Impact of Tibetan Household Livelihood Capital on Tourism Participation Level: A Case of Jiaju Tibetan Village in Garze

As more people move from countryside to cities and those left behind struggle to sustain livelihoods, China’s 19th National Congress of the Communist Party has prioritized the implementation of rural revitalization. A number of studies have examined drivers of livelihood transition from farming to non-farm activities, especially the participation in tourism against the backdrop of rural tourism development. There are, however, few studies identifying ways to measure tourism participation level or discussing how household-level capitals influence the decision on tourism participation made by Tibetan ethnic households. This article assessed the roles of livelihood capitals in the adoption of tourism activities at household level in Jiaju Tibetan Village, a renowned ethnic tourism resort in western China. Using the household survey data, this study estimated an ordinal logistic regression model to identify the determinants of household tourism participation level. This study revealed that the characteristics differences of livelihood capitals in terms of the proximity to traffic arteries, availability of skilled member, fixed assets, direct and indirect support from government between households may lead to different levels of tourism participation. The effects of the household labor availability and annual family income remained unclear. This study has implications for understanding the shift of farm occupation by households to off-farm activities in tourism by empirically examining the influence of various household livelihood capitals on tourism participation in Jiaju Tibetan Village, an ethnic region that is experiencing struggling agricultural business and initiating stage of its tourism development and economic changes

Real-time Image Processing on an FPGA for an Intraoperative Goggle Device

The emergence of near-infrared dyes for fluorescence imaging has had a tremendous impact in the medical field. In particular, indocyanin green (ICG) has been widely used for assessing tumor margins during intraoperative procedures. Typically, the dye is intravenously injected into the patient, and after 24 hours the dye is removed from the patient’s body, except where binding between the dye and tumor cells has occurred. This selective binding between ICG and cancerous tissue allows for easy and accurate detection of cancer margins as well as detection of metastasis throughout the patient’s body. In order to detect the binding sites, a near infrared light source at 780nm is used to excite the dye molecules, and emission is observed at 800nm. To take advantage of fluorescent imaging during intraoperative procedures, we have developed a goggle system equipped for real-time imaging in both visible and near infrared spectra. The goggle system has to be light, compact and able to perform real-time image processing to assist the physician for easy detection of tumor margins. To this end, I have developed Verilog code for a Spartan III FPGA that performs the following: 1) Real-time acquisition of both visible and near infrared spectrum images from a pair of CMOS imaging detectors; 2) Real-time image processing for both near infrared and color images in order to enhance the captured information; and 3) Real-time display of fused visible-near infrared images in high definition (HDMI) format on a goggle device. The imaging device has been successfully used for intraoperative procedures during tumor resection in animal models

Characterizing HCI Research in China: Streams, Methodologies and Future Directions

This position paper takes the first step to attempt to present the initial characterization of HCI research in China. We discuss the current streams and methodologies of Chinese HCI research based on two well-known HCI theories: Micro/Marco-HCI and the Three Paradigms of HCI. We evaluate the discussion with a survey of Chinese publications at CHI 2019, which shows HCI research in China has less attention to Macro-HCI topics and the third paradigms of HCI (Phenomenologically situated Interaction). We then propose future HCI research directions such as paying more attention to Macro-HCI topics and third paradigm of HCI, combining research methodologies from multiple HCI paradigms, including emergent users who have less access to technology, and addressing the cultural dimensions in order to provide better technical solutions and support

Limit state analysis on the un-repeated multiple selection bounded confidence model

summary:In this paper, we study the opinion evolution over social networks with a bounded confidence rule. Node initial opinions are independently and identically distributed. At each time step, each node reviews the average opinions of several different randomly selected agents and updates its opinion only when the difference between its opinion and the average is below a threshold. First of all, we provide probability bounds of the opinion convergence and the opinion consensus, are both nontrivial events by analyzing the probability distribution of order statistics. Next, similar analyzing methods are used to provide probability bounds when the selection cover all agents. Finally, we simulate all these bounds and find that opinion fluctuations may take place. These results increase to the understanding of the role of bounded confidence in social opinion dynamics, and the possibility of fluctuation reveals that our model has fundamentally changed the behavior of general DeGroot opinion dynamical processes

A Survey and Study on the Current Status of Mathematics Study Habits of Rural Junior High School Students in China

The research is supported by the research project of higher education reform in Jiangsu Province. Nos. 2019JSJG257, 2017JSJG212, Special research project on Rural Education in Yancheng City. No. XCZX21090, and Yancheng educational science planning project in 2021. No. 2021-L-136. (Sponsoring information) Abstract Based on the relevant theories, the article adopts literature research, questionnaire survey, and interview records to first analyze and summarize the research related to " mathematics study habits" and to define and classify the concepts related to "mathematics study habits." Take rural junior high school students in a school in China as the target group, and analyze the current situation of mathematics study habits of rural junior high school students in this school through a questionnaire survey based on the results. Furthermore, through personal interviews with rural junior high school students, teachers, and parents in the region, we completed the analysis of the factors that contribute to the formation of good mathematics study habits in rural junior high school students from the perspectives of students, teachers, and parents. Finally, combined with the current situation and influencing factors of mathematics learning habits of rural junior high school students in the region, corresponding countermeasures are proposed for the cultivation of good mathematical learning habits from the three perspectives of students, teachers and parents. Keywords: Rural junior high school students, Mathematics study habits, Influence factors, Habit development measures DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-29-04 Publication date:October 31st 202

