The Media Logic and Cultural Impact of WeChat

Through its media logic, which is defined by programmability, pervasiveness, connectivity, and datafication, WeChat establishes a non-linear, interactive, and user-dominated media environment. This media logic enhances the influence of each user within WeChat’s narrative landscape and revolutionises traditional media narration methods by enabling them to generate and distribute content. In such an environment, users are able to edit, receive, and send information without constraints of time or distance, which enables delayed interactions that broaden the potential for human communication and dissemination. Additionally, WeChat partially replaces social behaviours and institutions, thereby modifying their original structures and characteristics. As individuals become more accustomed to this media environment, they progressively adjust to the forms that are appropriate for media representation on WeChat, thereby completing the mediatization of culture and society. In this process, individuals are becoming more dependent on media and media logic, with WeChat’s influence permeating social and cultural activities through its media logic. This interaction has a substantial impact on society and culture, thereby aiding in their reconstruction.

How Rustic Videos Influence Youth’s Linguistic Expression: An Analysis Based on Semiotics, Meme Theory and Media Spectacle Theory

The surge in popularity of rustic videos has spawned a great number of Internet memes, such as Internet trendy words growing from dialects and strange pronunciations, picture memes made from video screenshots, and mesmerizing music with a vernacular flavor. Due to their reproducibility, social interaction, and involvement, these rustic videos adhere to the fundamental logic of the propagation of online memes. Rustic videos are widely disseminated as online memes on TikTok (the Chinese version), are often reproduced and used by young people in social contact, and have become a unique linguistic symbol in modern internet culture. As a symbolic carrier that transports the consciousness of the video creator and viewer, it is widely employed in the communication and engagement of young people on a regular basis, progressively altering their linguistic expression. This specific semiotic interaction has deconstructed and recreated the conventional media culture spectacle. This research examines the influence of rustic videos on TikTok on the linguistic expressions of modern youth from the perspectives of meme theory and semiotics, as well as the impact of rustic videos on the media spectacle from the standpoint of media spectacle theory. It also examines in depth the effects of the popularity of rustic videos on China’s economy and culture.

Issues and Countermeasures in Chinese FLTRP Primary School Textbooks under the New Curriculum Standard

The New Curriculum Standard(NCS)is the norm and quality requirement of the Chinese national educational curriculum as well as the basis of teaching management,curriculum evaluation,and textbook compilation.In textbook design,the selection of textbook materials should meet the objectives and requirements of the NCS.Since appropriate teaching materials are essential to curriculum standards and effective teaching,we must follow the consistency between textbook materials and curriculum standards to achieve an ideal degree of conformity with the textbook system and teaching objectives and promote the sustainable development of the English curriculum reform.However,the current primary school English textbooks fall short of the NCS,which leads to difficulties in implementing teaching tasks and achieving teaching goals.Given these difficulties,we should analyze the causes from three dimensions:linguistic knowledge,cultural awareness,and learning strategies.In addition,a high recurrence of phonetic knowledge,systematic grammar presentation,diversified learning styles,level grading,and in-depth involvement of cultural factors are keys to the perfect conformity of the NCS and English textbooks.

Seagrass proteins: Sources of health-promoting agents awaiting exploration?

Seagrasses are marine plants that form economically and ecologically important ecosystems in coastal seas around the world.Unlike seaweeds,another group of marine flora,seagrasses are flowering and seed-bearing plants.Globally,there are only 72 known species of seagrasses,distributed over six bioregions,spanning from the Temperate North Atlantic to the Temperate Southern Ocean[1].This contrasts with 295,383 species of terrestrial flowering plants[2]and 225,000 species of seaweeds known to science[3].

