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This study explored the language learning motivation of a small group of five university students in the UK through the constructs of Dornyei's L2 Motivational Self System and Henry's notion of 'the ideal multilingual self'. The five participants, all successful language learners at school, chose to specialise in modern languages at university and in addition to the foreign languages they had previously learned, decided to study Chinese. Interviews were conducted in the final year of the participants' university course and their motivational changes during the course of studying Chinese were explored. The results revealed that two students who achieved remarkable success in learning Chinese came to possess a strong desire to integrate in Chinese society, linked to a longer period spent studying in the target language country. We suggest that integrative orientation is a significant component in maintaining the ideal L2 self, especially when a psychological and physical distance exists in relation to the target language, its culture and the country.

Many teachers of English aspire to study in anglophone countries, especially at postgraduate level, as a means to support their own professional development. While the overt interest lies in acquiring cutting-edge theories in ELT to improve their classroom practices, a sojourn abroad is also valued as a cultural and linguistic immersion in the English language. Within the vibrant research scene of study abroad, comparatively little is known about the effect of studying abroad on older participants. This study addresses mature teachers as students abroad and focuses on the challenges and changes to their existing professional beliefs triggered by their foreign academic sojourn. The participants are four Japanese teachers of English who attended MA programmes in the UK. The analysis of a corpus of 2046 minutes of in-depth interviews, conducted over a period of 20?months, revealed how some core professional beliefs on English were reformulated, and triggered teacher development.

Background and objectives: In the treatment of severe periodontal destruction, there is a strong demand for advanced scaffolds that can regenerate periodontal tissues with adequate quality and quantity. Recently, we developed a plasma‐ and precursor‐assisted biomimetic process by which a porous collagen scaffold (CS) could be coated with low‐crystalline apatite. The apatite‐coated collagen scaffold (Ap‐CS) promotes cellular ingrowth within the scaffold compared to CS in rat subcutaneous tissue. In the present study, the osteogenic activity of Ap‐CS was characterized by cell culture and rat skull augmentation tests. In addition, the periodontal tissue reconstruction with Ap‐CS in a beagle dog was compared to that with CS. Methods: The plasma‐ and precursor‐assisted biomimetic process was applied to CS to obtain Ap‐CS with a low‐crystalline apatite coating. The effects of apatite coating on the scaffold characteristics (i.e., surface morphology, water absorption, Ca release, protein adsorption, and enzymatic degradation resistance) were assessed. Cyto‐compatibility and the osteogenic properties of Ap‐CS and CS were assessed in vitro using preosteoblastic MC3T3‐E1 cells. In addition, we performed in vivo studies to evaluate bone augmentation and periodontal tissue reconstruction with Ap‐CS and CS in a rat skull and canine furcation lesion, respectively. Results: As previously reported, the plasma‐ and precursor‐assisted biomimetic process generated a low‐crystalline apatite layer with a nanoporous structure that uniformly covered the Ap‐CS surface. Ap‐CS showed significantly higher water absorption, Ca release, lysozyme adsorption, and collagenase resistance than CS. Cell culture experiments revealed that Ap‐CS was superior to CS in promoting the osteoblastic differentiation of MC3T3‐E1 cells while suppressing their proliferation. Additionally, Ap‐CS significantly promoted (compared to CS) the augmentation of the rat skull bone and showed the potential to regenerate alveolar bone in a dog furcation defect. Conclusion: Ap‐CS fabricated by the plasma‐ and precursor‐assisted biomimetic process provided superior promotion of osteogenic differentiation and bone neoformation compared to CS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recombinant human collagen peptide, developed based on human collagen type I, contains an arginyl‐glycyl‐aspartic acid (RGD)‐rich motif to enhance cell behavior and is anticipated as a xeno‐free polymer material for use in tissue engineering. We fabricated granules containing recombinant human collagen peptide (RCP) applied with beta‐tricalcium phosphate fine particles (RCP/β‐TCP) as bone filling scaffold material and assessed the bone forming ability of RCP/β‐TCP. Recombinant peptide was thermal crosslinked and freeze‐dried to prepare RCP. An aqueous dispersion of β‐TCP fine particles was added to RCP to obtain RCP/β‐TCP. Subsequently, RCP/β‐TCP were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (EDX), and cell culture assessments. Furthermore, RCP/β‐TCP were implanted into rat cranial bone defects for radiographic and histological evaluations. In SEM and EDX analyses of RCP/β‐TCP, β‐TCP particles dose‐dependently covered the surface of RCP. Cell culture tests showed that RCP/β‐TCP remarkably promoted proliferation and mRNA expression of various genes, such as integrin β1 and osteogenic markers, of osteoblastic MC3T3‐E1 cells. Histomorphometric assessment at 4 weeks showed that RCP/β‐TCP significantly promoted new skull bone formation compared to RCP (p < 0.05) and control (no application) (p < 0.01). Accordingly, these findings suggest RCP/β‐TCP possess bone forming capability and would be beneficial for bone tissue engineering therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface pre-reacted glass-ionomer (S-PRG) filler releases several ions, such as fluoride, borate and strontium ions, to exert bioactive effects. We fabricated an endodontic root canal sealer containing S-PRG fillers (S-PRG sealer) and then evaluated the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of S-PRG sealer compared with sealer containing conventional silica fillers (silica sealer). Antibacterial tests showed that S-PRG sealer significantly reduced the turbidity of Enterococcus faecalis compared with silica sealer. Implantation of S-PRG or silica sealer blocks in rat subcutaneous tissue showed that S-PRG sealer decreased the proinflammatory response compared with silica sealer at 10 days post-implantation. In addition, immunostaining revealed that infiltration of CD68- and peroxidase-positive cells around the S-PRG sealer was significantly lower than that in silica sealer. Therefore, it was suggested that S-PRG sealer exhibits antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.