Multilingual Practices and Multiple Contestations in the Linguistic Landscape of Selected Towns in Oromia:A geosemiotic perspective

This study analyzed a linguistic landscape,which is a relatively recent development in sociolinguistic research committed to the investigation of the visual manifestations of the relationships observed between language or semiosis and society in the public space.There has been less attention on the semiotic interpretations in the public environments despite the ubiquitous nature of such signs in Ethiopia.This study intends to fill this gap through Semiotic Landscape research.By means of mixed methods,qualitative and quantitative,it aims to discover the contestations in the Linguistic Landscape(LL,henceforth)of selected urban environments in Oromia.The study employed a theoretical concept of geosemiotics from social semiotics as an analytical tool.Visual data consisting of 1275 photographs of signs were collected from the main streets of Adama,Jimma and Sebeta towns from different domains of sign using bodies.Besides,data were collected through in-depth interviews with major LL actors,selected based on purposive sampling technique.The analysis demonstrated that some top-down and most of bottom-up signs showed varieties of multilingual practices,contestations,identity constructions and other related social concerns.The absence of a clear policy on language use on signs at both federal and regional levels has resulted in contestations.

Negotiating Contestations for Community-Oriented Heritage Management: A Case Study of Loushang in China

Rural heritage is a living heritage of significant importance;it requires community-oriented manage­ment for cultural continuity and local development.Different social relations exist at rural heritage sites,which lead to external contestation among stakeholders and internal contestation within the community.It is essential to iden­tify the impact caused by such contestations and determine an appropriate way to negotiate solutions.This paper examines the case of Loushang in Guizhou Province,identifying the contestations by examining the social relations through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.Negotiation requires an appropriate person or social group to act as intermediary:they engage the stakeholders and induce them to collaborate;they also empower the com­munity in heritage management.The case of Loushang indicates the tools that are necessary to facilitate communi­ty-oriented management for rural heritage;it bridges theoretical research and heritage practice.

A conceptual framework for understanding the intrinsic contestation of cultural heritage tourism in Chinese qiaoxiang

Cultural heritage in Chinese qiaoxiang is constructed where Chinese and foreign cultures gather,connecting overseas Chinese with their country of origin.However,conficts concerning this type of heritage comes out frequently,such as house reconstruction clash,host-guest conficts and destructive competition in heritage tourism.The economic and cultural duality of heritage is perceived as the source of intrinsic contestation in heritage tourism,and conficts related to diferent types of heritage may take on diferent appearances and causes.Extant tourism studies have generalised cultural heritage in Chinese qiaoxiang,neglecting the unique characteristics of the diaspora and their corresponding infuence on heritage protection and utilisation,that makes the reasons for these conficts remain unclear.By answering the basic question of what heritage is,this research proposes an analytical framework to understand the intrinsic contestation of cultural heritage tourism in Chinese qiaoxiang.The paper points out that the contradiction between‘ancestral root culture’and modernity and between fow and stillness is the trigger for intrinsic contestation.The paper also summarises the core issues in conficts that need further discussion by answering the questions of‘what is heritage’,‘whose heritage’and‘how to interpret heritage’.The core issues include heritage selection and identifcation,the commercialisation of‘home’,heritage interpretation and so on.

Complex Dynamics Analysis of Generalized Tullock Contest

The generalized dynamic Tullock contest model with two homogeneous participants is established, in which both players have the same valuation of winning rewards and losing rewards. Firstly, the unique symmetric equilibrium point of the system is obtained by calculation and its local stability condition is given based on the Jury criterion. Then, two paths of the system from stability to chaos, namely flip bifurcation and Neimark-Sacker bifurcation, are analyzed by using the two-dimensional parametric bifurcation diagram. Meanwhile, the abundant Arnold tongues in the two-dimensional parametric bifurcation diagram are analyzed. Finally, the phenomenon of multistability of the system is illustrated through the basin of attraction, and the contact bifurcation occurs during the evolution of the basin of attraction with varying parameters.

Exploration and Practice of the Cultivation Model for Top Undergraduate Talents Based on Subject Contests in the AI Era

With the rise of artificial intelligence and the rapid development of industrial applications based on deep learning,the demand for innovative and practical talents is rapidly increased.The cultivation of talents in computer discipline has attracted a lot of attention from universities,research institutions,and Internet giants.Subject contests play a crucial role in cultivating top undergraduate talents.This paper proposes a cultivation model that takes the industry application of deep learning as the background,and guides students to learn,practice,and innovate incrementally from machine learning application to deep learning application by participating in subject contests.It aims to help undergraduates to master the cutting-edge technologies and applications,and ultimately cultivate top,innovative,and practical undergraduate talents in the computer field in the era of artificial intelligence.

