Identification of unique ecosystem service bundles in farmland - A case study in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China.

Ecosystem services (ESs) are essential for human well-being and are relevant to the region's sustainable development. Most studies have emphasized the importance of high ecosystem services areas for entire regions. However, some locations with particular contributions to a region's ecosystem services are still overlooked. Using the InVEST model, this study analyzed three ESs: annual water yield (WY), carbon storage (CS), and soil conservation (SC) in the farmland of the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain of China (HHHP) from 2005 to 2019. Combining climate regulation (NDVI) and food production (FP), this research calculated the city level of the diversity of ecosystem services supply (alpha-multifunctionality) and the unique contribution to the region in each city (beta-multifunctionality) from 2005 to 2019. The alpha-multifunctionality combines the number of ecosystem services and their supplies of ecosystem services. At the same time, the beta-multifunctionality assesses the average dissimilarity between the city and all other cities within that region. Furthermore, this study used Spearman correlation and self-organizing map (SOM) to analyze the relationships between these five ecosystem services and identify ecosystem service bundles. Finally, this study used random forests to analyze drivers of ecosystem service multifunctionality. Our results showed that food production in the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain increased significantly by 37.20% over time, annual water yield decreased significantly by 29.59%, and climate regulation decreased significantly by 6.09%. This may be because the Huang-Huai-Hai Plain mainly shifted from monoculture to crop rotation, and the increase in crops required more irrigation, which led to a significant decline in water yield. Furthermore, the area of grain crops in the HHHP was reduced in 2019 compared to 2005, which explains the significant decline in climate regulation. SOM found that cities with a higher beta-multifunctionality were mainly concentrated in the northern and southwest parts of HHHP. Bundles with a high alpha-multifunctionality were mainly in the southern and southeast parts of the HHHP. In addition, this research showed that farmers' per capita disposable income was the most important driver of ecosystem service multifunctionality, followed by annual average precipitation and temperature. In conclusion, this study suggests that policymakers should strengthen the protection of some high ecological value but low economic value farmlands, which are crucial for regional ecological security. Meanwhile, policymakers should introduce strict ecological protection policies for farmland to reduce the decline of ecological services caused by farmers' pursuit of economic income.

Analysis of muscle synergies and muscle network in sling exercise rehabilitation technique.

The study assessed motor control strategies across the four sling exercises of supine sling exercise (SSE), prone sling exercise (PSE), left side-lying sling exercise (LLSE), and right side-lying sling exercise (RLSE) positions base on the muscle synergies and muscle network analyses. Muscle activities of bilateral transversus abdominis (TA), rectus abdominis, multifidus (MF), and erector spinae (ES) were captured via surface electromyography. Muscle synergies were extracted through principal components analysis (PCA) and non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF). Muscle synergies number, muscle synergies complexity, muscle synergies sparseness, muscle synergies clusters and muscle networks were calculated. PCA results indicated that SSE and PSE decomposed into 2.88 ± 0.20 and 2.82 ± 0.15 synergies respectively, while the LLSE and RLSE positions decomposed into 3.76 ± 0.14 and 3.71 ± 0.11 muscle synergies, respectively, which were more complex (P = 0.00) but less sparse (P = 0.01). Muscle synergies clusters analysis indicated common muscle synergies among different sling exercises. SSE position demonstrated specific muscle synergies with a strong contribution of the bilateral TA. LLSE-specific synergy has a strong contribution of the left erector spinae (ES). The RLSE-specific synergy has significant contributions from the right ES and multifidus. Muscle networks were functionally organized, with clustering coefficient (F(1.5, 24) = 6.041, P = 0.01) and global efficiency of the undirected network (F(1.5, 24) = 6.041, P = 0.01), and betweenness-centrality of the directed network (F(2.7, 44) = 6.453, P = 0.00). Our research highlights the importance of evaluating muscle synergies and network adaptation strategies in individuals with neuromuscular disorders and developing targeted therapeutic interventions accordingly.

Acquiring musculoskeletal skills with curriculum-based reinforcement learning.

