IntroductionWind instrument players sometimes suffer from erosion of the mucous membrane of the lip. This is caused by the action and pressure of the mouthpiece of the wind instrument against teeth. To address this problem, a lip shield is fitted over the dental arch to prevent direct contact between the lips and teeth. However, there are a few studies on the influence of the lip shield on the acoustics of wind instruments. The purpose of this study was to analyze the (...) psychoacoustics of a clarinet performance with the player wearing a custom-made soft lip shield to prevent mucosal erosion of the lower lip.Case DescriptionA lip shield was custom-made with a soft thermoplastic material for a female clarinetist who complained of mucosal erosion and pain of the lower lip. The psychoacoustics of her musical performance played in different dynamics, fortissimo, mezzo forte and pianissimo were analyzed, including loudness and sharpness. A self-evaluation questionnaire with items rated on a 10-point scale was administered. After wearing the lip shield, the patient reported that the mucosal erosion and pain of her lower lip when playing clarinet resolved. The lip shield had little effect on the loudness. There was a slight decrease in sharpness when the lip shield was worn compared to when it was not, describing the reduction of high frequencies. Furthermore, fewer variations in sharpness between the tones were observed.ConclusionThe results suggest that lip shields made of soft materials can eliminate mucosal erosion and pain of the lower lip while having little effect on performance, although, a slight change in timbre is possible. (shrink)

Recently, agent technologies have attracted a lot of interest as an emerging programming paradigm. With such agent technologies, services are provided through collaboration among agents. At the same time, the spread of mobile technologies and communication infrastructures has made it possible to access the network anytime and from anywhere. Using agents and mobile technologies to realize ubiquitous computing systems, we propose a new framework based on KODAMA and VPC. KODAMA provides distributed management mechanisms by using the concept of community and (...) communication infrastructure to deliver messages among agents without agents being aware of the physical network. VPC provides a method of defining peer-to-peer services based on agent communication with policy packages. By merging the characteristics of both KODAMA and VPC functions, we propose a new framework for ubiquitous computing environments. It provides distributed management functions according to the concept of agent communities, agent communications which are abstracted from the physical environment, and agent collaboration with policy packages. Using our new framework, we conducted a large-scale experiment in shopping malls in Nagoya, which sent advertisement e-mails to users' cellular phones according to user location and attributes. The empirical results showed that our new framework worked effectively for sales in shopping malls. (shrink)

The masked priming paradigm has been extensively used to investigate the indirect impacts of unconscious stimuli on conscious behaviors, and the congruency effect of priming on free choices has gained increasing attention. Free choices allow participants to voluntarily choose a response from multiple options during each trial. While repeated practice is known to increase priming effects in subliminal visual tasks, whether practice increases the priming effect of free choices in the masked priming paradigm is unclear. And it is also not (...) clear how the proportions of free choice and forced choice trials in one block will affect the free choice masked priming effect. The present study applied repeated practice in the masked priming paradigm and found that after training, the participants were more likely to be influenced by masked primes during free choice, but this training process did not alter the visibility of masked stimuli. In addition, this study revealed that when the proportions of free choice and forced choice trials were equal during the training stage, this enhanced effect by practice was the strongest. These results indicated that practice could enhance masked stimulus processing in free-choice, and that the learning effect may mainly be derived from the early selection and integrated processing of masked stimuli. (shrink)

Researchers have suggested that infants exhibiting baby schema are considered cute. These similar studies have mainly focused on changes in overall baby schema facial features. However, whether a change in only eye size affects the perception of cuteness across different facial expressions and ages has not been explicitly evaluated until now. In the present study, a paired comparison method and 7-point scale were used to investigate the effects of eye size on perceived cuteness across facial expressions and ages. The results (...) show that stimuli with large eyes were perceived to be cuter than both unmanipulated eyes and small eyes across all facial expressions and age groups. This suggests not only that the effect of baby schema on cuteness is based on changes in a set of features but also that eye size as an individual feature can affect the perception of cuteness. (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)

