Search

Highlights Using a two‐step molding process, wood plastic composite (WPC) were prepared under temperatures ranging from 160 to 180°C. Uniaxial compression tests of WPC were conducted at temperatures of −20°C, 0°C, 20°C, and 40°C, determining stress levels of 30%, 45%, and 60% based on the test results. Subsequently, 24‐hour compression creep tests were performed for WPC under 12 different conditions. The Findley power law model was employed to fit the experimental results, indicating that creep deformation increased with both stress level and environmental temperature. Notably, specimens at 0°C failed after sustaining a load for 13.6 hours at 60% stress, while those at 20°C failed after only 0.72 hours under the same conditions. Overall, the Findley model effectively predicted the creep behavior of WPC under all temperature conditions and stress levels. The influence of temperature variation on the strength of WPC. Short term creep of WPC under different stress levels. Creep of WPC at different temperatures. Prediction of creep performance under different operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of loneliness among college students has attracted extensive attention from researchers. As a fundamental psychological framework, personality traits are associated with loneliness. Thus, we conducted a survey of 688 college students in Mainland China to examine the relationship between the HEXACO personality traits and loneliness. Regression analysis revealed a negative association between loneliness and the personality traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience, and a positive association between loneliness and the personality traits of honesty–humility, emotionality, and extraversion. This model explained 33.78% of the variance in loneliness. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To verify the association between personality traits and academic performance in a university setting, we collected the grade point average (GPA) and six personality characteristics (honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) of 349 students at a university in China. According to the results, there were positive associations between GPA and honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. Additionally, honesty–humility, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience explained 30.72% of the variance in GPA. On the basis of the above findings, two conclusions can be made: First, undergraduates' GPA is associated with these six personality traits; second, undergraduates' honesty–humility, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience may help to explain the variance in their GPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Locust plagues inflict severe agricultural damage. Climate change-induced extreme events like rainfall and droughts have expanded locust habitats. These new areas, often beyond routine monitoring, could become potential high-risk locust areas (PHRLA). Quantitatively understanding the outbreak mechanism driving drought and flood dynamics is crucial for identifying PHRLA, but such studies are scarce. To address this gap, we conducted a case study on locust outbreaks in Xiashan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in Shandong Province, China, in 2017 and 2018. Using time series satellite imagery and meteorological products, we quantitatively analyzed how drought–flood dynamics and temperature affect locust habitats, reproduction, and aggregation. Employing an object-oriented random forest classifier, we generated locust habitat classification maps with 93.77% average overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient of 0.90. Combined with meteorological analysis, we found that three consecutive drought years from 2014 to 2016 reduced the water surface area by 75%, expanding suitable habitats (primarily reeds and weeds) to cover 60% of the reservoir. Warm winters and high temperatures during locust key growth periods, coupled with expanding suitable habitats, promoted multi-generational locust reproduction. However, substantial flooding events in 2017 and 2018, driven by plentiful rainfall during key growth periods, reduced suitable habitats by approximately 54% and 29%, respectively. This compression led to high locust density, causing the locust plague and high-density spots of locusts (HDSL). Our study elucidates locust plague outbreak mechanisms under dynamic drought and flood environments. Based on this, we propose an approach to identify PHRLA by monitoring changes in drought and flood patterns around water bodies and variations in suitable habitat size and distribution, as well as surrounding topography. These findings hold significant implications for enhancing locust monitoring and early warning capabilities, reducing pesticide usage, and ensuring food and ecological security and sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five groups of three‐point bending tests of wood plastic composites (WPCs) at different temperatures were conducted. The test temperatures ranged from −40 to 40°C, and the temperature difference of each group was 20°C. The results show that the bending strength and elastic modulus of the specimens decrease continuously with increasing temperature. Twenty‐four‐hour bending creep tests of WPCs under a 50% stress level were completed at different temperatures. The Findley model predicted the short‐term creep of WPCs better. According to the results of the short‐term creep tests, the horizontal shift factor was introduced based on the Prony series model. Then, we proposed a formula for creep compliance over time at different temperatures to predict the long‐term creep performance of WPCs