Study Plans Concerning Monetary Evaluation of Mitigation Measures for the Fukushima Daiichi Accident

10th Eco-Energy and Materials Science and Engineering (EMSES2012)The Fukushima Daiichi accident raises various kinds of social unease in Japan. Especially, unease for radioactive contamination around the Fukushima Daiichi plant is serious. Also, around the other nuclear power plants, local residents would feel unease for a similar accident in the future. Although the government and the electric power companies have already implemented or plan to implement several measures to mitigate such unease, it is difficult to progress their policies effectively because the effect of each measure is not quantitatively clarified. The purpose of our research is to evaluate these effects by analyzing fluctuations in local property values and local residents economic welfare, which are monetary indexes reflecting the social unease, to construct information that is useful to plan an optimal package of mitigation measures in each nuclear power plant site from the viewpoint of cost-benefit analysis. In this paper, we explain the immediate plans of this research and its academic and political contributions

Nature and Happiness Levels: New SWB Domains for Rivers, a Lake, and Forests

By using a questionnaire survey, we measured nature-related happiness levels, which include specific domains that differ from the overall subjective well-being (SWB) in a Japanese watershed. We regarded nature-related happiness levels, specifically related to rivers, a lake, or forests, as meaningful indices because many people living separated from nature may be unaware of their relationship with nature. We found that nature-related happiness levels had convergent validity and distinct correlation patterns with the explanatory variables, and these patterns were different from those of the overall SWB. These findings support the case of measuring nature-related happiness levels and overall SWB. Nature-related happiness levels were positively correlated with leisure activities and contact with living things. The abundance of rivers in a district is negatively associated with river-related happiness. We speculated that this was due to unidentified disservices associated with the rivers. Lake-related happiness has stronger correlations with relaxation benefits than symbolism, local food culture, art/culture, or water sources. Considering these findings, policymakers should formulate policies based on nature-related happiness levels. Because nature-related happiness levels are not correlated with income level, such policies may contribute to residents’ well-being in an egalitarian manner

Practical research on "time for comprehensive learning" for building relationships -Examination from collaborative learning in the revised course of study-

Since the revision of the Course of Study (2017), unlike the previous "time for comprehensive study", "through cross-sectional and comprehensive study, we can better solve problems and improve our own way of life. The content emphasizes "cultivating qualities and abilities to think" and "collaboration learning" and "inquiry". In this paper, we take up the decline in happiness in Japan, which is a global issue, as an issue, explore the significance of this study based on the practice cases of primary education in "total study time", and explore the moral value of different age education. From the expansion of The theory for connecting was clarified.　 In addition, in order to build "tolerance" and "reason," we considered measures toward the essence of self-adjustment, and suggested the ideal way of communicative action to ask the truth with the effect of education for different ages.departmental bulletin pape

Influence of limb alignment and prosthetic orientation on patient-reported clinical outcomes in total knee arthroplasty

Background: The relationship between postoperative limb alignment and clinical outcomes in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is well reported, but the instruments used to evaluate clinical outcomes of TKA are mainly scoring systems from the physician's viewpoint, not patient-reported outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate retrospectively the relationship between postoperative limb alignment and patient-reported clinical outcomes using the 2011 Knee Society Knee Scoring System (2011 KSS). Methods: The present study included 155 knees of patients (median age, 74 years) who underwent primary TKA for varus osteoarthritis, with a mean follow-up period of 46 months. The subjects were divided into three groups based on postoperative limb alignment and femoral and tibial component positioning angle (varus, neutral, and valgus). The 2011 KSS scores were compared among the groups. Results: For limb alignment, the postoperative objective knee indicator score was significantly lower in the valgus group than in the varus and neutral groups, whereas no significant differences were observed in any subjective categories of the 2011 KSS. However, for the femoral component angle, functional activity scores were significantly lower in the valgus group than in the varus and neutral groups. Conclusions: The subjective patient-reported score was not affected by the postoperative limb alignment. However, the valgus femoral component angle resulted in lower subjective functional scores. For clinical relevance, postoperative valgus positioning of femoral component should be avoided from patient-reported functional aspects during TKA