ALBERT

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 448: Shifts in Growing Season of Tropical Deciduous Forests as Driven by El Niño and La Niña during 2001–2016 Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080448 Authors: Phan Kieu Diem Uday Pimple Asamaporn Sitthi Pariwate Varnakovida Katsunori Tanaka Sukan Pungkul Kumron Leadprathom Monique Y. LeClerc Amnat Chidthaisong This study investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of tropical deciduous forest including dry dipterocarp forest (DDF) and mixed deciduous forest (MDF) and its phenological changes in responses to El Niño and La Niña during 2001–2016. Based on time series of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) extracted from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the start of growing season (SOS), the end of growing season (EOS), and length of growing season (LOS) were derived. In absence of climatic fluctuation, the SOS of DDF commonly started on 106 ± 7 DOY, delayed to 132 DOY in El Niño year (2010) and advanced to 87 DOY in La Niña year (2011). Thus, there was a delay of about 19 to 33 days in El Niño and an earlier onset of about 13 to 27 days in La Niña year. The SOS of MDF started almost same time as of DDF on the 107 ± 7 DOY during the neutral years and delayed to 127 DOY during El Niño, advanced to 92 DOY in La Niña year. The SOS of MDF was delayed by about 12 to 28 days in El Niño and was earlier about 8 to 22 days in La Niña. Corresponding to these shifts in SOS and LOS of both DDF and MDF were also induced by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 446: Plant Hydraulic Trait Covariation: A Global Meta-Analysis to Reduce Degrees of Freedom in Trait-Based Hydrologic Models Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080446 Authors: A. Rio Mursinna Erica McCormick Katie Van Horn Lisa Sartin Ashley M. Matheny Current vegetation modeling strategies use broad categorizations of plants to estimate transpiration and biomass functions. A significant source of model error stems from vegetation categorizations that are mostly taxonomical with no basis in plant hydraulic strategy and response to changing environmental conditions. Here, we compile hydraulic traits from 355 species around the world to determine trait covariations in order to represent hydraulic strategies. Simple and stepwise regression analyses demonstrate the interconnectedness of multiple vegetative hydraulic traits, specifically, traits defining hydraulic conductivity and vulnerability to embolism with wood density and isohydricity. Drought sensitivity is strongly (Adjusted R2 = 0.52, p < 0.02) predicted by a stepwise linear model combining rooting depth, wood density, and isohydricity. Drought tolerance increased with increasing wood density and anisohydric response, but with decreasing rooting depth. The unexpected response to rooting depth may be due to other tradeoffs within the hydraulic system. Rooting depth was able to be predicted from sapwood specific conductivity and the water potential at 50% loss of conductivity. Interestingly, the influences of biome or growth form do not increase the accuracy of the drought tolerance model and were able to be omitted. Multiple regression analysis revealed 3D trait spaces and tradeoff axes along which species’ hydraulic strategies can be analyzed. These numerical trait spaces can reduce the necessary input to and parameterization of plant hydraulics modules, while increasing the physical representativeness of such simulations.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 300: Computing Metric Dimension and Metric Basis of 2D Lattice of Alpha-Boron Nanotubes Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080300 Authors: Zafar Hussain Mobeen Munir Maqbool Chaudhary Shin Min Kang Concepts of resolving set and metric basis has enjoyed a lot of success because of multi-purpose applications both in computer and mathematical sciences. For a connected graph G(V,E) a subset W of V(G) is a resolving set for G if every two vertices of G have distinct representations with respect to W. A resolving set of minimum cardinality is called a metric basis for graph G and this minimum cardinality is known as metric dimension of G. Boron nanotubes with different lattice structures, radii and chirality’s have attracted attention due to their transport properties, electronic structure and structural stability. In the present article, we compute the metric dimension and metric basis of 2D lattices of alpha-boron nanotubes.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 299: Game-Theoretic Solutions for Data Offloading in Next Generation Networks Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080299 Authors: Muhammad Asif Shafi Ullah Khan Rashid Ahmad Dhananjay Singh In recent years, global mobile data traffic has seen an unprecedented increase. This is due to worldwide usage of smart devices, availability of fast internet connections, and the popularity of social media. The Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are, therefore, facing problems in handling this huge traffic flow. Each type of traffic, including real-time video, audio, and text has its own Quality of Services (QoS) requirements which, if not met, may cause a sufficient loss of profit. Offloading of these traffics can be made more efficient so that values of QoS parameters are enhanced. In this work, we propose an incentive-based game-theoretic frame work for downloading data. The download of each type of data will get an incentive determined by the two-stage Stackelberg game. We model the communication among single Mobile Base Station (MBS) and multiple Access Points (APs) in a crowded metropolitan environment. The leader offers an economic incentive based on the traffic type and followers respond to the incentive and offload traffic accordingly. The model optimizes strategies of both the MBS and APs in order to make the best use of their utilities. For the analysis, we have used a combination of analytical and experimental methods. The numerical outcome characterized a direct process of the best possible offloading ratio and legalized the efficiency of the proposed game. Optimal incentives and optimal offloading was the achievement of our proposed game-theoretic approach. We have implemented the model in MATLAB, and the experimental results show a maximum payoff was achieved and the proposed scheme achieved Nash Equilibria.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 459: Pedunculate and Sessile Mixed Oak Forest Regeneration Process in Lithuania Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080459 Authors: Girmantė Jurkšienė Virginijus Baliuckas Pedunculate and sessile oak species are sympatric. These oaks hybridize with one another, and this process influences the development of undergrowth. The purpose of this study was to determine how different oak species influence the forest regeneration process. For this purpose, the forest was divided into eight transects of 300 m and 100 m widths, distinguished into temporary plots of 10 m in diameter covering the whole territory of the forest. The distribution of oak undergrowth was calculated by four oak height groups, determining the composition of the first storey, covering of underbrush and herbaceous plant, and forest site. We determined that the spread of oak differed depending on the first storey tree species and underbrush. Grass cover was the biggest influence on the sessile oak. The impurity of sessile oak in oak stands had a positive impact on the development of undergrowth, since the entire undergrowth develops faster than separate components of the undergrowth.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 455: Measuring Eco-Efficiency of State-Owned Forestry Enterprises in Northeast China Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080455 Authors: Youliang Ning Zhen Liu Zekui Ning Han Zhang State-owned forestry enterprises (SOFEs) play an important role in the forestry economy in China. Understanding the eco-efficiency of their production is beneficial for the development of sustainable forestry and for achieving Goal 8 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Decent Work and Economic Growth. This paper assesses SOFEs’ overall eco-efficiency by analyzing various undesirable outputs using the Slacks-Based Measure of efficiency in Data Envelopment Analysis (SBM-DEA) model. Using basic data from 87 SOFEs in Northeast China from 2003 to 2016, this paper evaluated the eco-efficiency development level and spatial patterns of that region. The results show that SOFEs’ low eco-efficiency was caused by low pure-technical efficiency. Regional differences in eco-efficiency were very significant and became larger, but a market-oriented reform might help to improve such efficiency. The eco-efficiency of SOFEs was in decline from 2003 to 2016 due to the implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP). However, due to a relative lack of production factor inputs, most SOFEs’ scale returns are now increasing. In the future, efforts should be made to promote market-oriented reforms and take the path of large-scale development.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 464: Payment for Targeted Grazing: Integrating Local Shepherds into Wildfire Prevention Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080464 Authors: Elsa Varela Elena Górriz-Mifsud Jabier Ruiz-Mirazo Feliu López-i-Gelats Wildfires are one of the most prominent risks for Mediterranean forests, reducing the flow of ecosystem services and representing a hazard for infrastructure and human lives. Several wildfire prevention programs in southern Europe are currently incorporating extensive livestock grazers in fire prevention activities to reduce the high costs of mechanical clearance. Among these the Andalusian network of grazed fuel breaks, the so-called RAPCA program, stands out for its dimension and stability over time. RAPCA currently works with 220 local shepherds who, with their guided flocks maintain low biomass levels in almost 6000 ha of fuel breaks in public forests to meet fire prevention standards. This work analyses the institutional design and performance of the RAPCA payment scheme under a payment for environmental services (PES) framework. Results show effectiveness of the payment scheme while efficiency is achieved through savings relative to the mainstream mechanized biomass removal, as well as through reduced information asymmetry. High-level and stable political commitment has been crucial for the emergence and consolidation of RAPCA. Moreover, key intermediaries and sound monitoring practices increased levels of trust amongst involved actors. Beneficial side-effects include social recognition of shepherds’ activities and reduction of their friction with forest managers.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 462: Preferences of Tourists for the Service Quality of Taichung Calligraphy Greenway in Taiwan Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080462 Authors: Wan-Yu Liu Ching Chung This study explores preferences for a set of attributes that characterize the recreational value of Calligraphy Greenway, the most notable greenbelt in Taichung City, Taiwan. As an urban green space, the Calligraphy Greenway has its own recreational attributes and visitors’ preferences. This study uses the choice experiment method to determine visitors’ preference levels for five major attributes to improve the recreational quality. On average, each visitor visited there 9.15 times in the past year and spent 2.37 h per visit. Of the five recreational attributes, satisfaction with recreational activity opportunities had the highest score and satisfaction with cultural landscape resources had the lowest score. The importance is ranked in the order of recreational service quality, total recreational cost, environmental landscape resources, cultural landscape resources and recreational activity opportunities. Considering difference of groups, female visitors were more concerned with cost and activities but male visitors were more concerned with service quality and natural/cultural landscape resources. Local visitors were more concerned with cost and activities but non-local visitors were more concerned with environmental/cultural landscape resources. Both were concerned with service quality. Based on the results, this study makes the following recommendations: cultural landscape resources and quality of recreational services and facilities should be improved and more complete interpretative educational guidance should be provided to increase visitors’ willingness to visit. Additionally, it is suggested to set up various districts to cater for preferences of different visitor groups.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 463: Implementing Participatory Processes in Forestry Training Using Social Network Analysis Techniques Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080463 Authors: Simone Blanc Federico Lingua Livio Bioglio Ruggero G. Pensa Filippo Brun Angela Mosso Public participation has become an important driver in increasing public acceptance of policy decisions, especially in the forestry sector, where conflicting interests among the actors are frequent. Stakeholder Analysis, complemented by Social Network Analysis techniques, was used to support the participatory process and to understand the complex relationships and the strong interactions among actors. This study identifies the forestry training sector stakeholders in the Western Italian Alps and describes their characteristics and priorities, in relation to training activities on entrepreneurial topics for forestry loggers. The hierarchy among actors has been identified, highlighting their respective roles and influence in decision-making processes. A lack of mutual communication among different and well-separated categories of actors has been identified, while good connections between stakeholders, operating in different territories, despite the presence of administrative and logistical barriers, have been observed. Training is a topic involving actors with different roles and interests. Nevertheless, all actors consider training about how to improve yields of forest operations and how to assess investments, particularly in innovative machinery, to be crucially important and conducive to a better comprehension of the wood supply chain and the enhancement of the raw material.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 461: A Review on the Dynamics of Prescribed Fire, Tree Mortality, and Injury in Managing Oak Natural Communities to Minimize Economic Loss in North America Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080461 Authors: Daniel C. Dey Callie Jo Schweitzer The long history of fire in North America spans millennia and is recognized as an important driver in the widespread and long-term dominance of oak species and oak natural communities. Frequent wildfires from about 1850 to 1950 resulted in much forest damage, and gained fire a negative reputation. The lack of fire for the past nearly 100 years due to suppression programs is now indicted as a major cause of widespread oak regeneration failures and loss of fire-dependent natural communities. The use of prescribed fire is increasing in forest management and ecosystem restoration. An understanding of fire effects on trees can provide the basis for the silviculture of restoring and sustaining oak ecosystems. We present an overview of fire-tree wounding interactions, highlight important determinants of fire injury and damage, and discuss several practical situations where fire can be used to favor oak while minimizing damage and devaluation of the forest. We also identify stages in stand development, regeneration methods, and management objectives for which fire has the potential of causing substantial damage and recommend preferred alternative practices.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 447: Tradeoffs in Timber, Carbon, and Cash Flow under Alternative Management Systems for Douglas-Fir in the Pacific Northwest Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080447 Authors: David D. Diaz Sara Loreno Gregory J. Ettl Brent Davies Forest management choices offer significant potential to mitigate global climate change and biodiversity loss. To illuminate tradeoffs relevant to policymakers, forest sector stakeholders, and consumers of forest products, we utilize three Key Performance Indicators—average carbon storage in the forest and wood products; cumulative timber output; and discounted cash flow—to compare four alternative management scenarios for Douglas-fir forests on 64 parcels across western Oregon and Washington. These scenarios are designed to meet one of two alternative management objectives: (i) maximize Net Present Value; or (ii) maximize sustained timber yield; according to one of two alternative sets of forest practice constraints: (i) compliance with minimum Oregon/Washington Forest Practices Act (FPA) rules; or (ii) two key requirements (increased green tree retention and wider riparian buffers) of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. Improved performance in terms of carbon storage for these alternatives generally also corresponded with reduced Net Present Value and timber yields. The gap between FSC and FPA performance indicators was wider in Oregon than Washington, which is primarily attributed to the higher level of stream protection required under Washington versus Oregon FPA rules. We observed consistently higher average carbon storage per cumulative timber output among FSC scenarios relative to business-as-usual, indicating FSC-certified wood carries an embedded carbon benefit. Our findings highlight options for targeted policies to incentivize management that increases carbon storage and minimizes disruptions in timber output, as well as for narrowing the financial gap (or opportunity cost) that would be involved in a transition away from contemporary common practice on industrial timberlands in the coastal Douglas-fir forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 467: State of the Art on the Use of Trees as Supports and Anchors in Forest Operations Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080467 Authors: Luca Marchi Stefano Grigolato Omar Mologni Roberto Scotta Raffaele Cavalli Lucio Montecchio Tree stability assessment is fundamental to preserve the safety of both people and goods. This topic attributes high relevance to cable-supported harvesting where trees and stumps are used as supporting and anchoring elements. In this case, the applied external loads are characterized by higher magnitude and dynamic amplification effects than the typical forces acting on trees (e.g., those derived from meteorological events). Consequently, due to the higher forces involved on cable-supported harvesting on relatively young trees used as supports and anchors, the risk of uprooting and stem failures is real. Numerous studies have been conducted on tree stability and the impact of the external loads has been positively linked to the consequent tree failures, in terms of root-plate overturning and stem breakages, or parasite-mediated wood decay involving the root system, thus giving a better understanding of how different trees species deal with such occurrences. This review aims to synthetize and examine the main aspects covered by research works available in literature that, directly or indirectly, might be helpful in clarifying the behavior of standing trees or tree stumps used as supports and anchors in cable-supported forest operations. Lastly, areas that lack research in this particular topic as well as consequent operating suggestions are highlighted in the conclusions.