867 research outputs found
Masculinities in Transcultural Spaces : Negotiations of Masculinities in Ang Leeâs Films
This dissertation consists of readings of four selected films by Ang Lee â Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet, Brokeback Mountain and Hulk, ranging over a decade from 1992 to 2005. It explores Leeâs representation of diverse Chinese and American masculinities, discussing negotiations of masculinities in transcultural spaces.
My exploration of Leeâs representation of men and masculinities is equipped with double epistemological perspectives, namely, both Chinese and Western. My project is both conceptual and analytical. On the conceptual level, I intend to demonstrate how constructions of masculinities can be more productively explained by employing not only the Western conceptual arguments of transcultural space (transdifference) but also by reading this space from different epistemological perspectives, namely the Western and Chinese. On the analytical level, I employ audio and visual textual analysis in my examination of Leeâs portrayal of male figures.
My analysis has clearly demonstrated the complexity and multiplicity in negotiations of masculinities in transcultural spaces, which can be both emancipatory and repressive in re-constructing and re-negotiating oneâs masculinity. Male subjectivities in Leeâs films turn to three different ways to construct or reconstruct their manliness. First, men suppress trandifference and opt for a clear belonging to a certain culture, in particular, the culture of origin for masculinity restoration. Second, men embrace transidifference to construct an ambiguous masculine identity in transcultural spaces. Third, men might transcend cultural boundaries to demonstrate transcultural manhood.
âDie vorliegende Arbeit beschĂ€ftigt sich mit der Interpretation vier ausgewĂ€hlter Filme des Filmemachers Ang Lee â Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet, Brokeback Mountain und Hulk, die in den Jahren 1992 bis 2005 entstanden. Sie erforscht die unterschiedliche Inszenierung von Konzepten der MĂ€nnlichkeit im chinesischen und US-amerikanischen Kontext, sowie den MĂ€nnlichkeitsdiskurs in RĂ€umen des kulturellen Ăergangs.
Die Untersuchung Lees mÀnnlicher Figuren und MÀnnlichkeitskonzepte macht sich sowohl die chinesische als auch die westliche erkenntnistheoretische Perspektive zu eigen, dabei ist Untersuchung sowohl konzeptionell als auch analytisch angelegt. Auf der konzeptionellen Ebene soll sie zeigen, wie sich die Konstruktion von MÀnnlichkeitskonzepten unter der Einbeziehung nicht nur der westlichen konzeptionellen Argumentation von transkulturellen RÀumen (Transdifferenz), sondern auch von andersartigen erkenntnistheoretischen Perspektiven, hier der chinesischen, besser erklÀren lÀsst. Auf der analytischen Ebene werden in der Untersuchung der Inszenierung mÀnnlicher Figuren audio-visuelle Textanalysen benutzt.
Die Analyse hat deutlich die KomplexitĂ€t und VielfĂ€ltigkeit der Aushandlung von MĂ€nnlichkeitskonzepten in transkulturellen RĂ€umen gezeigt, wobei die Rekonstruktion und die Neuverhandlung von MĂ€nnlichkeit sowohl emanzipatorisch als auch repressiv von statten gehen kann. MĂ€nnliche Protagonisten bei Lee finden drei unterschiedliche Wege, ihre mĂ€nnliche IdentitĂ€t zu konstruieren. Als erste Lösung unterdrĂŒcken sie den transdifferenten Aspekt und wĂ€hlen die klare Zugehörigkeit zu einer der Kulturen, die dann als Ursprung fĂŒr die Restauration der MĂ€nnlichkeit dient. Die zweite Lösung ist das Annehmen der Transdifferenz um eine mehrdeutige maskuline IdentitĂ€t im transkulturellen Raum aufzubauen. Als letzte Lösung gelingt es einen mĂ€nnlichen Figuren, kulturelle Grenzen zu ĂŒberschreiten und eine transkulturelle MĂ€nnlichkeit zu manifestieren
Virtual manufacturing:a study of some important issues relating to the transformation of traditional manufacturing organisations
This thesis starts with a literature review, outlining the major issues identified in the literature concerning virtual manufacturing enterprise (VME) transformation. Then it details the research methodology used â a systematic approach for empirical research. next, based on the conceptual framework proposed, this thesis builds three modules to form a reference model, with the purpose of clarifying the important issues relevant to transforming a traditional manufacturing company into a VME. The first module proposes a mechanism of VME transformation â operating along the VME metabolism. The second module builds a management function within a VME to ensure a proper operation of the mechanism. This function helps identify six areas as closely related to VME transformation: lean manufacturing; competency protection; internal operation performance measurement; alliance performance measurement; knowledge management; alliance decision making. The third module continues and proposes an alliance performance measurement system which includes 14 categories of performance indicators. An analysis template for alliance decision making is also proposed and integrated into the first module. To validate these three modules, 7 manufacturing organisations (5 in China and 2 in the UK) were investigated, and these field case studies are analysed in this thesis. The evidence found in these organisations, together with the evidence collected from the literature, including both researcher views and literature case studies, provide support for triangulation evidence. In addition, this thesis identifies the strength and weakness patterns of the manufacturing companies within the theoretical niche of this research, and clarifies the relationships among some major research areas from the perspective of virtual manufacturing. Finally, the research findings are summarised, as well as their theoretical and practical implications. Research limitations and recommendations for future work conclude this thesis
Mental Health Status of Rural Female Left-Behind Middle School Students in Sichuan Province
