What Reflection Training Has Provided to Second-year Post-graduate Nurses: Changes in Reflective Ability and “Valued Nursing Care”

This study was conducted by retrospective observational study to identify factors related to changes in “Reflective Ability” and “Valued Nursing Care” of second-year nurses through “Reflection Training” and their ability to look back on their performance while learning. We collected data from 37 participants who participated in second-year Reflection Training at Tottori University Hospital, and from Reflective Ability self-assessment sheets administered one month before and three months after training. Wilcoxon signed-rank test, word co-occurrence network by text mining, and correspondence analysis of words were used for data analysis. The nurses’ scores increased significantly after training. In addition, after training, the second-year nurses paid more attention to the inner life of the subject and became more aware of practice based on reflective thinking, and there was a change in nurses’ thinking about “Valued Nursing Care”. Reflective learning experience in basic nursing education and positive perception of the work environment were related to improvement of reflective ability. It was suggested that there is a need for continuous reflection when student nurses learn from basic nursing education, development of facilitators who promote reflection, and creation of an environment in which growth support can be received from others in the workplace

A preliminary study on application of a balance sport slackline to FYS

本稿では、バランス・スポーツ“スラックライン”を初年次教育の題材として用いた事例的研究について報告する。スラックラインとは、綱渡りを競技として発展させたものであり、現在、スポーツやレジャー、身体教育や健康促進、リハビリテーションの一環としてなど、様々な分野・用途で応用されている。本研究では、誰でも気軽に楽しめ、省スペースで実施でき、コミュニケーションのツールともなるスラックラインを、初年次教育における仮説検証学習の題材として応用し、学生らが自らの身体を使って体験的に学ぶことで、学習が促進されるかどうかについて検討した。授業後のアンケートの結果、スラックラインを取り入れた授業によって、自身や他者についての理解や気づきが促され、コミュニケーションが活性化し、楽しい学習の場が提供できたことが示唆された。これらの結果は、スラックラインが初年次教育の題材として有効である可能性を部分的に示している。論

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) for AKARI

The Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS) is one of two focal plane instruments on the AKARI satellite. FIS has four photometric bands at 65, 90, 140, and 160 um, and uses two kinds of array detectors. The FIS arrays and optics are designed to sweep the sky with high spatial resolution and redundancy. The actual scan width is more than eight arcmin, and the pixel pitch is matches the diffraction limit of the telescope. Derived point spread functions (PSFs) from observations of asteroids are similar to the optical model. Significant excesses, however, are clearly seen around tails of the PSFs, whose contributions are about 30% of the total power. All FIS functions are operating well in orbit, and its performance meets the laboratory characterizations, except for the two longer wavelength bands, which are not performing as well as characterized. Furthermore, the FIS has a spectroscopic capability using a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS). Because the FTS takes advantage of the optics and detectors of the photometer, it can simultaneously make a spectral map. This paper summarizes the in-flight technical and operational performance of the FIS.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in the AKARI special issue of the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japa

Cholinergic receptor pathways involved in apoptosis, cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation

Acetylcholine (ACh) has been shown to modulate neuronal differentiation during early development. Both muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) regulate a wide variety of physiological responses, including apoptosis, cellular proliferation and neuronal differentiation. However, the intracellular mechanisms underlying these effects of AChR signaling are not fully understood. It is known that activation of AChRs increase cellular proliferation and neurogenesis and that regulation of intracellular calcium through AChRs may underlie the many functions of ACh. Intriguingly, activation of diverse signaling molecules such as Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt, protein kinase C and c-Src is modulated by AChRs. Here we discuss the roles of ACh in neuronal differentiation, cell proliferation and apoptosis. We also discuss the pathways involved in these processes, as well as the effects of novel endogenous AChRs agonists and strategies to enhance neuronal-differentiation of stem and neural progenitor cells. Further understanding of the intracellular mechanisms underlying AChR signaling may provide insights for novel therapeutic strategies, as abnormal AChR activity is present in many diseases

