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ABSTRACTIt is crucial to mangrove management by understanding its conservation efforts. This study proposed a spatiotemporal analysis model to evaluate mangrove changes in the Guangxi Beibu Gulf (GBG) and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), focusing on past, present, and future dynamics. The analysis covered mangrove loss, stability, and gain from 1990 to 2020 and provided projections for 2020 to 2035 across multiple scenarios. Then further assessed the efficacy of past mangrove conservation with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the prospective conservation potential with the Global Mangrove Alliance Goal (GMAG) indicators. Findings indicate that by 2020, the GBG and GBA had 81.65 km² and 40.92 km² of mangroves, respectively, with increases of 31.51% and 164.09% since 1990. Projected expansions are anticipated under all three scenarios during 2020- 2035, with the highest growth projected under the trend continuation scenario, followed by ecological restoration and protection, and economic development. While mangrove protection in these regions met SDG targets 6.6.1 and 14.5.1 from 2015 to 2020, the 80% conservation milestone set by GMAG for 2030 was not achieved, necessitating the establishment of nature reserves. The study offers novel insights for sustainable governance of mangrove forests at local, regional, and global levels.

ABSTRACTMapping detailed wetland types can offer useful information for wetland management and protection, which can strongly support the Global Biodiversity Framework. Many studies have conducted wetland classification at regional, national, and global scale, whereas fine-resolution wetland mapping with detailed wetland types is still challenging. To address this issue, we developed an integration of pixel- and object-based algorithms with knowledge (POK) by combining pixel-based random forest and an object-based hierarchical decision tree. Taking the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone (GBGEZ) and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as our study areas, we produced wetland maps with 10 wetland types and 6 non-wetland types using Landsat-8 time series. In addition, to comprehensively evaluate the accuracy of our wetland classification, we implemented accuracy validation based on test samples and data inter-comparison based on existing datasets, respectively. The results indicate that the overall accuracy of our wetland map was 91.6% ±1.2%. For wetland types, agricultural pond, coastal shallow water, floodplain, mangrove, reservoir, river, and tidal flat achieved good accuracies, with both user accuracy and producer accuracy exceeding 88.0%. For non-wetland types, most accuracies were greater than 72.0%. By comparison with existing datasets, it was found that our wetland map had good consistencies with the China Ecosystem-type Classification Dataset (CECD) land use dataset, MC_LASAC mangrove dataset, and Tidal Wetlands in East Asia (TWEA) tidal flat dataset. In 2020, the wetland area was 4,198.8 km2 in the GBGEZ and 10,932.2 km2 in the GBA. The main wetland types in the two coastal urban agglomerations were agricultural ponds, coastal shallow waters, mangroves, reservoirs, rivers, and tidal flats. Our study successfully mapped detailed wetland types in the GBGEZ and GBA, serving the Global Biodiversity Framework of Convention on Biological Diversity.

The Guangxi Beibu Gulf Economic Zone (GBGEZ) and Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) have rich wetlands. However, long-term maps with detailed wetland types in these two regions are scarce, and studies on the driving forces of wetland changes are insufficient. To this end, our study produced long-term wetland maps to explore wetland dynamics and their driving forces. From 1990 to 2020, the mangrove, tidal flat, coastal shallow water and reservoir had similar change trends in two metropolitan areas. For the GBGEZ between 1990 and 2020, serious wetland degradation, slight wetland degradation, obvious wetland restoration and slight wetland restoration had areas of 569.23 km2, 426.89 km2, 274.83 km2 and 375.78 km2, respectively; for the GBA, the four change types had areas of 986.80 km2, 1854.63 km2, 547.34 km2 and 2183.57 km2, respectively. Overall, wetland degradation in the GBA were significantly larger than that in the GBGEZ. Sample-based analysis indicated that wetland changes in the GBGEZ and GBA mainly attributed to direct drivers, with the GBA suffering more from the influence of these direct drivers. Specifically, over 90 % of slight wetland degradations and 89 % of slight wetland restorations were affected by direct drivers (e.g. aquaculture). Serious wetland degradations were most affected by direct drivers (e.g. land reclamation) from 1990 to 2010 and by indirect drivers from 2010 to 2020 (e.g. water shrinkage). For obvious wetland restorations, most of them in GBGEZ were affected by indirect factors (e.g. water expansion) while in GBA were affected by direct factors (e.g. new reservoir). Overall, our study could offer valuable information to support wetland protection and urban sustainable development.

