This chapter contains sections titled: The Transportation System Transportation System Benefits, Harms and Hazards Conclusions and Further Questions References and Further Reading.

As people’s lives get better and better, more and more people choose to travel and with that comes the demand for more transportation. For now, traditional transportation hubs can temporarily meet people’s travel needs. If driven by big data concepts and methods, the various capabilities of high-speed rail transportation hubs will be sublimated, and the regional economy will be in line with the prosperity of this place. Proportionally, railway hubs are extremely attractive to the rapid growth of (...) the regional economy. This paper takes the high-speed railway hub construction model under big data as the research object and verifies the reliability of the research model and the development of economic regions based on the high-speed railway data in recent years as reference parameters. This article selects the panel data of railway transportation and regional economy in China’s provinces for 10 consecutive years from 2011 to 2020. Among them, seven indicators were selected for railway transportation: passenger volume, freight volume, passenger turnover, cargo turnover, number of railway employees, railway transportation industry fixed asset investment and construction scale, and per capita railway network density. In terms of regional economy, six indicators were selected: regional GDP, per capita GDP, per capita investment in fixed assets, per capita total retail sales of consumer goods, per capita investment in imports and exports, and the proportion of the added value of the tertiary industry in GDP. The experimental results prove that each sample is tested in pairs, the standard error level of the mean is 0.002, which is less than 0.05, and high-speed railway construction can finally achieve economic integration. By improving the development of high-speed railways, continuously shortening the distance between time and space, breaking regional trade barriers, and reducing the cost of commodity circulation, industrial interaction and coordinated development between different regions can be effectively promoted. (shrink)

A common view of politics is that it is reducible to applied ethics. If politics, in a classic phrase, is about “who gets what, when, and how,” then the task of normative political theory would simply be to tell us who is morally entitled to get whatever the “what” is in that statement.This view, however, can easily reduce politics to a dizzying vortex of actions to assess from an ethical perspective. And while the task of moral philosophy may be precisely (...) to articulate principles by which to pass such judgment, the focus of political theory lies elsewhere.To study and assess politics means attending to the institutional frameworks and structural conditions that enable or constrain human action to begin with. The question for normative political theory, in other words, is whether the organizational structure of a given society—embodied in its decision-making procedures, its distribution of power, and its defining patterns of production, reproduction, and distribution—is defensible or not.This question of justice in the institutional makeup of society has not been entirely ignored in animal rights literature. Animal advocates have always been clear about the massive societal ramifications of dismantling the speciesist order. Likewise, rights theorists and activists have often proposed concrete legal measures for improving the protection of animals, be it by piecemeal welfare reform in animal agriculture, by the abolition of specific practices in biomedical research, or by seeking the equivalent of human rights for select species like great apes or dolphins. The field has also seen fierce debate among animal advocates about the appropriate strategies for engaging with the state and the legal system.Nonetheless, most discussions have been about what it means to treat individual animals with respect, and not about what is required of a political order aspiring to just treatment of all species. In fact, it is only in the last decade that the issue of political justice has taken up a place at the center of animal ethics.Though the field is still developing, we may take it as a sign of maturity that it can now sport its first “short introduction” book: Alasdair Cochrane's Should Animals Have Political Rights? (2020). Its appearing as part of the Polity Press series Political Theory Today further attests to the book's timeliness.The starting point of Cochrane's book—and of political animal studies in general—is that political relations between humans and other animals are not optional but inevitable. Other animals live among us, and the way we organize our societies has a massive impact on the lives of other sentient animals both inside and outside the borders of our human communities. Assuming that these creatures possess intrinsic value as experiencing individuals with morally relevant interests, the question seems inescapable: What kind of polity can accommodate for the multispecies character of our communities and embody justice for all sentients? Cochrane's answer is largely the same as the one he offered in his previous book, Sentientist Politics: A Theory of Global Inter-Species Justice (Oxford University Press, 2018), where he laid out his full vision of a postnational and species-neutral “cosmozoopolis.”The present book is much more concentrated and written as an accessible introduction for readers new to the field. Over seven short chapters, Cochrane reconstructs his argument for an interspecies democracy by assessing a series of arguments and propositions drawn from previous literature on the topic.The first notion to be scrutinized is the popular idea that animal welfare legislation is enough to secure respect for animals. Here, Cochrane acknowledges that welfarism goes some way toward safeguarding animal interests, but he also stresses that its historical record has been disheartening. Welfarism protects animals only insofar as their protection coincides with human interests, and this is far from enough to ensure respect for the animals’ intrinsic value.The second line of argument tries to push beyond welfarism by claiming constitutional protection for animals. By this move, reformers hope to place animal interests on an equal footing with human interests and prevent the overriding of the former in the name of human entitlements (to property, artistic expression, freedom of science, and so forth). Looking at real-world cases, however, Cochrane finds that these constitutional provisions tend to be sidelined when they come into conflict with the interests of big agribusiness.Noting that more than constitutional protection is needed, Cochrane turns to a third set of arguments about legal personhood for animals. Winning personhood for animals would certainly constitute a radical step toward equalizing the interests of different species. Nonetheless, Cochrane argues that personhood alone would be insufficient. Intrinsic value, to him, cannot be fully respected unless animals win the political right to have their interests factor into society's articulation of the public good. As sentient beings, we can all make a claim on the political communities we are part of to not only recognize us as members but furnish us with the means to live well.The fourth and final step for Cochrane is to argue that democratic representation for animals is necessary for realizing these political membership rights. Without representation, he contends, political rights risk being watered down, leaving animals with much less than they are entitled to as sentient beings. Cochrane critically discusses several different models for how this representation could be organized. While he is partial to a system where specially trained human representatives are tasked with voicing the animals’ interests in the legislative process, he leaves many of the practicalities open for future experimentation.Readers familiar with the field of political animal studies will find little new in Should Animals Have Political Rights? For students new to the field, however, Cochrane's book does an excellent job introducing the main issues in a very accessible format. Students of “regular” political science will also benefit from the book's fresh challenge to the discipline's understanding of “the political” as well as its important insights into the relationship between individual and political rights. (shrink)

Our country’s equipment manufacturing industry ranks among the best in all developing countries, but compared with developed countries, there is still a long way to go. It is not only the backwardness of various technologies, but also the interference of other countries. Although our country's equipment manufacturing industry is not as advanced as the advanced technology of developed countries, we still have to stick to our original aspirations, do not underestimate ourselves, and be good at absorbing and learning from the (...) strengths of others to make up for our own weaknesses. While not working behind closed doors and while absorbing technology from other countries, we can make use of our strengths to make up for our weaknesses and develop our own industrial technology. This paper studies the evolution trend of innovation network structure and at the same time studies the evolution mechanism of advanced equipment manufacturing innovation network structure from the perspective of complex systems. The explained variable in this article is green total factor productivity. The variable adopts the Malmquist–Luenberger global super-efficiency index model. There are two main explanatory variables. One is the heterogeneity that affects the efficiency of industrial evolution, including factor heterogeneity, structural heterogeneity, and environmental heterogeneity, and the other is the interaction term of equipment manufacturing specialization agglomeration degree dummy variable multiplied by factor heterogeneity. The regional economic development level is added to the model as a control variable. In the selection of measurement indicators, the per capita GDP is used as the control variable. The experimental results show that each sample is tested in pairs, and the standard error level of the mean is 0.018, which is less than 0.05, indicating that the efficiency of the equipment manufacturing industry’s economic correlation spatial network has a significant impact on the overall economic development level of the industry. The reduction in spur helps to increase economic output. (shrink)

