Perceptual attention is essential to both thought and agency, for there is arguably no demonstrative thought or bodily action without it. Psychologists and philosophers since William James have taken attention to be a ubiquitous and distinctive form of consciousness, one that leaves a characteristic mark on perceptual experience. As a process of selecting specific perceptual inputs, attention influences the way things perceptually appear. It may then seem that it is a specific feature of perceptual representation that constitutes what it is (...) like to consciously attend to an object. In fact conscious attention is more complicated. In what follows, I argue that the phenomenology of conscious attention to what is perceived involves not just a way of perceptually locking on to a specific object. It necessarily involves a way of cognitively locking on to it as well. (shrink)

To solve the problem that traditional trajectory prediction methods cannot meet the requirements of high-precision, multi-dimensional and real-time prediction, a 4D trajectory prediction model based on the backpropagation (BP) neural network was studied. First, the hierarchical clustering algorithm and the k-means clustering algorithm were adopted to analyze the total flight time. Then, cubic spline interpolation was used to interpolate the flight position to extract the main trajectory feature. The 4D trajectory prediction model was based on the BP neural network. It (...) was trained by Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast trajectory from Qingdao to Beijing and used to predict the flight trajectory at future moments. In this paper, the model is evaluated by the common measurement index such as maximum absolute error, mean absolute error and root mean square error. It also gives an analysis and comparison of the predicted over-point time, the predicted over-point altitude, the actual over-point time and the actual over-point altitude. The results indicate that the predicted 4D trajectory is close to the real flight data, and the time error at the crossing point is no more than 1 min and the altitude error at the crossing point is no more than 50 m, which is of high accuracy. (shrink)

With the rapid development of renewable generators such as distributed photovoltaic and profound changes of the power structure, this paper analyzes the frequency characteristics of the power system with high penetration of renewable generations in the process of low-frequency load shedding and discusses the influence of the distributed renewable generator frequency endurance capabilities on the implementation effect of low-frequency load shedding in detail. Finally, the influences of the distributed renewable generator frequency endurance capability and the capacities of the distributed renewable (...) generator on frequency response characteristics of an actual Hunan power grid are simulated. The simulation results show that more distributed photovoltaic capacity without frequency endurance capability leads to deeper frequency drops after the disturbance and requires more basic rounds of load shedding. When the penetration rate of distributed photovoltaic is too high, it may cause load shedding, resulting in power grid load losses and, at the same time, leading to an overshoot phenomenon in the process of frequency recovery. Therefore, the influence of distributed photovoltaic on the control of low-frequency load shedding should be considered when designing low-frequency load shedding schemes for the power grid with high penetration of distributed photovoltaic. (shrink)

The signals in numerous complex systems of engineering can be regarded as nonlinear parameter trend with noise which is identically distributed random signals or deterministic stationary chaotic signals. The commonly used methods for parameter estimation of nonlinear trend in signals are mainly based on least squares. It can cause inaccurate estimation results when the noise is complex. This paper proposes a calibration method for this issue in the case of single parameter via nonstationarity measure from the perspective of the stationarity (...) of residual sequence. Some numerical studies are conducted for validation. Results of numerical studies show that the proposed calibration method performs well for various models with different noise strengths and types and can significantly improve the accuracy of initial estimates obtained by least squares method. This is the first time that the nonstationarity measure is applied to the parameter calibration. All these results will be a guide for future studies of other parameter calibrations. (shrink)

