Biological pacemakers can be achieved by various gene‐based and cell‐based approaches. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs)‐derived pacemaker cells might be the most promising way to form biological pacemakers, but there are challenges as to how to control the differentiation of ESCs and to overcome the neoplasia, proarrhythmia, or immunogenicity resulting from the use of ESCs. As a potential approach to solve these difficult problems, tissue‐engineering techniques may provide a precise control on the different cell components of multicellular aggregates and the forming (...) of a construct with‐defined architectures and functional properties. The combined interactions between ESC‐derived pacemaker cells, supporting cells, and matrices may completely reproduce pacemaker properties and result in a steady functional unit to induce rhythmic electrical and contractile activities. As ESCs have a high capability for self‐renewal, proliferation, and potential differentiation, we hypothesize that ESCs can be used as a source of pacemaker cells for tissue‐engineering applications and the ambitious goal of biological cardiac pacemakers may ultimately be achieved with ESCs via tissue‐engineering technology. -/- . (shrink)

In recent years, sports have achieved rapid development worldwide, and the global economy has been significantly improved and improved. With the in-depth development of the two, the connection between sports and the economy has also become closer. Sports economy is a new type of economic form bred by specialization of sports organization, participation in consumerization, and profit-oriented operation under the condition of market economy. And the development of sports economy cannot be developed at once; it needs healthy and sustainable development. (...) In order to find a better way to study the healthy and sustainable development of sports economy, this paper uses deep learning network algorithm and supports vector machine learning algorithm to build a mental model. It then uses the model to analyze various indicators of the sports industry in a province in China. This article is looking for information and summarizes the province’s sports data from 2017 to 2021. The sports indicators of this experiment include regional GDP, total output of sports industry, sports practitioners, local financial sports expenditures, the number of policies, the number of people participating in physical exercise, and fitness venues and facilities. The realization results show that these variables develop at a relatively small rate under normal conditions, and then predict the data in the next few years under the healthy and sustainable development of the next few years through the mental model. The growth rates of various indicators of the sports economy have increased significantly, and they have been optimized by about 20% compared with the normal development. (shrink)

l‐Lactate is emerging as a crucial regulatory nexus for energy metabolism in the brain and signaling transduction in synaptic plasticity, memory processes, and drug addiction instead of being merely a waste by‐product of anaerobic glycolysis. In this review, the role of lactate in various memory processes, synapse plasticity and drug addiction on the basis of recent studies is summarized and discussed. To this end, three main parts are presented: first, lactate as an energy substrate in energy metabolism of the brain (...) is described; second, lactate as a novel signaling molecule in synaptic plasticity, neural circuits, memory, and drug addiction is described; and third, in light of the above descriptions, it is plausible to speculate that lactate is predominantly a signaling molecule in specific memory processes and partly acts as an energy substrate. The future perspective in lactate signaling involving microglia and associated precise signaling pathways in the brain is highlighted. (shrink)

Parenting styles are considered to have an important influence on the development of individuals and have been associated with empathy. The present study aimed to investigate the self-reported different parenting styles in childhood and adolescence and associated cognitive and affective empathy among offenders. Men incarcerated in prison in Jiangsu Province in China were invited to participate. Each consenting participant was asked to complete the Parental Bonding Instrument to collect information regarding the parenting styles they experienced in childhood and adolescence and (...) the Interpersonal Reactivity Index to evaluate their empathy. A multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted to explore the associations between different parenting styles and the empathy of offenders, and a one-way multivariate analysis of variance and a t-test were used to explore the differences in cognitive and affective empathy with different degrees of parenting styles. The parental care and control factors in childhood and adolescence were significantly more strongly associated with empathy among offenders than the parental encouragement factor. There were different associations between the parental care and control factors and offenders’ empathy depending on whether the parenting styles were consistent or inconsistent. When the parenting styles were consistent, different degrees of parental care had a significant predictive effect on cognitive and affective empathy, while different degrees of parental control were only significantly associated with affective empathy among the offenders. When the parenting styles were inconsistent, different degrees of paternal and maternal control were associated with cognitive and affective empathy among the offenders. Our findings suggest that not only different parenting styles experienced in childhood and adolescence had different predictive effects on empathy among offenders but also the degrees of parenting styles and whether the paternal and maternal parenting styles were consistent or inconsistent may affect the patterns of parenting styles and empathy. Moreover, the parental control factor had a particular influence on empathy among the offenders. Our findings underscore the pressing need for adopting preventive monitoring measures or developing policies to improve parenting styles. (shrink)

