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The article discusses the art of paper tearing by Hong Kong-based paper-tearing artist Sing Man Lee in his aim to create a bridge between contemporary life and traditional Chinese cultures. Other topics include how Lee made his first paper-tearing artwork, how the art can improve a person's confidence, and an exploration of Lee's artwork through the National Visual Arts Standards.

Folk paper-cut art is one of the bright pearls, with a wide range of shapes and a long history, that serves as a model for modern visual communication design in China and encourages designers to think creatively. Integrating emotional elements into a design not only can elicit an emotional response from the viewer but also can make works created using traditional rational thinking more vivid, energetic, and touching. The main focus of this research is on the path and method of incorporating folk paper-cut emotion into visual communication design. The research status of various feature extraction methods and image recognition methods at home and abroad is examined in depth in this paper. For the recognition of distorted images that are not transformed by mathematics, some effective methods are proposed. They are used to recognize artistic images of paper-cut patterns because they can extract effective features that are not affected by translation, rotation, scale change, or small deformation. Experiments have shown that they have a positive impact. The use of folk paper-cut art in visual communication design not only improves the quality of design work but also generates new ideas for the transmission and development of other traditional Chinese cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design guidelines for traditional cultural artefacts play an important role in Culturally Inspired Design (CID) activities and design education. In this paper, a comparative study was performed to assess the impact of present-day design guidelines for traditional Chinese cultural artefacts on novice designers in a CID process. In all, 42 novice designers enrolled in a cultural product design course participated in this study, under two different design conditions: an unaided condition and a guideline-aided condition. Each condition includes three stages: identification stage, translation stage and implementation stage. In the unaided condition, each participant was asked to finish an investigative report on traditional cultural artefacts without any guidance and then carry out a detailed cultural product design. These results were then compared with those of the participants in the guideline-aided condition, who received a design guideline for traditional cultural artefacts. The results were assessed by expert raters against six design metrics: breadth, depth, quantity, variety, novelty and quality. They revealed that the design guideline for traditional cultural artefacts in a CID process promoted the analysis of cultural features and increased the novelty and quality of design outcomes but resulted in decreased variety. We propose that the design guideline for traditional cultural artefacts may be useful as part of the design process and as a pedagogical tool in cultural creative design, but the best moment at which to introduce the design guideline should be further examined.

This paper explores a paradigm shift in work culture in the contemporary art sector due to digital transition and the introduction of AI. New ways of working with AI and digital software are embedded and normalized in everyday Chinese artistic practices. This work includes new forms of creativity and efficiency, yet, simultaneously includes new types of digital labour. This paper conceptualizes this as "digital art work," which draws attention to the often-overlooked aspects of artists' work, particularly their everyday artistic practices that increasingly include digital software and AI. What is the role and position of the artist in an environment where digital software and AI are becoming more central in artistic creation? How do artists creatively (mis)use AI? What does this paradigm shift in work culture mean for the future of the artist's role and the future of the contemporary art sector? This paper draws on 48 semi-structured interviews with visual artists and arts professionals, including painters, sculptors, mixedmedia, and internet artists as well as contemporary art gallery owners, museum project directors, curators, and culture policymakers living and working in China during 2023. The findings show how Chinese artists are mastering AI and opening up new spaces for creativity and how the contemporary art sector in China has already transitioned to a new "digital way" in artistic creation. These findings can help to create policy around AI globally and provide solutions for the sustainability of the artist profession and the future of the contemporary art sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xinjiang has witnessed constant state attempts to reinforce the status of Mandarin Chinese as 'the Common Language' and to make local Turkic languages -- mainly Uyghur and Kazak -- more 'suitable' to the modern world. Official efforts to transform the linguistic landscape of Xinjiang have engaged in a complex interplay with Turkic speakers' own understandings of speaking, writing, and modernity across China and Central Asia. While tacitly subscribing to the dominant language ideology that Chinese is more useful, practical, and suitable for the modern world, Turkic speakers in Xinjiang also take pride in their languages. Especially since the government-initiated script reform in the early 1980s, the Arabic scripts' indexical association with literacy and Islamic identity has become stronger than ever for people in Xinjiang. Today, the Arabic script is not only an index of ethno-religious identity, but also an artistic expression. Thus, to many Turkic speakers in Xinjiang, Chinese is "merely" a language of mundane concern, whereas Turkic languages are the medium of aesthetic elaboration such as oral poetry and epic stories. This paper demonstrates that attention to such historical particularities helps us better understand how certain language ideologies can remain unchallenged while others are easily contested.

