THE ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE URBANISTIC PROCESS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA: The management system of the Urban Historic Conservation Area in the megalopolis.

The thesis THE ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE URBANISTIC PROCESS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA: The management system of the Urban Historic Conservation Area in the megalopolis is based on the background of urbanistic development in Southern China in the last 30 years. China experiences reform and open policy since the beginning of 1980, comprehensive urbanization in the 1990s and the great change of the dualistic mechanism after 2000. It is the greatest urbanization process in the history of mankind. In the Pearl River Delta, the most active and developed region of southern China, the continuous urban developed and developing areas constitute the so-called megalopolis, which is transforming its mode of production and lifestyle, changing dramatically its social economic framework, spatial morphology, even individual psychology and collective consciousness. The thesis focuses on the megalopolis historic settlements that locate between the urban centers and the rural area, and include cultural links, commuting patterns and a contiguous regional configuration. But not as a simple continuous corridor, the unequal development and management here creates a massive non-linear continuity. These areas are full of energy and special characters but at the same time contain many uncertainties, complexities, contradictions and problems. Politically and geographically, they turn from villages to cities, economically they turn from agricultural structure to industrial and tertiary structure, sociologically they turn from traditional society to modern society. Through the study of contemporary history, the thesis tries to represent the top-down and bottom-up urban construction activities in the PRD in order to learn lessons for the future urbanization. In the last thirty years, because of the special social economic re-structuring in China, the megalopolis historic settlements become a spatial buffer for the huge gap of urban-rural dualistic mechanism. It decides the long-term co-existence of the megalopolis historic settlements and the consolidated urban built up areas. Many of the megalopolis historic settlements still have the unique characters of the villages on the water and a great number of tangible and intangible heritages. They will be controlled as the Urban Historic Conservation Areas in the current urban planning system. In the meantime, their complexity and symbiotic nature give them a natural advantage to be maintained as an Urban Historic Conservation Area for quite a long time. To explain clearly the change from the megalopolis historic settlements to the Urban Historic Conservation Area, from a theoretical point of view, the thesis analyses the evolution path of the urbanization in the megalopolis historic settlements. It establishes paradigms and inherent institutional framework to reveal the institutional background of the morphological issues generated in the urbanistic process, and emphasizes that the morphological issues are results of repeated games between top-down institutional change and bottom-up morphological transformation. It tries to discuss two important questions in the urban study

THE ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE URBANISTIC PROCESS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA: The management system of the Urban Historic Conservation Area in the megalopolis.

The thesis THE ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL ASPECTS OF THE URBANISTIC PROCESS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA: The management system of the Urban Historic Conservation Area in the megalopolis is based on the background of urbanistic development in Southern China in the last 30 years. China experiences reform and open policy since the beginning of 1980, comprehensive urbanization in the 1990s and the great change of the dualistic mechanism after 2000. It is the greatest urbanization process in the history of mankind. In the Pearl River Delta, the most active and developed region of southern China, the continuous urban developed and developing areas constitute the so-called megalopolis, which is transforming its mode of production and lifestyle, changing dramatically its social economic framework, spatial morphology, even individual psychology and collective consciousness. The thesis focuses on the megalopolis historic settlements that locate between the urban centers and the rural area, and include cultural links, commuting patterns and a contiguous regional configuration. But not as a simple continuous corridor, the unequal development and management here creates a massive non-linear continuity. These areas are full of energy and special characters but at the same time contain many uncertainties, complexities, contradictions and problems. Politically and geographically, they turn from villages to cities, economically they turn from agricultural structure to industrial and tertiary structure, sociologically they turn from traditional society to modern society. Through the study of contemporary history, the thesis tries to represent the top-down and bottom-up urban construction activities in the PRD in order to learn lessons for the future urbanization. In the last thirty years, because of the special social economic re-structuring in China, the megalopolis historic settlements become a spatial buffer for the huge gap of urban-rural dualistic mechanism. It decides the long-term co-existence of the megalopolis historic settlements and the consolidated urban built up areas. Many of the megalopolis historic settlements still have the unique characters of the villages on the water and a great number of tangible and intangible heritages. They will be controlled as the Urban Historic Conservation Areas in the current urban planning system. In the meantime, their complexity and symbiotic nature give them a natural advantage to be maintained as an Urban Historic Conservation Area for quite a long time. To explain clearly the change from the megalopolis historic settlements to the Urban Historic Conservation Area, from a theoretical point of view, the thesis analyses the evolution path of the urbanization in the megalopolis historic settlements. It establishes paradigms and inherent institutional framework to reveal the institutional background of the morphological issues generated in the urbanistic process, and emphasizes that the morphological issues are results of repeated games between top-down institutional change and bottom-up morphological transformation. It tries to discuss two important questions in the urban study

Measurement of and Factors Associated with the Anterior Chamber Volume in Healthy Chinese Adults

Purpose. To measure the anterior chamber volume (ACV) and determine factors associated with the ACV in healthy Chinese adults. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, we used swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) to measure ACV and other anterior segment parameters. Factors associated with ACV were also determined. Results. A total of 313 healthy Chinese adults were enrolled. The anterior segment parameters, including ACV, could be measured by SS-OCT with excellent repeatability and reproducibility. There was a significant difference between the horizontal and vertical anterior chamber widths (ACW) (P<0.05), with a mean difference of 390 μm. The ACV (mean 153.83±32.42 mm3) was correlated with most of the anterior segment parameters, especially anterior chamber depth (ACD), which accounted for about 85% of the variation of ACV. Most of the anterior segment parameters were significantly correlated with age, and the relative changes in ACV and ACD were greatest in subjects aged 41–50 years. Conclusion. ACV was correlated with most of the anterior segment parameters measured in this study, particularly ACD. The relatively large difference between horizontal and vertical ACW suggests that the ACV could and should be measured using multiple OCT scans

