Using P300-based brain–computer interfaces in daily life should take into account the user’s emotional state because various emotional conditions are likely to influence event-related potentials and consequently the performance of P300-based BCIs. This study aimed at investigating whether external emotional stimuli affect the performance of a P300-based BCI, particularly built for controlling home appliances. We presented a set of emotional auditory stimuli to subjects, which had been selected for each subject based on individual valence scores evaluated a priori, while they (...) were controlling an electric light device using a P300-based BCI. There were four conditions regarding the auditory stimuli, including high valence, low valence, noise, and no sound. As a result, subjects controlled the electric light device using the BCI in real time with a mean accuracy of 88.14%. The overall accuracy and P300 features over most EEG channels did not show a significant difference between the four auditory conditions. When we measured emotional states using frontal alpha asymmetry and compared FAA across the auditory conditions, we also found no significant difference. Our results suggest that there is no clear evidence to support a hypothesis that external emotional stimuli influence the P300-based BCI performance or the P300 features while people are controlling devices using the BCI in real time. This study may provide useful information for those who are concerned with the implementation of a P300-based BCI in practice. (shrink)

This study investigates the effects of cultural orientation and the degree of disdain for robots on the preferred conversational styles in human-to-robot interactions. 203 participants self-reported on questionnaires through a computer-based online survey. The two requesting situations were intended to simulate the participants' interactions with humanoid social robots through an Internet video-phone medium of communication. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the mediating role of mechanistic disdain between multicultural orientation and conversational constraints. The findings reveal that between the two (...) dimensions of multicultural orientation, only open-mindedness inversely influences mechanistic disdain. Mechanistic disdain, in turn, negatively affects three face-related conversational constraints, thereby leading to a lesser concern for robots' feelings, for minimizing impositions on robots, and for avoiding robots' negative evaluations. The implications of our findings on humans' relations with virtual robot entities and on the future development of humanoid robots are discussed. (shrink)

This study investigates the effects of cultural orientation and the degree of disdain for robots on the preferred conversational styles in human-to-robot interactions. 203 participants self-reported on questionnaires through a computer-based online survey. The two requesting situations were intended to simulate the participants’ interactions with humanoid social robots through an Internet video-phone medium of communication. Structural equation modeling was performed to examine the mediating role of mechanistic disdain between multicultural orientation and conversational constraints. The findings reveal that between the two (...) dimensions of multicultural orientation, only open-mindedness inversely influences mechanistic disdain. Mechanistic disdain, in turn, negatively affects three face-related conversational constraints, thereby leading to a lesser concern for robots’ feelings, for minimizing impositions on robots, and for avoiding robots’ negative evaluations. The implications of our findings on humans’ relations with virtual robot entities and on the future development of humanoid robots are discussed. (shrink)

The current study examined the validity of HEXACO personality traits (at the broad trait-level and narrow facet-level) and Self-Control as predictors of counterproductive academic behavior (CAB; at the overall level and specific dimensional level) among college students. We collected data from 483 undergraduate students in South Korea who completed self-report measures of HEXACO personality traits, Self-Control, CAB. Results showed that Conscientiousness (_r_ = −.23) and Honesty-Humility (_r_ = −.25) were significantly correlated with CAB and that Self-Control provided incremental validity over (...) HEXACO personality traits in predicting CAB. The correlations of Conscientiousness and Self-Control with CAB were consistently negative at the facet-level. However, within each HEXACO trait, there was some variability in the strength (and sometimes, the direction) of the relationships between the facet traits and CAB dimensions. Additionally, hierarchical multiple regression analysis results showed that Self-Control provided incremental validity for predicting CAB beyond prediction provided by the HEXACO personality traits. The results provide further support for personality and Self-Control as meaningful predictors of counterproductive academic behavior in college. (shrink)

