Given the rapid growth of music technology, this study reports Chinese pre-service music teachers’ perceptions of musical instrument learning assisted by augmented reality. In this study, we conducted a small-scale case study with six pre-service teachers enrolled in a music teacher training programme at a comprehensive university in China. Participants engaged in semi-structured, face-to-face interviews after hands-on experiences with an AR-based piano learning app. Thematic analysis revealed that the participants were generally aware of the potential of this instructional approach but (...) doubted its efficacy and exhibited weak intention to adopt it in their future classrooms. Implications of the findings for music teacher training are discussed. (shrink)

Used appropriately, reliance on science distinguishes public health from policymaking driven more by theory and opinion and enhances trust in public health interventions. Evidence-based vaccine policymaking aims to control communicable disease by urging decision makers to base policies on the best available evidence rather than politics or personal views. The results of this approach, such as smallpox eradication, have been dramatic. Historically, mandatory childhood vaccination has been perhaps the most successful evidence-based tool in combating many epidemics. Philosophically, vaccination mandates correspond (...) to the legal system’s dual role in codifying what society deems undesirable behavior and declaring beneficial social norms and values consistent with understandings of the social contract. Despite their effectiveness and philosophical grounding, vaccination mandates present serious legal and ethical questions. Public health policymakers have a continuing responsibility to rely on evidence not only as a basis for generating policy, but also for evaluating and improving elements of its legal design. (shrink)

The global signal, which was once regarded as a nuisance of functional magnetic resonance imaging, has been proven to convey valuable neural information. This raised the following question: what is a GS represented in local brain regions? In order to answer this question, the GS topography was developed to measure the correlation between global and local signals. It was observed that the GS topography has an intrinsic structure characterized by higher GS correlation in sensory cortices and lower GS correlation in (...) higher-order cortices. The GS topography could be modulated by individual factors, attention-demanding tasks, and conscious states. Furthermore, abnormal GS topography has been uncovered in patients with schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and epilepsy. These findings provide a novel insight into understanding how the GS and local brain signals coactivate to organize information in the human brain under various brain states. Future directions were further discussed, including the local-global confusion embedded in the GS correlation, the integration of spatial information conveyed by the GS, and temporal information recruited by the connection analysis. Overall, a unified psychopathological framework is needed for understanding the GS topography. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This article develops a theory of rhetorical impression through a critical genealogy of the term phantasia. The genealogy demonstrates cause for understanding phantasia as impression, not image. I trace phantasia as impression through the work of Plato and Aristotle but ultimately argue that the stoics offer the most productive leads for thinking through impressions, materiality, and sensations together. Specifically, I demonstrate how the stoics' concept of lekton can productively mediate the relationship between rhetoric, materiality, imagination, and idealism. In the (...) closing section, I suggest how a theory of rhetorical impression can address lacunae in existing new materialist approaches. (shrink)

Repetition learning is an efficient way to enhance memory performance in our daily lives and educational practice. However, it is unclear to what extent repetition or multiple exposures modulate different types of memory over time. The inconsistent findings on it may be associated with encoding strategy. In this study, participants were presented with pairs of pictures once or three times and were asked to make a same/similar/different judgment. By this, an elaborative encoding is more required for the “same” and “similar” (...) conditions than the “different” condition. Then after intervals of 10 min, 1 day, and 1 week, they were asked to perform a recognition test to discriminate a repeated and a similar picture, followed by a remember/know/guess assessment and a contextual judgment. The results showed that after learning the objects three times, both item memory and contextual memory improved. Multiple exposures enhanced the hit rate for the “same” and “similar” conditions, but did not change the false alarm rate significantly. The recollection, rather than the familiarity, contributed to the repetition effect. In addition, the memory enhancement was manifested in each encoding condition and retention interval, especially for the “same” condition and at 10-min and 1-day intervals. These results clarify how repetition influences item and contextual memories during discriminative learning and suggest that multiple exposures render the details more vividly remembered and retained over time when elaborative encoding is emphasized. (shrink)

The target article by David Alfandre et al. offers a new ethical framework to guide COVID-19 contingency surge planning and response, and applies this ethical framework to three case example...

