In this essay, we provide an overview of how production systems can be re-engineered to improve the welfare of the animals involved. At least three potential options exist: engineering their environments to better fit the animals, engineering the animals themselves to better fit their environments, and eliminating the animals from the system by growing meat in vitro rather than on farms. The morality of consuming animal products and the conditions under which agricultural animals are maintained remain highly contentious, and when (...) concerns about animal welfare are coupled with concerns about sustainability and global food security, the problem of welfare in animal agriculture constitutes “a wicked problem,” because it is unlikely that any proposed solution will simultaneously address all the issues of concern. In the final section of this essay, we offer some observations on how debate over reforms in animal agriculture could proceed going forward. (shrink)

This study examines whether and how board gender diversity can affect corporate wage inequity by drawing on diversity theory and gender socialization and ethicality theories. Building on an exogenous relaxation of China’s one-child policy (OCP) in 2013, which led to a substantial decline in the female labor force participation rate. Our empirical analysis suggests that board gender diversity is negatively associated with corporate wage inequity. This result is robust to various endogeneity and sensitivity analyses. We find that the OCP relaxation (...) only increases average executive pay; it does not affect employee pay. One potential mechanism driving our results is that the decline in board gender diversity caused by the OCP relaxation reduces supervision, restriction, and fairness within the firm, which increases executives’ pursuit of personal interests and ultimately leads to the rise of wage inequity. Our findings are particularly significant for firms in capital-intensive industries, firms with a low level of employee bargaining power, and large firms. (shrink)

While the effect of culture on finance and management has been well documented in the literature, it is unclear whether and by which channel(s) ethnic diversity affects corporate social responsibility (CSR). Integrating social identity theory and neo-institutional theory, we investigate the ethnic diversity–CSR relation and explore potential mechanisms and boundary conditions. Based on the distribution of ethnic groups across different regions in China, We find that ethnic diversity negatively affects firms’ CSR performance. We document that social trust mediates the negative (...) ethnic diversity–CSR relationship, and linguistic diversity strengthens and marketization mitigates this relation. The results are robust for potential endogeneity and alternative measures of ethnic diversity and CSR performance. Our study highlights the impact of ethnic diversity on corporate behaviors, and provides practical and ethical implications on CSR promotion. (shrink)

Articles; chiefly on Islamic ethics and conveying non Muslims for Islam.

AimPatients with high myopia reportedly exhibit changes in functional brain activity, but the mechanism underlying such changes is unclear. This study was conducted to observe differences in dynamic spontaneous brain activity between patients with HM and healthy controls via dynamic regional homogeneity analysis.MethodsResting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed on 82 patients with HM and 59 HCs who were closely matched for age, sex, and weight. The dReHo approach was used to assess local dynamic activity in the human brain. (...) The association between mean dReHo signal values and clinical symptoms in distinct brain areas in patients with HM was determined via correlation analysis.ResultsIn the left fusiform gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus, right Rolandic operculum, right postcentral gyrus, and right precentral gyrus, dReHo values were significantly greater in patients with HM than in HCs.ConclusionPatients with HM have distinct functional changes in various brain regions that mainly include the L-FG, R-ITG, R-ROL, R-PoCG, and R-PreCG. These findings constitute important evidence for the roles of brain networks in the pathophysiological mechanisms of HM and may aid in the diagnosis of HM. (shrink)

AimResting state functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to analyze changes in functional connectivity within various brain networks and functional network connectivity among various brain regions in patients with high myopia.Methodsrs-fMRI was used to scan 82 patients with HM and 59 healthy control volunteers matched for age, sex, and education level. Fourteen resting state networks were extracted, of which 11 were positive. Then, the FCs and FNCs of RSNs in HM patients were examined by independent component analysis.ResultsCompared with the HC (...) group, FC in visual network 1, dorsal attention network, auditory network 2, visual network 3, and sensorimotor network significantly increased in the HM group. FC in default mode network 1 significantly decreased. Furthermore, some brain regions in default mode network 2, default mode network 3, auditory network 1, executive control network, and significance network increased while others decreased. FNC analysis also showed that the network connection between the default mode network and cerebellar network was enhanced in the HM group.ConclusionCompared with HCs, HM patients showed neural activity dysfunction within and between specific brain networks, particularly in the DMN and CER. Thus, HM patients may have deficits in visual, cognitive, and motor balance functions. (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)

