259 research outputs found

    Unreal Reality: Post-socialist China\u27s Massive Infrastructural Agenda in Jia Zhangke\u27s Three Gorges Films

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    This thesis focuses on Chinese Six-Generation film director Jia Zhangke’s “Three Gorges films” Still Life (2006) and Ash Is Purest White (2018) to demonstrate the impact of post-socialist China\u27s massive infrastructural agenda on Chinese citizens’ lives and psyches in contemporary Chinese society. Starting with the analysis of Still Life, this thesis first examines Jia’s experimentation with the computerized UFO imagery incorporated into the film’s realist narratives and themes to deliver the sense of unreality people feel towards the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric power station and post-socialist China’s largest infrastructural project. Revisiting the subject matter of the Three Gorges Dam in Ash Is Purest White, Jia extends his examination of China\u27s infrastructural agenda into the country\u27s other parts outside the Three Gorges region. This thesis connects Still Life and Ash Is Purest White in which both films’ female protagonists go to the Three Gorges construction site in search of their estranged male partners, and they both experience the unreal moments of UFO sightings. While he presents the Three Gorges construction’s consequences of housing demolitions, resident evictions and hazards and casualties in Still Life, Jia emphasizes the psychological impact China\u27s infrastructural agenda has on the psyche of Ash Is Purest White’s female protagonist

    Vapnik-Chervonenkis dimension in neural networks

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    This thesis aims to explore the potential of statistical concepts, specifically the Vapnik-Chervonenkis Dimension (VCD)[33], in optimizing neural networks. With the increasing use of neural networks in replacing human labor, ensuring the safety and reliability of these systems is a critical concern. The thesis delves into the question of how to test the safety of neural networks and optimize them through accessible statistical concepts. The thesis presents two case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of using VCD in optimizing neural networks. The first case study focuses on optimizing the autoencoder, a neural network with both encoding and decoding functions, through the calculation of the VCD. The conclusion suggests that optimizing the activation function can improve the accuracy of the autoencoder at the mathematical level. The second case study explores the optimization of the VGG16 neural network by comparing it to VGG19 in terms of their ability to process high-density data. By adding three hidden layers, VGG19 outperforms VGG16 in learning ability, suggesting that adjusting the number of neural network layers can be an effective way to analyze the capacity of neural networks. Overall, this thesis proposes that statistical concepts such as VCD can provide a promising avenue for analyzing neural networks, thus contributing to the development of more reliable and efficient machine learning systems. The final vision is to allocate the mathematical model reasonably to machine learning and establish an idealized neural network establishment, allowing for safe and effective use of neural networks in various industries

    Efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for the management of primary dysmenorrhoea: Protocol for a randomised controlled trial in China

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    INTRODUCTION: Primary dysmenorrhoea (PD) is a common menstrual concern with significant physical and psychosocial impacts. The effectiveness and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) in alleviating PD symptoms remain uncertain due to insufficient evidence. This single-centre, parallel, randomised controlled study intends to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TEAS for PD management. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: 60 participants aged 18-40 years diagnosed with moderate to severe PD will be recruited from Tai\u27an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and randomly assigned to either a TEAS group or a TEAS-sham group (1:1). The TEAS group will undergo 12 sessions of TEAS treatment over two menstrual cycles, with 30 min per session, three sessions weekly. Participants in the TEAS-sham group will receive TEAS stimulation using identical devices and protocols but without current output. The primary outcome is the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pain assessment. Secondary outcomes are Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire, total effective rate, uterine artery haemodynamics, prostaglandin and β-endorphin level, mental well-being and quality of life. Adverse events and their potential reasons and the use of analgesics will also be recorded. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tai\u27an Hospital of TCM. Written informed consent will be obtained from each participant. The results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2300071686

    Participants experiences regarding the use of acupuncture as a treatment modality: A qualitative systematic review

