Subject Ellipsis in Japanese and Clues for Non-Native Learners

This study investigated whether learners of Japanese are less accurate in selecting appropriate reference of omitted subjects than native speakers and in which environment the learners have the most difficulties. Also, it looked into whether there is a correlation between the accuracy of the selecting and knowledge of the clue grammar. The survey had a subject selecting test and a knowledge test. The subject selecting test included two different environments: Giving/Receiving verbs and Honorific verbs. The knowledge test also covered these two environments. Giving/Receiving verbs have three types: ageru (give), kureru (give), and morau (receive); and Honorific verbs has two types: non-keigo (non-honorifics) and keigo (honorifics). Two groups participated in the study: native Japanese speakers (L1) and non-native Japanese speakers (L2) learning Japanese or have learned Japanese in the universities in the Unites States.The results showed that the L2 group was less accurate than the L1 group in the subject selecting test. The extent of the difference varied in types. For L2 speakers, selecting a subject with the environment of Giving/Receiving verbs was less accurate than with the environment of Honorific verbs. Also, the accuracy with kureru (give) type was the lowest. Finally, there was no correlation between accuracy in the selecting test and the knowledge test in L2 speakers. The results indicate that there is a difficulty for L2 speakers in understanding Giving/Receiving verbs and that a deep understanding of Giving/Receiving verbs is needed to retrieve the omitted subject properly

Heparan sulfate proteoglycan is an important attachment factor for cell entry of Akabane and Schmallenberg viruses

Akabane (AKAV) and Schmallenberg (SBV) viruses are Orthobunyavirus transmitted by arthropod vectors with a broad cellular tropism in vitro as well as in vivo Both AKAV and SBV cause arthrogryposis-hydranencephaly syndrome in ruminants. The main cellular receptor and attachment factor for entry of these orthobunyaviruses are unknown. Here, we found that AKAV and SBV infections were inhibited by the addition of heparin or enzymatic removal of cell surface heparan sulfates. To confirm this finding, we prepared heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG)-knockout (KO) cells by using a CRISPR/Cas9 system and measured the binding quantities of these viruses to cell surfaces. We observed a substantial reduction in AKAV and SBV binding to cells, limiting the infections by these viruses. These data demonstrate that HSPGs are important cellular attachment factors for AKAV and SBV, at least in vitro, to promote virus replication in susceptive cells. Importance: AKAV and SBV are the etiological agents of arthrogryposis-hydranencephaly syndrome in ruminants, which causes considerable economic losses in the livestock industry. Here, we identified heparan sulfate proteoglycan as a major cellular attachment factor for the entry of AKAV and SBV. Moreover, we found that heparin is a strong inhibitor of AKAV and SBV infections. Revealing the molecular mechanisms of virus-host interactions is critical in order to understand virus biology and develop novel live attenuated vaccines

Clothing Contents in the Home Economics Teacher Training Curriculum at Hiroshima University

This study explored the composition of clothing contents for home economics science classes in the home economics teacher training curriculum at Hiroshima University, which was based on the results of attempts to cross-link the curriculum subjects with their contents. Thus, we aimed to obtain suggestions for constructing a home economics teacher training program model. In the new curriculum guidelines, the subject of home economics is described as teaching students a new “perspective and way of thinking about lifestyle activities.” Therefore, a comprehensive perspective on the home economics curriculum, material composition, and lessons is necessary to take advantage of this “lifestyle.” The curriculum to date includes clothing-related framework contents, such as clothing materials, production, composition, and management. Courses were named using keywords that refl ect four perspectives and lifestyles, such as “environment” and “design”; e.g., the core subject of the “Introduction to Clothing” lesson was clothing. Students were given the information necessary to solve the problems experienced during the performance of practical training exercises. The results were used to conceive a lesson plan for students to acquire the ability to consider their lifestyle from the four perspectives of “cooperation and collaboration,” “health, comfort, and safety,” “successful creation of living culture,” and “building a sustainable society.

Widely Extended [OIII] 88 um Line Emission around the 30 Doradus Region Revealed with AKARI FIS-FTS

We present the distribution map of the far-infrared [OIII] 88um line emission around the 30 Doradus (30 Dor) region in the Large Magellanic Cloud obtained with the Fourier Transform Spectrometer of the Far-Infrared Surveyor onboard AKARI. The map reveals that the [OIII] emission is widely distributed by more than 10' around the super star cluster R136, implying that the 30 Dor region is affluent with interstellar radiation field hard enough to ionize O^{2+}. The observed [OIII] line intensities are as high as (1-2) x 10^{-6} W m^{-2} sr^{-1} on the peripheral regions 4'-5' away from the center of 30 Dor, which requires gas densities of 60-100 cm^{-3}. However the observed size of the distribution of the [OIII] emission is too large to be explained by massive stars in the 30 Dor region enshrouded by clouds with the constant gas density of 10^2 cm^{-3}. Therefore the surrounding structure is likely to be highly clumpy. We also find a global correlation between the [OIII] and the far-infrared continuum emission, suggesting that the gas and dust are well mixed in the highly-ionized region where the dust survives in clumpy dense clouds shielded from the energetic photons.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (PASJ

