The impact of revision for coinsurance rate for elderly on healthcare resource utilization: a pilot study using interrupted time series analysis of employee health insurance claims data

Cost sharing, including copayment and coinsurance, is often used as a means of containing medical expenditure by reducing unnecessary or excessive use of health-care resources. Previous studies have reported the effects of reducing the coinsurance rate in Japan from 30% to 10% on demand for medical care among people aged 70 years. However, the coinsurance rate in Japan for individuals aged 70–74 years old has recently been increased from 10% to 20%. This study aimed to estimate the economic impact of coinsurance rate revision on health-care resource utilization using interrupted time-series analysis of employee health insurance claims data. I classified those who were born in FY 1944 and whose coinsurance rates decreased to 20% into the 10%-reduction group. It was found that the 10%-reduction group showed a lower increase of health-care utilization than the 20%-reduction group. However, no significant differences were observed in the overall and inpatient settings. The results of this study suggest that increasing the coinsurance rate among elderly people would reduce outpatient health-care resource utilization; however, it would not necessarily reduce overall health-care resource utilization

Measurement of Tritium Partial Pressure by BIXS (I) : Total Pressure Dependence of Hydrogen Isotopes

The correlation between the intensity of X-rays induced by β-rays of tritium and the total pressure of hydrogen isotope mixtures was examined in a pressure range from 10-1 to 105 Pa by using three different tritium gases, i.e., pure T2, D2-1%T2 and H2-1%T2 mixtures. It was found that linear pressure dependence was obtained up to a few kPa for all of the measured gases by taking dead time of the X-ray detector into account. Above this pressure, however, downward deviation from the linear relation appeared. It was revealed that the effect of self-absorption of β-rays on the pressure dependence was not negligibly small, because the ratios of the counting rates corrected by dead time to total pressure, i.e., specific counting rates, could not be reproduced by a simple exponential function using the absorption coefficients of hydrogen isotopes as variables. The results suggested that an additional factor such as contribution of an X-ray formation on the surfaces of a measuring cell must be taken into consideration in changing in the specific counting rates

Atomic cluster expansion force field based thermal property material design with density functional theory level accuracy in non-equilibrium molecular dynamics calculations over sub-million atoms

Non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) techniques are widely used for investigating lattice thermal conductivity. Recently, machine learning force fields (MLFFs) have emerged as a promising approach to enhance the precision in NEMD simulations. This study is aimed at demonstrating the potential of MLFFs in realizing NEMD calculations for large-scale systems containing over 100,000 atoms with density functional theory (DFT)-level accuracy. Specifically, the atomic cluster expansion (ACE) force field is employed, using Si as an example. The ACE potential incorporates 4-body interactions and features a training dataset consisting of 1000 order structures from first-principles molecular dynamics calculations, resulting in a highly accurate vibrational spectrum. Moreover, the ACE potential can reproduce thermal conductivity values comparable with those derived from DFT calculations via the Boltzmann equation. To demonstrate the application of MLFFs to systems containing over 100,000 atoms, NEMD simulations are conducted on thin films ranging from 100 nm to 500 nm, with the 100 nm films exhibiting defect rates of up to 1.5%. The results show that the thermal conductivity deviates by less than 5% from DFT or theoretical results in both scenarios, which highlights the ability of the ACE potential in calculating the thermal conductivity on a large scale with DFT-level accuracy. The proposed approach is expected to promote the application of MLFFs in various fields and serve as a feasible alternative to virtual experiments. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the potential of MLFFs in enhancing the accuracy of NEMD simulations for investigating lattice thermal conductivity for systems with over 100,000 atoms.Comment: 24 pages including with supporting infomatio

KAgoshima Galactic Object survey with Nobeyama 45-metre telescope by Mapping in Ammonia lines (KAGONMA): Discovery of parsec-scale CO depletion in the Canis Major star-forming region

