Kingdom of heaven versus nirvana: a comparative study of conceptual metaphors for Christian and Buddhist ideals of life

This paper adopts Conceptual Metaphor Theory to compare the Christian ideal of life, i.e. the kingdom of heaven and the Buddhist ideal of life, i.e. nirvana. Through a systematic investigation of the metaphorical expressions bearing the two concepts in the Book of Mathew and the Lotus Sutra, we find that they share the static metaphor (the kingdom of heaven/nirvana is a container), i.e. both religions envision the ideal state of life as entering a container. Dynamically, the kingdom of heaven is conceptualized as an upcoming event while nirvana as the destination of a journey. The two dynamic metaphors reveal four major differences. Firstly, the kingdom of heaven is described as arrival into and nirvana as departure from the mundane world. Secondly, the arrival of the kingdom of heaven aims to eliminate the sin of human beings while the departure for nirvana aims to leave behind bitterness of the mundane world. Thirdly, the kingdom of heaven emphasizes the dichotomy between the good and the evil while nirvana emphasizes delivering all living beings. Fourthly, God acts as a king and judge in the final judgement of the kingdom of heaven while Buddha acts as a guide in the journey to nirvana.

Developmental changes in story-evoked responses in the neocortex and hippocampus

How does the representation of naturalistic life events change with age? Here we analyzed fMRI data from 415 children and adolescents (5 - 19 years) as they watched a narrative movie. In addition to changes in the degree of inter-subject correlation (ISC) with age in sensory and medial parietal regions, we used a novel measure (between-groups ISC) to reveal age-related shifts in the responses across the majority of the neocortex. Over the course of development, brain responses became more discretized into stable and coherent events, and shifted earlier in time to anticipate upcoming event transitions. However, hippocampal responses to event boundaries actually decreased with age, suggesting a shifting division of labor between episodic encoding processes and schematic event representations between the ages of 5 and 19.

Modulatory Effects of Prediction Accuracy on Electroencephalographic Brain Activity During Prediction

Prediction is essential for the efficiency of many cognitive processes; however, this process is not always perfect. Predictive coding theory suggests that the brain generates and updates a prediction to respond to an upcoming event. Although an electrophysiological index of prediction, the stimulus preceding negativity (SPN), has been reported, it remains unknown whether the SPN reflects the prediction accuracy, or whether it is associated with the prediction error, which corresponds to a mismatch between a prediction and an actual input. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate this question using electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were asked to predict the original pictures from pictures that had undergone different levels of pixelation. The SPN amplitude was affected by the level of pixelation and correlated with the subjective evaluation of the prediction accuracy. Furthermore, late positive components (LPC) were negatively correlated with SPN. These results suggest that the amplitude of SPN reflects the prediction accuracy; more accurate prediction increases the SPN and reduces the prediction error, resulting in reduced LPC amplitudes.

Cortical Microcircuitry of Executive Control and Source of Associated Event-Related Potentials

Medial frontal cortex enables executive control by signaling conflict, monitoring and predicting events and outcomes, and goal maintenance, indexed by event-related potentials (ERP). In monkeys performing a saccade countermanding (stop-signal) task, we recorded EEG over and neural spiking across all layers of the supplementary eye field (SEF). Neurons did not contribute to reactive response inhibition. Those signaling response conflict and tracking and predicting the timing of events for successful stopping had different spike widths and were concentrated differently across layers. Conflict neurons were in all layers and those encoding temporal parameters were concentrated in L2/3 and L5. The N2 indexed reward association with variation of polarization predicted by conflict and event timing neurons in L2/3 but not L5/6. The P3 indexed the timing of the upcoming event with variation of polarization predicted by event timing neurons in L2/3 but not L5/6. These findings reveal novel features of the cortical microcircuitry supporting executive control and producing associated ERP.

Harnessing the waiting experience: anticipation, expectations and WOM

Purpose This study aims to explore the anticipated emotions of consumers and their anticipated perceived quality (PQ) of an exhibit, event or service that they are waiting to attend. Design/methodology/approach The study consists of a quantitative survey-based descriptive study of n = 470 real-world consumers from a waiting line at the Shark Reef exhibit in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas. Data is analyzed with fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to extrapolate causal conditions or recipes, for word of mouth (WOM) generation regarding the exhibit. Findings Recipes that influence positive WOM for an upcoming exhibit include: affect evaluation and affect expectations (AEXs) and affect evaluation, affect expectation, event entertainment and PQ. Practical implications By recognizing the need to optimize the customer waiting experience, services marketing managers can more successfully engage customers and influence their subsequent intentions. Originality/value Emotions regarding the anticipation of an upcoming event are critical to cultivating the intent to spread positive WOM.

Effect of Time and Direction Preparation on Ankle Muscle Response During Backward Translation of a Support Surface in Stance

This study investigated the effect of the time and direction preparation on the electromyographic (EMG) response of the ankle extensor to the backward translation of the support surface in stance. Fifteen healthy adult males aged 35.9 ± 6.2 years participated in this study. In the constant session, the interval between the warning cue and the onset of the backward support surface translation was constant. In the random time session, the interval was randomly assigned in each trial, but the direction was backward across the trials. In the random direction session, the direction was randomly assigned in each trial, but the interval was constant. The EMG amplitude in the time epochs 100–175 ms after translation onset in the random time session was significantly greater than that in the constant session in the soleus, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior muscles. The EMG amplitude in the time epochs 120–185 ms after translation onset in the random direction session was significantly greater than that in the constant session in the gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior muscles. This finding indicates that time and direction preparation reduces the late component of the ankle EMG response to backward translation of the support surface. This finding is explained by the supposed process through which uncertainty of the upcoming event causes disinhibition of response or by how time and direction preparation optimizes the magnitude of the long-latency response mediated by the transcortical pathway.

