A novel model to evaluate spatial structure in thinned conifer-broadleaved mixed natural forests

In order to ensure the effective analysis and reconstruction of forests,it is key to ensure the quantitative description of their spatial structure.In this paper,a distance model for the optimal stand spatial structure based on weighted Voronoi diagrams is proposed.In particular,we provide a novel methodological model for the comprehensive evaluation of the spatial structure of forest stands in natural mixed conifer-broadleaved forests and the formulation of management decision plans.The applicability of the rank evaluation and the optimal solution distance model are compared and assessed for different standard sample plots of natural mixed conifer-broadleaved forests.The effect of crown width on the spatial structure unit of the trees is observed to be higher than that of the diameter at breast height.Moreover,the influence of crown length is greater than that of tree height.There are nine possible spatial structure units determined by the weighted Voronoi diagram for the number of neighboring trees in the central tree,with an average intersection of neighboring crowns reaching 80%.The rank rating of natural forest sample plots is correlated with the optimal solution distance model,and their results are generally consistent for natural forests.However,the rank rating is not able to provide a quantitative assessment.The optimal solution distance model is observed to be more comprehensive than traditional methods for the evaluation of the spatial structure of forest stands.It can effectively reflect the trends in realistic stand spatial structure factors close to or far from the ideal structure point,and accurately assesses the forest spatial structure.The proposed optimal solution distance model improves the integrated evaluation of the spatial structure of forest stands and provides solid theoretical and technical support for sustainable forest management.

Regional landslide hazard assessment based on Distance Evaluation Model

There are many factors influencing landslide occurrence.The key for landslide control is to confirm the regional landslide hazard factors.The Cameron Highlands of Malaysia was selected as the study area.By bivariate statistical analysis method with GIS software the authors analyzed the relationships among landslides and environmental factors such as lithology,geomorphy,elevation,road and land use.Distance Evaluation Model was developed with Landslide Density(LD).And the assessment of landslide hazard of Cameron Highlands was performed.The result shows that the model has higher prediction precision.

Calibration of parallel kinematics machine using generalized distance error model

This paper focus on the accuracy enhancement of parallel kinematics machine through kinematics calibration. In the calibration processing, well-structured identification Jacobian matrix construction and end-effector position and orientation measurement are two main difficulties. In this paper, the identification Jacobian matrix is constructed easily by numerical calculation utilizing the unit virtual velocity method. The generalized distance errors model is presented for avoiding measuring the position and orientation directly which is difficult to be measured. At last, a measurement tool is given for acquiring the data points in the calibration processing. Experimental studies confirmed the effectiveness of method. It is also shown in the paper that the proposed approach can be applied to other typed parallel manipulators.

Solid model edit distance: a multi-application and multi-level schema for CAD model retrieval

We present the solid model edit distance(SMED),a powerful and flexible paradigm for exploiting shape similarities amongst CAD models.It is designed to measure the magnitude of distortions between two CAD models in boundary representation(B-rep).We give the formal definition by analogy with graph edit distance,one of the most popular graph matching methods.To avoid the expensive computational cost potentially caused by exact computation,an approximate procedure based on the alignment of local structure sets is provided in addition.In order to verify the flexibility,we make intensive investigations on three typical applications in manufacturing industry,and describe how our method can be adapted to meet the various requirements.Furthermore,a multilevel method is proposed to make further improvements of the presented algorithm on both effectiveness and efficiency,in which the models are hierarchically segmented into the configurations of features.Experiment results show that SMED serves as a reasonable measurement of shape similarity for CAD models,and the proposed approach provides remarkable performance on a real-world CAD model database.

Numerical analysis of submarine landslides using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics depth integral model

Submarine landslides can cause severe damage to marine engineering structures. Their sliding velocity and runout distance are two major parameters for quantifying and analyzing the risk of submarine landslides.Currently, commercial calculation programs such as BING have limitations in simulating underwater soil movements. All of these processes can be consistently simulated through a smoothed particle hydrodynamics（SPH） depth integrated model. The basis of the model is a control equation that was developed to take into account the effects of soil consolidation and erosion. In this work, the frictional rheological mode has been used to perform a simulation study of submarine landslides. Time-history curves of the sliding body＇s velocity, height,and length under various conditions of water depth, slope gradient, contact friction coefficient, and erosion rate are compared; the maximum sliding distance and velocity are calculated; and patterns of variation are discussed.The findings of this study can provide a reference for disaster warnings and pipeline route selection.

Liver Segmentation in CT Images Based on DRLSE Model

Liver segmentation in CT images is an important step for liver volumetry and vascular evaluation in liver pre-surgical planning. In this paper, a segmentation method based on distance regularized level set evolution(DRLSE) model was proposed, which incorporated a distance regularization term into the conventional Chan-Vese (C-V) model. In addition, the region growing method was utilized to generate the initial liver mask for each slice, which could decrease the computation time for level-set propagation. The experimental results show that the method can dramatically decrease the evolving time and keep the accuracy of segmentation. The new method is averagely 15 times faster than the method based on conventional C-V model in segmenting a slice.

