The Development of the Social Studies Lesson Plan focusing on Modern Political Issues: A Case of A Tentative Lesson Plan "Takeshima Problem"

本研究は、現代社会に対する認識を深めることを目指した社会科歴史の単元開発を目指したものである。そのために、本研究においては、現代、政治の場において問題となっている政策課題を取り上げ、その起源を追及させることを通して現代政治をよりよく理解させるとともに、生徒に問題解決への自分なりの見通しを持たせるように授業を構成している。取り上げた政策課題は領土問題であり、具体的には日韓の間で議論となっている「竹島問題」を扱った。開発した単元は、特定の主義・主張を教え込むのではなく、公立な立場から政策問題について思考・判断させ、自主的な思想形成を促すものと評価され得るものである

Mapping of the 2018 Heavy Rain Disaster in the Southern Part of Hiroshima Prefecture

これまでに発生した土砂災害，洪水，地震，津波などの災害の様子を示した地図をディザスターマップ（災害記録地図）と呼ぶことを提案し，その一例として平成30年7月豪雨直後から行った災害を記録する活動内容を報告した。平成30年7月豪雨によって広島県南部では多数の斜面崩壊が発生し，甚大な被害が生じた。広島大学の調査団を中心に，豪雨直後からその後約1年半に渡り，災害の情報を整理し，被害の様子を記録するディザスターマップの作成を行ってきた。具体的には地理情報システム（GIS）を用いて斜面崩壊の発生状況を示す地図や，被災の様子を記録した写真を撮影位置に配置した地図の作成である。本稿ではこのようなディザスターマップの作成経緯や内容などの記述に加え，今後の防災教育などにおいてのこれらの地図の活用の可能性について予察的な考察を行った。本稿では，過去のすべての災禍を「古災害」（paleo-disaster）と呼ぶことを提案した。ディザスターマップの作成を含め，過去の災禍についてそれぞれの広がりや履歴が明らかにされる研究が進展することを期待したい。A massive disaster, including a large number of slope movements and the flooding of large rivers, was triggered by record-breaking torrential rain in July 2018 over a broad area of western Japan. Severe damage in the southern part of Hiroshima prefecture was mainly caused by the debris flow, with a total of 108 people reported killed or missing. The geographer group for “the Hiroshima University Disaster Investigation Team for July Torrential Rain of 2018” recorded the distribution of slope movements as geographical data and prepared detailed maps on the geographic information system (GIS) since just after its initiation. The authors also created “disaster maps” with photographs of locations of slope movements, broken artificial features, and floods taken in the field were depicted in Higashihiroshima City, where the largest number of slope movements occurred in Hiroshima prefecture. In this paper, we described the process of making these maps and their contents, and the possibility of utilizing them for disaster prevention education. We also proposed referring to all past disasters as “paleo-disaster” to progress the research that reveals the distribution and history of past disasters

The Minimal Seesaw Model at the TeV Scale

We point out that the minimal seesaw model can provide a natural framework to accommodate tiny neutrino masses, while its experimental testability and notable predictiveness are still maintained. This possibility is based on the observation that two heavy right-handed Majorana neutrinos in the minimal seesaw model may naturally emerge as a pseudo-Dirac fermion. In a specific scenario, we show that the tri-bimaximal neutrino mixing can be produced, and only the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy is allowed. The low-energy phenomena, including non-unitarity effects in neutrino oscillations, neutrinoless double-beta decays and rare lepton-flavor-violating decays of charged leptons l_alpha to l_beta + gamma, have been explored. The collider signatures of the heavy singlet neutrino are also briefly discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Relatively large theta13 and nearly maximal theta23 from the approximate S3 symmetry of lepton mass matrices