Accurate and reliable mangrove datasets are essential for the protection and management of mangrove ecosystems. Therefore, the evaluation of the current mangrove datasets and understanding the differences among them are critical. This study takes the Guangxi Beibu Gulf (GBG) and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as the study areas and analyzes the agreement and accuracy of eight mangrove datasets from 2000 to 2020 using area comparison, spatial agreement analysis, and absolute accuracy evaluation. The results show that; 1) significant differences exist in mangrove area and spatial distribution among the different mangrove datasets, with the percentage of high agreement areas ranging from 10% to 42%. 2) The overall accuracy of the evaluated mangrove datasets ranges from 56.2% to 95.6%, and the classification accuracy of mangrove datasets in inland areas is lower than the overall level. 3) There are regional differences in the quality of mangrove datasets, with the agreement and accuracy of mangrove datasets in the GBG being greater than those in the GBA. 4) Fine-scale mangrove mapping based on high-resolution remote sensing images, such as Sentinel, and global mangrove mapping based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud platform should be emphasized in the future. The findings of this study can provide guidance for data users to select appropriate mangrove datasets and a reference for future mangrove mapping research.

Wetlands provide vital ecological services for both humans and environment, necessitating continuous, refined and up-to-date mapping of wetlands for conservation and management. In this study, we developed an automated and refined wetland mapping framework integrating training sample migration method, supervised machine learning and knowledge-driven rules using Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and open-source geospatial tools. We applied the framework to temporally dense Sentinel-1/2 imagery to produce annual refined wetland maps of the Dongting Lake Wetland (DLW) during 2015–2021. First, the continuous change detection (CCD) algorithm was utilized to migrate stable training samples. Then, annual 10 m preliminary land cover maps with 9 classes were produced using random forest algorithm and migrated samples. Ultimately, annual 10 m refined wetland maps were generated based on preliminary land cover maps via knowledge-driven rules from geometric features and available water-related inventories, with Overall Accuracy (OA) ranging from 81.82% (2015) to 93.84% (2020) and Kappa Coefficient (KC) between 0.73 (2015) and 0.91 (2020), demonstrating satisfactory performance and substantial potential for accurate, timely and type-refined wetland mapping. Our methodological framework allows rapid and accurate monitoring of wetland dynamics and could provide valuable information and methodological support for monitoring, conservation and sustainable development of wetland ecosystem.

As the second batch of international wetland cities, Wuhan and Nanchang, both provincial capital cities in China, have abundant wetland resources. An important sign of achievement of protecting the urban wetland areas is the international wetland city designation. Understanding the growth and changes of wetlands in international wetland cities is necessary for wetland protection and management. Thus, it is crucial to conduct proper wetland mapping in these international wetland cities. By studying wetland cities, sustainable planning can be provided to promote the coordinated development of wetlands and cities. In this research, Google Earth Engine and random forest machine learning were used. According to the “Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom” research framework, we carried out mapping of diverse wetlands in Wuhan and Nanchang with a resolution of 10 m in 2015 and 2020. Then, using the findings of wetland mapping, we examined changes in the wetland landscapes of the two cities. Finally, this study examined changes in international wetland city indicators over this time frame. The research results are as follows. 1) Our wetland mapping results in 2015 and 2020 achieved good accuracy, with an overall accuracy of over 0.90 and a kappa coefficient of over 0.85. 2) The total wetland area in both cities increased. Nanchang grew by 91.11 km2, whereas Wuhan grew by 290.68 km2. Most restored wetland areas were far from urban construction areas. In the two cities, the fragmentation of wetlands decreased, the diversity of wetlands increased, and the growth rate of wetlands was high. 3) Wetland rates rose from 17.79% to 19.07% in Nanchang and from 19.74% to 23.12% in Wuhan, according to mapping results between 2015 and 2020. The wetland protection rate in Nanchang remained unchanged, but the wetland protection rate in Wuhan decreased. Wuhan needs to strengthen the protection of increased wetlands. In addition, the study found that most of the increased areas of wetlands were previously cultivated land. The international wetland mapping framework of this study can be easily implemented in other regions of the world.

