Authoritarian leadership is of great significance to eastern countries, including China. Meanwhile, unethical employee behavior also exists in all types of social organizations. The relationship between authoritarian leadership and unethical employee behavior is worth studying. Senior leaders often do not have a direct influence on employees except for through their immediate supervisors. The leadership style of senior leaders also influences the leadership style of their subordinates. This paper studies how authoritarian manager leadership trickles down to unethical employee behavior through authoritarian (...) supervisor leadership and discusses the moderating effect of leader member exchange and an ethical climate. Through a questionnaire survey of 406 pairs of leaders, supervisors, and employees, the research results of the multilevel model show that authoritarian supervisor leadership is positively related to unethical employee behavior, authoritarian supervisor leadership mediates the relationship between authoritarian manager leadership and unethical employee behavior, LMX positively moderates the relationship between authoritarian manager leadership and authoritarian supervisor leadership and moderates the mediating effect of authoritarian supervisor leadership, and, that an ethical climate negatively moderates the relationship between authoritarian supervisor leadership and unethical employee behavior and moderates the mediating effect of authoritarian supervisor leadership. (shrink)

Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) is defined as the conscious, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The greater the level of evidence the greater the grade of recommendation. This pioneering explicit concept of EBM is embedded in a particular view of medical practice namely the singular nature of the patient-physician relation and the commitment of the latter towards a specific goal: the treatment and the well being of his or her client. Nevertheless, (...) in many European countries as well as the United States, this integration of the best evidence from systematic research with clinical expertise and patient values appears to be re-interpreted in light of the scarcity of healthcare resources. The purpose of this paper is double. First, to claim that from an ethical perspective EBM should be a guideline to clinical practice; and second, that in specific circumstances EBM might be a useful tool in macro-allocation of healthcare resources. Methodologically the author follows Norman Daniels' theory of democratic accountability to justify this assumption. That is, choices in healthcare must be accountable by democratic procedures. This perspective of distributive justice is responsible for the scope and limits of healthcare services. It follows that particular entitlements to healthcare — namely expensive innovative treatments and medicines —may be fairly restricted as long as this decision is socially and democratically accountable and imposed by financial restrictions of the system. In conclusion, the implementation of EBM, as long as it limits the access to drugs and treatments of unproven scientific results is in accordance with this perspective. The use of EBM is regarded as an instrument to facilitate the access of all citizens to a reasonable level of healthcare and to promote the efficiency of the system. (shrink)

The allocation of resources for health, as well as the distribution of other social goods, being a political problem, can also be observed as belonging to the universe of distributive justice, considering that all citizens must have the necessary means for an acceptable physical, psychological and social performance. Individual autonomy, paradigm of a full citizenship in a modern society, cannot otherwise be achieved. Human dignity seems to imply that no citizen can be excluded from the basic health system due to (...) the lack of financial resources. Indeed, equal access of all citizens to basic social goods and therefore to key places in society – principle of fair equality of opportunities – is one of the core aspects of Rawls's difference principle. It is, in essence, about ensuring the exercise of the right to individual self-determination in the relationship between the individual and society, as well as the right to play a social role according to skills and merit. But, it is not only the theory of the social contract that provides for a fair equality of opportunities. Different perspectives of justice contemplate this ideal. As suggested by Tristram Engelhardt Jr individual autonomy must be interpreted as a value in itself and a determining factor for the exercise of a full citizenship. But, justice is an ideal that must be progressively built. Whether in a specific society or on a global scale. And, the great challenge of humanity is precisely to recognize the existing intercultural differences and propose sufficiently flexible ideological systems that can be applied in different countries with very different levels of social and economic development. Without detracting from the ethical principles that should underpin the construction of the 21st century global society. (shrink)

This study focuses on the reliability and validation of the Chinese version of the Moral Attentiveness Scale. Factor analysis confirmed that the scale includes two factors: perceptual moral attentiveness and reflective moral attentiveness. Moral attentiveness is negatively correlated with normlessness and positively associated with internalization and symbolization, moral identity, and other academic dishonesty behaviors. Reflective moral attentiveness moderated the relationship between formalism and unethical decision making. All results showed that the Chinese version of the Moral Attentiveness Scale has satisfactory psychometric (...) properties and is a valid and reliable measurement of moral attentiveness in the Chinese population. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

