WorldWideScience

Sample records for technology tokyo japan

  1. Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree: History and Symbolism in Contemporary Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yunuen Ysela Mandujano-Salazar

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Skytree are the two most recognizable landmarks on the skyline of Japan’s capital. By means of a documental revision, a textual interpretative analysis of media contents, participant observation and unstructured interviews, the objective of this article is to identify the development of these towers as symbols of Tokyo and Japan. It is found that, with more than half a century of existence, the Tokyo Tower represents the successful post-war Japanese society, while in just five years the Tokyo Skytree has become a symbol of Japanese national spirit and resilience in an era of multiple crises. Both broadcasting towers are regularly portrayed in Japanese media linked to narratives of romance, dreams, family and community. Also, enhanced by their special lightening at night, they stand as attractive backgrounds for locals and visitors in relevant events in their lives.

  2. 78 FR 78338 - Japan-U.S. Decommissioning and Remediation Fukushima Recovery Forum Tokyo, Japan February 18-19...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration Japan-U.S. Decommissioning and Remediation Fukushima Recovery Forum Tokyo, Japan February 18-19, 2014 AGENCY: International Trade... Japan-United States Decommissioning and Remediation Fukushima Recovery Forum (``Fukushima Recovery Forum...

  3. Fifty years experiences in nuclear engineering education at Tokyo Institute of Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujii, Yasuhiko; Saito, Masaki; Aritomi, Masanori

    2008-01-01

    Nuclear engineering education has been initiated in 1957 at the graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Educational activities have been conducted for fifty years under the support of the Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors. In the past fifty years, about 1000 Master students and 200 Doctoral students and 200 Doctoral students graduated from our Nuclear Engineering Department at Tokyo Institute of Technology. Many of them found their jobs in nuclear industries and institutes. International course of nuclear engineering was initiated in 1994, and so far about 90 students from 15 overseas countries have graduated from our Master and Doctoral Programs. In 2003, our proposal of 'Innovative Nuclear Energy System for the Sustainable World' was adopted as the Center of Excellent Program sponsored by Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Recently a collaborative education network has been developed among Kanazawa University, Fukui University, Ibaraki University, Okayama University, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Japan Atomic Energy Agency. (author)

  4. Current developments and clinical applications of bubble technology in Japan: a report from 85th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Japan Society of Ultrasonic in Medicine, Tokyo, 25-27 May, 2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Achmad, Arifudin; Taketomi-Takahashi, Ayako; Tsushima, Yoshito

    2013-06-01

    The potentials of bubble technology in ultrasound has been investigated thoroughly in the last decade. Japan has entered as one of the leaders in bubble technology in ultrasound since Sonazoid (Daiichi Sankyo & GE Healthcare) was marketed in 2007. The 85th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Japan Society of Ultrasonics in Medicine held in Tokyo from May 25 to 27, 2012 is where researchers and clinicians from all over Japan presented recent advances and new developments in ultrasound in both the medical and the engineering aspects of this science. Even though bubble technology was originally developed simply to improve the conventional ultrasound imaging, recent discoveries have opened up powerful emerging applications. Bubble technology is the particular topic to be reviewed in this report, including its mechanical advances for molecular imaging, drug/gene delivery device and sonoporation up to its current clinical application for liver cancers and other liver, gastrointestinal, kidney and breast diseases.

  5. JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    1988-05-06

    Sought ( Nobuaki Teraoka; PUROMETEUSU, Nov 87) 62 IPCR Molecular Laser Uranium Enrichment Method Discussed (GENSHIRYOKU IINKAI GEPPO, Nov 87... Kobayashi ) Investigation of Tokyo University character of winter (Professor Tatsuo thunder on Japan Kawamura, Sea side by new Assistant...PUROMETEUSU in Japanese Nov 87 pp 78-81 [Article by Nobuaki Teraoka, Technology Development Division, Atomic Energy Bureau, Science and Technology Agency

  6. Redefining The U.S.-Japan Alliance: Tokyo’s National Defense Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-11-01

    affairs to a member of the National Diet , a Fulbright Fellow at Tokyo University, a reporter for Defense News and the Iwate Nippo, and Tokyo...process of introducing electoral reform in the Diet has already split the LDP and led to the recent series of coalitions. The process of implementing this...what Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Japanese Prime Minister Murayama in August 1994. See "Mahathir to Japan: ’Drop War Apologies, Join

  7. Factors Contributing to Plate Waste among Elementary School Children in Tokyo, Japan: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abe, Keina; Akamatsu, Rie

    2013-01-01

    Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the aspects of the Theory of Planned Behavior with the greatest relevance to plate waste (PW) among elementary school children in Tokyo, Japan. Methods: A total of 111 fifth- and sixth-grade students at an elementary school in Tokyo, Japan responded to a self-report questionnaire. The…

  8. Lessons from Japan: Resilience after Tokyo and Fukushima

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michelle L. Spencer

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In the spring of 1995 Japan experienced the world’s first major terrorist attack using chemical weapons by a little-known religious cult called Aum Shinrikyo. The attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed 13 people, was the first lethal case of a non-state actor using a chemical agent against a civilian population. In March 2011, following a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor experienced a full meltdown releasing radiation into the surrounding area. The seemingly unhurried government reaction provided conflicting information to Japanese citizens, slowing evacuation and protective actions. Government failure is cited as a significant factor in the severity of the nuclear disaster in three investigations conducted after the incident. This article defines resilience and raises the question of whether the U.S. government has the ability to address the issues raised by the two case studies. There are four primary lessons of these two case studies from Japan: Trust is essential; two-way communications are vital; someone or something will always unexpectedly fail to act appropriately, while others will provide surprising support and; finally, recovery is long-term.

  9. Technological solution for the protection of the environment (in the Central Research Inst. of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo, Japan)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glamochanin, Vlastimir

    1997-01-01

    As we approach the 21 century, the world finds itself confronting challenges regarding global-scale issues: economic development, the use of energy and natural resources, and environmental preservation. Moreover, these issues do not exist in a vacuum; they are all interrelated. They exert delicate effects on each other and can not be considered separately. If we continue as we have in the past, the earth will face an unprecedented crisis in the middle of coming century, in conjunction with the population explosion. (Susumu Yoda, President of the Central Research Inst. of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo, Japan). This paper presents a brief review of the research policy of the Japan Central Research Inst. of Electric Power Industry, regarding environmental preservation

  10. Nuclear Human Resource Development in Tokyo Institute of Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Satio, Masaki; Igashira, Masayuki; Obara, Toru; Kikura, Hironari; Kawahara, Akira; Ujita, Hiroshi

    2012-01-01

    Nuclear engineering education has been initiated in 1957 at the graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Higher Educational activities have been conducted for more than half century. More than 1000 Master students and 200 Doctoral students graduated from the Department of Nuclear Engineering in Tokyo Institute if Technology. Many of them are working in nuclear industries and institutes. International course of nuclear engineering was initiated in 1994, and 130 students from 20 overseas countries have graduated from Master and Doctoral Programs. In the present paper, the current nuclear educational activities in Tokyo Institute of Technology are summarized

  11. Nuclear engineering experiments at experimental facilities of JNC in graduate course of Tokyo Institute of Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayashizaki, Noriyosu; Takahashi, Minoru; Aoyama, Takafumi; Onose, Shoji

    2005-01-01

    Nuclear engineering experiments using outside facilities of the campus have been offered for graduate students in the nuclear engineering course in Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech.). The experiments are managed with the collaboration of Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC), Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University (KUR). This report presents the new curriculum of the nuclear engineering experiments at JNC since 2002. The change is due to the shutdown of Deuterium Criticality Assembly Facility (DCA) that was used as an experimental facility until 2001. Reactor physics experiment using the training simulator of the experimental fast reactor JOYO is continued from the previous curriculum with the addition of the criticality approach experiment and control rods calibration. A new experimental subject is an irradiated material experiment at the Material Monitoring Facility (MMF). As a result, both are acceptable as the student experiments on the fast reactor. (author)

  12. The Role of Sub-National Actors in Climate Change Policy. The Case of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roppongi, Hitomi

    2016-06-01

    Tokyo is known as a pioneer throughout the history of Japan's environmental policy, often being compared to California in the United States or Paris in France. Following the global trend of growing local initiatives tackling climate change, Tokyo introduced a cap-and-trade scheme in 2010 ahead of a national implementation. The Tokyo Cap-and-Trade Program is the first of its kind that regulates CO_2 emissions from all business sectors, where energy consumers are defined in terms of the business establishments they own. Tokyo's initiative is largely seen as a reaction to the modest national commitment, following the tradition of center-local rivalry. This study first explains the centre-local relationship in the history of Japan's environmental governance. It then analyzes the development of the Tokyo's flagship climate policy and its implications for national and other sub-national governments in Japan. The tactics used by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to overcome business opposition typically seen in the introduction of GHG control, and future policy challenges are also discussed. The study finds that Tokyo's policy encourages behavioral changes and technological improvement in the business sector, going a step beyond the existing culture of energy conservation in Japan. An emission trading scheme is often associated with the collapse of carbon markets and the 'money game', rather than a practical tool to reduce CO_2 emissions, but the Tokyo Cap-and-Trade Program has demonstrated a policy impact that recasts such an image. A known case of policy diffusion to Saitama prefecture, an immediate neighbor of Tokyo with the fifth largest population in Japan, is also discussed to elaborate on the potential domestic diffusion of the policy. (author)

  13. Medical Education in Japan and Introduction of Medical Education at Tokyo Women’s Medical University

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yumiko Okubo

    2014-01-01

    Medical education in Japan changed rapidly in the last decade of the 20th century with the introduction of new education methods and implementation of the core curriculum and common achievement testing such as CBT and OSCE.Recently, there have been other movements in medical education in Japan that have introduced 'outcome(competency) based education(OBE)' and created a system for accreditation of medical education programs. This report provides an overview of current medical education in Japan. Moreover, it introduces medical education at Tokyo Women’s Medical University.

  14. Prevalence of insomnia among residents of Tokyo and osaka after the great East Japan earthquake: a prospective study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sugiura, Hiroaki; Akahane, Manabu; Ohkusa, Yasushi; Okabe, Nobuhiko; Sano, Tomomi; Jojima, Noriko; Bando, Harumi; Imamura, Tomoaki

    2013-01-18

    The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011. Tokyo and Osaka, which are located 375 km and 750 km, respectively, from the epicenter, experienced tremors of 5.0 lower and 3.0 seismic intensity on the Japan Meteorological Agency scale. The Great East Japan Earthquake was the fourth largest earthquake in the world and was accompanied by a radioactive leak at a nuclear power plant and a tsunami. In the aftermath of a disaster, some affected individuals presented to mental health facilities with acute stress disorder (ASD) and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, few studies have addressed mental stress problems other than ASD or PTSD among the general public immediately after a disaster. Further, the effects of such a disaster on residents living at considerable distances from the most severely affected area have not been examined. This study aimed to prospectively analyze the effect of a major earthquake on the prevalence of insomnia among residents of Tokyo and Osaka. A prospective online questionnaire study was conducted in Tokyo and Osaka from January 20 to April 30, 2011. An Internet-based questionnaire, intended to be completed daily for a period of 101 days, was used to collect the data. All of the study participants lived in Tokyo or Osaka and were Consumers' Co-operative Union (CO-OP) members who used an Internet-based food-ordering system. The presence or absence of insomnia was determined before and after the earthquake. These data were compared after stratification for the region and participants' age. Multivariate analyses were conducted using logistic regression and a generalized estimating equation. This study was conducted with the assistance of the Japanese CO-OP. The prevalence of insomnia among adults and minors in Tokyo and adults in Osaka increased significantly after the earthquake. No such increase was observed among minors in Osaka. The overall adjusted odds ratios for the risk of insomnia post-earthquake versus pre

  15. Minutes of the IFMIF technical meetings, May 17-20, 2005, Tokyo, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ida, Mizuho; Nakamura, Hiroo; Yutani, Toshiaki; Maebara, Sunao; Umetsu, Tomotake; Sugimoto, Masayoshi

    2005-08-01

    The International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) Technical Meetings were held on May 17-20, 2005 at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) Tokyo. The main objectives were 1) to review technical status of the subsystems; accelerator, target and test facilities, 2) to technically discuss interface issues between target and test facilities, 3) to review results of peer-reviews performed in the EU and Japan, 4) to harmonize design/experimental activities among the subsystems, 5) to review and discuss the Engineering Validation and Engineering Design Activity (EVEDA) tasks, and 6) to make a report of 1) - 5) to the IFMIF Executive Subcommittee. This report presents a brief summary of the Target Technical, Meeting, Test Facilities Technical Meeting, Target/Test Facilities Interface Meeting, Accelerator Technical Meeting and the Technical Integration Meeting. (author)

  16. Abstracts from 17. Japan conference on radiation and radioisotopes, September 2-4, 1985, Sankei Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1986-01-01

    At the 17th Japan Conference on Radiation and Radioisotopes held in Tokyo in September 1985, the basic theme was Expanding Uses of Radiation in Daily Life and Industry. Abstracts compiled covered the following fields of study; prospects and problems for development of radiation uses, food irradiation, medical applications, non-destructive testing, low-level waste management, high energy physics, new materials, and robotics and lasers. There were also four special lectures on radioisotopes, prospects for radiation processing in China, radiobiological studies of Pions in TRIUMF, and ICRU and ICRP recommendations on determination of dose equivalents.

  17. Assessment of flood risk in Tokyo metropolitan area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirano, J.; Dairaku, K.

    2013-12-01

    This study is conducted as part of the research subject "Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in Water Hazard Assessed Using Regional Climate Scenarios in the Tokyo Region' (National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention; PI: Koji Dairaku) of Research Program on Climate Change Adaptation (RECCA) and was supported by the SOUSEI Program, funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Government of Japan

  18. IAEA to Cooperate with Japan on Nuclear Security at 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2018-01-01

    The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Government of Japan signed an agreement today aimed at enhancing nuclear security measures for the summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. The agreement follows previous IAEA support to major public events, including the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2012 European soccer championship in Poland and Ukraine. IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono presided over the signing ceremony at the Agency’s headquarters in Vienna. Practical Arrangements outlining the planned cooperation were signed by IAEA Deputy Director General Juan Carlos Lentijo, head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, and H.E. Mitsuru Kitano, Japan’s Ambassador to the International Organizations in Vienna. “The IAEA has extensive experience in supporting Member States on nuclear security for major public events,” Amano said at the ceremony. “The Agency welcomes the cooperation to support the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and is already cooperating with Japan by sharing the experiences of Member States which previously hosted the Olympics.” The details of the cooperation will be decided in due course, but the possible areas of cooperation include the IAEA offering Japanese authorities training courses, workshops, technical visits and exercises related to nuclear security, hosting preparatory technical meetings and lending supplementary radiation detection equipment. The IAEA and Japan may also exchange information related to nuclear security events as appropriate and through the cooperation, the IAEA will also benefit from Japan’s good practices on nuclear security.

  19. Inventory of the Heteroptera (Insecta: Hemiptera) in Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo, a highly urbanized area in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Masayuki U.; Kishimoto-Yamada, Keiko; Kato, Toshihide; Kurashima, Osamu; Ito, Motomi

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Background The Heteroptera, or true bugs, forms one of the major insect groups with respect to the very diverse habitat preferences, including both aquatic and terrestrial species, as well as a variety of feeding types. The first comprehensive inventory of the Heteroptera at Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo, or an urban green space in the center of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan, was conducted. New information A total of 115 species in 29 families of the suborder Heteroptera were identified. The area had a high species richness compared with other urbanized and suburbanized localities in Tokyo. The campus is found to show a substantial difference in heteropteran species compositions, despite being close to the other localities surrounded by highly urbanized zones in central Tokyo. PMID:25941455

  20. Questionnaire for the contents of cancer professional training plan by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, Ryohei; Numasaki, Hodaka; Teshima, Teruki; Nishio, Teiji; Fukuda, Haruyuki; Ashino, Yasuo; Onishi, Hiroshi; Nakamura, Katsumasa; Nagata, Yasushi

    2009-01-01

    Questionnaire for the contents of cancer professional training plan by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology Japan were widely assessed and introduced in the 4th Japanese Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (JASTRO) Future Planning Seminar held on March 8, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan. From the assessment, small number of instructors for medical physicists was elucidated as the most important problem for the future of fields of radiation oncology in Japan. (author)

  1. Social capital and stigma toward people with mental illness in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kido, Yoshifumi; Kawakami, Norito; Miyamoto, Yuki; Chiba, Rie; Tsuchiya, Masao

    2013-04-01

    Living in a community with high social capital might lead to lower stigma towards people with mental illness. We examined the association between social capital and stigma toward people with mental illness in the community of Tokyo, Japan. A random sample of 2,000 community residents was selected and surveyed. Data from 516 respondents were analyzed. In this study, two individual-based social capital variables were significantly and negatively associated with the stigma score, while area-based social capital was not significantly associated with the stigma score. Social capital, particularly reciprocity/norm of cooperation and trust in the community, may be associated with lower stigma.

  2. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Symposium on Naval Hydrodynamics Held at Tokyo (Japan) on October 6-10 1980

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-01-01

    sciences, material sciences, and ocean University of Tokyo, and his many able and science and technology . dedicated co-workers, in organizing this meeting...occasion. Since our Symposia concerning hydro- us to ease this section and gastronomy such as this dynamics or naval science took place in Tokyo, I buffet...Houten, R.J., Unpublished, 1978. 6. Van Oossanen, P., "Theoretical 6. CONCLUSION Prediction of Cavitation of Propellers,"Marine Technology , Vol. 14, No

  3. Book of presentations. Tokyo Tech COE-INES. Indonesia international symposium 2005. 'Prospect of nuclear energy in Indonesia'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-03-01

    The symposium of the title was organized by the 21st Century COE Program, Innovative Nuclear Energy Systems for Sustainable Development of the World, the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech COE-INES), the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), and the National Nuclear Energy Agency of Indonesia (BATAN). The symposium included presentations of 21 from Japan 24 from Indonesia and discussions on innovative nuclear energy systems and on a number of topics related to nuclear energy, including long-term policies and regulation for its development. Students from Japan and Indonesia played an important role in the symposium, presenting excellent work and discussion on their research topics as well as participating in very fruitful panel discussions on 'Education in Nuclear Field' and 'Attractiveness of Jobs in the Nuclear Field'. (J.P.N.)

  4. Health risks and precautions for visitors to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Sachiko; Wada, Koji; Yanagisawa, Naoki; Smith, Derek R

    2018-02-02

    In 2020, Japan will host the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020 (Tokyo 2020) which will involve a large population influx from various countries to Tokyo, the most populated city in Japan. We summarize the potential health risks for visitors to Tokyo 2020, related to communicable disease risks and other health threats, based on recent national and local surveillance reports. We reviewed up-to-date surveillance reports published by the National Institute of Infectious Diseases and Tokyo Metropolitan Infectious Disease Surveillance Center. Communicable disease risks for vaccine-preventable illnesses such as measles and rubella, as well as food and waterborne diseases represent the most likely risks. The risk of acquiring vector-borne diseases is considered low in Japan. On the other hand, however, heat-related illness represents a potential risk, as Tokyo 2020 is scheduled during the hottest season in Japan, with temperatures generally expected to exceed 30 °C. Maintaining an up-to-date routine vaccination schedule is highly recommended for visitors attending the Tokyo 2020 and appropriate hygiene measures for food and waterborne diseases as well as health promotion for heat-related illness. It may also be useful to increase the number of multilingual triage clinicians whom can be placed within emergency departments during the Tokyo 2020 to provide first contact services and coordination of emergency care among non-Japanese speaking visitors to Tokyo. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  5. Legionella thermalis sp. nov., isolated from hot spring water in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishizaki, Naoto; Sogawa, Kazuyuki; Inoue, Hiroaki; Agata, Kunio; Edagawa, Akiko; Miyamoto, Hiroshi; Fukuyama, Masafumi; Furuhata, Katsunori

    2016-03-01

    Strain L-47(T) of a novel bacterial species belonging to the genus Legionella was isolated from a sample of hot spring water from Tokyo, Japan. The 16S rRNA gene sequences (1477 bp) of this strain (accession number AB899895) had less than 95.0% identity with other Legionella species. The dominant fatty acids of strain L-47(T) were a15:0 (29.6%) and the major ubiquinone was Q-12 (71.1%). It had a guanine-plus-cytosine content of 41.5 mol%. The taxonomic description of Legionella thermalis sp. nov. is proposed to be type strain L-47(T) (JCM 30970(T)  = KCTC 42799(T)). © 2016 The Societies and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  6. India and the Tokyo round

    OpenAIRE

    André Sapir; Robert Baldwin

    1983-01-01

    The paper attempts to quantify the gains and the losses for India from the changes in import tariffs decided during the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. The study focuses on exports to the ECCC, Japan, and the US. It is conducted at the tariff line level and uses the actual tariffs resulting from the Tokyo Round. The evaluation is in terms of the static effect of the tariff changes. The results indicate that the gains for India from most-favoured nation tariff cuts far outweigh...

  7. Distribution characteristics of volatile methylsiloxanes in Tokyo Bay watershed in Japan: Analysis of surface waters by purge and trap method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horii, Yuichi; Minomo, Kotaro; Ohtsuka, Nobutoshi; Motegi, Mamoru; Nojiri, Kiyoshi; Kannan, Kurunthachalam

    2017-05-15

    Surface waters including river water and effluent from sewage treatment plants (STPs) were collected from Tokyo Bay watershed, Japan, and analyzed for seven cyclic and linear volatile methylsiloxanes (VMSs), i.e., D3, D4, D5, D6, L3, L4, and L5 by an optimized purge and trap extraction method. The total concentrations of seven VMSs (ΣVMS) in river water ranged from watershed was estimated at 2300kg. Our results indicate widespread distribution of VMSs in Tokyo Bay watershed and the influence of domestic wastewater discharges as a source of VMSs in the aquatic environment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Comparison of Toxoplasma gondii Seroprevalence in Shelter Cats and Dogs during 1999-2001 and 2009-2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oi, Masaaki; Yoshikawa, Souichi; Maruyama, Soichi; Nogami, Sadao

    2015-01-01

    Toxoplasma gondii is an important human health concern with respect to abortion, congenital hydrocephalus, and encephalitis in immunocompromised people. Cats and dogs both are potential sources of T. gondii because they have close contact with humans. However, no epidemiological surveys have been conducted in Tokyo over the past decade. Therefore, the present study investigated and compared the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in shelter cats and dogs during 1999-2001 and 2009-2011 in Tokyo, Japan. Serum samples were collected from 337 shelter cats and 325 shelter dogs in urban and suburban areas of Tokyo, during 1999-2001 (233 cats and 219 dogs) and 2009-2011 (104 cats and 106 dogs). T. gondii antibodies were measured in the serum samples using a commercial latex agglutination test. Data were compared using the Fisher's exact test, and significance was indicated at P cats was 5.6% (13 of 233) in 1999-2001 and 6.7% (7 of 104) in 2009-2011, and that in dogs was 1.8% (4 of 219) and 1.9% (2 of 106), respectively. Significantly higher seroprevalence was observed in cats from suburban areas compared with cats in urban areas during both periods (P cats and dogs in Tokyo is considerably low as the seroprevalence has reached a steady state.

  9. Social Experiments in Tokyo Metropolitan Area Convection Study for Extreme Weather Resilient Cities(TOMACS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuyoshi, Nakatani; Nakamura, Isao; MIsumi, Ryohei; Shoji, Yoshinori

    2015-04-01

    Introduction TOMACS research project has been started since 2010 July in order to develop the elementary technologies which are required for the adaptation of societies to future global warming impacts that cannot be avoided by the reduction of greenhouse gases. In collaboration with related government institutions, local governments, private companies, and residents, more than 25 organizations and over 100 people are participated. TOMACS consists of the following three research themes: Theme 1: Studies on extreme weather with dense meteorological observations Theme 2: Development of the extreme weather early detection and prediction system Theme 3: Social experiments on extreme weather resilient cities Theme 1 aims to understand the initiation, development, and dissipation processes of convective precipitation in order to clarify the mechanism of localized heavy rainfall which are potential causes of flooding and landslides. Theme 2 aims to establish the monitoring and prediction system of extreme phenomena which can process real-time data from dense meteorological observation networks, advanced X-band radar network systems and predict localized heavy rainfalls and strong winds. Through social experiments, theme 3 aims to establish a method to use information obtained by the monitoring system of extreme phenomena to disaster prevention operations in order to prevent disasters and reduce damage. Social Experiments Toyo University is the core university for the social experiments accomplishment. And following organizations are participating in this research theme: NIED, the Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection (TMRIEP), University of Tokyo, Tokyo Fire Department (TFD), Edogawa Ward in Tokyo, Yokohama City, Fujisawa City and Minamiashigara City in Kanagawa, East Japan Railway Company, Central Japan Railway Company, Obayashi Corporation, and Certified and Accredited Meteorologists of Japan(CAMJ). The social experiments have carried out

  10. JCI Tokyo convention is held; JCI tokyo taikai wo kaisai

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-08-10

    For 3 days on 15{approx}17 of Julies, Japan Concrete Inst. (Toyokazu Shiire chairman) held concrete technology annual meeting in the Tokyo big site in Tokyo and Ariake. Various events such as ready-mixed concrete seminar (participant: 562 person), joint seminar with the Korea concrete institute, observation were developed 20th concrete technology lecture (paper the report: 521 case participant real number: 1400 person), 12th concrete fair (exhibit: 95 case attendance number: 10150 person) center on present convention. The opinion in which the party of the first line of various quarters became heated on the direction in which the ready-mixed concrete will ought to advance based on performance definition and internationalization in the ready-mixed concrete seminar in this inside in future was exchanged. Whether it is the JIS ready-mixed concrete and whether quality audit system are necessary why. The severe order of more cheaply supplying the better concrete in the responsibility of the factory, also came out. Within the special lecture (participant: 548 person), it was an interest of the nation who obtained the time too, the fact of the president election that it does secret story especially and comes out happily heard it. In the new planning, 'the concrete which the primary school child makes' (it is introduced in this journal No. 614) was exhibited in the tip in the fair place. The figure of parent and child companion who gazed at the masterpiece which broke through the preliminary in each place was conspicuous. The still, schedule that the annual meeting in next time is held in the Sendai City on July 7{approx}9, 1999. (translated by NEDO)

  11. Researches at the University of Tokyo fast neutron sources reactor, YAYOI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koshizuka, S.; Oka, Y.; Saito, I.

    1992-01-01

    The Fast neutron source reactor YAYOI was critical in 1971 at the Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, the Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (UTNL). The core is fueled with the enriched uranium surrounded by the depleted uranium. YAYOI is the first fast reactor in Japan. Many types of studies have been carried out by the researchers of the University of Tokyo in these 20 years. It also contributed to the Japan's national project of developing fast breeder reactors. The reactor is opened to the visiting researchers from universities and research institutes. YAYOI has also been utilized for education of undergraduate and graduate students of the Department of Nuclear Engineering of the University of Tokyo. The present paper briefly summerizes past and present researchers. (author)

  12. An archival study on the nuclear fusion research in Japan later half of 1980's. An interview with SEKIGUCHI Tadashi, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nisio, Sigeko; Uematsu, Eisui; Obayashi, Haruo

    2003-05-01

    An interview record with SEKIGUCHI Tadashi, Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo, on the nuclear fusion researches in Japan later half of 1980's is given. The major topics concerned are: activities of Science Council of Japan, the establishment of the Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research, the history of establishing National Institute for Fusion Science, and effects of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, and others. (author)

  13. An archival study on the nuclear fusion research in Japan later half of 1980's. An interview with SEKIGUCHI Tadashi, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nisio, Sigeko; Uematsu, Eisui [Nihon Univ., College of Science and Technology, Funabashi, Chiba (Japan); Obayashi, Haruo [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan)] [and others

    2003-05-01

    An interview record with SEKIGUCHI Tadashi, Professor Emeritus at The University of Tokyo, on the nuclear fusion researches in Japan later half of 1980's is given. The major topics concerned are: activities of Science Council of Japan, the establishment of the Japan Society of Plasma Science and Nuclear Fusion Research, the history of establishing National Institute for Fusion Science, and effects of Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, and others. (author)

  14. Time trends of perfluorinated compounds from the sediment core of Tokyo Bay, Japan (1950s-2004)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zushi, Yasuyuki; Tamada, Masafumi; Kanai, Yutaka; Masunaga, Shigeki

    2010-01-01

    Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) were detected in sediment core samples collected in Tokyo Bay to reveal their time trends. The core sample deposited during 1950s-2004 was divided into two- to three-year intervals and the concentrations of 24 types of PFCs were determined. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) decreased gradually from the early 1990s and its precursor decreased rapidly in the late 1990s, whereas perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) increased rapidly. The observed trends were regarded as a reflection of the shift from perfluorooctyl sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF)-based products to telomer-based products after the phaseout of PFOSF-based products in 2001. The branched isomers of perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnDA) and perfluorotridecanoic acid (PFTrDA) were detected in the sample with its ratio of linear-isomer/branched-isomer concentrations decreasing. In this study, we revealed that the sediment core can serve as a tool for reconstructing the past pollution trend of PFCs and can provide interesting evidence concerning their environmental dynamics and time trend. - This study reports the time trends of the concentrations of 24 species of PFCs, including FTCA, FTUCA and FOSAA, in a sediment core of Tokyo Bay, Japan.

  15. Risk perception and risk attitudes in Tokyo: A report of the first administration of DOSPERT+M in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Schwartz

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Background: The Domain-Specific Risk Taking scale (DOSPERT has been used to measure risk perceptions and attitudes in several nations and cultures. Takahashi translated DOSPERT to Japanese but DOSPERT responses from Japan have never been reported. Butler et al. (2012 developed an additional medical risk domain subscale to be added to DOSPERT to form DOSPERT+M. Objective: To describe the translation of the medical risk domain subscale to Japanese and to characterize domain-specific risk attitudes in Tokyo. Methods: Members of a probability-weighted online panel representative of the Tokyo metro area were randomized to complete pairs of DOSPERT+M tasks (risk attitude, risk perception, benefit perception. We explored relationships among domains through correlational and factor analysis; we tested the hypothesis that the medical risk domain and DOSPERT's health/safety domains were uncorrelated. Participants: One hundred eighty panelists. Results: Six of the original DOSPERT items (two each in the ethics, health/safety, and financial domains are not useable in Japan according to the Japanese Marketing Research Association code because they ask about participation in illegal activities; we thus used abbreviated versions of those domains leaving out these items. The DOSPERT+M items generally did not cluster cleanly into the expected domains, although items within the same domain usually were intercorrelated. Participants demonstrated domain-specific conventional risk attitudes, although nearly half of those assessed were perceived-risk neutral in all domains. Unlike our recently reported findings in the U.S. population, DOSPERT+M medical domain scores were associated with health/safety domain scores, although they were often more strongly associated with scores in other domains, such as recreational activities. Conclusion: The DOSPERT (and DOSPERT+M instruments are problematic in Japan but Japanese citizens may also differ from those of other nations

  16. Analysis of nuclear and radiological events. Textbook for lecture in graduate school of engineering in the University of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, Norio

    2007-02-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is carrying out the cooperative activity by providing specialized educational and training staff and making our facilities available for the graduate school of engineering in The University of Tokyo as part of developing human resources in nuclear technology. This report is prepared as a textbook for the lecture in the graduate school of engineering in The University of Tokyo and provides the outlines of activities on the analysis of nuclear and radiological events and analysis methods as well as the summaries of major incidents and accidents that occurred. (author)

  17. Commercialization of residential fuel cell systems at Tokyo Gas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watanabe, Hisao; Kameyama, Hiromichi; Okamura, Kiyoshi; Nishizaki, Kunihiro

    2007-07-01

    Increased affluence at homes may inevitably bring about increased energy consumption with it and hence increased CO2 emission from the residential sector, which accounts for a substantial share in the overall CO2 emission. Technologies that can reduce CO2 emission without sacrificing comfort of living at home will be critically important to achieve economic prosperity and preservation of the global environment at the same time. The residential fuel cell system is one of those technologies. Tokyo Gas has been engaging in its development cooperating with the manufacturers and has been playing an important role in the design, development and promotion of fuel cell systems with its vast knowledge and experience of end users' energy consumption. The development, demonstration and promotion of fuel cell systems have been strongly supported by the Japanese Government. In 'the Large Scale Demonstration Project', more than 1000 units of polymer electrolyte fuel cells have been installed to existing homes and have demonstrated their energy saving and CO2 emission reduction potential. This paper reports the status of the development of residential fuel cell systems in Japan and the role Tokyo Gas plays in it.

  18. Comparison of Toxoplasma gondii Seroprevalence in Shelter Cats and Dogs during 1999-2001 and 2009-2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masaaki Oi

    Full Text Available Toxoplasma gondii is an important human health concern with respect to abortion, congenital hydrocephalus, and encephalitis in immunocompromised people. Cats and dogs both are potential sources of T. gondii because they have close contact with humans. However, no epidemiological surveys have been conducted in Tokyo over the past decade. Therefore, the present study investigated and compared the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in shelter cats and dogs during 1999-2001 and 2009-2011 in Tokyo, Japan. Serum samples were collected from 337 shelter cats and 325 shelter dogs in urban and suburban areas of Tokyo, during 1999-2001 (233 cats and 219 dogs and 2009-2011 (104 cats and 106 dogs. T. gondii antibodies were measured in the serum samples using a commercial latex agglutination test. Data were compared using the Fisher's exact test, and significance was indicated at P < 0.05. The overall seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in cats was 5.6% (13 of 233 in 1999-2001 and 6.7% (7 of 104 in 2009-2011, and that in dogs was 1.8% (4 of 219 and 1.9% (2 of 106, respectively. Significantly higher seroprevalence was observed in cats from suburban areas compared with cats in urban areas during both periods (P < 0.05. These results reveal that there has been little change in the feline and canine seroprevalence over the past decade, indicating that the risk of T. gondii exposure for cats and dogs in Tokyo is considerably low as the seroprevalence has reached a steady state.

  19. Fluctuation patterns of groundwater levels in Tokyo caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawamura, Akira; Ishihara, Shigeyuki; Amaguchi, Hideo; Takasaki, Tadakatsu

    2016-04-01

    The hourly groundwater levels have been observed at 42 sites in Tokyo Metropolis since 1952. The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred at 14:46 JST on March 11, 2011. It was the strongest earthquake on record with a magnitude of 9.0 (Mw) and large fluctuations of unconfined and confined groundwater levels were observed at 102 observation wells in Tokyo, around 400 km away from the epicenter. Abrupt rises and sharp drawdowns of groundwater levels were observed right after the earthquake for most of the wells, although some did not show a change. In this study, taking full advantage of the unique rare case data from the dense groundwater monitoring network in Tokyo, we investigate the fluctuation patterns of unconfined and confined groundwater levels caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The groundwater level data used in this study consist of one month time series in March 2011 with one-hour interval. The fluctuation patterns of groundwater levels caused by the earthquake were identified using Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). The SOM, developed by Kohonen, can project high-dimensional, complex target data onto a two-dimensional regularly arranged map in proportion to the degree of properties. In general, the objective of the SOM application is to obtain useful and informative reference vectors. These vectors can be acquired after iterative updates through the training of the SOM. Design of the SOM structure, selection of a proper initialization method, and data transformation methods were carried out in the SOM application process. The reference vectors obtained from the SOM application were fine-tuned using cluster analysis methods. The optimal number of clusters was selected by the Davies-Bouldin index (DBI) using the k-means algorithm. Using the optimal number of cluster, a final fine-tuning cluster analysis was carried out by Ward's method. As a result, the fluctuation patterns of the confined and unconfined groundwater level were classified into eight clusters

  20. Present situation of unused uranium fuel in Tokyo Institute of Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Obara, T.; Ogawa, M.

    2008-01-01

    Present situation of unused enriched uranium fuel in Tokyo Institute of Technology is described. The fuels were for sub-critical experiments. There is no special facility for transportation in the site. But there is no technical problem for it. One of the important issues to be done is a duty by national regulation against nuclear disaster. (author)

  1. Development on power distribution technologies of four electric power companies in Japan. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. , Inc

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1989-07-01

    Electric power companies have been needed to cope with various needs in accordance with the progress of highly information-oriented society, the improvement of industrial technology, and the advancement and diversification of the living environment. In such situation, the power distribution section of Tokyo Electric Power has promoted technical development, setting up following priority items to put into operation: to reduce power failure caused by works and accidents, to improve reliability in supply, to reduce costs of construction and all over business management, to serve customers to answer various needs, to develop new technology and new methods based on the medium- and long-term prospect, and so forth. Several examples of recent technical development are introduced here. They are as follows; compact equipment and materials for electric poles to match the circumstances of cities and to simplify the construction method for power distribution, a 750kVA large high-voltage power-generation truck to make provision against an emergency such as a disaster by a typhoon, a compact transformer used on the ground, a high-voltage automatic cabinet, and a detector to find the failure of indoor power distribution works in resistances in a short time. 8 figs.

  2. Visit of Professor Shigehiko Hasumi. President of Tokyo University, Japan, Professor Kazuo Okamoto, Head of Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, Professor Toshiteru Matsuura, Head of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

    CERN Multimedia

    Patrice Loiez

    1999-01-01

    Visit of Professor Shigehiko Hasumi. President of Tokyo University, Japan, Professor Kazuo Okamoto, Head of Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences, Professor Toshiteru Matsuura, Head of Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

  3. Japan's electronic packaging technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tummala, Rao R.; Pecht, Michael

    1995-02-01

    The JTEC panel found Japan to have significant leadership over the United States in the strategic area of electronic packaging. Many technologies and products once considered the 'heart and soul' of U.S. industry have been lost over the past decades to Japan and other Asian countries. The loss of consumer electronics technologies and products is the most notable of these losses, because electronics is the United States' largest employment sector and is critical for growth businesses in consumer products, computers, automobiles, aerospace, and telecommunications. In the past there was a distinction between consumer and industrial product technologies. While Japan concentrated on the consumer market, the United States dominated the industrial sector. No such distinction is anticipated in the future; the consumer-oriented technologies Japan has dominated are expected to characterize both domains. The future of U.S. competitiveness will, therefore, depend on the ability of the United States to rebuild its technological capabilities in the area of portable electronic packaging.

  4. Report of the second joint Research Committee for Fusion Reactor and Materials. July 12, 2002, Tokyo, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-05-01

    Joint research committees in purpose of the discussion on DEMO blanket in view point of the both of reactor technology and materials were held by the Research Committee for Fusion Reactor and Fusion Materials. The joint research committee was held in Tokyo on July 12, 2002. In the committee, the present status of development of solid and liquid breeding blanket, the present status of development of reduced activation structure materials, and IFMIF (International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facility) program were discussed based on the discussions of the development programs of the blanket and materials at the first joint research committee. As a result, it was confirmed that high electric efficiency with 41% would be obtained in the solid breeding blanket system, that neutron radiation data of reduced activation ferritic steel was obtained by HFIR collaboration, and that KEP (key element technology phase) of IFMIF would be finished at the end of 2002 and the data base for the next step, i.e. EVEDA (engineering validation/engineering design activity) was obtained. In addition, the present status of ITER CTA, which was a transient phase for the construction, and the outline of ITER Fast Track, which was an accelerated plan for the performance of the power plants, were reported. This report consists of the summary of the discussion and the viewgraphs which were used at the second joint research committee, and these are very useful for the researchers of the fusion area in Japan. (author)

  5. Recycling technologies for sewarage systems. Reuse of water, heat, and sludge in Tokyo; Gesuido wo meguru risaikuru gijutsu. Tokyoto ni okeru mizu/netsu/odei no sairiyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mino, T. [Tokyo Univ. (Japan)

    1996-03-10

    The recycling technology employed in Tokyo were reported. It will be useful for developing and introducing the recycling technology for water, heat, and sludge in the sewage treatment. Among various kinds of recycling technology, one of the most peculiar technology is the district heating and cooling system using the heat of sewage. The Japan`s first practical plant which uses the untreated sewage as the heat source was installed and is now operating in Korakuen pump station. In the station, the energy contained in the sewage is recovered by a heat exchanger. The heat pump produces warm water of 45{degree}C and cold water of 7{degree}C as well. Both are supplied to the area near by through the heat source supply pipeline. The Nanbu sludge plant has a sludge-resourcing plant, in which the sludge is converted into fuel, metro-bricks, and light-weight granules, as well as a conventional sludge treatment plant carrying out the concentration, dehydration, and incineration of sludge. The Ochiai sewage treatment plant reuses water after cleaning. The clean water is used as for the service water in addition to being discharged into the river stream. 7 figs., 1 tab.

  6. PREFACE: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design (Tokyo, Japan, 31 May-3 June 2008) Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design (Tokyo, Japan, 31 May-3 June 2008)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akai, Hisazumi; Tsuneyuki, Shinji

    2009-02-01

    This special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter comprises selected papers from the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design (QSD2008) held in Tokyo, Japan, between 31 May and 3 June 2008. This conference was organized under the auspices of the Development of New Quantum Simulators and Quantum Design Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT). The conference focused on the development of first principles electronic structure calculations and their applications. The aim was to provide an opportunity for discussion on the progress in computational materials design and, in particular, the development of quantum simulators and quantum design. Computational materials design is a computational approach to the development of new materials. The essential ingredient is the use of quantum simulators to design a material that meets a given specification of properties and functionalities. For this to be successful, the quantum simulator should be very reliable and be applicable to systems of realistic size. During the conference, new methods of quantum simulation and quantum design were discussed including methods beyond the local density approximation of density functional theory, order-N methods, methods dealing with excitations and reactions, and the application of these methods to the design of novel materials, devices and systems. The conference provided an international forum for experimental and theoretical researchers to exchange ideas. A total of 220 delegates from eight countries participated in the conference. There were 13 invited talks, ten oral presentations and 120 posters. The 3rd International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design will be held in Germany in the autumn of 2011.

  7. A new probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for greater Tokyo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, R.S.; Toda, S.; Parsons, T.; Grunewald, E.; Blong, R.; Sparks, S.; Shah, H.; Kennedy, J.

    2006-01-01

    Tokyo and its outlying cities are home to one-quarter of Japan's 127 million people. Highly destructive earthquakes struck the capital in 1703, 1855 and 1923, the last of which took 105 000 lives. Fuelled by greater Tokyo's rich seismological record, but challenged by its magnificent complexity, our joint Japanese-US group carried out a new study of the capital's earthquake hazards. We used the prehistoric record of great earthquakes preserved by uplifted marine terraces and tsunami deposits (17 M???8 shocks in the past 7000 years), a newly digitized dataset of historical shaking (10 000 observations in the past 400 years), the dense modern seismic network (300 000 earthquakes in the past 30 years), and Japan's GeoNet array (150 GPS vectors in the past 10 years) to reinterpret the tectonic structure, identify active faults and their slip rates and estimate their earthquake frequency. We propose that a dislodged fragment of the Pacific plate is jammed between the Pacific, Philippine Sea and Eurasian plates beneath the Kanto plain on which Tokyo sits. We suggest that the Kanto fragment controls much of Tokyo's seismic behaviour for large earthquakes, including the damaging 1855 M???7.3 Ansei-Edo shock. On the basis of the frequency of earthquakes beneath greater Tokyo, events with magnitude and location similar to the M??? 7.3 Ansei-Edo event have a ca 20% likelihood in an average 30 year period. In contrast, our renewal (time-dependent) probability for the great M??? 7.9 plate boundary shocks such as struck in 1923 and 1703 is 0.5% for the next 30 years, with a time-averaged 30 year probability of ca 10%. The resulting net likelihood for severe shaking (ca 0.9g peak ground acceleration (PGA)) in Tokyo, Kawasaki and Yokohama for the next 30 years is ca 30%. The long historical record in Kanto also affords a rare opportunity to calculate the probability of shaking in an alternative manner exclusively from intensity observations. This approach permits robust estimates

  8. Status of fusion reactor concept development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuji-Iio, Shunji

    1996-01-01

    Fusion power reactor studies in Japan based on magnetic confinement schemes are reviewed. As D-T fusion reactors, a steady-state tokamak reactor (SSTR) was proposed and extensively studied at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and an inductively operated day-long tokamak reactor (IDLT) was proposed by a group at the University of Tokyo. The concept of a drastically easy maintenance (DREAM) tokamak reactor is being developed at JAERI. A high-field tokamak reactor with force-balanced coils as a volumetric neutron source is being studied by our group at Tokyo Institute of Technology. The conceptual design of a force-free helical reactor (FFHR) is under way at the National Institute for Fusion Science. A design study of a D- 3 He field-reversed configuration (FRC) fusion reactor called ARTEMIS was conducted by the FRC fusion working group of research committee of lunar base an lunar resources. (author)

  9. Seasonal Analysis of Microbial Communities in Precipitation in the Greater Tokyo Area, Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satoshi Hiraoka

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The presence of microbes in the atmosphere and their transport over long distances across the Earth's surface was recently shown. Precipitation is likely a major path by which aerial microbes fall to the ground surface, affecting its microbial ecosystems and introducing pathogenic microbes. Understanding microbial communities in precipitation is of multidisciplinary interest from the perspectives of microbial ecology and public health; however, community-wide and seasonal analyses have not been conducted. Here, we carried out 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of 30 precipitation samples that were aseptically collected over 1 year in the Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. The precipitation microbial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria and were overall consistent with those previously reported in atmospheric aerosols and cloud water. Seasonal variations in composition were observed; specifically, Proteobacteria abundance significantly decreased from summer to winter. Notably, estimated ordinary habitats of precipitation microbes were dominated by animal-associated, soil-related, and marine-related environments, and reasonably consistent with estimated air mass backward trajectories. To our knowledge, this is the first amplicon-sequencing study investigating precipitation microbial communities involving sampling over the duration of a year.

  10. A survey of indoor pollution by volatile organo halogen compounds in Katsushika, Tokyo, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Amagai, T.; Olansandan; Matsushita, H. [University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka (Japan); Ono, M. [National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ibaraki (Japan); Nakai, S. [Yokohama National University, Yokohama (Japan); Tamura, K. [National Institute for Minamata Disease, Kumamoto (Japan); Maeda, K. [Tokyo Kasel University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1999-07-01

    A survey of indoor and outdoor pollution by 10 volatile organo halogen compounds (VOHCs) was performed in Katsushika Ward, Tokyo, Japan. Thirteen houses in February and 30 houses in July were sampled. Four consecutive 24-hour samples were collected by passive sampling from living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and outdoors in February and July 1995. Indoor concentrations of carbon tetrachloride and trichloroethylene were at nearly the same as outdoor concentrations; therefore, it was concluded that indoor pollution by these compounds was primarily due to penetration of outdoor pollutants. Indoor concentrations of some VOHCs were considerably higher than outdoor concentrations and they varied widely between households. The list included: p-dichlorobenzene, tetrachloroethylene and tri halomethanes, for which emission sources were insect repellents, dry-cleaned clothes, and tap water, showers and bathtub water, respectively. Indoor concentrations of these compounds were higher in reinforced concrete houses than in wooden houses or wooden houses with mortar walls. This suggests that airtightness of the rooms is responsible for high indoor VOHC concentrations. (author)

  11. The impact of the Great East Japan earthquake on mandatory psychiatric emergency hospitalizations in Tokyo: a retrospective observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aoki, A; Aoki, Y; Harima, H

    2012-10-09

    On 11 March 2011, the eastern part of Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 quake. About 20 000 people were killed or were missing, and a nuclear crisis followed. In Tokyo, people were indirectly exposed to the earthquake and nuclear crisis by TV broadcast. The aim of our study was to evaluate the potential effect of the series of catastrophes on psychiatric emergency hospitalizations in Tokyo. Clinical records of patients who were mandatorily admitted to Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital by law because of urgent risk to self or others were reviewed. Records regarding the 2 years of investigation, which include the 6 months after the earthquake, were reviewed. The six months after the earthquake were compared with the eighteen months before the earthquake in clinical and demographic data using independent t-tests or χ(2) tests. During the 6 months before and after the earthquake, 97 and 127 people were mandatorily admitted. χ(2) Tests demonstrated a significant increase in the number of patients after the earthquake (P = 0.045), attributable to the significant increase in the number of patients with schizophrenia after the earthquake (P = 0.011, 32 vs 56), whereas there were no significant differences in the number of patients with other diagnoses between those two periods. Independent t-tests revealed that patients admitted after the earthquake had marginally significantly shorter periods of education compared with those admitted before the earthquake (13.78 vs 12.82 years, P = 0.084). This work suggests that patients with schizophrenia were more sensitive to indirect exposure to the earthquake and that a shorter period of education was a potential risk factor.

  12. Japan's anti-nuclear weapons policy misses its target, even in the war on terrorism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiFilippo, Anthony

    2003-01-01

    While actively working to promote the abolition of all nuclear weapons from the world since the end of the cold war, Japan's disarmament policies are not without problems. Promoting the elimination of nuclear weapons as Japan remains under the US nuclear umbrella creates a major credibility problem for Tokyo, since this decision maintains a Japanese deterrence policy at the same time that officials push for disarmament. Tokyo also advocates a gradual approach to the abolition of nuclear weapons, a decision that has had no effect on those countries that have been conducting sub-critical nuclear testing, nor stopped India and Pakistan from carrying out nuclear tests. Consistent with Article 9 of the Constitution, the Japanese war-renouncing constitutional clause, Tokyo toughened Japan's sizeable Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme in the early 1990s. Because of the anti-military guidelines included in Japan's ODA programme, Tokyo stopped new grant and loan aid to India and Pakistan in 1998 after these countries conducted nuclear tests. However, because of the criticism Japan faced from its failure to participate in the 1991 Gulf War, Tokyo has been seeking a new Japanese role in international security during the post-cold war period. Deepening its commitment to the security alliance with the US, Tokyo has become increasingly influenced by Washington's global polices, including the American war on terrorism. After Washington decided that Pakistan would be a key player in the US war on terrorism, Tokyo restored grant and loan aid to both Islamabad and New Delhi, despite the unequivocal restrictions of Japan's ODA programme.

  13. Analysis of tooth decay data in Japan using asymmetric statistical models

    OpenAIRE

    Yamamoto, Kouji; Tomizawa,Sadao

    2012-01-01

    Kouji Yamamoto,1 Sadao Tomizawa21Department of Medical Innovation, Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, 2Department of Information Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science, Noda City, Chiba, JapanBackground: The aim of the present paper was to develop two new asymmetry probability models to analyze data for tooth decay from 363 women and 349 men aged 18–39 years who visited a dental clinic in Sapporo City, Japan, from 2001 to 2005.Methods: We analyzed th...

  14. A new tomographic image on the Philippine Sea Slab beneath Tokyo - Implication to seismic hazard in the Tokyo metropolitan region -

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirata, N.; Sakai, S.; Nakagawa, S.; Ishikawa, M.; Sato, H.; Kasahara, K.; Kimura, H.; Honda, R.

    2012-12-01

    In central Japan, the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) subducts beneath the Tokyo metropolitan region. Devastating M8-class earthquakes occurred on the upper surface of the Philippine Sea plate (SPS), examples of which are the Genroku earthquake of 1703 (magnitude M=8.0) and the Kanto earthquake of 1923 (M=7.9), which had 105,000 fatalities. A M7 or greater (M7+) earthquake in this region at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions although it is smaller than the megathrust type M8-class earthquakes. This great earthquake is evaluated to occur with a probability of 70 % in 30 years by the Earthquake Research Committee of Japan. The M7+ earthquakes may occur either on the upper surface or intra slab of PSP. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates the next great M7+ earthquake will cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (1 trillion US$) economic loss at worst case if it occur beneath northern Tokyo bay with M7.3. However, the estimate is based on a source fault model by conventional studies about the PSP geometry. To evaluate seismic hazard due to the great quake we need to clarify the geometry of PSP and also the Pacific palate (PAP) that subducs beneath PSP. We identify those plates with use of seismic tomography and available deep seismic reflection profiling and borehole data in southern Kanto area. We deployed about 300 seismic stations in the greater Tokyo urban region under the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We obtain clear P- and S- wave velocity (Vp and Vs) tomograms which show a clear image of PSP and PAP. A depth to the top of PSP, 20 to 30 kilometer beneath northern part of Tokyo bay, is about 10 km shallower than previous estimates based on the distribution of seismicity (Ishida, 1992). This shallower plate geometry changes estimations of strong ground motion for seismic hazards analysis within the Tokyo

  15. Historical overview of the synchrotron radiation research in Japan. From the view point of creative works in the development of light sources and related technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamitsubo, Hiromichi

    2007-01-01

    Synchrotron radiation research in Japan started in early 1960's when the first electron synchrotron was commissioned at the Institute of Nuclear Study (INS), University of Tokyo (UT). This review covers the parasite use of the INS electron synchrotron and research works done at the light sources in Japan such as SOR-RING, Photon Factory (KEK-PF) Accumulator Ring (KEK-AR), and SPring-8. History of synchrotron radiation research in Japan was overviewed by paying attention to the creative works in the development of light sources and related technology, as well as the pioneering works on the development of experimental techniques and methods. At present there are more than ten synchrotron radiation sources are in operation and the number of their users, especially users from industries in Japan is increasing very rapidly and the research fields of users are also developing. Accordingly the synchrotron radiation facility becomes more and more indispensable facility in the society in Japan. (author)

  16. Special course for global nuclear human resource development in cooperation with Hitachi-GE nuclear energy in Tokyo institute of technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ujita, H.; Futami, T.; Saito, M.; Murata, F.; Shimizu, M.

    2012-01-01

    Many Asian countries are willing to learn Japanese nuclear power plants experiences, and are interested in introducing nuclear power generation to meet their future energy demand. Special course for Global Nuclear Human Resource Development was established in April, 2011 in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Graduate School of Tokyo Institute of Technology in cooperation with Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy. Purpose of the special course is to develop global nuclear engineers and researchers not only in the Tokyo Institute of Technology but also in the educational institutes of Southeast Asian countries

  17. Human resource development program for nuclear safety and security in Tokyo Institute of Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han, Chi Young; Sagara, Hiroshi; Nagasaka, Hideo

    2014-01-01

    The Academy for Global Nuclear Safety and Security Agent was established at Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2011, to develop global nuclear human resources in the field of 3S (Safety, Security, and Safeguards) as a Program for Leading Graduate Schools supported by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). New courses of nuclear safety and security were developed in addition to the existing nuclear engineering program; 1) Environmental Dynamics of Radioactive Nuclides; Numerical simulation of the environmental dispersion of radioactive materials released from hypothetical nuclear accidents and evaluation of the public exposure are performed, by using a computer-based emergency response system, to have students predict the environmental dispersion of radionuclides and radiological consequence by nuclear accidents. 2) Measurement of Environmental Radiation; Students acquire hands-on experiences measuring environmental radiation contamination caused by the nuclear accident in Fukushima with multiple types of radiation detectors. Environmental samples are collected and analyzed for isotope identification and its spatial distribution. 3) Simulation of Severe Nuclear Accidents; The evaluation results of Fukushima accident progression are discussed as well as typical sever accidents that threaten the integrity of reactor vessel. Students simulate BWR (Boiling Water Cooled Reactor) transients, design basis accidents, and severe accidents by using simulators. 4) Nuclear Security Training; Design of physical protection systems, its fundamental physics, and regulatory frameworks are covered and students gain the practical experiences by use of intrusion detection systems at JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency), and by numerical simulation of hydro-dynamics of structure material and nuclear material criticality at the university. (author)

  18. Tokyo Metropolitan Earthquake Preparedness Project - A Progress Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, H.

    2010-12-01

    Munich Re once ranked that Tokyo metropolitan region, the capital of Japan, is the most vulnerable area for earthquake disasters, followed by San Francisco Bay Area, US and Osaka, Japan. Seismologists also predict that Tokyo metropolitan region may have at least one near-field earthquake with a probability of 70% for the next 30 years. Given this prediction, Japanese Government took it seriously to conduct damage estimations and revealed that, as the worst case scenario, if a7.3 magnitude earthquake under heavy winds as shown in the fig. 1, it would kill a total of 11,000 people and a total of direct and indirect losses would amount to 112,000,000,000,000 yen(1,300,000,000,000, 1=85yen) . In addition to mortality and financial losses, a total of 25 million people would be severely impacted by this earthquake in four prefectures. If this earthquake occurs, 300,000 elevators will be stopped suddenly, and 12,500 persons would be confined in them for a long time. Seven million people will come to use over 20,000 public shelters spread over the impacted area. Over one millions temporary housing units should be built to accommodate 4.6 million people who lost their dwellings. 2.5 million people will relocate to outside of the damaged area. In short, an unprecedented scale of earthquake disaster is expected and we must prepare for it. Even though disaster mitigation is undoubtedly the best solution, it is more realistic that the expected earthquake would hit before we complete this business. In other words, we must take into account another solution to make the people and the assets in this region more resilient for the Tokyo metropolitan earthquake. This is the question we have been tackling with for the last four years. To increase societal resilience for Tokyo metropolitan earthquake, we adopted a holistic approach to integrate both emergency response and long-term recovery. There are three goals for long-term recovery, which consists of Physical recovery, Economic

  19. Earthquake Risk Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirata, N.; Sakai, S.; Kasahara, K.; Nakagawa, S.; Nanjo, K.; Panayotopoulos, Y.; Tsuruoka, H.

    2010-12-01

    Seismic disaster risk mitigation in urban areas constitutes a challenge through collaboration of scientific, engineering, and social-science fields. Examples of collaborative efforts include research on detailed plate structure with identification of all significant faults, developing dense seismic networks; strong ground motion prediction, which uses information on near-surface seismic site effects and fault models; earthquake resistant and proof structures; and cross-discipline infrastructure for effective risk mitigation just after catastrophic events. Risk mitigation strategy for the next greater earthquake caused by the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) subducting beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area is of major concern because it caused past mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (magnitude M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9) which had 105,000 fatalities. A M7 or greater (M7+) earthquake in this area at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates that the M7+ earthquake will cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (about 1 trillion US$) economic loss. This earthquake is evaluated to occur with a probability of 70% in 30 years by the Earthquake Research Committee of Japan. In order to mitigate disaster for greater Tokyo, the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (2007-2011) was launched in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and social-scientists in nationwide institutions. The results that are obtained in the respective fields will be integrated until project termination to improve information on the strategy assessment for seismic risk mitigation in the Tokyo metropolitan area. In this talk, we give an outline of our project as an example of collaborative research on earthquake risk mitigation. Discussion is extended to our effort in progress and

  20. Tokyo Halloween on the Street : Japanese Dressing Up Between Bricolage and Authenticity

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groot, M.H.; Takagi, Yoko

    2017-01-01

    Drawing on perspectives related to fashion and consumerist cultures on the one hand and anthropology and appropriation on the other hand, this paper addresses dressing up on the streets during the celebration of Halloween in Tokyo, Japan. By relating commercially marketed Halloween fun-dress to

  1. Temporary suspension of acute facial paralysis using the S-S Cable Suture (Medical U&A, Tokyo, Japan).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ozaki, Mine; Takushima, Akihiko; Momosawa, Akira; Kurita, Masakazu; Harii, Kiyonori

    2008-07-01

    For a treatment of facial paralysis, suture suspension of soft tissue is considered effective due to its less invasiveness and relatively simple technique, with minimal bruising and rapid recovery. However, suture suspension effect may not last for a long period of time. We obtained good outcome with temporary static suture suspension in 5 cases of severe facial paralysis in the intervening period between the onset of paralysis and expected spontaneous recovery. We used the S-S Cable Suture (Medical U&A, Tokyo, Japan), which was based on the modification of previously established method using the Gore-Tex cable suture originally reported by Sasaki et al in 2002. Because of the ease of technique and relatively strong lifting capability of the malar pad, we recommend it as a useful procedure for a patient suffering acute facial paralysis with possible spontaneous recovery for an improved quality of life by the quick elimination of facial distortion.

  2. Contamination, distribution and pathogenicity of Toxocara canis and T. cati eggs from sandpits in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Macuhova, K; Akao, N; Fujinami, Y; Kumagai, T; Ohta, N

    2013-09-01

    The contamination, distribution and pathogenicity of Toxocara canis and T. cati eggs in sandpits in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan, are described. A total of 34 sandpits were examined, 14 of which were contaminated with T. cati eggs, as assessed by the floatation method and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Two naturally contaminated sandpits were investigated to determine the vertical and horizontal distribution of eggs, and an inverse relationship between the sand depth and number of eggs was observed. To examine the pathogenicity of the eggs, three ICR mice were inoculated with 300 eggs, which were recovered from sandpits. The mice exhibited eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and IgG antibody production in the sera after 3 weeks of infection. Most migrating larvae were recovered from carcasses, although three were found in the brains of two infected mice. These three larvae were determined to be T. canis by PCR, revealing that not only T. cati, but also T. canis eggs could be found in sandpits and, further, that eggs recovered from sandpits have the ability to invade a paratenic host.

  3. Resilience with Mixed Agricultural and Urban Land Uses in Tokyo, Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giles Bruno Sioen

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Urban agriculture can enhance the resilience of neighborhoods by providing fresh food in times of natural disasters; however, there is little empirical evidence to support this. Therefore, this study proposes a methodology to identify patterns of agricultural production in urban areas by quantifying self-sufficiency rates in vegetable weight and key nutrients. A spatial grid cell analysis using a geographic information system (GIS identifies the current and potential self-sufficiency of each land use pattern in Tokyo. In a total of 1479 grid cells, the dominant land use and locations of 49,263 agricultural plots led to the categorization of six distinguishable land use patterns. The results showed that Tokyo has a fruit and vegetable self-sufficiency of 4.27% and a potential of 11.73%. The nutritional self-sufficiency of selected nutrients was the highest in vitamin K (6.54%, followed by vitamin C (3.84% and vitamin A (1.92%. Peri-urban areas showed the highest resilience in relation to aggregated risks and population density because of the mixture in agricultural and urban land uses.

  4. Field operational tests of Smartway in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fumihiko Kanazawa

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Efforts are underway in Japan to promote “Smartway” next-generation roadways, which provide a variety of services through the use of advanced ITS technologies. In recent years, the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management (NILIM, part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT, has conducted public–private joint research on next-generation road services using ITS technologies. Field operational tests (FOTs of services including forward obstacle information provision and merging assistance using 5.8 GHz dedicated short range communication (DSRC were conducted on the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway through FY2007. In FY2008–2009, FOTs were conducted in three major metropolitan areas—Tokyo, Nagoya, and Keihanshin (Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe—to promote future deployment nationwide. These included tests of information provision services to alert drivers to forward obstacles hidden beyond the crest of an incline and prevent excessive speed on sharp curves. This paper presents an overview of these FOTs conducted by NILIM in recent years and their results.

  5. The Tokyo Trial and the Question of Colonial Responsibility: Korean Reactions to Allied Justice in Occupied Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Young-hwan Chong

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available This article examines how the zainichi Korean media and organizations responded to the Tokyo Trial and its pursuit of war responsibility. Their critiques of the Tokyo Trial often presented a critical insight from the perspective of anti-colonialism. Zainichi Koreans correctly questioned the absence of colonial responsibility in the pursuit of justice and war responsibility in the trial. In this sense, the problems and limits of the Tokyo Trial that scholars started to “discover” in the 1970s had already been discussed by some zainichi Koreans in the late 1940s. By delving into previously under-explored historical sources, particularly the numerous newspapers published by zainichi Korean groups during the occupation period, this article demonstrates how zainichi Korean critics understood the limits of the Tokyo Trial beyond the binary of “victors' justice” and “the judgment of civilization.”

  6. Responses of two tall buildings in Tokyo, Japan, before, during, and after the M9.0 Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çelebi, Mehmet; Hisada, Yoshiuaki; Omrani, Roshanak; Ghahari, S. Farid; Taciroglu, Ertugrul

    2016-01-01

    The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake generated significant long duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected urban areas throughout much of Honshu. Recorded responses of tall buildings at several hundred km from the epicenter of the main shock and other events show tall buildings were affected by long-period motions of events at distant sources. This study presents behavioral aspects of 29-story and 30-story neighboring buildings in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, Japan, as inferred from records retrieved from a sparse array of accelerometers deployed in the superstructures, at ground and 100 m below the ground level over a time interval covering before, during, and after the main shock. Such long-period effects are common in several regions of Japan as well as in the United States and in other seismically active countries. Permanent shifts in fundamental frequencies are observed. Drift ratios indicate possible structural nonlinear behavior occurred during the main shock. The need to consider risks to built environments from distant sources, including those in neighboring countries, is emphasized.

