According to John Broome, akrasia consists in a failure to intend to do something that one believes one ought to do, and such akrasia is necessarily irrational. In fact, however, failing to intend something that one believes one ought to do is only guaranteed to be irrational if one is certain of a maximally detailed proposition about what one ought to do; if one is uncertain about any part of the full story about what one ought to do, it could be perfectly rational not to intend to do something that one believes one ought to do. This paper seeks to remedy this problem, by proposing an anti-akrasia principle that covers cases of uncertainty (as well as cases of such complete certainty). It is argued that this principle is in effect the fundamental principle of practical rationality., Podle Johna Broome, akrasia spočívá v selhání v úmyslu udělat něco, co člověk věří, kdo by měl dělat, a takové akrasia nutně iracionální. Ve skutečnosti se však nedaří v úmyslu něco, co člověk věří, kdo by měl udělat, je zaručeno, že iracionální, pokud je jen jistá o maximálně podrobným tvrzením o tom, co kdo měl dělat; pokud si člověk není jistý, jakou část celého příběhu by měl udělat, mohlo by to být naprosto rozumné, kdybychom neměli v úmyslu dělat něco, co by člověk věřil. Tento dokument se snaží tento problém napravit tím, že navrhne protiarasiizásada, která se vztahuje na případy nejistoty (jakož i případy takové úplné jistoty). Tvrdí se, že tato zásada je ve skutečnosti základním principem praktické racionality., and Ralph Wedgwood
Because greater Akt substrate of 160 kDa (AS160) phosphorylation has been reported in insulin-stimulated skeletal muscles without improved Akt activation several hours post-exercise, we hypothesized that prior exercise would result in attenuated AS160 dephosphorylation in insulin-stimulated rat skeletal muscle. Epitrochlearis muscles were isolated from rats that were sedentary (SED) or exercised 3 h earlier (3 h postexercise; 3hPEX). Paired muscles were incubated with [3H]-2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) without insulin or with insulin. Lysates from other insulin-stimulated muscles from SED or 3hPEX rats were evaluated using AS160Thr642 and AS160Ser588 dephosphorylation assays. Prior exercise led to greater 2-DG uptake concomitant with greater AS160Thr642 phosphorylation and a non-significant trend (P=0.087) for greater AS160Ser588. Prior exercise also reduced AS160Thr642 and AS160Ser588 dephosphorylation rates. These results support the idea that attenuated AS160 dephosphorylation may favor greater AS160 phosphorylation post-exercise., E. B. Arias, H. Wang, G. D. Cartee., and Seznam literatury
Considerable evidence demonstrates that phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is influenced by aging and hypertension. During phenotypic switching, VSMCs undergo a switch to a proliferative and migratory phenotype, with this switch being a common pathology in cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the joint influence of age and hypertension on thoracic aortic smooth muscle phenotypic switching and the balance of Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling during this switch. Different ages of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) were used to establish hypertension and aging models. The phenotypic state was determined by detecting the marker proteins α-SM-actin, calponin, and osteopontin (OPN) via immunohistochemical staining and Western blot. Signaling proteins associated with the Akt and MAPK pathways were detected in rat thoracic aorta using Western blot. Both aging and hypertension caused a decrease in contractile (differentiated) phenotype markers (α-SM-actin and calponin), while the synthetic (proliferative or de-differentiated) phenotype maker was elevated (OPN). When combining hypertension and aging, this effect was enhanced, with Akt signaling decreased, while MAPK signaling was increased. These results suggested that VSMCs phenotype switching is modulated by a balance between Akt and MAPK signaling in the process of aging and hypertension., Lin Zhang, Zhaoxia Xu, Ying Wu, Jingwen Liao, Fanxing Zeng, Lijun Shi., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Řada studií prokázala, že aktivace určitého sociálního stereotypu může ovlivnit následující výkon. Cílem naší studie bylo zjistit, zda aktivace stereotypu posluchače určitého hudebního žánru může ovlivnit mentální výkon, učení cizích slov. V prvním experimentu bylo zjištěno, že preference žánru klasická hudba je stereotypně spojena s představou vyšší inteligence a výkonnosti ve srovnání se stereotypem posluchače techna. V druhém experimentu byl před testem učení cizích slov aktivován stereotyp posluchače klasické hudby nebo techna. Výsledky ukázaly, že aktivace stereotypu posluchače klasické hudby vede k mírně lepším výsledkům testu ve srovnání se stereotypem posluchače techna. and Musical fan’s stereotypes activation and mental performance
Objectives. The goal of the study was to investigate an effect of activation of musical fans stereotypes on a mental performance – learning words in a foreign language. In Experiment 1 stereotypical association of fans of classical music, jazz, techno, heavy metal, rap, and punk with the traits intelligence and efficiency were investigated. In Experiment 2 an effect of stereotype activation of fans of certain musical genres on mental task was studied.
Subjects and setting. 63 subjects (32 females) aged 20-22 years took part in Experiment 1. They were asked to indicate on 7-point Likert scale the level of perceived intelligence and efficacy of listeners of particular musical genres. 88 subjects (56 females) aged 19-22 years took part in Experiment 2. First, slides with typical forms of behaviors of classical music or techno musicians and listeners in a course of a concert were presented. Further, subjects were asked to write down a short report about these typical forms of behavior. Next, during six minutes period subjects were asked to learn twenty Latin words. Finally, they were tested from their knowledge.
Hypotheses. Since the stereotype of classical music listener use to be associated with intelligence we supposed that activation of this stereotype prior to the mental task would result in a better performance in contrast to activation of techno music fan stereotype. Statistical analysis. In the first experiment 6 (musical genre) x 2 (gender) ANOVA revealed the significant effect of musical genre on perceived intelligence and efficiency. In the second experiment 2 (stereotypes of classical music vs. techno) x 2 (gender) ANOVA revealed the significant effect of the type of stereotype activation, on performance in the mental task. Results. Experiment 1 showed that the highest scores of perceived intelligence were associated with listeners of classical music and jazz, while the lowest score with fans of techno. In perceived efficiency the highest scores were combined with listeners of classical music and jazz, while fans of techno and rap had the lowest scores. Thus, in Experiment 2 the stereotypes of listeners of classical music and techno were employed. Results indicated that the activation of stereotype of classical music listeners prior to mental task resulted in a slightly better score in the test of learning foreign words compared to activation of the stereotype of techno fans.
Study limitation. The differences between various forms of stereotype priming and their effects on performance were discussed.
Acculturation of expatriate executive managers was examined in the sample of 16 sojourners transferring managerial know-how to companies in Czechia, using a structured longitudinal interview survey including in depth personal interviews. The interviews were conducted six and eighteen months after the arrival of respondents in Czechia. The respondents were contacted as they became available during the period 2006 to 2010. The results indicate that acculturation of sojourners in Czechia proceeded, as expected according to the international literature, broadly in line with the Hofstede’s acculturation “U“ curve (Hofstede 1997). The qualitative analysis points to a number of problems, the sojourners had to deal with during their acculturation including: dependence on communication in English, while recognising potential advantages associated with the knowledge of Czech language, cultural distance - particularly the uncertainty arising from the inability to correctly predict Czech behaviour, lack of openness limiting the Czech ability to form a broader world view, lack of mutual respect between the Czech co-workers, a degree of Czech xenophobia and underestimation of certain predictors of successful acculturation such as social engagement with the Czech hosts. Research also points to a number of helpful coping strategies.