We test the hypothesis that US corporations headquartered in states with greater public corruption are also prone to more unethical behavior when operating abroad. We exploit passage of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that curtailed bribery of foreign officials and find firms in corrupt states, especially those exporting to more corrupt countries, suffer greater performance decline following FCPA, suggesting larger loss from anticipated bribery restrictions. Controlling for industry, firms in corrupt states are more likely to be targets of FCPA enforcement actions. (...) They are also more likely to have paid foreign bribes, as disclosed during pre-FCPA investigations. (shrink)

Digital marketing tactics, such as social media advertisements and online promotions, have an impact on customers' propensity to make purchases, influencing their purchasing decisions and behaviors. The effect of digital media marketing on consumers' intentions to purchase, is the term used to describe this phenomenon. Digital media marketing tactics have a problem that they can't take into consideration the variety of customer behaviors, which could result in generalized findings that are not applicable to certain market personal preferences. Randomly collected 180 (...) participants for this study to find the impact of digital media marketing on customer buying intentions, and randomly questionnaires were collected. There are some factors depicted in this study that Consumer Purchase Intension (CPI) is a dependent variable, and independent variables such as Perceived Relevance (PR), Frequency of Exposure (FE), Content Quality (CQ), Platform Trust (PT), and Social Proof (SP). Digital media marketing's effect on consumers' ability to make purchases is investigated using statistical analysis using PLS-SEM, CFA, reliability, and Cronbach's alpha. The results of this investigation indicate a strong connection between CPI and digital media marketing and with reliable structures and believable models, it has successfully influenced consumer behavior and decision-making processes. (shrink)

High‐throughput DNA analyses are increasingly being used to detect rare mutations in moderately sized genomes. These methods have yielded genome mutation rates that are markedly higher than those obtained using pre‐genomic strategies. Recent work in a variety of organisms has shown that mutation rate is strongly affected by sequence context and genome position. These observations suggest that high‐throughput DNA analyses will ultimately allow researchers to identify trans‐acting factors and cis sequences that underlie mutation rate variation. Such work should provide insights (...) on how mutation rate variability can impact genome organization and disease progression. (shrink)

Silence Speaks is a collection of writings of Baba Hari Dass, 1971-1977, consisting of answers to questions from group gatherings, personal interviews, and personal letters to students.

Meiotic recombination occurs preferentially at certain regions called hot spots and is important for generating genetic diversity and proper segregation of chromosomes during meiosis. Hot spots have been characterized most extensively in yeast, mice and humans. The development of methods based on sperm typing and population genetics has facilitated rapid and high‐resolution mapping of hot spots in mice and humans in recent years. With increasing information becoming available on meiotic recombination in different species, it is now possible to compare several (...) molecular features associated with hot‐spot loci. Further, there have been advances in our knowledge of the factors influencing hot‐spot activity and the role that they play in structuring the genome into haplotype blocks. We review the molecular features associated with hot spots in terms of their properties and mechanisms underlying their function and distribution. A large number of these features seem to be shared among hot spots from different species suggesting common mechanisms for their formation and function. BioEssays 28:45–56, 2006. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

This paper is discusses the preliminary research ideas in our attempt to address the development of the resources that an organization needs towards its sustainability performance by investigating two important categories of variables: values and motivators. The paper discusses the preliminary literature review and inputs to the research idea as presented at IABS 2010.

