With the further acceleration of urbanization in China, the proportions of both urban residents’ energy consumption and energy-consuming terminal electricity are showing an increasing trend at the same time. In view of the dynamic and time-varying complex system characteristics of power system, it is of great significance to study the impact mechanism of urbanization residents’ electricity consumption on the realization of demand-side management and environmental protection. Based on the one-year follow-up survey data obtained from household meter reading, this paper studies (...) the impact mechanism of urban residents’ electricity consumption in different seasons and terminals by descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression model. The results show that, on the whole, electricity is a necessity for urban households and does not change significantly with changes in income. At the turn of summer and autumn and the turn of winter and spring, high-income families tend to use higher levels of energy in pursuit of comfort, while low- and middle-income families do not have luxury consumption. In different seasons, the influence mechanism of household electricity consumption at different terminals is different. (shrink)

Although the composition of the board of directors has important implications for different aspects of firm performance, prior studies tend to focus on financial performance. The effects of board composition on corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance remain an under-researched area, particularly in the period following the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). This article specifically examines two important aspects of board composition (i.e., the presence of outside directors and the presence of women directors) and their relationship with CSR (...) performance in the Post-SOX era. With data covering over 500 of the largest companies listed on the U.S. stock exchanges and spanning 64 different industries, we find empirical evidence showing that greater presence of outside and women directors is linked to better CSR performance within a firm’s industry. Treating CSR performance as the reflection of a firm’s moral legitimacy, our study suggests that deliberate structuring of corporate boards may be an effective approach to enhance a firm’s moral legitimacy. (shrink)

Workplace procedural justice is an important motivator for employee work attitude and performance. This research examines how procedural justice affects employee engagement. We developed three propositions. First, based on the group engagement model, we hypothesized that procedural justice enhances employee engagement through employee organizational identification. Second, employees with stronger moral identity centrality are more likely to be engaged in their jobs. Third, procedural justice compensates for the effect of moral identity centrality on employee engagement. Specifically, when procedural justice is higher, (...) employee moral identity centrality plays a less significant role in employee engagement; whilst when procedural justice is lower, the effect of moral identity centrality on employee engagement is stronger. Research findings based on an employee survey in a leading financial service organization provide support for the above propositions. (shrink)

With the high frequency and intensity of worldwide disasters, cause-related marketing campaigns with sudden disasters are becoming increasingly popular. However, little is known about whether and how cause acuteness may influence consumer attitudes. This research aims to extend this research area through investigating the relationship between cause acuteness and consumer attitudes toward the product, as well as its underlying mechanism and boundary conditions. Based on a moral psychology perspective, we propose a theoretical model focusing on the mediating role of moral (...) elevation in influencing consumer attitudes. This model also incorporates product-cause fit and information transparency as moderators underpinning necessary conditions that are likely to lead to positive consumer attitudes. Four empirical studies were conducted to test our model. Our research results reveal that consumers have more positive attitudes toward the product associated with a sudden disaster than with an ongoing tragedy. Furthermore, the positive effect of cause acuteness on consumer attitudes is mediated by enhanced moral elevation, which occurs under the conditions of high product-cause fit and high information transparency. (shrink)

A varied air volume air-conditioning system comprises diverse input and/or output disturbances, which are commonly nonlinear, with large lag and uncertainty. Based on the traditional control methods, testing the controlling parameters of a VAV air-conditioning system is challenging. Sliding mode control could improve the robustness of the system due to the adaptive capacity of disturbance rejection. Moreover, the fuzzy algorithm could be employed to determine the stability of a sliding control system by adjusting the parameters in the approach rate, reducing (...) the switching frequency, and weakening chatter. Fuzzy sliding mode control is investigated in this paper to improve the performance of a VAV air-conditioning system. Simulation results verify that the sliding mode control is suitable for a VAV air-conditioning system to achieve good adaptability and robustness considering the influence of multiple external variable disturbances. In addition, the chattering of the system is improved after the introduction of fuzzy control. (shrink)

