Photo by: NATE SKVORETZNagai Joins Utah Royals Ahead Of 2025 NWSL SeasonMarch 5 Nagai Earn Invites to NWSL Preseason Camps January 27 March 4) - Utah Royals FC announced today the signing of three players to short term contracts: defender Kayla Colbert Colbert and Jones have signed Injury Replacement Player contracts while Nagai has signed a Salary Cap Exempt contract Kayla Colbert played her college soccer at the University of Southern California recording 15 goals and 16 assists from 2021 to 2024 she played in all 23 games for the Trojans which led to her being named to the All-Big Ten Third Team She scored four goals and provided six assists from 2021 to 2024 for the Buckeyes Her strong defensive performances in her senior year earned her a spot on the 2024 Big Ten All-Tournament Team Aria Nagai played three seasons at Princeton from 2021 to 2023 She then transferred to Utah Royals midfielder Ally Sentnor’s alma mater recording three goals and three assists as the Tar Heels won the 2024 NCAA National Championship Utah Royals FC returns to action in 2025, opening the season by hosting 2024 expansion sibling Bay FC at America First Field on Saturday, March 15, at 5:30 PM. Don’t miss this year’s action—tickets are available now at https://www.rsl.com/utahroyals/tickets/. Born in the Koishikawa district of Tokyo in 1879 author Kafū Nagai is known for such works as A Strange Tale from East of the River which depicts in detail the life in downtown Tokyo and its demimonde of the day While he is closely associated with Tokyo's downtown his home was burned to the ground in the bombing of Tokyo and he later left the city for a quieter life in Ichikawa City He lived there for the next decade or so until his death in 1959 The revered writer's study was preserved by Nagai's family in Ichikawa relocated and restored in a corner of the Ichikawa City Hall with his actual bookshelf as well as faithful replicas of other pieces of furniture who translated The River Sumida to English once visited Kafū Nagai and described his study as a dirty place so dusty that a cloud of dust rose up when he sat down the most beautiful and clearest language that he had ever heard Nagai's study at the Ichikawa City Hall is only a small display The Ichikawa City Hall is open from 8:45 a.m The exhibit is located in a corner of the first floor The Russian author's writing desk remains inside the house where he spent part of his Siberian exile Some of the most enduring novels in English literature were written within the walls of this Georgian-era building A museum dedicated to one of Portugal's most celebrated writers A museum dedicated to the legacy of writer P.L In a small Kentish seaside stands the former home of one of the greatest science-fiction writers the visionary English writer's gravesite attracts a yearly pilgrimage The oldest of only three existing statues of the great novelist stands in a city he did not care for The Spanish writer devoted hours to writing 'Don Quixote' in this house Carlos Bebeto Oliveira and Jackson Nagai will both attempt to make history this week when they take the mats at the 2024 IBJJF Masters World Championships they become the first black belts to win an adult and masters world gold medal in the same year in the gi This would be an incredible accomplishment and a testament to the dedication and physical conditioning both champions have Bebeto and Jackson won their adult divisions this year at the 2024 IBJJF Worlds - the Masters portion should be the easy part of the record Bebeto is entered at light-feather after winning rooster this year His first match will be Thursday at 10:18am PST Jackson Nagai is entered into middleweight the same weight he won this year at Worlds His first match will be at 10:50am PST on Thursday The World Masters is a tournament that gives older grapplers an opportunity to compete against their best contemporaries and is split into five year increments of age along with traditional belt and weight divisions.  Get the most important Jiu-Jitsu stories delivered straight to your inbox WASHINGTON (OSV News) — A scholar who has written about the moral implications of atomic weapons and now is writing a book on the historic legacy of faith of Catholics of Nagasaki Catholics to support the casting of a new bell for Nagasaki’s Urakami Cathedral as a sign of solidarity and faith in time for the bell to ring out on Aug the Washington Gladden 1859 professor of sociology at Williams College in Williamstown was inspired to undertake the project while visiting the city in the spring of 2023 and doing research and interviews for a book he is writing on how Catholics in Nagasaki have experienced suffering through the centuries and despite that their faith has endured and been marked by a spirit of hope One of the parishioners at Urakami Cathedral suggested to him that it would be wonderful if American Catholics gave a bell for the church’s left tower to replace the bell that had been destroyed in the bombing That man said he would like to hear the new bell ringing there in his lifetime Nolan said he thought that was a fantastic idea and he has been working on that project since then leveling buildings and killing more than 70,000 people Others died from the lingering effects of radiation The Nagasaki bomb detonated about a third of a mile from the city’s Immaculate Conception Cathedral known as the Urakami Cathedral after the district of the city where it was built The structure — at that time believed to be the largest Catholic church in East Asia — lay in ruins About 8,500 of the cathedral’s 12,000 parishioners were killed a prominent Catholic who was a physician and radiologist While suffering from a serious head injury in the aftermath of the bombing he cared for survivors and witnessed the bomb’s horrific effects on the dead and on the living He returned home to find his house destroyed and his beloved wife he found a melted rosary that she prayed with Nagai encouraged fellow Catholics to dig in the cathedral’s ruins for a bell that had called them to prayer from one of its two bell towers While one bell was found damaged and unusable the volunteers unearthed a second bell and found it intact and relatively unscathed and they rang it out on Christmas Eve in 1945 offering the city’s surviving Catholics an enduring sign of hope A new Urakami Cathedral was rebuilt and dedicated in 1959 on that site Nagai became a world famous advocate for peace and forgiveness after the war before dying of leukemia six years later Nagai offered an inspiring witness of faith Nagai) was right near the epicenter and sustained injuries and he sought to help rebuild the church (and) the community.” A sainthood cause for Nagai and his wife is underway the Nagasaki Bell Project had raised just under $52,000 of the estimated $125,000 it will cost to cast The new bell’s design will include some of the Latin that was inscribed on the original bell that Nolan said references “the years of faithful suffering and the martyrdom of the many Catholics (there) who stayed true to the faith.” More than 400 martyrs of Japan have been recognized with beatification by the Catholic Church Those beatified include 205 missionaries and hidden Christians persecuted and executed for their faith between 1598 and 1632 188 additional priests and Catholics were persecuted and martyred 26 Catholics were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki Nagai wrote a book about the Nagasaki bombing and its aftermath “The Bells of Nagasaki,” which he hoped would inspire people to work for peace and oppose war he was invited to speak at a requiem Mass for the victims of the atomic bomb there He noted the history of faith of Nagasaki’s Christians and he contended that the deaths of so many of them in the bombing ultimately could be seen as a sacrifice to God for peace “Our church of Urakami kept the faith during 400 years of persecution when religion was proscribed and the blood of martyrs flowed freely,” Nagai said at the Mass this same church never ceased to pray day and night for a lasting peace the one unblemished lamb that had to be offered on the altar of God many millions who would otherwise have fallen victim to the ravages of war have been saved.” Nolan noted that Nagai offered a Catholic perspective on suffering emphasizing the need for forgiveness and peace and the need to rebuild “That’s how he could understand the bombing as a kind of peace offering to end the war and to bring peace to the world,” Nolan told the Catholic Standard In the last chapter of “The Bells of Nagasaki,” Nagai issued a heartfelt plea for peace and against nuclear war war can only mean suicide for the human race the people of Urakami confront the world and cry out: No more war Let us follow the commandment of love and work together The people of Urakami prostrate themselves before God and pray: Grant that Urakami may be the last atomic wilderness in the history of the world.” The way Nagai endured suffering with faith and grace offers an example to Catholics today hopeful and offered a narrative of peace and forgiveness Nolan’s interest in Nagasaki’s Christians was spurred by trips to that city and to Hiroshima when he was writing “Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age.” he received a box containing the personal papers of his grandfather an OB-GYN radiologist who served as a doctor for the Manhattan Project government’s top-secret World War II program to develop and deploy the first atomic bombs scientists and military officials who went to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the month after the bombings to assess the damage Writing that book inspired Nolan to write a book on the history of Catholics in Nagasaki Noting how they kept the faith during times of persecution and passed it on from generation to generation for 250 years without priests “It’s a legacy of suffering but staying faithful If the Nagasaki Bell Project is successful Nolan hopes to be at Urakami Cathedral next August to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki by hearing the new bell ring out there I want to join with the parishioner who asked me and said that he wants to hear that The ringing of that new bell in the Urakami Cathedral would continue a goal of Dr who in “The Bells of Nagasaki” wrote about what it meant when the unearthed bell from the cathedral’s ruins rang out once again: “I pray and strive for this bell of peace to continue ringing until the last day of the world.” More about the The Nagasaki Bell Project can be found at https://stkateriinstitute.org/nagasaki-bell-project  Print Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media Catholic Media Assocation Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association The Associated Church Press Nagai Receive NWSL Preseason Camp InvitesJanuary 28 2at4#17 Florida State Geoenvironmental scientist Hiroto Nagai used publicly available climate data from the North and South poles to compose an ominous-sounding chamber music piece A Japanese scientist has taken inspiration from the climate crisis to compose music that sounds as ominous as current forecasts of ecological breakdown The aim of the experiment was to raise awareness of climate change through art "One of the main insights from the participants is that music unlike usual graphical representations of scientific data evokes [an] emotional impression first," Nagai wrote in the study "It grabs the audiences' attention forcefully while graphical representations require active and conscious recognition instead." The climate data used for the composition spans the last 30 years Nagai extracted records of solar radiation precipitation and cloud thickness from four weather stations in the Arctic and Antarctica to represent the "energy budget" of Earth's poles Related: Creepy 'biotwang' noises coming from the Mariana Trench finally explained after 10 years it exposes darker surfaces that absorb more solar radiation leading to increased warming and triggering a climate feedback loop Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox Nagai used software to convert the data into sheet music He separated the various datasets into sections labeled A to I with the shape of the music on the page roughly mirroring the curves of the data He then made stylistic additions and changes to the music to avoid repetitive sequences The process of transforming data into sound is known as sonification While researchers previously tried this method the resulting soundscapes didn't sound like conventional music due to a lack of stylistic changes —Listen to haunting sounds of Earth's magnetic field flipping 41,000 years ago in eerie new animation —The speed of sound on Mars is constantly changing, bizarre study finds —Listen to the sounds of Pando, the largest living tree in the world "There is a tendency to avoid intentional interventions or edits (i.e. contamination) in the original data," Nagai wrote in the study while the information from the original data are preserved as much as possible composed musical pieces often contain a monotonous progression and lack any significant dynamics." titled "Polar Energy Budget," includes both data-derived melodies and free arrangements The choice of a string quartet (two violins a viola and a cello) was based on the four-voice structure and diversity of playing techniques of these instruments "This marks a significant turning point from an era where only scientists handled data to an era where artists can freely use data to create their works," Nagai concluded in the study Sascha PareSocial Links NavigationStaff writer Sascha is a U.K.-based staff writer at Live Science She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from Imperial College London Her work has appeared in The Guardian and the health website Zoe bread-making and browsing second-hand shops for hidden gems 'The Big One' could rock the Pacific Northwest and fuel sea-level rise and massive flooding Climate wars are approaching — and they will redefine global conflict Science news this week: International blackouts and 'T Their one-man live show on October 20th at Zepp Shinjuku offered a striking fusion of techno paired with stunning visuals that created a dynamic and pop-driven sound not as a “unit,” but as a fully-fledged “band” delivering an intense and electrifying stage presence.To explore TESTSET’s current journey we sat down with LEO Imai and Seiichi Nagai for an in-depth conversation LEO began his career in Japan in 2006 and made his major debut with Fix Neon in 2008 started as the guitarist for Sōtaisei Riron and released his self-produced album Chiffon Shugi in 2007 Despite both emerging in the same era of Japan’s music scene only to eventually come together in TESTSET or was it always meant to be?This interview marks the first time LEO and Nagai have joined forces for a TESTSET feature while also reflecting on their individual musical journeys LEO: It was Sunahara who suggested this idea and saw the four of us lined up from the front With two of us singing and moving around a lot having us at the center really enhances the band feel Nagai: Reading interviews with Shirane and Marin (Sunahara’s nickname) it seems like the idea was that “the contrast between LEO and Nagai so we put them in the center.” But from our perspective I’ve noticed he’s been shaking his head more intensely during the performance so I think it’s perfectly fine to bring that kind of energy into TESTSET and I believe both of you started your careers in earnest around the mid-2000s LEO： We didn’t really have any proper interactions Nagai: Nagai: I’ve actually been to one of LEO’s live shows but I didn’t have a proper chance to greet him at that time from that brief encounter over a decade ago everything really took off when we performed together in THE BEATNIKS (※1) and the LEO IMAI Band It was during that precious time when various projects were being led by Yukihiro Takahashi and FUJIO ROCK FESTIVAL(※2)was one of the events where we finally met properly again we got into a conversation about Entombed (the Swedish death metal band) and really hit it off Note 1: THE BEATNIKS is a unit formed in 1981 by Yukihiro Takahashi and Keiichi Suzuki Their 2018 album EXITENTIALIST A XIE XIE featured numerous METAFIVE members Seiichi Nagai first joined as a live member for the release event performing at THE BEATNIKS Live 2018 in May 2018 which also featured Sunahara and Kenichi Shirane was later released as the live album NIGHT OF THE BEAT GENERATION in 2019 Note 2: A music and rakugo fusion event held in August 2018 to mark the 10th anniversary of Fujio Akatsuka’s passing while LEO Imai also performed with his own band What were your impressions of each other’s activities at that time Nagai: I especially loved Mogura by KIMONOS I thought only LEO could create something so unique and cool while listening to it Although I wasn’t constantly following his work I would still hear about his activities here and there I always had the impression that he was someone doing things I liked and respected there are many who let information pass them by without much impact Note: KIMONOS was a project formed in 2010 by Hidetake Mukai (ZAZEN BOYS) and LEO Imai LEO： I used to listen to Sōtaisei Riron’s Chiffon Shugi (2007) a lot It reminded me of Andy Summers from The Police to be in a band together—it feels like a miracle There are definitely fates that you can’t control even though those two (Sunahara and Shirane) were active at the same time TESTSET is such a strange combination—almost a fateful one NiEW Best Music is a playlist featuring artists leading the music scene and offering alternative styles in our rapidly evolving society the NiEW editorial team proudly curates outstanding music that transcends size We keep you informed. UNC graduate midfielder Aria Nagai (19) chases the ball in the UNC game against Louisville on Thursday With the UNC women's soccer roster full of indisputable star power and scoring talent a different set of players shined on Thursday night They are referred to as the "game changers." Made up of players who work hard and contribute to the team's success behind the scenes this group doesn't often get as much recognition as the starters Mainly because many of them haven't notched a goal on a game's stat sheet “To get them on the field today was the bonus,” interim head coach Damon Nahas said 3 North Carolina women’s soccer team overpowered Louisville in a 5-0 victory at Dorrance Field three came from players who have never scored for North Carolina Two of these players have never scored in a collegiate match.   