Whole-Brain-Based Oral Reading : A Study on Teaching English as a Second Language

This paper is the accumulation of various researches and data stemmed from this researcher\u27s English classrooms at his private English school as well as his university and college classes over two decades since 1991. The researches were made and the data was collected concerning reading activities in the classrooms.In this paper, first, the importance of reading is discussed, and then various types of reading are introduced : they are right-brain reading, Whole-language reading, Whole-brain reading and Whole-brain-based oral reading. Whole-brain reading and Whole-brain-based oral reading are by-products of Whole-language reading. They were developed by this researcher during the courses of his teaching. In order to make Whole-brain-based oral reading successful, this researcher has introduced phonics programs, various fundamental training including eye-movement training and eye-voice-span practice, word-chunk training, and practice with rhythm and timed reading.Then, the step-by-step oral reading programs for beginning readers and advanced readers are introduced. These programs were actually applied to the researcher\u27s classrooms to make the reading successful. With these programs, it may be possible that any instructors can experience Whole-brain-based oral reading in their classrooms.Oral reading activities are also helpful and effective for the students. Here, three types of oral reading activities are introduced ; Perfect Reading Game, Text-independent Shadowing Practice and Filling-in-the-space Game.Finally, a word of acknowledgement goes to Antony Boys, a former professor at Ibaraki Christian Junior College, for giving advice to this researcher in preparing for the initial version of this paper

パソコンを活用したランゲージラボの試み : メディア室における実践的な英語学習方式の提案

This study is based on an accumulation of experimental teaching of practical English at the language laboratory or the Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) class at Wako University. This researcher has used personal computers to have students read and record their oralreading in their computer at this CALL class on an experimental basis. In this paper, this researcher has first expressed the background and the purpose of this study. Then, he has described the recording feature of Windows personal computer and the procedures for its use, along with directions to the students in the classroom. Next, this researcher has applied oral reading and phonics study in this language laboratory, and described effective teaching methods in this classroom. How to check and evaluate the students\u27 oral recording was also explained. Lastly, he has reported the students\u27 feedback and achievement. Through these oral reading activities at the CALL class, the students have demonstrated positive attitudes toward English-study and later, they have expressed their strong intentions to study English further

Mammalian enzymes for preventing transcriptional errors caused by oxidative damage

8-Oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoGua) is produced in cells by reactive oxygen species normally formed during cellular metabolic processes. This oxidized base can pair with both adenine and cytosine, and thus the existence of this base in messenger RNA would cause translational errors. The MutT protein of Escherichia coli degrades 8-oxoGua-containing ribonucleoside di- and triphosphates to the monophosphate, thereby preventing the misincorporation of 8-oxoGua into RNA. Here, we show that for human the MutT-related proteins, NUDT5 and MTH1 have the ability to prevent translational errors caused by oxidative damage. The increase in the production of erroneous proteins by oxidative damage is 28-fold over the wild-type cells in E.coli mutT deficient cells. By the expression of NUDT5 or MTH1 in the cells, it is reduced to 1.4- or 1.2-fold, respectively. NUDT5 and MTH1 hydrolyze 8-oxoGDP to 8-oxoGMP with V(max)/K(m) values of 1.3 × 10(−3) and 1.7 × 10(−3), respectively, values which are considerably higher than those for its normal counterpart, GDP (0.1–0.5 × 10(−3)). MTH1, but not NUDT5, possesses an additional activity to degrade 8-oxoGTP to the monophosphate. These results indicate that the elimination of 8-oxoGua-containing ribonucleotides from the precursor pool is important to ensure accurate protein synthesis and that both NUDT5 and MTH1 are involved in this process in human cells

Role of Gremlins in the Aortic Arch of Spontaneously Hypertensive and Hyperlipidemic Rats

Atherosclerosis is a lifestyle-related disease that plays a major role in cardiovascular disease. Recently, we found that gene expression of Gremlin 2, an antagonist of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), was significantly increased in the aorta of spontaneously hypertensive and hyperlipidemic rats (SHHRs) fed a high-fat, 30% sucrose solution diet (HFDS). However, the role of Gremlin 1 (Grem1) and Gremlin 2 (Grem2) in the aortic arch of rats under hypertensive, hyperlipidemic, and hyperglycemic conditions remains unclear. Therefore, in the present study we investigated the molecular role of Gremlins in the aorta of SHHRs. Four-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats and SHHRs were fed a normal diet or the HFDS ad libitum for 4 months. Then, gene and protein expression was analyzed using quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. Grem1 and Grem2 protein expression was increased, whereas phosphorylated Smad1/5 protein expression was low, in the aorta of SHHRs fed the HFDS. In addition, the expression of the downstream gene targets of BMP, namely inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (Id1) and atonal homolog 8 (Atoh8), was decreased in aortas of SHHRs fed the HFDS. Furthermore, mRNA expression of Snail, α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), and Fibronectin was increased in SHHRs fed the HFDS. These findings suggest that upregulation of Gremlins attenuates the activation of BMP signaling, which contributes to fibrogenesis of the aorta

