Griefbots are chatbots modeled on the personalities of deceased individuals, designed to assist with the grieving process and, according to some, to continue relationships with loved ones after their physical passing. The essay examines the promises and perils of griefbots from a Daoist perspective. According to the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi, death is a natural and inevitable phenomenon, a manifestation of the constant changes and transformations in the world. This approach emphasizes adaptability, flexibility, and openness to alternative ways of relating to (...) the deceased after they are gone. Drawing on the Daoist ideas, this essay distinguishes between two importantly different ways to continue a relationship with the deceased, and correspondingly, two kinds of griefbot designs: preservational griefbots and transformational griefbots. A preservational griefbot, which aims to preserve the user’s relationship with the deceased, presents itself as the deceased individual by replicating the deceased’s personality as closely and for as long as possible. By contrast, a transformational griefbot aligns more with Zhuangist ideals and aims to facilitate the transformation of our relationship with the deceased. It helps the bereaved come to terms with their loss and move on with their lives, without abandoning their relationship with the deceased. Specifically, it facilitates this transformation in two ways: first, by helping the bereaved release themselves from their habitual ways of relating to the loved one, thereby bringing closure to their relationship in its previous form; and second, by enabling the bereaved to continue interacting with the ideas and legacies of the deceased in a new and digitally mediated way, which, in turn, reshapes and enriches the content and significance of their relationship. (shrink)

This thesis investigates two main issues concerning the behavior of rational agents, preference dynamics and agent diversity. -/- We take up two questions left aside by von Wright, and later also the multitude of his successors, in his seminal book Logic of Preference in 1963: reasons for preference, and changes in preference. Various notions of preference are discussed, compared and further correlated in the thesis. In particular, we concentrate on extrinsic preference. Contrary to intrinsic preference, extrinsic preference is reason-based, i.e. (...) one's preference for one option over another has a reason. A logical model is proposed and its properties are determined. Dynamics come in naturally, since reasons for the preferences can change. Logical systems and formal results regarding dynamical preference change are then presented. -/- Preference arises from comparisons between alternatives. A first option is to compare situations. Abstractly speaking, preferences are in this case between propositions, viewed as sets of possible worlds. The reasons can then be based on a `betterness' relation over possible worlds. Propositional preference arises as a lift from this primitive relation. A standard modal logical approach is taken and we use a modality for the betterness relation in the language. We then model preference change by techniques from dynamic epistemic logic (DEL), where a typical action, e.g. a suggestion or a command can change the betterness ordering of the worlds, and thereby the propositional preference. Dynamic reduction axioms are obtained to encode exactly how such a change takes place. We obtain a complete dynamic preference logic. -/- A second option is to compare objects as such. Concretely, properties of the objects often determine the preference over the objects. Properties are now the reasons. Inspired by Optimality Theory (OT), we propose a priority sequence, an ordering of properties. Various ways of getting a preference from the priority sequence are investigated, though we mostly follow the OT approach. We use a fragment of first-order logic to describe the situation. Here, on the dynamic side, it is priority change that leads to preference change. Using the DEL methodology again we propose a complete set of reduction axioms concerning the possible dynamic operations on priority sequences. -/- Not surprisingly, the above two views are closely related. After all, possible worlds can be thought of as objects! On the basis of a systematic comparison of the two views, we develop a two level perspective, in which the models themselves are structured in layers. In particular, correspondence results between the changes at the level of the possible worlds and the changes at the level of the priority sequences are proved. We end up by sketching a two-level preferential predicate logic to describe more complex circumstances in which situations and objects are compared simultaneously. -/- But we do not see this as the whole story. Preference does not live by itself, it is often intermingled with epistemic notions of knowledge and belief. One can have different intuitions about how this entanglement operates. A few options are discussed, and proposals for logical models are presented. When moving to dynamics, we now see a picture of knowledge update, belief revision and preference change taking place symbiotically, often unconsciously as in real life. -/- The resulting picture in the thesis is one of agents that process information and adjust beliefs and preferences in many different ways. There is no logically prescribed unique norm for doing this. The second part of the thesis takes this general phenomenon of diversity of agents as its focus, since it raises many issues for logical systems and the idealized agents which they normally presuppose. In reality, agents can differ across a wide spectrum of cognitive abilities and habits: in their memory capacity, observation power, inferential power, introspective ability, and revision policies when facing new information. -/- Two kinds of agents, perfect recall agents, and memory-free agents are studied thoroughly, in the setting of playing games. We show how current dynamic logics can be `parametrized' to allow for this memory diversity, with new characterizations of agent types resulting in complete dynamic-epistemic logics. The other dimension of the reality of diverse agents is that, however different they are, they often do manage to coordinate with each other successfully. While this theme has been prominent in game theory and multi-agent systems, it has received hardly any attention in logic. We analyze this interaction between different agents by looking at concrete scenarios which model their types explicitly. -/- Finally, we analyze the issue of agent diversity in its generality, discussing what dynamic logics would have to look like to become a full-fledged account of agents of different capacities and tendencies that pursue and sometimes achieve their goals in irreducibly social settings. -/- . (shrink)

