Dexun Li

Objective: The harmonious development of healthcare, medical insurance, and pharmaceutical systems is crucial for advancing healthcare reform in China. This study evaluates the coordination level of China’s three medical systems and examines their dynamic evolution trajectories and spatial effects from 2013 to 2023. Methods: Data from 31 provinces were analyzed using a coupling coordination degree (CCD) model to assess spatiotemporal evolution. Kernel density estimation and Markov chain models were applied to explore dynamic characteristics, while spatial Durbin models were employed to evaluate interregional spillover effects and influencing factors. Results: From 2013 to 2023, the CCD of China’s three medical systems exhibited a steady upward trend. Eastern regions consistently sustained higher levels of coordination, while central and western regions achieved notable improvements. Some provinces transitioned from disequilibrium to preliminary coordination; Dynamic evolution revealed diminishing absolute disparities but widening relative differences, with intensified multipolarization in eastern and western regions and significant internal variation in central provinces; Spatial analysis identified pronounced spatial autocorrelation and spillover effects, with high-high clustering zones expanding into the Yangtze River Delta, while low-low clustering zones remained concentrated in the northwest. Economic development, urbanization, and human capital contributed significantly to coordination, while government healthcare expenditure exerted a negative impact, and aging effect exhibits a significant threshold effect. Conclusion: The level of coordination among China’s three major medical systems show sustained improvement, yet significant regional disparities persist, primarily due to uneven pharmaceutical development. Coordination follows a path-dependent trajectory, limiting rapid advancement. Positive spatial spillover effects generate economic influence on neighboring regions. Policies should focus on balancing regional coordination with differentiated strategies, enhancing interdepartmental and interregional mechanisms, and optimizing resource allocation.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the regional and hierarchical disparities in the distribution of pharmacist human resources in China from 2012 to 2022, with the goal of identifying underlying trends and challenges. The findings are intended to serve as a basis for optimizing the equitable and efficient allocation of pharmacist resources to better support healthcare system development. Patients and Methods: Data were collected from the China Health Statistics Yearbook and China Statistics Yearbook. The number of pharmacists per 1,000 population was selected as a measure of equity in pharmacist allocation, and Dagum’s Gini coefficient, kernel density estimation method and spatial β-convergence model were utilized to analyze the regional differences and convergence trends of pharmacist resource allocation in Chinese hospitals and primary health care organizations. Results: The findings reveal that while the overall allocation of pharmacist resources has improved, significant discrepancies remain. The mean number of hospital pharmacists was approximately twice that of primary care centers, with the most pronounced disparity observed in the central region. Regional disparities show declining trends in hospitals but widening gaps in PHCs, particularly in the eastern region. Kernel density results highlight improvements in pharmacist distribution but also reinforce advantages for High-resource provinces, especially at the hospital tier. Spatial analysis indicates significant clustering effects in pharmacist allocation, though these effects have weakened over time. Notably, absolute and conditional β-convergence trends are observed, with faster convergence rates in hospitals compared to PHCs and distinct regional variations in convergence speed. Conclusion: Since 2012, the allocation of pharmacists’ human resources in China has improved, with regional disparities showing signs of reduction. However, hierarchical disparities remain a significant issue that requires further attention, particularly in the central region. To address these challenges, it is essential to increase investment in primary healthcare institutions, with a focus on strengthening pharmacist staffing, improving infrastructure, and enhancing the capacity of pharmacy services at the grassroots level.

The evolution of the spatiotemporal relationship between urban economic growth and health resources within the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration provides an important context for understanding the regional development dynamics in China. Previous studies focused on equity in health-resource allocation and service efficiency, often overlooking the allometric growth relationships between health resources and economic variables. This study employs an allometric growth model to elucidate the changing interactions between the number of medical beds, doctors, and urban economic indicators in the Yangtze River Delta region from 2009 to 2022. Employing Zipf’s law and allometric growth modeling, this study analyzed growth trends and revealed significant differences in resource allocation and size changes over time. The main findings suggest that, although resource centralization is a general trend, differences persist, especially in less economically developed regions. This study innovatively introduces an allometric growth model that offers a new perspective on understanding the mechanisms of regional health-resource growth and underscores the significant influence of economic factors on health-resource allocation. This study significantly contributes to the sustainability of urban health systems and provides theoretical support for policy formulations aimed at optimizing the allocation of health resources and strengthening regional economic strategies in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Background: The coordinative relationship between medical treatment and the economy is an important part of promoting the sustainable and healthy development of a social economy, and it is conducive to promoting the coordinated development of the two systems.Methods: Based on constructing a comprehensive evaluation index system for the relationship between traditional Chinese medicine medical services and economic development, the entropy method, coupling coordination model, and Tobit model are used to calculate the comprehensive development level, coupling coordination degree, and influencing factors of the two systems in 31 provinces of China from 2015 to 2021. Suggestions are proposed for the coordinated development of traditional Chinese medicine medical services, and economy.Results: The results showed that the development level of traditional Chinese medicine was higher than that of social and economic development, the relative development gap between the two systems was gradually narrowed, and the coupling coordination degree increased steadily; however, the regional differences were large. The relative development level and coupling coordination degree of each region show a development pattern of eastern > central > western > northeast; the coupling coordination degree of the two systems in the spatial region was positively correlated and was enhanced year by year. From the perspective of influencing factors, the level of economic development is the decisive factor in the coupling and coordination between traditional Chinese medicine medical treatment and the social economy. Factors such as human capital and health level in traditional Chinese medicine have an inhibitory effect on the coordinated development of the two systems.Conclusion: So, China should focus on optimizing the regional allocation of traditional Chinese medicine medical personnel, improving the quality of medical services, and enhancing the health level of medical personnel.

