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Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis is an important scientific basis for building seismic fortification. Unlike most seismic hazard analyses starting from the perspective of magnitude, this paper presents a seismic hazard analysis method based on the monthly maximum peak ground acceleration (PGA) distribution. In this paper, cities of Chongqing, Chengdu, and Kunming in southwest China are taken as examples where historical earthquake events from 1920 to 2020 with surface wave magnitude (Ms) greater than or equal to 3 and epicentral distances within 400 km are selected for analysis. PGA data are back-calculated from Ms data recorded in the earthquake catalog using the attenuation relation of seismic parameters. By considering the monthly maximum PGA values of the three cities as statistical samples, regression analysis is performed to obtain the monthly maximum PGA distribution and the frequency-PGA relation respectively. Based on the Poisson model and the parameters obtained from the regression analysis, then seismic hazard analysis is conducted to derive year exceedance probability vs. PGA curves and recurrence interval vs. PGA curves. Finally, earthquake events with the epicentral distance within 200 km, 300 km, and 400 km are respectively analyzed to discuss the influence of the epicentral distance on results of seismic hazard analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kunming is the capital city of Yunnan Province and a bridgehead city facing South Asia and Southeast Asia. With the rapid development of Kunming's economy and society, the urbanization rate continues to increase, and the quality of the ecological environment in this area is also changing rapidly. How to quickly and accurately obtain the temporal and spatial pattern evolution of Kunming's ecological environment quality and explore the driving factors is of great significance to the realization of ecological environmental protection and sustainable development of Kunming. In this paper, the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform is used to use the long-term Landsat remote sensing image data to mask the water body, extract greenness, dryness, humidity and heat, and construct the remote sensing ecological index RSEI through PCA. Using spatial analysis methods such as cold and hot spot analysis and center of gravity migration to explore the evolution of the spatio-temporal pattern of ecological environment quality in Kunming from 2000 to 2019, and use single-factor analysis and interactive detection in geographic detectors to analyze its internal driving forces. The results show, (1) From 1995 to 2019, the quality of the ecological environment in Kunming showed a trend of first increasing-then decreasing-then increasing. The overall ecological environment quality was in a general state in the past 25 years, but the ecological environment continued to improve. (2) In the past 25 years, the ecological environment quality grade area of Kunming City is, medium ecological environment area > good ecological environment area > poor ecological environment area > poor ecological environment area > excellent ecological environment area. From the perspective of spatial distribution, the ecological environment quality presents The spatial distribution pattern of high in the southwest and poor in the northeast. (3) From 1995 to 2019, the centers of the standard deviation ellipse of Kunming's ecological environment were relatively close to each other, and the major axes all showed a south-north direction. (4) In Kunming, the ecological environment quality is poor in areas with concentrated rocky desertification, concentrated water and soil erosion, concentrated population and rapid urban expansion, while areas with better ecological environment mostly have higher vegetation coverage. Population and slope are the human activity factors and natural factors that dominate the spatial distribution of ecological environment in Kunming, respectively. Slope, population and GDP, together with other factors, have a significant impact on the quality of ecological environment in Kunming. (5) In the future, Kunming City should rigorously prioritize the protection of key ecological areas, enhance ecological conservation and restoration efforts, optimize land use and development, continuously enhance the quality of the ecological environment, and achieve synchronous and sustainable development of the ecological environment and the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic congestion prediction has become an indispensable component of an intelligent transport system. However, one limitation of the existing methods is that they treat the effects of spatio-temporal correlations on traffic prediction as invariable during modeling spatio-temporal features, which results in inadequate modeling. In this paper, we propose an attention-based spatio-temporal 3D residual neural network, named AST3DRNet, to directly forecast the congestion levels of road networks in a city. AST3DRNet combines a 3D residual network and a self-attention mechanism together to efficiently model the spatial and temporal information of traffic congestion data. Specifically, by stacking 3D residual units and 3D convolution, we proposed a 3D convolution module that can simultaneously capture various spatio-temporal correlations. Furthermore, a novel spatio-temporal attention module is proposed to explicitly model the different contributions of spatio-temporal correlations in both spatial and temporal dimensions through the self-attention mechanism. Extensive experiments are conducted on a real-world traffic congestion dataset in Kunming, and the results demonstrate that AST3DRNet outperforms the baselines in short-term (5/10/15 min) traffic congestion predictions with an average accuracy improvement of 59.05%, 64.69%, and 48.22%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the complex interaction of urban and mountainous floods, assessing flood susceptibility in mountainous urban areas presents a challenging task in environmental research and risk analysis. Data-driven machine learning methods can evaluate flood susceptibility in mountainous urban areas lacking essential hydrological data, utilizing remote sensing data and limited historical inundation records. In this study, two ensemble learning algorithms, Random Forest (RF) and XGBoost, were adopted to assess the flood susceptibility of Kunming, a typical mountainous urban area prone to severe flood disasters. A flood inventory was created using flood observations from 2018 to 2022. The spatial database included 10 explanatory factors, encompassing climatic, geomorphic, and anthropogenic factors. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) were selected for model comparison. To minimize the influence of expert opinions on model training, this study employed a strategy of uniformly random sampling in historically non-flooded areas for negative sample selection. The results demonstrated that (1) ensemble learning algorithms offer higher accuracy than other machine learning methods, with RF achieving the highest accuracy, evidenced by an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.87, followed by XGBoost at 0.84, surpassing both ANN (0.83) and SVM (0.82); (2) the interpretability of ensemble learning highlighted the differences in the potential distribution of the training data's positive and negative samples. Feature importance in ensemble learning can be utilized to minimize human bias in the collection of flooded-site samples, more targeted flood susceptibility maps of the study area's road network were obtained; and (3) ensemble learning algorithms exhibited greater stability and robustness in datasets with varied negative samples, as evidenced by their performance in F1-Score, Kappa, and AUC metrics. This paper further substantiates the superiority of ensemble learning in flood susceptibility assessment tasks from the perspectives of accuracy, interpretability, and robustness, enhances the understanding of the impact of negative samples on such assessments, and optimizes the specific process for urban flood susceptibility assessment using data-driven methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of atmospheric wind speed in near space is of importance for both middle and upper atmospheric scientific research and engineering applications. In order to improve the accuracy of short-term wind speed predictions in near space, this paper proposes a multi-step hybrid prediction method based on the combination of variational modal decomposition (VMD), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and long short-term memory neural networks (LSTM). This paper uses the measurement of wind speed in the height range of 80–88 km at the Kunming site (25.6° N, 103.8° E) for wind speed prediction experiments. The results show that the root mean square error ( R M S E ) and the mean absolute percentage error ( M A P E ) of multi–step wind predictions are less than 6 m/s and 15%, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed VMD–PSO–LSTM method is compared with the traditional seasonal difference autoregressive sliding average model (SARIMA) to investigate its performance. Our analysis shows that the percentage improvement of prediction performance compared to the traditional time series prediction model can reach at most 85.21% and 83.75% in R M S E and M A P E , respectively, which means that the VMD–PSO–LSTM model has better accuracy in the multi-step prediction of the wind speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: In March 2020, a group of wild Asian elephants suddenly roamed north from China's Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve and subsequently arrived in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, which has aroused widespread concern in the society. Based on this event, this study attempted to identify the possible migration routes of Asian elephants according