Urban wetlands play an important role in sustainable urban development. A wetland city recognized by the Ramsar Convention is a city with a remarkable ecological performance of urban wetlands and can provide an example for urban wetland protection. Therefore identifying the detailed characteristics of wetlands is of great value to the conservation of urban wetlands. However, there is no detailed wetland type extraction for wetland cities using multisource remote sensing data. This paper proposes a framework for fine- urban wetland extraction with multisource and multiperiod remote sensing data, which mainly includes Sentinel 1/2 and Landsat 8 data, and obtains the detailed wetland type data containing 14 wetland categories at a 10-m resolution. The classification methods of random forests were used to extract land cover types, and knowledge rules were used to classify detailed wetland types. The wetland cities, Yinchuan, and Haikou, located in southern and northern China, respectively, were chosen as case studies. The results indicate that the overall accuracy and wetland accuracy of the two cities in 2015 and 2020 were greater than 88% and 87%, respectively. The detailed wetland mapping results were more accurate and had a high resolution, and wetland categories were more diverse compared with other wetland-related products. According to the classification results, the wetland area in Haikou was 326.86 km2 (13.43%) in 2015 and 308.58 km2 (12.66%) in 2020. The wetland area in Yinchuan was 80.39 km2 (4.46%) in 2015 and 74.15 km2 (4.12%) in 2020. The fine urban wetland classification framework we propose and the detailed wetland results could serve for the creation of wetland cities and support the protection and rational use of urban wetlands.

Wetlands have suffered from considerable degradation due to anthropogenic and natural disturbances in recent decades. Although some advancements have been made, effective methods that can produce large-scale wetland maps with detailed categories are still lacking due to the diversity and complexity of wetland ecosystems. To address this issue, we developed a novel algorithm for detailed wetland types classification integrating k-fold random forest and hierarchical decision tree, and so named two-step classification algorithm. Firstly, the phenology-based features were composited based on time series Sentinel-1/2 images, and the k-fold random forest was used to extract five rough wetland types in Google Earth Engine platform. Secondly, the hierarchical decision tree designed based on geometric features was used to separate the rough wetland types into fourteen detailed types. Application of the two-step classification method in Northern, Central and Southern Asia (NCSA) resulted in a continental-scale wetland map with an overall accuracy of 90.0 ± 0.5%. Wetland types, including inland marsh, lake, river, coastal swamp, estuarine water, lagoon, shallow marine water, reservoir, canal/channel and agricultural pond, had good accuracy with both UA and PA over 77%. The remaining wetland types had moderate accuracy, with both UA and PA over 58%. As we calculated, total wetland areas of NCSA were 1,375,489.27 km2. Among the fourteen wetland categories, the inland marsh had the largest area (544,584.38 km2) and was primarily distributed in subarctic and humid continental climates, while the canal/channel had the smallest area (1,651.57 km2) and was primarily scattered in desert, semiarid and humid subtropical climates. The lake and floodplain shared generally large areas with value of 392,413.55 km2 and 173,255.71 km2 respectively, which were typically distributed across desert and semiarid climates. This study successfully mapped continental-scale wetlands with detailed categories at a 10-m spatial resolution, which can provide valuable information for the management of wetland ecosystems and facilitate the implementation of wetland-related sustainable development goals.

Wetland carbon storage plays an essential role in the global carbon cycle. However, in recent decades, intensive human activities and rapid urbanization have reduced wetland C stocks in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA). Long-term assessment of carbon storage in the wetland ecosystems of the GBA is needed for promoting regional sustainable development. Therefore, we proposed a framework integrating the integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model and water inundation frequency, which was retrieved via multiple index water detection rule based on Google Earth Engine platform, to estimate yearly carbon storage in wetlands across the GBA at a 30-m spatial resolution during 1995–2020. The incorporation of water inundation frequency in estimating carbon storage in wetlands presents features of long time series and higher temporal frequency. The results showed that: first, the carbon storage of wetlands estimated by the InVEST model decreased from 33.38 to 16.64 Tg·C between 1995 and 2020 in the GBA, mainly owning to the loss of paddy fields. Second, there is a significant exponentially decreasing relationship between water inundation frequency and carbon storage density within the potential wetland extent, with the R2 reaching 0.998, which denotes huge potential for estimating wetland carbon storage; third, annual wetland carbon storage estimated were divided into three main stages: a rapidly increasing period (1995–2004), a falling period (2005–2013), and a slightly fluctuating period (2015–2020). This research may provide references for supporting decision-making in implementing wetland-related sustainable development and carbon-neutrality policies in the GBA.

