Search Results (114)

Vehicle-grid integration (VGI) is critical for the future of electric power systems, with decarbonization targets anticipating millions of electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. As EV adoption grows, charging demand—particularly during peak hours in cities—may place significant pressure on the electrical grid. Charging at high power, especially during the evening when most EVs are parked in residential areas, can lead to grid instability and increased costs. One promising solution is to leverage long-duration, low-power charging, which can align with typical user behavior and improve grid compatibility. This paper delves into how public slow charging stations (<7.4 kW) in metropolitan residential areas can alleviate grid pressures while fostering a host of additional benefits. We show that, with respect to a reference (22 kW infrastructure), such stations can increase EV user satisfaction by up to 20%, decrease grid costs by 40% owing to a peak load reduction of 10 to 55%, and provide six times the flexibility for energy markets. Cities can overcome the limitation of private garage scarcity with this charging approach, thus fostering the transition to EVs. Full article

Rapid urbanization has led to increasingly serious problems, such as the heat island effect and environmental pollution, which seriously endanger people’s health. Greenspace exposure behavior, that is, the way and characteristics of people’s contact with greenspace (including frequency and duration of stay), is the key to exerting the health benefits of greenspace. There is little research on the factors influencing greenspace exposure behavior, which cannot reveal the mechanism of maintaining people’s physical and mental health by promoting greenspace exposure behavior. Therefore, using typical urban parks in Fuzhou as a case study, indicators of greenspace availability, accessibility, and visibility were identified from objective park characteristics and subjective crowd evaluation. The factors influencing greenspace exposure behavior were analyzed using bivariate correlation tests and multivariate linear regression analysis. The results indicated that, among objective park characteristics, the per capita green park area negatively impacted greenspace exposure behavior, while the green view index positively influenced it (p < 0.05). Regarding subjective crowd evaluation, subjective indicators positively impacted greenspace exposure behavior except for the condition of activity areas. In addition, subjective factors, especially subjective visibility indicators, are more predictive of greenspace exposure behavior than objective factors. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in further refining the research framework for quantifying and evaluating park greenspace exposure, and enriching the theoretical connotation of research on park greenspace exposure behavior. The research results suggested park greening strategies for the relevant departments, enhanced the greenspace exposure behavior, and improved people’s physical and mental health. Full article

The assessment of mosquito diversity in remnants of the Atlantic Forest, which are considered biodiversity hotspots, is crucial for studying patterns of behavior and adaptation, performing environmental monitoring, and public health. These studies provide valuable insights into the ecology and biology of these insects, contributing to a better understanding of forest ecosystems and the interactions among the species that inhabit them. The present study aimed to assess the variation in faunistic parameters of abundance, richness, diversity, and evenness along an environmental gradient. This gradient extends from the edge toward the interior of the fragment. The research tested the hypothesis that edge effects influence the distribution of mosquito species in the Tijuca National Park. Sampling was carried out from May 2022 to December 2023, occurring monthly over two consecutive days within the park area. Three different sampling points within the conservation unit were selected: sampling point 1, forest edge; sampling point 2, 35 m from the edge; and sampling point 3, 500 m from the edge, representing different distance gradients. Mosquitoes were captured using CDC light traps with CO₂, Shannon traps, and human-protected attraction; the combination of these traps provided a representative sampling of the diversity of adult mosquitoes present in the study area. An active search for immatures was performed in larval habitats using pipettes and entomological scoops. During the sampling period, a total of 1004 specimens were collected, comprising 320 immatures and 684 adults, representing 27 species. Statistical analyses showed that abundance and richness along the established gradient were not uniform among the sampling points. The Kruskal–Wallis test identified two distinct sampling points: the forest edge (point 1) and a location 35 m from the edge (point 2). The sampling point at the forest edge exhibited the highest levels of species richness, diversity, and evenness. However, given the brief duration of this study, it is crucial to expand the sampling efforts by increasing both the number and frequency of traps and collections. Such enhancements are essential to achieve a more thorough understanding of the ecological patterns and processes at play. Full article