first-year defender Aven Alvarez found herself in front of Louisville goalkeeper Kailey Kimball rebounding a free kick in the 38th minute Although Kimball made the initial save of senior forward Bella Sember's shot from outside the box the goalkeeper couldn’t hold onto the ball Alvarez put it away for her first collegiate goal.   “I've wanted to play on this field and alongside players like this for my entire life,” Alvarez said “To be able to put on this jersey and score a goal alongside players like this Alvarez reclassified and graduated high school a year early “A young player coming here playing [in the] ACC “She has embraced it and we're going to need her to be great for the rest of the season.” starting graduate midfielder Aria Nagai also scored her first goal for the Tar Heels Nagai played for Princeton from 2020-23 and scored twice for the Tigers Although she has played the full 90 minutes eight times this season she has been unsuccessful at finding the back of the net.  Nagai went to Nahas' office and asked how she could put herself in a better position to score The graduate has always taken on the unseen work but Nagai wanted to break open the floodgates.  Although the Tar Heels were already up four goals the loudest cheer from the bench came in the 84th minute.  senior captain defender and midfielder Asha Means headed to the penalty spot.  Means finally scored her first collegiate goal.  Running to the corner of the field she was greeted by the hugs and cheers of all her teammates.  “It was the best feeling ever,” Means said.  Means grew up a North Carolina fan and as a young kid attended many women’s soccer games she made a checklist of things she wanted to accomplish personally 'Ball it up and throw [the checklist] in the trash,'” Means said Now we have our sights set on winning the ACC regular championship As the season progresses and with new game changers making a breakthrough at every turn the Tar Heels are inching closer to accomplishing the new items on the team's checklist.  @dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com This one-of-a-kind analog immersive exhibition celebrates the artistic journey of Megumi Nagai and the mesmerizing world of Night Trees Cover Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photography: Theo Liu) Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photography: Theo Liu) In the heart of Tokyo’s avant-garde fashion district Dover Street Market Ginza’s austere concrete space has been transformed into an unexpected sanctuary of wild imagination The exclusive capsule collection between French luxury house Moynat and legendary Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai launched on December 18 turning the industrial-chic floors of DSM Ginza into a sophisticated menagerie where fashion The launch event drew an eclectic crowd: art collectors fashion enthusiasts and multi-disciplinary creatives gathered to see this unique collaboration between the French luxury house and the Japanese design master The space hummed with enthusiasm as attendees discovered Nagai’s iconic Life series reimagined across an array of luxury leather goods Read more: Straight out of a dream: Amy Lo on Chanel’s Métiers d’art fashion show in Hangzhou Above Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai (Photo: courtesy of Moynat) Japanese graphic designer Kazumasa Nagai (Photo: courtesy of Moynat) Nagai’s impact on Japanese visual culture is monumental As one of the “12 Japanese Masters”—an elite group of graphic designers who revolutionised Japan’s post-war visual arts—and co-founder of the Nippon Design Center in 1960 his seven-decade career includes more than 1,000 posters that helped define modern Japanese graphic design is renowned for depicting animals with minimalist precision while conveying deep emotional resonance The collection itself is a masterclass in creative fusion Moynat’s expert leather craftsmen have translated Nagai’s bold interpretations of lions octopus and whale sharks onto their signature canvas bags with the animals rendered in striking red and blue colourways that seem to pulse with life against the neutral canvas background Photo 1 of 4 Heart Evangelista at Moynat’s launch event at Dover Street Market Tokyo (Photo: courtesy of Moynat)Photo 2 of 4 Mini Han at Moynat’s launch event at Dover Street Market Tokyo (Photo: courtesy of Moynat)Photo 3 of 4 Bibi Zhou at Moynat’s launch event at Dover Street Market Tokyo (Photo: courtesy of Moynat)Photo 4 of 4 Tiara at Moynat’s launch event at Dover Street Market Tokyo (Photo: courtesy of Moynat) Heart Evangelista at Moynat’s launch event at Dover Street Market Each piece carries multiple layers of historical significance available exclusively at Dover Street Market Ginza designed by Henri Rapin in the 1920s—the same Rapin who left his mark on Japanese architectural history through his work on what is now the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum While the collection available at Moynat’s boutiques worldwide features a joyful bright-coloured canvas Above Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photo: Theo Liu) Above Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photo: Theo Liu) Japanese actress and model Kiko Mizuhara featured in Moynat’s latest campaign (Photo: Theo Liu) shot by photographer Theo Liu and featuring model Kiko Mizuhara captures both the collection’s playful spirit and urban sophistication photographed against a traditional Japanese house contrasting an urban luxury styling embodies the modern collector who appreciates both heritage and innovation Photo 1 of 3 Moynat x Kazumasa Nagai collection exclusively available at Dover Street Market TokyoPhoto 2 of 3 Moynat x Kazumasa Nagai collection TokyoPhoto 3 of 3 Moynat x Kazumasa Nagai collection available at Moynat’s boutiques worldwide Moynat x Kazumasa Nagai collection “Animals come in all shapes and varieties; they co-exist with one another I focused on the life inside me and how it was consistent with the animals I didn’t draw them realistically; they were all from my world expressed simply with a sense of curiosity and cuteness My aim was to energise people and create something that symbolises it that is the Life series,” reflects Nagai on his iconic work The collaboration with Moynat has expanded his work into another dimension and undoubtedly attracts a new generation to discover his iconic designs “These pieces have become something that expands into the dreams of those who carry them.” How Thom Browne stands the test of time by remaining focused and doing what he truly loves From chic to glamorous: Navigating holiday dress codes with Gucci Ski season essentials: The must-have designer ski accessories for conquering the slopes in style Bernard Arnault-owned leather goods company Moynat has partnered with iconic Japanese graphic designer and printmaker Kazumasa Nagai for a special Holiday capsule. The collaboration involves a series of handbags, passport cases, cardholders, notebook covers and bag charms showcasing vibrant versions of Nagai’s quirky animal-themed designs. The designs feature unique cartoon-like creatures including a lion, monkey, owl, octopus, starfish, and a whale shark, selected from Nagai’s collection of past and more recent works. Elaborating on his creative approach, Nagai stated, “animals come in all shapes and varieties…I didn’t draw them realistically. They were all from my world expressed in a simple way with a sense of curiosity and cuteness.” The capsule will be available for sale from Tuesday in select Moynat boutiques. Price ranges from 300 euros for small leather goods to 1,800 euros for a top-handle Duo BB bag. Kazumasa Nagai holds a legendary status in Japan’s graphic design arena and is recognized for his role in establishing the Nippon Design Center. His decades-long career includes designing logos for Japan Railways, Asahi Breweries, and the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan. A collaboration with a leather goods firm was a novel experience for Nagai, but the blend of haute craftsmanship and design presented by Moynat captured his interest. According to Nagai, “The skills of Moynat’s artisans are truly exceptional.” He further appreciated how “the animals have been integrated into the bags, passport and card holders feel so lively.” Nagai’s involvement extended beyond providing designs; he also played a crucial role in determining color combinations and the placement of his drawings. Meanwhile, Moynat’s teams diligently worked to transfer these designs onto leather products without compromising the intricate details of Nagai’s designs. Reports suggest Moynat may expand on the Nagai collaboration into December when Dover Street Market Ginza is expected to introduce an additional range of exclusive leather goods. ©2006 - Present FloSports, Inc. All rights reserved. Scott Gutterman has written about art and music for Artforum, GQ, the New Yorker, Vogue, and other publications. His most recent book is Sunlight on the River: Poems about Paintings, Paintings about Poems (Prestel, 2015). He is deputy director of Neue Galerie New York and lives in Brooklyn. Home the dean of radiology at the Nagasaki Medical College Hospital the flash of blinding light took place,” Nagai wrote in his 1949 account of the experience titled “The Bells of Nagasaki.” “The glass of the windows smashed in and a frightening blast of wind swept me off my feet into the air invisible fist had gone wild and smashed everything in the room has raised around $39,000 to buy a new bell $17,000 more is needed to finish the work at a St said the goal is to complete everything by Aug Nolan’s fascination with Nagasaki stems from the wartime experiences of his grandfather chief medical officer for the “Manhattan Project,” which developed the atomic weapons used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was recruited by Manhattan Project director J Robert Oppenheimer to establish a hospital for the compound at Los Alamos Nolan also developed safety protocols to avoid dangerous radiation and accompanied the core uranium to Tinian — a Northern Marianas island in the Pacific from which the United States launched the atomic bomb attacks he was deployed to Nagasaki to assess the situation and report on the aftermath he avoided sharing his war stories with family his only comment was: “It was utter devastation of the kind you can’t even imagine.” Nolan’s mother gave him a box of his grandfather’s papers and other artifacts from the Manhattan Project “It was a treasure trove of information that really launched my own investigations into the story,” Nolan said In “Atomic Doctors: Conscience and Complicity at the Dawn of the Nuclear Age,” Nolan explores how his grandfather and colleagues struggled to balance their zeal for victory with their passion for protecting human life contracted leukemia — a fatal consequence of working in radiology Nagai authored over a dozen books in the six years between the attack and his death in 1951 In “The Bells of Nagasaki,” Nagai offers his “blinding light” and “invisible fist” descriptions of the blast Nagai also describes how the bomb was detonated above the Urakami Cathedral was known to be the cradle to Christianity in Japan despite religious persecutions in the 1600s that created the Hidden Christians — who worshiped underground for 250 years until religious freedom returned in the mid-1800s Subtle persecution emerged during World War II because Christianity was a religion among the Allied nations “They took grief for being Catholic because it’s the face of the enemy and then that enemy drops the bomb on the center of Catholicism in Japan,” Nolan said Nolan recalled one such conversation with a descendant of the Hidden Christians ‘Wouldn’t it be great if some American Catholics gave us that other bell?’ ” That conversation inspired the Nagasaki Bell Project Archbishop Peter Nakamura of Nagasaki has praised the project for unifying Catholics in Japan and the United States to seek God’s forgiveness “The church bell is the sound of the Church’s prayer,” Archbishop Nakamura said in a statement to The Tablet adding it would be “a great joy” to hear two bells sounding together “as they did before the bombing.” Nagai felt that joy just four months after the attack when friends retrieved the unscathed bell from the rubble “The clear sound … ringing out the message of peace and blessings echoing across the atomic wilderness and telling us that dawn has come.” To learn more about the Nagasaki Bell Project and the St Your email will be used to send you The Tablet newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy. More info Create your free account or log in to continue reading The Tablet is the newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, serving Brooklyn and Queens since 1908.© 2025 DeSales Media Group, Inc. Website by 345 Design ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " MBS revealed on Friday that it is producing a live-action series adaptation of Saburō Nagai's Smells Like Green Spirit manga that will premiere on MBS' "Dramafil" programming block on September 19. Towa Araki (seen below) plays protagonist Futoshi Mishima The series will premiere on MBS and TV Kanagawa on September 19, on TV Saitama on September 23, on Gunma TV on September 24, on Tochigi TV on September 25, and on Chiba TV on September 26 The manga is set in a sleepy rural town during the Heisei era Long bullied and teased for "looking gay," Mishima has also decided to wear lipstick and cross-dress in secret to comfort himself in possession of lipstick that Mishima had lost Nagai published the manga in Fusion Product's Comic Be magazine from 2011 to 2012 and it had two compiled book volumes labeled "Side:A" and "Side:B." The manga also has a spinoff manga titled Shintan Kairō SuBLime published Nagai's Boys, Be Ambitious! (Shōnen yo, Taishi toka Iroiro Idake) manga in English in 2013 Sources: Smells Like Green Spirit live-action series' website, Comic Natalie - The neutrino group, led by Dr. Yoshikazu Nagai, focuses on precision measurements of hadron production with hadron-nucleus collisions conducts research in femtoscopy with nucleus-nucleus collisions Figure: A T2K replica neutrino production target placed in front of the NA61/SHINE facility for precision measurements of hadron production exiting from the target surface A simulated ion beam interaction on a nuclear target is overlayed with the NA61/SHINE facility for visualization Nagai has been instrumental in pioneering several upgrade projects and his leadership in the NA61/SHINE collaboration before appointed as Deputy Spokesperson These initiatives include the collaborative construction of Forward Time Projection Chambers (TPC) with the HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre in Budapest and University Colorado Boulder in the US upgrade of software with modern architectures and the proposal of construction of a novel beamline branch that delivers lower energy hadron beams to NA61/SHINE With his recent appointment as Deputy Spokesperson Nagai is set to orchestrate a forthcoming research endeavor continuing to drive innovation and scientific exploration within the NA61/SHINE experiment We use “cookies” on the website to provide the best user experience to our visitors in addition to secure browsing. You can change your cookie settings at any time in your browser settings. More information A Japanese pastor urged Christians in Asia to focus on relationships to make disciples for Christ Born in Fukuoka, in 1961, Nobuyoshi Nagai first reviewed the 475-old history of Christianity in Japan. After Christianity was introduced in 1549, it was banned from 1612 to 1873, during which more than 100,000 Christians were said to have been martyred. “Right after World War II, missionaries from all over the world came to Japan.” He shared that his father, who was 16 years old in high school, went to a church to learn English for six months and then became a Christian. Christians now account for less than one percent of the population in Japan, making the Japanese people the second largest unreached people group. There are around 9,000 churches in total. He later showed some statistics about Christianity in Japan: according to the Joshua Project, 0.57% are Evangelicals; the average age of the pastors in Japan is 62.2, according to Tokyo Christian University. Although more than 30% of Japanese favor Christianity, the average length of time a Christian stays in the church is 2.8 years. “There are some seekers staying in the church for more than ten years... Many Christians leave the church within three years.” Confronted with such reality, Pastor Nagai offered suggestions about making disciples. “Come, see, and meet Jesus is the beginning of the Christian faith, but I think we need to make an effort to make people follow Jesus.” Mentioning that the Christian faith is about relationships, the pastor explained that there are three relationships of a disciple based on Acts 2:42-47. “Prayer, meeting at the table, breaking bread, and praising God. This is the relationship with God.” The pastor said, “This relationship is two-way: God invites and chooses us, and then we respond in worship and prayer.” The second relationship is with others, which includes the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, having everything in common, and eating together. “In Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and any other Asian country, this classroom is very important.” The Japanese pastor said, “We have to include the discipleship program in living together.” “This is also two ways.” He said, “We serve, teach, and love each other.” However, the relationship with the world is only one-way. “So we love the world, serve the world, and evangelize the world.” “According to Acts 2:47: ‘and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’” He continued, “We need to focus on those three relationships to make disciples.” “So pray for Japan and Japan will be saved!” Volume 16 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2022.856184 Predictive coding has recently been proposed as a mechanistic approach to explain human perception and behavior based on the integration of perceptual stimuli (bottom-up information) and the predictions about the world based on previous experience (top-down information) the gap between the computational accounts of cognition and evidence of behavioral studies remains large we used a computational model of drawing based on the mechanisms of predictive coding to systematically investigate the effects of the precision of top-down and bottom-up information when performing a drawing completion task The results indicated that sufficient precision of both signals was required for the successful completion of the stimuli and that a reduced precision in either sensory or prediction (i.e. prior) information led to different types of atypical drawing behavior We compared the drawings produced by our model to a dataset of drawings created by children aged between 2 and 8 years old who drew on incomplete drawings This comparison revealed that a gradual increase in children's precision of top-down and bottom-up information as they develop effectively explains the observed change of drawing style from scribbling toward representational drawing individual differences that are prevalent in children's drawings might arise from different developmental pathways regarding the precision of these two signals Based on these findings we propose a theory of how both general and individual development of drawing could be explained in a unified manner within the framework of predictive coding An understanding of children's cognitive development and individual differences is pivotal in the cognitive sciences considerable insights into the thinking processes of young children are still limited because children often lack the linguistic and cognitive ability to explain their actions and decision-making processes By observing and modeling children's natural behavior it may be possible to propose hypotheses regarding how their behavior could be explained by underlying cognitive and perceptual mechanisms The development of representational drawing ability in children might reflect general cognitive maturation processes the fundamental mechanism of its development and the changes in perception and behavior that it involves are not well-understood the drawing completion task is chosen because it can be considered as a prediction task: in order to decide what to draw the provided visual information which activates bottom-up processes top-down processes are involved because previous experiences of the child or the model also influence drawing To account for the changes in sensory as well as in prior precision independently from each other we extend the previous study by additionally modifying the reliance on the sensory input to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the potential mechanism underlying the developmental pathway We compared the drawing of the model with drawings created by children aged between 2 and 8 years old that were recently obtained using a similar task design (Philippsen et al., 2020); children were presented with the drawing of an incomplete object such as a face or a house and could freely draw on the presented stimulus This comparison of data of the model to children's data at various ages enables us to postulate how children's precision might mature as they develop based on their displayed behavior Such a close comparison of psychological and computational data might be important to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of child development in the future we demonstrate the successful implementation of the computational model into the humanoid robot iCub and briefly discuss the system's potential to conduct human-robot interaction experiments for assessing human neurodiversity in future studies the ability to rely on sensory and prior information according to their respective precision (i.e. being able to ignore imprecise signals) is a key mechanism that ensures robustness against environmental noise Our study assumes that Bayesian-optimal integration of prior and sensory information occurs at all ages, but that the precision attributed to the two signals may vary across development stages, in line with the view of Sciutti et al. (2014) and Karaminis et al. (2016) we systematically investigate how the precision of prior and sensory information may affect behavior in the task of drawing completion By comparing the simulated drawings to drawings created by children we suggest a unified framework regarding how the precision of prior and sensory signals may account for the developmental and individual differences observed in children This section introduces the computational framework (Section 3.1) motivates and describes the experimental design (Section 3.2) and describes the children's drawing dataset (Section 3.3) The recurrent neural network acts as the internal model that generates predictions about the environment it predicts the mean μnet and the variance σnet2 of the sensory perception of the next time step Simulated learning and inference is based upon a generative model comprising a likelihood and a prior Based upon Gaussian assumptions about the prediction errors the (log) likelihood is a function of the posterior mean and variance as well as the observed input x: Figure 1. Computational model of drawing adopted from Philippsen and Nagai (2020b) and extended with the additional parameter Hsensor which scales the sensory precision σsensor2 in the same way that Hprior scales the prior precision estimated of the network σnet2 and D is the dimensionality of the input vector To enable the network to differentiate between different drawing stimuli classes (e.g. each stimuli independently uses a different set of initial neuron activations the initial state u→(s)0 of stimuli class s is defined by the initial activations of the N neurons of the network's context layer at time step t = 0 The optimization criterion for enforcing this prior on the distribution of the initial states can be accordingly defined as where u→^n is the (learnable) mean of all initial states and vdist (set here to vdist = 10) is the predefined variance of the initial states. The network weights and the initial states are optimized during network training by maximizing L+Linit as proposed by Murata et al. (2013) This optimization process continues for a maximum of 30 000 epochs (training is stopped earlier if no improvement is measured within the previous 5 that expresses the variance (inverse precision) of the prediction the model's behavior was modified so that it relied more weakly on its prior (in the case of larger variance lower precision) or more strongly (in the case of smaller variance compared to a normal Bayesian-optimal manner of integration that implements aberrant sensory precision The integration of sensory input with predictions follows the rules of Bayesian inference the input used for training the internal model is more strongly influenced by the input when the sensory modality is considered to be more precise than the prediction the network automatically switches to a stronger focus on its own prediction The two-dimensional space explored in this study is shown in Figure 2 with exemplary designed prior and sensory precision values inverse variance) of the sensor and prior distributions are gradually modified from low precision (bottom left corner) to high precision (top right corner) Note that at the diagonal from bottom left to top right where the relative precision of both signals is the same the mean of the posterior remains the same Illustration of how the Bayesian inference changes when the precision of the sensory input and the prior are modified The seven trajectories used for training (A) and the first 30 time steps of the three testing trajectories used to test the completion ability of the networks (B) Black and gray lines indicate pen-down and pen-up lines One example trajectory each is highlighted with bold lines for visual clarity Further details about the implementation can be found in Philippsen and Nagai (2020b). The source code for this experiment is provided as part of the GitHub repository of Philippsen and Nagai (2020b)2 An important aim of this study is to use computational data to make predictions about the underlying cognitive mechanisms that might drive the behavior of children over the course of their development it is not sufficient to look at synthetic data; instead comparisons to behavioral data of children are required to connect computational findings to actual behaviors The 12 stimuli of which six were presented to each of the children consisting of four different stimuli categories (face and human figure) and three presentation conditions (outline Data from 104 children (62 males and 42 females) aged between 2 and 8 years old (average age 4 years and 9 months) were collected in a science museum Drawings were performed on a tablet PC using blue color to distinguish the child-drawn parts from the presented parts Children were instructed to draw whatever they liked and each child could draw up to six different stimuli plotted against the children's age Children showed a decrease in scribbling and an increase in completion with increasing age whereas coloring and tracing behavior could be observed at all ages Example drawings of children that were categorized as scribbling and examples of drawings that seem unrelated to the presented stimuli but instead show objects or simple shapes Overview of human ratings of the degree to which children showed scribbling between 0% (not at all) and 100% (strongly) at different ages Every point represents the mean score for a single child This section presents the results of the computational study we explain the results of the simulation qualitatively for one of the trained networks and then confirm the observed trends by averaging across all ten trained networks we briefly present the implementation of the drawing experiment into a physical robot and discuss potential future studies for investigating human neurodiversity an example is shown how one of the networks performed for the nine different constellations of Hprior and Hsensor The black lines show the first 30% of the trajectories indicating whether the model is able to trace the presented part of the stimulus The green lines show how the model completed the stimulus Figure 7. Drawings produced by one network when modifying the variance of sensory input Hsensor (x-axis) and the variance of prior predictions Hprior (y-axis) by a factor of 1, 000 (low precision), 1 (normal precision), or 0.001 (high precision). The black and gray lines indicate how the network could reproduce the presented part (cf. Figure 3B) the green lines show the network's completion ability (solid lines for pen-down It can be observed that the drawings produced with normal reliance on both signals (middle of Figure 7) were correctly completed according to the training data The same was true if the precision of both signals was increased (top right corner) when there was a drastic reduction in the precision of both signals (bottom left corner) the model did not show any meaningful behavior; it could neither follow the presented lines nor complete the pattern The top-left and bottom-right corners show cases where the network only considered one of the two integrated signals to be precise, whereas the other one was considered to be imprecise. In the bottom-right corner of Figure 7 we can see the result of the model simulations when an overly strong reliance was placed on the sensory signal and little attention was directed to the prior signal the performance looks very similar to the performance in the bottom-left corner The difference between these two conditions lies with the black lines corresponding to the behavior of the model while observing the presentation of the first 30 time steps Whereas the network showed only scribbling behavior in the bottom-left corner the network is able to trace the presented (black) lines This result demonstrates that a sufficient degree of precision of the prior information is required to allow the model to complete a partial drawing but because of the precise bottom-up signal the model can perform more low-level behaviors such as following a presented trajectory The opposite case is displayed at the top left corner of Figure 7 in which sensory information is considered to be imprecise although it is less accurate than with higher sensory precision Owing to sufficiently precise prior information the model can also complete the shapes in many cases because of the relatively low reliance on sensory signals the completed shape did not always accurately fit the intended pattern the model drew a face pattern instead of a flower to complete the bottom-left shape Such a drawing of a shape that does not fit the intended shape is caused by an excessively strong reliance on the priors combined with insufficient reliance on the sensory input which leads to an over-weighting of the network's confidence in its own prediction Owing to the low precision of the sensory input two main findings can be extracted from this analysis: First the model creates random trajectories when insufficient prior information is available—a behavior that resembles scribbling the low precision of sensory input together with precise priors seems to cause the network to confuse the shapes with each other in some cases To measure whether these tendencies hold for the entire dataset, we evaluated the drawings that were produced by all 10 networks. Each network completed the six patterns three times, using the test dataset (cf. Figure 3B) Average mean square error of the network's drawn shape to the shape that best matches the shape when comparing either the first 30 time steps (presented part) (A) or the last 60 time steps (completed part) (B) It can be observed that the error was small in most cases but high in the bottom-left corner of Figure 8A and in the entire bottom row of Figure 8B. This high error was caused by the scribbling-like behavior observed in Figure 7. Whereas with sufficient precision of the sensory input, scribbling only occurred in the completed part of the trajectory (Figure 8B) a low precision of both signals caused the model to scribble regardless of the presence of sensory input indicating that the drawn shape was not similar to any of the training shapes the model failed to perform any type of representational drawing; therefore Figure 9. Percentage of shapes that were misinterpreted as another pattern that was not the intended pattern, computed using (A) the first 30 time steps (presented part) or (B) the last 60 time steps (completed part). Gray color indicates that this constellation led to random scribbling (cf. Figures 7, 8) such that the percentage cannot be reliably computed the drawing study was also implemented in the physical humanoid robot iCub to enable a human to interact with the robot while observing the differences in drawing behavior when the precision of the prior changes this figure visualizes the “cognitive” mechanism that the robot applies when solving the completion task The experimental setup of the demonstration of the system implemented on the iCub robot (A) The human starts to draw a line and (B) the robot completes the drawing we explored how gradual changes in the sensory and prior precision affected the drawing behavior of the computational model We found that the completion ability increased with higher precision of the sensory and prior signal The high precision of both signals is associated with successful completion of representational drawings whereas too low precision leads to random trajectories that resemble the scribbling behavior that young children sometimes display these drawing styles did not show any clear correlation with the child's age Following the findings from the computational model some of these drawing styles might be explained by an imbalance of sensory and prior information the two extreme cases where either sensory or prior precision is high and the other signal's precision is low reveals typical behavior patterns that could have their equivalent in the children's drawing data With high sensory precision but insufficient prior precision the model showed scribbling behavior but was able to trace the presented part of the trajectory but did not show any representational drawing could have overly relied on the bottom-up signal while not making use of prior information the model was able to complete drawings but sometimes drew shapes which did not correspond to the presented shape children sometimes drew objects or shapes on top or next to the presented stimulus that did not have an obvious connection with the presented shape One possible explanation for this tendency is that children might have relied more strongly on their priors and neglected sensory information in some