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As urban environments become increasingly complex and the costs and challenges of infrastructure upgrades continue to rise, wayfinding signage has become an effective solution to cope with urban dynamics due to its low cost and high flexibility. Although the functionality of wayfinding signage has been extensively studied, the perceptual differences between designers and non-designers have not been adequately explored. Ignoring these differences may lead to the overlooking of users' real and diverse needs, resulting in suboptimal signage performance in practical applications and ultimately a reduction in the overall functionality and user experience of urban spaces. This study aims to bridge this perceptual gap. For this study, we conducted a questionnaire survey in China to compare the visual preferences of designers and non-designers regarding text, shape, color coding, and patterns. The results indicate that designers prioritize functionality and clarity to ensure the effective use of signage in complex urban environments, whereas non-designers prefer wayfinding signages that reflect local cultural symbols and characteristics. Our conclusions suggest that the public's expectations for wayfinding signage extend beyond basic navigational functions, with an emphasis on cultural expression and visual appeal. Understanding these perceptual differences is crucial in developing design strategies that balance functionality, esthetics, and sustainability, thereby facilitating the sustainable integration of signage into urban landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global urbanization accelerates, the integration, readability, and connectivity of urban spaces are becoming focal points of international concern, particularly in rapidly developing regions like Asia. The inadequacies of urban wayfinding systems directly affect pedestrians' wayfinding experiences within city spaces. Pedestrian wayfinding signage, as a critical element supporting pedestrian navigation and urban readability, is often neglected in vehicle-centric urban planning. This study explores the visual preferences of pedestrians regarding wayfinding signage and how these perceptions can be incorporated into the design process. A photo-based survey consisting of 385 pedestrians in Nanning, China, reveals that while many wayfinding signs provide cognitive information, they score lower in visual preference due to poor sensory perception and difficulty in conveying meaning. This study also highlights that the material, color, graphics, and text on signage are key physical attributes influencing the visual preferences of pedestrians. Demographic factors such as age, gender, and professional background also impact these preferences. These findings underscore a broader urban design issue: wayfinding signs must not only clearly communicate navigational information but also enhance the aesthetic and cultural expressions of urban spaces. Current signage systems often neglect these aesthetic and cultural needs, potentially leading to visual fatigue or cultural disconnection, thereby affecting navigation efficiency and urban experience. The results provide empirical foundations for optimizing wayfinding signage designs in urban areas, aiding urban planners and designers in integrating pedestrian preferences to create clearer, more attractive navigation systems, thus improving walking experiences and significantly enhancing the daily lives of city residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain-type glycogen phosphorylase (pygb) is one of the rate-limiting enzymes in glycogenolysis that plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Here we investigated the role of pygb in high-glucose (HG)-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and explored the underlying mechanisms, by using the specific pygb inhibitors or pygb siRNA. Our results show that inhibition of pygb significantly attenuates cell apoptosis and oxidative stress induced by HG in H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Inhibition of pygb improved glucose metabolism in cardiacmyocytes, as evidenced by increased glycogen content, glucose consumption, and glucose transport. Mechanistically, pygb inhibition activates the Akt-GSK-3p signaling pathway and suppresses the activation of NF-KB in H9c2 cells exposed to HG. Additionally, pygb inhibition promotes the expression and the translocation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1[alpha]) after HG stimulation. However, the changes in glucose metabolism and HIF-1[alpha] activation mediated by pygb inhibition are significantly reversed in the presence of the Akt inhibitor MK2206. In conclusion, this study found that inhibition of pygb prevents HG-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis via activation of Akt-HIF-[alpha]. Key words: pygb, high glucose, cardiomyocytes, Akt, HIF-1[alpha]. La glycogene phosphorylase de type cerebral (pygb) est l'une des enzymes cinetiquement limitantes de la glycogenolyse qui joue un role cle dans la pathogenese du diabete sucre de type 2. Les auteurs ont examine ici le role de la pygb dans l'apoptose des cardiomyocytes induite par un taux de glucose eleve (TGE), et explore les mecanismes sous-jacents en utilisant des inhibiteurs specifiques de la pygb ou des ARNsi de la pygb. Les resultats ont montre que l'inhibition de la pygb attenuait significativement l'apoptose et le stress oxydant induits par un TGE chez les cardiomyocytes H9c2. L'inhibition de la pygb ameliorait le metabolisme du glucose chez les cardiomyocytes comme le demontrait l'accroissement du contenu en glycogene, de la consommation de glucose et du transport de glucose. Du point de vue du mecanisme, l'inhibition de la pygb activait la voie de signalisation Akt-GSK-3E et reprimait l'activation du NF-KB chez les cellules H9c2 exposees a un TGE. De plus, l'inhibition de la pybg favorisait l'expression et la translocation du facteur inductible par l'hypoxie HIF-1[alpha] (hypoxia-inducible factor-la) a la suite d'une stimulation par un TGE. Toutefois, les changements observes dans le metabolisme du glucose et l'activation de HIF-1[alpha] medies par l'inhibition de pygb etaient significativement renverses en presence de l'inhibiteur d'Akt, le MK2206. En conclusion, la presente etude suggere que l'inhibition de la pygb previent l'apoptose des cardiomyocytes induite par un TGE par l'activation de Akt-HIF-1[alpha]. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: pygb, taux de glucose eleve, cardiomyocytes, Akt, HIF-1[alpha]., Introduction Cardiovascular disease and its complications are primary causes of morbidity and mortality, especially in patients with diabetes mellitus (Mazzone 2010). Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is characterized by impaired cardiac contractility [...]

