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Accessible summary What is known on the subject? What the paper adds to existing knowledge? What are the implications for practice? Introduction Aim Method Results Discussion Implications for Practice Recovery‐oriented practices in community‐based mental health services are of increasing importance. The recovery journey of individuals with mental illness starts with a sense of agency, and a therapeutic relationship with the providers who support them is a prerequisite. In Japan, the construction of community‐based integrated care systems for individuals with mental illness is positioned as a priority health issue, with communication with familiar individuals being particularly important for recovery in Japanese and Asian cultures. This study is the first to examine effective communication factors for personal agency in the recovery of individuals with mental illness, focusing on addressing uncertainty about treatment choices and dissatisfaction with decision‐making, and considering the user's personal recovery journey. In recovery‐oriented practice, it is important to prioritize addressing the emotional aspects of decision‐making alongside the mental illness condition, supporting users' self‐determination in their unique recovery journeys. The findings emphasized the need to actively engage with users' perspectives and emotions, emphasize shared life planning, and foster a therapeutic relationship based on partnership. Providers should approach dialogue as carefully as medication prescriptions, prioritizing the establishment of an effective therapeutic relationship with the user. These characteristics are essential for developing a strong therapeutic relationship and effectively facilitating users' recovery. The findings are applicable not only to nurses but to all mental health service providers, contributing to the advancement of recovery‐oriented practice. Recovery‐oriented practice in community‐based mental health services is crucial for individuals with mental illness, with communication with familiar individuals being important for recovery in Japanese and Asian cultures.This study aimed to examine effective communication factors for personal agency in recovery by investigating the association between perceived support provided through communication and personal agency of individuals with mental illness.A cross‐sectional study was conducted among community‐dwelling Japanese mental health service users, assessing subjective agency, decisional conflict, staff support for personal recovery, activation for mental health self‐management, demographic variables and living difficulties. Multiple linear regression analysis identified factors predicting subjective agency, revealing characteristics of effective provider communication for recovery.Data from 222 users were analysed, revealing negative correlations between uncertainty about treatment choices and ineffective decision‐making with higher subjective agency, while staff support for personal recovery positively correlated with higher subjective agency.In recovery‐oriented practice, prioritizing users' emotional experiences during decision‐making and supporting their self‐determination in their unique recovery journeys is crucial.Providers should approach dialogue as carefully as medication prescriptions, prioritizing therapeutic partnerships with users. The findings extend beyond nursing to all mental health service providers, advancing the theory of recovery‐oriented practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, young people are becoming increasingly apathetic about politics, while at the same time they are experiencing a rightward leaning and a growing sympathy for totalitarianism and authoritarianism. To understand this contradiction, we need to look at the digital communication environment in which they engage in political discourse. One of the most representative opinion leaders in this regard is Hiroyuki Nishimura. In recent years, Hiroyuki has become widely known as the 'King of Refutation' and is immensely popular among the young generation. He is very active in political and social issues, arguing in a logical and neutral manner. However, despite his enlightened mode of argumentation, his arguments have been perceived as accommodative to totalitarian and authoritarian perceptions. This paper argues that at the heart of this mode of refutation is a process of 'decontextualisation' and 'recontextualisation' which has resulted in reducing the complexity of the issue, making it comprehensible to the majority while oppressing minorities. And this mode of refutation and the processes of 'decontextualisation' and 'recontextualisation' are at the centre of the various digital communication platforms that he operates and that have become hubs of political communication around the world: 2channel, 4chan, Nico Nico Douga and YouTube clips. In this sense, the totalitarianism and rightward leaning of the young generation is not due to a specific ideology but is strongly conditioned by the communication environment. 'Communication totalitarianism' can be used to describe the totalitarianism and right-wing tendencies taking place in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. On the basis of inheriting the classical aesthetic orientation of Japanese literature, contemporary Japanese literature changes the creative methods of traditional Japanese writers, strives to transcend the national limitations of Japanese literature, and strives to capture literary materials with a "modern feel." Combined with modern western literary techniques to express the "modern self," and integrating popular literature with pure literature, Japanese writers created a "healing" literature that is popular all over the world. There is some value in exploring the correlation between Japanese literature and the influence of psychotherapy. Method. In this paper, an equation diagnosis algorithm based on iterative learning for a class of linear discrete systems is studied, and the existing discrete iterative learning diagnostics are improved. We exchange the order of time domain and iterative domain to achieve the purpose of point-by-point equation diagnosis. On this basis, a virtual influence initial value estimation algorithm with a sliding window is proposed. The impact that has not been diagnosed is estimated and used as the initial value of the impact, so as to reduce the number of iterations and improve the efficiency of equation diagnosis. This paper takes the public and readers as different perspectives, based on the use and satisfaction theory and prospect theory, and uses interviews and questionnaires to study the communication effect of Japanese literature from the three dimensions of