In this paper, a system called Caretta that integrates personal and shared workspaces to support face-to-face collaboration is described. We use PDAs for individual users' personal workspaces that enable them to reflect on their own idea. A shared workspace has been implemented by using a multiple-input sensing board, which allows a group of users to simultaneously manipulate physical objects. In order to raise the level of awareness among users, we have used augmented reality technologies and created an immersive environment for (...) the users' shared workspace. Users of Caretta can discuss and negotiate with each other in the shared workspace, while they individually examine their ideas in their own personal workspaces. Therefore, Caretta allows users to participate in group activities interchangeably and seamlessly by using both these workspaces. Caretta can be used for several types of group activities. In this paper, it is used for supporting a group of users in urban planning tasks by allowing the users to actually construct a town on the shared space and evaluate the town through computer simulations. User studies to evaluate Caretta were conducted. Usage logs of Caretta, video analyses, and comments from users proved that each user could utilize personal and shared space interchangeably at their own pace and without being hindered by other users. (shrink)

In this study, Knauff and Johnson-Laird's visual impedance hypothesis is applied to the domain of external representations and diagrammatic reasoning. We show that the use of real objects and augmented real objects can control human interpretation and reasoning about conditionals. As participants made inferences, they also moved objects corresponding to premises. Participants who moved real objects made more invalid inferences than those who moved AR objects and those who did not manipulate objects. Our results showed that real objects impeded conditional (...) reasoning, but AR objects did not. These findings are explained by the fact that real objects may over-specify a single state that exists, while AR objects suggest multiple possibilities. (shrink)

In his paper “Non-human moral status: problems with phenomenal consciousness,” Joshua Shepherd emphasized an objectivist understanding of welfare to establish the moral status of non-human entities...

An evaluation method, similar to the two-valued one for the classical logic, is introduced to give a decision procedure for some of intermediate logics. The logics treated here are obtained from some logics by adding the axiom av a.

Human brain organoids are three-dimensional masses of tissues derived from human stem cells that partially recapitulate the characteristics of the human brain. They have promising applications in many fields, from basic research to applied medicine. However, ethical concerns have been raised regarding the use of human brain organoids. These concerns primarily relate to the possibility that brain organoids may become conscious in the future. This possibility is associated with uncertainties about whether and in what sense brain organoids could have consciousness (...) and what the moral significance of that would be. These uncertainties raise further concerns regarding consent from stem cell donors who may not be sufficiently informed to provide valid consent to the use of their donated cells in human brain organoid research. Furthermore, the possibility of harm to the brain organoids raises question about the scope of the donor’s autonomy in consenting to research involving these entities. Donor consent does not establish the reasonableness of the risk and harms to the organoids, which ethical oversight must ensure by establishing some measures to mitigate them. To address these concerns, we provide three proposals for the consent procedure for human brain organoid research. First, it is vital to obtain project-specific consent rather than broad consent. Second, donors should be assured that appropriate measures will be taken to protect human brain organoids during research. Lastly, these assurances should be fulfilled through the implementation of precautionary measures. These proposals aim to enhance the ethical framework surrounding human brain organoid research. (shrink)

The intermediate logics have been classified into slices (cf. Hosoi [1]), but the detailed structure of slices has been studied only for the first two slices (cf. Hosoi and Ono [2]). In order to study the structure of slices, we give a method of a finer classification of slices & n (n 3). Here we treat only the third slice as an example, but the method can be extended to other slices in an obvious way. It is proved (...) that each subslice contains continuum of logics. A characterization of logics in each subslice is given in terms of the form of models. (shrink)

数理論理学の基本となる命題・述語論理から、チューリング機械・形式手法・ブール代数といった「少し先」の内容までを丁寧に解説。.