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 470: The Carbon Sequestration Potential of Degraded Agricultural Land in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080470 Authors: Beyene Belay Elisabeth Pötzelsberger Hubert Hasenauer Forests are a key player within the global carbon cycle and reforestation is an important climate change mitigation mechanism. In this study, we identify potentially suitable areas for reforestation to assess the carbon sequestration potential in the highly deforested and degraded Amhara region of Ethiopia. We apply biogeochemical mechanistic ecosystem modelling to predict the amount of carbon that can be potentially sequestered within different time horizons. Since human intervention plays a key role within the Amhara region, three different forest management scenarios and five different rotation periods following reforestation are tested: (i) unthinned; (ii) removal of 5% of the stem carbon every 20 years (thinning 1); and (iii) removal of 10% stem carbon every 20 years (thinning 2), as well as a rotation period of 10, 30, 50, 100, and 150 years. Sustainable management of reforested land is addressed by implementing the so called ‘Normal-forest’ system (equal representation of every age class). This ensures the long term sequestration effect of reforested areas. The study shows that 3.4 Mha (Mha = Million hectare) of land, including bare land (0.7 Mha), grass land (1.2 Mha), and shrub land (1.5 Mha) can be considered as ecologically potentially suitable for reforestation. Assuming a 100 year rotation period in a ‘Normal-forest’ system, this shows that a total net carbon sequestration potential of 177 Tg C (10.8 Tg C in the soil and 165.9 Tg C aboveground; Teragram = 1012 g) is possible, if all 3.4 Mha are replanted. The highest total net carbon sequestration (soil and aboveground) was evident for the Highland-wet agro-ecological zone, whereas the lowest values are typically in the Midland-dry zone. The highest net aboveground carbon sequestration was predicted for reforestations on current grass land and shrub land versus bare land, whereas the highest net soil carbon sequestration was predicted on current bare land, followed by grass land and shrub land.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 315: Long Time Behavior and Global Dynamics of Simplified Von Karman Plate Without Rotational Inertia Driven by White Noise Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080315 Authors: Huatao Chen Dengqing Cao Jingfei Jiang Xiaoming Fan Without the assumption that the coefficient of weak damping is large enough, the existence of the global random attractors for simplified Von Karman plate without rotational inertia driven by either additive white noise or multiplicative white noise are proved. Instead of the classical splitting method, the techniques to verify the asymptotic compactness rely on stabilization estimation of the system. Furthermore, a clear relationship between in-plane components of the external force that act on the edge of the plate and the expectation of radius of the global random attractors can be obtained from the theoretical results. Based on the relationship between global random attractor and random probability invariant measure, the global dynamics of the plates are analyzed numerically. With increasing the in-plane components of the external force that act on the edge of the plate, global D-bifurcation, secondary global D-bifurcation and complex local dynamical behavior occur in motion of the system. Moreover, increasing the intensity of white noise leads to the dynamical behavior becoming simple. The results on global dynamics reveal that random snap-through which seems to be a complex dynamics intuitively is essentially a simple dynamical behavior.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 314: Systematic Review of Decision Making Algorithms in Extended Neutrosophic Sets Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080314 Authors: Mohsin Khan Le Hoang Son Mumtaz Ali Hoang Thi Minh Chau Nguyen Thi Nhu Na Florentin Smarandache The Neutrosophic set (NS) has grasped concentration by its ability for handling indeterminate, uncertain, incomplete, and inconsistent information encountered in daily life. Recently, there have been various extensions of the NS, such as single valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs), Interval neutrosophic sets (INSs), bipolar neutrosophic sets (BNSs), Refined Neutrosophic Sets (RNSs), and triangular fuzzy number neutrosophic set (TFNNs). This paper contains an extended overview of the concept of NS as well as several instances and extensions of this model that have been introduced in the last decade, and have had a significant impact in literature. Theoretical and mathematical properties of NS and their counterparts are discussed in this paper as well. Neutrosophic-set-driven decision making algorithms are also overviewed in detail.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 311: On p-Adic Fermionic Integrals of q-Bernstein Polynomials Associated with q-Euler Numbers and Polynomials † Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080311 Authors: Lee-Chae Jang Taekyun Kim Dae San Kim Dmitry Victorovich Dolgy We study a q-analogue of Euler numbers and polynomials naturally arising from the p-adic fermionic integrals on Zp and investigate some properties for these numbers and polynomials. Then we will consider p-adic fermionic integrals on Zp of the two variable q-Bernstein polynomials, recently introduced by Kim, and demonstrate that they can be written in terms of the q-analogues of Euler numbers. Further, from such p-adic integrals we will derive some identities for the q-analogues of Euler numbers.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 312: Connecting Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and Flavor: A Light Dilaton D and a Sequential Heavy Quark Doublet Q Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080312 Authors: Wei-Shu Hou The 125 GeV boson is quite consistent with the Higgs boson of the Standard Model (SM), but there is a challenge from Anderson as to whether this particle is in the Lagrangian. As Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Run 2 enters its final year of running, we ought to reflect and make sure we have gotten everything right. The ATLAS and CMS combined Run 1 analysis claimed a measurement of 5.4σ vector boson fusion (VBF) production which is consistent with SM, which seemingly refutes Anderson. However, to verify the source of electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB), we caution that VBF measurement is too important for us to be imprudent in any way, and gluon–gluon fusion (ggF) with similar tag jets must be simultaneous measured, which should be achievable in LHC Run 2. The point is to truly test the dilaton possibility—the pseudo-Goldstone boson of scale invariance violation. We illustrate EWSB by dynamical mass generation of a sequential quark doublet (Q) via its ultrastrong Yukawa coupling and argue how this might be consistent with a 125 GeV dilaton, D. The ultraheavy 2mQ≳4–5 TeV scale explains the absence of New Physics so far, while the mass generation mechanism shields us from the UV theory for the strong Yukawa coupling. Collider and flavor physics implications are briefly touched upon. Current Run 2 analyses show correlations between the ggF and VBF measurements, but the newly observed tt¯H production at LHC poses a challenge.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 305: Evaluation of a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Provider Using a Rough SWARA–WASPAS Model Based on a New Rough Dombi Agregator Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080305 Authors: Siniša Sremac Željko Stević Dragan Pamučar Miloš Arsić Bojan Matić For companies active in various sectors, the implementation of transport services and other logistics activities has become one of the key factors of efficiency in the total supply chain. Logistics outsourcing is becoming more and more important, and there is an increasing number of third party logistics providers. In this paper, logistics providers were evaluated using the Rough SWARA (Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) and Rough WASPAS (Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment) models. The significance of the eight criteria on the basis of which evaluation was carried out was determined using the Rough SWARA method. In order to allow for a more precise consensus in group decision-making, the Rough Dombi aggregator was developed in order to determine the initial rough matrix of multi-criteria decision-making. A total of 10 logistics providers dealing with the transport of dangerous goods for chemical industry companies were evaluated using the Rough WASPAS approach. The obtained results demonstrate that the first logistics provider is also the best one, a conclusion confirmed by a sensitivity analysis comprised of three parts. In the first part, parameter ρ was altered through 10 scenarios in which only alternatives four and five change their ranks. In the second part of the sensitivity analysis, a calculation was performed using the following approaches: Rough SAW (Simple Additive Weighting), Rough EDAS (Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution), Rough MABAC (MultiAttributive Border Approximation Area Comparison), and Rough TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution). They showed a high correlation of ranks determined by applying Spearman’s correlation coefficient in the third part of the sensitivity analysis.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 318: Detectability Improved Tamper Detection Scheme for Absolute Moment Block Truncation Coding Compressed Images Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080318 Authors: Wien Hong Xiaoyu Zhou Der-Chyuan Lou Xiaoqin Huang Cancan Peng Since digital media is gaining popularity nowadays, people are more concerned about its integrity protection and authentication since tampered media may result in unexpected problems. Considering a better media protection technique, this paper proposes an efficient tamper detection scheme for absolute moment block truncation coding (AMBTC) compressed images. In AMBTC, each image block is represented by two quantization levels (QLs) and a bitmap. Requiring insignificant computation cost, it attracts not only a wide range of application developers, but also a variety of studies to investigate the authentication of its codes. While the existing methods protect the AMBTC codes to a large extent, the leakage of some unprotected codes may be insensitive to intentional tampering. The proposed method fully protects the AMBTC codes by embedding authentication codes (ACs) into QLs. Meanwhile, the most significant bits of QLs are symmetrically perturbed to generate the candidates of ACs. The ACs that cause the minimum distortion are embedded into the least significant bits of QLs to minimize the distortion. When compared with prior works, the experimental results reveal that the proposed method offers a significant sensitivity-of-tamper property while providing a comparable image quality.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 319: CRCM: A New Combined Data Gathering and Energy Charging Model for WRSN Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080319 Authors: Yuhou Wang Ying Dong Shiyuan Li Hao Wu Mengyao Cui With the development of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the problem about how to increase the lifecycle of the WSNs is always a hot discussion point, and some researchers have devoted to the ‘energy saving’ to decrease the energy consumption of the sensor nodes by different algorithms. However, the fundamental technique is ‘energy acquiring’ for the battery which can solve the limited capacity problem. In this paper, we study the data gathering and energy charging by a mobile charger (MC) at the same time that most energy consumption can be saved by short communication distance. We have named this as the recharging model-combined recharging and collecting data model on-demand (CRCM). Firstly, the hexagon-based (HB) algorithm is proposed to sort all sensor nodes in the region to make data collecting and energy charging work at the same time. Then we consider both residual energy and geographic position (REGP) of the sensor node to calculate the priority of each cluster. Thirdly, the dynamic mobile charger (DMC) algorithm is proposed to calculate the number of MCs to make sure no sensor node will die in each charging queue. Finally, the simulations show that our REGP algorithm is better than Earliest Deadline First (EDF) and Nearest-Job-Next with Preemption (NJNP), and the DMC plays well when the number of sensor nodes increase.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 323: Temperature-Dependent s± ↔ s++ Transitions in the Multiband Model for Fe-Based Superconductors with Impurities Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080323 Authors: V. A. Shestakov M. M. Korshunov O. V. Dolgov We study the dependence of the superconducting gaps on both the disorder and the temperature within the two-band model for iron-based materials. In the clean limit, the system is in the s± state with sign-changing gaps. Scattering by nonmagnetic impurities leads to the change of the sign of the smaller gap, resulting in a transition from the s± to the s++ state with the sign-preserving gaps. We show here that the transition is temperature-dependent. Thus, there is a line of s±→s++ transition in the temperature–disorder phase diagram. There is a narrow range of impurity scattering rates, where the disorder-induced s±→s++ transition occurs at low temperatures, but then the low-temperature s++ state transforms back to the s± state at higher temperatures. With increasing impurity scattering rate, the temperature of such s++→s± transition shifts to the critical temperature Tc, and only the s++ state is left for higher amounts of disorder.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 478: Effects of Leaf Age and Exogenous Hormones on Callus Initiation, Rooting Formation, Bud Germination, and Plantlet Formation in Chinese Fir Leaf Cuttings Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080478 Authors: Lili Zhou Shubin Li Peng Huang Sizu Lin Shalom Daniel Addo-Danso Zhihui Ma Guochang Ding To guide the cultivation of superior Chinese fir plantlets, we designed an L16(4)4 orthogonal experiment to determine how leaf age and exogenous hormones influence key growth processes in leaf cuttings. Hormone concentration and treatment duration significantly affected leaf cuttings in all three age categories; 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), and treatment time exerted the strongest effects on callus initiation rates. Additionally, NAA had the largest effect on the rooting rate across all cuttings, and all three hormones significantly influenced the bud germination rate. Based on our experimental results, expected optimal treatments for callus initiation were 10 mg∙L−1 indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) for 10 min, 30 mg∙L−1 NAA for 15 min, and 10 mg∙L−1 NAA plus 30 mg∙L−1 IBA for 10 min. For the rooting rate, the expected optimal treatment was 50 mg∙L−1 NAA and 40 mg∙L−1 IBA for 5–20 min. Finally, for bud germination, optimal treatments were 20 min of immersion in water, 30 mg∙L−1 6-BA plus 50 mg∙L−1 NAA for 15 min, and 30 mg∙L−1 6-BA for 5 min. Plantlet formation only occurred in the <one-year-old leaves, and at very low rates (maximum 5.8%); this outcome is likely attributable to the mother plant’s relatively old age (five years). Plantlet formation from cuttings is dependent on ensuring the rooting rate after callus initiation. Therefore, to promote rooting rates and bud germination, we recommend leaving more xylem at the base of leaf cuttings.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 321: Dynamic Patterns of Trees Species in Miombo Forest and Management Perspectives for Sustainable Production—Case Study in Huambo Province, Angola Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060321 Authors: Vasco Chiteculo Peter Surovy This paper aims to assess important forest parameters, including tree density, diameter at breast height (DBH), and age distribution, investigate the dynamic growth of miombo tree species, and employ this information to design a management framework in miombo forests. The delineation of the management zones was based on unsupervised land cover classification that began with three zones where ground data was collected and increased to five zones. Eighteen circular plots (25.2 m radius) were randomly distributed over the study areas to assess the current situation and potential growth patterns for each species. The patterns of the six most representative tree species of miombo in Angola were described and we used KORFiT 2.4 software to fit data and develop growth curves for at least three miombo species. Growth function fitness was evaluated by root mean squared error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R2), significance of the parameters (p < 0.05), and Akaike’s information criterion (AIC). The diameter distribution of miombo tree species resembled a typical distribution of uneven-aged forest stands; higher DBH classes had lower abundances of tree species. Logistic and Gompertz growth functions were the best fits for miombo tree species. Brachystegia spiciformis Benth., is suggested as a potential species for timber management in the region because they displayed high growth potential to more quickly reach an assumed minimum DBH of 20 cm. This study concluded that miombo forest stands present an irregular structure in which DBH distribution illustrated only two patterns: many small stems and a bimodal forest structure.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 324: Response of Black Ash Wetland Gaseous Soil Carbon Fluxes to a Simulated Emerald Ash Borer Infestation Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060324 Authors: Matthew Van Grinsven Joseph Shannon Nicholas Bolton Joshua Davis Nam Jin Noh Joseph Wagenbrenner Randall Kolka Thomas Pypker The rapid and extensive expansion of emerald ash borer (EAB) in North America since 2002 may eliminate most existing ash stands, likely affecting critical ecosystem services associated with water and carbon cycling. To our knowledge, no studies have evaluated the coupled response of black ash (Fraxinus nigra Marsh.) wetland water tables, soil temperatures, and soil gas fluxes to an EAB infestation. Water table position, soil temperature, and soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes were monitored in nine depressional headwater black ash wetlands in northern Michigan. An EAB disturbance was simulated by girdling (girdle) or felling (ash-cut) all black ash trees with diameters greater than 2.5 cm within treated wetlands (n = 3 per treatment). Soil gas fluxes were sensitive to water table position, temperature, and disturbance. Soil CO2 fluxes were significantly higher, and high soil CH4 fluxes occurred more frequently in disturbed sites. Soil CH4 fluxes in ash-cut were marginally significantly higher than girdle during post-treatment, yet both were similar to control sites. The strong connection between depressional black ash wetland study sites and groundwater likely buffered the magnitude of disturbance-related impact on water tables and carbon cycling.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 352: Amount and Location of Damage to Residual Trees from Cut-to-Length Thinning Operations in a Young Redwood Forest in Northern California Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060352 Authors: Kyungrok Hwang Han-Sup Han Susan E. Marshall Deborah S. Page-Dumroese A cut-to-length (CTL) harvest system using a harvester and forwarder has been recently introduced in northern California (USA) for thinning young (<25 years old) redwood forests (Sequoia sempervirens (Lamb. ex D. Don) Endl.). However, the severity of CTL damage to residual trees in this forest type are unknown. The goals of this study were to (1) determine the location, size, and number of scars resulting from CTL harvesting and (2) compare scar size differences between redwood clumps and individual trees in two units. Most scars occurred on trees located near the forwarding trails. Wider and longer scars were associated with clumped trees (9.1–12.2 cm wide and 28.1–46.2 cm long) as compared to scars on individual trees (8.1–9.5 cm wide and 16.7–31.3 cm long), and 16–32% of the residual trees were scarred. Determining a minimum scar size will define the severity of stand damage; larger scars result in a longer time until closure. However, counting all the smaller scars that result from CTL harvesting will result in a large number of counted damaged trees. Therefore, we suggest that scars smaller than 5–10 cm width are acceptable on coastal redwood after CTL thinning.