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.

Al-modified yolk-shell silica particle-supported NiMo catalysts for ultradeep hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene:Efficient accessibility of active sites and suitable acidity

Yolk-shell SiO2 particles(YP)with center-radial meso-channels were fabricated through a simple and effective method.Al-containing YP-supported NiMo catalysts with different Al amounts(NiMo/AYP-x,x=Si/Al molar proportion)were prepared and dibenzothiophene(DBT)and 4,6-dimethyl-dibenzothiophene(4,6-DMDBT)were employed as the probes to evaluate the hydrodesulfurization(HDS)catalytic performance.The as-prepared AYP-x carriers and corresponding catalysts were characterized by some advanced characterizations to obtain deeper correlations between physicochemical properties and the HDS performance.The average pore sizes of series AYP-x supports are above 6.0 nm,which favors the mass transfer of organic sulfides.The cavity between the yolk and the shell is beneficial for the enrichment of S-containing compounds and the accessibility between reactants and active metals.Aluminum embedded into the silica framework could facilitate the formation of Lewis(L)and Brønsted(B)acid sites and adjust the metal-support interaction(MSI).Among all the as-synthesized catalysts,NiMo/AYP-20 catalyst shows the highest HDS activities.The improved HDS activity of NiMo/AYP-20 catalyst is attributed to the perfect combination of excellent structural properties of the yolk-shell mesoporous silica,enhanced acidity,moderate MSI,and good accessibility/dispersion of active components.

Influence of Transportation Accessibility on Urban-rural Income Disparity and Its Spatial Heterogeneity

Transportation accessibility has been treated as an important means of reducing the urban-rural income disparity.However,only a few studies have examined the effects of different types of transportation accessibility on urban-rural income disparity and their spatial heterogeneity.Based on data from 285 prefecture-level(and above)Chinese cities in 2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020,this study uses spatial econometric models to examine how highway accessibility and railway accessibility influence the urban-rural income disparity and to identify their spatial heterogeneity.The result reveals that highway accessibility and railway accessibility have‘coreperiphery’ring-like circle structures.The urban-rural income disparity exhibits strong spatial clustering effects.Both highway accessibility and railway accessibility are negatively associated with urban-rural income disparity,and the former having a greater effect size.Moreover,there is a substitution effect between highway accessibility and railway accessibility in the whole sample.Furthermore,these associations differ in geographic regions.In the central region,highway accessibility is more important in reducing the urban-rural income disparity,but its effect is weakened with the increase of railway accessibility.In the western region,railway accessibility has a larger effect on narrowing the urban-rural income disparity,and this effect is strengthened by the increase of highway accessibility.We conclude that improving transportation accessibility is conducive to reducing the urban-rural income disparity but its effect is spatial heterogenetic.Highways and railways should be developed in a coordinated manner to promote an integrated transport network system.

Accessibility and Fairness of Public Service Facilities from the Perspective of Supply and Demand Coordination: A Case Study of Old Urban Area of Guangzhou City

The accessibility and fairness of public service facilities are important manifestations of the convenience and equality of urban public service resource allocation.Optimizing the layout of urban public service facilities is an inevitable requirement for promoting the construction of people centered cities.This paper takes the old urban area of Guangzhou as the research area,measures the accessibility of multiple types of public service facilities based on an improved two-step floating catchment method,and combines Palma Ratio and location quotient methods to explore the fairness of urban public service facilities from two dimensions:social equity and spatial equity,with supply and demand relationship analysis as the main line.Research has shown that:①there is a significant spatial difference in the accessibility of public service facilities in the old urban areas of Guangzhou,and the comprehensive accessibility is generally higher in the central and southeastern regions of the old urban areas with fewer residential populations;②from the perspective of social equity,the resource allocation of public service facilities in the old urban areas of Guangzhou is in a seriously unfair state(with a fairness index of 2.99),and there are also varying degrees of unfairness within the streets;③from the perspective of spatial equity,the location quotient of public service facilities in the old urban areas of Guangzhou shows a pattern of multil center circles decreasing,indicating a significant spatial mismatch between the accessibility supply side of public service facilities and the demand side of the residential population.The research conclusion will provide scientific basis for optimizing the allocation of urban public service facilities and ensuring the equalization of public services.

