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This dissertation examines the enduring influence of Walter Murch's seminal editing principles and techniques on contemporary film editors, highlighting how his ideas continue to shape the craft even among those who may not be directly aware of his work. Central to this study is an exploration of Murch's ""Rule of Six,"" which prioritizes emotion, story, rhythm, eye-trace, two-dimensional plane of the screen, and three-dimensional space of action in editing decisions. Additionally, the research delves into Murch's concepts of rhythm and pacing, as well as his emphasis on preserving the emotional impact of a scene. Through a series of in-depth interviews with working editors, this dissertation investigates the extent to which Murch's theoretical framework is manifested in modern editing practices. The study seeks to identify how contemporary editors incorporate these principles into their workflows, consciously or subconsciously, and how these techniques contribute to the narrative and emotional effectiveness of their films. By analyzing the practical decision-making processes of today's editors, this research aims to uncover the degree to which Murch's legacy endures in the film industry. The findings underscore the significant, yet often implicit, role that Murch's editing philosophy plays in shaping the aesthetic and emotional resonance of contemporary cinema. This dissertation thus provides a comprehensive understanding of the lasting impact of Walter Murch's contributions to the art and science of film editing

In the present world, many cities have historical and culturally rich districts, but protectionism or economic reasons have slowed their development. Therefore, how to generate more value for these areas is crucial for a city with a deep and complex history. Using immersive virtual reality technology can help solve this problem, and this paper takes Macau's famous historical district as an entry point and starts from the perspective of the general public to explore and design some of the existing buildings and public areas in the district. The focus of this study is to explore the future development possibilities of historical and cultural districts in cities and experience the current situation of the district. Specifically, by studying the historical background and human investigation of ST. LAZARUS CHURCH PEDESTRIAN STREET (Chinese official name: 疯堂斜巷), the study uses immersive virtual reality technology to first create a scene of the existing building group in the district as a stage of protection for historical buildings. Then, it creates and presents a future building group scene in the district, which includes completed buildings and public area facilities after renovation and sustainable design. This renovation does not destroy the protected historical buildings at all, but is a protective exploration. The researchers used 3D computer graphics software (Blender) and virtual tour software (Kuula) to create the design, and users can freely explore the scene by ""walking"" virtually. The design includes two groups of architectural scenes of the ST. LAZARUS CHURCH PEDESTRIAN STREET in the present and the future. After entering the scene, users can freely switch between the present and the future time points to experience the different architectural scene atmospheres. Users can enter some buildings and public areas, and interact with objects in the scene to generate visual or auditory introductions to the target. Users can see the rough outline of the future historical and cultural district after the protective development in the free exploration of the virtual reality environment, which can inspire further public thinking about the development of historical and cultural street areas in the city. Users can explore and experience the project using professional virtual reality equipment or directly on the web. By using immersive virtual reality technology, the public can have a more intuitive and comprehensive understanding of the future development of historical and cultural street areas, and urban planners, professional architects, and clients of architectural design can all benefit from this technology, especially in the initial conceptual design and prototype design of buildings

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a public health emergency happening worldwide. It brought tremendous impacts to the global economy and people’s mental health (Jiaqi Xiong et al., 2020). Many people suffered physically and psychologically with the sudden arrival of COVID-19. Among the different age groups, studies identified that undergraduate students as a vulnerable group with a higher risk of mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety (Silva et al., 2022; King et al., 2022; Mansor & Ahmad, 2022). This qualitative study collected data from six focus group interviews with undergraduate students studying in Macao. Thematic analysis was used to understand the COVID-19 impact on students' mental well-being and coping strategies, as well as to explore the protective and risk factors that contribute to students’ mental well-being in the local context of Macao. Results showed four themes with 15 contributory sub-themes: COVID-19’s impact on students’ mental well-being, key impacting sources, coping strategies, and risk and protective factors. This study provides a picture of the mental health condition of undergraduate students during the zero-COVID period in Macao and raises an urgent call for extra attention to university students’ mental health during crises, showing the social and mental needs of undergraduates. This research also uniquely contributes insight into how the dysfunctionality of families could be a significant risk factor for students’ mental health during the crisis, which is rarely found in other COVID-19 studies. This research suggests a promotion of future programs or workshops that would strengthen and benefits students’ relationship with their family. Future research could explore the family function in Macao and its relationship with students’ mental well-being

