Vital Form Research Articles

Music’s ability to foster prosocial behavior: a teleofunctionalist perspective

Drawing on recent interdisciplinary music research—biologically or developmental psychologically oriented—which conceptualizes music as a communicative toolkit primarily serving affiliative communicative interaction, this paper investigates the question of whether and to what extent music is capable of fostering prosocial behavior within the framework of teleofunctionalism—a philosophical theory of mind. A teleofunctionalist perspective allows us to specify this question as follows: To what extent might a function of establishing affiliative socio-interactional relationships be considered a proper function of music, a concept suggested by philosopher Ruth Millikan? From an ontogenetic perspective, musical activities are considered to be rooted in protoconversational communication in early infancy, characterized as interpersonal coordination without involving propositional understanding. These activities develop into coordinated, non-representational forms of vitality, involving basic empathy, shared intentionality, and forms of understanding allowing for shared experiences. This effect of musical activities—establishing shared experiences—can be considered a proper function of music. A teleofunctional explanation of why musical practices that foster cooperation and prosocial behavior are reproduced is provided by the participants’ positive evaluation of shared experiences structured by musical activities. By discussing a proper function of a musical activity, the author refines her own considerations concerning the minimal necessary conditions of music and musicality that can be conceived in a broader sense.

Discourses of division during the cost-of-living crisis: digital popular culture responds to governmental actions

Abstract The global 2023 economic slowdown contributed to a cost-of-living crisis that has impacted the daily lives of many, it being a structural and ‘well-being emergency’. Governments respond differently, based in part on political orientation and election cycles. The UK Conservative government, accused of leaning on populist discourses, responded in part with its 2023 budget. This paper uses Multimodal Critical Discourse Studies to investigate how a music mash up shared widely on social media criticises the UK government’s response, digital popular culture being a vital form of political participation and activism today. I examine lexica, images and musical sounds to reveal how government actions are ‘recontextualised’, that is, transformed through deletions, rearrangements, substitutions, and additions. Analysis provides a lens into what issues and events are raised and how these are articulated through divisive discourses. It is through this close reading that I consider digital popular culture’s roles in society.

SIGN LANGUAGE TO TEXT CONVERTOR

Sign language is a vital form of communication for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, yet there remains a significant barrier in real time interaction with non-sign language users. This project proposes the development of a Sign Language to Text Converter, an innovative system designed to translate sign language gestures into written text. The goal of the system is to produce an accessible real-time tool that transcends the communication gap between the Deaf people and those who are not familiar with sign language, thus enhancing interaction in diverse spheres such as education, healthcare, and social settings. This system will utilize techniques such as computer vision and machine learning in recognizing and interpreting hand gestures. The system processes real-time video input using OpenCV for image processing and MediaPipe for hand and pose detection, extracting key features such as hand positions, movements, and orientations. These features are then fed into a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) trained to classify individual sign language gestures. The output is translated to text, which can either be displayed on a screen or used with the text-to-speech systems to provide an auditory output. Key Words: MediaPipe, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Text To Speech(TTS), American Sign Language (ASL)

Sharing Vitality at the Moments of Meeting

In this article, first, we argue that the concept of ‘vitality forms’ endows direct social perception (DSP) with suitable constructed percepts. Vitality forms capture how embodied actions unfold in the process, encapsulating the how-dimension of action, which provides a new dimension for understanding the multiplicities of action. Second, we discuss how vitality forms, as a diachronic gestalt, are completed and recognized in the process of dyadic sharing. We attempt to invoke another concept advocated by Daniel Stern, ‘moments of meeting’, thereby emphasizing the temporality problem of the constructed percepts in DSP. In these special moments, the minds of both parties intersect and co-construct a shared experience that can be perceived or seen by each participant. That is, vitality forms are a consequence of the co-construction within the dyad at the moments of meeting.

The Empire of Beliefs and Digital Worlds : What Does Contemporary Science Say?

Many international institutions are looking into the danger presented by false information, particularly for democracies. An abundant body of scientific literature has been addressing this problem for just under a decade. This article sets out, first, to review the state of the art on this subject, highlighting the specific features of the contemporary cognitive market. While rumours, conspiracy theories and so on are the sea serpents of the human imagination, our contemporary world is giving these forms of credulity renewed vitality. The aim is also to shed light on the situation today by taking an analytical approach to some of the most important mechanisms involved (superspreaders, data voids, “mille feuilles” arguments that are resistant to contradiction, etc.).

