A large variety of periodic tables of the chemical elements have been proposed. It was Mendeleev who proposed a periodic table based on the extensive periodic law and predicted a number of unknown elements at that time. The periodic table currently used worldwide is of a long form pioneered by Werner in 1905. As the first topic, we describe the work of Pfeiffer, who refined Werner’s work and rearranged the rare-earth elements in a separate table below the main table for (...) convenience. Today’s widely used periodic table essentially inherits Pfeiffer’s arrangements. Although long-form tables more precisely represent electron orbitals around a nucleus, they lose some of the features of Mendeleev’s short-form table to express similarities of chemical properties of elements when forming compounds. As the second topic, we compare various three-dimensional helical periodic tables that resolve some of the shortcomings of the long-form periodic tables in this respect. In particular, we explain how the 3D periodic table “Elementouch”, which combines the s- and p-blocks into one tube, can recover features of Mendeleev’s periodic law. Finally we introduce a topic on the recently proposed nuclear periodic table based on the proton magic numbers. Here, the nuclear shell structure leads to a new arrangement of the elements with the proton magic-number nuclei treated like noble-gas atoms. We show that the resulting alignments of the elements in both the atomic and nuclear periodic tables are common over about two thirds of the tables because of a fortuitous coincidence in their magic numbers. (shrink)

This is the second edition of an important introduction to Leibniz's philosophy of logic and language first published in 1972. It takes issue with several traditional interpretations of Leibniz while revealing how Leibniz's thought is related to issues of great interest in current logical theory. For this new edition, the author has added new chapters on infinitesimals and conditionals as well as taking account of reviews of the first edition.

This is the second edition of an important introduction to Leibniz's philosophy of logic and language first published in 1972. It takes issue with several traditional interpretations of Leibniz (by Russell amongst others) while revealing how Leibniz's thought is related to issues of great interest in current logical theory. For this new edition, the author has added new chapters on infinitesimals and conditionals as well as taking account of reviews of the first edition.

量子力学、あるいはその発展史を扱った書物は、洋の東西を問わず、枚挙に暇がない。しかし、原著論文に逐一あたり、原著者と直接交流し、様々な議論を戦わせた後にその成果を採り入れて、まさに肉声をもって語り得た ものは極めて少ない。本書は、自らも量子力学基礎論において偉大な業績を挙げた著者が、研究者としての溢れる情熱と、歴史家としての冷徹な分析とを、相矛盾させることなく交えて、量子力学の本質を抉りだした、類い 稀な「複眼の書」である。伝説の物理学者が残した、全ての物理学徒必読、科学史家必携の名著。.

The nucleolus is a region of the nucleus with high protein density and it acts as a ribosome factory. The nucleolus contains a distinct region of the genome, the ribosomal RNA gene repeats (rDNA) that supply ribosomal RNA (rRNA) molecules. The rDNA is the most‐abundant gene and occupies a large part of the genome, for example, there are thousands of rDNA copies in the genomes of plant cells. Therefore, it is natural to suppose that the condition of the rDNA, such (...) as its stability, might affect cellular functions. Here I would like to propose a new model regarding the roles of the rDNA and nucleolus. The key point of this model is that they act to preserve genome stability and trigger aging. BioEssays 30:267–272, 2008. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

This study investigates the effect of socio-ecological networks on the willingness to communicate in English among Japanese people. Previous studies have shown that relational mobility, which is defined as the availability of opportunities to choose new relationship partners, positively affects the WTC in English for Japanese people. However, the network structure of the variables of relational mobility and its effects have not been revealed yet. The present study conducted network analysis with 474 Japanese university students and found the two clusters (...) that correspond to the dimensions of relational mobility in the partial correlation network. Three variables regarding opportunities to meet new people and leave current relationships positively affected the WTC in English; one had a negative effect. Centrality indices, such as nodes strength, betweenness, and closeness, revealed the centrality of several variables in the network. Bootstrapping methods showed the trustworthiness of the estimated network structure and centrality indices as well as edges and variables whose effects differed significantly from that of others. Contrary to the regression analysis results, the network analysis findings can help us understand the in-depth effect of relational mobility on the WTC in a second language, which will prove useful for intervention studies. (shrink)

We show that in the [Formula: see text] extension of a certain Chang-type model of determinacy, if [Formula: see text], then the restriction of the club filter on [Formula: see text] Cof[Formula: see text] to HOD is an ultrafilter in HOD. This answers Question 4.11 of [O. Ben-Neria and Y. Hayut, On [Formula: see text]-strongly measurable cardinals, Forum Math. Sigma 11 (2023) e19].

