Regional Differences Research Articles

DOES COVID-19 AFFECT SHARIAH COMPLIANT STOCK? EVIDENCE FROM SELECTED OIC COUNTRIES

This study aims to examine the movements of Islamic stock markets in ten selected OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) countries in relation to Covid-19 cases, providing a comprehensive analysis of market behavior during the pandemic. The countries—Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Indonesia, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain—were chosen based on their large Muslim populations. Data was collected over a one-year period from January 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021, analyzing the relationship between Covid-19 cases and Islamic stock market indices. The study employed co-integration tests to identify long-term relationships and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to explore short-run dynamics. The co-integration test results show a significant long-run relationship between Covid-19 cases and Islamic stock markets in most of the selected OIC countries. Specifically, the Shariah indices in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain have a positive and significant relationship with Covid-19 cases. Conversely, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Oman exhibit a negative long-term relationship with Covid-19 cases, suggesting a different market response. These results suggest that countries with diversified economies, particularly those relying on natural resources such as oil and agriculture, were more resilient during the pandemic. This study provides novel insights into the unique responses of Islamic stock markets in OIC countries during the pandemic, highlighting regional differences in market behavior and recovery. It suggests that despite the global economic downturn, OIC countries present attractive investment opportunities, particularly due to their swift recovery and resource-based economies, offering a robust portfolio for investors during crises.

Measurement and Analysis of The Development Level of Open Economy: A Case Study in Jiangsu Province

In recent years, the international landscape has rapidly evolved, presenting new challenges and opportunities for open economies. Using Jiangsu as a case study, this article assesses the province's open economy level through global factor and cluster analysis. Research has found that the overall development level of open economies in various cities has shown a tortuous growth trend, with significant regional differences between cities, indicating that the previous model of winning by quantity is no longer applicable. This article further analyzes the existing problems and provides relevant basis for policy improvement.

The Correlation between the Elastic Modulus of the Achilles Tendon Enthesis and Bone Microstructure in the Calcaneal Crescent.

The calcaneal enthesis, an osseous footprint where the Achilles tendon seamlessly integrates with the bone, represents a complex interface crucial for effective force transmission. Bone adapts to mechanical stress and remodels based on the applied internal and external forces. This study explores the relationship between the elasticity of the Achilles tendon enthesis and the bone microstructure in the calcaneal crescent. In total, 19 calcaneal-enthesis sections, harvested from 10 fresh-frozen human cadaveric foot-ankle specimens (73.8 ± 6.0 years old, seven female), were used in this study. Indentation tests were performed at the enthesis region, and Hayes' elastic modulus was calculated for each specimen. Micro-CT scanning was performed at 50-micron voxel size to assess trabecular bone microstructure within six regions of interest (ROIs) and the cortical bone thickness along the calcaneal crescent. Significant Spearman correlations were observed between the enthesis elastic modulus and trabecular bone thickness in the distal entheseal (ROI 3) and proximal plantar (ROI 4) regions (R = 0.786 and 0.518, respectively). This study highlights the potential impacts of Achilles tendon enthesis on calcaneal bone microstructure, which was pronounced in the distal calcaneal enthesis, suggesting regional differences in load transfer mechanism that require further investigation.

Prevalence of Borrelia and Rickettsia in Ixodes ricinus from Chosen Urban and Protected Areas in Poland and the Czech Republic.