cognition, emotion, and behavior. The cognitive part includes the public's understanding and readers' understanding and reading; the emotional part includes the public's and readers' impressions and emotional attitudes; the behavioral part includes the public's reading situation and readers' behavior changes. Results/Discussion. In the survey of loyal readers, although readers' understanding of Japanese literature has improved compared with the general public, it is not high, and their liking and influence on behavior are slightly lower than the preset level. This paper believes that the existing problems of Japanese literature dissemination are mainly concentrated in three aspects: the market is somewhat biased, which narrows the cognitive scope of users; as a cross-cultural literary work, Japanese literature still makes readers feel that it exists; there is some sense of estrangement, which will affect their enjoyment in reading; as a niche interest, readers lack timely communication and sharing objects after reading, so it is difficult to enhance their sense of identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Hikikomori – an almost complete withdrawal from social interaction first seen in Japan – is becoming an emerging psychological syndrome worldwide. The mental health community in Japan has focused on hikikomori since the 1990s. Hikikomori was initially considered a culture-bound trait, unique to Japan; however, it has become an international concern, and cases have been reported even outside of Japan. While home visiting support for people with hikikomori has gained popularity, an effective solution remains elusive. This paper describes the process involved in effective home visiting support provided by experienced workers to help people with hikikomori. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 home-visiting support workers in Japan. Collected data were analysed using a constant comparative method based on Grounded Theory. Results: 'Supporting them in finding their own way to participate in society' was identified as the core category. This core category was substantiated by following three interrelated stages: preparing the involved surroundings for reaching out to a person, maintaining constant communication and expanding the range of activities and relationships. The process encouraged people with hikikomori to enhance their social connections and improved their motivation for social participation. People with hikikomori experiencing despair and isolation began to find pleasure in social participation through the three stages of support provided by home-visiting workers. Conclusion: Our study suggests that Home visiting support for people with hikikomori can be enhanced by these three interrelated methods which can help individuals integrate into society and connect with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The study aimed to explore the effect of video‐mediated communication on father‐infant bonding and transition to fatherhood during and after Satogaeri Bunben. Background: Satogaeri Bunben is a Japanese perinatal tradition that results in the pregnant wife and husband living apart, which may interfere with father‐infant bonding and transition to fatherhood. Design/Methods: A mixed‐methods study was conducted from July 2012 to November 2015. Participants were divided into two groups (Treatment/Control). Quantitative data included Taiji kanjyo Hyotei Syakudo (TKHS) , communication methods, husband's visitation records and video‐mediated communication records and satisfaction of video‐mediated communication experience. Qualitative data included participants' journal entries about their experience and feelings toward their infants during Satogaeri Bunben. Results: Fourteen treatment and thirteen control dyads/couples participated in the study. There were significant differences between groups in the frequency of fathers' visitation during Satogaeri Bunben, as well as on the THKS between groups in cross‐sectional analysis and in treatment group in longitudinal analysis. Fathers' journal entries revealed the use of video‐mediated communication in both groups, specifically commenting about these experiences and the impact of additional visual cues when communicating. Conclusion: Video‐mediated communication provides a sense of virtual co‐presence, which may help support father‐infant bonding and transition to fatherhood; however, it does not completely substitute for face‐to‐face interaction. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? Father‐infant bonding and transition to fatherhood are supported by father's early involvement and ongoing sharing of time and space with his infant. What this paper adds? Virtual co‐presence in which people maintain a sense of "being there" for each other across distances may improve father‐infant bonding and transition to fatherhood when face‐to‐face contact is not possible due to geographic separation. The implications of this paper: Video‐mediated communication was explored as a way to support fathers who were separated from their wives and infants during the perinatal period by creating a sense of virtual co‐presence. This study advanced the idea that video‐mediated communication may be ideally suited when families are separated geographically during the perinatal period and early infancy (e.g. military/work deployment, hospitalization, educational opportunity and migrant/refugee families who send one parent ahead), as it provides communication context by adding visual cues and contextualizing auditory cues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This JWP Focus paper argues that material culture transformation can be understood as the transformation of the way human beings and material culture mutually open up their potentialities. Such opening up/becoming takes place in the domains of their encounter, which often take the form of human communications. In communication, human beings and material culture mutually mediate/intervene/transform their modes of existence as the former cope with various uncertainties and risks that the world generates and that communication differentiates. Drawing upon the theory of communication developed by the social systems theorist, Niklas Luhmann, the paper will elucidate and elaborate this perspective through an examination of the long-term transformation of the mode of such mutual opening up/becoming by human beings and the material culture of their potentialities that took place in the Jomon and the Yayoi periods of Japan between 13000 Cal BC and AD 250/300. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Two percent of the Japanese population is comprised of foreign residents with further increase expected due to immigration policy revisions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the healthcare needs and difficulties experienced by foreign residents in Japan by level of their Japanese language fluency. Design: A quantitative, descriptive design was used. Sample: We surveyed foreign residents in the greater Tokyo area (N = 209). Measurements: The research team created the survey questions and the contents of the survey include foreign residents' experiences during their visits or stays at medical and public health facilities in Japan. Results: More than 90% of the participants or their families visited medical facilities in Japan regardless of Japanese language fluency; however, those with less Japanese language fluency experienced statistically significant uneasiness or inconvenience concerning communication compared to those with native Japanese language fluency (p =.000). Conclusions: Nurses in Japan may benefit from additional training related to use of interpreters as well as education about diversity and cultural humility. Through better understanding of the specific communication barriers of foreign residents, nurses will be able to better anticipate difficulties and address them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This paper describes the co-creation and delivery of an integrated training programme in communication and depression assessment & management for Japanese GPs.Methods: Experts in communication and depression from EACH and WONCA developed a framework and filled it with content. Through iterative discussions with the Japanese participants and experts during delivery, the training was further adjusted to match local needs. It included didactic and experiential training methods with an emphasis on practicing and feedback. A "train-the-trainer" component helped participants develop their own trainer skills to enhance dissemination of the training in Japan.Results: Six Japanese GPs participated in two one week training-modules in May and November 2018. To aid implementation participants received online supervision on depression management and on teaching between the two modules and after the second module. Evaluation of the content of the training, the teaching methods and the participatory approach was positive. More than two years after the training, many elements of the training continue to be used in daily practice with the GPs teaching communication as well as depression management skills.Conclusion: The method of co-creation is promising. Research is needed to confirm that it is effective in transfer to clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The aims of this paper are to (a) outline the design and implementation of an evidence‐based assertiveness communication workshop for Japanese nursing students; and (b) report on the evaluation of nursing students' satisfaction with the workshop using the Satisfaction with Assertiveness Communication Training Program Survey. Background: A body of research attests to the relationship between assertive communication and patient safety. This paper reports the design and evaluation of an assertiveness communication training programme designed to enhance students' ability to communicate safety in clinical practice. Design: A culturally appropriate and evidence‐based assertiveness communication workshop, informed by Gagne's instructional design principles, was implemented for third‐year nursing students in two Japanese higher educational institutions in December 2017. A descriptive study design was used to evaluate the workshop. Methods: Students' perceptions of the workshop were evaluated using the Satisfaction with Assertiveness Communication Training Program Survey, which includes ten items that are rated using a 5‐point Likert scale from strongly disagree [1] to strongly agree [5]. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The Revised Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0) guidelines were used in the reporting of this study. Results: A total of 111 students from a population of 150 participated in the study giving a response rate of 74%. The overall mean satisfaction score was 4.12 indicating a high level of agreement with each of the survey items. With the exception of two items, the mean scores were above 4.0. "Confidence in using assertiveness communication skills" and "Utilising role‐plays to practice learnt skills" received mean scores of 3.71 and 3.90, respectively. Conclusion: Given the compelling research about the importance of assertive communication in health care, the results from this study support continuing investment in assertiveness communication training programmes for nursing students. Relevance to clinical practice: Assertive communication is an essential communication skill for safe nursing practice. Culturally appropriate assertiveness communication training programmes are of particular relevance in hierarchical healthcare contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Palliative care is insufficiently integrated in the continuum of care for older people. It is unclear to what extent healthcare policy for older people includes elements of palliative care and thus supports its integration. Aim: (1) To develop a reference framework for identifying palliative care contents in policy documents; (2) to determine inclusion of palliative care in public policy documents on healthcare for older people in 13 rapidly ageing countries. Design: Directed documentary analysis of public policy documents (legislation, policies/strategies, guidelines, white papers) on healthcare for older people. Using existing literature, we developed a reference framework and data extraction form assessing 10 criteria of palliative care inclusion. Country experts identified documents and extracted data. Setting: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain. Results: Of 139 identified documents, 50 met inclusion criteria. The most frequently addressed palliative care elements were coordination and continuity of care (12 countries), communication and care planning, care for family, and ethical and legal aspects (11 countries). Documents in 10 countries explicitly mentioned palliative care, nine addressed symptom management, eight mentioned end-of-life care, and five referred to existing palliative care strategies (out of nine that had them). Conclusions: Health care policies for older people need revising to include reference to end-of-life care and dying and ensure linkage to existing national or regional palliative care strategies. The strong policy focus on care coordination and continuity in policies for older people is an opportunity window for palliative care advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of English as a multilingua franca (EMF) positions English within multilingualism, and EMF awareness prepares students to