The effects of drainage basin geomorphometry on minimum low flow discharge: the study of small watershed in Kelang River Valley in Peninsular Malaysia

This study investigate the relationships between geomorphometric properties and the minimum low flow discharge of undisturbed drainage basins in the Taman Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam Forest Reserve, Peninsular Malaysia. The drainage basins selected were third-order basins so as to facilitate a common base for sampling and performing an unbiased statistical analyses. Three levels of relationships were observed in the study. Significant relationships existed between the geomorphometric properties as shown by the correlation network analysis; secondly, individual geomorphometric properties were observed to influence minimum flow discharge; and finally, the multiple regression model set up showed that minimum flow discharge(Q min) was dependent of basin area(AU), stream length(LS), maximum relief(Hmax), average relief(HAV) and stream frequency(SF). These findings further enforced other studies of this nature that drainage basins were dynamic and functional entities whose operations were governed by complex interrelationships occurring within the basins. Changes to any of the geomorphometric properties would influence their role as basin regulators thus influencing a change in basin response. In the case of the basin's minimum low flow, a change in any of the properties considered in the regression model influenced the “time to peak' of flow. A shorter time period would mean higher discharge, which is generally considered the prerequisite to flooding. This research also conclude that the role of geomorphometric properties to control the water supply within the stream through out the year even though during the drought and less precipitations months. Drainage basins are sensitive entities and any deteriorations involve will generate reciprocals and response to the water supply as well as the habitat within the areas.

Impact of the Changes in Women’s Characteristics over Time on Antenatal Health Care Utilization in Egypt (2000-2008)

Objectives: This study empirically assesses the impact of the changes in women’s characteristics, empowerment, availability and quality of health services on woman’s decision to use antenatal care (ANC) and the frequency of that use during the period 2000-2008. Study Design: The study is a cross-sectional analytical study using 2000 and 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Surveys. Methods: The assessment of the studied impact is conducted using the Zero-inflated Negative Binomial Regression. In addition, Factor Analysis technique is used to construct some of the explanatory variables such as women’s empowerment, the availability and quality of health services indicators. Results: Utilization of antenatal health care services is greatly improved from 2000 to 2008. Availability of health services is one of the main determinants that affect the number of antenatal care visits in 2008. Wealth index and quality of health services play an important role in raising the level of antenatal care utilization in 2000 and 2008. However, the impact of the terminated pregnancy on receiving ANC increased over time. Conclusions: Further research of the determinants of antenatal health care utilization is needed, using more updated measures of women’s empowerment, availability and quality of health services. In order to improve the provision of antenatal health care services, it is important to understand barriers to antenatal health care utilization. Therefore, it is advisable to collect information from women about the reasons for not receiving antenatal care.

WATER TABLE AND REDOX CONDITIONS IN DEEP TROPICAL PEAT

Redox potential in the well developed tropical peat swamp in Brunei was studied for a year.Generally the redox potential measurements showed a large variation,ranging from-234 mV to 727 mV.The expected rise in redox values did not take place following the drop of water table during the dry months of June to September.The redox value at 100 cm depth indicated that the soil remained reduced throughout the year in spite of the lowering of water table below 150 cm in all sites during dry period.Similarly the redox values did not decrease rapidly following flooding when the water table rose to the surface.This phenomenon could be attributed to the topography of the peat dome which facilitated the fast lateral movement of water and thus promoted oxygen supply down the peat profile,though not great enough to reach the 100 cm depth.The rapid lateral flow of water in the outer Alan batu site facilitated aeration,but in the inner sites remained which was reduced because of the slower water movement.The slower initiation of the reducing condition was likely due to the presence of nitrate which has accumulated as a result of ammonium oxidation during the relatively long aerobic period.Differences in the distribution of redox potential with depth are possibly explained by the different permeability of peat affecting flow patterns and residence time of water.The nature and compactibility of the peat might have slowed the diffusion rates of O2 into the lower layer.Though the bulk density of the peat was low,the composition of the peat might influence the peat permeability and hydraulic conductivity.The tree trunks are not decomposed or large branches must have lowered permeability compared to the other peat material.

Susceptibility to Desertification in Chicualacuala, Republic of Mozambique

In this paper, a geo-environmental diagnostic was implemented to classify susceptibility to desertification in southern Mozambique (Chicualacuala) and deliver responses to revert occurring land degradation. The process of environmental diagnostic is a useful approach to identify the very processes and phenomena belonging to the wide ranging concept of land degradation.

