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The World Education Research Association (WERA) 10 Year Anniversary Focal Meeting, "Future of Democracy and Education: Realizing Equity and Social Justice Worldwide," was held on August 5th at the University of Tokyo Yasuda Auditorium, and on the 6th, 7th, and 8th at Gakushuin University. This focal meeting convened 1,313 participants from 65 countries and regions, two to three times the attendees at WERA meetings over the past decade. This article touches upon the meaning behind the meeting theme, the five keynote speeches, and other key events such as the pre-conference workshops, invited symposia, and a young researchers' meeting (DEC).

This study developed a technology for a vertical field‐effect transistor (VFET) incorporating c‐axis aligned crystal oxide semiconductor on a Gen 3.5 glass substrate. VFETs, with a channel length of 0.5 μm, demonstrated stable characteristics with minimal variation, higher on‐state current compared with low‐temperature polysilicon FETs, and extremely low off‐state leakage current. A prototype 513‐ppi organic light‐emitting diode display that features a red, green, and blue stripe arrangement and includes an internal compensation circuit with a configuration of six transistors and two capacitors was fabricated by harnessing the advantageous features of VFETs. Such a display was previously unattainable with planar FETs. Thus, the developed VFET technology presents a viable pathway for achieving ultrahigh‐resolution panels on glass substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neo-liberal educational policies that are being implemented globally work to foster competition among schools and teachers, as well as among children. In this situation, teachers must often come to accept the dominant representations of curricular policy developed by higher authorities. In this study, a case study design is used to describe how one school in Vietnam shifted away from this state of "colonisation" by reforming the school under the framework of lesson study for learning community (LSLC). This paper subsequently argues that there is a need for school-level policies that democratise school culture and practices, resisting the negative impacts of colonising policies.

Current Educational Reform in Japan is oddly captured with confused conceptions of "compulsory education." The Ministry of Education blankets such connotations of it, as a national budget system, mandated school curriculum, responsible partnership of school with community and accountabilities of local school board, in defense of vested national budget against decentralization promoted by prefectural governors. However, the extended usage of "problems of compulsory education" results in the confusion of educational policies. This is because the core issues of current reforms are not concerned about whether school education should be compulsory or not, but on the future design of the public education system. This paper displays some historical aspects of the concept of "compulsory education," in order to enlighten the reason why the issues of it are expanded and unclear. Indeed, most people have confused the concepts of "public education," "public school system," "general education," "compulsory education" and "national education." In pre-war days, the compulsory education system was not launched in the early stages of modernization, but in 1886, when the first educational minister, Arinori Mori, legally designed the public education (general education) system to be established in the nation state. His idea of the "compulsory education" was characteristic. Though it was legitimated by "national education" constructed with "general education" or "public education," its financial foundation was not based on a national budget but school fees were paid by parents. This system was reorganized just after his assassination. "Compulsory education" became a nationalistic regime through which people were educated to be loyal subjects and obedient to the nation. At this point, the national budget system obtained its legitimacy for the foundation of national education. In postwar reform, the legitimacy of "compulsory education" was placed on education as a human right under the renewed constitution, connecting it with the human right to live, while most people have not recognized its significance. Thus, the concept of "compulsory education" is a puzzle in contemporary debates of educational reform. This paper explores the complicated relationship of "compulsory education" to the national budget system, through rethinking about the historical process of the public education system in Japan. [This article was translated by Walter Dawson.] (Contains 1 note.)

Neither experimental nor design research in education is as well developed in Japan as in the United States. Yet Japanese educational practice employs a type of educational research called "lesson study" that is credited for instructional improvements, including the shift from "teaching as telling" to "teaching for understanding" in science and the development of structured problem-solving lessons in mathematics. This chapter examines lesson study as an example of the emerging paradigm of "human science," offering an image of how research and practice can relate in ways that inform practical action and the field of educational research. (Contains 1 figure.)

We simultaneously measured the diffuse reflectance spectra and transmittance spectra of in vitro rat cerebral cortical tissue slices perfused with artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) in the wavelength range from 500 to 900 nm. An ischemia-like condition in the cortical tissue was induced by oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD) of the aCSF. Diffuse reflectance and transmittance of the cortical slices were decreased and increased, respectively, during OGD. Spectral data of reduced scattering coefficients and absorption coefficients were estimated by the inverse Monte Carlo simulation for light transport in tissue. As with OGD, significant decrease of the reduced scattering coefficients and alteration of the absorption coefficient spectrum were observed over the measured wavelength range. The mean maximum amplitudes of change in the absorption coefficient at 520, 550, 605, and 830 nm were 0.33 [+ or -] 0.14, 0.30 [+ or -] 0.12, 0.30 [+ or -] 0.14, and -0.04 [+ or -] 0.16, respectively, whereas those in the reduced scattering coefficient at 520, 550, 605, and 830 nm were -0.37 [+ or -] 0.08, -0.38 [+ or -] 0.08, -0.38 [+ or -] 0.08, and -0.39 [+ or -] 0.08. Variations in the reduced scattering coefficients implied cell deformation mainly due to cell swelling, whereas those in the absorption spectra indicated reductions in heine [aa.sub.3] and CuA in cytochrome c oxidase and cytochrome c. [c] 2010 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 170.0170, 170.3660, 170.6510, 170.6935.