ObjectiveThe psychological condition of healthcare workers since the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted the attention of many studies. However, few have reported on psychosocial problems of primary healthcare workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to examine the mediating roles of social support and resilience in COVID-19-related work stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression.MethodsA total of 840 primary healthcare workers in 17 community health centers in Guangzhou, China, were recruited from May to July 2021. Data on demographic characteristics, COVID-19-related (...) work stress, social support, resilience, anxiety and depression were collected. A structural equation model was used for mediation analysis.ResultsMore than half of participants reported mild or more severe symptoms of anxiety and depression. Social support and resilience mediate the association between COVID-19-related work stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively. Furthermore, the association between work stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression was also mediated by an accumulation of social support and resilience. The indirect effect of COVID-19-related work stress on anxiety and depression through resilience was much greater than other indirect effects.ConclusionAnxiety and depression were prevalent among primary healthcare workers. This study highlights the psychological impact of the COVID-19-related psychosocial work environment on primary healthcare workers. There is an urgent need to improve working conditions for primary healthcare workers in the COVID-19 and to implement intervention strategies aimed at increasing individual resilience alongside the establishment of external supportive work environments. (shrink)

Adolescence is a vital period of developing a moral self. As individuals enter adolescence, peers become increasingly important to them. This study aimed to explore the influence of peers' actual appraisals on moral self-representations. Based on Looking Glass Self Hypothesis, peers' reflected appraisals usually have a mediating effect on peers' actual appraisals and self-appraisals. This study used the Chinese Moral Trait Words Rating Scale to investigate 160 dyads of Chinese adolescents. The participants filled in the Self-Appraisals Questionnaire, Peers' Reflected Appraisals (...) Questionnaire, and Peers' Actual Appraisals Questionnaire, respectively. The results showed that: peers' actual appraisals indirectly affected self-appraisals through peers' reflected appraisals in the process of forming the moral self of early Chinese adolescents; Chinese adolescents had a certain accuracy in peers' actual appraisals, but often underestimated their peers' actual appraisals of them. This study was conducive to understanding the influence of peers on forming adolescents' moral self in the context of collectivistic culture. (shrink)

BackgroundStudies have found that poor sleep quality is negatively associated with subjective wellbeing in older adults, but the mechanisms underlying are unclear. In this study, we aimed to examine the mediating role of negative emotions and the moderating role of perceived social support in the relationship between sleep quality and subjective wellbeing in older adults with multimorbidity.MethodsA multi-stage random sampling method was used to select a sample of 3,266 older adults aged 60 years and older. The Memorial University of Newfoundland (...) Scale of Happiness, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21, and Perceived Social Support Scale were used to assess subjective wellbeing, sleep quality, negative emotional states, and perceived social support, respectively. The moderated mediation models were examined using SPSS PROCESS Version 3.3 software.ResultsSleep quality had a significant direct effect on subjective wellbeing in older adults. Negative emotions partially mediated the effect of sleep quality on subjective wellbeing. The indirect effect was moderated by perceived social support.ConclusionNegative emotions increased the negative association between sleep quality and the subjective wellbeing of older adults with multimorbidity, and perceived social support played a moderating role. Psychological and behavioral interventions should be implemented as early as possible to promote mental health and enhance social support level of older adults with multimorbidity, and ultimately improve the subjective wellbeing of older adults. (shrink)

