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The paper argues that the erotology within Hubert Fichte’s novels, as it has been formulated by Gert Mattenklott, can be complemented by a bi-orgasmology. On the basis of selected passages, it shows how Fichte’s bisexual protagonist, the writer and ethnographer Jäcki, stylizes the orgasmic moment as a state of distinguished epistemic quality with regard to the world and the other, being characterized by, first, a partial suspension of the I and, second, a specific epistemic double rhythm, oscillating between consciousness and unconsciousness, reflexivity and irreflexivity. As an ideal, the female orgasm scintillates on the epistemological firmament, as it is described by Jäcki’s lifelong partner Irma in Hotel Garni; an orgasmic form of perception which Jäcki approximates in the course of an orgy in Eine Glückliche Liebe, precisely because he simultaneously adopts penetration roles that are conventionally encoded as male and female within the heteronormative matrix. The forms of perception in this decidedly bisexual scene eventually become the blueprint for how Jäcki wants to conduct his research in the field of the syncretistic religions of the Americas: reflexive-irreflexive, both a registrar and a participant, balancing between the own and the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Hospitality Industry is getting back on track it is also observed that a few departments are doing relay well where as other departments are still facing the attrition issues. The purpose of this study is to try and analyze a few perceptions and reasons of the Final Year Students for joining a particular department. After the Industrial Training, students based on their experiences form perceptions about the various departments. These perceptions can be something related to the working hours, perks at work, how the department is, how the environment is. Researchers have adopted a questionnaire pattern to collect the data from the students from various colleges. Random sampling method is being selected for the collection of data. Purposive sampling has been applied to get the data only from hotel management graduates of Pune city. In this study we observe that what are few pre conceived notions about the core departments by the student. The paper focuses on the reasons provided by the Final Year Students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the findings of a study investigating the impact of shape on the taste perception of chocolate. Previous research has explored the influence of various sensory information on taste perception, but there has been little focus on the effect of food shape being eaten on taste perception. To explore this, we focused on the Bouba-Kiki effect, illustrating an interaction between shape and several modalities, and investigated the effect of Bouba- and Kiki-shaped (rounded and angular) foods eaten on taste perception. We utilized a 3D food printer to produce four different shapes of chocolate pieces based on the Bouba-Kiki. Participants tasted each piece and completed a chocolate flavor questionnaire. With Bayesian analysis, we determined that the Bouba-shaped chocolate pieces were perceived as sweeter than the Kiki-shaped ones, supporting earlier studies on crossmodal correspondences between shape and taste perception. However, there were no significant differences in ratings of other tastes, such as sourness and bitterness. Our research indicates that shape can affect taste perception during consumption and suggests that 3D food printers offer an opportunity to design specific shapes that influence taste experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cable cars are a viable alternative to improve citizens' accessibility in zones with limitations on urban public transport supply due to the topography. In Latin America, such systems have recently been implemented in zones with high levels of poverty and vulnerability. Although the social implications of their implementation are relevant, individual expectations of these systems and how current changes in travel conditions and quality of life are perceived have not been widely reported in the literature. This paper aims to evaluate users' expectations and perceptions of a new cable car in the southern periphery of Bogotá (Colombia). We conducted a panel survey before (n = 341) and after (n = 301) the cable car started operations to evaluate the ranking of preferences toward a set of possible benefits of the project. We estimated discrete choice models to analyze the statistical differences between the expectations and perceptions before and after changes. Results suggest that travel time reductions, comfort improvements, and in-vehicle security are the benefits most valued by the users. Even though the project meets expectations of these aspects, it seems to fall short in expectations of reductions of pollution. Individuals' experience with the cable car shapes their perceptions of the system. We found that perceptions differ between those who have used the service at least once and those who never did. Policy implications derived from this study might be of interest to decision-makers seeking to guarantee the public acceptability of urban projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brands, as humans, may be different when it comes to their personality. Among the several traits building brand personality, brand color is one of the most critical ones and is one of the most controversial and discussed aspects of marketing. We cannot denied that a color, depending on visual impression, can be transformed into a spectrum of feelings, which, in turn, allow consumers to form a perception of a brand. Simultaneously, a logo is seen as a business card of a brand, representing its core and values. Combining the two vital components, color and logo, the paper aims to investigate whether color affects consumers' perceptions of brand personality and whether consumers will use the conventional color associations used in a brand logo. To explain the behavior of consumers towards the brand and how they perceive the brand personality, the theory of anthropomorphism is used. An online survey was conducted on a random sample to test the hypothesis of the study. The results indicate that the defined hypothesis is partially supported. According to the results, color plays a significant role in the way consumers perceive a brand's personality. Findings indicate that consumers will attribute personality traits to brands through the use of color in the logo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual harassment is a form of gender-based violence as well as a complex social issue that every society faces today. The United Nations and other international and regional organizations have recognized sexual harassment as a form of discrimination and violence against women. By adopting international documents and delegating principles, they provided an important starting point in the drafting of legislation that, at the national level, prohibits sexual harassment. This paper aims to analyze international legal standards on sexual harassment, as well as through a comparative analysis of legal practices, to point out the fact that although the domestic legal framework, in general, is in line with international standards, inconsistencies can still be determined in several areas, but also to point out certain good examples of incrimination of this phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

No abstract received. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information in a special section in the current issue of this periodical that focuses on syntactic and structural pattern recognition. The fields of syntactic and structural pattern recognition experienced explosive growth during the 1960s and 1970s, as evidenced by the number of papers published in this area. The syntactic approach takes the view that a pattern is composed of simpler sub patterns which, in turn, are built from even simpler sub patterns.