  7. Liquid natural gas. Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Kooij, E.

    1998-01-01

    An overview is given of the technical know-how and expertise in Japan with respect to the supply, transport, storage and use of LNG. First the overall energy supply in Japan is outlined. Next, the reasons for the use of LNG as an energy source in Japan are discussed. As an example of a typical LNG-installation in Japan the construction of the Himeji Terminal of Osaka Gas Company is described. Finally, attention is paid to the world's largest and modern below-surface LNG-tanks (capacity of 200,000 m 3 ), installed at the Negishi Terminal of Tokyo Gas Company

  8. Japan-China Joint Medical Workshop on Drug Discoveries and Therapeutics 2008: The need of Asian pharmaceutical researchers' cooperation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakata, M; Tang, W

    2008-10-01

    The Japan-China Joint Medical Workshop on Drug Discoveries and Therapeutics 2008 (JCMWDDT 2008) was held from September 29 to October 1, 2008 at The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. JCMWDDT is an international workshop that is mainly organized by Asian editorial members of Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics (http://www.ddtjournal.com/home) for the purpose of promoting research exchanges in the field of drug discovery and therapeutic. This year's JCMWDDT is the second workshop and focused particularly on novel development and technological innovation of anti-influenza agents. The workshop began with an announcement by the Japanese Co-chairperson, Dr. Sekimizu (Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Japan; Editorin- Chief of Drug Discoveries & Therapeutics, DDT) followed by a speech by the Chinese Co-chairperson, Dr. Wenfang Xu (School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Shandong, China; Editor in China Office of DDT), with additional speeches by Dr. Norio Matsuki (The University of Tokyo, Japan; Editor of DDT) and Dr. Guanhua Du (Chinese Academy of Medical Science, China; Editor of DDT). Fifty-nine titles were presented in 6 specialized sessions (Research Advances in Drug Discoveries and Therapeutics, Drug Synthesis/Clinical Therapeutics, Medicinal Chemistry/Natural Products, Anti-influenza Drugs, Anti-infection/antiviral Drugs, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology /Pharmacology) and a poster session (Drug Discov Ther 2008; 2, Suppl; available at http://www.ddtjournal.com/Announce/index.htm). An annual outbreak of avian influenza in Asian countries including China and Japan has sparked fears that the virus will mutate and then cause an epidemic in humans. Therefore, Asian researchers need to work together to control this infection. This year's JCMWDDT helped provide an opportunity to reiterate the crucial role of medicinal chemistry in conquering influenza and created an environment for cooperative

  9. Roseomonas tokyonensis sp. nov. isolated from a biofilm sample obtained from a cooling tower in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furuhata, Katsunori; Ishizaki, Naoto; Edagawa, Akiko; Fukuyama, Masafumi

    2013-01-01

    Strain K-20(T), a Gram-negative, nonmotile, nonspore-forming and strictly aerobic coccobacillus, which produces a pale pink pigment (R2A agar medium, 30℃, seven days) was isolated from a sample of biofilm obtained from a cooling tower in Tokyo, Japan. A phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA partial gene sequences (1,439 bp) showed that the strain (accession number: AB297501) was related to Roseomonas frigidaquae CW67(T) and Roseomonas stagni HS-69(T) with 97.4% and 96.9% sequence similarity, respectively. Strain K-20(T) formed a distinct cluster with Roseomonas frigidaquae CW67(T) in the phylogenetic tree at a high bootstrap value (93%); however, distance was recognized between the strains. In addition, the DNA-DNA hybridization level between strain K-20(T) and Roseomonas frigidaquae JCM 15073(T) was 33%. The taxonomic data indicate that K-20(T) (=JCM 14634(T) =KCTC 32152(T)) should be classified in the genus Roseomonas as the type strain of a novel species, Roseomonas tokyonensis sp. nov.

  10. Education for Earthquake Disaster Prevention in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oki, S.; Tsuji, H.; Koketsu, K.; Yazaki, Y.

    2008-12-01

    Japan frequently suffers from all types of disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, floods, volcanic eruptions, and landslides. In the first half of this year, we already had three big earthquakes and heavy rainfall, which killed more than 30 people. This is not just for Japan but Asia is the most disaster-afflicted region in the world, accounting for about 90% of all those affected by disasters, and more than 50% of the total fatalities and economic losses. One of the most essential ways to reduce the damage of natural disasters is to educate the general public to let them understand what is going on during those desasters. This leads individual to make the sound decision on what to do to prevent or reduce the damage. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), therefore, offered for public subscription to choose several model areas to adopt scientific education to the local elementary schools, and ERI, the Earthquake Research Institute, is qualified to develop education for earthquake disaster prevention in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The tectonic setting of this area is very complicated; there are the Pacific and Philippine Sea plates subducting beneath the North America and the Eurasia plates. The subduction of the Philippine Sea plate causes mega-thrust earthquakes such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M 8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M 7.9) which had 105,000 fatalities. A magnitude 7 or greater earthquake beneath this area is recently evaluated to occur with a probability of 70 % in 30 years. This is of immediate concern for the devastating loss of life and property because the Tokyo urban region now has a population of 42 million and is the center of approximately 40 % of the nation's activities, which may cause great global economic repercussion. To better understand earthquakes in this region, "Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area" has been conducted mainly by ERI. It is a 4-year

  11. Characteristics of sudden bath-related death investigated by medical examiners in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Hideto; Hikiji, Wakako; Tanifuji, Takanobu; Abe, Nobuyuki; Fukunaga, Tatsushige

    2015-01-01

    Sudden bath-related deaths occur frequently in Japan, particularly among elderly people. However, the precise mechanism of bath-related death remains uncertain, and effective prevention strategies have not been established. Cases of bath-related deaths (n = 3289) were selected from all cases handled by the Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office from 2009 to 2011 (N = 41 336). The ages and occurrence dates were examined, and major autopsy findings, including toxicological analysis, were evaluated for the autopsied cases (n = 550). Most cases occurred in individuals older than 60 years of age during winter. Analysis of autopsy findings revealed water inhalation signs in many cases (n = 435, 79.1%). Circulatory system diseases constituted more than half of the pathological findings regarding factors that may have contributed significantly to death (n = 300, 54.5%), and cardiac lesions were the most common pathological finding (n = 250, 45.5%). However, approximately one-third of the cases exhibited no remarkable pathological findings (n = 198, 36.0%). A quarter of all cases involved blood ethanol levels that exceeded 0.5 mg/mL (n = 140). The results suggested that drowning plays an important role in the final process of bath-related death. Circulatory system diseases may be the primary underlying pathology; however, there were variations in the medical histories and pathologies of cases of bath-related death. From a preventive perspective, family members should pay attention to elderly people with circulatory system diseases during bathing, particularly in winter. Additionally, the notion that ill or inebriated individuals should not take baths should be reinforced.

  12. 77 FR 60380 - Renewable Energy Policy Business Roundtable in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-03

    ... Roundtable in Japan AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice... December 3, 2012 in Tokyo in conjunction with the U.S.-Japan Energy Policy Dialogue. The U.S. Department of... roundtable and other related events will be held in Japan the week of December 3-7, 2012. Participants must...

  13. Associations of acute exposure to fine and coarse particulate matter and mortality among older people in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yorifuji, Takashi; Kashima, Saori; Doi, Hiroyuki

    2016-01-15

    Recent studies have reported adverse health effects of short-term exposure to coarse particles independent of particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5), but evidence in Asian countries is limited. We therefore evaluated associations between short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) and mortality among older people in Tokyo, Japan. We used a time-stratified, case-crossover design. Study participants included 664,509 older people (≥65 years old) in the 23 urbanized wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, who died between January 2002 and December 2013. We obtained PM2.5 and suspended particulate matter (SPM; PMPM7-2.5 by subtracting PM2.5 from SPM to account for coarse particles. We then used conditional logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95 confidence intervals (CIs). Same-day PM2.5 and PM7-2.5 were independently associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality related to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases; for example, both pollutants were positively associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality even after simultaneous adjustment for each pollutant: OR of 1.006 (95% CI: 1.003, 1.009) for PM2.5 and 1.016 (95% CI: 1.011, 1.022) for PM7-2.5. Even below concentrations stipulated by the Japanese air quality guidelines for PM2.5 and SPM (PM7), we observed adverse health effects. This study provides further evidence that acute exposure to PM2.5 and coarse particles is associated with increased risk of mortality among older people. Rigorous evaluation of air quality guidelines for daily average PM2.5 and larger particles should be continued. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Tokyo / Karin Thea

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Karin, Thea

    2013-01-01

    Tokyo vaatamisväärtused: Sky Tree teletorn, Takeshita Dori jalakäijate tänav, Asakusa linnaosa, The Gate Hotel, Tokyo metroo, Ryogoku Kokugikan, Nippon Kasgaku Miraikan ning Jaapani suurim kalaturg Tsukiji

  15. Waveform through the subducted plate under the Tokyo region in Japan observed by a ultra-dense seismic network (MeSO-net) and seismic activity around mega-thrust earthquakes area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakai, S.; Kasahara, K.; Nanjo, K.; Nakagawa, S.; Tsuruoka, H.; Morita, Y.; Kato, A.; Iidaka, T.; Hirata, N.; Tanada, T.; Obara, K.; Sekine, S.; Kurashimo, E.

    2009-12-01

    In central Japan, the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) subducts beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan area, the Kanto region, where it causes mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9) which had 105,000 fatalities. A M7 or greater earthquake in this region at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates the next great earthquake will cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (1 trillion US$) economic loss. This great earthquake is evaluated to occur with a probability of 70 % in 30 years by the Earthquake Research Committee of Japan. We had started the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo Metropolitan area (2007-2012). Under this project, the construction of the Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net) that consists of about 400 observation sites was started [Kasahara et al., 2008; Nakagawa et al., 2008]. Now, we had 178 observation sites. The correlation of the wave is high because the observation point is deployed at about 2 km intervals, and the identification of the later phase is recognized easily thought artificial noise is very large. We also discuss the relation between a deformation of PSP and intra-plate M7+ earthquakes: the PSP is subducting beneath the Honshu arc and also colliding with the Pacific plate. The subduction and collision both contribute active seismicity in the Kanto region. We are going to present a high resolution tomographic image to show low velocity zone which suggests a possible internal failure of the plate; a source region of the M7+ intra-plate earthquake. Our study will contribute a new assessment of the seismic hazard at the Metropolitan area in Japan. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by the Earthquake Research Institute cooperative research program.

  16. TOKYO criteria 2014 for transpapillary biliary stenting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Isayama, Hiroyuki; Hamada, Tsuyoshi; Yasuda, Ichiro; Itoi, Takao; Ryozawa, Shomei; Nakai, Yousuke; Kogure, Hirofumi; Koike, Kazuhiko

    2015-01-01

    It is difficult to carry out meta-analyses or to compare the results of different studies of biliary stents because there is no uniform evaluation method. Therefore, a standardized reporting system is required. We propose a new standardized system for reporting on biliary stents, the 'TOKYO criteria 2014', based on a consensus among Japanese pancreatobiliary endoscopists. Instead of stent occlusion, we use recurrent biliary obstruction, which includes occlusion and migration. The time to recurrent biliary obstruction was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test. We can evaluate both plastic and self-expandable metallic stents (uncovered and covered). We also propose specification of the cause of recurrent biliary obstruction, identification of complications other than recurrent biliary obstruction, indication of severity, measures of technical and clinical success, and a standard for clinical care. Most importantly, the TOKYO criteria 2014 allow comparison of biliary stent quality across studies. Because blocked stents can be drained not only using transpapillary techniques but also by an endoscopic ultrasonography-guided transmural procedure, we should devise an evaluation method that includes transmural stenting in the near future. © 2014 The Authors. Digestive Endoscopy © 2014 Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

  17. Characteristics of a pink-pigmented bacterium isolated from biofilm in a cooling tower in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furuhata, Katsunori; Goto, Keiichi; Kato, Yuko; Saitou, Keiko; Sugiyama, Jun-ichi; Hara, Motonobu; Yoshida, Shin-ichi; Fukuyama, Masafumi

    2007-01-01

    Strain K-20, a Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming and strictly aerobic rod, which produces a pale pink pigment, was isolated from biofilm in a cooling tower in Tokyo, Japan. The taxonomic feature of the strain was studied using phenotypic tests and phylogenetic analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the strain was related to Roseomonas gilardii subsp. rosea, Roseomonas gilardii subsp. gilardii, Roseomonas cervicalis and Roseomonas mucosa at 94.3-94.6 sequence similarities. Growth occurred at 25-40 C and pH 5.0-10.0, optimal at 35 C and pH 7.0. Growth did not occur in the presence of >or=2% NaCl. The API 20NE identification system gave a positive result for urease, L-arabinose, potassium gluconate, adipic acid, malic acid and trisodium citrate (API code number 0201465). The predominant fatty acids of strain K-20 were C18:1Delta11 (50.8%) and C16:1 (17.2%). Cells contained ubiquinone 10 (Q-10) as the major quinone and the G+C content was 72.0 mol%. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data, it was assumed that strain K-20 (=JCM 14634) is a novel species of the genus Roseomonas.

  18. Leaving the street and reconstructing lives: impact of DOTS in empowering homeless people in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawatsu, L; Sato, N; Ngamvithayapong-Yanai, J; Ishikawa, N

    2013-07-01

    Since 2000, the Public Health Centre (PHC) in Shinjuku, an area of Tokyo with one of the largest homeless populations in Japan, has been implementing PHC-based DOTS treatment for homeless tuberculosis (TB) patients, with much epidemiological success. Anecdotal evidence indicates that homeless patients treated under DOTS have experienced various positive changes. However, this experience has not yet been systematically analysed. To explore the changes experienced by homeless TB patients, and to discuss the possible role of PHC-based DOTS treatment in effecting these changes. A qualitative study via in-depth interviews with 18 ex-homeless patients who completed DOTS-based treatment at Shinjuku City PHC. The data were analysed using the interpretive content analysis method. The various changes experienced by the participants were categorised into five sub-categories of empowerment, including improved mental health and interpersonal relationships. Some of these changes were attributable to the participants undergoing PHC-based DOTS, which, by addressing their various emotional needs, helped to trigger patient empowerment. Based on our findings, a model of empowerment using PHC-based DOTS was constructed. PHC-based DOTS not only successfully controlled TB, it also empowered homeless patients by addressing their emotional needs. The interpersonal skills of the nurses played a critical role in this process.

  19. 75 FR 11197 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993 Open Mobile Alliance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-10

    ..., IRELAND; Softfront, Minato-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN; Sonim Technologies, Inc., San Mateo, CA; Sony Corporation..., Berlin, GERMANY; HTC Corporation, Taoyuan County, TAIWAN; Interop Technologies, Beirut, LEBANON..., Incheon, REPUBLIC OF KOREA; S58 Networks, Milpitas, CA; Synclore Corporation, Tokyo, JAPAN; University of...

  20. Annual report of nuclear technology and education center. April 1, 2002 - March 31, 2003

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-10-01

    This report summarizes the activities of Nuclear Technology and Education Center (NuTEC) in Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute in FY 2002. It includes the domestic educational activities in Tokyo Education Center in Komagome Tokyo for RI and radiation engineers and Tokai Education Center in Tokai for nuclear engineers, and the international training activities for Asia-Pacific region which were planned and administrated by International Technology Transfer Division. The new course so called 'Introductory Course for the Use and the Experiment of Neutron' was started with good appreciation by the participants. All scheduled course plan in Tokyo Education Center and Tokai Education Center was accomplished and the total number of the trainee of both Center was 1,297. The courses for RI and radiation engineers implemented in Tokyo Education Center were closed in this FY and transferred to Tokai Establishment in next FY where the course will be integrated with the ones at Tokai Education Center. The land of Tokyo Education Center will be returned to land-owner by the end of FY 2003 after dismantlement of the facilities. The equipments and instruments used in Tokyo Education Center were transferred to Tokai Education Center after finishing all courses in Tokyo in this FY. The improvement and re-arrangement of the facilities in Tokyo Education Center were proceeded to prepare the courses from Tokyo Education Center. (author)

  1. Koreans in Japan: Their Influence on Korean-Japanese Relations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1979-09-01

    1963. 31. The Republic of Korea National Red Cross, The Dispersed Families in Korea, Seoul, 1977. 32. Sato , Shoki, Koreans in Japan - The...1975. 34. Sumiya, Mikio , Kankoku no Keizai (The Korean Economy), Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo, Japan, 1974. 35. U.S. Government Printing Office, U.S. Army Area

  2. Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-05-23

    fields in an area of the East China Sea that both countries claim as their territory. Hu also announced that China would lease two giant pandas to Japan...to replace a recently deceased panda at a Tokyo zoo. Days later, after China was struck by a devastating earthquake, Japan immediately offered...other shipments of U.S. beef from Japan. In May 2007, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) announced that the United States was a “controlled

  3. Understanding Great Earthquakes in Japan's Kanto Region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Reiji; Curewitz, Daniel

    2008-10-01

    Third International Workshop on the Kanto Asperity Project; Chiba, Japan, 16-19 February 2008; The 1703 (Genroku) and 1923 (Taisho) earthquakes in Japan's Kanto region (M 8.2 and M 7.9, respectively) caused severe damage in the Tokyo metropolitan area. These great earthquakes occurred along the Sagami Trough, where the Philippine Sea slab is subducting beneath Japan. Historical records, paleoseismological research, and geophysical/geodetic monitoring in the region indicate that such great earthquakes will repeat in the future.

  4. Potential for air quality improvement in the Tokyo metropolitan area from use of hydrogen fuel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruger, Paul; Murdock, Mork

    1998-01-01

    A revised estimation has been made of the local air quality improvement that can be achieved in Tokyo as a byproduct of a word-wide hydrogen energy economy based on global reduction of CO2 emission from fossil fuels. The study for the WE-NET Project in Japan examined the potential for reduction in nitrogen oxide emission with hydrogen fuel in the Tokyo metropolitan area where sufficient data exist on trends in population, vehicle registrations, traffic activity, and exhaust emissions. A dynamic model was developed to extrapolate the trends in these data to estimate future NOx emission rates in comparison to regulatory scenarios based on policy and technical decisions of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for improvement of air quality in the metropolitan area. The results of the model show significant potential for reduction of NOx emission by the year 2020 with a concomitant reduction in mean roadside NOx concentration. (author)

  5. [Mercury concentration of fish in Tokyo Bay and the surrounding sea area].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, R; Kashima, Y; Matsui, M; Okabe, T; Doi, R

    2001-07-01

    Total mercury in the muscles of three fish species was analyzed in fish caught in Tokyo Bay and the surrounding sea areas, Sagami Bay and Choshi. Tokyo Bay is a semi-closed sea area surrounded by Tokyo, Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures. Sagami Bay and Choshi are open to the Pacific Ocean. A total of 412 fish consisting of northern whiting (Sillago japonica), flatfish (Limanda yokohamae) and sardine (Sardinops melanosticta) were caught in these areas over a 6 months period from November 1998 to April 1999. Total mercury concentration ranged from 0.008-0.092 microgram/g (wet wt.) in northern whiting, 0.006-0.065 microgram/g in flatfish and 0.001-0.045 microgram/g in sardine. All concentrations were below the restriction limit of fish mercury in Japan, 0.4 microgram/g of total mercury concentration. A significant correlation was found between mercury concentrations and body length or body weight in northern whiting and flatfish, irrespective of the sea area. A correlation was also found between mercury concentration in fish and their feeding habits: among the 3 species caught in the same area, crustacean feeding northern whiting had the highest, polychaete feeding flatfish moderate, and plankton feeding sardine had the lowest mercury concentration. In a comparison of mercury concentration in the same species caught in different sea areas, a higher concentration was noted in fish caught in the semi-closed sea area of Tokyo Bay, than in fish caught in the open sea areas of Sagami Bay and Choshi. This difference was most marked in fish caught at the bottom of Tokyo Bay and we considered that the mercury concentration of seawater and sediment in these areas was the cause of mercury accumulation in fish. These findings suggest that improved water quality control and environmental monitoring is necessary in semi-closed sea areas such as Tokyo Bay.

  6. The Development of Astronomy and Emergence of Astrophysics in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Tsuko

    This chapter overviews the emergence and development phases of modern astronomy and astrophysics in Japan, mainly before WWII. In the beginning of the nineteenth century under the samurai regime of the Tokugawa Shogunate, shogunal astronomers started to learn Western astronomy through a Dutch translation of the book Astronomie by J.J. Lalande. After the Meiji Restoration (1868) the new government founded the University of Tokyo (1877), the first modern university in Japan, in which Tokyo Astronomical Observatory (TAO) also started in 1888. Terao Hisashi, who had gone to Paris to study the modern astronomy, became the first Director of TAO in 1888. The astronomy introduced by Terao into Japan was so-called classical astronomy. Two of Terao's early students made Japan's first internationally recognized achievements in astronomy, the discovery of the Z-term in the polar motion of the Earth by Kimura (Astronomische Nachrichten, 158, 234-240, 1902) and the discovery of asteroid families by Hirayama (Astronomical Journal, 31, 185-188, 1918).

  7. Johannes Ludwig Janson, professor of veterinary medicine in Tokyo in 1880-1902 - contribution to German-Japanese medical relations, part IV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kast, Alexander

    2010-01-01

    Among the German pioneers of Western medicine in Japan (8, 12) during the Meiji period (1868-1912), veterinary officer Johannes Ludwig Janson (1849-1914) was one of the most important figures. He arrived in Tokyo in October 1880 and taught at the Veterinary School in Komaba. During his tenure, the school in Komaba was integrated into the School of Agriculture of the Imperial University of Tokyo. Numerous of his graduates occupied high public offices. Among his publications, those about domestic animals and veterinary medicine in Japan deserve special attention. He married a Japanese girl and continued teaching in Komaba until 1902. He found his last resting place in Kagoshima, the native place of his wife. To this day, the Japanese consider Janson the founder of modern veterinary medicine in their country.

  8. Water pollution control technology in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-11-01

    This work is a compilation by members of the Committee for Studying Transfer of Environmental Technology on the expertise and technology developed by the members for controlling water pollution in Japan, together with consideration of issues concerning the transfer of environmental technologies to developing countries. The committee is composed of representatives for the Environment Agency, Japan, Osaka Prefectural Government, Osaka Municipal Government, and 25 companies such as manufacturers of environmental equipment. The document contains a total of 93 short papers grouped into sections on: industrial wastewater treatment; sewage treatment; right soil treatment; sludge treatment; and miscellaneous. One paper by the Kausai Electric Power Co., Inc., discusses waste water treatment systems in oil-fired thermal power plants; another describes an internally circulating fluidized bed boiler for cocombusting coal with industrial wastes.

  9. Characteristics of caffeine intoxication-related death in Tokyo, Japan, between 2008 and 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suzuki, Hideto; Tanifuji, Takanobu; Abe, Nobuyuki; Maeda, Masako; Kato, Yukihisa; Shibata, Mikiyoshi; Fukunaga, Tatsushige

    2014-10-01

    Caffeine is widely available in beverages and over-the-counter products; however, in large doses, it can lead to lethal arrhythmia. This study aims to clarify the characteristics of caffeine intoxication-related deaths in Tokyo, Japan. Among the 4754 forensic autopsy cases between 2008 and 2013 in which a toxicological investigation was performed, cases in which the blood concentration of caffeine exceeded toxic levels (15 μg/ml) were selected (N = 22). We examined subjects' ages, medical histories, direct/underlying causes of death, and manner of death. We also assessed concurrent drug substance detection and identified the origin of the caffeine. More than 60% of the subjects were between the ages of 20 and 49 years (n = 14, 63.6%). Sixteen cases (72.7%) showed a history of psychiatric diseases such as depression and sleep disorders. The underlying cause of death for all cases except two was caffeine intoxication, and manner of death was classified as undetermined (n = 11), accidental (n = 7), suicide (n = 2), or others (n = 2). Toxicological analysis revealed the presence of ingredients common to analgesics/cold remedies in 12 cases (54.5%). The origin of the caffeine was identified in 11 cases (50.0%); the proportion of identification was significantly lower among the cases in which analgesic/cold remedy ingredients were not detected (20.0%). Caffeine intoxication-related deaths mainly occurred in young and middle-aged persons with common psychiatric diseases. Psychiatrists should take note of caffeine dependence while diagnosing common psychiatric symptoms. In half of the cases, the origin of the caffeine was unidentified; nevertheless, dietary sources or over-the-counter drugs containing caffeine were suspected. As it becomes easier to obtain caffeinated products, continuous monitoring of the number of deaths from caffeine intoxication, in addition to detailed investigations of the caffeine's origin, will be necessary.

  10. Urgent Safety Measures in Japan after Great East Japan Earthquake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taniura, W.; Otani, H.

    2012-01-01

    Due to tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the operating and refueling reactor facilities at Fukushima Dai-ichi and Dai-ni Nuclear Power Plants of Tokyo Electric Power Co. caused a nuclear hazard. Japanese electric power companies voluntarily began to compile various urgent measures against tsunami within the week the hazard was caused. As for the urgent safety measures of each licensee, it is clarified that effective measures have been appropriately implemented as a result of the inspection of the national government, the verification based on the guideline of the Japan Society of Maintenology and the stress test. (author)

  11. Subsidence by liquefaction-fluidization in man-made strata around Tokyo bay, Japan: from geological survey on damaged part at the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kazaoka, O.; Kameyama, S.; Shigeno, K.; Suzuki, Y.; Morisaki, M.; Kagawa, A.; Yoshida, T.; Kimura, M.; Sakai, Y.; Ogura, T.; Kusuda, T.; Furuno, K.

    2015-11-01

    Geological disaster by liquefaction-fluidization happened on southern part of the Quaternary Paleo-Kanto submarine basin at the 2011 Earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku. Liquefaction-fluidization phenomena occurred mainly in man-made strata over shaking 5+ intensity of Japan Meteorological Agency scale. Many subsided spots, 10-50 m width, 20-100 m length and less than 1 m depth, by liquefaction-fluidization distributed on reclaimed land around northern Tokyo bay. Large amount of sand and groundwater spouted out in the terrible subsided parts. But there are little subsidence and no jetted sand outside the terrible subsided part. Liquefaction-fluidization damaged part at the 1987 earthquake east off Chiba prefecture re-liquefied and fluidized in these parts at the 2011 great earthquake. The damaged area were more wide on the 2011 earthquake than the 1987 quake. Detailed classification maps of subsidence by liquefaction-fluidization on the 2011 grate earthquake were made by fieldwork in Chiba city around Tokyo bay. A mechanism of subsidence by liquefaction-fluidization in man-made strata was solved by geological survey with continuous large box cores on the ACE Liner and large relief peals of the cores at a typical subsided part.

  12. Prevalence and contamination levels of listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimojima, Yukako; Ida, Miki; Nakama, Akiko; Nishino, Yukari; Fukui, Rie; Kuroda, Sumiyo; Hirai, Akihiko; Kai, Akemi; Sadamasu, Kenji

    2016-08-01

    We surveyed prevalence and contamination levels of Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods between 2000 and 2012 in Tokyo. L. monocytogenes was isolated from 52 (1.7%) out of 2,980 samples. Comparing the prevalence in the study period, 2.2% were positive in the former period (2000-2005) and 1.2% in the latter (2006-2012). Using the most probable number (MPN) technique, 32 samples were contaminated with fewer than 0.3 L. monocytogenes/g, 10 samples with 0.3-1.0/g and 4 samples with more than 1.0/g (the maximum was 2.3/g). The most common serovar was 1/2a, followed by 1/2b, 4b and 1/2c. We revealed that ready-to-eat foods in Tokyo were contaminated with L. monocytogenes, although the contamination levels were low.

  13. JPRS Report, East Asia, Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-11-02

    May 87) 17 Amada Technical Center 17 Punch-press Production in France, by Andreas Gandow 17 Study on Dynamics of Foreign Exchange Rates (Kenichi...468 20 ECONOMIC STUDY ON DYNAMICS OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE RATES Tokyo THE JAPAN TIMES in English 29 Jul 87 pp 7-9 (Article by Kenichi Ohmae] [Text

  14. Towards more stable operation of the Tokyo Tier2 center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, T.; Mashimo, T.; Matsui, N.; Sakamoto, H.; Ueda, I.

    2014-06-01

    The Tokyo Tier2 center, which is located at the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics (ICEPP) in the University of Tokyo, was established as a regional analysis center in Japan for the ATLAS experiment. The official operation with WLCG was started in 2007 after the several years development since 2002. In December 2012, we have replaced almost all hardware as the third system upgrade to deal with analysis for further growing data of the ATLAS experiment. The number of CPU cores are increased by factor of two (9984 cores in total), and the performance of individual CPU core is improved by 20% according to the HEPSPEC06 benchmark test at 32bit compile mode. The score is estimated as 18.03 (SL6) per core by using Intel Xeon E5-2680 2.70 GHz. Since all worker nodes are made by 16 CPU cores configuration, we deployed 624 blade servers in total. They are connected to 6.7 PB of disk storage system with non-blocking 10 Gbps internal network backbone by using two center network switches (NetIron MLXe-32). The disk storage is made by 102 of RAID6 disk arrays (Infortrend DS S24F-G2840-4C16DO0) and served by equivalent number of 1U file servers with 8G-FC connection to maximize the file transfer throughput per storage capacity. As of February 2013, 2560 CPU cores and 2.00 PB of disk storage have already been deployed for WLCG. Currently, the remaining non-grid resources for both CPUs and disk storage are used as dedicated resources for the data analysis by the ATLAS Japan collaborators. Since all hardware in the non-grid resources are made by same architecture with Tier2 resource, they will be able to be migrated as the Tier2 extra resource on demand of the ATLAS experiment in the future. In addition to the upgrade of computing resources, we expect the improvement of connectivity on the wide area network. Thanks to the Japanese NREN (NII), another 10 Gbps trans-Pacific line from Japan to Washington will be available additionally with existing two 10 Gbps lines

  15. Towards more stable operation of the Tokyo Tier2 center

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakamura, T; Mashimo, T; Matsui, N; Sakamoto, H; Ueda, I

    2014-01-01

    The Tokyo Tier2 center, which is located at the International Center for Elementary Particle Physics (ICEPP) in the University of Tokyo, was established as a regional analysis center in Japan for the ATLAS experiment. The official operation with WLCG was started in 2007 after the several years development since 2002. In December 2012, we have replaced almost all hardware as the third system upgrade to deal with analysis for further growing data of the ATLAS experiment. The number of CPU cores are increased by factor of two (9984 cores in total), and the performance of individual CPU core is improved by 20% according to the HEPSPEC06 benchmark test at 32bit compile mode. The score is estimated as 18.03 (SL6) per core by using Intel Xeon E5-2680 2.70 GHz. Since all worker nodes are made by 16 CPU cores configuration, we deployed 624 blade servers in total. They are connected to 6.7 PB of disk storage system with non-blocking 10 Gbps internal network backbone by using two center network switches (NetIron MLXe-32). The disk storage is made by 102 of RAID6 disk arrays (Infortrend DS S24F-G2840-4C16DO0) and served by equivalent number of 1U file servers with 8G-FC connection to maximize the file transfer throughput per storage capacity. As of February 2013, 2560 CPU cores and 2.00 PB of disk storage have already been deployed for WLCG. Currently, the remaining non-grid resources for both CPUs and disk storage are used as dedicated resources for the data analysis by the ATLAS Japan collaborators. Since all hardware in the non-grid resources are made by same architecture with Tier2 resource, they will be able to be migrated as the Tier2 extra resource on demand of the ATLAS experiment in the future. In addition to the upgrade of computing resources, we expect the improvement of connectivity on the wide area network. Thanks to the Japanese NREN (NII), another 10 Gbps trans-Pacific line from Japan to Washington will be available additionally with existing two 10 Gbps lines

  16. Psychometric properties of the 25-item Work Limitations Questionnaire in Japan: factor structure, validity, and reliability in information and communication technology company employees.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kono, Yuko; Matsushima, Eisuke; Uji, Masayo

    2014-02-01

    The 25-item Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ-25) measures presenteeism but has not been sufficiently validated in a Japanese population. A total of 451 employees from four information technology companies in Tokyo completed the WLQ-25 and questionnaires of other variables on two occasions, 2 weeks apart. The WLQ-25 yielded a two-factor structure: Cognitive Demand and Physical Demand. These subscales showed good internal consistency, and both were associated with adverse working conditions, greater perceived job strain, lower skill use, poorer workplace social support, and less satisfactory psychological adjustment. Intraclass correlation coefficients of the two WLQ-25 subscales between time 1 and time 2 were 0.78 and 0.55, respectively. This study suggests acceptable psychometric properties of the WLQ-25 in Japan.

  17. IAEA Expert Team Completes Mission to Review Japan's Nuclear Power Plant Safety Assessment Process, 31 January 2012, Tokyo, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-01-01

    Full text: A team of international nuclear safety experts today completed a review of Japan's two-stage process for assessing nuclear safety at the nation's nuclear power plants. The team began its work on 23 January and delivered a Preliminary Summary Report to Japanese officials today and plans to finish the final report by the end of February. National safety assessments and their peer review by the IAEA are a key component of the IAEA's Action Plan on Nuclear Safety, which was approved by the Agency's 152 Member States following last year's nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. At the request of the Government of Japan, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) organized a 10-person team to review the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's (NISA) approach to the Comprehensive Assessments for the Safety of Existing Power Reactor Facilities and how NISA examines the results submitted by nuclear operators. The IAEA safety review mission consisted of five IAEA and three international nuclear safety experts. To help its review, the team held meetings in Tokyo with officials from NISA, the Japanese Nuclear Energy Safety (JNES) Organization, and the Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), and the team visited the Ohi Nuclear Power Station to see an example of how Japan's Comprehensive Safety Assessment is being implemented by nuclear operators. 'We concluded that NISA's instructions to power plants and its review process for the Comprehensive Safety Assessments are generally consistent with IAEA Safety Standards', said team leader James Lyons, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division. In its Preliminary Summary Report delivered today, the team highlighted a number of good practices and identified some improvements that would enhance the overall effectiveness of the Comprehensive Safety Assessment process. Good practices identified by the mission team include: Based on NISA instructions and commitments of the

  18. Japan's technology and manufacturing infrastructure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulton, William R.; Meieran, Eugene S.; Tummala, Rao R.

    1995-02-01

    The JTEC panel found that, after four decades of development in electronics and manufacturing technologies, Japanese electronics companies are leaders in the development, support, and management of complex, low-cost packaging and assembly technologies used in the production of a broad range of consumer electronics products. The electronics industry's suppliers provide basic materials and equipment required for electronic packaging applications. Panelists concluded that some Japanese firms could be leading U.S. competitors by as much as a decade in these areas. Japan's technology and manufacturing infrastructure is an integral part of its microelectronics industry's success.

  19. Distribution and behavior of major and trace elements in Tokyo Bay, Mutsu Bay and Funka Bay marine sediments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Honda, Teruyuki; Kimura, Ken-ichiro

    2003-01-01

    Fourteen major and trace elements in marine sediment core samples collected from the coasts along eastern Japan, i.e. Tokyo Bay (II) (the recess), Tokyo Bay (IV) (the mouth), Mutsu Bay and Funka Bay and the Northwest Pacific basin as a comparative subject were determined by the instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). The sedimentation rates and sedimentary ages were calculated for the coastal sediment cores by the 210 Pb method. The results obtained in this study are summarized as follows: (1) Lanthanoid abundance patterns suggested that the major origin of the sediments was terrigenous material. La*/Lu* and Ce*/La* ratios revealed that the sediments from Tokyo Bay (II) and Mutsu Bay more directly reflected the contribution from river than those of other regions. In addition, the Th/Sc ratio indicated that the coastal sediments mainly originated in the materials from the volcanic island-arcs, Japanese islands, whereas those from the Northwest Pacific mainly from the continent. (2) The correlation between the Ce/U and Th/U ratios with high correlation coefficients of 0.920 to 0.991 indicated that all the sediments from Tokyo Bay (II) and Funka Bay were in reducing conditions while at least the upper sediments from Tokyo Bay (IV) and Mutsu Bay were in oxidizing conditions. (3) It became quite obvious that the sedimentation mechanism and the sedimentation environment at Tokyo Bay (II) was different from those at Tokyo Bay (IV), since the sedimentation rate at Tokyo Bay (II) was approximately twice as large as that at Tokyo Bay (IV). The sedimentary age of the 5th layer (8∼10 cm in depth) from Funka Bay was calculated at approximately 1940∼50, which agreed with the time, 1943∼45 when Showa-shinzan was formed by the eruption of the Usu volcano. (author)

  20. A report of the symposium on 'comprehensive research on the management of long-lived radioactive wastes' in the Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekiguchi, Akira; Naito, Keiji; Suzuki, Susumu; Furuya, Hirotaka; Sato, Masatomo.

    1983-01-01

    In the Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, the special research project ''Comprehensive Research on the Management of Long-lived Radioactive WasΩtes'' is carried out in the three-year period from fiscal 1982 to 1984. In this connection, a symposium has been held on January 25, 1983. Seven lectures given by the respective speakers are summarized individually: (1) the research of transuranic elements in educational institutions, (2) an outline of the actinoid research facilities planned in Tohoku University, (3) the radiation damage and leachability of glass solids, (4) the situation and trend in Japan and abroad of the disposal of long-lived nuclide wastes, (5) practical site tests concerning the geologic-formation disposal of low-level wastes, (6) the trend in the research of geologic formations for the disposal of high-level wastes, (7) the safety in the management of long-lived radioactive wastes. (Mori, K.)

  1. Tracing cohesive sediment transportation at river mouths around Tokyo, Japan by Cesium originated from Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant

    Science.gov (United States)

    koibuchi, Y.

    2012-12-01

    Sediment transport at river mouths, which consists of suspended-load and bed-load, has not been fully understood, since bed-load transport of cohesive sand is difficult to observe. Especially, the impact of sediment transport on the total amount of fine-grained cohesive sediment has not been elucidated. Cesium-134 and cesium-137 were spread from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) after the earthquake of March 11 of 2011, and attached to the fine-grained sand on the land. The contaminated sand flowed into the river mouths through the rivers possibly due to the complex physical processes in estuarine areas. To evaluate the fine-grained sediment transport around Tokyo and Tokyo Bay, field observations were carried out utilizing radionuclide originated from FDNPP as an effective tracer. The cohesive sediment transport at three different river mouths around Tokyo was successfully quantified. The cohesive sediment transport deposited in the estuary was found to be greatly dependent on the land use, geometry, river discharge and salinity. In addition,the transport driven by the rainfall was minute, and its behavior was quite different from suspended solids. Although further field observations of radionuclide are necessary, it is clear that fine-grained sediment in the bay from rivers already settled on the river mouth by aggregation. The settled sand will not move even in rainfall events. Consequently, the transport of radionuclide to the Pacific Ocean may not occur.; Cesium distribution around Tokyo Bay ; Cesium Concentration in Edogawa river

  2. Yoshiki Hotta and the dawn of zebrafish molecular neurogenetics in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Higashijima, Shin-Ichi; Okamoto, Hitoshi

    2012-03-01

    Abstract: After coming back to Japan to work in the Department of Physics at the University of Tokyo, Yoshiki Hotta spent a year or so on searching for behavioral mutants of goldfish. Although this endeavor did not succeed, he remained an adamant supporter of the development of zebrafish research in Japan. Here we review how his support helped zebrafish neurogenetics in Japan gain a unique position in the world research community.

  3. Japan. Superconductivity for Smart Grids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hayakawa, K.

    2012-11-15

    Currently, many smart grid projects are running or planned worldwide. These aim at controlling the electricity supply more efficiently and more stably in a new power network system. In Japan, especially superconductivity technology development projects are carried out to contribute to the future smart grid. Japanese cable makers such as Sumitomo Electric and Furukawa Electric are leading in the production of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables. The world's largest electric current and highest voltage superconductivity proving tests have been started this year. Big cities such as Tokyo will be expected to introduce the HTS power cables to reduce transport losses and to meet the increased electricity demand in the near future. Superconducting devices, HTS power cables, Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) and flywheels are the focus of new developments in cooperations between companies, universities and research institutes, funded by the Japanese research and development funding organization New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO)

  4. Manpower development and international cooperation in Nuclear Technology and Education Center, JAERI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiba, Koreyuki; Tojo, Takao; Takada, Kazuo; Nomura, Masayuki

    1996-01-01

    Nuclear Technology and Education Center was founded in 1958 and now has two branches, Tokyo Education Center at Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo and Tokai Education Center at Tokai, Ibaraki-ken. The objective was to educate and train nuclear engineers and scientists for implementing the nation's program of atomic energy research, development and utilization. A variety of training courses have been prepared and carried out to meet the requirements of the nuclear community. In recent years, activities of getting the public acceptance have become important for nuclear energy deployment in Japan. Many short courses have been implemented at JAERI sites and cities for providing the public including high school teachers with basic knowledge on nuclear energy. International training programs of the center were started with the cooperation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 1985 and of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1987. International seminars were implemented for improving nuclear safety by inviting participants from the former Soviet Union, central/east European countries and the neighboring countries of Japan under the direction of the Science and Technology Agency (STA) in 1992. STA and JAERI are starting new programs of helping Asian and Pacific countries to develop nuclear manpower. (author)

  5. The Stanford University US-Japan Technology Management Center

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Dasher, Richard

    2002-01-01

    This grant established the U.S.-Japan Technology Management Center, Stanford University School of Engineering, as an ongoing center of excellence for the study of emerging trends and interrelationships between technology...

  6. Keterpaduan Pasar Tuna Segar Benoa/Bali, Indonesia Dan Pasar Sentral Tuna Tokyo, Jepang

    OpenAIRE

    SITORUS, EDYANTO

    2007-01-01

    Tuna fish is which forming life and horde in tropical territorial water until subtropics. Tuna type which important in commerce is Yellowfin, Bigeye, Poor Southern Bluefin, Northern Bluefin, Albacore and of Skipjack (Cakalang). Objective of this research is analyze integrity of market that happened between local market (Market of Benoa, Bali) with reference market (Tuna Central Market of Tokyo, Japan), It is seen from the research that in Benoa there are 3 system of selling fresh tu...

  7. Self-regulation of recombinant DNA technology in Japan in the 1970s.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagai, Hiroyuki; Nukaga, Yoshio; Saeki, Koji; Akabayashi, Akira

    2009-07-01

    Recombinant DNA technology was developed in the United States in the early 1970s. Leading scientists held an international Asilomar Conference in 1975 to examine the self regulation of recombinant DNA technology, followed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health drafting the Recombinant DNA Research Guidelines in 1976. The result of this conference significantly affected many nations, including Japan. However, there have been few historical studies on the self-regulation of recombinant technologies conducted by scientists and government officials in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the Science Council of Japan, the Ministry of Education, Science adn Culture, and the Science and Technology Agency developed self-regulation policies for recombinant DNA technology in Japan in the 1970s. Groups of molecular biologist and geneticists played a key role in establishing guidelines in cooperation with government officials. Our findings suggest that self-regulation policies on recombinant DNA technology have influenced safety management for the life sciences and establishment of institutions for review in Japan.

  8. New tomographic images of P- , S- wave velocity and Q on the Philippine Sea Slab beneath Tokyo: Implication to seismotectonics and seismic hazard in the Tokyo metropolitan region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirata, Naoshi; Sakai, Shin'ichi; Nakagawa, Shigeki; Panayotopoulos, Yannis; Ishikawa, Masahiro; Sato, Hiroshi; Kasahara, Keiji; Kimura, Hisanor; Honda, Ryou

    2013-04-01

    The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates the next great M7+ earthquake in the Tokyo metropolitan region will cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (1 trillion US) economic loss at worst case if it occur beneath northern Tokyo bay with M7.3. However, the estimate is based on a source fault model by conventional studies about the PSP geometry. To evaluate seismic hazard due to the great quake we need to clarify the geometry of PSP and also the Pacific palate (PAP) that subducs beneath PSP. We identify those plates with use of seismic tomography and available deep seismic reflection profiling and borehole data in southern Kanto area. We deployed about 300 seismic stations in the greater Tokyo urban region under the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We obtain clear P- and S- wave velocity (Vp and Vs) and Q tomograms which show a clear image of PSP and PAP. A depth to the top of PSP, 20 to 30 kilometer beneath northern part of Tokyo bay, is about 10 km shallower than previous estimates based on the distribution of seismicity (Ishida, 1992). This shallower plate geometry changes estimations of strong ground motion for seismic hazards analysis within the Tokyo region. Based on elastic wave velocities of rocks and minerals, we interpreted the tomographic images as petrologic images. Tomographic images revealed the presence of two stepwise velocity increase of the top layer of the subducting PSP slab. Rock velocity data reveals that subducting PSP crust transforms from blueschists to amphibolites at depth of 30km and amphibolites to eclogites at depth of 50km, which suggest that dehydration reactions occurs in subducting crust of basaltic compositions during prograde metamorphism and water is released from the subducting PSP crust. Tomograms show evidence for a low-velocity zone (LVZ) beneath the area just north of Tokyo bay. A Q tomogram show a low Q zone in PSP slab. We interpret the LVZ as a

  9. JTEC panel on display technologies in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tannas, Lawrence E., Jr.; Glenn, William E.; Credelle, Thomas; Doane, J. William; Firester, Arthur H.; Thompson, Malcolm

    1992-01-01

    This report is one in a series of reports that describes research and development efforts in Japan in the area of display technologies. The following are included in this report: flat panel displays (technical findings, liquid crystal display development and production, large flat panel displays (FPD's), electroluminescent displays and plasma panels, infrastructure in Japan's FPD industry, market and projected sales, and new a-Si active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) factory); materials for flat panel displays (liquid crystal materials, and light-emissive display materials); manufacturing and infrastructure of active matrix liquid crystal displays (manufacturing logistics and equipment); passive matrix liquid crystal displays (LCD basics, twisted nematics LCD's, supertwisted nematic LCD's, ferroelectric LCD's, and a comparison of passive matrix LCD technology); active matrix technology (basic active matrix technology, investment environment, amorphous silicon, polysilicon, and commercial products and prototypes); and projection displays (comparison of Japanese and U.S. display research, and technical evaluation of work).

  10. Subsidence by liquefaction-fluidization in man-made strata around Tokyo bay, Japan: from geological survey on damaged part at the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. Kazaoka

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Geological disaster by liquefaction-fluidization happened on southern part of the Quaternary Paleo-Kanto submarine basin at the 2011 Earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku. Liquefaction-fluidization phenomena occurred mainly in man-made strata over shaking 5+ intensity of Japan Meteorological Agency scale. Many subsided spots, 10–50 m width, 20–100 m length and less than 1 m depth, by liquefaction-fluidization distributed on reclaimed land around northern Tokyo bay. Large amount of sand and groundwater spouted out in the terrible subsided parts. But there are little subsidence and no jetted sand outside the terrible subsided part. Liquefaction-fluidization damaged part at the 1987 earthquake east off Chiba prefecture re-liquefied and fluidized in these parts at the 2011 great earthquake. The damaged area were more wide on the 2011 earthquake than the 1987 quake. Detailed classification maps of subsidence by liquefaction-fluidization on the 2011 grate earthquake were made by fieldwork in Chiba city around Tokyo bay. A mechanism of subsidence by liquefaction-fluidization in man-made strata was solved by geological survey with continuous large box cores on the ACE Liner and large relief peals of the cores at a typical subsided part.

  11. Radiation curing technology progress and its industrial applications in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ukachi, Takashi

    2003-01-01

    Optics, electronics and display industries are now the driving forces for the Japanese radiation curing technology. The purpose of this paper is to overview the newly developed radiation curing technology in Japan, in particular, its industrial applications, and to present the market figures in radiation curing applications, which were surveyed by RadTech Japan in 2002 afresh. (author)

  12. ROUND-ROBIN ATOM-PROBE EXPERIMENT : PRELIMINARY RESULTS IN JAPAN

    OpenAIRE

    Nakamura , S.

    1986-01-01

    A round-robin experiment were to be carried out by 6 laboratories in Japan (Nishikawa ; Tokyo Inst. Tech., Sakurai and Igata ; Univ. of Tokyo, Ishikawa ; Hitachi, Tanino ; Nippon Steel Corp. and Nakamura ; Osaka Univ.) under the normal operating condition (T < l00 °K,. pulse fraction ~ 15% ~, P < 10-9 torr). Fe-Cr-Al and W-25%Re alloys, which are divided from a single wire were chosen as the specimen materials. A preliminary analysis of the W-Re alloy of the laboratory concerned show the good...

  13. Historical development of modern anatomy education in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakai, Tatsuo

    2010-03-01

    Medical schools at the beginning of Meiji era were diverse, both in regard to their founders and their methods of education, frequently employing foreign teachers of various nationalities. In 1871, German teachers were appointed to organize medical education at the medical school of the University of Tokyo. The anatomical education at the school was conducted by German teachers, i.e. Miller (1871-1873), Dönitz (1873-1877), Gierke (1877-1880) and Disse (1880-1885), followed by Koganei, who returned from the study in Germany. At the first meeting of Japanese Association ofAnatomists in 1893 [Meiji 26], the Japanese anatomy teachers met together and most of them were graduates of the University of Tokyo or fellows of its anatomy department. Before 1877 [Meiji 10], the anatomy books were mainly translated from English books, and foreign teachers of various nationalities were employed in many medical schools in Japan. After 1877 [Meiji 10], the anatomy books based on the lectures by German teachers at the University of Tokyo were published. The anatomy books after 1887 [Meiji 20] were written based on German books, and the German anatomical terms were utilized. After 1905 [Meiji 38], the original Japanese anatomy books appeared, employing international anatomical terms. In the Meiji 10s the anatomy teachers and anatomy textbooks spread from the University of Tokyo to the medical schools in Japan as the number of medical schools increased temporally. In the Meiji 20s the five national and three public medical schools in addition to the University of Tokyo provided substantial anatomy education including dissection course. Even in the early Meiji 20s these medical schools supplied only half of the newly licensed doctors, and the others were supplied through the national examination after preparatory education at private medical schools without opportunity of substantial anatomy education including dissection course.

  14. The IAEA's Activities in a Changing World, Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan, 17 March 2014, Tokyo, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amano, Y.

    2014-01-01

    The last time I had the pleasure of speaking to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan was in December 2010. I had been IAEA Director General for about a year. Three months later came the Fukushima Daiichi accident. It was triggered by a powerful tsunami which followed the Great East Japan Earthquake. Human and organizational failings also played a part. Helping Japan deal with the aftermath of the accident has been a top priority for the IAEA, and for me personally, in the past three years. Nuclear safety is a hugely important issue, both in Japan and throughout the world. We have been working with our 162 Member States to implement the IAEA Action Plan on Nuclear Safety, which was adopted soon after the accident. Just recently, the final reports of our international review missions on decommissioning, and on remediation of large contaminated off-site areas, were made public. Both missions observed good progress in their respective areas. The IAEA is preparing a report on the Fukushima Daiichi accident, which will be finalized by the end of this year and shared with our Member States next year. I welcome the way in which Japan is sharing its post-Fukushima experience with the rest of the world and I encourage all States to make full use of IAEA services in order to help raise levels of safety everywhere

  15. White paper on science and technology, 1995. Fifty years of postwar science and technology in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-07-01

    This August marks 50 years since the end of World War II. Japan emerged from the ruins to overcome the post-war devastation to achieve a high level of economic growth and become the second largest economy in the world. Science and technology have played major roles as a driving force behind this quest for prosperity. However, it seems as though true prosperity is not necessarily being enjoyed by citizens of Japan today. Japan is becoming an aging society. To realize a truly rich and prosperous society in which people can live comfortably, it is important to further raise the level of science and technology. It is also necessary to ensure this development by revitalizing the economy, and to continue to utilize science and technology as an endless resource to create assets for society as a whole which will be inherited by future generations. With this viewpoint in mind, this White Paper looks back on Japan's scientific and technological development over the last 50 years, and considers the future of science and technology with a view toward realizing the true prosperity for its people. It is our hope that this White Paper will be helpful for considering the scientific and technological activities needed to bring about a Japan whose people are truly prosperous, and we will, as a government, continually increase our efforts toward the promotion of science and technology. (J.P.N.)

  16. Air pollution. [Japan; man; biological effects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1975-01-01

    Air pollution levels in Japan are reported along with some resultant health effects. Photochemical smog first occurred in Tokyo during 1967. On July 18, 1970, more than 40 students at the Rissei Girl's High School were treated for eye irritation and throat pain caused by photochemical smog; during July 18 to August 5 of the same year, more than 10,000 injuries were reported. The proportion of the population in Yokkaichi with chronic bronchitis was extraordinarily high among those residents 40 yr or older. The 1-hour sulfur dioxide concentration was as high as 2.5 ppM in the early 1960's in the city. The carbon monoxide concentrations at busy intersections in Tokyo were 10 to 15 ppM. The average CO concentration at the Tokyo Municipal Office in 1969 was 10.6 ppM, and more than 50% of the measurements were higher than the environmental standard (1-hour average) of 10 ppM for 24 consecutive hr. Lead poisoning occurred at the Ushigome ward in Tokyo during the late 1960's and promoted the issuing of new regulations for lead-containing gasoline. (auth)

  17. JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Japan. Goto Quantum Magneto-Flux Logic Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-04-23

    established infrastruc- T. Kobayashi Professor, Physics Department, ture technology, such as the minimal signal measure-Faculty of Science, Tokyo Uni...5th Josephson Electronics, p 103 ence Proceedings, p 1215 (1989) (1988) M. Sato, N. Fukazawa, P. Spee and E. Goto J. Yuyama, M. Kasuya, S. Kobayashi , R...a speed similar to the real number inner product Nobuaki Yoshida computation. Because the single precision inner product computation can be composed

  18. Japan - IAEA joint Nuclear Energy Management School 2016

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, Mika; Hidaka, Akihide; Ikuta, Yuko; Yamashita, Kiyonobu; Sawai, Tomotsugu; Murakami, Kenta; Uesaka, Mitsuru; Tomita, Akira; Toba, Akio; Hirose, Hiroya; Watanabe, Masanori; Kitabata, Takuya; Ueda, Kinichi; Kita, Tomohiko; Namaizawa, Ken; Onose, Takatoshi

    2017-03-01

    Since 2010, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has held the 'Nuclear Energy Management School' so-called 'IAEA-NEM' to develop future leaders who plan and manage nuclear energy utilization in their county. Since 2012, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) together with the Japan Nuclear Human Resource Development Network (JN-HRD Net), the University of Tokyo (UT), the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) and JAIF International Cooperation Center (JICC) have cohosted the NEM school in Japan in cooperation with IAEA. Since then, the school has been held every year, with the school in 2016 marking the fifth. In the 2016 NEM school, Japanese nuclear energy technology and experience, such as lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, were provided by not only lectures by IAEA experts, but also lectures by Japanese experts and leaders in order to offer a unique opportunity for the participants from other countries to learn about particular cases in Japan. Opportunities to visit a variety of nuclear facilities were offered for the participants in the form of technical tours in Fukui and Kobe. Through the school, we contributed to the internationalization of Japanese young nuclear professionals, development of nuclear human resource of other countries including nuclear newcomers, and enhanced cooperative relationship between IAEA and Japan. Additionally, collaborative relationship with JN-HRD Net was strengthened solidly through the integrated cooperation among ministries, universities, manufacturers and research organizations across the county by holding the school in Japan. In this report, findings obtained during the preparatory work and the school period were reported in order to make a valuable contribution towards effectively and efficiently conducting future international nuclear human resource development activities in Japan. (author)

  19. Survey of the development of industrial technology in Japan; Sangyo gijutsu rekishi keisho chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-03-01

    Conditions for creating Japan`s type technologies have been investigated by extracting technologies and experiences meriting the succession to the next generation among the industrial technologies in Japan after World War II. Technological creativity of Japan began to appear from the 1970`s. Quartz watch of SEIKO, U-Matic VTR of SONY, ladle refinery method of DAIDO Steel, PAN-based carbon fiber of TORAY, continuous annealing of Nippon Steel, calculating machine using liquid crystal of SHARP, ASA-400 high sensitivity film of FUJI FILM, and Japanese word-processor of TOSHIBA are the examples. The basic ability to create those products and technology lays in the diversity of firms in electronic device and fine machinery industries consisting the boundary between general and electrical machinery, the systematizing ability and inter-industrial cooperation which were promoted through quality control, automatization of assembly and production control by computer, and the research and development capability which has been brought up during the high economic growth as a learning process of technology. The society and industries have to make efforts to create the new creative conditions for younger generations. Otherwise, Japan`s technology will not develop. 134 refs., 19 figs., 8 tabs.

  20. Multi functionele gebouwcomplexen in Tokyo

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Van Eijnsbergen, D.H.

    2008-01-01

    This dissertation describes eight Multi Uses Complexes in Tokyo. All these buildings combine work, living, leisure and parking. In the first part of the study, there is a historical view of Tokyo concerning the infra-structure of the city. Important is that the city has still the same street pattern

  1. History of nuclear technology development in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamashita, Kiyonobu, E-mail: yamashita.kiyonobu@jaea.go.jp [Visiting Professor, at the Faculty of Petroleum and Renewable Energy Engineering, University Teknologi Malaysia Johor Bahru 81310 (Malaysia); General Advisor Nuclear HRD Centre, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, TOKAI-mura, NAKA-gun, IBARAKI-ken, 319-1195 (Japan)

    2015-04-29

    Nuclear technology development in Japan has been carried out based on the Atomic Energy Basic Act brought into effect in 1955. The nuclear technology development is limited to peaceful purposes and made in a principle to assure their safety. Now, the technologies for research reactors radiation application and nuclear power plants are delivered to developing countries. First of all, safety measures of nuclear power plants (NPPs) will be enhanced based on lesson learned from TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPS accident.

  2. History of nuclear technology development in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamashita, Kiyonobu

    2015-04-01

    Nuclear technology development in Japan has been carried out based on the Atomic Energy Basic Act brought into effect in 1955. The nuclear technology development is limited to peaceful purposes and made in a principle to assure their safety. Now, the technologies for research reactors radiation application and nuclear power plants are delivered to developing countries. First of all, safety measures of nuclear power plants (NPPs) will be enhanced based on lesson learned from TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPS accident.

  3. History of nuclear technology development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamashita, Kiyonobu

    2015-01-01

    Nuclear technology development in Japan has been carried out based on the Atomic Energy Basic Act brought into effect in 1955. The nuclear technology development is limited to peaceful purposes and made in a principle to assure their safety. Now, the technologies for research reactors radiation application and nuclear power plants are delivered to developing countries. First of all, safety measures of nuclear power plants (NPPs) will be enhanced based on lesson learned from TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPS accident

  4. Creating the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Medals from Electronic Scrap: Sustainability Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leader, Alexandra M.; Wang, Xue; Gaustad, Gabrielle

    2017-09-01

    For the upcoming 2020 Olympic Games, which are to be held in Tokyo, Japan, it has been proposed that recycled metal from electronic waste should be used to create the gold, silver, and bronze medals that will be awarded to athletes from around the world. This work is aimed at exploring the feasibility of this goal, quantifying the required electronic waste, identifying the limiting material constraints, and addressing a selection of sustainability metrics. The results show that 2.5-13.8% of Japan's available electronic waste would be required to create the medals, depending on the composition of the collected electronics and the processing yields. The environmental benefits from this venture are identified as being a savings of approximately 4.5-5.1 TJ of energy, which is equivalent to CO2 emissions reductions of approximately 420 metric tons. Additionally, qualitative potential benefits to environment, human health, economic recovery of valuable materials, and supply stability are considered.

  5. The Design of WORKER'S Behavior Analysis Method in Workplace Using Indoor Positioning Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabata, K.; Konno, H.; Nakajima, M.

    2016-06-01

    This study presents a method for analyzing workers' behavior using indoor positioning technology and field test in the workplace. Recently, various indoor positioning methods, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth low energy (BLE), visible light communication, Japan's indoor messaging system, ultra-wide band (UWB), and pedestrian dead reckoning (PDR), have been investigated. The development of these technologies allows tracking of movement of both people and/or goods in indoor spaces, people and/or goods behavior analysis is expected as one of the key technologies for operation optimization. However, when we use these technologies for human tracking, there are some problem as follows. 1) Many cases need to use dedicated facilities (e.g. UWB). 2) When we use smartphone as sensing device, battery depletion is one of the big problem (especially using PDR). 3) the accuracy is instability for tracking (e.g. Wi-Fi). Based on these matters, in this study we designed and developed an indoor positioning system using BLE positioning. And, we adopted smartphone for business use as sensing device, developed a smartphone application runs on android OS. Moreover, we conducted the field test of developed system at Itoki Corporation's ITOKI Tokyo Innovation Center, SYNQA, office (Tokyo, Japan). Over 40 workers participated in this field test, and worker tracking log data were collected for 6 weeks. We analyzed the characteristics of the workers' behavior using this log data as a prototyping.

  6. Modelling psychological responses to the Great East Japan earthquake and nuclear incident.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robin Goodwin

    Full Text Available The Great East Japan (Tōhoku/Kanto earthquake of March 2011 was followed by a major tsunami and nuclear incident. Several previous studies have suggested a number of psychological responses to such disasters. However, few previous studies have modelled individual differences in the risk perceptions of major events, or the implications of these perceptions for relevant behaviours. We conducted a survey specifically examining responses to the Great Japan earthquake and nuclear incident, with data collected 11-13 weeks following these events. 844 young respondents completed a questionnaire in three regions of Japan; Miyagi (close to the earthquake and leaking nuclear plants, Tokyo/Chiba (approximately 220 km from the nuclear plants, and Western Japan (Yamaguchi and Nagasaki, some 1000 km from the plants. Results indicated significant regional differences in risk perception, with greater concern over earthquake risks in Tokyo than in Miyagi or Western Japan. Structural equation analyses showed that shared normative concerns about earthquake and nuclear risks, conservation values, lack of trust in governmental advice about the nuclear hazard, and poor personal control over the nuclear incident were positively correlated with perceived earthquake and nuclear risks. These risk perceptions further predicted specific outcomes (e.g. modifying homes, avoiding going outside, contemplating leaving Japan. The strength and significance of these pathways varied by region. Mental health and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the continuing uncertainties in Japan following the March 2011 events.

  7. Modelling psychological responses to the Great East Japan earthquake and nuclear incident.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goodwin, Robin; Takahashi, Masahito; Sun, Shaojing; Gaines, Stanley O

    2012-01-01

    The Great East Japan (Tōhoku/Kanto) earthquake of March 2011 was followed by a major tsunami and nuclear incident. Several previous studies have suggested a number of psychological responses to such disasters. However, few previous studies have modelled individual differences in the risk perceptions of major events, or the implications of these perceptions for relevant behaviours. We conducted a survey specifically examining responses to the Great Japan earthquake and nuclear incident, with data collected 11-13 weeks following these events. 844 young respondents completed a questionnaire in three regions of Japan; Miyagi (close to the earthquake and leaking nuclear plants), Tokyo/Chiba (approximately 220 km from the nuclear plants), and Western Japan (Yamaguchi and Nagasaki, some 1000 km from the plants). Results indicated significant regional differences in risk perception, with greater concern over earthquake risks in Tokyo than in Miyagi or Western Japan. Structural equation analyses showed that shared normative concerns about earthquake and nuclear risks, conservation values, lack of trust in governmental advice about the nuclear hazard, and poor personal control over the nuclear incident were positively correlated with perceived earthquake and nuclear risks. These risk perceptions further predicted specific outcomes (e.g. modifying homes, avoiding going outside, contemplating leaving Japan). The strength and significance of these pathways varied by region. Mental health and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the light of the continuing uncertainties in Japan following the March 2011 events.

  8. Retrospect over past 25 years at Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aoki, Shigebumi

    1983-01-01

    Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, Tokyo Institute of Technology, was established on April 1, 1956, with the aims of the investigation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and of the education of scientists and engineers in this field. This report reviews the history of the Laboratory during 25 years and traces the process of growth concerning research divisions, buildings, large-scale experimental facilities and the education in the graduate course for nuclear engineering. In addition, considering what the Laboratory has to be and what the future plan will be, it is mentioned that the research interest should be extended to the field of nuclear fusion reactor, especially the blanket engineering, as a long-term future project of the Research Laboratory. (author)

  9. United States Japan Industry and Technology Management Training

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Gercik, Patricia

    2001-01-01

    .... The intellectual focus of the Program is to integrate the research methodologies of the social sciences, the humanities, and technology to approach issues confronting the United States and Japan...

