Non-urban Areas Research Articles

Characterizing Generic POI: A Novel Approach for Discovering Tourist Attractions

With the rapid spread of social networking services (SNS) and social media, tourism has become a more accessible leisure activity. While many tourists visit well-known tourist destinations, the number of tourists visiting lesser-known ones in non-urban or rural areas has been in decline, and the decline has been exacerbating various problems such as economic disparities. Under these circumstances, it is becoming increasingly important to attract tourists to lesser-known areas with few tourism resources, because attracting tourists brings various positive effects to local residents and municipalities. Existing efforts to attract tourists include studies on tourist spot mining, which search a tourist destination for sightseeing spots that are worth visiting but relatively less well known, based on user-generated content about spots on the Web, such as posts on SNS and images on photo-sharing services. However, as they rely on the amount of user-generated content about potential sightseeing spots to be mined, these methods are limited in discovering a new sightseeing spot that is not recognized as a tourist attraction in advance. To address these challenges, we are inspired by an interesting phenomenon: a previously little-known spot that looks similar to a famous place becomes a hot topic on social media, attracting many people and suddenly becoming a popular tourist attraction. In this paper, we call such a spot with a similar appearance to a well-known one, as generic point-of-interest (POI), and we provide a novel concept of discovering new sightseeing spots by computationally finding generic POIs; we give a new perspective of discovering a new tourist attraction by characterizing a commonplace spot that has a similar appearance to a well-known one as a new tourist attraction. We also propose a pipeline implemented for mining generic POIs, where we calculate the similarity between candidate spots of generic POIs and famous sightseeing spots. Furthermore, we evaluate the feasibility of our approach both through human evaluation and through a photo contest on the Web we held with Tourism Shikoku. The results prove that our proposed method can discover new tourist destinations. The primal advantage of our approach is that it gifts new tourism value to a spot with at least a single place photo similar to a famous sightseeing spot, and thus it discovers a new tourist attraction even in areas with a minimal number of user-submitted images. We hope that our novel concept will be the first step in efforts to attract tourists in various regions around the world, enabling utilization of local spots that even the locals may not be aware of.

Comparative Health Status of Women of Childbearing Age in Urban and Non-urban Communities in Malaysia

Background Women’s health and access to healthcare can be affected by diverse factors such as affluence, cultural norms and availability of healthcare resources. In this study, we compared health status parameters among women of childbearing age from different ethnic groups living in urban and non-urban communities in Malaysia. Methods Women under the age of 45-years in urban and non-urban areas of Malaysia were invited to participate in this study. In total, 1500 women were approached, and of these 1435 agreed to participate and met our inclusion criteria. Information about personal healthcare, communication with healthcare practitioners, sources of health information, health concerns, weight management, as well as socio-demographic characteristics were obtained using a questionnaire which was adapted from the Women’s Health National Survey 2016 of Australia. Results Women of Indian descent made up a higher proportion of respondents in non-urban areas. Women in non-urban areas were less likely to have a higher-level education and belonged to households with a lower annual income. Non-urban respondents were also more likely to be married and to have more children. Women from non-urban locations were less likely to be overweight or exhibit sedentary behaviors. Women from non-urban sites were more interested in improving their health status, more likely to attend routine health checks, and less likely to use dietary supplements. Conclusion Women from non-urban areas exhibit healthier behaviours than their urban counterparts and have a lower prevalence of obesity. This is despite poorer access to healthcare provision in rural communities.

Hybrid‐Mobile Stroke Unit: Opening the Indication Spectrum for Stroke Mimics and Beyond

