Previous studies on the Structural Alignment Model suggest that people compare the alignable attributes and nonalignable attributes during the decision-making process and preference formation process. Alignable attributes are easier to process and more effective in clue extracting. Thus, it is believed that people rely more on alignable than nonalignable attributes when comparing alternatives. This article supposes that consumers’ product experience and personal characteristics also play a significant role in regulating consumers’ reliance on attribute alignability. The authors conducted three experiments to (...) examine the moderating role of consumers’ product familiarity and self-construal in the impact of attribute alignability on consumer product purchase. The results show the following: When making a purchase decision, consumers with a high level of product familiarity will rely more on nonalignable attributes, while those with a low level of product familiarity will rely more on alignable attributes. The difference in consumer dependency on attribute alignability is driven by their perceived diagnosticity of attributes. The dependency of consumers with different levels of familiarity on attribute alignability will be further influenced by consumers’ self-construal. Individuals with interdependent self-construal rely more on alignable attributes when unfamiliar with the product, while relying more on nonalignable attributes when familiar with the product. Individuals with independent self-construal, however, rely more on nonalignable attributes regardless of the degree of product familiarity. The conclusions of this paper can be used as references for enterprises to establish product positioning and communication strategies. (shrink)

The existing fuzzy rough set models all believe that the decision attribute divides the sample set into several “clear” decision classes, and this data processing method makes the model sensitive to noise information when conducting feature selection. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a robust fuzzy rough set model based on representative samples. Firstly, the fuzzy membership degree of the samples is defined to reflect its fuzziness and uncertainty, and RS-FRS model is constructed to reduce the influence of the (...) noise samples. RS-FRS model does not need to set parameters for the model in advance and can effectively reduce the complexity of the model and human intervention. On this basis, the related properties of RS-FRS model are studied, and the sample pair selection algorithm based on RS-FRS is used for feature selection. In this paper, RS-FRS is tested and analysed on the open 12 datasets. The experimental results show that RS-FRS model proposed can effectively select the most relevant features and has certain robustness to the noise information. The proposed model has a good applicability for data processing and can effectively improve the performance of feature selection. (shrink)

People are typically poor at telling apart truthful and deceptive statements. Based on the Unconscious Thought Theory, it has been suggested that poor lie detection arises from the intrinsic limitations of conscious thinking and can be improved by facilitating the contribution of unconscious thought. In support of this hypothesis, Reinhard, Greifeneder, and Scharmach (2013) observed improved lie detection among participants engaging in unconscious thought. The present study aimed to replicate this unconscious thought advantage using a similar experimental procedure but with (...) an important improvement in a key control condition. Specifically, participants judged the truthfulness of 8 video recordings in three thinking modes: immediately after watching them or after a period of unconscious or conscious deliberation. Results from two experiments (combined N = 226) failed to reveal a significant difference in lie detection accuracy between the thinking modes, even after efforts were made to facilitate the occurrence of an unconscious thought advantage in Experiment 2. The results imply that the unconscious thought advantage in deception detection is not a robust phenomenon. (shrink)

In Nos. 105 and 121 of the Kuang-ming Daily "Philosophical Supplement," there were two articles by Ch'ieh Ta-yu: "Some Opinions on the Problem of Determining the Object of Dialectical Logic" and "The Marxist Dialectical Method and Dialectical Logic." The first is quite general, while the second "elucidates the connections and differences" between dialectics and dialectical logic discussed in the first article. Almost all the basic points in both articles are erroneous. Actually, the author waves the banner of antidogmatism and expounds (...) a revisionist point of view. We will now refute his contentions. (shrink)

Heidegger suggests that the manner of research is neither historiological nor systematic, but instead phenomenological. The phenomenological approach to time is to grasp time from the existence of Dasein. If time is understood from a phenomenological standpoint, the Great Wall has rich and vivid images, thus revealing very different life implications. But phenomenological time cannot be divorced from historical time or systemic time; otherwise, we cannot understand the life of the Other.

Rips et al.'s analyses have boosted the plausibility of proposals that the human mind embodies some critical properties of natural numbers. I suggest that such proposals can be further evaluated by infant studies, neuropsychological data, and evolution-based considerations, and additionally, that Rips et al.'s model may need to be modified in order to more completely reflect infants' quantitative abilities.

