Background: Based on the transtheoretical model, the current study investigated whether awareness of physical activity(PA) recommendations had an impact on the stages of PA behavior change and levels of PA among Chine...Background: Based on the transtheoretical model, the current study investigated whether awareness of physical activity(PA) recommendations had an impact on the stages of PA behavior change and levels of PA among Chinese college students.Methods: In Study 1, with a cross-sectional study design, 9826 students were recruited, and their knowledge of international PA recommendations,PA stage distribution, and self-reported PA level were surveyed. Pearson's χ2 test was used to test whether those participants who were aware and not aware of PA guidelines were equally distributed across the stages of PA behavior, and independent t test was conducted to test the group difference in the actual levels of PA. In Study 2, 279 students who were not aware of the PA recommendations were randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a control group, and only those in the intervention group were presented with international PA guidelines. In both groups,students' PA stages and PA level were examined before the test and then 4 months post-test. Mc Nemar's test for correlated proportions and repeated-measures analysis of variance were conducted to examine the changes in PA stage membership and PA level after the intervention.Results: Study 1 results revealed that only 4.4% of the surveyed students had correct knowledge of PA recommendations. Those who were aware of the recommendations were in later stages of PA behavior(χ~2(4) = 167.19, p < 0.001). They were also significantly more physically active than those who were not aware of the recommendations(t(443.71) = 9.00, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.53). Study 2 results demonstrated that the intervention group participants who were at the precontemplation and contemplation stages at the pre-test each progressed further in the PA stages in the post-test(χ~2(1) = 112.06, p < 0.001; χ~2(1) = 118.76, p = 0.03, respectively), although no significant change in PA level was observed(t(139) < 1, p = 0.89).Conclusion: The results showed that awareness of the PA recommendations was associated with higher stages and levels of PA behavior, and a brief educational exposure to PA recommendations led to improved stages of PA behavior but no change in the levels of PA among Chinese college students. More effective public health campaign strategies are needed to promote the dissemination of the PA recommendations and to raise the awareness of the Chinese student population.展开更多
The literature shows that improvements in cognitive performance may be observed following an acute bout of exercise. However, evidence in support of the biological mechanisms of this effect is still limited. Findings ...The literature shows that improvements in cognitive performance may be observed following an acute bout of exercise. However, evidence in support of the biological mechanisms of this effect is still limited. Findings from both rodent and human studies suggest brain-derived neu- rotrophic factor (BDNF) as a potential mechanism of the effect of acute exercise on memory. The molecular properties of BDNF allow this protein to be assessed in the periphery (pBDNF) (i.e., blood serum, blood plasma), making measurements of acute exercise-induced changes in BDNF concentration relatively accessible. Studies exploring the acute exercise--pBDNF--cognitive performance relationship have had mixed findings, but this may be more reflective of methodological differences between studies than it is a statement about the role of BDNE For example, significant associations have been observed between acute exercise-induced changes in pBDNF concentration and cognitive performance in studies assessing memory, and non-significant associations have been found in studies assessing non-memory cognitive domains. Three suggestions are made for future research aimed at understanding the role of BDNF as a biological mechanism of this relationship: 1) Assessments of cognitive performance may benefit from a focus on various types of memory (e.g., relational, spatial, long-term); 2) More finegrained measurements of pBDNF will allow for the assessment of concentrations of specific isoforms of the BDNF protein (i.e., immature, mature); 3) Statistical techniques designed to test the mediating role of pBDNF in the acute exercise-cognitive performance relationship should be utilized in order to make causal inferences.展开更多
Development of Biotechnology has brought a feasibility of the scientific analysis on this biological data and the processing of personal data content within human biological materials. In this sense, it has been recog...Development of Biotechnology has brought a feasibility of the scientific analysis on this biological data and the processing of personal data content within human biological materials. In this sense, it has been recognized as the main principle to protect the privacy of biological data belonging to individual since it can determine genetic makeup of an individual processing of personal data in the biological materials of human origin. Speaking of this context, Islam accepts human as the most dignified creation. This dignity given to human makes biological materials of human origin and human private. Privacy brings immunity. The responsibility to protect the human body has been given to mankind in order not to lose this dignity. This responsibility is not bounded by human's own body. It must protect the body privacy of next generation which is the heir of genetic heritage. This study will focus on the reflection of the privacy perception of the Islamic law towards body on the legality of human biological materials usage for research purposes.展开更多
