Yao-dong as a Spiritual Shelter for the Young Peasants

A yao-dong is a vernacular architecture in northern China. “Dong” means a cave. A cave is one of the earliest human shelters. In thousand years of Chinese history, caves evolved into yao-dongs. A yao-dong is the spiritual shelter for the elderly. They live in the yellow soil, eat what is planted from the soil, and call themselves sons and daughters of yellow. But for the people unfamiliar with them, yao-dongs may be just caves or even slums. This thesis aims to demonstrate that the problem is much more complex than the association of the yao-dong with poverty. Every year 90 thousand natural villages disappear, including yao-dong villages. More importantly, culture disappears at a fast rate, as China urgently seeks to synchronize itself with the contemporary world and time. Through the investigation of yao-dongs, the thesis posits that the contemporary crisis is related to the growing inability to ground experiences and memories. Through field research, I investigated yao-dongs’ geography, culture and construction to better understand what living inside a yao-dong may feel like. I conclude by suggesting a design that can provide a simple and poetic life for young peasants

GBG++: A Fast and Stable Granular Ball Generation Method for Classification

Granular ball computing (GBC), as an efficient, robust, and scalable learning method, has become a popular research topic of granular computing. GBC includes two stages: granular ball generation (GBG) and multi-granularity learning based on the granular ball (GB). However, the stability and efficiency of existing GBG methods need to be further improved due to their strong dependence on $k$-means or $k$-division. In addition, GB-based classifiers only unilaterally consider the GB's geometric characteristics to construct classification rules, but the GB's quality is ignored. Therefore, in this paper, based on the attention mechanism, a fast and stable GBG (GBG++) method is proposed first. Specifically, the proposed GBG++ method only needs to calculate the distances from the data-driven center to the undivided samples when splitting each GB instead of randomly selecting the center and calculating the distances between it and all samples. Moreover, an outlier detection method is introduced to identify local outliers. Consequently, the GBG++ method can significantly improve effectiveness, robustness, and efficiency while being absolutely stable. Second, considering the influence of the sample size within the GB on the GB's quality, based on the GBG++ method, an improved GB-based $k$-nearest neighbors algorithm (GB$k$NN++) is presented, which can reduce misclassification at the class boundary. Finally, the experimental results indicate that the proposed method outperforms several existing GB-based classifiers and classical machine learning classifiers on $24$ public benchmark datasets

The Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Anxiety and Depression Among Working-Age Adults in Mainland China at the Early Remission Stage of the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic

Background: The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has led to a considerable proportion of adverse psychological symptoms in different subpopulations. This study aimed to investigate the status of anxiety and depression and their associated factors in the adult, working-age population in Mainland China at the early remission stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An online study was conducted among 1,863 participants in 29 provinces in Mainland China from March 23 to 31, 2020. Their mental health was evaluated by the generalized anxiety disorder scale (GAD-7) and the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Descriptive analysis, Chi-square, and multiple logistic regressions were applied. Results: About 44.5% of the participants had anxiety, 49.2% had depression, and 37.9% showed a combination of depression and anxiety. Around 83.7% of the participants claimed that the pandemic had a negative impact on their medical needs, which was the primary predictor of mental health, the degree of impact being positively related to the prevalence of anxiety and depression. More chronic diseases, moderate to bad self-rated health, severe perceived infection risk, and younger age group were the common risk factors for anxiety and depression. Having no children, unemployment, and a college-level educational background were associated with higher anxiety prevalence, whereas unmarried participants were correlated with higher depression prevalence. Conclusion: The working-age population showed a relatively high risk of anxiety and depression in Mainland China at the early remission stage of the pandemic. To improve medical services capacity for routine and delayed medical service needs should be a part of policy-makers\u27 priority agenda during this period of crisis

Pedigree-based QTL analysis of flower size traits in two multi-parental diploid rose populations

