Research in second language pragmatics has paid increasing attention to learners’ individual differences, but few studies have examined the relationship between learners’ willingness to communicate in L2 and their pragmatic competence. To this end, this study investigates the association between WTC and pragmatic awareness and comprehension of Chinese as a second language learners. A total of 80 CSL learners studying abroad in three universities in China participated in this study. Data were collected through a WTC questionnaire, a self-perceived communication competence (...) questionnaire, a pragmatic awareness judgment task, and a multiple-choice test for pragmatic comprehension. Statistical analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between the learners’ pragmatic awareness and pragmatic comprehension on the one hand and their WTC and SPCC in L2 on the other. The findings indicated that SPCC correlated positively with the learners’ L2 pragmatic comprehension, but not with their L2 pragmatic awareness. No correlation was found between WTC and pragmatic awareness and comprehension. The results suggest that SPCC may contribute to learners’ L2 pragmatic comprehension; some implications for teaching and future research directions are also discussed. (shrink)

Discourse connection is a challenging aspect of writing in a second language. This study seeks to investigate the effects of two classroom instructions on discourse connection in writing for EFL college students, focusing on their argumentative writing. Three classes were exposed to different pre-task conditions: receiving reading materials that provide content support for the writing, receiving planning instructions on effective outlining, and receiving no resources. The results showed that the instructions helped students attain better overall coherence in writing. However, noticeable (...) differences between the two experimental groups emerged in terms of cohesion features. The reading group was found to employ more lexical cohesion devices in writing than the outline group, which indicated a heightened genre awareness. This inquiry helped us identify the reading group’s alignment with content support materials, particularly the change in stance as a factor that contributes to a higher level of lexical cohesion in writing. (shrink)

Modal logic with counting is obtained from basic modal logic by adding cardinality comparison formulas of the form $ \#\varphi \succsim \#\psi $, stating that the cardinality of successors satisfying $ \varphi $ is larger than or equal to the cardinality of successors satisfying $ \psi $. It is different from graded modal logic where basic modal logic is extended with formulas of the form $ \Diamond _{k}\varphi $ stating that there are at least $ k$-many different successors satisfying $ (...) \varphi $. In this paper, we investigate the axiomatization of ML(#) with respect to different frame classes, such as image-finite frames and arbitrary frames. Drawing inspiration from existing works, we employ a similar proof strategy that uses the characterization of binary relations on finite Boolean algebras capable of representing generalized probability measures or finite (respectively arbitrary) cardinality measures. Our main result shows that any formula not provable in the Hilbert system can be refuted within a finite (respectively arbitrary) cardinality measure Kripke frame with a finite domain. We then transform this finite (respectively arbitrary) cardinality measure Kripke frame into a Kripke frame in the corresponding class, refuting the unprovable formula. (shrink)

In this paper, we axiomatize modal logic extended with the modal operator $$M\varphi $$ saying that “there are strictly more $$\varphi $$ -successors than $$\lnot \varphi $$ -successors”, both in the class of image-finite Kripke frames and in the class of all Kripke frames. We follow the proof strategy of van der Hoek (Int J Uncertain Fuzziness Knowl Based Syst 4(1):45–60, 1996.), and prove a characterization result of finite majority structures which are capable of representing finite cardinality measures and a (...) characterization result of finite extended majority structures which are capable of representing cardinality measures. (shrink)

In complex systems, agents often interact with others in two distinct types of interactions, pairwise interaction and group interaction. The Deffuant–Weisbuch model adopting pairwise interaction and the Hegselmann–Krause model adopting group interaction are the two most widely studied opinion dynamics. In this study, we propose a novel opinion dynamics by combining pairwise and group interactions for agents and study the effects of the combination on consensus in the population. In the model, we introduce a parameter α to control the weights (...) of the two interactions in the dynamics. Through numerical simulations, we find that there exists an optimal α, which can lead to a highest probability of complete consensus and minimum critical bounded confidence for the formation of consensus. Furthermore, we show the effects of α on opinion formation by presenting the observations for opinion clusters. Moreover, we check the robustness of the results on different network structures and find the promotion of opinion consensus by α not limited to a complete graph. (shrink)

