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

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

La longue histoire de l’Acropole d’Athènes est une vitrine fascinante de la façon dont un patrimoine ancien peut être transformé, d’un sanctuaire païen à un sanctuaire chrétien, à une forteresse islamique, à l’autel symbolique de la Grèce moderne. De plus, ce site a suscité l’admiration presque religieuse des chercheurs et, comme dans le cas des marbres d’Elgin, a été contesté à de nombreux égards. L’auteur du volume analysé, William St Clair, un spécialiste des marbres d’Elgin et de divers a...

This collection reconsiders the notion of life and conceptualizes those forms of life which have been excluded from modern philosophy, such as post-Anthropocene life, the life of non-human animals and the life of inorganic objects"-- Provided by publisher.

We study structures equipped with generic predicates and/or automorphisms, and show that in many cases we obtain simple theories. We also show that a bounded PAC field is simple. 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Aiming at the problem of low pedestrian target detection accuracy, we propose a detection algorithm based on optimized Mask R-CNN which uses the latest research results of deep learning to improve the accuracy and speed of detection results. Due to the influence of illumination, posture, background, and other factors on the human target in the natural scene image, the complexity of target information is high. SKNet is used to replace the part of the convolution module in the depth residual network (...) model in order to extract features better so that the model can adaptively select the best convolution kernel during training. In addition, according to the statistical law, the length-width ratio of the anchor box is modified to make it more accord with the natural characteristics of the pedestrian target. Finally, a pedestrian target dataset is established by selecting suitable pedestrian images in the COCO dataset and expanded by adding noise and median filtering. The optimized algorithm is compared with the original algorithm and several other mainstream target detection algorithms on the dataset; the experimental results show that the detection accuracy and detection speed of the optimized algorithm are improved, and its detection accuracy is better than other mainstream target detection algorithms. (shrink)

BackgroundMobile health (mHealth) apps have shown the advantages of improving medication compliance, saving time required for diagnosis and treatment, reducing medical expenses, etc. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that mHealth apps should be evaluated prior to their implementation to ensure their accuracy in data analysis.ObjectiveThis study aimed to translate the patient version of the interactive mHealth app usability questionnaire (MAUQ) into Chinese, and to conduct cross-cultural adaptation and reliability and validity tests.MethodsThe Brislin’s translation model was used in this (...) study. The cross-cultural adaptation was performed according to experts’ comments and the results of prediction test. The convenience sampling method was utilized to investigate 346 patients who used the “Good Doctor” (“Good Doctor” is the most popular mHealth app in China), and the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were evaluated as well.ResultsAfter translation and cross-cultural adaptation, there were a total of 21 items and 3 dimensions: usability and satisfaction (8 items), system information arrangement (6 items), and efficiency (7 items). The content validity index was determined to be 0.952, indicating that the 21 items used to evaluate the usability of the Chinese version of the MAUQ were well correlated. The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the total questionnaire was 0.912, which revealed that the questionnaire had a high internal consistency. The values of test-retest reliability and split-half reliability of the Chinese version of the MAUQ were 0.869 and 0.701, respectively, representing that the questionnaire had a good stability.ConclusionThe translated questionnaire has good reliability and validity in the context of Chinese culture, and it could be used as a usability testing tool for the patient version of interactive mHealth apps. (shrink)

This research was aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the green entrepreneurial intention of college students through green entrepreneurial self-efficacy, optimism, ecological values, and social responsibility, as well as the mediating role of green entrepreneurial motivation. This study used structural equation model to test the hypothesis on samples of 410 Chinese colleges’ students. COVID-19 has a strong beneficial effect on green entrepreneurial self-efficacy, optimism, ecological values, and social responsibility, according to the research findings. Optimism and social (...) responsibility also were found to have a significant positive impact on green entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Moreover, green entrepreneurial motivations moderated the relationship between optimism, ecological values, social responsibility, and green entrepreneurial intention in a positive and significant way. Finally, the findings indicate that a significant positive correlation exists between green entrepreneurial self-efficacy and optimism, as well as a significant positive correlation between ecological values and social responsibility. (shrink)

Microgames are rapidly gaining increased attention and are highly being considered because of the technology-based media that enhances students’ learning interests and educational activities. Therefore, this study aims to develop a new construct through confirmatory factor analysis, to comprehensively understand the factors influencing the use of microgames in mathematics class. Participants of the study were the secondary school teachers in West Java, Indonesia, which had a 1-year training in microgames development. We applied a quantitative approach to collect the data via (...) online questionnaires through google form. Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS software was used to analyze the proposed model. Empirical results confirmed the perceived easy to use and subjective norm influence relationship with teachers’ microgame usage behaviors and intentions. In this condition, SN was found to have the initial significant influence on behavioral intention, as attitude, BI, and facilitating conditions also correlated with the actual use of microgames. Furthermore, the largest influential factor was BI, with the results subsequently showing that TPACK had no significant influence on the actual use of microgames. This report is expected to help bridge the gap across several previous studies, as well as contribute to the explanation and prediction of the factors influencing the teachers’ mathematical utilization of the study’s program. Besides this, it also helps to increase the use of microgames in teaching and learning activities. (shrink)

