Policies and Practices of School Leaderships in Japan: A Case of Leadership Development Strategies in Akita

Reflecting the social and economic change, Japanese education has shifted to decentralization since the 1980s. With an increased autonomy and responsibility, the local government plays an important role to develop competent school leaders. This descriptive study employs case study approach to illustrate current status of leadership development at the local level in Japan. Through the analysis of current policies and practices, it lays out the strategies of leadership development in Akita prefecture. In addition, semi-structured interviews with 17 education leaders were conducted in 2014 and 2015 to explore their perceptions on the leadership development. The study found that the leadership development in Akita is implemented combining formal and informal training activities. While a comprehensive professional development system is implemented strategically, informal learning of competency is commonly exercised. This dual approach enables school leaders to develop their leadership skills and knowledge

ショウガイジ シャ キョウダイ ノ メンタル ヘルス : シシュンキ カラ セイネンキ ニ カケテ

The purpose of this study examined mental health of adolescent siblings of the obstacle children. The method used the questionnaires consisting from stress condition，cause of stress， social support. As a result，the group of adolescent siblings of the obstacle children was lower than the group of adolescent siblings of the normal children in stress condition，cause of stress，except of studying. Regarding social support the former group was lower than latter one about support of the obstacle children and was higher than latter one about their parents，homeroom teacher and friends significantly

Comparison of Protein Profiles of Gingival Crevicular Fluids Collected from Incisors, Canines, and Molars

Many studies have shown that gingival crevicular fluid （GCF） reflects the inflammatory state of local periodontal tissues. GCF has been collected from several types of teeth in previous studies. However, there is no report that characterizes GCF by the type of tooth. In the present study, the protein profiles of GCF from different sites were comprehensively compared with each other. GCF was sampled from six healthy adult men （21-31 years old） with healthy periodontal tissues. Three separate GCF samples were collected at the maxillary central incisor, canine, and first molar of each individual. The protein profiles of GCF were analyzed using sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and liquid chromatogram-tandem mass spectrometry （LC-MS/MS）. The band patterns on the sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis from the set of three GCF samples from each individual were similar, regardless of the type of tooth. The proteins contained in each band were identified by LC-MS/MS analysis, and they were found to be the same among the three GCF samples. A comprehensive and quantitative analysis of proteins in the GCF samples was performed by LC-MS/MS using isobaric tag labeling. In total, 86 proteins were identified in GCF. A small number of proteins were increased or decreased in GCF from the first molars compared with the other types of teeth in one or two individuals. However, overall, no proteins were found to exhibit a reproducibly different composition in any of the individuals. These analyses show that the protein profiles of GCF in healthy periodontal tissues are similar, regardless of the type of tooth

Behavioral-Independent Features of Complex Heartbeat Dynamics

We test whether the complexity of cardiac interbeat interval time series is simply a consequence of the wide range of scales characterizing human behavior, especially physical activity, by analyzing data taken from healthy adult subjects under three conditions with controls: (i) a ``constant routine'' protocol where physical activity and postural changes are kept to a minimum, (ii) sympathetic blockade, and (iii) parasympathetic blockade. We find that when fluctuations in physical activity and other behavioral modifiers are minimized, a remarkable level of complexity of heartbeat dynamics remains, while for neuroautonomic blockade the multifractal complexity decreases.Comment: 4 pages with 6 eps figures. Latex file. For more details or for downloading the PDF file of the published article see http://polymer.bu.edu/~amaral/Heart.html and http://polymer.bu.edu/~amaral/Multifractal.htm

Association between posterior occlusal support and tooth loss in a population-based cohort: The OHSAKA study

