How parents talk about social events shapes their children’s understanding of the social world and themselves. In this study, we show that parents in a society that more strongly values individualism and one that more strongly values collectivism differ in how they talk about negative social events, but not positive ones. An animal puppet show presented positive social events and negative social events. All shows contained two puppets, an actor and a recipient of the event. We asked parents to talk (...) to their 3- and 4-years old children about these events. A total of 26 parent–child dyads from the United States and Japan participated. The principal dependent measure was how much parent talk referred to the actor of each type of social event. There were no cultural differences observed in positive events – both the United States and Japanese parents discussed actors more than recipients. However, there were cultural differences observed in negative events – the United States parents talked mostly about the actor but Japanese parents talked equally about the actor and the recipient of the event. The potential influences of these differences on early cognitive and social development are discussed. (shrink)

Este ensayo está dedicado a la serie grey paintings del artista norteamericano Cy Twombly. A partir de un análisis de Panorama y Cold Stream, planteo que la serie se vincula a formas de inscripción asociadas, simultáneamente, a lo verbal y lo pictórico. Si bien no es posible identificar letras ni palabras, estas obras manifiestan un estrecho vínculo con una dimensión gestual y corporal de la escritura. En mi análisis establezco relaciones con inscripciones arcaicas, con la criptografía, y con procesos de (...) alfabetización escolar. (shrink)

Sex determination in most organisms involves a simple binary fate choice between male or female development; the outcome of this decision has profound effects on organismal biology, biochemistry and behaviour. In the nematode C. elegans, there is also a binary choice, either male or hermaphrodite. In C. elegans, distinct genetic pathways control somatic and germline sexual cell fate. Both pathways share a common set of globally acting regulatory genes; however, germline-specific regulatory genes also participate in the decision to make male (...) or female gametes. The determination of sexual fate in the germline of the facultative hermaphrodite poses a special problem, because first sperm then oocytes are produced. It has emerged that additional layers of post-transcriptional regulation have been imposed to modulate the activities of the global sex-determining genes, tra-2 and fem-3; the balance between these activities is crucial in controlling sexual cell fate in the hermaphrodite germline. BioEssays 23:596–604, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

IntroductionPrevious transcranial magnetic stimulation studies have revealed that the activity of the primary motor cortex ipsilateral to an active hand plays an important role in motor control. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the ipsi-M1 excitability would be influenced by goal-directed movement and laterality during unilateral finger movements.MethodTen healthy right-handed subjects performed four finger tapping tasks with the index finger: simple tapping task, Real-word task, Pseudoword task, and Visually guided tapping task. In the Tap task, the subject (...) performed self-paced simple tapping on a touch screen. In the real-word task, the subject tapped letters displayed on the screen one by one to create a Real-word. Because the action had a specific purpose, this task was considered to be goal-directed as compared to the Tap task. In the Pseudoword task, the subject tapped the letters to create a pseudoword in the same manner as in the Real-word task; however, the word was less meaningful. In the VT task, the subject was required to touch a series of illuminated buttons. This task was considered to be less goal-directed than the Pseudoword task. The tasks were performed with the right and left hand, and a rest condition was added as control. Single- and paired-pulse TMS were applied to the ipsi-M1 to measure corticospinal excitability and short- and long-interval intracortical inhibition in the resting first dorsal interosseous muscle.ResultsWe found the smaller SICI in the ipsi-M1 during the VT task compared with the resting condition. Further, both SICI and LICI were smaller in the right than in the left M1, regardless of the task conditions.DiscussionWe found that SICI in the ipsi-M1 is smaller during visual illumination-guided finger movement than during the resting condition. Our finding provides basic data for designing a rehabilitation program that modulates the M1 ipsilateral to the moving limb, for example, for post-stroke patients with severe hemiparesis. (shrink)

The purpose of this article is to attempt to discern better the situation of art in contemporary society. To do this we will examine essentially the exterior forces which influence it. These multiple and diverse evolutionary forces are in a certain manner centripetal, and ultimately they modify our concepts of art as such. Without going so far as to state that contemporary society has completely overturned our ideas on this question, signs of change are nevertheless visible which challenge fundamental characteristics (...) up until now attributed to art. (shrink)

