Estimating changes of forest carbon storage in China for 70 years (1949-2018).

In the realm of forest resource inventory and monitoring, stand-level biomass carbon models are especially crucial. In China, their importance is underscored as they form the bedrock for estimating national and international forest carbon storage. This study, based on the data from 52,700 permanent plots in the 9th National Forest Inventory (NFI) of China, was directed towards developing these models. After computing biomass and carbon storage per hectare using specific tree models for 34 species groups, we devised robust volume-derived biomass and carbon storage models for 20 forest types. The application of these models and historical data reveals notably a decline in China's forest carbon storage to 4.90Pg by the late 1970s due to aggressive forest exploitation. However, subsequent conservation and afforestation campaigns have affected a recovery, culminating in a storage of 8.69Pg by the 9th NFI. Over the past 40 years, China's forest carbon storage has surged by 3.79Pg, split between natural forests (2.25Pg) and planted forests (1.54Pg). In benchmarking against three pre-existing models, we discerned discernible biases, underscoring the need for larger modeling sample sizes. Overall, our models stand as a monumental stride in accurately gauging forest carbon storage fluctuations in China, both regionally and nationally.

Input modality matters: A comparison of touch, speech, and gesture based in-vehicle interaction.

Innovative input devices are being available for in-vehicle information systems (IVISs). While they have the potential to provide enjoyable driving by enabling drivers to perform non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) in more natural ways, the associated distracting effects should be paid with more attention. The purpose of this exploratory study was to compare the effects of three novel input modalities, i.e., touchscreen-based interaction (TBI), speech-based interaction (SBI), and gesture-based interaction (GBI), on driving performance and driver visual behaviors. Moreover, we examined if the influence of different modalities would be moderated by the difficulty level of NDRTs. A total of 36 participants were invited to a simulated driving experiment where they were randomly assigned to one of the four groups (TBI, GBI, SBI or baseline) and completed three driving trials. The results showed that TBI led to the worse driving performance, as indicated by the significantly prolonged reaction time, reduced minimum time-to-collision, and increased variations in both longitudinal and lateral vehicle control. The deteriorated driving performance could be attributed, at least partially, to the intense visual demand induced by looking towards the touchscreen, as indicated by more and longer off-the-road glances. The adverse impacts of GBI were relatively smaller, but it still posed great crash risk by leading to a shorter minimum time-to-collision and less stable vehicle control compared to the baseline. SBI, although not completely equivalent to the baseline group, showed the minimum influence on driving and visual performance. Only very few interaction effects were found, suggesting that the effects of modality were quite robust across different NDRTs. It was concluded that SBI and GBI provided safer alternatives to in-vehicle interaction than TBI.

Estimating standing stocks of the typical conifer stands in Northeast China based on airborne lidar data.

To promote the application of lidar technology in estimating standing stocks of the typical conifer stands in Northeast China, i.e., spruce-fir forest, larch forest, Korean pine forest, Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica forest, we combined the point cloud data obtained by airborne lidar with the data of 800 ground plots and established models of standing stocks for the four conifer stands by stepwise regression and partial least square. Partial least squares method was better than stepwise regression method (R2=0.05-0.15, RRMSE=2.6%-4.2%). Among the three types of feature variables involved in modeling, height variable (selected for 26 times) is more important than others (selected for 12 times and 11 times, respectively). With respect to the accuracy of models established based on the means of the partial least square, they worked best for Korean pine forest (R2=0.79, RMSE=60.92, RRMSE=22.9%) and larch forest (R2=0.76, RMSE=28.39, RRMSE=25.8%), followed by spruce-fir forest (R2=0.81, RMSE=46.96, RRMSE=27.7%) and P. sylvestris var. mongolica forest (R2=0.50, RMSE=55.49, RRMSE=30.4%). This study provi-ded an effective way to estimate standing stocks of four typical conifer stands in Northeast China.

What drives people to use automated vehicles? A meta-analytic review.

Lack of consumer acceptance is a prominent barrier to the large-scale adoption of automated vehicles (AVs). This study investigated the underlying mechanisms for AV acceptance and how the mechanisms differed across subgroups by reviewing and synthesizing existing literature. We proposed AV acceptance models by extending the basic Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with trust and perceived risk factors. Data from 36 studies were extracted to fit the models using meta-analytic structural equation modeling technique. The results suggested that trust contributed most in determining AV acceptance, followed by perceived usefulness and perceived risk, and perceived ease of use makes the least contribution. The subgroup analyses showed that the model parameters differed across the levels of three variables, i.e., sample origin (Europe/Asia/America), automation level (full/partial), and age (young/middle-aged). Specifically, trust was unanimously identified as the most important determinant of AV acceptance across all subgroups. Perceived risk only remained significant in America, fully AVs, and middle-aged subgroups. Perceived ease of use was insignificant in the above-mentioned three subgroups while remained significant in the rest subgroups. Building trust could be the most useful and universal way to improve AV acceptance, and policy makers should consider the characteristics of consumers when making AV promotion strategies.

