Name der Zeitschrift: Semiotica Jahrgang: 2016 Heft: 209 Seiten: 249-275.

Journal Name: Semiotica - Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies / Revue de l'Association Internationale de Sémiotique Volume: 2013 Issue: 196 Pages: 353-364.

A structure is automatic if its domain, functions, and relations are all regular languages. Using the fact that every automatic structure is decidable, in the literature many decision problems have been solved by giving an automatic presentation of a particular structure. Khoussainov and Nerode asked whether there is some way to tell whether a structure has, or does not have, an automatic presentation. We answer this question by showing that the set of Turing machines that represent automata-presentable structures is ${\rm{\Sigma (...) }}_1^1 $-complete. We also use similar methods to show that there is no reasonable characterisation of the structures with a polynomial-time presentation in the sense of Nerode and Remmel. (shrink)

Point-of-interest recommendations are a popular form of personalized service in which users share their POI location and related content with their contacts in location-based social networks. The similarity and relatedness between users of the same POI type are frequently used for trajectory retrieval, but most of the existing works rely on the explicit characteristics from all users’ check-in records without considering individual activities. We propose a POI recommendation method that attempts to optimally recommend POI types to serve multiple users. The (...) proposed method aims to predict destination POIs of a user and search for similar users of the same regions of interest, thus optimizing the user acceptance rate for each recommendation. The proposed method also employs the variable-order Markov model to determine the distribution of a user’s POIs based on his or her travel histories in LBSNs. To further enhance the user’s experience, we also apply linear discriminant analysis to cluster the topics related to “Travel” and connect to users with social links or similar interests. The probability of POIs based on users’ historical trip data and interests in the same topics can be calculated. The system then provides a list of the recommended destination POIs ranked by their probabilities. We demonstrate that our work outperforms collaborative-filtering-based and other methods using two real-world datasets from New York City. Experimental results show that the proposed method is better than other models in terms of both accuracy and recall. The proposed POI recommendation algorithms can be deployed in certain online transportation systems and can serve over 100,000 users. (shrink)

Low frequency oscillation is an important attribute of human brain activity, and the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation is an effective method to reflect the characteristics of low frequency oscillation, which has been widely used in the treatment of brain diseases and other fields. However, due to the low accuracy of the current analysis methods for low frequency signal extraction of ALFF, we propose the Fourier-based synchrosqueezing transform, which is often used in the field of signal processing to extract the (...) ALFF of the low frequency power spectrum of the whole-time dimension. The low frequency characteristics of the extracted signal are compared with those of FSST and fast Fourier transform through the resting-state data. It is clear that the signal extracted by FSST has more low frequency characteristics, which is significantly different from FFT. (shrink)

Business Ethics: A European Review, EarlyView.

Enterprises often post branded content on social media and adopt a proactive response approach to improve digital customer engagement to gain a competitive advantage. However, there are many brands which fail to operate social media as effectively as expected. The effective use of brand social media strategies to improve digital customer engagement remains an ongoing challenge for the enterprises. Based on firm-generated content theory and social presence theory, this study aims to identify the impact of brand social media strategies on (...) different levels of digital customer engagement, including positive filtering, cognitive and affective processing as well as advocacy from content strategy and response strategy. Based on 1,519 brand posts on the official Weibo pages of eight of the top 500 Chinese brands in 2021, this study uses a multiple linear regression model to examine the impact of brand social media strategies on digital customer engagement and the moderating effects of brand image and discretionary purchases. The findings show that, on the one hand, among the brand social media content strategies, action content strategy is associated with higher levels of digital customer engagement. On the other hand, different brand social media response strategies have a differential impact on digital customer engagement levels, with cohesive response being the best strategy for increasing digital customer engagement level. In addition, the effectiveness of brand social media response strategy in digital customer engagement is further moderated by the brand image and discretionary purchases. In contrast, the effectiveness of brand social media response strategy in digital customer engagement is stronger when the brand image emphasizes its “competence” or the discretionary purchases focus on “material purchases.” This study not only enriches the research on digital customer engagement but also provides a reference for the brand strategy selection, design and management based on social media. (shrink)

