In bacteria, PriA protein, a conserved DEXH‐type DNA helicase, plays a central role in replication restart at stalled replication forks. Its unique DNA‐binding property allows it to recognize and stabilize stalled forks and the structures derived from them. Cells must cope with fork stalls caused by various replication stresses to complete replication of the entire genome. Failure of the stalled fork stabilization process and eventual restart could lead to various forms of genomic instability. The low viability of priA null cells (...) indicates a frequent occurrence of fork stall during normal growth that needs to be properly processed. PriA specifically recognizes the 3′‐terminus of the nascent leading strand or the invading strand in a displacement (D)‐loop by the three‐prime terminus binding pocket (TT‐pocket) present in its unique DNA binding domain. Elucidation of the structural basis for recognition of arrested forks by PriA should provide useful insight into how stalled forks are recognized in eukaryotes. (shrink)

I am honored to have been invited to participate in this Workshop on Comparative Studies of Building Molecular Biology, with a discussion of Japanese experiences in constructing a science — in this case, the discipline of molecular biology. As I understand it, the construction of a science must be equivalent to building a new culture. My having given this title to my paper suggests that I have enough knowledge about the subject to perhaps even extrapolate its course into the future (...) — which I do not. What I do have is a sincere admiration of my old friends and colleagues, in Japan and elsewhere, who together tried to build a new science of molecular biology in Japan. (shrink)

Families of children with mental health challenges may have been particularly vulnerable to emotional distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional study surveyed 81 parents of children ages 6–17 years receiving mental health treatment in an outpatient clinic during the pandemic. We sought to characterize the impact of the pandemic on family relationships and parental well-being. Additionally, regression and ANCOVA models examined associations between four potentially protective factors—parents’ psychological resilience, perceived social support, positive family experiences during the pandemic, and children’s (...) use of cognitive or behavioral coping strategies—with family relationships and parental well-being. Findings suggest that families of children with mental health conditions experienced remarkable challenges to family relationships, parental well-being, and parents’ perceived capacity to support their children’s mental health. Nearly 80% of parents reported a negative impact of the pandemic on their own well-being, and 60% reported reduced ability to support their children’s mental health. Simultaneously, protective factors appeared to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic. Particularly, support within the family and from external sources were associated with better self-reported well-being for parents and their capacity to support their children. Children’s use of coping tools, likely enhanced by mental health treatment, was also positively related to better family relationships and parental ability to support children with mental health challenges. Our findings highlight the need for enhancing supports for families at multiple levels including individual skill-building, family-based/parenting support, and community-based support. (shrink)

狂信的な国粋主義者か、はたまた魂の尊厳を問うた求道者か。民俗学と国粋主義の親和性とは。多角的な視点からファシズムを再考する。.

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English. 世界衛生組織(WHO)在歷經自1976年伊波拉病毒病(EbolaHemorrhagicFever, 伊波拉出血熱)爆發以來，處理疫情爆發當中出現的種種倫理問題之後，於2016年出版“Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Outbreaks”（中文暫譯：《傳染病爆發處理倫理議題之指引》）一書，其中整理出「正義、行善、效益、尊重自主、自由、團結、互惠」等七項倫理原則，於今面對新冠肺炎（COVID-19）的疫情上，各國防疫 政策，亦可作為應對。作為一名當代墨者，本文即以此為基礎，由醫療的角度，結合國內情況，企欲在墨學義理內作一生命倫理的反思，並試圖對後疫情時代給予具體作為之建議。 In response to various ethical problems that emerged after the 1976 Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic, WHO published the book Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Outbreaks in 2016. The content of the book was organized around seven ethical principles, namely, justice, beneficence, benefit, respect for autonomy, freedom, reciprocity, and unity. These seven ethical principles can be used as (...) a framework for countries to develop policies for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from contemporary Mohism, this paper reflects on the situation in Taiwan through the lens of these seven ethical principles. It aims to arrive at a Mohist understanding of bioethics and proposes concrete actions for the post-epidemic era. (shrink)

Cellular pattern formations of some epithelia are believed to be governed by the direct lateral inhibition rule of cell differentiation. That is, initially equivalent cells are all competent to differentiate, but once a cell has differentiated, the cell inhibits its immediate neighbors from following this pathway. Such a differentiation repeats until all non-inhibited cells have differentiated. The cellular polygonal patterns can be characterized by the numbers of undifferentiated cells and differentiated ones. When the differentiated cells become large in size, the (...) polygonal pattern is deformed since more cells are needed to enclose the large cell. An actual example of such a cellular pattern was examined. The pupal wing epidermis of a butterfly Pieris rapae shows a transition of the equivalent-size cell pattern to the pattern involving large cells. The process of the transition was analyzed by using the method of weighted Voronoi tessellation that is useful for treatment of irregularly sized polygons. The analysis supported that the pattern transition of the early stage of the pupal wing epidermis is governed by the lateral inhibition rule. The differentiation takes place in order of largeness, but not smallness, of the apical polygonal area in the differentiating region of the pupal wing. (shrink)

