Structural Issues in the Japanese Labor Market: An Era of Variety, Equity, and Efficiency or an Era of Bipolarization?

This paper describes several structural changes in the Japanese labor market and related institutional factors with special emphasis on the labor supplies of part-time workers and discouraged workers. We also discuss necessary reforms in the labor market and some implications of such structural changes on the conduct of monetary policy.

余剰次元及び修正重力理論によるインフレーションモデル

首都大学東京, 2019-03-25, 博士（理学）, 甲第843号首都大学東

Kernel Interpolation of Incident Sound Field in Region Including Scattering Objects

A method for estimating the incident sound field inside a region containing scattering objects is proposed. The sound field estimation method has various applications, such as spatial audio capturing and spatial active noise control; however, most existing methods do not take into account the presence of scatterers within the target estimation region. Although several techniques exist that employ knowledge or measurements of the properties of the scattering objects, it is usually difficult to obtain them precisely in advance, and their properties may change during the estimation process. Our proposed method is based on the kernel ridge regression of the incident field, with a separation from the scattering field represented by a spherical wave function expansion, thus eliminating the need for prior modeling or measurements of the scatterers. Moreover, we introduce a weighting matrix to induce smoothness of the scattering field in the angular direction, which alleviates the effect of the truncation order of the expansion coefficients on the estimation accuracy. Experimental results indicate that the proposed method achieves a higher level of estimation accuracy than the kernel ridge regression without separation.Comment: Accepted to IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics (WASPAA) 202

Randall-Sundrum Brane-World

首都大学東

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy studies of graphite edges

We studied experimentally and theoretically the electronic local density of states (LDOS) near single step edges at the surface of exfoliated graphite. In scanning tunneling microscopy measurements, we observed the $(\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}) R 30^{\circ}$ and honeycomb superstructures extending over 3$-$4 nm both from the zigzag and armchair edges. Calculations based on a density-functional derived non-orthogonal tight-binding model show that these superstructures can coexist if the two types of edges admix each other in real graphite step edges. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements near the zigzag edge reveal a clear peak in the LDOS at an energy below the Fermi energy by 20 meV. No such a peak was observed near the armchair edge. We concluded that this peak corresponds to the "edge state" theoretically predicted for graphene ribbons, since a similar prominent LDOS peak due to the edge state is obtained by the first principles calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, APF9, Appl. Surf. Sci. \bf{241}, 43 (2005

Electronic and Magnetic Properties of Nanographite Ribbons

Electronic and magnetic properties of ribbon-shaped nanographite systems with zigzag and armchair edges in a magnetic field are investigated by using a tight binding model. One of the most remarkable features of these systems is the appearance of edge states, strongly localized near zigzag edges. The edge state in magnetic field, generating a rational fraction of the magnetic flux (\phi= p/q) in each hexagonal plaquette of the graphite plane, behaves like a zero-field edge state with q internal degrees of freedom. The orbital diamagnetic susceptibility strongly depends on the edge shapes. The reason is found in the analysis of the ring currents, which are very sensitive to the lattice topology near the edge. Moreover, the orbital diamagnetic susceptibility is scaled as a function of the temperature, Fermi energy and ribbon width. Because the edge states lead to a sharp peak in the density of states at the Fermi level, the graphite ribbons with zigzag edges show Curie-like temperature dependence of the Pauli paramagnetic susceptibility. Hence, it is shown that the crossover from high-temperature diamagnetic to low-temperature paramagnetic behavior of the magnetic susceptibility of nanographite ribbons with zigzag edges.Comment: 13 pages including 19 figures, submitted to Physical Rev

Diminished Gastric Resection Preserves Better Quality of Life in Patients with Early Gastric Cancer

Using the Postgastrectomy Syndrome Assessment Scale (PGSAS)-45, we compared the surgical outcomes and the quality of life (QOL) between patients undergoing limited gastrectomies and those undergoing conventional gastrectomies. In Oomoto Hospital between January 2004 and December 2013, a total of 124 patients who met the eligibility criteria were enrolled. Using the main outcome measures of PGSAS-45, we compared 4 types of limited gastrectomy procedures (1/2 distal gastrectomy [1/2DG] in 21 patients; pylorus-preserving gastrectomy [PPG] in 15 patients; segmental gastrectomy [SG] in 26 patients; and local resection [LR] in 13 patients) with conventional gastrectomy (total gastrectomy [TG] in 24 patients and 2/3 or more distal gastrectomy [WDG] in 25 patients). The TG group showed the worst QOL in almost all items of the main outcome measures. The 1/2DG, PPG, and SG groups showed better QOL than the WDG group in many of the main outcome measures, including the body weight ratio, total symptom score, ingested amount of food per meal, and the dissatisfaction for daily life subscale. The LR group showed a better intake of food than the 1/2DG, PPG, and SG groups. The body weight ratio of the LR group was better than that of the SG group. Diminished gastric resection preserved better QOL in patients with early gastric cancer

Superoxide anion production by neutrophils in myelodysplastic syndromes (preleukemia).

Superoxide anion (O2-) production by neutrophils from 14 untreated patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) was significantly less than that of healthy controls (4.93 +/- 1.99 vx 6.20 +/- 1.53 nmol/min/10(6) neutrophils, p less than 0.05). In 10 patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), however, it was not significantly different from the control level although 6 of the 10 patients had low levels, when individual patients were compared with the lower limit of the control range. An inverse correlation between the O2- production of neutrophils and the percentage of leukemic cells in the marrow existed in ANLL (r = -0.55, p less than 0.01), but not in MDS. Three of 4 MDS patients who died of pneumonia prior to leukemic conversion showed a low level of O2- production. The impaired O2- production by neutrophils from some MDS patients, probably due to the faulty differentiation from leukemic clones, may be one of the causes of enhanced susceptibility to infection.</p