A strong degree of categoricity is a Turing degree [Formula: see text] such that there is a computable structure [Formula: see text] that is [Formula: see text]-computably categorical (there is a [Formula: see text]-computable isomorphism between any two computable copies of [Formula: see text]), and such that there exist two computable copies of [Formula: see text] between which every isomorphism computes [Formula: see text]. The question of whether every [Formula: see text] degree is a strong degree of categoricity has been (...) of interest since the first paper on this subject. We answer the question in the affirmative, by constructing an example. (shrink)

Action video game (AVG) has attracted increasing attention from both the public and from researchers. More and more studies found video game training improved a variety of cognitive functions. However, it remains controversial whether healthy adults can benefit from AVG training, and whether young and older adults benefit similarly from AVG training. In the present study, we aimed to quantitatively assess the AVG training effect on the cognitive ability of adults and to compare the training effects on young and older (...) adults by conducting a meta-analysis on previous findings. We systematically searched video game training studies published between January 1986 and July 2015. Twenty studies were included in the present meta-analysis, for a total of 313 participants included in the training group and 323 participants in the control group. The results demonstrate that healthy adults achieve moderate benefit from AVG training in overall cognitive ability and moderate to small benefit in specific cognitive domains. In contrast, young adults gain more benefits from AVG training than older adults in both overall cognition and specific cognitive domains. Age, education, and some methodological factors, such as the session duration, session number, total training duration, and control group type, modulated the training effects. These meta-analytic findings provide evidence that AVG training may serve as an efficient way to improve the cognitive performance of healthy adults. We also discussed several directions for future AVG training studies. (shrink)

The service failure of online shopping has always plagued online stores, but the current academic circles still need to explore the service recovery of online shopping from the perspective of empathy and consumer forgiveness. Based on the service failure cases of real online shopping, this article uses the method of situational experiment to carry out empirical research, discusses the impact mechanism of service recovery effect from the perspective of empathy and consumer forgiveness, and tests the moderating role of online store (...) reputation. The results show that in the online shopping service recovery scenario, empathy has a positive impact on consumer forgiveness, consumer forgiveness has a positive impact on consumer repurchase intention, and consumer forgiveness plays a mediating effect between empathy and consumer repurchase intention. Online store reputation plays a moderating role in the relationship between consumer forgiveness and consumer repurchase intention. The research conclusion of this article will help to expand the application of empathy and consumer forgiveness in the research of service recovery, enrich the theory of online shopping service recovery, improve the effect of online shopping service recovery, and promote the healthy development of online shopping business models. (shrink)

Cellular reprogramming can manipulate the identity of cells to generate the desired cell types1– 3. The use of cell intrinsic components, including oocyte cytoplasm and transcription factors, can enforce somatic cell reprogramming to pluripotent stem cells4– 7. By contrast, chemical stimulation by exposure to small molecules offers an alternative approach that can manipulate cell fate in a simple and highly controllable manner8– 10. However, human somatic cells are refractory to chemical stimulation owing to their stable epigenome2,11,12 and reduced plasticity13,14; it (...) is therefore challenging to induce human pluripotent stem cells by chemical reprogramming. Here we demonstrate, by creating an intermediate plastic state, the chemical reprogramming of human somatic cells to human chemically induced pluripotent stem cells that exhibit key features of embryonic stem cells. The whole chemical reprogramming trajectory analysis delineated the induction of the intermediate plastic state at the early stage, during which chemical-induced dedifferentiation occurred, and this process was similar to the dedifferentiation process that occurs in axolotl limb regeneration. Moreover, we identified the JNK pathway as a major barrier to chemical reprogramming, the inhibition of which was indispensable for inducing cell plasticity and a regeneration-like program by suppressing pro-inflammatory pathways. Our chemical approach provides a platform for the generation and application of human pluripotent stem cells in biomedicine. This study lays foundations for developing regenerative therapeutic strategies that use well-defined chemicals to change cell fates in humans. (shrink)

We prove a number of results in effective randomness, using methods in which Π⁰₁ classes play an essential role. The results proved include the fact that every PA Turing degree is the join of two random Turing degrees, and the existence of a minimal pair of LR degrees below the LR degree of the halting problem.

