In her book, The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt states： ＂we are all the same, that is, human, in such a way that nobody is ever the same as anybody else＂ （1998, 8）. In this statement, we are the same （equality）...In her book, The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt states： ＂we are all the same, that is, human, in such a way that nobody is ever the same as anybody else＂ （1998, 8）. In this statement, we are the same （equality） and yet nobody is ever the same as anybody else （plurality）. This may sound contradictory yet what it means is that there is a common base which makes us all the same, and precisely because of this base, we are able to make comparisons and hence differentiate one from the other because we are all different. When analyzing two concepts, an equal status in at least one normatively relevant respect is needed. Where there is one, there is the other precisely because of the other and vice versa. The fact that it is only at least one respect that is needed implies the existence of other aspects that act as common distinguishing factors. Therefore, distinction implies equality. The paper will explore how according to Arendt, equality, a political concept, has been perverted into a social concept. In her view, previously, differing circumstances and conditions served as ＂protection＂ and actually had a protective role. An explanation will thus be given as to how a lack of these differences in the modem period has resulted in a challenge and how this challenge has created unexpected problems for the human condition. This implies reflexivity between political theory and the human agent, and will be presented from Arendt＇s perspective.展开更多
Rapid differential identification of Mycobacterium species is essential for effective diagnosis and management of mycobacteriosis. The aim of this study was to develop a novel multiplex probe array based on the 16S-23...Rapid differential identification of Mycobacterium species is essential for effective diagnosis and management of mycobacteriosis. The aim of this study was to develop a novel multiplex probe array based on the 16S-23S rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer sequence for the genotyping of mycobacteria to the species level. A pair of primers and a set of genus- and species-specific probes were designed from the conserved and polymorphic regions of the 16S rRNA gene, internal transcribed spacer, and 23S rRNA gene sequences of mycobacteria. We used a novel multiplex probe array for identification of 266 clinical specimens obtained from patients with mycobaterial infection. The results showed that the overall specificity and sensitivity of our novel probe array were both 100% for the genus-specific probe and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex- specific probe. There were 79.3 % （23/29） of nontuberculous mycobacteria which could be identified to the species level directly in the specimens from China. Some intraspecies heterogeneity in M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. chelonae and M. abscessus was observed. With the increase of sequences of internal transcribed spacer and numbers of whole microbial genomes, and further optimization of probes, the multiplex probe army will become a promising tool for the rapid and accurate identification of mycobacteria in ordinary clinical laboratories.展开更多
The broad objective of this study was to establish the moderating effect of corporate culture on the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Excha...The broad objective of this study was to establish the moderating effect of corporate culture on the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The review of literature provided conceptual and empirical gaps that formed the basis of the conceptual hypotheses. Two hypotheses were deduced from general objective： Intellectual capital has a significant influence on corporate performance; corporate culture moderates the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance. A cross-section research design was adopted. A survey questionnaire was the main tool of data collection and was distributed to the 50 heads of human resource departments in the different firms＇ period covering four financial years from 2009 to 2012. The study also utilized secondary data obtained from Capital Market Authority Statistical bulletins and Nairobi Securities Exchange Handbook 2012-2013 to collect data on financial performance （ROA, ROE, and Dividend Yield）. Data were tested for reliability results showing that study dimensions were reliable, apart from task-oriented culture that had a Cronbach alpha of 0.262, thus being not considered for further analysis; thus the study relied on employee-oriented culture as a measure of corporate culture. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that intellectual capital had a significant influence on non-financial performance and no significant influence on financial measures of performance （ROA, ROE, and Dividend Yield）. Test for moderation showed that the interaction term was not significant and thus, employee-oriented culture did not moderate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance. The study demonstrates importance of the influence of intellectual capital on non-financial performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The results show that interplay among human capital, social capital, and organization capital is important for firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange and that the firms should nurture the employees into sharing their knowledge by creating internal and external networks and also creating support system within the organization to retain the knowledge.展开更多
With China＇s rapid economic development, corporate social responsibility （CSR） plays greater impact on its direct stakeholder employees＇ organizational commitment （EOC）. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 4...With China＇s rapid economic development, corporate social responsibility （CSR） plays greater impact on its direct stakeholder employees＇ organizational commitment （EOC）. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 426 employees of high-tech enterprises within Jiangsu Province. Multiple regression method was used to test the hypothesis based on the questionnaire reliability and validity analysis. The results show that the four dimensions of CSR including employees responsibility, products responsibility, environment responsibility and charitable responsibility have positive effect on the affective commitment;while the continuance commitment might be more influenced by the environment and charitable responsibility. The regulatory focus plays a moderate effect between CSR and EOC. Promote regulatory focus have positive impact on affective commitment and negative impact on continuance commitment. Defense regulatory focus is just on the opposite.展开更多