cases Figure 11 summarizes these ideas. Developmental changes observed in the child study (increase in completion and decrease in scribbling), together with the simulations of the computational model, suggest that there is a general trend across development leading from low to high precision in both signals. Such a parallel maturation of the precision of both modalities could, therefore, constitute the optimal developmental pathway (green arrow in Figure 11) Illustration of the proposed developmental pathways that might account for the drawing behaviors observed in the child study The green arrow shows a parallel increase of sensory and prior precision the red arrow illustrates how precision would increase with a hypo-prior tendency the blue arrow with a hyper-prior tendency Examples of model results and child drawings representative for these cases are displayed which leads to the possible explanation that each child follows an individual pathway—an explanation that could account for the diversity that is observable in children's drawings Some children drew figures that seemed unrelated to the presented stimulus while ignoring the presented sensory information Other children might have relied more strongly on the presented bottom-up information which in our simulations was associated with scribbling or tracing behavior our findings suggest that children's development leads them from low to high precision and that not only the relative but also the absolute precision of both signals plays an important role and could be related to individual drawing differences that are observable in children's drawings we investigated how the precision of prior and sensory signals influences behavioral outcomes in a drawing completion task A computational model based on the predictive coding theory was employed to systematically analyze how these two precision values may affect drawing By comparing the model's behavioral output with drawings produced by children aged between 2 and 8 years in the context of a similar task we propose a theory of how precision of prior and sensory signals may develop with increasing age in children Our findings indicate that a gradual increase in the precision of both signals could account for the decrease in scribbling and the increase in the completion of drawings in the child study different individual pathways in the development that might lead to a temporary overweighting of either the precision of the prior or of the sensory signal could account for some of the individual differences that were observed in children's drawings changes in the precision of the prior and sensory signals could account for the developmental and individual differences of children in the context of the presented task In the future, experimental studies are required that systematically analyze the precision that children attribute to prior and sensory information over their development to confirm this hypothesis. Longitudinal studies are particularly important in this regard to reveal whether individual children consistently follow one of the proposed developmental pathways in Figure 11 or instead show higher variability compared to adults causing the presence of hypo- and hyper-prior tendencies in the same individual The novelty of this study is that it directly compared the data obtained from the simulation with children's drawing data Both the model and the child experiment used the same underlying task design whereas the child study was designed to replicate the completion task of the computational model as closely as possible there are a number of differences between these studies that should be acknowledged The first difference lies in the way that the model perceives the world the first part of the picture was revealed continuously as a trajectory whereas it was presented to the children before any action This difference is caused by the nature of the computational model that requires a recurrent neural network at its core in order to be able to generate time-dependent predictions and implement the ideas of predictive coding This design should be improved in the future to allow for a more human-like perception the model is not creative and cannot produce any other meaningful output patterns than those for which it has been previously trained only a subset of the drawing styles that children displayed the model always completes drawings in a similar way whereas children could complete drawings in many different ways—a difference not accounted for in this study Children also sometimes colored in the shapes which is a behavior that cannot be easily simulated within the current setting: the model displays scribbling behavior but it cannot be restricted to draw only inside a particular region of the drawing plane it should be noted that our interpretation of the children's drawing data constitutes only one possible explanation the task instructions that were provided to the children were not strict: the children were not explicitly asked to complete the drawings it is possible that children that did not complete the drawing instead found other reasonable interpretations of the task and created the drawings according to this interpretation under review) to further verify the interpretation of this simulation and eventually strengthen the link between the child and the model data indicating that the specific task design is crucial and could account for inconsistent evidence Our findings suggest that additionally developmental stages play an important role and should be considered carefully in future research our study proposed a novel hypothesis on the developmental pathways of children based on the predictive coding theory We demonstrated that the hypothesis is plausible using a computational model that reflects the behavioral data of children Such a close connection between computational and behavioral studies may be a key component of future research as it opens up new approaches to study the underlying cognitive mechanisms involved in child development The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The name of the repository and accession number can be found at: GitHub, https://github.com/aphilippsen/drawingcompletion The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Research Ethics Committee of the Office for Life Science Research Ethics and Safety at The University of Tokyo Written informed consent to participate in this study was provided by the participants' legal guardian/next of kin Written informed consent was obtained from the individual(s) for the publication of any identifiable images or data included in this article AP and YN designed the computational experiments AP implemented and conducted the computational experiments and drafted the manuscript All authors read and approved the final manuscript This work was supported by JST CREST “Cognitive Mirroring” (Grant Number: JPMJCR16E2) by JST CREST “Cognitive Feeling” (Grant Number: JPMJCR21P4) and by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI) The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 2. ^https://github.com/aphilippsen/drawingcompletion Cognitive flexibility in drawings of bilingual children “Bodily precision”: a predictive coding account of individual differences in interoceptive accuracy Angeletos Chrysaitis No increased circular inference in adults with high levels of autistic traits or autism The knowledge used in vision and where it comes from PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Young children's human figure drawings and cognitive development Predictive processing in cognitive robotics: a review CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The free-energy principle: a rough guide to the brain PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Action and behavior: a free-energy formulation Gonzalez-Gadea Predictive coding in autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder A neurorobotics simulation of autistic behavior induced by unusual sensory precision Central tendency effects in time interval reproduction in autism Nine-month-old infants update their predictive models of a changing environment Visual statistical learning in infancy: Evidence for a domain general learning mechanism CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Neural dynamics of prediction and surprise in infants A review on neural network models of schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Predictive learning: its key role in early cognitive development PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar When the world becomes “too real”: a Bayesian explanation of autistic perception Deficits in prediction ability trigger asymmetries in behavior and internal representation CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar “Picture completion reveals developmental change in representational drawing ability: an analysis using a convolutional neural network,” in 2020 Joint IEEE 9th International Conference on Development and Learning and Epigenetic Robotics (Valparaiso: ICDL-EpiRob) doi: 10.1109/ICDL-EpiRob48136.2020.9278103 Quantifying developmental individual differences in spontaneous drawing completion among children Google Scholar Predictive coding in the visual cortex: a functional interpretation of some extra-classical receptive-field effects What is bottom-up and what is top-down in predictive coding PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Statistical learning by 8-month-old infants The origin of representational drawing: a comparison of human children and chimpanzees Development of context dependency in human space perception The predictive coding account of psychosis part 2: children's Bayesian priors for shape and lighting direction PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar An Introduction to the Psychology of Children's Drawings Google Scholar Interactions between “light-from-above” and convexity priors in visual development Predictive information processing is a fundamental learning mechanism present in early development: evidence from infants Predictive coding accelerates word recognition and learning in the early stages of language development Prediction in infants and adults: a pupillometry study Tsuji S and Nagai Y (2022) Simulating Developmental and Individual Differences of Drawing Behavior in Children Using a Predictive Coding Model Received: 16 January 2022; Accepted: 27 May 2022; Published: 20 June 2022 Copyright © 2022 Philippsen, Tsuji and Nagai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Anja Philippsen, YS5rLnBoaWxpcHBzZW5AZ21haWwuY29t Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish Jen Estes and Aria Nagai earned team awards for the 2023 season.Curry Nagai Earn Women's Soccer Team Awards May 13 Curry and Nagai share the Women's Soccer Award, given to the team's most valuable player as voted by their teammates.  While central blood pressure (BP) has been recognized as a major indicator of left ventricular (LV) afterload, the reduction of central pressure decreases LV afterload and may prevent heart failure (HF) decompensation. Non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) was shown to improve cardiac function in HF patients. In this study, the relationship between active tVNS and reduction of central BP was investigated in patients with acute HF (AHF). In this study, the left tragus tVNS resulted in an acute afterload reduction in the elderly AHF patients. Non-invasive LLTS may be useful and safe for reducing afterload in AHF. ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier UMIN000044121. Volume 17 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2023.1149449 Introduction: While central blood pressure (BP) has been recognized as a major indicator of left ventricular (LV) afterload the reduction of central pressure decreases LV afterload and may prevent heart failure (HF) decompensation Non-invasive transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) was shown to improve cardiac function in HF patients the relationship between active tVNS and reduction of central BP was investigated in patients with acute HF (AHF) Methods: The 22 patients hospitalized for AHF after initial stabilization (median 80 yrs males 60%) were randomly assigned to active or sham group low-level transcutaneous electrical stimulation (LLTS) (20 Hz 1 mA) was performed after attaching an ear clip to the tragus (active group) or the earlobe (sham control group) diastolic BP (DBP) as well as heart rate (HR) were noninvasively measured Results: No significant differences in baseline characteristics were observed between the active and sham groups and HR each decreased significantly after stimulation (all p < 0.05) and HR each increased significantly after stimulation (all p < 0.05) DBP and HR before and after stimulation were also significantly different between active and sham groups (all p < 0.01) the left tragus tVNS resulted in an acute afterload reduction in the elderly AHF patients Non-invasive LLTS may be useful and safe for reducing afterload in AHF Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov few studies have been conducted on changes in central BP due to therapeutic intervention in acute HF (AHF) patients no studies have examined the relationship between tVNS and afterload reduction in patients with AHF we hypothesized that active LLTS could significantly reduce central BP compared to sham stimulation in AHF Each AHF diagnosis was made by experienced cardiologists Consecutive eligible patients with AHF aged 40–85 years were enrolled after the study objectives were fully explained A sample size of 22 patients (11 in each group) would provide at least 80% power to detect this difference at a 2-sided significance alpha level of 0.05 Inclusion criteria included (i) patients with an on-admission SBP of >100 mmHg; (ii) consenting to participate in this study Exclusion criteria included (i) patients with multiple organ failure (possibility of unclear relationship between VNS and HF); (ii) patients in shock (possibility of excessive hypotension): (iii) patients with severe bradycardia excluding those with a pacemaker (possibility of promoting bradycardia): (iv) patients with sepsis (possibility of excessive hypotension): (v) patients who did not consent to participate in this study The clinical trial protocol was approved by the Research Committee of Hiroshima City Asa Hospital (02-6-25) And this study was conducted in accordance with the principles set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki Written informed consent was obtained from all participants The stimulation amplitude was titrated to 1 mA below the discomfort threshold stimulation was applied by the individually trained co-medical staffs Patients were requested to comment phenomenon related to each daily session if there were patients and investigators collecting study measurements were blinded to treatment assignments The site of active or sham stimulation was not revealed to achieve blinding of patients Transcutaneous electrical vagus nerve stimulation (A) The device used for stimulation (Parasym the ear clip was attached to the left tragus which is innervated by the auricular branch of the vagus nerve the ear clip was attached to the left ear lobe We measured CASP in addition to brachial SBP diastolic BP (DBP) as well as heart rate (HR) three times at one occasion before and after stimulation and average values of three measurements were calculated as representative values in CASP and HR were compared before and after stimulation Data are presented as median or percentages While we used a chi-squared test for comparisons of categorical variables between the groups Mann–Whiteney U test was performed for continuous variables at baseline DBP and HR before and after stimulation in each group were analyzed through paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test DBP and HR between the two groups were compared through Mann–Whiteney U test A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant We performed all analyses using SPSS version 11.5J statistical software (SPSS and HFpEF was observed in 75% of the active stimulation group and 87.5% of the sham stimulation group Adherence to the protocol of daily stimulation was well and all of the 16 patients were completed stimulation procedure The stimulation amplitude has not been changed as 20 mA in both groups in each procedure over 5 days There were no differences in BP or HR on admission between the active and sham group (134 mmHg versus 128 mmHg only one person felt slight wrongness at the stimulation site the procedure was completed without any side effects that interrupted the study Flow diagram of participant screening and enrollment of patients A schematic representation of the study design and timeline of hemodynamic measurements transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation; CASP Baseline characteristics of the study population Central aortic systolic pressure (CASP) before and after stimulation Effect of active vs sham tVNS on measures of central aortic systolic pressure Effect of active vs sham tVNS on measures of brachial systolic blood pressure Effect of active vs sham tVNS on measures of brachial diastolic blood pressure Effect of active vs sham tVNS on measures of heart rate When the changes in CASP, brachial SBP, DBP, and HR before and after stimulation were compared between active and sham groups, there were significant differences in changes in CASP (p < 0.001), brachial SBP (p < 0.001), DBP (p < 0.01) as well as HR (p < 0.001) (Table 3) Changes in CASP between active and sham stimulation groups transcutaneous active stimulation of the left vagus nerve auricular branch at the tragus for 1 h was associated with an acute reduction in CASP sham stimulation of the left earlobe resulted in an acute increase in CASP This first human study suggests that non-invasive