  10. Clean coal technologies in Japan: technological innovation in the coal industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2006-12-15

    This brochure reviews the history clean coal technologies (CCT) in Japan and systematically describes the present state of CCT insofar. The brochure contains three parts. Part 1. CCT classifications; Part 2. CCT overview; and Part 3. Future outlook for CCT. The main section is part 2 which includes 1) technologies for coal resources development; 2) coal-fired power generation technologies - combustion technologies and gasification technologies; 3) iron making and general industry technologies; 4) multi-purpose coal utilization technologies - liquefaction technologies, pyrolysis technologies, powdering, fluidization, and co-utilisation technologies, and de-ashing and reforming technologies; 5) Environmental protection technologies - CO{sub 2} recovery technologies; flue gas treatment and gas cleaning technologies, and technologies to effectively use coal has; 6) basic technologies for advanced coal utilization; and 7) co-production systems.

  11. Potato irradiation technology in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takehisa, M.

    1981-01-01

    After the National research program on potato irradiation, the public consumption of potatoes irradiated to a maximum of 15 krad was authorized by the Ministry of Welfare. Shihoro Agricultural Cooperative Association, one of the largest potato producers in Japan with an annual production of 200,000 tons, intended an application of the irradiation to their potato storage system. This paper describes the technological background of the potato irradiation facility and operational experience. (author)

  12. Trajectory of intimate partner violence and healthcare seeking over the life course: study of Japanese women in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamimura, A; Yoshihama, M; Bybee, D

    2013-10-01

    To describe the trajectory of, and examine factors affecting, intimate partner violence (IPV) and IPV-specific healthcare seeking among Japanese women over the life course. Life course study. One hundred and one women, aged 24-80 years, who had a lifetime history of IPV were interviewed in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan in 2005 and 2006. Life course data were collected according to the life history calendar method. Hierarchical linear modelling was used to examine IPV-specific healthcare seeking over the life course. Injury, formal or informal help seeking, public assistance, worse self-rated health status and smoking significantly increased the likelihood of IPV-specific healthcare seeking over the life course. There are significant cohort effects on healthcare seeking. The results suggest that women who experience IPV may seek healthcare services not only immediately after the first occurrence of IPV, but also later in life. IPV is not always associated with immediate healthcare seeking. In particular, sexual IPV is not significantly associated with healthcare seeking. Pursuing formal and informal help is associated with healthcare seeking. Copyright © 2013 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Electro-Optics Millimeter/Microwave Technology in Japan. Report of DoD Technology Team.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1985-05-01

    sink packages covering frequencies up to 94 GHz is being produced. They are suitable for both con- tinuous wave (CW) and pulsed operations. Mean -time...Processing Tel ecommunications Semiconductor and Electronic Components The Technology Team visited the Fujitsu Laboratory, Kanagawa. Topics covered included...Japan, the representatives of the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States of America have held discussions on the ways and means to

  14. Spatial and temporal trends of short- and medium-chain chlorinated paraffins in sediments off the urbanized coastal zones in China and Japan: A comparison study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Lixi; Lam, James C W; Horii, Yuichi; Li, Xiaolin; Chen, Weifang; Qiu, Jian-Wen; Leung, Kenneth M Y; Yamazaki, Eriko; Yamashita, Nobuyoshi; Lam, Paul K S

    2017-05-01

    To examine the impacts of urbanization and industrialization on the coastal environment, and assess the effectiveness of control measures on the contamination by chlorinated paraffins (CPs) in East Asia, surface and core sediments were sampled from the urbanized coastal zones in China and Japan (i.e., Pearl River Delta (PRD), Hong Kong waters and Tokyo Bay) and analyzed for short-chain (SCCPs) and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs). Much higher concentrations of CPs were found in the industrialized PRD than in adjacent Hong Kong waters. Significant correlation between CP concentration and population density in the coastal district of Hong Kong was observed (r 2  = 0.72 for SCCPs and 0.55 for MCCPs, p chain groups within SCCPs in the PRD than in Hong Kong waters and Tokyo Bay implied the effect of industrialization. Comparison of temporal trends between Hong Kong outer harbor with Tokyo Bay shows the striking difference in historical deposition of CPs under different regulatory situations in China and Japan. For the first time, the declining CP concentrations in Tokyo Bay, Japan, attest to the effectiveness of emissions controls. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Acute exposure to fine and coarse particulate matter and infant mortality in Tokyo, Japan (2002-2013).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yorifuji, Takashi; Kashima, Saori; Doi, Hiroyuki

    2016-05-01

    Few studies have evaluated the effect of short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) less than 2.5μm in diameter (PM2.5) or to coarse particles on infant mortality. We evaluated the association between short-term exposure to PM and infant mortality in Japan and assessed whether adverse health effects were observable at PM concentrations below Japanese air quality guidelines. We used a time-stratified, case-crossover design. The participants included 2086 infants who died in the 23 urbanized wards of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government between January 2002 and December 2013. We obtained measures of PM2.5 and suspended particulate matter (SPM; PMPM7-2.5 by subtracting PM2.5 from SPM. We then used conditional logistic regression to analyze the data. Same-day PM2.5 was associated with increased risks of infant and postneonatal mortality, especially for mortality related to respiratory causes. For a 10μg/m(3) increase in PM2.5, the odds ratios were 1.06 (95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.12) for infant mortality and 1.10 (1.02-1.19) for postneonatal mortality. PM7-2.5 was also associated with an increased risk of postneonatal mortality, independent of PM2.5. Even when PM2.5 and SPM concentrations were below Japanese air quality guidelines, we observed adverse health effects. This study provides further evidence that acute exposure to PM2.5 and coarse particles (PM7-2.5) is associated with an increased risk of infant mortality. Further, rigorous evaluation of air quality guidelines for daily average PM2.5 and larger particles is needed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. [The Chinese nuclear test and 'atoms for peace' as a measure for preventing nuclear armament of Japan: the nuclear non-proliferation policy of the United States and the introduction of light water reactors into Japan, 1964-1968].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamazaki, Masakatsu

    2014-07-01

    Japan and the United States signed in 1968 a new atomic energy agreement through which US light-water nuclear reactors, including those of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company, were to be introduced into Japan. This paper studies the history of negotiations for the 1968 agreement using documents declassified in the 1990s in the US and Japan. After the success of the Chinese nuclear test in October 1964, the United States became seriously concerned about nuclear armament of other countries in Asia including Japan. Expecting that Japan would not have its own nuclear weapons, the US offered to help the country to demonstrate its superiority in some fields of science including peaceful nuclear energy to counter the psychological effect of the Chinese nuclear armament. Driven by his own political agenda, the newly appointed Prime Minister Eisaku Sato responded to the US expectation favorably. When he met in January 1965 with President Johnson, Sato made it clear that Japan would not pursue nuclear weapons. Although the US continued its support after this visit, it nevertheless gave priority to the control of nuclear technology in Japan through the bilateral peaceful nuclear agreement. This paper argues that the 1968 agreement implicitly meant a strategic measure to prevent Japan from going nuclear and also a tactic to persuade Japan to join the Nuclear Non -Proliferation Treaty.

  17. Corroborating a new probabilistic seismic hazard assessment for greater Tokyo from historical intensity observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozkurt, S.; Stein, R.; Toda, S.

    2006-12-01

    The long recorded history of earthquakes in Japan affords an opportunity to forecast seismic shaking exclusively from past observations of shaking. For this we analyzed 10,000 intensity observations recorded during AD 1600-2000 in a 350 x 350 km area centered on Tokyo in a Geographic Information System. A frequency-intensity curve is found for each 5 x 5 km cell, and from this the probability of exceeding any intensity level can be estimated. The principal benefits of this approach is that it builds the fewest possible assumptions into a probabilistic seismic forecast, it includes site and source effects without imposing this behavior, and we do not need to know the size or location of any earthquake or the location and slip rate of any fault. The cost is that we must abandon any attempt to make a time-dependent forecast, which could be quite different. We believe the method is suitable to many applications of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment, and to other regions. The two key assumptions are that the slope of the observed frequency-intensity relation at every site is the same, and that the 400-year record is long enough to encompass the full range of seismic behavior. Tests we conduct suggest that both assumptions are sound. The resulting 30-year probability of IJMA>=6 shaking (roughly equivalent to PGA>=0.9 g or MMI=IX-X) is 30-40% in Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama, and 10-15% in Chiba and Tsukuba, the range reflecting spatial variability and curve-fitting alternatives. The strongest shaking is forecast along the margins of Tokyo Bay, within the river sediments extending northwest from Tokyo, and at coastal sites near the plate boundary faults. We also produce long- term exceedance maps of peak ground acceleration for building code regulations, and short-term hazard maps associated with hypothetical catastrophe bonds. Our results for greater Tokyo resemble our independent Poisson probability developed from conventional seismic hazard analysis, as well as

  18. Adaptation of the European Commission-recommended user testing method to patient medication information leaflets in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yamamoto M

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Michiko Yamamoto,1 Hirohisa Doi,1 Ken Yamamoto,2 Kazuhiro Watanabe,2 Tsugumichi Sato,3 Machi Suka,4 Takeo Nakayama,5 Hiroki Sugimori6 1Department of Drug Informatics, Center for Education & Research on Clinical Pharmacy, Showa Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Pharmacy Practice, Center for Education & Research on Clinical Pharmacy, Showa Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo, Japan; 3Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, Chiba, Japan; 4Department of Public Health and Environmental Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 5Department of Health Informatics, Kyoto University School of Public, Kyoto, Japan; 6Department of Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Sports and Health Sciences, Daito Bunka University, Saitama, Japan Background: The safe use of drugs relies on providing accurate drug information to patients. In Japan, patient leaflets called Drug Guide for Patients are officially available; however, their utility has never been verified. This is the first attempt to improve Drug Guide for Patients via user testing in Japan.Purpose: To test and improve communication of drug information to minimize risk for patients via user testing of the current and revised versions of Drug Guide for Patients, and to demonstrate that this method is effective for improving Drug Guide for Patients in Japan.Method: We prepared current and revised versions of the Drug Guide for Patients and performed user testing via semi-structured interviews with consumers to compare these versions for two guides for Mercazole and Strattera. We evenly divided 54 participants into two groups with similar distributions of sex, age, and literacy level to test the differing versions of the Mercazole guide. Another group of 30 participants were divided evenly to test the versions of the Strattera guide. After completing user testing, the participants evaluated both guides in terms of amount of information

  19. Impact of the 2001 Tohoku-oki earthquake to Tokyo Metropolitan area observed by the Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirata, N.; Hayashi, H.; Nakagawa, S.; Sakai, S.; Honda, R.; Kasahara, K.; Obara, K.; Aketagawa, T.; Kimura, H.; Sato, H.; Okaya, D. A.

    2011-12-01

    The March 11, 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake brought a great impact to the Tokyo metropolitan area in both seismological aspect and seismic risk management although Tokyo is located 340 km from the epicenter. The event generated very strong ground motion even in the metropolitan area and resulted severe requifaction in many places of Kanto district. National and local governments have started to discuss counter measurement for possible seismic risks in the area taking account for what they learned from the Tohoku-oki event which is much larger than ever experienced in Japan Risk mitigation strategy for the next greater earthquake caused by the Philippine Sea plate (PSP) subducting beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area is of major concern because it caused past mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9). An M7 or greater (M7+) earthquake in this area at present has high potential to produce devastating loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates that an M7+ earthquake will cause 11,000 fatalities and 112 trillion yen (about 1 trillion US$) economic loss. In order to mitigate disaster for greater Tokyo, the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area was launched in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and social-scientists in nationwide institutions. We will discuss the main results that are obtained in the respective fields which have been integrated to improve information on the strategy assessment for seismic risk mitigation in the Tokyo metropolitan area; the project has been much improved after the Tohoku event. In order to image seismic structure beneath the Metropolitan Tokyo area we have developed Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net; Hirata et al., 2009). We have installed 296 seismic stations every few km (Kasahara et al., 2011). We conducted seismic

  20. Periodical public opinion survey on nuclear energy. Inhabitants living in the Tokyo metropolitan area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shinoda, Yoshihiko; Tsutida, Shouji; Kimura, Hiroshi

    2014-01-01

    Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident (Fukushima accident) has brought about a great change in many people's perceptions about nuclear power plant safety. When discussing future energy options for Japan, it is important to have a full grasp of the attitude of a large number of people towards nuclear energy. The Atomic Energy Society of Japan has conducted annual questionnaire survey of 500 adults who live within 30 kilometers of Tokyo Station. The aim of this survey is to assess trends in public attitude towards nuclear energy. The authors that designed the questionnaire entries of this survey have been managing questionnaire data as members of the Data Management Working Group under the Social and Environmental Division of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan. We confirmed the change in public attitude towards nuclear energy through this periodical survey after the Fukushima accident. In particular, public concerns about the use of nuclear energy increased after the Fukushima accident, and many people have raised doubts over the use of nuclear energy in the future. (author)

  1. The cost of schizophrenia in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sado M

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Mitsuhiro Sado,1 Ataru Inagaki,2 Akihiro Koreki,1 Martin Knapp,3 Lee Andrew Kissane,4 Masaru Mimura,1 Kimio Yoshimura4 1Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, 2Center for Clinical Psychopharmacology, Institute of Neuropsychiatry, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK; 4Department of Health Policy and Management, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Introduction: Schizophrenia is a disorder that produces considerable burdens due to its often relapsing/remitting or chronic longitudinal course. This burden is felt not only by patients themselves, but also by their families and health care systems. Although the societal burden caused by this disorder has been evaluated in several countries, the magnitude of the societal cost of schizophrenia in Japan has never been estimated. The aim of this study is to clarify the societal burden of schizophrenia by estimating the cost of schizophrenia in Japan in 2008. Methods: A human capital approach was adopted to estimate the cost of schizophrenia. The total cost of schizophrenia was calculated as the sum of the direct, morbidity, and mortality costs. Schizophrenia was defined as disorders coded as F20.0–F20.9 according to the International Classification of Diseases-10. The data required to estimate the total cost was collected from publicly available statistics or previously reported studies. Results: The total cost of schizophrenia in Japan in 2008 was JPY 2.77 trillion (USD 23.8 billion. While the direct cost was JPY 0.770 trillion (USD 6.59 billion, the morbidity and mortality costs were JPY 1.85 trillion (USD 15.8 billion and JPY 0.155 trillion (USD 1.33 billion, respectively. Conclusion: The societal burden caused by schizophrenia is tremendous in Japan, similar to that in other developed countries where published data exist. Compared with other disorders, such as depression or anxiety disorders

  2. Intra-Cultural Variation in Child Care Practices in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyama, Noriko

    2016-01-01

    This study, comprising three sub-studies, aims to examine how child-rearing practices vary according to different social circumstances in Japan. By comparing teacher-child interaction at mealtimes in day care centres both on an isolated small island located in Okinawa prefecture, Tarama, and in a large industrialised city, Tokyo, the following was…

  3. Cognition of high-level radioactive waste disposal in the Tokyo metropolitan area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kimura, Hiroshi

    2010-01-01

    In Japan, the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) produced by nuclear power generation is an urgent issue. Recently, some questionnaire surveys were conducted. Especially the surveys in the Tokyo metropolitan area which were conducted by AESJ include the fulfilling questions concerning HLW relatively. In this paper, the author shows the results of surveys by AESJ. These results show that the issue concerning HLW is not so much concern for the respondents by comparison with many kinds of issues in the society. They also show that female respondents have less understanding about HLW disposal and have more degree of anxiety against HLW and disposal than male respondents. (author)

  4. Enuresis and Hyperactivity-Inattention in Early Adolescence: Findings from a Population-Based Survey in Tokyo (Tokyo Early Adolescence Survey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sho Kanata

    Full Text Available Enuresis (9% at age 9.5 negatively affects children's psychosocial status. Clinically-diagnosed enuresis (2% at the age is associated with hyperactivity-inattention, and common neural bases have been postulated to underlie this association. It is, however, unclear whether this association is applicable to enuresis overall among the general population of early adolescents when considered comorbid behavioral problems. We aimed to examine whether enuresis correlates with hyperactivity-inattention after controlling for the effects of other behavioral problems.Participants were 4,478 children (mean age 10.2 ± 0.3 years old and their parents from the Tokyo Early Adolescence Survey (T-EAS, a population-representative cross-sectional study conducted in Tokyo, Japan conducted from 2012 to 2015. Children's enuresis and behavioral problems, including hyperactivity-inattention (as measured by the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, were examined using parent-reporting questionnaires. Multivariate linear regression was used to explore whether enuresis predicts hyperactivity-inattention.The hyperactivity-inattention score was significantly higher in the enuretic group than the non-enuretic group (enuretic: M (SD = 3.8 (2.3, non-enuretic: M (SD = 3.0 (2.1, Hedge's g = 0.39, p < .001. This association remained significant even after controlling for other behavioral problems and including sex, age, intelligence quotient (IQ, low birth weight and parents' education (β = .054 [95% CI: .028-.080], p < .001.Enuresis was independently associated with hyperactivity-inattention in early adolescents among general population even when other behavioral problems were considered. These results suggest that, as with clinically-diagnosed cases, enuresis may predict need for screening and psychosocial support for hyperactivity-inattention.

  5. New stage of clean coal technology in Japan; Clean coal technology no aratana tenkai ni tsuite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kawaguchi, Y [Agency of Natural Resources and Energy, Tokyo (Japan)

    1996-09-01

    The paper described the positioning and new development of clean coal technology. Coal is an important resource which supplies approximately 30% of the energy consumed in all the world. In the Asian/Pacific region, especially, a share of coal in energy is high, around 60% of the world, and it is indispensable to continue using coal which is abundantly reserved. Japan continues using coal as an important energy among petroleum substituting energies taking consideration of the global environment, and is making efforts for development and promotion of clean coal technology aiming at further reduction of environmental loads. Moreover, in the Asian region where petroleum depends greatly upon outside the region, it is extremely important for stabilization of Japan`s energy supply that coal producing countries in the region promote development/utilization of their coal resources. For this, it is a requirement for Japan to further a coal policy having an outlook of securing stable coal supply/demand in the Asian region. 6 figs., 2 tabs.

  6. A common agenda of global challenges. Japan and U.S. pool resources to tackle global issues including population and HIV / AIDS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1998-05-01

    The Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective is a bilateral partnership established in 1993 between the US and Japan to address important global challenges of the 21st century such as global health and human development, including population and HIV/AIDS, global stability, protection of the global environment, and the advancement of science and technology. On the fifth anniversary of the agenda, representatives of the Japan and the US governments, international organizations, and private sectors discussed ways to further promote US-Japan cooperation under the agenda at a meeting held in Tokyo during March 12-13. Participants of the Common Agenda Open Forum also reviewed efforts made by Japan and the US under the agenda to address population and the environment. Forum participants focused upon developing new ideas for future cooperation between the governments, the private sector, and other nations, especially in the areas of health and the environment. The meeting was jointly organized by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Department of State. Attention was also given during talks to diminishing international assistance budgets worldwide.

  7. [Review of the health technology assessment on surgeries in Japan].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishigori, Tatsuto; Kawakami, Koji; Goto, Rei; Hida, Koya; Sakai, Yoshiharu

    2015-01-01

    Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is the systematic evaluation to measure the value of new health technologies. It improves the quality of choices on hand for cost-effective health technologies that are considered valuable. Japan has built a society of longevity consisted of the institution of the universal health care system, which is financially unsustainable. In Japan, no independent HTA organization has been publicly established but the government is contemplating implementation of such system. To advance the usage of HTA into surgery, we need to establish methods for evaluating new surgical technologies with steep learning curves. The promotion of clinical researches is also essential, especially by taking advantage of observational studies from medical big data such as the Japanese nationwide database which has more than four million surgical cases registered. In addition, we need more clinical information regarding each surgical patient's quality of life and socioeconomic status. The countries already introduced HTA into their health care system have measures to solve the problems that arose and have developed necessary evaluating methods. To introduce and promote HTA in Japan without taking away the benefit of our current healthcare, it is required that surgeons collaborate with other specialists such as methodologists and health economists.

  8. US/Japan workshop on mitigation and adaptation technologies related to global climate change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bernthal, F.M.

    1993-12-31

    It is a great pleasure for me to have the honor of delivering the keynote address for this important gathering, an honor enhanced further because of the many activities and historic relationships represented by this workshop. First of all, it represents the spirit of continuing cooperation and good relations between the United States and Japan. With the aid of the framework provided by the U.S./Japan Science and Technology Agreement, our two nations can come together to address a problem that has no national boundaries {hor_ellipsis} and we can think about solutions of potential benefit to all citizens of the global community. This workshop also symbolizes the spirit of cooperation so characteristic of the conduct of research in science and technology -- cooperation between us as individual scientists and engineers, between the various institutions we represent, and across our diverse disciplines. This workshop is only the second of its kind. The first US/Japan Workshop on global climate change was held last year in Japan. That workshop focused on cooperative scientific research in the United States and Japan. Out of it came a general agreement to continue collaborative work and to extend cooperation into the area of global change-related technologies, in particular those technologies that hold promise for mitigation and adaptation.

  9. Do investment-specific technological changes matter for business fluctuations? Evidence from Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Hirose, Yasuo; Kurozumi, Takushi

    2011-01-01

    The observed decline in the relative price of investment goods to consumption goods in Japan suggests the existence of investment-specific technological (IST) changes. We examine whether IST changes are a major source of business fluctuations in Japan, by estimating a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with Bayesian methods. We show that IST changes are less important than neutral technological changes in explaining output fluctuations. We also demonstrate that investment fluctuatio...

  10. The Tokyo axion helioscope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohta, R.; Akimoto, Y.; Inoue, Y.; Minowa, M.; Mizumoto, T.; Moriyama, S.; Namba, T.; Takasu, Y.; Yamamoto, A.

    2012-01-01

    The Tokyo Axion Helioscope experiment aims to detect axions which are produced in the solar core. The helioscope uses a strong magnetic field in order to convert axions into X-ray photons and has a mounting to follow the sun very accurately. The photons are detected by an X-ray detector which is made of 16 PIN-photodiodes. In addition, a gas container and a gas regulation system are adopted for recovering the coherence between axions and photons in the conversion region giving sensitivity to axions with masses up to 2 eV. In this paper, we report on the technical detail of the Tokyo Axion Helioscope.

  11. Innovation in electric power technologies in 2009

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohfusa, Takahiro; Hayasaka, Eiji; Ino, Hiroyuki

    2010-01-01

    This is a report of the title by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc, Tohoku Electric Power and other nine enterprises in Japan. The outline is as follows. Tokyo Electric Power Company stated pipe thinning by the hot water based two-phase flow testing device, development of technologies for corrosion protection of nuclear reactor using titanium oxide, evaluation of fatigue damage by EBSD, and study of duty on the nuclear power plant. Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) stated the mechanism of decrease in exposure dose of the primary coolant system by zinc infusion, outline of Air Operated Valve Intelligent Diagnostic Analysis System (AVIDAS) and the grand packing system, development of SAPLS, the automatic search program of fuel position for design of PWR related core, development of compact containment water reactor (CCR) and FBR cycle system, investigation of the chain destruction of active fault under consideration of dynamic interaction of active faults and decommissioning of Tokai Nuclear Power Plant. Electric Power Development Company reported construction of the Oma Nuclear Power Plant, a future nuclear plant in Oma, Aomori. The reactor will be capable of using 100% MOX fuel core (MOX-ABWR). The operation will start November 2014. (S.Y.)

  12. Responses of a tall building with U.S. code-type instrumentation in Tokyo, Japan, to events before, during and after the Tohoku earthquake of 11 March 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çelebi, Mehmet; Kashima, Toshihide; Ghahari, S. Farid; Abazarsa, Fariba; Taciroglu, Ertugrul

    2016-01-01

    The 11 March 2011 M 9.0 Tohoku earthquake generated long-duration shaking that propagated hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter and affected tall buildings in urban areas several hundred kilometers from the epicenter of the main shock. Recorded responses show that tall buildings were affected by long-period motions. This study presents the behavior and performance of a 37-story building in the Tsukuda area of Tokyo, Japan, as inferred from modal analyses of records retrieved for a time interval covering a few days before, during, and for several months after the main shock. The U.S. “code-type” array comprises three triaxial accelerometers deployed at three levels in the superstructure. Such a sparse array in a tall structure limits a reliable assessment, because its performance must be based on only the average drift ratios. Based on the inferred values of this parameter, the subject building was not structurally damaged.

  13. Argonne National Laboratory contributions to the International Symposium on Fusion Nuclear Technology (ISFNT)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1988-10-01

    A total of sixteen papers with authors from Argonne National Laboratory were presented at the First International Symposium on Fusion Nuclear Technology (ISFNT), held in Tokyo, Japan, in April 1988. The papers cover the results of recent investigations in blanket design and analysis, fusion neutronics, materials experiments in liquid metal corrosion and solid breeders, tritium recovery analysis, experiments and analysis for liquid metal MHD, reactor safety and economic analysis, and transient electromagnetic analysis.

  14. Argonne National Laboratory contributions to the International Symposium on Fusion Nuclear Technology (ISFNT)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-10-01

    A total of sixteen papers with authors from Argonne National Laboratory were presented at the First International Symposium on Fusion Nuclear Technology (ISFNT), held in Tokyo, Japan, in April 1988. The papers cover the results of recent investigations in blanket design and analysis, fusion neutronics, materials experiments in liquid metal corrosion and solid breeders, tritium recovery analysis, experiments and analysis for liquid metal MHD, reactor safety and economic analysis, and transient electromagnetic analysis

  15. PREFACE: Fourth International Symposium on Atomic Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okada, Shigefumi

    2010-04-01

    The International Symposium on Atomic Technology (ISAT) is held every year. The 4th Symposium (ISAT-4) was held on November 18-19, 2009 at the Seaside Hotel MAIKO VILLA KOBE, Kobe City, Japan presided by the "Atomic Technology Project". The ISAT-4 symposium was intended to offer a forum for the discussion on the latest progress in the atomic technologies. The symposium was attended by 107 delegates. There were 10 invited and 6 oral presentations. The number of poster presentations was 69. From all the contributions, 22 papers selected through review process are contained in this volume. The "Atomic Technology Project" was started in 2006 as a joint project of three institutions; (1) the Center for Atomic and Molecular Technologies, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University (CAMT), (2) the Tsukuba Research Center for Interdisciplinary Materials Science, Graduate School of Pure and Applied Sciences, University of Tsukuba (TIMS) and (3) the Polyscale Technology Research Center, Research Institute for Science and Technology, Tokyo University of Science (PTRC), each of which were independently pursuing nano-technologies and was developing atomic scale operation and diagnostics, functional materials, micro processing and device. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. The goal of the project is to contribute to the development of atomic-scale science and technologies such as functional molecules, biomaterials, and quantum functions of atomic-scale structures. Shigefumi Okada Conference Chair Center for Atomic and Molecular Technologies, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita-city, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Conference photograph Kobe photograph

  16. Scientometric mapping of vacuum research in nuclear science and technology: a global perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kademani, B S; Sagar, A; Kumar, A; Kumar, V

    2008-01-01

    This paper attempts to analyse the growth and development of Vacuum research in Nuclear Science and Technology, as reflected in publication output covered by International Nuclear Information System (INIS) database during 2002-2006. A total of 12027 papers were published in the field of vacuum science. United States topped the list with 1936 (16.10%) publications followed by Japan with 1770 (14.70%) publications, The highest number of publications (3276) were published in 2004. The average number of publications published per year were 2405.4. The highest number of publications were in 'Physics of Elementary Particles and Fields' with 2644 (21.98%) publications. The authorship and collaboration trend is towards multi-authored papers. The highly productive institutions were: Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (Japan) with 366 publications, University of Tokyo (Japan) with 274 publications, Hiroshima University (Japan) with 245 publications, Osaka University Japan (Japan) with 224 publications and Chinese Academy of Science (P-R-China) with 223 publications. The most preferred journals for publication were: Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology-A with 857 papers, Physical Review -D with 765 papers, Journal of High Energy Physics with 500 papers, Thin Solid Films with 311 papers, Journal of Electron Spectroscopy and Related Phenomena with 309 papers, and AIP Conference Proceedings with 308 papers

  17. Contesting the natural in Japan: moral dilemmas and technologies of dying.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lock, M

    1995-03-01

    The paper opens with a discussion about the recognition of "whole-brain death" as the end of life in North America in order to perform solid organ transplants. This situation is contrasted with Japan, where, despite no financial or technological restrictions, brain death is not recognized, and transplants from brain-dead bodies cannot be performed. The Japanese cultural debate over the past twenty-five years about the "brain-death problem" is presented, followed by an analysis of Japanese attitudes towards technological intervention into what is taken to be the "natural" domain, together with a discussion of current Japanese attitudes towards death. This debate is interpreted as one aspect of a search for moral order in contemporary Japan, revealing ambivalence about self and other, Japan and the West, and tradition and modernity.

  18. Condensate demineralizer system for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ariyoshi, Shigeki; Ikeda, Yukio; Kuramoto, Kenji; Omori, Yoshi; Yamamoto, Hiroyoshi

    1975-01-01

    This paper describes the condensate demineralizing equipment recently supplied to the second, third, and fifth power units of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Inc. The output of this equipment is rated as 4,900 m 3 /h each, which is currently the largest capacity for this type of equipment in Japan. The purpose of this equipment is to remove any ion components and suspended solids contained in condensate to improve its water purity. By doing so, decreasing the corrosion rate of materials used in the plant and, at the same time, decreasing the radioactivity of the condensate, thus easing the whole plant operation can be achieved. The same kind of equipment is also employed at the conventional thermal power stations, but the required functioning and operating mode are quite different. In the case of the nuclear power plant, extremely severe requirements specific with nuclear technology must be met which arise solely from dealing with radioactive substances. Not only the water treatment method, but also layout and arrangement, operation and liquid waste processing methods differ from those for the conventional power plants. The equipment for the sixth unit at Fukushima is now under designing and that for the Tokai No.2 unit of the Japan Atomic Power Company is already under shop fabrication. Both have the rated capacity of 7,300 m 3 /h each, which exceeds far up the capacity of the previously mentioned equipment. (auth.)

  19. A summary of waste disposal operator and office abolition of the Radioisotope Center in the University of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Higaki, Shogo; Kosaka, Naoki; Nogawa, Norio

    2014-01-01

    Radioisotope center in the University of Tokyo had approval of waste disposal operator only in the universities of Japan since 1983. However, the radioisotope center abolished the waste disposal office in December 2013. In this paper, we summarize the history of the waste disposal operator in the radioisotope center, and report the procedure of office abolition under the Japanese law and regulations concerning prevention from radiation hazards due to radio-isotopes, etc. revised after April 2012. (author)

  20. Role of the Vision Van, a mobile ophthalmic outpatient clinic, in the Great East Japan Earthquake

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuki K

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Kenya Yuki,1 Toru Nakazawa,2 Daijiro Kurosaka,3 Tsunehiko Yoshida,4–6 Eduardo C Alfonso,7 Richard K Lee,7 Shigeru Takano,8 Kazuo Tsubota1 1Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Miyagi, Japan; 3Department of Ophthalmology, Iwate Medical University, Iwate, Japan; 4The House of Representatives of Japan, Tokyo, Japan; 5Nagoya University Hospital, Aichi, Japan; 6Aichi Medical University Hospital, Aichi, Japan; 7Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA; 8Japan Ophthalmological Association, Tokyo, Japan Purpose: The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 triggered powerful tsunami waves off the northeastern Pacific coast of Japan that destroyed almost all of the built-up areas along the coast. The study reported here examined the role played by the Vision Van, a mobile outpatient ophthalmological clinic, in providing eye care to disaster evacuees. Methods: This was a retrospective case-series study of 2,070 victims (male: 732, female: 1,338 who visited the Vision Van. The subjects' medical records were examined retrospectively and analyzed in terms of age, sex, and date of visit to the Vision Van. Information regarding each patient's chief complaint, diagnosis, medication(s prescribed, and eyeglasses and contact lenses provided, was also examined. Results: The Vision Van was used to conduct medical examinations on 39 days between April 23 and June 29, 2011. The average number of subjects visiting the Vision Van each day was 53±31 (range: 7–135, with examinations carried out in Miyagi Prefecture and Iwate Prefecture. The most frequent complaint was a need for eye drops (871/2,070 [42.1%]. The second and third most frequent complaints, respectively, were the need for contact lenses (294/2,070 [14.2%] and eyeglasses (280/2,070 [13.5%]. The most frequent ocular disease diagnosis

  1. Proceedings of Japan-Germany Workshop of Bioremediation; Nichidoku bio remediation workshop hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-12-04

    This is a proceedings of Japan-Germany Workshop on Bioremediation held on December 4 and 5, 1995. The keynote lectures include `Environmental preservation using biotechnology` by Prof. Karube of University of Tokyo, and `Environmental technology in Germany: status, achievements, and problems` by Prof. R.D.Schmid of University of Stuttgart. In the oral session, 7 papers are presented in the microbiological aspects of bioremediation, 10 papers in the environmental monitoring, and 6 papers in the engineering aspects of bioremediation. This workshop was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Technology, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, and Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth. According to the lecture by Prof. Karube, key technologies for the environmental preservation include biotechnologies, such as the culture of fine algae with high CO2 concentration resistant properties using a solar light condenser, production of effective substances from CO2, and production of organic fertilizer from the sediments of lakes and sea. 19 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs.

  2. Heterogeneous Structure and Seismicity beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakagawa, S.; Kato, A.; Sakai, S.; Nanjo, K.; Panayotopoulos, Y.; Kurashimo, E.; Obara, K.; Kasahara, K.; Aketagawa, T.; Kimura, H.; Hirata, N.

    2010-12-01

    Beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) subducts and causes damaged mega-thrust earthquakes. Sato et al. (2005) revealed the geometry of upper surface of PSP, and Hagiwara et al. (2006) estimated the velocity structure beneath Boso peninsula. However, these results are not sufficient for the assessment of the entire picture of the seismic hazards beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area including those due to an intra-slab M7+ earthquake. So, we launched the Special Project for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in the Tokyo Metropolitan area (Hirata et al., 2009). Proving the more detailed geometry and physical properties (e.g. velocities, densities, attenuation) and stress field within PSP is very important to attain this issue. The core item of this project is a dense seismic array called Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net) for making observations in the metropolitan area (Sakai and Hirata, 2009; Kasahara et al., 2009). We deployed the 249 seismic stations with a spacing of 5 km. Some parts of stations construct 5 linear arrays at interval of 2 km such as Tsukuba-Fujisawa (TF) array, etc. The TF array runs from northeast to southwest through the center of Tokyo. In this study, we applied the tomography method to image the heterogeneous structure under the Tokyo metropolitan area. We selected events from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) unified earthquake list. All data of MeSO-net were edited into event data by the selected JMA unified earthquake list. We picked the P and S wave arrival times. The total number of stations and events are 421 and 1,256, respectively. Then, we applied the double-difference tomography method (Zhang and Thurber, 2003) to this dataset and estimated the fine-scale velocity structure. The grid nodes locate 10 km interval in parallel with the array, 20 km interval in perpendicular to the array; and on depth direction, 5 km interval to a depth of less than 50 km and 10 km interval at a depth of more

  3. Spatiotemporal distribution of radioactive cesium released from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in the sediment of Tokyo Bay, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagawa, Ryota; Ishida, Masanobu; Baba, Daisuke; Tanimoto, Satomi; Okamoto, Yuichi; Yamazaki, Hideo

    2013-01-01

    The spatial and temporal distribution of "1"3"4Cs and "1"3"7Cs released from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in the Tokyo Bay sediments were investigated. The total radioactivity of "1"3"4Cs and "1"3"7Cs detected in the Tokyo Bay sediment ranged from 240 to 870 Bq/kg-dry in the estuary of Arakawa River, but the activities detected in other sites were about 90 Bq/kg-dry or less. These results suggested that radioactive cesium, which precipitated to the ground, was carried to the river along with clay particles by rainfall and transported to the estuary. The vertical distribution of radioactive cesium showed that it invaded deeper than estimated based on the accumulation rate of the sediment. It was described that the vertical distribution of radioactive cesium was affected by physical mixing of sediments by tidal current, flood, and bioturbation of benthos. (author)

  4. Research and development of super light water reactors and super fast reactors in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oka, Y.; Morooka, S.; Yamakawa, M.; Ishiwatari, Y.; Ikejiri, S.; Katsumura, Y.; Muroya, Y.; Terai, T.; Sasaki, K.; Mori, H.; Hamamoto, Y.; Okumura, K.; Kugo, T.; Nakatsuka, T.; Ezato, K.; Akasaka, N.; Hotta, A.

    2011-01-01

    Super Light Water Reactors (Super LWR) and Super Fast Reactors (Super FR) are the supercritical- pressure light water cooled reactors (SCWR) that are developed by the research group of University of Tokyo since 1989 and now jointly under development with the researchers of Waseda University, University of Tokyo and other organizations in Japan. The principle of the reactor concept development, the results of the past Super LWR and Super FR R&D as well as the R&D program of the Super FR second phase project are described. (author)

  5. Japan in the Russia - U.S. Relations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergei V. Volkov

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The article examines the impact of the crisis in Russia - U. S. relations in connection with the events surrounding Ukraine on the world system and its key component - the Asia-Pacific region where Japan plays a crucial role. The author assumes that the international relations have no common understanding of the rules of engagement between the USA, the Group of Seven, Russia and the BRICS countries. As a result, the leading countries of the world are guided by conflicting scenarios. The article deals with the American scenario in relation to China and the Russian Federation and the Russian one in relation to polycentric and the U. S. - centered world orders. The most important element of the American scenario in relation to Beijing is Japan. This country is central to Washington's policy to contain China. Tokyo is headed for the rapid rejection of pacifist principles of its foreign policy. Russian scenario for the international system is in an active course to establishing a polycentric world order. United States' scenario against Russia in this regard is a containment strategy of Moscow. The central component of this strategy, as it can be assumed, is a violation of the strategic balance in US - Russian relations. However, Ukraine has become a major springboard to contain Russia. Instead of establishing equal Russian - American relations United States and their allies (under American pression have chosen a policy of isolating Moscow, but such actions are blocking the Russian - Japanese rapprochement beneficial both for Tokyo and Kremlin, which is interested in deepening its ties with Japan in order to diversify its relations with Asia-Pacific area. The author concludes that the long-term interests of Russia and Japan dictate both sides to move closer, but the policy of the U.S. administration towards Russia on the Ukranian question blocks this possibility.

  6. Block survey of wall covered with plant in the city of Tokyo [Japan] and evaluation of thermal environment of wall greening system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibuya, K.; Soh, Y.; Satoh, S.

    2007-01-01

    There were 384 (8877 square m) walls which covered with plant on 10 square km in the city of Tokyo, and the green wall rate in the city of Tokyo was 0.88%. Vines, for example Parthenocissus tricuspidata and Hedera helix, were widely used. The factor of thinking better of the landscape in urban area was one of the easily management of plants. The three wall greening systems, a wall covered with hanging climbers and two types of self-contained living wall, mitigated the thermal environment. However its degree can be depended on the greening method and the greenery occupancy rate of wall

  7. Umbilical cord blood for unrelated bone marrow replacement; Asia bank and Japan cord blood bank network update.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mugishima, Hideo; Takahashi, Tuneo; Nagamura, Tokiko; Asano, Sigetaka; Saito, Hidehiko

    2002-08-01

    Cord blood offers many advantages including a high concentration of hematopoietic stem cells, a large number of potential donors, and ease of harvest. Furthermore, since there is no risk for either the mother or baby, few people refuse to donate. There is thought to be a low risk for virus contamination and also probably a low incidence and severity of GVHD. Cord blood can be obtained quickly without the assistance of a coordinator and one or 2 locus-mismatched HLA is usually acceptable. In Japan, there are 10 cord blood banks supported by the government. Between 1996 and June 2002, 9,500 units were registered with the Japan cord blood bank network (JCBBN). 630 units were delivered and most of these were transplanted. The status of registered cord blood units worldwide is shown. 59,081 units have been registered by NETCORD. The Japan cord blood bank network accounts for 13% of these units. I will discuss the Tokyo cord blood tank (TCBB). The bank at Tokyo, to which we belong, is one of the largest banks in Japan. We helped to establish Asia CORD in 2000 and have held annual conferences and meetings in Tokyo to exchange information. So far, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam and Japan have participated. We accepted three trainees from the Ho Chi Minh City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Center for training in cord blood transplantation in May 2001. In January 2002, a patient with ALL received cord blood and was successfully engrafted at Ho Chi Minh City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Center. We present here the clinical outcome of these patients through Tokyo cord blood bank and Japan cord blood bank network. First, the number of CB units stored and registered at JCBBN and TCBB has increased rapidly over the past two years. Second, the survival rate of acute leukemia patients in release was significantly lower than that in patients in CR. Third, the engraftment rate in patients with metabolic disease (50%) was lower than that in patients with leukemia

  8. Workshop summary of 'nuclear knowledge management: Present status and perspective'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yonezawa, Minoru

    2007-03-01

    The workshop on 'Nuclear Knowledge Management (NKM): Present Status and Perspective' was held at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (supported by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency), Tokyo, Japan on the 14th and 15th of December 2006. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce NKM activities inside and outside Japan so that concerned parties/professionals could share related information and enhance awareness of the issues on NKM. Participants from various sectors, such as authorities, industry, universities/research institutes, etc, made presentations. Issues on NKM are recognized and discussed. The workshop consisted of 18 oral lectures and a panel discussion. The 55 participants attended the workshop. Under permission of the Tokyo Institute of Technology which is the sponsor of the workshop, this report compiles these lecture's presentation materials which got permission of a lecturer and synopses which were submitted after the workshop. (author)

  9. Forecasting probabilistic seismic shaking for greater Tokyo from 400 years of intensity observations (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bozkurt, S.; Stein, R. S.; Toda, S.

    2009-12-01

    The long recorded history of earthquakes in Japan affords an opportunity to forecast seismic shaking exclusively from past shaking. We calculate the time-averaged (Poisson) probability of severe shaking by using more than 10,000 intensity observations recorded since AD 1600 in a 350-km-wide box centered on Tokyo. Unlike other hazard assessment methods, source and site effects are included without modeling, and we do not need to know the size or location of any earthquake or the location and slip rate of any fault. The two key assumptions are that the slope of the observed frequency-intensity relation at every site is the same; and that the 400-year record is long enough to encompass the full range of seismic behavior. Tests we conduct here suggest that both assumptions are sound. The resulting 30-year probability of IJMA≥6 shaking (~PGA≥0.9 g or MMI≥IX) is 30-40% in Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Yokohama, and 10-15% in Chiba and Tsukuba. This result means that there is a 30% chance that 4 million people would be subjected to IJMA≥6 shaking during an average 30-year period. We also produce exceedance maps of peak ground acceleration for building code regulations, and calculate short-term hazard associated with a hypothetical catastrophe bond. Our results resemble an independent assessment developed from conventional seismic hazard analysis for greater Tokyo. Over 10000 intensity observations stored and analyzed using geostatistical tools of GIS. Distribution of historical data is shown on this figure.

  10. Impact of energy consumption on urban warming and air pollution in Tokyo metropolitan area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saitoh, T.S.; Hoshi, H.

    1995-01-01

    The rapid progress of industrialization and urbanization due to economic growth and concentration of social function in the urban areas in Japan have had an adverse effect on the urban environment. In most cities, it has become evident that the increase in energy consumption is causing environmental problems, including a temperature rise in the urban atmosphere (urban heat island) and air pollution. This paper reports the results of field observations and three dimensional simulations of the urban heat island using a three-dimensional modelling vorticity-velocity vector potential formation, in the Tokyo metropolitan area. According to the simulation for urban warming in the study area for the year 2031, the maximum temperature of a summer evening (18:00) would exceed 43 degrees celsius, indicating that Tokyo would no longer be comfortable for its inhabitants. It is concluded that in the near future, the problem of the urban heat island will become a more important issue than that of global warming because the rate of urban warming is greater. For this reason, the urban heat island could be fatal to humans unless resolved in the near future. (author). 1 tab., 11 figs., 18 refs

  11. 11 August 2008 - Member of the House of Councillors M. Naito (The National Diet of Japan, The Democratic Party of Japan) signing the guest book with CERN Director-General R. Aymar.

    CERN Document Server

    Maximilien Brice

    2008-01-01

    Also present: ATLAS Collaboration Spokesperson P. Jenni, ATLAS Collaboration and University of Tokyo T. Kawamoto Adviser for Non-Member State Relations J. Ellis Deputy Director-General, Chief Scientific Officer J. Engelen ATLAS Collaboration and KEK T.Kondo Second Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan in Geneva K. Saito

  12. Research; BOSS Study Trip Japan '09 : Architecture, Urbanism, Real Estate & Housing and Technology in Japan

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Feenstra, R.; Van Beelen, C.; Wamelink, J.W.F.; Geraedts, R.P.

    2010-01-01

    Japan is a land of many faces as we discovered: from seasonal changes, and thereby heavy rainfall, high humidity, tropical cyclones; to a stunning 127,300,000 inhabitants; or what about the only 10% buildable surface of the continent; seismic activity; fast going technological developments like

  13. Annual report of Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, fiscal year 1996

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-08-01

    This report summarizes research and educational activities, operation status of the research facilities of the Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo on fiscal year 1996. This facility has four major research facilities such as fast neutron source reactor 'Yayoi', electron Linac, fundamental experiment facility for nuclear fusion reactor blanket design and high fluence irradiation facility(HIT). Education and research activities are conducted in a wide fields of nuclear engineering using these facilities. The former two facilities are available for various studies by universities all over Japan, facility for nuclear fusion reactor blanket design is utilized for research within the Faculty of Engineering and HIT is used for the research within the University of Tokyo. The facility established a plan to reorganized into a nation wide research collaboration center in fiscal year 1995 and after further discussion of a future program it is decided to hold 'Nuclear energy symposium' periodically after fiscal year 1997 as a part of the activity for appealing the research results to the public. (G.K.)

  14. Asie : Asie de l'Est : Japon : Région de Kanto : Préfecture de Tokyo : Tokyo : Habitations récentes dans la banlieue Nord

    OpenAIRE

    Lubeigt , Guy

    1983-01-01

    Commentaire de l'auteur en 2015: Tokyo a été presque entièrement détruite par les bombardements US en 1945 - Toutes les maisons en bois ont flambé; Légende manuscrite sur le document original : "Tokyo, banlieue N. Nouveau lotissement, toits en tuiles. " Géolocalisation : Approximative centrée sur le Nord de Tokyo.

  15. Modeling technological learning and its application for clean coal technologies in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakata, Toshihiko; Sato, Takemi; Wang, Hao; Kusunoki, Tomoya; Furubayashi, Takaaki

    2011-01-01

    Estimating technological progress of emerging technologies such as renewables and clean coal technologies becomes important for designing low carbon energy systems in future and drawing effective energy policies. Learning curve is an analytical approach for describing the decline rate of cost and production caused by technological progress as well as learning. In the study, a bottom-up energy-economic model including an endogenous technological learning function has been designed. The model deals with technological learning in energy conversion technologies and its spillover effect. It is applied as a feasibility study of clean coal technologies such as IGCC (Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle) and IGFC (Integrated Coal Gasification Fuel Cell System) in Japan. As the results of analysis, it is found that technological progress by learning has a positive impact on the penetration of clean coal technologies in the electricity market, and the learning model has a potential for assessing upcoming technologies in future.

  16. The stock market performance of the central banks of Belgium and Japan

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kabir, Mohammed Rezaul; Goldberg, Lawrence G.

    2002-01-01

    Most central banks issue stock that is held by the government and/or commercial banks and is not tradable. In contrast, stocks of the central banks of Belgium and Japan are traded on the Brussels and Tokyo stock exchanges. The purpose of the paper is to examine this unique phenomenon of stock market

  17. Report on International Symposium for the Promotion of APEC Environmental Technology Exchange and Experts; APEC kankyogijutsu koryusokushin kokusai shinpojium jisshi hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    The above event took place at Nagoya City, Japan, on December 5, 2000. Taken up were the response of developing nations to the problem of environmental protection, their needs for environmental technologies, examples of the transfer of environmental technologies carried out by Japan's environment related businesses or organizations, introduction of technologies Japan was able to present, and so forth. Introduced also were the current state and future outlook of such activities as the exchange of environmental technologies and business through the utilization of the virtual center for APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference) environmental technology exchange now in service, and so forth. At the symposium, a keynote address entitled Toward the Realization of Sustainable Society was delivered by Professor Yamamoto of the Institute of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo. Panel discussions were held on the exchange of environmental technologies and business making use of the international network APEC-VC (virtual center) at Session 1, on some front-line cases of environmental technology transfer at Session 2, and on the transfer of technologies useful for developing nations as it ought to be at Session 3. (NEDO)

  18. Geothermal properties and groundwater flow estimated with a three-dimensional geological model in a late Pleistocene terrace area, central Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Funabiki, A.; Takemura, T.; Hamamoto, S.; Komatsu, T.

    2012-12-01

    of disturbance of the geothermal environment and groundwater flow caused by the use of GSHPs, therefore, would depend on the thickness of these gravels. Reference Funabiki, A., Nagoya, K., Kaneki, A., Uemura, K., Kurihara, M., Obara, H., Goto, A., Chiba, T., Naya, T., Ueki, T., and Takemura, T. (2011) Sedimentary facies and physical properties of the sediment core CRE-NUCHS-1 in Setagaya district, Tokyo, central Japan. Abstracts, The 118th Annual Meeting of theGeological Society of Japan. Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (CREST) program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

  19. Two new glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase variants associated with congenital nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia found in Japan: GD(-) Tokushima and GD(-) Tokyo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miwa, S; Ono, J; Nakashima, K; Abe, S; Kageoka, T

    1976-01-01

    Two new variants of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency associated with chronic nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia were discovered in Japan. Gd(-) Tokushima was found in a 17-years-old male whose erythrocytes contained 4.4% of normal enzyme activity. Partially purified enzyme revealed a main band of normal electrophoretic mobility with additional two minor bands of different mobility; normal Km G6P, and Km NADP five-to sixfold higher than normal; normal utilization of 2-deoxy-G6P, galactose-6P, and deamino-NADP; marked thermal instability; a normal pH curve; and normal Ki NADPH. The hemolytic anemia was moderate to severe. Gd(-) Tokyo was characterized from a 15-year-old male who had chronic nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia of mild degree. The erythrocytes contained 3% of normal enzyme activity, and partially purified enzyme revealed slow electrophoretic mobility (90% of normal for both a tris-hydrochloride buffer system and a tris-EDTA-borate buffer system, and 70% of normal for a phosphate buffer system); normal Km G6P and Km NADP; normal utilization of 2-deoxy-G6P, galactose-6P, and deamino-NADP; greatly increased thermal instability; a normal pH curve; and normal Ki NADPH. These two variants are clearly different from hitherto described G6PD variants, including the Japanese variants Gd(-) Heian and Gd(-) Kyoto. The mothers of both Gd(-) Tokushima and Gd(-) Tokoyo were found to be heterozygote by an ascorbate-cyanide test.

  20. In the Wake of TICAD V: Japan-Africa Relations Today

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tarrósy István

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper looks at how Japan, one of the major donors of African countries, has been redefining its positions on the African continent in terms of bilateral aid and business opportunities, triangular collaboration and multilateral development projects in an increasingly ‘interpolar’ world of international relations. The discussion includes China's expanding presence all over Africa as an important ‘reference point’ for the Japanese public at large and how that may influence Japanese pragmatic foreign policy towards the continent and Japan's involvement in African development. What are Japan's priorities in the wake of hosting the fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V early in June 2013 in Yokohama? How does Japan go along with its confident manner of inclusive development and ownership in African societies when at the same time it is challenged by China and other emerging actors? What are the items on Japan's agenda for a re-intensified Africa policy?

  1. Report of the international symposium for ITER. 'Burning plasma science and technology on ITER'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-10-01

    This report contains the presentations on the International Symposium for ITER, held on Jan. 24, 2002 on the occasion of the ITER Governmental Negotiations in Tokyo. This symposium is organized by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute with the support of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The meaningful results were obtained through this symposium especially on new frontiers of science and technology brought by ITER, accelerated road maps towards realizing fusion energy, and portfolio of other fusion configurations from ITER. The 5 of the presented papers are indexed individually (J.P.N.)

  2. "Ruudi" võitis Tokyos

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2006-01-01

    Lastefilm "Ruudi" (stsenaristid Katrin Laur, Aare Toikka, Aarne Mägi : režissöör Katrin Laur : nimiosas lapsnäitleja Paul Oskar Soe) sai Tokyo 14. lastefilmide festivalil Kodomotachino parima mängufilmi auhinna

  3. Effect of water temperature on survival of early-life stages of marbled flounder Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae in Tokyo Bay, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jeong-Hoon; Kodama, Keita; Oyama, Masaaki; Shiraishi, Hiroaki; Horiguchi, Toshihiro

    2017-07-01

    We investigated factors that might have disturbed the stock recovery of marbled flounder in Tokyo Bay by focusing on the early life stages. Field surveys in Tokyo Bay from 2006 to 2011 revealed that mature adult biomass increased from 2006 to 2008 and decreased thereafter. Meanwhile, larval and juvenile densities were high in 2006 and 2008 but low in other years. Discrepancies in the yearly trends of these parameters suggest that mortality during life stages between spawning and early larval phases might have affected the abundance of the subsequent life stages. Monthly mean water temperature between January and February, in which hatching and pelagic larvae occur in the bay, was lower in 2006 (8.6 °C) and 2008 (9.6 °C) than was observed in other years (10.4-11.4 °C). Significant negative correlation between water temperature and larval density implies that mortality during pre- and post-larval stages would be higher in warmer winter years (>10 °C). To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of water temperature on mortality and development in egg and larval stages under controlled laboratory conditions. Hatching rate was high in a water temperature range of 9.2-12.7 °C (66.6-82.5%), whereas it decreased in cooler (3.7% at 5.9 °C) or warmer (33.9% at 14.8 °C) conditions. Meanwhile, days from fertilization to hatching, size of larvae at hatching and survival rate of larvae after 18 d from hatching were monotonically and significantly decreased as water temperature was elevated. Combined evidence of the field and laboratory studies suggests that a warmer reproductive season (>10 °C) might induce mortalities of marbled flounder larvae in Tokyo Bay. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Perceptions and impact of bipolar disorder in Japan: results of an Internet survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Watanabe K

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Koichiro Watanabe,1 Eiji Harada,2 Takeshi Inoue,3 Yuka Tanji,2 Toshiaki Kikuchi1 1Department of Neuropsychiatry, Kyorin University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, 2Medical Science, Medicines Development Unit-Japan, Eli Lilly Japan KK, Hyogo, 3Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan Abstract: Bipolar disorder is a recurrent and episodic illness. This survey study assessed experiences and identified clinical insights of individuals with bipolar disorder. An Internet-based monitor system database was screened for patients with bipolar disorder in Japan (February and March 2013. Of 1,050 patients, 457 completed surveys, and results were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Approximately one-fourth of respondents were diagnosed with bipolar disorder on their first visit to medical institutions, although the most common initial diagnosis was depression/depressive state (65%. Mean time lag between first-time visit to a medical institution and receipt of correct diagnosis of bipolar disorder was 4 years; one-third of patients experienced more than 5 years of lag time. Three perceived reasons for lapsed time before correct diagnosis were “(patients Did not consider manic symptoms as illness, and did not tell the doctor about them,” “I (patient did not know of bipolar disorder,” and “Lack of communication between my doctor and myself (patient.” Among participants who believed that they were initially incorrectly diagnosed and improperly treated, most experienced socioeconomic problems, such as having long-term inability to work or to study (65%. Sources of encouragement for participants included “To have someone to consult with” (41% followed by having “People around me treat me the same as before” (40%. Individuals with bipolar disorder reported a time lag of many years before accurate diagnosis, and substantial burden imposed by the illness. Encouragement should be provided for individuals to live positively

  5. EDITORIAL: Molecular Imaging Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asai, Keisuke; Okamoto, Koji

    2006-06-01

    'Molecular Imaging Technology' focuses on image-based techniques using nanoscale molecules as sensor probes to measure spatial variations of various species (molecular oxygen, singlet oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitric monoxide, etc) and physical properties (pressure, temperature, skin friction, velocity, mechanical stress, etc). This special feature, starting on page 1237, contains selected papers from The International Workshop on Molecular Imaging for Interdisciplinary Research, sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Japan, which was held at the Sendai Mediatheque, Sendai, Japan, on 8 9 November 2004. The workshop was held as a sequel to the MOSAIC International Workshop that was held in Tokyo in 2003, to summarize the outcome of the 'MOSAIC Project', a five-year interdisciplinary project supported by Techno-Infrastructure Program, the Special Coordination Fund for Promotion of Science Technology to develop molecular sensor technology for aero-thermodynamic research. The workshop focused on molecular imaging technology and its applications to interdisciplinary research areas. More than 110 people attended this workshop from various research fields such as aerospace engineering, automotive engineering, radiotechnology, fluid dynamics, bio-science/engineering and medical engineering. The purpose of this workshop is to stimulate intermixing of these interdisciplinary fields for further development of molecular sensor and imaging technology. It is our pleasure to publish the seven papers selected from our workshop as a special feature in Measurement and Science Technology. We will be happy if this issue inspires people to explore the future direction of molecular imaging technology for interdisciplinary research.

  6. Transformation of the Housing Market in Tokyo since the Late 1990s: Housing Purchases by Single-person Households

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomoko Kubo

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to clarify the correlation between the transformation of the Japanese housing market and the increasing number of single-person households in Japan, with a special focus on the supply of compact condominiums. In order to achieve the abovementioned purpose, the changes in the Japanese housing market and diversification of the Japanese household structure are described. Finally, the features of the supply strategies of condominium suppliers, which reflect the diversification of the household structure and increasing need for condominiums by single-person households in central Tokyo, are examined.

  7. Electric vehicles, magnetic levitation and superconductive levitation in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wyczalek, F.A.

    1988-01-01

    This is a technological assessment of electric automotive vehicles, high speed magnetic levitation trains and hyperspeed superconductive magnetic levitation trains in Japan. It includes conventional battery electric vehicles for the automotive application, conventional magnetic levitation trains with peak speeds of 300 km/h and superconductive levitation trains capable of speeds over 500 km/h in transcontinental service. These electric vehicles have been under development since 1971 and are now considered ready for introduction into intercity commercial service. Conventional magnetic levitation trains are targeted to connect New Chitose International Airport with Sapporo and shorter connections in LasVegas, Philadelphia and Miami. The first superconductive train is planned for the Osaka to Tokyo link by the year 2000, a distance of 515 km. The initial step has been taken with approval of funding for the first five year phase of construction beginning with the Kansai project near Osaka

  8. Consequences of a Recent Campaign of Criticism against School Sex Education in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirose, Hiroko

    2013-01-01

    This paper aims to provide insights into recent events concerning school sex education in Japan. A campaign of criticism against school sex education emerged in 2002 at both national and regional levels, and included a court case in Tokyo. Despite leaving a depressing atmosphere regarding sex education teaching practices, this campaign also…

  9. Supermodernity, distraction, schizophrenia: walking in Tokyo & Hong Kong.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ian Ho-Yin Fong

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The architecture in a supermodern city has no sense of the place where it is located. This paper discusses how schizophrenia and distraction, through walking, respond to supermodernity by referring to how three dislocated subjects, Fumiya Takemura, Aiichiro Fukuhara and Fai in Tokyo and Hong Kong, are respectively depicted in the novel, Adrift in Tokyo written by Fujita Yoshinaga in 1999, with a film adaptation by Satoshi Miki (2007, and the film To Live and Die in Mongkok directed by Wong Jing in 2009. It suggests that Hong Kong is more supermodern than Tokyo. After his release from prison, Fai in To Live and Die in Mongkok finds that Mongkok is a completely different place from the one in which he used to live. The living conditions are no better than those in the prison. He hallucinates about the past. Adrift in Tokyo can be read as a story about walking. Fukuhara, a debt collector, killed his wife; before surrendering to the police, he orders his debtor, Takemura, to walk with him in Tokyo in order to re-experience the walks he enjoyed with his wife. If Takemura agrees, the debt can be paid off. This paper discusses how the repressed heterogeneous time and place can be approached by walking in a way that the rhythm of life can be (re-experienced; in other words, when the body moves forward physically, the past appears as specter haunting the walker. This paper discusses how Adrift in Tokyo and To Live and Die in Mongkok read cities in distractive and schizophrenic ways. In the film version of Adrift in Tokyo, Takemura’s failed relationship with his father may unconsciously drive him to walk with Fukuhara. The novel may imply that the lost relationship with his mother drives him to walk. The film and the novel both address a kind of locality which should be inseparable from the birth parents. To Live and Die in Mongkok suggests that supermodernity kills mother and father. The Father-son relationship disappears at the very beginning of the

  10. Sex-specific impact of early-life adversity on chronic pain: a large population-based study in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yamada K

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Keiko Yamada,1,2 Ko Matsudaira,3,4 Eizaburo Tanaka,1,5 Hiroyuki Oka,3 Junji Katsuhira,3,6 Hiroyasu Iso1 1Public Health, Department of Social Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, 2Center for Pain Management, Osaka University Hospital, Suita, Osaka, 3Department of Medical Research and Management for Musculoskeletal Pain, 22nd Century Medical and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 4Japan Labour Health & Welfare Organization, Tokyo, 5Hyogo Institute for Traumatic Stress, Kobe, 6Department of Prosthetics & Orthotics and Assistive Technology, Faculty of Medical Technology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan Background: Responses to early-life adversity may differ by sex. We investigated the ­sex-specific impact of early-life adversity on chronic pain, chronic multisite pain, and somatizing tendency with chronic pain. Methods: We examined 4229 respondents aged 20–79 years who participated in the Pain Associated Cross-Sectional Epidemiological Survey in Japan. Outcomes were: 1 chronic pain prevalence, 2 multisite pain (≥3 sites prevalence, and 3 multiple somatic symptoms (≥3 symptoms among respondents with chronic pain related to the presence or absence of early-life adversity. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs were calculated with 95% confidence intervals using a logistic regression model including age, smoking status, exercise routine, sleep time, body mass index, household expenditure, and the full distribution of scores on the Mental Health Inventory-5. We further adjusted for pain intensity when we analyzed the data for respondents with chronic pain. Results: The prevalence of chronic pain was higher among respondents reporting the presence of early-life adversity compared with those reporting its absence, with multivariable ORs of 1.62 (1.22–2.15, p<0.01 in men and 1.47 (1.13–1.90, p<0.01 in women. Among women with chronic pain, early

  11. Scientists Examine Challenges and Lessons From Japan's Earthquake and Tsunami

    Science.gov (United States)

    Showstack, Randy

    2011-03-01

    A week after the magnitude 9.0 great Tohoku earthquake and the resulting tragic and damaging tsunami of 11 March struck Japan, the ramifications continued, with a series of major aftershocks (as Eos went to press, there had been about 4 dozen with magnitudes greater than 6); the grim search for missing people—the death toll was expected to approximate 10,000; the urgent assistance needed for the more than 400,000 homeless and the 1 million people without water; and the frantic efforts to avert an environmental catastrophe at Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, about 225 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, where radiation was leaking. The earthquake offshore of Honshu in northeastern Japan (see Figure 1) was a plate boundary rupture along the Japan Trench subduction zone, with the source area of the earthquake estimated at 400-500 kilometers long with a maximum slip of 20 meters, determined through various means including Global Positioning System (GPS) and seismographic data, according to Kenji Satake, professor at the Earthquake Research Institute of the University of Tokyo. In some places the tsunami may have topped 7 meters—the maximum instrumental measurement at many coastal tide gauges—and some parts of the coastline may have been inundated more than 5 kilometers inland, Satake indicated. The International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC) noted that eyewitnesses reported that the highest tsunami waves were 13 meters high. Satake also noted that continuous GPS stations indicate that the coast near Sendai—which is 130 kilometers west of the earthquake and is the largest city in the Tohoku region of Honshu—moved more than 4 meters horizontally and subsided about 0.8 meter.

  12. Outline of geophysical investigations on the great earthquake in the south-west Japan on Dec. 21, 1946

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagata, Takeshi

    1947-01-01

    In in the early morning of Dec. 21, 1946, a great destructive earthquake occurred in southern-western Japan. According to the seismogram obtained in our university, the earthquake motion began at Tokyo from 4 h 20 m 10.4 s on Dec. 21, 1946. The maximum amplitude of NS, EW, and up-down components of the earthquake motion at Tokyo was 12.0 mm, 14.0 mm and 3.0 mm respectively, while the initial motion was composed of 80 μ south, 67 μ west and 20 μ down movements.

