Economic Regionalism: A Win-Win Option

Economic regionalism in East Asia lags far behind the quickened pace of southward thrust of the North America Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and eastern extension of the European Union. Despite aspirations for regional economic cooperation on the part of the nations concerned , differences in their stage of economic development, the burning issues facing them and varying domestic pressures against trade liberalization have resulted in insufficient urgency and driving force for

A Study on the Cooperative Mechanism of the Belt and Road Initiative from the Perspective of New Regionalism

The loosely-typed, duty-overlapped and subject-isolated cooperative mechanism of the Belt and Road Initiative has significantly limited the advancement of the initiative and affected the full play of its cooperative effect. New Regionalism is a theory of international relations that concerns international cooperation at the regional level. Its characteristics of multilevel, multi-topic and multi-subject conform to the cooperation needs of the Belt and Road Initiative and provide a guiding framework for the cooperative mechanism of the Initiative. According to the theoretical connotation of New Regionalism, the cooperative mechanism of the Belt and Road Initiative should enrich its cooperation forms, deepen cooperation topics and promote the participation of "State-Market-Society". This mechanism is expected to form various cooperation models, comprehensive governance and diversified participants to enable the smooth advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Exploration on Regionalism Characteristic Landscape Building in Tianjin

With the globalization expanding,the coverage of the city grows the same increasingly.The situation that different streets and cities have almost the same scenes is becoming more and more serious.Creating regional characteristics of landscape is so urgent.Because only the local that is the national,and the national one belongs to the world.In the globalization process,the landscape construction contains both the "regional" integration and destruction,at the same time,it is a "regional" re-creation process.T...

Constructing a New Polish Architecture： Critical Regionalism and Resistance to Globalization after 1989

This paper explores the critical regionalism which could play a role in the continued development of global era Polish architecture, and the advancements achieved by those few contemporary Polish architects who have sought to combine modern tastes and techniques with culturally meaningful designs. The new culture of Poland is very much reflected in the design of many of its new buildings that have been completed since the political and economic changes in 1989. The architecture of Poland appears to have lurched from an inappropriate socialist modernism that was so horridly imposed during the communist era to an equally inappropriate post modernist hegemony in the new enterprise culture. In accordance with Poland, now is rejection of the centrally imposed system of building and architecture, and with the greater emphasis on individual initiative in the new culture, it seems a pity that the country should automatically adopt western modes of architectural expression. This paper suggests that with its newly founded freedom, Poland should be careful that it does not suffer a loss of identity and that, in its architecture, it should seek a way forward through a critical regionalism.

Democratic Constitution and Ethnic Organizations in Malawi： Preserving Good Culture or Promoting, Regionalism, Nepotism and Tribalism

Due to the advent of the 1994 democratic constitution particularly sections 32 and 33 which provide for every person＇s right to freedom of conscience, religion, belief and thought, and also to academic freedom Malawi has significantly witnessed mushroom development of tribal organizations, aiming at preserving and protecting local religious beliefs and cultural practices. The Chewa Heritage Foundation （CHEFO） and the Muhlako wa Alhomwe （MWA） are among the well-known numerous ethnic organizations through which the traditional beliefs, cultural and religious practices enjoy significant respect from Chewa and Lhomwe people. Although the new Constitution has cleared a road for the establishment of these ethnic organizations, it seems activities of all ethnic associations are significantly promoting tribalism and nepotism, in addition to being used as campaign tools by political parties. This article intends to critically assess and evaluate the role and the impact of the Chewa Heritage Foundation and Muhlako wa Alhomwe on rule of law, govemance and culture in Malawi. The following question will guide the discussion： Why are the Chewa Heritage Foundation and Mulhako wa Alhomwe cultural associations while exercising their constitutional rights promoting tribalism, regionalism and nepotism and used as campaign machinery by both opposition and ruling political parties？ Its hypothesis is, in spite of preserving protecting cultural practices as guaranteed in constitution, tribal organizations need to be watchful so that they should not promote tribalism, nepotism and being used as campaign tools by crooked and opportunist politicians.