LLTS is effective and safe for reducing afterload in treating AHF This favorable effect due to tVNS on cardiac dynamics may be related to the improved sympatho-vagal balance in AHF Animal and human studies have shown that longitudinal strain was reduced by increased afterload (Donal et al., 2009; Burns et al., 2010; A’roch et al., 2012). Activation of peripheral SNS increases LV afterload via enhanced wave reflection (Floras, 2009; Millar et al., 2019) tVNS was associated with reduced afterload One of the mechanisms by which tVNS reduces CASP is suggested to be suppression of SNS activity via tVNS that reduces the augmented wave reflection The current findings raise the possibility that non-pharmacological interventions in tVNS that reduce sympathetic outflow improve ventriculo-aortic coupling and reduce cardiac afterload in patients with AHF These mechanisms may also contribute to vascular- and cardio-protection in the long term suggesting potential non-pharmacological HF treatments On the other hand, in young healthy males, a significant increase in BP and a decreasing trend in HR were observed after tVNS to the right tragus (Sinkovec et al., 2021) The evoked sympathomimetic response was indicated by a significant increase in peripheral resistance parameters and BP and was likely a secondary baroreceptor-mediated reflex response by tVNS stimulus side and disease background differed between studies and may have been associated with contradictory findings compared to those in our study tVNS may be suitable in conditions characterized by increased SNS activity sham stimulation significantly increased CASP Significant differences were observed with sham stimulation compared to active stimulation in all changes in CASP DBP and HR may suggest that an increase in SNS responses to sham stimulation cannot be ruled out in AHF patients left earlobe stimulation produced activation in the right insular cortex (Ic) in fMRI study These results suggest that right hemisphere including the right Ic is associated with SNS activity sham stimulation increased both BP and HR in AHF patients suggesting that stimulation of the left earlobe might have increased SNS activity via the right Ic Further investigation is required to determine whether the hyperactivity of SNS is a physiological response due to left earlobe stimulation these hypotheses could not be tested in this study the left tragus tVNS resulted in an acute afterload reduction while the left earlobe stimulation resulted in an acute afterload increase in AHF patients Non-invasive LLTS is useful and safe for reducing afterload in AHF Further studies will be needed to elucidate the pathophysiology underlying the relationship between tVNS and afterload reduction in relation to neurocardiology The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/supplementary material further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committees of the Hiroshima City Asa Hospital (02-6-25) The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study and CF contributed to the conception of this study and NO participated in the patient enrollment and CF assisted and supervised the overall production of this 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Volume 17 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2024.1376762 The unraveling of the regulatory mechanisms that govern neuronal excitability is a major challenge for neuroscientists worldwide Neurotransmitters play a critical role in maintaining the balance between excitatory and inhibitory activity in the brain The balance controls cognitive functions and emotional responses Glutamate and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) are the primary excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters of the brain Disruptions in the balance between excitatory and inhibitory transmission are implicated in several psychiatric disorders Neuromodulators such as dopamine and acetylcholine control cognition and emotion by regulating the excitatory/inhibitory balance initiated by glutamate and GABA Dopamine is closely associated with reward-related behaviors while acetylcholine plays a role in aversive and attentional behaviors Although the physiological roles of neuromodulators have been extensively studied neuroanatomically and electrophysiologically few researchers have explored the interplay between neuronal excitability and cell signaling and the resulting impact on emotion regulation This review provides an in-depth understanding of “cell signaling crosstalk” in the context of neuronal excitability and emotion regulation It also anticipates that the next generation of neurochemical analyses facilitated by integrated phosphorylation studies Timescale of cell signaling regulated by neurotransmitters and neuromodulators neurotransmitters and neuromodulators work as triggers activating several cell signaling pathways Neurotransmitters like glutamate primarily initiate the activity of signaling pathways through direct ionic interactions the flow of positively charged ions into post-synapses causes temporary depolarization of the postsynaptic membrane potential namely excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) neuromodulators such as dopamine and acetylcholine undergo multiple processes including the protein recruitment and complex formation of the G protein G proteins exist as heterotrimers consisting of α which catalyzes the exchange of GDP for GTP on the α subunit This causes a conformational change in the α subunit leading to its dissociation from the βγ dimer The dissociated subunits act as signal transducers These complex steps for activating intracellular signaling contribute to slower and longer-lasting effects that spread out more broadly N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-type glutamate receptor; AMPAR α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)-type glutamate receptor; GPCR G protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium channel; GDP GABA-A receptors are ligand-gated ion channels composed of multiple subunits resulting in an influx of chloride ions into the neuron This influx of negatively charged chloride ions hyperpolarizes the neuron decreasing the likelihood of generating an action potential This hyperpolarization inhibits neuronal firing and reduces neuronal excitability GABA-B receptors provide important mechanisms for regulating neuronal excitability through the modulation of ion channels activation or inhibition of GABA-B receptors contributes to the fine-tuning of neuronal activity in the brain Such pathophysiology of ASD and schizophrenia may involve impaired neuromodulators but the molecular basis of neuromodulation remains poorly understood This review discusses how neuromodulators control neuronal excitation from the perspective of intracellular signaling the last section of the review mentions that the next generation of neurochemical analyses will shed more light on the molecular machinery underlying the regulation of neuronal excitability by neuromodulators dopamine regulates different physiological functions depending on the region of the brain to which it projects leading to the phosphorylation of DARPP-32 at threonine 34 (Thr34) residue for the inhibition of protein phosphatase 1 (PP1) The inhibition of PP1 contributes to the stable phosphorylation of many PKA-substrates proteins directly phosphorylated by PKA were not identified until the development of a comprehensive phosphoproteomic analysis These results cannot be resolved by individual studies and require large-scale in silico data analysis future data-driven studies will explore the relationships among phosphorylation patterns and signaling molecules much time and effort are expected to be required to establish causal relationships between protein kinases and their substrates these phosphorylation-supplemented proteins/motifs are expected to enrich components of signaling cascades and dynamic phosphoproteins rather than housekeeping and/or structural proteins Outline and benefit of kinase-oriented substrate screening (KiOSS) (A) Schematic diagram of KiOSS for the identification of phosphoproteins and their phosphorylation sites Protein phosphatase (PPase) inhibitors and a kinase inhibitor are applied to cells/tissues in culture phosphoproteins are concentrated using an affinity column that interacts with phosphoprotein-related proteins/domains This step is followed by trypsin digestion and subsequent enrichment of the phosphopeptides protein phosphorylation is detected and measured via liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) (B) Combination of proteomics and pharmacological modulation The combined proteomic approach allows us to identify the phospho-candidates and their phosphorylation sites for any kinase Hierarchical diagram of D1R signaling in the dorsal striatum and NAc Dopamine is involved in a wide range of biological processes related to reward behavior D1Rs transduce downstream signals in G-protein-dependent and G-protein-independent manners Canonical G-protein-based signaling activates PKA via increased cAMP production by adenylyl cyclase Non-canonical D1R–arrestin signaling increases the phosphorylation of Src and ERK although the molecular mechanism is not fully understood Activated ERK conducts distinct cellular responses such as neuronal excitability and gene regulation Choi's group proposed that this abnormal modulation may contribute to the E/I imbalance observed in schizophrenic patients These findings suggest that targeting KCNQ2 could be a potential therapeutic intervention for psychiatric disorders suggesting that the MKL2 gene controls the abnormal E/I balance in epilepsy the MAPK/ERK pathway can transcriptionally regulate NPAS4 and MKL2 to fine-tune the E/I balance the PKA–RAP1–MAPK signaling pathway plays important roles in emotional behavior and learning such as integrated phosphoproteomic and transcriptomic analyses could provide positive clues to understanding the mechanism underlying neuronal excitability regulation by D2Rs Taken together with the findings of previous reports dysregulation of the presynaptic PKA pathway may be involved in abnormal emotional behavior Dopamine and adenosine antagonize the process of cell signaling B) Dopamine and adenosine antagonize each other in diverse physiological responses and the antagonistic effects are established by both molecular structural actions (curved arrows) and signaling crosstalk (arrows and closed bars) A1Rs are coexpressed with D1Rs in striatonigral neurons (A) A1R/D1R antagonism is involved in reward-related learning and memory A2aRs are coexpressed with D2Rs in striatopallidal neurons (B) A2aR/D2R antagonism is involved in aversive learning and memory whose phosphorylation was promoted by A2aR agonist stimulation Further phosphorylation signal analysis will help elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of adenosine-induced aversive behavioral learning Acetylcholine enhances excitatory signaling by activating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors localized on the axonal terminals of glutamatergic neurons (Zoli et al., 2018). However, on MSNs and other GABAergic interneurons, acetylcholine can negatively modulate neuronal excitation by activating muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, thereby affecting the E/I balance in the neural circuit (Pancani et al., 2014) These findings suggest a contradictory relationship between dopamine and acetylcholine in controlling activity of dorsal striatal neuron and behavior (A) D1Rs and M4Rs are coexpressed in striatonigral neurons Activation of D1Rs increases the concentration of cAMP and the phosphorylation level of ERK1/2 while activation of M4Rs is likely to cause a decrease in cAMP production The cAMP-evoked PKA and its downstream signaling molecules constitute the “reward signaling cascade” because PKA–Rap1–ERK signaling comprehensively regulates cellular responses including membrane excitability (B) D2Rs and M1Rs are coexpressed in striatopallidal neurons Acetylcholine enhances the closure of KCNQ2 via Gq-coupled signaling D2Rs suppress the activity of the PKA–Rap1–ERK signaling pathway (C) D1Rs cooperate with serotonin receptor subtypes A phosphorylation study of DARPP-32 revealed that the synergetic effect between D1Rs and 5HT4/6Rs contributes to the phosphorylation of DARPP-32 The inhibition of ERK signaling by D2Rs may prevent the phosphorylation of KCNQ channels resulting in decreased excitability in striatopallidal neurons KCNQ2 phosphorylation may be a novel drug target for schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease associated with D2R-MSN dysfunction as it is regulated downstream of dopamine and acetylcholine antagonist pathways suggesting that 5-HT4R activation could be a novel fast-acting antidepressant strategy bidirectional relationship in the dorsal striatum that underlies their joint role in mediating reward behavior their synergistic actions can augment highly rewarding information and motivate behavior BIOGRID (Biological general repository for interaction datasets): BIOGRID is a pioneering open-access database that centralizes protein-protein interaction data from biomedical literature (Stark et al., 2006; Oughtred et al., 2021) The advantage of this database is that it is a comprehensive collection of curated and experimentally validated interaction data for molecular interactions in a variety of organisms This database contains information on physical interactions and data download options to facilitate the exploration and analysis of protein interaction networks STRING (Search tool for the retrieval of interacting genes/proteins):STRING is also a widely used protein interaction database that goes beyond just recording protein-protein interactions. It offers a broader perspective by integrating known and predicted associations, including direct (physical) and indirect (functional) interactions (Snel et al., 2000; Szklarczyk et al., 2021) STRING allows users to create customizable protein-protein networks and conduct functional characterization of their gene/measurement sets STRING offers features such as evidence viewers They provide comprehensive information about reactions which is helpful for the analysis of signal transduction as they provide insights into the specific sequences of biochemical reactions KEGG (Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes): KEGG is a comprehensive resource that integrates biological pathway information. It includes a collection of pathway maps, molecular interaction networks, and associated functional annotations (Kanehisa and Goto, 2000; Kanehisa et al., 2012, 2023) KEGG pathways cover various biological processes The database provides detailed information on genes and their interactions within specific pathways KEGG also offers analysis tools and data visualization options to aid in the interpretation of pathway data REACTOME is a free, open-source, and peer-reviewed pathway database that aims to provide a comprehensive overview of many human biological processes (Joshi-Tope et al., 2005; Milacic et al., 2023) Its goal is to provide intuitive bioinformatics tools for the visualization The navigation menu of the Reactome website includes the sections “About,” “Content,” “Docs,” “Tools,” and “Community,” with each subsection providing more specific information and resources related to Reactome pathway analysis can be easily performed by entering any gene set KSEA allowed researchers to identify leukemia cells revealing heterogeneity in pathway activation in cells and leading to the development of more effective therapies This example shows how valuable insights and advances in phosphorylation signaling analysis can be achieved through data-driven research Researchers can uncover the complex and dynamic nature of phosphorylation signaling and pave the way for the development of new strategies for disease diagnosis and treatment by using high-throughput technologies and bioinformatics tools Writing – review & editing The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research This work was supported by the following funding sources: AMED grant numbers: JP21dm0207075 (KK) and JP23wm0425008 (DT and JY); JSPS KAKENHI grant number JP17H01380 (KK) and JP21K06427 (DT); MEXT KAKENHI grant numbers; the Uehara Memorial Foundation (KK); the Takeda Science Foundation (KK); and the Hori Sciences and Arts Foundation (DT) Yamashita for their skilled assistance and 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This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Kozo Kaibuchi, a2FpYnVjaGlAZnVqaXRhLWh1LmFjLmpw Professor NAGAI Takeharu from SANKEN (The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research) has been selected to receive the 44th Shimadzu Prize for his contributions to clarifying physiological functions through the development of technology for fluorescence and bioluminescence measurement Established in 1981 and sponsored by the Shimadzu Science Foundation the Shimadzu Prize will be awarded for the 44th time in 2024 The prize is awarded to honor achievements in fundamental research and applied/practical research in science and technology particularly those in the field of scientific measurements By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Tissot has revealed an unexpected PRX watch collaboration with Go Nagai’s iconic mecha manga UFO Robot Grendizer — the third entry to the prolific Mazinger series. This collaboration sees a refreshing partnership, uniting two disparately different icons from the ’70s for a nostalgic offering that boasts modern appeal. Housed in an emblematic PRX tonneau-shaped watch case, the timepiece measures 40mm in diameter and boasts a stainless steel build accompanied by a matching metal bracelet. Volume 16 - 2022 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2022.1024267 