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The article discusses the role of mouse eosinophil-associated ribonuclease-2 (mEAR2) in allergic asthma. The study found that mEAR2 is not necessary for the development and function of eosinophils at rest, but it plays a crucial role in allergic airway inflammation (AAI). The absence of mEAR2 in mice resulted in decreased lung inflammation, reduced eosinophil recruitment, and diminished airway hyperresponsiveness. Additionally, mEAR2 was found to enhance the production of type 2 cytokines and IgE, contributing to the allergic response. The findings suggest that mEAR2 could serve as a potential biomarker for asthma management and a therapeutic target. [Extracted from the article]

This article provides a descriptive study on the prevalence and control of severe childhood asthma in Japan. Using data from the National Database of Health Insurance Claims and Specific Health Checkups, the study found that the national prevalence of severe asthma in children aged 0-5 years was 11.0 per 100,000 persons, and for children aged 6-11 years, it was 22.8 per 100,000 persons in 2019. The study reveals a decrease in the prevalence of severe childhood asthma over the past decade, but a significant proportion of children with severe asthma still had uncontrolled symptoms and required regular oral corticosteroid use. The study suggests the need for reevaluating current asthma management and developing new treatments to address these clinical concerns. However, the study acknowledges limitations, such as the lack of validation for diagnostic codes and the potential underestimation of uncontrolled asthma due to the absence of pulmonary function tests in the data. [Extracted from the article]

Since the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development presented its comprehensive Innovation Strategy in 2010, numerous countries have been updating their innovation policies. Subsequent to the promulgation, the innovation policies of Japan shifted the focus from discipline-specific to social issue-oriented approaches. This study investigates the response of the Japanese academic sector to this policy shift and the characteristics of the research projects associated with innovation policy by utilizing descriptive statistics from policy documents and the database of Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research. The findings reveal that Japanese researchers have increasingly aligned their efforts with government-proposed research themes in recent years, with a notable shift toward short-term research projects. Moreover, Japanese universities are undergoing reforms that are transforming them into entrepreneurial institutions by altering incentive structures. Although these reforms may yield short-term research outcomes, they may not always address long-term societal needs. The narrowing focus on research themes could restrict the potential impact of research and impede the development of innovative solutions to societal challenges. From this viewpoint, assessing the relationship between government-proposed research themes and the research productivity of Japan is critical. Universities and public research institutions play a vital social role in broadening the foundational knowledge base through basic research, while private enterprises may lack the motivation to invest in research and development with low appropriability. These results may be beneficial for policymakers in reconsidering the division of labor in industry-academic collaboration in a knowledge-intensive economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recommendations of the 14th finance commission enabled States to improve their physical position by offering autonomy to implement development initiatives in the present research paper we are discussing recommendations of the 14th finance commission with new formula given by the constitution body which is giving way to the improvement in states fiscal positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although segmentectomy was better than lobectomy in terms of overall survival for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a pure-solid tumour appearance on thin-section CT in the open-label, multicentre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 JCOG0802/WJOG4607L trial, the reasons why segmentectomy was associated with better overall survival were unclear. We aimed to compare the survival, cause of death, and recurrence patterns after segmentectomy versus lobectomy in trial participants with NSCLC with a pure-solid appearance We conducted a post-hoc supplemental analysis of the JCO0802/WJOG4607L randomised, controlled, non-inferiority trial for the patients (aged 20–85 years) with small-sized NSCLC with radiologically pure-solid appearance on thin-section CT (≤2 cm, consolidation tumour ratio 1·0). The primary aim was to compare the overall and relapse-free survival, cause of death, and recurrence patterns associated with segmentectomy and lobectomy for patients with radiologically pure-solid NSCLC to determine why the overall survival of segmentectomy was superior to that of lobectomy, even for oncologically invasive lung cancers. JCO0802/WJOG4607L is registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry, UMIN000002317, and is complete. Between Aug 10, 2009, and Oct 21, 2014, 1106 patients were randomly assigned to undergo either lobectomy or segmentectomy. Of these participants, 553 (50%) had radiologically pure-solid NSCLC and were eligible for this post-hoc supplemental analysis. Of these 553 participants, 274 (50%) patients underwent lobectomy and 279 (50%) underwent segmentectomy. Median patient age was 67 years (IQR 61–73), 347 (63%) of 553 patients were male and 206 (37%) were female, and data on race and ethnicity were not collected. As of data cutoff (June 13, 2020), after a median follow-up of 7·3 years (IQR 6·0–8·5), the 5-year overall survival rate was significantly higher after segmentectomy than after lobectomy (86·1% [95% CI 81·4–89·7] in the lobectomy group, with 55 deaths vs 92·4% [88·6–95·0] in the segmentectomy group, with 38 deaths; hazard ratio (HR) 0·64 [95% CI 0·41–0·97]; log-rank test p=0·033), whereas the 5-year relapse-free survival was similar between the groups (81·7% [95% CI 76·5–85·8], with 34 events vs 82·0% [76·9–86·0], with 52 events; HR 1·01 [95% CI 0·72–1·42]; p=0·94). Deaths after a median follow-up of 7·3 years due to lung cancer occurred in 20 (7%) of 274 patients after lobectomy and 19 (7%) of 279 after segmentectomy, and deaths due to other causes occurred in 35 (13%) patients after lobectomy compared with 19 (7%) after segmentectomy (lung cancer death vs other cause of death, p=0·19). The locoregional recurrence was higher after segmentectomy (21 [8%] vs 45 [16%]; p=0·0021). In subgroup analyses, better 5-year overall survival after segmentectomy than after lobectomy was observed in the subgroup of patients aged 70 years or older (77·1% [95% CI 68·2–83·8] with lobectomy vs 85·6% [77·5–90·9] with segmentectomy; p=0·013) and in male patients (80·5% [73·7–85·7] vs 92·1% [87·0–95·2]; p=0·0085). By contrast, better 5-year relapse-free survival after lobectomy than after segmentectomy was observed in the subgroup younger than 70 years (87·4% [95% CI 81·2–91·7] with lobectomy vs 84·4% [77·9–89·1] with segmentectomy; p=0·049) and in female patients (94·2% [87·6–97·4] vs 82·2% [73·2–88·4]; p=0·047). This post-hoc analysis showed improved overall survival after segmentectomy in patients with pure-solid NSCLC compared with lobectomy. However, survival outcomes of segmentectomy depend on the patient's age and sex. Given the results of this exploratory analysis, further research is necessary to determine clinically relevant indications for segmentectomy in radiologically pure-solid NSCLC. Japanese National Cancer Center Research and Development Fund and Practical Research for Innovative Cancer Control Fund, and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare of Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the acceptability of antipsychotic transdermal patches as a treatment option for acute schizophrenia. Antipsychotic medications are commonly used for managing psychosis and preventing relapse in individuals with schizophrenia. While previous studies have shown that long-acting injectable antipsychotics are more effective in preventing relapse compared to oral antipsychotics, the role of transdermal delivery systems remains unclear. The authors conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the acceptability of transdermal patches versus oral antipsychotics in people with acute schizophrenia. The results suggest that transdermal patches may be more acceptable in terms of all-cause discontinuation rates, potentially due to their favorable tolerability profile and visible proof of adherence. However, further research is needed to fully understand the acceptability and treatment outcomes of different formulations. [Extracted from the article]

Research universities and the federal government partner to foster societal, scientific, and technological advancements, but the federal research grant process is criticized for its procedural inefficiencies. Principal investigators and research administrators lament losing time to bureaucratic regulations, unwieldy processes, and burgeoning reporting standards. As the cost of higher education is increasingly scrutinized, existing procedures warrant examination to identify areas of undue administrative burden and subsequently restructuring to ameliorate cumbersome inefficiencies. The purpose of this study is to identify areas of administrative burden among post-award research administrators (PARA). Ninety-six PARA were surveyed. Several overlapping themes emerged, such as frequently changing regulations and excessive reporting requirements. The suggestions to alleviate administrative burden included standardizing federal grant management systems, regulations, forms, and cash management systems and limiting the rate of changes to federal grant management systems and regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eight papers were selected for the best paper award in 2021 to 2022 from Materials Transactions. Here, the awarded papers are briefly summarized as current trends in research of Materials Transactions. Among the eight best papers, four were specially selected for young scientists whose ages are 35 or below. An important trend in the year of 2021 is that three best papers are from a special issue with the title of "Materials Science on Hypermaterials", which is based on an ongoing national research project, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the European Union (EU) acts as a 'material supporter' of national welfare states. Remarkably, the European Social Fund Plus, integrating ESF and FEAD, is presented as the main financial instrument to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). This raises the question of what these levers can do in terms of financial support, especially for Member States with greater social needs. By using the Social Scoreboard indicators that monitor the implementation of the EPSR, we