This essay argues that individual-oriented informed consent is inadequate to protect human research subjects in mainland China. The practice of family-oriented decision-making is better suited to guide moral research conduct. The family’s role in medical decision-making originates from the mutual benevolence that exists among family members, and is in accordance with family harmony, which is the aim of Confucian society. I argue that the practice of informed consent for medical research on human subjects ought to remain family-oriented in mainland China. (...) This essay explores the main features of this model of informed consent and demonstrates the proper authority of the family. The family’s participation in decision-making as a whole does not negate or deny the importance of the individual who is the subject of the choice, but rather acts more fully to protect research subjects. (shrink)

Para este trabajo lo que queremos hacer es un análisis general del arte, así como de sus implicaciones en lo social y en quienes trabajan el aspecto artístico, además de cuestionarnos qué es el arte y qué posibles efectos represente en el público que lo consume o lo adquiere; nuestro escrito no contiene un aparato crítico como tal, sino lo que más bien hacemos es una reflexión en torno a los pormenores señalados, aclarando que las fuentes que se presentan al (...) final del escrito, son de referencia y las mismas que se emplearon para elaborar y dar luz a esta reflexión. (shrink)

In this paper will show the terms in that is presented the Reinvention of Social Emancipation in the critical platform of the Portuguese author Boaventura de Sousa Santos.

In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae three positive transcriptional control elements are activated by stress conditions: heat shock elements (HSEs), stress response elements (STREs) and AP‐1 responsive elements (AREs). HSEs bind heat shock transcription factor (HSF), which is activated by stress conditions causing accumulation of abnormal proteins. STREs mediate transcriptional activation by multiple stress conditions. They are controlled by high osmolarity via the HOG signal pathway, which comprises a MAP kinase module and a two‐component system homologous to prokaryotic signal transducers. AREs (...) bind the transcription factor Yap1p. The three types of control elements seem to have overlapping, but distinct functions. Some stress proteins encoded by HSE‐regulated genes are necessary for growth of yeast under moderate stress, products of STRE‐activated genes appear to be important for survival under severe stress and ARE‐controlled genes may mainly function during oxidative stress and in the response to toxic conditions, such as caused by heavy metal ions. (shrink)

Silva-Rui_Ceteris-paribus-laws-and-the-human-sciences.

La propuesta tiene como objetivo, plantear un modelo educativo sostenible respondiendo a las necesidades de los países en vías de desarrollo en materia de economía, sociedad, medio ambiente y cultura teniendo como principio fundamental el análisis de efectos que pueden poner en riesgo el bienestar de las generaciones futuras ante fenómenos como la escolaridad masiva, la correlación entre grado de estudio y movilidad social, los efectos de las subvenciones a fondo perdido en eldesarrollodeinnovacióntecnológica y no tecnológica y la preservación de (...) la cultura en los diferentes niveles educativos analizando las prospectivas de los modelos educativos; teniendo como directriz el Informe Brutland (1987) presentado en la comisión Mundial del Medio Ambiente y desarrollo de Naciones Unidas creada en 1983 y la Declaración en la sexagésimo novena sesión plenaria de naciones Unidas en 2010 sobre la cultura como cuarto pilar del desarrollo sostenible.Consecuentemente la propuesta tendrá como sustento los indicadores de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE) de sus publicaciones de Education at a Glance 2014, Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 y OECD Science, Technologyand Industry Scoreboard 2013, para efecto de realizar un análisis comparativo entre países en vías de desarrollo. (shrink)

