Ecological function regionalization of fluvial corridor landscapes and measures for ecological regeneration in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River, Xinjiang of China

The middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River are currently one of the main regions of ecological restoration in the arid areas of western China.Using the principles and method of landscape ecology,this study has chosen the fluvial corridor landscape in the middle and lower reaches of the Tarim River,and discusses the region’s ecologically functional regionalization system and issues related to its practical classification.On this basis the corresponding regionalizing principles and standards were developed which were used to qualitatively divide the three main landscapes as the ecologically functional areas in the drainage basin.The paper has also analyzed the characteristic of the study areas,and has put forward the measures for its ecological restoration.

Spatial function regionalization and governance of coastal zone: A case study in Ningbo City

Reasonable development and utilization of spatial resources in the coastal zone not only affects the development quality of the marine economy but also impacts the utilization efficiency of spatial resources,playing an important role in regional sustainable development.Depending on the natural,economic,and societal characteristics of a region,research topics such as using relevant methods to divide the coastline,proper spatial development of the coast,protecting coastal zones,and achieving higher spatial resource distribution efficiency have recently become hot topics in geographic research.Most of the scholars construct the evaluation index system from the perspective of economic and ecological factors and undertake some exploration of the division methods.However,the selection of indicators for a coastal zone needs a different and more scientific approach.There is a need for emphasizing the overall strategy of land-ocean integration in developing spatial resources in a coastal zone.Taking the coastal zone in Ningbo as an example,this paper develops a new evaluation framework and spatial function regionalization method that is used to divide the coastline and coastal zone.Based on the perspective of overall strategy for the land and ocean,we evaluate the suitability of coastline development.We then propose the spatial function regionalization of the coastal zone.Finally,based on the status quo of spatial development in Ningbo,we divide the coastal zone into ecological space,production space and living space,and propose adjustment directions and control requirements for the different types of spatial layouts.

Functional regionalization with the restriction of ecological shelter zones： A case of Zhaotong in Yunnan

Ecological shelter zones reconstruction is an ecosystem restoration and conservation project aimed to the ecological safety of nations, regions and basins. Reconstruction of ecological shelter zones of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River became one of the most important tasks of Western Development strategy. This article, taking Zhaotong as an example, studies the functional regionalization of ecological shelter zones. The study supplies a case for functional regionalization of small and medium regions whose main tasks are environment reservation. With the guidance of theories of functional regionalization, and based on the analysis of Zhaotong＇s natural, ecological and socioeconomic factors, the paper suggests five principles for factors selection. These principles include： （1） reversing order evaluation; （2） selecting main factors; （3） keeping the integrality of administrative regions of towns; and （4） making the products acceptable by local government. To analyze spatial status of selected factors, LUCC data in 2002, 1：50,000 relief maps and town-unit socioeconomic statistical data in 2004 are used. RS and GIS tools are also applied to melt traditional and modern geographical methods. This would be useful to functional regionalization research in mountainous areas. As a conclusion, the leading functional regions of ecological conservation or economic development are suggested, respectively. Zhaotong city is divided into two-level functional regions. The first-level includes three leading functional regions and they will lead developing direction of sub-regions. The second-level includes eight sub-regions, which are policy implemented regions, and will supply guidance to Zhaotong＇s ecological shelter zones reconstruction.

Spatial Agglomeration and Diffusion of Population Based on a Regional Density Function Approach:A Case Study of Shandong Province in China

Population density functions have long been used to describe the spatial structure of regional population distributions.Several studies have been conducted to examine the population distribution in Shandong Province,China,but few have applied regional density functions to the analysis.Therefore,based on the 2000,2010,and 2020 population censuses,this study used monocentric and polycentric regional density functions to study the characteristics of population agglomeration and diffusion in Shandong.This is followed by an in-depth discussion based on population growth rate data and hot-and cold-spot analyses.The results showed that the Shandong Province population was spatially unevenly distributed.Population growth rates were higher in urban centers and counties,with more significant changes in population size in the eastern coastal areas than in the inland areas.As verified in this study,the logarithmic form of the single-center regional density function R2 was greater than 0.8,which was in line with the population spatial structure of Shandong Province.During the study period,the estimated population density of the regional center and the absolute value of the regional population density gradient both increased,indicating a clear and increasing trend of centripetal agglomeration of regional centers over the study period.Overall,the R2 value of the multicenter region density function was higher than that of the single-center region density function.The polycentric regional density function showed that the population density gradient of some centers had a downward trend,which reflected the spatial development trend of outward diffusion in these centers.Meanwhile,the variation in the estimated population density and the population density gradient exhibited differences in the central population distribution patterns at different levels.

