78 research outputs found
Making it Just in Time: Author-Creator Matsumoto Taiyō
No full textTranslated by Jon Holt and Teppei Fukuda
The first time I can remember encountering Matsumoto Taiyō’s work was probably when he released his short story collection, Blue Spring (Aoi haru - Matsumoto Taiyō tanpenshū [stories published from 1990 to 1993; Shōgakukan, 1993]). All of the stories concern a bunch of young dudes -- full of desires, frustrations, and violent tendencies -- and no chance they can ever get past those things. I thought to myself at that time, “Ah, I bet this stuff means a lot to readers in their teens, but they don’t really do anything for me.” After all, I was a man in my forties, so this stuff wasn’t on my radar as I was busy becoming a grown-up. Keep in mind that Taiyō himself was just in his early twenties. So, it really wasn’t that unnatural for him to write about life like that
On the Shafarevich conjecture (Algebraic Number Theory and Related Topics 2018)
No full textAlgebraic Number Theory and Related Topics 2018. November 26-30, 2018. edited by Takao Yamazaki and Shuji Yamamoto. The papers presented in this volume of RIMS Kôkyûroku Bessatsu are in final form and refereed.The Shafarevich conjecture, known as a geometric analogue of the Hermite-Minkowski theorem, states the finiteness of certain varieties over a fixed number field admitting good reduction away from a fixed finite set of finite places. In the abelian varieties of a fixed dimension case, this conjecture was proved by Faltings-Zarhin and applied to the Mordell conjecture. Moreover, the author proved a certain generalization of this conjecture in the K3 surfaces case. In the first part of this survey, we will sketch the proof of Faltings-Zarhin and its relation to the Mordell conjecture, and the second part we will present the result of the author
Time to Re-Evaluate Taniguchi Jiro\u27s Pace in Manga
No full textNatsume Fusanosuke is Emeritus Professor of the Graduate Program of Cultural Studies in Corporeal and Visual Representation, Gakushūin University. Despite his recent retirement from Gakushūin in March, he is still very active in manga criticism and scholarship. Originally a manga artist himself in the 1980s, by the 1990s he began doing more writing about manga, although he often still employs his cartooning skills to assist in his analysis and explanation of his subjects, much like his American contemporary Scott McCloud. It is not a stretch to compare the latter’s Understanding Comics to Natsume\u27s work in the classic How to Read Manga (Manga no yomikata, 1995; co-authored with Takekuma Kentarō and others) and his subsequent Why Is Manga So Interesting? Its Expression and Grammar (Manga wa naze omoshiroi no ka: sono hyōgen to bunpō), which aired originally as a NHK [Japanese public broadcasting] ten-week lecture mini-series. Like McCloud, Natsume pioneered techniques to see and analyze comics that are still in use today by scholars. Although Natsume’s publications are too numerous to list here, he is author and co-author of approximately twenty books on manga and manga scholarship, including monographs like Where Is Tezuka Osamu? (Tezuka Osamu wa doko ni iru, 1992), the first full-length study on the manga giant. After the 1990s, Natsume went on to revise his early approaches to manga study, analysis, and scholarship, as seen in his New Challenges for the Field of Manga (Mangagaku e no chosen, 2004). He also co-edited with Takeuchi Osamu a new reader for Manga Studies, Mangagaku nyūmon (2009). In addition to these achievements, in his career he has been a television host for NHK’s public television show on comics (Broadcast Satellite Manga Night Talks [BS Manga yawa]), and author of other books on Japanese culture, including Grandson of Sōseki (Sōseki no mago, 2003), which tells the story of his family and his connection to Japan’s great modern novelist Natsume Sōseki. In 1999, he was the recipient of the prestigious Tezuka Osamu Culture Award.
In the following essay on Taniguchi Jirō, whom Natsume considers one of Japan’s most important manga creators, Natsume re-envisions the artist in the context of recent manga history. Taniguchi passed away in 2017, but his work suggests a path towards a new kind of “adult reading” of manga, which is a theme of Natsume’s recent writing on how Japanese people read their comic books and how perhaps they should read them. As his essay title suggests, he feels the time is now to reconsider Taniguchi’s artistic achievement. In fact, a recent exhibition of Taniguchi’s art ran again in his home prefecture, Tottori, from last January through February. His work continues to be popular with Japanese, such as The Solitary Gourmet (Kodoku no gurume, 1994-96; 2008-2015), which was adapted into a popular television and web series. (English-speaking audiences need only to wait until next year for the translated edition from Fanfare/Ponent Mon.)
