Special Lecture Research Articles

Insights into the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis: genetics and environment

It has been a great honor to host the second MS Summer College in Sapporo. For the past 13 years, clinicians and researchers involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) research have gathered to present their most recent findings and to engage in enthusiastic and informative discussions. Last year, the meeting was reconceived as the first MS Summer College, organized by Professor Kira, and building on the success of that first meeting, it is my great pleasure to welcome everyone to the second MS Summer College. I have confidence that we will continue to advance MS research while deepening our friendship at the same time. The theme of this second MS Summer College was “Insights into the pathogeneses of MS: genetics and environment.” The development of MS is influenced by interactions between multiple genetic and environmental factors. Historically, epidemiological studies have provided clues for the triggers of MS. These studies have identified latitude, or vitamin D as an important risk factor for MS. In addition, the observed link between infectious agents such as Epstein–Barr (EB) virus and MS has led to the “hygiene hypothesis” of MS development, which is further supported by recent advances in the field of mucosal immunology. At this meeting, Professor Goodin gave us an overview of the epidemiology of MS. In the following sessions, Professor Ohno and Dr. Okuno presented their current research on immune regulation by gut microflora, and Professor Fujiwara described recent progress made in the field of autoimmunity triggered by EB virus. In addition to epidemiological and immunological approaches, genetic studies using advanced technologies have identified several human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and non-HLA susceptibility loci involved in MS development. Continued advances in MS genetics lead to the elucidation of MS etiology and further aided in drug discovery and development. Professor Matsushita gave a comprehensive review of recent advances and perspectives in genetic studies on MS. As the effects of individual genes or even combinations of genes on MS development are relatively minor, they explain, at most, only half of the genetic risks for developing MS. Therefore, the limitations of these genetic studies based on “common disease–common variant hypothesis” have been pointed out. In this context, epigenetic mechanisms have been suggested as underlying MS pathogenesis and may partly explain the “missing heritability” of this complex disease. To discuss this in detail, Professor Iwamoto, following an overview of epigenetic studies on MS presented by Dr. Miyazaki, described the recent progress made in the epigenetics of psychiatric disorders, which is expected to provide insights into future research in MS epigenetics. We were also pleased to host Professor Nakashima, who gave a special clinical lecture on the recently identified anti-myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) antibody-related disease, which has recently been identified among anti-AQP4 antibody-negative neuromyelitis optica and other demyelinating disorders. All these exciting and informative lectures were held in Sapporo, a young and vibrant city surrounded by beautiful nature and with abundant fresh food. I am firmly convinced that this issue of Clinical and Experimental Neuroimmunology (Supplemental Vol. 6) will provide you with the most recent progress in MS research and convey the stimulating atmosphere of the second MS Summer College. The author has no financial interests in the publication of the contents of this article or has no relationships with any company with such financial interests.

Development of modern dentistry in Korea

Korean dentist's new mission was extended in dental practice field since the National Liberation Day of Korea. Modern dentistry development were due to the introduction of american dentistry, the development of Military dentistry, the unified academic activities koreans dental Association and improvement of korean dentist system. Modern dentistry development factors were as follows, First, Seoul National University's professors have been sent for studying abroad since May 1954. Thanks to this advanced system, each dental department established branch academy. Researchers and academic activities were increased in Seoul National University, Second, from January 1954, the military started training program to the korean dentists in the United States, and also the korean dentists were sent to the US Army hospital in korea for practical training courses (On the Job Training) so they could get chances to learn the advanced dentistry. During the korean war, the oral surgery dentists enlarged treatments to the maxillofacial field. Third, korean Dental academy meeting, special lectures and tables clinic from 1947 were contributing to the development of modern dentistry in the transmission of knowledge and skills. Since 1955 "Dentistry(齒學)" with a focus on the translation of foreign literature also developed modern dentistry. Since 1958 the International dental conference could broaden dental knowledge, it also provided opportunities to communicate with the world dentistry. On Oct 11, 1962, revised the Articles of association in Korean Dental academy and korean dental association unified meeting and enhanced the conferences. Improvement of korean dentist system in 1964 unified the dentists as new dentist education. Articles, case reports, review articles and academic meetings of korean dental association from 1946 to 1969 analyzed to demonstrate the development of korean modern dentistry, The titles and lectures were classified according to department and they were organized by topic.