Deep learning (DL), as the core technology of artificial intelligence (AI), has been extensively researched in the past decades. However, practical DL education needs large marked datasets and computing resources, which is generally not easy for students at school. Therefore, due to training datasets and computing resources restrictions, it is still challenging to popularize DL education in colleges and universities. This paper considers solving this problem by collective intelligence from a resource sharing perspective. In DL, dataset marking and model training both require high workforce and computing power, which may implement through a resource sharing mechanism using collective intelligence. As a test, we have designed a DL education scheme based on collective intelligence under the background of artistic creation to collect teaching materials for DL education. Also, we elaborate on the detailed methods of sharing mechanisms in this article and discuss some related problems to verify this shared learning mechanism.

Theoretical and practical implications of incorporating Quick Response (QR) codes in a traveling international art exhibition are addressed in this paper. Blending the physical and virtual dimensions, the exhibition undergirded a pilot study of the integration of technology into traditional museum settings in both China and the United States. The conceptual and methodical framework highlighted in this study included the participatory museum, informal education, and an array of evaluation research methods and techniques. Data collected for analysis comprised a set using Google Analytics, questionnaires completed by exhibition visitors, and other in-depth qualitative findings collected from participating artists from both cultures. This paper shows that the technological aspects of display can lead directly to participatory learning with the potential for new directions and avenues of inquiry.

"Although" is a frequently used subordinating conjunction in English. However, non-nativeness is often observed in Chinese EFL learners' "although" output during pedagogical practice. This paper aims at exploring the characteristics of Chinese EFL learners' "although" employment in Chinese EFL learners' writing. The study is a corpus-based analysis launched under the analytical framework of contrastive interlanguage analysis. The interlanguage hypothesis lays the theoretical foundation of the present study. Texts from two corpora--the Chinese learner English corpus [CLEC] and the "arts and humanities" disciplinary group of the British academic written English corpus [sub-BAWEC]--are analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively with the help of concordance software Antconc 3.2.1 and statistics program PASW Statistics 18. Based on the findings, conclusions are drawn as follows: 1) Chinese EFL learners tend to underuse "although" and produce mono-structural "although" clauses in their writing. Nevertheless, they share similar preference on deciding "although" placement in clauses with native English speakers; and 2) Factors such as interlingual difference between English and Mandarin Chinese, pedagogical neglect in English classrooms and different cognitive styles influence Chinese EFL learners' "although" employment.

These days, digital art has substantially improved painting art in China's new media period through modern technology and specialized software, which has generated various digital artworks with painting effects, demonstrating their aesthetic, commercial, and cultural worth. As a result, designers must actively investigate intelligently linked and content-diverse techniques to innovate and improve digital media art. This investigation will allow the extraction of pivotal role of digital media communication and drives visual art to new heights in the modern digitized era. Based on this motivation, this paper tries to analyze the application of new media digital technology in painting creation using big data. The major goal is to obtain insights into artists' behavior using behavioral habits and a morphological algorithm in digital painting. The study investigates the design process of digital painting by analyzing the habitual forms displayed by diverse painting user groups and integrating them with user experience design concepts. Two experimental methodologies are used to investigate painting user behavior: the interview method and the observation method. The observation approach collects comprehensive user behavior data to develop a habit form model that includes a both virtual and real activity. This model employs a hierarchical scheme emphasizing various behavior aspects and concepts throughout user interactions and painting system operations. The interview method, on the other hand, captures the psychological activities involved in user behavior decision-making. The study discovers and decomposes the traits specific to these characters by defining painted characters, developing their behavior sets, and making interactive decisions. The learned information and experience are then applied in interactive decision-making processes. Based on these findings, prototype development includes explicit and implicit interaction prototypes, with usability tests determining whether specific roles are included in the design. Throughout the study process, fuzzy mapping associations are built, and behavior mappings are labeled with varying relationship proportions, providing critical data for the habit form model's construction. The paper uses new digital media technology to create paintings and experiments with 50 randomly selected persons. Forty-four participants are well-known authors on major painting websites, with the remaining six being interviewed as professional painters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The continuous advancement of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and the evolving attitudes towards marriage and fertility among the general public have led to an increasing number of groups requiring special attention (GRSA) desiring to fulfill their reproductive needs