Characteristics of Interaction Between Teachers and Children in the First Term of Elementary School Classes: Focusing on the Differences in Goals that Teachers Emphasize in Japanese Language and Mathematics Classes

近年，幼児期と児童期の学びの接続が重視されている。幼児教育では，めざすべき姿へと向かう方向目標を重視し，小学校以上の教育では獲得すべき能力を明示化した到達目標を重視することが多い。小学校入門期に開講時間が多い国語科と算数科では，方向目標と到達目標の比重は異なる。そこで，本研究では，小学校入門期の国語科と算数科授業における教師と子どもの相互作用の実態を明らかにすることを目的とした。 新1年生の国語科と算数科の授業を約4か月間観察し，教師の言葉がけと子どもの発話内容との関連を分析した。結果，子どもの状況に応じて展開する国語科に対し，算数科では多くが到達目標に向かうという違いが明らかになった。また，教師による方向目標に即した言葉がけは，到達目標を達成し，かつ子どもの多様な学びにつながる可能性があることがわかった。本稿は，指導の実態と教科内容の側面から，子どもの学びの姿を明らかにしたものである。Recent studies examine how a smooth transition can be achieved from early childhood education to elementary school education. In early childhood education, direction targets are emphasized, and in elementary school, achievement goals are often emphasized. In elementary school, there is a difference in the balance between the achievement goals and the direction targets in Japanese language classes and mathematics classes. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics in the interaction between teachers and first graders in these two classes. In this paper, we observed the Japanese language and mathematics classes for the first grade from April to July, and collected some episodes of the interactions between teachers and children. These episodes were categorized according to subjects into those that focused on achievement goals versus direction targets. As a result, it was found that there was a difference in interactions between teachers and children depending on the subjects and the type of achievement goal or direction target. In Japanese language classes, the interaction between teachers and children develops toward the goal according to the situation of children, while in mathematics classes, the interaction often develops toward achievement goals. When teachers talked to children in a way that gave them directions, they were more likely to learn a variety of knowledge and skills as well as content related to their achievement goals. The primary aspect of this paper was to clarify what children were learning at the beginning of elementary school from the perspectives of teacher-child interaction and subject content

Relationships between Students' Self-Educational Ability in Their College Age and Personal Teaching Theory (PTT) in their High School Age

This study investigated the relationships of students' self-educational ability in their college age with their personal teaching theory (PTT) in their high school age. A total of 789 students completed two kinds of questionaires, one of which was to measure their selfeducational ability (interest in learning subjects, self-directed thinking, skillfulness of learning method, self-monitoring, planning, independence, and self-actualization) in their college age and the other was to measure their personal teaching theory in their high school age. The major findings were as follows: (1) The students who wished to go on to higher level of education in their high school age showed more self-educational ability than those who did not wish to go on to higher level of education, and (2) the personal teaching theory of the students who wished to go on to higher level of education was more acive and self-regulational in their high school age. These results were discussed in relation to how to foster the self-educational ability of students

Growth of Acetaminophen Polymorphic Crystals and Solution-Mediated Phase Transition from Trihydrate to Form II in Agarose Gel

The growth of acetaminophen polymorphic crystals and the solution-mediated phase transition from trihydrate to form II in agarose gel were investigated. The form II crystals grown in gels, presumably because of the agarose content, dissolved less rapidly at high temperatures and were more stable than in water. The trihydrate crystals in the gel were also expected to be stabilized by containing agarose, but in fact the fine morphology resulted in reduced stability. The solution-mediated phase transition from trihydrate to form II via form II seeding took longer in the gel because the gel slowed down the dissolution of the trihydrate by hindering the dispersion of the form II seeds and delayed the growth of form II by reducing the diffusion rate of the molecules dissolved from the trihydrate. Delays in solution-mediated phase transition and changes in stability for crystals grown in gels indicate the effectiveness of gels in controlling polymorphisms in pharmaceutical compounds.Nishigaki A., Maruyama M., Tanaka S.I., et al. Growth of acetaminophen polymorphic crystals and solution-mediated phase transition from trihydrate to form II in agarose gel. Crystals 11, 1069 (2021); https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst11091069

Approach for growth of high-quality and large protein crystals

Three crystallization methods, including crystallization in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel, top-seeded solution growth (TSSG) and a large-scale hanging-drop method, have previously been presented. In this study, crystallization has been further evaluated in the presence of a semi-solid agarose gel by crystallizing additional proteins. A novel crystallization method combining TSSG and the large-scale hanging-drop method has also been developed

Characterization and validation of Entamoeba histolytica pantothenate kinase as a novel anti-amebic drug target