This I Wonder - Spiritual Journey of a Wondering Heart

“This I Wonder” is a staged monologue on struggles and transformations along my spiritual journey with aural landscapes of places I traveled to and stories from three of the narrators I interviewed. It went from my childhood memory to the beginning of my journey as a baptized Christian, to my trip in India which challenged me to appreciate people from other religions, to interviews I conducted last year and then to my manifesto of what I believe and wonder at that point in life. Audiences were also engaged in group discussions before and after the performance. The performance presented the sphere of subjectivity and intersubjectivity not only during oral history interviews, but also its on-going influence in shaping one’s interpretation after interviews. And through its vulnerability, transparency and inquiry, the performance opened a space for audiences to engage with questions around faith and identity struggles. To engage with this thesis, please go to https://yiyi956.wixsite.com/this-i-wonder Keywords: religion, faith, doubt, Christianity, identity, struggl

Evaluating livelihood vulnerability of farming communities to winter storms in Iowa

Driven by unusually warm air in the Arctic, severe winter weather moves southward to mid-latitude areas, indicating the complexity in the ways that climate change may affect local weather extremes. The vulnerability of farming communities to climate risks and differential response capabilities have drawn much research attention. Winter storms are recognized as one of the common catastrophic events leading to agricultural damage and loss. However, research is notably lacking in understanding the consequences extreme winter weather could bring in farmer livelihood. This study is concerned with the vulnerability patterns of farming communities shaped under varying climate and socio-physical conditions. Focusing on Iowa as a case study, this research determined indicators capable of differentiating households with unequal vulnerability to winter storms based on semi-structured interviews. Spatial analysis was incorporated to quantify spatial information (i.e. winter temperature variation, natural shelter, energy capacity and facility density) subject to data aggregation. Factor analysis was used to investigate the relationships between adaptive capacity indicators. It extracted three underlying factors that could determine adaptive capacity, namely, farming economic status, environmental institutional capital and innovative capital. The exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity and overall vulnerability were calculated for each county in Iowa. The output maps demonstrated high vulnerability in Southeast Iowa due to low farming economic status and innovative capital, and high vulnerability in Northwest Iowa due to high exposure and low environmental institutional capital. The limitations in normalization and index development were also addressed and discussed. To understand complex farmer decisions that lead to different outcomes in storm losses, a conceptual agent-based model was constructed in an attempt to examine geographically and temporally, the multiple reasons that drive the decisions and key pathways in the response-loss process. This study identified interacting entities and variables characterizing these entities under a simplified farmer decision-making process, with a view to decompose upscaled winter storm loss patterns. The future objective is to explore alternative policy scenarios that can improve farmer livelihoods and reduce vulnerability, thereby providing authorities with a compelling account for making betterinformed decisions about land resource management. This study provides significant findings that may inform resource management for enhancing farming communities’ adaptive capacity to extreme winter weather. Increasing resilience of farming systems, especially pasture, to winter storms, includes investment in natural capital and enhancement of farming economic status. Further validation for the vulnerability pattern includes surveys investigating farmers’ perceived vulnerability. Future suggestions on vulnerability assessment are to use factor analysis to examine framework-based vulnerability indicator systems through empirical vulnerability case studies at various levels (e.g. tract as the unit). Methodologies could be advanced in exploring complex non-climate scenarios combining ground survey for physical and socio-economical information

Study the Consumer Information Search Behavior for Credence Goods: A Case Study of Dietary Supplements

Consumer information search is not only an important section of consumer decision making, but also is valuable for marketers to better understand consumer behavior. This study attempts to investigate consumer information search behavior for credence goods, especially of dietary supplements. It describes the results from a questionnaire survey conducted online from 134 respondents, and then the data is analyzed by applying SPSS. This study mainly focuses on the determinants that affect the extent of information search, and information sources that customers mostly use and rely on. It reveals that for customers, reduce risk, become more confident, saving costs and financial cost are the determinants that influence the extent of searching information about dietary supplements, while it does not obviously testify ability to search and situation factor are the factors that affect information search. Besides, when customers are searching information about dietary supplements, they usually adopt much information generated from interpersonal source, personal source and advertisements. While, they do not prefer to employ information coming from the Internet and personal selling. Additionally, personal source, interpersonal source and neutral source are the most reliable ones that customers consider when they are searching related information about dietary supplements