Understanding learners’ translating self-efficacy belief helps predict their ability to cope and translation performance during their career. Despite this connection, the assessment of self-efficacy during learning has been largely overlooked in translation research. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an instrument to examine belief in self-efficacy in a sample of Chinese translation learners. Scale items were collected and refined based on an expert-panel consensus opinion. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis across two independent samples revealed (...) and validated a three-dimensional structure: efficacy in internal competence, efficacy in psycho-physical competence, and efficacy in external competence. These findings provide supporting evidence for scale applications in educating translators. (shrink)

Contingent reinforcement behavior is generally regarded as one of the key elements of being a “good” leader, yet the question of what happens when this behavior is absent has received little attention in past empirical research. Drawing upon self-regulation theory, we develop and test a model that specifies the effects of leader reward omission on employes’ deviant behavior. Using the data of 230 workers from two manufacturing companies located in South China collected across three time points, we find that leader (...) reward omission is positively associated with deviant behavior. Moreover, the indirect effects of leader reward omission on employes’ deviant behavior are mediated by moral disengagement. Our study also reveals that Machiavellianism can aggravate the positive effect of leader reward omission on moral disengagement, and subsequently exacerbate the indirect effect on employes’ deviant behavior. Taken together, our findings reveal the consequences of leader reward omission, and the importance of examining subordinate self-regulation under the lack of positive reinforcement. (shrink)

In the Netherlands fertility doctors increasingly formulate protocols, which oblige patients to quit their unhealthy lifestyle before they are admitted to IVF procedures. We argue that moral arguments could justify parenting protocols that concern all future parents. In the first part we argue that want-to-be parents have moral responsibilities towards their future children to prevent them from harm by diminishing or eliminating risk factors before as well as during the pregnancy. This is because of the future children's potential to become (...) of a certain type, more specifically: a person that will be the want-to-be parents' child. Want-to-be parents intend to become pregnant and therefore have an additional moral reason to diminish the risks. Also, people who become pregnant unintentionally have the responsibility to prevent their children from harm, unless they become pregnant due to contraception failure. All people not wanting to become pregnant should use contraception methods carefully.In the second part of this paper we translate the want-to-be parents' responsibilities into practice. We distinguish four determinants of risk factors: modifiability, chance, severity and effort. We examine some evidence-based risk factors based on these variables and deduce levels of responsibility.In conclusion, formulating informal requirements for want-to-be parents is morally required and therefore also for want-to-be parents in need of medical assistance. The protocols developed by fertility doctors in the Netherlands could be seen as the precursor for a general, informal Parenting Protocol that could be developed on the basis of an extended and thoroughly debated risk-responsibility analysis. (shrink)

_Purpose._ The study aims to understand artificial intelligence as a socio-cultural phenomenon and its impact on education, where the spiritual sphere of humanity, moral norms, values, and human cognitive abilities are preserved, transferred as well as reproduced. A new discourse on the interaction of artificial and authentic human intelligence becomes inevitable, which has led to a situation of uncertainty. Changes in the socio-cultural environment under the influence of artificial intelligence increase potential threats to the educational space, which stimulates to find (...) the ways to eliminate them. _Theoretical basis._ Various approaches of classical and postmodern philosophical heritage were taken as a theoretical basis for the research. _The originality_ of the study is in the interpretation of artificial intelligence as a modern form of alienation of essential human characteristics in the socio-cultural context of information technology. The expansion of artificial intelligence raises awareness of the existential threat to the basic socio-cultural, moral and ethical principles of humanism. It is proved that various forms of alienation in the current existing socio-cultural space are typical of our reality, which changes the system of values, moral principles, and social organization of the community. _Conclusions._ In conclusion, it is proved that AI is a natural stage of scientific and technological progress, which reflects its secondary, derivative nature from human (authentic) intelligence. Human intelligence will always have advantages over AI due to its ability to create, communicate socially and culturally, and be emotional. The dilemma of the counterbalance between human and artificial intelligence is perceived mainly at the emotional level of people. The millennial understanding of the primacy of the creator over his creation can traditionally overcome this contradiction. The universality of human thinking is an undeniable advantage of human intelligence and a guarantee of its, i.e. our, priority. (shrink)