Free will is difficult to classify with respect to determinism or indeterminism, and its phenomenology in consciousness often shows both aspects. Initially, it is felt as unlimited and indeterminate will power, with t...Free will is difficult to classify with respect to determinism or indeterminism, and its phenomenology in consciousness often shows both aspects. Initially, it is felt as unlimited and indeterminate will power, with the potentiality of multiple choices. Thereafter, reductive deliberation is led by determinism to the final decision, which realises only one of the potential choices. The reductive deliberation phase tries to find out the best alternative and simultaneously satisfying vague motivations, contextual conditions and personal preferences. The essential sense of free will is the introduction of personal preferences, which allows a higher diversity of reactions to vague motivations. With an oversimplified model of determinism as a chain of events, incompatibilists define "free" as "undetermined" so that determinism becomes incompatible with any free choice between alternatives. In consciousness, free will requires a more complex model of network determinism as well as the consideration of unconsciousness as a causal factor. When "free" defined as "undetermined" is applied to the context of consciousness, it should be reinterpreted as "unconscious of being determined" or not aware of underlying determinism. Lacking information on determinism generates a feeling of "free" in consciousness and, therefore, gives the impression of indeterminism. Lacking information may be induced by an uncertain future without determined events--an unconscious past with biological reactions suddenly emerging from the unconsciousness or an unknown present unable to distinguish determinism of complex events. Therefore, at the level of human consciousness, the experience of free will is associated with apparent indeterminism although it is based on unconscious determinism. The concepts of compatibilism and incompatibilism are only two different aspects of the same phenomenon and correspond to consciousness and unconsciousness. Nevertheless, they can be considered together with a free will concept based on relativity depending on two different reference frames--the first person's experience frame or the Laplace's demon frame with knowledge on every molecule of the universe. Only relativity of the free will concept avoids the contradiction between "free" and "unfree" for the same phenomenon and could be a compromise for considering compatibilism and incompatibilism equally.展开更多
Recently, the light-absorbing organic carbon, i.e., brown carbon(Br C), has received an increasing attention, because they could significantly absorb the solar radiation in the range of short wavelengths rather than t...Recently, the light-absorbing organic carbon, i.e., brown carbon(Br C), has received an increasing attention, because they could significantly absorb the solar radiation in the range of short wavelengths rather than the purely scattering effect. Br C is ubiquitous in the troposphere. It could undergo long range transport within the atmospheric circulation. After the deposition on the surface of snow or ice in the cryospheric region, as the major light absorbing impurities with black carbon and dust, Br C could reduce the snow albedo and accelerate the glacier melting. In this context, this paper summarized the current knowledge of Br C(in aerosols and snow) in the cryospheric regions including the Arctic, Antarctic,and Alpines. Although some works have been conducted in those region, the current dataset on the optical properties of Br C like Absorption?ngstr€om Exponent(AAE) and Mass Absorption Efficiency(MAE) is still limited, which hampers stimulating an accurate evaluation of its climate effects. Especially in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, where very limited information concerning Br C is available. Considering biomass burning as a dominant source of Br C, a large amount of emissions from biomass burning in South Asia could reach the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, where the climate effect of Br C merits more investigation in the future.展开更多
Sense-oriented reasoning (SOR) was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to ...Sense-oriented reasoning (SOR) was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to understand by modem societies. Their reasoning becomes understandable only when considering that their observations are limited to the macrocosm. Modem societies have access to the microcosm with a microscope, where different biological mechanisms for the conception of a child were discovered. Since the tribes' macroscopical observations were different, their conclusions became necessarily different. The inheritance problem can only be solved by genes at the microscopic level, to which tribal societies had no access. With observations limited to the macrocosm, tribes logically invoked invisible child-spirits of ancestors wanting to be reincarnated in children of the same tribe. Besides the different access to observation, the reasoning of both societies is similar and built around the investigation of a final sense. Reasoning progresses after a phase without any quest for sense through three progressive levels: (1) primary sense, (2) corrected sense, and (3) verified sense. In tribal societies, reasoning is interrupted at the primary sense level when it seems consistent with their general beliefs and traditions. This resembles coherentist theories of epistemic justification, in which justification is only a function of coherence between beliefs. Tribal societies realize the input problem of these theories, since they have no access to the microcosm and also illustrate the Gettier problem. Modem societies progress to the higher levels of corrected and verified sense reasoning, even if inconsistent with their prior beliefs. They initially imagined genes as a hypothetic missing link for inheritance, which relies on a start observation concerning the character of ancestors to the target observation, the similarity with the character of children. If the missing link is definitely verified, it shows a chain of justified beliefs between both observations, allowing the initially hypothetic missing link to be retrospectively considered as the real cause. The SOR of modem societies resembles the extemalist version of foundationalism of epistemic justification, in which the necessary non-inferential justification is represented by the target observation.展开更多
