The animated movie creates character performances and movement frame-by-frame by involving a sequence of slightly different objects. The technique involves the development of computer graphics, images, or drawings with creativity. More frequently, the representation of ethnic minorities provides a significant impact on the viewers. So, it is significant to analyze how the viewers are influenced by minority representation in animated movies. Hence, the present investigates the impact of ethnic minority representations in animation on various aspects of viewer engagement. A sample (...) of 300 participants was divided into two groups Group A as well as Group B, to analyze how different variables influence their responses to animated movies. Participants of different categories were indulged in watching an animated movie and provided with a questionnaire to interpret the factors that mostly influence the participants. By involving a statistical approach, the analysis revealed significant effects of the factors. The findings emphasize the importance for creators and producers to consider how ethnic minority representations in animation can shape and affect viewer experiences and responses. This study demonstrated the importance of involving larger samples and gaining a clear understanding of the need for representation awareness among the public. (shrink)

In matters of discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment, traditional role of the family to speak on behalf of the incompetent patient is questionable. We explore the reasons why physicians perceive patient autonomy to be transferrable to family members. Principle of patient autonomy may not suffice when futile treatment is demanded and may serve to erode the ethical integrity of medical profession. An enhanced role for bioethics committees is proposed when physicians propose to discontinue life-sustaining treatment against the wishes of the patient (...) or their families. (shrink)

Background This study assessed patient perceptions of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act and opinions toward physicians who receive gifts and/or payments from pharmaceutical or medical device companies. Methods During their office visit, patients attending different specialty clinics volunteered to complete our survey. The survey asks if the patient knows what the Sunshine Act is, then asks questions on 5-point response scales to assess the patient's opinions toward physicians who receive compensation from companies, their self-rated knowledge of physician compensation, and how (...) they believe this compensation affects the cost of care. Results Over 13 months, 523 responses were collected: 8.6% of patients reported having knowledge of the Sunshine Act, 56.8% rated their knowledge of physician compensations as “poor,” and 67.1% agreed with the statement that patients should be aware of the compensation physicians receive. When asked how their opinion toward their physician would change if they learned the physician received free meals or gifts from companies, 58.9% replied “not at all,” and 36.11% of patients did not believe their cost of care would increase if their physician received compensation from companies. Conclusions Most patients were unfamiliar with the Sunshine Act, and believe their knowledge of physician compensation is poor. Over half of the respondents would not change their opinion of their physician based on knowledge of their physician receiving payments/gifts from companies, and over one-third of respondents did not believe such compensation increased the cost of care. The majority of respondents agreed that patients should be aware of payments/gifts to physicians. (shrink)

Increasing university students’ engagement with ethics is becoming a prominent call to action for higher education institutions, particularly professional schools like business and engineering. This paper provides an examination of student attitudes regarding ethics and their perceptions of ethics coverage in the curriculum at one institution. A particular focus is the comparison between results in the business college, which has incorporated ethics in the curriculum and has been involved in ethics education for a longer period, with the engineering college, which (...) is in the nascent stages of developing ethics education in its courses. Results show that student attitudes and perceptions are related to the curriculum. In addition, results indicate that it might be useful for engineering faculty to use business faculty as resources in the development of their ethics curricula. (shrink)

This volum includes 37 papers of mathematics or applied mathematics written by the author alone or in collaboration with the following co-authors: Cătălin Barbu, Mihály Bencze, Octavian Cira, Marian Niţu, Ion Pătraşcu, Mircea E. Şelariu, Rajan Alex, Xingsen Li, Tudor Păroiu, Luige Vlădăreanu, Victor Vlădăreanu, Ştefan Vlăduţescu, Yingjie Tian, Mohd Anasri, Lucian Căpitanu, Valeri Kroumov, Kimihiro Okuyama, Gabriela Tonţ, A. A. Adewara, Manoj K. Chaudhary, Mukesh Kumar, Sachin Malik, Alka Mittal, Neetish Sharma, Rakesh K. Shukla, Ashish K. Singh, Jayant (...) Singh, Rajesh Singh, V.V. Singh, Hansraj Yadav, Amit Bhaghel, Dipti Chauhan, V. Christianto, Priti Singh, and Dmitri Rabounski. (shrink)

