Frequency of discussing and documenting advance care planning in primary care: secondary analysis of a multicenter cross-sectional observational study

Background To improve the quality of advance care planning (ACP) in primary care, it is important to understand the frequency of and topics involved in the ACP discussion between patients and their family physicians (FPs). Methods A secondary analysis of a previous multicenter cross-sectional observational study was performed. The primary outcome of this analysis was the frequency of and topics involved in the ACP discussion between outpatients and FPs. In March 2017, 22 family physicians at 17 clinics scheduled a day to assess outpatients and enrolled patients older than 65 years who were recognized by FPs as having regular visits. We defined three ACP discussion topics: 1) future decline in activities of daily living (ADL), 2) future inability to eat, and 3) surrogate decision makers. FPs assessed whether they had ever discussed any ACP topics with each patient and their family members, and if they had documented the results of these discussions in medical records before patients were enrolled in the present study. We defined patients as being at risk of deteriorating and dying if they had at least 2 positive general indicators or at least 1 positive disease-specific indicator in the Japanese version of the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool. Results In total, 382 patients with a mean age of 77.4 ± 7.9 years were enrolled, and 63.1% were female. Seventy-nine patients (20.7%) had discussed at least one ACP topic with their FPs. However, only 23 patients (6.0%) had discussed an ACP topic with family members and their FPs, with the results being documented in their medical records. The topic of future ADL decline was discussed and documented more often than the other two topics. Patients at risk of deteriorating and dying discussed ACP topics significantly more often than those not at risk of deteriorating and dying (39.4% vs. 16.8%, p < 0.001). Conclusion FPs may discuss ACP with some of their patients, but may not often document the results of this discussion in medical records. FPs need to be encouraged to discuss ACP with patients and family members and describe the decisions reached in medical records

Cognitive Architecture Toward Common Ground Sharing Among Humans and Generative AIs: Trial on Model-Model Interactions in Tangram Naming Task

For generative AIs to be trustworthy, establishing transparent common grounding with humans is essential. As a preparation toward human-model common grounding, this study examines the process of model-model common grounding. In this context, common ground is defined as a cognitive framework shared among agents in communication, enabling the connection of symbols exchanged between agents to the meanings inherent in each agent. This connection is facilitated by a shared cognitive framework among the agents involved. In this research, we focus on the tangram naming task (TNT) as a testbed to examine the common-ground-building process. Unlike previous models designed for this task, our approach employs generative AIs to visualize the internal processes of the model. In this task, the sender constructs a metaphorical image of an abstract figure within the model and generates a detailed description based on this image. The receiver interprets the generated description from the partner by constructing another image and reconstructing the original abstract figure. Preliminary results from the study show an improvement in task performance beyond the chance level, indicating the effect of the common cognitive framework implemented in the models. Additionally, we observed that incremental backpropagations leveraging successful communication cases for a component of the model led to a statistically significant increase in performance. These results provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of common grounding made by generative AIs, improving human communication with the evolving intelligent machines in our future society.Comment: Proceedings of the 2023 AAAI Fall Symposium on Integrating Cognitive Architectures and Generative Model

時間対称な量子力学における測定について

学位の種別: 課程博士審査委員会委員 : (主査)東京大学教授 押川 正毅, 東京大学教授 国場 敦夫, 東京大学准教授 羽田野 直道, 東京大学准教授 岸本 康宏, 東京大学准教授 桂 法称University of Tokyo(東京大学

IR Absorption Nnalysis of Oxidation Behaviors of Nano-composite Phases with β-FeSi2 Nanocrystals and Si

We have investigated oxidation behaviors of nano-composite phase with β-FeSi2 nanocrystals (β-NCs) and Si on Si substrates. IR absorption measurements revealed that only oxidation of Si into SiO2 proceeded in the nano-composite phase. This fact is very important for realization of a novel composite phase with β-NCs and SiO2, which may contribute to enhancement of light emission and to prevent a large thermal quenching of light emission observed in the composite phase with β-NCs and Si.International Conference and Summer School on Advanced Silicide Technology 2014, July 19–21, 2014, Tokyo, Japa

Photoluminescence Property of Nano-composite Phases of β-FeSi2 Nanocrystals Embedded in SiO2