Speckle tracking echocardiography to assess regional ventricular function in patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

AIM To explore regional systolic strain of midwall and endocardial segments using speckle tracking echocardiography in patients with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM).METHODS We prospectively assessed 20 patients(mean age 53 ± 16 years,range:18-81 years,10 were male),with apical HCM. We measured global longitudinal peak systolic strain(GLPSS) in the midwall and endocardium of the left ventricle. RESULTS The diastolic thickness of the 4 apical segments was 16.25 ± 2.75 mm. All patients had a normal global systolicfunction with a fractional shortening of 50% ± 8%. In spite of supernormal left ventricular(LV) systolic function,midwall GLPSS was decreased in all patients,more in the apical(-7.3% ±-8.8%) than in basal segments(-15.5% ±-6.93%),while endocardial GLPPS was significantly greater and reached normal values(apical:-22.8% ±-7.8%,basal:-17.9% ±-7.5%). CONCLUSION This study shows that two-dimensional strain was decreased mainly confined to the mesocardium,while endocardium myocardial deformation was preserved in HCM and allowed to identify subclinical LV dysfunction. This transmural heterogeneity in systolic strain had not been previously described in HCM and could be explained by the distribution of myofibrillar disarray in deep myocardial areas. The clinical application of this novel finding may help further understanding of the pathophysiology of HCM.

Left Ventricular Regional Systolic Function in Patient with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy by Quantitative Tissue Velocity Imaging

The left ventricular regional systolic functions in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy （HCM） were assessed by using quantitative tissue velocity imaging （QTVI）. Left ventricular （LV） regional myocardial velocity along long- and short-axis in 31 HCM patients and 20 healthy subjects were analyzed by QTVI, and the regional myocardial systolic peak velocities （MVS） were measured. Mean MVS at each level including mitral annular, basal, middle and apical segments were calculated. The ratio of MVS along long-axis to that along short-axis （Ri） at basal and middle segments of the LV posterior wall and ventricular septum were calculated. The results showed that mean MVS was slower at each level including mitral annular, basal, middle and apical segments in the HCM patients than that in the healthy subjects （P〈0.01）. There were no significant differences in mean MVS between obstructive and non-obstructive groups in HCM patients. MVS of all regional myocardial segments along long-axis in the HCM patients were significantly slower than that in the healthy subjects （P〈0.05）, but there was no significant difference in MVS of all regional myocardial segments along long-axis between hypertrophied and non-hypertrophied group in the HCM patients. Ri was significantly lower in the HCM patients than that in the healthy subjects. The LV regional myocardial contractility along long-axis was impaired not only in the hypertrophied wall but also in the non-hypertrophied one in patients with HCM, suggesting that QTVI can assess accurately LV regional systolic function in patient with HCM and provides a novel means for an early diagnosis before and independent of hypertrophy.

Assessment of Regional Myocardial Function in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy by Tissue Strain Imaging

The value of tissue strain imaging （SI） in regional myocardial systolic and diastolic func tion assessment was studied. In 18 patients with nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy （HCM） and 20 age-matched healthy subjects, regional myocardial longitudinal peak systolic strain in eject time （represented by εet） was measured at basal, mid and apical segments of septal, lateral and posterior walls of the left ventricle （LV） and compared between groups, εet had no significant difference between segments in control group （P〉0.05）, which displayed a decreasing trend from basal segments to apical ones. εet in the HCM group was significantly decreased （P（0. 05） as compared with that in the healthy group. In the HCM group, εet in the midseptum was significantly less than at the basal and apical septum, and was also less than at the rest LV walls in the same group （P〉0.01）. The systolic reversed εet was noticed in 35% of the hypertrophic segments in HCM group. Significantly negative correlation existed between the absolute value of εet and wall thickness in the midseptum （r= -0.83）. The post-systolic strain（PSS） segment number the and amplitudes in healthy group were significantly less than those in HCM group （P〈0.05）. Both regional myocardial systolic and diastolic functions were impaired in hypertrophic or non-hypertrophic segments in patients with the HCM, especially in hypertrophic segments. Strain imaging technique is a sensitive and accura tool in myocardial dysfunction assessment.