communicate effectively in this multilingual world of mobility. The present paper explores how, if ever, EMF-aware pedagogic intervention influences Japanese students' perceptions of their communicative practices, particularly for English-major undergraduates in L1-shared classrooms. This intervention was made by providing opportunities for participants to engage in EMF and by examining their first-hand experiences and published EMF communication extracts in the classrooms. Empirical data from an open-ended questionnaire demonstrate that multilingual and transmodal accommodation was a way for them to notice and take advantage of global networks, develop capability and confidence in communication, and foster sensitivity to interactants' backgrounds. The data also illustrate the invaluable role of individual multilingual experiences as classroom 'materials', and suggest that discussing these experiences potentially turns L1-shared classrooms into EMF scenarios through foregrounding students' multilingual repertoires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchy and power characterize health‐care relationships around the world, constituting a barrier to assertive communication and a risk to patient safety. This issue is more problematic and complex in countries such as Japan, where deep‐seated cultural values related to hierarchy and power persist. The current paper is the second of two that present the findings from a study exploring Japanese nurses' views and experiences of how cultural values impact assertive communication for health‐care professionals. We conducted semistructured interviews with 23 registered nurses, following which data were analyzed using directed content analysis. Two overarching themes emerged from the analysis: hierarchy/power and collectivism. In the present study, we focus on cultural values related to hierarchy and power, including differences in professional status, gender imbalance, seniority/generation gap, bullying, and humility/modesty. The findings from our research provide meaningful insights into how Japanese cultural values influence and constrain nurses' communication and speaking up behaviors, and can be used to inform educational programs designed to teach assertiveness skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture influences the way health‐care professionals communicate with each other and their ability to relate to colleagues in an assertive manner. Cultural barriers can also make it difficult for nurses to speak up even when they have concerns about patient safety. An understanding of the potential impact of cultural factors is therefore needed when developing assertiveness communication training programs. This paper presents the findings from a study that explored Japanese nurses' perceptions of how culture and values impact assertive communication in health care. Semistructured interviews with 23 registered nurses were undertaken, and data were analyzed using directed content analysis. Two major themes were identified: collectivism and hierarchy/power. In the present study, we discuss the cultural values related to collectivism that included four categories of "wa" (harmony), "uchi to soto" (inside and outside), implicit communication/ambiguity, and "nemawashi" (groundwork). The findings highlight the impact of culture on nurses' assertive communication behaviors and can be used to inform the design of culturally‐appropriate assertiveness communication training programs for Japanese nurses working both within their own country or internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the goal of realizing genome-based personalized healthcare, we have developed a biobank that integrates personal health, genome, and omics data along with biospecimens donated by volunteers of 150,000. Such a large-scale of data integration involves obvious risks of privacy violation. The research use of personal genome and health information is a topic of global discussion with regard to the protection of privacy while promoting scientific advancement. The present paper reports on our plans, current attempts, and accomplishments in addressing security problems involved in data sharing to ensure donor privacy while promoting scientific advancement.Methods: Biospecimens and data have been collected in prospective cohort studies with the comprehensive agreement. The sample size of 150,000 participants was required for multiple researches including genome-wide screening of gene by environment interactions, haplotype phasing, and parametric linkage analysis.Results: We established the T ohoku M edical M egabank (TMM) data sharing policy: a privacy protection rule that requires physical, personnel, and technological safeguards against privacy violation regarding the use and sharing of data. The proposed policy refers to that of NCBI and that of the Sanger Institute. The proposed policy classifies shared data according to the strength of re-identification risks. Local committees organized by TMM evaluate re-identification risk and assign a security category to a dataset. Every dataset is stored in an assigned segment of a supercomputer in accordance with its security category. A security manager should be designated to handle all security problems at individual data use locations. The proposed policy requires closed networks and IP-VPN remote connections.Conclusion: The mission of the biobank is to distribute biological resources most productively. This mission motivated us to collect biospecimens and health data and simultaneously analyze genome/omics data in-house. The biobank also has the mission of improving the quality and quantity of the contents of the biobank. This motivated us to request users to share the results of their research as feedback to the biobank. The TMM data sharing policy has tackled every security problem originating with the missions. We believe our current implementation to be the best way to protect privacy in data sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the initial translation process and follow-up psychometric evaluation of the Japanese version of the Primary Communication Inventory (J-PCI). The J-PCI was developed using the committee approach to translation and then used in a study exploring Japanese couples' communication satisfaction while separated during Satogaeri Bunben - a Japanese perinatal tradition. The committee approach attends to cultural nuance and context and is especially useful when languages have dissimilar linguistic roots and cultures, such as Japanese and English. The translation process and evaluation included five steps; (i) selection of the original PCI for research; (ii) selection of translators; (iii) development of the J-PCI using a committee approach; (iv) an initial small pilot study; and (v) a larger follow-up study. The J-PCI has good initial validity and reliability, although some nuances were observed in scoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the processing of long-distance filler-gap dependencies in Japanese, a strongly head-final language. Two self-paced reading experiments and one sentence completion study show that Japanese readers associate a fronted why-phrase with the most deeply embedded clause of a multi-clause sentence. Experiment 1 demonstrates this using evidence that readers expect to encounter a scope-marking affix on the verb of an embedded clause in why-fronting constructions. Experiment 2 shows that the we phrase is already associated with the embedded clause before the embedded verb is processed, based on a Japanese counterpart of the Filled Gap Effect (Stowe, 1986). Experiment 3 corroborates these findings in a sentence completion study. These findings clarify the factors responsible for 'active filler' effects in processing long-distance dependencies (Crain & Fodor, 1985; Fodor, 1978; Frazier & Clifton, 1989; Stowe, 1986) in ways not possible in head-initial languages. The results provide evidence that the processing of filler-gap dependencies is driven by the need to satisfy thematic role requirements of the fronted phrase, rather than by the need to create a gap as soon as possible. The paper also discusses implications of these findings for theories of reanalysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese students often feel it is difficult to acquire communicative skills in English at school. Although many of them appear to have positive, favourable attitudes towards learning English, their annual Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) total score mean has been consistently low. The present paper discusses this paradox from two points of views, pedagogical and cultural. First, some features of TEFL in Japanese schools are highlighted. TEFL starts late (at junior high school), the class hours per week are comparatively few, and classes are large. In addition, while communicative language teaching (CLT) has been formally adopted, teachers and students are still conscious of grammar-translation skills, particularly because of their prominence in University entrance examinations. Second, certain aspects of Japanese communication styles have significant effects on students' motivation to learn English and their preferred modes of communication in English. These include 'dual structured' communication, implied meanings, tacit understanding, and sensitivity to social and contextual factors such as formality, status, power and social distance. This paper presents the results of a study on aspects of formality and politeness in the use of English by Japanese teachers and students, and concludes by discussing recent developments and future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the Z-channel, which is known as a channel model for photon communication or semiconductor memory. A new decoding algorithm is proposed and discussed. Recently, studies have been made from various viewpoints on the asymmetrical error-correcting code suited to the Z-channel, which is considered interesting. One of the basic problems in the Z-channel is the performance and the decoding method when the cyclic code with various features is applied, but it has been investigated little. This paper presents first a maximum-likelihood decoding algorithm which is highly efficient for the cyclic code on the Z-channel. It is then shown that by providing a certain threshold for the algorithm, a higher-speed decoding is realized. It is shown also that by setting the threshold above a certain value, the computational complexity can be improved without sacrificing the maximum-likelihood property. Finally, it is demonstrated by numerical calculation that the decoding error probability is improved greatly by the decoding algorithm proposed in this paper, together with a drastic improvement in the computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new method for efficient validation of the telecommunication protocol, containing the internal events, including those for the timer and resource management. The proposed validation method first converts the protocol containing the internal event into the equivalent protocol not containing the internal event. Then the original protocol is validated by applying the already-proposed validation method for the protocol not containing the internal event to the result of conversion. This paper discusses mainly the principle and the algorithm of the protocol equivalent conversion. The features of the proposed validation method are that the protocol is validated with the minimum processes and signals, which reduces the processing time and the memory capacity needed in the validation and also improves the efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article was to examine the environmental health implications of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster from an all-hazards perspective. The authors performed a literature review that included Japanese and international nuclear guidance and policy, scientific papers, and reports on the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island disasters while also considering all-hazards preparedness rubrics in the U.S. The examination of the literature resulted in the following: a) the authors' "All-Hazards Planning Reference Model" that distinguishes three planning categories--Disaster Trigger Event, Man-Made Hazards, and Vulnerability Factors; b) the generalization of their model to other countries; and c) advocacy for environmental health end fate to be considered in planning phases to minimize risk to environmental health. This article discusses inconsistencies in disaster planning and nomenclature existing in the studied materials and international guidance and proposes new opportunity for developing predisaster risk assessment, risk communication, and prevention capacity building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliobattle is a social book review game spreading in Japan recently. A presentation time limit for a Bibliobattle session is fixed at five minutes. This time limit was determined based on experiences of the founders who developed Bibliobattle. They said that the time limit is neither too short nor too long. However, the time limit has not been empirically investigated by comparing different time limits. In this paper, we investigate what kind of influence different time limits have on a presenter's speech in a Bibliobattle session. We conducted an experiment. For each experimental condition, we changed the time limit of the presenter's speech. We compared the book presenter's speech using a discourse analysis