A multi-modal clustering method for traditonal Chinese medicine clinical data via media convergence

Media convergence is a media change led by technological innovation.Applying media convergence technology to the study of clustering in Chinese medicine can significantly exploit the advantages of media fusion.Obtaining consistent and complementary information among multiple modalities through media convergence can provide technical support for clustering.This article presents an approach based on Media Convergence and Graph convolution Encoder Clustering(MCGEC)for traditonal Chinese medicine(TCM)clinical data.It feeds modal information and graph structure from media information into a multi-modal graph convolution encoder to obtain the media feature representation learnt from multiple modalities.MCGEC captures latent information from various modalities by fusion and optimises the feature representations and network architecture with learnt clustering labels.The experiment is conducted on real-world multimodal TCM clinical data,including information like images and text.MCGEC has improved clustering results compared to the generic single-modal clustering methods and the current more advanced multi-modal clustering methods.MCGEC applied to TCM clinical datasets can achieve better results.Integrating multimedia features into clustering algorithms offers significant benefits compared to single-modal clustering approaches that simply concatenate features from different modalities.It provides practical technical support for multi-modal clustering in the TCM field incorporating multimedia features.

Towards an integrative approach to evaluate the environmental ecosystem services provided by urban forest

As a Nature-Based Solution,urban forests deliver a number of environmental ecosystem services(EESs).To quantify these EESs,well-defined,reliable,quantifiable and stable indicators are needed.With literature analysis and expert knowledge gathered within COST Action FP1204 GreenInUrbs,we proposed a classification of urban forest EESs into three categories:(A)regulation of air,water,soil and climate;(B)provisioning of habitat quality;and(C)provisioning of other goods and services.Each category is divided into EES types:(a)amelioration of air quality;restoration of soil and water;amelioration of the microclimate;removal of CO2 from the air;(b)provision of habitat for biodiversity;support for resilient urban ecosystems;provision of genetic diversity;and(c)provision of energy and nutrients;provision of grey infrastructure resilience.Each EES type provides one or more benefits.For each of these 12 benefits,we propose a set of indicators to be used when analyzing the impacts on the identified EESs.Around half of the 36 indicators are relevant to more than one single benefit,which highlights complex interrelationships.The indicators of wider applicability are tree and stand characteristics,followed by leaf physical traits and tree species composition.This knowledge is needed for the optimization of the EESs delivered by urban forests,now and in the future.

Regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation of twelve Eucalyptus species

Eucalyptus is a genus of over 900 species and hybrids,and many of them are valuable fast-growing hardwoods.Due to its economic importance,Eucalyptus is one of the early tree species whose genomes were deciphered.However,the lack of efficient genetic transformation systems severely restricts the functional genomic research on the plant.The success of Eucalyptus regeneration and transformation depends greatly on the genotypes and explants.In this study,we systematically screened 26 genotypes from 12 Eucalyptus species in an attempt to obtain Eucalyptus genotypes with high regeneration potential.We developed two common regeneration media that can be applied to most tested Eucalyptus genotypes for both seeding hypocotyls and cloned internodes as explants.We then implemented DsRed2 as a visual marker for genetic transformation efficiency test.Our results suggest that E.camaldulen and E.robusta are amenable for genetic transformation.Finally,we successfully set up a stable Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation procedure for both E.camaldulen and E.robusta using seeding hypocotyls and cloned internodes respectively.Taken together,our study provides valuable means for vegetative propagation,gene transformation,CRISPR based gene mutagenesis,activation and suppression,as well as functional characterization of genes in Eucalyptus.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Farmers' Participation in Forest Farmers Cooperatives Based on Empirical Research of Zhejiang Province

Based on field research data of farmers in Zhejiang Province, the authors analyzed factors influencing farmers' participation in forest farmers cooperatives (hereafter referred to as FFCs) by the binary logistic regression model. Results show that understanding of farmers about cooperatives has a great influence on their behavior of participation in FFCs. Besides, educational level of householders and existing member scale of cooperatives also have significant influence on farmers' behavior of participation in cooperatives. Therefore, it is required to strengthen propaganda of cooperatives, deepen their understanding of cooperatives; cultivate new high quality farmers to provide talents for development of cooperatives; establish incentive mechanism to encourage farmers to participate in cooperatives.