Abstract Background Fukeqianjin formula (FKQJF) is a Chinese medicine prescription, which has been widely used individually or in combination with other western medicine for the treatment of various gynecological inflammatory diseases, including chronic cervicitis, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and endometritis, so on and so force. Methods The ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC–MS/MS), a quick and efficient method was established and applied to quantify the major constituents of Fukeqianjin formula in rat plasma, and its pharmacokinetics of oral absorption was studied. Nineteen components in Fukeqianjin formula were detected and identified as the major compounds absorbed into the blood according to their chromatographic behavior, molecular weight, ion fragments and other information of these compounds. Furthermore, the plasma drug concentration–time curves were established and the related kinetic parameters were analyzed. Results The results showed that all the 19 compounds could be rapidly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, the plasma drug concentration of most compounds could reach a peak at around 1–2 h, and the double-peaks on behalf of the enterohepatic circulation were found in most drug concentration–time curves. The method used in this experiment was validated comprehensively including specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, stability, matrix effect, and recovery. Conclusions These results showed that the developed method was suitable for pharmacokinetic analysis of the main components of Fukeqianjin formula in rat plasma, and may provide useful information for the subsequent distribution studies in vivo.

Wetland cities were proposed by the International Wetland Convention Organization for the protection of urban wetlands. Few studies have performed land cover classifications for internationally recognized wetland cities or explored what contribution the classification results can make to the establishment of additional wetland cities to date. Based on Sentinel-1 and 2 data, this study used a 10-fold random forest method to classify the land cover of the first six wetland cities recognized in China. A land cover dataset, which had a resolution of 10 m and included four wetland types, was obtained and the wetland area and protected wetland areas of the six cities were calculated. The results showed that (1) the classification accuracy of six cities was good, the overall accuracy was above 90%, and the Kappa coefficient was above 0.88. (2) Cropland or forested areas were the most common non-wetland land coverage type in wetland cities and accounted for more than 20% or 40% of the land coverages, while water was the most common wetland type and accounted for more than 2% of the land coverages. From 2015 to 2020, the built area in most cities increased, while cropland and forest decreased significantly. (3) The wetland rate was 6.68–37.56% and the wetland protection rate was 49.48–73.74% in the six wetland cities. From 2015 to 2020, the wetland rate of the six cities were relatively stable, and the wetland protection rate of inland cities (Yinchuan, Changde, Harbin and Changshu) increased significantly, while those of coastal cities (Haikou and Dongying) decreased, which might be related to the change in coastline. Therefore, we found that the wetlands in these cities were well protected. Land cover classification for wetland cities can provide a reference for using remote sensing techniques used to monitor internationally wetland cities while also supporting the creation of additional wetland cities.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 11.a is a good vision for the coordinated development of the economy, society and environment in urban agglomerations. However, there was an extreme lack of indicators, data or case studies for SDG target 11.a, since it is a vague “process target”, which is not conducive to the implementation of SDG target 11.a. It is important to propose a quantitative, convenient, and local policies relevant method to promote the realization or to test the implementation effects of SDG target 11.a. Combined with socio-economic data and land use data, this study uses the methods of comprehensive evaluation model, coupling and coordination degree, and comparative advantage degree methods to study the pattern evolution, coordination characteristics and advantageous areas of production–living–ecological (PLE) functions in the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Urban Agglomeration (GBG_UA) from 1995 to 2019. The results showed that, (1) considering the spatiotemporal distribution of PLE functions, the study area has a relatively stable ecological function as well as fluctuating production and living functions. Considering the coordination characteristics of PLE functions, high–high and low–low clustering effects were observed, and primary coordination maintained the highest proportion, accounting from 55.26% in 1995 to 71.05% in 2019, indicating the SDG target 11.a level in the GBG_UA was poor. Considering the advantageous areas for PLE functions, the region mostly comprises single-function advantageous areas and a few multifunction advantageous areas, including 20 single-function advantage counties (accounting for 52%), 15 dual-function advantage counties (accounting for 39%), and three multi-function advantage counties (accounting for 7.8%), which indicates the lack of diversified land use structures in this region. (2) Optimization suggestions for the coordinated development and realization of SDG target 11.a for the GBG_UA were provided. Suggestions were made based on the radiation and driving role of Nanning city to guide the coordinated development of surrounding counties (districts). Suggestions were also made to improve the design of the integrated transportation network as well as to optimize allocation according to the resource endowment of land and to realize an upgraded ecology as well as agricultural products and services. (3) The evaluation of PLE functions is a quantitative and convenient method that can optimize national and regional development planning and test the implementation effects of SDG target 11.a. This study offers foundational knowledge for the realization of SDG target 11.a in the GBG_UA and provides a reference for the research and implementation of SDG target 11.a in other regions around the world.