  13. Tokyo XX videofestival ja kohtumine Suure Hiirega / Raivo Kelomees

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Kelomees, Raivo, 1960-

    1998-01-01

    JVC Tokyo XX videofestivalist. Peapreemia Jon Alpertile dokumentaalse videoga "Life of Crime : Deleris's Sad Story". R. Kelomehe videost "Maja". Interaktiivse kunsti muuseumist ICC (Inter Communication Center) Tokyo Opera Citys. Ilmunud ka kogumikus "Ekraan kui membraan". Tartu, 2007, lk. 72-75

  14. Recent Cooperative Research Activities of HDD and Flexible Media Transport Technologies in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ono, Kyosuke

    This paper presents the recent status of industry-university cooperative research activities in Japan on the mechatronics of information storage and input/output equipment. There are three research committees for promoting information exchange on technical problems and research topics of head-disk interface in hard disk drives (HDD), flexible media transport and image printing processes which are supported by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineering (JSME), the Japanese Society of Tribologists (JAST) and the Japan Society of Precision Engineering (JSPE). For hard disk drive technology, the Storage Research Consortium (SRC) is supporting more than 40 research groups in various different universities to perform basic research for future HDD technology. The past and present statuses of these activities are introduced, particularly focusing on HDD and flexible media transport mechanisms.

  15. Enhanced Surveillance for the Sports Festival in Tokyo 2013: Preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimatani, Naotaka; Sugishita, Yoshiyuki; Sugawara, Tamie; Nakamura, Yuuki; Ohkusa, Yasushi; Yamagishi, Takuya; Matsui, Tamano; Kawano, Masashi; Watase, Hirotoshi; Morikawa, Yukiko; Oishi, Kazunori

    2015-01-01

    Enhanced surveillance was conducted during the Sports Festival in Tokyo 2013 (September 28-October 14, 2013) for early detection of outbreaks of infectious diseases and other health emergencies. Through this enhanced surveillance, 15 cases were found that required additional gathering of information outside the routine process of creating/evaluating the Daily Report. However, none of these was assessed as critical. Through the enhanced surveillance, we structured a framework that allows for earlier response when detecting aberrations. It includes the role of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in communications and contacts with relevant parties such as public health centers, as well as in monitoring of surveillance data. However, some issues need to be further considered toward the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, such as establishing the criteria for additional response steps, increasing the number of participating bodies in syndromic surveillance, and strengthening of cooperation with related departments, including those for crisis management assuming potential biological/chemical terrorism.

  16. Acute adverse effects of radiation therapy on HIV-positive patients in Japan. Study of 31 cases at Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaminuma, Takuya; Karasawa, Katsuyuki; Hanyu, Nahoko

    2010-01-01

    Recently, the number of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients has increased in Japan. HIV-positive patients are at a higher risk of cancer than the general population. This paper retrospectively reports the acute adverse effects of radiation therapy on HIV-positive patients who were treated at Tokyo Metropolitan Cancer and Infectious diseases Center Komagome Hospital (TMCICK). Thirty-one cases involving 24 HIV-positive cancer patients who were treated at TMCICK from January 1997 to March 2009 were included in this study. All acute adverse effects of radiation therapy were examined during, and one month after, the last radiation therapy session. Acute adverse effects were classified according to the site of radiation therapy treatment and analyzed using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 3.0. Grade 3 acute adverse effects were seen in 17% of cases, and Grade 2 toxicities were found in 23% of patients. Damage to the skin and mucosa, including stomatitis or diarrhea, tended to occur after low-dose radiation therapy; however, no severe acute adverse effects were seen in other organs, such as the brain, lung, and bone. Acute adverse effects tended to occur earlier in HIV-positive patients and became severe more frequently than in the general population. In particular, disorders of the mucosa, such as those of the oral cavity, pharynx, and intestine, tended to occur rapidly. It was shown that radiation therapy is safe when treatment is performed carefully and that it is a very useful treatment for cancer in HIV-positive patients. (author)

  17. Toxic evaluations of sediments in Tokyo Bay, Japan, using Japanese medaka embryos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uno, Seiichi; Kokushi, Emiko; Kawano, Machi; McElroy, Anne E; Koyama, Jiro

    2017-12-01

    Toxic risks of sediments collected from seven sites in Tokyo Bay were evaluated using Japanese medaka embryos. Those sediments with slight pore water were placed in grass petri dishes without overlying water. The most remarkable effect in the field sediment was to cause hatching delay in embryos, and the longest time until hatching took was 12.5 ± 1.6 days post-fertilization (dpf), although that in control group was 10.1 ± 0.7 dpf. A significant delay in hatching was observed at four sites. Because total carbon concentrations were relatively high in sediments at three of these four sites, several chemicals were expected to be residues in these sites and could cause their delay. Although extreme mortality was not observed at all sites, sediments collected from the site close to Kawasaki city induced 10 % mortality. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations were remarkably high at this site compared with other sites, and thus PAH toxicities could be causing the mortality. Concentration of heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc in sediments were also determined, but no clear relationship was found between toxicities to embryos and the distribution of their concentrations.

  18. Lessons from half a century experience of Japanese solid rocketry since Pencil rocket

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matogawa, Yasunori

    2007-12-01

    50 years have passed since a tiny rocket "Pencil" was launched horizontally at Kokubunji near Tokyo in 1955. Though there existed high level of rocket technology in Japan before the end of the second World War, it was not succeeded by the country after the War. Pencil therefore was the substantial start of Japanese rocketry that opened the way to the present stage. In the meantime, a rocket group of the University of Tokyo contributed to the International Geophysical Year in 1957-1958 by developing bigger rockets, and in 1970, the group succeeded in injecting first Japanese satellite OHSUMI into earth orbit. It was just before the launch of OHSUMI that Japan had built up the double feature system of science and applications in space efforts. The former has been pursued by ISAS (the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science) of the University of Tokyo, and the latter by NASDA (National Space Development Agency). This unique system worked quite efficiently because space activities in scientific and applicational areas could develop rather independently without affecting each other. Thus Japan's space science ran up rapidly to the international stage under the support of solid propellant rocket technology, and, after a 20 year technological introduction period from the US, a big liquid propellant launch vehicle, H-II, at last was developed on the basis of Japan's own technology in the early 1990's. On October 1, 2003, as a part of Governmental Reform, three Japanese space agencies were consolidated into a single agency, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and Japan's space efforts began to walk toward the future in a globally coordinated fashion, including aeronautics, astronautics, space science, satellite technology, etc., at the same time. This paper surveys the history of Japanese rocketry briefly, and draws out the lessons from it to make a new history of Japan's space efforts more meaningful.

  19. Solidarity and the city: The case of modern Tokyo

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Greve, Anni

    is that of architecture. Architects have more than any other profession worked on, and with, the urban condition theoretically as well as practically and solution-oriented. Returning Japanese architects have been confronted with the art of rebuilding cities from the bottom, not least in the case of Tokyo . The second...... day’s Tokyo is marked by a non-visible hidden order of this historical era. It is an order that opens for methodological strategies to make possible the empirical understanding of urban society as emergent reality. They go for learning from Tokyo with a historical privilege to particular ideas...

  20. Norwegian-developed carbon dioxide technology licensed to Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pettersen, Jostein

    2000-01-01

    In the late 1980s, restrictions on the use of ozone-depleting substances created increased interest in alternative working fluids in refrigerators and heat pumps. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an incombustible, non-toxic and not ozone-depleting natural substance with low specific greenhouse effect. However, CO2 has some unusual thermodynamic properties. Thus, the pressure of a CO2 based system must be high, up to 150 bar, which means that new equipment must be developed. Research at SINTEF and the Technical University in Trondheim, Norway, in 1988-89 resulted in several patents which have later been commercialized and internationally licensed. The most important developments have been in air conditioning for cars, heat pumps for hot water and refrigeration systems for supermarkets. In Japan, a heat pump for hot water has been developed under licence. This is a 4.5 kW heat pump designed for use in detached houses and larger flats. One of the advantages of CO2 is that a high water temperature (70-90 C ) is obtained. The hot water container can then be made quite small. The heat pump is marketed by Tokyo Electric Power Company, which during the night has surplus power that can be sold for less than 25% of the daytime tariff. Compared with gas-fired water heaters, the consumption of primary energy is reduced by 30-50%. This is an important contribution to more efficient use of fossil fuel. Using CO2 also avoids the risk of fire and explosion that exists in the use of gas-fired water heaters

  1. Advanced USC technology in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fukuda, Masafumi [National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan). High Temperature Materials Center

    2010-07-01

    The 600deg-C class Ultra Super-Critical(USC) steam condition technology was mainly developed through projects led by J-Power in the '80s and 90s'. In 2001, the project was successfully finished with newly developed 9-12% chromium steels. These materials were selected for the major parts of the USC power plants in Japan and almost half of the coal power plants have the USC steam condition today. However, aged plants, which were built in the '70s and early '80s will reach the point where they will need to be rebuilt or refurbished in the near future. The steam temperatures of the older plants are 538 deg-C or 566deg-C. We did a case study, retrofitting these plants with the USC and an advanced USC technology that takes a 700deg-C class steam temperature to increase thermal efficiency and to reduce CO{sub 2} emissions. The study showed that the advanced USC Technology(A-USC) is suitable for the retrofitting of aged plants and can reduce CO{sub 2} emissions by about 15%. The Japanese government launched the ''Cool Earth-Innovative Energy Technology Program'' in 2008 March to promote international cooperation and actively contribute to substantial global greenhouse gas emissions reductions. 21 technologies that will contribute to substantial reductions in CO{sub 2} emissions by efficiency improvement and low carbonization were selected. The A-USC that aims at 46% (net, HHV) thermal efficiency of coal power generation is included in the technologies. We started a large-scale development project of the A-USC technology in 2008 August. 700deg-C class boiler, turbine and valve technologies, which include high temperature material technology, will be developed. Some candidate materials for boilers are being tested. Turbine rotor and casing materials are being developed and tested, as well. Two years from the beginning of the project, we have obtained some useful test results regarding the candidate materials. (orig.)

  2. The Great East-Japan Earthquake and devastating tsunami. An update and lessons from the past great earthquakes in Japan since 1923

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ishigaki, Akemi; Higashi, Hikari; Sakamoto, Takako; Shibahara, Shigeki

    2013-01-01

    Japan has a long history of fighting against great earthquakes that cause structural damage/collapses, fires and/or tsunami. On March 11, 2011 at 14:46 (Friday), the Great East-Japan Earthquake (magnitude 9.0) attacked the Tohoku region (northeastern Japan), which includes Sendai City. The earthquake generated a devastating tsunami, leading to unprecedented disasters (∼18,500 victims) in coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, despite the fact that people living in the Tohoku region are well trained for tsunami-evacuation procedures, with the mindset of ''Tsunami, ten-den-ko.'' This code means that each person should evacuate individually upon an earthquake. Sharing this rule, children and parents can escape separately from schools, houses or workplaces, without worrying about each other. The concept of ten-den-ko (individual evacuation) is helpful for people living in coastal areas of earthquake-prone zones around the world. It is also important to construct safe evacuation centers, because the March 11 th tsunami killed people who had evacuated to evacuation sites. We summarize the current conditions of people living in the disaster-stricken areas, including the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident. We also describe the disaster responses as the publisher of the Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (TJEM), located in Sendai, with online support from Tokyo. In 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake (magnitude 7.9) evoked a massive fire that destroyed large areas of Tokyo (∼105,000 victims), including the print company for TJEM, but the Wistar Institute printed three TJEM issues in 1923 in Philadelphia. Mutual aid relationships should be established between distant cities to survive future disasters. (author)

  3. The Great East-Japan Earthquake and devastating tsunami: an update and lessons from the past Great Earthquakes in Japan since 1923.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishigaki, Akemi; Higashi, Hikari; Sakamoto, Takako; Shibahara, Shigeki

    2013-04-01

    Japan has a long history of fighting against great earthquakes that cause structural damage/collapses, fires and/or tsunami. On March 11, 2011 at 14:46 (Friday), the Great East-Japan Earthquake (magnitude 9.0) attacked the Tohoku region (northeastern Japan), which includes Sendai City. The earthquake generated a devastating tsunami, leading to unprecedented disasters (~18,500 victims) in coastal areas of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, despite the fact that people living in the Tohoku region are well trained for tsunami-evacuation procedures, with the mindset of "Tsunami, ten-den-ko." This code means that each person should evacuate individually upon an earthquake. Sharing this rule, children and parents can escape separately from schools, houses or workplaces, without worrying about each other. The concept of ten-den-ko (individual evacuation) is helpful for people living in coastal areas of earthquake-prone zones around the world. It is also important to construct safe evacuation centers, because the March 11(th) tsunami killed people who had evacuated to evacuation sites. We summarize the current conditions of people living in the disaster-stricken areas, including the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident. We also describe the disaster responses as the publisher of the Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine (TJEM), located in Sendai, with online support from Tokyo. In 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake (magnitude 7.9) evoked a massive fire that destroyed large areas of Tokyo (~105,000 victims), including the print company for TJEM, but the Wistar Institute printed three TJEM issues in 1923 in Philadelphia. Mutual aid relationships should be established between distant cities to survive future disasters.

  4. Thermal comfort along the marathon course of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honjo, Tsuyoshi; Seo, Yuhwan; Yamasaki, Yudai; Tsunematsu, Nobumitsu; Yokoyama, Hitoshi; Yamato, Hiroaki; Mikami, Takehiko

    2018-04-01

    The Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo in 2020 and the period will be the hottest period of the year in Japan. Marathon is a sport with a large heat load, and it is said that the risk of heat stroke rises more than other sports activities. The thermal environment of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic marathon course is analyzed by using wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) and Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) map of the center area of Tokyo. The change due to the place, the effect of the shadow of the building, and the position on the course was analyzed from the distribution of WBGT and UTCI in the short-term analysis of sunny day from August 2 to August 6, 2014. To make the distribution map, we calculated distributions of sky view factor and mean radiant temperature of the 10 km × 7.5 km analyzed area in the center of Tokyo. Distributions of air temperature and humidity are calculated from Metropolitan Environmental Temperature and Rainfall Observation System data, which is a high-resolution measurement network. It was possible to incorporate the local variation of temperature and humidity of the analyzed area. In the result, the WBGT is about 1 °C lower and the UTCI is about 4-8 °C lower in the shadow of buildings from 9:00 to 10:00 than in the sunny side. As a cooling method, making a shadow is a relatively effective method. The variation along the course considering the distribution of meteorological data within the area is about 0.5 °C WBGT and 1 °C UTCI range. If we allow the error of this range, one-point meteorological data can be applied for the estimation along the course. Passing the right side (left side in the case of return) of the course could keep the accumulated value slightly lower along the course in the morning because the marathon course roughly runs from west to east and buildings' shadow is on the relatively right side (south side). But practically, the effect of changing the position on the course was small. The long-term analysis on the

  5. Cultural differences in clinical leadership: a qualitative study comparing the attitudes of general dental practitioners from Greater Manchester and Tokyo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brocklehurst, P; Nomura, M; Ozaki, T; Ferguson, J; Matsuda, R

    2013-11-01

    Leadership has been argued to be a key component in the transformation of services in the United Kingdom and in Japan. In the UK, local professional networks have developed to provide clinician led care in dentistry; working to develop local plans to deliver improvements in the quality of care for patients. In Japan, the remuneration model for dental care has been revised with the aim to improve the service and tackle the current challenges of population health there. The aim of this study was to use semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to explore general dental practitioners' (GDPs) understanding of the term 'leadership' and determine whether its meaning is culturally bound. Twelve participants were sampled purposively by the research team; identifying GDPs involved in leadership roles from across Greater Manchester and Tokyo. A set of open-ended questions was developed for semi-structured interviews a priori and the interviews continued until saturation. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and codes were developed into a coding frame for thematic analysis. Representative quotations are provided in the results. Fourteen codes were identified according to the aims of the study and organised into five overarching themes. 'Leadership as the relationship' was more pronounced among Japanese GDPs, while 'leadership as the individual' was common in GDPs from Greater Manchester. Differences were also found in respect of education and training in leadership. Training was also considered to be important by the GDPs from Japan, while UK GDPs felt leaders were more likely to be influenced by innate qualities. The interdependence of leadership and entrepreneurship was raised by both sets of GDPs. The concept of leadership was considered to be important by GDPs from both Greater Manchester and Tokyo; leadership was seen as providing strategy and direction for a clinical team. However, cultural influences were evident in how this was conceptualised.

  6. Tokyo Motor Show 2003; Tokyo Motor Show 2003

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joly, E.

    2004-01-01

    The text which follows present the different techniques exposed during the 37. Tokyo Motor Show. The report points out the great tendencies of developments of the Japanese automobile industry. The hybrid electric-powered vehicles or those equipped with fuel cells have been highlighted by the Japanese manufacturers which allow considerable budgets in the research of less polluting vehicles. The exposed models, although being all different according to the manufacturer, use always a hybrid system: fuel cell/battery. The manufacturers have stressed too on the intelligent systems for navigation and safety as well as on the design and comfort. (O.M.)

  7. Importance of policy for energy system transformation: Diffusion of PV technology in Japan and Germany

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chowdhury, Sanjeeda; Sumita, Ushio; Islam, Ashraful; Bedja, Idriss

    2014-01-01

    Photovoltaic (PV) has the highest cost reduction potential among all renewable energy sources (RES). To overcome institutional barriers, developing the technology, and creating an initial market, policies are needed. Comparative case studies of Japan and German PV sector from 1990 to 2011 were developed. Japan dominated the PV industry during 1994–2004, PV market increased to 290 MW in 2005. After 2005 Japan's PV market decreased. German PV market increased from 44 MW in 2000 to 7.5 GW in 2011. The reason behind Japanese PV market decline was the unaligned energy policy and termination of incentives. This paper discusses about successful policy implementation and the impact of policy for the diffusion of PV technology. The analysis section of this paper shows how much the PV technology has been diffused during the period of 1990–2011 and finally what will make the transformation process successful. - Highlights: • We studied PV diffusion of Japan and German considering public energy policy, environmental policy and cost reduction. • This study determined that policy and incentives are responsible for cost reduction. • Japans concentration on nuclear energy more than renewables, made the PV diffusion slow. • Successful implementation of FIT helped Germany reduce PV electricity price more than grid electricity

  8. [Phylogenetic analysis of rabies viruses isolated from animals in Tokyo in the 1950s].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hatakeyama, Kaoru; Sadamasu, Kenji; Kai, Akemi

    2011-05-01

    Molecular epidemiological analysis of 96 rabies viruses isolated from animals in Tokyo in the 1950s involves Japanese fixed virus, Komatsugawa, Takamen, and Nishigahara strains. Strains isolated in Tokyo were divided into Tokyo 1 and Tokyo 2, and grouped into a worldwide distribution cluster differing from Takamen and Nishigahara. Tokyo 1 was grouped into the same cluster as viruses isolated from United States west coast dogs in the 1930s and 1940s. Tokyo 2 was grouped into the same cluster as the Komatsugawa strain, also known as a cluster of viruses from the Khabarovsk raccoon dog, and the Lake Baikal stepped fox in Russia. These findings suggest that 1950s Tokyo rabies viruses were related to those in Russia and the USA.

  9. CURRENT ISSUES ON JOB STRESS IN JAPAN AND WORKSITE MENTAL HEALTH APPLICATION AMONG JAPANESE COMPANY A Case Study Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S Purnawati

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Background: Issues about job stress is more popular in the world currently. Not just for Japan, Korea and Taiwan, but also an important issue in EU countries, especially the UK and Finland Increase of awareness about job stress effects on work performance, productivity and mental health is as onereason of the phenomenon.Objective: The present study aimed to explore the issue of job stress in Japan for the reference of good practices to Indonesia.Methods: This study, based on observationalstudies in the period of September-December in year 2010 in Tokyo, Kawasaki and Kitakyushu Japan. Observations on Japanese Company and discussions with experts, such as: occupational physician of Riken Company, experts from: Tokyo University and Tokyo University’s occupational physician, Department of ergonomics, the Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences UOEH (University ofOccupational and Environmental Health, Institute for Science of Labor, and researcher of Japan NIOSH. Two stress management training and occupational mental health’ application program were observed in the period of October-December.Result: The trend of current occupational mental health research in Japan has being moved from job stress to more advanced issues of work engagement andwork-life balance. There are three approaches to prevention of job stress. Considering the three approach could improve of worker productivity and well-being. The training for Tokyo University’s staffs was as one session of individual-oriented stress prevention approach. It was conducted in very interactive class lecture. During 2 hours session, the participants learned some knowledge about job stress and its risk factors, exercised to construct better cognitive for stress prevention and productivity, practiced of progressive muscle relaxation technique, group work, did some home works and filled an evaluation sheet after the session was finish. We also observed the occupational mental

  10. The potential of, and threat to, the transfer of ecological knowledge in urban areas: the case of community-based woodland management in Tokyo, Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuaki Tsuchiya

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Urban dwellers often have little knowledge of local ecosystems, but community groups that actively manage local ecosystems can acquire a rich ecological knowledge. Understanding the knowledge transfer process within community groups contributes to the continuous improvement of urban ecosystem management. In this paper, we address three main questions: (1 How is ecological knowledge acquisition linked to boundary and intra-group interactions? (2 Does holding knowledge mean the involvement in actual management activities? (3 Does the aging of community group members threaten the continuity of activities? We selected satoyama woodlands (seminatural woodlands in peri-urban Tokyo, Japan as a study site. We used a mixed method approach that combined a qualitative interview with a quantitative questionnaire. We found that boundary interactions were particularly important at the start of an urban ecological management process, to obtain basic knowledge relating to management activities. Intra-group interaction contributed to knowledge transfer after the starting period. We found that participants possessing considerable ecological knowledge do not necessarily participate in management activities. Findings also indicated that the aging of group members in groups established for more than 10 years was an area of concern for the continuity of group activities. New members did not necessarily solve this aging issue. We conclude that further measures and actions are needed to ensure long-term knowledge transfer among the participants of community groups in urban ecosystem management.

  11. Japanese contributions to the Japan-US workshop on blanket design/technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tone, Tatsuzo; Seki, Yasushi; Minato, Akio; Kobayashi, Takeshi; Mori, Seiji; Kawasaki, Hiromitsu; Sumita, Kenji.

    1983-02-01

    This report describes Japanese papers presented at the Japan-US Workshop on Blanket Design/Technology which was held at Argonne National Laboratory, November 10 - 11, 1982. Overview of Fusion Experimental Reactor (FER), JAERI's activities related to first wall/blanket/shield, summary of FER blanket and its technology development issues and summary of activities at universities on fusion reactor blanket engineering are covered. (author)

  12. Construction of the advanced boiling water reactor in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Natsume, Nobuo; Noda, Hiroshi

    1996-01-01

    The Advanced Boiling Reactor (ABWR) has been developed with international cooperation between Japan and the US as the generation of plants for the 1990s and beyond. It incorporates the best BWR technologies from the world in challengeable pursuit of improved safety and reliability, reduced construction and operating cost, reduced radiation exposure and radioactive waste. Tokyo Electric Power Company (MPCO) decided to apply the first ABWRs to unit No. 6 and 7 of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station (K-6 and 7). These units are scheduled to commence commercial operation in December 1996 and July 1997 respectively. Particular attention is given in this discussion to the construction period from rock inspection for the reactor building to commercial operation, which is to be achieved in only 52 months through innovative and challenging construction methods. To date, construction work is advancing ahead of the original schedule. This paper describes not only how to shorten the construction period by adoption of a variety of new technologies, such as all-weather construction method and large block module construction method, but also how to check and test the state of the art technologies during manufacturing and installation of new equipment for K-6 and 7

  13. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and Post-war Japanese Optical Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tajima, Toshiyuki

    This paper depicts some aspects of the formative process of the Japanese optical and infrared astronomical community in the post-war period, featuring the transition of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan(NAOJ). We take up three cases of telescope construction, examining their background and their contribution to the Japanese astronomical community. Through these cases, the characteristics of traditions and cultures of optical and infrared astronomy in Japan are considered. Although the Tokyo Astronomical Observatory (TAO) of the University of Tokyo, the predecessor of NAOJ, was originally founded as an agency for practical astronomical observation such as time and almanac service, it has become an international centre for all types of astrophysical research. Research and development of telescopes and observational instruments have become an important part of the astronomers' practice. Now, however, a number of Japanese universities are planning to have their own large to middle-sized telescopes, and a new style of astronomical research is emerging involving astrophysical studies utilising data acquired from the Virtual Observatory, so there is a distinct possibility that the status of the NAOJ will change even further in the future.

  14. Annual direct cost of dry eye in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mizuno Y

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Yoshinobu Mizuno, Masakazu Yamada, Chika ShigeyasuDivision for Vision Research, National Institute of Sensory Organs, National Tokyo Medical Center, Tokyo, JapanOn behalf of The Dry Eye Survey Group, National Hospital Organization of JapanBackground: This study was performed to estimate the annual direct cost incurred by dry eye patients, which includes expenses for treatment and drugs, as well as the cost of punctal plugs.Methods: The study group consisted of 118 dry eye patients aged 20 years or older who visited any of the 15 medical care facilities that participated in this prospective cohort dry eye study. We estimated annual direct costs from outpatient medical records and survey questionnaires obtained from patients. Results: Of the total patients enrolled, 10 were men and 108 women, and their average age was 64.1 ± 11.2 years. The number of hospital visits made by patients was 5.8 ± 3.6 per year. Among those who used ophthalmic solutions, the numbers of bottles used per year were as follows: 32.1 ± 20.8 bottles of hyaluronic acid ophthalmic solution (87 patients, 53.1 ± 42.2 bottles of artificial tears (40 patients, and 33.2 ± 23.2 bottles of over-the-counter eyedrops (15 patients. In patients with punctal plugs, 4.1 ± 3.9 plugs were used annually. The annual drug cost was 32,000 ± 21,675 Japanese yen (323 ± 219 US dollars. The clinical cost was 16,318 ± 9961 Japanese yen (165 ± 101 US dollars. The total direct costs including punctal plug treatment amounted to 52,467 ± 38,052 Japanese yen (530 ± 384 US dollars. Conclusion: Although treatment modalities for dry eye in Japan were different from those in the US and in European countries, the direct cost of dry eye patients in Japan was comparable with that reported in those countries. Considering the high prevalence of dry eye, the direct cost of this chronic condition may be significant.Keywords: burden of disease, cost, dry eye, eyedrops, quality of life

  15. Typhoon Chataan off Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2002-01-01

    Slowly winding its way down, Typhoon Chataan had dropped to tropical storm status by Thursday, July 11, 2002, when this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was captured. In the image, the storm is located off the east coast of central Japan in the Pacific Ocean. The storm is much less organized than it was in the previous day's image. Through a gap in the clouds to the southwest of the storm's eye, Tokyo can be seen as a grayish cluster of pixels surrounding a small bay or inlet that protrudes into the island of Honshu. Credit: Image courtesy Jesse Allen, NASA Earth Observatory; data provided by the MODIS Land Rapid Response Team

  16. Research and development of nitride fuel cycle technology in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minato, Kazuo; Arai, Yasuo; Akabori, Mitsuo; Tamaki, Yoshihisa; Itoh, Kunihiro

    2004-01-01

    The research on the nitride fuel was started for an advanced fuel, (U, Pn)N, for fast reactors, and the research activities have been expanded to minor actinide bearing nitride fuels. The fuel fabrication, property measurements, irradiation tests and pyrochemical process experiments have been made. In 2002 a five-year-program named PROMINENT was started for the development of nitride fuel cycle technology within the framework of the Development of Innovative Nuclear Technologies by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. In the research program PROMINENT, property measurements, pyrochemical process and irradiation experiments needed for nitride fuel cycle technology are being made. (author)

  17. Tohoku Earthquake-associated Marine Sciences: the research project for the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitazato, Hiroshi; Kijima, Akihiro; Kogure, Kazuhiro; Hara, Motoyuki; Nagata, Toshi; Fujikura, Kasunori; Sonoda, Akira

    2015-04-01

    At 2:46 pm on March 11, 2011, a huge earthquake (M 9.0) occurred off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Region, Japan. The subsequent Tsunamis hit the coasts and seriously damaged fishing villages and towns in the area. Tohoku Region faces Northwestern Pacific where is one of the most productive oceans on the Earth. Then, what happened to the marine ecosystems in the Tohoku Region? What happened to the fishery bioresources? What is the mechanism to sustain high productivity in the Region? Is the ecosystem restoring after 4 years? What is required for the recovery of fisheries in the area? In order to answer these questions, the 10 years research project, TEAMS (Tohoku Ecosystem-Associated Marine Sciences) was launched in January 2012 funded by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan) to conduct comprehensive research on the area. Tohoku University (TU), Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, the University of Tokyo (AORIUT), Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and 25 other institutions are conducting research for this project in close association with local government and fishery people. Currently, approximately 400 people (200 scientists, 160 students and others) covering physical, chemical, biological, and geological sciences including modeling take part in the project from all over Japan. MEXT also supports TEAMS by constructing R/V Shinsei Maru in 2013 for the oceanic investigations in the region. In this report, the overview of the ecosystem before and after the disaster, major findings and challenges of TEAMS will be described.

  18. Marriage and labor market discrimination in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, K H; Hill, M A

    1983-04-01

    "Many Japanese firms have engaged in the practice of compulsory retirement upon a female employee's marriage. In 1966, this practice was ruled as being contrary to provisions in Japan's Civil Code. [The authors] have specified and estimated a model of the economic determinants of age at marriage in order to analyze the effect that this discrimination has had on nuptiality in Japan. [The] results indicate that on average, after accounting for an upward trend, women who married after the 1966 court decision married about one year younger than women who married before 1966." It is also found that age at marriage is influenced by several socioeconomic variables, including wife's wage and educational level, husband's income and educational level, and wife's family background. Data are from a 1975 survey of women aged 20-59 who were living in the Tokyo metropolitan area. excerpt

  19. A high resolution 3D velocity model beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan area by MeSO-net

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakagawa, S.; Sakai, S.; Honda, R.; Kimura, H.; Hirata, N.

    2015-12-01

    Beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Philippine Sea Plate (PSP) subducts and causes devastating mega-thrust earthquakes, such as the 1703 Genroku earthquake (M8.0) and the 1923 Kanto earthquake (M7.9). An M7 or greater (M7+) earthquake in this area at present has high potential to produce devastating serious loss of life and property with even greater global economic repercussions. The Central Disaster Management Council of Japan estimates that an M7+ earthquake will cause 23,000 fatalities and 95 trillion yen (about 1 trillion US$) economic loss. We have launched the Special Project for Reducing Vulnerability for Urban Mega Earthquake Disasters in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and social-scientists in nationwide institutions since 2012. We analyze data from the dense seismic array called Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net), which has 296 seismic stations with spacing of 5 km (Sakai and Hirata, 2009; Kasahara et al., 2009). We applied the double-difference tomography method (Zhang and Thurber, 2003) and estimated the velocity structure and the upper boundary of PSP (Nakagawa et al., 2010). The 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake (M9.0) has activated seismicity also in Kanto region, providing better coverage of ray paths for tomographic analysis. We obtain much higher resolution velocity models from whole dataset observed by MeSO-net between 2008 and 2015. A detailed image of tomograms shows that PSP contacts Pacific plate at a depth of 50 km beneath northern Tokyo bay. A variation of velocity along the oceanic crust suggests dehydration reaction to produce seismicity in a slab, which may related to the M7+ earthquake. Acknowledgement: This study was supported by the Special Project for Reducing Vulnerability for Urban Mega Earthquake Disasters of MEXT, Japan and the Earthquake Research Institute cooperative research program.

  20. Research and development of supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Katsumi; Oka, Yoshiaki

    2005-01-01

    The SCWR is an innovative LWR operating at supercritical pressure with a once-through direct cycle. It has the potential advantage of low capital cost due to its high thermal efficiency and substantial plant system simplifications. This paper outlines the completed and on-going R and D in Japan, and describes plans of the next phase projects for SCWR development. The concept was born at the University of Tokyo fifteen years ago. After a feasibility study by an industry team, a project for key technology development and plant conceptual design was launched in fiscal year (FY) 2000 funded by METI, followed by another project for fundamental study on supercritical water chemistry under radiation field and an I-NERI project for material development, and was completed in FY 2004 presenting an SCWR plant concept. To advance and optimize the plant concept, a new project is proposed in Japan. In addition, another project for developing the SCWR with fast spectrum core is proposed. The SCWR concept has acquired worldwide interest and was selected as one of the six Generation IV nuclear energy systems under GIF Program in FY 2002, and international collaboration for the SCWR RD and D is being established with an aggressive target of constructing a prototype reactor in the next fifteen years. The projects in Japan are expected to promote the development of the SCWR and to contribute the GIF activities. (author)

  1. Collection of size fractionated particulate matter sample for neutron activation analysis in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Otoshi, Tsunehiko; Nakamatsu, Hiroaki; Oura, Yasuji; Ebihara, Mitsuru

    2004-01-01

    According to the decision of the 2001 Workshop on Utilization of Research Reactor (Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) Section), size fractionated particulate matter collection for NAA was started from 2002 at two sites in Japan. The two monitoring sites, ''Tokyo'' and ''Sakata'', were classified into ''urban'' and ''rural''. In each site, two size fractions, namely PM 2-10 '' and PM 2 '' particles (aerodynamic particle size between 2 to 10 micrometer and less than 2 micrometer, respectively) were collected every month on polycarbonate membrane filters. Average concentrations of PM 10 (sum of PM 2-10 and PM 2 samples) during the common sampling period of August to November 2002 in each site were 0.031mg/m 3 in Tokyo, and 0.022mg/m 3 in Sakata. (author)

  2. Light water reactors development in Japan. (1) Introduction of LWR technology (PWR)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamada, Ichita; Suzuki, Shigemitsu

    2008-01-01

    Evolutionary progress of the LWR plants in the last half-century was reviewed in series. Introduction of LWR technology (PWR) in Japan was reviewed in this article. Kansai Electric Power imported the Mihama-1 - a 340 MWe PWR built by Westinghouse Corp. It began operating in 1970 to supply power to the World Exposition (EXPO70). There followed a period in which designs was purchased from US vendors and they were constructed with the co-operation of Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, who would then receive a license to build similar plants in Japan and develop the capacity to design and construct PWRs by itself. Progress of designs, fabrications, project management and construction of PWRs were reviewed from technology transfer to its autonomy age. (T. Tanaka)

  3. Alzheimer?s disease and immunotherapy: what is wrong with clinical trials?

    OpenAIRE

    Kohyama, Kuniko; Matsumoto, Yoh

    2015-01-01

    Kuniko Kohyama,1 Yoh Matsumoto2–4 1Department of Brain Development and Neural Regeneration, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Sensory and Motor Systems, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan; 3Immunotherapy Development Inc., Saitama, Japan; 4Geriatric Health Services Facility “Asahigaoka”, Saitama, Japan Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by progressive neurodegenerati...

  4. Entering the lesbian world in Japan: debut stories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamano, Saori

    2005-01-01

    Conceiving of a "lesbian community" as the process and/or the end product of a lesbian's going outside herself or her intimate relationship to connect with other lesbians, this paper explores the experiences of lesbians in entering the community in Tokyo, Japan, which lesbians refer to as "community debut." Based on the personal accounts gathered through interviewing 24 women in 2002 in the Tokyo area, this paper examines the personal contexts in which the women entered a lesbian community, which included searching for and defining themselves, accepting themselves, and acting out the new identity to make changes in their lives. Some of the women interviewed were prompted by a need to understand themselves as lesbians. Others with a lesbian identity searched for further affirmation through connecting with "the world of lesbians" beyond their immediate contexts. For some other women interviewed, entering the community was a way to help them start their lives anew by getting out of their previous (married) lives. The paper also specifically touches on the significance of the Internet as a source of information for individual women and as a way of creating a lesbian community, identifying both positive and negative aspects. Although the research reported in this paper leaves for further exploration how boundaries of the communities are negotiated and drawn, the norms of the communities, and conflicts and negotiations among individuals and groups, it has provided one piece of the mosaic of lesbian communities in Japan. The communities, while still largely invisible in the mainstream society, are nonetheless an important part of life, albeit in different ways, of many lesbians. The research process leads the author to anticipate greater visibility of lesbians and lesbian communities in Japan in the not too distant future.

  5. Overview of plant life extension technology development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takahashi, T.; Arai, H.; Akiyama, M.; Mishima, Y.; Okubo, T.

    1993-01-01

    In Japan, it is expected that the nuclear power will continue to play an important role in electric power supply. Since it is expected that the fast breeder reactor (FBR) will be introduced sometime during the first half of the 21st century, light water reactors (LWRs) will continue to play a key role some 30 to 40 years to come. For this reason, technology development projects are being implemented to further enhance light water reactor technology and thereby improve the reliability of LWRs. From this point, the Plant Life Extension (PLEX) technology development program [1-4] is entrusted by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry to the Japan Power Engineering and Inspection Corporation (JAPEIC). This program is an 11-year plan which started in 1985. The objectives are to extend the service lives of existing LWRs to increase the energy generated by these plants during their lifetime, and to reduce the lifetime generating costs. In this report, we will present our project overview and recent activities with respect to extensive verification tests on component material behavior. The JAPEIC PLEX project is divided into 3 phases. Phase I is the feasibility study. Phase 2 involves the verification tests and the evaluation of life extension technologies. The overall evaluation of the project will be conducted in Phase 3. The feasibility study of Phase I has been completed in fiscal year 1985 and 1986. In Phase I, the important components (the components and structures that are likely to govern the lives of nuclear power plants) have been selected. (author)

  6. Japan's post-Fukushima reconstruction: A case study for implementation of sustainable energy technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nesheiwat, Julia; Cross, Jeffrey S.

    2013-01-01

    Following World War II, Japan miraculously developed into an economic powerhouse and a model of energy efficiency among developed countries. This lasted more than 65 years until the Northeastern Japan earthquake and tsunami induced nuclear crisis of March 2011 brought Japan to an existential crossroads. Instead of implementing its plans to increase nuclear power generation capacity from thirty percent to fifty percent, Japan shut-down all fifty-four nuclear reactors for safety checks and stress-checks (two have since been restarted), resulting in reduced power generation during the summer of 2012. The reconstruction of Northeastern Japan approaches at a time when the world is grappling with a transition to sustainable energy technologies—one that will require substantial investment but one that would result in fundamental changes in infrastructure and energy efficiency. Certain reconstruction methods can be inappropriate in the social, cultural and climatic context of disaster affected areas. Thus, how can practitioners employ sustainable reconstructions which better respond to local housing needs and availability of natural energy resources without a framework in place? This paper aims at sensitizing policy-makers and stakeholders involved in post disaster reconstruction by recognizing advantages of deploying sustainable energy technologies, to reduce dependence of vulnerable communities on external markets. - Highlights: • We examine the energy challenges faced by Japan in the aftermath of Fukushima. • We identify policy measures for the use of energy technologies applicable to disaster prone nations. • We evaluate the potential for renewable energy to support reduced reliance on nuclear energy in Japan. • We model scenarios for eco-towns and smart-cities in post-disaster reconstruction. • We assess the role of culture in formulating energy policy in post-disaster reconstruction

  7. Development of remote decontamination technologies improving internal environment of reactor buildings at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hotta, Koji; Hayashi, Hirotada; Sakai, Hitoshi

    2016-01-01

    The reactor buildings at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc., which was seriously damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, have been highly contaminated by radioactive materials. To safely and efficiently advance the processes related to the forthcoming decommissioning of the reactors, it is necessary to improve the hazardous environment inside the reactor buildings. During the more than four years that have elapsed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Toshiba has been implementing various measures to reduce the ambient dose rates inside the reactor buildings through decontamination work and participation in a national project for the development of remote decontamination technologies for reactor buildings. A variety of vehicles and technologies to support decontamination work have been developed through these activities, and are significantly contributing to improvement of the environment inside the reactor buildings. (author)

  8. Smartphone viewing distance and sleep: an experimental study utilizing motion capture technology

    OpenAIRE

    Yoshimura,Michitaka; Kitazawa,Momoko; Maeda,Yasuhiro; Mimura,Masaru; Tsubota,Kazuo; Kishimoto,Taishiro

    2017-01-01

    Michitaka Yoshimura,1,* Momoko Kitazawa,1–3,* Yasuhiro Maeda,2 Masaru Mimura,4 Kazuo Tsubota,1 Taishiro Kishimoto,4,5 1Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 2RIKEN Center for Advanced Photonics, Wako, Saitama, 3Department of Nursing, Aino University Junior College, 4Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 5Department of Psychiatry, Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, NY, USA *These authors contributed equal...

  9. Construction, characteristics and present status of high-fluence irradiation facility at University of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tabata, Yoneho; Kobayashi, Hitoshi; Tagawa, Seiichi; Kouchi, Noriyuki.

    1989-01-01

    New ion accelerator facility (HIT Facility) was constructed at Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Tokyo. This facility, which was equipped with some special apparatus, has been mainly dedicated to the study of radiation effects of ion beams on materials. In this report, the construction, the characteristics and the present status of this facility are described. (author)

  10. Annual report of Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, University of Tokyo in fiscal 1993

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-08-01

    In this annual report, the activities of research and education, the state of operation of research facilities and others in fiscal year 1993 are summarized. Four main research facilities are the fast neutron source reactor 'Yayoi', the electron linear accelerator, the basic experiment facility for nuclear fusion reactor blanket design and the heavy irradiation research facility. The reactor and the accelerator are for the joint utilization by all universities in Japan, the blanket is used by the Faculty of Engineering, and the HIT is for the joint utilization in University of Tokyo. In fiscal year 1993, the installation of the fast neutron science research facility was approved. In this annual report, the management and operation of the above research facilities are described, and the research activities, the theses for doctorate and graduation theses of teachers, are summarized. (K.I.)

  11. Japan: 45 Years of INIS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yonezawa, Minoru

    2015-01-01

    I would like to congratulate INIS on its 45th anniversary. Japan is a founding member of this international cooperation program, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (formerly, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute — JAERI) was appointed as the national center of INIS by the Japanese government. We have contributed to the collection, classification, indexing, abstracting and submission of nuclear literature published in our country, as well as promoted the INIS database within our country. I have been engaged in INIS activities for many years and have a lot of experience with INIS. On the occasion of INIS’ 45th anniversary, I would like to look back on this experience. I started my career at JAERI in 1984. The first regional training seminar for the Far East was held in Tokyo in October 1984. I was assigned to the Library Division of JAERI, but I worked as support staff for the regional training seminar. During the seminar, I had an opportunity to attend the technical tour with the seminar participants to the University of Library and Information Science, research laboratories, etc., in Tsukuba Science City. This was my first involvement with INIS. It was a very impressive and interesting experience

  12. The catastrophic collapse of morale among hospital physicians in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hideo Yasunaga

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available Hideo YasunagaDepartment of Health Management and Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, JapanAbstract: The past few decades have witnessed bleak pictures of unhappy physicians worldwide. Japanese physicians working in hospitals are particularly distressed. Today, Japan’s healthcare system is near collapse because physicians are utterly demoralized. Their loss of morale is due to budget constraints, excessive demands, physician shortages, poor distribution, long working hours, hostile media, increasing lawsuits, and violence by patients. Severe cost-saving policies, inadequate distribution of healthcare resources, and the failure to communicate risks has damaged physicians’ morale and created conflicts between physicians and society. Physicians should communicate the uncertainty, limitations, and risks of modern medicine to all members of society. No resolution can be achieved unless trust exists between physicians, patients, the public, the media, bureaucrats, politicians and jurists.Keywords: physician’s morale, physician shortages, overwork, health policy

  13. Report on recent over-exposure accidents with a medical linac in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kudoh, Hisaaki

    2003-01-01

    On December 21, 2001, at a hospital in Tokyo, an engineer setting a medical-linac was over-exposed by the equipment due to lack of communication between workers. The exposed dose was initially reported as 1000 mSv (1 Sv), but later revised to 200 mSv at most. The outline of the accident and the statistical data on radiation exposure accidents in Japan and the world are briefly overlooked. (author)

  14. RESPONSE OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES IN PROTECTING CIVILIAN AMERICANS IN JAPAN DURING THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR CRISIS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simon, Steven L; Coleman, C Norman; Noska, Michael A; Bowman, Thomas

    2012-05-01

    Following the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan on 11 March 2011, and the ensuing damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex, a request by the U.S. Ambassador to Japan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) resulted in deployment of a five-person team of subject matter experts to the U.S. Embassy. The primary purpose of the deployment was to provide the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo with guidance on health and medical issues related to potential radiation exposure of U.S. citizens in Japan, including employees of the U.S. Department of State at consulates in Japan and American citizens living in or visiting Japan. At the request of the Government of Japan, the deployed health team also assisted Japanese experts in their public health response to the radiation incident. Over a three-week period in Japan and continuing for weeks after their return to the U.S., the team provided expertise in the areas of medical and radiation oncology, health physics, assessment of radiation dose and cancer risk, particularly to U.S. citizens living in Tokyo and the surrounding areas, food and water contamination and the acceptable limits, countermeasures to exposure such as potassium iodide (KI), the use of KI and an offered donation from the United States, evacuation and re-entry issues, and health/emergency-related communication strategies. This paper describes the various strategies used and observations made by the DHHS team during the first two months after the Fukushima crisis began.

  15. Proceedings of the 2nd JAERI symposium on HTGR technologies October 21 ∼ 23, 1992, Oarai, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-01-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) held the 2nd JAERI Symposium on HTGR Technologies on October 21 to 23, 1992, at Oarai Park Hotel at Oarai-machi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan, with support of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Science and Technology Agency of Japan and the Atomic Energy Society of Japan on the occasion that the construction of the High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), which is the first high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) in Japan, is now being proceeded smoothly. In this symposium, the worldwide present status of research and development (R and D) of the HTGRs and the future perspectives of the HTGR development were discussed with 47 papers including 3 invited lectures, focusing on the present status of HTGR projects and perspectives of HTGR Development, Safety, Operation Experience, Fuel and Heat Utilization. A panel discussion was also organized on how the HTGRs can contribute to the preservation of global environment. About 280 participants attended the symposium from Japan, Bangladesh, Germany, France, Indonesia, People's Republic of China, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Venezuela and the IAEA. This paper was edited as the proceedings of the 2nd JAERI Symposium on HTGR Technologies, collecting the 47 papers presented in the oral and poster sessions along with 11 panel exhibitions on the results of research and development associated to the HTTR. (author)

  16. Pramana – Journal of Physics | Indian Academy of Sciences

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Physics Department, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan; RIKEN BNL Research Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA; Department of Physics, Waseda University, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; Tokuyama Women's College, Tokuyama, Yamaguchi 745-8511, Japan; IMC, Hiroshima University, ...

  17. SCWR Concepts in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2014-08-15

    Two SCWR concepts are being developed in Japan, one corresponding to the thermal spectrum reactor and the other to the fast spectrum reactor. Yamada et al. described the thermal-spectrum reactor concept referred to as the Japan SCWR (or JSCWR). This concept was developed under the financial support of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The basic philosophy of the JSCWR development is to utilize proven light water reactor and supercritical fossil-fired power plant technologies as much as possible to minimize the R&D cost, time and risks. Therefore, the JSCWR is designed as a thermal neutron spectrum reactor using light water as moderator and reactor coolant. The JSCWR plant consists of a pressure-vessel type, once-through reactor and a direct Rankine cycle system. Reactor coolant fed through inlet nozzles is heated up in the core and flows through outlet nozzles with no recirculation in the vessel. Other options to the JSCWR core design are being investigated at the University of Tokyo. The electric output of the JSCWR is assumed to range from 600 MWe to 1700 MWe class to fulfill user’s requirements as much as possible. In this section, the reference value is selected to 1725 MWe, which corresponds to a reactor thermal output of 4039 MWth. Nakatsuka et al. described the core design for the fast-spectrum reactor, which is based on a similar plant system compared to that of the thermal-spectrum reactor. The fast-spectrum reactor, however, would produce higher power rating than the thermal-spectrum one of the same reactor pressure-vessel size. Since the fast-spectrum reactor does not require the moderator, its unit capital cost would be lower than the thermal-spectrum reactor.

  18. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    CERN Document Server

    Haubold, Hans J; UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science, hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    2010-01-01

    This book represents Volume II of the Proceedings of the UN/ESA/NASA Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science, hosted by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Tokyo, 18 - 22 June, 2007. It covers two programme topics explored in this and past workshops of this nature: (i) non-extensive statistical mechanics as applicable to astrophysics, addressing q-distribution, fractional reaction and diffusion, and the reaction coefficient, as well as the Mittag-Leffler function and (ii) the TRIPOD concept, developed for astronomical telescope facilities. The companion publication, Volume I of the proceedings of this workshop, is a special issue in the journal Earth, Moon, and Planets, Volume 104, Numbers 1-4, April 2009.

  19. Proceedings of the 6. Japan-Brazil Symposium on Science and Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-01-01

    The most recent results of Brazil-Japan agreement for technological development on areas of space science and plasma, were presented. Problems related to: astrophysics, cosmic radiation interaction with earth atmosphere, plasma physics, and construction of rockets and satellites for space researches were discussed. (M.C.K.) [pt

  20. Database use and technology in Japan: JTEC panel report. Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiederhold, G.; Beech, D.; Bourne, C.; Farmer, N.; Jajodia, Sushil; Kahaner, D.; Minoura, Toshi; Smith, D.; Smith, J.M.

    1992-04-01

    This report presents the findings of a group of database experts, sponsored by the Japanese Technology Evaluation Center (JTEC), based on an intensive study trip to Japan during March 1991. Academic, industrial, and governmental sites were visited. The primary findings are that Japan is supporting its academic research establishment poorly, that industry is making progress in key areas, and that both academic and industrial researchers are well aware of current domestic and foreign technology. Information sharing between industry and academia is effectively supported by governmental sponsorship of joint planning and review activities, and enhances technology transfer. In two key areas, multimedia and object-oriented databases, the authors can expect to see future export of Japanese database products, typically integrated into larger systems. Support for academic research is relatively modest. Nevertheless, the senior faculty are well-known and respected, and communicate frequently and in depth with each other, with government agencies, and with industry. In 1988 there were a total of 1,717 Ph.D.`s in engineering and 881 in science. It appears that only about 30 of these were academic Ph.D.`s in the basic computer sciences.

  1. Analysis of spontaneous inquiries about suspected adverse drug reactions posted by the general public on the electronic Japanese bulletin board “Yahoo! Japan Chiebukuro”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dobashi A

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Akira Dobashi,1 Kaori Kurata,1 Mitsuhiro Okazaki,2,3 Mari Nishizawa4 1Education and Research Institute of Information Science, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 2Faculty of Health Sciences, Health Innovation and Technology Center, Hokkaido University, Hokkaido, 3Cross Care Field Co., Ltd., 4Yakuju Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Purpose: Spontaneous inquiries about the development of adverse drug reactions (ADRs to medicines can be extracted based on the questions posted by the general public on the electronic Japanese bulletin board “Yahoo! Japan Chiebukuro”. Our aim was to clarify the characteristics related to people’s descriptions of suspected ADRs and determine the reasons for submitting a spontaneous inquiry. Methods: Fifty brand names of medicines used for inquiry extraction were chosen by selecting 35 pharmaceutical products, based on the generic names that had the highest sales in Japan. Questions containing both the brand name of one of these medicines and the term “Fukusayō” (ADR in Japanese that were posted from July 2004 to June 2009 were extracted from the site. Results: Among 1,419 questions extracted, 614 questions had at least one identifiable brand name of a suspected medicine, an ADR description, and the extent to which the ADR appeared to be caused by the suspected medicine(s. Among these 614 questions, 589 described in detail the symptoms/signs that the inquirers themselves or their families had experienced as ADRs. The highest number of questions was found for Paxil (525. Posts asking whether the symptoms being experienced were due to an ADR accounted for the highest number of questions. In most cases, the inquirer suspected that a single medicine led to an ADR and was seeking advice from others taking the same medicine. Conclusion: Our examination of spontaneous inquiries showed that people have sufficient knowledge to adequately report potential ADRs in terms of their symptoms

  2. Japan’s Search for Strategic Vision: The Contemporary Debate

    Science.gov (United States)

    1993-02-25

    American relations break down: "they want to go with the winning horse," as he put it.59 Similarly, Mr. Mikio Haruna, deputy editor on the foreign desk...76 The unusually harsh words bore the stamp of the study’s principal author, noted Tokyo University political scientist Seizaburo Sato . On another...occasion, Sato told an interviewer that there have always been ups and downs in the image of the United States in Japan. But there is a growing concern

  3. Development of enrichment and reprocessing technologies in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amanuma, Tsuyoshi

    1978-01-01

    The present status of the development of fuel cycle technologies for LWR systems in Japan is reviewed. As for the uranium enrichment technology, recent development of the centrifuge method is briefly explained. The construction schedule of the pilot plant at Ningyo-Toge is also shown. The completion of the plant is expected in 1980, and 7000 machines will be in full operation. Other methods such as gaseous diffusion, chemical separation, and laser method are shortly described. Comparisons among these different methods are also made in various economical aspects. As for the reprocessing technologies, those concerning with environmental problems, nuclear non-proliferation, and safeguard measures are explained. Recovery of krypton and xenon, method of co-process, and co-operative research and development with IAEA are the main topics here. Finally, the technological development in the field of high-level radioactive waste disposal is explained. The construction schedule of an experimental facility (CPF), development of solidification techniques, and the methods of final disposal are the main topics treated here. (Aoki, K.)

  4. Living conditions, ability to seek medical treatment, and awareness of health conditions and healthcare options among homeless persons in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohtsu, Tadahiro; Toda, Ryouhei; Shiraishi, Tomonobu; Toyoda, Hirokuni; Toyozawa, Hideyasu; Kamioka, Yasuaki; Ochiai, Hirotaka; Shimada, Naoki; Shirasawa, Takako; Hoshino, Hiromi; Kokaze, Akatsuki

    2011-12-01

    Empirical data indicative of the health conditions and medical needs of homeless persons are scarce in Japan. In this study, with the aim of contributing to the formulation of future healthcare strategies for the homeless, we conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey and interviews at a park in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, to clarify the living conditions of homeless persons and their health conditions and awareness about the availability of medical treatment. Responses from 55 homeless men were recorded (response rate: 36.7%). With the exception of one person, none of them possessed a health insurance certificate. Half of the respondents reported having a current income source, although their modal monthly income was 30,000 yen($1 was approximately 90 yen). The number of individuals who responded "yes" to the questions regarding "Consulting a doctor on the basis of someone's recommendation" and "Being aware of the location of the nearest hospital or clinic" was significantly higher among those who had someone to consult when they were ill than among those who did not (the odds ratios [95% confidence intervals] were 15.00 [3.05-93.57] and 11.45 [1.42-510.68], respectively). This showed that whether or not a homeless person had a person to consult might influence his healthcare-seeking behavior. When queried about the entity they consulted (multiple responses acceptable), respondents mentioned "life support organizations" (61.1%) and "public offices" (33.3%). Overall, 94.5% of the respondents were aware of swine flu (novel influenza A (H1N1)). Their main sources of information were newspapers and magazines. On the basis of these findings, with regard to the aim of formulating healthcare strategies for homeless persons, while life support organizations and public offices play significant roles as conduits to medical institutions, print media should be considered useful for communicating messages to homeless persons.

  5. Battery collection in municipal waste management in Japan: Challenges for hazardous substance control and safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Terazono, Atsushi; Oguchi, Masahiro; Iino, Shigenori; Mogi, Satoshi

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Consumers need to pay attention to the specific collection rules for each type of battery in each municipality in Japan. • 6–10% of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries discarded in Japan currently could be regarded as containing mercury. • Despite announcements by producers and municipalities, only 2.0% of discarded cylindrical dry batteries were insulated. • Batteries made up an average of 4.6% of the total collected small WEEE under the small WEEE recycling scheme in Japan. • Exchangeable batteries were used in almost all of mobile phones, but the removal rate was as low as 22% for mobile phones. - Abstract: To clarify current collection rules of waste batteries in municipal waste management in Japan and to examine future challenges for hazardous substance control and safety, we reviewed collection rules of waste batteries in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We also conducted a field survey of waste batteries collected at various battery and small waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection sites in Tokyo. The different types of batteries are not collected in a uniform way in the Tokyo area, so consumers need to pay attention to the specific collection rules for each type of battery in each municipality. In areas where small WEEE recycling schemes are being operated after the enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Recycling of Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Japan in 2013, consumers may be confused about the need for separating batteries from small WEEE (especially mobile phones). Our field survey of collected waste batteries indicated that 6–10% of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries discarded in Japan currently could be regarded as containing mercury. More than 26% of zinc carbon dry batteries currently being discarded may have a lead content above the labelling threshold of the EU Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC). In terms of safety, despite announcements by producers and municipalities about using

  6. Battery collection in municipal waste management in Japan: Challenges for hazardous substance control and safety

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Terazono, Atsushi, E-mail: terazono@nies.go.jp [National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan); Oguchi, Masahiro [National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan); Iino, Shigenori [Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection, 1-7-5 Shinsuna, Koto-ku, Tokyo 136-0075 (Japan); Mogi, Satoshi [Bureau of Environment, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, 2-8-1 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-8001 (Japan)

    2015-05-15

    Highlights: • Consumers need to pay attention to the specific collection rules for each type of battery in each municipality in Japan. • 6–10% of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries discarded in Japan currently could be regarded as containing mercury. • Despite announcements by producers and municipalities, only 2.0% of discarded cylindrical dry batteries were insulated. • Batteries made up an average of 4.6% of the total collected small WEEE under the small WEEE recycling scheme in Japan. • Exchangeable batteries were used in almost all of mobile phones, but the removal rate was as low as 22% for mobile phones. - Abstract: To clarify current collection rules of waste batteries in municipal waste management in Japan and to examine future challenges for hazardous substance control and safety, we reviewed collection rules of waste batteries in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We also conducted a field survey of waste batteries collected at various battery and small waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection sites in Tokyo. The different types of batteries are not collected in a uniform way in the Tokyo area, so consumers need to pay attention to the specific collection rules for each type of battery in each municipality. In areas where small WEEE recycling schemes are being operated after the enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Recycling of Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Japan in 2013, consumers may be confused about the need for separating batteries from small WEEE (especially mobile phones). Our field survey of collected waste batteries indicated that 6–10% of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries discarded in Japan currently could be regarded as containing mercury. More than 26% of zinc carbon dry batteries currently being discarded may have a lead content above the labelling threshold of the EU Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC). In terms of safety, despite announcements by producers and municipalities about using

  7. Progress of innovation of electrical power technology in FY2013

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayumi, Akihiko; Tanaka, Masanori; Yamaguchi, Hiroshi

    2014-01-01

    The following is the description of technical innovations at 12 companies including Tokyo Electric Power Company, Chubu Electric Power Company, and Japan Atomic Power Company. Tokyo Electric Power Company presented (1) the developments of a wet-type air decontaminating apparatus for inside/outside of power plant, (2) a robot to be used for field investigation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, (3) a visualization technology using laser for detection, and (4) removal of debris at the power plant. Chubu Electric Power Company presented application of a flap gate to the opening on exterior wall of building as a countermeasure against tsunami at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant. Hokuriku Electric Power Company presented a nuclear reactor operation training simulator for full-scope operation training for the Shika nuclear power station. Chugoku Electric Power Company presented their efforts in implementing a predictive monitoring system at the Shimane Nuclear Power Station. Shikoku Electric Power Company presented the installation of a weir with a flap gate to the interior of seawater pit as a countermeasure against tsunami. Japan Atomic Power Company presented an impact assessment method of fallout during transportation of materials caused by nuclear reactor accident, design and development of a square-type shielding container for radioactive wastes, a strength test on concrete materials for the safety design of Tsuruga Power Station Units 3 and 4, decommissioning of nuclear power plant, and research and development of the fast breeder reactor. (S.Y.)

  8. Lithuanian trade mission visits Tokyo

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2010-01-01

    Leedu välisministri Andronius Azubalise ja Jaapani välisministri Seiji Maehara kohtumisel räägiti riikidevahelisest koostööst. Tokyo visiidi ajal kohtus välisminister ka alamkoja väliskomitee esimehe Tadamasa Kodaira ja majandus- ja tööstusministri asetäitja Motohisa Ikedaga

  9. Level of perception of technical terms regarding the effect of radiation on the human body by residents of Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshida, Yoshitoku; Yoshida, Yasuko; Isogai, Emiko; Hayase, Takashi; Nakamura, Kozue; Saito, Mitsuo; Arizono, Koji

    2017-10-27

    This study aimed to examine the level of perception of the technical terms related to the effect of radiation on the human body among residents of the six prefectures of Miyagi, Fukushima, Tokyo, Aichi, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki in Japan. Miyagi and Fukushima were selected as devastated area by Great East Japan Earthquake. Tokyo and Aichi were selected as control. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were selected as the A-bombed area. A total of 1030 respondents, 172, 173, 171, 173, 171, and 170, respectively, were surveyed. Differences in the recognition level of technical terms related to the effect of radiation on the human body among residents of the six prefectures were assessed. The highest recognition levels were reported by the respondents from Fukushima (17 items). Those from Miyagi scored the second highest recognition levels (10 out of the 17 terms); the second highest recognition levels for the remaining seven terms were marked by the respondents of Tokyo. Respondents in the Tohoku region had a better recognition for the technical terminology relevant to the effect of radiation on the human body. Our findings indicate a need for continued, comprehensive risk communication pertaining to health hazards of radiation exposure in Tohoku region. Concerted efforts by central/local governments and other stakeholders are required to allay the anxiety/stress related to radiation exposure among the residents.

  10. Japan: Sendai, first reactor to restart. Sendai restart: how does it work? Japan: restart will be 'progressive'. 2015: which role for nuclear energy in Japan?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Le Ngoc, Boris; Jouette, Isabelle

    2015-01-01

    A set of articles addresses the restart of nuclear plants in Japan. The first one presents the Sendai nuclear plant, evokes the commitment of the Japanese nuclear safety authority (the NRA) at each step of the restart process, the agreement of local populations, the loading of the nuclear fuel, a successful crisis exercise, and the benefits expected from this restart. The second article addresses the restart process with its administrative aspects, the implication of local authorities, its technical aspects, and investments made to improve nuclear safety. The third article proposes an interview of the nuclear expert of the French embassy in Tokyo. He outlines that the restart of nuclear plants will be progressive, comments how Sendai restart has been commented in the Japanese press, evokes how this restart is part of the Japanese Prime Minister's policy, evokes the role and challenges of nuclear energy in Japan for the years to come, and the role France may play. The last article discusses the role of nuclear energy in Japan in 2015: importance of the old 3E policy (Energy, Environment, Economy) which is put into question again by the Fukushima accident, creation of a new nuclear safety authority as a first step before restarting nuclear reactors

  11. Teaching of severe accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants of Tokyo Electric Power

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Shinzo

    2011-01-01

    The Great East Japan Earthquake and accompanied tsunami brought about the severe accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. For 'No more Fukushima', twelve teaching of the accident was pointed out as follows: 1) natural disasters and external events shall be taken into consideration, 2) severe accident shall be included into safety regulation, 3) all possibility of hydrogen explosion shall be excluded, 4) diversity of safety important component and equipment shall be added with sufficient period of outage, 5) siting of multiple units at the same site shall be avoided at quake-prone country like Japan, 6) accident response environment for operators shall be improved, 7) accident convergence termination system shall be established so as to concentrate technical experience and knowledge, 8) off-site center shall be improved, 9) resident evacuation, consumption limit of food, radiation exposure and soil contamination limit shall be decided openly, 10) nuclear regulation and prevention of disaster shall be conducted by unitary organization to gain public trust, 11) fostering of safety culture among relevant enterprises shall be more encouraged and 12) nuclear industry shall develop reactor such as with no core meltdown or no evacuation and environmental contamination even if reactor core would be meltdown. (T. Tanaka)

  12. Genotoxic action of sunlight upon Bacillus subtilis spores: monitoring studies at Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munakata, N

    1989-12-01

    Samples of Bacillus subtilis spores dried on membrane filter were exposed to natural sunlight from solar-noon time at Tokyo. The survival and mutation induction of wild-type (UVR) and repair-deficient (UVS) spores were determined on 66 occasions since 1979. Two of the values were considered to be useful in monitoring solar UV intensity; the inverse of the time (in minutes) of exposure to kill 63% of the UVS spores ("sporocidal index") and the induced mutation frequency at 60 minutes of exposure of the UVR spores ("mutagenic index"). Both values were varied greatly due to time of a year, weather and other conditions. Estimates of year-round changes under clear skies were obtained by connecting the maximum values attained in these years. In these curves, there are more than 7-fold differences in the genotoxicity between winter and summer months, with major increases observed in early spring and decreases through autumn. Using a series of UV cut-off filters, the wavelengths most effective for the sporocidal actions were estimated to be in the range of 308-325 nm, shorter wavelengths being effective when the genotoxicity was higher. Sunburn meter of Robertson-Berger type seems to respond to slightly longer wavelength components of the solar spectrum. However, a reasonable correlation was obtained between the reading of the meter and the sporocidal index.

