86 research outputs found
Beyond dichotomies : Unravelling the complexities of international standardised language testing
No full textThis article discusses the issues raised in O’Sullivan’s and Hashimura et al.’s Point-Counterpoint articles with the aim of introducing new angles on the topic of international standardised English language testing and opening the debate further. In the first section, I provide summaries of the positions taken by O’Sullivan and Hashimura et al., contrasting the “tests as a social good” and “critical language testing” paradigms. Second, I explore international standardised English language testing as a site of complexity, focusing on the nature of this complexity in conceptualising language testing as a field, language tests (as social objects), and language testing organisations. Third, I address shifts towards measuring innovative constructs and the prospect of greater localisation. Finally, I conclude with a call for research that explores complexity in greater depth with a view to change
Using the Central Pressure Method to Forecast Damage Level of Maritime Structures Caused by Typhoon 9918
No full textIn 1999, Typhoon 9918 struck Kyushu Island, which is located in Western Japan. During the strongest stage of the typhoon, the central pressure was 930 hPa and the maximum wind speed was 45 m/s near the center of the typhoon. The maximum storm tide was over 2 m along the coast of Kumamoto Prefecture on Kyushu Island. Due to the storm surge and wind waves, the typhoon caused enormous damage to maritime structures.In this paper, the Central Pressure Method is used to estimate the number of damage cases of damaged maritime structures along the coast caused by Typhoon 9918. Based on 43 previous typhoons, the Central Pressure Method creates an index that determines the vulnerability of the coast to a typhoon with a specified path. This index is estimated using the path of Typhoon 9918 as determined from the location and the direction of the typhoon at a latitude of 30° N. The vulnerability index of maritime structures is calculated based on the path of the typhoon and coastline. The number of damage cases is estimated using the vulnerability index and the central pressure of the typhoon at a latitude of 30° N. Based on the results, the Central Pressure Method can be used to estimate the damage level of maritime structures that will occur along the coast before a typhoon strikes.http://enviroinfo.eu/sites/default/files/pdfs/vol119/0373.pd
Using The Improved Magnitude Method To Forecast Damage Level Caused By Typhoon 9918
No full textIn 1999, Typhoon 9918 struck Kyushu Island, which is located in Western Japan. The maximum anomaly storm tide was estimated to be about 3 m along a coast. Due to the storm surge and wind waves the typhoon caused enormous damage to maritime structures. In this paper, the number of damage cases of maritime structures along the coastline caused by Typhoon 9918 is estimated by using the so-called Magnitude Method. The Magnitude Method is defined based on the maximum wind speed near the center and the size of the typhoon at a latitude of 30° N. The size of the typhoon is defined as the area for which the wind speed is greater than 15 m/s. The intensity of the typhoon is defined as the area in which the maximum wind speed occurred. The magnitude of a typhoon is defined by a combination of the rank of its intensity and its size. The number of damage cases is estimated as follows: The path of Typhoon 9918 is determined from the location and the moving direction of the typhoon at a latitude of 30° N. The vulnerability index of each coast is determined based on the path of the typhoon and coastline. The value of the so-called smoothed number of damage cases is calculated by using the index of vulnerability and the magnitude of Typhoon 9918 at a latitude of 30° N. The value of the damage cases along a coast is estimated by substituting the value of smoothed number of damage cases and the total number of damage cases by all 74 typhoons during past 25 years at the same coast. The Improved Magnitude Method can be used to estimate the number of damage cases of maritime structures that will occur along the coast before a typhoon strikes
The relations between inclinations toward narcissism and identity in university students
No full text本研究では, 青年期における自己愛傾向は自我同一性の感覚に寄与する健康な側面をもちうるという仮説のもと, 大学生の自己愛傾向と自我同一性との関連を検討した。自己愛人格目録短縮版(NPI-S)の下位尺度の主成分分析によって抽出された「自己愛総合」と「注目-主張」の2成分の高低によって対象者を4群に分類し, 多次元自我同一性尺度(MEIS)の総合得点および下位尺度得点を比較したところ, 全体的な自己愛傾向の高い群は低い群よりも自我同一性達成感を強く持つという結果が示された。このことから, NPI-Sによって捉えられる一般青年の自己愛傾向の高まりは, 病理的な自己愛とは異なり自我同一性達成に寄与するものであると言える。また, 自分の感覚を軸に自己を捉える群の方が, 他者の視点を介して自己を捉えようとする群よりも, 自分の理想や願望を明確に意識していることが示された
