the "new immigrants", among whom many Italians.

Analysis of Water Environment Quality Changes and Influencing Factors during the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan” Period in Heilongjiang Province

Heilongjiang Province is located in the northeastern part of China and is the province with the highest latitude in China. As Heilongjiang Province is the most important grain production base in China, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the quality of the ecological environment in Heilongjiang Province, especially the analysis of changes in the quality of the water environment and their driving factors. We studied the changes in the environmental quality of surface water in Heilongjiang Province during the “13th Five-Year Plan” period (2016–2020), and analyzed the surface water for four major pollutants including the permanganate index, chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus, and the change trends of the proportion of the water quality of class I–III and the proportion of the water quality of inferior class V. The results show that the environmental quality of surface water in Heilongjiang Province has improved significantly during the “13th Five-Year Plan”. The analysis of the driving factors of the change of surface water environment quality shows that the population, the primary industry, the tertiary industry and forestry are the main factors affecting the change of water environment quality in Heilongjiang Province.

Reversal of Stereotypes in Alice Walker's The Color Purple: God, Gender, Narrative and Sexuality

Unlike most African-American authors, who constantly mirror the repressive effects of racism, classicism and gender discrimination, Alice Walker (1944–) in her The Color Purple (1982) compulsively deals with sexism that was still pervasive within African American communities during the early twentieth century. She argues that just as black groups are relegated to an underclass due to the colour of their skin in a wider milieu of white society, in the same way the black women are reduced to a more inferior class due to their sex in their own community. For women’s self-emancipation from such an inhibitory patriarchy, the novel gives an overarching emphasis on the formation of language, execution of voice, review of sexual preference and redefinition of identity of her female characters, the protagonist Celie in particular. This paper examines how, by a fusion of the bildungsroman and epistolary conventions, the novelist melds a unique way for her women creating a God for their own and carving out a niche in social and economic concerns. It assesses the strategic reversal of gender stereotype as well as sexual orientation in order to establish the independence and equality of women on a par with men. The paper ends up with the claim that the novel is predicated upon the theoretical prism of womanism, previously premised by Walker herself, which puts extensive emphasis on a deeper, empathetic relationship and camaraderie of women.

China's coastal seawater environment caused by urbanization based on the seawater environmental Kuznets curve

Rapid urbanization has had many negative impacts on China's coastal waters. Based on the seawater EKC, we analyse the evolution of seawater quality in China's mainland coastal waters. We explore the specific urbanization factors affecting seawater quality in coastal waters via multiple panel regression analysis. China's coastal seawater environment is improving. The proportion of Class I and Class II seawater in China's coastal waters fluctuates while inferior Class IV seawater decreases. The proportion of good-quality seawater in China's coastal waters is mainly affected by the population urbanization rate and per capita gross domestic product (GDP). In contrast, the proportion of poor-quality seawater in China's coastal waters is mainly affected by land urbanization, non-agriculturalization, and per capita GDP. Various dimensions of urbanization have different impacts on seawater quality in China's coastal waters at middle and high urbanization levels. The population urbanization rate increases the proportion of poor-quality seawater at the moderate urbanization level and inhibits it at the high urbanization level; the land urbanization rate has reverse effects.

Learning from poor single women’s autonomous households in Mexico in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries

ABSTRACT What is the ability of poor single women today to maintain an economically autonomous household? In the context of gender power relations, the literature often employs the concept of de-familialisation, which is the degree to which a woman is able to maintain an autonomous household without having to depend on a male breadwinner. Scholars argue that current welfare reforms deliberately aim at re-establishing the family as the primary source of economic security and encourage a traditional model of gender relations where women have to be dependent on male breadwinners. By reinstating the nuclear family as the primary source of economic security and a comprehensive alternative to the welfare state, women’s ability for agency and resistance becomes narrower and heavily limited by their inferior gender and class positions. Today, studies clearly indicate the problematic condition of poor women. It seems that without a massive reform in the labour market as well as welfare state expansion, de-familialisation among poor women will become almost impossible. In the current article, we explore the possibility that low-income women, whose common survival strategies are very limited, nonetheless could engage in alternative ways of providing for themselves and their children. We ask to learn from the experience of poor Mexican women in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries about the ability of de-familialisation. Drawing on historical data, we argue that the formation of alternative household arrangements – sisterhoods – women-only households, enabled women to develop new family models and to maintain an extended household headed by women, without the need to depend on a male breadwinner. By learning from history, this article offers insights that may enhance poor women’s economic and social conditions today, and suggests that women’s joint power can resist traditional patterns of gender relations, even in times when conservative values are reemphasized.