Background Despite proven benefits, the use of single‐purpose mobile stroke units (MSUs) has raised concerns about their effective and cost‐efficient integration into clinical practice, especially when considered for operation in nonurban areas. The MSU concept may benefit from opening the indication spectrum to include frequent stroke mimics and additional emergencies. Methods The current observational study evaluated benefits for the treatment and triage decision‐making of use of an MSU with extended capabilities (Hybrid‐MSU), also including radiography, ultrasonography, extended point‐of‐care laboratory, ECG, electroencephalography, and advanced medications. Apart from patients with a dispatch code for “stroke”, the ambulance was also dispatched to those with codes for “seizures”, “falls with head trauma”, “headache”, “unconsciousness”, “infection and pandemic”, “chest pain”, and “breathing problems”. Results For 250 patients treated by the Hybrid‐MSU, but not for 250 conventionally treated patients, the prehospital diagnostic workup allowed, apart from treatment with stroke thrombolytics (n=15), prehospital administration of specific anticonvulsants (n=15), antibiotics (n=5), early secondary stroke prophylaxis with aspirin (n=49), and the Sepsis Six bundle (n=2). Prehospital diagnosis avoided 215 (86.0%) admissions to the emergency department, either by management at home (n=116, 46.4%) or by directly transferring patients to the required specialized wards (n=99, 39.6%). Conclusion The current study demonstrates the feasibility of the use of a Hybrid‐MSU and indicates its potential benefits for prehospital treatment and triage decision‐making. Opening the indication spectrum, together with an act‐alone ability, could be a key in the future integration of MSUs into routine health care.

A cross-sectional analysis of registry data of severe mental disorders in Fuzhou, China: current status and prospects

ObjectiveTo investigate the proportion of registered cases relative to size, distribution characteristics, medication status, and management status of patients diagnosed with severe mental disorders (SMD) in Fuzhou. The medication status and management status were compared between patients in urban and non-urban areas to provide scientific evidence for improving SMD care, control, and treatment in primary health care institutions.MethodsData (case types, demographic data, distribution data, medication status, and management status, etc.) of patients diagnosed with SMD in 12 districts, counties, and prefectures in the urban and non-urban areas of Fuzhou City were collected from October 2017 to September 2018. Three distributions (population, local, and districts/counties) were used to describe the proportion of registered cases relative to size and clinical characteristics of diagnosed SMD. Chi squared (χ2) test was used to compare the severity in urban and non-urban areas.ResultsA total of 30,362 registered SMD patients were identified in Fuzhou City of which schizophrenia accounted for the highest number of cases (26,204, 86.31%), and paranoid psychosis had the least number of cases (47, 0.15%). Moreover, approximately half of SMD patients were 18 to 44 years old (45.38%). Close to one third of patients were farmers (30.23%), had a primary school or lower education level (54.17%), were poor, with most below the poverty line (55.35%). The proportion of diagnosed SMD relative to size was highest in Minqing County (0.53%) and lowest in Mawei District (0.38%). A total of 22,989 (75.72%) of the patients were taking medications, and only 17,509 (57.67%) were taking medications regularly. Moreover, the percentage of cases taking medications and those taking medications regularly were higher in urban areas than in non-urban areas (P<0.05). A total of 3065 patients were registered for management (10.09%). The managed proportion of SMD cases was higher in the urban areas than in the non-urban areas (P < 0.05).ConclusionSchizophrenia is a key disease for comprehensive care and control of severe mental disorders in Fuzhou. The management of severe mental disorders should focus on poor groups with low educational backgrounds. Drug usage and management are better in urban areas than in non-urban areas, and thus management should be enhanced in non-urban areas. The medication management and case management of patients with severe mental disorders in Fuzhou need further improvements.

Dynamics in impervious urban and non-urban areas and their effects on run-off, nutrient emissions, and macroinvertebrate communities

Urbanization is a key factor driving water quality and biological communities in freshwater systems. While urbanization impacts on water resources were well-studied in urban areas, few studies have examined the growing impacts in non-urban areas. Here we investigate the spatiotemporal trends of urbanization using high-resolution impervious surface data of both urban and non-urban areas across Germany, and evaluate the urbanization impacts on changes of run-off, nutrient emissions, and macroinvertebrate communities. The emission changes were modelled using the MONERIS-PCRaster tool, while the macroinvertebrate community responses to urbanization were determined using Generalized Least Square models. We find that urbanization expanded by 3.2% from 2006 to 2015 nationwide, and primarily occurred in less-populated regions. The non-urban areas contributed 19.3–19.6% of the imperviousness expansion nationwide, which were equivalent to the ‘unaccounted’ increases of 15.5–15.9% of run-off, 10.6–11.0% of total nitrogen, and 12.5–12.9% of total phosphorus when only emissions from urban areas were modelled. Incorporating the emissions from both urban and non-urban areas revealed significant impacts of urbanization on macroinvertebrate community composition changes, with increases in more pollution-resistant and non-native species (particularly in large rivers), and reductions of more sensitive taxa. The community responses were jointly determined by local catchment characteristics and urbanization stressors. Our results suggest neglected effects of non-urban impervious surfaces and the importance of using impervious surface data instead of urban land classes to better represent urbanization processes and impacts in long-term planning and management of freshwater systems.