BackgroundMental stress and imbalance of its two neural stress systems, the autonomic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, are associated with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome and erectile dysfunction. However, the comprehensive analyses of psychological stress and stress systems are under-investigated, particularly in CP/CPPS patients complicated by lower urinary tract symptoms and ED.Materials and methodsParticipants were 95 patients in CP/CPPS+ED group, 290 patients in CP/CPPS group, 124 patients in ED group and 52 healthy men in control group. The National Institutes (...) of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index, the International Index of Erectile Function-5 and the International Prostate Symptom Score were used for assessing the disease severity of CP/CPPS, LUTS and ED. Psychometric self-report questionnaires including the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Type A Personality Test and Symptom Checklist 90 were completed for distress from physical symptoms. Twenty-five subjects per group were randomly selected for further investigating the changes of the HPA axis and ANS. Saliva samples were taken on 3 consecutive days at 8 specific times with strict reference to time of morning awakening for evaluation of free cortisol. Heart rate variability as marker of the ANS was measured using 24 h electrocardiography, and time-and frequency-domain variables were analyzed.ResultsThe BAI and SCL-90 scores were significantly higher in the CP/CPPS+ED, CP/CPPS and ED groups compared with the control group. The PSS scores of both groups with ED were significantly higher than the control group. Compared with the CP/CPPS group, the differences of PSS, SCL-90 and TAPT scores were statistically significant in CP/CPPS+ED patients. The IPSS scores were shown to have significantly positive correlations with BAI, PSS and SCL-90 in the CP/CPPS patients. However, in all subjects, the IIEF-5 scores were shown to have significantly negative correlations with BAI, PSS, SCL-90 and quality of life score in NIH-CPSI. Cortisol awakening response parameters and diurnal cortisol levels did not significantly vary between the four groups. Time-dependent parameters of HRV also did not differ significantly across groups. In the frequency domain analysis, low frequency was significantly lower in ED patients when compared with CP/CPPS+ED patients and healthy controls, high frequency power was significantly higher in healthy controls compared to patients with ED, CP/CPPS and CP/CPPS+ED, and the CP/CPPS+ED group had significantly higher LF/HF ratio than the control group.ConclusionCP/CPPS and ED patients score exceedingly high on most psychosocial variables. The symptom scores of LUTS and ED positively correlate with the severity of psychological stress. Our findings also suggest that the ANS sympathovagal imbalance is associated with ED and LUTS in CP/CPPS, whereas HPA axis activity is not. (shrink)

Abstract:Retro-writing has ethical implications. How a speaking subject applies a retro-perspective frames a piece of writing within certain cultural discourses. In contemporary Chinese poetry, cultural nostalgia and the attempted revival of ancient aesthetics is a complex issue, one that is largely the result of a general interest in cultural archeology, writers’ anxiety of influence, the desire to escape from various political pressures, and the claim of a need for a distinctive Chinese cultural identity. The subject in many contemporary Chinese poems, (...) in many cases, is a male subject striving to retrieve the premodern holistic state of being, which is illusory. Han Bo’s two poems “Modern Sex Machine” and “Mass(ive) Killing Machine” are unique in that they examine the bludgeoning of modernity within postmodern parameters and attempt to map the dynamics of modern and contemporary subjecthood, which is in fact a transcorporeal experience of the subject as that which is, ultimately, subjectless. Such work, in creating a cross-corporeal subjectless subject, embraces alterity and renders possibilities for the reader to reject a prior unitary transcendental subject that is illusory, and thereby to discover the beings of themselves and their roles in the world—and to extend this work of reconfiguring subjecthood from literature into other aspects of social life. (shrink)

RésuméL'ouvrage galéniqueSur les Éléments selon Hippocrateest une importante source d'information concernant les théories physiques de l'antiquité tardive. Les diverses doctrines atomistes discutées par Galien ainsi que les arguments employés par lui pour les réfuter ont été étudiés de près par les premiersMutakallimūn.Les abrégés de cet ouvrage, qui semblent avoir été écrits plusieurs siècles après Galien, et dont certains remontent aux débuts de la culture islamique, présentent un intérêt particulier. Dans cet article, nous donnons une édition, une traduction et une étude (...) d'un abrégé inconnu jusqu'ici, conservé dans un unique manuscrit, qui l'attribue à Ḥunayn ibn Isḥāq. Comme les autres abrégés, il s'agit en fait d'une doxographie de théories physiques qui ne reproduit pas toujours précisément ce que Galien a dit, mais qui reflète le discours de l'époque où elle a été rédigée. (shrink)

Ben shu yi si xiang jiao liu wei he xin yi ti, Li zu yu dong ya wen hua chuan bo de xue shu fan chou, Tan tao zhu shun shui yu zhong ri wen hua, Si xiang, Zheng zhi, Xue shu deng fang mian suo qi de ying xiang yu zuo yong.

本书以20世纪全球社会经济、政治、精神体系的世界震荡为背景,剖析思维革命家们创立的五项思维方法论,及马克思主义戏剧化的兴衰变化历程。.