In observational studies of infrared dark clouds, the number of detections of CO freeze-out onto dust grains (CO depletion) at pc-scale is extremely limited, and the conditions for its occurrence are, therefore, still unknown. We report a new object where pc-scale CO depletion is expected. As a part of Kagoshima Galactic Object survey with Nobeyama 45-m telescope by Mapping in Ammonia lines (KAGONMA), we have made mapping observations of NH3 inversion transition lines towards the star-forming region associated with the CMa OB1 including IRAS 07077-1026, IRAS 07081-1028, and PGCC G224.28-0.82. By comparing the spatial distributions of the NH3 (1,1) and C18O (J=1-0), an intensity anti-correlation was found in IRAS 07077-1026 and IRAS 07081-1028 on the ~1 pc scale. Furthermore, we obtained a lower abundance of C18O at least in IRAS 07077-1026 than in the other parts of the star-forming region. After examining high density gas dissipation, photodissociation, and CO depletion, we concluded that the intensity anti-correlation in IRAS 07077-1026 is due to CO depletion. On the other hand, in the vicinity of the centre of PGCC G224.28-0.82, the emission line intensities of both the NH3 (1,1) and C18O (J=1-0) were strongly detected, although the gas temperature and density were similar to IRAS 07077-1026. This indicates that there are situations where C18O (J=1-0) cannot trace dense gas on the pc scale and implies that the conditional differences that C18O (J=1-0) can and cannot trace dense gas are unclear.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables, accepted for Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan (PASJ). The version 1 is the Author's Original Version. My accepted manuscript will be publicly available on the arXiv one year after publication in the PAS

Efficacy of gilteritinib in comparison with alectinib for the treatment of ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer

Gilteritinib is a multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), approved for the treatment of FLT3-mutant acute myeloid leukemia, with a broad range of activity against several tyrosine kinases including anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). This study investigated the efficacy of gilteritinib against ALK-rearranged non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC). To this end, we assessed the effects of gilteritinib on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and acquired resistance responses in several ALK-rearranged NSCLC cell lines and mouse xenograft tumor models and compared its efficacy to alectinib, a standard ALK inhibitor. Gilteritinib was significantly more potent than alectinib, as it inhibited cell proliferation at a lower dose, with complete attenuation of growth observed in several ALK-rearranged NSCLC cell lines and no development of drug tolerance. Immunoblotting showed that gilteritinib strongly suppressed phosphorylated ALK and its downstream effectors, as well as mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (MET) signaling. By comparison, MET signaling was enhanced in alectinib-treated cells. Furthermore, gilteritinib was found to more effectively abolish growth of ALK-rearranged NSCLC xenograft tumors, many of which completely receded. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) mRNA levels were elevated in gilteritinib-treated cells, together with a concomitant increase in the infiltration of tumors by natural killer (NK) cells, as assessed by immunohistochemistry. This suggests that IL-15 production along with NK cell infiltration may constitute components of the gilteritinib-mediated antitumor responses in ALK-rearranged NSCLCs. In conclusion, gilteritinib demonstrated significantly improved antitumor efficacy compared with alectinib against ALK-rearranged NSCLC cells, which can warrant its candidacy for use in anticancer regimens, after further examination in clinical trial settings

Incumbent/Opposition Dynamics and Ideological Similitude on Emotions in Political Manifestos

The study involved the analysis of emotion-associated language in the UK Conservative and Labour party general election manifestos between 2000 to 2019. While previous research have shown a general correlation between ideological positioning and overlap of public policies, there are still conflicting results in matters of sentiments in such manifestos. Using new data, we present how valence level can be swayed by party status within government with incumbent parties presenting a higher frequency in positive emotion-associated words while negative emotion-associated words are more prevalent in opposition parties. We also demonstrate that parties with ideological similitude use positive language prominently further adding to the literature on the relationship between sentiments and party status.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 appendi

The Impact of Incumbent/Opposition Status and Ideological Similitude on Emotions in Political Manifestos

The study involved the analysis of emotion-associated language in the UKConservative and Labour party general election manifestos between 2000 to 2019.While previous research have shown a general correlation between ideologicalpositioning and overlap of public policies, there are still conflicting resultsin matters of sentiments in such manifestos. Using new data, we present howvalence level can be swayed by party status within government with incumbentparties presenting a higher frequency in positive emotion-associated wordswhile negative emotion-associated words are more prevalent in oppositionparties. We also demonstrate that parties with ideological similitude usepositive language prominently further adding to the literature on therelationship between sentiments and party status.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 appendi

The Impact of Incumbent/Opposition Status and Ideological Similitude on Emotions in Political Manifestos

The study involved the analysis of emotion-associated language in the UK Conservative and Labour party general election manifestos between 2000 to 2019. While previous research have shown a general correlation between ideological positioning and overlap of public policies, there are still conflicting results in matters of sentiments in such manifestos. Using new data, we present how valence level can be swayed by party status within government with incumbent parties presenting a higher frequency in positive emotion-associated words while negative emotion-associated words are more prevalent in opposition parties. We also demonstrate that parties with ideological similitude use positive language prominently further adding to the literature on the relationship between sentiments and party status