The aim of this study is to analyze the crisis management of Macao SAR and the extent to which the community were engaged in the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control. There are some issues found that when the pandemic breaks out and after outbreaks, such as poor information communication, low efficiency of prevention and control work, unsatisfactory compliance of the public, lack of pandemic prevention materials which affect the government's control of the pandemic in the past study. In Macao SAR, densely residential areas and dense population are the main considerations for pandemic prevention and control. Communities, as the main first line of defense for pandemic prevention and control, are also the bridge for communication between the government and the residents. The community have the advantages of timely and accurate information collection and accurate implementation of prevention and control measures. In this study found that the involvement of the Macao community may not be the key to the success of epidemic prevention in Macao. Community participation also faces many challenges, such as uneven distribution of facilities and services, lack of medical expertise of community workers, shortage of manpower and other shortcomings of community participation. It is possible that the Macao community is not playing a key role in the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control. Given this scenario, the government needs to give full play to social forces and the role of the community in pandemic prevention and control. Currently, there are few studies on community involvement in COVID-19 prevention and control. Through COVID-19, this study puts forward some ideas that the government needs to pay attention to community development and improve citizens' community awareness to promote the Macao community. Improving the Macao community is conducive to Macao in the future crisis and community cooperation

The increasing contribution of Generation Z (Gen Z) to Macao’s economy may be the driving force behind the recent changes in Macao’s consumption patterns. This dissertation analyzes how consumption patterns of Macao’s Gen Z differ from other generations. To investigate the types of goods and services consumed, the shopping modes, and the factors that influence the consumption decisions of different generations of Macao, this study conducts a survey to collect primary quantitative data from 296 Macao residents. This study found that the most Macao residents consumed 21%-60% of their income, showing a balance between consumption and saving. They spent most on food and non-alcoholic beverages, healthcare, and education. In terms of receiving information about new products, many Macao consumers learned from family and friends and social media, such as the Red Book and TikTok. Electronic payments have become increasingly popular, such as the local payment system, MPay. The t tests for statistically significant differences show that Gen Z was more likely to make online purchases when buying beauty products and electronic devices than other generations. Compared to other generations, Gen Z was more concerned with the level of fun of the brand, impacts on the environment, society, and local community of the product, personal preference and research, and the recommendations of online reviewers, influencers, and salesperson. Based on the findings of this study, businesses can develop up-to-date marketing strategies to introduce their products to different generations in Macao

Many sports events have been reopened since the recovery from the global Covid19 epidemic. As countries work toward the third sustainable development goal of good health and well-being, sports events have received increasing support and investments. This study focuses on the Xiamen Marathon, which had reached the platinum level of sustainable development and is a benchmark marathon race in China. To assess the factors that influence the brand image and behavior of consumers of the Xiamen Marathon, this dissertation references the conceptual models in previous studies and hypothesizes that experience, brand image, loyalty, satisfaction, motivation, organization, quality, and trust are the direct influencing factors of brand image and indirect determinants of word of mouth, sport, and behavioral intention. This study surveyed participants of the Xiamen Marathon in 2024 and collected data from a sample of 285 participants. All the respondents were local residents and over 90% were contestants. The largest proportions were 36-to-55-year-old, married, highly educated, and employed, earning monthly income between ¥5000 to ¥15000 and spending over ¥1000 on marathon equipment. IBM SPSS and Amos were used for the quantitative analysis based on structural equation modeling techniques, including reliability test, validity test, and hypothesis testing. The questionnaire quality was good, the scale data were suitable for factor analysis, and the questionnaire data fitted well. However, quality and trust were excluded due to low significance. The results show that experience, loyalty, satisfaction, motivation, and organization have significant and positive impacts on brand image, which in turn has significant and positive impacts word of mouth, sport, and behavioral intention. The results support the eight hypotheses of direct effects and the 15 hypotheses of intermediate effects

