On the geographical value of geomancy and its position in the ancient Chinese geography

Geomancy has long been neglected in the geographical circle in China because it was simply treated as superstition and its geographical value was not recognized correctly So, from the angle of geography (both physical and human geography), this treatise analyses the geographical thoughts and value of geomancy, expounds the relationship between it and the ancient Chinese geography and makes the former position in the latter clear It is pointed out that: (1) There were two levels of geographytheoretical geography and applied geography, and three main cluesofficial geography, scholar's geography and folk geography in the development of ancient Chinese geography (2) However, although usually interacted, the above three main clues of the ancient Chinese geography had their own specific features respectively and had never become a synthetic geography (3) As to geomancy, it existed among all these kinds of ancient Chinese geography, but mainly belonged to the level of applied geography and was embodied in the folk geography essentially (4) There were plenty of geographical thoughts in geomancy, especially in the respect of practice It had special, unreplacable effect on the transformation of the natural landscape and creation of the human landscape in China

Spatio-Temporal Trend and Geographic Disparity of Infertility Prevalence in Burkina Faso, 2011 to 2020

Background: Infertility affected 10% to 25% of couples globally, and about half of the infertility cases were reported in sub-Saharan Africa. Infertility poses significant social, cultural, and health challenges, particularly for women who often face stigmatization. However, comprehensive and nationally representative data, including prevalence, temporal trends, and risk factors, are lacking, prompting a study in Burkina Faso to address the need for informed policies and programs in infertility care and management. Objectives: This study aims to better understand the spatiotemporal trend of infertility prevalence in Burkina Faso. Methodology: This is a retrospective population-based study of women infertility from healthcare facilities in Burkina Faso, during January 2011 to December 2020. We calculated the prevalence rates of infertility and two disparity measures, and examined the spatiotemporal trend of infertility. Results: Over the 10-year period (2011 to 2020), 143,421 infertility cases were recorded in Burkina Faso healthcare facilities, resulting of a mean prevalence rate of 3.61‰ among childbearing age women and 17.87‰ among women who consulted healthcare facilities for reproductive issues (except contraception). The findings revealed a significant increase of infertility, with the prevalence rate varied from 2.75‰ in 2011 to 4.62‰ in 2020 among childbearing age women and from 13.38‰ in 2011 to 26.28‰ in 2020 among women who consulted healthcare facilities for reproductive issues, corresponding to an estimate annual percentage change of 8.31% and 9.80% respectively. There were significant temporal and geographic variations in the prevalence of infertility. While relative geographic disparity decreased, absolute geographic disparity showed an increasing trend over time. Conclusion: The study highlights an increasing trend of infertility prevalence and significant geographic variation in Burkina Faso, underscoring the urgent necessity for etiologic research on risk factors, psychosocial implications, and economic consequences to inform effective interventions and mitigate the socioeconomic impact of infertility.

Hepatocellular carcinoma national burden across different geographical regions in the United States between 2001 and 2020

BACKGROUND While prior data showed an increasing incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)in the United States,there are limited comprehensive and comparative data on the geographical variations of HCC trends in different demographicspecific populations.AIM To evaluate sex and age-specific incidence rates and time trends in different geographical regions in the United States.METHODS Age-adjusted HCC incidence rates were collected from the United States Cancer Statistics(USCS)database which covers approximately 98%of the population in the United States.HCC rates were stratified by sex,age,and geographical region.annual percentage change(APC)and average APC(AAPC)were estimated using Joinpoint Regression.A pairwise comparison was conducted between sex-specific trends.RESULTS There were 467344 patients diagnosed with HCC in the United States in the USCS database between 2001 and 2020.The rates and trends varied by geographical region.When looking at the West region(115336 patients),incidence rates of HCC were overall increasing and also increasing in older adults.However,when evaluating younger adults,HCC incidence rates decreased in men but not in women with a sex-specific absolute AAPC-difference of 2.15(P=0.005).When evaluating the Midwest region(84612 patients),similar results were seen.While incidence rates were increasing in the overall population and in older adults as well,they were decreasing in younger men but not in women with a sex-specific absolute AAPC-difference of 1.61(P<0.001).For the Northeast region(87259 patients),the analysis showed similar results with decreasing HCC incidence rates in younger men but not counterpart women(Sex-specific AAPC-difference=3.26,P<0.001).Lastly,when evaluating the south(180137 patients),the results were also decreasing in younger men but not in women(Sex-specific AAPC-difference=2.55,P<0.001).CONCLUSION Nationwide analysis covering around 98%of the United States population shows an increasing incidence of HCC across all geographical regions,most notably in the South.While younger men experienced decreasing HCC incidence,younger women had a stable trend and this was noted across all regions as well.Our study offers insight into the epidemiology of HCC in different demographic groups across various United States geographical regions.While the reasons contributing to our findings are unclear,they can be related to sex and regional disparities in healthcare access and utilization.Future research is warranted to characterize the temporal change in HCC risk factors across different United States regions.