2015 Autumn Conference.

Autumn Conference of the Korean Society of Exercise Rehabilitation will be held at the Sang Myung University, Seoul, Korea on October 24, 2015. The topic of the autumn Conference is “Application of exercise rehabilitation on the problems of modern society.” There were many difficulties such as acquiring sufficient funding and venue selection, however, it was possible to prepare the Conference due to the assistance of the officers. On behalf of the society, I am sincerely grateful to those companies that offered substantial support for the Conference. The pre-registers for the Conference exceeded 400 people with 2 invited lectures, 7 topic presentations, 7 research presentations, 2 special lectures for the undergraduate students, and 18 post presentations. The scale of the autumn Conference will comparatively larger than the recent Conferences. We have invited Dr. Teri Todd from California State University in USA and Dr. Henrik Oster from University of Lubeck in Germany. Dr. Teri Todd will speak about the effects of physical activity on the autism spectrum disorder and Dr. Henrik Oster will speak on the action mechanisms of circadian clock. These presentations will be helpful for the creation of academic knowledge and application of information in the aspect of exercise rehabilitation. The official journal of Korea Society of Exercise Rehabilitation, Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation (JER), switched to English since April, 2013. In addition to such change, JER went further global by getting and established a foundation as an international journal by getting listed in PubMed and PubMed Central in October, 2013. JER applied for the listing into the Scopus in March 2014, and it has been under the official evaluation since April 2015. It takes an extensive period of time to be listed in the Scopus and all the members of the society are anticipating for the positive answer. On behalf of the society and the members, I deeply wish and believe that JER becomes a Scopus-listed journal. I am confident that awaiting and anticipating for the future for the past and present efforts will be fruitful. There have been many obstacles for the society, however, the current difficulties will be the process for the joy of tomorrow. Our efforts will be the foundation for establishing the identity of the exercise rehabilitation in the near future.

증강현실을 이용한 대학 e-Learning 실습교육

미술 디자인계열 학과를 개설한 대학의 이러닝 강의는 실습중심의 전공 교과목조차 대부분 이론중심 강의로 운영되고 있다. 심지어 완전 사이버교육을 제공하는 사이버대학교들 조차 실습과목에 대한 사이버학습 운영에 많은 어려움과 한계점을 토로하면서 이론위주로 운영하고 있는 상황이다. 많은 사이버대학교들이 이러한 실습교육의 한계를 극복하기 위해 특강형식으로 일정기간 오프라인에서의 실습교육을 진행하고 있어 결과적으로 학습에 있어서 시간적 공간적 제약을 갖게 되는 학생들의 중도탈락 비율이 점차 증가되고 있다. 본 연구는 대학의 이러닝 환경에서 실습이 필요한 과목의 효율적인 이러닝 실습환경을 제공하는 것에 목표를 두고 증강현실 기반의 실습교육이 기존 강의실 기반의 실습교육에 비해 어느 정도의 학업성취도를 이루어 내는지 알아보는 실험을 수행하였다. 연구대상은 2년제 일반대학교 디자인학부 1학년 84명을 선정하였으며, 3개 분반으로 나뉘어진 전공실습 수업 중 1개 분반에서 증강현실 기반 이러닝 수업을, 2개 분반에서는 강의실기반 실습수업을 각 7주간 처치하였다. 본 연구를 통하여 얻은 결과는 첫째, 이러닝 환경에서 증강현실 기반의 실습수업은 강의실 기반 실습수업보다 학업성취도 면에서 더 효과적이었다. 둘째, 학습 흥미도에 있어서는 증강현실기반의 실습이 수업자체에 대한 흥미를 유발하는 것으로 나타냈다. 셋째, 학습몰입에 있어서 증강현실기반의 실습수업 집단이 더 높은 수준의 몰입을 보였다. 본 연구가 실제 대학교육의 정규과정에서 수행되었다는 점을 고려해 볼 때, 이러한 연구결과는 증강현실기반의 전공 실습교육이 기존의 이론중심 이러닝 강의나 이러닝 환경이지만 별도로 강의실에서 실습을 진행했던 대학들의 수업방식을 보완할 수 있는 대안적 수업방법임을 시사한다. The university e-learning classes give a major focused on practical training in the art and design field are opened such as theory classes. The cyber universities that fully gives on-line classes even open as theory classes. They speak about difficulty and limitation of operating cyber class with practice. So, many of them organize off-line special lecture at the classroom in weekend. In the reason of studying that has the constraints of time and space, the student wastage rates in cyber universities are going higher. This research focused on giving an efficient e-learning practice environment in college e-learning courses, and operated scholastic achievement test between the augmented reality(AR) based practice education and the existing classroom based practice education. The subjects of study were totally 84 people who are the freshmen of the design department in the two-year diploma course college. They were divided 3 groups which one was treated AR based practice e-learning and two others groups were existing classroom based practice. Each of the group took the same treated lecture during 7 weeks. The first of the outcome was the AR based practice e-learning was more effective than existing classroom based practice on the side of scholastic achievement. The second, the AR based practice e-learning aroused increasing in the interest in class on the side of attribute factors. The third, the AR based practice e-learning group made higher level of studying immersion than others. In consideration of this experiment was processed in the regular college academic course, the finding by this research shows AR based major practice e-learning is an alternative lecturing strategy what can be supplemented existing classroom based academic teaching methods.

