Wujiang District Research Articles

Automatic detection of adenoid hypertrophy on lateral nasopharyngeal radiographs of children based on deep learning.

Adenoid hypertrophy is a prevalent cause of upper airway obstruction in children, potentially leading to various otolaryngological complications and even systemic sequelae. The lateral nasopharyngeal radiograph is routinely employed for the diagnosis of adenoid hypertrophy. This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of deep learning, using lateral nasopharyngeal radiographs, for the diagnosis of adenoid hypertrophy in pediatric patients. In the retrospective study, the lateral nasopharyngeal X-ray images were collected from children receiving therapy in the Children's Hospital of Soochow University, the 983th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Forces of Chinese PLA and the Suzhou Wujiang District Children's Hospital from January 2023 to November 2023. Five deep learning models, i.e., AlexNet, VGG16, Inception v3, ResNet50 and DenseNet121, were used for model training and validation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used to evaluate the performance of each model. The best algorithm was compared with interpretations from three radiologists on 208 images in the internal validation group. The lateral nasopharyngeal X-ray images were collected from 1,188 children, including 705 males (59.3%) and 483 females (40.7%), aged 8 months to 13 years, with a mean age of 5.57±2.66 years. Among the five deep learning models, DenseNet-121 performed the best, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.892 and 0.872, with accuracy of 0.895 and 0.878, sensitivity of 0.870 and 0.838, and specificity of 0.913 and 0.906 in the internal and external validation groups, respectively. The diagnostic performance of DenseNet-121 was higher than that of the junior and mid-level radiologists (0.892 vs. 0.836, 0.892 vs. 0.869), close to the senior radiologist (0.892 vs. 0.901). However, Delong's test revealed no significant difference between DenseNet121 and each radiologist in the validation group (P=0.24, P=0.52, P=0.79). All the five deep learning models in the study showed good performance for the diagnosis of adenoid hypertrophy, with DenseNet121 being the best, which was clinically relevant for the automatic identification of adenoid hypertrophy.

Land Property Rights, Spatial Form, and Land Performance: A Framework of Policy Performance Evaluation on Collective-Owned Construction Land and Evidence from Rural China

Alongside the proceeding of rural land system reform in China, it becomes more and more critical to conduct policy performance evaluations on collective-owned construction land for profitable use to reflect the achievements and deficiencies of the reform. Traditionally, land policy performance evaluation is based on the theory of “policy-performance”, which fails to explain the mechanism of transaction costs. From the perspective of spatial planning, land use and the spatial form shaped by land development management and control are a representation of land property rights, as well as an expression of land policy performance. Thus, a correct understanding of the role of spatial form in the relationship between land policy and land performance is of great significance in accurately evaluating land policy performance and further improving land policies. Focusing on the interrelation among the three factors, this article highlights and elaborates on the intermediary role of spatial form between land property rights and land policy performance and puts forward the analytical framework of “land property right–spatial form–land policy performance”. It then takes the case of Wujiang District of Suzhou in southern Jiangsu Province to prove the effectiveness of this analytical framework. The outcome of this study can serve as a supplement to “policy-performance” theory, which refines and deepens the analysis of transaction costs from the perspective of spatial planning. It may also help deepen the recognition of land policy performance through visualized presentations, providing a new perspective for performance evaluation in quantitative and qualitative ways.

Assessment of serum vitamin D levels in children aged 0–17 years old in a Chinese population: a comprehensive study

Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency pose global public health challenges, yet research on serum vitamin D levels in the 0–17-year-old age group in southeastern China remains limited. This study aimed to fill this gap by investigating serum 25(OH)D levels in children in the region aged 0–17 years, contributing crucial data for understanding vitamin D nutritional status. Liquid chromatography‒mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC‒MS/MS) technology was used. Vitamin D testing was integrated into routine diagnostic procedures for 11,116 children in Wujiang District, Suzhou City. Among the 0–17-year age group, comprising 6348 boys and 4768 girls, the prevalence of serum 25(OH)D deficiency and insufficiency was 21.4% and 31.0%, respectively. The median serum 25(OH)D concentration was 29.72 ng/mL (21.84–39.84 ng/mL) in boys compared to 28.48 ng/mL (20.65–39.23 ng/mL) in girls. Seasonal variations were observed, with median serum 25(OH)D concentrations of 29.02 ng/mL (20.73–39.72 ng/mL) in spring, 28.79 ng/mL (21.53–39.37 ng/mL) in summer, 30.12 ng/mL (22.00–39.70 ng/mL) in autumn, and 28.58 ng/mL (19.97–39.46 ng/mL) in winter. Statistically significant differences were noted in the serum 25(OH)D levels during autumn and winter. In conclusion, the rate of adequate vitamin D levels in local children was 47.5%, revealing a relatively high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (21.4%) and insufficiency (31.0%), especially during the post-preschool period. Advocating for vitamin D supplementation in children is crucial for ensuring adequate vitamin D support.

A New Approach to Landscape Visual Quality Assessment from a Fine-Tuning Perspective

A New Approach to Landscape Visual Quality Assessment from a Fine-Tuning Perspective

Study on the Optimization of Wujiang’s Water Resources by Combining the Quota Method and NSGA-II Algorithm

Recently, the Chinese government has implemented stringent water requirements based on the concept of ‘Basing four aspects on water resources’. However, existing research has inadequately addressed the constraints of water resources on population, city boundaries, land, and production, failing to adequately analyze the interplay between water resource limitations and urban development. Recognizing the interconnectedness between urban water use and economic development, a multi-objective model becomes crucial for optimizing urban water resources. This study establishes a nonlinear multi-objective water resources joint optimization model, aligning with the “Basing four aspects on water resources” requirement to maximize urban GDP and minimize total water use. A genetic algorithm (NSGA-II Algorithm) is applied to solve this complex nonlinear multi-objective model and obtain the Pareto solution set, addressing information loss inherent in the traditional water quota method. The model was tested in Wujiang District, an area located in China’s Jiangsu Province that has been rapidly urbanizing over the past few decades, and yielded 50 non-inferior water resource optimization schemes. The results reveal that the Pareto solution set visually illustrates the competition among objectives and comprehensively displays the interplay between water and urban development. The model takes a holistic approach to consider the relationships between water resources and urban population, land use, and industries, clearly presenting their intricate interdependencies. This study serves as a valuable reference for the rational optimization of water resources in urban development.

Correction: Shi et al. Dynamic Scenario Simulations of Sustainable Rural and Towns Development in China: The Case of Wujiang District. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8200

In the original publication [...]

Intensive-Use-Oriented Performance Evaluation and Optimization of Rural Industrial Land: A Case Study of Wujiang District, China

Rural industrialization is one of the core drivers of urban and rural spatial evolution and economic transformation in China. Given the background of stock and reduction planning, the development of rural industrial land, which has long relied on land inputs to increase production and inefficient expansion, is facing severe constraints and challenges. How to improve the spatial performance of rural industrial land and promote industrial upgrading and intensive land use have become vital issues for the healthy development of rural areas. This paper draws upon smart shrinkage theory to provide an analytical framework for the intensive-use-oriented performance evaluation of rural industrial land, unlike the evaluation method of efficiency orientation for industrial land, which emphasizes the core goal of the input and output of production factors per unit area. Based on the analysis framework, this study explored the parcel-microscale performance evaluation methods for rural industrial land, and the evaluation index system construction covers the four dimensions of economic performance, social performance, ecological performance, and land use structure performance. Wujiang District of Suzhou City was used as a case study to carry out a comprehensive performance evaluation and analyze the differences in RILP in space and industry. Based on the evaluation results, the key problems of rural industrial land were identified, and corresponding optimization strategies for rural industrial land are proposed from the aspects of land use control, spatial agglomeration, and industrial upgrading. This study intended to address the current major national strategic needs and solve the real dilemmas faced in the process of rural industrial land development. It is hoped that the study will provide a theoretical reference for the transformation of rural industrial land and policy-making for rural revitalization.