Fused, elongated mitochondria are more efficient in generating ATP than fragmented mitochondria. In diverse C. elegans longevity pathways, increased levels of fused mitochondria are associated with lifespan extension. Blocking mitochondrial fusion in these animals abolishes their extended longevity. The long‐lived C. elegans vhl‐1 mutant is an exception that does not have increased fused mitochondria, and is not dependent on fusion for longevity. Loss of mammalian VHL upregulates alternate energy generating pathways. This suggests that mitochondrial fusion facilitates longevity in C. elegans (...) by increasing energy metabolism. In diverse animals, ATP levels broadly decreases with age. Substantial evidence supports the theory that increasing or maintaining energy metabolism promotes the survival of older animals. Increased ATP levels in older animals allow energy‐intensive repair and homeostatic mechanisms such as proteostasis that act to prevent cellular aging. These observations support the emerging paradigm that maintaining energy metabolism promotes the survival of older animals. (shrink)

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to renewed ambitions of developing artificial general intelligence. Alongside this has been a resurgence in the development of virtual and augmented reality (V/AR) technologies, which are viewed as “disruptive” technologies and the computing platforms of the future. V/AR effectively bring the digital world of machines, robots, and artificial agents to our senses while entailing the transposition of human activity and presence into the digital world of artificial agents and machine forms of (...) intelligence. The intersection of humans and machines in this shared space brings humans and machines into ontological continuity as informational entities in a totalizing informational environment, which subsumes both cyber and physical space in an artificially constructed virtual world. The reconstruction of mind (through AI) and world (through V/AR) thus has significant epistemological, ontological, and anthropological implications, which constitute the underlying features in the artificialization of mind and world. (shrink)

This paper argues that existing food security and food sovereignty approaches are inadequate to fully understand contradictory human development, nutrition, and productivity trends in Nepalese small-scale agriculture. In an attempt to bridge this gap, we developed a new food wellbeing approach that combines insights from food security, food sovereignty, and social wellbeing perspectives. We used the approach to frame 65 semi-structured interviews in a cluster of villages in Kaski district in the mid-hills of Nepal on various aspects of food security, (...) agriculture, off-farm livelihood opportunities, and women’s wellbeing. Our results indicate that context-specific subjective and social relational factors highlighted by the food wellbeing approach are key to understanding a paradox of increased food security, yet decreasing sustainability of small-scale agriculture. Increased levels of male out-migration and opportunities for local off-farm work have increased local capacity to purchase food. The positive consequences for food security are indicated by evidence that households with non-farm income sources had better food sufficiency, absorption capacity, nutritional quality, and stability of food supply. These off-farm employment opportunities have also led to the greater involvement of low caste groups and women in small-scale agriculture. This has been empowering for both groups and led to an increase in wellbeing, particularly for those women who have become de facto heads of household. Yet, small landholdings, persistent patterns of unequal and absentee land ownership, sharecropping, women’s overwork, and the aspirations of low caste farmers and women away from agriculture are simultaneously driving the erosion of local small-scale agricultural productivity and ecological sustainability. (shrink)

This study examines if, how, and when workplace spirituality promotes employee ethical voice. Specifically, it tests a mediated moderation model with psychological ownership as a mediator of the relationship between workplace spirituality and ethical voice, and moral identity internalization as a moderator of this indirect relationship. The hypothesized model was tested on two different samples from the IT (Study 1) and Hotel industry (Study 2). Study 1 adopted a cross-sectional time-lagged design to test the proposed hypotheses while Study 2 used (...) a more robust longitudinal cross-lagged design to validate the results of Study 1. The conceptual model was tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) and the results established a direct as well as an indirect effect of workplace spirituality on ethical voice via psychological ownership. However, moral identity internalization failed to moderate the effect of workplace spirituality on ethical voice through psychological ownership in both studies. The results established that workplace spirituality stimulates ethical voice through psychological ownership irrespective of the moral identity of employees. The study identifies workplace spirituality as a novel and significant predictor of ethical voice in organizations and advances the understanding of the psychological processes and contingencies of this relationship. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (shrink)

This book provides a detailed insight into the amalgamation of the healthcare and hospitality sector, which brought forward the concept of healthcare tourism or medical tourism. There have not been comprehensive resources in this particular area. The available quality resources focus on the Western world. Countries like India are an upcoming and one of the most favored destinations for medical tourism, and this trend is going to increase exponentially in the coming years. This book is developed in a very simple (...) and lucid manner to enable even a layman to grasp the key components of the healthcare and hospitality sector at different levels and gradually link it to the present scenario where factors like accreditation, health insurance, corporatization, and public policy make an impact. Scholars in these sectors attempt to provide the recent trends and prospects supported with updated information. Therefore, it can solve the problem of a single source of detailed information relevant to different yet interconnected industries with a focus on developing countries. (shrink)

