The social environments of early infancy in Japan and the United States

The social environments of early infancy in Japan and the United States were compared in terms of the context of caregiving and the quality of the month-infant interaction. Mothers of 17 Japanese infants and 17 infants in the United States were interviewed in their homes about the experiences that they provided for their 4-month-old infants, and mother-infant interactions were recorded on videotape. Levels of parents' education were similar in both countries. The context of the infant's development varied substantially with culture. Mothers in the United States provided a greater variety of experiences on the HOME and care of Japanese infants tended to be more exclusively provided by mothers whereas care of infants in the United States was shared by fathers and other caregivers to a greater extent. Examination of behaviour frequencies during mother-infant interaction indicated that mothers in Japan provided their infants with more vocal input and more physical play than mothers in the United States and Japanese mothers were more vocally responsive to their infants' vocalizations.     

战国中晚期子家著作中的"亡国"义训

在战国后期的子家著作中,“亡国”一词往往不是用以指陈灭国的事实,而是指称必亡的政治形势,进而也被视作与“王”、“霸”、“危”并立的一种国家类型。作为国家类型的“亡国”,其最明显的特征是君主失制。战国诸子语文中“亡国”含义的多重性表明,上古中国政治思想着眼于如何治理好国家,如何在国际的竞争中生存。这与以城邦为视域的古典希腊政治哲学存在明显不同。     

The First Twenty Years of the ELCA: Remembrances of a Retired Bishop

Abstract : The ELCA has experienced a number of significant events and developments in the first twenty years of its existence as a Church. In this article you will read about the preparation and direction that newly elected Bishops received for their ministry in their synods, and some of the struggles and joys that accompanied their work with one another and with their rostered leaders and congregations. It is the perspective of one retired Bishop Emeritus who gives an account of his ministry as he experienced it.     

战国民族思想与民族统一

战国时期,我国出现“华夷一体化”的民族发展趋势。诸子民族思想均有所变化,并表现为诸多共识。位处不同区域的华夏政权楚、燕、赵、秦等国所推行的民族统一卓有成效,为秦最终建立多民族中央集权国家打下了根基。     

论战国时期齐国的人才价值观——由邹忌任相封君谈起

邹忌是田齐历史上的一个重要人物,任相封君,辅助国君称“强于天下”。根据相关史料对这一人物进行详细分析,我们可以了解到战国时期齐国人才思想的鲜明特点：德才兼备而更重才,与才相比,德的要求大降。这既富有战国时期鲜明的时代特色,又带有齐国社会风俗的一些印痕。     

Sentimental Utility Theory: Interpreting the Utilization of Collective Emotions by the Political Elite Through the Erdoğan‐Obama Friendship

Barack Obama's 2009 visit to Turkey resulted in an Obama‐Mania in Turkish media, followed by a friendship between Obama and Recep Erdo?an, which was widely reported in the media and emphasized in their rhetoric. This article explains the existence of the Erdo?an‐Obama friendship narrative, in spite of no actual political friendship existing. We first interpret their relationship through five key components of political friendship (affect, grand project, altruistic reciprocity, moral obligations, equality) and argue that, despite a strong friendship narrative, their histories, leadership styles, and political goals diverged to such an extent that a friendship never existed. We then introduce sentimental utility theory (SUT) to explain the utility of maintaining the appearance of a friendship. Through SUT, this article illuminates the utility of collective emotions and offers insight into how collective emotions produce ingroup identities and generate stability for a state's population. SUT reveals how Erdo?an utilized the Obama‐mania in Turkey to create a personal bond with Obama which linked himself, and his policies, to Obama and his progressive policies. Future research can deploy SUT to make sense of other claims of friendship and special relationships between states and between state leaders.     

The impact of surface projection on military tactics comprehension

This experiment assessed how displaying information onto different surfaces (flat vs. raised) influenced the performance, workload, and engagement of cadets answering questions on military tactics. Sixty-two cadets in a within-subjects design each answered 24 tactics-related questions across 2 conditions (12 on flat, 12 on raised) which were measured by accuracy and time on task. After each set of 12 questions, the cadets took postsurveys assessing engagement, measured by a modified User Engagement Scale and the System Usability Scale, and workload measured by the NASA-TLX. Findings indicated that raised terrain surface led to reduced workload and increased engagement and time on task as compared to the flat terrain surface. A practice effect drove performance metrics (time on task and accuracy), where the learner performed better on the second surface type displayed. This research contributes to expanding the literature base that supports alternative display methods to increase engagement and augment instruction of military tactics tasks.     

Influence of Efficacy and Resilience on Problem Solving in the United States,Taiwan, and China

This study explores factors that influence problem‐solving coping style across cultures. There was no significant difference in applying problem solving across U.S., Taiwanese, and Chinese samples. The effective predictors of problem solving in the U.S. and Chinese samples were self‐efficacy and trait resilience, respectively. In the Taiwanese sample, predictors were self‐efficacy and trait resilience. Trait resilience was found to mediate the effect of self‐efficacy on problem solving in the Taiwanese and Chinese samples. Practical implications are discussed. Este estudio explora factores que influyen en el estilo de afrontamiento a la resolución de problemas aplicado a distintas culturas. No se halló una diferencia significativa en la aplicación de resolución de problemas entre muestras estadounidenses, taiwaneses y chinas. Los predictores efectivos de la resolución de problemas en las muestras estadounidense y china fueron respectivamente la autoeficacia y los rasgos de resiliencia. En la muestra taiwanesa, los predictores fueron las autoeficacia y los rasgos de resiliencia. Se halló que los rasgos de resiliencia mediaron el efecto de la autoeficacia sobre la resolución de problemas en las muestras taiwanesa y china. Se discuten las implicaciones prácticas.     

U.S. Patent Policy: Crafting a 21st Century National Blueprint for Global Competitiveness

The paper begins with an overview of the legal, institutional, and public policy bases of the U.S. patent granting system and subsequently examines major deficiencies acknowledged in the existing U.S. patent system. The paper then catalogs the essence of four patent reform proposals of the Federal Trade Commission, the National Research Council, and academic economists (Jaffe/Lerner and Maskus), all of which focus on ameliorating alleged major weaknesses in the U.S. patent system. The paper concludes with an analysis of the above cited patent reform proposals, arguing for a proposed set of workable policy recommendations (reflecting recent changes in public policy) focused on patent cost controls, patent quality, patent uncertainty, and patent reform legislation, all designed to contribute to a globally competitive 21st century patent policy for the U.S. economy.

The organizing process of the American railroad business from an evolutionary perspective

The early organizing process of the American railroads could be periodized as follows: Railroad technology become perfected by the 1860s, the national network become perfected by the 1880s, and self‐sustaining railroad systems by the 1900s. The evolutionary path seems to be largely dictated by the “perfection” of stable configurations of “lower levels,” such as technological standards (e.g., uniform standard time). In the American railroads, on each level of activity there was a process of convergence, learning and coordination of pre‐existing components toward “equilibrium,” that allowed the emergence of new combinations, i.e. new levels of integration. Thus, convergent level‐specific process, i.e. the standardization and formalization of existing activities, was an essential step for radical process of divergence in the American railroads.