This paper claims that we have direct and complete perceptual access to other people's emotions in their bodily and behavioural expression. The claim is understood, not by analogy with the perception of three-dimensional objects or physical processes, but as a form of Gestalt perception. In addition, talk of direct perceptual access to others' emotions is shown not to entail a behaviourist view of mind; and talk of complete perceptual access is shown to include both the phenomenological character and the dispositional nature of emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a comparison of three neutrons identifying methods in scintillators based on ZnS with 6Li and 10B: charge integration method, pulse gradient analysis, and simplified digital charge collection. A quality factor is used for comparison. It is calculated by the distribution of distances from the event position to the discrimination curve. It is shown that the charge integration method is observed to provide the best discrimination performance in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raptors can be important components of urban ecosystems due to their role as apex predators, the presence of which may bring benefits to people. Urban environments may provide good quality habitats, and the raptors' ability to utilize resources found here can contribute to their success. However, urban environments are socio-ecological systems and such mechanisms shaping habitats and ecological resources therein are less understood. This paper explores how raptors utilize urban resources, and the socio-ecological processes influencing their quality and availability. It begins with a systematic mapping of the literature to summarize the utility of urban resources by raptors with European distributions. Eighteen species were documented in the literature successfully exploiting novel hunting and/or nesting opportunities in both green and built-up locations of urban areas. We discuss how these may be consequential of human activities, some of which intentionally provided as subsidies, and how their utility by raptors create opportunities for human-raptor interactions further shaping public perception and decisions which potentially affect the raptors. Finally, we demonstrate these concepts by drawing on our experience from an urban peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) conservation site in London, UK. The paper concludes with a call for urban raptor conservation and research to consider social and ecological aspects together, appropriately reflecting urban environments as socio-ecological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows that perceptions of inequality matter for demand for redistribution and investigates how individuals form their perceptions. Using data from the ISSP, we present new evidence on the significant changes of perceptions of inequality for more than 20 countries during the last three decades and how these are not in synch with changes in objective inequality. Rather than indicating misperceptions, these discrepancies reflect a broader view of inequality that for most individuals encompasses poverty, insecurity in the labor markets, availability of public goods in addition to objective income disparities. We then show that these perceptions have much stronger correlation with demand for redistribution than objective inequality, or any of the mentioned contextual variables that mold perceptions. Ideology and self‐interest also contribute to demand for redistribution. Much more than those on the left, right‐leaning individuals adjust their demand for redistribution in line with their inequality perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two principal strands of scholarship analyse the material roots of European Union (EU) discontent. Some focus on the effects of regional decline, while others examine the role of individual socioeconomic factors. This paper brings these two perspectives together. We argue that EU discontent is a multifaceted phenomenon structured by the spatially-rooted interplay between individual and regional material conditions and subjective perceptions. We apply PLS-SEM to Eurobarometer public opinion data (2018–2019) and find that the geographical location and the socioeconomic position shape EU discontent directly. However, material factors' relevance for EU discontent is the greatest in structuring individual future expectations. Furthermore, democratic dissatisfaction turns out to be a key factor, pointing to the importance of institutional perceptions in the geography of discontent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to draw attention to the heuristic value of intersectionality by historicizing it as a framework appropriate for the use of studying discrimination and discriminatory practices in organizations over time. Design/methodology/approach: Utilizing a fusion between amodernist historiography vis-à-vis the nascent ANTi-History approach and intersectional complexity, the authors draw upon historical narratives from archival materials British Airways to empirically examine the utility of, and turn to, intersectional history in historical organization studies. Findings: Analysis of archival materials and commissioned corporate histories revealed subjectivities of socially constructing historicized intersectional identities. This suggests that certain identities have been and continue to "enjoy" privilege while others are marginalized and/or neglected through serial interconnected historical meanings. These processes of privileging and marginalization rely on the way a nexus of meaning is configured. Research limitations/implications: The research process relied and is dependent on limited archival materials within a single organization (British Airways) and industry (civil aviation). The critique herein should not be misinterpreted as judgment of the airline itself as an exemplar of discriminatory practices but rather for its longevity as an ongoing concern; its rich, colonialist history within the United Kingdom and accessibility of data. Archival traces are housed within a semi-public corporate archive which means those traces available for study have been professional and rhetorically curated. Practical implications: From the perspective of workplace diversity, our aim has been to reveal to diversity professionals and activists not only the role of history in shaping discrimination but also, in particular, to be alert to the processes whereby the production of knowledge of the past takes place. The authors hope also to have drawn attention to the power of organizations in the generation of discriminatory historical accounts and the need to further explore how such accounts are produced as knowledge of the past. Finally, the authors introduce the notion of "nexus of meaning" to suggest that in the complexity of intersectionality, the authors need to explore not only how people experience different and combined forms of discrimination but also how those experiences are shaped in a complex series of meaning that owe much to past experiences. Social implications: The research directs attention to the nexus of meaning that constitute intersecting identities. Originality/value: The research attempts to historicize intersectionality as a qualitative framework worthy of consideration in management and organization studies. From the perspective of studying discrimination in organizational life, the aim of this paper is to bring forward the role history plays in shaping discrimination as well as the processes whereby the production of knowledge of the past takes place. Attention is also drawn to the power of organizations in the generation of discriminatory historical accounts and the need to further explore how such accounts are produced. This study introduces the nexus of meaning analytic that understands how the experiences of different and combined forms of discrimination are shaped by meanings of the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The visual area V4 has been considered to play a crucial role in the intermediate representation of objects, where low-level image features are transformed into object-level representations. We estimated the intrinsic dimensionality in V4 for the representation of local patches generated from natural scenes. The dimensionality was