Mameno T., Otsuki N., Wada M., et al. Association between posterior occlusal support and tooth loss in a population-based cohort: The OHSAKA study. Journal of Dentistry 148, 105144 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdent.2024.105144.Objectives: This study aimed to assess the association between posterior occlusal support (POS) and the risk of tooth loss in older adults aged ≥75 years. Methods: This longitudinal study analyzed 94,422 participants who participated in multiple dental check-ups provided as part of the public healthcare services in Osaka, Japan, from 2018 to 2022. The participants were categorized into nine groups (A1–3, B1–4, and C1 and C2) according to their POS status using the Eichner index at baseline. The dental charts were compared between the initial and final assessments to assess tooth loss. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between POS status and tooth loss, adjusted for several covariates, including age, sex, body mass index, periodontal status, oral hygiene, history of diabetes, history of hypertension, attendance at the annual dental check-up, and observational period. Furthermore, stratified logistic regression analyses were conducted using anterior or posterior tooth loss. Results: After controlling for confounders, POS status was associated with tooth loss. The odds ratios (ORs) with A1 as the reference were 1.74 in A2, 2.55 in A3, 3.40 in B1, 4.74 in B2, 5.79 in B3, 6.00 in B4, 4.44 in C1, and 3.00 in C2, respectively. The ORs for anterior tooth loss were higher than those for posterior tooth loss, with the highest OR observed in B4 (21.4). Conclusions: This large population-based cohort study showed that a decreased POS was a risk indicator for tooth loss; furthermore, the risk increased even further in the anterior teeth region

3D Modeling and 3D Materialization of Fluid Art That Occurs in Very Short Time

19th IFIP TC 14 International Conference, ICEC 2020, Xi'an, China, November 10–13, 2020.Proceedings of ICEC2020We have been creating artworks called “liquid art” utilizing liquid dynamics phenomena. One of the liquid artworks is “Sound of Ikebana” which is created by giving sound vibration to color paints and shooting the phenomenon by a high-speed camera, which has been evaluated as “the artwork includes Japanese beauty.” To investigate further why it is evaluated in such a way and also to seek the possibility of its application in society, we tried to materialize it into 3D objects. As the phenomenon occurs in a very short time of less than one second, we have developed a specific experimental environment consisting of multiple high-speed cameras surrounding a speaker where the phenomenon occurs. Among various technologies to reconstruct the 3D model from multiple 2D images, we have chosen a method called Phase-Only Correlation and developed a 3D mesh model of a snapshot of “Sound of Ikebana.” Also using a 3D printer we have successfully obtained 3D materialized “Sound of Ikebana.

Critical Scale-invariance in Healthy Human Heart Rate

We demonstrate the robust scale-invariance in the probability density function (PDF) of detrended healthy human heart rate increments, which is preserved not only in a quiescent condition, but also in a dynamic state where the mean level of heart rate is dramatically changing. This scale-independent and fractal structure is markedly different from the scale-dependent PDF evolution observed in a turbulent-like, cascade heart rate model. These results strongly support the view that healthy human heart rate is controlled to converge continually to a critical state.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Phys. Rev. Lett., to appear (2004

Comparative study on the effect of human BST-2/Tetherin on HIV-1 release in cells of various species

In this study, we first demonstrate that endogenous hBST-2 is predominantly expressed on the plasma membrane of a human T cell line, MT-4 cells, and that Vpu-deficient HIV-1 was less efficiently released than wild-type HIV-1 from MT-4 cells. In addition, surface hBST-2 was rapidly down-regulated in wild-type but not Vpu-deficient HIV-1-infected cells. This is a direct insight showing that provirus-encoded Vpu has the potential to down-regulate endogenous hBST-2 from the surface of HIV-1-infected T cells. Corresponding to previous reports, the aforementioned findings suggested that hBST-2 has the potential to suppress the release of Vpu-deficient HIV-1. However, the molecular mechanism(s) for tethering HIV-1 particles by hBST-2 remains unclear, and we speculated about the requirement for cellular co-factor(s) to trigger or assist its tethering ability. To explore this possibility, we utilize several cell lines derived from various species including human, AGM, dog, cat, rabbit, pig, mink, potoroo, and quail. We found that ectopic hBST-2 was efficiently expressed on the surface of all analyzed cells, and its expression suppressed the release of viral particles in a dose-dependent manner. These findings suggest that hBST-2 can tether HIV-1 particles without the need of additional co-factor(s) that may be expressed exclusively in primates, and thus, hBST-2 can also exert its function in many cells derived from a broad range of species. Interestingly, the suppressive effect of hBST-2 on HIV-1 release in Vero cells was much less pronounced than in the other examined cells despite the augmented surface expression of ectopic hBST-2 on Vero cells. Taken together, our findings suggest the existence of certain cell types in which hBST-2 cannot efficiently exert its inhibitory effect on virus release. The cell type-specific effect of hBST-2 may be critical to elucidate the mechanism of BST-2-dependent suppression of virus release