Research on the Activation of Urban Leftover Space Based on Spatial Narrative

In the history of city development, the utilization of space has been thought of as a key factor in urban planning. With the expansion of urban development, land was compressed and occupied. However, due to the separation of architectural design and urban planning in the early years, and the non-static nature of space, the city has appeared to be a kind of "leftover" spaces. Many of these spaces are low usage and long-term idle, as well as spaces that lack emotional connections. They are characterized by the fragmentation of urban spatial units, the strengthening of spatial divisions, the weakening of spatial connections and the decline in the overall spatial function. This study explores approaches to optimizing the leftover space in the Is Mirrionis neighborhood of Cagliari. Firstly, based on literature review and fieldwork, the author identifies the leftover spaces and summarizes the causes for their formation in different scenarios and the corresponding influencing factors. After continuous spatial exploration and resident interaction, it is proposed to further develop and improve the spaces in the neighborhood by using the behavioral activities as a clue to the leftover spaces in the scenes associated with the spatial narrative, offering a series of design concepts that operate and reconnect these neglected potential areas and try to solve the problem of idle spaces. Finally, subsequent research aspects and potential areas of development for the design concept are also being discussed. The contribution of the present research involves (i) the identification of the vacancy status of the leftover spaces, which provides a reliable theoretical basis for subsequent spatial optimization. (ii) The redefinition of the identities of the people involved in the study, using the " co-narrators" as an entry point to establish connections between areas, rather than just the original fixed identities of designer and user. (iii) Thematic storytelling is used to try to guide and transform the leftover state of the space, thereby increasing the vitality and use of the space in the old neighborhood

S3C: Semi-Supervised VQA Natural Language Explanation via Self-Critical Learning

VQA Natural Language Explanation (VQA-NLE) task aims to explain the decision-making process of VQA models in natural language. Unlike traditional attention or gradient analysis, free-text rationales can be easier to understand and gain users' trust. Existing methods mostly use post-hoc or self-rationalization models to obtain a plausible explanation. However, these frameworks are bottlenecked by the following challenges: 1) the reasoning process cannot be faithfully responded to and suffer from the problem of logical inconsistency. 2) Human-annotated explanations are expensive and time-consuming to collect. In this paper, we propose a new Semi-Supervised VQA-NLE via Self-Critical Learning (S3C), which evaluates the candidate explanations by answering rewards to improve the logical consistency between answers and rationales. With a semi-supervised learning framework, the S3C can benefit from a tremendous amount of samples without human-annotated explanations. A large number of automatic measures and human evaluations all show the effectiveness of our method. Meanwhile, the framework achieves a new state-of-the-art performance on the two VQA-NLE datasets.Comment: CVPR202

One-pot synthesis of 2-alkyl cycloketones on bifunctional Pd/ZrO₂ catalyst

2-Alkyl cycloketones are essential chemicals and intermediates for synthetic perfumes and pesticides, which are conventionally produced by multistep process including aldol condensation, separation and hydrogenation. In present work, a batch one-pot cascade approach using aldehydes and cycloketones as the raw materials, and a bifunctional Pd/ZrO2 catalyst was developed for the synthesis of 2-alkyl cycloketones, e.g., cyclohexanone and cycloheptanone. Very high aldehydes (except for paraldehyde with large steric hindrance) conversion and high yields for 2-alkyl cycloketones (e.g., 99 % of conversion for n-butanal and 76 wt.% of yield for 2-butyl cyclohexanone) were obtained at mild temperature of 140 °C. After 10 cycles of reuse, Pd/ZrO2 catalyst showed slight deactivation (ca. 5 % conversion and 10 % yield losses), due to the coke on the catalyst. However, the performance of the catalyst was completely recovered after an oxidative regeneration

