Ensuring the authenticity of the conservation and reuse of modern industrial heritage architecture: a case study of the large machine factory, China

The Large Machine Factory (LMF) was built in the complex historical context of the late Qing Dynasty (1840–1912). Its space and construction faithfully record the architectural and cultural fusion between Chinese and western traditions and mark the beginning of modern architectural techniques in China. Through historical data and empirical studies, the historical background and architectural characteristics of the LMF were analyzed, and interventions aimed at ensuring authenticity were established. The cultural significance and results of construction were considered two crucial elements in terms of outstanding characteristics. Comprehensive inspection and assessment strategies were discussed, with minimal intervention and interpretation principles. Preventive reinforcement of the foundation, complementary reinforcement of the main structures, restoration of the historic façade and environment, and adaptive spatial interventions were found to be effective ways to ensure authenticity. The principles of minimal intervention and interpretability, which include prevention, recognizability, invisibility, subsidiarity, and intertextuality, were proposed through a comparison with the literature and practical experience. This study provides an appropriate technical reference for ensuring authenticity in the conservation and reuse of modern historic buildings with complex contexts. We propose a new understanding of intervention principles and suggest a guiding intervention path that avoids the complexities arising from the generalized interpretations of authenticity.Postprint (published version

How electronic word of mouth dynamically influences product sales and supplies: an evidence from China film industry

As an important part of e-commerce, online reviews play a significant role in consumers’ purchase decisions. This study investigated the dynamic effects of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and the number of people wishing to watch a movie on movie sales and supplies in the Chinese movie market. Using a dynamic simultaneous equation system and data of 76 films, this study analyzed the interrelationships between eWOM and movie sales and supplies. Our findings showed that both the volume and valence of eWOM affected movie sales and supplies significantly. The number of people who wanted to watch a movie had an opposite effect on movie sales and supply; eWOM volume had a positive impact on movie sales and supplies; and eWOM valence had a negative impact on movie sales and a positive impact on movie supplies. The number of people who wish to watch a movie was another important variable for movie sales and supplies, and it had a negative impact on the daily movie sales but a positive impact on the daily movie supplies. This study provided a detailed explanation of these results and thus contributed to improving the efficiency of movie suppliers’ utilization of online reviews

Dependence on Mountains and Water: Local Characteristics and Regeneration Patterns of Rural Industrial Heritage in China

In most Chinese villages, mountains and water are essential resources for human life, which residents have established close connections with through subsistence and production activities. These connections involve geographical, functional, and spiritual effects, which create the unique cultural identity of a place. As a kind of rural heritage, rural industrial heritage is a concrete result of the interaction between local activities and mountains and water, thus presenting specific local characteristics. The conservation and re-use of rural heritage have become an important issue in global rural studies. Different cases that have been transformed and re-used are analyzed in this paper, in order to explore the influence of mountains and water on their local characteristics, the effects on their conservation and re-use in both spiritual and functional aspects, and suitable regeneration patterns based on local characteristics. Comparative analysis of 3D maps, diagrams, and literature materials indicate that: (1) mountains and water dominate rural industrial heritage geographical characteristics, including their layout, size, and form; (2) the direct or indirect supports of mountains and water, in terms of functional and spiritual aspects, have changed after regeneration, where spiritual supports are becoming increasingly important; and (3) regeneration patterns with different focuses represent new habitats combining natural and artificial landscapes, indicating new relationships that shift from the single utilization of mountain and water resources in the past to symbiosis and mutual benefits between residents, heritage, nature, and local communities in the modern context.This research was funded by National Natural Science Foundations of China [grant numbers: 51878143 and 52178005].Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats SosteniblesPostprint (published version

Numerical Study on Reasonable Entry Layout of Lower Seam in Multi-seam Mining

Abstract: According to the geological conditions of 6# coal seam and 8# coal seam in Xieqiao Coal Mine, reasonable entry layout of lower seam in multi-seam mining has been studied by FLAC3D numerical simulation. Three ways of entry layout including alternate internal entry layout, alternate exterior entry layout and overlapping entry layout has been put forward for discussing on reasonable entry layout. Then stress distribution and displacement characteristics of surrounding rock have been analyzed in the three ways of entry layout by numerical simulation, leading to the conclusion that alternate internal entry layout pattern, which make the entry located in stress reduce zone and avoid the influence of abutment pressure of upper coal seam mining to a certain extent, is a better choice for multi-seam mining. The research results herein can offer beneficial reference for entry layout with similar geological conditions in multi-seam minin

DNA vaccination with a gene encoding Toxoplasma gondii Deoxyribose Phosphate Aldolase (TgDPA) induces partial protective immunity against lethal challenge in mice