RUIGIGO FUKUSHI TOTSUZEN, KYUU NI, IKINARI, DAN FUI-NI DALAM NOVEL BLACK BULLET VOLUME 1 KARYA SHIDEN KANZAKI

Abstrak: Rugigo adalah “sinonim” dalam bahasa Indonesia. Sulit untuk membedakan kata-kata ruigigo di Indonesia karena kebanyakan mereka memiliki arti yang sama. Misalnya, fukushi totsuzen, kyuu ni, ikinari, dan fui ni. Dalam bahasa Indonesia mereka memiliki arti yang sama, yaitu "tiba-tiba", tetapi mereka memiliki sedikit perbedaan. Totsuzen sering digunakan untuk menunjukkan keadaan yang terjadi sangat cepat. Kyuu ni sering digunakan untuk menceritakan suatu kondisi yang terjadi sangat cepat, tetapi bisa dikatakan itu akan terjadi. Ada perubahan dari awal ke akhir keadaan. Ikinari sering digunakan untuk mengatakan bahwa sesuatu terjadi tanpa peringatan sama sekali dan cenderung mengabaikan proses umum. Fui ni sering digunakan untuk orang yang mengalami acara tersebut dan tidak dapat memprediksi acara yang akan datang. Penggunaannya tergantung pada konteks kalimat tetapi itu mungkin mengubah artinya.Kata kunci: Rugigo, Novel Black Bullet Volume 1 Abstract: Rugigo is “sinonim” in Indonesian. It is hard to differentiate the words of ruigigo in Indonesia because mostly they have a similar meaning. For example fukushi totsuzen, kyuu ni, ikinari, and fui ni. In Indonesian they have the same meaning, namely “tiba-tiba”, but they have slight differences. Totsuzen is often used to show a circumstance that happened really fast. Kyuu ni is often used to tell a condition that happened really fast, but could tell it would happen. There is a change from beginning to the end of circumstance. Ikinari is often used to tell that something happened without warning at all and tend to skip the common process. Fui ni is often used to one who experienced the event and unable to predict the upcoming event. The use depends on the context of the sentence but it might change the meaning.Keywords: Rugigo, Black Bullet Volume 1’ Novel

Study of Cultural and Recreational Space and Practices of the Volga Region Citizens during the First World War: Resources of Regional Periodicals

The article analyzes the newspaper materials published in the Volga region during the First World War as a source for studying culture and leisure. Emphasis is placed on the use of publications that were not official. It is noted that newspapers were the main type of regional periodicals. With their diversity, it has been revealed that publications on the topic were in promotional content (announcements of the institutions activities, their programs); in special columns on the topic bearing characteristic titles (“Sport,” “Theater and music”); in op-ed and critical articles, which were placed in the local chronicle (reports or reviews of events with their description, including the authors’ personal views); as photo with caption (an announcement of the upcoming event). Depending on publication, the structure and arrangement of materials varied. It is noted that periodicals are available in several databases, including digital ones, and can be used by researchers as a source for comprehensive and systematic study of the topic. According to materials of regional periodicals, during the First World War there was a wide range of leisure and cultural programs in the towns of the Volga region. They were typical for uezd and gubernia centers, but the number of leisure facilities (theaters, cinemas, restaurants, park areas) was larger in the gubernia cities. It is revealed that leisure of citizens included active forms of participation (organization) and passive ones (visits). It is proved that materials of regional periodicals can be used in reconstructing and analyzing the cultural and recreational space of the towns. Reconstruction is possible on the basis of the enumeration of data on cultural institutions and places of leisure. The analysis is based on studying the content of programs, composition of visitors, organizers, prices.

Strategi Penanganan Event Pada Hotel The Laguna, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali

Abstrak Penanganan event sangat penting dijaga kualitasnya karena hotel sebagai organizer adalah bagian dari kesuksesan acara yang diselenggarakan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana kualitas penanganan pada hotel The Laguna, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali. Sumber data yang diperoleh dengan mengadakan observasi dan wawancara langsung kepada narasumber yang menangani event secara langsung. Hasil penelitian dimasukkan secara deskriptif dan diperoleh hasil yang menunjukkan bahwa dalam penanganan event sudah berdasarkan Prosedur Operasional Standar (POS) hotel yang telah ditetapkan. Masalah yang sering timbul yaitu terdiri dari masalah terprediksi dan tidak bisa diprediksi. Masalah terprediksi dapat diantisipasi dengan mempelajari event yang akan berlangsung dari susunan acara yang sudah tersusun. Masalah yang tidak bisa diprediksi membutuhkan kebijaksanaan di lapangan sesuai masalah yang timbul. Oleh karena itu, komunikasi, koordinasi dan persiapan yang matang sangat diperlukan untuk bisa memberikan penanganan yang lebih maksimal sehingga acara yang terselenggara berjalan lancar dan sukses. Kata kunci: event, kualitas, manajemen event, dan penanganan Abstract In Hotel, the quality of event organizing is important to be maintained. This study aimed at exploring the quality to find out how the quality of handling event at the Laguna, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali. The data were obtained through observation and face-to-face interview. The data were analyzed descriptively. The findings showed that the event organizing was based on Standard Operational Procedure (SOP). Some problems occured, some were predictable while others were unpredictable. The predicted problems were anticipated by studying the upcoming event carefully. The unpredicted problems required the operational officers’s wisdom and solutions. Communication, coordination, and well-preparation were needed to have the smooth and successful event organizing. Keywords: events, quality, management events, and handling