Determinants of workers' pro-environmental behaviour towards enhancing construction waste management: Contributing to China's circular economy

Construction waste presents many challenges for sustainable development and ultimately for China's goal of a circular economy. Effective construction waste management (CWM) is necessary to tackle these challenges, the success of which depends in large part on the behaviour of workers. Most previous behavioural research relating to CWM focused on reduction or recycling behaviour, with few studies having examined pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) within organisations. This study therefore conducted research into the key determinants of two types of PEB relating to CWM. A questionnaire survey was conducted on five construction sites in China to identify the critical organisational and personal determinants predicting PEB relating to CWM, including self-enacted PEB and co-worker PEB. One hundred and fifty-two valid questionnaires were collected for data analysis, representing an overall response rate of 30.4%. Results of the analysis reveal that physical stress, environmental awareness, and tedious construction processes are significant predictors of PEB. Based on these results, practical suggestions for enhancing CWM are proposed. The findings of this research could help improve PEB among construction workers and thereby contribute to China's circular economy

Tibetan Macaques with Higher Social Centrality and More Relatives Emit More Frequent Visual Communication in Collective Decision-Making

Animals on the move often communicate with each other through some specific postures. Previous studies have shown that social interaction plays a role in communication process. However, it is not clear whether the affinity of group members can affect visual communication. We studied a group of free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Huangshan Mountain, China, and answered whether and how social centrality or relatives matter in visual signals during group movement using Tobit regression modeling. All individuals emitted the signals of back-glances and pauses in collective movement. The emission of two signals decreased with the number of participants increased. The back-glance and pause signals emitted by the participating individuals were stronger as the position moved backward in the group. Sex, age, and rank had no significant influence on back-glance and pause signals. Individuals with higher social centrality would emit more pause signals, but social centrality had no effect on the back-glance signal. Individuals with more relatives in the group had more back-glance signals, but this had no effect on the pause signal. This study verifies that social centrality and the number of relatives have effects on visual signals in Tibetan macaques. We provide insights into the relationship between communication behaviors and group cooperation in social animals

Switchable optical cage by use of coated axicons for optical trapping

We present a novel method to generate switchable optical trapping by together tight focusing of two noncoherent cylindrical vector beams, which were produced by two pairs of axicons with polarizing films. The simulation result shows that the optical trapping shape is controllable varying from three-dimensional cage to channel by smoothly tuning the distances between axicons. We verify the cylindrical vector characteristic of the output beams from proposed setup based on vector diffraction theory. Finally, gradient forces of the optical trapping were calculated to demonstrate the potential application of this system in the field of micro particle manipulation. (C) 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved

Tibetan Macaques with Higher Social Centrality and More Relatives Emit More Frequent Visual Communication in Collective Decision-Making

Animals on the move often communicate with each other through some specific postures. Previous studies have shown that social interaction plays a role in communication process. However, it is not clear whether the affinity of group members can affect visual communication. We studied a group of free-ranging Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Huangshan Mountain, China, and answered whether and how social centrality or relatives matter in visual signals during group movement using Tobit regression modeling. All individuals emitted the signals of back-glances and pauses in collective movement. The emission of two signals decreased with the number of participants increased. The back-glance and pause signals emitted by the participating individuals were stronger as the position moved backward in the group. Sex, age, and rank had no significant influence on back-glance and pause signals. Individuals with higher social centrality would emit more pause signals, but social centrality had no effect on the back-glance signal. Individuals with more relatives in the group had more back-glance signals, but this had no effect on the pause signal. This study verifies that social centrality and the number of relatives have effects on visual signals in Tibetan macaques. We provide insights into the relationship between communication behaviors and group cooperation in social animals.</jats:p

Does the future community initiative enhance community age-friendliness? Evidence from Zhejiang Province, China

With the increasing degree of aging in China, the age-friendliness of urban communities is critical for sustainable societal development. Initiated by Zhejiang Province, the Future Community Initiative offers a novel approach that integrates modern urban renewal with diverse aging needs. Using propensity score matching (PSM) and a large-scale survey of 56 communities, this study empirically validates the policy's impacts on age-friendliness, particularly its significant enhancements in social participation, community support and health services. However, respect and social inclusion showed limited progress, indicating areas requiring further attention. It was also observed that female seniors, older seniors, and seniors with low retirement incomes fully acknowledge the improvements in the age-friendliness of future communities. These findings contribute to the global age-friendly agenda by providing evidence-based recommendations for optimizing community inclusivity and resource allocation, particularly in rapidly aging urban environments.</p

