Holomua Elementary Kokua Website- Usability Study

The professional relationship between teachers and parents is key when promoting a positive academic and social journey for students. The foundation of this relationship starts and is fostered during the child’s early childhood years. With technology also becoming increasingly more prevalent in society, there is no reason why information can’t be readily available on all connected devices. The use of websites to keep both parents and teachers involved will revolutionize how we think of increasing and maintaining a positive academic and professional relationship between all members of the school team. The Holomua Kokua Program will assist Holomua’s preschool teachers to initiate and foster the relationship between teachers and parents. This was accomplished by providing a “one stop shop” website that parents can access anytime, anywhere for information and resources. The usability study of this website included participants who are current and past preschool parents and other teachers. They have evaluated the website’s navigability and judged the richness of the content provided. With the testing data, changes were made to the final website has been a culminating work in progress. The website is now a working and functional website with all the key design components, and includes many tools to help and assist in navigation and usability

Characteristice of the Resistance of Pinus armandii var. amamiana, an Endangered Pine Species in Japan, to Pine Wilt Disease after a Pin Sawfly Outbreak

Kyushu Research Center, Foresty and Forest Products Research InstituteForestry and Forest Products Research InstituteProceedings : IUFRO Kanazawa 2003 "Forest Insect Population Dynamics and Host Influences"., Scedule:14－19 September 2003, Vemue: Kanazawa Citymonde Hotel, Kanazawa, Japan, Joint metting of IUFRO working groups : 7.01.02 Tree resistance to Insects | 7.03.06 Integrated management of forset defoloating insects | 7.03.07 Population dynamics of forest insects, Sponsored by: IUFRO-J | Ishikawa Prefecture | Kanazawa City | 21st-COE Program of Kanazawa University, Editors: Kamata, Naoto | Liebhold, Nadrew M. | Quiring, Dan T. | Clancy, Karen M

Genetic relationships and expected responses for genetic improvement of carcass traits of Berkshire pigs

The Berkshire pig (Sus domestica L.) breed has thin muscle fibers and excellent water-holding capacity. The Berkshire meat makes it widely accepted in the Japanese premium pork market. This study evaluates the accuracy of improving carcass quality with the use of live animal records of Berkshire pigs. Traits analyzed in live animals were: body weight at 60 days of age (W60), age at finish (AGF), daily weight gain from birth to finish (DG), back fat thickness at finish (BFTF), and loin eye area at finish (LEAF), and in carcasses were: carcass weight, loin eye area (LEA), and subcutaneous fat thickness (SCF) at some points, using the records of 4,773 purebred Berkshire pigs. Variance components for the traits were estimated according to the animal model by the Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) procedure using the VCE6 program (Neumaier and Groeneveld, 1998). Correlated responses were also calculated. Genetic correlations of back fat thickness (BFT) in live animals with SCF in slaughtered animals were strong, whereas that of LEA between live and slaughtered animals was low. The expected gains by actual selection including W60 and BFTF as selection criterion were superior to other selections. Therefore, selection of live animals at an early stage of growth would be conducive to the production of high quality meat

Study on Static Electrification of Palm Fatty Acid Ester (PFAE) Oil Using Mini Static Tester (Archive)

Palm fatty acid ester (PFAE) oil is an alternative insulating liquid of power transformer that has good biodegradable properties. As a part of insulating system of power transformer, PFAE should also has a low risk in term of static electrification that may degrade electrical strength of solid insulation due to charge accumulation at its surface during oil circulating. Charge potential value could describe the possibility of insulating oil in involving on charge accumulation at the surface of solid insulation. This can be calculated from charge density through electrostatic charge tendency (ECT) and volume resistivity. This study using mini-static-tester to measure ECT since it is easy to reproduce the specimen and suitable for standardization. Since PFAE has higher polarity than mineral oil, PFAE has larger charges than mineral oil. Even though static charges are estimated to generate on the pressboard surface easily, generated charges are estimated to escape from pressboard surface because of its lower resistivity. Variation of charge density and volume resistivity of several types (i.e. PFAE and mineral) and conditions (i.e. with-additives, non-additives, unused, and aged) of oil will influence to its charge potentia

Signaling pathway for phagocyte priming upon encounter with apoptotic cells

The phagocytic elimination of cells undergoing apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved innate immune mechanism for eliminating unnecessary cells. Previous studies showed an increase in the level of engulfment receptors in phagocytes after the phagocytosis of apoptotic cells, which leads to the enhancement of their phagocytic activity. However, precise mechanisms underlying this phenomenon require further clarification. We found that the pre-incubation of a Drosophila phagocyte cell line with the fragments of apoptotic cells enhanced the subsequent phagocytosis of apoptotic cells, accompanied by an augmented expression of the engulfment receptors Draper and integrin αPS3. The DNA-binding activity of the transcription repressor Tailless was transiently raised in those phagocytes, depending on two partially overlapping signal-transduction pathways for the induction of phagocytosis as well as the occurrence of engulfment. The RNAi knockdown of tailless in phagocytes abrogated the enhancement of both phagocytosis and engulfment receptor expression. Furthermore, the hemocytespecific RNAi of tailless reduced apoptotic cell clearance in Drosophila embryos. Taken together, we propose the following mechanism for the activation of Drosophila phagocytes after an encounter with apoptotic cells: two partially overlapping signal-transduction pathways for phagocytosis are initiated; transcription repressor Tailless is activated; expression of engulfment receptors is stimulated; and phagocytic activity is enhanced. This phenomenon most likely ensures the phagocytic elimination of apoptotic cells by stimulated phagocytes and is thus considered as a mechanism to prime phagocytes in innate immunity. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.Embargo Period 12 month

Construction of Social Relationships through Clothes: Gender, Caste, and Inter-religious Relationships in Kutch, India

This study examines the manner in which the odhani—a head cover cloth used by women in the Kutch District, Gujarat State, India—is worn, in order to explain how clothes create social relationships, like gender, caste, and inter religious relations. One of the limitations of previous studies on Indian Muslims is that this community -- a minority -- was discussed separately from Hindu society, which has a different social system and structure. However, in reality, both communities share a common culture to a large extent, and regularly interact with each other. Their clothes provide a new perspective for understanding the social relations between the Hindus and Muslims. It is said that clothes indicate an individual’s social status. In my opinion, however, the function of clothes is not limited to a representation of the community to which the wearer belongs, but also creates differences between communities. Boundaries between communities are not rigid. Interaction with others can lead to changes in those boundaries and the significance of clothes. Hence, clothes are both an indicator and creator of the boundaries. This paper discusses the process of how visible boundaries are created by clothes, in order to complete the traditional discussion on Muslim society, in which the Muslims are considered separate from Hindu society