For many energy companies in China, green brand strategy is becoming an important approach to enhance competitive advantage. However, greenwashing behaviors result in a crisis of trust. Existing research focuses on green marketing, but is silent on the institutional view of the trust crisis resulting from greenwashing by energy brands. Thus, this study takes a decoupling perspective from institutional theory and considers legitimacy, energy policy management, and green brand theories to shed light on the path from the decoupling of an (...) energy brand from green promise to green energy brand trust and the role of brand legitimacy and brand loyalty. It then analyzes survey data to conclude that DEBG not only has a direct negative effect on GEBT but also has an indirect influence through the vital mediating role of green energy brand legitimacy. Moreover, brand loyalty is a moderating factor and can alleviate the energy brand trust crisis. These findings not only can enrich the theories of energy brand management and green marketing but also offer important implications for energy policy management. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Journal of the History of Ideas 63.1 (2002) 1-17 [Access article in PDF] What if the Father Commits a Crime? Rui Zhu Apparently, Socrates and Confucius respond similarly to the question if a son should turn in his father in the case of the father's misdemeanor. When Euthyphro, flaring his pride of his moral impartiality, tells Socrates that he is on his way to report his father because he (...) has thrown one of the household slaves into a ditch and left him bound there until he was dead, Socrates says, "Good Heaven! Certainly, Euthyphro, most men would not know how they could do this and be right. It is not the part of anyone to do this, but of one who is far advanced in wisdom." 1According to Socrates, only a man of high wisdom knows how to prosecute his father righteously, but Euthyphro does not appear to have this wisdom. When his interlocutor observes that an upright man in his state would bear witness against his father if he misappropriates a sheep, Confucius contradicts the interlocutor's understanding of uprightness by speaking in a matter-of-fact tone: "In my country the upright men are of quite another sort. A father will cover up for his son, and a son his father—which incidentally does involve a sort of up—rightness." 2Confucius stands on the same line with Socrates but seems the more radical of the two. Socrates does not directly refute Euthyphro and only suggests that he make sure he understands what he is doing before going any further. Socrates is not only typically Socratic—indirect and suggestive—but also sounds so reasonable that Euthyphro appears in contrast to be a reckless youth who harbors [End Page 1] only a faint understanding of morality. Confucius's response is more rigid, for he categorically dismisses an act of the Euthyphroian kind. He demands that father and son cover up for each other in the case of either one's guilt. Compared to Socrates, Confucius advocates the position that seems a little too strong and leaves no room for justice, while Socrates does not have that problem with justice. This is how we feel about Socrates and Confucius on our first impression. The prima facie observations that we make from the remarks of Socrates and Confucius seem both plain and unproblematic.By embedding these remarks into their respective social or philosophical cultures, this paper will show that our previous observations are not quite accurate. The apparent affinity of the Socratic and Confucian stances belies different underlying moral philosophies. We want to use their comments as bridges to explore the early Greek and Confucian ethics and show how different a picture we see after things are examined within their traditions.The issue of a possible father-son conflict may be treated as a case study of the early Greek (the Heroic era until the age of Socrates) and early Confucian (Confucius and Mencius) morals. There is a strong theme in the early Greek morals that allows, or sometimes demands, a son such as Euthyphro to prosecute his father for the sake of justice, because justice, instead of love (philein) or filial piety, is the governing principle in the early Greek ethics. Confucian ethics is founded on love (human-heartedness), which in turn is extended from the love between father and son. All moral principles including justice are derived from this extension of love. The mutual love of father and son then becomes the governing principle in the case of Confucianism. A Guilty Father: The Greek Motif The question, "What if the father commits a crime?" has a certain realistic aroma to a boy coming of age in the Hesiodic Greek world. That father has to be overcome by son before some relief from strife becomes possible is a familiar theme in Greek literature. In Hesiod's Theogony, Uranus (the sky) incurs hatred from all his newborn children since he hides them in their mother Gaia's womb and does not let them return to the light, for no reason... (shrink)

The way of thinking of mathematicians and chemists in their respective disciplines seems to have very different levels of abstractions. While the firsts are involved in the most abstract of all sciences, the seconds are engaged in a practical, mainly experimental discipline. Therefore, it is surprising that many luminaries of the mathematics universe have studied chemistry as their main subject. Others have started studying chemistry before swapping to mathematics or have declared some admiration and even love for this discipline. Here (...) I reveal some of these mathematicians who were involved in chemistry from a biographical perspective. Then, I analyze what these remarkable mathematicians and statisticians could have learned while studying chemical subjects. I found analogies between code-breaking and molecular structure elucidation, inspiration for statistics in quantitative analytical chemistry, and on the role of topology in the study of some organic molecules. I also analyze some parallelisms between the way of thinking of organic chemists and mathematicians in terms of the use of backward analysis, search for patterns, and use of pictures in their respective researches. (shrink)

This article is a Gadamer-Perelman's debate. The author points out the limits of the gadamerian's hermeneutic conception of philosophy and criticizes this conception from Perelman's new rhetoric point of view. Instead of speaking of truth as an ontological originary experience, the rhetorical foundation of philosophy allows us to say that in philosophy the important is the contrastation and the confrontation of criteria and that, for that reason, philosophy is above all characterized by discussibility.