This study assesses Tesla's marketing strategies and their effectiveness in the Chinese market. Given Tesla's leading position in the global electric vehicle sector and the importance of the Chinese market, this study aims to analyze in-depth how Tesla has succeeded in China with its unique marketing tactics, and to suggest improvements to enhance its competitiveness. By utilizing analytical tools such as PEST, Porter's Five Forces Model, SWOT, and STP, this study comprehensively evaluates Tesla's marketing environment and thoroughly analyzes its marketing mix of products, prices, channels, promotions, etc., combined with consumer feedback and market research data. The study reveals that the key factors for Tesla's success include innovative design, unique branding, effective marketing strategies and digital marketing applications. Nevertheless, Tesla still needs to face the challenges of localization, pricing strategy, channel adjustment and promotion innovation. In order to maintain its leading position, Tesla should continue to innovate, strengthen its localization strategy, improve service quality, and adapt to policy changes. The optimization suggestions proposed in this study will help Tesla overcome challenges and achieve sustained growth, and they will also provide valuable references for other new energy vehicle companies

This dissertation provides an in-depth valuation assessment on NVIDIA Corporation which is a leading technology company known for its GPUs, study its financial results, strategic initiatives by SWOT Analysis, and access its market positioning in semiconductor industry by using PESTEL Analysis and Poter’s Five Forces Analysis. In order to ascertain the intrinsic value and assess the future prospects of NVIDIA, the study then utilizes several financial models, Enterprise Discounted Cash Flow (EDCF), Adjusted Present Value (APV) and Discounted Economic Profit (DEP). The study presents NVIDIA is potentially overvalued

This study focuses on China's volatile organic compound treatment industry and deeply analyzes the current situation, challenges, and development trends of the volatile organic compound environmental protection industry. This study discusses technological advancements in reducing VOC emissions, environmental regulations' impact, and market demand changes. The market size, growth potential, and primary driving factors were analyzed by studying the business scope and competitive advantages of VOC management companies. Predict the company's operational status, investment return rate, and other related financial data through financial analysis. Finally, emphasis was placed on technological innovation, market positioning, and risk management while pointing out the industry's principal risks and response strategies. The research findings indicate that, in the context of increasing environmental awareness and policy support, China's VOC ecological protection industry has enormous growth potential. The company is expected to achieve significant success in both business and finance through technological innovation and market adaptation. The research and production of VOC environmental protection equipment is feasible

This research used a qualitative approach to explore the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices implemented by SME restaurants in Macau. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight (8) SME restaurant owners and managers to understand their ESG initiatives and their challenges. Key findings include: Environmental Initiatives: Many restaurants have adopted practices such as limiting plastic use, better food management, and organic waste recycling, often driven by government regulations rather than broader ESG considerations. Community Engagement and Social Responsibility: Social practices are less adopted, with some restaurants collaborating with charities, hiring individuals with disabilities, and donating food. However, most do not make monetary donations or engage in sponsorship activities due to financial concerns rather than a lack of consumer trust. Governance Initiatives: Restaurants have adopted electronic workflows, risk management practices, and stakeholder management approaches, including a flexible approach to employee management focused on operational efficiency rather than investor attraction. The findings indicate that for SME restaurants, the key drivers for ESG implementation are more focused on factors such as cost-savings and operational efficiency rather than broader considerations around investor interest or consumer trust. This study provides insights into how SME restaurants integrate ESG elements into their operations

As one of the world's leading technology companies, HP occupies an essential position in the printer and personal system markets. In order to analyze HP's current market value and predict its future financial performance, this thesis values HP by applying three models: EDCF, DEP, and APV. Based on the financial statement from 2019 to 2023, this thesis conducts a common size analysis of the financial data to facilitate the comparison between various indicators. HP's asset structure and profitability are analyzed and the company's beta is also tested. To analyze HP's position and environment in the technology industry, Dell Inc. will be analyzed as its main competitor. At the same time, the intrinsic value of HP is estimated based on the financial statements for the next ten years which is predicted. The valuation results are compared with HP's stock price at the end of 2023 to determine whether HP's stock price is overvalued or undervalued. In order to improve the accuracy of the valuation, sensitivity analysis is also used to evaluate the impact of variables such as internal factors and external market factors on the company's value. Studies have shown that HP's intrinsic value is greatly affected by the market risk premium. This thesis also uses SWOT and PESTEL to analyze the company's strengths, weaknesses and operating environment which will help to identify the company's competitiveness. It also helps to identify HP's potential opportunities and risks in technological innovation and market expansion. The impact of the macro-economy on HP's development is also analyzed. The results of this thesis provide a reference for investors and management, which helps to understand the market positioning and future development potential of HP and other technology companies. The limitations of the study are the subjectivity of data forecasts and the uncertainty of the market environment

The cosmological constant is normally introduced as an additional term entering the Einstein–Hilbert (EH) action. In this letter, we demonstrate that, instead, it appears naturally from the standard EH action as an invariant term emerging from spacetime symmetries. We then demonstrate that the same constraint emerging from this invariant suppresses the short wavelength modes and it favors the long wavelength ones. In this way, inside the proposed formulation, the observed value for the vacuum energy density is obtained naturally from the zero-point quantum fluctuations.