The Promise of Maritime Heritage for Port Cities: Challenges, Concepts and New Approaches

Maritime heritage – an ensemble of ships, ports, waterways, buildings and maritime skills – is one of the oldest and most vital forms of heritage. It has been key to the growth of port cities around the world. Maritime skills, which include the techniques and materials used to build and use watercraft, from dugout canoes to container vessels, have made it possible to transport goods, animals and people, bringing wealth to deltas and coastal areas. This article argues that maritime heritage holds cultural, historical and environmental value and can drive sustainable spatial and economic development. In the heritage sector, maritime heritage is a relative newcomer compared to built and natural monuments. However, especially in the context of climate change, it offers valuable lessons on adaptation and sustainability. Six examples from the Netherlands demonstrate how preserving maritime heritage can be compatible with climate adaptation and energy transition, including, for example, using wooden fishing vessels and tugboats in cities, towing vessels for slow tourism, and sailing vessels for combined passenger and goods transport. The article calls for additional studies of how the conservation of maritime heritage can encourage sustainable development.

Simondon’s Heterodox Naturalism: Form, Information and Self-Organization in Imagination and Invention

This article presents Simondon’s psycho-biological thinking as a type of heterodox naturalism centring on the self-organizing activity of vital forms. Despite his critique of classic notions of form, notably Aristotelian hylomorphism, Simondon revises this concept through a critical expansion and synthesis of information theory and Gestalt psychology. In his lecture series Imagination and Invention (1965–6) in particular, he develops an account of psycho-biological activity as governed by what he calls ‘images’: relatively autonomous informational sub-systems that serve to regulate the relationship between organism and environment and that constitute the condition for creative action or invention. Focusing on his analysis of the individualization of perceptual objects, the article goes on to show that ‘forms’ for Simondon feature as emergent properties of quantum thresholds of ‘information’ within these systems. It also argues that such a conception offers a more promising alternative to both idealist philosophies of perception and materialist interpretations of deconstruction.

Exploring divergent kinematics in autism across social and non-social vitality forms

Vitality Forms (VFs) constitute the dynamic essence of human actions, providing insights into how individuals engage in activities. The ability to perceive and express VFs during interpersonal interactions is pivotal for understanding others’ intentions, behaviors, and fostering effective social communication. Despite their ubiquity in all actions, research exploring the role of VFs in neurodivergent conditions related to social and communicative skills, particularly in autism, remains limited. This study aims to investigate the expression of different VFs during the execution of both social and non-social actions in children with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in comparison to neurotypical children (NT). ASC children and NT children were asked to move a small bottle either towards a target point (non-social context) or moving it towards a receiver (social context) with different VFs specifically neutral, gentle, or rude. Videotaped tasks were subsequently analyzed to study kinematic parameters characterizing VFs. Our results highlighted three main findings: (1) overall, ASC children are able to tune the motor profile of their actions, effectively conveying both gentle and rude VFs; (2) distinct kinematic parameters in the execution of VFs are able to distinguish autistic children from NT children; (3) the social context significantly influences the child’s ability to express positive and negative VFs in autism. Taken together, these findings provide new insights to understand how VFs contribute to the complex dynamics of social communication in neurodivergent autistic children, providing a valuable contribution for future interventions and support strategies.

Critical care nurses' knowledge and perceived barriers regarding pressure injury prevention among critically ill patients at Baghdad teaching hospitals: A cross-sectional survey.

One of the most vital forms of the affected patient safety is pressure ulcers (PUs), which can be a critical health problem that every day impacts sufferers and healthcare structures. This study aimed to explore the level of nurse's knowledge and perceived barriers regarding PUs prevention among critically ill patients. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 nurses who working in the critical care units (CCUs) at tertiary teaching hospitals in Baghdad City, the study extended from April to June 2024 to assess the nurses' knowledge level using the knowledge perceived barriers on the prevention of PUs questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (SPSS version 26). The age of the participants included in this study ranged between 18 and 27 years with a mean age of (28.61 ± 6.603) years and females accounted 55% of total study participants. The highest group of the study population has finished their bachelor's degree (74%). Moreover, less than half of the study population (43%) had <5 years of experience in CCU. Nurses' knowledge on the prevention of PU in CCUs is satisfactory in this study and moderately has a high level of perceived barriers toward PU prevention. Several barriers perceived to affect patients' quality of care regarding proper prevention of PUs were identified by Iraqi CCUs. The findings of this study suggest that several barriers need to be resolved if proper prevention of PUs is to be guaranteed in CCUs.