Previous research has shown that people can implicitly acquire mappings between word forms and literal meanings . We argue, from the metaphor-representation and embodiment perspectives, that people can unconsciously establish mappings between word forms and not only literal but also metaphorical meanings. Using Williams’ paradigm, we found that transfer of form-meaning connections from a concrete domain to an abstract domain was achieved in a metaphor-consistent way without awareness. Our results support the view that unconscious knowledge can be flexibly deployed in (...) an abstract way not previously explored in the implicit learning literature. (shrink)

This study investigates the influence of chief executive officers' (CEOs) career horizon on the adoption of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Using data from A-share Chinese listed firms on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2020, we employ logistic regression analysis to examine the empirical relationship. Our findings indicate that companies led by CEOs with shorter career horizons (older CEOs) are less inclined to adopt GRI reporting standards for CSR reporting. This (...) association is particularly pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises compared to state-owned enterprises. Additionally, we observe a weaker relationship between CEO career horizon and GRI adoption when the CEO possesses foreign experience. These results remain robust across various measures of CEO career horizons and econometric methodologies as well. The implications of our findings are significant for understanding the development and implementation of GRI standards for CSR reporting, particularly within the context of China. (shrink)

Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, EarlyView.

Consensus around what constitutes researcher conflicts of interest (COIs) and awareness of their influence on our research are two critical steps in ensuring the integrity of our science. In this research, data were collected from individual scholars via 2 surveys 5 years apart and from journals and associations to examine the level of social consensus and moral awareness among scholars, journals, and associations regarding researcher COIs. Although we observed increases in level of social consensus and moral awareness between 2012 and (...) 2017, results still revealed limited agreement about what relationships constitute a COI and limited awareness about the presence of and the ethical issues surrounding COIs. Although all journals and associations we examined supported COI disclosure, most did not provide researchers with detailed COI-related information, guidance, or disclosure tools. Limited social consensus and moral awareness regarding COIs is problematic because it inhibits the recognition, disclosure, and management of COIs and limits ethical decision making. We need to continue and enhance discussions about COIs and aim to create consensus and awareness where we do not have it with the goal of reducing potential scientific misconduct related to COIs. (shrink)

Evidence suggests that participation in plaza dancing may affect mental health. This study for the first time quantified the relationships between plaza dancing and psychological well-being and ill-being. We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP to identify relevant studies published from the databases since their inception to July 25, 2021. The standardized mean differences of pre-to-post intervention data were calculated in the meta-analysis. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses were performed to test the potential moderating effects of age, (...) outcome classification, measurement instruments, district, publication year, total sample size, and the duration, frequency, and length of the square dance intervention. A total of 25 original articles met all the eligibility criteria and were included in the review, and 17 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that plaza dancing improved psychological well-being and reduced psychological ill-being. The study participants’ age and district did not seem to affect the effectiveness of the plaza dancing intervention. The duration and frequency of plaza dancing affected the association between square dance and psychological well-being and psychological ill-being. Plaza dancing has a significant positive effect on psychological well-being and psychological ill-being, and the effects are moderated by intervention modality. Generalizing plaza dancing interventions to promote psychological well-being and prevent or treat psychological ill-being is needed.Systematic Review Registration[www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero], identifier [CRD42021272016]. (shrink)

Drawing on the status characteristic theory, we investigate the effect of gender on board directors’ status ranking and find that all else being equal, female directors’ status ranking is 81.48% of one position lower than that of male directors, a discrepancy that is attributable to gender. We theorize on the mechanism that determines the ways in which the status value of gender on a board affects board interactions, and we predict how this mechanism influences firm outcomes, including excessive managerial spending, (...) social responsibility performance, and firm risk. We test our hypotheses in Chinese firms using an unbalanced panel that includes 5396 firm-year observations for a period of 6 years and find them supported. (shrink)

As an intercultural modern art form, web-based ink and wash cartoons are significant tools to communicate cultural identities in the Chinese context because of their entertaining form, thought-provoking content, and profound cultural connotation. Against this background, the present study investigates the multimodal appraisal systems of 96 web-based ink and wash cartoons, focusing on attitudinal meanings and explicating how the attitudinal resources contribute to the communication of Chinese cultural identities. The analysis of 96 web-based ink and wash cartoons shows that the (...) cultural identities of the Chinese dream, Confucianism, collectivism, and optimism are communicated through the interplay between visual and verbal semiotic resources. The analytical results reveal a series of generic features of the web-based ink and wash cartoons that contribute to the promotion of cultural identities, including the popular theme, minimalist style, positive attitude prosody, and the use of culture-specific metaphor and ideation. These features underpin the strategies for promoting Chinese cultural identities and the shift in national branding policy. The study hopes to provide clues for government, social institutions, and individuals to promote cultural identities effectively through social media. (shrink)

