Development of a revised mathematical questionnaire: For learners’ cognitive aspects

In this research, we develop the revised questionnaire measuring three cognitive aspects of elementary school children that helps to understand learners’ cognitive states and evaluate the effect of learning support program at Niko-Niko Room. It was consisted of three scales which are important for conducting learning support approaching from cognitive counseling: A scale for beliefs about learning mathematics, mathematical self-efficacy, and learning strategies on learning mathematics. 261 elementary school children in the 4―6th grades participated in our research. Results of factor analyses for each scale show that (a) the scale for children’s beliefs about learning was a four-factor structure, (b) the scale for children’s mathematical self-efficacy was consisted of a single factor, and (c) the scale for children’s learning strategy of mathematics was also a one-factor structure. After that, we proposed the “Revised edition mathematical questionnaire”, measuring the children’s beliefs about learning, self-efficacy, and learning strategies especially in mathematical support. This will be contributed evaluating about Niko-Niko-Room’s learning support program

Cognitive counseling for acquisition of learning strategy

Recently, the educational approach called “cognitive counseling” has been proposed as the effective teaching method which applies the knowledge obtained in psychological research to practice in school education. This study is a case report of the cognitive counseling for a boy of sixth grader who has difficulties in understanding of the arithmetic. Our assessment revealed that he may try to learn contents off by heart or may operate them only in his head. Therefore he cannot attain knowledge organization, and that could make him experience difficulties in arithmetic. So we aimed at correcting his inadequate knowledge and helping him acquire appropriate learning strategy by suggesting the learning strategy that utilized external resources. A concrete advice to him was to use the label as more appropriate strategy. As a result of these supports, a part of his inadequate knowledge has changed and became appropriate, and he became able to use labels. It was suggested that he exploited and adopted the learning strategy which use external labels effectively

What praise enhance children's motivation for learning?

The purpose of this study was investigate the teacher praise on elementary school children. Using questionnaire, praise words and scenes that were effective in improving learning motivation were answered by the elementary school children. The answer that was many was "You did your best". It also indicated that the child wanted to be praised alone

Creating and evaluating the sample of case report on individual learning support

In this study, we created the sample of case report for individual learning support, and examined its effect. We explained the format of the case report and how to form it. Also, we made comments on the content of the case report. As a result of the questionnaire conducted for the students who had used the sample and wrote the case report, most of them answered that the it had been helpful and useful. The students who had used it gained higher evaluation both in content and format than who didn’t use it. Specific comments on the contents and how to format the case report seemed to be useful

Sh3bp2 Gain-Of-Function Mutation Ameliorates Lupus Phenotypes in B6.MRL-Faslpr Mice

SH3 domain-binding protein 2 (SH3BP2) is an adaptor protein that is predominantly expressed in immune cells, and it regulates intracellular signaling. We had previously reported that a gain-of-function mutation in SH3BP2 exacerbates inflammation and bone loss in murine arthritis models. Here, we explored the involvement of SH3BP2 in a lupus model. Sh3bp2 gain-of-function (P416R knock-in; Sh3bp2KI/+) mice and lupus-prone B6.MRL-Faslpr mice were crossed to yield double-mutant (Sh3bp2KI/+Faslpr/lpr) mice. We monitored survival rates and proteinuria up to 48 weeks of age and assessed renal damage and serum anti-double-stranded DNA antibody levels. Additionally, we analyzed B and T cell subsets in lymphoid tissues by flow cytometry and determined the expression of apoptosis-related molecules in lymph nodes. Sh3bp2 gain-of-function mutation alleviated the poor survival rate, proteinuria, and glomerulosclerosis and significantly reduced serum anti-dsDNA antibody levels in Sh3bp2KI/+Faslpr/lpr mice. Additionally, B220+CD4-CD8- T cell population in lymph nodes was decreased in Sh3bp2KI/+Faslpr/lpr mice, which is possibly associated with the observed increase in cleaved caspase-3 and tumor necrosis factor levels. Sh3bp2 gain-of-function mutation ameliorated clinical and immunological phenotypes in lupus-prone mice. Our findings offer better insight into the unique immunopathological roles of SH3BP2 in autoimmune diseases

Reduction in the magnitude of serum potassium elevation in combination therapy with esaxerenone (CS‐3150) and sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor in patients with diabetic kidney disease: Subanalysis of two phase III studies