under a 50% stress level at different temperatures. The results indicate that when the test temperature is less than 0°C, WPCs can hold the load for 50 years without entering the tertiary creep stage; at 20°C, the WPC specimen will fail at 24 days, whereas at 40°C, the specimen can only last for 24 h and then enters the tertiary creep stage until fracture damage occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping rubber plantations in a large area is still challenging in high-cloud-cover and complex-vegetation landscapes. Existing studies were often confined to the discrimination of rubber trees from natural forests and rarely concerned other tropical tree species. The Sentinel-2 constellation, with improved spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution, offers new opportunities to improve previous efforts. In this paper, four Hainan Sentinel-2 composites were generated based on the detailed phenological stages delineation of rubber trees. The random forest classifier with different phenological stage combinations was utilized to discuss the capability of Sentinel-2 composites to map rubber plantations. The optimal resultant rubber plantation map had a producer's accuracy, user's accuracy, and F1 score of 81%, 84.4%, and 0.83, respectively. According to the rubber plantation map in 2020, there was a total of 5473 km2 rubber plantations in Hainan, which was 2.93% higher than the statistical data from the Hainan Statistical Yearbook. According to the Hainan Statistical Yearbook, the area-weighted accuracy at the county level was 82.47%. The mean decrease in accuracy (MDA) was used to assess the feature importance of the four phenological stages. Results showed that the recovery growth stage played the most important role, and the resting stage was the least important. Moreover, in terms of the combinations of phenological stages, any dataset group with two phenological stages was sufficient for rubber tree discrimination. These findings were instrumental in facilitating the rubber plantation mapping annually. This study has demonstrated the potential of Sentinel-2 data, with the phenology-based image-compositing technique, for mapping rubber plantations in large areas with complex vegetation landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood–plastic composites (WPCs) are environmentally friendly materials with good weather resistance and low cost. To investigate the feasibility of their use in different environments, a WPC was designed and subjected to a uniaxial compression test at seven temperatures to obtain the failure mode, uniaxial compressive strength, elastic modulus, proportional limit stress, peak stress, and ultimate strain. The results showed the following. The failure modes of the WPC specimens at various temperatures were mainly shear compression failure, double shear failure, and end compression failure. The uniaxial compressive strength and elastic modulus decreased with increasing temperature. Specifically, at temperatures of −60°C, 20°C (normal temperature), and 60°C, the WPC had an average compressive strength of 73.55, 33.7, and 13.51 MPa, respectively, and an average elastic modulus of 7819.11, 6141.71, and 2650.17 MPa, respectively. In terms of the WPC's stress–strain relationship, at a temperature greater than the normal temperature, the WPC had a small peak stress but good ductility; at the normal temperature and below, the WPC had a large peak stress but poor ductility. Based on these findings, the experimental phenomena and characteristic constants were analyzed to establish models of factors that reduce the uniaxial compressive elastic modulus and compressive strength of WPC at different temperatures, to provide a theoretical basis for the mechanical calculations for the application of WPC in various extreme environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five specimens were cut from an aluminum alloy thin-walled hollow column to complete a tensile test, and the strength of the aluminum alloy was measured to be 200.18 MPa. The Ramberg–Osgood model was compared with the stress-strain relationship of the test results, and the fitting regression coefficient was more than 0.99. Four groups of axial compression trials of aluminum alloy thin-walled hollow columns with different heights were accomplished, and the test phenomena and data were concurrently observed and recorded. The results show that the axial compressive bearing capacity of aluminum alloy thin-walled hollow columns does not change with the change in column height, the mean value is 73.72 kN, and the corresponding covariance is only 2.14%. Local buckling failures appeared in all of these columns, and the failure locations were distributed at each height of the test pieces. The stiffness of the column decreased with the increase in height and width ratio, and the varying trend between them obeys exponential distribution. The displacement that corresponds to the ultimate load increased with the increase in the height-width ratio, and the increasing trend follows a linear relationship with the change in column height. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhao, L., Su, P., & Yang, Y. (2023). The HEXACO personality traits as predictors of Chinese undergraduates' academic performance. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal , 51 (12), e12650. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.12650 The above article has been retracted by agreement between the publisher of this journal, Scientific Journal Publishers Limited, the journal's Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Robert A. C. Stewart, and Managing Editor, Alexandra Cheyne, and the submitting author, Longlong Zhao. Concerns were raised by a reader about the reliability of the dataset, and after investigation and analysis of the item-level dataset by external reviewers and journal editors, discrepancies were revealed that cannot be explained by sampling errors or naturally occurring fluctuations. These anomalies in the Zhao data suggest that both the data and resulting conclusions cannot be considered reliable. For this reason, retraction was agreed upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chang, K., & Zhao, L. (2024). The HEXACO model of personality is associated with loneliness in a university setting. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal , 52 (1), e12741. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.12741  The above article has been retracted by agreement between the publisher of this journal, Scientific Journal Publishers Limited, the journal's Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Robert A. C. Stewart, and Managing Editor, Alexandra Cheyne, and the submitting author, Longlong Zhao. Concerns were raised by a reader about the reliability of the dataset, and after investigation and analysis of the item-level dataset by external reviewers and journal editors, discrepancies were revealed that cannot be explained by sampling errors or naturally occurring fluctuations. These anomalies in the Zhao data suggest that both the data and resulting conclusions cannot be considered reliable. For this reason, retraction was agreed upon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of the Asian migratory locust (Locusta migratoria migratoria) (AML) can deal a great blow to agriculture and grassland farming. The emergence of high-density locusts facilitates the outbreak of locusts. Understanding the forming mechanism of the high-density spot of locust (HDSL) is very important for locust monitoring and control. To achieve this goal, this paper took Nong'an County, which used to form an HDSL in 2017, as the study area. Firstly, based on the habitat classification system, support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and maximum likelihood (ML) methods were employed to explore the best classification method for locust habitats. Then, the optimal method was applied to monitor habitat dynamic changes from 2014 to 2017 in the HDSL in Nong'an. Finally, the HDSL forming mechanism was clarified coupled with habitat dynamic changes and meteorological data. The results showed that the SVM method was the optimal method, with an accuracy of 95.28%, which is higher than the RF and ML methods by 0.25% and 8.52%, respectively. The annual increased barren land and sufficient reeds provided adequate suitable habitats for the breeding of AML. From 2014 to 2016, the temperatures during the overwintering and hatching periods were higher than the 2010–2018 average, and the precipitation during the spawning period was lower than the 2010–2018 average. The precipitation during the growing period in 2017 was 30.8 mm less than the average from 2010 to 2018. All these characteristics were conducive to the reproduction of locusts. We concluded that the suitable habitat and meteorological conditions increased the locust quantity yearly, resulting in the formation of HDSL. These results are instrumental for monitoring potential high-risk outbreak areas, which is important to improve locust control and ensure food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood‐plastic composites (WPC) were produced by a two‐step extrusion process, and the mechanical properties like strength, elastic modulus, and Poisson's ratio of WPC were investigated. Twenty‐four hours uniaxial tensile and compressive creep experimental tests under four stress levels of 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60% were completed. The results show that whether tensile or compressive creep, 15% and 30% stress levels are low‐stress levels and 60% is high. When the stress level is 60%, brittle fracture occurs in 2.6 h for the tensile creep test, while it arises in 16.6 h for the compressive experiment. The Findley model can predict the creep behavior of WPC at high, medium, and low‐stress levels, and the fractional‐order model has the highest fitting degree for the creep properties at high‐stress levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation on the mechanical properties of wood plastic composites under uniaxial stress. Experimental studies of test pieces with tensile and compressive load were performed. Failure modes, stress–strain relationship, and other crucial parameters were recorded and analyzed. The results indicated that brittle failure was the typical failure mode of the tensile test specimens, however, shear‐compression failure and wedge double shear failure were commonly observed for samples under compressive load. Mechanical properties of WPC are better than those of timber according to different national standards. Different analytical models were proposed for evaluating the stress–strain response of the specimens. The fitting between the experimental results and calculations was good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an association between personality traits and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). In order to differentiate the association between various personality traits and GAD, a survey was conducted among PhD students in northern China (mainland). Three conclusions could be drawn with the help of regression analysis. At first, there is a positive association between Honesty-Humility (H H)/Emotionality (E)/Conscientiousness (C)/Openness to experience (O) and GAD, whereas there is a negative association between Agreeableness (A)/eXtraversion (X) and