Ben shu yi Ming ru Li Cai de jiang xue huo dong yu xue pai jian gou wei zhong xin, tan tao cong shi liu shi ji chu dao shi qi shi ji mo li xue qun ti zhong xin xing xue shuo he xue pai de chan sheng, chuan bo, kuo zhan yu chuan cheng de mo shi, bing zhuo zhong cong si xiang shi de jiao du jie shi zhe zhong mo shi chan sheng he yun xing (...) de si xiang gen yuan yu nei zai dong li. Quan shu zheng wen gong qi zhang, zhu yao nei rong fen wei shang xia liang bian, shang bian yi hong guan zong lun de fang shi, cong li xue jing dian "Da xue" de wen ben bian dong he quan shi jing zheng qie ru, tan tao zhong wan Ming li xue xue shuo he xue pai jian gou de li lun gen ju; xia bian yi Li Cai de "zhi xiu" xue shuo ji qi jiang xue huo dong zuo wei ge an yan jiu, tan tao li xue xue shuo he xue pai de chuan bo ji chuan cheng de she hui hua tu jing. (shrink)

이 논문은 정인보의 저작 『陽明學演論』(이하 演論)에 주목하여 이 책 속에서 정인보가 어떻게 중국 명말청초기의 지식인들을 인식하고 평가했는지를 살펴보고자 하였다. 1933년 정인보는 해박한 양명학에 관한 지식을 가지고 동아일보에 『演論』을 게재한다. 이 『演論』은 민족주의 사학자이면서 동시에 국학 연구자로서 왕성한 활동을 하던 시기에 집필한 것으로 국민의식 고취라는 사명을 담은 저작이었다. 따라서 『演論』에 보이는 양명학의 전개과정은 다름 아닌 ‘양명학 정신의 전개사’ 혹은 ‘양명학 정신사’였다고 볼 수 있다. 이 논문에서 다룬 제5장 「陽明門徒 及 繼起한 諸賢」이 바로 그러한 특징을 확연히 보여주고 있는데, 양명학의 실천정신과 ‘절의(節義)’는 정인보가 (...) 중국 명말청초기의 지식인들을 이해하고 인식하는 두 가지 핵심코드였다. 그 때문에 제5장에 한정해서 보면, 사상적 내용이나 학문 방법상의 문제에 초점을 맞추었기 보다는 그들의 삶의 에피소드가 더욱 부각되고 있다. 삶의 에피소드도 일상생활에서의 삶의 태도는 물론이고 망국의 위기에 처한 지식인이 마땅히 행해야 할 모범으로서 ‘節義’에 중점을 두고 있는 것이다. 여기에는 민족적 위기의 시대에 실천하고 행동하는 지식인의 출현을 갈망한 정인보의 소망이 담겨있다고도 볼 수 있다. 그래서 이 논문은 『演論』의 전체 내용 가운데 제5장 「陽明門徒 及 繼起한 諸賢」을 실마리로 하여 거기에서 정인보가 논평을 가한 중국 명말청초기의 유자들, 즉 중국 근세사상사에서 주자학과 양명학을 통합하고 절충하려고 시도했던 대표적 유자인 유종주와 두 명의 문인 및 황종희(黃宗羲, 1610-1695), 손기봉(孫奇逢, 1584-1675), 이옹(李顒, 1627-1705) 등에 초점을 맞춰 이들에 대한 정인보의 이해와 인식의 양상을 탐구한 것이다. 이 논문의 구성은 전체 4장으로 되어있으며, 제1장에서는 문제제기와 함께 논문 전체의 방향성을 제시하였다. 본론으로 들어가 제2장의 첫 번째에서는 『연론』 제5장의 구성과 그 의의에 관해 분석하였고 두 번째는 정인보의 언설을 근거로 하여 구체적으로 유종주상(像)과 그 문인(門人)들에 대한 이해를 검토하였다. 본론의 제3장에서는 명말청초의 삼대유(三大儒)로 불리는 손기봉과 황종희 및 이옹에 대해 집중적으로 논의하면서 그 이해와 인식의 단서로서 그들의 인생과 학문의 배경에 존재했던 양명학 정신과 ‘절의(節義)’와 ‘충절(忠節)’이라는 것을 지적하였다. (shrink)

