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Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a user-focused evaluation method, centered around understanding how dwellers occupy and use built environments. Collecting big data on user behavior has become essential for POE. In this paper, the limitations of current POE protocol data adoption and analysis methods are analyzed, and a quantitative research method based on machine vision (MV) to quantify users' spatio-temporal behavior for POE is developed, which can acquire high-resolution data more efficiently and accurately than the common methods in this field. In particular, the method of calculating user activity using frame difference algorithms fills the gap of quantifying user activity in POE research. The outdoor space of a kindergarten and the indoor space of a university library are selected to validate the method. After analyzing 4.5 million frames of data accumulated over 50 consecutive hours in the outdoor space, and 8.82 million frames of data accumulated over 98 consecutive hours in the indoor space, our method successfully analyzed usage of indoor and outdoor spaces and generated multiple quantitative indices of POE from high-resolution spatiotemporal behavior variables. The robustness, convenience, and practicability of this method in practical applications are verified. This method is simple to use, can adapt to a variety of built environments, and has a low cost. It has potential competitiveness for large-scale application. Quantitative POE research methods enhance the flow of information from space usage to spatial design and provide a data-driven basis for improving spatial sustainability, planning, design, and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial and visibility graph analysis models are combined with GIS and Space Syntax to study the corresponding relationship between street network and specific city life in Hankou, China, based on three scales - city, district, and community, so as to interpret the hidden structure out of complex urban form through the spatial logic of street network. In this paper, a quantitative analysis is made on selected parameters in Space Syntax, including Integration, Choice, density of road, and Ht index. The result indicates that there is certain correlation among these parameters. Moreover, these parameters also present certain changing patterns along with the increase of analysis radius. The results reveal that the street network of Hankou presents a multi-hierarchical structure and spatial wholeness from all these three scales. This characteristic creates vitality and diversity while maintaining the feature of wholeness for the urban space. Research has turned out that community-scale street network performs a positive role to keep neighborhoods alive. Therefore, it is an important strategy for maintaining the vitality of urban space and realizing coordination and unification between parts and the whole. It is proposed in this paper that a good street network is a key factor for carrying forward urban context of Hankou. Undoubtedly, it is worthy of reflecting on large-scale demolition of existing urban space, especially in historical areas. Afterwards, the paper proposes a hierarchically synergetic planning strategy based on the analysis. More attention should be paid to street network to preserve diversity, continuity, and integrity, and finally archive holistically sustainable development within a city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aims: To determine the characteristics of small bowel tumors (SBTs) in patients underwent double balloon endoscopy (DBE) and to compare the clinical value of DBE with other diagnostic tools., Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in patients underwent DBE procedures from March 2008 to April 2017.The demographic, clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with SBTs were recorded, while the diagnosis of SBTs was achieved either by DBE biopsy or surgical specimens., Results: One thousand one hundred and two patients (761 males, range 3-85 years) were enrolled in this study, with 1140 procedures completed in total. 99/1102 patients (9.0%) had SBTs, including benign polyps (20, 20.2%), gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) (24, 24.2%), lymphomas (13, 13.1%), adenocarcinoma (39, 39.4%), and neuroendocrine tumors (3, 3.0%). The most common clinical symptom for benign polyps was obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB) (75.0%). But among patients with malignant SBTs, the main indication for DBE was chronic abdominal pain (43.8%), followed by OGIB (36.3%), vomit (10.0%), abnormal images (6.3%) and diarrhea (3.8%) (P<0.001). Moreover, SBTs were primarily located in the jejunum alone (40/99, 40.4%). DBE had better sensitivity (89.2%), specificity (95.2%), positive predictive value (PPV) (90.0%), and negative predictive value (NPV) (94.8%) than other tools for suspected SBTs., Conclusion: Small bowel tumor is mainly located in jejunum and with OGIB and abdominal pain as major complaints. DBE is a reliable method for the diagnosis of SBTs compared with other diagnostic tools.

The association between the X-ray repair cross-complementing group 3 (XRCC3) gene Thr241Met polymorphism (rs861539) and gastric cancer has been widely evaluated, but a definitive answer is so far lacking. We first conducted a case-control study to assess this association in a large Han Chinese population, and then performed a meta-analysis to further address this issue. Although our case-control association study and the following meta analysis involving 6,520 subjects indicated null association of XRCC3 gene rs861539 polymorphism between gastric cancer patients and controls under both allelic (odds ratio (OR) = 1.02; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.91-1.14; P = 0.739) and dominant (OR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.78-1.21; P = 0.803) models. Stratified analysis by ethnicity demonstrated a significant association in Asians. We conclude that the XRCC3 gene rs861539 polymorphism was associated with the risk for gastric cancer in Asian populations.