through these technologies. These groups include single women (including single mothers without children), same-sex couples, and women in high-risk occupations, among others. The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of appropriately liberalizing ART for GRSA. Methods: This paper discusses the advantages of a moderate liberalization of ART for GRSA from two perspectives: a theoretical basis and a practical significance level. It also analyzes the current constraints on liberalizing ART and presents suggestions for moderate liberalization. Results: The moderate liberalization of ART can provide technical support for respecting and realizing the reproductive freedom of GRSA, which has certain theoretical and practical significance. However, it is also subject to constraints. Conclusion: We call for government to keep pace with the times, based on the current stage of political, economic, and social development, to further recognize and protect citizens' reproductive rights, prioritize the practical needs of the public, and explore policies and regulations for gradually loosening the restrictions on ART for GRSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was aimed at comparing different formats of illustrations for children's books created by modern Chinese and Ukrainian artists. At the same time, it was not focused just on determining the leading format, but on identifying the attractiveness factors of each format. To this end, the study investigated children's illustration preferences drawing from the following three age groups: 5–6 years old (preschoolers), 7–8 years old (second‐graders), and 9–10 years old (fourth‐graders). According to the survey, children were most concerned with illustration colourfulness (this is true for paper and pop‐up books) and viewing convenience. There were no statistically significant differences found between Chinese and Ukrainian books in terms of these parameters. At the same time, Chinese e‐books appeared to outperform the Ukrainian texts in terms of feature management and illustration colourfulness. Publishers and artists of children's books can use these data for effective creative activity and making constructive decisions. At the same time, these findings may be of interest to parents, informing or guiding book selection for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a study of an artistic resistance project in China, "Everybody's Donghu (East Lake)," held in 2010, 2012, and 2014 with the aim of intervening in the commercial development of an urban scenic space. It aims to demonstrate the practices of resistance in public spaces, particularly in the context of an authoritarian regime such as China, as opposed to democratic societies. First, the recent development of protest and forms of resistance in China will be discussed. It will then focus on the arising conflicts between the conceptualization of an urban space by the urban planners and the imagination of it by the participants. This is followed by a discussion of the tactics deployed in this event, focusing on how the participants appropriate urban space for their own use through performance. Finally, it explores how technology is used in the practices of resistance, concerning the representation of the area through utilization of online space. Overall, this paper argues that appropriating and representing urban space can open up new possibilities of resistance to power and control in the process of urban transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the times, various industries have undergone earth-shaking changes in the face of development trends. The education industry is also making progress in development. Art design and new media technology can be better presented to the public, and it is also convenient for designers. This paper investigates the local art design and art design education. (1) The new media art design and the traditional art design are compared, and the advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. Both have advantages and disadvantages, and they should learn from each other and improve the disadvantages. (2) Conducted an investigation and analysis on art and design education, and the analysis results showed the defects of today's art and design education, and analyzed the methods of improving art and design education through the school's investigation and applied it to art and design education. (3) Artists and designers are very important for local art. This paper analyzes the genealogical relationship of art designers and the composition of local art designers, taking Yunnan as an example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: The dynamics of the art market are usually presented in terms of price fluctuations, price indexes and financial returns. This paper proposes the value and volume approach, which has not been considered in an aggregative way for a long time in the economic literature. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to present changes in the global art market in the period 2002-2015. The results of dynamic analysis of the art market are presented, including two approaches: value of transactions and volume of transactions. The impact of the global crisis on the art market is considered. Methods: In order to present the changes on the global art market, statistical indexes of dynamics (single base and chain indexes) are used. Moreover, trend analyses have been conducted for the value and volume of transactions on the art market. The sources of data on the global art market are from Artprice, ArtTactic, and TEFAF (The European Fine Art Foundation). Findings & Value added: In the analysed period of 2002-2015, sales on the global art market generally increased. The value and volume of sales peaked in 2007 and 2014. The art market was considerably affected by the economic recession in 2009, but in the next year it recovered. The trend analyses allow the changes on the market to be described by means of mathematical functions, and the countries with the largest share in the global art market can be identified. Particular attention has been