Tourism Competitiveness Evaluation and Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Chinese Border Counties

Under the current government strategy of building a Silk Road economic belt, tourism in Chinese border counties has becoming increasingly popular. Studying tourism competitiveness in Chinese border counties is of sizable theoretical and practical importance, as there are several notable factors involved. In this study, we constructed a tourism competitiveness evaluation model based on eight factors: natural environment, tourism resource, location and transportation, social environment, tourism service facility, border port, tourism industrial cluster and tourism market. We then analyzed the spatial characteristics of tourism competitiveness in border counties and identified five types of border counties: resource advantage type(RA), border-port advantage type(PA), location advantage type(LA), agglomeration advantage type(AA), and relative balance type(RB), and examined the correlation between tourism market competitiveness and interior competitiveness factors in the counties from 2006 to 2011. Results showed that tourism resource, location and transportation, and tourism service facility are the most important competition factors for RA border counties during the study period. Competition factors in PA counties transferred from tourism resource, social environment and tourism service facility to border port and tourism industrial cluster; competition factors in LA counties transferred from natural environment and tourism resource to tourism service facility and tourism industrial cluster and border port. Competition factors in AA counties transferred from tourism service facility to tourism resource. Tourism industrial cluster, tourism service facility and tourism resource proved to be important competition factors in RB counties. The findings of this study can be used to target tourism strategies according to different county types.

Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Winter Cold Events in China from 1960 to 2020

Under the background of global warming, extreme cold events occur frequently. It is important to enhance the understanding of cold air patterns for forecasting cold air and reducing cold air-induced meteorological disasters. The study used the daily minimum temperatures from the National Climate Centre to classify the cold events affecting China into five different grades and the characteristics of different intensity cold events in China during the winter from 1960 to 2020 were analyzed. The results showed that there is little difference in the distribution of the frequency of general cold events from north to south, with duration longer in the north than in the south and an increase in frequency in the north in the last 60 years. The frequency of strong cold events is more in the north of China than in the south of China, and the duration is longer in the south than in the north China, with the frequency decreasing in most parts of the country. In addition to latitude, cold events frequency is closely linked to topography, with basins surrounded by high mountains being difficult to be affected by cold events, especially extreme cold events. In terms of month distribution, December was subject to the highest frequency of cold events and the longest duration of a single cold events process.

Spatio-temporal Characteristics and Geographical Determinants of Air Quality in Cities at the Prefecture Level and Above in China

In recent years, the large scale and frequency of severe air pollution in China has become an important consideration in the construction of livable cities and the physical and mental health of urban residents. Based on the 2016-year urban air quality index(AQI) data published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China, this study analyzed the spatial and temporal characteristics of air quality and its influencing factors in 338 urban units nationwide. The analysis provides an effective scientific basis for formulating national air pollution control measures. Four key results are shown. 1) Generally, air quality in the 338 cities is poor, and the average annual values for urban AQI and air pollution in 2016 were 79.58% and 21.22%, respectively. 2) The air quality index presents seasonal changes, with winter > spring > autumn > summer and a u-shaped trend. 3) The spatial distribution of the urban air quality index shows clear north-south characteristic differences and a spatial agglomeration effect; the high value area of air pollution is mainly concentrated in the North China Plain and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. 4) An evaluation of the spatial econometric model shows that differences in urban air quality are due to social, economic, and natural factors.

Spatio-temporal Characteristics of Area Coverage and Observation Geometry of the MISR Land-surface BRF Product: A Case Study of the Central Part of Northeast Asia

The Multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer(MISR) land-surface(LS) bidirectional reflectance factor(BRF) product(MILS_BRF) has unique semi-simultaneous multi-angle sampling and global coverage. However, unlike on-satellite observations, the spatio-temporal characteristics of MILS_BRF data have rarely been explicitly and comprehensively analysed. Results from 5-yr(2011–2015) of MILS_BRF dataset from a typical region in central Northeast Asia as the study area showed that the monthly area coverage as well as MILS_BRF data quantity varies significantly, from the highest in October(99.05%) through median in June/July(78.09%/75.21%) to lowest in January(18.97%), and a large data-vacant area exists in the study area during four consecutive winter months(December through March). The data-vacant area is mainly composed of crop lands and cropland/natural vegetation mosaic. The amount of data within the principal plane(PP)±30°(nPP) or cross PP ±30°(nCP), varies intra-annually with significant differences from different view zeniths or forward/backward scattering directions. For example, multiple off-nadir cameras have nPP but no nCP data for up to six months(September through February), with the opposite occurring in June and July. This study provides explicit and comprehensive information about the spatio-temporal characteristics of product coverage and observation geometry of MILS_BRF in the study area. Results provide required user reference information for MILS_BRF to evaluate performance of BRDF models or to compare with other satellite-derived BRF or albedo products. Comparing this final product to on-satellite observations, what was found here reveals a new perspective on product spatial coverage and observation geometry for multi-angle remote sensing.