Objective: To investigate the mental health status of rural left-behind middle school students in Sichuan province, and set some requirements for family, school and society. Method: This paper used Middle School Student Mental Health Scale (MSSMHS) developed by Wang to investigate the mental health status of 690 female left-behind middle school students and analyzed the data by using SPSS 20.0. Results: 38% of the rural left-behind middle school students had mental health problems; there were significant differences in compulsion, crankiness and hostility between junior school students and high school students; there were significant differences in anxiety and learning stress between only children and non-only children; there were significant differences in different workplaces of parents and different time spent with parents. ConclusionïŒThe mental health status of rural female left-behind middle school students is not optimistic, and family, school, society and government should take effective measures to improve the metal health status of rural left-behind middle school students
Specific PKC isoforms regulate LPS-stimulated iNOS induction in murine microglial cells
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Excessive production of nitric oxide (NO) by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in reactive microglia is a major contributor to initiation/exacerbation of inflammatory and degenerative neurological diseases. Previous studies have indicated that activation of protein kinase C (PKC) can lead to iNOS induction. Because of the existence of various PKC isoforms and the ambiguous specificity of PKC inhibitors, it is unclear whether all PKC isoforms or a specific subset are involved in the expression of iNOS by reactive microglia. In this study, we employed molecular approaches to characterize the role of each specific PKC isoform in the regulation of iNOS expression in murine microglia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Induction of iNOS in response to bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was measured in BV-2 murine microglia treated with class-specific PKC inhibitors, or transfected with siRNA to silence specific PKC isoforms. iNOS expression and MAPK phosphorylation were evaluated by western blot. The role of NF-ÎșB in activated microglia was examined by determining NF-ÎșB transcriptional response element- (TRE-) driven, promoter-mediated luciferase activity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Murine microglia expressed high levels of nPKCs, and expressed relatively low levels of cPKCs and aPKCs. All PKC inhibitors attenuated induction of iNOS in LPS-activated microglia. Knockdown of PKC ÎŽ and PKC ÎČ attenuated ERK1/2 and p38 phosphorylation, respectively, and blocked NF-ÎșB activation that leads to the expression of iNOS in reactive microglia.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results identify PKC ÎŽ and ÎČ as the major PKC isoforms regulating iNOS expression in reactive microglia. The signaling pathways mediated by PKC involve phosphorylation of distinct MAPKs and activation of NF-ÎșB. These results may help in the design of novel and selective PKC inhibitors for the treatment of many inflammatory and neurological diseases in which production of NO plays a pathogenic role.</p
The Experimental Research of low strength Concrete Considering Strain Rate under Uniaxial Compression
AbstractThe tests were implemented in low strength concrete with four kinds of strength (C20, C25, C30, C35) and with diffrent strain ratses (10-5/s-1, 10-4/s-1, 10-3/s-1 and 10-2/s-1. The stress-strain curves, strength, elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio are studied in different strain rate. The results show that: (1) With the increase of strain rate, the inflexion strength and ultimate strength of concrete were improved; (2) With the increase of strain rate, the static and dynamic elastic modulus increased slightly; (3) Poisson's ratio increased slightly with the growth strain rate. This conclusion is very important in civil engineering
Feature Selection Methods for Uplift Modeling
Uplift modeling is a predictive modeling technique that estimates the
user-level incremental effect of a treatment using machine learning models. It
is often used for targeting promotions and advertisements, as well as for the
personalization of product offerings. In these applications, there are often
hundreds of features available to build such models. Keeping all the features
in a model can be costly and inefficient. Feature selection is an essential
step in the modeling process for multiple reasons: improving the estimation
accuracy by eliminating irrelevant features, accelerating model training and
prediction speed, reducing the monitoring and maintenance workload for feature
data pipeline, and providing better model interpretation and diagnostics
capability. However, feature selection methods for uplift modeling have been
rarely discussed in the literature. Although there are various feature
selection methods for standard machine learning models, we will demonstrate
that those methods are sub-optimal for solving the feature selection problem
for uplift modeling. To address this problem, we introduce a set of feature
selection methods designed specifically for uplift modeling, including both
filter methods and embedded methods. To evaluate the effectiveness of the
proposed feature selection methods, we use different uplift models and measure
the accuracy of each model with a different number of selected features. We use
both synthetic and real data to conduct these experiments. We also implemented
the proposed filter methods in an open source Python package (CausalML)
Research on the reaction of furil with ammonium acetate
The direct reaction of furil with ammonium acetate in refluxing glacial acetic acid under the absence of appropriate aldehydes was systematically studied. The principal product with furan rings and imidazole ring 2,4,5-tri(furan-2-yl)-1H-imidazole (I) was obtained in moderate yield, and two new byproducts containing furan rings were successfully purified by C18 reversed phase column. All compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, MS, IR, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The structure of I was further confirmed by the 13C-1H COSY spectroscopy. The putative reaction mechanism via stable 1,2-di(furan-2-yl)ethane-1,2-diimine, furan-2-yl-(2,4,5-tri-furan-2-yl-2H-imidazol-2-yl)-methanone and intermediate 5 traced by GC-MS was proposed
- âŠ