technique. It is proved that the ratio of utterance category is stable in different time limits. Additionally, we asked the presenters and audiences to answer several questionnaires to investigate the effects of different time limits. Most of all the questionnaries showed that the 3-, 5- and 7-minute time limits are not significantly different from each other. In contrast, there's a significant difference between 1 and 10 minutes. It was also revealed that a presenter and audiences have different feelings for the temporal differences in the presentation time limits of a Bibliobattle session. Audiences are more sensitive to the difference of time limit than presenters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce a report on the situation at Fukushima and present two lessons that were learned involving: (1) multi-robot operation and (2) robot operation by workers. Workers with no prior experience with robots operated multi-robots in dynamically changing environments. We focus on the following two themes in multi-robot operations: (1) communication between operators and (2) pairing of operators. An experiment using a rescue robot operation training platform based on Unified System for Automation and Robot Simulation is shown, and the results of the experiment are discussed. We believe that these verify that the training platform is useful for recue robot operation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study in which two instructional methods to teach agreement features to first-year university students specializing in Spanish in Japan are compared. On the one hand, the control group was exposed to the traditional top-down teaching of agreement paradigms and were instructed to practice them through pattern repetition. On the other, a bottom-up move informed by Vygotsky and Gal’perin’s theories of conceptual formation was induced in the experimental group by using schemata and verbalization during the task of using agreement features. The data suggest that (a) the material expression of conceptual relationships (e.g. through schemata) and (b) the verbal rendition of rules or conceptual connections, and (c) the overall framing of the task as a bottom-up move actually helped acquirers in their mastery of gender and number agreement. The results of the intervention also support Kim and Kellogg (2006) and Centeno-Cortés and Jiménez Jiménez’s (2004) paradoxical view that L1 conceptual elaboration and organization aimed at solving L2 language tasks plays an important role in L2 acquisition. The data seem to indicate that there is room for encouraging learners’ hypothesis-making in the L1 under certain conditions, such as the kind of guided induction designed for this research and the one advanced by Herron and Tomasello (1992), and Tomasello and Herron’s (1988a, 1988b). L2 native instructors who dismiss or suppress acquirers’ talk in their L1 in their communication classes should assess if that talk is part of an important process of hypothesis-making or verbalization of language rules or not and act accordingly. L1 exchanges linked to hypothesis-making or task organization seem to foster L2 development and therefore should not be treated like a waste of time by ‘Communication’ instructors. In sum, the bottom-up move within Vygotsky’s ZPD is suggested as a feasible, although more elaborate intervention, as the findings on the intervention suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on results of research conducted at the University of Washington to investigate the means and methods for overcoming barriers to the implementation of Web-based project management systems (WPMS), and to develop a set of best practices in both the United States and Japanese construction industries. The United States and Japanese economies are high-tech intensive and both cultures have embraced technology. However, a relatively small sector of the construction industry in each country has implemented WPMS. The question posed here is why have these drivers not resulted in the industry’s adoption of this new technology, and further, perhaps there are lessons learned from those who have successfully implemented WPMS. This research seeks to broaden our understanding of implementation barriers that are limiting the use of WPMS tools as well as means and methods of overcoming those barriers based on successful implementation in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonaka and Takeuchi's highly influential account of tacit-explicit knowledge-conversion in Japan's knowledge-creating companies has been instrumental in Knowledge Management's institutionalisation of Michael Polanyi's distinction between 'tacit knowledge' and 'explicit knowledge'. But tacit knowledge has been misunderstood and what Nonaka and Takeuchi claim in the name of explicit knowledge does not make sense. Whereas Polanyi was concerned with the discovery of absolute truth about ontological reality, Nonaka and his colleagues insist that truth is 'in the eye of the beholder'. Yet, Nonaka et al.'s implicit nihilism seems to have gone unnoticed. Many people talk about explicit knowledge as if it existed on a par with scientific knowledge: a tangible commodity that is 'as real as rocks'. Arguably, Nonaka and Takeuchi have offered a 'lesson from Japan' that has distorted Polanyi's concept of tacit knowing, inspired unwarranted faith in the viability of 'explicit knowledge', and ignored the significance of power mediated by 'high-context' communication. This paper uses Ernst von Glasersfeld's work on radical constructivism to make sense of Polanyi's insights into tacit knowing without invoking notions of metaphysical truth. With reference to knowing, learning and communicating in Japanese organisations, we suggest that a radical constructivist approach offers a viable alternative to Nonaka and Takeuchi's knowledge-conversion model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model of language and speciality-area content teaching and learning in Japan is built on a concern to develop dialogically engaged language communal communication (DELCC) in class to be extended outside in the wider society. This model is applicable to other university contexts insofar as the FAO language is conceptualised and practised for life content enrichment rather than operational or academic success. DELCC development is linked to an FAO (foreign-additional-other) English language study for life-long participation in effecting constructive social change. Adopting a one-world ontology of knowing about and being and acting in the world, this paper maintains that DELCC development in FAO language university study can serve as an impetus for the enhancement of young adults' greater participation and agency for constructive social change across the higher