A tic disorder (TD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by tics, which are repetitive movements and/or vocalizations that occur due to aberrant sensory gating. Its pathophysiology involves dysfunction in multiple parts of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits. Spontaneous brain activity during the resting state can be used to evaluate the baseline brain state, and it is associated with various aspects of behavior and cognitive processes. Theta–gamma coupling (TGC) is an emerging technique for examining how neural networks process information through interactions. However, the (...) resting-state TGC of patients with TD and its correlation with cognitive function have not yet been studied. We investigated the resting-state TGC of 13 patients with TD and compared it with that of 13 age-matched healthy children. The participants underwent resting-state electroencephalography with their eyes closed. At the global level, patients with TD showed a significantly lower resting-state TGC than healthy children. Resting-state TGC with the eyes closed was significantly negatively correlated with the attention quotient calculated for omission errors in a selective visual attention test. These findings indicate that the resting-state brain network, which is important for the attentional processing of visual information, is dysfunctional in patients with TD. Additionally, these findings support the view that TGC reflects information processing and signal interactions at the global level. Patients with TD may have difficulty gating irrelevant sensory information in the resting state while their eyes are closed. (shrink)

Purpose The debate about the end-of-life care decision is becoming a serious ethical and legal concern in the Far-Eastern countries of Korea, China and Japan. However, the issues regarding end-of-life care will reflect the cultural background, current medical practices and socioeconomic conditions of the countries, which are different from Western countries and between each other. Understanding the genuine thoughts of patients who are critically ill is the first step in confronting the issues, and a comparative descriptive study of these perspectives (...) was conducted by collaboration between researchers in all three countries. Methods Surveys using self-reporting paper questionnaire forms were conducted from December 2008 to April 2009 in Korea (six hospitals in two regions), China (five hospitals in four regions) and Japan (nine hospitals in one region). The subjects were patients who were critically ill who had been diagnosed as having cancer. A total of 235 participants (Korea, 91; China, 62; Japan, 52) were eventually recruited and statistically analysed. Results Most respondents had sometimes or often thought of their own death, mostly fear of ‘separation from loved ones’. They wanted to hear the news regarding their own condition directly and frankly from the physician. A quarter of them preferred making end-of-life care decisions by themselves, while many respondents favoured a ‘joint decision’ with their family members. The most favoured proxy decision maker was the spouse, followed by the children. Most admitted the necessity of ‘advance directives’ and agreed with artificial ventilation withdrawal in irreversible conditions. The most common reason was ‘artificial prolongation of life is unnecessary’. Most respondents agreed with the concept of active euthanasia; however, significant differences were sometimes observed in the responses according to variables such as patient's country of origin, age, gender and education level. Conclusion Patients in Far-Eastern countries gave various responses regarding end-of-life care decisions. Although familial input is still influential, most patients think of themselves as the major decision maker and accept the necessity of advance directives with Westernization of the society. Artificial ventilation withdrawal and even active euthanasia may be acceptable to them. (shrink)

BackgroundAttention deficit hyperactivity disorder is clinically diagnosed; however, quantitative analysis to statistically analyze the symptom severity of children with ADHD via the measurement of head movement is still in progress. Studies focusing on the cues that may influence the attention of children with ADHD in classroom settings, where children spend a considerable amount of time, are relatively scarce. Virtual reality allows real-life simulation of classroom environments and thus provides an opportunity to test a range of theories in a naturalistic and (...) controlled manner. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between participants’ head movements and their reports of inattention and hyperactivity, and to investigate how their head movements are affected by different social cues of different sensory modalities.MethodsThirty-seven children and adolescents with and without ADHD were recruited for this study. All participants were assessed for diagnoses, clinical symptoms, and self-reported symptoms. A virtual reality-continuous performance test was conducted under four conditions: control, no-cue, visual cue, and visual/audio cue. A quantitativecomparison of the participants’ head movements was conducted in three dimensions using a head-mounted display in a VR classroom environment. Task-irrelevant head movements were analyzed separately, considering the dimension of movement needed to perform the VR-CPT.ResultsThe magnitude of head movement, especially task-irrelevant head movement, significantly correlated with the current standard of clinical assessment in the ADHD group. Regarding the four conditions, head movement showed changes according to the complexity of social cues in both the ADHD and healthy control groups.ConclusionChildren and adolescents with ADHD showed decreasing task-irrelevant movements in the presence of social stimuli toward the intended orientation. As a proof-of-concept study, this study preliminarily identifies the potential of VR as a tool to understand and investigate the classroom behavior of children with ADHD in a controlled, systematic manner. (shrink)