The paper discussed the impact of dual distribution channel conflicts on financial performance of garment enterprises by multiple regression and mediation effect has been analyzed with market benefit as the mediated v...The paper discussed the impact of dual distribution channel conflicts on financial performance of garment enterprises by multiple regression and mediation effect has been analyzed with market benefit as the mediated variable based on the survey data of Shanghai region. The results show that： first, channel contention, channel areal differences and channel perception differences have a negative effect on financial performance and channel communication has a positive effect on financial performance significantly; second, market benefit has a positive effect on financial performance significantly; third, channel contention, channel areal differences and channel perception differences have a negative effect on market benefit and channel communication has a positive effect on market benefit significantly; forth, market benefit has a partial mediation effect on the influence of channel areal differences and channel communication on financial performance. Therefore, channel areal differences and channel communication are two major aspects among the dual distribution channel conflicts which may have influences on financial benefit of garment enterprises, and clothing company should lay emphasis on the settling of these two matters.展开更多
After experiencing racism in Canada, where multiculturalism emphasized ethnic differences and fixed identities rather than allowing for cultural interaction and hybridity, the author, B. Mukherjee, moves to the USA wh...After experiencing racism in Canada, where multiculturalism emphasized ethnic differences and fixed identities rather than allowing for cultural interaction and hybridity, the author, B. Mukherjee, moves to the USA whose biculturalism favors cultural interactions and fluid identities. Here she experiences the transformative powers of cultural interactions and frees herself and her work from the static power of cultural disjunction. Her personal experience highlights the need of immigrant characters to connect to the mainstream and not to be isolated from it The paper explores the problem of cultural adaptability and integration as experienced by Dimple, the main character in Mukherjee＇s novel Wife （1975）. Based upon contemporary research on cultural and social identity formation, the paper analyses Dimple＇s inner struggle of identity in the context of her immigrant status, and it relates her ultimately tragic response to loneliness and alienation resulting in cultural disjunction, non-adaptability, and non-assimilation.展开更多
The paper argues that a change of the name from multiculturalism to transculturalism will not work magic if the thinking paradigm that dictates trans- culturalism is still the same mindset that dictates multiculturali...The paper argues that a change of the name from multiculturalism to transculturalism will not work magic if the thinking paradigm that dictates trans- culturalism is still the same mindset that dictates multiculturalism, which is basi- cally swayed by postcolonialism, a victim mentality, or what Fanon termed as a colonized mind that conceives the world ahistorically in terms of a false binarism of the West and the non-West, ignoring entirely the complexities of power relations in intercultural and intracultural interactions, and disregarding the simple facts that, as the West is not a colonizing whole, the non-West is not a colonized monolith and that, as there are diversities between cultures in the West and the non-West, there are differences within the Western cultures, within the non-Western cultures, and within each culture. I discuss the failures of multiculturalism, critique the indiscriminate application of postcolonialism, and look into the problems and risks of conceiving power relations in cross-cultural interactions along the postcolonialist binary line, which has reduced the diversified world into the West and the non-West. The transculturalist hypothesis of World Englishes is used as a case in point. My conclusion is that transculturalism can only be meaningful if it adopts ＂a disposition of openness, liberated from the colonized mind or the postcolonialist identity politics.展开更多
文摘In her book, The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt states： ＂we are all the same, that is, human, in such a way that nobody is ever the same as anybody else＂ （1998, 8）. In this statement, we are the same （equality） and yet nobody is ever the same as anybody else （plurality）. This may sound contradictory yet what it means is that there is a common base which makes us all the same, and precisely because of this base, we are able to make comparisons and hence differentiate one from the other because we are all different. When analyzing two concepts, an equal status in at least one normatively relevant respect is needed. Where there is one, there is the other precisely because of the other and vice versa. The fact that it is only at least one respect that is needed implies the existence of other aspects that act as common distinguishing factors. Therefore, distinction implies equality. The paper will explore how according to Arendt, equality, a political concept, has been perverted into a social concept. In her view, previously, differing circumstances and conditions served as ＂protection＂ and actually had a protective role. An explanation will thus be given as to how a lack of these differences in the modem period has resulted in a challenge and how this challenge has created unexpected problems for the human condition. This implies reflexivity between political theory and the human agent, and will be presented from Arendt＇s perspective.
文摘Rapid differential identification of Mycobacterium species is essential for effective diagnosis and management of mycobacteriosis. The aim of this study was to develop a novel multiplex probe array based on the 16S-23S rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer sequence for the genotyping of mycobacteria to the species level. A pair of primers and a set of genus- and species-specific probes were designed from the conserved and polymorphic regions of the 16S rRNA gene, internal transcribed spacer, and 23S rRNA gene sequences of mycobacteria. We used a novel multiplex probe array for identification of 266 clinical specimens obtained from patients with mycobaterial infection. The results showed that the overall specificity and sensitivity of our novel probe array were both 100% for the genus-specific probe and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex- specific probe. There were 79.3 % （23/29） of nontuberculous mycobacteria which could be identified to the species level directly in the specimens from China. Some intraspecies heterogeneity in M. avium, M. intracellulare, M. chelonae and M. abscessus was observed. With the increase of sequences of internal transcribed spacer and numbers of whole microbial genomes, and further optimization of probes, the multiplex probe army will become a promising tool for the rapid and accurate identification of mycobacteria in ordinary clinical laboratories.
