A Study of Chinese Traditional Wetland Island Settlement Combining Morphological and Narrative Analyses

[EN] The Lixiahe region, a low-lying wetland located to the eastern side of the Huaiyang section of the Grand Canal, is characterized by a complex hydrological environment and has changed slowly in the urbanization process. The historical town of Shagou, a representative case of island settlements in this region, has a recorded history of continuous morphological change over six hundred years. Regarding Shagou as a cultural-geographical entity, this article aims at combining morphological analysis and narrative-based cognitive mapping to reveal the characteristic townscape that strongly depends on cultural-geographic complexity. Based on survey work, this article will first define distinguishable plan elements that underpin the spatial form of Shagou: 1) natural context; 2) streets system, and then investigate diachronically different phases of the formation of its spatial structure. On the other hand, based on archiving and data analysis of the oral history study, this article will generate a narrative cognitive map, in terms of paths, nodes, landmarks and areas. In conjunction with fieldwork and documentary records, this study testifies that the method derived from the plan analysis developed by Conzen is applicable to the study of wetland island settlement form in China and that narrative spatial analysis provides important supplemental spatial information. A careful combination of these methods might be used for understanding culturally embedded settlement forms in ChinaLei, D.; Lu, A. (2018). A Study of Chinese Traditional Wetland Island Settlement Combining Morphological and Narrative Analyses. En 24th ISUF International Conference. Book of Papers. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1423-1429. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISUF2017.2017.5895OCS1423142

Stark Effects of Rydberg Excitons in a Monolayer WSe2 P-N Junction

The enhanced Coulomb interaction in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors leads to the tightly bound electron-hole pairs known as excitons. The large binding energy of excitons enables the formation of Rydberg excitons with high principal quantum numbers (n), analogous to Rydberg atoms. Rydberg excitons possess strong interactions among themselves, as well as sensitive responses to external stimuli. Here, we probe Rydberg exciton resonances through photocurrent spectroscopy in a monolayer WSe2 p-n junction formed by a split-gate geometry. We show that an external in-plane electric field not only induces a large Stark shift of Rydberg excitons up to quantum principal number n=3 but also mixes different orbitals and brightens otherwise dark states such as 3p and 3d. Our study provides an exciting platform for engineering Rydberg excitons for new quantum states and quantum sensing

Mg2+-dependent facilitation and inactivation of L-type Ca2+ channels in guinea pig ventricular myocytes

AbstractThis study aimed to investigate the intracellular Mg2+ regulation of the L-type Ca2+ channels in guinea pig ventricular myocytes. By adopting the inside-out configuration of the patch clamp technique, single channel currents of the L-type Ca2+ channels were recorded at different intracellular Mg2+ concentrations ([Mg2+]i). At free [Mg2+]i of 0, 10−9, 10−7, 10−5, 10−3, and 10−1 M, 1.4 μM CaM + 3 mM ATP induced channel activities of 44%, 117%, 202%, 181%, 147%, and 20% of the control activity in cell-attached mode, respectively, showing a bell-shaped concentration-response relationship. Moreover, the intracellular Mg2+ modulated the Ca2+ channel gating properties, accounting for alterations in channel activities. These results imply that Mg2+ has a dual effect on the L-type Ca2+ channels: facilitation and inhibition. Lower [Mg2+]i maintains and enhances the basal activity of Ca2+ channels, whereas higher [Mg2+]i inhibits channel activity. Taken together, our data from the application of an [Mg2+]i series suggest that the dual effect of Mg2+ upon the L-type Ca2+ channels exhibits long open-time dependence

Valley-polarized Exitonic Mott Insulator in WS2/WSe2 Moir\'e Superlattice

Strongly enhanced electron-electron interaction in semiconducting moir\'e superlattices formed by transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) heterobilayers has led to a plethora of intriguing fermionic correlated states. Meanwhile, interlayer excitons in a type-II aligned TMDC heterobilayer moir\'e superlattice, with electrons and holes separated in different layers, inherit this enhanced interaction and strongly interact with each other, promising for realizing tunable correlated bosonic quasiparticles with valley degree of freedom. We employ photoluminescence spectroscopy to investigate the strong repulsion between interlayer excitons and correlated electrons in a WS2/WSe2 moir\'e superlattice and combine with theoretical calculations to reveal the spatial extent of interlayer excitons and the band hierarchy of correlated states. We further find that an excitonic Mott insulator state emerges when one interlayer exciton occupies one moir\'e cell, evidenced by emerging photoluminescence peaks under increased optical excitation power. Double occupancy of excitons in one unit cell requires overcoming the energy cost of exciton-exciton repulsion of about 30-40 meV, depending on the stacking configuration of the WS2/WSe2 heterobilayer. Further, the valley polarization of the excitonic Mott insulator state is enhanced by nearly one order of magnitude. Our study demonstrates the WS2/WSe2 moir\'e superlattice as a promising platform for engineering and exploring new correlated states of fermion, bosons, and a mixture of both