Loss-induced quantum nonreciprocity

Attribute to their robustness against loss and external noise, nonreciprocal photonic devices hold great promise for applications in quantum information processing. Recent advancements have demonstrated that nonreciprocal optical transmission in linear systems can be achieved through the strategic introduction of loss. However, a crucial question remains unanswered: can loss be harnessed as a resource for generating nonreciprocal quantum correlations? Here, we take a counterintuitive stance by engineering loss to generate a vital form of nonreciprocal quantum correlations, termed nonreciprocal photon blockade. We examine a dissipative three-cavity system comprising two nonlinear cavities and a linear cavity. The interplay of loss and nonlinearity leads to a robust nonreciprocal single- and two-photon blockade, facilitated by destructive quantum interference. Furthermore, we demonstrate the tunability of this nonreciprocal photon blockade by manipulating the relative phase between the two nonlinear cavities. Remarkably, this allows for the reversal of the direction of nonreciprocity. Our study not only sheds a light on the concept of loss-engineered quantum nonreciprocity but also opens up a pathway for the design of quantum nonreciprocal photonic devices.

What do Components of Administrative Reforms Tell Us About the Quality of Economic Development? Evidence from a North African Country

This study aimed to identify the elements of administrative and economic reform in light of the new Libya as a state of institutions. The idea of this study was extracted from previous analyses. Given what this north African country is hurting from the collapse of all its institutions and all kinds due to the widespread administrative economic corruption that appears in its administrative structures, we wanted to address, even if only in a simple way, the study of administrative corruption, its causes, and how to reform it, hoping that Libya in the future will become a state of institutions where law and justice prevail. The problem here centered on studying the components of reforming the administrative economy in light of the new Libya as a state of institutions, where the study population consists of individuals working in public organizations in the city of Benghazi. However, due to the lack of time and effort, this study was restrained to selecting a deliberate sample represented by individuals working in the education and health sector administrations in Benghazi, the two most important sectors in the country. According to information from the Personnel Affairs Office in each ministry, 200 questionnaires were spread to individuals working in the two sectors. Several goals have been achieved through numerous consequences, the most important of which are: 1. Seventy-one samples indicated that the main target of corruption is the absence of patriotism and religious morals, followed by weak public oversight at a rate of 66%. 2. Negligence and negligence at a rate of 67% and bribery at a rate of 62% are among the most vital forms of administrative economic corruption that the study sample agreed upon. 3. 73% of the sample indicated that one of the methods through which administrative economic corruption is disregarded is applying the limits of the law, followed by 64% activating the role of oversight and changing its current status.

Unlocking the nexus: exploring the mediating and moderating dynamics of risk factors in economic literacy for organizational performance - A systematic review

PurposeRecognizing economic literacy as a vital form of intellectual capital provides essential tools to mitigate the adverse impact of risk factors on business organizations' performance. This recognition serves as a strong rationale for prioritizing economic literacy as a strategic asset in navigating the complexities of risk factors for sustained organizational performance. To bridge this gap, this study examines the role of risk factors in the economic literacy of an organization and how they affect organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study employed a qualitative research method, utilizing a systematic review with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach to identify gaps. A comprehensive search across databases was conducted using keywords related to risks, economic literacy and organizational performance. In total, 32 articles were meticulously analyzed, focusing on methodology, results and discussion sections to address research questions.FindingsThis study highlights the impact of risk factors on economic literacy and organizational performance, focusing on risk-taking, attitude, enterprise risk management (ERM), financial literacy and organizational performance. It reveals that possessing economic literacy can mitigate financial risks in corporations by helping entrepreneurs identify business opportunities and pitfalls, enabling informed and prudent financial decision-making. Conflicting findings challenge existing knowledge on the link between risk factors and financial literacy, particularly in new product development decisions, highlighting the need for further investigation into environmental factors shaping this connection.Originality/valueThe study developed a conceptual model that explains the interaction among economic literacy, risk factor and organization performance, which has implications for the development of the required intellectual capital to mitigate the impact of risk factors. Also, the study identified diverse conceptual, methodological and geographical gaps that will provide direction for future studies. Future research could delve into firm-level or cross-country data via surveys, interviews or focus groups, enriching the research's robustness and depth for nuanced insights into the investigated relationships.