Moving Knowledge Acquisition From the Lecture Hall to the Student Home: A Prospective Intervention Study.

BackgroundPodcasts are popular with medical students, but the impact of podcast use on learning outcomes in undergraduate medical education has not been studied in detail.ObjectiveOur aim was to assess the impact of podcasts accompanied by quiz questions and lecture attendance on short- and medium-term knowledge retention.MethodsStudents enrolled for a cardio-respiratory teaching module were asked to prepare for 10 specific lectures by watching podcasts and submitting answers to related quiz questions before attending live lectures. Performance on the same questions was assessed in a surprise test and a retention test.ResultsWatching podcasts and submitting answers to quiz questions (versus no podcast/quiz use) was associated with significantly better test performance in all items in the surprise test and 7 items in the retention test. Lecture attendance (versus no attendance) was associated with higher test performance in 3 items and 1 item, respectively. In a linear regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, and overall performance levels, both podcast/quiz use and lecture attendance were significant predictors of student performance. However, the variance explained by podcast/quiz use was greater than the variance explained by lecture attendance in the surprise test (38.7% vs 2.2%) and retention test (19.1% vs 4.0%).ConclusionsWhen used in conjunction with quiz questions, podcasts have the potential to foster knowledge acquisition and retention over and above the effect of live lectures.

진로교육 프로그램이 간호대학생의 진로자기효능감, 진로적응성 및 진로스트레스에 미치는 효과

본 연구는 간호대학생의 진로자기효능감, 진로적응성 및 진로스트레스에 대한 진로교육 프로그램의 효과를 확인하기 위하여 시도되었다. 실험 전 후 차이를 비교하는 단일군 전후 실험 설계로 95명의 간호대학생을 대상으로 실시되었다. 진로교육 프로그램은 4개 영역들(1) 진로 탐색, (2) 자기 이해, (3) 진로 계획 수립 (4) 진로 계획 실천으로 구성되었으며 상담, 전문가 특강, 모의면접 및 면접결과 분석으로 진행되었다. 수집된 자료는 SPSS 20.0 program을 사용하여 평균과 표준편차, paired t-test와 ANCOVA로 분석하였다. 진로교육 중재 후 간호학생들의 진로 자기효능감 점수(t=4.48, p<.011)와 진로응성 점수(t=3.02, p=.003)는 유의하게 증가하였고 진로스트레스 점수(t=-2.45, p=.015)는 유의하게 감소하였다. 본 연구는 간호대학생에게 진로교육 프로그램이 진로자기효능감과 진로적응성 증가시키고 진로스트레스를 개선시키는 역할을 실증적으로 확인하였다는 점과 진로스트레스 관리를 위한 진로교육 프로그램의 개발에 기초 자료를 제공하였다는 점에서 의의를 찾을 수 있다. Purpose: This study was to investigate the effects of career education program on career self-efficacy, career adaptability and career stress among nursing student. Methods: A one-group, pre-post design was utilized with 95 nursing students as subjects. The career education program was consisted of four domains((1) Career exploration, (2) Self understanding, (3) Establishment of career planning (4) Practice of career planning) and included counselling, special lectures, simulated job interview, and feedback of interview. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, ANCOVA(SPSS 20.0). Results: The scores on the factors of career self-efficacy(t=4.48, p<.011) and career adaptability(t=3.02, p=.003) increased significantly after the education intervention. The score of career stress(t=-2.45, p=.015) decreased significantly. Career education program is useful in improving career self-efficacy, career adaptability and career stress in nursing students. Conclusions: The results of study suggest that there needs more development and application of career education program.