Anthropic impact on soil heavy metal contamination in riparian ecosystems of northern Algeria

The aim of this research was to highlight the impact of urbanization and agriculture on soil quality, mainly by focusing on heavy metal accumulation (Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the fragile riparian ecosystems of the Medjerda river (Souk-Ahras, Algeria). This study was performed in three cultivated soils (0–10, 10–20, 20–60 cm depth) along an increasing gradient of anthropogenic pressure in non-urban (NU), peri-urban (PU) and urban areas (U). Geo-accumulation index (Igeo), Enrichment factor (EF), Pollution load index (PLI) and Potential ecological risk index (RI) were calculated, as well as the potential non-carcinogenic risk for humans (HI). Additionally, to corroborate the role of Bufo spinosus D. as biosentinel, a skin biopsy was performed to quantify the concentration of heavy metals in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.The results showed that when compared to NU, U and PU areas were richer in heavy metals. In particular, Igeo-Cd displayed strongly contaminated soil in U (>3), EF showed high enrichment of heavy metals (>2) for all the soils except for Ni, PLI presented no contamination for all (<1) while RI was significantly higher in U (>300), denoting a strong impact of heavy metals on soil quality. However, HI was below 1 for all the studied areas, although the highest values were related to U and PU. The skin biopsy showed the highest values for Cu, Fe and Pb in PU (0.328, 0.713 and 0.524 mg kg−1, respectively) similarly to trends observed in the soil of that area. This study shed light on the rising pollution of heavy metals due to urbanization and agricultural input in these fragile ecosystems where Bufo spinosus D. plays the role of potential bio-indicator for environmental pollution.

Joint User Scheduling, Power Configuration and Trajectory Planning Strategy for UAV-Aided WSNs

The future sixth-generation (6G) communication system is promising to provide differentiated communication services for massive users worldwide. To achieve this goal, wireless sensor networks (WSNs), regarded as the critical component of the 6G system, will be widely deployed in large-scale non-urban areas such as mountain villages, forests, and oceans. To ensure the high efficiency and stability of WSNs without the support of ground facilities, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are dispatched to provide assistance for WSNs. Nevertheless, considering the limitations of both the mobility and communication capability of UAVs, the diversified communication demands pose huge challenges for UAV-aided WSNs in large-scale application scenarios, such as how to schedule the SNs served in each time slot, how to optimize their working parameters, and how to plan the UAV trajectory. Therefore, a joint user scheduling, power configuration, and trajectory planning strategy is proposed in this article, which is formulated as an optimization problem suffering from non-convexity and complication. The successive optimization scheme is adopted here to efficiently solve this problem, which divides the original problem into three sub-problems and solves them iteratively. The simulation results prove the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed strategy.

Understanding the linkage between ecosystem service values and ecological risk in the Yongding River basin, China