Publication date: 30 November 2016 Source: Author: Wen Lee Ng, Manimangai Mani, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya While the growing body of research on Tan Twan Eng’s The Gift of Rain focuses on the protagonist, Philip Hutton’s traumatic condition, his Chinese identity, and his ambiguous identity, this study devotes particular attention to the complexity of interactions between various cultures practised by Philip. This study aims to address this gap by applying the concept of transculturalism to analyse the processes of acquiring a (...) foreign culture and incorporating the foreign culture into traditional cultures experienced by Philip. In other words, this study employs the concept of transculturalism to examine multicultural depictions in the novel. Scholars, such as Khan, Tiwari, Sheoran and Tan C. S. who have examined multicultural depictions in various literary texts, have found that multicultural circumstances cause certain ethnic groups to lose their cultures and identities. Hence, the multicultural circumstances depicted are perceived as negative phenomena. However, this study has found that by examining the interactions between various cultures, rather than focusing on the end products such as portrayals of hybridity, the positive sides of multicultural depictions could be revealed. The transculturation process experienced by Philip shows that the new cultural practices he has created are made up of both his traditional cultures and the foreign culture he has acquired. This means that Philip does not totally lose his traditional cultures and identities. Therefore, this study concludes that multicultural depictions in The Gift of Rain could be read positively, provided that the interactions between various cultures, which resulted in the incorporation of a foreign culture into traditional cultures, are examined. (shrink)

本书深入细致地介绍了刑法总论的基本理论问题,特别是犯罪构成和刑事责任问题。每个专题在系统介绍中外学者的观点之后,都提出了自己的观点。.

Background: Gender makes a difference in health and physical activity. This research aimed to identify the gender difference in the relationship of PA and subjective happiness among Chinese university students.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Shanghai Jiao Tong University from July 7 to 17 in 2021, using an anonymous online self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire included the Chinese version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form, the Subjective Happiness Scale, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. The demographic and health-related factors were (...) also reported. Linear regression was carried out to identify the relationship of PA and subjective happiness.Findings: In total, 1,512 students from three comprehensive schools completed the survey. The SHS score was 17.20 ± 3.44, and it was 17.00 ± 3.23 in males, and 17.75 ± 3.93 in females, respectively. There was no gender difference in vigorous, moderate PA, or walk min/week, while female students had longer sedentary behavior hours/day than males. Male students scored higher in each subscale of DASS-21. After controlling for confounders, vigorous PA min/week and sedentary behavior hours/day were significantly positively associated with happiness in male students. In contrast, walk min/week was significantly positively associated with happiness in female students.Interpretation: This research demonstrated a significant gender difference in the association between PA and happiness. Policymakers and college management should pay more attention to PA programs to promote students’ happiness and mental health status. (shrink)

Concentrated attention on institutional investors' activism has been perceived in the last few decades and further intensified in the post‐Enron era. A new area of particular significance that has emerged is institutional investors' growing awareness and practice of socially responsible investment (SRI). This article starts by reviewing the importance of institutional investor activism and the historical implication of SRI. Significantly, various elements that give rise to the growth of SRI in the modern business world are considered in detail. It is (...) recognized that, although current empirical evidence suggests ambiguous effects of SRI, the positive impact of institutional investors' activism on SRI is likely to have been undermined due to the underdevelopment of evaluation systems, and SRI should stand out as a good investment option for its joint financial and societal concerns. Nevertheless, obstructions still exist in the exercise of investor activism and the pursuit of SRI strategy, which implies that, at least in the near future, SRI strategy will remain as a minor investment trend for institutional investors in Anglo‐American countries. Additional regulatory methods and awarding schemes are, therefore, expected to motivate institutional investors' activism on SRI, and subsequently to promote global sustainability. (shrink)

Reflecting on the tension of which he was aware between the imperial West and the still-mysterious East, Victorian writer Rudyard Kipling penned the above phrase to express the incommensurable situation wherein the Westerner never understands the Asian, as the latter’s culture differs too greatly from his own. However, aware that East and West nevertheless cannot remain separated forever, the author ends the poem with an eventual encounter between the two.Over 100 years have passed since this poem was written, yet the (...) ambivalent encounter between East and West that it depicts still exists and is currently playing out within the field of pharmaceuticals. On one side of the divide are the many people in the industry who want to standardize global acceptance of drugs; on the other are the local authorities who want to maintain the overruling legal need not to compromise on health care at a national level. In this sense, the divergence and unity that Kipling captures is what this paper aims to discuss as it addresses how race is debated at the International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use. (shrink)

Mystical experiences are often regarded as potential sources of epistemic justification for religious beliefs. However, the ‘disanalogy objection’ maintains that, in contrast to sense perceptions, mystical experiences lack social verifiability and are thus merely subjective states that cannot substantiate objective truths. This article explores a novel externalist response that involves the concept of angels. As spiritual beings, angels can directly perceive God and verify these perceptions in their celestial community. Thus, the ‘direct perception of God’ is not inherently incapable of (...) social verification. While invoking angels might appear contentious, it coheres with the externalist approach of conceptualising cognitive states under hypothetical settings. Despite the differences between humans and angels and their lack of interaction for verification purposes, our approach remains valid because mystics not only exemplify the same general type of ‘direct perception of God’ as angels but can also be preliminary members of a wider celestial community. (shrink)

