Comprehensive Eco-Environmental Effects Caused by Land Use Transition from the Perspective of Production–Living–Ecological Spaces in a Typical Region: A Case Study of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

With the promotion of rapid economic and social development, land use has undergone profound processes of transition worldwide, leaving the production–living–ecological spaces (PLES) and landscape pattern reconfigured, thus further affecting regional eco-environmental quality and landscape ecological risk. This paper first introduces a research framework of comprehensive eco-environmental effects caused by shifts in land use, to analyze the relations and interactions among land use transition, interconversion of PLES, eco-environmental quality, and landscape ecological risk, and then this framework was applied to the empirical analysis of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi), to examine the comprehensive eco-environmental effects caused by land use transition there. The results show the following: (1) During 1990–2018, ecological space in Guangxi tended to continuously shrink in area, while the area of production and living space kept expanding. The areas of forest ecological land, grass ecological land, and agricultural production land clearly decreased over time, having been mainly converted into both urban living land as well as industrial and mining production land. (2) The eco-environmental quality in Guangxi showed a trend of continual decline, this characterized by high and medium-high quality zones decreasing in area as the low-quality zone expanded. Further, the spatial distribution of eco-environmental quality tended to diminish when moving from Guangxi’s surrounding towards its central and southern parts. (3) However, the landscape ecological risk continued to rise mainly because of reductions in ecological space. Its spatial distribution was the inverse of that of eco-environmental quality; i.e., being at high risk in the central and southern parts, but lower in the surroundings. (4) The bivariate global Moran’s I analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between the eco-environmental quality and landscape ecological risk. Going from remote mountainous and hilly areas to rural areas, and then into urban areas, the eco-environmental quality displayed a gradually decreasing trend, while landscape ecological risk was initially reduced but then augmented. We conclude that land use transition in Guangxi has caused a continuous reduction in its regional eco-environmental quality, and also exacerbated its landscape ecological risk. Hence, it is of great importance to balance the PLES and optimize the landscape pattern, so as to restore the eco-environmental quality while also mitigating the landscape ecological risk of Guangxi and similar regions

Analysis of Income Inequality Based on Income Mobility for Poverty Alleviation in Rural China

Since the reform and opening up, the Chinese economy has achieved sustained high-speed growth. However, the widening gaps in income, especially for rural China, seem to be a dark lining to these extraordinary achievements. Taking the duration of poverty into the consideration, this article analyzes the income inequality of rural per capita net income (RPCNI) based on income mobility in rural China. Analysis results showed that Gini coefficient of RPCNI declined, but that income mobility was mainly limited in the interior for low- and high-income groups. Income inequalities rose sharply within eastern and western China from 1990 to 2010. Benefiting from the developed economy, the upward mobility was universal in eastern China. The spillover effect on neighboring poor counties was feeble in western China, which directly caused long-term rich and poor. The Gini coefficient of RPCNI in central China was always at a low level, corresponding to the phenomenon of short-term rich and long-term poor. In northeastern China, the Gini coefficient sharply decreased and the large body of income mobility between non-neighboring groups was quite remarkable. The spatial pattern of intra-provincial Gini coefficient and income mobility of RPCNI has been divided by the “HU line”, which is a “geo-demographic demarcation line” discovered by Chinese population geographer HU Huanyong in 1935. In southeastern China, the characteristics of income mobility of each county depended on the distance between the county and the capital city. The spatial pattern of income mobility of RPCNI in agricultural provinces was different from that in non-agricultural provinces. According to the income inequality and income mobility, appropriate welfare and development policies was proposed to combat rural poverty at both regional and provincial scales

Research on the Response of Ecosystem Service Function to Landscape Pattern Changes Caused by Land Use Transition: A Case Study of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China

Land use transitions cause reconfigurations of regional landscape patterns which can further change the regional ecosystem service functions and its values, especially in environmentally fragile regions. Firstly, this paper theoretically examines the relationships between land use transitions, landscape pattern evolution and the responses of ecosystem service functions in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (Guangxi). Then, it explores the spatio-temporal evolution features of land use transition by using land use change matrices, examines landscape patterns by using the landscape pattern index, and studies ecosystem service value (ESV) by revising the coefficients of ESV per unit area. Finally, focus is placed on the empirical analysis of ESV responses to landscape pattern evolution caused by land use transitions in Guangxi. The results show that: (1) Guangxi has undergone an overall intensity-changing process of land use transition at a moderate rate during 1990–2010 and at a drastic rate during 2010–2018. In general, the area of construction land and waterbodies has increased, while forested land, grassland and farmland have decreased. Landscape fragmentation and heterogeneity are higher in the central area than that in the surrounding areas, while patch aggregation and connectivity show an opposite trend. Forested land patches are highly clustered, while grassland and farmland are fragmented and scattered and construction land patches tend to have aggregated. (2) The total loss of ESV has reached 20.56 billion RMB in Guangxi, and all areas’ single ESVs have decreased to different degrees during the past 28 years. Spatially, the ESV distribution shows a differentiated pattern of low in the central plain and high in the surrounding mountain regions which are mainly dominated by high-value zones. (3) The total ESV has significant positive correlations with the largest patch index (LPI), COHESION and the Aggregation Index (AI), and significant negative correlations with the Number of Patches (NP) and the Shannon Diversity Index (SHDI), while the correlation with the Landscape Shape Index (LSI) is not significant, indicating that the influence on ESV caused by landscape pattern evolution varies greatly. (4) The change of land area and multi-directional shifts among different land use types caused by land use transitions in Guangxi could both lead to the evolution of landscape patterns. Further, ecological service function responded obviously to the landscape pattern evolution in Guangxi, causing significant changes in strengthening or weakening of the ecological service function and its value. This systematic analysis should help coordinate the relationship of regional land use regulation, landscape pattern optimization and ecosystem operation in Guangxi or even China