(1) Background: Ixodes ricinus is responsible for the spreading of medically important pathogens. Monitoring the level of tick infection in various areas is essential for determining the potential tick-born risk. This study aimed to detect Borrelia spp. and Rickettsia spp. in I. ricinus ticks collected in urban and protected areas both in Poland and the Czech Republic. (2) Methods: Ticks were collected by flagging in the years 2016-2017. Borrelia spp. was detected using nested PCR targeting the flaB gene and Rickettsia spp. using nested PCR targeting gltA. (3) Results: In total, DNA of Borrelia spp. was detected in 25.9% of samples. Ticks collected in Poland were more infected compared to the Czech Republic and ticks collected in protected areas were more infected with Borrelia spp. than ticks collected in urban areas. The RFLP analysis showed the occurrence of B. afzelii and B. garinii in both countries, and additionally B. valaisiana, B. burgdorferi s.s., and B. miyamotoi in Poland. Rickettsia spp. was detected in 17.4% of I. ricinus, with comparable infection level in both countries; however, regional differences were observed. (4) Conclusion: The regional differences in Borrelia spp. and Rickettsia spp. prevalence in I. ricinus indicate the complexity of factors influencing the level of infection and underline the need for adaptation public health surveillance strategies in each region.

Spatiotemporal changes in the community and demography of mesozooplankton in the eastern Indian sector of the Southern Ocean during austral summer 2018/2019

The Southern Ocean is facing rapid environmental changes. However, few studies have been conducted on the spatiotemporal variability of mesozooplankton communities under recent climatic conditions, particularly in the eastern Indian sector. This study describes the spatiotemporal variability of the mesozooplankton community and the demographics of large copepods and krill in this sector, sampled through a Rectangular Mid-Water Trawl with 1 m2 mouth area (RMT1) during the austral summer of 2018/2019 as part of the KY1804 survey. Cluster analysis indicated that the mesozooplankton community was divided into five groups that showed only small longitudinal differences, as they were affected by oceanic fronts. Part of the variability was explained by physical (local upwelling) and biological features (e.g., the occurrence of species showing a specific spatial distribution, such as Euphausia crystallorophias). Horizontal changes in the zooplankton community structure were not attributed to temporal changes during the 2-month sampling period. The demographics of the dominant species, Calanoides acutus, Calanus propinquus, Metridia gerlacheri, and Thysanoessa macrura, exhibited significant temporal differences in abundance or mean stage index (MSI) between the early and late seasons. These differences matched the growth rates estimated in previous studies, suggesting that their growth during the study period was constant without regional differences. There were no evident changes in the abundance or demographics of Rhinalanus gigas, suggesting that they were in their reproductive season. These species-specific demographics could be explained by the species life cycles: growth in C. acutus and C. propinquus and reproduction in R. gigas during the austral summer. Abundances and MSIs confirmed the growth of dominant copepods and krill during the sampling period; however, no evident seasonal changes were observed in the zooplankton community structure. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of lower trophic levels in marine ecosystems and the present carbon cycle in the eastern Indian sector of the Southern Ocean.

Regional Differences in Vascular Graft Degradation and Regeneration Contribute to Dilation.

Severe coronary artery disease is often treated with a coronary artery bypass graft using an autologous blood vessel. When this is not available, a commercially available synthetic graft can be used as an alternative but is associated with high failure rates and complications. Therefore, the research focus has shifted toward the development of biodegradable, regenerative vascular grafts that can convert into neoarteries. We previously developed an electrospun tropoelastin (TE)-polyglycerol sebacate (PGS) vascular graft that rapidly regenerated into a neoartery, with a cellular composition and extracellular matrix approximating the native aorta. We noted, however, that the TE-PGS graft underwent dilation until sufficient neotissue had been regenerated. This study investigated the mechanisms behind the observed dilation following TE-PGS vascular graft implantation in mice. We saw more pronounced dilation at the graft middle compared with the graft proximal and graft distal regions at 8 weeks postimplantation. Histological analysis revealed less degradation at the graft middle, although the remaining graft material appeared pitted, suggesting compromised structural and mechanical integrity. We also observed delayed cellular infiltration and extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition at the graft middle, corresponding with the area's reduced ability to resist dilation. In contrast, the graft proximal region exhibited greater degradation and significantly enhanced cellular infiltration and ECM regeneration. The nonuniform dilation was attributed to the combined effect of the regional differences in graft degradation and arterial regeneration. Consideration of these findings is crucial for graft optimization prior to its use in clinical applications.

