Hikikomori has been one of the social problems in Japan since late 1990s. This term refers to young people who do not go to school or work and stay at home. The aim of this paper is to criticize the current framework of support for them, and to clarify the foundations of a support relationship for them by referring to interview data from hikikomori people and to Alfred Schutz’s theoretical framework. It is not only possible, but also important, to set (...) up basic principles for supporting them, given that a death of a hikikomori person occurred in a private institution which trained hikikomori people in 2006. This paper points out the problems of one mainstream model of the hikikomori support relationship, paternalism, and develops the following 3 principles as the foundation of hikikomori support based on empirical and theoretical considerations: to respect self-determination, to value consensus making in shared-determination, and to take account of the biographically determined, intersubjective foundation at both levels of self-definition and decision making. (shrink)

I try to show that Berkeley's theory of ideas is not a variant of Locke's. We can find such an interpretation of Berkeley in Thomas Reid. So, we could call this interpretation a 'traditional interpretation'. This traditional interpretation has an influence still now, for example, Tomida interprets Berkeley in this line (Tomida2002). We will see that this traditional interpretation gives a serious problem to Berkeley (section 1). And I am going to present an argument against this traditional interpretation (section 2).

The notion of shape invariance in supersymmetric quantum mechanics is examined in relation with the generalized oscillator algebra. Shape invariance is reformulated as fermion-number independence of a parameter function and seen as a symmetry under a shape-related parameter transformation. It is also shown how shape invariance is implied in the dynamical group approach.

We revisit via a path-integral approach the magnetic top proposed recently by Barut, Božić, and Marić. We point out that the magnetic top has the SU(2) symmetry and that it can be viewed as a free top seen from a rotating frame. We present an alternative path-integral quantization of the magnetic top on the basis of the symmetry, and show that the magnetic coupling does not participate in altering the spin quantum numbers.

Konrad Lorenz, an ethologist, proposed that certain physical elements are perceived as cute and induce caretaking behavior in other individuals, with the evolutionary function of enhancing offspring survival. He called these features Kindchenschema, baby schema. According to his introspection, these include a large forehead, chubby round features, and chubby cheeks. Previous studies are limited to examining the effects of these facial features on perceived cuteness. However, other morphological factors may be related to perceived cuteness. This study uses Bayesian optimization, one (...) of the global sequential optimization methods for estimating unknown functions, to search for facial morphological features that enhance the perceptions of facial cuteness. We applied Bayesian optimization incorporating Gaussian process ordinal regression, which allows an estimation of the latent cuteness function based on evaluations using the Likert scale. A total of 96 preschool children provided the facial images used in this study. We summarized the facial shape variations using methodologies of geometric morphometrics and principal component analysis up to the third principal component, which we refer to as the face space. A total of 40 participants evaluated the images created by warping the average facial texture of the children's faces with randomly generated parameters in the face space. Facial traits related to perceived cuteness were estimated based on the averaged cuteness function. Perceived cuteness was linked to the relative lower position of facial components and narrower jawline but not to the forehead height. (shrink)

The unified treatment of the Dirac monopole, the Schwinger monopole, and the Aharonov-Bohm problem by Barut and Wilson is revisited via a path integral approach. The Kustaanheimo-Stiefel transformation of space and time is utilized to calculate the path integral for a charged particle in the singular vector potential. In the process of dimensional reduction, a topological charge quantization rule is derived, which contains Dirac's quantization condition as a special case. “Everything that is made beautiful and fair and lovely is made (...) for the eye of one who sees.” Jelaluddin Rumi,Mathnawi [I, 2383]. (shrink)

Scaling of pattern with size has been described and studied for over a century, yet its molecular basis is understood in only a few cases. In a recent, elegant study, Inomata and colleagues proposed a new model explaining how bone morphogenic protein (BMP) activity gradient scales with embryo size in the early Xenopus laevis embryo. We discuss their results in conjunction with an alternative model we proposed previously. The expansion‐repression mechanism (ExR) provides a conceptual framework unifying both mechanisms. Results (...) of Inomata and colleagues implicate the chordin‐stabilizing protein sizzled as the expander molecule enabling scaling, while we attributed this role to the BMP ligand Admp. The two expanders may work in concert, as suggested by the mathematical model of Inomata et al. We discuss approaches for differentiating the contribution of sizzled and Admp to pattern scaling. (shrink)