The Provincial Allocation System in Chinese College Entrance Examinations: A Comparative Study

The available data for the current situation of admission process were analyzed by Chinese province as one of the characteristics of the college entrance examination system in China. The analysis aims to clarify the actual situation of disparities by province, which was often pointed out in previous related studies. As a result, the following three points were identified. First, even if the same exam questions were used in highly selective universities, differences in average passing score rate can be seen among the provinces. Moreover, these differences were almost fixed and did not depend on the year. Therefore, as one of the causes, we consider that each province has differences in the education level. Second, the quota allocation did not correspond to the number of examinees in each province; therefore, the quota system itself may create a gap. This is a serious problem because this obstacle cannot be overcome by students’ efforts. Third, students of provinces that prepare their own exam questions tend to have the advantage in the selection process. Because the exam questions were created independently, it is not possible to easily compare the difficulty of the test questions with those of other provinces, which avoids some criticisms. Most of the provinces that have created their own exam questions are the advanced Chinese provinces with many universities, including highly selective and prestigious universities. These prestigious universities could be entered more easily by allocating capacity to the local students

Clinical Applications of Natural Killer Cells

Natural killer (NK) cells are an essential component of the innate immune system, and they play a crucial role in immunity against malignancies. Recent advances in our understanding of NK cell biology have paved the way for new therapeutic strategies based on NK cells for the treatment of various cancers. In this section, we will focus on NK cell immunotherapy, including the enhancement of antibody‐dependent cellular cytotoxicity, the manipulation of receptor‐mediated activation, inclusion criteria based on killer cell immunoglobulin‐like receptor (KIR) ligand mismatches, and adoptive immunotherapy with ex vivo expanded chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)‐engineered or engager‐modified NK cells. In contrast to T lymphocytes, donor NK cells do not attack any recipient tissues based on allogeneic human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), suggesting that NK‐mediated antitumor effects may be achieved without the risk of graft‐versus‐host disease (GvHD). Despite reports of clinical efficacy, the application of NK cell immunotherapy is limited. Developing strategies for manipulating NK cell products, host factors, and tumor targets are thus current subjects of diligent study. Research into the biology of NK cells has indicated that NK cell immunotherapy has the potential to become the forefront of cancer immunotherapy in the coming years

Tuning of Carrier Concentration and Superconductivity in High-Entropy-Alloy-Type Metal Telluride (AgSnPbBi)(1-x)/4InxTe

High-entropy-alloy-type (HEA-type) compound superconductors have been drawing much attention as a new class of exotic superconductors with local structural inhomogeneity. NaCl-type (Ag,In,Sn,Pb,Bi)Te is a typical HEA-type superconductor, but the carrier doping mechanism had been unclear. In this study, we synthesized (Ag,In,Sn,Pb,Bi)Te with various In concentration using high-pressure synthesis: the studied system is (AgSnPbBi)(1-x)/4InxTe (x = 0-0.4). Single-phase samples were obtained for x = 0-0.3. A semiconductor-like temperature dependence of resistivity was observed for x = 0, while superconductivity appeared for the In-doped samples. The highest transition temperature (Tc) was 3.0 K for x = 0.3. The Seebeck coefficient decreases with increase of x, which suggests that In3+ generates electron carriers in (AgSnPbBi)(1-x)/4InxTe. Tuning of carrier concentration and superconducting properties of (Ag,In,Sn,Pb,Bi)Te would be useful for further investigation of exotic superconductivity in the HEA-type compound.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Development of Quality Education in Chinese Senior High Schools

The senior high schools in China are considered to have an exam-oriented curriculum and a strong competitive environment, turning the life of students into a nightmare. This type of education has been criticized for a long time and instead, “quality education,” which is the opposite of knowledge-oriented and exam-oriented education, has been recommended since the 1990s. This study focuses on “quality education” as the key for educational reforms in China, and reviews and analyzes the policy trends, and the effect of quality education on high school education and college entrance exam reform. Our investigation resulted in the following findings. First, an analysis of the education policy revealed that “quality education,” a term which was relatively vague and was understood as the opposite of exam-oriented education, could be used as criteria for reform by clarifying each ability as “core background.” This clarification makes it possible to provide concrete guidelines for high school education. Second, it was found that, reflecting on “quality education,” high school education has newly established a subject called “comprehensive practical activity” that fosters students’ independent thoughts and creative activities. It also gave schools more discretionary power and teachers more freedom to teach in class. Lastly, regarding college entrance exams, it can be pointed out that, in addition to the conventional written exams, there is a shift toward evaluating not only the test scores but also other aspects such as student records. However, we also found that the movement has not reached all the schools because of its hasty implementation and a large number of examinees.本研究はJSPS科研費 JP19H01639の助成を受けたものです

Development of the Taiwan Citizen Concept in Senior High Schools: Focusing on a Multicultural Society

This paper deals with education-related policy documents, courses of studies and civics textbooks of senior high schools to clarify the concept of ‘Taiwan citizen’. There are following three findings as a result of the analysis. First, academic ability and the ‘Taiwan citizen’ have been strongly linked at the policy level, and, accordingly, the realization of the ‘citizen’ means to improve academic ability. Second, what was clarified through the analysis of the textbooks was that ‘Taiwan citizen’, ‘we’, and ‘our country’ was strongly tied. In other words, ‘Taiwan citizen’ is a concept close to ‘nation’, and, in this sense, it cannot be said that the concept of ‘Taiwan citizen’ has changed significantly. Thirdly, there are various sub-items under the concept of the ‘Taiwan citizen’, and, among them, ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘multicultural society’ has been newly added and emphasized as the items of ‘Taiwan citizen’ in recent years. One of the findings from the textbook analysis is that while multicultural education in Taiwan was traditionally for indigenous people, it is more conscious of coexistence with new residents coming from Southeast Asian countries, which suggests the flexibility of Taiwan's concept of ‘citizen’.本研究はJSPS科研費JP19H01639の助成を受けたものです

最終版「家族介護者の作業適応質問紙」の開発

東京都立大

地域在住要支援・要介護高齢者を対象とした人間作業モデルに基づく作業同一性質問紙の内容妥当性と表面妥当性

Introduction: Participating in meaningful activities that reflect one’s identity promotes the wellbeing of elderly people. This study aimed to prepare a questionnaire draft to evaluate occupational identity of the elderly and to examine the content and face validity of the questionnaire. Methods: First, we generated questionnaire items to evaluate the occupational identity of elderly people. Second, a content validity study was conducted with experts, using three rounds of the Delphi method. Lastly, the face validity study was undertaken by elderly participants, who reported on whether they could understand the questionnaire. Results: The 50 original questionnaire items were reduced to 21 items with the Delphi method. The items showed item-level content validity index （I-CVI） ranging between 91.7% and 100%, and scale-level CVI with the universal average method （S-CVI/Ave） of 97.4%, which fulfilled the consensus criteria. In the result of the face validity, although none of the items were checked as “Difficult to understand,” there were four items checked as “Difficult to answer.” Accordingly, only one item was corrected. Conclusion: Results suggest that this assessment possesses content and face validity in a sample of elderly people. The questionnaire is likely to allow occupational therapists to gain information about elderly peoples’ occupational identity.東京都立大学学位論文甲第1150号　副論