Technical reasoning refers to making inferences about how to use tools. The degree of technical reasoning is indicated by the bias of the gaze on the functional part of the tool when in use. Few studies have examined whether technical reasoning differs between familiar and unfamiliar novel tools. In addition, what effect the intention to use the tool has on technical reasoning has not been determined. This study examined gaze shifts in relation to familiar or unfamiliar tools, under three conditions, (...) among 14 healthy adults. The cumulative fixation time on the functional part of the tool served as a quantitative indicator of the degree of technical reasoning. The two-way analysis of variance for tools and conditions revealed that the cumulative fixation time significantly increased under free viewing and use conditions, compared to lift conditions. Relative to the free viewing condition, cumulative fixation time for unfamiliar tools significantly decreased in the lift condition and significantly increased in the use condition. Importantly, the results showed that technical reasoning was performed in both the use and the free viewing conditions. However, technical reasoning in the free viewing condition was not as strong as in the use condition. The difference between technical reasoning in free viewing and use conditions may indicate the difference between automatic and intentional technical reasoning. (shrink)

A series of Six-Party Talks involving the United States, China, Japan, South and North Korea, and Russia resulted in the emergence of a narrative of a . Given the prevalence of nuclear weapons amidst Sino-American rivalry, the area is hardly . Instead, the phrase has evolved into a common signifier for the US and China, suggesting that, despite their rivalries, the North Korean nuclear issue can be detrimental for both nuclear-free’ seriously, recasting the phrase as borne of both mutual scepticism, (...) as well as convergent interests, over the Korean Peninsula. (shrink)

Some people in Japan are still comfortable with the paternalistic role of doctors, but others wish that their own decisions would receive a greater amount of respect. A total of 747 students of universities and colleges and 114 parents of these students participated in a questionnaire survey. Most of the participants thought that autonomy should be respected in situations involving death with dignity and euthanasia, whereas it should not be respected in attempted suicide and involuntary admission of individuals with mental (...) illness. A cluster analysis revealed that the participants could be divided into the following groups: aid in dying advocates, complete libertarians, protectors of the mentally ill, complete paternalists, and questionables. The assertion of independence score of the Scale for Independent and Interdependent Construal of the Self showed a significant difference among the 5 clusters. These findings suggest that the traditional paternalistic relationship between doctor and patient is undergoing a gradual transformation in Japan. (shrink)

In this paper I argue that an encounter with a tick can produce both fear and wonder. I make a distinction between the legitimate danger of tick borne-diseases and the non-danger of our entanglement with the nature revealed by the tick’s bite in order to highlight the goodness of the tick and the possibilities for post-human existences beyond narratives of conquest and control. Ultimately, I argue that wonder is a helpful mechanism for thinking through the goodness of the tick by (...) allowing an ungrounding of our assumptions about climate change, hospitality, and the danger of non-human agencies. (shrink)

This book offers the first comprehensive collection of essays on the key concepts of Kitaro Nishida (1870-1945), the father of modern Japanese philosophy and founder of the Kyoto School. The essays analyze several of the major philosophical concepts in Nishida, including pure experience, absolute will, place, and acting intuition. They examine the meaning and positioning of Nishida’s philosophy in the history of philosophy, as well as in the contemporary world, and discuss the relevance of his philosophy in the present context. (...) The book next looks at the significance of Nishida’s philosophy in the wider contexts of science, arts, and religion. The book includes a glossary of key terms that have been translated in a unified manner throughout the volume. (shrink)

Recent discussions of “eco-anxiety” have brought attention to feelings of hopelessness and despair associated with climate change and ecological disaster. When we accept the claims made by science about climate change and realize that our near future is full of unprecedented ecological crisis it is difficult to avoid feelings of anxiety about the future of human life on our planet. While these discussions have largely taken place in the context of psychology and psychoanalysis, there is a need to engage in (...) ethical deliberation about both “eco-anxiety” and “eco-trauma.” In this paper, I argue that an environmental virtue of wonder can help to articulate the intersection of environmental ethics and “eco-anxiety” by offering a mean between the excess of anxiety and the deficiency of boredom. I situate this discussion within trauma studies and make connections between the pre-trauma of climate change, wonder, and eco-cinema. More specifically, I argue for a weird environmental ethic that embraces fuzzy boundaries of entangled environments and show that the virtue of wonder allows for flourishing within this context. I use cinema, and specifically Eco-Weird cinema, to argue for a shift in narratives about our present and our future as it relates to climate change. (shrink)

This book connects recent developments in speculative realism, new materialism, and eco-phenomenology to articulate an approach to wonder that escapes the connected traps of anthropocentrism and correlationism. Brian Onishi argues that wonder has explanatory power for the constitution of the world and the organization of meaning. To do this, he appeals to both fiction (speculative and Weird fiction in particular) and quantum physics. More specifically, he argues that the focus of Weird fiction on impossible experiences and a feeling of something (...) just beyond the limits of one’s grasp dramatizes the speculative reach beyond the limits of our understanding. But more than a tool for knowledge acquisition, wonder is an organizing property of objects. Like the collapse of superposition in quantum physics, reality is constituted when objects reveal themselves to other objects and thereby organize themselves into complex objects. Since no relation is exhaustive, the capacity to wonder remains at a material level, and the possibility of reorganization is ever present. Ultimately, Onishi argues for a speculative eco-phenomenology with wonder as an engine for a Weird environmental ethics. (shrink)