Biological performance of novel phosphate-based glass microspheres for mesenchymal stem cell therapy in osteoporotic patients

In this study, degradable phosphate-based bulk or porous glass microspheres (BGMS or PGMS), with nominal molar compositions of P45-(45P2O5-16CaO-24MgO-11Na2O-4Fe2O3) and P40-(40P2O5-16CaO-24MgO-20Na2O), were evaluated for cytotoxicity, cytocompatibility and osteogenic potential for Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapy in osteoporotic patients. Evaluations were performed using direct-contact and indirect-contact bone marrow derived human MSC (hMSC)-based experiments, in addition to material characterisations such as morphology, elemental composition and degradation behaviour, which were correlated to the hMSC experiments. Degradation of microspheres (MS) was measured using a novel method where Scanning Electron micrographs was used to assess the number of MS with surface damage (cracks and peeling effect), over 42 days of degradation in culture medium. Results showed that after 42 days, 2%, 46% and 29% of P45 BGMS, P40 BGMS and P40 PGMS, respectively, had cracks or peeling off surfaces. The results for direct-contact hMSC-experiments showed that P45 BGMS supported 1.4 times more hMSCs than P40 BGMS over 31 days of culture period. However, P45 BGMS were not osteoinductive, possibly due to hydrophobic nature of this glass and its slower dissolution rate. On the other hand, in comparison to P45 BGMS, hMSCs seeded on P40 BGMS showed up to 1.7 times higher alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity on Day 7, up to 1.5 times more collagen and at least 6 times more Ca deposited in extracellular matrix, in addition to osteocalcin on Day 21 of culture, which strongly indicated the osteoinductive nature of P40 BGMS. This effect was also confirmed through indirect-contact experiments where there was higher collagen and Ca production by hMSCs was observed after 25 days of culture in P40 BGMS-conditioned medium as compared to control (no MS) or P45-conditioned medium. Elemental analysis using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopic (EDS) analysis revealed that the Ca-based porogen used in the manufacturing of PGMS, may have been retained on the edges of the pores in PGMS. Therefore, an acid-washing step was introduced at the end of manufacturing process in order to remove the porogen and limit the possible cytotoxic effect of porogen and excess calcium. Characterisation results indicated that acid washing changed the physicality of these microspheres without changing their chemical composition. For example, mean and mode pore window sizes on the surface of PGMS increased from 2.63 μm to 2.73 μm and from 1.15 μm to 1.53 μm, respectively, and closed porosity decreased by 27%, as a result of acid washing. However, more detailed EDS analysis revealed that the Ca-based porogen was not being completely removed from PGMS even after acid washing and this may need further investigation. Cytotoxicity evaluations over 7 days of elution (indirect-contact hMSC experiments) suggested that there was marked improvement in hMSC membrane integrity and metabolic activity in PGMS neat extracts after acid washing. Moreover, direct-contact hMSC experiments also showed higher DNA content on acid washed (AW) P40 PGMS over 7 days of culture. Therefore, based on these results, it was hypothesised that acid washing may have opened up some of the pores and removed some of the glass fragments from PGMS surface, which may have been responsible for cytotoxicity in non-AW PGMS. Direct-contact experiments also showed that over 42-day culture period, there was up to 1.6 times higher hMSC numbers in AW P40 PGMS as compared to P40 BGMS. However, this increase was much lower than the expected range as there was more than 10-fold increase in surface area after the introduction of porosity. This was probably due to presence of <5 μm and <10 μm pore window sizes and interconnection sizes, respectively, in these microspheres, which allowed limited penetration of hMSCs into the porous structures. There was also evidence of at least 2 times more ALP activity up to day 42 of culture and up to 1.7 times more collagen production by day 21 of culture, in case of AW P40 PGMS as compared to P40 BGMS, which strongly indicated a positive effect of porosity on osteogenesis. Interestingly, there was also lower Ca and P deposited by hMSCs in porous microspheres, which was in line with the observations made through indirect-contact experiments, where there was lower collagen and Ca production by hMSCs in P40 PGMS-conditioned medium as compared to P40 BGMS-conditioned medium. This negative effect of PGMS was hypothesised due to excess release of glass fragments/particulates and calcium ions into the medium, possibly leading to cytotoxicity. Based on the results shown here, there is a potential of P40 BGMS and AW P40 PGMS for hMSC-based bone repair therapy. However, future work needs to be done in order to limit the delamination of glass surfaces and release of glass fragments/particulates from these MS, as a result of degradation

