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This article is motivated by a conundrum: How can shale gas development be encouraged and managed without complete knowledge of the associated risks? To answer this question, we used back propagation (BP) neural networks and expert scoring to quantify the relative risks of shale gas development across 12 provinces in China. The results show that the model performs well with high predictive accuracy. Shale gas development risks in the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Hubei, and Jiangsu are relatively high (0.4~0.6), while risks in the provinces of Xinjiang, Guizhou, Yunnan, Anhui, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, and Shanxi are even higher (0.6~1). We make several recommendations based on our findings. First, the Chinese government should promote shale gas development in Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Hubei, and Jiangsu Provinces, while considering environmental, health, and safety risks by using demonstration zones to test new technologies and tailor China’s regulatory structures to each province. Second, China’s extremely complex geological conditions and resource depths prevent direct application of North American technologies and techniques. We recommend using a risk analysis prioritization method, such as BP neural networks, so that policymakers can quantify the relative risks posed by shale gas development to optimize the allocation of resources, technology and infrastructure development to minimize resource, economic, technical, and environmental risks. Third, other shale gas industry developments emphasize the challenges of including the many parties with different, often conflicting expectations. Government and enterprises must collaboratively collect and share information, develop risk assessments, and consider risk management alternatives to support science-based decision-making with the diverse parties.

Sharing facilities with other households offers the most realistic opportunity for access to sanitation for many households in low-income settings. However, questions remain about the safety of shared toilets, including those shared at the household level. This study sought to compare the usage and microbial safety of household-level shared and unshared toilets in a Ghanaian rural district to investigate any association between their microbial safety and sharing status. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the user characteristics of the sampled toilets, while common contact surfaces (door handles and toilet seats) were assessed for faecal contamination following standard swab sampling and analytical protocols. The results of the study indicate that sharing toilets affords about 90% more household-level access to sanitation as compared to single-household toilets. Toilet sharing mostly occurred between two households, with a maximum user population of 14 per toilet. Generally, there was a high prevalence of faecal contamination on the door handles and seats of both shared and unshared toilets, but this had no association with the sharing status of the toilets. The median concentration of Escherichia coli (E. coli) on the door handles and seats of shared toilets was 34.3 × 105 and 103.2 × 105 CFU/mL, respectively, as compared to 54.7 × 105 and 125.0 × 105 CFU/mL, respectively, on unshared toilets. In conclusion, the sharing of toilets at the household level nearly doubles access to sanitation at home without necessarily exposing the users to a higher risk of faecal–oral disease transmission.

Improving human well-being is increasingly recognized as essential for movement toward a sustainable and desirable future. Estimates of different aspects of human well-being, such as Gross Domestic Product, or percentage of population with access to electric power, or measuring the distribution of income in society are often fraught with problems. There are few standardized methods of data collection; in addition, the required data is not obtained in a reliable manner and on a repetitive basis in many parts of the world. Consequently, inter-comparability of the data that does exist becomes problematic. Data derived from nighttime satellite imagery has helped develop various globally consistent proxy measures of human well-being at the gridded, sub-national, and national level. We review several ways in which nighttime satellite imagery has been used to measure the human well-being within nations.

This article aims to identify occupations at risk of climate change, and explore their spatial distribution by investigating their spatial concentration and cluster patterns in Korea. In order to identify professions vulnerable to climate change, we used three criteria: (1) exposure to the risks of job activities; (2) sensitivity to work environments; and (3) adaptive capacities based on the socioeconomic conditions of a person’s occupation. We identified 26 vocations as vulnerable, which corresponds to 16.5% of the total number of careers. Then, we used exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) techniques to examine the spatial distribution of jobs at risk of climate change effects. Endangered occupations show the extremely uneven spatial distributions across regions, indicating that there is a wide range of values for the proportion of endangered occupations across regions. The regions with high proportions of professions in jeopardy show clear spatial clustering based on the large geographic belt from the southwest to the northeast. Our results suggest that policymakers should consider the specific geographies of vulnerable occupations. The current work provides helpful hints on regional policy coordination to promote a virtuous circle of sustainable regional development.

The ways in which we travel—by what mode, for how long, and for what purpose—can affect our sense of happiness and well-being. This paper assesses the relationships between measures of the sustainability of transportation systems in U.S. metropolitan areas and subjective well-being. Associations between self-reported happiness levels from the Gallup Healthways Well-being Index and commute data were examined for 187 core-based statistical areas (CBSA). We also supplement this quantitative analysis through brief case studies of high- and low-performing happiness cities. Our quantitative results indicate that regions with higher commute mode shares by non-automobile modes generally had higher well-being scores, even when controlling for important economic predictors of happiness. We also find that pro-sustainable transportation policies can have implications for population-wide happiness and well-being. Our case studies indicate that both high and low scoring happiness cities demonstrate a dedicated commitment to improving sustainable transportation infrastructure. Our study suggests that cities that provide incentives for residents to use more sustainable commute modes may offer greater opportunity for happiness than those that do not.

Organic farming has been identified as promoting soil quality even though tillage is used for weed suppression. Adopting zero tillage and other conservation tillage practices can enhance soil quality in cropping systems where synthetic agri-chemicals are relied on for crop nutrition and weed control. Attempts have been made to eliminate tillage completely when growing several field crops organically. Vegetative mulch produced by killed cover crops in organic zero tillage systems can suppress annual weeds, but large amounts are needed for adequate early season weed control. Established perennial weeds are not controlled by cover crop mulch. Integrated weed management strategies that include other cultural as well as biological and mechanical controls have potential and need to be incorporated into organic zero tillage research efforts. Market crop performance in organic zero tillage systems has been mixed because of weed, nutrient cycling, and other problems that still must be solved. Soil quality benefits have been demonstrated in comparisons between organic conservation tillage and inversion tillage systems, but studies that include zero tillage treatments are lacking. Research is needed which identifies agronomic strategies for optimum market crop performance, acceptable levels of weed suppression, and soil quality benefits following adoption of organic zero tillage.

The quality of financial information is crucial for the effective decision-making of practitioners and academics. A number of studies have shown the existence of errors in proprietary databases provided by financial data aggregators (e.g., Compustat and Value Line) in advanced markets like the U.S. However, no study has examined the quality of the financial data offered by aggregators in emerging markets. Research on such markets is needed as financial investment frequently occurs in emerging markets due to the globalization of capital. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by investigating whether financial data provided by aggregators is the same as the data reported in firms’ financial statements in emerging markets. Another purpose of this study is to examine the impact on academic research. Comparing the 18 most widely-used financial items found in the original filings of firms with the corresponding data provided by all three data aggregators currently available in South Korea (i.e., DataGuide, KisValue, and TS2000), we found a considerable number of differences; many of the differences are substantially greater than conventional materiality. We also found that the differences between data sources lead to different prediction results in bankruptcy prediction model.