The EEG-Based Fusion Entropy-Featured Identification of Isometric Contraction Forces under the Same Action.

This study explores the important role of assessing force levels in accurately controlling upper limb movements in human-computer interfaces. It uses a new method that combines entropy to improve the recognition of force levels. This research aims to differentiate between different levels of isometric contraction forces using electroencephalogram (EEG) signal analysis. It integrates eight different entropy measures: power spectrum entropy (PSE), singular spectrum entropy (SSE), logarithmic energy entropy (LEE), approximation entropy (AE), sample entropy (SE), fuzzy entropy (FE), alignment entropy (PE), and envelope entropy (EE). The findings emphasize two important advances: first, including a wide range of entropy features significantly improves classification efficiency; second, the fusion entropy method shows exceptional accuracy in classifying isometric contraction forces. It achieves an accuracy rate of 91.73% in distinguishing between 15% and 60% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) forces, along with 69.59% accuracy in identifying variations across 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60% MVC. These results illuminate the efficacy of employing fusion entropy in EEG signal analysis for isometric contraction detection, heralding new opportunities for advancing motor control and facilitating fine motor movements through sophisticated human-computer interface technologies.

Factors influencing the behavioral intention to use contactless financial services in the banking industry: An application and extension of UTAUT model.

Introduction: Contactless financial services are an innovative exploration of the banking industry to integrate digital technology. This study further modified the UTAUT model based on the theories of trust, perceived risk, and perceived advantage and constructed a conceptual model to examine the influencing factors of the behavior of using contactless financial services. The purpose of this paper is to figure out factors influencing users' behavior intention of contactless financial services, in order to promote use behavior, and boost the further development of contactless financial services. Methods: The model was validated using the data collected through questionnaires. The structural equation modelling (SEM) method was used to validate the research model. We analyzed the generated hypotheses by using AMOS version 23.0. In this study first analyzed the measurement model to test the reliability and validity of the instrument, and then analyzed the structural model to test our research hypotheses. Results: The results reveal that trust and perceived risk are important factors that affect the behavioral intention of contactless financial services; users perceive that contactless financial services have advantages over traditional offline channel, their intention to use contactless financial services will be increased; social influence also has a positive impact on behavioral intention. Discussion: This paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of contactless financial services use behavior but also offers practical insights to government legislative branches and app developers. By providing personalized services and refining the policies and regulations in the digital environment to promote the development of contactless financial services.

nifH Gene Sequencing Reveals the Effects of Successive Monoculture on the Soil Diazotrophic Microbial Community in Casuarina equisetifolia Plantations.

The growth and productivity of Casuarina equisetifolia is negatively impacted by planting sickness under long-term monoculture regimes. In this study, Illumina MiSeq sequencing targeting nifH genes was used to assess variations in the rhizospheric soil diazotrophic community under long-term monoculture rotations. Principal component analysis and unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means (UPGMA) clustering demonstrated distinct differences in diazotrophic community structure between uncultivated soil (CK), the first rotation plantation (FCP), the second rotation plantation (SCP), and the third rotation plantation (TCP). Taxonomic analysis showed that the phyla Proteobacteria increased while Verrucomicrobia decreased under the consecutive monoculture (SCP and TCP). The relative abundance of Paraburkholderia, Rhodopseudomonas, Bradyrhizobium, Geobacter, Pseudodesulfovibrio, and Frankia increased significantly while Burkholderia, Rubrivivax, and Chlorobaculum declined significantly at the genus level under consecutive monoculture (SCP and TCP). Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that Burkholderia, Rubrivivax, and Chlorobaculum were positively correlated with total nitrogen and available nitrogen. In conclusion, continuous C. equisetifolia monoculture could change the structure of diazotrophic microbes in the rhizosphere, resulting in the imbalance of the diazotrophic bacteria population, which might be a crucial factor related to replanting disease in this cultivated tree species.

Soil microbial community structure and catabolic activity are significantly degenerated in successive rotations of Chinese fir plantations.