According to some formulations of the thesis of revelation, knowledge about the essences of phenomenal properties is available through introspection. But this claim may seem doubtful given relevant limits of introspection. This paper articulates the worry and sketches responses to address it.

陆流,字锦川,本号不息,知名中医及气功大师,四川省内外医学、哲学、气功和人体科学等学会理事及委员.

According to some formulations of the thesis of revelation, knowledge about the essences of phenomenal properties is available through introspection. But this claim may seem doubtful given relevant limits of introspection. This paper articulates the worry and sketches responses to address it.

According to some formulations of the thesis of revelation, knowledge about the essences of phenomenal properties is available through introspection. But this claim may seem doubtful given relevant limits of introspection. This paper articulates the worry and sketches responses to address it.

The relationship between bilingual language control and executive control is debated. The present study investigated the effect of short‐term language switching in a comprehension task on executive control performance in unbalanced bilinguals. Participants were required to perform a context task and an executive control task (i.e., flanker task) in sequence. A picture‐word matching task created different language contexts in Experiment 1 (i.e., L1, L2, and dual‐language contexts). By modifying the color‐shape switching task, we created different contexts that do not involve (...) language processing in Experiment 2 (i.e., color, shape, and dual context). Experiment 1 showed overall faster responses (in both congruent and incongruent trials) in the flanker task after a language switching context than after single (L1 or L2) contexts. This suggests that the language switching in a comprehension task affected general monitoring performance. By contrast, the nonlinguistic contexts in Experiment 2 did not affect flanker performance. This provides further evidence for the crucial role of language processing during switching to elicit short‐term adaptions on domain‐general conflict monitoring. Overall, our findings add to the previous studies by showing cross‐talk between bilingual language control and domain‐general conflict monitoring when language switching occurs in a comprehension task. (shrink)

Husserl’s thesis of absolute individuation consists of two ideas: (1) unlike experiences and mundane entities, which are individuated via spatiotemporal position, the subject has its own principle of individuation and (2) even for non-subjects, the ultimate principle of individuation is their relationship with the subject. Absolute individuation is sometimes qualitatively interpreted (even by Husserl): owing to habituation, a subject’s personal character cannot be reinstantiated elsewhere. I argue against the qualitative interpretation for two reasons. The first is its inconsistency with Husserl’s (...) account of the individuation of non-subjects. Maximally specific universals cannot individuate a non-subject because they can be multiply instantiated, at least in different phantasies. If multiple instantiation is also possible for personal characters, then this poses a problem for the qualitative interpretation. The second reason is that the qualitative interpretation cannot explain the subjective contribution to the individuation of non-subjects. I consequently propose an extra-qualitative interpretation: The relevant subject should be defined as one-off sic et simpliciter. It has no other determinations than one-offness and is, thus, pre-spatiotemporal. This can explain what individuates instances of maximally specific spatiotemporal universals, thereby addressing (2) above. It also highlights the need to recognize the respective contributions made by multiple notions of the subject. Husserl’s context-dependent distinction between constitutive determinations and principia individuationis may shed light on the qualitative/non-qualitative difference in contemporary metaphysics. The hierarchical model of individuation can also illuminate the debate around possible worlds and haecceitism. (shrink)