The increasing costs of healthcare delivery led to different political and administrative approaches trying to preserve the core values of the welfare state. This approach has well documented weaknesses namely with regard to healthcare rationing. The objective of this paper is to evaluate if independent healthcare regulation is an important tool with regard to the construction of fair processes for setting limits to healthcare. Methodologically the authors depart from Norman Daniels’ and James Sabin’s theory of accountability for reasonableness and try (...) to determine if new regulatory models—namely independent agencies—perform better with regard to the public disclosure of the reasons and rationales of healthcare rationing. In publicly financed healthcare systems independent regulation is an important tool to assure fair and reasonable procedures of prioritising services. In accordance with the principle of public accountability, independent regulatory agencies are particularly well suited to assure publicity of the decision-making processes, relevance of the rationale involved and particularly mechanisms for challenge and dispute resolution regarding limit setting decisions. It follows that independent healthcare regulation could be regarded not only as an instrument for performance improvement but also as a tool of social justice. The authors conclude by stating that accountability for reasonableness should be regarded as a landmark of any healthcare reform. And therefore regulators have the social task of assuring that the rationales for limit-setting decisions are clearly accessible to the public. (shrink)

This paper investigates the integrity of financial analysts by examining their recommendation responses to large quarterly earnings surprises. Although there is no significant difference in recommendation changes between affiliated and unaffiliated analysts in response to positive earnings surprises, affiliated analysts are more reluctant than unaffiliated analysts to downgrade stock recommendations in response to negative earnings surprises. The evidence implies that conflicts of interest undermine the integrity of financial analysts. We further examine the effects of reputation concern and the Global Research (...) Analyst Settlement as informal and formal mechanisms, on restoring analysts’ integrity. The results show that the positive bias in recommendations remains prevalent for affiliated analysts from reputable investment banks and for the postreform period. Finally, evidence from market reactions suggests that investors fail to notice that analysts’ integrity is compromised by conflicts of interest and are misled by affiliated analysts. (shrink)

This paper faces the projections of the moral philosophy of Cicero on medieval scholastic ethics; it examines the influence of Cicero's writings dealing with treatment of the justificating way of moral behavior starting from natural human inclinations. First, the article analyses the philosophical elaboration of the theme in the field of ciceronian thinking. Second, already inside the frame of medieval elaborations, the article deals with projections of ciceronian tradition around natural human inclinations in their relations with moral life, in the (...) philosophical developments of Thomas Aquinas about origins of virtue and natural law. (shrink)

Este artículo tiene el propósito de reflexionar sobre los conceptos de Dasein, tiempo y mundo en la construcción filosófica de Martín Heidegger. Para ello, el autor propone considerar que Dasein es el mismo ser humano que pregunta y responde por el ser, que puede transformarse y desplegar todas sus posibilidades y que debe estar abierto a sí mismo, al mundo y a los demás. Al tiempo lo mira como un elemento integrante de la existencia humana, en el que se producen (...) los acontecimientos y constituye horizonte para toda la comprensión del ser, y que puede estudiarse como tiempo de la vida cotidiana, de la naturaleza y del mundo. En tanto que al mundo lo entiende como aquello que preexiste al ser, de lo que somos inseparables y que de alguna manera determina nuestra existencia porque estamos inmersos en su dinámica y en sus problemas. Este escrito concluye que el enfoque de Heidegger es sobre la existencia humana y que con base en estos conceptos ofrece una mirada práctica que lleva al hombre a la autorreflexión, a la autocomprensión, lo que le permite construir su proyecto de vida y alcanzar la autenticidad. (shrink)

