This paper is focused on the analysis of two documents (the Council of Europe's Bioethics Convention and the Additional Cloning Protocol) inasmuch as they refer to the relationship between human dignity and human genetic engineering. After presenting the stipulations of the abovementioned documents, I will review various proposed meanings of human dignity and will try to identify which of these seem to be at the core of their underlying assumptions. Is the concept of dignity proposed in the two documents coherent? (...) Is it morally legitimate? Is it, as some might assume, of Kantian origin? Does it have any philosophical roots? (shrink)

This paper attempts to articulate contributions from the language sciences, psychology and educational sciences to address, in a strongly interactionist perspective, the question of the role of language in human functioning. This reflection lead us to return to central notions such as sign, meaning, interaction, development, activity, from a theoretical and methodological point of view. The methodological point of view give us the opportunity to problematize the unit (or units) of analysis capable of allowing a non-reductionist seizure of language dynamics (...) within human functioning. We base our reflection on the contribution of several authors, including Saussure, Bloomfield, Coseriu, Vygotski, Piaget, but also contemporary works in connection with our own research. (shrink)

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, more than 4 million Italians migrated to the United States of America (U.S.), which they regarded as a utopia. The film _The Legend of 1900_, which was inspired by Alessandro Baricco’s monologue _Nocecento_ and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore, tells the story about the genius pianist 1900, an orphan, who is fostered by Danny, a black coalman in the boiler room of an ocean liner, and whose parents are presumably Italian immigrants. Due to (...) immigration law, 1900, a man with neither identity, visa, nor legal papers, cannot legally set foot on American soil. As a genius pianist, his existence is nothing more than that of musician—an entertainer to passengers on the gigantic trans-Atlantic liner Virginian, the only place he is permitted to live. According to Michel Foucault’s notion of heterotopia, a ship is “a piece of floating space, a placeless place”—a vessel transporting people to the land of their dreams. However, 1900, who has no legal status, will never arrive in utopia aboard Virginian. He can only construct a heterotopia—a mirror of utopia—so that it to him is a utopia. In the eyes of the law, 1900 is a legally non-existent person on Virginian, a placeless place. However, it is this lawless heterotopia and isolation that create a genius. In this paper, I illustrate how Virginian, as a place outside the law of land, metaphorically gives birth to a pianist, 1900, and why 1900 at the end chooses not to leave the ship, while also discussing the meaning behind the film and the relationship between law and space. (shrink)

In the present study, we use a training design in two experiments to examine whether bilingual language switching facilitates two components of cognitive control, namely monitoring and inhibitory control. The results of Experiment 1 showed that training in language switching reduced mixing costs and the anti-saccade effect among bilinguals. In Experiment 2, the findings revealed a greater decrease of mixing costs and a smaller decrease of the anti-saccade effect from pre- to post-training for the language switching training group compared to (...) the L2 training group. Overall, the results suggest that extensive exercise in monitoring and inhibitory control among languages in an experimental setting may enhance the corresponding components of cognitive control. We discuss these findings in the context of the relationship between bilingual language control and executive control. (shrink)

L'idée que la concentration géographique est essentielle au processus d'innovation est largement admise. Or, ce lien n'est pas clairement établi et il convient de réinterroger les relations entre communication, localisation et processus d'innovation. Cet article s'attache à le faire en privilégiant une entrée par les dynamiques de proximité, c'est-à-dire par la question de la coordination des acteurs. Nous identifions dans un premier temps le rôle de la proximité entre les différentes parties prenantes du processus d'innovation. Nous proposons ensuite une typologie (...) de la diversité des configurations spatiales de l'innovation en tenant compte du jeu dynamique des proximités.The idea that geographic concentration is essential to the process of innovation is widely recognized. However, this relationship is not clear and should re-examine the relationship between communication, location and process innovation. This article attempts to do so by favoring entry dynamics proximity, that is to say, by the issue of coordination of the actors. We identify firstly the role of proximity between the various stakeholders in the innovation process. We then propose a typology of the diversity of spatial patterns of innovation taking into account the dynamic interplay of proximity. (shrink)

