Mapping ecosystem services in urban and peri-urban areas.A systematic review

Urban and peri-urban ecosystems are subjected to an intense impact.The demand for ecosystem services(ES)is higher in these areas.Nevertheless,despite the anthropogenic pressures,urban and peri-urban ecosystems supply important ES.Mapping is a crucial exercise to understand ES dynamics in these environments better.This work aims to systematically review mapping ES in urban and peri-urban areas studies,following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-alpha Methods.A total of 207 studies were selected.The results show increased work between 2011 and 2023,mainly conducted in Europe and China.Most work were developed in urban areas and did not follow an established ES classification.Most studies focused on the ES supply dimension,the regulation and maintenance section.Regarding provisioning ES,most studies focused on Cultivating terrestrial plants for nutrition,regulating and maintainin g Atmospheric composition and conditions,and for cultural ES on Physical and experiential interactions with the natural environment.Quantitative methods were mostly applied following Indicator-based(secondary data:biophysical,socio-economic)models.Very few work validated the outputs.Several studies forecasted ES,primarily based on land use changes using CA-Markov approaches.This study provides an overview of the most mapped urban and peri-urban ES globally,the areas where more studies need to be conducted,and the methods developed.

Multi-scenario Simulation of the Impact of Land Use Change on the Ecosystem Service Value in the Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou Metropolitan Area,China

As the most economically developed metropolitan area in China’s Yangtze River Delta,the rapid changing land use patterns of Suzhou-Wuxi-Changzhou(Su-Xi-Chang) metropolitan area have profound impacts on the ecosystem service value(ESV).Based on the patterns of land use change and the ESV change in Su-Xi-Chang metropolitan area from 2000 to 2020,we set up four scenarios:natural development scenario,urban development scenario,arable land protection scenario and ecological protection scenario,and simulated the impact of land use changes on the ESV in these scenarios.The results showed that:1) the area of built-up land in the Su-XiChang metropolitan area increased significantly from 2000 to 2020,and the area of other types of land decreased.Arable land underwent the highest transfer-out area,and was primarily converted into built-up land.The total ESV of Su-Xi-Chang metropolitan area increased initially then declined from 2000–2020,and the value of almost all individual ecosystem services decreased.2) Population density,GDP per area,night lighting intensity,and road network density can negatively impact the ESV.3) The total ESV loss under the natural development and urban development scenarios was high,and the expansion of the built-up land and the drastic shrinkage of the arable land contributed to the ESV decline under both scenarios.The total ESV under arable land protection and ecological protection scenarios increases,and therefore these scenarios are suitable for future land use optimization in Su-Xi-Chang.This study could provide a certain reference for land use planning and allocation,and offer guidance for the rational allocation of land resources.

Affordability, Accessibility, and Quality of Maternal Health Care Services and Level of Satisfaction of Mothers in Rural Areas in China

Objective:This study aimed to understand the affordability,accessibility,and quality of maternal and child health services for postpartum mothers,and their impact on satisfaction.Methods:The study utilized the Anderson model and revised the Maternal Pregnancy and Perinatal Health Service Questionnaire.A survey was conducted among 289 mothers aged 20–49 in Feicheng City.Results:Regarding accessibility,most respondents(133)reported that travel time to healthcare services exceeded 60 minutes,while 99 respondents indicated a travel time of 16–30 minutes.The issue of affordability was highlighted,with 86.85%of participants perceiving maternal healthcare services as costly,indicating a significant financial burden.More than 50%of respondents were satisfied with two specific dimensions(P<0.05)regarding the quality of maternal healthcare services.Conclusion:The study found that accessibility,affordability,and quality significantly affect mothers’satisfaction with maternal health services.Future research should focus on developing more suitable service pathways for rural mothers.

Study on the Design Scheme of Vehicle Flow Lines in Unilateral Agglomerative Open Service Area

In recent years,with the introduction of the strategy to strengthen the country’s transportation infrastructure and the continuous implementation of new economic development models such as integrating transportation with tourism,various open service areas integrating highway service areas with local tourism have emerged nationwide.Examples include the Yangcheng Lake service area in Jiangsu and the Lengshui service area in Chongqing.This paper focuses on the design example of the Dazu Stone Carving service area on the Chongqing section of the Yurong Expressway,comprehensively considering factors such as construction scale,terrain conditions,and local urban planning.It analyzes and studies the traffic flow design of unilateral agglomerative open service areas around two vehicle traffic conversion links:between the main expressway and the service area,and between the service area and local roads.The aim is to provide a case study reference for similar projects.