Efficient musculoskeletal simulators and powerful learning algorithms provide computational tools to tackle the grand challenge of understanding biological motor control. Our winning solution for the inaugural NeurIPS MyoChallenge leverages an approach mirroring human skill learning. Using a novel curriculum learning approach, we trained a recurrent neural network to control a realistic model of the human hand with 39 muscles to rotate two Baoding balls in the palm of the hand. In agreement with data from human subjects, the policy uncovers a small number of kinematic synergies, even though it is not explicitly biased toward low-dimensional solutions. However, selectively inactivating parts of the control signal, we found that more dimensions contribute to the task performance than suggested by traditional synergy analysis. Overall, our work illustrates the emerging possibilities at the interface of musculoskeletal physics engines, reinforcement learning, and neuroscience to advance our understanding of biological motor control.

The impact of ankle-foot orthotics on selective motor control during gait in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

BACKGROUND: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often exhibit altered selective motor control during gait (SMCg). Ankle-foot-orthoses (AFOs) are used in this population to improve gait, by reducing the degrees of freedom at the ankle joint. However, the specific impact of AFOs on SMCg and whether this effect is more related to gait deviations or motor development remains unclear. RESEARCH QUESTION: Do AFOs impact SMCg, and is the change related to joint kinematics or age? METHODS: Gait analysis data from 53 children and adolescents with spastic CP, walking both barefoot and with AFOs, were included. Electromyography data from six lower-limb muscles, and lower limb joint kinematics were analyzed for both walking conditions. SMCg was quantified by the total variance in electromyography activity accounted for by one synergy (tVAF1), where an increase in tVAF1 indicates a decrease in SMCg. Kinematic gait deviation was assessed using the Gait-Profile-Score (GPS) and sagittal plane ankle Gait-Variable-Score (ankle-GVS). All analyses were performed for the more clinically involved leg only. RESULTS: Walking with AFOs resulted in a mean increase in tVAF1 of 0.02±0.07 (p=0.015) and a median increase in ankle-GVS of 3.4º (p>0.001). No significant changes were observed in GPS, and no correlation was found between the changes in tVAF1 and ankle-GVS. A significant positive moderate correlation was found between the change in tVAF1 and age, even with ankle-GVS as a covariate (r=0.45; p>0.001). SIGNIFICANCE: Walking with an AFO resulted in a small decrease in SMCg, with large inter-participant variability. Younger participants showed a greater decrease in SMCg, which may indicate greater neuromuscular plasticity in early developmental stages.

Kinematic and neuromuscular characterization of cognitive involvement in gait control in healthy young adults.

The signature of cognitive involvement in gait control has rarely been studied using both kinematic and neuromuscular features. The present study aimed to address this gap. Twenty-four healthy young adults walked on an instrumented treadmill in a virtual environment under two optic flow conditions: normal (NOF) and perturbed (POF, continuous mediolateral pseudorandom oscillations). Each condition was performed under single-task and dual-task conditions of increasing difficulty (1-, 2-, 3-back). Subjective mental workload (raw NASA-TLX), cognitive performance (mean reaction time and d-prime), kinematic (steadiness, variability and complexity in the mediolateral and anteroposterior directions) and neuromuscular (duration and variability of motor primitives) control of gait were assessed. The cognitive performance and the number and composition of motor modules were unaffected by simultaneous walking, regardless of the optic flow condition. Kinematic and neuromuscular variability was greater under POF compared to NOF conditions. Young adults sought to counteract POF by rapidly correcting task-relevant gait fluctuations. The depletion of cognitive resources through dual-tasking led to reduced kinematic and neuromuscular variability and this occurred to the same extent regardless of simultaneous working memory (WM) load. Increasing WM load led to a prioritization of gait control in the mediolateral direction over the anteroposterior direction. The impact of POF on kinematic variability (step velocity) was reduced when a cognitive task was performed simultaneously, but this phenomenon was no modulated by WM load. Collectively, these results shed important light on how young adults adjust the processes involved in goal-directed locomotion when exposed to varying levels of task and environmental constraints.

Responses of ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in Guangfo Metropolitan Area to multidimensional expansion of urban space.