Transportation infrastructure tremendously affects the quality of life for urban residents, influences public and mental health, and shapes social relations. Historically, the topic is rich with social and political controversy and the resultant transit systems in the United States cause problems for minority residents and issues for the public. Environmental justice frameworks provide a means to identify and address harms that affect marginalized groups, but environmental justice has limits that cannot account for the mainstream population. To account for (...) this condition, I employ a complex moral assessment measure that provides a way to talk about harms that affect the public. (shrink)

Economies of scale and equivalent consumption units, which are present in households, must be considered in the measurement of monetary poverty, in order to obtain indicators that approximate the reality of each household. Therefore, in this research, monetary poverty in Ecuador is measured and analyzed at the provincial level for the period 2009–2016. It works with data from the National Survey of Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment and the INEC methodology is used to measure poverty, but per-capita income is replaced (...) by equivalent income, generated by applying a one-parameter scale and two two-parameter scales. The main results show that monetary poverty rates are significantly lower when equivalent income is applied, that there is high poverty sensitivity depending on the equivalence scale used and that the provinces with the highest levels of poverty are located in the Amazon region. (shrink)

Introduction. The fourth industrial revolution significantly changes the structure of economic relations and transforms the importance of factors in the development of territories. The purpose of the article is to identify the most significant factors in the regional development of the Ural macro region in the context of the fourth industrial revolution and to determine the directions of impacts to ensure the competitiveness and long-term growth of territories. Methods. The methodological basis of the study is based on a set of (...) scientific approaches to economic growth, concepts of regional and institutional economics. Research methods include regional, comparative and econometric factor analysis. Scientific novelty of the study. A method for identifying the significance of factors in the development of regions is proposed and the key factors for developing the subjects of the Ural macro region in the context of the fourth industrial revolution are established. The study contributes to the scientific debate on the meaning and management of institutional development factors. Results. The author presents the results of diagnosing the regulatory environment and geographic factors of the subjects of the Ural macro region. An econometric analysis of their impact on economic development has been carried out. The statistical significance for developing the volume of mining and the quality of the legal environment in the regions has been established. Informal institutions (the authors explain the phenomenon by weak differentiation of cultural characteristics and business practices of regions due to their historical connectivity) and transport and geographical location (due to a decrease in spatial influence and an increase in the role of digital technologies in production chains in Industry 4.0). Conclusions. In the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions, it was possible to ensure higher values of GRP per capita due to a favorable regulatory environment. In general, in the Russian regions in the second decade of the 21st century, the raw material orientation remains (among the studied objects, the economies of the Orenburg region and Udmurtia are the most extractive). To ensure the country’s long-term development, it is necessary to create a favorable business climate: improving the legal environment in the areas outlined in the study, increasing the level of trust and reducing the level of corruption. (shrink)

Background Previous analyses of democracy and population health have focused on broad measures, such as life expectancy at birth and child and infant mortality, and have shown some contradictory results. We used a panel of data spanning 170 countries to assess the association between democracy and cause-specific mortality and explore the pathways connecting democratic rule to health gains. -/- Methods We extracted cause-specific mortality and HIV-free life expectancy estimates from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (...) 2016 and information on regime type from the Varieties of Democracy project. These data cover 170 countries and 46 years. From the Financing Global Health database, we extracted gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, also covering 46 years, and Development Assistance for Health estimates starting from 1990 and domestic health spending estimates starting from 1995. We used a diverse set of empirical methods—synthetic control, within-country variance decomposition, structural equation models, and fixed-effects regression—which together provide a robust analysis of the association between democratisation and population health. -/- Findings HIV-free life expectancy at age 15 years improved significantly during the study period (1970–2015) in countries after they transitioned to democracy, on average by 3% after 10 years. Democratic experience explains 22·27% of the variance in mortality within a country from cardiovascular diseases, 16·53% for tuberculosis, and 17·78% for transport injuries, and a smaller percentage for other diseases included in the study. For cardiovascular diseases, transport injuries, cancers, cirrhosis, and other non-communicable diseases, democratic experience explains more of the variation in mortality than GDP. Over the past 20 years, the average country's increase in democratic experience had direct and indirect effects on reducing mortality from cardiovascular disease (−9·64%, 95% CI −6·38 to −12·90), other non-communicable diseases (−9·14%, −4·26 to −14·02), and tuberculosis (−8·93%, −2·08 to −15·77). Increases in a country's democratic experience were not correlated with GDP per capita between 1995 and 2015 (ρ=–0·1036; p=0·1826), but were correlated with declines in mortality from cardiovascular disease (ρ=–0·3873; p<0·0001) and increases in government health spending (ρ=0·4002; p<0·0001). Removal of free and fair elections from the democratic experience variable resulted in loss of association with age-standardised mortality from non-communicable diseases and injuries. -/- Interpretation When enforced by free and fair elections, democracies are more likely than autocracies to lead to health gains for causes of mortality (eg, cardiovascular diseases and transport injuries) that have not been heavily targeted by foreign aid and require health-care delivery infrastructure. International health agencies and donors might increasingly need to consider the implications of regime type in their efforts to maximise health gains, particularly in the context of ageing populations and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. (shrink)

According to agency theory, agents base their economic decisions on self-interests when adverse selection conditions exist. However, cognitive moral development theory predicts that ethics/morals may influence decision-makers not to behave egoistically. Rutledge and Karim, 173-184) find both the moral reasoning level of the managers and an adverse selection condition affect a manager's project evaluation decisions significantly. Since prior studies have shown that national culture might influence the application of agency theory in project evaluation, this current study uses a different moral (...) development measurement to reexamine Rutledge and Karim's hypotheses in another culture. A total of 73 Taiwanese executive MBA students with an average of 12.17 years work experience participated in this study. We found that both moral development level and adverse selection conditions significantly affect managers' project continuance decisions. The interaction effect of these two factors indicates that, when adverse selection conditions exist, participants with a high level of moral development exhibit less of a tendency to continue an unprofitable project than those with a low level of moral development. With subjects from a different culture, our results confirm the findings of Rutldege and Karim. That is, the effects of moral development and adverse selection conditions on managers' project continuance decisions are robust and can be generalized to different cultures. Implications of the findings of this study to multinational firms are also discussed. (shrink)

This book contains scholarly contributions to several current debates in the philosophy of medicine and health care regarding the nature of health and health promotion, concepts and measurements of mental illness, phenomenological conceptions of health and illness, allocation of health care resources, criteria for proper medical science, the clinical meeting, and ethical constraints in such a meeting. With one exception, the authors in this book are or have been teachers or graduate students at the interdisciplinary Department of Health and Society (...) (Tema H) at Linköping University, Sweden. While all the texts have a philosophical focus, many other disciplines have influenced the choice of specific perspectives. The university backgrounds of the authors range from medicine, psychology, sociology, and religion to philosophy. What binds the authors together is their deep interest in the theory of medicine and in the pursuit of a philosophy of humanistic medicine and health care. (shrink)

