Investigating the Impacts of Urban Built Environment on Travel Energy Consumption: A Case Study of Ningbo, China

The built environment of cities has increasingly affected the travel mode of residents and led to changes in energy consumption, which is crucial to maintaining urban sustainability. Ningbo is a typical representative of urbanization on the east coast of China, and its energy consumption is in a period of rapid growth. Therefore, using the survey data of 22,112 traffic trip samples from nine streets in Ningbo, this paper establishes a regression analysis model, systematically analyzes the relationship between the built environment and domestic energy consumption from multiple dimensions, and reveals the impact mechanism of the built environment on domestic energy consumption. We find that (1) social and economic conditions are the main factors affecting traffic energy consumption. (2) The population density has a significant negative correlation effect on the energy consumption of transportation trips. When the population density increases by 1%, the energy consumption of total transportation trips, commuting trips, high-energy-consumption trips, and low-energy-consumption trips decreases by 0.094%, 0.115%, 0.273%, and 0.124%, respectively. (3) When the degree of mixed use of land increases by one percentage point, the energy consumption of total transportation trips, commuting trips, high-energy-consumption trips, and low-energy-consumption trips decreases by 0.415%, 0.421%, 2.574%, and 1.197%, respectively. (4) The density of road intersections has a significant negative correlation effect on the energy consumption of traffic trips. (5) The impact of the built environment on the energy consumption of transportation trips is greater than that of residential buildings

Monetized Estimates of the Ecosystem Service Value of Urban Blue and Green Infrastructure and Analysis: A Case Study of Changsha, China

Urban blue-green infrastructure (BGI) forms the basis of a regional ecosystem. Quantitative calculations can identify the weak points of a typical ecological environment, which is helpful for providing a basis for the spatial planning and ecological environment protection of developing cities. Currently, assessment of BGI ecosystem services focuses on local temperature, climate, and entertainment aesthetics, and the integrity of ecological indicators needs improvement. The assessment is usually conducted within large blue-green areas such as parks and rivers, and street greening is typically ignored. Roof gardens and unmanaged blue-green spaces also have ecosystem service functions. Therefore, our study aimed to extract the basic design distribution of urban blue-green spaces more accurately and monetize the value of its ecosystem services. Changsha, one of the top ten ecologically competitive cities in China, was the research focus. First, four types of BGI, forest, grassland, wetland, and waterbody, were extracted using remote sensing images and ArcGIS10.8. Second, the adjusted value coefficient was used to quantify the service value and geographic spatial distribution of the four BGI ecosystems in monetary terms. The results showed that in 2020, the total economic value of ecosystem services (ESV) generated by BGI in the study area was CNY 36.25 billion. Among ecosystem services, forest land climate regulation and waterbody hydrological regulation accounted for the largest proportion, at CNY 6.543 and 15.132 billion, respectively. The urban center had the weakest climate regulation capacity, and the Xiangjiang River Basin had the strongest hydrological regulation capacity. The urban center had the lowest ESV, thus requiring the attention of urban planners in the future. This study evaluated and optimized the distribution of BGI in Changsha according to the ESV of the existing BGI to help improve the ESV of the city center and create a green, ecological, and healthy city