Collaboration requires agents to coordinate their behavior on the fly, sometimes cooperating to solve a single task together and other times dividing it up into sub‐tasks to work on in parallel. Underlying the human ability to collaborate is theory‐of‐mind (ToM), the ability to infer the hidden mental states that drive others to act. Here, we develop Bayesian Delegation, a decentralized multi‐agent learning mechanism with these abilities. Bayesian Delegation enables agents to rapidly infer the hidden intentions of others by inverse planning. (...) We test Bayesian Delegation in a suite of multi‐agent Markov decision processes inspired by cooking problems. On these tasks, agents with Bayesian Delegation coordinate both their high‐level plans (e.g., what sub‐task they should work on) and their low‐level actions (e.g., avoiding getting in each other's way). When matched with partners that act using the same algorithm, Bayesian Delegation outperforms alternatives. Bayesian Delegation is also a capable ad hoc collaborator and successfully coordinates with other agent types even in the absence of prior experience. Finally, in a behavioral experiment, we show that Bayesian Delegation makes inferences similar to human observers about the intent of others. Together, these results argue for the centrality of ToM for successful decentralized multi‐agent collaboration. (shrink)

Heideggerian philosophy is frequently chosen as a philosophical framing, and/or a hermeneutic analytical structure in qualitative nursing research. As Heideggerian philosophy is dense, there is merit in the development of scholarly resources that help to explain discrete Heideggerian concepts and to uncover their relevance to contemporary human experience. This paper uses a meta-synthesis methodology to pool and synthesise findings from 29 phenomenological research reports on Being-with in the nurse–patient relationship. We firstly considered and secured the most relevant Heideggerian elements to (...) nurse–patient Being-with. Under these deductive codes, we then inductively developed sub-themes that seemed to explain the multifaceted nature of Being-with, through a secondary analysis and synthesis of published data from 417 patient, carer and nurse participants. Dasein-with was enhanced when nurses had first-hand experience with a phenomenon. Nurses moved between the inauthentic they-mode, and the authentic self-mode. Through circumspection, technology and people were encountered environmentally feeding into nursing attention, assessment and communication. Nursing as a social arrangement was expressed through either leaping-in care or leaping-ahead care. There was a place for both inauthentic and authentic discourse that nurses wove through the ontic everydayness of nursing tasks. (shrink)

It is part of a global trend today that new relationships are being forged between religion and society, between spirituality and materiality, giving rise to announcements that we live in a ‘postsecular’ or ‘desecularized’ world. Taking up two educational movements, the mindfulness movement in the West and the revival of Confucian education in China, this paper examines what and how postsecular orientations and sensibilities penetrate educational discourses and practices in different cultural contexts. We compare the two movements to reveal a (...) new quality of hybrid modernization in that they react, in different ways, to certain pathologies that are identified as consequences of secular modernity. Burnout syndrome, the sense of a spiritual void, but also the loss of a spiritual and cultural identity are being perceived as correlating to a one-sided push towards a modernity that emphasizes secular rationalization over mindfulness and Westernization over cultural particularity. The two case studies mark a critical insight on the present condition and limits of secularism and highlights the ongoing negotiations of values and modes of self-cultivation in schools. In an increasingly pluralistic world, the entanglement of the secular, spiritual, religious and wisdom traditions provides the opportunity to rethink education as a creative realm and an impossible possibility to re-engage the minds and lives of those in the hybrid pedagogical time. (shrink)

This paper presents a bioinspired lower extremity exoskeleton robot. The proposed exoskeleton robot can be adjusted in structure to meet the wearer’s height of 150–185 cm and has a good gait stability. In the gait control part, a method of identifying different locomotion modes is proposed; five common locomotion modes are considered in this paper, including sitting down, standing up, level-ground walking, ascending stairs, and descending stairs. The identification is depended on angle information of the hip, knee, and ankle joints. (...) A deep locomotion mode identification model based on long-short term memory architecture is proposed in this paper for exploiting the angle data. We conducted two experiments to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Experimental results show that the DLMIM is capable of learning inherent characteristics of joint angles and achieves more accurate identification than the other models. The last experiment demonstrates that the DLMIM can recognize transitions between different locomotion modes in time and the real-time performance varies with each individual. (shrink)