Understanding the responses of ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in metropolitan areas to the multidimensional expansion of urban space is of great significance for the optimization of regional land spatial pattern and high-quality development. With the Guangfo Metropolitan Area as research region, we used land use data and natural ecological environment data from 2000 to 2020 to measure the expansion characteristics of urban space in the dimensions of scale, distribution, and morphology by using the landscape pattern indices. We further calculated four main ecosystem services: urban cooling, habitat quality, recreation, and water conservation by the InVEST model, quantified the trade-off and synergistic relationship of multiple ecosystem services by the coupling coordination degree model, and explored its response to multidimensional urban spatial expansion by using the multi-scale geographically weighted regression model. The results showed that urban land use scale in the Guangfo Metropolitan Area continued to increase from 2000 to 2020, with an accelerated growth rate from 2010 to 2020. The ave-rage patch area of urban land in the central area and the urban land of small patches in the northeast increased, evolving from a "dual-center" structure to a "single-center" one. The distance between urban land patches in the Guangfo Metropolitan Area was relatively small, indicating a compact distribution of urban land. The distance between newly developed urban land patches was also small, but had gradually increased in recent years. The patch shape of urban land was relatively regular and less complex, but the complexity of the newly added urban land gra-dually increased. The ecosystem service trade-offs and synergies in the Guangfo Metropolitan Area had undergone significant changes, with a decrease in synergies and an increase in trade-off, and extreme trade-offs had gradually become dominant. The response of ecosystem services synergies to changes in urban land use scale was the most intense and had spatial heterogeneity, while the response to the change of distribution and morphological characte-ristics of urban land showed periodic differences.

Urban agriculture matters for sustainable development.

Urban agriculture can contribute to sustainable development. However, a holistic investigation is lacking to comprehend its positive and negative impacts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our systematic analysis of around 1,450 relevant publications on urban agriculture, screened from 76,000 records, fills this gap. We map and analyze the text in the literature for each SDG target and its associated positive or negative sentiments. Here, we report our results highlighting that urban agriculture is linked to all SDGs, with 142 and 136 targets having positive and negative sentiments. The mapped positive sentiments are around double the negative ones. We identify six leveraging opportunities urban agriculture provides for sustainable transformation with four hurdles to be resolved. Urban agriculture does not inherently contribute to sustainability. Its impacts rely on the adoption of specific practices. Realizing urban agriculture's social, economic, and environmental functions to accelerate SDG progress requires tackling the hurdles.

Temporal localization of upper extremity bilateral synergistic coordination using wearable accelerometers.

Background: The human upper extremity is characterized by inherent motor abundance, allowing a diverse array of tasks with agility and adaptability. Upper extremity functional limitations are a common sequela to Stroke, resulting in pronounced motor and sensory impairments in the contralesional arm. While many therapeutic interventions focus on rehabilitating the weaker arm, it is increasingly evident that it is necessary to consider bimanual coordination and motor control. Methods: Participants were recruited to two groups differing in age (Group 1 (n = 10): 23.4 ± 2.9 years, Group 2 (n = 10): 55.9 ± 10.6 years) for an exploratory study on the use of accelerometry to quantify bilateral coordination. Three tasks featuring coordinated reaching were selected to investigate the acceleration of the upper arm, forearm, and hand during activities of daily living (ADLs). Subjects were equipped with acceleration and inclination sensors on each upper arm, each forearm, and each hand. Data was segmented in MATLAB to assess inter-limb and intra-limb coordination. Inter-limb coordination was indicated through dissimilarity indices and temporal locations of congruous movement between upper arm, forearm, or hand segments of the right and left limbs. Intra-limb coordination was likewise assessed between upper arm-forearm, upper arm-hand, and forearm-hand segment pairs of the dominant limb. Findings: Acceleration data revealed task-specific movement features during the three distinct tasks. Groups demonstrated diminished similarity as task complexity increased. Groups differed significantly in the hand segments during the buttoning task, with Group 1 showing no coordination in the hand segments during buttoning, and strong coordination in reaching each button with the upper arm and forearm guiding extension. Group 2's dissimilarity scores and percentages of similarity indicated longer periods of inter-limb coordination, particularly towards movement completion. Group 1's dissimilarity scores and percentages of similarity indicated longer periods of intra-limb coordination, particularly in the coordination of the upper arm and forearm segments. Interpretation: The Expanding Procrustes methodology can be applied to compute objective coordination scores using accessible and highly accurate wearable acceleration sensors. The findings of task duration, angular velocity, and peak roll angle are supported by previous studies finding older individuals to present with slower movements, reduced movement stability, and a reduction of laterality between the limbs. The theory of a shift towards ambidexterity with age is supported by the finding of greater inter-limb coordination in the group of subjects above the age of thirty-five. The group below the age of thirty was found to demonstrate longer periods of intra-limb coordination, with upper arm and forearm coordination emerging as a possible explanation for the demonstrated greater stability.