EXTRACTING THE PLANNING ELEMENTS OF MINORITY TOURISM DESTINATIONS IN SOUTHWEST CHINA BASED ON AVC THEORY

In the process of rural modernization, great changes have taken place in rural landscapes throughout the world, but there is a lack of a universal comprehensive evaluation index system for landscapes. AVC theory is the ternary theory of tourism destination landscapes proposed by Professor Binyi Liu. “A” represents attractiveness, “V” represents vitality, and “C” represents ability. Undeveloped minority villages have good tourism destination potential. Therefore, AVC theory can be used to extract the elements of rural sustainable development planning. Taking Nongying Village, a Buyi village in southwest China, as an example, AVC theory is combined with AHP and a comprehensive evaluation model of the rural environment in Nongying Village is constructed using a multiobjective linear weighting function. A comprehensive assessment and extraction of its unique rural environmental conditions is undertaken. The results show that the rural economy has obvious vitality advantages, and Camellia oleifera can be used as a key planning element for sustainable development. The advantages of environmental carrying capacity are obvious, and the overall ecological environment is at a good level. The social attraction is relatively weak. The innovation of this paper is to study the planning and development elements of ethnic minority villages in Southwest China from the perspective of tourism AVC and to conduct an in-depth investigation on the revitalization of oil-tea agricultural resources and Buyi culture in local villages. This study can provide a certain planning reference for the development of tourism destinations and villages with similar agricultural resources and ethnic minority characteristics in the region

Monetized Estimates of the Ecosystem Service Value of Urban Blue and Green Infrastructure and Analysis: A Case Study of Changsha, China

Urban blue-green infrastructure (BGI) forms the basis of a regional ecosystem. Quantitative calculations can identify the weak points of a typical ecological environment, which is helpful for providing a basis for the spatial planning and ecological environment protection of developing cities. Currently, assessment of BGI ecosystem services focuses on local temperature, climate, and entertainment aesthetics, and the integrity of ecological indicators needs improvement. The assessment is usually conducted within large blue-green areas such as parks and rivers, and street greening is typically ignored. Roof gardens and unmanaged blue-green spaces also have ecosystem service functions. Therefore, our study aimed to extract the basic design distribution of urban blue-green spaces more accurately and monetize the value of its ecosystem services. Changsha, one of the top ten ecologically competitive cities in China, was the research focus. First, four types of BGI, forest, grassland, wetland, and waterbody, were extracted using remote sensing images and ArcGIS10.8. Second, the adjusted value coefficient was used to quantify the service value and geographic spatial distribution of the four BGI ecosystems in monetary terms. The results showed that in 2020, the total economic value of ecosystem services (ESV) generated by BGI in the study area was CNY 36.25 billion. Among ecosystem services, forest land climate regulation and waterbody hydrological regulation accounted for the largest proportion, at CNY 6.543 and 15.132 billion, respectively. The urban center had the weakest climate regulation capacity, and the Xiangjiang River Basin had the strongest hydrological regulation capacity. The urban center had the lowest ESV, thus requiring the attention of urban planners in the future. This study evaluated and optimized the distribution of BGI in Changsha according to the ESV of the existing BGI to help improve the ESV of the city center and create a green, ecological, and healthy city

Investigating the Impacts of Urban Built Environment on Travel Energy Consumption: A Case Study of Ningbo, China

The built environment of cities has increasingly affected the travel mode of residents and led to changes in energy consumption, which is crucial to maintaining urban sustainability. Ningbo is a typical representative of urbanization on the east coast of China, and its energy consumption is in a period of rapid growth. Therefore, using the survey data of 22,112 traffic trip samples from nine streets in Ningbo, this paper establishes a regression analysis model, systematically analyzes the relationship between the built environment and domestic energy consumption from multiple dimensions, and reveals the impact mechanism of the built environment on domestic energy consumption. We find that (1) social and economic conditions are the main factors affecting traffic energy consumption. (2) The population density has a significant negative correlation effect on the energy consumption of transportation trips. When the population density increases by 1%, the energy consumption of total transportation trips, commuting trips, high-energy-consumption trips, and low-energy-consumption trips decreases by 0.094%, 0.115%, 0.273%, and 0.124%, respectively. (3) When the degree of mixed use of land increases by one percentage point, the energy consumption of total transportation trips, commuting trips, high-energy-consumption trips, and low-energy-consumption trips decreases by 0.415%, 0.421%, 2.574%, and 1.197%, respectively. (4) The density of road intersections has a significant negative correlation effect on the energy consumption of traffic trips. (5) The impact of the built environment on the energy consumption of transportation trips is greater than that of residential buildings

