インド古典文献において，機関木人は一種の比喩で，行為主体の有無の問いとして使われている．ジャイナ教徒とヒンズー教徒にとって，機関木人（ロボット）はただ生命をもってない身体のみを表示するので，この比喩には別の「自我」が必要とされる．これに対して，仏教徒にとって，機関木人という比喩は無我教義の文学性論証として使われている．本論は仏教側に注目し，紀元前に成立した二つの比喩用例を詳細に比較してきた．機関木人が直接に比喩対象として使われ，あるいはこの比喩を使って，うまく叙事の一部分としてストーリーを組み立てる二種の使い方を発見した．さらに，これらの代表的な事例を考察し，仏教におけるこの比喩の使い方，及び仏教思想の発展に伴う使い方の変化も明らかにする．

In this paper, I will deal with the following two questions: (i) How can we determine which verbs enter the causative alternation? (ii) What properties are responsible for the cross-linguistic variation we find in this domain? I will argue, building on Levin and Rappaport Hovav (2013), that eventualities need to contain a result component in order to participate in the causative alternation. In my discussion, I will have a closer look at the properties of causer external arguments, and examine the behavior of particular predicate classes in some detail. I will show that predicates that are considered to be translation equivalents actually have very different properties across languages. I will then offer some discussion as to the possible sources for crosslinguistic variation.

Information of the coke packing condition and its size distribution in the deadman is critical for understanding the blast furnace hearth phenomenon. In this study, a commercial blast furnace was frozen and dissected. It was found that the upper part of the deadman below the taphole was mainly filled with coke and slag. In the area from the height of about 912 mm below the taphole and downward, the hearth was mostly consisted of coke and hot metal and the depth was about 2320 mm. The bottom part of the hearth with a height of 214 mm was coke free and filled only by hot metal. A multi-feature analysis method based on comprehensive image-processing technique was used for measuring the size of the coke and the voidage of the deadman. It was found that the mean sizes of coke in the upper and lower parts of deadman were 34.39 mm and 32.12 mm respectively. The overall mean size of coke was 33.3 mm. The size of the coke in the deadman was reduced by 36% comparing with its original size. At the edge of the deadman, the voidage increased rapidly from 10.7% to 41.1% at the depth of 1.0 m to 2.2 m below the taphole centerline. In the centre of the deadman, the voidage increased slowly from 16.6% to 31.3% and then decreased. The average voidage of the edge and the centre areas were 38% and 25% respectively.

In-depth understanding of the existence state and migration behavior of K, Na, S, Ti in the BF hearth is essential to improve the campaign life and optimize the operation process of the blast furnace. In the study, deadman and carbon brick samples were extracted along the radial direction from a large commercial BF during dissection investigation. The microscopic morphology of the samples and the migration behavior of K, Na, S, Ti were analyzed. It was found that a layer of minerals existed on the surface of deadman coke in hearth, and high melting temperature phases such as CaS and TiN as well as slag with high aluminum were existed at the coke-slag-iron interface. K, Na compound present widespread in the deadman coke and carbon brick. The formation of mineral layer reduced the coke dissolution rate, thereby delaying the renewal rate of the deadman. With the dissolution of coke, minerals flow out from the surface of coke and precipitate as alumina and MgAl₂O₄ spinel, which reduces the voidage of the deadman. Meanwhile, slag is sufficiently desulfurized with the iron to form a large amount of CaS accumulation at the hearth sidewall, which intensifies the iron circulation and increases the erosion of carbon brick. When the slag is in contact with the refractory, the K, Na contained in the slag provides a source of alkalis attack on the carbon bricks, and the Ti in the slag provides the possibility of forming a protective layer containing titanium on the sidewall of the hearth.

Robots are required to be significantly compliant and versatile to work in unstructured environments. In a number of studies, robots have positively exploited the environments during interactions and completed tasks from a morphological viewpoint. Modular robots can help realize real-world adaptive robots. Researchers have been investigating the actuation, coupling, and communication mechanisms among these robots to realize versatility. However, the diverse force transmission among modules needs to be further studied to achieve the adaptive whole-body dynamics of a robot. In this study, we fabricated a modular robot and proposed the realization of force transmission on this robot, by constructing fluid transferable network systems on the actuation modules. By exploiting the physical property variations of the modular robot, our experimental results prove that the robot’s motion can be changed by switching the connection pattern of the system.