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II. 報告, 世界的に第3言語習得(Third Language Acquisition、以下TLA)への関心が増大している。本稿は、日本語教育研究においてはL3としての習得という観点からの十分な議論が行われているか疑問を持ち、海外のTLAの先行研究を、L3習得において影響を及ぼす要因を中心にまとめた。続いて日本国内で行われたTLAの先行研究の研究動向を検討した。以上の内容に基づき、「L3としての日本語教育研究」の現状を再考し、多様な言語背景を持つ学習者を考慮した研究が必要であることを指摘し、今後の議論のための示唆点を提示した。

Oxo-carotenoids containing conjugated carbonyl groups in their chains were designed to be more efficient superoxide radical scavengers than natural carotenoids, β-carotene and canthaxanthin. A practical chain-extension method for polyene dials (e.g., crocetin dial) was also proposed based on Horner–Wadsworth–Emmons olefination. Double aldol condensation between polyene dials and acetophenones with ring substituents produced oxo-carotenoids with substituted benzene rings. The antioxidant activity of oxo-carotenoids was measured using DPPH (radical) and ABTS (cationic radical) scavenging assays and compared with the analysis with the superoxide (anionic radical) probe. An effective conjugation length by carbon–carbon double bonds is important to provide superior antioxidant activity for oxo-carotenoids, regardless of the type of radical probe used in the assay. Increasing electron density is favorable to strong antioxidant activity in DPPH, and the phenol group is favored in ABTS, whereas electron deficient oxo-carotenoids are very potent in the superoxide radical assay. All oxo-carotenoids exhibited 105~151% better superoxide radical scavenging activity compared to beta-carotene (100%), whereas 38~155% in DPPH and 16~96% in ABTS radical scavenging activities were observed.

Camellia japonica L. is a flowering tree with several medicinal and cosmetic applications. Here, we investigated the efficacy of C. japonica placenta extract (CJPE) as a potential therapeutic agent for promotion of hair growth and scalp health by using various in vitro and in vivo assays. Moreover, we performed transcriptome analysis to examine the relative expression of human follicle dermal papilla cells (HFDPC) in response to CJPE by RNA‐sequencing (RNA‐seq). In vitro assays revealed upregulation of the expression of hair growth marker genes in HFDPC after CJPE treatment. Moreover, in vivo clinical tests with 42 adult female participants showed that a solution containing 0.5% CJPE increased the moisture content of the scalp and decreased the scalp's sebum content, dead scalp keratin, and erythema. Furthermore, RNA‐seq analysis revealed key genes in HFDPC which are associated with CJPE. Interestingly, genes associated with lipid metabolism and cholesterol efflux were upregulated. Genes upregulated by CJPE are associated with several hormones, including parathyroid, adrenocorticotropic hormone, α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone (alpha‐MSH), and norepinephrine, which are involved in hair follicle biology. Furthermore, some upregulated genes are associated with the regulation of axon guidance. In contrast, many genes downregulated by CJPE are associated with structural components of the cytoskeleton. In addition, CJPE suppressed genes associated with muscle structure and development. Taken together, this study provides extensive evidence that CJPE may have potential as a therapeutic agent for scalp treatment and hair growth promotion., Here, we examined the efficacy of C. japonica placenta extract (CJPE) as a potential therapeutic agent for promotion of hair growth and scalp health by using various in vitro and in vivo assays. Moreover, we conducted transcriptome analysis to examine the relative expression of human follicle dermal papilla cells in response to CJPE by RNA‐sequencing.

Porphyra 334 (P334), a mycosporine-like amino acid (MAA), is a secondary metabolite found in diverse marine and terrestrial organisms and has several beneficial effects on fibroblast proliferation, wound healing, and antioxidant activity. Here, we report that P334 accelerates the cell reprogramming process of mouse tail-tip fibroblasts (TTFs) and human dermal papilla (HDP) cells into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We found that P334 significantly improved the cell reprogramming efficiency by activating the tri-methylation of histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3), which controls mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) during the reprogramming process. Thus, we found that P334 directly regulates epigenetic changes, providing an efficient approach for natural compound-based cell reprogramming.