Spatio-temporal characteristics and influencing factors of urban floating population in China from 2011 to 2015

Although China’s urban floating population is mainly concentrated in developed cities,from the central and western cities to the eastern developed cities,but the characteristics of the floating population in different cities are significantly different.This paper systematically investigates the spatiotemporal characteristics and influencing factors of the floating population in different levels of cities.The results show that the regional imbalance to further strengthen,accumulation and dispersion trend has become increasingly obvious,liquidity is positively correlated and city level scale,and urban agglomeration and the core city is still polarization center of floating population.Flow range is closely related to urban hierarchy:the higher the intra-urban grade,the more tend to inter-provincial flow;the lower the city grade,the more tend to intra-urban mobility.Short-term(1-2 years)and long-term(more than 7 years)flow-time coexist.The short-term liquidity increases with the city grade,and the long-term liquidity decreases with the city level.Farmers are still the main body of the floating population.Younger age,lower education level,low-skilled,high gender ratio employees are the most basic demographic characteristics of the floating population,although there are differences between different cities.The main reason for affecting the floating population is seeking jobs and doing business.

Analysis of the Spatio-Temporal Characteristics of Winter Surface Urban Heat Island:A Case Study in Beijing,China

This study reveals the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of the winter nighttime urban heat island(UHI)effect in the case of Beijing,China.The land surface temperature(LST)is retrieved by radiative transfer equation by using the remote sensing data from Landsat ETM+/OLI_TIRS from 2007 to 2017 for the winter nighttime period,and LST is then divided by the mean-standard deviation method into different levels of thermal landscapes.A combination of the migration calculation of gravity center and multi-directional profile analysis is used to study the directional differentiation characteristics of LST and the migratory characteristics of the gravity center of UHI.Finally,the overall temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of winter nighttime surface urban heat island(SUHI)in Beijing are studied,and the possible reasons for the changes are discussed.Results show that Beijing's UHI effect first increased and subsequently decreased from 2007 to 2017.The winter heat island in the urban area developed from low-density agglomeration to high-density agglomeration to lowdensity diffusion.Additionally,the high-level thermal landscapes migrated to the southwest along with the city center of gravity,and the expansion rate is fastest in the southwest,which is directly linked to the changes in the urban construction land.Moreover,the overall spatial distribution of winter nighttime LST is high in the east and south and low in the west and north,and is influenced by topography,land cover,urbanization,anthropogenic heat,and other factors as well.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of genotoxicity in the Yangtze River under the background of COVID-19 pandemic

The global spread of viruses can lead to the release of large amounts of disinfectants or antiviral drugs into the water environment.The resulting disinfection byproducts(DBPs)and residual antiviral drugs,acting as genotoxic substances or their precursors,may pose risks to aquatic animals and drinking water sources;however,to date,no studies have analyzed the changes in genotoxicity in the Yangtze River before and after the epidemic.In the present study,water and sediment samples from the Yangtze River were collected during different seasons,just before and after the outbreak of COVID-19,and were assessed using the SOS/umu test(with and without liver S9).The results indicated that water samples exhibited more pronounced genotoxicity than did sediments,with direct genotoxicity being the primary factor.Additionally,there were significant regional differences,with notably greater genotoxicity observed in the upper Yangtze River than in the lower reaches before the COVID-19 epidemic.However,this trend was reversed six to ten months later,suggesting the accumulation of DBPs or antiviral drugs after the COVID-19 pandemic.Moreover,the risk quotient indicated that 65%of the water samples posed a high risk for Paramecium caudatum,whereas 71%of the samples posed a medium risk for Danio rerio,thereby representing a potential threat to the ecological security of the Yangtze River.In conclusion,this study,at the basin scale,revealed the impacts of COVID-19 on the Yangtze River,highlighting the need to prevent DBPs and pharmaceutical pollution during similar events in the future.

