A COMMENT ON RCC: FROM RCC TO RCC<Superscript>++</Superscript>

The Region Connection Calculus (RCC theory) is a well-known spatial representation of topological relations between regions. It claims that the connection relation is primitive in the spatial domain. We argue that the connection relation is indeed primitive to the spatial relations, although in RCC theory there is no room for distance relations. We first analyze some aspects of the RCC theory, e.g. the two axioms in the RCC theory are not strong enough to govern the connection relation, regions in the RCC theory cannot be points, the uniqueness of the operation in the theory is not guaranteed, etc. To solve some of the problems, we propose an extension to the RCC theory by introducing the notion of region category and adding a new axiom which governs the characteristic property of the connection relation. The extended theory is named as RCC⁺⁺. We support the claim that the connection relation is primitive to spatial domain by showing how distance relations, size relations are developed in RCC⁺⁺. At last we revisit a sub-family of un-intended models in RCC theory, argue that RCC⁺⁺ is more suitable than RCC with regards to its original intended model, and discuss the representation limitation of the RCC, as well as RCC⁺⁺.     

Culture-specific personality correlates of anxiety among Chinese and Caucasian college students

The present study investigated the relationship between a set of personality constructs (i.e. perfectionism, independent-interdependent self-construal, and collective self-esteem) and trait and social anxiety among 324 Mainland Chinese and 333 Caucasian college students. It was hypothesized that the strength of the correlation between these personality factors and anxiety would be different for the two samples. The results indicated that socially prescribed perfectionism was a better predictor of social anxiety for the Chinese participants, but of trait anxiety for the Caucasian participants. Independent self-construal predicted social anxiety better for the Caucasians than for the Chinese. Overall, aspects of collective self-esteem were more correlated with anxiety among the Chinese than the Caucasians. The authors argued that the findings can be used to improve multicultural counselling in China and the USA and to provide more culturally specific interventions to clients having anxiety disorders.     

从主文化视角看20世纪我国社会道德规范体系的演变与重建

根据社会学关于主文化的理论观点,可以将主义化细分为主导文化、主体文化、主流文化.回顾20世纪中国文化的发展历程,可以看到,主文化在三个维度上一直处在消长与变革之中,并由此使社会道德规范体系呈现出相应的演变历程.针对改革开放后我国社会道德规范体系"碎片化"的态势,要大力建设以"社会主义和谐文化"为标志的主文化,紧紧抓住社会主义核心价值体系这个根本,尊重差异、包客多样,构建中国特色社会主义道德规范体系.     

基督教在西南传播中的族群认同符号

外来的基督教能够在居住着多民族的西南传播,一个重要前提就是族群认同.传教士只能先取得族群认同,才能得到宗教认同.否则,就会出现基督教与民族传统文化相互排斥或冲突现象.族群认同符号一般表现为体貌服饰、传统意识、社会习俗、语言文字、原生情感等几个方面.体貌、服饰、语言、习惯等特征,是族群认同的首要与外在因素,可以随着相互了解的逐步加深而改变.民族文字、传统意识与原生情感属于深层次因素,往往可以超越其他因素的作用,是族群与宗教认同的最重要基础.     

Age difference in numeral recognition and calculation: an event-related potential study.

In this study, we investigated the age difference in numeral recognition and calculation in one group of school-aged children (n = 38) and one of undergraduate students (n = 26) using the event-related potential (ERP) methods. Consistent with previous reports, the age difference was significant in behavioral results. Both numeral recognition and calculation elicited a negativity peaking at about 170-280 ms (N2) and a positivity peaking at 200-470 ms (pSW) in raw ERPs, and a difference potential (dN3) between 360 and 450 ms. The difference between the two age groups indicated that more attention resources were devoted to arithmetical tasks in school-aged children, and that school-aged children and undergraduate students appear to use different strategies to solve arithmetical problems. The analysis of frontal negativity suggested that numeral recognition and mental calculation impose greater load on working memory and executive function in schoolchildren than in undergraduate students. The topography data determined that the parietal regions were responsible for arithmetical function in humans, and there was an age-related difference in the area of cerebral activation.     

情绪对学习不良青少年选择性注意和持续性注意的影响

以学习不良青少年为被试,采用成绩反馈法诱发情绪,考察了情绪对学习不良青少年选择性注意和持续性注意的影响,结果表明：（1）情绪会影响学习不良青少年的选择性注意,具有积极低唤醒情绪的学习不良青少年,他们的选择性注意的反应时显著短于消极情绪下的被试;(2)学习不良青少年的情绪会影响到他们的持续性注意能力,消极高唤醒的情绪能够增加虚报率,而积极高唤醒的情绪能够提高判断标准,降低虚报率     

结直肠癌诊断模式的若干思考

结直肠癌是常见的消化道恶性肿瘤,然而在临床上得到诊断时大多已经到了中晚期,错过了最佳的治疗时机.近年来,随着基因相关技术及生物信息技术的迅猛发展,结直肠癌诊断方法得到不断改进,但早期诊断仍不尽如人意.因此现有的诊断模式值得我们去深思,从哲学意义上探索更为完善的诊断模式.     

Chinese kindergartners’ automatic processing of numerical magnitude in Stroop-like tasks

Using Stroop-like tasks, this study examined whether Chinese kindergartners showed automatic processing of numerical magnitude. A total of 36 children (mean age 5 5 years 10 months) were asked to perform physical size comparison (i.e., “Which of two numbers is bigger in physical size?”) and numerical magnitude tasks (i.e., “Which of two numbers is bigger in numerical magnitude?”) on 216 number pairs. These number pairs varied in levels of congruence between numerical magnitude and physical size (for Stroop effect) and numerical distance (for distance effect). On the basis of analyses of response time and error rates, we found that Chinese kindergartners showed automatic processing of numerical magnitude. These results are significantly different from previous studies’ findings about the onset age (ranging from around the end of first grade to third grade) for automatic processing of numerical magnitude.     

The ameliorating effect of oroxylin A on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice

Oroxylin A is a flavonoid and was originally isolated from the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi., one of the most important medicinal herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the ameliorating effects of oroxylin A on memory impairment using the passive avoidance test, the Y-maze test, and the Morris water maze test in mice. Drug-induced amnesia was induced by administering scopolamine (1 mg/kg, i.p.) or diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p.). Oroxylin A (5 mg/kg) significantly reversed cognitive impairments in mice by passive avoidance and the Y-maze testing (P<.05). Oroxylin A also improved escape latencies in training trials and increased swimming times and distances within the target zone of the Morris water maze (P<.05). Moreover, the ameliorating effects of oroxylin A were antagonized by both muscimol and diazepam (0.25 mg/kg, i.p., respectively), which are GABA(A) receptor agonists. Furthermore, oroxylin A (100 microM) was found to inhibit GABA-induced inward Cl(-) current in a single cortical neuron. These results suggest that oroxylin A may be useful for the treatment of cognitive impairments induced by cholinergic dysfunction via the GABAergic nervous system.