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.

Is it possible to run after positive affective experiences instead of health benefits without tackling social inequalities?

We recently read the opinion piece titled“Why people should run after positive affective experiences instead of health benefits”,which was carried out by Maltagliati et al.^(1)and published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.The article started an important discussion about a physical activity(PA)promotion approach that encourages the use of affective experience to PA activity.Although we agree with the authors’point of view and believe that its message can generate an important insight for PA promotion,the authors presented a scenario where behavior change seems to be exclusively dependent on the individual.Recognizing the existence of other barriers to an active lifestyle(e.g.,social inequalities)could enhance the authors’suggested approach because many people live in conditions that reduce their opportunities to engage in affective experiences related to PA;furthermore,affective experiences can vary depending on individual context.

Understanding the educational inequalities in suicide attempts and their mediators:a Mendelian randomisation study

Background Educational inequalities in suicide have become increasingly prominent over the past decade.Elucidating modifiable risk factors that serve as intermediaries in the impact of low educational attainment on suicide has the potential to reduce health disparities.Aims To examine the risk factors that mediate the relationship between educational attainment and suicide attempts and quantify their contributions to the mediation effect.Methods We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomisation(MR)analysis to estimate the causal effect of educational attainment on suicide attempts,utilising genome-wide association study summary statistics from the Integrative Psychiatric Research(iPSYCH;6024 cases and 44240 controls)and FinnGen(8978 cases and 368299 controls).We systematically evaluated 42 putative mediators within the causal pathway connecting reduced educational attainment to suicide attempts and employed two-step and multivariable MR to quantify the proportion of the mediated effect.Results In the combined analysis of iPSYCH and FinnGen,each standard deviation(SD)decrease in genetically predicted educational attainment(equating to 3.4 years of education)was associated with a 105%higher risk of suicide attempts(odds ratio(OR):2.05;95%confidence interval(Cl):1.81 to 2.31).0f the 42 risk factors analysed,the two-step MR identified five factors that mediated the association between educational attainment and suicide attempts.The respective proportions of mediation were 47%(95%Cl:29%to 66%)for smoking behaviour,36%(95%Cl:0%to 84%)for chronic pain,49%(95%Cl:36%to 61%)for depression,35%(95%Cl:12%to 59%)for anxiety and 26%(95%Cl:18%to 34%)for insomnia.Multivariable MR implicated these five mediators collectively,accounting for 68%(95%Cl:40%to 96%)of the total effect.Conclusions This study identified smoking,chronic pain and mental disorders as primary intervention targets for attenuating suicide risk attributable to lower educational levels in the European population.

Ostrowski’s Type Inequalities for Generalized(h,m)−Preinvex Functions with Its Applications

A new concept generalized(h,m)−preinvex function on Yang’s fractal sets is proposed.Some Ostrowski’s type inequalities with two parameters for generalized(h,m)−preinvex function are established,where three local fractional inequalities involving generalized midpoint type,trapezoid type and Simpson type are derived as consequences.Furthermore,as some applications,special means inequalities and numerical quadratures for local fractional integrals are discussed.

STRONGLY CONVERGENT INERTIAL FORWARD-BACKWARD-FORWARD ALGORITHM WITHOUT ON-LINE RULE FOR VARIATIONAL INEQUALITIES

This paper studies a strongly convergent inertial forward-backward-forward algorithm for the variational inequality problem in Hilbert spaces.In our convergence analysis,we do not assume the on-line rule of the inertial parameters and the iterates,which have been assumed by several authors whenever a strongly convergent algorithm with an inertial extrapolation step is proposed for a variational inequality problem.Consequently,our proof arguments are different from what is obtainable in the relevant literature.Finally,we give numerical tests to confirm the theoretical analysis and show that our proposed algorithm is superior to related ones in the literature.

Global prevalence and gender inequalities in at least 60 min of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 1 or more days per week:An analysis with 707,616 adolescents

Background:Guidelines recommend that adolescents should accumulate an average of 60 min per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity(MVPA).However,using only this cut-off could hide important information.For instance,from a population-level point of view,increasing physical activity for those with no or low physical activity could provide more health benefits than increasing physical activity for those with intermediate levels.Also,including a more sensitive cut-point of≥1 days per week could be an additional strategy for identifying those with low access/opportunities for physical activity practice.Thus,the current study aims to estimate the prevalence of≥60 min of MVPA≥1 days per week among adolescents globally,and to describe any relevant gender inequalities.Methods:We used representative datasets from 146 countries/territories collected between 2003 and 2019.MVPA was self-reported.Participants were grouped into younger(≤14 years old)and older(>14 years old)adolescents.Crude Poisson regression models were used to identify the relative differences in≥60 min of MVPA≥1 days per week between boys and girls,and random-effects meta-analysis models were used to identify the pooled estimates.Analyses were stratified by country and region.Results:Approximately 80%of both younger and older adolescents reported≥60 min of MVPA≥1 days per week.This prevalence was≥94%in Europe and Central Asia and North America,while the estimates for the other regions were<77%.The prevalence of≥60 min of MVPA≥1 days per week was higher among boys than girls,with the largest differences occurring among the oldest adolescents(Prevalence ratio_(≤14y)=1.04(95%confidence interval(95%CI)):1.03-1.04)vs.Prevalence ratio_(>14y)=1.09(95%CI:1.08-1.10)).Conclusion:Approximately 8 out of 10 adolescents reported accumulating≥60 min of MVPA≥1 days per week,with notable differences between regions.Gender differences were observed in several countries,especially among the oldest adolescents.Priorities for physical activity promotion among adolescents should include increasing access/opportunities for physical activity among those who do not achieve≥60 min of MVPA≥1 days per week and reducing gender inequalities.

