The transcription of rat prolactin and growth hormone genes in vitro requires a pituitary transcription factor, specific to certain cell types in the pituitary, which currently appears to be the PUF‐I/Pit‐1/GHF‐1 protein. This factor binds to cis‐regulatory elements in the 5′ region of both genes and exerts a positive influence on transcription initiation presumably by interacting with general transcription factors. The PUF‐I/Pit‐1/GHF‐1 transcriptional regulatory protein probably has an important role in not only the differentiation of the pituitary lactotroph/somatotroph cell lineage; (...) it is also expressed in the early development of the nervous system but its function there is less well documented. It appears to be one member of a family of trans‐activator proteins involved in differential gene expression in several cell types. (shrink)

The US neutrino community gathered at the Workshop on the Intermediate Neutrino Program at Brookhaven National Laboratory February 4-6, 2015 to explore opportunities in neutrino physics over the next five to ten years. Scientists from particle, astroparticle and nuclear physics participated in the workshop. The workshop examined promising opportunities for neutrino physics in the intermediate term, including possible new small to mid-scale experiments, US contributions to large experiments, upgrades to existing experiments, R&D plans and theory. The workshop was organized into (...) two sets of parallel working group sessions, divided by physics topics and technology. Physics working groups covered topics on Sterile Neutrinos, Neutrino Mixing, Neutrino Interactions, Neutrino Properties and Astrophysical Neutrinos. Technology sessions were organized into Theory, Short-Baseline Accelerator Neutrinos, Reactor Neutrinos, Detector R&D and Source, Cyclotron and Meson Decay at Rest sessions.This report summarizes discussion and conclusions from the workshop. (shrink)

本书以20世纪全球社会经济、政治、精神体系的世界震荡为背景,剖析思维革命家们创立的五项思维方法论,及马克思主义戏剧化的兴衰变化历程。.

本书侧重分析中华民族哲学智慧的个性及其对人类哲学文明发展的特殊贡献。中华文明从未间断并发展下来的哲学原因是中华民族不断开发不断完善的直观智慧,中华民族的哲学精神为人类简单明了地指出了走出民族冲突与宗教 冲突困惑的思路。.

Journal of Chinese Philosophy, EarlyView.

本书主要介绍了法伦理学的存在与发展:由混沌到分立、法伦理学的使命是对法律的道德批判、法伦理学的方法论思考等。.

本书力图站在思想和历史的高度,以评传的手法,真实、准确、形象地速写黄宗羲的生平、思想、学术。.

The brain is often taken to be a paradigmatic example of a signaling system with semantic and representational properties, in which neurons are senders and receivers of information carried in action potentials. A closer look at this picture shows that it is not as appealing as it might initially seem in explaining the function of the brain. Working from several sender-receiver models within the teleosemantic framework, I will first argue that two requirements must be met for a system to support (...) genuine semantic information: 1. The receiver must be competent —that is, it must be able to extract rewards from its environment on the basis of the signals that it receives. 2. The receiver must have some flexibility of response relative to the signal received. In the second part of the paper, this initial framework will be applied to neural processes, pointing to the surprising conclusion that signaling at the single-neuron level is only weakly semantic at best. Contrary to received views, neurons will have little or no access to semantic information (though their patterns of activity may carry plenty of quantitative, correlational information) about the world outside the organism. Genuine representation of the world requires an organism - level receiver of semantic information, to which any particular set of neurons makes only a small contribution. (shrink)

With a new introduction by the author In this deliciously polemical work, a giant of cultural theory immerses himself in the ideas of a giant of French thought.

A life of Mencius, highlighting his benevolent philosophy.

Are there representations in the brain? It depends on what you mean by representations, and it depends on what you want them to do for you—both in terms of the causal role they play in the system, and in terms of their explanatory value. But ideally, we would like an account of representation that allows us to assign a representational role and content to the appropriate mechanistic precursors of behavior that in fact play that role and conversely, search for the (...) mechanistic realizers of representational roles that are posited by our models of behavior and cognition. Such an account would be methodologically valuable in neuroscience. Lately, people have started asking similar questions about deep neural networks. What representations do they learn and use, and what is the relation between those representations and the sometimes impressive capacities these networks exhibit? More philosophically puzzling, perhaps, is the question of why the internal activities or dispositions labeled as such in neuroscience and AI research should count as representations at all. I think we can give a unified answer to both sets of questions, in the form of a kind of representational pragmatism. What makes something a representation just is that we can identify and re-identify it as such, and moreover, that we can manipulate it effectively to do whatever it is that we think representations ought to do for us in that particular context. For the first condition, the idea is that so long as we have some probe that allows us to pick out the relevant causally effective candidate, we should consider that to be a candidate representation-relative-to-that-probe. The second condition can be understood as a kind of anti-gerrymandering constraint: one ought to be able to intervene on the candidate, and see effects of that intervention consistent with the functional role the representation is supposed to play. Naturally the details need to be spelled out for different contexts—and I will articulate them for a few illustrative cases—which effectively allows for a kind of pluralism about representation depending on the setting and the kinds of questions being asked. With the extra components filled in, representational pragmatism can make sense of existing practices in neuroscience and AI, as well as their relationship to naturalistic theories of representation in philosophy. (shrink)