The pollution and congestion caused by the shortage of parking spaces are threatening the sustainable development of cities. Smart parking platforms are one of the major tools to solve the problem by providing the efficient usage of parking resources. However, current platforms can only realize limited functions, and shared parking is far from being implemented on a large scale. Since off-street parking provides the majority of potential shared parking spaces, this paper takes periodic off-street parking lots as the starting point for opening the shared parking market. Based on data from the Ningbo Yongcheng parking platform, power spectral density (PSD) and the autocorrelation function (ACF) are used to identify periodic parking lots. A Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN)-based method is applied to clustering the occupancy time series. Land use, user type, parking duration, and parking patterns are then analyzed to study shared parking supply characteristics. The results show that (1) 31.3% of off-street parking lots are periodic parking lots, and 90.3% of them have regular users exceeding 50%. (2) Periodic parking lots are classified into four types. Most parking lots show convex flat peak, double peak, or triple peak characteristics. (3) The shared parking spaces demonstrate spatial and temporal imbalances. But in a small area, even considering the concentration of land use and the peak period, there are still enough spaces available. The above research is of significance for the large-scale implementation of shared parking, which can promote the sustainable development of a city. Full article

Wildfires in the western U.S. have increased in severity and duration in recent decades. Severe wildfires can enhance the rates of nutrient mineralization, causing large exports of inorganic nitrogen and other ions from forests to streams. Measuring the degree to which streams respond to severe, stand-replacing wildfires is critical to estimate in ecosystems prone to disturbance. In 2003, two severe crown wildfires burned in Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA. We studied the extent to which these fires increased nitrogen (ammonium, nitrate and nitrite), sulfate, chloride, and total dissolved phosphorus concentrations and export in three watersheds prior to and during the first four years post-fire. We measured higher concentrations of most ions after wildfire, and nitrate and chloride concentrations increased the most, increasing > 1000 µg/L. Concentrations of nitrate (≤146 times pre-fire concentrations), total dissolved nitrogen (≤11 times), chloride (≤9 times), and total dissolved phosphorus (≤7 times) were higher four years post-fire than before the wildfires burned. Exports of nitrate (≤1392 times), sulfate (≤14 times), and chloride (≤37 times) were also higher after wildfire, while nitrite (≤2.9 times) and ammonium (≤6.4 times) increased to a lesser degree. Stream concentrations of most ions were higher in watersheds that had a larger percent of the area burned. Comparing ion concentrations in streams before and after severe wildfires provides critical information to managers as the climate warms and the frequency of fire-conductive weather increases. Full article

Many regions in Europe face increasing issues with flooding and droughts due to changing rainfall patterns caused by climate change. For example, higher rainfall intensities increase urban flooding. Nature-based solutions (NbS) are suggested as a key mitigation strategy for floods. This study aims to address and mitigate the challenges faced in Tivoli natural park in Ljubljana regarding high peak discharges and low-flow issues in the creek entering the sewer system. The study involves setting up, calibrating and validating a Hydrologic Engineering Centre–Hydrologic Modelling System (HEC-HMS) model using available data. This study analyses NbS, such as small ponds, green roofs and permeable paving, to reduce peak discharge. Runoff was reduced by an average of 32.4% with all NbS implemented and peak discharge by 20 L/s. Permeable parking performed best, with an average runoff reduction of 6.4%, compared to 4.8% for permeable streets and 5.9% for green roofs. The ponds reduced peak discharge, although their effectiveness varied between rainfall events. Rainfall events with higher volumes and durations tended to overwhelm the proposed solutions, reducing their effectiveness. The ability of HEC-HMS to model NbS is also discussed. The curve number (CN) parameter and impervious % alterations to simulate NbS provided quantitative data on changes in runoff and discharge. Full article