Evaluations of ecosystem services values (ESV) and ecological risk (ER) are crucially important for sustainable ecosystem management and ecological security. While numerous studies have been conducted for ecosystem service values and ecological risk assessment, respectively, few studies have investigated their linkage and correlation, especially from a social-ecological perspective. Additionally, the correlation is inconsistent, varying among studies conducted at different spatial scales, which makes it difficult to apply to a building regional ecological security pattern. Here, taking the Yongding River basin, China as an example, we first quantified the spatiotemporal variation of ecosystem service values and ecological risk from 2000 to 2020 using the evaluation models of ecosystem service and ecological risk. We then explored the spatiotemporal correlation between ecosystem service values and ecological risk by using bivariate spatial autocorrelation model to identify areas where prioritized ecosystem management is required in the process of urbanization and ecological restoration. We found: (1) the total ecosystem service value in the basin decreased first, but then continued to increase. The ecosystem service value in 2020 was 679.27 million yuan lower than that in 2000. The ecosystem service values had large spatial variations, with higher ecosystem service values in mountainous areas along the distribution of the river systems. (2) Ecological risk also varied in space, with most areas having low and medium risk levels in 2020, resulting from an overall continued decrease of the ecological risk, and a shift from medium, high, and extremely high ecological risk to low and extremely low in general. (3) There was a negative spatial correlation between ecosystem service value and ecological risk, showing widely distributed “Low ecological risk vs High ecosystem service value” in non-urbanized areas, and “High ecological risk vs Low ecosystem service value” located in newly constructed land in the southeast corner of the watershed dominated. This is a result of combined effects of urban expansion and ecological restoration. Our findings can provide insights on regulation of ecological risk in the Yongding River basin, help build a regional ecological security pattern, and achieve sustainable development.

Monitoring 20 Years of Land Cover Change Dynamics in The Satellite Cities of Jakarta, Indonesia

As the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta has eight satellite cities as the supporting areas, namely Bogor Regency, Bogor City, Depok City, Tangerang City, Tangerang Regency, South Tangerang City, Bekasi City, and Bekasi Regency. The rapid urbanization in Jakarta is driving the growth of these areas. One of the impacts of urban growth is the land cover change that can be observed through multitemporal satellite imagery. This study analyses the land cover change within 20 years in urban and non-urban areas. The data used are Landsat satellite imagery and Indonesian base maps validated by ESRI World Imagery. In this study, satellite imagery is processed into predetermined classes. The analysis process by comparing land cover classes between 2001 and 2021 and calculating the area of each class in each regency/city. The results show that dense and evenly distributed urban growth occurs throughout the “City” area. Attention must be given to the government of Bekasi City, Tangerang City, South Tangerang City, and Depok City because the built area already exceeds 70% of the city area.

Telehealth Acceptance among Appalachian Respondents During COVID 19: A Secondary Data Analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between telehealth use, telehealth satisfaction, and chronic medical conditions among residents living in Appalachian and non-Appalachian communities. Sample: A COVID-19 public health survey was distributed via social media and healthcare clinics in the tri-state region of central Appalachia. Survey responses were limited to adults aged ≥18 years who consented to participate in the survey that self-identified as an individual with one or more chronic medical conditions (n=195). Method: Simple descriptive statistics including frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations (SDs) were calculated for variables of interest both overall and by subgroups of interest. Chi-squared tests were used to compare categorical outcomes between groups of interest, while two-sample t-tests were used for continuous outcomes. Significance for all tests was determined using an α level of 0.05. Findings: There is no statistically significant relationship between respondents with regard to using telehealth services, satisfaction rates related to telehealth use, or reasons for electing not to use telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there was a trending statistical relationship between county status and the use of telehealth services in Appalachia with those counties doing economically better being more likely to use telehealth services as compared to those fairing less well (p=0.053). Findings also suggest that people living in urban areas of Appalachia were more likely to be satisfied using telehealth services than those living in non-urban areas of Appalachia (p=0.01). Conclusions: Research is still limited as to how the expansion of broadband capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic has benefited those residing in Appalachia in terms of managing chronic health conditions. Future research should focus on expanding participation among Appalachian respondents looking for specific differences related to location within Appalachia, age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Keywords: Telehealth, Satisfaction, Rural, Appalachian, COVID-19DOI: https://doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v22i2.715

Characteristics of concentration distribution of volatile organic compounds in Ulsan using SIFT-MS

Objectives : Hazardous air pollutants emitted from industrial complexes also affect neighboring residential areas, so it is necessary to manage the emission facilities of the workplace.Methods : Using SIFT-MS, the concentration distribution of volatile organic compounds in the air was identified in urban areas, non-urban areas, and industrial complex areas.Results and Discussion : The distribution of the annual average concentration of major VOCs in Ulsan was highest in Yeocheon-dong, an industrial area, and in the case of urban areas, the industrial complex is highly influenced by the summer weather characteristics with south or southeast winds. And the Yeocheon-dong, which is an industrial area, showed a higher concentration at nighttime than daytime.Conclusion : Management of emission facilities in industrial areas and long-term monitoring of VOCs are continuously needed.

