D.A. Napalkov, M.L. Sosenko and I.A. Shestova
Devotes research to the psychophysiological study of mechanisms of the functional state regulation in children with minimal mental dysfunctions and a control group of normal…
Abstract
Devotes research to the psychophysiological study of mechanisms of the functional state regulation in children with minimal mental dysfunctions and a control group of normal children. Interprets the data with the help of a cybernetic model developed by R.M. Baevsky. Opines that the changes in heart rate indicate changes in the central nervous system directed to the adaptation of an organism to fulfilment of offered mental tasks. Offers a hypothesis of inadequate regulation of functional state in the children with minimal mental dysfunction based on the study of the maturation of the heart rate control system and ontogenetic development of attention and time perception functions.
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Surbhi Gupta, Arun Kumar Attree, Ranjana Thakur and Vishal Garg
This study aims to examine the role of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in attracting higher foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the major emerging economies namely…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in attracting higher foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the major emerging economies namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) from the source developed, developing and other emerging economies over a period of 18 years from 2001 to 2018.
Design/methodology/approach
To estimate the results, panel data regression on a gravity-knowledge capital model has been used. To account for the problem of endogeneity we have used the two-step difference Generalised Method of Moments estimator proposed by Arellano and Bond (1991).
Findings
We find that contradictory to theory and expectations, BITs result in a fall in FDI inflows in BRICS economies. BITs ratified by BRICS economies are not able to provide a sound and secure investment environment to foreign investors, thereby discouraging FDI in these economies.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the impact of BITs on FDI inflows into the emerging BRICS economies. Further, the impact of BITs on FDI flows among developed nations, i.e. north-north FDI and from developed to developing countries, i.e. north-south FDI has already been studied by many researchers. But so far, no study has examined this impact on FDI among developing and emerging economies (south-south FDI), despite an increase in FDI flows among these economies. Therefore, this study seeks to overcome the limitations of previous studies and tries to find out the impact of BITs on FDI inflows in BRICS economies not only from source developed but also from source developing and other emerging economies.
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Proposes that halfway through the decade which has been termed that of the brain, our level of understanding is still primitive despite much excellent research. Discusses new…
Abstract
Proposes that halfway through the decade which has been termed that of the brain, our level of understanding is still primitive despite much excellent research. Discusses new findings, such as those presented in a recent lecture, which can still alter profoundly the perception of neural mechanisms, and shows that we may even be wrong in the customary assumption that the well‐known electro‐chemical neural transmission is the only important form of rapid internal communication in the brain.
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Presents research on human memory modelling. Gives a description of the memory process (as a whole) in its functional details by means of adding, processing and synthesizing…
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Presents research on human memory modelling. Gives a description of the memory process (as a whole) in its functional details by means of adding, processing and synthesizing psychological data using the creation of a model base. Compares the created psychological equivalent to the adequate mathematical‐algorithmic multi‐apparatus descriptions. Presents the programme‐developed human memory model as a precondition for microelectronic realizations (robot technique, computers and other bionic‐cybernetical systems).
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The purpose of this paper is to consider extension of the Kőnig‐Egerváry theorem to apply to matrices of dimensionality greater the two. It is shown that the theorem holds for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider extension of the Kőnig‐Egerváry theorem to apply to matrices of dimensionality greater the two. It is shown that the theorem holds for matrices of any dimensionality, in the standard case where “cover” of selected elements is by lines, and the criterion for independence is also with reference to lines. Attention is also given to the case where cover and (hyper‐independence) are with reference to planes, or submatrices of higher dimensionality, rather than lines, and counter‐examples are given that show the theorem does not then hold universally. A preliminary survey is made of the diverse proofs that have been devised for the basic theorem, and in an Appendix an approach to the multidimensional Transportation Problem is reviewed.
Design/methodology/approach
Interest in generalisation of the theorem arose from the attempt to extend the Hungarian Method for the Assignment Problem to higher dimensionality. The results are also interesting as purely mathematical theory.