Single-neuron representations of odours in the human brain

Olfaction is a fundamental sensory modality that guides animal and human behaviour1,2. However, the underlying neural processes of human olfaction are still poorly understood at the fundamental—that is, the single-neuron—level. Here we report recordings of single-neuron activity in the piriform cortex and medial temporal lobe in awake humans performing an odour rating and identification task. We identified odour-modulated neurons within the piriform cortex, amygdala, entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. In each of these regions, neuronal firing accurately encodes odour identity. Notably, repeated odour presentations reduce response firing rates, demonstrating central repetition suppression and habituation. Different medial temporal lobe regions have distinct roles in odour processing, with amygdala neurons encoding subjective odour valence, and hippocampal neurons predicting behavioural odour identification performance. Whereas piriform neurons preferably encode chemical odour identity, hippocampal activity reflects subjective odour perception. Critically, we identify that piriform cortex neurons reliably encode odour-related images, supporting a multimodal role of the human piriform cortex. We also observe marked cross-modal coding of both odours and images, especially in the amygdala and piriform cortex. Moreover, we identify neurons that respond to semantically coherent odour and image information, demonstrating conceptual coding schemes in olfaction. Our results bridge the long-standing gap between animal models and non-invasive human studies and advance our understanding of odour processing in the human brain by identifying neuronal odour-coding principles, regional functional differences and cross-modal integration.

Referral to pulmonary rehabilitation and palliative care services in people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in England, 2010–2019

The benefits of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) and palliative care (PC) as non-pharmacological therapies for people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) are increasingly being recognised but in the UK the proportion of people with this life-limiting condition who are referred to such services is thought to be low. This retrospective cohort study aimed to describe trends in referrals to PR and PC services among people with IPF over a 10-year period and to identify factors associated with non-referral. Our study cohort was drawn from the UK’s pseudonymised Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum primary care database and comprised 17,071 individuals diagnosed with IPF between 2010 and 2019. While 12.0% of IPF patients were offered a referral to PR, less than 2% completed a PR programme. Around a fifth (19.4%) received a referral to generic PC support services; however, this is well below reported PC referral rates for lung cancer patients. Moreover, the majority of PC referrals occurred late; among those who died, 31% were referred within a month and 70% within 6 months of death. Referrals to PR and PC had however increased (by around 2–fold and 4-fold, respectively) over the course of the study period. Factors associated with non-referral to PR included female sex, older age and co-diagnosis of dementia; barriers to PC referral included being female or of Asian or Black ethnicity. We also found evidence of regional differences in referrals. These findings confirm that PR and PC service provision for people with IPF across England is suboptimal.

Smart retrofitting for office buildings: Comparison of decision-making criteria between developing and developed regions

Given the constantly evolving nature of modern infrastructure, retrofitting existing buildings with state-of-the-art smart technologies presents a pivotal opportunity, enabling promising advancements in sustainability, efficiency and adaptability. Focusing on Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, which are developed and developing regions respectively, this study investigates the decision-making criteria for selecting smart systems as retrofits for office buildings. Using the analytic network process (ANP), 24 expert interviews were conducted in Hong Kong and Sri Lanka to determine the importance weights of the decision-making criteria. The findings show varied importance weights for each criterion between the two regions, with Hong Kong emphasizing upfront financial considerations, specifically 'investment cost' while Sri Lanka emphasizing long-term operational sustainability, specifically 'recurring operation, maintenance and repair cost.' Despite these differences, there are similarities in the importance of core criteria such as 'reliability of retrofit option' and 'ability to increase returns.' The lack of focus on user-centric issues in Hong Kong and implementation of retrofit projects in Sri Lanka underscore the need for decision-makers to prioritize these aspects in future projects. The principal contribution of this study is in offering insights from a thorough analysis of the importance weights of the essential criteria in making decisions regarding smart retrofitting (SR). It is also beneficial to various stakeholders, including building owners and facility managers. The cross-region study approach, enabling the investigation on both developed and developing regions, further serves as a foundation for future research aiming to explore and analyze the influence of regional difference in decision-making for SR.