공익사업 피수용자 세제개선 방안

So-called project operators such as the State, local governments, Land and Housing Corporation, and Urban Development Corporation implement public projects based on the Land Compensation Act, the Urban Development Act, the Housing Site Development Promotion Act, etc., tourism complexes, logistics complexes, etc. are being developed or constructed. Recently, public service projects have been delayed due to the increase in expropriation decisions, objection rulings, and administrative lawsuits filed by project operators regarding the compensation for losses from public service projects. In addition, despite the increasing number of lands of unknown ownership due to the impact of low birth rate and population aging and the decrease in land use desire due to movement from non-urban areas to urban areas, there are limitations in promoting smooth public projects by temporarily applying the Act on Special Measures for Registration of Ownership Transfer. , the economic cost is increasing. To clarify that capital gains tax, business income tax, other income tax, corporate tax, value-added tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, etc. are imposed according to the concept of transfer following the expropriation of land, etc. A special taxation system under the Restriction Act will be considered. By comparatively examining legislative cases in the United States, France, Canada, Japan, etc. on the special taxation system based on public expropriation, we present Korea's tax improvement points. In the case of land, etc., when a purchase by agreement is concluded within 6 months from the date of request for the purchase by agreement or real estate is transferred for public service use within 2 years due to alternative acquisition through land expropriation, a special limit of KRW 100 million per year is limited to KRW 300 million for 5 years A deduction system should be introduced. In addition, as the promotion of public utility projects is delayed due to the land of unknown owner and a lot of administrative expenses are required, the Act on Special Measures for the Use of Unknown Owner is enacted and special taxation system for land of unknown owner as in Japanese legislation. should be institutionalized. In addition, if the inmate files an objection or an administrative litigation when the project operator expropriates land, etc. for public works, the amount of compensation for losses is increased by adding the management principle while maintaining the principle of determination of the timing of attributing income and expenses. In such cases, it shall be the date of final judgment or final judgment of the objection, and if the amount of compensation for loss has not changed or has been reduced, it shall be regarded as the date on which the project operator deposits according to the judgment of expropriation.

공익사업 피수용자 세제개선 방안

So-called project operators such as the State, local governments, Land and Housing Corporation, and Urban Development Corporation implement public projects based on the Land Compensation Act, the Urban Development Act, the Housing Site Development Promotion Act, etc., tourism complexes, logistics complexes, etc. are being developed or constructed. Recently, public service projects have been delayed due to the increase in expropriation decisions, objection rulings, and administrative lawsuits filed by project operators regarding the compensation for losses from public service projects. In addition, despite the increasing number of lands of unknown ownership due to the impact of low birth rate and population aging and the decrease in land use desire due to movement from non-urban areas to urban areas, there are limitations in promoting smooth public projects by temporarily applying the Act on Special Measures for Registration of Ownership Transfer. , the economic cost is increasing. To clarify that capital gains tax, business income tax, other income tax, corporate tax, value-added tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, etc. are imposed according to the concept of transfer following the expropriation of land, etc. A special taxation system under the Restriction Act will be considered. By comparatively examining legislative cases in the United States, France, Canada, Japan, etc. on the special taxation system based on public expropriation, we present Korea's tax improvement points. In the case of land, etc., when a purchase by agreement is concluded within 6 months from the date of request for the purchase by agreement or real estate is transferred for public service use within 2 years due to alternative acquisition through land expropriation, a special limit of KRW 100 million per year is limited to KRW 300 million for 5 years A deduction system should be introduced. In addition, as the promotion of public utility projects is delayed due to the land of unknown owner and a lot of administrative expenses are required, the Act on Special Measures for the Use of Unknown Owner is enacted and special taxation system for land of unknown owner as in Japanese legislation. should be institutionalized. In addition, if the inmate files an objection or an administrative litigation when the project operator expropriates land, etc. for public works, the amount of compensation for losses is increased by adding the management principle while maintaining the principle of determination of the timing of attributing income and expenses. In such cases, it shall be the date of final judgment or final judgment of the objection, and if the amount of compensation for loss has not changed or has been reduced, it shall be regarded as the date on which the project operator deposits according to the judgment of expropriation.

