Effects of Pairing on the Relationships between Motivation and Task Performance in an Interactive Task

This study investigates how learners’ own motivational variables are related to task performance and how learners’ task performance is influenced by their partners’ motivational variables in an interactive task. A total of 28 Japanese first year university students engaged in a computer mediated, decision making task, and the number of words produced and turns taken during the task was counted as their task performance. Questionnaires were administered to measure eight motivational dispositions related to the task. Correlation analyses were used to examine the relationships between task motivation and performance. The results showed that (a) learners’ task motivation was positively correlated with task performance, suggesting a positive role of task motivation in performing a task and (b) learners’ task performance was negatively correlated with the interlocutors’ task motivation, except for the highly motivated pairs, which implied limited effects of pair work. This study finally provides some pedagogical and future implications

Worm-like carbon shell chains produced from wood

Large-scale utilization of wood which command absolute majority in biomass for functional carbon precursors contributes to reduce greenhouse effect. Wood char generally has a limit on material usage because of its non-graphitic structure^1^, so we developed a new functional wood char by iron-, or nickel-catalyzed carbonization, which has a graphite-like structure with mesopores good for electroconductivity and liquid phase adsorption capacity for macro molecules^2-5^. However the fine structure of the wood char is still not clear. Here we report more than 70 wt % of iron-catalyzed wood char is filled with chained carbon shells formed by 3~20 defective stacking layers of carbon hexagonal planes, which look like nanometer-sized worms swarm. We name them "carbon shell chains". The discussion of the formation mechanism reveals that the wood cell wall plays an important role for their efficient production. They are stable at 1800 ºC under vacuum, but in air, burn under 600 ºC, and are perfectly conversed into hydrogen and carbon monoxide in a short time by steam at 900 ºC. The control of their decomposition will bring out a new talent in the wood char as a big source of supply for nano-graphite or nano-graphene, for which nanometer size and edge effects have recently attracted considerable attention^6^. In addition, a simple and easy preparation of carbon shell chains implies that they may be naturally produced on or in the earth rich in iron, and might be misinterpreted as nano-worms, though most of them may decompose into organic gases

Methanol-Triggered Turn-On-Type Photoluminescence in L-Cysteinato Palladium(II) and Platinum(II) Complexes Supported by a Bis-Diphenylphosphine Ligand

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Inorganic Chemistry, © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.5b0236

Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction with abnormal papillary muscles

AbstractA 65-year-old man with a history of hypertension was admitted to our hospital with fainting and syncope. He had experienced recurrent syncope since 20 years of age. On admission, systolic heart murmur was audible at the apex of the heart. Echocardiography revealed anteriorly displaced papillary muscles (PMs), elongation of the anterior mitral valve leaflet (AML), and systolic anterior motion (SAM) of the AML. Color Doppler imaging showed accelerated flow with a pressure gradient (PG) of 56mmHg at the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging revealed mild asymmetric septal hypertrophy and multiple accessory PMs. Cine images clearly demonstrated SAM and LVOT obstruction due to anteriorly displaced PMs. Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed as having hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and LVOT obstruction due to abnormal PMs. Oral administration of bisoprolol (2.5mg/day) was initiated, because the patient rejected surgical treatment. Follow-up echocardiography revealed a gradual decrease in the LVOT-PG to 24mmHg, and no episodes of fainting or syncope have recurred for 2 years after the initiation of bisoprolol.<Learning objective: Abnormal papillary muscle (PM) is an unusual cause of left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) obstruction, and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has been reported to be useful for diagnosis of abnormal PM. Abnormal PMs with LVOT obstruction are usually treated by surgical correction, and therefore, reports on medical treatment are limited. We report a case of LVOT obstruction due to abnormal PMs, which was accurately diagnosed by CMR imaging and successfully treated with a beta-blocker.