The largest transcriptome reported so far comprises 60,770 mouse full‐length cDNA clones, and is an effective reference data set for comparative transcriptomics. The number of mouse cDNAs identified greatly exceeds the number of genes predicted from the sequenced human and mouse genomes. This is largely because of extensive alternative splicing and the presence of many non‐coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are difficult to predict from genomic sequences. Notably, ncRNAs are a major component of the transcriptomes of higher organisms, and many sense–antisense (...) pairs have been identified. The ncRNAs function in a range of regulatory mechanisms for gene expression and other biological processes. They might also have contributed to the increased functional diversification of genomes during evolution. In this review, we discuss aspects of the transcriptome of various organisms in relation to the mouse data, in order to shed light on the regulatory mechanisms and physiological significance of these abundant RNAs. BioEssays 26:833–843, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

We study the following conjecture. Conjecture. Let $T$ be an $\omega$-stable theory with continuum many countable models. Then either i) $T$ has continuum many complete extensions in $L_1$, or ii) some complete extension of $T$ in $L_1$ has continuum many $L_1$-types without parameters. By Shelah's proof of Vaught's conjecture for $\omega$-stable theories, we know that there are seven types of $\omega$-stable theory with continuum many countable models. We show that the conjecture is true for all but one of these seven (...) cases. In the last case we show the existence of continuum many $L_2$-types. (shrink)

Research on bias in peer review examines scholarly communication and funding processes to assess the epistemic and social legitimacy of the mechanisms by which knowledge communities vet and self-regulate their work. Despite vocal concerns, a closer look at the empirical and methodological limitations of research on bias raises questions about the existence and extent of many hypothesized forms of bias. In addition, the notion of bias is predicated on an implicit ideal that, once articulated, raises questions about the normative implications (...) of research on bias in peer review. This review provides a brief description of the function, history, and scope of peer review; articulates and critiques the conception of bias unifying research on bias in peer review; characterizes and examines the empirical, methodological, and normative claims of bias in peer review research; and assesses possible alternatives to the status quo. We close by identifying ways to expand conceptions and studies of bias to countenance the complexity of social interactions among actors involved directly and indirectly in peer review. (shrink)

This article attempts to examine Nihonjinron, the popular essentialist genre in Japan, which purports to analyse Japan's quintessence and cultural core by using three concepts - nationality, ethnicity and culture - synonymously. The focus of the paper will be placed on: (1) the widespread political bases of Nihonjinron and its internal divisions; (2) its changing features in the face of globalization; (3) the possible productive uses of Nihonjinron at both conceptual and theoretical levels; and (4) the dilemma of inter-societal and (...) intra-societal cultural relativism, which the Nihonjinron debate has highlighted. The paper presents an outline of an inductive, pluralistic, multicultural model of analysis as a possible alternative. (shrink)

朱熹の思想は「朱子学」となって東アジアに影響を与えてきた。その学の基本的枠組みである修養論を実効性に留意しつつ再検討。.

The recent discovery of the medullary circuit driving “hunger responses” – reduced thermogenesis and promoted feeding – has greatly expanded our knowledge on the central neural networks for energy homeostasis. However, how hypothalamic hunger and satiety signals generated under fasted and fed conditions, respectively, control the medullary autonomic and somatic motor mechanisms remains unknown. Here, in reviewing this field, we propose two hypothalamomedullary neural pathways for hunger and satiety signaling. To trigger hunger signaling, neuropeptide Y activates a group of neurons (...) in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus (PVH), which then stimulate an excitatory pathway to the medullary circuit to drive the hunger responses. In contrast, melanocortin‐mediated satiety signaling activates a distinct group of PVH neurons, which then stimulate a putatively inhibitory pathway to the medullary circuit to counteract the hunger signaling. The medullary circuit likely contains inhibitory and excitatory premotor neurons whose alternate phasic activation generates the coordinated masticatory motor rhythms to promote feeding. (shrink)

昭和という動乱の時代に、その歴史の展開の中で、西田幾多郎は独自の思索を展開した。「歴史」という概念を軸に、「宗教」の問題に踏み込む西田哲学の全体像を描く。.