To identify relationships among entities in natural language texts, extraction of entity relationships technically provides a fundamental support for knowledge graph, intelligent information retrieval, and semantic analysis, promotes the construction of knowledge bases, and improves efficiency of searching and semantic analysis. Traditional methods of relationship extraction, either those proposed at the earlier times or those based on traditional machine learning and deep learning, have focused on keeping relationships and entities in their own silos: extracting relationships and entities are conducted in (...) steps before obtaining the mappings. To address this problem, a novel Chinese relationship extraction method is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the triple is treated as an entity relation chain and can identify the entity before the relationship and predict its corresponding relationship and the entity after the relationship. Secondly, the Joint Extraction of Entity Mentions and Relations model is based on the Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory and Maximum Entropy Markov Model. Experimental results indicate that the proposed model can achieve a precision of 79.2% which is much higher than that of traditional models. (shrink)

Research shows that entrepreneurial activities significantly promote economic development, which enhances the importance of the innovative entrepreneurial potential of college students. This study analyzes the effect of entrepreneurship education on entrepreneurial intention from the perspective of planned behavior theory. By examining the significant role of entrepreneurship education at colleges and universities on economic and social development, we established a conceptual model. To understand the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention, the hypotheses propose the intermediary role of entrepreneurial ability, and (...) the study provides evidence from China the relationship between entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurial intention. Improving entrepreneurial intention and encouraging college students to establish businesses through entrepreneurship education in universities is crucial. This study proposes a hypothetical model of the relationship between entrepreneurial competence and entrepreneurial intention in entrepreneurship education at universities. Using a questionnaire survey of college students with practical experience in the Yangtze River Delta of China, the bootstrap method in the SPSS macro program process software verifies the hypotheses. The results show that entrepreneurial teaching, business plan competition, and entrepreneurial practice support positively affect entrepreneurial competence. In addition, entrepreneurial competence plays an intermediary role in the relationship between entrepreneurial teaching, business plan competition, entrepreneurship practice support, and entrepreneurial intention. Entrepreneurship education improves the ability to establish a business in the present and in entrepreneurial activities in the future. Entrepreneurial competence obtained through entrepreneurship education continuously affects entrepreneurial intention. (shrink)

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 has resulted in widespread university lockdown. However, impacts of the university lockdown on the learning and academic development of university students have not been thoroughly investigated. The current study examined college students’ changes of learning outcomes during the COVID-19 lockdown period and clarified what might explain individual differences in students’ learning outcomes after they had learned from home for a whole semester when universities were physically closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were (...) derived from a longitudinal study examining the development of college students including students’ academic achievement and critical thinking before and after the university lockdown. We observed significant decreases in critical thinking skills and dispositions from pre- to post-lockdown. Both perceived academic achievement and critical thinking exhibited greater variability after the lockdown. In addition, students’ readiness for online learning, especially their self-management skills, consistently predicted post-lockdown learning outcomes after controlling for pre-lockdown outcomes and family socioeconomic status. Those who have assumed more responsibilities at home, or who were more vulnerable to emotional distress during the pandemic, performed less well in post-lockdown learning outcomes. These findings call for better management of student learning and development when major changes are required in higher education practices for responding to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis as well as other potential situations. (shrink)