The Tunisian coastal oases constitute a model of very rich plant biodiversity, organized in different floors of cultivation. The date palm is the highest, the second is the diversified fruit trees and the smallest is ...The Tunisian coastal oases constitute a model of very rich plant biodiversity, organized in different floors of cultivation. The date palm is the highest, the second is the diversified fruit trees and the smallest is composed by various other productions. The present paper is the results of a RAA diagnosis and bibliographic analysis of nearly thirty years of work on oases. The aim of this study is to focus on the plant diversity and the traditions in using different products. The survey revealed the existence of nearly 45 local date palm varieties, about 26 fruit trees, 65 vegetables and divers other species. It also raises nearly 30 uses of dates and date palm by-products. This survey shows also that oases inhabitants keep in possessing, for a long time, a knowledge to make ingenious concerning use and conservation of the products and by products of the date palm. This survey has all as much demonstrated the risks from weakening this balance which has long been maintained. Some recommendations to maintain and conserve this system are also presented in this paper.展开更多
This study examines local people's perception of forest resources (FR) conservation around two plantation forest reserves (PFR) and two natural forest reserves (NFR) in Ekiti State in order to determine the fac...This study examines local people's perception of forest resources (FR) conservation around two plantation forest reserves (PFR) and two natural forest reserves (NFR) in Ekiti State in order to determine the factors that can contribute to sustainable FR conservation. Questionnaire and interview were used to collect data from 240 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. 75.0% and 86.1% of respondents around PFR recognized the importance of conserving the FR for economic benefits and biodiversity respectively, while 66.7% would not want the FR conserved for cultural values. 82.9% of respondents around NFR would want the FR conserved for economic benefits, while 74.3% and 66.7% would not want the forest conserved for cultural values and biodiversity respectively. For efficient conservation, participation in forest management and involvement in decision making with means of 3.45 and 3.52 ranked highest in PFR and NFR respectively. Probit regression analysis showed that in PFR and NFR, age, education and income were positively significant to FR conservation (p 〈 0.05). Creating an enabling environment that will make local people appreciate historical cultural values of the forest for tourism is essential for efficient FR conservation in the study area.展开更多
Different areas of cognitive science traditionally perceived the mind as an abstract information processing entity, whose interactions with the outside world should be of small or no relevance at all. However, a recen...Different areas of cognitive science traditionally perceived the mind as an abstract information processing entity, whose interactions with the outside world should be of small or no relevance at all. However, a recent embodied cognition perspective, view cognitive processes as deeply embedded into the body's interactions with the world. In support of such contention, lots of empirical evidence has been brought and thusly different claims proposed. In this paper, we present the computer based neurocognitive task of sustained attention which is a dual task with many characteristics that obviously mirror some of the above claims. In this regard, we take into consideration both on-line and off-line aspects of the embodied cognition and point out how processing efficiency and attentional functioning are crucial vehicles in bringing perception into effective action (embodied cognition). Furthermore, there is plenty of evidence about the bidirectional relationship between the attentional/cognitive functioning and emotion regulation as well. This rises new possibilities in looking at the cognitive bias modification approaches and brain-cognitive training procedures for human beings without perceiving them as disembodied minds or complex machines but instead proactive and physically involved in the real world. We argue that such cognitive training approaches even though at first glance seemed as mere technical and machine oriented procedures, should be regarded as humanistic in its nature which perfectly mirror the Merleau-Ponty's concept of "embodied subjectivity." Finally, we explain how such approaches can be successfully combined with the neurobiological accounts and effectively implemented into clinical practice (self-regulation, self-directed neuroplasticity, effortful control, behavior change).展开更多
For over thirty years I have been researching the origins of language by means of an original and innovative metod. If it consists of considering oral articulation, which produce phonetic sounds as informative gesture...For over thirty years I have been researching the origins of language by means of an original and innovative metod. If it consists of considering oral articulation, which produce phonetic sounds as informative gestures and expressions of a visible-expressive code, that precedes the use of phonetic codes. The meaning expressed through each of these articulate-oral gestures was identified through research-responses by two select sample groups of psychotic subjects, chosen because of their greater permeable accessibility to the collective unconscious. In this sense the application of phonetic sounds, that is "words", is no more than representative or substitutes of the use of pre-articulate oral-facial gestures, used by pre-sapiens to express their informative intentions. Using this method I have published three books, which analyzed precisely and systematically the inter-relationships between consonants in words of Info-european origin--that is the roots of these words--discovering that words sharing common root-consonants do indeed express part or all of their meaning in correspondence with the original meanings of their gestural archetype. The projection into objects of these pre-articulate gestural meanings denotes them by means of mediators' metaphors and analogies, this is appearing to be the fundamental reason for the variety of languages, since diverse peoples will use different psychic Freudian puns and methaphors, for the projection to similar object. I have examined over twenty languages, in relation to this generalized cultural code model, founded on biological reactivity to conditions in reality to advantage given its extensive informative use.展开更多
As the specialized basic course of biological engineering, the plant biology has played a decisive role in determining the professional expertise and theoretical knowledge of students, which has also raised a higher r...As the specialized basic course of biological engineering, the plant biology has played a decisive role in determining the professional expertise and theoretical knowledge of students, which has also raised a higher requirement for the teaching method and mode. Based on the actual condition of course teaching of plant biology, this paper has made an analysis on the content and shortcoming of the existing mode and method as well as come up with some feasible advices about how to arouse the learning interest within the student, integrate the teaching with the practice as well as adjust the teaching sequence accordingly.展开更多
