The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze people's confidence in political institutions in the so-called BRICS countries, that is, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. I argue that the quality of macroeconomic indicators cannot explain the variation in political confidence between the five most dynamic new emerging economies, and that there is no substantial difference among the young, middle-aged, and senior-aged groups. By combing data from the Asia Barometer Survey and the World Value Survey, I provide (...) two complementary approaches, one sociocultural and the other micropolitical, to reveal the factors that influence people's confidence in four major political institutions. The explanatory effects of these two approaches are mixed. Political identity and values, in most cases, have a significant impact on political confidence. On the other hand, high levels of interpersonal social trust, individual happiness, and satisfaction with living standards also show positive influences. (shrink)

Dujiangyan irrigation system of more than 2000 years history is a symbol of originality of Chinese ancestors both in its conception and project mode. It is still working well and benefit Chengdu Plain nowadays while other comparable water conservancy projects of the same or later age have vanished and been forgotten. More than just a world-famous cultural heritage, it shows the harmonious relationship between man and nature. And it also reveals us how to solve problems in the era of economic (...) globalization, such as the constantly silt up of the dams, the exhaustion of the energy and the crisis of the deterioration of ecosystem. The inspirations it gives us range from technology to humanities, from economy to various aspects in social life. In a word, Dujiangyan irrigation system demonstrates the wisdom and creativity of Chinese people and has a universal significance despite the change of time and space. (shrink)

Journal of Mathematical Logic, Volume 24, Issue 03, December 2024. We construct a model in which MA[math] holds and [math] fails. This shows that MA[math] does not imply [math] and answers an old question of Larson and Todorcevic in [Katetov’s problem, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 354(5) (2002) 1783–1791]. We also investigate different strong colorings in models of MA[math].

The relationships between age and the life-supporting treatments use, and between gender and the life-supporting treatments use are still controversial. Using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation as an example of life-supporting treatments, the objectives of this study were: to examine the relationship between age and the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use; to examine the relationship between age and the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use; and to deliberate the ethical and societal implications of age and gender disparities in the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. This (...) is a population-based, retrospective cohort study. Taiwan’s extracorporeal membrane oxygenation cases from 2000 to 2010 were collected. The annual incidence rate of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use adjusting for both age and gender distribution for each year from 2000 to 2010 was derived using the population of 2000 as the reference population. The trend of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use was examined using time-series linear regression analysis. We conducted joinpoint regression for estimating the trend change of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use. The trends of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use both for different gender groups, and for different age groups have been significantly increasing over time. Men were more likely to be supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation than women. Women’s perspectives toward life and death, and women’s perception of well-being may be associated with the phenomenon. In addition, the patients at the age of 65 or older were more likely to be supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation than those younger than 65. Family autonomy/family-determination, and the Confucian tradition of filial piety and respecting elders may account for this phenomenon. This study showed gender and age disparities in the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation use in Taiwan, which may be accounted for by the cultural and societal values in Taiwan. For a healthcare professional who deals with patients’/family members’ medical decision-making to initiate life-supporting treatments, he/she should be sensitive not only to the legality, but also the societal and ethical issues involved. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to extend prior research on this topic by investigating whether the impact of ownership concentration moderates the link between corporate social performance and financial performance. This study uses a set of unique, hand-collected pollution control data to measure CSP, based on a sample of Taiwanese listed companies during the period from 1996 to 2006. The results of the empirical analysis provide firm support for the idea that the divergence between control rights and the cash (...) flow rights of controlling owners negatively moderates the link between social and short- and long-run FP. (shrink)

Abstract:The most important themes of Wang Lü's painting theory are the "true self" and the "true thing." One reason this topic has not received sufficient attention is that the original text was altered. This article aims to correct and reinterpret the text. After textual research and interpretation, Wang Lü's paintings and painting theory have been reevaluated. This article also responds to some difficult topics such as the relationship between "form" (ᔶ) and "meaning" (ᛣ) and between "following" (ᕲ) and "not following" (...) (䘩) the rules in Chinese painting theory. (shrink)