- Jon Holt & Teppei Fukuda, translator
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No full textEmerging evidence points to an unexpected diversification of core promoter recognition complexes that serve as important regulators of cell-type specific gene transcription. Here, we report that the orphan TBP-associated factor TAF9B is selectively up-regulated upon in vitro motor neuron differentiation, and is required for the transcriptional induction of specific neuronal genes, while dispensable for global gene expression in murine ES cells. TAF9B binds to both promoters and distal enhancers of neuronal genes, partially co-localizing at binding sites of OLIG2, a key activator of motor neuron differentiation. Surprisingly, in this neuronal context TAF9B becomes preferentially associated with PCAF rather than the canonical TFIID complex. Analysis of dissected spinal column from Taf9b KO mice confirmed that TAF9B also regulates neuronal gene transcription in vivo. Our findings suggest that alternative core promoter complexes may provide a key mechanism to lock in and maintain specific transcriptional programs in terminally differentiated cell types.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02559.001
Career decision-making as dynamic semiosis: Autoethnographic trajectory equifinality modeling
No full textThis study aims to describe and analyze the career decision-making of the first author in the context of life trajectory using autoethnographic trajectory equifinality modeling (Auto-TEM). The life story and analysis of the first author indicate that career decision-making is a constant pre-constructive process in the life trajectory of an individual. This process is a semiotic and trans-action one between the individual and society. In other words, career decision-making is an issue of the cultural psychology of dynamic semiosis, which is concerned with understanding the manner in which the life trajectory of a person promotes or inhibits socio-culturalism and not only a subject of matching and self-esteem. Alternatively, we emphasize that career decision-making for an individual is an act of meaning with a unique ontological aspect. We propose the value of Auto-TEM as a qualitative method for describing such a dynamic career decision-making process. The autoethnographic viewpoint renders possible the understandings of the dynamics of the personal–collective culture synthesis for the subject. © The Author(s) 2022.journal articl
Impacts of Asian dust storm associated with the stratosphere-to-troposphere transport in the spring of 2001 and 2002 on dust and tritium variations in Mount Wrangell ice core, Alaska
No full textThe relation of interannual connection between Asian dust outbreaks and stratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT) in spring was suggested by the dust and tritium variations in the Mount Wrangell ice core, Alaska in Yasunari et al. (2007). However, these impacts on the ice core site in each event scale have not been investigated. Hence, the present paper focuses on the material transport and deposition processes for further understanding these impacts oil the ice core. The variations in dust and tritium concentrations in spring in an ice core taken at Mt. Wrangell, Alaska are explained by meteorological analysis and simulation of trajectories associated with Asian dust outbreaks and STT. Material transport and deposition at Mt. Wrangell are examined in two contrasting years (2001 and 2002). Dust and tritium concentrations both reached peak values in the early spring of 2002, while the dust peak occurred in early spring and the tritium peak occurred in late spring in 2001. Six severe East Asian transpacific dust storms over this period are modeled by forward trajectory and meteorologically analyzed. It is found that 5 of 6 events contributed to the ice core record in Alaska. Stratospheric air is also transported to the ice core site in most cases. Tritium deposition is found to have been suppressed in the cases of the 2001 dust Storms due to lack of snowfall at appropriate times. Taken the detailed transport and deposition processes after the severe dust storms with atmospheric circulations into account, we can well explain spring dust and tritium variations in the Mount Wrangell ice core
Heat balance analysis for self-heating torrefaction of dairy manure using a mathematical model
No full textA self-heating torrefaction system was developed to overcome the difficulties in converting high-moisture biomass to biochar. In self-heating torrefaction, the ventilation rate and ambient pressure must be set properly to initiate the process. However, the minimum temperature at which self-heating begins is unclear because the effects of these operating variables on the heat balance are not theoretically understood. The present report presents a mathematical model for the self-heating of dairy manure based on the heat balance equation. The first step was to estimate the heat source; experimental data showed that the activation energy for the chemical oxidation of dairy manure is 67.5 kJ/mol. Next, the heat balance of feedstock in the process was analyzed. Results revealed that the higher the ambient pressure and the lower the ventilation rate at any given pressure, the lower the temperature at which self-heating is induced. The lowest induction temperature was 71 °C at a ventilation rate of 0.05 L min-1 kg-AFS-1 (AFS: ash-free solid). The model also revealed that the ventilation rate significantly affects the heat balance of feedstock and drying rate, suggesting an optimal range for ventilation