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 350: Palaeoecological Evidence for Survival of Scots Pine through the Late Holocene in Western Ireland: Implications for Ecological Management Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060350 Authors: Jenni R. Roche Fraser J. G. Mitchell Steve Waldren Bettina S. Stefanini The dynamics of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Europe during the Holocene have been spatially and temporally complex. The species underwent extirpation and reintroduction in several north-west European countries. This study investigated the late Holocene vegetation history of a present-day pinewood in western Ireland, to test the widely accepted hypothesis that P. sylvestris became extinct in Ireland c. AD 400. Palaeoecological, chronological and loss-on-ignition analyses were conducted on a sediment core extracted from an adjacent lake. The pollen profile showed no major Pinus decline and a Pinus macrofossil occurred c. AD 840, indicating localised survival of P. sylvestris from c. AD 350 to the present. The available archival maps and historical literature provide supporting evidence for continuity of forest cover. The hypothesis that P. sylvestris became extinct in Ireland is rejected. The implications for ecological management are significant. We argue that P. sylvestris should be considered native to Ireland, at least at this site. As Ireland’s only putative native P. sylvestris population and the western limit of the species’ native range, this site is of high conservation value and must be carefully managed and monitored. Seed-sourcing for ex-situ forest restoration must be compatible with the long-term viability of the population in-situ.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 210: An Improved Whale Optimization Algorithm Based on Different Searching Paths and Perceptual Disturbance Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10060210 Authors: Wei-zhen Sun Jie-sheng Wang Xian Wei Whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is a swarm intelligence optimization algorithm inspired by humpback whale hunting behavior. WOA has many similarities with other swarm intelligence algorithms (PSO, GWO, etc.). WOA’s unique search mechanism enables it to have a strong global search capability while taking into account the strong global search capabilities. In this work, considering the the deficiency of WOA in local search mechanism, combined with the optimization methods of other group intelligent algorithms, perceptual perturbation mechanism is introduced, which makes the agent perform more detailed searches near the local extreme point. At the same time, since the WOA uses a logarithmic spiral curve, the agent cannot fully search all the spaces within its search range, even though the introduction of the perturbation mechanism may still lead to the algorithm falling into a local optimum. Therefore, the equal pitch Archimedes spiral curve is chosen to replace the classic logarithmic spiral curve. In order to fully verify the effect of the search path on the performance of the algorithm, several other spiral curves have been chosen for experimental comparison. By utilizing the 23 benchmark test functions, the simulation results show that WOA (PDWOA) with perceptual perturbation significantly outperforms the standard WOA. Then, based on the PDWOA, the effect of the search path on the performance of the algorithm has been verified. The simulation results show that the equal pitch of the Archimedean spiral curve is best.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 201: Topological Characterization of the Symmetrical Structure of Bismuth Tri-Iodide Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10060201 Authors: Muhammad Imran Muhammad Arfan Ali Sarfaraz Ahmad Muhammad Kamran Siddiqui Abdul Qudair Baig The bismuth tri-iodide ( B i I 3 ) is an inorganic compound. It is the result of the response of bismuth and iodine, which has inspired enthusiasm for subjective inorganic investigation. The topological indices are the numerical invariants of the molecular graph that portray its topology and are normally graph invariants. In 1975, Randic presented, in a bond-added substance, a topological index as a descriptor for portraying subatomic branching. In this paper, we investigate the precious stone structure of bismuth tri-iodide chain and sheet. Moreover, exact formulas of degree-based added-substance topological indices principally the first, second, and hyper Zagreb indices, the general Randic index, the geometric-arithmetic index, the fourth atom-bond connectivity index, and the fifth geometric arithmetic index of the subatomic graph of bismuth tri-iodide for both chain and sheet structures are determined.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 218: Gauss Map and Its Applications on Ruled Submanifolds in Minkowski Space Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10060218 Authors: Sun Jung Young Kim We study ruled submanifolds in Minkowski space in regard to the Gauss map satisfying some partial differential equation. As a generalization of usual cylinders, cones and null scrolls in a three-dimensional Minkowski space, a cylinder over a space curve, a product manifold of a right cone and a k-plane, a product manifold of a hyperbolic cone and a k-plane which look like kinds of cylinders over cones in 3-space, and the generalized B-scroll kind in Minkowski space are characterized with the partial differential equation regarding the Gauss map, where k is a positive integer.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 217: Decision-Making via Neutrosophic Support Soft Topological Spaces Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10060217 Authors: Parimala Mani Karthika Muthusamy Saeid Jafari Florentin Smarandache Udhayakumar Ramalingam The concept of interval neutrosophic sets has been studied and the introduction of a new kind of set in topological spaces called the interval valued neutrosophic support soft set has been suggested. We study some of its basic properties. The main purpose of this paper is to give the optimum solution to decision-making in real life problems the using interval valued neutrosophic support soft set.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 355: Do Silviculture and Forest Management Affect the Genetic Diversity and Structure of Long-Impacted Forest Tree Populations? Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060355 Authors: Filippos A. (Phil) Aravanopoulos The consequences of silviculture and management on the genetic variation and structure of long-impacted populations of forest tree are reviewed assessed and discussed, using Mediterranean forests as a working paradigm. The review focuses on silviculture and management systems, regeneration schemes, the consequences of coppicing and coppice conversion to high forest, the effects of fragmentation and exploitation, and the genetic impact of forestry plantations. It emerges that averaging genetic diversity parameters, such as those typically reported in the assessment of forest population genetics, do not generally present significant differences between populations under certain silvicultural systems/forest management methods and “control” populations. Observed differences are usually rather subtler and regard the structure of the genetic variation and the lasting adaptive potential of natural forest tree populations. Therefore, forest management and silvicultural practices have a longer-term impact on the genetic diversity and structure and resilience of long-impacted populations of forest tree; their assessment should be based on parameters that are sensitive to population perturbations and bottlenecks. The nature and extent of genetic effects and impact of silviculture and forest management practices, call for a concerted effort regarding their thorough study using genetic, genomic, as well as monitoring approaches, in order to provide insight and potential solutions for future silviculture and management regimes.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 354: Growth and Physicochemical Changes of Carpinus betulus L. Influenced by Salinity Treatments Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060354 Authors: Qi Zhou Zunling Zhu Man Shi Longxia Cheng Carpinus betulus L. is a deciduous tree widely distributed in Europe with strong adaptation, and it plays a key role in landscaping and timbering because of its variety of colors and shapes. Recently introduced to China for similar purposes, this species needs further study as to its physiological adaptability under various soil salinity conditions. In this study, the growth and physicochemical changes of C. betulus seedlings cultivated in soil under six different levels of salinity stress (NaCl: 0, 17, 34, 51, 68, and 85 mM) were studied for 14, 28 and 42 days. The plant growth and gas exchange parameters were not changed much by 17 and 34 mM NaCl, but they were significantly affected after treatments with 51 ~ 85 mM NaCl. The chlorophyll content was not significantly affected at 17 and 34 mM salinity, and the relative water content, malondialdehyde content and cell membrane stability of C. betulus did not change obviously under the 17 and 34 mM treatments, indicating that C. betulus is able to adapt to low-salinity conditions. The amount of osmotic adjustment substances and the antioxidant enzyme activity of C. betulus increased after 14 and 28 days and then decreased with increasing salinity gradients, but the proline content was increased during the entire time for different salinities. The Na content of different organs increased in response to salinity, and the K/Na, Ca/Na, and Mg/Na ratios were significantly affected by salinity. These results suggest that the ability of C. betulus to synthesize osmotic substances and enzymatic antioxidants may be impaired under severe saline conditions (68 ~ 85 mM NaCl) but that it can tolerate and accumulate salt at low salinity concentrations (17 ~ 34 mM NaCl). Such information is useful for land managers considering introducing this species to sites with various soil salinity conditions.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 214: Intelligent Prognostics of Degradation Trajectories for Rotating Machinery Based on Asymmetric Penalty Sparse Decomposition Model Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10060214 Authors: Qing Li Steven Y. Liang The ability to accurately track the degradation trajectories of rotating machinery components is arguably one of the challenging problems in prognostics and health management (PHM). In this paper, an intelligent prediction approach based on asymmetric penalty sparse decomposition (APSD) algorithm combined with wavelet neural network (WNN) and autoregressive moving average-recursive least squares algorithm (ARMA-RLS) is proposed for degradation prognostics of rotating machinery, taking the accelerated life test of rolling bearings as an example. Specifically, the health indicators time series (e.g., peak-to-peak value and Kurtosis) is firstly decomposed into low frequency component (LFC) and high frequency component (HFC) using the APSD algorithm; meanwhile, the resulting non-convex regularization problem can be efficiently solved using the majorization-minimization (MM) method. In particular, the HFC part corresponds to the stable change around the zero line of health indicators which most extensively occurs; in contrast, the LFC part is essentially related to the evolutionary trend of health indicators. Furthermore, the nonparametric-based method, i.e., WNN, and parametric-based method, i.e., ARMA-RLS, are respectively introduced to predict the LFC and HFC that focus on abrupt degradation regions (e.g., last 100 points). Lastly, the final predicted data could be correspondingly obtained by integrating the predicted LFC and predicted HFC. The proposed methodology is tested using degradation health indicator time series from four rolling bearings. The proposed approach performed favorably when compared to some state-of-the-art benchmarks such as WNN and largest Lyapunov (LLyap) methods.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 222: Bayer Image Demosaicking Using Eight-Directional Weights Based on the Gradient of Color Difference Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10060222 Authors: Yizheng Liu Chengyou Wang Hongming Zhao Jiayang Song Shiyue Chen In this paper, we propose a new demosaicking algorithm which uses eight-directional weights based on the gradient of color difference (EWGCD) for Bayer image demosaicking. To obtain the interpolation of green (G) pixels, the eight-directional G pixel values are first estimated in red (R)/blue (B) pixels. This estimate is used to calculate the color difference in R/B pixels of the Bayer image in diagonal directions. However, in horizontal and vertical directions, the new estimated G pixels are defined to obtain the color difference. The eight-directional weights of estimated G pixels can be obtained by considering the gradient of the color difference and the gradient of the RGB pixels of the Bayer image. Therefore, the eight-directional weighted values and the first estimated G pixel values are combined to obtain the full G image. Compared with six similar algorithms using the same eighteen McMaster images, the results of the experiment demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has a better performance not only in the subjective visual measurement but also in the assessments of peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity (SSIM) index measurement.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 360: Effects of Oxidized Brown Coal Humic Acid Fertilizer on the Relative Height Growth Rate of Three Tree Species Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060360 Authors: Ganchudur Tsetsegmaa Khaulenbek Akhmadi Wonwoo Cho Sora Lee Romika Chandra Choi Eun Jeong Rogers Wainkwa Chia Hoduck Kang This study aimed to identify the effects of oxidized brown coal humic acid fertilizer on the relative growth rate of several tree species intended for reforestation. Field experiments were carried out during 2011–2014 at the Research and Experimental Center for Combating Desertification located at the Elsen Tasarkhai station in central Mongolia. The trees studied were Populus sibirica Tausch., Salix ledebouriana Trautv., and Acer tataricum L. The experiment was conducted with concentrations of 2000, 10,000, and 20,000 mg L−1 of humic acid fertilization treatment. Measurement of the relative height growth rate (RHGR) was undertaken for a period of four years. The results demonstrated significant differences between the humic fertilizer concentrations, which varied depending on the species. Compared to monthly RHGR over the study period, the treatment using fertilizers yielded significantly better tree growth. P. sibirica, when treated with 2000 mg L−1 and 10,000 mg L−1 humic acid fertilizers, had significant height growth rates. S. ledebouriana with 20,000 mg L−1 of humic acid fertilzers treatments showed the highest RHGR. In addition, when the humic acid treatments were compared to the control, results showed that oxidized brown coal humic acid fertilizers as an organic fertilizer can have a significant effect on the growth of A. tataricum. The results equally showed that the soil chemical properties EC, CO2, NO3, and K2O were significant among all the treatments compared to control. The effect on P2O5 significantly increased in all the treatments; however, there was no significant effect on pH and Mg among all treatments. Combining the results obtained with reforestation and sustainable land-management practices can help to improve soil organics in degraded sandy soil regions.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 368: A Flexible Height–Diameter Model for Tree Height Imputation on Forest Inventory Sample Plots Using Repeated Measures from the Past Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060368 Authors: Christoph Gollob Tim Ritter Sonja Vospernik Clemens Wassermann Arne Nothdurft In this study, height–diameter relations were modeled using two different mixed model types for imputation of missing heights from longitudinal data. Model Type A had a hierarchical structure of sample plot-specific and measurement occasion-specific random effects. In Model Type B, a possible temporal variance was modeled by a sample plot-specific linear time trend. Furthermore, various calibration strategies of random effects were performed on past and current data, and a combination of both. The performance of the mixed models was compared on independent data using bias and root mean square error (RMSE). The results showed that Model Type A achieved the highest precision (lowest RMSE), if sample plot-specific random effects were predicted from old data and measurement occasion-specific ones were predicted from new data. In comparison, however, Model Type B had a higher RMSE, and lower bias. Model performance was almost unaffected from the usage of past or current data for the prediction of random effects. Results revealed that a certain calibration strategy should be simultaneously applied to all random effects from the same hierarchy level. Otherwise, predictions would become imprecise and a serious bias may result. In comparison with traditional uniform height curves, the novel mixed model approach performed slightly better.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 364: Age-Effect on Intra-Annual δ13C-Variability within Scots Pine Tree-Rings from Central Siberia Forests doi: 10.3390/f9060364 Authors: Marina V. Fonti Eugene A. Vaganov Christian Wirth Alexander V. Shashkin Natalya V. Astrakhantseva Еrnst-Detlef Schulze Intra-annual tree-ring parameters are increasingly used in dendroecology thanks to their high temporal resolution. To better understand the nature of intra-ring proxy signals, we compared old and young trees according to the different ways in which they respond to climate. The study was carried out in central Siberia (Russia, 60°75′ N, 89°38′ E) in two even-aged Pinus sylvestris L. stands of different ages (20 and 220 years). Ring width, cell size, and intra-annual δ¹³С were measured for 4 to 27 tree rings, depending on age group (young vs. old) and tree-ring parameter. Wood formation was monitored to link tree-ring position to its time of formation. Results indicated more distinct intra-annual δ¹³С patterns at both the beginning and end of the ring of young trees compared to old ones. Older trees showed a stronger significant correlation between δ¹³С across the ring border, indicating a stronger carry-over effect of the previous year’s growing conditions on current year wood production. This suggests that tree age/size influences the magnitude of the transfer of mobile carbon reserves across the years.