Resistance to the drugs used in the treatment of many infectious diseases is increasing, while microbial infections are being found to be responsible for more life‐threatening diseases than previously thought. Despite a large investment in the invention and application of high‐throughput screening techniques involving miniaturization and automation, and a diverse array of strategies for designing and constructing various chemical libraries, relatively few new drugs have resulted. Natural products, however, have been a major source of drugs for centuries. Since some of (...) them are produced by organisms as a result of selection in favour of improved defense against competing deleterious microorganisms, in principle they would be less likely to incur resistance. Furthermore, the production of those defensive secondary metabolites is inducible because their original function is a response to environmental challenges. Moreover, symbioses, co‐habitation associations between two or more different species of organisms, are universal in nature, and the production of secondary metabolites by symbiotic microbes may be an important adaptation allowing microbes to affect their hosts. Therefore, co‐culture strategies, using combinations of plant cell–pathogenic microbes, plant cell–endophytes (or symbionts), and symbiont–pathogenic microbes, based on the principles of chemical defense and the known mechanisms of organism interactions, may be an efficient general approach in the search for new anti‐microbial drugs. BioEssays 26:808–813, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

This paper is an original attempt to understand the foundations of economic reasoning. It endeavors to rigorously define the relationship between subjective interpretations and objective valuations of such interpretations in the context of theoretical economics. This analysis is substantially expanded through a dynamic approach, where the truth of a valuation results in an updated interpretation or changes in the agent's subjective belief regarding the effectiveness of the selected action as well as the objective reality of the effectiveness of all other (...) possible actions (i.e. consequence realization). Complications arise when the economic agent is presented with a set of actions that render ambiguous preference, or when the effectiveness of an action cannot be perceived upon its selection, thereby necessitating a different theory of choice and consequence realization. (shrink)

This work is developed to improve the current quality of e-commerce logistics services. From the perspective of multiple consumer psychology, based on e-commerce, consumer psychology, and other related theories, vegetable e-commerce B is selected as the research object. The commodity quality, accuracy, and timeliness of commodity distribution and other factors of e-commerce B are discussed through questionnaire survey. Then, according to customers’ opinions about “e-commerce B’s distribution and professional aspects that need to be improved,” the research is conducted. Finally, the (...) direction of follow-up optimization is proposed from four different perspectives of multiple consumption psychology. The research results show that more than 89% of the surveyed customers believe that e-commerce B does a good job in terms of commodity quality, accuracy, and timeliness of commodity distribution, and has a high level of logistics service. However, 26.34% of customers hope that e-commerce B can strengthen the protection of personal privacy, 24.97% hope that the platform can add “delay insurance” for goods, and 39.54% hope that the logistics information of purchased goods can be updated in real time. Therefore, e-commerce B needs to be optimized and improved continuously in the future development. Therefore, research on the optimization of logistics service quality of e-commerce is performed under multiple consumption psychology, which provides certain help for the rapid development of subsequent e-commerce. (shrink)

2. The mouth: Sexuality and metaphysics.

In this paper I take a critical look at Judith Jarvis Thomson famous violinist analogy for abortion. I argue that while the violinist example does show that a right to life does not entail a right to be given the means of life, the violinist cast is relevantly different from the pregnancy case. I also argue that Thomson's positive argument in favor of the permissibility of abortion fails because it is based on a false conception of bodily self-ownsership. Finally, I (...) offer an argument against abortion built not on the child's rights, but the mother's obligation to the vulnerable. (shrink)

Theoretical arguments regarding the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firm liability risk are abundant; however, empirical evidence about this relationship is scarce. We investigate the relationship between CSR and the personal liability risk of a firm’s directors and officers. We argue that companies with better CSR performance represent a better underwriting risk for directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurance providers and, therefore, have a lower cost of insurance. Our results show that firms with better CSR performance are more likely (...) to purchase D&O insurance and have a lower premium-to-coverage ratio, known as the insurance rate-on-line. We also show that this risk-reduction effect is stronger for firms that operate in a high-risk environment and have higher sales growth. These results provide evidence that CSR can be used as a risk management tool to mitigate liability risk and suggest which firms benefit most from this effect. (shrink)

With a focus on Confucian descriptions, this book carefully examines feeling, value and virtue and reveals the order of the heart by a phenomenological clarification of our personal and interpersonal experience.

This book is a comparative study of the fundamental metaphysical assumptions and their epistemological implications in Chinese and Western philosophy. The author uses a topical comparison methodology based on responses to a central topical issue to argue for commensurability in Chinese and Western metaphysics.

This book is a comparative study of the fundamental metaphysical assumptions and their epistemological implications in Chinese and Western philosophy. The author uses a topical comparison methodology based on responses to a central topical issue to argue for commensurability in Chinese and Western metaphysics.

本书记录了我国南宋时期的思想家、文学家、改革家陈亮的生平事迹。他一生不忘恢复主张变革国策;他是南宋词史上不可忽视的名家。.