Serve the People or Serve the Consumer? The Dilemma of Patient-Centred Health Care in China

Patient-centred medicine is being adopted as national policies in many countries, encouraged by positive outcomes of the practice at clinical and organisational levels. This study examines the patient-centred health care reform in China, which has adopted the approach as a national policy for two decades but has yet to achieve the intended goals. Focusing on conflicting interpretations of the nature of patients at national, organisational, and individual levels, this article argues that such conflicts lead to clashes between the political agenda of the state, priorities of health organisations, professional choices of individual practitioners, and expectations of patients in the process of implementing, practicing, and receiving patient-centred health care in China. It reveals that the national health authority has intended patient-centredness as a universal, anti-market, people-centred approach, based on the health ideology of serving the people. But hospitals, compelled by financial restraints, have implemented it as a market approach centring on patients as consumers. Medical professionals and patients also possess contradictory views towards whether a patient should be perceived as a consumer. The discordance in the interpretation of the patient identity has caused great confusion in the implementation and provision of patient-centred health care. The study points out that the success of patient-centredness as national policy cannot be assumed on the basis of its success at clinical and organisational levels. More efforts are needed to coordinate the fundamental understanding of patient-centredness by different actors.

The Manchurian Plague and the International Plague Conference:Revisiting Wu Lien-Teh

The Manchurian plague from the winter of 1910 to the spring of 1911 was the worst epidemic in modern China, and the ensuing International Plague Conference marked the first international medical conference hosted by China. There was a close connection between these two historical events, and Wu Lien-Teh 伍连德, later extolled as the "pioneer of modern medicine in China," played a significant role in each. Despite a multitude of treatises discussing the Manchurian plague and the International Plague Conference, as well as biographical articles on the undertakings of Wu, there remains a gap in the research of Wu’s relation with these two historical events, which is worth further exploration. In addition to the key role and significance of Wu in the entire epidemic fight, the first section of this article analyzes whether the common portrayal of Wu as an obscure, local doctor transformed overnight into a Manchurian plague fighter is accurate. Through an analysis of the conference minutes, the second section focuses on how Wu used "conference diplomacy" to mitigate the neighboring powers’ attempts to achieve their political goals by leveraging this international conference.

Faith Meets Feminism:An Analysis of the Christian Belief in a Male God

Despite the numerous existing accounts on the equality of sexes,feminists have openly expressed their dissatisfaction on the Christian doctrine of the image of God:To them,the reality is that,the world has always belonged to men.While trying to seek support from Holy Scripture,feminists decry prejudices in the Christian model which has so far,failed to provide a feminine imagery of God;this has caused an open clash between feminists’and Christians’views on the role of a male God in promoting equality of sexes.This paper presents biblical evidence of the image of God as an attempt to clarify the reliability of the Christian belief in a male God.While this study adopted a qualitative research design,the author used qualitative approach in the analysis of feminists’arguments against the patriarchal chauvinism observed in the Bible.The paper concludes that,Christian conception of a male omniscient and omnipotent Creator is not just a mere theorisation for it to be amended or reconceptualised,but a complete explanation of the believer’s humility and submission to divine power and/or authority.

A systematic review of soil erosion control practices on the agricultural land in Asia

Soil is the basis of production in agriculture activities. The combination of intensive farming activities, improper farming practices, rainfall regimes, and topography conditions that taken place in agricultural land lead to the soil erosion problem. Soil erosion is the major constraint to agriculture that affects the yield production and degraded environmental sustainability. Furthermore, soil erosion that occurs in the agricultural area has jeopardized the sustainability of agriculture activities. Asia is one of the major agricultural producers in the world. It is essential to know how to mitigate soil erosion in Asian agri-cultural land. This systematic review aims to analyze the existing literature on research that has been done on control practices that had been taken in Asia agricultural land towards soil erosion. This article is guided by the PRISMA Statement (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis) review method. The authors systematically reviewed the literature to study the control practices that been taken and tested to control soil erosion on the agricultural land in Asia. Accordingly, this systematic review identified 39 related studies about the topic based on the Web of Science and Scopus databases. This article divided the control practices into three main themes, which are agronomic practices, agro-stological practices, and mechanical practices. The three main themes then produced a total of 11 sub-themes. Further specific and sustained research is needed to tackle this severe environmental problem through a better method, such as this systematic review method. The systematic review helps farmers and policymakers to implement the most practical approach to control and reduce soil erosion.