Investigating spatio-temporal characteristics and influencing factors for green energy consumption in China

The green transformation of energy consumption is beneficial for promoting green development in China.This study constructed a green energy consumption evaluation index system and measured the green energy consumption levels in 30 provinces of China from 2000 to 2019 using the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method.This study further employed the spatial Durbin model to examine influencing factors and spillover effects of green energy consumption.The results showed that,temporally,China’s green energy consumption levels had a fluctuating upward trend.While,spatially,the overall levels of green energy consumption in China showed apparent characteristics of“high in the west and low in the east”.In terms of influencing factors,environmental regulations played an important role in promoting green energy consumption in the region,while economic development,opening up,and industrial structure had considerably inhibiting effects.Additionally,economic development,opening up,and industrial structure of neighboring regions showed marked positive spillover effects,while urbanization level and technological innovation showed substantial negative spillover effects.The regional heterogeneity test results showed that environmental regulation and industrial structure rationalization were the important factors for promoting green energy consumption in the eastern region,environmental regulation played an important driving role in the central region,and opening to the outside world and technological innovation helped improve the level of green energy consumption in the western region.

Epidemic Characteristics and Spatio-Temporal Patterns of HFRS in Qingdao City,China,2010-2022

Objective This study investigated the epidemic characteristics and spatio-temporal dynamics of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS)in Qingdao City,China.Methods Information was collected on HFRS cases in Qingdao City from 2010 to 2022.Descriptive epidemiologic,seasonal decomposition,spatial autocorrelation,and spatio-temporal cluster analyses were performed.Results A total of 2,220 patients with HFRS were reported over the study period,with an average annual incidence of 1.89/100,000 and a case fatality rate of 2.52%.The male:female ratio was 2.8:1.75.3%of patients were aged between 16 and 60 years old,75.3%of patients were farmers,and 11.6%had both“three red”and“three pain”symptoms.The HFRS epidemic showed two-peak seasonality:the primary fall-winter peak and the minor spring peak.The HFRS epidemic presented highly spatially heterogeneous,street/township-level hot spots that were mostly distributed in Huangdao,Pingdu,and Jiaozhou.The spatio-temporal cluster analysis revealed three cluster areas in Qingdao City that were located in the south of Huangdao District during the fall-winter peak.Conclusion The distribution of HFRS in Qingdao exhibited periodic,seasonal,and regional characteristics,with high spatial clustering heterogeneity.The typical symptoms of“three red”and“three pain”in patients with HFRS were not obvious.

Spatio-temporal characteristics and influencing factors of Pseudo Human Settlements in Northeast China based on the Baidu Index

Pseudo Human Settlements(PHS)are a fundamental element in human settlements geography,serving as an innovative frontier in the exploration of human–land relationships.Since entering the information age,PHS have emerged as a new catalyst for people's lives and urban development.Based on the Baidu Index,cold hot spot analysis and the Pearson correlation coefficient method were used to evaluate the spatiotemporal variation characteristics of the development of the quality of PHS at different levels in the three provinces of Northeast China(TPNC)during 2011–2022 and to characterize the influence of the system and factors.The results indicated that:1)temporally,PHS exhibits significant fluctuations,with an overall pattern of rapid increase followed by a gradual decline;2)spatially,PHS is marked by regional differentiation,with“three-core”dominance and a“cluster-like”distribution;3)systematically,the five major PHS systems generally exhibit an ascending and then a descending trend;4)in terms of influence,the socialization system serves as the core influence of PHS,with WeChat,JD.COM,and others are identified as the core influencing factors of subsystems.The findings of this study can provide scientific guidance for diversifying approaches to human settlements,promoting sustainable urban development,and revitalizing Northeast China.

