Relationship Between Empathic Distress and Prosocial Behavior in Preschool Children

The present study examined the relation between empathic distress and prosociality in preschool children. Thirty-four 5-year-old children evaluated their sympathy and personal distress on the empathic distress. They evaluated one's prosociality and their classmate's prosociality in their classroom. For the data analysis, the children were divided according to their scores on sympathy and personal distress into 3 types of empathic distress :type of high-high, type of sympathetic, and type of low-low. The children who were high on both measures, that is, who felt more sympathy and more personal distress, evaluated themselves prosociality than did other children. The classmates judged the children who were high on the other measure, that is, who felt more sympathy and less personal distress, as less prosociality than did type of high-high. These results suggests that it is a important concept in prosociality in preschool children

Illness-Death Model as a Framework for Chronic Disease Burden Projection: Application to Mental Health Epidemiology

Introduction: Estimates of future disease burden supports public health decision-making. Multistate modeling of chronic diseases is still limited despite a long history of mathematicalmodeling of diseases.We introduce a discrete time approach to the illness- death model and a recursion formula, which can be utilized to project chronic disease burden. We further illustrate an example of the technique applied to anxiety disorders in Germany. Materials and Equipment: The illness-death model is a multistate model that relates prevalence, incidence, mortality, and remission. A basic recursion formula that considers prevalence, incidence, mortality among the susceptible, and mortality among the diseased can be applied to irreversible chronic diseases such as diabetes. Among several mental disorders, remission plays a key role and thus an extended recursion formula taking remission into account is derived. Methods: Using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 data and population projections from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany, a total number of individuals with anxiety disorders by sex in Germany from 2019 to 2030 was projected. Regression models were fitted to historical data for prevalence and incidence. Differential mortality risks were modeled based on empirical evidence. Remission was estimated from prevalence, incidence, and mortality, applying the extended recursion formula. Sex- and age-specific prevalence of 2019 was given as the initial value to estimate the total number of individuals with anxiety disorders for each year up to 2030. Projections were alsomade through simple extrapolation of prevalence for comparison. Results: From 2019 to 2030, we estimated a decrease of 52,114 (−1.3%) individuals with anxiety disorders among women, and an increase of 166,870 (+8.5%) cases among men, through the illness-death model approach. With prevalence extrapolation, an increase of 381,770 (+9.7%) among women and an increase of 272,446 (+13.9%) among men were estimated. Discussion: Application of the illness-death model with discrete time steps is possible for both irreversible chronic diseases and diseases with possible remissions, such as anxiety disorders. The technique provides a framework for disease burden prediction. The example provided here can form a basis for running simulations under varying transition probabilities

A Study for Professional Matters of Area Related to“ Language” in Kindergarten Teacher-Training Course

　2019 年度に改訂された幼稚園教諭養成の教職課程に設置される「領域及び保育内容の指導法に関する科目」は，「領域に関する専門的事項」と「保育内容の指導法（情報機器及び教材の活用を含む。）」より構成される。本研究では，従来の「教科に関する科目」が撤廃されたことにより新設された「領域に関する専門的事項」の科目において，具体的にどのような専門知識の学修を要するかについて，「保育内容の指導法」のモデルカリキュラム，及び新幼稚園教育要領の記載内容に照らして検討した。その結果，養成課程の学生自身が領域「言葉」のねらいや内容等を専門的見地から理解して保育実践のための知識や技能を修得することに加え，感じたり，考えたり等の体験的な学びから幼児の視点で言葉の世界をイメージする内容を授業に取り入れる必要性を見出した

An Essential Role of Cytosolic Phospholipase A2α in Prostaglandin E2–mediated Bone Resorption Associated with Inflammation

