Research productivity is an important criterion for the university to assess teachers. Studies about factors that affect teachers’ research productivity are increasing nowadays. It is generally agreed that academics’ research productivity depends on how much mentorship is provided to them and how the current working environment is mediated by their research motivation and self-efficacy. Despite the increasing amount of the literature along this line, we know little about what kinds of situations that Chinese university English as a foreign language (EFL) (...) teachers are in and how they regard the importance of mentorship and what roles their working environments would play in affecting their research productivity. To fill the research gap, we utilized the snowball method to collect the survey data from 546 Chinese EFL tertiary teachers. The results show that mentorship is not correlated with research productivity while the working environment has a positive direct correlation with it. Both motivation and self-efficacy mediate the working environment and research productivity significantly. Specifically, only extrinsic motivation has a negative mediation influence on teachers’ research productivity; teachers’ intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy play a positive mediation role in affecting their research productivity. (shrink)

The economical/environmental scheduling problem of the ship integrated energy system has high computational complexity, which includes more than one optimization objective, various types of constraints, and frequently fluctuated load demand. Therefore, the intelligent scheduling strategies cannot be applied to the ship energy management system online, which has limited computing power and storage space. Aiming at realizing green computing on SEMS, in this paper a typical SIES-EESP optimization model is built, considering the form of decision vectors, the economical/environmental optimization objectives, and (...) various types of real-world constraints of the SIES. Based on the complexity of SIES-EESPs, a two-stage offline-to-online multiobjective optimization strategy for SIES-EESP is proposed, which transfers part of the energy dispatch online computing task to the offline high-performance computer systems. The specific constraints handling methods are designed to reduce both continuous and discrete constraints violations of SIES-EESPs. Then, an establishment method of energy scheduling scheme-base is proposed. By using the big data offline, the economical/environmental scheduling solutions of a typical year can be obtained and stored with more computing resources and operation time on land. Thereafter, a short-term multiobjective offline-to-online optimization approach by SEMS is considered, with the application of multiobjective evolutionary algorithm and typical schemes corresponding to the actual SIES-EESPs. Simulation results show that the proposed strategy can obtain enough feasible Pareto solutions in a shorter time and get well-distributed Pareto sets with better convergence performance, which can well adapt to the features of real-world SIES-EESPs and save plenty of operation time and storage space for the SEMS. (shrink)

Senior executives in major corporations have drawn attention in recent years for a range of unethical activities. Despite a rise in measures to protect against such lapses, executives still make decisions whether or not to comply with reporting standards, best practices, industry norms and legislation. The prior literature in this area addresses individual characteristics of decision makers and social networks between executives and boards of directors, but to this point has largely overlooked group dynamics of the executive team. Our study (...) addresses this gap and examines the relationship between an occupational community of top executives and the quality of internal control. We construct a unique measure for the executive occupational community based on CEO and CFO’s joint tenure. Our findings show that the number of years of CEO/cfo’s joint tenure is significantly and negatively associated with internal control weakness, suggesting that the longer the executive relationship, the lower the likelihood of internal control weakness. Our study indicates that the presence of an occupational community contributes to better internal control. (shrink)

Previous studies have paid more attention to the impact of non-balanced reciprocity in the organization on employees’ behaviors and outcomes, and have expected that the reciprocity norm could improve employees’ compliance behavior. However, there are two distinct types of non-balanced reciprocity, and whether generalized reciprocity affects employees’ compliance behavior rather than negative reciprocity and its mechanisms has not been further explored so far. Building on the social exchange theory and cognitive appraisal theory, we established and examined a model in a (...) scenario-based experiment across a two-stage survey of 316 participants. In this article, we propose that generalized reciprocity positively influences employees’ compliance behavior, and thriving at work mediates its relationship. Furthermore, we argue that the positive association between generalized reciprocity and thriving at work is moderated by the perceived cognitive capabilities of artificial intelligence. This association is amplified for people high in the perceived cognitive capabilities of AI. We also propose that the positive association between thriving at work and compliance behavior is moderated by conscientiousness, such that the association is amplified for people high in conscientiousness. These findings have theoretical and practical implications. (shrink)

Anxious major depressive disorder is a common subtype of major depressive disorder; however, its unique neural mechanism is not well-understood currently. Using multimodal MRI data, this study examined common and specific alterations of amygdala subregions between patients with and without anxiety. No alterations were observed in the gray matter volume or intra-region functional integration in either patient group. Compared with the controls, both patient groups showed decreased functional connectivity between the left superficial amygdala and the left putamen, and between the (...) right superficial amygdala and the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex, while only patients with anxiety exhibited decreased activity in the bilateral laterobasal and superficial amygdala. Moreover, the decreased activity correlated negatively with the Hamilton depression scale scores in the patients with anxiety. These findings provided insights into the pathophysiologic processes of anxious major depressive disorder and may help to develop new and effective treatment programs. (shrink)