Philosophical proponents of predictive processing cast the novelty of predictive models of perception in terms of differences in the functional role and information content of neural signals. However, they fail to provide constraints on how the crucial semantic mapping from signals to their informational contents is determined. Beyond a novel interpretative gloss on neural signals, they have little new to say about the causal structure of the system, or even what statistical information is carried by the signals. That means that (...) the predictive framework for perception can be relabeled in traditional, non-predictive terms, with no empirical consequences relevant to existing or future data. To the extent that neuroscientific research based on predictive processing is both innovative and productive, it will be due to the framework’s suggestive heuristic effects, or perhaps auxiliary empirical claims about implementation, rather than a difference in the information-processing structure that it describes. (shrink)

Given they are the most important components of Daoist thought, it is not surprising that the relation between dao 道 and One ( yi 一) takes many forms. It is often presumed that dao is the higher-level concept and that One supplements dao. However, through studying ancient texts, such as the Huangdi sijing 黃帝四經 and the Heguanzi 鶡冠子, another form is discovered, namely that dao is the lower-level concept of One. Two schools may well have co-existed in early Daoism, one (...) that "values the One" and one that "values the dao." Whereas One refers to sameness or commonality, dao points to distinctness. The One can fully take the place of dao in terms of status and function, while also retaining functions that dao lacks. A fuller understanding of this complex relationship between dao and One is helpful for a more accurate grasp of early Daoism. (shrink)

Usually, people think that Gettier counter-examples challenged the traditional tripartite definition of knowledge and fundamentally changed the characteristic of the contemporary epistemology. This paper argues that regard for Gettier counter-examples is exaggerated, because (i) the JTB definition is neither an important nor a comprehensive one that covers all knowledge. Moreover, the significance of Gettier counter-examples is limited. (ii) The source of Gettier counter-examples lies in one arbitrary judgment, two mix-ups, three false assumptions, and a misunderstanding about the JTB definition.

Multiple realizability says that the same kind of mental states may be manifested by systems with very different physical constitutions. Putnam ( 1967 ) supposed it to be “overwhelmingly probable” that there exist psychological properties with different physical realizations in different creatures. But because function constrains possible physical realizers, this empirical bet is far less favorable than it might initially have seemed, especially when we take on board the richer picture of neural and brain function that neuroscience has been uncovering (...) over the past forty years, in which all sorts of brain activities play crucial roles beyond all-or-nothing electrical signaling. Because of its evolutionary history, the brain’s metabolic and informational processes are inextricably intertwined. The resulting complex integrated functions impose more constraints on possible realizers than the clean, single-purpose functions usually cited as examples in discussions of multiple realizability—with ramifications for the functionalist and computationalist foundations of cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and the philosophy of mind. (shrink)

In Less Than Nothing, the pinnacle publication of a distinguished career, Slavoj i ek argues that it is imperative that we not simply return to Hegel but that we repeat and exceed his triumphs, overcoming his limitations by being even more ...

From reviews of the hardback edition: a deep study of 20th century field ... of the conceptual origins and development of twentieth century field theories, ...

Journal of Chinese Philosophy, EarlyView.

The abstruse phrase “Qi 氣is self-generating; constancy categorically does not engender Qi. Qi is self-generating and self-arising” in Hengxian 《恒先》 should be put in the context of the “self-generating” 自生 idea of Daoism. The cosmology depicted in the first part of Hengxian serves the political philosophy in the second part. “Qi is self-generating” serves the political philosophy of “non-action.” “Self-generating” is an important opinion in the philosophy of Daoism. However, the idea in ancient Daoist literature hasn’t been clearly analyzed. Hengxian (...) shows that the idea of “self-generating” may have a long history and is related to the idea of “nature” 自然 in Laozi 《老子》 and Zhuangzi 《莊子》. “Self-generating” was inherited and developed by Yan Zun 嚴遵, Wang Chong 王充, Zheng Xuan 鄭玄, and Liezi 《列子》, and influenced Guo Xiang 郭象. The old “self-generating” theory based on Dao was developed into a new theory. Hengxian offers a precious resource for the ideological study of “self-generating.”. (shrink)

