Search Results (3,930)

Although ego threat is known to influence workers’ aggressive behavior, little is understood about how support and narcissism shape this relationship. Accordingly, the present study conceptualized narcissistic traits as distinct self-regulatory strategies for maintaining self-worth and examined whether the meaning of support under ego threat varies depending on these traits. An online survey was conducted with 1621 Japanese workers, and the participants were classified into three types—Self-Assertion, Need for Attention and Praise, and Sense of Superiority and Competence—based on the highest scores on the three factors of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory Short version. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were then conducted separately for each type. The results showed that the behavioral consequences of ego threat varied substantially across narcissistic types and that support did not uniformly suppress power harassment. For the Self-Assertion type, perceived organizational support was positively associated with Invasion of Privacy. For the Need for Attention and Praise type, men and managers tended to choose Excessive Demands. For the Sense of Superiority and Competence type, supervisor support reduced harassment; however, under strong ego-threatening conditions, such support paradoxically amplified harassment. These findings suggest that support functions as a socially meaningful cue whose interpretation depends on narcissistic self-regulatory strategies. Full article

During the Northern Song period, the gifting of Buddhist artifacts frequently appeared in Sino–Japanese exchanges. Although Japan had established a self-centered order with its emperor at its core and tended toward isolation, the Heian imperial court, led by the Fujiwara regents, actively dispatched monks to Song China and requested Buddhist artifacts. Although these monks were not official envoys, they reflected a trend toward diversified diplomacy in Japan. Recognizing the close ties between these monks and the Japanese rulers, the Song court used the bestowal of Buddhist artifacts to encourage them to convey messages to the Japanese court, urging Japan to send formal tribute missions and thereby incorporating this into its broader diplomatic strategy. Under the “Chanyuan Treaty System”, Buddhism served as a shared cultural foundation for transregional interaction in East Asia. By collecting and bestowing Buddhist artifacts, the Song Dynasty proclaimed its orthodox status within the Buddhist world and enhanced its diplomatic influence. However, the Heian court, upon receiving these artifacts, repurposed them to construct their own divine authority and vision of a “Land of Buddha’s Kingdom”. Thus, the very same set of Buddhist artifacts carried vastly different symbolic meanings and functions in the Northern Song–Heian diplomatic interactions. Full article

Social support is generally assumed to buffer ego threat and reduce aggressive behavior in organizations. However, emerging research suggests that support may not always function as intended, particularly in contexts where support can also signal evaluation or control. Drawing on ego threat theory and a conceptualization of narcissism as a self-regulatory system, the present study examines when and for whom social support inhibits or facilitates workplace aggression. Specifically, the study investigates how perceived supervisor and organizational support moderate the relationships between ego threat and power harassment—a culturally institutionalized form of workplace aggression in Japan—and how the moderation effects differ across narcissistic self-regulatory strategies. Survey data of 600 Japanese employees were classified into distinct types reflecting narcissistic self-regulatory strategies, and hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted for each type. The results indicated that ego threat has no significant main effect on power harassment tendencies across any narcissistic type. However, among individuals characterized by superiority-based narcissistic strategies, a significant moderation effect emerged indicating that higher levels of perceived supervisor support amplified aggressive responses under ego threat. These findings challenge the universal assumption that social support is inherently protective and demonstrate that its effects depend on how support is interpreted within personal and cultural contexts. Full article

Background/Objectives: Diabetes threatens independent living among elderly individuals. However, the effects of glycemic management on the severity of functional impairment are unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between glycemic management and functional impairment severity in elderly individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Methods: We used data from the Japanese National Health Insurance Database from 2017 to 2024. The database included 11,411 elderly individuals (≥65 years) with Long-Term Care Insurance evaluations. Functional status was classified into three categories based on independence—Group A (non-mild impairment), Group B (moderate impairment), and Group C (severe impairment). The factors associated with the severity of functional impairment in patients with T2D were elucidated. Results: The severity of functional impairment was significantly greater in patients with T2D than in those without T2D. In participants with T2D, low glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels were associated with the severity of functional impairment (odds ratio [OR]: 0.78; p < 0.001). In contrast, the use of antidiabetic drugs that could induce severe hypoglycemia (high-risk drugs) was positively associated with the severity of functional impairment (Group A vs. B/C: OR: 1.42; p < 0.001; Group C vs. A/B: OR: 1.90; p < 0.001). The frequency of high-risk drug use increased as functional impairment increased. Conclusions: The use of high-risk drugs is associated with the severity of functional impairment in elderly individuals with T2D. Elucidating the factors associated with the severity of functional impairment in elderly individuals with T2D may contribute to maintaining their quality of life and reducing the economic burden on healthcare and long-term care systems. Full article

