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This study aims to develop a multi-dimensional night-time economy vitality index (NTEVI) to measure the vitality of night-time economic (NTE) activities in Zhejiang Province, China, covering its 11 cities and 90 counties. Comprising 44 supply and demand indicators of the NTE, the index was composed of an overall index and six major sub-indices that measured the vitality of six typical NTE subsectors, including catering, shopping, recreation, accommodation, touring, and fitness. The NTEVI was calculated using a unique multi-source dataset based on hourly online transaction data from a leading Chinese online-to-offline service platform, monthly night-time electricity consumption data, and official statistics from 2019 to 2020. Robustness and sensitivity analyses were conducted to ensure high credibility of the index results. The findings of this study suggested that the NTEVI was highly and significantly correlated with night light indices, economic indicators, and tourism demand measures. By identifying regional and temporal differences across several service sectors over time at the county, city, and provincial levels, the NTEVI serves as a powerful numerical and visual tool: it offers key information to guide policy formulation, resource allocation, and policy evaluation. In the context of COVID-19, the index analyses also reflect the NTE recovery process in Zhejiang Province. Our findings indicate that it is important for the Chinese government, regional authorities, and enterprises to encourage the NTE as a main driver of economic revitalization.

The article presents the results of the vitality structure analysis of 23 natural cenopopulations ofColchicum bulbocodiumsubsp.versicolorin the Lower Volga region in the years 2014–2019. The viability of cenopopulations within the studied region varied greatly over the years of monitoring, from 0.45 to 1.51. Cenopopulations in the northeast of the Lower Volga region, compared to southwestern cenopopulations, exhibited lower vitality index, greater instability and a wider range of variability of the latter parameter. Also, most morphological characters poorly correlated with one another. A high correlation was revealed only between two characters, and a medium correlation only in six pairs of characters. The largest number of significant-correlation relationships was registered for the plant height and diameter, the length and width of the lower leaf, and the length of the marigold. Based on theIQparameter and theQcriterion, the absolute majority of cenopopulations were prosperous in all the years of monitoring. The depressive state was found only in some cenopopulations and only in certain years of monitoring (mainly in 2018). Considering that, compared to other years of monitoring, in the spring of 2018, the average temperatures during the period of the subspecies’ active vegetation and flowering were extremely low, we suggested that it could have resulted in extreme growing conditions for the subspecies in the studied region and, consequently, a decrease in vitality of cenopopulations.

This paper analyzes the current state of landscaping in Ishim. The data on the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of woody plants have been obtained for the first time; the assessment of trees and shrubs state is based on the analysis of the vitality index. A database of green plants within 21 objects in Ishim was created and analyzed. The paper also contains data on the species diversity of trees and shrubs in Ishim. It turned out that the objects under study have trees and shrubs placed in special dividing strips, linearly, in rows or in small compact groups, less often they are planted singly. The species composition is represented by 47 species from 28 genera, 16 families and 2 divisions. The biomorphological structure is represented by trees (25, or 53% of species) and shrubs (22, or 47% of species). The total composition of tree and shrub plantations, determined by the number of trunks (bushes) and the percentage of woody plants, is 2854; the composition of the preserved ones is 2 815 (99%) pieces; the ones assigned for removal are 39 (1%) pcs. The vitality index shows that among 85% of the studied objects of the town at the time of the survey were healthy, among 10% of the objects they were qualified as damaged, among 5% of them were severely damaged. Based on the results of examining crowns and trunks of woody plants, signs of diseases and pests, a plan of measures for the treatment, restoration and preservation of woody plants was drawn up and recommendations were given for caring, sanitary felling and removal of single specimens.

Resident interest in local food has been growing across all areas of the supply chain in the United States. To continue this surge in interest, local food system stakeholders should strengthen area...

Objective This study aimed to clarify the relationship between the oral intake function and functional status, as well as to determine the aspects of functional status potentially predicting the effects of dysphagia rehabilitation in the maintenance stage, in elder outpatients. Methods This study was conducted in a clinic, specialised in rehabilitation of patients with dysphagia. The participants were 93 non-tube-fed patients 65 years of age or older. The participants were scheduled to undergo the initial examination for oral intake function and functional status, and then to receive dysphagia rehabilitation for 1 year. After rehabilitation period, oral intake function was re-evaluated, and the elements of functional status potentially related to the effects of dysphagia rehabilitation were determined. Results It was found that the lower the participants' oral intake function levels, the higher the prevalence of reduced parameters of functional status. After 1-year dysphagia rehabilitation, the oral intake function was maintained or improved in 70 (75.3%) participants, but had diminished in 23 (24.7%). Our analysis revealed that participants with higher Vitality Index scores and MMSE at the time of initial examination were significantly more likely to show maintained or improved oral intake function at 1 year (odds ratio[OR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-2.71; OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06-1.28, respectively). Conclusions It became apparent that the lower the oral intake function level at the initial examination, the higher the prevalence of reduced multidimensional functional status. Mental function was found to predict the effects of dysphagia rehabilitation in the maintenance stage.

