Nie Bao 聶豹 (1487-1563) was a Neo-Confucian philosopher and scholar-official of sixteenth-century Ming China. In his Ming ru xue an 明儒學案 (Case studies of Ming Confucians), Huang Zongxi 黃宗羲placed him in the Jiangxi (Jiangyou 江右) group of Wang Yangming followers. The goal of this article is to provide a sketch of Nie Bao’s political trajectory and intellectual development from his early years until he was imprisoned in 1547, as well as translation of important documents pertaining to that trajectory and development. (...) By the time of his imprisonment, Nie Bao had articulated the essential elements of his philosophy of realizing centeredness and returning to silence, and with that, his own unique interpretation of the meaning of the extension of the innate knowledge of the good. -/- 第二十一届明史國際學術研討會 論文匯編 Proceedings of the Twenty-First International Conference of the Chinese Ming History Society. (shrink)

How many factors, i.e. departures from normality, are necessary to explain a delusion? Maher’s classic one-factor theory argues that the only factor is the patient’s anomalous experience, and a delusion arises as a normal explanation of this experience. The more recent two-factor theory, on the other hand, contends that a second factor is also needed, with reasoning abnormality being a potential candidate, and a delusion arises as an abnormal explanation of the anomalous experience. In the past few years, although there (...) has been an increasing number of scholars offering a variety of arguments in defence of Maher’s one-factor theory, these arguments have not been adequately addressed by two-factor theorists. This paper aims to address this gap by critically examining the arguments on three crucial issues: the intelligibility of delusions, the dissociation between anomalous experiences and delusions, and the empirical evidence of a second factor. I will argue that the Maherian notion of anomalous experience is not sufficient for explaining delusions and the two-factor theory is on the right track in its search for the missing factor in the aetiology of delusions. (shrink)

Two ways of describing a group are considered. 1. A group is finite-automaton presentable if its elements can be represented by strings over a finite alphabet, in such a way that the set of representing strings and the group operation can be recognized by finite automata. 2. An infinite f.g. group is quasi-finitely axiomatizable if there is a description consisting of a single first-order sentence, together with the information that the group is finitely generated. In the first part of the (...) paper we survey examples of FA-presentable groups, but also discuss theorems restricting this class. In the second part, we give examples of quasi-finitely axiomatizable groups, consider the algebraic content of the notion, and compare it to the notion of a group which is a prime model. We also show that if a structure is bi-interpretable in parameters with the ring of integers, then it is prime and quasi-finitely axiomatizable. (shrink)

How does it come about that a person akratically believes that P, while at the same time believing that the available evidence speaks against that P? Among the current accounts, Scanlon offers an intuitive suggestion that one’s seeming experience that P may play an important role in the aetiology of their akratic belief that P. However, it turns out to be quite challenging to articulate what the role of seeming experience is. This paper will offer a novel development of Scanlon’s (...) intuitive suggestion, with a focus on clear-eyed epistemic akrasia. I will argue that the primary role of seeming experience is unlikely to act as the subject’s reason or to provide the subject with prima facie justification; instead, based on the recent work in dogmatism and Cartesian clarity, I will propose a causal account, according to which, when it seems clear to the subject that P, the seeming experience may exert a brute causal force to persistently compel the subject to believe that P. This causal account also has the advantage of helping some existing accounts to explain clear-eyed epistemic akrasia. (shrink)

Covering the basics as well as recent research results, this book provides a very readable introduction to the exciting interface of computability and ...

Drawing from a wide range of primary historical and sociological sources, this book presents medical ethics in China from a Chinese-Western comparative perspective, and in doing so it provides a fascinating exploration of cultural differences and commonalities exhibited by China and the West in medicine and medical ethics. The book focuses on a number of key issues in medical ethics including: attitudes towards foetuses; disclosure of information by medical professionals; informed consent; professional medical ethics; and human rights. This careful examination (...) not only provides insights into Chinese viewpoints, but also sheds light on the appropriate methods for comparative culture and ethical research. Through its analysis, Jing-Bao Nie seeks to put forward a theory of "transcultural bioethics", an ethical paradigm which upholds the primacy of morality whilst resisting cultural stereotypes, and appreciating the internal plurality, richness, dynamism and openness of medical ethics in any culture. Medical Ethics in China will be of particular interest to students and academics in the fields of Medical Law, Bioethics and Medical Ethics as well as Chinese/Asian Studies and Comparative (Chinese-Western) Cultural Studies. (shrink)

We describe a strongly minimal theory S in an effective language such that, in the chain of countable models of S, only the second model has a computable presentation. Thus there is a spectrum of an -categorical theory which is neither upward nor downward closed. We also give an upper bound on the complexity of spectra.