Evaluating five different adaptive decomposition methods for EEG signal seizure detection and classification

Signal processing and machine learning methods are valuable tools in epilepsy research, potentially assisting in diagnosis, seizure detection, prediction and real-time event detection during long term monitoring. Recent approaches involve the decomposition of EEG signals into different modes in a data-dependent and adaptive way, which may provide advantages over commonly used Fourier based methods when dealing with nonlinear and non-stationary data. Examples of such methods include empirical mode decomposition (EMD), extended EMD (EEMD), complete EEMD with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN), empirical wavelet transform (EWT) and variational mode decomposition (VMD). In this work, feature sets extracted from original non-decomposed signals and from the aforementioned adaptive decomposition methods are evaluated for the classification of EEG seizure data using two freely available datasets. We provide a previously unavailable common methodology for comparing the performance of these methods for EEG seizure detection, with the use of the same classifiers, parameters and spectral and time domain features. Overall, results were similar between the evaluated decomposition methods, with slightly superior values for VMD and CEEMDAN. Features extracted from the original non-decomposed signals resulted in inferior class separability, but fairly accurate predictions could still be achieved with specific classifiers. The evaluated decomposition methods are promising approaches for seizure detection, but their use should be judiciously analysed, especially in situations that require real-time processing and computational power is an issue. Another contribution of this work is the development of python packages for EWT (ewtpy) and VMD (vmdpy), already available at the PyPI repository.

Spatiotemporal variation characteristics and source identification of water pollutants in Shayinghe River basin

AbstractTo understand the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and the sources of water pollutants in the Shayinghe River Basin, water quality monitoring data of the five water quality indexes (biochemical oxygen demand: BOD5, permanganate index: CODMn, ammonium nitrogen: NH3–N, total phosphorus: TP and dissolved oxygen: DO) were collected from 11 monitoring stations and divided into 6 categories (classes I, II, III, IV, V and inferior class V). The spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the water pollutants were comprehensively identified by the water pollution index method (WPI), Mann‐Kendall trend test, cluster analysis and box‐plot analysis method, and the effects of the pollution source, runoff and sluice regulation were analyzed for water pollutants. The results indicated that the water quality standard of classes mainly belonged to class IV or above in Shayinghe River Basin, accounting for about 70%, but the water quality standard reached class I and class II for less than 15%. The water pollutants presented a significant decreasing trend, and the NH3‐N and TP were the key control indexes for the monitoring stations in the Shayinghe River Basin. The exceeding rates of WPI values showed a significantly decreasing trend at Baidukou, Mawan, Huangqiao, Zhoukou Sluice, Jieshou, Fuyang Sluice and Yingshang Sluice by controlling the NH3‐N and TP. The WPI values showed obvious variations in January 2011, March 2013 and October 2014 at the Baisha Reservoir, Mawan and Chengwan. The WPI values were divided into two major categories with respect to time. The non‐flood season should be used as the key period for water quality management and control; the variability of WPI values was relatively large from January to June, November, and December, and the variability of WPI values was relatively low from July to October. The monitoring sections were spatially divided into three major categories. The WPI values had the greatest variability at Huangqiao and a relatively small variability at Baisha Reservoir, Mawan and Chengwan. The study results could provide the scientific basis for realizing targeted pollution source treatment, improving the effectiveness of water quality management and ecological environment, and a theoretical foundation for pollution control and water quality improvement in the Shayinghe River Basin.

