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The purpose of this paper is to present an efficient algorithm for multi-layer garment fitting simulation based on the geometric method to solve the low time cost problem during penetration detection and processing. This is more practical to design a CAD system to preview the multi-layer garment fitting effect in daily life.

The construction of a multi-layer garment based on existing 3D garments is a suitable method because this method is similar to the daily method of multi-layer dressing. The major problem is the penetration phenomenon between different garments because these 3D garment’s geometric shapes are constructed in different situations. In this paper, an efficient algorithm of multi-layer garment simulation is reported. A face-face intersection detection algorithm is designed to detect the penetration region between multi-layer garments fast and a geometric penetration processing algorithm is presented to solve the penetration phenomenon during multi-layer garment simulation.

This method can quickly detect the penetration between faces, and then deal with the penetration for multi-layer garment construction. Experimental results show that this method can not only remove the penetration but basically maintain the trend of wrinkles efficiently. At the same time, the garments used in the experiment have almost more than 5,800 faces, but the resolving time is under five seconds.

The main originalities of the multi-layer garment virtual fitting algorithm based on the geometric method are highly efficient both in terms of time cost and fitting effect. Based on this method, the technology of multi-layer garment virtual fitting can be used to design a novel CAD system to preview the multi-layer garment fitting effect in real time. This is a pressing requirement of virtual garment applications.

This chapter examines how the breakthrough of Zhang Ziyi's depiction of a female kung fu master in The Grandmaster (2013) transforms the figure of the heroine in Chinese action films. Zhang is well known for her acting in action films conducted by renowned directors, such as Ang Lee, Zhang Yimou and Wong Kar-wai. After winning 12 different Best Actress awards for her portrayal of Gong Ruomei in The Grandmaster, Zhang announced that she would no longer perform in any action films to show her highest respect for the superlative character Gong. Tracing Zhang's transformational portrait of a heroine in The Grandmaster alongside her other action roles, this analysis demonstrates how her performance projects the directors' distinctive gender viewpoints. I argue that Zhang's characterisation of Gong remodels heroine-hood in Chinese action films. Inheriting the typical plot of a daughter's use of martial arts for revenge for her father's death, Gong breaks from conventional Chinese action films that highlight romantic love during a woman's adventure and the decisive final battle scene. Beyond the propensity for sensory stimulation, Gong's characterisation enables Zhang to determine that women can really act in action films – demonstrating their inner power and ability to create multi-layered characters – not merely relying upon physical action. This chapter offers a relational perspective of how women transform the action film genre not merely as gender spectacles but as embodied figures that represent emerging female subjectivity.

Genetically modified (GM) crops, particularly GM grain crops, have been controversial since their commercialization in 1996. However, only a few studies have investigated farmers’ attitudes toward adopting GM grain crops in China. The purpose of this paper is to explore farmers’ willingness to adopt GM insect-resistant rice prior to its commercial release in China and determines the factors that affect farmers’ prospective adoption decisions.

The data are collected using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics are used to analyze the farmers’ potential willingness to adopt GM rice and level of awareness of GM rice and socioeconomic characteristics. Ordered and binary probit models are applied to identify the key factors that affect the farmers’ decision to adopt GM insect-resistant rice.

Descriptive statistics show that most farmers have little knowledge of GM rice, approximate 35.5 percent of farmers could plant GM rice, and over half of the respondents are uncertain whether or not they will adopt the new crops. The results of econometric analyses show that increasing output and income, and simplicity in crop management, have positive effects on prospective adoption, whereas the high-seed price of GM rice has a significantly negative effect. Health implications also have a significantly positive effect on the farmers’ decision to adopt GM grain crops. A comparative analysis of ordered and binary probit models demonstrates that farmers are more deliberate in their decisions when they have fewer choices. Aside from the above-mentioned variables, the following factors are also statistically significant in the probit model: government technicians’ recommendations, neighbors’ attitudes, level of environmental risks, and the farmer’s age.

Information on the major risks and benefits of GM rice was provided to the farmers in the questionnaire. The farmers were then asked to choose from the three ordered alternative answers, namely, “accept,” “uncertain,” and “reject”. Both ordered and binary probit models were applied to comparatively analyze the collected data. This study is one of a handful of studies that employ these econometric models to identify and explain the underlying factors that affect farmers’ decisions. The relevant findings have important implications for future agricultural policy in China.

This paper aims to check the presence of such relationship in the field. Certain values are at stake for the success of economic behavior. Since the genesis of modern capitalism, a set of beliefs proper of Calvinism (mainly Predestination but also Beruf, inner-worldly asceticism, role of Sects […] ) was said by Max Weber to cause an anxiety about salvation and generate a propensity to economic success as a sign of election. The author argues on the contrary that the Calvinist belief in the Perpetual Assurance of Salvation might cause a sense of self-efficacy able to favor economic success. To observe this in action today, it is crucial to consider the evolution that the Protestant ethic went through migrating first in North America and, finally, through the Protestant revival of China. Wenzhou is called “Jerusalem of China” for its large Protestant community that is also strongly involved in business. Some scholar already pointed out the presence among those entrepreneurs of this Protestant ethic (Yi Xiang, Boss-Christian […]).

The data presented in this comparative qualitative study pertain to ethnographic observations, job-shadowing and interviews done among Chinese Christian and non-Christian entrepreneurs from Wenzhou living in Milan, Italy.

The results show, with some adjustments, the presence of a Chinese version of the Protestant ethic overlapping with several values proper to the Chinese context (Confucianism, lineage, social network). The extension of the study to other cases must be done with caution considering the non-causal justificatory role of the belief.

Successful entrepreneurship involves specific social, cultural and even religious aspects that move beyond mere business strategies.