Does the future community initiative enhance community age-friendliness? Evidence from Zhejiang Province, China

With the increasing degree of aging in China, the age-friendliness of urban communities is critical for sustainable societal development. Initiated by Zhejiang Province, the Future Community Initiative offers a novel approach that integrates modern urban renewal with diverse aging needs. Using propensity score matching (PSM) and a large-scale survey of 56 communities, this study empirically validates the policy's impacts on age-friendliness, particularly its significant enhancements in social participation, community support and health services. However, respect and social inclusion showed limited progress, indicating areas requiring further attention. It was also observed that female seniors, older seniors, and seniors with low retirement incomes fully acknowledge the improvements in the age-friendliness of future communities. These findings contribute to the global age-friendly agenda by providing evidence-based recommendations for optimizing community inclusivity and resource allocation, particularly in rapidly aging urban environments.</p

Noscapine induced apoptosis via downregulation of survivin in human neuroblastoma cells having wild type or null p53.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor of childhood. It accounts for 15% of pediatric cancer deaths. Chemotherapy is the mainstay of treatment in children with advanced neuroblastoma. Noscapine, a nontoxic natural compound, can trigger apoptosis in many cancer types. We now show that p53 is dispensable for Noscapine-induced cell death in neuroblastoma cell lines, proapoptotic response to this promising chemopreventive agent is mediated by suppression of survivin protein expression. The Noscapine treatment increased levels of total and Ser(15)-phosphorylated p53 protein in SK-SY5Y cells, but the proapoptotic response to this agent was maintained even after knockdown of the p53 protein level. Exposure of SK-SY5Y and LA1-5S cells to Noscapine resulted in a marked decrease in protein and mRNA level of survivin as early as 12 hours after treatment. Ectopic expression of survivin conferred statistically significant protection against Noscapine-mediated cytoplasmic histone-associated apoptotic DNA fragmentation. Also, the Noscapine-induced apoptosis was modestly but statistically significantly augmented by RNA interference of survivin in both cell lines. Furthermore, Noscapine-induced apoptotic cell death was associated with activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP. In conclusion, the present study provides novel insight into the molecular circuitry of Noscapine-induced apoptosis to indicate suppression of survivin expression as a critical mediator of this process

Nuss repair of pectus excavatum after surgery for congenital heart disease: Experience from a single institution

ObjectivePectus excavatum developing after surgery for congenital heart disease has its own clinical characteristics. The present study aimed to present our technique and outcomes for the Nuss procedure in the repair of these cases.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective study of all patients who had not been diagnosed as pectus excavatum preoperatively but subsequently had developed pectus excavatum after surgery for congenital heart disease from February 2005 to November 2012. The Nuss procedure was applied using a series of perioperative management techniques. The data relating to the surgical technique, complications, and outcomes were analyzed. The clinical evaluation was performed using the Nuss criteria.ResultsA total of 30 cases (14 boys and 16 girls) were included. The mean operative time was 73.5 minutes (range, 58-82). The mean length of hospital stay was 6.0 days. Complications occurred in 5 patients (16.7%), including asymptomatic pneumothorax, hematoma in the wound, pericardial penetration, and bar displacement. The mean follow-up period was 32 months (range, 9-60). Initially, 29 patients (96.7%) had excellent results, and 1 patient had a good result. The mean point of bar removal was 35.8 months (range, 30-39) after implantation. The postoperative results after bar removal in 17 patients were also recorded, including excellent results in 14 (82.4%), good results in 2 (11.7%), and a fair result in 1 patient.ConclusionsThe Nuss procedure has been shown to be a safe and effective approach for the repair of pectus excavatum after surgery for congenital heart disease, although dissection of substernal adhesions can increase the risk of heart injury

Investigating the Relationship between Public Satisfaction and Public Environmental Participation during Government Treatment of Urban Malodorous Black River in China

During China’s rapid economic development and urbanization, numerous cases of urban malodorous black river (MBR) have occurred. MBR refers to a polluted urban river that smells bad, is almost black in color, has no aquatic plants or animals, and that consequently causes many social and environmental problems. The Chinese government has sought public participation during the whole process of MBR treatment as part of a comprehensive action plan to improve residents’ satisfaction with their environment. To investigate the influencing factors of public participation and satisfaction, a questionnaire survey was conducted among residential communities close to an MBR. SPSS 22.0 was employed to conduct an analysis of the collected data, using factor analysis, correlation analysis, and linear regression analysis. The results indicate that there is a direct relationship between public satisfaction and the factors of government treatment, public perception and public participation behaviors, such as engagement behavior, supervision behavior, health influence, and compensation measures