ObjectivesWuhan is the city where coronavirus disease was first reported and developed into a pandemic. However, the impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic on medical staff burnout remains limited. We aimed to identify the prevalence and major determinants of burnout among medical staff 1 year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan, China.Materials and MethodsA total of 1,602 medical staff from three hospitals in Wuhan, China, were included from November 1–28, 2021. Chi-square tests were conducted to compare the (...) prevalence of burnout across groups based on sociodemographic and professional characteristics. A multivariate analysis was performed using a forward stepwise logistic regression model.ResultsApproximately 37.39% of the medical staff experienced burnout 1 year after COVID-19 pandemic. Emotional exhaustion was the most common symptom of burnout, with 1,422 participants reporting a severe EE. Burnout was associated with insufficient social support and “neutral” or “dissatisfied” patient-physician relationships. Respondents who participated in the care of COVID-19 patients had a higher risk of burnout symptoms than those who did not participate. In particular, mental resilience was negatively associated with burnout among the medical staff.ConclusionNearly two-fifths of the participants had symptoms of burnout, with reduced personal accomplishment being the predominant symptom 1 year after COVID-19. Healthcare organizations should regularly measure and monitor burnout among the medical staff. In addition, creating positive work environments and improving the mental resilience of medical staff may be effective ways to reduce burnout. (shrink)

Differential tractography and correlation tractography are new tractography modalities to study neuronal changes in brain diseases, but their performances in detecting neuronal injuries are yet to be investigated in patients with mild traumatic brain injury. Here we investigated the white matter injury in mTBI patients using differential and correlation tractography. The diffusion MRI was acquired at 33 mTBI patients and 31 health controls. 7 of the mTBI patients had one-year follow-up scans, and differential tractography was used to evaluate injured fiber (...) bundles on these 7 patients. All subjects were evaluated using digital symbol substitution test and trail making test A, and the correlation tractography was performed to explore the exact pathways related to the cognitive performance. Our results showed that differential tractography revealed neuronal changes in the corpus callosum in all 7 follow-up mTBI patients with FDR between 0.007 and 0.17. Further, the correlation tractography showed that the splenium of the corpus callosum, combined with the right superior longitudinal fasciculus and right cingulum, were correlated with DSST in the acute mTBI patients. The cognitive impairment findings in the acute stage and the longitudinal findings in the corpus callosum in the chronic stage of mTBI patients suggest that differential tractography and correlation tractography are valuable tools in the diagnostic and prognostic evaluation of neuronal injuries in mTBI patients. (shrink)

Previous studies have offered a rationale for engaging students in small-group student talk for the planning of L2 individual writing. To further investigate whether such talk effectively promotes the quality of argument in the context of Chinese tertiary EFL learners’ argumentative writing and whether such effects could be retained, the current study adopted a quasi-experimental design with a pretest, a posttest, and a delayed posttest in two intact EFL classes. The performance of the intervention group and the comparison group were (...) scrutinized to examine the effects of the intervention. The analytic scores on six components of the writing task and the holistic writing scores cumulated of all these components were measured to see the immediate and sustained effects. Significant changes of the holistic scores in both the immediate posttest and the delayed posttest indicated that such small-group student talk enabled students in the treatment class to achieve better performance in the overall quality of argumentation compared with those in the comparison class. Statistical analyses revealed immediate and sustained effects of small-group student talk on the quality of counterargument claim, counterargument data, and rebuttal claim. Counterargument claim was the only element in which students in both classes made significant improvement, but the treatment class demonstrated a larger effect size. No discernible differences were found either between or within the treatment class and the comparison class with respect to the quality of claim, data, and rebuttal data across tests. Possible explanations concerning the findings and limitations of the study were discussed. (shrink)

For enhancing the stability of the microgrid operation, this paper proposes an optimization model considering the small-signal stability constraint. Due to the nonsmooth property of the spectral abscissa function, the droop controller parameters’ optimization is a nonsmooth optimization problem. The Sequential Quadratic Programming with Gradient Sampling is implemented to optimize the droop controller parameters for solving the nonsmooth problem. The SQP-GS method can guarantee the solution of the optimization problem globally and efficiently converges to stationary points with probability of one. (...) In the current iteration, the gradient of the nonsmooth function can be evaluated on a set of randomly generated nearby points by computing closed-form sensitivities. A test on the microgrid system shows that the optimality and the efficiency of the SQP-GS are better than those of the heuristic algorithms. (shrink)