As one of the most open and dynamic regions in China, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has been urbanizing rapidly in recent decades. The surface water in the GBA also has been suffering from urbanization and intensified human activities. The study aimed to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns and assess the losses and gains of surface water caused by urbanization in the GBA via long time-series remote sensing data, which could support the progress towards sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations, especially for measuring SDG 6.6.1 indicator. Firstly, utilizing 4750 continuous Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI images during 1986–2020 and the Google Earth Engine cloud platform, the multiple index water detection rule (MIWDR) was performed to extract surface water extent in the GBA. Secondly, we achieved surface water dynamic type classification based on annual water inundation frequency time-series in the GBA. Finally, the spatial distribution and temporal variation of urbanization-induced water losses and gains were analyzed through a land cover transfer matrix. Results showed that (1) the average minimal and maximal surface water extents of the GBA during 1986–2020 were 2017.62 km2 and 6129.55 km2, respectively. The maximal surface water extent fell rapidly from 7897.96 km2 in 2001 to 5087.46 km2 in 2020, with a loss speed of 155.41 km2 per year (R2 = 0.86). (2) The surface water areas of permanent and dynamic types were 1529.02 km2 and 2064.99 km2 during 2000–2020, accounting for 42.54% and 57.46% of all water-related areas, respectively. (3) The surface water extent occupied by impervious land surfaces showed a significant linear downward trend (R2 = 0.98, slope = 36.41 km2 per year), while the surface water restored from impervious land surfaces denoted a slight growing trend (R2 = 0.86, slope = 0.99 km2 per year). Our study monitored the long-term changes in the surface water of the GBA, which can provide valuable information for the sustainable development of the GBA urban agglomeration. In addition, the proposed framework can easily be implemented in other similar regions worldwide.

Surface water is an essential element that supports natural ecosystem health and human life, and its losses or gains are closely related to national or local sustainable development. Monitoring the spatial-temporal changes in surface water can directly support the reporting of progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) outlined by the government, especially for measuring SDG 6.6.1 indicators. In our study, we focused on Baiyangdian Lake, an important lake in North China, and explored its spatiotemporal extent changes from 2014 to 2020. Using long-term Sentinel-1 SAR images and the OTSU algorithm, our study developed an automatic water extraction framework to monitor surface water changes in Baiyangdian Lake at a 10 m resolution from 2014 to 2020 on the Google Earth Engine cloud platform. The results showed that (1) the water extraction accuracy in our study was considered good, showing high consistency with the existing dataset. In addition, it was found that the classification accuracy in spring, summer, and fall was better than that in winter. (2) From 2014 to 2020, the surface water area of Baiyangdian Lake exhibited a slowly rising trend, with an average water area of 97.03 km2. In terms of seasonal variation, the seasonal water area changed significantly. The water areas in spring and winter were larger than those in summer and fall. (3) Spatially, most of the water was distributed in the eastern part of Baiyangdian Lake, which accounted for roughly 57% of the total water area. The permanent water area, temporary water area, and non-water area covered 49.69 km2, 97.77 km2, and 171.55 km2, respectively. Our study monitored changes in the spatial extent of the surface water of Baiyangdian Lake, provides useful information for the sustainable development of the Xiong’an New Area and directly reports the status of SDG 6.6.1 indicators over time.