Tanabe Hajime développa sa philosophie dans la perspective d’une « ontologie sociale » à travers la « logique de l’espèce » et la « logique de l’Amour ». La première, développée de 1934 à 1941, vise la rationalisation de la société japonaise en temps de guerre, la seconde le salut de la société japonaise après la Seconde Guerre mondiale dans le cadre d’une philosophie de la religion. Le but de cet article est de mettre au jour le développement de la (...) logique de l’espèce vers la logique de l’Amour et de présenter l’histoire de l’ontologie sociale tanabéenne dans le cadre de la « métanoétique ». (shrink)

生殖医療・遺伝子改変等の広範な領域におけるキーコンセプトとしての「ヒト胚の道徳的地位」，種々の宣言等で使用されながら意味が曖昧な「人間の尊厳」を多角的に考察する。.

本書ではデータ解析にもとづく倫理学の理論の概要を述べるとともに，総計6,000名にのぼる高校生等への意識調査の結果を踏まえた，自己決定の時代の現状分析を行っている。現状分析の内容は，マスコミによるイメ ージ操作の検証，個人主義的自由主義の原理であるミルの原理の受容状況や問題点，いじめの分析，他者概念の検討，大人と子供の境界の曖昧化現象の考察等であるが，それらを貫く縦糸は「自己決定」，「自由」である。 また現代は，生命や環境，情報といった領域で，社会のレベルでも自己決定する必要に迫られている。本書の提唱するところの調査にもとづく倫理学の方法は，いわゆる「反省的均衡」の方法を実行可能にするものであり， 社会的自己決定を導く有力な方法である。.

As is well known, John Rawls opposes the idea and policy of basic income. However, this paper posits that his view of self-respect and activity could accommodate its implementation. Rawls lists the social basis of self-respect in social primary goods as the most important good, but does not assume that it is derived from wage labor alone. It appears that his theory of justice aims to criticize the work-centered (wage-labor) society and to overcome it. Besides, as Rawls desires, for our (...) work to be meaningful and our life worthwhile, we should institutionalize basic income because it can improve workers’ bargaining power and their attitude toward work, in addition to enhancing their leisure time. In this paper, by considering the normative relationship between meaningful work, worthwhile life, and self-respect from a Rawlsian perspective, I inquire into the potential of basic income in his well-ordered society. (shrink)

Jecker and Au’s paper raises important issues concerning health equity in pandemic responses, and the importance of considering the long-term effects of pandemic strategy on population health and well-being.1 We welcome their focus on the experience of Asian countries, including Japan. However, we have some concerns with both the distinction which they draw between elimination and mitigation, and their account of the nature and origins of the Japanese response to the COVID-19 pandemic. First, we believe that the distinction between elimination (...) and mitigation is not fine grained enough to capture the various strategies which countries have taken towards the pandemic. Many of Jecker and Au’s criticisms of the elimination strategy relate to specific policies such as lockdowns, travel restrictions and restrictions on businesses, which have been employed by numerous countries irrespective of their end goal. By contrast to the simple elimination/mitigation dichotomy with which Jecker and Au work, Baker et al have identified five separate COVID-19 strategies, namely: exclusion, elimination, suppression, mitigation and no substantive strategy.2 Baker et al define an elimination strategy as ‘maximum action to exclude disease and eliminate community transmission’ with the goal of reaching ‘zero [disease] transmission in the community’. On this account, Japan’s strategy does …. (shrink)

The scientific, ethical, and policy issues raised by research involving the engraftment of human neural stem cells into the brains of nonhuman primates are explored by an interdisciplinary working group in this Policy Forum. The authors consider the possibility that this research might alter the cognitive capacities of recipient great apes and monkeys, with potential significance for their moral status.