The mutual information method has demonstrated to be very useful for deriving the potential order parameter of a system. Although the method suggests some constraints which help to define this quantity, there is still some freedom in the definition. The method then results inefficient for cases where we have order parameters with a large number of constants in the expansion, which happens when we have many degenerate vacuums. Here, we introduce some additional constraints based on the existence of broken symmetries, which help us to reduce the arbitrariness in the definitions of the order parameter in the proposed mutual information method.

Markets in Macau are not merely places for commercial retail, they are also social spaces. As a centre of communal life, markets are of great significance to the lives of Macau residents. However, with the rise of supermarkets and online shopping, the role of traditional markets has been reduced. At the same time, the messy and unkempt nature of traditional markets has become a negative factor of their social viability. The result has been a downward spiral of poor operation, decline in rental yield and loss of customers. Can the markets be revitalized for Macau residents? Can the social attributes of markets be reactivated? How can the experience of markets be re-imagined for different user groups? The present thesis is organized into 5 parts. The first part deals with the background of research. It also describes the purpose and significance of the research and discusses research methodology. The second part details market pressures in Macau, including insufficient land and space resources, poor sanitary environment, and tourism promotion needs. The third part examines the idea of “walkable cities” in terms of four concerns—usefulness, safety, comfort, and spatial interest—and in terms of specific case studies. The fourth part concerns a design project for a market at ZONE A in Macau. The thesis details the needs of a market in this zone and considers them in the light of the idea of walkable cities. Overall, this thesis attempts to contribute to public discussion of the future of markets in Macau in terms of service, socialisation and promotion

In the age of the information society, the prominence of internet communication and social media has meant that the role of face-to-face encounters in public life has been diminished. This trend has been exacerbated by public health concerns in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. The social role of architecture and its contribution to the sustainability of interpersonal relationships has become a significant issue for architects. As a place to accommodate sporting activities and social space in the community, sports centers play an important role in promoting social cohesion and interaction. This is the focal topic of the present thesis. The principal tasks of this thesis are as follows: (1) This thesis collects and studies relevant literature on sports centers as social spaces. A special emphasis is placed on discussions of social spaces. The intention is to articulate design characteristics of community sports centers that merit further exploration. (2) This thesis selects three representative sports facilities as case studies and considers how they promote the formation of social bonds and interactions. The thesis offers a review of design ideas, planning strategies and specific methods of implementation. (3) This thesis takes the design project for a sports center in New District A in Macau as an example, and puts forward a design strategy of ""vertical intensification + shared application"". This strategy aims to promote the integration of the sports center with the urban environment, while creating a flexible public space that can adapt to the needs of spontaneous and social activities. The intention is to make the sports center a place that promotes community interaction and connectivity. Overall, this thesis argues that community sports centers can become important places to promote social interaction through well-designed architectural space. Specific design factors and strategies explored in this thesis provide useful points of reference for architects. Through on-going processes of optimization and innovation, sports centers can better serve the community of Macau

In a fast-paced and densely populated city, community activity centers can provide a social place for residents. This thesis is a study of this promise of social life for a new urban development in Macau. Community centers play an important role in promoting community cohesion and resident participation. Yet, public space for Macau residents is increasingly unable to meet growing and diversified needs. In what ways can the development of activity centers improve the quality of life of residents? Can transitional spaces between different functional areas in community centers play a more effective role in promoting social interaction within the community? The principal tasks of this thesis are as follows: (1) an in-depth examination of the impact of shared transitional spaces on the overall design of community activity centers, (2) a discussion of transitional spaces in community centers in terms of the functional efficiency of these centers and the interactive experience of users, and (3) articulation of principles and recommendations for the design of transitional spaces in community centers. Overall, this thesis argues that, by designing efficient and user-friendly shared transitional spaces, architects can better serve the community and its users, and foster a closer connection between architecture, people, and communities