Social networks are widely used as a fast and ubiquitous information-sharing medium. The mass spread of food rumours has seriously invaded public’s healthy life and impacted food production. It can be argued that the government, companies, and the media have the responsibility to send true anti-rumour messages to reduce panic, and the risks involved in different forms of communication to the public have not been properly assessed. The manuscript develops an empirical analysis model from 683 food anti-rumour cases and 7,967 (...) data of the users with top comments to test the influence of the strength of rumour/anti-rumour on rumour control. Furthermore, dividing the users into three categories, Leaders, Chatters, and General Public, and study the influence of human characteristics on the relationship between the strength of rumour/anti-rumour and rumour control by considering the different human characteristics as moderator variables. The results showed that anti-rumours have a significant positive impact on the control of rumours; the ambiguity of rumours has a significant negative impact on the Positive Comment Index in rumour control. Further, the Leaders increased the overall level of PCI, but negatively adjusted the relationship between evidence and PCI; the Chatters and the General Public reduced the overall level of PCI, and Chatters weakened the relationship between the specific type of anti-rumour form and PCI while the General Public enhanced the relationship between the specific type of anti-rumour form and PCI. In the long run, the role of Leaders needs to be further improved, and the importance of the General Public is growing in the food rumour control process. (shrink)

Transcranial direct current stimulation has been previously used to investigate the causal relationships between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and task switching but has delivered inconclusive results that may be due to different switching tasks involving different cognitive control processes. In the current study, we manipulated task types and task predictability to investigate the role of DLPFC in task-switching performances. Notably, we distinguished the specific effects of anodal-tDCS on two types of tasks. Forty-eight participants were randomly assigned to four task groups (...) as follows; Group I who was assigned right anode parity/magnitude tasks, Group II who were assigned sham parity/magnitude tasks, Group III who were assigned RA parity/vowel-consonant tasks, and Group IV who were assigned sham parity/vowel-consonant tasks. Participants were asked to complete both predictable and unpredictable tasks. In the parity/magnitude task, we demonstrated a lower switch cost for the RA group compared to the sham group for unpredictable tasks. In contrast, in the parity/vowel-consonant task, the switch cost was higher for the RA group compared to the sham group for unpredictable and predictable tasks. These findings confirmed an anodal-tDCS-induced effect over the right DLPFC both in the parity/magnitude and parity/vowel-consonant tasks. Our data indicated that anodal tDCS may have a stronger influence on task-switching performance over the right DLPFC by changing the irrelevant task-set inhibition process. Also, the right DLPFC is unlikely to act by performing exogenous adjustment of predictable task switching. (shrink)

Population mobility has been one of the most basic social characteristics of China’s reform and opening up for more than 40 years. As the main labor force in Chinese cities, young migrants have made major contributions toward China’s economic miracle as the country has experienced rapid industrialization and urbanization. However, frequent mobility has caused an imbalanced social mentality in young migrants and often leads to issues with social integration, which has made this group more vulnerable with respect to their health. (...) This study used the 2013 and 2015 Chinese General Social Survey data of 1,007 young migrants to investigate social mentality mediating the linkage between social integration and health among young migrants. Additionally, to probe the moderating role of gender, multi-group structural equation modeling was applied to test if the pathways in the mediation model differed between young male and female migrants in a significant way. The results suggested that after controlling for the influence of age, marital status, education, and personal annual income, social integration positively impacted the health of young migrants in a significant way; social mentality mediated the action of social integration on this group’s health; and with respect to gender difference, on the three paths of social integration affecting health, social integration affecting social mentality, and social mentality affecting health, young male migrants were more affected than young female migrants. The findings of this study could help improve gender-specific policies on the health of the floating population and offer important theoretical reference and practical suggestions for future research. (shrink)

