Quantitative Measurement and Analysis to Computational Thinking for Elementary Schools in Japan

In Japan, programming education has been made compulsory in elementary schools since 2020. The Programming Education Guide (GPE) explains the purpose of programming education and the abilities that can be fostered through programming education. In addition, the “Portal Site for Programming Education Focusing on Elementary Schools” introduces various examples of programming education. However, there is little information measuring whether programming classes are effective in improving OTWP (Objective Thinking as a Way of Programming) abilities based on CT (Computational Thinking), except for reports of improvement after simple statistical analysis. Therefore, we prepared 30 CT questions, 12 basic and 18 applied, for the CT test considering four key techniques, decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithms, of which 14 questions were pre-test and seven questions were assessment test. In the experiment, 18 elementary school students from grades 1st to 6th were given a short workshop only once, and the analysis of the effect was done statistically, considering their habituation to the problems. The results of the experiment showed that there was no effect of the one-time workshop, unlike other reports of improvement that used simple statistical methods. It became clear that the CT ability was not improved by the short education. On the other hand, a new finding is that females may be inferior to males in three techniques: decomposition, algorithm, and abstraction

Successful Endoscopic Dilation Treatment of Small Intestinal Stricture Occurring during Chemotherapy for Malignant Lymphoma

We report a stricture occurring during chemotherapy for malignant lymphoma that was successfully treated by endoscopic balloon dilation. The patient was diagnosed with stage IV malignant lymphoma by esophagogastroduodenoscopy and computed tomography scans. She complained of nausea and vomiting after undergoing the second cycle of chemotherapy. A small intestinal series through an ileus tube showed severe stricture of the ileum. Endoscopic balloon dilation was successfully performed with single-balloon endoscopy. After the procedure, her symptoms subsided and did not recur even 8 months after endoscopic dilation therapy

Security Impact Analysis of Degree of Field Extension in Lattice Attacks on Ring-LWE Problem

Modern information communications use cryptography to keep the contents of communications confidential. RSA (Rivest-Shamir-Adleman) cryptography and elliptic curve cryptography, which are public-key cryptosystems, are widely used cryptographic schemes. However, it is known that these cryptographic schemes can be deciphered in a very short time by Shor's algorithm when a quantum computer is put into practical use. Therefore, several methods have been proposed for quantum computer-resistant cryptosystems that cannot be cracked even by a quantum computer. A simple implementation of LWE-based lattice cryptography based on the LWE (Learning With Errors) problem requires a key length of $O(n^2)$ to ensure the same level of security as existing public-key cryptography schemes such as RSA and elliptic curve cryptography. In this paper, we attacked the Ring-LWE (RLWE) scheme, which can be implemented with a short key length, with a modified LLL (Lenstra-Lenstra-Lov\'asz) basis reduction algorithm and investigated the trend in the degree of field extension required to generate a secure and small key. Results showed that the lattice-based cryptography may be strengthened by employing Cullen or Mersenne prime numbers as the degree of field extension.Comment: accepted in COMPSAC 2023 Workshop DSML: The 1st IEEE International Workshop on Data Science & Machine Learning for Cybersecurity, IoT & Digital Forensic

A Questionnaire System with an Authentication Framework Considering Online Activities of Users

It is difficult to distribute online questionnaire adequately to those subjects who satisfy requirements of investigations. In addition, low questionnaire response rates, because of factors such as overlooking request emails and noncooperation to answer the questionnaires, sometimes annoy the investigators. Now that today’s organizational systems adopt a unified authentication framework of which logging function stores authentication records of users in federated systems, the possible solution for these problems arises by utilizing the log data and adding the questionnaire process to the framework. The present paper proposes a flow controlling mechanism arranged in a major unified authentication framework and describes how to utilize log data on the framework to select target persons for questionnaires and increase the response rates

Local structural analyses on molten terbium fluoride in lithium fluoride and lithium–calcium fluoride mixtures