Since its entry into the WTO ten years ago, China has been increasingly involved in building new rules to make multilateral trading systems more development- oriented. In the past decade, both developing and developed...Since its entry into the WTO ten years ago, China has been increasingly involved in building new rules to make multilateral trading systems more development- oriented. In the past decade, both developing and developed WTO member nations have debated whether the TRIPS agreement should expand its definition to cover new areas such as genetic resources and traditional knowledge. This article argues that although the genetic resources-based market is huge, developing countries have benefited little from it. Specifically, the current market mechanism and system provide little incentive to developing countries to protect biodiversity. Expanding TRIPS to cover new areas such as genetic resources and traditional knowledge can make multilateral trade fairer and more balanced and will enable developing members to better protect biodiversity.展开更多
Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate advanced medical students' knowledge towards cancer pain management, and understand the effect of specialisms and duration of oncology rotation on the advanced me...Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate advanced medical students' knowledge towards cancer pain management, and understand the effect of specialisms and duration of oncology rotation on the advanced medical students' cognitive level towards cancer pain management. Methods: Randomly selected the respondents from a medical school in Wuhan, China. The educational background of the respondents should belong to one of these conditions: (1) clinical master degree candidate; (2) clinical doctor degree candidate; (3) the sixth or seventh year of clinical medicine for seven years. The respondents should also spend more than one year on internship. The self-developed questionnaire papers were distributed to respondents in the unit of dorms selected randomly and recovered them immediately after they're finished. The categori- cal data were expressed at the form of frequency (rate or constituent ratio). Chi-square test was required only as needed. Results: The survey was anonymous. We distributed 300 papers, recovered 300 papers and weeded out 8 invalid papers. Finally there were 292 valid papers, and the valid recovery rate was 97.3%. The 96.7% of oncological medical students and 47.6% non-oncological medical students relied on patients' description for cancer pain assessments; 90.0% of oncological medical students and 53.0% of non-oncological medical students prescribed strong opioid drugs firstly for patients suffering severe cancer pain; only 24.1% of non-oncological medical students recognized that pethidine was not safe and effective to treat cancer pain, which was much lower than oncological medical students (90.0%); 73.3% of oncological medical students and 28.9% of non-oncological medical students had the correct impression of drug addiction; 85.5% of non-oncological medi- cal students worried about the drug addiction, while 60.0% of oncological medical students worried about the strict control over opioid. In respect of the details of cancer pain management, only 66.7% of oncological medical students recognized that there was no upper limit of opioid prescribed clinically, and 16.3% of oncological medical students recognized that there was no psychological dependence if patients took opioid orally. The 69.8% of the students from no-less-than-two-week group relied on patients' description for cancer pain assessments, 76.7% prescribed strong opioid drugs firstly for patients suffer- ing severe cancer pain, 69.8% recognized that pethidine was not safe and effective to treat cancer pain, and 55.8% had the correct impression of drug addiction. All of the data were higher than that in no-rotation group and that in less-than-two-week group. The 51.2% of the students from no-less-than-two-week worried about drug addiction, which was the lowest of all. Conclusion: The cognitive level of advanced medical students towards cancer pain management is so low that it could not satisfy the clinical requirement, especially for the non-oncological medical students and the students spending little time on oncology rotation. Though the oncological medical students know something about cancer pain treatment, they know little about the details.展开更多
This paper aims at assessing the evolutionist and creationist conceptions of Brazilian teachers. The work is developed within the framework of the European project BIOHEAD-CITIZEN (biology, health and environmental e...This paper aims at assessing the evolutionist and creationist conceptions of Brazilian teachers. The work is developed within the framework of the European project BIOHEAD-CITIZEN (biology, health and environmental education for better citizenship), which takes into account that scientific knowledge and teachers' attitudes and values can influence the teaching practices. The large questionnaire BIOHEAD-CITIZEN, which was constructed to be applied in 19 countries in Europe, Africa and Middle East countries, was applied, in this study, to six groups of Brazilian teachers: primary school teachers, biology teachers and Portuguese language teachers and corresponding teachers-to-be. For this paper the answers to questions about evolution were used as dependent variables. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were carried out. Biology teachers and biology teachers-to-be gave more importance to the natural selection and the evolution process than the other groups of teachers. Comparing to the BIOHEAD-CITIZEN countries, the total Brazilian sample showed a higher percentage of creationist conceptions, particularly the Brazilian biology teachers and teachers-to-be. As discussed herein, this may not be an obstacle for teaching evolution as they accept both creationist and evolutionist concomitantly.展开更多