Accessibility and Fairness of Public Service Facilities from the Perspective of Supply and Demand Coordination: A Case Study of Old Urban Area of Guangzhou City

The accessibility and fairness of public service facilities are important manifestations of the convenience and equality of urban public service resource allocation.Optimizing the layout of urban public service facilities is an inevitable requirement for promoting the construction of people centered cities.This paper takes the old urban area of Guangzhou as the research area,measures the accessibility of multiple types of public service facilities based on an improved two-step floating catchment method,and combines Palma Ratio and location quotient methods to explore the fairness of urban public service facilities from two dimensions:social equity and spatial equity,with supply and demand relationship analysis as the main line.Research has shown that:①there is a significant spatial difference in the accessibility of public service facilities in the old urban areas of Guangzhou,and the comprehensive accessibility is generally higher in the central and southeastern regions of the old urban areas with fewer residential populations;②from the perspective of social equity,the resource allocation of public service facilities in the old urban areas of Guangzhou is in a seriously unfair state(with a fairness index of 2.99),and there are also varying degrees of unfairness within the streets;③from the perspective of spatial equity,the location quotient of public service facilities in the old urban areas of Guangzhou shows a pattern of multil center circles decreasing,indicating a significant spatial mismatch between the accessibility supply side of public service facilities and the demand side of the residential population.The research conclusion will provide scientific basis for optimizing the allocation of urban public service facilities and ensuring the equalization of public services.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Typical Ecosystem Services and Their Spatial Responses to Driving Factors in Ecologically Fragile Areas in Upper Yellow River,China

The identification of dominant driving factors for different ecosystem services(ESs)is crucial for ecological conservation and sustainable development.However,the spatial heterogeneity of the dominant driving factors affecting various ESs has not been adequately elucidated,particularly in ecologically fragile regions.This study employed the integrated valuation of ESs and trade-offs(InVEST)model to evaluate four ESs,namely,water yield(WY),soil conservation(SC),habitat quality(HQ),and carbon storage(CS),and then to identify the dominant driving factors of spatiotemporal differentiation of ES and further to characterize the spatial heterogeneity characteristics of the dominant driving factors in the eco-fragile areas of the upper Yellow River,China from 2000 to 2020.The results demonstrated that WY exhibited northeast-high and northwest-low patterns in the upper Yellow River region,while high values of SC and CS were distributed in central forested areas and a high value of HQ was distributed in vast grassland areas.The CS,WY,and SC exhibited decreasing trends over time.The most critical factors affecting WY,SC,HQ,and CS were the actual evapotranspiration,precipitation,slope,and normalized difference vegetation index,respectively.In addition,the effects of different factors on various ESs exhibited spatial heterogeneity.These results could provide spatial decision support for eco-protection and rehabilitation in ecologically fragile areas.

Spatial Distribution Characteristics and Coverage Rate of Commercial Facilities in 15-minute Radius Livelihood Service Circles of Chunshu Street

Building a 15-minute radius livelihood service circle from the needs of residents is a topdown process of optimizing urban layout and promoting high-quality development implemented by the government.In September 2022,Xicheng District of Beijing served as a national pilot of the 15-minute radius livelihood service circle.Based on the data of POI,urban walking network and building outline,this paper studies the coverage of commercial service facilities in the 15-minute radius livelihood service circle of Chunshu Street by using kernel density analysis and urban network analysis tools.The research shows that the commercial facilities are concentrated in Zhuangsheng Square and Dazhalan commercial district.There are large gaps in housekeeping and couriers logistics facilities,which need to be further improved.

Neural Network-Based State Estimation for Nonlinear Systems With Denial-of-Service Attack Under Try-Once-Discard Protocol

Dear Editor,This letter deals with state estimation issues of discrete-time nonlinear systems subject to denial-of-service(DoS)attacks under the try-once-discard(TOD)protocol.More specifically,to reduce the communication burden,a TOD protocol with novel update rules on protocol weights is designed for scheduling measurement outputs.In addition,unknown nonlinear functions vulnerable to DoS attacks are considered due to the openness and vulnerability of the network.

Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Task Offloading and Service Migrating Policies in Service Caching-Assisted Mobile Edge Computing

Emerging mobile edge computing(MEC)is considered a feasible solution for offloading the computation-intensive request tasks generated from mobile wireless equipment(MWE)with limited computational resources and energy.Due to the homogeneity of request tasks from one MWE during a longterm time period,it is vital to predeploy the particular service cachings required by the request tasks at the MEC server.In this paper,we model a service caching-assisted MEC framework that takes into account the constraint on the number of service cachings hosted by each edge server and the migration of request tasks from the current edge server to another edge server with service caching required by tasks.Furthermore,we propose a multiagent deep reinforcement learning-based computation offloading and task migrating decision-making scheme(MBOMS)to minimize the long-term average weighted cost.The proposed MBOMS can learn the near-optimal offloading and migrating decision-making policy by centralized training and decentralized execution.Systematic and comprehensive simulation results reveal that our proposed MBOMS can converge well after training and outperforms the other five baseline algorithms.

Detection of Real-Time Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) Attacks on Internet of Things (IoT) Networks Using Machine Learning Algorithms

The primary concern of modern technology is cyber attacks targeting the Internet of Things.As it is one of the most widely used networks today and vulnerable to attacks.Real-time threats pose with modern cyber attacks that pose a great danger to the Internet of Things(IoT)networks,as devices can be monitored or service isolated from them and affect users in one way or another.Securing Internet of Things networks is an important matter,as it requires the use of modern technologies and methods,and real and up-to-date data to design and train systems to keep pace with the modernity that attackers use to confront these attacks.One of the most common types of attacks against IoT devices is Distributed Denial-of-Service(DDoS)attacks.Our paper makes a unique contribution that differs from existing studies,in that we use recent data that contains real traffic and real attacks on IoT networks.And a hybrid method for selecting relevant features,And also how to choose highly efficient algorithms.What gives the model a high ability to detect distributed denial-of-service attacks.the model proposed is based on a two-stage process:selecting essential features and constructing a detection model using the K-neighbors algorithm with two classifier algorithms logistic regression and Stochastic Gradient Descent classifier(SGD),combining these classifiers through ensemble machine learning(stacking),and optimizing parameters through Grid Search-CV to enhance system accuracy.Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed model using the CIC-IoT2023 and CIC-DDoS2019 datasets.Performance evaluation demonstrated the potential of our model in robust intrusion detection in IoT networks,achieving an accuracy of 99.965%and a detection time of 0.20 s for the CIC-IoT2023 dataset,and 99.968%accuracy with a detection time of 0.23 s for the CIC-DDoS 2019 dataset.Furthermore,a comparative analysis with recent related works highlighted the superiority of our methodology in intrusion detection,showing improvements in accuracy,recall,and detection time.

Sharing Smart Services,Jointly Promoting Trade Development

In 2024,the China International Fair for Trade in Services (hereinafter referred to as CIFTIS) opened in the China National Convention Center and Shougang Park on September 12th.The theme of the CIFTIS this time was"global services,shared prosperity",which is not only a window for allowing the world to discover the development of China's service trade,but is also a bridge for promoting global cooperation with regards to the service trade.As one of the world-famous service trade events,the CIFTIS has become an important business card allowing China to open up.The CIFTIS has attracted the attention of the whole world and become a bridge for all parties to share development opportunities,promote industrial growth,and strengthen communication.

Assessment of International GNSS Service Global Ionosphere Map products over China region based on measurements from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China

The global ionosphere maps(GIM)provided by the International GNSS Service(IGS)are extensively utilized for ionospheric morphology monitoring,scientific research,and practical application.Assessing the credibility of GIM products in data-sparse regions is of paramount importance.In this study,measurements from the Crustal Movement Observation Network of China(CMONOC)are leveraged to evaluate the suitability of IGS-GIM products over China region in 2013-2014.The indices of mean error(ME),root mean square error(RMSE),and normalized RMSE(NRMSE)are then utilized to quantify the accuracy of IGS-GIM products.Results revealed distinct local time and latitudinal dependencies in IGS-GIM errors,with substantially high errors at nighttime(NRMSE:39%)and above 40°latitude(NRMSE:49%).Seasonal differences also emerged,with larger equinoctial deviations(NRMSE:33.5%)compared with summer(20%).A preliminary analysis implied that the irregular assimilation of sparse IGS observations,compounded by China’s distinct geomagnetic topology,may manifest as error variations.These results suggest that modeling based solely on IGS-GIM observations engenders inadequate representations across China and that a thorough examination would proffer the necessary foundation for advancing regional total electron content(TEC)constructions.

