Several studies have shown that our visual system may construct a “summary statistical representation” over groups of visual objects. Although there is a general understanding that human observers can accurately represent sets of a variety of features, many questions on how summary statistics, such as an average, are computed remain unanswered. This study investigated sampling properties of visual information used by human observers to extract two types of summary statistics of item sets, average and variance. We presented three models of (...) ideal observers to extract the summary statistics: a global sampling model without sampling noise, global sampling model with sampling noise, and limited sampling model. We compared the performance of an ideal observer of each model with that of human observers using statistical efficiency analysis. Results suggest that summary statistics of items in a set may be computed without representing individual items, which makes it possible to discard the limited sampling account. Moreover, the extraction of summary statistics may not necessarily require the representation of individual objects with focused attention when the sets of items are larger than 4. (shrink)

The subject of Western environmental ethics has been widely written about and discussed but the same can not be said of 'Japanese' environmental ethics. This discipline has not been covered in any branch of Japanese philosophy nor has there been sufficient pressure exerted by ecologists on Japanese thinkers and writers to explain how the Japanese code addresses environmental concerns. Although some Japanese scholars have in the past articulated their ideas on working with the natural world, the field covering the spirit (...) and core of Japanese environmental ethics remains largely unexplored. This paper examines and compares the discipline of Japanese environmental ethics, a 'bottom up process', with that of the Western model, a 'top down process'. It defines, and presents a new insight into environmental ethics from the Japanese perspective where the concept of 'living with nature' is more sensitive towards the environment than is the Western one of 'taming nature'. (shrink)

Estrogen receptor α (ERα) is a ligand‐dependent transcription factor that regulates the expression of estrogen‐responsive genes. Approximately 70% of patients with breast cancer are ERα positive. Estrogen stimulates cancer cell proliferation and contributes to tumor progression. Endocrine therapies, which suppress the ERα signaling pathway, significantly improve the prognosis of patients with breast cancer. However, the development of de novo or acquired endocrine therapy resistance remains a barrier to breast cancer treatment. Therefore, understanding the regulatory mechanisms of ERα is essential to (...) overcome the resistance to treatment. This review focuses on the regulation of ERα expression, including copy number variation, epigenetic regulation, transcriptional regulation, and stability, as well as functions from the point of view post‐translational modifications. (shrink)

This work examines Japanese government policies that impact on the environment in order to determine whether they incorporate a sufficient ethical substance. In the enquiry into the ethics of the policies, Kagawa-Fox explores how Western philosophers combined their theories to develop a 'Western environmental ethics code'; she also reveals the existence of a unique 'Japanese environmental ethics code' built on Japan's cultural traditions, religious practices, and empirical experiences. The discovery of the distinctive Japanese code is not only important for what (...) it discloses as a new philosophy, but most importantly how it can be used to analyse the ethical framework of the Japanese policies. In spite of the positive contributions that Japan has shown towards the global environment, the government has failed to show a corresponding moral obligation to the world ecology in its global environmental policy. The policies examined in the three case studies comprising whaling, nuclear energy, and forestry, have also been found wanting in ecological ethical considerations, both from a Western and Japanese perspective. The main reason for this is that the integrity of the policies has been compromised by Japanese vested interest groups; business and political interests ensure that the policies are primarily focused on maintaining sustainable economic growth. Whilst Japan's global environmental policy initiatives are the key to its economic survival into the 21st century, and these initiatives may achieve their aim, they do however fail the Japanese code of environmental ethics."--Publisher's description. (shrink)

The impact of _Harukanaru Sanga ni_ upon its publication in 1947 was immediate and dramatic- -the impetus, many have argued, for a post-war peace movement in Japan that has lasted over half a century. Now the text is available for the first time in English as _In the Far Away Mountains and Rivers_, a heart-wrenching and thought-provoking collection of letters, journal entries, and essays written by University of Tokyo students as they were drafted to fight in World War II. Many (...) of these students faced certain death as pilots in the kamikaze squads. Many of them deplored the war, and many were simply motivated by a sense of duty to their families and their country. They turned to poetry, philosophy, and religion—all in an attempt to make sense of the universal tragedy of war. (shrink)