ObjectivesSeveral studies have examined the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on associative memory (AM) but findings were inconsistent. Here, we aimed to test whether twice-daily rTMS could significantly improve AM.MethodsIn this single-blind, sham-controlled experiment, 40 participants were randomized to receive twice-daily sham or real rTMS sessions for five consecutive days (a total of 16,000 pulses). The stimulation target in left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) exhibiting peak functional connectivity to the left hippocampus was individually defined for each participant. Participants (...) completed both a picture-cued word association task and Stroop test at baseline and 1 day after the final real or sham rTMS session. Effects of twice-daily rTMS on AM and Stroop test performance were compared using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance with main factors Group (real vs. sham) and Time (baseline vs. post-rTMS).ResultsThere was a significant Group × Time interaction effect. AM score was significantly enhanced in the twice-daily real group after rTMS, but this difference could not survive the post hoc analysis after multiple comparison correction. Further, AM improvement in the twice-daily real group was not superior to a previously reported once-daily rTMS group receiving 8,000 pulses. Then, we combined the twice- and once-daily real groups, and found a significant Group × Time interaction effect. Post hoc analysis indicated that the AM score was significantly enhanced in the real group after multiple comparisons correction.ConclusionOur prospective experiment did not show significant rTMS effect on AM, but this effect may become significant if more participants could be recruited as revealed by our retrospective analysis. (shrink)

The early Sino-Western contact was through the way in which religion and language interact to produce language contact. However, research on this contact is relatively limited to date, particularly in the realm of English language materials. In fact, there is a paucity of research on Western religions in English Language Teaching textbooks. By applying corpus linguistics as a tool and the Critical Discourse Analysis as the theoretical framework, this manuscript critically investigates the significant semantic domains in ten English language textbook (...) series that are officially approved and are widely used in Chinese universities. The findings suggest that various Western religious beliefs, which are the highly unusual topics in previous Chinese ELT textbooks, are represented in the textbook corpus. The results also show that when presenting the views and attitudes toward Western religious beliefs, these textbooks have adopted an eclectic approach to the material selection. Surprisingly, positive semantic prosody surrounding the concept of religion is evident and no consistent negative authorial stance toward religion is captured. Atheism has been assumed to be in the center of Chinese intellectual traditions and the essence of the Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party. Interestingly, the findings from this study provide a new understanding of Chinese foreign language textbooks in the new era, and its addition to the literature on the study of ELT textbooks, as well as its development worldwide. (shrink)

BackgroundThe Basal ganglia (BG) played a crucial role in the brain-level mechanisms of chronic pain disorders. However, the functional changes of BG in chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) are still poorly understood. This study investigated the BG subregions’ resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in CP/CPPS patients compared with healthy controls.MethodsTwenty eight patients with CP/CPPS and 28 age- and education-matched healthy males underwent clinical measurements and 3T brain MR imaging, including T1-weighted structural images and resting-state functional imaging. The data were analyzed (...) by the seeded-based rs-FC analysis. Then, a machine learning method was applied to assess the feasibility of detecting CP/CPPS patients through the changed rs-FC.ResultsCompared with healthy males, patients presented decreased rs-FC between the BG subregions and right middle cingulate cortex, and correlated with pain (r = 0.51, p-uncorrected = 0.005) and urinary symptoms (r = –0.4, p-uncorrected = 0.034). The left superior temporal gyrus and right supramarginal gyrus showed decreased rs-FC with the BG subregions as well. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.943 (accuracy = 80%, F1-score = 80.6%) was achieved for the classification of CP/CPPS patients and healthy males with support vector machine (SVM) based on the changed rs-FC.ConclusionThese findings provide evidence of altered BG subregions’ rs-FC in CP/CPPS, which may contribute to our understanding of the BG’s role in CP/CPPS. (shrink)

Hemispherical Resonator Gyro is a new type gyro with high precision, high reliability, shock resistance, no need of preheating, short start time, and long life. It is a kind of vibrating gyro with standing wave rotating along the sensitive base of annular precession, has a unique application prospect in the field of high precision inertial sensors, and is widely used in unmanned aerial vehicle control in complex environments. Based on the theory of the structure characteristics of the hemispherical resonator, the (...) mathematical model of energy of the resonator is established to research the rule of resonant frequency when the hemispherical resonator is rotated around the central axis. In this paper, the influence of precession factor, which are the top angle, the bottom angle, and wall unevenness of the hemispherical resonator, are analyzed. A series of hemispherical resonator models are constructed by ANSYS software to prove the results of theoretical research. The simulation results show that precession factor of the hemispherical resonator is more sensitive of the top angle than the bottom angle, and the error of angular velocity which is caused by the change of the top angle is larger than that which is caused by the change of the bottom angle. (shrink)