Geographies of Chemical Warfare in Vietnam: The Merry Band of Retirees

This review explores the recent development of research on rainbow herbicides as chemical weapons and the geographies of chemical warfare in what is now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. While the use and impacts of Agent Orange have previously been well documented, the production and extensive application of five other rainbow agents by the United States military has only recently been investigated in detail. What is exceptional about this research of chemical warfare landscapes is that the 23 refereed journal publications in this review were designed, implemented, and published in a unique collective research project by Ken Olson and a Merry Band of Military Retirees. Their groundbreaking research portfolio includes many geographical dimensions and the political ecology of chemical warfare. This includes the extensive exposure of civilians in Vietnam to these chemical agents, exposure of US military personnel in Southeast Asia and Panama, exposure of civilians near the private industrial sites that produced these rainbow agents in North America and the hazardous soil contamination that perseveres at these sites in Vietnam and the US. Given this impressive research depth and global scope, this review explores the unique way this research portfolio was developed by a Merry Band of Retirees through an interview with its leader, Ken Olson. It examines the goals and ethical orientation of these military veterans, the political ecology involved, the creative strategies they utilized to produce this innovative research, and how they changed the way Veterans exposed to chemical warfare agents are treated by the US government.

A Deep Learning-Based Teaching Design for High School Geography Units:Taking the Example of Landforms of the Humanistic Education Edition

The traditional teaching methods of one-way cultivation of students can no longer meet the requirements of talent cultivation at this stage.The issue of how to promote students from passive acceptance to the independent cognitive understanding stage(i.e.deep learning)has become the focus of geography teaching.Therefore,under the guidance of deep learning theory,this paper takes the“landforms”knowledge unit of the Humanistic Education Edition as an example,improves the classroom teaching means through the unit teaching mode,reconstructs the“landforms”teaching unit,and explores the specific teaching of high school geography unit based on deep learning.This study provides a good example and guidelines for high school geography teaching and learning.

西方文化地理研究的研究取向、资料搜集与展示方式——基于《Social& Cultural Geography》刊载论文的内容分析

采用内容分析的方法,对2008、2009年《Social & Cultural Geography》所刊载论文的资料搜集方法、分析方法、佐证材料类型进行了统计。研究发现:西方文化地理研究更倾向于定性研究的取向,强调研究者本身挖掘社会素材的能力和诠释材料的智慧和客观性。在资料搜集与展示方面,西方学者更加倾向于进行实地研究,多采用参与式观察、访谈等多种方式获取大量的资料,善用文字资料、照片等多种证据来证明研究的信度和效度。本研究希望通过西方经典文化地理文献的梳理,引起国内研究人员对定性研究取向的重视,以及对文本资料、照片等证据作为学术研究成果表达方式的重视。