analyse the size and distribution of ESF and FEAD according to Member States' economic capacity, social needs and efforts required to meet the European social goals. We find that the funds benefit relatively more the poorer Member States who also tend to have greater social needs. However, especially for ESF, there are significant deviations from this general pattern. Some countries consistently receive less funding than others with similar levels of social needs, and vice versa. Moreover, if, from the perspective of upward convergence, the budgets are expressed as a percentage of the efforts required to lift all income‐poor citizens to the EU‐wide at‐risk‐of‐poverty threshold, countries who need to make the greatest efforts receive less funding. These outcomes are partly driven by the funds' allocation rules, which give only little importance to the great social discrepancies between countries. This raises the question whether social needs should be taken more into account in the distribution of the funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abbreviations ER estrogen receptor MEST mixed epithelial and stromal tumor PgR progesterone receptor WHO World Health Organization Mixed epithelial and stromal tumors (MESTs) are rare benign renal neoplasms involving the proliferation of both epithelial and mesenchymal components. While an association between the development of MEST and renal failure has not previously been reported, one case concerning heterochronous bilateral MESTs in a patient with end-stage renal failure has been reported.[5] MEST is usually described as a unilateral disease, but this type of tumor can occur in bilateral kidneys in patients with end-stage renal failure. Mixed epithelial and stromal tumor synchronously detected in bilateral kidneys with end-stage renal failure. [Extracted from the article]

2 Rapidity spectra of protons produced in the 20% most central Be+Be collisions. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the CERN EP, BE, HSE and EN Departments for the strong support of NA61/SHINE. Erratum to: Measurements of ±, K±, p and p spectra in 7Be+9Be collisions at beam momenta from 19A to 150A GeV/c with the NA61/SHINE spectrometer at the CERN SPS: NA61/SHINE Collaboration. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Longitudinal analysis of home food production and food sharing behavior in Japan: multiple benefits of local food systems and the recent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic" published in Sustainability Science. The correction adds missing information to the acknowledgement section, specifically acknowledging the support received from various organizations and grants. The correction is provided by the authors of the article. The document also includes a note from the publisher, Springer Nature, stating their neutrality regarding jurisdictional claims and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Patterns and drivers of heavy and extreme hourly rainfall events over Metro Manila, Philippines" published in Theoretical & Applied Climatology. The correction addresses a missing number in the funding sources and acknowledgements section, where 2H04938 should be corrected to 22H04938. The authors express gratitude for the support received from the "High-definition Clean Energy, Climate, and Weather Forecasts for the Philippines" project of the Manila Observatory, as well as grants from Kobe University and the University of Tokyo. The original article has been corrected. The publisher, Springer Nature, remains neutral regarding jurisdictional claims and institutional affiliations. [Extracted from the article]

With the aim of clarifying the current state of external research fundings (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI), Sponsored Research and Cooperative Research) at universities and clarifying the issues for activating cooperative research, we investigated the transition of the number of acceptances and the amount of money of the external research fundings and the relationship between them, targeting nine national universities (Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Shimane, Tottori, Okayama, Kagawa, Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime) located in the Chugoku and Shikoku regions. As a result, positive correlations were observed with some indicators for 1) the number of acceptances per faculty member, 2) the amount of money allocated or received per faculty member, and 3) the amount of money allocated or received per acceptance. In other words, it became clear that KAKENHI, sponsored research, and cooperative research are influencing each other. Furthermore, it was recognized that many of these indicators were positively correlated with the number of faculty members. This result shows that it is necessary to enhance basic research by promoting grouping of research in each university's priority fields and establishing a system for enhancing the researchers and facilities, in order to promote the cooperative research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the bulk of the studies in India examine the convergence of per-capita income or expenditures, we investigate whether there is any evidence of convergence of government revenues and its various compositions by focusing a panel of 22 Indian states for the periods 1980–81 to 2014–15. To answer this question, the present study employs Phillips and Sul panel club convergence technique. The results find evidence of a single club convergence in the case of total revenues and revenues collected in the revenue account. Further, our