Screening of ecological impact assessment indicators in urban water body restoration process itle

Based on a river water environmental restoration project in a downtown area of the Taihu Lake Basin, this study continuously monitored the changes of water quality for two years using five indicators (shore and riparian plants, phytoplankton, amphibians, fish, and microorganisms). The variation characteristics of biological indicators were analysed over the urban water body restoration process. According to the results of water quality analysis, the water quality significantly improved during the restoration of the water environment (from inferior class V to V). With the improved water quality, the diversity of plants and amphibians changed little, which were characterized by single species and small quantities, without showing regular changes. The diversity of fish in 2015 increased significantly compared to that of 2014, and correlated significantly negatively with the concentration of water pollutants. Carps showed a stronger enrichment ability for Mn and Pb. Microbial count, γ-proteobacteria, and proteobacteria collectively served as a definitive indicator of the degree of heavy pollution in water bodies. Indicators of the ecological impact assessment in the urban water body restoration process screened in this study can be used as indicative reference indicators for the restoration status of urban water ecosystems.

1870 年代の小新聞における「下等社会」と階層認識

1870 年代の小新聞における「下等社会」と階層認識

Naach, Launda Naach or Bidesiya

This article will look at the social politics of name changing or (re) naming of the folk theatre form of Bihar, India called Naach. It will attempt to analyze how caste-class structures and gender politics have led to the (re) naming of Naach as Launda Naach and as Bidesiya over the years. It shall argue that the (re) naming of Naach as Launda Naach is a strategy employed by the upper castes and classes of Bhojpuri society as a way of belittling a popular folk tradition that belongs to the Other. One of the most prominent characteristics of Naach is female impersonation by male actors. When these male actors are referred to as laundas, it is considered an abuse. The word launda literally means a young boy but in everyday language, it is considered a derogatory term suggesting a man who is effeminate, vulgar, immature and from an inferior class or caste. The word also precariously stands at the edge of moral boundaries prescribed by society and thus the addition of the word launda to naach thus becomes a way of stigmatizing the form. Furthermore, when Naach or Launda Naach is replaced with the term Bidesiya (which literally means ‘migrant’), by the urban elite, the exercise flattens out other dominant themes like feminism, caste-struggle, child marriage, dowry that are a prominent part of the performance tradition of Naach. The article will argue that the popularity of the legendary artist Bhikari Thakur lead to the dominant elite to co-opt him by calling his folk tradition Bidesiya.

Multilevel fuzzy comprehensive evaluation for water quality of urban inland river based on the AHP to determine the weights

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to optimize the issue of weights in the traditional fuzzy comprehensive evaluation, and a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model is constructed based on AHP. The water quality of the urban inland rivers is selected as the research object to introduce the process of multilevel fuzzy comprehensive evaluation for the water quality of urban inland river, which is applied to the water quality evaluation of Baoding Fu River in Baoding City. Evaluation comparison is conducted on the water quality of the selected monitoring sites and the monitoring river reaches during different periods. The results show that the water quality of the monitoring reaches of Fu River is Inferior Class V and the inland river is seriously polluted.

Inter-class competition in stage-structured populations: effects of adult density on life-history traits of adult and juvenile common lizards.

Ecological and evolutionary processes in natural populations are largely influenced by the population's stage-structure. Commonly, different classes have different competitive abilities, e.g., due to differences in body size, suggesting that inter-class competition may be important and largely asymmetric. However, experimental evidence states that inter-class competition, which is important, is rare and restricted to marine fish. Here, we manipulated the adult density in six semi-natural populations of the European common lizard, Zootoca vivipara, while holding juvenile density constant. Adult density affected juveniles, but not adults, in line with inter-class competition. High adult density led to lower juvenile survival and growth before hibernation. In contrast, juvenile survival after hibernation was higher in populations with high adult density, pointing to relaxed inter-class competition. As a result, annual survival was not affected by adult density, showing that differences in pre- and post-hibernation survival balanced each other out. The intensity of inter-class competition affected reproduction, performance, and body size in juveniles. Path analyses unravelled direct treatment effects on early growth (pre-hibernation) and no direct treatment effects on the parameters measured after hibernation. This points to allometry of treatment-induced differences in early growth, and it suggests that inter-class competition mainly affects the early growth of the competitively inferior class and thereby their future performance and reproduction. These results are in contrast with previous findings and, together with results in marine fish, suggest that the strength and direction of density dependence may depend on the degree of inter-class competition, and thus on the availability of resources used by the competing classes.

