Based on the concept of data physicalization, we developed Vital + Morph, an interactive surface for remote connection and awareness of clinical data. It enables users located in remote places to monitor and feel the vital signs measured from a hospitalized person through shape-change. We propose shape-changing interfaces as a way of making data physicalization a richer, intriguing and memorable experience that communicates complex information and insights about data. To demonstrate and validate our proposed concept, we developed an exploratory study (...) about the design and its implications. For evaluating the social impact of shape-changing interfaces in the context of remote monitoring, we presented Vital + Morph in several Media Art festivals. We collected and analyzed the feedback from the visitors during the exhibitions, and discussed the possibilities of the proposed system. A preliminary evaluation shows how shape-changing displays are perceived by users, which establishes not only the potential benefits but also highlights the concerns that several users have raised. Through this study, we aim to contribute to the design of remote monitoring systems by providing a novel approach for displaying clinical data that consider the richness of the physical world. In today’s information-driven society, we should not just focus on how abstract data are collected and analyzed, but also on how it can be presented and incorporated into our daily lives. (shrink)

Assistive Device Art derives from the integration of Assistive Technology and Art, involving the mediation of sensorimotor functions and perception from both, psychophysical methods and conceptual mechanics of sensory embodiment. This paper describes the concept of ADA and its origins by observing the phenomena that surround the aesthetics of prosthesis-related art. It also analyzes one case study, the Echolocation Headphones, relating its provenience and performance to this new conceptual and psychophysical approach of tool design. This ADA tool is designed to (...) aid human echolocation. They facilitate the experience of sonic vision, as a way of reflecting and learning about the construct of our spatial perception. Echolocation Headphones are a pair of opaque goggles which disable the participant’s vision. This device emits a focused sound beam which activates the space with directional acoustic reflection, giving the user the ability to navigate and perceive space through audition. The directional properties of parametric sound provide the participant a focal echo, similar to the focal point of vision. This study analyzes the effectiveness of this wearable sensory extension for aiding auditory spatial location in three experiments; optimal sound type and distance for object location, perceptual resolution by just noticeable difference, and goal-directed spatial navigation for open pathway detection, all conducted at the Virtual Reality Lab of the University of Tsukuba, Japan. The Echolocation Headphones have been designed for a diverse participant base. They have both the potential to aid auditory spatial perception for the visually impaired and to train sighted individuals in gaining human echolocation abilities. Furthermore, this Assistive Device artwork instigates participants to contemplate on the plasticity of their sensorimotor architecture. (shrink)

In this study, we propose the Ankle-Worn Sensor Sleeve to help people maintain their health. Furthermore, our approach uses this sensor sleeve to improve walking motivation by making the walking motion more sensible. In this research, we pursue the design of a wearable device that users can wear as a “shoe accessory,” with the aim of promoting people’s walking motivation. This device is ankle-worn and generates electricity using the physical flexion and extension of the ankle, detects and acquires the amount (...) of electricity generated, and uses the resulting power to produce sound and light feedback while walking. The Sleeve is designed to support health problems, such as locomotive syndrome and dementia, which are caused by physical inactivity. This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted on 172 people who experienced or observed the device during exhibitions. The results reveal that this device increased people’s interest and motivation to walk, including those who did not like to walk. (shrink)

The Bird Song Diamond project is a series of multifaceted and multidisciplinary installations with the aim of bringing contemporary research on bird communication to a large public audience. Using art and technology to create immersive experiences, BSD allows large audiences to embody bird communication rather than passively observe. In particular, BSD Mimic, a system for mimicking bird song, asks participants to grapple with both audition and vocalization of birdsong. The use of interactive installations for public outreach provides unique experiences to (...) a diverse audience, while providing direct feedback for artists and researchers interested in the success of such outreach. By following an iterative design process, both artists and researchers have been able to evaluate the effectiveness of each installation for promoting audience engagement with the subject matter. The execution and evaluation of each iteration of BSD is described throughout the paper. In addition, the process of interdisciplinary collaboration in our project has led to a more defined role of the artist as a facilitator of specialists. BSD Mimic has also led to further questions about the nature of audience collaboration for an engaged experience. (shrink)

The idMirror project consists of a tablet computer, specially equipped with a small mirror and a newly developed android app. The Android application uses face recognition to detect the location of the user’s face in relation to the device and based on this renders a computer graphic at the location of his or her reflection. The goal of the idMirror project setting as a research tool was to make an exploratory study on cultural differences at exhibition venues. For this study, (...) we have analyzed 150 participants’ face images aged between 18 and 75; among them, 50 participants’ face images collected in Europe, 50 participants’ face images collected in the USA, and 50 participants’ face images collected in Japan. We found global exhibitions a good research platform for random sampling of the subjects. For the study, we examined the first 50 participants at each exhibition and we found some significant differences. Through the explanatory study in the form of an art installation, we wanted to learn if the facial expression upon one’s own self-observation is a function of gender and place of exhibition setting origin. (shrink)

The nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse spontaneously develops an autoimmune diabetes that shares many immunogenetic features with human insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), type 1 diabetes. The mononuclear cell infiltrates in the islet, which results in the development of insulitis (a prerequisite step for the development of diabetes) are primarily composed of T cells. It is now well accepted that these T cells play important roles in initiating and propagating an autoimmune process, which in turn destroys insulin-producing islet β cells in the (...) pancreas. T cells are subdivided into CD4+ helper T cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T cells. CD4+ T cells are further subdivided into Th1 and Th2 cells based on profiles of cytokine production, and these two T-cell populations counterregulate each other. Because many autoimmune diseases are Th1 T-cell mediated, current studies have focused on manipulating the Th1/Th2 imbalance to suppress the autoimmune process in the NOD model. Furthermore, the incidence of disease is much higher in females than that in males, suggesting an involvement of sex-steroid hormones in the development of diabetes. Understanding insights of the mechanism of immune-mediated islet cell destruction and the interaction between the immune and the neuroendocrine system may, therefore, provide new therapeutic means of preventing this chronic debilitating disease. BioEssays 20:750–757, 1998. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Noh (1998a, b) analyzes echo questions in terms of metarepresentation and pragmatic enrichment within the framework of Relevance Theory. This paper argues that while the basic idea of metarepresentational analysis seems correct, it is better implemented differently. The alternative analysis proposed in this paper consists of three claims: first, echo questions are metarepresentational with rising intonation, with the rise alone conferring the question status; second, echo questions question the pragmatically enriched attribution; third, the focus of metarepresentation is to be distinguished (...) from the rest of the metarepresentation. This version of metarepresentational analysis reveals why echo questions behave the way they do, both syntactically and semantically/pragmatically. At the same time, this analysis captures not only similarities but also differences between echo questions and interrogatives on a principled basis. (shrink)

東アジア世界のなかで日本思想史はいかに構築できるか...古代から現代までを網羅した概説、待望の増補版。.

This book is an excellent book on business ethics and will be an invaluable resource for all readers who are keen to learn about the business ethics and key characteristics of a successful company. It focuses on the case study of a global company, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which oversees more than 250 operating units throughout the world. Through extensive interviews with top executives at J&J's headquarters, including Masami Atarashi and Mitsuo Hirose and attending workshops, Prof Hiroo Takahashi acquired (...) an in-depth understanding of the management style of J&J, grasped the company's ethics and the code of business conduct which is shared by J&J's members throughout the world. (shrink)

This paper examines Aristotle's discussion of the priority of actuality to potentiality in geometry at Metaphysics Θ9, 1051a21–33. Many scholars have assumed what I call the "geometrical construction" interpretation, according to which his point here concerns the relation between an inquirer's thinking and a geometrical figure. In contrast, I defend what I call the "geometrical analysis" interpretation, according to which it concerns the asymmetrical relation between geometrical propositions in which one is proved by means of the other. His argument as (...) so construed is ultimately based on the asymmetrical relation between the corresponding geometrical facts. Then I explore this ontological priority in geometry by drawing attention to a parallel passage, Posterior Analytics II.11, 94a24–35, where Aristotle explains the relation between the same geometrical propositions in connection to material causation. (shrink)

This paper examines the second geometrical problem in the Meno. Its purpose is to explore the implication of Cook Wilson’s interpretation, which has been most widely accepted by scholars, in relation to the nature of hypothesis. I argue that (a) the geometrical hypothesis in question is a tentative answer to a more basic problem, which could not be solved by available methods at that time, and that (b) despite the temporary nature of a hypothesis, there is a rational process for (...) formulating it. The paper also contains discussion of the method of analysis, problem reduction and a diorism, which have often been ambiguously explained in relation to the geometrical problem in question. (shrink)

This paper argues that the hypothesis proposed in the Meno is the proposition ‘virtue is good’ alone, and that its epistemic nature is essentially insecure. It has been an object of huge scholarly debate which other hypothesis Socrates posited with regard to the relationship between virtue and knowledge. This debate is, however, misleading in the sense of making us believe that the hypothesis that virtue is good is regarded as a truism in the light of the process of positing a (...) higher hypothesis described in the Phaedo and the Republic. I argue that the hypothesis in question is presented as a result of the earlier discussion of Meno's third definition of virtue, which implies the consequence that morally correct actions are beneficial whether or not accompanied by conventional goods such as wealth and honour. The underlying role of presenting it as a hypothesis is therefore to postpone demonstrating the truth of a controversial thesis which needs a substantial justification. In conclusion, I s... (shrink)