approximately 40, which is approximately half of that reported in IT for the representation of whole natural objects. The analyses of the estimated dimensionality suggest both common and independent representations that code contour shapes and/or surfaces with textures, implying a relatively complex and mixed representation in the intermediate-level area., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The everyday practice of food sovereignty varies across place, and efforts to democratize food systems and create more holistic and equitable forms of food production and access are highly politicized. Considering the "geo" of these practices assists with understanding how perceptions of place shape imaginaries about food sovereignty in place. Using the example of education-based food sovereignty tourism in Cuba I examine, in this paper, how outsiders from the US map geopolitical imaginaries onto Cuba in their efforts to see the "real Cuba" and authentic food sovereignty practices. I argue that the myopic character of food sovereignty tours creates a re-writing of space based on participants' hopes and fears regarding agricultural production and consumption. Drawing on a feminist geopolitical framing, I use recent theorizations that consider geopolitical encounters via tourism to elucidate what I observed, which trended towards paternalistic geopolitical imaginaries of Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journals Eduction for Girls is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper investigates the dog-walk as a sociologically significant site of inquiry, offering a reflective account of using walking-interviews to understand an intersubjectively-oriented construction of personal and social dog-walking identities. Taking a Human-Animal Studies perspective and drawing on data from fourteen interviews with dog-owners in Cork, this paper suggests that the dog-walk, although a mundane, daily activity, is a multifaceted and mutually meaningful practice. Reflecting on my use of walking-interviews, I explore the meanings that dog-owners ascribe to dog-walking, how it shapes their perception of self, and consider their construction of social identities as dog-people, hybridised beings comprising dog and owner, whose focus lies in issues of shared interest to such beings. I propose that mobile methods, such as walking-interviews, support enhanced epistemological and methodological insights into how being a dog-person is done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses how bilateral distance affects within-firm-product variation in free-on-board (FOB) export prices across destinations. I estimate linear models that regress firm-product-destination-time FOB unit values on distance, firm-product-time fixed effects and destination country controls. If distance doubles, the average Swiss agri-food firm increases its FOB export price by 2.3 per cent. However, the positive distance elasticity of export prices reflects product quality differences and/or variable markups. I disentangle both mechanisms and show that, for a given product quality, exporting firms charge higher markups in distant markets. Nevertheless, this form of price discrimination is less pronounced for higher-quality products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the accuracy of deformation perception and shape reconstruction of flexible thin-walled structures, this paper proposes a method based on the combination of FOSS (fiber optic sensor system) and machine learning. In this method, the sample collection of strain measurement and deformation change at each measuring point of the flexible thin-walled structure was completed by ANSYS finite element analysis. The outliers were removed by the OCSVM (one-class support vector machine) model, and the unique mapping relationship between the strain value and the deformation variables (three directions of x-, y-, and z-axis) at each point was completed by a neural-network model. The test results show that the maximum error of the measuring point in the direction of the three coordinate axes: the x-axis is 2.01%, the y-axis is 29.49%, and the z-axis is 15.52%. The error of the coordinates in the y and z directions was large, and the deformation variables were small, the reconstructed shape had good consistency with the deformation state of the specimen under the existing test environment. This method provides a new idea with high accuracy for real-time monitoring and shape reconstruction of flexible thin-walled structures such as wings, helicopter blades, and solar panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have demonstrated a link between prior experience of physical pain and empathic response within similar settings. However, much less is known about emotional hurt derived from psychologically painful situations and the expression of empathy, despite evidence that different types of pain can be experienced in similar ways. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the current paper explored the relationship between college students' (mostly female) experience with psychological pain and level of empathy evoked by pictures of strangers experiencing physical and psychological pain. Findings from all three studies indicated similar empathic reactions (in the form of pain perception, empathic concern, perspective taking, and intention to help) toward physical and psychological pain. However, participants' feelings after observing physical and psychological pain were related to their prior similar painful experiences. This suggests that similar prior psychological painful experience can impact affective empathy when observing another in psychological pain, but not cognitive empathy. Implication for research on empathy evoked by observing psychological pain and the influence of similar past painful experiences are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article brings the literary treasures of ancient Judea into conversation with the interdisciplinary fields of Narrative Ethics and Socio-Narratology while considering Jubilees and Josephus's Judean Antiquities as participating in the etic genre of national history. This article interrogates the work that each of these narratives do to shape the collective identity of Hellenistic and Roman era Judeans and to shape Judean perceptions of their cultural Others. By analyzing Jubilees 30 and Antiquities 1.337–341 dialogically, this paper claims that Josephus's re-narrativization of Judean history serves as a corrective to the Israelite representation in Jubilees. It is argued that representations in Jubilees promoted an impermeable boundary between Judeans and Others, with violence as a legitimized and valorized ethic of cross-cultural engagement, whereas Antiquities re-imagined a new future of more permeable boundaries and diplomatic negotiation for first-century C.E. Judeans by re-imagining their past through narrative. Dangerous representations of cultural Others, however, remained a part of the story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses how the realizations of different constitutive components of Twitter complaints shape the perception of these complaints by other customers. We present three experiments on French language in which we test how customer complaint perception is impacted by the realization of the complainable (Exp. 1), of the entity responsible for the complainable (Exp. 2), and of the customer's wish for the complainable to be remedied (Exp. 3). The results of Exp. 1 indicate that the perceived likelihood that the complaint will be responded to by the company is highest when the complainable is realized as a combination of an assertion + question + picture. In Exp. 2, we found that, in comparison with the use of the discourse marker dites to refer to the entity responsible for the complainable, the use of a noun phrase or the absence of this component increases perceived politeness. Finally, our data from Exp. 3 reveal that, compared to the use of an imperative to voice the customer's wish for the complainable to be remedied, "indirect" request forms, and preparatory interrogatives, in particular, are perceived as more polite, as expressing lower dissatisfaction, and as decreasing the likelihood of a response from the company. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Trust is an important relational element in everyday social life and influences the efficiency of the communication process of the whole society. In the literature on the subject, there are different definitions of this concept. Most often, trust is described as an element of the personality formed at the beginning of life. This thesis examines the concepts of trust and trust in technology. It discusses the differences, connections, and dependencies between them, which determine the process of adaptation of technology recipients to its advanced development. Design/methodology/approach: In the content of the paper, the authors focused on a review of the literature on the selected issue. The content attempts to refer to the aspects of trust that emerge during the implementation and adaptation of new technologies. Findings: The analysis of the research carried out by individual authors allows us to conclude that the concepts of interpersonal and technological trust are not identical, but complementary. Due to technological progress and the fact that it plays an increasingly important role in society, trust in technology is gaining in importance. There is also a growing need on the part of manufacturers to provide trustworthy IT solutions, as audience trust is crucial in the sense of user acceptance of technological solutions and thus their turnover in the market. Social implications: The development of new technologies changes the shape and perception of reality. Technology determines the progress of development as well as the dynamics of functioning in this technological reality of society. New technologies throw many challenges at the social level, one of them is the issue of trust in what technology can change as a causal effect. Originality/value: In its content, the article tries to cross the horizon of current events in the dimension of technological changes. Many futurologists like Y.N. Harrari is trying to see possible scenarios that will be a consequence of implementing the technology. It is important to emphasize that technology itself is not deterministic, it is programs of use, common sense, trust and human morality that determine the ultimate agency and use of technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A commonly reported complaint in orthokeratology treatment is the disturbing glare whose mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we measured the changes in shape discrimination ability, with and without the presence of transient disability glare, during the first month in children who underwent orthokeratology treatment. Method: Forty‐nine eyes from 49 children (age: 11.49±2.02 years) with mean spherical equivalent refractive error ‐3.23±1.09D were included into this prospective study. Radial frequency (RF) patterns were used as the visual stimuli. Shape discrimination thresholds (SDT), with and without glare, were measured using a 2‐down‐1‐up staircase procedure. SDTglare was defined as the difference between the SDTs with and without the presence of glare. Measurements were done at baseline with frame spectacles, and days 7 and 30 of after treatment with naked eyes. Result: No statistically significant differences were observed between the SDTs without glare obtained at baseline and 1 week and 1 month after orthokeratology lens wear (P > 0.05). With transient glare, SDTs in all subjects were significantly higher than SDTs without glare (P < 0.05). SDTs with glare on day 7 and day 30 were significantly lower than baseline (P < 0.05). Compared with baseline, SDTglare significantly decreased at 1 week and 1 month after orthokeratology lens wear (P < 0.05). Conclusion: While SDT without glare was stable following orthokeratology treatment, SDT with glare decreased during the first month of treatment. This short‐term reduction in SDT may be the combined effect of spectacle removal, subtle changes in cornea optical quality, and the neural adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many physical experiments and applications with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), high-speed pulse digitization is used extensively. The current pulse from a PMT has a rising time of several to a hundred nanoseconds. The current pulse shape can be used to obtain the pulse energy and discriminate between different particles. The conventional readout system with a PMT uses the discrete or integrated pulse-shaping circuits and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) boards that are based on the Nuclear Instrument Modules (NIMs) or VersaModule Eurocard (VME) system to implement the data acquisition function. In many applications, such as security instruments, there are only several PMTs used in the whole system, or in some distributed applications, long-distance analog cable with high-voltage power cable is not applicable due to the tremendous number of channels and enormous distributed space. In this paper, an integrated digitizer base is designed and interfaced with a Cs2LiYCl6 (CLYC) scintillator with a PMT. The CLYC scintillator has the ability to realize the pulse shape discrimination (PSD) between the neutron and gamma rays. There is only one Category 5 cable needed for over 700-Mb/s transmission control protocol (TCP) data throughput and more than 10-W power. The boards of high voltage supply, current-sensitive preamplifier, 500-MSPS/12-bit ADC, readout module based on ZYNQ system-on-chip (SoC), power over Ethernet, and user-interface circuits are stacked with board-to-board connectors. The gamma-ray energy resolution is ∼4.6% at 662 keV with a $20-\mu \text{s}$ pulse integral and PSD figure of merit (FOM) is ∼3.0 by using the totally recorded events of neutrons and gamma rays. This integrated digitizer base can also be interfaced with other detectors with a PMT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel bio-inspired edge-oriented approach to perceptual contour extraction. Our method does not rely on segmentation and can unsupervised learn to identify edge points that are readily grouped, without invoking any connecting mechanism, into object boundaries as perceived by human. This goal is achieved by using a dynamic mask to statistically assess the inter-edge relations and probe the principal direction that acts as an edge-grouping cue. The novelty of this work is that the mask, centered at a target pixel and driven by EM algorithm, can iteratively deform and rotate until it covers pixels that best fit the Bayesian likelihood of the binary class w.r.t a target pixel. By creating an effect of enlarging receptive field, contiguous edges of the same object can be identified while suppressing noise and textures, the resulting contour is in good agreement with gestalt laws of continuity, similarity and proximity. All theoretical derivations and parameters updates are conducted under the framework of EM-based Bayesian inference. Issues of stability and parameter uncertainty are addressed. Both qualitative and quantitative comparison with existing approaches proves the superiority of the proposed method in terms of tracking curved contours, noises/texture resilience, and detection of low-contrast contours., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