X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements on terbium fluoride in molten lithium fluoride and in molten lithium–calcium fluoride mixtures, (e.g. 0.20TbF3–0.80LiF, 0.20TbF3–0.62LiF–0.18CaF2, 0.20TbF3–0.48LiF–0.32CaF2, 0.50TbF3–0.50LiF, and 0.50TbF3–0.38LiF–0.12CaF2), have been carried out. In the solid state, coordination number of terbium (Ni) and inter ionic distances between terbium and fluorine in the first neighbor (ri) are nearly constant in all mixtures. In 0.20TbF3–0.80LiF, 0.20TbF3–0.62LiF–0.18CaF2 and 0.50TbF3–0.50LiF mixtures, Ni's decrease from ca. 8 to 6 and ri's also decrease from ca. 2.29 to 2.26 Å on melting. On the other hands, in molten 0.20TbF3–0.48LiF–0.32CaF2 and 0.50TbF3–0.38LiF–0.12CaF2 mixtures, Ni's are slightly larger than 6 and ri's do not change. These facts correspond to the amount of F− supplied by solvent melts, i.e. the effect of CaF2 becomes predominant at bCaF2 > 0.32 in ternary 0.20TbF3–aLiF–bCaF2 mixtures and at bCaF2 > 0.12 in ternary 0.50TbF3–aLiF–bCaF2 mixtures

Tamyb10-D1 restores red grain color and increases grain dormancy via suppressing expression of TaLTP2.128, non-specific lipid transfer protein in wheat

Grain dormancy of wheat is closely associated with grain color: red-grained lines show higher dormancy than white-grained lines. The production of red pigments is regulated by R-1, Tamyb10 gene. However, the relation between grain color and dormancy remains unknown. For this study, we generated transgenic lines which were introduced a DNA fragment containing Tamyb10-D1 gene and its a 2 kb promoter including the 5′ untranslated region into white-grained wheat. Transgenic lines showed red-grained and higher dormant traits. Contents of plant hormones and gene expression of embryos at 30 days after pollination were examined in a wild type and a transgenic line. No differences were observed in the contents of plant hormones, but several genes are differentially expressed between these lines. One differentially expressed gene, TaLTP2.128, is a member of non-specific lipid transfer proteins. It was expressed higher in white grains than in red grains. A putative amino acid sequence showed similarity to that of OsHyPRP5, which is identified as QTL controlling low-temperature germinability in rice. Expression of TaLTP2.128 was increased by grain imbibition. The increasing levels were higher not only in other white-grained lines, but also in non-dormant red-grained lines. TaLTP2.128 was expressed at a quite early stage of germination. These study findings indicate that Tamyb10 regulates dormancy release by the modification of TaLTP2.128 acting as trigger of germination

A Method to Detect Rogue Access Points in a Campus without Decrypting WLAN Frames

大学に無線LAN アクセスポイント（以下，AP と呼ぶ）を導入するに当り，許可を得ず接続されたAP や正規のAP を装ったAP 等の不正AP に関するセキュリティ上の課題が存在する．大学では，全学としてのネットワーク管理者（以下，全学ネットワーク管理者と呼ぶ）だけでなく，各サブネットワークごとに管理者を指定していることが多く，ネットワーク全体を把握している管理者が存在しない可能性がある．本論文では，全学ネットワーク管理者の視点で，サブネットワーク管理者との連携を追加で要することなく，検査対象AP のキャンパスネットワークへの接続の有無を判断することにより不正AP を検出する手法について提案する．提案手法では，Windows やAndroid 等のOS に導入されている，Captive Portal Detection（以下，CPD と呼ぶ）を利用する．キャンパスネットワークの上流と無線LAN 通信区間の二箇所におけるCPD 用HTTP 通信の時間差から，検査対象AP のキャンパスネットワークへの接続を確認する．なお，本手法では無線LAN での通信において，WPA2 等の復号を行わず推定している．評価実験では，提案手法によりネットワーク上流から見た各サブネットワークのIP アドレスと無線LAN クライアントが接続したAP の紐付けが可能であることを確認した

