University of Niigata Prefecture

It is often assumed that the most frequent English words are known by post-beginner second language learners. Yet the sheer frequency of these words and the important roles they play in discourse mean that confirmation of whether they are indeed known would be valuable for understanding second language vocabulary development and reading comprehension. This article reports on a study in which university learners with Japanese as their first language (L1) ( N = 200) were tested on their written receptive knowledge of 63 senses/functions of the first 44 words in the New JACET8000 word list. The study found that for 13 senses/functions item facility was < 0.9. That is, some gaps in receptive knowledge were uncovered which qualitative item analysis suggested may stem from relative frequency of exposure, instructional experiences, knowledge of one sense/function blocking the acquisition of another, as well as abstractness and lack of a direct L1 equivalent. Nevertheless, overall receptive knowledge of the tested senses/functions of these ultra-frequent words was extremely good. Hence, although miscomprehension may arise from occasional gaps in knowledge of these words, the assumption that ultra-frequent words are receptively known by post-beginner second language (L2) learners does seem reasonable.

The structure of foam sound absorbers is not strictly regular, and it is difficult to create a geometric model. In this study, a method for estimating the sound absorption properties of foam sound absorbers with the membrane removed was proposed based on computed tomography (CT) scan images: the circumference of the structure and the cross-sectional area of the voids in the foam cross-section were determined from CT scans of foam materials. The propagation constant and characteristic impedance at the voids were obtained by approximating the foam material cross-section as the clearance between two planes, and the transfer matrix method was used to calculate the normal incident sound absorption coefficient. Further, the sound absorption coefficient was theoretically derived using the effective density with the measured tortuosity applied and compared with the experimental value using a two-microphone impedance measuring tube. By extracting the skeletal part of foam materials by using image processing and removing the residual noise in CT images, and then varying the correction factor for the skeleton surface area, the theoretical value of the sound-absorbing foam without a membrane was closer to the measured value.

Background: In 2023, collaboration between cardiologists and oncologists was recommended as part of Japan’s Basic Plan to Promote Disease Control Programs for both cancer and cardiovascular diseases. This study explores the extent of this collaboration in Niigata Prefecture. Methods and Results: Self-administered questionnaires about immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated myocarditis (ICIAM) and anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy (ARCM) were distributed to all cardiologists and leading oncologists in hospitals across the Prefecture, of whom 124 cardiologists and 41 oncologists across 29 hospitals responded. Clinical experience with ICIAM was reported by 31.8% of cardiologists and 24.4% of leading oncologists, significantly lower than experience with ARCM (80.0% of cardiologists, P<0.001, and 58.5% of leading oncologists, P=0.009, respectively). Senior cardiologists reported less experience with ICIAM compared with their young counterparts (18.6% vs. 38.5%, P=0.018). Of the 20 hospitals providing immunotherapy, 12 (60%) reported “no consultation” between the cardiology and oncology departments, and only 5 hospitals (25%) had matching answers for consultation after ICIAM onset between these departments. Conversely, only 4 hospitals (20%) answered “no consultation”, and 12 hospitals (60%) had matching answers, for interdepartmental consultation before or after ARCM onset. Conclusions: Compared with ARCM, cardiologists and oncologists had less experience, fewer organized measures in place, and increased interdepartmental collaboration vulnerability with ICIAM. Collaboration between cardiologists and oncologists should be promoted in hospitals.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the status of dietary variety among community-dwelling older adults and characteristics of individuals with low dietary variety, considering their attributes, food intake frequency, social participation, and health status. Methods: In 2022, self-administered questionnaires were conducted on apartment dwellers in aging communities and participants in preventive long-term care projects. Participants aged < 65 years and those with missing dietary variety score (DVS) items were excluded. Fisher's exact test and analysis of variance were conducted to examine the differences in food intake frequency, attributes, and health status among the DVS classifications (low, medium, and high) after confirming the differences in the distribution of DVS classifications among each target group. Results: In total, 193 apartment dwellers (65.6%) and 38 participants in preventive long-term care projects (73.1%) were eligible, of which  40% were in the low DVS group (0~3 points) and < 10% frequently ate meat, fish, seaweed, potatoes, and dishes containing oil. Compared to participants in preventive long-term care projects, the low DVS group had more apartment dwellers (18.4% vs. 44.6%) and tended to have no social support (p =0.064). Conclusion: Low DVS was associated with low food intake frequency and might be related to a lack of social participation and/or support.

This article compares two methods for detecting local item dependence (LID): residual correlation examination and Rasch testlet modeling (RTM), in a commonly used 3:6 matching format and an extended matching test (EMT) format. The two formats are hypothesized to facilitate different levels of item dependency due to differences in the number of options and instructions regarding option recycling. The findings indicate that (1) RTM allows deeper LID inspection compared to residual correlation examination in matching tests, and (2) the EMT format has good resistance to LID while the traditional 3:6 format does not.

