Intrinsic functional network contributions to the relationship between trait empathy and subjective happiness

幸福感と共感性を関連付ける安静時脳機能ネットワークの解明 --前頭前皮質の機能的結合性の役割--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-01-08.Subjective happiness (well-being) is a multi-dimensional construct indexing one's evaluations of everyday emotional experiences and life satisfaction, and has been associated with different aspects of trait empathy. Despite previous research identifying the neural substrates of subjective happiness and empathy, the mechanisms mediating the relationship between the two constructs remain largely unclear. Here, we performed a data-driven, multi-voxel pattern analysis of whole-brain intrinsic functional connectivity to reveal the neural mechanisms of subjective happiness and trait empathy in a sample of young females. Behaviorally, we found that subjective happiness was negatively associated with personal distress (i.e., self-referential experience of others’ feelings). Consistent with this inverse relationship, subjective happiness was associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex exhibiting decreased functional connectivity with regions important for the representation of unimodal sensorimotor information (e.g., primary sensory cortices) or multi-modal summaries of brain states (e.g., default mode network) and increased functional connectivity with regions important for the attentional modulation of these representations (e.g., frontoparietal, attention networks). Personal distress was associated with the medial prefrontal cortex exhibiting functional connectivity differences with similar networks––but in the opposite direction. Finally, intrinsic functional connectivity within and between these networks fully mediated the relationship between the two behavioral measures. These results identify an important contribution of the macroscale functional organization of the brain to human well-being, by demonstrating that lower levels of personal distress lead to higher subjective happiness through variation in intrinsic functional connectivity along a neural representation vs. modulation gradient

Developing Lesson Modules for Reconstruction of Perspectives on Peace and Meta-cognition of its Process

The aim of this study is to develop the module for peace education which helps learners to reconstruct their own perspectives on peace. Previous studies introducing lesson plans on peace education have limitation in that these lesson plans focus heavily on wars or issues unfamiliar to students. In addition, they were not intended to give opportunities to metacognize the reconstruction of perspectives on peace. The lesson module we developed consists of three section: introduction section, main section, closing section. The main section consists of six units, and we chose six concepts or theories with which learners reconstruct their perspectives on peace：(1)game theory, (2)Galtung’s theory of peace, (3)conflict resolution, (4)authoritarian personality, (5)labeling theory, and, (6)social identity. This lesson module includes not only various concepts or theories about peace but also the process through which learners reconstruct their own perspectives on peace and reflection on the process in order to cultivate peace-makers

Novel functional anti-HER3 monoclonal antibodies with potent anti-cancer effects on various human epithelial cancers

Resistance of progressive cancers against chemotherapy is a serious clinical problem. In this context, human epidermal growth factor receptor 3 (HER3) can play important roles in drug resistance to HER1- and HER2- targeted therapies. Since clinical testing of anti-HER3 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as patritumab could not show remarkable effect compared with existing drugs, we generated novel mAbs against anti-HER3. Novel rat mAbs reacted with HEK293 cells expressing HER3, but not with cells expressing HER1, HER2 or HER4. Specificity of mAbs was substantiated by the loss of mAb binding with knockdown by siRNA and knockout of CRISPR/Cas9-based genome-editing. Analyses of CDR sequence and germline segment have revealed that seven mAbs are classified to four groups, and the binding of patritumab was inhibited by one of seven mAbs. Seven mAbs have shown reactivity with various human epithelial cancer cells, strong internalization activity of cell-surface HER3, and inhibition of NRG1 binding, NRG1-dependent HER3 phosphorylation and cell growth. Anti-HER3 mAbs were also reactive with in vivo tumor tissues and cancer tissue-originated spheroid. Ab4 inhibited in vivo tumor growth of human colon cancer cells in nude mice. Present mAbs may be superior to existing anti-HER3 mAbs and support existing anti-cancer therapeutic mAbs

Effect of exercise and/or educational interventions on physical activity and pain in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of exercise and/or educational intervention on physical activity and pain in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis (OA) using systematic review and meta-analysis.Methods: We searched randomized controlled trials that investigated physical activity and pain and compared exercise and/or educational intervention with usual care in patients with hip/knee OA in MEDLINE (PubMed), ProQuest, Scopus, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), including all those published by April 30, 2022 and written in English. Studies that newly applied analgesics after onset of the intervention were excluded. The revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials was used to assess the methodological qualities. The random-effects model was used for meta-analysis with standard mean differences using RevMan version 5.4. The body of evidence for each study was synthesized using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.Results: Twenty studies including 2,350 patients were included (7 exercise studies, 8 educational intervention studies and 5 combination studies). The meta-analysis demonstrated that there is very low evidence that combination therapy of exercise and educational intervention improve the physical activity level at the endpoint (4 articles; SMD 0.33, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.51, P = 0.03). Low evidence was observed for combination therapy reducing pain (4 articles; SMD -0.15, 95% CI -0.29 to -0.02, P = 0.03).Discussion: The current evidence indicated that combination therapy of exercise and educational intervention leads to improved physical activity and pain reduction in hip/knee OA patients, but the risk of bias in each study, especially in allocation concealment, downgraded the evidence level. These findings support the use of a combination therapy of exercise and educational intervention to promote physical activity levels in patients with hip/knee OA.Trail registration: There was no financial support for this research. The protocol was registered at the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (registration code: CRD42020205804)

The method of lesson study based on the structure of the subject: the case of primary social studies classroom