The Resistance of Women towards Sexual Terrorism in Eve Ensler�s The Vagina Monologues

In this present time, women are still oppressed and considered as the inferior class to men. One of the literary works containing the evidence is The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. The monologues inside it share the experiences of various women who have been physically, mentally, and sexually terrorized. From those experiences of the women in the monologues, this study tries to identify the sexual terrorism that is experienced by each woman in each monologue, and at the same time, tries to examine the resistance of the women towards the sexual terrorism.Men use sexual terrorism as a tool to control womens autonomy over their own body, sexuality, and reproduction. It occurs to any woman in any situation. Sexual terrorism is there to keep women in the subordinate position. The awareness of the women towards the sexual terrorism triggers their resistance towards it. Each woman experiences different situation of sexual terrorism, therefore their ways of resisting the terror are also varied. Feminism approach is used in this study in order to see the accurate analysis of the condition of the woman in each monologue.Keywords: sexual terrorism, women, resistance

Industrialization Emission (Trace Metal, Nitrogen and Phosphorus) Modified Coastal Climate

Objectives: As a result of global warming, precipitation is likely to increase at certain area (high latitudes). However, the mechanisms that human activity is influenced by global climate change are far from completely understood. We try to analyze the relationship between industrial emission (trace metal, nitrogen and phosphorus) and climate signature (precipitation) by Chinese industrialization progresses. Methods: Mainly by using the public data from Bulletin of Environment in China, Bulletin of Marine Environmental Status of China and some data of our experiments, we get the analyzed result. Results: Annual average temperature in China after industrialization is significantly increased, whereas annual average precipitation in China after industrialization is no significantly difference. Phytoplankton increases evaporation of seawater and the relative humidity. Phytoplankton biomass will be different in different stages of environmental pollution in coastal areas. The higher relative humidity of Guangzhou (near the second-third class pollution coast-Shenzhen coast with higher phytoplankton biomass) has higher precipitation; in contrast, lower relative humidity of Shanghai (near the inferior fouth class Zhejiang coast) has lower precipitation recent years. Conclusions: Industrial emissions may have two competing effects: one is to promote the growth of phytoplankton and then cause higher seawater evaporation rates and precipitation; another is to decrease water vapour pressure by serious pollution, which then reduces the seawater evaporation rate and precipitation. With temperature increasing, the precipitation is likely to increase only at low pollution area (high latitudes).

Research on Evaluation of the Landscape and its Functions in Houtan Park of the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai, China

Construction of urban waterscape parks based on ecological concepts and functions is becoming the tendency of modern urban parks. Unfortunately, there are no suitable evaluation systems for these parks. This study establishes a comprehensive evaluation system for a landscape and its functions via the analytic hierarchy process and the comprehensive index method. The evaluation model consisted of 3 evaluation indexes and 23 evaluation indicators relevant to the landscape characteristics of Houtan Park of the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai, China. The evaluation indicators were monitored from 2006 to 2010, and the results of the investigation led to the following conclusions: the park fulfills a range of desirable functions, and ranks high in aesthetic, economic and societal values; ecological functions were applied well within the landscape, and following ecological restoration and the construction of a functional aquatic ecosystem, the water quality of Houtan River has been continuously purified from inferior class V~ class V to class III~ class I range, while the heavy metals in the sediment were improved from inferior class V~ class V to class I; the biodiversity was improved from 0.72 into 1.49; and the results for other indicators were improved overall. In general, the comprehensive score of the evaluation increased from 1.227 to 4.341. Although minor problems remain to be solved, the results indicate that the design concept and construction methods applied in Houtan Park are well applicable to sustainable landscapes, and the evaluation system as a whole can be extended and applied in similar cases.