Ratnākaraśānti’s Theory of Cognition with False Mental Images (*alīkākāravāda) and the Neither-One-Nor-Many Argument

The paper aims to clarify Ratnākara?ānti?s epistemological theory that mental images in a cognition are false (*alīkākāravāda) in comparison with ?āntarak?ita?s criticism of the Yogācāra position. Although Ratnākara?ānti frequently uses the neither-one-nor-many argument for explaining his Yogācāra position, the argument, unlike ?āntarak?ita?s original one, does not function for refuting the existence of awareness itself as the basis of mental images. This point is examined in the first two sections of this paper by analyzing Ratnākara?ānti?s proof of the selflessness of entities (dharmanairātmya) and his application of the neither-one-nor-many argument for demonstrating the falsehood of mental images. On the other hand, the last section investigates into his defense of the alīkākāravāda against ?āntarak?ita?s severe criticism of it. Here, too, we can find his tactical usage of the neither-one-nor-many argument, or more precisely, one of its variants: the neither-identical-nor-different argument. Through the above procedure, we can see how Yogācāra philosophy survived in the late period of Indian Buddhism by blending the Madhyamaka opponent?s argument with its own thought.     

Estimation of stress in child neglect from thymic involution.

It is difficult to evaluate the extent of stress in cases of suspected child abuse/neglect in a medico-legal autopsy. We have previously reported that stress due to abuse/neglect was found to have led to thymic involution. To elucidate the influence upon thymocytes differentiation, we compared the proportion of the thymocyte subpopulation in the thymus of a neglected child with one in an age-matched control obtained from cardiac surgery. We found that the relative number of CD4+ CD8+ double positive (DP) thymocytes decreased in the neglected child. It was presumed that the selective decrease in the number of the immature DP thymocytes with CD3- to low bcl-2low caused the thymic involution in the neglected child. It was suggested that an alteration in the proportion of thymocytes subpopulation might be used as an index of stress in cases of child abuse/neglect.     

On Self-Awareness in the Sautrāntika Epistemology

This paper aims to examine the role of self-awareness (svasa?vedana) for the Sautrāntika epistemological tenet known as the doctrine that cognition has a form (sākārajñānavāda). According to this theory, we perceive external objects indirectly through the mental forms that these objects throw into our minds, and this cognitive act is interpreted as self-awareness. However, if one were to interpret the cognitive act such that the subjective mental form (grāhakākāra/svābhāsa) grasps the objective mental form, the position of the subjective mental form becomes problematic—it becomes superfluous, as can be demonstrated with reference to Dignāga’s explanation of the Sautrāntika’s pramā?a-pramā?aphala argument. As a result, self-awareness itself becomes precarious. In connection with this problem, an argument on the relationship between self-awareness and the yogic perception of other minds given by Dharmakīrti leads us to discover that self-awareness is important for establishing subjectivity, in order to avoid another person’s access to one’s own mental states. Through examining Pramā?avārttika 3.448–459, this paper tries to find a way to interpret the svābhāsa-factor without relating to its object-factor (grāhyākāra), and to shed new light on the problem of subjectivity in the Sautrāntika epistemology.     

Citizen perceptions of public management: Hybridisation and post‐new public management in Japan and New Zealand

An older body of research claims variously: a world‐wide transformation from new public management (NPM) to new public governance or post new public management (post‐NPM); a ‘layering’, where new management rhetoric and techniques are layered upon existing ones; or a ‘hybridisation’ synthesised from competing systems. More recent studies, particularly in central and Eastern Europe, suggest a nuanced and context‐specific degree of transformation. Influenced by a growing research interest in citizen perceptions of public management, this study expands this more nuanced approach by surveying local government public management perceptions of 1,140 New Zealand and 3,100 Japanese citizen online survey respondents. Using principal component analysis, we show both New Zealand and Japan exhibit degrees of hybridisation of public management paradigms, with Japan exhibiting a higher degree of eclecticism.     

Usefulness of a toothbrush as a source of evidential DNA for typing

We investigated the usefulness of a toothbrush as a source of DNA for an unidentified cadaver. Ten toothbrushes were obtained from ten individuals along with their peripheral blood. We recovered from 10 to 430 ng of DNA from all but one of the toothbrushes. All ten toothbrushes, including the one containing no detectable DNA by fluorometry, were typed correctly at all of the loci tested, including nine STRs. Three toothbrushes obtained in two actual deaths also identified two victims and one suspect. Therefore, toothbrushes seem to be useful as a source of evidential DNA for personal identification.     

Causal Inference with Differential Measurement Error: Nonparametric Identification and Sensitivity Analysis

Political scientists have long been concerned about the validity of survey measurements. Although many have studied classical measurement error in linear regression models where the error is assumed to arise completely at random, in a number of situations the error may be correlated with the outcome. We analyze the impact of differential measurement error on causal estimation. The proposed nonparametric identification analysis avoids arbitrary modeling decisions and formally characterizes the roles of different assumptions. We show the serious consequences of differential misclassification and offer a new sensitivity analysis that allows researchers to evaluate the robustness of their conclusions. Our methods are motivated by a field experiment on democratic deliberations, in which one set of estimates potentially suffers from differential misclassification. We show that an analysis ignoring differential measurement error may considerably overestimate the causal effects. This finding contrasts with the case of classical measurement error, which always yields attenuation bias.     

Acute toxicity of the combustion products from various kinds of fibers.

Acute toxicity of the combustion products from various fibers was evaluated in animal experiments. The materials used were cotton, gauze, acetate, rayon, polyester (PE), polychlal (PC), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), silk, wool, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and modacryle (MA). Rats, mice, and rabbits were exposed to gases released from these materials, heated with an electric heater. In experiments with rabbits animals inhaled gases through a tracheal cannula under urethane narcosis. As indices for toxicity, the time at which animals were impaired severely, was used in rat experiments while the death time was used in experiments with rabbits and mice. The concentrations of O2 and CO in the exposure room were determined continously, blood COHb and cyanide values were also estimated. Gases from fibers containing nitrogen impaired severely and killed the animals earlier than any other materials. Blood analyses revealed the presence of high values of cyanide in PAN, MA, and silk experiments. HCN was considered to be responsible for the high toxicity of gases from these materials. In the case of wool, despite of high toxicity of its combustion products, blood cyanide and COHb values were not very high. Gases from cotton, gauze, and rayon impaired severely and killed the animals relatively early in the exposure period. Toxicity of combution products from these materials was attributable to CO on the basis of gas and blood analyses. Acute toxicity of PE and acetate gases, being less than that of cotton, gauze, rayon under the present experimental conditions, was explained mainly by CO. Neither severe impairment nor death occurred during exposure in PC and PVDC experiments.     

Strategy for the estimation of chronological age using the aspartic acid racemization method with special reference to coefficient of correlation between D/L ratios and ages

The estimation of chronological age has been performed by various methods in forensic science. Among these, racemization methods, which are based on the age-dependent non-enzymatic changes of L-form amino acids to D-form mainly using aspartic acid, are one of the most reliable and accurate methods to date. Separation of enantiomers is generally performed by gas chromatography or high performance liquid chromatography. Various tissues with low metabolic rates have been applied for this purpose. In addition, single proteins purified from these target tissues are also applicable. In this brief review we describe this method in detail, noting points of caution, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the different target tissues. In addition, special attention is given to the correlation rates obtained between chronological age and enantiomer ratios. Currently, based on accuracy of estimated age, simplicity of the method, time required, and reproducibility, tooth dentin is considered one of the best target tissues. Alternatively, analysis of osteocalcin and elastin have also provided accurate and reproducible results.