Regarding strictly monadic second‐order logic (SMSOL), which is the fragment of monadic second‐order logic in which all predicate constants are unary and there are no function symbols, we show that a standard deductive system with full comprehension is sound and complete with respect to standard semantics. This result is achieved by showing that in the case of SMSOL, the truth value of any formula in a faithful identity‐standard Henkin structure is preserved when the structure is “standardized”; that is, the predicate (...) domain is expanded into the set of all unary relations. In addition, we obtain a simpler proof of the decidability of SMSOL. (shrink)

As humans, we constantly change our movement strategies to adapt to changes in physical functions and the external environment. We have to walk very slowly in situations with a high risk of falling, such as walking on slippery ice, carrying an overflowing cup of water, or muscle weakness owing to aging or motor deficit. However, previous studies have shown that a normal gait pattern at low speeds results in reduced efficiency and stability in comparison with those at a normal speed. (...) Another possible strategy is to change the gait pattern from normal to step-to gait, in which the other foot is aligned with the first swing foot. However, the efficiency and stability of the step-to gait pattern at low speeds have not been investigated yet. Therefore, in this study, we compared the efficiency and stability of the normal and step-to gait patterns at intermediate, low, and very low speeds. Eleven healthy participants were asked to walk with a normal gait and step-to gait on a treadmill at five different speeds, ranging from very low to normal walking speed. The efficiency parameters and stability parameters were analyzed from the motion capture data and then compared for the two gait patterns. The results suggested that step-to gait had a more efficient gait pattern at very low speeds of 10–30 m/min, with a larger percent recovery, and was more stable at 10–60 m/min in comparison with a normal gait. However, the efficiency of the normal gait was better than that of the step-to gait pattern at 60 m/min. Therefore, step-to gait is effective in improving gait efficiency and stability when faced with situations that force us to walk slowly or hinder quick walking because of muscle weakness owing to aging or motor deficit along with a high risk of falling. (shrink)

Short-term motor practice leads to plasticity in the primary motor cortex. The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that determine the increase in corticospinal tract excitability after motor practice, with special focus on two factors; “the level of muscle activity” and “the presence/absence of a goal of keeping the activity level constant.” Fifteen healthy subjects performed four types of rapid thumb adduction in separate sessions. In the “comfortable task” and “forceful task”, the subjects adducted their thumb using (...) comfortable and strong forces. In the “comfortable with a goal task” and “forceful with a goal task”, subjects controlled the muscle activity at the same level as in the C and F, respectively, by adjusting the peak electromyographic amplitude within the target ranges. Paired associative stimulation, which combines peripheral nerve stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation, with an inter-stimulus interval of 25 ms was also done. Before and after the motor tasks and PAS25, TMS was applied to the M1. None of the four tasks showed any temporary changes in behavior, meaning no learning occurred. Motor-evoked potential amplitude increased only after the FG and it exhibited a positive correlation with the MEP increase after PAS25, suggesting that FG and PAS25 share at least similar plasticity mechanisms in the M1. Resting motor threshold decreased only after FG, suggesting that FG would also be associated with the membrane depolarization of M1 neurons. These results suggest task-dependent plasticity from the synergistic effect of forceful muscle activity and of setting a goal of keeping the activity level constant. (shrink)

Proprioceptive acuity is of great significance in basic research exploring a possible neural mechanism of fine motor control and in neurorehabilitation practice promoting motor function recovery of limb-disabled people. Moreover, body representation relies on the integration of multiple somatic sensations, including proprioception that is mainly generated in muscles and tendons of human joints. This study aimed to examine two hypotheses: First, different extension positions of wrist joint have different proprioceptive acuities, which might indicate different body representations of wrist joint in (...) the brain. Second, repetitive peripheral magnetic stimulation applied peripherally to the forearm radial nerve and extensors could change proprioceptive acuity at the wrist joint. Thirty-five healthy participants were recruited then randomly divided into the real stimulation group and the sham stimulation group. The participants’ non-dominant side wrist joint position sense was tested at six extension positions within the physiological joint motion range both before stimulation and after stimulation. Results showed that proprioceptive bias among six extension positions could be divided into lower-extension position and higher-extension position. One session rPMS could influence proprioceptive bias in lower-extension position but not in higher-extension position. However, proprioceptive precision was not influenced. To conclude, proprioceptive bias may vary between different wrist extension positions due to different hand postures being related to changes in body representation, and different functions relating to proprioceptive bias and proprioceptive precision may underlie two aspects of body representation. (shrink)

Dogs and cats have been domesticated through different processes. Dogs were the first domesticated animals, cooperating with humans by hunting and guarding. In contrast, cats were domesticated as predators of rodents and lived near human habitations when humans began to settle and farm. Although the domestication of dogs followed a different path from that of cats, and they have ancestors of a different nature, both have been broadly integrated into—and profoundly impacted—human society. The coexistence between dogs/cats and humans is based (...) on non-verbal communication. This review focuses on “gaze,” which is an important signal for humans and describes the communicative function of dogs’ and cats’ eye-gaze behavior with humans. We discuss how the function of the gaze goes beyond communication to mutual emotional connection, namely “bond” formation. Finally, we present a research approach to multimodal interactions between dogs/cats and humans that participate in communication and bond formation. (shrink)

