This study investigated new avenues for understanding the association between parental autonomy support and academic engagement among Chinese secondary vocational students based on Self-Determination Theory and Career Construction Theory. We highlighted the mediator role of career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy in the relationship between parental autonomy support and academic engagement. Using self-reported data from 1,930 secondary vocational students in a city in Central China, we performed correlation analysis and mediation analysis by using SPSS and Mplus. The results revealed that (...) parental autonomy support was positively associated with students’ academic engagement. Moreover, as an adaptability resource and adapting response, career adaptability and career decision-making self-efficacy played mediating roles between parental autonomy support and academic engagement. These findings offered crucial empirical evidence for understanding the association between parental support and academic engagement among Chinese secondary vocational students. Meanwhile, it also validated the application of Career Construction Theory in a sample of secondary vocational students in China and provided constructive insights for implementing diverse support measures to boost their academic and career development. (shrink)

Emotion regulation plays a vital role in individuals’ well-being and successful functioning. In this study, we attempted to develop a computerized adaptive testing to efficiently evaluate ER, namely the CAT-ER. The initial CAT-ER item bank comprised 154 items from six commonly used ER scales, which were completed by 887 participants recruited in China. We conducted unidimensionality testing, item response theory model comparison and selection, and IRT item analysis including local independence, item fit, differential item functioning, and item discrimination. Sixty-three items (...) with good psychometric properties were retained in the final CAT-ER. Then, two CAT simulation studies were implemented to assess the CAT-ER, which revealed that the CAT-ER developed in this study performed reasonably well, considering that it greatly lessened the test items and time without losing measurement accuracy. (shrink)

A fundamental question in causal inference is whether it is possible to reliably infer the manipulation effects from observational data. There are a variety of senses of asymptotic reliability in the statistical literature, among which the most commonly discussed frequentist notions are pointwise consistency and uniform consistency (see, e.g. Bickel, Doksum [2001]). Uniform consistency is in general preferred to pointwise consistency because the former allows us to control the worst case error bounds with a finite sample size. In the sense (...) of pointwise consistency, several reliable causal inference algorithms have been established under the Markov and Faithfulness assumptions [Pearl 2000, Spirtes et al. 2001]. In the sense of uniform consistency, however, reliable causal inference is impossible under the two assumptions when time order is unknown and/or latent confounders are present [Robins et al. 2000]. In this paper we present two natural generalizations of the Faithfulness assumption in the context of structural equation models, under which we show that the typical algorithms in the literature are uniformly consistent with or without modifications even when the time order is unknown. We also discuss the situation where latent confounders may be present and the sense in which the Faithfulness assumption is a limiting case of the stronger assumptions. (shrink)

Commented article: XU, Y. Chinese cultural landscapes: from the ideal of a balanced bond between humans and nature to ecological forms of life. Trans/Form/Ação, v. 47, n. 4 “Eastern thought”, e0240067, 2024. Available at: https://revistas.marilia.unesp.br/index.php/transformacao/article/view/14623.

Since humankind crossed the threshold to civilization, and up to the moment of the victory of the revolution of the proletariat, being oppressed and being enslaved was the common fate of women down through the ages. Albeit that in different periods and eras, in different societies, countries, or nations, and owing to the impact of different economic, political, cultural, and moral factors, the oppression and enslavement of women was expressed in different forms and to different degrees, such oppression and enslavement (...) existed in every age and place as a common feature of history. For the longest time, the value that women ought to have and deserve, as members of society, as members of the family, and as the object of the affection and intimacy of men, was consistently and maliciously damaged, undermined, and demeaned. (shrink)

In this paper, a finance system with delay is considered. By analyzing the corresponding characteristic equations, the local stability of equilibrium is established. The existence of Hopf bifurcations at the equilibrium is also discussed. Furthermore, formulas for determining the direction of Hopf bifurcation and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions are derived by applying the normal form method and center manifold theorem. Finally, numerical simulation results are presented to validate the theoretical analysis. Numerical simulation results show that delay can (...) lead a stable system into a chaotic state. (shrink)

Math anxiety (MA) has been suggested to decrease the math performance of students. However, it remains unclear what factors moderate this relationship. The purpose of this study was to analyze the link between MA and math performance. Studies that explored the relationship between MA and math performance, conducted from 2000 to 2019 (84 samples, N = 8680), were identified and statistically integrated with a meta-analysis method. The results indicated a robust negative correlation between MA and math performance. Furthermore, regarding the (...) analysis of moderator variables, this negative link was stronger in the studies that involved Asian students, whereas it was the weakest in the studies that involved European students. Moreover, this negative link was stronger in the studies within a senior high school group, whereas it was the weakest in the studies within an elementary group. Finally, this negative link was strongest among studies that used a custom test and studies that assessed problem-solving skills. Potential explanations and implications for research and practice are discussed. (shrink)