BackgroundElectronic cigarettes as substitute devices for regular tobacco cigarettes have been increasing in recent times. We investigated neuronal substrates of vaping e-cigs and smoking r-cigs from r-cig smokers.MethodsTwenty-two r-cig smokers made two visits following overnight smoking cessation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired while participants watched smoking images. Participants were then allowed to smoke either an e-cig or r-cig until satiated and fMRI data were acquired. Their craving levels and performance on the Montreal Imaging Stress Task and a 3-back (...) alphabet/digit recognition task were obtained and analyzed using two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance. Regions-of-interest were identified by comparing the abstained and satiated conditions. Neuronal activation within ROIs was regressed on the craving and behavioral data separately.ResultsCraving was more substantially reduced by smoking r-cigs than by vaping e-cigs. The response time for the 3-back task was significantly shorter following smoking r-cigs than following vaping e-cigs = 5.3, p = 0.035). Neuronal activations of the right vermis, right caudate, and right superior frontal gyrus were significantly correlated with the RT for the 3-back task only for smoking r-cigs.ConclusionOur findings suggest that insufficient satiety from vaping e-cigs for r-cigs smokers may be insignificant effect on working memory function. (shrink)

In this paper it will be shown that HEO and HRO E are isomorphic with respect to extensional equality. This answers a question of Troelstra [T, 2.4.12, p. 128]. The main problem is to extend effective operations to a larger domain. This will be achieved by a modification of the proof of the continuity of effective operations. Following a suggestion of A.S. Troelstra, similar results were obtained for ECF(U) and ICF E (U), where U is any universe of functions closed (...) under "recursive in". (shrink)

In this paper it will be shown that HEO and $HRO^E$ are isomorphic with respect to extensional equality. This answers a question of Troelstra [T, 2.4.12, p. 128]. The main problem is to extend effective operations to a larger domain. This will be achieved by a modification of the proof of the continuity of effective operations. Following a suggestion of A.S. Troelstra, similar results were obtained for ECF(U) and $ICF^E(U)$, where $U$ is any universe of functions closed under "recursive in".

In recent years, the issue of corporate social responsibility has become particularly relevant. Accelerating technological advances and increasing consumption are increasingly causing negative impacts on the environment and society that is why the organizations’ social responsibility is becoming more and more relevant every year. The experience of foreign countries shows that social responsibility is useful not only for business but also for its environment, determines the increasing number of socially responsible organizations in Lithuania and a more favorable attitude of consumers (...) towards the activities of organizations [36]. According to Mauriciene and Pauzuoliene, the priority of socially responsible organizations is the expectations and needs of consumers. Socially responsible organizations emphasize in their activity reports the importance of socially responsible activities to the organization, its employees, society and consumers. Consumers are more likely to appreciate such an organization, prefer to choose its products, encourage others to do the same, and believe more in what it does. Analysis of the literature. The issues of corporate social responsibility are investigated by both Lithuanian and foreign scientists and others). It is noticed that foreign scientists Henderson, 2007; Rodriguez, Cruz, 2007; Grosbois, 2012; Dolores, Vargas-Sanchez, 2014; Joon-Ho, Bong-Ihn, Ki-Tai, Jong-Pil, 2017, Ponnapureddy et al. Robin et al, Mensah, Lee and Heo et al sufficiently widely analyze hotel social responsibility. The aim of the work is to investigate the social responsibility of the organization from the point of view of consumers. The objectives raised in the work: To discuss the concept of corporate social responsibility and the peculiarities of implementing in the activities; To describe the models of corporate social responsibility; To assess the social responsibility of accommodation providers in terms of consumers. The following research methods were used to achieve the aim and objectives: analysis of scientific literature, questionnaire survey and statistical analysis of the obtained data. The result of the study. Taking into account the social responsibility of accommodation companies from the point of view of consumers, as an interested party and one of the most important market participants, according to the ethical, legal and economic responsibility components it is stated that the social responsibility of accommodation companies is of medium level and should be improved according to all criteria. (shrink)

