Over the past decade, genetically modified organisms have come to be viewed as problematic in Japan, as evidenced by a large number of newspaper articles covering questions ranging from the unknown ecological impact of GMOs to uncertainty about food safety, and by the fact that a number of consumers’ groups have organized activities including demonstrations at the experiment stations and the submission of petitions to the government. Against this backdrop, this article attempts to understand the changing interpretation of the perceived (...) rational social order in the context of the Japanese GMO controversies. Drawing on the French Theory of Conventions, the article will shed light on the conventions that serve as templates enabling actors to interpret what it means to introduce GMOs and what constitutes a rational decision concerning GMOs. The article will argue that rationality is best viewed as an emergent and interpretive process involving interpretation and negotiation by and among actors, and that conventions which may be taken for granted are nevertheless unstable and mutable. (shrink)

Roles remain nebulous entities, notwithstanding their extensive interdisciplinary research. This paper argues through a meta-ontological conceptual tool of grounding that there are three key facets of roles: a role position, a role specification, and a role potential. A foundational perspective on roles can be specified by “role choices” as to which facet of roles is primary. Role choices are illustrated with theories of roles that are built in compliance with four well-known upper ontologies: GFO, DOLCE, BFO, and UFO. The relationship (...) between such three facets of roles and the GFO-based three kinds of roles (relational, processual, and social) is closely examined. These three facets are also comparatively studied from linguistic (e.g. ‘have a role’ versus ‘play a role’) and methodological (realism versus conceptualism regarding ontology design) perspectives. Furthermore, the family resemblance view of roles as “epistemic trackers” is proposed: the general notion of role is merely (partially) unified by its three facets and helps to keep track of some entity with respect to its role-related aspects. Finally, defining characteristics of roles in conceptual modeling are considered in terms of the three-facet theory. This work provides the grist for future practical development of an ontological module for generic role representation. (shrink)

The notion of affordance remains elusive, notwithstanding its importance for the representation of agency, cognition, and behaviors. This paper lays down a foundation for an ontology of affordances by elaborating the idea of “core affordance” which would serve as a common ground for explaining existing diverse conceptions of affordances and their interrelationships. For this purpose, it analyzes M. T. Turvey’s dispositional theory of affordances in light of a formal ontology of dispositions. Consequently, two kinds of so-called “core affordances” are proposed: (...) specific and general ones. Inspired directly by Turvey’s original account, a specific core affordance is intimately connected to a specific agent, as it is reciprocal with a counterpart effectivity of this agent within the agent-environment system. On the opposite, a general core affordance does not depend on individual agents; rather, its realization involves an action by an instance of a determinate class of agents. The utility of such core affordances is illustrated by examining how they can be leveraged to formalize other major accounts of affordances. Additionally, it is briefly outlined how core affordances can be employed to analyze three notions that are closely allied with affordances: the environment, image schemas, and intentions. (shrink)

For each ordinal $\alpha > 0, L(\alpha)$ is the intermediate predicate logic characterized by the class of all Kripke frames with the poset α and with constant domain. This paper will be devoted to a study of logics of the form L(α). It will be shown that for each uncountable ordinal of the form α + η with a finite or a countable $\eta (> 0)$ , there exists a countable ordinal of the form β + η such that L(α (...) + η) = L(β + η). On the other hand, such a reduction of ordinals to countable ones is impossible for a logic L(α) if α is an uncountable regular ordinal. Moreover, it will be proved that the mapping L is injective if it is restricted to ordinals less than ω ω , i.e. α ≠ β implies L(α) ≠ L(β) for each ordinal $\alpha,\beta. (shrink)

The present study examined the direct and indirect relationships between competitive work environments and subjective unhealthiness. It also examined the effects of adjusting for cognitive distortions in the relationship between a competitive work environment and subjective unhealthiness and between a competitive work environment and workaholism. Data were collected from 9,716 workers in various industries, occupations, and positions. The results show that competitive work environments were positively related to subjective unhealthiness, both directly and through workaholism. Furthermore, cognitive distortions moderated the positive (...) effect between a competitive work environment and workaholism, and the positive relationship was stronger when cognitive distortions were high. This study has important and practical implications for companies that are increasingly concerned about the health of their employees. (shrink)

本巻は、「他者」とされた異教・女性・被差別民の問題と、「境界」に位置した北海道・沖縄という異文化に焦点をあて、宗教との関価を論じる。.

Those formulas which are valid in every Kripke model having constant domain whose base is the ordered set R of real numbers (or, the ordered set Q of rational numbers) are characterized syntactically.