Background: The coordination of health service supply and regional economy is an integral path to promote China’s prosperity.Methods: Based on the coupling mechanism of health service supply and regional economy, we sampled the data from 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2021 in this study and constructed the evaluation index system. Additionally, we calculated the coupling coordination degree (HED) of the two through the coupling coordination degree model. We further used the kernel density estimation, Moran’s I index, and spatial β convergence model to assess the dynamic evolution trends, spatial aggregation effect, and spatial convergence characteristics of coupling coordination.Conclusion: (1) HED in China showed a rising trend during the study period but with large regional differences, forming a gradient distribution pattern of “high in the east and low in the west.” (2) The results of Kernel density estimation show that HED has formed a gradient differentiation phenomenon within each region in China. (3) HED has modeled spatial clustering characteristics during the study period, with high-value clusters mainly appearing in the eastern region and low-value clusters appearing in the northwestern region. (4) There are absolute β-convergence and conditional β-convergence trends in HED in China and the three major regions during the study period, but there is an obvious regional heterogeneity in the control factors. The research provides a reference for accurately implementing policies according to different levels of health service supply and economic development, in addition to narrowing the regional differences of the coupling coordination between the regional economy and health service supply.

Today, population aging is the main trend of population development. Home-based care is mainly adopted in Chinese society, and scholars have paid ample attention to the effect of intergenerational support on the mental health of older people. However, research conclusions differ. This study uses data from the 2018 China Health and Pension Tracking Survey (CHARLS), which we analyzed with STATA software to construct least squares regression and two-stage least squares regression models. The regression model included 6,647 respondents to investigate the mental health status of older people based on depression status. Intergenerational support was defined as economic support, emotional support, and daily care provided by the children of older people. We studied the impact of three aspects of intergenerational support on the mental health of the elderly. We performed a robustness test using the variable replacement and propensity score matching methods, and analyzed age, gender, and urban-rural heterogeneity. The results showed that economic support had no significant impact on the mental health of older people, while emotional support and daily care had a positive effect. The heterogeneity results indicated that the relationship between intergenerational support and mental health of older people differed significantly based on age, gender, and urban and rural areas. Therefore, children should raise their awareness of supporting their parents, pay attention to their parents’ mental health, and provide emotional support and daily care. Furthermore, community work improves family relations, creates a good social environment, and encourages young people to respect and be filial to older people. The government should improve the medical security system and old-age service system, and provide policy support to help the mental health of older people.

With increasingly stringent environmental limitations, it is essential to develop and study low-emission combustion techniques such as fluidized bed combustion. In this work, an experimental work was carried out to study the influence of minerals on combustion characteristics of Tabas coal in a one-stage fluidized bed. The results showed that the alkaline minerals have a significant influence on the combustion behavior of coal particles, especially at higher temperatures. It was also found that the residence time has a significant role in both the higher thermal energy and char conversion, due to a considerable increase in the rate of reactions especially at the beginning of the process.

Environmental problems, population growth, and the recent energy crisis have emphasized the need for zero-emission technologies while also ensuring economic feasibility. This work presents the economic advantages of using wind energy for power generation in Iran. A theoretical model is developed, which predicts the output power under various geographical and operating conditions. The wind data (speed and direction) of 2-h interval long-term period from December 2010 to October 2015 was adopted and analyzed to evaluate the levelized costs of electricity (COE) for power generation from wind farms (Arsanjan, Lamerd, and Abadeh) for the year 2018 per time. The influence of two important geographical factors namely winds speed and air humidity on output power also was studied. The results showed that the output power increases continuously when the wind speed varies from 2.0 to 2.6 m/s probably due to the compression of air passing through the wind turbine.

Biomass is a renewable source of energy, which refers to plant-based organic materials such as agricultural residue, woody biomass, and algal biomass, which can be directly used as a feedstock for energy systems gas engines, and gas turbines or as a fuel for the production of other light fuels such as hydrogen gas. In this paper, an equilibrium model of gasification process was developed to study the economic properties of biomass gasification such as hydrogen production cost (HPC) and fixed capital investment (FCI). When the plant size increased from 1500 to 2500 (dry metric tonne per day), HPC decreased from 3.2 to 2.4 €/kg for agricultural residue, from 3.45 to 2.5 €/kg for green algae, and from 4.4 to 3.85 €/kg for RDF. Simulated results also showed as the stoichiometric ratio increases from 0.23 to 0.45, concentrations of H₂, CO, and CH₄ decrease, while CO₂ increases because of the thermal cracking of heavier hydrocarbons and char combustion at higher stoichiometric ratios.