This research focuses on (a) introducing and exploring ethically effective leadership, (b) introducing and testing theory on triad of typical–maximal–ideal ethically effective leadership performances, (b) theorizing and empirically testing that each of typical–maximal–ideal ethically effective leadership performance is different from each others, in other words exploring mean differences between each pair of typical–maximal–ideal effective leadership performances, (c) introducing, theorizing, and testing mechanism to quantify respondents’ intrinsic desire and inherent potential to enhance their ethically effective leadership performances, (d) exploring precedents of (...) each of typical–maximal–ideal ethically effective leadership performances, and finally (e) exploring bases and feasibility of virtual, robotic, and mixed reality ethically effective leadership that may or may not be same as conventional ethically effective leadership. This paper explores global leadership aspect of ethically effective leadership performance at three data collection levels (via typical, maximal, and ideal effective leadership performances) adding precision to assessment of ethically effective leadership and resolving an important challenge (precise assessment) to ethical leadership development. It explores respondents’ typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, their maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M, and their ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I. It presents non-western perspectives on ethically effective leadership disregarding homogenization of leadership behavior. It advances our insight into ethical leadership development by empirically identifying presence, direction and magnitude of respondents’ (a) intrinsic desire and (b) existing intrinsic potential for alteration of their ethically effective leadership. Means of typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M, and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I are distinct. Typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T is positively associated with maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I. This article concludes that the selected leaders report their ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I to be higher than their typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T and maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M depicting significant intrinsic desire for 14 % enhancing their ethically effective leadership performance. Respondents have significant existing intrinsic potential for 10 % enhancing their ethically effective leadership performance. Regression constants for regression models for typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I are significant depicting that the researchers have to look for other variables to fully explain variance in typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T, maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I. Regression coefficient of typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T is significant in model for ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I as well as maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M and vice versa. So, the paper suggests that training strategies may be feasible to alter typical ethically effective leadership performance E_T and maximal ethically effective leadership performance E_M in such a way as to bring it closer to ideal ethically effective leadership performance E_I but for this, researchers have to look for other variables too. (shrink)

Social media is known to be one of the finest achievements of the 21st century. However, it is no surprise that there are two sides to every coin. While there are a lot of advantages of social media in our day-to-day life it is difficult to ignore its negative consequences. As the interactions between people have increased so have the standards and expectations of people and undoubtedly, so has the mental distress that people constantly face. Multiple researches conducted on the (...) negative impacts of social media indicate towards the downside of social media, especially it's negative footprint on people's identities, social life, mental health and emotional well-being. Although there are various modalities that have been used to identify and solve the problems that people experience with social media, there are other modalities of counseling that have the potential to be effective and helpful but have not been explored in this regard. One such modality is Logic-Based Therapy. Logic-Based Therapy and Consultation is a philosophy-based practice that aims to help identify the different emotional and behavioral ways in which people upset themselves by their own faulty thinking. LBT identifies a number of fallacies or incorrect reasonings that people use very frequently in their lives and also suggests ways in which individuals can learn to cope with these fallacies. A lot of the fallacies identified by LBT can be seen in practice through social media. This paper aims at providing an insight into the reality of social media and online presence while highlighting the most common fallacies that people commit in emotional and behavioral reasoning as identified by LBT. The paper will also explore how and why people often commit these fallacies and suggest some antidotes to combat these fallacies. (shrink)

Management scholars view workplace spirituality as an effective means of improving employee well-being and organizational productivity. However, a spiritual work environment may also be beneficial for controlling employees’ experiences of uncivil behaviors in the workplace. Drawing on conservation of resources theory and cognitive appraisal theory, we proposed and explored the linkage between workplace spirituality and incivility experienced from supervisors and colleagues in the workspace. We also investigated the moderating effect of the dark triad on the relationship. The data collected from (...) two different samples industry, N = 220) provided support for our hypotheses. In both studies, we found a significant negative correlation between workplace spirituality and incivility experienced from the two sources. While only psychopathy moderated the linkage between workplace spirituality and supervisor incivility in Sample 1, the moderation effect of all three dark traits was significant in case of colleague incivility. In Sample 2, each member of the dark triad moderated the association between workplace spirituality and incivility experienced from seniors and peers. The findings provided support for the cognitive appraisal theory by explaining how the practice of workplace spirituality alters employees’ perceptions of uncivil behaviors shown by their superiors and peers. The study makes a significant contribution to theory, research, and practice by presenting workplace spirituality as a solution to the ever-rising epidemic of incivility in the workplace. (shrink)

On Buddhist philosophy and Pali literature; collection of papers.