SPATIO-TEMPORAL VARIATION CHARACTERISTICS OF EXTREMELY HEAVY PRECIPITATION FREQUENCY OVER SOUTH CHINA IN THE LAST 50 YEARS

This paper comprehensively studies the spatio-temporal characteristics of the frequency of extremely heavy precipitation events over South China by using the daily precipitation data of 110 stations during 1961 to 2008 and the extremely heavy precipitation thresholds determined for different stations by REOF, trend coefficients, linear trend, Mann-Kendall test and variance analysis. The results are shown as follows. The frequency distribution of extremely heavy precipitation is high in the middle of South China and low in the Guangdong coast and western Guangxi. There are three spatial distribution types of extremely heavy precipitation in South China. The consistent anomaly distribution is the main type. Distribution reversed between the east and the west and between the south and the north is also an important type. Extremely heavy precipitation events in South China mainly occurred in the summer-half of the year. Their frequency during this time accounts for 83.7% of the total frequency. In the 1960 s and 1980 s, extremely heavy precipitation events were less frequent while having an increasing trend from the late 1980 s. Their climatological tendency rates decrease in the central and rise in the other areas of South China, and on average the mean series also shows an upward but insignificant trend at all of the stations. South China's frequency of extremely heavy precipitation events can be divided into six major areas and each of them shows a different inter-annual trend and three of the representative stations experience abrupt changes by showing remarkable increases in terms of Mann-Kendall tests.

Fabrication and Mechano-sensing Characteristics of Bending Polypyrrole Actuator

To prepare a conductive polymer actuator with decent performance,a self-built experimental platform for the preparation of polypyrrole film is employed.One of the essential goals is to examine the mechanical characteristics of the actuator in the presence of various combinations of process parameters,combined with the orthogonal test method of"four factors and three levels".The bending and sensing characteristics of actuators of various sizes are methodically examined using a self-made bending polypyrrole actuator.The functional relationship between the bending displacement and the output voltage signal is established by studying the characteristics of the actuator sensor subjected to various degrees of bending.The experimental results reveal that the bending displacement of the actuator tip almost exhibits a linear variation as a function of length and width.When the voltage reaches 0.8 V,the bending speed of the actuator tends to be stable.Finally,the mechanical properties of the self-assembled polypyrrole actuator are verified by the design and fabrication of the microgripper.

Dynamic Multi-Graph Spatio-Temporal Graph Traffic Flow Prediction in Bangkok:An Application of a Continuous Convolutional Neural Network

The ability to accurately predict urban traffic flows is crucial for optimising city operations.Consequently,various methods for forecasting urban traffic have been developed,focusing on analysing historical data to understand complex mobility patterns.Deep learning techniques,such as graph neural networks(GNNs),are popular for their ability to capture spatio-temporal dependencies.However,these models often become overly complex due to the large number of hyper-parameters involved.In this study,we introduce Dynamic Multi-Graph Spatial-Temporal Graph Neural Ordinary Differential Equation Networks(DMST-GNODE),a framework based on ordinary differential equations(ODEs)that autonomously discovers effective spatial-temporal graph neural network(STGNN)architectures for traffic prediction tasks.The comparative analysis of DMST-GNODE and baseline models indicates that DMST-GNODE model demonstrates superior performance across multiple datasets,consistently achieving the lowest Root Mean Square Error(RMSE)and Mean Absolute Error(MAE)values,alongside the highest accuracy.On the BKK(Bangkok)dataset,it outperformed other models with an RMSE of 3.3165 and an accuracy of 0.9367 for a 20-min interval,maintaining this trend across 40 and 60 min.Similarly,on the PeMS08 dataset,DMST-GNODE achieved the best performance with an RMSE of 19.4863 and an accuracy of 0.9377 at 20 min,demonstrating its effectiveness over longer periods.The Los_Loop dataset results further emphasise this model’s advantage,with an RMSE of 3.3422 and an accuracy of 0.7643 at 20 min,consistently maintaining superiority across all time intervals.These numerical highlights indicate that DMST-GNODE not only outperforms baseline models but also achieves higher accuracy and lower errors across different time intervals and datasets.

