The current sociocultural background of eating disorders.

Eating disorders (EDs) are complex phenomena that are partly influenced by sociocultural factors. The thin body ideal of Western civilization, disseminated by mass media and reinforced by the fashion industry, plays a significant role. In this cultural environment, the social perception of the human body has undergone a change.

Historical changes in everyday human lifestyles and their effects on hemispheric activation: Speculations on McGilchrist's The Master and His Emissary.

McGilchrist [McGilchrist, I. (2009). The master and His emissary: The divided brain and the making of the modern world. Yale University Press] argued that Western society has undergone a population-level shift from greater right hemisphere influence on cognition to increasingly greater left hemisphere influence over the past few centuries. Four historical lifestyle changes that replaced behaviours associated with right hemisphere activation with behaviours associated with left hemisphere activation may be responsible: (i) shifts from standing to sitting, (ii) from being outdoors to indoors, (iii) from communal to solitary activities, and (iv) from analogue/concrete to holistic/abstract representations.

A Glimpse into Gynecologic Practice During the Islamic Golden Age.

The Islamic Golden Age was the time in history from eighth to fourteenth century. This era was marked by expansion of Islamic world to all the Middle East, North Africa, South and East Europe, and Central Asia. The Islamic world was the wealthiest region in the world at that time and that wealth was utilized to promote great flourishing in the arts, philosophy, science, and medicine. The practice of healing was considered the most noble of human undertakings by Islamic scholars. In this era, many great physician-scientists emerged in the Islamic world, albeit several were not Muslims, who examined prior writings, corrected many, and proceeded to produce their own observations and innovations. This article highlights some of the most important contributions to gynecology of some prominent scholars during this shining phase of medical history.

Balancing low-carbon and eco-friendly development: coordinated development strategy for land use carbon emission efficiency and land ecological security.

Correctly identifying and handling the relationship between land use carbon emission efficiency (LUCEE) and land ecological security (LES) are important to promote carbon neutrality in the overall layout of ecological civilization construction. This study takes 30 provinces in China as the research unit and measures the level of LUCEE and LES in each province in the period from 2011 to 2020 via a super-efficient slack-based measure model considering undesirable output. The coupling coordination degree (CCD) of LUCEE and LES is calculated, and its spatiotemporal evolution pattern is explored by kernel density estimation and standard deviational ellipse (SDE). The Dagum Gini coefficient is used to study spatial regional differences and the sources of differences. Results show that (1) China's LUCEE exhibited a downward and then an upward trend, as well as a spatial pattern of "high in the west and low in the east" with obvious regional differences. The LES experienced a positive transformation of "less secure → basically secure → more secure" nationwide, with no apparent regional differences. (2) The kernel density curves showed a continuous increase in CCD in general, while interprovincial differences increased, then decreased, and shifted from multipolar to bipolar differentiation. (3) The migration of SDE centers in CCD demonstrated a path of "southeast → southwest → northeast," and the ellipticity increased from 0.167 to 0.173, showing a trend of concentrated distribution. (4) The overall Gini coefficient of the national CCD indicated a decreasing trend, but imbalances remained, with the largest annual average value in the western region (0.120) and the smallest in the northeast (0.044). The main source of regional disparity was the intensity of transvariation. Accordingly, this study proposes targeted regional development strategies to promote low-carbon sustainable land use and improve the ability of land ecosystems to prevent security risks.

Optimizing spatial patterns of ecosystem services in the Chang-Ji-Tu region (China) through Bayesian Belief Network and multi-scenario land use simulation.