We apply the permutation symmetry S_3 to both charged-lepton and neutrino mass matrices, and suggest a useful symmetry-breaking scheme, in which the flavor symmetry is explicitly broken down via S_3 -> Z_3 -> nothing in the charged-lepton sector and via S_3 -> Z_2 -> nothing in the neutrino sector. Such a two-stage breaking scenario is reasonable in the sense that both Z_3 and Z_2 are the subgroups of S_3, while Z_3 and Z_2 only have a trivial subgroup. In this scenario, we can obtain a relatively large value of the smallest neutrino mixing angle, e.g., theta_{13} ~ 9^\circ, which is compatible with the recent result from T2K experiment and will be precisely measured in the ongoing Double Chooz and Daya Bay reactor neutrino experiments. Moreover, the maximal atmospheric mixing angle theta_{23} ~ 45^\circ can also be obtained while the best-fit value of solar mixing angle theta_{12} ~ 34^\circ is assumed, which cannot be achieved in previous S_3 symmetry models.Comment: 15 pages, no figures, minor changes, matches the published versio

Physical inactivity is associated with decreased growth differentiation factor 11 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Rie Tanaka,1 Hisatoshi Sugiura,1 Mitsuhiro Yamada,1 Tomohiro Ichikawa,1 Akira Koarai,1 Naoya Fujino,1 Satoru Yanagisawa,1 Katsuhiro Onodera,1 Tadahisa Numakura,1 Kei Sato,1 Yorihiko Kyogoku,1 Hirohito Sano,1 Shun Yamanaka,1 Tatsuma Okazaki,1 Tsutomu Tamada,1 Motohiko Miura,2 Tsuneyuki Takahashi,3 Masakazu Ichinose1 1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan; 2Department of Respiratory Medicine, Tohoku Rosai Hospital, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan; 3Department of Internal Medicine, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University Wakabayashi Hospital, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai, Japan Background: Growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11) is reported to possess anti-aging and rejuvenating effects, including muscle regeneration and to be highly expressed in skeletal muscle. Recently, we demonstrated that the levels of plasma GDF11 were decreased in COPD. However, the effect of decreased circulating GDF11 in the pathophysiology of COPD remains unknown. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the plasma GDF11 levels and various clinical parameters in patients with COPD. Patients and methods: Eighteen ex-smokers as control subjects and 70 COPD patients participated in the current study. We measured the levels of plasma GDF11 using immunoblotting, lung function, physical activity using a triaxial accelerometer, quadriceps strength, exercise capacity, and systemic inflammatory markers. We investigated the association between the levels of plasma GDF11 and these clinical parameters. Results: The levels of plasma GDF11 in the COPD patients had significant positive correlations with the data of lung function. Furthermore, the levels of plasma GDF11 were significantly correlated with the physical activity, quadriceps strength, and exercise capacity. Moreover, the levels of plasma GDF11 were significantly correlated with the data of inflammatory markers. Although various factors were related to GDF11, the multiple regression analysis showed that physical activity was significantly associated with the levels of plasma GDF11. Conclusion: Physical inactivity was significantly related to the decreased GDF11 levels in COPD, which might be useful for understanding the pathogenesis of COPD. Clarifying the relationships between the physical inactivity and GDF11 may reveal a potentially attractive therapeutic approach in COPD via increasing the plasma levels of GDF11. Keywords: physical activity, muscle strength, rejuvenating factor, COP

Effect of arterial carbon dioxide on ventilation during recovery from impulse exercises of various intensities

To determine that whether arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) affects ventilation (VE) during recovery from impulse-like exercises of various intensities, subjects performed four impulse-like tests with different workloads. Each test consisted of a 20-sec impulse-like exercise at 80 rpm and 60-min recovery. Blood samples were collected at rest and during recovery to measure blood ions and gases. VE was measured continuously during rest, exercise and recovery periods. A significant curvilinear relationship was observed between VE and pH during recovery from the 300 and 400 watts tests in all subjects. VE was elevated during recovery from the 100 watts test despite no change in any of the humoral factors. Arterialized carbon dioxide (PaCO2) kinetics showed fluctuation, being increased at 1 min and decreased at 5 min during recovery, and this fluctuation was more enhanced with increase in exercise intensity. There was a significant relationship between VE and PaCO2 during recovery from the 300 and 400 watts tests in all subjects. The results of the present study demonstrate that pH and neural factors drive VE during recovery from impulse-like exercise and that fluctuation in PaCO2 controls VE as a feedback loop and this feedback function is more enhanced as the work intensity increases