The experimental idea of the present project was elaborated in order to create a structure where different categories and institutions could collaborate, with the common aim to develop a sustainable and profitable agr...The experimental idea of the present project was elaborated in order to create a structure where different categories and institutions could collaborate, with the common aim to develop a sustainable and profitable agriculture in mountain and marginal areas. The target was the recovering of an abandoned agricultural site, throughout its re-organisation, re-qualification and auto-sustainability, involving local citizens. This approach was based on three further broad functions such as environmental, economic and social purposes. This cooperation, that allows the capitalization of local knowledge and the forging of relationships between local and external sources of expertise, information and advice, is fundamental to the future of existing rural communities, in particular in mountain areas. The model proposed, with the elaboration of a management software and technical agronomic sheets, could be an incentive for the activities already present in that region and to stimulate new ones. The enhancing of the native ecological system, the biodiversity tutelage and the valorization of the knowledge of the territory is the basic requirement for the successful of any land management.展开更多
基金partly supported by the China Scholarship Council (No. 201406010330)
文摘Background: Based on the transtheoretical model, the current study investigated whether awareness of physical activity(PA) recommendations had an impact on the stages of PA behavior change and levels of PA among Chinese college students.Methods: In Study 1, with a cross-sectional study design, 9826 students were recruited, and their knowledge of international PA recommendations,PA stage distribution, and self-reported PA level were surveyed. Pearson's χ2 test was used to test whether those participants who were aware and not aware of PA guidelines were equally distributed across the stages of PA behavior, and independent t test was conducted to test the group difference in the actual levels of PA. In Study 2, 279 students who were not aware of the PA recommendations were randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a control group, and only those in the intervention group were presented with international PA guidelines. In both groups,students' PA stages and PA level were examined before the test and then 4 months post-test. Mc Nemar's test for correlated proportions and repeated-measures analysis of variance were conducted to examine the changes in PA stage membership and PA level after the intervention.Results: Study 1 results revealed that only 4.4% of the surveyed students had correct knowledge of PA recommendations. Those who were aware of the recommendations were in later stages of PA behavior(χ~2(4) = 167.19, p < 0.001). They were also significantly more physically active than those who were not aware of the recommendations(t(443.71) = 9.00, p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.53). Study 2 results demonstrated that the intervention group participants who were at the precontemplation and contemplation stages at the pre-test each progressed further in the PA stages in the post-test(χ~2(1) = 112.06, p < 0.001; χ~2(1) = 118.76, p = 0.03, respectively), although no significant change in PA level was observed(t(139) < 1, p = 0.89).Conclusion: The results showed that awareness of the PA recommendations was associated with higher stages and levels of PA behavior, and a brief educational exposure to PA recommendations led to improved stages of PA behavior but no change in the levels of PA among Chinese college students. More effective public health campaign strategies are needed to promote the dissemination of the PA recommendations and to raise the awareness of the Chinese student population.
文摘The literature shows that improvements in cognitive performance may be observed following an acute bout of exercise. However, evidence in support of the biological mechanisms of this effect is still limited. Findings from both rodent and human studies suggest brain-derived neu- rotrophic factor (BDNF) as a potential mechanism of the effect of acute exercise on memory. The molecular properties of BDNF allow this protein to be assessed in the periphery (pBDNF) (i.e., blood serum, blood plasma), making measurements of acute exercise-induced changes in BDNF concentration relatively accessible. Studies exploring the acute exercise--pBDNF--cognitive performance relationship have had mixed findings, but this may be more reflective of methodological differences between studies than it is a statement about the role of BDNE For example, significant associations have been observed between acute exercise-induced changes in pBDNF concentration and cognitive performance in studies assessing memory, and non-significant associations have been found in studies assessing non-memory cognitive domains. Three suggestions are made for future research aimed at understanding the role of BDNF as a biological mechanism of this relationship: 1) Assessments of cognitive performance may benefit from a focus on various types of memory (e.g., relational, spatial, long-term); 2) More finegrained measurements of pBDNF will allow for the assessment of concentrations of specific isoforms of the BDNF protein (i.e., immature, mature); 3) Statistical techniques designed to test the mediating role of pBDNF in the acute exercise-cognitive performance relationship should be utilized in order to make causal inferences.
文摘Development of Biotechnology has brought a feasibility of the scientific analysis on this biological data and the processing of personal data content within human biological materials. In this sense, it has been recognized as the main principle to protect the privacy of biological data belonging to individual since it can determine genetic makeup of an individual processing of personal data in the biological materials of human origin. Speaking of this context, Islam accepts human as the most dignified creation. This dignity given to human makes biological materials of human origin and human private. Privacy brings immunity. The responsibility to protect the human body has been given to mankind in order not to lose this dignity. This responsibility is not bounded by human's own body. It must protect the body privacy of next generation which is the heir of genetic heritage. This study will focus on the reflection of the privacy perception of the Islamic law towards body on the legality of human biological materials usage for research purposes.