In the intelligent transportation system, the license information can be automatically recognized by the computer and the vehicle can be tracked. Red light running, illegal change of lanes, vehicle retrograde, and other illegal driving events are reasonably recorded. This is undoubtedly an effective help for the traffic police to relieve the huge work pressure. However, in China, a considerable number of vehicle tracking methods have certain limitations in resisting complex external environmental influences. The external environmental factors include but not limited (...) to variable factors such as camera movement, jitter, and severe rain and snow. These factors cannot be controlled well, so the tracking accuracy is greatly reduced. In regard to this, this paper proposes an optimization method for moving vehicle tracking based on SPF. First, according to the size of the overlapping area of the motion area between the two images, the researcher can construct and simplify the vertex adjacency matrix that reflects the characteristics of the undirected bipartite graph. Then according to the corresponding relationship between the vertex adjacency matrix and the regional behavior and vehicle behavior, the researcher completes the regional behavior analysis and vehicle behavior analysis. On this basis, a particle filter vehicle tracking algorithm based on segmentation compensation is introduced, and the vector sum of the tracked segmentation area is used as the final position of the target vehicle. In this way, as many scattered particles fall on the target area as possible, which will greatly improve the efficiency of particle utilization, enhance tracking accuracy, and avoid the problem of tracking failure caused by too fast vehicle movement. Through experimental simulation, it can be seen that the method proposed in this paper can greatly enhance the vehicle tracking ability when tracking vehicles in “complex environments.”. (shrink)

Mathematically gifted students are precious human resources, educators of which make a great difference in helping them realize their potential. The retention of qualified teachers of mathematically gifted students is an issue worthy of in-depth exploration. In China, mathematics competitions are an important part of mathematics gifted education, and the teaching of the Mathematical Olympiad is a challenging profession with a high attrition rate. This qualitative study takes four seasoned and outstanding Chinese teachers as cases, collects data through individual semi-structured (...) interviews, and uses the thematic analysis method based on Herzberg’s two-factor theory to analyze why they can persist in the field of Mathematical Olympiad teaching for more than 20 years. The results show that the motivation factors affecting retention are recognition, achievement, possibility of growth, work itself, and responsibility, and the hygiene factors are policy and interpersonal relationships. Motivation factors are the main reason for their long-term persistence, while hygiene factors are conducive to their persistence as a whole. Finally, enlightenment to educational policy and school management and suggestions for retention and development of teachers of the mathematically gifted are provided. (shrink)

There are three main problems in track fastener defect detection based on image: The number of abnormal fastener pictures is scarce, and supervised learning detection model is difficult to establish. The potential data features obtained by different feature extraction methods are different. Some methods focus on edge features, and some methods focus on texture features. Different features have different detection capabilities, and these features are not effectively fused and utilized. The detection of the track fastener clip will be interfered by (...) the track fastener bolt subimage. Aiming at the above three problems, a method for track fastener defects detection based on Local Deep Feature Fusion Network is proposed. Firstly, the track fastener image segmentation method is used to obtain the track fastener clip subimage, which can effectively reduce the interference of bolt subimage features on the track fastener clip detection. Secondly, the edge features and texture features of track fastener clip subimages are extracted by Autoencoder and Restricted Boltzmann Machine, and the features are fused. Finally, the similarity measurement method Mahalanobis Distance is used to detect defects in track fasteners. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by real Pandrol track fastener images. (shrink)

Adolescents have gradually become a vital group of interacting with social media recommendation algorithms. Although numerous studies have been conducted to investigate negative reactions that the dark side of recommendation algorithms brings to social media users, little is known about the resistance intention and behavior based on their agency in the daily process of encountering algorithms. Focusing on the concept of algorithm resistance, this study used a two-path model to investigate the algorithmic resistance of rural Chinese adolescents in their daily (...) use of short video apps. The findings revealed that the perceived threat to freedom, algorithmic literacy, and peer influence were positively associated with the resistance willingness and intention; while the independent psychology on algorithmic recommendations significantly weakened resistance willingness and intention. Furthermore, this study verified the mediating role of resistance willingness and intention between the above independent variables and resistance behavior. Additionally, the positive impact of resistance willingness on resistance intention was confirmed. In conclusion, this study offers a comprehensive approach to further understanding adolescents’ algorithmic resistance awareness and behavior by combining psychological factors, personal competency, and interpersonal influences, as well as two types of resistance reactions. (shrink)