Aims/Introduction: We evaluated the effect of co-administration of esaxerenone and a sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor on the magnitude of serum potassium elevation in Japanese patients with diabetic kidney disease. Materials and Methods: We carried out a prespecified subanalysis of data from two phase III studies: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria (J308); and a multicenter, single-arm, open-label trial in patients with type 2 diabetes and macroalbuminuria (J309). Changes in serum potassium levels during the studies and other measures were evaluated according to SGLT2 inhibitor use. Results: In both studies, time-course changes in serum potassium levels, and incidence rates of serum potassium elevation were lower in patients with co-administration of SGLT2 inhibitor in both the placebo and esaxerenone groups than those without the inhibitor. In contrast, time-course changes and mean percentage changes from baseline in urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio, the proportion of patients with albuminuria remission and time-course changes in blood pressure did not change with or without SGLT2 inhibitor, whereas the albumin-to-creatinine ratio and blood pressure were reduced with esaxerenone. The blood glucose-lowering effect of SGLT2 inhibitor was not affected by esaxerenone. Conclusions: In Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuria treated with esaxerenone, concomitant use of SGLT2 inhibitor reduced the magnitude of serum potassium elevation without any change of its antihypertensive and albuminuria-suppressing effects. Co-administration of esaxerenone and SGLT2 inhibitor might be a beneficial treatment option for patients with diabetic kidney disease

A study on cross-reactivity of anti-DNA antibody with glycosaminoglycans.

To study the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis, the cross reactivity between anti-DNA antibody and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was investigated. Monoclonal anti-DNA antibodies were obtained from hybridomas by the fusion of MRL/lpr/lpr splenocytes with murine myeloma cells. Some of these monoclonal anti-DNA antibodies showed cross reactivity with GAGs, such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate. To elucidate the mechanism of cross reactivity, inhibition assays with propanol and polyethylenimine (PEI), a cationic agent, were carried out. Increase of the concentration of PEI (0.6-2.0% vol/vol) resulted in a dose dependent decrease in the binding ability of anti-DNA antibody to GAGs. Propanol, an organic reagent which disrupts the van der Waals bonds between epitopes and paratopes, showed little inhibitory effect on the binding activity of monoclonal anti-DNA antibody to GAGs. These results indicate that the binding of anti-DNA antibody to GAGs is due to a charge interaction rather than van der Waals forces. Anti-DNA antibody which can react with GAGs in the glomerular basement membrane seems to play an important role in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis.</p

Severe hyperkalemia following ileostomy not colostomy in a patient undergoing chronic hemodialysis

In patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), the intestinal tract may assume an accessory potassium (K+) excretory role in the face of declining renal excretory function. Here, we report the case of a patient with ESRD who developed severe hyperkalemia following ileostomy not colostomy. A 6△-year-old woman undergoing hemodialysis began developing severe hyperkalemia after ileostomy. Previously, she had successfully undergone resection and colostomy of the transverse colon. The pre-dialysis serum K+ level was normal. Our present case demonstrates the importance of intestinal K+ secretion, especially in the colon, for maintaining hemostasis in patients with ESRD

J-CKD-DB: a nationwide multicentre electronic health record-based chronic kidney disease database in Japan

The Japan Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Database (J-CKD-DB) is a large-scale, nation-wide registry based on electronic health record (EHR) data from participating university hospitals. Using a standardized exchangeable information storage, the J-CKD-DB succeeded to efficiently collect clinical data of CKD patients across hospitals despite their different EHR systems. CKD was defined as dipstick proteinuria ≥1+ and/or estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 mL/min/1.73 m² base on both out- and inpatient laboratory data. As an initial analysis, we analyzed 39, 121 CKD outpatients (median age was 71 years, 54.7% were men, median eGFR was 51.3 mL/min/1.73 m²) and observed that the number of patients with a CKD stage G1, G2, G3a, G3b, G4 and G5 were 1, 001 (2.6%), 2, 612 (6.7%), 23, 333 (59.6%), 8, 357 (21.4%), 2, 710 (6.9%) and 1, 108 (2.8%), respectively. According to the KDIGO risk classification, there were 30.1% and 25.5% of male and female patients with CKD at very high-risk, respectively. As the information from every clinical encounter from those participating hospitals will be continuously updated with an anonymized patient ID, the J-CKD-DB will be a dynamic registry of Japanese CKD patients by expanding and linking with other existing databases and a platform for a number of cross-sectional and prospective analyses to answer important clinical questions in CKD care