文摘Free will is difficult to classify with respect to determinism or indeterminism, and its phenomenology in consciousness often shows both aspects. Initially, it is felt as unlimited and indeterminate will power, with the potentiality of multiple choices. Thereafter, reductive deliberation is led by determinism to the final decision, which realises only one of the potential choices. The reductive deliberation phase tries to find out the best alternative and simultaneously satisfying vague motivations, contextual conditions and personal preferences. The essential sense of free will is the introduction of personal preferences, which allows a higher diversity of reactions to vague motivations. With an oversimplified model of determinism as a chain of events, incompatibilists define "free" as "undetermined" so that determinism becomes incompatible with any free choice between alternatives. In consciousness, free will requires a more complex model of network determinism as well as the consideration of unconsciousness as a causal factor. When "free" defined as "undetermined" is applied to the context of consciousness, it should be reinterpreted as "unconscious of being determined" or not aware of underlying determinism. Lacking information on determinism generates a feeling of "free" in consciousness and, therefore, gives the impression of indeterminism. Lacking information may be induced by an uncertain future without determined events--an unconscious past with biological reactions suddenly emerging from the unconsciousness or an unknown present unable to distinguish determinism of complex events. Therefore, at the level of human consciousness, the experience of free will is associated with apparent indeterminism although it is based on unconscious determinism. The concepts of compatibilism and incompatibilism are only two different aspects of the same phenomenon and correspond to consciousness and unconsciousness. Nevertheless, they can be considered together with a free will concept based on relativity depending on two different reference frames--the first person's experience frame or the Laplace's demon frame with knowledge on every molecule of the universe. Only relativity of the free will concept avoids the contradiction between "free" and "unfree" for the same phenomenon and could be a compromise for considering compatibilism and incompatibilism equally.
基金supported by National Science Foundation of China (41522103, 41501082 and 41225002)Strategic Priority Research Program-Climate Change:Carbon Budget and Relevant Issues (XDA05100105)
文摘Recently, the light-absorbing organic carbon, i.e., brown carbon(Br C), has received an increasing attention, because they could significantly absorb the solar radiation in the range of short wavelengths rather than the purely scattering effect. Br C is ubiquitous in the troposphere. It could undergo long range transport within the atmospheric circulation. After the deposition on the surface of snow or ice in the cryospheric region, as the major light absorbing impurities with black carbon and dust, Br C could reduce the snow albedo and accelerate the glacier melting. In this context, this paper summarized the current knowledge of Br C(in aerosols and snow) in the cryospheric regions including the Arctic, Antarctic,and Alpines. Although some works have been conducted in those region, the current dataset on the optical properties of Br C like Absorption?ngstr€om Exponent(AAE) and Mass Absorption Efficiency(MAE) is still limited, which hampers stimulating an accurate evaluation of its climate effects. Especially in the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, where very limited information concerning Br C is available. Considering biomass burning as a dominant source of Br C, a large amount of emissions from biomass burning in South Asia could reach the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau, where the climate effect of Br C merits more investigation in the future.
文摘Sense-oriented reasoning (SOR) was analyzed by comparing the reasoning of tribal and modem societies on a specific subject, the conception and birth of a child. Tribal societies have beliefs, which are difficult to understand by modem societies. Their reasoning becomes understandable only when considering that their observations are limited to the macrocosm. Modem societies have access to the microcosm with a microscope, where different biological mechanisms for the conception of a child were discovered. Since the tribes' macroscopical observations were different, their conclusions became necessarily different. The inheritance problem can only be solved by genes at the microscopic level, to which tribal societies had no access. With observations limited to the macrocosm, tribes logically invoked invisible child-spirits of ancestors wanting to be reincarnated in children of the same tribe. Besides the different access to observation, the reasoning of both societies is similar and built around the investigation of a final sense. Reasoning progresses after a phase without any quest for sense through three progressive levels: (1) primary sense, (2) corrected sense, and (3) verified sense. In tribal societies, reasoning is interrupted at the primary sense level when it seems consistent with their general beliefs and traditions. This resembles coherentist theories of epistemic justification, in which justification is only a function of coherence between beliefs. Tribal societies realize the input problem of these theories, since they have no access to the microcosm and also illustrate the Gettier problem. Modem societies progress to the higher levels of corrected and verified sense reasoning, even if inconsistent with their prior beliefs. They initially imagined genes as a hypothetic missing link for inheritance, which relies on a start observation concerning the character of ancestors to the target observation, the similarity with the character of children. If the missing link is definitely verified, it shows a chain of justified beliefs between both observations, allowing the initially hypothetic missing link to be retrospectively considered as the real cause. The SOR of modem societies resembles the extemalist version of foundationalism of epistemic justification, in which the necessary non-inferential justification is represented by the target observation.