The spread of urban–rural areas and rural depopulation in central Spain

AbstractEurope faces serious demographic imbalances: increasingly, populations are concentrated in urban areas and their surroundings, while rural areas face depopulation. Thanks to a simple methodology identifying the trends in the different settlement structure, this article explores the causes that can justify the formation of such spatial trends through an econometric analysis. Both phenomena can be considered using central Spain as a case study. The area of more than 8 million inhabitants includes the city of Madrid and can be extended to other regions due to its simplicity and the wide availability of the included explanatory variables. This article categorizes nonurban areas into urban–rural and rural areas using a methodology that enables a historical perspective for the last eight decades. The findings are significant for infrastructure policies and territorial cohesion.

Impact of residential rainwater harvesting on stormwater runoff

Population increase, climate change and soil impermeability are factors causing floods in large urban centres. Such places also always have water shortage problems. This research aims to evaluate the influence of rainwater harvesting in residential buildings on stormwater in a basin located in southern Brazil (Rio Cachoeira Basin). Urbanised and non-urbanised areas, soil types, curve numbers and time of concentration of each sub-basin were taken into account. Through the HEC-HMS programme, it was possible to calculate hydrographs for the base scenario (when there is no rainwater harvesting). Then, rainwater tanks for the residential buildings were sized using the computer programme Netuno. In the second scenario, there is rainwater harvesting in all residential buildings. Thus, the hydrographs for the second scenario were also calculated. The peak flow reduction potentials for the sub-basins ranged from 2.7% to 14.3%. The highest percentage (14.3%) did not occur in the sub-basin with the most extensive roof area; such highest peak flow reduction occurred in Bom Retiro sub-basin. In Bom Retiro sub-basin, there are more houses than multi-storey residential buildings. Even when considering the full potential of rainwater harvesting for roof areas of all existing buildings in the Rio Cachoeira Basin, the average potential reduction in peak flow was 7.2%. The conclusion is that rainwater tanks in residential buildings have little influence on stormwater runoff, and the stormwater runoff will be less affected when the area of the hydrographic basin is larger. Thus, the reduction in peak flows is insignificant when considering the flooding in the region.

Assessment of different pedestrian communication strategies for improving driver behavior at marked crosswalks on free channelized right turns

Introduction: Previous studies have indicated low driver yielding rates to pedestrians in various countries. This study analyzed four different strategies to improve driver yielding rates at marked crosswalks on channelized right turn lanes at signalized intersections. Method: A sample of 5,419 drivers was collected for four gestures using field experiments for males and females in the State of Qatar. The experiments were conducted in daytime and nighttime on weekends at three different locations; two sites are located in an urban area and the third is located in non-urban area. The effect of pedestrians’ and drivers’ demographic characteristics, gestures, approach speed, time of the day, location of the intersection, car type, and driver distractions on yielding behavior is investigated using logistic regression analysis. Results: It was found that for the base gesture, only 2.00% of drivers yielded to the pedestrians, while for hand, attempt, and vest-attempt gestures the yielding percentages were considerably higher, 12.81%, 19.59%, and 24.60%, respectively. The results also showed that females received significantly higher yielding rates compared to males. In addition, the probability of a driver yielding increased 2.8 times when drivers approached at slower speed compared to a higher speed. Further, drivers’ age group, accompanied, and distractions were not significant in determining drivers’ probability of yielding.

Building a Real-Time Testing Platform for Unmanned Ground Vehicles with UDP Bridge.

Perception and vehicle control remain major challenges in the autonomous driving domain. To find a proper system configuration, thorough testing is needed. Recent advances in graphics and physics simulation allow researchers to build highly realistic simulations that can be used for testing in safety-critical domains and inaccessible environments. Despite the high complexity of urban environments, it is the non-urban areas that are more challenging. Nevertheless, the existing simulators focus mainly on urban driving. Therefore, in this work, we describe our approach to building a flexible real-time testing platform for unmanned ground vehicles for indoor and off-road environments. Our platform consists of our original simulator, robotic operating system (ROS), and a bridge between them. To enable compatibility and real-time communication with ROS, we generate data interchangeable with real-life readings and propose our original communication solution, UDP Bridge, that enables up to 9.5 times faster communication than the existing solution, ROS#. As a result, all of the autonomy algorithms can be run in real-time directly in ROS, which is how we obtained our experimental results. We provide detailed descriptions of the components used to build our integrated platform.