Regulatory science - JEMS symposium in 2014

The Public Symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS), entitled “Regulatory Science”, was held at the Shiba-Kyoritsu campus of Keio University, Tokyo, on May 24, 2014. The concept of regulatory science was first proposed by Dr. Mitsuru Uchiyama in 1987 as the science that reconciles the fruits of science and technology with the most desirable form for harmony between people and society, by making accurate predictions, assessments, and judgments, based on evidence. However, a quarter-century later, the perception (or attitude) of the masses towards this word appears to be diverse. The main aim of this symposium was to provide the concerned population, including the members of JEMS, with an opportunity to rediscover the role played by JEMS in regulatory science and to discuss the meaning and implications of regulatory science, as well as its development in Japan. The morning session comprised six lectures, including one special lecture, which introduced the regulatory science-related activities of the organizations closely relevant to JEMS. The afternoon session included five lectures on the issues of regulatory science, pertinent to the Food Safety Commission of Japan (FSCJ), which were followed by a panel discussion. This symposium highlighted the important contributions of JEMS toward development of regulatory science in Japan, in conjunction with the many challenges to be addressed. We believe that this symposium provided great scope for eliciting interest in regulatory science, in many members of the audience. It would be helpful if all members of the audience, as well as the readers of this article, would attempt to clarify the challenges presented in this symposium.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s41021-015-0012-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The 16th international symposium on flow visualization, ISFV16

The 16th International Symposium on Flow Visualization (ISFV16) was held at Okinawa Convention Center, Okinawa, Japan, on 24–27 June 2014. ISFV16 was hosted by the Visualization Society of Japan, the official society of Journal of Visualization. This special issue contains the best papers selected from ISFV16. At ISFV16, the state of arts in many aspects of flow visualization was presented and discussed, including 3 special lectures, 6 invited lectures and over 250 technical papers. The international symposium on flow visualization started in 1977 in Tokyo. The Visualization technique for flow was just the photographs and so on. After 40 years of progress, many techniques have been developed and applied to understand the flow. For example, particle image velocimetry (PIV) is now the standard tool to understand the flow characteristics. This special issue will help the progress of visualization, and will be a milestone to the future of flow visualization. Okinawa is the beautiful southern island of Japan. Many participants around the world enjoyed the Okinawa’s early summer. The Ryukyu hospitality was also welcomed. The Ryukyu kingdom was an old Okinawa kingdom. Next international symposium on flow visualization will be held at Smokey Mountain, United States in 2016. Koji Okamoto, Chair of ISFV16 Jun Sakakibara, Technical Committee Chair of ISFV16

HPV Vaccines for Cervical Cancer: Past, Present and Future

Harald zur Hausen speaks to Emily Hargrave, Commissioning Editor: Harald zur Hausen studied medicine at the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg and Dusseldorf (Germany) and received his MD in 1960. After his internship, he worked as a postdoc at the Institute of Microbiology in Dusseldorf, subsequently in the Virus Laboratories of the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia where he was later appointed as Assistant Professor. After a period of 3 years as a senior scientist at the Institute of Virology of the University of Wurzburg, he was appointed in 1972 as Chairman and Professor of Virology at the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg. In 1977, he moved to a similar position to the University of Freiburg. From 1983 until 2003, he was appointed as Scientific Director of the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center) in Heidelberg. He retired from this position in 2003. He has received a number of national and international awards, among them the Robert-Koch-Price, the Charles S. Mott Price of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the Federation of the European Cancer Societies Clinical Research Award, the Paul-Ehrlich-Ludwig Darmstadter-Price, the Jung-Price, Hamburg, the Charles Rudolphe Brupbacher Price, Zurich, the Prince Mahidol Award, Bangkok, the Raymond Bourgine Award, Paris, the Coley-Award, New York, the Life Science Achievement Award of the American Association for Cancer Research, San Diego and the Nobel Prize for Medicine, 2008. He has received 30 honorary doctorates and is an elected member of various academies. A large number of special lectures and visiting professorships, memberships in editorial boards and active involvements in the organization of international meetings complement his curriculum.