Dynamic Scenario Simulations of Sustainable Rural and Towns Development in China: The Case of Wujiang District

Increasing urbanization in China threatens the sustainable rural development of villages and towns. The siphoning effect of cities on the surrounding rural areas is increasing, resulting in the more severe problem of a “rural disease” and a widening gap between urban and rural areas. Implementing China’s rural revitalization strategies for urban–rural integration to alleviate these problems is crucial for sustainable rural development. Based on field research materials from Wujiang District, Suzhou City, China, this paper uses an explanatory structural model to screen the factors influencing sustainable rural development. A system dynamics model is used to identify the sustainable rural development trends of Chinese villages and towns under different scenarios. The results demonstrate that under the sustainable development model, consolidating the development of primary industries and increasing tertiary section investments can promote the development of the local economy. These are also conducive to environmental protection, and they improve the quality of the local living environment. The results can be used to formulate rural revitalization policies and promote urban–rural integration.

An Integrated Model for Constructing Urban Ecological Networks and Identifying the Ecological Protection Priority: A Case Study of Wujiang District, Suzhou

As a result of the rapid urbanisation in China, the ecological system in urban areas has become fragmented, posing a threat to ecological stability. Constructing ecological networks is considered a critical strategy to reconnect habitats, restore ecosystems and improve ecological capacity. This research aims to develop a GIS-based model that can inform urban ecological network construction and identify the priority areas for ecological protection in a given urban context. The methodological prototype considers land use, habitat conditions and human interventions from an integrated perspective and has been tested based on a case study in Wujiang District, Suzhou. The results show that (i) 30 critical ecological patches were identified, including 2 vital, 4 important and 24 general cores; (ii) 69 ecological corridors, including 15 vital, 36 important and 18 general corridors, 59 ecological nodes and 24 barriers were determined. Based on these results, this research identified priority restoration and protected areas that urgently require the restoration of ecological networks according to their importance. This research proposes further recommendations on management strategies for construction and protection guidance at macro and micro levels in accordance with existing territorial and spatial planning of Wujiang. The model developed in this research provides a scientific methodology for planning and optimising ecological networks and can serve as a basis for realising ecological protection.

Research on the Coordinated Governance Mechanism of Cross-Regional and Cross-Basin Ecological Compensation in the Yangtze River Delta.

The development of a regionally integrated economy promotes the development of river basin ecological compensation toward cross-regional coordinated governance. The ecological compensation in the Yangtze River Delta has developed by leaps and bounds, which is conducive to the research on the collaborative governance mechanism. Taking the ecological compensation policy data in the Yangtze River Delta as the research object, and using the social network analysis method, this paper analyzes the current situation of cross-basin cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta. A collaborative governance network is formed with 74 ecological compensation agreements, and the distribution law of the overall collaborative network is found. Using IAD to decompose the ecological compensation agreement rules, 303 institutional units were obtained, of which, 198 were selection rules, accounting for 65%. The research results show that: (1) The ecological compensation cooperation in the Yangtze River Delta region is mainly concentrated in the Jiaxing Jiashan, Wujiang District, Suzhou, and Qingpu District, Shanghai, forming a close cooperation triangle network, and Shanghai plays a strong “intermediary” role in it. (2) In institutional grammar analysis, the formulation of rules is biased toward choice rules and payoff rules, that is to say, the content of the rules is mostly how to cooperate and how to reward and punish but there is a lack of specific action scenarios and standards. The combination of social network and institutional analysis and development framework is conducive to the study of the ecological collaborative governance mechanism of the Yangtze River Delta, breaking the gap between different fields and regions, enhancing the enthusiasm for multi-subject governance in the Yangtze River Delta region, and giving full play to the effectiveness of multi-subject governance.