This paper investigates how social trust affects stock price synchronicity using a large sample of listed firms in China. We propose and provide evidence that social trust has a significantly positive impact on the amount of firm-specific information capitalized into stock prices. Further analyses indicate that firms located in regions of high social trust tend to have a smaller stock price crash risk and are less likely to engage in opportunistic behaviors than those in low-trust regions. Moreover, the positive role (...) of trust in increasing firm-specific return variations and discouraging corporate misbehaviors is more pronounced for SOEs than Non-SOEs. Evidence from 2SLS regressions supports a causal impact of social trust on stock price synchronicity. (shrink)

The proposed hesitant fuzzy linguistic set is a powerful tool for expressing fuzziness and uncertainty in multiattribute group decision-making. This paper aims to propose novel aggregation operators to fuse hesitant fuzzy linguistic information. First, we briefly recall the notion of HFLS and propose new operations for hesitant fuzzy linguistic elements. Second, considering the Muirhead mean is a useful aggregation technology that can consider the interrelationship among all aggregated arguments, we extend it to hesitant fuzzy linguistic environment and propose new hesitant (...) fuzzy linguistic aggregation operators, such as the hesitant fuzzy linguistic Muirhead mean operator, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic dual Muirhead mean operator, the hesitant fuzzy linguistic weighted Muirhead mean operator, and the hesitant fuzzy linguistic weighted dual Muirhead mean operator. These operators can reflect the correlations among all HFLEs. Several desirable properties and special cases of the proposed operators are also studied. Furthermore, we propose a novel approach to MAGDM in a hesitant fuzzy linguistic context based on the proposed operators. Finally, we conduct a numerical experiment to demonstrate the validity of our method. Additionally, we compare our method with others to illustrate its merits and superiorities. (shrink)

It was shown that finite P-recovery holds for partial meet package contraction in Furhmann and Hansson (1994). However, it is not known if recovery holds for partial meet package contraction in the infinite case. In this paper, I show that recovery does not hold for partial meet package contraction in the infinite case.

The motivation of the study is to explore the nexus tourism-led sustainable human capital development in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa for the period 1984–2019. The study applied several econometrical techniques for exposing the empirical association between tourism and HCD, such as the conventional and structural break unit root test, the combined cointegration test, long-run and short-run coefficients detected through implementing the Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lagged, and directional causality by following Toda-Yamamoto with Fourier function. The unit-roots test established (...) variables are integrated in mixed order, wherein variables are stationary at a level or after the first difference. The estimated test statistics from the combined cointegration test and AARDL confirmed the long-run association between tourism, gross capital formation, financial development, and HCD. Tourism revealed a positive and statistically significant tie with HCD in the long run. Moreover, the joint effects of interactive terms TOR*GCF and TOR*FD established a positive and statistically significant relationship with HCD. In addition, the causality test revealed the feedback hypothesis available between tourism and HCD in all sample countries except India. In conclusion, the role of tourism development is critically important for sustainable HCD in BRICS. Therefore, in case of a policymaking concern, it is inevitable to address the tourism issues with care for capitalizing on the benefits for tourism development. (shrink)

Interval time-varying delay is common in control process, e.g., automatic robot control system, and its stability analysis is of great significance to ensure the reliable control of industrial processes. In order to improve the conservation of the existing robust stability analysis method, this paper considers a class of linear systems with norm-bounded uncertainty and interval time-varying delay as the research object. Less conservative robust stability criterion is put forward based on augmented Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional method and reciprocally convex combination. Firstly, the (...) delay interval is partitioned into multiple equidistant subintervals, and a new Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional comprising quadruple-integral term is introduced for each subinterval. Secondly, a novel delay-dependent stability criterion in terms of linear matrix inequalities is given by less conservative Wirtinger-based integral inequality approach. Three numerical comparative examples are given to verify the superiority of the proposed approach in reducing the conservation of conclusion. For the first example about closed-loop control systems with interval time-varying delays, the proposed robust stability criterion could get MADB about 0.3 more than the best results in the previous literature; and, for two other uncertain systems with interval time-varying delays, the MADB results obtained by the proposed method are better than those in the previous literature by about 0.045 and 0.054, respectively. All the example results obtained in this paper clearly show that our approach is better than other existing methods. (shrink)

Cybernetic theory and interactivity have much in common, including human interrelationships between modern technology and how they define and reveal the whole interactive process. Most of the key notions in both can be described as the system in conversation about the system, talking to each other through the information passed back and forth between the particular relationship in audiences and artworks. These similar languages are feedback, control, conversation and system thinking in the field of cybernetic theory and interactive artworks. As (...) can be seen, some concepts of the cybernetic are applicable to interactivity. So, how can cybernetic thinking be applied to interactive artworks? The purpose of this article is to explore the interplay of cybernetics theory and interactivity and the connection between cybernetic/system thinking and technological/interactive artworks by illustrating the similarity of characteristics and comparing the conversation of two network systems. The goal is to deconstruct and reshape their relationships by thinking of interactive artworks in the way of cybernetic thinking. (shrink)