Assessing spatio-temporal heterogeneity and drivers of ecosystem services to support zonal management in mountainous cities.

With complex topography and geomorphology, mountainous cities possess abundant natural resources. They are constrained by ecological environment and topographic conditions, leading to a prominent contradiction between urbanization development and ecological protection. As a result, ecosystem services (ESs) are under greater regulatory pressure. The identification of ecosystem services bundles (ESBs) can be the foundation for developing zonal ecological protection planning policies. We took Chongqing as a case study, investigated the impact mechanisms of socio-ecological factors on the level of ES supply in each ESB. The findings reveal that: (1) The quantitative assessment of ESs for 2000, 2010, and 2020 showed that ESs were temporally stable and spatially heterogeneous. Areas with high supplies of food production (FP) and water yield (WY) were predominantly found in the northwestern cropland and urban built-up regions, whereas high supply areas for the other four ESs were primarily located in the northeastern Dabashan Mountains and the southern Wuling Mountains. (2) The quantification of trade-offs and synergies between ESs showed that FP had a trade-off effect with all five other ESs, while most other ES pairs exhibited synergistic effects. It was found that the interrelationships produced changes over time. (3) Then, three types of ESBs were identified. After examining the influence mechanisms of socio-ecological factors across the three ESBs, individual ESs were found to have essentially the same types of main impact factors in three ESBs, but varies in impact. (4) Finally, with reference to changes in ES levels and interrelationships and the driving mechanisms of socio-ecological factors in each zone, this study proposed zonal strategies for managing ecosystem services and optimizing territorial space based on the geographic characteristics and socio-economic development in different ESBs, with the goal of attaining sustainable urban development and improving human welfare.

EFFECTS OF SPINAL TRANSECTION AND LOCOMOTOR SPEED ON MUSCLE SYNERGIES OF THE CAT HINDLIMB.

It was suggested that during locomotion, the nervous system controls movement by activating groups of muscles, or muscle synergies. Analysis of muscle synergies can reveal the organization of spinal locomotor networks and how it depends on the state of the nervous system, such as before and after spinal cord injury, and on different locomotor conditions, including a change in speed. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of spinal transection and locomotor speed on hindlimb muscle synergies and their time-dependent activity patterns in adult cats. EMG activities of 15 hindlimb muscles were recorded in 9 adult cats of either sex during tied-belt treadmill locomotion at speeds of 0.4, 0.7, and 1.0 m/s before and after recovery from a low thoracic spinal transection. We determined EMG burst groups using cluster analysis of EMG burst onset and offset times and muscle synergies using non-negative matrix factorization. We found five major EMG burst groups and five muscle synergies in each of six experimental conditions (2 states × 3 speeds). In each case, the synergies accounted for at least 90% of muscle EMG variance. Both spinal transection and locomotion speed modified subgroups of EMG burst groups and the composition and activation patterns of selected synergies. However, these changes did not modify the general organization of muscle synergies. Based on the obtained results, we propose an organization for a pattern formation network of a two-level central pattern generator that can be tested in neuromechanical simulations of spinal circuits controlling cat locomotion.

The Finishing Space Value for Shooting Decision-Making in High-Performance Football.