Fecal Contamination and High Nutrient Levels Pollute the Watersheds of Wujiang, China

Freshwaters in China are affected by point and non-point sources of pollution. The Wujiang District (Suzhou City, China) has a long history of canals, rivers, and lakes that are currently facing various water quality issues. In this study, the water quality of four rivers and a lake in Wujiang was assessed to quantify pollution and explore its causes. Seventy-five monthly samples were collected from these water bodies (five locations/samples per area) from August to October 2020 and were compared with nine control samples collected from a water protection area. Fifteen physicochemical, microbiological, and molecular–microbiological parameters were analyzed, including nutrients, total and fecal coliforms, and fecal markers. Significant monthly variation was observed for most parameters at all areas. Total phosphorus, phosphates, total nitrogen, ammonium–nitrogen, and fecal coliforms mostly exceeded the acceptable limits set by the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection. The LiPuDang Lake and the WuFangGang River were the most degraded areas. The studied parameters were correlated with urban, agricultural, industrial, and other major land use patterns. The results suggest that fecal contamination and nutrients, associated with certain land use practices, are the primary pollution factors in the Wujiang District. Detailed water quality monitoring and targeted management strategies are necessary to control pollution in Wujiang’s watersheds.

Study on Characters of Rural Residential Buildings Based on the Investigation in Shaanxi, Guangxi and Jiangsu in China

This paper is supported by the national key R&D program (2018YFD1100205) of China during the 13th Five-Year Plan “Research on the Construction Technology System of Green Livable Rural Residential Buildings”. This paper is focused on the characteristics of rural residential buildings form, functional space and villagers’ demands of buildings based on different regions, climate and economic performance. The research is processed in the field with spot plotting and questionnaire survey including interviews about the rural residential buildings in Luonan County of Shaanxi, Longan County of Guangxi and Wujiang District of Jiangsu. According to the statistical results, there is a contrastive analysis of rural residential buildings in time and space, and then the characteristics, influencing factors, modular spatial type of residential buildings have been teased out. Meanwhile it refines the development trends of rural residential buildings eventually combined with the demands of villagers.

Lili Wu Chinese

Lili Wu Chinese () is a Wu dialect (; ISO 639-3; code: wuu) spoken by approximately 38,000 people who reside in the town of Lili (), one of the ten major towns in the Wujiang district (). The Wujiang district belongs to the prefectural-level municipality of Suzhou city () in Jiangsu province (), the People’s Republic of China. It is located at the juncture area of the city of Shanghai (), the city of Suzhou, and the city of Jiaxing (), as shown in Figure 1.

Characteristics Analysis of Bus Stop Failure Using Automatic Vehicle Location Data

Queue forming behind a bus stop on an urban street is common and a traffic bottleneck usually occurs around the bus stop area. The bus stop failure means arriving buses cannot move into the bus stop due to limited capacity but have to wait for available loading areas. It is related with the transit operation level. Traditionally, the failure rate (FR), defined as the percentage of buses that arrives at the bus stop to find all loading areas occupied, is adopted in bus capacity analysis. However, the concept of FR is unable to quantitatively analyze failure characteristics in terms of its dispersion and uncertainty over time. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new index called failure duration rate (FDR) to evaluate the bus stop failure, which can characterize waiting time for traffic delay calculation and capacity drop estimation. The automatic vehicle location data at eight bus stops in Wujiang District Suzhou, China, over 56 working days, are used to analyze the temporal characteristics of FR and FDR. We next examined the failed service duration characteristics during peak hours at the eight bus stops. Based on these characteristics analyses, we then proposed a Distribution Fitting and Cumulative Distribution Correlation (DF-CDC) approach to explore the correlation between FDR and FR at the same cumulative distribution function levels and validated the bus stop failure performance using the cross-validation method. The analysis results revealed that (i) FR fluctuates more significant than FDR, (ii) FDR is a more robust index than FR in describing the traffic characteristics incurred by bus stop failures, and (iii) FDR performs better in failure characteristics analysis than FR.