Single crystal samples of n - deformed to a permanent strain of 2% at room temperature under multiple-slip conditions contain faulted dipoles whose density exhibits some dependence on load orientation. Although FDs are hard to observe after compression along [210], they are profuse and congregated in places in the [1 1 8.6] load orientation. They exhibit most of the topological characteristics of FDs formed under single slip as reported by Grégori and Veyssière such as elongation in the screw direction of (...) the primary d 011] slip direction and a noticeable shape asymmetry. It is shown further that, in the [1 1 8.6] samples, bundles of FDs originate at jogs that result from intersection with forest dislocations of appropriate Burgers vectors. A mechanism for FD nucleation is proposed on the basis of asymmetrical dissociation of the parent d 011] dislocation and specific impingements between the various partials on two adjacent octahedral planes. Implications of the FD nucleation at jogs on the load orientation dependence of the FD density are discussed. (shrink)

Vinaya rules embody the ideal of how Buddhists should regulate their daily lives, and monastics are required to observe them, despite the fact that they were compiled nearly 2,500 years ago in India: a context dramatically different not only from Chinese Buddhism's present monastic conditions, but from its historical conditions. Against this backdrop, rules of purity were gradually formulated by Chinese masters in medieval times to supplement and adapt vinaya rules to China's cultural ethos and to specific local Chinese contexts. (...) This study explores how the traditional qinggui are applied by the Buddhist sa?gha in present-day Taiwan, and contrasts modern monastics' opinions on these rules and their relation to early Buddhist vinaya, on the one hand, against classical Chan literature and the Buddhist canon, on the other. This comparison fills a notable gap in the existing literature. (shrink)

According to tradition, Mah?praj?pat?, the Buddha’s aunt and stepmother, when allowed to join the Buddhist monastic community, accepted eight ‘fundamental rules’ that made the nuns’ order dependent upon the monks’ order. This story has given rise to much debate, in the past as well as in the present. This article first shows how the eight rules became an integrated part of the vinaya, and more particularly of the Dharmaguptakavinaya, that forms the basis of monastic ordinations in East Asia. Against the (...) background of a much debated attack on these gurudharmas by the Taiwanese nun Shih Chao-hwei, we have then analysed the viewpoints of contemporary Taiwanese nuns, focusing on some less studied, yet very influential, Taiwanese monastic institutes. This research has brought to light a diversity of opinions on the applicability of the rules, relying in each case on a clear vision on Buddhism and vinaya. (shrink)

According to tradition, when the Buddha’s aunt and stepmother Mah?praj?pat? was allowed to join the Buddhist monastic community, she accepted eight ‘fundamental rules’ that made the nuns’ order dependent upon the monks’ order. This story has given rise to much debate, in the past as well as in the present, and this is no less the case in Mainland China, where nunneries have started to re-emerge in recent decades. This article first presents new insight into Mainland Chinese monastic practitioners’ common (...) perspectives and voices regarding the gurudharmas, which are rarely touched upon in scholarly work. Next, each of the rules is discussed in detail, allowing us to analyse various issues, until now understudied, regarding the applicability of the gurudharmas in Mainland Chinese contexts. This research thus provides a detailed overview of nuns’ perceptions of how traditional vinaya rules and procedures can be applied in contemporary Mainland Chinese monastic communities based on a cross-regional empirical study. (shrink)

Double 11 shopping carnival, celebrated by the most successful electronic-commerce Chinese company, Alibaba, has always been the online shopping festival with the highest turnover and involves the largest number of consumers and enterprises in China. This study integrates the elaboration likelihood model and stimulus-organism-response theory to study the dual-processing path of information, which drives customers’ behavioral intention on Double 11. There are 454 valid samples of data are collected, and the research model is tested using the partial least squares method. (...) Results show that in the Double 11 context, two different processing mechanisms affect consumers’ behavioral intention. Thereinto, consumers’ behavioral intention is more affected by the peripheral path than the central path. The affective experience affected by the information stimulus has a greater impact on the behavioral intention than cognitive experience. Furthermore, we find situational involvement have different moderating effects on the relationship between two experiences and behavioral intention. (shrink)