An experience with augmentation sigmoid cystoplasty for urinary incontinence caused by sacral agenesis: a case report
No full text26歳男, 尿失禁を主訴とした仙骨形成不全に対して, S状結腸を用いて膀胱拡大術を施行し, 尿失禁の改善をみたSacral agenesis is an uncommon disease. About 50 cases have been reported in Japan since 1929. Neurogenic bladder is often accompanied with the disease. The patient was a 26-year-old man who had suffered from persistent urinary incontinence since his childhood. Kidney-ureter-bladder (KUB) revealed Type IV sacral agenesis according to the classification by Renshaw. The upper urinary tract remained normal. Urodynamics study showed a low compliance bladder with low urethral pressure. Pharmacotherapy failed to improve his continence. Augmentation sigmoid-cystoplasty was undertaken to enlarge vesical capacity and it has successfully overcome his urinary incontinence. Clinical aspects of sacral agenesis are discussed focusing on urological problems
Human pluripotent stem cell expansion in vertical-wheel bioreactors
No full textHuman induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) have been regarded as an enormous breakthrough for medicine, since they can be derived from patients and be used to generate virtually all types of cells in the human body. One of the great bottlenecks in the usage of these cells for regenerative medicine or drug discovery applications is their expansion to relevant quantities. The Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors (PBS Biotech) present a novel scalable bioreactor configuration, whose agitation mechanism allows for homogeneous mixing conditions inside the single-use vessel, while conveying less shear stress to the cells when compared to traditional alternatives. These characteristics are advantageous for hiPSC expansion and thus, in this work, hiPSC were expanded in the Vertical-Wheel Bioreactor using different strategies, namely culturing the cells 1) on microcarriers and 2) as floating aggregates.
In the first approach, cells were cultured under xeno-free conditions, using the Essential 8 medium together with microcarriers and coatings devoid of any animal-derived products [1]. The culture conditions were optimized in terms of initial cell/microcarrier ratio, inoculation method and agitation rate, in the PBS 0.1 vessel (working volume: 80 mL). The cells were successfully expanded, maintaining a normal karyotype, up to a 6.7-fold increase in cell number, after 6 days. These optimized culture conditions were successfully repeated in a larger vessel, the PBS 0.5 (300 mL working volume) demonstrating the scalability of the Vertical-Wheel system.
In the second approach, hiPSC were expanded as floating aggregates, a methodology which does not require a separation step at the end of culture, to remove microcarriers, facilitating the downstream processing and Good Manufacturing Practice-compliance of the process. Cells were cultured in the PBS 0.1 (working volume: 60 mL), using mTeSR1, a serum-free medium and were monitored throughout culture regarding growth kinetics, aggregate size distribution and expression of pluripotency markers. The Vertical-Wheel Bioreactors were shown to efficiently keep the cell aggregates in suspension, under lower linear agitation speeds than an equivalent volume spinner flask (7 cm/s vs. 13 cm/s). Following 7 days of culture, cells were expanded up to a 5.2 ± 0.6-fold increase in cell number. The hiPSC aggregates increased in size over time, from an average diameter of 135 ± 61 µm to 397 ± 119 µm after 7 days. Pluripotency was maintained throughout time, as assessed by sustained high (\u3e 80%) expression of pluripotency markers OCT4, SOX2 and TRA-1-60, and low (\u3c 10%) expression of early differentiation marker SSEA-1. The results were validated using a second hiPSC line.
This study revealed that the Vertical-Wheel Bioreactor allows hiPSC growth either on microcarriers and as aggregates and suggested it to have advantages versus other configurations. These results make the Vertical-Wheel Bioreactor a promising platform for hiPSC expansion and, prospectively, differentiation approaches, contributing for the generation of bona fide cells for various biomedical applications, namely drug screening, disease modelling, and, ultimately, for Regenerative Medicine.
[1] Rodrigues CAV, Silva TP, Nogueira DES, Fernandes TG, Hashimura Y, Wesselschmidt R, Diogo MM, Lee B, Cabral JMS (2018), “Scalable Culture Of Human Induced Pluripotent Cells On Microcarriers Under Xeno‐Free Conditions Using Single‐Use Vertical‐Wheel™ Bioreactors”, Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, DOI: 10.1002/jctb.573
Difference in effects of end-plate potentials between procaine and lidocaine as revealed by voltage-clamp experiments.
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