The primary purpose of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) is to protect the rights and welfare of human research participants. Evaluation and measurement of how IRBs satisfy this purpose and other important goals are open questions that demand empirical research. Research on IRBs, and the Human Research Protection Programs (HRPPs) of which they are often a part, is necessary to inform evidence-based practices, policies, and approaches to quality improvement in human research protections. However, to date, HRPP and IRB engagement in empirical (...) research about their own activities and performance has been limited. To promote engagement of HRPPs and IRBs in self-reflective research on HRPP and IRB quality and effectiveness, barriers to their participation need to be addressed. These include: extensive workloads, limited information technology systems, and few universally accepted or consistently measured metrics for HRPP/irb quality and effectiveness. Additionally, institutional leaders may have concerns about confidentiality. Professional norms around the value of participating in this type of research are lacking. Lastly, obtaining external funding for research on IRBs and HRPPs is challenging. As a group of HRPP professionals and researchers actively involved in a research consortium focused on IRB quality and effectiveness, we identify potential levers for supporting and encouraging HRPP and IRB engagement in research on quality and effectiveness. We maintain that this research should be informed by the core principles of patient- and community-engaged research, in which members and key stakeholders of the community to be studied are included as key informants and members of the research team. This ensures that relevant questions are asked and that data are interpreted to produce meaningful recommendations. As such, we offer several ways to increase the participation of HRPP professionals in research as participants, as data sharers, and as investigators. (shrink)

Recent literature on Islam and the digital covers a wide range of topics and themes; however, what is yet to be developed from an Islamic perspective is a broader philosophical framework that accounts for the nature, exigencies and affordances of contemporary digital technologies. In advance of such a framework, this article is an attempt to open the way to philosophical engagement with issues of digital ethics from an Islamic perspective. After a brief review of recent literature on Islam and the (...) digital and a significantly earlier work by Ziauddin Sardar, in which he proposed an information strategy for the Muslim world, this paper provides some background to Islamic ethics and the wide field of ethical theories in the Islamic tradition. This paper then proceeds by identifying and outlining examples of contemporary themes in Islam and the digital which conceal underlying philosophical and theological issues. Finally, this paper considers the significant scale and scope of the transformations involved in the ongoing transposition to the ‘onlife’ and highlights several areas where Islamic perspectives may be seen to converge or diverge with other strands of scholarship on digital ethics. (shrink)

There has recently been a surge of development in augmented reality (AR) technologies that has led to an ecosystem of hardware and software for AR, including tools for artists and designers to accelerate the design of AR content and experiences without requiring complex programming. AR is viewed as a key “disruptive technology” and future display technologies (such as digital eyewear) will provide seamless continuity between reality and the digitally augmented. This article will argue that the technologization of human perception and (...) experience of reality, coupled with the development of artificial intelligence (AI)–based natural language assistants, may lead to a secular re‐enchantment of the world, in the sense outlined by Charles Taylor, where human existence is shaped through AR inhabited by advanced personal and social AI agents in the form of digital avatars and daemons, and that enchantment has been persistent throughout the formation of modernity and is being rekindled by the integration of AI in the plane of AR. (shrink)

For eradication of acute poverty, it is vital to factor in the human experience of it. Building social capital and networks that nurture, empower, and consistently reinforce a new shared economic identity can provide rich socioeconomic dividends. For states tackling extreme poverty at scale, building and strengthening social capital are essential public goods investments.

