Creating a positive perception toward inclusive education with future-oriented thinking

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the ways that encouraged people to develop positive attitudes and perceptions toward inclusive education. The Japanese special needs education system for students with disabilities has been shifting from a segregated model to a more inclusive form which is the major challenge facing educational systems around the world. While support for inclusive practices has grown rapidly in Japan, their implementation requires more attention. Considering these situations, in the current study, we experimentally manipulated future-oriented thinking and examined whether positive perceptions about inclusive education was enhanced if people acknowledged and realized that an inclusive society may improve the long-term welfare of not only people with disabilities but also people without disabilities or functional limitations. Results Our results partially confirmed that future-oriented thinking encouraged positive perceptions of inclusive education. It increased only when participants thought about the future employment of people with/without disabilities. No significant effects were found for the present orientation or control conditions.

Does a third intermediate model for the vomeronasal processing of information exist? Insights from the macropodid neuroanatomy

The study of the α-subunit of Gi2 and Go proteins in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) was crucial for the identification of the two main families of vomeronasal receptors, V1R and V2R. Both families are expressed in the rodent and lagomorph AOBs, according to a segregated model characterized by topographical anteroposterior zonation. Many mammal species have suffered from the deterioration of the Gαo pathway and are categorized as belonging to the uniform model. This scenario has been complicated by characterization of the AOB in the tammar wallaby, Notamacropus eugenii, which appears to follow a third model of vomeronasal organization featuring exclusive Gαo protein expression, referred to as the intermediate model, which has not yet been replicated in any other species. Our morphofunctional study of the vomeronasal system (VNS) in Bennett’s wallaby, Notamacropus rufogriseus, provides further information regarding this third model of vomeronasal transduction. A comprehensive histological, lectin, and immunohistochemical study of the Bennett’s wallaby VNS was performed. Anti-Gαo and anti-Gαi2 antibodies were particularly useful because they labeled the transduction cascade of V2R and V1R receptors, respectively. Both G proteins showed canonical immunohistochemical labeling in the vomeronasal organ and the AOB, consistent with the anterior–posterior zonation of the segregated model. The lectin Ulex europaeus agglutinin selectively labeled the anterior AOB, providing additional evidence for the segregation of vomeronasal information in the wallaby. Overall, the VNS of the Bennett’s wallaby shows a degree of differentiation and histochemical and neurochemical diversity comparable to species with greater VNS development. The existence of the third intermediate type in vomeronasal information processing reported in Notamacropus eugenii is not supported by our lectin-histochemical and immunohistochemical findings in Notamacropus rufogriseus.

Does a Third Model for the Vomeronasal Processing of Information Exist? Insights from the Macropodid Neuroanatomy

The study of the α-subunit of Gi2 and Go proteins in the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) was crucial for the identification of the two main families of vomeronasal receptors, V1R and V2R. Both families are expressed in the rodent and lagomorph AOBs, according to a segregated model characterized by topographical anteroposterior zonation. Many mammal species have suffered from the deterioration of the Gαo pathway and are categorized as belonging to the uniform model. This scenario has been complicated by characterization of the AOB in the tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii, which appears to follow a third model of vomeronasal organization featuring exclusive Gαo protein expression, referred to as the intermediate model, which has not yet been replicated in any other species. Our morphofunctional study of the vomeronasal system (VNS) in Bennett’s wallaby, Macropus rufogriseus, provides further information regarding this third model of vomeronasal transduction.A comprehensive histological, lectin, and immunohistochemical study of the Bennett’s wallaby VNS was performed. Anti-Gαo and anti-Gαi2 antibodies were particularly useful because they labeled the transduction cascade of V2R and V1R receptors, respectively. Both G proteins showed canonical immunohistochemical labeling in the vomeronasal organ and the AOB, consistent with the anterior-posterior zonation of the segregated model. The lectin Ulex europaeus agglutinin selectively labeled the anterior AOB, providing additional evidence for the segregation of vomeronasal information in the wallaby.Overall, the VNS of the Bennett’s wallaby shows a degree of differentiation and histochemical and neurochemical diversity comparable to species with greater VNS development, which does not support the existence of a third “intermediate” type of vomeronasal information processing.

“Track’s Coed, I Never Thought of It as Separate”: Challenging, Reproducing, and Negotiating Gender Stereotypes in Track and Field

In contrast to the sex-segregated model that dominates sport and contributes to its tradition of hegemonic masculinity, collegiate track and field typically follows a sex-integrated structure whereby men and women train, travel, and compete together. In this article, the authors examined how six collegiate male track-and-field athletes who are part of a sex-integrated team navigate gendered norms and hierarchies with a particular focus on their understandings of gender(ed) performance and abilities. Grounded in a feminist poststructuralist framework, the authors’ analysis found that although the participants were accepting of a sex-integrated training environment and challenged some gender stereotypes and instances of sexism, they simultaneously reified these same gender stereotypes by characterizing women athletes as “emotional” or “less competitive” and advocated individual solutions to institutional sexism.

Modeling of Fermentation Process of Bacillus Thuringiensis as a Sporulating Bacterium

This paper intended to develop a model for predicting the progress in sporulation of Bacillus thuringiensis as an industrially important sporulating bacterium. Three distinct forms of B. thuringiensis can be observed during the fermentation process: vegetative cells, sporangia and mature spores. A mathematical model was developed for estimating the population of these three cell forms of this bacterium. A cell population balance was derived to represent the dynamic behavior of the fermentation process in a fed-batch culture. An unstructured and segregated model was used for this purpose. Experimental data at various oxygen saturation levels (0, 50 and 100 %) were used for validating the model. The model consists of a partial differential equation that describes the distribution of the cell population based on the cell age. This equation was solved by the method of lines in MATLAB. The proposed model can properly describe the cell populations and sporulation development in the mentioned conditions.

Similar Trends, Different Agendas: Religious Instruction in Public Schools in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore

This article argues that national and global events that led to the recent revival of religious education has not altered the nature of the existing arrangement of religious instruction in public schools in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Competitive internationalization arena, however, has converged the function of religious education in these countries. It examines how religious instruction in public schools in these ASEAN countries has been transformed in accordance to the emerging demand for global competitiveness. In Indonesia, although the political and economic reform has unsettled the existing structure of the relationship between state and people, the segregated model of religious education classes following religious lines remains in effect. Similarly, in Malaysia, education reform that has been carried out since the early 1990s has not transformed the initial arrangement of religious education. It is still delivered in a way that serves the historical privilege of the Malay ethnic group. Finally, in Singapore, although religious education once gained public popularity, it was only for a short time. The peculiar national agendas of development in each country is argued to be the main determinant of the existing religious education arrangement. Therefore, forces of internationalization arena can only influence the existing state of religious education in a way that serves this national peculiarity.

Segregated Model of Adherent Cell Culture in a Fixed-Bed Bioreactor

In this work, a mathematical model of a fixed-bed bioreactor for the animal cell culture is developed to study the optimization and the scale-up of this bioreactor. Several cell populations are considered: the cells in suspension in the medium at the beginning of the process and the adhering cells to the fixed-bed. The model includes a capture rate kinetic of the cells in suspension by the fixed-bed and a spatial distribution of the nutrient and by-product concentrations in the fixed-bed. Therefore, the model reports the potential gradients of the cell concentrations in the fixed-bed. Some model parameters are experimentally identified and the model is validated using experimental data obtained with two pilot bioreactors. The model is used as a simulation tool to study the influence of the bioreactor design or the velocity field of the culture medium on the cell concentration gradients in the fixed-bed bioreactor and to optimize the operating conditions, the design, and the scale-up of this bioreactor.