A critical analysis of local and global cultural factors in graphic wayfinding design: a case study of Beijing

The main intentions of this thesis are to analyse and explain changes in the function and graphic components of Beijing s wayfinding systems and to explain how the systems construct multiple cultural and political identities at different historical periods and in changing local/global contexts. In the thesis, the oversimplified one-way theory of the global-local dichotomy, in which the global power of the West is overwhelming and constantly dominant, and the local system of non-Western countries is passive and fragile, is challenged. Instead, this thesis seeks to examine the interactivity and correlation of the local and the global from two perspectives: mobility and reversibility. Looking at mobility is to consider the local and global and their nexus as different interconnections and networks that are constantly and unevenly changing. Reversibility, with which this thesis is most concerned, deals primarily with the reversible relationship of the local and global, namely, that either the local or the global can be dominant. This point is well illustrated by the evolution of Beijing s graphic wayfinding systems function and appearance. Beijing, as the capital of China, has undergone a radical transformation from the fall of the last Empire Qing (1912) to the establishment of the People s Republic of China (1949). The meaning of Beijing varies in accordance with the changes in its political and social structures. There have been five phases in Beijing s development: a well-planned imperial city; a capital city with a republican spirit; a totally industrialised but relatively isolated capital of a socialist country; an open and modernised Chinese-style socialist city; and a cosmopolitan city. In the course of this metamorphosis, what took place was a series of collisions, exchanges, fusions, and re-collisions between local power and global power. Along with the immense changes in Beijing, the role and appearance of the graphic wayfinding systems have also changed, especially those of road signs and doorplates, whose roles have been transformed from that of initial household register to orientation reference, to effective propaganda tool, and then on to the regeneration of a city. Finally, Beijing s graphic wayfinding design within its urban development has been reconfirmed as a useful instrument to support the new forms of visual narratives and consolidate the city brand of Beijing in the 21st century. This study probes into the political and cultural significances behind the changes of the graphic wayfinding systems of Beijing, as well as the interaction between the local and the global as reflected in the formation of these findings. The mutable and reversible relationship between the local and the global is illustrated and clarified through analysis and comparison of various functions and visual elements between Beijing s present graphic wayfinding systems and its early wayfinding signs, as well as decoding the different mainstream political or cultural ideologies that have deeply affected the function and design of Beijing graphic wayfinding systems at different periods

A Novel Metamaterial-Based Orthomode Transducer With Symmetric Port Parameters

This article presents a novel metamaterial-based orthomode transducer (Meta-OMT) with symmetric port parameters, surpassing those of conventional OMTs. Using the polarization modulation properties of metamaterials, this design achieves complete port symmetry, enabling all three ports to serve as input terminals for the OMT. By harnessing the high polarization selectivity of metamaterials, the isolation of cross-polarized signals is significantly enhanced. Within the operating frequency range of 9.4–10.6 GHz, this Meta-OMT achieves low insertion loss ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 dB and facilitates efficient signal transmission. Moreover, it exhibits exceptional isolation capabilities, with isolation levels exceeding 40 dB for both co-polarization and cross-polarization signals and reaching 50 dB in 80% of the operating frequency band

The EU and the Catalan Crisis

List of all differentially expressed proteins (n = 45) identified in the study. (XLSX 11 kb

Profiling Transcription and Retrotransposition of Mouse L1 Subfamilies

Transposable elements, also called jumping genes, comprise almost 45% of the human genome. In contrast, only 1% of the human genome is protein-coding sequences. The function and advantages of maintaining such massive copies of transposable elements in the human genome are still unclear. Long interspersed element 1 (L1), the most substantial group and the only active autonomous transposable element in the human genome, has revealed its unique roles in many diseases. The insertional mutagenesis induced by L1 retrotransposition events could threaten human genomic stability and generate unexpected mutations. L1 overexpression has been documented in both somatic and germline cells and, most prominently, across different cancer samples. A recent study in colorectal cancer samples by whole genome sequencing showed that L1 insertions could initiate tumorigenesis. Because of the many challenges to studying the L1 pathological impact on the human genome, an animal model is urgently needed. The high similarity between human and mouse L1s motivates us to have a comprehensive understanding of endogenous mouse L1 elements. A previous study estimated that over 3000 L1 elements are currently active in the mouse genome. Both open reading frames and functional internal promoters are required for successful retrotransposition events. To capture and understand L1 activity in the mouse genome, we utilized bioinformatics expertise to create a potential active L1 pool by filtering out any element not possessing intact ORFs or less than a 2- monomer length promoter. After cloning representative L1s directly from the mouse genome, we evaluated those L1s with both promoter and retrotransposition activity by our dual-luciferase reporter assay. In our study, we have demonstrated L1 elements transcriptional profiles across different young subfamilies. With our high throughput assay, we compared promoters’ expression across three different cell lines. Our study revealed that cellular environmental factors could significantly influence L1 expression levels. Our research also demonstrated that loci location, mutations, and incomplete monomer length are critical for transcription. Moreover, our data suggest that high promoter activity is essential, but not a determining factor for L1 retrotransposition activity. Our study extended current knowledge in L1 biology and provided many potential future directions for the study of L1

A5-02

The modern business district of Beijing where the red-white sign is installe

A1 red-white doorplate

A typical red-white enamel doorplate of Beijing (left); the front gate of a Beijing traditional one-storey <i>Siheyuan </i>residence<i>, </i>on which the red-white enamel doorplate is normally mounted (right

A7-01

Bilingual subway signage in Beijin