The author proposes the development of systems learning guidebooks to accompany famous children's classic books. Children's classic books can make excellent bases for children's learning guidebooks on systems thinking and global ecology, because they are fun to read and well known worldwide. If such learning guidebooks are properly designed with humor and entertaining aspects, they could stimulate children to learn more about systems thinking. Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is chosen as a pilot case for developing such a children's (...) guidebook. The systems learning guidebook that accompanies Alice's Wonderland shall be entitled Alice in Systems Wonderland and will help its readers look at the Alice's Wonderland story with a systems perspective. (shrink)

As its name implies, Vasubandhu’s _Vyākhyāyukti_ (VyY) explains the logic or methodology (_yukti_) of exegesis or sūtra interpretation (_vyākhyā_) and only survives in a Tibetan translation. In recent years, research on this treatise has been gradually accumulating. However, due to the difficulty of the Tibetan translation, some of the arguments therein have been misunderstood. In this article, after reviewing the general framework of Vasubandhu’s method of interpreting the sūtras, I will present a newly discovered parallel regarding his discussion of the (...) “purpose, _prayojana_” of the sūtras and reread it through a close philological examination of various sources in Sanskrit and Tibetan. Thus, this article will first elucidate the details of Vasubandhu’s explanation of the purpose of the Buddha’s preaching using synonyms and will clarify an aspect of his views on the Buddha’s word. In addition, concerning this “purpose,” I will elucidate the characteristics of the final chapter of this text, which provides stories about hearing the Buddha’s words with respect. By doing so, I would like to reveal the characteristics of the VyY as a manual for vivid preaching. (shrink)

It is one of the peculiar features of the movement of translation of Western scientific treatises from Dutch into Japanese, known as Dutch learning , that if first originated in Nagasaki with a group of Japanese interpreters. This group differed from the scholarly community of the capital, Edo, by both training and social status. This article shows how this difference contributes to explaining some of the particularities of rangaku in its initial phase. A case in point is Shizuki Tadao's introduction (...) of Newtonian physics and astronomy. Yet, Sugita Genpaku, a major representative of the Edo scholarly community, gave an account of the beginning of Dutch learning that attempted to minimise, or even to erase, the contribution of the Nagasaki interpreters, who were dismissed as unscholarly. This attempt, too, is best understood in the light of the difference between the two communities. (shrink)

This special issue explores the significance of collectivism in modern and contemporary Japanese art. Japanese artists banded together throughout the twentieth century to work in collectives, reflecting and influencing each evolution of their culture. Illuminating the interplay between individual and community throughout Japan’s tumultuous century, the contributors to this issue examine both the practical internal operations of the collectives and the art that they produced. One contributor studies the art societies of prewar imperial Japan, whose juried art salons defined a (...) new _nihonga_ painting tradition. While recent scholarly work on art produced during World War II has tended to neglect the collectivist tradition, this issue covers wartime groups like the Art Unit for Promoting the Munitions Industry and the important questions they pose about the relationship between artists and the state. Art collectives in post-occupation Japan gained prominence working in the experimental vanguard of the global art scene in painting, sculpture, design, and intermedia projects. Adding a crucial dimension to the study of Japanese art and modernism, this issue explores how these groups attempted to accommodate the creative paradox of individualism within collectivism. _Contributors: Maki Kaneko, Kuroda Raiji, John Szostak, Miwako Tezuka, Ming Tiampo, Reiko Tomii, Alicia Volk, Midori Yoshimoto Reiko Tomii_ is an independent art historian and curator in New York. She is coauthor of _Xu Bing_. _Midori Yoshimoto_ is Associate Professor of Art History and curator of two galleries at New Jersey City University. She is the author of _Into Performance: Japanese Women Artists in New York_. (shrink)

Political developments in Japan from the latter part of 2000 to the year 2001 were highlighted by the executive transition from unpopular Yoshiro Mori to exceptionally popular Junichiro Koizumu as the nation's leader.

