Important Value Research Articles

Recognition of mulberry leaf diseases based on multi-scale residual network fusion SENet.

Silkworms are insects with important economic value, and mulberry leaves are the food of silkworms. The quality and quantity of mulberry leaves have a direct impact on cocooning. Mulberry leaves are often infected with various diseases during the growth process. Because of the subjectivity and time-consuming problems in artificial identification of mulberry leaf diseases. In this work, a multi-scale residual network fusion Squeeze-and-Excitation Networks (SENet) is proposed for mulberry leaf disease recognition. The mulberry leaf disease dataset was expanded by performing operations such as brightness enhancement, contrast enhancement, level flipping and adding Gaussian noise. Multi-scale convolution was used instead of the traditional single-scale convolution, allowing the network to be widened to obtain more feature information and avoiding the overfitting phenomenon caused by the network piling up too deep. SENet was introduced into the residual network to enhance the extraction of key feature information of the model, thus improving the recognition accuracy of the model. The experimental results showed that the method proposed in this paper can effectively improve the recognition performance of the model. The recognition accuracy reached 98.72%. The recall and F1 score were 98.73% and 98.72% respectively. Compared with some other models, this model has better recognition effect and can provide technical reference for intelligent mulberry leaf disease detection.

Improved electrical coupling integrated energy system based on particle swarm optimization

The rational utilization of energy is an important issue for sustainable development. Electrically coupled integrated energy systems can enhance energy utilization efficiency and reduce energy costs. However, traditional integrated energy system optimization has problems with local optima and slow convergence speed, which cannot fully utilize energy resources. Therefore, this study proposes an improved electrical coupling integrated energy system on the ground of particle swarm optimization algorithm. In response to the problems of local optima and slow convergence speed in traditional optimization algorithms, particle swarm optimization algorithm is introduced for system optimization. By combining PSO with simulated annealing algorithm, the possibility of PSO in global optimization is reduced. The local search ability of PSO and the global search ability of simulated annealing algorithm are used to find the optimal solution. The particle swarm optimization algorithm is used for preliminary search. When the particle falls into the local optimal, the simulated annealing algorithm is introduced for global search, and the particle is guided to jump out of the local optimal and continue searching. The experiment demonstrates that the improved algorithm has certain advantages in solving test functions. The variance, mean, and optimal values are 0.00125, 0.13874, and 0.105531, respectively, which are all better than the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The simulated annealing algorithm improved the particle swarm optimization algorithm with a high accuracy index, which eventually stabilized above 0.9, and the recall index also remained above 0.8. After 100 iterations, it had already fallen into a local optimal solution. By applying the improved hybrid optimization algorithm to the electrically-coupled integrated energy system, the distribution of various energy sources can be managed and optimized more effectively, and the overall performance of the system can be improved. Especially when dealing with complex energy scheduling and distribution problems, the algorithm can provide more stable, efficient and reliable solutions. This study can achieve efficient operation and optimized scheduling of integrated energy systems, reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution, and reduce energy costs. And it can improve the reliability and stability of energy supply, which has important application value and research significance.

Mechanism underlying the rapid growth of Phalaenopsis equestris induced by 60Co-γ-ray irradiation.

Gamma (γ)-ray irradiation is one of the important modern breeding methods. Gamma-ray irradiation can affect the growth rate and other characteristics of plants. Plant growth rate is crucial for plants. In horticultural crops, the growth rate of plants is closely related to the growth of leaves and flowering time, both of which have important ornamental value. In this study, 60Co-γ-ray was used to treat P. equestris plants. After irradiation, the plant's leaf growth rate increased, and sugar content and antioxidant enzyme activity increased. Therefore, we used RNA-seq technology to analyze the differential gene expression and pathways of control leaves and irradiated leaves. Through transcriptome analysis, we investigated the reasons for the rapid growth of P. equestris leaves after irradiation. In the analysis, genes related to cell wall relaxation and glucose metabolism showed differential expression. In addition, the expression level of genes encoding ROS scavenging enzyme synthesis regulatory genes increased after irradiation. We identified two genes related to P. equestris leaf growth using VIGS technology: PeNGA and PeEXPA10. The expression of PeEXPA10, a gene related to cell wall expansion, was down-regulated, cell wall expansion ability decreased, cell size decreased, and leaf growth rate slowed down. The TCP-NGATHA (NGA) molecular regulatory module plays a crucial role in cell proliferation. When the expression of the PeNGA gene decreases, the leaf growth rate increases, and the number of cells increases. After irradiation, PeNGA and PeEXPA10 affect the growth of P. equestris leaves by influencing cell proliferation and cell expansion, respectively. In addition, many genes in the plant hormone signaling pathway show differential expression after irradiation, indicating the crucial role of plant hormones in plant leaf growth. This provides a theoretical basis for future research on leaf development and biological breeding.