In my paper, I partially defend Philippa Foot’s view in answering the question ‘why be moral?’ In her book, Natural Goodness(2001) and her final paper, “Rationality and Goodness” (2004), Foot proposes two ideas: Ethical Naturalism and, what I call, the ‘Anti-Humean Theory of Practical Rationality’. In answering the question ‘why be moral?’, I argue that we should abandon the former and adopt the latter. In Section I, I discuss Foot’s Anti-Humean Theory of Practical Rationality. In Section II, I examine Foot’s (...) Ethical Naturalism. I argue that it is no longer defensible. In Section III, I examine other possible ways to integrate the categories of practical rationality. One is to take a utilitarian approach and another is to take a Kantian approach. I argue that the latter approach is in harmony with Foot’s Anti-Humean Theory of Practical Rationality. (shrink)

The notion of the unconscious resulted in a reversal of optics concerning the evidence of consciousness, and the split which Freud created in the analysis of mental activities elicited many reactio...

This paper examines ethics in finance, specifically related to responsible investment. In recent years, socially responsible principles are becoming the de facto standard not only for socially responsible but also for profitable investing. For instance, the United Nations developed the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2006, which require institutional investors to incorporate ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. This raises the following question: can responsible investments be justified from an ethical point of view? (...) In this paper I first explain responsible investments. Then, I turn to the ethical foundation of responsible investments. There are two arguments for responsible investments. I argue that both fail. Therefore, my conclusion is that the ethical foundation of responsible investments is not firm. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:The Journal of Aesthetic Education 37.4 (2003) 64-73 [Access article in PDF] Postmodern Approach to Art Appreciation for Integrated Study in Japan This essay aims to clarify the issues of art appreciation education in Japan, and to examine a viewpoint for considering the issues in relation to a "Period for Integrated Study" established in 2002. Though ideas of art educationhave expanded in recent years, we are facing the difficulty (...) of approximately |a 20% cut in the number of art classes offered in Japanese compulsory education. In addition to this, involvement of art with Integrated Study, a new attempt to transcend the conventional learning of subjects, has presented urgent issues in art education along with current educational reforms.Based on analyses of the developmental characteristics of Japanese students' aesthetic sensitivity, we consider the issues of art appreciation education, and present a vision for involvement of art appreciation with Integrated Study. For example, Japanese students show a keen interest in formal elements with an inclination for expressiveness as a legacy received from the study of modernism in art education. On the other hand, students also show weakness in skills in finding artistic contexts. This should be considered as the most important issue of art appreciation education in Japan. It is necessary to enhance students' viewing in relation to social and cultural contexts in order to address this issue. We propose that this can be achieved through Integrated Study. Art appreciation in Integrated Study should take a postmodern approach to Japanese art education, which now has a strong inclination toward modernism. Educational Reform and Integrated Study With a rapid decline in the number of children, a rapidly aging society, and the advent of computerization and globalization, we now face problems which cannot be solved by conventional systems presently in place in Japanese society. In order to address these problems, drastic reforms that also include educational reform must be undertaken. Specific reform in education [End Page 64] can be seen in changes in the Course of Study. The most notable feature in the latest revision of the Course of Study is the establishment of the Period for Integrated Study. Integrated Study was established as a new project for the most highly prioritized issue of how students can acquire the so-called "Zest for Living." 1 Integrated Study is a required subject, with 105 to 110 class hours/year in third grade and above in elementary school, and 70 to 130 class hours/year in junior high school. The Course of Study does not prescribe the contents in detail but the periods are organized and implemented by each school according to regions and schools. However, it is suggested that schools proceed with the study of international understanding, conversation in foreign languages, information, the environment, social welfare, and health in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way. IntegratedStudy puts an emphasis on students' initiative in identifying issues forthemselves, and on the cultivation of their talent and ability to solve those issues. Based on students' own interests, great importance is placed on problem-solving, open-ended activities, and the cultivation of independent and creative attitudes. Unlike the conventional unilateral teaching of knowledge for subjects, Integrated Study's purpose is to shift the direction of education so students can learn and think for themselves. In addition, Integrated Study focuses on authentic way and develops the skills of collecting, investigating, and connecting information, and reporting, announcing, and discussing. 2On the other hand, in curricula for elementary and junior high schools, the hours of art classes were reduced so that Japanese art education was put in a more difficult situation compared to previous curricula. Respectivesubjects are designed for students to learn basic abilities for the development of Integrated Study. Therefore, while educational reform is underway in Japan, art education faces the problem of maintaining basic learning at the same level as previously, relating art to Integrated Study.Relations between Integrated Study and art education have been discussed in various ways. 3 Two general problems can be pointed out. One isour concern that the originality of art as... (shrink)