Analysis Framework of China’s Grain Production System: A Spatial Resilience Perspective

China’s grain production has transformed from absolute shortage to a current structural oversupply. High-intensity production introduced further challenges for the eco-environment, smallholder livelihood, and the man-land interrelationship. Driven by urban-rural transformation, research on food security patterns and grain production has expanded into a new field. To analyze the challenges and required countermeasures for China’s grain production system (GPS), this study constructed a theoretical GPS framework based on space resilience. Firstly, a new GPS concept was proposed and a functional system was established for protecting the regional food security, thus guaranteeing smallholder livelihood, stabilizing urban-rural transformation, and sustaining the eco-environment in terms of economic, social, and ecological attributes of the GPS. Secondly, based on a cross-scale interaction analysis that varied from a smallholder scale to a global scale, the systematic crisis of the GPS was analyzed. Thirdly, a cross-scale analytic framework of the GPS was formed from the perspective of spatial resilience, integrating both inner and external disturbance factors of the GPS. Both spatial heterogeneity and connectivity of internal and external disturbance factors are important contents of system space resilience. Finally, the hierarchy of spatial resilience of GPS became clear. The transformation of labor force and the land use transition form key thresholds of the GPS. In summary: based on protecting the basic functions of the GPS, the cross-scale effect of systematic disturbance factors and relevant countermeasures for spatial resilience are effectively influenced by the coordination of the interests of multiple stakeholders; spatial resilience is an effective analytical tool for GPS regulation, providing a reference for revealing the inherent mechanism and functional evolution of the GPS in the process of urban-rural transformation

Blast-Casting Mechanism and Parameter Optimization of a Benched Deep-Hole in an Opencast Coal Mine

During the research on bench deep-hole blast casting, the blast-casting parameters are directly related to the blast-casting results, so it could reveal the mechanism for improving the effect thereof. Based on the principle of the plane charge method, both the stress wave and detonation gas were considered to affect rock fragmentation and casting, a model of overburden fragmentation and casting process around the blasting hole was established, and bench deep-hole blast-casting behaviours were elucidated. By using the Factor Analysis Method (FAM), a correlation analysis model of factors influencing blast-casting results was built. The results proved that powder factor (or specific charge) ranked first in terms of its influence, followed by hole spacing, minimum resistance line, burden, and bench height. The formulae for calculating the limit powder factor value and the spacing of blasting holes were derived for different rock properties. The results showed that the optimum hole spacing was no more than 12.49 m and the powder factor was no more than 0.75 kg/m3, and it proved that an effective casting percentage (ECP) of 34% could be realized

In Vitro Effect of Flavonoids on Basophils Degranulation and Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Damage Induced by ω-5 Gliadin-Derived Peptide

Flavonoids have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties, and may alleviate food allergic reactions and intestinal inflammation induced by ω-5 gliadin, a main allergen of wheat food allergy in children. In this study, a human basophil KU812 cell degranulation model and a Caco-2 monolayer cell model were constructed in vitro to evaluate the effects of four flavonoids on the allergenicity of ω-5 gliadin peptides and ω-5 gliadin peptide-induced barrier damage in Caco-2 intestinal epithelial monolayers. The results show that baicalein, luteolin, isorhamnetin and naringenin can significantly inhibit the degranulation of KU812 cells stimulated by ω-5 gliadin-derived peptide P4 and the release of IL-6 and TNF-α. In addition, the four flavonoids significantly inhibited the ω-5 gliadin-derived peptide P4 to induce the release of IL-6, IL-8 in Caco-2 cells, inhibited the release of zonulin, and significantly increase the expression of tight junction proteins Occludin and ZO-1 in the Caco-2 cell monolayer. In conclusion, baicalein, luteolin, isorhamnetin and naringenin inhibit degranulation stimulated by wheat allergen and enhance intestinal barrier functions, which supports the potential pharmaceutical application of the four flavonoids treatment for wheat food allergy