Background: Dementia is one the major problems of aging societies, and, novel and effective non-drug therapies are required as interventions in the oldest-old to prevent cognitive decline.Objective: This study aims to examine the efficacy and safety of reminiscence using immersive virtual reality focusing on anxiety that often appears with cognitive decline. The secondary objective is to reveal the preference for VR image types for reminiscence: live-action or computer graphics.Methods: This was a pilot, open-label, and randomized crossover study which was conducted (...) on January 2020 at a single nursing home. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups in equal numbers, and they alternately viewed two types of VR images themed on the mid- to late Showa era in Japan. In group A, the CG images were viewed first, and then the LA images were viewed. In group B, the images were viewed in the opposite order. Before VR viewing, subjects responded to Mini-Mental State Examination Japanese version and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Japanese version. After viewing the first and second VR, subjects responded to STAI and the numerical rating scale for satisfaction and side effects.Results: Ten subjects participated in this study. The values of analyses are presented in the mean. The age was 87.1 years, and the MMSE was 28.5. The total STAI score before VR viewing was 36.1, but it significantly decreased to 26.8 after the first VR viewing, and further decreased to 23.4 after the second VR viewing. The NRS score for satisfaction tended to be higher after viewing LA in group A vs. 8.6, P = 0.0993), while in group B, the score after CG was slightly lower than that after LA. There were no serious side effects.Conclusions: This study suggests that iVR reminiscence can reduce anxiety in the oldest-old without causing serious side effects. Furthermore, the impacts might be better with LA images. (shrink)

Next‐generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have revolutionised the analysis of genomic structural variants (SVs), providing significant insights into SV de novo formation based on analyses of rearrangement breakpoint junctions. The short DNA reads generated by NGS, however, have also created novel obstacles by biasing the ascertainment of SVs, an aspect that we refer to as the ‘short‐read dilemma’. For example, recent studies have found that SVs are often complex, with SV formation generating large numbers of breakpoints in a single event (multi‐breakpoint (...) SVs) or structurally polymorphic loci having multiple allelic states (multi‐allelic SVs). This complexity may be obscured in short reads, unless the data is analysed and interpreted within its wider genomic context. We discuss how novel approaches will help to overcome the short‐read dilemma, and how integration of other sources of information, including the structure of chromatin, may help in the future to deepen the understanding of SV formation processes. (shrink)

Although advance care planning can lead to more patient-centered care, the communication around it can be challenging in acute care hospitals, where saving a life or shortening hospitalization is important priorities. Our qualitative study in an acute care hospital in Japan revealed when specifically physicians and nurses start communication to facilitate ACP. Seven physicians and 19 nurses responded to an interview request, explaining when ACP communication was initiated with 32 patients aged 65 or older. Our qualitative approach employed descriptive analysis (...) to identify major themes, which included “initiation by patients” and “initiation by healthcare professionals.” In the latter case, seven specific triggers were identified: when the patients’ medical condition changed in terms of symptom relief, when the patients’ medical condition changed in terms of prognostic prediction, when serious events occurred, when a choice of treatment was presented, when the location for end-of-life care was chosen, when the patients’ cognitive function deteriorated, and when serious events settled down. Within this group of healthcare professionals, physicians were more focused on changes in their patients’ medical condition, whereas nurses focused more on their patients’ desire for a long-term perspective. Nurses encouraged patients to consider ACP themselves, which developed into an approach to respect patients’ autonomy. In acute care hospitals, it appeared to be desirable to have an early discussion where patients could understand the significance ACP, which would matter even after their discharge from the hospital. (shrink)

