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Using NDVI data of NOAA-AVHRR in recent 20 years and the temperature and precipitation data of West China, the vegetation activity is discussed by adopting the EOF and REOF decomposed functions. Results show that the overall increasing trend of vegetation activity in different seasons reflects an advanced and prolonged growth period of vegetation under the circumstance of climate warming, but the vegetation evolvement has much inconsistency between different regions and seasons. There are four notable regions, eight sub-areas for vegetation evolvement in spring and summer, and nine sub-areas in autumn. The vegetation activity in most sub-areas is increasing. The most notable region is represented by Lhaze station on the Tibetan Plateau. Two other marked stations are represented by Altay station in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Pengshui station in Sichuan Province. But the time series analysis of NDVI makes clear that the trends of the other two sub-areas, Turpan station in Xinjiang and Huashan station in Shaanxi Province, are descending. It is an important reason for vegetation evolvement that temperature ascends in most of the regions and descends in the east region in some seasons. But another important reason for vegetation evolvement is that precipitation is ascending in the west and descending in the east of the region.

Problem formulation is a critical step in the public policy process. Nonetheless, this importance is not listed in regular policy textbooks and is often overlooked. This study uses the case of sandstorm-combating in Minqin County, China, to illustrate the problem. Through statistical analysis of the data, the authors have demonstrated how policy formulation could be set on the wrong premise and lead to wrong policy consequences, particularly in the case of environmental issues for which full information is not readily available. In conclusion, the authors argue that conscientious attention to policy problem formation, careful empirical analysis, and collaborative participatory efforts are essential to ensure public policy success.

Perception has a hidden importance in our society. It is what drives us to buy that name brand product, move to a certain area of town, or even select a university to call home. The U.S. News & World Report even uses it for rankings, but in today's growing, diverse environment, perception is constantly changing; it is often developed from an individual's experiences and their surrounding environment. It itself is a form of bias. Therefore, it is important to collect, track how it changes, and understand the perception of incoming and current engineering students to ensure engineering colleges around the United States provide the right message to prospective students and industry partners. It also helps colleges evaluate the effectiveness of their recruitment publications and events. This is why in 2012 the University of Arkansas started a three phase, six stage longitudinal study on engineering perception. This paper will analyze the results from phase one, stage one of the longitudinal study with regards to industrial engineering. It will 1) briefly introduce the longitudinal study, 2) discuss the phase one, stage one online survey administered to first year engineering students at the University of Arkansas, and 3) examine the survey results for those students interested in industrial engineering to help provide insight on why students are interested in industrial engineering, the strength of current and future job opportunities, and how first year engineering students interested in industrial engineering perceive industrial engineering.

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