Football players' decision-making behaviours near the scoring target (finishing situations) emerge from the evolving spatiotemporal information directly perceived in the game's landscape. In finishing situations, the ball carrier's decision-making about shooting or passing is not an individual decision-making process, but a collective decision that is guided by players' perceptions of match affordances. To sustain this idea, we collected spatiotemporal information and built a model to quantify the "Finishing Space Value" (FSV) that results from players' perceived affordances about two main questions: (a) is the opponent's target successfully reachable from a given pitch location?; and (b) from each given pitch location, the opposition context will allow enough space to shoot (low adversaries' interference)? The FSV was calculated with positional data from high-performance football matches, combining information extracted from Voronoi diagrams (VD) with distances and angles to the goal line. FSV was tested using as a reference the opinion of a "panel of expert" (PE), composed by football coaches, about a questionnaire presenting 50 finishing situations. Results showed a strong association between the subjective perception scale used by the PE to assess how probable a shot made by the ball carrier could result in a goal and FSV calculated for that same situation (R2=0.6706). Moreover, we demonstrate the accuracy of the FSV quantification model in predicting coaches' opinions about what should be the "best option" to finish the play. Overall, results indicated that the FSV is a promising model to capture the affordances of the shooting circumstances for the ball carrier's decision-making in high-performance football. FSV might be useful for more precise match analysis and informing coaches in the design of representative practice tasks.

The foot and ankle complex as a four degrees-of-freedom system: Kinematic coupling among the foot bones.

Seventy-eight parameters are theoretically needed to describe the relative position and orientation of all the 14 bones in the foot and ankle with respect to a reference bone (foot posture). However, articular contacts and soft tissues introduce kinematic coupling, reducing the number of the foot degrees-of-freedom (DOF). This study aims at providing quantification and definition of these couplings. The foot posture was measured in vitro through a series of computed tomography scans, spanning the whole range of foot dorsi/plantar flexion and pronation/supination, also considering the effect of weightbearing. The envelope of foot postures was investigated by means of principal component analysis. The foot and ankle motion were well described with four principal sets of kinematic couplings, that is, synergies. One synergy covers the independent motion of the ankle, while three synergies describe the foot motion. The first foot synergy shows all the bones rotating approximatively about a common axis, mapping the foot abduction/adduction about the Chopart joint. The second foot synergy results in a spherical motion, whose center is located between lateral cuneiform and navicular bone, mapping the foot pronation/supination. The third foot synergy maps the opening of the foot arches during the load acceptance. The foot and ankle complex can thus be described as a four DOF system, whose motion is the result of the linear combination of four synergies. Significance: Synergies reveal the contribution of each bone to the three-dimensional foot posture, providing a compact representation of the motion of the foot and ankle complex, improving the comprehension of its physiology.

Investigation of adaptive muscle synergy modulated motor responses to grasping perturbations.

This study investigated how muscle synergies adapt in response to unexpected changes in object weight during lifting tasks. The aim was to discover which motor control strategies individuals use to maintain their grasping performance. Muscle synergies were extracted from the muscle activity of fifteen healthy participants who lifted objects of identical appearance but varying weights in a randomized order, which introduced artificial perturbations. Reaching and manipulation phases of object lifting were analyzed using constrained non-negative matrix factorization and k-means clustering. Participants exhibited a perturbation-independent and thus consistent recruitment of spatial synergy components, while significant adaptations in muscle synergy activation occurred in response to unexpected perturbations. Perturbations caused by unexpectedly heavy objects led to delayed and gradual increases in muscle synergy activation until the force required to lift the object was reached. In contrast, perturbations caused by lighter objects led to reductions in excess muscle synergy activation occurring later. Sensorimotor control maintains the modularity of muscle synergies. Even when external mechanical perturbations occur, the grasping performance is preserved, and control is adapted solely through muscle synergy activation. These results suggest that using pure spatial synergy components as control signals for myoelectric arm prostheses may prevent them from malfunctioning due to external perturbations.

Biomimetic learning of hand gestures in a humanoid robot.

Hand gestures are a natural and intuitive form of communication, and integrating this communication method into robotic systems presents significant potential to improve human-robot collaboration. Recent advances in motor neuroscience have focused on replicating human hand movements from synergies also known as movement primitives. Synergies, fundamental building blocks of movement, serve as a potential strategy adapted by the central nervous system to generate and control movements. Identifying how synergies contribute to movement can help in dexterous control of robotics, exoskeletons, prosthetics and extend its applications to rehabilitation. In this paper, 33 static hand gestures were recorded through a single RGB camera and identified in real-time through the MediaPipe framework as participants made various postures with their dominant hand. Assuming an open palm as initial posture, uniform joint angular velocities were obtained from all these gestures. By applying a dimensionality reduction method, kinematic synergies were obtained from these joint angular velocities. Kinematic synergies that explain 98% of variance of movements were utilized to reconstruct new hand gestures using convex optimization. Reconstructed hand gestures and selected kinematic synergies were translated onto a humanoid robot, Mitra, in real-time, as the participants demonstrated various hand gestures. The results showed that by using only few kinematic synergies it is possible to generate various hand gestures, with 95.7% accuracy. Furthermore, utilizing low-dimensional synergies in control of high dimensional end effectors holds promise to enable near-natural human-robot collaboration.

