In this paper, we analyze the relationship between the logic of gift and team performance. We explore this connection empirically, using a detailed data set from the National Basketball Association. In particular, we use the NBA Cares Community Assist Award as a way to measure gift-giving to the community. We explore the response of an entire team after one if its members has been recognized for his gift-giving behavior. Using two winners, we show that after a player has received the (...) award there is an increase in the number of assists given by each member of the team, and that there is also an increase in the number of wins. Therefore, our results show that the team’s performance would improve after a player has been recognized because of his gift-giving attitude. This finding to management implies that managers’ incentivization of a sharing and giving philosophy would not only improve their relationship bond but it would also help them increase their performance. (shrink)

Interest in ethical aspects associated to product acquisition and consumption is a growing trend among consumers. In this context, the concept of “product with ethical attributes” has arisen to refer to products with explicit social and environmental characteristics. However, one of the factors that most hinders the purchasing of these products is certainly price. Given the difficulty of reducing price, the question that arises is the extent to which other product attributes can attenuate the negative impact of price on perceived (...) value. We assume that the special benefits associated to this type of products are, at a different level, attenuators of the relationship between price and perceived value. Focusing on Fair Trade organic coffee, hypotheses are tested regarding survey data from 407 customers. They were interviewed in an actual purchasing scenario. The models are tested using conventional Structural Equation Models and the Latent Moderated Structural Equation method. The results obtained shed some light on a highly generalised belief that the marketing of these products can only be improved by reducing their price. However, although a price reduction could be desirable, albeit complicated in this product category, its effects could be reduced by acting on other variables such as the ethical aspects, quality and healthiness of this product category. (shrink)

At a time in which labour markets are becoming increasingly globalised and precarisation processes are altering young people’s working and living conditions, a whole network of public and private agencies are developing different entrepreneurship programmes as the main mechanism to deal with youth exclusion and unemployment. Grounded in two on-going research projects conducted in Europe and Australia, this article proposes a preliminary, thought-provoking engagement with the concept of global grammars of enterprise to examine how the truth regimes are framed and (...) articulated in these networks. We argue that this concept enables us to identify, examine and analyse the shifting, unstable, but always strategic power relations between the governmental discourses on entrepreneurship and the enterprising behaviour and dispositions of persons and groups, and the particular «declensions» and local «translations» of the ideas of entrepreneurship that organisations and young people perform within a process of globalised precarisation.Al albur de la globalización de los mercados laborales, al mismo tiempo que ciertos procesos de precarización están alterando profundamente las condiciones de vida y de trabajo de las personas jóvenes, se despliega toda una red de agentes públicos y privados que buscan fomentar el emprendimiento como principal mecanismo para enfrentar la exclusión y el paro juvenil. Fundamentado en dos proyectos de investigación en curso en Europa y Australia, el artículo se involucra preliminar y provocativamente con el concepto analítico de gramáticas globales del emprendimiento para analizar cómo se enmarcan y articulan los regímenes de verdad de estas redes. Argumentamos que este constructo posibilita abordar las inestables y estratégicas relaciones de poder entre los discursos gubernamentales del emprendimiento y las disposiciones y los comportamientos; las declinaciones particulares y las «traducciones» locales que la juventud y algunas organizaciones afines realizan de ellos en el marco de un proceso de precarización globalizado. (shrink)

For some time now we have noticed an increasing scepticism regarding the effectiveness of democracy, and its ability to represent citizens through elections. Elections are the central mechanism of political decision taking. However, there is a clear tendency to exploit electo­ rial processes by populist politicians. The ancient ideal of paideia was to educate citizens by following a civic program. Its aim was to enable the citizen to exercise the civil rights and duties. Since the 1970s, however, we had observed (...) two contrasting tendencies: a growth of individualization, and a ecrease of the level of civic education. In the 1990s populist politi­ cal parties entered the political scene of European democracies, some of which have man­ aged to establish a mob rule or ochlocracy (ὀχλοκρατία). Since then, ochlocratic parties have systematically intended to win the votes of politically less educated citizens by offering them a simplified political discourse. In fact, these parties have managed to neutralize the two­party system in many European countries. Thus they managed to block majority­based governments, forcing parties to form coalitions with ideologically opposing smaller parties. This has created a situation in which the “punishment vote” becomes the mean to gain the votes of undecided people who may be characterized as rebels without political culture. (shrink)