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes a pathological status known as toxoplasmosis, which has a huge impact on human and animal health. Currently, the main control strategy depends on the usage of drugs that target the acute stage of the infection, however, drawbacks were encountered while applying this method; therefore, development of an alternative effective method would be important progress. Deoxyribose Phosphate Aldolase (TgDPA) plays an important role supporting cell invasion and providing energy for the parasite. METHODS: TgDPA was expressed in Escherichia coli and the purified recombinant protein was used to immunize rats. The antibodies obtained were used to verify in vitro expression of TgDPA. The vector pVAX1 was utilized to formulate a DNA vaccine designated as pTgDPA, which was used to evaluate the immunological changes and the level of protection against challenge with the virulent RH strain of T. gondii. RESULTS: DNA vaccine, TgDPA revealed that it can induce a strong humoral as well as cellular mediated response in mice. These responses were a contribution of T(H)1, T(H)2 and T(H)17 type of responses. Following challenge, mice immunized with TgDPA showed longer survival rates than did those in control groups. CONCLUSIONS: Further investigation regarding TgDPA is required to shed more light on its immunogenicity and its possible selection as a vaccine candidate

Photonic Floquet skin-topological effect

Non-Hermitian skin effect and photonic topological edge states are of great interest in non-Hermitian physics and optics. However, the interplay between them is largly unexplored. Here, we propose and demonstrate experimentally the non-Hermitian skin effect that constructed from the nonreciprocal flow of Floquet topological edge states, which can be dubbed 'Floquet skin-topological effect'. We first show the non-Hermitian skin effect can be induced by pure loss when the one-dimensional (1D) system is periodically driven. Next, based on a two-dimensional (2D) Floquet topological photonic lattice with structured loss, we investigate the interaction between the non-Hermiticity and the topological edge states. We observe that all the one-way edge states are imposed onto specific corners, featuring both the non-Hermitian skin effect and topological edge states. Furthermore, a topological switch for the skin-topological effect is presented by utilizing the gap-closing mechanism. Our experiment paves the way of realizing non-Hermitian topological effects in nonlinear and quantum regimes

Association of autoimmune and allergic diseases with senile cataract: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study

BackgroundMany observational studies have been reported that patients with autoimmune or allergic diseases seem to have a higher risk of developing senile cataract, but the views are not consistent. In order to minimize the influence of reverse causality and potential confounding factors, we performed Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the genetic causal associations between autoimmune, allergic diseases and senile cataract.MethodsSingle nucleotide polymorphisms associated with ten common autoimmune and allergic diseases were obtained from the IEU Open genome-wide association studies (GWAS) database. Summary-level GWAS statistics for clinically diagnosed senile cataract were obtained from the FinnGen research project GWAS, which consisted of 59,522 individuals with senile cataracts and 312,864 control individuals. MR analysis was conducted using mainly inverse variance weighted (IVW) method and further sensitivity analysis was performed to test robustness.ResultsAs for ten diseases, IVW results confirmed that type 1 diabetes (OR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.05-1.08; p = 2.24×10-12), rheumatoid arthritis (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.02-1.08; p = 1.83×10-4), hypothyroidism (OR = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.42-4.06; p = 1.12×10-3), systemic lupus erythematosus (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 1.01-1.03; p = 2.27×10-3), asthma (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 1.01-1.03; p = 1.2×10-3) and allergic rhinitis (OR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.02-1.11; p = 2.15×10-3) were correlated with the risk of senile cataract. Celiac disease (OR = 1.04; 95% CI = 1.01-1.08; P = 0.0437) and atopic dermatitis (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 1.01-1.10; P = 0.0426) exhibited a suggestive connection with senile cataract after Bonferroni correction. These associations are consistent across weighted median and MR Egger methods, with similar causal estimates in direction and magnitude. Sensitivity analysis further proved that these associations were reliable.ConclusionsThe results of the MR analysis showed that there were causal relationships between type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, systemic lupus erythematosus, asthma, allergic rhinitis and senile cataract. To clarify the possible role of autoimmune and allergy in the pathophysiology of senile cataract, further studies are needed

Isoflurane-Induced Spatial Memory Impairment in Mice is Prevented by the Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor Donepezil

Although many studies have shown that isoflurane exposure impairs spatial memory in aged animals, there are no clinical treatments available to prevent this memory deficit. The anticholinergic properties of volatile anesthetics are a biologically plausible cause of cognitive dysfunction in elderly subjects. We hypothesized that pretreatment with the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor donepezil, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, prevents isoflurane-induced spatial memory impairment in aged mice. In present study, eighteen-month-old mice were administered donepezil (5 mg/kg) or an equal volume of saline by oral gavage with a feeding needle for four weeks. Then the mice were exposed to isoflurane (1.2%) for six hours. Two weeks later, mice were subjected to the Morris water maze to examine the impairment of spatial memory after exposure to isoflurane. After the behavioral test, the mice were sacrificed, and the protein expression level of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), choline acetylase (ChAT) and α7 nicotinic receptor (α7-nAChR) were measured in the brain. Each group consisted of 12 mice. We found that isoflurane exposure for six hours impaired the spatial memory of the mice. Compared with the control group, isoflurane exposure dramatically decreased the protein level of ChAT, but not AChE or α7-nAChR. Donepezil prevented isoflurane-induced spatial memory impairments and increased ChAT levels, which were downregulated by isoflurane. In conclusions, pretreatment with the AChE inhibitor donepezil prevented isoflurane-induced spatial memory impairment in aged mice. The mechanism was associated with the upregulation of ChAT, which was decreased by isoflurane