Visible-Light-Initiated Catalyst-Free Radical Annulation Reactions of 1,6-Enynes and Aryl Sulfonyl Bromide to Assemble Sulfonation/Bromination Succinimide Derivatives.

In the present study, the environment-friendly visible-light-promoted strategy is used to perform an efficient, simple, and straightforward photocatalytic succinimide derivative synthesis from the reaction of 1,6-enynes and aryl sulfonyl bromide at room temperature under air ambient conditions. This method features mild conditions, broad substrate scope, high yields, and excellent configurational selectivity. In addition, all the atoms of the substrates involved in the reaction converge in the product structures, showing a high atomic economy. Moreover, the most important characteristic of this study is that no photocatalyst and additives are used, while the key factor that triggers the reaction is visible light, indicating that this study has an important practical value.

A novel transcription factor FnMYB4 regulates pigments metabolism of yellow leaf mutants in Fragaria nilgerrensis

The strawberry species Fragaria nilgerrensis Schlechtendal ex J. Gay, renowned for its distinctive white, fragrant peach-like fruits and strong disease resistance, is an exceptional research material. In a previous study, an ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) mutant library was established for this species, resulting in various yellow leaf mutants. Leaf yellowing materials are not only the ideal materials for basic studies on photosynthesis mechanism, chloroplast development, and molecular regulation of various pigments, but also have important utilization value in ornamental plants breeding. The present study focused on four distinct yellow leaf mutants: mottled yellow leaf (MO), yellow green leaf (YG), light green leaf (LG), and buddha light leaf (BU). The results revealed that the flavonoid content and carotenoid-to-chlorophyll ratio exhibited a significant increase among these mutants, while experiencing a significant decrease in chlorophyll and carotenoid contents compared to the wild type (WT). To clarify the regulatory mechanisms and network relationships underlying these mutants, the RNA-seq and weighted gene co-expression network (WGCNA) analyses were employed. The results showed flavonoid metabolism pathway was enriched both in MO and YG mutants, while the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway and carotenoid degradation pathway were only enriched in MO and YG mutants, respectively. Subsequently, key structural genes and transcription factors were identified on metabolic pathways of three pigments through correlation analyses and quantitative experiments. Furthermore, a R2R3-MYB transcription factor, FnMYB4, was confirmed to be positively correlated with flavonoid synthesis through transient overexpression, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS), and RNA interference (RNAi), accompanying by reoccurrence and attenuation of mutant phenotype. Finally, dual-luciferase (LUC) and yeast one-hybrid assays confirmed the binding of FnMYB4 to the FnFLS and FnF3H promoters, indicating that FnMYB4 positively regulates flavonoid synthesis. In addition, correlation analyses suggested that FnMYB4 also might be involved in chlorophyll and carotenoid metabolisms. These findings demonstrated the pivotal regulatory role of FnMYB4 in strawberry leaf coloration.