Security investment and information sharing for complementary firms with heterogeneous monetary loss

Two complementary firms＇ information sharing and security investment are investigated. When two complementary firms with heterogeneous assets are both breached, it is assumed that they suffer different losses which are associated with their information assets. Some insights about optimal strategies for the firms and the attacker are obtained by the game theory, which forms a comparison with those derived from substitutable firms, and those derived from complementary firms with homogenous loss. In addition, both the unit transform cost of investment and the extent of firms＇loss affect the optimal strategies.Assuming that firms can control information sharing, security investments and both of them, respectively, the effect of the social planner is further analyzed on the information sharing, firms＇ aggregate defence, the aggregate attack and social total cost. Finally, some policy advice is provided through numerical simulation. Results show that firms are willing to choose security investment centrally rather than individually, but an intervention in information sharing by the social planner may not necessarily be preferable.

关于对云南农业大学英语演讲比赛的反思(英文)

With the development of the society, more and more people are realized that it is a fact that the communication between people plays a significant role in their daily work and life. English Public speaking, as one of the means of communication, also gains the attention of the many universities. The author will reflect some issues which exist in Yunnnan Agricultural University in recent years and raise some measures as well.

Re-evaluating the Question of Standardization of Nigerian English

It is difficult to deny the existence of Nigerian English, just as it is difficult to deny the existence of British English and American English. This claim arises from the fact that what characterizes a people＇s linguistic norm takes its rise from the totality of the people＇s sociocultural practices of which meaningful verbal sounds are of great essence. The meaningful verbal sounds serve as the chief instrument for communicating meanings, feelings, ideas, and abstractions. Whereas the existence of Nigerian English is no doubt, what constitutes its standard variety has been under contestation. In this write up, argument on standardization of Nigerian English is built-up on the basis of the various stages which the language has passed through and is still passing through in Nigeria. Argumentatively, standard variety of Nigerian English is identified and examined with the aim of demonstrating how efforts in standardizing it are made through empirically reliable criteria.

Creating Effective Learning Contests in Children's Classroom English Teaching in China

During the past decades, the opening China saw an unprecedented desire for foreign language learning. This English fever also involves children in primary school and even in kindergarten: For children, to create a positive and vivid contest during the class is an effective way of learning, since such a contest will arouse their interest and help them understand how to use what they have learned. This paper aims at discussing methods to create effective contests for children during English classroom.

精神价值是竞技运动的灵魂

精神价值是竞技运动的灵魂ＳＰＩＲＩＴＶＡＬＵＥＩＳＴＨＥＳＯＵＬＯＦＡＴＨＬＥＴＩＣＳ任海ＲｅｎＨａｉ编者导语百年奥运盛会虽然已经成为历史，但留给人们的思索却仍在继续：奥林匹克的商业化问题、运动训练方面的问题、奥运项目的战略布局问题……林林总总。本...

Novel Adaptive Binarization Method for Degraded Document Images

Achieving a good recognition rate for degraded document images is difficult as degraded document images suffer from low contrast,bleedthrough,and nonuniform illumination effects.Unlike the existing baseline thresholding techniques that use fixed thresholds and windows,the proposed method introduces a concept for obtaining dynamic windows according to the image content to achieve better binarization.To enhance a low-contrast image,we proposed a new mean histogram stretching method for suppressing noisy pixels in the background and,simultaneously,increasing pixel contrast at edges or near edges,which results in an enhanced image.For the enhanced image,we propose a new method for deriving adaptive local thresholds for dynamic windows.The dynamic window is derived by exploiting the advantage of Otsu thresholding.To assess the performance of the proposed method,we have used standard databases,namely,document image binarization contest(DIBCO),for experimentation.The comparative study on well-known existing methods indicates that the proposed method outperforms the existing methods in terms of quality and recognition rate.

Water and the Configuration of Social Worlds: An Anthropological Perspective

From an anthropological perspective, water is not only the sine qua non of life in general, it is also seen to configure societies in particular ways, and to generate particular values. This will be substantiated in four moves. First, the hydrological cycle and other elementals of water will be discussed. Second, we shall zoom in on rivers, transforming natural resources and social communities as they bend and twist. Third, we shall discuss artificially established canals, emulating natural flows, but having their own long-term social and political implications. Fourth, we shall focus on wells, providing nodal points of social life and potential conflict. The article ends with some observations on water as a theory-machine.