This study presents the case study of the lesson study in a primary social studies classroom in Japan. The result indicates to propose a new method of social studies lesson study. While previous method tended to pay less attention to the context of school and children because of the focus of generalization, this study highlights the reality of diverse children in a classroom settings. Throughout the study, we compared the two items: The structure of the subject, namely, triangle relation of goals, contents, and methods and learner 's learning structure. Comparing the two items, we could see the effect of the process of teaching and learning on the children. It means that we can propose the new method by focusing on the reality of the classroom

A Report on Overseas Teaching Practicum by Graduate Students in Elementary/Secondary Schools in the United States（Ⅺ）

This paper reports on the 11th overseas teaching practicum in the U.S. 12 students joined this year’s program and they observed and conducted lessons in English in three local public schools in North Carolina after careful and repeated preparation sessions in Japan. Many of them did lessons on crosscultural understandings and a few taught subject contents. Through the trail to convey messages in English, their foreign language, students learned the role of verbal and nonverbal language and the more universal way to explain topics to children who are unfamiliar with what re taught. And they also learned and noticed the cultural differences and similalities between the two countries. It seemed that students realized that the two countries share many things in common such as what chidren are like, teachers’ attitude toward children and challenges they are facing, and people’s kindness. These learning was no substitute experience for the participants and it is hoped that their experience will be passed to the next generation when they become teachers

Odontogenic stem cells

Epithelial cell rests of Malassez (ERM) are quiescent epithelial remnants of the Hertwig’s epithelial root sheath (HERS) that are involved in the formation of tooth roots. ERM cells are unique epithelial cells that remain in periodontal tissues throughout adult life. They have a functional role in the repair/regeneration of cement or enamel. Here, we isolated odontogenic epithelial cells from ERM in the periodontal ligament, and the cells were spontaneously immortalized. Immortalized odontogenic epithelial (iOdE) cells had the ability to form spheroids and expressed stem cell-related genes. Interestingly, iOdE cells underwent osteogenic differentiation, as demonstrated by the mineralization activity in vitro in mineralization-inducing media and formation of calcification foci in iOdE cells transplanted into immunocompromised mice. These findings suggest that a cell population with features similar to stem cells exists in ERM and that this cell population has a differentiation capacity for producing calcifications in a particular microenvironment. In summary, iOdE cells will provide a convenient cell source for tissue engineering and experimental models to investigate tooth growth, differentiation, and tumorigenesis

Museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares de Bogotá. Recuperando la memoria

Para optar al título de magister en Museología y Gestión del Patrimonio se desarrolla este trabajo de grado, el cual está estructurado a partir del desarrollo de tres componentes teórico-prácticos. En primer lugar, se encuentra el Trabajo Conceptual, en donde se realiza el estudio del caso del museo de Artes y Tradiciones Populares de Bogotá, el cual se configura como un referente que establece aspectos a tener en cuenta para construir un museo que sea sostenible en el tiempo. La investigación realizada desde una perspectiva museológica centrada en el origen, el funcionamiento y el cierre de la institución, permiten identificar factores que se pueden controlar desde el origen de un museo para que este logre ser un museo exitoso, que llegue a un punto de estabilidad organizacional tal, que le permita mantenerse como una institución activa a través del cumplimiento de sus objetivos. Dicha investigación se realiza a partir de la revisión de referentes teóricos y documentales, y de la elaboración de entrevistas a personas que hicieron parte de la historia del museo. En segundo lugar, se realizó una práctica en el museo AMANO, Textil Precolombino, en la ciudad de Lima (Perú), en la cual se apoyó al área educativa del museo por medio de la ejecución de actividades concretas en torno a la oferta educativa de la institución. En tercer y último lugar, se desarrolló una estancia en el museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán, en la ciudad de Lambayeque (Perú), con el fin de entender el funcionamiento, la estructura y la organización del museo. Tanto en el desarrollo de la práctica, como en la elaboración de la estancia, se realizó un análisis crítico de la situación específica de cada museo a partir del cual se plantearon recomendaciones de mejora para cada institución.Abstract In order to qualify for the Master's Degree in Museology and Heritage Management, the following degree work is written and structured based on the development of three theoretical-practical components. In the first place, there is the Conceptual Work in which the studied case of the Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions of Bogotá is carried out. This museum is configured as a reference that establishes aspects to take into account to build a museum that is sustainable in over time. This research is carried out from a museological perspective focused on the origin, operation and closure of the institution, which allows to identify factors that can be controlled from the origin of a museum in order to make it a successful museum, reaching a point of such organizational stability that allows it to maintain itself as an active institution throughout the fulfillment of its objectives. This research is carried out based on the review of theoretical and documentary referents, and the preparation of interviews with people who were part of the history of the museum. In the second place, a practice was carried out in the AMANO Museum, PreColumbian Textile in Lima (Peru), in which the educational area of the museum was supported through the execution of concrete activities concerning the educational offer of the institution. In the third and last place, a stay was conducted at the Tumbas Reales de Sipán museum located in the city of Lambayeque (Peru) in order to understand the functioning, structure and organization of the museum. Both in the development of the practice and in the duration of the stay a critical analysis of the specific situation of each museum was carried out, from which recommendations of improvement for each institution were raised.Maestrí

Supramolecular Assembly Based on 9,10-bis(3,5-clihyclroxy-1-phenyl)Anthracene-tetrakis β-cyclodextrin with Guest Molecule

The synthesis of 9,10-bis(3,5-dihydroxy-1-phenyl)anthracene-tetrakis β-cyclodextrin was synthesized from DCC coupling between anthacene-tetracarboxylic acid and amino β-cyclodextrin in a high yield. \u27HNMR, IR and TOF-mass spectroscopy carried out the identification of the titled compound. TOF-mass spectroscopy shows a molecular weight peak at 4970.40, which means (M+Na)+ peak. In this study, we investigated to form supramolecular assembly mediated by guest molecule