Plants have played a vital role in curative and preventive healthcare. Ficus religiosa L., a medicinally important tree has been used as a traditional medicine to treat various ailments and skin diseases. However, its skin anti-ageing properties are not yet scientifically evaluated. Here we report the comparison of F. religiosa bark (FRAqB), leaf (FRAqL) and aerial-roots (FRAqAR) extracts for skin anti-ageing and wound healing properties. FRAqB, FRAqL and FRAqAR extracts preparation, cell culture, RNA isolation, real time PCR, astringent activity and wound healing assay were carried out using standard methods. Axio Observer FL-microscope and ImageJ software were used for wound healing assay analysis. The real time PCR study reveals that matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP) RNA was downregulated to 75% and 95% for FRAqB and FRAqAR, respectively. For procollagen C-endopeptidase enhancer 1 (PCOLCE), FRAqB and FRAqL enhanced RNA levels by 500% and 300%, respectively. FRAqB and FRAqL increased wound healing area to about 60% and FRAqAR by 50%. All three extracts demonstrated astringent activity which is significant for skin tightening. The study proves that extracts of F. religiosa are prominent candidates for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications such as skin anti-ageing and wound healing.

Depression is a common but treatable mental health problem among older adults. Daily management and monitoring is very important; thus, diverse approaches have been developed. The objective of this research was to develop and pilot-test a counseling-plus-mobile health (mHealth) intervention using ecological momentary intervention (EMI) to reduce daily depressive mood for older adults living alone. Of 64 older adults living alone in community settings, 44 completed mHealth training and EMI for 7 weeks between October 2018 and October 2019. Study participants were randomized into experimental and control groups. The intervention was based on the protocol developed for an mHealth program for older Korean adults. Participants wore an actiwatch that measured their depressed moods four times a day for 2 weeks. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (K-HDRS) and the Korean version of the Short Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-K). Sleep quality was assessed using the Korean version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI-K). The mean age of the study sample was 76.05±5.66 years, and the majority of the participants were female (61.0%, 36/59). There were no demographic characteristic differences between intervention and control groups. Based on multi-level modeling, EMI was not associated with significant improvements in depressive symptoms. However, depressive symptoms showed an initial decreasing trend, leveling off toward the end of the intervention period. This study finding could function as preliminary data to develop mHealth-based EMIs for older users in a larger, long-term study.

Edelweiss (Leontopodium Alpinum) in the family Asteraceae is a wildflower that grows in rocky limestone places. Here, we investigated the efficacy of edelweiss callus culture extract (Leontopodium Alpinum callus culture extract, LACCE) using multiple assays from in vitro to in vivo as well as transcriptome profiling. Several in vitro assay results showed the strong antioxidant activity of LACCE in response to UVB treatment. Moreover, LACCE suppressed inflammation and wrinkling, however, moisturizing activity was increased by LACCE. The clinical test in vivo demonstrated that constant application of LACCE on the face and skin tissues improved anti-periorbital wrinkles, skin elasticity, dermal density, and skin thickness compared with the placebo. The RNA-Sequencing results showed at least 16.56% of human genes were expressed in keratinocyte cells. LACCE up-regulated genes encoding several KRT proteins, DDIT4, BNIP3, and IGFBP3 were involved in the positive regulation of the developmental process, programmed cell death, keratinization, and cornification forming skin barriers, which provide many advantages in the human skin. By contrast, down-regulated genes were stress-responsive genes, including metal, oxidation, wounding, hypoxia, and virus infection, suggesting LACCE did not cause any harmful stress on the skin. Our comprehensive study demonstrated LACCE is a promising agent for anti-aging cosmetics.

