This paper addresses the sliding mode control problem for a class of networked control systems with long time delay and consecutive packet dropout. A new modeling method is proposed, through which time delay and packet dropout are modeled in a unified model described by one Markov chain. To avoid the chattering problem of classic reaching law, a new chattering-free reaching law is proposed. Then with a focus on the problem that controller-actuator channel network condition cannot be foreseen by the controller, (...) a new compensation strategy is proposed, which can effectively compensate for the effect of time delay and packet dropout in controller-actuator channel. Finally, a simulation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. (shrink)

In this study, we draw on moral cleansing theory to investigate the consequence of unethical pro-organizational behavior from the perspective of the actors. Specifically, we hypothesize that after conducting UPB, people may feel guilty and tend to cleanse their wrongdoings by providing suggestions or identifying problems at work. We further hypothesize that the above relationship is moderated by the actor’s moral identity symbolization. We conducted three studies, including experiment and surveys, to test our hypotheses. Results of these studies show consistent (...) support to our hypotheses. In particular, individuals reported more felt guilt after conducting UPB, and they tended to compensate with more prohibitive and promotive voice subsequently. In addition, the indirect relationship from UPB acting to both voice behaviors via felt guilt was stronger for people with a high level of moral identity symbolization. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

Employees remaining silent about ethical aspects of work or organization-related issues, termed employee ethical silence, perpetuates misconduct in today’s business setting. However, how and why it occurs is not yet well specified in the business ethics literature, which is insufficient to manage corporate misconducts. In this research, we investigate how and when exploitative leadership associates with employee ethical silence. We draw from the conservation of resources theory to theorize and test a cognitive resource pathway (i.e., work meaningfulness) and a moral (...) resource pathway (i.e., moral potency) to explain the association between exploitative leadership and employee ethical silence. Results from two studies largely support our hypotheses that work meaningfulness and moral potency mediate the effect of exploitative leadership on ethical silence contingent on performance reward expectancy. Theoretical and practical implications are thoroughly discussed in the paper. (shrink)

Motivation has an effect on the rate and success of second language (L2) learning. However, little is known about its role in students’ levels of L2 pragmatic awareness. This study investigated whether and to what extent students’ L2 motivation influences their pragmatic awareness. A total of 498 Chinese university students completed a two-part web-based survey (an appropriateness judgement task and a motivation questionnaire), of whom 12 were subsequently interviewed. The quantitative results show that pragmatic awareness correlates positively with attitudes towards (...) the L2 community and the intended learning efforts. Moreover, a model combining the intended learning efforts, attitudes towards the L2 community and attitudes towards learning English can significantly predict pragmatic awareness. The analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals a mismatch between students’ immediate needs when learning English and outcomes of pragmatic acquisition, which may contribute to the absent correlation between overall levels of L2 motivation and pragmatic awareness. (shrink)

For more than 25 years, research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism —although other research misbehaviors have been also added in codes of cond...

This article contributes to the limited literatures on small- and medium-size enterprises and corporate social responsibility. Using an institutional theoretical framework, we analyzed fieldwork interviews with twenty SMEs and perspectives of 165 SME managers and workers in textiles, garment, and footwear industries, the most important wage-earning sector in Vietnam. Having understood in the context of a developing “market economy with socialist orientation”, we find that socially responsible practices and expectations developed long before the arrival of CSR as a western concept (...) and an MNC agenda. While identifying and contributing ideas concerning forms of “informal” CSR practices—influenced by social and cultural expectations—to the CSR/sme literature, we are conscious of the mixed effects of these practices and the ongoing nuanced negotiations between workers and managers in these SMEs. In our research, we found that it takes both domestic and international stakeholders to improve labor conditions in Vietnam under the banner of CSR. (shrink)

In recent years, a number of approaches to social cognition research have emerged that highlight the importance of embodied interaction for social cognition (Reddy, How infants know minds, 2008; Gallagher, J Conscious Stud 8:83–108, 2001; Fuchs and Jaegher, Phenom Cogn Sci 8:465–486, 2009; Hutto, in Seemans (ed.) Joint attention: new developments in psychology, philosophy of mind and social neuroscience, 2012). Proponents of such ‘interactionist’ approaches emphasize the importance of embodied responses that are engaged in online social interaction, and which, according (...) to interactionists, present an alternative to mindreading as a source of social understanding. We agree that it is important to take embodied interaction seriously, but do not agree that this presents a fundamental challenge to mainstream mindreading approaches. Drawing upon an analogy between embodied interaction and the exercise of expert skills, we advocate a hierarchical view which claims that embodied social responses generally operate in close conjunction with higher-level cognitive processes that play a coordinative role, and which are often sensitive to mental states. Thus, investigation of embodied responses should inform rather than conflict with research on mindreading. (shrink)

