Extracurricular Club Activity Reform in Japanese Public Junior High Schools: The Case of Takarazuka City

This paper examines the current state of Extracurricular Club Activities (ECAs) in Japan, focusing on the case of ECA reform in the Takarazuka City Board of Education (TCBE) and junior high schools in Takarazuka City. First, we provide an overview of the current status of ECAs in Japan. ECAs originated in the Meiji period (1868-1912) and grew out of the newly established Free Study subject under the post-war education reform. Furthermore, in the modern era of nuclear families and declining birthrates, ECAs have played an essential role as an educational activity that provides students with opportunities to engage in group activities with students of a variety of ages and to develop their communication skills. At the same time, the government has been promoting reform of ECAs with the aim of reducing the burden on teachers under the principles of the ‘school as a team’ and ‘work-style reform’ efforts. Next, we describe ECA reforms that our research group has implemented in cooperation with TCBE. In FY 2020, we conducted a questionnaire survey of students, parents and teachers to ascertain the status of ECAs in Takarazuka City. The results of this survey contributed to supporting the formulation of several education policies. We also recommended measures for ECA reform that TCBE should implement. First, the school board should allow students to commute out of the school district if a secondary school within a designated school zone does not have an ECA of their choice. Second, the school board funding for ECAs in each school should ensure that there are at least two instructors supervising each club. Third, the school board should encourage each school to train junior and senior high school students to become volunteer personnel in ECAs. We need further research into how local education boards and schools could train junior high and high school students for these volunteer roles.departmental bulletin pape

RNA-seq Transcriptional Profiling of an Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Provides Insights into Regulated and Coordinated Gene Expression in Lotus japonicus and Rhizophagus irregularis

Gene expression during arbuscular mycorrhizal development is highly orchestrated in both plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. To elucidate the gene expression profiles of the symbiotic association, we performed a digital gene expression analysis of Lotus japonicus and Rhizophagus irregularis using a HiSeq 2000 next-generation sequencer with a Cufflinks assembly and de novo transcriptome assembly. There were 3,641 genes differentially expressed during arbuscular mycorrhizal development in L. japonicus, approximately 80% of which were up-regulated. The up-regulated genes included secreted proteins, transporters, proteins involved in lipid and amino acid metabolism, ribosomes and histones. We also detected many genes that were differentially expressed in small-secreted peptides and transcription factors, which may be involved in signal transduction or transcription regulation during symbiosis. Coregulated genes between arbuscular mycorrhizal and root nodule symbiosis were not particularly abundant, but transcripts encoding for membrane traffic-related proteins, transporters and iron transport-related proteins were found to be highly co-up-regulated. In transcripts of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, expansion of cytochrome P450 was observed, which may contribute to various metabolic pathways required to accommodate roots and soil. The comprehensive gene expression data of both plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi provide a powerful platform for investigating the functional and molecular mechanisms underlying arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.ArticlePLANT AND CELL PHYSIOLOGY. 56(8):1490-1511 (2015)journal articl

Development of a large area gas photomultiplier with GEM/μ\muPIC

We are developing a new photon detector with micro pattern gaseous detectors. A semitransparent CsI photocathode is combined with 10cm$\times$10cm GEM/$\mu$PIC for the first prototype which is aimed for the large liquid Xe detectors. Using Ar+C$_2$H$_6$ (10%) gas, we achieved the gas gain of $10^5$ which is enough to detect single photoelectron. We, then, irradiated UV photons from a newly developed solid scintillator, LaF$_3$(Nd), to the detector and successfully detected single photoelectron.Comment: Poster presentation at ICHEP08 Philadelphia, USA, July 2008. 3 pages, LaTeX, 4 eps figure

Effect of three metal priming agents on the bond strength of adhesive resin cement to Ag-Zn-Sn-In alloy and component metals.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of three metal priming agents on the bond strength of adhesive resin cement to Silver-Zinc-Tin-Indium (Ag-Zn-Sn-In) alloy and pure Ag, Zn, Sn, and In. The specimens were air-abraded with alumina and then primed with one of three metal priming agents: V-Primer, Estenia Opaque Primer, or Alloy Primer. The metal disks were bonded with adhesive resin cement (Super-Bond Bulk-mix technique). Shear bond strengths (n=10/group) were determined before and after 50,000 thermocycles for Ag-Zn-Sn-In alloy as well as after 5,000 thermocycles for pure Ag, Zn, Sn and In. For Ag-Zn-Sn-In alloy, the post-thermocycling bond strength of the Alloy Primer group was significantly higher than that of the other primers. It can be concluded that Alloy Primer containing both the vinyl-thione monomer (VBATDT) and hydrophobic phosphate monomer (MDP) is effective for bonding Ag-Zn-Sn-In alloy and pure Ag, Zn and Sn.福岡歯科大学2017年

Bond strength of artificial teeth to thermoplastic denture base resin for injection molding.