GAD. Secondly, age, gender, major, monthly income, H H, E, X, A, C and O could explain a 21.80 % variance in GAD. Thirdly, E and C are two robust factors that associated with GAD among PhD students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Port Island Formation (PIF), a typical Cretaceous red bed in Hong Kong, is dominated by non‐fossiliferous, reddish clastic rocks, making it difficult to determine the sedimentary age of PIF precisely. Previous studies assigned the PIF to Late Cretaceous provisionally only on the basis of its stratigraphic sequence and lithology. This study identified a tuffite interlayer in the PIF and a zircon U‐Pb age of 128.2±2.7 Ma by LA‐ICP‐MS method was obtained. It's the first time to date the depositional age of the PIF with a reliable chronological constraint. With the support of stratigraphic evidence, we concluded that the geological age of PIF should be Early Cretaceous rather than Late Cretaceous. Based on the volcanic history of Hong Kong and Southeast China and the distribution of the PIF in Mirs Bay, it is believed that there was no volcanic activity in Hong Kong in ca. 128 Ma. The tuffite interlayer discovered in PIF was formed by the deposition of volcanic ash, which might originate from remote region outside Hong Kong, in an aquatic environment on Port Island. The identification of the tuffite interlayer, as the response to a volcanic event, has great significance not only to the studies of establishment and regional correlation of the strata system and the geological evolution in Hong Kong, but also to the study of volcanic activities in Southeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum–wood–plastic composite (A-WPC) beams are a novel type of structural components formed by the co-extrusion of a wood–plastic composite (WPC) on the surface of a hot-rolled aluminum plate. In this study, composite beams of three different spans were designed to examine the flexural performance of A-WPC beams. For each group of specimens, the four-point flexural test was conducted to determine and analyze the failure mode, yield load, flexural bearing capacity, strength utilization, deformability, and strain distribution. The results show that when the span–height ratio is low, folding failure occurs on the compression side of the reinforced A-WPC composite beam, whereas when the span–height ratio is large, deformation and cracks occur on the tension side of the reinforced A-WPC beam first. Compared to the specimen with a span–height ratio of 18, the average ultimate load of the specimen with a span–height ratio of 12 was higher(66.75%), while the average deflection at failure was lower(38.03%). Compared to the specimen with a span–height ratio of 12, the average ultimate load of the specimen with a span–height ratio of 6 was higher(65.97%), while the average deflection at failure was lower(43.86%). The strength utilization of the reinforced A-WPC beam is 8.71%–9.26% higher than that of various engineered wood beams, and 3.46%–8.61% higher than that of various glulam beams. Based on these results, this paper proposed a method for calculating the flexural bearing capacity of the A-WPC beam. The calculation and test results indicate that the reinforced A-WPC beam exhibits excellent flexural performance and can be used as a model for composite beam design. • The reinforcement design of composite beam with aluminum–woodplastic​ composite. • The failure modes and experimental characterization of flexural test of reinforced aluminum–wood–plastic composite beam. • The flexural bearing capacity calculation of reinforced aluminumwood–plastic-composite beam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological adaptations of biological control agents may determine where and when they will be successful. Agasicles hygrophila Selman & Vogt, has been introduced into China for biological control of an invasive weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. The extent to which A. hygrophila can withstand low temperatures was tested to determine whether this physiological trait can be used to predict its potential distribution and effectiveness as a biological control agent. Our results showed that A. hygrophila eggs, larvae, pupae and adults had similar super cooling point temperatures (SCPs) which were not affected by acclimatization. Mortality increased with decreasing temperatures and with length of exposure to low temperatures. SCP was the limiting survival temperature, and chilling injury was one of the main causes of death. The upper limit of chill injury zone (ULCIZ) was 6.7 °C and the sum of injurious temperature (SIT) was about 15.0 degree days. Based on adult cold tolerance, the distribution of A. hygrophila in China is unlikely to extend beyond areas that experience temperatures at or below −8 °C, and the flea beetles will probably overwinter successfully only in areas where the annual minimum air temperature remains above 6.7 °C. These predictions were compared with known distribution data and seem to be a reliable and economical method to predict effectiveness of potential of biological control agents in regions with extreme climates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Oriental migratory locust is a destructive agricultural pest in China. Large-scale locust area (the area possessing suitable breeding habitat for locusts and has locust infestation) extraction and its evolution analysis are essential for locust ecological control. Existing methods seldom consider the spatial differences in the locust development and habitat landscape structures in large areas. To analyze these effects, our study proposed a landscape-based habitat suitability model (LHS model) for large-scale locust area