paid to the existence of a triad on the art market consisting of Europe, the USA and China. It is noteworthy that Europe and the USA have rapidly lost market share to China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how two contemporary Chinese ekphrastic poems respond to an era characterized by visual media and globalization. It analyses how the poets connect their engagement with visual art to their explorations of complex cross-cultural encounters. These inter-art-form and inter-cultural engagements question the self-other dichotomy that operates in many simplistic imaginings of the relationship between art forms, between China and the West, and between so-called cultural centres and peripheries. Building on the example of these two poetic works, I propose a networked framework as an alternative to dichotomised conceptions of world literature and as a way to rethink global cultural politics and contemporary sociohistorical experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Art is the property of Shanghai Fine Arts Publisher Ltd. co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As highlighted by the post-Cartesian discourse across philosophical schools, Western thought had been struggling for a long time with conceiving interconnectedness. The problematic of Western dualism is most apparent with the so-called mind-body problem, but the issue does not only relate to the separation of body and mind but also the separation of living beings from their environments. Asian philosophy, on the other hand, has had a long history of thinking relations. The paper argues that an architectural philosophy that is open for a dialogue with Asian views would allow for a new approach to conceptualising the interconnectedness of minds, bodies, environments, and cultures. Linking Asian and Western aesthetics with a discourse on ecology, and setting it into dialogue with contemporary theories of architecture, the paper also refers to recent research on embodiment that is engaging from a new point of view with the natural sciences, and that appears to confirm positions of traditional Chinese philosophy. Reconsidering traditional Chinese art and aesthetics, the paper suggests, could initiate a new eco-poetic way of thinking the built environment and its design in favour of a future that is more than smart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of visual art and other extracurricular activities to children's sustainable development is predominantly discussed in Western countries. Consequently, non-Western society could not cherish the benefit of visual art on their children's cognitive and non-cognitive skill development due to a lack of evidence that would revive the community, educators, and policy-makers' impressions about visual art activities, in addition to its amusement use. Thus, the present study adopted a cross-sectional study comprised of a large-scale survey (N = 1624) taken from the southwest part of China to assess the impact of out-of-school visual art activities on children's academic attainment across economically advantaged and disadvantaged children. Astonishingly, the study's findings shed light on current Chinese parents' dedication to purchasing out-of-school activities regardless of their social class difference; notwithstanding, lower-class parents ought to learn that spending time with their children during their activities is more beneficial. The study's implication calls for curriculum policy reform involving aesthetic education and expanding community youth centers for different extracurricular activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Special Issue includes four articles addressing 'Creative China' from top-down to bottom-up approaches, with two conversational pieces offering insights from the UK–China Creative Industries Research and Innovation Hub fellowship study. It provides different perspectives of interpreting 'Creative China' and shares multiple views on collaborations in the 'creative industries' between the United Kingdom and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

painting acts as a source of replenishment for the holdings of most museums. Unlike realism or other traditional styles of painting, abstraction does not always allow for changes in external form and internal content. This article is relevant, as when considering the essence of an abstract picture, its main meaning is the search for internal contradiction or semantics in an implicit form. The purpose of this work is to study Chinese abstract painting and the possibilities of its application as a source of traditional art. The novelty of the study is determined by the fact that the authors of the paper consider Chinese pictorial art as a source of transmission of philosophical and social motives, with respect to development of a technogenic society. The paper provides the possibilities of forming a figurative system in abstract painting and the possibility of searching for an analogue on the part of the symbolic system of fine art. The practical significance of the study is determined by the fact that the application of classifiers and systematisers to Chinese painting makes it possible to determine its components as a part of the global cultural and artistic heritage., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Copyright of Revista Música Hodie is the property of Revista Musica Hodie and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Teaching how to conduct productive research in a classroom setting is a challenge. This article reports on an attempt to scale up the research training in a class of 41 undergraduate and graduate students. The research topic, information aesthetics, covers information visualization and generative art. Seven teams were set up to conduct seven different projects within the topic, and several were able to produce quality research papers published or accepted by journals and conferences. The authors report on their approaches to teaching information aesthetics as a research topic, team set up, and team assessment as well as on the final results in terms of research output. The most important learning experiences in teaching this class were determining how to enable effective team work and maximize the students' research potential. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Development of vocal exercises with visual art and interactive tools might contribute to development of students' musical skills and enhance learning effectiveness. This paper gets an insight into the effectiveness of the vocal exercises developed with visual art tools and a vocal training app. The survey was conducted among 110 students from a music school in China. Students from small groups B who used MOOC and the developed vocal exercises performed 8.6% better compared to the control group, suggesting the programme's effectiveness for teaching vocal performance. Group B post-assessment of the special factors showed increased scores on the three assessment criteria after the intervention. This study has practical value and is important for further research because it demonstrates the developed vocal exercises' effect on musical skills. Research findings may be applied in educational institutions that are interested in finding ways to develop musical skills and improve the effectiveness of vocal training. The results are important for teachers, education officials and everyone interested in the introduction of interactive environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial design (ID) undergraduate education in China is seen as a new rapidly growing discipline over the past 40 years. China's ID education is not well known in the West due to several barriers: language, the Great Firewall of China which blocks out most of the Western websites and a 12-h time difference. All Chinese ID curriculum and program information are available in Mandarin. The Ministry of Education administers all Chinese design education as well as ID scholarships and faculty exchange grants and its website and documents require translation. The Great Firewall of China blocks 90% of Western websites including Google making it difficult for Western Scholars to access accurate information about the size and shape of the Chinese ID education landscape. China has a historical relationship between the ID schools in China and the United States. Chinese students are studying or alumni of every American ID program. China and USA share similar program types, dual-track admissions for art and design streams, and academic calendars. In this paper, a model was developed to clarify the features of ID undergraduate education in China and USA, and a survey of eight ID schools was processed. Four aspects were comparatively discussed: (1) types of ID education, (2) ranking, evaluation, and certification of ID schools and programs, (3) curriculum, credits, course features, and yearly schedules of schools, (4) influences coming from the culture and globalization process. Based on the analysis, the similarities and differences in ID undergraduate education between the two countries are discussed. Results show the dual-track modes in China and USA are different. It is mainly reflected in the management and enrollment, curriculum organization, and cultural environment. Implications for the localization, openness, and globalization to ID education are finally discussed together with several directions for future development. The findings are valuable to USA and Chinese ID departments and faculty, researchers, staff and visiting scholars. It is also useful for university administrative units such as registrars, admissions, international offices and exchanges to understand each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Art is the property of Shanghai Fine Arts Publisher Ltd. co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper attempts to explore the relationship between a particular culture and its visual art by comparing two landscape paintings with distinctive cultural backgrounds. The Chinese landscape painting Early Spring (1072) and the Western landscape painting The Hay Wain (1821) respectively created by Guo Xi and John Constable are chosen for the purpose. The two paintings are compared by adopting Michael O'Toole's (1994) systemic-functional model for the analysis of visual images in terms of Modal, Compositional and Representational functions. The comparison shows that the semiotic choices are different across the three functions. This paper then explains the semiotic differences between the two paintings by examining the distinctions between Chinese and English cultures. The findings in the research suggest that the semiotic distinctions in visual arts arise from different understandings of some fundamental values and principles in different cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 13 June 2012 the Swiss collector Uli Sigg donated his collection of contemporary Chinese art to the new museum of visual art in Hong Kong: M+. In August 2012 Artprice published its report on contemporary art for July 2011 to June 2012 announcing that five out of the ten contemporary artists fetching highest prices at auction, were Chinese. On 29 November 2012 Xi Jinping delivered his first speech after taking office in which he set out his vision for China. This paper argues that in order to understand the Chinese art market and the political context in which it operates, it helps to look at three events which took place in 2012 and their context. Art, the art market and politics are closely interconnected here. The case study of M+ and its foundational donation, the Sigg collection of "contemporary Chinese art", helps to elucidate the relationships and the astonishing developments of the art market in China and Hong Kong during this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Among people living with HIV (PLHIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART), the mortality of immunological non-responders (INRs) is higher than that of immunological responders (IRs). However, factors associated with immunological non-response following ART are not well documented. Methods: We obtained data for HIV patients from the National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program database in China. Patients were grouped into IRs (CD4 cell count ≥ 350 cells/μl after 24 months' treatment), immunological incomplete responders (ICRs) (200–350 cells/μl) and INRs (< 200 cells/μl). Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with immunological non-response. Results: A total of 3900 PLHIV were included, among whom 2309 (59.2%) were IRs, 1206 (30.9%) ICRs and 385 (9.9%) INRs. In multivariable analysis, immunological non-response was associated with being male (2.07, 1.39–3.09), older age [40–49 years (vs. 18–29 years): 2.05, 1.29–3.25; 50–59 years: 4.04, 2.33-7.00; ≥ 60 years: 5.51, 2.84–10.67], HBV co-infection (1.63, 1.14–2.34), HCV co-infection (2.01, 1.01–4.02), lower CD4 + T cell count [50–200 cells/μl (vs. 200–350 cells/μl): 40.20, 16.83–96.01; < 50 cells/μl: 215.67, 85.62-543.26] and lower CD4/CD8 ratio (2.93, 1.98–4.34) at baseline. Compared with patients treated with non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) based regimens, those receiving protease inhibitors (PIs) based regimens were less likely to be INRs (0.47, 0.26–0.82). Conclusions: We found a sizable immunological non-response rate among HIV-infected patients. Being male, older age, coinfection with HBV and HCV, lower CD4 + T cell count and lower CD4/CD8 ratio are risk factors of immunological non-response, whereas PIs-based regimens is a protective factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children under 3½ years of age or so are often thought to produce the same types of scribbles for writing and drawing. We tested this idea by asking Chinese 2- to 6-year-olds to write and draw four targets. In Study 1, Chinese adults judged the status of the productions as writings or drawings. The adults performed significantly above the level expected by chance even with the productions of 2- to 2½-year-olds. In Study 2, we examined specific characteristics of the children's writings and drawings. Although the younger children's scribbles bore little resemblance to the correct characters, they tended to be smaller, sparser, and more angular than their artwork, with less filling in. Differences were also found in paper use and implement use. Children did not appear to distinguish writing from drawing for their own names before they did so for other targets., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Abstract: This paper examines the intersections of the past and present in the contemporary urban landscape of Shanghai. In particular, it examines on the glamorous history prior to communist liberation in 1949, which is museumized in the contemporary Shanghai landscape. The focus on urban regeneration efforts has seen the renovation of Shikumen Houses in Xintiandi, which demonstrates how contemporary spaces are imagined in ways that conjure up “Old Shanghai”. Through this process of creating trans-historical spaces, the original place meanings of Xintiandi are re-cast by its present stakeholders. By deploying iconography as a particular device of place promotion, the paper illuminates the fragments of history that have been fore grounded and muted by these strategies. Xintiandi is broadly conceived as a site of consumption that is reflective of emerging new spaces of consumption in Shanghai; as spaces that are set within the context of unequal power relations in urban planning and heritage conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills (IMB) model of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence was applied in people living with HIV/AIDS in Shanghai, China to understand how adherence-related information, motivation and behavioral skills would affect ART adherence. The LifeWindows Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills ART Adherence Questionnaire (LW-IMB-AAQ) was translated into Chinese and used. The IMB model was then implemented by testing standardized path estimates with standard model fitness indices in the participants. 426 participants from 11 community centres in Putuo district of Shanghai were recruited, of which 95.3% reported a high level of adherence (>95% adherence). The fitness indices of the final adjusted model were χ2 = 6.110, df = 7, p = 0.527(>0.05), CFI = 1.000(>0.9) and RMSEA = 0.000 (<0.08). In the model, information, which was separated into two sections (the perceived effect of ART on health and knowledge about ART medication), had an indirect effect on the ART adherence through behavioral skills, while motivation did not have such an effect. Neither information nor motivation had a direct effect on ART adherence. In addition, motivation was related to the two sections of information. The feasibility of the IMB model of ART adherence is verified by its application to predictive of adherence-related behaviors among HIV+ patients in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the philosophical origin of the black-white system of Chinese paintings. Although philosophy and a visual art form like painting belong to two different categories of learning, there must be certain links between them. For instance, the art of painting can be considered a visual representative of a culture, while, in a similar manner, philosophy can be treated as its logical and rational aspect, reflecting in a great degree the culture's ideational presuppositions. In support of this new concept of the black-white system of Chinese painting, the author point to some closely related phenomena. Such phenomena, although not necessarily direct contributing factors to its philosophical origin, will help to establish its grounds in the contexts of human systems of visual perception, traditional painting media, the impact of calligraphy, a comparison with the western painting style, subject matters, Chinese theories of art, painting technique, and so forth. The relationship between Chinese painting and philosophy is based upon the fact that, in the context of perceptual experiences, certain philosophical ideas and traditional painting media share a common ground of Chinese-style rationality, the traditional thinking mode of dualism.

