British newspaper coverage of the Tibet issue over time, 1949–2009: representations of repression and resistance

News media play a significant role in shaping the national image of other countries, especially in the context of China (PRC). They have been and remain the main source of information for the British public about developments in China but representations evolve over time. This thesis examines how a particular aspect of China s state actions has been reported. The study examines how the national imagery of China and Tibet has been represented in the British national press over the Cold War period and beyond. This study investigates media representations of the Tibetan conflict and how the events related to this were represented and portrayed in the British national daily newspapers from 1949 to 2009. It examines the frames chosen by the press and the influence of the sources (especially external journalistic influence) on the frame-building process. Through a comparison of coverage by the British newspapers over time, it determines the changing similarities and differences in representations of Tibet according to their partisanship and newspaper formats. The research involved a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative frame analysis. The research showed that generally there were greater similarities than differences in the way the British press represented the Tibet issue from 1949 to 2009. Only the pro-Communist Daily Working/Morning Star with a purely Communist canon of news values adopted a completely different framing strategy to report the events. Other British press aligned closely with the UK government by reproducing and reinforcing the dominant capitalist ideology. This political motivation resulted in their approval of stable and familiar frames. In addition, there were differences in the frame types used by the British press between the early Cold War, near the end of the Cold War and the post-Cold War periods. The year 1989 could be seen as a turning point. The research enriches the concept of Herman and Chomsky s propaganda model and contributes to existing media framing studies on Western media s representations of China

Preliminary research on the identification system for anthracnose and powdery mildew of sandalwood leaf based on image processing

<div><p>This paper presents a survey on a system that uses digital image processing techniques to identify anthracnose and powdery mildew diseases of sandalwood from digital images. Our main objective is researching the most suitable identification technology for the anthracnose and powdery mildew diseases of the sandalwood leaf, which provides algorithmic support for the real-time machine judgment of the health status and disease level of sandalwood. We conducted real-time monitoring of Hainan sandalwood leaves with varying severity levels of anthracnose and powdery mildew beginning in March 2014. We used image segmentation, feature extraction and digital image classification and recognition technology to carry out a comparative experimental study for the image analysis of powdery mildew, anthracnose disease and healthy leaves in the field. Performing the actual test for a large number of diseased leaves pointed to three conclusions: (1) Distinguishing effects of BP (Back Propagation) neural network method, in all kinds of classical methods, for sandalwood leaf anthracnose and powdery mildew disease are relatively good; the size of the lesion areas were closest to the actual. (2) The differences between two diseases can be shown well by the shape feature, color feature and texture feature of the disease image. (3) Identifying and diagnosing the diseased leaves have ideal results by SVM, which is based on radial basis kernel function. The identification rate of the anthracnose and healthy leaves was 92% respectively, and that of powdery mildew was 84%. Disease identification technology lays the foundation for remote monitoring disease diagnosis, preparing for remote transmission of the disease images, which is a very good guide and reference for further research of the disease identification and diagnosis system in sandalwood and other species of trees.</p></div

The scatter of the sugar content against with different image parameters.

<p>The scatter of the sugar content against with different image parameters.</p

The line graph of segmentation errors corresponding to different thresholds of coefficient of determination for citrus.

<p>The line graph of segmentation errors corresponding to different thresholds of coefficient of determination for citrus.</p

Analysis procedures for coefficient of determination approach.

<p>Analysis procedures for coefficient of determination approach.</p

Distribution of residuals for predicting the sugar content.

<p>Distribution of residuals for predicting the sugar content.</p

Different sizes of mask and its corresponding foreground images segmented (R² = 0.225).

<p>Different sizes of mask and its corresponding foreground images segmented (R² = 0.225).</p

Prediction of embryo euploidy and pregnancy outcome by blastocyst morphology and development speed for women receiving single embryo transfer

Selection of high-quality blastocysts is the most important factor determining the success of assisted reproductive technology. The objective of this study is to assess the values of blastocyst morphological quality and development speed for predicting euploidy and clinical pregnancy outcome. A total of 155 preimplantation genetic testing cycles including 959 blastocysts and 154 euploid blastocyst transfer cycles conducted between January 2018 and December 2019 were retrospectively analysed. The associations of blastocyst morphological quality and development speed (D) with chromosomal status, clinical pregnancy rate, early miscarriage rate, and ongoing pregnancy rate were evaluated by univariate and multivariate regression. The euploidy rate of development speed D5 blastocysts was significantly greater than that of D6 blastocysts (61.4% vs. 38.1%, P P = 0.02) and high-grade morphology (OR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.5–2.9, P = 0.01) were independent predictors of euploidy. The ongoing pregnancy rate of D5 blastocysts was significantly higher than that of D6 blastocysts (62.3% vs. 43.8%, P = 0.04). Transfer of euploid blastocysts with high-grade morphology resulted in a greater ongoing pregnancy rate than transfer of non-high-grade euploid blastocysts (60.7% vs. 43.2%, P = 0.049). Alternatively, D6 development speed was an independent risk factor for early pregnancy loss after euploid blastocyst transfer. Multivariate regression analysis adjusting for confounding factors identified maternal age, blastocyst development speed, and blastocyst morphological grade as independent predictors of euploidy but not of clinical pregnancy. The recommended sequence of embryo transfer based on the present study is D5 high-grade > D6 high-grade > D5 non-high-grade > D6 non-high-grade. Assisted reproductive technology physicians are actively exploring methods to improve the accuracy of embryo selection for successful pregnancy. We evaluated the associations of embryo morphological grade and development speed with chromosomal status and clinical outcome for couples without a history of infertility, in vitro fertilisation failure, or recurrent miscarriage receiving euploid embryo transfer. Blastocysts from females younger than 35 years, of high morphological grade, and demonstrating faster development speed were most likely to be euploid (least likely to have chromosomal abnormalities). Alternatively, patients implanted with slower developing euploid blastocysts were at higher risk of early pregnancy loss. To maximise the probability of implanting euploid embryos and minimise the risk of pregnancy loss, the selection order of embryo transferred should be based on embryo development speed followed by morphological grades.</p

Verification score plots of the models (plots generated using DS2.5).

<p>The verification scores of all residues in B15 were greater than zero, whereas one residue in B12 and B19 and three residues in B4 were less than zero.</p

Ramachandran plots of the models (B4, B12, B15, and B19) produced using PROCHECK.

<p>The most favoured regions are coloured in red. Allowed, generously allowed, and disallowed regions are indicated as yellow, light yellow, and white regions, respectively.</p