Factors affecting poplar wetwood characteristics

Wet wood is an abnormal phenomenon in growing trees,which adversely affects growth,subsequent wood processing and economic values of wood products.In this study,the influences of factors such as clones,afforestation methods,site conditions and climate conditions on the characteristics of poplar wetwood were studied through field investigations in 27 clones from 48 sample plots in 28 counties.Results showed that the incidences of wetwood were almost 100%in all plots.Ratios of wetwood area among the48 plots differed from 15.1 to 90.2%.Wetwood area ratios,moisture contents and pH differed significantly between the 27 clones.Wetwood area ratios of the clones ranged from18.7 to 62.3%.Ratios of wetwood areas were positively correlated with wet wood moisture content and pH,tree age,and negatively correlated with pH of sap wood.The repeatability of wet wood area ratios was 0.52,moderately controlled by genetics.Wetwood moisture content and pH were highly controlled by genetics,indicated by the repeatability of 0.91 and 0.89,respectively.There were significant differences in wetwood area ratios,moisture content and pH between different site conditions,afforestation methods,and geographical regions.Sloping land had the lowest wetwood area ratios and moisture content among four types of sites.Afforestation by direct seeding and rooted cuttings had the lowest wetwood area ratios and moisture content,respectively.In the three geographical regions,the Yellow River Basin had the lowest wetwood values of all three factors.

Characteristics of photosynthesis and vertical canopy architecture of citrus trees under two labor-saving cultivation modes using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based LiDAR data in citrus orchards

Analyzing and comparing the effects of labor-saving cultivation modes on photosynthesis,as well as studying their vertical canopy architecture,can improve the tree structure of high-quality and high-yield citrus and selection of labor-saving cultivation modes.The photosynthesis of 1080 leaves of two labor-saving cultivation modes(wide-row and narrow-plant mode and fenced mode)comparing with the traditional mode were measured,and nitrogen content of all leaves and photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency(PNUE)were determined.Unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)-based light detection and ranging(LiDAR)data were used to assess the vertical architecture of three citrus cultivation modes.Results showed that for the wide-row and narrow-plant and traditional modes leaf photosynthetic CO_(2) assimilation rate,stomatal conductance,and transpiration rate of the upper layer were significantly higher than those of the middle layer,and values of the middle layer were markedly higher than those of the lower layer.In the fenced mode,a significant difference in photosynthetic factors between the upper and middle layers was not observed.A vertical canopy distribution had a more significant effect on PNUE in the traditional mode.Leaves in the fenced mode had distinct photosynthetic advantages and higher PNUE.UAV-based LiDAR data effectively revealed the differences in the vertical canopy architecture of citrus trees by enabling calculating the density and height percentile of the LiDAR point cloud.The point cloud densities of three cultivation modes were significantly different for all LiDAR density slices,especially at higher canopy heights.The labor-saving modes,particularly the fenced mode,had significantly higher height percentile data.

若尔盖高寒湿地高原林蛙繁殖后期运动、家域和微生境选择

我们于2006年7月对分布于青藏高原东部若尔盖高寒湿地的7只高原林蛙(Rana kukunoris)进行了追踪研究。Monte-Carlo模拟表明:在研究期内高原林蛙的运动是随机的,还没有开始迁移。高原林蛙的平均运动距离为7.1m,雌雄运动距离没有差异。95%和50%Kernel家域分别为796.2m2±704.0m2和119.9m2±94.6m2,MCP家域为157.9m2±119.5m2。雌雄高原林蛙生境选择存在差异,雄性倾向于在洞穴较多的生境中运动和隐蔽,而雌性倾向于在草丛中运动和藏匿;早晨高原林蛙选择地面温度较高、相对湿度较大的微生境活动,雌雄活动点的空气温度、相对湿度和植被高度没有显著差异。追踪个体的微生境利用表明:高原林蛙和哺乳类洞穴具有很强的相关性。