To foster an ecological civilization and ensure sustainable development of population resources, a critical focus of China's land spatial planning initiatives is the complex interplay among the prudent utilization of regional natural resources, stable socio-economic growth, and ecological environment preservation and governance. This interplay is vital for improving the population's quality of life, enhancing national resilience, and fostering the development of an ecological civilization. Within this context, this research focuses on the Chang-Ji-Tu region, employing a hybrid InVEST-Bayesian Belief Network-PLUS model. This approach facilitates a comprehensive assessment of habitat quality (HQ), carbon sequestration (CS), soil conservation (SC), crop production (CP), and total ecosystem services (TES) spanning 2005 to 2020, to optimize spatial structures based on these assessments. The findings indicate significant insights: (1) temporally, both HQ and CS exhibit an initial ascent followed by a subsequent decline, while SC demonstrates a rise, subsequent decrease, and then a gradual increase. CP shows a consistent increase, and TES initially decreases before experiencing a rise. Spatially, regions exhibiting high CP are primarily located in the northwest, in contrast to the southeast, demonstrating lower values. Conversely, HQ, CS, and SC exhibit lower values in the northwest and higher values in the southeast. TES exhibits considerable variability in the northwest and a more equilibrated distribution in the southeast. (2) A positive correlation is observed between land use/cover changes (LUCC) and HQ, CS, and SC, while a negative correlation is noted with CP and TES. (3) In exploring potential scenarios for economic development (ED), natural development (ND), and ecological protection (EP) in 2035, our study categorizes TES into distinct zones: ecological protection prohibited zones, ecological buffer prohibited zones, construction and development suitable zones, and restricted zones for arable land protection. This study, grounded in the current ecosystem status, thoroughly analyzes spatial structural optimization, offering crucial insights for future land spatial planning and ecological restoration.

Developing indicators for promoting provincial-level ecological economics in China.

The development of the eco-economy has become an important way to promote sustainable development and address climate change worldwide. Implementing eco-economic developmental policy globally or locally requires establishing precise indicators. Currently, there are many studies on eco-economy indicators at the academic level, but the eco-economy indicators researched at the academic level are difficult to be implemented and applied by local governments in China, and there is a knowledge gap between the political sector and the academic sector in the process of cooperation. This mainly stems from the lack of whole-process research and analysis that combines government practice and academic research. We attempt to analyze the differences in the understanding of eco-economic indicators between academics and government decision-makers through the study of the establishment process of China's local eco-economic indicator system. We try to find out the reasons for the knowledge gap between academics and government decision-makers, and to build a knowledge bridge between government practice and academic research. At the same time, China, as the largest developing country and an emerging country in the construction of ecological civilization, is worth studying and learning from its experience in the construction of eco-economic indicators. Therefore, we systematically study the connotation of China's eco-economy and the development process of the indicators. And we combine with the practical experience, describe the method and specific process of constructing eco-economy indicators at the provincial scale of the Chinese government. Meanwhile, we put forward the limitations of the construction of the eco-economy indicator system in Liaoning Province. In addition, we analyze in detail the characteristics and attributes of the ecological economy indicators in Liaoning Province, as well as the relationship of these indicators to the implementation of national strategies and to the SDGs. The discipline contributions and scientific and technological concerns of the indicator system's creation are reviewed, and additional improvement ideas are presented. It is expected that the practice of eco-economic indicators in China will further promote eco-economy development and provide methodological reference for countries to measure the level of eco-economic development.

Dynamic assessment of eco-civilization in Guangdong Province based on geographic information system (GIS) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP).

Based on the data from 2017 to 2021, this paper uses the organic combination of Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to conduct a dynamic evaluation of the standard of Guangdong's ecological civilization. The results clearly reveal that: (1) the Guangdong Province's ecological civilization is 46.31 % above the Chinese average, but growth is uneven across cities; (2) the fluctuation of the level of eco-civilization building in the province declines more obviously; (3) cities perform differently in different dimensions of eco-civilization building, most cities in Guangdong exhibited positive performance in terms of ecology and environment, but poor performance in terms of economic development and social construction; (4) economic benefits have a strong positive influence on the level of eco-civilization building in Guangdong Province. Finally, targeted suggestions are made for the construction of eco-civilization in Guangdong Province.

Unraveling the research trend of ecological civilization and sustainable development: A bibliometric analysis.