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has been regarded as a public health emergency that caused a considerable degree of public panic during its early stage. Some irrational behaviors were also triggered as a result of such panic. Although there has been plenty of news coverage on public panic due to the outbreak, research on this phenomenon has been limited. Since panic is the main psychological reaction in the early stage of the pandemic, which largely determines the level of psychological adaptation, (...) time of psychological recovery, and the incidence of PTSD, there exists a demand to conduct investigation on it. From a public governance perspective, the government’s assessment of public panic may affect the efficiency and effectiveness of pandemic prevention and control. Therefore, it is of obvious practical significance to investigate public panic during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze its influential factors. The self-compiled COVID-19 Social Mentality Questionnaire was used to collect data from a total of 16,616 participants online, and 13,511 valid responses were received. The results from the chi-square test showed that there were differences in gender, educational level, age, pandemic-related knowledge, self-efficacy, risk level, and objective social support. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis results showed that self-efficacy, gender, educational level, age, risk level, pandemic-related knowledge, and objective social support were significant predictors of public panic. Among the research variables, self-efficacy, gender, educational level, and age were negative predictors of panic while risk level, pandemic-related knowledge, and objective social support were positive predictors of panic. (shrink)

According to a bodily view of pain, pains are objects which are located in body parts. This bodily view is supported by the locative locutions for pain in English, such as that “I have a pain in my back.” Recently, Liu and Klein (Analysis, 80(2), 262–272, 2020) carry out a cross-linguistic analysis, and they claim that (1) Mandarin has no locative locutions for pain and (2) the absence of locative locutions for pain puts the bodily view at risk. This paper (...) rejects both claims. Regarding the philosophical claim, I argue that a language without locative locutions for pain only poses a limited challenge to the bodily view. Regarding the empirical claim, I identify the possible factors which might have misled Liu and Klein about the locative locutions for pain in Mandarin, and argue that Mandarin has a wide range of locative locutions for pain by conducting a corpus analysis. I conclude that compared to English, Mandarin lends no less, if not more, support to the bodily view of pain. (shrink)

Since the early 1970s, despite popular opposition, to control the rapid growth of population the Chinese government has been carrying out the strictest and most comprehensive family planning policy in the world. In addition to contraceptive methods and sterilization, artificial abortionhas been used as an important measure of birth control under the policy. Many women have been required, persuaded, and even forced by the authorities to abort fetuses no matter how much they want to give birth.

BackgroundMedical professionalism has been developing in the Peoples’ Republic of China as one way to better address perennial and new challenges in healthcare in an ever-changing society. Among many recent developments in this area is promotion by the national Chinese Medical Doctor Association of the principles and values contained in the international document, “Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter.”ObjectiveTo discover Chinese physicians’ attitudes toward and understanding of medical professionalism.MethodologyThe authors distributed a self-reporting questionnaire that included 34 statements (...) and four case scenarios concerning the general principles of medical professionalism: the primacy of patients’ welfare, respect for patients’ autonomy, promotion of social justice, and professional self-regulation. The questionnaire included controversial issues such as the role of the family in decision making and reporting medical errors. A total of 2,966 practicing physicians, randomly selected from the Chinese Medical Association database, were surveyed, and 1,198 valid questionnaires were returned. Our sample covered 23 provinces and 51 cities throughout the Peoples’ Republic of China.ResultsMore than 80 percent of the physicians who responded agreed that the physician-patient relationship should be a relationship of trust founded on professional altruism, and that informed consent is necessary. More than 95 percent agreed that physicians should promote professional self-regulation as well as social justice. More than half agreed with the principle of the primacy of patients’ welfare (62.8 percent), and that physicians have a responsibility to report medical errors and incompetent colleagues (51.0 percent). In certain cases, a great majority of Chinese physicians favored familism and paternalism.LimitationsThe study does not include data on how Chinese physicians practice medical professionalism, or the perspectives of physicians working in smaller cities and in rural areas.ConclusionsBased on responses to the survey, Chinese physicians strongly support the majority of the fundamental principles and responsibilities of medical professionalism, including dedication, altruism, social justice, self-regulation, and informed consent. However, their support for the primacy of patients’ welfare as a general principle, and the physician’s responsibility to report medical errors and incompetent colleagues, is relatively low. To help advance medical professionalism in the People’s Republic of China, professional development programs and medical ethics education should not only emphasize the general principles involved, but also formulate guidelines on how these principles can be carried out in practice. (shrink)

