Use, Attitude, and Motivation in Foreign Language Acquisition

This paper focuses on two important issues in foreign language learning and teaching: the use of the foreign language outside the classroom and motivation and attitude. We describe an investigation we conducted on these two issues and report on two specific claims. The first is that the use of English outside the classroom is related to classroom achievement; the second is that attitude and motivation are also related to achievement in the foreign language classroom. The paper is organized as follows. We first provide some background information on the significance of the two variables. Next, we present information about the methodology and procedure of the investigation. We then present and discuss the results. We conclude with a discussion of the significance of the investigation for the teaching and learning of English in Japan and with some suggestions for future research

Double knockdown of α1,6-fucosyltransferase (FUT8) and GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase (GMD) in antibody-producing cells: a new strategy for generating fully non-fucosylated therapeutic antibodies with enhanced ADCC

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) is greatly enhanced by the absence of the core fucose of oligosaccharides attached to the Fc, and is closely related to the clinical efficacy of anticancer activity in humans <it>in vivo</it>. Unfortunately, all licensed therapeutic antibodies and almost all currently-developed therapeutic antibodies are heavily fucosylated and fail to optimize ADCC, which leads to a large dose requirement at a very high cost for the administration of antibody therapy to cancer patients. In this study, we explored the possibility of converting already-established antibody-producing cells to cells that produce antibodies fully lacking core fucosylation in order to facilitate the rapid development of next-generation therapeutic antibodies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Firstly, loss-of-function analyses using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) against the three key genes involved in oligosaccharide fucose modification, i.e. α1,6-fucosyltransferase (<it>FUT8</it>), GDP-mannose 4,6-dehydratase (<it>GMD</it>), and GDP-fucose transporter (<it>GFT</it>), revealed that single-gene knockdown of each target was insufficient to completely defucosylate the products in antibody-producing cells, even though the most effective siRNA (>90% depression of the target mRNA) was employed. Interestingly, beyond our expectations, synergistic effects of <it>FUT8 </it>and <it>GMD </it>siRNAs on the reduction in fucosylation were observed, but not when these were used in combination with <it>GFT </it>siRNA. Secondly, we successfully developed an effective short hairpin siRNA tandem expression vector that facilitated the double knockdown of <it>FUT8 </it>and <it>GMD</it>, and we converted antibody-producing Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to fully non-fucosylated antibody producers within two months, and with high converting frequency. Finally, the stable manufacture of fully non-fucosylated antibodies with enhanced ADCC was confirmed using the converted cells in serum-free fed-batch culture.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that FUT8 and GMD collaborate synergistically in the process of intracellular oligosaccharide fucosylation. We also demonstrated that double knockdown of <it>FUT8 </it>and <it>GMD </it>in antibody-producing cells could serve as a new strategy for producing next-generation therapeutic antibodies fully lacking core fucosylation and with enhanced ADCC. This approach offers tremendous cost- and time-sparing advantages for the development of next-generation therapeutic antibodies.</p

重度の障害のある子ども達との音楽活動 : 毎回の実践から捉えたもの

重度・重複障害を持った子ども達との4回の音楽療法的活動は、前半では、楽器を使用した能動的な音楽活動を、後半では、「全身リフレッシュ体操」を毎回取り人れて行った。活動の目的は、療法的な効果と共に、メンバーの子ども達を中心にして、参加者全員で楽しむことにある。事前の打ち合わせや実践時での保護者の言葉から、大切なことは、対象を子ども達から参加者全員にすることで、実践効果があがることを理解した。以後、実践は、「子ども達にさせる」ではなく、「みんなでやる」に変更した。メンバー達と全員で体験した活動を活動内容の用紙の配付と実践時の説明を心がけることで、この会の今後の活動につなぐことができるように工夫した。また、第3回目の活動終了後のアンケート調査結果から、「保護者の思い」が見えてきた。重度の障害を持ったメンバー達が、(音楽)活動を介して多くの関わりを持ち、身体的にも精神的にも様々な刺激を「体験する」ことで、メンバーの子ども達が育ち、発達することを願っている親の思いを意識した。障害を持った子ども達との活動の実践者として、「体験する」ことの意味を大切にして今後の実践に向けたい

オンガク カツドウ ガクセイ ノ キジュツ カラ ホイク ニツナグ オンガク オ サグル

教育実習後の学生のアンケートから、幼稚園の日常生活や夏に向けての表現・音楽の取り組みの中で、教師が子どもに共感する働きかけで、子ども達と一緒に音楽を楽しんでいる教師の援助、指導の工夫がみえた。実習園で学生が先生となって実践した取り組みの中では、子どもたちに「共感する」ことをもっとも大切な働きかけとして、子ども達と音楽を楽しんでいる実践を記述から理解した。子ども達が「自分なりに○○する」知的発達していることに教師が共感することは、「生きる力」を育てる教育として大切にしたい。専攻科の授業では、学生が先生役と子ども役になって、先生役のピアノの音にあわせて子ども役が動く演習をした。子ども役の動きが音楽を楽しむ実践になるために、事前の計画や実践のための準備の必要性を実感したことを、学生の記述(反省・みえたこと)から理解した。実習後のアンケートと演習後の記述から、学生が子ども達と一緒に音楽を楽しむ実践の技術の必要性を実感していることが理解できる。保育科の学生を対象とした音楽の授業では、基礎技能の育成とともに学生が「音楽は楽しい」「子ども達とやりたい」と思う体験を授業に取り入れる工夫が、保育につなぐ音楽の教育で大切にしたい課題である

Research Activities in the Department of Occupational Therapy

Even though the purpose of the services provided by occupational therapy is to help and to support the daily life of clients, the actual services extend to a wide range of daily activities. Thus, research in occupational therapy covers a wide range of activities which can be modified and changed according to the needs of clients. Research activities conducted by clinical psychologists and English teachers who staff the Department of Occupational Therapy at Aino University are also summarized below. [1. Research in Occupational Therapy for Physically Handicapped.] We are involved in a study of the efficient motion analysis in the activity of daily life (ADL) in part with the staff of the Department of Clinical Engineering. We analyze the muscle tone under various locomotive operations by quantifying muscle tone with surface electro-myography (EMG). We have studied the brain network related to memory and learning in the training tasks that enable effective learning skills and their clinical application