Kyoto University, or Kyodai is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, one of the highest ranked universities in Asia and one of Japan's National Seven Universities.
The motion of falling leaves or small particles diffusing in a fluid is highly stochastic in nature. Therefore, such motions must be modeled as stochastic processes, for which exact predictions are no longer possible. This is in stark contrast to the deterministic motion of planets and stars, which can be perfectly predicted using celestial mechanics.This course is an introduction to stochastic processes through numerical simulations, with a focus on the proper data analysis needed to interpret the results. We will use the Jupyter (iPython) notebook as our programming environment. It is freely available for Windows, Mac, and Linux through the Anaconda Python Distribution.The students will first learn the basic theories of stochastic processes. Then, they will use these theories to develop their own python codes to perform numerical simulations of small particles diffusing in a fluid. Finally, they will analyze the simulation data according to the theories presented at the beginning of course.At the end of the course, we will analyze the dynamical data of more complicated systems, such as financial markets or meteorological data, using the basic theory of stochastic processes.
この講義では、2012年にノーベル生理学・医学賞を受賞した山中伸弥教授が開発した「iPS細胞（人工多能性幹細胞）」について、基礎知識から医療応用への課題まで概説します。講師は、山中教授が所長を務める京都大学iPS細胞研究所 国際広報室のサイエンスコミュニケーター。研究の最前線から、わかりやすくお伝えします。講義の終了後、ニュースや新聞でiPS細胞に関する情報を目にした時に、ご自身の知識の深まりを実感いただけると思います。この講座を通して、多くの方と新しい医療への道のりを共有できればと考えています。「第1週：iPS細胞とは」では、iPS細胞発見に至るまでの研究の流れや安全性の向上など、iPS細胞そのものについての知識を深めます。「第2週：再生医療への応用」では、iPS細胞の医療応用の大きな柱である再生医療について学びます。具体的には、「パーキンソン病」や「がん」の治療に向けた研究などに加え、将来多くの方に再生医療による治療を提供するための「iPS細胞ストック」についてもご紹介します。「第3週：創薬への応用」では、患者さんの細胞から作製したiPS細胞がなぜ難病の原因解明に使えるのか、どのように創薬に貢献しつつあるかに加え、将来的な個別化医療の可能性についてご説明します。「第4週：iPS細胞研究を支える仕組み」では、実用化の基盤となる知的財産（特許）の確保や、倫理的な課題、寄付等による研究資金の確保、一般の方々とのコミュニケーション等のテーマについて扱います。この週は特に「自分ならどう考えるか」という視点で学んでいただき、これまで得た知識とあわせて、iPS細胞研究についての総合的な理解を目指します。
この講義は、生活者の視点で、社会や生活における「デザインへのまなざし」を深めていくことを目的としています。◯◯デザイナーといった職能で分けられたデザインではなく、生活者にとってのデザインとはどのようにあるべきかを考えていくものです。デザインは生活の中に埋め込まれた意味であり技術や知恵です。デザインは身のまわりの環境を作り替える術、いかに良く生きるかを探る術とも捉えることができるでしょう。問題を発見、課題として精査し、最終的に目に見えるかたちや行為に、意味を与えて整えることがデザインであると私は考えています。それはプロのデザイナーだけの専有物ではなく、すべての人が持ち得る能力です。前半では、今日の主流となっているデザイン論として「ユーザー中心主義」と「デザイン主導主義」の2つを取り上げて学びます。後半では、領域を横断して活動する実践者の事例から、芸術やデザインによって生活環境を見直す知恵を考察していきます。デザインへの先入観を捨てて、講義に参加し、多くのことに疑問を持ち、ボーダレスなデザインの世界を発見してください。みなさんの中にデザインのまなざしを培っていただき、日々の生活を真に豊かなものへと変えていただけたらと願っております。※この講座は、インターネットだけで学ぶことができる、京都造形芸術大学 通信教育部「芸術教養学科」における授業「芸術教養講義1 デザインへのまなざし」を一部アレンジする形で提供しています。http://www.kyoto-art.ac.jp/t/course/tenohira/
Life on our planet is diverse. While we can easily recognize this in our everyday surroundings, an even more diverse world of life can be seen when we look under a microscope. This is the world of microorganisms. Microorganisms are everywhere, and although some are notorious for their roles in human disease, many play important roles in sustaining our global environment. Among the wide variety of microorganisms, here we will explore those that thrive in the most extreme environments, the extremophiles.In this course, we will discover how diverse life is on our planet and consider the basic principles that govern evolution. We will also learn how we can classify organisms. Following this, we will have a look at several examples of extreme environments, and introduce the microorganisms that thrive under these harsh conditions. We will lay emphasis on the thermophiles, extremophiles that grow at high temperatures and will study how proteins from thermophiles can maintain their structure and function at high temperatures.