Background With the deepening trend of global aging, the issue of dignity of older adults has received widespread attention. The research on the dignity of older adults in nursing homes in China has only just begun, and it is necessary to further explore the dignity experience of older adults in nursing homes. Research Objective To investigate the thematic features of dignity experiences of older adults residing in nursing homes in mainland China. Furthermore, it may serve as a starting point for (...) further research that formulates intervention strategies. Research Design This is a qualitative descriptive study. Twenty older adults living in one of two private nursing homes between September and November 2022 were selected as participants. For each patient, we conducted semi-structured interviews, from which we extracted and assessed information using qualitative content analysis method. SRQR reporting guidelines were used. Ethical considerations ‘Ethical considerations' with information regarding ethical review, informed consent process and confidentiality. Results Five themes and eight subthemes emerged from the transcripts: (1) self-esteem (sense of self-worth and becoming a burden), (2) perceived value to society (being respected and belonging), (3) interpersonal relationships (relationships with others and respectful behavior toward others), (4) autonomy (control of daily life and participation in decision-making), and (5) acceptance and adaptation. Conclusion Dignity in older adults can be preserved by realizing self-worth, relieving the burden of self-perceived, promoting belonging, strengthening social ties, enhancing autonomy, and engaging in activities. (shrink)

Kant's emphasis on the aesthetic idea permeates the judgment of beauty and the creation of beauty. This paper argues that both natural and artistic beauty are concrete expressions of aesthetic ideas. Regarding natural beauty, the subject appreciates the natural object through a dual grasp of the aesthetic normal idea and the rational idea. Regarding artistic beauty, the aesthetic idea can make the rational idea sensible, allowing the subject to derive aesthetic pleasure by reflecting on the aesthetic representations of rational ideas. (...) Moreover, genius as a natural gift is capable of giving rules for creating artistic beauty, in which the spirit realizes the universal expression of the aesthetic idea. In Kant's framework, the combination of taste and genius provides a context for reflective judgment, which can thus be reconciled with the “free play of the imagination and the understanding.” In this way, the aesthetic idea embodies the dual perspective of subject and object, thereby furnishing a normative dimension to Kant's aesthetics. (shrink)

Loginis būtinumas yra kertinė sąvoka interpretuojant loginį sekimą, tačiau diskusijos apie loginio būtinumo kilmę yra retos. Šiame straipsnyje atkreipiu dėmesį į vieną ypatingą reiškinį, kuris implikuoja, kad ne tik modelio teorijos tradicija, tačiau ir esencialistinis požiūris į loginį būtinumą gali jo kilmę sieti su loginėmis konstantomis ar loginėmis sąvokomis. Aš teigiu, kad, laikantis ankstesnės tradicijos, loginės konstantos galėtų būti asimiliuotos su priimtinų modelių apribojimais ir kad loginio būtinumo šaltinį yra labiau tikėtina aptikti modeliuose; laikantis antrojo požiūrio bei skolinantis idėjų iš (...) pirmojo, loginio būtinumo kilmė turėtų būti aptikta prigimtyje to, kam modeliai atstovauja, t. y. situacijose. (shrink)