From a narratological perspective, this essay reinterprets the development of Chinese realist art under Western influence in the second half of the twentieth century and explores the narrative issue of the possible author that is transformed from the integral reader. As a crucial response to Western influence, realist art in China developed from imitating to appropriating Western art and continued from taking inspiration from Western art to participating in the international arena of conceptual art with certain renovations. In this essay, the narratological notion of "possible author" is proposed to discuss the issue of narrative identity. While some scholars declared the death of the reader, this essay introduces a new reader to art historical narrative. This is a tertiary reader that transforms into a possible author who re-narrates the story of art history in the possible space between the secondary narration and tertiary narrativization. In this space, the three layers of the first-hand fabula, secondary narration, and tertiary narrativization work together in defining the possible author's narrative identity as re-interpretive and critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a prerequisite to improve immunity and reduce the morbidity and mortality of people living with HIV (PLWH). To describe ART adherence and associated factors among PLWH, patients who initiated ART in Liuzhou between 1998 and 2013 were recruited. Socio-demographic characteristics, HIV infection-related characteristics and clinical tests were analyzed. Both descriptive and multi-level analyses were used to explore factors related to ART adherence of PLWH who initiated ART in Liuzhou. A total of 8433 patients were recruited in this study. The rate of adherence to ART was 84.9% in PLWH who initiated ART in Liuzhou between 1998 and 2013. The female sex, WHO clinical stage III or IV before ART initiation, longer treatment duration and higher triglyceride were positively associated with ART adherence. Meanwhile, HIV acquired by intravenous drug use, co-infection with tuberculosis and other opportunistic infections were negatively associated with ART adherence. Measures should be adopted to improve the ART adherence of PLWH who are male, acquired HIV by intravenous drug use, and are co-infected with tuberculosis and other opportunistic infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marbling and monochrome paint layers on the reverse of fifteenth- and sixteenth-century panel paintings have received little attention and are often poorly preserved. A link is suggested between painted marbling and oriental marbled paper. Marbled paper was first manufactured in China in the tenth century; it is reasonable to suppose that marbled papers were introduced into Europe long before the fifteenth century and that painters were aware of their use in the Persian and Arab worlds for writing, fine arts and administrative purposes. Similarities in use as well as in techniques support this hypothesis. Marbling on panel painting was intended for decorative effect rather than charged with symbolism. Reverses were also often painted in a monochrome paint layer. The favourite colour in the fourteenth century was red; in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it was black, probably in accordance with fashion at the Burgundian court. In the sixteenth century, the reverses of wings were sometimes painted in other colours. These monochrome paint layers often have texts with gilded letters. They are also often overpainted, for example with portraits of donors, sometimes added at a later date and after the painting had been moved to another location. Even marbling was occasionally overpainted with a coat-of-arms or the figure of a donor. Art historians should be aware of this possibility when assigning dates and attributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Han painting is an important art display form in Chinese history; it has a history of hundreds of years. It is the embodiment of a higher level of Chinese painting. Han paintings can also show the development of China's political economy and culture. However, with the continuous progress of time, the patterns of Han paintings and the color characteristics of Han paintings will be greatly damaged. This limits people's research on the civilization displayed by Han paintings. At the same time, changes in the environment also have a great relationship with the integrity of Chinese painting. Therefore, the study of the impact of environmental protection on the integrity of Han paintings is crucial to the study of Chinese civilization. It is difficult for traditional research methods to discover the quantitative relationship between environmental protection and the integrity of Han paintings. In this study, the atrous convolutional neural network (ACNN) in the artificial intelligence method and the GRU method were used to explore the relationship between environmental protection and the patterns, colors, and shapes of Chinese paintings. The research results show that the ACNN method and the GRU method can better predict the patterns, shapes, and color characteristics of Chinese paintings. Through research, it can also be found that the color and pattern features of Chinese paintings contain obvious time characteristics, which requires the GRU method for feature extraction. The prediction errors of ACNN and GRU in predicting the integrity of Chinese paintings are all within 2.5%, and the largest prediction error is only 2.45%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study's objective is to examine the impact of teacher ability on student academic performance, identification (self-valued goals; personal importance), and self-regulation skills. Additionally, the study examines the mediating effect of identification (self-valued goals; personal importance) and self-regulation skills between teacher ability and student academic performance. The data was collected by the teachers at different colleges and universities in China and 341 samples were used to analyze the data through a convenient sampling technique. Moreover, partial least square structural equation modeling is used in data analysis with Smart PLS software. This research indicates that teacher ability has a positive and significant effect on student academic performance, identification (self-valued goals; personal importance), and self-regulation skills. Further, the study also discovers that identification (self-valued goals; personal importance) and self-regulation skills significantly mediate between teacher ability and student academic performance. The study is helpful for the teachers to adopt the better strategies and abilities in themselves when they are engaged with the