Buddhists endorse the concept of human actions and their consequences as they uphold the doctrine of karma. However, they deny the existence of a ‘permanent self’. Few questions arise in this regard. If a permanent self does not exist then who guides a person to decide the course of an action? How does a person choose to perform an action of the many alternatives in a situation? Who takes responsibility for the consequences of an action? This paper attempts to answer (...) these questions by reinterpreting the Buddhist’s ‘no-self’ theory from epistemological and logical perspectives. This paper argues that Buddhists while rejecting the existence of a ‘permanent self’ affirm the existence of impermanent psychophysical entities (five skandhas). The mereological sum of these psychophysical entities is known as a ‘person’ who performs actions. A person becomes morally responsible for the consequences of an action justifying the Buddhist doctrine of karma. (shrink)

Film-based learning projects enhance communication proficiency by immersing students in visual and auditory experiences that improve their understanding, skills, confidence, and creativity in conveying ideas. This study investigates the impact of film-based learning initiatives on students' communication skills through a qualitative methods approach. Data were collected from 150 students using a pre-post-test evaluation, focusing on five key variables: understanding of content, skills improvement, confidence in communication, proficiency in communication, and strategic problem-solving skills. Qualitative data provided a comprehensive understanding of how (...) film-based learning influences communication. It shows students' skills in using SPSS to communicate results from a variety of statistical studies, such as the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and paired sample t-test, which showed a significant improvement in communication ability across these variables. The paired sample t-test highlighted notable gains in communication skills, while the Wilcoxon test confirmed these improvements by analyzing ranks and medians. The findings underscore the effectiveness of film-based interventions in significantly enhancing various aspects of students' communication abilities. (shrink)

Graphical AbstractGroup photo of the participants at the chromosome stability meeting in Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, India. The meeting brought together the Indian scientific community and investigators from other countries working on various aspects of chromosome stability.

Recent events have highlighted large-scale systemic racial disparities in U.S. criminal justice based on race and other demographic characteristics. Although criminological datasets are used to study and document the extent of such disparities, they often lack key information, including arrestees’ racial identification. As AI technologies are increasingly used by criminal justice agencies to make predictions about outcomes in bail, policing, and other decision-making, a growing literature suggests that the current implementation of these systems may perpetuate racial inequalities. In this paper, (...) we argue that AI technologies should be investigated to understand how they recognize racial categories and whether they can be harnessed to fill missing race data. By bridging this gap, we can work towards better understanding racial inequalities in a wide range of contexts, most notably criminal justice. Using a multidisciplinary perspective, we rethink the design and methodology used in facial processing technology (FPT) based on supervised deep learning model (DLM) image classification. By modifying standard FPT pipelines to tackle multiple sources of DLM bias, we propose an experimental methodology based on ethical AI principles to generate binary (Black and White) racial categories using mugshots. We go beyond simply reporting DLM accuracies and address fundamental issues such as generalizability and interpretability by using a “self-auditing” approach. First, we evaluate the inference performances of 42 fine-tuned DLMs using unseen test images from the same dataset but subject to varying data augmentations. Next, to interpret and validate our methodological approach, we apply gradient-based saliency maps to assess the consistency of facial region relevance and attribution. Finally, drawing upon insights from three areas (computer science, sociology, and law), we investigate the efficacy of our DLM-based method as a tool for detecting racial inequalities in criminal justice. (shrink)

The nature of contemporary issues facing our society and the research being conducted to deal with them clearly crosses the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines. Hence, it is suggested that school education should provide students with trans-disciplinary learning experiences in which students learn to use knowledge from various academic disciplines in an integrated format within the context of specific real-life issues. Trans-disciplinary approaches hold the promise of helping students see real-life issues in an organic rather than fragmented manner and be (...) able to apply knowledge to deal with them in an organic manner. A majority of the contemporary issues facing our society relate to the environment. Hence, environmental issues can serve as excellent organizers for designing trans-disciplinary instructional units. Arguments in favor of organizing trans-disciplinary instruction around contemporary environmental issues and an approach for doing so are presented in this article. (shrink)

