The goal of land consolidation in China is still to develop agricultural production.The study of landscape effects of land consolidation projects(LCPs)faces many difficulties because of the lack of government's in...The goal of land consolidation in China is still to develop agricultural production.The study of landscape effects of land consolidation projects(LCPs)faces many difficulties because of the lack of government's interest and data.This paper,taking Tianmen City of Hubei Province in Central China as an example,presents a methodology for analyzing landscape effects of LCPs by GIS and Fragstats3.3.It describes landscape effects with indexes of Patch Density(PD),Largest Patch Index(LPI),Landscape Shape Index(LSI),Interspersion and Juxtaposition Index(IJI),Aggregation Index(AI),and Shannon's Diversity Index(SHDI),showing more regular shape,simpler structure and less habitat diversity after LCPs.It computes ten landscape indexes of four categories of patches including Cultivated Land,Road,Water Channel,and River and Pond.The indexes show that 1)cultivated land becomes more fragmental in patch area,less irregular in patch shape and more concentrated in block;2)the transport capacity of roads and irri-gation and drainage capacity of water channels have been improved;3)the landscape change of river and pond can be summarized as decreasing scale,more regular shape,reducing connectivity and diversity of the class.LCPs can facili-tate agricultural production as well as protect cultivated land and food security.However,it is doubted that the increase of cultivated land from LCPs results from the reducing in landscape diversity of water area.展开更多
Auto ownership is one of the most important linkages between travel demand and land use. Residents in denser, urban or more transit accessible neighborhoods tend to own fewer cars. Car ownership influences almost all ...Auto ownership is one of the most important linkages between travel demand and land use. Residents in denser, urban or more transit accessible neighborhoods tend to own fewer cars. Car ownership influences almost all aspects of travel behavior, including travel frequency, travel distances, mode choice and time-of-day choice. At the same time, car ownership affects residential location choices, as households owning cars are less likely to choose urban neighborhoods than households without cars. This paper describes a new microscopic auto-ownership model that has been estimated with survey data. The model is fully integrated with a land use and a transportation model to capture: (1) how owning a car affects travel behavior and location choice; and (2) how the built environment and the transportation needs affect auto-ownership decisions. The model has been validated against census data and is fully operational.展开更多
In Nigeria, almost 500 indigenous languages continue to compete with the English language that has assumed the status of a global linguistic code. The contact, in different domains between English and indigenous langu...In Nigeria, almost 500 indigenous languages continue to compete with the English language that has assumed the status of a global linguistic code. The contact, in different domains between English and indigenous languages in the country continues to affect performance in English and contact languages, making effective communication in either English or any of the indigenous languages unattainable. The purpose of this study is to show that although no particular document, so named, exists expressing the nation's policy on language, nonetheless, the country has a policy on language that accommodates the indigenous languages as substrates, while the English language holds sway in various linguistic domains. Using a simple descriptive survey with data from previous studies, this paper examines the linguistic implications of the contact between English and indigenous languages on the younger generations who are losing contact with the mother tongue, and also not demonstrating enough proficiency in the English language. It is recommended that the opportunities that competence and maturation afforded a second language learner should be latched onto to gain the needed proficiency in English thus making them effective bilinguals and communicators in a world that is fast becoming a global village, and the inhabitants global citizens.展开更多
Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most valuable cash crops in southern China; however, the planting distribution of tea crops is not optimal and the production and cultivation regions of tea crops are restricted...Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most valuable cash crops in southern China; however, the planting distribution of tea crops is not optimal and the production and cultivation regions of tea crops are restricted by law and custom. In order to evaluate the suitability of tea crops in Zhejiang Province, the annual mean temperature, the annual accumulated temperature above 10 ℃, the frequency of extremely low temperature below -13 ℃, the mean humidity from April to October, slope, aspect, altitude, soil type, and soil texture were selected from climate, topography, and soil factors as factors for land ecological evaluation by the Delphi method based on the ecological characteristics of tea crops. These nine factors were quantitatively analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS). The