Regulators have recently relaxed some provisions of the Global Research Analyst Settlement of 2003 and associated reforms, which arose from charges that conflicts of interest within investment banks had induced the issuance of fraudulent or otherwise misleading analyst research reports. We examine the effectiveness of the Global Settlement in reducing the systematic optimism observed in stock recommendations of analysts whose employer is a merger and acquisition advisor for the covered firm, by comparing the optimism exhibited in stock recommendations issued by (...) these analysts and by unaffiliated analysts before and after the Global Settlement. To control for the impact on analyst optimism of other time varying factors, our sample includes cases from the US and from other countries in which the Global Settlement had no direct impact. We argue that if the Global Settlement was effective, there should be a reduction in the relative optimism of affiliated analysts following this reform, and that reduction in the relative optimism should be greater for affiliated US analysts, than for affiliated analysts from non-US countries. When optimism is measured over a 180-day period surrounding the M&A announcement, we find a significantly greater reduction in US affiliated analysts’ optimism than occurs outside the US. However, evidence regarding analysts’ optimism in the 90-day period prior to the announcement of an M&A deal is mixed. (shrink)

This paper investigates whether and how the disclosure tone of earnings conference calls predicts future stock price crash risk. Using US public firms’ conference call transcripts from 2010 to 2015, we find that firms with less optimistic tone of year-end conference calls experience higher stock price crash risk in the following year. Additional analyses reveal that the predictive power of tone is more pronounced among firms with better information environment and lower managerial equity incentives, suggesting that extrinsic motivations for truthful (...) disclosure partially explain the predictive power of conference call tone. Our results shed light on the long-term information role of conference call tone by exploring the setting of extreme future downside risk, when managers have conflicting incentives either to unethically manipulate disclosure tone to hide bad news or to engage in ethical and truthful communication. (shrink)

Scientific articles have been traditionally written from single points of view. In contrast, new knowledge is derived strictly from a dialectical process, through interbreeding of partially disparate perspectives. Dialogues, therefore, present a more veritable form for representing the process behind knowledge creation. They are also less prone to dogmatically disseminate ideas than monologues, alongside raising awareness of the necessity for discussion and challenging of differing points of view, through which knowledge evolves. Here we celebrate 250 years since the discovery of (...) the chemical identity of the inorganic component of bone in 1769 by Johan Gottlieb Gahn through one such imaginary dialogue between two seasoned researchers and aficionados of this material. We provide the statistics on ups and downs in the popularity of this material throughout the history and also discuss important achievements and challenges associated with it. The shadow of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is cast over the dialogue, acting as its frequent reference point and the guide. With this dialogue presented in the format of a play, we provide hope that conversational or dramaturgical compositions of scientific articles—albeit virtually prohibited from the scientific literature of the day—may become more pervasive in the future. (shrink)

Previous studies have confirmed that individual waste management behavior is influenced by both rational-based and altruistic-oriented beliefs and attitudes. Scholars incorporated personal norms in Ajzen’s theory of planned behavior and confirmed its usefulness in predicting waste management behavior. However, limited attention has been paid to the interactions between the variables in the model. Scholars also commented that the cognitive dimension was largely neglected in the current socio-psychological framework of waste management behavior. This study intends to address this issue by incorporating (...) environmental concern and environmental knowledge in the model and examining the psychological paths linking these variables to waste management behavior within the expanded model of planned behavior. Based on a cross-sectional survey among 434 university students in China, the results showed that subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, personal norms, and environmental knowledge were essential predictors of waste management behavior, whereas the direct effect of attitude was not statistically significant. Environmental concern and subjective norms could influence waste management behavior through personal norms. Environmental knowledge could influence waste management behavior indirectly through environmental concern, personal norms, and perceived behavioral control. Moreover, perceived behavioral control served as a mediator between the relationship of personal norms and waste management behavior. (shrink)