Loss of histone H4K20 trimethylation predicts poor prognosis in breast cancer and is associated with invasive activity

INTRODUCTION: Loss of histone H4 lysine 20 trimethylation (H4K20me3) is associated with multiple cancers, but its role in breast tumors is unclear. In addition, the pathological effects of global reduction in H4K20me3 remain mostly unknown. Therefore, a major goal of this study was to elucidate the global H4K20me3 level in breast cancer tissue and investigate its pathological functions. METHODS: Levels of H4K20me3 and an associated histone modification, H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3), were evaluated by immunohistochemistry in a series of breast cancer tissues. Univariate and multivariate clinicopathological and survival analyses were performed. We also examined the effect of overexpression or knockdown of the histone H4K20 methyltransferases, SUV420H1 and SUV420H2, on cancer-cell invasion activity in vitro. RESULTS: H4K20me3, but not H3K9me3, was clearly reduced in breast cancer tissue. A reduced level of H4K20me3 was correlated with several aspects of clinicopathological status, including luminal subtypes, but not with HER2 expression. Multivariate analysis showed that reduced levels of H4K20me3 independently associated with lower disease-free survival. Moreover, ectopic expression of SUV420H1 and SUV420H2 in breast cancer cells suppressed cell invasiveness, whereas knockdown of SUV420H2 activated normal mammary epithelial-cell invasion in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: H4K20me3 was reduced in cancerous regions of breast-tumor tissue, as in other types of tumor. Reduced H4K20me3 level can be used as an independent marker of poor prognosis in breast cancer patients. Most importantly, this study suggests that a reduced level of H4K20me3 increases the invasiveness of breast cancer cells in a HER2-independent manner

Inhibitory Effects of Dopamine Receptor D1 Agonist on Mammary Tumor and Bone Metastasis

Dopaminergic signaling plays a critical role in the nervous system, but little is known about its potential role in breast cancer and bone metabolism. A screening of ~1,000 biologically active compounds revealed that a selective agonist of dopamine receptor D1 (DRD1), A77636, inhibited proliferation of 4T1.2 mammary tumor cells as well as MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Herein, we examined the effect of A77636 on bone quality using a mouse model of bone metastasis from mammary tumor. A77636 inhibited migration of cancer cells in a DRD1-dependent fashion and suppressed development of bone-resorbing osteoclasts by downregulating NFATc1 through the elevation of phosphorylation of eIF2α. In the mouse model of bone metastasis, A77636 reduced osteolytic lesions and prevented mechanical weakening of the femur and tibia. Collectively, we expect that dopaminergic signaling might provide a novel therapeutic target for breast cancer and bone metastasis

A novel interplay between the Fanconi anemia core complex and ATR-ATRIP kinase during DNA cross-link repair.

When DNA replication is stalled at sites of DNA damage, a cascade of responses is activated in the cell to halt cell cycle progression and promote DNA repair. A pathway initiated by the kinase Ataxia teleangiectasia and Rad3 related (ATR) and its partner ATR interacting protein (ATRIP) plays an important role in this response. The Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway is also activated following genomic stress, and defects in this pathway cause a cancer-prone hematologic disorder in humans. Little is known about how these two pathways are coordinated. We report here that following cellular exposure to DNA cross-linking damage, the FA core complex enhances binding and localization of ATRIP within damaged chromatin. In cells lacking the core complex, ATR-mediated phosphorylation of two functional response targets, ATRIP and FANCI, is defective. We also provide evidence that the canonical ATR activation pathway involving RAD17 and TOPBP1 is largely dispensable for the FA pathway activation. Indeed DT40 mutant cells lacking both RAD17 and FANCD2 were synergistically more sensitive to cisplatin compared with either single mutant. Collectively, these data reveal new aspects of the interplay between regulation of ATR-ATRIP kinase and activation of the FA pathway