Rose (Rosa spp.) is one of the most economically important ornamental species worldwide. Flower diameter, flower weight, and the number of petals and petaloids are key flower-size parameters and attractive targets for DNA-informed breeding. Pedigree-based analysis (PBA) using FlexQTL software was conducted using two sets of multi-parental diploid rose populations. Phenotypic data for flower diameter (Diam), flower weight (fresh (FWT)/dry (DWT)), number of petals (NP), and number of petaloids (PD) were collected over six environments (seasons) at two locations in Texas. The objectives of this study were to 1) identify new and/or validate previously reported QTL(s); 2) identify SNP haplotypes associated with QTL alleles (Q-/q-) of a trait and their sources; and 3) determine QTL genotypes for important rose breeding parents. Several new and previously reported QTLs for NP and Diam traits were identified. In addition, QTLs associated with flower weight and PD were identified for the first time. Two major QTLs with large effects were mapped for all traits. The first QTL was at the distal end of LG1 (60.44–60.95 Mbp) and was associated with Diam and DWT in the TX2WOB populations. The second QTL was consistently mapped in the middle region on LG3 (30.15–39.34 Mbp) and associated with NP, PD, and flower weight across two multi-parent populations (TX2WOB and TX2WSE). Haplotype results revealed a series of QTL alleles with differing effects at important loci for most traits. This work is distinct from previous studies by conducting co-factor analysis to account for the DOUBLE FLOWER locus while mapping QTL for NP. Sources of high-value (Q) alleles were identified, namely, ‘Old Blush’ and Rosa wichuraiana from J14-3 for Diam, while ‘Violette’ and PP-J14-3 were sources for other traits. In addition, the source of the low-value (q) alleles for Diam was ‘Little Chief’, and Rosa wichuraiana through J14-3 was the source for the remaining traits. Hence, our results can potentially inform parental/seedling selections as means to improve ornamental quality in roses and a step towards implementing DNA-informed techniques for use in rose breeding programs

The Distribution Model and Spatial Structure of Market Towns in the Pearl River Delta during the Ming, Qing, and Min-Guo Periods: A Case Study of Taishan County

Previous studies have clarified that there are certain regularities in the spatial organization of traditional Chinese rural market towns as viewed from the perspective of the economic geography and local society. Nevertheless, the results of some studies concerning distribution patterns and factors influencing these patterns are contradictory, and there are few comprehensive analyses of the influence of interconnected variables. Taishan County in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province is used as an example, and the results of the identification of the distribution pattern of market towns within this county are determined as clustered by using the Voronoi method and the calculated coefficients of variation (Cv). The correlation between the market towns and the physical and social environment is quantified and illustrated through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), logistic regression analysis, and graphic methods, and the application of nuclear density change rates clarifies the development trajectory, which explains the phenomenon of market town clustering with ecological and cultural significance. Overall, the results indicate traditional preferences for sites characterized by low elevation, little slope, proximity to water, and productive agricultural land, while at the local scale, the spatial–temporal arrangement of market towns reflects partitioning and interactions between distinct clans. Further integrating the perspective of environmental history, we propose that the structural relationships of natural ecology, subsistence mode, and social organization crucially constitute the site selection and layout logic of market towns

Experimental and Numerical Study on Fracture Characteristics of Interface between In Situ Engineered Cementitious Composites and Steel Deck

In this study, engineered cementitious composite (ECC) is used as the pavement of orthotropic steel deck bridge and an epoxy adhesive is used to achieve wet-bonding between the steel deck and cast-in-place ECC. To investigate the fracture properties of bimaterial interface, the double cantilever beam (DCB) and 4-point end notched flexure (4ENF) specimens were used to obtain the fracture toughness, and virtual crack closure technology (VCCT) was used to calculate the energy release rates. A mixed fracture criterion was also established based on the blister test in this study. In addition, for the phenomena of water accumulation in the interface cracks, the hydrodynamic pressure under load was evaluated with a two-way fluid-solid coupling model and the propagation mechanism of cracks at the water-bearing interface was explored. The results showed that the energy release rates at the crack front showed obvious nonuniform distribution characteristics. The blister test indicated that a mixed fracture was in good agreement with the linear fracture criterion. The fracture effect produced by the hydrodynamic pressure of the interfacial water-bearing crack was far less than the fracture toughness of the interface, which indicated that the hydrodynamic pressure could hardly destroy the interface at one time but might cause the erosion fatigue damage of the interface