Brain imaging studies have consistently shown subgenual Anterior Cingulate Cortical (sgACC) involvement in emotion processing. COMT Val158 and Met158 polymorphisms may influence such emotional brain processes in specific ways. Given that resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) may increase our understanding on brain functioning, we integrated genetic and rsfMRI data and focused on sgACC functional connections. No studies have yet investigated the influence of the COMT Val158Met polymorphism (rs4680) on sgACC resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in healthy individuals. A homogeneous group of sixty-one Caucasian (...) right-handed healthy female university students, all within the same age range, underwent rsfMRI. Compared to Met158 homozygotes, Val158 allele carriers displayed significantly stronger rsFC between the sgACC and the left parahippocampal gyrus, ventromedial parts of the inferior frontal gyrus, and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). On the other hand, compared to Val158 homozygotes, we found in Met158 allele carriers stronger sgACC rsFC with the medial frontal gyrus, more in particular the anterior parts of the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Although we did not use emotional or cognitive tasks, our sgACC rsFC results point to possible distinct differences in emotional and cognitive processes between Val158 and Met158 allele carriers. However, the exact nature of these directions remains to be determined. (shrink)

Laws in China relating to HIV disclosure are inconsistent. After a patient has tested HIV‐positive, service providers struggle to decide who should be informed first: patients, family members, or both. To understand service providers' attitudes and practices regarding the HIV notification process in China, 1101 service providers from a southwestern province of China were surveyed. Opinions were gathered from providers at five different levels of health care facilities (provincial, city, county, township and village). A mixed methods approach was used to (...) analyze perceptions of informing family members of a patient's HIV status. Quantitative analysis was used to examine whether providers held a favorable attitude toward notifying family members first and qualitative analysis was used to explore the reasons and consequences of notifying family members first. Nearly half of service providers felt family members should be informed of a patient's HIV status first. Providers who were older, had contact with HIV patients, or had less medical education were more likely to agree with a family‐first notification practice. Psychological pressure, concern about protecting family members, the need for family support, and consideration for local regulations were cited as the main reasons for this practice. There is an immediate need to re‐examine HIV notification policies so that there are consistent guidelines and procedures for providers throughout China. (shrink)

Truth-telling for terminally ill patients is a challenging ethical and social issue for Chinese health care professionals. However, despite the existence of ethical and moral standards for nurses, they frequently encounter moral dilemmas when making decisions about truth-telling to patients with end-stage diseases in China. This article aims to provide ethical strategies for clinical nurses in China regarding truth-telling decisions for terminally ill patients on the basis of their individual autonomy. This article first presents a common case scenario in China (...) and then critically discusses ethical issues related to ethical principles and philosophical theories. The aim is to provide the much needed strategy for truth-telling for nurses who are terminally ill rather than to focus on attitudes toward disclosure. This article focuses on nursing morality, ethics, norms, and philosophy in health care and discusses countermeasures taken by nurses in truth-telling decision-making in combination with Chinese Confucian culture. The analysis identifies key ethical strategies tailored to Chinese nurses’ practices, emphasizing individual autonomy, cultural sensitivity, and family dynamics in truth-telling decisions. The complexity of end-of-life illness requires Chinese nurses to strengthen the communication training needed to deliver bad news, as well as critical and autonomous thinking and good communication skills when implementing patient- and family-centered care, to achieve true delivery of bad news, thereby increasing patient autonomy and promoting more successful collaboration among patients, families, and providers. To improve the quality of care. Chinese nurses should integrate ethical principles with Confucian values to enhance patient-centered communication, respecting autonomy while adapting to cultural nuances in end-of-life care. (shrink)

本书独创性地将中国哲学的源头推前至前诸子时期, 作者认为上古时期中国古人的思维和观念就具有哲学思想的雏型. 春秋战国是中国古代大变革的时代, 儒、道、墨、法、名、阴阳等学派成立, 出现了我国古代第一个学术黄金时代, 为我国哲学奠定了基础. 从殷商至春秋战国, 天人关系成为思想领域中的首要问题, 形成像类、象等观念, 由此发展为阴阳、道、命、数、气等哲学理念. 全书还对中国哲学的发展脉络作了清晰的梳理.