extraction based on remote sensing data, taking the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (MLYR) as an example. Firstly, the DD model was used to simulate locust development and obtain habitat factors of the corresponding dates; secondly, the patch distribution of different land cover classes and their adjacent landscape characteristics were analyzed to determine the landscape-based factors memberships; finally, the habitat suitability index was calculated by combining the factors memberships and weights to extract the locust area. Compared with the patch-based model using moving windows (patch based-analytic hierarchy process model, R2 = 0.77), the LHS model accuracy improved significantly (R2 = 0.83). Our results showed that the LHS model has a better application prospect in large-scale locust area extraction. By analyzing the locust areas evolution along the MLYR extracted using the LHS model, we found human activities were the main factors affecting the locust areas evolution from 2016 to 2020, including: (1) planting the plants that locusts do not like and urbanization caused the decrease of the locust area; (2) the wetland protection policies may cause the increase of the locust area. The model and research results help locust control and prevention to realize the sustainable development of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-target plant selection tests using 20 representative species showed that Agasicles hygrophila could feed on Alternanthera sessilis, but the mature larvae did not pupate successfully. A. hygrophila could not complete their life cycle on the other plant species tested. Thus, A. hygrophila is safe for controlling Alternanthera philoxeroides in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Agasicles hygrophila has been used as a biological control agent on invasive alligatorweed, Alternanthera philoxeroides in China. We conducted tests to determine the impact of A. hygrophila on the non-target species A. sessilis and examined the developmental differences of A. hygrophila raised on these two plant species to assess the ecological and environmental safety of the introduced A. hygrophila in China. No significant differences were detected in the developmental timing of A. hygrophila from larvae to adults, in larval hatching, and in pupal fresh weight in three treatments: A. hygrophila reared on A. philoxeroides through all life stages; A. hygrophila larvae reared on A. sessilis but pupated in the stems of A. philoxeroides; and A. hygrophila reared on A. sessilis through all life stages. However, when A. hygrophila larvae were reared on A. sessilis but pupated in the stems of A. philoxeroides, they had a significantly longer preoviposition period, lower pupation rate, and lower fecundity than those in other two treatments. The demographic parameters examined indicated that lower fecundity (GRR, R 0) and intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m =0.06), but longer doubling time (T d) were found in A. hygrophila larvae reared on A. sessilis but pupated in the stems of A. philoxeroides compared to the other two treatments (r m =0.11). Ultimately, A. hygrophila has limited effects on the non-target A. sessilis and is considered safe to the ecosystem. Moreover, A. sessilis would provide a marginally suitable host for A. hygrophila in regions where the two species intermingle. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• An integrated patch-based habitat suitability assessment method for nationwide locust area extraction is proposed. • Dynamic changes of locust area and its evolution in China from 1995 to 2017 are analyzed. • The influences of land use/cover change on locust area evolution are quantified. • Suggestions for locust area management and monitoring are provided. The Oriental migratory locust (Locusta migratoria manilensis) is a threat to agriculture in China. The locust area is defined as an area possessing a suitable breeding habitat for this locust and has a locust outbreak at least once per decade. Ecological control of the locust area is an effective approach to manage locust with minimal environmental degradation. The formation and dynamic changes of locust areas are greatly affected by land use/cover changes (LUCC). Clarifying the LUCC in the locust area is significant for implementing rational ecological control strategies and detecting timely potential locust areas. This paper proposed a patch-based habitat suitability assessment (PHSA) method for nationwide locust area extraction. Then, a multi-temporal binary coding method was used to detect the locust area dynamic changes from 1995 to 2017. Subsequently, the relationship between LUCC and the extinction and formation of locust areas in different ecotypes was quantitatively investigated. Results show that the area of the locust area has greatly reduced over the past 20 years, and the distribution range has a large degree of temporal and spatial variation. The extinction of the locust area is closely related to the LUCC from cropland and wetland to woodland and artificial surface. It is also related to changes from grassland to cropland and woodland. The newly formed locust area shows opposite LUCC trends. These results provide practical strategies and guidance for ecological control and early monitoring of locust areas. They are instrumental in reducing pesticide use and achieving more sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Wood structure. • SPF columns. • Columns with hollow cross section. • Combined bending and compression. • Inelastic analysis. A rectangular hollow wood column made of Spruce-Pine-Fir (SPF) lumbers was developed, for the purpose of improving the utilization