We investigated the key anatomical structures mediating interhemispheric integration during the perception of apparent motion across the retinal midline. Previous studies of commissurotomized patients suggest that subcortical structures mediate interhemispheric transmission but the specific regions involved remain unclear. Here, we exploit interindividual variations in the propensity of normal subjects to perceive horizontal motion, in relation to vertical motion. We characterize these differences psychophysically using a Dynamic Dot Quartet (an ambiguous stimulus that induces illusory motion). We then tested for correlations between (...) a tendency to perceive horizontal motion and fractional anisotropy (FA) (from structural diffusion tensor imaging), over subjects. FA is an indirect measure of the orientation and integrity of white matter tracts. Subjects who found it easy to perceive horizontal motion showed significantly higher FA values in the pulvinar. Furthermore, fiber tracking from an independently identified (subject-specific) visual motion area converged on the pulvinar nucleus. These results suggest that the pulvinar is an anatomical hub and may play a central role in interhemispheric integration. (shrink)

We give a Gentzen-type formulation GQ for the intermediate logic LQ and prove the cut-elimination theorem on it, where LQ is the propositional logic obtained from the intuitionistic propositional logic LI by adding the axioms of the form AV A.

The notion of quasi-minimal structures was defined by B. Zil'ber as a natural generalization of minimal structures. Inspired by his work, we study here basic model theoretic properties of quasiminimal structures. Main result is the construction of ω-saturated quasi-minimal models under ω-stability assumption.

We study the following conjecture. Conjecture. Let T be an ω-stable theory with continuum many countable models. Then either i) T has continuum many complete extensions in L1(T), or ii) some complete extension of T in L1 has continuum many L1-types without parameters. By Shelah's proof of Vaught's conjecture for ω-stable theories, we know that there are seven types of ω-stable theory with continuum many countable models. We show that the conjecture is true for all but one of these seven (...) cases. In the last case we show the existence of continuum many L2-types. (shrink)

We show that is a quasi-minimal torsion-free divisible abelian group. After discussing the axiomatization of the theory of this structure, we present its ω-saturated quasi-minimal model.

Although Caenorhabditis and Drosophila proved invaluable in unraveling the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis, it is now clear that these animals are of limited value for understanding the evolution of apoptotic systems. Whereas data from these invertebrates led to the assumption that the extrinsic apoptotic pathway is restricted to vertebrates, recent data from cnidarians and sponges indicate that this pathway predates bilaterian origins. Here we review the phylogenetic distribution of caspase‐8, the initiator caspase of the extrinsic apoptotic pathway, its paralogs and (...) other components of the network. The ancestral caspase‐8 gave rise to four paralogs early in vertebrate evolution, and these have been maintained in many tetrapods. However, eutherians have lost caspase‐18 and myomorph rodents have lost caspase‐10, these losses suggesting functional redundancy amongst caspase‐8 paralogs. The apoptotic network of the eumetazoan ancestor appears to have been complex and vertebrate like, and is only now being revealed by studying simple animals. (shrink)

The PIWI-interacting RNA pathway, one of the major eukaryotic small RNA silencing pathways, is a genome surveillance system that silences selfish genes in animal gonads. piRNAs guide PIWI protein to target genes through Watson–Crick RNA–RNA base-parings. Loss of piRNA function causes genome instability, inducing failure in gametogenesis and infertility. Studies using fruit flies and mice as key experimental models have resulted in tremendous progress in understanding the mechanism underlying the piRNA pathway. Recent work using cultured silkworm germline cells has also (...) expanded our knowledge of piRNA biogenesis in particular, since these silkworm cells are the only cells of germline origin that can be cultured. In this review, we describe elucidation of the piRNA pathway using cultured silkworm cells as an experimental model by focusing on recent work in biochemistry and structural biology. Earlier studies that made important contributions to the field are also described. PIWI-interacting RNAs are germline-enriched small RNAs that silence transposons to maintain genome integrity. Recently, cultured silkworm germline cells such as BmN4 made great contributions to understand the mechanism underlying piRNA biogenesis in particular. In this review, we highlight the recent progress in biochemical and structural biology. (shrink)