Residents’perceptions of ecosystem services in an urbanizing basin:A case study in the Guanting Reservoir basin,China

Understanding stakeholders’differences in perceptions of ecosystem services(ES)is crucial for guiding ecolog-ical conservation and planning.However,the variations of ES perception amongst different types of residents in urbanizing areas along an urban-rural gradient are still poorly understood.Combining a questionnaire-based survey,redundancy analysis,and statistical tests,we delineated the urban-rural gradient according to local res-idents’socio-economic characteristics,and investigated the differences in local residents’perceptions of ES and potential factors affecting them in the Guanting Reservoir basin,a rapidly urbanizing basin in China.The results showed that residents living in urban-rural transitional areas attached great importance to provisioning services of providing food and domestic water,regulating services of carbon sequestration and air purification,and cul-tural services of providing education and training,which were 0.7%-13.1%,0.7%-9.1%and 2.5%-21.2%higher than that of residents in other areas,respectively.Age and occupation were major factors affecting residents’perceptions.In terms of land-use types that deliver ES,the difference in perceptions of ES delivered by grassland was the greatest amongst residents.Our results support recommendations for policymakers to take into account the stakeholders’diverse perceptions,thus promoting residents’sense of gain on ES.

Research progress and future prospects in the service security of key blast furnace equipment

The safety and longevity of key blast furnace(BF)equipment determine the stable and low-carbon production of iron.This pa-per presents an analysis of the heat transfer characteristics of these components and the uneven distribution of cooling water in parallel pipes based on hydrodynamic principles,discusses the feasible methods for the improvement of BF cooling intensity,and reviews the pre-paration process,performance,and damage characteristics of three key equipment pieces:coolers,tuyeres,and hearth refractories.Fur-thermoere,to attain better control of these critical components under high-temperature working conditions,we propose the application of optimized technologies,such as BF operation and maintenance technology,self-repair technology,and full-lifecycle management techno-logy.Finally,we propose further researches on safety assessments and predictions for key BF equipment under new operating conditions.

Dynamical distribution of continuous service time model involving non-Maxwellian collision kernel and value functions

The distribution of continuous service time in call centers is investigated.A non-Maxwellian collision kernel combining two different value functions in the interaction rule are used to describe the evolution of continuous service time,respectively.Using the statistical mechanical and asymptotic limit methods,Fokker–Planck equations are derived from the corresponding Boltzmann-type equations with non-Maxwellian collision kernels.The steady-state solutions of the Fokker–Planck equation are obtained in exact form.Numerical experiments are provided to support our results under different parameters.

Healthcare Services Interoperability in Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities

In an attempt to assess the Kenyan healthcare system, this study looks at the current efforts that are already in place, what challenges they face, and what strategies can be put into practice to foster interoperability. By reviewing a variety of literature and using statistics, the paper ascertains notable impediments such as the absence of standard protocols, lack of adequate technological infrastructure, and weak regulatory frameworks. Resultant effects from these challenges regarding health provision target enhanced data sharing and merging for better patient outcomes and allocation of resources. It also highlights several opportunities that include the adoption of emerging technologies, and the establishment of public-private partnerships to strengthen the healthcare framework among others. In this regard, the article provides recommendations based on stakeholder views and global best practices addressed to policymakers, medical practitioners, and IT specialists concerned with achieving effective interoperability within Kenya’s health system. This research is relevant because it adds knowledge to the existing literature on how healthcare quality can be improved to make it more patient-centered especially in Kenya.

Exact Tail Asymptotics for a Queueing System with a Retrial Orbit and Batch Service

This paper discusses a queueing system with a retrial orbit and batch service, in which the quantity of customers’ rooms in the queue is finite and the space of retrial orbit is infinite. When the server starts serving, it serves all customers in the queue in a single batch, which is the so-called batch service. If a new customer or a retrial customer finds all the customers’ rooms are occupied, he will decide whether or not to join the retrial orbit. By using the censoring technique and the matrix analysis method, we first obtain the decay function of the stationary distribution for the quantity of customers in the retrial orbit and the quantity of customers in the queue. Then based on the form of decay rate function and the Karamata Tauberian theorem, we finally get the exact tail asymptotics of the stationary distribution.

Spatiotemporal variations in ecosystem services and their trade-offs and synergies against the background of the gully control and land consolidation project on the Loess Plateau,China

