Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered (...) to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies. (shrink)

Over recent years, the issue of corruption in the public construction sector has attracted increasing attention from both practitioners and researchers worldwide. However, limited efforts are available for investigating the underlying factors of corruption in this sector. Thus, this study attempted to bridge this knowledge gap by exploring the underlying factors of corruption in the public construction sector of China. To achieve this goal, a total of 14 structured interviews were first carried out, and a questionnaire survey was then administered (...) to 188 professionals in China. Two iterations of multivariate analysis approaches, namely, stepwise multiple regression analysis and partial least squares structural equation modeling were successively utilized to analyze the collected data. In addition, a case study was also conducted to triangulate the findings obtained from the statistical analysis. The results generated from these three research methods achieve the same conclusion: the most influential underlying factor leading to corruption was immorality, followed by opacity, unfairness, procedural violation, and contractual violation. This study has contributed to the body of knowledge by exploring the properties of corruption in the public construction sector. The findings from this study are also valuable to the construction authorities as they can assist in developing more effective anti-corruption strategies. (shrink)

This paper investigates the stabilization and trajectory tracking problem of wheeled mobile robot with a ceiling-mounted camera in complex environment. First, an adaptive visual servoing controller is proposed based on the uncalibrated kinematic model due to the complex operation environment. Then, an adaptive controller is derived to provide a solution of uncertain dynamic control for a wheeled mobile robot subject to parametric uncertainties. Furthermore, the proposed controllers can be applied to a more general situation where the parallelism requirement between the (...) image plane and operation plane is no more needed. The overparameterization of regressor matrices is avoided by exploring the structure of the camera-robot system, and thus, the computational complexity of the controller can be simplified. The Lyapunov method is employed to testify the stability of a closed-loop system. Finally, simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the suggested control. (shrink)

황우석 교수 사건을 종합적으로 분석한 책이 나왔다. 『황우석의 나라』는 황 교수 사태가 요동칠 때 에서 기자생활을 한 이성주가 현장을 지켜보고 이를 분석한 책이다. 저자는 7년 동안 의학팀장을 맡았고 2004년 8월부터 1년 동안 미국 존스홉킨스대에서 연수를 하고 귀국한 뒤 4개월 동안 과학 및 의학 분야의 곁에서 황 교수 사태가 요동치는 현장을 지켜보았다. 이 책은 황우석 사건 보도와 관련해 알려지지 않은 언론계의 현장 이야기, 과학계의 분위기, 황우석의 로비 실태 등을 생생하게 보여준다. 또 이번 사태가 발생하기 이전의 각종 기사를 분석해 언론이 무비판적으로 보도한 (...) 황 교수의 업적이 얼마나 허점투성이인지 설득력 있게 제시하고 있다. 동시에 19세기 말 프랑스를 뒤흔들었던 ‘드레퓌스 사건’과 마찬가지로 언론이 줄기세포처럼 똬리를 틀고 있다고 진단하고 언론의 본질과 역할에 대해 문제를 제기한다. 저자는 제2의 황우석 사건을 예방하기 위해 연구비 심사제도 개선, 연구비에서 간접비의 비중 강화, 언론의 에디터제 도입 등 세세한 대안도 내놓고 있다. (shrink)

Adolescence is a crucial time for social development, especially for helping and compassionate behaviors; yet brain networks involved in adolescent prosociality and compassion currently remain underexplored. Here, we sought to evaluate a recently proposed domain-general developmental network model of prosocial cognition by relating adolescent functional and structural brain networks with prosocial and compassionate disposition. We acquired resting state fMRI and diffusion MRI from 95 adolescents along with self-report questionnaires assessing prosociality and compassion. We then applied the Network-Based Statistic to inductively (...) investigate whether there is a significant subnetwork related to prosociality and compassion while controlling for age and sex. Based on the Do-GooD model, we expected that this subnetwork would involve connectivity to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex from three domain-general networks, the default mode network, the salience network, and the control network, as well as from the DMN to the mirror neuron systems. NBS revealed a significant functional subnetwork related to prosociality and compassion connecting 31 regions, showing DMN and DLPFC connectivity to the VMPFC; DMN connectivity to mirror neuron systems; and connectivity between the DMN and cerebellum. These findings largely support and extend the Do-GooD model of prosocial cognition in adolescents by further illuminating network-based relationships that have the potential to advance our understanding of brain mechanisms of prosociality. (shrink)

Jild-i 1: Muntakhab-i ās̲ār-i: Sant Agūstīn, tarjumah-ʼi Muḥammad Taqī Bahrāmī Ḥarrān; Tūmās Akvīnās, tarjumah-ʼi Manūchihr Buzurgmihr; Bārūkh Ispīnūzā, tarjumah-ʼi Abū Ṭālib Ṣārimī; Bilz Pāskāl, tarjumah-ʼi Ḥusayn Kasmāʼī, va muntakhabātī az: Ūpānīshādhā, Dimāpādā, Sūrāngāmāsūtrā, Bhāgavat Gītāyā tarjumah-ʼi Riz̤ā Ṣaddūqī --.