A RELAXED INERTIAL FACTOR OF THE MODIFIED SUBGRADIENT EXTRAGRADIENT METHOD FOR SOLVING PSEUDO MONOTONE VARIATIONAL INEQUALITIES IN HILBERT SPACES

In this paper,we investigate pseudomonotone and Lipschitz continuous variational inequalities in real Hilbert spaces.For solving this problem,we propose a new method that combines the advantages of the subgradient extragradient method and the projection contraction method.Some very recent papers have considered different inertial algorithms which allowed the inertial factor is chosen in[0;1].The purpose of this work is to continue working in this direction,we propose another inertial subgradient extragradient method that the inertial factor can be chosen in a special case to be 1.Under suitable mild conditions,we establish the weak convergence of the proposed algorithm.Moreover,linear convergence is obtained under strong pseudomonotonicity and Lipschitz continuity assumptions.Finally,some numerical illustrations are given to confirm the theoretical analysis.

NEW DOOB'S MAXIMAL INEQUALITIES FOR MARTINGALES

Let 1≤q≤∞,b be a slowly varying function and letΦ:[0,∞)■[0,∞)be an increasing convex function withΦ(0)=0 and■Φ(r)=∞.In this paper,we present a new class of Doob’s maximal inequality on Orlicz-Lorentz-Karamata spaces LΦ,q,b.The results are new,even for the Lorentz-Karamata spaces withΦ(t)=tp,the Orlicz-Lorentz spaces with b≡1,and weak Orlicz-Karamata spaces with q=∞in the framework of LΦ,q,b-Moreover,we obtain some even stronger qualitative results that can remove the△2-condition of Liu,Hou and Wang(Sci China Math,2010,53(4):905-916).

Generalization of Inequalities in Metric Spaces with Applications

In this paper, which serves as a continuation of earlier work, we generalize the idea of inequalities in metric spaces and use them to demonstrate that the incomplete metric space can be used to obtain a Banach space.

What in Fact Proves the Violation of the Bell-Type Inequalities?

A. Peres constructed an example of particles entangled in the state of spin singlet. He claimed to have obtained the CHSH inequality and concluded that the violation of this inequality shows that in a measurement in which some variables are tested, other variables, not tested, have no defined value. In the present paper is proved that the correct conclusion of the violation of the CHSH inequality is different. It is proved that the classical calculus of probabilities of test results, obeying the Kolmogorov axioms, is unfit for the quantum formalism, dominated by probability amplitudes.

A Note on Sharp Affine Poincaré-Sobolev Inequalities and Exact in Minimization of Zhang’s Energy on Bounded Variation and Exactness

As for the affine energy, Edir Junior and Ferreira Leite establish the existence of minimizers for particular restricted subcritical and critical variational issues on BV(Ω). Similar functionals exhibit deeper weak* topological traits including lower semicontinuity and affine compactness, and their geometry is non-coercive. Our work also proves the result that extremal functions exist for certain affine Poincaré-Sobolev inequalities.

HARNACK TYPE INEQUALITIES FOR SDES DRIVEN BY FRACTIONAL BROWNIAN MOTION WITH MARKOVIAN SWITCHING

In this paper, by constructing a coupling equation, we establish the Harnack type inequalities for stochastic differential equations driven by fractional Brownian motion with Markovian switching. The Hurst parameter H is supposed to be in(1/2, 1). As a direct application, the strong Feller property is presented.

Regularization Methods to Approximate Solutions of Variational Inequalities

In this paper, we study the regularization methods to approximate the solutions of the variational inequalities with monotone hemi-continuous operator having perturbed operators arbitrary. Detail, we shall study regularization methods to approximate solutions of following variational inequalities: and with operator A being monotone hemi-continuous form real Banach reflexive X into its dual space X*, but instead of knowing the exact data (y0, A), we only know its approximate data satisfying certain specified conditions and D is a nonempty convex closed subset of X;the real function f defined on X is assumed to be lower semi-continuous, convex and is not identical to infinity. At the same time, we will evaluate the convergence rate of the approximate solution. The regularization methods here are different from the previous ones.