迁徙鸟类中途停歇期的生理生态学研究

大多数候鸟的迁徙活动由迁徙飞行和中途停歇两个部分组成。在迁徙过程中,鸟类要多次交替经历消耗能量的飞行阶段和积累能量的中途停歇阶段。从鸟类在中途停歇时期的能量积累速度、体重变化模式以及迁徙飞行中的禁食或食物限制、食物种类的改变、中途停歇的能量快速积累过程对消化器官的影响等方面,对目前迁徙鸟类的生理生态学研究成果进行回顾,并提出有待解决的问题及今后的研究方向。

四川省若尔盖季节性水塘周边高原林蛙夏秋季活动特征

影响无尾两栖类活动的因素很多,水体是最主要的因素之一。本研究采用样线法,分别于2006年7月和9月下旬对若尔盖季节性水塘周边高原林蛙(Rana kukunoris)的活动特征进行了研究。样线宽2m,长70-150m,采用十字交叉法,基本按照东、南、西、北、东北、西北、东南、西南方向设置8条样线。结果表明:夏季高原林蛙主要在水塘周边活动,高原林蛙遇见率与水塘距离呈显著负相关(Pearson,成体:r=?0.479,P<0.05;亚成体:r=?0.480,P<0.05);90%的高原林蛙个体在距离水塘110m范围内活动,亚成体比成体更接近水体活动,远离水塘的成体选择泉眼和草沓草地活动。秋季高原林蛙的活动与水塘距离无显著相关性(Pearson,r=?0.016,P>0.05),水塘周边高原林蛙的遇见率很低,远离水塘的高原林蛙偏向选择泉眼活动。

红胁蓝尾鸲(Tarsiger cyanurus)在中国东北部帽儿山地区的迁徙中途停歇生态(英文)

中国迁徙鸣禽类的保护面对着与世界其他地区如欧洲和北美洲鸟类保护相似的挑战。迁徙鸣禽类具有复杂生活周期和很大的空间关联。迁徙过程中发生的事件对迁徙鸣禽类种群动态具有决定作用。对于鸣禽类迁徙中途停歇期的生态,比如停歇期的长短,能量的积累,生境的利用等,了解还非常有限。在中国东北部的一个鸟类迁徙停歇地对红胁蓝尾鸲(Tarsigercyanurus)的中途停歇生态包括迁徙时间、停歇时间、能量状态和性比进行了研究。2002年秋和2003年春分别捕获了1751只和684只红胁蓝尾鸲。红胁蓝尾鸲的体重在秋季迁徙时要比在春季迁徙时重。春季雌性红胁蓝尾鸲停歇时的能量状态指数最低;而秋季的红胁蓝尾鸲比春季的红胁蓝尾鸲停歇时间更长。无论季节和性别,红胁蓝尾鸲的能量状态指数和第1次捕获的时间早晚成正相关,间接证明红胁蓝尾鸲在停歇期间能够比较快地积累能量。秋季雄性红胁蓝尾鸲日体重净增率最大。估测秋季停歇期的每日能量净增能维持红胁蓝尾鸲雌性0.6h和雄性3.1h的飞行。红胁蓝尾鸲的中途停歇生态与北美和欧洲一些迁徙鸣禽类很相似。比如,春季迁徙过境的时间和脂肪积累的变化与自然选择对雄性的要求:当食物和气候适宜时尽快到达繁殖地的假设是一致的。对迁徙中途的停歇生态研究有利于更好地了解鸟类的迁徙行为和更有效地保护迁徙鸣禽类。