Spatio-temporal Situation, Regional Differences, and Dynamic Evolution of the Distribution of Ecological Compensation in the Yellow River Basin

In the context of regional coordinated development and modernization of ecological and environmental governance capacity, the spatial collaborative governance of transboundary river basins has received extensive attention, but the ecological compensation of river basins is faced with the intertwined relationship of rights and responsibilities, and the horizontal ecological compensation mechanism has not yet been perfected. Based on the emergy ecological footprint model, the ecological compensation amount of 90 cities in the Yellow River Basin in 2007-2021 was measured, and the spatiotemporal pattern, regional differences, and dynamic evolution characteristics of distribution were explored by combining exploratory spatial data analysis, Dagum Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation, and spatial Markov chain analysis. The results showed that： ① The spatiotemporal pattern of ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin was different, the ecological compensation amount decreased slightly in the fluctuation and increased from the northwest to southeast gradient in general, and the high-value areas were concentrated in the areas with a superior ecological background or developed economy, and some upstream cities had given up many development opportunities to maintain the ecological security of the Yellow River Basin, however, failed to obtain reasonable ecological compensation. ② A significant positive spatial agglomeration phenomenon was observed in ecological compensation and the overall spatial distribution trend was "cold in the north and hot in the south." The number of low-payment areas and low-compensation areas gradually decreased, showing a gradually shrinking agglomeration layout from the periphery to the center, whereas the number of high-payment areas and high-compensation areas continued to increase and formed a spatial evolution characteristic of the coexistence of scattered distribution and group distribution. ③ The overall regional differences in ecological compensation expanded. The over-variation density was the main source of the overall differences, and the focus on alleviating the intra-regional and inter-regional differences was located in the downstream areas. ④ A slight multi-level differentiation phenomenon was present in ecological compensation. The influence of different neighbors on the horizontal transfer of ecological compensation was quite different. This spatial spillover effect easily formed a "space club convergence" phenomenon within a certain geographical spatial range, but with the expansion of time, the probability of maintaining the original level of ecological compensation in each city decreased, and mobility gradually increased. Therefore, increasing the investment in ecological compensation in different fields, strengthening the coordinated development between regions, and giving full play to the spatial spillover effect are important ways to solve the current spatial imbalance of ecological compensation in the Yellow River Basin.

Evolving trends, regional differences, determinants, and disease sources of provincial-level health inequalities in china 1990–2019: a temporal convergence and novel triple decomposition analysis

BackgroundPromoting health equity has been a worldwide goal, but serious challenges remain globally and within China. Multiple decomposition of the sources and determinants of health inequalities has significant implications for narrowing health inequalities and improve health equity.MethodsLife expectancy (LE), healthy life expectancy (HALE), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), and age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) rates in 31 provinces of mainland China were selected as health status indicators, obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) database. Temporal convergence analysis was used to test the evolving trends of health status. Dagum’s Gini coefficient decomposition was used to decompose the overall Gini coefficient based on intraregional and interregional differences. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition was used to calculate contributions of determinants to interregional differences. The factor-decomposed Gini coefficient was used to analyze the absolute and marginal contribution of each component to overall Gini coefficients.ResultsFrom 1990-2019, China witnessed notable improvements in health status measured by LE, HALE, ASMR and age-standardized DALY rates.Nevertheless, the three regions (East, Central and West) exhibited significant inter-regional differences in health status, with the differences between the East and West being the largest. The adjusted short-term conditional β-convergence model indicated that the inter-provincial differences in LE, HALE, ASMR, and age-standardized DALY rates significantly converged at annual rates of 0.31%, 0.35%, 0.19%, and 0.28% over 30 years. The overall Gini coefficients of LE, HALE, and age-standardized DALY rates decreased, while the ASMR exhibited an opposite trend. Inter-regional and intra-regional differences accounted for >70% and<30% of overall Gini coefficients, respectively. Attribution analysis showed that socioeconomic determinants explained 85.77% to 91.93% of the eastern-western differences between 2010-2019, followed by health system determinants explaining 7.79% to 11.61%. The source-analysis of Gini coefficients of ASMR and age-standardized DALY rates revealed that noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) made the largest and increasing absolute contribution, while communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases (CMNNDs) had a diminishing and lower impact. However, NCDs exerted a negative marginal effect on the Gini coefficient, whereas CMNNDs exhibited a positive marginal effect, indicating that controlling CMNNDs may be more effective in reducing health inequities.ConclusionsRegional differences are a major source of health inequities in China. Prioritizing prevention and control of CMNNDs, rather than NCDs, may yield more pronounced impacts on reducing health inequalities from the perspective of marginal effect, although NCDs remain the largest absolute contributor to health inequalities.