Ecologically based landscape pattern optimization in northwest of Beijing

Supported by the technologies of remote sensing(RS) and geographical informa-tion system(GIS),we chose northwest of Beijing as a study area and gave priority to under-standing of the spatial-temporal characteristics of landscape pattern change through visually interpreted Landsat TM images of 1989,1996 and 2005.It is believed that there were a series of landscape ecological problems caused by city expansion:landscape ecological connec-tivity was low;landscape structure was simplified;the fragmentation of green land patch was more obvious on the plain areas,moreover,spatial distribution of green land was unbalanced.For this reason,this study adopted accumulative cost distance model,combined with eco-system services and spatial interactions of landscape types,analyzed the spatial difference of the ecological function and the compactness of landscape structure in the study area,and further discussed the landscape pattern optimization proposal.We find that it is essential to protect and establish ecological sources,to establish urban ecological corridors,and to es-tablish ecological nodes at the landscape ecological strategic positions so as to intensify spatial relationships among landscape elements and maintain continuity of landscape eco-logical process and pattern in the course of city expansion.The methods and final results from this study are expected to be useful for landscape ecological planning in Beijing region.

Landscape Pattern Optimization of Chengdu Based on Modern Garden City

TOptimization of regional landscape pattern is significant for improving function and value of ecosystem,and restraining the expansion of urban layout.Taking Chengdu City for example,this paper applied RS and GIS techniques,landscape indexes and ecological service function evaluation to further analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of landscape pattern and spatial differences of regional ecological functions,and on this basis,identified the spatial distribution of ecological source lands.Based on the long-term objective of building Chengdu into a modem garden city,this paper applied the accumulative cost distance model and introduced garden city theory to construct regional ecological corridors and ecological nodes,and explored the approaches of optimizing landscape pattern of modem garden city.The results showed that a great deal of arable land has been transferred to construction land in the urbanization;intensity of regional ecological functions showed obvious spatial differences;ecological source lands were mainly distributed in the Longmen Mountain,the Qionglai Mountain,the Changqiu Mountain and the Longquan Mountain;according to actual conditions of the study area,the road ecological corridors,river corridors and agricultural corridors in the layout of "four rings and six radial corridors" were constructed;ecological nodes dominated by intersection,wetland and forest park were formed.This research method and results are significant references for building Chengdu into a modem garden

An Enhanced Safe Distance Car-Following Model

Gipps' model, a well-known safe distance car-following model, has a very strict restriction on the car-following behavior that the following vehicle has to maintain the exact safe distance to the leading vehicle to avoid rear crash. However, this restriction is not consistent with the real traffic condition. Due to that, an enhanced safe distance car-following model is proposed first, and then calibrated and evaluated using the field data. Furthermore, the simulation is conducted to analyze the characteristics of the new model. The results of evaluation and simulation illustrate that the proposed model has higher simulation accuracy than the original Gipps' model, and can reproduce the stable flow and shock wave phenomena that are very common in real traffic.Moreover, the simulation results also prove that the enhanced model can better stabilize the traffic flow than Gipps' model.

Stochastic model updating using distance discrimination analysis

This manuscript presents a stochastic model updating method, taking both uncertainties in models and variability in testing into account. The updated finite element（FE） models obtained through the proposed technique can aid in the analysis and design of structural systems. The authors developed a stochastic model updating method integrating distance discrimination analysis（DDA） and advanced Monte Carlo（MC） technique to（1） enable more efficient MC by using a response surface model,（2） calibrate parameters with an iterative test-analysis correlation based upon DDA, and（3） utilize and compare different distance functions as correlation metrics. Using DDA, the influence of distance functions on model updating results is analyzed. The proposed stochastic method makes it possible to obtain a precise model updating outcome with acceptable calculation cost. The stochastic method is demonstrated on a helicopter case study updated using both Euclidian and Mahalanobis distance metrics. It is observed that the selected distance function influences the iterative calibration process and thus, the calibration outcome, indicating that an integration of different metrics might yield improved results.

