Understanding the vocabulary profiles of students is an important point for improving classroom-based pedagogy as well as materials development based on students' abilities and needs in ESP (English for Specific Purposes). As the second phase of a longitudinal research to assess Japanese university students' vocabulary competency, the researchers collected data on the performance of second and third-year students majoring in science and engineering on the New General Service List Test (NGSLT) and the New Academic Word List Test (NAWLT) developed by Phil Bennett and Tim Stoeckel in 2015 using words from the New General Service List 1.01 (NGSL 1.01) and the New Academic Word List (NAWL) developed by Charles Browne, Brent Culligan and Joseph Phillips in 2014. The NGSL 1.01 consists of 2,801 of the most frequently-appearing words in general use, and is a revision of the original General Service List (about 2,000 words) which was compiled by Michael West in 1953. The NWAL consists of 963 frequently-appearing words in academic text, and is a revision of the original Academic Word List (570 words) which was compiled by Averil Coxhead in 2000. Both the NGSLT and NAWLT are diagnostic tests of written receptive knowledge of the New General Service List and the New Academic Word List respectively. The NGSLT and NAWLT use the same specifications as the Vocabulary Size Test (VST) which was developed by Paul Nation and David Beglar in 2007, and have relatively good test reliability. This paper introduces the background about the tests, the participants in the study, and the data collection method. It also interprets the results of the collected scores, and discusses the implications of the results between departments and years. In future studies, the researchers hope to find ways to perceive the vocabulary abilities of students in their particular ESP fields. By doing so, they can be better informed providers of instruction and create materials tailored to students' particular needs.
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are used widely for their high luminous efficiency and durability. We developed a novel prototype high definition endoscope with white LEDs and evaluated the image quality it produced against a commercial endoscope with conventional light source.The specifications of both colonoscopes were identical, except for the LED light source at the tip of the prototype. We examined 20 patients with rectal or sigmoid colon lesions and the image quality was evaluated in 40 images (one image from the LED colonoscope and one from the conventional colonoscope for each lesion) by three endoscopists. We additionally evaluated the 17 videos recorded with the LED colonoscope that were available. Image quality, mucosal and vascular color, and luminous distribution and intensity were scored on a 5-point scale.The mean score for vascular color given by one evaluator was significantly higher using the LED colonoscope than using the conventional colonoscope. The mean scores for mucosal color and luminous intensity from another evaluator were significantly lower with the LED colonoscope than with the conventional colonoscope. There were no significant differences in the luminous distribution scores for any of the evaluators. The image quality of the videos was evaluated as being similar with both colonoscopes.Image quality from the LED and conventional colonoscopes were similar, although the luminous intensity of the LEDs is inferior to that of the conventional light source at the present time.
Background Accumulating evidence shows an over-abundance of Fusobacterium nucleatum in colorectal tumour tissues. Although stool DNA testing of Fusobacterium nucleatum might be a potential marker for the detection of colorectal tumours, the difficulty in detecting Fusobacterium nucleatum in stool by conventional methods prevented further explorations. Therefore, we developed a droplet digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for detecting Fusobacterium nucleatum in stool and investigated its clinical utility in the management of colorectal tumours in a Japanese population. Methods Feces were collected from 60 healthy subjects (control group) and from 11 patients with colorectal non-advanced adenomas (non-advanced adenoma group), 19 patients with colorectal advanced adenoma/carcinoma in situ (advanced adenoma/carcinoma in situ (CIS) group) and 158 patients with colorectal cancer of stages I to IV (colorectal cancer group). Absolute copy numbers of Fusobacterium nucleatum were measured by droplet digital PCR. Results The median copy number of Fusobacterium nucleatum was 17.5 in the control group, 311 in the non-advanced adenoma group, 122 in the advanced adenoma/CIS group, and 317 in the colorectal cancer group. In comparison with that in the control group, the Fusobacterium nucleatum level was significantly higher in the non-advanced adenoma group, the advanced adenoma/CIS group and the colorectal cancer group. Conclusions This study illustrates the potential of stool DNA testing of Fusobacterium nucleatum by droplet digital PCR to detect individuals with colorectal tumours in a Japanese population.
DNA methylation of both viral and host DNA is one of the major mechanisms involved in the development of Epstein-Barr virus-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC); thus, epigenetic treatment using demethylating agents would seem to be promising. We have verified the effect of MC180295, which was discovered by screening for demethylating agents. MC180295 inhibited cell growth of the EBVaGC cell lines YCCEL1 and SNU719 in a dose-dependent manner. In a cell cycle analysis, growth arrest and apoptosis were observed in both YCCEL1 and SNU719 cells treated with MC180295. MKN28 cells infected with EBV were sensitive to MC180295 and showed more significant inhibition of cell growth compared to controls without EBV infection. Serial analysis of gene expression analysis showed the expression of genes belonging to the role of BRCA1 in DNA damage response and cell cycle control chromosomal replication to be significantly reduced after MC180295 treatment. We confirmed with quantitative PCR that the expression levels of BRCA2, FANCM, RAD51, TOP2A, and CDC45 were significantly decreased by MC180295. LMP1 and BZLF1 are EBV genes with expression that is epigenetically regulated, and MC180295 could up-regulate their expression. In conclusion, MC180295 inhibited the growth of EBVaGC cells by suppressing DNA repair and the cell cycle.
Objective Transmural healing (TH) has been attracting attention as a new therapeutic target for Crohn's disease, but there are few clinical data on TH in Japan. We introduced low-dose computed tomography enterography (CTE) as a monitoring method for Crohn's disease and retrospectively investigated the accuracy of evaluating TH by CTE.