Due to fresh foods' unique characteristics, where quality, freshness, and perishability are the main concerns, consumers are more inclined to choose offline channels for purchasing foods. However, it is not well-understood how these behaviors are affected by the adverse external environment, e.g., smog pollution. Fine particulate matters on smog days would irritate the respiratory tract and pose health risks to people, triggering negative emotions such as sadness and depression. People tend to stay in a clean indoor environment on smog days. (...) An adverse external environment is causing a gradual change in people's habits and emotions. Still, its impact on shopping behaviors is a complex process in need of further study. The study fills this gap by examining the impact of smog pollution on customer channel choice. Based on data from an e-commerce retailer that operates in both online and offline channels. We find that the degree of smog pollution has a significant positive effect on online channel purchasing at aggregated store-, product-, and individual- levels; moreover, the retailer's in-store interactive activities would restrain this positive relationship; variation of product pricing and customers' healthy eating tendency would pronounce the positive association between smog and online purchasing. These results can serve as a reference for retailers to adjust channel strategies in the face of harsh external conditions. (shrink)

This study investigates the phonological development of Mandarin voiceless affricates produced by Mandarin-speaking children. Thirty-six monolingual Mandarin-speaking children and twelve adults participated in a speech production task. Auditory-based transcription analysis and acoustic analysis were utilized to quantify the relative order of affricate acquisition. Both methods yielded earlier acquisition of alveopalatal affricates at age three than retroflex and alveolar affricates, whereas they differed in the acquisition order of retroflex and alveolar affricates. The former revealed that both retroflex and alveolar affricates were (...) acquired at age five, regardless of aspiration, while the latter yielded earlier acquisition of retroflex than alveolar affricates. Possible reasons for the discrepancy are discussed in relation to the different nature of the two methods. Overall, the observed acquisition order of Mandarin voiceless affricates suggests that child speech development is a complex process, and is influenced by various factors including oromotor maturation and language-specific phoneme frequencies in the ambient language. (shrink)

This paper develops and defends a paradigm-based explanation of respect. Paradigm-based explanations propose to illuminate subject matter that are basically disunified, by identifying a form of them (“the paradigm”) that is then shown to be explanatorily basic to the subject as a whole. This explanatory strategy is well-suited to the subject of respect, which is widely agreed to encompass two distinct kinds, appraisal respect and recognition respect. Accordingly, the paper sets out to determine which of these two kinds is paradigmatic (...) and which, derivative. It begins by advancing a novel account of appraisal respect (“perspectival respect”), which it also hypothesizes is respect in its paradigmatic form. On this hypothesis, perspectival respect is paradigmatic in virtue of its apparent “point” or function, which is that it constitutively aims at understanding another person’s perspective on things. The paper then tests the viability of this hypothesis by showing how one central form of recognition respect (“respect for persons”) can reasonably be understood to derive from respect in its paradigmatic form, by showing how it is illuminated by the aim of interpersonal understanding. (shrink)