Prevalence of Occupational Injury and Knowledge of Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Accessibility among Healthcare Workers in Mogadishu, Somalia

Introduction: Healthcare workers in Mogadishu, Somalia face significant occupational injury risks, particularly needle stick injuries, with 61.1% reporting incidents. This poses a serious threat to their health, leading to infections such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. Despite the high prevalence of injuries, awareness of Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) accessibility is relatively high, with 84.0% of respondents aware of it. However, there are gaps in knowledge and implementation, as evidenced by variations in availability of PEP. Improving workplace safety measures, providing comprehensive training on injury prevention and PEP protocols, and ensuring consistent availability of PEP in healthcare facilities are crucial steps to safeguard the well-being of healthcare workers in Mogadishu, Somalia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among hospital workers in Mogadishu, Somalia, focusing on professionals from various healthcare facilities. The study targeted nurses, doctors, laboratory personnel, and pharmacists. Purposive sampling was employed, resulting in a sample size of 383 calculated using Fisher’s sample size formula. Data were collected using coded questionnaires entered into Microsoft Excel 2019 and analyzed with SPSS software to generate frequencies and proportions, presented through frequency tables and pie figures. Results: The study in Mogadishu, Somalia, examined the prevalence of occupational injuries and knowledge of Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) accessibility among healthcare workers. Findings indicate a high prevalence of injuries, with 61.1% reporting incidents, predominantly needle stick injuries (60.6%). Despite the majority seeking prompt medical attention (72.0%), work-related illnesses affected 53.2% of respondents, notably work-related stress (59.5%). While most received training on injury and illness prevention (68.9%), gaps exist in PEP awareness, with 16.0% unaware of it. Nonetheless, 84.0% were aware, predominantly through health facilities (52.0%). Availability of PEP was reported by 71.3% in healthcare facilities, with variations in shift availability. The majority reported guidelines for PEP use (55.7%). Efforts are needed to bolster PEP awareness and ensure consistent availability in healthcare facilities to safeguard worker health. Conclusion: High prevalence of occupational injuries among healthcare workers, with needle stick injuries being the most common (60.6%). Despite this, 84.0% of respondents were aware of Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), primarily learning about it from health facilities (52.0%). While 71.3% reported the availability of PEP in their facility, 28.7% noted its unavailability. These results emphasize the need for improved education and accessibility of PEP to mitigate occupational injury risks.

Affordability, Accessibility, and Quality of Maternal Health Care Services and Level of Satisfaction of Mothers in Rural Areas in China

Objective:This study aimed to understand the affordability,accessibility,and quality of maternal and child health services for postpartum mothers,and their impact on satisfaction.Methods:The study utilized the Anderson model and revised the Maternal Pregnancy and Perinatal Health Service Questionnaire.A survey was conducted among 289 mothers aged 20–49 in Feicheng City.Results:Regarding accessibility,most respondents(133)reported that travel time to healthcare services exceeded 60 minutes,while 99 respondents indicated a travel time of 16–30 minutes.The issue of affordability was highlighted,with 86.85%of participants perceiving maternal healthcare services as costly,indicating a significant financial burden.More than 50%of respondents were satisfied with two specific dimensions(P<0.05)regarding the quality of maternal healthcare services.Conclusion:The study found that accessibility,affordability,and quality significantly affect mothers’satisfaction with maternal health services.Future research should focus on developing more suitable service pathways for rural mothers.

Study on the Influence of Lanzhou-Urumqi High-Speed Railway on Regional Accessibility and Economic Development

The Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway is an important part of the railway network connecting Gansu,Qinghai,and Xinjiang,and it is of far-reaching significance in facilitating China’s western development.An accessibility model and a double difference model were built to analyze the impact of the Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway on regional accessibility and economic development of the areas along the line before(2012-2014)and after(2017-2019)its opening.The results show that the regional accessibility remains unchanged before and after the operation of this railway line.However,there is a spatial difference in improvement,that of central cities being better.The opening of the high-speed railway is conducive to driving the overall economic development of the region and promoting the comprehensive and coordinated development of regional economies.

