Creation between two minded-bodies: Intercorporeality and social cognition

My aim here is to describe how meaningful communication is generated from embodied interactions between the self and the other. In order to do so, first, I revisit and clarify Merleau-Ponty’s notion of intercorporeality based on his texts. Intercorporeality is formulated as the reciprocal perception-action loop between the self and the other. Perceiving the other’s action prompts the same action in the self (e.g., contagious yawning), or its possibility (e.g., smiling), and vice versa. It is the process underlying the understanding of intentions in another’s actions. Then, I extend the notion of intercorporeality from the enactive perspective. Since we immediately grasp the intention of another’s action through perceiving it, that action appears as such that affords us to react naturally in response. Thus, intercorporeality unfolds as the embodied interaction of action-reaction, which at a certain moment overrides the individual’sintentions and gains its own autonomy. It is through this process that intersubjectively meaningful communications are created

鏡視下足関節固定術で使用される中空海綿骨螺子による圧着圧の比較

Background: When performing arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis for end-stage ankle arthritis, internal fixation is performed using bone screws after appropriate preparation. However, optimal characteristics of bone screws have not been examined in terms of pressure force. Objective comparisons of bone-screw performance may provide information on procedures for arthroscopic ankle arthrodesis. The study objectives were to determine whether it was possible to measure compressive force changes using the newly developed device and to infer all screw characteristics from measurement results when used in actual surgeries. In addition, we performed experiments on cadavers to verify whether the experimental results could be applied to the joints of living subjects. Methods: Three types of screws (S1, S2, and S3) were inserted into the unique measurement device, and the changes in pressure were measured for each 45° turn. Changes in pressure and maximum pressure force were recorded after the application of the screws. After reaching the maximum pressure in the simulated bone, further screw rotations were accompanied by a gradual pressure decrease to 0 MPa. We also measured pressure changes in a similar manner by inserting a miniature pressure sensor into the talocrural joints of cadavers. Results: The mean maximum pressure ± standard deviation for S1, S2, and S3 were 0.832 ± 0.164 MPa, 0.434 ± 0.116 MPa, and 0.414 ± 0.127 MPa, respectively. Pressure slopes to the maximum did not significantly differ between the screws in the simulated bone, and a subsequent pressure decrease to 0 MPa was significantly more rapid for S1 than for S2 and S3. Although pressure failure after the overtightening of screws was only observed in the simulated bone, patterns of pressure vs. rotation angle were similar in simulated and cadaveric bones. The pressure profile characteristics of three different screw types were determined. Conclusions: We were able to measure the compressive force changes using the newly developed device when the screws were inserted. On the basis of the measurement results, we were able to infer the characteristics of all screws when used in actual surgery.博士（医学）・乙第1403号・平成29年6月28日Copyright © The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated

iSTFTNet2: Faster and More Lightweight iSTFT-Based Neural Vocoder Using 1D-2D CNN

The inverse short-time Fourier transform network (iSTFTNet) has garnered attention owing to its fast, lightweight, and high-fidelity speech synthesis. It obtains these characteristics using a fast and lightweight 1D CNN as the backbone and replacing some neural processes with iSTFT. Owing to the difficulty of a 1D CNN to model high-dimensional spectrograms, the frequency dimension is reduced via temporal upsampling. However, this strategy compromises the potential to enhance the speed. Therefore, we propose iSTFTNet2, an improved variant of iSTFTNet with a 1D-2D CNN that employs 1D and 2D CNNs to model temporal and spectrogram structures, respectively. We designed a 2D CNN that performs frequency upsampling after conversion in a few-frequency space. This design facilitates the modeling of high-dimensional spectrograms without compromising the speed. The results demonstrated that iSTFTNet2 made iSTFTNet faster and more lightweight with comparable speech quality. Audio samples are available at https://www.kecl.ntt.co.jp/people/kaneko.takuhiro/projects/istftnet2/.Comment: Accepted to Interspeech 2023. Project page: https://www.kecl.ntt.co.jp/people/kaneko.takuhiro/projects/istftnet2