China set the goal of expanding early childhood education in 2018, by encouraging the development of public interest kindergartens to provide high-quality, low-cost preschool services to the general public. This is in response to the challenges of accessibility, affordability, and accountability besetting China’s current ECE system. However, the transition toward PIK has been slow due to various complex problems, including the lackluster willingness of ECE providers to become PIK. To better understand the challenges leading to low participation, this study explores (...) the external pressures affecting ECE providers and evaluates the external factors that influence their level of social responsibility. A stratified-random sampling questionnaire survey solicited responses from 832 ECE personnel representing 261 kindergartens from across China. Our findings suggest that institutional pressure has a positive effect on social responsibility and inclusive participation. We also found that institution visibility positively regulates the relationship between institutional pressure and social responsibility. At the same time, the level of environmental perception positively governs the relationship between social responsibility and participation willingness. Kindergartens should have certain social values, including assuming certain behaviors and participating in social activities in the spirit of social service and ensure multiple subjects’ synergetic governance. (shrink)

Dynamic vision sensor is a kind of bioinspired sensor. It has the characteristics of fast response, large dynamic range, and asynchronous output event stream. These characteristics make it have advantages that traditional image sensors do not have in the field of tracking. The output form of the dynamic vision sensor is asynchronous event stream, and the object information needs to be provided by the relevant event cluster. This article proposes a method based on the event correlation index to obtain the (...) object’s position, contour, and other information and is compatible with traditional tracking methods. Experiments show that this method can obtain the position information of the moving object and its continuous motion trajectory and analyze the influence of the parameters on the tracking effect. This method will have broad application prospects in security, transportation, etc. (shrink)

Time theft represents an inconspicuous yet pervasive form of unethical misconduct in the workplace, engendering significant losses for organizations. It is thus incumbent upon companies to take measures to mitigate such conduct. Human resource management (HRM) constitutes a pivotal approach through which organizations can regulate employee actions and curb organizational misconduct; however, its role has been largely underexplored in the extant literature. Recognizing the moral foundations of socially responsible HRM (SRHRM), we synthesize signaling theory with cue consistency theory to posit (...) that SRHRM exerts a negative influence on employee time theft via enhanced moral awareness. Furthermore, we contend that ethical leadership acts as a critical contingency factor that reinforces the negative relationship between SRHRM and time theft through heightened moral awareness. Employing two-wave survey studies and a scenario-based experiment, our hypotheses were empirically supported. Our findings contribute to both theoretical and practical understandings within the domains of SRHRM and time theft research. Additionally, we discuss limitations and propose future research directions. (shrink)

In the present paper, we introduce the notions of quasi-Boolean algebras as the generalization of Boolean algebras. First we discuss the related properties of quasi-Boolean algebras. Second we define filters of quasi-Boolean algebras and investigate some properties of filters in quasi-Boolean algebras. We also show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the set of filters and the set of filter congruences on a quasi-Boolean algebra. Then we investigate the prime filters and maximal filters of quasi-Boolean algebras, showing that the (...) prime filters of a quasi-Boolean algebra are precisely the maximal filters and the prime spectrum of a quasi-Boolean algebra is a compact Hausdorff topological space. Finally, we define and study the reticulation of a quasi-Boolean algebra. (shrink)

The self-organizing model and expectation-maximization method are two traditional identification methods for switching models. They interactively update the parameters and model identities based on offline algorithms. In this paper, we propose a flexible recursive least squares algorithm which constructs the cost function based on two kinds of errors: the neighboring two-parameter estimation errors and the output estimation errors. Such an algorithm has several advantages over the two traditional identification algorithms: it can estimate the parameters of all the sub-models without prior (...) knowledge of the model identities; has less computational efforts; and can update the parameters with newly arrived data. The convergence properties and simulation examples are provided to illustrate the efficiency of the algorithm. (shrink)

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are characterized by attenuated pulmonary function and are frequently reported with cognitive impairments, especially memory impairments. The mechanism underlying the memory impairments still remains unclear. We applied resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare the brain local activities with static and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations among patients with COPD and healthy controls. Compared with HC, COPD patients exhibited decreased sALFF in the right basal ganglia and increased dALFF in the bilateral parahippocampal/hippocampal gyrus. The (...) reduced the left basal ganglia was associated with lower oxygen partial pressure. Besides, the increased dALFF in the left hippocampal/parahippocampal cortex was associated with poor semantic-memory performance and the increased dALFF in the left hippocampal/parahippocampal cortex was associated the forced vital capacity. The present study revealed the abnormal static and dynamic local-neural activities in the basal ganglia and parahippocampal/hippocampal cortex in COPD patient and its relationship with poor lung function and semantic-memory impairments. (shrink)