文摘The Tunisian coastal oases constitute a model of very rich plant biodiversity, organized in different floors of cultivation. The date palm is the highest, the second is the diversified fruit trees and the smallest is composed by various other productions. The present paper is the results of a RAA diagnosis and bibliographic analysis of nearly thirty years of work on oases. The aim of this study is to focus on the plant diversity and the traditions in using different products. The survey revealed the existence of nearly 45 local date palm varieties, about 26 fruit trees, 65 vegetables and divers other species. It also raises nearly 30 uses of dates and date palm by-products. This survey shows also that oases inhabitants keep in possessing, for a long time, a knowledge to make ingenious concerning use and conservation of the products and by products of the date palm. This survey has all as much demonstrated the risks from weakening this balance which has long been maintained. Some recommendations to maintain and conserve this system are also presented in this paper.
文摘This study examines local people's perception of forest resources (FR) conservation around two plantation forest reserves (PFR) and two natural forest reserves (NFR) in Ekiti State in order to determine the factors that can contribute to sustainable FR conservation. Questionnaire and interview were used to collect data from 240 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. 75.0% and 86.1% of respondents around PFR recognized the importance of conserving the FR for economic benefits and biodiversity respectively, while 66.7% would not want the FR conserved for cultural values. 82.9% of respondents around NFR would want the FR conserved for economic benefits, while 74.3% and 66.7% would not want the forest conserved for cultural values and biodiversity respectively. For efficient conservation, participation in forest management and involvement in decision making with means of 3.45 and 3.52 ranked highest in PFR and NFR respectively. Probit regression analysis showed that in PFR and NFR, age, education and income were positively significant to FR conservation (p 〈 0.05). Creating an enabling environment that will make local people appreciate historical cultural values of the forest for tourism is essential for efficient FR conservation in the study area.
文摘Different areas of cognitive science traditionally perceived the mind as an abstract information processing entity, whose interactions with the outside world should be of small or no relevance at all. However, a recent embodied cognition perspective, view cognitive processes as deeply embedded into the body's interactions with the world. In support of such contention, lots of empirical evidence has been brought and thusly different claims proposed. In this paper, we present the computer based neurocognitive task of sustained attention which is a dual task with many characteristics that obviously mirror some of the above claims. In this regard, we take into consideration both on-line and off-line aspects of the embodied cognition and point out how processing efficiency and attentional functioning are crucial vehicles in bringing perception into effective action (embodied cognition). Furthermore, there is plenty of evidence about the bidirectional relationship between the attentional/cognitive functioning and emotion regulation as well. This rises new possibilities in looking at the cognitive bias modification approaches and brain-cognitive training procedures for human beings without perceiving them as disembodied minds or complex machines but instead proactive and physically involved in the real world. We argue that such cognitive training approaches even though at first glance seemed as mere technical and machine oriented procedures, should be regarded as humanistic in its nature which perfectly mirror the Merleau-Ponty's concept of "embodied subjectivity." Finally, we explain how such approaches can be successfully combined with the neurobiological accounts and effectively implemented into clinical practice (self-regulation, self-directed neuroplasticity, effortful control, behavior change).
文摘For over thirty years I have been researching the origins of language by means of an original and innovative metod. If it consists of considering oral articulation, which produce phonetic sounds as informative gestures and expressions of a visible-expressive code, that precedes the use of phonetic codes. The meaning expressed through each of these articulate-oral gestures was identified through research-responses by two select sample groups of psychotic subjects, chosen because of their greater permeable accessibility to the collective unconscious. In this sense the application of phonetic sounds, that is "words", is no more than representative or substitutes of the use of pre-articulate oral-facial gestures, used by pre-sapiens to express their informative intentions. Using this method I have published three books, which analyzed precisely and systematically the inter-relationships between consonants in words of Info-european origin--that is the roots of these words--discovering that words sharing common root-consonants do indeed express part or all of their meaning in correspondence with the original meanings of their gestural archetype. The projection into objects of these pre-articulate gestural meanings denotes them by means of mediators' metaphors and analogies, this is appearing to be the fundamental reason for the variety of languages, since diverse peoples will use different psychic Freudian puns and methaphors, for the projection to similar object. I have examined over twenty languages, in relation to this generalized cultural code model, founded on biological reactivity to conditions in reality to advantage given its extensive informative use.
文摘As the specialized basic course of biological engineering, the plant biology has played a decisive role in determining the professional expertise and theoretical knowledge of students, which has also raised a higher requirement for the teaching method and mode. Based on the actual condition of course teaching of plant biology, this paper has made an analysis on the content and shortcoming of the existing mode and method as well as come up with some feasible advices about how to arouse the learning interest within the student, integrate the teaching with the practice as well as adjust the teaching sequence accordingly.