Two new germacranetype sesquiterpene lactones, curdionolides A and B 1and 2, resp., and a novel germacranetype sesquiterpene lactam, curdionolide C 3, were isolated from Curcuma wenyujin.Y.H. Chen et C. Lingtogether with five known germacranetype sesquiterpenes, 4–8. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. The inhibitory effects of compounds 1–8on nitric oxide NO production in lipopolysaccharideactivated macrophages were evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetland cities were proposed by the International Wetland Convention Organization for the protection of urban wetlands. Few studies have performed land cover classifications for internationally recognized wetland cities or explored what contribution the classification results can make to the establishment of additional wetland cities to date. Based on Sentinel-1 and 2 data, this study used a 10-fold random forest method to classify the land cover of the first six wetland cities recognized in China. A land cover dataset, which had a resolution of 10 m and included four wetland types, was obtained and the wetland area and protected wetland areas of the six cities were calculated. The results showed that (1) the classification accuracy of six cities was good, the overall accuracy was above 90%, and the Kappa coefficient was above 0.88. (2) Cropland or forested areas were the most common non-wetland land coverage type in wetland cities and accounted for more than 20% or 40% of the land coverages, while water was the most common wetland type and accounted for more than 2% of the land coverages. From 2015 to 2020, the built area in most cities increased, while cropland and forest decreased significantly. (3) The wetland rate was 6.68–37.56% and the wetland protection rate was 49.48–73.74% in the six wetland cities. From 2015 to 2020, the wetland rate of the six cities were relatively stable, and the wetland protection rate of inland cities (Yinchuan, Changde, Harbin and Changshu) increased significantly, while those of coastal cities (Haikou and Dongying) decreased, which might be related to the change in coastline. Therefore, we found that the wetlands in these cities were well protected. Land cover classification for wetland cities can provide a reference for using remote sensing techniques used to monitor internationally wetland cities while also supporting the creation of additional wetland cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Wetlands provide vital ecological services for both humans and environment, necessitating continuous, refined and up-to-date mapping of wetlands for conservation and management. In this study, we developed an automated and refined wetland mapping framework integrating training sample migration method, supervised machine learning and knowledge-driven rules using Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform and open-source geospatial tools. We applied the framework to temporally dense Sentinel-1/2 imagery to produce annual refined wetland maps of the Dongting Lake Wetland (DLW) during 2015–2021. First, the continuous change detection (CCD) algorithm was utilized to migrate stable training samples. Then, annual 10 m preliminary land cover maps with 9 classes were produced using random forest algorithm and migrated samples. Ultimately, annual 10 m refined wetland maps were generated based on preliminary land cover maps via knowledge-driven rules from geometric features and available water-related inventories, with Overall Accuracy (OA) ranging from 81.82% (2015) to 93.84% (2020) and Kappa Coefficient (KC) between 0.73 (2015) and 0.91 (2020), demonstrating satisfactory performance and substantial potential for accurate, timely and type-refined wetland mapping. Our methodological framework allows rapid and accurate monitoring of wetland dynamics and could provide valuable information and methodological support for monitoring, conservation and sustainable development of wetland ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 11.a is a good vision for the coordinated development of the economy, society and environment in urban agglomerations. However, there was an extreme lack of indicators, data or case studies for SDG target 11.a, since it is a vague "process target", which is not conducive to the implementation of SDG target 11.a. It is important to propose a quantitative, convenient, and local policies relevant method to promote the realization or to test the implementation effects of SDG target 11.a. Combined with socio-economic data and land use data, this study uses the methods of comprehensive evaluation model, coupling and coordination degree, and comparative advantage degree methods to study the pattern evolution, coordination characteristics and advantageous areas of production–living–ecological (PLE) functions in the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Urban Agglomeration (GBG_UA) from 1995 to 2019. The results showed that, (1) considering the spatiotemporal distribution of PLE functions, the study area has a relatively stable ecological function as well as fluctuating production and living functions. Considering the coordination characteristics of PLE functions, high–high and low–low clustering effects were observed, and primary coordination maintained the highest proportion, accounting from 55.26% in 1995 to 71.05% in 2019, indicating the SDG target 11.a level in the GBG_UA was poor. Considering the advantageous areas for PLE functions, the region mostly comprises single-function advantageous areas and a few multifunction advantageous areas, including 20 single-function advantage