Helping Brazilian People Living in Japan : Towards a Joint Proposal(Issues on Cross-Cultural Distance Education : Collaborative Research Outcomes and Open Workshops)

At the moment, there are around 270.000 Brazilian people living in Japan. The migratory movement from Brazil to Japan started in the decade of 80. Initially, the migrants came to Japan without their families. From the revision of the Japanese immigration law, in 1990, Japanese descendents up to the third generation (sansei), as well as their consorts, could come and work legally in Japan. In this paper we present initially general information about the dekassegui phenomenon, in relation to the migration of Japanese-Brazilians to Japan. Next, we report on the problems and difficulties experienced by the Brazilian people living in Japan, as they have been described in several sources. Then we mention several actions and initiatives directed to or motivated by the dekassegui movement: events, courses, associations, etc. Due to the importance of the Education theme in the context of the migration Brazil-Japan, a session has been dedicated to the problems related to the Education of the dekasseguis1 children. After reporting on the problems and difficulties, we discuss a proposal aiming at helping the dekasseguis with a view to give them conditions to fight for better working conditions, and also to provide some support related to the education of their children

Motorcyclists' reactions to safety helmet law: a qualitative study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Extensive body of the literature reveals that proper use of helmets is an effective way to reduce the severity of injuries and fatalities among motorcyclists. However, many motorcyclists do not use safety helmet properly. This study aimed to empirically explore reactions of motorcyclists to the safety helmet laws, in Iran.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Qualitative data were collected via four focus groups and 11 in-depth interviews. Participants were 28 male motorcyclists who never used a safety helmet during rides, and 4 male police officers. All transcripts, codes and categories were read for several times to exhaust identifiable major themes. During this process data were reduced from text to codes and themes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Five major themes emerged from the data analyses, including themes related to the following: (1) circumventing or dodging police officers; (2) simulating a helmet wearing behavior; (3) accepting the probability of receiving a ticket; (4) taking advantage of the police neglect and carelessness; and (5) using a cheap or convenient helmet.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest certain levels of reckless driving among the participating motorcyclists in this study. They also point to a system of law enforcement that operates haphazardly and fails to consistently penalize those who deviate from it. Further studies are needed to investigate how "risks" are perceived and relate to "reactions", and how a 'culture of masculinity' may encourage risk tolerance and a disposition toward lawlessness and carelessness among male motorcyclists. Also, there is a need for the development and implementation of multidimensional interventions that would offer socio-culturally sensitive educational and motivational messages to the motorcyclists and the in-service traffic-enforcement officers in Iran.</p

Diacylglycerol Kinase β Knockout Mice Exhibit Lithium-Sensitive Behavioral Abnormalities

BACKGROUND: Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is an enzyme that phosphorylates diacylglycerol (DG) to produce phosphatidic acid (PA). DGKβ is widely distributed in the central nervous system, such as the olfactory bulb, cerebral cortex, striatum, and hippocampus. Recent studies reported that the splice variant at the COOH-terminal of DGKβ was related to bipolar disorder, but its detailed mechanism is still unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In the present study, we performed behavioral tests using DGKβ knockout (KO) mice to investigate the effects of DGKβ deficits on psychomotor behavior. DGKβ KO mice exhibited some behavioral abnormalities, such as hyperactivity, reduced anxiety, and reduced depression. Additionally, hyperactivity and reduced anxiety were attenuated by the administration of the mood stabilizer, lithium, but not haloperidol, diazepam, or imipramine. Moreover, DGKβ KO mice showed impairment in Akt-glycogen synthesis kinase (GSK) 3β signaling and cortical spine formation. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These findings suggest that DGKβ KO mice exhibit lithium-sensitive behavioral abnormalities that are, at least in part, due to the impairment of Akt-GSK3β signaling and cortical spine formation

Essential Role of Neuron-Enriched Diacylglycerol Kinase (DGK), DGKβ in Neurite Spine Formation, Contributing to Cognitive Function

BACKGROUND: Diacylglycerol (DG) kinase (DGK) phosphorylates DG to produce phosphatidic acid (PA). Of the 10 subtypes of mammalian DGKs, DGKbeta is a membrane-localized subtype and abundantly expressed in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and caudate-putamen. However, its physiological roles in neurons and higher brain function have not been elucidated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We, therefore, developed DGKbeta KO mice using the Sleeping Beauty transposon system, and found that its long-term potentiation in the hippocampal CA1 region was reduced, causing impairment of cognitive functions including spatial and long-term memories in Y-maze and Morris water-maze tests. The primary cultured hippocampal neurons from KO mice had less branches and spines compared to the wild type. This morphological impairment was rescued by overexpression of DGKbeta. In addition, overexpression of DGKbeta in SH-SY5Y cells or primary cultured mouse hippocampal neurons resulted in branch- and spine-formation, while a splice variant form of DGKbeta, which has kinase activity but loses membrane localization, did not induce branches and spines. In the cells overexpressing DGKbeta but not the splice variant form, DGK product, PA, was increased and the substrate, DG, was decreased on the plasma membrane. Importantly, lower spine density and abnormality of PA and DG contents in the CA1 region of the KO mice were confirmed. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results demonstrate that membrane-localized DGKbeta regulates spine formation by regulation of lipids, contributing to the maintenance of neural networks in synaptic transmission of cognitive processes including memory

Generation and Characterization of Conditional Heparin-Binding EGF-Like Growth Factor Knockout Mice

Recently, neurotrophic factors and cytokines have been shown to be associated in psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a member of the EGF family, serves as a neurotrophic molecular and plays a significant role in the brain. We generated mice in which HB-EGF activity is disrupted specifically in the ventral forebrain. These knockout mice showed (a) behavioral abnormalities similar to those described in psychiatric disorders, which were ameliorated by typical or atypical antipsychotics, (b) altered dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain, (c) decreases in spine density in neurons of the prefrontal cortex, (d) reductions in the protein levels of the NR1 subunit of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and post-synaptic protein-95 (PSD-95), (e) decreases in the EGF receptor, and in the calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK II) signal cascade. These results suggest the alterations affecting HB-EGF signaling could comprise a contributing factor in psychiatric disorder

Development of thermoelectric thin films and characterization methods

This work reports on the fabrication of thin films of inorganic thermoelectric materials like borides, germanides, manganese compounds, and characterization of their thermoelectric properties. We have utilized a unique high temperature molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) apparatus to grow hexaboride thin films and manganese germanides. Magnetic manganese based alloy thin films were also grown using sputtering, since we are interested in the possibilities of utilizing magnetism to develop thermoelectric materials.</p