to the existing land conditions and the movement habits of Asian elephants if wild Asian elephants in China migrated again. It was found that the areas with a high probability of migration by Asian elephants were mainly concentrated in the gently undulating shrubs, bamboo forests, and grasslands. Moreover, dense forests with steep slopes and high altitudes, cultivated land, and construction land are less likely to be passed by Asian elephants. Our findings can not only provide valuable insights into suggestions and solutions for the current conservation of wild Asian elephant species but also be beneficial in biological protection and biological reserve planning. Humans overlap with Asian elephants, resulting in frequent costly human–elephant conflicts, which disturb and even threaten local residents. In this study, we treat provincial and national nature reserves where Asian elephants still exist and other alternative habitats suitable for Asian elephants in southern Yunnan, China, as ecological patches. By using this approach, we can treat the terrain and surface state factors that hinder the migration of Asian elephants as a form of ecological resistance surface. We can then use a circuit theory model and remote sensing data to construct an ecological network, which allows us to identify ecological corridors and ecological pinch points. Herein, the possible migration routes of wild Asian elephants were identified. The main results are as follows: (1) In the study area, dense forests with steep slopes and high altitudes, cultivated land, and building land have greater migration resistance, while the gently undulating shrubs, bamboo forests, and grasslands far away from the city have less migration resistance. (2) There are three ecological corridor groups in the study area, mainly composed of shrub and grassland. The ecological corridors identified in this paper are the most likely migration routes of wild Asian elephants in China, and areas with higher simulated current densities reflect a higher probability of Asian elephants passing through. (3) According to the analysis, the ecological pinch points in the study area are 602 km2 in total, and woodland and grassland account for 89.2% of the total ecological pinch area. The areas where the pinch points are located have a high probability of Asian elephants passing through and a narrow space. Our findings can provide suggestions and solutions for the current conservation of wild Asian elephant species, alleviate human–elephant conflicts, promote the harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and provide reference for biological protection and biological reserve planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the quantitative assessment of the ecological assets assessment is a hot topic and focus in the field of ecology and environmental economics. Quantitative evaluation of ecological assets can monetize the value of ecological assets, strengthen local ecological environment protection, and promote the service functions of regional ecosystems. Taking urban area as research area can clarify the value of local ecological protection and provide a scientific basis for the positioning of the functions and the construction of ecological civilization. Based on the information reviewed, this paper used Kunming as the research object, and build an ecological asset value evaluation system, including direct value and indirect value. The results showed that the total ecological assets value of Kunming in 2018 was 202.044 billion yuan, and the unit area value was 9.4092 million yuan·km–2. The direct value and indirect value on average accounted for 23.30% and 76.70% of the total value, respectively. The results provide a reference for the construction of the urban ecological assets evaluation system, and also provide a quantitative analysis basis and decision support for the formulation of policies and sustainable urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the morphologies of Villages-in-the-City (ViCs) in Kunming in China and Hanoi in Vietnam, that are undergoing rapid urbanisation and urban transformation. In China, the term Chengzhongcun refers to development of rural settlements that have been included in the urban districts arising from city expansion. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, the phrase Làng trong phố is used to describe settlements in urban areas that used to be rural villages. Both types of settlements share many common characteristics linked to rural background, and to social and economic policies in these two countries. The findings illustrate that spatial transformations are generated by fundamental economic and social changes, and that the influences of land policies and roles played by local government in each country have significant impacts on the formation of the ViCs. Although the planning processes are managed though top-down systems, the diverse practices and small scale and cost-effective tactics contribute to the transitions of the ViCs. The morphological differences between ViCs development in two countries are due to differences in management modes and land use rights. The outcome of this paper contributes to the deeper understanding about similarities and differences of ViCs in the Global South. • This paper examines and compare the morphologies of Villages-in-the-City in Kunming in China and Hanoi in Vietnam. • The diverse practices and small scale tactics contribute to the transition from rural to urban live styles in both places. • The differences between ViCs developments are due to different modes of management and land use rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The all-sky meteor radar is an important means to detect 70–110 km wind fields. Previous studies have shown that the wind field retrieved by all-sky meteor radars is closely related to the meteor count detected by the radar. However, the precision of the wind field is still unclear. In this paper, the influence of the meteor counts detected by two all-sky meteor radars operating simultaneously at Kunming station on wind fields is analyzed based on the observations of the two radars from 1 November 2013 to 31 December 2014. First, the meteor counts detected by the two meteor radars are approximately 100–3000 per hour, and the meteor count detected by the 37.5 MHz meteor radar is more than that according to the 53.1 MHz meteor radar. The meteor counts detected by the two radars vary with the local time and altitude. The meteor counts detected from 20 UTC to 02 UTC are the largest in the altitude range of 84–92 km, while the meteor counts detected from 09 UTC to 15 UTC are the lowest at other altitudes. Second, the more meteors detected by the two radars, the smaller the wind field differences retrieved by the two radars, and the closer the wind fields are to the real average wind field. Third, because the performance of the two radars is basically identical, except that the meteor counts detected by the two radars are different due to their different operating frequencies, the meteor count is the main system error of the wind fields retrieved, and the errors can be determined by the correlation coefficients of the wind fields retrieved by the two radars. Finally, in the altitude range of 76–100 km, the mean wind field differences of the two radars are less than 5 m/s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the aesthetic and ideological positioning behind the Yi Compatriots Music and Dance Performance, a performance that took place in Kunming in 1946. By considering the development of the performance, the performance program, the intellectual ideas of Liang Lun and Wen Yiduo (two key figures in the organization of the performance), and finally some of the ensuing textual accounts of the performance, this article situates the "Yi Compatriots Music and Dance Performance" within the overlapping and often paradoxical artistic and political discourses of the time. Analyzing how the performance engages with the Euro-American discourse of modernist primitivism, this paper demonstrates a complex ideological relationship between early 20th century Euro-American modern dance and late Republican ethnic minority dance forms in China. Ultimately, this paper suggests that the Yi Compatriots performance contributed to a new epistemological framework through which to understand the meaning of ethnic dance in modern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organic soil is widely distributed around Dianchi Lake in Kunming, which is rich in the humic group (HG). In order to explore the effect of HG on the strength development of organic soil, this paper adopts the method of adding humic acid (HA) reagent into the undisturbed cohesive soil (blending method) and soaking it in fulvic acid (FA) solution (steeping method) to simulate the organic soil. Then, the effect of HG on soil is analyzed by the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests. The UCS test shows that HA can significantly reduce the UCS of the samples, and it continues to decrease with the increase of the HA reagent content. FA can substantially enhance the UCS of the samples, which continues to increase with the concentration of FA solution (decreasing the pH value). Under each HG condition, the steeping of FA can significantly increase the UCS of the sample when the content of the HA reagent is less than 10%, and the growth rate of the UCS decreases when it is greater than 10%. With the increase of steeping age, the UCS of the 5% HA samples continued to increase and gradually became stable, and when the content of the HA reagent is more than 5%, the UCS curve first increases and then decreases. The SEM test shows that adding HA reagent can significantly increase the pore size, improve the connectivity between the pores, and weaken the connection of the soil structure. The steeping of FA can reduce the pore size, weaken the connectivity between the pores, and strengthen the connection of the sample structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on