The Covid-19 pandemic creates an unprecedented threatening situation worldwide with an urgent need for critical reflection and new knowledge production, but also a need for imminent action despite prevailing knowledge gaps and multilevel uncertainty. With regard to the role of research ethics in these pandemic times some argue in favor of exceptionalism, others, including the authors of this paper, emphasize the urgent need to remain committed to core ethical principles and fundamental human rights obligations all reflected in research regulations and (...) guidelines carefully crafted over time. In this paper we disentangle some of the arguments put forward in the ongoing debate about Covid-19 human challenge studies and the concomitant role of health-related research ethics in pandemic times. We suggest it might be helpful to think through a lens differentiating between risk, strict uncertainty and ignorance. We provide some examples of lessons learned by harm done in the name of research in the past and discuss the relevance of this legacy in the current situation. (shrink)

The question of if, and under what conditions transsexuals should be allowed to participate in sports in their acquired sex is becoming increasingly relevant partly because the number of transsexuals is increasing partly because many countries now provide mechanisms for achieving legal recognition as belonging to the new acquired sex. This paper develops (1) an analysis of the justification for maintaining sex segregation in some sports and (2) an account of the rights of transsexuals to be recognised in their new (...) sex. On the basis of these two analyses it critically evaluates two set of rules for the participation of transsexuals in elite sports: the UK guidelines issued in pursuance of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the International Olympic Committee's guidelines. It is argued that these guidelines are conflicting and that a modified set of criteria is more justifiable. (shrink)

Ample attention is being paid in the higher education literature to promoting active learning among students. However, critical examination of educational purposes and ends is largely lacki...

Temporal expectation is the ability to focus attention at a particular moment in time to optimize performance, which has been shown to be driven by regular rhythms. However, whether the rhythm-based temporal expectations rely upon automatic processing or require the involvement of controlled processing has not been clearly established. Furthermore, whether the mechanism is affected by tempo remains unknown. To investigate this research question, the present study used a dual-task procedure. In a single task, the participants were instructed to respond (...) to a visual target preceded by a regular or an irregular visual rhythm under a fast or slow tempo. The dual-task simultaneously combined a working memory task. The results showed temporal expectation effects in which the participants responded faster to the regular than to the irregular conditions in a single task. Moreover, this effect persisted under dual-task interference in the fast tempo condition but was impaired in the slow tempo condition. These results revealed that rhythmic temporal expectation induced by fast tempo was dependent on automatic processing. However, compared with the faster tempo, temporal expectation driven by a slower tempo might involve more controlled processing. (shrink)

Considering time-varying demand of online retail industry, the traditional static storage location assignment is converted into a multistage storage location assignment process based on the idea of gradual and small-step-forward optimization, which can respond to rapid changes in demand by adjusting the storage location of SKUs in the warehouse in real time and dynamically. First, the study formulates the framework dynamic storage location assignment. Then, the adjustment gain model of dynamic storage location assignment is built, and a genetic algorithm is (...) designed to find the final adjustment solution. Finally, the computer program is developed to simulate the whole process. Simulation and data analysis results show that dynamic storage location assignment can effectively improve picking efficiency when the average order size is small and large demand correlation strength. Dynamic storage location assignment simplifies the warehouse operation process by combining the picking operation and storage location assignment into one without changing the picker’s current walking route, which can offer some theoretical guidance for online retail enterprises implementing dynamic storage location assignment. (shrink)

Since December 2019, the COVID-19 has continued to rage, and epidemic prevention policies have limited contact between individuals, which may has a great influence on the income of individuals, exacerbate anxiety and depression, and cause serious mental health problems. The current study aims to examine the association between income and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic by using the data of 9,296 observations from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies. Employing ordinary least squares regression and two-stage least squares regression, we (...) find the significant positive effect of income on Chinese mental health during this pandemic. In addition, the number of cigarettes smoked per day has significant negative effects on mental health. Education levelˎmarriage and exercise frequency have significant positive correlation with mental health. Furthermore, the impact of income on individuals of different groups is heterogeneous during this pandemic. The impact of income for well-educated individuals is less strong than their less-educated counterparts. People who exercise regularly respond less strongly to changes in income than those who do not exercise. Finally, individuals’ salary satisfaction and interpersonal relationship are shown to be the potential mechanism for the effect of income on Chinese mental health. (shrink)

