統計的問題解決を取り入れた授業実践の在り方に関する一考察 ―既存のデータを活用した問題解決活動におけるプロセスの相違に着目して―

要旨あり統計教育の新展開研究ノー

DIAGNOSING STUDENTS’ LEARNING DIFFICULTIES IN THE EYES OF INDONESIAN MATHEMATICS TEACHERS

Teachers’ diagnostic practice on students-difficulties is one of the important steps in designing and managing classroom lessons. The purpose of this study was to explore teachers’ perception and practices regarding diagnosing students’ learning difficulties. The participants of the study were 28 Indonesian mathematics teachers of Junior High School. The data was collected through a Focus Group Discussion and a teacher questionnaire. The data were analyzed qualitatively to describe how the teachers perceive learning difficulties and how the teachers diagnosed students’ learning difficulties. The results of the analysis reveal that the teachers do not yet perform an in-depth diagnosis of students’ difficulties in learning mathematics. The teachers only focus on the mathematics topics and non-mathematical issues, instead of on students’ thinking process. The teachers also do not differentiate the diagnosis, evaluation, and prediction test. With regard to the strategies used by the teachers to diagnose students’ difficulties, analyzing students’ responses to tests was the majority. In this respect, observing students’ learning process during classroom activities is rarely done by the teachers in the purpose of diagnosing students’ learning difficulties. The results of the diagnosis are mainly used as the basis for remedial and drill and practices. The results imply that more support is needed for teachers to improve their competences particularly in diagnosing students’ thinking process difficulties when learning mathematics

ハケン ゲンショク キョウイン オ シエン スル タメ ノ ハンズオン ソザイ シュウヤク ト ソレ オ カツヨウ シタ カツドウ テンカイ モデル ノ カイハツ ニツイテ

In this paper, the result of our project implemented by INCET, named “Developing Hands-on Teaching Materials and Activity Models to Support JOCV Volunteers’ Wide Range Activities” is reported, which is a part of “Cooperation Bases System” promoted by MEXT. The purpose and background of this project are referred at the first, then the results of questionnaire survey and gathered hands-on teaching materials, and plans of survey in developing countries to implement trials of hands-on teaching materials are reported

Hematogenous extraneural metastasis of the germinomatous component of a pineal mixed germ cell tumor

A 23-year-old man presented with a mass in the pineal region and obstructive hydrocephalus. A neuroendoscopic biopsy for the lesion, ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting, and focal irradiation were conducted as initial treatment. Histological diagnosis of the biopsy specimen was germinoma. He underwent further irradiation and two tumor resections. Histological diagnosis was mature teratoma without a germinomatous component. After serial treatments, the intracranial lesion was controlled. However, 14 months after presentation, extraneural lesions were confirmed in the posterior mediastinum and retroperitoneal space. The biopsy specimen of the retroperitoneal space lesion was histologically diagnosed as germinoma. Although chemotherapy with cisplatin and etoposide was undertaken, extraneural lesions ware uncontrollable and he died. At autopsy, extraneural lesions were confirmed in the posterior mediastinum, retroperitoneal space, and right lung. Histological diagnosis of extraneural lesions was germinoma. This case was considered to be a pineal mixed germ cell tumor mainly consisting of germinoma and mature teratoma, which caused hematogenous metastasis of the germinoma component. Systemic chemotherapy and irradiation for primary lesions as an initial treatment is important to cure the primary lesion and prevent extraneural metastasis.ArticleBRAIN TUMOR PATHOLOGY. 29(4):245-250 (2012)journal articl

Correlations Among Consistency, Computed Tomography Values, and Histopathological Subtypes of Spinal Meningioma

The consistency of spinal meningiomas is important to consider when performing tumor removal surgery. This study evaluated the correlations between spinal meningioma consistency and both preoperative computed tomography (CT) values and histopathological subtypes. Fifteen consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection of spinal meningioma at our institution were identified, and preoperative CT values and the signal intensity of T2-weighted magnetic resonance images of the tumor were determined retrospectively. The consistency of the spinal meningioma was defined based on the ultrasonic surgical aspirator output during tumor debulking. Patients were assigned to 2 groups: a soft group (n=4) and a hard group (n=11). The T2 signal intensity was significantly higher in the soft group than in the hard group (p=0.001). While the CT values were considerably higher in the hard group, the difference was not significant (p=0.19). Regarding the histopathological subtypes, psammomatous meningioma exhibited significantly higher CT values than meningothelial meningioma (p=0.019); however, there was a higher frequency of hard tumors in meningothelial meningioma cases than in psammomatous meningioma cases. Although neither robust correlations between tumor consistency and CT values nor a relationship between tumor consistency and histopathological subtype has been established, these results might help with the perioperative manegement of spinal tumors

Reconstruction of radiocesium levels in sediment off Fukushima: Simulation analysis of bioavailability using parameters derived from observed 137Cs concentrations