Evidence of cortical reorganization of language networks after stroke with subacute Broca's aphasia:a blood oxygenation level dependent-functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that is a common consequence of stroke.The pathogenesis of the disease is not fully understood,and as a result,current treatment options are not satisfactory.Here,we used blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the activation of bilateral cortices in patients with Broca＇s aphasia 1 to 3 months after stroke.Our results showed that language expression was associated with multiple brain regions in which the right hemisphere participated in the generation of language.The activation areas in the left hemisphere of aphasia patients were significantly smaller compared with those in healthy adults.The activation frequency,volumes,and intensity in the regions related to language,such as the left inferior frontal gyrus（Broca＇s area）,the left superior temporal gyrus,and the right inferior frontal gyrus（the mirror region of Broca＇s area）,were lower in patients compared with healthy adults.In contrast,activation in the right superior temporal gyrus,the bilateral superior parietal lobule,and the left inferior temporal gyrus was stronger in patients compared with healthy controls.These results suggest that the right inferior frontal gyrus plays a role in the recovery of language function in the subacute stage of stroke-related aphasia by increasing the engagement of related brain areas.

Territorial function differentiation and its comprehensive regionalization in China

During the sustainable development of land surface system,different territories undertake different functions.The understanding and representation of territorial differentiation of the land surface system is the main purpose of comprehensive function regionalization research.Focusing on the theoretical gap of comprehensive geographical regionalization,that is,the spatial decoupling of the physical environment and human activities,the non-nested relationship of spatial scale transformation,and the persistence and uncertainty of the dynamic evolution of territorial functions,this research proposed the identification principles and division methods of comprehensive functional regions.Based on the major function zoning in China,the systematic classification method with function orientation was employed to delineate the comprehensive functions of each territory,such as ecological security,food production and urban development.Then,the geographical regionalization method,which follows the principles of interconnection of different regionalization objectives at different levels and a combination of top-down decomposition and bottom-up aggregation,was used to determine the geographic boundaries.To meet the objective requirements of flexible and dynamic boundaries,two sets of land regionalization schemes for 2035 and 2050 were finally formed,each of which had three spatial levels.The first-level regionalization identified four major regions,which comprehensively represented the relatively stable state of China’s land development and protection pattern under the leading role of physical environment differentiation.The second-level regionalization identified 12 regions,which comprehensively represented the spatial layout of a new development pattern of multi-and inter-provinces coordinating the innovation chain,industrial chain and supply chain based on a relatively independent and complete natural carrier.The third-level regionalization identified 80 sub-regions,which comprehensively represented the functional differentiation patterns of sub-provinces during sustainable development.Compared with the current geographical differentiation research,the study of territorial function differentiation has academic values for the development of integrated geography in exploring the territorial system of the humanenvironment relationship,and it can provide a scientific basis for determining the territorial model of sustainable development and optimizing the pattern of spatial development and protection in China.

Spatial Agglomeration of Exhibition Enterprises on a Regional Scale in China

During the past two decades, the exhibition industry in China has been developing rapidly and has become an important part of the modern service industry, particularly the agglomeration characteristics of exhibition enterprises highlighted on the regional scale. Although the development of theoretical research on the western exhibition industry has taken place over time, the spatial perspective has not been at the centre of attention so far. This paper aims to fill this gap and report on the agglomeration characteristics of exhibition enterprises and their influential factors. Based on data about exhibition enterprises in the Pearl River Delta(PRD) during 1991–2013, using the Ripley K function analysis and kernel density estimation, this research identifies that: 1) the exhibition enterprise on the regional scale is significantly characterized by spatial agglomeration, and the agglomeration density and scale are continuously increasing; 2) the spatial pattern of agglomeration has developed from a single-center to multi-center form. Meanwhile, this paper profiles the factors influencing the spatial agglomeration of exhibition enterprises by selecting the panel data of nine cities in the PRD in 1999, 2002, 2006 and 2013. The results show that market capacity, urban informatization level and exhibition venues significantly influence the location choice of exhibition enterprises. Among them, the market capacity is a variable that exerts a far greater impact than other factors do.