an examination of Ming-dynasty stela inscriptions from Yunnan and focuses mainly on Daoist temple patronage by general Mu Ying 沐英 (1345–1392), adopted son of the first Ming emperor, and his descendants. The Mus, guardians of Yunnan right up until the destruction of the Southern Ming, were the region's most powerful clan. They sponsored a wide variety of Daoist establishments, almost all of them in the Kunming region. No cult received more attention than that of Zhenwu 真武 (Perfected Warrior), the dynasty's official protective deity since the early fifteenth century. Besides inquiring into the religious beliefs informing Mu clan patronage of Daoism, this paper also touches upon the activities of the major Daoist cleric Liu Yuanran 劉淵然 (1351–1432) and some of his leading disciples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's first hydroelectric station began producing electricity in 1912, a year better known for marking the end of imperial rule and the advent of republican governance. Located a short distance outside of the southwestern city of Kunming, Shilongba (Stone Dragon Dam) was a cross-cultural endeavour that involved long-distance encounters of both materials and expertise that spanned not just vast expanses within China, but also a world divided by competing imperial interests. The technologies involved were at once both new and old. Turbines and dynamos represented the latest in German innovation, but the techniques used to carve the canal and lower the water table had been perfected over centuries. A history of Shilongba thus allows us to approach China's transition from Empire to Republic not merely as a political process but also as one of multiple makings – of state, technology, energy, society, and not least, history itself. This paper explores these multiple makings, focusing on the first phase of construction from 1908 to 1912, when a dam was constructed, a canal dug, and the first power station established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the failure mechanism and strengthening effect of a shield tunnel lining structure reinforced via steel plates with corbels. A detailed three-dimensional (3D) numerical model is established for the staggered-joint segmental lining structure of an actual shield tunnel in the Kunming metro-system, which is then validated via a full-scale simulation experiment of the shield tunnel segmental lining structure. Then, the actual loading conditions of the staggered-joint shield tunnel segmental lining structure in the Kunming metro-system are simulated, and the mechanical responses of the segmental lining are analysed in terms of the variation in its diameter, opening amount of the joints and stress of the bolts. The ultimate load-bearing capacity of the lining structure reinforced using steel plates with corbels is improved to 610 kN, which is 41.9% higher than the unreinforced structure with an ultimate load-bearing capacity of 430 kN. Moreover, the strengthening effect of the reinforcement using steel plates with corbels is discussed considering actual field monitoring data and other reinforcement methods. It is concluded that the results of this paper can provide an effective reference for similar reinforcement schemes of shield tunnels. The defined classification criteria can be adopted to determine the deformation stage of reinforced shield tunnels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corn rust disease can be classified into four types: common corn rust, southern corn rust, tropical corn rust and stem corn rust. In this paper, 270 samples of corn rust gathered from Yunnan province were identified by observation of symptom and pathogen morphology, detection of specific molecular markers between Puccinia sorghi Schw and Puccinia polysora Unedrw. The results showed that 180 samples of corn rust collected form Qujing, Zhaotong, Kunming, Honghe (Mile, Kaiyuan and Jianshui) were common corn rust caused by Puccinia sorghi Schw; and 90 samples of corn rust collected form Wenshan and Honghe (Pinbian) were southern corn rust. Morphology and aspect ratio compared Puccinia sorghi Schw with Puccinia polysora Unedrw. The uredospores of Puccinia polysora Unedrw were oval and the aspect ratio of 81.6% of all uredospores from Puccinia polysora Unedrw was greater than 1.2. The uredospores of Puccinia sorghi Schw were nearly round, and their aspect ratio was 1.0-1.3. In addition, the population genetic structure of all corn rust samples was analyzed by ISSR molecular marker. Concerning Puccinia polysora Unedrw, the genetic diversity was larger in Wenshan than in Honghe. In Puccinia sorghi Schw, the population genetic diversity was larger in Zhaotong and the lowest in Kunming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poria coco F.A.Wolf (Polyporaceae) dispels dampness and promotes diuresis implying hypouricaemic action. To examine hypouricaemic action of Poria coco. Ethanol extract (PCE) was prepared by extracting the sclerotium of P. cocos with ethanol, and the water extract (PCW) was produced by bathing the remains with water. PCE and PCW (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively) were orally administered to hyperuricemic Kunming mice (n = 8) to examine its hypouricaemic effect. Also, molecular docking was performed. P. cocos showed excellent hypouricaemic action, decreasing the serum uric acid of hyperuricaemia (HUA) control (526 ± 112 μmol/L) to 178 ± 53, 153 ± 57 and 151 ± 62 μmol/L (p < 0.01) by PCE and 69 ± 23, 63 ± 15 and 62 ± 20 μmol/L (p < 0.01) by PCW, respectively. According to SCrs, BUNs and H&E staining, PCE and PCW partially attenuated renal dysfunction caused by HUA. They presented no negative effects on ALT, AST and ALP activities. They elevated ABCG2 (ATP-binding cassette super-family G member 2) mRNA and protein expression in comparison to HUA control. In molecular docking, compound 267, 277, 13824, 15730 and 5759 were predicted as the top bioactives of P. cocos against HUA, which even presented better scores than the positive compound, oestrone 3-sulfate. This paper demonstrated the hypouricaemic and nephroprotective effects of P. cocos in hyperuricemic mice by up-regulating ABCG2. These results may be useful for the development of a hypouricaemic agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The present paper further explored the interaction between genotype and environment of different barley varieties, and provided theory and method for high quality cultivation of forage barley in different regions. [Method] The average value and significance level of yield traits of different varieties of forage barley at different altitudes were analyzed. The average value of yield traits in different regions were calculated and analyzed by multiple comparisons. The genetic variance, environmental variance and genetic environment interaction variance were estimated to compare the effects of heredity and environment on yield traits of feed barley. [Result] There were significant differences in effective panicle, number of filled grains, 1000 grain weight and yield among barley varieties; The results showed that the environment in Yuxi area was more conducive to the increase of effective panicles, the environment of Kunming area and Yuxi area was more conducive to the increase of the number of filled grains, the environment of Baoshan area and Dali area was more conducive to the increase of 1000 grain weight, and the environment of Yuxi area and Lincang area was more conducive to the increase of yield; The number of grains was mainly controlled by heredity, secondly by the interaction between gene and environment, and the influence of environment was the least. The effective panicle, 1000 grain weight, yield and other yield traits were greatly affected by environment, and the interaction variation between gene and environment was greater than that of heredity. [Conclusion] The yield traits were affected by heredity, so it was still the key to improve the yield of feed barley. According to the yield performance of different varieties in different regions, the key to improve feed barley yield in different ecological regions was to select high-yield forage barley varieties for promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid urbanisation and complexity of political-economic transition in China has brought about continuous and remarkable changes of urban morphology over the past decades, which were driven by a mixture of spatial, social-economic and institutional forces. Understanding such urban morphological evolution requires new mixed evidence and holistic perspectives. In this paper, it is argued that two dominant types of urban growth in China: low-density expansion and high-density infill, might be driven by different forces at different stages. To interpret the processes of urban development, two easy-to-understand morphological indicators: 'expansion-induced investment density index' (EID) and 'infill-induced investment density index' (IID), are defined to measure the investment density per unit of developed land and used to compare the morphological changes between different phases in a long period by integrating spatial and socio-economic data. The temporal variation of these indicators suggests a cyclic growth model (CGM), which means the periodic switch between low-density expansion and high-density infill. Using Kunming metropolis as a case study, this paper has confirmed that its urban morphological evolution from 1950 to 2014 was periodically and reciprocally driven by a set of vis-à-vis dualistic dynamics, in which low-density expansion is led by pro-growth infrastructure-oriented public investment, while the high-density infill is activated by collective and rational actions of individual enterprises and their economic behaviours. It is concluded that the confirmed CGM model, together with two morphological indicators, offers a new holistic perspective and method to easily and integrally interpret urban morphological evolution and accordingly has potential