Neuronal activities have recently been reported to exhibit power-law scaling behavior. However, it has not been demonstrated that the power-law component can play an important role in human perceptual functions. Here, we demonstrate that the power spectrum of magnetoencephalograph recordings of brain activity varies in coordination with perception of subthreshold visual stimuli. We observed that perceptual performance could be better explained by modulation of the power-law component than by modulation of the peak power in particular narrow frequency ranges. The results (...) suggest that the brain operates in a state of self-organized criticality, modulating the power spectral exponent of its activity to optimize its internal state for response to external stimuli. (shrink)

We investigated how the structure of the brain network relates to the stability of perceptual alternation in binocular rivalry. Historically, binocular rivalry has provided important new insights to our understandings in neuroscience. Although various relationships between the local regions of the human brain structure and perceptual switching phenomena have been shown in previous researches, the global organization of the human brain structural network relating to this phenomenon has not yet been addressed. To approach this issue, we reconstructed fiber-tract bundles using (...) diffusion tensor imaging and then evaluated the correlations between the speeds of perceptual alternation and fractional anisotropy (FA) values in each fiber-tract bundle integrating among 84 brain regions. The resulting comparison revealed that the distribution of the global organization of the structural brain network showed positive or negative correlations between the speeds of perceptual alternation and the FA values. First, the connections between the subcortical regions stably were negatively correlated. Second, the connections between the cortical regions mainly showed positive correlations. Third, almost all other cortical connections that showed negative correlations were located in one central cluster of the subcortical connections. This contrast between the contribution of the cortical regions to destabilization and the contribution of the subcortical regions to stabilization of perceptual alternation provides important information as to how the global architecture of the brain structural network supports the phenomenon of binocular rivalry. (shrink)

The brain is a very complex structure. Over the past several decades, many studies have aimed to understand how various non-uniform variables relate to each other. The current study compared the whole-brain network organization and global spatial distribution of cell densities in the monkey brain. Wide comparisons between 27 graph theoretical measures and cell densities revealed that only participation coefficients (PCs) significantly correlated with cell densities. Interestingly, PCs did not show a significant correlation with spatial coordinates. Furthermore, the significance of (...) the correlation between cell densities and spatial coordinates disappeared only with the removal of the visual module, while the significance of the correlation between cell densities and PCs disappeared with the removal of any one module. Taken together, these results suggested the presence of a combinatorial effect of modular architectures in the network organization related to the non-uniformity of cell densities additional to the spatially monotonic change. (shrink)

This article reports an interesting link between the psychophysical property of intentional control of perceptual switching and the underlying neural activities. First, we revealed that the timing of perceptual switching for a dynamical dot quartet can be controlled by the observers' intention, without eye movement. However, there is a clear limitation to this control, such that each animation frame of the stimulus must be presented for a sufficiently long time length; in other words, the frequency of the stimulus alternation must (...) be sufficiently slow for the control. The typical stimulus onset asynchrony for a 50% level of success was about 275 ms for an average of 10 observers. On the basis of psychophysical property, we designed three experiments for investigating the neural process with a magnetoencephalography. They revealed that: (1) a peak component occurring about 300 ms after a reversal was stronger when the direction of perceived motion was switched intentionally than when it was not switched, and (2) neural components about 30–40 ms and 240–250 ms after the reversal of the stimulus animation were stronger when perception was altered intentionally than when it was switched unintentionally. The 300 ms component is consistent with a previous study about passive perceptual switching (Struber and Herrmann [2002]: Cogn Brain Res 14:370–382), but the intentional effect was seemed to be a different component from the well-known P300 component. (shrink)