Ecological civilization has emerged as an innovative form of civilization in China, and sustainable development has been widely recognized as a globally leading development model. These two concepts are closely related. The international English literature focuses on hot topics in the field of sustainable development such as climate change, urbanization, government management, and ecosystems, while the Chinese literature emphasizes ecological civilization concepts with Chinese characteristics, such as green development, beautiful China, and scientific development concepts. Ecological civilization and sustainable development are both responses to resource, environmental, and ecological crises and have emerged from the same historical background. The two concepts complement each other, with ecological civilization providing an ideological foundation for sustainable development, and sustainable development serving as the implementation path and concrete manifestation of ecological civilization. To deepen research on ecological civilization and sustainable development, it is necessary to build a global community with a shared future, address the major strategic needs of different countries or regions, innovate and develop interdisciplinary theories, methods, and technologies, strengthen international cooperation, provide disciplinary support for ecological civilization and sustainable development research, and provide country-specific research solutions for global and regional sustainable development.

The development of ecological civilization in China based on the economic-social-natural complex system.

China is making great efforts to build an ecological civilization. To reveal the effectiveness and spatial characteristics of the ecological civilization development in China, we constructed an Ecological Civilization Evaluation Index (ECI) based on the economic-social-natural complex system. We evaluated the development level of the ecological civilization in China from 2004 to 2020 and discussed the coupling and coordination relationship between subsystems. We found that the ecological civilization of China has achieved remarkable results. The relationship among the three subsystems has been improved to some extent, but the high-quality development of the economic system still requires effort. The development level of the ecological civilization in China presents spatial heterogeneity. From east to west, 30 provinces can be classified into four different types of development. On the whole, the development of China's ecological civilization has provided experiences for the world.

Building ecological civilization: the importance of promoting green investments by Chinese companies.

The study investigated "Building Ecological Civilization: the Importance of Promoting Green Investments by Chinese Companies" to examine the complex connections between the factors affecting Chinese businesses' ecological performance (EP). An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is used in the study to analyze the impact of green investments (GI), the policy environment (PE), government support (GS), public awareness and perception (PAP), and technological capability (TC) on companies' earnings per share (EPS). The results show a strong correlation between GI and EP, indicating that businesses' growing use of green initiatives is essential for raising environmental sustainability. The study also shows that PE, TC, and EP have an inverse relationship, indicating the need for more supportive governmental policies and regulations and the effective adoption and implementation of green technologies. The interaction of GS and PAP significantly reduces the ecological impact of green investments, highlighting the significance of citizen involvement and the role of government in advancing ecological civilization. The findings also demonstrated that green investments, policy environments, public perception, and technology influence the ecological performance of businesses. They also demonstrate statistical robustness with low p-values. This information is essential for developing policies that support an ecological civilization, which is necessary for China and globally in light of the current climate crisis.

Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera.

Mass extinctions during the past 500 million y rapidly removed branches from the phylogenetic tree of life and required millions of years for evolution to generate functional replacements for the extinct (EX) organisms. Here we show, by examining 5,400 vertebrate genera (excluding fishes) comprising 34,600 species, that 73 genera became EX since 1500 AD. Beyond any doubt, the human-driven sixth mass extinction is more severe than previously assessed and is rapidly accelerating. The current generic extinction rates are 35 times higher than expected background rates prevailing in the last million years under the absence of human impacts. The genera lost in the last five centuries would have taken some 18,000 y to vanish in the absence of human beings. Current generic extinction rates will likely greatly accelerate in the next few decades due to drivers accompanying the growth and consumption of the human enterprise such as habitat destruction, illegal trade, and climate disruption. If all now-endangered genera were to vanish by 2,100, extinction rates would be 354 (average) or 511 (for mammals) times higher than background rates, meaning that genera lost in three centuries would have taken 106,000 and 153,000 y to become EX in the absence of humans. Such mutilation of the tree of life and the resulting loss of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity to humanity is a serious threat to the stability of civilization. Immediate political, economic, and social efforts of an unprecedented scale are essential if we are to prevent these extinctions and their societal impacts.

Artificial cranial deformation in Tiwanaku, Bolivia.