In the present study, we use a training design in two experiments to examine whether bilingual language switching facilitates two components of cognitive control, namely monitoring and inhibitory control. The results of Experiment 1 showed that training in language switching reduced mixing costs and the anti-saccade effect among bilinguals. In Experiment 2, the findings revealed a greater decrease of mixing costs and a smaller decrease of the anti-saccade effect from pre- to post-training for the language switching training group compared to (...) the L2 training group. Overall, the results suggest that extensive exercise in monitoring and inhibitory control among languages in an experimental setting may enhance the corresponding components of cognitive control. We discuss these findings in the context of the relationship between bilingual language control and executive control. (shrink)

This paper applies Bo Mou’s Constructive-Engagement Strategy of Comparative Philosophy (CESCP) to explore philosophical practice as a novel paradigm that applies philosophy to everyday life. The study advocates for a transformative methodology that seeks truth through critical engagement, joint contributions, and diverse methodological tools, advancing the discipline towards a comprehensive world philosophy. Philosophical practice, characterized by its engagement with human experience and existential inquiries, integrates Eastern and Western philosophies to guide individuals in the art of living. It offers a philosophical (...) alternative to psychological counseling, focusing on reasoning to address life’s challenges and ethical dilemmas. The paper examines the integration of Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucianism, into philosophical practice, highlighting its relevance for contemporary counseling. It discusses Confucianism’s impact on philosophical practice, advances in self-cultivation and gong-fu theory, and the holistic Confucian view of body-mind integration, contrasting it with some Western approaches. We conclude that the practical dimensions of Confucianism oppose Western theoretical philosophy but align with Western philosophical practice. By employing CESCP, this research enriches philosophical practice, integrating diverse philosophies while respecting each tradition’s context. The approach combines Eastern relational perspectives with Western analytical depth, enhancing philosophical counseling and contributing to a global philosophical dialogue. This fusion of horizons aims to foster cross-cultural understanding and develop universally relevant wisdom. (shrink)

We experimentally investigate whether donation motive attribution influences individual investors' judgments of the donating firm's future earnings prospects and whether individual moral orientation, that is, perceived importance of social goodwill (PISG), moderates this effect. We find that investors forecast higher future earnings per share (EPS) when the donation motive is believed to be altruistic or win–win rather than egoistic; the EPS forecasts for altruistic and win–win motives are not different. However, this motive attribution effect holds only for higher-PISG investors. A (...) further examination finds that when the donation motive is believed to be egoistic and/or when investors have lower PISG, doing good is no better than doing nothing, but no backfire effect occurs. Our findings indicate that the positive effect of corporate donation on investors' judgments is generated only when higher-PISG investors believe that the donation motive is not purely egoistic; corporate donation will not generate negative effects on investors' judgments even under less favorable conditions. (shrink)

Han Fei was a famous Legalist in the late Warring States period. During the struggle to criticize the Confucian school, he developed the theory of the "rule of law," which laid a theoretical groundwork on which the newly emerging landlord class could build a centralized feudal state. His works had been appreciated by Ch'in Shih-huang. When Ch'in Shih-huang read the book Han Fei Tzu, he sighed and said, "I would feel no regret about dying if I could meet this person (...) and become his friend." Later Ch'in Shih-huang applied this progressive theory of Han Fei in practice and developed it through practice. (shrink)