In this work, a virtual submerged floating operational system based on parallel and serial robotic platforms is proposed. The primary aim behind its development lies in carrying out simulated underwater manipulation experiments in an easier and safer way. This VSFOS is consisted of a six-degree-of-freedom parallel platform, an ABB serial manipulator, an inertial sensor, and a real-time industrial computer. The 6-DOF platform is used to simulate the movement of an underwater vehicle, whose attitude is measured by the inertial sensor. The (...) ABB manipulator, controlled by the real-time industrial computer, works as an operational tool to perform underwater manipulation tasks. In the control system architecture, software is developed to receive the data collected by the inertial sensor, to communicate and send instructions. Furthermore, the real-time status of the manipulator is displayed in this software. To validate the proposed system, two experiments have been conducted to test its performance. In the first experiment, the test is carried out to check the communication function of VSFOS, while in the second one, the manipulator is intended to follow the movement of the parallel platform and perform simulated operational task in the space. The obtained results from these two experiments show clearly the effectiveness and the performance of the proposed VSFOS. (shrink)

Using a manually collected dataset on the overseas experiences of directors of Chinese listed firms, we examine the effects of returnee directors on firms’ corporate social responsibility engagement. Our results show that returnee directors significantly improve their firms’ CSR engagement. The positive relationship between the percentage of returnee directors and CSR engagement is more significant when a firm is in a competitive industry, when a firm has no government ownership, when a firm’s CEO is not politically connected, and when a (...) firm’s CEO is older. Furthermore, we find that only long-term foreign professional or academic experience matters, whereas short-term visiting experience does not. Finally, our results are robust after controlling for endogeneity. Therefore, this paper offers clear policy implications by suggesting that hiring more returnees as corporate directors is an efficient way to enhance firms’ CSR, which may be of particular interest to regulators in emerging markets. (shrink)

The mechanism of how the COVID-19 global pandemic has affected the entrepreneurial intentions of college students remains unknown. To investigate the impact of the entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions in the post-pandemic era, 913 college students were invited to complete a questionnaire. The data were analyzed with structural equation models. The conclusions revealed by the questionnaire are as followed: college students have retained some entrepreneurial intention in the post-pandemic era; the factors influencing the entrepreneurial intention include sex, (...) family entrepreneurial history, major, and education background; and entrepreneurial self-efficacy can play a major role to mediate the impact caused by the post-pandemic entrepreneurial environment on entrepreneurial intentions. The research conclusions provide important insights to improve college students’ entrepreneurial intentions in the post-pandemic environment. (shrink)

Drawing on social information processing theory and a career development perspective, we examined the effect of transformational leadership on the perceived overqualification via career growth opportunities, and how the supervisor–subordinate guanxi moderates the relationship between transformational leadership and perceived overqualification. We tested this proposal using three waves of lagged data collected from 351 company employees in the Yangtze River Delta region in China. The results revealed that transformational leadership had an indirect effect on perceived overqualification through career growth opportunities, and (...) supervisor–subordinate guanxi moderated the positive association between transformational leadership and career growth opportunities. In addition, the mediating effect of transformational leadership on perceived overqualification through career growth opportunities was stronger when the level of supervisor–subordinate guanxi was high and weaker when it was low. The findings have theoretical and practical implications for reducing employees’ perceptions of overqualification in the organizational context. (shrink)

Temporal concepts are fundamental constructs of human cognition, but the trajectory of how these concepts emerge and develop is not clear. Evidence of children’s temporal concept development comes from cognitive developmental and psycholinguistic studies. This paper reviews the linguistic factors (i.e., temporal language production and comprehension) and cognitive processes (i.e., temporal judgment and temporal reasoning) involved in children’s temporal conceptualization. The relationship between children’s ability to express time in language and the ability to reason about time, and the challenges and (...) difficulties raised by the interaction between cognitive and linguistic components are discussed. Finally, we propose ways to reconcile controversies from different research perspectives and present several avenues for future research to better understand the development of temporal concepts. (shrink)