As an important part of ecological civilization construction and harmonious coexistence between man and nature, the importance of restorative environment construction in national forest parks is self-evident. In this paper, the national forest park in the Greater Khingan Mountains region covering a large area of primary forest is taken as the research object. Based on visual perception, PRS, skin conductance level, and eye tracking technology are used as evaluation indexes to conduct restoration experiments on individuals. Among 60 participants, the PRS total scores for lawn space, shady space, dense forest space, and hard space were 166.63, 164.63, 168.43, and 158.93, respectively, indicating good restorative benefits, with hard space scoring lower. SCR decreases for dense forest space (M = 0.52) were significantly greater than for hard space (M = 0.38), suggesting better stress reduction. Eye tracking data showed that dense forest space had the longest total fixation duration (M = 42.57) and hard space the highest fixation count (M = 42.73). The results show that the national forest park is beneficial to the recovery of individual psychology and physiology, and can reduce the pressure of people’s visual perception. The psychological and physiological restorative benefits of different spatial scene types are different. Moreover, there is correlation between the eye movement index, psychological evaluation index, and physiological evaluation index, which confirms the possibility of introducing the eye movement index into the study of restorative environments. Full article

The rapid development of the global chemical industry has led to widespread groundwater contamination, with frequent pollution incidents posing severe threats to water safety. However, there has been insufficient assessment of the health risks posed by chlorinated hydrocarbon contamination in groundwater around chemical industrial parks. This study evaluates the chlorinated hydrocarbon contamination in groundwater at a chemical park and conducts a multi-pathway health risk assessment, identifying the key risk pollutants. In addition, sensitivity analysis of the primary exposure pathways was performed using the Monte Carlo method. The results indicate severe exceedance of pollutant concentrations with widespread diffusion. Carcinogenic risks were mainly driven by vinyl chloride, whose oral cancer slope factor was significantly higher than that of other substances, while non-carcinogenic risks were dominated by trichloro-ethylene, which had the lowest reference dose. Both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks through the drinking water pathway accounted for approximately 90% of the total risk, whereas the risk contribution from dermal contact was negligible. Although boiling water can partially reduce the risks, its effect on high-concentration pollutants is limited. Additionally, sensitivity analysis showed that pollutant concentration was the primary influencing factor for risk values, followed by exposure duration. The findings of this study provide a scientific basis for effectively formulating pollution control measures and ensuring the drinking water safety of nearby residents. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected mental and physical well-being, leading to significant changes in daily habits and preferences. Given that pandemics require the tear down of most social ties and interactions to limit their inevitable spread, this study delved into the extent to which social infrastructures have been affected, focusing on behavioral shifts in essential services such as retail, recreation, groceries, pharmacies, public transport, parks and open spaces, workplaces, and residential areas. Notably, while most social infrastructures saw a decline in public usage, parks and open spaces experienced increased visitation despite public health measures aimed at minimizing social interactions. This striking increase in park and open space visitations has captured the interest of this study to observe the impact it had on the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the underlying causes behind this trend. Since Europe was heavily affected by the pandemic, this study focused specifically on European countries over a two-year period (March 2020 to March 2022), covering the severe period of the pandemic. While parks and open spaces initially showed no direct influence on the pandemic trajectory, when closely observing visitation trends, both increases and declines, opposing insights were revealed. This study found that attempts to reduce park and open space visitation were significantly unsuccessful, leading to substantial increases in both the magnitude and duration of visits once restrictions were eased. This surge in park and open space attendance corresponded to notable spikes in new infections during periods of peak visitation. Therefore, urban planning and public health authorities must prioritize safely accommodating the increased park and open space demand while effectively minimizing virus transmission. This involves considering park sizes and proximity, along with implementing a balanced set of crucial public health strategies to support community well-being and resilience. Full article

