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In recent years, with the increase of online learning platforms, obtaining learning behavior data from students, are becoming easy. However, analyzing the data to extract meaningful information remains challenging due to the data volume and complexity. Here, we apply Self-organizing Maps (SOM) to visualize the learning characteristics of many elementary students over many online assignments in mathematics class. As a case study, this research used the data log of MONSAKUN, a digital learning environment that focuses on exercising arithmetic using story-based questions by using a problem-posing approach with the integration of mathematical sentences. Our primary objective is to give intuitive understanding to the teachers regarding the students' performance that subsequently allows the teachers to generate meaningful advices. Here, SOM generates a two-dimensional map that preserved the topological order of high-dimensional learning characteristics data, in which students with similar learning characteristics are located close to each other, while students with significantly different characteristics are distanced from each other. We are interested especially in locating low-performing students, as they are the most important to be given advice by the teachers. By locating the low-performing students and other students in their vicinity on the map, the teacher may be able to use other students as references for improving the low-performing students' performances. The idea is to mimic the learning characteristics of the students designated as references. Due to the learning characteristics similarity, the low-performing students do not need to make drastic changes in their learning styles. It can be expected that by iterating this process over many assignments, the students' performances will gradually be improved. In this paper, we utilized a digital learning platform MONSAKUN, for learning arithmetic used in Japan. In this paper, we present our preliminary results in the form a learning-visualization of characteristics students of analytical and advisory tools and described our future goals for building a more flexible and general tool that can be deployed in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the simplified method for evaluating the seismic performance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings following The Japan Building Disaster Prevention Association standard. In this method, the seismic performance of RC buildings was described in lateral strength and ductility indexes of vertical members such as columns, short columns, and masonry walls. The simplified method was applied to assess the seismic performance of an existing building that survived the September 2009 West Sumatra earthquake. The evaluated building was a three-story RC building that used brick masonry walls as the infill. The shear stress of the brick infill was obtained based on the test results on the RC frame with brick infill under static lateral load. The analysis reveals the seismic performance of the building as the reason that the building could survive the earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a growing demand in Japan for efficient knowledge and technology transfer from veteran workers to younger workers and for improved productivity against the backdrop of labor shortages and aging populations in the nursing care and manufacturing industries. Conventional digital twin systems have focused on sensor data, and have been working to improve operational efficiency in digital space based on the collected sensor data. Therefore, we propose the concept of a Human Centric Digital Twin that captures human awareness and context in cyberspace, and utilizes human awareness and thought by machine sensors and human sensors. This knowledge generated by humans themselves contains a lot of contexts, which is difficult to incorporate in conventional DX methods. In many cases, the knowledge that workers in the field have is context-dependent and dynamic, unlike the formal knowledge described in manuals. Therefore, the cost of converting "Gen-Ba Knowledge" into formal knowledge as it is high, and has prevented its utilization. We have developed "kNowledge eXplication AugmenteR (kNeXaR)" and "Smart Voice Messaging System (SVMS)" as methods and tools to support structuring human awareness and thoughts. kNeXaR is a knowledge structuring method and tool for procedurally describing dynamic knowledge such as tasks in a goal-oriented manner while maintaining human readability and machine readability. SVMS is able to collect onsite knowledge in the form of spoken words, which is difficult to collect in the past. Using a smartphone, workers in the field can voice record what they notice and think about while working. In many cases, the messages obtained during the work are recorded with the purpose of the work, the content of the work, what they thought about what they observed in light of their own experience, and unusual situations. In this paper, while introducing the respective functions of kNeXaR and SVMS, we introduce the concept of implementing the Human Centric Digital Twin, which is a structured knowledge component based on messages from SVMS that collects work and observations in the field. We propose a method to dynamically create "Structured Knowledge Snippets", which are parts of structured knowledge, based on messages from SVMS, and to construct structured knowledge in a workshop using kNeXaR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview and critical evaluation of a 7-week elective course at a computer science university in Japan. The course teaches undergraduate learners of English to use online English corpora to access information about patterns of language use that can help them answer their own questions