Establishment of macaque trophoblast stem cell lines derived from cynomolgus monkey blastocysts

The placenta forms a maternal-fetal junction that supports many physiological functions such as the supply of nutrition and exchange of gases and wastes. Establishing an in vitro culture model of human and non-human primate trophoblast stem/progenitor cells is important for investigating the process of early placental development and trophoblast differentiation. In this study, we have established five trophoblast stem cell (TSC) lines from cynomolgus monkey blastocysts, named macTSC #1-5. Fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) enhanced proliferation of macTSCs, while other exogenous factors were not required to maintain their undifferentiated state. macTSCs showed a trophoblastic gene expression profile and trophoblast-like DNA methylation status and also exhibited differentiation capacity towards invasive trophoblast cells and multinucleated syncytia. In a xenogeneic chimera assay, these stem cells contributed to trophectoderm (TE) development in the chimeric blastocysts. macTSC are the first primate trophoblast cell lines whose proliferation is promoted by FGF4. These cell lines provide a valuable in vitro culture model to analyze the similarities and differences in placental development between human and non-human primates

EGUIDE project and treatment guidelines

Background Clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder have been published. However, these have not had sufficient penetration in clinical settings. We developed the Effectiveness of Guidelines for Dissemination and Education in Psychiatric Treatment (EGUIDE) project as a dissemination and education programme for psychiatrists. Aims The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the EGUIDE project on the subjective clinical behaviour of psychiatrists in accordance with clinical practice guidelines before and 1 and 2 years after participation in the programmes. Method A total of 607 psychiatrists participated in this study during October 2016 and March 2019. They attended both 1-day educational programmes based on the clinical practice guidelines for schizophrenia and major depressive disorder, and answered web questionnaires about their clinical behaviours before and 1 and 2 years after attending the programmes. We evaluated the changes in clinical behaviours in accordance with the clinical practice guidelines between before and 2 years after the programme. Results All of the scores for clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines were significantly improved after 1 and 2 years compared with before attending the programmes. There were no significant changes in any of the scores between 1 and 2 years after attending. Conclusions All clinical behaviours in accordance with clinical practice guidelines improved after attending the EGUIDE programme, and were maintained for at least 2 years. The EGUIDE project could contribute to improved guideline-based clinical behaviour among psychiatrists

Processing of Speech Variability: Vowel Reduction in Japanese

This dissertation investigates the processing of speech variability, allophonic and indexical variation in Japanese. A series of speech perception experiments were conducted with reduced and fully voiced vowels in Japanese as a test case. Reduced vowels should be difficult for listeners to hear because they are acoustically less salient than fully voiced vowels, due to the lack of relevant physiological properties. On the other hand, reduced vowels between voiceless consonants represent more common phonological patterns than fully voiced vowels. Furthermore, previous studies found that Japanese listeners were capable of hearing completely deleted vowels. Listeners intuitively maintain CV syllables in perception, hearing a vowel after each consonant in order to avoid obstruent clusters (a violation of Japanese phonotactics).It was found that listeners made good use of acoustic, phonological, and phonotactic knowledge of their native language for processing allophonic variants. In word recognition, listeners performed better when reduced vowels were in the environment where vowel reduction was expected. The phonological appropriateness of an allophone was judged in relation to adjacent consonants on both sides, and the facilitatory effect of appropriateness of reduced vowels surpassed the inhibitory effect of their acoustic weakness. However, in terms of sound detection, listeners found reduced and fully voiced vowels equally easy to hear in an environment where vowel reduction was expected. Although reduced vowels were phonologically appropriate between voiceless consonants, the phonological appropriateness merely balanced out acoustic weakness; it was not strong enough to surpass it. In addition, the phonological appropriateness of an allophone was judged based only on the preceding consonant, which suggests that listeners processed sounds linearly. Furthermore, the study found that phonological appropriateness of the allophone was affected by dialectal differences and speech rates. Listeners' preference for a certain allophone was influenced by the phonology of a listeners' native dialect and expectation was skewed by fast speech rates.This study suggests that current speech perception models need modification to account for the processing of speech variability taking language-specific phonological knowledge into consideration. The study demonstrated that it is important to investigate at which stage phonological inference takes place during processing

Problem-based learning for radiological technologists: a comparison of student attitudes toward plain radiography

Background: Knowledge and skill expected of healthcare providers continues to increase alongside developments in medicine and healthcare. Problem-based learning (PBL) is therefore increasingly necessary in training courses for radiological technologists. However, it is necessary to evaluate the effects of PBL to completely introduce it in our education programs. As a Hypothesis, it seems that a change occurs in the student's attitudes by participating in PBL practical training. There is the Semantic Differential (SeD) technique as a method to identify student's attitudes. We conceived that PBL could be appropriately evaluated by using SeD technique. In this paper, we evaluated PBL for plain radiography practical training using the SeD technique. Methods: Thirty-eight third-year students studying radiological technology participated. PBL was introduced to practical training in plain radiography positioning techniques. Five sessions lasting 5 h each were delivered over a 5-week period during November to December 2012. The clinical scenario was an emergency case with multiple trauma requiring plain radiography. Groups comprising approximately eight students created workflows for trauma radiography with consideration of diagnostic accuracy and patient safety. Furthermore, students groups conducted plain radiography on a patient phantom according to created workflows and were then guided by feedback from professional radiologists. All students answered SeD questionnaires to assess views on plain radiography before instruction to provide preliminary practical training reports and after completing practical training. Results: The factors were identified using factor analysis of the questionnaires, which were answered before and after each practical training session. On evaluation of the relationships between factors and question items according to factor loading, we identified "reluctance", "confidence", and "exhaustion" as the predominant attitudes before practical training. Similarly, we identified "expectation", "self-efficacy", and "realness" as the predominant attitudes after practical training. The attitudes toward plain radiography changed before and after PBL practical training. Conclusions: The attitude of self-efficacy was noted after practical training, which incorporated PBL. Student self-efficacy was thought to increase through self-directed learning, which is one of the aims of PBL. Although the influences of other lectures and training, which were performed in parallel with the PBL practice training, were not completely excluded, and although the number of study participants was small, we were able to confirm the effects of PBL