¿̆Ơ£̃Œđ̇¿¿̇¿¿̄ʻ¿̆ƯÞ̇ðð̃¿ı̃Ư¿̄ư‌ ̇ʻ¿̃Đ¿̆¿Ư̄Œ¿̄¿¿̆¿¿̄¿¿̈¿ữ¿ı̃Ư¿̆ʻ ð̃ð¿̆¿ı̃¿£̃ ¿̇¿¿̄ð¿̆Ơ¿̈¿¿̇þ, ʻ̄¿¿̈¿ı̌¿¿̌Ư¿̌¿¿̈ðʻ̄¿¿̄ʺơ̄¿¿̇¿¿̈ ¿¿̃Đð̃ð¿̆¿ʹ̈¿¿̄æ¿̃Æ¿̄¿¿̆ʻ¿̄¿Ư̄Œð ̃ð¿̆¿ı̃¿£̃ ð̇đ¿̄Æ¿̆ʻð̃ð¿̆¿ı̃¿£̃ ¿̇¿¿̃ʺ¿̄ơʹ̈¿¿̌‌¿̈¿Ł̈¿ʼ̄Łʹ̈¿ı̃‌¿ ̈¿®̌¿, ¿̃‌¿̈¿¿̈¿ı̃ðʹ̇¿Ư̄Œ¿̄ʻʼ̄¿̆¿ð̃¿¿ ̄£¿̆ʻð̃ð¿̆¿ı̃¿£̃ı̃Ư¿̄ưư̄ł¿̈£¿̇¿ ‌̄¿¿̄ø¿̆¿¿̆Ł. ¿̆Ơ£̃Œ¿̆ƯÞ̇ðð̃¿¿̆ʻð̃ð¿̆¿ı̃¿£̃ ¿̇ ¿¿̇¿ʼ̈ð ̇£¿̄¿¿̆¿¿̆¿¿̄æ¿̇¿¿̆ʹ, ¿̇łƯ̆Þ¿̄ð¿̄¿̄Þ¿̆Ưı̃Ư¿̄ư¿̆ʻð̃ð¿̆ ¿ı̃¿£̃¿̇¿¿̆¿¿̆đ¿̄¿œ̆æ, ̄Þ ̄±¿̆ʻ¿̆ʹð̃ð¿̆¿ı̃¿£̃¿̇¿‌̄¿ ̄¿ ̄¿Ư̆ʹ.

Verbs in the passive voice have been described as linguistic features which can exert ideological effects because they typically omit the agent, or ‘doer’ of an action. These missing agents are said to be potentially ‘mystified’ to readers. But to what extent are these agents actually mystified to readers, and can we predict when mystification is likely to occur? A text-based analytical framework for inference prediction focusing on agency mystification was applied to two corpora of US newspaper editorials. Eighty-four percent (...) of passive verbs were predicted not to mystify agency for casual readers. To test this method of inference prediction, a reader response study was carried out in which readers were asked to identify agents that had been deleted from texts via the addition of agentless passives. By a standard of 50% accuracy, 74% of passives were found to be non-mystifying. These results suggest that agents missing from texts are likely to be inferred correctly by readers in a majority of cases and that mystification may be predictable from text analysis. (shrink)

The crucial role of international publicity translation (IPT) in bolstering a nation's soft power is undeniable, yet its effectiveness often faces hindrances due to a lack of nuanced social interpretations. China, like many other nations, grapples with this challenge. This paper explores the intricate relationship between IPT in China and Lotman's Cultural Semiotics, aiming to examine the evolution of cultural connotations in China's IPT through Cultural Semiotics. Through a comprehensive set of case studies, it illustrates the applicability and value of (...) Cultural Semiotics, particularly its text theory, in addressing social and cultural disparities, revitalizing cultural memory, and bridging cultural divides in diverse societies. Rooted in Semiotics, this interdisciplinary research paradigm offers profound insights into the ideological foundations of cultural formation and the political system. It emphasizes the imperative of interpreting texts accurately in the field of translation studies, highlighting the disparity between the text manipulated through ideological processes in China's IPT and its authentic intent. (shrink)

First of all, this paper defines design relation to engineering technology, in terms of philosophy, as the process of externalizing the subject’s consciousness as a medium replacement for a practical technical substance. The essence of design is to exhibit the careful foresight of practical possibility of technical principle and hominisation of technology. Practical possibility means a coincidence between technical principle and social need，technical production is shaped by social restriction. The hominisation of technology means a linkage of human properties with natural (...) attributes. For that reason, technical principle demands personifying so as to be used by man. Secondly, this paper also discusses functions and characteristics of design. The appearance of design gives to knowledge of technology a unique form—a medium replacement or called correct ideology of technology; the appearance of modern design promotes occupation of designer, so individual of technological system is replaced in principle; the appearance of design also separates technical subject into mental subject and manual subject, strengthening the dominant position of mental subject. The separation of technical subject, hence, gives rise to the correct ideology of technical subject at different stages. Compared with science and arts, design has it as its characteristics to solve problems having no definite answers, which are limited undermany conditions. Design is a kind of careful prevision without doing on the-spot making of objects. Design is an art to satisfy practical function andmass-production. The medium-tool plays an important role in design. Key words: Activity of Engineering Technology; Designing philosophy; the essence of design; a medium replacement; correct ideology of technical subject. (shrink)