The integration of event-related potential and functional magnetic resonance imaging helps to obtain and study neural networks with high temporal and spatial resolution. EEG/fMRI data proves that in the visual tristimulus oddball paradigm, two P300 potentials induced by target stimulation and novel stimulation are detected at the frontal-middle, center, and mid-apical electrodes. Previous studies have shown that P3a and P3b have different spatial distributions of brain activation, but it is unclear whether they have the same neural mechanism. The purpose of (...) this study is to determine the neuropsychological mechanisms of P3a and P3b, as well as the spatiotemporal differences in neurodynamics between the two ERP subcomponents. In a group of 25 subjects, P300 ERP induced by target stimulation and novel stimulation can be detected at the Fz, Cz, and Pz electrodes. At Cz and Fz, compared with P3b related to the target stimulus, the P3a related to the novel stimulus has a higher amplitude and the waveform declines more slowly. But at Pz, P3b has a higher amplitude than P3a. P3a appeared earlier than P3b at Cz and Fz, but the opposite phenomenon was observed at the Pz electrode. The activated brain regions of P3a included the left frontal-parietal lobe region, left anterior wedge lobe region, and right insula, while the target-driven P3b was significantly associated with BOLD changes in the bilateral fusiform gyrus, the left frontal region, and the bilateral insula. The results showed that the integration of the spatial and temporal information of the two imaging modes, namely, ERP and fMRI, proves the existence of the different brain function processes of the two P300 subcomponents. Through the analysis of the composition of P300, the results further proved that the top-down and bottom-up processing processes have played a role in the occurrence of attention capture. It is just that the modulation effects of the two processing mechanisms are different in different tasks. Therefore, it should be noted that the captured neural mechanism is not a single top-down or bottom-up processing process but should be the result of the interaction between the two. (shrink)

Foresight of development of science and technology.

本書從情感角度，探討先秦儒家對情感與人生方方面面關係的理解和經驗。全書共九章，提出更適合理解情感的一種詮釋進路：心靈現象的重新發現——以「個體的心靈向度」為核心關注。先秦儒家重情，認為情感是人生而具有 ，是人性本有的內涵，來源於天。在先秦儒家的理解和經驗中，人是有情的活物。.

本书主要讨论了先秦时期几种主要话语体系中“观”所具有的内涵结构，并进而讨论了“观”在这些话语体系以及后世几种重要理论中所呈现出来的诗性建构。.

China's traditional religious music is deeply rooted in the folk life and labor. Studying the influence of Confucian music aesthetics on ancient religious music and the establishment of modern music aesthetics has an important influence and the significance of learning from it. Studying the music aesthetics of Confucianism in the pre-Qin period can scientifically inherit and carry forward the traditional ritual and music civilization, combine the essence of China's traditional religious music aesthetics with reality, and explore the music theory that (...) meets the needs of today and can promote the healthy development of society. As the most popular and in-depth art form, music plays an inestimable role in the growth of contemporary college students. Firstly, this paper expounds the relationship between Confucian music aesthetics and China's ancient traditional religious music art and puts forward that we should draw nutrition from China's ancient and profound culture to improve the artistic quality of contemporary college students. Then, from the angle of ethics, it explains the deep connotation of Pre-Qin Confucian musical aesthetics, and tries to sort out its ideological system logically, hoping to expand the research of Pre-Qin Confucian musical aesthetics. (shrink)

大胆に切り捨てる一方、多様な要素を隔てなく取りこむ...それは、私たちの感性にも通じるから。センス・オブ・ニッポンの本質を日本美術に検証する。.

脱政治化が進む日本において、吉本隆明や工藤淳らによって担われた戦後は特殊日本的なものとして急速に色褪せてきている。一方で「巨人」たちの時代の終焉を見届けた柄谷行人以降、戦後の思想空間は変容しつつも漸く 普遍性へ向かって解き放たれつつある。そこにはどのような継続と変化が潜んでいたのか。「戦争と革命」という二十世紀的な主題が「テロリズムとグローバリズム(への対抗運動)」として再帰しつつある今日、「未来の 他者」をキーワードに戦後七十年の思潮を再検証する。.

Hermeneutics; philosophy; meaning (philosophy); meaning-text theory (linguistics); criticism, textual; religious aspects; Islam.