Rational Considerations Research Articles

Does fish origin matter to European consumers?

PurposeThis study aims to gain insights into the relevance and market potential of fish origin (farmed or wild) among consumers in Belgium, Norway and Spain.Design/methodology/approachCross‐sectional data were collected through a consumer survey (n=1,319), conducted in November‐December 2007 in three European countries: Belgium, Norway and Spain. The study describes personal and food characteristics, as well as consumer attitudes and knowledge related to fish origin. Further, these characteristics were analysed in terms of their impact on the choice of either farmed or wild fish, using bivariate analyses.FindingsIn general, European consumers have little knowledge or awareness regarding the origin of fish. This results in uncertainty in consumers' perception of farmed fish in particular. The study is in line with previous ones suggesting that perceptions of aquaculture and farmed fish are based more on emotions than on rational considerations. Still, the perception of farmed fish is positive in general. Consumers do not prioritise fish origin as an information cue, although variation is present between different consumer groups. Consumers of predominantly farmed versus wild fish did not have a very distinct profile, which corroborates with the only modest significance of fish origin as a product‐specific information cue during the fish purchase and consumption decision process.Originality/valueThe strength of the paper pertains to its international scope, and to the diversity of countries selected in terms of relevant variables. Also, the growing relevance of aquaculture as a fish production method and farmed fish as a food product makes results and findings of the study topical and of practical relevance.

Rational Consideration on Package Design of Wooden Furniture

With the increasing demand of woodiness furniture, wooden furniture packaging transportation becomes an important factor of keeping woodiness furniture quality stand. Generally, wooden furniture packaging including sealing, blowing, bagged, packing, pad, and labeling and so on. Reasonable woodiness furniture packaging design must consider these elements of packaging materials, packing size, tie-in of packages, convenient transportation and easily recycled.

Breaking up is hard to do: Irrational inconsistency in commitment to an industry peer network

This paper strengthens the basis for a key claim of contemporary economic sociology — that strong ties among capitalists cannot be reduced to rational considerations. Support for this claim has been limited by reliance on an external standard of rationality, whereby irrationality in commitment to a partner or network is based on an observer’s evaluation of an actor’s interests. In this article we address this limitation by developing an internal standard for assessing the rationality of an actor’s commitment, which is derived from Davidson’s (1980) definition of akrasia or ‘incontinence.’ In addition, we clarify the mechanisms that produce ‘akratic’ commitment among capitalists: (a) short-term emotions that overwhelm rational calculation; and (b) a sense of loyalty that leads one to incorporate others’ interests into one’s own. Finally, we provide systematic evidence of akratic commitment and the proposed mechanisms from studies of an industry peer network in the remodeling construction industry.

Gene therapy for pulmonary hypertension: prospects and challenges

Introduction: Recent evidence shows that pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) remains a fatal disease despite the introduction of new pharmacological treatments. New options are therefore needed and gene therapy approaches are a rational consideration based on emerging understanding of the genetic basis of PAH.Areas covered: This review briefly discusses the recent developments in clinical management of PAH and the investigation of gene delivery techniques for pulmonary vascular disease from 1997 to 2010, relating this to improved understanding of disease pathogenesis during this period. There is a focus on bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2, as mutations in this gene are clearly linked to disease pathogenesis and outcomes. The reader will gain insight into the gene vector strategies being used, the target cells and the specific genes being delivered as candidate therapeutic approaches for PAH.Expert opinion: Various genes and strategies for delivery have achieved improvements in PAH in animal models, which is encouraging for the development of this technology for human application. The main limiting factor for clinical progress relates to gene delivery vector technology.

DESIGN LIVE LOADS FOR ROOFTOP GARDENS BASED ON SURVEY RESULTS OF URBAN DETACHED HOUSES

The design live load for residence is often used for designing rooftops of residences, but the validity of using residence live load for rooftop gardens has not been confirmed. In the present study, new design value of live load for rooftop gardens are proposed based on the building survey results from 24 steel-framed houses in Tokyo area. The proposed design live load value will allow for the rational structural design of residences with rooftop gardens and also allow rational consideration of future changes to rooftop occupancy.

The Concept of a Point of View

The aim of this article is to provide an epistemological account of the concept of a point of view. The focus of the article is componential and therefore different variables in the concept of a point of view will be discussed. The article concludes that the concept of a point of view refers to mental viewing or rational consideration, which has many constituents, some of which relate to the observing subject, some to the tools of observing, and some to the object of observation. Most components of points of view are related to the subject of the point of view and his or her interests.