Despite a growing focus on processes to promote gender equity, women remain significantly underrepresented in leadership positions in the Global South. In the present study we focus on the role of familial experiences in shaping and contesting gender ideologies of Pakistani women in the workplace. We specifically examine the reciprocal ways in which women leaders and their family members shape each other’s gender ideologies regarding the workplace. Data collected and analyzed for this study were semi-structured interviews with eight women in (...) positions of leadership in Lahore, Pakistan, and interviews with one family members of each of the women leaders. Using thematic narrative analysis, we identified three thematic phases: learning gender expectations, resistance, and familial transformation. These phases reflect the progression of developing, resisting, and influencing individual and familial gender ideologies. We document the manifestation of these phases in three specific domains: education, marriage and motherhood, and the workplace. We then discuss how these findings contribute to understanding the experiences of women leaders and perceptions of their family members regarding women’s role in the workplace. Findings from our research provide novel insights into the ways globalization and capitalism continue to shape the socio-cultural context for women leaders in the Global South. (shrink)

Linked with existence of the almighty, the operation of division by zero which is considered as undefined or indeterminate or infinite sometimes, has been a topic of serious altercation among mathematicians and philosophers for so long. History is evident of the various attempts made to clearly define the algebra of zero, including the idea of division by zero. This includes the evolution of the idea of zero division and various insights from mathematicians like Euler, Craig and more. The realm of (...) the paper contains all such significant attempts and it deals with the idea of the history that wishes to explore the evolution of infinity and undefined. The prime aim of this paper is to clearly distinguish the three concepts of Undefined, Indeterminate and Infinity, along with the concept of division by zero. It strives to provide a notation to undefined expressions, along with citing justifications and results with the help of unpretentious examples from key branches. (shrink)

This study aimed to analyze the effect of deviant workplace behaviors, such as mistreatment, bullying, and incivility on employee turnover intention and identify the transformational leadership role as a moderator. The data was collected through a survey questionnaire with the help of a purposive sampling technique. A total of 318 respondents’ data was gathered from university academic and general staff in China. The results were analyzed through SPSS and structural equation modeling structural equation modeling software. The findings indicate that deviant (...) workplace behavior, i.e., mistreatment, bullying, and incivility, significantly affect employee turnover intention. Moreover, a result shows that transformational leadership has a significant moderating role on the relationship between turnover intention and workplace bullying and incivility but was insignificant between turnover intention and workplace mistreatment. Lastly, implications and limitations were also discussed in this article. (shrink)

Interpretations of Heidegger’s discussion of space in Being and Time have predominantly focused on two related themes: Heidegger’s attempt to ground spatiality in temporality and the problem of embodiment. Little direct attention, however, has been given to the role Heidegger’s discussion of spatiality plays in his analysis of Dasein’s Being-in-the-world. This paper pursues the thesis that Heidegger’s account of Being-in-the-world, which is meant to avoid a subject-object dichotomy by representing a unitary phenomenon, falls prey to a charge of subjectivism lacking (...) an adequate account of spatiality. I support this claim in three steps. In the first section, I show how Heidegger’s discussion of spatiality is aimed at deflecting a charge of subjectivism. The second section argues that Heidegger’s account of spatiality fails to go beyond the system of relations that defines worldhood and Being-in. In the final section, I will define what I consider to be a necessary condition for a non-subjectivist system of relations: an encounter between Dasein and entities in which the latter are not determined entirely according to the system of relations. I discuss the two instances where Heidegger discusses the idea of encounter, arguing that his account falls short of the criterion I propose. (shrink)

Anti-corruption initiatives are critical tools in the fight against unethical behavior, selling transparency and integrity in both the public and commercial sectors. This study explores the efficacy of anti-corruption techniques on public trust in organizations. Using a dataset comprising 300 employees from a legal aid center, the research assesses the impact of diverse anti-corruption measures on Public Trust Score (PTS). Data turned into collected through surveys measuring the Transparency Index (TI), Accountability Index (AI), Effectiveness of Oversight Bodies (EOB), Public Awareness (...) Level (PAL), and Quality of Anti-Corruption Training (QACT). SPSS was employed for analysis, consisting of Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Pearson correlation was used to assess the significance and direction of the correlation between each independent variable and the dependent variable, and Multiple Linear regressions (MLR) was used to assess the influence of numerous independent variables. Simultaneously at the dependent variable. The findings imply that more advantageous transparency, accountability, and powerful oversight significantly enhance public acceptance, while public recognition and training quality have a notable but lesser impact. (shrink)