Discovering Urban Functional Polycentricity: A Traffic Flow-Embedded and Topic Modeling-Based Methodology Framework

With the rapid development of communication and transportation technologies, the urban area is increasingly becoming an ever more dynamic, comprehensive, and complex system. Meanwhile, functional polycentricity as a distinctive feature has been characterizing urban areas around the world. However, the spatial structure of the urban area has yet to be fully comprehended from a dynamic perspective, and understanding the spatial organization of polycentric urban regions (PUR) is crucial for issues related to urban planning, traffic control, and urban risk management. The analysis of polycentricity strongly depends on the spatial scale. In order to identify functional polycentricity at the intra-unban scale, this paper presents a traffic flow-embedded and topic modeling-based methodology framework. This framework was evaluated on real-world datasets from the Wujiang district, Suzhou, China, which contains 151,419 records of taxi trajectory data and 86,036 records of points of interest (POI) data. This paper provides a novel approach to examining urban functional polycentricity via combining urban function distribution and spatial interactions. This proposed methodology can help urban authorities better understand urban dynamics in terms of function distribution and internal connectedness and facilitate urban development in terms of urban planning and traffic control.

Environmental deterioration in rapid urbanisation: evidence from assessment of ecosystem service value in Wujiang, Suzhou

Land use change is the most prominent feature of Chinese urbanisation. In China, the expansion of land consumed for urban development is inevitable given the rapid increases in the urban economy and urban population, but also in meeting the population’s increasing demand for better quality of life. This paper is based on a research study of Wujiang district in Suzhou, which is considered representative of many of the rapid urbanisation areas within the nation. The objective is to develop an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of land use change and how this change contributes to environmental deterioration, as assessed by changes in the ecosystem service value (ESV). In this study, ESV is defined as the environmental products and functions provided for human well-being. Based on local planning documents, Landsat TM remote-sensing images and field surveys, the research analyses the cost to the environment when traditional land uses are transformed into urbanisation. The research demonstrates that conversion to urban land use which ignores the limit and capacity of the environment can generate significant environmental costs, as assessed by ESV, which in turn, can lead to a deterioration of quality of life for inhabitants, the exact opposite of the original intention. The research demonstrates that by mapping the spatial distribution of ecological service values, ESV can be used as a guide to urban sustainable development.

Application of purse string suture with Harmonious Clips and Olympus endoloop in single channel endoscopy for large gastric antrum mucosa defect

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of purse string suture with Harmonious Clips and Olympus endoloop in single channel endoscopy for large gastric antrum mucosa defect. Methods: A total of 33 patients who underwent ESD of gastric antrum in single channel endoscopy at the First people's Hospital of Wujiang District from January 2015 to April 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Everyone had one lesion, and the diameters were all more than 3 cm. After the resection and hemostasis, purse string suture with Harmonious Clips and Olympus endoloop or no suture in study group (n=16) and the control group (n=17). The degree of abdominal pain, postoperative gastrointestinal decompression time, incidence of delayed hemorrhage, postoperative hospital stay and the healing rate were observed and compared. Results: All patients successfully completed resection, no perforation occurred, and all the lesions were resected completely in one time. All patients in the study group were sutured successfully. The abdominal pain score on the first day after operation was (2.7±0.7) in the study group, and (3.6±0.8) in the control group(t=3.686, P=0.001). The mean time of postoperative gastrointestinal decompression was (1.6±0.5) days in the study group, while (2.4±0.7) days in the control group(t=3.675, P=0.001). No delayed bleeding occurred in the study group, while 5 cases in the control group had delayed bleeding. The rate of delayed hemorrhage was 29.4% in control group, 4 cases successfully achieved hemostasis through endoscopy therapy, 1 case was given surgical intervention after ineffective endoscopic hemostasis(P=0.044). The average postoperative hospital stay were (6.2±1.1) days and (5.9±2.0) days respectively (t=0.423, P=0.675). Two months after the operation, the two groups of patients reviewed the gastroscopy, the results showed that, all wounds in the study group were healed completely, the healing rate was 100%. There were 6 cases of incomplete wound healing in the control group, the healing rate was 64.7%(P=0.018). No recurrence was found after 6 months of operation through reviewing gastroscopy. Conclution: It indicates good feasibility and efficacy about the purse string suture with Harmonious Clip and Olympus endoloop in single channel endoscopy for large gastric antrum mucosa defect. It is safe and reliable, worth of being generalized.