Drawing on the behavioral theory, this study examines how the misalignment between a firm's environmental effort and the level of subsidies received from the government in affecting the firm's investment in non-environmental R&D. Based on a sample of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2008 to 2019 and using polynomial regression techniques, our findings reveal that firms in the “low effort-high subsidies” group exhibit lower non-environmental R&D intensity compared to firms in the “high effort-low subsidies” group. This study contributes to the (...) literature by shedding light on the interplay between corporate environmental efforts, government subsidies, and non-environmental R&D investment. The findings suggest the importance of aligning the environmental efforts of firms with subsidy levels from the government to effectively allocate resources for different types of R&D. The implications of this research suggest that firms should carefully consider aligning their environmental efforts with government subsidies to optimize their investment in non-environmental R&D and overall innovation strategy. Furthermore, the study indicates that firms and governments should prudently balance the relationship between environmental R&D and non-environmental R&D to avoid any negative impact on the latter. (shrink)

Business Ethics, the Environment &Responsibility, Volume 31, Issue 4, Page 1040-1052, October 2022.

Leaders are often faced with the dilemma as to how to respond to employee misconduct. However, scholarly accounts of leader actions in such situations have primarily focused on punishment as a mechanism for dealing with employee misconduct. Leader leniency, an alternative response that is often adopted in practice, has been largely overlooked. Consequently, in order to provide a more complete account of leader responses to employee misconduct and to clarify whether leader leniency is effective, we investigate the potential double-edged influences (...) of leader leniency on employee task performance. Specifically, we propose that leader leniency inhibits employee task performance through the mediating role of psychological entitlement, while it also has beneficial effects on employee task performance through the mediating role of servant leadership perception. Moreover, trait moral disengagement serves as a vital boundary condition, which amplifies the negative influence of leader leniency through psychological entitlement and simultaneously mitigates its positive effect through servant leadership perception. Results from an experience sampling study and a scenario-based experiment supported our hypotheses. Our work highlights the mixed blessing of leader leniency and clarifies when and how leader leniency rehabilitates wrongdoers or instead propels them to further down the path of misconduct. (shrink)

Financing guarantee is an important means and key link to solve the financing difficulties of small- and medium-size enterprises. However, while financial guarantees alleviate the financing difficulties of SMEs, the complex guarantee relationships also constitute a new channel for credit risk contagion in the financial guarantee network. In this paper, we construct a model of credit risk contagion process of guarantee network based on SEIR and analyse the equilibrium point and stability of the model. Then, we find the threshold value (...) of risk contagion and further simulate the SEIR model dynamically to analyse the influence of each parameter of the model. The results show that the risk of the financing guarantee network begins to be widely contagious only when risk contagion threshold is greater than 1, and the conversion rate of exposed enterprises, removal rate of infected enterprises, nodal enterprises degree, and risk contagion rate have significant effects on the changes of individual density of susceptible, exposed, infected, and recovered enterprises. Combining the above findings, it is of great theoretical and practical significance to propose relevant countermeasures for credit risk control of financial guarantee network. (shrink)