Integrated physics analysis of plasma start-up scenario of helical reactor FFHR-d1

1D physics analysis of the plasma start-up scenario of the large helical device (LHD)-type helical reactor FFHR-d1 was conducted. The time evolution of the plasma profile is calculated using a simple model based on the LHD experimental observations. A detailed assessment of the magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and neo-classical energy loss was conducted using the integrated transport analysis code TASK3D. The robust controllability of the fusion power was confirmed by feedback control of the pellet fuelling and a simple staged variation of the external heating power with a small number of simple diagnostics (line-averaged electron density, edge electron density and fusion power). A baseline operation control scenario (plasma start-up and steady-state sustainment) of the FFHR-d1 reactor for both self-ignition and sub-ignition operation modes was demonstrated

Quantification of (–)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate Inhibition of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Cell Line Adhesion and Proliferation Using Real-time Cell Analysis

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) has a poor prognosis because of immediate metastasis. Several studies in humans and animals have suggested that the ingestion of green tea or its active ingredient (–)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) may decrease the risk of cancer. Using a recently developed real-time cell analysis (RTCA) system, we have shown previously that EGCG inhibits cell migration and the invasion of oral cavity cancers by suppressing matrix metalloproteinases. In the present study we used RTCA to investigate the effects of EGCG on cell adhesion to fibronectin-coated plates using three cancer cell lines: one ATC cell line (TCO-1) and two poorly differentiated oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) cell lines (SAS and HO-1-u-1; originating from the tongue and floor of the mouth, respectively). EGCG (50µM) inhibited the adhesion of all three cell lines. In addition to its effects on cell adhesion, 50µM EGCG inhibited the cell proliferation of TCO-1 cells. Furthermore, EGCG decreased αV integrin (ITGAV) mRNA levels in all three cell lines, suggesting that EGCG inhibits the cell adhesion and proliferation of OSCC and ATC cells via suppression of integrin expression. Therefore, EGCG represents a useful dietary constituent or a lead compound for counteracting metastasis of oral cavity cancers and thyroid cancers

Quantification of Cell Migration and Invasion, and Their Association with Periostin in Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer, Using a Real-time Cell Analyzer

Anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) is known to be a highly malignant cancer of the thyroid with a high mortality rate. In a previous study, we used real-time cell analysis (RTCA) to analyze cell migration and invasion of oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) of the tongue and floor of the mouth. In the present study, we investigated cell migration and invasion of ATC using RTCA, as well as their association with periostin, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and integrins. Experiments were performed on TCO-1 and HTC/C3 cells, which are human ATC cell lines. OSCC cell lines were used for comparison. Using the cell analysis system, cell migration was assessed on fibronectin-coated CIM-Plates, whereas invasion was assessed on fibronectin- and matrigel-coated CIM-Plates. SCC-4 cells exhibited high cell migration and invasion activity compared with other OSCC cell lines. TCO-1 cells exhibited equivalent cell invasion but stronger migration than SCC-4 cells. Although TCO-1 cells had strong invasive activity, they did not express MMP-9, unlike SCC-4 cells. Conversely, periostin expression was high in TCO-1 cells. Therefore, periostin expression appears to be associated with the cell migration and invasion activity of ATC. The RTCA system will be useful for the analysis of the metastatic characteristics of ATC in head and neck cancer

Development of a Real-time Simulation Tool towards Self-consistent Scenario of Plasma Start-up and Sustainment on Helical Fusion Reactor FFHR-d1

This study closely investigates the plasma operation scenario for the LHD-type helical reactor FFHR-d1 in view of MHD equilibrium/stability, neoclassical transport, alpha energy loss and impurity effect. In 1D calculation code that reproduces the typical pellet discharges in LHD experiments, we identify a self-consistent solution of the plasma operation scenario which achieves steady-state sustainment of the burning plasma with a fusion gain of Q ~ 10 was found within the operation regime that has been already confirmed in LHD experiment. The developed calculation tool enables systematic analysis of the operation regime in real time

Core Plasma Design of the Compact Helical Reactor with a Consideration of the Equipartition Effect

Integrated physics analysis of plasma operation scenario of the compact helical reactor FFHR-c1 has been conducted. The DPE method, which predicts radial profiles in a reactor by direct extrapolation from the reference experimental data, has been extended to implement the equipartition effect. Close investigation of the plasma operation regime has been conducted and a candidate plasma operation point of FFHR-c1 has been identified within the parameter regime that has already been confirmed in LHD experiment in view of MHD equilibrium, MHD stability and neoclassical transport