As a core ground-based coronal observation facility in the low-latitude and high-altitude regions of China, the Lijiang Coronagraph takes advantage of the natural endowments of the Lijiang Astronomical Observation Station, such as an altitude of 3200 m and low atmospheric turbulence. It has gone through a complete development process from introduction through Chinese–Japanese cooperation to independent innovation and iteration. This paper systematically summarizes the core technological innovation achievements of this facility, including the upgrade of the automatic operating system, the integration of the dual-band observation system, the stray light suppression technology based on the image difference method before and after cleaning, and the high-precision image calibration and registration technology. These innovations have significantly improved observation efficiency and data quality, laying a solid foundation for high-quality observations. At the scientific research level, the observation data reveal that 1.1 R_⊙ (solar radius) is a highly correlated region between coronal green line brightness and magnetic field intensity. This study also confirms a strong correlation between the coronal green line and the SDO/AIA 211 Å extreme ultraviolet band (correlation coefficient: 0.89–0.99), which can support the research on early warning of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). These achievements provide key data support for the verification of coronal heating mechanisms and the exploration of the origin of the slow solar wind. The technical experience accumulated from the Lijiang Coronagraph has not only laid a solid foundation for the research and development of China’s next-generation large-aperture coronagraphs, but also facilitated and accelerated substantial progress in China’s technical capabilities for low coronal observation, enabling the country to establish internationally parallel competitive capabilities in this field. This system has also become an important part of the global coronal observation network. Full article

This study builds on a small body of work, all on Japanese, demonstrating how intonational phonology is critical for understanding prosodic modifications in infant-directed speech (IDS) relative to adult-directed speech. We performed similar analyses on simulated infant-directed speech vs. reading of a story in English and Bengali: two languages that – unlike Japanese – both have stress and do not use fundamental frequency (F0) to signal changes in word-level meaning, but that have two very different intonational grammars. These differences allowed us to disentangle previous hypotheses about intonational exaggeration in IDS being concentrated in a particular part of the melody. We tested hypotheses that state this locus of exaggeration is either at: the final position in the melody (final in the intonational phrase), the most unpredictable part of the melody, or in pragmatically informative tones. Our results support the first hypothesis. We found that the phonological choices of speakers to chunk the story into shorter, larger prosodic constituents drive intonational exaggeration in IDS. This is because the intonational phrase-final position in both languages is the site of greatest pre-boundary lengthening and F0 range expansion. We also demonstrate: (i) quantification of predictability in intonational melodies using probabilistic finite state automaton representations of intonational grammars and (ii) F0 statistical analyses that are robust and scalable to large, naturalistic IDS corpora. Full article

The manipulation of host cellular metabolism is a key strategy for flaviviruses like Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) to establish a productive infection. This study identifies the host NADase CD38 as a central regulator of this process. Using a CRISPR/Cas9-generated CD38 knockout (KO) TM3 cell model, we found that CD38 deficiency significantly restricted the production of infectious viral particles. While loss of CD38 also partially impaired viral entry, our central finding is that CD38 primarily promotes JEV infection by suppressing a host-intrinsic metabolic defense. We show that CD38 deficiency leads to a surge in intracellular NAD+, which sustains SIRT1 activity and inactivates p53, thereby blocking the mitochondrial apoptosis required for viral propagation. The dominance of this metabolic axis was confirmed through bidirectional pharmacological interventions; while SIRT1 inhibition using EX527 restored JEV replication, SIRT1 activation using SRT1720 suppressed it in wild-type cells. Our work reveals that JEV hijacks the CD38-NAD+-SIRT1-p53 axis to overcome host metabolic defenses in reproductive cell models, establishing CD38 as a promising therapeutic target. Full article

Acid sphingomyelinase deficiency (ASMD) is currently treatable with olipudase alfa, increasing the need for early newborn screening (NBS). We conducted a two-center pilot cohort study to characterize dried blood spot (DBS) acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) activity in Japanese neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). ASM activity was measured by flow injection-tandem mass spectrometry in 244 NICU-admitted neonates (gestational age 25–41 weeks; birth weight 773–4201 g); longitudinal paired samples were available in 34 neonates with birth weight < 2000 g and concurrent hematology in 43 neonates. The mean ASM activity was 3.7 ± 1.2 μmol/h/L (95% confidence interval, 3.54–3.84; range, 1.7–11.6), with a right-skewed distribution. ASM activity correlated positively with birth weight (r = 0.184, p = 0.0039), gestational age (r = 0.219, p = 0.0006), and lymphocyte count (ρ = 0.394, p = 0.0089) and negatively with hematocrit (ρ = −0.372, p = 0.014). In neonates with a birth weight < 2000 g, ASM increased significantly on repeat sampling (mean difference, 1.60 μmol/h/L; p < 0.0001; Cohen’s d = 0.912). These findings support NICU-specific reference ranges, hematology-informed interpretations, repeat testing after maturation, and the use of second-tier biomarkers for ASMD NBS implementation in Japan. Full article

