Coupling and Coordination Relationship between Livelihood Capital and Livelihood Stability of Farmers in Different Agricultural Regions

Sustainable livelihood of farmers is the key to rural revitalization. The purpose of this study was to establish livelihood capital cultivation models suitable for farmers in different agricultural regions and to enhance the sustainability of farmers’ livelihoods by selecting four agricultural regions (suburban agriculture, intensive agriculture, plain field agriculture, and mountain agriculture) and 1025 rural households and employing Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to systematically analyze the characteristics of livelihood capital and livelihood stability of farmers in different agricultural regions and the coupling coordination relationship between them based on a Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF). The results show that: (1) The average household livelihood capital is highest in intensive agricultural regions and lowest in mountain agricultural regions. (2) Farmers in suburban agricultural regions have a variety of sources of income; thus, the livelihood stability is the highest. while it is lowest in intensive agricultural regions. (3) The coupling coordination degree of livelihood capital and livelihood stability in suburban agricultural regions and plain field agricultural regions is primary coordination, while in intensive agricultural regions and mountain agricultural regions, livelihood capital and stability are slightly out of balance

Coupling and Coordination Relationship between Livelihood Capital and Livelihood Stability of Farmers in Different Agricultural Regions

Sustainable livelihood of farmers is the key to rural revitalization. The purpose of this study was to establish livelihood capital cultivation models suitable for farmers in different agricultural regions and to enhance the sustainability of farmers’ livelihoods by selecting four agricultural regions (suburban agriculture, intensive agriculture, plain field agriculture, and mountain agriculture) and 1025 rural households and employing Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to systematically analyze the characteristics of livelihood capital and livelihood stability of farmers in different agricultural regions and the coupling coordination relationship between them based on a Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF). The results show that: (1) The average household livelihood capital is highest in intensive agricultural regions and lowest in mountain agricultural regions. (2) Farmers in suburban agricultural regions have a variety of sources of income; thus, the livelihood stability is the highest. while it is lowest in intensive agricultural regions. (3) The coupling coordination degree of livelihood capital and livelihood stability in suburban agricultural regions and plain field agricultural regions is primary coordination, while in intensive agricultural regions and mountain agricultural regions, livelihood capital and stability are slightly out of balance

The Therapeutic Effect of Combination of Orbital Decompression Surgery and Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy on Patients with Bilateral Dysthyroid Optic Neuropathy

Purpose. To investigate the synergic effect of combination of orbital decompression surgery and methylprednisolone pulse therapy (MPT) and MPT alone on the visual function in patients with bilateral dysthyroid optic neuropathy (DON). Methods. For each involved patient with bilateral DON, only one eye was treated with orbital decompression surgery which was conducted by the same doctor, and each of them received MPT after surgery. If the visual function deteriorated despite treatment, patients would switch to the other treatment. All the patients were followed up for 3 months after surgery. Clinical features of patients including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), proptosis, upper eyelid retraction, and clinical activity score (CAS) before and after surgery were analyzed, respectively. Visual field and visual evoked potential (VEP) tests were also performed. Paired t-test and Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed ranks sum test were used to analyze the data. Result. A prospective cohort of 23 patients with bilateral DON was enrolled in this cohort study. No patients failed to the therapy or switched to another treatment. The quantitative variables were shown as means and standard deviations (SD). After 3 months of combined treatment of orbital decompression surgery and MPT, BCVA (logMAR) improved, proptosis was reduced and the upper eyelid retraction was relieved in both eyes of patients; however, these improvements were more significant in the operated eyes than in the fellow (nonoperated) eyes. IOP decreased significantly in the operated eyes (P=0.002), while having no significant change in the nonoperated eyes (P=0.993). CAS reduced by 0.8 ± 1.37 in the operated eyes and by 0.9 ± 1.28 in the nonoperated eyes (P=0.011, P=0.005, respectively), but its reduction extent showed no significant difference between the operated and fellow eyes (P=0.771). Visual field tests showed the mean deviation (MD) of the operated and fellow eyes both increased significantly after 3 months of treatment (P0.05, respectively). The latency in the operated eyes improved by 28.1 ± 29.93 ms in 60′ P100, by 40.2 ± 32.87 ms in 30′ P100, and by 20.7 ± 25.87 ms in 15′ P100 respectively, which was more excellent in the degree of the improvement than that in the fellow eyes (P=0.002, P=0.001, P=0.005, respectively). Conclusion. A combination of orbital decompression and MPT can significantly improve visual function in patients with DON, reduce intraocular pressure, and relieve clinical symptoms such as upper eyelid retraction and proptosis, while MPT alone has a limited effect. For DON patients, orbital decompression should be performed promptly to improve the visual function