I agree with the view expressed in the target article that the early structural organization of the mammalian neocortex (the primordial neocortical organization) is different from its final one and resembles the more primitive organization of reptilian cortex. During the early development of the neocortex, a distinctly mammalian multilayered pyramidal-cell plate is introduced within a more primitive reptilian-like cortex, establishing simultaneously layer I (marginal zone) above it and layer VII (subplate zone) below it. This multilayered pyramidal-cell plate represents a recent (...) mammalian innovation in the evolution of the cerebral cortex of vertebrates. Hence, the term neocortex is preferable to isocortex. (shrink)

When engaging in verbal communication, we do not simply use language to dispense information, but also to perform a plethora of actions, some of which depend on conventionalised, recurrent linguistic structures. Additionally, we must be skilled enough to arrive at the speaker’s intended meaning. However, speakers’ performance may deviate from certain habits and expectations concerning the way of speaking or accomplishing actions, while various factors may hinder comprehension, which may give rise to misappraisals of their respective abilities and capacities as (...) competent language users. This paper discusses whether such misappraisals may be subsumed by any of the already identified types of epistemic injustice and proposes a new label for them. It also describes the consequences of those misappraisals and approaches their origins from a cognitive perspective. (shrink)

Clinical trials of xenotransplantation may begin early in the next decade, with kidneys from genetically modified pigs transplanted into adult humans. If successful, transplanting pig hearts into children with advanced heart failure may be the next step. Typically, clinical trials have a specified end date, and participants are aware of the amount of time they will be in the study. This is not so with XTx. The current ethical consensus is that XTx recipients must consent to lifelong monitoring. While this (...) presents challenges to the right to withdraw in the adult population, additional and unanswered questions also linger in the paediatric population. In paediatric XTx, parents or guardians consent not only to the initial treatment of the child but also to lifelong monitoring, thus making a decision whose consequences will remain present as the child develops the capacity for assent, and finally the capacity for informed consent or refusal. This article presents and evaluates unanswered paediatric ethical questions in regard to the right to withdraw from XTx follow-up in the paediatric population. (shrink)

The present study is the first to empirically test a hierarchical, positive-oriented model of self and its relationship to the second language (L2) achievement motivation, and compare it in three different cultural contexts of Japan, U.S. and Taiwan. Based on the L2 self model (Lake, 2016), three levels of constructs were developed: Global Self (i.e., Flourishing, Curiosity, and Hope); Positive L2 domain self (i.e., interested-in-L2 self, harmonious passion for L2 learning, and mastery L2 goal orientation); and L2 Motivational Variables (i.e., (...) reading, speaking and listening self-efficacy). A total of 667 students participated in this study, including 181 first-year college students in Japan, 159 high school students in Taiwan, and 327 college students in the U.S. All the participants were learning a L2 in school. Results showed that the measures of positive global self, L2 domain self, and L2 motivational self all had a stronger relationship within their respective levels, and progressively weaker relationships as level of generality/specificity became more distal. Furthermore, the relationships among measures varied in the differing cultural contexts with the Japan-based student participants relatively lower on all measures. (shrink)

It is currently assumed that exposure to an artificial blue-enriched light enhances human alertness and task performance, but recent research has suggested that behavioural effects are influenced by the basal state of arousal. Here we tested whether the effect of blue-enriched lighting on vigilance performance depends on participants’ arousal level. Twenty-four participants completed four sessions (blue-enriched vs. dim light x low vs. high arousal) at 10 pm on four consecutive days, following a repeated-measures design. Participants’ arousal was manipulated parametrically through (...) the execution of a cycling task at two intensities (low vs. moderate), and was checked by monitoring their heart rate. On each session, distal and proximal skin temperatures were recorded as a neuroergonomic index of vigilance, while participants performed a 20-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) under either blue-enriched light or dim light conditions. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) and Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE) were used to measure subjective psychological state. The results showed that the exercise-induced manipulation of arousal produced robust alerting effects in most measures, while the lighting manipulation only attenuated subjective sleepiness and enhanced positive affect, but it did not influence behaviour or physiology. Acute exposure to a blue-enriched light was practically ineffective when the arousal level was over baseline. The present research favoured the use of acute physical exercise over acute exposure to blue-enriched lighting in order to boost humans’ alertness when necessary, as in work settings where maintaining optimal levels of attention is difficult (shift work, night-work, vigilance tasks) and necessary to prevent human error and accidents. (shrink)

