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The fossils of Hamipterus tianshanensis (Wang et al. in Curr Biol 24:1323–1330, 2014) and their eggs have important scientific significance because they can provide unique information about the reproduction, development, and evolution of pterosaurs. The fossils and the rock surrounding them have, however, been weathered, which including powdering and flaking, since they were relocated from Xinjiang to Beijing. The high content of soluble salts is a significant factor in fossil deterioration because the dissolution–recrystallization process can generate tremendous pressure and lead to decreased mechanical strength. This study evaluated the electrokinetic desalination performance for the fossils, and two types of poultices employed including paper pulp from Bioline® and CKS121 (cellulose: kaolin: sand = 1:2:1, w/w). Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ion chromatography (IC), and other methods were applied to evaluate the desalination effect. The surface salt content reduction by applied direct current (DC) was about 70%, and the inner salt content reduction was about 80%. The experimental results suggest that the electrokinetic method is a promising way to desalinate fossils. Nonetheless, cracks appeared in the surrounding rock crack after electrokinetic desalination, which can be explained by the montmorillonite swelling-induced stresses. Pre-consolidation, especially for electro-chemical method may solve the cracking problem for the clay-rich sandstone desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A methodology is proposed to introduce knowledge graphs into the study of the Chinese cultural field for use in a newly designed, complete application. At present, the combination of culture and information technology has become a trend. Among various technologies, knowledge graphs are a very promising option. The contributions of this paper are as follows: it supplies for the first time a knowledge graph in the cultural field of the ancient capital of Beijing, establishes a domain knowledge base, and develops a platform for visual analysis and interactive question and answer. In this process, a framework for applying knowledge graphs to research in the cultural field is summarized, providing ideas for research in the cultural field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craquelure is the most common defect on ancient polychrome paintings, which may deteriorate further to paint loss. Previous image processing methods, which can accurately recognize paint loss, have limited precision and efficiency in segmenting craquelure. This paper proposes a semantic segmentation method, Res-UNet, for the recognition of craquelure and paint loss in the Palace Museum, Beijing. The residual structure of ResNet-50 enables the avoidance of network degradation, and image features can be fully extracted. Using the unique skip connection module of U-Net, features of different levels are fused to improve segmentation accuracy and provide smoother craquelure edges. Three loss functions are combined to accelerate stable convergence. The model was tested on a newly built dataset based on 600 images. Experimental results supported by statistical tests show that Res-UNet is a capable method of craquelure recognition, with an accuracy rate of 98.19%, and F1-score of 93.42%. Hence, the proposed hybrid approach is a promising tool to support the preservation and restoration of valuable traditional Chinese polychrome architectural paintings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital museums play a crucial role in facilitating users' access to and exploration of digital cultural heritage resources. However, exploring the factors influencing user engagement with these digital museums from a user experience perspective remains essential. This study evaluates the factors driving user continuous behavioral intention towards the digital museum of Beijing's central axis, integrating the new task-technology fit (TTF) and the new unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) models, and introducing perceived enjoyment, design aesthetics, and perceived cultural value as additional variables. Analyzing survey data (n = 377) utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM), the study identifies the following key findings: (1) the task and technology characteristics of digital museums significantly impact the TTF; (2) performance expectancy, effort expectancy, design aesthetics, perceived enjoyment, and perceived cultural value all positively impact user continuous behavioral intention; (3) the technological characteristics of digital museums were observed to positively impact users' effort expectancy; but (4) the TTF and social influence did not have no significant impact the user continuous behavioral intention. These findings offer valuable insights into the factors driving users' continuous behavioral intention to use digital museums of cultural heritage, offering practical guidance for future development and optimization of these digital museums, and highlighting specific implications and suggestions for enhancing the user experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific analysis of excavated pottery reveals critical archaeological insights, yet data on Han Dynasty pottery remains limited. This study focuses on pottery artifacts excavated from the Daqu burial site in Beijing, renowned for their polychrome decorations and size. Utilizing optical microscopy (OM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), this study examined five substrate samples sourced from fragments of pottery towers and ellipse-shaped dishes. All samples exhibited similar inclusions and the same firing atmosphere. The mineralogical analysis indicated that quartz and feldspar are predominant components, with minor constituents like chlorite and kaolinite observed in the coarse pottery of the ellipse-shaped dish. Minor mineral variations suggest differences in firing temperatures. The resemblance between low-value pottery cups and delicate polychrome towers suggests they were crafted locally. These findings advance our understanding of ceramic materials and techniques in late Eastern Han Dynasty Beijing, providing crucial insights for future studies on ancient Chinese economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adaptive reuse of architectural heritage is the basis of embodying its core value, bringing new life to heritage architecture, and is an important way to integrate it into contemporary development. In many current studies, the adaptive reuse of architectural heritage focuses on the research framework of adaptive reuse and the most effective method for adaptive reuse of a certain building. In the whole process, the post evaluation strategy of adaptive reuse based on specific cultural background is ignored, and the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings is a dynamic process. Therefore, this study takes 9 heritage sites along the central axis of Beijing (including three types of single buildings, architectural complexes, and historical and cultural district) as examples. The 25 factors affecting the adaptive reuse of architectural heritage are extracted by the literature retrieval method, and are divided into three categories according