Injecting care and negotiating pleasures with weight loss pharmaceuticals

The recent rise of injectable ‘wonder drugs’ for weight loss has been rapid and unregulated (so rapid that it has resulted in a worldwide shortage of Ozempic). We analyse the commercialisation of these drugs, and the political manoeuvres companies engage in to leverage and manufacture the gendered capitalism of ‘care’. Marketing relies heavily on situating ‘obesity’ as a chronic disease influenced by genes or other aspects of biology, working therefore to supposedly mitigate the blame and shame of the taken-for-granted aetiology of ‘obesity’, overwhelmingly understood as excess food intake and insufficient activity. Armed with this evidence, women are told to ‘stand up against weight care judgement’ and to engage in ‘shame free’ care. Pharmaceutical interventions are at the ready to inject this weekly dose of care, producing freedom through neoliberal pleasure but, ironically, in doing so, sacrificing the pleasure of food and non-conditional self-acceptance as vital forms of self-care.

Success of introduction of species of the genus &lt;i&gt;Cotoneaster&lt;/i&gt; Medik. in the Komi Republic

Among the woody plants preserved and studied in the arboretum of the Botanical Garden of the Institute of Biology of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for nine years (2013–2021) include representatives of the polymorphic genus Cotoneaster of different geographical origins. As a result of generalization and analysis of data on biomorphology, characteristics of the generative period, dynamics of seasonal growth and development, winter hardiness of plants of species of the genus Cotoneaster introduced in the North, based on an assessment of the main indicators of viability, the studied plants were divided into groups of prospects for cultivation in the northern region. Plants of Eurasian origin C. melanocarpus and C. integerrimus, which undergo a full cycle of seasonal development, are characterized by high winter hardiness, form full-fledged seeds and retain their vital form under introduction conditions, are classified in Group I as quite promising. The East Asian species C. dammeri, C. horizontalis are assigned to the II group of promising plants and C. ascendens to the III group of unpromising plants. These introduced species were characterized by an extended period of growth and development, late completion of the growing season, low winter hardiness, but good shoot recovery ability after winter damage. C. bullatus turned out to be an unpromising species (group V) with low winter hardiness, and therefore the impossibility of transition to the generative period of development. Additional study of this decorative species with the involvement of other specimens is necessary. Based on the data obtained, species such as C. melanocarpus, C. integerrimus, C. dammeri and C. horizontalis can be recommended for cultivation and use in landscaping in some areas of the Komi Republic.

The Missing Piece of the Puzzle: How Different Water-related Public Concerns Contribute to Water Governance in China.

Public participation is crucial to improving the performance of water governance systems, especially in a governance model dominated by a top-down hierarchical structure. Public concerns, as a vital form of public participation, have been acknowledged as an essential component in contributing to water governance. However, few studies explore the varying effects of diverse public concerns in leading to different water governance outcomes. This study addresses this gap by exploring the direct and indirect effects of water-related public concerns on water pollution control and governments' pollution mitigating actions, using citizens' water-related posts crawled from China's social media. Results show that public water-related concerns contribute to water governance both through its direct effects on reducing water pollution and indirect effects by promoting policy actions. Specifically, the concerns related to water pollution hazards, water pollution monitoring, prevention products, and water pollution control measures have more positive impacts on water pollution reduction compared to other types of concern. Meanwhile, public concerns demonstrate stronger effects in triggering economic-related and infrastructure-related water pollution mitigation actions. This study provides nuanced insights to understand the role of public participation in improving water governance, the findings of which are insightful to enhance accountability of water governance systems through a bottom-up approach.

Two distinct networks for encoding goals and forms of action: An effective connectivity study

Goal-directed actions are characterized by two main features: the content (i.e., the action goal) and the form, called vitality forms (VF) (i.e., how actions are executed). It is well established that both the action content and the capacity to understand the content of another's action are mediated by a network formed by a set of parietal and frontal brain areas. In contrast, the neural bases of action forms (e.g., gentle or rude actions) have not been characterized. However, there are now studies showing that the observation and execution of actions endowed with VF activate, in addition to the parieto-frontal network, the dorso-central insula (DCI). In the present study, we established-using dynamic causal modeling (DCM)-the direction of information flow during observation and execution of actions endowed with gentle and rude VF in the human brain. Based on previous fMRI studies, the selected nodes for the DCM comprised the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS), the inferior parietal lobule (IPL), the premotor cortex (PM), and the DCI. Bayesian model comparison showed that, during action observation, two streams arose from pSTS: one toward IPL, concerning the action goal, and one toward DCI, concerning the action vitality forms. During action execution, two streams arose from PM: one toward IPL, concerning the action goal and one toward DCI concerning action vitality forms. This last finding opens an interesting question concerning the possibility to elicit VF in two distinct ways: cognitively (from PM to DCI) and affectively (from DCI to PM).

