Recent developments in the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons: Safeguards by the International Atomic Energy Agency

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has played a central role in sustaining the non-proliferation system. The effectiveness of the NPT has been secured by verifying its obligations through the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that have been in place since the treaty entered into force in 1970. However, its limitations came to be known through unprecedented cases which surfaced after the end of cold war in the early 1990s. The purpose of this article is to examine how effective the NPT has been in preventing nuclear proliferation by analysing the course of events through the 1990s

On the Occurrence of Cretaceous Estherids in North Kyushu

The writer attempted to classify the fossil Estherids from Kokura city, Fukuoka Prefecture. He divided them into three forms — A • B and C — by the carapace outline. Among those three forms he could established two species— A and B—, for he reserved to establish "C" form as a distinct species by reason of its deformation

Neural responses to feedback information produced by self-generated or other-generated decision-making and their impairment in schizophrenia

Several studies of self-monitoring dysfunction in schizophrenia have focused on the sense of agency to motor action using behavioral and psychophysiological techniques. So far, no study has ever tried to investigate whether the sense of agency or causal attribution for external events produced by self-generated decision-making is abnormal in schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to investigate neural responses to feedback information produced by self-generated or other-generated decision-making in a multiplayer gambling task using even-related potentials and electroencephalogram synchronization. We found that the late positive component and theta/alpha synchronization were increased in response to feedback information in the self-decision condition in normal controls, but that these responses were significantly decreased in patients with schizophrenia. These neural activities thus reflect the self-reference effect that affects the cognitive appraisal of external events following decision-making and their impairment in schizophrenia

Microscopic simulation of membrane molecule diffusion on corralled membrane surfaces

The current understanding of how receptors diffuse and cluster in the plasma membrane is limited. Data from single-particle tracking and laser tweezer experiments have suggested that membrane molecule diffusion is affected by the presence of barriers dividing the membrane into corrals. Here, we have developed a stochastic spatial model to simulate the effect of corrals on the diffusion of molecules in the plasma membrane. The results of this simulation confirm that a fence barrier (the ratio of the transition probability for diffusion across a boundary to that within a corral) on the order of 103–104 recreates the experimentally measured difference in diffusivity between artificial and natural plasma membranes. An expression for the macroscopic diffusivity of receptors on corralled membranes is derived to analyze the effects of the corral parameters on diffusion rate. We also examine whether the lattice model is an appropriate description of the plasma membrane and look at three different sets of boundary conditions that describe diffusion over the barriers and whether diffusion events on the plasma membrane may occur with a physically relevant length scale. Finally, we show that to observe anomalous (two-timescale) diffusion, one needs high temporal (microsecond) resolution along with sufficiently long (more than milliseconds) trajectories

Number of shared topic-vehicle significant features affects speakers’ preference for metaphorical expressions

This study examined whether the number of shared topic-vehicle significant features affects speakers’ preference for the use of metaphorical rather than literal expressions. Across five experiments, participants were asked to choose one expression that best paraphrased a given sentence from a list of options. The results of Experiments 1 and 5 showed that participants’ choice of metaphorical expression increased with greater numbers of shared topic-vehicle significant features in a given sentence. In Experiments 2 and 4, we found that the effect of the number of unshared features was smaller than that of shared significant features. Experiment 3 replicated the findings of Experiment 2 when metaphors were replaced with similes. Our results suggest that the number of topic-attributed features affects participants’ preference in the use of metaphorical expressions. Our results support the fundamental tenets of the inexpressibility hypothesis in the context of metaphor form preference

Role of Affect and Risk–Benefit Perception on Reckless Betting: Prior Wins and Losses Both Lead to Risky Bets

勝ちばかりでも、負けばかりでも、「無謀な賭け」につながる --望み薄なギャンブルに賭けてしまうのはなぜか？--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-10-20.People who have experienced many gambling wins tend to make larger bets even when they are unlikely to win (reckless betting) than those who have experienced many losses. This study examined psychological factors underlying reckless betting when gambling from the perspectives of affect and risk–benefit perception. University students (N = 63) participated in an experiment using the Acey-Deucey Task, in which the number of wins and losses during the 1st session was experimentally manipulated such that there were either 24, 12, or 6 wins out of 30 trials. Positive–negative affect and perceived risk–benefit during the task were assessed by self-report. Betting recklessness during the 2nd session was calculated using winning probability and bet size data in each trial. The results indicated that experiencing few prior wins, that is, many prior losses decreased positive affect and perceived benefits of betting and increased negative affect and perceived risks of betting. Path analysis results suggested that gambler's positive and negative affect altered perceived benefits of betting, which influenced reckless betting. Although participants that experienced more prior wins made more reckless bets similar to previous studies, there were no statistical differences between the three groups. Time-series analysis revealed that participants who experienced many prior losses made increasingly reckless bets at the end of the gambling task. We have discussed other potential variables that might have influenced recklessness, and the time-series analysis’ implications on reckless betting and loss-chasing

Barriers to Removing Barriers of Online Learning

In response to the turmoil and anxiety created by the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities transitioned to online delivery with limited support and resources. University teachers adapted to the online environment to ensure the effectiveness of students’ reaching their outcomes. Using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework, this study analysed ethnographic data from two experienced university teacher narratives about their online teaching strategies in two different university settings, in a developed and a developing country. The results showed that teachers used similar strategies based on the affordances provided within the Learning Management Systems (LMS) and by accessing other existing technological tools. However, the results showed inequalities in students’ participation due to their financial, economic, and socio-cultural backgrounds. This paper emphasises the need to investigate personalised and inclusive learning for consolidating and accommodating social and geographical barriers to minimise inequalities in students’ access to education. Students should not be deprived by the digital and technical divide limiting equal opportunities for learning and development in the so-called ‘global village’ in the 21st century and beyond