Invitation lecture and practice trial by person with history of disease instructors (third report)

Background: Various educational methods simulating actual clinical scenes are introduced in physical therapist training course classrooms, but it is still difficult for students to grasp the reality of patients’ image and to experience a real feeling of strain and a sense of the reality of actual clinical scenes. In order to reduce such difficulties, we invited people with history of diseases as special lecturers. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify whether repeated lectures bypeoplewith history of diseases contribute to the reduction of these difficulties. Methods:Twoneurological physical therapy lessonswere allocated to the lecture for students with very limited clinical training, where they only observed most of the time. The lectures took place during the second semester of their 2nd year and the first semester of their 3rd year. Two weeks before the lectures, the students were notified of the lessons, where “a personwith history of disease” will be invited. Then the teacher provided a preparatory lecture concerning cervical cord injury or cerebral stroke complemented with visual materials and assigned physical therapy assessment items. On the day of the lecture, the people with history of disease were invited to talk about their experiences and feelings from the patients’ viewpoint in a lecture form. Following the talk, students conducted the practice for physical therapy evaluation. After the lecture, A questionnaire survey of students (19 items, four-point scale evaluation) was conducted to compare the results obtained from the second semester of the 2nd year and first semester of the 3rd year. Results: Lectures by outsiders with experience of disease were helpful for students in understanding patients’ image, experiencing a feeling of strain and a sense of the reality of the actual clinical situation, and comprehending the importance of acquiring clinical knowledge and skills. Also, compared to the second semester in the 2ndyear, the result of questionnaire conducted in the first semester of the 3rd year saw increase in positive opinions concerning the relationship with patients, acquisition of clinical skills, and reflections on their learning attitude with an awareness of their future practice. Conclusion(s): Lectures, where people with history of diseases were invited as lecturers, successfully helped students to understand the patients’ image, experience a feeling of strain and a sense of the reality of the actual clinical situation, and become aware of the importance of acquiring clinical knowledge and skills. Also, the repetition of lectures by people with history of disease were found to increase skill practice lessons and provide students with a more fulfilling learning experience, which seems attributable to the effect of repetition. Implications: It was suggested that repeated lectures by people with history of diseases contribute to the acquisition of basic knowledge and skills of physical therapy regardless of the type of disease.

The Effectiveness of the AOSpine Project of Education in Research: Changing Paradigms, Provoking Ideas, and Innovating the Mindful Practice

Introduction The way to increase innovation in mindful practice in a region without a culture in scientific investigation is through implementation of the Research Curriculum that is based on the competencies and learning outcome. No institutions have a Research Curriculum based on competence and learning outcome as guide to improve knowledge in research. The objective of this study is to describe the effectiveness of the project of education in research and the way to deliver this information effectively to those who aim to further improve their knowledge and participation in research. Materials and Methods the AO Research Curriculum uses the competency-based approach that aligns the following four components: (1) knowledge in research, (2) performing research, (3) specialized technical professional support, and (4) assessment to identify needs and track progress. The content of the curriculum was delivered using the most appropriate learning methods and techniques from the following four perspectives: (1) e-learning methods, (2) specific research symposiums, (3) precourses before AO activities, or as (4) specific lectures and structural presentations within the course, symposiums, or seminars. Research mentoring projects and joint publications are an objective way to measure the effectiveness of the project, as it represents the capacity to perform research. This protocol was applied in spine surgeons and university students. Results The survey of AOSpine Latin America members showed a low level of knowledge regarding research combined with a high motivation to learn. The organized competences, learning outcomes, and syllabus of the knowledge in Research promoted active learning and engagement of the members during AOSpine activities. These activities resulted in an increased membership, the participants were grateful when they understood the usefulness of research, and it was the best way to expand the AO product at the University, not only in the undergraduate courses, but also at the postgraduate levels as learning about tools in research and needs are the same for several areas (medicine, nursing, engineering, biology, and law). Conclusion The education in research project showed to be effective. The learning outcomes gained by the participants following completion of this project were recognized concerning where and how they can best obtain reliable information, perform a critical literature review, choose validated instruments to measure the patient's disease, obtain reliable feedback regarding the effectiveness of our surgical activity, and achieve a better understanding of the positive influence of the research on the medical routine. The “publication of results” is only a consequence of an attitude toward scientific investigation.

