Despite a number of longevity indicators having been used in previous longevity studies, few studies have critically evaluated whether these indicators are suitable to assess the regional longevity level. In addition, an increasing number of studies have attempted to determine the influence of socioeconomic and natural factors on regional longevity, but only certain factors were considered. This study aims to bridge this gap by determining the relationship between the 7 longevity indicators and selecting 24 natural and socioeconomic indicators in 109 selected counties and urban districts in Guangxi, China. This study has applied spatial analysis and geographically weighted regression as the main research methods. The seven longevity indicators here refer to centenarian ratio, longevity index, longevity level, aging tendency, 80+ ratio, 90+ ratio, and 95+ ratio. Natural indicators in this study mainly refer to atmospheric pressure, temperature, difference in temperature, humidity, rainfall, radiation, water vapor, and altitude. Socioeconomic indicators can be categorized into those related to economic status, education, local infrastructure, and health care facilities. The results show that natural factors such as the difference in temperature and altitude, along with socioeconomic factors such as GDP, might be the most significant contributors to the longevity of people aged 60–90 years in Guangxi. The longevity index and longevity level are useful supplementary indexes to the centenarian ratio for assessing the regional longevity.
The aging population is a big challenge all over the world. However, there are few studies to date investigating the effects of trace element and mineral levels in drinking water and soil (especially in karst areas) on longevity. This study aims to examine temporal and spatial variations in longevity in Hechi (which is recognized as a longevity city) and to investigate relationships between longevity and trace element and mineral levels in drinking water and soils in this city (the karst landscape). Population data were collected from relevant literature and four national population censuses in 1982, 1990, 2000 and 2010. Drinking water and soil samples from Hechi were collected and analyzed. The results demonstrated an obvious clustered distribution for the longevity population in Hechi that has existed stably for decades. The longevity index tended to be significantly positively correlated with H2SiO3, Ca and Fe in drinking water and significantly negatively correlated with Sr in soil, indicating that drinking water characteristics contributed significantly to the observed regional longevity. The karst landscape is responsible for abundant trace elements in underground rivers in Hechi, which are beneficial to human health when consumed as drinking water. Good quality and slightly alkaline drinking water rich in trace elements such as H2SiO3, Ca, Fe, Na, Mg and low in heavy metals such as Pb and Cd might be an important factor contributing to the longevity phenomenon in Hechi.
Rapid economic development and implementation of environmental policies have greatly changed land-use/ land-cover (LULC) at different periods, and effective evaluation of spatiotemporal progression about habitat quality (HQ) influenced by LULC changes at a finer spatial scale is meaningful for sustainable development. This study coupled the PLUS and InVEST models to analyze the influence of various factors on LULC, and then obtain the influence of these changes on HQ from 2000 to 2020.Based on this analysis, that scenario has been simulated for 2040: the arable land protection scenario (APS) and the natural increase scenario (NIS). The results showed that: (1) LULC between 2000-2020 was dominated by arable and garden land. (2) HQ improved steadily, particularly between 2011-2020. The main natural factors influencing HQ were elevation and distance to water, whereas the important anthropogenic factors were GDP and distance to secondary roads. (3) The simulated HQ indices of APS and NIS in 2040 were 0.501 and 0.525; the largest differences were in forestland and dryland. The urban expansion area in the APS was 1.62 km 2 less than NIS. These results indicate the need for government to adopt reasonable approaches to managing areas of different HQ.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.