The leader–member relationship has been identified as a key determinant of successful working relationships and business outcomes in China. A high-quality leader–member relationship helps managers and employees to meet the demands they face and gives them the opportunity to develop socially, emotionally and morally. Such relationships form the basis of the overall well-being and success of the organisation. This article contributes to relationally oriented leadership theories and more specifically to the leader–member exchange theory by examining the theory in the context (...) of Western expatriate managers and Chinese employees in China. The first aim of the study is to analyse the similarities and differences between the LMX theory, which owes its origins to Western corporate experience, and the social and moral norms of guanxi, a crucial element in the Chinese value system. Since Westerners and Chinese people can give different interpretations to guanxi, the second aim of the article is to discuss the ethical challenges to the Western manager arising from guanxi. The findings of this study have implications not only for China, but also for other Chinese communities where guanxi is endorsed and practised. (shrink)

Dans le monde de la recherche de la Chine contemporaine, il existe des points de vue représentatifs sur l’utopie du peuple. L’un est représenté par He Qing qui remet en question l’authenticité du concept de peuple en s’appuyant sur les opinions de certains chercheurs français, et le considère comme une utopie impossible, avant d’aller jusque dans la négation de la démocratie elle-même et l’approbation de l’idéal confucéen de gouverner pour le peuple. L’autre point de vue est incarné par Wang Shaoguang (...) qui, dans une série d’ouvrages et d’articles, prône une imagination parfaite du peuple à partir de l’idéal démocratique de gouverner par le peuple, et ainsi critique sévèrement la démocratie représentative occidentale comme une fausse démocratie ou une électocratie qui rejette le gouvernement par le peuple. Paradoxalement, bien que Wang Shaoguang et He Qing aient des prises de position catégoriquement opposées sur la question de savoir s’il faut soutenir la démocratie ou non, Wang finit par avoir une conception élitiste de la politique. Notre article vise donc à dresser un bilan de ces deux points de vue et de les analyser, en soulignant que l’origine de leur rejet de l’idéal démocratique repose sur une fausse imagination de l’utopie du peuple, où le peuple est considéré à tort comme une entité définie. Sur cette base, nous soutenons que l’utopie du peuple doit être reconstruite dans la perspective de l’indéfini afin de défendre une véritable démocratie. (shrink)

To monopolize the scientific data gained by Japanese physicians and researchers from vivisections and other barbarous experiments performed on living humans in biological warfare programs such as Unit 731, immediately after the war the United States government secretly granted those involved immunity from war crimes prosecution, withdrew vital information from the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and publicly denounced otherwise irrefutable evidence from other sources such as the Russian Khabarovsk trial. Acting in “the national interest” and for the (...) security of the US, authorities in the US tramped justice and morality, and engaged in what the English common law tradition clearly defines as “complicity after the fact.” To repair this historical injustice, the US government should issue an official apology and offer appropriate compensation for having covered up Japanese medical war crimes for six decades. To help prevent similar acts of aiding principal offender in the future, international declarations or codes of human rights and medical ethics should include a clause banning any kind of complicity in any unethical medicine—whether before or after the fact—by any state or group for whatever reasons. (shrink)

Military metaphors are pervasive in biomedicine, including HIV research. Rooted in the mind set that regards pathogens as enemies to be defeated, terms such as “shock and kill” have become widely accepted idioms within HIV cure research. Such language and symbolism must be critically examined as they may be especially problematic when used to express scientific ideas within emerging health-related fields. In this article, philosophical analysis and an interdisciplinary literature review utilizing key texts from sociology, anthropology, history, and Chinese and (...) African studies were conducted to investigate the current proliferation of military metaphors. We found the use of these metaphors to be ironic, unfortunate, and unnecessary. To overcome military metaphors we propose to give them less aggressive meanings, and/or replace them with more peaceful metaphors. Building on previous authors' work, we argue for the increased use of “journey” metaphors as meaningful, cross-culturally app... (shrink)