Imbalance and Polarization of Spatial Distribution of China's Swine Production

Based on annual pork yield of each province in 1996-2014,using Gini coefficient and spatial polarization index model,empirical analysis was carried out for spatial imbalance and polarization degree of swine production distribution. Results indicate that there is high imbalance in spatial distribution of swine production. The imbalance takes on first rise then declines with fluctuation,largely because of inter-group gap. From the perspective of regions,the regions with balanced grain production have the highest imbalance in swine production,followed by main sales regions,and the main grain production regions have the lowest imbalance. The polarization index indicates that the overall polarization degree of the spatial distribution of swine production takes on a growing trend,and that of each functional region of grain production is also growing.

Characterization of the Crustal Thickness and Poisson's Ratio of the Binchuan Region

This paper presents the changes of crust thickness and Poisson＇s ratios distribution in the Binchuan region, where the first air-gun transmitting station and it＇s a small dense array were deployed. From September 2011 to January 2014, more than 239 teleseismic events of M≥ 6.0 were recorded in 16 stations in the Binchuan region. Their P-wave receiver functions were analyzed respectively. The high spatial resolution result shows that the average crust thickness of Binchuan region is 45.3km, it follows the rule of ＂deeper in the north and east part, shallower in the south and west part. ＂ The deepest region is in Xiaoyindian Station; the crust thickness is 47.9km; the shallowest region is in Paiying Station, it has the thickness of 42. lkm. It shows that the deeper Moho surface nearby the Chenghai fault and shallower nearby the Honghe fault; the isoline distribution of thickness changes greatly nearby the Chenghai fault and slowly nearby the Honghe fault. From the distribution of Poisson＇s ratios, it is unevenly in the study area with a great difference from the north part to the south part, which shows a characteristic of ＂lower in the north, higher in the south＂. The Poisson＇s ratio nearby the Honghe fault is medium too high （ 0. 26 ≤ σ≤0. 29 ） ; lower nearby the Chenghai fault （ ≤0. 26）. This paper concludes the possible reason of different characteristic between Poisson＇s ratio and crust thickness is thicker in the upper crust in the Binchuan region.

Early Detection of Regional and Global Left Ventricular Myocardial Function Using Strain and Strain-rate Imaging in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome

Background：Strain and strain-rate imaging （SRI） have been found clinically useful in the assessment of cardiac systolic and diastolic function as well as providing new insights in deciphering cardiac physiology and mechanics in cardiomyopathies,and identifying early subclinical changes in various pathologies.The aim of this study was to evaluate the regional and global left ventricular （LV） myocardial function in metabolic syndrome （MS） with SRI so that we can provide more myocardial small lesions in patients with MS,which is robust and reliable basis for early detection of LV function.Methods：Thirty-nine adults with MS were enrolled in the study.There was a control group of 39 healthy adults.In addition to classic echocardiographic assessment of LV global functional changes,SRI was used to evaluate regional and global LV function.Including：Peak systolic strain （S）,peak systolic strain-rate （SR-s）,peak diastolic strain-rate （SR-e）.Results：There were no statistically significant differences between MS and controls in all traditional parameters of LV systolic function.On the other hand,significant differences were observed between MS and the control group in most of the parameters of S,SR-s,SR-e in regional LV function.Multiple stepwise regression analyses revealed that S and SR significantly were negatively correlated with blood pressure,waist circumference,fasting plasma glucose,uric acid,suggesting that risk factories were relevant to regional systolic dysfunction.Conclusion：In MS with normal LV ejection fraction,there was regional myocardial dysfunction,risk factors contributed to the impairment of systolic and diastolic function of the regional myocardium.Assessment of myocardial function using SRI could be more accurate in MS patient evaluation than conventional echocardiography alone.

Affinity-based human mobility pattern for improved region function discovering

The process of urbanization is formed by regular movements of human beings. It yields different functional zones in a city, such as residential zone and commercial zone. Consequently, there exists a close connection between the human mobility pattern and the city＇s zones. However, it is not easy to collect large-scale society-wide data that can precisely capture the underlying relations between the individual＇s movement and the regional functions. Hence, our knowledge for understanding the basic patterns of human mobility is still limited. In order to discover the functions of different regions in a city, we propose an affinity based method in this paper. The affinity is a recently introduced metric for measuring the correlation of two connecting node in a complex network. The proposed model groups different functional zones by measuring user＇s arrival/departure distribution via relative entropy. In addition to this, we also identify the intensity of each functional zone by taking kernel density estimation （KDE） method. In the end, some experiments are conducted to evaluate our method with a large-scale real-life dataset, which consists of 3 million cellphone users＇ records from a period of one month. Our findings on the interaction between the mobility pattern and the regional functions can capture the city dynamics efficiently and provide a valuable reference for urban planners.

