Kosovar Resettlement Assistance Project in Greater Victoria

This paper describes a practical service model based on my field experience and outlines the process of Kosovar refugees' initial resettlement in Greater Victoria. Although an individual's age, social, educational, economic, and health conditions are some factors to influence refugee psycho-social adjustment, the continuum of resettlement is explained as dynamic, two-way, multifaceted, and long term. Resettlement does not end within one's lifetime, but it is rather an inter-generational evolution. This paper, however, only focuses on the first initial resettlement stage, which is critical to influence the whole continuum of inter-generational adjustment.Cet article décrit un modèle pratique de prestations basé sur mon expérience sur le terrain et donne les grandes lignes du processus initial d'établissement de réfugiés kosovars dans la grande région métro-politaine de Victoria. Malgré le fait que l'âge d'un individu, sa condition sociale, son niveau d'éducation et sa situation économique sont quelques-uns des facteurs qui influencent l'intégration socio-psychologique du réfugié, le continuum du processus d'établissemetn est présenté comme étant dynamique, opérant dans les deux sens, ayant des facettes multiples et s'étendant sur le long terme. Le processus d'établissement ne s'arrête pas avec la mort, mais est plutôt une évolution de génération en génération. Toutefois, cet article n'examine que le stade initial d'établissement, période critique pour influencer tout le continuum d'ajustements entre générations. L'article met en valeur la source gouvernementale de financement et de soutien, ainsi que les réactions positives de la communauté envers le projet, les tensions entre parties

Achieving Evidence-based Improvement and Transparency in Higher Education: The current status and challenges regarding data utilization and disclosure in Japan

This article reports the results of a nationwide questionnaire survey of 1,104 Japanese higher education institutions conducted in late 2015 and early 2016. Its goal was to investigate the current status and issues related to the utilization and disclosure of educational information. A total of 248 institutions responded to the survey. Based on the findings of the nationwide survey, this article examines an initiative at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University as an emerging case of the preparation of infrastructure and the utilization of educational information. Discussed is how information on higher education is collected and utilized to improve its quality and to promote internal quality assurance. Also examined is the maturational status of the institutional research (IR) function in terms of data utilization in Japanese higher education with reference to the maturity model for IR.The present study was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP26292063

A Change in the Radius of Rotation of F1-ATPase Indicates a Tilting Motion of the Central Shaft

AbstractF1-ATPase is a water-soluble portion of FoF1-ATP synthase and rotary molecular motor that exhibits reversibility in chemical reactions. The rotational motion of the shaft subunit γ has been carefully scrutinized in previous studies, but a tilting motion of the shaft has never been explicitly postulated. Here we found a change in the radius of rotation of the probe attached to the shaft subunit γ between two different intermediate states in ATP hydrolysis: one waiting for ATP binding, and the other waiting for ATP hydrolysis and/or subsequent product release. Analysis of this radial difference indicates a ∼4° outward tilting of the γ-subunit induced by ATP binding. The tilt angle is a new parameter, to our knowledge, representing the motion of the γ-subunit and provides a new constraint condition of the ATP-waiting conformation of F1-ATPase, which has not been determined as an atomic structure from x-ray crystallography

Imaging and mapping of mouse bone using MALDI-imaging mass spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) is an advanced method used globally to analyze the distribution of biomolecules on tissue cryosections without any probes. In bones, however, hydroxyapatite crystals make it difficult to determine the distribution of biomolecules using MALDI-IMS. Additionally, there is limited information regarding the use of this method to analyze bone tissues. To determine whether MALDI-IMS analysis of bone tissues can facilitate comprehensive mapping of biomolecules in mouse bone, we first dissected femurs and tibiae from 8-week-old male mice and characterized the quality of multiple fixation and decalcification methods for preparation of the samples. Cryosections were mounted on indium tin oxide-coated glass slides, dried, and then a matrix solution was sprayed on the tissue surface. Images were acquired using an iMScope at a mass-to-charge range of 100–1000. Hematoxylin-eosin, Alcian blue, Azan, and periodic acid-Schiff staining of adjacent sections was used to evaluate histological and histochemical features. Among the various fixation and decalcification conditions, sections from trichloroacetic acid-treated samples were most suitable to examine both histology and comprehensive MS images. However, histotypic MS signals were detected in all sections. In addition to the MS images, phosphocholine was identified as a candidate metabolite. These results indicate successful detection of biomolecules in bone using MALDI-IMS. Although analytical procedures and compositional adjustment regarding the performance of the device still require further development, IMS appears to be a powerful tool to determine the distribution of biomolecules in bone tissues

S-1 mediated tumor priming enhances intratumor liposomal fate

The efficient delivery of nanocarrier-based cancer therapeutics into tumor tissue is problematic. Structural abnormalities, tumor vasculature heterogeneity, and elevated intratumor pressure impose barriers against the preferential accumulation of nanocarrier-based cancer therapeutics within tumor tissues and, consequently, compromise their therapeutic efficacy. Recently, we have reported that metronomic S-1, orally available tegafur formulation, dosing synergistically augmented the therapeutic efficacy of oxaliplatin (l-OHP)-containing PEGylated liposome without increasing the toxicity in animal model. However, the exact mechanism behind such synergistic effect was not fully elucidated. In this study, therefore, we tried to shed the light on the contributions of metronomic S-1 dosing to the enhanced accumulation and/or spatial distribution of PEGylated liposome within tumor tissue. Tumor priming with metronomic S-1 treatment induced a potent apoptotic response against both angiogenic endothelial cells and tumor cells adjacent to tumor blood vessels, resulting in enhanced tumor blood flow via transient normalization of tumor vasculature, along with alleviation of intratumor pressure. Such a change in the tumor microenvironment imparted by S-1 treatment allows efficient delivery of PEGylated liposome to tumor tissue and permits their deep penetration/distribution into the tumor mass. Such a priming effect of S-1 dosing can be exploited as a promising strategy to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of nanocarrier-based cancer therapeutics suffering from inadequate/heterogeneous delivery to tumor tissues