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 373: Ungulate Browsing Limits Bird Diversity of the Central European Hardwood Floodplain Forests Forests doi: 10.3390/f9070373 Authors: Ivo Machar Petr Cermak Vilem Pechanec Temperate hardwood floodplain forests along lowland rivers are considered important forest biodiversity refugia in the European cultural landscape. The absence of apex predators combined with an artificial feeding of herbivore populations in winter seasons has caused an increase in browsing pressure on hardwood trees, nearly preventing their regeneration in some localities. There are still important knowledge gaps in understanding the relationships between deer abundance (and browsing pressure) and the abundance (and diversity) of forest bird species in unmanaged hardwood forests. We have studied the red deer and fallow deer browsing pressure in Central European unmanaged hardwood floodplain forests using a novel method based on monitoring browsing pressure along transects combined with bird census data in the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area (Czech Republic). The monitoring data suggested a very high browsing pressure on hardwood trees, causing a strong reduction of the shrub layer and young tree layer (30–210 cm above ground surface). The bird census data from the study area were collected using the territory mapping method. Our results revealed a bird diversity decline in all study plots and the bush nesters guild was found to be completely absent. As bird species from the bush nesters guild are generally common (usually dominant) in hardwood floodplain forest ecosystems with a rich shrub and young tree layer and low browsing pressure, we conclude that intense browsing by large herbivores represents a limiting factor to the bird diversity (especially bush nesters) of hardwood floodplain forests.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 370: Mechanized Tree Planting in Sweden and Finland: Current State and Key Factors for Future Growth Forests doi: 10.3390/f9070370 Authors: Back Tomas Ersson Tiina Laine Timo Saksa In Fennoscandia, mechanized tree planting is time-efficient and produces high-quality regeneration. However, because of low cost-efficiency, the mechanization of Fennoscandian tree planting has been struggling. To determine key factors for its future growth, we compared the operational, planning, logistical, and organizational characteristics of mechanized planting in Sweden and Finland. Through interviews with planting machine contractors and client company foresters, we establish that mechanized tree planting in Sweden and Finland presently shares more similarities than differences. Some notable differences include typically longer planting seasons in Sweden, and a tendency towards two-shift operation and less frequent worksite pre-inspection by contractors in Finland. Because of similar challenges, mechanized planting in both countries can improve cost-efficiency through education of involved foresters, flexible information systems, efficient seedling logistics, and continued technical development of planting machines. By striving to have multiple client companies, contractors can reduce their operating radii and increase their machine utilization rates. Above all, our results provide international readers with unprecedented detailed and comprehensive figures and characteristics of Swedish and Finnish mechanized tree-planting activities. We conclude that cooperation between Sweden’s and Finland’s forest industries and research institutes could enhance the mechanization level of Fennoscandian tree planting.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 371: Effects of Plot Positioning Errors on the Optimality of Harvest Prescriptions When Spatial Forest Planning Relies on ALS Data Forests doi: 10.3390/f9070371 Authors: Adrián Pascual Timo Pukkala Sergio de-Miguel Forest management planning is increasingly relying on airborne laser scanning (ALS) in forest inventory. The area-based method to interpret ALS data requires sample plots measured in the field. The aim of this study was to assess and trace the impacts of the positioning errors of field plots along the entire forest management planning process, from their effect on forest inventory results to the outcome of forest management planning. This research links plot positioning errors with the spatio-temporal allocation of forest treatments and calculates the inoptimality losses arising from plot positioning errors in ALS-based forest inventory. The study area was a forest management unit in Central Spain. Growing stock attributes were predicted for a grid of square-shaped cells. Alternative management schedules were simulated for the grid cells by using growth and yield models. Then, a spatial forest planning problem aiming at maximizing timber production with even-flow cuttings was formulated. Spatial objective variables were used to cluster management prescriptions into dynamic treatment units. We used simulated annealing to conduct spatial optimization. First, the true plot locations were used and then the whole process was repeated with normally distributed random errors with standard deviation equal to 2.5, 5 and 10 m, resulting in an average error of 1.47, 3.06 and 8.34 m, respectively. Increasing the level of positioning errors resulted in higher variability in the estimated growing stock attributes and in the achieved values of management goals. Sub-optimal prescriptions caused by the tested plot positioning errors caused up to 4.62% losses in timber production and up to 3.35% losses in utility. The losses increased with increasing plot positioning error.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 379: Structural Diversity in a Mixed Spruce-Fir-Beech Old-Growth Forest Remnant of the Western Carpathians Forests doi: 10.3390/f9070379 Authors: Zuzana Parobeková Ján Pittner Stanislav Kucbel Milan Saniga Michal Filípek Denisa Sedmáková Jaroslav Vencurik Peter Jaloviar Old-growth forests are a unique source of information for close-to-nature silviculture. In the National Nature Reserve Dobročský prales (Slovakia), a remnant of mixed old-growth forests of the Western Carpathians, we analyzed changes in tree species composition, stand structure, and creation and closure of canopy gaps. The results were based on data from forest inventories of an entire reserve conducted in 1978 and 2015, extended by detailed measurements in a research plot of 250 × 250 m. We observed the expansion of common beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) at the expense of conifers (Abies alba Mill., Picea abies L. Karst.) in all layers of the stand. Due to a lack of conifers in the category of saplings >130 cm and an abundance of coniferous deadwood, we hypothesize that this development will lead to the dominance of beech. All development stages revealed a reverse J-shaped diameter structure; however, they differed in the majority of basic stand characteristics (e.g., growing stock, basal area, tree density, deadwood volume). Most of the structural indices did not differ between development stages, confirming a relatively high degree of structural differentiation throughout the development cycle. The total gap area reached 18%, with the dominance of small gaps ≤100 m2. Nevertheless, only canopy gaps >100 m2 formed by the mortality of three or more trees were of higher importance for the extensive establishment of natural regeneration.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 231: Observers and Their Notion of Spacetime beyond Special Relativity Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10070231 Authors: José Manuel Carmona José Luis Cortés José Javier Relancio It is plausible that quantum gravity effects may lead us to a description of Nature beyond the framework of special relativity. In this case, either the relativity principle is broken or it is maintained. These two scenarios (a violation or a deformation of special relativity) are very different, both conceptually and phenomenologically. We discuss some of their implications on the description of events for different observers and the notion of spacetime.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 233: Symmetries of Differential Equations in Cosmology Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10070233 Authors: Michael Tsamparlis Andronikos Paliathanasis The purpose of the current article is to present a brief albeit accurate presentation of the main tools used in the study of symmetries of Lagrange equations for holonomic systems and subsequently to show how these tools are applied in the major models of modern cosmology in order to derive exact solutions and deal with the problem of dark matter/energy. The key role in this approach are the first integrals of the field equations. We start with the Lie point symmetries and the first integrals defined by them, that is, the Hojman integrals. Subsequently, we discuss the Noether point symmetries and the well-known method for deriving the Noether integrals. By means of the Inverse Noether Theorem, we show that, to every Hojman quadratic first integral, it is possible to associate a Noether symmetry whose Noether integral is the original Hojman integral. It is emphasized that the point transformation generating this Noether symmetry need not coincide with the point transformation defining the Lie symmetry which produces the Hojman integral. We discuss the close connection between the Lie point and the Noether point symmetries with the collineations of the metric defined by the kinetic energy of the Lagrangian. In particular, the generators of Noether point symmetries are elements of the homothetic algebra of that metric. The key point in the current study of cosmological models is the introduction of the mini superspace, which is the space that is defined by the physical variables of the model, which is not the spacetime where the model evolves. The metric in the mini superspace is found from the kinematic part of the Lagrangian and we call it the kinetic metric. The rest part of the Lagrangian is the effective potential. We consider coordinate transformations of the original mini superspace metric in order to bring it to a form where we know its collineations, that is, the Killing vectors, the homothetic vector, etc. Then, we write the field equations of the cosmological model and we use the connection of these equations with the collineations of the mini superspace metric to compute the first integrals and subsequently to obtain analytic solutions for various allowable potentials and finally draw conclusions about the problem of dark energy. We consider the ΛCDM cosmological model, the scalar field cosmology, the Brans–Dicke cosmology, the f(R) gravity, the two scalar fields cosmology with interacting scalar fields and the Galilean cosmology. In each case, we present the relevant results in the form of tables for easy reference. Finally, we discuss briefly the higher order symmetries (the contact symmetries) and show how they are applied in the cases of scalar field cosmology and in the f(R) gravity.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 383: Effect of Gap Position on the Heavy Metal Contents of Epiphytic Mosses and Lichens on the Fallen Logs and Standing Trees in an Alpine Forest Forests doi: 10.3390/f9070383 Authors: Zhuang Wang Fuzhong Wu Wanqin Yang Bo Tan Chenhui Chang Qin Wang Rui Cao Guoqing Tang To understand the role of the forest gaps and epiphytic mosses and lichens in the heavy metal cycles of forest ecosystems, the biomass, concentration, and storage of Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn in epiphytic mosses and lichens on fallen logs and standing trees from the gap center to the closed canopy of an alpine forest ecosystem on the eastern Tibetan Plateau were investigated. Mosses were the dominant epiphytes on fallen logs and standing trees and contribute 82.1–95.1% of total epiphyte biomass in the alpine forest. A significantly higher biomass of epiphytic mosses and lichens was observed at the gap edge. The heavy metals concentration in mosses and lichens on fallen logs and standing trees varied widely with gap positions. Lower concentrations of Cd, Cu, and Pb were found in the mosses and lichens under the closed canopy, higher concentrations of Cd and Pb were detected in the mosses and lichens at the gap edge, and higher concentrations of Cu were found at the gap center. A significant difference in Zn concentration was observed between the mosses and lichens. No significant differences in Pb or Zn concentrations were observed in the mosses and lichens between the fallen log and standing tree substrates. Furthermore, the epiphytic mosses and lichens at the gap edge accumulated more Cd, Pb, and Cu, whereas the epiphytic lichens on the fallen logs and large shrubs at the gap center accumulated more Zn. In conclusion, gap regeneration accelerates the cycling of heavy metals in alpine forest ecosystems by promoting the growth of epiphytic mosses and lichens on fallen logs and standing trees at gap edges and increasing the concentration of heavy metals in these plants.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 384: Investment Uncertainty Analysis in Eucalyptus Bole Biomass Production in Brazil Forests doi: 10.3390/f9070384 Authors: Danilo Simões Ailton Jesus Dinardi Magali Ribeiro da Silva Forestry investment projects for the biomass production of the eucalyptus bole can be characterized by uncertain environments, which result in economic risk to the forest producer, however that can be measured by applying probabilistic techniques. This was our motivation and justification for analyzing the economic-financial viability of different silvicultural practices for eucalyptus bole biomass production under conditions of uncertainties, running Monte Carlo method for risk management. The experiment was carried out in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, using 5 treatments with spacings of 3 × 2 m; 3 × 1 m; 1.5 × 2 m; 3 × 0.5 m; and 1.5 × 1.0 m, i.e., different spacings between planting lines and plants. These treatments were characterized as investment projects. To develop stochastic models, we relied on technical-economic deterministic variables. We evaluated the investment projects based on the cash flows under conditions of uncertainty, discounted at the attractiveness rate calculated by capital asset pricing model. With the results of these economic flows, the net present value, the modified internal rate of return and the profitability index values were estimated, commonly used in the analysis of investments in projects. The results showed that based on economic metrics, the three-year rotation cycle for forest stands for biomass production of the main bole of eucalyptus, with a spacing of three meters between rows and two meters between plants, had an 83% probability of economic success. The sensitivity analysis showed that the bole biomass of eucalyptus is the most important variable for determining the economic-financial feasibility of the investment project.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 245: A Forecasting Model Based on Multi-Valued Neutrosophic Sets and Two-Factor, Third-Order Fuzzy Fluctuation Logical Relationships Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10070245 Authors: Hongjun Guan Jie He Aiwu Zhao Zongli Dai Shuang Guan Making predictions according to historical values has long been regarded as common practice by many researchers. However, forecasting solely based on historical values could lead to inevitable over-complexity and uncertainty due to the uncertainties inside, and the random influence outside, of the data. Consequently, finding the inherent rules and patterns of a time series by eliminating disturbances without losing important details has long been a research hotspot. In this paper, we propose a novel forecasting model based on multi-valued neutrosophic sets to find fluctuation rules and patterns of a time series. The contributions of the proposed model are: (1) using a multi-valued neutrosophic set (MVNS) to describe the fluctuation patterns of a time series, the model could represent the fluctuation trend of up, equal, and down with degrees of truth, indeterminacy, and falsity which significantly preserve details of the historical values; (2) measuring the similarities of different fluctuation patterns by the Hamming distance could avoid the confusion caused by incomplete information from limited samples; and (3) introducing another related time series as a secondary factor to avoid warp and deviation in inferring inherent rules of historical values, which could lead to more comprehensive rules for further forecasting. To evaluate the performance of the model, we explored the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index (TAIEX) as the major factor we forecast, and the Dow Jones Index as the secondary factor to facilitate the predicting of the TAIEX. To show the universality of the model, we applied the proposed model to forecast the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index (SHSECI) as well.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 244: Computing Zagreb Indices and Zagreb Polynomials for Symmetrical Nanotubes Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10070244 Authors: Zehui Shao Muhammad Kamran Siddiqui Mehwish Hussain Muhammad Topological indices are numbers related to sub-atomic graphs to allow quantitative structure-movement/property/danger connections. These topological indices correspond to some specific physico-concoction properties such as breaking point, security, strain vitality of chemical compounds. The idea of topological indices were set up in compound graph hypothesis in view of vertex degrees. These indices are valuable in the investigation of mitigating exercises of specific Nanotubes and compound systems. In this paper, we discuss Zagreb types of indices and Zagreb polynomials for a few Nanotubes covered by cycles.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 302: Fermion Scattering in a CPT-Even Lorentz Violation Quantum Electrodynamics Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080302 Authors: Frederico Santos Manoel Ferreira In this work, we reassess two known processes of Quantum Electrodynamics involving electrons and muons. The photon propagator is modified by a CPT-even Lorentz-violating (LV) tensor, while fermion lines and the vertex interaction are not altered. Using the Feynman rules, the associated cross sections for unpolarized scatterings are evaluated, revealing the usual energy dependence and Lorentz-violating contributions that induce space anisotropy. A possible route to constraining the LV coefficients is presented and the results properly commented.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 301: Evaluating Water Use Efficiency in China’s Western Provinces Based on a Slacks-Based Measure (SBM)-Undesirable Window Model and a Malmquist Productivity Index Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080301 Authors: Yuyan Luo Lu Yin Yong Qin Zhong Wang Yanfeng Gong This paper evaluated the water use efficiency in 12 Chinese western provinces from 2005 to 2015. Based on data availability and the index selection rationality and the slacks-based measure (SBM)-undesirable Window analysis model and the Malmquist productivity index, the water resource inputs and outputs were measured to analyze water use efficiency. Total investment in fixed assets for the whole society and total water, made up of total agricultural water, total industrial water, and total domestic water, were used as the input indexes, and regional GDP and waste water discharge were the output indexes, with the waste water discharge being regarded as an undesirable output. The data from different years and different provinces in the same period, and data from the same year and the same provinces in different periods were compared in order to derive the water resource efficiency and technical changes over time and space. It was found that the total water resource factor productivity in the 12 provinces grew slowly in the study period, that water resource technical progress positively affected water use efficiency, and that a lack of technical efficiency restricted water use efficiency growth. Several suggestions are given to optimize water use efficiency in the 12 provinces. The research findings and suggestions provide valuable reference for studies in related fields.