Objective: To assess the relation between autocratisation—substantial decreases in democratic traits (free and fair elections, freedom of civil and political association, and freedom of expression)—and countries’ population health outcomes and progress toward universal health coverage (UHC). -/- Design: Synthetic control analysis. -/- Setting and country selection: Global sample of countries for all years from 1989 to 2019, split into two categories: 17 treatment countries that started autocratising during 2000 to 2010, and 119 control countries that never autocratised from 1989 to (...) 2019. The treatment countries comprised low and middle income nations and represent all world regions except North America and western Europe. A weighted combination of control countries was used to construct synthetic controls for each treatment country. This statistical method is especially well suited to population level studies when random assignment is infeasible and sufficiently similar comparators are not available. The method was originally developed in economics and political science to assess the impact of policies and events, and it is now increasingly used in epidemiology. -/- Main outcome measures: HIV-free life expectancy at age 5 years, UHC effective coverage index (0-100 point scale), and out-of-pocket spending on health per capita. All outcome variables are for the period 1989 to 2019. -/- Results: Autocratising countries underperformed for all three outcome variables in the 10 years after the onset of autocratisation, despite some improvements in life expectancy, UHC effective coverage index, and out-of-pocket spending on health. On average, HIV-free life expectancy at age 5 years increased by 2.2% (from 64.7 to 66.1 years) during the 10 years after the onset of autocratisation. This study estimated that it would have increased by 3.5% (95% confidence interval 3.3% to 3.6%, P<0.001) (from 64.7 to 66.9 years) in the absence of autocratisation. On average, the UHC effective coverage index increased by 11.9% (from 42.5 to 47.6 points) during the 10 years after the onset of autocratisation. This study estimated that it would have increased by 20.2% (95% confidence interval 19.6% to 21.2%, P<0.001) (from 42.5 to 51.1 points) in the absence of autocratisation. Finally, on average, out-of-pocket spending on health per capita increased by 10.0% (from $4.00 (£3.1; €3.4) to $4.4, log transformed) during the 10 years after the onset of autocratisation. This study estimated that it would have increased by only 4.4% (95% confidence interval 3.9% to 4.6%, P<0.001) (from $4.0 to $4.2, log transformed) in the absence of autocratisation. -/- Conclusions: Autocratising countries had worse than estimated life expectancy, effective health service coverage, and levels of out-of-pocket spending on health. These results suggest that the noticeable increase in the number of countries that are experiencing democratic erosion in recent years is hindering population health gains and progress toward UHC. Global health institutions will need to adjust their policy recommendations and activities to obtain the best possible results in those countries with a diminishing democratic incentive to provide quality healthcare to populations. (shrink)

Decentring the Avant-Garde presents a collection of articles dealing with the topography of the avant-garde. The focus is on different responses to avant-garde aesthetics in regions traditionally depicted as cultural, geographical and linguistic peripheries. Avant-garde activities in the periphery have to date mostly been described in terms of a passive reception of new artistic trends and currents originating in cultural centres such as Paris or Berlin. Contesting this traditional view, Decentring the Avant-Garde highlights the importance of analysing the avant-garde (...) in the periphery in terms of an active appropriation of avant-garde aesthetics within different cultural, ideological and historical settings. A broad collection of case studies discusses the activities of movements and artists in various regions in Europe and beyond. The result is a new topographical model of the international avant-garde and its cultural practices. (shrink)

The starting point for the contemporary debate about theories of health should be the holistic theory of Lennart Nordenfelt, claims George Khushf, not the refuted theory of Christopher Boorse. The present paper is an attempt to challenge Nordenfelt and to present an alternative theory to his and other theories, including Boorse’s. The main problems with Nordenfelt’s theory are that it is relativistic, that it leads to counter-intuitive results as to what goals can count as healthy, that it focuses on the (...) wrong kind of abilities, that it makes measuring health extra difficult, and that it does not give us a sufficient account of health, at most a necessary one. The alternative theory proposed is two-dimensional. First, health is to have developed the abilities and dispositions that members of one’s culture typically develop, and be able to use them, in acceptable circumstances; and second, health is to experience positive moods and sensations, the kinds that have internal causes. The theory solves the problems attached to Nordenfelt’s theory by not being individual relativistic, by eliminating the goals in the definition, by giving an alternative interpretation of “ability,” by making health easier to measure, and by adding the dimension of well-being that, together with health as ability, not only gives us a necessary, but also a sufficient, account of health. (shrink)

Stuttering is a disorder characterized by intermittent loss of volitional control of speech movements. This hypothesis and theory article focuses on the proposal that stuttering may be related to an impairment of the energy supply to neurons. Findings from electroencephalography, brain imaging, genetics, and biochemistry are reviewed: Analyses of the EEG spectra at rest have repeatedly reported reduced power in the beta band, which is compatible with indications of reduced metabolism. Studies of the absolute level of regional cerebral blood flow (...) show conflicting findings, with two studies reporting reduced rCBF in the frontal lobe, and two studies, based on a different method, reporting no group differences. This contradiction has not yet been resolved. The pattern of reduction in the studies reporting reduced rCBF corresponds to the regional pattern of the glycolytic index. High regional GI indicates high reliance on non-oxidative metabolism, i.e., glycolysis. Variants of the gene ARNT2 have been associated with stuttering. This gene is primarily expressed in the brain, with a pattern roughly corresponding to the pattern of regional GI. A central function of the ARNT2 protein is to act as one part of a sensor system indicating low levels of oxygen in brain tissue and to activate appropriate responses, including activation of glycolysis. It has been established that genes related to the functions of the lysosomes are implicated in some cases of stuttering. It is possible that these gene variants result in a reduced peak rate of energy supply to neurons. Lastly, there are indications of interactions between the metabolic system and the dopamine system: for example, it is known that acute hypoxia results in an elevated tonic level of dopamine in the synapses. Will mild chronic limitations of energy supply also result in elevated levels of dopamine? The indications of such interaction effects suggest that the metabolic theory of stuttering should be explored in parallel with the exploration of the dopaminergic theory. (shrink)

According to agency theory, agents base their economic decisions on self-interests when adverse selection conditions exist. However, cognitive moral development theory predicts that ethics/morals may influence decision-makers not to behave egoistically. Rutledge and Karim (1999; Accounting, Organizations and Society 24(2), 173–184) find both the moral reasoning level of the managers and an adverse selection condition affect a manager’s project evaluation decisions significantly. Since prior studies have shown that national␣culture might influence the application of agency theory in project evaluation, this current (...) study uses a different moral development measurement to reexamine Rutledge and Karim’s hypotheses in another culture. A total of 73 Taiwanese executive MBA students with an average of 12.17 years work experience participated in this study. We found that both moral development level and adverse selection conditions significantly affect managers’ project continuance decisions. The interaction effect of these two factors indicates that, when adverse selection conditions exist, participants with a high level of moral development exhibit less of a tendency to continue an unprofitable project than those with a low level of moral development. With subjects from a different culture, our results confirm the findings of Rutldege and Karim. That is, the effects of moral development and adverse selection conditions on managers’ project continuance decisions are robust and can be generalized to different cultures. Implications of the findings of this study to multinational firms are also discussed. (shrink)

In this article, a number of future energy visions, especially those basing the energy systems on hydrogen, are discussed. Some often missing comparisons between alternatives, from a sustainability perspective, are identified and then performed for energy storage, energy transportation, and energy use in vehicles. It is shown that it is important to be aware of the losses implied by production, packaging, distribution, storage, and end-use of hydrogen when suggesting a “hydrogen economy.” It is also shown that for stationary electric (...) energy storage, fuel cell electrolyzers could be feasible. Zero-tailpipeemission vehicles are compared. The battery electric vehicle has the highest electrical efficiency, but other requirements imply that plug-in hybrids or fuel cell hybrids might be a better option in some types of vehicles. Finally, a simplified example is applied to the overall results and used to discuss the needs and nature of an energy system based on intermittent energy sources. (shrink)