长距离迁徙鸟类对应于能量积累状态的取食行为调整

迁徙鸟类能够预计到迁徙过程中对能量需求的增加和迁徙途中获得能量的不确定性。最佳迁徙理论指出 :迁徙停留期的一系列决策受到体内能量状态、取食机会和迁徙时间的影响。利用刚完成春季跨越墨西哥湾迁徙的鸫类 ,我们研究了取食行为、体内能量状态和能量积累速度的相互关系。我们用雾网捕获了停留的鸫 ,然后给每只鸟进行了环志和称重 ,并估测了表皮下积累的脂肪。为了检测体内能量积累大小对取食行为的影响 ,我们把在野外观察到的鸟分成肥、瘦两组。当一天里被捕获鸟的平均体重低于相关种的瘦体重时 ,这一天被观察到的取食鸟被归到瘦组 ,反之就属于肥组。我们同时对一部分鸟用有色环进行了标记 ,以便能在野外观察到它们时能准确地知道每一只鸟的初始能量积累状态。在春天完成跨越墨西哥湾迁徙以后的鸫大约有 5 0 %在到达停留地时就已经消耗了所有的表皮下脂肪。与肥组鸟相比 ,瘦组的个体在停留期扩展了取食方法和取食基底 ,增加了取食速度。与此相关的是 ,瘦鸟表现出体重积累更多、速度更快。我们的数据表明迁徙鸟在到达迁徙中途停留地时的能量状态会影响到它们停留期间的取食行为和继续迁徙时的生理机能 。

Effects of climate,land use and land cover changes on soil loss in the Three Gorges Reservoir area,China

Climate,land use and land cover(LULC)changes are among the primary driving forces of soil loss.Decoupling their effects can help in understanding the magnitude and trend of soil loss in response to human activities and ecosystem management.Here,the RUSLE model was applied to estimate the spatial-temporal variations of soil loss rate in the Three Gorges Reservoir(TGR)area during 2001-2015,followed by a scenario design to decouple the effects of climate and LULC changes.The results showed that increasing rainfall generated as much as 2.90×10^(7)t soil loss in the TGR area.However,such effect was offset by changes in LULC particularly afforestation,which retained about 1.10×10^(7)t soil annually.Other human activities such as dam development and urbanization aggravated soil loss by as much as 1.40×10^(6)t annually.Because of land use policies that favor economic development,distinct spatial variances of soil loss were observed in TGR area.Soil loss in some counties located downstream of the TGR area(i.e.,close to the dam)was more influenced by dam development,but soil loss in the other counties was more influenced by urbanization.As climate change(i.e.,increasing rainfall)did not affect plant performance in TGR area,our findings suggested that ecological restoration was more beneficial to curb the amount of soil loss caused by urbanization and dam construction.

Effects of Region and Elevation on Adaptation of Leaf Functional Traits of an Invasive Plant Erigeron annuus in China

A key scientific challenge relating to the threat of invasive plants on agriculture at the region level is to understand their adaptation and evolution in functional traits.Leaf functional traits,related to growth and resource utilization,might lead to adaptation of invasive plants to the geographical barriers(region or elevation).In the field experiment,we discussed the effects of region and elevation on leaf functional traits on invasive plant Erigeron annuus in farmland habitats in China.We compared leaf size,coefficient of variation(CV)of leaf traits,and fluctuating asymmetry(FA)of E.annuus from three regions(east vs.center vs.west)and two leaf types(vegetative vs.reproductive leaf),and from nine elevations(980-2100 m)in the west region of China.Our results indicated region and leaf type influenced leaf functional traits,and leaf size was significantly higher and CV of leaf traits and FA in reproductive leaves were significantly lower in the east region than in the west and center regions.Elevation and leaf type affected leaf functional traits,and leaf size was significantly higher and CV of leaf traits in reproductive leaves were significantly lower in moderate elevation.E.annuus has higher leaf size and developmental stability(lower CV and FA)in the eastern region due to the longer adaptation period.Therefore,leaf functional traits play an important role in the adaptation of different longitudes and elevations.It can also facilitate the understanding of the invasiveness and adaptation of leaf traits of invasive plants in the agricultural ecosystem during their spread process in China.

Effect of Extractive-Dissolving Treatment on the Characteristics of Laminated Wood Assembled from Oily Keruing Wood

Utilization of oily keruing wood for laminated wood product has not been optimal yet because of the appearance of extractive substance as oil on wood surface and hence disturbing the bonding process. A study has been conducted by manufacturing laminated wood from oily keruing wood （Dipterocarpus hasseltii） after extracting its oil by boiling the wood in the mixture of water and ethanol solution in several proportions. The assessment on the treated wood and the resulting laminated wood covered some characteristics i.e., wettability, static bending, bonding strength, ethanol-water solution can improve wetting properties significantly and delamination. The results show that boiling treatment in The extractive does not affect mechanical characteristics of the laminated wood. Increasing of water proportion in ethanol-water solution causes the decreasing of the bonding strength and increasing delamination value of the laminated wood. The result also shows that oily keruing wood after the treatment can be used as material for laminated wood.