In our previous study, we used optical coherence tomography (OCT) and reported an increase in signal intensity of depth profiles between euthanasia injection and cardiac arrest (CA), demonstrating the potential as a tool for monitoring/diagnosing brain tissue viability [Appl. Opt. 48, 4354 (2009)]. Here, for the first time to our knowledge, we measured three-dimensional (3D) OCT images through a thinned skull changing temperatures in the rat brain. The measurements were made at 10 min intervals for 210 min to evaluate correlations of temperature with heart rate and ratios of signal intensity (RSI). The 3D image area was 4 mm x 4 mm x 2.8 mm. When the temperature was decreased from 28[degrees]C to 18[degrees]C to reduce tissue viability, the heart rate was found to decrease with an increase in RSI. Negative correlation coefficients (CCs) between temperatures and RSIs, and between heart rate and RSIs, were obtained. This indicates that OCT signals increase with reductions of viability caused by decreases in heart rates and temperatures in tissues. These observations correspond to estimations obtained by multiwavelength diffuse reflectance spectroscopy [Appl. Opt. 47, 4164 (2008)]. CCs and stationary RSIs would depend upon measured positions in tissues. Without injections for euthanasia, a similar rapid increase in RSI has also been measured before CA. OCIS codes: 170.1610, 170.2655, 170.3880, 170.3890, 170.4500, 170.6935.

We have already reported that after an injection for euthanasia, the signal intensity of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images are 2.7 times increased before cardiac arrest (CA) using OCT and rat brains without temperature control to show the potential of OCT to monitor tissue viability in brains [Appl. Opt. 48, 4354 (2009)]. In this paper, we similarly measured maintaining the primary temperature of rat brains. It was confirmed that when maintaining the primary temperature, the time courses of the ratios of signal intensity (RSIs) were almost the same as those without temperature control. RSIs after CA varied from 1.6 to 4.5 and depended on positions measured in tissues. These results mean that the OCT technique has clinical potential for applications to monitor or diagnose a focal degraded area, such as cerebral infarctions due to focal ischemia in brains. OCIS codes: 170.1610, 170.2655, 170.3880, 170.3890, 170.4500, 170.6935.

Three-dimensional (3D) optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of rat brain taken through the thinned skull were measured using quadrature fringe wide-field OCT (QF WF OCT) with a period of 10 min for total measurement time of 210 min stopping blood flow due to cardiac arrest, in order to investigate the potential of OCT to monitor tissue viability in brains. First, spatial resolution degradation was evaluated with QF WF OCT to demonstrate that the axial resolution was 390 [micro]m at a thickness of 1000 [micro]m. After cardiac arrest, the signal intensity in depth profiles increased 2.7 times compared with that before cardiac arrest. The ratio of signal intensity after euthanasia with an injection of pentobarbital sodium salt to that before sharply increased for 20 min, with stationary values of 2 to 4 overall. The trends of time variations of each position were similar. However, each stationary value depended on the 3D position. OCIS codes: 170.1610, 170.2655, 170.3880, 170.3890, 170.4500, 170.6935.

We performed the accurate diagnosis and complete surgical resection of a gastrointestinal stromal tumor at the mesentery of the small bowel. Computed tomography (CT) in a 62-year-old man at 2 years after gastrectomy for gastric cancer showed a mesenteric tumor, with no other tumors noted. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) showed a maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max) of 2.9 at the tumor. The presence of a single and low SUV max tumor allowed us to perform laparoscopic surgery. Partial resection of the tumor with an adequate margin was performed. The pathological findings showed c-kit positivity and a low Ki-67 proliferation index (<5%). In the present case, PET-CT and laparoscopic assessments were useful for accurately evaluating the surgical resectability of the mesenteric tumor after distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The low SUV max and laparoscopic findings led to complete surgical resection of a mesenteric tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time we applied the maximum entropy method (MEM) to spectral domain optical coherence tomography to enhance axial resolution (AR). The MEM estimates the power spectrum by fitting. For an onion with optimization of M = 70, the AR of 18.8 [micro]m by discrete Fourier transform (DFT) was improved three times compared with peak widths. The calculation time by the MEM with M = 70 was 20 times longer than that of DFT. However, further studies are needed for practical applications, because the validity of the MEM depends on the sample structures. OCIS codes: 170.4500, 140.4580.

We describe the fundamental characteristics of a synthesized light source (SLS) consisting of two low-coherence light sources to enhance the spatial resolution for optical coherence tomography (OCT). The axial resolution of OCT is given by half the coherence length of the light source. We fabricated a SLS with a coherence length of 2.3 [micro]m and a side-lobe intensity of 45% with an intensity ratio of LED1:LED2 = 1:0.5 by combining two light sources, LED1, with a central wavelength of 691 nm and a spectral bandwidth of 99 nm, and LED2, with a central wavelength of 882 nm and a spectral bandwidth of 76 nm. The coherence length of 2.3 [micro]m was 56% of the shorter coherence length in the two LEDs, which indicates that the axial resolution is 1.2 [micro]m. The lateral resolution was measured at less than 4.4 [micro]m by use of the phase-shift method and with a test pattern as a sample. The measured rough surfaces of a coin are illustrated and discussed. OCIS codes: 030.1640, 110.1650, 110.4500, 120.3890.

We demonstrate two-dimensional detection optical coherence tomography (OCT) using achromatic phase shifting with a rotating polarizer. This phase shifting, which experiences a light beam with a cyclic change in its polarization state, is, in principle, independent of wavelength. We simulated the wavelength dependence of an achromatic phase shifter using Jones calculus and found that the achromatic region exceeded 145 nm when the deviation of the phase retardation was less than [+ or -] 0.5[degrees]. Using the achromatic phase shifter and a conventional phase-shift calculation method, we obtained en face OCT images of an onion at different depths. This method is effective to enhance the quality of OCT with an ultrabroad-spectrum light source. OCIS codes: 110.4500, 120.3180, 170.6900.