This article asks whether our moral duties are created by others’ non-compliance and whether we should fulfill them or not. For example, do we need to donate more of our income to eradicate world poverty because billionaires do not donate? If so, how much should we donate? In short, should we make up for others’ defaulting on their moral duties – and if so, how and to what extent? Such situations are called non-ideal circumstances in political philosophy. With the increasing (...) importance of non-ideal theories of justice and ethics, the question of how we should act in non-ideal situations has received more attention in the ethics literature in recent years. This article poses and addresses the question of whether we should take up the slack when others do not comply with their own moral duty. This article examines how consequentialism and contractualism might respond to non-ideal situations of taking up the slack and then defends a contractualist-constructivist approach to dealing with these situations. (shrink)

Disaster planning challenges our morality. Everyday rules of action may need to be suspended during large-scale disasters in favour of maxims that that may make prudential or practical sense and may even be morally preferable but emotionally hard to accept, such as tsunami-tendenko. This maxim dictates that the individual not stay and help others but run and preserve his or her life instead. Tsunami-tendenko became well known after the great East Japan earthquake on 11 March 2011, when almost all the (...) elementary and junior high school students in one city survived the tsunami because they acted on this maxim that had been taught for several years. While tsunami-tendenko has been praised, two criticisms of it merit careful consideration: one, that the maxim is selfish and immoral; and two, that it goes against the natural tendency to try to save others in dire need. In this paper, I will explain the concept of tsunami-tendenko and then respond to these criticisms. Such ethical analysis is essential for dispelling confusion and doubts about evacuation policies in a disaster. (shrink)

Why is John Rawls less popular than other philosophers in Japan? In what follows, I explain how Rawls’ philosophy has been received in Japan, especially in relation to Japanese culture, politics, and economy. After giving an overview of the framework of Rawls’ philosophical view, I outline the background of the reception of Western philosophy in Japan . Then, I proceed to explain the reason why the early reception of Rawls’ work in Japan was mainly started not by ethicists and philosophers (...) but by economists and jurists . I discuss the first Japanese translation of A Theory of Justice , the publication of .. (shrink)

倫理学における『正義論』革命の全貌。「反照的均衡」という方法論を軸とした『正義論』は、規範倫理学・政治哲学の分野を活気づけた。しかしそれだけが『正義論』革命なのではない。ロールズの理論は、道徳の根本問 題を考える道徳哲学・倫理学の分野にも衝撃を与えたのである。 -/- This book explores the full story of A Theory of Justice revolution in ethics. A Justice of Theory, centered on the methodology of "reflective equilibrium," has energized the fields of normative ethics and political philosophy. However, this is not the only revolution in A Theory of Justice. Rawls's theory has also impacted the fields of moral philosophy and metaethics, which deal with fundamental questions of morality.

In the Böhm theorem workshop on Crete, Zoran Petric called Statman’s “Typical Ambiguity theorem” the typed Böhm theorem. Moreover, he gave a new proof of the theorem based on set-theoretical models of the simply typed lambda calculus. In this paper, we study the linear version of the typed Böhm theorem on a fragment of Intuitionistic Linear Logic. We show that in the multiplicative fragment of intuitionistic linear logic without the multiplicative unit the weak typed Böhm theorem holds. The system IMLL (...) exactly corresponds to the linear lambda calculus with multiplicative pairing. The system IMLL also exactly corresponds to the free symmetric monoidal closed category without the unit object. As far as we know, our separation result is the first one with regard to these systems in a purely syntactical manner. (shrink)

熊本大学生命倫理論集第3巻のテーマは「生命の価値」そのものである。生命倫理が前提とする生命という価値についての根本的問いかけに、哲学、倫理学、法学、医学、脳科学、生物学等の様々な分野の専門家が本気で取 り組み、学問の境界を越えた議論を展開する。.

Sloppy identity under ellipsis is generally attributed to the pronoun in ellipsis being a bound variable. However, sloppy identity can be licensed in structural configurations in which variable binding is ordinarily blocked. This paper provides a solution for this mismatch by reanalyzing the pronouns with the unexpected sloppy readings as E-type pronouns. Under the proposed analysis, the distribution of such pronouns is correctly predicted. It will also be shown that the analysis is successfully extended to sloppy identity in association-with-focus cases.