grey relational analysis (GRA) was combined with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to address the uncertainties during the process of evaluating the traditional land ecological suitability, and a modified land ecological suitability evaluation (LESE) model was built. Based on the land-use map of Zhejiang Province, the regions that were completely unsuitable for tea cultivation in the province were eliminated and then the spatial distribution of the ecological suitability of tea crops was generated using the modified LESE model and GIS. The results demonstrated that the highly, moderately, and non-suitable regions for the cultivation of tea crops in Zhejiang Province were 27552.66, 42 724.64, and 26507.97 km2, and accounted for 28.47%, 44.14%, and 27.39% of the total evaluation area, respectively. Validation of the method showed a high degree of coincidence with the current planting distribution of tea crops in Zhejiang Province. The modified LESE model combined with GIS could be useful in quickly and accurately evaluating the land ecological suitability of tea crops, providing a scientific basis for the rational distribution of tea crops and acting as a reference to land policy makers and land use planners.展开更多
Global change,which refers to large-scale changes in the earth system and human society,has been changing the outbreak and transmission mode of many infectious diseases.Climate change affects infectious diseases direc...Global change,which refers to large-scale changes in the earth system and human society,has been changing the outbreak and transmission mode of many infectious diseases.Climate change affects infectious diseases directly and indirectly.Meteorological factors including temperature,precipitation,humidity and radiation influence infectious disease by modulating pathogen,host and transmission pathways.Meteorological disasters such as droughts and floods directly impact the outbreak and transmission of infectious diseases.Climate change indirectly impacts infectious diseases by altering the ecological system,including its underlying surface and vegetation distribution.In addition,anthropogenic activities are a driving force for climate change and an indirect forcing of infectious disease transmission.International travel and rural-urban migration are a root cause of infectious disease transmission.Rapid urbanization along with poor infrastructure and high disease risk in the rural-urban fringe has been changing the pattern of disease outbreaks and mortality.Land use changes,such as agricultural expansion and deforestation,have already changed the transmission of infectious disease.Accelerated air,road and rail transportation development may not only increase the transmission speed of outbreaks,but also enlarge the scope of transmission area.In addition,more frequent trade and other economic activities will also increase the potential risks of disease outbreaks and facilitate the spread of infectious diseases.展开更多
基金Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 70673097)
文摘The goal of land consolidation in China is still to develop agricultural production.The study of landscape effects of land consolidation projects(LCPs)faces many difficulties because of the lack of government's interest and data.This paper,taking Tianmen City of Hubei Province in Central China as an example,presents a methodology for analyzing landscape effects of LCPs by GIS and Fragstats3.3.It describes landscape effects with indexes of Patch Density(PD),Largest Patch Index(LPI),Landscape Shape Index(LSI),Interspersion and Juxtaposition Index(IJI),Aggregation Index(AI),and Shannon's Diversity Index(SHDI),showing more regular shape,simpler structure and less habitat diversity after LCPs.It computes ten landscape indexes of four categories of patches including Cultivated Land,Road,Water Channel,and River and Pond.The indexes show that 1)cultivated land becomes more fragmental in patch area,less irregular in patch shape and more concentrated in block;2)the transport capacity of roads and irri-gation and drainage capacity of water channels have been improved;3)the landscape change of river and pond can be summarized as decreasing scale,more regular shape,reducing connectivity and diversity of the class.LCPs can facili-tate agricultural production as well as protect cultivated land and food security.However,it is doubted that the increase of cultivated land from LCPs results from the reducing in landscape diversity of water area.
文摘Auto ownership is one of the most important linkages between travel demand and land use. Residents in denser, urban or more transit accessible neighborhoods tend to own fewer cars. Car ownership influences almost all aspects of travel behavior, including travel frequency, travel distances, mode choice and time-of-day choice. At the same time, car ownership affects residential location choices, as households owning cars are less likely to choose urban neighborhoods than households without cars. This paper describes a new microscopic auto-ownership model that has been estimated with survey data. The model is fully integrated with a land use and a transportation model to capture: (1) how owning a car affects travel behavior and location choice; and (2) how the built environment and the transportation needs affect auto-ownership decisions. The model has been validated against census data and is fully operational.