Active Greens

This article investigates green party members’ activism in the environmental movement and tests how a number of predictors, theoretically suggested in the past yet rarely empirically tested, can account for it. The authors’ analysis is based on an extensive data set of members of 15 green parties in 12 European countries ( N = 6,639). This article finds that members’ activism can be accounted for largely by network and identity variables, as suggested by social movements’ scholars, whereas “new social movements” theories did not adequately explain environmental activism. Thus, network or identity variables, such as past activism, membership in environmental organizations, and activism in other social movements, are significant in the multivariate model. A number of alternative models are significant alone but not when network or identity variables are added to the model: postmaterialism, a “new environmental paradigm” worldview, and political attitudes. Although age, rational choice considerations, and new middle-class placement remain statistically significant, yet—for the latter case—its effect is negative. Macro-level variables, such as the green party’s governmental experience, the country’s quality of natural environment as well as environmental policies, were also found to have statistically significant effects on activism.

Internal marketing as a change management tool: A case study in re-branding

This article examines the rational, power and political considerations of internal marketing (IM) when implementing a change management initiative, such as re-branding. Based on the findings of a qualitative case study of a Canadian university and the views of multiple stakeholder groups, additional considerations have been identified that relate to the transformation or ‘control’ stage of change. Particularly, tactics have been presented that are believed to facilitate the transition or re-branding process. This research provides important perspective on the role of IM in the context of organizational behavior. Using a grounded theory research method, an adapted model is proposed that comprises elements of internal marketing as well as change management.

Implications for Customs of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy Options: A Preliminary Examination

This paper offers a preliminary examination of the theoretical and practical implications of climate change mitigation and adaptation policy options on the role of Customs. The policy options covered are carbon import tariffs (especially border tax adjustments [BTAs]), trade facilitation of low-carbon energy technology (including the salience of the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System), enforcement against emission permit trading irregularities, customs clearance of humanitarian relief consignments, trade recovery, and Customs’ responses to the potential of climate change driven international trade contraction. The paper contends that further research on such topics using positive and normative criteria will promote rational consideration, formulation and implementation of Customs-relevant climate policies. An interdisciplinary approach is used for the paper’s sourcing and analysis, and expanded use of this methodology is encouraged to further enrich research on Customs matters.

Is Operators' Compliance with Alarm Systems a Product of Rational Consideration?

Most theories about operators' responses to alarm systems suggest that the operators' behavior is guided by their trust towards the system which in turn results from the subjective perception of system properties, namely the perceived reliability of the alarm system. However, some doubts about that assumption have arisen as recent research has not proven the mediating effect of trust. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between alarm system properties, trust, and behavior. The alarm reliability was varied while keeping the other system properties constant. It was found that participants' response-rates to alarms were predicted by their perceived alarm reliabilities. However, no mediation by trust could be established. These results suggest that operators' behavior is not always guided by their trust towards the system. Under specific circumstances their compliance rather depends on rational consideration regarding the most efficient strategy.

Can bioethics help towards a better respect?

The conquering of dignity is the consideration which all human beings deserve simply for what we are in each and every one of the particularities and differences which define us; applicable to persons with disabilities as much as the rest. In addition, respect dignifies those who feel and show it.Bioethics would like to put within our reach a habit of critical thinking and reasoned analysis of our behaviour, to identify the values on which we base our actions. The ethics sustaining it by no means correspond to moralism, rather a rational consideration of what and why we do something. It is a question of acquiring greater awareness in order to be able to progress and help with this. Progress and health as concepts are closely linked to the idea of personal emancipation. To consider this self-construction, it is a question of seeing it as an effort, always admirable, to take advantage of the opportunity to live.This effort deserves to enjoy entitlement to general protection, i.e., lack of-discrimination, privacy and confidentiality: an expression of autonomy taking the form it takes and having limitations.The help which everyone needs must be a companion sensitive to personal and changing needs. Accompanying does not mean walking in somebody else's place, nor overtaking them, but knowing how to be with someone and walk “by their side”. If we take seriously human rights of all humans whatever their characteristics, then we will see that the questions we should ask ourselves are numerous, daily and requiring courage.

