Removing data and using metafounders alleviates biases for all traits in Lacaune dairy sheep predictions

Bias in dairy genetic evaluations, when it exists, has to be understood and properly addressed. The origin of biases is not always clear. We analyzed 40 yr of records from the Lacaune dairy sheep breeding program to evaluate the extent of bias, assess possible corrections, and emit hypotheses on its origin. The data set included 7 traits (milk yield, fat and protein contents, somatic cell score, teat angle, udder cleft, and udder depth) with records from 600,000 to 5 million depending on the trait, ～1,900,000 animals, and ～5,900 genotyped elite artificial insemination rams. For the ～8% animals with missing sire, we fit 25 unknown parent groups. We used the linear regression method to compare “partial” and “whole” predictions of young rams before and after progeny testing, with 7 cut-off points, and we obtained estimates of their bias, (over)dispersion, and accuracy in early proofs. We tried (1) several scenarios as follows: multiple or single trait, the “official” (routine) evaluation, which is a mixture of both single and multiple trait, and “deletion” of data before 1990; and (2) several models as follows: BLUP and single-step genomic (SSG)BLUP with fixed unknown parent groups or metafounders, where, for metafounders, their relationship matrix gamma was estimated using either a model for inbreeding trend, or base allele frequencies estimated by peeling. The estimate of gamma obtained by modeling the inbreeding trend resulted in an estimated increase of inbreeding, based on markers, faster than the pedigree-based one. The estimated genetic trends were similar for most models and scenarios across all traits, but were shrunken when gamma was estimated by peeling. This was due to shrinking of the estimates of metafounders in the latter case. Across scenarios, all traits showed bias, generally as an overestimate of genetic trend for milk yield and an underestimate for the other traits. As for the slope, it showed overdispersion of estimated breeding values for all traits. Using multiple-trait models slightly reduced the overestimate of genetic trend and the overdispersion, as did including genomic information (i.e., SSGBLUP) when the gamma matrix was estimated by the model for inbreeding trend. However, only deletion of historical data before 1990 resulted in elimination of both kind of biases. The SSGBLUP resulted in more accurate early proofs than BLUP for all traits. We considered that a snowball effect of small errors in each genetic evaluation, combined with selection, may have resulted in biased evaluations. Improving statistical methods reduced some bias but not all, and a simple solution for this data set was to remove historical records.     

The structural variability of quarters and residential areas in the historical texture of the city of Yazd based on Islamic rules and jurisprudence: a case study of Golchinan quarter

According to many researchers and scholars, religious beliefs can be considered as the most influential factor in forming Muslim urban spaces and their architectural elements. In fact, historical cities reflect the culture and beliefs of their residences. Among all historical places in Iranian cities, the historical texture of the city of Yazd, especially the quarters since the age of Qajar dynasty, are well preserved. The present study aims at identifying the Islamic principles and values influencing the formation of architectural spaces and the extent of their applications in one of the historical quarters known as Golchinan. The results of the conformation of the theoretical findings with the data acquired from field studies revealed that almost 90% of the urban and architectural spaces (e.g. residential areas, mosques, bazaars, and pathways) in Yazd are directly influenced by Islamic principles. In other words, there is a strong conformity between the accepted Islamic values of the society and what actually was applied to urban constructions during Qajar dynasty.     

Profiling of knowledge organisation systems for the annotation of Linked Data cultural resources

The importance of cultural heritage for supporting the knowledge economy has promoted its digitisation and online publication. Many cultural heritage repositories have published millions of digitised items using semantic web technologies and Linked Data approaches. These repositories frequently use knowledge organisation systems to classify the resources, but the domain heterogeneity makes it difficult to know if they are the most suitable ones. This paper describes the process used to discover and profile the knowledge organisation systems used in the cultural heritage domain. Additionally, for those knowledge organisation systems with a thesaurus-like structure, a detailed quality analysis is performed. The results of this analysis can be used as a key factor for the selection of knowledge organisation systems in classification tasks.     

Indoor levels of volatile organic compounds at Florentine museum environments in Italy

Indoor Air Quality monitoring in cultural institutions is of particular concern to protect these places and the cultural heritage content. An indoor monitoring campaign was performed in three museums in Florence (Italy) to determine the occurrence and levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs of interest included BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes), terpenes, aldehydes, organic acids, and cyclic volatile methyl siloxanes (cVMS). The most abundant VOCs in all samples analyzed were BTEX, which were strictly related to the traffic source, followed by siloxanes and terpenes. Among BTEX, toluene was always the most abundant followed by xylenes, ethylbenzene, and benzene. cVMS in exhibition rooms with the presence of visitors showed higher values compared to samples collected when the museums were closed. Terpenes showed not only the influence of vegetation-biogenic sources surrounding a museum but could also be related to the wood used for the construction of showcases and furniture and the use of cleaning products. Data obtained also showed the presence of organic acids and aldehydes whose source can be traced back to exhibits themselves and wood-based furniture. Assessing the levels of organic acids in museums is important because, over time, it can cause deterioration of the artifacts.     