This is the first book in welfare economics to be primarily intended for undergraduates and non-specialists. Concepts such as Pareto optimality in a market economy, the compensation criterion, and the social welfare function are explored in detail. Market failures are analysed by using different ways of measuring welfare changes. The book also examines public choice, and the issues of provision of public goods, median voter equilibrium, government failures, efficient and optimal taxation, and intergenerational equity. The three final chapters are devoted (...) to applied welfare economics: methods for revealing people's preferences, cost-benefit analysis, and project evaluation in a risky world. The book is intended for introductory and intermediate courses in welfare economics, microeconomics, and public economics. It will also be suitable for courses in health economics, environmental economics, and cost-benefit analysis, as well as those undertaking project evaluations in government agencies and private firms. (shrink)

The possible differential effects of ABO blood group materno-paternal (fetal) incompatibility on completed reproductive performance were investigated on a sample of 100 couples (100 fathers and 100 mothers) from three villages in the Jind district of Haryana state, India. The average number of live births per mating couple was slightly higher for the incompatible matings (5·32) than the compatible ones (5·05). This advantage was offset by higher postnatal mortality in the former. Consequently, the average number of living children in the (...) compatible matings (4·64) was higher than in the incompatible ones (4·18). With reference to individual ABO matings, the index of relative fertility (Irf) was the highest in A×AB followed by B×A type of incompatible matings. No decrease in live births in O×A and O×B incompatible matings was observed compared with their reciprocal compatible ones, i.e. A×O and B×O matings, as has been hypothesized in previous studies. The total pregnancy wastage was substantially higher in ABO-incompatible matings (24·59%) than compatible matings (8·45%). About 71% of the postnatal deaths took place within one year of the birth in the case of incompatible matings compared with 50% in the case of compatible matings. The study supports the hypothesis that selection is operative at the ABO locus as revealed by the measures of selection intensity. The loss of fitness in the present sample was associated with differential mortality. There were no differences in the proportions of average number of male live births in the compatible (0·55) and incompatible matings (0·58). However, in the individual mating types, there was some evidence of higher or lower proportions of male live births. (shrink)

Food is sometimes labeled as ‘100% natural’ or as containing ‘all natural ingredients’. There is however controversy on how to justify, design and implement such labelling. This paper argues that since naturalness is not one single concept, but several ones, and those concepts typically allow degrees, so that things can be more or less natural, thus, this complexity should be reflected in labelling of foods. There is no obvious way of presenting an aggregate measure of a particular food item’s naturalness, (...) and therefore a graphical representation that contains several axes, with the degree of naturalness represented on each axis, is considered. Such a mode of representation might however be too complex to be practical, and a possible compromise would be to settle for a small number of labels that represent some common combinations of degrees of naturalness along the axes. (shrink)

It is commonly believed that people become selfish and turn to looting, price gouging, and other immoral behaviour in emergencies. This has been the basis for an argument justifying extraordinary measures in emergencies. It states that if emergencies are not curtailed, breakdown of moral norms threaten (‘the moral black hole’). Using the example of natural disasters, we argue that the validity of this argument in non-antagonistic situations, i.e. situations other than war and armed conflict, is highly questionable. Available evidence (...) suggests that people in such emergencies typically do not display panic reactions or exaggerated selfishness, and that phenomena such as looting and price gouging are rare. Furthermore, a version of the moral-black-hole argument based on the mere possibility of a moral black hole occurring runs into problems similar to those of Pascal’s Wager. We conclude that we should be wary against applying the moral-black-hole argument to non-antagonistic cases. (shrink)

Health-related quality of life is the ultimate general goal for medicine, health care and public health, including health promotion and health education. The other important general goal is health-related welfare. The aim of the paper is to explain what this means and what the consequences of these assumptions are for health work. This involves defining the central terms “health”, “quality of life” and “welfare” and showing what their conceptual relations are. Health-related quality of life has two central meanings: health-related well-being, (...) which constitutes quality of life, and health as ability, which contributes causally to quality of life. Four meanings of health-related welfare are put forward: general well-being, health as ability, other inner properties of the individual, and external factors. States and processes covered by these categories contribute causally to health-related quality of life. Finally, using these distinctions, some more specific goals for medicine and health care, on the one hand, and for public health and health promotion, on the other, are outlined. In the former fields work is primarily directed towards changing the health-related quality of life of the individual through direct measures, “manipulating” the individual, whereas public health work and health promotion primarily use indirect measures and further health through various sorts of health-related welfare changes, e.g. through changing the environment. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Philosophy and Rhetoric 36.1 (2003) 39-47 [Access article in PDF] Restraint and Emotion in Cicero's De Oratore Per Fjelstad In De Oratore Cicero has the revered orator Crassus ask, "Who then is the man who gives people a thrill? whom do they stare at in amazement when he speaks? who is interrupted by applause? who is thought to be so to say a god among men?" (1942a, III.53). Crassus, (...) who is asking his companions to think about emotional energy in speech, goes on, "It is those whose speeches are clear, explicit, and full, perspicuous in matter and language, and who in actual delivery achieve a sort of rhythm and cadence—that is, whose style I call 'ornate'."Several things are striking about the passage. First, it resolves its inquiry by invoking the concept of ornatus, a word widely used to translate the Greek idea of kosmos (DiLorenzo 1978). Cicero thus refers to a quality that joins the ideas of cosmic order, physical beauty, and earthly power. Second, the passage is delivered in the midst of Crassus's discussion of the fourth rhetorical canon, that referring to the elaboration of ideas in language, of selecting levels of style and modes of verbal embellishment. Third, the passage ranges across the entire field of rhetorical art, at least as indexed by the scope of the canons. The performative quality directly under discussion, that which gives people a thrill—initially associated with the Theophrastian virtues of style that Crassus has been enumerating, that is, clarity and explicitness—quickly is expanded to include copiousness of invention, perspicuity of language, and energetic beauty in delivery. Cicero's Crassus thus discusses a performative dynamic that appears to govern rhetoric as a whole.As the other characters in the dialogue discuss this quality of speech, which engages listeners emotionally and transforms their experience of the present, they bound beyond the preliminary categories of their analysis and describe a power of speech that is aesthetic and philosophical. As the [End Page 39] narrator of this dialogue, Cicero eventually associates the possibility of emotional transformation with a quality of performance we might identify as graceful or urbane. Cicero suggests that performative style can rise above particular details, conventions, and rules of standard rhetorical instruction. Ornate speech is, in sum, emotionally transformative. In detail, however, how does Cicero theorize this grand ability? What goals, resources, or models does he invoke?This essay argues that Cicero's theory of ornatus insists an orator display emotions relevant to the performance while responding to the need of listeners to hear emotional expression against a backdrop of relative calm. In developing this analysis, I claim that the dialogic format of De Oratore allows insight to emerge from juxtaposed perspectives, that Cicero's ideal of ornatus contains a limiting threshold for performative exuberance, and that his examples of emotional engagement illustrate the importance of context and aesthetic restraint. Theoretical tensions as sources for synthetic insight Theoretical tensions in Cicero's De Oratore are instructive. While Cicero's effort to reconcile Isocratean practice with Aristotelian teleology ultimately makes for a rough fit, the juxtaposition of those understandings within the dialogue also generates new insight, even about limits for rhetorical theory itself. Referring to this mode of theorizing as "ironic eloquence," Michael Leff holds that "through this merger of theory and practice, the rival conceptions of oratory as systematic art and oratory as synthetic practice coalesce within the text, the two perspectives interacting to produce a development that incorporates both" (1986, 323).A similar theoretical tension can be observed in De Oratore regarding the prospects and significance of emotional engagement in oratorical performance. In discussing the practices of emotional oratory Cicero draws on three distinct intellectual sources: a quasi-enthymematic model of emotional engagement, in which an orator need not share or display the sought-after emotional response; a mimetic theory of theatrical performance (that is, a typology of tonal and gestural "moods"); and a latent theory of "authenticity," according to which that which is being theatrically displayed is not "fakely" fictional, but somehow genuine.The conflicting theories suggest... (shrink)