Head and neck cancer mortality in the United States: Regional differences in hospice use and place of death

BackgroundWith more than 15,000 annual deaths from head and neck cancer (HNC), an important aspect of end-of-life care for these patients is place of death. Recent evidence suggests an increasing preference for home/hospice at end of life; however, it is unclear whether there is variation in home/hospice use based on region or urban status. We described differences in the place of death of HNC patients based on their region and urban status.MethodsUsing the CDC WONDER (Wide-Ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research) database for HNC mortality (1999 to 2019), place of death was dichotomized as home/hospice vs. other, by Health and Human Services (HHS) region (Regions 1-10), and by urbanization status. Multivariable logistic regression analyses estimated odds of place of death being home/hospice, and being urban/metro, adjusting for both clinical and nonclinical variables.ResultsOver the study period, there were 260,630 deaths, 47.4% of which were at home or hospice. Compared to patients in New England/Region 1 (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, and VT), HNC patients were more likely to die at home/hospice in the Pacific Northwest/Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA) (aOR (1.73; 95% CI: 1.64, 1.83) and less likely in the Eastern Section/Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, VI) (aOR 0.93; 95% CI: 0.89, 0.97). Further, large central metro areas had significantly lower rates of dying at home/hospice than did all other settings.ConclusionPatients in moderately urban areas were reported to have the greatest use of hospice services and at-home death; patients in the HHS Region representing Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington were also found to have the highest rates of use. These differences in hospice care should be considered when clinicians counsel patients on their end-of-life options.

Temporal Variation and Regional Differences in Deaths Related to Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in the United States: A Retrospective Analysis of Two Decades

Temporal Variation and Regional Differences in Deaths Related to Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) in the United States: A Retrospective Analysis of Two Decades

Storm frequency, magnitude, and cumulative storm beach impact along the US east coast

Abstract. This study extracted historical water level data from 12 National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration tide gauge stations, spanning the period from the early 20th century to 2022 from central Maine to southern Florida, in order to determine if temporal and spatial trends existed in the frequency and magnitude of storms along the US Atlantic Ocean coast. We used the Storm Erosion Potential Index (SEPI) to identify and quantify storms. We then use the timing and magnitude of those storms to determine the cumulative effect of storm clustering and large-magnitude storms on sandy beaches using the cumulative storm impact index (CSII) empirical model. The results from this study showed (1) no appreciable increase in storm frequency at any of the stations (except for sheltered stations susceptible to storm tide augmentation), (2) statistically significant but modest increases in storm magnitudes over time for 8 of the 12 tidal stations, (3) regional differences in storm magnitudes (SEPI) and cumulative storm impacts (CSII) characteristic of more frequent extratropical storms (temporal clustering) in the north and less frequent tropical storms in the south, and (4) a 4- to 10-year recovery period for regional beach recovery.