近10年国际社会与文化地理研究的发展及启示——基于《Social and Cultural Geography》论文的统计分析

世纪交替之际"批判"社会地理学和新文化地理学不断得到发展和壮大。在这样的背景下,2000年《Social and Cultural Geography》杂志应运而生。经过10多年的发展,目前该杂志已成为展示国际社会和文化地理学术研究成果的重要窗口之一。本文对《Social and Cultural Geography》2000—2010年刊发的516篇论文进行统计分析,从载文量变化、研究案例地分布和研究领域的关注度等方面分析其特征,在此基础上,对期刊设立的22个研究议题进行了内容分析,以期为国内社会和文化地理学者把握国际最新研究趋势,提升自身研究水平、拓展研究新领域,以及加强与国际研究的融合和促进自身发展等提供借鉴。

Study on Regionalization of High Efficiency Eco-agriculture in Eco-economic Zone of Poyang Lake

The high efficient eco-agricultural zone in Eco-economic Region of Poyang Lake was divided into three different areas. 12 indicators including per capita cultivated land,forest coverage,comprehensive utilization rate of straw,the ratio of the effective irrigation area to the arable land,amount of pesticide usage per unit area of arable land,the output value ratio of planting industry,the output value ratio of forestry and fruit industry,the output value ratio of stock farming,the output value ratio of fishery,the proportion of sown area of crop,proportion of sown area of oil plants and the proportion of sown area of vegetable were screened to construct the indicator system of regionalization of high efficient eco-agriculture. The average index values of the high efficient eco-agricultural regionalization of three regions were obtained,the development direction of the efficient eco-agriculture construction of three areas were analyzed according to the natural resources characteristics f eco-agricultural and requirements of high efficient eco-agricultural development of the regions.

英国高中地理教材栏目设置的特点及启示——以Geography B Evolving Planet为例

以英国中学地理教材Geography B Evolving Planet中的教材栏目为研究对象,结合其在教材中实际发挥的功能,将八种主要的教材栏目划分为问题思考类、技能训练类、信息提示类和考试导向类四大类。这四大类教材栏目体现出了不同的特点。问题思考类栏目指向不同教学目标,技能训练类栏目凸显实用性和应用性的学科特色,信息提示类栏目关注学生心理特点,考试导向类栏目提高应试答题技巧。受此启发,未来我国中学地理教材栏目设置应有所侧重,即教材栏目在内容设置上要注重针对性,在形式设置上要增加多样性,在外观设置上要注重醒目性。

Tourism Development Strategy in Poyang Lake Eco-economic Area from the Perspective of Industrial Cluster

As a regional tourism development strategy, tourism industrial cluster can promote the core competitiveness of tourism industry in advantageous regions and the great-leap-forward development of regions with less-developed tourism industry. The conditions of forming tourism industrial cluster in Poyang Lake Eco-economic Area was analyzed, the development strategies for tourism industry from the perspective of industrial cluster was put forward.

How antibiotic resistances could change Helicobacter pylori treatment:A matter of geography?

Therapeutic management of Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)remains an unsolved issue.Indeed,no therapeutic regimen is able to cure the infection in all treated patients,and in many the infection persists despite the administration of several consecutive standard therapies.Although antibiotic resistance reports describe alarming results,the outcome of therapeutic regimens does not seem to parallel this scenario in most cases,since a successful performance is often reached in more than 80%of cases.However,the phenomenon of increasing antibiotic resistance is being closely studied,and the results show controversial aspects even in the same geographic area.For the continents of Europe,America,Asia,Africa,and Oceania,minimal and maximal values of resistance to the main antibiotics(clarithromycin,amoxicillin,metronidazole,and levofloxacin)feature wide ranges in different countries.The real enigma is therefore linked to the several different therapeutic regimens,which show results that often do not parallel the in vitro findings even in the same areas.A first aspect to be emphasized is that some regimens are limited by their use in very small geographic districts.Moreover,not all therapeutic trials have considered bacterial and host factors affecting the therapeutic outcome.The additional use of probiotics may help to reduce adverse events,but their therapeutic impact is doubtful.In conclusion,the"ideal therapy",paradoxically,appears to be a"utopia",despite the unprecedented volume of studies in the field and the real breakthrough in medical practice made by the discovery and treatment of H.pylori.The ample discrepancies observed in the different areas do not encourage the development of therapeutic guidelines that could be valid worldwide.On these bases,one of the main challenges for the future might be identifying a successful solution to overcome antibiotic resistances.In this context,geography must be considered a relevant matter.