An invasive prey and changing climate interact to shape the breeding phenology of an endangered predator.

Changes in phenology are occurring from global climate change, yet the impacts of other types of global change on the phenology of animals remain less appreciated. Understanding the potential for synergistic effects of different types of global change on phenology is needed, because changing climate regimes can have cascading effects, particularly on invasive species that vary in their thermal tolerances. Using 25 years of data from 5963 nests and 4675 marked individuals across the entire US breeding range of an endangered predator, the snail kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus), we isolated the effects of an invasion of novel prey and warming temperatures on breeding phenology and its demographic consequences. Over this time period, breeding season length doubled, increasing by approximately 14 weeks. Both temperature and the establishment of invasive prey interacted to explain the timing of nest initiation. Temperature and invasive prey played distinct roles: earlier nest initiation occurred with increasing temperatures, whereas late nesting increased with invasion. Ultimately, both nest survival and juvenile survival declined later in the year, such that effects from invasive prey, but not warming temperatures, have the apparent potential for mistiming in breeding phenology by some individuals. Nonetheless, relatively few nesting events occurred during late fall when nest survival was very low, and seasonal declines in nest survival were weaker and renesting was more frequent in invaded wetlands, such that total reproductive output increased with invasion. Variation in demographic effects illustrate that considering only particular components of demography (e.g., nest survival rates) may be inadequate to infer the overall consequences of changes in phenology, particularly the potential for mistiming of phenological events. These results emphasize that species invasions may profoundly alter phenology of native species, such effects are distinct from climate effects, and both interact to drive population change.

The study on the spatiotemporal changes in tradeoffs and synergies of ecosystem services and response to land use/land cover changes in the region around Taihu Lake.

Interactions among ecosystem services (ESs) involve tradeoffs and synergies. Quantitatively studying the trade-off and synergistic relationships between land use/land cover change (LULC) and ESs enables the precise identification of the quality status and driving factors of ESs within the region, which is crucial for rational resource allocation and environmental protection. In this study, the spatial and temporal change characteristics of the three ESs of carbon storage (CS), soil retention (SR) and habitat quality (HQ) are explored by using the InVEST model and GIS technology in the region around Taihu Lake, and the tradeoffs and synergies among the three are determined based on the difference comparison. The results indicate that: (1) The study area has a downward trajectory in CS and HQ from 1990 to 2020, while SR experiences some fluctuations. The spatial distribution of the three ESs exhibits high levels in the southwest and low levels in the northeast. (2) The most sensitive regions where tradeoffs and synergies are most pronounced occur primarily in the newly construction land regions and the southwestern mountainous and hilly areas. In newly construction land regions, there are often tradeoffs relationships observed between CS and SR, as well as between HQ and SR. Conversely, a predominantly negative synergy is mainly observed between CS and HQ. In the southwestern hilly terrain, due to changes in landscape patterns, HQ and SR exhibit higher levels of negative synergistic relationships. (3) LULC is a significant driver of spatial and temporal changes in ESs, as well as changes in tradeoffs and synergies in the study area, necessitating integrated research from economic, social and climate change perspectives.

Determinants for the development of creative tourism: A stakeholder perspective.

