Academic Patenting in Japan: Illustration from a Leading Japanese University.

In April 2004, the Japanese government incorporated the national universities as “independent administrative entities”. This important change in Japan’s research culture has allowed its universities to gain higher control and oversight over their strategic development trajectories. In this paper, we will present an analysis centered on the legislative changes concerning intellectual property and their impact on Japanese universities. We will particularly focus our attention on a leading Japanese research institution: Tohoku University. We will analyze the different mechanisms that have been put in place to foster the use of patents by faculty members. In that respect, we introduce a differentiation between university-owned and university-invented patents, and put emphasis on the difference in patenting behaviors among scientific disciplines. Finally, we argue that contractual research is a major channel for the technology transfer of Japanese universities’ knowledge and findings.science policy, academic research, academic patenting, Japan.

Functional significance of central D1 receptors in cognition: beyond working memory

The role of dopamine D1 receptors in prefrontal cortex function, including working memory, is well acknowledged. However, relatively little is known about their role in other cognitive or emotional functions. We measured both D1 and D2 receptors in the brain using positron emission tomography in healthy subjects, with the aim of elucidating how regional D1 and D2 receptors are differentially involved in cognitive and emotional functions beyond working memory. We found an inverted U-shaped relation between prefrontal D1 receptor availability and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance, indicating that too little or too much D1 receptor stimulation impairs working memory or set shifting. In addition, variability of D1 receptor availability in the amygdala and striatum was related to individual differences in emotional responses and decision-making processes, respectively. These observations suggest that the variability of available D1 receptors might be associated with individual differences in brain functions that require phasic dopamine release. An interdisciplinary approach combining molecular imaging of dopamine neurotransmission with cognitive neuroscience and clinical psychiatry will provide new perspectives for understanding the neurobiology of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, addiction and Parkinson's disease, as well as novel therapeutics for cognitive impairments observed in them

Tourism in the historic districts of Nantucket and Salem

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-104).by Makiko Takahashi.M.C.P

オンガク ヲ モチイテ コドモ ト ムキアウ ジュウヨウセイ ヲ カンガエル / オンガクリョウホウシ ノ オンガク ニヨル ウツシカエシ ヲ トオシテ

子どもの心を理解し、受容し、対話を持つためには、子どもと「向き合う」必要があるが、それはその子が何をどのように感じているのか、どのように世界を体験しているのかを考え、その子の状態を認識したことを子どもに返していくことだといえよう。音楽療法においては、対象者の状態を音楽に反映させて、聞こえる形で返していくことが「向き合うこと」だと考える。対象者は、聞こえる音楽の中から自分の内的体験と同質のものを感じ取ることで、自分が認識してもらえたことがわかるのである。対象者の心理面の発達や心理的問題の改善を目的とする音楽療法の場合、音楽を通して対象者の真の姿と向き合い、対話を持つことが重要である。従って、対象者の音楽的反応が、音楽刺激に対する反応ではなく、対人関係として意味を持つものとなるように、音楽療法士は音楽の用い方を考えていかなければならない。本稿では、母子関係において、Winnicott (1971)の言う母親の「映し返し」が子どもの心理面の発達に与える影響と、音楽でその映し返しを再現する方法について考察する。具体的には、音楽による「映し返し」の活用法を、症例をあげながら、対象児が映し返しにより自己の情動の存在に気づき、人との関わりを求めるようになるまでの過程を考察し、映し返しの音楽を用いることの重要性について検証する。This Paper explores the importance and the meaning of using music as a medium to facetoface with the inner state of a child. In order to face-to-face with a child in music therapy setting, music therapist needs to sense and feel how the child is experiencing the world and reflect it back to her through music developing into musical dialogue. However, the responses of a child should not be a mere reaction to musical stimulation but of which carries the meaning of personal relationship. The therapists\u27 role is to describe the inner state of the child through music and allow the child to hear herself in the music and become aware that music is related to his/her inner experiences. In this paper, I will look at mother-infant relationship and explore the effect of mother\u27s "reflecting" (Winnicott 1971) on the emotional development of an infant and consider how to create this "reflecting" through music in music therapy setting. Then, I will introduce a case study of music therapy with a child who had difficult relating to people, both musically and personally, and explore how the "reflecting" has led the child to acknowledge her own emotional state and began to seek for personal interaction

