Analysis of the Motivation in the Programming Education for the Students Who Perform IT Work that Requires Artistic Skills

Programming education is considered to be important for the students in the art faculty, who perform the IT works that require artistic skills, to enrich their environments of creation and to carry out effective activities of creation. The motivation of the students is considered to be an important part of programming education in which active participation of students is crucial. In this research, we analyzed the transition of the motivation in the programming education using the ARCS motivation model in order to carry out effective programming education. Furthermore, we focused on the three sublevel categories of each factor of the ARCS model, and analyzed the transition and the factor of the transition of them. We have also proposed the method of analysis in which 3D bubble graphs ware drawn in such a way that each axis corresponds to each of the three sublevel categories in a factor of the ARCS model. We consider that it will be possible to apply the proposed methods to grasp the relation among the sublevel categories of each factor and the cause of the transition of them as the learning progresses.芸術系技能を必要とするIT作業において、作業環境を充実させて効率的な制作活動を展開するには、プログラミング教育が効果的であると考えられる。そして、知識の運用を必要とするプログラミング教育においては学習者自身のモチベーションが重要である。本研究では、効果的なプログラミング教育を行うためにプログラミング教育のモチベーションの変化を、ARCS動機付けモデルを用いて分析した。さらに、ARCS動機付けモデルの因子の下位カテゴリーに着目し、その遷移と遷移の要因を解析した。下位カテゴリーの遷移要因の解析では、ARCS動機付けモデルの一つの因子に属する3つの下位カテゴリーを3Dバブルグラフの3軸に対応させて描画する手法も提案した。本提案手法は、一つの因子の下位カテゴリー間の関係や、学習フェーズの進行による遷移要因の総合的な把握に適用できる可能性があると考えられる

Current-induced magnetization switching in MgO barrier magnetic tunnel junctions with CoFeB based synthetic ferrimagnetic free layers

We investigated the effect of using a synthetic ferrimagnetic (SyF) free layer in MgO-based magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) on current-induced magnetization switching (CIMS), particularly for application to spin-transfer torque random access memory (SPRAM). The employed SyF free layer had a Co40Fe40B20/ Ru/ Co40Fe40B20 and Co20Fe60B20/Ru/Co20Fe60B20 structures, and the MTJs(100x(150-300) nm^2) were annealed at 300oC. The use of SyF free layer resulted in low intrinsic critical current density (Jc0) without degrading the thermal-stability factor (E/kBT, where E, kB, and T are the energy potential, the Boltzmann constant, and temperature,respectively). When the two CoFeB layers of a strongly antiferromagnetically coupled SyF free layer had the same thickness, Jc0 was reduced to 2-4x10^6 A/cm^2. This low Jc0 may be due to the decreased effective volume under the large spin accumulation at the CoFeB/Ru. The E/kBT was over 60, resulting in a retention time of over ten years and suppression of the write current dispersion for SPRAM. The use of the SyF free layer also resulted in a bistable (parallel/antiparallel) magnetization configuration at zero field, enabling the realization of CIMS without the need to apply external fields to compensate for the offset field.Comment: 6 page

Studies of energetic particle transport induced by multiple Alfvén eigenmodes using neutron and escaping energetic particle diagnostics in Large Helical Device deuterium plasmas

Studies of energetic particle transport due to energetic-particle-driven Alfvénic instability have progressed using neutron and energetic particle diagnostics in Large Helical Device deuterium plasmas. Alfvénic instability excited by injecting an intensive neutral beam was observed by a magnetic probe and a far-infrared laser interferometer. The interferometer showed Alfvénic instability composed of three modes that existed from the core to the edge of the plasma. A comparison between the observed frequency and shear Alfvén spectra suggested that the mode activity was most likely classified as an Alfvénic avalanche. A neutron fluctuation detector and a fast ion loss detector indicated that Alfvénic instability induced transport and loss of co-going transit energetic ions. The dependence of the drop rate of the neutron signal on the Alfvénic instability amplitude showed that significant transport occurred. Significant transport might be induced by the large amplitude and radially extended multiple modes, as well as a large deviation of the energetic ion orbit from the flux surface

Virus-Infection or 5′ppp-RNA Activates Antiviral Signal through Redistribution of IPS-1 Mediated by MFN1

In virus-infected cells, RIG-I-like receptor (RLR) recognizes cytoplasmic viral RNA and triggers innate immune responses including production of type I and III interferon (IFN) and the subsequent expression of IFN-inducible genes. Interferon-β promoter stimulator 1 (IPS-1, also known as MAVS, VISA and Cardif) is a downstream molecule of RLR and is expressed on the outer membrane of mitochondria. While it is known that the location of IPS-1 is essential to its function, its underlying mechanism is unknown. Our aim in this study was to delineate the function of mitochondria so as to identify more precisely its role in innate immunity. In doing so we discovered that viral infection as well as transfection with 5′ppp-RNA resulted in the redistribution of IPS-1 to form speckle-like aggregates in cells. We further found that Mitofusin 1 (MFN1), a key regulator of mitochondrial fusion and a protein associated with IPS-1 on the outer membrane of mitochondria, positively regulates RLR-mediated innate antiviral responses. Conversely, specific knockdown of MFN1 abrogates both the virus-induced redistribution of IPS-1 and IFN production. Our study suggests that mitochondria participate in the segregation of IPS-1 through their fusion processes

A connectome and analysis of the adult Drosophila central brain.

The neural circuits responsible for animal behavior remain largely unknown. We summarize new methods and present the circuitry of a large fraction of the brain of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Improved methods include new procedures to prepare, image, align, segment, find synapses in, and proofread such large data sets. We define cell types, refine computational compartments, and provide an exhaustive atlas of cell examples and types, many of them novel. We provide detailed circuits consisting of neurons and their chemical synapses for most of the central brain. We make the data public and simplify access, reducing the effort needed to answer circuit questions, and provide procedures linking the neurons defined by our analysis with genetic reagents. Biologically, we examine distributions of connection strengths, neural motifs on different scales, electrical consequences of compartmentalization, and evidence that maximizing packing density is an important criterion in the evolution of the fly's brain