The interplay between computability and randomness has been an active area of research in recent years, reflected by ample funding in the USA, numerous workshops, and publications on the subject. The complexity and the randomness aspect of a set of natural numbers are closely related. Traditionally, computability theory is concerned with the complexity aspect. However, computability theoretic tools can also be used to introduce mathematical counterparts for the intuitive notion of randomness of a set. Recent research shows that, conversely, concepts (...) and methods originating from randomness enrich computability theory.The book covers topics such as lowness and highness properties, Kolmogorov complexity, betting strategies and higher computability. Both the basics and recent research results are desribed, providing a very readable introduction to the exciting interface of computability and randomness for graduates and researchers in computability theory, theoretical computer science, and measure theory. (shrink)

本书分为七篇,即:传统的中道和两极矛盾观、辩证法的“中介”观、辩证法的“两极”观、二类范畴与三大规律的说明和发挥、时空观和意识观的再发挥、认识论和思想方法的“两极与中介”、若干具体关系的“两极与中介” 。.

本书除全面论述马克思主义关于实践的基本观点和理论外,着重探讨了马克思主义实践观的核心和实质问题。.

: Since the late 1970s, American appraisals of Chinese medical ethics and Chinese responses to American bioethics range from frank criticism to warm appreciation, from refutation to acceptance. Yet in the United States as well as in China, American bioethics and Chinese medical ethics have been seen, respectively, as individualistic and communitarian. In this widely-accepted general comparison, the great variation in the two medical moralities, especially the diversity of Chinese experiences, has been unfortunately minimized, if not totally ignored. Neither American (...) bioethics nor Chinese medical ethics is a field with only one dominant way of thinking. Medical moralities in America and China--traditional and modern--have always been plural and diverse. For example, American and Chinese cultures and medical moralities both exhibit individualistic and communitarian traditions. For this reason, bioethics in general and cross-cultural bioethics in particular must be fundamentally interpretive. Interpretive cross-cultural bioethics appreciates the plurality of medical morality within any culture. It can serve as a vital means of social and cultural criticism through engaged interpretations. (shrink)

This study focuses on the effects of socially responsible human resource management practices on female employees’ turnover intentions and the moderating effect of supervisor gender on this relationship. With a sample of 212 female employees from eight different industries in Finland, the results indicate that SR-HRM practices promoting equal career opportunities and work–family integration play a significant role in reducing women's turnover intentions. The study adds to the academic discourse of corporate social responsibility by highlighting the impact of the organizational-level (...) HRM determinants on the individual-level outcome. In addition, supervisor gender makes a difference in the studied relationship: female supervisors have a stronger and more significant impact on the relationship than male supervisors. Our findings suggest that organizational measures which support work–family integration should be taken seriously to decrease female employees’ turnover intentions. Male supervisors could adopt some gender-incongruent leadership behaviors, such as individualized emotional concern and caring when dealing with female employees. In the future, other gender combinations in the supervisor–employee relationship would merit research. (shrink)

Two theories on the origins of COVID-19 have been widely circulating in China and the West respectively, one blaming the United States and the other a highest-level biocontainment laboratory in Wuhan, the initial epicentre of the pandemic. Both theories make claims of biological warfare attempts. According to the available scientific evidence, these claims are groundless. However, like the episodes of biological warfare during the mid-twentieth century, the spread of these present-day conspiracy theories reflects a series of longstanding and damaging trends (...) in the international scene which include deep mistrust, animosities, the power of ideologies such as nationalism, and the sacrifice of truth in propaganda campaigns. Also, the threats associated with biological warfare, bioterrorism, and the accidental leakage of deadly viruses from labs are real and growing. Thus, developing a better global governance of biosafety and biosecurity than exists at present is an urgent imperative for the international community in the broader context of a looming Cold War II. For such a governance, an ethical framework is proposed based upon the triple ethical values of transparency, trust, and the common good of humanity. (shrink)

The biinterpretability conjecture for the r.e. degrees asks whether, for each sufficiently large k, the [Formula: see text] relations on the r.e. degrees are uniformly definable from parameters. We solve a weaker version: for each k ≥ 7, the [Formula: see text] relations bounded from below by a nonzero degree are uniformly definable. As applications, we show that Low 1 is parameter definable, and we provide methods that lead to a new example of a ∅-definable ideal. Moreover, we prove that (...) automorphisms restricted to intervals [d, 1], d ≠ 0, are [Formula: see text]. We also show that, for each c ≠ 0, can be interpreted in [0, c] without parameters. (shrink)