In this paper, we propose a convolutional neural network(CNN) with 3-D rank-1 filters which are composed by the outer product of 1-D filters. After being trained, the 3-D rank-1 filters can be decomposed into 1-D filters in the test time for fast inference. The reason that we train 3-D rank-1 filters in the training stage instead of consecutive 1-D filters is that a better gradient flow can be obtained with this setting, which makes the training possible even in the case where the network with consecutive 1-D filters cannot be trained. The 3-D rank-1 filters are updated by both the gradient flow and the outer product of the 1-D filters in every epoch, where the gradient flow tries to obtain a solution which minimizes the loss function, while the outer product operation tries to make the parameters of the filter to live on a rank-1 sub-space. Furthermore, we show that the convolution with the rank-1 filters results in low rank outputs, constraining the final output of the CNN also to live on a low dimensional subspace., Comment: The paper is in 2 Column style 8 pages. It will be submitted to CVPR2019

Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with fibromyalgia (FM) have higher disease activity, greater medical costs, and worse quality of life compared to RA patients without FM. We determined the impact of FM on 2-year changes in the functional status of RA patients in a prospective study.Subjects included participants in the Brigham Rheumatoid Arthritis Sequential Study who were enrolled in a substudy of the effects of pain in RA. Subjects completed questionnaires, including the Multi-Dimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ) and Polysymptomatic Distress (PSD) scale, semiannually, and underwent physical examination and laboratory tests yearly.Of the 156 included RA subjects, 16.7% had FM, while 83.3% did not. In a multivariable linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, race, baseline MDHAQ score, disease duration, rheumatoid factor/cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody seropositivity, disease activity, and psychological distress, RA patients with FM had a 0.14 greater 2-year increase in MDHAQ score than RA patients without FM (P = 0.021). In secondary analyses examining the association between continuous PSD scale score and change in MDHAQ, higher PSD scale scores were significantly associated with greater 2-year increases in MDHAQ score (β coefficient 0.013, P = 0.011).Both the presence of FM and increasing number of FM symptoms predicted worsening of functional status among individuals with RA. Among individuals with RA and FM, the magnitude of the difference in changes in MDHAQ was 4- to 7-fold higher than typical changes in MDHAQ score among individuals with established RA.

In my research paper, I attempt to analyze the brutal human rights abuses of North Korean (NK) refugees, many of whom flee to neighboring China, driven by political persecution and chronic hunger. NK refugees are not welcomed in China for geo-political reasons– and, accordingly, are denied refugee status. This is a topic which merits far more research. The majority of NK escapees are women and young children. Denied legal recognition upon escape, many are eventually forced into human trafficking, including sex slavery. Still others suffer an even worse fate upon repatriation. Despite recognition by certain (mostly Western) countries, NK refugees are, in fact, widely not recognized as such by neighboring Asian countries. Due to such disagreement, international organizations (notably UNHCR) have been largely powerless to help. This is a pity, for refugees in places like Africa and the Middle East – no more deserving of international attention and help –nevertheless receive far more of it. The present impasse, I also argue, can largely be attributed to the self-interested actions of the Chinese government. I chose to investigate this research topic from two angles. First, I set about to ascertain whether NK escapees are simply “economic migrants”, or whether they are indeed full-fledged refugees deserving protection under international law. Second, I examined United States (US) engagement on the issue, both in domestic and foreign policy. Throughout my thesis paper, I use various documented sources, including governmental reports as well as the testimonies of NK refugees who suffered labor camps and other horrendous punishment for attempting to flee their country. I also extensively explore how international refugee law is routinely ignored, to the great detriment of NK refugees. I explain why the NK refugee issue is important – to not only North Koreans, but to the international community as well. I therefore hope my work will contribute to greater awareness of the urgency of the issue, while offering assorted policy recommendations to the US government. Finally, I argue that it is in both America’s moral and strategic interest – especially given the country’s recent “pivot to Asia”−to take a leading role in improving the basic human rights’ of NK refugees.