  13. Japan after the Quake: Prospects for climate policy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Luta, Alexandru

    2011-01-01

    The triple calamity of 11 March 2011 has dealt a serious blow domestically to the credibility of the Japanese nuclear industry, putting the country's energy policy in flux.The severe impact on the country's infrastructure, the unwieldiness of its bureaucracy and the chaotic political situation preclude Japan's energy policy from explicitly re-orientating itself before the middle of 2012, but political consensus seems to be emerging that the country's mid-term pledge on emission reductions will need to be curtailed.The bill on renewable energy passed under Prime Minister Kan marked a step in the right direction, but was shallow and politically opportunistic. Its future impact on policy is uncertain.With other policy instruments on climate proposed by the Democratic Party of Japan toothless or abandoned, Tokyo's ability to engage in significant mitigation activities domestically is in question.Opposition to a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol remains firm; Japan will continue to pursue bilateral mechanisms outside the UNFCCC framework.Given its frail domestic policy and a stated readiness to act internationally outside multilateral frameworks, Japan's promise to carry out significant mitigation activities even in the absence of a clear and comprehensive post-2012 legal instrument should be viewed with a critical eye.(Author)

  14. Japan turns pro-life: recent change in reproductive health policy and challenges by new technologies

    OpenAIRE

    Okamoto, Etsuji

    2014-01-01

    Japan, known as a pro-choice country in terms of abortion, is currently facing the increase of “selective abortions” thanks to new prenatal screening. Efforts to restrict proliferation of new technology has not been successful and it is likely that Japan will turn pro-life by strictly enforcing the Maternity Protection Act (MPA), which prohibits abortions due to “fetal cause”.

  15. JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Japan: Symposium on Applications of Advanced Technology: Sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-03-02

    Tokyo SENTAN GIJUTSU OYO formation of amphipathic cellular membrane compo-SYMPOSIUM in Japanese 3 Sep 91 pp 37-45 nents of procaryote , rhamnolipids A...rhamnolipid has a nonionic sugar part and an anionic cellular liposome as the matrix lipid of a biological film, carboxylic group as the hydrophilic...the phospholipids of bacterial 3. Liposome Sensor cellular membranes have no phosphatadyl choline and consist mainly of phosphatadyl ethanolamine, 4

  16. Identification of genes showing differential expression profile ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    3Department of Natural Sciences, International Christian University, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8585, Japan ... the changes of expression predicted from gene function suggested association ... ate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University.

  17. Battery collection in municipal waste management in Japan: challenges for hazardous substance control and safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Terazono, Atsushi; Oguchi, Masahiro; Iino, Shigenori; Mogi, Satoshi

    2015-05-01

    To clarify current collection rules of waste batteries in municipal waste management in Japan and to examine future challenges for hazardous substance control and safety, we reviewed collection rules of waste batteries in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. We also conducted a field survey of waste batteries collected at various battery and small waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection sites in Tokyo. The different types of batteries are not collected in a uniform way in the Tokyo area, so consumers need to pay attention to the specific collection rules for each type of battery in each municipality. In areas where small WEEE recycling schemes are being operated after the enforcement of the Act on Promotion of Recycling of Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Japan in 2013, consumers may be confused about the need for separating batteries from small WEEE (especially mobile phones). Our field survey of collected waste batteries indicated that 6-10% of zinc carbon and alkaline batteries discarded in Japan currently could be regarded as containing mercury. More than 26% of zinc carbon dry batteries currently being discarded may have a lead content above the labelling threshold of the EU Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC). In terms of safety, despite announcements by producers and municipalities about using insulation (tape) on waste batteries to prevent fires, only 2.0% of discarded cylindrical dry batteries were insulated. Our field study of small WEEE showed that batteries made up an average of 4.6% of the total collected small WEEE on a weight basis. Exchangeable batteries were used in almost all of mobile phones, digital cameras, radios, and remote controls, but the removal rate was as low as 22% for mobile phones. Given the safety issues and the rapid changes occurring with mobile phones or other types of small WEEE, discussion is needed among stakeholders to determine how to safely collect and recycle WEEE and waste batteries. Copyright

  18. Outlook for coal and air quailty legislation in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagata, Nobuo

    1992-01-01

    Japan imported over 110 million tons of coal in fiscal year 1991 ending 31 March 1992. The recent demand prospect assumes that coal imports will amount up to 150 million tons at the end of the century despite the long-term energy forecast (May 1990). Stable and reasonable imports of coal will be very important for the national economy because Japan can not rely on domestic coal which will inevitably be decreasing from a production level of only about eight million tons in 1991. Regarding environmental standards, Japan has enacted the world's most severe regulations to eliminate emissions of SOx, NOx, etc. However, the restriction of emissions of carbon dioxide remains an important subject with regard to global greenhouse issues. Japan has been proposing a so-called open-quotes New Earth 21 Programclose quotes which emphasizes the importance of clean uses of coal with a view to keeping pace with the requirements of rapidly developing ASEAN and other countries. Coal water mixture (CWM) produced in China began to be regularly exported to Japan in March 1992. On the other hand, a large-scale CWM production and combustion project of 500,000 tons/year was launched last fall in the Onahama/Nakoso area, about 200 km north of Tokyo. It is expected to begin commercial operation in June 1993

  19. International development of Japan's Nuclear Industry. Indispensable Japan-U.S. cooperation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saigo, Masao

    2006-01-01

    It is significant to internationally develop the nuclear power plants technology that has been fostered by Japan's nuclear industry. It is also important to work with taking the degree of development of nuclear power plants of the recipient country into consideration. ''Forum on International Development of Nuclear Industry'' organized by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc. (JAIF) proposed it would be indispensable for a Japan's nuclear industry to establish a Japan-U.S. Cooperation with the support of Government in order to develop the nuclear technology internationally. In November 2005, the investigating team including utilities and nuclear industry visited U.S. and exchanged opinions on its possibility. Investigating results and their evaluation were described. (T.Tanaka)

  20. Activities of the training vessel Umitaka-maru (KARE-15; UM-11-07 of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology during the 53rd Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition in 2011/2012

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masato Moteki

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The training vessel Umitaka-maru of the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology (TUMSAT undertook a marine science cruise in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean during the 2011/2012 austral summer. During the cruise, TUMSAT conducted five different collaborative research projects. These included two phase-VIII Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE-52 to -57 projects: "Responses of Antarctic Marine Ecosystems to Global Environmental Changes with Carbonate Systems", which is the sub-theme of the prioritized research project "Exploring Global Warming from Antarctica"; and the ordinary research project "Studies on Plankton Community Structure and Environment Parameters in the Southern Ocean". The other three collaborative research projects were those undertaken in conjunction with (1 the National Institute of Polar Research, entitled "Environment and Ecosystem Changes in the Southern Ocean"; (2 the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC, entitled "Deployment of the Southern Ocean Buoy" ; and (3 with Hokkaido University, entitled "Studies on Dynamics of Antarctic Bottom Water". The Umitaka-maru departed from Fremantle, Australia, on 27 December 2011, sailed to the study area around the marginal sea ice zone (mainly along 110°E and 140°E, and returned to Hobart, Australia, on 1 February 2012. The participants performed various net castings to qualitatively evaluate the vertical distribution of plankton communities, made physical observations, and measured chemical parameters. They also retrieved a year-round mooring that had been deployed the previous year, retrieved two surface drifting buoys that had been released by the ice breaker Shirase, and deployed a JAMSTEC buoy (m-TRITON. In addition, several acidified culture experiments using pteropods were conducted on board.

  1. Resonance – Journal of Science Education | Indian Academy of ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    , lysosomes, cell death, protease, autophagosome, neurodegeneration. Abstract. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 was awardedto Yoshinori Ohsumi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology,Japan, for his discoveries of mechanisms ...

  2. Human resource development in the beginning phase of nuclear technology development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamashita, Kiyonobu

    2015-01-01

    Japan Research Reactor No.1 (JRR-1) was constructed as the first nuclear reactor in Japan and reached the first criticality in 1957. The construction of both the first BWR and the first PWR were started in the same year 1967 and they started power operation in the same year 1970. Engineers of electrical utilities and vendors gave efforts to have knowledge for reactor engineering mainly on the job training with high self-motivation to contribute for nuclear technology development. A part of them participated in the reactor engineering training course of the JAERI. (author)

  3. The Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-05-18

    Research Center for the Early Universe, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan 59 Obserwatorium...Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan 73 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA 74 Korea

  4. Spin Electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    2003-08-01

    Site: University of Tokyo Department of Physics Graduate School of Science 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113-0033, Japan Date April 5, 2001...University of Tokyo Department of Electrical Engineering 7-3-1, Hongo , Bunkyo-ku Tokyo 113, Japan Date: April 5, 2001 WTEC Attendees: D

  5. Fiscal 1982 progress report of 'comprehensive research on the management of long-lived radioactive wastes' in the Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sekiguchi, Akira; Kosako, Toshiso

    1983-01-01

    In the Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, the special research project ''Comprehensive Research on the Management of Long-lived Radioactive Wastes'' is carried out in the three-year period from fiscal 1982 to 1984. The works performed in the fiscal year 1982 are described individually, each short description on research purposes and contents, results, future plans, etc. the research works in the three fields of material science, biology and process technology are buffer materials in land disposal, canisters, corrosion of waste-container materials, thermal analysis of high-level wastes, effects of tritium on cells and marine life, biological effect of long-lived nuclides, separation of tritium wastes, actinoids and krypton-iodine, environmental migration of radionuclides, and accident analysis. (Mori, K.)

  6. Factors Affecting Initial Intimate Partner Violence-Specific Health Care Seeking in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamimura, Akiko; Bybee, Deborah; Yoshihama, Mieko

    2014-09-01

    This study examined the factors affecting a women's initial intimate partner violence (IPV)-specific health care seeking event which refers to the first health care seeking as a result of IPV in a lifetime. Data were collected using the Life History Calendar method in the Tokyo metropolitan area from 101 women who had experienced IPV. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to assess the time to initial IPV-specific health care seeking. IPV-related injury was the most significant factor associated with increased likelihood of seeking IPV-specific health care seeking for the first time. In the presence of a strong effect of formal help seeking, physical and sexual IPV were no longer significantly related to initial IPV-specific health care seeking. The results suggest some victims of IPV may not seek health care unless they get injured. The timing of receiving health care would be important to ensure the health and safety of victims. © The Author(s) 2014.

  7. Popular Geopolitics of Japan: Geopolitical Discourses of Anime

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta Zorko

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Geopolitical discourses are an integral part of the contemporary geopolitics of each state. Driven by geopolitical traditions and imagination, they intercept and thus create all aspects of the discipline of critical geopolitics- the formal, practical and popular. The main area of our research is the discourse embedded in the popular geopolitics of a specific cultural product of Japan, anime. Anime are unique and thus suited for analysis for two reasons. The first is their specific, local production and global recognition. The second is their double coding. Although they are a product of the traditional geopolitical culture of Japan’s entertainment industry, they are able to create a contemporary geopolitical culture at the same time. Through an analysis of three anime series, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, Earth Maiden Arjuna and Mobile Suit Gundam 00, we explore the geographic and geopolitical characteristics of Japan and their influence on the traditional, as well as the contemporary geopolitical discourses.

  8. [Serial Food Poisoning Outbreaks Caused by Norovirus-Contaminated Shredded Dried Laver Seaweed Provided at School Lunch, Tokyo, 2017].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Somura, Yoshiko; Kimoto, Kana; Oda, Mayuko; Okutsu, Yuta; Kato, Rei; Suzuki, Yasunori; Siki, Dai; Hirai, Akihiko; Akiba, Tetsuya; Shinkai, Takayuki; Sadamasu, Kenji

    2017-01-01

    In February 2017, four food poisoning outbreaks occurred in Tokyo, involving ten schools. Shredded dried laver seaweed processed by a single food manufacturer in December 2016 was provided in common for the school meals that caused all four outbreaks. Of 4,209 persons exposed, 1,193 (28.3%) had symptoms of gastroenteritis. Norovirus (NoV) GII was detected in 207 (78.1%) of 265 cases by real-time RT-PCR. Thirty-one shredded dried laver seaweed samples were examined and seven (22.6%) of them were positive for NoV GII. PCR fragments of NoV ORF1/2 junction region (302 bp) from seven shredded dried laver seaweed samples and 20 clinical samples derived from the four outbreaks were sequenced. All of them displayed complete homology, and the genotype was classified as GII.17. A nearly full-length sequence (7,420 bp) of NoV RNA derived from a case was obtained by next-generation sequencer analysis and phylogenetic analysis indicated that this strain belongs to the same cluster as Hu/GII/JP/2015/GII.P17_GII.17/Kawasaki308. Thus, our investigation elucidated that the causative agent of these four serial food poisoning outbreaks was NoV GII.17 and the infectious source was a single batch of shredded dried laver seaweed. The water activity of the shredded dried laver seaweed was found to be 0.119 to 0.129. It was epidemiologically clarified that NoV does not lose infectivity for about two months even in the dry state. We conclude that a large diffuse outbreak of food poisoning caused by NoV GII.17 contamination of shredded dried laver seaweed had occurred in Tokyo. Our elucidation of the causative agent indicated that the food poisoning outbreaks in multiple areas of Japan, including Tokyo, during January to February 2017 were caused by the same contaminated food.

  9. Advance of technological innovations of electric power in 2012

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayumi, Akihiko; Tanaka, Masanori; Takebe, Toshiro

    2013-01-01

    Twelve companies in Japan reported on the technological innovations in 2012. The Japan Atomic Power Company mainly studied five projects; (1) control of wall thinning of the secondary system in PWR by injection of molybdic acid, (2) application of pipe test method using electromagnetic acoustic resonance to existing equipment, (3) developed high performance Co-60 crud removal resin for Tsuruga Power Station Unit 2, (4) improvement of technology for safety of core in FBR, and (5) improvement of technology for coolant of FBR by dispersing nano-particles in liquid sodium metal. Tokyo Electric Power Company developed mainly three projects; (1) the support for the mental health care activities by industry protection staff at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plant, (2) laboratory test method using non-radioactive cesium for performance of decontamination reagent, and (3) decontamination effects estimation code (DeConEP). Hokuriku Electric Power Company reported the operations management measures in accordance with the safety enhancement measures to Shika nuclear power station. Other nine reports are published by Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc. Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc., Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc., Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., Okinawa Electric Power Company Inc. and J-Power. (S.Y.)

  10. Japan after the Quake: Prospects for climate policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Luta, Alexandru

    2011-07-01

    The triple calamity of 11 March 2011 has dealt a serious blow domestically to the credibility of the Japanese nuclear industry, putting the country's energy policy in flux.The severe impact on the country's infrastructure, the unwieldiness of its bureaucracy and the chaotic political situation preclude Japan's energy policy from explicitly re-orientating itself before the middle of 2012, but political consensus seems to be emerging that the country's mid-term pledge on emission reductions will need to be curtailed.The bill on renewable energy passed under Prime Minister Kan marked a step in the right direction, but was shallow and politically opportunistic. Its future impact on policy is uncertain.With other policy instruments on climate proposed by the Democratic Party of Japan toothless or abandoned, Tokyo's ability to engage in significant mitigation activities domestically is in question.Opposition to a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol remains firm; Japan will continue to pursue bilateral mechanisms outside the UNFCCC framework.Given its frail domestic policy and a stated readiness to act internationally outside multilateral frameworks, Japan's promise to carry out significant mitigation activities even in the absence of a clear and comprehensive post-2012 legal instrument should be viewed with a critical eye.(Author)

  11. Annual report of nuclear technology and education center. April 1, 2003 - March 31, 2004

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-10-01

    This report summarizes the activities of Nuclear Technology and Education Center (NuTEC) is Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute in FY 2003. It includes the domestic educational activities and the international training activities mainly for Asia-Pacific region as well as the activities of the research and the development for training courses and administrative aspects. The courses yet carried out in Tokyo Education Center were begun to operate in the facilities of the Tokai Research Establishment. Aiming at carrying out training activities more effectively and efficiently, the training division system related to the training fields have started together with that. Most of the scheduled training courses for the FY2003 have been carried out as planned and the total number of the trainees completing the courses was 1,311. The building of the Tokyo Education Center was demolished and removed after the decontamination, decommissioning procedures. The land was returned to the land owner by the end of FY 2003. In addition to these activities, research and development for the improvement of education and training were carried out. (author)

  12. IAEA Remediation Mission to Japan Concludes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2011-01-01

    Full text: A team of international experts today completed a preliminary assessment of the strategy and plans being considered by the Japanese authorities to remediate the areas off-site the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant reported to have elevated levels of radiation. The IAEA dispatched the mission to Japan on 7 October following a request from the country's Government. The mission, comprising 12 international and IAEA experts from several countries, visited numerous locations in the Fukushima Prefecture and conducted meetings in Tokyo and Fukushima with Japanese officials from several Ministries and institutions. ''The meetings held and visits made by the team over the last eight days gave us a first-hand appreciation of the extraordinary efforts and dedication on the part of Japanese people in their effort to remediate the areas affected by elevated levels of radiation in the Fukushima Prefecture,'' says Mr. Juan Carlos Lentijo, Team Leader and General Director for Radiation Protection at Spain's nuclear regulatory authority. ''As Japan continues its current remediation efforts, it is our belief that this work will bring relief to the populations who are affected by the consequences of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.'' In a Preliminary Summary Report delivered to Japanese authorities today, the team prepared a set of conclusions including, though not limited to, the following: - Japan developed an efficient program for remediation - allocating the necessary legal, financial and technological resources to bring relief to the people affected by the accident, with priority being given to children. The Team was impressed with the strong commitment to the remediation effort from all institutions and parties involved, including the public; - Japan has also taken practical measures to inform the public and involve residents and local institutions in the process of defining its remediation strategy; - Japan is advised to avoid

  13. Annual report of Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, fiscal year 1995

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1996-08-01

    This is an annual report prepared on research education action, operation state of research instruments and others in FY 1995 at Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo. The laboratory has four large instruments such as high speed neutron source reactor, 'Yayoi', electron linac, fundamentally experimental equipment for blanket design of nuclear fusion reactor, and heavy radiation research equipment (HIT), of which former two are used for cooperative research with universities in Japan, and the next blanket and the last HIT are also presented for cooperative researches in Faculty of Engineering and in University of Tokyo, respectively. FY 1995 was the beginning year of earnest discussion on future planning of this facility with concentrated effort. These four large research instruments are all in their active use. And, their further improvement is under preparation. In this report, the progress in FY 1995 on operation and management of the four large instruments are described at first, and on next, research actions, contents of theses for degree and graduation of students as well as research results of laboratory stuffs are summarized. These researches are constituted mainly using these large instruments in the facility, aiming at development of advanced and new field of atomic energy engineering and relates to nuclear reactor first wall engineering, nuclear reactor fuel cycle engineering, electromagnetic structure engineering, thermal-liquid engineering, mathematical information engineering, quantum beam engineering, new type reactor design and so on. (G.K.)

  14. Annual report of Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo, fiscal year 1995

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-08-01

    This is an annual report prepared on research education action, operation state of research instruments and others in FY 1995 at Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Tokyo. The laboratory has four large instruments such as high speed neutron source reactor, `Yayoi`, electron linac, fundamentally experimental equipment for blanket design of nuclear fusion reactor, and heavy radiation research equipment (HIT), of which former two are used for cooperative research with universities in Japan, and the next blanket and the last HIT are also presented for cooperative researches in Faculty of Engineering and in University of Tokyo, respectively. FY 1995 was the beginning year of earnest discussion on future planning of this facility with concentrated effort. These four large research instruments are all in their active use. And, their further improvement is under preparation. In this report, the progress in FY 1995 on operation and management of the four large instruments are described at first, and on next, research actions, contents of theses for degree and graduation of students as well as research results of laboratory stuffs are summarized. These researches are constituted mainly using these large instruments in the facility, aiming at development of advanced and new field of atomic energy engineering and relates to nuclear reactor first wall engineering, nuclear reactor fuel cycle engineering, electromagnetic structure engineering, thermal-liquid engineering, mathematical information engineering, quantum beam engineering, new type reactor design and so on. (G.K.)

  15. Progress of radiation curing technology and its industrial applications in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takashi Ukachi

    2007-01-01

    The Japanese industry has grown with annual growth rate 108%. Electric parts and devices industry strongly promoted Japanese economy. UV/EB curing market in Japan enjoyed its steady growth with an annual growth rate 107%. By realizing the advantages of good performance and high functionality, the UV/EB curing technology has expanded its application field especially in leading edge industries, such as electric parts and devices, FPDs, Optical fibers and cables, optical recording media, and their fabrication and manufacturing. This paper summarizes the Japanese UV/EB market situation and overviews the latest progress of UV/EB technology. (Author)

  16. A study of trace element concentrations in human hair of some local populations in Japan. I. Inhabitants of the Tokyo metropolitan area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imahori, A.; Fukushima, I.; Shiobara, S.; Terai, M.

    1979-01-01

    By applying instrumental neutron activation analysis techniques, a survey was carried out to determine the levels of a variety of trace element concentrations in human hair of the inhabitants of the Tokyo metropolitan area. A total of 202 scalp hair samples were collected from the inhabitants of the residential district in the western part of the Tokyo metropolitan area. The donors were divided into five age groups, ranging from pre-school age to sixty years and above. Each group consisted of twenty males and twenty or more females. The sampling method and washing procedure recommended by the IAEA Advisory Group on the applications of nuclear methods in environmental research were strictly followed. Irradiation of the samples was made in the Rikkyo University 100-kW TRIGA MARK II reactor. By using several combinations of irradiation time, cooling time and counting time, the following 37 elements were quantitatively analysed: Ag, Al, As, Au, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, I, K, La, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, Rb, S, Sb, Sc, Se, Sm, Sn, Te, Ti, U, V, W and Zn. NBS standard reference orchard leaves and bovine liver were also analysed in the course of the hair analysis to assess the precision of the analytical techniques. (author)

  17. A report from the second US/Japan workshop on global change research: Environmental response technologies (mitigation and adaptation). United States-Japan Science and Technology Agreement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edgerton, S. [comp.] [National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (United States). Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences; Mizuno, Tateki [comp.] [National Inst. for Resources and Environment, MITI (Japan)

    1993-12-31

    The Second US - Japan Workshop on Global Change: Environmental Response Technologies for Global Change was hosted by the Program on Resources at the East-West Center, in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 1--3, 1993, on behalf of the United States Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES) of the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology (FCCSET). This workshop brought together over fifty leading scientists from the two countries to review existing technologies and to identify needed research on the development of new technologies for mitigation and adaptation of global change. The Workshop was organized around three areas of research: (1) capture, fixation/utilization, and disposal of CO{sub 2} (e.g. CO{sub 2}, separation and capture technologies, ocean and land disposal of CO{sub 2}; (2) energy production and conservation technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. combustion efficiency, non-carbon based energy technologies, energy conservation technologies); and (3) adaptation technologies and practices related to global climate change (e.g., adaptation responses of crops to climate change, adapting urban infrastructure for climate change). Priorities for joint research in each of these areas were discussed. Selected papers have been processed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

  18. History of decontamination after the Great East Japan Earthquake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Omura, Takashi; Onodera, Hideaki; Morishita, Satoru; Kato, Sei

    2015-01-01

    The magnitude 9.0 earthquake (the Great East Japan Earthquake) hit Japan on March 11, 2011 brought tsunami hazard as well as a nuclear accident in addition to the seismic hazard. A wide area of the eastern Japan was contaminated by radioactive materials released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of the Tokyo Electric Power Company. In response to the unprecedented situation of the radioactive pollution after the accident, the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Handling of Radioactive Pollution was enacted in August 2011. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has formulated a set of guidelines by the end of 2011 to provide information on how to store and manage contaminated waste. In addition, the MOE established 'The Policies for the Decontamination of Specific Areas (Decontamination Roadmap)' in January 2012. As a result, the radiation dose rate has decreased by approximately 46% in the residential area of Naraha town. The MOE will have been promoting decontamination and construction of interim storage facilities which are able to store and manage the removed soils and incineration ashes generated from decontamination works. (author)

  19. Electronic manufacturing and packaging in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Michael J.; Boulton, William R. (Editor); Kukowski, John A.; Meieran, Eugene S.; Pecht, Michael; Peeples, John W.; Tummala, Rao R.

    1995-01-01

    This report summarizes the status of electronic manufacturing and packaging technology in Japan in comparison to that in the United States, and its impact on competition in electronic manufacturing in general. In addition to electronic manufacturing technologies, the report covers technology and manufacturing infrastructure, electronics manufacturing and assembly, quality assurance and reliability in the Japanese electronics industry, and successful product realization strategies. The panel found that Japan leads the United States in almost every electronics packaging technology. Japan clearly has achieved a strategic advantage in electronics production and process technologies. Panel members believe that Japanese competitors could be leading U.S. firms by as much as a decade in some electronics process technologies. Japan has established this marked competitive advantage in electronics as a consequence of developing low-cost, high-volume consumer products. Japan's infrastructure, and the remarkable cohesiveness of vision and purpose in government and industry, are key factors in the success of Japan's electronics industry. Although Japan will continue to dominate consumer electronics in the foreseeable future, opportunities exist for the United States and other industrial countries to capture an increasingly large part of the market. The JTEC panel has identified no insurmountable barriers that would prevent the United States from regaining a significant share of the consumer electronics market; in fact, there is ample evidence that the United States needs to aggressively pursue high-volume, low-cost electronic assembly, because it is a critical path leading to high-performance electronic systems.

  20. Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase variants in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miwa, S

    1980-01-01

    Fifty-four cases of glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency have so far been reported in Japan. Among them, 21 G6PD variants have been characterized. Nineteen out of the 21 variants were characterized in our laboratory and G6PD Heian and "Kyoto" by others. G6PD Tokyo, Tokushima, Ogikubo, Kurume, Fukushima, Yokohama, Yamaguchi, Wakayama, Akita, Heian and "Kyoto" were classified as Class 1, because all these cases showed chronic hemolytic anemia and severe enzyme deficiency. All these variants showed thermal instability. G6PD Mediterranean-like, Ogori, Gifu and Fukuoka were classified as Class 2, whereas G6PD Hofu, B(-) Chinese, Ube, Konan, Kamiube and Kiwa belonged to Class 3. All the 6 Class 3 variants were found as the results of the screening tests. The incidence of the deficiency in Japanese seems to be 0.1-0.5% but that of the cases which may slow drug-induced hemolysis would be much less. G6PD Ube and Konan appear to be relatively common in Japan.

  1. Using digital technologies to engage with medical research: views of myotonic dystrophy patients in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coathup, Victoria; Teare, Harriet J A; Minari, Jusaku; Yoshizawa, Go; Kaye, Jane; Takahashi, Masanori P; Kato, Kazuto

    2016-08-24

    As in other countries, the traditional doctor-patient relationship in the Japanese healthcare system has often been characterised as being of a paternalistic nature. However, in recent years there has been a gradual shift towards a more participatory-patient model in Japan. With advances in technology, the possibility to use digital technologies to improve patient interactions is growing and is in line with changing attitudes in the medical profession and society within Japan and elsewhere. The implementation of an online patient engagement platform is being considered by the Myotonic Dystrophy Registry of Japan. The aim of this exploratory study was to understand patients' views and attitudes to using digital tools in patient registries and engagement with medical research in Japan, prior to implementation of the digital platform. We conducted an exploratory, cross-sectional, self-completed questionnaire with a sample of myotonic dystrophy (MD) patients attending an Open Day at Osaka University, Japan. Patients were eligible for inclusion if they were 18 years or older, and were diagnosed with MD. A total of 68 patients and family members attended the Open Day and were invited to participate in the survey. Of those, 59 % submitted a completed questionnaire (n = 40). The survey showed that the majority of patients felt that they were not receiving the information they wanted from their clinicians, which included recent medical research findings and opportunities to participate in clinical trials, and 88 % of patients indicated they would be willing to engage with digital technologies to receive relevant medical information. Patients also expressed an interest in having control over when and how they received this information, as well as being informed of how their data is used and shared with other researchers. Overall, the findings from this study suggest that there is scope to develop a digital platform to engage with patients so that they can receive

  2. [Civil engineering education at the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo: an analysis based on Ayahiko Ishibashi's memoirs].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wada, Masanori

    2014-01-01

    The Imperial College of Engineering (ICE or Kobu-Daigakko) in Tokyo, founded in 1873 under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Works, was one of the most prominent modern institutions of engineering education in early Meiji Japan. Previous studies have revealed that the ICE offered large scale practical training programs at enterprises of the Ministry, which sometimes lasted several months, and praised their ideal combination of theory and practice. In reality, it has been difficult to evaluate the quality of education at the ICE mainly because of scarcity of sources. ICE students published a collection of memoirs for alumni members, commemorating the fiftieth-year of the history of the Tokyo Imperial University. Drawing on the previously neglected collection of students' memoires, this paper appraises the education of civil engineering offered by the ICE. The paper also compares this collection with other official records of the college, and confirms it as a reliable source, even though it contains some minor errors. The author particularly uses the memoirs by Ayahiko Ishibashi, one of the first graduates from its civil engineering course, who left sufficient reminiscences on education that he received. This paper, as a result, illustrates that the main practical training for the students of civil engineering was limited to designing process, including surveying. Furthermore, practical training that Ishibashi received at those enterprises often lacked a plan, and its effectiveness was questionable.

  3. Japan and atomic co-operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1965-01-01

    Japan, which is host country for the Ninth Regular Session of the Agency General Conference, has an important programme of nuclear power development to meet future needs. In addition, Japan is active in other applications of atomic energy and is building up a domestic nuclear engineering industry. Japan has profited by the Agency as a channel of international cooperation, and was a party to the first bilateral agreement in which the responsibility for administering safeguards against the diversion of materials to military purposes, was transferred to the Agency. Japan has also lent support to Agency programmes by gifts, training courses, research, and the loan of experts. In 1961, the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) formulated the 'Long-Range Programme for Development and Utilization of Atomic Energy', on the basis of the economic prospects of nuclear power generation, and the conditions necessary to meet the ever-increasing domestic energy demands. According to this programme, in the light of power reactor development trends overseas, it is expected that nuclear power costs will compete with those of oil burning stations by 1970. On this basis, total nuclear power generating capacity of 1000 MW(e) will be attained by 1970, and 7000 - 9 500M(e) by 1980. As a prelude to the above programme the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPCO) began construction in 1959 of a graphite-moderated gas-cooled nuclear power station (Improved Calder Hall type) of 165 MW(e) gross capacity. This is now progressing smoothly, and reached criticality in May 1965; it is expected to supply commercial power by the end of this year. The second nuclear power station will be built by the same company on the coast of the Japan Sea, with a light water-moderated reactor of 250 - 300 MW(e) capacity. The construction plan i s currently being pushed forward for completion in 1970. Thereafter three private utility companies - Tokyo, Kansai and Chubu Electric Companies - are doing preparatory work for

  4. Resource utilization in the emergency department of a tertiary care university-based hospital in Tokyo before and after the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimada, Mai; Tanabe, Aska; Gunshin, Masataka; Riffenburgh, Robert H; Tanen, David A

    2012-12-01

    The objective of this study was to determine the resource utilization of a tertiary care Japanese emergency department (ED) that was not immediately adjacent to the area of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. A retrospective chart review was performed at a tertiary care university-based urban ED located approximately 290 km from the primary site of destruction secondary to an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale and the resulting tsunami. All patients who presented for a period of twelve days before and twelve days after the disaster were included. Data were collected using preformed data collection sheets, and stored in an Excel file. Abstracted data included gender, time in the ED, intravenous fluid administration, blood transfusion, oxygen, laboratories, electrocardiograms (ECGs), radiographs, ultrasound, diagnoses, surgical and medical referrals, and prescriptions written. Ten percent of the charts were reviewed for accuracy, and an error rate reported. Data were analyzed using 2-tailed t-tests, Fisher's exact tests or rank sum tests. Bonferroni correction was used to adjust P values for multiple comparisons. Charts for 1193 patients were evaluated. The error rate for the abstracted data was 3.2% (95% CI, 2.4%-4.1%). Six hundred fifty-seven patients (53% male) were evaluated in the ED after the earthquake, representing a 23% increase in patient volume. Mean patient time spent in the ED decreased from 61 minutes to 52 minutes (median decrease from 35 minutes to 32 minutes; P = .005). Laboratory utilization decreased from 51% to 43% (P = .006). The percentage of patients receiving prescriptions increased from 48% to 54% (P = .002). There was no change in the number of patients evaluated for surgical complaints, but there was an increase in the number treated for medical or psychiatric complaints. There was a significant increase in the number of people utilizing the ED in Tokyo after the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. Time spent

  5. Energy balance sheet of Japan. A very high degree of dependence

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1995-01-01

    Japan, a country poor in energetic resources, is obliged to import more than 80% of its consumption, and is thus a major participant in the petroleum and natural gas international trades. A hundred of japanese societies are implied in abroad exploration-production. A financial help is given by the Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC). 80% of the imported crude oil is furnished by the OPEP countries (Unified Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia). Japan disposes of 43 petroleum refineries which totalize a distillation capacity of 4.86 b/d. Refineries production has increased from 188 Mt in 1993 to 193 Mt in 1994. Town gas distribution is in the hands of 244 municipal gas companies which uses a 188000 km pipe network. 73 % of the gas is from imported LNG and the rest is of local production. The three quarters of the imported LNG is used for electricity production. A 2800 MW natural gas combined-cycle power plant will be put into service in 1998 by Tokyo Electric Power. (J.S.). 1 photo., 1 tab

  6. Statistics on the use of radiation in Japan, 1989

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-01-01

    The number of the business establishments which utilize radiation with radioisotopes and radiation generators has continued to increase, and as of the end of March, 1989, it exceeded 4700. As to the state of utilization classified by districts, the use concentrates in large urban districts of Tokyo, Osaka, Kanagawa and Aichi, and the field of application spread to many fields of industries, agriculture, medical treatment and others. Recently, the utilization of radiation has become to be very highly advanced and diversified such as the medical diagnosis and treatment and the application to advanced technology using radiation generators. Now, the utilization of radiation is indispensable for national life and economical activities, but also the prevention of injury and the securing of safety are important. It is necessary to clarify the latest state of radiation utilization in Japan for the promotion of the production and utilization of radioisotopes and the prevention of radiation injury. In this book, the number of the business establishments using radiation and the state of utilization in medical, education and research, private enterprises and other fields, the state of distribution of radioisotopes, waste treatment, and radiation-related technicians are reported. (K.I.)

  7. ONR Far East Scientific Bulletin, Volume 12, Number 4, October-December 1987,

    Science.gov (United States)

    1987-12-01

    magnetic Japan Control Engineers Measurements (CPEM󈨜) 1-35-28-303 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113 June The 7th International Kyoto, Professor Isao Yamada...Physics-Material Japan Faculty of Engineering, 0 Research Society) Inter- Tokyo University national Conference on 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113...o Department of Psychological 39-FlOO-J200 Chemistry and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113

  8. Solar Hybrid Hydrogen Production in Sunbelt and Shipping to Japan as a Liquid fuel of Methanol

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tamaura, Y.; Hasegawa, N.; Kaneko, H.; Utamura, M.; Katayama, Y.; Onozaki, M.; Hasuike, H.

    2006-01-01

    Solar hybrid methanol (SH-methanol) production (6000 t/day) from natural gas and coal using H 2 and O 2 gases, which are produced by electrolysis with solar thermal power (Tokyo Tech Beam-down concentration solar power generation with molten salt heat-storage system) at Sunbelt in Australia was studied from the economical view point. This system is the combined system of O 2 -burning coal gasification (C+1/2O 2 =CO), natural gas reforming by O 2 -partial oxidation (CH 4 + 1/2O 2 = CO + 2H 2 ), and water decomposition by electrolysis with solar thermal power (H 2 O = H 2 + 1/2O 2 ). In this production system, the SH-methanol is produced with zero CO 2 emission, shipped to Japan by oil tanker, and can be used as solar hybrid hydrogen in Japan for fuel cell. The solar hybrid methanol production cost of 24 yen/kg (58 US dollars bbl crude oil equivalent, April, 2006) is obtained with the solar power cost of the Tokyo Tech Beam-down solar concentration solar power generation with molten salt heat-storage. This cost is lower than the crude oil (67 US dollars bbl crude oil equivalent, April, 2006) and LPG (72 US dollars/ bbl crude oil equivalent, January, 2006). (authors)

  9. Flight to Liquidity on the Tokyo Stock Exchange during the 2008 Share Market Crashes

    OpenAIRE

    Maeda, Brooke Alexandra

    2015-01-01

    This paper explores the existence of the flight-to-liquidity phenomenon for shares which are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange during share market crashes. Using data from the First section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the existence of a flight-to-liquidity during the 2008 share market crashes is clearly documented. The Tokyo Stock Exchange differs from other major exchanges as price limit rules restrict the daily price movements of shares. It provides a unique setting to test if a flight-to...

  10. Chance Discovery with Data Crystallization: A Basic Research for Discovering Unobservable Events

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-05-10

    Ohsawa y School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, 113-8563, Japan y.ohsawa@gmail.com Received 17 June 2005 This paper...this study as the software developer of data crystallization. y School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8653...University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8563 Japan, ohsawa@q.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp Abstract. There are invisible events which play an important role

  11. Preventing heat illness in the anticipated hot climate of the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kakamu, Takeyasu; Wada, Koji; Smith, Derek R; Endo, Shota; Fukushima, Tetsuhito

    2017-09-19

    Amid the effects of global warming, Tokyo has become an increasingly hot city, especially during the summertime. To prepare for the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo, all participants, including the athletes, staff, and spectators, will need to familiarize themselves with Tokyo's hot and humid summer conditions. This paper uses the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index, which estimates the risk of heat illness, to compare climate conditions of sports events in Tokyo with the conditions of the past three Summer Olympics (held in Rio de Janeiro, London, and Beijing) and to subsequently detail the need for establishing appropriate countermeasures. We compared WBGT results from the past three Summer Olympics with the same time periods in Tokyo during 2016. There was almost no time zone where a low risk of heat illness could be expected during the time frame of the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We also found that Tokyo had a higher WBGT than any of those previous host cities and is poorly suited for outdoor sporting events. Combined efforts by the official organizers, government, various related organizations, and the participants will be necessary to deal with these challenging conditions and to allow athletes to perform their best, as well as to prevent heat illnesses among staff and spectators. The sporting committees, as well as the Olympic organizing committee, should consider WBGT measurements in determining the venues and timing of the events to better avoid heat illness and facilitate maximum athletic performance.

  12. IAEA Sends International Fact-finding Expert Mission to Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2011-01-01

    Full text: The International Atomic Energy Agency will dispatch an international expert fact-finding mission to Japan. Based upon the agreement between the IAEA and the Government of Japan, the mission, comprising nearly 20 international and IAEA experts from a dozen countries, will visit Japan between 24 May and 2 June 2011. Under the leadership of Mr. Mike Weightman, HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations of the United Kingdom, the mission will conduct fact-finding activities at Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS) site and in other locations. The expert mission will make a preliminary assessment of the safety issues linked with TEPCO's Fukushima Dai-ichi NPS accident following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. During the mission, areas that need further exploration or assessment based on the IAEA safety standards will also be identified. In the course of the IAEA mission, the international experts will become acquainted with the Japanese lessons learned from the accident and will share their experience and expertise in their fields of competence with the Japanese authorities. Mr. Weightman will present the mission's report at the Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety organised by the IAEA in Vienna from 20 to 24 June 2011, as an important input in the process of reviewing and strengthening the global nuclear safety framework that will be launched by the Conference. (IAEA)

  13. Advance in technologies of electric power in 2008

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamada, Kenichi; Maekawa, Fumiaki; Nakamura, Akio

    2008-01-01

    Ten electric power companies and two related companies reported their advance in technologies. The technologies of nuclear power plants were stated by ten companies, which consisted of introduction of new main control board to Tomari-3 in Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc., reduction methods of exposure dose of Higashidori-1 in Tohoku Electric Power, hot water based two-phase flow testing device for pipe thinning test by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Guideline for prevention of piping damage caused by combustion of mixture gases in BWR (the second edition) published by Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering Society, setting up distributor in the low-pressure turbine of Shika-2 in Hokuriku Electric Power Company, development of rapid estimation method of release radioactivity and application of high density neutron source to nuclear transmutation of nuclear fuel cycle and introduction of new core monitor system by The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., upgrade of investigation of the effects of hot waste water and development of detector for dropout parts of cooling system in reactor by Shikoku Electric Power Co., Inc., change of transformer in Sendai-1 by Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., and reactor core design for Oma ABWR by J-Power. The Japan Atomic Power Company reported four articles such as development of technologies for established nuclear power plants, promotion of Tsuruga-3 and Tsuruga-4, application of clearance system in Japan and development of future reactors. (S.Y.)

  14. Seasonal variations and sources of sedimentary organic carbon in Tokyo Bay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubo, Atsushi; Kanda, Jota

    2017-01-01

    Total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) contents, their stable C and N isotope ratio (δ 13 C and δ 15 N), and chlorophyll a ([Chl a] sed ) of surface sediments were investigated monthly to identify the seasonal variations and sources of organic matter in Tokyo Bay. The sedimentary TOC (TOC sed ) and TN (TN sed ) contents, and the sedimentary δ 13 C and δ 15 N (δ 13 C sed and δ 15 N sed ) values were higher in summer than other seasons. The seasonal variations were controlled by high primary production in the water column and hypoxic water in the bottom water during summer. The fraction of terrestrial and marine derived organic matter was estimated by Bayesian mixing model using stable isotope data and TOC/TN ratio. Surface sediments in Tokyo Bay are dominated by marine derived organic matter, which accounts for about 69 ± 5% of TOC sed . - Highlights: • High values of sedimentary organic carbon and nitrogen were observed in summer. • Surface sediments in Tokyo Bay were dominated by marine derived organic matter which was estimated by Bayesian mixing model. • The most amount of terrestrial POC was deposited and degraded in Tokyo Bay before being discharged to the open ocean.

  15. Estimate of biogenic VOC emissions in Japan and their effects on photochemical formation of ambient ozone and secondary organic aerosol

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatani, Satoru; Matsunaga, Sou N.; Nakatsuka, Seiji

    2015-11-01

    A new gridded database has been developed to estimate the amount of isoprene, monoterpene, and sesquiterpene emitted from all the broadleaf and coniferous trees in Japan with the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN). This database reflects the vegetation specific to Japan more accurately than existing ones. It estimates much lower isoprene emitted from other vegetation than trees, and higher sesquiterpene emissions mainly emitted from Cryptomeria japonica, which is the most abundant plant type in Japan. Changes in biogenic emissions result in the decrease in ambient ozone and increase in organic aerosol simulated by the air quality simulation over the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in Japan. Although newly estimated biogenic emissions contribute to a better model performance on overestimated ozone and underestimated organic aerosol, they are not a single solution to solve problems associated with the air quality simulation.

  16. Microelectronics in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boulton, William R.

    1995-02-01

    The purpose of this JTEC study is to evaluate Japan's electronic manufacturing and packaging capabilities within the context of global economic competition. To carry out this study, the JTEC panel evaluated the framework of the Japanese consumer electronics industry and various technological and organizational factors that are likely to determine who will win and lose in the marketplace. This study begins with a brief overview of the electronics industry, especially as it operates in Japan today. Succeeding chapters examine the electronics infrastructure in Japan and take an in-depth look at the central issues of product development in order to identify those parameters that will determine future directions for electronic packaging technologies.

  17. Effects of 16-week high-intensity interval training using upper and lower body ergometers on aerobic fitness and morphological changes in healthy men: a preliminary study

    OpenAIRE

    Osawa, Yusuke; Azuma, Koichiro; Tabata, Shogo; Katsukawa, Fuminori; Ishida, Hiroyuki; Oguma, Yuko; Kawai, Toshihide; Itoh, Hiroshi; Okuda, Shigeo; Matsumoto, Hideo

    2014-01-01

    Yusuke Osawa,1,2,* Koichiro Azuma,3,* Shogo Tabata,3 Fuminori Katsukawa,2 Hiroyuki Ishida,2 Yuko Oguma,2 Toshihide Kawai,4 Hiroshi Itoh,4 Shigeo Okuda,5 Hideo Matsumoto3 1Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 2Sports Medicine Research Center, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan; 3Institute for Integrated Sports Medicine, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan; 4Department of Internal Medicine, School of Me...

  18. Tokyo Guidelines 2018: diagnostic criteria and severity grading of acute cholecystitis (with videos)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Yokoe, Masamichi; Hata, Jiro; Takada, Tadahiro; Strasberg, Steven M.; Asbun, Horacio J.; Wakabayashi, Go; Kozaka, Kazuto; Endo, Itaru; Deziel, Daniel J.; Miura, Fumihiko; Okamoto, Kohji; Hwang, Tsann-Long; Huang, Wayne Shih-Wei; Ker, Chen-Guo; Chen, Miin-Fu; Han, Ho-Seong; Yoon, Yoo-Seok; Choi, In-Seok; Yoon, Dong-Sup; Noguchi, Yoshinori; Shikata, Satoru; Ukai, Tomohiko; Higuchi, Ryota; Gabata, Toshifumi; Mori, Yasuhisa; Iwashita, Yukio; Hibi, Taizo; Jagannath, Palepu; Jonas, Eduard; Liau, Kui-Hin; Dervenis, Christos; Gouma, Dirk J.; Cherqui, Daniel; Belli, Giulio; Garden, O. James; Giménez, Mariano Eduardo; de Santibañes, Eduardo; Suzuki, Kenji; Umezawa, Akiko; Supe, Avinash Nivritti; Pitt, Henry A.; Singh, Harjit; Chan, Angus C. W.; Lau, Wan Yee; Teoh, Anthony Yuen Bun; Honda, Goro; Sugioka, Atsushi; Asai, Koji; Gomi, Harumi; Itoi, Takao; Kiriyama, Seiki; Yoshida, Masahiro; Mayumi, Toshihiko; Matsumura, Naoki; Tokumura, Hiromi; Kitano, Seigo; Hirata, Koichi; Inui, Kazuo; Sumiyama, Yoshinobu; Yamamoto, Masakazu

    2018-01-01

    The Tokyo Guidelines 2013 (TG13) for acute cholangitis and cholecystitis were globally disseminated and various clinical studies about the management of acute cholecystitis were reported by many researchers and clinicians from all over the world. The 1st edition of the Tokyo Guidelines 2007 (TG07)

  19. Annual report of Nuclear Technology and Education Center. April 1, 2008 - March 31, 2009

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-03-01

    This annual report summarizes the activities of Nuclear Technology and Education Center (NuTEC) of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in the fiscal year 2008. This year is the 50th anniversary of NuTEC since the starting of the first training course in January, 1958 at the Radioisotope-School in Tokyo. On this occasion, a commemorative symposium was held and attended by around 150 participants. NuTEC flexibly designed and conducted out new training courses upon requests while conducting the annually scheduled training programs. In spite of some cancellations in an economic downturn, the number of trainees who completed the domestic training courses was 404, and that of those who completed the staff technical training courses was 862. As a result, the total number of trainees during this period grew over the previous fiscal year. 'Nuclear Training for METI Inspectors' was newly offered and also 'Qualification Course for the 3rd class radiation protection supervisor' was held at Tsuruga Technical High School. JAEA continued its cooperative activities with universities; cooperation with graduate school of University of Tokyo, cooperative graduate school program with 14 graduate schools and one under-graduate school, and newly began to cooperate with Tsuyama National College of Technology. JAEA also continued cooperative activities with Nuclear HRD Program initiated by MEXT and METI implemented in 2007. The joint course has continued networking with five universities including newly two universities utilizing the Japan Nuclear Education Network (JNEN). International cooperation was also conducted as scheduled. The joint training course and the instructor training program were conducted bilaterally with Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. JAEA exchanged a memorandum with CEA/INSTN and initiated preparatory work for on internship student from INSTN. Moreover, JAEA newly joined European Nuclear Education Network (ENEN) and began to prepare for new international training

  20. Temporal changes in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of macrozoobenthos on an artificial tidal flat facing a hypertrophic canal, inner Tokyo Bay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kanaya, Gen; Nakamura, Yasuo; Koizumi, Tomoyoshi; Yamada, Katsumasa; Koshikawa, Hiroshi; Kohzu, Ayato; Maki, Hideaki

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: • Temporal changes in food web structure were analyzed in a tidal flat in a hypertrophic coastal bay. • Microphytobenthos mainly supported the benthic food web throughout seasons. • Phytoplankton and terrestrial detritus were utilized after red tides and urban runoffs. • Seasonal changes in consumer-δ 15 N was much larger in inner Tokyo Bay than in other estuaries. • This study showed specific characteristics of benthic food web in highly urbanized estuaries. -- Abstract: Temporal changes in benthic food web structure were analyzed in an artificial tidal flat in inner Tokyo Bay, Japan, using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ 13 C and δ 15 N). Microphytobenthos were the most important food sources of macrozoobenthos, due to high microphytobenthic biomass on the tidal flat, while phytoplankton in canal water (canal POM PP ), terrestrial materials from urban surface runoff (canal POM TM ), and marsh plants were less important. Dietary contribution of microphytobenthos was highest in April to June, while decreased towards December owing to the supply of canal POM PP and canal POM TM following red tides and heavy rainfall events in summer to fall. Temporal changes in δ 15 N (Δδ 15 N) of consumer corresponded well to the 15 N-enrichment in canal POM PP in summer. A meta-analysis showed that the consumer-Δδ 15 N was considerably larger in inner Tokyo Bay than those in other estuaries, which may be a specific characteristic of benthic food web in highly urbanized estuaries

  1. Report on the project for spread/promotion of technology for the industrial waste optimized treatment in the Asian region; Asia chiiki sangyo haikibutsu tekiseika shori gijutsu nado fukyu sokushin jigyo hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-03-01

    The International Symposium `98 on the industrial waste problem in the Asian region was held in Tokyo on February 18, 1998. MITI commented on the present situation of the industrial waste problem in Japan and Japan`s environmental tackling toward the Asian region, and also Asian countries (China, the Philippines, Thailand and Korea) made reports. Japan reported on environmental preservation measures taken in the industrial circle, the industrial waste problem at companies which advanced into Asian countries, effects of the Basel Convention (which restricts border-crossing movement of harmful wastes) on recycle activities, Japan`s role in Asia, etc. In the panel discussion, discussions were made on human interchange in the informatization, recycling technology, shortage of personnel concerned with environmental protection, construction of a network in the Asian region and Japan` s role, etc. As to the treatment system for waste, the necessity was recognized of studying systems which meet with actual states of each country. It is also necessary to go on with discussing how the system should be for cooperation between governments and private companies. Importance of the recycle and information exchange was emphasized. 10 refs., 14 figs., 27 tabs.

  2. Tokyo Jane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Austin, Robert D.; Minbaeva, Dana; Schafer, Simon

    2014-01-01

    Tokyo Jane is an accessible fashion jewelry company that makes and markets its products as “luxury for less” by designing, importing and selling fashion jewelry pieces that look luxurious but cost only a fraction of the high-priced items that inspired them. Finished products are air......-shipped to company headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark from factories in China, stocked in the head office and delivered to 400 retail partners —small fashion boutiques, big department stores and online shops — who then sell to consumers in Europe, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Canada. The two partners who...... founded the firm in 2005 are facing several problems: the brand definition is not well enough developed to support the next stage in the firm’s growth, certain challenges have outstripped available human resources — they have only three permanent employees and a revolving number of interns...

  3. JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Japan, Structure, Properties of Al Amorphous Alloys

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-12-04

    present report, and to the members of the staff, particularly Masaji Nomura, Tetsuya Ishikawa , and Atsushi Koyama, of the High Energy Physics Laboratory...Aichi Educational University, and the research on Al-based quasicrystals was with Shin Takeuchi, and Kaoru Kimura, both of Tokyo University, and Takeshi

  4. Association between pain severity, depression severity, and use of health care services in Japan: results of a nationwide survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vietri J

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Jeffrey Vietri,1 Tempei Otsubo,2 William Montgomery,3 Toshinaga Tsuji,4 Eiji Harada5 1Health Outcomes Practice, Kantar Health, Milan, Italy; 2Tokyo Shinjuku Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan; 3Eli Lilly Australia Pty Ltd., West Ryde, Australia; 4Medical Affairs, Shionogi & Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan; 5Eli Lilly Japan KK, Kobe, Japan Background: Depression is often associated with painful physical symptoms. Previous research has seldom assessed the relationship between the severity of physical symptoms and the severity of mental and emotional symptoms of depression or other health outcomes, and no such studies have been conducted previously among individuals with depression in Japan. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the severity of physical pain and depression and other outcomes among individuals in Japan diagnosed with depression.Methods: Data for individuals aged 18 and older in Japan who reported being diagnosed with depression and also reported physical pain were obtained from the Japan National Health and Wellness Survey. These respondents were characterized on sociodemographics and health characteristics, and the relationship between ratings of severity on pain in the last week and health outcomes were assessed using bivariate correlations and generalized linear models. Measures included the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression severity, Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Survey Instrument for health-related quality of life, the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment for work and activity impairment, and 6-month report of health care use.Results: More severe physical pain in the past week was correlated with more severe depression, worse health-related quality of life, lower health utility, greater impairment at work, and more health care provider visits. These relationships remained significant after incorporating sociodemographics and health characteristics in the statistical models

  5. Development programs on decommissioning technology for reactors and fuel cycle facilities in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujiki, K.

    1992-01-01

    The Science and Technology Agency (STA) of Japan is promoting technology development for decommissioning of nuclear facilities by entrusting various research programs to concerned research organisations: JAERI, PNC and RANDEC, including first full scale reactor decommissioning of JPDR. According to the results of these programs, significant improvement on dismantling techniques, decontamination, measurement etc. has been achieved. Further development of advanced decommissioning technology has been started in order to achieve reduction of duration of decommissioning work and occupational exposures in consideration of the decommissioning of reactors and fuel cycle facilities. (author) 5 refs.; 7 figs.; 1 tab

  6. ABWR evolution program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Omoto, A.; Tanabe, A.; Moriya, K.; Dillmann, C.W.

    1993-01-01

    The ABWR plant is becoming a commercial reality in Japan where the first two units are being built by the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Although these units are scheduled to come on line in 1996 and '97, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, jointly with NSSS vendors (General Electric, Toshiba and Hitachi) and Japanese BWR utilities, initiated a program for a new plant design. This program is aimed at the further evolution of the ABWR to take advantage of new technological developments and to meet possible social changes in the years to come. The expected time for the first-of-a-kind plant to come on line is in the 2010's when the first generation plants in Japan may approach the time for replacement. This paper presents the ouline of this program with focus on the utility requirements and candidate technologies. (orig.)

  7. Mosquito blood-meal analysis for avian malaria study in wild bird communities: laboratory verification and application to Culex sasai (Diptera: Culicidae) collected in Tokyo, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kyeong Soon; Tsuda, Yoshio; Sasaki, Toshinori; Kobayashi, Mutsuo; Hirota, Yoshikazu

    2009-10-01

    We conducted laboratory experiments to verify molecular techniques of avian malaria parasite detection distinguishing between an infected mosquito (oocysts on midgut wall) and infective mosquito (sporozoites in salivary glands) in parallel with blood-meal identification from individual blood-fed mosquitoes prior to application to field survey for avian malaria. Domestic fowl infected with Plasmodium gallinaceum was exposed to a vector and non-vector mosquito species, Aedes aegypti and Culex pipiens pallens, respectively, to compare the time course of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection for parasite between competent and refractory mosquitoes. DNA of the domestic fowl was detectable for at least 3 days after blood feeding. The PCR-based detection of P. gallinaceum from the abdomen and thorax of A. aegypti corresponded to the microscopic observation of oocysts and sporozoites. Therefore, this PCR-based method was considered useful as one of the criteria to assess developmental stages of Plasmodium spp. in mosquito species collected in the field. We applied the same PCR-based method to 21 blood-fed C. sasai mosquitoes collected in Rinshi-no-mori Park in urban Tokyo, Japan. Of 15 blood meals of C. sasai successfully identified, 86.7% were avian-derived, 13.3% were bovine-derived. Plasmodium DNA was amplified from the abdomen of three C. sasai specimens having an avian blood meal from the Great Tit (Parus major), Pale Thrush (Turdus pallidus), and Jungle Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos). This is the first field study on host-feeding habits of C. sasai in relation to the potential role as a vector for avian malaria parasites transmitted in the Japanese wild bird community.

  8. Development of system technology for routine 10Be measurement in the JAEA-AMS-TONO

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsubara, Akihiro; Saito-Kokubu, Yoko; Ishimaru, Tsuneari; Nishizawa, A.; Miyake, M.

    2013-01-01

    We have completed the development of system technology for routine 10 Be measurement with the 5 MV Pelletron system in the Tono Geoscience Center of Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The function of separating 10 Be and 10 B provided in the gas cell set in the front of an ionization chamber was experimentally confirmed through observation of variation of ΔE 1 -E Res spectrum with the gas pressure of the gas cell. The test measurement with beryllium samples of an ice core shows that measured 10 Be/ 9 Be ratios were consistent with the values obtained by the group of the Micro Analysis Laboratory, Tandem accelerator (MALT) in the University of Tokyo. (author)

  9. Interaction between two subducting plates under Tokyo and its possible effects on seismic hazards

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Francis; Okaya, David; Sato, Hiroshi; Hirata, Naoshi

    2007-09-01

    Underneath metropolitan Tokyo the Philippine Sea plate (PHS) subducts to the north on top of the westward subducting Pacific plate (PAC). New, relatively high-resolution tomography images the PHS as a well-defined subduction zone under western Kanto Plain. As PAC shoals under eastern Kanto, the PHS lithosphere is being thrusted into an increasingly tighter space of the PAC-Eurasian mantle wedge. As a result, zones of enhanced seismicity appear under eastern Kanto at the top of PHS, internal to PHS and also at its contact with PAC. These zones are located at depths greater than the causative fault of the disastrous 1923 Great Tokyo ``megathrust'' earthquake, in the vicinity of several well-located historical, damaging (M6 and M7) earthquakes. Thus a rather unique interaction between subducting plates under Tokyo may account for additional seismic hazards in metropolitan Tokyo.

  10. Congener-specific metabolism and sequestration of dioxin-like compounds by cytochrome P450 1A induced in the liver of crows from Tokyo, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watanabe, M.; Iwata, H.; Tanabe, S. [Ehime Univ., Matsuyama (Japan); Yoneda, K.; Hashimoto, T. [Japan Wildlife Research Center, Tokyo (Japan)

    2004-09-15

    Jungle crow (JC; Corvus macrorhynchos) is a useful bioindicator for monitoring contaminants in urban areas, because this species is residential, occupies a same habitat as human, and feeds variety of foods including domestic waste and garbage. Therefore, JCs may accumulate environmental contaminants such as polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (Co-PCBs), which are released by human activities. Induction of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A is a responsive mechanism elicited by exposure to dioxinlike compounds including PCDDs/DFs and Co-PCBs. Toxicokinetic behavior of dioxin-like compounds in organisms is controlled by excretion, metabolism and absorption. These processes are, at least partly, dependent on CYP1A expression in addition to chemical structure and number of chlorine substitution of each congener. Low chlorinated congeners such as 2378-T{sub 4}CDD, 2378- T{sub 4}CDF, 12378-P{sub 5}CDD and 33'44'-PCB were easily metabolized by CYP1A1/2 in rat liver microsomes. PCDDs/DFs accumulate in hepatic tissue to a greater extent than adipose tissue in rats and mice. Recent study using transgenic CYP1A2 knockout mice demonstrated that CYP1A2 is responsible for the sequestration of 2378-T{sub 4}CDD and 23478-P{sub 5}CDF in hepatic tissue. Therefore, CYP1A is considered as a key factor responsible for toxicokinetics of dioxin-like compounds. However, there's no comprehensive data on the contribution of CYP1A to the toxicokinetics of dioxin-like congeners in wild populations. In this study, we investigated contamination levels of PCDDs/DFs and Co-PCBs in liver and breast muscle of JCs from Tokyo, Japan, and interactions of dioxin-like congeners with hepatic CYP to elucidate congener-specific toxicokinetics related to CYP expression in JC.

  11. A 20-Year High-Resolution Wave Resource Assessment of Japan with Wave-Current Interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, A.; Waseda, T.; Kiyomatsu, K.

    2016-02-01

    Energy harvested from surface ocean waves and tidal currents has the potential to be a significant source of green energy, particularly for countries with extensive coastlines such as Japan. As part of a larger marine renewable energy project*, The University of Tokyo (in cooperation with JAMSTEC) has conducted a state-of-the-art wave resource assessment (with uncertainty estimates) to assist with wave generator site identification and construction in Japan. This assessment will be publicly available and is based on a large-scale NOAA WAVEWATCH III (version 4.18) simulation using NCEP and JAMSTEC forcings. It includes several key components to improve model skill: a 20-year simulation to reduce aleatory uncertainty, a four-nested-layer approach to resolve a 1 km shoreline, and finite-depth and current effects included in all wave power density calculations. This latter component is particularly important for regions near strong currents such as the Kuroshio. Here, we will analyze the different wave power density equations, discuss the model setup, and present results from the 20-year assessment (with a focus on the role of wave-current interactions). Time permitting, a comparison will also be made with simulations using JMA MSM 5 km winds. *New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO): "Research on the Framework and Infrastructure of Marine Renewable Energy; an Energy Potential Assessment"

  12. Mental Health Problems among Undergraduates in Fukushima, Tokyo, and Kyoto after the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishikawa, Shin-ichi; Motoya, Ryo; Sasagawa, Satoko; Takahashi, Takahito; Okajima, Isa; Takeishi, Yasuchika; Essau, Cecilia A

    2015-06-01

    On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated the Tohoku region, which led to a tsunami and a nuclear disaster. While these three disasters caused tremendous physical damage, their psychological impact remains unclear. The present study evaluated traumatic responses, internalizing (i.e., anxiety and depression), and externalizing (i.e., anger) symptoms among Japanese young people in the immediate aftermath and 2.5 years later. A total of 435 undergraduates were recruited from universities in three differentially exposed regions: Fukushima, Tokyo, and Kyoto. They completed a set of questionnaires retrospectively (i.e., September to December 2013) to measure their traumatic responses, anxiety and depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and anger immediately after the disaster and 2.5 years later. Participants in Tokyo had the highest level of traumatic response and internalizing symptoms immediately after the earthquake, whereas those in Fukushima had significantly higher levels of trait anger, anger-in (holding one's anger in), and anger-out (expressing one's anger externally). In Kyoto, the levels of anxiety and depression after 2.5 years were significantly higher than they were immediately after the disasters. In conclusion, anger symptoms were high among young people who lived at or near the center of the disasters, while anxiety and depression were high among those who lived far away from the disasters. These findings suggest the importance of providing mental health services to young people who did not live near the disaster area as well as to those living in the directly affected area.