Editors’ AbstractThis articles expresses a strong discontent with Sinologism and argues that its rise is the result of an uncritical application of Said’s Orientalism and postcolonial theory to Sinology, and that its proponents have committed a grave error in treating Sinology as a discourse of ideology full of subjective imaginations, to the neglect of the fact that Sinology is a branch of objective scholarship. After reviewing the evolution of the concept of Sinology in history, it critically analyzes some major ideas (...) of Sinologism in relation to Orientalism and draws the conclusion that the proponents of Sinologism are unaware of the inherent problems in Said’s theory and postmodern theory, have inadequate knowledge of Sinological history, and oversimplified the complex issues in Sinological studies. (shrink)

Battery energy storage is the pivotal project of renewable energy systems reform and an effective regulator of energy flow. Parallel battery packs can effectively increase the capacity of battery modules. However, the power loss caused by the uncertainty of parallel battery branch current poses severe challenge to the economy and safety of electric vehicles. Accuracy of battery branch current prediction is needed to improve the parallel connection. This paper proposes a radial basis function neural network model based on the pigeon-inspired (...) optimization method and successfully applies the algorithm to predict the parallel branch current of the battery pack. Numerical results demonstrate the high accuracy of the proposed pigeon-inspired optimized RBF model for parallel battery branch forecasting and provide a useful tool for the prediction of parallel branch currents of battery packs. (shrink)

Surrogate endpoints are a common application of biomarkers to estimate clinical benefit in clinical trials, despite questions about reliability. This article discusses ongoing opportunities for their validation, in the context of a regulatory environment in which they are increasingly championed.

To investigate mechanisms of rational representation, I consider construction of an ordered continuum of psychophysical scale of magnitude of sensation; counting mechanism leading to an approximate numerosity scale for integers; and conjoint measurement structure pitting the denominator against the numerator in tradeoff positions. Number sense of resulting rationals is neither intuitive nor expedient in their manipulation.

Although project failure is commonly considered a negative event, it can provide valuable resources for learning. Despite well documented research on the antecedents of learning from project failure at the individual level, individuals’ attitude toward failures, a relatively proximal antecedent of learning from failure, has attracted limited attention in organizational studies. To address this paucity of research, based on the sensemaking theory, in the current study we specifically focused on individuals’ failure aversion and explored how it would influence learning from (...) failure through the process of arguing and expectation. Using a sample of 774 employees from R&D teams in China, our findings revealed that individuals’ failure aversion enhanced their learning from failure through inducing a loss-focused coping, but failure aversion negatively affected learning from failure through increasing the individuals’ perceived loss of self-esteem. We also found that individuals’ learning goal orientation weakened the negative relationship between the loss of self-esteem and learning from failure; however, LGO did not moderate our hypothesized relationship between loss-focused coping and learning from failure. Our study extends the literature on learning from failure in two ways. First, it explores the learning from failure process at the individual level based on the sensemaking theory and second, it sheds light on the underlying cognitive mechanisms operating between failure aversion and learning from project failure. (shrink)

To explore the influences of traffic-related negative emotions on driving decisions, we induced drivers’ three emotions by videos, then the drivers were shown traffic pictures at different risk levels and made decisions about whether to slow down, while their eye movements were recorded. We found that traffic-related negative emotion influenced driving decisions. Compared with neutral emotion, traffic-related negative emotion led to an increase in the number of decelerations, and the higher the risk, the more the number of decelerations. The visual (...) processing time of the risk area was shorter in the traffic-related negative emotional state than that in the neutral emotional state. The less time drivers spend looking at the risk area, the faster they make their driving decisions. The results suggest that traffic-related negative emotions lead drivers to make more conservative decisions. This study supports the rationality of using traffic accident materials to conduct safety education for drivers. This article also discussed the significance of traffic-related negative emotions to social security. (shrink)

本书是 "海外汉学研究丛书" 之一, 全书共分三个部分, 主要从各个角度呈现了莱布尼茨对中国的关注及他思想中与中国相关的元素, 具体内容包括"反各种乌托邦思想的人类可完满性--莱布尼茨政治哲学的几个观点","莱布尼茨认识与文化的多元透视洞悉论与其形而上学基础","耶稣会士白晋与莱布尼茨","中国莱布尼茨研究的历史,现状和展望" 等.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home promotes the importance of indoor environment qualities. With the settings and functions of home offices, an experiment was carried out to determine the interaction effects between indoor plants and traffic noise levels on the performance and environmental evaluations of English reading comprehension tasks and the performance of short-term breaks. A sample of 22 Chinese university students took part in the experiment. Two visual conditions and five TNLs were included. Participants’ accuracy rates, eye (...) movements, mental workload, and feelings about the environment were collected. The mental fatigue recovery, visual fatigue recovery, anxiety recovery, and unfriendly recovery were measured for the analysis of a 5-min short-term break. The results demonstrate plants have significant effects on ERCTs and short-term breaks, especially at 45 and 50 dBA TNL; the effects of TNLs on ERCTs’ eye movements and work environment satisfaction differ by the presence of plants, e.g., the average pupil diameter, lighting and layout satisfaction; The effects of indoor plants on ERCT differ by the range of TNLs. In conclusion, indoor plants are beneficial to home workers engaged in ERCT when TNL does not exceed 50 dBA. The current data highlight the importance of audio-visual interaction in home offices and provide insights into the interaction mechanism between indoor plants and traffic noise. (shrink)

