〓

This article is a part of trials of the searching for the philosophical premises of "action" which is generally situated in the starting point of sociology. Recently, there has been a hot contraversy which is concerned in the Nietzsche\u27s will to power, that is, a contraversy between the so called post-structuralism and the hermeneutics. Concretely, this contraversy has been developed by focusing on the Heidegger\u27s interpretation of Nietzsche. On the one hand, by J. Derrida who is the representative of the former, and the other hand, by H.-G. Gadammer who is the same of the latter. In this paper, I\u27m going to chach the sight of stronger basis of sociological theory through the critical study of this contraversy

〓

This paper aims to present a reconstruction of "pattern variables". After T. Parsons wrote "Pattern Variables Revisited" (1960), he has never taken into account of this theoretical apparatus twice, in spite of preceding not a few energetic theoretical revisions. I conceive, however, this apparatus still has held a very significant position in his whole theory of action. In this point of view, I try to review and reconstruct "pattern variables" by pointing out his some theoretical problems, especially centering around those which can be conceived as a "paradox" between his three texts

〓

Descartes\u27"four rules" to be observed indicated as a method of research works -more broadly as a way of rational human life-are naturally within the framework of "action" so far as they are human doings. Then, paradoxically speaking, in a sense they directly represent the general way of action or its principles, while they are the products of an effort that researches into a specific aspect of "action" to the utmost limit. In this article, I try to ask the correlativity between Descartes\u27 method itself and the general theory of action which I search for

〓

Max Weber\u27s action theory of course, is the basic principle of his sociology. The whole of his theory itself depends fundamentally on "meaning", "motive" and "action", and appears to indicate the direction of the most contemporary problem of social theory, just the symbolism. In this paper, I try to make the structure of his concept of meaning clear by throwing light on it from a standpoint of my own on symbolism, and at the same time, try to add my prospects by making a few critical comments on it

“Candidatus Competibacter”-lineage genomes retrieved from metagenomes reveal functional metabolic diversity

The glycogen-accumulating organism (GAO) ‘Candidatus Competibacter’ (Competibacter) uses aerobically stored glycogen to enable anaerobic carbon uptake, which is subsequently stored as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). This biphasic metabolism is key for the Competibacter to survive under the cyclic anaerobic-‘feast’: aerobic-‘famine’ regime of enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) wastewater treatment systems. As they do not contribute to phosphorus (P) removal, but compete for resources with the polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAO), thought responsible for P removal, their proliferation theoretically reduces the EBPR capacity. In this study, two complete genomes from Competibacter were obtained from laboratory-scale enrichment reactors through metagenomics. Phylogenetic analysis identified the two genomes, ‘Candidatus Competibacter denitrificans’ and ‘Candidatus Contendobacter odensis’, as being affiliated with Competibacter-lineage subgroups 1 and 5, respectively. Both have genes for glycogen and PHA cycling and for the metabolism of volatile fatty acids. Marked differences were found in their potential for the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas and Entner–Doudoroff glycolytic pathways, as well as for denitrification, nitrogen fixation, fermentation, trehalose synthesis and utilisation of glucose and lactate. Genetic comparison of P metabolism pathways with sequenced PAOs revealed the absence of the Pit phosphate transporter in the Competibacter-lineage genomes—identifying a key metabolic difference with the PAO physiology. These genomes are the first from any GAO organism and provide new insights into the complex interaction and niche competition between PAOs and GAOs in EBPR systems

Meta-omics approaches to understand and improve wastewater treatment systems

Biological treatment of wastewaters depends on microbial processes, usually carried out by mixed microbial communities. Environmental and operational factors can affect microorganisms and/or impact microbial community function, and this has repercussion in bioreactor performance. Novel high-throughput molecular methods (metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, metaproteomics, metabolomics) are providing detailed knowledge on the microorganisms governing wastewater treatment systems and on their metabolic capabilities. The genomes of uncultured microbes with key roles in wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), such as the polyphosphate-accumulating microorganism Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis, the nitrite oxidizer Candidatus Nitrospira defluvii or the anammox bacterium Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis are now available through metagenomic studies. Metagenomics allows to genetically characterize full-scale WWTP and provides information on the lifestyles and physiology of key microorganisms for wastewater treatment. Integrating metagenomic data of microorganisms with metatranscriptomic, metaproteomic and metabolomic information provides a better understanding of the microbial responses to perturbations or environmental variations. Data integration may allow the creation of predictive behavior models of wastewater ecosystems, which could help in an improved exploitation of microbial processes. This review discusses the impact of meta-omic approaches on the understanding of wastewater treatment processes, and the implications of these methods for the optimization and design of wastewater treatment bioreactors.Research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (Contract Project CTQ2007-64324 and CONSOLIDER-CSD 2007-00055) and the Regional Government of Castilla y Leon (Ref. VA038A07). Research of AJMS is supported by the European Research Council (Grant 323009