Adolescents’ and young adults’ practical moral judgments about two interpersonal moral dilemmas, which differed in their moral complexity, were examined using two philosophical frameworks (deontological and consequentialist principles) as tools for psychological analysis. A sample of 234 participants (ages 14–16, 18–19, and 20–21) reasoned about two moral dilemmas, which had been experienced by a subset of adolescents in a pilot study, in two forms: Participants 1) provided open-ended decisions and justification from the perspective of an imagined moral agent and 2) (...) selected a choice from nine fixed reasoning alternatives (half advocating one course and other half advocating the other course of action, plus a relativistic reasoning). The participants’ open-ended responses served as a foundation of coding systems and were analyzed using log-linear analyses, chi-square tests, and a binominal logistic regression. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods uncovered unexpected but nuanced young people’s moral thinking. Results indicated that female participants were more likely than males to show a unique decision style: “restructuring” of the moral dilemmas/situations, and moral relativism emerged only when asked to select a choice from nine reasoning alternatives and was primarily evidenced among the younger (aged 18–19) female college students. (shrink)

The present study reports on the use of a linguistic category "interrogative," which has been traditionally associated with the act of questioning, and its use in argument talk in Japanese. Based on the observation that interrogative utterances in argument data are regularly followed by non-answers, it is argued that interrogative utterances in argument sequences may not be designed/interpreted as doing questioning. Such use of interrogatives can become an orderly practice to which participants orient themselves in social activities recognizable as arguments. (...) However, though an answer is not expected, the recipient invariably provides some form of response, or the initial speaker seeks such a response when none is provided. Thus the nature of interrogatives as a grammatical category seems to reside in the basic structural unit of social interaction [recipient-oriented action]-[response]. In general, this study is intended to show the dynamically interlocking relationship between grammar and interaction by exploring the intricate interplay between a local action for which interrogative grammar is employed, and the sequential environment and activity framework in which the action takes place. (shrink)

This volume brings together essays that explore the intersections between Nietzsche and Wittgenstein from various perspectives. While some chapters focus on the philological and biographical connections of Wittgenstein's reading of Nietzsche, others reflect on the ideas that are implicitly shared by the two thinkers. For Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, philosophy is inextricably connected to ethics and the arts and therefore takes a peculiar method that differs from the sciences. Nevertheless, their thinking strives for knowledge and truth by means of discursive text (...) forms, however unconventional they may be. The first group of chapters contextualize explicit references to Nietzsche in Wittgenstein's writings and clarify their philosophical function. In Part II, the contributors take a philosophical problem as their starting point and show how it can be illuminated by comparing or contrasting Wittgensteinian and Nietzschean arguments and methods. Together the chapters trace Nietzsche's influence on Wittgenstein's thought concerning the critique of language, ethics, aesthetics, religion, and philosophical method. Wittgenstein and Nietzsche will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in the history of philosophy and intellectual history. (shrink)

Paired associative stimulation at the spinal cord has been shown to increase muscle force and dexterity by strengthening the corticomuscular connection, through spike timing dependent plasticity. Typically, transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcutaneous peripheral nerve electrical stimulation are often used in spinal PAS. PNS targets superficial nerve branches, by which the number of applicable muscles is limited. Alternatively, a muscle can be activated by positioning the stimulation electrode on the “motor point”, which is the most sensitive location of a muscle to (...) electrical stimulation. Although this can increase the number of applicable muscles for spinal PAS, nobody has tested whether MPS can be used for the spinal PAS to date. Here we investigated the feasibility of using MPS instead of PNS for spinal PAS. Ten healthy male individuals received spinal PAS on two separate days with different stimulation timings expected to induce facilitation of corticospinal excitability or no effect on the soleus. The motor evoked potentials response curve in the soleus was measured prior to the spinal PAS, immediately after and at 10, 20, 30 min post-intervention as a measure of corticospinal excitability. The post-intervention MEP response curve areas were larger in the REAL condition than the CONTROL conditions. Further, the post-intervention MEP response curve areas were significantly larger than pre-intervention in the REAL condition but not in the CONTROL condition. We conclude that MPS can facilitate corticospinal excitability through spinal PAS. (shrink)

The present article deals with an observer design for nonlinear vehicle lateral dynamics. The contributions of the article concern the nonconsideration of any force model and the consideration that the longitudinal velocity is time varying, which is more realistic than the assumption that it is constant. The vehicle model is then represented by an exact Takagi–Sugeno model via the sector nonlinearity transformation. A proportional multiple integral observer based on the TS model is designed to estimate simultaneously the state vector (...) and the unknown input. The convergence conditions of the estimation error are expressed under LMI formulation using the Lyapunov theory, which guaranties a bounded error. Simulations are carried out for comparison between the conventional PI observer, the enhanced PI observer, and the PMI observer. Finally, experimental results are provided to illustrate the performances of the proposed PMI observer. (shrink)

This paper investigates the aperiodic sampled-data control for a chaotic system. Firstly, Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy models for the chaotic systems are established. The lower and upper bounds of the sampling period are taken into consideration. Then, the criteria for mean square exponential stability analysis and aperiodic sampled-data controller synthesis are provided by means of linear matrix inequalities. And the real sampling patterns can be fully captured by constructing suitable Lyapunov functions. Finally, an illustrative example shows that the proposed method is (...) effective to guarantee that the system’s states are stable with aperiodic sampled data. (shrink)

The H ∞ performance of a class of T-S fuzzy systems with Markovian-jump parameters is analyzed. A state feedback controller is designed for T-S fuzzy systems with Markovian-jump parameters. First, a new modal-dependent Lyapunov function composed of closed-loop functions is constructed, which can fully use system status information. Based on this function, the stability conditions with less conservatism are given by linear matrix inequalities. At the same time, a design algorithm for a state feedback controller is proposed for the Markovian-jump-parameters (...) T-S fuzzy systems, which ensures the system’s stability under the condition of H ∞ − γ performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the mentioned method is accurate and practical. (shrink)