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 465: Qualitative Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Services: The Stakeholders’ Point of View in Support of Landscape Planning Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080465 Authors: Isabella De Meo Maria Giulia Cantiani Fabrizio Ferretti Alessandro Paletto In the last decades, the ecosystem services (ES) concept has become one of the main challenges of study and discussion in the scientific community. The quantitative and qualitative assessment of ES is as a tool to address forest management planning on a local scale. Forest landscape management planning is the most suitable level for integrating social needs and demands in the enhancement of different forest ES. Some regions in Italy have developed forest landscape management plans taking into account the social preferences for the different ES. In this paper, we refer to five case studies in three pilot areas in Italy. A survey collected and analyzed the opinions and preferences, from 362 stakeholders, for ten ES included in three categories (provisioning, regulating and cultural services). The main aim of this study is to understand what type of variables (study area, the groups of interest and socio-demographic characteristics of respondents) most influence stakeholder preferences for ES. The results show that for the sample of stakeholders involved in the survey, the most important ES category is regulating services followed by cultural services. In addition, the results show that the group of stakeholders’ interest is the most important variable influencing their preferences for ES.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 304: No-Reference Image Blur Assessment Based on Response Function of Singular Values Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080304 Authors: Shanqing Zhang Pengcheng Li Xianghua Xu Li Li Ching-Chun Chang Blur is an important factor affecting the image quality. This paper presents an efficient no-reference (NR) image blur assessment method based on a response function of singular values. For an image, the grayscale image is computed to the acquire spatial information. In the meantime, the gradient map is computed to acquire the shape information, and the saliency map can be obtained by using scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT). Then, the grayscale image, the gradient map, and the saliency map are divided into blocks of the same size. The blocks of the gradient map are converted into discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients, from which the response function of singular values (RFSV) are generated. The sum of the RFSV are then utilized to characterize the image blur. The variance of the grayscale image and the DCT domain entropy of the gradient map are used to reduce the impact of the image content. The SIFT-dependent weights are calculated in the saliency map, which are assigned to the image blocks. Finally, the blur score is the normalized sum of the RFSV. Extensive experiments are conducted on four synthetic databases and two real blur databases. The experimental results indicate that the blur scores produced by our method are highly correlated with the subjective evaluations. Furthermore, the proposed method is superior to six state-of-the-art methods.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 327: Different Forms of Triangular Neutrosophic Numbers, De-Neutrosophication Techniques, and their Applications Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080327 Authors: Avishek Chakraborty Sankar Prasad Mondal Ali Ahmadian Norazak Senu Shariful Alam Soheil Salahshour In this paper, we introduce the concept of neutrosophic number from different viewpoints. We define different types of linear and non-linear generalized triangular neutrosophic numbers which are very important for uncertainty theory. We introduced the de-neutrosophication concept for neutrosophic number for triangular neutrosophic numbers. This concept helps us to convert a neutrosophic number into a crisp number. The concepts are followed by two application, namely in imprecise project evaluation review technique and route selection problem.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 482: An Assessment of the Environmental Impacts of Transgenic Triploid Populus tomentosa in Field Condition Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080482 Authors: Qi Guo Nan Lu Zijing Luo Yuhan Sun Shaowu Jin Shaoming Wang Zhimin Guo Feifei Li Shouyi Chen Wanke Zhang Qingju Ji Yun Li Populus tomentosa grow rapidly, but are salt susceptible. To quickly and efficiently gain new poplar breeds with better salt resistance, a DREB transcription factor derived from Atriplex hortensis was transformed into triploid Populus tomentosa by our lab, which significantly improved the salt tolerance of host plants. However, environmental impacts of transgenic plants must be assessed before large-scale cultivation in China. Here, we conducted a field trial of AhDREB1 transgenic and non-transgenic triploid Populus tomentosa to assess the impact of transgenic trees on rhizospheric soil microbial communities and allelopathic activity of leaves. No significant differences in the number of soil microbes present were detected between the transgenic lines and the non-transgenic controls. The allelopathic activity of leaves from both the transgenic and non-transgenic lines varied with sampling time, but did not differ significantly between the transgenic and non-transgenic lines. These results indicate that the impact on the environment of AhDREB1 transgenic P. tomentosa did not differ significantly from that of the non-transformed controls for the variables observed in this field trial. We also investigated the persistence of AhDREB1 genes in decomposing transgenic poplar leaf on the soil under natural conditions for five months, and our data indicated that fragments of the genetically modified DNA were not detectable in the field after more than two months. We used a triphenyl tetrazolium chloride test (TTC) (or pollen germination method) and hybridization to test the pollen viability and fertility, respectively, of the transgenic and non-transgenic trees and the results showed that the pollen viability of both the transgenic and non-transgenic trees was extremely low in 2016; the receptor plant may have been sterile.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 328: Thermodynamic Response of Beams on Winkler Foundation Irradiated by Moving Laser Pulses Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080328 Authors: Yuxin Sun Shoubin Liu Zhangheng Rao Yuhang Li Jialing Yang In this paper, the exact analytical solutions are developed for the thermodynamic behavior of an Euler-Bernoulli beam resting on an elastic foundation and exposed to a time decaying laser pulse that scans over the beam with a uniform velocity. The governing equations, namely the heat conduction equation and the vibration equation are solved using the Green’s function approach. The temporal and special distributions of temperature, deflection, strain, and the energy absorbed by the elastic foundation are calculated. The effects of the laser motion speed, the modulus of elastic foundation reaction, and the laser pulse duration time are studied in detail.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 331: Applications of Neutrosophic Bipolar Fuzzy Sets in HOPE Foundation for Planning to Build a Children Hospital with Different Types of Similarity Measures Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080331 Authors: Raja Muhammad Hashim Muhammad Gulistan Florentin Smarandache In this paper we provide an application of neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy sets in daily life’s problem related with HOPE foundation that is planning to build a children hospital, which is the main theme of this paper. For it we first develop the theory of neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy sets which is a generalization of bipolar fuzzy sets. After giving the definition we introduce some basic operation of neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy sets and focus on weighted aggregation operators in terms of neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy sets. We define neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy weighted averaging ( N B FWA ) and neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy ordered weighted averaging ( N B FOWA ) operators. Next we introduce different kinds of similarity measures of neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy sets. Finally as an application we give an algorithm for the multiple attribute decision making problems under the neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy environment by using the different kinds of neutrosophic bipolar fuzzy weighted/fuzzy ordered weighted aggregation operators with a numerical example related with HOPE foundation.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 332: On the Distinguishing Number of Functigraphs Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080332 Authors: Muhammad Fazil Muhammad Murtaza Zafar Ullah Usman Ali Imran Javaid Let G 1 and G 2 be disjoint copies of a graph G and g : V ( G 1 ) → V ( G 2 ) be a function. A functigraph F G consists of the vertex set V ( G 1 ) ∪ V ( G 2 ) and the edge set E ( G 1 ) ∪ E ( G 2 ) ∪ { u v : g ( u ) = v } . In this paper, we extend the study of distinguishing numbers of a graph to its functigraph. We discuss the behavior of distinguishing number in passing from G to F G and find its sharp lower and upper bounds. We also discuss the distinguishing number of functigraphs of complete graphs and join graphs.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 487: Predicting Potential Distribution and Evaluating Suitable Soil Condition of Oil Tea Camellia in China Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080487 Authors: Caixia Liu Longsheng Chen Wei Tang Shaofeng Peng Meiqun Li Nan Deng Yongzhong Chen Oil tea Camellia, as a major cash and oil crop, has a high status in the forestry cultivation systems in China. To meet the current market demand for oil tea Camellia, its potential distribution and suitable soil condition was researched, to instruct its cultivation and popularization. The potential distribution of oil tea Camellia in China was predicted by the maximum entropy model, using global environmental and soil databases. Then, we collected 10-year literature data about oil tea Camellia soil and applied multiple imputation and factor modeling for an in-depth analysis of soil suitability for growing of oil tea Camellia. The prediction indicated that oil tea Camellia was mainly distributed in Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Hainan, East Hubei, Southwest Anhui and most of Guangdong. Climatic factors were more influential than soil factors. The minimum temperature of the coldest month, mean temperature of the coldest quarter and annual precipitation were the most significant contributors to the habitat suitability distribution. In the cultivated area of oil tea Camellia, soil fertility was poor, organic matter was the most significant factor for the soil conditions. Based on climatic and soil factor analyses, our data suggest there is a great potential to spread the oil tea Camellia cultivation industry.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 333: A Multi-Level Privacy-Preserving Approach to Hierarchical Data Based on Fuzzy Set Theory Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080333 Authors: Jinyan Wang Guoqing Cai Chen Liu Jingli Wu Xianxian Li Nowadays, more and more applications are dependent on storage and management of semi-structured information. For scientific research and knowledge-based decision-making, such data often needs to be published, e.g., medical data is released to implement a computer-assisted clinical decision support system. Since this data contains individuals’ privacy, they must be appropriately anonymized before to be released. However, the existing anonymization method based on l-diversity for hierarchical data may cause a serious similarity attack, and cannot protect data privacy very well. In this paper, we utilize fuzzy sets to divide levels for sensitive numerical and categorical attribute values uniformly (a categorical attribute value can be converted into a numerical attribute value according to its frequency of occurrences), and then transform the value levels to sensitivity levels. The privacy model ( α l e v h , k)-anonymity for hierarchical data with multi-level sensitivity is proposed. Furthermore, we design a privacy-preserving approach to achieve this privacy model. Experiment results demonstrate that our approach is obviously superior to existing anonymous approach in hierarchical data in terms of utility and security.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 335: Finite Element Study of a Threaded Fastening: The Case of Surgical Screws in Bone Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080335 Authors: J. A. López-Campos A. Segade E. Casarejos J. R. Fernández J. A. Vilán P. Izquierdo This paper studies the stress state of a threaded fastening by using Finite Element (FE) models, applied to surgical screws in cortical bone. There is a general interest in studying the stress states induced in the different elements of a joint caused by the thread contact. Analytical models were an initial approach, and later FE models allowed detailed studies of the complex phenomena related to these joints. Different studies have evaluated standard threaded joints in machinery and structures, being the thread symmetric. However, surgical screws employ asymmetric thread geometry, selected to improve the stress level generated in the bone. Despite the interest and widespread use, there is scarce documentation on the actual effect of this thread type. In this work, we discuss the results provided by FE models with detailed descriptions of the contacts comparing differences caused by the materials of the joint, the thread geometry and the thread’s three-dimensional helical effects. The complex contacts at the threaded surfaces cause intense demand on computational resources that often limits the studies including these joints. We analyze the results provided by one commercial software package to simplify the threaded joints. The comparison with detailed FE models allows a definition of the level of uncertainty and possible limitations of this type of simplifications, and helps in making suitable choices for complex applications.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 339: A Three-Dimensional Constrained Ordered Weighted Averaging Aggregation Problem with Lower Bounded Variables Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080339 Authors: Yi-Fang Chen Hui-Chin Tang We consider the constrained ordered weighted averaging (OWA) aggregation problem with a single constraint and lower bounded variables. For the three-dimensional constrained OWA aggregation problem with lower bounded variables, we present four types of solution(x1',x2',x3') depending on the number of zero elements. According to the computerized experiment we perform, the lower bounds can affect the solution(x1',x2',x3') types, thereby affecting the optimal solution of the three-dimensional constrained OWA aggregation problem with lower bounded variables.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 504: Preferences for Urban Building Materials: Does Building Culture Background Matter? † Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080504 Authors: Olav Høibø Eric Hansen Erlend Nybakk Marius Nygaard A fast-growing global population, increasing urbanization, and an increasing flow of people with different building cultural backgrounds bring material use in the housing sector into focus. The aim of this study is to identify material preferences in the building environment in cities and to determine if the building cultural background impacts those preferences. The data in this study consisted of responses from two groups of dwellers in Norway, including immigrants from countries where wood is an uncommon building material and native Norwegians from a building culture where wood is common. We found that the most preferred materials were often the same as the most common materials currently used in city buildings. Only small differences were found between the two groups of dwellers that were studied. Most differences were related to concerns about material choice in general and where individuals wanted to live. Respondents who preferred city living preferred commonly used city materials, such as concrete and steel. For cladding materials, stone/bricks were the most preferred. However, stained or painted wood was one of the most preferred, even though it is not commonly used in city buildings.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 503: Environmental, Structural, and Disturbance Influences over Forest Floor Components in Interior Douglas-Fir Forests of the Intermountain West, USA Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080503 Authors: Andrew D. Giunta John D. Shaw Downed woody material (DWM) is a key component in forest ecosystems with age, structure, and disturbance described as primary factors that influence DWM dynamics. In particular, much emphasis is placed on large coarse woody debris (CWD). Fine woody debris (FWD) (less than 7.62 cm diameter), duff, and litter also contribute to carbon stocks, provide habitat, add to nutrient cycling, and are often the most available fuels for fire, yet are regularly overlooked in studies describing the forest floor. Throughout the middle montane zone within the Intermountain West region USA, interior Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca Mirb. Franco) is a predominant forest type, yet little is known about the forest floor complex in these forests. We used a chronosequence approach to compare DWM patterns over the course of stand development among stands with different disturbance histories. Using classification and regression trees, we also evaluated an assemblage of environmental, structural, and disturbance variables to determine factors of most importance for estimating loading for DWM, duff, and litter. We found CWD resembled a U-shaped pattern of buildup while FWD components remained stable over the course of stand development regardless of disturbance history. Our results indicate that large DWM components are most closely associated with the amount of standing dead material in a stand, primarily the density and basal area of snags. Fine woody material was more aligned with live stand components, while duff and litter were more influenced by disturbance.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 502: Invasive-Plant-Removal Frequency—Its Impact on Species Spread and Implications for Further Integration of Forest-Management Practices Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080502 Authors: Bernabas Wolde Pankaj Lal For a given invasive plant species and control method, effective invasive plant eradication requires regular monitoring and management. While most previous studies characterize invasive plant species, develop appropriate control methods, or prioritize species for management using aggressiveness and other considerations, few study why some forestland owners are less likely than others to regularly remove invasive plant species. Such information is useful in prioritizing and targeting forestland owners who are at greater risk for invasion, with the stands threatening adjacent forestlands. Towards this end, we surveyed 1800 forestland owners in Virginia and Texas. We use data on forestland owners’ socioeconomics and forestland features—such as acreage, forestland ownership objectives, and forest management activities—to determine how these factors affect the regularity of invasive-plant removal. For these purposes, we used the Cochran–Armitage trend test, the Cochran–Mantel–Haenszal regression, odds ratio estimates, and partition-analysis techniques. Our results suggest that female forestland owners, owners with smaller forestlands, and forestland owners without written forest-management plans are less likely than others to regularly remove invasive plant species. Forest-management activities, such as building/maintaining roads in the forestland, partially harvesting stands, and wildlife- and fisheries-improvement projects, also significantly predict a more regular invasive-plant-removal tendency. However, since these activities are potential pathways for the spread of invasive plant species, we controlled for the other significant covariates and measured the relationship between frequent practice of the given forest-management activities and having a tendency to regularly remove invasive plant species. The results suggest that forestland owners that regularly practiced the said forest-management activities have higher odds for tending to remove invasive plant species regularly, suggesting that, despite their demonstrated effort at removing invasive plant species from their forest, their management activities may be inadvertently contributing to the spread of invasive plant species. These results highlight the importance of integrating invasive-plant-removal plans with forest-management plans as well as forestland owners’ educational and outreach needs.