Eco-Engineering Mangrove Restoration at Gazi Bay, Kenya

Mangroves offer a range of globally acknowledged advantages, yet they continue to be lost and degraded. Efforts to restore lost mangroves using conventional techniques in high-energy areas result in low success rates due to the removal of seedlings via wave action. We assessed the efficacy of using modified Riley Encasement Methods in the restoration of mangroves in high-energy areas in Gazi Bay, Kenya. Vegetation and soil baseline data were collected in 49 square plots of 100 m2, which were established along belt transects perpendicular to the shoreline. The following mangrove vegetation data was collected: species composition, tree height (m), and stem diameter (cm). From these, the importance value index (IV), basal area, and standing density (stems/ha) were derived. Sediment cores were made in the center of each square plot for carbon and grain size analysis. Mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata) planting adopted a randomized complete block design (RCBD) in which the planting area was divided into three blocks (A, B, C). Within each block, treatments (bamboo and different-sized PVC pipes) were randomly assigned locations. The results of the study reveal significant variations in survival and growth rates among treatments. Higher survival rates were recorded for seedlings grown within PVC encasements (43%), surpassing bamboo (1%) and control groups (4%). Our findings suggest that PVC pipes were efficient in supporting and protecting seedlings from external forces. We expound on the implications of the results and highlight potential enhancements for the effectiveness of encasement technique in mangrove restoration.

Does Trade Policy Uncertainty Affect Firms' Imported Intermediates?

Abstract In recent years, the rise of trade protectionism and the intensifying trend of deglobalization worldwide have led to an annual increase in trade policy uncertainty faced by Chinese companies in international trade. This uncertainty may impact the import of intermediate goods by these companies. The import of intermediate goods is closely related to various aspects of a company's operations, such as productivity, mark-up rates, and innovation. Therefore, examining the impact and mechanisms of trade policy uncertainty on the import of intermediate goods by companies is of significant importance. This paper uses data from the 2001-2009 China Industrial Enterprise Database, China Customs Import and Export Database, and the World Bank's WITS database to calculate the trade policy uncertainty index for Chinese companies and test theoretical hypotheses. Empirical results show that when trade policy uncertainty increases, there is a decrease in both the amount and range of intermediate goods imported by companies, while the growth rate of intermediate goods import value increases. The mediating effect indicates that trade policy uncertainty affects companies' intermediate goods procurement strategies by reducing their production and business scale. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis finds that trade policy uncertainty has different impacts on companies with various intermediate goods import strategies. Keywords: Trade Policy Uncertainty, Import, Intermediates, Business Scale.

LAVASET: Latent Variable Stochastic Ensemble of Trees. An ensemble method for correlated datasets with spatial, spectral, and temporal dependencies.

Random forests (RFs) can deal with a large number of variables, achieve reasonable prediction scores, and yield highly interpretable feature importance values. As such, RFs are appropriate models for feature selection and further dimension reduction. However, RFs are often not appropriate for correlated datasets due to their mode of selecting individual features for splitting. Addressing correlation relationships in high-dimensional datasets is imperative for reducing the number of variables that are assigned high importance, hence making the dimension reduction most efficient. Here, we propose the LAtent VAriable Stochastic Ensemble of Trees (LAVASET) method that derives latent variables based on the distance characteristics of each feature and aims to incorporate the correlation factor in the splitting step. Without compromising on performance in the majority of examples, LAVASET outperforms RF by accurately determining feature importance across all correlated variables and ensuring proper distribution of importance values. LAVASET yields mostly non-inferior prediction accuracies to traditional RFs when tested in simulated and real 1D datasets, as well as more complex and high-dimensional 3D datatypes. Unlike traditional RFs, LAVASET is unaffected by single 'important' noisy features (false positives), as it considers the local neighbourhood. LAVASET, therefore, highlights neighbourhoods of features, reflecting real signals that collectively impact the model's predictive ability. LAVASET is freely available as a standalone package from https://github.com/melkasapi/LAVASET.

Design method for engineering the initial structure of a spectrometer.

