Study on the Ecosystem Services Value of Fei County Based on RS and GIS

[Objective] With the background of dramatic changes in land use patterns,the aim was to explore the ecosystem services value of Fei County based on RS and GIS.[Method] Ecological changes in the environment can bring changes in economic value expressed quantitatively by ecosystem service value （ESV）.According to modified ESV equivalency factor tables and three periods of interpreted TM remote sensing images in 1990,2000 and 2009,this paper calculated the total ESV in Fei County,Shandong Province,China and analyzed the relationship between ESV and the land-use changes at last.[Result] The results showed that the total ESV of the study area decreased from 2.144×109 yuan in 1990,2.139×109 yuan in 2000,and at last to 2.098×109 yuan in 2009 as the overall study area land use pattern changed dramatically,in which the built-up land increased by 23％,while the cropland and forest were constantly on the decrease.[Conclusion] The research provides theoretical support for the construction of high efficient ecological economic zone and sustainable development of the region.

中国人均CO_2排放水平地区差异的成因分析——基于GINI系数和回归的Shapley Value分解方法

根据2000-2011年中国省际面板数据,以GINI系数为衡量指标,测算了人均CO2排放水平的地区差异,分析了人均CO2排放水平随时间的演变趋势,在此基础上采用基于回归的Shapley Value分解方法,对中国人均CO2排放水平地区差异形成原因进行了考察,探究各影响因素对差异程度的影响水平,从而为有效缩小地区差异和制定CO2减排政策提供有益的参考。结果表明：人均能源消费量因素的影响程度最大,平均贡献率为72.80%,各省份的经济发展水平和产业结构是人均CO2排放水平省际差异的第二大贡献因素,其平均贡献率依次为8.01%与10.20%,且在不同的时间段其结果有所不同。排在第四位和第五位的因素分别是城镇化水平和对外开放水平,二者都是影响人均CO2排放水平省际差异的重要因素,平均贡献率分别达到5.17%与3.81%。

Importance of b value in diffusion weighted imaging for the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

AIM:To investigate the use of multi-b-value diffusionweighted imaging in diagnosing pancreatic cancer.METHODS:We retrospectively analyzed 33 cases of pancreatic cancer and 12 cases of benign pancreatic tumors at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University from December 2008 to January2011.The demographic characteristics,clinical presentation,routine magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion weighted imaging(DWI)features with different b values were reviewed.Continuous data were expressed as mean±SD.Comparisons between pancreatic cancer and benign pancreatic tumors were performed using the Student’s t test.A probability of P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.RESULTS:Thirty-three patients with pancreatic cancer were identified.The mean age at diagnosis was 60±5.6 years.The male:female ratio was 21:12.Twenty cases were confirmed by surgical resection and 13 by biopsy of metastases.T1 weighted images demonstrated a pancreatic head mass in 16 patients,a pancreatic body mass in 10 cases,and a pancreatic tail mass with pancreatic atrophy in 7 cases.Eight patients had hepatic metastases,13 had invasion or envelopment of mesenteric vessels,4 had bone metastases,and 8had lymph node metastases.DWI demonstrated an irregular intense mass with unclear margins.Necrotic tissue demonstrated an uneven low signal.A b of 1100s/mm2was associated with a high intensity signal with poor anatomical delineation.A b of 700 s/mm2was associated with apparent diffusion coefficients(ADCs)that were useful in distinguishing benign and malignant pancreatic tumors(P<0.05).b values of 50,350,400,450 and 1100 s/mm2were associated with ADCs that did not differentiate the two tumors.CONCLUSION:Low b value images demonstrated superior anatomical details when compared to high b value images.Tumor tissue definition was high and contrast with the surrounding tissues was good.DWI was useful in diagnosing pancreatic cancer.

