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.

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.

Ecosystem services potential and soil conservation policies with emphasis on degraded pastures in Brazil

Different global agendas have discussed the role of soils in mitigating and reducing global problems related to climate change,food security,biodiversity and erosion,among others.With this in mind,the aim was to draw up an overview of the main soil agendas in Europe and Brazil,analysing their impact on the establishment of legal frameworks for soil use and conservation.In Brazil,pastures are seen as an important alternative for converting degraded areas into ecosystem services.To this end,a literature review was carried out using databases on the Scopus,Web of Science,Science Direct and Scielo platforms,as well as consulting documents from the European Union Missions in Horizon Europe and Brazilian legislation on the subject.In a pilot river basin,the Potential for Conservation Use(PCU)method was applied,which is used in Brazil to assess the impacts of different uses on the natural capital of soils,serving as a metric to guide public soil conservation policies.It was concluded that,on the European scene,discussions on soils have taken place in an integrated and organised way,with actions to mobilise different players in society.In Brazil,even though there are important legal frameworks,actions are still restricted and disjointed,pointing to the need for progress in soil governance.In both scenarios,there is a need for scientifically validated metrics at regional scales that can contribute to a harmonised database capable of subsidising the development of efficient public policies to advance soil conservation at a global level.

Regional Digital Financial Services Security Clinic for Asia Pacific Region

April 24-25, Seoul, Republic of Korea The International Telecommunication Union(ITU) is organizing the Regional Digital Financial Services Security Clinic for Asia Pacific Region on April 24-25, 2024 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The event is being jointly held with FNSV Korea and the Korean Fintech Center.

ASTM provides world-leading digitalized standards services--Interview with Hu Yanan,Operation Manager of the ASTM International China Office

With a 126-year history,ASTM International still exudes strong vitality today.It is one of the most renowned standards organizations in the world,boasting a globally leading standards development system and database.It is open,transparent,fair,diverse,inclusive,and consensus-driven,but these are just some of its characteristics.ASTM always prioritizes the development of standards and the needs of industries and users.

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.

GraphSTGAN:Situation understanding network of slow-fast high maneuvering targets for maritime monitor services of IoT data

With the rapid growth of the maritime Internet of Things(IoT)devices for Maritime Monitor Services(MMS),maritime traffic controllers could not handle a massive amount of data in time.For unmanned MMS,one of the key technologies is situation understanding.However,the presence of slow-fast high maneuvering targets and track breakages due to radar blind zones make modeling the dynamics of marine multi-agents difficult,and pose significant challenges to maritime situation understanding.In order to comprehend the situation accurately and thus offer unmanned MMS,it is crucial to model the complex dynamics of multi-agents using IoT big data.Nevertheless,previous methods typically rely on complex assumptions,are plagued by unstructured data,and disregard the interactions between multiple agents and the spatial-temporal correlations.A deep learning model,Graph Spatial-Temporal Generative Adversarial Network(GraphSTGAN),is proposed in this paper,which uses graph neural network to model unstructured data and uses STGAN to learn the spatial-temporal dependencies and interactions.Extensive experiments show the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.

Mapping Climate Services for Disaster Risk Management: A Systematic Review and Research Gaps from a Policy Process Perspective

Climate services (CS) are crucial for mitigating and managing the impacts and risks associated with climate-induced disasters. While evidence over the past decade underscores their effectiveness across various domains, particularly agriculture, to maximize their potential, it is crucial to identify emerging priority areas and existing research gaps for future research agendas. As a contribution to this effort, this paper employs the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology to review the state-of-the-art in the field of climate services for disaster risk management. A comprehensive search across five literature databases combined with a snowball search method using ResearchRabbit was conducted and yielded 242 peer-reviewed articles, book sections, and reports over 2013-2023 after the screening process. The analysis revealed flood, drought, and food insecurity as major climate-related disasters addressed in the reviewed literature. Major climate services addressed included early warning systems, (sub)seasonal forecasts and impact-based warnings. Grounded in the policy processes’ theoretical perspective, the main focus identified and discussed three prevailing policy-oriented priority areas: 1) development of climate services, 2) use-adoption-uptake, and 3) evaluation of climate services. In response to the limitations of the prevalent supply-driven and top-down approach to climate services promotion, co-production emerges as a cross-cutting critical aspect of the identified priority areas. Despite the extensive research in the field, more attention is needed, particularly pronounced in the science-policy interface perspective, which in practice bridges scientific knowledge and policy decisions for effective policy processes. This perspective offers a valuable analytical lens as an entry point for further investigation. Hence, future research agendas would generate insightful evidence by scrutinizing this critical aspect given its importance to institutions and climate services capacity, to better understand intricate facets of the development and the integration of climate services into disaster risk management.