We describe punctual categoricity in several natural classes, including binary relational structures and mono-unary functional structures. We prove that every punctually categorical structure in a finite unary language is${\text {PA}}(0')$-categorical, and we show that this upper bound is tight. We also construct an example of a punctually categorical structure whose degree of categoricity is$0''$. We also prove that, with a bit of work, the latter result can be pushed beyond$\Delta ^1_1$, thus showing that punctually categorical structures can possess arbitrarily complex (...) automorphism orbits.As a consequence, it follows that binary relational structures and unary structures are not universal with respect to primitive recursive interpretations; equivalently, in these classes every rich enough interpretation technique must necessarily involve unbounded existential quantification or infinite disjunction. In contrast, it is well-known that both classes are universal for Turing computability. (shrink)

Numerous studies had found that creativity is not only associated with low effort and flexible processes, but also associated with high effort and persistent processes especially when defensive behavior being induced negative emotions. The important role of self-esteem is to buffer the negative emotions and low self-esteem are prone to instigate various forms of defensive behaviors. Thus, we thought that the relationships between trait creativity and executive control brain networks might be modulated by self-esteem. The resting-state electroencephalogram (RS-EEG) microstates can (...) divided into four classical types (MS1, MS2, MS3 and MS4) which can reflect the brain networks as well as the dynamic characteristic of them. Thus, Williams creative tendency scale (WCTS) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were used to investigate the modulating role of self-esteem on the relationships between trait creativity and the RS-EEG microstates. As our results showed, self-esteem consistently modulated the relationships between creativity and the duration and contribution of MS2 related to visual or imagery processing, the occurrence of MS3 related to cingulo-opercular networks, as well as transitions between MS2 and MS4 which was related to frontoparietal control networks. Based on these results, we thought that Moreover, individuals with low self-esteem might be more prone to influenced by negative emotions and develop low trait creativity; bottom-up information from vision or visual imagery might be beneficial to develop trait creativity for individuals with high self-esteem to improve trait creativity, while inhibition of irrelevant information could facilitate trait creativity for individuals with low self-esteem. (shrink)

This study investigated gesture–speech integration among adolescents who are deaf or hard of hearing and those with typical hearing. Thirty-eight adolescents performed a Stroop-like task in which they watched 120 short video clips of gestures and actions twice at random. Participants were asked to press one button if the visual content of the speaker’s movements was related to a written word and to press another button if it was unrelated to a written word while accuracy rates and response times were (...) recorded. We found stronger GSI effects among DHH participants than hearing participants. The semantic congruency effect was significantly larger in DHH participants than in hearing participants, and results of our experiments indicated a significantly larger gender congruency effect in DHH participants as compared to hearing participants. Results of this study shed light on GSI among DHH individuals and suggest future avenues for research examining the impact of gesture on language processing and communication in this population. (shrink)

How can low-income, non-English-speaking parents become advocates, leaders, and role models in their children’s schools? _A Cord of Three Strands_ offers a close study of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, a grassroots organization on the northwest side of Chicago, whose work on parent engagement has drawn national attention. The author identifies three elements—induction, integration, and investment—that together capture the dynamic and developmental nature of successful parent engagement. Writing with both optimism and urgency, author Soo Hong offers richly detailed portraits of (...) parents’ experiences and addresses the complex and sometime conflicting relationships among school, family, and community. (shrink)