Based on data collected from a representative-sample survey conducted in five Chinese cities (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Hangzhou) in the middle of 2008, this study examines the behavioral orientations of Chinese middle class toward the local elections which are held in urban areas, and the attitudinal orientations of Chinese middle class toward the current regime. The results indicate that there is a strong division within the group of the middle class, especially along the lines of the relationship with the (...) state. Therefore, this study suggests that the Chinese middle class is a class without a shared class identity. (shrink)

以明末清初理學文本與話語為主要研究對象， 試圖重探明清之際思想轉型的重大議題。 從儒者的生死觀、工夫論、舜的聖人形象、孝行與家禮、 夫婦之倫、人性論等主題， 分析明清之際儒學如何在歷史發展及反思中自我修正與轉化， 建構一個能兼顧個人道德修養與家庭社群人倫，能對治晚明學風之弊， 並在日用人倫中重建社會秩序的思想體系。 呂妙芬新作《成聖與家庭人倫：宗教對話脈絡下的明清之際儒學》鎖定明清之際（以十七世紀為主）的理學為主要研究範圍，試圖以更豐富而新穎的史料、新的研究議題與視角，來探討明清之際儒學的發展與轉型，也試圖回應一 些過去學者提出的看法。 呂妙芬在本書裡認為理學的信念在清代仍是支持政治與社會的價值體系，理學的議題也仍是士人關心的問題，清代理學思想與話語也不盡然因襲舊說，而有其推陳出新之處，只是這方面較未被充分探討認知。 《成聖與家庭人倫》一書也強調當時儒學是在高度宗教對話的語境中發言，調整自我義理內涵，書中亦論及儒學宗教化與庶民化的現象，及對過去啓蒙論述的反思。 本書共分三部，第一部「成聖、不朽、家庭人倫」包含三章，主要探討明清之際儒學發展的延續與變化，並標出「成聖」與「家庭人倫」為核心議題。第一章〈生死觀的新發展〉探討明清之際理學話語中，是否出現類似個體靈魂 的概念？是否有關於死後想像的論述？第二章〈儒門聖賢皆孝子〉延續了上一章的討論，主要根據的文本也相近，焦點則轉到清初儒學與晚明儒學的差異。第三章〈聖人處兄弟之變〉考察明清士人對於《孟子》記載舜、象兄弟故 事的不同詮釋，說明士人對於舜的詮釋反映了他們對儒學理想與聖人形象的思索。 第二部「血脈與道脈的雙重認同」包含兩章，內容則離開思想觀念的分析，轉而探討萬里尋親、居家拜聖賢兩種實踐行為，藉此說明家族血脈與儒學道脈在儒家士人心目中具有同等重要的地位。第四章選擇與宗族文化密切相關的 萬里尋親孝行為主題，支持此類孝行的理念正是儒家的孝道思想，以及「家」作為永恆歸屬的觀念。第五章討論明清士人在家拜聖賢的禮儀實踐。明清時期祭拜儒家聖賢之禮，除了在孔廟、鄉賢祠、學校和書院中，或在某些民間 宗教的寺廟中舉行外，它也以一種堅持儒學正統、不與其他宗教混合的方式，走入士人家庭。 第三部「宗教對話語境下的儒學論述」共有兩章，分別討論夫婦之倫、人性論兩個主題。第六章探討儒學在夫婦之道的神聖性與戒淫之間的張力，以及因發言語境之差異所形成關於夫婦之倫的不同論述面向。第七章是針對明清氣 學人性論的探討。結論部分則分別就「從晚明到清初學術思想的延續與創新」、「儒學的宗教關懷與庶民化傾向」、「再思17世紀儒學轉型在中國思想史上的意義」三方面，總結說明本書的主要論點。.

By focusing on Chinese cultural formations and critical discourses of the last decade of the century, the author dissects the intellectual, economic, and political contradictions of a turbulent era. This wide-ranging, deeply interdisciplinary work demarcates the cultural terrain by examining diverse media: film, television, avant-garde art, and literature, as well as critical theory and intellectual history.

本书是一本介绍道教与中国古代政治的书。研究的内容包括:道家政治伦理思想的发展概况及其理论基础;对于仁义礼法的道德批判等。.

In his treatise Han Fei Zi, the Chinese ancient thinker Han Fei proposes a governance structure that emphasizes the institutionalization of legal norms, judicious sovereign intervention, and ministerial obligations. These three core concepts of Han’s legal thinking are informed by both the Taoist law of Nature and the Confucian philosophy as is expounded by Xun Zi. Recognition of the Taoist and Confucian influences brings to light the ethical and normative dimensions of Han’s legal thought, dimensions that, I propose, provide new (...) insights into China’s legal and institutional reforms today. (shrink)

本书考察了以理学家, 科技实践家, 医学研究者及人文学等为代表的典型人物的科技思想, 比较清晰地勾勒出金元科技思想史的发展脉络, 并对金元科技思想的历史演变及宗教特征进行了新的学术审视和反思. 本书分为上下两卷, 本册为上卷.