Effects of awareness of change in load on ventilatory response during moderate exercise

This study was designed to determine whether awareness of change in load alters ventilatory response during moderate exercise. Subjects performed two incremental exercise protocols on a cycle ergometer. The load was increased from 1.0 to 1.5 kp in steps of 0.1 kp every 3 min. Subjects were provided true information about the load in the control protocol and untrue information that the load would remain constant in the deception protocol. Slope of ventilation against CO2 output was significantly lower in the deception protocol than control protocol. Integrated EMG (iEMG) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were similar between the two protocols, but awareness of change in load was significantly attenuated by the deception protocol. However, there was no temporal coincidence between awareness and actual change in load. These results suggest that ventilatory response during moderate exercise depends not so much on RPE but mainly on awareness or attention that is closely connected to information detection

Ventilatory response to moderate incremental exercise performed 24 h after resistance exercise with concentric and eccentric contractions

In order to test our hypothesis that muscle condition has an effect on the cognition of self-motion and consequently on the ventilatory response during exercise, six healthy subjects performed a moderate incremental exercise test (IET) on a cycle ergometer under two conditions [resistance exercise condition (REC) and control condition (CC)]. In the REC, resistance exercise (30 incline leg presses) was conducted during two sessions scheduled at 48 and then 24 h prior to the IET. For the CC, the subjects were instructed to refrain from participating in strenuous exercise for a period of 2 days prior to the IET. In the IET, the workload was increased from 78 to 118 W in steps of 8 W every 3 min. Although the ventilatory response during the IET was significantly higher in the REC than in the CC, there were no significant differences in cognitive indexes (RPE and awareness of change in workload) between the two conditions. In addition, the magnitude of muscle soreness was significantly higher in the REC than in the CC. However, the level of soreness in the REC was very low, and there were no significant differences in blood lactate concentration and integrated EMG between the two conditions. These results suggest that a change in peripheral neural reflex is the primary cause of increased ventilatory response to moderate exercise after resistance exercise, although the role of a cognitive element cannot be absolutely excluded

Relationship between motor corticospinal excitability and ventilatory response during intense exercise

Purpose Effort sense has been suggested to be involved in the hyperventilatory response during intense exercise (IE). However, the mechanism by which effort sense induces an increase in ventilation during IE has not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between effort-mediated ventilatory response and corticospinal excitability of lower limb muscle during IE. Eight subjects performed 3 min of cycling exercise at 75-85 % of maximum workload twice (IE1st and IE2nd). IE2nd was performed after 60 min of resting recovery following 45 min of submaximal cycling exercise at the workload corresponding to ventilatory threshold. Vastus lateralis muscle response to transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex (motor evoked potentials, MEPs), effort sense of legs (ESL, Borg 0-10 scale), and ventilatory response were measured during the two IEs. The slope of ventilation (l/min) against CO2 output (l/min) during IE2nd (28.0 +/- 5.6) was significantly greater than that (25.1 +/- 5.5) during IE1st. Mean ESL during IE was significantly higher in IE2nd (5.25 +/- 0.89) than in IE1st (4.67 +/- 0.62). Mean MEP (normalized to maximal M-wave) during IE was significantly lower in IE2nd (66 +/- 22 %) than in IE1st (77 +/- 24 %). The difference in mean ESL between the two IEs was significantly (p < 0.05, r = -0.82) correlated with the difference in mean MEP between the two IEs. The findings suggest that effort-mediated hyperventilatory response to IE may be associated with a decrease in corticospinal excitability of exercising muscle