On Torture

The torture issue can be regarded as one of the most important issue in the human rights protection sphere. This paper returns to the intriguing moral and legal foundations of both sides to lay out what motivates it and what main arguments and concerns exist, to let any conclusion made on unbiased grounds. Though the analysis, we can briefly conclude that: on the one side, torture is a palpable evil and must be morally and legally taboo in almost all circumstances. On the other side, due to the lack of definite perception of what can be called extreme situations, and considering the defects of torture warrants, whether torture can be justified under certain circumstances is still debatable. What this paper is trying to figure out are the differences between theories, and to find out the defects and values of each theory. The balance of uncertain and intriguing interests and values on torture bring the room for debatin

Stress from Academics, Stress from Interpersonal Relationships and Academic Burnout Among Chinese Adolescents

The current study examined relations between stress and academic burnout, and the moderating role of adaptive academic coping between stress from academics and academic burnout among adolescents. Potential stress leading to academic burnout included stress from academics and stress from interpersonal relationships (stress from teacher, parental, peer relationships). Five-hundred and eighteen students (48.26% male, 14 to 15 years old) from one middle school in China participated in this study. Structural equation modeling indicated that (1) academic burnout was significantly predicted by stress from academics and stress from parental relationships, but was not significantly predicted by stress from teacher and peer relationships, and (2) adaptive academic coping significantly moderated the association between stress from academics and academic burnout, after controlling for the effects of sex, age, socioeconomic status, and grade ranking. This study provided insight into which types of stress perceived by Chinese adolescents (e.g., stress from academics and interpersonal relationships) predicted academic burnout, and how adaptive academic coping might mitigate links between academic stress and academic burnout. Recommendations of the current study are discussed in terms of government, school and teacher, and parental aspects

Influence of magmatic intrusions on organic nitrogen in coal: A case study from the Zhuji mine, the Huainan coalfield, China

Although the influence of magmatic intrusions on coal has been studied extensively at many locations, data on changes of organic nitrogen forms in coal in response to this kind of geological instantaneous heating is still scarce. To fill this information gap, a total of five coal samples, including four coal samples collected along a coal transect approaching a magmatic intrusion and one unaltered coal sample, were collected from the No. 3 coal seam of the Zhuji mine in the Huainan coalfield, China and were analyzed for organic nitrogen forms using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), together with the determination of coal quality parameters and elemental composition. Due to the effect of magmatic intrusion, ash yield and carbon content of the coals increase, whereas moisture, volatile matter, oxygen, nitrogen and total sulfur decrease. The N-5 peak is dominant in unaltered and moderately altered coals, but disappears entirely in the coals adjacent to the magmatic intrusion due to the strong thermal influence. The N-Q peak mainly represents "protonated" quaternary nitrogen in unaltered and moderately altered coals. The N-Q peak can be transformed to the N-6 peak through the deprotonation of "protonated" quaternary nitrogen resulting from the loss of oxygen groups under the thermal influence of the magmatic intrusion. Closer to the magmatic intrusion, the N-Q peak is assigned to "graphitic" quaternary nitrogen, which increases sharply and becomes the predominant form eventually. Magmatic intrusion is responsible for the conversion of less stable nitrogen forms to more stable forms in coal

2-Eth­oxy­ethyl (Z)-2-cyano-3-[(N-phenyl­carbamo­yl)amino]­prop-2-enoate

The crystal structure of the title compound, C15H17N3O4, is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. An intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond also occurs

3-Benzyl­amino-2-cyano-N-[N-(2-fluoro­phenyl)­carbamo­yl]-3-(methyl­sulfanyl)acryl­amide

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C19H17FN4O2S, mol­ecules are linked via pairs of N—H⋯N inter­actions, forming centrosymmetric dimers. Two intra­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the mol­ecular conformation

Chinese adolescents' belief in a just world and academic resilience: The mediating role of perceived academic competence

The current study examined the relationship between belief in a just world and self-reported academic resilience, and whether perceived academic competence mediated this relationship. Seven-hundred fifty-one students enrolled in a middle school and a high school (45.81% male, 15 to 16 years old) from two regions of China participated in this study. Structural equation modeling indicated that general belief in a just world was: (1) directly associated with academic resilience, and (2) indirectly associated with students' academic resilience through perceived academic competence, after controlling for the effects of gender and socioeconomic status. This study provides insight into how broader social-ideological understandings of the world (e.g., belief in a just world) may guide individual self-construals (e.g., perceived academic competence) to affect individual persistence in the face of adversity (e.g., resilience). Implications and limitations of the current study are discussed