The practice of mathematical word problem is ubiquitous and thought to impact academic achievement. However, the underlying neural mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this study, we investigate how lexical consistency of word problem description is modulated in adults' brain responses during word problem solution. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging methods, we examined compare word problems that included relational statements, such as “A dumpling costs 9 dollars. A wonton is 2 dollars less than a dumpling. How much does a wonton (...) cost?” and manipulated lexical consistency and problem operation. We found a consistency by operation interaction in the widespread fronto-insular-parietal activations, including the anterior insula, dorsoanterior cingulate cortex, middle frontal gyrus, and intraparietal sulcus, such that inconsistent problems engaged stronger activations than consistent problems for addition, whereas the consistency effect was inverse for subtraction. Critically, these results were more salient in the less successful problem solvers than their more successful peers. Our study is the first to demonstrate that lexical consistency effects on arithmetic neural networks are modulated during reading word problem that required distinct arithmetic operations. More broadly, our study has strong potentials to add linkage between neuroscience and education by remediating deficits and enhance instruction design in the school curriculum. (shrink)

Background: Healthcare workers in the front line of diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 are at great risk of both infection and developing mental health symptoms. This study aimed to investigate the following: whether healthcare workers in general hospitals experience higher mental distress than those in psychiatric hospitals; the role played by religion and alexithymic trait in influencing the mental health condition and perceived level of happiness of healthcare workers amidst the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic; (...) and factors that influence the resilience of healthcare workers at 6 weeks' follow-up.Methods: Four-hundred and fifty-eight healthcare workers were recruited from general and psychiatric hospitals, and 419 were followed-up after 6 weeks. All participants filled out the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale, five-item Brief-Symptom Rating Scale, and the Chinese Oxford Happiness Questionnaire.Results: Under the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, 12.3% of frontline healthcare workers in general hospitals reported having mental distress and perceived lower social adaptation status compared with those working in psychiatric hospitals. Christians/Catholics perceived better psychological well-being, and Buddhists/Taoists were less likely to experience mental distress. The results at 6 weeks of follow-up showed that the perceived lower social adaptation status of general hospital healthcare workers was temporary and improved with time. Christian/Catholic religion and time had independent positive effects on psychological well-being; however, the interaction of Christian/Catholic religion and time had a negative effect.Conclusions: Collectivism and individualism in the cultural context are discussed with regard to alexithymic trait and Buddhist/Taoist and Christian/Catholic religious faiths. Early identification of mental distress and interventions should be implemented to ensure a healthy and robust clinical workforce for the treatment and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)

BackgroundBreast cancer patients are at elevated risk of depression during treatment, thus provoking the chance of poor clinical outcomes. This retrospective cohort study aimed to investigate whether integrating Chinese herbal medicines citation into conventional cancer therapy could decrease the risk of depression in the long-term breast cancer survivors.MethodsA cohort of patients aged 20–70 years and with newly diagnosed breast cancer during 2000–2008 was identified from a nationwide claims database. In this study, we focused solely on survivors of breast cancer at (...) least1 year after diagnosis. After one-to-one matching for age, sex, and baseline comorbidities, breast cancer patients who received and did not receive CHM treatment were enrolled. The incidence rate and hazard ratio citation for depression between the two groups was estimated at the end of 2012. A Cox proportional hazard model was constructed to examine the impact of the CHM use on the risk of depression.ResultsDuring the study period, the incidence rate of depression was significantly lower in the treated cohort than in the untreated cohort [8.57 compared with 11.01 per 1,000 person-years citation], and the adjusted HR remained significant at 0.74 in a Cox proportional hazards regression model. The corresponding risk further decreasing to 43% among those using CHM for more than 1 year.ConclusionFinding from this investigation indicated that the lower risk of depression observed in breast cancer patients treated with CHM, suggesting that CHM treatment should be considered for disease management toward breast cancer. Yet, the optimal administered dose should be determined in further clinical trials. (shrink)

The critical node detection problem is a central task in computational graph theory due to its large applicability, consisting in deleting $k$ nodes to minimize a certain graph measure. In this article, we propose a new Extremal Optimization-based approach, the Pseudo-Deterministic Noisy Extremal Optimization (PDNEO) algorithm, to solve the Critical Node Detection variant in which the pairwise connectivity is minimized. PDNEO uses an adaptive pseudo-deterministic parameter to switch between random nodes and articulation points during the search, as well as other (...) features, such as noise induction to preserve diversity, greedy search to better exploit the search space and a greater search space exploration mechanism. Numerical experiments on synthetic and real-world networks show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared with existing methods. (shrink)