In recent years, the method of the complex network has been applied to various fields. Dynamics research in complex networks is also an important branch. There are many types of research into dynamic complex network, but few scholars use bibliometrics to study it. Therefore, this paper adopts the method of bibliometrics to analyze the development history and status quo of dynamic complex network, providing a summary description of this research field. We used CiteSpace and Pajek to analyze 2936 relevant papers (...) on the website of Web of Science and further interpreted and summarized the analysis results. To fully show the bibliometric results, we further derive the productive countries, institutions, sources, and authors and some main research directions in the dynamic complex network research. The research results show that the dynamic complex network research method was applied to various fields after the dynamic research method had been integrated into the complex network. According to the subject analysis of the cited papers, we find that the dynamic complex network method has been widely used in various subjects. Through emergent analysis, we found that the latest hot research trends are the study of infectious diseases and applications in neural networks. At the same time, through the main path analysis, we find the essential literature to elaborate on the development context of a dynamic complex network at different time points. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of dynamic complex network research and provides some enlightenment for the future research direction. (shrink)

Policies to promote the usage of energy-saving vehicles, such as electric vehicles and hybrids, were introduced and implemented in many countries due to increasing awareness of the potential benefits of such vehicles on environmental and energy conservation. However, despite consumers’ claims of their concerns and positive attitudes toward environmental issues, those claims have not been translated into energy-saving vehicles’ purchasing behavior. Prior studies neglected the interrelationship between consumer ethnocentrism, perceived value, and consumer knowledge in influencing consumer behavior, including pro-environmental behavior. (...) This study examines the relationship between CE, PV, CK, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude and intention to purchase domestic energy-saving vehicles. A total of 396 completed questionnaires were collected through convenience sampling in Xuzhou, China. The survey data were subjected to descriptive analysis and analysis of variance using SPSS. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were utilized for the hypotheses testing. The results revealed that CE positively influenced PV and CK; PV and CK positively influenced PU and PEU. CK positively influenced PV, while PU and PEU positively influenced attitude and intention, and PEU was shown to influence PU. Furthermore, attitude was shown to significantly influence intention to purchase domestic energy-saving vehicles. Lastly, the theoretical and practical implications of the outcomes were discussed, including the limitations of the research. (shrink)

As the primary value system in Chinese culture for almost 2,000 years, Confucianism has profoundly influenced the mindset of Chinese people. Cultural psychology studies have highlighted that individuals with different cultural backgrounds vary in their preferences for certain personality traits, such as self-construal, and their metacognitive characteristics, such as thinking modes. Compared with Western cultures, Chinese culture shows a preference for the interdependent self and holistic thinking. To investigate the relationship between the relational-interdependent self, holistic thinking, and traditional Chinese values, (...) we surveyed 327 Chinese adults using the Confucian Traditional Values Survey, Holistic Thinking Scale, and Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale. The results show that Confucian values positively influence both holistic thinking and the relational-interdependent self, the latter of which partially mediates the positive relationship between Confucian values and holistic thinking. This study deepens the understanding of the psychological features of Chinese culture. (shrink)

Visually impaired people have unique perceptions of and usage requirements for various urban spaces. Therefore, understanding these perceptions can help create reasonable layouts and construct urban infrastructure. This study recruited 26 visually impaired volunteers to evaluate 24 sound environments regarding clarity, comfort, safety, vitality, and depression. This data was collected in seven different types of urban spaces. An independent sample non-parametric test was used to determine the significance of the differences between environmental evaluation results for each evaluation dimension and to (...) summarize the compositions of sound and space elements in the positive and negative influence spaces. The results suggested that visually impaired people (1) feel comfort, safety, and clarity in parks, residential communities, and shopping streets; (2) have negative perceptions of vegetable markets, bus stops, hospitals, and urban departments; (3) feel anxious when traffic sounds, horn sounds, manhole cover sounds, and construction sounds occur; and (4) prefer spaces away from traffic, with fewer and slower vehicles, with a suitable space scale, and moderate crowd density. These results provide a reference for the future design of activity venues (i.e., residential communities, vegetable markets, bus stops, parks, shopping streets, hospitals, and urban functional departments) and the planning of accessibility systems for visually impaired urban residents. (shrink)