The Coenzyme A (CoA), as a cofactor involved in >100 metabolic reactions, is essential to the basic biochemistry of life. Here, we investigated the CoA biosynthetic pathway of Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica), an enteric protozoan parasite responsible for human amebiasis. We identified four key enzymes involved in the CoA pathway: pantothenate kinase (PanK, EC 2.7.1.33), bifunctional phosphopantothenate-cysteine ligase/decarboxylase (PPCS-PPCDC), phosphopantetheine adenylyltransferase (PPAT) and dephospho-CoA kinase (DPCK). Cytosolic enzyme PanK, was selected for further biochemical, genetic, and phylogenetic characterization. Since E. histolytica PanK (EhPanK) is physiologically important and sufficiently divergent from its human orthologs, this enzyme represents an attractive target for the development of novel anti-amebic chemotherapies. Epigenetic gene silencing of PanK resulted in a significant reduction of PanK activity, intracellular CoA concentrations, and growth retardation in vitro, reinforcing the importance of this gene in E. histolytica. Furthermore, we screened the Kitasato Natural Products Library for inhibitors of recombinant EhPanK, and identified 14 such compounds. One compound demonstrated moderate inhibition of PanK activity and cell growth at a low concentration, as well as differential toxicity towards E. histolytica and human cells

Construction of Childcare Support Program for two-children families: From Cooperation with Higashi-Hiroshima City Childcare Support Centers

The purpose of this study was to construct a childcare support program for the families who have two children to bring up. With the assistance of Higashi-Hiroshima city and childcare support centers, members from early childhood education research facility in Hiroshima University built up the program. In this program, it is demanded that the supporters draft the program while being conscious of four times, specifically approach-time, core-time, free-time and feedback-time. And this program also has four main components including topics, leaflet, picture books and reflection sheets. According to the practice, supporters can not only grow up with mothers and children by making use of their childcare specialty, but also can build a relationship of mutual trust with the participants. Besides, the support of the high quality is maintained by the collaboration of Higashi-Hiroshima city and childcare support centers and Hiroshima University.本研究は平成29年度「広島大学地域連携推進事業」に提案した「地域における虐待防止ペアレントトレーニングの効果検証－親が抱えるリスク要因の低減を目指して－」という研究の一環として，東広島市子ども家庭課の協力で実施したものである

Update on the Keio collection of Escherichia coli single-gene deletion mutants

The Keio collection (Baba et al, 2006) has been established as a set of single‐gene deletion mutants of Escherichia coli K‐12. These mutants have a precisely designed deletion from the second codon from the seventh to the last codon of each predicted ORF. Further information is available at http://sal.cs.purdue.edu:8097/GB7/index.jsp or http://ecoli.naist.jp/. The distribution is now being handled by the National Institute of Genetics of Japan (http://www.shigen.nig.ac.jp/ecoli/pec/index.jsp). To date more than 4 million samples have been distributed worldwide. As we described earlier (Baba et al, 2006), gene amplification during construction is likely to have led to a small number of mutants with genetic duplications

Biochemical Studies of Mitochondrial Malate: Quinone Oxidoreductase from Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that causes toxoplasmosis and infects almost one-third of the global human population. A lack of effective drugs and vaccines and the emergence of drug resistant parasites highlight the need for the development of new drugs. The mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) is an essential pathway for energy metabolism and the survival of T. gondii. In apicomplexan parasites, malate:quinone oxidoreductase (MQO) is a monotopic membrane protein belonging to the ETC and a key member of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and has recently been suggested to play a role in the fumarate cycle, which is required for the cytosolic purine salvage pathway. In T. gondii, a putative MQO (TgMQO) is expressed in tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages and is considered to be a potential drug target since its orthologue is not conserved in mammalian hosts. As a first step towards the evaluation of TgMQO as a drug target candidate, in this study, we developed a new expression system for TgMQO in FN102(DE3)TAO, a strain deficient in respiratory cytochromes and dependent on an alternative oxidase. This system allowed, for the first time, the expression and purification of a mitochondrial MQO family enzyme, which was used for steady-state kinetics and substrate specificity analyses. Ferulenol, the only known MQO inhibitor, also inhibited TgMQO at IC50 of 0.822 μM, and displayed different inhibition kinetics compared to Plasmodium falciparum MQO. Furthermore, our analysis indicated the presence of a third binding site for ferulenol that is distinct from the ubiquinone and malate sites

Identification of novel antiviral of fungus-derived brefeldin A against dengue viruses

Microbial natural products possess a wide range of biological and biochemical potential. Among them, fungal secondary metabolites are one of the most important sources for discovering new drugs or lead compounds. In the present study, we explored substances produced by the strain Penicillium sp. FKI-7127 for its antiviral activity. We identified brefeldin A as a novel antiviral agent against dengue viruses. The inhibitory effect of brefeldin A was confirmed by virus titer and immunofluorescence assay. Brefeldin A inhibited dengue viruses regardless of serotypes and other related viruses including Zika virus and Japanese encephalitis virus. Time-of-addition study showed that brefeldin A exerts its antiviral effect at an early stage of the dengue virus (DENV) life cycle. These studies demonstrate that (i) brefeldin A could be used as a lead compound for drug development of anti-DENV and other related viruses and (ii) fungal metabolites are a potential and valuable source for dengue virus drug discovery