Since the “The Belt and Road” initiative was put forward in 2013, China's foreign investment growth rate has been greatly accelerated. In The Belt and Road context, many scholars used models to analyze the relationship between foreign direct investment, trade flows, and import and export trade. From literature reviews, it is found that previous scholars do not conform to reality and cannot be studied dynamically. Therefore, this study used the panel data of China's foreign direct investment and import and export (...) trade in 40 countries along “The Belt and Road” from 2010 to 2019 to focuses on the impact of foreign direct investment on trade flows, import trade and export trade. Regression analysis was carried out with the trade gravity model and Tinbergen's trade gravity model. In addition to model variables and arguments, the following control variables were adopted: exchange rate, natural resource rents, labor force population, differences in consumer ability, trade openness, and trade agreement signing. The results found that: Foreign direct investment has a positive correlation with trade flow and import and export trade. The labor force population has a negative correlation with trade flow, and import and export trade. The expansion of China's economic scale can increase the scale of China's import and export trade, at the same time, the gap in consumption levels between the two countries will restrict the degree of import and export trade. The possession of natural resources can also promote the development of trade. (shrink)

Various walking speeds may induce different responses on the plantar pressure patterns. Current methods used to analyze plantar pressure patterns are linear and ignore nonlinear features. The purpose of this study was to analyze the complexity of plantar pressure images after walking at various speeds using nonlinear bidimensional multiscale entropy. Twelve participants were recruited for walking at three speeds for 20 minutes. A plantar pressure measurement system was used to measure plantar pressure patterns. Complexity index, a summation of MSE2D from (...) all time scales, was used to quantify the changes of complexity of plantar pressure images. The analysis of variance with repeated measures and Fisher’s least significant difference correction were used to examine the results of this study. The results showed that CI of plantar pressure images of 1.8 mph was significantly lower compared with 3.6 and 5.4 mph. The results also showed that CI significantly increased from the 1st min to the 10th min and 20th min with slow walking. Our results indicate that slow walking at 1.8 mph may not be good for postural control compared with moderate walking and fast walking. This study demonstrates that bidimensional multiscale entropy is able to quantify complexity changes of plantar pressure images after different walking speeds. (shrink)

Recent studies support a model in which the progeny of SOX9+ epithelial progenitors at the distal tip of lung branches undergo cell allocation and differentiation sequentially along the distal‐to‐proximal axis. Concomitant with the elongation and ramification of lung branches, the descendants of the distal SOX9+ progenitors are distributed proximally, express SOX2, and differentiate into cell types in the conducting airways. Amid subsequent sacculation, the distal SOX9+ progenitors generate alveolar epithelial cells to form alveoli. Sequential cell allocation and differentiation (...) are integrated with the branching process to generate a functional branching organ. This review focuses on the roles of SOX9+ cells as precursors for new branches, as the source of various cell types in the conducting airways, and as progenitors of the alveolar epithelium. All of these processes are controlled by multiple signaling pathways. Many mouse mutants with defective lung branching contain underlying defects in one or more steps of cell allocation and differentiation of SOX9+ progenitors. This model provides a framework to understand the molecular basis of lung phenotypes and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of lung patterning. It builds a foundation on which comparing and contrasting the mechanisms employed by different branching organs in diverse species can be made. (shrink)

Biological forms are very complex, and mechanisms of pattern formation are not well understood. Although developmental biology deals with the mechanistic explanation of patterns, currently we do not know how to understand the mechanisms of pattern formation from huge amounts of molecular information. In this article, I present one useful tool, mathematical modeling, to obtain a mechanistic understanding of biological pattern formation, and show an actual example in lung branching morphogenesis. In this example, mathematical modeling plays an indispensable role (...) in understanding the biological phenomena. The model successfully reproduces the basic features of morphogenesis in vitro, but mechanism in vivo still remains to be elucidated. (shrink)