[Surgical treatment for bronchioloalveolar carcinoma with ipsilateral intrapulmonary metastatic nodules].

OBJECTIVE: The staging and treatment of bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) with pulmonary metastasis are still controversial. This study aimed at evaluating the current staging of BAC with ipsilateral intrapulmonary metastatic nodules and the therapeutic effectiveness of surgical resection. METHODS: The clinicopathological data of 729 completely and surgically resected patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from December 1999 to December 2006 were retrospectively reviewed. Prognostic factors affecting the overall survival were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log rank test. RESULTS: Among 67 NSCLC patients with ipsilateral intrapulmonary metastatic nodules, 54 had multiple nodules in the lobe with primary lesion (T4, PM1) and 13 had additional nodules in the other ipsilateral lobes (M1, PM2). This series consisted of 40 males and 27 females, with a median age of 60.0 years. Of those, 28 had the lesions containing pure or some bronchioloalveolar carcinoma component, while the other 39 had a NSCLC lesions containing non-bronchioloalveolar carcinoma components. The median overall survival time of this series was 24.0 months. Prognostic study demonstrated that bronchioloalveolar carcinoma histology and mediastinal lymph node metastasis had significant adverse impact on the overall survival. The median survival time of the patients with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma was 58.0 months versus 27.0 months in patients with other subtypes of NSCLC (P < 0.01). The median survival times were 39.0 months for the patients with N0 or N1 versus 14.0 months for patients with N2, with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the survival time between the patients with PM1 (36 months) and those with PM2 (24 months) (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Surgical resection is effective for NSCLC patients with ipsilateral intra-pulmonary metastasis, especially for those with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma components. Our results suggest that the current TNM classification system may be inappropriate for the NSCLC patients with ipsilateral intrapulmonary metastatic nodules, and may need a modification.

[Surgical treatment of ipsilateral multi-focal non-small cell lung cancer].

OBJECTIVES: The staging and treatment of multi-focal non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are controversial. This study evaluated the effectiveness of surgical treatment for the ipsilateral multi-focal NSCLC. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients with multi-focal NSCLC underwent complete resection from December 1999 to December 2006. This series included 44 males and 24 females, with a mean age of 60.3 years old (range from 33 to 81 years old). Fifty-four patients had multiple nodules in primary lobe (T4) and 13 patients had additional nodules in non-primary lobe (M1), and a patient was proved to have synchronous primary NSCLC lesions. Surgical treatments included lobectomy in 53 cases, bilobectomy in 4 cases, pneumonectomy in 2 cases, and lobectomy combined with wedge resection in 9 cases. RESULTS: The median overall survival time of this series was 30 months. Prognostic study demonstrated that mediastinal lymph node metastasis and bronchioloalveolar carcinoma histology had significant impact on overall survival. The median survival times were 39 months for patients with N0 and N1, and 14 months for patients with N2, respectively, and there was significant difference between the groups (P < 0.01). The difference in survival was significant between patients with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma components and other NSCLC histologic types (P < 0.01), and the median survival times were 46 months and 20 months, respectively. CONCLUSION: Surgery could provide choice for multi-focal NSCLC patients (T4 and M1), especially for patients with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma components and without mediastinal lymph node metastasis.

[Evaluation of left parasternal approach for cardiac surgery].

OBJECTIVE: To provide a systemic evaluation of left parasternal approach (LPSA) for its clinical application. METHODS: LPSA was performed in 6 randomly-chosen formalin-preserved adult cadavers and the excisions were evaluated in external light of the external appearance, extent of traumatic injury and exposure of the structures in the thoracic cavity. RESULTS: LPSA left only short and less obvious skin incisions, thus causing minimal exterior appearance impairment. With a small operative field and only a few structures injured by this approach, LPSA had acceptable traumatic lesions and when the adequate intercostal level was chosen, the lateral structures on the left of the heart could be well exposed. CONCLUSION: LPSA is less invasive and involves acceptable external appearance impairment. Though satisfactory in exposing the structures on the left of the heart, LPSA can not properly expose the structures on the right side.