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The rare decay K_{L}→π^{0}νν[over ¯] was studied with the dataset taken at the J-PARC KOTO experiment in 2016, 2017, and 2018. With a single event sensitivity of (7.20±0.05_{stat}±0.66_{syst})×10^{-10}, three candidate events were observed in the signal region. After unveiling them, contaminations from K^{±} and scattered K_{L} decays were studied, and the total number of background events was estimated to be 1.22±0.26. We conclude that the number of observed events is statistically consistent with the background expectation. For this dataset, we set an upper limit of 4.9×10^{-9} on the branching fraction of K_{L}→π^{0}νν[over ¯] at the 90% confidence level.

Norio Yasui-Furukori,1,2 Yasushi Kawamata,1,3 Taro Sasaki,1,4 Saaya Yokoyama,1,5 Hiroaki Okayasu,1,6 Masataka Shinozaki,1,7 Yoshitaka Takeuchi,1,8 Aoi Sato,1,9 Takaaki Ishikawa,1,10 Hazuki Komahashi-Sasaki,1,11 Kensuke Miyazaki,12 Takashi Fukasawa,13 Hanako Furukori,14 Norio Sugawara,1,2 Kazutaka Shimoda1 1Department of Psychiatry, Dokkyo Medical University, School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan; 2Department of Psychiatry, TMC Shimotsuga, Tochigi, Japan; 3Department of Psychiatry, Kikuchi Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 4Department of Psychiatry, Asahi Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 5Department of Psychiatry, Aoki Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 6Department of Psychiatry, Fudogaoka Hospital, Saitama, Japan; 7Department of Psychiatry, Takizawa Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 8Department of Psychiatry, Okamotodai Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 9Department of Psychiatry, Muroi Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 10Department of Psychiatry, Saitama-Konan Hospital, Saitama, Japan; 11Department of Psychiatry, Kanuma Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 12Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hirosaki-Aiseikai Hospital, Aomori, Japan; 13Department of Psychiatry, Seinan Hospital, Aomori, Japan; 14Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kuroichi-Akebono Hospital, Aomori, JapanCorrespondence: Norio Yasui-Furukori, Department of Psychiatry, Dokkyo Medical University, School of Medicine, Mibu, Shimotsuga, Tochigi, 321-0293, Japan, Tel +81-282-86-1111, Fax +81-282-86-5187, Email furukori@dokkyomed.ac.jpBackground: Recent pharmacoepidemiology data show an increase in the proportion of patients receiving second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) monotherapy, but no studies have analyzed the same patients over a long period of time. Therefore, in this study, we retrospectively evaluated schizophrenia patients with available data for 20 years to determine whether the drug treatments in the same patients have changed in the past 20 years.Methods: The study began in April 2021 and was conducted in 15 psychiatric hospitals in Japan. Schizophrenia patients treated in the same hospital for 20 years were retrospectively examined for all prescriptions in 2016, 2011, 2006, and 2001 (ie, every 5 years).Results: The mean age of the 716 patients surveyed in 2021 was 61.7 years, with 49.0% being female. The rate of antipsychotic monotherapy use showed a slight increasing trend over the past 20 years; the rate of SGA use showed a marked increasing trend from 28.9% to 70.3% over the past 20 years, while the rate of SGA monotherapy use showed a gradual increasing trend over the past 20 years. The rates of concomitant use of anticholinergics, antidepressants, anxiolytics/sleep medications, and mood stabilizers showed decreasing, flat, flat, and flat trends over the past 20 years, respectively.Conclusion: The results of this study showed a slow but steady substitution of SGAs for first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) over time, even in the same patients.Keywords: pharmacoepidemiology, prescription, antipsychotics, trends, schizophrenia