Is it okay to take pills to help you ace exams? Should you be able to choose the sex of your child? Is abortion murder? These controversial questions will be explored through Manga in this bioethics course. Bioethics is an interdisciplinary field of study that looks into ethical, legal, and social implications of life sciences and health care.This course will help you understand key ethical issues surrounding crucial problems that profoundly impact your life from birth to death.This course will help you understand key ethical issues surrounding crucial problems that profoundly impact your life from birth to death.Topics include:Reproductive technology such as surrogacy and sex-selection of the babyInformed consentAbortionThe use of medical technology for the purpose of enhancementEuthanasiaLiving Donor Organ TransplantationCloning TechnologyES Cells and iPS CellsLifespan and Eternal LifeBrain Death and Organ TransplantsYou will also learn about ethical arguments and regulations in Japan and other countries concerning life sciences and healthcare. Our hope is, through this course, you will better understand and formulate your own opinions on these important issues.DISCLAIMER : The intention of this course is to present different arguments and perspectives on a number of different topics on bioethics. In other words, this course DOES NOT aim to instill in its audience any particular perspective, religious or otherwise, on each topic.No previous knowledge of bioethics is needed.
This data course is a primer to statistical genetics and covers an approach called linkage disequilibrium mapping, which analyzes non-familial data and has been successfully used to identify genetic variants associated with common and complex genetic traits.We hope many students find this introductory course interesting and are motivated to study further topics in statistical genetics to understand biological variation from statistical standpoints.Previous knowledge of molecular genetics and basic statistical concepts, such as statistical tests and estimation, is required. Basic knowledge on genetic variations is offered at the start of the course.
Chemistry and biology are traditionally taught as separate subjects at the high school level, where students memorize fundamental scientific principles that are universally accepted. However, at the university level and in industry, we learn that science is not as simple as we once thought. We are constantly confronted by questions about the unknown and required to use creative, integrated approaches to solve these problems. By bringing together knowledge from multidisciplinary fields, we are empowered with the ability to generate new ideas. The goal of this course is to develop skills for generating new ideas at the interface between chemistry and biology by analyzing pioneering studies.When should I register?Registration will be open throughout the course.
Chemistry, often referred to as the central science, concerns matter and the transformations it can undergo. While many aspects of chemistry can be applied to solving various problems relevant to our society, chemistry also offers a convenient framework to understand the complexity of the natural world surrounding us. The goal of this course is to apply chemical principles to understand the natural (non-living) world around us and appreciate its complexity. The chemical principles usually covered in general chemistry, undergraduate inorganic chemistry, and physical chemistry enable us to examine many aspects of the Earth. We will look at the formation of the elements, and describe the reason for the different abundances, and what this means for the Earth’s composition. We will also look at how isotopes can be used as chemical tracers and “clocks”, leading us to insight on the various processes of the Earth, and even our own bodies. Finally, we will see how geochemistry can help us understand, or even combat the many environmental and technological problems that we face.