This study examined the hypotheses that soil microbial community composition and catabolic activity would significantly degenerated by consecutive monoculture in Chinese fir plantations. The phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and community level physiological profiles (CLPP) methods were used to assess the variations of soil microbial community among the first rotation Chinese fir plantation (FCP), the second rotation plantation (SCP) and the third rotation plantation (TCP). The total content of PLFA biomarkers was highest in FCP, followed by SCP, and TCP was the least detected. Conversely, the fungi/bacteria ratio significantly increased in the SCP and TCP soils. The average well-color development (AWCD) values significantly decreased (FCP > SCP > TCP). However, the sum of AWCD values of amino acids, carboxylic acids and phenolic compounds were higher significantly in the SCP and TCP soils than FCP soils, suggesting that the microflora feeding on acids gradually became predominant in the continuous monoculture plantation soils. Soil C/N ratio was one of the most important factors to soil microbial diversity. Both the PLFA and CLPP results illustrated the long-term pure plantation pattern exacerbated the microecological imbalance in the rhizospheric soils of Chinese fir, and markedly decreased the soil microbial community diversity and metabolic activity.

The association between RARß and FHIT promoter methylation and the carcinogenesis of patients with cervical carcinoma: A meta-analysis.

The RARß and FHIT promoter methylation are observed in some cervical carcinoma. However, the association between RARß and FHIT promoter methylation and cervical carcinogenesis remains unclear. This study was carried out to evaluate the correlation between RARß or FHIT promoter methylation and cervical carcinogenesis. Eligible publications were searched via online databases. The combined odds ratios and corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated and summarized. In all, 17 eligible articles on RARß and FHIT promoter methylation were identified in the study. RARß promoter methylation was significantly higher in cervical cancer than in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia lesions and normal cervical tissues (odds ratio = 3.90, p = 0.018; odds ratio = 12.98, p < 0.001, respectively). There was more FHIT promoter methylation in cervical cancer than in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia lesions and normal controls (odds ratio = 8.0, p = 0.055; odds ratio = 10.75, p < 0.001, respectively). In addition, FHIT promoter methylation was correlated with clinical stage (advanced stage vs early stage: odds ratio = 2.69, p = 0.056) and tumor grade (high grade vs low grade: odds ratio = 4.11, p < 0.001). RARß and FHIT promoter methylation may be associated with the carcinogenesis of cervical cancer. FHIT promoter methylation may play a crucial role in cervical cancer progression. Additional studies with large sample sizes are essential to confirm our findings.

Combined effects of climate, restoration measures and slope position in change in soil chemical properties and nutrient loss across lands affected by the Wenchuan Earthquake in China.

The MS 8.0Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008 caused huge damage to land cover in the northwest of China's Sichuan province. In order to determine the nutrient loss and short term characteristics of change in soil chemical properties, we established an experiment with three treatments ('undestroyed', 'destroyed and treated', and 'destroyed and untreated'), two climate types (semi-arid hot climate and subtropical monsoon climate), and three slope positions (upslope, mid-slope, and bottom-slope) in 2011. Ten soil properties-including pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, Ca2+, Mg2+, alkaline hydrolysable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium-were measured in surface soil samples in December 2014. Analyses were performed to compare the characteristics of 3-year change in soil chemical properties in two climate zones. This study revealed that soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, Ca2+ content, alkaline hydrolysable nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium were significantly higher in subtropical monsoon climate zones than in semi-arid hot climate zones. However, subtropical monsoon climate zones had a higher decrease in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, and alkaline hydrolysable nitrogen in 'destroyed and untreated' sites than in semi-arid hot climate zones. Most soil chemical properties exhibited significant interactions, indicating that they may degrade or develop concomitantly. 'Destroyed and treated' sites in both climate types had lower C:P and N:P ratios than 'destroyed and untreated' sites. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first, second, and third principal components explained 76.53% of the variation and might be interpreted as structural integrity, nutrient supply availability, and efficiency of soil; the difference of soil parent material; as well as weathering and leaching effects. Our study indicated that the characteristics of short term change in soil properties were affected by climate types and treatments, but not slope positions. Our results provide useful information for the selection of restoration countermeasures in different climate types to facilitate ecological restoration and reconstruction strategies in earthquake-affected areas.

Effects of road network on diversiform forest cover changes in the highest coverage region in China: An analysis of sampling strategies.