广西玉林胜果寺古代冶铸遗址研究

玉林胜果寺古代冶铸遗址位于广西玉林市兴业县龙安镇杨前村胜果寺附近的丘陵,面积超过2 000m~2。采用扫描电镜及能谱分析(SEM-EDS)、金相和矿相等研究方法,对胜果寺古代冶铸遗址的5个冶金遗物炉渣样品进行成分和显微组织分析检测。结果表明,该遗址为生铁冶铸遗址,炼渣属锰硅铝系高锰炉渣。冶炼产品除供本地铸锅等生产生活用品外,大量运往韶州涔水场浸铜。     

基于津沽文化脉络的文创产品创新发展策略研究

类比故宫博物院等优秀文创产品产业化发展思路对津沽文化脉络进行文化传承元素的有效梳理，结合产业化发展的活态传承与保护形式，以文创产品设计为研究载体，带动城市文化创新发展与文化自信，间接促进社会经济发展。通过总结天津非物质文化遗产的特性和产业化发展现状，对比分析不同领域文创产品设计案例。以市场需求定位设计层级，建立在设计层级基础上的产品创新设计理念，从升级保护技术的角度拓展产业化发展思路，结合数字化营销模式，适应现今智能化时代需求。总结了非遗文创产品在层级设计指导下的历史与文化，以及在现代与未来概念下的文化传承创新发展方向。进一步带动了天津文化产业发展，促进文化产业的良性循环，为天津传统文化产业化发展提出了切实可行的创新理念。     

“Dark and Dirty” Histories of Leisure and Architecture: Varosha’s Past and Future

Abstract

Once celebrated as a tourist destination, and now filled with derelict hotels, Varosha is a contested landscape at once embodying contradicting political and economic aspirations and featuring vividly in negotiations for political reconciliation in Cyprus. This paper provides a history of the antagonisms that surround this area by interrogating the creation of hotels and landscapes of leisure in 1960s Varosha and by exposing how these aspired to transform the cultural identity of the entire island. Casting the spotlight on the Golden Sands hotel, the paper demonstrates that, along with advancing iconographies of global modernity, hotel design was insidiously shaped by ethnic disputes as well as socio-economic and environmental contestations. Seen in the context of other conflict-torn cities, this history of the contested landscape of Varosha provides crucial insights into the imbrications of architectural history and design practices in the management of contested instances of modern, twentieth-century heritage.     

1970年以后欧美建筑再利用的学术发展概览

本文介绍了西方关于建筑再利用的理论研究和教学概况，以期为国内更好地理解建筑再利用问题以及将来 开展相关研究、教学和项目实践提供些许参考。本文第一部分介绍了建筑再利用的理论研究，从建筑学领域和遗 产保护领域这两个方面分开阐述，建筑学领域关于建筑再利用的理论研究主要分为类型学、技术派、建筑策略和 室内设计等方向，遗产保护领域关于建筑再利用的专门讨论是近几年才开始的，主要包括适应性再利用、可持续 再利用和共同演变式再利用等方向。第二部分介绍了建筑再利用的教学情况，首先以米兰理工大学为例介绍了建 筑学科下关于建筑再利用的专业课程教学，接着以美国罗德岛设计学院和比利时哈瑟尔特大学等高校为代表介绍 了关于建筑适应性再利用的专业硕士培训项目，最后介绍了欧盟关于现代主义建筑再利用以及其他高校关于建筑 再利用的硕士培训项目。     

班德尔玛奇想花园

巴勒克埃西尔区域历史上便是一处创意之域，作为地处于此的新兴开发项目，班德尔玛“奇想花园”将为土耳其和巴勒克埃西尔省地区的发展奠定充满活力的新方向。“奇想花园”的设计立足于历史与园内遗迹，融和了美妙的园林效果、层次丰富的游览体验与环境活化元素，力求形成一处国际化的创意象征。设计组织了一系列反差强烈的景观空间，如简洁有力的“椭圆”“植物园”、游乐园、未来花园、“果树园”和“南部台地园”。每个空间均由戏剧性的自然森林界定环绕，加强了现有灌木丛的形式构成。整个景观区域被一个城堡式的建筑笼罩，唤起人们对过去的山顶村落的回忆。建筑物内部集合了一系列巷道的设计，包括历史上存在过的形式和中庭天井，标志性的建筑如“灯塔”和设计机构则进一步加强了该场所城市的特质     

Digitally reconstructing Van Gogh's Field with Irises near Arles part 3: Determining the original colors

In earlier articles, we determined the spatial distributions and concentrations of all pigments used by Van Gogh in his painting Field with Irises near Arles. The colors of some pigments are expected to have changed over time, especially those of chrome yellow, cochineal, and eosin lake. For all pigments in this painting, we made physical paint reconstructions by following historical sources on raw materials and production processes, and we determined their optical properties. We combined this with pigment concentration maps to reconstruct the original colors of the painting digitally. When substituting the reconstruction paints into the calculations, we found that technical‐scientific data was not sufficient to resolve several issues. In those cases, discussions within the broad interdisciplinary team allowed us to make informed decisions. These issues refer to the representation of the sky area, and the original contributions of the red lake pigments to local colors. The digitally reconstructed colors of the painting show that due to discoloring of red lake pigments, the irises in the field have changed from a warm purple to purplish blue, and many pink spots in the field have turned to white. The range of yellows in the field has decreased and partly turned to dark brown. The digital reconstruction gives a better understanding of the color scheme used by Van Gogh when compared to remarks the artist made in letters when describing this painting. Also, the original color composition is seen to be aligned with color theories on which Van Gogh based his work.