A fundamental characteristic of human visual perception is the ability to group together disparate elements in a scene and treat them as a single unit. The mechanisms by which humans create such groupings remain unknown, but grouping seems to play an important role in a wide variety of visual phenomena, and a good understanding of these mechanisms might provide guidance for how to improve machine vision algorithms. Here, we build on a proposal that some groupings are the result of connections in cortical area V2 that join disparate elements, thereby allowing them to be selected and segmented together. In previous instantiations of this proposal, connection formation was based on the anatomy (e.g., extent) of receptive fields, which made connection formation obligatory when the stimulus conditions stimulate the corresponding receptive fields. We now propose dynamic circuits that provide greater flexibility in the formation of connections and that allow for top-down control of perceptual grouping. With computer simulations we explain how the circuits work and show how they can account for a wide variety of Gestalt principles of perceptual grouping, texture segmentation tasks, amodal illusory contours, and ratings of perceived groupings. We propose that human observers use such top-down control to implement task-dependent connection strategies that encourage particular groupings of stimulus elements in order to promote performance on various visual tasks., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Threat perception has been central in the field of international relations, especially in the literature of states' alliances and conflict solutions. International Relations (IR) balance of power and alliance theories have largely equated "threat" to "power." A standard narrative in Singapore's foreign policy toward great powers is its reluctance to choose between both. Singapore's immediate neighbor, Indonesia, the largest archipelagic country in the world, has voiced similar inclinations. Studies have concentrated on the larger power threat interpretation and their responses toward the change in the international order arising from China's growth or the rise of terrorism but rarely examining issues from small states' point of view. According to Realists' logic, small states possess little capacity to influence the fate of their own survival; therefore, they can only choose between balancing and band wagoning. Threat perceptions play an intermediary role in connecting the external environment and state foreign policy behavior. Hence, the study of threat perception is critical as it influences states foreign policies regarding issues ranging from defense spending to states' level of commitment toward international multilateral cooperation. IR scholars have examined how states form threat perceptions from various psychological and non-psychological perspectives. However, these factors are often studied independently. This paper argues that Gestalt principles of threat perception offer a more thorough analysis of Singapore's threat perception by bridging the gap between realist and constructivist studies by demonstrating how Singapore's threat perception as a small state is magnified due to its unique geographical position and its shared cultural affinity with China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how calculative cultures shape perceptions of models and practices of model use in the financial industry. A calculative culture comprises a specific set of practices and norms concerning data and model use in an organizational setting. Drawing on interviews with model users (data scientists, software developers, traders, and portfolio managers) working in algorithmic securities trading, I argue that the introduction of complex machine-learning models changes the dynamics in calculative cultures, which leads to a displacement of human judgment in quantitative finance. In this paper, I distinguish between three calculative cultures: (1) an idealistic culture of undivided trust in models, (2) a pragmatic culture of skepticism toward model accuracy, and (3) a pragmatic idealist culture of early stage skepticism and implementation and production-phase idealism. Based on the empirical material, the analysis engages with examples of each of the three calculative cultures. The study contributes to the social studies of finance and science and technology studies more broadly by showing how perceptions of models shape and are shaped through model work in data-intensive, computerized finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime ship classification is essential for effectively monitoring oceanic activities but faces challenges when using heterogeneous remote sensing data. This research presents a novel dataset called Heterogeneous Ship Data, created by combining synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical satellite images of ships. The integration of multimodal data aims to harness the complementary advantages of SAR's all-weather imaging capabilities and optical data's higher interretability and shape discrimination. To leverage the heterogeneous dataset, this paper proposes an ensemble deep learning model called MS3Net (Multi-convolutional network using Spatial attention and Second-order pooling for Ship image classification). MS3Net integrates spatial attention mechanisms and second-order pooling. MS3Net has multiple convolutional branches, each tailored to extract distinct representations from the SAR and optical data through varied filter sizes and kernels. The spatial attention units focus the learning on the most informative parts of the image while suppressing irrelevant features. The second-order pooling captures higher-order interactions between feature elements to model complex relationships. A concatenation fusion strategy aggregates the diverse branch outputs into a joint multimodal feature representation for enhanced discrimination. Extensive experiments demonstrate MS3Net's superior classification accuracy over prior state-of-the-art approaches. The proposed heterogeneous data representation coupled with the attention-based deep ensemble learning model contributes to maritime surveillance by enabling robust ship recognition across diverse sensing modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Global South', a term frequently used on websites and in papers related to academic and 'predatory' publishing, may represent a form of unscholarly discrimination. Arguments are put forward as to why the current use of this term is geographically meaningless, since it implies countries in the southern hemisphere, whereas many of the entities in publishing that are referred to as being part of the Global South are in fact either on the equator or in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, academics, in writing about academic publishing, should cease using this broad, culturally insensitive, and geographically inaccurate term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Human Review is the property of Eagora Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Game theory has found significant applications in a wide range of fields to deal with competitive environments between individuals or organizations. The researchers investigated several augmentations of ordinary game theory to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity in payoffs and goals. However, the quantifiable parts of the problems have been studied in matrix games with payoffs expressed by interval numbers, fuzzy numbers, and intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. In several situations, qualitative information is critical in describing the payoffs of a game problem. Experts frequently prefer expressing their perspective in natural linguistic terms rather than numerical values in real-life decision-making challenges. This linguistic representation has been utilized to resolve plenty of decision-making problems. This paper explores the theory of matrix games under a qualitative information environment. We use linguistic interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (LIVIFNs) to describe the payoff values as suggested by experts. The LIVIFNs are more efficient tools that provide experts with a flexible information modeling capability to describe their ambiguous and uncertain perceptions in the form of linguistic terms. The solution of this class of matrix games is attained by resolving a duo of linear or nonlinear programming problems originating through nonlinear bi-objective programming problems. Finally, a numerical example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the suggested approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intended to gain insights on how local communities perceive the conservation of community forests (CFs). It draws from a study that aimed to explore how communities perceive conservation efforts, and uncover the manner through which contextual factors shape these perceptions. Data for this paper were generated through a triangulation of methods, whereby a