Effect of Methylene Blue (MB)-value of Manufactured Sand on the Durability of Concretes

The relation between the methylene blue （MB） value of MS and its limestone powder content and clay content was investigated. The effects of MB values ranging from 0.35 to 2.5 on the workability of fresh concrete, the mechanical properties, the resistance to freezing as well as the resistance to chlorine ion permeation of the hardened concrete were all investigated. The experimental results showed that the MB value had no correlation with the limestone powder content of MS, while it was directly related to the clay content. With an increase of MB value, concrete workability decreased, as did the flexural and 7-day compressive strengths, however, the 28-day compressive strength was not affected. Furthermore, influence of MB value on concretes of different strength levels was different. For low-strength concretes, an increase of MB value could improve its impermeability, but this was not the case for high-strength concretes. Instead, their resistance to chloride ion permeability decreased slightly. However, even a slight increase in MB value remarkably accelerated freeze-thaw damage of MS concrete. It was thus concluded that the critical MB value of 1.4 would not cause significant deterioration in the performance of MS concretes.

ON THE COEFFICIENTS OF DIFFERENTIATED EXPANSIONS AND DERIVATIVES OF CHEBYSHEV POLYNOMIALS OF THE THIRD AND FOURTH KINDS

Two new analytical formulae expressing explicitly the derivatives of Chebyshev polynomials of the third and fourth kinds of any degree and of any order in terms of Chebyshev polynomials of the third and fourth kinds themselves are proved. Two other explicit formulae which express the third and fourth kinds Chebyshev expansion coefficients of a general-order derivative of an infinitely differentiable function in terms of their original expansion coefficients are also given. Two new reduction formulae for summing some terminating hypergeometric functions of unit argument are deduced. As an application of how to use Chebyshev polynomials of the third and fourth kinds for solving high-order boundary value problems, two spectral Galerkin numerical solutions of a special linear twelfth-order boundary value problem are given.

Driving Force and Ecosystem Service Values Estimation in the Extreme Arid Region from 1975 to 2015:A Case Study of Alxa League,China

The research on ecosystem service values(ESVs)estimation in arid region is weak.We took the Alxa League of China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,an extreme arid region,as an example and constructed an equivalent coefficient method to assess its ESVs from 1975 to 2015,by determining the standard unit of ESVs and the basic equivalent of the value of different ecosystem services per unit area based on the regional characteristics,literature research,expert knowledge and land use data.The results show that the ESVs first decreased from 83170.4 million yuan(RMB)in 1975 to 82337.8 million yuan(RMB)in 2000 and then increased to84033.6 million yuan(RMB)in 2015,and the ESV of sparse grassland and desert account for about 33%and 29%of the total ESVs,respectively.Among the four service types,the regulating services,support services,supply services and cultural services account for66.5%,22.8%,6.0%and 4.7%,respectively.The changes of ESVs in Alxa League are determined by the socio-economic development and ecological changes.This study provides a new method to estimate the ESVs in arid region by integrating existing methods and regional characteristics,such as the cost of water for arid ecosystems.

Mathematical Proof of the Synthetic Running Correlation Coefficient and Its Ability to Reflect Temporal Variations in Correlation

The running correlation coefficient(RCC)is useful for capturing temporal variations in correlations between two time series.The local running correlation coefficient(LRCC)is a widely used algorithm that directly applies the Pearson correlation to a time window.A new algorithm called synthetic running correlation coefficient(SRCC)was proposed in 2018 and proven to be rea-sonable and usable;however,this algorithm lacks a theoretical demonstration.In this paper,SRCC is proven theoretically.RCC is only meaningful when its values at different times can be compared.First,the global means are proven to be the unique standard quantities for comparison.SRCC is the only RCC that satisfies the comparability criterion.The relationship between LRCC and SRCC is derived using statistical methods,and SRCC is obtained by adding a constraint condition to the LRCC algorithm.Dividing the temporal fluctuations into high-and low-frequency signals reveals that LRCC only reflects the correlation of high-frequency signals;by contrast,SRCC reflects the correlations of high-and low-frequency signals simultaneously.Therefore,SRCC is the ap-propriate method for calculating RCCs.

FREE BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEM FOR THE CYLINDRICALLY SYMMETRIC COMPRESSIBLE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS WITH DENSITY-DEPENDENT VISCOSITY

In this paper, we investigate the free boundary value problem （FBVP） for the cylindrically symmetric isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes equations （CNS） with density- dependent viscosity coefficients in the case that across the free surface stress tensor is balanced by a constant exterior pressure. Under certain assumptions imposed on the initial data, we prove that there exists a unique global strong solution which tends pointwise to a non-vacuum equilibrium state at an exponential time-rate as the time tends to infinity.

ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOUR OF EIGENVALUES FOR THE DISCONTINUOUS BOUNDARY-VALUE PROBLEM WITH FUNCTIONAL-TRANSMISSION CONDITIONS

In this study, the boundary-value problem with eigenvalue parameter generated by the differential equation with discontinuous coefficients and boundary conditions which contains not only endpoints of the considered interval, but also point of discontinuity and linear functionals is investigated. So, the problem is not pure boundary-value. The authors single out a class of linear functionals and find simple algebraic conditions on coefficients, which garantee the existence of infinit number eigenvalues. Also the asymptotic formulas for eigenvalues are found.

Assessment of ecosystem services value in response to prevailing and future land use/cover changes in Lahore,Pakistan

Land use/cover changes(LUCCs)significantly affect ecosystem services(ESs)and their corresponding monetary value.ESs can be evaluated to analyze the ecological and environmental changes caused by LUCCs.This research aims to estimate variations in the ecosystem services value(ESV)due to LUCCs in Lahore of Pakistan,and to offer information and recommendations to policy-makers concerned with the economic improvement of metropolis areas.We first investigated the historical LUCCs from 1990 to 2019,and then simulated the future land use/cover in 2030 and 2050 based on the CA-Markov model under three scenarios,including business-as-usual(BAU),rapid economic growth(REG),and coordinated environmental sustainability(CES).Subsequently,we evaluated the ESV from 1990 to 2050 and evaluated the historical and potential future ESV changes induced by LUCCs during 1990–2019 and 2019–2050,respectively.The results showed that,land use/cover exhibited an increase in built-up land and decreases in vegetation,water body,and unused land both in the past and future.The net ESV decreased from 58.26 million USD in 1990 to 50.31 million USD in 2019.In 2050,the decrease in ESV is most rapid under the REG scenario(decrease ESV of 7.13 million USD and decrease percentage of 14.18%),followed by the BAU(decrease ESV of 5.61 million USD and decrease percentage of 11.15%)and CES(decrease ESV of 5.18 million USD and decrease percentage of 10.30%)scenarios.For each ecosystem service type,the ESV of waste treatment decreased by 18.37%from 1990 to 2019,followed by soil formation and conservation(17.52%),biodiversity and maintenance(13.23%),climate regulation(11.80%),food production(11.69%),hydrological regulation(11.11%),and aesthetic value(3.07%).These outcomes indicate that continuous land use/cover planning should focus on regenerating aquatic areas and vegetation restoration.

A new investigation on drift of base-line value in geomagnetic observation

A new explanation on drift of base line (BL) value in geomagnetic observation was presented by means of detailed analysis on BL value of H variometer at Tianshui Observatory from 1991 to 1995, in association with some numerical simulation. It was confirmed that drift does not always exist. For variometers running normally for many years, drift appears to be zero. The temperature dependence of BL value is reversible below a certain temperature but irreversible above it. This irreversibility is the main reason that causes the BL value to show a monotonous declination with time, which has been mistaken for the drift in the past. As to the H variometer at Tianshui Observatory, no drift exists in BL value in these years. A new method was introduced to study the BL value variation with temperature by separating it into three parts.

DIFFERENCE SCHEMES BASING ON COEFFICIENT APPROXIMATION

In respect of variable coefficient differential equations, the equations of coefficient function approximation were more accurate than the coefficient to be frozen as a constant in every discrete subinterval. Usually, the difference schemes constructed based on Taylor expansion approximation of the solution do not suit the solution with sharp function. Introducing into local bases to be combined with coefficient function approximation, the difference can well depict more complex physical phenomena, for example, boundary layer as well as high oscillatory,with sharp behavior. The numerical test shows the method is more effective than the traditional one.