A well-considered initial structure plays a key role in the design of an exceptional spectrometer. Previously, the design method for the optical initial structure (MOIS) that has only focused on the optical properties based on simple imaging formulas and coma-free conditions has been extensively researched. However, as the shape and size of any optical component are not considered for the MOIS, the optical parameters before and after optimization are very different, which results in a loss of reference value of the initial structure. In order to address the aforementioned issues, a more efficient design method for engineering initial structure (MEIS) of the spectrometer is proposed, where not only the above optical properties are considered but also the relative position and size of any optical component in order to avoid the interference between the optical components. For the MEIS, three important anti-interference conditions between components are deduced through ray tracing, and the relevant imaging formulas are derived by geometric optics, which leads to the rapid calculation of component parameters and the acquisition of an initial structure satisfying the corresponding design requirements by setting reasonable spacing margins. To verify the validity of the MEIS, a wide-band high-resolution spectrometer system with a large CCD Toucan 216 is designed within a wavelength range of 700-1000nm and a resolution of 0.5nm. Compared with the MOIS, the positions of each component in the MEIS are more rationalized, which significantly eliminates the complex optimization processes. For the MEIS, changes only in the position of the image plane occur with minimal variations in the axial and vertical wheelbase (less than 0.5mm) as well as the deflection angle (only 0.5°), with favorable evaluation indices. The MEIS has an important reference value for the rapid and efficient design of excellent spectrometers.

A decentralized and security-enhanced professional title evaluation system in universities under mobile Internet of Things

Digital online application is a commonly used method for professional title evaluation in colleges and universities. With the rapid development of the mobile Internet of Things, the fastest way for users to access the evaluation system is through mobile devices. However, this also poses security challenges to the traditional professional title evaluation system. Therefore, this paper proposes a decentralized and security-enhanced digital title evaluation system in mobile IoT. Since the system uses blockchain to implement a decentralized review process, the transparency and fairness of the review process are guaranteed. At the same time, the review data and reviewer information in the system are encrypted and stored in the distributed network to ensure the security and non-tamperability of the data. All review records are recorded on the blockchain, and anyone can view and verify the legitimacy of the review results. Additionally, the system incorporates security enhancement mechanisms such as identity verification, smart contracts, and auditing functions to improve the credibility of the evaluation process and prevent cheating under mobile IoT. Experiments have shown that this system has important application value in the field of professional title review in universities, which can improve review efficiency, reduce human intervention, and provide strong support for the credibility of review results.

Motion-pressure coupled control and simulation of long-endurance capability for multicapsule stratospheric airships

The current study focuses on the motion-pressure coupled control for a multicapsule stratospheric airship and transforms the path-tracking and heading-hold control of airships into guidance tracking with a time-varying weighted sum of longitudinal and lateral velocities by the definition of compound speed. Herein, an improved nonlinear predictive control method is provided to reduce the control energy consumption by the rolling optimization of controller parameters based on finite time intervals, ensuring infinite-time path-tracking tasks. Simultaneously, combined with the proposed cyclic regulation process of safe pressure between internal and external capsules, this study can fully reflect the force-thermal coupled rule of airships under the actions of atmospheric environment and maneuvering force, while evaluating the long-endurance capability of airships under the conditions of safe superheating and overpressure. The effectiveness of the motion-pressure coupled controller was verified through numerical simulations, which can overcome the influence of environmental wind and achieve a tracking effect for the desired cruise path and compound speed. The airspeed provided during the cyclic circadian time caused the maximum superheating of the helium controlled within 30 °C. The helium in the internal and external capsules achieved circadian regulation. The equivalent micropore diameter of the capsule of 5 mm can achieve 55 days of long-endurance flight. The controller satisfies the requirements of cruise-flight application modes for multicapsule stratospheric airships with important engineering value.

Would future climate warming cause zoonotic diseases to spread over long distances?