The Y‐box‐binding protein (YB‐1) represents the most evolutionary conserved nucleic‐acid‐binding protein currently known. YB‐1 is a member of the cold‐shock domain (CSD) protein superfamily. It performs a wide variety of cellular functions, including transcriptional regulation, translational regulation, DNA repair, drug resistance and stress responses to extracellular signals. As a result, YB‐1 expression is closely associated with cell proliferation. In this review, we will begin by briefly describing the characteristics of YB‐1 and will then summarize the pleiotropic functions brought about via (...) DNA–RNA transaction and protein–protein interactions. In addition, we will discuss the diverse range of potential physiological and pathological functions of YB‐1. BioEssays 25:691–698, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

BackgroundMany genetic counseling studies have focused on anxiety status because clients of GC often feel anxious during their visits. Metacognition is known to be one of the causes of having an inappropriate thinking style. In this study, we examined the relationship between anxiety and the metacognitive status of GC clients according to their characteristics.MethodsThe participants were 106 clients who attended their first GC session in our hospital from November 2018 to March 2021. The survey items were the clients’ characteristics, anxiety (...) status at the time of the visit, and metacognitive status.ResultsHigh state anxiety and high trait anxiety were observed in 34.9 and 11.3% of clients, respectively. Clients who were a relative or had a family history were significantly more likely to have high state anxiety. As for metacognitive status, only negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger were associated with having an anxiety status. Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger were an independent determinant of higher state anxiety, but not being a relative or having a family history. Metacognitive status scores were significantly lower in clients than in the control group.ConclusionState anxiety was shown to be more dependent on negative beliefs about thoughts concerning uncontrollability and danger of GC clients than their characteristics such as being a relative or having a family history. The results of this study will contribute to the development of new GC psychosocial support measures to address the anxiety of GC clients. (shrink)

We present a sequent calculus of a paraconsistent logic QMPT0, which has the paraconsistent-type excluded middle law (PEML) as an initial sequent. Our system shows that the presence of PEML is essentially important for QMPT0. It also has special rules when the set of constant symbols is finite. We also discuss the cut-elimination property of our system.

This paper analyses and compares some of the automated reasoners that have been used in recent research for compliance checking. Although the list of the considered reasoners is not exhaustive, we believe that our analysis is representative enough to take stock of the current state of the art in the topic. We are interested here in formalizations at the _first-order_ level. Past literature on normative reasoning mostly focuses on the _propositional_ level. However, the propositional level is of little usefulness for (...) concrete LegalTech applications, in which compliance checking must be enforced on (large) sets of individuals. Furthermore, we are interested in technologies that are _freely available_ and that can be further investigated and compared by the scientific community. In other words, this paper does not consider technologies only employed in industry and/or whose source code is non-accessible. This paper formalizes a selected use case in the considered reasoners and compares the implementations, also in terms of simulations with respect to shared synthetic datasets. The comparison will highlight that lot of further research still needs to be done to integrate the benefits featured by the different reasoners into a single standardized first-order framework, suitable for LegalTech applications. All source codes are freely available at https://github.com/liviorobaldo/compliancecheckers, together with instructions to locally reproduce the simulations. (shrink)

This paper re-envisions the personhood of severely disabled children, who are often excluded from the category of human beings in the academic literature due to their perceived lack of mental faculties, based on Japanese philosopher Watsuji Tetsuro’s concept of human beings. It begins with Carl Elliott’s claim that personhood should be used as a thick ethical concept. This concept has two features. First, it represents a fusion of fact and value. Second, it is embedded in our rich and culturally specific (...) forms of life. This paper suggests that Watsuji’s concept of ningen also has these features. Watsuji criticizes how Western ethicists take individual consciousness or will as their starting point for determining personhood. Instead, he argues that neither a subject nor a community exists as an entity in itself, but that the relationality between them is essential to their identity and that our communication is embedded within rich and social contexts. Through his etymological study of Japanese word ari, Watsuji points out that in making statements, one both discloses the world and becomes aware of the attitude one should take toward other beings. Some commentators, such as Sakabe Megumi, have suggested that such self-awareness entails the transformation of our sense of relationality. This paper leverages Watsuji’s concept of ningen to re-envision the relationship between caregivers and severely disabled children as relationality-based and therefore open to complex and rich communication. (shrink)