The current techno-scientific revolution has transformed the concepts of person and human being. Techno-scientific developments raise questions about our very own humanity and bring again the Übermensch, about whom Nietzsche once spoke, for discussion. Technology has increased the desire to modify our human condition, aiming for the perfection of the physical, intellectual and psychological abilities. Different sciences and disciplines have had the necessity to adapt themselves to these techno-scientific transformations. Psychology has not been the exception and, because of that, a (...) new paradigm of approaching the human mind has been recently established. Concepts such as cybertherapy, virtual reality therapy to treat patients with phobias, and the use of Artificial Intelligence have revolutionized Psychology. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to establish whether the use of Artificial Intelligence in Psychotherapy actually contributes to the improvement of human beings by making possible progress within the field of Mental Health Care or, on the contrary, it poses a risk to humanity, which might face the possibility of replacing human therapists with intelligent machines. (shrink)

No vive la descentralización un buen momento. Contra ella se han enfilado potentes baterías que quieren limitarla. La responsabilizan, sin razón, de ser la causante del enorme déficit fiscal de la Nación. El presidente Uribe considera que “Esa fórmula es insostenible. Si me dicen que hay que regresar a esa fórmula yo no me siento capaz de despejar el futuro macroeconómico de la Nación en este Gobierno.” Así que de nuevo los medios de financiación de la descentralización están en discusión. (...) Por la importancia que tiene esta iniciativa para el futuro de municipios y departamentos, es previsible que se convierta en uno de los puntos centrales del debate nacional de los próximos meses. Aunque nadie desconoce la necesidad de descentralizar y todos reconocen los logros alcanzados a partir del comienzo del proceso en 1986, los recursos que le dan viabilidad y la sostienen corren graves peligros. (shrink)

As a first step, the arguments for and against the use of animals for medical purposes in general were reviewed. These arguments are summarized briefly in the first part of the article; Secondly, even if people accept in principle the use of animals in medicine and medical research, their use in xenotransplantation mayraise particular difficulties. There are three key issues in the debate over the use of animals in xenotransplantation. The first is whether as a matter of principle, it is (...) considered to be morally acceptable to use animals as organ or tissue source; the second is the ethical acceptability of the use of primates to supply transplant material; the third is the ethical issues raised by the use of genetically modified animals to provide organs for xenotransplantation. If it is agreed to be acceptable in principle, there are then questions to address regarding the welfare of animals within any xenotransplantation program. Finally, the author makes an attempt to discuss these ethical issues in Chinese cultural context. (shrink)

O direito à proteçāo da saúde tende hoje a ser considerado como uma conquista civilizacional, o que faz com que a salvaguarda deste direito seja sobretudo uma responsabilidade da sociedade e das suas instituições democráticas. Tal como noutros países ocidentais, a existência em Portugal de um sistema público de proteçāo da saúde enquadra-se nesta dinâmica, sendo esse um factor decisivo para a melhoria sustentada dos indicadores de saúde da população portuguesa. Nessa medida, defende o autor do artigo, a política de (...) saúde deve sempre tentar conciliar os princípios da equidade e da solidariedade com a vontade social, democraticamente determinada, atribuindo um carácter operacional a critérios de justiça social, fundamentais para uma política de protecção da saúde atenta às necessidades básicas dos cidadãos. Por outro lado, reconhece-se também que, não obstante o contributo fundamental do Serviço Nacional de Saúde para a protecção da saúde dos portugueses, a gestão estatal dos serviços públicos se tem revelado pouco eficiente. Daí a necessidade de se promover uma nova cultura na saúde fundada na convergência de dois factores aparentemente irreconciliáveis: a qualidade na prestação de cuidados de saúde e a optimização da utilização dos recursos disponíveis. Para isso, porém, é necessário perceber que a saúde e a sua protecgao são um bem económico altamente dispendioso e não "gratuito", ainda que frequentemente o seja no momento da utilização dos serviços. Daí se deriva também, segundo o autor, a necessidade de se promover a eficiência do ponto de vista económico através da adequada gestão dos recursos financeiros e dos meios humanos e materiais. De facto, mais do que um direito constitucional, a protecção da saúde deve ser considerada como um dos grandes pilares de uma sociedade democrática e plural. /// All countries face the issue of choice in health care. It is one of the main problems of pluralistic societies. Allocation of healthcare resources is clearly associated with the concept of distributive justice. But does justice, in this context, imply the existence of a right to healthcare? And if it does, is it a fundamental right? Moreover, does such a right, if it exists, include all types of healthcare services or should it be limited to selected types only? Thus, choices must be made and priorities must always be set. In the Portuguese Constitutional Law the right to healthcare services is regarded as a fundamental one. But in most European countries the right to healthcare is a social right, politically and not ethically determined. Hence, this issue is one of distributive justice the aim of which is to ensure that everyone has access to necessary care based on the substantive ethical principles of equity and solidarity. The article proposes that resource allocation is paramount in public policy particularly in regard to healthcare. But whatever the healthcare financing model, the problem is that the efficiency of the system might be related to the degree of state intervention on the healthcare market. Moreover, the ethical principles involved in the debate are associated to an agreed definition of human dignity. This concept implies that no citizen should be excluded from the health system due to lack of financial resources. In fact, the full achievement of personal liberty implies equal access to certain basic goods, namely to the healthcare services deemed necessary. (shrink)