Stabilization of SF₅⁻ with Glyme-Coordinated Alkali Metal Cations

The stabilization of complex fluoroanions derived from weakly acidic parent fluorides is a significant and ongoing challenge. The [SF₅]⁻ anion is recognized as one such case, and only a limited number of [SF₅]⁻ salts are known to be stable at room temperature. In the present study, glyme-coordinated alkali metal cations (K⁺, Rb⁺, and Cs⁺) are employed to stabilize [SF₅]⁻, which provides a simple synthetic route to a [SF₅]⁻ salt. The reactivities of KF and RbF with SF₄ are significantly enhanced by complexation with G4, based on Raman spectroscopic analyses. A new room-temperature stable salt, [Cs(G4)₂][SF₅] (G4 = tetraglyme), was synthesized by stoichiometric reaction of CsF, G4, and SF₄. The vibrational frequencies of [SF₅]⁻ were assigned based on quantum chemical calculations, and the shift of the G4 breathing mode accompanying coordination to metal cations was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that Cs⁺ is completely isolated from [SF₅]⁻ by two G4 ligands and [SF₅]⁻ is disordered along the crystallographic two-fold axis. Hirshfeld surface analysis reveals that the H···H interaction between two neighboring [Cs(G4)₂]⁺ moieties is more dominant on the Hirshfeld surface than the interaction between the H atom in glyme molecules and the F atom in [SF₅]⁻, providing a CsCl-type structural model where the large and spherical [Cs(G4)₂]⁺ cations contact each other and the [SF₅]⁻ anions occupy interstitial spaces in the crystal lattice. The [SF₅]⁻ anion, combined with [Cs(G4)₂]⁺, exhibits a very limited deoxofluorinating ability toward hydroxyl groups in both neat conditions and THF solutions

Crow-Fukase syndrome associated with high-output heart failure

金沢大学医薬保健研究域医学系A 64-year-old woman was admitted with systemic edema and exertional dyspnea. High-output heart failure was diagnosed by right heart catheterization and she was treated with diuretics. After 3 weeks, her symptoms disappeared but a high cardiac output state persisted. A diagnosis of Crow-Fukase syndrome was made based on the presence of polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein, and skin changes. Her serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level was markedly elevated after recovery from heart failure. We suspect that an elevated VEGF level and a high cardiac output state may play a role in the pathogenesis of heart failure in Crow-Fukase syndrome

Large Scale Field Tests on Quaternary Sand and Gravel Deposits for Seismic Siting Technology

The basic policy of Japan is to build nuclear reactor building on bed rock. But, in order to cope with the middle and long term siting problems it has become necessary to promote new siting technology from the standpoint of expanding the available range of site selections and effective utilization of land. The large scale field tests were conducted at the Tadotsu Engineering Laboratory, Kagawa Prefecture, of The Nuclear Power Engineering Test Center (NUPEC) as an entrusted project into the Siting Methods on Quaternary Deposits from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), in order to verify the seismic stability of soil appertained to siting technology on quaternary deposits. Described in this paper is the results of the tests

Evaluation of the Total Design Method in a survey of Japanese dentists

BACKGROUND: This study assessed the application of the Total Design Method (TDM) in a mail survey of Japanese dentists. The TDM was chosen because survey response rates in Japan are unacceptably low and the TDM had previously been used in a general population survey. METHODS: Four hundred and seventy eight dentist members of the Okayama Medical and Dental Practitioner's Association were surveyed. The nine-page, 27-item questionnaire covered dentist job satisfaction, physical practice, and dentist and patient characteristics. Respondents to the first mailing or the one-week follow-up postcard were defined as early responders; others who responded were late responders. Responder bias was assessed by examining age, gender and training. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 46.7% (223/478). The response rates by follow-up mailing were, 18% after the first mailing, 35.4% after the follow-up postcard, 42.3% after the second mailing, and 46.7% after the third mailing. Respondents did not differ from non-respondents in age or gender, nor were there differences between early and late responders. CONCLUSION: The application of TDM in this survey of Japanese dentists produced lower rates of response than expected from previous Japanese and US studies