Discharge of pursuit neurons in the caudal part of the frontal eye fields during cross-axis vestibular-pursuit training in monkeys
No full textPrevious studies in monkeys have shown that pursuit training during orthogonal whole body rotation results in task-dependent, predictive pursuit eye movements. We examined whether pursuit neurons in the frontal eye fields (FEF) are involved in predictive pursuit induced by vestibular-pursuit training. Two monkeys were rotated horizontally at 20°/s for 0.5 s either rightward or leftward with random inter-trial intervals. This chair motion trajectory was synchronized with orthogonal target motion at 20°/s for 0.5 s either upward or downward. Monkeys were rewarded for pursuing the target. Vertical pursuit eye velocities and discharge of 23 vertical pursuit neurons to vertical target motion were compared before training and during the last 5 min of the 25-45 min training. The latencies of discharge modulation of 61% of the neurons (14/23) shortened after vestibular-pursuit training in association with a shortening of pursuit latency. However, their discharge modulation occurred after 100 ms following the onset of pursuit eye velocity. Only four neurons (4/23 = 17%) discharged before the eye movement onset. A significant change was not observed in eye velocity and FEF pursuit neuron discharge during pursuit alone after training without vestibular stimulation. Vestibular stimulation alone without a target after training induced no clear response. These results suggest that the adaptive change in response to pursuit prediction was induced by vestibular inputs in the presence of target pursuit. FEF pursuit neurons are unlikely to be involved in the initial stage of generating predictive eye movements. We suggest that they may participate in the maintenance of predictive pursuit
Degenerative and regenerative features of myofibers differ among skeletal muscles in a murine model of muscular dystrophy
No full textSkeletal muscle myofibers constantly undergo degeneration and regeneration. Histopathological features of 6 skeletal muscles (cranial tibial [CT], gastrocnemius, quadriceps femoris, triceps brachii [TB], lumbar longissimus muscles, and costal part of the diaphragm [CPD]) were compared using C57BL/10ScSn-Dmd (mdx) (mdx) mice, a model for muscular dystrophy versus control, C57BL/10 mice. Body weight and skeletal muscle mass were lower in mdx mice than the control at 4 weeks of age; these results were similar at 6-30 weeks. Additionally, muscular lesions were observed in all examined skeletal muscles in mdx mice after 4 weeks, but none were noted in the controls. Immunohistochemical staining revealed numerous paired box 7-positive satellite cells surrounding the embryonic myosin heavy chain-positive regenerating myofibers, while the number of the former and staining intensity of the latter decreased as myofiber regeneration progressed. Persistent muscular lesions were observed in skeletal muscles of mdx mice between 4 and 14 weeks of age, and normal myofibers decreased with age. Number of muscular lesions was lowest in CPD at all ages examined, while the ratio of normal myofibers was lowest in TB at 6 weeks. In CT, TB, and CPD, Iba1-positive macrophages, the main inflammatory cells in skeletal muscle lesions, showed a significant positive correlation with the appearance of regenerating myofibers. Additionally, B220-positive B-cells showed positive and negative correlation with regenerating and regenerated myofibers, respectively. Our data suggest that degenerative and regenerative features of myofibers differ among skeletal muscles and that inflammatory cells are strongly associated with regenerative features of myofibers in mdx mice
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Sucre to Dollar, Franc to Euro: the Cultural Impact of Currency Change in Ecuador and France
No full textThis thesis is a comparative study of the two processes of currency change that occurred in Ecuador in 2000 and in France in 2002. Although the background of these two countries and the motivations behind each currency change varied, Ecuador and France have experienced many similar outcomes. Each of the two countries also has nevertheless faced different problems, that
the other country did not encounter, due to the cultural differences between them.
In general, economic developments are expected as a result of
currency changes, and a government may focus only on economic-related outcomes. However, the cultural shifts in people's everyday lives, brought about by a currency change, are drastic, and this aspect of currency change must not be ignored.
The research for this thesis is based on local media, the observation of people's reactions, personal interactions with the people of the two countries, and all other previous international experiences of the author.
The currency changes in Ecuador and France both had impacts on
many people, including their neighboring countries and the rest of the world, and both the Ecuadorian and French people are still experiencing cultural changes in their lives that will continue as globalization proceeds, involving every citizen of the planet
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