High-throughput single-cell manipulation system for a large number of target cells

A sequential and high-throughput single-cell manipulation system for a large volume of cells was developed and the successive manipulation for single cell involving single-cell isolation, individual labeling, and individual rupture was realized in a microhydrodynamic flow channel fabricated by using two-dimensional simple flow channels. This microfluidic system consisted of the successive single-cell handlings of single-cell isolation from a large number of cells in cell suspension, labeling each isolated single cell and the lysate extraction from each labeled single cell. This microfluidic system was composed of main channels, cell-trapping pockets, drain channels, and single-cell content collection channels which were fabricated by polydimethylsiloxane. We demonstrated two kinds of prototypes for sequential single-cell manipulations, one was equipped with 16 single-cell isolation pockets in microchannel and the other was constructed of 512 single-cell isolation pockets. In this study, we demonstrated high-throughput and high-volume single-cell isolation with 512 pocket type device. The total number of isolated single cells in each isolation pocket from the cell suspension at a time was 426 for the cell line of African green monkey kidney, COS-1, and 360 for the rat primary brown preadipocytes, BAT. All isolated cells were stained with fluorescence dye injected into the same microchannel successfully. In addition, the extraction and collection of the cell contents was demonstrated using isolated stained COS-1 cells. The cell contents extracted from each captured cell were individually collected within each collection channel by local hydrodynamic flow. The sequential trapping, labeling, and content extraction with 512 pocket type devices realized high-throughput single-cell manipulations for innovative single-cell handling, feasible staining, and accurate cell rupture.     

A comparative analysis of national media responses to the OECD Survey of Adult Skills: policy making from the global to the local?

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme of International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is put forward as a landmark development in the lifelong monitoring and international comparison of education. The first round of PIAAC’s Survey of Adult Skills compared performance in literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments across 24 countries. However, the translation of any OECD agenda into national policies is mediated by many actors, including the media. This paper examines and compares how the national media of Japan, England and France reported on the PIAAC results of their countries and the extent to which these reports mirror key messages from the OECD’s Country Notes. It begins to trace how the OECD PIAAC agendas materialise into national policies. Although their role in this initial period was limited, we argue the roles of the media together with other policy actors must be monitored as they interact to shape possibilities for sustainable adult education policies.     

Perceived autonomy support,relatedness with students,and workplace outcomes: an investigation of differences by teacher gender

Abstract

We examined the role of gender in teachers’ perceived autonomy support (PAS), relatedness with students, workplace buoyancy, and organizational commitment. With 276 Australian secondary school teachers, structural equation modelling showed predominant similarities across gender in associations between PAS, relatedness, buoyancy, and commitment. For example, for both female and male teachers, PAS predicted greater relatedness with students and both factors were positively associated with organizational commitment. However, there were some noteworthy differences across teacher gender. For example, relatedness with students was positively associated with buoyancy for male teachers only. In addition, findings showed that male teachers reported higher levels of workplace buoyancy.     

Intergenerational learning in climate change adaptations; limitations and affordances

Abstract

Adaptation to climate change has become an imperative intricately linked to human existence and the planet’s wellbeing: if learning is not part of the adaptation process, it is doubtful the adaptation will be sustainable. In Zimbabwe, one initiative for promoting learning for adaptation is the establishment of the Eco-Schools Clubs (ESC), a concept based on the possibilities of intergenerational learning developed and widely adopted in the Global North. Based on an ethnographic study in a community struggling with food insecurity arising from unpredictable rainfall, this paper examines the context-dependency of ESCs’ affordances for intergenerational climate change learning. The study found that in contrast to reports from the Global North, the children in this study were not able to exercise agency to effect change in their families and communities. Using the analytical resources of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, the study analyses the challenges of appropriating a model of learning from afar.     

‘The history of the Ouinkai’ – the alumni association of the Tokyo higher normal school for women: a milestone in Japan’s education for women

ABSTRACT

The book, The History of the Ouinkai, was published in 1940 as a commemorative project for the 60th anniversary of the Tokyo Higher Normal School for Women (THNSW). The purpose of this article is to illustrate the type of data collected in the surveys and their findings, to explore some of the activities of the association, and to discuss how the Ouinkai alumni association, in collaboration with THNSW, worked with female teachers nationwide. The paper traces some of the multi-norms and multi-roles for female teachers that THNSW promoted and their relation to norms thought to characterise ‘ideal’ Japanese women. The publication of The History of the Ouinkai was a milestone in Japanese women’s education because it demonstrated the Ouinkai’s successes in respect of Japanese educational policy for women as well as the leadership that the Ouinkai provided to female graduate teachers, whom it organised with skill.     

Growth goals and growth mindset from a methodological-synergistic perspective: lessons learned from a quantitative correlational research program

This review explores predictors and consequences of students’ growth goals and growth mindset in school with particular emphasis on how correlational statistical methods can be applied to illuminate key issues and implications. Study 1 used cross-sectional data and employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to investigate the role of growth goals in mediating the link between interpersonal relationships and academic engagement. Study 2 conducted multi-group path analysis to investigate the role of growth goals in the academic outcomes of two groups of students (ADHD and non-ADHD). Study 3 used longitudinal data and SEM to test a cross-lagged panel design to investigate reciprocal links between growth goals and growth mindset. Study 4 conducted multi-level SEM where the effects of a growth orientation on engagement and achievement were investigated at the student-level (level 1) and the classroom-level (level 2). Taking these four studies together, we aim to show how correlational data and multivariate correlational analyses have been effective in answering research questions in a way that have practical and theoretical implications for students’ academic growth. We also position this review as a substantive-methodological synergy – an approach recently recommended in response to concerns about the increasing polarization of substantive and methodological research and researchers.     

Electronic journals and their unbundled functions in scholarly communication: Views and utilization by scientific,technological and medical researchers in Japan

In recent years, electronic journals are in common use in scholarly communication and we can interpret this situation in various ways. On the one hand, we can say that scholarly communication is now much dependent on electronic resources. On the other hand, it would be too simplistic to say that scholarly communication is now greatly dependent on electronic resources because researchers seldom use other electronic resources. The purpose of this article is to show the position of electronic journals in scholarly communication based on Japanese researchers’ information behavior and estimation. The main focus is on distinguishing the function of scholarly journal and the electronic form. A questionnaire was sent to 1427 physicists, 1026 chemists and 1276 pathologists in universities and other research institutes all over Japan, of whom 775 (54.3%), 494 (48.1%) and 541 (42.4%), respectively, supplied answers. The main results are as follows. Japanese researchers in STM fields use electronic journals as a matter of course, and other electronic resources to some extent, for accessing information; but this shift to electronic resources seemed to be not a transformation but a modification of traditional patterns of use. Researchers still rely on traditional scholarly journals for accessing information and publication, although their recognition has begun to change.     

Supporting the Spectrum Scholarship Program: perspectives from the Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group

The immediate past presidents and current president of the Northern California and Nevada Medical Library Group write to raise awareness of the American Library Association Spectrum Scholarship Program, share their approach to supporting Scholars in their region, and encourage Medical Library Association (MLA) chapters and MLA at large to build stronger infrastructures to support Black, Indigenous, and People of Color librarians who are in school and recently graduated.