From Going Beyond the “Nation-State” to the Construction of the “East Asia Community”? Myths About “East Asia New Regionalism”

With the deepening of globalization,geographically speaking,East Asian countries have proceeded from their respective realist positions and tried to promote the successful practice of economic cooperation between countries after the Cold War into a discussion of new regionalism in East Asia and Asia-Pacificism.Although the prototype of the“East Asia Community”led by Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN)gradually emerged,the successful practice of the East Asia Summit proved that the low-binding regional integration model led by ASEAN has a high probability of becoming a classic sample of the“East Asia Community”.It not only maintains regional stability,promotes regional cooperation,shapes regional norms,but also builds a collective identity within the region.However,in today’s world,isolationism which takes the supremacy of national interests as the supremacy has risen.It is difficult to internalize the value identity into a super-national model that breaks through the principles of realism,breakthroughs in interests,and the power framework.The thorny issues pose various challenges to the nation-states in the region trying to integrate into regional integration.The openness of East Asian regionalism has led to the persistent illness of its generalization.In the context of insufficient political mutual trust among regional countries,intensified competition among major powers,and continued weakening of ASEAN leadership,it is often prone to controversy and doubt when proposing new cooperation initiatives or ideas.The idea of the“East Asia Community”that once guided East Asian cooperation and was temporarily ignored now is still the most realistic choice.Although the theoretical construction and practical roads of East Asian regionalism are full of thorns,difficulties coexist with opportunities.With the extensive participation of countries in the region,the optimization and reconstruction of the East Asian cooperation model will be worth looking forward to.

Regionalism and Non-regionalism of Ba Jin’s Works

Modern Chinese literature witnessed the popularity of Sichuan writers like Li Jieren and Sha Ting,who were well known for their distinctive regional characters and the experiences portrayed in their works,telling unadulterated“Sichuan Stories”and depicting lives in the context of Ba-Shu culture.People even consider their works to be the modern“Chronicles of Huayang(Huayang Guo Zhi)in modern time.”However,when we look at Ba Jin,his works are not like typical Sichuan writers(such as Guo Moruo,Li Jieren,Sha Ting,and Ai Wu).He did not pay much attention to depicting the customs and lives in Sichuan,and we can seldom find the flavor of Ba-Shu culture in his works.When editing Chinese Literature and Regional Culture in the 20th Century in 1995,Yan Jiayan so commented,“To study Sichuan literature Ba-Shu culture,it is not appropriate to pick Ba Jin(though he was a great writer with great contributions)”(Li,1997).As it were,the relationship between Ba Jin and the Ba-Shu culture is delicate.Ba Jin showed his distinctive choices and pursuit in this relationship.By studying the“regionalism”and“non-regionalism”of Ba Jin’s works,we can better understand Ba Jin and his writing.It is also enlightening for us to review the future development of Ba-Shu culture.

Complexities of practicing architectural regionalism in India:An interview study

This paper presents the results and analysis from an interview study conducted with practitioners of architectural regionalism in India.The interviews sought to gain indepth understanding of the strategies,mechanisms,and tools they employ to realize contextualized architecture that responds to local needs and potential.A sample composed of nine eminent Indian architects who regularly integrate the ideas of critical regionalism in their designs is selected and subsequently interviewed with regard to the varied aspects of their architectural practice.Findings are useful for practitioners and scholars of contemporary architecture in India for understanding the means employed by leading regionalist architects,while placing their work in the context of local building traditions,urban landscape,sociocultural conditions,technology,and climate.

Congruent Feature Selection Method to Improve the Efficacy of Machine Learning-Based Classification in Medical Image Processing

Machine learning(ML)is increasingly applied for medical image processing with appropriate learning paradigms.These applications include analyzing images of various organs,such as the brain,lung,eye,etc.,to identify specific flaws/diseases for diagnosis.The primary concern of ML applications is the precise selection of flexible image features for pattern detection and region classification.Most of the extracted image features are irrelevant and lead to an increase in computation time.Therefore,this article uses an analytical learning paradigm to design a Congruent Feature Selection Method to select the most relevant image features.This process trains the learning paradigm using similarity and correlation-based features over different textural intensities and pixel distributions.The similarity between the pixels over the various distribution patterns with high indexes is recommended for disease diagnosis.Later,the correlation based on intensity and distribution is analyzed to improve the feature selection congruency.Therefore,the more congruent pixels are sorted in the descending order of the selection,which identifies better regions than the distribution.Now,the learning paradigm is trained using intensity and region-based similarity to maximize the chances of selection.Therefore,the probability of feature selection,regardless of the textures and medical image patterns,is improved.This process enhances the performance of ML applications for different medical image processing.The proposed method improves the accuracy,precision,and training rate by 13.19%,10.69%,and 11.06%,respectively,compared to other models for the selected dataset.The mean error and selection time is also reduced by 12.56%and 13.56%,respectively,compared to the same models and dataset.