The Fist-Edge-Palm task, a manual hand task, has been used to detect frontal dysfunctions in clinical situations: its performance failures are observed in various prefrontal cortex -related disorders, including schizophrenia. However, previous imaging studies reported that the performance of the FEP task activated motor-related areas, but not the PFC. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationships between the performance of the FEP task and PFC functions. Hemodynamic activity in the PFC, including the dorsolateral PFC and frontal pole, was recorded. Healthy (...) young subjects performed the FEP task as well as a palm tapping task three times. The subjects also completed a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and Schizotypal Personality Scale questionnaire. We found that hemodynamic activity in the PFC increased in the first trial of the FEP task but decreased considerably in the second and third trials compared to the PT task. The number of performance errors in the FEP task also decreased in the second and third trials. Error reduction in the FEP task between the first and second trials was negatively correlated with schizotypal trait and the number of perseveration errors in the WCST. Furthermore, changes in the PFC hemodynamic activity between the first and second trials were positively correlated with error reduction in the FEP task between the first and second trials, and negatively correlated with the number of perseveration errors in the WCST. These results suggest that learning in the FEP task requires PFC activation, which is negatively associated with perseveration errors in the WCST. The results further suggest that the FEP task, in conjunction with near-infrared spectroscopy, may be useful as a diagnostic method for various disorders with PFC dysfunction. (shrink)

Artificial agents, which are embedded in a virtual world, need to interpret a sequence of commands given to them adequately, considering the temporal structure for each command. In this paper, we start with the semantics of natural language and classify the temporal structures of various eventualities into such aspectual classes as action, process, and event. In order to formalize these temporal structures, we adopt Arrow Logic. This logic specifies the domain for the valuation of a sentence as an arrow. We (...) can connect, or give order to, arrows by defining inter-arrow operations, and can give different views for sentences. Thereafter we formalize the rules of aspectual shifts in situated inference, in the style of a logic programming language. Thus, we not only describe the static representation of temporal features, but also show the dynamic process to deduce how each eventuality is viewed. The rules are applied to the information flow through the sequence of commands; therefore, we consider how the temporal structure of a command affects the succeeding commands. (shrink)

Since the beginning of Christianity, the understanding of Christ’s sonship has played an essential role in soteriology. According to the Church Fathers and to the medieval theologians, the human person can become a son of God by the grace of adoption through the sonship of Christ. However, the German Dominican, Meister Eckhart , uses the theological concept 'the Only-begotten Son', which stands for the divine sonship of Christ himself, to describe the human condition and demonstrates the equality between Christ and (...) the human person. This quite unusual understanding drew the attention of the Church authorities in his time, because it could be associated with the doctrines of heretics in the late Middle Ages who insisted on the perfect identity between Christ and the human person. In the end, Eckhart’s teaching including the understanding of the sonship was condemned by the papal bull In agro dominico together with his other teachings. The present article attempts to reconstruct this one of the most challenging teachings of Eckhart by the analysis of his text, mainly the text of his German homilies, and to examine how he understands the relationship between Christ and the human person regarding the sonship. (shrink)

A multilingual disaster information system (MLDI) has been developed to overcome the language barrier during times of natural disaster. MLDI is a web-based system that includes templates in nine languages so that translated texts can be made available immediately. Mobile phone e-mail with graphic text is a useful tool for delivering multilingual disaster information. The visibility of graphic text on mobile phones was measured and found to be equivalent to the built-in font. However, visibility deteriorates as the character size becomes (...) smaller, especially, on displays with poor resolution. This article also discusses the necessity of multilingual information and measures for a safe and barrier-free society. (shrink)

Today Asia is attracting attention in the area of bioethics. In fact, the potential of bioethics is beginning to be discussed seriously at academic centers across Asia. In Japan, this discussion began a decade ago with the publication The book is one of the principal explorations of biomedical ethics involving Japan to date. Tom Beauchamp, an author of one of the book's chapters, compares Japanese and American standards of informed consent and refutes relativistic positions, concluding that.