The two notions of “globalization” and “knowledge society” are often assumed to be relatively neutral descriptions of contemporary social and cultural developments, although they are embedded in discourses on power and domination. In this paper the argument is made that both these notions can be understood as expressions of an ideology of neo-colonialism and that they assume an ethnocentric or Eurocentric bias rather than being neutral descriptions of the “natural” unfolding of social and political changes. The thesis of the “knowledge (...) society”, in particular, needs to be demythologized as a vehicle for the rebirth of nations and regions in the context of increasing global challenges. A critical perspective such as this is a desired complement to the otherwise glossy versions of the future of “knowledge work” and “creative work” based on a doctrine of “fundamentalism of education”. The critical understanding of contemporary regimes for knowledge, learning and education on the international scene provide a necessary counterpoint to the dominating political and educational discourses advocating the advent of “knowledge society”. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Philosophy and Rhetoric 36.1 (2003) 39-47 [Access article in PDF] Restraint and Emotion in Cicero's De Oratore Per Fjelstad In De Oratore Cicero has the revered orator Crassus ask, "Who then is the man who gives people a thrill? whom do they stare at in amazement when he speaks? who is interrupted by applause? who is thought to be so to say a god among men?" (1942a, III.53). Crassus, (...) who is asking his companions to think about emotional energy in speech, goes on, "It is those whose speeches are clear, explicit, and full, perspicuous in matter and language, and who in actual delivery achieve a sort of rhythm and cadence—that is, whose style I call 'ornate'."Several things are striking about the passage. First, it resolves its inquiry by invoking the concept of ornatus, a word widely used to translate the Greek idea of kosmos (DiLorenzo 1978). Cicero thus refers to a quality that joins the ideas of cosmic order, physical beauty, and earthly power. Second, the passage is delivered in the midst of Crassus's discussion of the fourth rhetorical canon, that referring to the elaboration of ideas in language, of selecting levels of style and modes of verbal embellishment. Third, the passage ranges across the entire field of rhetorical art, at least as indexed by the scope of the canons. The performative quality directly under discussion, that which gives people a thrill—initially associated with the Theophrastian virtues of style that Crassus has been enumerating, that is, clarity and explicitness—quickly is expanded to include copiousness of invention, perspicuity of language, and energetic beauty in delivery. Cicero's Crassus thus discusses a performative dynamic that appears to govern rhetoric as a whole.As the other characters in the dialogue discuss this quality of speech, which engages listeners emotionally and transforms their experience of the present, they bound beyond the preliminary categories of their analysis and describe a power of speech that is aesthetic and philosophical. As the [End Page 39] narrator of this dialogue, Cicero eventually associates the possibility of emotional transformation with a quality of performance we might identify as graceful or urbane. Cicero suggests that performative style can rise above particular details, conventions, and rules of standard rhetorical instruction. Ornate speech is, in sum, emotionally transformative. In detail, however, how does Cicero theorize this grand ability? What goals, resources, or models does he invoke?This essay argues that Cicero's theory of ornatus insists an orator display emotions relevant to the performance while responding to the need of listeners to hear emotional expression against a backdrop of relative calm. In developing this analysis, I claim that the dialogic format of De Oratore allows insight to emerge from juxtaposed perspectives, that Cicero's ideal of ornatus contains a limiting threshold for performative exuberance, and that his examples of emotional engagement illustrate the importance of context and aesthetic restraint. Theoretical tensions as sources for synthetic insight Theoretical tensions in Cicero's De Oratore are instructive. While Cicero's effort to reconcile Isocratean practice with Aristotelian teleology ultimately makes for a rough fit, the juxtaposition of those understandings within the dialogue also generates new insight, even about limits for rhetorical theory itself. Referring to this mode of theorizing as "ironic eloquence," Michael Leff holds that "through this merger of theory and practice, the rival conceptions of oratory as systematic art and oratory as synthetic practice coalesce within the text, the two perspectives interacting to produce a development that incorporates both" (1986, 323).A similar theoretical tension can be observed in De Oratore regarding the prospects and significance of emotional engagement in oratorical performance. In discussing the practices of emotional oratory Cicero draws on three distinct intellectual sources: a quasi-enthymematic model of emotional engagement, in which an orator need not share or display the sought-after emotional response; a mimetic theory of theatrical performance (that is, a typology of tonal and gestural "moods"); and a latent theory of "authenticity," according to which that which is being theatrically displayed is not "fakely" fictional, but somehow genuine.The conflicting theories suggest... (shrink)

It appears that there are two distinct practices within public health, namely health promotion and disease prevention, leading to different goals. But does the distinction hold? Can we promote health without preventing disease, and vice versa? The aim of the paper is to answer these questions. First, the central concepts are defined and the logical relations between them are spelt out. A preliminary conclusion is that there is a logical difference between health and disease, which makes health promotion and disease (...) prevention two distinct endeavours. However, since disease is defined in relation to health, as those kinds of internal processes and states that typically lead to ill health, the difference is smaller than it might appear. Second, in order to answer the practical question whether it is possible to promote health without preventing disease, and vice versa, several kinds of public health interventions are discussed. The conclusion is that while health promotion and disease prevention can be distinguished conceptually, they can hardly be distinguished in practice. Most general measures do both at the same time. (shrink)

System analyses deal with interrelationships between different variables that keep the system in balance. In many analysis of complex thinking, a system is viewed as a complex unit in which the ‘whole’ is not reduced to the ‘sum’ of its parts; the system becomes an ambiguous item because it consists of several entities that interact with unforeseen results or, in other words, it is situated at a transdisciplinary level, it is impossible for an area to have a complete reading of (...) its complexity. It was also mentioned that the concept of the open system best describes complexity by stating that ‘the laws of the organization are not equilibrium, but an imbalance that is restored or compensated for by stabilized dynamics’. This idea originated from the field of thermodynamics and the second law, in which the imbalance that it maintains allows the system for an apparent balance. This fragile steady state has something of a paradox, since the structures remain the same, but their constituents are changeable. The concept of open system undoes the door to a theory of evolution that can only derive from the interactions between a system and its ecosystem. Within this systemic approach, the focus of the analysis takes into account the ambiguity, multidisciplinary and complexity associated with system adjustment, i.e. it is intended to qualify an employee job based on their experience and knowledge as a measure of their impact on the organization performance. (shrink)

Results of studies that cast doubt on the safety of genetically modified crops have been published since the first GM crop approval for commercial release. These ‘alarming studies’ challenge the dominant view about the adequacy of current risk assessment practice for genetically modified organisms. Subsequent debates follow a similar and recurring pattern, in which those involved cannot agree on the significance of the results and the attached consequences. The standard response from the government—a reassessment by scientific advisory bodies—seems insufficient to (...) bring the debate to a satisfactory closure. The recurrence of the same debate every time an alarming study is published shows that science alone cannot solve the problem. We believe that further analysis is needed to investigate if and how we can prevent this repetitive cycle that creates frustration amongst all stakeholders. In this paper, we analyse the dynamics behind discussions which occur following alarming studies. We will use a selection of representative alarming GMO case studies to underpin our claim that it is likely that there will be a permanent difference in view of opinion that cannot be solved with more data or new facts. The current strategy of more research is a pitfall that is unlikely to solve this issue. Instead, the focus of the GM crop discussion should shift towards managing permanent different viewpoints and providing a platform for a broader conversation on agriculture and food production. (shrink)