We investigate the role of legitimacy in setting organizational goals as a way to address the potential “dark,” unethical side of organizational goal setting. Coupling qualitative and quantitative research methods to better understand legitimacy in goal setting, we first induce novel hypotheses based on observed practice and then provide survey evidence to test the performance implications. Study 1 reports findings based on interviews with twenty-two company executives. We identify attention to goal credibility, prioritization of stakeholders directly involved in the goal’s (...) attainment when setting goals, and communication openness regarding goals, as well as their combination, as being important to organizational performance outcomes. Study 2 determines whether these three practices and their interaction predict performance using a survey conducted with 522 companies across four countries. Among other findings, we contribute to the organizational goal setting literature by showing that higher organizational performance is associated with the amount of priority given to the key actors (typically employees) directly involved with the goal’s attainment. We also find a positive interaction between attention to goal credibility, key actor (employee) importance, and communication openness on financial performance and non-financial goal attainment. Our work takes an initial step toward understanding how organizations can better shape the legitimacy of organizational goals for improved organizational performance and reduced unethical behavior. (shrink)

Stanovich & West (S&W), following all relevant others, define the rationality debate in terms of human performance on certain well-known problems. Unfortunately, these problems are very easy. For that reason, if System 2 cognition is identified with the capacity to solve them, such cognition will not enable humans to meet the cognitive demands of our technological society. Other profound issues arise as well.

The human spindle and kinetochore associated complex is required for proper mitotic progression. Extensive studies have demonstrated its important functions in both stable kinetochore-microtubule interactions and spindle checkpoint silencing. We suggest a model to explain how various Ska functions might be fulfilled by distinct pools of Ska at kinetochores. The Ndc80-loop pool of Ska is recruited by the Ndc80 loop, or together with some of its flanking sequences, and the recruitment is also dependent on Cdk1-mediated Ska3 phosphorylation. This pool seems (...) to play a more important role in silencing the spindle checkpoint than stabilizing kinetochore-microtubule interactions. In contrast, the Ndc80-N-terminus pool of Ska is recruited by the N-terminal domains of Ndc80 and appears to be more important for stabilizing kinetochore-microtubule interactions. Here, we review and discuss the evidence that supports this model and suggest further experiments to test the functioning mechanisms of the Ska complex. The human spindle and kinetochore associated complex plays essential functions in proper mitotic progression by promoting stable kinetochore-microtubule interactions and spindle checkpoint silencing. We propose that “distinct pools” of Ska—the Ndc80-loop and Ndc80-N-terminus pools—might fulfill these various functions. (shrink)

No one denies the importance of applying knowledge to actions. But claiming identity (unity) of knowledge and action is quite another thing. There seem to be two problems with the claim: (1) the identity claim implies that the sole cause for one to fail to act on what one judges to be right is ignorance, but it is obviously false that the sole cause of failure in moral actions is ignorance. (2) The identity statement implies non-separation of knowledge and action. (...) But knowledge does not necessarily lead to action. However, the identity of knowledge and action is what a famous Ming Confucian scholar, W ang Yang-ming, proposed and the concept became the central doctrine of his teaching. Though there are several major interpretations of Wang’s doctrine in contemporary literature, it is not clear to me how they deal with the above mentioned difficulties. In this article, I will discuss these interpretations of the doctrine and propose a new interpretation. My purpose is to give an interpretation of Wang’s doctrine that has the capacity of dealing with these challenges to the doctrine and also captures the essence of his teaching. (shrink)

This paper proposes a new topic in substructural logic for use in research joining the fields of relevance and fuzzy logics. For this, we consider old and new relevance principles. We first introduce fuzzy systems satisfying an old relevance principle, that is, Dunn’s weak relevance principle. We present ways to obtain relevant companions of the weakening-free uninorm systems introduced by Metcalfe and Montagna and fuzzy companions of the system R of relevant implication and its neighbors. The algebraic structures corresponding to (...) the systems are then defined, and completeness results are provided. We next consider fuzzy systems satisfying new relevance principles introduced by Yang. We show that the weakening-free uninorm systems and some extensions and neighbors of R satisfy the new relevance principles. (shrink)