Most studies have shown that reading is an important source of incidental vocabulary learning, and repeated reading may have a positive effect on learning gains. However, the study of incidental vocabulary learning through listening is still limited, and the immediate and long-term effects on different vocabulary knowledge dimensions are unclear. Furthermore, no empirical studies have been conducted to investigate the association between learning gains and preexisting vocabulary knowledge in listening. This article examines the effects of listening to English songs on (...) unintentional vocabulary learning and vocabulary retention through three different vocabulary knowledge dimensions: word recognition, meaning association, and grammar identification. A total of 114 Chinese college students participated in the study, and they were given vocabulary evaluations at different times based on three separate components of vocabulary knowledge. The effects of repeated listening and learners’ prior vocabulary knowledge were also investigated. According to the findings, listening to songs can improve vocabulary knowledge, particularly in the area of word recognition, which can be retained 4 weeks later. Furthermore, the effect of listening three times was superior than listening one or five times, which provides teachers and learners with guidance for teaching or learning vocabulary more effectively. Finally, for low, intermediate, and high-level learners, there was an immediate and positive effect on the dimensions of word recognition and meaning connection after listening, and this knowledge is likely to be preserved 4 weeks later. (shrink)

This thesis develops a novel framework for explaining delusions. In Chapter 1, I introduce the two fundamental challenges posed by delusions: the evidence challenge lies in explaining the flagrant ways delusions flout evidence; and the specificity challenge lies in explaining the fact that patients’ delusions are often about a few specific themes, and patients rarely have a wide range of delusional or odd beliefs. In Chapter 2, I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of current theories of delusions, which typically appeal (...) to one or both of two factors: anomalous experience and reasoning abnormality. I argue that anomalous experience can help explain the specificity of delusions, but has difficulties in addressing the evidence challenge; reasoning abnormality can help address the evidence challenge, but has difficulties in explaining the specificity of delusions. This suggests that there may be an important factor that has not been captured by current theories of delusions. To search for this missing factor, in Chapter 3, I turn to normal believing. Inspired by the literature on Cartesian clarity and phenomenal dogmatism, I develop a dual-force framework of believing, according to which beliefs can be understood as the results of the interaction between the justificatory force and causal force of evidence and the justificatory force and causal force of clear experience, in which something clearly seems to be so to the subject. This framework suggests that the missing factor may be the clear experience with its distinctive phenomenal clarity that compels assent. In Chapter 4, I return to delusions, and argue that the dualforce framework can help us to get a better grip on some personal descriptions of delusions; make progress in addressing the evidence and specificity challenges of delusions; and shed new light on the underpinnings of delusions. In the end, I conclude with some remaining questions for future study. (shrink)

We investigate the upper semilattice Eq* of recursively enumerable equivalence relations modulo finite differences. Several natural subclasses are shown to be first-order definable in Eq*. Building on this we define a copy of the structure of recursively enumerable many-one degrees in Eq*, thereby showing that Th has the same computational complexity as the true first-order arithmetic.

本书包括形而上学的产生及其演化、形而上学和唯人论是天然的联盟、形而上学和辩证法的对立、形而上学和形式逻辑、形而上学在人类认识发展史上的作用、批判形而上学是长期的艰巨的任务等8部分内容。.

§1. Introduction. Natural sets that can be enumerated by a computable function always seem to be either actually computable or of the same complexity as the Halting Problem, the complete r.e. set K. The obvious question, first posed in Post [1944] and since then called Post's Problem is then just whether there are r.e. sets which are neither computable nor complete, i.e., neither recursive nor of the same Turing degree as K?Let be the r.e. degrees, i.e., the r.e. sets modulo (...) the equivalence relation of equicomputable with the partial order induced by Turing computability. This structure is a partial order with least element 0, the degree of the computable sets, and greatest element 1 or 0′, the degree of K. Post's problem then asks if there are any other elements of.The solution of Post's problem by Friedberg [1957] and Muchnik [1956] was followed by various algebraic or order theoretic results that were interpreted as saying that the structure was in some way well behaved:Theorem 1.1. Every countable partial ordering or even uppersemilattice can be embedded into.Theorem 1.2. For every nonrecursive r.e. degreeathere are r.e. degreesb, c < asuch thatb ∨ c = a.Theorem 1.3. For every pair of nonrecursive r.e. degreesa < bthere is an r.e. degreecsuch thata < c < b. (shrink)