Enhancing Safety and Workover Efficiency Through Real-Time Scale-Adaptive Video Detection of Critical Objects at the Wellsite

Summary The wellsite serves as the fundamental unit in the development of oil and gas fields, functioning as a hub for the production activities, with workover operations being a critical means to ensure production continuity. In addition, it plays a crucial role in environmental protection, preventing oil and gas leakage and pollution. Various pieces of mechanical equipment deployed at the wellsite are essential for tasks such as oil and gas extraction and well repair operations, holding a pivotal position in oil- and gasfield development. Consequently, intelligent wellsite implementation necessitates a primary focus on monitoring mechanical equipment, with video emerging as a vital form of multisource information at the wellsite. While existing research on wellsite video monitoring predominantly addresses system and data transmission issues, it falls short in addressing the challenges of real-time assessment and early warning in intelligent wellsite operations. This study introduces a method for identifying critical targets at the wellsite based on a scale-adaptive network. The model employs a multiscale fusion network to extract different image features and semantic features at various scales, facilitating their fusion. The processing of wellsite video images occurs in multiple stages, outputting predicted box locations and category information, enabling the localization and recognition of critical objects at the wellsite. Unlike traditional deep convolutional object detection methods, this model incorporates a parameter-free attention mechanism, enhancing the accurate feature learning of small targets during the extraction process and addressing the issue of multiscale imbalance. The experimental results validate the robust performance of the method, surpassing the latest one-stage object detection models and mainstream loss function methods. Comparative experiments demonstrate a 9.22% improvement in mean average precision (mAP) compared with YOLOv8, establishing the proposed model as a top performer in loss function optimization experiments. Furthermore, we propose a video security detection model whose results, combined with the recognition model, are applicable for video detection in wellsite scenarios. The model exhibits strong integration capabilities for scene area division and behavior regulation monitoring. In addition, the model provides valuable insights for analyzing equipment operating status, aligning with the practical needs of oil fields.

Shape Modeling with a Cubic Trigonometric Beta B-Spline with Local Support Basis Functions

The modeling capabilities of trigonometric B-spline curves with form parameters are comparable to those of classical B-spline curves in terms of their significance and use. Through the application of basic functions and shape parameters, this method presents the cubic trigonometric B-spline curves. Constructed by these functions, the concept of designing curves and surfaces possesses all the ideal geometric qualities, such as the partition of unity, convex hull, affine invariance, and variation decreasing. The parameters that are used in the creation of the recommended approach are helpful for several important form characteristics. These vital form aspects include local, global, and biased tension qualities, which provide good control over the curve and allow for shape change as required. In addition, the [Formula: see text] strategy is the one that is suggested for use.

Did you consider ammonium? A possible confounding factor in evaluating the toxicity of marine sediments

Bioassays are a crucial tool for assessing environmental quality, but they face inherent variability due to unexplored confounding factors in marine ecosystems. Ammonium (NH4+) is a vital form of nitrogen in aquatic environments, but it is also a significant focus due to its toxic effects, particularly on marine invertebrates. This study examines the impact of ammonium toxicity on Paracentrotus lividus embryo-development bioassays, which are widely used to evaluate the environmental quality of dredged sediment. The aim is to establish threshold values (EC01, EC05, EC20, and EC50 values) for the correct application of the P. lividus bioassay. The research reveals that ammonium has a significant impact on larval development (EC50 for NH4+ equivalent to 0.81 mg/L). The results emphasize the ecological implications of elevated NH4+ levels in dredged material and highlight the need for precise assessments in environmental management. This study provides essential data for refining guidelines and understanding the complex interactions of this compound in marine ecosystems, ensuring accurate evaluations of environmental quality.

Humanoid facial expressions as a tool to study human behaviour

Besides action vitality forms, facial expressions represent another fundamental social cue which enables to infer the affective state of others. In the present study, we proposed the iCub robot as an interactive and controllable agent to investigate whether and how different facial expressions, associated to different action vitality forms, could modulate the motor behaviour of participants. To this purpose, we carried out a kinematic experiment in which 18 healthy participants observed video-clips of the iCub robot performing a rude or gentle request with a happy or angry facial expression. After this request, they were asked to grasp an object and pass it towards the iCub robot. Results showed that the iCub facial expressions significantly modulated participants motor response. Particularly, the observation of a happy facial expression, associated to a rude action, decreased specific kinematic parameters such as velocity, acceleration and maximum height of movement. In contrast, the observation of an angry facial expression, associated to a gentle action, increased the same kinematic parameters. Moreover, a behavioural study corroborated these findings, showing that the perception of the same action vitality form was modified when associated to a positive or negative facial expression.