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The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in 2020, has had a tremendous impact on various industries and the daily lives of the general populace, thereby contributing to increasing uncertainty in business competition. Property management enterprises, despite witnessing a mostly stagnant expansion and enhancement of their existing operations, have, owing to the unique nature of their services, continued to experience a relatively positive competitive environment. Notably, the recent emphasis in property management companies has been on the development of value-added services at the community level, which represents a critical avenue for securing a competitive edge by addressing consumer demands. This study, grounded in the ABC theory and the theory of planned behavior, seeks to analyze consumer attitudes towards the provision of value-added services by property management firms, including facets such as community healthcare services, community lifestyle amenities, community educational offerings, and personalized services. Moreover, the study delves into the mediating role played by satisfaction with fundamental property management services. The empirical findings emphasize the significant enhancement in consumer receptivity to property management firms' value-added services, particularly in the domains of community healthcare, lifestyle amenities, education, and personalized services. In addition, it highlights the indirect effect of property owners' contentment with essential property management services on their perspectives concerning the delivery of value-added services by property management firms. The implications of these research conclusions bear significant relevance for organizations engaged in offering such services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riparian buffers and stream channel widths along river networks have extremely significant ecological influences on parameters and stressors associated with riparian health indicators (RHIs). It is imperative for countries that rely heavily on rivers for irrigation to protect RHIs such as habitat, plant cover, regeneration, exotics, and erosion. It is unclear which protection methods are most effective for RHIs in less developed countries, such as Pakistan. This study fills this gap by using a quick field-based technique that includes 273 transects and examines the response of RHIs in the upper and lower Indus River basins (IRB). In the lower Indus basin (LIB), riparian buffer and stream channel widths had the most considerable influence on RHIs using Pearson’s correlations, ranging from ̶ 0.47 < r < 0.71 and ̶ 0.41 < r < 0.32, respectively. There was a significant relationship between stressors and RHIs in the LIB when these widths were changed, and stressors had a significant influence on habitat ̶ 0.37 < r < 0.41, plant cover ̶ 0.32 < r < 0.38, regeneration ̶ 0.29 < r < 0.25, erosion ̶ 0.34 < r < 0.49, and exotics ̶ 0.39 < r < 0.24. In contrast, these stressors in the upper Indus basin (UIB) also adversely affected habitat ̶ 0.28 < r < 0.27, plant cover ̶ 0.34 < r < 0.26, regeneration ̶ 0.19 < r < 0.26, erosion ̶ 0.38 < r < 0.23, and exotics ̶ 0.31 < r < 0.30. It was found from the principal component analysis that the responses of RHIs and stressors varied considerably between the UIB and LIB. Additionally, the agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis of the RHIs and stressor indices revealed dissimilarities in the UIB and LIB. This study supports the need to examine riparian regions along long rivers, which are subject to the same administrative strategies. Large river ecosystems need revised standards to prevent further degradation based on ecological indicators.