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most employees face increasing career-related stress, particularly those who work in multinational corporations, because the international travel constraints prevent them from going back to their families. Hence, it is imperative to investigate the critical impact of employees’ occupational burnout on career-related outcomes. In response, this research explores the moderating effect of OB on the relationships between career competencies and career sustainability. To achieve a more comprehensive understanding of relevant issues, we adopted a mixed-method research design (...) that includes both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Findings indicate that all the three dimensions of CCs were positively related to CS; moreover, OB negatively moderated the individual relationships of CC and BC with CS. The main contribution of this study is to enrich the existing career literature by addressing the critical moderating role of OB in the links of CC and BC individually with CS. Practical implications are also discussed in this study. (shrink)

The puzzle has played a significant role in Chinese culture since its formation. The Lo-shu and the Ba-gua, the most prominent number puzzle in ancient China, with its instinctual quest for universal order, has constructed a philosophical system that has incorporated human being as an integral part of nature. The system has exerted great influence on Chinese culture to this day. Because of its mysterious origin and magical evolution, the Ba-gua has been used to predict the fortune of both the (...) nation and the individual. The Chinese character-deconstructing puzzle has also functioned as a foreshadow of one’s fate. By analyzing the components of a character, written by the subject in a specific context, divination was made. In contrast to the solemn mission of the number puzzle, and the character-deconstructing puzzle, the wedding puzzle and the riddle are lighthearted, and intended to provoke humor, and to function pedagogically. A latecomer, once the mysteriousness of number and character has faded, the riddle is used to promote the intellectual development of children. The wedding puzzle has been popular among those who are illiterate and make analogy by using common occurrence to allude to taboo in the oral dialect. Since their illiteracy has excluded them from reading and writing, they are free to make puzzles in their own dialect without being limited by a reverence for the written character. (shrink)

In this study, an accurate convergence time of the supertwisting algorithm is proposed to build up a framework for nonaffine nonlinear systems’ finite-time control. The convergence time of the STA is provided by calculating the solution of a differential equation instead of constructing Lyapunov function. Therefore, precise convergence time is presented instead of estimation of the upper bound of the algorithm’s reaching time. Regardless of affine or nonaffine nonlinear systems, supertwisting control provides a general solution based on virtual control law (...) skill ensuring the output of the systems converges to the origin point at exact time. Benchmark tests are simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the algorithm. (shrink)

ABSTRACTUsing faces as the priming stimuli, the present study explored the influence of facial expressions on the activation of gender stereotypes using a lexical decision paradigm. Experiment 1 explored the activation of gender stereotypes when the facial primes contained only gender information. The results showed that gender stereotypes were activated. In Experiment 2, the facial primes contained both gender category and expression information. The results indicated that gender stereotypes were not activated. Experiment 3 required the participants to make emotion, gender, (...) or impression decisions concerning the facial primes before the lexical decision task. The results showed that gender stereotypes were not activated in emotion and impression decisions conditions, whereas stereotypes were activated in gender decisions condition. These finding suggest that facial expressions can inhibit automatic activation of gender stereotypes, unless the perceivers perform gender categorization processing to prime f... (shrink)

The pervasive nature of social media can result in excessive use and addiction, but whether excessive use of social media is good or bad for individuals' creativity is unclear. This study explored the direct and indirect impact of excessive use of WeChat on individuals' creativity in workplace, focusing on how excessive use of WeChat promotes or restrains creativity through knowledge sharing and psychological strain. Based on the person–environment fit model and motivation theory, this study examined the three paths of excessive (...) WeChat use affecting individuals' creativity in workplace. We used the structural equation model to test our research model. A survey of 364 employees revealed that excessive WeChat use directly promotes creativity and indirectly improves creativity via knowledge sharing, but excessive WeChat use does not lead to psychological strain. These findings, obtained by theoretically and empirically investigating the positive outcomes of excessive WeChat use, suggest an upside to excessive WeChat use. The implications and limitations of this study and future research on excessive-use behavior are also discussed. (shrink)