P3-CABAC: A Nonstandard Tri-Thread Parallel Evolution of CABAC in the Manycore Era

Due to its high-computational complexity and poor parallelism, the context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coder (CABAC) increasingly poses a bottleneck in the large-scale parallel video encoder like H.264 on a manycore platform. Motivated by the organization of the contexts models in CABAC, this letter presents a tri-thread parallel evolution of CABAC. The evolutional coder, which is named P3-CABAC, statically divides syntax elements into three predefined groups, each of which forms a parallel thread. Since the P3-CABAC is thread-level parallelizable and implementation-friendly for manycore processors, it presents a rational consideration for entropy coding in block-based video encoders in the manycore era.

¿Nos puede ayudar la bioética a respetar mejor?

The conquering of dignity is the consideration which all human beings deserve simply for what we are in each and every one of the particularities and differences which define us; applicable to persons with disabilities as much as the rest. In addition, respect dignifies those who feel and show it. Bioethics would like to put within our reach a habit of critical thinking and reasoned analysis of our behaviour, to identify the values on which we base our actions. The ethics sustaining it by no means correspond to moralism, rather a rational consideration of what and why we do something. It is a question of acquiring greater awareness in order to be able to progress and help with this. Progress and health as concepts are closely linked to the idea of personal emancipation. To consider this self-construction, it is a question of seeing it as an effort, always admirable, to take advantage of the opportunity to live. This effort deserves to enjoy entitlement to general protection, i.e., lack of-discrimination, privacy and confidentiality: an expression of autonomy taking the form it takes and having limitations. The help which everyone needs must be a companion sensitive to personal and changing needs. Accompanying does not mean walking in somebody else's place, nor overtaking them, but knowing how to be with someone and walk “by their side”. If we take seriously human rights of all humans whatever their characteristics, then we will see that the questions we should ask ourselves are numerous, daily and requiring courage.

How does a new institution spread? Travel agencies' adoption of the service quality assurance programme

Despite the recognition of service quality as a major advantage in service industries, the travel agency sector in Taiwan has lacked any service quality certification regime that could optimize service provision or reduce customers' transaction costs. Since the introduction of such a quality-assurance programme in Taiwan in mid-2003, local travel agencies have responded differently. With a sample of 167 uncertified Taiwanese travel service operators, this study argues that firm responsiveness to a new institution depends on two distinct motives, rational and normative, and that such relationships are contingent upon CEO's background and market conditions. The results detail the varied responses as a result of rational and normative considerations and highlight the context-dependent nature of the motivation–behaviour relationships. This study yields important implications for quality credentialing bodies regarding how a new institution may diffuse in a field.

Returning to religion: why a secular age is haunted by faith

How can one explain the resurgence of religion, even in a western context of rationality, postmodernity and scientific endeavour? The persistence of religious expression has compelled even diehard secularists, or proponents of the 'secularization thesis', to rethink their positions. Jonathan Benthall explains precisely why societies are not bound to embrace western liberal rationality as an evolutionary inevitability. He shows that the opposite is true: that where a secular society represses the religious imagination, the human predisposition to religion will in the end break out in surprising, apparently secular, modes and outlets.Concentrating on what he calls 'para-religion', a kind of secular spirituality that manifests itself within movements and organisations who consider themselves motivated by wholly rational considerations, Benthall uncovers a paradox: despite themselves, they are haunted by the shadow of irrationality. Arguing that humanitarianism, environmentalism, the animal rights movement, popular archaeology and anthropology all have 'religiod' aspects, his startling conclusion is that religion, rather than coming 'back', in fact never went away. A human universal, the 'religious inclination' underlies the fabric of who we are, and is essential for the healthy functioning of any society.

Proč chceme děti: hodnota dítěte a preferovaný počet dětí v České republice

Surveys often reveal that the number of children people would like to have is greater than the number they actually have. This article examines the question of why people actually want children and bases its answers on data from the 2006 Value of Children Survey, which reintroduces the value of children concept from the 1970s. The battery of survey questions used identified six dimensions of the value of children (The positives of parenthood; Natural drives and goals; Tradition and social status; Social pressure; Limitations and losses; and Decision inhibitors). The respondents, young people between the ages of 28 and 34, see the main reasons for deciding to have children in the positive feelings associated with raising children and with successful parenthood as a natural part of life. They associate parenthood less with responses about social norms and pressure or with rational considerations about all the pros and cons of having children, and they see parenthood as their own, individual decision. A data analysis based on a multinomial logistic regression shows that declared attitudes to a limited extent infl uence the preferred number of children and that the Czech population is still dominated by the idea of the two-child family with two biological parents, while declared voluntary childlessness is still a marginal phenomenon.