  13. Collection of outlines of achievement reports for fiscal 1976 on Sunshine Program. Hydrogen energy; 1976 nendo sunshine keikakaku seika hokokusho gaiyoshu. Suiso energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1977-04-01

    Twenty studies are outlined, which are: Hydrogen production technology using electrolysis (Osaka National Research Institute); Hydrogen production technology using high-temperature/high-pressure electrolysis (Showa Denko K.K., and 1 other); Hydrogen production technologies using thermochemical method (4 articles - Osaka National Research Institute; Tokyo National Research Institute; Hitachi, Ltd.; Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.); Water decomposition by thermochemical and photochemical hybrid cycle (Yokohama National University); Hydrogen production technology using direct thermolysis (Electrotechnical Laboratory); Hydrogen solidification technology (2 articles - Osaka National Research Institute; Tokyo National Research Institute); Combustion technology (Osaka National Research Institute); Materials for fuel cells (Osaka National Research Institute); Manufacture of fuel cells (Electrotechnical Laboratory); Systematization of fuel cells (Electrotechnical Laboratory); Hydrogen-fueled engine (Mechanical Engineering Laboratory); Disaster prevention technologies for gaseous and liquid hydrogen, etc. (Tokyo National Research Institute); Prevention of embrittlement of materials used with hydrogen (Chugoku National Research Institute); Refining, transportation, and storage systems, and safety techniques for hydrogen (Industrial Research Institute); Hydrogen energy total system (Electrotechnical Laboratory); Comprehensive examination of hydrogen-using subsystems and peripheral technologies (Electrochemical Society of Japan, and 6 others). (NEDO)

  14. Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    This generated great interest in the development of these heteroatom structured materials through different processing routes. ... of Materials Science, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar 388 120, India; Materials and Structures Laboratory, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Nagatsuta, Yokohama 226, Japan ...

  15. Bulletin of Materials Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ... India; Department of Chemistry, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006, India; Department of Physics, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006, India; Materials Structures Laboratory, Centre for Materials Design, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259, Nagatsuta, Midori, Yokohama 226, Japan ...

  16. Mental health and psychosocial support after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Yutaka; Uchida, Hiroyuki; Mimura, Masaru

    2012-01-01

    Since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Keio University School of Medicine has, at the request of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, provided mental health and psychosocial support to those living in Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture. This report covers the types of support provided in Soma City and discusses previous studies that were used as the model for current support practice and the results gained from actual performance. Also included is a summary of the objectives that were or were not achieved for medical support compared with recommendations from previous studies. Furthermore, future directions for medical support are also discussed.

  17. Quantification of Forecasting and Change-Point Detection Methods for Predictive Maintenance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-08-19

    University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Ttokyo 113-8645, Japan 3 Air Force Research Laboratory, 2977 Hobson Way, Bldg 653 Rm 427 Wright...AFB OH 45433-7734 *** University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8645, Japan Abstract This work investigates the application of the

  18. US hospital payment adjustments for innovative technology lag behind those in Germany, France, and Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hernandez, John; Machacz, Susanne F; Robinson, James C

    2015-02-01

    Medicare pioneered add-on payments to facilitate the adoption of innovative technologies under its hospital prospective payment system. US policy makers are now experimenting with broader value-based payment initiatives, but these have not been adjusted for innovation. This article examines the structure, processes, and experience with Medicare's hospital new technology add-on payment program since its inception in 2001 and compares it with analogous payment systems in Germany, France, and Japan. Between 2001 and 2015 CMS approved nineteen of fifty-three applications for the new technology add-on payment program. We found that the program resulted in $201.7 million in Medicare payments in fiscal years 2002-13-less than half the level anticipated by Congress and only 34 percent of the amount projected by CMS. The US program approved considerably fewer innovative technologies, compared to analogous technology payment mechanisms in Germany, France and Japan. We conclude that it is important to adjust payments for new medical innovations within prospective and value-based payment systems explicitly as well as implicitly. The most straightforward method to use in adjusting value-based payments is for the insurer to retrospectively adjust spending targets to account for the cost of new technologies. If CMS made such retrospective adjustments, it would not financially penalize hospitals for adopting beneficial innovations. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  19. Lecture notes of the technical training curriculum of the Institute of Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo, 1990

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1993-06-01

    This report is a transcript of lectures for the technical staff, held in the Institute of Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo, from November 1990 to April 1992. Following themes are included in this report. (1) Cyclotron technology, (2) measuring technology of the peripheral devices for cyclotron, (3) heavy ion cyclotron technology, (4) beam cooling technology, (5) proton linac technology, (6) heavy ion linac technology, (7) measuring technology of electron and its equipments, (8) the latest high energy large experimental device and its measurement (HERA, ZENS experiment), (9) superconducting kaon spectrometer (SKS) and large superconducting magnet, (10) present status of the precision technology for accelerators, (11) the computer as basic technology of elementary particle and nuclear experiments, (12) present status of radiation management and measurement technology, (13) handling and processing method of the hazardous materials, (14) analog technology of the equipments for accelerators, and the summary of NIRS-Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC). (T.F.)

  20. Measures for groundwater security during and after the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (1995) and the Great East Japan earthquake (2011), Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Tadashi

    2016-03-01

    Many big earthquakes have occurred in the tectonic regions of the world, especially in Japan. Earthquakes often cause damage to crucial life services such as water, gas and electricity supply systems and even the sewage system in urban and rural areas. The most severe problem for people affected by earthquakes is access to water for their drinking/cooking and toilet flushing. Securing safe water for daily life in an earthquake emergency requires the establishment of countermeasures, especially in a mega city like Tokyo. This paper described some examples of groundwater use in earthquake emergencies, with reference to reports, books and newspapers published in Japan. The consensus is that groundwater, as a source of water, plays a major role in earthquake emergencies, especially where the accessibility of wells coincides with the emergency need. It is also important to introduce a registration system for citizen-owned and company wells that can form the basis of a cooperative during a disaster; such a registration system was implemented by many Japanese local governments after the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and is one of the most effective countermeasures for groundwater use in an earthquake emergency. Emphasis is also placed the importance of establishing of a continuous monitoring system of groundwater conditions for both quantity and quality during non-emergency periods.

  1. Cooperating internationally. US/Japan Civil Industrial Technologies (CIT) Arrangement

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-12-01

    The Civil Industrial Technologies (CIT) Arrangement was signed in July 1994 between governments of the US and Japan. Areas of research range from scientific and technical databases and bioprocessing to precompetitive processing of functionally-gradient materials and ceramics. Papers presented in this symposium include studies on thin polymer films generated by vapor deposition polymerization, development of manufacturing technique of fusing 3D C/C composite materials, measurement and analysis for high performance computing systems, low-cost fabrication of ceramic components, bioprocessing, data exchange for mass spectral databases, development of high performance aluminum nitride ceramics, precompetitive processing of functionally-gradient materials, purity determination of organic reference materials, definitive methods traceable to SI unit, development of biocompatible artificial hard tissue materials, development of photoassisted catalysis technologies, surface analysis for catalysts by electron spectroscopy, development of ultra-solid lubricant with cluster diamond, precise determination of impurities in high-purity rare-earth metals, and highly accurate acceleration measurement system. 22 refs., 86 figs., 3 tabs.

  2. A highly attennuative zone beneath the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panayotopoulos, Y.; Hirata, N.; Sakai, S.; Nakagawa, S.; Kasahara, K.

    2014-12-01

    The intensities of seismic waves observed at the dense seismic array of the Tokyo Metropolitan Seismic Observation network (MeSO-net) inside the Kanto basin, display unusual distribution patterns. In several occasions, the highest intensities are not observed in the area above an earthquakes hypocenter but appear sifted more than 20 km away. In order to understand the source of this unusual intensity distribution pattern, it is crucial to understand how the waves attenuate before they reach the surface. The attenuation of seismic waves along their path is represented by the t∗ attenuation operator that can be obtained by fitting the observed seismic wave spectrum to a theoretical spectrum using an ω2 model. In order to create a high quality dataset, only 1449 earthquakes that are recorded with intensity greater than 0 in the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) intensity scale are selected from the JMA unified earthquake list from April 1st 2008 to October 2nd 2013. A grid search method is applied to determine the t∗ values by matching the observed and theoretical spectra. The t∗ data where then inverted to estimate a 3D Q structure with grid points set at a 10 km spacing. We implemented the 3D velocity model estimated by Nakagawa et al., 2012 and in addition we set the initial Q values at 100 for the 0 km grids and to 400 for the grids below them. The obtained model suggests average Q values of 50˜100 inside the Kanto basin. Furthermore, a low Q zone is observed in the area where the Philippine Sea plate meets the upper part of the Pacific sea plate. This area is located at approximately 40 km depth, beneath the north-east Tokyo and west Chiba prefectures and is represented by Q values Earthquakes occurring on the Pacific plate pass through this low Q area inside the Philippine sea plate and are attenuated significantly. The estimated attenuation distribution at the MeSO-net station for these earthquakes implementing our 3D Q model greatly coincides with the

  3. An advanced educational program for nuclear professionals with social scientific literacy. A collaborative initiative by UC Berkeley and Univ. of Tokyo on the Fukushima accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juraku, Kohta; Nagasaki, Shinya; Ahn, Joonhong; Carson, Cathryn; Jensen, Mikael

    2011-01-01

    The authors have collaborated for over three years in developing an advanced educational program to cultivate leading engineers who can productively interact with other stakeholders. The program is organized under a partnership between the Nuclear Engineering Department of University of California, Berkeley (UCBNE) and the Global COE Program 'Nuclear Education and Research Initiative' (GoNERI) of the University of Tokyo, and is funded by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), Japan. We conducted two 'summer schools' in 2009 and 2010 as trial cases of the educational program. This year, in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, we decided to make our third summer school a venue for preliminary, yet multi-dimensional learning from that event. This school was held in Berkeley, CA, in the first week of August, with 12 lecturers and 18 students from various fields and countries. In this paper, we will explain the concept, aim, and design of our program; do a preliminary assessment of its effectiveness; introduce a couple of intriguing discussions held by participants; and discuss the program's implications for the post-Fukushima nuclear context. (author)

  4. Analysis of the BEV Technology Progress of America, Europe, Japan and Korea Based on Patent Map

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yurong, Huang; Yuanyuan, Hou; Jingyan, Zhou; Ru, Liu

    2018-02-01

    The paper analyzed the Battery Electric Vehicle patent application trend, major country distribution, main technology layout and patentee of America, Europe, Japan and Korea based on patent information from 2006 to 2016 by using patent map method, and visualized the Battery Electric Vehicle technology progress conditions of the four countries and regions in the last decade.

  5. Development of clean coal technologies in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sato, M. [Electric Power Research Industry, Yokosuka (Japan). Central Research Inst.

    2013-07-01

    In Japan, we have to import almost of primary energy resources from all over the world. We depend on foreign countries for 96% of our primary energy supply. Following the two oil crises in the 1970s, Japan has diversified its energy resources through increased use of nuclear energy, natural gas and coal as well as the promotion of energy efficiency and conservation.

  6. Electronics manufacturing and assembly in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kukowski, John A.; Boulton, William R.

    1995-02-01

    In the consumer electronics industry, precision processing technology is the basis for enhancing product functions and for minimizing components and end products. Throughout Japan, manufacturing technology is seen as critical to the production and assembly of advanced products. While its population has increased less than 30 percent over twenty-five years, Japan's gross national product has increase thirtyfold; this growth has resulted in large part from rapid replacement of manual operations with innovative, high-speed, large-scale, continuously running, complex machines that process a growing number of miniaturized components. The JTEC panel found that introduction of next-generation electronics products in Japan goes hand-in-hand with introduction of new and improved production equipment. In the panel's judgment, Japan's advanced process technologies and equipment development and its highly automated factories are crucial elements of its domination of the consumer electronics marketplace - and Japan's expertise in manufacturing consumer electronics products gives it potentially unapproachable process expertise in all electronics markets.

  7. IHCE '95. International Hydrogen and Clean Energy Symposium '95. (February 6-8, 1995)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-02-06

    This is a collection of speeches and lectures delivered at the above-named symposium that took place in Tokyo. Three speakers from Japan, Germany, and the U.S. made remarks about the future energy systems and the role of hydrogen; the hydrogen energy development status and plans in Europe; and the role of hydrogen in meeting southern California's air quality goals, respectively. Technical lectures numbering 22 in total included the photocatalytic reactions - water splitting and environmental applications; realization and operation of SWB's (Solar-Wasserstof-Bayern GmBH) development assembling major industrial-scale components of solar hydrogen technology; hydrogen production by UT-3 (University of Tokyo-3) thermochemical water decomposition cycle; energy and environmental technology in Japan - the New Sunshine Program; and research and development plans for WE-NET (World Energy Network). In the poster session, there were 45 exhibitions, which included development on solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.; development of environmentally friendly technology for the production of hydrogen; and recent progress of hydrogen storage and transportation technologies in North America. (NEDO)

  8. IHCE '95. International Hydrogen and Clean Energy Symposium '95. (February 6-8, 1995)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-02-06

    This is a collection of speeches and lectures delivered at the above-named symposium that took place in Tokyo. Three speakers from Japan, Germany, and the U.S. made remarks about the future energy systems and the role of hydrogen; the hydrogen energy development status and plans in Europe; and the role of hydrogen in meeting southern California's air quality goals, respectively. Technical lectures numbering 22 in total included the photocatalytic reactions - water splitting and environmental applications; realization and operation of SWB's (Solar-Wasserstof-Bayern GmBH) development assembling major industrial-scale components of solar hydrogen technology; hydrogen production by UT-3 (University of Tokyo-3) thermochemical water decomposition cycle; energy and environmental technology in Japan - the New Sunshine Program; and research and development plans for WE-NET (World Energy Network). In the poster session, there were 45 exhibitions, which included development on solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis in Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.; development of environmentally friendly technology for the production of hydrogen; and recent progress of hydrogen storage and transportation technologies in North America. (NEDO)

  9. Fulltext PDF

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Ando Hiroyasu, University of Tokyo, Japan. Anufriev Mikhail, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Arneodo Alain, Centre de Recherche Paul Pascal, France. Asgarani Somaieh, Isfahan University of Technology, Islamic Republic of Iran. Bachelard Romain, Centre de Physique Theorique, France. Baptista Murilo Da Silva, ...

  10. Gender differences in information technology usage: a U.S.-Japan comparison

    OpenAIRE

    Hiroshi Ono; Madeline Zavodny

    2004-01-01

    This study examines whether there are differences in men’s and women’s use of computers and the Internet in the United States and Japan and how any such gender gaps have changed over time. The authors focus on these two countries because information technology is widely used in both, but there are substantial differences in institutions and social organizations. They use microdata from several surveys during the 1997–2001 period to examine differences and trends in computer and Internet usage...

  11. PREFACE: International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design, Hiroshima, Japan, 3 6 December 2006

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akai, Hisazumi; Oguchi, Tamio

    2007-09-01

    This special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter comprises selected papers from the 1st International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design (QSD2006) held in Hiroshima, Japan, 3-6 December 2006. This conference was organized under the auspices of the Development of New Quantum Simulators and Quantum Design Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT), and Hiroshima University Quantum design is a computational approach to the development of new materials with specified properties and functionalities. The basic ingredient is the use of quantum simulations to design a material that meets a given specification of properties and functionalities. For this to be successful, the quantum simulation should be highly reliable and be applicable to systems of realistic size. A central interest is, therefore, the development of new methods of quantum simulation and quantum design. This includes methods beyond the local density approximation of density functional theory (LDA), order-N methods, methods dealing with excitations and reactions, and so on, as well as the application of these methods to the design of new materials and devices. The field of quantum design has developed rapidly in the past few years and this conference provides an international forum for experimental and theoretical researchers to exchange ideas. A total of 183 delegates from 8 countries participated in the conference. There were 18 invited talks, 16 oral presentations and 100 posters. There were many new ideas and we foresee dramatic progress in the coming years. The 2nd International Conference on Quantum Simulators and Design will be held in Tokyo, Japan, 31 May-3 June 2008.

  12. NanoJapan: international research experience for undergraduates program: fostering U.S.-Japan research collaborations in terahertz science and technology of nanostructures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Sarah R.; Matherly, Cheryl A.; Kono, Junichiro

    2014-09-01

    The international nature of science and engineering research demands that students have the skillsets necessary to collaborate internationally. However, limited options exist for science and engineering undergraduates who want to pursue research abroad. The NanoJapan International Research Experience for Undergraduates Program is an innovative response to this need. Developed to foster research and international engagement among young undergraduate students, it is funded by a National Science Foundation Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) grant. Each summer, NanoJapan sends 12 U.S. students to Japan to conduct research internships with world leaders in terahertz (THz) spectroscopy, nanophotonics, and ultrafast optics. The students participate in cutting-edge research projects managed within the framework of the U.S-Japan NSF-PIRE collaboration. One of our focus topics is THz science and technology of nanosystems (or `TeraNano'), which investigates the physics and applications of THz dynamics of carriers and phonons in nanostructures and nanomaterials. In this article, we will introduce the program model, with specific emphasis on designing high-quality international student research experiences. We will specifically address the program curriculum that introduces students to THz research, Japanese language, and intercultural communications, in preparation for work in their labs. Ultimately, the program aims to increase the number of U.S. students who choose to pursue graduate study in this field, while cultivating a generation of globally aware engineers and scientists who are prepared for international research collaboration.

  13. Healthcare Databases in Thailand and Japan: Potential Sources for Health Technology Assessment Research.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Surasak Saokaew

    Full Text Available Health technology assessment (HTA has been continuously used for value-based healthcare decisions over the last decade. Healthcare databases represent an important source of information for HTA, which has seen a surge in use in Western countries. Although HTA agencies have been established in Asia-Pacific region, application and understanding of healthcare databases for HTA is rather limited. Thus, we reviewed existing databases to assess their potential for HTA in Thailand where HTA has been used officially and Japan where HTA is going to be officially introduced.Existing healthcare databases in Thailand and Japan were compiled and reviewed. Databases' characteristics e.g. name of database, host, scope/objective, time/sample size, design, data collection method, population/sample, and variables were described. Databases were assessed for its potential HTA use in terms of safety/efficacy/effectiveness, social/ethical, organization/professional, economic, and epidemiological domains. Request route for each database was also provided.Forty databases- 20 from Thailand and 20 from Japan-were included. These comprised of national censuses, surveys, registries, administrative data, and claimed databases. All databases were potentially used for epidemiological studies. In addition, data on mortality, morbidity, disability, adverse events, quality of life, service/technology utilization, length of stay, and economics were also found in some databases. However, access to patient-level data was limited since information about the databases was not available on public sources.Our findings have shown that existing databases provided valuable information for HTA research with limitation on accessibility. Mutual dialogue on healthcare database development and usage for HTA among Asia-Pacific region is needed.

  14. Healthcare Databases in Thailand and Japan: Potential Sources for Health Technology Assessment Research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saokaew, Surasak; Sugimoto, Takashi; Kamae, Isao; Pratoomsoot, Chayanin; Chaiyakunapruk, Nathorn

    2015-01-01

    Health technology assessment (HTA) has been continuously used for value-based healthcare decisions over the last decade. Healthcare databases represent an important source of information for HTA, which has seen a surge in use in Western countries. Although HTA agencies have been established in Asia-Pacific region, application and understanding of healthcare databases for HTA is rather limited. Thus, we reviewed existing databases to assess their potential for HTA in Thailand where HTA has been used officially and Japan where HTA is going to be officially introduced. Existing healthcare databases in Thailand and Japan were compiled and reviewed. Databases' characteristics e.g. name of database, host, scope/objective, time/sample size, design, data collection method, population/sample, and variables were described. Databases were assessed for its potential HTA use in terms of safety/efficacy/effectiveness, social/ethical, organization/professional, economic, and epidemiological domains. Request route for each database was also provided. Forty databases- 20 from Thailand and 20 from Japan-were included. These comprised of national censuses, surveys, registries, administrative data, and claimed databases. All databases were potentially used for epidemiological studies. In addition, data on mortality, morbidity, disability, adverse events, quality of life, service/technology utilization, length of stay, and economics were also found in some databases. However, access to patient-level data was limited since information about the databases was not available on public sources. Our findings have shown that existing databases provided valuable information for HTA research with limitation on accessibility. Mutual dialogue on healthcare database development and usage for HTA among Asia-Pacific region is needed.

  15. Japan. Human cloning ban allows some research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Normile, D

    2000-12-08

    TOKYO--Japanese legislators last week approved a ban on human cloning that leaves room for the use of certain techniques in basic research. The action comes at the same time officials in two other countries--China and France--aired similar proposals that would prohibit so-called reproductive cloning while recognizing the possible importance of the technology in combating disease and improving human health.

  16. The situation of computer utilization in radiation therapy in Japan and other countries and problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Onai, Yoshio

    1981-01-01

    The uses of computers in radiation therapy are various, such as radiation dose calculation, clinical history management, radiotherapeutical instrument automation and biological model. To grasp the situation in this field, a survey by questionnaire was carried out internationally at the time of the 7th International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy held in Kawasaki and Tokyo in September, 1980. The surveyed nations totaled 21 including Japan; the number of facilities answered were 203 in Japan and 111 in other countries, and the period concerned is December, 1979, to September, 1980. The results of the survey are described as follows: areas of use of computers in hospitals, computer utilization in radiation department, computer uses in radiation therapy, and evaluation of radiotherapeutical computer uses and problems. (J.P.N.)

  17. Behavioral Dynamics in the Cooperative Control of Mixed Human/Robotic Teams

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-05

    0528 John Baillieul Intelligent Mechatronics Laboratory Boston University Francesco Bullo, David Castañón, Jonathan D. Cohen, Philip...Interaction,” John Baillieul, The International Conference on Instrumentation, Control, and Information Technology -SICE 2008, Chofu, Tokyo, Japan...Aspects of Simple Decisions in Search and Reconnaissance 2007 MURI Topic 16 Final Report Baillieul et al. • United Technologies Research Center

  18. 76 FR 7582 - Notice of Receipt of Complaint; Solicitation of Comments Relating to the Public Interest

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-10

    ... names as respondents Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan; Sony Corporation of America of New York, NY; Sony Electronics, Inc. of San Diego, CA; Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. of Tokyo, Japan; and Sony Computer...

  19. The development and piloting of a leadership questionnaire for general dental practitioners: preliminary results from the North West of England and Tokyo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brocklehurst, P; O'Malley, L; Hill, H; Ozaki, T; Nomura, M; Matsuda, R

    2014-11-01

    Key reforms in England and Japan have called for greater clinical leadership from general dental practitioners to deliver improvements in the quality of care for patients. In England, the reorganisation of the National Health Service has led to the development of Local Professional Networks to ensure services are clinically led, patient and outcome focused. In Japan, the rapidly changing demographics have led to calls for general dental practitioners to become more active in meeting the emerging population health challenges. Both require engagement at a strategic and a local level. However, little is known about what is meant by clinical leadership in dentistry or what training needs exist. The aim of this study was to develop and pilot a questionnaire to understand what general dental practitioners feel is important about clinical leadership and how they rate themselves. A 61-item questionnaire was developed from the literature, an earlier qualitative study and refined through cognitive interviews. Questionnaires were distributed to general dental practitioners across the North West of England and Tokyo, using random sequence generation. For each item, the participant had to record whether they thought the statement was an important component of clinical leadership and how they rated themselves. Both were rated using a seven-point Likert scale. Data reduction was undertaken using principal component analysis to examine for factor loadings within the questionnaire. Differences in mean scores were also used to highlight substantive differences in how general dental practitioners rated the different components of leadership and how they rated themselves. The response rate for the pilot was low (22.9% and 7.5% for North West and Tokyo respectively). The items that were considered to be important in leadership reduced to two components in the North West (accounting for 62.1% of the total variance): 'How to lead' and 'How not to lead'. In Tokyo, 56.4% of the total

  20. Transforming healthcare with information technology in Japan: a review of policy, people, and progress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abraham, Chon; Nishihara, Eitaro; Akiyama, Miki

    2011-03-01

    Healthcare reform as part of the economic recovery plan in Japan is placing emphasis on the use of healthcare information technology (HIT). This research mainly focuses on the HIT efforts in Japan with reference to the US for context. The purpose is to: (a) provide detail on governmental policy impacting promotion of HIT adoption to provide services to the people of Japan, (b) describe the outcomes of past and present policy impacting progress based on a case study of HIT use in the Kyoto Yamashina area, and (c) discuss issues for refinement of current policy. The method is case study, and data collection techniques include: (a) interviews of people involved in policy making for HIT in Japan (Japanese healthcare professionals, government officials, and academics involved in HIT research in Japan) and use in the medical community of HIT in the Kyoto Yamashina area, (b) archived document analysis of reports regarding government policy for HIT policy and user assessment for HIT mainly in the case study site, and (c) the literature review about HIT progression and effectiveness assessments to explore and describe issues concerning the transformation with HIT in Japan. This study reveals the aspects of governmental policy that have been effective in promoting successful HIT initiatives as well as some that have been detriments in Japan to help solve pressing social issues regarding healthcare delivery. For example, Japan has stipulated some standardized protocols and formats for HIT but does not mandate exactly how to engage in inter-organizational or intra-organizational health information exchange. This provides some desired autonomy for healthcare organizations and or governments in medical communities and allows for more advanced organizations to leverage current resources while providing a basis for lesser equipped organizations to use in planning the initiative. The insights gained from the Kyoto Yamashina area initiative reflect the success of past governmental

  1. International cooperation of Japan in Asia for nuclear technology and application

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Machi, Sueo

    2008-01-01

    The FNCA launched by the Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok in 2000, where following vision statement was adapted: 'The FNCA is to be recognized as an effective mechanism for enhancing socio economic development through active regional partnership in the peaceful and safe utilization of nuclear technology'. The FNCA has now 10 participating countries (Australia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam) implementing 11 projects and one panel in the fields of agriculture, health care, industry, energy, human resource development, safety and environment. (author)

  2. Fallout and drinking water contamination by I-131 and Cs-134, 137 in Japan, from the Fukushima Daiichi NPS accident

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kelecom, Alphonse; Miyashita, Erika; Kelecom, Patrick Vicent [Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niteroi, RJ (Brazil)

    2011-07-01

    The earthquake followed by a tsunami in Japan, on last March 11, seriously damaged four of the six reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (NPS). Radioactive smokes and highly contaminated water were released for weeks to the environment. Since March 12, when the plant operator TEPCO and Japan's nuclear agency (NISA) confirmed the presence of radionuclides near the NPS, a giant environmental monitoring operation was set up, covering the entire Japanese territory. Daily thousands measurements are realized. We here analyze data released during 60 days on I-131 and Cs-134,137 radioactive concentrations in drinking water and fallout for 45 prefectures. Miyagi and Fukushima, that requires a separate study, are not considered here. Drinking water contamination by I-131 was observed in 13 prefectures, including Tokyo. The most impacted one was Tochigi (maximum of 110 Bq/l, March 24). This value turned water not drinkable for infants and babies. Cs-137 was detected in drinking water in 8 prefectures, with a maximum level of 18 Bq/l in Ibaraki. These levels do not affect potability of tap water. I-131 was observed in fallout in 27 prefectures, with level reaching 93 kBq/m2 in Ibaraki and 36 kBq/m{sup 2} in Tokyo on March 21 and 23 respectively. Fallout of Cs-137 was observed in 19 prefectures. The maximum deposition occurred again in Ibaraki (13kBq/m{sup 2}, March 21) and in Tokyo (5.3 kBq/m2, March 22). Since mid April, only trace contamination has been observed for both radionuclides in drinking water. Sporadically medium levels of Cs-137 are still observed in fallout. (author)

  3. Fallout and drinking water contamination by I-131 and Cs-134, 137 in Japan, from the Fukushima Daiichi NPS accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kelecom, Alphonse; Miyashita, Erika; Kelecom, Patrick Vicent

    2011-01-01

    The earthquake followed by a tsunami in Japan, on last March 11, seriously damaged four of the six reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (NPS). Radioactive smokes and highly contaminated water were released for weeks to the environment. Since March 12, when the plant operator TEPCO and Japan's nuclear agency (NISA) confirmed the presence of radionuclides near the NPS, a giant environmental monitoring operation was set up, covering the entire Japanese territory. Daily thousands measurements are realized. We here analyze data released during 60 days on I-131 and Cs-134,137 radioactive concentrations in drinking water and fallout for 45 prefectures. Miyagi and Fukushima, that requires a separate study, are not considered here. Drinking water contamination by I-131 was observed in 13 prefectures, including Tokyo. The most impacted one was Tochigi (maximum of 110 Bq/l, March 24). This value turned water not drinkable for infants and babies. Cs-137 was detected in drinking water in 8 prefectures, with a maximum level of 18 Bq/l in Ibaraki. These levels do not affect potability of tap water. I-131 was observed in fallout in 27 prefectures, with level reaching 93 kBq/m2 in Ibaraki and 36 kBq/m 2 in Tokyo on March 21 and 23 respectively. Fallout of Cs-137 was observed in 19 prefectures. The maximum deposition occurred again in Ibaraki (13kBq/m 2 , March 21) and in Tokyo (5.3 kBq/m2, March 22). Since mid April, only trace contamination has been observed for both radionuclides in drinking water. Sporadically medium levels of Cs-137 are still observed in fallout. (author)

  4. Study design and patient recruitment for the Japan Polyp Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sano Y

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Yasushi Sano,1,2 Takahiro Fujii,3,4 Takahisa Matsuda,3 Yasushi Oda,5,6 Shin'ei Kudo,7 Masahiro Igarashi,8 Hiroyasu Iishi,9 Kazuhiro Kaneko,1,10 Kinichi Hotta,3,11,12 Nozomu Kobayashi,3,13 Yuichiro Yamaguchi,12 Kiyonori Kobayashi,8 Hideki Ishikawa,14 Yoshitaka Murakami,15 Tadakazu Shimoda,16 Takahiro Fujimori,17 Yoichi Ajioka,18 Hirokazu Taniguchi,16 Hiroaki Ikematsu,1,3 Kazuo Konishi,10 Yutaka Saito,3 Shigeaki Yoshida1,19 1Department of Gastroenterology, Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, 2Gastrointestinal Center and Institute of Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Care (iMEC, Sano Hospital, Kobe, 3Endoscopy Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, 4Takahiro Fujii Clinic, Tokyo, 5Hattori GI Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Clinic, Kumamoto, 6Oda GI Endoscopy and Gastroenterology Clinic, Kumamoto, 7Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, Yokohama, 8Department of Gastroenterology, Kitasato University East Hospital, Sagamihara, 9Department of Gastrointestinal Oncology, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases, Osaka, 10Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Showa University School of Medicine, Tokyo, 11Department of Gastroenterology, Saku Central Hospital, Saku, 12Division of Endoscopy, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Mishima, 13Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Tochigi Cancer Center, Utsunomiya, 14Department of Molecular-Targeting Cancer Prevention, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, 15Department of Medical Statistics, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, 16Pathology and Clinical Laboratory Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, 17Department of Surgical and Molecular Pathology, Dokkyo Medical University School of Medicine, Mibu, 18Division of Molecular and Diagnostic Pathology, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, 19Aomori Prefectural Hospital, Aomori

  5. Industrial lasers in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karube, Norio

    1991-03-01

    I am to report on some aspects of industrial lasers in Japan. Mostly centering on the market. In Japan, the history of laser developnent is rather profound. And long. Ever since the first invention of the laser in this country in 1960. This is partly because of the fact that in Japan the spectroscopic studies of the ruby was very popular in the late 1950's. Ever since niost of the work has been done in the research laboratories of the industry, not in the universities or not in the governmental laboratories. And since that time our first activity was mainly centering on the basic research, but after that time we have the evolution of the technology. One of the features in Japan is that the activity of developement and research of laser technology from the very basic phase up to the present commercialization has been done by the same group of people, including ine. We had a national project which ended about six years ago which was sponsored by MITI. MITI is Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan. And because of this national project, the effect of this project had a very enlightening effect in Japan. And after that our Japanese laser market became very flourishing.

  6. Unmet service needs evaluated by case managers among disabled patients on hemodialysis in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sugisawa H

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Hidehiro Sugisawa,1 Toshio Shinoda,2 Yumiko Shimizu,3 Tamaki Kumagai,4 Hiroaki Sugisaki,5 Seiji Ohira6,† 1Department of Gerontology, Graduate School of Gerontology, J. F. Oberlin University, Tokyo, 2Department of Medical Care Technology, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, Tsukuba International University, Tsuchiura, 3Department of Community Health Nursing, The Jikei University School of Nursing, Chofu, 4Department of Fundamental Nursing, Graduate School of Nursing, Osaka City University, Osaka, 5Hachioji Azumacho Clinic, Hachioji, Tokyo, 6Sapporo Kita Clinic, Sapporo, Hokkai-do, Japan †Professor Dr. Seiji Ohira passed away on September 5, 2017 Background: This study aimed to investigate the levels of unmet needs for home and ­community-based services (HCBS evaluated by case managers (CMs among disabled patients on hemodialysis (DPHD and to examine factors related to unmet needs. Unmet needs for HCBS were defined as situations in which patients do not use or underuse HCBS despite needing them. Candidates for the factors relating to unmet needs for HCBS included three dimensions: predisposing, enabling, and need factors.Methods: Self-administrated questionnaires were collected from 391 CMs of DPHD certified with long-term care insurance. These were introduced by the dialysis facilities that a member of the Japanese Association of Dialysis Physicians belonged to. CMs were asked questions about their management of each individual case. HCBS included home help, visiting nursing, daycare, and short stay.Results: The prevalence of unmet needs for each HCBS ranged from 32% for home help to 48% for short stay. Barriers to service usage in the patients were associated with unmet needs for all four services. The patients with more severe cognitive malfunction were more likely to have unmet needs for visiting nursing and short stay. Heavier burden with caregiving was associated with more likelihood of unmet needs for home help and short stay

  7. Pariisi Tokyo palee taassünd / Merike Trubert

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Trubert, Merike

    2002-01-01

    21. I avati Pariisis taas Tokyo palee, nüüdsest kaasaegse kunsti eksponeerimiseks. Kunstikriitikutest direktorid Nicolas Bourriaud ja Jérõme Sans on seadnud eesmärgiks avastada uusi talente. Pakuti vaadata Alexander Györfi filmi "Ballaad õnnelikest inimestest", mida reaalsuses ei eksisteeri jm

  8. China's air pollution and Japan's response to it

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuura, S.

    1995-01-01

    Long-range transport of air pollutants has been a serious global environment problem. Japan's Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) researchers are investigating the possibility of acid rain from China. So far, the acid rain that has appeared in Japan has not had a significant effect. However, because of the high economic growth projected for the coming years in China, acidic fallout from that country is likely to cause serious damage there and in Japan as well. China is one of the largest coal users in the world. One of the biggest factors making air quality worse is the lack of appropriate technologies. Although Japanese desulfurization technologies are well advanced, they cannot be directly applied to stationary pollution sources in China, because of their cost. Japan has sophisticated technologies, but lacks experience in and knowledge of alternative, intermediate, and low-technology solutions. Given this, Japan may attempt to buy pollution control technology equipment from the United States, which provides a wider range of desulfurization technologies, as a part of the Official Development Assistance program. At the same time, international support that includes the establishment of additional global environmental monitoring stations in China are also necessary

  9. Radionuclides deposition and fine sediment transport in a forested watershed, central Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, S.; Gomi, T.; Kato, H.; Tesfaye, T.; Onda, Y.

    2011-12-01

    We investigated radionuclides deposition and fine sediment transport in a 13 ha headwater watershed, Tochigi prefecture, located in 98.94 km north of Tokyo. The study site was within Karasawa experimental forest, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. We conducted fingerprinting approach, based on the activities of fallout radionuclides, including caesium-134 (Cs-134) caesium-137 (Cs-137) and excess lead-210 (Pb-210ex). For indentifying specific sources of fine sediment, we sampled tree, soil on forested floor, soil on logging road surface, stream bed and stream banks. We investigated the radionuclides (i.e., as Cs-134, Cs-137 and Pb-210ex) deposition on tree after accident of nuclear power plants on March 11, 2011. We sampled fruits, leaves, branches, stems, barks on Japanese cedar (Sugi) and Japanese cypress (Hinoki). To analyze the samples, gammaray spectrometry was performed at a laboratory at the University of Tsukuba (Tsukuba City, Japan) using n-type coaxial low-energy HPGe gamma detectors (EGC-200-R and EGC25-195-R of EURYSIS Co., Lingolsheim, France) coupled with a multichannel analyzer. We also collected soil samples under the forest canopy in various soil depths from 2, 5, 10, 20, 30 cm along transect of hillslopes. Samples at forest road were collected road segments crossing on the middle section of monitoring watersheds. Fine sediment transport in the streams were collected at the outlet of 13 ha watersheds using integrated suspended sediment samplers. This study indicates the some portion of radio nuclide potentially remained on the tree surface. Part of the deposited radionuclides attached to soil particles and transported to the streams. Most of the fine sediment can be transported on road surface and/or near stream side (riparian zones).

  10. Extraction process technology for the new reprocessing plants in France and Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boullis, B.; Drain, F.; Hugelman, D.

    1991-01-01

    The new reprocessing plants UP3 and UP2-800 in France and Rokkasho in Japan use or will use an improved technology for their extraction cycles. The equipment selected are pulse columns (cylindrical and annular) and mixer-settlers (normal type and extra-flat type). This paper presents the equipment selected for each plant and the extensive R and D performed especially for pulsed columns by CEA and also the results of first active runs in UP3

  11. The Tokyo subway sarin attack-lessons learned

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okumura, T.; Hisaoka, T.; Yamada, A.; Naito, T.; Isonuma, H.; Okumura, S.; Miura, K.; Sakurada, M.; Maekawa, H.; Ishimatsu, S.; Takasu, N.; Suzuki, K.

    2005-01-01

    The sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway system is reviewed from a clinical toxicology perspective. Based on the lessons learned from this attack, the following areas should be addressed on a global scale. First, an adequate supply of protective equipment is required, including level B protective equipment with a pressure demand breathing apparatus. In addition, a system should be established that enables a possible cause to be determined based on symptoms, physical findings, general laboratory tests, and a simple qualitative analysis for poisonous substances. If an antidote is needed, the system should enable it to be administered to the victims as quickly as possible. Preparation for a large-scale chemical attack by terrorists requires the prior establishment of a detailed decontamination plan that utilizes not only mass decontamination facilities but also public facilities in the area. A system should be established for summarizing, evaluating, and disseminating information on poisonous substances. Finally, a large-scale scientific investigation of the Tokyo sarin attack should be conducted to examine its long-term and subclinical effects and the effects of exposure to asymptomatic low levels of sarin

  12. SEISMIC BEHAVIOR OF THE TOKYO BAY AREA DURING THE 2011 OFF THE PACIFIC COAST OF TOHOKU EARTHQUAKE USING DOWNHOLE ARRAY RECORDS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ikeda, Takaaki; Konagai, Kazuo; Katagiri, Toshihiko

    Underground motions within a hard diluvial stratum were obtained in the March 11th 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake at a downhole in the Tokyo Bay area, which has suffered serious sand-liquefaction over its long 42km2 stretch. The motions in the diluvial sand deposit are characterized by their (1) long dura-tion times with 6 to 8s components surpassing others, (2) moderate amplitude of 51.1 cm/s2 in PGA, which is estimated to have resulted in moderate average strains of 8 to 9 × 10-4 and 5 to 7 × 10-4 over shal-low -2 to -30m and deep -30 to -77m soil deposits, respectively. The peak strain reached in the interior of soil was estimated to be about 1.3 × 10-3.

  13. PCDD/Fs and dioxin-like PCBs in the Tone River, Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watanabe, Eiki; Heesoo, Eun; Koji, Baba; Tomohito, Arao; Shozo, Endo [National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Tsukuba (Japan); Tadashi, Sekino [Environmental Research Center, Tsukuba (Japan)

    2004-09-15

    Environmental pollution by PCDD/Fs has arisen exclusively from human activities, and for example, they are inadvertently produced from various combustion sources and manufacturing processes, such as municipal solid waste incineration steel production processes and chemical production processes. In Japan, it is well known that the environmental pollution has close relation to agricultural operation, that is, some PCDD/Fs are contained as impurities in a kind of pesticide. The Tone River is the largest basin area (about 16,900 km{sup 2}) in Japan, and after the Shinano River, is the second longest river (about 322 km). The river has many tributaries (about 800 rivers), and the rivers taking the Kokai River, the Kinu River, the Edo River, and the Watarase River as objects of the present study are also representative tributaries. Since the Tone River basin corresponding to about 4.5% of the total area of Japan leads about twelve million population corresponding to about 10% of the gross population in Japan, it plays an important part in a supply of water for human activities. Not only some residential zones near Tokyo and industrial zones but also representative agricultural zones in Japan expand in the basin expands, and especially the lower basin leads a leading granary. The objective of our effort is to investigate the levels of PCDD/Fs and PCBs in surface sediment and water samples from the Tone River and some related tributaries, and to assess their distribution and origin using congener-specific characterization approach.

  14. Introductory Overview of Stone Heritages in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kato, Hirokazu; Oikawa, Teruki; Fujita, Masayo; Yokoyama, Shunji

    2013-04-01

    exceeding over 500,000 in number and the largest block is 108 ton in weight. Stoens of Hikone Castle came from Paleogene Koto Rhyolite. Edo (old Tokyo, biggest city, central Japan) castle ,Imperial Palace at present, Stones are late Quaternary andesite of Hakone Volcanic Products whose quarrying places are more than 100km far from Edo.They were transported by ships and manpower on land .

  15. The Shock and Vibration Digest. Volume 18, Number 12

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-12-01

    Sfstem Subjected to Random Excitation K. Sato , S. Yamamoto, O. Kamada, N. Takatsu Utsuncmiya Univ., Utsunomiya, Japan Bull. JSME, 22 (251), pp... Sato Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan Bull. JSME, IS! (251), pp 1605-1611 (May 1986) 15 figs, 2 tables, 18 refs KEY WORDS...Matiunaga, T Mattuahita, Mikio Matiuuchi, Kazuo Matteucci, M Matyiiak, S.J Matzen, V.C May, R.A Mayct , M.J Maye» , R.L 1340, Maye», W.H

  16. The reliability and validity of the Tokyo Autistic Behaviour Scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurita, H; Miyake, Y

    1990-03-01

    The Tokyo Autistic Behavior Scale (TABS) consisting of 39 items provisionally grouped in four areas--interpersonal-social relationship, language-communication, habit-mannerism and others--is an instrument used by a child's caretaker to rate the child's autistic behaviors on a 3-point scale. Test-retest reliability was satisfactory (i.e., an r for a total score was .94). Among six DSM-III diagnostic groups, infantile autism showed a significantly higher total TABS score than the other five groups, and a taxonomic validity coefficient was .54. An r between total scores of the TABS and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale--Tokyo Version was .59. The area scores showed a lower validity than the total score. The TABS appears to be a useful instrument to assess autistic behavior.

  17. Some problems on domestic technology development from a point of fabricator of nuclear power plant. [Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Watamori, T [Hitachi Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1976-06-01

    During past 20 years, the nuclear power industry in Japan has introduced foreign technology, digested it in a short period, and continued to research and develop domestic technology. Now, 95% of the machinery and equipments for nuclear power generation with light water reactors can be produced domestically, and some technologies are going to be exported. However, the nuclear power industry is still in a severe environment. The progress of the development of nuclear power plants passed the periods of organizational preparation, the construction of research reactors, the import of foreign technologies and reactors for practical use, and the construction of domestically produced reactors for practical use. The supplying capacity of the nuclear power industry in Japan reached 6 units of 1,000 MW yearly, but in order to meet the long term plan of nuclear power generation, this capacity must be further enhanced. The problems in the promotion of domestic production are the establishment of independent technologies, the promotion of standardization, the strengthening of business basis, the upbringing of relating enterprises, and the acceleration of national projects. Since the energy crisis, the trend of filling up energy demand with nuclear power generation became conspicuous, but for the expansion of export, the problems of safety guarantee, nuclear fuel cycle, and financial measures must be solved with government aid.

  18. Nutritional quality and patterns of lunch menus at child care centers in South Korea and Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Sooyoun; Yeoh, Yoonjae; Abe, Satoko

    2018-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the nutritional quality and patterns of lunch menus provided by child care centers in South Korea and Japan. The weekly lunch menus from Monday to Saturday that child care centers provided in November 2014 in South Korea and Japan were analyzed. For Korea, a total of 72 meals provided by 12 centers in Seoul were analyzed by referring to the homepage of the Center for Children's Foodservice Management, which serviced menus for child care centers. For Japan, a total of 30 meals provided by 5 child care centers in Tokyo were analyzed. Nutrient content and pattern in lunch menus were evaluated. The lunch menus in Korea and Japan provided 359.5 kcal (25.7% of the estimated energy requirement) and 376.3 kcal (29.5% of the estimated energy requirement), respectively. 'Rice + Soup + Main dish + Side dish I + Side dish II' were provided in 66.7% of meals in Korea, while various patterns with rice and soup as their bases were provided in Japan. The lunch menus of child care centers in Korea and Japan provide similar amounts of energy, protein, carbohydrate, vitamin A, calcium, and other nutrients. However, there were significant differences in the lunch menu patterns in Korea and Japan. This study provides information about the nutritional content and pattern of lunch menus at child care centers in Asian countries with rice as a staple food.

  19. Nuclear Forensics Technologies in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shinohara, N.; Kimura, Y.; Okubo, A.; Tomikawa, H.

    2015-01-01

    Nuclear forensics is the analysis of intercepted illicit nuclear or radioactive material and any associated material to provide evidence for nuclear attribution by determining origin, history, transit routes and purpose involving such material. Nuclear forensics activities include sampling of the illicit material, analysis of the samples and evaluation of the attribution by comparing the analysed data with database or numerical simulation. Because the nuclear forensics methodologies provide hints of the origin of the nuclear materials used in illegal dealings or nuclear terrorism, it contributes to identify and indict offenders, hence to enhance deterrent effect against such terrorism. Worldwide network on nuclear forensics can lead to strengthening global nuclear security regime. In the ESARDA Symposium 2015, the results of research and development of fundamental nuclear forensics technologies performed in Japan Atomic Energy Agency during the term of 2011-2013 were reported, namely (1) technique to analyse isotopic composition of nuclear material, (2) technique to identify the impurities contained in the material, (3) technique to determine the age of the purified material by measuring the isotopic ratio of daughter thorium to parent uranium, (4) technique to make image data by observing particle shapes with electron microscope, and (5) prototype nuclear forensics library for comparison of the analysed data with database in order to evaluate its evidence such as origin and history. Japan’s capability on nuclear forensics and effective international cooperation are also mentioned for contribution to the international nuclear forensics community.

  20. Assisted reproductive technology in Japan: a summary report of 1992-2014 by the Ethics Committee, Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Irahara, Minoru; Kuwahara, Akira; Iwasa, Takeshi; Ishikawa, Tomonori; Ishihara, Osamu; Kugu, Koji; Sawa, Rintaro; Banno, Kouji; Saito, Hidekazu

    2017-04-01

    The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology implemented a registry report system for the clinical practice of assisted reproductive technology in 1986. The aggregated results from 1992 to 2014 are reported herein. The total number of registered treatments was 393 745 cycles, of which 66 550 were pregnancy cycles and 46 008 were cycles with a live birth. Compared to the number of registered treatments in 2008, when the cycle-based registry was newly introduced, there was a 2.07-fold increase in the total number of treatments and a 2.25-fold increase in the number of cycles with a live birth. As the average age of patients who receive assisted reproductive technology has become markedly higher year by year, the most common age of those patients who received assisted reproductive technology in 2014 was 40 years. The total numbers of both assisted reproductive technology treatments and assisted reproductive technology live births are likely to be higher in the future. In addition, the trend toward aging patients seems to be continuing into the future.

  1. An archival study on the fusion researches in Japan from 1965 to 1986. An interview with Sekiguchi Tadashi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nisio, Sigeko; Uematsu, Eisui

    2001-12-01

    We here report an archival study undertaken by the method of an interview with Sekiguchi Tadashi, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo. The theme covers the circumstances of the fusion research during the period (1965-1976) when fusion project was launched in Japan, and during the period (1970-1986) when JT-60 was initiated and subsequently developed. This interview was arranged as a part of the collaborative works organized with the Data and Planning Center of NIFS since 1999. (author)

  2. Japan and the global environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, A.S.; Moore, C.

    1993-01-01

    In many areas, the word most often used to describe Japanese policy is open-quotes enigma.close quotes In some ways, Japan's record on environmental policy also has elements of mystery and contradiction. On the one hand, Japan's history and culture often are associated with a reverence for nature. Indeed, Japan does lead the world in certain environmental areas, such as reduction of conventional air pollutants and compensation of air pollution victims. On the other hand, Japan has been widely criticized for its poor record in preserving its domestic environment, contribution to tropical deforestation, and unwillingness to protect endangered species. Today, the international community clamors for Japan to take its share of responsibility, as an economic superpower, for the global environment. To secure its place in world affairs, Japan slowly has begun to respond to this pressure on issues ranging from ivory importation to reduction of CFC emissions. There is some hope that the government's particular willingness to address global warming may be a sign of significant changes to come in Japanese environmental policy. However, international pressure remains on the many environmental issues Japan has yet to resolve, including tropical deforestation and financing of Third World development projects that harm the environment. Japan's environmental policy is most effective when government and industry cooperate to find technical solutions to environmental problems. Although in recent years Japan's energy consumption has risen sharply, the Japanese have developed numerous technologies to reduce pollution and increase economic growth by improving energy efficiency. It is in these technologies that Japan has made the greatest strides and has the most to offer the global environment

  3. Countermeasure to plant life management of the nuclear power plants out of Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-01-01

    Some investigations on countermeasure to plant life management of the nuclear power plants were begun since beginning of 1990s under cooperation with Ministry of International Trade and Industry and all electric power companies under consideration of recent state on abroad and at concept of preventive conservation implementation against the plant life management. As a result, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the Kansai Electric Power Company and the Japan Atomic Power Company settled each program on countermeasure to plant life management of the Fukushima-1 Power Plant, the Mihama-1 Power Plant and the Tsuruga-1 Power Plant, respectively, which were reported to the Atomic Energy Safety Commission to issue on February, 1999, after deliberation in the Adviser Group of Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Such investigations on countermeasure to the plant life management are also conducted out of Japan in parallel to those in Japan, which contain programs reflecting states of operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants and atmosphere around atomic energy in each country. Here were described on some present states of the countermeasures to plant life management in U.S.A., France, Germany, Sweden, England and so forth. (G.K.)

  4. Research project of P3 (Protected Plutonium Production) and global academy for 3S (Safety, Security, Safeguard) for peace and sustainable prosperity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, Masaki

    2013-01-01

    Full text:Nuclear engineering education has been initiated in 1957 at the graduate school of Tokyo Institute of Technology. Higher Educational activities have been conducted for more than half century. More than 1000 Master students and 200 Doctoral students graduated from the Department of Nuclear Engineering in Tokyo Institute of Technology. Many of them are working in nuclear industries and institutes. International course of nuclear engineering was initiated in 1994, and 130 students from 20 overseas countries have graduated from Master and Doctoral Programs. In the national research program, Protected Plutonium Production (P 3 ) has been proposed to enhance the proliferation resistance of plutonium by the transmutation of Minor Actinides (MAs). In 2011, Academy for Global Nuclear Safety and Security Agent was initiated with the unique features of a full boarding system and a curriculum that combines education in liberal arts and science/ engineering. Both educational and research programs have been supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan. In the conference, the current nuclear educational and research activities in Tokyo Institute of Technology will be presented. (author)

  5. A Report on the Development of Rare Earth-Cobalt Permanent Magnet Technology - Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-07-01

    Implantable pumps and valves , head support harness in development). C. MICROWAVE AND ION BEAM TECHNOLOGY 1. Microwave Tubes: TWT PPM focusing, klystrons...III and IV were devoted to various medical applications that employ REPM. These included various dental prosthetic devices, tech- niques for measuring...minimize losses due to fracture in handling or heat treatment. Very little work has been done on this topic in the West or in Japan. The only two papers

  6. Japan's nuclear catastrophe; a shocking calamity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiva, Sonu; Gaur, Madhusudan

    2012-01-01

    Japan suffered a massive earthquake which was followed by more disastrous tsunami that led to nuclear crises. The Fukushima nuclear plant faced series of explosions and the water cooling system failed. The nuclear reactor is spreading radioactivity in the atmosphere. This has immensely affected the country's economy and the authorities are still struggling to stop the release of radiation from the quake hit nuclear plant. The professors of various universities are tense with regard to dangerous amount of radiation present in the air. The survivors of the calamity are afraid of cancer and other dire illnesses; who have been exposed to Japan's crippled nuclear plant on march 11, 2011. Though the scientists claim that Tokyo is safe from the radiations but the authorities do not have the sufficient data to prove about its safety. There has been much errors and delay in the proper assessment of the crises and the truth may take 5 to 10 years of time to come out, but this would be too late. This paper is an attempt to delve deep into the reasons of this calamity. It intends to suggest some measures that can be helpful in assessing the damage and improvements that can be taken up with regard to location and design of nuclear power plant so that in such situation of emergency the coping becomes easier and damage minimized. (author)

  7. The hospital educational environment and performance of residents in the General Medicine In-Training Examination: a multicenter study in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shimizu T

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Taro Shimizu,1 Yusuke Tsugawa,2,3 Yusuke Tanoue,4 Ryota Konishi,5 Yuji Nishizaki,6 Mitsumasa Kishimoto,7 Toshiaki Shiojiri,8 Yasuharu Tokuda9 1Hospitalist Division, Department of Medicine, Nerima Hikarigaoka Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; 2Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3Center for Clinical Epidemiology, St Luke's Life Science Institute, 4Department of Vascular and Oncological Surgery, Hospital of Tokyo University, 5Department of General Internal Medicine, Kanto Rousai Hospital, 6Department of Cardiology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 7Division of Rheumatology, St Luke's International Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; 8Asahi Chuo Hospital, Chiba, Japan; 9Department of Medicine, Tsukuba University Mito Kyodo General Hospital, Mito City, Ibaraki, Japan Background: It is believed that the type of educational environment in teaching hospitals may affect the performance of medical knowledge base among residents, but this has not yet been proven. Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between the hospital educational environment and the performance of the medical knowledge base among resident physicians in Japanese teaching hospitals. Methods: To assess the knowledge base of medicine, we conducted the General Medicine In-Training Examination (GM-ITE for second-year residents in the last month of their residency. The items of the exam were developed based on the outcomes designated by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. The educational environment was evaluated using the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM score, which was assessed by a mailed survey 2 years prior to the exam. A mixed-effects linear regression model was employed for the analysis of variables associated with a higher score. Results: Twenty-one teaching hospitals participated in the study and a total of 206 residents (67 women participated and

  8. A perspective on the benefit-risk assessment for new and emerging pharmaceuticals in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tanimoto T

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Tetsuya Tanimoto Division of Social Communication System for Advanced Clinical Research, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Abstract: The universal health care system in Japan is facing a historical turning point as a result of the increasing fiscal burden, rapidly aging society, and a decreasing population. To understand the challenges and opportunities in the Japanese pharmaceutical market, which occupies one tenth of the global share, this review highlights several issues related to the benefit-risk assessment that is unique to the modern Japanese society: 1 regulatory system for new drug development; 2 health hazards related to pharmaceuticals (“Yakugai” in Japanese; 3 drug lag; 4 problems and controversies in the vaccination policy; and 5 clinical study misconduct. The regulatory process places a significant importance on Japanese data collection regardless of data accumulation from other countries. Because Yakugai has repeatedly caused tragedies and social disputes historically, the regulatory judgments generally tend to be more prudential when safety concerns are raised for new and emerging pharmaceuticals. Such a regulatory system has caused more than several years of approval delays compared to delays in other countries. The problem of drug lag still lingers on despite several regulatory system revisions, while the solution is incompatible with the elimination of Yakugai because the lag potentially reduces the risk of unpredictable adverse events. The Japanese vaccination policy has also received a lot of criticism, and needs improvements so that the decision-making process can be more transparent and scientifically based. Additionally, repeated clinical study misconduct damaged the reputation of Japanese clinical studies with unnecessary defrayment in health insurance; therefore, the medical community must change its inappropriate relationship with the industry. The problems surrounding pharmaceuticals

  9. 76 FR 58841 - Certain Digital Televisions and Components Thereof, and Certain Electronic Devices Having a Blu...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-22

    ... investigation named as respondents Sony Corporation of Tokyo, Japan; Sony Corporation of America of New York, New York; Sony Electronics, Inc. of San Diego, California; Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. of Tokyo, Japan; and Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC of Foster City, California (collectively ``Sony...

  10. Basic Solar Energy Research in Japan (2011 EFRC Forum)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Domen, Kazunari

    2011-01-01

    Kazunari Domen, Chemical System Engineering Professor at the University of Tokyo, was the second speaker in the May 26, 2011 EFRC Forum session, 'Global Perspectives on Frontiers in Energy Research.' In his presentation, Professor Domen talked about basic solar energy research in Japan. The 2011 EFRC Summit and Forum brought together the EFRC community and science and policy leaders from universities, national laboratories, industry and government to discuss 'Science for our Nation's Energy Future.' In August 2009, the Office of Science established 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers. The EFRCs are collaborative research efforts intended to accelerate high-risk, high-reward fundamental research, the scientific basis for transformative energy technologies of the future. These Centers involve universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit firms, singly or in partnerships, selected by scientific peer review. They are funded at $2 to $5 million per year for a total planned DOE commitment of $777 million over the initial five-year award period, pending Congressional appropriations. These integrated, multi-investigator Centers are conducting fundamental research focusing on one or more of several 'grand challenges' and use-inspired 'basic research needs' recently identified in major strategic planning efforts by the scientific community. The purpose of the EFRCs is to integrate the talents and expertise of leading scientists in a setting designed to accelerate research that transforms the future of energy and the environment.

  11. An outline on the present state of oil pollution combating in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuwabara, K.

    1992-01-01

    Japan is an arcuate island nation extending for some 3,000 kilometers and lying east of the Asian Continent. It comprises four major bodies of land, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu and Hokkaido, plus approximately 4,000 smaller islands. As a nation lacking in natural resources, Japan is compelled to import many needed raw materials and depends on imports far more than any other advanced industrial country. Oil figures especially prominent among imports; of the 233,660,000 kiloliters of crude oil supplied domestically each year, as much as of 98.0 percent is imported. The geographical conditions of Japan, as well as those surrounding its natural resources, have made the nation's social and economic activities so highly dependent on shipping that narrow waterways are crowded with all types of vessels; including hugh tankers, freighters, fishing boats, etc. Particularly in Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay and Seto Inland Sea, where many large petrochemical complexes are scattered among surrounding areas and great amounts of not only crude oil, but also liquefied gas and chemical products are seaborne, it is most likely that vessels, including crude tankers, may run aground and collide with one another, causing large-scale oil spill incidents, when navigating the narrow and congested straits and waterways there

  12. Survey of advanced radiation technologies used at designated cancer care hospitals in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shikama, Naoto; Tsujino, Kayoko; Nakamura, Katsumasa; Ishikura, Satoshi

    2014-01-01

    Our survey assessed the use of advanced radiotherapy technologies at the designated cancer care hospitals in Japan, and we identified several issues to be addressed. We collected the data of 397 designated cancer care hospitals, including information on staffing in the department of radiation oncology (e.g. radiation oncologists, medical physicists and radiation therapists), the number of linear accelerators and the implementation of advanced radiotherapy technologies from the Center for Cancer Control and Information Services of the National Cancer Center, Japan. Only 53% prefectural designated cancer care hospitals and 16% regional designated cancer care hospitals have implemented intensity-modulated radiotherapy for head and neck cancers, and 62% prefectural designated cancer care hospitals and 23% regional designated cancer care hospitals use intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Seventy-four percent prefectural designated cancer care hospitals and 40% regional designated cancer care hospitals employ stereotactic body radiotherapy for lung cancer. Our multivariate analysis of prefectural designated cancer care hospitals which satisfy the institute's qualifications for advanced technologies revealed the number of radiation oncologists (P=0.01) and that of radiation therapists (P=0.003) were significantly correlated with the implementation of intensity-modulated radiotherapy for prostate cancer, and the number of radiation oncologists (P=0.02) was correlated with the implementation of stereotactic body radiotherapy. There was a trend to correlate the number of medical physicists with the implementation of stereotactic body radiotherapy (P=0.07). Only 175 (51%) regional designated cancer care hospitals satisfy the institute's qualification of stereotactic body radiotherapy and 76 (22%) satisfy that of intensity-modulated radiotherapy. Seventeen percent prefectural designated cancer care hospitals and 13% regional designated cancer care hospitals

  13. Medical technology in Japan the politics of regulation

    CERN Document Server

    Altenstetter, Christa

    2014-01-01

    Compared to its American and European counterparts, Japan lags in adopting innovative medical devices and making new treatments and procedures available. Christa Altenstetter examines the contextual conditions of Japan's medical profession and its regulatory framework. Altenstetter looks into how physicians and device companies connect to the government and bureaucracy, the relationships connecting Japanese patients to their medical system and governmental bureaucracy, and how relationships between policymakers and the medical profession are changing.

  14. Design improvements, construction and operating experience with BWRs in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchigasaki, G.; Yokomi, M.; Sasaki, M.; Aoki, R.; Hashimoto, H.

    1983-01-01

    (1) The first domestic-made 1100-MW(e) BWR in Japan commenced commercial operation in April 1982. The unit is the leading one of the subsequent three in Fukushima Daini nuclear power station owned by the Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc. (Tepco). Based on the accumulated construction and operation experience of 500-MW(e) and 800-MW(e) class BWRs, improvements in various aspects during both the design and construction stages were introduced in core and fuel design with advanced gadolinia distribution, reactor feedwater treatment technology for crud reduction, a radwaste island, control and instrumentation to cope with the lessons learned through Three Mile Island assessment etc. (2) Based on many operating experiences with BWRs, an improved BWR core, which has easier operability and higher load factor than the conventional core, has been developed. The characteristic of the improved core is ''axially two-zoned uranium enrichment distribution''; the enrichment of the upper part of the fuel is slightly higher than that of the lower part. Through the improved core it became possible to optimize the axial power flattening and core reactivity control separately by axial enrichment distribution and burnable poison content. The improved fuels were loaded into operating BWRs and successfully proved the performance by this experience. (3) To shorten annual outage time, to reduce radiation exposure, to save manpower, and to achieve high reliability and safety of inspection operation, the remote automatic service and inspection equipment were developed in Japan. This paper presents the concept, distinctive features, and actual operation experience of the automatic refuelling machine, control-rod drive (CRD) remote-handling machine, improved main steam line isolation plug, and the automated ultrasonic inspection system with a computerized data processing unit, which have been developed by Hitachi, Ltd. with excellent results. (author)

  15. Systematic Education of Self-Medication at Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narui, Koji; Samizo, Kazuo; Inoue, Michiko; Watanabe, Kinzo

    2016-01-01

    The promotion of self-medication by pharmacies, with the aim of encouraging a patient's self-selection of proper OTC drug, is written about in the national action plan "Japan is Back". The subject of self-medication has been improved in the 2013 revised edition of "Model Core Curriculum for Pharmaceutical Education". At Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, the systematic education of self-medication was started from the onset of the six-year course in the third, fourth and fifth grade. We introduce here a new approach in our systematic education of self-medication. In the practice of the fourth grade, groups of around 5-6 students are formed. The pharmacy students assume various roles-of pharmacist, rater, observer, and chairman-and perform role-playing. We prepared a standardized patient (SP) showing various symptoms. The student of the role of pharmacist asks about the SP's symptoms, chooses an OTC drug suitable for the SP, and explains the OTC drug to the SP. After the role-playing, those in the roles of rater, observer, SP, and faculty give feedback to the student who played the role of pharmacist. Because we conduct this role-playing using SPs with a variety of symptoms, we can create a situation similar to a real drugstore.

  16. Progress of technological innovation on electric power in FY2014

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishikawa, Yoshikazu; Fujii, Yutaka; Sasagawa, Toshiro

    2015-01-01

    This paper overviews the technological development in FY2014 at Tokyo Electric Power Company, Chubu Electric Power Company, Hokuriku Electric Power Company, Shikoku Electric Power Company, and Electric Power Development Company. In this overview, further breakdown was made for the following departments of each company: nuclear power generation, thermal power generation, hydraulic power generation, power transmission, power distribution, transformation, research and development and technological development, and information and communication. In addition, this paper outlines the achievement of technological development at Japan Atomic Power Company, such as the technological development related to the existing power station, development of new technology, and the development of future reactor. Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station has developed an investigative system using a high altitude survey robot and a movable monitoring system. Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station examined the feasibility of state diagnostic technique based on multi-point analysis, and studied stress corrosion cracking at the newly established Nuclear Safety Research Laboratory. Shika Nuclear Power Station (Unit 1) applied a pipe stress improvement process by means of high frequency induction heating as a stress corrosion cracking countermeasure. Ikata Nuclear Power Station newly adopted high degree cross-linking cation resin, and high cracking strength anion resin as the primary resins. Oma Nuclear Power Station worked on the all reactor core utilization technology of MOX fuel. (A.O.)