Recent studies show that racism still exists in the American medical profession, the fact of which legitimizes the historically long-legacy of mistrust towards medical profession and health authorities among African Americans. Thus, it was suspected that the participation of black patients in end-of-life care has always been significantly low stemmed primarily from their mistrust of the medical profession. On the other hand, much research finds that there are other reasons than the mistrust which makes African Americans feel reluctant to the (...) end-of-life care, such as cultural-religious difference and genuine misunderstanding of the services. If so, two crucial questions are raised. One is how pervasive or significant the mistrust is, compared to the other factors, when they opt out of the end-of-life care. The other is if there is a remedy or solution to the seemingly broken relationship. While no studies available answer these questions, we have conducted an experiment to explore them. The research was performed at two Philadelphia hospitals of Mercy Health System, and the result shows that Black patients’ mistrust is not too great to overcome and that education can remove the epistemic obstacles as well as overcome the mistrust. (shrink)

Having a systematicseize of cultural diversity is necessary for health professionals to present culturally competent treatment, enhance patient satisfaction and recover healthcare outcomes. To better recognize how cultural identity (CI) affects the attitudes, communication preferences and decision-making processes of health professionals, this research looks at how cultural competency is integrated into healthcare education and strategy.This study examines the influence of CI on the perspectives and practices of health professionals and its impact on patient care. People's behaviors and self-perceptions are greatly (...) influenced by their concept of culture, which is defined by shared norms, language, and ethical principles. This research includes 281 health professionals from diverse contexts utilizing the Cultural Competence Assessment Questionnaire (CCAQ). Interpersonal relationships, professional development, communication skills, cultural sensitivity, competence and patient-centered care are all significantly correlated, according to the data. This finding suggests that for improved patient relationship and liberty of health, there should be specialized cultural competency training. Implications for practice: promote continued professional development about cultural sensitivity in health events, and conferences. This article also puts forward the use of CI as one method to guide and support the approach of health professionals and capture the attention of communications and cultural competencies to help develop patient results. (shrink)

Sustainable tourism is essential to improving the preservation of cultural property since it encourages ethical travel, helps local communities, and raises money for conservation initiatives. It guarantees the preservation of cultural treasures for future generations while promoting awareness and appreciation of them. In this paper, the relationship between sustainable tourism practice, environmental policies, tourist education, community involvement, tourism revenue allocation, and cultural heritage preservation were evaluated using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Five hypotheses were developed and the dataset includes 232 (...) respondents. A systematic questionnaire with a Likert scale rating was used to evaluate the data. As a result, latent construct validity and reliability were examined, and the structural model evaluated the connections between the constructs in the context of the suggested hypotheses. The structural model revealed that EP, STP, and TE are positively connected to the CHP, providing support for hypothesis 1: Cultural Heritage Preservation and Sustainable Tourism Practice (CHP→STP) and 3:Cultural Heritage Preservation and Environmental Policies (CHP→EP) are well supported and show no significant changes to enhancing heritage preservation. (shrink)

Humans routinely modify their walking speed to adapt to functional goals and physical demands. However, damage to the central nervous system often results in abnormal modulation of walking speed and increased risk of falls. There is considerable interest in treatment modalities that can provide safe and salient training opportunities, feedback about walking performance, and that may augment less reliable sensory feedback within the CNS after injury or disease. Fully immersive virtual reality technologies show benefits in boosting training-related gains in walking (...) performance; however, they lack views of the real world that may limit functional carryover. Augmented reality and mixed reality head-mount displays provide partially immersive environments to extend the virtual reality benefits of interacting with virtual objects but within an unobstructed view of the real world. Despite this potential advantage, the feasibility of using MR-HMD visual feedback to promote goal-directed changes in overground walking speed remains unclear. Thus, we developed and evaluated a novel mixed reality application using the Microsoft HoloLens MR-HMD that provided real-time walking speed targets and augmented visual feedback during overground walking. We tested the application in a group of adults not living with disability and examined if they could use the targets and visual feedback to walk at 85%, 100%, and 115% of each individual’s self-selected speed. We examined whether individuals were able to meet each target gait speed and explored differences in accuracy across repeated trials and at the different speeds. Additionally, given the importance of task-specificity to therapeutic interventions, we examined if walking speed adjustment strategies were consistent with those observed during usual overground walking, and if walking with the MR-HMD resulted in increased variability in gait parameters. Overall, participants matched their overground walking speed to the target speed of the MR-HMD visual feedback conditions. The percent inaccuracy was approximately 5% across all speed matching conditions and remained consistent across walking trials after the first overall walking trial. Walking with the MR-HMD did not result in more variability in walking speed, however, we observed more variability in stride length and time when walking with feedback from the MR-HMD compared to walking without feedback. The findings offer support for mixed reality-based visual feedback as a method to provoke goal-specific changes in overground walking behavior. Further studies are necessary to determine the clinical safety and efficacy of this MR-HMD technology to provide extrinsic sensory feedback in combination with traditional treatments in rehabilitation. (shrink)