Study on Planning and Design Mode of Eco-agricultural Demonstration Base in Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone

Guided by the Planning of Poyang Lake Eco-economic Zone, traffic and geographic conditions of the Eco-agricultural Demonstration Base in the study area were analyzed, and design principles proposed as "adaptation to local conditions, scientific planning, benign circulation and sustainable development". Detailed planning and design was interpreted from the perspectives of infrastructure planning and functional area planning. Specifically, infrastructure construction should focus on traffic design, water, power and gas supply design, and also architectural design; while functional areas should be gradually developed from south section to central and then north section. It was to establish a design and planning mode that can be widely applied.

Progress of regional economic geography in China: a comparative study

Domestic and international literatures in economic geography in recent years showthat the disciplinary status of regional economic geography remains steay. Domesticliteratures prefer regional comprehensive development than that of international in theapplication fields. The process of establishing theoretical system with Chinese characteristocscontinues and has made some progress. The economic regions element theory, developmenttheory and management theory have been added to the already existed theory system. Theconstruction of comprehensive and integrated methodology system has initiated.

Analysis on Genetic Similarity of Japonica Rice Variety from Different Origins of Geography in the World

The genetic similarity and genetic difference among improved japonica rice varieties from different countries （or regions and organizations） were detected. The aim is to provide genetic basis to the breeding of japonica rice varieties. The genetic similarity and cluster of 313 improved japonica varieties from 20 countries （or regions and organizations） were analyzed using the SSR marker. With 34 SSR primers which were polymorphic and uniformly distributed in rice genome, totally 198 alleles were detected among these improved varieties with the average number of alleles per pair of primers of 5.8235. RM320, RM531, RM1, RM21, and RM336 located more alleles, which were 16, 13, 12, 10, and 10 respectively. RM320, RM336, RM286, RM531, and RM21 showed higher genetic diversity indexes, which were 2.3668, 2.0041, 1.9684, 1.9508, and 1.7203, respectively. The genetic similarity for improved japonica varieties among different countries （or regions and organizations） were ranged from 0.279 to 0.918, and the mean value was 0.653. The rice varieties from countries whose latitude and geography position were all nearer were clustered together with higher genetic similarity indexes. The rice varieties from countries who had more different latitude and far geography position were clustered separately with lower genetic similarity indexes. The results indicated the genetic similarity indexes among improved japonica varieties had a close relationship with the geographical position, especially with the latitude.

Eco-economic evolution, emergy evaluation and policy options for the sustainable development of Tibet

As economies and ecological support systems become more interdependent, new disciplines are needed to 'bridge the gap' of understanding between societies and nature. It is now clear that neither ecology nor economics alone can address the problems of our global commons. New measures of wealth, of value, of contributions and production are needed that acknowledge the 'natural capital' and 'ecosystem services' provided from healthy environments. A new interface is now being recognized termed 'eco-economics'. It is an ambitious and necessary attempt to understand the affairs of humanity and nature as a single, interdependent system. New tools are being invested to measure wealth. services and production fairly and equitably. In this report we use systems analysis approach to study the combined ecological-economic system of Tibet We use an alternative measure of value, based on real contributions to system performance, termed EMERGY, spelt with an 'M'. It is an accounting unit of total contributions, direct and indirect. used in generating a product or service. It is a concept derived from understanding whole systems, their interactions and interdependence, and the resources driving and maintaining them. This broader approach will help us to investigate Tibetan resources utilization and potentialities and exchange. Emergy analysis allows comparison and incroporation of environmental costs and benefits with variables of traditional economic costs and benefits to provide a more comprehensive perspective for public policy directives. Through this research, we think: 1) China has made a great effort in making Tibet develop from a closed regional system to a more and more opened regional system which is very important to the sustainable development of Tibet. 2) The increase of economic development and population growth has a close relationship with the total emergy storage and use in transportation. Education in modern science and technology increased the shared emergy of Tibetans to modern science and technology and stimulated the process of matching material and energy imports from outside with local resources. 3) There is great potential to develop hydropower and geothermal reserves that may stimulate not only economic development but also the better use of environment. 4) The better trained population can increase the empower of Tibet eco-economic system. Future development needs all kinds of talent exchanges with the outside system to develop education. 3) Compared with the Tibet economic system, Taiwan economic system is much more competitive. GNP and emergy use are very useful functions for comparing the competitive power of different ecological economic systems.