A software tool for translating deterministic model results into probabilistic assessments of water quality standard compliance

Most assessments of whether a water body will comply with pollutant standards after modification of land use, loading, or climate change are based on the results of deterministic simulation models. These models, including those used to support the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) total maximum daily load (TMDL) program, typically do not account for common sources of assessment uncertainty. Instead, model results are typically represented by a time series of predicted pollutant concentration values or the parameters of a frequency-based distribution of these values over a specified time period. The rate of exceedance of relevant pollutant limits is then assessed directly from this time series or distribution to determine standard compliance. In this way, sampling and analysis-based variability and model uncertainty are typically ignored, although they may substantially influence the probability of non-compliance. To help address this problem, we introduce ProVAsT ( Probabilistic Water Quality Standard Violation Assessment Tool), a software tool encoded in the graphical model-based package Analytica ®. Here, we present a version of ProVAsT which translates model-predicted in situ fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) pollutant concentrations into the expected frequency of water quality standard violations and provides a Bayesian measure of the degree of confidence in this assessment. We call this version ProVAsT-FIB. Along with inputting their own simulation model results, users can specify the particular water quality analysis methods employed (e.g. the analytic procedure used and the number and volume of sample aliquots) as well as the numeric limits pertaining to local water quality standards. It is our hope that ProVAsT will encourage the rational consideration of uncertainty and variability in water quality assessments by reducing the burden of complex statistical calculations.

MAD ABOUT IDEALS? EDUCATING CHILDREN TO BECOME REASONABLY PASSIONATE

Abstract The current public concern about radicalization and extremism challenges philosophers and particularly philosophers of education to explore questions such as “Why do adolescents with strong ideas transgress?” and “What can we do about it?” The first question can be addressed by examining the role of their passionate commitment to their ideals as well as how this passion manifests in their pursuit of these ideals. The second question refers to the role of education in orienting and directing young people’s passionate attachment to and pursuit of ideals. In this essay, Stijn M.A. Sieckelinck and Doret J. de Ruyter argue that educating children to become reasonably passionate about ideals is a justifiable, and in fact an important, educational aim. This educational aim rests upon the notion that people take a rational, moral, and prudent stance toward their ideals and that they pursue their ideals in a way limited (yet also enabled) by rational, moral, and prudent considerations. While extremism is not likely to be defeated by educational efforts only, democratic citizenship demands urgent educational attention to young people’s passion for ideals.

Aspects of antioxidant foods and supplements in health and disease

Free radicals generated as byproducts of normal metabolism can damage biologically relevant molecules. When their generation is increased, damage can also be increased, resulting in the development of many pathological conditions. Antioxidant defenses protect the body from the detrimental effects of free radicals. Dietary fruits and vegetables provide a reasonable amount of compounds that act as physiological antioxidants. Although existing knowledge does not allow a final and conclusive assessment of the relevance of antioxidants for health, it does provide the basis for its rational consideration. This paper addresses the specific aspects of antioxidant supplementation in health and disease.

Disinterestedness and Objectivity

Christopher Janaway’s Beyond Selflessness: Reading Nietzsche’s ‘Genealogy’1 is a valuable and important contribution to Nietzsche scholarship on several counts. It gives thematic prominence to questions about Nietzsche’s method of writing and its relationship with his general aim of undermining Christian moral values, and to Nietzsche’s view that our commitment to those values is primarily determined by affective not rational considerations. The book is also distinctive in its careful and illuminating discussion of the Genealogy’s strong, but often only implicit, opposition to Schopenhauer—and it is this dimension of the book that I will try to address in this paper. In particular, I would like to examine the book’s general allegiance to Nietzsche’s critique of the Kantian-Schopenhauerian characterization of aesthetic experience in terms of disinterestedness. According to Janaway’s interpretation of Nietzsche, the concept of disinterestedness with its purported claim to objectivity (in the Kantian sense of the universal a priori conditions of subjectivity) is an expression of the ascetic ideal or ‘will to nothingness’. I argue that (1) Nietzsche’s criticisms rest on a misinterpretation of the notion of disinterestedness; and that (2) although Nietzsche supplants the notion of disinterestedness with his own of Rausch, he derives a conception of aesthetic experience from Rausch that is closely related to the Kantian-Schopenhauerian notion of aesthetic experience as defined by disinterestedness.