Genetics of biochemical attributes regulating morpho-physiology of upland cotton under high temperature conditions

Background Cotton is a strategically important fibre crop for global textile industry.It profoundly impacts several countries’industrial and agricultural sectors.Sustainable cotton production is continuously threatened by the unpre-dictable changes in climate,specifically high temperatures.Breeding heat-tolerant,high-yielding cotton cultivars with wide adaptability to be grown in the regions with rising temperatures is one of the primary objectives of modern cotton breeding programmes.Therefore,the main objective of the current study is to figure out the effective breed-ing approach to imparting heat tolerance as well as the judicious utilization of commercially significant and stress-tolerant attributes in cotton breeding.Initially,the two most notable heat-susceptible(FH-115 and NIAB Kiran)and tolerant(IUB-13 and GH-Mubarak)cotton cultivars were spotted to develop filial and backcross populations to accom-plish the preceding study objectives.The heat tolerant cultivars were screened on the basis of various morphological(seed cotton yield per plant,ginning turnout percentage),physiological(pollen viability,cell membrane thermostabil-ity)and biochemical(peroxidase activity,proline content,hydrogen peroxide content)parameters.Results The results clearly exhibited that heat stress consequently had a detrimental impact on every studied plant trait,as revealed by the ability of crossing and their backcross populations to tolerate high temperatures.However,when considering overall yield,biochemical,and physiological traits,the IUB-13×FH-115 cross went over particularly well at both normal and high temperature conditions.Moreover,overall seed cotton yield per plant exhibited a posi-tive correlation with both pollen viability and antioxidant levels(POD activity and proline content).Conclusions Selection from segregation population and criteria involving pollen viability and antioxidant levels concluded to be an effective strategy for the screening of heat-tolerant cotton germplasms.Therefore,understanding acquired from this study can assist breeders identifying traits that should be prioritized in order to develop climate resilient cotton cultivars.

A Blind Batch Encryption and Public Ledger-Based Protocol for Sharing Sensitive Data

For the goals of security and privacy preservation,we propose a blind batch encryption-and public ledger-based data sharing protocol that allows the integrity of sensitive data to be audited by a public ledger and allows privacy information to be preserved.Data owners can tightly manage their data with efficient revocation and only grant one-time adaptive access for the fulfillment of the requester.We prove that our protocol is semanticallly secure,blind,and secure against oblivious requesters and malicious file keepers.We also provide security analysis in the context of four typical attacks.

Power-Domain Collision-Tolerant Random Access Method with Auxiliary Beam for Satellite Internet of Things:A New Solution

There are numerous terminals in the satellite Internet of Things(IoT).To save cost and reduce power consumption,the system needs terminals to catch the characteristics of low power consumption and light control.The regular random access(RA)protocols may generate large amounts of collisions,which degrade the system throughout severally.The near-far effect and power control technologies are not applicable in capture effect to obtain power difference,resulting in the collisions that cannot be separated.In fact,the optimal design at the receiving end can also realize the condition of packet power domain separation,but there are few relevant researches.In this paper,an auxiliary beamforming scheme is proposed for power domain signal separation.It adds an auxiliary reception beam based on the conventional beam,utilizing the correlation of packets in time-frequency domain between the main and auxiliary beam to complete signal separation.The roll-off belt of auxiliary beam is used to create the carrier-to-noise ratio(CNR)difference.This paper uses the genetic algorithm to optimize the auxiliary beam direction.Simulation results show that the proposed scheme outperforms slotted ALOHA(SA)in terms of system throughput per-formance and without bringing terminals additional control burden.

Which Neighborhoods Have Easier Access to Online Home Delivery Services?A Spatiotemporal Accessibility Analysis in Nanjing,China

The rise in online home delivery services(OHDS)has had a significant impact on how urban services are supplied and used in recent years.Studies on the spatial accessibility of OHDS are emerging,but few is known about the temporal dimension of OHDS accessibility as well as the geographic and socioeconomic differences in the spatiotemporal accessibility of OHDS.This study measures the spatiotemporal accessibility of four types of OHDS,namely leisure,fresh and convenient,medical,and catering services.The geographic and socioeconomic disparities in the spatiotemporal accessibility of these four types of OHDS are then identified using spatial statistical methods and the Kruskal-Wallis test(K-W test).The case study in Nanjing,China,suggests that:1)spatiotemporal accessibility better reflects the temporal variation of OHDS accessibility and avoids overestimation of OHDS accessibility when only considering its spatial dimension.2)The spatiotemporal accessibility of OHDS varies geographically and socioeconomically.Neighborhoods located in the main city or neighborhoods with higher housing prices,higher population density,and higher point of interest(POI)mix have better OHDS spatiotemporal accessibility.Our study contributes to the understanding of OHDS accessibility from a spatiotemporal perspective,and the empirical insights can assist policymakers in creating intervention plans that take into account variations in OHDS spatiotemporal accessibility.