The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of intradialytic parenteral nutrition (IDPN) using ENEFLUID® (310 kcal, 550 mL) in mild-moderate malnutrition patients receiving maintenance hemodialysis. A total of 40 adult patients with a Nutritional Risk Index-Japanese Hemodialysis (NRI-JH) score of 5–10 were enrolled in this multicenter, randomized, open-label study. Patients in the intervention group received IDPN using ENEFLUID® via the dialysis circuit 3 times a week for 12 weeks; those in the control group did not. The primary endpoint was change in serum transthyretin (TTR). The secondary endpoints were changes in nutritional laboratory tests, nutritional parameters, food intake, plasma amino acids, and blood glucose. For both groups, mean age (72.1±11.4 years) and BMI (20.3±3.0), and median NRI-JH score [7.0 (interquartile range, 6–8)], did not differ. One patient withdrew before intervention, leaving 20 intervention and 19 control patients. Mean (95% confidence interval) change in serum TTR (mg/dL) at 12 weeks did not differ between groups: Intervention, 1.0 (-1.1–3.2); Control, -0.3 (-2.4–1.9); Intragroup difference, 1.3 (-1.7–4.3); P = 0.41. The values reflecting protein intake at 12 weeks compared to those on the study initiation day increased in the intervention group [the changes of blood urea nitrogen, 9.4 (2.6–16.2) mg/dL; P = 0.007, and normalized protein catabolic rate, 0.10 (0.02–0.18) g/kg/day; P = 0.02]. Mean food protein intake (g/kg/day) at 12 weeks increased in the intervention group and decreased in the control group, and differed between groups: Intervention, 0.12 (-0.03–0.28); Control, -0.18 (-0.43–0.08); Inter-group difference, 0.30 (0.00–0.60); P = 0.050. No adverse events occurred. In patients with mild to moderate malnutrition receiving ENEFLUID® for 12 weeks as IDPN, serum TTR was not improved, decreases in protein intake was mitigated, no adverse events occurred. Trial registration Name of the registry: Japan Registry of Clinical Trials Registration number: jRCTs031220296.

Scrub typhus (tsutsugamushi disease) is an acute febrile illness caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, often found in Asia and Oceania. The presence of an eschar, characterized by a crust, is a key diagnostic finding. Many symptoms of this disease are already known, however reactive arthritis following scrub typhus is very rare. Here, we present a case of 79-year-old man who was referred to our hospital because of continuous fever and left shoulder pain. We found 4-fold rise in Orientia tsutugamushi-specific IgG titer using paired serum samples and Orientia sp. genes by real-time PCR from a crust of right thigh. And the left shoulder joint image was consistent with aseptic arthritis; thus we diagnosed as scrub typhus with reactive arthritis. This case highlights the importance of recognizing reactive arthritis as a symptom of scrub typhus. In this report, we also review published cases of reactive arthritis associated with scrub typhus, and we suppose that this arthritis related to this infection may recover after antibiotic use and have a good prognosis. Physicians' awareness of newly appeared arthritis may contribute to facilitate early diagnosis, and may improve the course of such patients.

Shuttling between language and content teaching This study investigated the experiences and histories of two teachers of both language and content classes to undergraduate students in Japanese universities, one a British anglophone speaker and the other a Japanese national. In Japan, with the spread of English-medium instruction (EMI) courses, issues of language use have stimulated much debate. As teachers of both English and applied linguistics, through a collaborative autoethnographic (CAE) approach, we explored issues of shuttling between Japanese and English, and of content acquired in both languages. Our findings revealed the nature of our translanguaging practices and related them to our epistemic beliefs and study histories abroad, noting the influence of those experiences and differing student attitudes towards our relative status as English speakers. Conclusions pointed to the benefits of the research methodology of CAE to co-construct our narratives and unpack how our personal backgrounds intersected with our current EMI pedagogies. International Journal of EAP

This chapter discusses the geographical distribution of 13 word items related to domesticated animals and crops in Asia and Africa with geolinguistic method: (1) rat/mouse, (2) chicken, (3) horse, (4) dog, (5) wolf, (6) bear, (7) rice plant, (8) wheat, (9) broomcorn millet, (10) foxtail millet, (11) barnyard millet, (12) taro, and (13) yam. Individual maps show representative word forms from each language family. Previous interpretations of their interrelationships are summarized, along with the authors’ opinions, if available. This study focuses on the relationships between the Japonic language family and its surrounding language families in East Asia. In conclusion, the absence of these crops and words in the outer areas clearly defined the Japonic-speaking people’s homeland.