This article is part of the Research TopicAffective Shared PerceptionView all 9 articles Editorial on the Research Topic Affective shared perception modifying the social and affective perception of both partners and the evolution of the interaction The asymmetry in perception is even more striking in human-robot interaction, as machines still miss this inferential and affective modulation mechanism (Figure 1) Each individual's perception results from an inferential process where prior experience and affective states shape how we perceive others and our environment Establishing a shared perception with another agent requires consideration of how the other is processing the information from the environment However, in human-human interaction, we often observe mutual understanding, suggesting that it is possible to establish shared perception. Recent evidence shows that the brain tends to reduce the reliance on prior experience when someone is involved in an interaction in favor of a more veridical perception of the physical event (Mazzola et al., 2022; Tsfasman et al., 2022) Extending our comprehension of the processes by which our brain enables sharing perception with another agent is a significant challenge in building computational models promoting effective human-machine understanding Most current research on modeling affective behavior does not consider such dynamic shared perception. Several contributions focus on pre-trained learning models (Li and Deng, 2020), which are purely data-driven, or on reproducing existing human behavior into computational models (Revina and Emmanuel, 2021) Such methods allow for easily reproducible solutions but also often limit the generalizability of the results to specific and relatively simple situations Understanding shared perception as part of affective processing would advance the field toward a real-world affective computing system This Research Topic collects for the first time contributions addressing the issue of affective shared perception from a multi-disciplinary perspective Manzi et al. (Can you activate me From robots to human brain) discuss under which conditions the perception of robots as social partners leverage the same social brain areas as human perception they identify the agents' anthropomorphism and their actions (type and kinematics) as crucial factors and suggest that prior experience with the actual limits of current robotics platforms might inhibit the automatic social activation On a related topic, Perugia et al. (Does the goal matter Emotion recognition tasks can change the social value of facial mimicry toward artificial agents) investigate how the embodiment and human-likeness of an artificial agent can affect people's mimicry of its facial expressions Spontaneous facial mimicry appeared when participants were less sure of the recognized emotions participants mimicked the least the agent that they perceived as the most anthropomorphic and likable suggesting that these factors do not necessarily favor mimicry These two works show that human internal models can automatically be “reused” to sustain human-agent interaction artificial agents should be endowed with the skill to adapt and understand humans In this framework, Hughson et al. (Investigating the role of culture on negative emotion expressions in the wild) characterize a limitation of current approaches for emotion recognition which fail to account for the role of culture in the expression of negative emotions and disgust expressed by persons of North American Their analysis identified the specific social signals differing across those cultures and highlighted how automatic classification methods performance significantly decreased when comparing the classification of North American expressions to those by Filipino and Persian Hemeren et al. (Kinematic-based classification of social gestures and grasping by humans and machine learning techniques) propose a direct comparison between human and machine learning classification The authors compare grasping and social gesture recognition performed by humans and four machine learning techniques The gestures were rated according to the extent they were perceived to be grasping and to be social Humans rated differently according to the task whereas the machine learning techniques provided a similar classification of the actions according to grasping kinematics and social quality the results showed that human perception relies on kinematic information for perceiving the social aspects and intentions from different actions Beyond analyzing human and machine perception differences it is essential to build models that consider these asymmetries Horii and Nagai (Active inference through energy minimization in multimodal affective human-robot interaction) focused on resource limitation a common issue in robotics: a robot cannot always deal with all the available modalities simultaneously In understanding the partner's emotional state a robot should select the most informative modalities among those available to estimate the target states they propose an active perception method based on energy minimization They demonstrate that the proposed approach improves accuracy using limited information in affective human-robot interaction Matarese et al. (Perception is only real when shared: A mathematical model for collaborative shared perception in human-robot interaction) considered instead an interaction in which the robot and the human have different access to information about the task at hand They proposed a model to overcome the asymmetries in perception and validated it in a collaborative Lego game They demonstrated that a robot giving suggestions by considering the partners' point of view and using its inference about their common ground to select the most informative hint led to better joint performances this behavior did not significantly improve participants' subjective evaluation of the robot A few authors explored how to model the past and current experience in the robot and use that as a context modulating perception and action selection Khan and Cañamero (The long-term efficacy of “social buffering” in artificial social agents: Contextual affective perception matters) simulated a small society of artificial agents whose goal was to “survive” by maintaining the stability of their internal environment through physical and social behaviors serving as “physiological biomarkers” and encoding dynamically historical and current environmental information social-based stress-regulating effects provided significant advantages to the short-term wellbeing of agents with affective A fascinating insight from this work is that hormonal mechanisms can act as functional affective states which synthesize multiple sources of information into a small subset of embodied signals that can play an adaptive and predictive role in embodied Churamani et al. (Affect-driven learning of robot behavior for collaborative human-robot interactions) propose a novel framework for affect-driven behavior generation in social robots The partner's behavior influences the robot's evolving affective representation The latter is also shaped by the robot's affective and behavioral disposition which influences the learning process of responding to the partner's actions the robot shares a common view of the interaction with the partner but reacts originally without mimicking their behavior consisting of a set of Ultimatum Games with the robot NICO the authors demonstrate that the robot's intrinsic mood modulated by its affective dispositions and history with the partner Different “moods” lead to different robot perceptions by the human participants These researches provide a solid basis for advancing our understanding of affective shared perception future cross-disciplinary efforts are needed to bridge more deeply the comprehension of human social cognition and the development of cognitive robotics All authors contributed equally to the preparation of the editorial This work has been supported by a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Dominguez Borras “Affective biases in attention and perception,” in Cambridge Handbook of Human Affective Neuroscience Vuilleumier (New York: Cambridge University Press) Google Scholar Temporal context calibrates interval timing PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Intergroup empathy: enhanced neural resonance for ingroup facial emotion in a shared neural production-perception network Context modulation of facial emotion perception differed by individual difference Deep facial expression recognition: a survey CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Shared perception is different from individual perception: a new look on context dependency CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar A survey on human face expression recognition techniques CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The world seems different in a social context: a neural network analysis of human experimental data PubMed Abstract | Google Scholar Castellano G and Nagai Y (2022) Editorial: Affective shared perception Received: 21 August 2022; Accepted: 23 August 2022; Published: 09 September 2022 Edited and reviewed by: Elizabeth B. Torres Copyright © 2022 Sciutti, Barros, Castellano and Nagai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Alessandra Sciutti, YWxlc3NhbmRyYS5zY2l1dHRpQGlpdC5pdA== We call the Third Sunday of Advent “Gaudete Sunday.” That unfamiliar word — Gaudete — is a Latin command: “Rejoice!” I find it interesting that the Church never cancels Gaudete Sunday No matter how bad things might be in the world the Church never cancels this day of rejoicing it’s not so easy to just put on a smile and suddenly feel joyful What does it mean to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil 4:4) Perhaps we should turn to the life of a great man (and Servant of God) of the last century: Dr Nagai grew up in a Sinto family in Nagasaki By the time he started studying medicine and science in college he considered himself an atheist who did not believe in the soul the only reality was what could be seen and measured But his worldview was rocked during his junior year of college when his mother had a stroke and was dying “I rushed to her bedside … My mother in that last penetrating gaze knocked down the ideological framework I had constructed … I who was so sure that there was no such thing as a spirit was now told otherwise; and I could not but believe My mother’s eyes told me that the human spirit lives on after death.” The following years were a roller-coaster for Dr He lost hearing in one ear; he befriended a Catholic family and started exploring the Catholic faith; he became Catholic got married and started a family; he was called to serve injured soldiers in war; during the war his father and daughter died; and on top of everything and another 40,000 would die slowly from radiation Nagai was in the hospital radiology lab when it happened he and other medical professionals began to rescue patients and started a mobile medical unit he was able to go home in search of his wife The ground was stripped of everything: no more houses He found the charred remains of his wife; she had been holding a metal rosary when she passed His children had been out of town with family at the time of the explosion and were safe He could have hated humanity for the evils of war or he could have hated God for allowing such destruction Nagai spent the remaining six years of his life speaking and writing He wanted people to find peace and hope and beauty amid difficulty He tried to help people have “the eyes to see” God’s goodness amid difficulty Charity is that gift from God which allows us to love God and grow in intimacy with him Genuine charity overflows into love of neighbor It is given to us in baptism and renewed in us each time we receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist Christian love is not a feeling; it’s a decision Choosing charity draws us closer to God and transforms us But we can choose to love God and neighbor I like that image of being moved because it makes it clear that we don’t create our own joy The Lord moves us so that those things begin to identify us Our job is to choose the charity that God is offering to us The Church will never cancel Gaudete Sunday no matter how much brokenness there is in the world around us the sufferings of this life might actually help us to love more Takashi Nagai once said: “Unless you have suffered and wept you really don’t understand what compassion is nor can you give comfort to someone who is suffering … Unless you’ve looked into the eyes of menacing death and felt its hot breath you can’t help another rise from the dead and taste anew the joy of being alive.” we strive to answer the Lord’s invitation to charity Walking in friendship with the Lord through the darkness we will be moved to share with others “the joy of being alive.” To coincide with the archdiocesan Advent preaching series this article is part of a series about The Eucharist as the Sacrament of Charity Official Priest Appointments: July 2025Archdiocese of Denver Everything you need to know about incorruptibilityCatholic News Agency 'What should I give up for Lent?': 10 Creative Ideas for a Season of Unexpected GrowthMarie San Jose Advertising Past Issues Events Obituaries Privacy Policy Lea nuestra publicación en español shares his vision of Shanghai in the next 10 years He said: "Nomura has joined IBLAC since the first meeting in 1989 this is the 10th meeting since I became a member in 2015 IBLAC is a very valuable opportunity to have exchanges with Shanghai City officials as a city achieving a sustainable development Great examples are: establishment of 'China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone' and 'Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect.' "In this context we were able to establish Nomura Orient International in 2019 Shanghai is expected to attract more companies We will continue to contribute to Shanghai's development through Nomura Orient International 1.Comments will appear only after being approved by our team so it might be a while before your comment is posted 2.In accordance with the Regulations on Internet News and Information Services and other related laws and regulations of the People's Republic of China comments should not contain anything that is obscene Please [ Login ] to leave a comment. Volume 8 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2023.1225306 This study examines how Japanese newspapers reporting the results of public opinion polls represent a unified picture of public opinion on environmental issues we argue that certain results are emphasized to the exclusion of others this study analyzes articles and headlines of public opinion poll results on environmental issues published by three Japanese newspapers we located 64 articles that contain 179 headlines and subheadings Findings suggest that the news coverage most often emphasized people's fears and concerns about environmental issues followed by individuals' willingness to adopt environmentally friendly behaviors and practices the headlines tend to give the impression that many respondents support this view some media outlets that follow this trend selectively emphasize only one aspect of the poll results in their headlines without pointing out the existence of a conflict They interpret poll results using second person or collective nouns to indicate the distribution of opinions unified public opinion that indicates a certain direction This paper concludes that media representations of public opinion based on the results of Japanese public opinion polls on environmental issues legitimize existing political and economic structures and attribute responsibility for environmental problems to individuals We accept the idea that polls and the press are cultural forms that contribute to the representation of public opinion This acceptance raises a significant question about the kind of image of public opinion that is created through poll coverage Our study analyzes the ways in which a unified image of public opinion is represented in newspaper coverage of environmental polls Previous studies that have analyzed the coverage of public opinion poll results have examined news coverage on electoral polls with horse race journalism and the ways in which the press represents public opinion including the treatment of poll results during election campaigns little attention has been paid to how issue polls which are polls focused on a single issue or agenda our study scrutinizes the representation of a unified image of public opinion in the coverage of issue polling we also deliberate on the media narratives that function to represent a unified image of public opinion by considering the attribution of responsibility and the measures adopted to address it in polling reportage indicating that media representations of public opinion can exert significant politico-social consequences The press is deeply involved in the social construction of public opinion. Herbst (1998) identifies four elements as most important in the social construction of public opinion at the macro level tends to determine how people think about public opinion the techniques and methodologies available for assessing public opinion public opinion polls are one of the forms of expressing opinions what the political elites consider to be public opinion public opinion as presented by journalists Journalism and the press play an important role in shaping our concept of public opinion whether in polls or in the rhetoric of leaders' speeches is shared with society through the filter of the mass media what the media present as public opinion and how they present it is an important theme for the social construction of public opinion at the macro level Bourdieu (1993) asserted that public opinion polls construct a unified public opinion and function on three implicit assumptions: that everyone has some opinion that all opinions are equivalent and accountable and that a consensus exists that it is natural to ask questions on issues (p Bourdieu thus contends: “That is the fundamental effect of the opinion poll: it creates the idea that there is such a thing as unanimous public opinion and so legitimizes a policy and strengthens the power relations that underlie it or make it possible” (p 12) encourages us to view public opinion represented by the media that disseminate it in society arguing that it is worth investigating varied expressions of public opinion rather than exploring one genuine articulation of public opinion notwithstanding whether such change is calculated within the margin of error These existing studies evidence that the media select and emphasize certain facets of poll results in their reports 150) described precisely this eventuality as “public opinion on our side.” This article is based on a case study of the coverage of public opinion polls on environmental issues in Japanese newspapers We report the results of our fundamental content analysis inspired by the concept of responsibility and attribution and discuss the implications The investigation revealed that the media's coverage of poll results on societal issues weaves narratives that convey the image of unified public opinion our study focused on two aspects: media selection and emphasis We analyzed the headlines of news articles on issue-based polls to identify the aspects of the poll results that attracted media attention and were emphasized We also examined media interpretations of the poll results We further evaluated how the media turned a report of poll results into a story by narrating public opinion construed from the poll results We employed basic content analysis for the scrutiny of this storytelling aspect to identify media interpretations before discussing the effected construals Such failures in forming consensus legitimize the United State government's inaction on climate change and slow down the advancement of a global resolution media representation and media-driven consensus formation on environmental issues strongly influence responses to such problems and affect how the responses are legitimized the reporting of opinion polls on environmental issues represents an effective case study topic through which we can examine the media representations of unified public opinion The second point is that the media not only represent public opinion as a consensus on environmental issues but also create a sense of responsibility that becomes ingrained and unquestionable for poll coverage to be analyzed from the perspective of the attribution of responsibility the present study examines who is attributed with what responsibility by the media coverage of environment-related issues polls It also reveals the public opinion image that is portrayed by probing the measures the media propose We analyzed the reporting on opinion polls in Japanese national newspapers, a relevant case for the current topic of study because national Japanese newspapers are deeply committed to public opinion polling. Japanese mass media companies conduct opinion polls because they consider opinion polling a tool that reflects the views of the citizenry on the business of governance as well as elections (Sato, 2008) Japan's media companies incorporate internal polling divisions that enable them to conduct surveys and report the results mass media groups in other countries generally purchase and report the results of opinion polls conducted by third parties (for example National Japanese newspapers conduct opinion polls and report poll results indicating their firm commitment to the representation of public opinion The analysis of the reportage of opinion polling by national Japanese newspapers represents an effective case for their representation of unified public opinion The rise and fall of the Japanese media have been linked to political events the Japanese government proposed the goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 Japan hosted the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in July 2008 for which the global environment and climate change represented a primary agenda item and the post-Kyoto framework was a topic of discussion Note that we could not find any articles after 2010 so this is the period when the Japanese media paid attention to public opinion on the environment we located 64 articles after excluding unrelated pieces (Asahi: 20; Yomiuri: 29; Mainichi: 15) Categories for analyzing headings and subheadings We framed a question to reveal the predisposition of the impressions created by headlines: “Does this headline or subheading deliver the impression that many people or few individuals hold this opinion?” The collected newspaper headlines were classified into two categories based on our responses to this question media interpretations of data often portray a change in a select group as a transformation occurring in the entire population the media use second- and third-person pronouns and collective nouns such as public or people to create their narratives and depict the image of unified public opinion (p We identified such media interpretations using qualitative analysis, for which we located 151 sentences from the aggregate of statements (N = 1,387) related to the interpretation of results into categories based on previous studies (Smith and Verrall, 1985; Brettschneider, 1997; Hardmeier, 1999; Andersen, 2000), as presented in Table 2 This analysis of the media's interpretations of poll results aimed to reveal how the media represent and reinforce a particular narrative about public opinion Headlines on poll results on environmental issues: 1988–2010 (percentage of headlines) We assessed intercoder reliability by calculating Krippendorff's alpha for each analysis using a test sample of data for three coders: the first was computed as α = 0.7983 (0.7035 ≤ α ≤ 0.8814); the second, α = 0.8139 (0.7022 ≤ α ≤ 0.9256), and the third, α = 0.8235 (0.6427 ≤ α ≤ 0.9553) (Hayes and Krippendorff, 2007) The results of the present investigation revealed that the media representation of public opinion on environmental issues is strongly related to the degree of concern and anxiety people feel about environmental issues Headlines most selected and emphasized the public opinion of anxiety about environmental issues at 16.6% these terms accounted for 24.9% of the relevant headlines: for example “Strong concerns over damage to the Earth” (Yomiuri “8 in 10 say worried about global warming” (Yomiuri “54% are anxious about global warming” (Asahi “Abnormal weather raises fears” (Mainichi “71% are worried about global warming” (Yomiuri Such emphasis on the data evincing anxiety and concern about environmental problems sensed by most respondents implies that the issues must be resolved and amount to a call for action at the national level Japanese national newspapers significantly focus on solutions centered on individual actions This predilection was evident from the emphasis placed on adopting pro-environmental behavior (12.2%) and demonstrating a willingness to engage in such behavior (11.6%) which together accounted for 23.8% of the headlines Examples of such focus on personal responsibility can be seen in headlines such as “six out of 10 recycling” (Yomiuri “87% say their air-con usage is moderate” (Asahi “67% want to use Bio Fuel,” “70% now conserving water and energy” (Yomiuri and “78% separating trash; 72% saving water” (Yomiuri we found that the Japanese media emphasized a high public willingness to accept burdens (6.11%) we noted headlines including statements such as “Even if it is inconvenient “86% accept lowering the efficiency in living” (Yomiuri and “Even if it makes life inconvenient,” “77% want environmental protection” (Yomiuri Such headlines convey that the majority of Japanese public opinion is willing to take responsibility for environmental issues as individuals such emphases could encourage individual commitment to environmental responsibility these results suggest that Japanese national newspapers present individual behavior as their primary in-house solution to environmental problems and push social and political activism to the fringes of public opinion the headlines of Japanese national newspapers do not emphasize government and corporate responsibility in their poll coverage of environmental issues It is rare to see headlines that hold corporations accountable (2.2%) such as “60% believe businesses' energy efficiency efforts insufficient” (Asahi 1 April 2002) and “76% of the responsibility for product disposal lies with companies” (Yomiuri opinions holding the government responsible are seldom featured (3.3%) such as “Citizens want a proactive stance from government” (Asahi 7 January 2008) and “63% do not rate government actions highly” (Yomiuri Such headlines would be published more often if Japanese newspapers placed pressure on elite quarters to serve the objective of reflecting public opinion in politics Asahi and Yomiuri have both probed public evaluation of the government only twice in around 20 years; Mainichi has only done it once and without featuring it as a headline Regarding Asahi has posed questions seeking evaluations of corporations twice in the above-stated time while Yomiuri and Mainichi have abstained from raising such queries This finding indicates that the newspapers are not willing to hold corporations or the government responsible from the initial stage of conducting in-house opinion polls Changes to personal behavior may be necessary for solving environmental problems but voluntary individual behavior is less efficient and effective than modifications to regulatory and administrative frameworks. In fact, Japan has overcome serious air and water pollution in previous decades by instituting strict regulations (Stearns and Almeida, 2004) Such historical improvements prove the efficiency and effectiveness of implementing new regulations and laws for environmental protection Our results indicate that Japanese national newspapers exclude the role of people taking political actions to fight against environmental problems in their opinion poll coverage; rather they tend to individualize the responsibility for environmental problems Japanese newspapers consistently impart to readers the impression that the majority of the population supports a certain idea: 65.2% of the headlines deliver the notion that many people hold an opinion when only a few people have indicated it (Table 3). This finding is consistent across all headline categories established for this study (Table 4) The results and the examples noted in the previous section allow us to claim that overall the relevant headlines of major Japanese newspapers have emphasized that many of their respondents are concerned and anxious about environmental issues and are willing to act or already implement environmentally friendly behavior in their homes Impressions of headlines and subheadings by category the majority opinion has the right to decide in a democratic society and presenting the majority view as the headline should not be problematic questions may be raised if only one side of a divided opinion is featured in the headlines by the media following this trend of poll coverage Does such selection and emphasis suggest dishonesty in the media's act of reporting poll results should this treatment be viewed as a result of the media selecting results aligning with a particular climate of public opinion Of the three newspapers, Asahi appears to particularly conceal the conflict indicated by poll results related to the burden of environmental protection and the issue of environmental taxes. Asahi asked the following question about the tolerance of such a burden in 1990,1 1997 Q: “Do you mind if your lifestyle becomes less convenient than it is now to prevent the global environment from getting worse A: “I wouldn't mind” or “I would be troubled” Asahi used the headline “‘Even if it's inconvenient' say 50%” (21 June 1997) along with another emphasizing the absence of any change after a decade: “No change from 10 years ago−51% say inconvenience is fine” (7 January 2018) the headlines impart the impression that many people are willing to accept the burden of environmental protection the actual poll results show a split opinion among the respondents 48% of the respondents answered “I wouldn't mind” and 46% asserted “I would be troubled.” In 1997 this comparative value was 50% and 44% and in 2002 these results evidence a clear distribution of opinions into two large groups The distribution of opinions remains largely unchanged and the headline “No change over 10 years–inconvenience would be a problem say 44%” would have been equally true Yomiuri did not disclose any split opinions with the headline “77% ‘protect the environment' even if it makes life inconvenient” (Yomiuri Asahi displayed the same tendency in headlines on its polls on environmental taxes An Asahi poll inquired intermittently whether respondents approved or disapproved of an environmental tax 44% of the respondents approved of the notion Of the headlines in Asahi about the results of this poll over the years only one reflected this division in opinion: “Opinion divided on environmental tax” (Asahi The other headlines emphasized only the result in favor of the tax 37% of the respondents approved of the idea the headline read “37% in favor of introducing an environment tax” (Asahi Half the respondents (50%) to the 2004 Asahi poll selected the disapprove option but Asahi excluded this result from the headline 48% of the respondents approved of the environmental tax and 41% disapproved Asahi noted the change in its headline: “Support for environment tax rises to 48%” (Asahi Yomiuri's coverage of the 2004 and 2007 public opinion polls evinced that most respondents favored the environmental tax and the headlines only highlighted the side in favor a 2005 article reporting the results of a government poll carried the headline “Opposition outweighs support for environmental taxes” (5 June 2005) Mainichi reflected both sides of the poll results in its headline: “Environmental Tax: Nearly Equal in Support and Opposition” (Mainichi 4 July 1992) and “32% oppose the introduction of environmental tax This finding suggests that the selection and emphasis of poll results can create impressions in readers that differ from the actual poll results We confirm Lewis's point about the absence of conflict in public opinion coverage of policy issues We applied the coding rules presented in Table 5 to locate sentences in the articles related to the interpretation of poll results and categorized all sentences accordingly Our analysis revealed 151 sentences referring to interpretation including the implications and meanings of poll results the results of opinion polls evince only the distribution of opinions from which we can infer the distribution of opinions in the population of Japan the examination of these 151 sentences revealed that Asahi and Yomiuri used the third-person and collective nouns to interpret poll results “(The results) highlight citizens' high degree of concern about the global environment” (Yomiuri “(The results) highlight public feeling that the whole nation should implement countermeasures” (Asahi “Our opinion poll clearly shows a public worried about the global environment” (Asahi “You can see that the people worry deeply and take seriously the future of the global environment,” and “Japanese people felt vaguely insecure about the future of the global environment 16 years ago; they are now developing a sense of impending crisis” (Yomiuri Mainichi also used the term “Japanese” once to interpret poll results in comparison to polls conducted in Europe (Mainichi Japanese national newspapers integrate the poll results into a broader national perspective by using words like nation These words thus function as a device that binds together several subgroups within the society to depict a unified image of public opinion Results of categorizing sentences of all articles In our analysis of 22 years of poll coverage, we found that Japan's newspapers delineated the narrative of changing environmental attitudes articulated by the Japanese people. In terms of Larsen and Fazekas' (2020) statement on media focus on change it is not a story of change over a short period; it is a story of change over a longer period The following symbolic interpretation in Yomiuri sums up several previous polls: who had only felt a vague sense of worry about the future direction of the global environment now feel a sense of impending crisis… it isn't all pessimism as having discovered the meaning of individual actions aimed at climate protection we are now positively striving to co-exist with nature (Yomiuri Japanese mass media has thus constructed a major long-term narrative of the image of public opinion vis-à-vis environmental issues This study analyzed the reporting of poll results on environmental issues by Japanese national newspapers revealing the media representation of the image of unified public opinion Japanese newspapers have consistently selected and emphasized specific aspects of public opinion: the concern and anxiety and personal pro-environmental behavior of the public they have imparted the impression that many people support environmental protection initiatives The newspapers have created a climate of public opinion by portraying the Japanese as a people with high environmental awareness Any poll results that counter this sense have tended to be excluded from the newspaper headlines a reluctance to bear the burden of environmental protection the newspapers used second-person and collective nouns such as nation or