Zhong, as it appears in the second story in the Baoxun Testament, is both a physical object that can be lent, as well as an admirable idea to be passed down the generations. Where Zhong appears in the Changmai Chapter of the Yizhoushu, it appears to be a document on punitive laws that is as an object that can be transferred from person to person; it is a receivable object but also as a representation of the idea of Great Rectitude, (...) which is of key importance in the realm of politics. The CM Chapter, like the BX, also makes appeal to the stories of ancient sage kings to argue the rationality of the views it transmits and refers to ‘ancient lost teachings’ and sayings attributed to King Wen of Zhou. Taken together, these points of similarity form the basis for comparison between the BX and the YZS: CM. Furthermore, when we compare the BX with the Duxun Chapter of the YZS, we find confirmation of the legal import of the term Zhong as it appears in the first story of the BX. The common ground shared between the BX, as one of Qinghua University’s collection of Bamboo Manuscripts, and the YZS makes the latter a suitable key for interpreting terms seen in the former text. (shrink)

Artistic images, of a universal nature and validated by global culture, are carriers of an emotional potential that can be used for therapeutic purposes in cultural centers as well as in clinical spaces. Esthetic studies reveal the mobilizing power in their contemplation and the capacity to bring out personal stories with healing potential. The general objective of this paper is to design and validate the PROJECTA instrument, consisting of the therapeutic use of artistic images to approach trauma or difficult conditions (...) in therapy, by means of the association between art images and emotions, feelings or states of mind related with a traumatic experience. A mixed approach of investigation with a concurrent triangulation design has been used for the integration of qualitative and quantitative results, where qualitative research outweighs quantitative, but both have been QUAL → quan sequentially developed. The study was carried out in two phases. The first was a systematic review of the literature. The second, divided into five steps, consisted of the validation of artworks and the associated emotions with the participation of students, experts in art therapy, psychologists and educators through focus groups, interviews and an online questionnaire. The analysis techniques were qualitative and quantitative. A set of 220 artistic images linked to emotional states were proposed by experts in education, psychology and art therapy, and validated through an online questionnaire. The respondents included 228 students and professionals and for 64.55% of these images a consensus of over 80% was obtained. These images and their associated emotions were again reviewed by a confirmatory focus group. Finally, 92 artistic works were linked to primary, secondary and tertiary emotions such as love, joy, victory, surprise, balance, sense of humor, anger, sadness, fear, and emptiness. In addition, there are mobilizing images that have not been related to any emotion because of the polysemy of their meanings. It concludes that PROJECTA is a visual art therapy tool that provides professionals with a resource that helps facilitate the identification, expression or demonstration of emotions or feelings related with trauma, and in challenging situations of vulnerability, psychological discomfort or post-traumatic stress. (shrink)

What are the functional units of the brain? If the function of the brain is to process information-carrying signals, then the functional units will be the senders and receivers of those signals. Neurons have been the default candidate, with action potentials as the signals. But there are alternatives: synapses fit the action potential picture more cleanly, and glial activities (e.g., in astrocytes) might also be characterized as signaling. Are synapses or nonneuronal cells better candidates to play the role of functional (...) units? Will informational signaling still be the best model for brain function if we move beyond the neuron doctrine? (shrink)

This study exploratively conducted two investigations of timbre influenced by harmonic loudness. Investigation 1 examined piano timbre preference between non-processed melodies and two kinds of adjustments created via an equalizer–a basic tool used for sound engineering and for producing audio materials. Using the paired comparison method, 98 respondents were surveyed. The results show that in the bass range of the piano sound, the preferred audio material was that produced via an equalizer by reducing the loudness of the 7th and 9th (...) harmonics by 15 dB, while enhancing the loudness of the 8th harmonic by 15 dB. Investigation 2 examined three degrees of the processed melodies—adjusting the harmonics by 15, 10, and 5 dB. The results show that the 15 dB change was the best, while the 10 dB change was the worst. These results provide a new approach to improving the sound timbre for sound engineering and artificial intelligence music production. (shrink)

This paper investigates the correlation between the quality of corporate social responsibility disclosure and financial performance. It also investigates the moderating role of chief executive officer power in the relationship between the quality of CSR disclosure and firm value in Chinese listed companies. The evidential research used the up-to-date sample of unbalanced findings for the period of 2014–2020, from the registered Chinese firms in the Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges as samples for the study. As a starting point technique, the (...) STATA 15 has been used to test pooled ordinary least squares regression on a sample of Chinese listed companies. We use 1-year lagged regression and two SLS regressions to monitor the potential endogeneity problem. The imbalanced data set was received from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research web page, which is the most significant source of information for Chinese publicly listed firms. Data on CSR information items and media reporting are compiled manually. The findings of the study revealed that there are positive FP consequences for the companies engaged in the quality of CSR disclosure. We also report that higher CEO power negatively enhances the quality of CSR disclosure effect on the FP of FV. The research investigates the impact of CSR disclosure and FP by presenting evidence of the moderating role of CEO power. Therefore, it is suggested that a higher law for CSR engagement and disclosure be implemented in China, and robust measures for the implementation of CEO power, although there are financial advantages to be gained. A key relevance to the empirical quality of CSR disclosure research can be recognized as the moderating role of CEO power in the quality of CSR disclosure, FP, and FV in the context of Chinese study. The findings are robust with the use of an instrumental variable method. (shrink)