Radiocesium was released to the North Pacific coastal waters by the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (1FNPP) of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in March 2011. Since the radiocesium in the sediment off Fukushima was suggested as a possible source for the transfer of this radionuclide through the benthic food chain, we conducted numerical simulations of 137Cs in sediments off the Fukushima coast by using a model which incorporates dynamic transfer processes between seawater and the labile and refractory fractions in sediment particles. This model reproduced the measured temporal changes of 137Cs concentration in seabed surface sediment off Fukusima coasts, by normalizing the radiocsium transfer between seawater and sediment according to the particle diameter sizes. We found that the 137Cs level in sediment decreased by desorption during the first several months after the accident, followed by a reduction in the labile fraction until the end of 2012. The apparent decrease of the total radiocesium level in surface sediment was estimated to occur at rates of approximately 0.2 y−1 within a 20 km distance from the 1FNPP. The comparison of 137Cs level decreases in the demersal fish and the simulated temporal labile fraction in fine sediment demonstrated that the consideration of radiocesium transfer via sediment is important for determining the 137Cs depuration mechanism in some demersal fish

Impacts of direct release and river discharge on oceanic 137Cs derived from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

A series of accidents at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (1F NPP) following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011 resulted in the release of radioactive materials to the ocean. We used the Regional Ocean Model System (ROMS) to simulate the 137Cs activity in the oceanic area off Fukushima, with the sources of radioactivity being direct release, atmospheric deposition, river discharge, and inflow across the domain boundary. The direct release rate of 137Cs after the accident until the end of 2016 was estimated by comparing simulated results with measured 137Cs activities adjacent to the 1F NPP. River discharge rates of 137Cs were estimated by multiplying simulated river flow rates by the dissolved 137Cs activities, which were estimated by an empirical function. Inflow of 137Cs across the domain boundary was set according to the results of a North Pacific Ocean model. Because the spatiotemporal variability of 137Cs activity was large, the simulated results were compared with the annual averaged observed 137Cs activity distribution. Normalized annual averaged 137Cs activity distributions in the regional ocean were similar for each year from 2013 to 2016. This result suggests that the annual averaged distribution is predictable. Simulated 137Cs activity attributable to direct release was in good agreement with measurement data from the coastal zone adjacent to the 1F NPP. Comparison of the simulated results with measured activity in the offshore area indicated that the simulation slightly underestimated the activity attributable to inflow across the domain boundary. This result suggests that recirculation of subducted 137Cs to the surface layer was underestimated by the North Pacific model. During the study period, the effect of river discharge on oceanic 137Cs activity was small compared to the effect of directly released 137Cs

IL-19 Contributes to the Development of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis by Altering Lipid Metabolism

Interleukin (IL)-19, a member of the IL-10 family, is an anti-inflammatory cytokine produced primarily by macrophages. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a disease that has progressed from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and is characterized by inflammation and fibrosis. We evaluated the functions of IL-19 in a NAFLD/NASH mouse model using a 60% high fat diet with 0.1% methionine, without choline, and with 2% cholesterol (CDAHFD). Wild-type (WT) and IL-19 gene-deficient (KO) mice were fed a CDAHFD or standard diet for 9 weeks. Liver injury, inflammation, and fibrosis induced by CDAHFD were significantly worse in IL-19 KO mice than in WT mice. IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β were significantly higher in IL-19 KO mice than in WT mice. As a mechanism using an in vitro experiment, palmitate-induced triglyceride and cholesterol contents were decreased by the addition of IL-19 in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, addition of IL-19 decreased the expression of fatty acid synthesis-related enzymes and increased ATP content in HepG2 cells. The action of IL-19 in vitro suppressed lipid metabolism. In conclusion, IL-19 may play an important role in the development of steatosis and fibrosis by directly regulating liver metabolism and may be a potential target for the treatment of liver diseases

Spectral evolution of GRB 060904A observed with Swift and Suzaku -- Possibility of Inefficient Electron Acceleration

We observed an X-ray afterglow of GRB 060904A with the Swift and Suzaku satellites. We found rapid spectral softening during both the prompt tail phase and the decline phase of an X-ray flare in the BAT and XRT data. The observed spectra were fit by power-law photon indices which rapidly changed from $\Gamma = 1.51^{+0.04}_{-0.03}$ to $\Gamma = 5.30^{+0.69}_{-0.59}$ within a few hundred seconds in the prompt tail. This is one of the steepest X-ray spectra ever observed, making it quite difficult to explain by simple electron acceleration and synchrotron radiation. Then, we applied an alternative spectral fitting using a broken power-law with exponential cutoff (BPEC) model. It is valid to consider the situation that the cutoff energy is equivalent to the synchrotron frequency of the maximum energy electrons in their energy distribution. Since the spectral cutoff appears in the soft X-ray band, we conclude the electron acceleration has been inefficient in the internal shocks of GRB 060904A. These cutoff spectra suddenly disappeared at the transition time from the prompt tail phase to the shallow decay one. After that, typical afterglow spectra with the photon indices of 2.0 are continuously and preciously monitored by both XRT and Suzaku/XIS up to 1 day since the burst trigger time. We could successfully trace the temporal history of two characteristic break energies (peak energy and cutoff energy) and they show the time dependence of $\propto t^{-3} \sim t^{-4}$ while the following afterglow spectra are quite stable. This fact indicates that the emitting material of prompt tail is due to completely different dynamics from the shallow decay component. Therefore we conclude the emission sites of two distinct phenomena obviously differ from each other.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in PASJ (Suzaku 2nd Special Issue