Animal and human studies suggest that parenting style is transmitted from one generation to the next. The hypotheses of this study were that a mother’s rearing experiences would predict her own parenting resources and current maternal mood, motivation to care for her offspring, and relationship with her parents would underlie this association. In a subsample of 201 first-time mothers participating in the longitudinal Maternal Adversity, Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment project, we assessed a mother’s own childhood maltreatment and rearing experiences using the (...) Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Instrument. At 6 months postpartum, mothers completed questionnaires on parenting stress, symptoms of depression, maternal motivation, and current relationship with their own parents. The sample consisted of mostly high socioeconomic status mothers recruited from Montréal or Hamilton, Canada, with an age range from 18 to 43 years. More severe maltreatment and less supportive rearing by the mother’s parents predicted increased parenting stress at 6 months. These associations were mediated through distinct psychosocial pathways: maltreatment on parenting stress through symptoms of depression ; maternal rearing on parenting stress through maternal motivation and symptoms of depression ; and paternal rearing on parenting stress through current relationship with the father. Maternal rearing experiences predict a mother’s own parenting resources though distinct psychosocial pathways, including depressed mood, maternal motivation, and social support. (shrink)

Ram Dass is one of America's most renowned spiritual teachers. Born Richard Alpert, he received his Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University and taught there and at Harvard University before going to India and receiving the name Ram Dass () from his guru. He has long been involved in many charitable service organizations, particularly those devoted to providing healthcare for underserved populations. Among his many books are BeHereNow, HowCanIHelp, and CompassioninAction; his newest book is StillHere:EmbracingAging,Changing,andDying.

Reseña de Benedikt Maria Trappen, Ach, dass ich doch erst Befreiter wäre. Friedrich Nietzsche. Eine Lebensgeschichte in Briefen, München: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2020, p. 144. Benedikt Maria Trappen, Wahrheit, Ewige Wiederkehr, Wille zur Macht: Grundthemen Nietzsches in der Auslegung von Karl Jaspers, München: Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, 2020, p. 120.

In dieser Aufsatzsammlung wird Johann Georg Hamanns Grundthese von Gott als Schriftsteller interpretiert und in weitest reichende literarische Zusammenhange gestellt. Der Zusammenhang von Reden, Horen und Sehen wird theologisch und eschatologisch untersucht. Hamanns Gedanken zum Abendmahl und Sacrament der Sprache werden mit der Rolle des Essens und Trinkens in Beziehung gebracht. Die Narziss-Episode der Metamorphosen des Ovid deutete der Schriftsteller christologisch und als Kenner des Hebraerbriefs verfasste er eine kritische Rezension des Kommentars von J. D. Michaelis (Gottingen). Der Autor arbeitet (...) die Bedeutung Hamanns als der massgebliche theologische Sprachdenker nach Luther heraus, dessen Worttheologie u. a. Kierkegaard gepragt hat. (shrink)

Gefühl und Wissen wurden in der Philosophie meist als Gegensätze gesehen. So ist Wissen traditioneller Weise als begründete oder gerechtfertigte wahre Meinung definiert. Kann man, wenn man eine solche Definition zu Grunde legt, sagen, dass man weiß, dass man liebt? Was sollte als Begründung oder Rechtfertigung gelten können?

This is an introduction to the debate about Know-how.