Ben shu wan zheng di ti xian le yang ming xin xue"xin ji li","zhi xing he yi","zhi liang zhi"san da ming ti,Sheng dong di ji zai le yang ming xin xue li lun zai yang ming shi sheng zhi jian de gou jian he chuan bo guo cheng,Jiao wei ji zhong di zhan xian he hui ji le yang ming de xin xue si xiang ti xi,Dui yu yang ming hou xue de fa zhan chan sheng le zhi jie (...) er shen yuan de ying xiang. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a model capturing the effects of ethics institutionalization on employee experiences in work life and overall life satisfaction. It was hypothesized that explicit ethics institutionalization has a positive effect on implicit ethics institutionalization, which in turn enhances employee experiences in work life. It was also hypothesized that employee work life experiences have a positive effect on overall life satisfaction and happiness, moderated by work–family life conflict. Data were collected though a (...) survey of marketing managers in Italy. The data provide good but partial support for the model. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. (shrink)

This paper examines the conceptions of logic from Leibniz, Hume, Kant, Frege, Wittgenstein and Ayer, and regards the six philosophers as the representatives of logical exceptionalism. From their standpoints, this paper refines the tenets of logical exceptionalism as follows: logic is exceptional to all other sciences because of four reasons: (i) logic is formal, neutral to any domain and any entities, and general; (ii) logical truths are made true by the meanings of logical constants they contain or by logicians' rational (...) insight to consequence relations; (iii) logical truths are analytical, a prior and necessary, so not‐revisable; and (iv) logical laws are normative for how to correctly think. However, logical exceptionalism has encountered difficult open problems: What are logical constants? How to justify basic laws of logic? How are logical laws accessible to us? How to explain the reasonability of rival logics and select from them? How to explain the universal applicability of logical laws? How to explain the normativity of logical laws for correct thinking? This paper concludes that logical anti‐exceptionalism is more hopeful to successfully answer these questions than logical exceptionalism. (shrink)

The view of embodied cognition believes that cognition is embodied in nature, only the dynamics involved in the interaction between cognitive activities and the nervous system, body and environment, only by closely linking the correct evaluation of time-dependent and relationship, then only can make a correct understanding of cognitive activities. The core concepts of body and environment involved in embodied cognition are different from the body and environment in the usual sense. In terms of research methods, dynamic research methods that (...) are different from traditional computer simulations are also adopted. The article first integrates and analyzes the basic position and general propositions in the discipline, then the embodied cognition are explained based on author's understanding. In addition, the suitability of dynamic research methods, its advantages and disadvantages is analyzed, and finally, a brief summary of the current status of embodied cognition research. (shrink)

In his Knowledge and Belief (1962), Hintikka establishes his system of epistemic logic with the KK (Knowing that One Knows, in symbols, Kp→KKp) principle (KK for short). However, his system of epistemic logic and the KK principle are grounded upon his strong notion of knowledge, which requires that knowledge is infallible, that is, it makes further inquiry pointless, and becomes ‘discussion-stopper’; knowledge implies truth, to wit, cognitive agents will not be mistaken in their knowledge; cognitive agents will be ‘perfect logicians’, (...) i.e. they have infinitive capability of logical inference. Hintikka calls the argument for KK from the strong notion of knowledge as the ‘transcendental argument’ for KK. Obviously, the strong notion of knowledge is far away from our ordinary conception of knowledge; based on such a strong sense of knowledge, epistemic logic has met the problem of logical omnipotence, and is difficult to apply in our ordinary cognitive practice. Moreover, there is no close connection of the KK principle with internalism or externalism. (shrink)

There are two versions of the correspondence theory of truth: the object-based correspondence theory and the fact-based correspondence theory. Some scholars have put forward their objections to my rejection of the concept of a fact and their defence of that concept. But their arguments are not cogent, since they haven’t clarified the relation between facts and propositions, haven’t successfully argued for the necessity and feasibility of introducing the concept of a fact, and haven’t provided an acceptable standard of identity for (...) facts. Under the framework of the fact-based correspondence theory, a “negative fact” is usually introduced to explain the falsehood of an affirmative proposition and the truth of a negative proposition. But, after careful analysis, we find that the positing of negative facts is the result of the concurrence of three factors: the positive states of objects, the expectations of cognitive subjects, and certain kinds of inferences, Thus, negative facts at most have a sort of inferential “existence” without independent ontological status. The positing of negative facts has been criticized for many reasons, such as the ontological inflation of negative facts, the supervenience of negative facts on positive facts, the imperceptibility of negative facts, and the lack of causal force of negative facts. Many replies to these criticisms have been put forward, such as the dilemma argument, the self-defeating argument, and the role-making of negative facts: constitution (e.g. hole-making), causation (event-making), chance-making, and truth-making. However, these replies can also be reasonably rejected. The final conclusion of this article is that, in order to account for the falsehood of an affirmative proposition and the truth of a negative proposition, we can appeal to the object-based correspondence theory of truth without appealing to the concept of a fact, let alone the concept of a “negative fact”. (shrink)