Light-emitting greenhouses affect daily vocalization behavior in birds

To date, studies of the effects of artificial light on wildlife have mostly focused on street lighting. However, less attention has been paid to light from greenhouses, which can be sources of substantial light pollution from autumn to early spring. We investigated how daily 4–8 h of nocturnal illumination from a greenhouse influences the time of daily vocalization of forest birds in a non-urban area. Our study revealed that birds exposed to greenhouse lightning start dawn singing and calling earlier and stop dusk vocalization later, especially before the breeding season in the second half of February. The most affected species were the European Robin (entire study period) and Blackbird (early period only), but other species also revealed a significant impact on vocal activity (calls). Our study shows that even short-duration light pollution from greenhouses in a non-urban area in the breeding season can affect bird vocalization behavior.

Drivers of territorial servitization: An empirical analysis of manufacturing productivity in local value chains

A recent stream of literature has observed the tendency for advanced services, and particularly knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), to grow near local manufacturing value chains, supporting a trajectory of growth based on territorial servitization (TS). However, it is still unclear what affects the coupling between KIBS and manufacturing. The paper addresses this research gap by analysing how local drivers of TS moderate the effect of KIBS co-location on manufacturing productivity. To test our hypotheses, we use a functional geographic unit characterized by a well-defined local value chain, i.e., Labour Market Areas (LMAs). The empirical examination of 611 Italian LMAs for the period 2014–2018 provides evidence that human capital availability is a key determinant of KIBS' contribution to manufacturing productivity. Importantly, our analysis shows that human capital impacts variously on TS outcomes, depending on the local setting and industry type. On the one hand, high levels of education help unleash the benefits of proximity to KIBS for manufacturers, especially in urban areas typically hosting high concentrations of knowledge-intensive sectors and supporting infrastructures. On the other hand, medium levels of education play a key role in non-urban areas specialized in traditional, low-tech manufacturing sectors. By helping untangle the drivers of positive TS outcomes, our results are informative for scholars and policymakers interested in developing specific policies to promote the renaissance of local manufacturing. The study may also help manufacturing firms gain a deeper understanding of the conditions allowing them to effectively benefit from TS and increase productivity. • TS varies based on the type of local setting and knowledge base of the area. • We employ a panel analysis on Italian LMAs to test our hypotheses. • KIBS affect manufacturing productivity variously depending on contextual factors. • Urban and Made-In-Italy LMAs rely on high and medium education levels respectively. • In Heavy Manufacturing LMAs, firms own internal capabilities to benefit from KIBS.

Go To Travel campaign and the geographic spread of COVID-19 in Japan

BackgroundIn 2020, the Japanese government implemented first of two Go To Travel campaigns to promote the tourism sector as well as eating and drinking establishments, especially in remote areas. The present study aimed to explore the relationship between enhanced travel and geographic propagation of COVID-19 across Japan, focusing on the second campaign with nationwide large-scale economic boost in 2020.MethodsWe carried out an interrupted time-series analysis to identify the possible cause-outcome relationship between the Go To Travel campaign and the spread of infection to nonurban areas in Japan. Specifically, we counted the number of prefectures that experienced a weekly incidence of three, five, and seven COVID-19 cases or more per 100,000 population, and we compared the rate of change before and after the campaign.ResultsThree threshold values and three different models identified an increasing number of prefectures above the threshold, indicating that the inter-prefectural spread intensified following the launch of the second Go To Travel campaign from October 1st, 2020. The simplest model that accounted for an increase in the rate of change only provided the best fit. We estimated that 0.24 (95% confidence interval 0.15 to 0.34) additional prefectures newly exceeded five COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population per week during the second campaign.ConclusionsThe enhanced movement resulting from the Go To Travel campaign facilitated spatial spread of COVID-19 from urban to nonurban locations, where health-care capacity may have been limited.