Emergy-based study on eco-economic system of arid and semi-arid region:a case of Gansu province,China

Taking Gansu province as a model case,this study provides an integrated analysis on the eco-economic system of arid and semi-arid region based on emergy synthesis theory. Through calculating the values of renewable emergy flow,non-renewable resources,imported emergy,exported emergy,waste emergy,and total emergy during the period of 1978-2007,the performance of Gansu eco-economic system was analyzed. The results indicated that the renewable emergy flow within the province basically remained steady state which was estimated at 2.99×1022 solar emjoules (sej) from 1978 to 2007. The imported emergy and exported emergy were estimated at 3.75×1017 sej and 2.99×1020 sej in 1978 and increased to 1.07×1022 sej and 1.44×1022 sej respectively in 2007. The nonrenewable emergy flow was estimated at 1.62×1022 sej and increased to 1.85×1023 sej,with annual growth rate of 8.7%,while the estimated total emergy was 4.58×1022 sej in 1978 and increased to 2.11×1023 sej in 2007,with annual growth rate of 5.41%. Our results indicate a deteriorate situation between economic development and environmental protection in the region. The rapid economic growth in the past thirty years was based on a great consumption of nonrenewable resource and caused continuous decrease in the capacity of sustainable development. The environmental loading ratio was 0.53 in 1978,increased to 6.06 in 2007,indicating a rapid degradation of the regional environment quality. We calculated that the actual population was 1.53 times the renewable resource population in 1978,increased to 7.06 times in 2007. During the period of 1978-2007,the emergy rose from 2.45×1015 sej/(capita·a) to 8.07×1015 sej/(capita·a). Our analysis revealed that the emergy density presented a trend of gradual increase,and then the emergy currency ratio in Gansu decreased from 7.08×1013 sej/Chinese Yuan to 7.82×1012 sej/Chinese Yuan.

Degree of coupling and coordination of eco-economic system and the influencing factors： a case study in Yanchi County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China

Based on the statistical data, we analyzed and evaluated the degree of coupling and coordination of the eco-economic system in Yanchi County for the period spanning from 1983 to 2014. The eco-economic system can be divided into socioeconomic and ecological sub-systems and their relationship can reveal the interaction state between the two sub-systems and help the local government to establish a coordinated development mode. An index system was constructed to assess the development of the two sub-systems before the evaluation of the degree of coupling and coordination. The principal component regression analysis was adopted to quantitatively assess the influences of natural, economic and social factors on the degree of coupling and coordination of the eco-economic system. Results showed that, from 1983 to 2014, the development trends of both sub-systems were increasing with the ecological sub-system having more fluctuations. The degree of coupling and coordination of the eco-economic system in the study area increased gradually from 1983 to 2014, but experienced five different development stages from the verge of disorder to favorable coordination. The development of the local social and economic conditions was the most important factor influencing the degree of coupling and coordination. The second most important factor was the financial support from the local government. In addition, the environment protection policies also played undeniable roles. Due to the diversity of the influence factors, the government should take comprehensive measures to promote the sustainable development of the eco-economic system.

Advances in applied studies of fractal theory in geography in China

The fractal theory put forward by American mathematician B B Mandelbrot (1967) supplies an effective approach to solve complex problems. The complex problems in geography have become the main positive study field of fractal theory. Based on the works of China's geographers and the summarization of contents of fractal theory, the authors comment on the present situation of its applications to almost every branch of geography and discuss the related problems and the prospects of fractal study in geography.