Diversity of glial cell components in pilocytic astrocytoma

To characterize the cellular density and proliferative activity of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-negative cells in pilocytic astrocytoma (PA), surgically excised tissues of PAs (n=37) and diffuse astrocytomas (DAs) (n=11) were examined morphologically and immunohistochemically using antibodies against GFAP, Olig2, Iba1 and Ki-67 (MIB-1). In PA, Olig2 immunoreactivity was significantly expressed in protoplasmic astrocytes in microcystic, loose areas and cells in oligodendroglioma-like areas. Iba1-positive, activated microglia/macrophages were also commonly observed in microcystic areas. In compact areas, a prominent reaction for GFAP was observed, but for Olig2 and Iba1 to a lesser degree. On semiquantitative analysis, the number of Olig2-positive cells was significantly higher in PAs (mean labeling index (LI) ± standard deviation (SD): 46.8 ± 15.4%) than in DAs (13.3 ± 7.8%) (P<0.001). Many Iba1-positive, microglia/macrophages were observed in PAs (19.9 ± 6.5%), similarly to DAs (20.9 ± 9.9%). Re-immunostaining of PA demonstrated that most Ki-67-positive, proliferating cells expressed Olig2, whereas GFAP or Iba1 expression in Ki-67-positive cells was less frequent (14.7 ± 13.7%, and 8.8 ± 13.6%) in a double immunostaining study. Conversely, the percentage of Olig2-positive, proliferating cells in total Olig2-positive cells (7.2 ± 3.9%) was higher than that of Iba1-positive, proliferating cells in total Iba1-positive cells (0.9 ± 0.6%). In conclusion, the present study found that PA consisted of numerous GFAP-negative cells, including Olig2-positive cells with high proliferation. Semiquantitative analysis of Olig2 immunohistochemistry in microcystic areas might therefore be useful for the differential diagnosis of PA and DA学位記番号：医博甲1088, 学位の種類：博士（医）, 学位授与年月日：平成20年3月25

Tensile behavior of newly developed undercut anchor in cracked and uncracked concrete

The authors have been designing a post-installed anchor that fixes itself into concrete material by expanding the anchor tip in an upward direction, and conducted tensile loading tests to confirm its fundamental dynamic characteristics. The test results on three types of test specimens, with anchor morphology as a parameter, indicate that the final failure modes were all anchor bar fractures, and a stable yield strength was confirmed. Additionally, the yield strength characteristics of the proposed anchor in cases where cracks are present on the concrete surface, wherein the anchors are fixed, were experimentally confirmed

Attitude Measurement

In many practical situations, it is important to determine and measure the attitude of a particular vehicle, such as a ship, an airplane, a piece of mechanical equipment such as a, crane lifter, or a spacecraft. For this reason, many attitude sensors have been developed with advanced computer and semiconductor technologies. This section first introduces the various attitude sensors with an explanation of their operating principles and then presents several methodologies for attitude measurement and determination, including ships and crane lifters, aircraft, and spacecraft applications

Tumor Implantation into the Intrahepatic Bile Duct after Percutaneous Ethanol Injection Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

A 74-year-old man who had undergone transcatheter arterial embolization for hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (Couinaud's segment III/IV) in April 2003 and percutaneous ethanol injection for recurrence at the same site in February 2006 was found to have dilation of the intrahepatic bile duct by computed tomography in October 2008. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography showed a thrombosis occupying the left hepatic duct to the lateral branches with peripheral bile duct dilation. Serum concentration of alpha-fetoprotein was elevated. We performed a left hepatectomy under a preoperative diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma with bile duct invasion. The cut surface of the resected specimen showed a tumor thrombosis occupying the region between the left hepatic duct and lateral branches, but no tumor in the liver parenchyma. Histologic examination showed that the thrombosis in the intrahepatic bile duct was hepatocellular carcinoma. Since part of the hepatocellular carcinoma in the region treated with percutaneous ethanol injection was adjacent to the tumor thrombosis in the intrahepatic bile duct in diagnostic imaging, we diagnosed implantation into the intrahepatic bile duct due to percutaneous ethanol injection. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient is doing well without recurrence 8 months after the operation