Allometric relationship and development potential comparison of ports in a regional cluster: A case study of ports in the Pearl River Delta in China

The development potential of a regional port cluster (RPC) is subject to the internal and external factors influencing port development. Port cargo throughput is an important internal factor, whereas import and export volume is a significant external factor. The growth rate of import and export volume is disproportionate to that of port cargo throughput. This study aims to measure the allometric relationship between the two abovementioned factors and establish a comprehensive development potential evaluation system on the basis of the RPC growth rate. This work uses a case study of the ports in China's Pearl River Delta, which is being greatly influenced by the framework agreement and outline of the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China. Findings reveal that import and export volume has a higher impact on port development potential than does port cargo throughput. In addition, Shenzhen has the highest development potential in terms of import and export volume, while Zhuhai Port has the highest potential in terms of port cargo throughput. Finally, an evaluation using the comprehensive development potential evaluation system shows that Shenzhen Port has the best comprehensive port development potential. Evaluating the development potential of ports in RPCs will offer useful insights that can be used by regional port company groups and relevant governmental authorities in making scientific decisions on port development and planning, especially in the crucial stage of the establishment of the GBA, and in rationally coordinating their development and minimizing unfair competition

Risk factors for posttraumatic stress reactions among chinese students following exposure to a snowstorm disaster

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is important to understand which factors increase the risk of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adolescents. Previous studies have shown that the most important risk factors for PTSD include the type, severity, and duration of exposure to the traumatic events.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey was used to investigate the psychological symptoms associated with the aftermath of a snowstorm disaster in the Hunan province of China in January 2008. Students living in Hunan were surveyed at a three<b>-</b>month follow-up after the disaster. The questionnaire battery included the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R, trauma and symptoms associated with PTSD), the Chinese version of the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R, optimism and pessimism), the Chinese version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ, neuroticism and extraversion), the Chinese Trait Coping Style Questionnaire (TCSQ, positive and negative coping styles), and a range of questions addressing social demographic characteristics and factors relating to the snowstorm. The survey was administered in school, and 968 students completed and returned the questionnaires.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that 14.5% of the students had a total IES-R score ≥20. Students with greater school-to-home distances showed higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms than students who lived shorter distances from school. Students with emotional support from their teachers reported higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms (21.20%) than students without a teacher's emotional support (11.07%). The IES-R total and subscale scores correlated with all variables except extraversion. The binary logistic regression analysis results showed that the teacher's emotional support [odds ratio (OR) = 1.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13-2.62], school-to-home distance (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 1.00-1.01), negative coping (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.02-1.08), and neuroticism (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.02-1.06) were risk factors that predicted PTSD frequency and severity (percentage correct = 85.5%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The risk factors that significantly impacted the onset of posttraumatic stress reactions in students living in Hunan, China following a snowstorm disaster were the school-to-home distance, negative coping, neuroticism, and teacher's emotional support.</p

Index decomposition analysis of urban crop water footprint

Rapid urbanization has resulted in often unplanned increases in population, and food demand in cities. Historically, hinterlands to these cities have acted as breadbaskets producing food to the urban residents. Accordingly, a large amount of available freshwater has been needed to support these croplands. However, the rapid expansion of cities in developing countries has significantly changed both the croplands around cities and the water demand. It is thus important to quantitatively investigate the water-food nexus of cities related to the changing hinterland agriculture. Water footprint is an indicator reflecting the human impact on water. In this study, we quantified both the blue and green water footprint of major crop products in Suzhou city, China using a bottom-up accounting method. A novel decomposition analysis was carried out with a Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method to study the driving forces that changed the water footprint during the period 2001-2010. The drivers were designed to reflect the factors related to farmland, such as yield and crop area. This is different from previous decomposition analyses, which focused on economic factors such as GDP. The results show that the crop water footprint of Suzhou city has seen a general decreasing trend between 2001 and 2010. The decomposition analysis showed that the decline of crop area was the main driver that decreased the crop water footprint, followed by the virtual water content (water consumption per unit of production). In contrast the changes of crop combination and yield contributed to an increase in the crop water footprint. Although the shrink of urban croplands decreased the water footprint of crop products. Cities’ increasing demand for food will increase the crop water footprint of consumption. This will increase the dependence of cities on external water footprint of crop products (water embodied in imported crops), which may impact upon food security in cities in the long term

Cross-Sector Review of Drivers and Available 3Rs Approaches for Acute Systemic Toxicity Testing

Acute systemic toxicity studies are carried out in many sectors in which synthetic chemicals are manufactured or used and are among the most criticized of all toxicology tests on both scientific and ethical grounds. A review of the drivers for acute toxicity testing within the pharmaceutical industry led to a paradigm shift whereby in vivo acute toxicity data are no longer routinely required in advance of human clinical trials. Based on this experience, the following review was undertaken to identify (1) regulatory and scientific drivers for acute toxicity testing in other industrial sectors, (2) activities aimed at replacing, reducing, or refining the use of animals, and (3) recommendations for future work in this area

Environmental impact assessments of the Three Gorges Project in China: issues and interventions

The paper takes China's authoritative Environmental Impact Statement for the Yangzi (Yangtze) Three Gorges Project (TGP) in 1992 as a benchmark against which to evaluate emerging major environmental outcomes since the initial impoundment of the Three Gorges reservoir in 2003. The paper particularly examines five crucial environmental aspects and associated causal factors. The five domains include human resettlement and the carrying capacity of local environments (especially land), water quality, reservoir sedimentation and downstream riverbed erosion, soil erosion, and seismic activity and geological hazards. Lessons from the environmental impact assessments of the TGP are: (1) hydro project planning needs to take place at a broader scale, and a strategic environmental assessment at a broader scale is necessary in advance of individual environmental impact assessments; (2) national policy and planning adjustments need to react quickly to the impact changes of large projects; (3) long-term environmental monitoring systems and joint operations with other large projects in the upstream areas of a river basin should be established, and the cross-impacts of climate change on projects and possible impacts of projects on regional or local climate considered. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.Xibao Xu, Yan Tan, Guishan Yan

Modelling dynamic impacts of urbanization on disaggregated energy consumption in China: a spatial Durbin modeling and decomposition approach

Rapid urbanization consumes a variety of energy increasingly. The impacts of urbanization on energy consumption in the past decades have not been investigated by sectors in the literature. Using the time series energy and urbanization related data 1997–2016, this study aims to investigate the impacts of urbanization and its interaction with six energy demand sectors on (disaggregated) energy consumption at provincial level in China by integrating the spatial panel data modelling and interaction effects modelling methods. The positive spatial autocorrelation of various energy consumptions justifies the rationale of developing spatial Durbin models. All the diversified direct, indirect and total effects from differently specified models suggest regional and sectoral specific policy to control energy, coal and electricity consumption in the process of urbanization