student in teaching activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries around the world have different historical development processes in different periods of agricultural economic environment, and have formed different costume culture characteristics. This study analyzes the differences in aesthetic standards in Chinese and Western clothing cultures, as well as the differences between Chinese and Western costumes in color design, structural design, and dress methods, and elaborates the main reasons for the differences between Chinese and Western clothing cultures. The study focuses on the characteristics and differences of traditional clothing art culture in various places, but because of the differences in historical conditions, lifestyles, psychological qualities, and traditional ideas and cultural concepts, there are great differences between the traditional costume art culture concepts in China and the West. Based on this, the study specifically explains the difference between the two through the comparison of the aesthetic characteristics of the traditional costume art culture concepts in the Middle East and the West, and the difference in the expression of the Middle East and Western clothing art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a comparative view about the current state of social work education in China and the USA. Social work was established in the USA in 1898 and 1920 in China. In the USA, social work has been revolving in the last 122 years while in China, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, social work was abolished from all higher education institutions. The official year that the Master of Social Work programme was reinstituted in China was 2009; and the first graduate cohort began in 2010. In this globalised twenty-first century, this article also includes how the USA and China can make social work education and its practices as art and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of contemporary art is one of the main means of implementing aesthetic education in China. This discipline allows a student to develop a system of spiritual values, reveal talents and acquire skills needed for professional growth. Chinese art is an integral part of the global cultural space, and Chinese contemporary art performs the functions of cultural reflection, occupying an important place in developing the state's cultural identity. In the process of globalization, it is extremely important to study not only Chinese, but also world contemporary art, as well as the peculiarities of its teaching in the educational institutions of the PRC within the framework of the multiculturalism movement. The study objectives are to develop a unique online platform for teaching and learning contemporary art in China, to identify the features of art teacher training, to identify the methods of and trends in teaching contemporary art in the Chinese system of secondary and higher education, as well as to determine the most effective method of teaching contemporary art in China based on the experiment. In the course of the study, a plan and structure of the website containing audio and video materials, graphic editors and a conference system for students and teachers were developed. An innovative classification of the contemporary art movements was made in accordance with the tools and methods of creating art works. The styles of contemporary art were divided into groups: painting, sculpture/architecture, photography, cybernetic art, literature, optical art, theatrical art, mass culture, and hybrid art. The database was compiled by the masters of Art from China and Ireland, which emphasizes the internationality and multiculturalism of the project. An experiment was conducted to determine the level of effectiveness of different methods of teaching contemporary art in China. In the course of the experiment, the Spark platform developed for the study purpose was recognized as the most effective (56.1%). The effectiveness of the active method and passive method of teaching was 27.2% and 16.7%, respectively. The study results can be used in the study of various trends in contemporary art in the process of modernization and within the framework of pedagogical and commercial activities related to the work of exhibitions and galleries. In addition, they can be used to improve the methods of teaching contemporary art online and offline to the broad public audience and improve the professional skills of graphic or UI/UX designers, 3D modeling experts, engineers, editors, and IT developers. The practical significance of the developed online platform lies in the possibility of database use, practical application of the knowledge gained, and taking online lessons with Chinese and foreign teachers as part of a multicultural experience exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study the association between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes of singleton pregnancies after assisted reproductive technology (ART). Methods: This hospital-based retrospective cohort study of women with live singleton births through ART in China from January 2015 to August 2020 included 3043 Chinese women. According to the latest BMI classification standard of Asian women, the women included in this study were classified as underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2), normal (BMI 18.5 to <23 kg/m2), overweight (BMI 23 to <27.5 kg/m2), and obese (BMI ≥27.5 kg/m2). We compared the risk of adverse outcomes of different pre-pregnancy BMI values of women with singleton pregnancies conceived through ART. We used Logistic regression analysis to estimate the associations between pre-pregnancy BMI and adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes. Results: Our findings showed that women who were overweight or obese before pregnancy through ART are more likely to have a cesarean section, gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia, regardless of whether confounding factors are adjusted. Moreover, pre-pregnancy obesity was more associated with a higher risk of these adverse outcomes than pre-pregnancy overweight. In addition, neonates from women who had obesity before pregnancy through ART were more likely to have macrosomia; adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 3.004 (1.693-5.330). Conclusions: Our research showed that women who had pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity with singleton pregnancies through ART were more likely to have a cesarean section, gestational diabetes mellitus, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia. Moreover, neonates from women who had obesity before pregnancy were more likely to have macrosomia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]