Dissolution Properties of CO2 in the High Pressure Environment Equivalent to 3500m Deep Sea

AbstractThe purpose of the present study is to investigate the influence of CO2 hydrate formation and dissociation on the dissolution properties of liquid CO2. In order to clarify the influence of CO2 hydrate formation and dissociation, pressure and temperature are measured under both conditions of hydrate region and non-hydrate region. Hysteresis is obtained in the formation and dissociation of CO2 hydrate as a function of temperature. It is confirmed that there is hysteresis in the case of hydrate region, however, virtually no hysteresis in the case of non-hydrate region. As the result, it is confirmed that hysteresis is caused by CO2 hydrate and all hysteresis loop obtained in this study are all different, though experiment conditions is almost same. In other words, it is suggested that the amount of CO2 hydrate is constant chang

グローバル カ スル コクサイ リカイ キョウイク オ ドウ オコナウ カ ショウガッコウ コクゴ オ レイ ト シテ

本稿は、急速なグローバル経済の進行に伴い、数多くの問題を抱える現在の国際社会において、グローバル教育のトランスナショナルな考え方を受け入れつつ国際理解教育の新たな可能性を、初等教育、特に小学校国語において探ろうとするものである。 まず、学習指導要領の「国際理解教育の方針」に含まれた問題点を指摘し、「伝統・文化」の概念を新しく規定し直し、自国に対する客観的、批判的理性を養うことを国際理解教育の重要な条件の一つに据えた。次に、現在の国際理解教育の実際を踏まえ、小学校国語においてどのような国際理解教育が有効であるかの試案を示し、自己の行為や営為を「多くの中の一つ」と位置付けることが「共生」のための必要な条件であることを述べた。 以上を通じ、トランスナショナルの考え方を標榜しつつ、他の視点を取り込むことで自己を批判的に捉える再帰的教育の方向性を追究した

Views of Students Undergoing Home Economics Teacher Training : Reconstructing the Human Life Sciences Curriculum of Hiroshima University

We reconsidered the core subject of the human life sciences education curriculum at Hiroshima University to examine the views of students undergoing home economics teacher training. Although it is possible to understand the task of living conceptually and abstractly, an issue that students were taught in the previous year, our study revealed that students did not understand their role as prosumers. In addition, we found that understanding of Home Economics as a background science did not help. We confirmed the effect of Problem Based Learning (PBL) in advance, by testing students who took the same subjects in a previous year. Moreover, we examined product and performance issues including cooking practice, and proposed a learning process to address the issue proactively and cooperatively. This proposed process involves the recognition of conscious living by deeply examining important issues, to enhance students’ awareness of their role as prosumers, and highlighting the significance of Home Economics as a background science

Intake frequency of vegetables or seafoods negatively correlates with disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: To clarify the relationship between dietary habit and disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: This study enrolled RA patients who met the ACR/EULAR 2010 classification criteria from Kyoto University Rheumatoid Arthritis Management Alliance (KURAMA) cohort in 2015. 22-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was taken for the measurement of dietary habit in a single-institution cohort of RA (Kyoto University Rheumatoid Arthritis Management Alliance: KURAMA) in 2015. The disease activities of RA using the Disease Activity Score calculated based on the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) level, the use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), disease duration, rheumatoid factor, anti-cyclic citrullinated antibody, and body mass index were also examined. All of them were combined and statistically analyzed. Results: 441 RA patients (81% women; mean age 65 years; mean disease duration 15 years) were enrolled from the KURAMA cohort. Average Disease Activity Score-28 using the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) was 2.7. Univariate analysis showed that intake frequency of vegetables had a statistically significant negative correlation with disease activity markers, such as DAS28-ESR (ρ = −0.11, p<0.01), Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) (ρ = −0.16, p<0.001), matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) (ρ = −0.21, p<0.0001), and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) (ρ = −0.13, p<0.01). Factor analysis with varimax rotation was done to simplify the relevance of disease activity to various food items. 22 foods were categorized into five dietary patterns: “seafoods”, “vegetables/fruits”, “meats/fried foods”, “snacks”, and “processed foods”. The multivariate analysis adjusted for clinically significant confounders showed that “seafoods” had statistically significant negative correlations with DAS28-ESR (β = −0.15, p<0.01), SDAI (β = −0.18, p<0.001), MMP-3 (β = −0.15, p<0.01), and HAQ (β = −0.24, p<0.0001). “Vegetables/fruits” had statistically significant negative correlations with SDAI (β = −0.11 p<0.05), MMP-3 (β = −0.12, p<0.01), and HAQ (β = −0.11, p<0.05) Conclusions: These results suggest that high intake frequency of vegetables/fruits and/or seafoods might correlate with low disease activity