This study aims to investigate the determinants that contribute to the sustainable development of creative tourism, a transformative shift from traditional cultural tourism which possess high economic potential. Grounded in stakeholder theory, a qualitative approach was employed to explore the perspectives of 23 existing suppliers of creative tourism in the Greater Bay Area, China, through semi-structured, in-depth interviews with key management in exiting business, this study uncovers determinants for the development of creative tourism. The findings shed light on the significance of fostering creative synergies and their implications for sustainable growth in the industry. While a positive attitude from suppliers is crucial, this study emphasizes the importance of mutual understanding of creativity to generate momentum, integration of local culture and regional knowledge, and the development of creative products. Moreover, removing barriers faced by suppliers such as a lack of financial support, insufficient government policies and regulations, and inadequate infrastructure is imperative for sustainable development. This research significantly contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing an overview of the current research status on suppliers' perspectives towards creative tourism. It offers valuable directions for future scholarly inquiry in this field. Moreover, the research offers valuable insights that can assist policymakers and destination planners in developing efficient policies and sustainable planning approaches.

Identifying alterations in hand movement coordination from chronic stroke survivors using a wearable high-density EMG sleeve.

Objective.Non-invasive, high-density electromyography (HD-EMG) has emerged as a useful tool to collect a range of neurophysiological motor information. Recent studies have demonstrated changes in EMG features that occur after stroke, which correlate with functional ability, highlighting their potential use as biomarkers. However, previous studies have largely explored these EMG features in isolation with individual electrodes to assess gross movements, limiting their potential clinical utility. This study aims to predict hand function of stroke survivors by combining interpretable features extracted from a wearable HD-EMG forearm sleeve.Approach.Here, able-bodied (N= 7) and chronic stroke subjects (N= 7) performed 12 functional hand and wrist movements while HD-EMG was recorded using a wearable sleeve. A variety of HD-EMG features, or views, were decomposed to assess alterations in motor coordination.Main Results.Stroke subjects, on average, had higher co-contraction and reduced muscle coupling when attempting to open their hand and actuate their thumb. Additionally, muscle synergies decomposed in the stroke population were relatively preserved, with a large spatial overlap in composition of matched synergies. Alterations in synergy composition demonstrated reduced coupling between digit extensors and muscles that actuate the thumb, as well as an increase in flexor activity in the stroke group. Average synergy activations during movements revealed differences in coordination, highlighting overactivation of antagonist muscles and compensatory strategies. When combining co-contraction and muscle synergy features, the first principal component was strongly correlated with upper-extremity Fugl Meyer hand sub-score of stroke participants (R2= 0.86). Principal component embeddings of individual features revealed interpretable measures of motor coordination and muscle coupling alterations.Significance.These results demonstrate the feasibility of predicting motor function through features decomposed from a wearable HD-EMG sleeve, which could be leveraged to improve stroke research and clinical care.

Neuroplastic alterations in common synaptic inputs and synergistic motor unit clusters controlling the vastii muscles of individuals with ACL reconstruction.

This cross-sectional study aims to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the control of knee extension forces in individuals with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Eleven soccer players with ACLR and nine control players performed unilateral isometric knee extensions at 10% and 30% of their maximum voluntary force (MVF). Simultaneous recordings of high-density surface electromyography (HDEMG) and force output were conducted for each lower limb, and HDEMG data from the vastus lateralis (VL) and vastus medialis (VM) muscles were decomposed into individual motor unit spike trains. Force steadiness was estimated using the coefficient of variation of force. An intramuscular coherence analysis was adopted to estimate the common synaptic input (CSI) converging to each muscle. A factor analysis was applied to investigate the neural strategies underlying the control of synergistic motor neuron clusters, referred to as motor unit modes. Force steadiness was similar between lower limbs. However, motor neurons innervating the VL on the reconstructed side received a lower proportion of CSI at low-frequency bandwidths (<5 Hz) compared with the unaffected lower limbs (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the reconstructed side demonstrated a higher proportion of motor units associated with the neural input common to the synergistic muscle, as compared with the unaffected lower limbs (P < 0.01). These findings indicate that the VL muscle of reconstructed lower limbs contribute marginally to force steadiness and that a plastic rearrangement in synergistic clusters of motor units involved in the control of knee extension forces is evident following ACLR.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Chronic quadriceps dysfunction is common after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). We investigated voluntary force control strategies by estimating common inputs to motor neurons innervating the vastii muscles. Our results showed attenuated common inputs to the vastus lateralis and plastic rearrangements in functional clusters of motor neurons modulating knee extension forces in the reconstructed limb. These findings suggest neuroplastic adjustments following ACLR that may occur to fine-tune the control of quadriceps forces.