counties (accounting for 52%), 15 dual-function advantage counties (accounting for 39%), and three multi-function advantage counties (accounting for 7.8%), which indicates the lack of diversified land use structures in this region. (2) Optimization suggestions for the coordinated development and realization of SDG target 11.a for the GBG_UA were provided. Suggestions were made based on the radiation and driving role of Nanning city to guide the coordinated development of surrounding counties (districts). Suggestions were also made to improve the design of the integrated transportation network as well as to optimize allocation according to the resource endowment of land and to realize an upgraded ecology as well as agricultural products and services. (3) The evaluation of PLE functions is a quantitative and convenient method that can optimize national and regional development planning and test the implementation effects of SDG target 11.a. This study offers foundational knowledge for the realization of SDG target 11.a in the GBG_UA and provides a reference for the research and implementation of SDG target 11.a in other regions around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatiotemporal continuity of surface water datasets widely known for its significance in the surface water dynamic monitoring and assessments, are faced with drawbacks like cloud influence, which hinders the direct extraction of data from time-series remote sensing images. This study proposes a Time-series Surface Water Reconstruction method (TSWR). The initial stage of this method involves the effective use of remote sensing images to automatically construct multi-stage surface water boundaries based on Google Earth Engine (GEE). Then, we reconstructed regions the reconstruction of regions with missing water pixels using the distance relationship between the multi-stage water boundaries in previous and later periods. When applied to 10 large rivers around the world, this method yielded an overall accuracy of 98% for water extraction, an RMSE of 0.41 km2. Furthermore, time-series reconstruction tests conducted in 2020 on the Lancang and Danube rivers revealed a significant improvement in the image availability. These findings demonstrated that this method could not only be used to accurately reconstruct the surface water distribution missing water images, but also to depict a more pronounced time variation characteristic. The successful application of this method on GEE demonstrates its importance for use on large scales or in global studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fukeqianjin formula (FKQJF) is a Chinese medicine prescription, which has been widely used individually or in combination with other western medicine for the treatment of various gynecological inflammatory diseases, including chronic cervicitis, chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and endometritis, so on and so force. Methods: The ultra-fast liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC–MS/MS), a quick and efficient method was established and applied to quantify the major constituents of Fukeqianjin formula in rat plasma, and its pharmacokinetics of oral absorption was studied. Nineteen components in Fukeqianjin formula were detected and identified as the major compounds absorbed into the blood according to their chromatographic behavior, molecular weight, ion fragments and other information of these compounds. Furthermore, the plasma drug concentration–time curves were established and the related kinetic parameters were analyzed. Results: The results showed that all the 19 compounds could be rapidly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, the plasma drug concentration of most compounds could reach a peak at around 1–2 h, and the double-peaks on behalf of the enterohepatic circulation were found in most drug concentration–time curves. The method used in this experiment was validated comprehensively including specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy, stability, matrix effect, and recovery. Conclusions: These results showed that the developed method was suitable for pharmacokinetic analysis of the main components of Fukeqianjin formula in rat plasma, and may provide useful information for the subsequent distribution studies in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to evaluate the feasibility of sludge activated carbon modified clay as an anti-seepage material for garbage sanitary landfill liners, adsorption kinetics test, isothermal adsorption equilibrium test and flexible wall penetration test were carried out, aiming to analyze the adsorption properties of Cd( II), Cu( II) and permeability by modified clay with 0%, 1%, 3%, 5% of sludge activated carbon. The results indicated that adsorption properties of sludge activated carbon modified clay to Cd( II) and Cu( II) were dominated by surface adsorption within 30 min, and the adsorption equilibrium time were 120, 90 min, moreover, the adsorption of Cd( II) or Cu( II) by sludge activated carbon modified clay conformed to the Langmuir isothermal adsorption model. With the content of sludge activated carbon increasing from 0% to 5% in clay, at S/L=120 g/L, the maximum adsorption capacity qm of Cd(II) and Cu(II) increased by 25%, 47%. When the solid-liquid ratio increased to 200 g/L, the maximum adsorption capacity qm of Cd(II) and Cu(II) increased by 32%, 48% respectively. The permeability coefficient of sludge activated carbon modified clay under the infiltration media of water and landfill leachate was 1.8 x 10-9~1.2x10-8 cm/s, both of which were less than 1x10-7 