"Normal" Feelings in "Abnormal" Worlds: On the Political Uses of Emotion in Science Fiction Manga

Scholars such as Darko Suvin have successfully argued for science fiction (SF) as fiction that portrays political alternatives through a focus on cognitive processes. This conception of SF minimizes the importance of character emotions, which has opened it to criticism from those who argue in favor of SF as a reflection of people’s wider psychological concerns. This dissertation argues that emotions, even when prominent within the narrative, can contribute directly to the cognitive exploration of political alternatives. If emotions are viewed not as a lack of overt logical reasoning but as a form of potential logic that can also provide alternative perspectives on the SF world, then it becomes possible to look at even emotion-heavy SF as sources of political ideas. This dissertation looks at how the depiction of emotions in SF manga (Japanese comics) affects the conveyance of political ideas. It shows that the portrayal of emotions in science fiction, even those which can be considered “commonplace” or “everyday”, can become political when sufficiently contextualized within alternative SF environments. Whether used to express political ideas or as a way to illuminate SF environments, emotion can expand the scope of possibilities for the exploration of political alternatives in SF.Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research NWOAsian Studie

Dynamics of spin-2 Bose condensate driven by external magnetic fields

Dynamic response of the F=2 spinor Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) under the influence of external magnetic fields is studied. A general formula is given for the oscillation period to describe population transfer from the initial polar state to other spin states. We show that when the frequency and the reduced amplitude of the longitudinal magnetic field are related in a specific manner, the population of the initial spin-0 state will be dynamically localized during time evolution. The effects of external noise and nonlinear spin exchange interaction on the dynamics of the spinor BEC are studied. We show that while the external noise may eventually destroy the Rabi oscillations and dynamic spin localization, these coherent phenomena are robust against the nonlinear atomic interaction.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. accepted by Phys. Rev.

Neurological soft signs in persons with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and the relationships to neuropsychological functions

BACKGROUND: Neurological abnormalities have been reported in people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). The current study aimed to examine the prevalence of neurological soft signs (NSS) in this clinical group and to examine the relationship of NSS to other neuropsychological performances. METHODS: Twenty-nine people with aMCI and 28 cognitively healthy elderly people were recruited for the present study. The NSS subscales (motor coordination, sensory integration, and disinhibition) of the Cambridge Neurological Inventory and a set of neuropsychological tests were administered to all the participants. RESULTS: People with aMCI exhibited significantly more motor coordination signs, disinhibition signs, and total NSS than normal controls. Correlation analysis showed that the motor coordination subscale score and total score of NSS were significantly inversely correlated with the combined Z-score of neuropsychological tests in aMCI group. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings suggested that people with aMCI demonstrated a higher prevalence of NSS compared to healthy elderly people. Moreover, NSS was found to be inversely correlated with the neuropsychological performances in persons with aMCI. When taken together, these findings suggested that NSS may play a potential important role and serve as a tool to assist in the early detection of aMCI