  17. Global temperature estimates in the troposphere and stratosphere: a validation study of COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 measurements

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Kishore, P

    2009-02-04

    Full Text Available and Communications Technology, Tokyo, Japan 3Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, USA 4National Laser Centre, CSIR, Pretoria, South Africa 5Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, South Africa Received: 13 November... and Communications Technology (NICT), for their financial support. J. H. Jiang thanks the support by Microwave Atmospheric Science Team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with NASA. Edited by: W. Conant References...

  18. Study on the influence of water chemistry on fuel cladding behaviour of LWR in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mishima, Y.

    1983-01-01

    This article presents the results of the study on the influence of water chemistry on fuel cladding behaviour, which has been performed for more than ten years on BWRs and PWRs in Japan. The post irradiation examination (P.I.E.) program of commercial reactor fuel assembly which was explained at Tokyo meeting in 1981 includes an investigation of the characteristics and build-up conditions of crud deposited on mainly BWR fuel cladding. This article also provides a summary of the results of the investigation and shows how the results are utilized for establishing effective water chemistry measures

  19. Technology and products of gas companies; Gas gaisha no Technology and Products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-06-10

    This paper presents the latest technology and products of gas companies. `Newly developed gas table for one-push automatic fish broiling` of Tokyo Gas Co. `Catalytic technology for decomposing dioxin generated by incinerator to make it harmless` of Osaka Gas Co. `Newly developed strong and kindly shower head` of Tokyo Gas Co. By laying fish on a sensor in a grill and appropriately setting upper and lower heating levers, user can skillfully broil fish only by pushing an ignition button. A temperature sensor attached to the center of a grill catches a change in surface temperature of fish, and automatically sets an appropriate broiling time according to the kind and volume of fish. A finish buzzer and automatic extinction mechanism are prepared. The technology decomposes dioxin in exhaust gas of incinerators to make it harmless. The catalyst is prepared by dispersing noble metal or oxide of several angstroms into activated carbon fibers. The shower head can switch hot water power by a control handle

  20. Development of grouting technologies for geological disposal of high level waste in Japan (1). Overall program and application of developed technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujita, Tomoo; Sasamoto, Hiroshi; Sugita, Yutaka; Matsui, Hiroya

    2013-01-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Agency started a grout project for geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) in 2007. The aim of the project was to develop new grouting technologies and grout materials and also to develop models for performance assessments, prediction of the long-term radionuclide migration and identify detrimental changes in the host rock by the grout material leachate. This study presents the overall program and the application of key engineering technologies to the construction and operation of an underground facility for the geological disposal of HLW, with particular emphasis on the long-term effects of grout materials. (author)

  1. Getting to Grips Again with Dependency. Japan's Energy Strategy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chrisstoffels, J.H.

    2007-08-01

    Japan has had to deal with a high level of dependency on energy imports for many decades. Today the country faces an increasingly competitive global energy market that forces it to reinvent its traditional security of supply policies. Unfortunately for Japan, the rise of China and India is increasing the competition for scarce energy supplies among consumer countries, whereas in the past supplier countries competed for access to the attractive Japanese market. To confront the challenges of the new environment the Japanese government has drafted a New National Energy Strategy. This paper analyses the strength of the strategy's proposals and targets, in particular those aimed at improving security of oil and gas supply. To assess the impact of the strategy we place it firmly against the background of Japan's history of energy security policy, as well as Japan's recent experiences with 'strategic resource projects'. This paper finds that Japan's policies in post-1973 history have been impeded by a complex set of factors. Traditionally this set has included Japan's troubled bilateral relations with Russia and China, and Japan's security dependence on the United States. Other factors are Japan's inability to synchronise national and corporate interests, and a lack of cooperation between domestic energy companies. More recently, rising oil prices, growing resource competition with China and lacklustre domestic demand-growth for energy have increased anxiety about security of supply amongst policymakers in Tokyo. In three case studies the paper illustrates in detail how these factors - in combination or by themselves - have structurally compromised Japanese initiatives to improve security of supply. The case studies discuss the Azadegan oil development project in Iran, plans for a pan-Siberian oil pipeline, and the oil and gas projects on Russia's Sakhalin Island. Our analysis of the New National Energy Strategy confirms that energy security is back on Japan's policy

  2. Emergency response arrangements for the transport of irradiated nuclear fuel from Japan to Europe in Japanese territorial waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikeda, T.; Inada, T.; Narahara, S.; Cheshire, R.D.; Lee, G.

    1993-01-01

    About 90 % of nuclear fuel irradiated in Japanese nuclear power stations is transported to UK and France for reprocessing. Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL), a subsidiary of British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL), owns and operates its own fleet of 5 purpose built ships specially designed for the transport of flasks containing irradiated fuel from Japan to Europe. These vessels sail to Japan on 8 to 10 voyages per year from the BNFL's Marine Terminal at Barrow in UK via Cherbourg Port in France. On arrival in Japan empty flasks are delivered to Japanese nuclear power stations, and full flasks are collected for the return journey to Europe. Whilst the probability of a serious flask incident involving the release of radioactivity is very small, it is nevertheless important to plan for such an emergency. In the case of an incident BNFL will provide an emergency response. If an incident occurs in Japanese territorial waters, the initial response will be provided by Nuclear Services Company (NSC), who are based in Japan (the head office in Tokyo, Tokai Office in Ibaraki Prefecture and Tsuruga Office in Fukui Prefecture) and contracted to BNFL to provide a similar response to that available from UK. This paper describes the communication links which have been established between UK and Japan and the internal communication within Japan. It also describes the emergency equipent held in Japan, the training of teams and the results of exercises jointly carried out with BNFL. (J.P.N.)

  3. The CIRP International Workshop on Concurrent Engineering for Product Realization (1st) Held in Tokyo, Japan on June 27 - 28, 1992

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-11-01

    7075 Dr. Samuel K.M.HO Dept. of Engineering Warwick University Coventry CV 47 AL UK 15 Tel.(44)203 524173 Fax.(44)203 524307 Mr. Mikio Inagaki...Nishi-8, Kita-ku Sapporo 060, JAPAN Tel. +81-11-716-211 ex.6447 Fax. +81-11-758-1619 Mr. Mikio Kitano 16 Motomachi Plant Toyota Moter Corporation 1...Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-01 JAPAN Tel 81-484-65-6641 Fax 81-484-67-5942 Professor Hisayoshi Sato Director, Mechanical Engineering Laboratory

  4. Strontium-90 and cesium-137 in powdered milk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1977-01-01

    Japan Chemical Analysis Center has analysed the strontium-90 and cesium-137 content in powdered milk. The samples were purchased on the open market in Tokyo from the powdered milk producers. The analysis of Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 content was carried out using the method recommended by Science and Technology Agency. (author)

  5. JTEC Panel report on electronic manufacturing and packaging in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Michael J.; Boulton, William R. (Editor); Kukowski, John; Meieran, Gene; Pecht, Michael; Peeples, John; Tummala, Rao; Dehaemer, Michael J.; Holdridge, Geoff (Editor); Gamota, George

    1995-01-01

    This report summarizes the status of electronic manufacturing and packaging technology in Japan in comparison to that in the United States, and its impact on competition in electronic manufacturing in general. In addition to electronic manufacturing technologies, the report covers technology and manufacturing infrastructure, electronics manufacturing and assembly, quality assurance and reliability in the Japanese electronics industry, and successful product realization strategies. The panel found that Japan leads the United States in almost every electronics packaging technology. Japan clearly has achieved a strategic advantage in electronics production and process technologies. Panel members believe that Japanese competitors could be leading U.S. firms by as much as a decade in some electronics process technologies.

  6. NuTEC annual report. April 1, 1998 - March 31, 1999

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1999-11-01

    This annual report summarizes the educational work carried out at the Nuclear Technology and Education Center (NuTEC) of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute during the 1998 fiscal year. It describes all the training courses provided at Tokyo and Tokai Education Centers and the activities of the International Technology Transfer Division, together with the R and D achievements for improving the educational programs and related management work. During this fiscal year, Tokyo and Tokai Education Centers accomplished all the planned courses, both domestic and international, where the total number of the participants was 1,156. The International Technology Transfer Division conducted successfully the international training courses, including those of the Asia-Pacific Nuclear Cooperation Program. In addition, various research efforts were made to develop new items for the educational programs. (author)

  7. NuTEC annual report. April 1, 1997 - March 31, 1998

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-11-01

    This annual report summarizes the educational works carried out at the Nuclear Technology and Education Center (NuTEC) of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute during the 1997 fiscal year. It covers all the educational courses provided at Tokyo and Tokai Education Centers and the activities of the International Technology Transfer Division, together with the R and D works for improving the educational programs, and related management works. During the 1997 fiscal year, Tokyo and Tokai Education Centers accomplished all the planned courses, both domestic and international. Total number of the trainees during the year was 1,411. The International Technology Transfer Division proceeded the preparation works of the international training courses, particularly the Asia-Pacific Nuclear Cooperation Program. In addition, various research and development efforts were made to establish new items in educational programs. (author)

  8. Bio-desulfurization technology in Japan; Wagakuni ni okeru baio datsuryu gijutsu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Maruhashi, K. [Petroleum Energy Center, Tokyo (Japan)

    2000-05-01

    A bio-reaction of microbes (catalytic reaction by an enzyme) is characterized in that the reaction is carried out at a normal temperature and under a normal pressure and has particularly high specificity with respect to substrate (reactant). It is considered that a low loading process of environment harmony type can be constructed by applying the bio-reaction in petroleum refinery process. CO{sub 2} exhaust and energy consumption in the bio-desulfurization (BDS) is estimated to be 70 to 80% lower than those in hydrodesulfurization (HDS). The bio-technologies that can be applied to the petroleum refinery process include, for example, desulfurization, demetallation, dewaxing, denitration, cracking and so on. In this paper, the present state of bio-desulphurization technology is introduced. Particularly, as the research results in Japan, acquirement of mesophile R.erythropolis KA2-5-1 strain, thermophile Paenibacillus sp. A11-2 strain whose optimum temperature is 50 degrees C, BT degradation fungus Rhodococcus sp. T09 and the like are introduced. (NEDO)

  9. The internationalization of Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuroki, T.E.

    1989-01-01

    There are growing tensions and frictions between the U.S. and Japan. Among them are science and technology issues that relate to the development of superconductor technology, as well as economic, trade and agricultural issues. The structure of this friction is very complex. There are many interconnected issues that cannot be resolved one by one. This article focuses on the relationship between the U.S. and Japan. Some of the complexities behind the issues are discussed by defining different notions of internationalization and by presenting the positive and negative aspects of the Japanese approach that affects the future cooperation and competition between our nations in the area of superconductivity

  10. The Shock and Vibration Digest. Volume 16, Number 6

    Science.gov (United States)

    1984-06-01

    Meuurement of Rigid Body Modes for Dynamic Deagn N. Okuboand T. Furukawa CAMAL Chuo Univ., Tokyo, Japan, Intl. Modal Analysis Conf., Proc. 2nd, Orlando... CAMAL , Chuo Univ., Tokyo, Japan, Intl. VV :ä\\ Analysis Conf., Proc. 2nd, Orlando, FL, Feh ö-Q. 1984, Spons. by Union College

  11. 76 FR 5399 - In the Matter of Certain Printing and Imaging Devices and Components Thereof; Notice of...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-31

    ..., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan; Ricoh Americas Corporation of West Caldwell, New Jersey; and Ricoh Electronics... 5,863,690 (``the `690 patent''). The complaint named Oki Data Corporation of Tokyo, Japan and Oki... determined to reverse the ALJ's finding that Ricoh satisfied the economic prong of the domestic industry...

  12. Wintertime urban heat island modified by global climate change over Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hara, M.

    2015-12-01

    Urban thermal environment change, especially, surface air temperature (SAT) rise in metropolitan areas, is one of the major recent issues in urban areas. The urban thermal environmental change affects not only human health such as heat stroke, but also increasing infectious disease due to spreading out virus vectors habitat and increase of industry and house energy consumption. The SAT rise is mostly caused by global climate change and urban heat island (hereafter UHI) by urbanization. The population in Tokyo metropolitan area is over 30 millions and the Tokyo metropolitan area is one of the biggest megacities in the world. The temperature rise due to urbanization seems comparable to the global climate change in the major megacities. It is important to project how the urbanization and the global climate change affect to the future change of urban thermal environment to plan the adaptation and mitigation policy. To predict future SAT change in urban scale, we should estimate future UHI modified by the global climate change. This study investigates change in UHI intensity (UHII) of major metropolitan areas in Japan by effects of the global climate change. We performed a series of climate simulations. Present climate simulations with and without urban process are conducted for ten seasons using a high-resolution numerical climate model, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Future climate projections with and without urban process are also conducted. The future projections are performed using the pseudo global warming method, assuming 2050s' initial and boundary conditions estimated by a GCM under the RCP scenario. Simulation results indicated that UHII would be enhanced more than 30% in Tokyo during the night due to the global climate change. The enhancement of urban heat island is mostly caused by change of lower atmospheric stability.

  13. The Sixth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-04-01

    of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. 63 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720. 64 Korea...of Physics and Research Center for the Early Universe, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033

  14. Challenges for the International Tourism Industry in Japan – An Agent for Economic Recovery and Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rong Zhang

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Japan’s successful bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo is expected to bring a windfall to the tourism industry with an increasing number of visitors coming from abroad. Taking advantage of this opportunity to develop the newly-emerging tourism industry will be major task, but one that can significantly impact the future development of the country. The purpose of this paper is to undertake a review of the current situation of international tourism in Japan and examine the problems which may limit the international competitiveness of Japan’s tourism industry. We offer a number of solutions on how to improve tourism quality to better address the expectations of foreign visitors and for Japan to meet the goals of the Tourism Nation Promotion Basic Law (Act No.117 of 2006 which defines the basic plan for “Realizing a Tourism Nation”.

  15. Tokyo Guidelines 2018: antimicrobial therapy for acute cholangitis and cholecystitis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gomi, Harumi; Solomkin, Joseph S.; Schlossberg, David; Okamoto, Kohji; Takada, Tadahiro; Strasberg, Steven M.; Ukai, Tomohiko; Endo, Itaru; Iwashita, Yukio; Hibi, Taizo; Pitt, Henry A.; Matsunaga, Naohisa; Takamori, Yoriyuki; Umezawa, Akiko; Asai, Koji; Suzuki, Kenji; Han, Ho-Seong; Hwang, Tsann-Long; Mori, Yasuhisa; Yoon, Yoo-Seok; Huang, Wayne Shih-Wei; Belli, Giulio; Dervenis, Christos; Yokoe, Masamichi; Kiriyama, Seiki; Itoi, Takao; Jagannath, Palepu; Garden, O. James; Miura, Fumihiko; de Santibañes, Eduardo; Shikata, Satoru; Noguchi, Yoshinori; Wada, Keita; Honda, Goro; Supe, Avinash Nivritti; Yoshida, Masahiro; Mayumi, Toshihiko; Gouma, Dirk J.; Deziel, Daniel J.; Liau, Kui-Hin; Chen, Miin-Fu; Liu, Keng-Hao; Su, Cheng-Hsi; Chan, Angus C. W.; Yoon, Dong-Sup; Choi, In-Seok; Jonas, Eduard; Chen, Xiao-Ping; Fan, Sheung Tat; Ker, Chen-Guo; Giménez, Mariano Eduardo; Kitano, Seigo; Inomata, Masafumi; Mukai, Shuntaro; Higuchi, Ryota; Hirata, Koichi; Inui, Kazuo; Sumiyama, Yoshinobu; Yamamoto, Masakazu

    2018-01-01

    Antimicrobial therapy is a mainstay of the management for patients with acute cholangitis and/or cholecystitis. The Tokyo Guidelines 2018 (TG18) provides recommendations for the appropriate use of antimicrobials for community-acquired and healthcare-associated infections. The listed agents are for

  16. Removal of sulfur dioxide and formation of sulfate aerosol in Tokyo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miyakawa, T.; Takegawa, N.; Kondo, Y.

    2007-07-01

    Ground-based in situ measurements of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and submicron sulfate aerosol (SO42-) together with carbon monoxide (CO) were conducted at an urban site in Tokyo, Japan from spring 2003 to winter 2004. The observed concentrations of SO2 were affected dominantly by anthropogenic emissions (for example, manufacturing industries) in source areas, while small fraction of the data (sulfur compounds (SOx = SO2 + SO42-) and the remaining fraction of SOx, which is derived as the ratio of the linear regression slope of the SOx-CO correlation, is used as measures for the formation of SO42- and removal of SOx, respectively. Using these parameters, the average formation efficiency of SO42- (i.e., amount of SO42- produced per SO2 emitted from emission sources) are estimated to be 0.18 and 0.03 in the summer and winter periods, respectively. A simple box model was developed to estimate the lifetime of SOx. The lifetime of SOx for the summer period (26 h) is estimated to be about two times longer than that for the winter period (14 h). The seasonal variations of the remaining fraction of SOx, estimated formation efficiency of SO42-, and lifetime of SOx are likely due to those of the boundary layer height and photochemical activity (i.e., hydroxyl radical). These results provide useful insights into the formation and removal processes of sulfur compounds exported from an urban area.

  17. Report on survey in fiscal 2000 on the survey on succession of history of industrial technologies. Survey edition of originality and creativity of industrial machine technologies in Japan; 2000 nendo sangyo gijutsu rekishi keisho chsao hokokusho. Kokunai sangyo kikai gijutsu no dokusosei to sozosei noc hosahen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    In order to clarify the innovation process of industrial technologies in Japan and the originality and creativity seen in the process, the case history has been introduced in relation with the researchers, engineers, and business proprietors having contributed to the innovation, and their work records. With regard to machine tools, detailed introductions were given to 'Toshisuke Takeo' who had the technological concept learned in the United States, and devoted himself in building modern machine tools, an American, 'Willian R. Gorham', who had worked actively in Japan even during the war, 'Hiroshi Hanaoka' who had made a machining center for the first time in Japan, and 'Shinkichi Nagaoka' a developer of the non-circular flat bearing. In the railway area, 'Richard Francis Trevithick' and 'Francis Henry Trevithick' , leaders of the rolling stock manufacturing technologies, 'Yasujiro Shima' who had contributed to building the foundation of the Japan's rolling stock technologies, 'Kiichi Asakura' who had contributed to establishment of the Japan's rolling stock technologies and industry standardization, and 'Hideo Shima' who had borne fruit of systematization of the Japan's railway technologies by building the Shinkansen were introduced in detail. (NEDO)

  18. First report of fatal disseminated microsporidiosis in two inland bearded dragons Pogona vitticeps in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibasaki, Kojiro; Tokiwa, Toshihiro; Sukegawa, Akihiro; Kondo, Hirotaka; Tamukai, Kenichi; Haga, Yumiko; Ike, Kazunori

    2017-04-01

    Introduction. Encephalitozoon pogonae is a newly described pathogen belonging to the phylum Microsporidia. In Austria and the USA, this species has been isolated from fatal and disseminated cases of captive-bred inland bearded dragons. Here, we report the case of fatal disseminated microsporidiosis caused by E. pogonae in two bearded dragons in Japan. Case Presentation. The two lizards from different private households in Tokyo, Japan, had been brought to an animal hospital for examination. In both cases, the animal presented with a history of weight loss for several weeks. There were no improvements in clinical symptoms and the lizards deteriorated and finally died. Histopathological examination demonstrated necrotizing granulomatous inflammation attributed to disseminated microsporidian infection. Nucleotide sequencing of the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer region identified the microsporidian as E. pogonae with sequence identity of 100 %. Conclusion. We report the first case, to our knowledge, of disseminated microsporidiosis caused by E. pogonae in inland bearded dragons in Japan. Although it is difficult to diagnose prenatally since the signs are nonspecific, the disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic infections that do not respond to antibiotics.

  19. Proceedings of the 10th Korea-Japan joint workshop on PSA. For Asian PSA network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Joon-Eon; Homma, Toshimitsu

    2009-12-01

    The tenth Korea-Japan Joint Workshop on Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) was held in the Jeju island of Korea, on May 18-20, 2009 organized by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The purpose of the workshop was to provide a forum for presentation and discussions on experiences and technical achievements related to PSA, risk-informed and performance-based approach, and other relevant issues in both countries. Since the first Korea-Japan Joint Workshop on PSA started in 1992, the workshops have provided an important and timely opportunity for exchange and discussion of the relevant information to all PSA practitioners and users of risk information in the industry, research, academia and regulatory arena. This was the tenth anniversary of the Joint Workshop with the main theme of 'For Asian PSA Network' and participants included those from China, Taiwan and the United States of America besides Korea and Japan. Two keynote speeches were presented by the former chairmen of this workshop, Prof. Chang-Sun Kang of Seoul National University and Prof. emeritus Shunsuke Kondo of Tokyo University. We had two special lectures, 70 papers presented by experts at 10 technical sessions related PSA, the special session on the status of PSA in Korea, Japan, China and Taiwan and panel discussion on their cooperation in PSA. This report provides the summary of each session, and all the presentation materials presented in the 10th Korea-Japan Joint Workshop on PSA. (author)

  20. Small round structured virus associated with an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in Chiba, Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasuga, K; Tokieda, M; Ohtawara, M; Utagawa, E; Yamazaki, S

    1990-08-01

    In an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis which originated in a restaurant in Chiba, Japan, in December, 1987, small round structured virus (SRSV) particles were observed by electron microscopy in 14 of 16 stool specimens from patients. The particles were 30 to 35 nm in diameter, possessed amorphous surface structure surrounded by fine projections and had a buoyant density of 1.36 to 1.37 g/ml in cesium chloride. Serological responses to the SRSV were found by immune electron microscopy and Western blot (WB) assay in paired sera of 12 of 19 patients. Furthermore, WB analysis revealed that the antibody against SRSV was cross-reactive to other SRSV, Tokyo 86/510.

  1. Japan Report - Science and Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    1986-10-17

    Stock of Bacillus Subtilis Bacillus subtilis is a relative of bacillus natto that has been in use in Japan from the ancient times. It is safe and...addition to the advantages of this combination of personal styles, the two had great confidence in each other. Chairman Kaneo is the so-called "fair...sixth year of his presidency. That has been just the right age for a president, and given these advantages Sunagane has a good chance of becoming

  2. Urban warming and energy consumption in Tokyo metro area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saitoh, T.; Hisada, T.; Shimada, T.

    1992-01-01

    This paper reports the results of field observation and three-dimensional simulation of urban warming in Tokyo metropolitan area. The three-dimensional governing equations in an urban atmospheric boundary layer were formulated by virtue of vorticity-velocity vector potential method. Particular attention was focused on the representation of a buoyancy term in equation of motion in the vertical direction, thereby describing the crossover and stratification effects near the ground surface. The vorticity-velocity potential method is superior from the view point of numerical stability and suitable for the simulation of an urban heat island. The authors first made a survey on the energy consumption in Tokyo metropolitan area. Next, the three-dimensional simulations were carried out using these data. The simulation results were then compared with the data of field observation of the surface temperature by automobiles. Further future prediction of urban warming was performed when the energy consumption rate is increased five times as large as the present rate, which will correspond to the year 2030 if the present consumption rate were maintained until then

  3. ITER CTA newsletter. No. 6

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2002-01-01

    This ITER CTA Newsletter issue comprises information about the following ITER Meetings: The second negotiation meeting on the joint implementation of ITER, held in Tokyo(Japan) on 22-23 January 2002, and an international ITER symposium on burning plasma science and technology, held the day later after the second negotiation meeting at the same place

  4. Tokyo Guidelines 2018: management bundles for acute cholangitis and cholecystitis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mayumi, Toshihiko; Okamoto, Kohji; Takada, Tadahiro; Strasberg, Steven M.; Solomkin, Joseph S.; Schlossberg, David; Pitt, Henry A.; Yoshida, Masahiro; Gomi, Harumi; Miura, Fumihiko; Garden, O. James; Kiriyama, Seiki; Yokoe, Masamichi; Endo, Itaru; Asbun, Horacio J.; Iwashita, Yukio; Hibi, Taizo; Umezawa, Akiko; Suzuki, Kenji; Itoi, Takao; Hata, Jiro; Han, Ho-Seong; Hwang, Tsann-Long; Dervenis, Christos; Asai, Koji; Mori, Yasuhisa; Huang, Wayne Shih-Wei; Belli, Giulio; Mukai, Shuntaro; Jagannath, Palepu; Cherqui, Daniel; Kozaka, Kazuto; Baron, Todd H.; de Santibañes, Eduardo; Higuchi, Ryota; Wada, Keita; Gouma, Dirk J.; Deziel, Daniel J.; Liau, Kui-Hin; Wakabayashi, Go; Padbury, Robert; Jonas, Eduard; Supe, Avinash Nivritti; Singh, Harjit; Gabata, Toshifumi; Chan, Angus C. W.; Lau, Wan Yee; Fan, Sheung Tat; Chen, Miin-Fu; Ker, Chen-Guo; Yoon, Yoo-Seok; Choi, In-Seok; Kim, Myung-Hwan; Yoon, Dong-Sup; Kitano, Seigo; Inomata, Masafumi; Hirata, Koichi; Inui, Kazuo; Sumiyama, Yoshinobu; Yamamoto, Masakazu

    2018-01-01

    Management bundles that define items or procedures strongly recommended in clinical practice have been used in many guidelines in recent years. Application of these bundles facilitates the adaptation of guidelines and helps improve the prognosis of target diseases. In Tokyo Guidelines 2013 (TG13),

  5. Mutation analysis of 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1 viruses collected in Japan during the peak phase of the pandemic.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean-Étienne Morlighem

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Pandemic influenza A(H1N1 virus infection quickly circulated worldwide in 2009. In Japan, the first case was reported in May 2009, one month after its outbreak in Mexico. Thereafter, A(H1N1 infection spread widely throughout the country. It is of great importance to profile and understand the situation regarding viral mutations and their circulation in Japan to accumulate a knowledge base and to prepare clinical response platforms before a second pandemic (pdm wave emerges. METHODOLOGY: A total of 253 swab samples were collected from patients with influenza-like illness in the Osaka, Tokyo, and Chiba areas both in May 2009 and between October 2009 and January 2010. We analyzed partial sequences of the hemagglutinin (HA and neuraminidase (NA genes of the 2009 pdm influenza virus in the collected clinical samples. By phylogenetic analysis, we identified major variants of the 2009 pdm influenza virus and critical mutations associated with severe cases, including drug-resistance mutations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Our sequence analysis has revealed that both HA-S220T and NA-N248D are major non-synonymous mutations that clearly discriminate the 2009 pdm influenza viruses identified in the very early phase (May 2009 from those found in the peak phase (October 2009 to January 2010 in Japan. By phylogenetic analysis, we found 14 micro-clades within the viruses collected during the peak phase. Among them, 12 were new micro-clades, while two were previously reported. Oseltamivir resistance-related mutations, i.e., NA-H275Y and NA-N295S, were also detected in sporadic cases in Osaka and Tokyo.

  6. Development of a Distributed Modeling Framework to Estimate Thermal Comfort along 2020 Tokyo Olympic Marathon Course

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satoshi Hirabayashi

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Heat stress is an issue for marathon races in the summer, such as the one planned for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic games. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is planning to grow existing street trees’ canopies to enlarge their shade to reduce air temperature and solar radiation. To formulate a baseline to assess the effect of street trees and buildings on human thermal comfort, Distributed-COMfort FormulA (D-COMFA, a prototype of a distributed computer model using a geographic information system (GIS was developed. D-COMFA calculates the energy budget of a human body on a 1 m cell basis, using readily available datasets such as weather measurements and polygon data for street structures. D-COMFA was applied to a street segment along the marathon course in Tokyo on an hourly-basis on 9 August 2016, the hottest day in Tokyo in 2016. Our case study showed that the energy budget was positively related to the sky view factor, air temperature, and solar radiation. The energy budget was reduced on average by 26–62% in the shade throughout the day.

  7. U.S.-Japan Quake Prediction Research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kisslinger, Carl; Mikumo, Takeshi; Kanamori, Hiroo

    For the seventh time since 1964, a seminar on earthquake prediction has been convened under the U.S.-Japan Cooperation in Science Program. The purpose of the seminar was to provide an opportunity for researchers from the two countries to share recent progress and future plans in the continuing effort to develop the scientific basis for predicting earthquakes and practical means for implementing prediction technology as it emerges. Thirty-six contributors, 15 from Japan and 21 from the U.S., met in Morro Bay, Calif.September 12-14. The following day they traveled to nearby sections of the San Andreas fault, including the site of the Parkfield prediction experiment. The conveners of the seminar were Hiroo Kanamori, Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), for the U.S., and Takeshi Mikumo, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, for Japan . Funding for the participants came from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Japan Society forthe Promotion of Science, supplemented by other agencies in both countries.

  8. Threat of an earthquake right under the capital in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rikitake, T.

    1990-01-01

    Tokyo, Japan's capital, has been enjoying a seismically quiet period following the 1923 Kanto earthquake of magnitude 7.9 that killed more than 140,000 people. Such a quiet period seems likely to be a repetition of the 80-year quiescence after the great 1703 Genroku earthquake of magntidue 8.2 that occurred in an epicentral area adjacent to that of the 1923 Kanto earthquake. In 1784, seismic activity immediately under the capital area revived with occasional occurrence of magnitude 6 to 7 shocks. Earthquakes of this class tended to occur more frequently as time went on and they eventually culminated in the 1923 Kanto earthquake. As more than 60 years have passed since the Kanto earthquake, we may well expect another revival of activity immediately under the capital area. 

  9. Comparative study of linkage between environmental policy instruments and technological innovation: Case study on end-of-life vehicles technologies in Japan and EU.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Rajeev Kumar; Yabar, Helmut; Nozaki, Noriko; Niraula, Baburam; Mizunoya, Takeshi

    2017-08-01

    A growing population and urbanization is a challenge for finite natural resources. Without strict regulation to recycle, recover and reuse resources, waste is discarded with no value. Every year throughout the world, more than twenty-five million vehicles turn into end-of-life vehicles (ELV) and most of their valuable resources end up in landfill sites. This research analyses the effect of regulation on ELV innovation for additional recovery of resources in Japan and EU nations using patent data as a proxy. The analysis determines the statistical difference in patent activity before and after regulations were enacted in the case studies. The relevant data on ELV technologies was gathered for the period 1985-2013. The study suggests that in general environmental regulation in Japan drove innovation and reveals that environmental policy in Japan was more effective in enabling innovation compared to EU nations. Specifically, the results from these developed countries can be used by the rapidly growing developing countries in automobile manufacturing like China for amendment of their ELV regulation accordingly. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. JURISDICTION OVER CRIMES COMMITTED ON BOARD AIRCRAFT IN FLIGHT UNDER THE TOKYO CONVENTION 1963

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iryna Sopilko

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: the main aim of this paper is to clarify several issues of conflicting jurisdiction over crimes committed on board aircraft in flight. The study will examine the way in which the Tokyo Convention attempts to provide justice in the event of aviation security violations, and discuss its effectiveness in preventing such offences in the future. Methods: formal legal and case-study methods together with inductive reasoning, and comparison were used to analyse the legislation in the area of jurisdiction over crimes and other offences committed on board aircraft in flight. Results: it follows from the study that although the Tokyo Convention has contributed considerably to the establishing of clearer rules of jurisdiction over offences committed on board aircraft, considerable deficiencies of this treaty remain. The results have important implications for international policy-making. Discussion: the results of the study reveal several weaknesses of the Tokyo Convention. Firstly, it does not provide any definition or list of offences to which it applies, instead it relies on national penal laws to do so. In addition, the ‘freedom fighter exception’ and the lack of a strong enforcement mechanism may prove to impede the effective attainment of the Tokyo Convention’s main objectives – that is, to provide justice in the event of aviation security violations, and prevent such offences in the future. Therefore, further improvement in aviation security legislation is necessary to ensure that it is effective and adequate in the challenges faced today.

  11. Assisted reproductive technology in Japan: a summary report for 2015 by The Ethics Committee of The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Hidekazu; Jwa, Seung Chik; Kuwahara, Akira; Saito, Kazuki; Ishikawa, Tomonori; Ishihara, Osamu; Kugu, Koji; Sawa, Rintaro; Banno, Kouji; Irahara, Minoru

    2018-01-01

    The Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG) implemented an assisted reproductive technology (ART) registry system in 1986. Here are reported the characteristics and treatment outcomes of ART cycles that were registered in 2015. JSOG has requested all participating ART facilities to register cycle-specific information for all ART cycles since 2007. A descriptive analysis was performed by using the registry database for 2015. In total, 424 151 cycles and 51 001 neonates (1 in 19.7 neonates born in Japan) were registered in 2015. The patients' mean age was 38.2 years (standard deviation = 4.5). Among the fresh cycles, 94 158 of 244 718 (38.5%) egg retrieval cycles were cycles with freeze-all embryos or oocytes, while fresh embryo transfer (ET) was performed in 70 254 cycles, signaling a decrease from 2014. There were 169 898 frozen-thawed ET cycles, resulting in 56 355 pregnancies and 40 599 neonates. Single ET was performed at a rate of 79.7% for fresh and 81.8% for frozen cycles and the singleton pregnancy/live birth rates were 96.9%/96.5% and 96.8%/96.4% for the respective cycles. The total ART cycles and live births resulting from ART has been increasing in Japan. Single ET was performed at a rate of almost 80% and ET cycles have shifted from fresh to frozen cycles.

  12. Tokyo Guidelines 2018: flowchart for the management of acute cholecystitis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Okamoto, Kohji; Suzuki, Kenji; Takada, Tadahiro; Strasberg, Steven M.; Asbun, Horacio J.; Endo, Itaru; Iwashita, Yukio; Hibi, Taizo; Pitt, Henry A.; Umezawa, Akiko; Asai, Koji; Han, Ho-Seong; Hwang, Tsann-Long; Mori, Yasuhisa; Yoon, Yoo-Seok; Huang, Wayne Shih-Wei; Belli, Giulio; Dervenis, Christos; Yokoe, Masamichi; Kiriyama, Seiki; Itoi, Takao; Jagannath, Palepu; Garden, O. James; Miura, Fumihiko; Nakamura, Masafumi; Horiguchi, Akihiko; Wakabayashi, Go; Cherqui, Daniel; de Santibañes, Eduardo; Shikata, Satoru; Noguchi, Yoshinori; Ukai, Tomohiko; Higuchi, Ryota; Wada, Keita; Honda, Goro; Supe, Avinash Nivritti; Yoshida, Masahiro; Mayumi, Toshihiko; Gouma, Dirk J.; Deziel, Daniel J.; Liau, Kui-Hin; Chen, Miin-Fu; Shibao, Kazunori; Liu, Keng-Hao; Su, Cheng-Hsi; Chan, Angus C. W.; Yoon, Dong-Sup; Choi, In-Seok; Jonas, Eduard; Chen, Xiao-Ping; Fan, Sheung Tat; Ker, Chen-Guo; Giménez, Mariano Eduardo; Kitano, Seigo; Inomata, Masafumi; Hirata, Koichi; Inui, Kazuo; Sumiyama, Yoshinobu; Yamamoto, Masakazu

    2018-01-01

    We propose a new flowchart for the treatment of acute cholecystitis (AC) in the Tokyo Guidelines 2018 (TG18). Grade III AC was not indicated for straightforward laparoscopic cholecystectomy (Lap-C). Following analysis of subsequent clinical investigations and drawing on Big Data in particular, TG18

  13. Tokyo elanikud pagevad linnast. Poed kaubast tühjad / Katre Pilvinski

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Pilvinski, Katre

    2011-01-01

    Tokyo poole liigub radiatsioon, mitmed elanikud lahkuvad linnast. Peaminister Naoto Kani sõnul edasise radioaktiivsuse lekke võimalus kasvab ning tehakse kõik, et vältida lekke levikut. Fukushima Daiichi tuumajaama ümbrusest on inimesed evakueeritud

  14. Current status and technology development of Reprocessing Plant in Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ochi, Eiji

    2013-01-01

    It is a problem that the vitrified waste could not be produced at the down nozzle in glass furnace by accumulation of platinum group metals contented in high-level radioactive waste. This article describes our efforts to solve the problem. The glass furnace, glassification process, development of glassification technology in Japan, structure of glass furnace, improvement of glass furnace now in use, improvement of glassification technology, and development of new glass furnace and new glass materials are explained. Configuration drawing of glass furnace, heating method, glass flow from the down nozzle, existing state of platinum group metals in glass, comparison between the current glass furnace and advance furnace, analysis result of inner part of furnace, and measurement result of density, viscosity and heat capacity of molten glass are illustrated. (S.Y.)

  15. Head-end process technology for the new reprocessing plants in France and Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saudray, D.; Hugelmann, D.; Cho, A.

    1991-01-01

    Major technological innovations brought to the new UP3 and UP2-800 reprocessing plants of COGEMA LA HAGUE and also to the JNFS ROKKASHO plant concern the head-end process. The continuous process designed allows for high throughputs whilst meeting stringent safety requirements. The head-end of each plant includes two lines for each operation in order to guarantee availability. This paper presents the T1 head-end facility of the UP3 plant as well as the few adaptations implemented in the ROKKASHO Reprocessing Plant to fulfill the particular design requirements in Japan

  16. Abbreviations [Annex to The Fukushima Daiichi Accident, Technical Volume 2/5

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-01-01

    This annex is a list of abbreviations used in the publication The Fukushima Daiichi Accident, Technical Volume 2/5. The list includes the abbreviations for: • Agency for Natural Resources and Energy; • essential service water; • International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale;• Integrated Regulatory Review Service; • Japan Atomic Energy Agency; • Japan Atomic Energy Commission; • Japan Power Engineering and Inspection Corp; • Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization; • low head safety injection; • low level radioactive waste; • Madras Atomic Power Station; • main control room; • Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; • Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; • Ministry of International Trade and Industry; • Ministry of Foreign Affairs; • Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency; • Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited; • nuclear power plant; • Nuclear Safety Commission; • Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation; • Nuclear Safety Technology Centre; • Onahama Port; • pressurized water reactor; • Science and Technology Agency; • Tokyo Electric Power Company

  17. The Cultivation of New Technology-Based Firms and Roles of Venture Capital Firms in Japan

    OpenAIRE

    Kirihata, Tetsuya

    2007-01-01

    In this paper, I analyze post-investment activities of venture capital firms (VCFs) based on a questionnaire survey and discuss the issues and challenges of post-investment activities of VCFs with new technology based firms (NTBFs) in Japan. The questionnaire survey reveals that business supports desired by NTBFs can be classified into four groups."business strategies adjustment and motivation", "business advice and networking", "finance and crisis management", and "recruitment assistance". T...

  18. JSFR: Japan's challenge towards the competitive SFR design concept with innovative technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mihara, T.; Kotake, S.

    2006-01-01

    JSFR is a sodium-cooled, MOX(or metal) fuelled, advanced loop type fast reactor design concept conducting by Japan Atomic Energy Agency(JAEA) through the Feasibility Study on commercialized Fast Reactor(FR) Cycle Systems with participation of all parties concerned in Japan since 1999. The economic competitiveness is one of the crucial points and has been emphasized in the design study of JSFR. One of the ways for less construction cost is the compact NSSS design by introducing the following innovative technologies; Shortening the piping length, simplified configuration with the inverse L-shaped-pipes and a two-loop system even for a l,500MWe power plant, by adopting high chromium steel with lower thermal expansion and higher strength, Upgrading of the structural design standards at elevated temperature for sodium-cooled FR system, and Development of an integrated intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) with a mechanical pump. The other way is introducing passive decay heat removal system with natural circulation. The elimination of active components such as pony motors and blowers leads to reduction of the capacity of the BOP system such as electricity supply system, emergency DGs, HVAC system and component cooling water system. In order to attain lower power generation cost, not only less construction cost but also less operational cost including fuel cycle cost is crucial. Therefore higher burn-up of the averaged core, more than 150GWd/t, has been applied by introducing ODS steel cladding material. As a result, it is confirmed that the JSFR design concept is well suited to the development target equivalent to l,000USD/kWe (as NOAK, overnight cost), while ensuring safety. The most of the cost reduction comes from the innovative technologies. The R and D plan of these technologies was summarized as a roadmap and the R and D efforts are on going for establishing a technical scheme of FR cycle systems by around 2015

  19. An Estimation of the Potential of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastics for Car Weight Reduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-01

    Murayama1, Kazuro Kageyama1, Keiichi Nagata1, Tsuyoshi Matsuo1 and Jun Takahashi1 1The University of Tokyo * 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-8656...ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo City, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER

  20. JPRS Report, Science & Technology, Japan, 4th Intelligent Robots Symposium, Volume 1

    Science.gov (United States)

    1989-03-16

    Robots 43064062 Tokyo 4TH INTELLIGENT ROBOTS SYMPOSIUM PAPERS in Japanese 13/14 Jun 88 No 106 pp 39-44 [Article by H. Kimura , I. Shimoyama, and H. Miura...pp 237-239. 3. K. Kondo and F. Kimura , "High-Speed Orbit Planning Based on Labyrinthine Method," Ibid., pp 261-262. 4. T. Hasegawa, "Planning of...Satoshi Okada, Kazuhiro Tsumura, Hisashi Hozeki, Katsumi Kubo, and Akira Abe, Toshiba Corporation] [Text] 1. Introduction In recent years, the

  1. Sacchi, Livio (2004. Tokyo: City and Architecture. 249 p. ISBN: 0-7893-1212-3. Nueva York: Universe Publishing.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fermin Ernesto Flores Quiroz

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The book by the Italian author Livio Sacchi, focuses on the analysis on the spatial development of the city of Tokyo and the way in which the socioeconomic processes of the 19th and 20th centuries influenced the conformation of the urban structure on which millions of Tokyo citizens develop their daily life. During the text, the author underlines the impact of the modern architectural movement on the urban landscape of Tokyo. Furthermore, it is important to mention that this work serves as a translator for the western readers, because it deciphers the social and spatial characteristics that constitute the most populous city in the world.

  2. Dr Hiroshi Ikukawa Director Planning and Evaluation Division Science and Technology Policy Bureau Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan and Mr Robert Aymar signed an accord for the CERN.

    CERN Multimedia

    Claudia Marcelloni

    2007-01-01

    Dr Hiroshi Ikukawa Director Planning and Evaluation Division Science and Technology Policy Bureau Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan and Mr Robert Aymar signed an accord for the CERN.

  3. Annual Report of the Perinatology Committee, Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2015: Proposal of urgent measures to reduce maternal deaths.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeda, Satoru; Takeda, Jun; Murakami, Keisuke; Kubo, Takahiko; Hamada, Hiromi; Murakami, Maki; Makino, Shintaro; Itoh, Hiroaki; Ohba, Takashi; Naruse, Katsuhiko; Tanaka, Hiroaki; Kanayama, Naohiro; Matsubara, Shigeki; Sameshima, Hiroshi; Ikeda, Tomoaki

    2017-01-01

    Perinatal care in Japan has progressed rapidly in recent decades, remarkably reducing maternal, perinatal and neonatal mortality rates. This is attributable not only to the sustained efforts and dedication of past obstetricians and midwives, but also to the collective results achieved by the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology and healthcare administration, including research on advanced medical care, education, medical care improvements and establishing perinatal care centers. Although the maternal mortality rate was in steady decline until 2007 (3.1/100 000 births), it repeatedly fluctuated thereafter, plateauing at 3.4 per 100 000 births in 2013 and 2.7 per 100 000 births in 2014. Thus, the Perinatology Committee has analyzed the current situation of maternal deaths and has proposed countermeasures to reduce such death. The items deliberated upon by related subcommittees in 2015 are presented herein. The addition of indications for 'fibrinogen concentrate', 'eptacog alfa' and approval of the PGE2 vaginal tablet for cervical ripening were discussed in the subcommittee for unapproved drug review. Thus, a request for approval for health insurance coverage was submitted to the 'Evaluation committee on unapproved or off-label drugs with high medical needs' of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Maternal and late-maternal deaths from suicide during the 10 years from 2005 to 2014 in Tokyo's 23 wards were jointly examined with the Tokyo Medical Examiner's Office. The suicide rate in the 23 wards is very high, at 8.7 per 100 000 births. Thus, the subcommittee for the reduction of maternal death discussed countermeasures for the eradication of maternal death and maternal suicide and the revision of death certificates. © 2017 Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  4. An Outbreak of Food-Borne Typhoid Fever Due to Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi in Japan Reported for the First Time in 16 Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Tetsuro; Kutsuna, Satoshi; Hayakawa, Kayoko; Kato, Yasuyuki; Ohmagari, Norio; Uryu, Hideko; Yamada, Ritsuko; Kashiwa, Naoyuki; Nei, Takahito; Ehara, Akihito; Takei, Reiko; Mori, Nobuaki; Yamada, Yasuhiro; Hayasaka, Tomomi; Kagawa, Narito; Sugawara, Momoko; Suzaki, Ai; Takahashi, Yuno; Nishiyama, Hiroyuki; Morita, Masatomo; Izumiya, Hidemasa; Ohnishi, Makoto

    2016-01-01

    For the first time in 16 years, a food-borne outbreak of typhoid fever due to Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi was reported in Japan. Seven patients consumed food in an Indian buffet at a restaurant in the center of Tokyo, while one was a Nepali chef in the restaurant, an asymptomatic carrier and the implicated source of this outbreak. The multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis showed 100% consistency in the genomic sequence for five of the eight cases. PMID:26621565

  5. Tokyo tähtsus üleilmse finantskeskusena väheneb / Kaja Koovit

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Koovit, Kaja, 1968-

    2011-01-01

    Tokyo positsioon rahvusvahelise finantskeskusena sai riiki tabanud maavärina, tsunami ja radiatsiooni tõttu hoobi. Suured välispangad, investeerimisfondid ja maaklerfirmad toovad oma töötajaid Tokyost ära

  6. Comparative effectiveness of switching paroxetine formulation for treatment of major depressive disorder: an open-label multicenter study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Otsubo T

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Tempei Otsubo,1 Yoshinori Watanabe,2,3 Seiji Hongo,3 Mikichika Inoue,4 Kimiko Akimoto,4 Ken Murakami,5 Ryutaro Takahashi,6 Toshiaki Kikuchi7 1Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Women’s Medical University Medical Center East, Tokyo, Japan; 2Himorogi Psychiatric Institute, Tokyo, Japan; 3Nanko Clinic of Psychiatry, Shirakawa, Japan; 4Ikebukuro Internal Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 5Murakami Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; 6Takahashi Clinic, Tokyo, Japan; 7Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Aim: To assess the effectiveness and safety of switching the antidepressant formulation from immediate-release (IR to controlled-release (CR paroxetine in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD. Patients and methods: A total of 113 outpatients with MDD diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, and treated with a stable dose of IR paroxetine for at least 6 months were enrolled. Patients were then switched to CR paroxetine for 8 weeks. Effectiveness was evaluated by scores on the Himorogi Self-Rating Depression/Anxiety Scales (HSDS/HSAS and the Clinical Global Impression – Severity (CGI-S. Safety was evaluated based on the reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs. Medication satisfaction and preference were assessed based on questionnaire responses using Likert-type scales. Results: The overall patient HSDS/HSAS scores significantly improved after switching from IR to CR paroxetine (P<0.001. Furthermore, CR paroxetine was superior to IR paroxetine (P<0.001 according to the results of the CGI-S evaluation. ADRs were experienced by 14 (12.4% patients, including dry mouth, nausea/vomiting, somnolence/drowsiness, and wakefulness/arousal during sleep. Satisfaction and preference for paroxetine improved after switching to the CR formulation (P<0.001; chi-square test. Conclusion: These results suggest that switching the treatment from IR to CR paroxetine could

  7. PREFACE: Selected contributions from the 3rd Theory Meets Industry International Workshop, TMI2009 (Nagoya, Japan, 11-13 November 2009) Selected contributions from the 3rd Theory Meets Industry International Workshop, TMI2009 (Nagoya, Japan, 11-13 November 2009)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanaka, Isao; Hafner, Jürgen; Wimmer, Erich; Asahi, Ryoji

    2010-09-01

    . Lectures and poster presentations were thus solicited from leading international academic and industrial researchers. The large audience that attended responded to the high quality of the talks with pertinent questions and lively discussions. The third workshop, TMI2009, was held over three days from 11-13 November, 2009, at the Nagoya International Center, Nagoya, Japan. Invited talks were given by 23 speakers from 9 countries from both the academic and industry sectors. The speakers were Ryoji Asahi (Toyota Central R&D Labs, Japan), Tomas Bucko (University of Vienna, Austria), Gábor Csányi (University of Cambridge, UK), Alessandro De Vita (King's College London, UK), Bernard Delley (Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland), Christophe Domain (EDF, France), George Fitzgerald (Accelrys, USA), Takeo Fujiwara (University of Tokyo, Japan), Jürgen Hafner (University of Vienna, Austria), Masaya Ishida (Sumitomo Chemicals, Japan), Werner Janse Van Rensburg (Sasol Technology, South Africa), Masanori Kohyama (AIST, Japan), Takao Kotani (Tottori University, Japan), Georg Kresse (University of Vienna, Austria), Katsuyuki Matsunaga (Kyoto University, Japan), Stefan Müller (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany), Shin-ichiro Nakamura (Mitsubishi Chemicals, Japan), Fumiyasu Oba (Kyoto University, Japan), Tamio Oguchi (Hiroshima University, Japan), Pascal Raybaud (IFP, France), Isao Tanaka (Kyoto University/JFCC, Japan), Göran Wahnström (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden), and Erich Wimmer (Materials Design Inc., USA). There were 40 poster presentations in total. The workshop was attended by approximately 120 participants with approximately 50 per cent from industry. The invited talks covered advances in ab initio solid-state calculations and their practical use in industry. Presentations outlining the progress made in treating large and complex systems, as well as more accurate and efficient calculation methods, were given from the theory side. Examples of the use of ab

  8. Investigation of radon and thoron concentrations in a landmark skyscraper in Tokyo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazumasa Inoue; Masahiro Fukushi

    2013-01-01

    The temporal variation of the radon concentration, and the radon and thoron concentrations every 3 months for a year were measured using two types of devices in a landmark skyscraper, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Daiichi Building. In the measurement of temporal variation of the radon concentration using a pulse type ionization chamber, the average radon concentration was 21 ± 13 Bq m -3 (2-68 Bq m -3 ). The measured indoor radon concentration had a strong relationship with the operation of the mechanical ventilation system and the activities of the office workers. The radon concentration also increased together with temperature. Other environmental parameters, such as air pressure and relative humidity, were not related to the radon concentration. In the long-term measurements using a passive radon and thoron discriminative monitor, no seasonal variation was observed. The annual average concentrations of radon and thoron were 16 ± 8 and 16 ± 7 Bq m -3 , respectively. There was also no relationship between the two concentrations. The annual average effective dose for office workers in this skyscraper was estimated to be 0.08 mSv y -1 for 2000 working hours per year. When considering the indoor radon exposure received from their residential dwellings using the annual mean radon concentration indoors in Japan (15.5 Bq m -3 ), the annual average effective dose was estimated to be 0.37 mSv y -1 . This value was 31 % of the worldwide average annual effective dose. (author)

  9. Energy system for Tokyo East 21. Tokyo East 21 energy system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Katsuoka, N. (Kajima Corp., Tokyo (Japan))

    1993-09-01

    The paper reports cogeneration of the Tokyo East 21 building, which is composed of a 21-story office building, a 20-story hotel, and a mall. The heat source system is a combined energy system; that is, midnight power utilization and the large-scale thermal stratification heat storage tank system as electric heat source, and the gas cogeneration system and the gas boiler/the double effect absorption refrigerator as gas heat source. The system is based on the large temperature-difference thermal stratification cooling water bed, supplying water directly to the low-story section, and supplying water to the high-story section through the water-water heat exchanger and by cooling water by the double effect absorption refrigerator and by the closed-loop inverter-control heat flow system. Moreover, for heat source for the water heat source heat pump package in the mall building, the cooling water which is used also for the cogeneration is utilized. It is a cascade-like utilization of low-temperature waste heat. This combined heat source system is found to be the most advantageous in comparison with the overall gas system and the electric heat pump system. 14 figs.

  10. NC-6301, a polymeric micelle rationally optimized for effective release of docetaxel, is potent but is less toxic than native docetaxel in vivo

    OpenAIRE

    Kano, Mitsunobu; Harada,; Iwata,; Saito,; Ishii,; Hayashi,; Yashiro,; Hirakawa,; Miyazono,Kohei; Kato,Yasuki; Kano,Mitsunobu

    2012-01-01

    Mitsunori Harada,1 Caname Iwata,2 Hiroyuki Saito,1 Kenta Ishii,1 Tatsuyuki Hayashi,1 Masakazu Yashiro,3 Kosei Hirakawa,3 Kohei Miyazono,2 Yasuki Kato,1 Mitsunobu R Kano21Research Division, NanoCarrier Co, Ltd, Chiba, Japan; 2Department of Molecular Pathology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Surgical Oncology, Osaka City University, Osaka, JapanAbstract: Drug release rate is an important factor in determining efficacy and toxicity of nanoscale dru...

  11. JTEC panel on nuclear power in Japan. Final report

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansen, K.F.; Behnke, W.B.; Cousin, S.B.; Evans, E.A.; Olander, D.R.

    1990-10-01

    The report examines the status and direction of nuclear power-related research and development in Japan in six areas: the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear materials, instrumentation and control technology, CAD/CAM, nuclear safety research, and nuclear plant construction. Overall findings suggest that the nuclear power industry in Japan is at an advanced state of development; in particular, Japan is now technologically self-sufficient. Long-term goals of the Japanese program include closure of the complete fuel cycle and pursuit of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor as the future base system

  12. 76 FR 24523 - Notice Pursuant to the National Cooperative Research and Production Act of 1993-ODVA, Inc.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-05-02

    ...; Tyco Electronics Corporation, Berwyn, PA; Rosemount Inc., Chanhassen, MN; Sencon Incorporated, Bedford...., Gloucestershire, UNITED KINGDOM; TOKYO TRON CO., LTD.; TOKYO TRON CO., LTD., Tokyo-to, JAPAN; Alpha Wire.... In addition, the following members have changed their names: Moeller GmbH to Eaton Industries GmbH...

  13. DTI scouting mission to Japan on trapped ions for measurement and enterprise (TIME) 26th-30th November 2001

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klein, H.; Knight, D.; Plimmer, M.; Silver, J.

    2002-01-01

    ion trapping researchers at the Kansai branch. The long-term direction of this work might well be towards optical clocks, however this concept is still at the planning stage. d) Staffing levels at some laboratories seemed low. e) Ministerial structures in Japan may have blocked formal links and collaborations within Japan in the past, but there were several examples of good technical links. Recent reorganisations may have helped address this issue. There are many Japanese government initiatives to encourage collaboration with other countries, for example JST's ICORP projects and NEDO International Development program projects which must involve foreign collaborators. One problem with trying to join these programmes is that on the UK. side there is relatively little direct support for international research collaborations. The British Embassy in Tokyo has an active team headed by Dr Mike Norton (Science and Technology Counsellor) to help facilitate communications and contacts. The UK government might consider introducing schemes to fund joint projects of significant size. Interest in possible collaboration or partnership with the UK. in the area of optical frequency measurement and standards was expressed by a number of Japanese researchers. for example at NMIJ and CRL. (author)

  14. Suicidal behavior among homeless people in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamura, Tsuyoshi; Ito, Kae; Morikawa, Suimei; Awata, Shuichi

    2014-04-01

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the frequency and correlates of suicidal behavior among homeless people in Japan. A face-to-face survey was conducted in two districts of Tokyo, Japan, with 423 subjects who resided on streets and riversides and in urban parks and stations (street homeless) or who were residents of shelters, cheap hotels, or welfare homes for homeless people (sheltered homeless). When questioned about suicidal ideation in the previous 2 weeks, 51 subjects (12.2% of valid responses) had a recurring wish to die, 29 (6.9%) had frequent thoughts of suicide, and 22 (5.3%) had made suicide plans. In addition, 11 (2.9%) subjects had attempted suicide in the previous 2 weeks and 74 (17.7%) reported that they had ever attempted suicide. In univariate logistic regression analyses, street homelessness, lack of perceived emotional social support, poor subjective health perception, visual impairment, pain, insomnia, poor mental well-being, and current depression were significantly associated with recurrent thoughts of suicide in the previous 2 weeks. Among these, current depression had the greatest significance. In multivariate logistic regression analyses after controlling for depression, street homelessness and lack of perceived emotional social support were significantly associated with recurrent thoughts of suicide in the previous 2 weeks. Comprehensive interventions including housing and social support as well as mental health services might be crucial as effective strategies for suicide prevention among homeless people.

  15. Japan's advanced medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sho, Ri; Narimatsu, Hiroto; Murakami, Masayasu

    2013-10-01

    Like health care systems in other developed countries, Japan's health care system faces significant challenges due to aging of the population and economic stagnation. Advanced medicine (Senshin Iryou) is a unique system of medical care in Japan offering highly technology-driven medical care that is not covered by public health insurance. Advanced medicine has recently developed and expanded as part of health care reform. Will it work? To answer this question, we briefly trace the historical development of advanced medicine and describe the characteristics and current state of advanced medical care in Japan. We then offer our opinions on the future of advanced medicine with careful consideration of its pros and cons. We believe that developing advanced medicine is an attempt to bring health care reform in line rather than the goal of health care reform.

  16. Frequency–magnitude distribution of -3.7 < M(subW) < 1 mining-induced earthquakes around a mining front and b value invariance with post-blast time

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Naoi, M

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Geophysics Frequency–Magnitude Distribution of -3.7 B MW B 1 mining-induced earthquakes around a mining front and b value invariance with post-blast time Makoto Naoi,1 Masao Nakatani,1 Shigeki Horiuchi,2 Yasuo Yabe,3 Joachim Philipp,4 Thabang Kgarume... Ogasawara 11 1 Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0032, Japan. E-mail: naoi@eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp 2 Home Seismometer Corp., 4-36, Uenohara, Shirakawa, Fukushima 961-0026, Japan. 3 Research Center...

  17. Le Procès de Tôkyô, l’empereur et la question du Yasukuni The Tokyo trial, the emperor and the Yasukuni shrine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tetsuya Takahashi

    2010-07-01

    Full Text Available Au Japon, toute une partie de la classe politique conservatrice persiste à refuser les conclusions du procès de Tôkyô, considérant celui-ci comme une justice « orchestrée par les vainqueurs ». Ce faisant, les partisans de cette thèse se trouvent dans une contradiction puisque l’empereur Hirohito lui-même, qui avait exprimé sa gratitude auprès des forces d’occupation américaines pour l’avoir épargné, en avait de facto admis les conclusions. Ce paradoxe pour le camp conservateur est aggravé par le fait que l’empereur a cessé de se rendre au sanctuaire Yasukuni à partir du moment où les mânes de quatorze haut responsables condamnés comme criminels de guerre lors du procès de Tôkyô y furent transférés sans son accord. Ces contradictions internes à la droite irrédentiste japonaise invite ainsi à envisager le procès de Tôkyô sous un autre jour. Loin d’être une simple « justice de vainqueur », la stratégie américaine fut éminemment bénéfique pour la droite conservatrice : Hirohito n’étant pas traduit en justice, il devenait possible de lui conférer une fonction symbolique par l’article I de la nouvelle Constitution de 1946, ce qui permit à la droite conservatrice de sauver le système impérial et d’assurer une continuité entre l’avant et l’après-guerre.In Japan, a part of the conservative political class continues to deny the conclusions of the Tokyo trial, as a justice “of the victors”. But the proponents of this theory face a contradiction since the Emperor Hirohito himself expressed his gratitude to the American occupation authority (SCAP for not condemning him. Hirohito therefore admitted the conclusions of the trial. The paradox goes even further as the conservative leaders publicize their visit to Yasukuni shrine although the Emperor himself ceased to visit the shrine after top leaders convicted as war criminals at the Tokyo Trial were transferred to the shrine without his

  18. Occupational safety and health aspects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) first section.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawashita, Futoshi; Taniyama, Yukari; Hwi, Song You; Fujisaki, Takeshi; Kameda, Takashi; Mori, Koji

    2005-11-01

    Recently, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming widely recognized as an issue for Japanese companies. Corporate responsibility for employees is considered important by various stakeholders, and occupational safety and health is regarded as one of these responsibilities. The present authors examined this issue from the viewpoint of corporate management by analysis of statements found in CSR-related reports. For companies listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), we searched for CSR-related reports, and titles and contents, based on two established guidelines: the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines 2002 as the international reference and the Environmental Reporting Guidelines of the Ministry of the Environment, Government of Japan, as the domestic reference. Corporations that published CSR reports were 26.3% (416/1,581) of the total, and large differences were recognized by type of industry. Comparing the numbers of pages for various contents, more concern was shown about the environment than about social activity, indicating the environment to be the main issue of CSR in Japan. In the items included in the guidelines, many matters about occupational accidents were mentioned, but it was found that statements regarding HIV/AIDS, which is not of such strong social concern in Japan, and statements regarding the costs of safety that are difficult to calculate were few. However, statements regarding mental health, which is of high interest socially, were many, even though this issue is not included in the two guidelines used. In revising the guidelines, these matters should be reviewed. In the future, continuance of analysis of CSR-related reports with regard to changes and comparisons with overseas reports will help improve occupational safety and health.

  19. The 1.3GeV electron synchrotron INS-ES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Katsuhide

    2006-01-01

    The 1.3GeV electron synchrotron at Institute for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo (INS-ES) is the first high energy accelerator in Japan. It was constructed during 1956-1961 and shut down in 1999. It had played key roles in originating high energy physics in Japan. Based upon accelerator technologies developed in the construction and the operation of INS-ES, a 12 GeV proton synchrotron was built at KEK. INS-ES was also the base to promote synchrotron radiation science in Japan and to establish Photon Factory at KEK. After 1980, it was operated mainly to deliver tagged photon beam for high energy nuclear physics. (K.Y.)

  20. Review of Facility Technology Options and their Development Status

    Science.gov (United States)

    1989-06-01

    Manufacturers of Ice Storage Units Ice Storage Ton-Hours of Cooling Manufacturer Refrigeration Refrigeration Capacity Turbo Refrigeration Co. 625 - 25,000 7.5... disel fuel #2 and propane/LPG. PO Box 1757 jNG SS/W kW I TEPP" stands for Total Energy Media., PA 19063 NG 75175 kW IPOWr Rlant. First unit installed...CHO Gp500/ Hawthorne. CA cogeneration sets but Kawasakis AkashJi 673 Tokyo. Japan 400 kW Turbo Systems U S distr :utors do Telex: 5628951 International

  1. Breast cancer screening in Japan. Present status and recent movement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endo, Tokiko

    2004-01-01

    As the incidence of breast cancer and deaths from breast cancer have been increasing, the Ministry of Public Welfare and Labor has been promoting breast cancer screening. Mammography screening began in fiscal year 2000 for those women 50 years of age or over, but attendance has not been increasing. This year (2004), the Ministry determined that mammography would be applicable to those 40 years of age or over and that screening with palpation alone would be abolished. To determine the effectiveness of the measures, mammography equipment, technologists, and readers were calculated. If the attendance were 50% of the 35,497 thousand women in this biennial screening, 40 persons would be examined by one apparatus per day, and, as there are 200 working days in a year, 1,109 apparatus would be needed. In the same way, if a technologist can examine 5,000 women, and a doctor can read 10,000 cases a year, both are apparently deficient in some prefectures. The standards of quality control for digital mammography have been determined by the Japan Radiological Society, and a ''step phantom for mammography'' has been developed. Qualitative evaluation of hard-copy clinical images has also started. All of the standards are presented in ''Mammography Guidelines, Second Edition,'' published by Igakushoin, Tokyo, Japan, 2004. (author)

  2. Accelerator and Technical Sector Seminar

    CERN Multimedia

    2012-01-01

    Utilisation of Robot and Remote-Controlled Machine Technology for the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, by Professor Hajime Asama, School of Engineering, Department of Precision Engineering, the University of Tokyo, Japan.   Abstract: The Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami occurred on 11 March 2011, and the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant occurred due to the earthquake and the tsunami. There has been much need for remote-controlled machine technology including robot technology (RT) for the response to the disaster and the accident. In this presentation, the speaker will present how these technologies have been utilised in the emergent situation so far and how they are expected to be used as middle-range and long-range measures towards decommissioning and future preparation against possible disasters and accidents.   Thursday, 29 March 2012, at 11:00 hrs – Kjell Johnsen Auditorium (bldg. 30)...