Background: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 500 million people worldwide. Several measures have been taken to reduce the spread of the virus and the saturation of intensive care units: among them, a lockdown (LD) was declared in Italy on 9 March 2020. As a result, gyms, public parks, sports fields, outdoor play areas, schools, and multiple commercial activities have been closed. The consequences of physical inactivity can be dramatic in adult patients with congenital heart disease (ACHD), in which the benefit of regular exercise is well known. In this study, we investigated the effects of reduced physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic on ACHD’s exercise capacity. Materials and Methods: Patients who performed exercise or cardiopulmonary exercise tests from October 2019 to February 2020 and one year after lockdown with the same protocol were retrospectively enrolled in our database. Inclusion criteria: ACHD patients aged ≥ 18 years old under regular follow-up. Exclusion criteria: significant clinical and/or therapeutic changes between the two tests; significant illness occurred between the two tests, including COVID-19 infection; interruption of one of the tests for reasons other than muscle exhaustion. Results: Thirty-eight patients (55.6% males) met the inclusion criteria. Before the lockdown, 17 patients (group A) were engaged in regular physical activity (RPA), and 20 patients (group B) had a sedentary lifestyle. After LD, in group A, (a) the weekly amount of physical activity reduced with statistical significance from 115 ± 46 min/week to 91 ± 64 min/week (−21%, p = 0.03); (b) the BMI did not change; (c) the duration of exercise test and VO2 max at cardiopulmonary exercise test showed a significant reduction after the LD. In group B, BMI and exercise parameters did not show any difference. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the habits of ACHD patients, significantly reducing their possibility to exercise. Our data analyzed in this extraordinary situation again demonstrated that physical inactivity in ACHD worsens functional capacity, as highlighted by VO2 max. Regular exercise should be encouraged in ACHD patients to preserve functional capacity. Full article

While newly built urban green spaces aim to address environmental concerns, the resulting green gentrification and social inequality caused by escalating property values have become critical topics of urban socio-spatial research. To prevent green initiatives from becoming unaffordable for their intended beneficiaries in rapidly urbanizing cities, it is essential to examine the spatial and temporal relationships between the construction of new green spaces and rising housing prices. This study employs a difference-in-differences methodology to analyze regional disparities, impact periodicity, and the influence of park size on housing prices, using Nanjing, China as a case study. This result reveals that the introduction of new-built parks in Nanjing significantly impacts housing prices within an 800 m radius. The premium effect of these parks is substantially higher in urban core areas compared to suburban locales, demonstrating spatial differentials. Suburban parks temporally exhibit a prolonged lag and a shorter premium impact duration. Moreover, among various park areas, medium-sized parks demonstrate the most pronounced leverage effect, approximately double that of large parks, while small parks do not significantly affect housing prices. To mitigate the exacerbation of premium effects and enhance social justice in green strategies, we advocate prioritizing the development of small parks, particularly in urban core areas, and leveraging the temporal delay in new-built park impacts for urban policy interventions. Full article

This study seeks to address the gap in knowledge regarding the varying effects of vegetation on human perception and preference, and to comprehend how green spaces can better serve community needs. The research assessed the impact of different vegetation structures on physiological responses during two types of on-site perceptions: sitting and walking, in both winter and summer. The green spaces included single-layer grassland, single-layer woodland, tree-shrub-grass composite woodlands, and tree-grass composite woodlands, and a non-vegetated square. The findings indicated the following. (1) The physiological recovery effect of walking in green spaces is relatively greater than that of sitting; walking in green spaces with different vegetation types was found to enhance participants’ pNN50 values (p = 0). (2) During the summer, sitting and observing provided a better physiological recovery effect (p < 0.05), whereas in the winter, walking was more beneficial (p < 0.05). (3) Green spaces with vegetation were more beneficial for physiological recovery than the non-vegetated square, which could not sustain recovery effects for more than 1 min. Single-layer grassland and tree-shrub-grass composite woodlands had the most significant physiological recovery effects on health (p < 0.01). (4) Based on these conclusions, it is suggested that a combination of sitting and walking can lead to improved recovery outcomes. Therefore, when visiting parks during extreme weather conditions, individuals should adjust the duration of their sitting and walking experiences to enhance their overall experience. Full article