Dipus sagitta is a major rodent found in arid environments and desert areas. They feed on plant seeds, young branches and some small insects, and have hibernating habits. Peak Dipus sagitta numbers impact the construction of the plant community in the environment, but also have a human impact as these rodents carry a variety of parasitic fleas capable of spreading serious diseases to humans. Based on 216 present distribution records of Dipus sagitta and seven environmental variables, this article simulates the potential distribution of Dipus sagitta during the Last Glacial Maximum, the mid-Holocene, the present and the future (2070s, RCP4.5, RCP8.5). This study also analyzes the geographic changes of the population distribution and evaluates the importance of climate factors by integrating contribution rate, replacement importance value and the jackknife test using the MaxEnt model. In this study, we opted to assess the predictive capabilities of our model using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and partial receiver operating characteristic (pROC) metrics. The findings indicate that the AUC value exceeds 0.9 and the AUC ratio is greater than 1, indicating superior predictive performance by the model. The results showed that the main climatic factors affecting the distribution of the three-toed jerboa were precipitation in the coldest quarter, temperature seasonality (standard deviation), and mean annual temperature. Under the two warming scenarios of the mid-Holocene and the future, there were differences in the changes in the distribution area of the three-toed jerboa. During the mid-Holocene, the suitable distribution area of the three-toed jerboa expanded, with a 93.91% increase in the rate of change compared to the Last Glacial Maximum. The size of the three-toed jerboa's habitat decreases under both future climate scenarios. Compared to the current period, under the RCP4.5 emission scenario, the change rate is -2.96%, and under the RCP8.5 emission scenario, the change rate is -7.41%. This indicates a trend of contraction in the south and expansion in the north. It is important to assess changes in the geographic population of Dipus sagitta due to climate change to formulate population control strategies of these harmful rodents and to prevent and control the long-distance transmission of zoonotic diseases.

Implementasi Istishab Sebagai Perkembangan Hukum Islam

The dimension of Islamic law can be achieved by emphasizing the theory of benefit as the main consideration for determining a law. One of them is an effort to review istishab as an argument for determining the law, namely by determining the status of the origin. Sometimes the origin is permissible, free from demands, and sometimes it is permanent. Istishab is a method of ijtihad. Ijtihad is the inner dynamic for the birth of change to maintain the comprehensiveness of Islamic law. Istishab itself is a source of law that is debated by scholars and whether istishab itself is included as a proof or not. The first opinion says hujjah as a legal determination, the second istishab is not used as a proof in making law, the third is a proof in determining new problems. Istishab is also widely applied in various cases, both in the fields of family law, criminal, civil and economic law. More than that, the important value of the application of istishab is the principle of law in Indonesia (the principle of presumption of innocence), the principle of legality and the principle of Nullum delictum nulapoena sine praevia leg poenali makes it important to be studied further.

Contradictions between commercializing seeds, empowering smallholders farmers, and promoting biodiversity in Ghana: Seed policy within a historical framework

This article critically examines the agricultural development agenda of promoting commercialization and sustainable intensification and contrasts this with farmers’ own priorities, with case studies drawn from the maize and cocoa sectors in Ghana. The study investigates the relationship between agricultural development paradigms, seed breeding strategies, and the commercialization of agriculture from the 1950s to present. It returns to the debates of farming systems research, the appropriation of the agricultural varieties of farmers within the South by Northern agribusiness, and Paul Richards’ framework of an Indigenous African agricultural revolution rooted in the experimental traditions of farmers to establish a critical framework for examining the commodification of seeds. It focuses on the contradictions between maintaining biodiversity, fashioning high-yielding proprietary seeds, and promoting farmer participation that became manifest in the framework of farming systems research. It argues that commercial pressures have prioritized yields and the protection of proprietary varieties over biodiversity in policy frameworks. This contrast with farmers’ own concerns with adapting varieties to the conditions on their farms through their own experimentation, and maintaining a diversity of changing genetic materials including those drawn from certified varieties. This enables farmers to hedge against risk, disease, and pest attacks, while selecting varietal materials that optimize yields in the particular agroecological conditions of their farms. Although social participation is still upheld as an important value in liberal market agrarian policies, there has been a significant transformation in its usage. It no longer denotes farmer participation in the design of and experimentation with technology, but participation in the consumption of the agricultural products of agribusiness or in the agricultural technology treadmill. This contribution examines the implication of smallholder agricultural commercialization for biodiversity and for the dynamism and vitality of local farming systems.

