<Articles>Instruction without Directness: Notes on Kore-eda’s Maborosi

特集 : 京都大学大学院教育学研究科 ユニバーシティ・カレッジ・ロンドン教育研究所 国際合同授業 （2021年2月6日-7日, オンライン）“Thinking about Education through Film”, International Collaborative Course, Graduate School of Education, Kyoto University and UCL Institute of Education (February 6-7, 2021, Online)This article seeks to explore how one’s transformation can be supported by the other through interpreting a film, Maborosi by Hirokazu Kore-eda. The other can let one acknowledge one’s meaning of life or find one’s own voice in his or her own way by instructing without directness. This article concludes that this instruction can be seen as a sort of education between the one and the other, and furthermore, when referencing to Cavell and Nancy’s philosophy of film, it is also possible to say that the film has a potential to serve an educational role

Magnetic properties of (Bi1-xLax)(Fe,Co)O-3 films fabricated by a pulsed DC reactive sputtering and demonstration of magnetization reversal by electric field

(Bi1-xLax)(Fe,Co)O-3 multiferroic magnetic film were fabricated using pulsed DC (direct current) sputtering technique and demonstrated magnetization reversal by applied electric field. The fabricated (Bi0.41La0.59)(Fe0.75Co0.25)O-3 films exhibited hysteresis curves of both ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behavior. The saturated magnetization (M-s) of the multiferroic film was about 70 emu/cm(3). The squareness (S) (=remanent magnetization (M-r)/M-s) and coercivity (H-c) of perpendicular to film plane are 0.64 and 4.2 kOe which are larger compared with films in parallel to film plane of 0.5 and 2.5 kOe. The electric and magnetic domain structures of the (Bi0.41La0.59)(Fe0.75Co0.25)O-3 film analyzed by electric force microscopy (EFM) and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) were clearly induced with submicron scale by applying a local electric field. This magnetization reversal indicates the future realization of high performance magnetic device with low power consumption

A novel locally operated master-slave robot system for single-incision laparoscopic surgery

Purpose: Single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS) provides more cosmetic benefits than conventional laparoscopic surgery but presents operational difficulties. To overcome this technical problem, we have developed a locally operated master-slave robot system that provides operability and a visual field similar to conventional laparoscopic surgery. Material and methods: A surgeon grasps the master device with the left hand, which is placed above the abdominal wall, and holds a normal instrument with the right hand. A laparoscope, a slave robot, and the right-sided instrument are inserted through one incision. The slave robot is bent in the body cavity and its length, pose, and tip angle are changed by manipulating the master device; thus the surgeon has almost the same operability as with normal laparoscopic surgery. To evaluate our proposed system, we conducted a basic task and an ex vivo experiment. Results: In basic task experiments, the average object-passing task time was 9.50 sec (SILS cross), 22.25 sec (SILS parallel), and 7.23 sec (proposed SILS). The average number of instrument collisions was 3.67 (SILS cross), 14 (SILS parallel), and 0.33 (proposed SILS). In the ex vivo experiment, we confirmed the applicability of our system for single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Conclusion: We demonstrated that our proposed robot system is useful for single-incision laparoscopic surgery.ArticleMINIMALLY INVASIVE THERAPY & ALLIED TECHNOLOGIES. 23(6):326-332 (2014)journal articl

Analysis of the Evidence-practice Gap to Facilitate Proper Medical Care for the Elderly: Investigation, using Databases, of Utilization Measures for National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB)

As Japan becomes a super-aging society, presentation of the best ways to provide medical care for the elderly, and the direction of that care, are important national issues. Elderly people have multi-morbidity with numerous medical conditions and use many medical resources for complex treatment patterns. This increases the likelihood of inappropriate medical practices and an evidence-practice gap. The present study aimed to: derive findings that are applicable to policy from an elucidation of the actual state of medical care for the elderly; establish a foundation for the utilization of National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups of Japan (NDB), and present measures for the utilization of existing databases in parallel with NDB validation. Cross-sectional and retrospective cohort studies were conducted using the NDB built by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan, private health insurance claims databases, and the Kyoto University Hospital database (including related hospitals). Medical practices (drug prescription, interventional procedures, testing) related to four issues—potential inappropriate medication, cancer therapy, chronic kidney disease treatment, and end-of-life care—will be described. The relationships between these issues and clinical outcomes (death, initiation of dialysis and other adverse events) will be evaluated, if possible

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Gastric cancer screening by combined assay for serum anti-Helicobacter pylori IgG antibody and serum pepsinogen levels — “ABC method”

The current status of screening for gastric cancer-risk (gastritis A, B, C, D) method using combined assay for serum anti-Helicobacter pylori (Hp) IgG antibody and serum pepsinogen (PG) levels, “ABC method”, was reviewed and the latest results of our ongoing trial are reported. It was performed using the following strategy: Subjects were classified into 1 of 4 risk groups based on the results of the two serologic tests, anti-Hp IgG antibody titers and the PG I and II levels: Group A [Hp(−)PG(−)], infection-free subjects; Group B [Hp(+)PG(−)], chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) free or mild; Group C [Hp(+)PG(+)], CAG; Group D [Hp(−)PG(+)]), severe CAG with extensive intestinal metaplasia. Continuous endoscopic follow-up examinations are required to detect early stages of gastric cancer. Asymptomatic Group A, which accounts for 50–80% of all the subjects may be excluded from the secondary endoscopic examination, from the viewpoint of efficiency. Hp-infected subjects should be administered eradication treatment aimed at the prevention of gastric cancer

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target