Fermions: Spin, Hidden Variables, Violation of Bell’s Inequality and Quantum Entanglement

Using real fields instead of complex ones, it was recently claimed, that all fermions are made of pairs of coupled fields (strings) with an internal tension related to mutual attraction forces, related to Planck’s constant. Quantum mechanics is described with real fields and real operators. Schrodinger and Dirac equations then are solved. The solution to Dirac equation gives four, real, 2-vectors solutions ψ1=(U1D1)ψ2=(U2D2)ψ3=(U3D3)ψ4=(U4D4)where (ψ1,ψ4) are coupled via linear combinations to yield spin-up and spin-down fermions. Likewise, (ψ2,ψ3) are coupled via linear combinations to represent spin-up and spin-down anti-fermions. For an incoming entangled pair of fermions, the combined solution is Ψin=c1ψ1+c4ψ4where c1and c4are some hidden variables. By applying a magnetic field in +Z and +x the theoretical results of a triple Stern-Gerlach experiment are predicted correctly. Then, by repeating Bell’s and Mermin Gedanken experiment with three magnetic filters σθ, at three different inclination angles θ, the violation of Bell’s inequality is proven. It is shown that all fermions are in a mixed state of spins and the ratio between spin-up to spin-down depends on the hidden variables.

THE LOGARITHMIC SOBOLEV INEQUALITY FOR A SUBMANIFOLD IN MANIFOLDS WITH ASYMPTOTICALLY NONNEGATIVE SECTIONAL CURVATURE

In this note,we prove a logarithmic Sobolev inequality which holds for compact submanifolds without a boundary in manifolds with asymptotically nonnegative sectional curvature.Like the Michale-Simon Sobolev inequality,this inequality contains a term involving the mean curvature.

Inequality of rural residents'income in China since the targeted poverty alleviation strategy:New trends,causes,and policy implications

Poverty and income inequality are problems faced by many countries including China.Since the implementation of Targeted Poverty Alleviation(TPA),absolute poverty has been eradicated,meanwhile,Chinese rural residents'income and inequality have experienced unprecedented new dynamics,but still,very few studies have focused on them.Hence,we attempt to examine the new trends in Chinese farmers'income inequality and to understand its causes during this period.We observe that China's urban-rural income ratio has been shrinking and the urban-rural inequality has been decreasing from 2014 to 2021.The reduction in the Theil index indicates a decrease in the regional inequality of farmers'income as well,and the decline in inter-regional inequality among eight economic zones contributes about 80%to increased equality.These new trends are caused by the fact that,with the TPA,the incomes of rural residents especially that in destitute areas,grew faster than that of urban residents and farmers in prosperous areas.The higher share of non-agricultural industry and agricultural mechanization level have significant positive impact on regional equality of farmers'income,while urban-rural dual structure has significant negative inhibitory effects.The lowest farmers'income and the highest inequality in the Northwest,and the slowest growth in the Northeast deserve more attention in rural Revitalization.From these findings,we propose four policy implications that would be applied to improve Chinese farmers'income equality,govern relative poverty,and achieve common prosperity in the post-poverty era.

Weak and Strong Convergence of Self Adaptive Inertial Subgradient Extragradient Algorithms for Solving Variational Inequality Problems

Many solutions of variational inequalities have been proposed,among which the subgradient extragradient method has obvious advantages.Two different algorithms are given for solving variational inequality problem in this paper.The problem we study is defined in a real Hilbert space and has L-Lipschitz and pseudomonotone condition.Two new algorithms adopt inertial technology and non-monotonic step size rule,and their convergence can still be proved when the value of L is not given in advance.Finally,some numerical results are designed to demonstrate the computational efficiency of our two new algorithms.

A Study of Triangle Inequality Violations in Social Network Clustering

Clustering a social network is a process of grouping social actors into clusters where intra-cluster similarities among actors are higher than inter-cluster similarities. Clustering approaches, i.e. , k-medoids or hierarchical, use the distance function to measure the dissimilarities among actors. These distance functions need to fulfill various properties, including the triangle inequality (TI). However, in some cases, the triangle inequality might be violated, impacting the quality of the resulting clusters. With experiments, this paper explains how TI violates while performing traditional clustering techniques: k-medoids, hierarchical, DENGRAPH, and spectral clustering on social networks and how the violation of TI affects the quality of the resulting clusters.

AGGREGATE SPECIAL FUNCTIONS TO APPROXIMATE PERMUTING TRI-HOMOMORPHISMS AND PERMUTING TRI-DERIVATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH A TRI-ADDITIVEψ-FUNCTIONAL INEQUALITY IN BANACH ALGEBRAS

In this paper,we define a new class of control functions through aggregate special functions.These class of control functions help us to stabilize and approximate a tri-additiveψ-functional inequality to get a better estimation for permuting tri-homomorphisms and permuting tri-derivations in unital C*-algebras and Banach algebras by the vector-valued alternative fixed point theorem.