〈研究論文〉漢字の習得に困難のある小学校3年生への漢字の指導の検討 : プランニングを促進する指導の実践

漢字の習得に困難を示し，プランニングの弱さが示唆される児童へ，プランニングを促進する認知特性に応じた漢字指導を行い，その効果について検討した。対象児は，テストの正答数が増え，漢字を出力するのに有効な入力の仕方に気づきつつある様子が見られ，漢字学習に対する自己効力感が促進された。また，自発的に使用した方略の種類が増え，プランを働かせて漢字を覚えようとするようになってきた。プレポストとポストテストのPASS 評定尺度の得点を比較すると，保護者，教員ともプランニングの得点が高くなった。もともと高い同時処理はあまりポストテストで変化なく，逆にプレテストで低かった注意や継次処理も変化がないのは彼の特性が一貫していると考えられた｡In this study, we examined Kanji (Chinese character) lessons to a child who had difficulty in planning function and learning new Kanji. We measured the effect of the lessons and revealed the following: 1)The child learned the effective way of remembering Kanji appropriate for writing and the percentage of questions answered correctly increased. 2) The lessons gave the child a sense of self-efficacy in learning Kanji. 3)The child used planning function in learning Kanji and the number of strategies he used was increased. 4)The store of PASS rating scale in the posttest rose in comparison to pretest both in the rating by his mother and his teacher. 5)The profile of simultaneous and successive processing scale did not rise because those functions were his specific characteristic

Evaluation of the effects of a combination of Japanese honey and hydrocolloid dressing on cutaneous wound healing in male mice

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the combined use of Japanese honey and hydrocolloid dressing (HCD) on cutaneous wound healing. Mice were divided into four groups: the Acacia (Japan) + HCD, Manuka (New Zealand) + HCD, Chinese milk vetch (Japan) + HCD, and HCD (control) groups. The mice received two full-thickness wounds. The wounds of the HCD group were covered with HCD, whereas those of the other groups were treated with 0.1 mL of the relevant type of honey, before being covered with HCD. Wound area was significantly smaller in the HCD group than in the Acacia + HCD and Manuka + HCD groups on day 13 and days 8-14, respectively. Moreover, compared with the HCD group, reepithelialization was delayed in the Acacia + HCD group and reepithelialization and collagen deposition were delayed in the Chinese milk vetch + HCD and Manuka + HCD groups. These results indicate that the combined use of Japanese honey and HCD does not promote cutaneous wound healing compared with the use of HCD alone. Thus, this method is probably not useful for promoting healing. © 2015 Kanae Mukai et al

Leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein is a novel biomarker of neurodegenerative disease in human cerebrospinal fluid and causes neurodegeneration in mouse cerebral cortex.

Leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein (LRG) is a protein induced by inflammation. It contains a leucine-rich repeat (LRR) structure and easily binds with other molecules. However, the function of LRG in the brain during aging and neurodegenerative diseases has not been investigated. Here, we measured human LRG (hLRG) concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and observed hLRG expression in post-mortem human cerebral cortex. We then generated transgenic (Tg) mice that over-expressed mouse LRG (mLRG) in the brain to examine the effects of mLRG accumulation. Finally, we examined protein-protein interactions using a protein microarray method to screen proteins with a high affinity for hLRG. The CSF concentration of hLRG increases with age and is significantly higher in patients with Parkinson's disease with dementia (PDD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) than in healthy elderly people, idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients, and individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Tg mice exhibited neuronal degeneration and neuronal decline. Accumulation of LRG in the brains of PDD and PSP patients is not a primary etiological factor, but it is thought to be one of the causes of neurodegeneration. It is anticipated that hLRG CSF levels will be a useful biomarker for the early diagnosis of PDD and PSP

Immunostaining results for LRG transgenic mice.

<p>(A) Immunostaining of the cerebral cortex of 4-, 8-, and 48-week old mice using NeuN antibody. 4-week-old WT mice, 4-week-old Tg mice, 8-week-old WT mice, 8-week-old Tg mice, 48-week-old WT mice, and 48-week-old Tg mice. Scale bar = 20µm. (B) A difference in the number of NeuN-positive cells was already observed between 4-week-old Tg and WT mice, but with 8- and 48-week old mice, there was a significant decline in the number of NeuN-positive cells in Tg mice compared to that in WT as determined by Mann-Whitney U test, **p < 0.001, Bars, <u>+</u> SD. (C) Cortical immunostaining for phosphorylated tau in 8-week-old WT, 8-week-old Tg, Tg mice neurons (lower panel, arrow), and Tg mice glial cells (lower panel, arrow head). Scale bar = 20µm (upper panel) and 10µm (lower panel). (D) Tg cerebral cortex demonstrated significantly more neurons and glial cells that were positive for phosphorylated tau than WT as determined by Mann-Whitney U test, **p < 0.001, Bars <u>+</u> SD. (E) NF-L immunostaining in the cortex of 8-week-old WT mice and the cortex of 8-week-old Tg mice. Large, winding dendritic neurons in Tg mice suggested that neurodegeneration had occurred. Scale bar = 20µm (upper panel) and 10µm (lower panel). WT = wild type, Tg = transgenic. </p

Human CSF analysis.

<p>Relationships between age and CSF total protein and LRG levels. (A) CSF total protein level did not correlate with age (r = 0.031, p = 0.731) (B) CSF LRG level significantly correlated with age (r = 0.314, p < 0.0001) using Spearman rank correlation. (C) CSF LRG level reverse correlated with the MMSE score (r = -0.271, p = 0.003) using Spearman rank correlation. LRG levels were significantly higher in the MMSE ≤ 23 group (113.6 ± 70.0 ng/ml) than in the MMSE > 23 group (92.0 ± 58.3 ng/ml), Mann-Whitney U test, p < 0.05). (D) CSF LRG levels tended to be higher in the iNPH groups (106.0 ± 46.7 ng/ml) vs. NC groups (44.0 ± 25.2 ng/ml), Mann-Whitney U test, p < 0.001. Concentrations of LRG in the PDD/DLB (251.5 ± 106.5 ng/ml) and PSP (261.1 ± 182.9 ng/ml) groups were significantly higher than those in the NC, iNPH, and AD groups (95.1 ± 64.4 ng/ml), Mann-Whitney U test, p < 0.001; PD/DLB vs. NC, p < 0.001; PSP vs. NC, p = 0.001; PDD/DLB vs. iNPH, p = 0.021, PSP vs. iNPH; p < 0.001, PDD/DLB vs. AD; p = 0.013, PSP vs. AD). ROC analysis of CSF biomarkers. LRG was the best discriminating biomarker for (E) PDD/DLB patients vs. NC, (F) PSP patients vs. NC, (G) iNPH patients vs. NC, (H) iNPH patients vs. PDD/DLB, and (I) iNPH patients vs. PSP, LRG was the most discriminating biomarker. CSF = cerebrospinal fluid, LRG = leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein. MMSE = Mini-Mental State Examination, iNPH = idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus, NC = normal control, PDD = Parkinson disease with dementia, DLB = dementia with Lewy bodies, PSP = Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, AD = Alzheimer disease, Amyloid(1-42) = amyloid beta peptide 1-42, p-TAU = phosphorylated tau, TAU = total tau.</p