‘Stories of unlikeliness’ are woven through this paper that explores a question of significant relevance to the Oxford Center for Mission Studies and its educational and missiological endeavor: How can Christians from powerful and powerless places of the world engage as unlikely but true partners in God’s reconciling mission in spite of all the differences and distances between them? The writer begins with a brief explanation of the belongings out of which she faces the question. She then invites readers to (...) walk with the disciple Nathanael through skepticism to proclamation of Jesus, the unlikely Servant King from insignificant Nazareth, and to consider how that confession bears on matters of power, money, belonging, global fellowship and mission. Finally, she presents some pointers for OCMS to open the door to unlikely contributions and to engage with the International Fellowship for Mission Theologians. (shrink)

The current situation amidst the pandemic has caused such negativities to people, especially among students. It has affected thewell-being and happiness that everyone experiences. In, on the other hand, students who were enrolled amidst the pandemic were more likely to experience mental exhaustion such as anxiety and depression, as this current situation limits and affect their academic performances and the level of happiness they feel. This study investigates the relationship between happiness and depression among senior high school students here in (...) the Philippines. The findings revealed a significant correlation between happiness and depression (r=0.041). (shrink)

A 25 años de su muerte, los escritos de Louis Althusser continúan siendo tan polémicos y controvertidos como lo fueron en el momento de su publicación. La siguiente investigación se propone analizar uno de los temas que más controversias y críticas suscitó en la década de los sesenta, momento por demás polémico dentro de su producción intelectual: la relación entre la ciencia e ideología. ¿Se trata de una llana oposición?, ¿son la ciencia y la ideología dos estructuras claramente diferenciadas?, ¿es (...) acaso la ciencia la salida de la ideología?, ¿es la ciencia la verdad y la ideología el error? A través de un estudio pormenorizado de los textos publicados en la década señalada, este trabajo buscará dar cuenta del pensamiento de Althusser en relación con esta temática en el marco de sus valiosos aportes al pensamiento marxista. -/- . (shrink)

In spite of being ubiquitous in life sciences, the concept of information is harshly criticized. Uses of the concept other than those derived from Shannon's theory are denounced as pernicious metaphors. We perform a computational experiment to explore whether Shannon's information is adequate to describe the uses of said concept in commonplace scientific practice. Our results show that semantic sequences do not have unique complexity values different from the value of meaningless sequences. This result suggests that quantitative theoretical frameworks do (...) not account fully for the complex phenomenon that the term “information” refers to. We propose a restructuring of the concept into two related, but independent notions, and conclude that a complete theory of biological information must account completely not only for both notions, but also for the relationship between them. (shrink)

The book links the concept of intention to human action. It provides answers to questions like: Why do we act intentionally? Which impact do reasons and motives have on our decisions? Certain events are identified as intentional actions when they are considered as being rationalized by reasons. The linguistic description of such events enables us to reveal the structure of intention. The mental and the linguistic constitute irreducible ways of understanding events. Among the topics discussed are intentionality, actions, the linguistic (...) form to talk about intentionality and actions, Brentano’s view of intentionality, the phenomenological approach to intention and Wittgenstein's proposals. The contributions by Wolfgang Künne, Peter Simons, Christian Bermes, Kevin Mulligan, Severin Schroeder, António Marques, Margit Gaffal, Michel Le Du, Jesús Padilla Gálvez, Bernhard Obsieger and Amir Horowitz show that actions and decisions are guided by intentional considerations. (shrink)

In Joseph Butler, we have an account of human beings as moral beings that is, as this essay demonstrates, being supported by the recently emerging findings of the neurosciences. This applies particularly to Butler's portrayal of our empathic emotions. Butler discovered their moral significance for motivating and guiding moral decisions and actions before the neurosciences did. Butler has, in essence, added a sixth sense to our five senses: this is the moral sense by means of which we perceive what we (...) ought or ought not do. The moral sense yields relatively reliable moral perceptions when we love our neighbors as ourselves, and when our love for ourselves is genuine. Accurate moral perceptions will be thwarted by self-deceit—that is, by a self-partiality devoid of neighbor love, a condition that thwarts genuine self-love. This essay explores the parallels between Butler's understanding of self-deceit and Robert J. Lifton's understanding of "doubling.". (shrink)