Deficits in gestures act as early signs of impairment in social interaction and communication in children with autism spectrum disorder. However, the pieces of literature on atypical gesture patterns in ASD children are contradictory. This investigation aimed to explore the atypical gesture pattern of ASD children from the dimensions of quantity, communicative function, and integration ability; and its relationship with social ability and adaptive behavior. We used a semi-structured interactive play to evaluate gestures of 33 ASD children and 24 typically (...) developing children. And we evaluated the social ability, adaptive behavior, and productive language of ASD and TD children by using the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System version II and Chinese Communication Development Inventory. No matter the total score of CCDI was corrected or not, the relative frequency of total gestures, behavior regulation gestures, SI gestures, and joint attention gestures of ASD children were lower than that of TD children, as well as the proportion of JA gestures. However, there was no significant group difference in the proportion of BR and SI gestures. Before adjusting for the total score of CCDI, the relative frequency of gestures without vocalization/verbalization integration and vocalization/verbalization-integrated gestures in ASD children was lower than that in TD children. However, after matching the total score of CCDI, only the relative frequency of gestures without vocalization/verbalization integration was lower. Regardless of the fact that the total score of CCDI was corrected or not, the relative frequency and the proportion of eye-gaze-integrated gestures in ASD children were lower than that in TD children. And the proportion of gestures without eye-gaze integration in ASD children was higher than that in TD children. For ASD children, the social skills score in ABAS-II was positively correlated with the relative frequency of SI gesture and eye-gaze-integrated gestures; the total score of ABAS-II was positively correlated with the relative frequency of total gestures and eye-gaze-integrated gestures. In conclusion, ASD children produce fewer gestures and have deficits in JA gestures. The deficiency of integrating eye gaze and gesture is the core deficit of ASD children’s gesture communication. Relatively, ASD children might be capable of integrating vocalization/verbalization into gestures. SI gestures and the ability to integrate gesture and eye gaze are related to social ability. The quantity of gestures and the ability to integrate gesture with eye gaze are related to adaptive behavior.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier ChiCTR1800019679. (shrink)

This study examined the relationship between maternal sense of parenting efficacy and parental stress in children with autism and the moderating effect of family interaction. A total of 263 mothers of children with autism were investigated with the Parenting Ability Scale, Family Interaction Scale, and Parental Stress Scale. The results showed that maternal sense of parenting efficacy significantly predicted parental stress in children with autism; and family interaction significantly moderated the relationship between maternal sense of parenting efficacy and parental stress (...) in children with autism, that is, when family interaction was lower than −1.54 standard deviation, the sense of parenting efficacy did not significantly predict parental stress. When family interaction was higher than −1.54 SD, parenting efficacy had a significant negative predictive effect on parenting stress. (shrink)

Porosity is considered as one of the most important indicators for the characterization of the comprehensive performance of thermal barrier coatings. In this study, the ultrasonic technique and the artificial neural network optimized with the genetic algorithm are combined to develop an intelligent method for automatic detection and accurate prediction of TBCs’s porosity. A series of physical models of plasma-sprayed ZrO2 coating are established with a thickness of 288 μm and porosity varying from 5.71% to 26.59%, and the ultrasonic reflection (...) coefficient amplitude spectrum is constructed based on the time-domain numerical simulation signal. The characteristic features f 1, f 2, A max, Δ A of the URCAS, which are highly dependent on porosity, are extracted as input data to train the GA_BPNN model for predicting the unknown porosity. The average error of the prediction results is 1.45%, which suggests that the proposed method can achieve accurate detection and quantitative characterization of the porosity of TBCs with complex pore morphology. (shrink)

In this paper, we propose a time-delayed predator-prey model with Holling-type II functional response, which incorporates the gestation period and the cost of fear into prey reproduction. The dynamical behavior of this system is both analytically and numerically investigated from the viewpoint of stability, permanence, and bifurcation. We found that there are stability switches, and Hopf bifurcations occur when the delay τ passes through a sequence of critical values. The explicit formulae which determine the direction, stability, and other properties of (...) the bifurcating periodic solutions are given by using the normal form theory and center manifold theorem. We perform extensive numerical simulations to explore the impact of some important parameters on the dynamics of the system. Numerical simulations show that high levels of fear have a stabilizing effect while relatively low levels of fear have a destabilizing effect on the predator-prey interactions which lead to limit-cycle oscillations. We also found that the model with or without a delay-dependent factor can have a significantly different dynamics. Thus, ignoring the delay or not including the delay-dependent factor might result in inaccurate modelling predictions. (shrink)