theoretical implications for reasonably understanding the urbanisation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analyzing the climate records of Kunming from 1957 to 2016, Kunming’s average temperature has been found to be increasing in recent 65 years. The key problem lies in the temperature rise in recent 10 or more years by 0.4 ℃/10 a and the annual range decrease at the same time, represented as the elevation of the lowest temperature and increasingly warmer winter in Kunming. With the warming climate, the precipitation has suffered a prominent fall, by 18.05 mm/a in the past 14 years. The relative humidity is in direct proportion to the precipitation, which explains less water and drier climate in Kunming. With "One increase and two decreases" of the three key climate indexes changes in Kunming in the past 65 years, this paper analyzed the necessity and general situation of the sponge city construction in the city, proposed the overall planning of sponge city construction at the macro level, selected the sponge technology based on the urban construction land types, and planned the regulation facilities based on the catchment area and green space structure. Moreover, the paper explored the sponge city planning at the meso level and the sponge city eco-engineering technology at the micro level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Mini-EVs are emerging in China with potential benefits but little regulation. • We interview Mini-EV owners in China, who are older, high income, and unlicensed. • Users transitioned from e-bikes and public transit due to perceived safety and cost. • Mini-EVs provide mobility benefits but don't likely lower energy use or emissions. • Drivers should have graduated licenses and be relegated to low-speed roads. Abstract Mini electric cars (mini-EVs) are gaining popularity in many areas in China (∼4–5 million ownership). Mini-EVs are a class of enclosed vehicle smaller than conventional cars. The average range of a mini-EVs is about 100 km, with a maximum speed ranging from 40 to 60 km/h. Their adoption has generated regulatory uncertainty and their classification is ambiguous. While there have been many studies focused on New Energy Vehicles (NEV) (e.g., battery electric conventional car) acceptance rates, purchase intention, and driving behavior; little research has focused on mini-EVs. This paper relies on structured interviews to shed initial light the motives for mini-EV choice and purchase, model choice, travel behavior, and safety. The intention of this paper is to explore key market issues for further analysis and policy intervention; specifically, we aim to profile users and use patterns to inform policy on vehicle standards, licensing, on-road regulations, and subsidy policy. This is the first paper to do this. In-depth interviews with 34 mini-EV owners in Kunming, China reveal an owner profile that is predominately retired male with high household income. Less than half of users have a driver license. Their purchase motives are mostly driven by their age or physical limitations, the convenience and low cost of the vehicle and charging, and the vehicles' low speed. Most users transitioned from using e-bikes and public transit. Policy implications include standardizing mini-EVs designs, imposing a license system for mini-EVs and their users, and sustaining low-speed vehicle infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a 3 HP solar direct-drive photovoltaic air conditioning system which operates without batteries, ice thermal storage is used to store solar energy. The refrigeration compressor will suffer from loss of power even cannot startup or shut down if the PV power generation suddenly fluctuates. In the case of the solar radiation fluctuations to keep the system running continuously and steadily, that requires a proper system design to match the power consumption of solar air conditioning system with a proper PV capacity, matching an adaptive controller and a suited compressor simultaneously. Solar air conditioners with different capacity of PV panel, with and without MPPT controller and different types compressors were built and tested outdoors to experimentally investigate the matching characteristics of photovoltaic disturbance and refrigeration compressor. The experimental results of the system with a variable speed compressor and a MPPT controller have shown good ice-making performance and reliable operation as well as a great improvement in the available solar energy. Finally, the highest system COP reached 0.289 when the cumulative daily total radiation was 18.2 MJ/m2 in Kunming, China. The research work shows that the direct drive ice storage by solar photovoltaic system has a certain application prospect in the regions where the electricity is tight but requiring cooling. • Design of air conditioner directly driven by distributed solar PV was studied. • Ice thermal storage was used to completely replace batteries. • A MPPT controller was design to effectively utilize solar energy. • Variable speed compressor was suited for PV directly driven cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phase delay software is a key component of VLBI (Very Long Baseline Interferometry) orbit determination system in CE-4 mission, which is critical to deep space exploration. When processing X-band DOR (Differential One-way Ranging) signals of probes in the past, the group delay jumping occasionally occurred in the observed scan. This paper consists of two parts. First, according to the VLBI station signal reception and VLBI center data processing steps, we analyzed the frequency, phase, power, and self-correlation spectrum of the signal, and located the influencing factor at the abnormal analog signal of Kunming (KM) station. Second, the group delay jumping was revised by the post-correction method, which was based on the analysis of the abnormal unwrap phase. We used the corrected phase to get the new group delay, and used orbit determination software to verify the effectiveness of the post-correction method, which upgraded the phase delay processing software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration (CYUA) is an important zone of western development in China. The clarification of the spatial structure and changing trends in CYUA could help promote the coordinated development of the CYUA and enhance the overall competitiveness of the region. Based on data from the Yunnan Statistical Yearbook and the nighttime light data, this paper extracts the urban built-up area of the CYUA and analyzes the urban expansion and urban spatial connection intensity of the CYUA from 2000 to 2018 by using the urban gravity center model and the gravity model. The results show the following: (1) From 2000 to 2018, the urban built-up area of the CYUA expanded rapidly, and the urban built-up area increased by 369.35%, with Kunming accounting for 45.41% of the increased area. Kunming was the main contributor to the increase in the urban built-up area in the CYUA. From 2000 to 2018, the urban built-up areas of the CYUA were scattered in various mountain basins. (2) Overall, the urban gravity center of the CYUA has moved to Kunming, and the distance of the urban gravity center has increased since 2005, indicating that urban expansion has accelerated since 2005. (3) The development of the CYUA is extremely unbalanced. The urban spatial connection intensity between Kunming city, Yuxi city, and Qujing city, and Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Chuxiong is relatively strong, while the urban spatial connection intensity among cities other than Kunming is weak. Overall, the CYUA is characterized by stellar radiation with Kunming city as the core and Yuxi city as the secondary core. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method of triple line focused on solar-powered receiver/reactor with a thermal storage medium for methanol steam reforming (MSR) hydrogen production is proposed in this paper. The photo-thermal-chemical energy conversion and coupling equations of the receiver/reactor are established, and the dynamic regularity between solar radiation and the hydrogen production characteristics is obtained by numerical simulation. The results show that a high solar radiation intensity helps to stabilize the duration of the reaction. For every 100 W m−2 increase in the solar radiation intensity, the duration of the reaction maintained at the phase change point temperature of the phase change material (PCM) increases by approximately 11%. The daily hydrogen production performance of the system in Kunming (102°43′E and 25°02′N) during typical solar days is studied. The average annual total hydrogen production per unit of the lighting area is approximately 1300 m3. This research can guide similar issues related to solar thermochemical technology. • A novel method of triple line focused on solar reactor/receiver is proposed. • A comprehensive model of solar-driven adapted to different powers is established. • Dynamic regularity of hydrogen production rate with solar radiation is revealed. • System goes well when solar radiation is 400 W m−2 or above on partly cloudy skies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An airport gate is the core resource of an airport operation, which is an important place for passengers to get on and off the aircraft and for maintaining aircraft. It is the prerequisite for other related dispatch. Effective and reasonable allocation of gates can reduce airport operating costs and increase passenger satisfaction. Therefore, an airport gate assignment problem (AGAP) needs to be urgently solved in the actual operation of the airport. In this paper, considering the actual operation of the airport, we formulate an integer programming model for AGAP by considering multiple constraints. The model aims to maximize the number of passengers on flights parked at the gate. A tabu search-based algorithm is designed to solve the problem. In the process of algorithm design, an effective initial solution is obtained. A unique neighborhood structure and search strategy for tabu search are designed. The algorithm can adapt to the dynamic scheduling of airports. Finally, tests are performed using actual airport data selected from Kunming Changshui International Airport in China. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can enhance the local search ability and global search ability and get satisfactory results in a limited time. These results provide an effective support for the actual gate assignment in airport operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Xigeda formation, widely distributed in southwestern China, is a special semi-diagenetic rock with horizontal bedding，which is mudding in water. In order to study the failure law, catastrophe characteristics and catastrophe mechanism of the interbed type to the surrounding rock and structure of Xigeda formation tunnel, this paper, by means of field investigation, indoor test, numerical simulation, field monitoring and theoretical research, relying on more than ten Xigeda formation tunnels in the Chengdu-Kunming double track railway, analyzes the apparent failure characteristics and catastrophe mechanism of the surrounding rock of Xigeda formation tunnels with different interbed types. The results show that: the catastrophe characteristics of Xigeda formation tunnel have certain water content sensitive area and influence area division of interbed type. The water content of Xigeda formation is 25% - 30% of the catastrophic critical region of Xigeda formation tunnel. In this critical region, the vault of the overlying Xigeda formation tunnel is prone to large deformation, the invert of the underlying Xigeda formation tunnel is prone to large uplift deformation, and the side wall and tunnel face of interlayer Xigeda formation tunnel are prone to large extrusion deformation; when the water content of Xigeda formation is 30%, it becomes a weak layer, and under the effect of interbed, the rock and soil of Xigeda formation are prone to large deformation, resulting in catastrophes by extruding the tunnel structure; based on the analysis of chemical effect, physical effect and mechanical effect, the structural components of interbed rock chemically react with water, leading to weakening of the strength and causing catastrophic effects. The catastrophic effect is similar to that of simply supported beam in the strong and weak regions of the interbed, while the weakening effect of the interlayer structural plane leads to the opening of the interlayer fracture plane of the tunnel surrounding rock and the large interlayer dislocation displacement, which forces the shear failure of the supporting structure. The research results of this paper can provide theoretical guidance for the Sichuan-Tibet railway to be constructed. • The research object is Xigeda stratum which is sensitive to water. • Reveal the disaster modes of Xigeda stratum tunnels with different interbed types. • Investigate the catastrophic mechanism of Xigeda stratum tunnel under interbed effect. • Obtain the catastrophic critical water content of Xigeda stratum tunnel. • Provide theoretical basis for Xigeda stratum tunnel construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] Urbanization is currently one of the most significant features in China. In the progress of urbanization, some lands in the newly-built city that not developed currently are left for planting crops, while the change of land use poses new threat for farming, especially the soil heavy metal (SHM) pollution. In the present paper, taking Chenggong New District, Kunming as an example, we investigated the status of SHM pollution across 28 farmlands in Chenggong. [Method] The contents of soil Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn were analyzed. Single factor pollution index (Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn), Nemerow integrated pollution index and Hankanson potential ecological risk index for each farmland were calculated. Spatial autocorrelation for each heavy metal was investigated based on Moran' s I. [Result] N emerow integrated pollution index ranged from 1. 39 - 3. 43, indicated the different extent of SHM pollution. The potential ecological risk index was small due to the low toxicological factors across the investigated heavy metals. The average Cu content was 2. 8 times for the background value and 1. 68 times for the national soil quality standard (II), besides, strong spatial autocorrelation and variation across the samples indicated the possible human influence. [Conclusion]These types of farmlands should be regulated and some heavy polluted lands should be prohibited for agricultural production to ensure the quality and safety of agricultural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

【Objective】The present paper aimed to grasp the quality status of farmyard manure in Kunming tobacco-growing area and provide important reference for rational utilization and standardized production. 【Method】Farmyard manure samples were collected according to the principle of multi-points and random in Kunming tobacco-growing area,and carry out relevant index detection and comparative analysis according to the standard system of organic fertilizer for tobacco-planting.【Result】The pH value of farmyard manure was 8.27,the contents of organic matter, total nutrient and humic acids were 57.0 %, 5.33 % and 19.0 % respectively, and the volume weight was 0.55 g/cm~3, and the contents of available nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium were 0.08 %,0.30 % and 1.91 %,respectively. The farmyard manure had low content of available nitrogen, phosphorus and high content of available potassium, and the comprehensive performance of sheep manure and cattle manure was better than other types. The contents of total Cu, Pb and Cd in ordinary farmyard manure were 61.1, 23.9 and 1.68 mg/kg respectively, and the contents of total Cr, As, Hg and Zn were 24.9, 11.5, 0.19 and 221.5 mg/kg respectively, and the content of chloride ions was 0.42 %. However, in the five kinds of organic fertilizers, only the content of total Zn, Cu obviously exceeded the standard in pig manure. 【Conclusion】The quality of ordinary farmyard manure could meet the requirements of high-quality tobacco production as long as the production process was standardized and safety risks were controlled according to the standard of organic fertilizers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents the first article in a series on Yunnanese microfungi. We herein provide insights into Magnolia species associated with microfungi. All presented data are reported from the Kunming Botanical Gardens. Final conclusions were derived from the morphological examination of specimens coupled with phylogenetic sequence data to better integrate taxa into appropriate taxonomic ranks and infer their relationships. Shearia formosa, the type species of Shearia, lacks type material, and its phylogenetic position accordingly remains unresolved. A fresh collection of Shearia formosa, obtained from Magnolia denudata and M. soulangeana in China, therefore, designated a neotype for stabilizing the application of the species and/or genus name. Phylogenetic analyses of a combined DNA data matrix containing SSU, LSU, RPB2 and TEF loci of representative Pleosporales revealed that the genera Crassiperidium, Longiostiolum and Shearia are a well-defined monophylum. It is recognized as the family Longiostiolaceae and strongly supported by Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood methods. Its members are characterized by immersed to semi-immersed, globose to subglobose ascomata with a central, periphysate ostiole, a peridium composed of rectangular to polygonal cells, cylindrical to clavate asci, broadly fusiform, hyaline to pale brown ascospores, a coelomycetous asexual morph with pycnidial conidiomata, enteroblastic, annellidic, ampulliform, doliiform or cylindrical conidiogenous cells and cylindrical to fusiform, transverse and sometimes laterally distoseptate conidia without a sheath or with a basal lateral sheath. Nigrograna magnoliae sp. nov. is introduced from Magnolia denudata with both asexual and sexual morphs. We observed the asexual morph of Brunneofusispora sinensis from the culture and therefore amended the generic and species descriptions of Brunneofusispora. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper introduces a new and unique full‐scale testbed site for structural health monitoring and soil–structure system identification studies being developed in southwest China. The site is a 48‐story skyscraper with an extended four‐level basement, supported by piles, located in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province. Located in the diffused zone of collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, Yunnan is one of the most active seismic areas in mainland China. The final sensor deployment will consist of 43 triaxial accelerometers (129 channels) and one weather station. The accelerometer array comprises (a) a structural array of 25 accelerometers installed at 10 levels aboveground, (b) a basement array of 14 accelerometers distributed in the first and fourth basements, and (c) two borehole arrays installed close to the basement perimeter wall, each with one accelerometers at the surface and another one at 50‐m depth, which is the depth reached by the piles. With such dense instrumentation of structure, basement, and pile foundation, this site will be the first permanently instrumented full‐scale testbed to enable identification of a soil‐foundation–basement‐structure system and validation of many assumptions commonly made in the prediction of the soil–structure interaction effects. A high‐performance wired local area network has been installed in the building, featuring a Precision Time Protocol‐enabled time synchronization and real‐time remote access over the Internet. The site will be fully operational in late spring of 2020. Results of preliminary system identification of the structure