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With rapid economic growth since the 21st century, cities in China have experienced considerable economic and social reconstruction. Driven by rapid industrialization, urban spatial structures are undergoing evolution and change. Therefore, this paper analyzes the processes and mechanisms associated with the evolution of the commercial spatial structure in Guangzhou after the financial crisis in 2008 based on both theoretical and empirical analyses. We use a Dirichlet multinomial regression (DMR) model to extract latent semantic information and determine urban functional areas from global positioning system (GPS) and point-of-interest (POI) data collected in Guangzhou in 2009 and 2013. In addition, we use movement patterns and POI data to identify the evolution of Guangzhou's commercial zones from 2009 to 2013. The results show that the urban commercial structure in Guangzhou gradually changed from a single-center model to a multi-center model with dispersed clusters and that the distribution of the entire spatial structure changed. Meanwhile, Guangzhou’s commercial structure not only varied over time but also exhibited specific geographical features. This paper demonstrates that the proposed method can clearly identify the boundary of the commercial area in Guangzhou and provides a valid spatial-temporal model of change in the city. Moreover, this study not only expounds the future development trends of the urban spatial structure in Guangzhou from a microcosmic perspective but also provides a scientific basis for clarifying the spatial locations and development advantages of urban functions within the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have investigated the distribution of sexual orientation among Chinese university students and identified the socio-demographic factors associated with sexual orientation. For the present study, we administered a paper-based, 5-point, self-report, sexual orientation scale to a stratified, random sample of 9071 undergraduates across all 10 universities in Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou, China. Multivariable ordinal regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between demographic factors and sexual orientation. A total of 8320 respondents completed the survey. Of 8182 valid respondents, 80.6% self-reported as exclusively heterosexual, 12.6% self-reported as mostly heterosexual, 5.4% self-reported as bisexual, 0.7% self-reported as mostly homosexual, and 0.8% self-reported as exclusively homosexual. About one fifth of male students and one fourth of female students reported some degree of divergence from exclusive heterosexuality. This indicates that in China there are a large number of university students who are potentially involved in same-sex sexual attraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the Metro network in China, the greatly increased route alternatives make passengers’ route choice behavior and passenger flow assignment more complicated, which presents challenges to the operation management. In this paper, a path sized logit model is adopted to analyze passengers’ route choice preferences considering such parameters as in-vehicle time, number of transfers, and transfer time. Moreover, the “perceived transfer threshold” is defined and included in the utility function to reflect the penalty difference caused by transfer time on passengers’ perceived utility under various numbers of transfers. Next, based on the revealed preference data collected in the Guangzhou Metro, the proposed model is calibrated. The appropriate perceived transfer threshold value and the route choice preferences are analyzed. Finally, the model is applied to a personalized route planning case to demonstrate the engineering practicability of route choice behavior analysis. The results show that the introduction of the perceived transfer threshold is helpful to improve the model’s explanatory abilities. In addition, personalized route planning based on route choice preferences can meet passengers’ diversified travel demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]