Which Neighborhoods Have Easier Access to Online Home Delivery Services?A Spatiotemporal Accessibility Analysis in Nanjing,China

The rise in online home delivery services(OHDS)has had a significant impact on how urban services are supplied and used in recent years.Studies on the spatial accessibility of OHDS are emerging,but few is known about the temporal dimension of OHDS accessibility as well as the geographic and socioeconomic differences in the spatiotemporal accessibility of OHDS.This study measures the spatiotemporal accessibility of four types of OHDS,namely leisure,fresh and convenient,medical,and catering services.The geographic and socioeconomic disparities in the spatiotemporal accessibility of these four types of OHDS are then identified using spatial statistical methods and the Kruskal-Wallis test(K-W test).The case study in Nanjing,China,suggests that:1)spatiotemporal accessibility better reflects the temporal variation of OHDS accessibility and avoids overestimation of OHDS accessibility when only considering its spatial dimension.2)The spatiotemporal accessibility of OHDS varies geographically and socioeconomically.Neighborhoods located in the main city or neighborhoods with higher housing prices,higher population density,and higher point of interest(POI)mix have better OHDS spatiotemporal accessibility.Our study contributes to the understanding of OHDS accessibility from a spatiotemporal perspective,and the empirical insights can assist policymakers in creating intervention plans that take into account variations in OHDS spatiotemporal accessibility.

A Double-Timescale Reinforcement Learning Based Cloud-Edge Collaborative Framework for Decomposable Intelligent Services in Industrial Internet of Things

With the proportion of intelligent services in the industrial internet of things(IIoT)rising rapidly,its data dependency and decomposability increase the difficulty of scheduling computing resources.In this paper,we propose an intelligent service computing framework.In the framework,we take the long-term rewards of its important participants,edge service providers,as the optimization goal,which is related to service delay and computing cost.Considering the different update frequencies of data deployment and service offloading,double-timescale reinforcement learning is utilized in the framework.In the small-scale strategy,the frequent concurrency of services and the difference in service time lead to the fuzzy relationship between reward and action.To solve the fuzzy reward problem,a reward mapping-based reinforcement learning(RMRL)algorithm is proposed,which enables the agent to learn the relationship between reward and action more clearly.The large time scale strategy adopts the improved Monte Carlo tree search(MCTS)algorithm to improve the learning speed.The simulation results show that the strategy is superior to popular reinforcement learning algorithms such as double Q-learning(DDQN)and dueling Q-learning(dueling-DQN)in learning speed,and the reward is also increased by 14%.

Trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services in Yutian County along the Keriya River Basin,Northwest China

The Keriya River Basin is located in an extremely arid climate zone on the southern edge of the Tarim Basin of Northwest China,exhibiting typical mountain-oasis-desert distribution characteristics.In recent decades,climate change and human activities have exerted significant impacts on the service functions of watershed ecosystems.However,the trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services(ESs)have not been thoroughly examined.This study aims to reveal the spatiotemporal changes in ESs within the Keriya River Basin from 1995 to 2020 as well as the trade-offs and synergies between ESs.Leveraging the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs(InVEST)and Revised Wind Erosion Equation(RWEQ)using land use/land cover(LULC),climate,vegetation,soil,and hydrological data,we quantified the spatiotemporal changes in the five principal ESs(carbon storage,water yield,food production,wind and sand prevention,and habitat quality)of the watershed from 1995 to 2020.Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyze the trade-offs and synergies between ES pairs.The findings reveal that water yield,carbon storage,and habitat quality exhibited relatively high levels in the upstream,while food production and wind and sand prevention dominated the midstream and downstream,respectively.Furthermore,carbon storage,food production,wind and sand prevention,and habitat quality demonstrated an increase at the watershed scale while water yield exhibited a decline from 1995 to 2020.Specifically,carbon storage,wind and sand prevention,and habitat quality presented an upward trend in the upstream but downward trend in the midstream and downstream.Food production in the midstream showed a continuously increasing trend during the study period.Trade-off relationships were identified between water yield and wind and sand prevention,water yield and carbon storage,food production and water yield,and habitat quality and wind and sand prevention.Prominent temporal and spatial synergistic relationships were observed between different ESs,notably between carbon storage and habitat quality,carbon storage and food production,food production and wind and sand prevention,and food production and habitat quality.Water resources emerged as a decisive factor for the sustainable development of the basin,thus highlighting the intricate trade-offs and synergies between water yield and the other four services,particularly the relationship with food production,which warrants further attention.This research is of great significance for the protection and sustainable development of river basins in arid areas.