Multilocus sequence typing revealed a clonal lineage of Aeromonas hydrophila caused motile Aeromonas septicemia outbreaks in pond-cultured cyprinid fish in an epidemic area in central China

Motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) has been increasingly prevalent in cultured fish throughout China since 1989. Over the past two decades, our laboratory conducted two pathogen detection studies in septicemia outbreak fishponds in an epidemic area in central China. One was conducted from May 1990 to October 1991, when MAS was beginning to spread in China, and the other was recently conducted from August 2006 to July 2009. We found that Aeromonas hydrophila was responsible for these MAS outbreaks. A. hydrophila isolates were previously known to be phenotypically, serologically, and genetically diverse and no dominant clones were found. In this study, multilocus sequence typing analysis was used to observe a clonal lineage of A. hydrophila, which was responsible for MAS outbreaks in pond-cultured cyprinid fish in an epidemic area in central China for two decades. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Sodium Butyrate Reduces Colitogenic Immunoglobulin A-Coated Bacteria and Modifies the Composition of Microbiota in IL-10 Deficient Mice

High levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA)-coated bacteria may have a role in driving inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We therefore investigated the effect of sodium butyrate on microbiota in IBD prone interleukin (IL)-10−/− mice. At 8 weeks of age, mice were allocated into three groups (n = 4/group): normal (C57BL/6), IL-10−/−, and IL-10−/− treated with sodium butyrate (100 mM). Severity of colitis, inflammatory cytokine and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration in proximal colon contents, the percentage of IgA-coated bacteria and microbiota composition by 16S ribosomal RNA assessment of stool were measured after 4 weeks of treatment. Sodium butyrate ameliorated histological colitis and decreased levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL-6 in IL-10−/− mice compared with those without treatment. At the phylum level, a reduction in Bacteroidetes and an increase in Firmicutes in IL-10−/− mice treated with sodium butyrate were observed. Additionally, Prevotellaceae species were reduced in IL-10−/− mice treated with sodium butyrate as compared with those without treatment. The level of biodiversity was slightly increased and the amount of IgA-coated bacteria decreased in IL-10−/− mice treated with sodium butyrate compared with those without treatment. Our results indicate that sodium butyrate protects against colitis, possibly through modifying the gut microbiota, enriching biodiversity and reducing the amount of colitogenic IgA-coated bacteria in IL-10−/− mice

Sequential Delivery of BMP2-Derived Peptide P24 by Thiolated Chitosan/Calcium Carbonate Composite Microspheres Scaffolds for Bone Regeneration

The combination of tissue-engineered bone scaffolds with osteogenic induction molecules is an important strategy for critical-sized bone defects repair. We synthesized a novel thiolated chitosan/calcium carbonate composite microsphere (TCS-P24/CA) scaffold as a carrier for bone morphogenetic protein 2- (BMP2-) derived peptide P24 and evaluated the release kinetics of P24. The effect of TCS-P24/CA scaffolds on the proliferation and differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) was evaluated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), CCK-8, ALP assay, alizarin red staining, and PCR. A 5 mm diameter calvarial defect was created, then new bone formation was evaluated by Micro-CT and histological examination at 4 and 8 weeks after operation. We found the sequential release of P24 could last for 29 days. Meanwhile, BMSCs revealed spindle-shaped surface morphology, indicating the TCS-P24/CA scaffolds could support cell adhesion and mRNA levels for ALP, Runx2, and COL1a1 were significantly upregulated on TCS-10%P24/CA scaffold compared with other groups in vitro (p<0.05). Similarly, the BMSCs exhibited a higher ALP activity as well as calcium deposition level on TCS-10%P24/CA scaffolds compared with other groups (p<0.05). Analysis of in vivo bone formation showed that the TCS-10%P24/CA scaffold induced more bone formation than TCS-5%P24/CA, TCS/CA, and control groups. This study demonstrates that the novel TCS-P24/CA scaffolds might contribute to the delivery of BMP2-derived Peptide P24 and is considered to be a potential candidate for repairing bone defects