Blumenbergs Paradigmen zu einer Metaphorologie sind bekannt für die Entdeckung absoluter Metaphern. Zahlreiche systematische Fragen mögen dabei offen geblieben sein, etwa die nach verschiedenen Typen1 von Metaphern oder den Methoden ihrer Interpretation, so dass schon bezweifelt wurde, ob es sich überhaupt um eine Metapherntheorie handle.2 Immerhin: Dass es absolute Metaphern gibt, was diese sind und woran sie erkannt werden können, wird von Blumenberg in großer Prägnanz und anhand zahlreicher Beispiele dargestellt. Wenn es eine unangetastete Gewissheit in der Blumenbergrezeption (...) gibt, so scheint sie hierin zu finden zu sein. Dennoch möchte ich erneut die Frage an Blumenbergs Text stellen: In welchem Sinn ist eine Metapher absolut? Auf den ersten Blick mag diese Frage überraschen, da sie einen der offensichtlichsten Gedanken Blumenbergs berührt: Eine absolute Metapher ist nach Blumenberg eine solche, die sich nicht in Begriffe rückübersetzen lässt. In diesem Sinne wird sie von ihm als absolut charakterisiert. Warum halte ich dennoch diese Frage für berechtigt? Das wird am besten anhand einer Alternative verdeutlicht: Ist die absolute Metapher ein Ausdruck in einem fremden Kontext, wie Blumenbergs zahlreiche Exempel nahelegen (die Kraft der Wahrheit, die nackte Wahrheit), oder ist die absolute Metapher gleichsam die jeweilige ganze Theorie, bündelt sich in ihr der gesamte Text? Auf den ersten Blick mag diese Alternative paradox erscheinen. Vorgreifend sei der ihr zugrundeliegende Gedanke erläutert: Blumenbergs Darstellung der Fundstellen legt zunächst die erste Lesart nahe. Demnach wäre die absolute Metapher das Vorkommen eines Ausdrucks (wie »Kraft« oder »nackt«) in einem Kontext, in den sie zunächst nicht passt (Wahrheit). Die Metapher wäre dann zwar nicht ein Ausdruck allein, sondern ein Ausdruck in einem ihm fremden Kontext; sie wiese jedoch Grenzen auf. Wie unbestimmt diese auch verliefen, ob sie weiter oder enger anzusetzen wäre, sie wäre lokalisier- und daher identifizierbar. Die zweite Lesart motiviert sich zunächst dadurch, dass Blumenberg vorführt, dass eine absolute Metapher gegeben sein kann, ohne dass sie als Ausdruck in einem Text vorkommt. Sie bildet dann dessen »implikatives Modell«; das heißt, sie stellt den Hintergrund der Begriffsbildung dar und entwirft das Verhältnis von Selbst und Welt. Was zunächst einen Sonderfall darstellt (Metapher ohne Ausdruck), verweist jedoch auf eine allgemeine Eigenschaft absoluter Metaphern bei Blumenberg: Diese sind Modelle für das Verhältnis von Ich und Welt und erfüllen dadurch theoretische und pragmatische Funktionen. Als solche ist die absolute Metapher nicht auf ein lokales Vorkommen begrenzt, sondern durchdringt den Text als solchen. Beide Möglichkeiten stehen in einem Gegensatz zueinander. Gleichwohl gibt es einen ver- mittelnden Gedanken: Die absolute Metapher (als Strukturzusammenhang des gesamten Textes verstanden) kann sich gleichsam in einem Ausdruck manifestieren, verdichten und selbst bezeichnen. Aber das Vorkommen von absoluten Metaphern wäre an das Vorkommen von Ausdrücken in einem fremden Kontext nicht gebunden. Die Diskussion dieser Frage steht im Zentrum des Beitrags (Abschnitte 1–2), sie hat Konsequenzen für zwei Gedanken (Abschnitte 3–4), die in ihrem Licht vielleicht klarer hervortreten. (shrink)