The biomass and aboveground net primary productivity of Schima superba-Castanopsis carlesii forests in east China

The biomass and productivity of Schima superba-Castanopsis carlesii forests in Tiantong,Zhejiang Province,were determined using overlapping quadrants and stem analyses.The total community biomass was(225.3±30.1) t hm-2,of which the aboveground parts accounted for 72.0% and the underground parts accounted for 28.0%.About 87.2% of biomass existed in the tree layer.The resprouting biomass was small,of which over 95.0% occurred in the shrub layer.The productivity of the aboveground parts of the community was(386.8±98.9) g m-2a-1,in which more than 96.0% was present at the tree level.The trunk's contribution to productivity was the greatest,while that of leaves was the smallest.In China,the community biomass of subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests differs significantly with the age of the forest.The community biomass of the 52-year-old S.superba-C.carlesii forests in this study was lower than the average biomass of subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests in China,and was lower than the biomass of other subtropical evergreen broadleaved forests elsewhere in the world.Moreover,its productivity was lower than the model estimate,indicating that without disturbance,this community has great developmental potential in terms of community biomass and productivity.

Loss of total phenols from leaf litter of two shrub species: dual responses to alpine forest gap disturbance during winter and the growing season

Aims Alpine forest gaps can control understory ecosystem processes by manipulating hydrothermal dynamics.Here,we aimed to test the role of alpine forest gap disturbance on total phenol loss(TPL)from the decomposing litter of two typical shrub species(willow,Salix paraplesia Schneid.,and bamboo,Fargesia nitida(Mitford)Keng f.).Methods We conducted a field litterbag experiment within a representative fir(Abies faxoniana Rehd.)forest based on‘gap openness treatments’(plot positions in the gap included the gap center south,gap center north,canopy edge,expanded edge and closed canopy).The TPL rate and litter surface microbial abundance(fungi and bacteria)of the two shrub species were measured during the following periods over 2 years:snow formation(SF),snow cover(SC),snow melting(ST),the early growing season(EG)and the late growing season(LG).Important Findings At the end of the study,we found that snow cover depth,freeze–thaw cycle frequency and the fungal copies g−1 to bacterial copies g−1 ratio had significant effects on litter TPL.The abundances of fungi and bacteria decreased from the gap center to the closed canopy during the SF,SC,ST and LG periods and showed the opposite trend during the EG periods.The rate of TPL among plot positions closely followed the same trend as microbial abundance during the first year of incubation.In addition,both species had higher rates of TPL in the gap center than at other positions during the first winter,first year and entire 2-year period.These findings suggest that alpine forest gap formation accelerates litter TPL,although litter TPL exhibits dual responses to gap disturbance during specific critical periods.In conclusion,reduced snow cover depth and duration during winter warming under projected climate change scenarios or as gaps vanish may slow litter TPL in alpine biomes.

Optimizing hairy root production from explants of Phyllanthus hainanensis,a shrub used for traditional herbal medicine

Phyllanthus hainanensis is a shrub that has been used in traditional herbal medicine.It has great pharmaceutical potential for treating diseases such as cancer and diabetes.As a prerequisite for propagation of this species on a large scale,hairy roots in P.hainanensis were induced using Rhizobium rhizogenes and various factors affecting hairy root induction and growth evaluated.Seven factors were tested:(1)type of explant,(2)type of culture medium,(3)duration of pre-culture,(4)R.rhizogenes inoculum cell density,(5)duration of infection,(6)acetosyringone concentration in the culture medium,and(7)duration of incubation.The optimal protocol for hairy root induction and growth was:young shoots,pre-cultured in Y1 for 2 d,inoculated with R.rhizogenes broth with an OD600 of 0.6 for 20 min,and incubated for 3 d.Putative transgenic hairy roots were initially identified by morphology and then confirmed by polymerase chain reaction.Successful and optimal production of hairy roots is a critical prerequisite for industrial scale clonal propagation of P.hainanensis.Being able to cultivate the plant on a large scale will provide rapid and ready supply of the plant materials that can be used in herbal medicine and in scientific and industrial exploitation.

