Developing an Indicator for Environment Improvement Potential in the Agricultural Sector

Agriculture and forestry produce various environmental benefits such as CO2 absorption and water storage as well as food and energy crops. Environmental benefits contribute to improving the environment. This means agriculture has the potential to improve the environment. By measuring such potential, we can understand agriculture's affect on the environment. However, both environmental loads and benefits should be taken into account because agriculture produces not only environmental benefits but also environmental loads, and both affect the agricultural potential for improving the environment. Furthermore, as potential cannot be calculated by a single environmental factor, it is necessary to consider various environmental factors in the measurements. Therefore, a new comprehensive indicator is required for understanding the potential to improve the environment. To develop the indicator, the National Accounting Matrix including Environmental Accounts (NAMEA) is applied to manage information concerning economies and environments, and the Ecological Footprint (EF) can also be adapted to integrate individual environmental factors. In this paper, a new indicator is introduced that measures the agricultural sector's potential for improving the environment. A trial estimation of the indicator is done by using a case study from Hokkaido, Japan.Environmental Economics and Policy, Q56, Q57,

Central mechanisms of taste: Cognition, emotion and taste-elicited behaviors

SummaryTaste is unique among sensory systems in its innate association with mechanisms of reward and aversion in addition to its recognition of quality, e.g., sucrose is sweet and preferable, and quinine is bitter and aversive. Taste information is sent to the reward system and feeding center via the prefrontal cortices such as the mediodorsal and ventrolateral prefrontal cortices in rodents and the orbitofrontal cortex in primates. The amygdala, which receives taste inputs, also influences reward and feeding. In terms of neuroactive substances, palatability is closely related to benzodiazepine derivatives and β-endorphin, both of which facilitate consumption of food and fluid. The reward system contains the ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens and ventral pallidum and finally sends information to the lateral hypothalamic area, the feeding center. The dopaminergic system originating from the ventral tegmental area mediates the motivation to consume palatable food. The actual ingestive behavior is promoted by the orexigenic neuropeptides from the hypothalamus. Even palatable food can become aversive and avoided as a consequence of a postingestional unpleasant experience such as malaise. The neural mechanisms of this conditioned taste aversion will also be elucidated

Issues of Consensus and Concern: Family Relationships of the Elderly in the United States and Japan

The purpose of this study was to explore cultural differences between America and Japan concerning four domains: past family relationships, current family relationships, the support network, and well-being. Concern and consensus in the family are the principal background issues in this study. In America there has been a change from consensus (sharing basic similarity of values or attitudes and interests) to concern (an intense emotional involvement and affectional closeness). In contrasting the American and Japanese societies, consensus and concern constitute different orders from a more traditional context to the current societal context. This cultural difference impacts the relationship between the dynamics of the family in the early formative years, and how the individual responds within the current family. Ramifications are apparent in the quality of the current relationships, use of informal and formal support networks, and individual well-being. The Family of Origin Scale was used to measure past family relationships. The Positive Affect Index and Interaction Index were used to measure current family relationships. The support network was measured by questions selected from the Older Americans Resources and Services Program. The revised version of the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Moral Scale, the Life Satisfaction Index A, and the LSI-K (1990) constituted the measurement devices for personal well-being. The sample consisted of elderly individuals 70 to 79 years of age, 77 from America and 42 from Japan. The major finding in America was that this society has changed from a consensus to a concern orientation. For example, autonomy is positively related to personal well-being. The relationship holds true in terms of past family experiences as well as current family relationships. The data also show the impact of rapid social change in the nation of Japan. Japanese culture reflects an orientation change from traditional family concern to more of a consensus perspective. Family and personal well-being are related to perceived family intimacy in the past. A positive perception of current family relations was related to solidarity. It was concluded that rapid social change and modernization in Japan have brought about these major changes in terms of consensus and concern. Shifts on these two dimensions have implications for the adjustment and well-being of the elderly in a family context