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 501: Determining Noise and Vibration Exposure in Conifer Cross-Cutting Operations by Using Li-Ion Batteries and Electric Chainsaws Forests doi: 10.3390/f9080501 Authors: Francesco Neri Andrea Laschi Cristiano Foderi Fabio Fabiano Lucia Bertuzzi Enrico Marchi In many activities, chainsaw users are exposed to the risk of injuries and several other hazard factors that may cause health problems. In fact, environmental and working conditions when using chainsaws result in workers’ exposure to hazards such as noise, vibration, exhaust gases, and wood dust. Repeated or continuous exposure to these unfavourable conditions can lead to occupational diseases that become apparent after a certain period of time has elapsed. Since the use of electric tools is increasing in forestry, the present research aims to evaluate the noise and vibration exposure caused by four models of electric chainsaws (Stihl MSA160T, Stihl MSA200C Li-Ion battery powered and Stihl MSE180C, Stihl MSE220C wired) during cross-cutting. Values measured on the Stihl MSA160T chainsaw (Li-Ion battery) showed similar vibration levels on both right and left handles (0.9–1.0 m s−2, respectively) and so did the other battery-powered chainsaw, the Stihl MSA200C (2.2–2.3 m s−2 for right and left handles, respectively). Results showed a range of noise included between 81 and 90 dB(A) for the analysed chainsaws. In conclusion, the vibrations and noise were lower for the battery chainsaws than the wired ones, but, in general, all the values were lower than those measured in previous studies of endothermic chainsaws.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 349: Optimizing the High-Level Maintenance Planning Problem of the Electric Multiple Unit Train Using a Modified Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080349 Authors: Jianping Wu Boliang Lin Hui Wang Xuhui Zhang Zhongkai Wang Jiaxi Wang Electric multiple unit (EMU) trains’ high-level maintenance planning is a discrete problem in mathematics. The high-level maintenance process of the EMU trains consumes plenty of time. When the process is undertaken during peak periods of the passenger flow, the transportation demand may not be fully satisfied due to the insufficient supply of trains. In contrast, if the process is undergone in advance, extra costs will be incurred. Based on the practical requirements of high-level maintenance, a 0–1 programming model is proposed. To simplify the description of the model, candidate sets of delivery dates, i.e., time windows, are generated according to the historical data and maintenance regulations. The constraints of the model include maintenance regulations, the passenger transportation demand, and capacities of workshop. The objective function is to minimize the mileage losses of all EMU trains. Moreover, a modified particle swarm algorithm is developed for solving the problem. Finally, a real-world case study of Shanghai Railway is conducted to demonstrate the proposed method. Computational results indicate that the (approximate) optimal solution can be obtained successfully by our method and the proposed method significantly reduces the solution time to 500 s.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 348: Sharp Bounds on the Higher Order Schwarzian Derivatives for Janowski Classes Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080348 Authors: Nak Eun Cho Virendra Kumar V. Ravichandran Higher order Schwarzian derivatives for normalized univalent functions were first considered by Schippers, and those of convex functions were considered by Dorff and Szynal. In the present investigation, higher order Schwarzian derivatives for the Janowski star-like and convex functions are considered, and sharp bounds for the first three consecutive derivatives are investigated. The results obtained in this paper generalize several existing results in this direction.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 345: Neutrosophic Duplets of {Zpn,×} and {Zpq,×} and Their Properties Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10080345 Authors: Vasantha Kandasamy W.B. Ilanthenral Kandasamy Florentin Smarandache The notions of neutrosophy, neutrosophic algebraic structures, neutrosophic duplet and neutrosophic triplet were introduced by Florentin Smarandache. In this paper, the neutrosophic duplets of Z p n , Z p q and Z p 1 p 2 … p n are studied. In the case of Z p n and Z p q , the complete characterization of neutrosophic duplets are given. In the case of Z p 1 … p n , only the neutrosophic duplets associated with p i s are provided; i = 1 , 2 , … , n . Some open problems related to neutrosophic duplets are proposed.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 507: Influence of Fuel Moisture Content, Packing Ratio and Wind Velocity on the Ignition Probability of Fuel Beds Composed of Mongolian Oak Leaves via Cigarette Butts Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090507 Authors: Ping Sun Yunlin Zhang Long Sun Haiqing Hu Futao Guo Guangyu Wang Heng Zhang Cigarette butts are an important human firebrand and account for a significant amount of man-made fires. To better address forest fires caused by cigarette butts, the influencing factors governing the ignition probability of cigarette butts can be used to establish a prediction model. This study obtains the influencing factors of the ignition probability of cigarette butts in order to establish a prediction model by constructing fuel beds composed of Mongolian oak leaves with varied fuel moisture content and packing ratios. A total of 2520 ignition experiments were then conducted by dropping cigarette butts on the fuel beds to test the burning probability of the fuels under varied wind speeds. Moisture content, wind speed, and their interaction significantly influenced ignition probability. In the absence of wind, the ignition probability is zero. The maximum moisture content of Mongolian oak leaves that could be ignited by cigarette butts was 15%. A logistic model and self-built model for predicting the ignition probability were established using these results; the mean absolute error values for the two models were 2.71% and 1.13%, respectively, and the prediction error of the self-built model was lower than that of the logistic model. This is important research to mitigate the threat of forest fires due to cigarette butts given the frequent occurrence of these events.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 506: Recovery of Functional Diversity Following Shifting Cultivation in Tropical Monsoon Forests Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090506 Authors: Fuying Deng Yunling He Runguo Zang The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is an important issue in ecology. Plant functional traits and their diversity are key determinants of ecosystem function in changing environments. Understanding the successional dynamics of functional features in forest ecosystems is a first step to their sustainable management. In this study, we tested the changes in functional community composition with succession in tropical monsoon forests in Xishuangbanna, China. We sampled 33 plots at three successional stages—~40-year-old secondary forests, ~60-year-old secondary forests, and old growth forests—following the abandonment of the shifting cultivation land. Community-level functional traits were calculated based on measurements of nine functional traits for 135 woody plant species. The results show that the community structures and species composition of the old-growth forests were significantly different to those of the secondary stands. The species diversity, including species richness (S), the Shannon–Weaver index (H), and Pielou’s evenness (J), significantly increased during the recovery process after shifting cultivation. The seven studied leaf functional traits (deciduousness, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen content, leaf phosphorus content, leaf potassium content and leaf carbon content) changed from conservative to acquisitive syndromes during the recovery process, whereas wood density showed the opposite pattern, and seed mass showed no significant change, suggesting that leaf traits are more sensitive to environmental changes than wood or seed traits. The functional richness increased during the recovery process, whereas the functional evenness and divergence had the highest values in the 60-year-old secondary communities. Soil nutrients significantly influenced functional traits, but their effects on functional diversity were less obvious during the secondary succession after shifting cultivation. Our study indicates that the recovery of tropical monsoon forests is rather slow; secondary stands recover far less than the old growth stands in terms of community structure and species and functional diversity, even after about half a century of recovery, highlighting the importance of the conservation of old growth tropical monsoon forest ecosystems.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 511: Species Richness of the Family Ericaceae along an Elevational Gradient in Yunnan, China Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090511 Authors: Ji-Hua Wang Yan-Fei Cai Lu Zhang Chuan-Kun Xu Shi-Bao Zhang Knowledge about how species richness varies along spatial and environmental gradients is important for the conservation and use of biodiversity. The Ericaceae is a major component of alpine and subalpine vegetation globally. However, little is known about the spatial pattern of species richness and the factors that drive that richness in Ericaceae. We investigated variation in species richness of Ericaceae along an elevational gradient in Yunnan, China, and used a variation partitioning analysis based on redundancy analysis ordination to examine how those changes might be influenced by the mid-domain effect, the species-area relationship, and climatic variables. Species richness varied significantly with elevation, peaking in the upper third of the elevational gradient. Of the factors examined, climate explained a larger proportion of the variance in species richness along the elevational gradient than either land area or geometric constraints. Species richness showed a unimodal relationship with mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation. The elevational pattern of species richness for Ericaceae was shaped by the combined effects of climate and competition. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the potential effects of climate change on species richness for Ericaceae.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 514: Mediterranean Islands Hosting Marginal and Peripheral Forest Tree Populations: The Case of Pinus brutia Ten. in Cyprus Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090514 Authors: Nicolas-George H. Eliades Filippos (Phil) A. Aravanopoulos Andreas K. Christou Mediterranean islands have served as important Tertiary and glacial refuges, hosting important peripheral and ecologically marginal forest tree populations. These populations, presumably harboring unique gene complexes, are particularly interesting in the context of climate change. Pinus brutia Ten. is widespread in the eastern Mediterranean Basin and in Cyprus in particular it is the most common tree species. This study evaluated genetic patterns and morphoanatomical local adaptation along the species geographical distribution and altitudinal range in Cyprus. Analysis showed that the Cyprus population of P. brutia is a peripheral population with high genetic diversity, comprised of different subpopulations. Evidence suggests the presence of ongoing dynamic evolutionary processes among the different subpopulations, while the most relic and isolated subpopulations exhibited a decreased genetic diversity compared to the most compact subpopulations in the central area of the island. These results could be the consequence of the small size and prolonged isolation of the former. Comparing populations along an altitude gradient, higher genetic diversity was detected at the middle level. The phenotypic plasticity observed is particularly important for the adaptive potential of P. brutia in an island environment, since it allows rapid change in local environmental conditions.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 513: Development of a New TRIPLEX-Insect Model for Simulating the Effect of Spruce Budworm on Forest Carbon Dynamics Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090513 Authors: Zelin Liu Changhui Peng De Grandpré Louis Jean-Noël Candau Xiaolu Zhou Daniel Kneeshaw The spruce budworm (SBW) defoliates and kills conifer trees, consequently affecting carbon (C) exchanges between the land and atmosphere. Here, we developed a new TRIPLEX-Insect sub-model to quantify the impacts of insect outbreaks on forest C fluxes. We modeled annual defoliation (AD), cumulative defoliation (CD), and tree mortality. The model was validated against observed and published data at the stand level in the North Shore region of Québec and Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. The results suggest that TRIPLEX-Insect performs very well in capturing tree mortality following SBW outbreaks and slightly underestimates current annual volume increment (CAI). In both mature and immature forests, the simulation model suggests a larger reduction in gross primary productivity (GPP) than in autotrophic respiration (Ra) at the same defoliation level when tree mortality was low. After an SBW outbreak, the growth release of surviving trees contributes to the recovery of annual net ecosystem productivity (NEP) based on forest age if mortality is not excessive. Overall, the TRIPLEX-Insect model is capable of simulating C dynamics of balsam fir following SBW disturbances and can be used as an efficient tool in forest insect management.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 512: Policy Design to Support Forest Restoration: The Value of Focused Investment and Collaboration Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090512 Authors: Courtney A. Schultz Kathleen B. Mclntyre Laren Cyphers Chad Kooistra Autumn Ellison Cassandra Moseley To address rapid change and complex environmental management challenges, governance approaches must support collective action across actors and jurisdictions, and planning at appropriate spatial extents to affect ecological processes. Recent changes in U.S. national forest policy incorporate new tools to facilitate collaborative landscape restoration, providing an opportunity to examine the relationship between policy design and governance change. Based on 151 interviews with agency personnel and partners, and a survey of 425 agency staff members, we investigated how two new policy approaches affected the governance of forest restoration and also looked at the other factors that most significantly affected policy implementation. Our findings reveal that, under these policies, multi-year funding commitments to specific landscapes, combined with requirements to work collaboratively, resulted in larger scales of planning, improved relationships, greater leveraged capacity, and numerous innovations compared to the past. A history of collaborative relationships, leadership, and agency capacity were the most significant variables that affected the implementation of policies designed to support collaborative landscape restoration. Our findings suggest that policies that provide focused investment to undertake landscape approaches to restoration, along with specific requirements for interagency and partner collaboration, are yielding positive results and may represent a new era in forest policy in the United States.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 361: Porous Scaffold Design Based on Minimal Surfaces: Development and Assessment of Variable Architectures Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090361 Authors: Rita Ambu Anna Eva Morabito In tissue engineering, biocompatible porous scaffolds that try to mimic the features and function of the bone are of great relevance. In this paper, an effective method for the design of 3D porous scaffolds is applied to the modelling of structures with variable architectures. These structures are of interest since they are more similar to the stochastic configuration of real bone with respect to architectures made of a unit cell replicated in three orthogonal directions, which are usually considered for this kind of applications. This property configures them as, potentially, more suitable to satisfy simultaneously the biological requirements and those relative to the mechanical strength. The procedure implemented is based on the implicit surface modelling method and the use of a triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS), specifically, the Schwarz’s Primitive (P) minimal surface, whose geometry was considered for the development of scaffolds with different configurations. The representative structures modelled were numerically analysed by means of finite element analysis (FEA), considering them made of a biocompatible titanium alloy. The architectures considered were thus assessed in terms of the relationship between the geometrical configuration and the mechanical response to compression loading.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 366: The (A)symmetry between the Exterior and Interior of a Schwarzschild Black Hole Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090366 Authors: Pawel Gusin Andy Augousti Filip Formalik Andrzej Radosz A black hole in a Schwarzschild spacetime is considered. A transformation is proposed that describes the relationship between the coordinate systems exterior and interior to an event horizon. The application of this transformation permits considerations of the (a)symmetry of a range of phenomena taking place on both sides of the event horizon. The paper investigates two distinct problems of a uniformly accelerated particle. In one of these, although the equations of motion are the same in the regions on both sides, the solutions turn out to be very different. This manifests the differences of the properties of these two ranges.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 365: On Connection between Second-Degree Exterior and Symmetric Derivations of Kähler Modules Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090365 Authors: Hamiyet Merkepçi Mathematical physics looks for ways to apply mathematical ideas to problems in physics. In differential forms, the tensor form is first defined, and the definitions of exterior and symmetric differential forms are made accordingly. For instance, M is an R-module, M ⊗ R M the tensor product of M with itself and H a submodule of M ⊗ R M generated by x ⊗ y − y ⊗ x , where x , y in M. Then, ∨ 2 ( M ) = M ⊗ R M / H is called the second symmetric power of M. A role of the exterior differential forms in field theory is related to the conservation laws for physical fields, etc. In this study, I present a new approach to emphasize the properties of second exterior and symmetric derivations on Kahler modules, and I find a connection between them. I constitute exact sequences of ∨ 2 ( Ω 1 ( S ) ) and Λ 2 ( Ω 1 ( S ) ) , and I describe and prove a new isomorphism in the following: Let S be an affine algebra presented by R / I , where R = k [ x 1 , … x s ] is a polynomial algebra and I = ( f 1 , … f m ) an ideal of R. Then, I have J 1 Ω 1 ( S ) ≃ Ω 1 ( S ) ⊕ ∨ 2 ( Ω 1 ( S ) ) ⊕ Λ 2 ( Ω 1 ( S ) .