and apply new insights to their English speaking and writing in ways that are more appropriate to their contexts of use. Examples of relevant data include the normalized frequencies of near-synonyms, pairs of strongly collocated words and frequent grammatical patterns in which key words appear. The course overview is supplemented with discussion of particular activity examples and resources which teachers can use to develop their own in-class exercises using authentic language data. These activities are evaluated critically via in-class observations made by the teacher as well as student feedback on the course. These evaluations suggest that students see this type of course as relevant and beneficial for improving their language learning, although improvements in the form of clearer instructions, applications of corpus-derived knowledge to writing assignments, and more objective assessment criteria are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the 21st century, it is important to not only develop global competences but also local competences of students. Global competences are too general to address a problem bound by the local context and thus such problem requires more specific local competences. In this paper, the local competences are identified as being related to the practical problem solving, the collaboration, utilization of local resources, and an initiative within the community. This paper discusses how the local competences are realized through the case of Shobara city in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Especially, in the mathematics education perspective, problem-solving and model eliciting activities could be core where the local contexts and data can be utilized to describe the local problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the free vibration analysis of the Functionally Grade Material (FGM) in a circular plate using the DST-BK element. FGM is a new type of composite material and was introduced in 1984 in Japan. This material consists of two or more materials and is very resistant to a high-temperature environment. The DST-BK element is a triangular element that can be used to analyze thick to thin plate problems. This element is free of shear locking, passes a patch test, and gives good results in the isotropic plate problem. The FGM circular plate's free vibration is evaluated using this element with two different Radius thickness (R/h) ratios and three mesh configurations. The results show that the DST-BK element yields good results compared to the reference solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese government permitted to install PV, named Agrivoltaic, on a running farm by 2013. The purposes of this commission are securing land for renewable energy installation and increasing new, young farmer. This paper clarifies both optimized Agrivoltaic structure and Agrivoltaic introduction potential. The structure optimization is considered as 3 dimensional using 3D-CAD and agricultural crop growth program is simulated to evaluate the effect of sunlight shading on PV. Agrivoltaic introduction potential assessment involved installation environment geographical data (like radiation strength, ground strength, distance to neighbors, and amount of snowing) This paper utilized geographical information system for topological assessment. These processes evaluate current and future Agrivoltaic installation potential following multi criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building a house in urban area is very costly and also leaving a bunch amount of construction waste. Many efforts were made to reduce the load of this waste. However, the high demand of residences in metropolitan makes the waste problem needs to be solved together. Based on this problem, author chooses Omah, - a Javanese traditional house, which is built, based on the traditional system of life of Javanese people - displacement from rural to urban area as the alternative solution, as it uses selected materials from nature by considering the sustainability and preservation for future generation. The wooden building is built based on traditional construction system that follows Javanese principles and traditional calculation, based on philosophy and cosmology in the community. This paper will covers utilization of Omah in urban area as an implementation of green design, which refers to the concepts of reuse, reduce, recycle and responsibility. Through expert interviews and field surveys in urban and rural areas, author collected data needed for this paper. Although the functionality of the building is different from rural to urban requirements, the phenomenon of Omah displacement from Javanese habitat to urban living area is well accepted and becomes an interesting trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

XMASS is a multi-purpose experiment using a single-phase liquid xenon scintillator located underground at the Kamioka Observatory in Japan. Thanks to the high light yield of liquid xenon and stable data taking for more than 5 years, we have published many physics results not limited to but including two-neutrino double electron capture on 124Xe, axions and various kinds of dark matter searches. In this paper, we discuss the latest results from the XMASS experiment focused on the direct direction of dark matter search via annual modulation with 2.7 years of XMASS-I data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a method to predict mechanical failure-mechanicsm. This method is capable of predicting failure mechanism of diverse geo-hazards, such as landslides, rock slope failures, etc. The method uses the displacement or strain divergence phenomenon in the fatal phase of failure to predict failure mechanism irrespective of failure mechanism, lithology and other parameters. Using the proposed method (RocSlope), prediction of failure mechanism of case histories was done (Rock mass failure and landslides) and laboratory studies (creep tests). In most cases, safe predictions were obtained. RocSlope, is a simple, quick and reliable practical method that revealed independency to volume of failure, lithology and failure mechanism. In addition, two empirical relations to estimate the terminal phase of failure and the critical deformation rate were developed, these practical relations complement the RocSlope method. This research will analysed rock orginally from a cool temperate region in West Hokkaido,Japan was presented. A rock slope deformations of jointed- chert rock were monitored using six surface fracturedisplacement sensors. Some movements that could be related to joint growth were observed. With the RocSlope, rock mass and rock deformations were numerically analysed and joints deformations were dominantly caused by thermal fatigue. Affects of the minor freezing on deformation of rock slope can be seen were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) field, condenser water is used to remove heat from the refrigerant cycle and is cooled at cooling towers. Due to the high operating temperatures of 29°C to 38°C, the condenser water cycle is vulnerable to operating issues such as scaling, corrosion and microbiological proliferation; which can be mitigated through either chemical or non-chemical treatment methods. In this paper, the chemical and non-chemical treatment methods for condenser water treatment in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are compared in terms of efficiency (scaling, corrosion and microbiological proliferation control) and environmental impact. The efficiency of one chemical treatment system (descalant) and three non-chemical treatment systems (Merus Ring, Power Pulsed and Ultra Low Frequency) are investigated by taking condenser water samples from the cooling tower basins biweekly for three months to characterize for pH, water alkalinity, iron content, chloride content, total dissolved solids (TDS) content, electrical conductivity and water hardness, which are compared to the Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association Standards (JRA-GL-02-1994) and applied to the Langelier Saturation Index (LSI), Ryznar Stability Index (RSI) and Practical (Puckorious) Scaling Index (PSI) to predict the scale formation in condenser water samples. The temperature differences between chilled waters for all systems investigated are recorded to relate the characterized parameters to chiller efficiency. The environmental impacts for all systems investigated are assessed by focusing on the operational stage of all system where the main source of environmental damage is due to the electrical consumption by the HVAC systems. The results yield that all systems investigated comply to the industrial standards. LSI and RSI proved that all condenser waters are saturated with calcium ions but PSI proved that scale formations in the systems investigated are unlikely as the scales are likely to remain dissolved in the condenser water. Consistent temperature differences of chilled water are observed throughout the research period which show that the performance of chillers in each system are optimal, which proves that non-chemical treatment systems are as efficient (in terms of corrosion, scaling and microbial activity control) as chemical treatment system. Environmental impact analysis concluded that chemical treatment system has the highest annual equivalent CO2 emission per cooling capacity of 868.30 kg CO2 e/year RT and that two of the chemicals used causes damage to the aquatic environment. Thus, non-chemical treatment systems have lesser environmental impact than chemical treatment system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examined the correlation between the number of blood donors and the number of crimes in 10 cities near Osaka, Japan. By defining the characteristics of each city, I defined indices that remarkably show its characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we construct a system of differential equations that faithfully describe actual data of foot-andmouth disease in Miyazaki, Japan in 2010. For the purpose, we improved the traditional SIR model which is well-known as a mathematical model for the influenza epidemic. We propose a modified SIR model which approximates accurately the behavior of the actual data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent recurrences of mega tsunamis in the Asian region have rekindled concern regarding potential tsunamis that could inflict severe damage to affected coastal facilities and communities. The 11 March 2011 Fukushima tsunami that crippled nuclear power plants in Northern Japan has further raised the level of caution. The recent discovery of petroleum reserves in the coastal water surrounding Malaysia further ignites the concern regarding tsunami hazards to petroleum facilities located along affected coasts. Working in a group, federal government agencies seek to understand the dynamics of tsunami and their impacts under the coordination of the Malaysian National Centre for Tsunami Research, Malaysian Meteorological Department. Knowledge regarding the generation, propagation and runup of tsunami would provide the scientific basis to address safety issues. An in-house tsunami simulation models known as TUNA has been developed by the authors to assess tsunami hazards along affected beaches so that mitigation measures could be put in place. Capacity building on tsunami simulation plays a critical role in the development of tsunami resilience. This paper aims to first provide a simple introduction to tsunami simulation towards the achievement of tsunami simulation capacity building. The paper will also present several scenarios of tsunami dangers along affected Malaysia coastal regions via TUNA simulations to highlight tsunami threats. The choice of tsunami generation parameters reflects the concern following the Fukushima tsunami. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese economy has fallen into a long downturn called "The Lost Two Decades" after the collapse of bubble economy in early 1990s. Many companies could not gain competitive advantages although they conducted various management reforms to restore their competitiveness. The companies that have played the main role of the Japanese economy growth until then have lost the sustained competitive advantage. Moreover, they have struggled in the global market even now. On the other hand, Japanese automobile companies have high competitiveness and market share due to their advanced technology development. It is considered that personnel groups engaged in research and development of their companies cannot turn into core rigidity and the structure also hinders new core capabilities. In addition, there is a hypothesis that the close relationships with many suppliers contribute to acquisition of competitive advantage. Therefore, this paper focuses on the collaboration relationships with suppliers and core rigidity of human resources related to research and development as the analysis factors. First, we analyze the composition and core rigidity degree of human resources involved in technology development by social network analysis using patent information, which represents the research and development capability. Second, we analyze the degree of collaboration among companies based on the hypothesis that advanced technology development can be executed by joint research and developments with many kinds of suppliers. As a result, features of close collaboration with suppliers and high core rigidity rate in the Japanese automobile industry are clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powerful earthquakes stuck Kumamoto and Oita Prefectures in Kyushu, Japan. It began with the Magnitude 6.5 foreshock at 21:26 JST 14 April, followed by the Magnitude 7.3 mainshock at 1:25 JST 16 April, 2016. The sequence earthquakes also involved more than 1700 perceptible earthquakes as of 13 June. The entire sequence was named the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Thousands of buildings and many roads were damaged, and landslides occurred. The Japanese building standard law is revised in 1981. Structural damages were concentrated on buildings constructed prior to 1981. The area of Mashiki and Southern Aso were most badly affected, especially wooden houses extremely damaged. In Japan, Prof. Hideyuki Tada (title at the time) undertook research on laminated rubber bearings in 1978, and put it into practical use in 1981. The single family house at Yachiyodai, Chiba Prefecture is completed in 1983, it's the first seismically isolated building which is installed laminated rubber bearings in Japan. Afterward, this system is gradually adopted to mainly office buildings, like a research laboratory, a hospital, a computer center and other offices. In the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the 1995 Kobe earthquake and 2011 Tohoku earthquake, seismically isolated buildings improve these good performances, and recently number of the buildings have increased, mainly high risk area of earthquakes. Many people believed that Kumamoto was a low risk area. But there were 24 seismically isolated buildings in Kumamoto Prefecture at the time. The seismically isolated buildings indicated excellent performances during the earthquakes. They protected people, buildings and other important facilities from damages caused by the earthquake. The purpose of this paper is to discuss lessons learned from the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake and behavior of seismically isolated buildings in the earthquake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The counter effects of the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station are discussed in this paper. Though decommission and remediation have been conducted in the facility and surrounding area, ninety thousand residences near the facility are still under the evacuation order. Four nuclear power units have already restarted under the new regulatory framework, but two of them in Fukui prefecture stop the operation due to the provisional disposition declared by Ohtsu district court in Shiga prefecture. Reinforcement of the latter layer of the defense in depth has been improved in many ways. The improvement of decision-making process is very important in latter layers of the defense in depth, in contrast the plant behaviors are automatically decided based on their design in the prior layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Course evaluation by questionnaire is the most popular assessment tool for the faculty development of University in Japan. However, many universities do not fully utilize the result of these questionnaires. Usually, traditional statistical tools such as average or standard deviation are used to analyze the questionnaires. Recently, more advanced statistical tools are available and many of them come from the field of machine learning. We thus tried to analyze the course evaluation questionnaire using the advanced statistical tools. In this paper, the questionnaires obtained at National Defense Academy of Japan were analyzed. This questionnaire has been conducted for 10 years history to more than thousand cadets, but the questionnaires have not been analyzed up to the present. This study analyzed and evaluated the reliability of the class questionnaire through the statistical analysis. As a result, potential factors and their relationship were discovered in a questionnaire using Structural Equation Modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]