Mechanisms of vowel devoicing in Japanese

The processes of vowel devoicing in Standard Japanese were examined with respect to the phonetic and phonological environments and the syllable structure of Japanese, in comparison with vowel reduction processes in other languages, in most of which vowel reduction occurs optionally in fast or casual speech. This thesis examined whether Japanese vowel devoicing was a phonetic phenomenon caused by glottal assimilation between a high vowel and its adjacent voiceless consonants, or it was a more phonologically controlled compulsory process. Experimental results showed that Japanese high vowel devoicing must be analysed separately in two devoicing conditions, namely single and consecutive devoicing environments. Devoicing was almost compulsory regardless of the presence of proposed blocking factors such as type of preceding consonant, accentuation, position in an utterance, as long as there was no devoiceable vowel in adjacent morae (single devoicing condition). However, under consecutive devoicing conditions, blocking factors became effective and prevented some devoiceable vowels from becoming voiceless. The effect of speaking rate was also generally minimal in the single devoicing condition, but in the consecutive devoicing condition, the vowels were devoiced more at faster tempi than slower tempi, which created many examples of consecutively devoiced vowels over two morae. Durational observations found that vowel devoicing involves not only phonatory change, but also slight durational reduction. However, the shorter duration of devoiced syllables were adjusted at the word level, so that the whole duration of a word with devoiced vowels remained similar to the word without devoiced vowels, regardless of the number of devoiced vowels in the word. It must be noted that there was no clear-cut distinction between voiced and devoiced vowels, and the phonetic realisation of a devoiced vowel could vary from fully voiced to completely voiceless. A high vowel may be voiced in a typical devoicing environment, but its intensity is significantly weaker than those of vowels in a non-devoicing environment, at all speaking tempi. The mean differences of vowel intensities between these environments were generally higher at faster tempi. The results implied that even when the vowel was voiced, its production process moved in favour of devoicing. However, in consecutive devoicing conditions, this process did not always apply. When some of the devoiceable vowels were devoiced in the consecutive devoicing environment, the intensities of devoiceable vowels were not significantly lower than those of other vowels. The results of intensity measurements of voiced vowels in the devoicing and nondevoicing environments suggested that Japanese vowel devoicing was part of the overall process of complex vowel weakening, and that a completely devoiced vowel was the final state of the weakening process. Japanese vowel devoicing is primarily a process of glottal assimilation, but the results in the consecutive devoicing condition showed that this process was constrained by Japanese syllable structure

Neighborhood farm density, types of agriculture, and depressive symptoms among older farmers: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Farmers may have an increased risk for poor mental health. In connection with this, factors specific to the neighborhood environment such as farm density and the type of agriculture, might be important for mental wellbeing. In this study we aimed to clarify the cross-level interaction on depressive symptoms between farm density at the neighborhood level by type of agriculture and the longest occupation of individuals (farmer or non-farmer). METHODS: Data came from the 2016 wave of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) that were linked to governmental agricultural data. Information was analyzed from 147, 549 respondents aged 65 years or older, residing in 1024 neighborhoods in 39 municipalities. We calculated farm (crop or animal husbandry) density at the neighborhood level, dividing the number of agricultural management entities by the population. Three-level (individual, neighborhood, and municipality) Poisson regression analysis was used to calculate the prevalence rate ratios of depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher among individuals whose longest occupation was farmer compared to non-farmer. The estimated probability of depressive symptoms by a cross-level interaction analysis showed that among farmers of both genders, those who were residing in neighborhoods where the farm density was low had a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, regardless of the type of agriculture. The slope of the relationship between depressive symptoms and animal husbandry farm density varied by occupation, with a higher prevalence of depressive symptoms observed in male farmers compared to male non-farmers. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of depressive symptoms among farmers in neighborhoods with a low farm density may reflect a scarcity of formal and informal social support in such communities. The health effects of the neighborhood environment on farmers, such as farm density, which may vary by the type of agriculture, should be further researched