Near-infrared brain functional characteristics of mild cognitive impairment with sleep disorders

BACKGROUND Mild cognitive impairment(MCI)has a high risk of progression to Alzheimer’s disease.The disease is often accompanied by sleep disorders,and whether sleep disorders have an effect on brain function in patients with MCI is unclear.AIM To explore the near-infrared brain function characteristics of MCI with sleep disorders.METHODS A total of 120 patients with MCI(MCI group)and 50 healthy subjects(control group)were selected.All subjects underwent the functional near-infrared spec-troscopy test.Collect baseline data,Mini-Mental State Examination,Montreal Cognitive Assessment scale,fatigue severity scale(FSS)score,sleep parameter,and oxyhemoglobin(Oxy-Hb)concentration and peak time of functional near-infrared spectroscopy test during the task period.The relationship between Oxy-RESULTS Compared with the control group,the FSS score of the MCI group was higher(t=11.310),and the scores of Pittsburgh sleep quality index,sleep time,sleep efficiency,nocturnal sleep disturbance,and daytime dysfunction were higher(Z=-10.518,-10.368,-9.035,-10.661,-10.088).Subjective sleep quality and total sleep time scores were lower(Z=-11.592,-9.924).The sleep efficiency of the MCI group was lower,and the awakening frequency,rem sleep latency period,total sleep time,and oxygen desaturation index were higher(t=5.969,5.829,2.887,3.003,5.937).The Oxy-Hb concentration at T0,T1,and T2 in the MCI group was lower(t=14.940,11.280,5.721),and the peak time was higher(t=18.800,13.350,9.827).In MCI patients,the concentration of Oxy-Hb during T0 was negatively correlated with the scores of Pittsburgh sleep quality index,sleep time,total sleep time,and sleep efficiency(r=-0.611,-0.388,-0.563,-0.356).It was positively correlated with sleep efficiency and total sleep time(r=0.754,0.650),and negatively correlated with oxygen desaturation index(r=-0.561)and FSS score(r=-0.526).All comparisons were P<0.05.CONCLUSION Patients with MCI and sleep disorders have lower near-infrared brain function than normal people,which is related to sleep quality.Clinically,a comprehensive assessment of the near-infrared brain function of patients should be carried out to guide targeted treatment and improve curative effect.

Travelling characteristics of road vehicles on single-level rail-cum-road bridge under the dynamic and aerodynamic impact of travelling trains

Aerodynamic and dynamic interference from trains is a key issue of concern for the safety of road vehicles travelling on single-level rail-cum road bridges.Based on the wind-road vehicle-train-bridge(WRTB)coupled vibration system developed herein,this study examines the dynamic characteristics when road vehicles meet trains in this situation.The influence of load combination,vehicle type and vehicle location is analyzed.A method to obtain the aerodynamic load of road vehicles encountering the train at an arbitrary wind speed is proposed.The results show that due to the windproof facilities and the large line distance between the railway and highway,the aerodynamic and dynamic influence of trains on road vehicles is slight,and the vibration of road vehicles depends on the road roughness.Among the road vehicles discussed,the bus is the easiest to rollover,and the truck-trailer is the easiest to sideslip.Compared with the aerodynamic impact of trains,the crosswind has a more significant influence on road vehicles.The first peak/valley value of aerodynamic loads determines the maximum dynamic response,and the quick method is optimized based on this conclusion.Test cases show that the optimized method can produce conservative results and can be used for relevant research or engineering applications.

Characteristics,Processes,and Causes of the Spatio-temporal Variabilities of the East Asian Monsoon System

Recent advances in the study of the characteristics, processes, and causes of spatio-temporal variabilities of the East Asian monsoon （EAM） system are reviewed in this paper. The understanding of the EAM system has improved in many aspects： the basic characteristics of horizontal and vertical structures, the annual cycle of the East Asian summer monsoon （EASM） system and the East Asian winter monsoon （EAWM） system, the characteristics of the spatio-temporal variabilities of the EASM system and the EAWM system, and especially the multiple modes of the EAM system and their spatio-temporal variabilities. Some new results have also been achieved in understanding the atmosphere-ocean interaction and atmosphere-land interaction processes that affect the variability of the EAM system. Based on recent studies, the EAM system can be seen as more than a circulation system, it can be viewed as an atmosphere-ocean-land coupled system, namely, the EAM climate system. In addition, further progress has been made in diagnosing the internal physical mechanisms of EAM climate system variability, especially regarding the characteristics and properties of the East Asia-Pacific （EAP） teleconnection over East Asia and the North Pacific, the ＂Silk Road＂ teleconnection along the westerly jet stream in the upper troposphere over the Asian continent, and the dynamical effects of quasi-stationary planetary wave activity on EAM system variability. At the end of the paper, some scientific problems regarding understanding the EAM system variability are proposed for further study.