A protocol for identifying the needs related to drug use, health and social (re)integration of people living in prison within five European countries

BackgroundCompared to the general population, people living in prison are at an increased risk to experience negative (mental) health outcomes. Moreover, delinquency and drug use have many risk factors in common. A need exists for increasing the knowledge about health needs, drug use patterns and the coverage of drug-related interventions in prison within Europe. The current protocol describes the design of a study about wellbeing, drug use and related care in prison.Methods/designA multicentre mixed method design is implemented in five European countries (Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Lithuania and Luxembourg). Qualitative and quantitative data collection tools are combined in order to generate complementary and comprehensive results. First, a cross-sectional survey among people living in prison is conducted. This survey is based on a model questionnaire, the European Questionnaire on Drug use among people living in Prison, developed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drug and Drugs Addiction. Second, people living in prison and people who have been recently released from prison are involved in qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The main topics of interest are the use of drugs and other health related topics such as loneliness, anxiety, depression, infectious diseases, suicide and treatment. Third, data regarding health and social reintegration measures in prison is collected through a quantitative survey addressed to the prison authorities.DiscussionThis study protocol presentes a European study which aims to assess drug use among people living in prison and recently released people who use drugs as well as the existing care services in prisons. Hereby, factors related to the prison environment and their needs, both inside and outside prison are taken into account. Importantly, this study protocol describes a methodology which is developed to be executed in different prison settings within different countries simultaneously. Accordingly, for each country the protocol is adjustable to specific national legal requirements, regional differences and distinct local regulations of prison administrations. However, extensive modularity inevitably comes with significant limitations of comparability and generalizability of the results.

A prediction of mutations in infectious viruses using artificial intelligence.

Many subtypes of SARS-CoV-2 have emerged since its early stages, with mutations showing regional and racial differences. These mutations significantly affected the infectivity and severity of the virus. This study aimed to predict the mutations that occur during the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and identify the key characteristics for making these predictions. We collected and organized data on the lineage, date, clade, and mutations of SARS-CoV-2 from publicly available databases and processed them to predict the mutations. In addition, we utilized various artificial intelligence models to predict newly emerging mutations and created various training sets based on clade information. Using only mutation information resulted in low performance of the learning models, whereas incorporating clade differentiation resulted in high performance in machine learning models, including XGBoost (accuracy: 0.999). However, mutations fixed in the receptor-binding motif (RBM) region of Omicron resulted in decreased predictive performance. Using these models, we predicted potential mutation positions for 24C, following the recently emerged 24A and 24B clades. We identified a mutation at position Q493 in the RBM region. Our study developed effective artificial intelligence models and characteristics for predicting new mutations in continuously evolving infectious viruses.

Key Issues and Challenges in Establishing Regionally Differentiated Water Quality Standard in China

The goal of environmental management in China is transitioning from pollution control to the improvement of ecological quality. The establishment of regional differential water quality standards can better adapt to the ecological characteristics and development needs of different regions. Given the shortcomings of current water quality standards and the needs of technological development, this study analyzed the causes and influencing factors of regional differences in water quality standards and summarized China's regional variations in areas such as the characteristics of receiving water bodies, social attributes, climate conditions, physicochemical properties of water, and aquatic biotic populations. It also examined the impact of regional characteristics on the assessment of biological toxicity. Based on these analyses, the study identified key scientific questions that may arise in the development of regional differential water quality standards in China and outlined future critical research directions in this field. These directions include developing theories and methods for determining the effluent dilution coefficient, establishing methods for identifying regional key water quality indicators and assessing their impact on water quality standards, determining regional characteristic species and their influence on water quality standards, and formulating theories and methods for categorizing different regions across the country. The aim of the study was to provide a reference for the scientific establishment of water quality standards in China.

Insurance loss model vs. meteorological loss index – how comparable are their loss estimates for European windstorms?