Overqualified employees are prevalent in today’s organizations. While previous research suggests that supervisors may not often appreciate employee overqualification, how they may respond to the overqualification of their subordinates unethically has unfortunately been overlooked in organizational research. Drawing on social rank theory, we propose that supervisors may perceive a threat to their status from their overqualified subordinates, leading to supervisor undermining as an unethical response. We further hypothesize that the interpersonal personality traits of subordinates—extroversion and agreeableness—moderate the indirect relationship. We (...) conducted a multi-wave, multisource survey study among supervisor-subordinate dyads (Study 1) and two vignette-based experiments (Studies 2A and 2B) to test our hypotheses. In Study 1, our results show that the positive indirect effect of subordinate overqualification on supervisor undermining through supervisor perceived status threat is weaker when subordinates exhibit low (vs. high) extraversion. Studies 2A and 2B largely replicate the above findings with strengthening the internal validity of our theorization. The implications of our findings for theory and practice are discussed. (shrink)

Leaders are often faced with the dilemma as to how to respond to employee misconduct. However, scholarly accounts of leader actions in such situations have primarily focused on punishment as a mechanism for dealing with employee misconduct. Leader leniency, an alternative response that is often adopted in practice, has been largely overlooked. Consequently, in order to provide a more complete account of leader responses to employee misconduct and to clarify whether leader leniency is effective, we investigate the potential double-edged influences (...) of leader leniency on employee task performance. Specifically, we propose that leader leniency inhibits employee task performance through the mediating role of psychological entitlement, while it also has beneficial effects on employee task performance through the mediating role of servant leadership perception. Moreover, trait moral disengagement serves as a vital boundary condition, which amplifies the negative influence of leader leniency through psychological entitlement and simultaneously mitigates its positive effect through servant leadership perception. Results from an experience sampling study and a scenario-based experiment supported our hypotheses. Our work highlights the mixed blessing of leader leniency and clarifies when and how leader leniency rehabilitates wrongdoers or instead propels them to further down the path of misconduct. (shrink)

This review examines global human genetic resources management, focusing on genetic data policies and repositories in high- and middle-low-income countries. A comprehensive search strategy was employed across multiple databases, including official government websites and Google, to gather relevant literature on human genetic resources management policies and genetic resource databases. Documents were screened for relevance, focusing on high-income countries (United States, United Kingdom, Japan) and middle-low-income countries (China, India, Kenya). Data were extracted, coded, and analyzed to identify common themes and differences (...) in genetic resource management practices. High-income countries benefit from robust legal frameworks and advanced technological infrastructures. The United States enforces the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act to protect privacy and facilitate data sharing, while Japan relies on the Act on the Protection of Personal Information and ethical guidelines. Additionally, high-income countries host a variety of genetic databases and biobanks that support scientific research. In contrast, middle-low-income countries like China, India, and Kenya are still developing their frameworks. China has regulations such as the Biosecurity Law and the Regulations on the Management of Human Genetic Resources, but still requires more unified standards. India’s policies focus on genetic research and data protection through the Biological Diversity Act, while Kenya seeks to improve data management through the 2019 Data Protection Act. Significant disparities exist in human genetic resources management between high-income and middle-low-income countries. High-income countries have robust systems balancing privacy protection with research facilitation, supported by comprehensive and large-scale databases for scientific research. Middle-low-income countries need to enhance legal frameworks and build population-specific databases. Promoting equitable data sharing and adopting best practices from high-income countries are essential for advancing global scientific discovery and ensuring fair management of genetic resources. (shrink)

In the hymn to Bacchus (Tristia 5.3), Ovid looks from Tomis back to Rome, where the chorus of poets gathers for the Liberalia. This article argues that Ovid fashions in Tristia 5.3 a poetic rebirth out of Tomis, deploying in this elegy themes and motifs from the god’s mysteries to bolster the pervasive message of persistence in the Tristia. This Bacchic mystic tone is accomplished through the hymn’s ritual elements and dithyrambic strategies, which reflect on both Ovid’s death-like position in (...) exile and his poetic activity there. Furthermore, this article argues that Ovid encodes his mystic dithyrambic strategies in a hitherto unnoticed bilingual acrostic. Through ritual and dithyrambic strategies, Ovid merges three loci of time and space—past Rome, present Rome and present Tomis—and thus reintegrates himself into Rome, rearticulating his Roman citizenship as a literary one. (shrink)