Value sensitive design aims at creating better technology based on social and ethical values. However, VSD has not been applied to long-term and uncertain future developments, such as societal planning for climate change. This paper describes a new method that combines elements from VSD with scenario planning. The method was developed for and applied to a case study of adaptation to sea level rise in southern Sweden in a series of workshops. The participants of the workshops found that the method (...) provided a framework for discussing long-term planning, enabled identification of essential values, challenged established planning practices, helped find creative solutions, and served as a reminder that we do not know what will happen in the future. Finally, we reflect on the limitations of the method and suggest further research on how it can be improved for value sensitive design of adaptation measures to manage uncertain future sea level rise. (shrink)

Introduction. The article highlights the role and trends of urban development in a single regional space. The authors consider the industrial region, where the economic centers are the cities of monospecialization (metallurgy, mechanical engineering), which form the settlement framework of the regional economic system. At the same time, the connectivity of the regional space was determined by the contacts of cities in infrastructure areas and the possibilities of agglomeration formations. The authors analyze the urban environment of cities in the (...) region, which revealed common problems for them in organizing urban space. It was shown that the competition of cities for a person can be won by offering the population more comfortable working and living conditions, a variety of social services, and the possibility of using agglomeration effects. Scientific novelty of the research. The peculiarity of the author’s research was a new approach to urbanization as an urban way of life, extended to a set of cities of different status and population in the region. At the same time, the zones of attraction and concentration of business and social activity were connected with large cities and centers of agglomerations of the region, which ensure the joint use of resources, transport, and social infrastructure. The purpose of the article is to Identify constraints and opportunities for developing cities in a single regional space, taking into account their connectivity and interaction. Methods. The authors use the information base: statistical data, scientific literature, and expert assessments to clarify the conceptual tools of the research and to analyze the demographic situation in the cities-centers of agglomeration associations of the region. The authors present the assessment of the state of the urban environment, and reveal the disproportions in its organization. The research approaches are tested on the example of the cities of the Chelyabinsk region. (shrink)

Medical students lack opportunities to have authentic conversations with patients with cancer in busy hospitals. An improved understanding of what such communication might look like may provide a framework for end-of-life curricula. The authors performed thematic analysis using written correspondence between patient and student participants in the University of California, San Francisco’s Firefly Program whose letters discussed death or dying. Four themes emerged: (1) turmoil, (2) grief, (3) making peace, and (4) past, present, and future. Medical students expressed a fifth (...) theme: unmet student expectations. The study provides educators with a unique perspective to help inform curriculum development and patient care. (shrink)

Urban infrastructures serve as the backbone of modern economies, mediating global exchanges and responding to urban demands. Yet, our comprehension of these complex structures, particularly within diverse socio-political terrain, remains fragmented. In bridging this knowledge gap, this study delves into “boundary objects”—entities enabling diverse stakeholders to collaborate without a comprehensive consensus. Central to our investigation is the hypothesis that oceanic infrastructural developments are instrumental in molding the interface of urban, industrial, and energy sectors within marine contexts. Our lens is directed (...) at the Gulf of Mexico, which is distinguished by its industrial depth and expansive marine grid. We highlight the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway’s (GIWW) paramount role in regional movement and the ecological facets of practices such as dredging, which is vital for transport and coastal conservation. A striking revelation of our study is the transformation of offshore structures in the Gulf into vibrant marine habitats. Emphasizing the intertwined nature of marine infrastructures, we denote oceans as pivotal platforms for impending urban expansion, especially as land resources wane. Our research aspires to validate the role played by oceans as a nexus in the urban–industrial–energy fusion. (shrink)

The robustness of a system indicates its ability to withstand disturbances while maintaining its properties, performance, and efficiency. There are plenty of studies on the robustness of air transport networks in the literature. However, few works consider its mesoscopic organization. Building on the recently introduced component structure, we explore the impact of targeted attacks on the weighted world air transportation network on its components. Indeed, it contains five local components covering different regions and one global component linking these (...) regions. We investigate targeted attacks based on influential weighted centrality measures. Results show that the local components gradually separate from the world air transportation network as the fraction of removed airports grows. The weighted betweenness attack removes fewer top airports to isolate the regions compared to its alternatives. Furthermore, it is still convenient to travel locally in the separate areas. In contrast, strength and PageRank attacks need to target more airports to split the network. However, they are more disruptive. Indeed, the size of the isolated local components reduces drastically, so it becomes more challenging to travel locally. Looking at the world air transportation network through its component structure reveals a new viewpoint on its resilence. It opens new perspectives to design more efficient attacks. (shrink)

This volume contains several invited papers as well as a selection of the other contributions. The conference was the first meeting of the Soviet logicians interested in com- puter science with their Western counterparts. The papers report new results and techniques in applications of deductive systems, deductive program synthesis and analysis, computer experiments in logic related fields, theorem proving and logic programming. It provides access to intensive work on computer logic both in the USSR and in Western countries.

Human gait is a complex activity that requires high coordination between the central nervous system, the limb, and the musculoskeletal system. More research is needed to understand the latter coordination's complexity in designing better and more effective rehabilitation strategies for gait disorders. Electroencephalogram and functional near-infrared spectroscopy are among the most used technologies for monitoring brain activities due to portability, non-invasiveness, and relatively low cost compared to others. Fusing EEG and fNIRS is a well-known and established methodology proven to enhance (...) brain–computer interface performance in terms of classification accuracy, number of control commands, and response time. Although there has been significant research exploring hybrid BCI involving both EEG and fNIRS for different types of tasks and human activities, human gait remains still underinvestigated. In this article, we aim to shed light on the recent development in the analysis of human gait using a hybrid EEG-fNIRS-based BCI system. The current review has followed guidelines of preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-Analyses during the data collection and selection phase. In this review, we put a particular focus on the commonly used signal processing and machine learning algorithms, as well as survey the potential applications of gait analysis. We distill some of the critical findings of this survey as follows. First, hardware specifications and experimental paradigms should be carefully considered because of their direct impact on the quality of gait assessment. Second, since both modalities, EEG and fNIRS, are sensitive to motion artifacts, instrumental, and physiological noises, there is a quest for more robust and sophisticated signal processing algorithms. Third, hybrid temporal and spatial features, obtained by virtue of fusing EEG and fNIRS and associated with cortical activation, can help better identify the correlation between brain activation and gait. In conclusion, hBCI system is not yet much explored for the lower limb due to its complexity compared to the higher limb. Existing BCI systems for gait monitoring tend to only focus on one modality. We foresee a vast potential in adopting hBCI in gait analysis. Imminent technical breakthroughs are expected using hybrid EEG-fNIRS-based BCI for gait to control assistive devices and Monitor neuro-plasticity in neuro-rehabilitation. However, although those hybrid systems perform well in a controlled experimental environment when it comes to adopting them as a certified medical device in real-life clinical applications, there is still a long way to go. (shrink)

Infrastructure-making in interwar India was a dynamic, multilayered process involving roads and vehicles in urban and rural sites. One of their strongest playgrounds was Bombay Presidency and the Central Provinces in central and western India. Focusing on this region in the interwar period, this paper analyzes the varied relationship between peasant households and town-centred modernizing agents in the making of road transport infrastructures. The central argument of this paper is about the persistence of bullock carts over motor cars in (...) the region. This persistence was grounded in the specific regional environment, the effects of the 1930s economic depression, and the priorities of social classes. Pinpointing these connections, the paper highlights that “modernization” of infrastructure was not a simple, linear process of progressivist change, nor did it mean the survival of apparently “old” technologies in the modern era. Instead, the paper pays attention to conflicting social complexities, implications, and meanings of the connection between infrastructure and modernity that modernization assumptions often overlook. Here, the paper shows how technological change occurred as a result of real, material class interests pulling infrastructural technology in different directions. This was where and why arguments of road-motor lobbyists and cart advocates eventually clashed, and Gandhian social workers resisted motor transport in defense of peasant interests. (shrink)