In this paper, a robust H ∞ control problem of a class of linear parabolic distributed parameter systems with pointwise/piecewise control and pointwise/piecewise measurement has been investigated via the robust H ∞ feedback compensator design approach. A unified Lyapunov direct approach is proposed in consideration of the pointwise/piecewise control and point/piecewise measurement based on the distributions of the actuators and sensors. A new type of Luenberger observer is developed on the continuous interval of space domain to track the state of (...) the system, and an H ∞ performance constraint with prescribed H ∞ attenuation levels is proposed in this paper. By utilizing Lyapunov technique, mathematical inequalities, and integration theory, a sufficient condition based on LMI for the exponential stability of the corresponding closed-loop coupled system under an H ∞ performance constraint is presented. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed design method is verified by numerical simulation results. (shrink)

This article discusses the role that algorithmic thinking and management play in health care and the kind of exclusions this might create. We argue that evidence‐based medicine relies on research and data to create pathways for patient journeys. Coupled with data‐based algorithmic prediction tools in health care, they establish what could be called health care algorithmics—a mode of management of healthcare that produces forms of algorithmic governmentality. Relying on a critical posthumanist perspective, we show how healthcare algorithmics is contingent on (...) the way authority over bodies is produced and how predictive health care algorithms can reproduce inequalities of the worlds from which they are made, centreing possible futures on existing normativities regulated through algorithmic biopower. In contrast to that, we explore posthuman speculative ethics as a way to challenge understanding of ‘ethics’ and ‘care’ in healthcare algorithmics. We suggest some possible avenues towards working speculative ethics into health care while still being critically attentive to algorithmic modes of management and prediction in health care. (shrink)

The use of tanning beds has been identified as being among the most significant causes of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. Accordingly, the activity is properly seen as one that involves profound harm to self. The article examines paternalistic reasons for restricting sunbed usage. We argue that both so-called soft and hard paternalistic arguments support prohibiting the use of sunbeds. We make the following three arguments: an argument from oppressive patterns of socialization suggesting that the autonomous nature of the conduct (...) in question is questionable; an argument from so-called evaluative delusions in which individuals attach incorrect weights to some of their values; a strictly hard paternalistic argument appealing to the harm in itself pertaining to the use of sunbeds. (shrink)

Due to the increasing number of people traveling by air, the passenger flow at the airport is increasing, and the problem of passenger drop-off and pickup has a huge impact on urban traffic. The difficulty of taking a taxi at the airport is still a hot issue in the society. Aiming at the problem of optimizing the allocation of taxi resource, this paper is based on the cost-benefit analysis method to determine the factors that affect the taxi driver’s decision-making. The (...) mathematical methods such as function equation, BP neural network algorithm, and queuing theory were used to establish a complete decision-making model for taxi drivers and an optimization model of dispatching efficiency at the airport. A conclusion has been drawn that the allocation of airport taxi resource should be arranged closely related to drivers’ revenue and the layout of airport line. (shrink)

Creative association is inherent and essential to creativity and insight. Here we utilised a Chinese compound Remote Associates Task (cRAT) to identify the potential impact of word order (i.e., solution position hereinafter) and word frequency on creative association across two behavioural experiments. Experiment 1 identified the effects of (a) word order and word frequency on cRAT-induced association without considering the specific strategies used during solving such problems and (b) their interaction not only on performance in solving the cRAT, including solution (...) time and accuracy, but also on difficulty rating. Following a coarse-to-fine approach, Experiment 2 examined the effect of both factors on creative association determined according to each participant’s trial-by-trial reports regarding insight solution strategies. Main effects of word order and word frequency, and a two-way interaction, were found on the accuracy and self-rated difficulty. These findings shed light on creative association, multiply-constrained problem solving and constructing compounds. (shrink)