User story clustering in agile development:a framework and an empirical study

Agile development aims at rapidly developing software while embracing the continuous evolution of user requirements along the whole development process.User stories are the primary means of requirements collection and elicitation in the agile development.A project can involve a large amount of user stories,which should be clustered into different groups based on their functionality’s similarity for systematic requirements analysis,effective mapping to developed features,and efficient maintenance.Nevertheless,the current user story clustering is mainly conducted in a manual manner,which is time-consuming and subjective to human bias.In this paper,we propose a novel approach for clustering the user stories automatically on the basis of natural language processing.Specifically,the sentence patterns of each component in a user story are first analysed and determined such that the critical structure in the representative tasks can be automatically extracted based on the user story meta-model.The similarity of user stories is calculated,which can be used to generate the connected graph as the basis of automatic user story clustering.We evaluate the approach based on thirteen datasets,compared against ten baseline techniques.Experimental results show that our clustering approach has higher accuracy,recall rate and F1-score than these baselines.It is demonstrated that the proposed approach can significantly improve the efficacy of user story clustering and thus enhance the overall performance of agile development.The study also highlights promising research directions for more accurate requirements elicitation.

Clonal integration benefits invasive alien plants under water variability in a native community

Aims Many invasive alien plant species are clonal and can greatly propa-gate and spread through clonal integration(sharing resources between connected ramets)in heterogeneous and variable environ-ments.Here,we tested whether water variability influences clonal integration of invasive alien plant species and consequently facili-tates their growth and dominance in a native community.Methods We selected four typical invasive clonal plant species in China.Connected(with clonal integration)and disconnected(without clonal integration)clonal fragments were established either under constant watering or variable watering condition in an experimental native plant community consisting of three naturally co-occurring grassland species.Proximal part of the container received high nu-trient and distal part received low nutrient.Important Findings Clonal integration significantly increased biomass,aboveground mass and belowground mass of invasive alien plants in the proximal ramets,the distal ramets and the whole clone and de-creased the growth of native community.Interestingly,clonal in-tegration significantly increased the growth of invasive plants in variable watering.The positive effect of clonal integration was stronger in variable watering than in constant watering.Invasive plants with clonal integration had high biomass proportion(>0.6)in the whole community.Our results suggest that invasive clonal plants benefit more from clonal integration in variable water en-vironments when established in a native community,and to some extent,clonal integration potentially contribute greatly to the inva-siveness of alien clonal plants when they enter a new community with resource variability.

Fertilization and clear-cutting effects on greenhouse gas emissions of pinewood nematode damaged Masson pine plantation

Introduction:Management practices are essential for maintaining forest ecological functions under increasing diseases and pest disasters.The effects of nitrogen fertilization(NF)and clear-cutting(CC)on the soil microbial community structure and greenhouse gases emission were investigated of pinewood nematodes(Bursaphelenchus xylophilus)-infected Masson pine(Pinus massoniana)plantations.Outcomes:CC increased the soil microbial biomass carbon(SMBC)and soil microbial biomass nitrogen(SMBN)contents relative to the control(CK).NF increased the SMBN but had no significant effect on the SMBC content.The total fungal and bacterial abundances increased in the CC treatment compared with the CK,but there was no significant difference between the NF and CK.The cumulative soil CO_(2)emission(-2.35 t C·hm^(-2))was higher than that of CK(1.65 t C·hm^(-2))in summer,and the cumulative annual N_(2)O emission(16.90 kg N·hm^(-2)yr^(-1))of NF was approximately 47 times of CK(0.36 t N·hm^(-2)·yr^(-1)).CC increased the CO_(2)flux(-2.21 t C·hm^(-2))in summer but have no significantly effects on N_(2)O emission.Conclusion:These results indicated that NF and CC practices changed forest soil microbial community structure and affected soil greenhouse gas emissions in pinewood nematodes-infected Masson pine plantations.The CO_(2)emission rates increased in the NF and CC treatments,which reduced the carbon sequestration function of forests and had a negative impact on climate change.