The rapid development of the power industry has resulted in a significant amount of electric porcelain solid waste. To address the challenges of small‐scale utilization and low added value associated with the current utilization of porcelain solid waste, a new high‐temperature resistant material was successfully developed using waste electric porcelain with varying particle sizes as the primary raw material. The dependence of composition, structure, and mechanical properties on fine particle size and sintering temperature was explored. The research has determined that the most effective particle size for the synthesis of refractory materials using waste electric porcelain is 120 mesh, and the optimal temperature is 1600°C. When the temperature exceeds 1500°C, the expansion generated by the decomposition of sillimanite will counteract the shrinkage of the liquid phase reaction, thereby maintaining the morphology of the sample. This process forms a unique interwoven mullite morphology through the decomposition of sillimanite, thereby enhancing the strength of the material. As a result, the optimal bending strength of 74 MPa and the optimal compression strength of 207 MPa were obtained. The realization of high‐temperature resistant materials based on discarded electric porcelain has shown foreseeable potential in large‐scale high‐value utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (cardiac MR) reference ranges in Chinese children are lacking. Purpose: To establish age‐ and sex‐specific reference ranges for cardiac MR parameters in a cohort of healthy Chinese children. Study Type: Retrospective. Subjects: One hundred ninety‐six healthy children (mean age 9.5 ± 3.6 years, 111 boys). Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5 T; balanced steady‐state free precession. Assessment: Biventricular volume and ejection fractions (EF), left atrial (LA) volume, right atrial (RA) area, left ventricular (LV) mass and thickness, aortic root (AR), and main pulmonary artery (MPA) dimensions were measured. Parameters were compared between age groups and sex. The relationships between parameters and age, body mass index (BMI) and body surface area (BSA) were investigated. Statistical Tests: Independent‐samples t tests; Pearson's correlation. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Generally, boys exhibited greater absolute measurements of LV volume (end‐diastolic: 94.4 ± 29.5 vs. 81.3 ± 31.0 mL), LA volume (end‐diastolic: 42.6 ± 13.4 vs. 38.0 ± 13.3 mL), RA area (end‐diastolic: 11.6 ± 2.5 vs. 10.8 ± 2.6 cm2), LV thickness (base: 4.4 ± 1.1 vs. 3.8 ± 0.9 mm), AR dimensions (annuls: 16.3 ± 2.7 vs. 15.0 ± 2.8 mm), and MPA dimensions (14.3 ± 2.3 vs. 13.1 ± 2.4 mm) than girls did. However, these differences were not observed when the measurements were normalized to BSA (LV volume: 75.3 ± 11.7 vs. 71.9 ± 12.3 mL/m2, P = 0.052; LA volume: 34.8 ± 8.9 vs. 34.5 ± 7.6 mL/m2, P = 0.783; RA area: 9.7 ± 2.3 vs. 10.2 ± 2.3 cm2/m2, P = 0.107; LV thickness: 3.6 ± 0.7 vs. 3.6 ± 0.9 mm/m2, P = 0.990; AR: 13.6 ± 2.7 vs. 14.3 ± 3.4 mm/m2, P = 0.108; MPA: 11.9 ± 2.3 vs. 12.4 ± 2.4 mm/m2, P = 0.118). Boys had greater RV volume (end‐diastolic: 98.7 ± 33.5 vs. 82.7 ± 33.1 mL) and LV mass (52.6 ± 20.2 vs. 41.4 ± 16.0 g) compared to girls, irrespective of whether the values were indexed or not for BSA. Additionally, there were significant associations between age, BMI, and BSA with biventricular volume, LA volume, RA area, LV mass and thickness, AR and MPA dimensions in both boys and girls. Data Conclusion: This study suggests reference ranges at 1.5 T for Chinese children. Evidence Level: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background--With rapid population growth, there is an increasing demand for diverse forest products and ecosystem services. Global climate change exacerbates risks and uncertainties in forestry systems. However, digital and smart technologies are recognized as the driving forces of the innovative economy and sustainable development, with great potential to change the future direction of forestry systems. The 26th world congress of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations ( IUFRO) is the largest and most influential forestry academic event, and smart forestry is one of the current frontier research fields of forestry. (2) Methods--According to the concept, characteristics, connotation and extension of smart forestry, the related issues of smart forestry were selected from the conference agenda of the 26th World Congress of IUFRO, and the text data set was extracted as the research basis of this paper. The python was used as the main tool to analyze the text data set, the specific process is: First, import the necessary libraries; Second, preprocess the text data, remove the stop words and punctuation marks, and eliminate the words with too high frequency and low analytical value such as " forest", " forestry" and " trees" combined with the research theme; Third, the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF--IDF) values of the text were calculated, and the highest values were used to generate word cloud maps or the heatmap functions were used to draw heat maps. Finally, it further analyzed the frontier issues of smart forestry research from the perspectives of natural science and social science. (3) Results--From the perspective of natural science, the research of smart forestry mainly focuses on two aspects: one is digitalization, that is, achieve the near-real-time, multi-scale and all-round forest monitoring through the application of digital technologies such as remote sensing. The other is intelligentization, that is, the intelligent decision support system helps solve the problems of forest