Corlett (2019) raises two groups of challenges against the two-factor theory of delusions: One focuses on weighing “the evidence for … the two-factor theory”; the other aims to question “the logic of the two-factor theory” (p. 166). McKay (2019) has robustly defended the two-factor theory against the first group. But the second group, which Corlett believes is in many aspects independent of the first group and Darby (2019, p. 180) takes as “[t]he most important challenge to the two-factor theory raised (...) by Dr. Corlett”, has by large remained. Here I offer my two cents in response to the second group. More specifically, I argue that Corlett’s challenges to the logic of the two-factor theory, concerning modularity, double dissociation and cognitive penetration, seem to be based on some misunderstandings of the two-factor theory. (shrink)

Extensive conflicts of interest at both individual and institutional levels are identifiable in scientific research and healthcare in China, as in many other parts of the world. A prominent new case from China is He Jiankui’s experiment that produced the world’s first gene-edited babies and that raises numerous ethical, political, socio-cultural, and transnational questions. Serious financial and other COI were involved in He’s genetic adventure. Using He’s infamous experiment as a case study, this paper explores the wider issue of financial (...) and other COI in scientific research and healthcare in China, especially institutional conflict of interest and policy-related COI. Taking a socio-ethical perspective, it examines China’s state policies and its massive efforts to transform and commercialize scientific research, the lack of policies and oversight mechanisms for regulating COI, as well as major ethical issues arising from COI including the undermining of public trust. Some practical suggestions are offered for institutional reform and institutional development so that COI, particularly ICOI, can be avoided or more effectively managed in scientific research in China. (shrink)

We show that the elementary theory of the recursively enumerable tt-degrees has the same computational complexity as true first-order arithmetic. As auxiliary results, we prove theorems about exact pairs and initial segments in the tt-degrees.

The classification of collusion behaviors of government-invested project tenderers is one of the important methods to describe the characteristics and laws of collusion behaviors and strengthen the governance of collusion. Firstly, the variables that affect the type of collusion behavior are selected and cluster analysis is carried out on the cases of collusion in government investment project bidding. Then use the social network to mine the types and characteristics of the collusion behavior of the tenderee. Finally, a BP neural network (...) automatic identification model is established to quickly discriminate the types of collusion, which can effectively overcome the subjectivity of traditional methods. As a result, three typical types of collusion of tenderees can be obtained: intervention type, opportunity type, and cooperation type. The study found that the three types of collusion behavior have their own characteristics and laws, and the relationship between the variables that affect the type of collusion behavior is complex and affects each other. (shrink)

A global socio‐bioethics is called upon to address the ethical challenges arising from the revolutionary gene editing technologies such as CRISPR‐Cas9, which offers the capability to rewrite the human genome. The ethical inquiry Françoise Baylis has undertaken in the book Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing (Harvard University Press, 2019) operates at individual, societal and global levels. Baylis has not only presented insights on how to practice “slow science” and achieve broad societal consensus through empowering the (...) public, but she also shown what a global socio‐bioethics approach can offer for the further development of bioethics. (shrink)

Let S∞ denote the topological group of permutations of the natural numbers. A closed subgroup G of S∞ is called oligomorphic if for each n, its natural action on n-tuples of natural numbers has onl...

Music expertise is known to be beneficial for cognitive function and development. In this study, we conducted 1-year music training for school children in China. The children were assigned to music or second-language after-class training groups. A passive control group was included. We aimed to investigate whether music training could facilitate working memory development compared to second-language training and no training. Before and after the training, auditory WM was measured via a digit span task, together with the vocabulary and block (...) tests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Child IV. The results of the DS task revealed superior development in the music group compared to the other groups. However, further analysis of DS forward and backward tasks indicated that the performance of the three training/non-training groups only differed significantly in DS backward scores, but not in the DS forward scores. We conclude that music training may benefit the central executive system of WM, as reflected by the DS backward task. (shrink)