We simulate the nonadiabatic dynamics of photo-induced isomerization and dissociation in ethylene using ab initio classical trajectories in an extended phase space of nuclear and electronic variables. This is achieved by employing the linearized semiclassical initial value representation method for nonadiabatic dynamics, where discrete electronic states are mapped to continuous classical variables using either the Meyer–Miller–Stock–Thoss representation or a more recently introduced spin mapping approach. Trajectory initial conditions are sampled by constraining electronic state variables to a single initial excited state and by drawing nuclear phase space configurations from a Wigner distribution at a finite temperature. An ensemble of classical ab initio trajectories is then generated to compute thermal population correlation functions and analyze the mechanisms of isomerization and dissociation. Our results serve as a demonstration that this parameter-free semiclassical approach is computationally efficient and accurate, identifying mechanistic pathways in agreement with previous theoretical studies and also uncovering dissociation pathways observed experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Norio Sugawara,1– 3 Norio Yasui-Furukori,1,3 Sonoko Yamada,3 Mei Aoki,3 Yoshitaka Takeuchi,1,4 Kensuke Miyazaki,5 Kazutaka Shimoda1 1Department of Psychiatry, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Tochigi, Japan; 2Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Translational Medical Center, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hirosaki University, School of Medicine, Aomori, Japan; 4Shiseikai, Takizawa Hospital, Tochigi, Japan; 5Department of Neuropsychiatry, Hirosaki-Aiseikai Hospital, Aomori, JapanCorrespondence: Norio Sugawara, Department of Psychiatry, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, 880 Kitakobayashi, Mibu, Tochigi, 321-0293, Japan, Tel +81-28-287-2153, Fax +81-28-286-5187, Email nsuga3@dokkyomed.ac.jpBackground: Decision-making capacity for patients with psychiatric disorders is an important and controversial issue in clinical care settings. The aim of this study was to (1) evaluate the level of decision-making capacity of older institutionalized patients suffering from schizophrenia and (2) determine whether their diminished capacity is associated with specific aspects of cognitive impairment.Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, we recruited 48 older institutionalized patients (mean age ± standard deviation: 60.0 ± 14.0 years) who were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Participants underwent the assessments by the MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool for Treatment (MacCAT-T) and the Japanese version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (Japanese-BACS).Results: The understanding summary scores of the MacCAT were found to have a significant positive correlation with the attention and verbal fluency subscale scores of the Japanese-BACS and negative correlations with age and duration of illness. In addition, the appreciation and reasoning summary scores had a significant negative correlation with age. In a linear regression model with a stepwise selection procedure, age, sex, and verbal fluency subscale scores were associated with understanding summary scores.Conclusion: The generally poor cognitive performance of inpatients with chronic schizophrenia indicated that the informed consent process for their treatment might pressure these patients on the basis of cognitive demands. It is necessary for psychiatrists to assess individual decision-making capacity and to increase their patients’ involvement in the treatment process.Keywords: cognitive function, competence to consent, decision-making capacity, schizophrenia

Kei Miyazaki,1 Tomohiro Taguchi,2 Yousuke Takemura3 1Department of Community Medicine NABARI, Mie University School of Medicine, Tsu City, Mie, Japan; 2Community Medicine, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake City, Aichi, Japan; 3Department of General Medicine, Northern TAMA Medical Center (Tokyo Metropolitan Health and Hospitals Corporation), Higashimurayama City, Tokyo, JapanCorrespondence: Kei Miyazaki, Department of Community Medicine NABARI, Mie University School of Medicine, 2-174 Edobashi, Tsu City, Mie Prefecture, 514-8507, Japan, Tel +81 59 231 5290, Fax +81 59 231 5289, Email KeiMiyazaki.MD@gmail.comPurpose: Research suggests that daily previsit team huddling leads to improved teamwork, however there are no reports on the effect and mechanism of daily team reflection in primary care practice. To help healthcare professionals to integrate fragmented information and to enhance continuity, we previously developed and implemented a daily multidisciplinary team reflection (DMDTR) approach. The present study aimed to construct a conceptual diagram illustrating how participation in DMDTR influence medical care in an ambulatory clinic.Participants and Methods: In this qualitative study, we analyzed data from semi-structured interviews (n = 12) conducted with physicians, nurses, and medical assistants who regularly participated in DMDTR. Modified grounded theory approach (M-GTA) was adopted as the analysis method, and structure-construction qualitative research method (SCQRM) was used as a meta-theory to determine the number of cases correlatively with the research objectives.Results: Our conceptual diagram demonstrated that, through DMDTR, team members shared fragmented information to gain a more holistic view of the patient and discuss diverse points of view, a process that resulted in real-time problem solving through collaboration. This team approach showed benefit to each discipline and improves the care attributes of contextuality, coordination, accessibility, accountability, continuity, and comprehensiveness of care.Conclusion: We generated a conceptual diagram showing that DMDTR embodies a team approach that leads to improved care attributes, which results in enhanced quality of primary care.Keywords: interdisciplinary communication, patient care team, patient centered care, qualitative research