resource management such as multi-objective management decision-making, complex decision-making and multi-stakeholder decision-making. From the perspective of social science, the research of smart forestry mainly focuses on three aspects: efficiency, equity and policy. In terms of efficiency, it includes the digitally literate labour forces in the future, modern forest operations, and AI-enabled decision-making. In terms of equity, it includes gender equality in the forestry sectors, forest voice on digital platforms, and bridging the digital divide in forest governance. In terms of policy, it mainly includes global forest governance and international cooperation. (4) Conclusions and Discussions--The development of global smart forestry has important practical significance : while making full use of digital monitoring technology and intelligent decision support system, it can achieve the integration of efficiency, equity and policy. In addition, the technology application and policy innovation of smart forestry not only provide a useful reference for the development of Chinese forestry, but also promote the technical cooperation, technology sharing and policy dialogue in the field of smart forestry among countries around the world. The Strategies to meet the challenges of smart forestry research include: promoting the standardization and interoperability of technologies, rapidly updating the research methods and techniques, effectively acquiring and processing big data, and improving the application of research results. Future research on the smart forestry can focus on three key areas: innovation and diffusion of technology, deepening of multidisciplinary research, and strengthening of policy and global cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the new era, coordinating the relationship between population flow and forestry ecological security has become an important challenge. In this study, we take Heilongjiang Province in China as an example, and through the combination of macro data and micro in-depth interviews, we explore whether population mobility really affects the intrinsic mechanism of forestry ecological security from the perspective of population exodus from forest areas. Based on the DPSIR model, we constructed a forestry ecological security evaluation index system, used the TOPSIS multi-objective decision analysis method to quantify the forestry ecological security status from 2000 to 2022, and utilized the impulse response function of the VAR model to explore the dynamic response relationship between population outflow and forestry ecological security. The results of this study show that, firstly, the comprehensive index of forestry ecological security level in Heilongjiang Province exhibits a fluctuating upward trend from 2000 to 2022. Second, forestry ecological security has a lagged effect on population outflow, and population outflow has almost no effect on forestry ecological security at present. Third, while the population outflow of Luobei County reduces the interference of human activities on the natural environment, it also brings about the pressures of insufficient forestry ecological resource management and forestry personnel. The Dongfanghong Forestry Bureau has effectively improved the efficiency of ecological construction and ecological security through the introduction of digitalized and intelligent equipment, which has effectively compensated for the negative impact of population outflow on the reduction in ecological management personnel. These findings will help realize the coordinated development of population, economy and society, and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To protect forest land from loss and mitigate the global climate crisis, China has proposed a stringent natural forest protection plan, known as China's natural forest logging ban (NFLB). This policy aims to halt the over-exploitation of natural forests, restore forest ecosystem functions, and promote regional green economic development. This study uses a regression discontinuity design (RDD) model to quantitatively and comprehensively assess the effectiveness of this policy in the key state-owned forest regions in Northeast China. Additionally, it analyzes the heterogeneity and structural characteristics of the policy's effects on the internal composition of ecological and economic systems. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Ecological and economic impacts: The policy has successfully achieved its ecological objectives by significantly enhancing the quality and value of ecosystem services. However, it has also had a notable adverse impact on economic development, particularly in the timber supply sector, reducing the conversion efficiency of ecosystem service values into economic benefits. (2) Structural analysis: The logging ban effectively promoted the value of various ecosystem services, particularly enhancing regulatory and support functions, with a LATE estimate of approximately 8.47 units. The implementation of the policy caused a negative growth in the output value of supply-oriented ecological products, and the significance level was lower than 0.1. Conversely, the LATE estimates for different types of GDP indicate a negative growth in supply-type GDP due to the policy, with p < 0.1. (3) Heterogeneity: On the one hand, a simplistic and singular approach to logging prohibition may constrain the efficiency of enhancing ecosystem service values. On the other hand, although the policy disrupted the majority of traditional forest enterprise operations, business models focusing on quality and technology improvements were able to mitigate this impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]