コミュニケーションリョク ノ ハッタツ ソクシン ヲ モクテキ ト スル 「アソビ」 ノ カツヨウ / オンガク リョウホウ ニ オケル 「エンソウ スル コト」 ト 「アソビ」 ノ カンレン セイ ヲ カンガエル

幼児にとって「遊ぶこと」は内的世界と外的現実を関連付ける作業であり、社会との関わりを持つための入口となる。この遊びの領域があることにより、幼児は幻想の世界に閉じこもることも外的現実に取り込まれて自己を見失うこともなく、外的対象と関わりながら現実を受け入れられるようになるのである。遊びの領域に他者の領域が重なり合うとき、情緒的な繋がりが生まれ、相互にコミュニケーションが可能となる。従って、遊びの領域が十分に発達していない場合や著しく損なわれた状態にあるときには、他者と互いの領域を重ね合わせて関わり合うことができず、孤立した状態におかれることになる。つまり、遊べない状態にある幼児を遊べるように導くことが、コミュニケーション力の向上に繋がると考えられる。音楽療法においては、「演奏すること」が共有の遊びの領域となる。その中でセラピストはクライエントの演奏に同調しつつ、情緒的繋がりを作り、演奏を通してコミュニケーションの在り方を示すことになるのである。本論文では、自閉症者のコミュニケーション障がいの原因は情緒の問題であると主張するホブソンの理論をもとに、ウィニコットの「遊び」と「情緒」の関連性を検討したのちに、重度発達障がい児との音楽療法の症例を通して「演奏すること」を「遊び」の観点から考察し、コミュニケーション力向上を目的とした音楽の活用方法を探究した。For infants, `playing\u27 is a place to make connection between the inside and the outside world and to allow them to form social relationship with other people. When infant\u27s playing overlaps with another\u27s, affective contact and mutual communication becomes possible. However, when `playing\u27 has not developed enough or has damaged remarkably, infant will have a difficult relating with people affectively and sharing experiences with others\u27 and he/she will be left in a socially isolated state. Therefore, if an infant cannot play, we need to lead the infant to be able to play in order to promote communication skills. In music therapy, `performing\u27 becomes a joint playing space. Therapist will tune in and interact affectively with the client and indicate how to communicate with others, through playing music. In this paper, I will first examine the relationship between `playing\u27 and the `role of affection\u27 from Winnicott and Hobson\u27s theory and then discuss the connection between `performing\u27 and `playing\u27. Later, I will explore the practical use of music to promote communication skills through a case study of music therapy session with a child with autistic spectrum disorder

Downstream genes of Pax6 revealed by comprehensive transcriptome profiling in the developing rat hindbrain

Abstract Background The transcription factor Pax6 is essential for the development of the central nervous system and it exerts its multiple functions by regulating the expression of downstream target molecules. To screen for genes downstream of Pax6, we performed comprehensive transcriptome profiling analyses in the early hindbrain of Pax6 homozygous mutant and wild-type rats using microarrays. Results Comparison of quadruplicate microarray experiments using two computational methods allowed us to identify differentially expressed genes that have relatively small fold changes or low expression levels. Gene ontology analyses of the differentially expressed molecules demonstrated that Pax6 is involved in various signal transduction pathways where it regulates the expression of many receptors, signaling molecules, transporters and transcription factors. The up- or down-regulation of these genes was further confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR. In situ staining of Fabp7, Dbx1, Unc5h1 and Cyp26b1 mRNAs showed that expression of these transcripts not only overlapped with that of Pax6 in the hindbrain of wild-type and Pax6 heterozygous mutants, but also was clearly reduced in the hindbrain of the Pax6 homozygous mutant. In addition, the Pax6 homozygous mutant hindbrain showed that Cyp26b1 expression was lacked in the dorsal and ventrolateral regions of rhombomeres 5 and 6, and that the size of rhombomere 5 expanded rostrocaudally. Conclusions These results indicate that Unc5h1 and Cyp26b1 are novel candidates for target genes transactivated by Pax6. Furthermore, our results suggest the interesting possibility that Pax6 regulates anterior-posterior patterning of the hindbrain via activation of Cyp26b1, an enzyme that metabolizes retinoic acid