Architecture of Platonic and Archimedean polyhedral links

A new methodology for understanding the construction of polyhedral links has been developed on the basis of the Platonic and Archimedean solids by using our method of the ‘three-cross-curve and dou- ble-twist-line covering’. There are five classes of polyhedral links that can be explored: the tetrahedral and truncated tetrahedral links; the hexahedral and truncated hexahedral links; the dodecahedral and truncated dodecahedral links; the truncated octahedral and icosahedral links. Our results show that the tetrahedral and truncated tetrahedral links have T symmetry; the hexahedral and truncated hexahedral links, as well as the truncated octahedral links, O symmetry; the dodecahedral and truncated dodeca- hedral links, as well as the truncated icosahedral links, I symmetry, respectively. This study provides further insight into the molecular design, as well as theoretical characterization, of the DNA and protein catenanes.

A Systematic Study of Disaster Risk in Brunei Darussalam and Options for Vulnerability-Based Disaster Risk Reduction

This systematic study of disaster risk and disaster management efforts in Brunei Darussalam uncovers the reasons why floods and landslides in particular continue to inflict significant social,economic,and psychological toll.Vulnerability to the impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards continue to rise despite international awareness and improved disaster governance and information,and regardless of the vast financial and material resources spent on structural and nonstructural measures for disaster relief and community awareness.Our premise is that,a poor diagnosis of the disaster risk issue is at the root of the disaster risk dilemma in Brunei Darussalam.We conducted our vulnerability-centered disaster risk assessment based largely on the Pressure and Release(PAR) Model proposed by Wisner et al.Our research results reveal that:(1)Hazard-risk in Brunei is high due to the impact of global climate change,the country's local geography,and Brunei's relative location in the Asia–Pacific Region.Limited reporting of localized disasters to international databases however fuels the misperception of low disaster risk in Brunei;(2) High community vulnerability and disaster risk is due to limited knowledge,awareness,and motivation among the general population,which prevents effective mitigation and adaptation to low magnitude but recurrent hazardous events;and(3) Partial incorporation of disasterrisk reduction into governance structures and development plans contributes to heightened disaster risks.Integrated frameworks are proposed that can minimize social vulnerability,reduce disaster risk,and enhance community resilience and adaptive capacity as part of a strengthened governance mechanism.Coupled with improvements in preparedness,response,recovery,and reconstruction promoted by the National Disaster Management Centre(NDMC),vulnerability and disaster risk can be minimized,and a more inclusive and sustainable growth can be generated.

CELLULOSE DECOMPOSTION IN TROPICAL PEAT SWAMPS

Given that organic soil is a complex substrate and there are many environmental factors which directly or indirectly control its decomposition processes, the use of standard substrate simplify the system in that the effect of substrate quality could be eliminated and influence of certain environmental conditions such as edaphic factors, acidity and moisture could be focused on. In addition to the forest floor, decomposition potential down the peat profile can also be examined. Cotton strip assay was used to estimate decomposition potentials in tropical peat swamp occupied by different Shorea Albida peat swamp forest communities, The' Alan Batu' , the ' Alan Bunga' , the' Alan Padang' and the 'mixed Alan'forest communities. Greatest decay rates on the peat surface took place during the wet period. The moist condition of the wet months appeared to favour the growth and stimulate activities of decomposer population and soil invertebrates.Generally, 50% of cotton tensile loss is achieved after four weeks of exposure. The results suggest that cellulose decomposition is influenced by the environmental variables of hydrological regime, water-table fluctuation, aeration, moisture availability,waterlogging and the resultant anaerobiosis, peat depths, and micro-sites characteristics. Decomposition of cellulose is inhibited by waterlogging and the resultant anaerobiosis in thelower segment of the cotton strip during wet periods and under dry conditions in the surface segment of the cotton strip during periods of less rain.

Purification and identification of novel cytotoxic oligopeptides from soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum

Globally, peptide-based anticancer therapies have drawn much attention. Marine organisms are a reservoir of anticancer peptides that await discovery. In this study, we aimed to identify cytotoxic oligopeptides from Sarcophyton glaucum. Peptides were purified from among the S. glaucum hydrolysates produced by alcalase, chymotrypsin, papain, and trypsin, guided by a methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide(MTT) assay on the human cervical cancer(HeLa) cell line for cytotoxicity evaluation. Purification techniques adopted were membrane ultrafiltration, gel filtration chromatography, solid phase extraction(SPE), and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography(RP-HPLC). Purified peptides were identified by de novo peptide sequencing. From papain hydrolysate, three peptide sequences were identified: AGAPGG, AERQ, and RDTQ(428.45, 502.53, and 518.53 Da, respectively). Peptides synthesized from these sequences exhibited cytotoxicity on HeLa cells with median effect concentration(EC50) values of 8.6, 4.9, and 5.6 mmol/L, respectively, up to 5.8-fold stronger than the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil. When tested at their respective EC50, AGAPGG, AERQ, and RDTQ showed only 16%, 25%, and 11% cytotoxicity to non-cancerous Hek293 cells, respectively. In conclusion, AERQ, AGAPGG, and RDTQ are promising candidates for future development as peptide-based anticancer drugs.

Homicide, Same-Sex Rape, and the Pursuit of Justice in Early 19th Century China

This paper examines early nineteenth century legal cases in which Qing jurists had to determine a just way to punish a male offender who had murdered a man in order to defend himself against rape. Earlier, in the eighteenth century, jurists judging such cases exhibited considerable skepticism that same-sex rape had occurred. They regarded the claim of rape as an excuse offered by the murderer, demanded an extraordinary measure of proof that there had been a rape, and pun- ished the murderers harshly. But over time, as illustrated in model cases gathered together in the Xing＇an huilan ~lj~ or Conspectus of Punishment Cases, various officials pursuing their judicial responsibilities came to acknowledge a broader range of possible circumstances in which same-sex rape might have occurred and hence showed greater leniency to males who claimed to have tour- dered because they had been raped or judicial practice came to a climax in 1825 threatened with rape. This evolution in when the Court of Revision petitioned the Emperor to approve even greater leniency but the Board of Punishments refuted the argument.

Conflicts and Displacements in Syria: Exploring Life Trajectories of Separated Refugee Minors

This paper explores how unaccompanied refugee children from Syria made their way to destination countries and how they become unaccompanied and the consequences of being unaccompanied.This paper is based on interviews with Syrian child refugees in Turkey,Lebanon,Egypt and Jordan,and aid workers of international organizations who provide support with child refugees.The long-standing conflict has caused Syrian children to suffer immensely,both physically and psychologically.Data show that majority of the children became conflict orphan and left Syria.Some reported that they became separated or unaccompanied from their parents or relatives while crossing the border in the mass exodus.Some parents were arrested and killed in Syria by both the government and combatants.Some children were left alone by their relatives on the border in order to avoid violence in Syria,and some were smuggled into the destinations countries.

Review:Data center network architecture in cloud computing:review, taxonomy, and open research issues

The data center network(DCN), which is an important component of data centers, consists of a large number of hosted servers and switches connected with high speed communication links. A DCN enables the deployment of resources centralization and on-demand access of the information and services of data centers to users. In recent years, the scale of the DCN has constantly increased with the widespread use of cloud-based services and the unprecedented amount of data delivery in/between data centers, whereas the traditional DCN architecture lacks aggregate bandwidth, scalability, and cost effectiveness for coping with the increasing demands of tenants in accessing the services of cloud data centers. Therefore, the design of a novel DCN architecture with the features of scalability, low cost, robustness, and energy conservation is required. This paper reviews the recent research findings and technologies of DCN architectures to identify the issues in the existing DCN architectures for cloud computing. We develop a taxonomy for the classification of the current DCN architectures, and also qualitatively analyze the traditional and contemporary DCN architectures. Moreover, the DCN architectures are compared on the basis of the significant characteristics, such as bandwidth, fault tolerance, scalability, overhead, and deployment cost. Finally, we put forward open research issues in the deployment of scalable, low-cost, robust, and energy-efficient DCN architecture, for data centers in computational clouds.

The multi-dimensional effects of reciprocity on worker effort:evidence from a hybrid field-laboratory labour market experiment

We examine the gift exchange hypothesis on both the quantity and quality of work using a hybrid field-laboratory labour market experiment.We recruited participants to enter survey data for a well-known charitable organisation.Workers were paid either a high or low wage.We find that although the total number of surveys entered did not vary in terms of wages,high wage workers made fewer errors and entered more surveys after controlling for errors.We further find that for low costs associated with errors,offering a low wage maximises profits;but for higher costs,paying a high‘gift exchange’wage maximises profits.