We have investigated photoluminescence (PL) behaviors of nano-composite phase of β-NCs embedded in SiO2 (β-NCs/SiO2). The inhomogeneous spectra consisting of the A, B, and C emission bands were observed. PL enhancement also was confirmed in comparison with β-NCs/Si. Under high pumping rate, we observed PL spectra near room temperatures (~270 K). This fact means that oxidation of the nano-composite phase can contribute to reduction of thermal quenching, which may come from increase of band offsets around β-NCs.International Conference and Summer School on Advanced Silicide Technology 2014, July 19–21, 2014, Tokyo, Japa

How Personal Digital Devices Are Used for Learning English at Hiroshima University

The prevalence of personal digital devices, such as personal computers, smartphones, and tablets, has enabled students and teachers to utilize a tremendous amount of online learning materials and resources available anytime and anywhere. In English education at the tertiary level, active exploitations of these digital devices outside of the classroom would be highly beneficial in providing learners with more opportunities to improve their English proficiency. Hiroshima University has been implementing an English education project in which in-class activities are combined with a variety of WBT (Web-Based Training) materials to be learned outside of school. It has also been developing and delivering its original English podcasts for self-learning on a weekly basis. In 2015, the university launched a BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) policy, which is expected to promote learning by using these lightweight devices. In this paper, we report on a questionnaire regarding the penetration rates of digital devices and the popularity of English self-learning using personal mobile devices. The survey was conducted on 1,000 first-year students at Hiroshima University. The number of valid responses was 767. It was found that there are high penetration rates of laptop computers (99.5%) and smartphones (94.3%), while only 22% of the respondents are using their personal digital devices for English learning, and 3.5% of them are actually listening to Hiroshima University’s podcasts. With better publicity, the number of podcast listeners can be expected to increase in the near future because of the students’ high demands for online listening materials to learn daily English conversation.本研究はJSPS科研費 基盤研究（B）16H03450による研究成果の一部である。本研究の成果は，広島大学外国語教育研究センター「新カリキュラムにともなう学生の英語力向上ワーキンググループ」（榎田一路，上西幸治，鬼田崇作，草薙邦広，阪上辰也，田北冬子，達川奎三，森田光宏，山本五郎，吉川りさ）の活動の一端によるものである

The factorial structure of the dissociative experiences Scale : On sub-functions of dissociation. <Article>

This article focuses on the factorial structure of the dissociative experience scale to elucidate the sub-functions of dissociation. An initial investigation was undertaken with 269 undergraduate students (130 male, 139 female) to illustrate the factorial structure of the dissociative experience scale. Our exploratory factor analysis data indicate that the dissociative experience scale has a two-factorial structure. A subsequent investigation with 232 undergraduate students (48 male, 184 female) confirmed this structure. The analysis data from the second investigation indicate that the factorial structure provides cross-validation. The two investigations suggest that dissociation has two sub-functions, "detachment" and "compartmentalization." Furthermore, these two sub-functions may have different functions and/or purposes. Accordingly, more research is necessary to clarify which sub-functions are efficacious in what kind of experiences

Development and Utilization of the Hirodai Standard 6000 Vocabulary List (HiroTan)

In this paper, the development of an original EFL vocabulary list for the undergraduate students at Hiroshima University is reported on, along with the way the list has been utilized in the EFL curriculum there. The Hirodai Standard 6000 Vocabulary List (HiroTan), first developed by the Institute for Foreign Language Research and Education (FLaRE) in 2010, has been used in the new online-based compulsory EFL courses, targeting approximately 1,000 first-year students at the university each year. A total of 6,000 English words that are used in daily, business, and academic contexts were selected, and then divided into two levels: 4,000 for the Standard level and 2,000 for the Advanced level. The list was compiled based on several existing vocabulary lists, such as the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000), the JACET 8000 Word List (Aizawa et al., 2005), and two TOEIC®-related word lists (Mizumoto, 2004; Enokida et al, 2008). All the English instructors at FLaRE worked together to write a sample sentence and its Japanese translation for each of the 6,000 entry words. An original WBT (web-based training) system was used to provide learning materials for the online courses, and the list was also made available in printed form. In the online courses, students are required to learn 3,000 words in the list per semester (15 weeks) and 6,000 per year using the WBT system. Part of the course content is linked to other compulsory, classroom-based EFL courses, so that students can be assisted to consolidate their vocabulary knowledge on a face-to-face basis. Our future plans include: 1) the replacement of the old, Adobe Flash-based WBT system with the new, HTML5-based one, and 2) a major update of the list to include a range of new important words that appear in the latest vocabulary lists, such as the New General Service List and the New Academic Word List (Browne et al., 2013)