to the content: existing fabric, spatial character and policy and value. Then the analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation are used to calculate the factors of 9 heritage sites in matrix, and finally obtain the reuse score of each heritage site. The results show that Meridian Gate has the highest comprehensive score for reuse in single buildings, the Forbidden City has the highest score for reuse in building complex, and Qianmen Street has the highest score in historical and cultural district. This study provides post-evaluation methods and strategies for the adaptive reuse of architectural heritage. Finally, a post-evaluation framework for the adaptive reuse of architectural heritage is formed. Finally, a post-evaluation framework for the reuse of architectural heritage against a specific cultural background has been formed. In the future, the status of the reuse of architectural heritage can be evaluated to maintain its proper authenticity, integrity and sustainability at any time. It can also guide the relevant decision-making before the adaptive reuse of architectural heritage and the optimization process after the adaptive reuse of architectural heritage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, with the capital Beijing as the core, carries a profound geo-culture and gathers numerous intangible cultural heritages. Studying the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of intangible cultural heritage can help to propose positive suggestions for protection and development from the perspective of sustainable development. Taking 329 national intangible cultural heritages in Beijing-Tianjin—Hebei as the research objects, and using ArcGIS spatial analysis technology, combined with methods such as kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse and geographical detector, to visualize the spatial distribution of intangible cultural heritages and explore the influencing factors of their distribution. The results show that: (1) the distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is not balanced, mainly concentrated in the central and southern regions, and three high-density core circles are formed in Beijing, Tianjin, and Handan-Xingtai in Hebei Province, showing large differences in spatial distribution density; (2) Traditional techniques, traditional arts, dramatic balladry, sports, music, and medicine show the characteristics of aggregated distribution. folkways, dance, and drama show the characteristics of random distribution. Folk literature shows the characteristics of uniform distribution; (3) The Cultural Development Period is an important evolutionary turning point in the spatial and temporal distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, as well as an accelerating period in the development of intangible cultural heritage, and completes the transformation from decentralized distribution to localized aggregation distribution. In The Period of Regional Cultural Integration, the peak value is reached; (4) Economic development and social culture have the greatest influence on the spatial distribution of intangible cultural heritage in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, while the influence of physical environment is relatively small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical and cultural districts are an important part of the urban heritage environment, reflecting the urban characteristics and carrying the core value of urban development. At present, most of the research on the vitality of historical and cultural districts mainly carries out quantitative evaluation from the two aspects of material space and time dimension, while the analysis on the value level is weakened, and the content of value type evaluation is also ignored. Value is the main factor affecting the vitality of historical and cultural districts, and it is also the core content to keep them alive. Therefore, this study takes nine historical and cultural districts of three types (cultural, commercial and residential) in Beijing, the capital of China, as examples to form a vitality evaluation framework with value as the evaluation goal, and select three indicators: historical value (including historical environment, cultural environment and spatial environment), use value (including communication environment, business environment and residential environment) and sustainable value (including educational environment, attraction and creativity), which correspond to the past, present and future of the heritage respectively. The literature summary method is used to get the evaluation content, the ranking analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the index weight, experts are invited to score, and the influence degree of each factor is comprehensively ranked and analyzed. Finally, it puts forward the evaluation system of historical and cultural districts. The framework can be used to collect expert opinions, conduct quantitative value evaluation, and adjust various indicators in practice before the protection strategy of historical and cultural districts is proposed. The results show that at present, Shichahai, Nanluoguxiang and Fuchengmennei have the highest vitality among the three types. The blocks that mainly embody cultural value have higher vitality than those that mainly embody commercial value and residential value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pests can seriously threaten the safety of organic relics and historic buildings. Every year, the Palace Museum spends a large of money and time preventing and controlling pests, but there is still no a better systematic and targeted method. The Hall of Mental Cultivation is a representative and essential building in the Forbidden City. Through three years of pest monitoring, the species, quantity, and occurrence regularity of the major pests were investigated. During this time, more than ten species of insects were trapped. These included carpet beetles (Anthrenus picturatus hintoni Mroczkowski, 1952 and Thylodrias contractus Motschulsky, 1839), silverfish (Ctenolepisma longicaudata Escherich, 1905), powder-post beetles (Lyctus brunneus Stephens, 1830), booklice (Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel, 1931), spider beetles (Ptinus japonicus Reitter, 1877 and Gibbium aequinoctiale Boieldieu, 1865) and the case bearing clothes moths (Tinea pellionella Linnaeus, 1758), among which the Anthrenus picturatus was the primary pests. Abundant resources of organic relics, suitable temperature, humidity, and light environment, and cypress existence are favorable factors for the occurrence of pests, and analysis of these factors is helpful for further integrated pest management (IPM). The period with the most significant number of active pests in the Hall of Mental Cultivation is July and August, and April and May are the rapid growth period. Carpet beetles are the key pests that can affect the overall change trend significantly. It should combine with their living habits, the ideal treatment time and methods, to give them a better control. Fumigation should be done in July and August, while chemical spray should be done referring to the florescence of outdoor trees (March to June), and used of pheromone is reasonable preventative measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]