Under the influence of the linguistic turn in philosophy, contemporary Western philosophers typically limit their thinking on pluralism to the realm of language. This sort of pluralism can be named as pluralism of significance. I propose another version of pluralism in light of Confucianism, which extends the concerns from the realm of language to the realm of experience – I call it pluralism of presence. In this article, I first expound the aforementioned two versions of pluralism on the basis of (...) Hans-Georg Moeller’s semiotic trichotomy. I then argue that the conflict between multiculturalism and cultural identity in today’s globalized world and the failure of pluralism of significance in resolving this conflict can be overcome by pluralism of presence. Finally, I show a possibility of reconciliation between pluralism of significance and pluralism of presence. (shrink)

Der Autor hat sich die Aufgabe gestellt, Husserls Phänomemologie der Zeit systematisch zu interpretieren und das Differenzieren und Identifizieren zu problematisieren. Er untersucht Husserls Zeitphänomenologie mit rein phänomenologischem Blick, damit folgende Fragen beantwortet werden können: Worin liegt die Bedeutung von Husserls Zeitforschung? Beschränken sich seine Zeitgedanken noch auf die Denkweise der Metaphysik, wie Natorp und Heidegger behaupten. Wenn ja, worin verkörpert sich die metaphysische Denkweise und inwiefern bewegen sie sich im Rahmen der Tradition? Diese Untersuchung beginnt damit, Husserls Zeitphänomenologie systematisch (...) zu rekonstruieren, weil sich Husserls Gedanken und Forschungen zur Zeit uber zahlreiche Manuskripte und Werke verteilen. Nur anhand einer umfassenden, systematischen Rekonstruktion der Zeittheorie Husserls können die obigen Fragen angemessen beantwortet werden. Der Autor geht dann auf die Differenz- und Identitätsprobleme in Husserls Zeitphänomenologie ein. Er versucht Aporien, wie den unendlichen Regress, zu analysieren und zu beantworten. (shrink)

This study aims to explore if local responsiveness pressure and subsidiary resources influence green management adoption of overseas subsidiaries, and to investigate the relationships between the level of green management adoption and performance. The 101 effective samples were collected from 583 Taiwanese firms, which are listed in the top 1000 manufactory firms and have invested in China. Though structural equation model analysis' empirical results indicate that local responsiveness pressure and subsidiary resources both have positive effects on the level of green (...) management adoption of the subsidiary. This study also suggests that the level of green management adoption is positively related to the subsidiary's performance. (shrink)

This study aimed to explore the mediating effects of internet gaming disorder, social network use, and generalized pathological internet use on the association between loneliness and depression. A total of 2211 junior high school students completed questionnaires regarding loneliness, internet gaming disorder, social network use, GPIU, and depression. The results of a structural equation model revealed that the path coefficient of loneliness to depression was significantly positive, loneliness could not predict depression through GPIU directly, but loneliness could predict depression through (...) internet gaming disorder to GPIU, loneliness could predict depression through social network use to GPIU, and loneliness could not predict depression through internet gaming disorder to social network use to GPIU. These results provided significant implications for the prevention and reduction of depression in Chinese junior high school students. (shrink)

Whether risk events can be effectively controlled and mitigated is largely influenced by people’s perceptions of risk events and their behavioral cooperation. Therefore, this study used a web-based questionnaire to investigate the specific factors influencing people’s risk perceptions and behaviors, and included a test for the difference in the effect of positive and negative emotions of the audiences. The results show that the overall model has good explanatory power for the behavioral variables, and how people’s use of different media significantly (...) influenced their positive and negative emotions; how people’s frequency of TV use significantly influenced their risk susceptibility and how online media use significantly influenced their risk severity ; how people’s sense of efficacy for risky events is the strongest predictor of their risk control behavior; and that there are different mediating effects of different emotions and risk severity and sense of efficacy between the frequency of media use and risk control behavior. (shrink)