Kant's emphasis on the aesthetic idea permeates the judgment of beauty and the creation of beauty. This paper argues that both natural and artistic beauty are concrete expressions of aesthetic ideas. Regarding natural beauty, the subject appreciates the natural object through a dual grasp of the aesthetic normal idea and the rational idea. Regarding artistic beauty, the aesthetic idea can make the rational idea sensible, allowing the subject to derive aesthetic pleasure by reflecting on the aesthetic representations of rational ideas. (...) Moreover, genius as a natural gift is capable of giving rules for creating artistic beauty, in which the spirit realizes the universal expression of the aesthetic idea. In Kant's framework, the combination of taste and genius provides a context for reflective judgment, which can thus be reconciled with the “free play of the imagination and the understanding.” In this way, the aesthetic idea embodies the dual perspective of subject and object, thereby furnishing a normative dimension to Kant's aesthetics. (shrink)

This study examines the formation and development of the Xiangxi Miao Drum Dance (XMDD) through a philosophical and religious lens, situating its evolution within the broader discourse of cultural ecology and spiritual practice. The research seeks to uncover how the interplay between the Miao people's ancestral environment, cosmological beliefs, and socio-cultural traditions has shaped this unique ritualistic art form. Employing a qualitative research design, the study integrates ethnographic methods—including participant observation, interviews with local practitioners, and analysis of historical texts—to explore (...) the sacred and symbolic dimensions of XMDD. Key findings reveal that the dance originates from agricultural rituals and clan-based, matriarchal structures of Miao society, dating back to the Zhou and Qin dynasties. More significantly, the research highlights how XMDD functions as a conduit for spiritual expression, invoking divine protection, ancestral reverence, and cosmic harmony. Over time, this ritual dance has transformed from a sacred communal practice into a performative cultural heritage, yet it continues to carry profound religious and philosophical significance. The study underscores the necessity of preserving XMDD within both traditional and contemporary contexts, not merely as an artistic expression but as a vehicle for transmitting religious worldviews and philosophical reflections on identity, harmony, and transcendence. Future research should further investigate the dance’s role in shaping Miao religious thought, its contribution to interethnic philosophical discourse, and its pedagogical potential in fostering spiritual and cultural awareness. (shrink)

The writer is an engineering science technician. Based on the epistemology and methodology of materialist dialectics, understanding the thought of the universe origin of Taoist philosophy and Buddhist philosophy, and combining the modern scientific information of modern physics, system science and physical cosmology, the author has put forward a series of new ideas on the universe origin. The new scientific universe ontology calls on the scientific community to prove and explain the origin of the universe with science, solve the doubts (...) of the theoretical scientific community about quantum mechanics, realize the scientific understanding of the universe space and the existence in space, create new ideas and understanding of space and time, and create a new universe view. This is not only the inspiration and verification of modern science to the primitive thought of the universe of our ancestors, but also a new method to solve the contradiction of modern physics, which inspires human beings to think about survival and existence. (shrink)

The previous article “Scientific Cosmological Ontology” discussed that the “theoretical contradictions” between quantum mechanics and relativity may become a joke in the history of human existence. It is believed that human philosophical thinking, from Socrates, Plato, to Aristotle, was a turning point. For more than 2000 years, we have been developing in the direction of material philosophy and material science according to Aristotle, and we have reached the peak of human thinking. Modern physics is a great achievement at this peak. (...) According to the principles of dialectical materialism, this “theoretical contradiction” has opened the door to the original thinking of the universe. We have to go back 2500 years to pick up the great banner of cosmic origin that humanity has abandoned, and human thinking. This article continues to analyze the “theoretical contradictions” between quantum mechanics and relativity, and to design the philosophical framework of modern physics according to the thought of cosmic origin. (shrink)