Identifying successful development priorities for local food systems (LFSs) is a challenge for pro­ducers, LFS advocates, Extension agents, and policymakers. Consumer perceptions and prefer­ences regarding what constitutes an active, healthy, and vibrant LFS often differ within and between diverse communities. Producers, development entities, and others would benefit from rapid assessment processes that provide detailed information on consumer preferences and potential market opportunities within their LFS. In this paper, we introduce the analytic possi­bilities of our Local Food System Vitality Index (LFSVI). Using data collected from a pilot survey in Lexington, Kentucky, we rapidly assess the per­formance of 20 different components of our LFS. The LFSVI differs from most other food system and quality-of-life indices by focusing on the per­ceptions of resident food consumers. In our analysis, we identify that Lexington resi­dents generally associate farmers markets, farm-to-fork restaurants, local product diversity, and retail sourcing of local food with high overall vitality of the local food system. While residents score the first three components as high performing, they perceive the retail component to be less functional. We use results such as these to compare which aspects of the LFS are valued versus which are high performing. We do this comparison across different resident food consumer segments in and between geographic locations. Throughout our analysis, we discuss how this index method is gen­erally applicable and conducive to identifying LFS development priorities.

Two vitality index approaches have been demonstrated to be good proxies of discard survival in similar fishing and environmental conditions: Reflex Action Mortality Predictors combined with injuries (RI) scores that measure the proportion of impaired reflexes and injuries, and a simpler, quicker, but less precise approach based on ordinal categories related to fish body movements and injuries (semi-quantitative assessment, SQA). This study assessed and compared these two approaches for five species (two flatfishes, skates, a seabass and a catshark) discarded in a coastal otter trawl fishery in the Bay of Biscay. All species displayed good vitality status according to both indices and were not very sensitive to the fishing nor their biological conditions. Still, flatfishes were more sensitive to discarding while the catshark was very resistant. Furthermore, depending on species, the impairment of some reflexes and injuries were associated to stressing factors, highlighting the potential of the approach but also the complexity involved in building a relevant score. The SQA index was highly correlated with the RI score and was sensitive to more sources of stressing factors for similar predictive performance. While the relevance of these two approaches should be ultimately determined by the strength and consistency of their association with discard survival, these results suggest that the RI approach was not more effective than SQA despite the extra labour and time involved in collecting the data.

The assessment of mature urban tree vitality using physiological measurements is still in its infancy. Chlorophyll fluorescence is a method for assessing tree vitality that has potential for use in urban environments, particularly on trunk bark, which is easy to access from the ground. Here we describe how we compared bark and leaf fluorescence in a variety of street and park trees (Ficus macrophylla Pers., Platanus &times, acerifolia (Aiton) Willd., and Ulmus parvifolia Jacq.) with pre-dawn water potential as a way of determining the cause of potential physiological stress in the summer of 2012. Statistical relationships were observed between bark chlorophyll fluorescence and pre-dawn water potential in Ficus macrophylla and Platanus &times, acerifolia, but were not as consistent in Ulmus parvifolia. In addition, bark and leaf chlorophyll fluorescence were compared with an urban visual vitality index both in autumn 2011 and summer 2012. In this case statistical relationships between bark chlorophyll fluorescence values and urban tree visual vitality were almost non-existent in the Ficus macrophylla and Platanus &times, acerifolia trees, however, statistical relationships were significant between bark chlorophyll fluorescence and the urban tree vitality index in Ulmus parvifolia. Bark chlorophyll fluorescence may become a useful tool for measuring physiological stress in trees, but further work needs to be undertaken to clarify and better understand the varying responses of different tree species.

Objectives To (1) measure 4 physiologic metrics before esophagectomy, (2) use these in an index to predict composite postoperative outcome after esophagectomy, and (3) compare predictive accuracy of this index to that of the Fried Frailty Index and Modified Frailty Index. Methods Grip strength (kilograms), 30-second chair sit-stands (number), 6-minute walk distance (meters), and normalized psoas muscle area (cm2/m) were measured for 77 consenting patients from January 1, 2018, to April 1, 2019. Imbalanced random forest classification estimated probability of a composite postoperative outcome, which included mortality, respiratory complications, anastomotic leak, delirium, length of stay ≥14 days, discharge to nursing facility, and readmission. G-mean error was used to compare predictive accuracy among indexes. Results Median grip strength was 38 kg (25th-75th percentiles, 31-44), number of sit-stands 11 (10-14), psoas muscle area to height ratio 6.9 cm2/m (6.0-8.2), and 6-minute walk distance 407 m (368-451). There was generally weak correlation between these metrics, with the highest between 30-second sit-stands and 6-minute walk distance (r = 0.57). Age, degree of patient-reported exhaustion, and the 4 objective metrics comprised the Esophageal Vitality Index, which had a lower G-mean error of 32% (31-33) than the Fried Frailty Index, 37% (37-38), and the Modified Frailty Index, 48% (47-48). Conclusions The Esophageal Vitality Index, an objective, simple assessment consisting of grip strength, 30-second chair sit-stands, 6-minute walk, and psoas muscle area to height ratio outperformed commonly used frailty indexes in predicting postesophagectomy mortality and morbidity. The index provides a robust picture of patients' fitness for surgery beyond the qualitative “eyeball” test.