efficiency of timber. The present work conducted experimental investigations of the columns under centrically and eccentrically compression. A wide range of slenderness ratios of columns and eccentricities of loads was considered to carefully examine the failure modes in columns. The results indicated that combined material failures and buckling failures were observed for the intermediately slender columns under axial compression, while buckling failures were observed for the long columns. The ultimate strength of columns under axial compression significantly decreased with the increase of slenderness ratios. The predicted results by the tangent modulus theory closed to those of experiments. The bending failure, which underwent a pronounced nonlinear process, was the major characteristic of the intermediately slender column with an eccentric compressive load. Typically, the load carrying capacity of columns showed a decreasing trend with an increasing in eccentric ratios. Both the secondary bending and material nonlinearity were important factors that impacted the nonlinear response of the column. An analytical model was proposed for evaluating the load carrying capacity of the rectangular hollow columns under the interaction between compression and bending. There was good agreement between the results of the experiments and calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unmixing-based spatiotemporal fusion model is one of the effective ways to solve limitations in temporal and spatial resolution tradeoffs in a single satellite sensor. By using fusion data from different satellite platforms, high resolution in both temporal and spatial domains can be produced. However, due to the ill-posed characteristic of the unmixing function, the model performance may vary due to the different model setups. The key factors affecting the model stability most and how to set up the unmixing strategy for data downscaling remain unknown. In this study, we use the multisource land surface temperature as the case and focus on the three major factors to analyze the stability of the unmixing-based fusion model: (1) the definition of the homogeneous change regions (HCRs), (2) the unmixing levels, and (3) the number of HCRs. The spatiotemporal data fusion model U-STFM was used as the baseline model. The results show: (1) The clustering-based algorithm is more suitable for detecting HCRs for unmixing. Compared with the multi-resolution segmentation algorithm and k-means algorithm, the ISODATA clustering algorithm can more accurately describe LST's temporal and spatial changes on HCRs. (2) For the U-STFM model, applying the unmixing processing at the change ratio level can significantly reduce the additive and multiplicative noise of the prediction. (3) There is a tradeoff effect between the number of HCRs and the solvability of the linear unmixing function. The larger the number of HCRs (less than the available MODIS pixels), the more stable the model is. (4) For the fusion of the daily 30 m scale LST product, compared with STARFM and ESTARFM, the modified U-STFM (iso_USTFM) achieved higher prediction accuracy and a lower error ( R   2 : 0.87 and RMSE:1.09 k). With the findings of this study, daily fine-scale LST products can be predicted based on the unmixing-based spatial–temporal model with lower uncertainty and stable prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bamboo fiber (BF) possesses advantages such as environmental friendliness, renewability, economic viability, and favorable mechanical properties, making it a promising material for improving the brittleness and tensile strength of concrete. Previous investigations have demonstrated a limited exploration of BF-reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC). Current study concentrates on investigating the mechanical properties and stress-strain relationship of BF-reinforced LWAC. To achieve this, 7 groups of BF-reinforced LWAC specimens were subjected to compressive tests, splitting tensile tests, and prism compressive tests. The influence of BF content and length on the compressive performance, failure modes and stress-strain curves was studied. BFs effectively suppressed the development of internal cracks in LWAC, playing a role in crack resistance and toughness enhancement. Furthermore, BFs significantly improved the splitting tensile strength of concrete, while the compressive strength slightly decreased with the increase of BF content. After adding BFs, the splitting tensile strength of concrete increased by 8.2∼23.7%, and the compressive strength decreased by 3.6∼11.1%. Moreover, the BF length had almost no effect on the compressive strength of concrete, while when the BF length was 10–30 mm, the tensile strength increased by 5.3∼17.6%. Based on existing researches, strength conversion equations and stress-strain constitutive models of BF-reinforced LWAC were proposed, and the models provide a theoretical basis for the calculation and analysis of BF-reinforced LWAC components and structures. • Bamboo fiber (BF)-reinforced lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) was examined. • BFs significantly improved the splitting tensile strength and ductility of LWAC. • The failure modes of specimens were analyzed based on SEM images and DIC technology. • The stress-strain models of BF-reinforced LWAC were established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable and continuous remote sensing land-cover mapping is important for agriculture, ecosystems, and land management. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are promising methods for achieving this goal. However, the large number of high-quality training samples required to train a CNN is difficult to acquire. In practice, imbalanced and noisy labels originating from existing land-cover maps can be used as alternatives. Experiments have shown that the inconsistency in the training samples has a significant impact on the performance of the CNN. To overcome this drawback, a method is proposed to inject highly consistent information into the network, to learn general and transferable features to alleviate the impact of imperfect training samples. Spectral indices are important features that can provide consistent information. These indices can be fused with CNN feature maps which utilize information entropy to choose the most appropriate CNN layer, to compensate for the inconsistency caused by the imbalanced, noisy labels. The proposed transferable CNN, tested with imbalanced and noisy labels for inter-regional Landsat time-series, not only is superior in terms of accuracy for land-cover mapping but also demonstrates excellent transferability between regions in both time series and cross-regional Landsat image classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Shift work may cause insomnia and sleepiness in individuals. The present study aimed to exam shift work disorder (SWD), and to investigate their associations with individual characteristics.Methods: A total of 1833 shift workers were assessed using the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM), Circadian Type Inventory (CTI), Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and other self-compiled socio-demographic questionnaires.Results: In the current sample, 17.1% shift workers have experienced insomnia symptoms, 20.9% were tested for daytime sleepiness, and 19.9% were categorized as having SWD. Logistics regressions revealed that history of mental disorders (OR = 2.04, 95% CI = 1.30-3.21), chronic physical illness (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.17-1.99), CES-D scores (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 1.02-1.05), BAI scores (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.03-1.06), languid/vigorous tendencies (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.03-1.10) were positively associated with the onset of SWD, while morningness (OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.94-0.99) decreased the odds of SWD onset.Conclusions: These findings suggested that attention should be drawn to individuals with mental and chronic diseases in when scheduling work shifts. While SWD and its associates should be considered when providing psychological services to shift workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial fragmentation of high-resolution remote sensing images makes the segmentation algorithm put forward a strong demand for noise immunity. However, the stronger the noise immunity, the more serious the loss of detailed information, which easily leads to the neglect of effective characteristics. In view of the difficulty of balancing the noise immunity and effective characteristic retention, an adaptive distance-weighted Voronoi tessellation technology is proposed for remote sensing image segmentation. The distance between pixels and seed points in Voronoi tessellation is established by the adaptive weighting of spatial distance and spectral distance. The weight coefficient used to control the influence intensity of spatial distance is defined by a monotone decreasing function. Following the fuzzy clustering framework, a fuzzy segmentation model with Kullback–Leibler (KL) entropy regularization is established by using multivariate Gaussian distribution to describe the spectral characteristics and Markov Random Field (MRF) to consider the neighborhood effect of sub-regions. Finally, a series of parameter optimization schemes are designed according to parameter characteristics to obtain the optimal segmentation results. The proposed algorithm is validated on many multispectral remote sensing images with five comparing algorithms by qualitative and quantitative analysis. A large number of experiments show that the proposed algorithm can overcome the complex noise as well as better ensure effective characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The novel CRSEI minimizes error in continuous monitoring of environmental quality. • Multitemporal bias of standard RSEI is reduced with a change detection algorithm. • CRSEI reveals actual environmental-quality changes in East/Southeast Asian coasts. • North China coasts have low environmental quality but see the most improvement. • Southeast Asian coasts see major environmental deterioration caused by human activity. With urbanization and anthropogenic pressures, the eco-environmental quality of East and Southeast Asian coastal regions has undergone drastic changes in the 21st century. To assess these environmental variations and realize regional sustainable development goals, a quantitative monitoring of the eco-environment is necessary, but challenging. The remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) was recently proposed and applied to quantitatively monitor the eco-environmental quality, but bias during multitemporal observations is a major limitation. Thus, a novel method, Continuous Remote Sensing Ecological Index (CRSEI), was developed in this study to enable constant and objective monitoring of large-scale and long-term environmental changes in the coastal regions of East and Southeast Asia. To reduce the multitemporal bias of pixels caused by imaging conditions and sensor status, a change detection algorithm requiring limited auxiliary data was developed. High-resolution images show that the CRSEI enables adequate multitemporal monitoring of eco-environmental changes with fewer false fluctuations