This paper explores the often-overlooked role of teaching assistants (TAs) in engineering ethics courses, and a particular challenge that TAs face in these roles. TAs not only undertake tasks like instructors, which include teaching, guiding, and evaluating courses, but they also assume the roles of “intermediaries between instructors and students” and “learners becoming teachers.” These distinct roles present TAs with unique challenges, one of which we call the neutrality problem. This problem pertains to whether TAs can and should maintain a (...) neutral stance in the classroom, particularly when students articulate ideas that deviate from the values promoted in the course or held by the TAs. Using a real-life teaching experience as illustrative, we claim that it is challenging and, at times, undesirable for TAs to achieve pedagogical neutrality, primarily due to their pre-existing understanding of ethics and the actual situation of the students. Nevertheless, we posit that TAs should strive to foster an environment where students are encouraged to improve their ethical awareness. Through the underrepresented lens of TAs, we aim to initiate a multi-faceted dialogue on the teaching philosophy and goal of engineering ethics. (shrink)

全书以灾异思想为切入点，以西汉经学灾异思想与思潮为中心，结合先秦至西汉间的时代背景与思想氛围，在细致考察与解读相关文本的基础上，对西汉经学灾异思想的观念来源与理论先导、创立过程与时代特色、理论形态与建 构方法，以及灾异思潮与现实政治的互动等问题，进行了全面深入的研究和探讨；对于经学灾异思想何以会在西汉建立、经学灾异思潮缘何会在西汉爆发、经学灾异论造成了怎样的历史影响，以及如何评价灾异论氛围中的西汉儒 学与儒生群体等问题，本书也进行了系统的反思，并提出了一系列见解。.

This study explored the relationship between the integrity of the supervisor and the manager and the creativity of employees who are below the supervisor. Drawing on social learning theory, we proposed a moderated mediation model for the trickle-down effects of perceived supervisor integrity. Using a sample of 716 employees and their supervisors, we found positive associations between both managers’ and supervisors’ integrity and employee creativity. Supervisors’ integrity partially mediates the relationship between managers’ integrity and employee creativity. In addition, supervisors’ perceptions (...) of professional ethical standards moderate the indirect effects of the managers’ integrity on employee creativity. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. (shrink)

The Party school has always been an important bastion through which our Party trains and educates its cadres in Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. The Party Central Committee headed by Chairman Hua has laid great emphasis on the Party school since the smashing of the "gang of four" and has made special decisions on how successfully to run the Party schools on different levels. Chairman Hua and Vice Chairman Ye personally made important speeches at the opening ceremony of the Central (...) Party School and indicated the direction in which the Party school should be run during the new stage of historical development. Pursuant to the Central Committee's decision, the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee has restored its Party school which had been closed down for some ten years by the "gang of four." Since its reopening, the Municipal Party School has already run a one-term study class for the cadres and has achieved fairly good results. In the future, we will run the study class every term and strive to run the Party school better and better. (shrink)

Xunzi’s philosophy of language was mainly unfolded through the discrimination of ming 名 (names) and shi 实 (realities) and the discrimination of yan 言 (words) and yi 意 (meanings). Particularly, the discrimination of names and realities was centered on the propositions that realities are realized when their names are heard and that names are given to point up realities, including the view on the essence of language such as names expect to indicate realities and conventions established by usage, the view (...) of development of language such as coming form the former usage and being newly established, and the view of functions of language such as discriminating superiority and inferiority and differentiating identities and differences ; while the discrimination of words and meanings mainly contained two aspects: One was that words could completely represent meanings while it could not do so on the other hand, and the other was that the Dao should be grasped through an unoccupied, concentrated and quiet mind. Xunzi’s philosophy of language stressed both language’s value attribute and its cognitive attribute, and it is the greatest achievement of pre-Qin dynasty’s philosophy of language. (shrink)

本书是一本研究建筑学的书籍, 全书包括有《现象学与建筑学的思考》、《建筑中的神性》等多篇文章.