Research ethics consultation services (RECS), which function as an advisory service to facilitate the resolution of complex ethical issues in clinical research, have been proliferating over the last decade. However, the qualification of an individual who provides RECS, or “a research ethics consultant,” has not been thoroughly investigated, in contrast to healthcare ethics consultants, whose core competencies have been discussed and clarified to a great extent. In this study, we investigated core competencies necessary for research ethics consultants, referring to the (...) core competency models of ethics consultants developed in the healthcare practice context, and propose a competency model for research ethics consultants. (shrink)

A structure A for the language L, which is the first-order language (without equality) whose only nonlogical symbol is the binary predicate symbol , is called a quasi -struoture iff (a) the universe A of A consists of sets and (b) a b is true in A ([p) a = {p } & p b] for every a and b in A, where a(b) is the name of a (b). A quasi -structure A is called an -structure iff (c) {p (...) } A whenever p a A. Then a closed formula in L is derivable from Leniewski's axiom x, y[x y u (u x) u; v(u, v x u v) u(u x u y)] (from the axiom x, y(x y x x) x, y, z(x y z y x z)) iff is true in every -structure (in every quasi -structure). (shrink)

The modal logic S4.2 is S4 with the additional axiom ◊□A ⊃ □◊A. In this article, the sequent calculus GS4.2 for this logic is presented, and by imposing an appropriate restriction on the application of the cut-rule, it is shown that, every GS4.2-provable sequent S has a GS4.2-proof such that every formula occurring in it is either a subformula of some formula in S, or the formula □¬□B or ¬□B, where □B occurs in the scope of some occurrence of □ (...) in some formula of S. These are just the K5-subformulas of some formula in S which were introduced by us to show the modied subformula property for the modal logics K5 and K5D : 115–122, 2001). Some corollaries including the interpolation property for S4.2 follow from this. By slightly modifying the proof, the finite model property also follows. (shrink)

Let EOA be the elementary ontology augmented by an additional axiom S (S S), and let LS be the monadic second-order predicate logic. We show that the mapping which was introduced by V. A. Smirnov is an embedding of EOA into LS. We also give an embedding of LS into EOA.

Sequent calculi for trilattice logics, including those that are determined by the truth entailment, the falsity entailment and their intersection, are given. This partly answers the problems in Shramko-Wansing.

The underlying mechanisms of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions for emotional well-being remain poorly understood. Here, we examined the potential mediating effects of cognitive reactivity and self-compassion on symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress using data from an earlier randomised controlled school trial. A moderated time-lagged mediation model based on multilevel modelling was used to analyse the data. The findings showed that post-treatment changes in cognitive reactivity and self-coldness, an aspect of self-compassion, mediated subsequent changes in symptoms of depression, anxiety (...) and stress. These results suggest that cognitive reactivity and self-coldness may be considered as transdiagnostic mechanisms of change of a mindfulness-based intervention programme for youth. (shrink)

Strong completeness of S. Titani's system for lattice valued logic is shown by means of Dedekind cuts.

No agreed-upon account of mirror reversal is currently available although it has been discussed for more than two thousand years since Plato. Mirror reversal usually refers to recognized left-right reversal of a mirror image. Depending on the nature and layout of a reflected object, however, top-bottom reversal may be recognized instead of left-right reversal; no reversal at all may be recognized; and the presence or absence of reversal may not be decidable. Takano (1998) proposed a psycho-optic theory to explain (...) all these cases of mirror image recognition in a consistent manner. The proposed theory assumes different causes of mirror reversal depending on whether an object's left-right axis is parallel or perpendicular to a mirror's surface. This theory was later criticized in that it provided no explanation when the left-right axis is neither parallel nor perpendicular but at an intermediate angle between zero and 90 degrees with a mirror. This article completes the theory by presenting psycho-optic anal.. (shrink)

A sequential axiomatization is given for the 16-valued logic that has been proposed by Shramko-Wansing as a candidate for the basic logic of logical bilattices.

The present study used the experience sampling method to detect fluctuations in thinking, such as self-focus or concreteness in daily life, and to examine their relationship with depressive symptoms and concurrent negative affect. Thirty-one undergraduates recorded their negative affect, ruminative self-focus, and concreteness of thinking eight times a day for 1 week. Multilevel modeling showed that individuals with increasing levels of depression showed lower levels of concreteness in their daily thinking. Further analysis revealed a significant positive association between momentary ruminative (...) self-focus and concurrent negative affect only with low concreteness of thinking. These results suggested that individuals with increasing levels of depression chronically process self-related information on an abstract level, which reflects a malfunction of their self-regulatory cycle and might serve to maintain or even exacerbate dysphoric moods. (shrink)

A modified subformula property for the modal logic KD with the additionalaxiom □ ◊ ⊃ □ ◊ A ∨ □ ◊B is shown. A new modification of the notion of subformula is proposed for this purpose. This modification forms a natural extension of our former one on which modified subformula property for the modal logics K5, K5D and S4.2 has been shown. The finite model property as well as decidability for the logic follows from this.