Management factors affecting densities of common grassland birds of high elevation grasslands of eastern South Africa:Ingula as a case study

Background: World?wide grassland birds are in decline due to habitat loss and degradation resulting from inten?sive agricultural practices. Understanding how key grassland habitat attributes determine grassland bird densities is required to make appropriate conservation decisions. We examine drivers of bird densities in a South African grass?land area that has been managed for biodiversity conservation with reduced grazing pressure.Methods: We estimated the density of the eight most common grassland bird species encountered in our area to evaluate the effects of recent grassland management changes on the avifauna. We collected data on birds and habitat from the austral summers of 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2010/2011. We used hierarchical distance sampling methods to estimate density of birds relative to two main habitat variables, i.e., grass cover and height. In addition, we used regression splines within these distance sampling models as a more flexible description of suitable ranges of grass height and cover for each species.Results: For most species, density is related to grass height and cover as expected. The African Quailfinch(Ortygospiza atricollis) and Common Quail(Coturnix coturnix) preferred relatively short and open grass. The Yellow?breasted Pipit(Anthus chloris), African Pipit(Anthus cinnamomeus) and Red?capped Lark(Calandrella cinerea) preferred short and relatively dense grass, while the Wing?snapping Cisticola(Cisticola ayresii) preferred grass of intermediate height and cover. The Cape Longclaw(Macronyx capensis) and Zitting Cisticola(Cisticola juncidis) preferred tall and dense grass. Our results agree with previous studies that grass height combined with grass cover are the most important habitat features that managers should manipulate in order to increase the density of target species. The regression splines show that the effect of these two habitat variables on density is well described by linear relationships for most species.Conclusions: This study supports previous studies suggesting that grazing and fire are important tools for manage?ment to use in order to create a mosaic of grass height and cover that would support high densities of desired spe?cies. We suggest that conservation managers of these grasslands combine fire and grazing as management tools to create suitable habitats for grassland birds in general.

SSDBA:the stretch shrink distance based algorithm for link prediction in social networks

In the field of social network analysis,Link Predic-tion is one of the hottest topics which has been attracted attentions in academia and industry.So far,literatures for solving link prediction can be roughly divided into two categories:similarity-based and learning-based methods.The learning-based methods have higher accuracy,but their time complexities are too high for complex networks.However,the similarity-based methods have the advantage of low time consumption,so improving their accuracy becomes a key issue.In this paper,we employ community structures of social networks to improve the prediction accuracy and propose the stretch shrink distance based algorithm(SSDBA),In SSDBA,we first detect communities of a social network and identify active nodes based on community average threshold(CAT)and node average threshold(NAT)in each community.Second,we propose the stretch shrink distance(SSD)model to iteratively calculate the changes of distances between active nodes and their local neighbors.Finally,we make predictions when these links'distances tend to converge.Furthermore,extensive parameters learning have been carried out in experiments.We compare our SSDBA with other popular approaches.Experimental results validate the effectiveness and efficiency of proposed algorithm.

An Improved Underwater Confrontation Simulation Method of Naval Amphibious Operational Training System

This paper described an improved underwater confrontation simulation method of naval amphibious operational training system. The initial position of submarine forces on the enemy is generated automatically, and the attacking distance model of torpedoes is established based on the kinematics theory, which is more flexible and reasonable to judge the launch condition compared to traditional method. The two kinds of confrontation behavior models on the enemy submarine are created to depict its tactical action from the defensive to the offensive as well as the contrary, ensuring that operational style is simulated more comprehensively and properly. The existing motion trajectory estimation and collision detection algorithms on operational platforms are also improved to reduce the iteration error and further enhance the detection accuracy of target hit.

An Analysis of Energy and Environment Efficiency of China＇s Iron and Steel Industry

Due to heavy energy consumption and low technical efficiency, China＇s iron and steel industry is trapped in the dilemma ＂large but not strong＂. This situation not only exerts enormous pressure on energy security but also on increased carbon emission and environmental pollution. The contribution of this study is to calculate the energy and environment efficiency of China＇s iron and steel industry and to analyze the factors affecting this efficiency. An index of energy and environment efficiency is introduced based on Directional Slacks-based Distance Measure Model. This index is adopted to measure the energy and environment efficiency of China＇s iron and steel industry using 2,382 firm observations during 2001 to 2005. In addition, Hierarchy Linear Model （HLM） is applied to analyze the factors which can influence the efficiency with both firm-level and province-level data. The conclusions are as follows： The energy and environment efficiency of China＇s iron and steel industry did not have a significant change during the research period. A firm＇s age, size, ownership, product category and the economy of its province have significant influence on its energy and environment efficiency.

Unusual Event Detection and Prediction in Real-life Scenes

In this paper,we consider unusual event detection problem in a novel viewpoint and provide an algorithm to solve the problem.The actions or events in the scene is usual or not will eventually be reflected on the changes of some basic features.We summarize these basic event features and propose special representation for each of them.Thus we can model these features in a uniform mode using adaptive Gaussian mixture model.Supervised and unsupervised unusual event detection algorithm can be designed to fit various situations based on this model.The superiority of our model is that it can detect unusual event automatically without to know the determinate model of unusual events.In conclusion,we provide two applications to verify the effectiveness of our model.