© 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All Rights Reserved. Ground and satellite observations show that air pollution regulations in the United States (US) have resulted in substantial reductions in emissions and corresponding improvements in air quality over the last several decades. However, large uncertainties remain in evaluating how recent regulations affect different emission sectors and pollutant trends. Here we show a significant slowdown in decreasing US emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) for 2011–2015 using satellite and surface measurements. This observed slowdown in emission reductions is significantly different from the trend expected using US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bottom-up inventories and impedes compliance with local and federal agency air-quality goals. We find that the difference between observations and EPA’s NOxemission estimates could be explained by: (i) growing relative contributions of industrial, area, and off-road sources, (ii) decreasing relative contributions of on-road gasoline, and (iii) slower than expected decreases in on-road diesel emissions.

This paper discusses the playworlds of the Playworld of Creative Research (PWCR) research group. Play¬worlds are created from a relatively new form of play that can be described as a combination of adult forms of creative imagination (art, science, etc.), which require extensive real life experience, and children’s forms of creative imagination (play), which require the embodiment of ideas and emotions in the material world. In playworlds, adults and children (or teenagers or seniors) enter into a common fantasy that is designed to support the development of both adults and children (or teenagers or seniors). The PWCR understands play¬worlds and the study of playworlds as ways of being. In this paper we present unique, individual playworlds that we truly love from the perspective of researchers, artists, teachers, children, administrators, and imagi¬nary characters, who participate in playworlds. We use a master fiction writer’s words on the love of literature to frame our discussion of playworlds, focusing on truth, time, human magic, infinite possibilities, fun, and the enriching and intensifying (and so, creating) of the real in playworlds in Japan, Finland, Sweden and the US.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells suppress the development of inflammatory disease, but our knowledge of transcriptional regulators that control this function remains incomplete. Here we show that expression of Id2 and Id3 in Treg cells was required to suppress development of fatal inflammatory disease. We found that T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-driven signaling initially decreased the abundance of Id3, which led to the activation of a follicular regulatory T (TFR) cell-specific transcription signature. However, sustained lower abundance of Id2 and Id3 interfered with proper development of TFR cells. Depletion of Id2 and Id3 expression in Treg cells resulted in compromised maintenance and localization of the Treg cell population. Thus, Id2 and Id3 enforce TFR cell checkpoints and control the maintenance and homing of Treg cells. © 2014 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.