文摘Since its entry into the WTO ten years ago, China has been increasingly involved in building new rules to make multilateral trading systems more development- oriented. In the past decade, both developing and developed WTO member nations have debated whether the TRIPS agreement should expand its definition to cover new areas such as genetic resources and traditional knowledge. This article argues that although the genetic resources-based market is huge, developing countries have benefited little from it. Specifically, the current market mechanism and system provide little incentive to developing countries to protect biodiversity. Expanding TRIPS to cover new areas such as genetic resources and traditional knowledge can make multilateral trade fairer and more balanced and will enable developing members to better protect biodiversity.
文摘Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate advanced medical students' knowledge towards cancer pain management, and understand the effect of specialisms and duration of oncology rotation on the advanced medical students' cognitive level towards cancer pain management. Methods: Randomly selected the respondents from a medical school in Wuhan, China. The educational background of the respondents should belong to one of these conditions: (1) clinical master degree candidate; (2) clinical doctor degree candidate; (3) the sixth or seventh year of clinical medicine for seven years. The respondents should also spend more than one year on internship. The self-developed questionnaire papers were distributed to respondents in the unit of dorms selected randomly and recovered them immediately after they're finished. The categori- cal data were expressed at the form of frequency (rate or constituent ratio). Chi-square test was required only as needed. Results: The survey was anonymous. We distributed 300 papers, recovered 300 papers and weeded out 8 invalid papers. Finally there were 292 valid papers, and the valid recovery rate was 97.3%. The 96.7% of oncological medical students and 47.6% non-oncological medical students relied on patients' description for cancer pain assessments; 90.0% of oncological medical students and 53.0% of non-oncological medical students prescribed strong opioid drugs firstly for patients suffering severe cancer pain; only 24.1% of non-oncological medical students recognized that pethidine was not safe and effective to treat cancer pain, which was much lower than oncological medical students (90.0%); 73.3% of oncological medical students and 28.9% of non-oncological medical students had the correct impression of drug addiction; 85.5% of non-oncological medi- cal students worried about the drug addiction, while 60.0% of oncological medical students worried about the strict control over opioid. In respect of the details of cancer pain management, only 66.7% of oncological medical students recognized that there was no upper limit of opioid prescribed clinically, and 16.3% of oncological medical students recognized that there was no psychological dependence if patients took opioid orally. The 69.8% of the students from no-less-than-two-week group relied on patients' description for cancer pain assessments, 76.7% prescribed strong opioid drugs firstly for patients suffer- ing severe cancer pain, 69.8% recognized that pethidine was not safe and effective to treat cancer pain, and 55.8% had the correct impression of drug addiction. All of the data were higher than that in no-rotation group and that in less-than-two-week group. The 51.2% of the students from no-less-than-two-week worried about drug addiction, which was the lowest of all. Conclusion: The cognitive level of advanced medical students towards cancer pain management is so low that it could not satisfy the clinical requirement, especially for the non-oncological medical students and the students spending little time on oncology rotation. Though the oncological medical students know something about cancer pain treatment, they know little about the details.
文摘This paper aims at assessing the evolutionist and creationist conceptions of Brazilian teachers. The work is developed within the framework of the European project BIOHEAD-CITIZEN (biology, health and environmental education for better citizenship), which takes into account that scientific knowledge and teachers' attitudes and values can influence the teaching practices. The large questionnaire BIOHEAD-CITIZEN, which was constructed to be applied in 19 countries in Europe, Africa and Middle East countries, was applied, in this study, to six groups of Brazilian teachers: primary school teachers, biology teachers and Portuguese language teachers and corresponding teachers-to-be. For this paper the answers to questions about evolution were used as dependent variables. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were carried out. Biology teachers and biology teachers-to-be gave more importance to the natural selection and the evolution process than the other groups of teachers. Comparing to the BIOHEAD-CITIZEN countries, the total Brazilian sample showed a higher percentage of creationist conceptions, particularly the Brazilian biology teachers and teachers-to-be. As discussed herein, this may not be an obstacle for teaching evolution as they accept both creationist and evolutionist concomitantly.
文摘The experimental idea of the present project was elaborated in order to create a structure where different categories and institutions could collaborate, with the common aim to develop a sustainable and profitable agriculture in mountain and marginal areas. The target was the recovering of an abandoned agricultural site, throughout its re-organisation, re-qualification and auto-sustainability, involving local citizens. This approach was based on three further broad functions such as environmental, economic and social purposes. This cooperation, that allows the capitalization of local knowledge and the forging of relationships between local and external sources of expertise, information and advice, is fundamental to the future of existing rural communities, in particular in mountain areas. The model proposed, with the elaboration of a management software and technical agronomic sheets, could be an incentive for the activities already present in that region and to stimulate new ones. The enhancing of the native ecological system, the biodiversity tutelage and the valorization of the knowledge of the territory is the basic requirement for the successful of any land management.