Age-Related Changes in Soluble Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 1 (sVEGFR1) and Receptor 2 (sVEGFR2) in Healthy Japanese Subjects

We measured serum soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 1 (sVEGFR1) and receptor 2 (sVEGFR2) levels in healthy Japanese individuals in order to establish a reference value using a specific ELISA. Significant differences were observed in serum sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2 levels between children and adults. To demonstrate the usefulness of the reference value for children, we measured serum sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2 levels in children with diarrhea positive (D+) hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) as a preliminary study. Serum sVEGFR2 levels in children with HUS were markedly higher than those in healthy children from the onset of D + HUS. The reference value for healthy children in the present study will allow normal and pathological conditions to be discriminated from each other in future study     

International perceptions across the sea: Patterns in Japanese young adults

The international perceptions of Japanese young adults were explored in 172 professional education students in two Tokyo colleges. They classified 30 nations according to their “current” and “future” affinity to Japan. Little difference was detected in the Q-sorts between institutions arid sexes, while the “current” and “future” sorts correlated .96 with each other. In cluster analyses, many two-nation units (e.g., Czechoslovakia-Yugoslavia) were found to be the building blocks for the overall pattern. The total configuration consisted of three broad groups: mostly Western European nations, problematical nations (China, Russia, Israel, Egypt, etc.), and remote and neutral nations. Structurally, the results were similar to those for American young adults, but the contents were different. The notion of cultural metastereotypes thus received tentative support.     

Introducing Open Government Data

This article provides an overview of open government data. It outlines what it is, provides examples, and summarizes library engagement with these data. The professional and academic literature and other web sources were examined along with government policies and portals. Open government data is a fairly recent and evolving phenomenon that promotes government transparency and invites citizen participation and innovative reuses of public data. Libraries have been responding to this release of data in a number of ways including offering data literacy instruction and special services and programs.     

What's Theory Got to Do with It? Applying Educational Theory and Research to Revamp Freshman Library Workshops

Although librarians’ increasingly important role as teachers is among the most significant shifts and trends that have been reshaping academic libraries over the past few decades, most academic librarians have not received formal training in pedagogy and teaching. The authors describe how becoming familiar with educational theory and research enabled them to revamp freshmen library workshops. They provide a theoretical overview and present practical classroom applications of learning styles theory, active learning techniques, learning by analogies, collaborative learning, and group work. Learning theories and educational research findings, the authors suggest, can be readily translated into practice and inform the teaching of information literacy to freshmen.     

Intelligence,Creative Thinking,and Sociometric Choice Among Fifth-Grade Children

In a sample of 970 female and 968 male freshmen taken over a 5-year period at the College of Wooster it was found that the Math and Verbal Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SAT) were more highly correlated with freshman grade point average (GPA) than were any of the eighteen scales of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). Stepwise regression led the author to suggest a series of five variables for each sex which might be used to predict academic achievement using the SAT and the CPI. For women, a multiple R of .52 was reached using Math, Verbal, Socialization, Achievement via Conformity, and Flexibility. For men, Math, Verbal, Socialization, Flexibility, and Femininity provided a multiple R of . 57.