Associations of blood glucose control with self-efficacy and rated anxiety/depression in type II diabetes mellitus patients

We investigated the possible relations of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level, a parameter of blood glucose control with scores on anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy for 113 outpatients (55 men and 58 women) with type II diabetes mellitus. The relation between the HbA1c level and the self-efficacy scores as well as with the ratings of anxiety and depression was evaluated. A significant relation was found for the HbA1c level with the scores; however, self-efficacy and anxiety and depression showed no association. These results suggest that HbA1c can be maintained at better levels by increasing self-efficacy of diabetic patients.     

Left or right,that is the question: use of egocentric frame of reference and the right-eye advantage for understanding gestural signs in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)

Animal Cognition - How do bottlenose dolphins visually perceive the space around them? In particular, what cues do they use as a frame of reference for left–right perception? To address this...     

The transcendental dimension of “praxis” in Husserl's phenomenology

This paper is a revised and reformed version of Husserl-genshogaku to jissen no mondai (Husserl's phenomenology and the problem of praxis) in: The Japanese Society for Ethics ed., Rinrigaku-nenpo (Annals of Ethics) No. 35 (Tokyo: Keiotsushin, 1986), pp. 105–121. It is my duty to express my gratitude to Mrs. Yu Tani for her advices about English and stylization.     

The problem of the additive constant and eigenvalues in metric multidimensional scaling

This paper is concerned with the additive constant problem in metric multidimensional scaling. First the influence of the additive constant on eigenvalues of a scalar product matrix is discussed. The second part of this paper is devoted to the introduction of a new formulation of the additive constant problem. A solution is given for fixed dimensionality, by maximizing a normalized index of fit with a gradient method. An experimental computation has shown that the author's solution is accurate and easy to follow.     

Phase transformation of germanium by processing through high-pressure torsion: strain and temperature effects

Germanium has been processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) under a nominal pressure of 24 GPa at room temperature and cryogenic temperature. The samples processed at room temperature were composed of a diamond-cubic Ge-I phase and a metastable tetragonal Ge-III phase. The formation of Ge-III was significantly suppressed and Ge-I and an amorphous phase, in addition to a small amount of body-centred-cubic Ge-IV, appeared in the case of cryogenic HPT processing at 100 K. The Ge-IV phase gradually disappeared at room temperature. These results indicated that shear strain and thermal energy are important for promoting the formation of Ge-III.     

Developmental change in fetal response to repeated low-intensity sound

The aim of this study was to investigate developmental changes in heart rate response to repeated low-intensity (85 dB) sound stimulation in fetuses between 32 and 37 weeks of gestation. We measured amplitude changes in heart rate as our index of fetal response. At 35 to 37 weeks of gestation, the majority of fetuses showed a deceleratory response at the first trial. Amplitude decreased with further trials using the same stimulus before recovering when exposed to another type of stimulation. In contrast, responses in fetuses at 32 to 34 weeks of gestation were variable across trials and there was no recovery with exposure to another type of stimulation. Our results suggest that fetal habituation of cardiac response changes with developmental age.     

Evidence of means–end behavior in Asian elephants (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Elephas maximus</Emphasis>)

The present study explores to what extent Asian elephants show “means–end” behavior. We used captive Asian elephants (N = 2) to conduct four variations of the Piagetian “support” problem, which involves a goal object that is out of reach, but rests on a support within reach. In the first condition, elephants were simultaneously presented with two identical trays serving as the “support”, with the bait on one tray and the other tray left empty. In the next two conditions, the bait was placed on one tray, while additional bait was placed beside the other tray. In the last condition, both trays contained bait, but one of the trays had a small gap which prevented the elephants from reaching the reward. Subjects were required to choose and pull either tray with their trunk and to obtain the bait (i.e. goal). Results showed that one elephant performed all of the support problems significantly above chance after several sessions, suggesting that the elephant was capable of understanding that pulling the tray was the “means” for achieving the “end” of obtaining the bait. This study showed that elephants show means–end behavior when subjected to a Piagetian “support” task, and indicates that such goal-directed behavior occurs in species other than primates.     

Relative quantity judgment by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

This study investigated whether Asian elephants can make relative quantity judgment (RQJ), a dichotomous judgment of unequal quantities ordered in magnitude. In Experiment 1, elephants were simultaneously shown two baskets with differing quantities of bait (up to 6 items). In Experiment 2, elephants were sequentially presented with baits, which could not be seen by elephants in their total quantities. The task of elephants was to choose the larger quantity in both experiments. Results showed that the elephants chose the larger quantity with significantly greater frequency. Interestingly, the elephants did not exhibit disparity or magnitude effects, in which performance declines with a smaller difference between quantities in a two-choice task, or the total quantity increases, respectively. These findings appear to be inconsistent with the previous reports of RQJ in other animals, suggesting that elephants may be using a different mechanism to compare and represent quantities than previously suggested for other species.