Ending world hunger remains one of the central global challenges, but the question of how to measure and define the problem is politically charged. This article chronicles and analyses the indicator selection process for SDG 2.1, focusing in particular on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) indicator. Despite alleged efforts to separate political and technical aspects in the indicator selection process we find that they were entangled from the start. While there was significant contestation around which indicators should be (...) class='Hi'>selected, the process was characterized by pathway lock-in: The complexity of food security quantification and the resource constraints in the process favored already established data infrastructures and milieus of expertise, locking in the position of FAO and its established food security indicators. The SDG 2.1 indicators frame food insecurity in terms of caloric supply and demand and individual experience, arguably excluding dimensions of democratic agency, sustainability and other dimensions and drivers of food insecurity. The lock-in has thus embedded a narrow concept of food security in the major global indicator framework for food security monitoring. This is likely to have significant effects on how food insecurity is addressed nationally and internationally. Addressing the knowledge politics of food security indicators is important to broaden and open the agenda for sustainable transformation of food systems. Statistics and indicators are important tools in this agenda, but a diversity of approaches and data infrastructures from the local to the international level are needed to understand the multiple dimensions and drivers of food insecurity. (shrink)

BackgroundSurveys on attitudes towards assisted dying play an important role in informing public debate, policy and legislation. Unfortunately, surveys are often designed with insufficient attention to framing effects; that is, effects on the respondents’ stated attitudes caused by question wording and context. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate and measure such framing effects.MethodsSurvey experiment in which an eight-question survey on attitudes towards assisted dying was distributed to Norwegian citizens through a web-based panel. Two variations of question wording as (...) well as two variations of question order were employed. Respondents were randomized to receive one of four questionnaire versions.ResultsThree thousand and fifty responses were received. There were moderate to large question wording and question order effects. A majority of Norwegian citizens favour the legalization of assisted dying for patients with terminal or chronic disease.ConclusionsStakeholders in the assisted dying debate need to acknowledge potential framing effects, and accordingly should interpret survey results with caution. The same holds for researchers who conduct attitude surveys in the field of bioethics. (shrink)

Measuring and assessing the different aspects of gambling behavior and its consequences is crucial for planning prevention, treatment, and understanding the development of at-risk and problem gambling. Studies indicate that instruments measuring problem gambling produce different results based on the characteristics of the population assessed. To accurately measure at-risk and problem gambling behavior, especially in a low-risk population, measures must cover a wider set of dimensions than the negative consequences already manifest. The Jonsson-Abbott Scale includes items that cover overconsumption, (...) actions that reinforce gambling behavior, and belief in gambling fallacies, based on a three-factor structure and has previously demonstrated good psychometric properties. However, there is a need to investigate how the instrument also functions in low-risk populations. This study aims to do so using both confirmatory factor and Rasch analysis; this research included 1,413 Swedish participants who endorsed at least one JAS item. The results replicated the previous three-factor solution and indicated that the instrument had good reliability. In addition, the results demonstrated that the three factors are independent, and the overall score per factor needs to be analyzed. In summary, the JAS appears suitable for use in low-risk populations to measure various aspects of gambling behavior. (shrink)

BackgroundRecurrent Major Depressive Disorder is one of the most disabling mental disorders in modern society. Prior research has shown that self-compassion protects against ruminative tendencies, a key feature of recurrent MDD. In addition, self-compassion has been found to be positively related to higher psychophysiological flexibility in young, healthy adults. To our knowledge, there is a lack of studies on how self-compassion relates to vmHRV in patients with recurrent MDD. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether higher self-compassion (...) would associate with lower ruminative tendencies and higher vmHRV in a sample of adults with recurrent MDD.MethodsWe included a sample of 63 patients between 20 and 71 years old with a history of three or more depressive episodes. They filled out the Self-Compassion Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Rumination Rating Scale. ECG was acquired while resting and the square root of the mean squared differences of successive RR interval values was calculated as measure of vmHRV.ResultsAs hypothesized, self-compassion was associated with lower ruminative tendencies. However, self-compassion was not associated with level of vmHRV. Several confounding variables were controlled for in the statistical analyses, and higher age predicted lower vmHRV across all statistical analyses.ConclusionThe results confirmed our hypothesis that higher self-compassion would be associated with lower ruminative tendencies in recurrent MDD. Contrary to our expectation, we did not find that the tendency to be more self-compassionate was associated with higher vmHRV. As such, higher self-compassion seems to relate with a lower tendency to ruminate about past mistakes and events but does not seem to relate to a flexible autonomic stress response. Other potential explanatory factors for lower vmHRV in recurrent MDD is suggested as focus for exploration in future studies. (shrink)

Many analytical studies purporting to aid decision-making are produced and yet their contribution to actual decision-making is questioned. This article focuses on how institutional structures influence the way analytical information is actually used. A variation of information criterion for quality of decision-making is developed and used to analyze what types of structures incite actors to both generate and store a variety of ideas and arguments. An international comparison on transport infrastructure planning is used to demonstrate the relevant institutional mechanisms (...) and how different structures lead to different processes of information exchange and to differing product outcomes. (shrink)

Many analytical studies purporting to aid decision-making are produced and yet their contribution to actual decision-making is questioned. This article focuses on how institutional structures influence the way analytical information is actually used. A variation of information criterion for quality of decision-making is developed and used to analyze what types of structures incite actors to both generate and store a variety of ideas and arguments. An international comparison on transport infrastructure planning is used to demonstrate the relevant institutional mechanisms (...) and how different structures lead to different processes of information exchange and to differing product outcomes. (shrink)

Introduction. The authors clarify and expand the concepts of heterogeneity properties of regional socio-economic and digital spaces. Heterogeneity of space is associated with the regional uneven development and results in their socio-economic and digital differentiation, which, in turn, determines unequal conditions for ensuring the population’s life quality. In the context of the study, heterogeneity of the regional space is defined as a property of uneven spatial development of the Russian Federation’s constituent entities according to the territorial, sectoral, and temporary characteristics (...) that determine and affect the level and quality of life of the population. The citizens’ life quality throughout the country is an absolute priority of economic development at the federal and regional levels. Indeed, only then should we speak of a positive assessment of economic growth when it does not follow the path of the previous inefficient development, but is aimed at achieving a real improvement in people’s wellbeing [3; 4; 17]. Taking into consideration the particular importance of social priorities and their implementation throughout the country, the authors think it necessary to study the properties of the economic space, to determine their impact on the population’s life quality. The aim of the study is to analyze the effect of heterogeneity of the regional socio-economic and digital spaces on the population’s life quality in the Russian Federation’s constituent entities. Methods. To conduct the study, the authors make use of statistical analysis based on the data of the Russian Statistics Agency, Moscow School of Management Skolkovo, Russian Information Agency Rating; content analysis, methods of comparative analysis and positioning of regions. The scientific novelty of the study consists in expanding ideas about heterogeneity of the regional space from the standpoint of the regional socioeconomic situation and the level of their digitalization, which result in differentiating the Russian Federation’s subjects and unequal conditions for the people’s life, to a different extent affecting the population’s life quality throughout the country. In methodological terms, the study is supplemented by a pairwise comparison of the regional space characteristics and the multivariate positioning of regions in the coordinates: socio-economic space - quality of life; digitalization is a quality of life. Results. The authors study the impact of integrated indicators of the socio-economic situation of the regions, their digitalization level on the population’s life quality in the Russian Federation’s constituent entities. At the same time, the authors apply a comparison of various integral nature of the regional space indicators used, as a rule, autonomously, for multi-characteristic typologies (groups of regions I—IV and groups of regions A—D), by means of which a group of the most powerful regions was identified where the life quality is associated with the best socio-economic situation and active digitalization of these regions. Conclusions. It was found that uneven economic and digital territory development leads to interregional differentiation of the population’s life quality, as a result of which the leading regions and the outsider regions are distinguished, characterized by unequal conditions for the citizens’ life. The typology made it possible to identify groups of regions for which selective measures are needed to increase the level and quality of the population’s life. For some regions, the priority is to use their economic potential and new digital technologies, for others, active interregional interaction; the third (the weakest) cannot provide a decent standard of living without profound government support. (shrink)