Forest cover changes are of global concern due to their roles in global warming and biodiversity. However, many previous studies have ignored the fact that forest loss and forest gain are different processes that may respond to distinct factors by stressing forest loss more than gain or viewing forest cover change as a whole. It behooves us to carefully examine the patterns and drivers of the change by subdividing it into several categories. Our study includes areas of forest loss (4.8% of the study area), forest gain (1.3% of the study area) and forest loss and gain (2.0% of the study area) from 2000 to 2012 in Fujian Province, China. In the study area, approximately 65% and 90% of these changes occurred within 2000m of the nearest road and under road densities of 0.6km/km(2), respectively. We compared two sampling techniques (systematic sampling and random sampling) and four intensities for each technique to investigate the driving patterns underlying the changes using multinomial logistic regression. The results indicated the lack of pronounced differences in the regressions between the two sampling designs, although the sample size had a great impact on the regression outcome. The application of multi-model inference indicated that the low level road density had a negative significant association with forest loss and forest loss and gain, the expressway density had a positive significant impact on forest loss, and the road network was insignificantly related to forest gain. The model including socioeconomic and biophysical variables illuminated potentially different predictors of the different forest change categories. Moreover, the multiple comparisons tested by Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) were a good compensation for the multinomial logistic model to enrich the interpretation of the regression results.

Spatial and temporal characteristics of air quality and air pollutants in 2013 in Beijing.

Air pollution has become an ever more critical issue in Beijing in more recent years. In this study, we use the air quality index (AQI), corresponding primary pollutant types and meteorological data which are collected at 16 monitoring stations in Beijing between January 2013 and December, 2013 studying the spatial and temporal variations of air quality and air pollutants. The results show that PM2.5 was the most serious pollutant, followed by O3. The average PM2.5 mass concentration was 119.5 ± 13.8 µg m(-3) in Beijing. In addition, the air quality varies across different seasons. More specifically, winter season showed the worst air quality. Moreover, while particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) concentrations were relatively higher in the spring and winter seasons, gaseous pollutants (O3 and NO2) were more serious in the summer and autumn. In terms of spatial heterogeneity, the findings showed that AQI and PM2.5 concentrations were higher in south and lower in the north of the city, and the O3 showed exactly a pattern with the opposite direction-higher in the north and lower in the south. NO2 was found to have a greater impact on the central region compared with that in other regions. Furthermore, PM2.5 was found to be positively correlated with the relative humidity, but negatively correlated with wind speed and atmospheric pressure (P < 0.01). However, the dominant meteorological factors that influence the PM2.5 concentrations varied in different seasons. The results in this paper provide additional information for the effective control of the air pollution in Beijing.

[Carbon source metabolic diversity of soil microbial community under different climate types in the area affected by Wenchuan earthquake].

The MS8.0 Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 led to huge damage to land covers in northwest Sichuan, one of the critical fragile eco-regions in China which can be divided into Semi-arid dry hot climate zone (SDHC) and Subtropical humid monsoon climate zone (SHMC). Using the method of Bilog-ECO-microplate technique, this paper aimed to determine the functional diversity of soil microbial community in the earthquake-affected areas which can be divided into undamaged area (U), recover area (R) and damaged area without recovery (D) under different climate types, in order to provide scientific basis for ecological recovery. The results indicated that the average-well-color-development (AWCD) in undamaged area and recovery area showed SDHC > SHMC, which was contrary to the AWCD in the damaged area without recovery. The AWCD of damaged area without recovery was the lowest in both climate zones. The number of carbon source utilization types of soil microbial in SHMC zone was significantly higher than that in SDHC zone. The carbon source utilization types in both climate zones presented a trend of recover area > undamaged area > damaged area without recovery. The carbon source metabolic diversity characteristic of soil microbial community was significantly different in different climate zones. The diversity index and evenness index both showed a ranking of undamaged area > recover area > damaged area without recovery. In addition, the recovery area had the highest richness index. The soil microbial carbon sources metabolism characteristic was affected by soil nutrient, aboveground vegetation biomass and vegetation coverage to some extent. In conclusion, earthquake and its secondary disasters influenced the carbon source metabolic diversity characteristic of soil microbial community mainly through the change of aboveground vegetation and soil environmental factors.

Geographic variations of ecosystem service intensity in Fuzhou City, China.