In 2008 the authors held Involving Interface, a lively interdisciplinary event focusing on issues of biological, sociocultural, and technological interfacing (see Acknowledgments). Inspired by discussions at this event, in this article, we further discuss the value of input from neuroscience for developing robots and machine interfaces, and the value of philosophy, the humanities, and the arts for identifying persistent links between human interfacing and broader ethical concerns. The importance of ongoing interdisciplinary debate and public communication on scientific and technical advances (...) is also highlighted. Throughout, the authors explore the implications of the extended mind hypothesis for notions of moral accountability and robotics. (shrink)

Graphical AbstractYeast mitochondria frequently mutate, and some dysfunctional mitochondria out-compete wild-type versions. The retrograde response enables yeast to tolerate dysfunction, but also produces ribosomal DNA circles (ERCs). We propose that ERC accumulation increases expression of the rDNA antisense gene, TAR1, which counteracts spread of respiration-deficient mitochondria in matings with wild-type yeast.

The development of robots that closely resemble human beings can contribute to cognitive research. An android provides an experimental apparatus that has the potential to be controlled more precisely than any human actor. However, preliminary results indicate that only very humanlike devices can elicit the broad range of responses that people typically direct toward each other. Conversely, to build androids capable of emulating human behavior, it is necessary to investigate social activity in detail and to develop models of the cognitive (...) mechanisms that support this activity. Because of the reciprocal relationship between android development and the exploration of social mechanisms, it is necessary to establish the field of android science. Androids could be a key testing ground for social, cognitive, and neuroscientific theories as well as platform for their eventual unification. Nevertheless, subtle flaws in appearance and movement can be more apparent and eerie in very humanlike robots. This uncanny phenomenon may be symptomatic of entities that elicit our model of human other but do not measure up to it. If so, very humanlike robots may provide the best means of pinpointing what kinds of behavior are perceived as human, since deviations from human norms are more obvious in them than in more mechanical-looking robots. In pursuing this line of inquiry, it is essential to identify the mechanisms involved in evaluations of human likeness. One hypothesis is that, by playing on an innate fear of death, an uncanny robot elicits culturally-supported defense responses for coping with death’s inevitability. An experiment, which borrows from methods used in terror management research, was performed to test this hypothesis. [Thomson Reuters Essential Science Indicators: Fast Breaking Paper in Social Sciences, May 2008]. (shrink)

Young children generally learn words from other people. Recent research has shown that children can learn new actions and skills from nonhuman agents. This study examines whether young children could learn words from a robot. Preschool children were shown a video in which either a woman or a mechanical robot labeled novel objects. Then the children were asked to select the objects according to the names used in the video. The results revealed that children in the human condition were more (...) likely to select the correct objects than those in the robot condition. Nevertheless, the five-year-old children in the robot condition performed significantly better than chance level, while the four-year olds did not. Thus there is a developmental difference in children’s potential to learn words from a robot. The results contribute to our understanding of how children interact with non-human agents. Keywords: developmental cybernetics; word learning; social cognition; cognitive development. (shrink)

Enhancing synchronization among people when synchronization is lacking is believed to improve their social skills, learning processes, and proficiency in musical rhythmic development. Greater synchronization among people can be induced to improve the rhythmic interaction of a system with multiple dancing robots that dance to a drum beat. A series of experiments were conducted to examine the human–human synchrony between persons that participated in musical sessions with robots. In this study, we evaluated: (a) the effect of the number of robots (...) on a subject’s ability to synchronize with an experimenter; (b) the effect of the type of robot synchrony, namely, whether the robots did or did not represent the subject’s rhythm; (c) the effect of an in-sync and out-of-sync robot on a subject’s behavior. We found that: (a) three robots increased the level of synchronization between the subject and experimenter and their enjoyment level; (b) robots may induce greater synchronization between the subject and experimenter by reproducing the rhythms of not only the experimenter but also of the subject compared to when only the experimenter’s rhythms had been reproduced; (c) the robots in-sync had greater influence on the natural rhythm of the subject. (shrink)

In this paper, we move toward offering psychological benchmarks to measure success in building increasingly humanlike robots. By psychological benchmarks we mean categories of interaction that capture conceptually fundamental aspects of human life, specified abstractly enough to resist their identity as a mere psychological instrument, but capable of being translated into testable empirical propositions. Nine possible benchmarks are considered: autonomy, imitation, intrinsic moral value, moral accountability, privacy, reciprocity, conventionality, creativity, and authenticity of relation. Finally, we discuss how getting the right (...) group of benchmarks in human–robot interaction will, in future years, help inform on the foundational question of what constitutes essential features of being human. (shrink)

Any interesting philosopher’s thoughts contain many prima facie mutually contradicting ideas. Especially if a thinker philosophizes intensely on an extremely wide area of enquiry over a long period, as is the case with Leibniz, advancing many views on each problem, often shifting his position, especially in the context of exchanges of opinions in letters, developing his views without necessarily tying up loose ends, and if in addition the thinker only publishes a minute portion of what he has written, it would (...) be strange, even grotesque, if his writings did not contain conflicting and contradictory strands. What is philosophically interesting, is not so much tracing the exact time of the changes, worthy and difficult as the detective work of historical scholarship involved may be, but realising, through such investigation, the depth and multiple facets of the issue that troubled the philosopher and led him to assert or hold on to those contradictory pairs or groups of ideas. We are sometimes made to realize that the issues throw light on problems that still puzzle us today. (shrink)