Thermospheric neutral wind studies over the equatorial region:A review

Thermospheric neutral winds(TNWs)refer to the neutral gases in the thermosphere circulating as tides,which play a crucial role in the dynamics of the thermosphere-ionosphere system(TIS).Global geospace neutral winds,particularly over the magnetic equator,have been a subject of study for several decades.However,despite the known importance of neutral winds,a comprehensive understanding and characterization of the winds is still lacking.Various ground-based and satellite missions have provided valuable information on the contribution of neutral winds to the global atmospheric dynamics.However,efforts in the global monitoring of neutral winds are still lacking,and the drivers behind the behavior of TNWs as well as their influence on the TIS remain incomplete.To address these knowledge gaps in the global circulation of TNWs,it is crucial to develop a deep understanding of the neutral wind characteristics over different regions.The low-latitude equatorial region in particular has been observed to exert complex influences on TNWs because of the unique effects of the Earth’s magnetic field at the dip equator.Studying neutral winds over this region will provide valuable insights into the unique dynamics and processes that occur in this region,thereby enhancing our understanding of their role in the overall dynamics of the TIS.Additionally,through empirical observations,an improved ability to accurately model and predict the behavior of this region can be achieved.This review article addresses challenges in understanding equatorial winds by reviewing historical measurements,current missions,and the interactions of ionospheric and thermospheric phenomena,emphasizing the need for comprehensive measurements to improve global atmospheric dynamics and weather forecasting.

Mesospheric tide comparisons at low latitudes observed by two collocated meteor radars

Accurate knowledge of mesospheric winds and waves is essential for studying the dynamics and climate in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere(MLT)region.In this study,we conduct a comparative analysis of the mesosphere tidal results obtained from two adjacent meteor radars at low latitudes in Kunming,China,from November 2013 to December 2014.These two radars operate at different frequencies of 37.5 MHz and 53.1 MHz,respectively.However,overall good agreement is observed between the two radars in terms of horizontal winds and tide observations.The results show that the dominant tidal waves of the zonal and meridional winds are diurnal and semidiurnal tides.Moreover,we conduct an exhaustive statistical analysis to compare the tidal amplitudes and vertical wavelengths recorded by the dual radar systems,which reveals a high degree of alignment in tidal dynamics.The investigation includes variances and covariances of tidal amplitudes,which demonstrate remarkable consistency across measurements from both radars.This finding highlights clear uniformity in the mesospheric tidal patterns observed at low latitudes by the two neighboring meteor radars.Results of the comparative analysis specifically underscore the significant correlation in vertical wavelength measurements,validating the robustness of radar observations for tidal research.

Burden of mental disorders and risk factors in the Western Pacific region from 1990 to 2021

BACKGROUND The burden of mental disorders(MD)in the Western Pacific Region(WPR)re-mains a critical public health concern,with substantial variations across demogra-phics and countries.AIM To analyze the burden of MD in the WPR from 1990 to 2021,along with associated risk factors,to reveal changing trends and emerging challenges.METHODS We used data from the Global Burden of Disease 2021,analyzing prevalence,incidence,and disability-adjusted life years(DALYs)of MD from 1990 to 2021.Statistical methods included age-standardisation and uncertainty analysis to address variations in population structure and data completeness.RESULTS Between 1990 and 2021,the prevalence of MD rose from 174.40 million cases[95%uncertainty interval(UI):160.17-189.84]to 234.90 million cases(95%UI:219.04-252.50),with corresponding DALYs increasing from 22.8 million(95%UI:17.22-28.79)to 32.07 million(95%UI:24.50-40.68).During this period,the burden of MD shifted towards older age groups.Depressive and anxiety disorders were predominant,with females showing higher DALYs for depressive and anxiety disorders,and males more affected by conduct disorders,attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,and autism spectrum disorders.Australia,New Zealand,and Malaysia reported the highest burdens,whereas Vietnam,China,and Brunei Darussalam reported the lowest.Additionally,childhood sexual abuse and bullying,and intimate partner violence emerged as significant risk factors.CONCLUSION This study highlights the significant burden of MD in the WPR,with variations by age,gender,and nation.The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has exacerbated the situation,emphasizing the need for a coordinated response.

