Scandalous equivocation: a note on the politics of queer self‐naming

Abstract

This paper discusses the political and theoretical implications of the various performances of queer self‐naming (or the refusal of which) in the face of the ongoing backlash against unconventional or non‐normative genders and sexualities. It argues that, instead of a hasty call for the discarding of identity terms or naïve recourse to them, we could keep (re)using the signs without endorsing their normative meanings and line of demarcation. Through analysing some of the feminist counter‐discourses against the backlash, arguments for indigenous Japanese queerness, and a performance by a Japanese lesbian artist, Ito Tari, it shows that the queer gesture of equivocally assuming the scandalous ‘name’ may be one of the few effective survival strategies for those who have already been scandalously (mis)named.     

Different types of focus: Caregiver–child interaction and changes in preschool children’s attention in two cultures

Social contexts shape the development of attention; however, little is known about joint attention beyond infancy. This study employed behavioral and eye-tracking measurements to investigate cultural variations in how caregivers direct 3- to 4-year-old children's attention and subsequent changes in children's attention to objects and contextual backgrounds in the United States (predominantly non-Hispanic Whites) and Japan (N = 60 mother-child dyads, 29 girls, 31 boys). The findings revealed that caregivers directed children's attention to culturally sensitive information, and significant cross-cultural differences in attention emerged after caregiver–child interaction, with Japanese children shifting their attention to the backgrounds. Results provide new insights into the role of social interaction and cultural diversity in the development of attention.     

日本筑波大学人事制度改革的现状与问题

随着独立行政法人制度的实施,日本的国立大学进入前所未有的改革时代.历史悠长、理念常新的筑波大学力图以先进的改革理念和果断的举措成为国立大学改革之先锋.本文着眼于筑波大学的人事制度改革,介绍其背景、理念和主要措施.     

Applying Lakatos' theory to the theory of mathematical problem solving

In this paper, the relation between Lakatos' theory and issues about mathematics education — especially issues about mathematical problem solving — is reinvestigated by paying attention to Lakatos' methodology of a scientific research programme. By comparing the same findings about mathematical problem solving with the discussion in Lakatos' theory — e.g. research programmes' hard cores, their negative and positive heuristics, and their goals — we establish the correspondence between research programmes and solver's structures of a problem situation, i.e. structures given by a solver to a problem situation. After establishing this, the implications of Lakatos' theory, i.e. the nature of selection from competing programmes and the social origins of the cores of programmes, are applied to the discussion about mathematical problem-solving, with indications of the related evidence in the theory of mathematical problem solving which seems to support the application of those implications. Such an application leads to one view of mathematical problem solving, which reflects the irrational nature and social aspects of problem-solving activities, both in solving problems and in selecting better solutions.     

Single-cell attachment and culture method using a photochemical reaction in a closed microfluidic system

Recently, interest in single cell analysis has increased because of its potential for improving our understanding of cellular processes. Single cell operation and attachment is indispensable to realize this task. In this paper, we employed a simple and direct method for single-cell attachment and culture in a closed microchannel. The microchannel surface was modified by applying a nonbiofouling polymer, 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) polymer, and a nitrobenzyl photocleavable linker. Using ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, the MPC polymer was selectively removed by a photochemical reaction that adjusted the cell adherence inside the microchannel. To obtain the desired single endothelial cell patterning in the microchannel, cell-adhesive regions were controlled by use of round photomasks with diameters of 10, 20, 30, or 50 μm. Single-cell adherence patterns were formed after 12 h of incubation, only when 20 and 30 μm photomasks were used, and the proportions of adherent and nonadherent cells among the entire UV-illuminated areas were 21.3%±0.3% and 7.9%±0.3%, respectively. The frequency of single-cell adherence in the case of the 20 μm photomask was 2.7 times greater than that in the case of the 30 μm photomask. We found that the 20 μm photomask was optimal for the formation of single-cell adherence patterns in the microchannel. This technique can be a powerful tool for analyzing environmental factors like cell-surface and cell-extracellular matrix contact.     

The Pendulum of Reform: Educational Change in Japan from the 1990s Onwards

The purpose of this paper is to sketch thecontexts, nature and actual impacts of currenteducational reforms in Japan. A brief overviewis provided of the basic characteristics of theJapanese education system and trends ineducational reforms since the 1990s. Focusingon curriculum and teaching in primary andsecondary education, the actual impact of theseeducational reforms upon schools is examined. The basic character of present day educationalreforms in Japan may be referred to as educational disarmament, since the emphasisis on considerably loosening up the system interms of reducing curriculum content and thenumber of weekly hours of schooling. This iscontributing to making the educational climateof Japanese schools much milder than before,and is said to have contributed to a loweringof pupil's educational achievement and toeducational opportunities among differentsocial groups becoming more polarized. TheJapanese situation has implications for thefuture orientation of educational reforms inother countries, particularly in theAsia-Pacific region.     

田径项目4×100m接力下压式和上挑式的特征比较

目的:通过对"上挑式"和"下压式"传接棒方式的对比研究,找出两种传接棒方式的技术特征.通过文献资料法、影像测量法、数量统计方法,对下压式和上挑式技术的运动学特征进行了实验研究,结果表明:下压式和上挑式技术动作的难易程度没有显著性差异,对自然跑速的影响和传接棒的效率上也没有显著性差异,主要差异在于接棒运动员通过接力区的时间和传接棒结束后的加速阶段的速度上.