Du Weiming xian sheng shi dang dai yan jiu he chuan bo ru jia wen hua de zhong yao si xiang jia. Ta 1940 nian chu sheng yu Kunming, xian hou qiu xue yu Taiwan dong hai da xue he Meiguo Hafo da xue, ren jiao yu Pulinsidun da xue, Bokeli Jiazhou da xue. Zi 1981 nian, Du Weiming xian sheng yi zhi zai Hafo da xue Dong Ya xi dan ren li shi ji zhe xue jiao shou,qi (...) jian huo xuan Meiguo ren wen she hui ke xue yuan yuan shi, hai ceng dan ren Hafo Yanjing xue she she zhang. Chang qi yi lai, Du Weiming xian sheng zhi li yu ru xue di 3 qi fa zhan, quan shi Zhongguo wen hua, fan si xian dai jing shen, chang dao wen ming dui hua, zai hai nei wai xiang you hen gao de xue shu sheng yu. Du xian sheng fei chang re xin Zhongguo you xiu chuan tong wen hua zai ben tu de chuan bo, duo ci hui guo can jia jiao yu he xue shu jiao liu huo dong. Ta yu Beijing da xue you zhe te shu de yuan fen,zao zai 1985 nian jiu lai Beijing da xue jiang shou ru jia zhe xue. Zui jin Du Weiming xian sheng yi zheng shi shou pin wei Beijing da xue gao deng ren wen yan jiu yuan yuan zhang. (shrink)

Ben shu wei Xianggang Zhong wen da xue Ya Tai yan jiu suo yan jiu yuan Zheng Hailin bo shi suo zhu, ji jie qi fang xue dong xi fang shi nian suo zhuan xie wen zhi jing cui er cheng, nei rong fen wei si xiang, li shi ren wu, he wen hua ping lun san bu fen. Guan dian zheng que, ke guan gong zheng, fu yu chuang yi.

Bien que la tradition confucéenne place l’amitié en dernière position des cinq relations sociales, les écrits la concernant sont très importants. L’amitié qui lie Bo Ya et Zhong Ziqi trouve son prolongement dans celle de Fan Shi et Zhang Shao, dans la mesure où l’un des amis de ces couples meurt. Ces alliances amicales teintées d’un ton tragique et remontant à l’époque pré-impériale et aux Han ne cessent d’alimenter l’imaginaire des Chinois qui les subliment ou amplifient dans tous les genres (...) littéraires : poésie, théâtre et roman… Tous les auteurs privilégient la fidélité de ces personnages, leur vertu, caractère universel dans ce type de relation sociale. Ils insistent également sur le lien spirituel qui transcende la vie et la mort. À partir de la traduction de ces récits connus et célébrés, nous essayons dans cette étude de montrer comment l’exemplarité de l’amitié s’embellit ou se mythifie et de quelle manière l’intertextualité joue dans la formation du vocabulaire chinois à ce propos. (shrink)

It is argued that the so‐called principles of “strong centering” and “weak centering” central to the traditional Lewis‐Stalnaker semantics for counterfactuals are both fallacious. A foundation for an alternative semantics without these prinsciples is outlined. The core idea is that the statistically normal worlds – rather than those worlds most qualitatively similar to the actual world – should serve as the semantical fulcrum.

The Association for Computing Machinery's Committee on Professional Ethics has been charged to execute three major projects over the next two years: updating ACM's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, revising the enforcement procedures for the Code, and developing new media to promote integrity in the profession. We cannot do this alone, and we are asking SIGCAS members to volunteer and get involved. We will briefly describe the rationale and plan behind these projects and describe opportunities to get involved.