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Summary: Quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) is a combinatorial optimization to find an optimal binary solution vector that minimizes the energy value defined by a quadratic formula of binary variables in the vector. The main contribution of this article is to propose the bit duplication technique that can specify the number of duplicated bits, so that it can generate hard QUBO problem with adjustable sizes. The idea is to duplicate specified number of bits and then to give constraints so that the corresponding two bits take the same binary values. By this technique, any QUBO problem with n$$ n $$ bits is converted to a hard QUBO problem with (m+n)$$ \left(m+n\right) $$ bits (0

The United States is not the only country that has been shocked by "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education," the report released in September 2006 by the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, also known as the Spellings Commission. What the report emphasizes is accountability: the outcomes of higher education or student learning in which taxpayers' money is being spent. It also recommends that accrediting organizations make their standards of accreditation more outcome oriented. Japan was one of the countries jolted by this report. Consequently the Japanese higher education community has paid significant attention to U.S. higher education since the report was published, for at least two reasons: (1) the Japanese accreditation system was modeled after the U.S. system in many aspects, but (2) it is designed to work under a greater extent of governmental monitoring. In this article, the author compares the higher education accreditation system in Japan with the American system, focusing on the extent of government involvement in the processes in each nation.

Liberal education has been a target of political discourse in many countries, and Japan is no exception. In Japanese higher education, there are three types of institutions: national public, local public, and private. In June 2015, Japan's minister of education, Hakubun Shimomura, called upon the country's national universities to take "active steps to abolish [social science and humanities] organizations or to convert them to serve areas that better meet society's needs." In this article, the author presents a brief history in the defense of Japanese liberal education.

The article describes the case of a 71-year-old man with systemic air embolism and mediastinal emphysema after pneumonia. The patient was presented with coughing, dyspnea, fever and 83 percent dioxygen saturation at room air. He was diagnosed with influenza and bacterial pneumonia. He suffered cardiac arrest and subsequently died. Postmortem computed tomography revealed mediastinal emphysema, subcutaneous emphysema, and air embolism in the systemic and pulmonary circulation.

We present a rare case of repetitive lung disease caused by various herbal medicines containing common ingredients. In June 201X-2, an 81-year-old man with chronic sinusitis was treated with Shini-seihai-to. One month later, the patient experienced liver dysfunction, and pulmonary opacity was observed on a chest radiograph; this condition improved following the discontinuation of Shini-seihai-to. In October 201X-2, the patient developed fever and dyspnea after treatment with Saiko-keishi-to, which was administered to treat irritable bowel syndrome, and was diagnosed with pneumonia. His condition did not improve with antimicrobial treatment but did improve with systemic corticosteroids. Following discharge from the hospital, the patient took both Shini-seihai-to and Hochu-ekki-to. He developed a fever two days later, which improved after discontinuing the medicines. The patient developed a cough after taking Sairei-to in February 201X and was subsequently admitted to our hospital with respiratory failure; pulmonary opacity was observed on a chest computed tomography scan. On the basis of clinical course, lymphocytosis in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and drug-induced lymphocyte stimulation tests, we diagnosed the patient with Sairei-to-induced lung disease. The patient's condition improved after discontinuing Sairei-to. We conclude that common ingredients in different herbal medicines may cause drug-induced lung injury. Therefore, we recommend that scrupulous attention should be paid to Chinese herbal medicine use in patients with a history of lung injury induced by herbal medicines.