Nigeria: Wirmers of "Nigeria in Eyes of Chinese" Photography Contest Announced

Since the launch in late December 2018 the 2^nd "'Nigeria In Eyes of Chinese,, Photography Con test has received active participation of many photography enthusiasts working in Nigeria. On January 8, the final of the contest was held at China Cultural Center in Nigeria. 60 works won the first, seco nd, third and memorial prizes and will be displayed in many places including the capital city of Nigeria.

Sidelights of the Chinese Speaking Contest for International Young People

Editor's Note:Listen to the understanding of young people on"a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind"and tell the story of China s rapid development from an international perspective.This is the original intention of the Chinese speaking contest for international young people,themed"The Pursuit of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind".

Cultural Orientation Through Public Speaking Contests

Learning about culture is an integral part of learning a fbreign language. Participating in speech contests gives language learners a good opportunity to know more about the culture of the target language. Such contests allow students to learn how to write a speech for a particular audience, how to introduce a speaker, how to deliver a speech, and how to say ＂thank you＂ to the speaker. Participation in speech contests can promote insight and understanding through a comparison of American culture and the students＇ native culture. Such comparison is intended to promote better understanding of both cultures.

The Second Brother-cup Clothing Design Contest

The Second Brother Cup China International Clothing Design Contest for young designers closed on April 25, 1994, Many young dress designers from China and the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, Britain, Greek, Finland, Belgium, Portugal, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the Philippines, as well as Hongkong and Taiwan took part Co. in the contest. From more than 500 entries, 41 designers were selected for final contest.

From Sunset Winter to Caetano＇s Spring： The Importance of a Song Contest in the Portuguese Music Scene of the 1960＇s and 1970＇s

I propose to introduce a few lines of analysis for the RTP Song Contest （Portuguese Radio and Television Song Contest--Festival RTP da Cancāo）. I intend to raise a few questions that will help us to understand the role of this competition in the Portuguese musical and cultural scene of the 1960s. RTP Song Contest is the longest television song contest in Portugal. This competition went through several crucial moments in the recent history of Portugal, witnessing the change from dictatorship to democracy. In late 1960s, still under the authoritarian regime, several social changes took place and music played an important role in these changes, as several studies have documented. In 1969, Portugal bet on Simone de Oliveira to bring us the prize, but the result was not the expected. This event brought us many questions about the importance of the Portuguese participation in the Eurovision Song Contest and the faimess of the European evaluation. This paper intends to reflect the implications of this particular event and the importance of the Contest for the Portuguese music scene at the end of the critical 1960＇s. With this paper, I intend to introduce some lines of analysis of the first ten years of the Portuguese Radio and Television Song Contest （Festival RTP da Cang6o--RTP Song Contest）. I intend to raise a few questions that will help us to understand the role of this competition in the Portuguese musical and cultural scene of the late 1960s and 1970s, based on the study of the daily press. RTP Song Contest is the most long-life television contest in Portugal. For this reason, it is important to make a short historical overview of this period and the history of television in Portugal. At the same time, the analysis of statistical data of audiences enables us to understand the television phenomenon in the late 1960s.

The Change and Prospect of “Automobile Electromechanical Maintenance Skills Competition” under the Chinese Model

This paper analyzes the origin, status, changes and characteristics of theautomotive electromechanical maintenance skills competition in China,and presents the developing trend in the future.

The final contest of 2015 Chinese Young Surgeon Contest-surgery for gastric cancer

The final contest of 2015 Chinese Young Surgeon Contest--surgery fur gastric cancer was successfully held in Beijing International Conference Center on 27th June, 2015. After the exciting contest among the 12 finalists, the first prize, Theodor Billroth Prize, was taken by Xian Shen from the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University in Open Group, and Jian Zhang from Hangzhou First People＇s Hospital in Endoscope Group.

Analyzing ＂Fuzziness＂ of Hedges and Its Function in ＂Filter Cup＂ English Public Speaking Contest

In recent years, numerous scholars have attached much importance to the pragmatic function of hedges and associated it with daily life. Scholars have conducted a lot of research on how hedges function in news broadcast, interview, trial, commercial negotiation, language teaching, entertainment, etc. However, there is still no research on its application in Public Speaking Contest （hereinafter referred to as PSC ）. PSC is usually regarded as a great annual event for students. In order to analyze the efficiency of hedges in PSC to help students to he skirted in the application of different hedges, this article wiU analyze characteristics of hedges by the comparison with the relevant concept like probability and vagueness; then some scholars＇ approach of classifieation will be introduced; lastly, it will analyze different function of hedges under the context of some articles in＂Filter Cup＂English Public Speaking Contest. Adaptors can make the expression more polite and tact; rounders can make speaker＇ s information more believable and show his sincere attitude for judges; plausibility shields can show thoughtful and clear-headed property; attribution shields can help to avoid the responsibility for a fault.