Taking into account the passage of time, the original economic vitality index will vary with changes in social development, we use the BP neural network nearly a decade as the original GDP data for the next 30 years the GDP forecast. BP neural network in 1985, proposed by Rumelhart, the algorithm solves the system of learning problems multilayer neural network connection weights hidden layer [1].It consists of an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer. The principle is to continuously adjust the network weights and thresholds by transmitting errors backward and then correcting the errors to achieve the desired input-output mapping.

Aim In the present study we investigated the effect of laughter therapy on physiological and psychological function in older people. Design An open‐label trial. Methods Seventeen older people who regularly attended an elderly day care centre were recruited. Stand‐up comedy as laughter therapy was performed once a week for 4 weeks. Parameters of physiological and psychological function were evaluated before and after laughter therapy. Results Laughter therapy intervention resulted in a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and heart rate, accompanied by a significant increase in plasma concentration of serotonin and a significant decrease in salivary concentration of chromogranin A. Questionnaire surveys of SF‐8, GDS‐15, and Vitality Index demonstrated alleviation of depression and improvement of sociability and activity in older people. Laughter therapy could be expected to become a practical treatment to improve quality of life of older people in an elderly day care centre.

Species that have a high likelihood of surviving the discarding process have become great concern since the European Union reformed the Common Fisheries Policy and enacted a landing obligation prohibiting the discarding any individuals of species under quota. Among species presenting an elevated survival potential, plaice ( Pleuronectes platessa ) is one of the most discarded in the coastal otter trawl fishery in the English Channel. The objective of this study is to provide the most reliable estimates of plaice survival after release in commercial conditions, and to identify the factors that influence survival rates. A captivity experiment was conducted in January–February in the English fishery to assess the survival of discarded plaice as a function of a semi-quantitative index of fish vitality, which has been demonstrated to be a good proxy of fish survival in comparable fishing and environmental conditions. This study examined the potential of this index to estimate discard survival in three trials from the English and French fisheries and at three different seasons. The vitality index was then used to analyse the influence of several factors (fishing practices, environmental conditions and fish biological characteristics) on the discard survival. The survival rates for plaice were accurately estimated at 62.8% in January–February, 66.6% in November and 45.2% in July. While these rates remained substantial whatever the fishing, environmental or fish biological conditions, the time fish spent on the deck, the bottom and air temperatures, the tow depth and the fish length had a significant influence on plaice survival. In practice, plaice survival could be enhanced by releasing the fish early during catch sorting and avoiding exposure to extreme air temperatures.

The European Commission landing obligation, including species-specific “high survival” exemptions, has established a need for accurate discard survival estimates. This study presents the first discard survival estimates on-board Dutch commercial pulse trawlers. During seven, six, and one fishing trip(s), respectively, undersized plaice (Pleuronectes platessa), sole (Solea solea), and dab (Limanda limanda) were collected, assessed for vitality and subsequently monitored up to 21 days. Uncorrected for any potential impacts from predation, tagging, research-related handling, or holding conditions overall survival for plaice (n = 349), sole (n = 226), and dab (n = 187) was assessed as 15% [95% CI: 11–19%], 29% [95% CI: 24–35%], and 16% [95% CI: 10–26%] respectively. Survival was mainly effected by water temperature and factors linked to the fishing vessel. Fish length was not found to affect survival. Catch processing time and haul duration affected plaice survival but not sole. Vitality index, which averages reflex impairment and external damage scores, correlated with survival and may be developed as a proxy for discard survival. Compared to tickler-chain beam trawlers, pulse trawlers showed relatively higher discard survival under fishing conditions pertinent to these studies.

Objective: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the effects of an intervention of the horticultural activities program in elderly people with mild to moderate dementia. Methods: The study design was a before–after study. The subjects were 11 elderly people with dementia. The horticultural activities program was developed to support mental, behavioral, social, and cognitive aspects of well-being in elderly patients. The program was conducted once a week for a total of six weeks. Vitality Index (VI) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used to determine the effects of the horticultural activities program. Results: The results showed that VI and MMSE scores significantly improved immediately after intervention compared with those at baseline. In addition, the scores significantly decreased after 1 month of intervention compared with those immediately after the intervention. Conclusions: In this study, VI and MMSE scores of elderly people with mild to moderate dementia improved after participation in the horticultural activities program. However, as the number of subjects was small in the present study, further studies are required to fully elucidate the effects of a horticultural activities program.