from ambient vibration test data are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The purpose of the paper is to further understand the effects of different growth environments on the growth and yield characteristics of rice. [Method] Two varieties, indica and japonica rice, were selected and pot cultured to test at four different altitudes in Dongehuan District of Kunming City. [ Result] With the increase of planting altitude, the effective accumulated temperature of rice decreased and the heat intensity decreased, resulting in the decline of maximum net photosynthetic rate and apparent quantum efficiency and the increase of light saturation point and CO2 saturation point during the booting stage of rice, which meant the weakening of photosynthetic intensity in vigorous grow stage. Meanwhile, the photosynthetic efficiency and photosynthetic accumulation of rice decreased during the later period of rice reproductive stage because of the decrease of photosaturation point, dark respiration rate, photorespiration rate and photosynthetic compensation point. Then the dry matter of leaf and stem sheath ,leaf area, the number of effective panicles and effective grains per spike were significantly reduced. [Conclusion] The upper limit of suitable altitudes for indica rice and japonica rice in Dongehuan District of Kunming City were lower than 1500 meters and 2000 meters respectively. Cold injury had significant effects on the effective-panicles number of indica rice, the effective-grains number and effective-panicles number of japonica rice. The differences of rice growth characteristics and yield traits among different planting altitudes were mainly ascribed to tiny photosynthetic physiological effects of rice, the growth and development change of rice resulting from the disparity of air temperature and the adverse effect of low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

【Objective】The present paper aimed to provide theoretical basis for the rational application of potassium and chlorine fertilizer in the flue-cured tobacco production in Yunnan raw material base of Yunyan brand.【Method】 1130 soil samples from 37 counties of Kunming, Qujing, Honghe, Baoshan, Wenshan were used as materials to determine the content of potassium and chlorine in tobacco samples. The characteristics of potassium and chlorine ratio in different regions, main varieties, soils at different altitudes and tobacco leaves in Yunnan raw material base of Yunyan brand were analyzed. The potassium chlorine ratio of tobacco leaves was regionalized by ArcGIS. 【Result】The results showed that the samples with potassium chloride ratio more than 10 % were the most, accounting for 43.2 %; The samples with potassium chloride ratio between 4.0 % and 6.0 % were the least, accounting for 11.7 %. Qujing had the largest number of towns with low K/C ratio(< 4 %) and Wenshan had the smallest; Qujing had the largest number of towns with high K/C ratio(> 10 %), while other cities had the same number. The main cultivar with the highest mean of K/C ratio in middle tobacco leaves was Yunyan 85, which was 14.41; The lowest was Yunyan 97, which was 7.30; The others were between 8.44 and 12.73. The highest mean of K/C ratio of middle tobacco leaves in different altitude areas was 11.72, which was mainly distributed in the altitude area of 1100-1400 meters; The lowest was 8.91, which was mainly distributed in the altitude area of 2000-2300 meters. 【Conclusion】In order to production of high-quality flue-cured tobacco in Yunnan raw material base of Yunyan brand, areas with high K/C ratio of tobacco leaves in Kunming, Qujing, Honghe, Baoshan and Wenshan could be selected. K326, Yunyan 87, Yunyan 85 and other high efficient flue-cured tobacco varieties for potassium accumulation and utilization could be selected. It could be planted at the altitude of 1100-2000 meters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roof receives heat directly from the solar radiation and outdoor air, and the heat transfer of the roof is often greater than that of any external wall. The building roof is usually overheated in summer, causing a great increase in the air conditioning load and negative effects on indoor thermal comfort. Thus improving the thermal insulation performance of the roof is essential for reducing air conditioning energy consumption and improving indoor thermal comfort. In this paper, an innovative pipe-embedded ventilation roof with outer-layer shape-stabilized PCM (named VRSP for short) was proposed. The heat gain is stored in the PCM to migrate excessive heat during the day and released through air ventilation at night. A three-dimensional transient-state heat transfer model of the VRSP system was built by CFD. The effects of phase transition temperature range of PCM, thickness of PCM layer and airflow rate in the ventilation duct on the thermal performance of the structure in five representative climate regions of China were evaluated. Results show that the optimum phase transition temperature ranges of PCM in severe cold region, cold region, hot summer and cold winter region, hot summer and warm winter region and mild region are 31–33 °C, 34–36 °C, 36–38 °C, 34–36 °C and 29–31 °C, respectively. The optimum thicknesses of the PCM layer are 25–30 mm, 25–30 mm, 30–35 mm, 25–30 mm and 20–25 mm, respectively. The suitable airflow rates are 1.5–1.9 m/s, 1.6–2.0 m/s, 2.1–2.5 m/s, 1.9–2.3 m/s and 1.4–1.8 m/s, respectively. The conclusion provides valuable guides for the application of VRSP under various climate conditions. • A pipe-embedded ventilation roof with shape-stabilized PCM is proposed. • Effects of physical properties of PCM and airflow rates are investigated. • The new system is optimized for its applications in different climate zones. • Considerable energy-saving effects are observed in Kunming, Harbin and Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) method can noninvasively, directly, and quantitatively detect groundwater and forecast the potential for a water-induced disaster during tunnel construction. However, due to the spatial limitations of underground engineering, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the receiving signal is low (<1), which severely limits the reliability of the disaster warning. Thus, the question of how to design the meter-scale antenna and improve the SNR has become the bottleneck that restricts the successful application of the underground MRS method. To address this problem, we comprehensively consider the factors of detection depth, signal amplitude, and antenna size and weight using theoretical calculations and model simulations in this paper. We determine that an 8-turn transmitting antenna and a 30-turn receiving antenna with both side lengths of 6 m constitute an effective combination for achieving reliable detection of large water-bearing structures. Meanwhile, we propose a front-end matching circuit for a high-inductance antenna to solve the problem of attenuation of the signal amplitude due to high impedance and successfully increase the SNR from 1.12 to 5.13. Finally, in the tunnel of the Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway of China, we perform the field measurement of an underground river and validate the practicability of the proposed antenna and matching circuit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose new dual Orlicz mixed volume and compute the corresponding variational formula. Further, we also establish dual Orlicz mixed Minkowski inequality, dual Orlicz mixed Brunn-Minkowski inequality and demonstrate the equivalence between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through questionnaire and symposium, this paper had surveyed current situation of local PES of Songhuaba, Yunlong, and Qingshuihai water source regions, and induced major influential factors of PES mechanism by causal analysis graph method. According to information of basic features, cognition discrepancy and environmental protection awareness of participants, this paper get a general picture of lower income and education background, and insufficient popularity of local policy, which has a large effects on residents' activeness in participating ecological protection activities and will increase difficulties in promoting their environmental protection awareness. Addition to that, problems such as morbidity of regulations and laws, lacking of smooth in department coordination, single mode of compensation, difficulties in measuring eco-values, and lacking effective management system have hindered local PES mechanism from sufficient implementation. Based on the analysis above, this paper promotes five mechanism suggestions: strengthen organizing and coordinating capacity, broaden funding channels, increase protection intensity, attach importance to protection propaganda and education, and conduct performance appraisal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photometric observation of mutual events between planetary satellites can be used to obtain their high accurate astrometric data. The mutual events between the Galilean satellites occur every six years. During 2014–15, 12 mutual events between the Galilean satellites were observed using 1.0 m telescope in Kunming and the fourth of Burst Optical Observer and Transient Exploring System (hereafter Bootes-4) 0.6 m telescope at Lijiang station of Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the astrometric results of such mutual events will be given in this paper. • Twelve light curves of the mutual events between Galilean satellites are provided. • Astrometric results of Galilean satellites are obtained by fitting the light curves. • Our results will be very helpful to improve the dynamical theory of Galilean satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Windows integrated with PV can provide electrical energy and control the energy flow (heat and light) through the windows. With the objective of evaluate the potential application of window integrated PV in southwest China, the performance of