In Portugal, as elsewhere, the rhetoric of managerialism in higher education is becoming firmly entrenched in the governmental policymakers’ discourse and has been widely disseminated across the institutional landscape. Managerialism is an important ideological support of New Public Management policies and can be classified as a narrative of strategic change. In this paper, we analyse how far the managerialism narrative has been injected into the discursive repertory of Portuguese academics in their role as the co-ordinators of the higher education institutions’ (...) teaching and academic middle levels. Based on an analysis of interview responses, it seems that most academics support traditional academic values such as autonomy and collegiality, and reject university or polytechnic governance based on corporate philosophy. (shrink)

Se intenta una contribución al conocimiento de la enseñanza de la filosofía en el Colegio de San Carlos de Buenos Aires hacia fines del siglo XVIII. Para ello se examinan las propuestas de Juan Baltasar Maziel (1727-1788) para dicho Colegio en materia de Filosofía, Teología y Derecho. Esta información se complementa con la exposición de otras ideas jurídico-políticas de Maziel, en el contexto de su actividad eclesiástica. The subject is the contribution of Juan Baltasar Maziel (1727-1778) to the teaching of (...) Philosophy, Theology and Law in the Colegio de San Carlos of Buenos Aires, in the last third of the XVIIIth Century. In addition, other political ideas of Maziel are considered. (shrink)

A contra-classical logic is a logic that, over the same language as that of classical logic, validates arguments that are not classically valid. In this paper I investigate whether there is a single, non-trivial logic that exhibits many features of already known contra-classical logics. I show that Mortensen’s three-valued connexive logic _M3V_ is one such logic and, furthermore, that following the example in building _M3V_, that is, putting a suitable conditional on top of the \(\{\sim, \wedge, \vee \}\) -fragment of (...) _LP_, one can get a logic exhibiting even more contra-classical features. (shrink)

The long-periodic/infinite discrete Gabor transform is more effective than the periodic/finite one in many applications. In this paper, a fast and effective approach is presented to efficiently compute the Gabor analysis window for arbitrary given synthesis window in DGT of long-periodic/infinite sequences, in which the new orthogonality constraint between analysis window and synthesis window in DGT for long-periodic/infinite sequences is derived and proved to be equivalent to the completeness condition of the long-periodic/infinite DGT. By using the property of delta function, (...) the original orthogonality can be expressed as a certain number of linear equation sets in both the critical sampling case and the oversampling case, which can be fast and efficiently calculated by fast discrete Fourier transform. The computational complexity of the proposed approach is analyzed and compared with that of the existing canonical algorithms. The numerical results indicate that the proposed approach is efficient and fast for computing Gabor analysis window in both the critical sampling case and the oversampling case in comparison to existing algorithms. (shrink)

The concept of wu-wei (nonaction) has undergone significant changes from Lao-zi to Zhuang-zi. This paper will argue that, while wu-wei in Lao-zi is a utilitarian principle, wu-wei of Zhuan-zi represents an aesthetic world-view. The aesthetic nature of the Daoist nonaction will be illustrated through Kant's concept of 'purposiveness without purpose'.