results also reveal the presence of three-club convergence when we disaggregate the gross revenues into capital receipts and state-owned tax-revenue. From the policy perspective, it is important for the Central government to integrate all states in revenues collection through tax devolution formula and grants-in-aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the phenomenon of hikikomori, which refers to individuals who stay at home and avoid social participation for more than 6 months. The study aims to distinguish between nonpathological hikikomori and pathological hikikomori, which involves significant distress and functional impairments. The researchers also explore the association between hikikomori and gaming disorder tendencies among nonworking adults in Japan. The study finds that individuals in the early stages of pathological hikikomori have a higher tendency for gaming disorder, which may be influenced by depressive symptoms and functional impairments. The study suggests that early intervention for gaming disorder may help prevent or alleviate prolonged hikikomori situations. Further research is needed to establish a causal relationship. [Extracted from the article]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Glycoprotein 2 as a gut gate keeper for mucosal equilibrium between inflammation and immunity" published in Seminars in Immunopathology. The correction addresses an incorrect statement in the funding information section of the original article. The corrected statement includes additional funding sources and removes some information. The original article has been corrected. The publisher, Springer Nature, remains neutral regarding jurisdictional claims and institutional affiliations. The authors of the article are Zhongwei Zhang, Izumi Tanaka, Rika Nakahashi-Ouchida, Peter B. Ernst, Hiroshi Kiyono, and Yosuke Kurashima. [Extracted from the article]

Since 2018, a project of MEXT Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, titled "Science of Soft Robots: Interdisciplinary integration of mechatronics, material science, and bio-computing" has been in progress. This major research project on soft robotics in Japan has a research period of 5 years. An outline of the project is presented herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Question: How much residual cryoprotectant remains in thawed/warmed ovarian tissues after slow freezing or vitrification?Summary Answer: After thawing/warming, at least 60 min of diffusion washing in media was necessary to significantly reduce the residual cryoprotectants in ovarian tissues frozen by slow freezing or vitrification.What Is Known Already: Ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) by slow freezing has been the conventional method; while the vitrification method has gained popularity for its practicality. The main concern about vitrification is how much potentially toxic residual cryoprotectant remains in the warmed tissues at the time of transplantation.Study Design, Size, Duration: This was an animal study using the ovarian tissues from 20 bovine ovaries. The duration of this study was from 2018 to 2020.Participants/materials, Setting, Methods: Ovarian cortex tissues were prepared from 20 bovine ovaries and assigned randomly to groups of fresh (non-frozen) control, slow freezing with 1.5 M dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), 1.5 M 1,2-propanediol (PROH) and vitrification with 35% ethylene glycol (EG). The residual cryoprotectant concentrations in thawed/warmed tissues were measured by gas chromatography at the following time points: frozen (before thawing/warming), 0 min (immediately after thawing/warming), 30, 60 and 120 min after diffusion washing in media. Next, the ultrastructural changes of primordial follicles, granulosa cells, organelles and stromal cells in the ovarian tissues (1 mm × 1 mm × 1 mm) were examined in fresh (non-frozen) control, slow freezing with DMSO or PROH and vitrification with EG groups. Real-time quantitative PCR was carried out to examine the expressions of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP1), a DNA damage sensor and caspase-3 (CASP3), an apoptosis precursor, in thawed/warmed ovarian tissues that were washed for either 0 or 120 min and subsequently in tissues that were ex vivo cultured for 24 or 48 h. The same set of tissues were also used to analyze the protein expressions of gamma H2A histone family member X (γH2AX) for DNA double-strand breaks and activated caspase-3 (AC3) for apoptosis by immunohistochemistry.Main Results and the Role Of Chance: The residual cryoprotectant concentrations decreased with the extension of diffusion washing time. After 60 min washing, the differences of residual cryoprotectant between DMSO, PROH and EG were negligible (P > 0.05). This washing did not affect the tissue integrity or significantly elevate the percentage of AC3 and γH2AX positive cells, indicating that tissues are safe and of good quality for transplantation.Large Scale Data: N/A.Limitations, Reasons For Caution: Since the study was performed with ovarian tissues from bovines, generalizability to humans may be limited. Potential changes in ovarian tissue beyond 120 min were not investigated.Wider Implications Of the Findings: This study addresses concerns about the cytotoxicity of EG in warmed ovarian tissues and could provide insights when devising a standard vitrification protocol for OTC.Study Funding/competing Interest(s): The study was funded by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to N.S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]