Background and Objectives: This study investigated the correlation of the liver-to-spleen (L/S) Hounsfield unit ratio on abdominal CT with liver function and diabetic indicators before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), comparing patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM and non-DM groups). Methods: Patients undergoing LSG were categorized into DM and non-DM groups. Metabolic parameters and abdominal CT scans were assessed preoperatively and one year postoperatively. Correlations among these variables were analyzed, and intergroup comparisons were performed. Results: Preoperative body weight and postoperative weight loss were comparable between the DM and non-DM groups. Before surgery, the DM group showed significantly higher levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GTP). After LSG, both groups exhibited significant reductions in FPG, HbA1c, AST, ALT, and γ-GTP, along with a significant increase in the L/S ratio. The reduction in γ-GTP was more pronounced in the DM group. In the DM group, changes in glycemic markers (FPG and HbA1c) were significantly correlated with changes in liver enzymes and with the change in L/S ratio. Conclusions: LSG reduced body weight and fat mass and improved glucose metabolism and liver function in patients with obesity, regardless of their diabetes status. Improvements in liver enzymes and/or the L/S ratio were more marked in diabetic patients and might be closely linked to better glycemic control following surgery. Full article

The accurate and timely nowcasting of severe weather events such as short-term torrential rainfall is essential for disaster preparedness and early warning systems. Our prior studies have demonstrated a high correlation (0.92) and ~10 min time lag between in-cloud (IC) lightning and ground rainfall. In this study, based on the approach introduced by Shimizu and Uyeda, an automatic method for identifying and tracking convective storm cells, we integrate total lightning data and heavy precipitation data for further improving the prediction accuracy of torrential rainfall. High-resolution 2D weather radar composite precipitation data are collected from XRAIN, operated by MLIT, Japan, and total lightning data (TL, i.e., IC and CG) are collected from the Japanese Total Lightning Network (JTLN). The adapted algorithm is used to track lightning-frequent areas (≥5 and ≥2 pulses per 5 min) as well as heavy (≥50 mm/h) and torrential (≥80 mm/h) precipitation cells. To evaluate the predictive capability of TL, cross-correlation analyses are performed across multiple intensity thresholds and time lags. The results of correlation matrix analysis for identifying the movement of the storm and utilization towards spatiotemporal nowcasting of extreme rainfall is discussed. Full article

The blackfin flounder (Glyptocephalus stelleri) is an important demersal fish species widely distributed in the Northwest Pacific and represents a valuable fisheries resource in Korea and Japan. Understanding the genetic diversity and population connectivity of exploited marine species is essential for effective fisheries management and conservation. In this study, mitochondrial DNA control region sequences (401 bp) were analyzed from 62 individuals collected from Jumunjin, Korea, and Maizuru, Japan, to assess genetic diversity, demographic history, and population structure. Sequence analysis identified 48 haplotypes, revealing exceptionally high haplotype diversity (h = 0.982 ± 0.010) and relatively low nucleotide diversity (π = 0.011 ± 0.006). Neutrality tests and mismatch distribution analyses indicated a historical demographic expansion during the Pleistocene. No significant genetic differentiation was detected between the two sampling locations (F_ST = −0.004, p > 0.05), suggesting strong genetic connectivity between Korean and Japanese samples based on mitochondrial DNA data. These findings provide important baseline genetic information for understanding population connectivity and may contribute to the coordinated management of blackfin flounder fisheries in the Northwest Pacific. Full article

Background/Objective: Women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) are at increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), dysglycemia, and dyslipidemia. However, the role of postpartum weight change in long-term metabolic outcomes remains unclear. Here, we determined the long-term incidence of dysglycemia and dyslipidemia after GDM and evaluated whether postpartum changes in body mass index (BMI) independently predicted these outcomes. Methods: This single-center prospective cohort study included 205 Japanese women diagnosed with GDM. All participants underwent a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test at 6–12 weeks postpartum. The incidence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), T2DM, and dyslipidemia was evaluated over a median follow-up of 3.6 years. Cumulative incidence was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method, and Cox proportional hazards models identified independent risk factors, particularly postpartum BMI change. Results: During follow-up, 42.4%, 6.3%, and 35.6% of women developed IFG or IGT (prediabetes), T2DM, and dyslipidemia, respectively. The estimated cumulative incidence rates at 6 years postpartum were 57.1% and 50% for IFG/IGT and dyslipidemia, respectively, whereas the 5-year incidence of T2DM was 10.3%. Postpartum BMI increase was independently associated with new-onset dysglycemia. No independent predictor of T2DM progression was identified. Dyslipidemia was independently associated with higher pre-pregnancy BMI and multiparity, whereas postpartum BMI change was not independently associated after multivariable adjustment. Conclusions: Postpartum BMI change was independently associated with dysglycemia in women with a history of GDM. These findings suggest that postpartum weight change may help identify women at higher risk of subsequent metabolic abnormalities, particularly dysglycemia, in this high-risk population, although causal relationships cannot be inferred from this observational study. Full article