Modeling and Analysis of OFDMA-NOMA-RA Protocol Considering Imperfect SIC in Multi-User Uplink WLANs

To address the problems of network congestion and spectrum resources shortage in multi-user large-scale scenarios,this paper proposes a twice random access OFDMA-NOMA-RA protocol combining the advantages of orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA)and non-orthogonal multiple access(NOMA).The idea of this protocol is that OFMDA is used to divide the entire frequency field into multiple orthogonal resource units(RUs),and NOMA is used on each RU to enable more users to access the channel and improve spectrum efficiency.Based on the protocol designed in this paper,in the case of imperfect successive interference cancellation(SIC),the probability of successful competition subchannels and the outage probability are derived for two scenarios:Users occupy the subchannel individually and users share the subchannel.Moreover,when two users share the channel,the decoding order of the users and the corresponding probabilities are considered.Then,the system throughput is obtained.To achieve better outage performance in the system,the optimal power allocation algorithm is proposed in this paper,which enables the optimal power allocation strategy to be obtained.Numerical results show that the larger the imperfect SIC coefficient,the worse the outage performance of weak users.Compared with pure OFDMA and NOMA,OFDMA-NOMA-RA always maintains an advantage when the imperfect SIC coefficient is less than a specific value.

2023:A year of accomplishments for the 13 Science Citation Index Expanded-and Emerging Sources Citation Index-indexed Baishideng journals

In 2023,Baishideng Publishing Group(Baishideng)routinely published 47 openaccess journals,including 46 English-language journals and 1 Chinese-language journal.Our successes were accomplished through the collective dedicated efforts of Baishideng staffs,Editorial Board Members,and Peer Reviewers.Among these 47 Baishideng journals,7 are included in the Science Citation Index Expanded(SCIE)and 6 in the Emerging Sources Citation Index(ESCI).With the support of Baishideng authors,company staffs,Editorial Board Members,and Peer Reviewers,the publication work of 2023 is about to be successfully completed.This editorial summarizes the 2023 activities and accomplishments of the 13 SCIEand ESCI-indexed Baishideng journals,outlines the Baishideng publishing policy changes and additions made this year,and highlights the unique advantages of Baishideng journals.

Adaptable and Dynamic Access Control Decision-Enforcement Approach Based on Multilayer Hybrid Deep Learning Techniques in BYOD Environment

Organizations are adopting the Bring Your Own Device(BYOD)concept to enhance productivity and reduce expenses.However,this trend introduces security challenges,such as unauthorized access.Traditional access control systems,such as Attribute-Based Access Control(ABAC)and Role-Based Access Control(RBAC),are limited in their ability to enforce access decisions due to the variability and dynamism of attributes related to users and resources.This paper proposes a method for enforcing access decisions that is adaptable and dynamic,based on multilayer hybrid deep learning techniques,particularly the Tabular Deep Neural Network Tabular DNN method.This technique transforms all input attributes in an access request into a binary classification(allow or deny)using multiple layers,ensuring accurate and efficient access decision-making.The proposed solution was evaluated using the Kaggle Amazon access control policy dataset and demonstrated its effectiveness by achieving a 94%accuracy rate.Additionally,the proposed solution enhances the implementation of access decisions based on a variety of resource and user attributes while ensuring privacy through indirect communication with the Policy Administration Point(PAP).This solution significantly improves the flexibility of access control systems,making themmore dynamic and adaptable to the evolving needs ofmodern organizations.Furthermore,it offers a scalable approach to manage the complexities associated with the BYOD environment,providing a robust framework for secure and efficient access management.

Grain & Oil Science and Technology

Aims & Scope Grain & Oil Science and Technology(GOST) is an international peer-reviewed Open Access(OA) journal and upon acceptance all articles are permanently and freely available on ScienceDirect.

