| To apologize or Not to apologize We are going to talk about the difference on the concept of apology over the TV conference with high school students in Sacramento. Recently there were two figures making an apology; the pro golfer, Tiger Woods and the president of Japanese automaker Akio Toyoda. It seems to me that they both offered full responsibility and showed remorse over the incident. Woods confirmed that he has been in a treatment program and planned to be back on the road soon. He showed the plan while Toyota has not yet. Serving Recommendations "We suggest that you warm your pecan pie in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for about ten minutes. Alternatively, you may microwave your pie on high for about 30 seconds; however your crust will not be as firm. Before using the microwave, remove the pie from the foil pan. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream." This is a trial for translation into Japanese and is a rudimentary assignment; however, it can be tough to give a simple sentence a perfect translation like singing a children song flawlessly. This task may not be that tough if you cook yourself |
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Plankton |
Everyone knows that sea animals or fish are full of nutrition; vitamin C, calsium, protein, taurine, EPA, DHA. Even children might know eating them is good for health. How about sea plants or plankton? Do you know that more than half of all oxygen on earth is supplied by plankton? (Most of the rest comes from tropical forests.) Plankton gives off oxygen while making foods by combining energy from sunlight with mineral from the sea water. We often associate plankton with negative images, like the root of red tide or harmful algal blooms; in fact, however, it is plankton that ocean life utlimately depends on for food. According to WHOI (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), most of planktons are harmless while there are a few dozen that create potent toxins given the right conditions. Remember we live on fish that eat fish that eat plankton! |
| Trapping mosquitos I came across an article on the process by which insect vectors of diseases locate their hosts. A group of scientists are trying to find the way to control the transmission of malaria. How can it be possible? A few of the receptors are said to be specific, responding to compounds in human sweat, which plays a central role for specific transmission channels in human host-seeking behaviour. The scientists find it possible to control malaria by disrupting insect host detection or entrapping them into the trail of false odors. Isn't it cool to fool insects? (Cited from Nature) |
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Mass Extinction of Tiny Phytoplankton 65 million years ago |
Almost all the creatures on earth were wiped out by a meteor impact, annihilating even tiny phytoplankton with the clouds of debris, which blocked the sunlight that tiny phytoplankton needed to grow and poisoned them as the metal-laden dust fell to the ocean surface. More interestingly, according to a survey, extinction rates were higher in the Northern Hemisphere oceans, and diversity remained low for 310,000 years, while Southern Hemisphere oceans showed lower extinction rates and a nearly immediate recovery of norman nannoplankton populations. I just wonder what caused these difference between the North and the South. A person like me - science-challenged - can just speculate that the place of the collision greatly affected it.(Cited from Nature) |
The Most Important Tool in life |
What can be the most important tool you've ever encountered to help you make the big choices in life? For Steve Jobs it was "remembering that I"ll be dead soon." He went on to say, "All external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. It is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." It's not a matter of life or death in my case, but I've come to think of the rest of my life. I should make the most of the time left to me. We shouldn't waste our time living someone else's life for later or sooner we have to make a good end. I've been asking myself, as Steve Jobs did, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And the answer has been "Yes" and "No." If I had enough time ahead to spare, I might as well take both of them. We can't live double lives, i.e. we can live but once. |
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A new way to attach sugars to proteins is reported online this week in Nature Chemical Biology. As these particular sugar/protein combinations are key to controlling viral infections and are involved in numerous diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, this work has immediate practical applications in biopharma and glycoprotein research.(Cited from Nature) 試訳 糖をたんぱく質に結合させる新たな方法が、Nature Chemical Biologyのネット版今週号で報告されている。この独特の「糖・たんぱく質化合物」は、ウイルス性感染症を抑制するカギとなり、筋ジストロフィなど多くの病気にも関わっている。こういった効能は、生物薬剤や糖たんぱく質の研究にただちに実用化される。 |
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HIV causes a chronic infection characterized by the depletion of certain populations of immune cells and the development of opportunistic infections. Despite the availability of drugs that inhibit the spread of the virus, HIV infection has been difficult to cure because of uncharacterized reservoirs of infected cells that are resistant to therapy. Kathleen Collins and colleagues now show that hematopoietic progenitor cells can be infected by HIV, and the virus can persist in a dormant mode in these cells until specific differentiation factors awaken it from its latent state.(Cited from Nature) 試訳 HIVは、免疫細胞数減少や日和見感染進行を特徴とする慢性感染症を引き起こす。ウイルスの拡散を抑制するのに有効な薬はあるが、HIV感染症そのものの治療は難しい。というのも、特性化されていない感染細胞が蓄積されていて、それらは治療に耐性があるのだ。 キャサリーン・コリンズとその同僚は、造血前駆細胞がHIVに感染し、そのウイルスがこれらの細胞内では不活性状態で生き続け、ついには特定の分化要因によって、ウイルスが潜伏状態から活性化しうることを示している。 （雑誌Natureの記事を訳してみたが、下線部がしっくりこない。） |
| Lay Judge System ( part Ⅰ)  |