This chapter contains sections titled: Bioethics Genethics Medical Ethics.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, the public keeps getting epidemic-related information on the media. News reports on the increasing number of fatalities have exposed individuals to death, which causes negative emotional experiences such as tension, anxiety, and fear. This study aimed to investigate whether creativity could serve as an anxiety-buffer when mortality is salient. Based on previous findings, the present study utilized type of creative task and personal search for meaning as moderators. In Study 1, a 2 × (...) 2 between-subject design was utilized, and 168 subjects were randomly assigned to four experimental conditions. In Study 2, 221 subjects were recruited. The experimental procedure was similar to Study 1, except that the priming paradigm of mortality was changed and search for meaning was included as an additional moderating variable. State anxiety was measured as the dependent variable in both studies. Results of Study 1 showed that, while the benevolent creative task could buffer anxiety in the mortality salience condition, the malevolent creative task did not have the same effect. Furthermore, there was a significant interaction between mortality salience, type of creative task, and search for meaning in life on anxiety. In Study 2, the buffering function of benevolent creativity was more intense for participants with a higher level of search for meaning. Together, these findings reveal the influence of different types of creative tasks on individual anxiety levels under death priming conditions and the moderating effect of search for meaning in this relationship. Further, they suggest the need to focus on the role of creativity in terror management. (shrink)

The question of how to become and remain an effective leader has been discussed for decades, and the answers that have been proposed have led to numerous theories and taxonomies of leadership behavior. By taking a critical approach to a contemporary integrative model of leadership behavior, this theoretical research proposes an alternative approach that can supplement both the integrative model and current leader–member exchange theory. Our approach is sensitive to both objective and subjective aspects of leadership behavior. We argue that (...) perceptions of leadership behavior are influenced by interpersonal relations and contextual variables in an organization. We further argue that multilevel aspects must be investigated to understand leadership behavior and that the perceptions thereof shape and are shaped by relations and contextual variables. A distinct methodological approach based on mixed methods is then proposed to better understand what influences perceptions of leadership behavior. The article discusses the conceptual, epistemological, and methodological consequences of studying leadership behavior and perceptions of such behavior. (shrink)

The Anthropology of Sport and Human Movement represents a collection of work that reveals and explores the often times dramatic relationship of our biology and culture that is inextricably woven into a tapestry of movement patterns. It explores the underpinning of human movement, reflected in play, sport, games and human culture from an evolutionary perspective and contemporary expression of sport and human movement.

The volume advances research in the philosophy of technology by introducing contributors who have an acute sense of how to get beyond or reframe the epistemic, ontological and normative limitations that currently limit the fields of philosophy of technology and science and technology studies.

Flap EndoNuclease‐1 (FEN‐1) is a multifunctional and structure‐specific nuclease involved in nucleic acid processing pathways. It plays a critical role in maintaining human genome stability through RNA primer removal, long‐patch base excision repair and resolution of dinucleotide and trinucleotide repeat secondary structures. In addition to its flap endonuclease (FEN) and nick exonuclease (EXO) activities, a new gap endonuclease (GEN) activity has been characterized. This activity may be important in apoptotic DNA fragmentation and in resolving stalled DNA replication forks. The multiple (...) functions of FEN‐1 are regulated via several means, including formation of complexes with different protein partners, nuclear localization in response to cell cycle or DNA damage and post‐translational modifications. Its functional deficiency is predicted to cause genetic diseases, including Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy and cancers. This review summarizes the knowledge gained through efforts in the past decade to define its structural elements for specific activities and possible pathological consequences of altered functions of this multirole player. BioEssays 27:717–729, 2005. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The “happiness agenda” is a worldwide movement that claims that happiness is the highest good, happiness can be measured, and public policy should promote happiness. Against Happiness is a thorough and powerful critique of this program, revealing the flaws of its concept of happiness and advocating a renewed focus on equality and justice. Written by an interdisciplinary team of authors, this book provides both theoretical and empirical analysis of the limitations of the happiness agenda. The authors emphasize that this movement (...) draws on a parochial, Western-centric philosophical basis and demographic sample. They show that happiness defined as subjective satisfaction or a surplus of positive emotions bears little resemblance to the richer and more nuanced concepts of the good life found in many world traditions. Cross-cultural philosophy, comparative theology, and social and cultural psychology all teach that cultures and subcultures vary in how much value they place on life satisfaction or feeling happy. Furthermore, the ideas promoted by the happiness agenda can compete with rights, justice, sustainability, and equality—and even conceal racial and gender injustice. Against Happiness argues that a better way forward requires integration of cross-cultural philosophical, ethical, and political thought with critical social science. Ultimately, the authors contend, happiness should be a secondary goal—worth pursuing only if it is contingent on the demands of justice. (shrink)