structured questionnaire was administered to 200 households, and unstructured questionnaires to 43 households. In addition, 7 key informant interviews (KIIs) and 5 focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with forest experts and village leaders to provide further insights and interpretation of the data. We used qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse data on local perceptions of the conservation of CFs. Content and micro-interlocutor analysis was used for qualitative data analysis, while descriptive statistics and Probit regression were used for quantitative data. According to the results, most respondents (85.25%) viewed the conservation of CFs positively. The study indicated that factors such as age, land ownership, conservation benefits, spill-over effects, policy and regulations, and involvement in decision-making processes positively impacted perspectives. However, occupation and conservation costs were unfavourable factors that influenced their viewpoints. Despite the community's positive attitudes, conservation efforts have not succeeded due to the lack of motivation and conflicts of interest, which align with the social exchange theory. We argue that to achieve effective conservation, it is crucial to adopt various strategies such as creating economic opportunities through CFs, modernizing agriculture, and issuing certificates of customary right of occupancy (CCRO). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper unfolds the agency of women developed by and experienced in patriarchal Pakistani society as depicted in Bina Shah's nonfiction narratives. Shah offers a counternarrative to the Euro-American portrayal of Pakistani women by debunking the stereotypical narratives about their suppression and exploitation. Pierre Bourdieu's 'Cultural Field' (1993) and Glynis Breakwell's Identity Process (1986) theories have been used to understand what habitus women manifest in the 'cultural field' and how it evolves in Shah's nonfiction narratives that underscore women's nontraditional 'positions and identity development in the same field. This research also attempts to evaluate the identity threats posed to women when they are deprived of 'symbolic capital' in a patriarchal society. Thematic analysis of Shah's articles published in Dawn and posted on her blog Bina Shah, Feministani will be done to elucidate the identity formation of Pakistani women. This interdisciplinary research which embraces the domains of literature, journalism, sociology, and gender studies will also clarify the significant role of literary writers in re/shaping perceptions of gender identity prevalent in Pakistani society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lookism refers to discrimination based on physical attractiveness or the lack thereof. A whole host of empirical research suggests that lookism is a pervasive and systematic form of social discrimination. Yet, apart from some attention in ethics and political philosophy, lookism has been almost wholly overlooked in philosophy in general and epistemology in particular. This is particularly salient when compared to other forms of discrimination based on race or gender which have been at the forefront of epistemic injustice as a topic of research. This paper argues that lookism is associated with various forms of epistemic injustice. In the specific case of lookism, hermeneutic injustice takes the shape of the taboo of acknowledging that unattractive people are unattractive. This, on the one hand, results in a hampered understanding of one's own situation insofar as one is deterred from seeing one's looks as one major factor for one's social position. On the other hand, this hermeneutic injustice serves as the backdrop of instances of a special kind testimonial injustice in which the ugly person's burgeoning realization that their looks influence their social standing detrimentally is discounted due to the pejorative nature of ascribing someone the property of being unattractive or ugly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban mobility choices and policies are not a common object of study for linguistics. These policies and choices actually generate forms of discrimination by creating reified identities of 'drivers' against 'cyclists' against 'pedestrians'. Through the prism of 'mobility justice' this paper shows how detrimental discursive choices contribute to the normalisation of a mobility system which is highly discriminatory and a source of toxicity and danger to humanity. The discriminations imposed by the hegemonic system of automobility reinforce other forms of intersectional discrimination. By looking at journalistic texts that employ road-user identities to fuel narratives of conflict, this study highlights the need for linguists to contribute to language-focused investigations already being carried out from the perspectives of other disciplines such as Geography, Sociology or Transport Studies. It also shows how these investigations can provide answers to broader questions concerning climate inaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This visual essay draws attention to the diversity in the meaning of "the image" beyond Occidental visual culture. Written alongside the interactive animations of the decolonial, feminist, Indian artist Kinnari Saraiya, this text opens up a space for the shared commonalities between the indigenous Carib and the Indian poetics of touch and proprioception. The importance of interrogating the historical, cultural and ontological injustices embedded within colonial reality, its mentality and gaze cannot be understated. In the sensory scale of races, a hierarchical world structure was created by the natural historian Lorenz Oken (1779 - 1851) (Howes, 2013). Here, the civilised European eye-man who focused on the world with imperial visuality was positioned at the top and at the bottom was the African skin-man who used touch as his primary sensory modality. This essay focuses on an indigenous concept which is conceptualised here as skin-thinking. Skin-thinking thinks through the lesser known sense of proprioception or kinesthesia - the sense of self-movement, force, and body position. And skin, unlike the eyes which are closed during our sleep, is always thinking, always processing information from the many worlds we inhabit. We can rethink the concepts of close proximity and co-presence as we use our fingertips to move through worldbuilding artworks such as, prakṛtiḥ, nṛtya, laya (2022 onwards) and Seven Acts of Nature's Devastating Dance (2023 onwards). Finger kinesthesia is a form of haptic perception that relies on the forces experienced during touch (Graham-Rowe, 2006). As the rhythm of our fingers dance us, (as informational beings) through these worlds, our mind creates virtual, illusory haptic shapes. Prioreception, our skin-thinking sense is what allows us to see in the dark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and cultural factors shape the linguistic perception of colour. At the same time, colour terms co-create the linguistic image of the world, which allows us to interpret reality and profile our statements and beliefs. This paper presents six basic colour terms: white, black, red, green, yellow, and blue (both as adjectives and as nouns) in the five different linguistic images of the world of the following languages: English, French, Italian, Polish, and Japanese. The methodological framework is based on cultural linguistics theory and the basis of semantics. The study explores denotative and connotative meanings of colour terms with their collocations. The data gathered from monolingual, bilingual, collocation, and phraseological dictionaries is analysed from the lexical-semantic point of view. The paper discusses semantic differences between contrasting cultures, especially in the blue-green and red lexis. Simultaneously, the findings point to transcultural and global aspects of colour meanings. Both the contexts of cultural diversity and of geographic location are emphasised in the colour semantics. Colours as linguistic signs can specify and categorise reality in terms of feelings, mental attitudes, or sensual reactions. The examined words