We have conducted a comprehensive observational study to determine the mixing ratios of atmospheric chemical species and total OH reactivity in central Tokyo, in order to diagnose the air quality during summer and winter 2007 and autumn 2009. Concentrations of over 70 reactive trace species were continuously measured throughout each season. The total OH reactivity was measured directly using a laser-induced pump and probe technique. The observed chemical species exhibited seasonal variations. There was a good correlation between NO and CO in winter, but not in summer. This indicates that during winter, vehicle exhaust provided a significant source of NO in central Tokyo, while photolysis of NO 2 was dominant in summer. Similar values (approximately 30s -1) for the averaged total OH reactivity were observed in both summer and autumn during the daytime. However, VOCs accounted for a larger percentage of the OH reactivity in summer, while NO x was more dominant in autumn. We find that photochemical processes leading to oxidant production via VOCs dominated OH removal in summer, while the production of nitric acid from the reaction between OH and NO 2 was dominant in autumn, by-passing the oxidant production pathways and resulting in reduced oxidant formation. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.

In addition, simulations have been very useful to locate and characterize gas-liquid (colloid-rich/colloid poor) phase separation of the Asakura-Oosawa effective potential,[108] clarifying that this belongs, as expected, to the Ising universality class. Investigations on binary mixtures of colloids and polymers[109] where non-ideality effects of the polymer are taken into account have also been explored. Colloid synthesis has evolved to such a degree[[119]] that it is nowadays possible to make colloidal particles of a wide range of shapes.[[121], [123], [125]] This, and the fact that anisotropic shapes occur in nature, has triggered studies on mixtures of non-spherical colloids plus added nonadsorbing polymers. 113, 2886 (2000).10.1063/1.1305867 31 A. N. Semenov and A. A. Shvets, "Theory of colloid depletion stabilization by unattached and adsorbed polymers", Soft Matter 11, 8863-8878 (2015).10.1039/c5sm01365h 32 H. N. W. Lekkerkerker, W. C.-K. Poon, P. N. Pusey, A. Stroobants, and P. B. Warren, "Phase-behavior of colloid plus polymer mixtures", Europhys. 96, 36006 (2011).10.1209/0295-5075/96/36006 82 N. Park and J. C. Conrad, "Phase behavior of colloid-polymer depletion mixtures with unary or binary depletants", Soft Matter 13, 2781-2792 (2017).10.1039/c6sm02891h 83 E. Stiakakis, G. Petekidis, D. Vlassopoulos, C. N. Likos, H. Iatrou, N. Hadjichristidis, and J. Roovers, "Depletion and cluster formation in soft colloid-polymer mixtures", Europhys. [Extracted from the article]

The marine basidiomycete Nia vibrissa has been regarded as a species complex, possibly including several species, because morphological variations in fruitbody, spore, and spore appendage have been observed in materials from worldwide collections. Using more than 50 monosporic isolates of N. vibrissa–like fungi mainly obtained from Japanese beach coasts, we investigated their molecular phylogeny, morphological characteristics, mating compatibility, nuclear behavior during spore formation, and life cycles. Molecular phylogenetic analyses separated the examined strains into seven clades. Each clade of fungi exhibited distinctive characteristics in fruitbodies and spores produced by culturing monokaryotic strains and mated dikaryotic strains; these characteristics included the color of fruitbodies, apical structure of peridial hair hyphae, spore shape, and apical structure of spore appendages. Mating tests of monokaryotic strains demonstrated mating compatibility between strains within a clade and incompatibility among clades. Therefore, each clade of fungi was phylogenetically, morphologically, and biologically recognized as a different Nia species. Observation of the type specimen of N. vibrissa revealed a tiny T-shaped apical structure of spore appendages—not mentioned in the original description—that is unique to the species. This finding, together with the original description, suggests that our studied strains include N. aff. vibrissa, whose morphology is mostly identical to N. vibrissa sensu stricto, and three new species. Thus, we describe three new Nia species and propose emendation of the descriptions of the genus Nia. Culture-based studies have demonstrated that Nia species have both sexual and asexual morphs that produce morphologically similar fruitbodies (basidiomata and conidiomata) and spores (basidiospores and conidia). Because it has both morphs forming appendaged waterborne basidiospores and conidia, Nia must be the most well-adapted marine basidiomycete, ensuring the continuation of new generations by two morphs, while distributing in and inhabiting numerous marine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]