Ecosystem services are strongly influenced by the landscape configuration of natural and human systems. So they are heterogeneous across landscapes. However lack of the knowledge of spatial variations of ecosystem services constrains the effective management and conservation of ecosystems. We presented a spatially explicit and quantitative assessment of the geographic variations in ecosystem services for the Fuzhou City in 2009 using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) and semivariance analysis. Results confirmed a significant and positive spatial autocorrelation, and revealed several hot-spots and cold-spots for the spatial distribution of ecosystem service intensity (ESI) in the study area. Also the trend surface analysis indicated that the level of ESI tended to be reduced gradually from north to south and from west to east, with a trough in the urban central area, which was quite in accordance with land-use structure. A more precise cluster map was then developed using the range of lag distance, deriving from semivariance analysis, as neighborhood size instead of default value in the software of ESRI ArcGIS 10.0, and geographical clusters where population growth and land-use pressure varied significantly and positively with ESI across the city were also created by geographically weighted regression (GWR). This study has good policy implications applicable to prioritize areas for conservation or construction, and design ecological corridor to improve ecosystem service delivery to benefiting areas.

[Growth-promoting effect and triptolide production regulation of endophytic bacteria from Tripterygium wilfordii].

A total of twenty-three endophytic bacteria were isolated from Tripterygium wilfordii, among which three strains were selected for further studying based on their capabilities of growth-promotion and wheat germination. All three isolated strains could produce phytohormone and siderophore, and LG3 and LJ10 strains were capable of dissolving phosphorus. Additionally, LG3 and LY4 strains were both proved to have nitrogen-fixing function and 1-aminocyclopropane-1carboxy-late deaminase activity. Bacterial 16S rDNA sequence identification and homology analysis suggested that LG3 and LY4 strains belonged to the Enterobacter and LJ10 belonged to the Pantoea. The results of reinoculation experiment demonstrated that three endophytic bacteria could not only promote the growth of Tripterygium wilfordii, but also improve the triptolide contents of different organs significantly.

[Nitrogen leaching and associated environmental health effect in sloping cropland of purple soil].

In this paper, we monitored different forms of nitrogen (N) transported by the subsurface flow under three different natural rainfall events and different fertilizations and conducted an associated risk evaluation on environmental health, which provides scientific basis for controlling N non-point pollution and establishing a reasonable fertilization system in purple soil area. The results showed that there were different forms of N transport by subsurface flow under different rainfall events, where in dissolved nitrogen (DN) accounted for about 53.74% - 99.21%, and nitrate (NO3(-) -N) accounted for about 35.70% - 93.65% of DN, and especially under the moderate rainfall, NO3(-) -N could reach 84.09% - 93.65% of DN. The different N fluxes were the highest under moderate rainfall among different rainfall events, in which the flux of total nitrogen (TN), DN, particle nitrogen (PN), ammonia (NH4(+) -N) and nitrite (NO2(-) -N) reached 737.17, 711.12, 26.06, 12.70 and 0.46 mg x m(-2), respectively, and the NO3(-)-N flux was as high as 686.12 mg x m(-2), showing a huge potential threat on groundwater health. Through the risk assessment on N pollution for groundwater quality, we concluded that the straw returning could be used to effectively alleviate the N leaching and groundwater N pollution; especially, the combined application of organic and chemical fertilizer could effectively mitigate the groundwater pollution, improve soil fertility and increase crop yield.

[Population life process and spectral analysis of rare and endangered plant Alsophila spinulosa].

According to population life table and survival analysis theory, the time-specific life table and the survival function curve of Alsophila spinulosa population were established and drawn based on height class, and the life process of the population was analyzed. The results revealed that the population structure of A. spinulosa was of the type ascending at early stage and stable at late stage. The peak of expected life appeared at the 4th age class, indicating the relative good survival quality at this phase, and the survival curve belonged to the typical form of Deevey-III. There existed three death peak phases in the population life process, i.e., the growth stages from 2nd to 3rd age class, from 10th to 11th age class, and from 12th to 13th age class. With the increase of age class, the population survivability dropped down monotonously, and ow nosy, a the accumulative mortality rose up correspondently. The variation extent was high in early phase and low in anaphase. The death density function curve displayed the characteristics of descent in early phase and stabilization in anaphase, and the concave point occurred at 4th age class. Spectral analysis showed that the quantitative fluctuation of A. spinulosa population was multi-harmonic superposition with large cycles containing small cycles. The influences of these cycles dropped with the diminishment of cycle length, and the effect of fundamental wave was most prominent.

[Changes of species diversity in gap gradient of mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Wanmulin Forest].