Diffusion-weighted Single-shot Echo Planar MR Imaging of Normal Human Prostate Using Different b Values

This study examined the effect of different b values on diffusion-weighted MR imaging （DWI） of human prostate by using single-shot spin echo echo planar imaging （SE-EPI） sequences, observed the normal appearances and measured apparent diffusion coefficient （ADC） values in anatomical regions of normal prostate. Twenty-four healthy volunteers （mean age： 32 y） were studied by using a 1.5T system with a phased array surface multicoil. Two kinds of single-shot SE-EPI sequence were used to perform DWI in the prostate in volunteers, with five b values being 0, 30, 300, 500 to 1000 s/mm2. The image quality with different imaging parameters was analyzed and the ADC values in anatomical regions of normal prostate were measured. DWI of prostate was successfully obtained in all volunteers. The images were of good quality, without artifacts containing pixels within the prostate. The contrast was good between the different anatomical regions of the prostatic gland, i.e., the peripheral zone （PZ）, which exhibited higher signal intensity, and the central gland （CG）. Signal intensity contrast was related to the magnitude of b values. The ADC values in PZ and CG were （1.27±0.22）×10-3 mm2/s and （1.01±0.17）×10-3 mm2/s,respectively. The ADC values were found to be significantly higher in PZ than in CG （P〈0.05, paired t-test）. Significant differences were found between the slice-selecting component and both the read-out and phase-encoding components of the ADC values. It is concluded that SE-EPI is a suitable DWI sequence for human prostate. The contrast between PZ and CG is good when b values are low, while the diffusion and ADC values are accurate when b values are high. ADC values are higher in PZ than in CG in normal prostate. Diffusional anisotropy is present in normal prostatic tissue.

Improving Numerical Weather Prediction in Low Latitudes by Optimizing Diffusion Coefficients

The horizontal diffusion coefficients of the operational model (T42L9) in numerical weather prediction are optimized by the steepest descent search of multi-dimensional optimization. In order to improve prediction accuracy in low latitudes, the optimum horizontal diffusion coefficients are chosen, with changing variation of the basic diffusion coefficient with the passage of time, and later forecasts are also made better. In view of the averages of forecast verifications of 9 cases, the forecasts with optimum diffusion coefficients are an improvement on operational forecasts. It means that the forecasts are got much better with optimum values of some important parameters by optimization in numerical weather prediction.

Estimates on the eigenvalues of complex nonlocal Sturm-Liouville problems

The present paper deals with the eigenvalues of complex nonlocal Sturm-Liouville boundary value problems.The bounds of the real and imaginary parts of eigenvalues for the nonlocal Sturm-Liouville differential equation involving complex nonlocal potential terms associated with nonlocal boundary conditions are obtained in terms of the integrable conditions of coefficients and the real part of the eigenvalues.

A Method of Moment Approach in Solving Boundary Value Problems

Several available methods, known in literatures, are available for solving nth order differential equations and their complexities differ based on the accuracy of the solution. A successful method, known to researcher in the area of computational electromagnetic and called the Method of Moment (MoM) is found to have its way in this domain and can be used in solving boundary value problems where differential equations are resulting. A simplified version of this method is adopted in this paper to address this problem, and two differential equations examples are considered to clarify the approach and present the simplicity of the method. As illustrated in this paper, this approach can be introduced along with other methods, and can be considered as an attractive way to solve differential equations and other boundary value problems.

Speech Intelligibility Enhancement Algorithm Based on Multi-Resolution Power-Normalized Cepstral Coefficients(MRPNCC)for Digital Hearing Aids

Speech intelligibility enhancement in noisy environments is still one of the major challenges for hearing impaired in everyday life.Recently,Machine-learning based approaches to speech enhancement have shown great promise for improving speech intelligibility.Two key issues of these approaches are acoustic features extracted from noisy signals and classifiers used for supervised learning.In this paper,features are focused.Multi-resolution power-normalized cepstral coefficients(MRPNCC)are proposed as a new feature to enhance the speech intelligibility for hearing impaired.The new feature is constructed by combining four cepstrum at different time–frequency(T–F)resolutions in order to capture both the local and contextual information.MRPNCC vectors and binary masking labels calculated by signals passed through gammatone filterbank are used to train support vector machine(SVM)classifier,which aim to identify the binary masking values of the T–F units in the enhancement stage.The enhanced speech is synthesized by using the estimated masking values and wiener filtered T–F unit.Objective experimental results demonstrate that the proposed feature is superior to other comparing features in terms of HIT-FA,STOI,HASPI and PESQ,and that the proposed algorithm not only improves speech intelligibility but also improves speech quality slightly.Subjective tests validate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for hearing impaired.