Vascular endothelial growth factor and the risk of venous thromboembolism: A genetic correlation and two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Background: The relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has always been one of the concerns in the medical field. However, the causal inferences from published observational studies on this issue may be affected by confounders or reverse causality. We performed a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) to infer the associations between VEGF and VTE. Methods: Summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for VEGF and VTE were obtained from published meta-analysis studies and the FinnGen consortium, respectively. Independent genetic variables significantly associated with exposure were selected as instrumental variables. Linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) and five robust MR analytical approaches were conducted to estimate the genetic correlations and causal inference. The MR-Egger intercept, Cochran’s Q, and MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) were performed to evaluate the horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneities, and stability of these genetic variants on outcomes. Notably, replication analyses were performed using different subgroups of VTE. Results: LDSC failed to identify genetic correlations between VEGF and VTE. Based on 9 SNPs, the circulating VEGF level was positively related to the risk of VTE using inverse variance weighting (IVW) method (odds ratio (OR) = 1.064, 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.009 – 1.122). Reverse MR analyses showed that genetic liability for VTE was not associated with increased VEGF level (β = -0.021, 95 % CI, -0.087-0.045). Pleiotropy-robust methods indicated no bias in any estimates. Conclusions: Our findings failed to detect coheritability between VEGF and VTE. The suggestive positive effect of the higher VEGF level on the VTE risk may have clinical implications, suggesting that VEGF as a possible predictor and therapeutic target for VTE prevention need to be further warranted

Associations between perioperative sleep patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with intracranial tumors: a correlation study

ObjectiveAlthough the quality of perioperative sleep is gaining increasing attention in clinical recovery, its impact role remains unknown and may deserve further exploration. This study aimed to investigate the associations between perioperative sleep patterns and clinical outcomes among patients with intracranial tumors.MethodsA correlation study was conducted in patients with intracranial tumors. Perioperative sleep patterns were assessed using a dedicated sleep monitor for 6 consecutive days. Clinical outcomes were gained through medical records and follow-up. Spearman's correlation coefficient and multiple linear regression analysis were applied to evaluate the associations between perioperative sleep patterns and clinical outcomes.ResultsOf 110 patients, 48 (43.6%) were men, with a median age of 57 years. A total of 618 days of data on perioperative sleep patterns were collected and analyzed. Multiple linear regression models revealed that the preoperative blood glucose was positively related to the preoperative frequency of awakenings (β = 0.125; 95% CI = 0.029–0.221; P = 0.011). The level of post-operative nausea and vomiting was negatively related to perioperative deep sleep time (β = −0.015; 95% CI = −0.027–−0.003; P = 0.015). The level of anxiety and depression was negatively related to perioperative deep sleep time, respectively (β = −0.048; 95% CI = −0.089–0.008; P = 0.020, β = −0.041; 95% CI = −0.076–0.006; P = 0.021). The comprehensive complication index was positively related to the perioperative frequency of awakenings (β = 3.075; 95% CI = 1.080–5.070; P = 0.003). The post-operative length of stay was negatively related to perioperative deep sleep time (β = −0.067; 95% CI = −0.113–0.021; P = 0.005). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was positively related to perioperative sleep onset latency (β = 0.097; 95% CI = 0.044–0.150; P < 0.001) and negatively related to perioperative deep sleep time (β = −0.079; 95% CI = −0.122–0.035; P < 0.001).ConclusionPerioperative sleep patterns are associated with different clinical outcomes. Poor perioperative sleep quality, especially reduced deep sleep time, has a negative impact on clinical outcomes. Clinicians should, therefore, pay more attention to sleep quality and improve it during the perioperative period.Clinical trial registrationhttp://www.chictr.org.cn, identifier: ChiCTR2200059425

Spatial distribution of tuberculosis and its association with meteorological factors in mainland China

BACKGROUND: The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) remains high worldwide. Current strategies will not eradicate TB by 2035; instead, by 2182 is more likely. Therefore, it is urgent that new risk factors be identified. METHODS: An ecological study was conducted in 340 prefectures in China from 2005 to 2015. The spatial distribution of TB incidence was shown by clustering and hotspot analysis. The relationship between the distribution patterns and six meteorological factors was evaluated by the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. RESULTS: During the 11 years of the study period, TB incidence was persistently low in the east and high in the west. Local coefficients from the GWR model showed a positive correlation between TB incidence and yearly average rainfall (AR) but a negative correlation with other meteorological factors. Average relative humidity (ARH) was negatively correlated with the incidence of TB in all prefectures (p \u3c 0.05). CONCLUSION: Meteorological factors may play an important role in the prevention and control of TB