Lowland Islands at the Water-Land Nexus in Lixiahe, China: A Boundary Approach

Historically known as China’s ‘Netherlands’, the lowlands of Lixiahe were and still are characterized by vast waterscapes. This paper introduces an island society fostered by this wet landscape, which thrived in premodern times and has undergone a transition into modernity. From a long-term perspective, there have been constant interactions between this island society and the water-land environments. This study details such socio-natural interactions and reconsiders the role of natural settings in the evolution of this island society in the modern context of intensifying human interventions. A comparative study is conducted in two periods of premodern and modern times, and a parallel examination is conducted into three levels of this island society to explore island relations. A boundary approach based on landscape ecology theories is employed to interpret the complex socio-natural interactions in both temporal and spatial dimensions. Through this historical exploration, the paper concludes with three links between resilience thinking and architecture/planning practice in wet landscapes and discusses contemporary issues connected with the socio-ecological resilience of these lowland islands

Sulfate radical-induced degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol: a de novo formation of chlorinated compounds

The degradation of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (TCP) by sulfate radical generated via Co(II)-mediated activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) was examined. The influencing factors, such as substrate concentration and pH were investigated. The initial pH and its adjustment orders significantly affected the TCP degradation and mineralization. Several chlorinated products were detected, as well as some carboxylic acids, such as glycolic acid and oxalic acid. Many polychlorinated (chlorine atom number ⩾3) aromatics (e.g. 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol, 2,3,5,6-tetrachloro-1,4-benzenediol) and even their ring-opening products (e.g. 2,4-dichloro-5-oxo-2-hexenedioic acid, 1,1,3,3-tetrachloro-2-propanone) were identified, indicating a de novo formation mechanism of organohalogens may be involved in TCP degradation. The released chlorine atoms from TCP and/or dichloride radicals activated by sulfate radicals played an important role. This finding may have significant scientific and technical implications for utilizing Co/PMS reagent to detoxify chlorinated pollutants

Sequential reduction–oxidation for photocatalytic degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A: kinetics and intermediates

C Br bond cleavage is considered as a key step to reduce their toxicities and increase degradation rates for most brominated organic pollutants. Here a sequential reduction/oxidation strategy (i.e. debromination followed by photocatalytic oxidation) for photocatalytic degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), one of the most frequently used brominated flame retardants, was proposed on the basis of kinetic analysis and intermediates identification. The results demonstrated that the rates of debromination and even photodegradation of TBBPA strongly depended on the atmospheres, initial TBBPA concentrations, pH of the reaction solution, hydrogen donors, and electron acceptors. These kinetic data and byproducts identification obtained by GC–MS measurement indicated that reductive debromination reaction by photo-induced electrons dominated under N2-saturated condition, while oxidation reaction by photoexcited holes or hydroxyl radicals played a leading role when air was saturated. It also suggested that the reaction might be further optimized for pretreatment of TBBPA-contaminated wastewater by a twostage reductive debromination/subsequent oxidative decomposition process in the UV-TiO2 system by changing the reaction atmospheres

Angiotensin II type 1a receptor knockout ameliorates high-fat diet-induced cardiac dysfunction by regulating glucose and lipid metabolism

Obesity-related cardiovascular diseases are associated with overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigate the role of angiotensin II (Ang II) in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced cardiac dysfunction by focusing on cardiac glucose and lipid metabolism and energy supply. Ang II plays a role in cardiovascular regulation mainly by stimulating angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R), among which AT1aR is the most important subtype in regulating the function of the cardiovascular system. AT1aR gene knockout (AT1aR‒/‒) rats and wild-type (WT) rats are randomly divided into four groups and fed with either a normal diet (ND) or a HFD for 12 weeks. The myocardial lipid content, Ang II level and cardiac function are then evaluated. The expressions of a number of genes involved in glucose and fatty acid oxidation and mitochondrial dynamics are measured by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis. Our results demonstrate that AT1aR knockout improves HFD-induced insulin resistance and dyslipidemia as well as lipid deposition and left ventricular dysfunction compared with WT rats fed a HFD. In addition, after feeding with HFD, AT1aR‒/‒ rats not only show further improvement in glucose and fatty acid oxidation but also have a reverse effect on increased mitochondrial fission proteins. In conclusion, AT1aR deficiency ameliorates HFD-induced cardiac dysfunction by enhancing glucose and fatty acid oxidation, regulating mitochondrial dynamics-related protein changes, and further promoting cardiac energy supply