Immersive 360-degree video has become a new learning resource because of its immersive sensory experience. This study examined the effects of textual and visual cues on learning and attention in immersive 360-degree video by using eye-tracking equipment integrated in a virtual reality head-mounted display. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: no cues, textual cues in the initial field of view, textual cues outside the initial FOV, and textual cues outside the initial FOV + visual cues. The results (...) showed that the cues helped learners achieve better learning outcomes and spend more time focusing on the areas with cues. In addition, the study found a serious imbalance in the distribution of learners’ attention in each region of the video. The attention directed to textual cues in the initial FOV is much higher than the attention directed to textual cues outside the initial FOV. Adding visual cues can effectively direct attention to textual cues outside the initial FOV and alleviate the imbalance of attention distribution. Consequently, adding cues to immersive 360-degree video can be an appropriate approach to promote learning and guide attention in immersive 360-degree video learning environments. This study provided new insights into the design and development of immersive 360-degree video instructional resources. (shrink)

Alberic of Paris put forward an argument, ‘the most embarrassing of all twelfth-century arguments’ according to Christopher Martin, which shows that the connexive principles contradict some other logical principles that have become deeply entrenched in our most widely accepted logical theories. Building upon some of Everett Nelson’s ideas, we will show that the steps in Alberic of Paris’ argument that should be rejected are precisely the ones that presuppose the validity of schemas that are nowadays taken as some of the (...) most trivial logical truths: (A∧B) → A and (A∧B) → B, i.e. Simplification. (shrink)

In the current digital environment, people can visit every corner of the world without leaving their homes. New media technology compresses distance and time, but it also subverts the traditional mode of audience presence. Many traditional, offline content expression modes are also moving toward the digital field, and digital art is among them. Digital new media is a new art form that requires its audience to have a new media literacy; this literacy is necessary for esthetic experience and for audience (...) participation. At present, the relatively lack of objective methodology for scientific research on aesthetic and media literacy has limited our current understanding. Therefore, we need to develop a new model and conduct empirical research with college students as the audience. Empirical research was conducted with an audience of college students. The study had the following purposes: to add a new dimension to the esthetic model, namely new media literacy, to align the model with the current digital environment, and to test the moderating effect of new media literacy on esthetic emotion as represented by interest and confusion. The experiment verified the study’s hypothesis that higher new media literacy was associated with higher esthetic interest and lower confusion. By contrast, has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans, lower new media literacy was associated with lower esthetic interest and higher confusion. New media literacy is an essential quality for contemporary audiences. This knowledge may be useful for effective design. It provides a traditional and favorable learning environment and empirical reference for the subsequent improvement of digital aesthetics and media literacy. (shrink)

In congenitally or prelingually deaf childrencochlear implantation is open to seriousethical challenge. The ethical dimension ofthis technology is closely related to both asocial standard of quality of life and to theuncertainty of the overall results of cochlearimplantation. Uncertainty with regards theacquisition of oral communicative skills.However, in the western world, available datasuggest that deafness is associated with thelowest educational level and the lowest familyincome. Notwithstanding the existence of aDeaf-World, deafness should be considered as ahandicap. Therefore, society should provide themeans for the (...) fulfilment of a deaf child'sspecific needs.For the time being there is no definitiveanswer with regard the best way to rehabilitatea particular deaf child. Therefore,communitarian values may be acceptable. If thedeaf child parents' decide not to implant,their decision should be respected. Guardiansare entitled to determine which standard ofbest interest to use in a specificcircumstance. They are the proper judges ofwhat (re)habilitation process is best for theirdeaf child. However, most deaf children areborn to two hearing parents. Probably, theywill not be acculturated in the Deaf-World. Itfollows that cochlear implantation is awelcomed (re)habilitation technology.If auditory (re)habilitation will in the futureprovide the necessary communicative skills, inparticular oral language acquisition, customs,values and attitudes of the hearing worldshould be regarded as necessary to accomplish adeaf child's right to an open future. Ifcochlear implantation technology will provideall deaf children with the capacity to developacceptable oral communicative skills –whatever the hearing status of the family andthe cultural environment – then auditory(re)habilitation will be an ethical imperative. (shrink)