Single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data jointly reveals VDAC2's impacts on prognosis and immune landscape of NSCLC.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is characterized by stronger metastatic ability and worse prognosis. In NSCLC, hypoxia is a major cause of invasion and metastasis through promoting angiogenesis. In present study, NSCLC cell clusters were extracted from single cell-sequencing dataset GSE131907, which were combined with hypoxia-related genes to group clusters. qRT-PCR and western blot were used to validate the expression of target gene. Nine NSCLC clusters were extracted, which were divided into two hypoxia-related subgroups, C1 and C2. Totally 101 differentially expressed prognostic genes were identified between subgroups. Of which, VDAC2 showed excellent prognostic value for NSCLC and was selected for further analysis. VDAC2 was upregulated in tumor samples in TCGA and was correlated with advanced stages. In vitro experiments validated this trend. Five crucial immune cells showed differential infiltration proportions between high and low VDAC2 expression groups. VDAC2 knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion ability of NSCLC cells. Integrating single cell and bulk sequencing data as well as wet lab experiments, hypoxia-related VDAC2 exhibited important prognostic value and showed the promise of becoming immune-therapy target in NSCLC.

Chromium Picolinate Regulates Bone Metabolism and Prevents Bone Loss in Diabetic Rats.

Diabetic osteoporosis (DOP) is an abnormal metabolic disease caused by long-term hyperglycemia. In this study, a model rat of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes was established, and chromium picolinate (5 mg·kg-1) was given; the changes in blood glucose and body weight were detected before and after administration; and bone mineral density (BMD), bone morphology, bone turnover markers, inflammatory cytokines, and oxidative stress indicators were observed in each group. We found that after chromium picolinate (CP) intervention for 8 weeks, the blood glucose level was decreased; the BMD, the bone histomorphology parameters, and the pathological structure were improved; the expression of bone resorption-related proteins was downregulated; and the expression of bone formation-related proteins was upregulated. Meanwhile, serum antioxidant activity was increased, and inflammatory cytokine levels were decreased. In conclusion, CP could alleviate DOP by anti-oxidation, inhibition of bone turnover, anti-inflammation, and regulation of the OPG/RANKL/RANK signaling pathway. Therefore, CP has important application values for further development as a functional food or active medicine in DOP treatment.

Advance care planning with older Norwegian adults in their homes: a narrative ethnographic study

BackgroundThe aim of advance care planning (ACP) is to enable patients to define and discuss their values and preferences to ensure that the care they receive is consistent with their needs and wishes. Most studies of ACP with older adults focus on conversations conducted in institutions. This study aimed to explore how ACP with older patients is carried out and experienced by healthcare professionals when the conversations occur in their private homes.MethodsThe data were obtained from participant observations of ACP conversations in the homes of eight older patients with advanced cancer, which also involved relatives and healthcare professionals. Additionally, ethnographic interviews were conducted with the healthcare professionals. We undertook a narrative analysis of what was said, and how the individuals acted and interacted.ResultsThe home influenced both the substance and form of the ACP conversations. The patients and relatives welcomed the healthcare professionals as guests and were encouraged to share their perceptions of their current situation, joys and worries. Their values were often implicit in their stories about past experiences. The planning mainly focused on life-prolonging treatment and the preferred future place of care. Several patients were not ready to discuss one or more ACP issues. The palliative-care-team physician addressed the patients’ readiness for ACP by asking for permission to move on to a different topic, shifting between serious and lighter topics, and using elements from the home as ‘door openers’ to continue conversations. ACP conversations were an essential basis for future palliative care and cooperation, giving important additional information about the patient and their relatives.ConclusionConducting the ACP conversations in the patients’ homes ensured a homely atmosphere that facilitated a caring approach when sensitive issues were discussed, and in turn supported the identification of important personal values. The healthcare professionals expressed that the ACP conversations represented an essential common reference point and provided a shared awareness of the expected disease trajectory and the values, preferences and needs of the patient. These findings are particularly important given that many older patients struggle to verbalize or form an opinion on issues affecting their future.

