Search

This paper presents a new method of automatic image annotation based on visual cognitive theory that improves the accuracy of image recognition by taking two semantic levels of keywords that give feedback to each other into consideration. Our system first segments an image and recognizes objects in the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN). It then recognizes contexts by using them from networked knowledge. After that, it re-recognizes objects depending on these contexts. We adopted natural images for experiments and verified the system's effectiveness. As a result, we obtained improved recognition rates compared with KNN. We proved that our system that takes the semantic levels of keywords into account has great potential for enhancing image recognition.

A 76-year-old man with liver cirrhosis and diabetes mellitus was admitted to our hospital because of bacterial meningoencephalitis. He had eaten raw fish 2 days before onset. He also developed septic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulation, adult respiratory distress syndrome and panophthalmitis of the right eye. Vibrio vulnificus was isolated from the blood culture. Extensive therapy including antibiotics and nafamostat methylate, resulted in full recovery except for right blindness. The necrotizing fasciitis, which is common with Vibrio vulnificus infection, had not been complicated in this patient.

The mesencephalic/rhombomere 1 border (isthmus) is an organizing center for early development of midbrain and cerebellum. In this review, we summarize recent progress in studies of Fgf signaling in the isthmus and discuss how the isthmus instructs the differentiation of the midbrain versus cerebellum. Fgf8 is shown to play a pivotal role in isthmic organizer activity. Only a strong Fgf signal mediated by Fgf8b activates the Ras-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, and this is sufficient to induce cerebellar development. A lower level of signaling transduced by Fgf8a, Fgf17 and Fgf18 induce midbrain development. Numerous feedback loops then maintain appropriate mesencephalon/rhombomere1 and organizer gene expression.

The mes/metencephalic boundary (isthmus) is an organizing center for the optic tectum and cerebellum. Fgf8 is accepted as a crucial organizing signal. Previously, we reported that Fgf8b could induce cerebellum in the mesencephalon, while Fgf8a transformed the presumptive diencephalon into mesencephalon. Since lower doses of Fgf8b exerted similar effects to those of Fgf8a , the type difference could be attributed to the difference in the strength of the signal. It is of great interest to uncover mechanisms of signal transduction pathways downstream of the Fgf8 signal in tectal and cerebellar development, and in this report we have concentrated on the Ras-ERK pathway. In normal embryos, extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK) is activated at the site where Fgf8 mRNA is expressed. Fgf8b activated ERK while Fgf8a or a lower dose of Fgf8b did not activate ERK in the mes/metencephalon. Disruption of the Ras-ERK signaling pathway by a dominant negative form of Ras ( Ras S17N ) changed the fate of the metencephalic alar plate from cerebellum to tectum. Ras S17N canceled the effects of Fgf8b , while co-transfection of Fgf8a and Ras S17N exerted additive effects. Disruption of Fgf8b , not Fgf8a , by siRNA resulted in posterior extension of the Otx2 expression domain. Our results indicate that the presumptive metencephalon receives a strong Fgf8 signal that activates the Ras-ERK pathway and differentiates into the cerebellum.

Classical transplantation studies showed that the isthmus has an organizing activity upon the tectum and cerebellum. Since Fgf8 is expressed in the isthmus and mimics functionally isthmic grafts, it is accepted that Fgf8 plays pivotal role in the isthmic organizing activity. The fate of brain vesicles is determined by the combinations of transcription factors. The neural tube region where Otx2, Pax2, and En1 are expressed early on acquires midbrain identity. Pax3/7 forces the midbrain to differentiate into tectum. En1/2, Pax2/5, and Fgf8 form a positive feedback loop for their expression, thus misexpression of one of these molecules turns on the loop and forces presumptive diencephalon to differentiate into tectum. The isthmic organizer signal, Fgf8, stabilizes or changes the expression of the transcription factors in mid/hindbrain region. A strong Fgf8 signal activates the Ras-ERK signaling pathway, which in turn activates Irx2 in a rostrodorsal part of the hindbrain, and forces this tissue to differentiate into cerebellum.

It is very hard to describe in a comprehensive way how intelligence has been treated in Japanese psychology and related areas in just a short chapter. We limit ourselves to three topics that highlight the contribution of Japanese psychology to our understanding of human intelligence, after briefly reviewing the Japanese history of intelligence research: (1) the development of indigenous intelligence tests, (2) the interaction between heredity and environment in intelligence, and (3) how “intelligence” is viewed in the Japanese culture. INTELLIGENCE RESEARCH IN JAPAN: A HISTORICAL REVIEW This review covers mainly the period of the 1860s to 1960s, but we will mention very briefly how education was pursued in the period preceding the Meiji Restoration. There was a fixed social stratification system in the Edo Era (age of feudalism), with no mobility. However, education was taken seriously in each stratum. Toward the end of the Edo Era, there were nearly 300 fief schools ( hanko ) in the country, and although no accurate statistics are available, several times that number of private academies ( shijuku ) existed (Amano, 1990). Children in the samurai stratum (the ruling class of warriors) usually were given moral education, rooted in the Chinese Confucian classics, at the fief schools. People in other strata learned the “three Rs” at private academies. Generally speaking, education was structured to preserve the shogunate ruling system. Only at the end of the Edo Era were innovative private academies established; these attracted ambitious students and offered foreign languages and modern, technical knowledge.