PURPOSE: Herein lies a brief historical review of the practice of artificial cranial deformation (ACD) in Tiwanaku, Bolivia, a pre-Columbian archeological ruin once regarded as one of the most powerful pre-Inca regions whose influence extended into present-day Peru and Chile from 600 to 1000 AD. We describe the history, purpose, and implications of ACD from both a neuroanatomical and cultural perspective. METHODS: A literature review was conducted through PubMed on the history of artificial cranial deformation in South America, concentrating on the Tiwanaku region. The authors searched all available data with no specific time reference, using the mentioned keywords: ACD, neuroanatomical implications of ACD, cultural and social functions of ACD, Tiwanaku society, and Andean civilization. RESULTS: Early Andean civilization was hierarchical and stratified. In Tiwanaku, the practice of ACD served to delineate one's social class, caste, lineage, and vocation. This was especially useful for warriors, who distinguished their fellow combatants from insurgents by differences in their cranial structure. ACD was usually conducted within the first few months of an infant's life before morphogenetic features became permanent. Two popular cranial styles-tabular and annular-were achieved by applying various mechanical apparatus and resulted in several cranial shapes (conical, box-like, flattened, etc.). Neuroanatomically, each deformation technique and the duration for which mechanical stress was applied influenced the solidification of cranial bones and shaped the frontal, occipital, parietal, and temporal bones differently. Cognitive deficits and plagiocephalic defects were recorded in limitation and may have been overlooked as the era's occupational demands were more labor-intensive than knowledge-driven. CONCLUSION: In Tiwanaku, the custom of ACD was used to demonstrate group identity, with alterations of the cranial shape corresponding to a particular headdress. ACD was used to distinguish an individual's social identity, separating different groups of society into castes, classes, and slaves (Brain, 1979). The custom has also been used to mark territory and emphasize ethnic differences among groups, with potential cognitive implications that were largely unrecorded.

Scientific concept and practices of life community of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts in China.

China prioritizes ecological civilization construction and embraces the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Great achievements have been made in ecological protection and restoration through implementing a series of policies and projects. This paper reviews the history of ecological restoration in China and the current development of the "integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts (IPRP)." Furthermore, the characteristics of IPRP were systematically elaborated from the perspectives of the ecological civilization thought, the policy management, and the key scientific issues. Also, the current achievements were summarized in the fields of national ecological space management, biodiversity conservation, and ecological protection and restoration. Existing challenges in management policy, scientific issues, and engineering practices were highlighted. Future perspectives include ecological space control, nature-based Solutions, biodiversity big data platform, modern techniques, and value realization mechanisms of ecological products.

Eco-civilization: A complementary pathway rooted in theory and practice for global sustainable development.

Eco-civilization, as a civilizational discourse led by China, implies the next stage of civilization after industrial civilization, the essence of which is to respect, conform to, and protect nature. Although the international community is paying more attention to eco-civilization, the existing literature still lacks a systematic discussion of which theories and practices underpin the construction of eco-civilization. Due to the ambiguity of eco-civilization, some even criticize it as being a form of purely partisan politics in China. By systematically reviewing its theoretical pillars, practical actions, and major achievements, this perspective paper argues that China's eco-civilization is not a partisan politics, but rather a legitimate, imperative pathway to global sustainable development rooted in complementary theory and practice, i.e., theories guide practices, and practices enrich theories. We highlight that the theoretical basis and practical actions of eco-civilization constitute a continual improvement process that permits diverse viewpoints and understanding, and any action exploring how to achieve a harmonious coexistence between humans and nature is consistent with the values of eco-civilization.

Understanding ecological civilization in China: From political context to science.

China's concept of "ecological civilization" can be understood as a new system of development and governance based on the perspective of political decision-making. Environmental management, ecological restoration, and green development are its primary principles-distinctly different from industrial and agricultural-oriented civilizations. In this paper, we evaluate the evolution of political connotations of the ecological civilization concept in China over the past 15 years through a textual analysis approach. Additionally, we systematically outline an ecological civilization indicator system and analyze its evolutionary process, applicable scales, and role in guiding the implementation of the ecological civilization concept. Eco-civilization demonstration sites and experiences are also discussed, followed by a review of academic research and policy-making responses. Finally, we propose different perspectives on the outlook for the future of ecological civilization development in China.

The development logic, scientific Connotation, and promotion path of rural eco-industries in China.