OFDMA-Based Unsourced Random Access in LEO Satellite Internet of Things

This paper investigates the low earth orbit(LEO)satellite-enabled coded compressed sensing(CCS)unsourced random access(URA)in orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA)framework,where a massive uniform planar array(UPA)is equipped on the satellite.In LEO satellite communications,unavoidable timing and frequency offsets cause phase shifts in the transmitted signals,substantially diminishing the decoding performance of current terrestrial CCS URA receiver.To cope with this issue,we expand the inner codebook with predefined timing and frequency offsets and formulate the inner decoding as a tractable compressed sensing(CS)problem.Additionally,we leverage the inherent sparsity of the UPA-equipped LEO satellite angular domain channels,thereby enabling the outer decoder to support more active devices.Furthermore,the outputs of the outer decoder are used to reduce the search space of the inner decoder,which cuts down the computational complexity and accelerates the convergence of the inner decoding.Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Glycine-β-cyclodextrin-assisted cometabolism of phenanthrene and pyrene by Pseudomonas stutzeri DJP 1 from marine sediment

Cometabolic degradation is currently an effective and extensively way to remove high molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(HMW-PAHs).Unfortunately,due to low bio-accessibility and high biotoxicity,the cometabolic degradation rate of HMW-PAHs is limited.Glycine-β-cyclodextrin(GCD)was obtained through amino modification ofβ-cyclodextrin(BCD)and added to cometabolic system of phenanthrene(PHE)and pyrene(PYR)to assist PYR biodegradation.Results show that the addition of GCD(100 mg/L)effectively improved the removal rate of PYR(20 mg/L)by 42.3%.GCD appeared to increase the bio-accessibility and reduce the biotoxicity of PHE and PYR,and then promoted the growth of Pseudomonas stutzeri DJP1 and stimulated the elevation of dehydrogenase(DHA)and catechol 12 dioxygenase(C12O)activities.The phthalate metabolic pathway was accelerated,which improved the cometabolic degradation.This study provided a new reference for the cometabolic degradation of HMW-PAHs.

Scenario Modeling-Aided AP Placement Optimization Method for Indoor Localization and Network Access

Owing to the ubiquity of wireless networks and the popularity of WiFi infrastructures,received signal strength(RSS)-based indoor localization systems have received much attention.The placement of access points(APs)significantly influences localization accuracy and network access.However,the indoor scenario and network access are not fully considered in previous AP placement optimization methods.This study proposes a practical scenario modelingaided AP placement optimization method for improving localization accuracy and network access.In order to reduce the gap between simulation-based and field measurement-based AP placement optimization methods,we introduce an indoor scenario modeling and Gaussian process-based RSS prediction method.After that,the localization and network access metrics are implemented in the multiple objective particle swarm optimization(MOPSO)solution,Pareto front criterion and virtual repulsion force are applied to determine the optimal AP placement.Finally,field experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed indoor scenario modeling method and RSS prediction model.A thorough comparison confirms the localization and network access improvement attributed to the proposed anchor placement method.

Blockchain-Enabled Privacy Protection and Access Control Scheme Towards Sensitive Digital Assets Management

With the growth of requirements for data sharing,a novel business model of digital assets trading has emerged that allows data owners to sell their data for monetary gain.In the distributed ledger of blockchain,however,the privacy of stakeholder's identity and the confidentiality of data content are threatened.Therefore,we proposed a blockchainenabled privacy-preserving and access control scheme to address the above problems.First,the multi-channel mechanism is introduced to provide the privacy protection of distributed ledger inside the channel and achieve coarse-grained access control to digital assets.Then,we use multi-authority attribute-based encryption(MAABE)algorithm to build a fine-grained access control model for data trading in a single channel and describe its instantiation in detail.Security analysis shows that the scheme has IND-CPA secure and can provide privacy protection and collusion resistance.Compared with other schemes,our solution has better performance in privacy protection and access control.The evaluation results demonstrate its effectiveness and practicability.

The study of lithographic variation in resistive random access memory

Reducing the process variation is a significant concern for resistive random access memory(RRAM).Due to its ultrahigh integration density,RRAM arrays are prone to lithographic variation during the lithography process,introducing electrical variation among different RRAM devices.In this work,an optical physical verification methodology for the RRAM array is developed,and the effects of different layout parameters on important electrical characteristics are systematically investigated.The results indicate that the RRAM devices can be categorized into three clusters according to their locations and lithography environments.The read resistance is more sensitive to the locations in the array(~30%)than SET/RESET voltage(<10%).The increase in the RRAM device length and the application of the optical proximity correction technique can help to reduce the variation to less than 10%,whereas it reduces RRAM read resistance by 4×,resulting in a higher power and area consumption.As such,we provide design guidelines to minimize the electrical variation of RRAM arrays due to the lithography process.