In contrast to the individualistically focused paradigm, this article suggests that persuasion is a relationship- and context-specific phenomenon. The article analyses how interpersonal and mass persuasion operates in Chinese daily life. The key concepts of filial piety and guanxi as a major feature of persuasion in the public sphere are thoroughly analysed. It is argued that persuasion is indispensable in dialogical relationships between the self and other, and between the individual and society; yet at the same time it is indigenous (...) to the socio-cultural context. (shrink)

We examined whether and how managerial ability affects the relationship between customer concentration and corporate performance. Based on a novel measure of managerial ability, we found that customer concentration has a significant negative effect on corporate performance, while managerial ability can mitigate this effect. The negative effect of customer concentration is only significant in the subsample of low ability and lower efficiency in asset utilization, while the moderating effect of managerial ability is significant for all levels of asset utilization efficiency (...) and more significant for firms with a lower gross margin. The results are robust to numerous robustness tests and endogeneity concerns. Additional analysis of mechanisms shows that in addition to superior operating ability, competent managers select major customers who are more beneficial to their company and decrease the sensitivity of their research and development investment to customers. These findings indicate that the heterogeneity of managerial ability plays an important role in the supplier–customer context when the supplier firm generally faces one or more concentrated customers. (shrink)

The pattern, process, and mechanism of residential heterogeneity vary significantly with different geographical scales. However, most traditional methods ignore the checkboard and modifiable areal unit problem, which may cover up the complexity and hierarchy of social space. Taking Hangzhou city as an example, a multiscalar method was proposed based on the information entropy theory to estimate residential heterogeneity and its scale sensitivity. Based on the sixth population census of Hangzhou and the housing price database of 6,536 residential districts from 2008 (...) to 2018, we explore the scale effect and dynamic characteristics of residential heterogeneity. The results of spatial simulation and geostatistical analysis based on Python Spatial Analysis Library module show that the multiscalar algorithm better presents the real segregation pattern than traditional method, which is one of the new models and technologies in urban geography complex system. Exploring residential heterogeneity through multiscalar lens provides an important basis for the gradual and refined urban renewal. (shrink)

Emotion terms such as “sad”, “happy”, and “joyful” apply to a wide range of entities. We use them to refer to mental states of sentient beings, and also to describe features of non‐mental things such as comportment, nature, events, artworks and so on. Drawing on the literature on polysemy, this article provides an in‐depth analysis of emotion descriptions. It argues that emotion terms are polysemous and distinguishes seven related senses. In addition, the article applies the analysis to shed light on (...) a long‐standing debate in philosophy of music concerning emotion descriptions of music. (shrink)

Firstly, the authors analyzed the properties of primary-onditionals and secondary-conditionals, establishthe minimum system $C2L_{m}$ of primary-conditionals and secondary-conditionals, and then prove some of the formal theorems of the system which have important intuitive meanings. Secondly, the authors constructed the neighborhood semantics, prove the soundness of $C2L_{m}$ , introduce a general concept of canonical model by the neighborhood semantics, and then prove the completeness of $C2L_{m}$ by the canonical model. Finally, according to the technical results of the minimum system $C2L_{m}$ , (...) the authors discuss some of the important problems concerning primary-conditionals and secondary- onditionals. (shrink)

This article explores anti-racist education in business schools amidst the backlash against critical race theory in an anti-Black world. I conduct an autoethnography of my experiences as a woman of colour and management educator who has attempted to bring critical discussions of race and racism into my classrooms. The article examines the barriers to anti-racist teaching in business schools and shows how they interweave individual/interpersonal, institutional, and ideological domains of power. Through my stories, I offer an account of the ways (...) anti-racist education may be limited when it relies on the efforts of individual academics and reveal the tolls that anti-racist education can take on the educator, especially when they are navigating wider systems that are hostile to racial justice. By interrogating the challenges of anti-racist education, I also reflect on the practices and conditions that make meaningful anti-racist education possible. (shrink)