Traditional Chinese buildings serve as a carrier for the inheritance of traditional culture and national characteristics. In the context of rural revitalization, achieving the 3D reconstruction of traditional village buildings is a crucial technical approach to promoting rural planning, improving living environments, and establishing digital villages. However, traditional algorithms primarily target urban buildings, exhibiting limited adaptability and less ideal feature extraction performance for traditional residential buildings. As a result, guaranteeing the accuracy and reliability of 3D models for different types of traditional buildings remains challenging. In this paper, taking Jingping Village in Western Hunan as an example, we propose a method that combines multiple algorithms based on the slope segmentation of the roof to extract feature lines. Firstly, the VDVI and CSF algorithms are used to extract the building and roof point clouds based on the MVS point cloud. Secondly, according to roof features, village buildings are classified, and a 3D roof point cloud is projected into 2D regular grid data. Finally, the roof slope is segmented via slope direction, and internal and external feature lines are obtained after refinement through Canny edge detection and Hough straight line detection. The results indicate that the CSF algorithm can effectively extract the roofs of I-shaped, L-shaped, and U-shaped traditional buildings. The accuracy of roof surface segmentation based on slope exceeds 99.6%, which is significantly better than the RANSAC algorithm and the region segmentation algorithm. This method is capable of efficiently extracting the characteristic lines of roofs in low-rise buildings within traditional villages. It provides a reference method for achieving the high-precision modeling of traditional village architecture at a low cost and with high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating the relationship between the glass-forming ability (GFA), mechanical properties, and structure of metallic glasses is crucial to understanding the nature of the metallic glass state. In this study, the correlation among the atomic structure, electronic valence band, and properties have been studied using Zr50Cu44.5−xAl5.5Agx (x = 0, 1.5, 3 at.%) bulk metallic glasses (BMGs). The results reveal that through the micro-addition of Ag, the GFA of Zr50Cu44.5Al5.5 BMG can be enhanced; meanwhile, the critical diameter of Zr50Cu44.5Al5.5 glass rods increases from approximately 2.5 mm to 5.0 mm with the addition of 3% Ag. Through the addition of Ag, the thermal stability of Zr50Cu44.5Al5.5 BMG is improved, and the proportion of icosahedral-like clusters increases. The plasticity of the Zr50Cu44.5−xAl5.5Agx (x = 0, 1.5, 3 at.%) BMGs decreased from 4.6% to 0.8% with the addition of Ag. The valence band spectrum of the Zr50Cu44.5−xAl5.5Agx (x = 0, 1.5, 3 at.%) BMGs indicates that with the addition of Ag, the p-d hybridization near the Fermi level is enhanced, and the binding energy will move to a lower value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have demonstrated CO2 absorption by soils in arid regions, where the absorbed CO2 is conjectured to be finally sequestrated in the "subterranean ocean"—groundwater. This study compares environmental controls of ocean CO2 concentration (surface ocean pCO2) and quasi-ocean CO2 concentration (deep-soil pCO2). We aim to explore the latent relationship, both linear and nonlinear between the environmental variables, and CO2 concentration, utilizing two intelligent algorithms—the partial least linear regression (PLSR) algorithm and the artificial neural network (ANN) algorithm. For quasi-ocean CO2 concentration, RPD <1.4 and R2 <40%. While for ocean CO2 concentration, RPD >1.4 and R2 is 99.7%. Linear relationships between the considered environmental controls and ocean CO2 concentration are proved; however, there is no evident relationship between most of the considered environmental controls and quasi-ocean CO2 concentration. Groundwater level is proved to be a relatively important environmental control on the quasi-ocean CO2 concentration, suggesting groundwater discharge/recharge as a significant modulator of soil CO2 absorption in arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Thyroid carcinoma (THCA) is one of the most common endocrine tumours with high morbidity worldwide. Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is the most fatal and has the poorest prognosis of the four THCA types, as it lacks effective treatments. Early screening of ATC is problematic and so identifying ATC biomarkers is increasingly crucial., Methods: We performed a systematic search of the thyroid transcriptome in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and an integrative analysis of gene expression profiles. Moreover, we conducted a pathway enrichment analysis in ATC using the WEB-based GEne SeT AnaLysis Toolkit. We identified the intersections of all the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ATC and normal samples and DEGs between ATC and non-ATC samples in the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins (STRING). Finally, we used Cytoscape software to visualize the protein-protein interaction (PPI) network., Results: Six gene expression datasets containing 131 thyroid cancer samples and 98 normal control samples were collected to identify the significant DEGs. A total of 1489 DEGs were identified between ATC and normal samples, and 522 DEGs between ATC and non-ATC samples. ATC showed a greater association with the cell cycle. The Principal component analysis (PCA) results revealed 222 genes with substantial contributions to the identification of ATC., Conclusion: Cell cycle plays a decisive role in the high mortality rate of ATC. TOP2A, NUSAP1, PBK, KIF15, CENPF, CEP55, CDK1, CCNB2, CDCA8 and CDC20 were identified as hub genes.