Findings
The theorem has been shown to extend to the multidimensional case when cover and independence are defined with reference to lines, but not universally otherwise.
Practical implications
Extension of the theorem to higher dimensionality has not produced a rigorous corresponding extension of the Hungarian Method, but may stimulate further studies. An approximate extension of the method (approximate insofar as it gives no guarantee of convergence on an optimum) will be described in a later publication. The study of the multidimensional Transportation Problem, reviewed in the Appendix, confirms the general difficulty of extending a class of methods from elegant solutions in the two‐dimensional case to versions for higher dimensionality.
Originality/value
The paper's results are believed to be original. Their main value is likely to be in stimulating interest that may lead to further developments as suggested.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how French senior consumers deal with duality between perceived risk and perceived value associated with functional foods (FFs) and to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how French senior consumers deal with duality between perceived risk and perceived value associated with functional foods (FFs) and to analyze whether the risk-value trade-off may help to derive different consumer profiles.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 220 senior consumers (50-70). A two-step clustering analysis was carried out on factor scores of perceived value and perceived risk. Discriminant analysis was then employed to verify the classification reliability, and analysis of variance was performed to profile the clusters on the basis of additional variables.
Findings
Four distinctive profiles of FF senior consumers were identified. Significant differences were found to be attributed to personality traits. Interestingly, the “Trustful enthusiasts” and the “Ambivalents” consumers do not differ in their repurchase intention, despite a significant discrepancy in risk perception.
Practical implications
The study is an opportunity to offer a segmentation of this attractive growing target of health-enhancing products. The typology can help the practitioners to find out a new valuable scope of messages to better communicate to elderly market.
Originality/value
The research seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge on seniors’ nutrition-related behavior, by proposing a segmentation still lacking in research works. Since FF perceived value appears to be multidimensional and not only utilitarian, the study provides a new insight into the experiential approach of health-enhancing eating. Also, it shows how the differences between FF consumers could be attributed to certain personal variables.
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The author reminisces about an experience in the 1950s that revealed a much earlier plan to set up a research centre with aims close to what later came to be called cybernetics…
Abstract
Purpose
The author reminisces about an experience in the 1950s that revealed a much earlier plan to set up a research centre with aims close to what later came to be called cybernetics. That plan was thwarted by economic considerations but the general approach found expression in the later work of Warren McCulloch and of a group around him, the latter first in Chicago and then in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This paper aims to discuss the attempt to set up this research centre.
Design/methodology/approach
The emphasis is on study of the brain and its modelling in mechanistic terms, and the limitations of various experimental techniques are discussed.
Findings
Despite much very good work and technical developments, the detailed working of the brain is still mysterious, and quite fundamental aspects are still debatable. The suggestion that the 1990s would be the “Decade of the brain” was premature.
Practical implications
Technical developments including scanning techniques, especially NMR, have aided the analysis of brain functioning and no doubt other developments will emerge. Modelling by methods of artificial intelligence is likely to be helpful, but must be seen as producing bold, and therefore tentative, hypotheses that workers should be ready to modify or abandon.
Originality/value
The trip to Orange, New Jersey has been described and discussed previously but not in such detail.
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This paper aims to discuss at a fundamental level the observation that the world can be seen as grey, or uncertain.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discuss at a fundamental level the observation that the world can be seen as grey, or uncertain.
Design/methodology/approach
Attention is given first to arguments that suggest that the future should be seen as totally unknown, or black. Reasons are given for dismissing these arguments, and then consideration is given to fundamental causes of uncertainty which prevent the world being white or totally known.
Findings
The treatment is at a fundamental level that has little bearing on current practical means of dealing with uncertainty, but it is claimed that consideration of fundamentals is often unexpectedly rewarding and therefore worth pursuing.
Practical implications
There are probably few practical implications, at least in the short term.
Originality/value
The viewpoints appear to have received little previous notice.