The Islamic psychology (IP) community in Europe has recently witnessed a heated debate about the credentials required to participate in the theoretical substantiation of IP and Islamically integrated psychotherapy and counseling. This debate has provided convenient circumstances for Muslim psychologists and Islamic scholars alike to rethink their roles within the flourishing movement. Specifically, the discussions hint toward the importance of adopting a collaborative research methodology for IP, in particular for basic research. The methodology of choice will need to define the (...) necessary qualifications and responsibilities of scholars and psychologists in a collaborative research process (personal collaboration) and evince its capability to appropriately marry knowledge and data, diverging research methods, and perspectives, concepts, and theories from Islamic studies and contemporary psychology (content‐related collaboration). Here, we devise and offer a case illustration of an Islamic Psychology Basic Research Framework (coined the SALAAM Framework). This framework uses the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (IIS) Model of Interdisciplinary Research, developed by the IIS at the University of Amsterdam. Our first aim is to appropriate the IIS model for the IP literature by applying the model's research process phases and technique for the integration of disparate bodies of knowledge—that is, the identification of common ground—to methodological approaches in the contemporary IP literature. Our second aim is to exemplify the devised SALAAM Framework using the relatively unexplored area of Islamic cognitive theories (ICTs), which remain underdeveloped in contemporary psychological literature, primarily because of a lack of commensurability with the nomenclature of contemporary psychology. We thus provide a primer on the potential scope of ICTs. Toward the end of this article, we discuss the potential of the project of interdisciplinary construction of Islamic psychological theory, and the ability of the SALAAM Framework to establish a research program in IP that centers on cognition. We finally offer our reflections on the distinctiveness of Islamic psychologies in comparison to mainstream and Christian psychology. (shrink)

How the colonial photograph revolutionized the very nature of perception.

The intersection of philosophies of space and technology is a fecund area of inquiry that has received surprisingly little attention in the philosophical literature. While the major accounts of space and place have not considered complexities introduced by recent technological developments, scholarship on the human-technology relationship has virtually ignored the spatial dimensions of this interaction. Place and Digital Space takes a step in addressing this gap in literature by offering an original, phenomenological account of place and using this framework to (...) analyze digitally mediated spaces. I argue that places are continually evolving, internally heterogenous, and spatially distinct meaningful wholes with indeterminate boundaries. I then show how spaces mediated by digital technologies, particularly augmented reality (AR), are fundamentally different from ordinary places. The increasing use of AR, I argue, poses an unprecedented challenge to the way we interpret, engage with, and have collective experiences of everyday places. Finally, I identify ethical questions raised by the interpretation of spaces by artificial intelligence, by the unauthorized augmentation of places, and by the possibility of a few companies with big data dominating the virtual modifications of public places. (shrink)

Phenomenological approaches to space have consistently made a distinction between a plurality of inhabited spaces and the single homogenous extendedness of Euclidean space. Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty postulate unique spatial wholes pertaining to human life that pose a counterpoint to objective space and provide the necessary context for understanding all our spatial relations. However, the spatial wholes that are posited to clarify these relations are themselves far from univocal. Specifically, differences exist regarding what precisely unites various entities into a (...) meaningful spatial whole and how any such whole relates to others. Showing how Heidegger’s idea of Ort and Merleau-Ponty’s notion of espace vécu rely on multiple senses of nearness, this paper argues that the privileged sense of nearness in each case fails to delimit the spatial context, thereby putting into question the very possibility of a unified and distinct spatial whole. (shrink)

The visual system is a source of sensory information that perceives environmental stimuli and interacts with other sensory systems to generate visual and postural responses to maintain postural stability. Although the three sensory systems; the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems work concurrently to maintain postural control, the visual and vestibular system interaction is vital to differentiate self-motion from external motion to maintain postural stability. The visual system influences postural control playing a key role in perceiving information required for this differentiation. (...) The visual system’s main afferent information consists of optic flow and retinal slip that lead to the generation of visual and postural responses. Visual fixations generated by the visual system interact with the afferent information and the vestibular system to maintain visual and postural stability. This review synthesizes the roles of the visual system and their interaction with the vestibular system, to maintain postural stability. (shrink)

