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Urban perceptions are related to residents’ subjective well-being, activities, settlement choice, and physical and mental health, which are vital for promoting sustainable community development. Landsenses ecology proposes the concepts of physical and psychological perceptions to measure the interaction between humans and the urban environment. However, such perceptions and their quantitative relationships with housing rental prices (HRPs) are still not clear. In this study, a novel urban-perception-oriented hedonic price model (UP-HPM) is proposed based on the construction of a multisource geographic database of Beijing’s rental market with rich information on people-oriented perception metrics, neighborhood environment characteristics, and HRPs. Furthermore, we use advanced machine learning (ML) pipelines to measure residents’ multidimensional urban perceptions and investigate their impact on block-level HRPs and their spatial disparities. We also quantify and compare the contribution of different physical and psychological perceptual attributes to HRPs through UP-HPM. The results show that neighborhood perceived greenery and the use of fences tend to bring about positive psychological perceptions and further affect HRPs. By comparing different combinations of hedonic and perceptual features, the UP-HPM performs well in terms of fitting capacity, spatial description, and interpretability and can inspire humanistic thinking and landsenses planning guidelines for the regulation of the allocation of public rental housing and improvement in block-level physical settings and infrastructure services, thereby providing insights into how best to promote residents’ quality of life and well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims To report the refractive error difference (RED) between parents and their children and the estimated single generational myopic shift in an urban area in China. Methods 395 children aged 6-17 years and their parents, who had been enrolled in the Beijing Myopia Progression Study were included. Cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic refraction of the children and parents were performed, respectively. RED was defined as the difference between the average parental spherical equivalent (SE) and the average SE of their children. Binomial fitted curves of RED were plotted as a function of the children's age. Generational myopic shift was defined as the estimated RED according to the prediction model at the age of 18 years. Results 395 families were enrolled. The RED was positively correlated with the children's age (rspearman=0.58, p<0.001). The RED (median (25th and 75th percentile)) was -1.88 (-3.23 to -1.00) dioptres (D) in children at 6.0-7.9 years of age, and it increased to 1.53 (-0.12 to 3.44) D in children at 16.0-17.9 years of age. The SE of the children approached the average SE of their parents at the age of 11 years. At the age of 18 years, the children's estimated myopic shift would be 1.94 D. Conclusions In this sample, children's refractive errors at the age of 11 years were already similar to their parents. Moreover, the estimated myopia in children at the age of 18 years would be up to 2.0 D higher than their parents. This remarkable single-generation myopic shift indicates that there are likely effects of environmental factors on myopia development in urban Chinese children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the study which analyzed the wing outline shape of five species of antlion (Neuroptera: Myrmeleontidae: Myrmeleontini). The five species are the Myrmeleon bore, the M. immanis, the M. fuscus, the Euroleon coreanus and the E. flavicorpus. The methods used in the study are the elliptic Fourier analysis, the multivariate analysis of variance, the canonical variate analysis and the cluster analysis. The specimens used in the study were kept at the Insect Collection of China Agricultural University (ICCAU) in Beijing, China.

Objective To determine the bacterial microorganisms in the conjunctival sac of clinically normal dogs and dogs with ulcerative keratitis in Beijing, China. The effect of breed, sex and age of dogs and season on the presence or absence of bacteria in the conjunctival sac of clinically normal dogs was evaluated. Sample population This investigation included 240 healthy dogs, 27 dogs with unilateral corneal ulcer and one dog with bilateral corneal ulcer. Procedure The 480 samples from healthy dogs and the 29 samples from dogs with ulcerative keratitis were incubated in an aerobic and 5% CO2 environment at 37 °C for 48 h. Logistic regression analysis was performed. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.01. Results Of 480 normal eyes, Staphylococcus spp. were the most frequently isolated organisms (40.29%). Neisseria spp. (11.47%) were the next most frequently isolated organisms, followed by Corynebacterium spp. (9.4%). Of 29 eyes with ulcerative keratitis, Staphylococcus spp. were also the most frequently isolated bacteria (47.06%). Streptococcus spp. (12.94%) and Pseudomonas spp. (8.24%) were the second and third, respectively. Season ( P = 0.002) was a significant factor influencing presence or absence of bacterial microorganisms in the conjunctival sac of normal dogs in Beijing, China, while the effects of breed ( P = 0.095), sex ( P = 0.588) and age ( P = 0.866) of dogs were insignificant. Conclusion Staphylococcus spp. were the most frequently isolated organisms, and S. intermedius predominated in the conjunctival sac of clinically normal dogs and dogs with ulcerative keratitis in Beijing, China. The likelihood of detecting bacteria depends on the season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollution of particulate matter less than 2.5μm (PM2.5) is a serious environmental problem in Beijing. The annual average concentration of PM2.5 in 2001 from seasonal monitor results was more than 6 times that of the U.S. national ambient air quality standards proposed by U.S. EPA. The major contributors to mass of PM2.5 were organics, crustal elements and sulfate. The chemical composition of PM2.5 varied largely with season, but was similar at different monitor stations in the same season. The fine particles (PM2.5) cause atrnospheric visibility deterioration through light extinction. The mass concentrations of PM2.5 were anti-correlated to the visibility, the best fits between atmospheric visibility and the mass concentrations of PM2.5 were somehow different: power in spring, exponential in summer, logarithmic in autumn, power or exponential in winter. As in each season the meteorological parameters such as air temperature and relative humidity change from day to day, probably the reason of above correlations between PM2.5 and visibility obtained at different seasons come from the differences in chemical compositions of PM2.5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support more sustainable development of a region, decision support tools must consider local and global systems level impacts on the economy, environment, and society. Through the development and application of "economic input–output water resources" models for Beijing, China for the years 1985, 1990, and 1992, historical trends related to the economy structure and its water use are investigated. The study finds that the economy of Beijing and water use are highly concentrated in agriculture and heavy industry, but this intensive water use is indirectly reflected in the production of most other goods and services throughout the economy because of the interrelationships among various sectors of the economy. In spite of progress during the time period observed (e.g., between 1985 and 1990 the output of the economy doubled, but water consumption increased only 12% partly because of a significant increase in the price of water in 1988) and given the seriousness of water resources issues in the region, it is critical that future regional development make progress toward a more water-efficient economic system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the association between concentration of ambient air pollutants and daily mortality number in an urban area of Beijing. Different age and gender groups were taken into consideration. The results showed that, for all the groups, the average daily mortality number showed an increasing trend from June to January of next year, and a decreasing trend from February to June. When the concentration of air pollutants increased, the health risk also increased. In multi-pollutants models, the pollutants had a decreasing order NO2, PM10, SO2 for the different gender groups when the concentration of pollutants increased, and had a decreasing order NO2, PM10, SO2 for different age groups when the levels of pollutants increased. Lag effects of air pollutants and seasonal differences also were found. The results of our study could serve to strengthen the local evidence base for air pollution-related health effects that is imminently needed for better air quality management, and also adds valuable information from Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]