Analysis of Characteristics of Spatio-temporal Evolution of Land Use in Inhabited Islands of Pearl River Estuary

Under the support of the remote sensing and geographical information system(GIS) techniques,we acquire the land use data in 1990 and 2008 regarding 6 inhabited islands,namely Longxue Island,Hengmen Island,Weiyuan Island,Qi'ao Island,Hengqin Island and Gaolan Island in Pearl River Estuary.By using dynamic degree of land use,land use change intensity,relative change rate and other indicators,we conduct quantitative description,and thus quantitatively and qualitatively analyse characteristics of temporal evolution and law of spatial pattern change concerning land use of each island.The study indicates that in the period 1990-2008,the area of construction land and water in 6 islands increased,while the area of agricultural land and unused land increased in some islands and decreased in others.The land use change shows spatial disparity;the holistic land use change degree in Hengmen Island is higher than that of other islands;the dynamic degree of land use,intensity of land use,and relative change rate differ in different islands.

Spatio-temporal characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in different landform areas with a case study in Northeast China

Assessing the temporal and spatial characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation is necessary to identify management practices that can reduce negative environmental effects.Thus,the purpose of this study was to use principal component analysis and spatial autocorrelation to analyze the dynamic characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in different landform areas in Liaoning Province,China,in terms of time and space.An additional objective was to match the changes with the natural and social environment to support the sustainable development of fragmented cultivated land.The results indicated that the evolutionary trends of cultivated land fragmentation in the central plain area showed a weakening trend,contrary to those observed in the western hilly and eastern mountainous areas.Moreover,the spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in the western hilly area were generally“external low,internal high,”primarily because of the edge density of cultivated land patches.The spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in the central plain area were generally“external high,internal low,”primarily because of the number and division of cultivated land patches.The spatial distribution characteristics of cultivated land fragmentation in the eastern mountainous area were generally“south low,north high”because of the division of cultivated land patches.These results can provide guidelines for planners,managers,decision-makers and others to formulate regulatory policies,identify land remediation areas,and promote the sustainable development of cultivated land.

Spatio-temporal Evolution Characteristics and Driving Mechanism of the New Infrastructure Construction Development Potential in China

With the advent of the era of big data and artificial intelligence, new infrastructure construction(NIC) has attracted the attention of many countries. The development of NIC provides an opportunity to bridge the digital divide and narrow the regional gap,providing continuous impetus to further promote economic development. Here, we considered 31 provincial-level administrative units in China(not including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan of China due to data unavailable) and established comprehensive evaluation indicators for the development potential of NIC. Afterward, we used the entropy-weight TOPSIS model to determine the development potential of NIC and analyze its spatio-temporal evolution characteristics. Furthermore, the GeoDetector model was applied to explore the driving mechanism of the NIC development potential. The conclusions were as follows: (1) The Chinese NIC development potential is generally low. The eastern China was the region with the highest development potential year by year, while the development potential in the central China was found to be in an accelerating phase. (2) The evolution of the Chinese NIC development potential’s spatial pattern has been characterized by an inland extension and coastal agglomeration. Moreover, we identified a superior development zone, a rising development zone, an inferior development zone, and a declining development zone. (3) The scope of Chinese NIC development potential agglomeration areas has gradually expanded and its degree has gradually deepened. The range of high-value agglomeration in eastern area gradually expanded and its degree gradually deepened. (4) Investment in innovative talents appears as the core factor affecting the Chinese NIC development potential. Whether acting alone or synergistically with other factors, its promoting effect on Chinese NIC development potential is the strongest.

Epidemiological Characteristics and Spatio-temporal Patterns of Foodborne Diseases in Jinan, Northern China

Foodborne diseases(FBDs) represent a substantial, yet largely preventable, health burden and result in considerable morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries[1]. The FBDs Burden Epidemiology Reference Group(FERG)found that the global burden of FBDs is comparable to those of major infectious diseases, such as human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malaria, and tuberculosis[2].