“Don’t Know” responses in young adults’ inferences about the emotions of self and others in equivocal versus unequivocal emotional situations

This study investigated how people around 20 years of age make “Don’t Know” (DK) responses in inferring the emotions of others in equivocal versus unequivocal (positive or negative) emotional situations. There were four main patterns of results: (1) The frequency of DK responses was greater in equivocal situations than in unequivocal situations. (2) DK responses in inferring the emotions of others (Other Emotion Condition; OEC) were more frequent than DK responses in inferring the emotions of self (Self Emotion Condition; SEC), although this difference was not found in unequivocal situations. (3) In equivocal situations, DK responses occurred more frequently when inferences about the self were made first (Self First Condition; SFC) than when inferences about others were made first (Other First Condition; OFC). This suggests that inferring the emotions of self activates self-consciousness and enhances discrimination between self and others, thus increasing the frequency of occurrence of DK responses. (4) In an analysis of response patterns (distributions of DK responses), a lack of correspondence was found between DK responses in SEC and in OEC. This suggests that the projection of inferencing about the self --that is, an egocentric process--does not appear (or appears only weakly) with DK responses in inferring the emotions of others

Differences in depressive symptoms by rurality in Japan: a cross-sectional multilevel study using different aggregation units of municipalities and neighborhoods (JAGES)

[Background] Rurality can reflect many aspects of the community, including community characteristics that may be associated with mental health. In this study, we focused on geographical units to address multiple layers of a rural environment. By evaluating rurality at both the municipality and neighborhood (i.e., a smaller unit within a municipality) levels in Japan, we aimed to elucidate the relationship between depression and rurality. To explore the mechanisms linking rurality and depression, we examined how the association between rurality and depression can be explained by community social capital according to geographical units. [Methods] We used cross-sectional data from the 2016 wave of the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study involving 144, 822 respondents aged 65 years or older residing in 937 neighborhoods across 39 municipalities. The population density quintile for municipality-level rurality and the quintile for the time required to reach densely inhabited districts for neighborhood-level rurality were used. We calculated the prevalence ratios of depressive symptoms by gender using a three-level (individual, neighborhood, and municipality) Poisson regression. Community social capital was assessed using three components: civic participation, social cohesion, and reciprocity. [Results] The prevalence of depressive symptoms was higher in municipalities with lower population density than those with the highest population density; the ratios were 1.22 (95% confidence intervals: 1.15, 1.30) for men and 1.22 (1.13, 1.31) for women. In contrast, when evaluating rurality at the neighborhood level, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 0.9 times lower for men in rural areas; no such association was observed for women. In rural municipalities, community civic participation was associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms. In rural neighborhoods, community social cohesion and reciprocity were linked to a lower risk of depressive symptoms. [Conclusions] The association between rurality and depression varied according to geographical unit. In rural municipalities, the risk of depression may be higher for both men and women, and the presence of an environment conducive to civic participation may contribute to a higher risk of depression, as observed in this study. The risk of depression in men may be lower in rural neighborhoods in Japan, which may be related to high social cohesion and reciprocity

Spectral and temporal implementation of Japanese speakers' English vowel categories : a corpus-based study

This study investigates the predictions of second language (L2) speech acquisition models — SLM(-r), PAM(-L2), and L2LP — on how native (L1) Japanese speakers implement the spectral and temporal aspects of L2 American English vowel categories. Data were obtained from 102 L1 Japanese speakers in the J-AESOP corpus, which also includes nativelikeness judgments by trained phoneticians. Spectrally, speakers judged to be non-nativelike showed a strong influence from L1 categories, except L2 /ʌ/ which could be deflected away from L1 /a/ according to SLM(-r) and L2 /ɑː/ which seemed orthographically assimilated to L1 /o/ according to PAM(-L2). More nativelike speakers showed vowel spectra similar to those of native English speakers across all vowels, in accordance with L2LP. Temporally, although speakers tended to equate the phonetic length of English vowels with Japanese phonemic length distinctions, segment-level L1-L2 category similarity was not a significant predictor of the speakers’ nativelikeness. Instead, the implementation of prosodic-level factors such as stress and phrase-final lengthening were better predictors. The results highlight the importance of suprasegmental factors in successful category learning and also reveal a weakness in current models of L2 speech acquisition, which focus primarily on the segmental level. Theoretical and pedagogical implications are discussed

Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) inhibits monocyte–endothelial cell interaction by regulating of RhoA activity

AbstractRecent studies suggest that sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) protects against atherosclerosis. We assessed the effects of S1P on monocyte–endothelial interaction in the presence of inflammatory mediators. Pretreatment of THP-1 cells with S1P abolished Phorbol 12 myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-induced THP-1 cell adhesion to human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). S1P inhibited PMA-induced activation of RhoA, but not PKCs. S1P activated p190Rho GTPase activation protein (GAP) only in the presence of PMA, suggesting an inhibitory effect of S1P and PMA to suppress RhoA. In conclusion, S1P inhibited monocyte–endothelial interactions by inhibiting RhoA activity which may explain its anti-atherogenic effects

Worry about crime and loneliness in nine countries of the former Soviet Union

Worry about crime has been linked to several detrimental outcomes including worse mental health. However, there has been little research on the association between worry about crime and loneliness, even though loneliness is increasingly being recognised as a serious public health issue. To address this deficit, this study examined the association between worry about crime and loneliness in nine countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, and Ukraine), using data from 18, 000 respondents aged 18 and above that were collected during the Health in Times of Transition (HITT) survey in 2010/11. Results from a pooled logistic regression analysis showed that compared to those who reported no worry about crime, individuals with a high level of worry had significantly higher odds of loneliness (odds ratio [OR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17–1.75). Sex- and age-stratified analyses further showed that the association was observed in women with a mid (OR: 1.37, 95%CI: 1.10–1.71) and a high level (OR: 1.70, 95%CI: 1.33–2.17) of worry about crime but not in men, and that a high level of worry about crime was linked to loneliness in adults aged 35–59 (OR: 1.39, 95%CI: 1.02–1.91) and 60 and above (OR: 1.64, 95%CI: 1.12–2.40) but not in those aged 18–34. High levels of worry about crime are associated with loneliness in the FSU countries. Reducing crime and its associated worries may have important public health benefits in these countries

Storing Medical Records of A-Bomb Survivors on Optical Disks

Medical records of A-bomb survivors include numerical data and non-numerical data such as handwritten description. We have been storing the numerical data in medical records into a data base. We started to store the nonnumerical data on optical disks. We analyzed the significance and usefulness of storing them. The nonnumerical data of symptoms can not be evaluated by but can be analyzed with the numerical data. It was concluded that storing non-numerical data in the medical records on the optical disks would be worthy

Factors Determining Satisfaction with Daily Life of Elderly A-bomb Survivors

From the analysis of questionnaires to elderly A-bomb survivors of over 65 years old, we analysed factors which determined satisfaction with daily life. Analysed categories were housing condition, life style, occupational status, health condition and family status. From the analysis, to be an A-bomb survivor was not a factor for satisfaction with daily life, and it became clear that living in a rented room, not satisfying one\u27s job and low income were serious factors which kept elderly people from the satisfaction with daily life. It must be necessary to improve these factors for the satisfaction of elderly people

Death Rate of Survivors in Nagasaki at Early Time of A-Bomb Explosion

The death rate of survivors at early time after A-bomb explosion was analyzed with the A-bomb disaster survey in Nagasaki city. Survivors who were alive September 1st, 1945 was 20,746 persons, in which 17,869 persons (86.1%) had information for the analysis. The death rate in 1945 of survivors exposed in their houses at less than 1,199 m from the hypocenter was higher than those exposed not in their houses. The death rate of survivors in 1946 decreased rapidly, although that of survivors exposed at less than 1,199 m from the hypocenter was still high