Based on the investigation of gap and non-gap stands in the mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Wanmulin Nature Reserve of Fujian Province, this paper studied the changes of species diversity in gap gradient and in gaps with different sizes. The results showed that the species richness and diversity decreased gradually from gap center to non-gap, ecological dominance was higher in center and lower in edges, and species evenness was in adverse to ecological dominance. The species diversity in all areas of gap was the maximum when the gap size was 200 to approximately 300 m2.

[Eco-value level classification model of forest ecosystem based on modified projection pursuit technique].

To optimize the projection function and direction of projection pursuit technique, predigest its realization process, and overcome the shortcomings in long time calculation and in the difficulty of optimizing projection direction and computer programming, this paper presented a modified simplex method (MSM), and based on it, brought forward the eco-value level classification model (EVLCM) of forest ecosystem, which could integrate the multidimensional classification index into one-dimensional projection value, with high projection value denoting high ecosystem services value. Examples of forest ecosystem could be reasonably classified by the new model according to their projection value, suggesting that EVLCM driven directly by samples data of forest ecosystem was simple and feasible, applicable, and maneuverable. The calculating time and value of projection function were 34% and 143% of those with the traditional projection pursuit technique, respectively. This model could be applied extensively to classify and estimate all kinds of non-linear and multidimensional data in ecology, biology, and regional sustainable development.

[Population structure and its dynamics of rare and endangered plant Alsophila spinulosa].

This paper analyzed the population structure of Alsophila spinulosa in seven plots by the method of spatial sere substituting for time sere, and measured its spatial distribution pattern and dynamics by applying five aggregate indices, C, K, m*, m*/m and Idelta. The spatial distribution pattern with different quadrat scale was examined, according to the map of individual location. The results indicated that the population structure of Alsophila spinulosa in the seven plots presented growing, stable, adult or senescent type, and the spatial distribution pattern was changed from clump to random with the development of Alsophila spinulosa population. The values of dispersion index Idelta of the population decreased with increasing quadrat scale.

[Experience model for self-thinning process of even-aged pure stands].

Based on the famous -3/2 power rule and generalized Schumacher growth equation, a mathematical model for the density change of even-aged pure stands with time during self-thinning process was presented, and the genetic algorithms was used to fit this nonlinear model. With the collected data from Populus tremula var. davidiana, Pinus yunnanensis and Cunninghamia lanceolata even-aged pure stands, the new model was verified and compared with other models. The results showed that the new model could fit observed data very well, and was very useful in practice. The surplus square, mean relative error, mean absolute error and surplus standard deviation of the new model were all smaller than those of other models, indicating its good qualification in describing stand density change during self-thinning process and its useness in studying forest self-thinning rules. The study also showed that genetic algorithms could give a better global convergence, and be used to estimate the parameters of nonlinear models in ecology, biology and forestry.

[Gaps and their natural disturbance characteristics in mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Wanmulin].

Through field investigation on 96 gaps in some permanent plots of mid-subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Wanmulin Natural Reserve of Fujian Province, this paper dealt with the gap characteristics and their natural disturbance. The results showed that the area percentage of expanded gap (EG) and canopy gap (CG) in the forest landscape was 50.86% and 16.66%, and the natural disturbance frequency for EG and CG was 0.85% x yr(-1) and 0.28% x yr(-1), respectively. The return interval of canopy gaps was about 357 years. The most popular manner of gap formation in the forest was stem breakage (58.04% of the total), and the second was uprooting (33.48%). Most gaps were formed by two trees, averaging 2.33 trees per gap. The size of most expanded gaps was in the range of 100 - 300m2, the gaps of 200 - 300m2 occupied the biggest percentage in area, and those of 100 - 200m2 occupied the biggest percentage in number. The size of most canopy gaps was under 100m2, and the gaps of < 50m2 had the biggest percentage in area and number. The diameter at breast height of most gap makers was 20 - 30cm.

[Life table and spectral analysis of endangered plant Taxus chinensis var. mairei population].

Based on the investigation in Longxi Mountain National Nature Reserve and the theory of survival analysis, a static life table of Taxus chinensis var. mairei population was worked out, the curves of its survival rate, mortality rate and killing power were drawn, and the population dynamics was analyzed by spectral analysis. The results showed that the survival curve of the population appeared to be a type of Deevey-III, and the high mortality of seeding was one of the important reasons which caused Taxus chinensis var. mairei to be endangered. The spectral analysis of the population showed that there was a marked periodic regularity in the process of natural regeneration of Taxus chinensis var. mairei.