  3. Safety and Effectiveness of Natalizumab: First Report of Interim Results of Post-Marketing Surveillance in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saida, Takahiko; Yokoyama, Kazumasa; Sato, Ryusuke; Makioka, Haruki; Iizuka, Yukihiko; Hase, Masakazu; Ling, Yan; Torii, Shinichi

    2017-12-01

    Natalizumab, a humanized anti-α4 integrin monoclonal antibody, received marketing approval in Japan in 2014 for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Because the previous large-scale clinical trials of natalizumab were mainly conducted in Europe and North American countries, and data in patients with MS from Japan were limited, we conducted an all-case post-marketing surveillance of natalizumab-treated MS patients from Japan to investigate the safety and effectiveness of natalizumab in a real-world clinical setting in Japan. Here, we report the results of an interim analysis. During the observation period of 2 years, all patients who were treated with natalizumab subsequent to its approval in Japan were followed. The effectiveness of natalizumab was assessed by examining the changes in expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score and annualized relapse rate (ARR) from baseline. Safety was assessed by analyzing the incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). The safety analysis included 106 patients (mean age 39.3 years; women 62.3%) whose data were collected until the data lock point (February 7, 2016). The effectiveness analysis included 75 patients. The majority of patients had relapsing-remitting MS (93/106 patients; 87.7%). The mean length of treatment exposure in the present study was 6.6 months. During the 2-year observation period, no significant change in the EDSS was observed, while the ARR decreased significantly from baseline (72.9% reduction, p = 0.001). ADRs and serious ADRs were observed in 11.3% and 3.8% of patients, respectively; however, no new safety concerns were detected. No patient had progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) during the present study period. The safety and effectiveness of natalizumab were confirmed in Japanese patients with MS in clinical practice. Nevertheless, potential risks including PML require continuous, careful observation. Biogen Japan Ltd (Tokyo, Japan).

  4. The importance of quantitative measurement methods for uveitis: laser flare photometry endorsed in Europe while neglected in Japan where the technology measuring quantitatively intraocular inflammation was developed.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbort, Carl P; Tugal-Tutkun, Ilknur

    2017-06-01

    Laser flare photometry (LFP) is an objective and quantitative method to measure intraocular inflammation. The LFP technology was developed in Japan and has been commercially available since 1990. The aim of this work was to review the application of LFP in uveitis practice in Europe compared to Japan where the technology was born. We reviewed PubMed articles published on LFP and uveitis. Although LFP has been largely integrated in routine uveitis practice in Europe, it has been comparatively neglected in Japan and still has not received FDA approval in the USA. As LFP is the only method that provides a precise measure of intraocular inflammation, it should be used as a gold standard in uveitis centres worldwide.

  5. Tod's & United Bamboo + Toyo Ito & Vito Acconci + Omotesando & Daikanyama = Tokyo / Sergio Pirrone

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Pirrone, Sergio

    2005-01-01

    Toyo Ito projekteeritud Itaalia jalatsi- ja kotifirmale kuuluvast Tod'si hoonest ning Vito Acconci kujundatud rõivakauplusest United Bamboo, mille interjöör meenutab kangast, Tokyos. Ill.: 8 värv. fotot, 9 korruste plaani

  6. ONR Far East Scientific Bulletin, Volume 7, Number 4, October-December 1982,

    Science.gov (United States)

    1982-12-01

    Japan Professor D. Kunii June 3 on Fluidization Department of ChemicalEngineering Faculty of Engineering University of Tokyo 7-3-1, Hongo , Bunkyo-ku...tentative) Conference on Raman Department of Chemistry Spectroscopy Faculty of Science University of Tokyo 7-3-1, Hongo Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113 September

  7. Chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments from industrial areas in Japan and the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horii, Yuichi; Ohura, Takeshi; Yamashita, Nobuyoshi; Kannan, Kurunthachalam

    2009-11-01

    Chlorinated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ClPAHs) are widespread environmental pollutants in the urban environment. Nevertheless, there is little information available regarding the occurrence and profiles of ClPAHs in environmental matrices. In this study, residual concentrations and profiles of 20 individual ClPAHs and 16 US EPA-priority PAHs were determined using high- resolution gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry in sediments from water bodies near industrialized areas: Tokyo Bay, Japan; the Saginaw River watershed, Michigan, USA; a former chlor-alkali plant, Georgia, USA; and the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site, Massachusetts, USA. A sediment core from Tokyo Bay showed temporal patterns in the distribution of ClPAHs from the 1950s through 2004. The fluxes of ClPAHs and 16 priority PAHs in Tokyo Bay sediment core were 0.029-0.57 ng/cm(2)/year and 85-609 ng/cm(2)/year, respectively; fluxes were lowest in the 1950s and highest in 1989-1990. In the United States, a high mean concentration of ClPAHs was found in sediment collected near a former chlor-alkali plant [8820 pg/g dry weight (dry wt)], and lower mean concentrations were found for New Bedford Harbor (1880 pg/g dry wt) and the Saginaw River watershed (1140 pg/g dry wt). Among individual ClPAHs, 6-ClBaP and 1-ClPyr were the dominant compounds in sediments; this pattern is similar to the pattern reported in the literature for waste incineration and ambient urban air samples. Significant correlation between SigmaClPAH concentrations and Sigmaparent-PAH concentrations in Tokyo Bay sediment implies that the sources and distribution of ClPAHs are directly related to those of parent PAHs. We also analyzed ClPAHs and parent PAHs in blue mussels from New Bedford Harbor. The mean concentration of ClPAHs in mussels from New Bedford Harbor was 21 ng/g lipid weight, a concentration three orders of magnitude lower than the mean concentration of parent PAHs. Low-molecular-weight ClPAHs predominated

  8. The distribution of blood eosinophil levels in a Japanese COPD clinical trial database and in the rest of the world

    OpenAIRE

    Barnes, Neil; Ishii, Takeo; Hizawa, Nobuyuki; Midwinter, Dawn; James, Mark; Hilton, Emma; Jones, Paul W

    2018-01-01

    Neil Barnes,1,2 Takeo Ishii,3,4 Nobuyuki Hizawa,5 Dawn Midwinter,6 Mark James,3 Emma Hilton,1 Paul Jones1,71Respiratory Medicine Franchise, GlaxoSmithKline, Brentford, UK; 2William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK; 3Medical Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline K.K., Tokyo, Japan; 4Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan; 5Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan; 6Globa...

  9. Organic photovoltaic energy in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2007-01-01

    Japan finances research programs on photovoltaic conversion since 1974. Research in this domain is one of the 11 priorities of NEDO, the agency of means of the ministry of economy, trade and industry of Japan. The search for an abatement of production costs and of an increase of cells efficiency is mentioned in NEDO's programs as soon as the beginning of the 1990's. A road map has been defined which foresees photovoltaic energy production costs equivalent to the ones of thermal conversion by 2030, i.e. 7 yen/kWh (4.4 cents of euro/kWh). The use of new materials in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) or organic solar cells, and of new structures (multi-junctions) is explored to reach this objective. The organic photovoltaic technology is more particularly considered for small generation units in mobile or domestic technologies. Japan is particularly in advance in the improvement of DSSC cells efficiency, in particular in the domain of the research on solid electrolytes. Europe seems more in advance in the domain of the new generation of organic solar cells. Therefore, a complementarity may be found between Japan and French teams in the domain of organic solar cells improvement through collaboration programs. (J.S.)

  10. Present status of marine environmental radioactivity survey in the sea of Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuoka, H.

    1994-01-01

    Science and Technology Agency has been conducting some Marine Environmental Radioactivity Surveys around Japan in cooperation with the relevant organizations (Maritime Safety Agency, Japan Meteorological Agency, Fishery Agency, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan Marine Science and Technology Center, Japan Chemical Analysis Center and Marine Ecology Research Institute). Several artificial radionuclides have been detected but the main origin is supposed to be fall-out. The level trend of marine environmental radioactivity has no anomalies excepting the effect of Chernobyl Accident. The data summarized here are as follows. 1. Marine Environmental Survey of Fisheries near the Nuclear Power Stations, 2. Past Data of Marine Environmental Radioactivity around Japan (Apr. 1982 - Mar. 1991), 3. Marine Environmental Survey of the Sea of Japan (spring, 1993), 4. Marine Environmental Survey of the Sea of Japan (autumn, 1993). In addition, JAPAN-KOREA-RUSSIA JOINT EXPEDITION in the Sea of Japan will start in the middle of March. We are expecting to get valuable data through the EXPEDITION. (J.P.N.)

  11. Target validation for FCV technology development in Japan from energy competition point of view

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    ENDO Eiichi

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this work is to validate the technical targets in the governmental hydrogen energy road-map of Japan by analyzing market penetration of fuel cell vehicle(FCV)s and effects of fuel price and carbon tax on it from technology competition point of view. In this analysis, an energy system model of Japan based on MARKAL is used. The results of the analysis show that hydrogen FCVs could not have cost-competitiveness until 2030 without carbon tax, including the governmental actual plan of carbon tax. However, as the carbon tax rate increases, instead of conventional vehicles including gasoline hybrid electric vehicle, hydrogen FCVs penetrate to the market earlier and more. By assuming higher fuel price and severer carbon tax rate, market share of hydrogen FCVs approaches to the governmental goal. This suggests that cheaper vehicle cost and/or hydrogen price than those targeted in the road-map is required. At the same time, achievement of the technical targets in the road-map also allows to attain the market penetration target of hydrogen FCVs in some possible conditions. (authors)

  12. Gamma-ray dose rate in air on the subway lines in Tokyo metropolitan area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, Masayuki; Hosoda, Masahiro; Ogashiwa, Susumu; Fukushi, Masahiro

    2008-01-01

    Measurements of gamma-ray dose rates in air were performed on 12 subway lines in Tokyo from the perspective of health physics, because the subways are commonly used for commuting in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The results showed that the maximum dose rate (36.5 nGy/h) was 1.6 times higher than that of the minimum one (23.3 nGy/h), and that the dose rate in the subway car was 33% lower than the outside. Also the results strongly suggested that the dose rates depend on the concentration of natural radionuclide around the subway lines and the platform structures rather than the depth. (author)

  13. Information on research in progress in Japan publication of 'Nuclear Science Information of Japan-Oral Presentation'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itabashi, Keizo; Nakajima, Hidemitsu; Yokoo, Hiroshi

    1988-01-01

    The new journal, 'Nuclear Science Information of Japan-Oral Presentation', which was entirely revised from the previous abstract journal called 'Nuclear Science Information of Japan' was introduced. This is to be published quaterly in principle and compiled information by oral presentation presented at main conferences, symposia and other kind of formal meetings in the field of nuclear science and technology in Japan. Not all of the oral presentation is always contributed later to a proceeding or a journal as a full paper in Japan. In some cases, the pre-conference paper might be a only publication of the oral presentation. In this meaning, this journal could be used as a search tool for the subjects and the projects of nuclear research and development in progress. (author)

  14. Bibliography on Cold Regions Science and Technology. Volume 44, Part 1, 1990

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-12-01

    Institute, Information. (Prostaia sistema poiska snegolavinnol thesis. Refs. p.342 -358. Tokyo Quarterly reports. Feb. 1988, 29(l), p.9. S. rcferativnot...down this area toward the cna plateau. ot maud toc Clayton. L., ct al, Geological Society of America. 44-2077 d i t t r t u Urnioirs, 1989, No.173, 80p...pro rosion, Heat transfer, Solutions, Air conditioning. Japan-Sapporo. toc &on, and operator training. 130 CRREL BIBLIOGRAPHY 44-3050 44-3054 44.3062

  15. Development of a Charged-particle Accumulator Using an RF Confinement Method II

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-08-24

    Ryugo Hayano, Ph.D., Professor Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku...NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) University of Tokyo,7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku,Tokyo 113-0033,Japan,JP,113-0033 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER AOARD

  16. [Development of Spiritual Care in Cancer Treatment in Japan].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimazono, Susumu

    2017-01-01

    Spiritual care started worldwide in the late 1960s with the development of the hospice movement and death studies. Why did spiritual care start duringthis time in history ? In some Christian societies, of that time,"pastoral care" evolved into an interfaith "spiritual care" where in the caretaker was the main agent instead of the caregiver. On the other hand, the importance of palliative care for cancer patients was gradually acknowledged. In addition, this progress was accompanied by the academic development of "death studies" which is called "death and life studies" in Japan. The Japanese hospice care and death studies movement started in the late 1970s. In the precedingperiod, the spiritual quest of cancer patients facingdeath was already gaining public attention. A scholar of religious studies, Hideo Kishimoto of the University of Tokyo, was diagnosed with cancer in 1954; he survived many operations until his death in 1964. Duringthose years, he wrote about his personal experience of acceptinghis approachingdeath. Although he did not believe in any specific faith, he had studied various religious teachings. It is important to understand his perception of his own death. His book, On Facing Death, was published immediately after his death. Therefore, it provided a prominent discourse on copingwith spiritual pain of approachingdeath even before the growth of spiritual care in Japan.

  17. Progress of the decommissioning process of Musashi Institute of Technology reactor (4)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uchiyama, Takafumi; Tanzawa, Tomio; Mitsuhashi, Ishi; Morishima, Kayoko; Matsumoto, Tetsuo

    2012-01-01

    The research reactor of Tokyo City University Atomic Energy Research Laboratory (Musashi Institute of Technology reactor) is zirconium-moderated water-cooled solid homogeneous type (TRIGA-II type), and its maximum heat output is 100 kW. It got into the first critical state in January 1963, and since then, it has mainly contributed to education and training for upgrading nuclear engineers, radioactivation analysis and reactor physics, and medical researches, as the joint usage research facilities across Japan. Then, after a long-term suspension, the university submitted the file in 2004 to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on the dismantling for the purpose of facility abolishment. Through the procedure of submitting a decommissioning plan, it was approved. Furthermore, in order to perform the function stop of the disposal facilities of liquid waste, application for change authorization for the decommissioning plan was submitted and approved. Regarding the progress of the decommissioning plan, the dismantling and removal of waste facilities for liquid waste and solid waste was carried out in FY2011 without any trouble. This paper explains this progress and future work plans. (A.O.)

  18. Radioactivity in surface air and precipitation in Japan after the Chernobyl accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Higuchi, Hideo; Fukatsu, Hiroko; Hashimoto, Takeo; Nonaka, Nobuhiro; Yoshimizu, Katsumi; Omine, Mamoru; Takano, Naoto; Abe, Toshihiko

    1988-01-01

    Radioactive plumes from the Chernobyl reactor accident first passed over Japan on 3 May 1986. Measurements of 103 Ru, 131 I and 137 Cs in rainfall and airborne dust collected at Chiba near Tokyo show that, in fact, at least two or more kinds of plume arrived during May. Their altitudes were calculated to be about 1500 m in early May and 6300 m in late May. Radionuclides detected in 33 precipitation samples collected by the network of radiation monitoring stations from 1 to 22 May were 7 Be, 89 Sr, 90 Sr, 95 Zr, 95 Nb, 103 Ru, 106 Ru, sup(110m)Ag, 125 Sb, sup(129m)Te, 131 I, 132 Te, 132 I, 134 Cs, 136 Cs, 137 Cs, 140 Ba, 140 La, 141 Ce and 144 Ce. The radiation was characterized by higher levels of the volatile nuclides, such as 103 Ru, 132 Te, 131 I and 137 Cs, than fallout levels in nuclear weapons testing, and by activity ratios of 0.48 and 14 for, respectively, 134 Cs/ 137 Cs and 89 Sr/ 90 Sr, as on 26 April. the fallout activity was higher in Northwestern Japan, the average depositions of 90 Sr and 137 Cs in Japan from 1 May (or 30 April) to 22 May being 1.4 Bq m -2 and 95 Bq m -2 , inventories which are 14 and 550 times higher than the pre-Chernobyl values. (author)

  19. Public status toward radiation and irradiated potatoes at 'Youngster's Science Festival' in several cities including Tokyo, Osaka, and Hiroshima, Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furuta, Masakazu; Hayashi, Toshio; Kakefu, Tomohisa; Nishihara, Hideaki

    2000-01-01

    'Youngster's Science Festival' has been held in several big cities in various districts in Japan for the purpose of induction of young students' interests in science and scientific experiments. On the basis of the survey results from the participants of the 'Radiation Fair' in Osaka, Japan, which was presented at the last IMRP, we expanded the area of survey and distributed questionnaires to the visitors of the above event to inquire their status toward radiation and irradiated products including irradiated potatoes. The survey results indicated the same trends as that of the 'Radiation Fair' survey. That is, more than half of the older visitors (16 years old and upward) indicated that they recognized the word of 'radiation' when they were at elementary school and the most significant sources of this information were school lessons and the mass media. We will discuss the relationship between consumer's image toward radiation and the description of radiation related topic in school textbooks. (author)

  20. HIV in Japan: Epidemiologic puzzles and ethnographic explanations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony S. DiStefano

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Japan is widely perceived to have a low level of HIV occurrence; however, its HIV epidemics also have been the subject of considerable misunderstanding globally. I used a ground truthing conceptual framework to meet two aims: first, to determine how accurately official surveillance data represented Japan's two largest epidemics (urban Kansai and Tokyo as understood and experienced on the ground; and second, to identify explanations for why the HIV epidemics were unfolding as officially reported. I used primarily ethnographic methods while drawing upon epidemiology, and compared government surveillance data to observations at community and institutional sites (459 pages of field notes; 175 persons observed, qualitative interviews with stakeholders in local HIV epidemics (n = 32, and document research (n = 116. This revealed seven epidemiologic puzzles involving officially reported trends and conspicuously missing information. Ethnographically grounded explanations are presented for each. These included factors driving the epidemics, which ranged from waning government and public attention to HIV, to gaps in sex education and disruptive leadership changes in public institutions approximately every two years. Factors constraining the epidemics also contributed to explanations. These ranged from subsidized medical treatment for most people living with HIV, to strong partnerships between government and a well-developed, non-governmental sector of HIV interventionists, and protective norms and built environments in the sex industry. Local and regional HIV epidemics were experienced and understood as worse than government reports indicated, and ground-level data often contradicted official knowledge. Results thus call into question epidemiologic trends, including recent stabilization of the national epidemic, and suggest the need for revisions to the surveillance system and strategies that address factors driving and constraining the epidemics. Based

  1. Proceedings of the international symposium on acceleration-driven transmutation systems and Asia ADS network initiative

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oigawa, Hiroyuki

    2003-09-01

    An International Symposium on 'Accelerator-Driven Transmutation Systems and Asia ADS Network Initiative' was held on March 24 and 25, 2003 at Gakushi-Kaikan, Tokyo, hosted by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Kyoto University, Osaka University, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization and Tokyo Institute of Technology. The objectives of this symposium are to make participants acquainted with the current status and future plans for research and development (R and D) of ADS in the world and to enhance the initiation of an international collaborative network for ADS in Asia. This report records the papers and the materials of 15 presentations in the symposium. On the first day of the symposium, current activities for R and D of ADS were presented from United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, and China. On the second day, R and D activities in the fields of accelerator and nuclear physics were presented. After these presentations, a panel discussion was organized with regard to the prospective international collaboration and multidisciplinary synergy effect, which are essential to manage various technological issues encountered in R and D stage of ADS. Through the discussion, common understanding was promoted concerning the importance of establishing international network. It was agreed to establish the international network for scientific information exchange among Asian countries including Japan, Korea, China, and Vietnam in view of the future international collaboration in R and D of ADS. (author)

  2. Challenge to the enhancement of LWRs in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, T.

    1996-01-01

    Japan was way behind western countries in nuclear power development. This is partly because of the defeat in the second world war which bound Japan to the ban on nuclear power development. As a result, Japan was obliged to take the policy of introducing the power reactor, and its technology, from overseas advanced countries in order to promote the development of power reactors for its own country. (orig.)

  3. History and structure of Japan-US nuclear alliance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshioka, Hitoshi

    2011-01-01

    'Japan-US nuclear alliance' for civil use of nuclear energy was used here as technical term for the state Japanese commercial power plants were all water-cooled reactors under the US nuclear engineering umbrella and US admitted Japanese development of all 'SNT: sensitive nuclear technology' in the area of nuclear fuel cycle. 'Japan-US alliance' was used for various areas closely related with national security while 'Japan-US nuclear weapon alliance' was for military use of nuclear energy such as nuclear weapon (transport methods included) and counter weapon system. Military and civil use of nuclear energy relied fundamentally on common technical bases and especially nuclear fuel cycle related technologies were directly connected to both uses and called 'SNT'. Japanese nuclear policy sticking to SNT might come from the axiom: nuclear engineering for national security, that meant Japan refrained from nuclear arms but maintained technical and industrial potential of nuclear arms. This could be called 'nuclear arms standby strategy' and derived from compromise of both countries to play role of stabilizer of 'Japan-US alliance'. History of Japanese nuclear power development could be well understood as formation process of 'Japan-US nuclear alliance'. If Fukushima Daiichi accident forced nuclear power to phase out, nuclear fuel cycle would be obliged to terminate. This meant failure of the axiom and dissolution of 'Japan-US nuclear alliance'. (T. Tanaka)

  4. Status of the HTGR development program in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saito, S.

    1991-01-01

    According to the revision of the Long-Term Program for Development and Utilization of Nuclear Energy issued by the Japanese Atomic Energy Commission, High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor (HTTR), which is the first HTGR in Japan, will be constructed by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) in order to establish and upgrade the technology basis for an HTGR, serving at the same time as a potential tool for new and innovative basic research. The budget for the construction of the HTTR was approved by the Government and JAERI is now proceeding with the construction design of the HTTR, focussing the first criticality in the end of FY 1995. In order to establish and upgrade HTGR technology basis systematically and efficiently, and also to carry out innovative basic research on high temperature technologies, Japan will perform necessary R and D mainly at JAERI, which is a leading organization of the R and D. In addition, in order to promote the R and D on HTGRs more efficiently, Japan will promote the existing international cooperation with the research organizations in foreign countries. (author). 5 figs, 3 tabs

  5. A Density-Ratio Approach to Machine Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-20

    28/29, 10587 Berlin, Germany. buenau@cs.tu-berlin.de Taiji Suzuki The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo , Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan. s-taiji...Computation, to appear. Least-squares Independent Component Analysis∗ Taiji Suzuki Department of Mathematical Informatics, The University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo

  6. Establishment of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okazaki, Toshio

    2006-01-01

    A goal of the 21. century is for society to pursue 'sustainable economic development and prosperous life by recycling resources', thus rejecting 'development based on the waste of resources'. For Japan, which has limited energy resources, it is important to secure safe, inexpensive, environmentally friendly energy resources having long-term availability. To contribute to long-term energy security and solve global environmental issues, and to create advanced competitive science and technology, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) was established by integrating the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) in October 2005. JAEA is endeavoring to establish nuclear fuel cycles, to contribute to social improvement through hydrogen production initiated by atomic energy, and to pursue research and development of thermonuclear fusion and quantum beam technology. This paper reviews the main R and D activities of JAEA. The structure of the paper is the following: 1. Introduction; 2. Japan Atomic Energy Agency; 3. Efforts to Commercialize the Fast Reactor Cycle; 4. Monju Progress; 5. Geological Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste R and D; 6. High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor System R and D; 7. Fusion Research and Development; 8. LWR Spent Fuel Reprocessing Technology; 9. Quantum Beam Technologies; 10. Nuclear Safety Research and Regulatory Applications; 11. Basic Science and Engineering Research; 12. Contribution to the Enhanced International Nonproliferation Regimes; 13. Conclusions. To summarize, JAEA will promote the above R and D activities, addressing the following commitments: - On problems that atomic energy faces, we shall extend technical assistance in response to the government and the industrial sectors. - We shall produce technical options to attain political goals to secure medium to long-term stable energy supplies and to solve global environmental issues. - With the high potentials of atomic

  7. Hydrogen fueling stations in Japan hydrogen and fuel cell demonstration project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koseki, K.; Tomuro, J.; Sato, H.; Maruyama, S.

    2004-01-01

    A new national demonstration project of fuel cell vehicles, which is called Japan Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Demonstration Project (JHFC Project), has started in FY2002 on a four-year plan. In this new project, ten hydrogen fueling stations have been constructed in Tokyo and Kanagawa area in FY2002-2003. The ten stations adopt the following different types of fuel and fueling methods: LPG reforming, methanol reforming, naphtha reforming, desulfurized-gasoline reforming, kerosene reforming, natural gas reforming, water electrolysis, liquid hydrogen, by-product hydrogen, and commercially available cylinder hydrogen. Approximately fifty fuel cell passenger cars and a fuel cell bus are running on public roads using these stations. In addition, two hydrogen stations will be constructed in FY2004 in Aichi prefecture where The 2005 World Exposition (EXPO 2005) will be held. The stations will service eight fuel cell buses used as pick-up buses for visitors. We, Engineering Advancement Association of Japan (ENAA), are commissioned to construct and operate a total of twelve stations by Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI). We are executing to demonstrate or identify the energy-saving effect, reduction of the environmental footprint, and issues for facilitating the acceptance of hydrogen stations on the basis of the data obtained from the operation of the stations. (author)

  8. Pramana – Journal of Physics | Indian Academy of Sciences

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    DRECAM, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau, France; Department of Applied Physics, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan; Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, ...

  9. Endoscopy-guided vitreoretinal surgery following penetrating corneal injury: a case report

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Motoko Kawashima

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Motoko Kawashima1, Shinichi Kawashima2, Murat Dogru1,3, Makoto Inoue4, Jun Shimazaki1,51Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Dental College, Chiba, Japan; 2Department of Ophthalmology, International University of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Ocular Surface and Visual Optics, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 4Kyorin Eye Center, Tokyo, Japan; 5Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, JapanIntroduction: Severe ocular trauma requires emergency surgery, and a fresh corneal graft may not always be available. We describe a case of perforating eye injury with corneal ­opacity, suspected endophthalmitis, and an intraocular foreign body. The patient was successfully treated with a two-step procedure comprising endoscopy-guided vitrectomy followed by corneal transplantation. This surgical technique offers a good option to vitrectomy with simultaneous keratoplasty in emergency cases where no graft is immediately available and there is the ­possibility of infection due to the presence of a foreign body.Case presentation: A 55-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our hospital with a ­perforating corneal and lens injury sustained with a muddy ferrous rod. Primary corneal sutures and lensectomy were performed immediately. Vitreoretinal surgery was required due to ­suspected endophthalmitis, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, dialysis and necrosis of the peripheral retina. Instead of conventional vitrectomy, endoscopy-guided vitreous surgery was performed with the Solid Fiber Catheter AS-611 (FiberTech, Tokyo, Japan due to the presence of corneal opacity and the unavailability of a donor cornea. The retina was successfully attached with the aid of a silicon oil tamponade. Following removal of the silicon oil at 3 months after surgery, penetrating keratoplasty and intraocular lens implantation with ciliary sulcus suture fixation were performed. At 6 months after penetrating

  10. Status of SCRF cavity and ADS development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamamoto, Akira

    2011-01-01

    SCRF cavity technology has progressed with high-energy particle accelerator programs in Japan. It was first applied for TRISTAN program at KEK, in early 1980s, and it is expected to be a key technology to realize the next energy-frontier lepton collider such as ILC, and/or intensity-frontier proton accelerators hopefully to be realized in Japan. The JPARC project as a joint program between JAEA and KEK is scoping to realize ADS program with the linac upgrade using a superconducting cavity system, as a future program. The talk will cover an overview of the SCRF cavity development and the ADS development in Japan. (author)

  11. NuTEC annual report. April 1, 1996 - March 31, 1997

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1998-02-01

    This report summarizes the educational works carried out at the NuTEC (Nuclear Technology and Education Center) of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute during the 1996 fiscal year. It covers the educational courses provided at Tokyo and Tokai Education Centers and the activities of the International Technology Transfer Division, together with the R and D works for improving the educational programs, and related management works. Today Japan has a mature nuclear industry and Japanese nuclear engineers have highly specialized knowledges. On the other hand, they are losing wide perspective over the whole spectrum of nuclear technology. In addition, a considerable gap exists between the specialists and the public in knowledge and interpretation or acceptance of nuclear power. This gap may enlarge the public concern of specific problems caused by small accidents into a mistrust of entire nuclear power industry. The work of NuTEC is aimed at improving these problems in both specialist and the public sides. During the 1996 fiscal year, Tokyo and Tokai Education Centers accomplished all the planned courses, both domestic and international: total number of the trainees during the year reached 1868. The newly established International Technology Transfer Division proceeded the preparation works of the international training courses, particularly the Asia-Pacific Nuclear Cooperation Program. In addition, various research and development efforts were made to establish new items in educational programs. (author)

  12. Effectiveness of music therapy: a summary of systematic reviews based on randomized controlled trials of music interventions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamioka H

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Hiroharu Kamioka,1 Kiichiro Tsutani,2 Minoru Yamada,3 Hyuntae Park,4 Hiroyasu Okuizumi,5 Koki Tsuruoka,6 Takuya Honda,7 Shinpei Okada,8 Sang-Jun Park,8 Jun Kitayuguchi,9 Takafumi Abe,9 Shuichi Handa,5 Takuya Oshio,10 Yoshiteru Mutoh111Faculty of Regional Environment Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Drug Policy and Management, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 3Kyoto University Graduate School Research, Kyoto, Japan; 4Department of Functioning Activation, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Aichi, Japan; 5Mimaki Onsen (Spa Clinic, Tomi, Nagano, Japan; 6Graduate School of Social Services, Japan College of Social Work, Tokyo, Japan; 7Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan; 8Physical Education and Medicine Research Foundation, Tomi, Nagano, Japan; 9Physical Education and Medicine Research Center Unnan, Shimane, Japan; 10Social Welfare Service Corporation CARE-PORT MIMAKI, Tomi, Nagano, Japan; 11The Research Institute of Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, JapanObjective: The objective of this review was to summarize evidence for the effectiveness of music therapy (MT and to assess the quality of systematic reviews (SRs based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs.Study design: An SR of SRs based on RCTs.Methods: Studies were eligible if they were RCTs. Studies included were those with at least one treatment group in which MT was applied. We searched the following databases from 1995 to October 1, 2012: MEDLINE via PubMed, CINAHL (Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Web of Science, Global Health Library, and Ichushi-Web. We also searched all Cochrane Database and Campbell Systematic Reviews up to October 1, 2012. Based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, we identified a disease targeted for each article.Results: Twenty-one studies met all inclusion criteria. This study included 16

  13. Summary of the progress of reactor physics in Japan reviewing the activities related to NEA Committee on Reactor Physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirota, Jitsuya

    1984-09-01

    The progress of fast and thermal reactor physics, fusion neutronics and shielding researches in these twenty years can be clearly recognized in the reviews of reactor physics activities in Japan which had been perpared by the Special Committee on Reactor Physics: the joint committee under Atomic Energy Society of Japan and JAERI. Many topics of those discussed at the NEACRP meetings concerned fast reactor physics. Information exchange on the topics such as adjustment of group cross sections by integral data, central worth discrepancy, sodium void effect and heterogeneous core stimulated the researches in Japan. And achievements in Japan including those in the JAERI Fast Critical Facility FCA were reported and contributed largely to the international co-operation. In addition, the contribution from Japan was also made concerning a study of fusion blanket. Among various specialists' meetings recommended by NEACRP, those on nuclear data and benchmarks for reactor shielding were often held since 1973 and helpful to the progress of shielding researches in Japan. The Third Specialists' Meeting on Reactor Noise (SMORN-III) was held in Tokyo in 1981, indicating the recent progress in safety-related applications of reactor noise analysis. The NEACRP benchmark tests were quite useful to the progress of reactor physics in Japan, which included the benchmark calculations of BWR lattice cell, key parameters and burn-up characteristics of a large LMFBR, FBR and PWR shielding, and so on. It may be noted that the benchmark test on reactor noise analysis methods was successfully conducted by Japan in connection with SMORN-III. In addition, the co-operation was positively made to the compilation of light water lattice data, and the preparation of reviews on actinide production and burn-up, and blanket physics. (J.P.N.)

  14. Insights into software development in Japan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duvall, Lorraine M.

    1992-01-01

    The interdependence of the U.S.-Japanese economies makes it imperative that we in the United States understand how business and technology developments take place in Japan. We can gain insight into these developments in software engineering by studying the context in which Japanese software is developed, the practices that are used, the problems encountered, the setting surrounding these problems, and the resolution of these problems. Context includes the technological and sociological characteristics of the software development environment, the software processes applied, personnel involved in the development process, and the corporate and social culture surrounding the development. Presented in this paper is a summary of results of a study that addresses these issues. Data for this study was collected during a three month visit to Japan where the author interviewed 20 software managers representing nine companies involved in developing software in Japan. These data are compared to similar data from the United States in which 12 managers from five companies were interviewed.

  15. Activities of Japan Nuclear Technology Institute Japanese TSO of Industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nagata, T.

    2010-01-01

    Nuclear energy is a superior form of energy in that it delivers stable power supplies and counters global warming, and it is important to promote nuclear power generation as the core power sources for a nation. However, the Japanese environment surrounding nuclear energy is changing drastically, following the liberalization of market and recent series of troubles or falsifications shaking public confidence in nuclear energy. In the above mentioned situation, nuclear industries and organizations must fulfill their individual roles, and amass its strength to work toward enhancing industry initiatives for safety activities, securing safe / stable plant operations, restoring public confidence and initiate revitalization of nuclear energy operations. The Japan Nuclear Technology Institute (JANTI) has been established as a new entity for supporting and leading the industry's further progress in March 2005. Members of JANTI are not only utilities but also component manufacturers and constructors. JANTI enhance the technological foundation of nuclear energy based on scientific and rational data, coordinates its use among a wide range of relevant organizations, and helps members enhance their voluntary safety activities. At the same time, it is independent of utilities, and exercises a function of checking industry at the objective, third-party standpoint. As for the activities of JANTI itself, information disclosure and the establishment of a council comprising external members will enhance administration transparency. (author)

  16. The way of the report in the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear plant accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, Yoshiyuki

    2015-01-01

    Nearly four years pass from the Great East Japan Earthquake. Fukushima has a big influence of the nuclear plant accident, and more than 120,000 citizens of the prefecture are still forced to refuge. The citizens of Fukushima feel that the present conditions do not come outside a prefecture and have dissatisfaction for media. A gap occurs in what media convey and thinking that inhabitants want you to tell. One of the causes is a news value point of reference. The other is that the news is carried out in a viewpoint of Tokyo. Is there not the cancellation method? I consider it from the viewpoint of a reporter living in Fukushima city. (author)

  17. The progress and trends in the nucleonic gauge technology: Experience and contribution of Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tominaga, H.

    2000-01-01

    Most of major nucleonic gauges in Japan have already passed the period of saturation in number of use in big industries. On the other hand, however, small gauges with low activity sources are expected to increasingly diffuse into smaller industries. There have been so far more unique gauges and more interesting applications in small gauges using low activity sources, which are free from legal regulation. Still at present new applications with advanced technology are being developed using such small sources. Description is given on the current status of nucleonic gauges with emphasis on development of new techniques and applications. (author)

  18. Changes in Mothers' Psychosocial Perceptions of Technology-dependent Children and Adolescents at Home in Japan: Acknowledgement of Children's Autonomy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaori Nishigaki, RN, PHN, PhD

    2016-06-01

    Conclusions: First, mothers gradually accepted the conditions of their child after his/her disease and disability were known. Second, others managed technology-required care and concurrently considered the social participation of their child through daily care at home. Third, the level of preoccupation with the child was affected by the mothers' management of care and their attitude towards the social participation of their child in home care. In this study, as is widely alleged in historical recognition of Japan, mothers provided daily care almost without help from other family members. Additionally, they thought it natural and good for their children. Above all, especially in Japan, professional support for mothers are necessary so that they can take breaks from care.

  19. Annual report of Nuclear Technology and Education Center (April 1, 2005 - March 31, 2006)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-12-01

    This report summarizes the activities of the Nuclear Technology and Education Center (NuTEC) of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) in the fiscal year 2005. On unification of JAERI and JNC on October, 2005, the former NuTEC of JAERI and the Human Resources Development Section of JNC were reorganized as the new NuTEC. Concomitantly, the training courses on nuclear emergency preparedness, held at the former NuTEC, was transferred to NEAT, JAEA, and the management related to university cooperation was assigned as one of the tasks of the new NuTEC. In total, the number of trainees for the general domestic training courses was 652, while that for the staff technical training courses was 616. The international training courses have also been carried out as planned. In addition, supportive activities for the Nuclear Professional School of Tokyo University, commenced in April, 2005, have been made mainly concerning the experimental exercises for the students. (author)

  20. 90Sr and 137Cs in powdered milk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1978-01-01

    Japan Chemical Analysis Center has analyzed the contents of strontium-90 and cesium-137 in powdered milk under the commission of Science and Technology Agency. The samples were purchased on the open market in Tokyo from the powdered milk producers. The analysis of strontium-90 and cesium-137 content was radiochemically carried out using the method applied for the analysis of fresh milk. (author)

  1. Liquid hydrogen in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yasumi, S. [Iwatani Corp., Osaka (Japan). Dept. of Overseas Business Development

    2009-07-01

    Japan's Iwatani Corporation has focused its attention on hydrogen as the ultimate energy source in future. Unlike the United States, hydrogen use and delivery in liquid form is extremely limited in the European Union and in Japan. Iwatani Corporation broke through industry stereotypes by creating and building Hydro Edge Co. Ltd., Japan's largest liquid hydrogen plant. It was established in 2006 as a joint venture between Iwatani and Kansai Electric Power Group in Osaka. Hydro Edge is Japan's first combined liquid hydrogen and ASU plant, and is fully operational. Liquid oxygen, liquid nitrogen and liquid argon are separated from air using the cryogenic energy of liquefied natural gas fuel that is used for power generation. Liquid hydrogen is produced efficiently and simultaneously using liquid nitrogen. Approximately 12 times as much hydrogen in liquid form can be transported and supplied as pressurized hydrogen gas. This technology is a significant step forward in the dissemination and expansion of hydrogen in a hydrogen-based economy.

  2. Inventing Japan's 'robotics culture': the repeated assembly of science, technology, and culture in social robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sabanović, Selma

    2014-06-01

    Using interviews, participant observation, and published documents, this article analyzes the co-construction of robotics and culture in Japan through the technical discourse and practices of robotics researchers. Three cases from current robotics research--the seal-like robot PARO, the Humanoid Robotics Project HRP-2 humanoid, and 'kansei robotics' - show the different ways in which scientists invoke culture to provide epistemological grounding and possibilities for social acceptance of their work. These examples show how the production and consumption of social robotic technologies are associated with traditional crafts and values, how roboticists negotiate among social, technical, and cultural constraints while designing robots, and how humans and robots are constructed as cultural subjects in social robotics discourse. The conceptual focus is on the repeated assembly of cultural models of social behavior, organization, cognition, and technology through roboticists' narratives about the development of advanced robotic technologies. This article provides a picture of robotics as the dynamic construction of technology and culture and concludes with a discussion of the limits and possibilities of this vision in promoting a culturally situated understanding of technology and a multicultural view of science.

  3. Multilayered elastic analysis formulation for surface moment loading

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Maina, JW

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Denki University Hatoyama-Cho, Hiki-Gun, Saitama 350-0394, JAPAN Tel.: +81-492-96-2911 Fax: +81-492-96-6501 fkiyo@g.dendai.ac.jp Kunihito Matsui Professor Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tokyo Denki University Hatoyama-Cho, Hiki...-Gun, Saitama 350-0394, JAPAN Tel.: +81-492-96-2911 Fax: +81-492-96-6501 matsui@g.dendai.ac.jp Takemi Inoue Executive Managing Director NIPPO Corporation 19-11 Kyobashi 1-Chome. Chuo-Ku, Tokyo 104-8380, JAPAN Tel.: +81-3-3563-6760 Fax: +81...

  4. The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) in Fukushima Prefecture-A progress report on the enrollment stage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hashimoto, Koichi; Yasumura, Seiji; Fujimori, Keiya; Kyozuka, Hyo; Wakaki, Yu; Sato, Akiko; Hanzawa, Haruko; Yokoyama, Tadahiko; Sato, Testushi; Hosoya, Mitsuaki

    2017-08-09

    The Japan Environment and Children's Study is an ongoing nationwide birth cohort study that is being conducted at 15 regional centers throughout Japan. The recruitment of subjects in the study area within Fukushima Prefecture, which includes Fukushima City, Minami Soma City and Futaba County, was begun on January 31, 2011 with the cooperation of the obstetrics and gynecology departments of local medical institutions. On March 11, soon after the start of recruitment, the Tohoku region was hit by an unprecedented disaster in the shape of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which was closely followed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. As a result of the disaster, the study area in Fukushima Prefecture was expanded on October 1, 2012 to include 59 municipalities across Fukushima Prefecture. Three points are seen as particularly important: 1) Radiation risk communication, 2) The motto is "Be attentive. Be supportive.", and 3) Establishing cooperating partnerships. With the cooperation of all concerned, the recruitment period ended on March 31, 2014. The tentative total number of the participants enrolled at the Fukushima Regional Center was 34,666 (13,134 pregnant mothers, 8,695 fathers and 12,837 children born before November 30, 2014 as of June 2016).

  5. Rapid Increase in Reports of Syphilis Associated With Men Who Have Sex With Women and Women Who Have Sex With Men, Japan, 2012 to 2016

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Takuri; Arima, Yuzo; Yamagishi, Takuya; Nishiki, Shingo; Kanai, Mizue; Ishikane, Masahiro; Matsui, Tamano; Sunagawa, Tomimasa; Ohnishi, Makoto; Oishi, Kazunori

    2018-01-01

    Background In Japan, syphilis reports have recently increased rapidly. However, unlike other developed countries where men who have sex with men (MSM) were associated with the rise, the increase in Japan has been attributed more to men who have sex with women (MSW) and women who have sex with men (WSM). We report on this increase based on surveillance data. Methods Syphilis is a notifiable disease requiring all laboratory-confirmed cases to be reported; stage and sex of the sex partner(s) suspected as the infection source are also reported. Focusing on primary and secondary (P&S) cases, we describe the temporal, demographic, and geographic distributions of reported cases in 2012 through 2016. Results A total of 7040 (64.0%) of 10,997 cases were P&S; the annual rate of increase was greatest for P&S and the proportion of P&S increased over time. Among P&S cases (1609 MSM, 2768 MSW, and 1323 WSM), MSW and WSM each surpassed MSM cases in 2016. Men were older with a wider age distribution (median, 37 years; interquartile range, 28–46 years) relative to women (median, 26 years; interquartile range, 21–34 years). Among women, 20- to 24-year-olds consistently had the highest reporting rate, reaching 9.0 per 100,000 in 2016. Congenital syphilis reports increased from 0.4 in 2012 to 1.4 per 100,000 live births in 2016. Although Tokyo prefecture had the highest reporting rate (3.98 per 100,000 person-years), the proportionate contribution from Tokyo decreased in 2016. Conclusions Reports on P&S syphilis increased yearly among MSW and WSM. Young women seem to be at particular risk, and with increased reports of congenital syphilis, syphilis prevention and control is currently a public health priority in Japan. PMID:29420439

  6. Effects of combined sewer overflow and stormwater on indicator bacteria concentrations in the Tama River due to the high population density of Tokyo Metropolitan area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ham, Young-Sik; Kobori, Hiromi; Takasago, Masahisa

    2009-05-01

    The indicator bacteria (standard plate count, total coliform, and fecal coliform bacteria) concentrations have been investigated using six ambient habitats (population density, percent sewer penetration, stream flow rate (m(3)/sec), percent residential area, percent forest area and percent agricultural area) in the Tama River basin in Tokyo, Japan during June 2003 to January 2005. The downstream and tributary Tama River showed higher concentrations of TC and FC bacteria than the upstream waters, which exceeded an environmental quality standard for rivers and a bathing water quality criterion. It was estimated that combined sewer overflow (CSO) and stormwater effluents contributed -4-23% to the indicator bacteria concentrations of the Tama River. The results of multiple regression analyses show that the indicator bacteria concentrations of Tama River basin are significantly affected by population density. It is concluded that the Tama River received a significant bacterial contamination load originating from the anthropogenic source.

  7. Investigating the health care delivery system in Japan and reviewing the local public hospital reform

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhang X

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Xing Zhang, Tatsuo Oyama National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan Abstract: Japan's health care system is considered one of the best health care systems in the world. Hospitals are one of the most important health care resources in Japan. As such, we investigate Japanese hospitals from various viewpoints, including their roles, ownership, regional distribution, and characteristics with respect to the number of beds, staff, doctors, and financial performance. Applying a multivariate analysis and regression model techniques, we show the functional differences between urban populated prefectures and remote ones; the equality gap among all prefectures with respect to the distribution of the number of beds, staff, and doctors; and managerial differences between private and public hospitals. We also review and evaluate the local public hospital reform executed in 2007 from various financial aspects related to the expenditure and revenue structure by comparing public and private hospitals. We show that the 2007 reform contributed to improving the financial situation of local public hospitals. Strategic differences between public and private hospitals with respect to their management and strategy to improve their financial situation are also quantitatively analyzed in detail. Finally, the remaining problems and the future strategy to further improve the Japanese health care system are described. Keywords: health care system, health care resource, public hospital, multivariate regression model, financial performance

  8. Establishment of technological basis for fabrication of U-Pu-Zr ternary alloy fuel pins for irradiation tests in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kikuchi, Hironobu; Iwai, Takashi; Nakajima, Kunihisa; Arai, Yasuo; Nakamura, Kinya; Ogata, Takanari

    2011-01-01

    A high-purity Ar gas atmosphere glove box accommodating injection casting and sodium-bonding apparatuses was newly installed in the Plutonium Fuel Research Facility of Oarai Research and Development Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, in which several nitride and carbide fuel pins were fabricated for irradiation tests. The experiences led to the establishment of the technological basis of the fabrication of U-Pu-Zr alloy fuel pins for the first time in Japan. After the injection casting of the U-Pu-Zr alloy, the metallic fuel pins were fabricated by welding upper and lower end plugs with cladding tubes of ferritic-martensitic steel. Subsequent to the sodium bonding for filling the annular gap region between the U-Pu-Zr alloy and the cladding tube with the melted sodium, the fuel pins for irradiation tests are inspected. This paper shows the apparatuses and the technological basis for the fabrication of U-Pu-Zr alloy fuel pins for the irradiation test planned at the experimental fast test reactor Joyo. (author)

  9. The super conservation energy building of the Ohbayashi corporation in Tokyo, Japan; El edificio super conservador de energia de la corporacion Ohbayashi en Tokio Japon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ramirez Vargas, Ricardo [Instituto Tecnologico de La Laguna, La Laguna (Mexico)

    1994-12-31

    The main building of the Institute of Technical Investigation of Ohbayashi Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, was built with the objective of being the best all over the world in the grounds of energy conservation. The utilization of this building was initiated on April 15, 1982 registering an annual energy consumption in the first two years of 87 and 96 Million calories/m{sup 2} respectively, that is, less than one fourth the consumption in conventional buildings. The inside ambient is better or equal to the one of ordinary buildings and the time for the investment recuperation was estimated of 8.7 years. The classification for the energy consumption in those first two years was of 31% for air conditioning, 41% for lighting/wall receptacles and 25% for others. The maximum consumption was in the month of August and was of 10 to 11 Mcal/m{sup 2}. The minimum consumption corresponded to the month of November and was 6 to 7 Mcal/m{sup 2}. In 1984 this building won the prize Energy of the ASHRAE. A total od 98 conservation measures were adopted for its construction and operation. [Espanol] El principal edificio del Instituto de Investigacion Tecnica de la corporacion Ohbayashi en Tokio, Japon, fue construido con el objetivo de ser el mejor en el mundo en el terreno de la conservacion de energia. La utilizacion de este edificio comenzo el 15 de abril de 1982, registrando un consumo anual de energia en los dos primeros anos de 87 y 96 Mcal/m{sup 2} respectivamente, esto es, menos de un cuarto del consumo en edificios convencionales. El ambiente interno es mejor o igual que el de edificios ordinarios y el tiempo de recuperacion de la inversion se estimo en 8.7 anos. La clasificacion en el consumo de energia para esos dos primeros anos fue de 31% para el acondicionamiento de aire, 41% para la iluminacion/contactos y 25% para otros. El maximo consumo aparecio en el mes de agosto y fue de 10 a 11 Mcal/m{sup 2}. El minimo consumo correspondio al mes de noviembre fue de 6 a 7 Mcal

  10. Emergency response of Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station during the Great East Japan Earthquake and its lessons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamura, Shinichi

    2016-01-01

    At the time of the occurrence of the Great East Japan Earthquake, Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter, Fukushima Daini) was operating four units of BWRS-5 type plants with an output of 1,100 MWe/unit. Among these plants, No. 1, 2, and 4 Units lost all the functions of heat removal equipment of reactors affected by tsunami. However, ad-hoc activities such as the exchange of submerged motors and temporary power installation allowed the recovery of residual heat removal (RHR) system, leading to a success in cold shutdown. This is a success story more than expectation in dealing with emergency situations, but not necessarily all of the correspondences were successfully carried out, leaving some problems. As lessons, the following are pointed out: (1) confirmation of the damage situation of the site and setting of priority rank of recovery, (2) securement of the means that do not depend on initial on-site activities, and (3) possession at the site of the skills of emergency restoration, equipment diagnostic technology, and repair technology. With reflecting lessons and challenges in these correspondences, Tokyo Electric Power Company is working to improve the accident response capability of the organization including Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station. As an example of effort of emergency response capability strengthening, there is an application of the US Incident Management System (IMS). The company is continuously making efforts for improving safety through training. (A.O.)

  11. Breeding research on sake yeasts in Japan: history, recent technological advances, and future perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitagaki, Hiroshi; Kitamoto, Katsuhiko

    2013-01-01

    Sake is an alcoholic beverage of Japan, with a tradition lasting more than 1,300 years; it is produced from rice and water by fermenting with the koji mold Aspergillus oryzae and sake yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Breeding research on sake yeasts was originally developed in Japan by incorporating microbiological and genetic research methodologies adopted in other scientific areas. Since the advent of a genetic paradigm, isolation of yeast mutants has been a dominant approach for the breeding of favorable sake yeasts. These sake yeasts include (a) those that do not form foams (produced by isolating a mutant that does not stick to foams, thus decreasing the cost of sake production); (b) those that do not produce urea, which leads to the formation of ethyl carbamate, a possible carcinogen (isolated by positive selection in a canavanine-, arginine-, and ornithine-containing medium); (c) those that produce an increased amount of ethyl caproate, an apple-like flavor (produced by isolating a mutant resistant to cerulenin, an inhibitor of fatty-acid synthesis); and (d) those that produce a decreased amount of pyruvate (produced by isolating a mutant resistant to an inhibitor of mitochondrial transport, thus decreasing the amount of diacetyl). Given that sake yeasts perform sexual reproduction, sporulation and mating are potent approaches for their breeding. Recently, the genome sequences of sake yeasts have been determined and made publicly accessible. By utilizing this information, the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for the brewing characteristics of sake yeasts have been identified, which paves a way to DNA marker-assisted selection of the mated strains. Genetic engineering technologies for experimental yeast strains have recently been established by academic groups, and these technologies have also been applied to the breeding of sake yeasts. Sake yeasts whose genomes have been modified with these technologies correspond to genetically modified organisms (GMOs

  12. Institutionalisation of Japan Identity Construction Policy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zadvornaya Elena S.

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to the development of the modern politics of identity construction in Japan, which actively refers to the practice of designing self-image in international relations. This trend dates back to the 19th century, when there was the end of Sakoku (Japan’s policy of isolation. It is now possible to talk about the institutionalization of the identity construction policy to organized structures and regulations. Enhanced efforts in the field of Japanese traditional and popular culture, education and creative content has led to a number of institutions appearance (like Japan Foundation Fund, Japan Creative Agency, Japan Culture Fund, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Cool Japan Fund, Japan brand Fund and changing idea about the role of culture in foreign policy realization (it is fixed the documents of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, as well as a number of projects (Cool Japan, Visit Japan, Japan Culture Power, Japan Manga Awards, Kawaii Ambassadors, Cosplay International Fest and etc.. These efforts are aimed at forming Japan identity abroad to solve a number of foreign policy challenges of the future and the development of economic cooperation. The Japanese government nearest plans is to increase funding in order to create a positive image of Japan in the region of East Asia. All of these allows us to speak about the policy of the Japanese construction of identity as an institutionalized process in which there was clearance of organizations and regulatory activities.

  13. Effectiveness of pregabalin for the treatment of chronic low back pain with accompanying lower limb pain (neuropathic component: a non-interventional study in Japan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taguchi T

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Toshihiko Taguchi,1 Ataru Igarashi,2 Stephen Watt,3 Bruce Parsons,3 Alesia Sadosky,3 Kazutaka Nozawa,4 Kazuhiro Hayakawa,4 Tamotsu Yoshiyama,4 Nozomi Ebata,4 Koichi Fujii4 1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine, Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan; 2Department of Drug Policy and Management, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 3Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA; 4Pfizer Japan, Inc., Tokyo, Japan Objective: To evaluate the impact of pregabalin on sleep, pain, function, and health status in patients with chronic low back pain with accompanying neuropathic pain (CLBP-NeP under routine clinical practice. Methods: This prospective, non-interventional, observational study enrolled Japanese adults (≥18 years with CLBP-NeP of duration ≥3 months and severity ≥5 on a numerical rating scale (0= no pain, 10= worst possible pain. Treatment was 8 weeks with pregabalin (n=157 or usual care alone (n=174; choice of treatment was determined by the physician. The primary efficacy outcome was change from baseline to 8 weeks in pain-related interference with sleep, assessed using the Pain-Related Sleep Interference Scale (PRSIS; 0= did not interfere with sleep, 10= completely interferes with sleep. Secondary endpoints were changes in PRSIS at week 4, and changes at weeks 4 and 8 in pain (numerical rating scale, function (Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire, and quality of life (EuroQol 5D-5L; global assessments of change were evaluated from the clinician and patient perspectives at the final visit. Results: Demographic characteristics were similar between cohorts, but clinical characteristics suggested greater disease severity in the pregabalin group including a higher mean (standard deviation pain score, 6.3 (1.2 versus 5.8 (1.1 (P<0.001. For the primary endpoint, pregabalin resulted in significantly greater improvements in PRSIS at week 8, least-squares mean changes of -1.3 versus

  14. Current status of SFR development in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ieda, Yoshiaki; Chikazawa, Yoshitaka [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokyo (Japan). Project Promotion Office; Kotake, Shoji [Japan Atomic Power Company, Tokyo (Japan)

    2012-03-15

    Fast Reactor development experiences and status in Japan are summarized. Even though international SFR circumstances were against in 1980s and 1990s, e.g. CRBRP, SNR-300 and Superphenix terminations, we kept on with our R and D activities steadily aiming at positive development targets in Japan. As results of our efforts, it has shown that our commercialized SFR concept, Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) could meet the targets in the Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems (FS) and the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development (FaCT) project. Further, Monju has finally achieved restart in May 2010 after having been shut for almost 15 years. A future plan of Monju is to be determined based on a direction of the national nuclear and energy policies that will be established in 2012. The undergoing FaCT project is pursuing commercialization of fast reactor cycle system around 2050 under cooperation of MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), utilities, venders and JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency). As results of the FaCT Phase I, feasibility of the key technologies for JSFR has been evaluated and the project is waiting for launching the phase II due to the Tohoku large earthquake. It is considered that the nuclear development policy might be affected by the Tohoku large Earthquake/Tsunami in Japan. Nevertheless the significance of nuclear energy will not be changed and thus we will focus on the issues learnt from Fukushima accidents and reflect into the improvement of the safety of Monju and the safety design criteria for the next generation Fast Reactor systems. (orig.)

  15. Current status of SFR development in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ieda, Yoshiaki; Chikazawa, Yoshitaka

    2012-01-01

    Fast Reactor development experiences and status in Japan are summarized. Even though international SFR circumstances were against in 1980s and 1990s, e.g. CRBRP, SNR-300 and Superphenix terminations, we kept on with our R and D activities steadily aiming at positive development targets in Japan. As results of our efforts, it has shown that our commercialized SFR concept, Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) could meet the targets in the Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Cycle Systems (FS) and the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development (FaCT) project. Further, Monju has finally achieved restart in May 2010 after having been shut for almost 15 years. A future plan of Monju is to be determined based on a direction of the national nuclear and energy policies that will be established in 2012. The undergoing FaCT project is pursuing commercialization of fast reactor cycle system around 2050 under cooperation of MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry), utilities, venders and JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency). As results of the FaCT Phase I, feasibility of the key technologies for JSFR has been evaluated and the project is waiting for launching the phase II due to the Tohoku large earthquake. It is considered that the nuclear development policy might be affected by the Tohoku large Earthquake/Tsunami in Japan. Nevertheless the significance of nuclear energy will not be changed and thus we will focus on the issues learnt from Fukushima accidents and reflect into the improvement of the safety of Monju and the safety design criteria for the next generation Fast Reactor systems. (orig.)

  16. PREFACE: 3rd International Workshop on Materials Analysis and Processing in Magnetic Fields (MAP3)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakka, Yoshio; Hirota, Noriyuki; Horii, Shigeru; Ando, Tsutomu

    2009-07-01

    the journal Science and Technology of Advanced Materials. All articles have been refereed by experts in the field. Both of these journals are fully accessible electronically and can be cited and referenced in the usual way. It is our hope that the reader will enjoy and profit from the MAP3 Proceedings. Hitoshi Wada (Kashiwa, Japan) Chair Eric Beaugon (Grenoble, France) Hans J Schneider-Muntau (Tallahassee, USA) Co-chair Advisory Board Shigeo Asai (Nagoya, Japan) Koichi Kitazawa (Tokyo, Japan) Mitsuhiro Motokawa (Sendai, Japan) Shoogo Ueno (Fukuoka, Japan) Robert Tournier (Grenoble, France) Justin Schwartz (Tallahassee, USA) J C Maan (Nijmegen, Netherland) Scientific Committee Yoshifumi Tanimoto (Hiroshima, Japan) Masuhiro Yamaguchi (Yokohama, Japan) Tsunehisa Kimura (Kyoto, Japan) Yoshio Sakka (Tsukuba Japan) Ryoichi Aogaki (Tokyo, Japan) Jyunji Miyakoshi (Hirosaki, Japan) Kazuo Watanabe (Sendai, Japan) James M Valles Jr. (Providence, USA) Joon Pyo Park (Pohang, Korea) Qiang Wang (Shenyang, China) Nicole Pamme (Hull, UK) Sophie Rivoirard (Grenoble, France) P C M Christianen (Nijmegen, Netherland) Local Organizing Committee Isao Yamamoto Masafumi Yamato Shigeru Horii Norihito Sogoshi Masateru Ikehata Noriyuki Hirota Tsutomu Ando Proceedings Editorial Board Yoshio Sakka Noriyuki Hirota Shigeru Horii Tsutomu Ando Conference photograph

  17. Ocean iron fertilization - Moving forward in a sea of uncertainty

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Buesseler, K.O.; Doney, S.C.; Karl, D.M.; Boyd, P.W.; Caldeira, K.; Chai, F.; Coale, K.H.; de Baar, H.J.W.; Falkowski, P.G.; Johnson, K.S.; Lampitt, R.S.; Michaels, A.F.; Naqvi, S.W.A.; Smetacek, V.; Takeda, S.; Watson, A.J.

    California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 12National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India. 13Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany. 14Department of Aquatic Bioscience, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. 15School...

  18. Diagnosis and management of transthyretin familial amyloid polyneuropathy in Japan: red-flag symptom clusters and treatment algorithm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sekijima, Yoshiki; Ueda, Mitsuharu; Koike, Haruki; Misawa, Sonoko; Ishii, Tomonori; Ando, Yukio

    2018-01-17

    Hereditary ATTR (ATTRm) amyloidosis (also called transthyretin-type familial amyloid polyneuropathy [ATTR-FAP]) is an autosomal-dominant, adult-onset, rare systemic disorder predominantly characterized by irreversible, progressive, and persistent peripheral nerve damage. TTR gene mutations (e.g. replacement of valine with methionine at position 30 [Val30Met (p.Val50Met)]) lead to destabilization and dissociation of TTR tetramers into variant TTR monomers, which form amyloid fibrils that deposit in peripheral nerves and various organs, giving rise to peripheral and autonomic neuropathy and several non-disease specific symptoms.Phenotypic and genetic variability and non-disease-specific symptoms often delay diagnosis and lead to misdiagnosis. Red-flag symptom clusters simplify diagnosis globally. However, in Japan, types of TTR variants, age of onset, penetrance, and clinical symptoms of Val30Met are more varied than in other countries. Hence, development of a Japan-specific red-flag symptom cluster is warranted. Presence of progressive peripheral sensory-motor polyneuropathy and ≥1 red-flag sign/symptom (e.g. family history, autonomic dysfunction, cardiac involvement, carpal tunnel syndrome, gastrointestinal disturbances, unexplained weight loss, and immunotherapy resistance) suggests ATTR-FAP. Outside of Japan, pharmacotherapeutic options are first-line therapy. However, because of positive outcomes (better life expectancy and higher survival rates) with living donor transplant in Japan, liver transplantation remains first-line treatment, necessitating a Japan-specific treatment algorithm.Herein, we present a consolidated review of the ATTR-FAP Val30Met landscape in Japan and summarize findings from a medical advisory board meeting held in Tokyo on 18th August 2016, at which a Japan-specific ATTR-FAP red-flag symptom cluster and treatment algorithm was developed. Beside liver transplantation, a TTR-stabilizing agent (e.g. tafamidis) is a treatment option. Early

  19. [Two Outbreaks of Yersinia enterocolitica O:8 Infections in Tokyo and the Characterization of Isolates].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konishi, Noriko; Ishitsuka, Rie; Yokoyama, Keiko; Saiki, Dai; Akase, Satoru; Monma, Chie; Hirai, Akihiko; Sadamasu, Kenji; Kai, Akemi

    2016-01-01

    Although the number of outbreaks caused by Yersinia enterocolitica has been very small in Japan, 4 outbreaks were occurred during the 2 years between 2012 and 2013. We describe herein 2 outbreaks which were examined in Tokyo in the present study. Outbreak 1: A total of 39 people (37 high school students and 2 staff) stayed at a hotel in mountain area in Japan had experienced abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever in August, 2012. The Y. enterocolitica serogroup O:8 was isolated from 18 (64.3%) out of 28 fecal specimens of 28 patients. The infection roots could not be revealed because Y. enterocolitica was not detected from any meals at the hotel or its environment. Outbreak 2: A total of 52 students at a dormitory had diarrhea and fever in April, 2013. The results of the bacteriological and virological examinations of fecal specimens of patients showed that the Y. enterocolitica serogroup O:8 was isolated from 24 fecal specimens of 21 patients and 3 kitchen staff. We performed bacteriological and virological examination of the stored and preserved foods at the kitchen of the dormitory to reveal the suspect food. For the detection of Y. enterocolitica, food samples. together with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were incubated at 4 degrees C for 21 days. Then, a screening test for Y. enterocolitica using realtime-PCR targeting the ail gene was performed against the PBS culture. One sample (fresh vegetable salad) tested was positive on realtime-PCR. No Y. enterocolitica was isolated on CIN agar from the PBS culture because many bacteria colonies other than Y. enterocolitica appeared on the CIN agar. After the alkaline-treatments of the culture broth or the immunomagnetic beads concentration method using anti-Y. enterocolitica O:8 antibodies, Y. enterocolitica O:8 which was the same serogroup as the patients' isolates was successfully isolated from the PBS culture. The fresh vegetable salad was confirmed as the incrimination food of this outbreak.

  20. Japan – China: Official Development Assistance as a Tool of Economic Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugene Borisovich Kovrigin

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the outstanding role and implications of Japan’s ODA to the People’s Republic of China in the bilateral relations from the early 1980s till its termination in the 2000s. Being by far the biggest single provider of low-interest loans and grants to a state with a totally different political system Japan sought to achieve its own economic and political aims. The controversial nature of government financial flows from Tokyo to Beijing resulted in substantial economic gains (foreign trade and direct investment and vice versa a disappointment in the political realm. The paper reveals peculiarities of Japan’s ODA to the PRC in the framework of international economic relations, its significance for the modernization of China’s industrial and social infrastructure, unparalleled conditions for receiving Japanese aid which were imposed by China’s authorities, the change of public opinion in Japan towards the problem, etc. The article also explores the current transformation of China from the status of leading recipient of Japanese assistance to Japan’s successful «competitor» as a donor of financial resources and technical assistance to the numerous nations of Africa, Southeast Asia and other regions