This research was conducted to investigate the bond strength between artificial teeth and a thermoplastic denture base resin for injection molding with different surface preparations for use in flexible resin removable partial dentures. Composite resin denture teeth and acrylic denture resin teeth were bonded to three types of thermoplastic denture base resins for injection molding (polyamide, polyester, and polycarbonate) and a conventional heat-polymerized polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin (control). The ridge lap surfaces of the artificial teeth were classified into four groups based on the type of ridge lap surface treatment applied (n=10): no treatment, ethyl acetate, small T-shaped tunnel, and large T-shaped tunnel. The specimens were tested for bond strength. The results showed that the ethyl acetate treatment was ineffective for enhancing the bond strength (p>0.05) between the artificial teeth and thermoplastic denture base resin for injection molding, whereas the T-shaped tunnel was quite effective in this regard (p<0.05).福岡歯科大学2020年

Nuclear translocation of ATBF1 is a potential prognostic maker for skin cancer

The AT motif binding factor 1 (ATBF1) is expressed in varioustissues, such as brain, liver, lung, and gastrointestinal tract, and hasan important role in cell differentiation in organs. ATBF1 interacts withPIAS3, a protein inhibitor for activated signal transducer and activatorof transcription (STAT3), to suppress STAT3 signaling, which has criticalroles in cell proliferation, migration, and survival. We hypothesized thatATBF1 is a useful prognostic marker for skin cancer. We performed immunohistochemicalanalyses of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC, n=7),basal cell carcinoma (BCC, n=4), and Bowen’s disease (n=4) tissues usingan anti-ATBF1 monoclonal antibody. All cases of BCC and Bowen’sdisease exhibited intense nuclear ATBF1 staining, whereas only someSCC cases exhibited weakly positive nuclear ATBF1 staining. SCC andBowen’s disease showed intense nuclear STAT3 staining, while BCC hadfew STAT3-positive nuclei. Based on these observations, nuclear ATBF1staining was associated with low malignancy profiles. The pattern ofATBF1 staining is a potential prognostic marker for skin cancer

Effect of Reinforcement on the Flexural Properties of Injection-Molded Thermoplastic Denture Base Resins.

To evaluate the effect of reinforcement on the flexural properties of injection-molded thermoplastic denture base resins.Three injection-molded thermoplastic denture base resins (polyamide, polyester, polycarbonate) were selected for this study, and a conventional heat-polymerized denture base resin (PMMA) was used as a control. Continuous unidirectional glass fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) and metal wire were used for reinforcement. Reinforced bar-shaped specimens (65 mm long, 10 mm wide, 3.3 mm high) were fabricated (n = 10). The flexural strength at the proportional limit (FS-PL) and the elastic modulus were measured using a three-point bending test.All the denture base material specimens reinforced with FRC possessed a significantly higher FS-PL compared to those without reinforcement. The FS-PL of the polycarbonate specimens reinforced with metal wire was significantly higher than that without reinforcement, and there was no significant difference in the FS-PL between the polycarbonate specimens reinforced with FRC and those with metal wire. The order of the elastic modulus according to the denture base material, arranged in terms of statistical significance, was as follows: PMMA (3.46 ± 0.53 GPa) > polycarbonate (2.69 ± 0.48 GPa) > polyester (2.00 ± 0.39 GPa) > polyamide (1.14 ± 0.35 GPa). The order of the elastic modulus according to the reinforcement, arranged in terms of statistical significance, was as follows: metal wire (2.74 ± 0.96 GPa) > FRC (2.40 ± 0.89 GPa) > no reinforcement (1.82 ± 0.83 GPa).Continuous unidirectional glass fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) reinforcement had a satisfactory reinforcing effect for the injection-molded thermoplastic denture base resins.福岡歯科大学2017年