on the local scale. The proposed CRSEI should deepen the current understanding of environmental changes and provide a solid scientific reference for environmental protection on multiple scales. The results of this research indicate that the eco-environmental quality of the east and southeast Asian coast remained generally stable during the studied period (2001–2019), with the mean CRSEI changed slightly from 5918 to 5856. However, on a regional level, each area revealed different conditions. First, the Korean Peninsula had relatively stable and well-maintained eco-environmental quality with a CRSEI of around 5500 during 2001–2019. Second, The North China coast had lower eco-environmental quality compared to other regions, but it showed the most improvement, with the CRSEI increasing from 2719 to 2807. Third, the eco-environmental quality of South China and Myanmar's coastal region remained relatively stable, with a CRSEI of around 5730 and 6720, respectively. Fourth, the continental coast of some Southeast Asian countries, particularly Vietnam and Cambodia, experienced a significant decline in eco-environmental quality, as indicated by a dramatic decrease in the CRSEI from 6751 to 6527. Notably, the areas with declining eco-environmental quality were concentrated in the western border regions of Cambodia, where unrestricted cultivation has led to the destruction of tropical rainforests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Connection is an important part of the bamboo and timber structure, and it directly influences the overall structural performance and safety. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the mechanical performance of several wood connections, a new connector for the bamboo (timber) frame joint was proposed in this paper. Three full-scale T-type joint specimens were designed to study the mechanical performance under cyclic loading. The thickness of the hollow steel column was different among three specimens. The specimens were loaded under displacement control with a rate of 10mm per minute until the specimens reach failure. It was observed that the failures of three specimens were caused by the buckling of flanges in the compression and that the steel of connections does not yield. The load-displacement hysteretic curve for three specimens is relatively plump, and the stiffness of connection degenerates with the increasing of cyclic load. The maximum rotation is 0.049 rad, and the energy dissipation coefficient is 1.77. The thickness of the hollow steel column of the connector has significant impact on the energy dissipation capacity and the strength of the connection. A simplified moment-rotation hysteresis model for the joint was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In East Inner-Mongolia, the Arxan-Chaihe Volcano Area (ACVA) constitutes an important component part of the Cenozoic volcanic eruption area in Northeast China, with great scientific and aesthetic value. The area has received much attention since the 1980s. The Arxan National Geopark was established in 2004 and the Zalantun Autonomous Geopark in 2010, and volcanic geoconservation and geotourism developed to a certain degree, along with some common problems in geopark development. This paper analyzes the characteristics, geoconservation, and geotourism of volcanic geoheritage in the area. The main problems identified are the inefficient conservation management, uncoordinated development, and the limited interpretation system. We provide some suggestions on the problems in order to promote the local development, such as strengthening legislation, training tour guides as volcanologists with a background in geology who can interpret volcano geoheritage correctly, building a web site, and combining the two geoparks to apply for designation as a global geopark [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert locust plagues can easily cause a regional food crisis and thus affect social stability. Preventive control of the disaster highlights the early detection of hopper gregarization before they form devastating swarms. However, the response of hopper band emergence to environmental fluctuation exhibits a time lag. To realize the dynamic forecast of band occurrence with optimal temporal predictors, we proposed an SVM-based model with a temporal sliding window technique by coupling multisource time-series imagery with historical locust ground survey observations from between 2000–2020. The sliding window method was based on a lagging variable importance ranking used to analyze the temporal organization of environmental indicators in band-forming sequences and eventually facilitate the early prediction of band emergence. Statistical results show that hopper bands are more likely to occur within 41–64 days after increased rainfall; soil moisture dynamics increasing by approximately 0.05 m³/m³ then decreasing may enhance the chance of observing bands after 73–80 days. While sparse vegetation areas with NDVI increasing from 0.18 to 0.25 tend to witness bands after 17–40 days. The forecast model combining the optimal time lags of these dynamic indicators with other static indicators allows for a 16-day extended outlook of band presence in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Monthly predictions from February to December 2020 display an overall accuracy of 77.46%, with an average ROC-AUC of 0.767 and a mean F-score close to 0.772. The multivariate forecast framework based on the lagging effect can realize the early warning of band presence in different spatiotemporal scenarios, supporting early decisions and response strategies for desert locust preventive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]