I stand for the new judge system, under which six lay judges try serious criminal cases with three professional judges to decide whether a defendant is guilty and hand down a sentence. It is a good chance to open the doors to the stale old courtrooms and we should let the fresh air in, that is, lay judges bring a fresh perspective and new ideas to the trial. Before this system was introduced, the trials had been conducted in a closed room with the result that prosecutors got convictions 99.9 percent of the time. In the trials transparency and justice count most and now we should open the courtroom up to citizen participation. Lay judge system offers us to play a vital role in seeing that justice is being served. As one of judges we help question defendants, decide verdicts, and mete out sentences in certain criminal proceedings. Lay Judge System ( part Ⅱ) I admit that there need be some modifications to this new system. For example, the death penalty should be decided not by majority vote but by unanimous one. As for strict confidentiality requirement, lay judges can be fined a maximum of 500,000 yen or imprisoned for up to six months if they disclose details of a case. These punishments are excessive and lay judges should be exempted from such penalties. Tips for Eiken 1st grade vocabulary ⇒ dislodge, corroborate, deprecate, capitulate, instigate, frivolity, ember, wean, debunk, blemish, abrasion, crevice Vocabulary is tough and takes time to learn. You should deduce the meaning of a word by deviation. If you haven't learn much about deviation, you should. As for idioms, it is perplexing. As for part 2, you could get through but as for part 3 you need perseverance to read it through. As for listening, part 4 requires much concentration of you. In order to attain high score after all, build up your vocabulary and improve your writing skill for essay. This is, I believe, a shortcut. Sherlock Holmes (☆☆☆☆) "Sherlock Holmes", starring Rober Downey Jr. and Jude Law, offered a totally different image of characters from what I've had for them. They sure are a new type of superheros. I appreciate the director Guy Ritchie's bold challenge of reimaging that makes the famed sleuth a daring man of action as well as a peerless man of intelligence. I hope Sherlock Holmes Ⅱ comes soon. 英訳に挑戦 （Nature 464より引用） 裁判での科学的証拠は現在、ごく普通に使われるものであるが、依然として論争の種となり続けている。昨年、イリノイ州の裁判所で、B Duganが強姦殺人の罪で死刑判決を受けた。彼は有罪を認めたが、刑の軽減を求めて弁護側が提出した意見によって、この事件は法の歴史に残るものとなった。神経科学者K Kiehlが、Duganがサイコパスであることを示唆する機能的磁気共鳴画像化法（fMRI）のデータを提出し、Duganに全面的に責任があるわけでないと論じたのである。これを発端に、fMRIによって脳の何が明らかになるのかについての論争が続いた。V Hughesは、法医学での神経画像化の重要性について、Kiehlだけでなく、その批判者たちにもインタビューしている。 First draft of my translation The scientific evidence is commonly used in the court now, but it has been at issue. B Dugan, sentenced to death penalty for murder and rape at Illinois State Court last year, admitted guilty but his lawyers proposed the claim for the reduction of punishment which made this case go down in history. Neuroscientist K Keihl revealed the data of functional Mmagnetic resonance imaging suggesting that Dugan is psychopath and decided that Dugan is not altogether responsible for the case. This triggered the debate on what could be revealed on a brain by fMRI. V Hughes interviewed the critics as well as Keihl on the importance of forensic neuroimaging. Original sentence Scientific evidence, now commonplace in court, is still a constant source of controversy. In an Illinois court last year Brian Dugan was sentenced to death for rape and murder. He pleaded guilty but the case made legal history for a defence submission offered in mitigation: neuroscientist Kent Kiehl presented functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data suggesting that Dugan was a psychopath and as such not wholly responsible for his actions. This despite continued debate as to what fMRI can tell us about any one brain. Virginia Hughes spoke to Kiehl — and his critics — about the value of forensic neuroimaging. 雑誌Natureのアジア版に掲載されている日本語記事を英訳してみた。赤字部分に示されているようなコンパクトでシンプルな英語が使えるようにしたい。また、最後の赤字部分は私訳では受動態としたが、やはりオリジナル英文のように能動態にすべきなのだろう。 |
Cambodia  |
What do you know about Cambodia? You may say,"It's one of ASEAN nations. It's famous for Angkor Wat and King Sihaouk." It's true, however, more important Cambodia has been designated the third most landmined country in the world, attributing over 60,000 civilian deaths and thousands more maimed or injured since 1970 to the unexploded land mines left behind in rural areas. Mr. Ryoji Takayama, a former defense official, has been devoting his life to removing land mines in Cambodia. His motto is "To help the people rebuild thier country for themselves without relying on foreign aid. He is engaged in reconstruction assistance digging wells and building schools to lifting inhabitants from poverty and the risk of landmines. We are so proud of Mr. Takayama not just he is from Ehime prefecture but he acting in a spirit of noblesse oblige. I am writing this journal as I've heard that one of the leading figures of Battaban county in Cambodia is coming to Matsuyama to promote the relationship with Ehime. |
Diplomatic Initiatives by Libya |
I was totally taken back to hear the latest news this morning. "Monaco's proposal to ban trade in Atlantic bluefin was rejected by a margin of 48 at CITES(the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)." 20 countries were in favor of the proposal while 68 opposed and 30 abstained. It seemed to be the great victory of Japanese lobbyists; however, it was not the case. It was Lybia, upset by the EU which asked developing countries not to export bluefin tuna while securing bluefin tuna fishing and trade among its member countries, that sought to close deliberations and soon vote on the proposals. China also exerted a considerable influence on some 30 African nations, fearing other species than bluefin tuna might be involved in a potential target of CITES, which made sense to me. Tha's the whole story about the ado. |
Vocabulary for the next Win Lesson Students of Win Language Services could access the list of vocabulary, which would help you prepare for the next lesson. "Well prepared, well performed." I've been editting some reference source for analyzing Eiken 1st grade. This is a part of the paper which you'll find of great service and feel as if you were taking a private lesson- all that you need to pass the exam are available. |