Development of e-Learning Courses for Japanese Kanji

漢字・語彙クラスの学習内容に準拠した漢字eラーニング教材を開発した。この教材は本学のLMS (moodle)上で利用でき，初級から中級までに学ぶ漠字（総漢字数1041字）について，漢字の読み方，意味・用法を解説したリストと，漢字語彙の練習 ができるクイズから成る。漢字 ・語彙クラスを履修している学生が利用するコースの他，自習用コ ースにも同じ教材が配置されている。利用した学生への調査結果から，どのクラスにおいても学生が教材をよく利用しており，ほとんどの学習者から「役に立つ」という回答があったことから，この教材の有用性が確認できた。 一方，教材ヘのアクセスの簡略化や，より漠字学習への興味 ・ 意欲を喚起する教材を求める声も学生から寄せられた。 今後はこれらの結果をもとに，さらに教材開発を続けていくつもりである。This paper is a report on e-learning materials which comply with the Kanji & Vocabulary courses offered in the Japanese Language Course in Kanazawa University Integrated Japanese Language Program. This materials are available on the university\u27s LMS ("Moodie") and consists of a list which explains kanji characters and their pronunciation, meanings and usages, and quizzes for practicing kanji-compound vocabulary usage. A total of 1000 kanji characters and their kanji-compound vocabulary are covered in five courses. In addition to the Kanji class on-line course, a self-study course which uses the same materials is also offered for students who cannot register for the Kanji course because they are too busy with their studies. A survey of learners who have used these materials showed that the students of each course used them frequently and most of them responded that they were useful for their kanji learning. It has been shown that these e-learning materials can help students learn kanji. We also found that students want simpler access to the e-learning course as well as materials which stimulate greater interest in learning kanji. From on these results, we are planning to develop materials which are more effective and stimulating for learners

The potential role of robust face representations learned within families when searching for one’s child in a crowd

Abstract Own child’s face is one of the most socially salient stimuli for parents, and a faster search for it than for other children’s faces may help provide warmer and more sensitive care. However, it has not been experimentally examined whether parents find their child’s face faster. In addition, although own child’s face is specially processed, the search time for own child’s face may be similar to that for other socially salient stimuli, such as own or spouse’s faces. This study tested these possibilities using a visual search paradigm. Participants (parents) searched for their child’s, own, spouse’s, other child’s, same-sex adult’s, or opposite-sex adult’s faces as search targets. Our findings indicate that both mothers and fathers identified their child’s face more quickly than other children’s faces. Similarly, parents found their own and spouse’s faces more quickly than other adults’ faces. Moreover, the search time for family members’ faces increased with the number of faces on the search display, suggesting an attentional serial search. These results suggest that robust face representations learned within families and close relationships can support reduced search times for family members’ faces

Profiling of Microbiota at the Mouth of Bottles and in Remaining Tea after Drinking Directly from Plastic Bottles of Tea

It has been speculated that oral bacteria can be transferred to tea in plastic bottles when it is drunk directly from the bottles, and that the bacteria can then multiply in the bottles. The transfer of oral bacteria to the mouth of bottles and bacterial survival in the remaining tea after drinking directly from bottles were examined immediately after drinking and after storage at 37 °C for 24 h. Twelve healthy subjects (19 to 23 years of age) were asked to drink approximately 50 mL of unsweetened tea from a plastic bottle. The mouths of the bottles were swabbed with sterile cotton, and the swabs and the remaining tea in the bottles were analyzed by anaerobic culture and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Metagenomic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene was also performed. The mean amounts of bacteria were (1.8 ± 1.7) × 104 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL and (1.4 ± 1.5) × 104 CFU/mL at the mouth of the bottles immediately after and 24 h after drinking, respectively. In contrast, (0.8 ± 1.6) × 104 CFU/mL and (2.5 ± 2.6) × 106 CFU/mL were recovered from the remaining tea immediately after and 24 h after drinking, respectively. Streptococcus (59.9%) were predominant at the mouth of the bottles immediately after drinking, followed by Schaalia (5.5%), Gemella (5.5%), Actinomyces (4.9%), Cutibacterium (4.9%), and Veillonella (3.6%); the culture and metagenomic analyses showed similar findings for the major species of detected bacteria, including Streptococcus (59.9%, and 10.711%), Neisseria (1.6%, and 24.245%), Haemophilus (0.6%, and 15.658%), Gemella (5.5%, and 0.381%), Cutibacterium (4.9%, and 0.041%), Rothia (2.6%, and 4.170%), Veillonella (3.6%, and 1.130%), Actinomyces (4.9%, and 0.406%), Prevotella (1.6%, and 0.442%), Fusobacterium (1.0%, and 0.461%), Capnocytophaga (0.3%, and 0.028%), and Porphyromonas (1.0%, and 0.060%), respectively. Furthermore, Streptococcus were the most commonly detected bacteria 24 h after drinking. These findings demonstrated that oral bacteria were present at the mouth of the bottles and in the remaining tea after drinking

Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of proteins adsorbed by hexadecyl-immobilized cellulose bead column for the treatment of dialysis-related amyloidosis

Dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) is a severe complication in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients undergoing long-term dialysis treatment, characterized by the deposition of β2-microglobulin-related amyloids (Aβ2M amyloid). To inhibit DRA progression, hexadecyl-immobilized cellulose bead (HICB) columns are employed to adsorb circulating β2-microglobulin (β2M). However, it is possible that the HICB also adsorbs other molecules involved in amyloidogenesis. We enrolled 14 ESKD patients using HICB columns for DRA treatment; proteins were extracted from HICBs following treatment and identified using liquid chromatography–linked mass spectrometry. We measured the removal rate of these proteins and examined the effect of those molecules on Aβ2M amyloid fibril formation in vitro. We identified 200 proteins adsorbed by HICBs. Of these, 21 were also detected in the amyloid deposits in the carpal tunnels of patients with DRA. After passing through the HICB column and hemodialyzer, the serum levels of proteins such as β2M, lysozyme, angiogenin, complement factor D and matrix Gla protein were reduced. These proteins acted in the Aβ2M amyloid fibril formation. HICBs adsorbed diverse proteins in ESKD patients with DRA, including those detected in amyloid lesions. Direct hemoperfusion utilizing HICBs may play a role in acting Aβ2M amyloidogenesis by reducing the amyloid-related proteins.</p

AtFLL2, a member of the FLO2 gene family, affects the enlargement of leaves at the vegetative stage and facilitates the regulation of carbon metabolism and flow

Arabidopsis thaliana FLL2, a member of the FLO2 gene family, is expressed specifically in green leaves. The fll2 mutant showed significantly large rosette leaves and reduced the chlorophyll content. The sucrose content was significantly reduced. The glucose content was higher during the vegetative growth stage but decreased during the early reproductive growth stage. The amount of assimilated starch was lower than that in the wild type plant. The expression levels of genes involved in biosynthesis of sucrose and starch were largely altered. These results suggest that, in the fll2 mutant, a small amount of photosynthetic products was used for the biosynthesis of starch, and the products were supplied to promote intracellular growth of the source organs or for transport to the sink organs. These findings suggest that FLL2 is a factor affecting the expression level of genes involved in sugar metabolism, whose mutation caused a change in the assimilated products

J-GEM follow-up observations of the gravitational wave source GW151226

We report the results of optical–infrared follow-up observations of the gravitational wave (GW) event GW151226 detected by the Advanced LIGO in the framework of J-GEM (Japanese collaboration for Gravitational wave ElectroMagnetic follow-up). We performed wide-field optical imaging surveys with the Kiso Wide Field Camera (KWFC), Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC), and MOA-cam3. The KWFC survey started at 2.26 d after the GW event and covered 778 deg² centered at the high Galactic region of the skymap of GW151226. We started the HSC follow-up observations from ∼12 d after the event and covered an area of 63.5 deg² of the highest probability region of the northern sky with limiting magnitudes of 24.6 and 23.8 for the i and z bands, respectively. MOA-cam3 covered 145 deg² f the skymap with the MOA-red filter ∼2.5 mon after the GW alert. The total area covered by the wide-field surveys was 986.5 deg². The integrated detection probability for the observed area was ∼29%. We also performed galaxy-targeted observations with six optical and near-infrared telescopes from 1.61 d after the event. A total of 238 nearby (≤100 Mpc) galaxies were observed with a typical I band limiting magnitude of ∼19.5. We detected 13 supernova candidates with the KWFC survey, and 60 extragalactic transients with the HSC survey. Two thirds of the HSC transients were likely supernovae and the remaining one third were possible active galactic nuclei. With our observational campaign, we found no transients that are likely to be associated with GW151226