also refer to location, nature, and the human body. The study shows that colour terms are multifunctional units in the linguistic image of the world, both in terms of the analysed languages separately and as an illustration of the cultural community of different ethnic languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework that clarifies the construct of pay secrecy. Design/methodology/approach: Paralleling organizational justice research, two continua of pay information – a distributive continuum about pay raise outcomes and a procedural continuum of pay raise processes – are crossed to produce a 3 × 3 matrix with nine distinct forms of pay communication. Findings: Drawing on the substitutability effect from the organizational justice literature, the matrix highlights the importance of considering how the communication of different types of pay information interact with one another as individuals form pay perceptions. Research limitations/implications: The matrix framework illustrates that not only information content shapes pay perceptions, but also the extent to which different types of pay information are communicated, and how these different types of information interact. As with any conceptual framework, the current manuscript is limited by a lack of empirical testing. Practical implications: Managers should be cognizant of the many different ways in which pay information can be communicated. A call is made to reconsider the use of traditionally binary terminology (secret or not) in favor of more accurate descriptions of the nuanced ways in which organizations communicate pay information. Originality/value: The value of the pay communication matrix lies in the nine unique forms of pay communication arising from the interaction of two different forms of pay information – distributive (outcomes) and procedural (process). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Ubiquitous Internet access and social media make visual consumption possibly the most vital characteristic of the experience economy. A cumulative, integrative framework for the analysis of visual artefacts has thus been called for as existing analytical tools and theoretical frameworks (such as semiotics, discourse analysis, content analysis, iconography, rhetoric and so on) each provide in isolation only a restricted perspective. To advance best practice towards shaping brand perception and consumer engagement, this paper provides a crucial analytical tool to uncover the unique and specific characteristics of identitary luxury fashion brand discourse by introducing and applying such an integrative framework. Design/methodology/approach: A rigorous grounded theory approach was applied to a corpus of primary data, print advertising in Vogue (UK and US) and Vanity Fair (UK). Outcomes were distilled to first principles of meaning-making and aggregated in a framework which also integrates long-existing classics from diverse fields of knowledge to present a broad cumulative perspective for the analysis of visual discursive practice. This paper demonstrates the methodological rigour and validity of the framework, that is, its practical adequacy and explanatory power in uncovering the identitary brand discourse of luxury fashion. Findings: An application of the integrative framework breaks new ground in uncovering the discreet identitary characteristics of the discursive practice of the luxury brands under investigation, Chanel and Gucci, which can be encapsulated as gendered technology of the confident self (Foucault) and spectacle (Debord), respectively. Research limitations/implications: To advance theory that illuminates understanding and shaping of brand perception and consumer engagement with luxury fashion brands, the proposed framework is the first to integrate insight from a rigorous analysis of primary data with long-existing classics from salient fields of knowledge. It, thus, provides a broader, more inclusive perspective that elucidates the multifaceted layers of meaning of luxury fashion discourse in a new and comprehensive way which existing approaches with focus on an isolated dimension such as semiotics or nonverbal behaviour and so on would not have been able to reveal. Practical implications: The inclusive, practicable theoretical framework provides a parsimonious and practical tool that can be applied by non-experts across disciplines to unlock meaning in fashion discourse as a route to shaping brand image and engaging consumers. Originality/value: The paper provides a new perspective on the communication practice of luxury fashion advertising as the new integrative framework illuminates layers of meaning crucial to understanding the intricacies of identitary brand discourse and to shaping brand perception and engaging consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My paper discusses the controversial relationship between literature and literary studies by using the example of the term ›migration literature‹. It demonstrates in the first part that ›migration literature‹ as a term in literary studies does not expose explications of rational reconstructions of a conceptual content in Harald Fricke's and Klaus Weimar's understanding. In its history (Adelson 1991; 2004), ›migration literature‹ goes back to a chain of different terms and definitions as Gastarbeiter- or Ausländerliteratur and reflects strategies of homogenization and exclusion. From the 1980s forward, those terms produce in cultural contexts a semantic field that propagates culture based on a definition of ex negativo (Tafazoli 2019). The first part of my paper describes an outline of influences of homogenization and reductionism on the discourses of migration in literary studies and explains in the second part an asymmetrical relationship between motive on the one hand and terminology on the other. The term ›migration literature‹ seems to dominate this relationship by determination of a source of ›accepted truths‹ related to the life and background – specifically to the place of birth and the origin – of the author (Bay 2017). By prioritization of criteria beyond narrative reality, literary studies led in the 1980s and 1990s discourses on migration on the sidelines of canon of German speaking literature (Weigel 1991; Wilpert 2001). With regard to terminological determination in order to produce interpretative sovereignty (Foucault 1994), my paper exemplifies in the second part that the term ›migration literature‹ collects selected and limited fields of social, historical and political knowledge in perspective adjustment and in order to classify literature beyond aesthetic criteria. By this means, inductive standards (Müller 2010a; 2010b) classify the literary object ›migration‹ ontologically and regardless of factuality of the author's life on the one hand and fictionality of narrative text on the other. The ontological classification has been used, for example, in contexts that replace the figure of stranger (Fremder) by the figure of migrant and determines the latter as figuration of external space of culture. The replacement suggests a perspective rigidity in the cultural production of knowledge that flows into a terminological classification and claims with the term ›migration literature‹ sovereignty over culture. From this point of view, the author and his work should be located in the external space of canonized literature. The second part of my paper comes to the conclusion that the term ›migration literature‹ has been developed in politicized frames of external-textual ›accepted truths‹ and bases its stability on cultural essentialism and exclusion regardless of heterogenetic appearance (Bhatti 2015). With regard to theories of »literature on the move« (Ette 2001), my paper understands that migration has always formed a considerable part of literary production. Therefore, migration could be understood as a literary motive. This meaning would undermine an ontological understanding of culture. Narrative texts develop poetics of migration and create by figurations of migration a poly-perspectivity in which migration advances to a polysemantic motive. My paper discusses these thoughts in the context of cultural memory in the third part