Sentence-final expressions-- rasii and yoo : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Japanese at Massey University

In the Japanese language there is a group of sentence-final expressions, which indicate the speaker's attitude toward the proposition they are maintaining. Included in this group are expressions such as kamosirenai, tigainai, hazu, yoo, mitai, rasii, soo (hearsay) and (si) soo. This thesis is an examination of the functions of the two expressions yoo and rasii. In many cases rasii and yoo are interchangeable in the respect that they work as evidential markers that the speaker makes a judgment based on evidence. However there is a subtle difference between them. The distinction between them is made by the degree of the speaker's perception. Even though the same types of evidence may be used, rasii indicates that a lesser degree of the speaker's perception is involved, whereas yoo indicates that a higher degree of the speaker's perception is involved. A closer investigation of the uses of rasii and yoo, based on Brown and Levinson's politeness theory, is carried out and it is concluded that both rasii and yoo work as politeness strategies. That is, the speaker utilises the function of either rasii or yoo to satisfy the other's feeling and to establish a good rapport between the speaker and the addressee in human interactions, as well as to maintain the speaker's own desire

Influence on uncertainty of earthquake response analysis results by initial particle arrangements and cohesion parameters in extended distinct element method

Following the occurrence of extremely large earthquakes, such as the Great East Japan Earthquake, the level of design for earthquake ground motion in nuclear power plants has been enhanced. Additionally, the quantitative evaluation of the seismic performance of critical facilities, such as nuclear power plants, and earthquake-induced failure of surrounding slopes are becoming increasingly important as deterministic approaches in regulation. However, evaluation of other aspects besides the design for earthquake ground motion in probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) needs to be conducted voluntarily by the corporation. For the earthquake response analysis, including the seamless transition of the slope from continuum to dis-continuum, the extended distinct element method (EDEM) is an effective approach; however, EDEM is characterised by initial particle arrangement uncertainty. Therefore, we investigated the uncertainty in the EDEM results with respect to failure timing and region. Although essential in the evaluation of impact force in the PRA framework, there are few researches regarding the uncertainty of impact force on the wall of the reactor building after slope failure caused by numerous initial particle arrangements. Furthermore, reducing the computational time is crucial in PRA. Hence, the parameters that do not have an influence on the EDEM results can be omitted, resulting in their dispersion and a reduction in the computational time. This research aims to investigate the impact force uncertainty caused by initial particle arrangements and the influence of cohesion uncertainty. For the former, we conducted 50 numerical simulations for the uncertainty of EDEM results caused by the initial particle arrangements. For the latter, we conducted 50 numerical simulations with two uncertainty factors, namely, cohesion and initial particle arrangement. The simulation results revealed that the largest and second largest loads on the wall occurred in two cases, namely, when there were single particles impacting the wall and when there were group particles impacting the wall. Additionally, the uncertainty caused by cohesion was less than that arrangement when the coefficient of variation was 0.1. Thus, the cohesion uncertainty can be ignored if it is somewhat small

Effects of Ground Improvement and Armored Embankment to the Displacements of the Seawalls and Back Fill During Earthquake

Large shaking table tests of the caisson type seawalls under various conditions were conducted in order to investigate the effects of the armored embankment and the improvement of sandy seabed and backfill by densification to the deformation of the seawalls during earthquake. Main results obtained from the shaking table tests were as follows : (1) Seaward horizontal displacement and tilting of the caisson were drastically reduced by the existence of the armored embankment in front of the caisson. (2) Improvement of the sandy seabed by densification method just under the rubble mound was much effective to reduction of the displacements of the caisson. (3) It was possible that the lateral movement of the liquefied backfill was reduced by the improvement of a part of the backfill just behind the caisson even though without the armored embankment in front of the caisson

Direct imaging of the disconnection climb mediated point defects absorption by a grain boundary

Grain boundaries (GBs) are considered as the effective sinks for point defects, which improve the radiation resistance of materials. However, the fundamental mechanisms of how the GBs absorb and annihilate point defects under irradiation are still not well understood at atomic scale. With the aid of the atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscope, we experimentally investigate the atomistic mechanism of point defects absorption by a ∑31 GB in α-Al2O3 under high energy electron beam irradiation. It is shown that a disconnection pair is formed, during which all the Al atomic columns are tracked. We demonstrate that the formation of the disconnection pair is proceeded with disappearing of atomic columns in the GB core, which suggests that the GB absorbs vacancies. Such point defect absorption is attributed to the nucleation and climb motion of disconnections. These experimental results provide an atomistic understanding of how GBs improve the radiation resistance of materials

Differentiation and seasonality in suitable microsites of seed dispersal by an assemblage of omnivorous mammals

acceptedVersio

The Possibility of Utilizing Tablets in Science Class for Elementary and Junior High School Students with Low Vision Who Usually Study in Regular Schools: Focusing on the Field of Earth Science

本研究は、理科の地学分野において困難度が高い３つの単元に関して、弱視がある小中学生の視覚特性に配慮した指導法（UD指導法）を開発し、通常学校に在籍する弱視のある小中学生のパフォーマンスや主観評価に与える効果を検証することを目的とした。UD指導法は先行研究などをもとに、通常学校が有しているタブレット端末を使用した指導計画であり、３単位時間分作成した。その後、弱視がある小中学生を対象とするワークショップ形式の実践を行い、効果を検証した。理科授業に関する主観評価を問う質問紙調査の結果において、事前アンケートと事後アンケートの単位時間毎の平均点を比較すると、全ての単元で事後アンケートの点数が事前アンケートの点数より高くなっていた。また、行動分析では、弱視のある小中学生の困難とされる観察場面での参加率が高く、視覚特性に配慮した指導法を実践することで主体的な観察学習が促進されると考えられる。学習理解度においてもタブレット端末を使用することにより、弱視のある小中学生の多様な視覚特性に配慮し、見えにくさを補うことに貢献することができ、学習理解度が高まったと考えられる。This study takes up three units with high difficulty in the field of earth science of science and creates a teaching method (UD teaching method) that considers the visual characteristics of elementary and junior high school students with impaired vision. The purpose was to verify the effect on the performance and subjective evaluation of elementary and junior high school students with impaired vision. The UD teaching method is a teaching plan that uses tablets that regular schools have, based on previous research, and was created for 3 credit hours. After that, a workshop-style practice was conducted for elementary and junior high school students with impaired vision, and the effect was verified. Comparing the pre-questionnaire average scores and the post-questionnaire scores for each unit time in the survey results asking about the subjective evaluation of science classes, the post-questionnaire scores were higher than the pre-questionnaire scores in all units. In behavior analysis, elementary and junior high school students with impaired vision have a high participation rate in difficult observation scenes, and it is thought that independent observational learning is promoted by practicing teaching methods that take visual characteristics into consideration. It is considered that the learning comprehension level was improved by using the tablets, considering the various visual characteristics of elementary and junior high school students with impaired vision and contributing to compensating for the difficulty in seeing.本研究は、科研費16H02072の補助を受けて実施されました