Iron Eyes: The Life and Teachings of Obaku Zen Master Tetsugen Doko, Helen J. Baroni, pp. ix+259, ISBN 0-7914-6892-5.

Mediator is a coregulatory complex that plays essential roles in multiple processes of transcription regulation. One of the human Mediator subunits, MED26, has a role in recruitment of the super elongation complex (SEC) to polyadenylated genes and little elongation complex (LEC) to non‐polyadenylated genes, including small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs) and replication‐dependent histone (RDH) genes. MED26‐containing Mediator plays a role in 3′ Pol II pausing at the proximal region of transcript end sites in RDH genes through recruitment of Cajal bodies (CBs) (...) to histone locus bodies (HLBs). This finding suggests that Mediator is involved in the association of CBs with HLBs to facilitate 3′ Pol II pausing and subsequent 3′‐end processing by supplying 3′‐end processing factors from CBs. Thus, we argue the possibility that Mediator is involved in the organization of nuclear bodies to orchestrate multiple processes of gene transcription. (shrink)

Media, politicians, and the courts portray college campuses as divided over diversity and affirmative action. But what do students and faculty really think? This book uses a novel technique to elicit honest opinions from students and faculty and measure preferences for diversity in undergraduate admissions and faculty recruitment at seven major universities, breaking out attitudes by participants' race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, and political partisanship. Scholarly excellence is a top priority everywhere, but the authors show that when students consider individual (...) candidates, they favor members of all traditionally underrepresented groups - by race, ethnicity, gender, and socio-economic background. Moreover, there is little evidence of polarization in the attitudes of different student groups. The book reveals that campus communities are less deeply divided than they are often portrayed to be; although affirmative action remains controversial in the abstract, there is broad support for prioritizing diversity in practice. (shrink)

Previous research (e.g., Horiuchi, Goldsmith, and Inoguchi, 2005) has shown some intriguing patterns of effects of several variables on international public opinion about US foreign policy. But results for the theoretically appealing effects of regime type and post-materialist values have been weak or inconsistent. This paper takes a closer look at the relationship between these two variables and international public opinion about US foreign policy. In particular, international reaction to the wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) are examined (...) using two major multinational surveys. The conclusions of previous research are largely reinforced: neither regime type nor post-materialist values appears to robustly influence global opinion on these events. Rather, some central interests, including levels of trade with the US and NATO membership, and key socialized factors, including a Muslim population, experience with terrorism, and the exceptional experiences of two states (Israel, Albania) emerge as the most important factors in the models. There is also a consistent backlash effect of security cooperation with the US outside of NATO. A discussion of these preliminary results points to their theoretical implications and their significance for further investigation into the transnational dynamics of public opinion and foreign policy. (shrink)

A critical review of five articles that appeared in the special issue of Acta Asiatica, i.e. • Saitō, Akira. “Avalokiteśvara in the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya.” • Watanabe, Shōgo. “The Lineage of the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya: With a Focus on Its Introduction and Expressions of Emptiness.” • Horiuchi, Toshio. “Revisiting the ‘Indian’ Commentaries on the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya: Vimalamitra’s Interpretation of the Eight Aspects.” • Ishii, Kōsei. “The Chinese Texts and Sanskrit Text of the Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya Seen by Wŏnch’ŭk 円測.” • Silk, Jonathan A. “The Heart Sūtra (...) as Dhāraṇī.” -/- My overall impression of Frontier is that the authors are committed to a hermeneutic dictated by the Buddhist religion itself, that the Heart Sutra is an Indian text, composed in Sanskrit. The articles in Frontier seem to suggest that no counterfactual evidence exists, or could exist, that would change this conclusion. (shrink)