Impacts of multi-scenario land use change on ecosystem services and ecological security pattern: A case study of the Yellow River Delta

The Yellow River Delta(YRD), a critical economic zone along China's eastern coast, also functions as a vital ecological reserve in the lower Yellow River. Amidst rapid industrialization and urbanization, the region has witnessed significant land use/cover changes(LUCC), impacting ecosystem services(ES) and ecological security patterns(ESP). Investigating LUCC's effects on ES and ESP in the YRD is crucial for ecological security and sustainable development. This study utilized the PLUS model to simulate 2030 land use scenarios, including natural development(NDS), economic development(EDS), and ecological protection scenarios(EPS). Subsequently, the InVEST model and circuit theory were applied to assess ES and ESP under varying LUCC scenarios from 2010 to 2030. Findings indicate:(1) Notable LUCC from 2010 to 2030, marked by decreasing cropland and increasing construction land and water bodies.(2) From 2010 to 2020, improvements were observed in carbon storage,water yield, soil retention, and habitat quality, whereas 2020–2030 saw increases in water yield and soil retention but declines in habitat quality and carbon storage. Among the scenarios, EPS showed superior performance in all four ES.(3) Between 2010 and 2030, ecological sources, corridors, and pinchpoints expanded, displaying significant spatial heterogeneity. The EPS scenario yielded the most substantial increases in ecological sources,corridors, and pinchpoints, totaling 582.89 km^(2), 645.03 km^(2),and 64.43 km^(2), respectively. This study highlights the importance of EPS, offering insightful scientific guidance for the YRD's sustainable development.

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.

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.

Relationship between the use of smart medical services and mental health status

In this editorial,I comment on the article by Zhang et al.To emphasize the importance of the topic,I discuss the relationship between the use of smart medical devices and mental health.Smart medical services have the potential to positively influence mental health by providing monitoring,insights,and inter-ventions.However,they also come with challenges that need to be addressed.Understanding the primary purpose for which individuals use these smart tech-nologies is essential to tailoring them to specific mental health needs and prefe-rences.

Web services composition with QoS bound based on simulated annealing algorithm

In order to enable quality-aware web services selection in the process of service composition,this paper first describes the non-functional requirements of service consumers and the quality of elementary service or composite service as a quality vector,and then models the QoS（quality of service）-aware composition as a multiple criteria optimization problem in extending directed graph.A novel simulated annealing algorithm for QoS-aware web services composition is presented.A normalizing for composite service QoS values is made,and a secondary iterative optimization is used in the algorithm.Experimental results show that the simulated annealing algorithm can satisfy the multiple criteria and global QoS requirements of service consumers.The algorithm produces near optimum solution with much less computation cost.

基于Bouncy Castle Crypto API的无线Web Services应用安全

讨论无线WebServices应用的安全问题,并基于XML数字签名技术,使用BouncyCastleCryptoAPI加密包,给出了无线Webservices应用安全的一种解决方案。

Assessment of Ecosystem Services Value in Hotan Oasis, Xingjiang

[Objective] The study aimed to assess the ecosystem services value in Hotan Oasis, Xingjiang. [Method] The visual interpretation method was adopted to process TM/ETM＋ images based on field investigation in Hotan Oasis. These inter- pretation data, along with two periods of land use data, were reclassified to farm- land, forest, grassland and so on. Then, the ecosystem services value was calculat- ed and analyzed. [Result] Analysis indicated that the ecosystem services value had been increased by 30.44x108 Yuan （16.51%） in the study area during 1980-2010, which can be explained by the increase of glacier and snowfield distributed in the south mountain with the increase of annual precipitation. At the same time, the con- tribution rate of grassland to ecosystem services value had been decreased as a result of degradation of grassland and occupation from farmland. For the whole basin, the increase of ecosystem services value came from the upper reaches, while the ecosystem services value had been reduced in the middle and lower reaches. In the middle reaches, the reduction came mainly from wetland （-1.83x10s Yuan）, waters （-1.68x10s Yuan）, forest （-0.86x108 Yuan） and grassland （-0.80x108 Yuan）. But in the lower reaches, the ecosystem services values of waters, grassland and forest were -0.61 x108 Yuan, -0.24x108 Yuan, and -0.07x10s Yuan, respectively. [Conclusion] If some effective policies, such as the implementation of returning farm- land to forest and ceasing from farming to grazing, would be taken, the ecosystem degradation can be constrained and reversed in the northwest arid region.

基于Web Services的MAS管理与通信平台

本文提出并实现了基于Web Services技术的多智能体系统管理与通信框架平台,该平台实现了基于UDDI的agent注册管理和基于SOAP的消息传递机制;该平台还提供了系统管理和监控等功能。该平台能够有效提高Agent系统的开发部署效率。

Web services selection based on semantic similarity

Services discovery based on syntactic matching cannot adapt to the open and dynamic environment of the web. To select the proper one from the web services candidate set provided by syntactic matching, a service selection method based on semantic similarity is proposed. First, this method defines a web services ontology including QoS and context as semantic supporting, which also provides a set of terms to describe the interfaces of web services. Secondly, the similarity degree of two web services is evaluated by computing the semantic distances of those terms used to describe interfaces. Compared with existing methods, interfaces of web services can be interpreted under ontology, because it provides a formal and semantic specification of conceptualization. Meanwhile, efficiency and accuracy of services selection are improved.