北海道医療大学歯学部附属病院における顎矯正手術患者の臨床統計学的観察

A total of 55 patients who underwent orthognathic surgery from July 2002 to June 2005, were observed clinicostatistically. The results may be summarized as follows: 1. There were 11 males and 44 females. 2. The average age was 27.7 years, with an average of 22.3 years for males and 28.8 years for females. 3. The diagnosis of mandibular prognathism was made for 50 of the patients (90.9%). Sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO) was performed on 37 (67.3%) cases. 4. The mean time of operation for SSRO was 2hr. 22min±1hr, and 11min and 4hr. 26min±1hr. 29min for the SSRO+Le Fort I osteotomy. 5. The mean blood loss was 130.9±157.9ml for SSRO and was 220.6±143.7ml for SSRO+Le Fort I osteotomy

北海道医療大学歯学部附属病院入院患者の臨床統計学的観察

北海道医療大学歯学部付属病院の外来は1978年12月に開始し,入院病棟は1980年6月に24床で開始した.これまでの25年間における病棟入院患者の臨床統計的観察を行ったので報告する.結果は以下に示す.1.総入院患者数は3055例で総歯科新患の10.8%を占めていた.2.口腔外科疾患別では,顎変形症が最も多く393例で入院患者の12.9%を占めていた.3.病床稼働率は17.7%で,平均在院日数は14.2日で経年的に減少傾向にあった.4.25年間の入院診療報酬額は9億5715万円で歯科診療報酬額の20.4%を占めていた.The outpatient division of the Dental School hospital of the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido started in December 1978, and a hospitalization ward started with 24 beds opened in June 1978, and closed in April, 2005. Clinico-statistical observations for 25 the years while the inpatient division, was opened were evaluated. 1. The total number of inpatients was 3055, and comprised 11.8% in all initial patients of the dental hospital for the 25 years. 2. Patients with jaw deformities were the most common, 393 and comprised 12.4% of all hospitalized patients with oral and maxillofacial surgical complaints. 3. The rate of occupiod beds the operating bed ratio was 17.7% and the average length of hospitalization was 14.2 days. This number showed a tendency to decrease over the years. 4. The income from hospitalized care was 957.15 million yen and it comprised 20.4% of the total income of the dental department

An investigation of factors contributing to major crash types in Japan based on naturalistic driving data

Traffic accident statistics suggest that the human errors contributing to major crash types in Japan are predominantly failures in safety confirmation and hazard recognition that result in delayed response. A naturalistic driving data acquisition system was developed to investigate the human factors that contribute to such accidents. A preliminary analysis was performed to evaluate the efficiency of the collected naturalistic data. An analysis of vehicle-to-motorcycle conflict data demonstrated that types of recognition failure differ by types of traffic situation encountered. This result suggests that naturalistic driving data can provide valuable information for investigating the factors that contribute to the risk of human error

Extremely high conservation in the untranslated Region as well as the coding region of CNP mRNAs throughout elasmobranch species

C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is a crucial osmoregulatory hormone in elasmobranchs, participating in salt secretion and drinking. In contrast to teleosts and tetrapods in which the NP family is composed of a group of structurally related peptides, we have shown that CNP is the sole NP in sharks. In the present study, CNP cDNAs were cloned from four species of batoids, another group of elasmobranchs. The cloned batoid CNP precursors contained a plausible mature peptide of 22 amino acid residues that is identical to most shark CNP-22s, but five successive amino acids were consistently deleted in the prosegment compared with shark precursors, supporting the diphyletic classification of sharks and rays. In addition, molecular phylogenetic trees of CNP precursors were consistent with a diphyletic interpretation. Except for the deletion, the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the CNP cDNAs are extremely well-conserved among all elasmobranch species, even between sharks and rays. Surprisingly, high conservation is evident not only for the coding region, but also for the untranslated regions. It is most likely that the high conservation is due to the low nucleotide substitution rate in the elasmobranch genome, and high selection pressure. The 3&prime;-untranslated region of the elasmobranch CNP cDNAs contained three to six repeats of the ATTTA motif that is associated with the regulation of mRNA stability and translation efficiency. Alternative polyadenylation sites were also found; the long 3&prime;-untranslated region contains a core of ATTTA motifs while the short form has only one or no ATTTA motif, indicating that the post-transcriptional modification of mRNA is important for regulation of CNP synthesis. These characteristics in the 3&prime;-untranslated region were conserved among all elasmobranch CNP cDNAs. Since CNP has been implicated as a fast-acting hormone to facilitate salt secretion from the rectal gland, the conserved 3&prime;-untranslated region most likely contributes to rapid regulation of CNP synthesis in elasmobranchs in response to acute changes in internal and external environments.<br /