The Threshold and Lag Effects of Temperature on Pine Wilt Disease Show Significant Spatial Heterogeneity.

Pine wilt disease (PWD) is an economically important disease. With the increasing temperature caused by climate change, there is a concern that it may expand to regions currently at low risk, cause more serious ecological harm and economic losses in China. The pinewood nematode has an optimal temperature range for development, and historical meteorological conditions, particularly temperature, can influence its current occurrence through time-lagged effects.

Considering compound drought and heatwave events significantly improve forest pest occurrence prediction.

Background: The increasing frequency of compound drought and heatwave events (CDHWs) under global climate change has heightened the risk of forest pest outbreaks; however, precise quantitative assessments remain scarce. This study analyzed city-level forest pest incidence in China from 2003 to 2018 and utilized multiple machine learning models to quantify the impacts of droughts, heatwaves, and CDHWs on forest pest dynamics.

Results: The findings reveal that forest pest incidence exhibits a clear spatial pattern in China, with higher rates in the east and lower rates in the west, distinctly separated by the Hu Line.

Risk prediction of pine wilt disease based on graphical convolutional network in China.

Background: Pine wilt disease is one of the most destructive conifer diseases affecting pine species worldwide. Since its introduction to China in 1982, it has infected more than one billion pine trees, leading to significant ecological and economic losses. To enable precise prevention and control of pine wilt disease, this study first conducted exploratory visual analysis of the spatiotemporal data of pine wilt disease outbreaks and environmental factors to identify high-risk areas.

Significant Differences in the Effects of Pine Wilt Disease Invasion on Plant Diversity in Natural and Planted Forests.

Plants, as producers in ecosystems, are an integral part of biodiversity in terms of their species diversity. Plant diversity not only enhances the quality of ecosystem services, but also provides habitat for a wide range of plants and animals. The invasion of pine wilt disease (PWD) has posed a significant threat to plant diversity in China, but it is not clear whether this threat would be significantly different in natural and planted forests.

Incorporating Exercise Efficiency to Evaluate the Accessibility and Capacity of Medical Resources in Tibet, China.

Unlabelled: Accessibility and capacity of medical resources are key for the health care and emergency response, while the efficiency of the medical resources is very much limited by hypoxia in Tibet, China. Through introducing exercise efficiency, this study explores the accessibility of township residence to county-ship medical resources in Tibet using weighted mean travel time (WMT), and evaluates the medical capacity accordingly. The results show that: 1) the average travel time of township residence to county-level hospital is around 2 h by motor vehicle in Tibet.

Biomechanical responses of the cornea after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) refractive surgery based on a finite element model of the human eye.

Purpose: To investigate the biomechanical responses of the human cornea after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) procedures, especially their effects of SMILE surgery on stress and strain.

Methods: Based on finite element analysis, a three-dimensional (3D) model of the human eye was established to simulate SMILE refractive surgery procedures. Stress and strain values were calculated by inputting the intraocular pressure (IOP).

Abortion and infant mortality change driven by socioeconomic conditions in Russia.

Increasing fertility and decreasing mortality are major response strategies in Russian demographic reform, which has led to significant decreases in both abortion rate (AR) and infant mortality. This study explores mechanisms influencing the socioeconomic conditions leading to abortion and infant mortality. Spatial panel economic analysis using data from the 83 regions of the country covering four time periods was applied.

The Driving Forces of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions Have Spatial Spillover Effects in Inner Mongolia.

To spatially analyze the effects of the major drivers on carbon dioxide equivalent (CO) emissions in Inner Mongolia, a typical area with high CO emissions in China, this paper quantitatively investigates the factors that affect county-level CO emissions and the corresponding spatial mechanisms. Based on a spatial panel econometric model with related energy and economic data from 101 counties in Inner Mongolia between 2007 and 2012, four main results are obtained: (a) The CO emissions in Inner Mongolia rapidly increased at an average annual growth rate of 7.27% from 2007 to 2012, increasing from 287.

Spatial and temporal characteristics of temperature effects on cardiovascular disease in Southern China using the Empirical Mode Decomposition method.

Until now, few studies have analyzed the effects of temperature on cardiovascular disease (CVD) death at different time points. In this study, we chose 9 different cities in the subtropical and tropical areas of China and analyzed the correlation between temperature at different time points and CVD mortality. We completed this study in two steps.