cm/s. Therefore, sludge activated carbon modified clay can be used as an impervious material in landfills, which can effectively block the migration of heavy metals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gardenia jasminoides, the genus of Gardenia, a Chinese medicinal plant, which belongs to the family Rubiaceae is herb used since ancient times. It is also known as Fructus Gardeniae and Gardenia augusta as different synonyms, well known as Anant in Marathi language, Gandharaj in Hindi language and Zhi Zi in Chinese language. Gardenia jasminoides extracts and its main active phytoconstituents geniposide, genipin, crocin, crocetin have been reported for a wide range of pharmacological activities such as anti-hyperglycemic, anti--atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritis, anti-cancer, anti--apoptotic, anti-oxidant, anti-angiogenic, anti-thrombotic, anti-microbial and miscellaneous activities. Also it has been explored its protective effect through diverse mechanisms like neuroprotective for Alzheimer's disease, hepatoprotective, gastro-protective, retino-protective, nephro-protective, skin protective activities. This review will give new insights of Gardenia jasminoides relating to the ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacological uses. This data will also highlight the patenting trends and different assignees involved in filing patents for Gardenia jasminoides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most open and dynamic regions in China, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has been urbanizing rapidly in recent decades. The surface water in the GBA also has been suffering from urbanization and intensified human activities. The study aimed to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns and assess the losses and gains of surface water caused by urbanization in the GBA via long time-series remote sensing data, which could support the progress towards sustainable development goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations, especially for measuring SDG 6.6.1 indicator. Firstly, utilizing 4750 continuous Landsat TM/ETM+/OLI images during 1986–2020 and the Google Earth Engine cloud platform, the multiple index water detection rule (MIWDR) was performed to extract surface water extent in the GBA. Secondly, we achieved surface water dynamic type classification based on annual water inundation frequency time-series in the GBA. Finally, the spatial distribution and temporal variation of urbanization-induced water losses and gains were analyzed through a land cover transfer matrix. Results showed that (1) the average minimal and maximal surface water extents of the GBA during 1986–2020 were 2017.62 km2 and 6129.55 km2, respectively. The maximal surface water extent fell rapidly from 7897.96 km2 in 2001 to 5087.46 km2 in 2020, with a loss speed of 155.41 km2 per year (R2 = 0.86). (2) The surface water areas of permanent and dynamic types were 1529.02 km2 and 2064.99 km2 during 2000–2020, accounting for 42.54% and 57.46% of all water-related areas, respectively. (3) The surface water extent occupied by impervious land surfaces showed a significant linear downward trend (R2 = 0.98, slope = 36.41 km2 per year), while the surface water restored from impervious land surfaces denoted a slight growing trend (R2 = 0.86, slope = 0.99 km2 per year). Our study monitored the long-term changes in the surface water of the GBA, which can provide valuable information for the sustainable development of the GBA urban agglomeration. In addition, the proposed framework can easily be implemented in other similar regions worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface water is an essential element that supports natural ecosystem health and human life, and its losses or gains are closely related to national or local sustainable development. Monitoring the spatial-temporal changes in surface water can directly support the reporting of progress towards the sustainable development goals (SDGs) outlined by the government, especially for measuring SDG 6.6.1 indicators. In our study, we focused on Baiyangdian Lake, an important lake in North China, and explored its spatiotemporal extent changes from 2014 to 2020. Using long-term Sentinel-1 SAR images and the OTSU algorithm, our study developed an automatic water extraction framework to monitor surface water changes in Baiyangdian Lake at a 10 m resolution from 2014 to 2020 on the Google Earth Engine cloud platform. The results showed that (1) the water extraction accuracy in our study was considered good, showing high consistency with the existing dataset. In addition, it was found that the classification accuracy in spring, summer, and fall was better than that in winter. (2) From 2014 to 2020, the surface water area of Baiyangdian Lake exhibited a slowly rising trend, with an average water area of 97.03 km2. In terms of seasonal variation, the seasonal water area changed significantly. The water areas in spring and winter were larger than those in summer and fall. (3) Spatially, most of the water was distributed in the eastern part of Baiyangdian Lake, which accounted for roughly 57% of the total water area. The permanent water area, temporary water area, and non-water area covered 49.69 km2, 97.77 km2, and 171.55 km2, respectively. Our study monitored changes in the spatial extent of the surface water of Baiyangdian Lake, provides useful information for the sustainable development of the Xiong'an New Area and directly reports the status of SDG 6.6.1 indicators over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]