Information on starting of Special Lecture “Optical studies for Polymer Processing Engineer”

Information on starting of Special Lecture “Optical studies for Polymer Processing Engineer”

Introduction to the special issue on IEEE-MWSCAS 2013

It is our pleasure to introduce this special issue on the 56th International IEEE Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems (MWSCAS) that was held in Columbus, OH, August 2013. Out of the 436 paper submissions from 36 countries, 372 papers were accepted for presentation in ten special lecture sessions, 38 regular lecture sessions, and 27 poster sessions. The theme of the conference was on ‘‘Advancing the Frontiers of Green Technology’’. In addition to the typical analog, digital and mixed signal circuits sessions, power management and energy harvesting sessions were particularly tied to the conference theme, The paper entitled ‘‘Design of High-Performance Integrated Dimmable LED Driver for High-Brightness SolidState Lighting Applications’’ by Zhidong Liu and Hoi Lee, was selected from that session to present a high-voltage dimmable LED driver in 0.35 lm technology for highbrightness solid-state lighting applications. The driver presented in the paper achieves significant improvements in power efficiency (peak efficiency of 98.8 %) and current accuracy. The improvement in efficiency was realized by eliminating the power diode and the sensing resistor in the power stage, thereby significantly reducing conduction losses in these components. A simultaneous peak and valley current sensing scheme is introduced in the paper to improve current sensing accuracy. The proposed scheme minimizes LED current errors under a wide range of input voltages and LEDs. Analog computer aided design (CAD) and circuit synthesis is a topic of considerable importance to the circuits and systems community (CAS). The paper by Reyad ElKhazali on the Biquadratic Approximation of FractionalOrder Laplacian Operators, introduces an improved algorithm to approximate the fractional Laplace operator. The presented biquadratic transfer function shows a flat phase characteristics with the frequency band of interest, with a bandwidth of approximation that can be extended by cascading several biquadratic modules. In addition to the several numerical examples given, the novel algorithm is also used for synthesizing fractional-order inductors and capacitors. For Analog to Digital Converters, two papers were selected for this special issue. In the paper by Simran Singh, Mikko Valkama, Michael Epp, Lauri Anttila, Wolfgang Schlecker, and Elmar Ingber, entitled, ‘‘Digital Correction of Frequency Response Mismatches in 2-Channel TimeInterleaved ADCs Using Adaptive I/Q Signal Processing’’, the authors propose a novel adaptive compensation architecture to address the frequency response mismatch of 2-channel time-interleaved ADCs. Time interleaved ADC (TI-ADC) are gaining a lot of momentum given the technological limitations on having a single core ADC running at high sampling rate without sacrificing resolution. However, the analog component variations and temperature drift within the parallel ADCs in TI-ADC introduce its own frequency dependent amplitude and phase mismatch, limiting the effective resolution and spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) of the ADC. In the paper, an adaptive method is proposed to detect the frequency response mismatch inside the frequency band of interest by utilizing digital I/Q mismatch estimation and correction algorithms. M. Hella (&) Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th St., Troy, NY 12180, USA e-mail: hellam@ecse.rpi.edu

Martin Goldstein

Martin Goldstein

50th Anniversary Congress of the Dutch Society of Immunology

50^th Anniversary Congress of the Dutch Society of Immunology

A detailed anatomy of students’ perception of engagement and their learning a threshold concept in core chemical engineering