Towards Identifying and Reducing the Bias of Disease Information Extracted from Search Engine Data.

The estimation of disease prevalence in online search engine data (e.g., Google Flu Trends (GFT)) has received a considerable amount of scholarly and public attention in recent years.

Visualized Exploratory Spatiotemporal Analysis of Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease in Southern China.

Objectives: In epidemiological research, major studies have focused on theoretical models; however, few methods of visual analysis have been used to display the patterns of disease distribution.

Design: For this study, a method combining the space-time cube (STC) with space-time scan statistics (STSS) was used to analyze the pattern of incidence of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) in Guangdong Province from May 2008 to March 2009. In this research, STC was used to display the spatiotemporal pattern of incidence of HFMD, and STSS were used to detect the local aggregations of the disease.

Cardiovascular mortality associated with low and high temperatures: determinants of inter-region vulnerability in China.

The objectives of this study were to estimate the effects of temperature on cardiovascular mortality in 26 regions in the south and west of China from 2008 to 2011, and to identify socioeconomic and demographic factors contributing to such inter-region variation in the temperature effect. A separate Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) was fitted to estimate percent changes in cardiovascular mortality at low and high temperatures on a daily basis for each region. The model used the smooth functions to model the nonlinear effects of temperature and humidity and to control for the seasonal factor using the calendar time variable.

Spatio-temporal analysis of malaria vectors in national malaria surveillance sites in China.

Background: To reveal the spatio-temporal distribution of malaria vectors in the national malaria surveillance sites from 2005 to 2010 and provide reference for the current National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) in China.

Methods: A 6-year longitudinal surveillance on density of malaria vectors was carried out in the 62 national malaria surveillance sites. The spatial and temporal analyses of the four primary vectors distribution were conducted by the methods of kernel k-means and the cluster distribution of the most widely distribution vector of An.

Spatial-temporal variation and primary ecological drivers of Anopheles sinensis human biting rates in malaria epidemic-prone regions of China.

Background: Robust malaria vector surveillance is essential for optimally selecting and targeting vector control measures. Sixty-two vector surveillance sites were established between 2005 and 2008 by the national malaria surveillance program in China to measure Anopheles sinensis human biting rates. Using these data to determine the primary ecological drivers of malaria vector human biting rates in malaria epidemic-prone regions of China will allow better targeting of vector control resources in space and time as the country aims to eliminate malaria.

[Impact of temperature on non-accidental deaths and cause-specific mortality in four districts of Jinan].

Objective: To study the relationship between daily temperature and non-accidental deaths in four districts of Jinan, and to investigate the impact of temperature on cause-specific mortality.

Methods: Data on daily mortality of the four districts (Shizhong, Huaiyin, Tianqiao, Lixia) as well as data related to meteorology and air pollution index were collected from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2012. Distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) was then used to assess the effects of temperature on all non-accidental deaths and deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases (CVD), respiratory diseases (RD), digestive diseases, urinary diseases, and also subcategories to hypertension, ischemic heart diseases (IHD), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), cerebro-vascular diseases (CBD) and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

A study of air pollutants influencing life expectancy and longevity from spatial perspective in China.

Life expectancy and longevity are influenced by air pollutants and socioeconomic status, but the extend and significance are still unclear. Better understanding how the spatial differences of life expectancy and longevity are affected by air pollutants is needed for generating public health and environmental strategies since the whole of China is now threatened by deteriorated air quality. 85 major city regions were chosen as research areas.

The lag effects and vulnerabilities of temperature effects on cardiovascular disease mortality in a subtropical climate zone in China.

This research quantifies the lag effects and vulnerabilities of temperature effects on cardiovascular disease in Changsha--a subtropical climate zone of China. A Poisson regression model within a distributed lag nonlinear models framework was used to examine the lag effects of cold- and heat-related CVD mortality. The lag effect for heat-related CVD mortality was just 0-3 days.

Identification of health risks of hand, foot and mouth disease in China using the geographical detector technique.

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common infectious disease, causing thousands of deaths among children in China over the past two decades. Environmental risk factors such as meteorological factors, population factors and economic factors may affect the incidence of HFMD. In the current paper, we used a novel model-geographical detector technique to analyze the effect of these factors on the incidence of HFMD in China.