people to convey the attitudes of some respondents as characterizations of public opinion as a whole the newspapers have attempted to portray a unified image of the public opinion articulated by the “high environmentally conscious Japanese.” It is unlikely that this image of public opinion can break through political inertia and rally people to action to solve global environmental problems and climate change The image represented by Japanese newspapers of public opinion on environmental issues appears idealized and fosters a consensus approximating such an idealization the Japanese people can live green lifestyles simply by actively undertaking personal pro-environmental behaviors such as separating trash for recycling or saving energy and water without needing any alternative political actions This idealized image of ordinary people is also connected to the formation of national identity and the inculcation of the conception of what the Japanese people should be People can thus internalize the image of public opinion on environmental issues as part of their national or personal identity they could adopt the attitude of “let's do a little bit” to attain release from their anxieties about environmental issues while environmental issues would continue to worsen outside their homes The neoliberalism and individualism that now permeate societies most hinder the media from drawing a picture of public opinion that questions the responsibility of existing economic and political structures in reporting the results of public opinion polls on environmental issues These prevailing ideologies whisper that the root of the problem is vested in individual behavior and that the problem-solution must also be found in individual behavioral changes an individual's only action of choice is limited to the selection of the goods and services offered for personal use Such restricted options can only scantly influence the watershed emergent in an increasingly globalized and complex supply chain they also have the potential to make people realize the need for social and collective action that will bring about social change not just a little bit of individual action in the house renewing opinion polls may be a necessary condition for engaging with a public that is becoming increasingly submerged within a progressively liberal consumer society The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication Tanifuji for his invaluable guidance and insights during my time at Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics Hino for their technical assistance and encouragement My appreciation also goes to the reviewers for their constructive feedback and to Rob Fahey for his English-language support I acknowledge the financial support from JSPS that enabled the completion of this study The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest 1. ^The 1990 poll and articles were not included in the analysis data environmental questions were included only as part of a broader set of questions on societal problems and the headline did not relate to environmental issues CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Reconstruction of the boundary between climate science and politics: the IPCC in the Japanese mass media CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar Household actions can provide a behavioral wedge to rapidly reduce US carbon emissions To frame is to explain: a deductive frame-analysis of Dutch and French climate change coverage during the annual UN Conferences of the Parties Google Scholar Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google 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Text | Google Scholar Google Scholar Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar The variable nature of news media influence PubMed Abstract | CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Citation: Nagai K (2023) The representation of public opinion in reporting poll results on environment issues Received: 22 May 2023; Accepted: 18 August 2023; Published: 02 October 2023 Copyright © 2023 Nagai. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Kentaro Nagai, ay5uYWdhaTRAa3VyZW5haS53YXNlZGEuanA= please disable the ad blocking feature and reload the page This website uses cookies to collect information about your visit for purposes such as showing you personalized ads and content By clicking “Accept all,” you will allow the use of these cookies Users accessing this site from EEA countries and UK are unable to view this site without your consent Yusuke Tsuruta / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer the Japanese band that is now enjoying huge popularity overseas Their music career spans nearly a quarter of a century their popularity was generally limited to Japan’s indie music scene streaming services have helped them be “discovered” by the rest of the world three of their songs made it into Spotify’s list of the service’s 10 most-streamed Japanese songs from the 2000s the trio will kick off their first tour of North America Lamp will give 24 performances in the United States and Canada The band will appear as the main act at most of the concerts while at others they will appear as a supporting act for U.S It will likely be an exhausting tour for the three who will be traveling from city to city on a large bus loaded with beds “I’d never thought this would be awaiting us at this age,” Nagai laughed so it feels odd that I’m going there myself.” “It’s like ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’” Sakakibara said nonchalantly Lamp’s music feels like something out of a dream The band’s sound is a blend of various kinds of music from 1960s and 1970s pop and rock to bossa nova and folk-rock songs Though the trio are currently preparing for the big tour the main axis of their activities is not concerts but the production of recorded music The band does not belong to any artist agency or record company so the members handle everything by themselves from album production and sales to management of the band their musical activities are very personal to each of them and Kaori writes lyrics for them,” Someya said “We never get together just for practice.” Each of them brings the work they have done on their own to a recording studio and they put together the final product — That is their style “We’ve been doing what the Beatles were doing — completing songs in the studio,” Nagai said “Since we didn’t know what [other] professional musicians were doing we thought that was the normal thing to do.” Lamp began as a band Someya and Nagai formed after getting to know each other in a folk-rock music interest club at their high school “The songs Someya created were not really to my liking,” Nagai recalled he was writing original songs with original lyrics in Japanese Someya’s attitude of making his music work without being influenced by what others say has stayed with him to this day Someya and Nagai went to the same university and met Sakakibara through a mutual friend “We heard that [our friend] knew someone who could sing and play the flute and owned an accordion,” Someya said “I called her on the spot and met her that day “It’s difficult to make a band work when the members have different tastes in music,” Someya said our music has blended together to become something like a living being so much so that we’ve become increasingly unable to share it with other people.” comes from the lyrics of a song by Simon & Garfunkel “Soyokaze Apartment Room 201.” It was followed by “Koibito e” (“For Lovers”) in 2004 and “Lamp Genso” (“Lamp Phantasma”) in 2008 which were to become worldwide hits through streaming services years later It took “Lamp Phantasma” 10 years to sell enough copies to recoup its production costs “I was thinking about the possibility of our songs being listened to after my death not 10 years or 20 years later,” Someya said Sakakibara said she feels like she always just does what she wants to “I’ve never done anything because it was in vogue,” she added Lamp released an album through a major label “Whenever we had meetings [with the label] I felt like something was off,” Someya said The band immediately went back to being independent after that It has been only more recently that Lamp’s music has come to be listened to by people the world over from the album “Dream,” gained attention when it was introduced on a social news site in the United States a video clip using “Yume Utsutsu” (“Half Asleep”) from the album “Lamp Phantasma” went viral on TikTok the clip spread widely because it fit with the dreamy chill pop scene Lamp was ranked 11th among Japanese artists whose works were played the most times outside of Japan It was a big feat considering the list featured many top stars even before Lamp made such a big splash outside Japan Someya was seriously considering venturing overseas “I’ve come to think that who we ultimately want to bring our music to are strangers some people in the future in some other country,” Someya said “For Lovers” and “Lamp Phantasma” are particularly popular abroad “Those songs that were once marked as failures in terms of sales are now explosively popular overseas,” Nagai said “I have a feeling that the core of what we’re communicating has reached people.” Someya made the following entry in his blog: “I’m thinking of quitting the part-time job I’ve been doing since my 20s by the end of this year as I want to focus solely on music from next year.” The members of Lamp still do not belong to any record company or artist agency Yet they are able to make a living through profits from streaming services and other activities which is giving hope to young and talented people who are trying to make names for themselves now Lamp released the CD edition of the band’s latest album which first came out on streaming services in October it is the longest Lamp album to date and feels big as if it is intended to analogize the passage of time from dusk to dawn or even a person’s life Our weekly ePaper presents the most noteworthy recent topics in an exciting © 2025 The Japan News - by The Yomiuri Shimbun With both their mother and father being former international hockey players Japanese siblings Yuri and Hazuki Nagai were given an early introduction to a sport in which they have excelled The sisters are both hugely important players for Sakura Japan with the duo playing central roles in all of the successes of the recent past including gold medal winning performances at the 2018 Asian Games (Jakarta the Nagai sisters became three-time Olympians beyond even their wildest dreams when growing up in Kakamigahara a city in Gifu prefecture that has hosted numerous world level hockey events down the years “We are both very proud to have played three Olympics together” speaking shortly after her team’s 3-0 Pool A defeat against Belgium on Wednesday (31 July) “We played at Rio 2016 and our home Olympics at Tokyo 2020 and it is very special to be playing together at the Olympics in Paris” As if two siblings playing international hockey was not enough Yuri and Hazuki’s younger brother Yuma Nagai is a player for Samurai Japan having represented the men’s team at Tokyo 2020 “It really is amazing that we have all done so well,” continued Yuri While being able to represent Japan at three Olympic Games remains a huge source of pride their team have so far struggled to get the results they need in order to progress into the quarter-final stage of the competition China (5-0) and Belgium (3-0) leaves the team sitting in fifth in Pool B with matches against France and competition favourites the Netherlands remaining “We are frustrated as we played well against Belgium but it just didn’t happen” That next match takes place on Thursday evening (19:45 CEST) with host nation France being the opponent in front of a packed and boisterous Yves-du-Manoir Stadium The atmosphere is sure to be something special and Yuri Nagai is particularly excited about the prospect and I think it will be a great experience for us to play in front of them” who experienced a home Olympics in Tokyo without spectators due to the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 global health pandemic “It will be difficult but it is very exciting for us.” Home » Gallery » Politics » Nagai: Udhayanidhi Stalin Attends Consultative Meeting – #Gallery Boy band Seventeen performs at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Japan Boy band Seventeen's performance team performs at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Japan Boy band Seventeen's hip-hop team perform at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Japan Boy band Seventeen's vocal team performs at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Japan Boy band Seventeen at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai in Japan UTokyo FOCUS Researchers including those from the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences transferred genes from simple organisms capable of regenerating their bodies into common fruit flies They found the transferred gene suppressed an age-related intestinal issue in the flies Their results suggest studying genes specific to animals with high regenerative capability may uncover new mechanisms for rejuvenating stem cell function and extending the healthy lifespan of unrelated organisms But we all want to live healthily for however long we have and a big part of medical research is about this aspect of longevity which might sound a little like science fiction is to upgrade the human body in such a way that it can regenerate itself when injured a bit like the superhero character Wolverine from the popular comic book and film series X-Men but progress is being made in the world of regenerative medicine albeit the test subjects are just flies for now “In animals capable of whole-body regeneration specific genes may help allow regeneration and maintain long-term stem cell functions may have lost these genes during evolution,” said Associate Professor Yuichiro Nakajima “It is unclear whether reintroducing these regeneration-associated genes in low regenerative animals could affect their regeneration and aging processes we focused on the group of genes unique to animals with high regenerative capacity named highly regenerative species-specific JmjC domain-encoding genes (HRJDs) and transferred them into the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster Nakajima’s team hoped upgraded fruit flies would regenerate tissue if injured “Nagai discovered some novel phenotypes characteristics that manifest from genes in a given set of conditions,” said Nakajima “HRJDs promoted greater intestinal stem cell division whilst also suppressing intestinal cells that were mis-differentiating This is in contrast to the use of antibiotics which might suppress mis-differentiated intestinal cells but also suppress intestinal stem cell division HRJDs had a measurable effect on the lifespans of fruit flies for the development of new anti-aging strategies human and insect intestines have surprisingly much in common on a cellular level.” Finding this out was not without difficulties Though fruit flies are famous test subjects for biological research given their relatively short lives and fast rates of reproduction and maturation their aging process still takes around two months which affected the experimental schedules for Nakajima’s team Now that they have reached a striking conclusion “Details of the molecular workings of HRJDs are still unresolved And it’s unclear whether they work alone or in combination with some other component,” said Nakajima but we know now that our modified fruit flies can serve as a valuable resource to uncover unprecedented mechanisms of stem cell rejuvenation in the future intestinal stem cells decrease in activity with age so this research is a promising avenue for stem cell-based therapies.” Inquiries about the content of this page: Public Relations Office Send inquiry Kashiwa Campus Hongo Campus Komaba Campus Access and Campus Maps Back Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information National Report FUKUI—A crocodile-like robot showed up at the west exit of Fukui Station marking the end to construction of a dinosaur statue project here from the early Cretaceous period (100 million years ago) was installed by the Fukui prefectural government all 23 robotic and other monuments have become accessible to visitors Fukui Prefecture is famed for a trove of locally excavated fossils and is promoting itself as Dinosaur Kingdom Measuring 10 meters long and 4 meters tall the newcomer dinosaur around Fukui Station is believed to have preyed on fish which means “crocodile mimic,” had 100 teeth in its long thin head that resembles that of modern reptile species Its forelegs were equipped with massive sharp claws The dinosaur robot was completed toward the end of September after careful adjustments to the statue’s expression and movement It can move its head and neck while roaring The base of the statue was decorated to recreate a prehistoric waterfront wetland families and other passers-by stopped by to snap photos the dinosaur monument was to be set up in time for the opening of an extension to the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line in the prefecture in March But the introduction was postponed due to parts procurement difficulty caused by the war in Ukraine among other factors Costs to incorporate Suchomimus totaled 100 million yen ($690,000) Dino monument among projects funded by COVID-19 grants Fukui Prefecture plans Japan’s first faculty of dinosaur studies Dinosaur fossil identified as Japan’s largest ornithopod ‘Weakling’ Gundam robot wins over leader in Fukushima Hokuriku bullet train to extend to Tsuruga starting March 16 Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II In-house News and Messages No reproduction or republication without written permission.