Clinical efficacy of meniscus plasty under arthroscopy in middle-aged and elderly patients with meniscus injury.

Clinical efficacy of meniscal plasty and total meniscectomy under arthroscopy in treating middle-aged and elderly patients with meniscus injury were explored. One hundred and fifteen elderly patients with meniscal injuries treated in the First Peoples Hospital of Wujiang District Suzhou from May 2012 to October 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. They were randomly divided into meniscal plasty group (experimental group) and total meniscectomy group (control group). Length of stay, operation time and VAS between the two groups were compared. Knee function was evaluated before the surgery and at the final follow-up using IKDC 2000 and Lysholm score. The differences of postoperative clinical efficacy and complications in both groups were observed. Postoperative IKDC 2000 and Lysholm score in the experimental group were superior to those of control group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the relieving effect of knee pain between the two types of procedures (P>0.05). Shorter operation time was found in control than that of experimental group. We did not observe remarkable differences in length of stay and postoperative complication rate between the two groups (P>0.05). Both meniscal plasty and total meniscectomy under arthroscopy can effectively relieve knee pain in a short time. Meniscal plasty could remarkably alleviate the progression of knee osteoarthritis, maintain knee function and improve daily life of affected population. We considered that meniscal plasty should be served as the preferred approach in treating middle-aged and elderly patients with meniscus injury.

Analysis of assessment results of malaria elimination in Suzhou City

To analyze the assessment results of malaria elimination in Suzhou City, so as to provide references for consolidating the results of malaria elimination in the city. According to "Jiangsu Province Malaria Evaluation and Assessment Implementation Plan (2014 Edition)" and "Jiangsu City Malaria Evaluation Implementation Regulations (2015 Edition)", the assessment of the county-level cities and districts under the jurisdiction of Suzhou City was conducted. After the assessment, the municipal level assessment and evaluation were carried out, and one district was randomly selected for the assessment of malaria elimination review. The assessment score of malaria elimination in Suzhou City was 98.6 points. Wujiang District was randomly selected for review assessment, and the review score was 95.8 points. According to the 85 points attainment criteria specified by the national assessment, Suzhou City met the requirement of malaria elimination. Suzhou City has passed the inspection certification of malaria elimination in Jiangsu Province. However, the post-elimination malaria monitoring should be continued to consolidate the achievements.

Experimental study on freezing point of saline soft clay after freeze-thaw cycling

The brine leakage is a tough problem in artificial freezing engineering. This paper takes the common soft clay in Wujiang District as the study object, and calcium chloride solutions with six salinity levels were considered. The \'classic\' cooling curve method was employed to measure the freezing point of specimens after freeze-thaw. Results indicate that four characteristic stages can be observed including supercooling, abrupt transition, equilibrium and continual freezing, strongly dependent on the variation of unfrozen water content. Two characteristic points were found from the cooling curves, i.e., freezing point and initial crystallization temperature. A critical value for the former exists at which the increment lowers. The higher the saline content approximately linearly, lower the freezing point. In the initial five cycles, the freezing point increases and then stabilizes. Besides, the degree of supercooling was calculated and its correlations with water, salt and freeze-thaw cycles were noted. Finally, an empirical equation was proposed for the relationship of freezing point and three main factors, i.e., water content, saline content and freeze-thaw cycles. Comparison of calculated and measured data proves that it is reliable and may provide guidance for the design and numerical analysis in frozen soil engineering.