Abstract. Windstorms affecting Europe are among the natural hazards with the largest socio-economic impacts. Therefore, many sectors like society, the economy, or the insurance industry are highly interested in reliable information on associated impacts and losses. In this study, we compare – for the first time – estimated windstorm losses using a simplified meteorological loss index (LI) with losses obtained from a complex insurance loss (catastrophe) model, namely the European Windstorm Model of Aon Impact Forecasting. To test the sensitivity of LI to different meteorological input data, we furthermore contrast LI based on the reanalysis dataset ERA5 and its predecessor ERA-Interim. We focus on similarities and differences between the datasets in terms of loss values and storm rank for specific historical storm events in the common reanalysis period across 11 European countries. Our results reveal higher LI values for ERA5 than for ERA-Interim for all of Europe (by roughly a factor of 10), coming mostly from the higher spatial resolution in ERA5. The storm ranking is comparable for western and central European countries for both reanalyses, confirmed by high correlation values between 0.6 and 0.89. Compared to the Aon Impact Forecasting model, LI ERA5 shows comparable storm ranks, with correlation values ranging between 0.45 and 0.8. In terms of normalized loss, LI exhibits overall lower values and smaller regional differences. Compared to the market perspective represented by the insurance loss model, LI seems to have particular difficulty in distinguishing between high-impact events at the tail of the wind gust distribution and moderate-impact events. Thus, the loss distribution in LI is likely not steep enough, and the tail is probably underestimated. Nevertheless, it is an effective index that is suitable for estimating the impacts of storm events and ranking storm events, precisely because of its simplicity.

Manifold increase in the spatial extent of heatwaves in the terrestrial Arctic

It is widely acknowledged that the intensity, frequency and duration of heatwaves are increasing worldwide, including the Arctic. However, less attention has been paid to the land area affected by heatwaves. Here, using atmospheric reanalysis and global climate models, we show that the area covered by heatwaves is substantially expanding in the terrestrial Arctic. Compared to the mid-20th century, the total land area affected by severe heatwaves in the Arctic has doubled, the area of extreme heatwaves has tripled, and the area of very extreme heatwaves has quadrupled. Furthermore, climate model projections suggest that the extent of heatwaves will continue to increase in the 21st century, but with large regional differences in heatwave magnitudes due to summer intraseasonal temperature variability. Our findings underscore the growing vulnerability of the Arctic region to extreme heat, potentially leading to severe impacts on both ecosystems and societies.

Farmland Degradation in the Czech Republic: Drivers and Barriers of Mitigation Strategies in Agricultural Soils

ABSTRACTIn line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.3, which aims to restore degraded land and soil, and the priorities of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) to mitigate environmental issues caused by intensive agriculture, understanding the factors influencing farmers' adoption of soil conservation practices (SCPs) is crucial. However, there is still a limited understanding of these specific factors, particularly in the context of the Czech Republic. This study investigates the perceptions and determinants influencing the adoption of SCPs among farmers in the Czech Republic. We analyzed 358 randomly selected farm households using probit and multivariate probit models. Our results show that a significant number of farmers perceive soil degradation as an important problem, attributing it to factors such as low soil nutrient content, declining soil humus, water and wind erosion. The results of our analysis showed positive associations for perceived effectiveness and profitability, indicating that farmers tend to adopt practices such as minimum tillage, mulching, mixed cropping, cover cropping, and continuous soil cover when these methods are perceived to be effective and profitable. Conversely, negative associations are found for perceptions of soil degradation and education, suggesting potential barriers to adoption with higher levels of perceived soil degradation and education. The study also highlights the complex interplay of information sources on adoption, with both positive and negative trends. In light of these findings, we propose recommendations, including that awareness campaigns should be tailored to address perceptions of soil degradation, and that the use of peer networks and information dissemination from research institutions can bridge the gap between scientific recommendations and on‐farm practices. Policy makers and agricultural extension services should work together to develop targeted strategies that take into account regional differences in the factors influencing adoption and ultimately promote widespread adoption of SCPs.