Studying the spatiotemporal variations in ecosystem services and their interrelationships on the Loess Plateau against the background of the gully control and land consolidation(GCLC)project has significant implications for ecological protection and quality development of the Yellow River Basin.Therefore,in this study,we took Yan'an City,Shaanxi Province of China,as the study area,selected four typical ecosystem services,including soil conservation service,water yield service,carbon storage service,and habitat quality service,and quantitatively evaluated the spatiotemporal variation characteristics and trade-offs and synergies of ecosystem services from 2010 to 2018 using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs(InVEST)model.We also analysed the relationship between the GCLC project and regional ecosystem service changes in various regions(including 1 city,2 districts,and 10 counties)of Yan'an City and proposed a coordinated development strategy between the GCLC project and the ecological environment.The results showed that,from 2010 to 2018,soil conservation service decreased by 7.76%,while the other three ecosystem services changed relatively little,with water yield service increasing by 0.56% and carbon storage service and habitat quality service decreasing by 0.16% and 0.14%,respectively.The ecological environment of Yan'an City developed in a balanced way between 2010 and 2018,and the four ecosystem services showed synergistic relationships,among which the synergistic relationships between soil conservation service and water yield service and between carbon storage service and habitat quality service were significant.The GCLC project had a negative impact on the ecosystem services of Yan'an City,and the impact on carbon storage service was more significant.This study provides a theoretical basis for the scientific evaluation of the ecological benefits of the GCLC project and the realization of a win-win situation between food security and ecological security.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Future Scenario Simulation of the Trade-offs and Synergies of Mountain Ecosystem Services: A Case Study of the Dabie Mountains Area, China

Mountain ecosystems play an essential role in supporting regional sustainable development and improving local ecological environments. However, economic development in mountainous areas has long been lagging, and multiple conflicts related to resource assurance, ecological protection, and economic development have emerged. An accurate grasp of the current status and evolutionary trends of mountain ecosystems is essential to enhance the overall benefits of ecosystem services and maintain regional ecological security. Based on the In VEST(Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs) model, this study analyzed the spatiotemporal evolution patterns and the trade-offs and synergies among ecosystem services(ES) in the Dabie Mountains Area(DMA) of eastern China. The Markov-PLUS(Patch-generating Land Use Simulation) model was used to conduct a multi-scenario simulation of the area's future development. Water yield(WY) and soil conservation(SC) had overall increasing trends during 2000-2020, carbon storage(CS)decreased overall but slowed with time, and habitat quality(HQ) increased and then decreased. The ecological protection scenario is the best scenario for improving ES in the DMA by 2030;compared to 2020, the total WY would decrease by 3.77 × 10^(8) m^(3), SC would increase by 0.65 × 10^(6) t, CS would increase by 1.33 × 10^(6) t, and HQ would increase by 0.06%. The comprehensive development scenario is the second-most effective scenario for ecological improvement, while the natural development scenario did not have a significant effect. However, as the comprehensive development scenario considers both environmental protection and economic development, which are both vital for the sustainable development of the mountainous areas, this scenario is considered the most suitable path for future development. There are trade-offs between WY, CS, and HQ, while there are synergies between SC, CS, and HQ. Spatially, the DMA's central core district is the main strong synergistic area, the marginal zone is the weak synergistic area, and trade-offs are mainly distributed in the transition zone.

Exploring the Spatiotemporal Changes and Driving Forces of Ecosystem Services of Zhejiang Coasts,China,Under Sustainable Development Goals

Ecosystem services(ESs)refer to the continuous provisioning of ecosystem goods and services that benefit human beings.Over recent decades,rapid urbanization has exerted significant pressure on coastal ecosystems,resulting in biodiversity and habitat loss,environmental pollution,and the depletion of natural resources.In response to these environmental challenges,the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)were proposed.Given the pressing need to address these issues,understanding the changes in ESs under the SDGs is crucial for formulating specific ecological strategies.In this study,we first analyzed land use and cover change in the Zhejiang coasts of China during 2000–2020.Then,we investigated the spatiotemporal configuration of ESs by integrating carbon storage(CS),soil retention(SR),habitat quality(HQ)and water yield(WY)using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST)model.The driving mechanisms of ESs,which varied by space and time,were also explored using the Geo-detector method.The results revealed that,over the past two decades:1)the Zhejiang coasts have experienced a significant increase of 2783.72 km^(2) in built-up land areas and a continuous decrease in farmland areas due to rapid urbanization;2)owing to higher precipitation,extensive vegetation cover,and reduced anthropogenic disturbances,forests emerge as a crucial land use type for maintaining ecosystem services such as HQ,CS,WY,and SR;3)ESs have generally declined across the entire Zhejiang coasts,with a significant decrease observed in the northern areas and an increase in the southern areas spatially;4)the expansion of built-up land areas emerged as the primary factor affecting ecosystem services,while the vegetation factor has been increasingly significant and is expected to become predominant in the near future.Our study provides insights of understanding of ecosystem service theory and emphasizing the importance of preserving biodiversity for long-term sustainable development,and valuable scientific references to support the ecological management decision-making for local governments.