A type-structure of partial effective functionals over the natural numbers, based on a canonical enumeration of the partial recursive functions, is developed. These partial functionals, defined by a direct elementary technique, turn out to be the computable elements of the hereditary continuous partial objects; moreover, there is a commutative system of enumerations of any given type by any type below (relative numberings). By this and by results in [1] and [2], the Kleene-Kreisel countable functionals and the hereditary effective operations (HEO) (...) are easily characterized. (shrink)

In Posterior Analytics II 19 Aristotle likens the way in which sense perception gives rise to knowledge of the universal to the way in which one soldier’s ceasing his flight from the enemy leads other soldiers to do the same ‘heôs epi archên êlthen.’ Although the remark seems intended to characterize knowledge as the end result of an accumulative process, the concluding reference to ‘a starting point’ or archê has no clear meaning. I argue that the phrase can be plausibly (...) understood in light of Aristotle’s explanation of how a single calm thought can spread calm to other thoughts (Problems 917a29-33) and a single cloud can serve as a starting point (archê) for a revival of stormy weather (Problems 941a9-13). In addition, Aristotle elsewhere (e.g. Generation of Animals 788a13-16) speaks of the archê as the person or thing which initiates a process. Thus, when one soldier’s stopping causes another soldier to stop, this process can continue ‘until they come to the one who initiated the process.’ . (shrink)

Using the 2000-2010 South Korean historical medical dramas Heo Jun, Dae Jang Geum, and Jejoongwon as case studies, this article examines televisual reimaginations of Korean medical modernity as interpretative popular culture texts. Particularly in the areas of the anatomical sciences and surgery, modern medicine’s emancipatory potentials in these productions are set semi-fictitiously in pre-modern Joseon historical contexts. Dramaturgically challenging entrenched social hierarchies and ossified cultural taboos of Institutionalized Confucianism, these dramas’ progressive physician-protagonists emphasize the universality and impartiality of medical knowledge (...) in what is herein termed as Generative Confucianism. (shrink)

Using the 2000-2010 South Korean historical medical dramas Heo Jun, Dae Jang Geum, and Jejoongwon as case studies, this article examines televisual reimaginations of Korean medical modernity as interpretative popular culture texts. Particularly in the areas of the anatomical sciences and surgery, modern medicine’s emancipatory potentials in these productions are set semi-fictitiously in pre-modern Joseon historical contexts. Dramaturgically challenging entrenched social hierarchies and ossified cultural taboos of Institutionalized Confucianism, these dramas’ progressive physician-protagonists emphasize the universality and impartiality of medical knowledge (...) in what is herein termed as Generative Confucianism. (shrink)

Using the 2000-2010 South Korean historical medical dramas Heo Jun, Dae Jang Geum, and Jejoongwon as case studies, this article examines televisual reimaginations of Korean medical modernity as interpretative popular culture texts. Particularly in the areas of the anatomical sciences and surgery, modern medicine’s emancipatory potentials in these productions are set semi-fictitiously in pre-modern Joseon historical contexts. Dramaturgically challenging entrenched social hierarchies and ossified cultural taboos of Institutionalized Confucianism, these dramas’ progressive physician-protagonists emphasize the universality and impartiality of medical knowledge (...) in what is herein termed as Generative Confucianism. (shrink)