Background and purposeThis study aimed to analyze the feasibility and safety of endovascular therapy (EVT) in patients with acute posterior circulation stroke and vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD).Materials and methodsBASILAR was a national prospective registry of consecutive patients with symptomatic and imaging-confirmed acute stroke in the posterior circulation within 24 h of symptom onset. We evaluated EVT feasibility and safety in patients with VBD. Primary outcomes included improvement in modified Rankin Scale scores (mRS) at 90 days and mortality within 90 days. The (...) secondary outcome was the rate of favorable functional outcome, defined as mRS ≤ 3 (indicating independent ambulation) at 90 days. Safety outcomes included surgery-related complications and other serious adverse events.ResultsA total of 534 cases were included: 159 with VBD and 375 controls. No significant difference in mRS at 90 days was found between groups, but patients with VBD had a higher baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score [30 (19–33) vs. 25 (15–32)] and were older [65 (59–74) vs. 63 (55–72) year]. After propensity score matching, there were no significant differences in baseline NIHSS score between the two groups, and the efficacy and safety of EVT were similar between patients with or without VBD. Furthermore, the prognostic effect of puncture-to-recanalization time on the probability of mortality within 90 days in EVT-treated patients with VBD was significant {adjusted odds ratio, 1.008 [95% confidence interval (1.001–1.015)]}.ConclusionEndovascular therapy is safe and feasible in patients with acute posterior circulation stroke and VBD. The puncture-to-recanalization time is important for predicting the prognosis of EVT-treated patients with VBD. (shrink)

The prevalence of mobile phone addiction has increased rapidly in recent years, and it has had a certain negative impact on emotions and cognitive capacities. At the level of neural circuits, the continued increase in activity in the brain regions associated with addiction leads to neural adaptations and structural changes. At present, the spontaneous brain microstates that could be negatively influenced by MPA are unclear. In this study, the temporal characteristics of four resting-state electroencephalogram microstates related to mobile phone addiction (...) tendency were investigated using the Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency Scale. We attempted to analyze the correlation between MPAT and corresponding microstates and provide evidence to explain the brain and behavioral changes caused by MPA. The results showed that the total score of the MPATS was positively correlated with the duration of MS1, related to phonological processing and negatively correlated with the duration of MS2, related to visual or imagery processing, and MS4, related to the attentional network; the score of the withdrawal symptoms subscale was additionally associated with duration of MS3, related to the cingulo-opercular emotional network. Based on these results, we believe that MPAT may have some negative effects on attentional networks and sensory brain networks; moreover, withdrawal symptoms may induce some negative emotions. (shrink)

BackgroundBoosting the individual learning passion of medical students is a novel approach to improve their academic performance. It facilitates the medical education reform, motivating both policymakers and educators to focus on the function of positive psychology in the career development of medical students. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the status of two types of learning passion; to clarify the relationship between self-esteem and two types of learning passion among Chinese medical students; to examine the mediating role of psychological capital (...) in the relationship between self-esteem and two types of learning passion, respectively; and to identify the moderating role of professional identity in the relationship between PsyCap and two types of learning passion, respectively.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was conducted from April to June 2016 in China. A total of 1,218 valid questionnaires were collected from four medical schools.ResultsSelf-esteem significantly and positively influenced medical students’ PsyCap.ConclusionTwo types of learning passion of medical students are positively influenced by self-esteem and PsyCap. Medical students with high-level self-esteem should possess strong PsyCap, which augments their harmonious as well as obsessive learning passion. Moreover, the positive effect of medical students’ PsyCap on harmonious learning passion is more notable among those with a lower professional identity. Finally, this study argues that strengths-based interventions of self-esteem and PsyCap are a beneficial approach for future enhancing learning passion in the domain of medical education. (shrink)