When a robot is social: spatial arrangements and multimodal semiotic engagement in the practice of social robotics

Social roboticists design their robots to function as social agents in interaction with humans and other robots. Although we do not deny that the robot's design features are crucial for attaining this aim, we point to the relevance of spatial organization and coordination between the robot and the humans who interact with it. We recover these interactions through an observational study of a social robotics laboratory and examine them by applying a multimodal interactional analysis to two moments of robotics practice. We describe the vital role of roboticists and of the group of preverbal infants, who are involved in a robot's design activity, and we argue that the robot's social character is intrinsically related to the subtleties of human interactional moves in laboratories of social robotics. This human involvement in the robot's social agency is not simply controlled by individual will. Instead, the human-machine couplings are demanded by the situational dynamics in which the robot is lodged.     

Age-related differences in daily physical activity divided by bout duration: preliminary findings in female convenience samples

The purpose of the present investigation was to clarify the relationship between age and bout duration of physical activity (PA) under free-living conditions in female adults. Forty-three females wore an accelerometer (Lifecorder) for seven consecutive days in order to determine the time spent in PA at light intensity (LPA), at moderate intensity (MPA), and at vigorous intensity (VPA). The PA was divided according to the bout duration, such as PA lasting longer than 16 s, 32 s, 60 s, 3 min, >5 min, and >10 min (PA16s, PA32s, PA1m, PA3m, PA5m, PA10m). The time for LPA32s, LPA1m, MPA16s, VPA16s, and the total time for MPA and VPA were significantly associated with age (P < 0.05). There were no significant associations between age and PA lasting >60 s, regardless of intensity category. The results of the present pilot study suggest that the age-associated differences in PA occur mainly in PA lasting 1 min or shorter duration.     

Simple lightness modification for color vision impaired based on Craik–O'Brien effect

In comparison with the people having the normal color vision, the people with color vision impairment such as dichromats have the difficulty to distinguish the colors in certain combinations. This may pose an impediment of the visual communication in the recent wide spreading of the use of colors. In order to address this problem, in this paper, we propose a novel lightness modification method to improve the visibility of the color image for the color vision impaired. In the proposed method, the lightness modification is only carried out around contours of objects to realize the Craik–O'Brien effect, which is an perceptual illusion of the contrast, for dichromats. Furthermore, in the proposed method, it is tried to preserve the impression given by original color image by lessening the change of the color as possible while providing the perceptible and comprehensible color image for dichromats. Through some examples, the effectiveness and the validity of the proposed method are verified.     

Introduction to the special issue on patent processing

The processing of intellectual property documents, such as patents, has been important to the industry, business, and law communities. Recently, the importance of patent processing has also been recognized in academic research communities, particularly by information retrieval and natural language processing researchers. In addition, large test collections that include patents have recently become available, to enable the systematic evaluation of methodologies from a scientific point of view. In the light of these activities, this special issue is intended to collect advanced research papers on patent processing. As an introduction to the special issue on patent processing, this paper surveys the relevant literature and outlines the papers selected for the special issue.     

A Cross-Cultural Test of Implicit Theories of Re-requesting

Extant U.S. research shows that when a persuader’s initial message is rebuffed, the next requesting message will tend to be ruder and more aggressive than the initial appeal. The robustness of these results has rarely been tested cross-culturally. Using conversational constraints theory, we further explicate implicit theories by investigating the perceived importance of constraints of re-requesting styles across two cultural-linguistic groups (i.e., Korean and American English speakers). Consistent with the “rebuff phenomenon,” results revealed that people rated the task constraint (“clarity”) as significantly more important, and the three face-related constraints (“concern for the other’s feelings,” “minimizing imposition,” and “avoiding negative evaluation”) as significantly less important for the second-attempt requesting than for the initial requesting. Some of these tendencies were more pronounced among American English speakers than among Korean speakers.     

Longitudinal Associations Among Child Maltreatment,Resting Frontal Electroencephalogram Asymmetry,and Adolescent Shyness

Child maltreatment is linked to distinct neurophysiological patterns and social‐emotional vulnerability. Relations among maltreatment, relative resting frontal alpha asymmetry, shyness, and psychopathology were examined prospectively. Adolescent girls (age 14–16) who experienced child maltreatment (N = 55) were compared to nonmaltreated controls (N = 25), and returned for 6‐ and 12‐month follow‐ups. Among participants exhibiting relative right frontal asymmetry, maltreated adolescents reported higher shyness than controls at Time 1. Low‐stable and high‐stable shyness trajectories were observed for maltreated participants. Compared to low shy, participants in high‐shy trajectory reported at Time 3: higher neuroticism and generalized anxiety; and lower extraversion if they also exhibited relative right frontal asymmetry. Thus, right frontal brain activity and shyness are involved in social‐emotional vulnerability of adolescents who experienced child maltreatment.     