Understanding the travel patterns of university campus visitors is crucial for developing effective transportation strategies. Existing research predominantly focuses on student commuting within specific regions, often overlooking the diverse needs of faculty and staff and varying campus contexts. This study addresses a significant gap in the literature by investigating travel behaviors at Beirut Arab University (BAU), which has not been previously studied in this context. BAU’s unique situation, with campuses in both urban and rural zones, presents distinct transportation challenges, particularly for those traveling between these areas. Through a comprehensive survey of students, faculty, and staff, this research explores differences in transportation modes, travel distances, durations, and patterns. Statistical techniques, including one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Chi-Squared, and McNemar-Bowker tests, reveal significant variations among traveler groups. The findings highlight specific needs, such as improvements in bus services, car-sharing programs, and parking facilities, essential for creating sustainable campus environments. By examining these travel behaviors, the study offers valuable insights into the complexities of campus transportation, contributing new perspectives to the field. The originality of this research lies in its focus on an underexplored area, providing a deeper understanding of how diverse university environments impact transportation choices. This work not only fills a critical void in campus transportation research but also offers practical recommendations for enhancing transportation systems in similar settings. Full article

Ecological restoration and biodiversity are currently hot issues of global environmental concern. However, knowledge about the specific impacts of restoration duration on understory vegetation diversity remains limited. Therefore, this study comprehensive employed a spatial approach to compare the differences in understory plant diversity and species composition among secondary forests with varying ecological restoration ages (0, 10, 30, 60, and 90-year-old stands) in Huangfu Mountain National Forest Park. This methodology allowed us to clarify the key factors affecting the composition of the understory plant community and investigate the regulatory mechanisms influencing changes in understory plant diversity. The results showed that shrub Shannon’s index value, shrub evenness, herb Shannon’s index value, herb richness, and herb evenness were significantly affected by the years of restoration, with 10 years and 90 years being the highest and 60 years being the lowest. Substrate diversity was the main factor influencing plant diversity in the shrub layer. Overstory richness, soil C/N, soil C, soil N, soil bacterial Observed OTUs, soil bacterial Chao1, soil bacterial Pielou_e, and substrate diversity were the drivers of plant diversity in the herb layer. Overstory evenness had a direct effect (0.256) and an indirect effect (0.284) on herb evenness through light availability and fungal Simpson’s index value. Light availability directly negatively affected herb evenness (−0.360). In addition, 52.6% of the factors affecting the herb evenness index were from the arboreal layer evenness, light availability, and fungal Simpson’s index value. To sum up, moderate disturbance of the understory environment of natural secondary forests can be carried out after 10 years of restoration, which is more conducive to the increase of understory plant diversity. This comprehensive study provides a theoretical basis for formulating ecological restoration measures for secondary forests, particularly in understanding the optimal timing and nature of disturbance in the restoration process, reassuring the audience about the validity and reliability of the findings. Full article

Distance decay of urban park visitation (e.g., visitation number and visitation frequency) has been widely acknowledged and is increasingly integrated into urban park planning and management considering spatial accessibility and service equity. However, thorough understandings especially concerning the variations among visitors with different personal characteristics and visitation patterns are still scarce. Taking Changsha, China as an example, we collected data on visitation distance (i.e., the distance between urban parks and visitor’s homes) and visitation frequency of 2535 urban park visitors, modeled the distance decay of visitation density and visitation frequency, and investigated their variations among visitors with different personal characteristics and visitation patterns. The results show that: (1) The median visitation distance was 1.3 km and the median visitation frequency was 24 times per season. (2) Both visitation density and visitation frequency showed clear spatial patterns of distance decay and can be effectively modeled using common distance decay functions (e.g., power function, exponential function, and logarithmic function). (3) Visitors’ characteristics (e.g., gender and age) and visitation patterns (e.g., duration time, transportation modes, and visitation purposes) significantly impact visitation distance, visitation frequency, and the characteristics of distance decay (i.e., the rate of distance decay). These findings extend our understanding of the distance decay of urban park visitation which can help better urban park planning and management. Full article