Social anxiety and stress type can influence strong conformity among adolescents; however, the interaction between them is not clear. In this study, 152 adolescents were recruited and assigned one of two conditions: an interaction and a judgment condition. In the interaction condition, adolescents with high social anxiety (HSA) were less likely to conform when completing a modified Asch task, compared to adolescents who had low social anxiety. In the judgment condition, adolescents with HSA were more likely to conform to the (...) opinions from the unanimous majority. The results suggest that adolescents with HSA may show different styles of strong conformity with the change of stress type. We believe that socially anxious adolescents avoid potential social situations with weaker conformity, while avoiding negative evaluations from others with stronger conformity. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the social dysfunctions among adolescents with HSA and provide a new direction for clinical interventions. (shrink)

In this paper, the fixed-time practical bipartite tracking problem for the networked robotic systems with parametric uncertainties, input disturbances, and directed signed graphs is investigated. A new fixed-time estimator-based control algorithm for the NRSs is presented to address the abovementioned problem. By applying a sliding surface and the time base generator approach, a new stability analysis method is proposed to achieve the fixed-time practical bipartite tracking for the NRSs. We also derive the upper bound of the convergence time for employing (...) the presented control algorithm to solve the practical bipartite tracking problem and further demonstrate that the convergence time is independent of the initial value. Finally, the simulation examples are given to verify the effectiveness of the presented algorithms. (shrink)

A study of the abnormal sex ratio at birth in China reveals that it is not an entirely new phenomenon that emerged since the 1980s, but is simply more visible at present. Deliberate intervention to determine the sex of children has existed in the past few decades, at least in certain groups. Apart from modern medical methods, traditional Chinese medical practice is shown to be highly accurate in identifying the sex of a fetus. This may lead to sex-selective abortion and (...) an abnormal sex ratio at birth. The possible causes of the abnormal sex ratio at birth include not only the real imbalance due to the disturbance of social factors, but also a spurious one attributable to the under-counting of female births. The real magnitude of the imbalance has been exaggerated by statistical error. The phenomenon is a complicated one reflecting the comprehensive socioeconomic setting. Among these factors, the stage of the fertility transition is one of the most decisive. (shrink)

A middle-school classroom of English as a Second Language (ESL) for Somali and Vietnamese refugees is examined here. With Lefebvre's (1991) theory of the production of space and an additional help of postcolonial criticism (Fanon 1967; Willinsky 1998), this article first reviews how interplays among national flags, teaching and learning activities, and classroom arrangements served to nationalize a curriculum that ?walls? (Marcuse and von Kempen 1995) these students in national margins. Second, to further critiques and practices, the author argues that (...) an Other is critical in making a triad for becoming and the emergence of alternative transnationalism. More than defending differences in terms of originality, such transnationalism and the purpose of its pedagogy (Said 1994; Spivak 1997) reconceptualize the relations among culture, people, and place (Gupta and Ferguson 1992), and pursues more diverse trajectories of Becoming Others. (shrink)

This study develops a short Creative Expression Interest Scale among Chinese freshmen based on the perspective of item response theory. Nine hundred fifty-nine valid Chinese freshmen participated in the Creative Expression Interest survey. Researchers applied the initial data for unidimensionality, item fit, discrimination parameter, and differential item functioning to obtain a short CEIS. The results show that the Short CEIS meets the psychometric requirements of the IRT. Pearson correlation coefficient of theta between the short and long CEIS is 0.922. The (...) marginal reliability of the short CEIS is 0.799. These indicate that the short CEIS developed in this study among Chinese freshmen, meets the psychometric requirements. Although the Short CEIS can eliminate redundant, uninformative items, save time, and improve the quality of data collection. However, the validity of this short scale needs further validation. (shrink)

This study aimed to explain the development of tourists’ pro-social intentions during heritage tourism within the pandemic context by combining the norm activation model and two significant variables in the theory of planned behavior. The quantitative data analysis results indicated that the proposed hypotheses have been partially supported, which resonated and enriched the existing studies on COVID-19-related pro-social tourism and tourist behaviors from a theoretical angle. Based on the research outcomes, the corresponding managerial implications for heritage tourism practitioners and meaningful (...) references for future researchers to promote sustainable and pro-social heritage tourism products have been discussed. (shrink)