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    Background: Acupuncture is a promising modality in clinical practice, where the participants\u27 experiences are crucial to acupuncture\u27s use and effects. However, a comprehensive review synthesising participant experiences throughout treatment sessions is lacking. This study aims to explore the qualitative literature regarding participants\u27 experiences of acupuncture as a potential treatment modality. Methods: A qualitative systematic review of existing literature was conducted through AMED, MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist was employed to evaluate research quality. Subsequently, the data were extracted and synthesised utilising the JBI Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (QARI) tool and data synthesis was carried out through meta-aggregation. Results: A total of twenty-eight articles were incorporated into the analysis. Four synthesised findings were identified: (1) Before acupuncture: last trust and hope; (2) During acupuncture: relaxing and calming; (3) After acupuncture: mind-body effects; and (4) Practitioner-participant relationship. Conclusion: The findings highlight the changes participants experienced before and after acupuncture sessions. Implementing additional promotional initiatives for acupuncture can increase public awareness and encourage individuals to consider it an early symptom management option. Review registration: This review was registered in PROSPERO (No. CRD42023475373)

    Research methodology in acupuncture and moxibustion for managing primary dysmenorrhea: A scoping review

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    Background: Acupuncture and moxibustion have promising effects in managing primary dysmenorrhea. However, some evidence from clinical trials remains controversial due to methodological flaws in study designs that involve acupuncture and its related modalities and require urgent attention and dialogue. Methods: Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cochrane Library, Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE), PubMed, Web of Sciences, Chinese Biological Medicine (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals (VIP), and Wanfang database were searched from their inception to July 2021. Data were extracted based on the types of study design, primary outcome measures, adverse events (AEs), and participants\u27 subjective views. Results: Most studies (n = 282, 93 %) were published in Chinese and 21 (7 %) in English. Among these, there were 209 (69 %) randomized controlled trials (RCTs), 39 (13 %) non-randomized controlled trials (nRCTs), 30 (10 %) case-series reports, 15 (5 %) cohort studies, and 10 (3 %) case reports. The most frequent reported outcome was pain, followed by emotion, sleeping quality, quality of life, skin temperature, changes in brain function, uterine and ovarian blood flow, and reproductive endocrine level. AEs were reported in 37 studies with mild events, and all recovered without actions taken; 31 trials reported no AEs; 235 failed to report any AEs. One RCT found that the satisfaction rate of the intervention group was statistically significantly higher than the control group. Conclusion: Clinical studies on acupuncture and its related modalities face methodological challenges and require urgent attention. RCT with blinding and sham control might be the gold standard trial design. However, it may not be the most suitable research method for these modalities. We recommend using pragmatic RCTs in this field, where trial protocol registration on the trial registry platforms and detailed safety reporting should be mandatory

    Efficacy and safety of acupuncture and or moxibustion for managing primary dysmenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis

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    Acupuncture and moxibustion have been accepted as add-on options for primary dysmenorrhea (PD); however, the clinical evidence is still inadequate. We searched AMED, CENTRAL, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, CBM, CNKI, VIP, Wangfang database, ANZCTR, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO ICTRP, from their inception to February 2021. The pooled analysis of 13 RCTs with 675 participants for VAS showed that acupuncture and moxibustion were more effective in managing PD than the control group with the MD of −1.93 (95% CI [−2.80, −1.06] and −2.67 (95% CI [−4.96, −0.38]). With the CMSS, seven studies with 487 participants showed that these modalities were more effective than the control group with the MD of −7.58 (95% CI [−10.97, −4.19]) and −3.78 (95% CI [−6.90, −0.66]). The findings indicated that acupuncture and moxibustion could relieve pain effectively and has fewer adverse events (AEs) in managing PD

    Suppressing seizure via optimal electrical stimulation to the hub of epileptic brain network

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    The electrical stimulation to the seizure onset zone (SOZ) serves as an efficient approach to seizure suppression. Recently, seizure dynamics have gained widespread attendance in its network propagation mechanisms. Compared with the direct stimulation to SOZ, other brain network-level approaches that can effectively suppress epileptic seizures remain under-explored. In this study, we introduce a platform equipped with a system identification module and a control strategy module, to validate the effectiveness of the hub of the epileptic brain network in suppressing seizure. The identified surrogate dynamics show high predictive performance in reconstructing neural dynamics which enables the model predictive framework to achieve accurate neural stimulation. The electrical stimulation on the hub of the epileptic brain network shows remarkable performance as the direct stimulation of SOZ in suppressing seizure dynamics. Underpinned by network control theory, our platform offers a general tool for the validation of neural stimulation
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