锡金喜马拉雅地区的农业：保护与发展具有全球意义的传统农业系统

锡金喜马拉雅地区是全球重要的生物多样性热点地区之一,该地区的农业生产系统最近已经被推荐作为联合国粮农组织（FAO）全球重要农业文化遗产（GIAHS）保护的候选地。在这一地区,集中体现了被称为Demazong（稻米之谷）或香格里拉（消失的地平线）的神圣景观。这个神圣的、多样性的文化景观中,当地少数民族社区利用传统的生态知识对极为丰富的农业生物多样性进行适应和管理。多样化的农业生态系统,包括位于高山地区农牧复合系统Dokpas,位于温带地区的传统的农林复合系统（如桤木-草本混交农业系统）,以及海拔较低的暖温带到亚热带农业气候区的梯田/谷地稻作系统。将富含文化多样性和生物多样性的土地利用系统与景观进行边缘化是一件十分荒谬的事情。但值得说明的是,尽管这里有着巨大的发展潜力,却长期存在着贫穷、进入市场困难、经济和生态较为脆弱等问题。 锡金喜马拉雅地区的农业是一种典型的适应性管理系统,具有重要的生态系统服务功能,提供了具有重要经济价值的多样化的农作物品种,以及适应明显垂直分异农业生态区的多用途的植物物种。在那里生活着的不同的土著社区,依然保持着传统的生态知识,以适应、监测和响应生态系统的恢复能力与生态系统的服务功能。在本文中,我们探讨了传统农业在生物多样性保护中的作用,评估了从亚热带到高原农业生态区的多样性的生态系统管理途径,分析了对于农业生态系统的社会适应性与知识基础以及传统体制在促进该地区农业生产系统通过GIAHS在地区、国家和全球水平上获得更加广泛的认可的作用。我们认为,为减轻气候变化的可能影响和应对可能的新挑战,应当采用参与式的方式对传统农业进行监测,并制定科学的政策。锡金喜马拉雅地区的传统农业被认定为全球重要农业文化遗产,将有助于促进这一传统农业系统的保护,促进边际社区的环境健康和生计的可持续性,确保该地区的可持续发展。     

Weblog narratives of Japanese migrant women in Australia: Consequences of international mobility and migration

This paper draws attention to the personal weblogs written by Japanese migrant women in Australia. Entries in these weblogs elucidate their daily experiences, thoughts, concerns, and feelings. Blog data provide rich personal accounts of migrant experiences from the first-hand experiences of migrants. Based on collected blog entries, this paper details Japanese spouses’ settlement experiences in Australia by highlighting issues of language and culture, and critiques celebratory attitudes toward international mobility by discussing the disadvantages of migration. While mobility to western countries is often romanticized and regarded as a symbol of emancipation for Japanese women, diasporic subjects still confront social exclusion and marginalization in an adopted society. Migrants’ struggles and difficulties remain even in Australia, which is a country generally perceived as a multicultural society that has a large number of migrants and a long history of immigration.     

东亚地区和日本高龄少子社会的现状、课题及终身学习的任务

本论文作为东亚少子高龄化问题研究的基础作业,在概观东亚各国少子高龄化的状况后,再谈日本少子高龄社会的情况和其成因,并探讨了在少子高龄社会终身学习所将面临的任务。     

Noise reduction based on iterative hybrid vector filter and detail correction employing correlation among RGB components

One of the important image processing tasks is to effectively reduce a noise from a digital image while keeping its features intact. In this paper, a new noise removal method for color images corrupted by the mixture of the impulsive and Gaussian noises is proposed. In the proposed method, firstly, a tentative output image, in which the noise is removed almost perfectly, is obtained by using the iterative robust switching vector median-based vector $\epsilon \mathrm{-}\mathrm{filter}$, which is realized by hybridizing the robust switching vector median filter and the vector $\epsilon \mathrm{-}\mathrm{filter}$ and is newly proposed here. Then the residual components between the input and the tentative output images are calculated, and image components constituting edges, corner and other image details are extracted from the residual components by using the correlation characteristic in RGB components. Consequently, a final output is obtained by adding the extracted image components into the tentative output image. The effectiveness and the validity of the proposed method are verified by some experiments using the natural color images.