silicon PV windows was comprehensively studied. A test unit was developed to monitor the performance of window integrated PV, then a validated comprehensive approach integrated with heat transfer, optical, electrical and building simulation model was used to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the window integrated PV under various climatic conditions in southwest China. The effects of the air gap on window thermal performance, window orientation, different window-to-wall ratio and coverage ratio of PV cells are evaluated. It was found that a maximum energy saving could be achieved, when the PV window is installed on the south facing façade with a PV cell coverage ratio of 0,87, air gap of 9 mm between the two glazing panes. It was found that a maximum energy saving of 983 kWh was achieved in Lhasa. A highest energy saving ratio of 83% was found in Kunming. The window integrated PV shows good energy saving potential under different climatic conditions in Southwest China. The highlights of this paper could be collected as below: • C-Si PV window with reasonable c-Si cells arrangement was designed. • The energy consumption of the building with PV windows was tested. • The design of STPV façade was optimized by the test and simulation results. • The energy saving potential of c-Si PV window in Southwest China is studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective]The present paper aimed to clarify the relationship between soil nutrients and chemical components of tobacco leaves in Kunming tobacco area, so as to provide theoretical basis for the production of high-quality flue-cured tobacco in Kunming tobacco planting area.[Method]The relationship between soil nutrient status and chemical composition of flue-cured tobacco in Kunming tobacco area was studied by descriptive statistics and canonical correlation analysis.[Result] The results showed that the pH value of tobacco planting soil in Kunming tobacco area was generally suitable,content of available nitrogen was higher, and the content of effective phosphorns was was moderate but not balanced. The content of available potassium was abundant, and chloride content was at medium low level, but the distribi and reducing sugar of tobacco leaves in Kunming tobacco growing area was high, the alkali ratio were moderate, potassium and chlorine content were relatively low, but but potassium and chlorine were relatively High. Canonical correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between soil nutrients and the main chemical components of tobacco leaves in Kunming tobacco growing areas. [Conclusion] Within a certain range, the decrease of soil pH value, oiganic matter and chloride ion content was consistent with the decrease of nicotine and total nitrogen in flue-cured tobacco leaves; the content of available potassium and available phosphorus in soil was consistent with the increase of total sugar, reducing sugar, potassium content, nitrogen-alkali mtio, potassium-chloride ratio and sugar-alkali ratio in flue-cured tobacco leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking Dianchi Lakeview Golf Course in Kunming, Yunnan, China as the object of landscape evaluation, this paper constructed an evaluation index system with the functionality, beauty and ecology of the golf course as the criteria, carried out the landscape evaluation of Dianchi Lakeview Golf Course using the semantic differential (SD), the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation and other methods, and discussed the methods, indicators and models of landscape evaluation of urban golf courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide use of plastic greenhouses in the word has brought economic benefits, but also caused many environmental problems. Accurate and timely acquisition of spatial distribution information of plastic greenhouse is of great significance to agricultural production and soil management. The use of plastic greenhouse has changed the structure of soil, thus changing the surface spectral characteristics of the soil. Because of the particularity of the plastic film material, the reflection spectrum has strong directionality and uncertainty, so it is difficult to identify plastic greenhouse accurately only depending on the reflectance spectrum characteristics of ground objects. In this paper, Kunming City, Yunnan Province is taken as the research area, using GF-2 image as a single data source, the multi-scale segmentation method is used to obtain the image object efficiently and accurately. According to the detailed spatial information of plastic greenhouse, the applicability of three image object-based texture extraction algorithms, namely GLCM(gray-level co-occurrence matrix), LBP(local binary pattern) and PSI(pixel shape index) for plastic greenhouse identification is analysed and tested. In addition, different texture features are combined with spectral features and NDVI index to form different classification schemes, to explore which one would be the best combination of texture features for identification of plastic greenhouses. In order to explore the robustness of the method, different texture feature combination schemes are applied in the study areas. The results of SVM (support vector machine) classifier are evaluated by confusion matrix. The results show that the overall combination schemes of the two research areas with different landscape patterns have the same trend. The combination of spectral features and NDVI index can accurately identify the scattered waters in each of the two study areas. For plastic greenhouses and impervious surfaces with similar reflectance spectra, adding texture features can make up for limitation of spectral characteristics and improve the overall accuracy. The phenomena of homologous or homologous spectra in spectral features of high spatial resolution image can effectively improve the discrimination between plastic greenhouse and impervious surface. Texture features can significantly improve the identification accuracy of plastic greenhouse following the object-based image classification frame. In the classification scheme of plastic greenhouses with different spatial distribution structures, the LBP (local binary pattern) texture algorithm has the best recognition accuracy, the overall accuracy of study area A is 96.85%, Kappa coefficient is 0.95, and that of study area B is 95.58% and 0.94. Landscape fragment analysis (landscape fragmentation index area mean index, aggregation indices) of the two different study areas showed that the plastic greenhouses in study area A are more fragmented than study area B (area mean indices are 3.39 hm² and 1.37 hm², aggregation indices are 80.64 and 72.98 for plastic greenhouses in study area A and B, respectively). The results of fragmentation are consistent with those of classification, and the accuracy of landscape classification with more space fragments is lower (the highest overall classification accuracy for study area A and B are 98.13% and 96.13%, respectively, the PA(producer accuracy) and UA(user accuracy) are 96.47% and 97.93% for study area A, and 90.67%, 99.68% for study area B). The results show that texture features based on image objects can improve the recognition accuracy of small-scale plastic greenhouse. This is of great significance to the accurate mapping of the distribution of plastic greenhouses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] The aim of this paper is to fully understand the temporal and spatial variation of soil nutrient in the cultivated land in Kunming district. [Method] Based on the analysis of 3907 farmland soil samples collected from 7 counties in Dianehi district of Kunming city, combined with ‘3S’ technology, the spatial distribution and change of soil nutrient content of farmland in Kunming city were studied. [Result] The results showed that the area with medium available boron content in the cultivated land in Dianehi district of Kunming city accounted for 70.08%, and the area with deficient available boron content accounted for 28.29%. The area with medium available zinc content accounted for 63.18% . Most areas of other nutrients were rich or more abundant. According to the average value of soil nutrient, the total nitrogen and alkali hvdrolysable nitrogen in the Dianehi district of Kunming city reached a rich level, while the organic matter, available phosphorus and available potassium were rich. Except for available boron, the average contents of effective manganese, effective zinc and effective molybdenum of trace elements were in high or higher level. The nutrient contents of vegetable land and seasonal vegetable land were higher than that of the dry land of fruit trees. [Conclusion]The total nutrient content of arable soil in Dianehi district of Kunming city is rich. Compared with the second national soil survey data, the contents of soil organic matter, total nitrogen, alkali hvdrolysable nitrogen, a-vailable phosphorus and available potassium are generally increasing. In the process of fertilization, it is necessary to combine the technology of improving the soil quality of cultivated land to achieve precise fertilization, and improve the utilization rale of fertilizer and the ability of soil fertilizer supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian dynamics in emergent situations such as stampedes and fire hazards have been widely studied, while few studies are focusing on human behavior in terrorist attack events. The research is vitally important for guiding efficient evacuation of the attacked crowd and reducing casualties. However, the research is insufficient due to the lack of researching materials. Besides, it is unconvincing for researchers to carry out these types of experiments. In this paper, the recorded video of the 3 ⋅ 1 Kunming terrorist attack event in China is analyzed. The instantaneous velocity field of the attacked crowd in the ticket hall is extracted from the video material, which is based on an image processing method. By analyzing the statistical