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 522: Spatial and Seasonal Variations of Standardized Photosynthetic Parameters under Different Environmental Conditions for Young Planted Larix olgensis Henry Trees Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090522 Authors: Qiang Liu Fengri Li Understanding the spatial and seasonal variations in leaf physiology is critical for accurately modeling the carbon uptake, physiological processes and growth of entire canopies and stands. For a 17-year-old Larix olgensis Henry plantation, vertical whorl-by-whorl sampling and analyses of seasonally repeated measurements of major photosynthetic parameters were conducted, and the correlations between photosynthetic parameters and environmental conditions, leaf morphological traits and spatial position within the crown were analyzed. According to the correlations, the photosynthetic parameters were standardized based on the environmental conditions to avoid the influence of the changing environment on the patterns of spatial and seasonal variations of photosynthetic parameters. The results showed that the standardized light-saturated net photosynthetic rate (SPmax), standardized dark respiration (SRd) and standardized stomatal conductance under saturated light (Sgs-sat) were all negatively related to the relative depth into the crown (RDINC) throughout the growing season. However, their vertical patterns were different during the development of the phenological phase. In addition, different gradients of environmental conditions also influenced the values and the range of the vertical variation in photosynthesis. High temperature and low humidity usually resulted in smaller values and weaker vertical variations of SPmax and Sgs-sat, but larger values and more obvious vertical variations in SRd. SPmax and Sgs-sat usually exhibited a parabolic seasonal pattern in different vertical positions within the crown; however, SRd generally followed a concave pattern. These seasonal patterns were all weaker with increasing RDINC. Different environments also exhibited a significant influence on the seasonal patterns of photosynthesis. We suggested that standardization is necessary before analyzing spatial and seasonal variations. A single environmental condition could not represent the spatial and seasonal patterns under all gradients of the environment. Spatial and seasonal variations should be simultaneously analyzed because they are related to each other.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 520: Detecting the Competition between Moso Bamboos and Broad-Leaved Trees in Mixed Forests Using a Terrestrial Laser Scanner Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090520 Authors: Yingjie Yan Mingpeng Xia Shaohui Fan Meichun Zhan Fengying Guan The growth of individual trees in a forest is affected by many factors, a crucial one being the intensity of competition among trees, because it affects the spatial structure of the forest and is in turn influenced by silvicultural practices. In a mixed forest in particular, the growth of trees is affected by multiple interactions. To analyse the competition between moso bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens (Pradelle) Mazel ex J.Houz.) and broad-leaved trees in a mixed forest, data were extracted by sampling six spots within such a forest using terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The convex hull algorithm was used for calculating the overlap volume between the crowns of the broad-leaved trees and the bamboo canopy. Bamboos growing at least 3 m away from any of the broad-leaved trees were the most numerous and the diameter at breast height (DBH) is larger than those growing closer than that, which suggests that broad-leaved trees suppressed the growth of bamboo if they are closer but promote it beyond 3 m up to a point at which the distance is too great for any such effect. The modified Hegyi’s competition index was constructed based on the canopy factor, which may better describe the competitive interaction among the trees and bamboos. Using TLS can enhance our understanding of the competition among trees in mixed forests and help in planning the spatial structure of such forests in general and provide a benchmark for choosing planting distances in particular.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 519: Structure, Diversity, and Carbon Stocks of the Tree Community of Kumasi, Ghana Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090519 Authors: Bertrand Festus Nero Daniel Callo-Concha Manfred Denich Urban forestry has the potential to address many urban environmental and sustainability challenges. Yet in Africa, urban forest characterization and its potential to contribute to human wellbeing are often neglected or restrained. This paper describes the structure, diversity, and composition of an urban forest and its potential to store carbon as a means of climate change mitigation and adaptation in Kumasi. The vegetation inventory included a survey of 470,100-m2 plots based on a stratified random sampling technique and six streets ranging from 50 m to 1 km. A total of 3757 trees, comprising 176 species and 46 families, were enumerated. Tree abundance and species richness were left skewed and unimodally distributed based on diameter at breast height (DBH). Trees in the diameter classes >60 cm together had the lowest species richness (17%) and abundance (9%), yet contributed more than 50% of the total carbon stored in trees within the city. Overall, about 1.2 million tonnes of carbon is captured in aboveground components of trees in Kumasi, with a mean of 228 t C ha−1. Tree density, DBH, height, basal area, aboveground carbon storage, and species richness were significantly different among green spaces (p < 0.05). The diversity was also significantly different among urban zones (p < 0.0005). The DBH distribution of trees followed a modified reverse J-shaped model. The urban forest structure and composition is quite unique. The practice of urban forestry has the potential to conserve biological diversity and combat climate change. The introduction of policies and actions to support the expansion of urban forest cover and diversity is widely encouraged.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 521: Variation in Organ Biomass with Changing Climate and Forest Characteristics across Chinese Forests Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090521 Authors: Yiran Fang Xiaojun Zou Zhiyang Lie Li Xue Forest biomass allocation patterns are important for understanding global carbon cycling and climate change, which might change with environmental conditions and forest characteristics. However, the effects of climate and forest characteristics on biomass allocation fractions (the fraction of total forest biomass distributed in organs) remains unknown. The authors use a large Chinese biomass dataset (1081 forests encompassing 10 forest types) to analyse the responses of biomass allocation fractions to biogeography, climate, and forest characteristics. The authors found that the stem mass fraction significantly increased with age and precipitation and significantly decreased with latitude and temperature. The branch mass fraction significantly decreased with age and density, but significantly increased with temperature and latitude. The leaf mass fraction significantly decreased with age and precipitation and significantly increased with temperature. The root mass fraction significantly increased with latitude and density, and significantly decreased with precipitation. The results suggest that latitude, temperature, precipitation, stand age and density are good predictors of biomass partitioning. These findings support the hypotheses that variation in resource availability constrains organ allocation and provides biogeographically explicit relationships between biomass allocation and both environmental and forest characteristics, which might be used for assessing the impact of changing environmental and forest characteristics on forest carbon dynamics and fixation.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 523: Landscape Planning—Paving the Way for Effective Conservation of Forest Biodiversity and a Diverse Forestry? Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090523 Authors: Gabriel Michanek Göran Bostedt Hans Ekvall Maria Forsberg Anouschka R. Hof Johnny de Jong Jörgen Rudolphi Astrid Zabel Globally, intensive forestry has led to habitat degradation and fragmentation of the forest landscape. Taking Sweden as an example, this development is contradictory to international commitments, EU obligations, and to the fulfillment of the Parliament’s environmental quality objective “Living Forests”, which according to Naturvårdsverket (The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) will not be achieved in 2020 as stipulated. One important reason for the implementation deficit is the fragmented forestry management. In a forest landscape, felling and other measures are conducted at different times on separate forest stands (often relatively small units) by different operators. Consequently, the authorities take case by case decisions on felling restrictions for conservation purposes. In contrast, conservation biology research indicates a need for a broad geographical and strategical approach in order to, in good time, select the most appropriate habitats for conservation and to provide for a functioning connectivity between different habitats. In line with the EU Commission, we argue that landscape forestry planning could be a useful instrument to achieve ecological functionality in a large area. Landscape planning may also contribute to the fulfilment of Sweden’s climate and energy policy, by indicating forest areas with insignificant conservation values, where intensive forestry may be performed for biomass production etc. Forest owners should be involved in the planning and would, under certain circumstances, be entitled to compensation. As state resources for providing compensation are scarce, an alternative could be to introduce a tax-fund system within the forestry sector. Such a system may open for voluntary agreements between forest owners for the protection of habitats within a large area.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 532: Unravelling the Functional Diversity of the Soil Microbial Community of Chinese Fir Plantations of Different Densities Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090532 Authors: Chaoqun Wang Lin Xue Yuhong Dong Yihui Wei Ruzhen Jiao The structure and function of forest ecosystems are directly or indirectly affected by their stand density. However, what effect the density of Chinese fir plantations has on the functional diversity of the soil microbial community remains unclear. The microbial metabolic functional diversity of soils sampled at the topsoil (0–20 cm) of 35-year-old Chinese fir plantations of five initial densities (D1: 1667 stems∙hm−2, D2: 3333 stems∙hm−2, D3: 5000 stems∙hm−2, D4: 6667 stems∙hm−2, and D5: 10,000 stems∙hm−2) was studied by using Biolog ECO technology. The results showed that the soil pH, oxidizable organic carbon (SOOC), available N (AN), available P (AP), and available K (AK) contents all showed a gradual increase from D1 to D4 and a decrease from D4 to D5, while the number of culturable bacteria and total microorganisms, the average well color development (AWCD) values for the single carbon substrate and six types of carbon sources used by the microbial community, as well as the Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’), Pielou evenness index (J), and McIntosh Diversity Index (U), were the opposite, suggesting that low-densities favored C and N mineralization and the nutrient cycle. The density of Chinese fir plantations had a significant effect on the use of carbohydrates, amino acids, carboxylic acids, and phenolic acids by the soil microbial community, but it had no significant effect on the use of polymers (p < 0.05). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that carbohydrates, polymers, and phenolic acids were sensitive carbon sources that caused differences in the metabolic functions of soil microbial communities in Chinese fir plantations. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that physicochemical factors have a significant influence on the metabolic function of soil microbial communities (RDA1 and RDA2 explained >85% variance). The changes in density affected the soil physicochemical properties, the composition, and the metabolic functional diversity of microbial communities in Chinese fir plantations, which is certainly useful for the stand density regulation of Chinese fir plantations.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 530: Effects of Hardwood Content on Balsam Fir Defoliation during the Building Phase of a Spruce Budworm Outbreak Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090530 Authors: Bo Zhang David A. MacLean Rob C. Johns Eldon S. Eveleigh Defoliation by spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana Clem.) on balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) is more severe in fir than in mixed fir-hardwood stands. Previous studies assumed that defoliation in fir-hardwood stands was reduced in proportion to percent hardwood regardless of outbreak severity. We tested the influence of stand composition on defoliation during the first 5 years of a spruce budworm outbreak near Amqui, Quebec, by sampling 27 fir-hardwood plots selected to represent three percent hardwood basal area classes (0%–25%, 40%–65%, and 75%–95%). Balsam fir defoliation was significantly lower (p < 0.001) as hardwood content increased, but the relationship varied with overall defoliation severity each year. Annual plot defoliation in fir-hardwood plots, estimated using: (1) defoliation in pure fir plots and the assumption that defoliation in fir-hardwood plots was reduced in proportion to percent hardwood; (2) a generalized linear mixed-effects model with defoliation in pure fir plots, percent hardwood, and interaction as fixed-effects; and (3) Random Forests prediction incorporating 11 predictor variables, resulted in r = 0.77, 0.87, and 0.92 versus measured defoliation, respectively. Average defoliation severity in softwood plots and percent hardwood content were the most important variables in Random Forests analysis. Data on average defoliation level in softwood stands, as an indicator of overall outbreak severity, improves prediction of balsam fir defoliation in mixed stands.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 529: Modeling Lean and Agile Approaches: A Western Canadian Forest Company Case Study Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090529 Authors: Francisco P. Vergara Cristian D. Palma John Nelson In the forest supply chain of the coast of British Columbia, the material flows are directed toward the push production of commodity products. This industry has not adopted lean and agile principles due to unclear economic impacts on the supply chain in changing market conditions. We tested the ability of lean and agile principles to improve performance in the coastal integrated forest industry. Mixed integer programming formulations were subject to over–under production capacity, and over–under demand fulfillment penalties to emulate agile, lean, and hybrid manufacturing environments, when solving the planning problem. Assuming that the coastal integrated forest industry performs as a hybrid environment, the profit results of each manufacturing environment were judged. The results show that, opportunities for profit improvement were 11% for adopting an agile environment when demand was stable with low variation and large batches of production. However, profit improvement was non-existent when the same demand attributes apply but with high variation. The opportunities for profit improvement were 12% when an agile environment or lean environment was adopted when demand was stable with low variation and small batches of production. However, opportunities for profit improvements of 15% existed for adopting an agile environment when demand was unstable with high variation and small batches of production.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 369: A Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of the Basic Theory of the Short Term Bus Passenger Flow Prediction Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090369 Authors: Huawei Zhai Licheng Cui Yu Nie Xiaowei Xu Weishi Zhang In order to meet the real-time public travel demands, the bus operators need to adjust the timetables in time. Therefore, it is necessary to predict the variations of the short-term passenger flow. Under the help of the advanced public transportation systems, a large amount of real-time data about passenger flow is collected from the automatic passenger counters, automatic fare collection systems, etc. Using these data, different kinds of methods are proposed to predict future variations of the short-term bus passenger flow. Based on the properties and background knowledge, these methods are classified into three categories: linear, nonlinear and combined methods. Their performances are evaluated in detail in the major aspects of the prediction accuracy, the complexity of training data structure and modeling process. For comparison, some long-term prediction methods are also analyzed simply. At last, it points that, with the help of automatic technology, a large amount of data about passenger flow will be collected, and using the big data technology to speed up the data preprocessing and modeling process may be one of the directions worthy of study in the future.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 538: Recent Health and Safety Incident Trends Related to the Storage of Woody Biomass: A Need for Improved Monitoring Strategies Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090538 Authors: Sally Krigstin Suzanne Wetzel Nivatha Jayabala Christopher Helmeste Sebnem Madrali Joy Agnew Sylvain Volpe Self-heating fires, dust explosions and off-gassing during biomass storage are serious hazards which can have devastating consequences, resulting in worker fatalities and health impacts, as well as bioenergy plant destruction and complete loss of production. A compilation of incident reports involving biomass storage from 2000–2018 has revealed that these potential hazards continue to be a major concern in the bioenergy sector. Higher occurrence rates were found for incidents categorized as self-heating fires and fires of uncertain causes in recent years through our study of online reports. This paper highlights a critical need for improved safety protocols for bioenergy plant workers, detailed incident documentation and enhanced biomass monitoring strategies to drastically reduce the occurrence of threats associated with the storage of woody biomass. In order to manage the high risks associated with self-heating, a system for real-time monitoring of internal pile temperature was investigated. A monitoring system supplied by Braingrid Corporation was verified using embedded Tinytag thermologgers indicating that this methodology shows potential for preventing spontaneous combustion events by providing real time temperature data for superior pile management.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 539: The Concept of Regulating Forest Management in a Region Subject to High Environmental Pressure Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090539 Authors: Borecki Łopiński Kędziora Orzechowski Wójcik Stępień In modern forestry, the complexity of the planning process is increasing, specifically in the context of the sustainable use of forest resources and its adaptation to climate changes. This article presents the concept of forest use regulation promoting the sustainable forestry development in forest management planning. A method for defining a synthetic criterion of assessing important features of stand structure was proposed, which would enable the classification of stands in terms of needs and the urgency of their transformation (reconstruction) or suitability for longer standing. As a result, such a concept may ensure the preservation of the relative uniformity of logging use and the improvement of age structure as well as an increase of natural values of the forest, regardless of a stand’s age. The concept was tested on a large forest complex (over 0.5 million hectares) subjected to intense environmental pressure (Silesian Region in Poland). We prepared long-term individualistic development forecasts, separately for area and volume. Based on this, we followed the cutting uniformity principle in the analysed time period by calculating a long-term average of cutting allowance. It was determined by averaging the projected usage size in moving window and eventually was adopted as the cutting upper limit in the whole analysed period. The proposed size of cuts in each period resulted from the relation between the average value and the forecast. Three sets of stands of the differentiated urgency of interventions were distinguished: I—well-stocked and stable stands (no need of intervention)—55% of stands area, II – acceptable stands (not urgent intervention needed)—35% and III—poor stands (urgent intervention needed)—10%. This concept joins top-down and bottom-up approach of cutting uniformity that focuses stand’s status instead of its age or dimensions.