From Functional Space to Experience Space:Applying space syntax analysis to a museum in China

Space syntax starts from the ontology of space to quantify the space and uses mathematical logic to reveal and describe the logic of the space structure.However, the application of space syntax analysis to museums in China has rarely been explored. In light of this, this study employs space syntax to analyse the Gulangyu Organ Museum (Xiamen, China) and uses the topological depth, visual graph analysis, and agent simulation to describe the structure of the museum space. Accordingly, several suggestions are proposed,including rearranging the layout of the museum’s functions and transforming the museum from functional space to experience space. This study can serve as a valuable reference for the application of space syntax in the design and optimization of space design and functional layout. We believe that the findings of this study can also be applied to other cultural institutions (e.g.,galleries) with similar characteristics

Visual Preference Analysis and Planning Responses Based on Street View Images: A Case Study of Gulangyu Island, China

The features of a street environment play an essential role in human behavior, but predicting the preferred environment becomes challenging for city planning. This paper takes Gulangyu Island as an example and examines tourists’ visual preferences through street view images and a stated preference survey. Based on the findings, planning responses were proposed to provide references for improving tourists’ visual perception of the street’s environment. The results show that tourists’ preferences for the street environment are significantly affected by visual features. From highest to lowest are variety, the green view index, crowdedness, sky openness, and enclosure. The green view index, sky openness, and variety positively affect the visual utility, while crowdedness and enclosure have a negative effect. Among them, variety has the most potent positive effect on visual preference, while crowdedness has the most substantial negative effect. Moreover, there is a balance between green view and enclosure that is affected by green plants, and when the enclosure value is too high, the marginal effect of the green view index will be less effective. Last, the streets with high visual utility have an ideal natural environment, spacious roads, an open sky, and limited architecture

Compressive Detection Using Sub-Nyquist Radars for Sparse Signals

This paper investigates the compression detection problem using sub-Nyquist radars, which is well suited to the scenario of high bandwidths in real-time processing because it would significantly reduce the computational burden and save power consumption and computation time. A compressive generalized likelihood ratio test (GLRT) detector for sparse signals is proposed for sub-Nyquist radars without ever reconstructing the signal involved. The performance of the compressive GLRT detector is analyzed and the theoretical bounds are presented. The compressive GLRT detection performance of sub-Nyquist radars is also compared to the traditional GLRT detection performance of conventional radars, which employ traditional analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) at Nyquist sampling rates. Simulation results demonstrate that the former can perform almost as well as the latter with a very small fraction of the number of measurements required by traditional detection in relatively high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) cases

High T3 Induces β-Cell Insulin Resistance via Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

Hyperthyroidism can cause glucose metabolism disorders and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in muscle and adipose tissues has been extensively studied, whereas investigations on β-cell insulin resistance are limited. This study preliminarily explored the effects of high T3 levels on β-cell line (MIN6) insulin resistance, as well as the roles of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). In this study, we treated β-cell line with T3, with or without an inhibitor of phosphotyrosine phosphatases (PTPs, sodium vanadate) or ERS inhibitor (4-PBA). The results indicated that high levels of T3 significantly inhibited insulin secretion in β-cell line. In addition, we observed an upregulation of p-IRS-1ser307 and downregulation of Akt. These results can be corrected by sodium vanadate. Moreover, high T3 levels upregulate the ERS-related proteins PERK, IRE1, ATF6, and GRP78, as well as ERS-related apoptosis CHOP and caspase-12. Similarly, this change can be corrected by 4-PBA. These results suggest that high T3 levels can induce insulin resistance in β-cell line by activating ERS and the apoptotic pathway

Behavioral Research in Construction Engineering Management: A Review from a Neuropsychological Perspective

In construction engineering, there are many interactive and decision-making behaviors which could affect the progress and final performance. Based on the people-oriented concept, managing construction engineering should not ignore the understanding of individual behavior, and neuropsychology provides a refined microscopic perspective. This paper employed a bibliometric analysis of 1254 studies from the Web of Science related to behavioral research in construction engineering management using VOSviewer and summarized the neuropsychological mechanisms and research methods of behavior by systematic review. This paper found that: (1) Neuropsychological mechanisms of behavior include basic mechanisms about the brain and function and range from sensory to decision processes. Core factors are the functional ingredients. (2) Behavior research in construction engineering management is turning to neuropsychological experiments. Understanding the complex correlation mechanisms are the research trends in recent years. (3) Construction engineering management studies provide the means and methods to improve the validity and efficiency of management in the construction industry. The results confirm the impact of sensory perception on behavior and managerial performance. (4) The research trend in this field in the future is multidisciplinary. In total, this paper provides a potential effective reference for improving the performance of construction engineering management, developing sustainable construction production and consumption, and building a people-oriented livable city

Would You Accept Virtual Tourism? The Impact of COVID-19 Risk Perception on Technology Acceptance from a Comparative Perspective

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism industry and its stakeholders have tried to develop a new virtual tourism market, but its effectiveness remains to be tested. We proposed and tested a new measurement scale composed of ease of use, usefulness, autonomy, enjoyment, perceived risk of COVID-19, and attitude. In total, 274 questionnaires were collected by the purposive sampling method and 239 of them were valid, with 57 potential virtual tourists (who knew of but had not used VR in tourism) and 182 actual virtual tourists (who had experienced virtual tourism). Then, we used path analysis to test the hypothetical model and compared the results of two groups. The results show that (1) the popularity of virtual tourism is limited, (2) ease of use significantly affects usefulness and enjoyment for the two groups, (3) usefulness significantly affects autonomy and enjoyment for the two groups, (4) perceived risk of COVID-19 has a direct impact on the attitude towards virtual tourism for the two groups rather than a moderating role, and (5) expected ease of use has a significant effect on autonomy, and autonomy further influences enjoyment for potential tourists. This paper is an explorative attempt to explore virtual technology applied in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results provide theoretical contributions and practical implications for technology improvement, tourism marketing, and virtual tourism development

Relationship of parental characteristics and feeding practices to overweight in infants and young children in Beijing, China

Background: Childhood obesity has become a major public health problem in many countries. To explore the risk factors of overweight in infants and young children might be helpful in developing an early overweight intervention strategy. Objective: To assess the prevalence of overweight and the relationship of parental characteristics and feeding practices to overweight in infants and young children in Beijing, China. Design: Data on weight and length/height were collected on 4654 children aged 1–35 months in twelve communities in Beijing from a cross-sectional study. Overweight was defined as weight-for-length/height $2SD above the median of the WHO reference. Two hundred and fifteen families with overweight children and 215 families with normal-weight children were interviewed using a questionnaire to obtain feeding practices. Results: The overall prevalence of overweight was 4?7%. Both parental overweight and low parental education were significantly higher among overweight than normal-weight children. The total energy intake was significantly higher in overweight than in normal-weight children at 12–35 months of age. Compared with normal-weight children, significantly fewer overweight children were breastfed for at least 4 months. Overweight children were also more likely to have been introduced to infant formula and semi-solid foods during the first 4 months. Conclusion: Early prevention strategies should include feeding practices identified as putting children at risk of obesity. These include early cessation of breast-feeding and premature introduction of other foods

Relationship of parental characteristics and feeding practices to overweight in infants and young children in Beijing, China

<p>Overweight parents with low education were more likely to have overweight children (under 3 years old) in Beijing study. Breastfeeding for at least 4 months was protective, especially when formula and solid foods were not given at the same time. </p