Contemporary Cultural Representations of Japan’s Education-Credential Society and the Affect of Disgust

In this article, I examine and critically assess representations of Japan’s neoliberal-era “education-credential society” (gakureki shakai) in popular culture. First, I explore the manga Dragon Zakura (Doragon zakura, 2003-2007), in which a non educator is entrusted to revive a financially ailing private high school by creating a specialized class preparing students to qualify for the University of Tokyo. This story reflects the reality of Japanese society in the 2000s, characterized by a decreasing student-age population—pushing private schools into financial crisis and leading to decline in student performance—and employment instability under neoliberalism. Second, I examine the novel based on true events Because She’s Brainless (Kanojo wa atama ga warui kara, 2018), exploring its depiction of how university students’ “deviation score” (hensachi) continues to impact their lives even after becoming university students, and its legitimization of meritocracy. Through these analyses, I show how the signifier known as the “University of Tokyo” is being consumed in Japan as a buffer against, and palliative for, the exhaustion of living in a society constantly demanding the proof of one’s abilities through unlimited competition. Finally, I explore some recent critically acclaimed novels portraying the lives of women inhabiting a world where neither education credentials nor deviation scores have any significance. In criticizing the heritability of education credentials, these works evince not only a division in representations of Japan’s education-credential society but also deep inequality irresolvable through the expansion of educational opportunities alone. This suggests the need to approach the issue of education-credential inequality by confronting the human vulnerability that persists beyond the reach of increased educational opportunities

An interview with directors Sang Wook Nam and Luc Turnier

Mosquito Bites is a short documentary of students from SUNY Geneseo. Students discussed the meanings of microagressions, examples of microaggressions and im- plications of those who are targeted, specifically towards marginalized groups. They also shared their experiences of microaggressions on campus. The documentary aims to spread more awareness about microaggressions and the effect

Reflection coefficient calculation of a feeder structure in a RLSA

RLSA(Radial line slot antenna) is slotted waveguide array antenna which is proposed for the DBS(Direct Broadcast from a Satellite) reception. Theoretically, it has lower conduction loss and higher effectiveness than the planar antenna using microstrip. DL-RLSA(Double-layered RLSA) uses radially inward travelling wave for the slot excitation in the double-layered radial line. The effectiveness of DL-RLSA is more than 75%(33.0~37dBi), which is two times as high effectiveness as other planar antenna. In spite of that advantage, SL-RLSA(Single-layered RLSA) is more popular because of the complex structure of DL-RLSA. But the radially outward travelling wave of SL-RLSA makes high tapering when the travelling wave approaches the aperture edge. To remove these troublesome thing, a effective feeder structure which has tilting rod is proposed in this paper. To find the optimum height and tilting angle of the feeder, the finitedifference time-domain(FDTD) method is employed. In other words, the simulation parameter of the FDTD algorithm is the dimension of feeder. Compared with the effectiveness of the conventional rod feeder structure, that of the proposed feeder structure in this paper is enhanced by 5dB

A Compact 1:3 Power Divider Incorporating 180° Shifted Path for Polarization Purity Enhanced Base Station Subarray

This paper presents a compact 1:3 power divider and a base station subarray antenna with enhanced polarization purity exhibiting high cross-polarization discrimination (XPD) and high input port isolation. The compact 1:3 power divider incorporating a 180° shifted path is proposed to achieve both polarization purity and the wideband characteristics of the subarray antenna, which is difficult to implement using the conventional dual-feed method in limited areas. Using the proposed power divider, a dual-polarized quadruple Π-probe feed stacked patch antenna array is designed, which achieves a wide bandwidth of over 30% (<−13 dB) from 1.68 GHz to 2.25 GHz. The XPD is increased by approximately 8 dB and 5 dB at 1.71 GHz and 2.11 GHz, respectively, to attain an increase in the isolation bandwidth (<−20 dB) from 14% to 43%. Furthermore, the measurement results of a 4 × 3 antenna array confirm the effectiveness of the proposed design in terms of XPD and isolation while maintaining the bandwidth and beam performance. This study demonstrates a relatively wide bandwidth between patch antennas, despite the use of multiple subarrays. The comparative results also show a relatively better front-to-back ratio and isolation of the proposed design

Anti-reflective nano- and micro-structures on 4H-SiC for photodiodes

In this study, nano-scale honeycomb-shaped structures with anti-reflection properties were successfully formed on SiC. The surface of 4H-SiC wafer after a conventional photolithography process was etched by inductively coupled plasma. We demonstrate that the reflection characteristic of the fabricated photodiodes has significantly reduced by 55% compared with the reference devices. As a result, the optical response Iillumination/Idark of the 4H-SiC photodiodes were enhanced up to 178%, which can be ascribed primarily to the improved light trapping in the proposed nano-scale texturing

Polymorphism of a COLIA1 Gene Sp1 Binding Site in Korean Women with Pelvic Organ Prolapse

PURPOSE: To evaluate the possible influence of G-->T substitution at the Sp1-binding site of the COLIA1 gene on the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consisted of 15 women with advanced stage POP. Fifteen control subjects with uterine myomas among the postmenopausal women were matched for age and parity. DNA was obtained from peripheral blood leukocytes. The fragments of the first intron of the COLIA1 gene were amplified by real time polymerase chain reaction. The polymorphism was identified using LightCycler Technology with hybridization probes. Sequencing reactions were performed on each template using commercial primer. RESULTS: Two groups had no significant difference in medical history, surgical, and smoking history. The homozygous peaks in two groups were noted at 57 on melting curve analysis. Sequencing reactions confirmed the G/G alleles in the 30 specimens tested. We could not find any polymorphism at the Sp1-binding site in COLIA1 gene with advanced stage POP. Statistical significance was considered to be p < .05. CONCLUSION: The polymorphism of the Sp1-binding site in the COLIA1 gene did not contribute to the development of POP in Korea.ope