College Students’ Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence: A Comparative Study of Japan, China, and the United States

An investigation of cross-cultural differences between the United States, Japan, and China in perceptions of male to female intimate partner violence, and in the extent to which gender and traditional attitudes toward women related to these perceptions. College students (n = 943) read two fictitious scenarios describing marital and dating violence. MANOVA results showed gender differences in the perceptions of violence between the three countries. Male participants had more traditional attitudes toward women and placed more blame on female victims. The magnitude of the difference between women’s and men’s scores was much smaller for Japanese students than for American and Chinese students. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the effects of respondent gender were reduced when traditional attitudes toward women were taken into account. Differences in beliefs about appropriate gender roles still exist among college students in these countries and may be related to socially tolerant attitudes toward violence against women

知の拠点としての図書館におけるアクティブラーニングに向けて ―本学附属図書館にて展開すべき「学び」とは―

What kind of“ learning” should be developed in our university library? The library is considered“ a knowledge- center.” It is also recognized as a space for active learning, apart from classroom interaction- by the community, Japanese educators, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The university library aims to provide effective methods for learning-in both typical and modern style materials and techniques-to encourage students to spend more time studying on their leisure time in a fun and interactive way. At present, our university strives to conduct an educational program and informative research which would encourage the students to be more independent. Therefore, we have developed and structured a library wherein students could work on their school requirements by themselves with ease and easy access. We aim to provide a place that can be mutually shared by both students and instructors, which would later yield to a more intellectual learning. We value education, and we believe that the best way to contribute to our university is to provide our students and teachers an appropriate area where they can further enhance their wisdom and knowledge, through various forms of media. This essay will provide detailed concepts for each floor at the time of development（ as of November 2013）. The library remains a solemn environment to allow the people to concentrate and focus on what they are studying on. It also has an area that would involve activities and workshops, suited for lively group learning and PBL. Up until now, our library did not have such activity-creating concepts. This change is foreseen as a vital diversity for learning. In order to reform this, we conducted a student survey to find out what more can be offered for the betterment of our students’ education. As a result, the majority of the students wanted to have a more“ feminine space”. This implies their demand that they be given a learning space which could be styled in a more fashionable, adult-like way, be equipped with the latest information tools, be more spacious and organized, be more interactive, and for it to still have a quiet environment for those who would want to study on their own. The students want to be given a space where they can discuss matters with each other. They also suggested on having a lounge area where they can listen to music, and have their snacks and drinks. Their belongings are also one of their major concerns, so they would like to be given room to place their belongings somewhere close to them, as not to bother other library enthusiasts. These opinions among the student body was then evaluated and discussed among the staff and faculty members of the university these improvements were necessary to provide a more interesting library which would encourage students to use more often than that of the past. We, the instructors of the university, also aim to make our students inquisitive, logical, and analytical, in every possible way. With this library development, we envision a more comfortable space for learning for both the students and the instructors. These changes are not merely for the purpose of dealing with the students’ pleas, but because we strongly believe that such vital changes were necessary to create a more improved educational outcome in accordance to the pursuit of excellence the students and instructors can contribute to the university, and vice versa. Through this project, instructors and students will be able to work face-to-face. The instructors will then learn what the students want. The students will be able to develop the required skills needed for their education and research. This is one learning area our university should develop

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

The impact of sarcopenia on the results of lumbar spinal surgery

Objectives: As the population ages, the number of lumbar spinal surgeries performed on sarcopenic patients will increase. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sarcopenia and evaluated its impact on the results of lumbar spinal surgery. Methods: This study included 2 groups: One group consisted of patients who underwent whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning before the option of undergoing surgery for lumbar spinal disease (LSD group) and a second group consisted of patients underwent DXA scanning for osteoporosis screening under hospital watch at the geriatric medicine department (control group). In order to evaluate the impact of sarcopenia on the clinical outcome of lumbar spinal surgery, the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, the recovery rate based on the JOA score, and visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for lower back pain, lower extremity pain, and lower extremity numbness were compared within the LSD group. Results: The prevalence of sarcopenia showed no statistical difference between groups (control group, 50.7%; LSD group, 46.5%). In the LSD group, while the changes in VAS scores showed no statistical difference between the nonsarcopenia subgroup and sarcopenia subgroup, the sarcopenia subgroup demonstrated inferior JOA scores and recovery rates at the final follow-up when compared with the nonsarcopenia subgroup (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated a high prevalence of sarcopenia among the elderly populations in Japan and a negative impact of sarcopenia on clinical outcomes after lumbar spinal surgery. Keywords: Lumbar canal stenosis, Sarcopeni