Online shopping allows consumers to save anytime, anywhere. However, cultural elements have a profound effect on consumer expectations and perceptions, affecting online shopping trust and in-keep popularity. Understanding these precise cultural factors is crucial to improve e-trade techniques and building consumer consideration. Consumers should buy products online, buying everywhere and anytime. However, purchaser expectancies and impressions are closely influenced by cultural context, affecting online purchasing self-assurance and in-save popularity. Gaining a higher expertise in these particular cultural aspects is critical to (...) improving electronic-trade (e-trade) methods and triumphing over customers. The research looks at exploring the effect of cultural context on online popularity and considers the usage of Chi-Square tests, Two-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and regression analysis to apprehend purchaser behavior and perceptions.Two-way ANOVA results show Hypothesis 1 with the lowest p-value (0.0003) and highest F-value (8.00), representing a significant result. The Chi-square test highlights Hypotheses 2 (X² = 9.87) and H4 (X² = 12.34) as significant, while H1 (X² = 7.12) and H3 (X² = 4.56) are not. Regression analysis shows a strong correlation, especially trust shows a high correlation between attitude (0.828) and behavior (0.719), and attitude shows the strongest relationship with reputation (0.861). Integrating cultural context into online shopping strategies is critical to building trust, enhancing store reputation, and building stronger customer relationships, ultimately leading to global market success. (shrink)

This book brings together a group of scholars from around the world who view psychology as the science of human ways of being. Being refers to the process of existing - through construction of the human world - here, rather than to an ontological state. This collection includes work that has the goal to establish the newly developed area of cultural psychology as the science of specifically human ways of existence. It comes as a next step after the "behaviorist turn" (...) that has dominated psychology over most of the 20th century, and like its successor in the form of "cognitivism", kept psychology away from addressing issues of specifically human ways of relating with their worlds. Such linking takes place through intentional human actions: through the creation of complex tools for living, entertainment, and work. Human beings construct tools to make other tools. Human beings invent religious systems, notions of economic rationality and legal systems; they enter into aesthetic enjoyment of various aspects of life in art, music, and literature; they have the capability of inventing national identities that can be summoned to legitimate one's killing of one's neighbors, or being killed oneself. The contributions to this volume focus on the central goal of demonstrating that psychology as a science needs to start from the phenomena of higher psychological functions, and then look at how their lower counterparts are re-organized from above. That kind of investigation is inevitably interdisciplinary - it links psychology with anthropology, philosophy, sociology, history, and developmental biology. Various contributions to this volume are based on the work of Lev Vygotsky, George Herbert Mead, Henri Bergson, and on traditions of Ganzheitspsychologie and Gestalt psychology. Psychology as the Science of Human Being is a valuable resource to psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, biologists, and anthropologists alike. (shrink)

Technological evaluations have significantly enhanced college students’ fine arts competence development by providing advanced tools and platforms that foster creativity, improve technical skills, and enable innovative artistic expression. In this study 500 college students were mentioned as participators. The variables Technological Tools, Technical Proficiency, Advanced Technologies, Creativity and Innovation, Online Platforms, Skill Development, and Collaborative Competencies are built to evaluate various aspects of technological and creative capabilities in educational and professional settings. Fine arts competitions like the (Artificial Intelligence) AI art (...) contest, digital choreography competition, and speech AI innovation challenge are held for the students to improve their skill development. The questionnaires are taken to measure the student's technological skills development based on before and after competitions. The SPSS software version 28 is used to statistically analyze the data with multiple regression analysis and pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that the integration of technological tools and platforms significantly improved college student's technical proficiency, creativity, and collaborative skills in fine arts. Students exhibited notable enhancements in skill development and engagement with advanced technologies post-competition. Technology significantly enhances fine arts education by improving students' artistic skills and collaboration. Embracing digital tools offers valuable opportunities to enrich curricula and foster innovation. (shrink)

BackgroundThe triangle completion test has been used to assess egocentric wayfinding for decades, yet there is little information on its reliability. We developed a virtual reality based test and investigated whether either test of spatial navigation was reliable.ObjectiveTo examine test-retest reliability of the real-world and VR triangle completion tests. A secondary objective was to examine the usability of the VR based test.Materials and methodsThirty healthy adults aged 18–45 years were recruited to this block randomized study. Participants completed two sessions of (...) triangle completion tests in the real-world and VR on the same day with a break between sessions.ResultsIn both test versions distance from the endpoint and angle of deviation showed poor test-retest reliability. Distance traveled had moderate reliability in both the real-world and VR tests. The VR triangle test showed poor correlation with the real-world test.ConclusionThe triangle completion test has poor test-retest reliability and demonstrates poor concurrent validity between the real-world and VR. Nevertheless, it was feasible to translate a real-world test of spatial navigation into VR. VR provides opportunities for development of clinically relevant spatial navigation tests in the future. (shrink)