Reliability analysis and resilience measure of complex systems in shock events

The working environment of complex systems is complex and variable, and their performance is often affected by various shock events during the service phase. In this paper, first, considering that the system performance will be affected by shocks again in the process of maintenance, the reliability changes and fault process of complex systems are discussed. Second, the performance change processes of complex systems are analyzed under multiple shocks and maintenance. Then, based on performance loss and recovery, this paper analyzes the reliability and resilience of complex systems under the intersecting process of multiple shocks and maintenance. Considering the direct and indirect losses caused by shocks, as well as maintenance costs, the changes in total costs are analyzed. Finally, the practicability of the proposed model is checked by using a specific welding robot system

Evaluation and improvement of workplace vertical violence of nursing interns based on the Importance-Performance Analysis method

PurposeTo analyze the key factors related to workplace vertical violence among nursing interns in China and to propose strategies to improve the nursing practice environment.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using the Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) method to analyze the key factors and significance of workplace vertical violence for nursing interns. The data were obtained by administering a workplace vertical violence survey, designed specifically for this study, to 120 nursing interns at a tertiary general hospital in Zhejiang Province, China.ResultsThe results demonstrated that the variables “I was ordered to do something beyond my ability and lacked guidance (C3),” “Errors in work have been repeatedly emphasized, spread, or exaggerated (C8),” “I was unjustly criticized (C9),” “I was withheld or blocked information purposefully (C1),” and “I was belittled at work (C2)” were the most crucial variables for determining the presence of workplace vertical violence of nursing interns. Moreover, they are priority improvement variables.ConclusionManagers must prioritize the use of relevant resources during internships to minimize false reinforcement and unfair criticism. Efforts should focus on improving information sharing, emphasizing the role of nursing interns in clinical work, providing better guidance when arranging for nursing interns to do work that exceeds their capacity, reducing workplace vertical violence, and improving nursing intern practice environments

Cryo-EM structures of lipopolysaccharide transporter LptB2FGC in lipopolysaccharide or AMP-PNP-bound states reveal its transport mechanism

Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) of Gram-negative bacteria are critical for the defence against cytotoxic substances and must be transported from the inner membrane (IM) to the outer membrane (OM) through a bridge formed by seven membrane proteins (LptBFGCADE). The IM component LptB2FG powers the process through a yet unclarified mechanism. Here we report three high-resolution cryo-EM structures of LptB2FG alone and complexed with LptC (LptB2FGC), trapped in either the LPS- or AMP-PNP-bound state. The structures reveal conformational changes between these states and substrate binding with or without LptC. We identify two functional transmembrane arginine-containing loops interacting with the bound AMP-PNP and elucidate allosteric communications between the domains. AMP-PNP binding induces an inward rotation and shift of the transmembrane helices of LptFG and LptC to tighten the cavity, with the closure of two lateral gates, to eventually expel LPS into the bridge. Functional assays reveal the functionality of the LptF and LptG periplasmic domains. Our findings shed light on the LPS transport mechanism

Multiple organ infection and the pathogenesis of SARS

After >8,000 infections and >700 deaths worldwide, the pathogenesis of the new infectious disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), remains poorly understood. We investigated 18 autopsies of patients who had suspected SARS; 8 cases were confirmed as SARS. We evaluated white blood cells from 22 confirmed SARS patients at various stages of the disease. T lymphocyte counts in 65 confirmed and 35 misdiagnosed SARS cases also were analyzed retrospectively. SARS viral particles and genomic sequence were detected in a large number of circulating lymphocytes, monocytes, and lymphoid tissues, as well as in the epithelial cells of the respiratory tract, the mucosa of the intestine, the epithelium of the renal distal tubules, the neurons of the brain, and macrophages in different organs. SARS virus seemed to be capable of infecting multiple cell types in several organs; immune cells and pulmonary epithelium were identified as the main sites of injury. A comprehensive theory of pathogenesis is proposed for SARS with immune and lung damage as key features

Assessment of a Novel VEGF Targeted Agent Using Patient-Derived Tumor Tissue Xenograft Models of Colon Carcinoma with Lymphatic and Hepatic Metastases

The lack of appropriate tumor models of primary tumors and corresponding metastases that can reliably predict for response to anticancer agents remains a major deficiency in the clinical practice of cancer therapy. It was the aim of our study to establish patient-derived tumor tissue (PDTT) xenograft models of colon carcinoma with lymphatic and hepatic metastases useful for testing of novel molecularly targeted agents. PDTT of primary colon carcinoma, lymphatic and hepatic metastases were used to create xenograft models. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemical staining, genome-wide gene expression analysis, pyrosequencing, qRT-PCR, and western blotting were used to determine the biological stability of the xenografts during serial transplantation compared with the original tumor tissues. Early passages of the PDTT xenograft models of primary colon carcinoma, lymphatic and hepatic metastases revealed a high degree of similarity with the original clinical tumor samples with regard to histology, immunohistochemistry, genes expression, and mutation status as well as mRNA expression. After we have ascertained that these xenografts models retained similar histopathological features and molecular signatures as the original tumors, drug sensitivities of the xenografts to a novel VEGF targeted agent, FP3 was evaluated. In this study, PDTT xenograft models of colon carcinoma with lymphatic and hepatic metastasis have been successfully established. They provide appropriate models for testing of novel molecularly targeted agents