ジンブンガク シャカイカガクテキ シュホウ ヲ モチイタ カガク ギジュツ ト シャカイ ニ カンスル ケンキュウ ジッセン ヲ ツウジタ コウド ハンヨウリョク カンヨウ ノ ココロミ ケンキュウ プロジェクト ノ コレマデ ト コレカラ

大阪大学COデザインセンターにおいて著者らが提供する『研究プロジェクト』は、科学技術と社会を架橋する人材の育成を目指す大学院副専攻プログラムである『公共圏における科学技術政策』での学びを締めくくる必修科目である。同科目は、受講生がそれまでに副専攻プログラムで身につけた科学技術と社会、公共政策との関係性についての理解をさらに深めると同時に、高度汎用力の定着をはかるために、科学技術と社会の関係性を主題とした研究活動に人文学・社会科学的な手法を用いて取り組み、研究論文を執筆するものである。本稿では、著者らの『研究プロジェクト』への取り組みについて報告し、受講生のより深い学びの実現に向けて同科目がどのように運営・提供されているのかについて、その設計上の理念や開発の経緯と併せて論じる。“Research Project” is a course the authors run at the Center for the Study of Co* Design, as the concluding part of its postgraduate minor programme “Science and Technology Policy in the Public Sphere”. In the course, students conduct their own research project over a period of one year, in which they design the project, collect and analyse data, present results and findings in a research seminar and compose a research thesis. While conducting the research project, the students drawn on what they have learnt from their preceding study in the programme, whereby they deepen and further extend their understanding of the relationships between science and technology, society and public policy and also develop transferable skills. In this paper we share with the readers how we have been developing and running the “Research Project” course since its commencement in 2013

Variation in herbivory-induced responses within successively flushing Quercus serrata seedlings under different nutrient conditions

Herbivore damage can induce the host plant to alter the chemical and physical qualities of its leaves, which is thought to be a plant strategy—termed “induced response”—for avoiding further herbivory. In woody plants, many studies have considered variation in induced response with resource availability, but few studies have examined this variation in relation to growth patterns of woody plants. We studied the phenotypic variability of induced response within successively flushing Quercus serrata seedlings. Q. serrata seedlings were grown under controlled conditions. The controlled factors were herbivore damage (herbivore-damaged and -undamaged) and soil fertility (low and high). At each flush stage, the concentrations of condensed tannin (CT), total phenolics (TP), and nitrogen (N) in leaves were analyzed, and the leaf mass per area (LMA) was measured. CT and TP concentrations in leaves and LMA were higher in herbivore-damaged seedlings. Leaves of the first flushes showed greater sensitivity to herbivore damage and had a higher CT concentration than leaves of the later flushes. Furthermore, seedlings growing in low-fertility soil showed a greater induced response. The results suggest that the induced response of Q. serrata seedlings was related to the contributions of the tissue to current productivity. Leaves of the first flush showed a greater induced response, possibly because they play an important role in subsequent growth. The potential of Q. serrata seedlings to adjust the properties of leaves depending on herbivory and soil fertility in relation to growth patterns may be advantageous on the forest floor, where seedlings grow in soil of heterogeneous fertility and are constantly exposed to herbivory

Alterations in the gustatory papillae after anterior bite plate insertion in growing rats

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the modification of dental occlusion, without molar extraction, affected the gustatory papillae located in the tongue of growing rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly divided into an anterior bite plate (ABP) group and a control group. Under general anesthesia, ABPs were placed on the occlusal surfaces of the maxillary incisors, while metal caps covered the mandibular incisal edges of the rats in the ABP group. The control group rats underwent a sham operation. The rats in both groups were euthanized 14 days after the procedure. The circumvallate papillae and taste buds were analyzed by immunohistochemical methods, and the fungiform papillae were observed and counted after immersion of the tongue in 1% methylene blue. RESULTS: Two weeks after ABP insertion and mandibular incisal cap placement, the gustatory papillae exhibited morphological and structural changes. The rats in the ABP group had exhibited significantly fewer fungiform papillae, and narrower circumvallate papillae, with greater trench depths, larger trench profile areas, smaller taste bud profile areas, lower ratios of the taste bud profile area to the trench profile area, and more taste buds than those in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the association between occlusal and taste functions and provide a basis for further studies on the gustatory function. In conclusion, loss of molar occlusion, resulting from the ABP and metal cap insertion, altered the peripheral gustatory receptors in the growing rats