Many scholars have denied that Plato’s argument about desire at Philebus 34c10–35d7 is related to his recollection arguments in the Meno and Phaedo, because it is concerned only with postnatal experiences of pleasure. This paper argues against their denial by showing that the desire argument in question is intended to prove the soul’s possession of innate memory of pleasure. This innateness interpretation will be supported by a close analysis of the Timaeus, where Plato suggests that our inborn desires for food (...) and drink derive from the primitive experiences of pleasure that have naturally been incorporated into the appetitive part of the soul. (shrink)

We investigated the relationship between attentional resources and pedaling cadence using electroencephalography to measure P300 amplitudes and latencies. Twenty-five healthy volunteers performed the oddball task while pedaling on a stationary bike or relaxing. We set them four conditions, namely, performing only the oddball task, performing the oddball task while pedaling at optimal cadence, performing the oddball task while pedaling faster than optimal cadence, and performing the oddball task while pedaling slower than optimal cadence. P300 amplitudes at Cz and Pz electrodes (...) under optimal, fast, and slow conditions were significantly lower than those under control conditions. P300 amplitudes at Pz under fast and slow conditions were significantly lower than those under the optimal condition. No significant changes in P300 latency at any electrode were observed under any condition. Our findings revealed that pedaling at non-optimal cadence results in less attention being paid to external stimuli compared with pedaling at optimal cadence. (shrink)

At Phaedo 86b7–c2 Simmias puts forward the theory that the soul is the attunement of bodily elements. Many scholars have claimed that this theory originates in the Pythagoreans, especially Philolaus. The claim is largely based on their reading of the Phaedo, since we have scarce doxographical evidence. In this paper I show that the dialogue in question does not constitute any evidence for the Pythagorean origin of Simmias’ attunement theory, and that it rather represents the theory as stemming from a (...) materialistic world view that had become widespread among people at that time. I also pursue the question how and why, then, the attunement theory was able to attract many people, by examining its relation to Socrates’ affinity argument. (shrink)

Verbs likeloadorsprayare known to alternate between two variants (John sprayed paint onto the wall / John sprayed the wall with paint ). Both Rappaport and Levin (1988) and Pinker (1989) derive one variant from the other, but these lexical rule approaches have a number of problems. This paper argues for a form-meaning correspondence model which distinguishes between two levels of verb meaning: that of a lexical headsprayon the one hand and that of a phrasal constituentspray paint onto the wallorspray the (...) wall with painton the other. Locative alternation stems from the fact that a frame semantic scene encoded byspraycan be construed in two alternate ways. This proposed model allows us to account for the data straightforwardly without suffering from the problems created by lexical rule approaches. This proposed analysis is fundamentally the same as Goldberg’s (1995) in being a version of Construction Grammar approach. But unlike Goldberg’s Correspondence Principle-based account, my analysis makes the most of the semantic compatibility between verbs and constructions, thereby giving a more straightforward account of locative alternation. (shrink)

We study the fixed point property and the Craig interpolation property for sublogics of the interpretability logic \(\textbf{IL}\). We provide a complete description of these sublogics concerning the uniqueness of fixed points, the fixed point property and the Craig interpolation property.

Scholars have assumed what I call the synthetic interpretation, according to which the aim of Socrates’ first voyage (Phaedo 97b8–99d3) is to determine features of each object in the world by considering what features are good for it. Against this I argue for what I call the analytic interpretation, according to which it is to determine what the good is by considering why each object has its features as it does. I shall then show that my analytic interpretation sheds new (...) light on the objective and method of his second voyage (99d4–100a3). It has been discussed in the literature whether the theory of Forms is intended to explain things teleologically. But I argue that its point is rather for indirectly discovering the teleological cause, which Socrates attempted, but failed, to discover because of his reliance on empirical observation through the senses. (shrink)

There exists psychological evidence that consumers do not consider all available items in the market, which can lead to the “more-is-less” effect, a phenomenon where having more options causes a welfare reduction (Llears et al. in J Econ Theory 170:70–85, 2017). Under this more-is-less effect, we face a dilemma that adding new opportunities may both improve and worsen individual well-being. This study proposes a hypothesis that “more is always better,” which implies that adding new opportunities cannot worsen individual well-being, is (...) a bias to which moral heuristics leads. A satisfactory resolution of this dilemma is act-consequentialism over menus, which is an ex-post and third-party evaluation of opportunity sets. We provide an axiomatic foundation for act-consequentialism over menus and apply it to policymakers’ menu-providing policies. (shrink)

東北大震災という巨大災害の体験を下に、ヨブ記やカント、ハイデガーやレヴィナスの思想を再考し、「認識のかなた」としての「人...

『古事記伝』の完成に一生を費した宣長は、また、親思いで子煩悩、恐妻家で、町内の諸行事や歌会にまめに参加する、すぐれて人間的な生涯を送った人でもあった。本書は、言語をとおして人間存在にこだわり続けた本居 宣長の基礎的入門である。.

史料をとことんまで精査、圧倒的な現地調査から、近現代がつくりだした鎮魂の起源と思想の源流をたどる。.