Background/Objectives: Multimodal depression detection research has traditionally relied on early or hybrid fusion strategies without systematically analyzing how dynamic fusion mechanisms interact with modality-specific pretraining. Although gated and attention-based architectures are increasingly adopted, their behavior is rarely examined within a structured fusion taxonomy framework. Methods: In this study, we conduct a controlled taxonomy-level evaluation of multimodal fusion strategies in a Japanese PHQ-9-annotated depression dataset. We compare four fusion paradigms (concatenation, summation, gated fusion, and cross-attention) across three integration stages, crossed with modality-specific affective pretraining configurations for visual (CMU-MOSI/MOSEI), acoustic (JTES), and textual (WRIME) encoders, yielding 512 experimental conditions. Results: The results reveal strong position-dependent effects of fusion strategy. Cross-attention fusion at the audio integration stage achieved the highest mean AUC (0.774) and PR-AUC (0.606), with statistically significant superiority over gated and concatenation-based fusion (Kruskal–Wallis $H=86.28$, $p<0.001$). In contrast, fusion effects at the text stage were non-significant in AUC but significant in PR-AUC, highlighting metric-sensitive behavior under class imbalance. Pretraining effects were modality-specific: SigLIP initialization produced significant positive transfer $(\mathrm{\Delta }=+0.018, p<0.001)$, whereas audio pretraining on JTES resulted in negative transfer $(\mathrm{\Delta }=-0.014, p=0.004)$, suggesting domain mismatch effects. Gate analysis further revealed condition-dependent modality dominance, including cases of semantic–geometric reversal under joint auxiliary augmentation. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that multimodal depression detection systems should not be interpreted through static fusion categories alone. Instead, modality contribution appears to be associated with structured interaction effects between fusion strategy, integration position, and affective pretraining. This work provides a controlled empirical bridge between fusion taxonomy and dynamic modality weighting in clinical multimodal modeling. Full article

The relationship between architecture and sloping terrain constitutes a persistent subject in architectural discourse. Western scholarship has often emphasized structural, technical, and formal strategies, whereas systematic sectional studies focusing on Japanese residential works in sloped environments remain comparatively underexplored. This study aims to elucidate the characteristics and design logic of sectional composition through an analysis of 55 independent Japanese residential projects on sloping terrain from the period 2015 to 2024. Employing an analytical framework that integrates external composition (orientation of the approach path and grounding condition of the building volume) with internal composition (sectional relationship between the entrance and the main room), the research identifies six fundamental sectional types and their sub-patterns. From these, three core design logics are derived: transforming slope directionality into internal circulation sequences, establishing a contrastive relationship between building volume and terrain, and adapting the terrain through leveling to prioritize functional layout. By maintaining a consistent analytical framework with the foundational study, the research enables a diachronic comparison that reveals both continuities and shifts in sectional design strategies over the past two decades. Architects’ own design statements are incorporated to corroborate the spatial narratives embedded in these compositional strategies. The findings demonstrate that contemporary Japanese sloping terrain residences employ diverse approaches ranging from topographic integration to volumetric dialog, showing that sectional organization not only responds to topographic conditions but also shapes spatial experience and dwelling logic. This study provides a typological reference for sloping terrain residential design and contributes an empirical foundation for understanding the intrinsic compositional relationship between architecture and terrain. Full article

Background/Objective: Older patients with end-stage renal disease who receive dialysis often discontinue treatment before the end of their lives. However, the trajectory of family caregiving in this specific context remains under-researched. This study explored the experiences of family members caring for older patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), from the introduction of dialysis to end-of-life care. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study included three family members caring for older patients with end-stage renal disease who were undergoing dialysis in Japan. Data were collected through semi-structured, one-on-one interviews and analyzed using inductive qualitative content analysis within a qualitative descriptive design. Results: The results identified seven categories regarding the family’s experience from dialysis initiation to end-of-life care: Key findings, particularly regarding the terminal phase, included ‘shock of dialysis treatment discontinuation’, ‘last moments shared with the patient’, ‘nostalgic memories of the patient over time, and ‘reflections on end-of-life care for the patient.’ Families described a process wherein the sudden need for proxy decision-making, often without prior discussion, was linked to feelings of regret. Conclusions: The findings describe the continuous experiences of family caregivers in the Japanese context. These exploratory insights suggest that the absence of early Advance Care Planning may contribute to caregiver distress during the withdrawal phase. The results highlight the need for culturally sensitive renal supportive care that fosters communication and understanding of patients’ wishes to mitigate the ethical burdens on families. Full article