文摘In Nigeria, almost 500 indigenous languages continue to compete with the English language that has assumed the status of a global linguistic code. The contact, in different domains between English and indigenous languages in the country continues to affect performance in English and contact languages, making effective communication in either English or any of the indigenous languages unattainable. The purpose of this study is to show that although no particular document, so named, exists expressing the nation's policy on language, nonetheless, the country has a policy on language that accommodates the indigenous languages as substrates, while the English language holds sway in various linguistic domains. Using a simple descriptive survey with data from previous studies, this paper examines the linguistic implications of the contact between English and indigenous languages on the younger generations who are losing contact with the mother tongue, and also not demonstrating enough proficiency in the English language. It is recommended that the opportunities that competence and maturation afforded a second language learner should be latched onto to gain the needed proficiency in English thus making them effective bilinguals and communicators in a world that is fast becoming a global village, and the inhabitants global citizens.
基金Supported by the Agricultural Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Foundation of the Ministry of Sciences and Technology,China (No. 2008GB24160442)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 40871158and 51108405 )
文摘Tea (Camellia sinensis) is one of the most valuable cash crops in southern China; however, the planting distribution of tea crops is not optimal and the production and cultivation regions of tea crops are restricted by law and custom. In order to evaluate the suitability of tea crops in Zhejiang Province, the annual mean temperature, the annual accumulated temperature above 10 ℃, the frequency of extremely low temperature below -13 ℃, the mean humidity from April to October, slope, aspect, altitude, soil type, and soil texture were selected from climate, topography, and soil factors as factors for land ecological evaluation by the Delphi method based on the ecological characteristics of tea crops. These nine factors were quantitatively analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS). The grey relational analysis (GRA) was combined with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to address the uncertainties during the process of evaluating the traditional land ecological suitability, and a modified land ecological suitability evaluation (LESE) model was built. Based on the land-use map of Zhejiang Province, the regions that were completely unsuitable for tea cultivation in the province were eliminated and then the spatial distribution of the ecological suitability of tea crops was generated using the modified LESE model and GIS. The results demonstrated that the highly, moderately, and non-suitable regions for the cultivation of tea crops in Zhejiang Province were 27552.66, 42 724.64, and 26507.97 km2, and accounted for 28.47%, 44.14%, and 27.39% of the total evaluation area, respectively. Validation of the method showed a high degree of coincidence with the current planting distribution of tea crops in Zhejiang Province. The modified LESE model combined with GIS could be useful in quickly and accurately evaluating the land ecological suitability of tea crops, providing a scientific basis for the rational distribution of tea crops and acting as a reference to land policy makers and land use planners.
基金supported by the National Research Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology,China(Grant Nos.2010CB530300,2012CB955501,2013AA122003&2012AA12A407)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.41271099)China Postdoctoral Science Foundation(Grant No.2012M510344)
文摘Global change,which refers to large-scale changes in the earth system and human society,has been changing the outbreak and transmission mode of many infectious diseases.Climate change affects infectious diseases directly and indirectly.Meteorological factors including temperature,precipitation,humidity and radiation influence infectious disease by modulating pathogen,host and transmission pathways.Meteorological disasters such as droughts and floods directly impact the outbreak and transmission of infectious diseases.Climate change indirectly impacts infectious diseases by altering the ecological system,including its underlying surface and vegetation distribution.In addition,anthropogenic activities are a driving force for climate change and an indirect forcing of infectious disease transmission.International travel and rural-urban migration are a root cause of infectious disease transmission.Rapid urbanization along with poor infrastructure and high disease risk in the rural-urban fringe has been changing the pattern of disease outbreaks and mortality.Land use changes,such as agricultural expansion and deforestation,have already changed the transmission of infectious disease.Accelerated air,road and rail transportation development may not only increase the transmission speed of outbreaks,but also enlarge the scope of transmission area.In addition,more frequent trade and other economic activities will also increase the potential risks of disease outbreaks and facilitate the spread of infectious diseases.