Open Regionalism: The Way Forward For Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

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Spatial distribution of shallow landslides caused by Typhoon Lekima in 2019 in Zhejiang Province, China

In recent years, the coastal region of Southeast China has witnessed a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events associated with landfalling typhoons. The hilly and mountainous terrain of this area, combined with rapid rainfall accumulation, has led to a surge in flash floods and severe geological hazards. On August 10, 2019, Typhoon Lekima made landfall in Zhejiang Province, China, and its torrential rainfall triggered extensive landslides, resulting in substantial damage and economic losses. Utilizing high-resolution satellite images, we compiled a landslide inventory of the affected area, which comprises a total of 2,774 rainfallinduced landslides over an area of 2965 km2. The majority of these landslides were small to mediumsized and exhibited elongated, clustered patterns. Some landslides displayed characteristics of high-level initiation, obstructing or partially blocking rivers, leading to the formation of debris dams. We used the inventory to analyze the distribution pattern of the landslides and their relationship with topographical, geological, and hydrological factors. The results showed that landslide abundance was closely related to elevation, slope angle, faults, and road density. The landslides were predominantly located in hilly and low mountainous areas, with elevations ranging from 150 to 300 m, slopes of 20 to 30 degrees, and a NE-SE aspect. Notably, we observed the highest Landslide Number Density(LND) and Landslide Area Percentage(LAP) in the rhyolite region. Landslides were concentrated within approximately 4 km on either side of fault zones, with their size and frequency negatively correlated with distances to faults, roads, and river systems. Furthermore, under the influence of typhoons, regions with denser vegetation cover exhibited higher landslide density, reaching maximum values in shrubland areas. In areas experiencing significantly increased concentrated rainfall, landslide density also showed a corresponding rise. In terms of spatial distribution, the rainfall-triggered landslides primarily occurred in the northeastern part of the study area, particularly in regions characterized by complex topography such as Shanzao Village in Yantan Town, Xixia Township, and Shangzhang Township. The research findings offer crucial data on the rainfallinduced landslides triggered by Typhoon Lekima, shedding light on their spatial distribution patterns. These findings provide valuable references for mitigating risks and planning reconstruction in typhoon-affected area.

Construction and Application of a Regional Kilometer-Scale Carbon Source and Sink Assimilation Inversion System(CCMVS-R)

CO_(2)is one of the most important greenhouse gases(GHGs)in the earth’s atmosphere.Since the industrial era,anthropogenic activities have emitted excessive quantities of GHGs into the atmosphere,resulting in climate warming since the 1950s and leading to an increased frequency of extreme weather and climate events.In 2020,China committed to striving for carbon neutrality by 2060.This commitment and China’s consequent actions will result in significant changes in global and regional anthropogenic carbon emissions and therefore require timely,comprehensive,and objective monitoring and verification support(MVS)systems.The MVS approach relies on the top-down assimilation and inversion of atmospheric CO_(2)concentrations,as recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC)Inventory Guidelines in 2019.However,the regional high-resolution assimilation and inversion method is still in its initial stage of development.Here,we have constructed an inverse system for carbon sources and sinks at the kilometer level by coupling proper orthogonal decomposition(POD)with four-dimensional variational(4DVar)data assimilation based on the weather research and forecasting-greenhouse gas(WRF-GHG)model.Our China Carbon Monito ring and Verification Support at the Regional level(CCMVS-R)system can continuously assimilate information on atmospheric CO_(2)and other related information and realize the inversion of regional and local anthropogenic carbon emissions and natural terrestrial ecosystem carbon exchange.Atmospheric CO_(2)data were collected from six ground-based monito ring sites in Shanxi Province,China to verify the inversion effect of regio nal anthropogenic carbon emissions by setting ideal and real experiments using a two-layer nesting method(at 27 and 9 km).The uncertainty of the simulated atmospheric CO_(2)decreased significantly,with a root-mean-square error of CO_(2)concentration values between the ideal value and the simulated after assimilation was close to 0.The total anthropogenic carbon emissions in Shanxi Province in 2019 from the assimilated inversions were approximately 28.6%(17%-38%)higher than the mean of five emission inventories using the bottomup method,showing that the top-down CCMVS-R system can obtain more comprehensive information on anthropogenic carbon emissions.

Mapping and measuring urban-rural inequalities in accessibility to social infrastructures

Equal access to social infrastructures is a fundamental prerequisite for sustainable development,but has long been a great challenge worldwide.Previous studies have primarily focused on the accessibility to social infras-tructures in urban areas across various scales,with less attention to rural areas,where inequality can be more severe.Particularly,few have investigated the disparities of accessibility to social infrastructures between urban and rural areas.Here,using the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan urban agglomeration,China,as an example,we investigated the inequality of accessibility in both urban and rural areas,and further compared the urban-rural difference.Accessibility was measured by travel time of residents to infrastructures.We selected four types of social infrastructures including supermarkets,bus stops,primary schools,and health care,which were funda-mentally important to both urban and rural residents.We found large disparities in accessibility between urban and rural areas,ranging from 20 min to 2 h.Rural residents had to spend one to two more hours to bus stops than urban residents,and 20 min more to the other three types of infrastructures.Furthermore,accessibility to multiple infrastructures showed greater urban-rural differences.Rural residents in more than half of the towns had no access to any infrastructure within 15 min,while more than 60%of the urban residents could access to all infrastructures within 15 min.Our results revealed quantitative accessibility gap between urban and rural areas and underscored the necessity of social infrastructures planning to address such disparities.