Food safety and food quality are two closely related aspects of the food management system. The difference between the two is that one keeps consumers safe while the other keeps consumers satisfied. This study examined the differences in how consumers value food safety and food quality with a focus on the influence of loss aversion on one’s psychological level and of income effect on one’s socio-demographic level. Our findings indicate that loss aversion and income effect significantly influence the way consumers (...) value food safety vs. quality labels when considering potential health risks and food price. High risk-averse and low-income consumers with strong loss aversion and a weak income effect show a higher demand for food safety labels as a way to ensure easy access to safety indications. Low risk-averse and high-income consumers with weak loss aversion and a strong income effect show a higher demand for food quality labels because they hope to gain more health benefits from high-quality food at good prices. This study provides insights that will assist public authorities and food industry in balancing food safety control and food quality improvement in order to meet the heterogeneous market demand changing alongside the transition of China’s food consumption and production. (shrink)

Textology has gradually become an important field and special research area in the overall pattern of Chinese Marxism since the beginning of the 21st century. Scholars have honed new explanations with new understandings concerning the relations between the origins of Marx’s thought and the Western cultural tradition, the continuity and essence of Marx’s thought through change, the complexity of Marx’s theory of capital and the arduousness of the criticisms against it, and the concrete contents of communism. Reflecting on the various (...) attitudes in understanding Marx historically allows an exploration into the basis and method of Marx’s ‘textology’ that pursues in-depth case studies of texts. This helps to rectify long-standing misunderstandings and to realize the contemporary development and lasting value of Marx’s thought. (shrink)

Trust is indispensable not only for interpersonal relationships and social life, but for good quality healthcare. As manifested in the increasing violence and tension in patient-physician relationships, China has been experiencing a widespread and profound crisis of patient–physician trust. And globally, the crisis of trust is an issue that every society, either developing or developed, has to face in one way or another. Yet, in spite of some pioneering works, the subject of patient-physician trust and mistrust – a crucial matter (...) in healthcare especially because there are numerous ethical implications – has largely been marginalized in bioethics as a global discourse. Drawing lessons as well as inspirations from China, this paper demonstrates the necessity of a trust-oriented bioethics and presents some key theoretical, methodological and philosophical elements of such a bioethics. A trust-oriented bioethics moves beyond the current dominant bioethical paradigms through putting the subject of trust and mistrust in the central agenda of the field, learning from the social sciences, and reviving indigenous moral resources. In order for global bioethics to claim its relevance to the things that truly matter in social life and healthcare, trust should be as vital as such central norms like autonomy and justice and can serve as a potent theoretical framework. (shrink)

The ideas of continental philosopher Martin Heidegger have been influential in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, despite the fact that there has been no effort to analyze these ideas empirically. The experiments reported here are designed to lend empirical support to Heidegger’s phenomenology and more specifically his description of the transition between ready-to-hand and unready-to-hand modes in interactions with tools. In experiment 1, we found that a smoothly coping cognitive system exhibits 1/fβ type positively correlated noise and that its correlated (...) character is reduced when the system is perturbed. This indicates that the participant and tool constitute a self-assembled, extended device during smooth coping and this device is disrupted by the perturbation. In experiment 2, we examine the re-organization of awareness that occurs when a smoothly coping, self-assembled, extended cognitive system is perturbed. We found that the disruption is accompanied by a change in attention which interferes with participants’ performance on a simultaneous cognitive task. Together these experiments show that a smoothly coping participant-tool system can be temporarily disrupted and that this disruption causes a change in the participant’s awareness. Since these two events follow as predictions from Heidegger’s work, our study offers evidence for the hypothesized transition from readiness-to-hand to unreadiness-to-hand. (shrink)

We use Demuth randomness to study strong lowness properties of computably enumerable sets, and sometimes of Δ20 sets. A set A⊆N is called a base for Demuth randomness if some set Y Turing above A is Demuth random relative to A. We show that there is an incomputable, computably enumerable base for Demuth randomness, and that each base for Demuth randomness is strongly jump-traceable. We obtain new proofs that each computably enumerable set below all superlow Martin-Löf random sets is strongly (...) jump traceable, using Demuth tests. The sets Turing below each ω2-computably approximable Martin-Löf random set form a proper subclass of the bases for Demuth randomness, and hence of the strongly jump traceable sets. The c.e. sets Turing below each ω2-computably approximable Martin-Löf random set satisfy a new, very strong combinatorial lowness property called ω-traceability. (shrink)