Background Trastuzumab has improved breast cancer (BC) prognosis and reduced anthracycline use. However, the characteristic changes of anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy (ARCM) in patients with BC remain unclear. We aimed to update our understanding of ARCM in the trastuzumab era. METHODS This retrospective observational cohort study included 2959 patients with BC treated with anthracyclines at three regional cancer centers in Niigata City between 1990 and 2020. Seventy-five patients (2.5%) developed ARCM and were categorized into two groups: pre- 2007 (early phase) and post-2007 (late phase), corresponding to before and during the trastuzumab era in Japan. Results ARCM incidence peaked at 6% in the 1990s, then decreased and stabilized at 2% until the 2010s. Survivors of anthracycline-treated BC increased more rapidly in the late phase, with four times as many patients with ARCM compared to the end of the early phase (26 and six, respectively). Although the rate of change in accumulation from the early phase to the late phase was slight in the anthracycline-treated BC group, it was more pronounced in the ARCM group ( P < 0.001). Mean anthracycline use in the late phase was significantly lower than in the early phase (307 vs. 525 mg/m ² , P < 0.001). Five-year survival rates in the late phase tended to be higher than early phase (45% and 28%, respectively. P = 0.058). Human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) positivity with trastuzumab therapy in the late phase was an independent predictor for mortality within 10 years (hazard ratio = 0.24, 95% confidence interval: 0.10–0.56; P = 0.001). Conclusions HER2-positive patients with ARCM receiving trastuzumab therapy had a better prognosis than HER2-positive and HER2-negative patients with ARCM not receiving trastuzumab therapy, and this trend has been increasing in the trastuzumab era. These findings highlight the importance of HER2-targeted treatments in improving prognosis for BC patients with ARCM.

Word frequency has a long history of being considered the most important predictor of word difficulty and has served as a guideline for several aspects of second language vocabulary teaching, learning, and assessment. However, recent empirical research has challenged the supremacy of frequency as a predictor of word difficulty. Accordingly, applied linguists have questioned the use of frequency as the principal criterion in the development of wordlists and vocabulary tests. Despite being informative, previous studies on the topic have been limited in the way the researchers measured word difficulty and the statistical techniques they employed for exploratory data analysis. In the current study, meaning recall was used as a measure of word difficulty, and random forest was employed to examine the importance of various lexical sophistication metrics in predicting word difficulty. The results showed that frequency was not the most important predictor of word difficulty. Due to the limited scope, research findings are only generalizable to Vietnamese learners of English.

In this chapter, we applied the modified framework of the evolution as a financial MNE suggested by Ramamurti to the case of the largest Russian state-owned bank, Sberbank, which has actively pursued internationalisation since 2011. The results of our analysis demonstrate that Sberbank has benefited significantly from globalisation and Russia’s integration into the world economy to evolve from an inefficient state-owned bank established at the launch of Russia’s market transition to Russia’s leading state-owned multinational bank. We conclude that despite the fact that Sberbank possessed medium-to-high levels of bank-specific advantages in Eastern and Central Europe, it remained predominantly a regional financial multinational, as measured by the depth and breadth of its internationalisation, even at its peak. Thus, despite some limitations in the assessment methodology, Sberbank is a representative case of an adolescent financial multinational. Russia’s new reality of global isolation from Western financial markets is pushing its banks to find new markets in friendly jurisdictions such as China, India, and the United Arab Emirates. However, foreign entry into these markets is hindered by high entry costs, administrative and regulatory restrictions, and the increased risk of secondary sanctions on counterparties. Consequently, the future internationalisation strategies of Russian banks remain uncertain.

The objectives of this chapter are twofold. First, by calculating the outward foreign direct investment performance index and examining the forward and backward participation of selected emerging economies from Asia and Europe in global supply chains, we demonstrate that there have been significant structural changes in the international division of labour owing to the enhancing role of emerging market multinationals in the global economy. Second, by utilising Ramamurti’s framework of the stage of evolution as a multinational enterprise (MNE), we examine three case studies: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC, Taiwan), Lenovo (China), and Sberbank (Russia), and provide evidence that these companies have shifted from an infant to adolescent and mature stages in their evolution. Finally, based on the results of our empirical analysis, we demonstrate the limitations of Ramamurti’s framework and outline possible directions for its modification.

BACKGROUND Trastuzumab has improved breast cancer (BC) prognosis and reduced anthracycline use. However, the characteristic changes of anthracycline-related cardiomyopathy (ARCM) in patients with BC remain unclear. We sought to update our knowledge of ARCM in the trastuzumab era. METHODS This was a retrospective observational cohort study. A total of 2,959 patients with BC treated with anthracyclines in three regional cancer centers in Niigata City between 1990 and 2020 were included. Seventy-five patients (2.5%) developed ARCM and were categorized into two groups: pre- 2007 (early phase) and post- 2007 (late phase), corresponding to before and during the trastuzumab era in Japan. RESULTS The incidence of ARCM peaked at 6% in the 1990s, decreased, and remained at 2% until the 2010s. Mean anthracycline use in the early and late phases was 525 mg/m² and 307 mg/m² (P<0.001), and the 5-year survival rates were 28% and 45% (P=0.058), respectively. Human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) positivity with trastuzumab therapy in late phase was an independent predictor for mortality within 10 years (hazard ratio =0.24, 95% confidence interval: 0.10–0.56; P=0.001). At the end of the late phase, there were four times as many patients with ARCM as at the end of the early phase (twenty-six and six, respectively). Survivors of BC increased more rapidly in the late phase, though the rate of accumulation change was slight in the anthracycline-treated BC group and more pronounced in the ARCM group (P <0.001). CONCLUSIONS With increasing survivor with ARCM in the trastuzumab era, subtypes of HER2 positivity have gained significant importance in treating patients with ARCM in BC.