Detection Method and Application of Nuclear-Shaped Anomaly Areas in Spatial Electric Field Power Spectrum Images

It is found that there are some anomalous high-energy nuclear-shaped regions in the VLF frequency band of the space electric field. To detect and statistically analyze these nuclear-shaped anomaly areas, this paper proposes a nuclear-shaped anomaly area detection method based on the electric field power spectrum image data of the China Seismo Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01). First, the logarithm of VLF frequency band data was calculated and rotated counterclockwise to create power spectrum images and label them to form a sample image dataset; then, images were enhanced (which involved resizing, scaling, rotation, gaussian denoising, etc.) to solve the problems of the model overfitting and sample imbalance. Finally, the U-net network model based on the ResNet50 encoder was trained to obtain the optimal kernel anomaly detection model ResNet50_Unet. Comparative experiments with various semantic segmentation algorithms show that the ResNet50_Unet model has the best performance. Applying this model to detect the electric field power spectrum images from November 2021 to February 2022, a total of 101 nuclear-shaped anomaly areas were found, distributed between 45° and 70° of the north–south latitude. This model can quickly detect nuclear-shaped anomaly regions from massive data, providing reference significance for the detection of other types of ionospheric spatial disturbances. At the same time, it has important scientific significance and practical value for understanding the ionosphere and space communication.

High Signal to Noise Ratio Piezoelectric Thin Film Sensor Based on Elastomer Amplification for Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring.

Continuous pulse wave detection can be used for monitoring and diagnosing cardiovascular diseases, and research on pulse sensing based on piezoelectric thin films is one of the hot spots. Usually, piezoelectric thin films do not come into direct contact with the skin and need to be connected through a layer of an elastic medium. Most views think that the main function of this layer of elastic medium is to increase the adhesion between the sensor component and the skin, but there is little discussion about the impact of the elastic medium on pulse vibration transmission. Here, we conducted a detailed study on the effects of Young's modulus and the thickness of elastic media on pulse sensing signals. The results show that the waveform amplitude of the piezoelectric sensing signal decreases with the increase of Young's modulus and thickness of the elastic medium. Then, we constructed a theoretical model of the influence of elastic media on pulse wave propagation. The amplitude of the pulse wave signal detected by the optimized sensor was increased to 480%. Our research shows that by regulating Young's modulus and thickness of elastic media, pulse wave signals can undergo a similar amplification effect, which has an important theoretical reference value for achieving ambulatory blood pressure monitoring based on high-quality pulse waves.

Ecological redline delineation based on the supply and demand of ecosystem services

As the bottom line of safeguarding ecological security, the term “ecological redline”, which was proposed in China, has important guidance and management value for maintaining ecological stability. The relationship between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (SDES) is a game between the supply side and the demand side of ecosystem services, reflecting the sustainability of ecosystem service functions and the harmony between the ecology and economy. Ecological redline is closely related to SDES. However, at present, the theoretical relationship between ecological redline and SDES has not been analyzed in depth, and the explanation in the “Technical Guidelines for the delineation of ecological protection redlines” (hereinafter referred to as “Guideline”) is vague. This paper analyzes the relationship between ecological redline and SDES, and further emphasizes that the delineation of ecological redlines includes the consideration of the relationship between supply and demand of ecosystem services. The difference between the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ESr) was used to represent SDES. A systematic method called “ecological redline delineation based on the supply and demand of ecosystem services (ERDBESs)” was proposed, including the calculation of ESr, the analysis of land use conversion, the identification of the scope of ecological protection, and the map of the ecological redline with ArcGIS. Urumqi was taken as the case city to conduct ERDBESs. The results showed that the total area of the ecological redline of Urumqi is 1826.23 square kilometers (km2), accounting for about 12.9% of the total area, in consistent with the announced ecological redline of Urumqi. The results show that the ecological redline delineation method in the Guideline actually includes the consideration of SDES, and this study provides a demonstration for it. This study regarded the ERDBESs as a feasible and rational method to delineate ecological redline and can be used as the theoretical support for the Guideline to practise ecological redline delineation based on SDES, enhancing the policy implications of the Guidance regarding the implicit logic between ecological redline and SDES.