Unethical research practices are prevalent in China, but little research has focused on the causes of these practices. Drawing on the criminology literature on organisational deviance, as well as the concept of cengceng jiama, which illustrates the increase of pressure in the process of policy implementation within a top-down bureaucratic hierarchy, this article develops an institutional analysis of research misconduct in Chinese universities. It examines both universities and the policy environment of Chinese universities as contexts for research misconduct. Specifically, this (...) article focuses on China’s Double First-Class University Initiative and its impact on elite universities that respond to the policy by generating new incentive structures to promote research quality and productivity as well as granting faculties and departments greater flexibility in terms of setting high promotion criteria concerning research productivity. This generates enormous institutional tensions and strains, encouraging and sometimes even compelling individual researchers who wish to survive to decouple their daily research activities from ethical research norms. This article is written based on empirical data collected from three elite universities as well as a review of policy documents, universities’ internal documents, and news articles. (shrink)

To discern the indiscernibles is the main purpose of Danto’s philosophy of art. Influenced by analytical philosophy, Zen Buddhism, and symbolism, three ways of discernment can be identified in Danto’s text: the external discernment, the internal discernment, and the middle discernment, which, roughly speaking, mean a discernment by means of examining the object, self-reflection or enlightenment, and the relation between experience and expression, in Danto’s terms, the aboutness and embodiment, respectively. However, neither analytic philosophy and its external discernment nor Zen (...) and its internal discernment can distinguish the indiscernible indeed, only symbolism and its middle discernment have the potential to do so. Unfortunately, Danto was so indulged in analytical philosophy and Zen that he could not see this promise from symbolism. (shrink)

In appreciating paintings, what we experience is either a result of their medium or object, regardless of whether the object is an actual thing, a fictional thing, an internal emotion, an abstract idea, or something else. However, the conceptions of ‘betweenness’ in traditional Chinese aesthetics and ‘twofoldness’ in contemporary Western aesthetics tell us that our experience of paintings might not be simply from the object or the medium itself but rather from a relation between the two. This study considers the (...) intercultural value of the above concepts while examining how our aesthetic pleasure might derive from awareness of the object, the medium, and the play of our mind and body. (shrink)

Within the framework of pragma-dialectics, this paper analyzes the use of dissociations in the spokespersons’ replies at the press conferences held by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2015 and 2017. As shown in the research results, to cut down the authority of their opponents in criticizing China and to convince the international general public of the Chinese standpoints, four subtypes of dissociation are used, which can be differentiated as: “distorted” Term I versus “authentic” Term II, “ambiguous” Term I (...) versus “univocal” Term II, “broadened” Term I versus “exact” Term II, and “narrowed” Term I versus “exact” Term II. The strategic maneuvering carried out by the spokespersons in confronting their immediate opponents by means of the various subtypes of dissociation is in the first place directed at their primary audience, i.e. the international general public. To make a convincing case, in using dissociations the spokespersons not only adapt in their strategic maneuvering to the demands of their primary audience but also in their selection from the topical potential and the presentational devices. (shrink)

Scholars have long suggested that CEOs can benefit from corporate philanthropy. However, little is known about this relationship in contexts of authoritarian capitalism such as China, where the state not only uses its control of economic entities to pursue social goals but also plays a key role in CEOs’ careers. We theorize how corporate philanthropy among state-controlled firms increases the CEO’s likelihood of receiving career benefits from the state in the form of outside directorships. Outside directorships represent an important form (...) of social capital in the Chinese context, and corporate philanthropy is an important mechanism through which social capital can be acquired. In addition, we theorize how two factors—the degree of state ownership and the number of independent directors on the CEO’s board—moderate this relationship. Analyzing a 12-year panel of state-controlled, publicly-listed firms in China comprising 6,594 firm-year observations, we find general support for our ideas. In so doing, we contribute to scholarship on the business–society relationship and corporate governance in the context of authoritarian capitalism. (shrink)