The rural industry is the foundation for promoting farmers' income and rural development, and adhering to the green development of the rural industry is the internal requirement for comprehensively promoting Rural Revitalization Strategy (RRS) in China. Firstly, the article explains the three aspects of China's rural eco-industries' development logic: the rural eco-industries have the historical inevitability of action under the Ecological Civilization (EC), academic rationality of development under the theory of urban-rural integration development, and strategic action under ecological poverty alleviation. Secondly, it establishes the six components of the Chinese rural eco-eco-industries' scientific connotation: one guiding concept, three theoretical foundations, three development carriers, two practical paths, a 3*3 development model, and two fundamental goals. Thirdly, Suggestions to encourage the development of rural eco-industry in the three dimensions of "space, organization, and subject" from primary mode to advanced mode.

Corporate environmental investment and sustainable development: based on the perspective of Marxist ecological civilization.

This paper uses the sample of all A-share listed companies in China's securities market except insurance and financial enterprises from 2009 to 2021 to construct a long panel data, and explores whether the environmental investment of enterprises will promote their long-term sustainable development in China's unique and superior institutional and cultural environment from the perspective of Marxist ecological civilization. On the basis of controlling measurement errors, omitted variables, and endogenous problems of mutual causality to ensure the robustness of the research results, and further distinguishing the heterogeneous effects of environmental investment and sustainable development of enterprises in different degrees of market-oriented environment, the empirical study shows that (1) there is a significant positive relationship between environmental investment and sustainable development of enterprises. That is to say, environmental investment can help enterprises obtain social capital, alleviate resource constraints, enhance their market performance, and thus help their sustainable development in the future; (2) environmental protection investment has a significant positive impact on the sustainable development of enterprises in the mature market environment, while in the relatively backward market environment, environmental protection investment has no significant role in promoting the sustainable development of enterprises. This paper enriches the literature on corporate environmental investment, makes a preliminary test of the implementation effect of sustainable development in China, and provides more detailed empirical evidence for the government to further guide the implementation and implementation of corporate environmental responsibility.

Exploring the Heart-Mind Connection: Unraveling the Shared Pathways between Depression and Cardiovascular Diseases.

Civilization diseases are defined as non-communicable diseases that affect a large part of the population. Examples of such diseases are depression and cardiovascular disease. Importantly, the World Health Organization warns against an increase in both of these. This narrative review aims to summarize the available information on measurable risk factors for CVD and depression based on the existing literature. The paper reviews the epidemiology and main risk factors for the coexistence of depression and cardiovascular disease. The authors emphasize that there is evidence of a link between depression and cardiovascular disease. Here, we highlight common risk factors for depression and cardiovascular disease, including obesity, diabetes, and physical inactivity, as well as the importance of the prevention and treatment of CVD in preventing depression and other mental disorders. Conversely, effective treatment of CVD can also help prevent depression and improve mental health outcomes. It seems advisable to introduce screening tests for depression in patients treated for cardiac reasons. Importantly, in patients treated for mood disorders, it is worth controlling CVD risk factors, for example, by checking blood pressure and pulse during routine visits. It is also worth paying attention to the mental condition of patients with CVD. This study underlines the importance of interdisciplinary co-operation.

Public participation and outgoing audit of natural resources: Evidence from tripartite evolutionary game in China.

Public participation is essential to the success of ecological civilization. Whether public participation can effectively play a role in the outgoing audit of natural resources (OANR) is an important issue that remains to be explored. This paper uses the tripartite evolutionary game to explore the mechanism of the audit subjects, the leading cadres, and the public in the OANR. The research finds that there is a two-way linkage relationship between the audit subjects and the leading cadres. The audit subjects and the leading cadres affect the behavior strategies of the public in the indirect way and direct way, respectively. However, the public lacks the path to directly affect the other two subjects. The tripartite ideal audit model of "the audit subjects conduct due diligence audits, leading cadres perform duties, the public participate" cannot be realized. The external effect of the public's strategic choice is not enough to make the profit or loss of leading cadres change structurally and then change their behaviors. This paper demonstrates the reasons why the public cannot effectively participate in the OANR at the current stage from three aspects, which are the interpretation of the equations for replication dynamics, the particularity of the audit system, and the effectiveness of public participation. Three suggestions are put forward which are encouraging citizens' indirect participation in the OANR, disclosing information about the OANR, and improving citizens' awareness of the OANR. This paper has important guiding significance for other developing countries to promote public participation in natural resource auditing.