Issues of resource allocationResource allocation, triageTriage, and rationingRationing decisions are common in the context of disasters and public healthPublic health emergencies, such as pandemics. However, to date, the majorityMajority of the literature focuses on an adult population with very little attention given to a pediatric population or to a population that may be mixed: adults and children. Furthermore, decisions of rationingRationing scarce resources do not only occur during disasters and other wide-scale emergencies. Such decisions are commonplace in pediatric organ transplantation (...) and can creep into areas of experimental medicine, such as xenotransplantation. This chapter explicates differences between pediatric and adult triageTriage decisions by first looking at the trifold issues of resource allocationResource allocation, triageTriage, and rationingRationing decisions mainly in the context of a disaster situation or public healthPublic health emergency. However, the issues of pediatric organ transplantation, health disparitiesHealth disparities, and experimental medicine will also be covered. (shrink)

The problems associated with understanding come to light in many facets of our lives. This volume is dedicated to describing these facets and clarifying problems related to levels of comprehension, conceptual analysis, understanding oneself and the other as well as cultural aspects of understanding. The authors address the topic in different theoretical frames such as hermeneutics, phenomenology, transcendental, and analytic philosophy.

The problems associated with understanding come to light in many facets of our lives. This volume is dedicated to describing these facets and clarifying problems related to levels of comprehension, conceptual analysis, understanding oneself and the other as well as cultural aspects of understanding. The authors address the topic in different theoretical frames such as hermeneutics, phenomenology, transcendental, and analytic philosophy.

The book links the concept of intention to human action. It provides answers to questions like: Why do we act intentionally? Which impact do reasons and motives have on our decisions? Certain events are identified as intentional actions when they are considered as being rationalized by reasons. The linguistic description of such events enables us to reveal the structure of intention. The mental and the linguistic constitute irreducible ways of understanding events. Among the topics discussed are intentionality, actions, the linguistic (...) form to talk about intentionality and actions, Brentano’s view of intentionality, the phenomenological approach to intention and Wittgenstein's proposals. (shrink)

Welches ist das adäquate System für die Beweisbarkeit in formalisierbaren mathematischen Theorien? Um diese Frage zu beantworten, werden Gödels UnvoUständigkeitsbeweis und vor allem dessen Strukturen analysiert, die ihn als zu einer besonderen Gruppe innerhalb der selbstbezüglichen Sätze gehörig ausweisen. Weiters wird der Interpretationsstreit zwischen L. Wittgenstein und K. Gödel rekonstruiert und zuletzt eine Reihe semantischer Folgemngen aus Gödels Lösungsvorschlag gezogen.

Welches ist das adäquate System für die Beweisbarkeit in formalisierbaren mathematischen Theorien? Um diese Frage zu beantworten, werden Gödels UnvoUständigkeitsbeweis und vor allem dessen Strukturen analysiert, die ihn als zu einer besonderen Gruppe innerhalb der selbstbezüglichen Sätze gehörig ausweisen. Weiters wird der Interpretationsstreit zwischen L. Wittgenstein und K. Gödel rekonstruiert und zuletzt eine Reihe semantischer Folgemngen aus Gödels Lösungsvorschlag gezogen.

Das problem der welt, nach der auffassung der moglichen welt-semantik, ist nur implizit vorhanden. bis heute gibt es nur eine allgemeine auffassung der welt im einverstandnis mit der intuition der moglichen welten. die fragestellung ist: wie kann ein gegenstand identifiziert werden und warum kann von dessen existenz gesprochen werden? der logisch-semantische streit geht quer durch das verfahren der universellen "instantijerung" und der existenziellen generalisation. das problem der eigenschaften in der kausalen namenserklarung wird durch die bestimmung des kunftigen, durch vergangenes, also (...) durch die these der starrheit gelost. unserer meinung nach, ist hier das verfahren der "moglichen welten" eine art kaleidoskop der referenz der eigennament. dies fuhrt dazu, dass entitaten sich verveilfachen und in verschiedenen "welten" alle gleich erscheinen. daruber hinaus mussen eigenschaften bei der beschreibung eines objekts wesentlich sein. dadurch werden grade der diskriminalitat eingefuhrt, die nicht akzeptierbar sind. (shrink)

Se ha producido un hecho novedoso y, al mismo tiempo, conocido en el ámbito teórico. La teoría semántica de la verdad se ha vuelto a reconciliar con la lógica, con el gusto por plantear cuestiones vinculadas al concepto semántico de verdad mediante estructuras lógicas. Y en la teoría de la verdad vuelven a plantearse los temas semánticos desde una vertiente formal. La teoría de la verdad propuesta recientemente ha reencontrado las estructuras formales, los temas vinculados a la lógica, los vínculos (...) entre las estructuras formales y las cuestiones semánticas, etc., y lo hace en coincidencia, acentúo, con un análisis formal paralelo que se viene proponiendo desde hace algún tiempo. (shrink)