Hindman’s Theorem says that every finite coloring of the positive natural numbers has a monochromatic set of finite sums. Ramsey algebras, recently introduced, are structures that satisfy an analogue of Hindman’s Theorem. It is an open problem posed by Carlson whether every Ramsey algebra has an idempotent ultrafilter. This paper develops a general framework to study idempotent ultrafilters. Under certain countable setting, the main result roughly says that every nondegenerate Ramsey algebra has a nonprincipal idempotent ultrafilter in some nontrivial countable (...) field of sets. This amounts to a positive result that addresses Carlson’s question in some way. (shrink)

This writing gives an introduction to this special topic issue on comparative perspectives on the philosophy of nature.

This study aims to examine the perceptions of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff in English local government on the ethical nature of their treatment at work, and its mediating effect on their Public Service Motivation. This is a particular imperative in a sector which itself delivers social justice within a strong regulatory system designed to ensure workplace equality and therefore is expected to be a model employer for other organisations. Employees place great importance on their fair treatment by their (...) employers and, in particular, the endeavour of managerial authority to implement equality at work based on their discretionary powers. 2580 valid responses were collected from 15,000 questionnaires sent to staff in five local councils in England. Our analyses show that BAME employees have a significantly stronger PSM than their white colleagues; however, this has been eroded by their perception of unfair treatment: being underpaid allied with a lack of effort from management to ensure an equal work environment, to be specific, to prevent discrimination, bullying, and racism at workplace. Most importantly, the perceived exertion made by management to ensure an equal work environment has a significantly strong mediating effect on PSM and a compensational effect on perceived lower pay. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (shrink)

Mystical religious experiences typically purport to engage with the transcendent and often claim to involve encounters with spiritual entities or a detachment from the material world. Daoism diverges from this paradigm. This paper examines Daoist mystical experiences of bodily transformations and explores their epistemological implications. Specifically, we defend the justificatory power of Daoist somatic experiences against the disanalogy objection. The disanalogy objection posits that mystical experiences, in contrast to sense perceptions, are not socially verifiable and thereby lack prima facie epistemic (...) value. We argue that some Daoist mystical bodily states, being essentially spatiotemporal, are exempt from this challenge. This leads to a broader understanding of mysticism and offers a partial resolution to the disanalogy objection. (shrink)

A deterrence theory of punishment holds that the institution of criminal punishment is morally justified because it serves to deter crime. Because the fear of external sanction is an important incentive in crime deterrence, the deterrence theory is often associated with the idea of severe, disproportionate punishment. An objection to this theory holds that hope of escape renders even the severest punishment inapt and irrelevant. -/- This article revisits the concept of deterrence and defend a more plausible deterrence theory of (...) punishment—the wide-scope deterrence theory. The wide-scope theory holds that we must make the best use of all the deterrence tools available, including both external and internal sanctions. Drawing on insights from the early Confucian tradition, the article develops a deep deterrence theory, which holds that the most important deterrence tool involves internal, not external, sanction. It describes how internal sanctions deter potential offenses and why relevant policies need not conflict with liberalism’s respect for neutrality. (shrink)

“Embodiment of God” is understood by me as “the appearance of God,” and in terms of “divinity,” “holy,” and “Being.” Heidegger states in “Letter on Humanism”: “Only from the truth of Being can the essence of the holy be thought. Only from the essence of the holy is the essence of the divinity to be thought. Only in the light of the essence of divinity can it be thought or said what the word ‘God’ is to signify.”1 This statement basically (...) shows how the latter stage, namely “God” appears or is embodied in the world. It also manifests how Heidegger understands onto-theology. “Letter on Humanism” was written in 1946. Is such a relation between ontology and theology to be found in Heidegger’s early works? What of Heidegger’s position after 1946? How can we understand Heidegger’s position on God according to his works in general with regard to my formulation of it as the “embodiment of God”? (shrink)

This study aims to develop a robust metalearning system for rapid classification on a large number of tasks. The model-agnostic metalearning with the CACTUs method is improved as EW-CACTUs-MAML after integrated with the entropy weight method. Few-shot mechanisms are introduced in the deep network for efficient learning of a large number of tasks. The process of implementation is theoretically interpreted as “gene intelligence.” Validation of EW-CACTUs-MAML on a typical dataset indicates an accuracy of 97.42%, performing better than CACTUs-MAML. At the (...) end of this paper, the availability of our thoughts to improve another metalearning system is also preliminarily discussed based on a cross-validation on another typical dataset. (shrink)