文摘The broad objective of this study was to establish the moderating effect of corporate culture on the relationship between intellectual capital and organizational performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The review of literature provided conceptual and empirical gaps that formed the basis of the conceptual hypotheses. Two hypotheses were deduced from general objective： Intellectual capital has a significant influence on corporate performance; corporate culture moderates the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance. A cross-section research design was adopted. A survey questionnaire was the main tool of data collection and was distributed to the 50 heads of human resource departments in the different firms＇ period covering four financial years from 2009 to 2012. The study also utilized secondary data obtained from Capital Market Authority Statistical bulletins and Nairobi Securities Exchange Handbook 2012-2013 to collect data on financial performance （ROA, ROE, and Dividend Yield）. Data were tested for reliability results showing that study dimensions were reliable, apart from task-oriented culture that had a Cronbach alpha of 0.262, thus being not considered for further analysis; thus the study relied on employee-oriented culture as a measure of corporate culture. The hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis and hierarchical regression respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that intellectual capital had a significant influence on non-financial performance and no significant influence on financial measures of performance （ROA, ROE, and Dividend Yield）. Test for moderation showed that the interaction term was not significant and thus, employee-oriented culture did not moderate the relationship between intellectual capital and corporate performance. The study demonstrates importance of the influence of intellectual capital on non-financial performance of firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange. The results show that interplay among human capital, social capital, and organization capital is important for firms listed on Nairobi Securities Exchange and that the firms should nurture the employees into sharing their knowledge by creating internal and external networks and also creating support system within the organization to retain the knowledge.
文摘With China＇s rapid economic development, corporate social responsibility （CSR） plays greater impact on its direct stakeholder employees＇ organizational commitment （EOC）. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 426 employees of high-tech enterprises within Jiangsu Province. Multiple regression method was used to test the hypothesis based on the questionnaire reliability and validity analysis. The results show that the four dimensions of CSR including employees responsibility, products responsibility, environment responsibility and charitable responsibility have positive effect on the affective commitment;while the continuance commitment might be more influenced by the environment and charitable responsibility. The regulatory focus plays a moderate effect between CSR and EOC. Promote regulatory focus have positive impact on affective commitment and negative impact on continuance commitment. Defense regulatory focus is just on the opposite.
文摘The paper discussed the impact of dual distribution channel conflicts on financial performance of garment enterprises by multiple regression and mediation effect has been analyzed with market benefit as the mediated variable based on the survey data of Shanghai region. The results show that： first, channel contention, channel areal differences and channel perception differences have a negative effect on financial performance and channel communication has a positive effect on financial performance significantly; second, market benefit has a positive effect on financial performance significantly; third, channel contention, channel areal differences and channel perception differences have a negative effect on market benefit and channel communication has a positive effect on market benefit significantly; forth, market benefit has a partial mediation effect on the influence of channel areal differences and channel communication on financial performance. Therefore, channel areal differences and channel communication are two major aspects among the dual distribution channel conflicts which may have influences on financial benefit of garment enterprises, and clothing company should lay emphasis on the settling of these two matters.
文摘After experiencing racism in Canada, where multiculturalism emphasized ethnic differences and fixed identities rather than allowing for cultural interaction and hybridity, the author, B. Mukherjee, moves to the USA whose biculturalism favors cultural interactions and fluid identities. Here she experiences the transformative powers of cultural interactions and frees herself and her work from the static power of cultural disjunction. Her personal experience highlights the need of immigrant characters to connect to the mainstream and not to be isolated from it The paper explores the problem of cultural adaptability and integration as experienced by Dimple, the main character in Mukherjee＇s novel Wife （1975）. Based upon contemporary research on cultural and social identity formation, the paper analyses Dimple＇s inner struggle of identity in the context of her immigrant status, and it relates her ultimately tragic response to loneliness and alienation resulting in cultural disjunction, non-adaptability, and non-assimilation.
文摘The paper argues that a change of the name from multiculturalism to transculturalism will not work magic if the thinking paradigm that dictates trans- culturalism is still the same mindset that dictates multiculturalism, which is basi- cally swayed by postcolonialism, a victim mentality, or what Fanon termed as a colonized mind that conceives the world ahistorically in terms of a false binarism of the West and the non-West, ignoring entirely the complexities of power relations in intercultural and intracultural interactions, and disregarding the simple facts that, as the West is not a colonizing whole, the non-West is not a colonized monolith and that, as there are diversities between cultures in the West and the non-West, there are differences within the Western cultures, within the non-Western cultures, and within each culture. I discuss the failures of multiculturalism, critique the indiscriminate application of postcolonialism, and look into the problems and risks of conceiving power relations in cross-cultural interactions along the postcolonialist binary line, which has reduced the diversified world into the West and the non-West. The transculturalist hypothesis of World Englishes is used as a case in point. My conclusion is that transculturalism can only be meaningful if it adopts ＂a disposition of openness, liberated from the colonized mind or the postcolonialist identity politics.