education curriculum, a development which can transfer to local and global citizenship after the completion of university. Teachers and programmes of university FAO language study, however, need to be more aware of the extent to which classroom language and communicative interaction can determine the kinds of involvement or non-involvement open to students. University FAO language study can influence the way(s) in which young adults exercise democratic civic responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on two types of multiple nominative constructions in Japanese. In addition to the subject, the nominative particle ga can mark a possessor of the subject or an adjunct. A prevalent view in the literature is that all ga-phrases are nominative NPs or DPs and are licensed in multiple specifier or adjoined positions in one particular projection (Fukui, 1986; Heycock, 1993b; Hiraiwa, 2001; Ura, 1996; among others). However, this licensing mechanism alone cannot account for some striking properties of the two constructions. I argue that a possessive ga-phrase is a nominative NP, while ga attached to an adjunct is interpreted as a focus marker. The particle ga functions as a case marker whenever it marks an NP bearing a ϴ-role. However, an interpretational rule also treats it as a focus marker when the constituent to which it is attached appears as the first ga-phrase in a multiple nominative construction. These assumptions account for a range of observations, some of which are new. They also explain two particular properties that are difficult to capture in the standard analysis: (i) the difference in the number of ga-phrases permitted in the two constructions; and (ii) the fixed order of ga-phrases in both constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication between an IPv6 host and an IPv4 host requires a name server that makes a mapping between an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address, and a translator that performs IP packet conversion. In this paper, we propose an IPv4­IPv6 bidirectional communication system, implement our proposed method, and present the results of performance evaluation. Our system can provide IPv4 hosts with connectivity to more IPv6 hosts in spite of pooling fewer IPv4 addresses. It is realized by adding a source IPv4 address and a port number to an address mapping with cooperation between a name server and a translator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an authentication technique by 3D pattern communication, using terminals with a small-sized screen. 3D pattern communication is a method whereby an arbitrary signal can be transmitted by rewriting the signal patterns on the screen for several times on the terminal screen. The signal is not limited by the display resolution of the screen or the kind of liquid crystal. Con- sequently, any signal can be sent to the destination through the screen, and secure authentication can be realized by using a portable terminal. It is verified that, even if the terminal is inclined to some extent during reading due to the angle of the hand holding the terminal, or an arbitrary picture is overlaid on the pattern, the 3D pattern can be recognized correctly by utilizing error-correcting code and interleaving. The proposed scheme is implemented on cur- rent models of portable phones with TFT, TFD, STN, and organic EL screens. The communication of 1024-bit RSA signature data is successfully performed in 0.33 to 0.44 second, except for a single terminal. Using the proposed 3D pattern communication, an authentication service with a strong security requirement can be provided without adding a special device to existing portable phone terminals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the globalization of the economy has accelerated in recent years, the Internet has become an essential part of the infrastructure, primarily as a communications medium. In the Information Age society, the ADC principle (autonomy, distribution, and collaboration) has become an underlying assumption, which also applies to the institution of education. The fading power of Japan may come from its educational system, which emphasizes standardization and uniformity, while discouraging creativity and individuality. Now is the time for Japan to reevaluate its educational system at every level so that it better supports the societal and business needs of the Information Age economy. Therefore, this paper proposes five kinds of changes to the Japanese educational system. They are community networks, digital kids and participatory education, growing up digital and youth education, online higher education, and media literacy education for the elderly. First, community networks provide citizens with better and more convenient access to local services, activities, and information. Second, the notion of the digital kid suggests that it should be participatory, including all members of the community. Third, as digital kids grow up digital using the Internet would enhance both intergenerational and intra-generational communication in the twenty-first century. Fourth, online higher education should become widely available in Japanese society in the twenty-first century. Fifth, although media literacy education for the elderly in Japan is yet to come to its maturity, senior network groups are beginning to receive wider attention as they will provide Japanese elderly with a new avenue for communication. When and only when these educational reforms are pursued, will Japanese people be able to participate effectively in the global society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As radio communication has progressed, reduction of intersystem interference has become a problem. In a conventional interference canceller, the interference signal as a source of cancellation is obtained at the receiving station and the interference component in the desired signal is canceled based on this interference signal. However, the interference signal for cancellation may not be obtained at the receiving station. As a remedy, an extraction and reinjection-type interference canceller has already been proposed. In this paper, a pre-interference canceller is proposed in which, if the transmitting station of the desired signal and that of the interference signal are identical, the interference signal is mixed with the desired signal from the transmitting station beforehand and the interference signal leaking into the desired signal is cancelled at the receiving station. First, the applicable range and the fundamental configuration of the present canceller are presented. Subsequently, the method for determining the amplitude and phase of the interference signal injected into the desired signal of the transmitting station and the method