Does digitalization mitigate regional inequalities?Evidence from China

Regional inequality significantly influences sustainable development and human well-being.In China,there exists pronounced regional disparities in economic and digital advancements;however,scant research delves into the interplay between them.By analyzing the economic development and digitalization gaps at regional and city levels in China,extending the original Cobb-Douglas production function,this study aims to evaluate the impact of digitalization on China's regional inequality using seemingly unrelated regression.The results indicate a greater emphasis on digital inequality compared to economic disparity,with variable coefficients of 0.59 for GDP per capita and 0.92 for the digitalization index over the past four years.However,GDP per capita demonstrates higher spatial concentration than digitalization.Notably,both disparities have shown a gradual reduction in recent years.The southeastern region of the Hu Huanyong Line exhibits superior levels and rates of economic and digital advancement in contrast to the northwestern region.While digitalization propels economic growth,it yields a nuanced impact on achieving balanced regional development,encompassing both positive and negative facets.Our study highlights that the marginal utility of advancing digitalization is more pronounced in less developed regions,but only if the government invests in the digital infrastructure and education in these areas.This study's methodology can be utilized for subsequent research,and our findings hold the potential to the government's regional investment and policy-making.

ZmbZIP27 regulates nitrogen-mediated leaf angle by modulating lignin deposition in maize

In grain crops such as maize(Zea mays),leaf angle(LA)is a key agronomic trait affecting light interception and thus planting density and yield.Nitrogen(N)affects LA in plants,but we lack a good understanding of how N regulates LA.Here,we report that N deficiency enhanced lignin deposition in the ligular region of maize seedlings.In situ hybridization showed that the bZIP transcription factor gene ZmbZIP27 is mainly expressed in the phloem of maize vascular bundles.Under N-sufficient conditions,transgenic maize overexpressing ZmbZIP27 showed significantly smaller LA compared with wild type(WT).By contrast,zmbzip27_(ems)mutant showed larger LA under both N-deficient and N-sufficient conditions compared with WT.Overexpression of ZmbZIP27 enhanced lignin deposition in the ligular region of maize in the field.We further demonstrated that ZmbZIP27 could directly bind the promoters of the microRNA genes ZmMIR528a and ZmMIR528b and negatively regulate the expression levels of ZmmiR528.ZmmiR528 knockdown transgenic maize displayed erect architecture in the field by increasing lignin content in the ligular region of maize.Taken together,these results indicate that ZmbZIP27 regulates N-mediated LA size by regulating the expression of ZmmiR528 and modulating lignin deposition in maize.

Organic Matter Accumulation in the Upper Permian Dalong Formation from the Lower Yangtze Region,South China

The Late Permian was marked by a series of important geological events and widespread organic-rich black shale depositions,acting as important unconventional hydrocarbon source rocks.However,the mechanism of organic matter(OM)enrichment throughout this period is still controversial.Based on geochemical data,the marine redox conditions,paleogeographic and hydrographic environment,primary productivity,volcanism,and terrigenous input during the Late Permian in the Lower Yangtze region have been studied from the Putaoling section,Chaohu,to provide new insights into OM accumulation.Five Phases are distinguished based on the TOC and environmental variations.In Phase I,anoxic conditions driven by water restriction enhanced OM preservation.In Phase II,euxinic and cycling hydrological environments were the two most substantial controlling factors for the massive OM deposition.During Phase III,intensified terrestrial input potentially diluted the OM in sediment and the presence of oxygen in bottom water weakened the preservation condition.Phase IV was characterized by a relatively higher abundance of mercury(Hg)and TOC(peak at 16.98 wt%),indicating that enhanced volcanism potentially stimulated higher productivity and a euxinic environment.In Phase V,extremely lean OM was preserved as a result of terrestrial dilutions and decreasing primary productivity.Phases I,II and IV are characterized as the most prominent OM-rich zones due to the effective interactions of the controlling factors,namely paleogeographic,hydrographic environment,volcanism,and redox conditions.