How is the embryonic bipotential gonad regulated to produce either an ovary or a testis? In males, transient early activation of the Y chromosome Sry gene makes both germ cells and soma male. However, in females, available evidence suggests that the process of ovary sex determination may take place independently in the germline and somatic lineages. In addition, in contrast to testis, in ovary somatic cells, female‐to‐male gonadal sex reversal can occur at times throughout ovary development and maturation. We suggest (...) that a single gene pathway, likely hinging on the Foxl2 transcription factor, both initiates and maintains sex differentiation in somatic cells of the mammalian ovary. BioEssays 29: 15–25, 2007. Published 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism economy has been seriously affected. China has implemented a direct traveling management mechanism and recovered from the pandemic faster than the rest of the world. However, the COVID-19 situation is complicated and uncontrollable because of the available unclear information including difficult medical terminologies. This study attempts to find the determinants of the travel intention of China’s tourists in the post-COVID-19 epidemic. Along with information overload and perception risk, an expanded research model of the Theory (...) of Planned Behavior was employed to propose the theoretical framework of this study. A survey was conducted among 518 tourists who spend their holiday in Hainan, which is a popular tourist destination in China. The empirical results show that information overload positively and significantly impacted perceived risk. Furthermore, perceived risk negatively affects the intention to travel. Perceived risk also negatively affected the attitude toward traveling. However, response self-efficacy did not have a significant effect on the intention to travel. Finally, based on the analysis results, this study proposes relevant research contributions and practical recommendations with management implications for the travel industries. (shrink)

Multimodal discourse analysis offers a novel lens for the study of legal discourse. Within the closing arguments of a trial, prosecution and defense attorneys utilize various multimodal resources to present evidence, articulate opinions, and adopt stances to achieve their communicative goals. This research focuses on the closing arguments in the criminal trial concerning the death of George Floyd to analyze the multimodal representation of the closing arguments delivered by both prosecution and defense attorneys. It employs the analytical framework of the (...) attitude system and paralinguistic typology proposed by Martin and colleagues, and uses the UAM Corpus Tool and Praat to qualitatively annotate and quantify the linguistic and paralinguistic information. The findings reveal that these attorneys employ different multimodal resources, including language and paralanguage, to convey their attitudes towards the case’s participants. This leads to the construction of competing narratives, shedding light on how justice is seen to be done. (shrink)

The concept of virtue was of great interest and importance for H. Cohen. In the interpretation of this concept in his latest work “Religion of reason from the sources of Judaism” the most important concepts of this work were brought in the focus: the specificity of definition of what is the religion of reason; understanding of the uniqueness of God; correlation; messianism. For Cohen, a single system of virtues presupposes a single and unique ethics and correlates with the idea of (...) the unity of humanity. The last concept, in his opinion, maturated in the fold of monotheism. Humanity is one, because all people are creations of the unique God. “Religion of reason” treats of the common universal virtues. In the religion of reason, the idea of God and morality are inextricably linked. Cohen rejects metaphysical speculation about the nature of God, about the attributes of God inherent in himself. The religion of the mind speaks of God only in correlation with man. God is a moral ideal and reveals himself to man by giving him moral commandments. Morality connects man and God, and this connection is revealed in detail by Cohen in the theme of virtues. Understanding God as Truth is important for the disclosure of this topic. The corresponding virtue for a person is faithfulness to truth, or truthfulness. In addition to truthfulness in the usual sense, for Cohen, faithfulness to truth requires correct worship of God. The correlation culminates in the idea of messianism, which is interpreted by Cohen as an endless movement of a whole humanity to the social justice. (shrink)

This collection of essays is about some of the most fundamental issues connected with metaphysics, theory of values and philosophy of man. What is particularly intriguing about this collection is its unique and fruitful combination of different methodologies and traditions in one rich and persuasive picture of the most basic philosophical problems.

The pandemic has adversely impacted children. The vaccine roll-out to children aged 12 - 17 years is important to curb the spread of the virus and allow children to revert to some form of normality. Children’s rights to equality, education, health and food have been impeded during the pandemic. However, there is a persistent hesitancy towards the vaccine roll-out. This is apparent from a case before the High Court in Pretoria, in the pending matter between the African Christian Democratic Party (...) and others v The Minister of the National Department of Health: Dr M Phaahla and Others. SECTION27’s intervention as amicus curiae highlights the importance of vaccines, and provides evidence to illustrate the adverse impact of the pandemic on learners’ rights to equality, education, food and health. Further, the evidence illustrates the inequalities that exist among learners. (shrink)

With Facebook’s name changing to Meta, the metaverse concept has become popular again. There are many indications that the current fashionableness of the metaverse is not driven by technical factors, rather related to the public hype. To clarify the reasons for the increasing popularity of the concept, this study develops a model based on embodied social presence theory. We surveyed 292 metaverse users, and analyzed the obtained data using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results show that the main (...) technical factors influencing the metaverse popularity do not significantly predict users’ embodied presence and embodied co-presence, while users’ imagination positively predicts their embodied presence in the metaverse and positively influences users’ willingness to continuously participate through the multiple mediating effects of embodied presence and co-presence. The results of this study confirm, to some extent, that user imagination triggered by public opinion drives the popularity of the metaverse. (shrink)