and understands varied and multifaceted constructions of cultural memory on all sides of cultural borders. This part confronts the asymmetrical relationship between motive and terminology with discussions on migration as narrative of cultural memory that belongs to cultural majority and minority equally, at the same time and in the same space. Based on this understanding, my paper argues that migration as a motive construct shapes and leads discourses of culture under the conditions of global re-formation. The shift of the perspective from conceptual classification to close-readings of literary constructions should lead us to considerations about the openness of the narrative in distinction to terminological unity and should also initiate a paradigm shift in locating migration in discourses of literary studies. The theoretical considerations will be exemplified in the fourth section by Mohammad Hossein Allafis Frankfurter Trilogie that is a collection of the novels Die Nächte am Main (1998), Die letzte Nacht mit Gabriela (2000) and Gabriela findet einen Stapel Papier (2012). The fourth part of my paper examines in Frankfurter Trilogie a reading that integrates migration as a motive into the discourse of cultural memory of global challenges. Using the example of the Trilogie, this part of my paper demonstrates that discussions on migration in the context of cultural memory could initiate a shift in the perspective of reception from conceptual homogenization to narrative openness. The shift of perspective shows that literature translates the questions of community into the aesthetic perception of the form of culture and civilization in which the community actually articulates and appears itself and shows also that reading of migration as a statement about one nation has lost its explanatory power. The last part of my paper resumes my thoughts and takes position in the current fields of research in literary studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of All Azimuth: A Journal of Foreign Policy & Peace is the property of Ihsan Dogramaci Peace Foundation, Center for Foreign Policy & Peace Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper presents the structure, contents, principles of the organization of the forming experiment on personal reflection development, the results, the interpretation and conclusions of the research. The program of development of creative abilities during the process of understanding the scientific text is described and tested, and it testifies about the significance of creative interpretation for the success of educational and professional activity of students of Humanities of higher educational institutions. The purpose of the paper is to prove that the process of creative interpretation promotes text understanding, determines the formation of adaptive strategies of behavior and reduces the probability of occurrence of stereotyped and maladaptation strategies. The forming activities include training for developing creative abilities, in which group discussion, psychotechnical and psychotherapeutic exercises, elements of psychoanalysis (psychoanalysis, symbol-drama) are used. The paper explores and discusses a concept of personal reflection, which has been used as a means of forming culture of perception of the scientific text during 2019-2020 among the students of the Humanities Faculty at Khmelnytsky National University, Ukraine. In conclusion, the author emphasizes the guided questions for the development of personal reflection as a means of forming culture of perception of the scientific text by humanitarians. Besides, the paper lists and explores benefits and drawbacks of interpretation levels (scientific, emotional-sensitive, creative) and their relations due to the components of intellect, strategies of interpreted behavior, success of educational and professional activity and creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of online communication by festivals regarding their sustainability practices using Cultivation Theory as the framework to determine perceived value creation. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed method approach was utilized to achieve data triangulation through a content analysis of websites, content analysis of social media sites as well as interviews. Findings: Findings indicated that 64% of festivals did not communicate any sustainable practices through their websites and only 6% communicated via social media. The most common sustainability practices communicated were waste management and sustainable transportation, yet few festivals engaged in effective, consistent and sufficient marketing of initiatives to festivalgoers. Best practice festivals (having communicated 5.47 initiatives or more) were found to have been significantly more likely than non-best practice festivals to be music festivals and have been in operation longer. Best practice festivals were also more likely than non-best practice festivals to have sustainability engrained into their corporate philosophy via a communicated sustainable vision and mission. Interviews revealed that most festivals did not have a designated role responsible for all sustainable initiatives and the responsibility was often taken on by volunteers or festival organizers. Festival organizers that communicated sustainability initiatives efficiently, consistently, and sufficiently perceived these efforts to benefit the festivals value amongst festivalgoers and host communities. Propensity to communicate sustainability initiatives was found to have been impacted by awareness, categorization, timing, policy and funding. Research limitations/implications: While the findings are limited to the country of Canada and the extent of communication on websites and social media platforms as well as those festivals who participated, interviews helped to overcome these limitations as they gained an understanding of what was undertaken but not necessarily communicated. Practical implications: The findings generated from this study could be used as a guide for establishing a benchmark for festivals regarding sustainable communication as well as strategies for overall corporate responsibility. Content regarding sustainability at festivals is scarce, as is information on festival communication. As a result, this paper seeks to understand the sustainable initiatives that are being communicated by festivals. Originality/value: This is the first time Cultivation Theory was used within a tourism context and may be a useful tool to determine value creation. Through Cultivation Theory, festival organizers believed to have the ability to impact perceived value of the festival by implementing efficient, consistent and sufficient communication of sustainability initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiences of wind turbines (WT) shape public perception and acceptance of the technology, influencing government policy, deployment, and land-use policies of wind turbines. This paper attempts to find changes in public perceptions over the last three decades and differences between experts and the public over different land-use options. A semi-structured questionnaire that integrates a visual survey of 10 images of WT technology in different urban, landscape and seascape settings was presented to both groups. The perceptions of siting, proximity, landscape type, and maturity of urban wind turbines' technology in renewable energy generation were contrasted. The results revealed that both the public and experts alike significantly preferred images of WT inclusion in seascape and landscape settings and responded negatively to images of WT as an addition to buildings in urban contexts. Images of wind turbines around transport settings were ranked in the second set of acceptances, after landscape settings, indicating that closer proximity to WT is acceptable, but for a short duration. The analysis also highlighted a preference by the public for aesthetically engaging WT, even if they resulted in lower energy yields, but were less accepted by the experts who based their judgment on technical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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