characteristics of crowd velocity, crowd movement frequency and crowd entropy, several phenomena are found including crowd oscillating phenomenon, self-organizing grouping phenomenon. These discoveries will benefit the understanding of crowd dynamic in close-range attacks which is essential for the evacuation guidance efficiency, better design of architecture layout, and better defending strategies against the terrorists. • Crowd velocity peak is oscillating back and forth within the attacked crowd. • The velocity entropy of crowd is shown oscillating around the mean value 6.7. • The characteristic frequency of crowd movement is about 0.4 Hz. • Crowd in different area who have different movement behavior patterns show grouping phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study provides new insights into the comprehensive energy and economic performances of Photovoltaic Shading Systems (PVSS) in multi-story buildings. A numerical shading model was developed to evaluate the shading effect from an upper PVSS row on its subjacent row. Simulation models based on EnergyPlus were developed to analyze the Net Electricity Consumption (NEC) of PVSS with different tilt angles and widths in different climates. Benefit per Capacity (BC) and the Cost of Benefit (CB) indicators were used to analyze the economic performances of PVSS. Finally, the optimum PVSS tilt angles and widths in different cities were obtained. Harbin, Beijing, Changsha, Kunming, and Guangzhou, were selected as representative cities for different geographical and climatic conditions. The results indicate that the optimum tilt angles for PVSS installed in Harbin, Beijing, Changsha, Kunming and Guangzhou are 55°, 50°, 40°, 40° and 30°, respectively. Optimum PVSS width for all five cities is 1.156 m (7 columns of standard solar cells). PVSS installed, using the optimal design scheme, in multi-story buildings have better energy-saving potentials than either rooftop photovoltaic systems or traditional power supply modes for commercial buildings in China. Highlights • This paper focuses on the optimal design of photovoltaic shading systems. • A special PV module configuration was presented to reduce shading effect. • Numerical model embodying a profile angle was developed to analyze shading effect. • Optimum tilt angles and widths were obtained by analyzing benefit per capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some well-known notions in univariate statistical analysis becomes misleading in the multivariate context,and have not been correctly understood by many researchers. One example is the relationship between the expected number of events with return periods greater than or equal to T year over a N year period with the ratio N/T. Additionally,in some empirical studies,the relationship between the joint return period of a hydrological multivariate event and the corresponding return periods of its marginal distributions were found and applied. However,there lacks a detailed derivation and interpretation of this relationship. In this paper,based on the GH copula,the relationships between the bivariate return period of an event and return periods of its corresponding marginal distributions was derived theoretically,as well as the relationship between the number of occurrences of bivariate events and their primary return periods at different degrees of correlation between the two marginal variables. The theoretically derived relationships in this study were tested with drought events in Kunming identified on SPI and SRI series with 56 years of monthly precipitation and runoff data. The results suggest that the correctness of drought multivariate return period analysis could not be supported by the closeness of the primary return period of an event and the average inter-arrival time of drought events more severe than the studied event. Future researchers also need to avoid using the maximum marginal return period to approximate the primary return period of an ‘and’ event when the two marginal variables only have a weak correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Right-turn motorized vehicles turn right using channelized islands, which are used to improve the capacity of intersections. For ease of description, these kinds of right-turn motorized vehicles are called advance right-turn motorized vehicles (ARTMVs) in this paper. The authors analyzed four aspects of traffic conflict involving ARTMVs with other forms of traffic flow. A capacity model of ARTMVs is presented here using shockwave theory and gap acceptance theory. The proposed capacity model was validated by comparison to the results of the observations based on data collected at a single intersection with channelized islands in Kunming, the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) model and the VISSIM simulation model. To facilitate engineering applications, the relationship describing the capacity of the ARTMVs with reference to the distance between the conflict zone and the stop line and the relationship describing the capacity of the ARTMVs with reference to the effective red time of the nonmotorized vehicles moving in the same direction were analyzed. The authors compared these results to the capacity of no advance right-turn motorized vehicles (NARTMVs). The results show that the capacity of the ARTMVs is more sensitive to the changes in the arrival rate of nonmotorized vehicles when the arrival rate of the nonmotorized vehicles is 500  (veh/h)~2000  (veh/h) than when the arrival rate is some other value. In addition, the capacity of NARTMVs is greater than the capacity of ARTMVs when the nonmotorized vehicles have a higher arrival rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the population aging becomes a global trend, old-age tourism has gradually become a newly-emetging industry integrating tourism industry and old-age support industry for such functions as leisure sightseeing, vacationing and health care, learning and experience, recuperation, soul comfort and so on. In face of the market opportunities of old-age tourism, Kunming City owns many advantages such as climate, location, traffic and tourism resources, but also shows deficiencies such as few and low-glade old-age tourism agencies, insufficient funds for old-age tourism, underdeveloped old-age service industry. To enhance the advantages and avoid disadvantages, this paper proposed the industrialized development mode of old-age tourism complex for Kunming City. On the basis of sorting out tourism resources in the city, this paper first concluded 6 old-age tourism resource spaces, integrated characteristic tourism resources, cultural resources and social resources of each space into the 7 sub-systems of the old-age tourism complex, proposed specific conceptions for the construction of old-age tourism complex in Kunming, and finally gave suggestions in view of the development environment of local old-age tourism complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prodrug nanoassemblies fabricated by anticancer drug conjugates exhibited more advantages in controlled drug release and bioavailability and favorable antitumor efficacy. In this paper, lactobionic acid (LA) was connected with polyethylene glycol through amido linkages, and paclitaxel was joined with polyethylene glycol by means of ester bonds to form the prodrug copolymer LA-PEG-PTX. Then, LA-PEG-PTX was automatically assembled into LA-PEG-PTX nanoparticles (LPP NPs) by dialysis. The LPP NPs had a relatively uniform size of approximately 200 nm, a negative potential (−13.68 mV), and a spherical shape under TEM. The drug loading of LPP NPs was 3.91%, which was measured by HPLC. The in vitro release profile of LPP NPs exhibited a sustained release feature. The results of the pharmacokinetic test in rats showed that LPP NPs had higher T 1/2 and AUC values than the control group (free PTX) and a prolonged in vivo circulation time, thus increasing the bioavailability of PTX. Remarkably, the LPP NPs were absorbed into HepG2 cells after galactose-directed internalization and enhanced cytotoxicity. Consequently, LPP NPs displayed notable antitumor activity in Kunming mice with H22 hepatocellular carcinoma. Collectively, these findings suggested that paclitaxel prodrug-based self-assembled nanoparticles were a promising alternative for improving the bioavailability and antitumor effect of PTX. [Display omitted] • The prepared prodrug coploymer LA-PEG-PTX was self-assembled into nanoassemblies. • The LPP NPs had good biocompatibility and sustained release feature. • Lactobionic acid endowed the LPP NPs with hepatocytes-targeting. • The LPP NPs improved bioavailability and antitumor effect of PTX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-spatial segregation, and particularly racial and ethnic segregation, has been extensively studied in the Western context but is less researched for Chinese cities, particularly those in less developed regions. The city of Kunming in remote southwest China is characterized by a transition from a socialist manufacturing center to a free market service economy and the strong presence of a diversity of ethnic groups. Kunming provides an opportunity to examine the similarities and disparities in the socio-spatial landscape compared to well-developed cities in China and other post-socialist contexts as well as those in the West. In this paper, population census data at the community level from 2000 together with its spatial boundary data are used to create 39 demographic, educational, occupational and housing variables for 431 communities. Principal component analysis, hierarchical clustering and spatial segregation indicators are combined in order to identify, classify and analyse the spatial segregation of diverse social groups. The study finds that, unusually for Chinese cities, ethnic minority and gender are significant factors, and it demonstrates that both spatial mixture and social differentiation simultaneously characterize Kunming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]