Is it permissible to create human clones? Would you really want to live forever? Is brain death the death of a human being?These controversial questions will be explored through stories in Manga in this bioethics course. Bioethics is an interdisciplinary field of study that looks into ethical, legal, and social implications of life sciences and health care.This course will help you understand key ethical issues surrounding crucial problems that literally impact your life from birth to death.Topics include:Living Donor Organ TransplantationCloning TechnologyES Cells and iPS CellsLifespan and Eternal LifeBrain Death and Organ TransplantsYou will also learn about ethical arguments and regulations in Japan and other countries concerning life sciences and healthcare through Lectures and the Discussion forum. Our hope is, through this course, you will better understand and formulate your own opinions on these important issues.DISCLAIMER: The intention of this course is to present different arguments and perspectives on a number of different topics on bioethics. In other words this course DOES NOT aim to instill in its audience any particular perspective, religious or otherwise, on each topic.This course is Part 2 of a two-part series, but can be taken as a stand-alone course. You do not need to have completed Part 1. No previous knowledge of bioethics is needed.
Why do many of us who eat pigs condemn those who eat dogs? Is there any difference between lab mice and companion hamsters that justify the use of the former for drug tests? Our attitude toward animals is full of seeming inconsistencies and unexplained conventions. Animal ethics is the field that tries to make sense of human-animal relationships using insights from philosophical ethics, and this course is an introduction to the field. This course has several distinctive characteristics from other animal ethics education materials. First, this course uses situations of animals in Japan as illustrative cases, which makes this course as a means to learn something about Japanese culture. Second, it also uses Manga to think about actual situations. By listeningto the lectures and thinking through the issues presented, you will acquire the ability to think more clearly and systematically about human-animal relationships. Topics include: Training of companion animalsNeutering of companion animalsAnimal experimentation for cosmeticsEating farm animalsEnvironmental enrichment in zoos
Services are everywhere in our society. We cannot live without them. More than 70% of advanced economies fall under the category of the service sector. Other sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing, also seek to incorporate service business. What is service? While the existing discourse on services emphasizes customer satisfaction, hospitality, and clear design, this courseoffers a radically new perspective on services. The coursework will explore major underlying theories of service, including customer satisfaction and service quality. In addition, learners will be exposed to competitive analyses, and explore the contradictory relationships inherent in services from an intersubjective perspective. In this business and management course, you will learn how to analyze customer interactions, using video data taken in actual service organizations. Through discussions of a variety of services such as sushi bars, restaurants, hotels,and apparel, you will explore the complex nuances and begin to see services differently.
Through the process of evolution, animals have developed their biological features and their cultures based on their surrounding environments. How we live our lives today is a direct result of features developed from our primate ancestors as they adapted to new environments.In primatology, it is essential to think about how cultural development and biological natures are inseparable.This course will help you rediscover the process of evolution and will introduce primatological studies conducted by researchers at Kyoto University, Japan. Based on carefully conducted research on primate species, we will explore the origins of human beings and provide you with examples of common similarities between human beings and non-human primates.We will analyze basic features, such as foraging, mating, aggression, and communication from the primatological viewpoint. Furthermore, cultural and social aspects of human society, from the formation of family groups to community activities, will be considered thoroughly, in comparison to those of monkeys and apes.Our goal is to broaden your view of humans to a wider extent and think dynamically about your biology in terms of human evolution. Through acquiring knowledge of basic primatology in this course, you will establish a viewpoint to think and discuss the evolutionary process of human, and human society, in conjunction with those of our close relatives.
Customer service is a complex phenomenon where people engage in an extended interaction to co-create value. This course focuses on social and cultural aspects of services.In this business and management course, you will learn how to analyze customer interactions, using video data taken in actual services. Through discussions of a variety of services such as sushi bars, restaurants, hotels and apparel, you will explore the nuanced and paradoxical nature of customer relations and discuss how to design services from cultural perspective.This MOOC is sponsored by the Society for Serviceology.