Bloch functions on fundamental regions

Let D={z∈C: │z│【1} be the unit disk in the finite complex plane C and Г a Fuchsiangroup consisting of Mbius maps from D to itself. Also, let Ω={z∈D:│z│【│γz│, id≠γ∈Г}be the fundamental region unde Г. Put Ω=D when Г={id}. If we denote by Ω andΩ the closure and boundary of Ω on D, respectively, then we know that Ω has

Regional Rainfall Damage Functions to Estimate Direct Economic Losses in Rainstorms:A Case Study of the 2016 Extreme Rainfall Event in Hebei Province of China

Developing a regional damage function to quickly estimate direct economic losses(DELs)caused by heavy rain and foods is crucial for providing scientifc supports in efective disaster response and risk reduction.This study investigated the factors that infuence regional rainfall-induced damage and developed a calibrated regional rainfall damage function(RDF)using data from the 2016 extreme rainfall event in Hebei Province,China.The analysis revealed that total precipitation,asset value exposure,per capita GDP,and historical geological disaster density at both the township and county levels signifcantly afect regional rainfall-induced damage.The coefcients of the calibrated RDF indicate that doubling the values of these factors leads to varying increases or decreases in rainfall-induced damage.Furthermore,the study demonstrated a spatial scale dependency in the coefcients of the RDF,with increased elasticity values for asset value exposure and per capita GDP at the county level compared to the township level.The fndings emphasize the challenges of applying RDFs across multiple scales and highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic factors in assessing rainfall-induced damage.Despite the limitations and uncertainties of the RDF developed,this study contributes to our understanding of the relationship between physical and socioeconomic factors and rainfall-induced damage.Future research should prioritize enhancing exposure estimation and calibrating RDFs for various types of rainfall-induced disasters to improve model accuracy and performance.The study also acknowledges the variation in RDF performance across diferent physical environments,especially concerning geological disasters and slope stability.

Regional moment-independent sensitivity analysis with its applications in engineering

Traditional Global Sensitivity Analysis（GSA） focuses on ranking inputs according to their contributions to the output uncertainty.However,information about how the specific regions inside an input affect the output is beyond the traditional GSA techniques.To fully address this issue,in this work,two regional moment-independent importance measures,Regional Importance Measure based on Probability Density Function（RIMPDF） and Regional Importance Measure based on Cumulative Distribution Function（RIMCDF）,are introduced to find out the contributions of specific regions of an input to the whole output distribution.The two regional importance measures prove to be reasonable supplements of the traditional GSA techniques.The ideas of RIMPDF and RIMCDF are applied in two engineering examples to demonstrate that the regional moment-independent importance analysis can add more information concerning the contributions of model inputs.

Local synchronization and amplitude of the fluctuation of spontaneous brain activity in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder:a resting-state fMRI study

Regional homogeneity（ReHo）and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation（ALFF）are two approaches to depicting different regional characteristics of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging（RS-fMRI）data.Whether they can complementarily reveal brain regional functional abnormalities in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder（ADHD）remains unknown.In this study,we applied ReHo and ALFF to 23 medication-na ve boys diagnosed with ADHD and 25 age-matched healthy male controls using whole-brain voxel-wise analysis.Correlation analyses were conducted in the ADHD group to investigate the relationship between the regional spontaneous brain activity measured by the two approaches and the clinical symptoms of ADHD.We found that the ReHo method showed widely-distributed differences between the two groups in the fronto-cingulo-occipitocerebellar circuitry,while the ALFF method showed a difference only in the right occipital area.When a larger smoothing kernel and a more lenient threshold were used for ALFF,more overlapped regions were found between ALFF and ReHo,and ALFF even found some new regions with group differences.The ADHD symptom scores were correlated with the ReHo values in the right cerebellum,dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and left lingual gyrus in the ADHD group,while no correlation was detected between ALFF and ADHD symptoms.In conclusion,ReHo may be more sensitive to regional abnormalities,at least in boys with ADHD,than ALFF.And ALFF may be complementary to ReHo in measuring local spontaneous activity.Combination of the two may yield a more comprehensive pathophy-siological framework for ADHD.