Product configuration is a key enabling technology for mass customization production. Previous studies mainly focus on the solving technologies for obtaining a feasible configuration or optimal configuration but ignore environmental factors like CO2 emissions, especially the environmental regulations from international organizations. In this article, we address product configuration optimization problems considering both carbon cap and carbon tax regulations. A two-stage approach that combines both Particle Swarm Optimization and a greedy algorithm is presented to solve the product configuration problems with carbon (...) emission concerns. A case study of a configurable ranger-drilling machine is illustrated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the presented approach. The impacts of carbon cap and carbon tax regulations on configuration results are compared. Further, the models are extended to analyze the effects of single-sourcing and multisourcing on product configuration. The analysis shows that multisourcing in combination with carbon tax regulation can facilitate a manufacturer to provide more green and low-carbon customized products for customers. Numerical experiments are conducted to validate the effectiveness of the model and the efficiency of the proposed solution method. (shrink)

Hybrid renewable energy system arises regularly in real life. By optimizing the capacity and running status of the microgrid, HRES can decrease the running cost and improve the efficiency. Such an optimization problem is generally a constrained mixed-integer programming problem, which is usually solved by linear programming method. However, as more and more devices are added into MG, the mathematical model of HRES refers to nonlinear, in which the traditional method is incapable to solve. To address this issue, we first (...) proposed the mathematical model of an HRES. Then, a coevolutionary multiobjective optimization algorithm, termed CMOEA-c, is proposed to handle the nonlinear part and the constraints. By considering the constraints and the objective values simultaneously, CMOEA-c can easily jump out of the local optimal solution and obtain satisfactory results. Experimental results show that, compared to other state-of-the-art methods, the proposed algorithm is competitive in solving HRES problems. (shrink)

The ordering tendency in binary f -Ti solid solution containing 3sp or 4sp simple-metal or 3d transition-metal solute is investigated systematically by the linear muffin-tin orbital method within the atomic sphere approximation . We demonstrated that the effective pairwise interaction energy in a solid solution is equal to half the solute-solute interaction energies and can be evaluated by a supercell total energy approach. The calculations of EPI energy both with and without volume relaxation of the supercells and local density of (...) states show that the EPI energies of Ti-SM and Ti-TM solutions are dominated by different factors. For Ti-SM solutions, the EPI energies are of large absolute values with a negative sign, indicating strong ordering tendency in these solutions. The volume relaxation does not alter the EPI energy substantially. The calculated LDOS shows that the ordering tendency in Ti-SM solutions may be related to the hybridization between the electrons of the SM atoms when they are close to each other. For most Ti-TM solutions, if calculated without relaxation, the absolute EPI energies are very small; however, if calculated with relaxation, they are of relatively large positive values, indicating a clustering tendency in these solutions. By combining the calculated EPI energy and Flinn's model for short-range order strengthening, the increase in critical shear stress ‰ sro due to SRO is estimated for Ti-SM alloys, and the results qualitatively agree with experiment. (shrink)

BackgroundBilateral cerebral palsy is the most common type of CP in children and is often accompanied by different degrees of communication impairment. Several studies have attempted to identify children at high risk for communication impairment. However, most prediction factors are qualitative and subjective and may be influenced by rater bias. Individualized objective diagnostic and/or prediction methods are still lacking, and an effective method is urgently needed to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this study is to develop and (...) validate an objective, individual-based model for the prediction of communication impairment in children with BCP by the time they enter school.MethodsA multicenter prospective cohort study will be conducted in four Chinese hospitals. A total of 178 children with BCP will undergo advanced brain magnetic resonance imaging at baseline. At school entry, communication performance will be assessed by a communication function classification system. Three-quarters of children with BCP will be allocated as a training cohort, whereas the remaining children will be allocated as a test cohort. Multivariate lesion- and connectome-based approaches, which have shown good predictive ability of language performance in stroke patients, will be applied to extract features from MR images for each child with BCP. Multiple machine learning models using extracted features to predict communication impairment for each child with BCP will be constructed using data from the training cohort and externally validated using data from the test cohort. Prediction accuracy across models in the test cohort will be statistically compared.DiscussionThe findings of the study may lead to the development of several translational tools that can individually predict communication impairment in children newly diagnosed with BCP to ensure that these children receive early, targeted therapeutic intervention before they begin school.Trial registrationThe study has been registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. (shrink)