Impact of gastrointestinal tract variability on oral drug absorption and pharmacokinetics : an UNGAP review

The absorption of oral drugs is frequently plagued by significant variability with potentially serious therapeutic consequences. The source of variability can be traced back to interindividual variability in physiology, differences in special populations (age- and disease-dependent), drug and formulation properties, or food-drug interactions. Clinical evidence for the impact of some of these factors on drug pharmacokinetic variability is mounting: e.g. gastric pH and emptying time, small intestinal fluid properties, differences in pediatrics and the elderly, and surgical changes in gastrointestinal anatomy. However, the link of colonic factors variability (transit time, fluid composition, microbiome), sex differences (male vs. female) and gut-related diseases (chronic constipation, anorexia and cachexia) to drug absorption variability has not been firmly established yet. At the same time, a way to decrease oral drug pharmacokinetic variability is provided by the pharmaceutical industry: clinical evidence suggests that formulation approaches employed during drug development can decrease the variability in oral exposure. This review outlines the main drivers of oral drug exposure variability and potential approaches to overcome them, while highlighting existing knowledge gaps and guiding future studies in this area

The name of goods in the Ricardian Model : a preliminary note

研究ノー

The Contribution of Money Flow from Rural to Urban Areas in Chinese Dual Economy

近年中国の経済規模が大幅に拡大しており、世界全体に与える影響も年を追うごとに大きくなっている。一般的に、経済発展の初期段階では実質賃金の上昇が見られない。これは農村に膨大な過剰労働力があり、都市の賃金が上昇すると彼らが都市に移動して賃金の上昇分を取り込んでしまうからである。中国はこの膨大な労働力を利用することによって工業化を進めており、またその安価な労働力の利用を目的に海外からの直接投資も増加してきた。しかし、その一方で中国で労働力が不足しているという報告も増えている。 本稿では、中国の工業化の進展が、産業構造や労働市場にもたらす変化を検討する。各省ごとに農業部門流出労働力と実質賃金の関係を見ると、1990年前後に実質賃金の上昇が見られる。他方、工業化の進展には、工業部門の資金調達が重要な課題である。日本の明治期には、鉄道・電話などの分野で農業部門からの融資が行われ、この農業部門から工業部門への融資が近代部門の成長を促したことが知られている。そこで、金融面に注目し中国の農工間の資金移動を推計すると、1989年を境に農業部門が余剰資金の発生する黒字主体となっていることが観察され、この余剰資金が工業化を促進したことが確認された。In this paper, we are seeking to find out whether the current problems of urban-rural income gap and unemployment in Chinese rural areas will come to an end like some developing countries such as Japan and South Korea, which used to carry out a dual economy in the past. Our framework is based on A. W. Lewis's theory of Dualism. Lewis's theory concerns the dual labor market in a nation. According to his model of dualism theory, there are two sectors in a dual economy, Urban Sector and Rural Subsistence Sector. The time span we consider is from the beginning of the reform and open policy in 1978 to 2000, when the market economy was introduced and, in particular, rural enterprises were positively established. Nowadays Chinese shortage problem of labor force is getting serious in urban areas. This issue was mentioned and discussed that accumulated Outflow of Labor vs. Real Wage in Agricultural Sector by Professor T. Watanabe. His analysis of the turning point of an economic transition in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan was used to find out whether the turning point was occurred or will occur in China. According to the analysis of Labor Force outflow and Real Wage in China, the turning point was in 1989. On the other hand, this paper is going to investigate the upgrading of the industrial structure in the development of Chinese economy by analyzing the money flow and the structural changes in employment. The enlargement of the industrial sector, capital and labor forces are indispensable for the progress of industrialization. We will examine the function of capital to determine whether the agricultural sector could invest their profit in giving birth to the industrial sector. We will come to the conclusion that the agricultural sector in China has been a surplus unit since 1989. The surplus generated in this sector was invested in the industrial sector through financial institutions and the capital inflow since this sector has turned to be an influential factor in industrial development. The authors demonstrate that the changing of industrial structure was 1989, by applying the analysis of capital and the labor force