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 534: Ecological Interactions between Cork Oak (Quercus suber L.) and Stone Pine (Pinus pinea L.): Results from a Pot Experiment Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090534 Authors: Alexandra C. Correia António Galla Alexandra Nunes João S. Pereira Portuguese cork oak (Quercus suber L.) extended mortality and lack of regeneration have been the drivers of important changes in the traditional cork oak woodlands (savanna-like) montado. The decrease in tree cover fosters the mixture with stone pine (Pinus pinea L.) for pine-nut production providing shelter for oak regeneration. The use of nurse species, namely pines, to help Quercus spp. regeneration is known, but whether cork oak could be favoured by the mixture with stone pine remains a question. A pot experiment with cork oak (Qs) and stone pine (Pp) growing in inter-(Qs×Pp) and intraspecific mixtures (Qs×Qs, Pp×Pp) combinations and in monocultures, was installed in a greenhouse in Lisbon, Portugal. Morphological measurements of above- and belowground biomass components were carried out in 3 harvesting campaigns at 4, 8 and 11 months. Leaf nitrogen content and mycorrhizal symbiotic formations were quantified. During the seedling stage and under comfort water and nutrient conditions, the root growth and morphology of Qs and Pp showed contrasting patterns, suggesting complementary soil exploitation interactions in interspecific mixtures and potential competition in intraspecific mixtures. The mixture of Qs with Pp seems to be advantageous in the first stages of plant growth as Pp develop abundant mycorrhizae symbiosis formations which elicit mycorrhization of Qs plants coexisting in the same pot. This study suggests that stone pine can potentially help in establishing cork oak as seedlings, possibly facilitating nutrient uptake through mycorrhizae. However, complementary field studies are needed.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 535: Potential of Mild Torrefaction for Upgrading the Wood Energy Value of Different Eucalyptus Species Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090535 Authors: Solange de Oliveira Araújo Duarte M. Neiva Angélica de Cássia Carneiro Bruno Esteves Helena Pereira Torrefaction is a promising pre-treatment for improving the fuel quality of biomass. This study examined the effect of a mild torrefaction (from 160 to 230 °C) on the heating value, elemental composition, and thermogravimetric analysis of wood from eight Eucalyptus species (E. botryoides Sm., E. globulus Labill., E. grandis W.Hill ex Maiden, E. maculata (Hook.) K.D. Hill & L.A.S.Johnson, E. propinqua Maiden Deane, E. rudis Endl., E. saligna Sm., and E. viminalis Labill.). The higher heating values (HHV) increased from the initial average of 19 MJ kg−1 to 21 MJ kg−1 in the torrefied samples. The carbon content increased from 48.2% to 53.3% and the C/O ratio from 1.08 to 1.35. The torrefied wood samples showed more thermal stability with a shift of the mass loss peaks to higher temperatures and a higher residual mass at 450 °C of 36%, in comparison to 30% of the untreated samples. Torrefaction concentrated the biomass samples in the more energetic and thermal resistant components and decreased their sulfur and chlorine content, leading to a better combustion performance. The wood of the eight Eucalyptus species had a similar behavior and showed quality improvement. Therefore, torrefaction showed potential as a pre-treatment for eucalyptus biomass fuel improvement.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 537: Willingness to Pay for Nature Conservation Policies in State-Owned Forests: An Austrian Case Study Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090537 Authors: Michael Getzner Jürgen Meyerhoff Felix Schläpfer The Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf), the Republic of Austria’s state-owned company, manages 15% of the Austrian forests; about 50% of the land is devoted to nature conservation. This paper presents the results of a representative survey of Austrian households ascertaining the acceptance of, preferences regarding, and willingness to pay for three different management scenarios. One program would increase commercial forestry, while two other programs would significantly enhance biodiversity conservation. The majority of respondents considers it an important task of state-owned forests to enhance biodiversity conservation. The study reveals that the preferences of the respondents are very heterogeneous. For instance, in addition to socio-economic characteristics, the willingness to pay for nature conservation depends on personal experiences and perceptions (e.g., whether respondents feel anxious in forests), political views (e.g., the acceptance of strict legal protection of natural resources), and opinions on forest policy issues (e.g., preferences regarding privatization of public land). The study places special emphasis on the thorough description and presentation of the scenarios to the respondents and is one of the first European studies to elicit opinions on forest policies regarding public land in an environmental valuation framework.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 536: Severity of Overstory Mortality Influences Conifer Recruitment and Growth in Mountain Pine Beetle-Affected Forests Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090536 Authors: Kristen A. Pelz Charles C. Rhoades Robert M. Hubbard Frederick W. Smith The severity of lodgepole pine mortality from mountain pine beetle outbreaks varies with host tree diameter, density, and other structural characteristics, influencing subcanopy conditions and tree regeneration. We measured density and leader growth of shade-intolerant lodgepole pine, shade-tolerant Engelmann spruce, and very shade-tolerant subalpine fir regeneration beneath stands that experienced moderate and high overstory lodgepole pine mortality (average 40% and 85% of total basal area) a decade earlier. Lodgepole comprised >90% of the overstory basal area and mature spruce and fir were present in both mortality levels, though live basal area and disturbance history differed. Post-beetle outbreak recruitment was high in both mortality levels, but there were more lodgepole in high than moderate mortality plots (1140 stems ha−1 vs. 60 stems ha−1) and more subalpine fir in moderate than high mortality plots (4690 stems ha−1 vs. 2870 stems ha−1). Pine advance regeneration, established prior to outbreak, was more dense in high mortality than moderate mortality sites (930 stems ha−1 vs. 310 stems ha−1), but the trend was generally the opposite for the other conifers. Lodgepole recruitment increased and subalpine fir decreased with greater forest floor light availability. All species grew faster in high mortality areas than their counterparts in moderate mortality areas. However, in high mortality areas pine grew faster than the more shade tolerant species, and in moderate mortality areas spruce and fir grew faster than pine. These species-specific responses to the degree of overstory mortality will influence future stand composition and rate of forest recovery after mountain pine beetle outbreaks.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 544: Contrasting Responses of Soil Respiration Components in Response to Five-Year Nitrogen Addition in a Pinus tabulaeformis Forest in Northern China Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090544 Authors: Bo Zhao Yan Geng Jing Cao Lu Yang Xiuhai Zhao Increasing atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has profound effects on carbon (C) cycling in forest ecosystems. As an important part of belowground C dynamics, soil respiration is potentially affected by changing N availability. However, the responses of total soil respiration (RST) and its three components, soil respiration derived from plant roots (RSR), root-free soil (RSS) and the litter layer (RSL), to such N enrichment remains poorly understood. To assess the effects of N enrichment on soil respiration components, three levels of N addition, namely low (LN, 50 kg N ha−1 year−1), medium (MN, 100 kg N ha−1 year−1) and high (HN, 150 kg N ha−1 year−1), were conducted over five growing seasons from 2011 to 2015 in a temperate Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) forest in northern China. A control plot without N addition (CK) was also established. The five-year mean annual rate of RST was 2.18 ± 0.43 μmol m−2 s−1, and the contributions of RSR, RSS and RSL were 8.8 ± 3.1%, 82.2 ± 4.5% and 9.0 ± 5.5%, respectively. Compared with CK, RST was significantly increased by 16.5% in the HN plots, but not in the LN or MN treatments. RSS was significantly decreased by 18.1%, 26.6% and 18.4% in the LN, MN and HN plots, respectively, due to the reduction of both microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and enzyme activity. In contrast, RSR was increased by more than twice under the MN treatment, which promoted root growth and activity (higher fine root biomass and N concentration). A significant elevation in RSL was only detected in the HN plots, where the increased litter input enhanced litter decomposition and hence RSL. Our findings clearly demonstrated that N addition of different intensities had different effects on soil components. In particular, the above- and belowground components of heterotrophic respiration, RSL and RSR, showed contrasting responses to high level addition of N. Thus, we highlight that the response of soil respiration components to N addition should be examined individually. Our results may contribute to a better understanding of soil respiration dynamics under future N scenarios, and have important implications in forest management.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 372: Decaying Dark Energy in Light of the Latest Cosmological Dataset Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090372 Authors: Ivan de Martino Decaying Dark Energy models modify the background evolution of the most common observables, such as the Hubble function, the luminosity distance and the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature–redshift scaling relation. We use the most recent observationally-determined datasets, including Supernovae Type Ia and Gamma Ray Bursts data, along with H ( z ) and Cosmic Microwave Background temperature versus z data and the reduced Cosmic Microwave Background parameters, to improve the previous constraints on these models. We perform a Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis to constrain the parameter space, on the basis of two distinct methods. In view of the first method, the Hubble constant and the matter density are left to vary freely. In this case, our results are compatible with previous analyses associated with decaying Dark Energy models, as well as with the most recent description of the cosmological background. In view of the second method, we set the Hubble constant and the matter density to their best fit values obtained by the Planck satellite, reducing the parameter space to two dimensions, and improving the existent constraints on the model’s parameters. Our results suggest that the accelerated expansion of the Universe is well described by the cosmological constant, and we argue that forthcoming observations will play a determinant role to constrain/rule out decaying Dark Energy.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 370: Multimedia Data Modelling Using Multidimensional Recurrent Neural Networks Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090370 Authors: Zhen He Shaobing Gao Liang Xiao Daxue Liu Hangen He Modelling the multimedia data such as text, images, or videos usually involves the analysis, prediction, or reconstruction of them. The recurrent neural network (RNN) is a powerful machine learning approach to modelling these data in a recursive way. As a variant, the long short-term memory (LSTM) extends the RNN with the ability to remember information for longer. Whilst one can increase the capacity of LSTM by widening or adding layers, additional parameters and runtime are usually required, which could make learning harder. We therefore propose a Tensor LSTM where the hidden states are tensorised as multidimensional arrays (tensors) and updated through a cross-layer convolution. As parameters are spatially shared within the tensor, we can efficiently widen the model without extra parameters by increasing the tensorised size; as deep computations of each time step are absorbed by temporal computations of the time series, we can implicitly deepen the model with little extra runtime by delaying the output. We show by experiments that our model is well-suited for various multimedia data modelling tasks, including text generation, text calculation, image classification, and video prediction.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 384: A New Evaluation for Solving the Fully Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analysis with Z-Numbers Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090384 Authors: Ali Namakin Seyyed Esmaeil Najafi Mohammad Fallah Mehrdad Javadi There are numerous models for solving the efficiency evaluation in data envelopment analysis (DEA) with fuzzy input and output data. However, because of the limitation of those strategies, they cannot be implemented for solving fully fuzzy DEA (FFDEA). Furthermore, in real-world problems with imprecise data, fuzziness is not sufficient to consider, and the reliability of the information is also very vital. To overcome these flaws, this paper presented a new method for solving the fully fuzzy DEA model where all parameters are Z-numbers. The new approach is primarily based on crisp linear programming and has a simple structure. Moreover, it is proved that the only existing method to solve FFDEA with Z-numbers is not valid. An example is also presented to illustrate the efficiency of our proposed method and provide an explanation for the content of the paper.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 380: The Weighted Arithmetic Mean–Geometric Mean Inequality is Equivalent to the Hölder Inequality Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090380 Authors: Yongtao Li Xian-Ming Gu Jianxing Zhao In the current note, we investigate the mathematical relations among the weighted arithmetic mean–geometric mean (AM–GM) inequality, the Hölder inequality and the weighted power-mean inequality. Meanwhile, the proofs of mathematical equivalence among the weighted AM–GM inequality, the weighted power-mean inequality and the Hölder inequality are fully achieved. The new results are more generalized than those of previous studies.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 381: Time-Dependent Behavior of a Circular Symmetrical Tunnel Supported with Rockbolts Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090381 Authors: Wei Han Gang Wang Chuanzheng Liu Hengjie Luan Ke Wang Under the effect of initial stress and excavation disturbance, there exists interaction between rock mass and rockbolt in deeply buried tunnels. In order to fully explore the mechanism of rock mass supported with rockbolts, this article studied the time-dependent behavior of the rock mass supported with discretely mechanically or frictionally coupled (DMFC) rockbolts. The interaction model elastic solutions under distributed force model were analyzed, then the viscoelastic analytical solutions were conducted to describe the rheological properties of the coupling model, and the solutions were acquired by setting the constitutive models of the rockbolt and rock mass in terms of a one-dimensional Kelvin model and a three-dimensional Burgers model based on material properties and dimension. Several examples were performed and the influence of initial stress σ0, the viscosity parameters η1 and η2 of the three-dimensional Burgers model as well as the pre-tension T0 on reinforcement effect were analyzed. According to the proposed model, the smaller η2 is or the larger the pre-tension T0 is, the more effective the support effect. However, when the pre-tension is too large, the support effect is no longer significantly enhanced. In addition, the early reinforcement effect is controlled by the first creep stage in the Burgers model while the ultimate support effect is mainly influenced by the viscosity coefficient of the second creep stage in the Burgers model. This research can provide an important theoretical reference to guide the parameter design of rockbolt reinforcement engineering in a circular symmetrical tunnel.

Description: Forests, Vol. 9, Pages 548: CO2 Footprint of the Seeds of Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) as a Biodiesel Feedstock Source Forests doi: 10.3390/f9090548 Authors: Moritz Wagner Melvin Lippe Iris Lewandowski Mirko Salzer Georg Cadisch Crude rubber seed oil (CRSO) is a promising but currently underutilized biodiesel feedstock alternative, extracted by pressing the seeds of the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). Rubber trees are cultivated across more than 11.4 million hectares worldwide, mainly in Southeast Asia. Despite their suitability as a biodiesel feedstock source, rubber seeds are currently treated as waste in the monocultural plantation system. To date, no assessments have been performed to examine the potential impact of rubber seed-based biodiesel production on GHG emissions. This study analyses the global warming potential of rubber seed methyl ester (RSME) production in Southeast Asia. The functional unit used is 1 MJ of biodiesel. A sensitivity analysis assesses the influence of key parameters (e.g., rubber seed yield) on the GHG mitigation potential. A scenario analysis evaluates the effect of using RSME by-products for energy generation. In comparison to fossil diesel, RSME has a carbon mitigation potential of 67 g CO2.eq. MJ−1, based on allocation by mass. On the condition of compliance with international sustainability standards that call for deforestation-free value chains, the generation of RSME biodiesel on rubber tree plantations in Southeast Asia would have a total mitigation potential of around 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 eq. per year.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 391: Modeling the Service Network Design Problem in Railway Express Shipment Delivery Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090391 Authors: Siqi Liu Boliang Lin Jianping Wu Yinan Zhao As air pollution becomes increasingly severe, express trains play a more important role in shifting road freight and reducing carbon emissions. Thus, the design of railway express shipment service networks has become a key issue, which needs to be addressed urgently both in theory and practice. The railway express shipment service network design problem (RESSNDP) not only involves the selection of train services and determination of service frequency, but it is also associated with shipment routing, which can be viewed as a service network design problem (SNDP) with railway characteristics. This paper proposes a non-linear integer programming model (INLP) which aims at finding a service network and shipment routing plan with minimum cost while satisfying the transportation time constraints of shipments, carrying capacity constraints of train services, flow conservation constraint and logical constraints among decision variables. In addition, a linearization technique was adopted to transform our model into a linear one to obtain a global optimal solution. To evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach, a small trial problem was solved by the state-of-the-art mathematical programming solver Gurobi 7.5.2.

Description: Symmetry, Vol. 10, Pages 392: Probabilistic Hesitant Intuitionistic Linguistic Term Sets in Multi-Attribute Group Decision Making Symmetry doi: 10.3390/sym10090392 Authors: M. G. Abbas Malik Zia Bashir Tabasam Rashid Jawad Ali Decision making is the key component of people’s daily life, from choosing a mobile phone to engaging in a war. To model the real world more accurately, probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTSs) were proposed to manage a situation in which several possible linguistic terms along their corresponding probabilities are considered at the same time. Previously, in linguistic term sets, the probabilities of all linguistic term sets are considered to be equal which is unrealistic. In the process of decision making, due to the vagueness and complexity of real life, an expert usually hesitates and unable to express its opinion in a single term, thus making it difficult to reach a final agreement. To handle real life scenarios of a more complex nature, only membership linguistic decision making is unfruitful; thus, some mechanism is needed to express non-membership linguistic term set to deal with imprecise and uncertain information in more efficient manner. In this article, a novel notion called probabilistic hesitant intuitionistic linguistic term set (PHILTS) is designed, which is composed of membership PLTSs and non-membership PLTSs describing the opinions of decision makers (DMs). In the theme of PHILTS, the probabilities of membership linguistic terms and non-membership linguistic terms are considered to be independent. Then, basic operations, some governing operational laws, the aggregation operators, normalization process and comparison method are studied for PHILTSs. Thereafter, two practical decision making models: aggregation based model and the extended TOPSIS model for PHILTS are designed to classify the alternatives from the best to worst, as an application of PHILTS to multi-attribute group decision making. In the end, a practical problem of real life about the selection of the best alternative is solved to illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of our proposed set and models.