The mes/metencephalic boundary (isthmus) has an organizing activity for mesencephalon and metencephalon. The candidate signaling molecule is Fgf8 whose mRNA is localized in the region where the cerebellum differentiates. Responding to this signal, the cerebellum differentiates in the metencephalon and the tectum differentiates in the mesencephalon. Based on the assumption that strong Fgf8 signal induces the cerebellum and that the Fgf8b signal is stronger than that of Fgf8a, we carried out experiments to misexpress Fgf8b and Fgf8a in chick embryos. Fgf8a did not affect the expression pattern of Otx2, Gbx2 or Irx2. En2 expression was upregulated in the mesencephalon and in the diencephalon by Fgf8a. Consequently, Fgf8a misexpression resulted in the transformation of the presumptive diencephalon to the fate of the mesencephalon. In contrast, Fgf8b repressed Otx2 expression, but upregulated Gbx2 and Irx2 expression in the mesencephalon. As a result, Fgf8b completely changed the fate of the mesencephalic alar plate to cerebellum. Quantitative analysis showed that Fgf8b signal is 100 times stronger than Fgf8a signal. Co-transfection of Fgf8b with Otx2 indicates that Otx2 is a key molecule in mesencephalic generation. We have shown by RT-PCR that both Fgf8a and Fgf8b are expressed, Fgf8b expression prevailing in the isthmic region. The results all support our working hypothesis that the strong Fgf8 signal induces the neural tissue around the isthmus to differentiate into the cerebellum.

System embodiment of digital optical computing using the state-of-art technologies is an important issue to promote researches on practical applications. Although design and fabrication of smart pixel devices take an important position in the development, we should explore potential candidates for future system construction.

Mothers' difficulties concerning child-rearing were conceptualized as a rearing-related stress (RRS). Eight hundred and seventeen mothers who had six month-olds infants were asked to rate 28 RRS items and 20 items on the depressive severity scale (Zung, 1956). The main results were summarized as follows: (1) Twenty-two items of RRS were analyzed by Hayashi's quantification (type-III) method, and two hypothesized dimensions were extracted. These are named children-related rearing stress (CRRS) and mothers-related rearing stress (MRRS). (2) RRS was related to mothers depressive severity. (3) Linear relationships of "CRRS-MRRS-depression severity" was examined by partial correlation analysis. (4) Primiparae experienced more RRS than multiparae. These results suggested that RRS could be considered as a process, i.e., CRRS influences MRRS and then MRRS influences depressive severity. The RRS model is an accord with the psychological stress model of Lazarus and Folkman (1986). Lastly, possible preventive strategies for mothers' RRS were discussed in the light of RRS model.

Recurrent traumatic dislocation of the hip is rarely observed. We present the case of a patient who had traumatic hip dislocation associated with a dysplastic acetabulum and recurrent instability who was managed with capsular repair and periacetabular osteotomy to enhance the stability of the joint. At the time of the latest follow-up, the patient had an excellent clinical result and returned to his occupation as a skiing instructor. This case report was approved by our institutional review board. The patient was informed that data concerning this case would be submitted for publication. In April 2005, a twenty-year-old man with no previous hip problems fell down while snowboarding and sustained a posterior dislocation of the left hip. At a nearby hospital, radiographs of the pelvis showed a posterior dislocation of the hip joint without fracture (an Epstein-Thompson type-I dislocation1) (Figs. 1-A and 1-B). The patient was immediately taken to the operating room for a closed reduction of the left hip under general anesthesia. Postoperatively, he was placed in skin traction for one week. After three weeks, he was allowed to walk with crutches and was discharged from the hospital. After six weeks, he returned to full weight-bearing and progressed gradually to activities as tolerated. Three months after the first injury, he had a second dislocation of the same hip when he fell down while skateboarding (see Appendix). He was taken to the hospital and was managed with the same protocol of closed reduction and progressive weight-bearing. After the second injury, the patient had no other episodes of dislocation for two years. In August 2007, while he was playing baseball, he pivoted on the left leg and dislocated the left hip for the third time. He was taken to a nearby hospital and was managed with closed reduction under sedation. He …

We report evidence for superconductivity induced by the application of strong electric fields onto the surface of a band insulator, ZrNCl, provided by the observation of a shielding diamagnetic signal. We introduced an electric-double-layer capacitor configuration and in situ magnetization measurements at low temperatures as a method to detect the novel electric-field-induced superconducting state. The results showed excellent agreement with a previous report using a transistor configuration, demonstrating that the present technique is a novel method for investigating the nonequilibrium phase induced by electric fields.