How to Incorporate Short Films to Activate 4 Skills

Just a few minutes might change someone’s life. There are a great number of heartwarming short films on the Internet. These films are waiting for your students to watch them. The presenter will guide participants on how to incorporate films into English lessons to enhance the learner’s intercultural communicative competence

Kinematic characteristics of novices’ sprint techniques at maximum velocity phase

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology Volume 5: Issue 1, Article 2, 2024. Sprint performance is a crucial aspect of achieving high performance across a range of sports. However, previous studies analyzing the sprint technique of novices have yielded disparate findings regarding effective sprint techniques. For instance, Saito and Ito (1995) found no significant difference in the maximum thigh angle of the free leg between boys aged 7 to 12 and sprinters. Conversely, Katoh et al. (2001) reported that elementary school sprinters indicated a larger maximum thigh angle of the free leg than novice elementary children. Inconsistency like this makes it challenging for teachers to plan coaching strategies for refinement sprint techniques. This study aimed to clarify the kinematic characteristics of novices ranging from elementary school children to adults by reviewing previous articles. To comprehensively explore a broad range of English and Japanese articles analyzing sprint techniques of novices and athletes during the maximal velocity phase in sprint events, three search engines, namely CiNii Research, PubMed, and SPORTDiscus, were utilized. Mean values, correlation coefficients, and the results of group comparisons in these articles were compared. As the main results, novices exhibited a much smaller thigh angle of the free leg at touchdown compared to athletes. Novices indicated a larger minimum knee angle of the free leg than athletes, and this angle tended to decrease as sprint velocity increased from 5 m/s to 10 m/s. Novices exhibited a smaller maximum thigh angle of the free leg than athletes, and this angle tended to increase as sprint velocity increased from 5 m/s to 9 m/s

Contribution of cadmium to the total amount of positron creation in a reactor-based slow positron beamline

In the slow positron beamline at the Kyoto University Research Reactor (KUR), positron creation was enhanced by increasing the gamma-ray intensity at the positron source via the reaction of¹¹³Cd(n, γ)¹¹⁴Cd. To achieve this, a cadmium (Cd) cap was attached to the positron source, surrounding it, and thus, without intentional cooling, the temperature was able to reach near the melting point of Cd via nuclear heating. In this study, the degree to which the Cd cap contributes to the quantity of positron creation was estimated by using the Monte Carlo calculation code PHITS (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System), which simulates radiation transportation and interaction with matter. As a result, the number of positrons created was found to become 2.0 ± 0.1 times higher by using the Cd cap at the KUR slow positron beamline. The use of the Cd cap was confirmed to be significantly effective for enhancing positron creation

Characteristics of the Long Jump Take-off as the Novice Increases the Number of Steps in the Approach Run

AbstractThis study clarified factors affecting the increase in jump distance when the novice increased the number of steps in their approach run in the long jump, and discusses a training task designed to improve performance in the long jump. Twenty-eight male students who were novices in long jump and did not take part in any sport activity regularly participated in the study. They performed the long jump with run-ups of six and twelve strides. The take-off motions of the participants were captured with a high-speed digital camera (120 fps) for two-dimensional motion analysis. When students increased the number of steps in their approach run, the jump distance and approach velocity increased, horizontal deceleration during the take-off phase remained almost unchanged, and the vertical velocity at take-off and the contact time decreased. The change rate of the jump distance between six and twelve steps for the approach run had positive correlation with the change rates of the approach velocity and vertical velocity and negative correlation with the change rate of the contact time. In a previous study using athletes as participants, all athletes increased their jump distance as they increased the number of steps in their approach run. In the present study, however, many students did not increase their jump distance, and the change rate of the jump distance had a wide distribution. Therefore, we divided the students into groups according to whether the participant's change rate of the jump distance was lower or higher than the average change rate for all participants. Although both groups had increased horizontal velocity at touchdown for the lengthened run-up, participants in the low group did not increase their jump distance and their vertical velocity at take-off decreased. Additionally, in comparison with athletes, students had lower vertical velocity at take-off and horizontal deceleration during take-off. A novice should thus learn the proper technique of take-off to generate vertical velocity through horizontal deceleration

Study on Evaluation of Seismic Performance for Life-Cycle Management of Highway Bridge Piers

関西大

Slow-positron beamline temperature rise reduction at Kyoto University Research Reactor

Temperature rises of a reactor-based slow-positron beamline at Kyoto University Research Reactor (KUR) were measured during reactor operation and solenoid-coil excitation. During KUR operation at 5 MW, the temperature of the top of the beamline reached 300 °C. This temperature which is close to the melting point (321 °C) of Cd was used to enhance positron generation. On the other hand, the temperature of the flange supporting the beamline was approximately 50 °C and it was sufficiently low in terms of the strength of the beamline. The temperature of the top of the beamline was successfully reduced to 240 °C by introducing a He gas flow around the vacuum duct of the beamline. Beamline temperatures calculated using a finite element method were in agreement with measured temperatures. Such calculation is useful for future experiments with longer or irregular KUR operation

Micro-PIXE (Particle Induced X-Ray Emission) Analysis of Aluminum in Rat-Liver Using MeV Heavy Ion Microprobes

Heavy ion microprobes (HIM) such as 3 MeV Si2+ and 3 MeV p2+ have been applied to the elemental analysis by PIXE (proton-induced X-ray emission). It was found that silicon and phosphorus microprobes have several times higher sensitivity for aluminum Kα X-rays than 2 MeV proton microprobes, and detection limits were more favorable in a phosphorus microprobe. Using a 3 MeV p2+ microprobe, the liver of a rat, which had been injected with aluminum-lactate, was investigated and it was found that aluminum segregates in areas with a dimension of about 10 μm. These areas could hardly be observed with 2 MeV proton microprobes