Prostaglandin E (PGE)2 produced by osteoblasts acts as a potent stimulator of bone resorption. Inflammatory bone loss is accompanied by osteoclast formation induced by bone-resorbing cytokines, but the mechanism of PGE2 production and bone resorption in vivo is not fully understood. Using cytosolic phospholipase A2α (cPLA2α)-null mice, we examined the role of cPLA2α in PGE2 synthesis and bone resorption. In bone marrow cultures, interleukin (IL)-1 markedly stimulated PGE2 production and osteoclast formation in wild-type mice, but not in cPLA2α-null mice. Osteoblastic bone marrow stromal cells induced the expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and membrane-bound PGE2 synthase (mPGES) in response to IL-1 and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to produce PGE2. Osteoblastic stromal cells collected from cPLA2α-null mice also induced the expression of COX-2 and mPGES by IL-1 and LPS, but could not produce PGE2 due to the lack of arachidonic acid release. LPS administration to wild-type mice reduced femoral bone mineral density by increased bone resorption. In cPLA2α-null mice, however, LPS-induced bone loss could not be observed at all. Here, we show that cPLA2α plays a key role in PGE production by osteoblasts and in osteoclastic bone resorption, and suggest a new approach to inflammatory bone disease by inhibiting cPLA2α

Biological Behavior of Papillary Carcinoma of the Thyroid Including Squamous Cell Carcinoma Components and Prognosis of Patients Who Underwent Locally Curative Surgery

Thyroid carcinoma showing squamous differentiation throughout the entire lesion is diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid (SCCT) in the WHO classification. This entity is a rare disease and shows a dire prognosis; however, squamous differentiation is more frequently detected in only a portion of papillary thyroid carcinoma. In this paper, we present our experience of 10 patients (8 primary lesions and 2 with recurrence in the lymph nodes) with papillary thyroid carcinoma having an SCC component (PTC-SCC). Only 3 of 8 primary lesions (38%) and none of the 2 recurrent nodes were preoperatively diagnosed as or suspected of having SCC components. All 10 patients underwent locally curative surgery. To date, 3 patients have died of carcinoma, and 2 had distant metastasis at diagnosis or had an undifferentiated carcinoma component. The other 7 are currently alive 5 to 43 months after diagnosis. Systemic adjuvant therapy after the detection of recurrence was effective for 2 patients. It is possible that some PTC-SCC patients without distant metastasis who undergo locally curative surgery can survive for a prolonged period and adjuvant therapies can be effective for local and distant recurrences

学生の遊び指導法に関する一考察 : 子ども向けイベントの取り組みを通して

本稿では，子ども向けイベントである「こどもまつり」における学生の物的・人的環境づくりに焦点を当て，学生の遊び指導法の実際を明らかにすることを目的とした．物的環境づくりにおいて，学生はまず子どもの心を揺さぶり，主体性を引き出すための手立てとして，視覚的な環境づくりを重視していることが明らかとなった．そして，子どもが遊びに参加できる状況を作ってからは，子どもに様々なものを選択させたり，遊び込める環境を構築したりしていることが分かった．次に，人的環境づくりにおいては，「目線の高さを合わせる」「笑顔で関わる」といった保育の基本姿勢から，特に2年次生において「子どもの姿を見て関わり方を変える」「子どもの安心感や意欲を引き出す」「保護者を巻き込み，子どもとの関わりに生かす」といった関わり方の種類が増えており，子どもの姿を見て即応的に関わっていることが明らかになった

オペレッタ授業における学習者自身による自己評価 : 客観的視点を養う評価シートの作成

本研究は,オペレッタ授業を通して学生同士が学びと気づきを共有し,客観的に自らの作品発表を顧みる方法を模索することを目的とし,PPPチェックリストの様式を採用した自己評価シートを作成し,その内容について分析・考察した.自己評価するためのチェック項目を自分で作成することにより,学生が授業において感じていた思いや関心を浮き彫りにすることができた.また,教員がチェック項目を作成するためのカテゴリを提示したことで,学生は,授業の目的とねらい,達成目標を意識して確認することができた.他人に表現して観せる為には,創る側と観る側の2つの視点が必要であるが,観る視点を意識した指導をさらに強化することが今後の課題である