Evaluating agricultural water-use efficiency based on water footprint of crop values: a case study in Xinjiang of China

Efficient agricultural water use is crucial for food safety and water conservation on a global scale. To quantitatively investigate the agricultural water-use efficiency in regions exhibiting the complex agricultural structure, this study developed an indicator named water footprint of crop values(WFV) that is based on the water footprint of crop production. Defined as the water volume used to produce a unit price of crop(m^3/CNY), the new indicator makes it feasible to directly compare the water footprint of different crops from an economic perspective, so as to comprehensively evaluate the water-use efficiency under the complex planting structure. On the basis of WFV, the study further proposed an indicator of structural water-use coefficient(SWUC), which is represented by the ratio of water-use efficiency for a given planting structure to the water efficiency for a reference crop and can quantitatively describe the impact of planting structure on agricultural water efficiency. Then, a case study was implemented in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. The temporal and spatial variations of WFV were assessed for the planting industries in 14 prefectures and cities of Xinjiang between 1991 and 2015. In addition, contribution rate analysis of WFV for different prefectures and cities was conducted to evaluate the variations of WFV caused by different influencing factors: agricultural input, climatic factors, and planting structure. Results from these analyses indicated first that the average WFV of planting industries in Xinjiang significantly decreased from 0.293 m^3/CNY in 1991 to 0.153 m^3/CNY in 2015, corresponding to an average annual change rate of –3.532%. WFV in 13 prefectures and cities(with the exception of Karamay) has declined significantly during the period of 1991–2015, indicating that agricultural water-use efficient has effectively improved. Second, the average SWUC in Xinjiang decreased from 1.17 to 1.08 m^3/CNY in the 1990 s, and then declined to 1.00 m^3/CNY in 2011–2015. The value of SWUC was highly consistent with the relative value of WFV in most prefectures and cities, showing that planting structure is one of the primary factors affecting regional agricultural water-use efficiency. Third, the contribution rate of WFV variations from human factors including agricultural input and planting structure was much more significant than that from climatic factors. However, the distribution of agricultural input and the adjustment of planting structure significantly differed among prefectures and cities, suggesting regional imbalances of agricultural development. This study indicated the feasibility and effectiveness of controlling agricultural water use through increasing technical input and rational selection of crops in the face of impending climate change. Specifically, we concluded that, the rational application of chemical fertilizers, the development of the fruit industry, and the strict restriction of the cotton industry should be implemented to improve the agricultural water-use efficiency in Xinjiang.

Audit Committee, Value Creation Efficiency and Capital Employed Efficiency

This study contributes a number of innovative and interesting empirical findings with a view of four audit committee characteristics to predict overall value creation efficiency and capital employed efficiency using value added intellectual coefficient （VAICTM） method. Using purposive sampling, 34 property, real estate, and building construction firms listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2011 were selected. Empirical findings could not provide a significant relationship between audit committee characteristics and the overall value creation efficiency as well as capital employed efficiency. This implies that currently, the number of members, number of meetings, number of independent commissioners, and accounting or finance expertise in audit committee cannot be expected as drivers of business value creation in Indonesian context, more specifically for property, real estate, and building construction industry. The overall lack of significant relationships may potentially result from limited human capacity, lack of financial expertise, and inadequate knowledge about the role of audit committee to add value to the business.

A VARIATIONAL METHOD FOR COMPUTING POTENTIAL COEFFICIENTS USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRAVIMETRIC DATA

In this paper,a variational method is presented for solving theclassical gravimetric,satellite gravimetric and satellite altimetric mixed typeboudary value problem to obtain the potential coefficients.According to thisprinciple,classical gravimetric data（height measured by geometric levelling orheight triangulation）,satellite gravimetric data（height measured by satellitegeodesy technique）and satellite altimetric data can be used jointly to calculate thepotential coefficients.