ObjectiveThis systematic review aims to analyze existing literature of the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on motor skills learning of healthy adults and discuss the underlying neurophysiological mechanism that influences motor skills learning.MethodsThis systematic review has followed the recommendations of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses. The PubMed, EBSCO, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched for relevant studies that were published from database inception to May 2022. Studies were included based on the Participants, (...) Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Setting inclusion strategy. The risk of bias was evaluated by using the Review manager 5.4 tool. The quality of each study was assessed with the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale.ResultsThe electronic search produced 142 studies. Only 11 studies were included after filtering. These studies performed well in terms of distribution, blinding availability and selective reporting. They reported that tDCS significantly improved motor skills learning. The main outcomes measure were the improvement of the motor sequence tasks and specific motor skills. Nine studies showed that tDCS interventions reduced reaction time to complete motor sequence tasks in healthy adults and two studies showed that tDCS interventions improved golf putting task performance.ConclusionThe included studies showed that tDCS can help healthy adults to improve the motor skills learning by activating different brain regions, such as the primary motor cortex, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and right cerebellum. However, the number of included studies was limited, and the sample sizes were small. Therefore, more studies are urgently needed to validate the results of current studies and further explore the underlying neurophysiological mechanisms of tDCS in the future. (shrink)

The electric activities of cortical pyramidal neurons are supported by structurally stable, morphologically complex axo-dendritic trees. Anatomical differences between axons and dendrites in regard to their length or caliber reflect the underlying functional specializations, for input or output of neural information, respectively. For a proper assessment of the computational capacity of pyramidal neurons, we have analyzed an extensive dataset of three-dimensional digital reconstructions from the NeuroMorphoOrg database, and quantified basic dendritic or axonal morphometric measures in different regions and (...) layers of the mouse, rat or human cerebral cortex. Physical estimates of the total number and type of ions involved in neuronal electric spiking based on the obtained morphometric data, combined with energetics of neurotransmitter release and signaling fueled by glucose consumed by the active brain, support highly efficient cerebral computation performed at the thermodynamically allowed Landauer limit for implementation of irreversible logical operations. Individual proton tunneling events in voltage-sensing S4 protein alpha-helices of Na+, K+ or Ca2+ ion channels are ideally suited to serve as single Landauer elementary logical operations that are then amplified by selective ionic currents traversing the open channel pores. This miniaturization of computational gating allows the execution of over 1.2 zetta logical operations per second in the human cerebral cortex without combusting the brain by the released heat. (shrink)

The Significance of Business Localization Factors in the Czech Republic This article is concerned with the significance of individual localization factors during the decision-making of economic subjects regarding the location of their businesses. In the first phase of the research, the investigated localization factors were divided into four groups into regional, local, business, labor and infrastructure. The selected localization factors were investigated with the help of an empirical examination of thirteen selected economic branches in the secondary and (...) tertiary sectors. In subsequent stages, a statistical analysis of the acquired data was performed; the selected economic sections were compared among themselves; and with the help of a diffusion analysis, the dependence of the evaluation on the size of the enterprise and on the economic activities of the selected respondents was investigated. The main goal of the research was to identify the current localization factors associated with supplier and customer markets and to determine their significance. In the context of the research, the hypothesis was verified that despite the existence of various approaches to determining localization factors, in part there are localization factors that act universally in all economic branches and further factors that specifically manifest themselves only in some branches. In the context of each factor, investigated was whether the evaluation of a factor depends on the economic branch and whether it is possible to consider an investigated factor as universal. It was also determined whether or not the evaluation of a factor is directly proportionate to the size of the business. From the research results, it follows that during localization, businesses place the greatest significance on the availability of information and communications technologies, geographic proximity to customers, availability of qualified human resources and on transportation costs. Localization decision-making is affected by many factors and depends on a large number of circumstances. (shrink)

OBJECTIVES: Early-emerging, temperamental differences in fear-related traits may be a heritable vulnerability factor for anxiety disorders. Previous research indicates that the serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphism is a candidate gene for such traits. METHODS: Associations between 5-HTTLPR genotype and indices of fearful child temperament, derived from maternal report and standardized laboratory observations, were examined in a community sample of 95 preschool-aged children. RESULTS: Children with one or more long alleles of the 5-HTTLPR gene were rated as significantly more nervous during (...) standardized laboratory tasks than children who were homozygous for the short alleles. Children homozygous for the short alleles were also rated as significantly shyer, by maternal report, than those with at least one copy of the long allele of the 5-HTTLPR gene. CONCLUSIONS: This study extends the literature linking the short alleles of the serotonin transporter promoter region polymorphism to fear and anxiety-related traits in early childhood and adulthood, and is one of very few studies to examine the molecular genetics of preschoolers' temperament using multiple measures of traits in a normative sample. (shrink)

The theory of weak measurements developed by Aharonov and coworkers has been applied by them and others to several interesting problems in which the system of interest is both pre- and post-selected. When the probability of successful post-selection is very small the prediction for the weak value of the measured quantity is often “bizarre” and sometimes controversial, lying outside the range of possibility for a classical system or for a quantum system in the absence of post-selection (e.g. negative kinetic (...) energies associated with particles found immediately after the weak measurement deep inside a classically forbidden region). In Bohmian mechanics a quantum particle is postulated to be a point-like particle which is always accompanied by a wave which probes its environment and guides its motion accordingly. Hence, from the point of view of this theory, it is natural to ask whether the measured weak value under consideration is a property of the point-like particle or of the wave (or of both) and what, if anything, it is that is actually being measured. In this paper, weak measurements of position, momentum and kinetic energy are considered for very simple case studies with these questions in mind. (shrink)

BACKGROUND: Serotonin transporter promoter genotype appears to increase risk for depression in the context of stressful life events. However, the effects of this genotype on measures of stress sensitivity are poorly understood. Therefore, this study examined whether 5-HTTLPR genotype was associated with negative information processing biases in early childhood. METHOD: Thirty-nine unselected seven-year-old children completed a negative mood induction procedure and a Self-Referent Encoding Task designed to measure positive and negative schematic processing. Children were also genotyped for the 5-HTTLPR (...) gene. RESULTS: Children who were homozygous for the short allele of the 5-HTTLPR gene showed greater negative schematic processing following a negative mood prime than those with other genotypes. 5-HTTLPR genotype was not significantly associated with positive schematic processing. LIMITATIONS: The sample size for this study was small. We did not analyze more recently reported variants of the 5-HTTLPR long alleles. CONCLUSIONS: 5-HTTLPR genotype is associated with negative information processing styles following a negative mood prime in a non-clinical sample of young children. Such cognitive styles are thought to be activated in response to stressful life events, leading to depressive symptoms; thus, cognitive styles may index the "stress-sensitivity" conferred by this genotype. (shrink)