An attempt has been made to reveal a detailed anatomy of students’ self-perceived engagement with material in a lecture and their learning of a key course threshold concept. A cohort of 80 students in a third year chemical engineering (64% response rate) course voluntarily recorded their engagement using a Likert-type scale at intervals of 5min in a (nominally 50min) lecture, together with written comments. Marks were awarded for a substantial, follow-up summative assignment to test their understanding of the threshold concept. It was found students were highly unaligned in their level of engagement with the lecture. A key reason was that individuals’ engagement varied highly significantly during the lecture. Six engagement styles were identified. Some 33% exhibited Type 1 (engage strongly at the start and slowly disengage) and 23% exhibited Type 2 (remain at a more or less fixed engagement). Significantly, there was no correlation between students’ engagement scores and marks awarded; in particular there was no correlation with specific lecture intervals in which material was identified as most important. Further, there was no correlation between the number of written comments made by an individual and their marks. It is concluded that student self-perceived engagement is not a good predictor of learning as assessed by marks awarded on a summative assignment. It is not known whether student engagement is predicated on particular lecture material and type of lecturer, or other contributing factors. The experimental design could be readily widely applied.

A Last Memory of a Friend—Notes from, to, and on John Stape

A Last Memory of a Friend—Notes from, to, and on John Stape G. W. Stephen Brodsky (bio) In August 2014, a note from John Stape to the present writer shared the profoundly personal and tragic news of his terminal illness. A few of the words in my response told him, "Your note [. . .] is one of simple acceptance and great courage. [. . .] I simply want you to know how much I have admired your life's work. I have come to know [. . .] your passionate dedication to our craft." John replied the following day, "I really am happy at this moment. I know I have more to give, but my time has run now, and I am glad to have managed what I could in the years I have had. We've both had a life passion and what an enriching thing it has been. John." With publication of The New Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad in 2015, and his final crowning achievement, the publication of the Cambridge edition of Victory with his co-editor Alexandre Fachard the following year, John had worked to the last, his time run, as he had written with such brave grace. While I had not thought of it at the time, I believe my note's closing words express the sentiments of all of us who knew John and know his legacy: "Your writings have left, and will continue to leave, a profound impact on me and others—our present friends and colleagues, and those yet to come." [End Page vii] G. W. Stephen Brodsky G.W. STEPHEN BRODSKY, Special Lecturer, Royal Roads Military College (retired), specializes in elements of szlachta tradition encoded in the Conrad oeuvre. He is author of Joseph Conrad's Polish Soul (2016); and his articles and reviews on Conrad have appeared in Conradiana, The Conradian, Conrad: Eastern and Western Perspectives, Zwischen Ost und West: Joseph Conrad im europäischen Gespräch, the Jagiellonian University Conrad Year Book, and Modern Fiction Studies. A historian of military literary culture, he is author of Gentlemen of the Blade: A Social and Literary History of the British Army Since 1660 (1989), and co-author and editor of military memoirs. He has also published minor criticism in Renaissance drama. Copyright © 2015 Texas Tech University Press

天野浩先生特別講演会報告

天野浩先生特別講演会報告

Special lecture “Recent advances of radiation therapy in clinical oncology” by Dr. Masahiro HIRAOKA, Professor of Kyoto University

Special lecture “Recent advances of radiation therapy in clinical oncology” by Dr. Masahiro HIRAOKA, Professor of Kyoto University

Abstracts of the IV Neuro Interventional Radiology Master Course: beyond frontiers in Neuro-Interventional Radiology

The theme of the fourth NeuroIMC course is BEYOND FRONTIERS IN NEUROINTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY. Conferences will explore the latest techniques in neurointerventional approaches to vascular pathology of the central nervous system. To summarize, on the first day we will be discussing the latest advances in endovascular embolization of complex aneurisms, flow diverters, and endovascular device flow disruption. Some of these techniques will be compared with older techniques such as the parent vessel occlusion test. A special lecture on microsurgical management of complex vascular pathology of the central nervous system will close the morning session. In the afternoon, we will continue the discussion on aneurysms and one conference will focus on a current and controversial subject: extracranial venous pathology as a potential contributor to degeneration. On Saturday, we begin with two sessions on anatomy and angioanatomy of the central nervous system, followed by series of lectures on complex pathologies, such as arteriovenous malformations and dural arteriovenous fistulae. The last group of conferences will focus on stroke, with the experiences of centers in Boston and Jacksonville, and the results of the MR CLEAN trial in the Netherlands.