Low‐molecular‐weight (LMW) thiols are extensively involved in the maintenance of cellular redox potentials and the protection of cells from a variety of reactive chemical and electrophilic species. However, we recently found that the metabolic coupling of two LMW thiols – mycothiol (MSH) and ergothioneine (EGT) – programs the biosynthesis of the anti‐infective agent lincomycin A. Remarkably, such a constructive role of the thiols in the biosynthesis of natural products has so far received relatively little attention. We speculate that the unusual (...) thiol EGT might function as a chiral thiolation carrier (for modification) and a novel activator (for glycosylation) of sugar. Additionally, we examine recent evidence for LMW thiols (MSH and others) as sulfur donors of sulfur‐containing natural products. Clearly, the LMW thiols have more diverse activities beyond cell protection, and more attention should be paid to the correlation of their functions with thiol‐dependent enzymes. (shrink)

Ernst Brücke’s 1861 essay Die Elementarorganismen has often been cited as a watershed in the history of physiology as well as in the history of cell theory. In its time it was widely read as a reform of animal cell theory, shifting the concept of the cell away from Schleiden and Schwann’s original cell schema of a membranous vesicle with a nucleus, and towards the protoplasm theory that had developed in botany, centered on the cell’s living contents. It was also (...) notorious for its arguments against the necessity of both the nucleus and the cell membrane. An English translation of “The Elementary Organisms” is presented for the first time in this journal issue, with annotations and illustrations, doi:10.1007/s10739-024-09773-9. Brücke’s essay was not only an intervention into cell theory: historians can read it as a continuation of debates on the nature of the organism and theories of organization, and as an epistemological meditation on the microscope. In addition, although Brücke was known as a founder of the Berlin school of organic physics, “The Elementary Organisms” shows how he combined an avant-garde physicalist physiology with a much older tradition of comparative anatomy and physiology. The following introductory essay will provide a scientific biography of Ernst Brücke up to 1863, with background on debates on biological organization, cell theory, and muscle histology. (shrink)

In this paper, we consider the iterative algorithm for a boundary value problem of n -order fractional differential equation with mixed integral and multipoint boundary conditions. Using an iterative technique, we derive an existence result of the uniqueness of the positive solution, then construct the iterative scheme to approximate the positive solution of the equation, and further establish some numerical results on the estimation of the convergence rate and the approximation error.

Despite numerous published writings on China's regional role, the world still knows very little about Beijing's perception and strategy. This article seeks to make an intellectual contribution in understanding China's foreign policy and its efforts to participate in East Asian integration. This article argues that under the rhetoric of peaceful development and community building, China's foreign policy is pragmatic and changes with the tide of events in international relations. China's participation in regional integration serves as a good case for examining (...) changes in Beijing's strategy. In the past two decades, China has moved from a reluctant participant of regional affairs to an active participant and potential future leader. China's adjusting role is a consequence of Beijing's pragmatism in policy and its growing economic confidence. Pragmatism has led China to and wait for the proper timing to step onto the world stage. (shrink)

A striking feature of human female sexual reproduction is the high level of gametes that exhibit an aberrant number of chromosomes (aneuploidy). A high baseline observed in women of prime reproductive age is followed by a dramatic increase in older women. Proper chromosome segregation requires one or more DNA crossovers (COs) between homologous maternal and paternal chromosomes, in combination with cohesion between sister chromatid arms. In human females, CO designations occur normally, according to the dictates of CO interference, giving early (...) CO-fated intermediates. However, ≈25% of these intermediates fail to mature to final CO products. This effect explains the high baseline of aneuploidy and is predicted to synergize with age-dependent cohesion loss to explain the maternal age effect. Here, modern advances in the understanding of crossing over and CO interference are reviewed, the implications of human female CO maturation inefficiency are further discussed, and areas of interest for future studies are suggested. (shrink)