for evaluation of the cancellation effect are presented theoretically. Next, an experiment is carried out with the desired signal of 16 QAM or 256 QAM and the interference, signal of 256 QAM. Interference improvement by about 20 dB is obtained for both the 16 and 256 QAM signals. Also, the response speed of control for the fading is 60 ms. In addition to the validity of the theoretical results, effectiveness of the proposed canceller is shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a PSK modulation/demodulation method free from interruptions providing continuous telecommunication services. The feature of the system is that the transmission rate or the carrier frequency is switchable without interruptions during communications. Functions of the system are outlined. The design procedure and design results are presented. Another feature of the proposed method is its transmission format, in the normal operation, a control information is inserted into the transmission format and a preamble is inserted only when the transmission rate or the carrier frequency is to be changed. By this elaboration, interruptions can be, avoided. As a detailed example of the design, a link configuration is assumed where the convolution encoding Viterbi decoding with coding rate of one-half is used as the forward error correction scheme, and the information rate is made variable among 2B + D, B + D, and D based on the basic ISDN service. Parameters concerning the transmission format and the modulation/demodulation are determined. The control information and protocol required m the functional switching needed in avoiding interruptions are also discussed. By this method, limited radio frequency resources can efficiently be utilized, appropriately varying the transmission rate according to traffic or switching the carrier frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated train access protocol for a high-speed ring network is proposed in this paper. Using the concept of the train, synchronous and asynchronous traffic is integrated. To consider the fundamental performance, the periodicity of the channel activity is found in the steady state, and the cycle length is derived. On the basis of this cycle length, the tram length, channel utilization, and access interval of each traffic are derived. To characterize the proposed protocol more clearly, it is compared with fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), which uses the timed token scheme. As a result, it is shown that the proposed protocol and FDDI have the same high channel utilization. On the mean access interval of the asynchronous traffic, FDDI shows the increase character with the target token rotation time (TTRT), while the proposed protocol shows the decrease character with the number of asynchronous frames contained in the train γ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a data compression scheme which uses the statistical properties of ordered dither image by vector reputation. When a part of the dither image corresponding to n × n dithering matrix is described as a vector, it is observed that there is high correlation ratio between neighbor blocks for level information (the number of black pixels in the vector), the resolution information (the number of kinds of vectors) is a few, and their frequency distribution is very biased. Thus, if these two kinds of information on vector are coded separately by the variable length coding scheme, then high compression ratio can be attained for transmission and storage of dither image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a satellite TDMA system with two dispersive delay lines of opposite characteristics in earth stations and in the satellite transponder to reduce the peak transmitting power of the earth stations. Reduction effect is estimated for available SAW devices and the reduction in peak transmitting power of about 27 dB is achieved in the single-pulse transmission mode. In actual TDMA systems, however, burst pulses must be transmitted and bursts of about 1000 symbols in length are used. Since only relatively short bursts (about 20 symbols long) are allowable in this system, various study subjects are discussed to realize it, such as the increase of burst length, reference time establishment at earth stations, modulation/demodulation and clock recovery. The effects of several kinds of system impairments, such as residual response of modulator, effect of characteristic deviation of dispersive delay lines, and dynamic range of receiver amplifier of transponder are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the primary distributed-type switching network which serves as the prototype for the distributed switching network. A method is shown to determine the route with the minimum number of tandem stages from the originator to the destination nodes in the network (called shortest route). The shortest route is given either by the straight path directly connecting the originator and the destination switching nodes, or, if such does not exist, by the following path. Consider the parallelogram that directly connects the originator and the destination switching nodes. Then the route is obtained from the originator switching node to the destination switching node by connecting arbitrarily the unit links on the border and the inside of the parallelogram, in the same direction as that of the edges of the parallelogram from the originator switching node to the destination switching node. The number of shortest routes between the originator and the destination switching nodes increases following the exponential function of the distance between the originator and the destination switching nodes. The number of tandem stages in the shortest route increases linearly with the distance. If a honeycomb-type network is employed, the number of tandem stages in the shortest mute can be reduced by approximately 15 percent at the maximum, compared to the grid-type network. When a failure such as blocking is produced between the originator and the destination, there exist three kinds of shortest mutes depending on the point of generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stress migration (SM) has become a serious issue with the development of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices for high-frequency application. For the first time. this paper discusses epitaxially grown Al electrode films as a countermeasure to SM. It also discusses a method of epitaxial growth of Al electrode films tot an SAW resonator deposited onto quartz substrates. It is found that an epitaxially grown film has been fabricated under relatively moderate deposition conditions in vacuum evaporation. The orientation relation for this epitaxial growth is (311)<2&3macr;33>Al//(032)(100)SiO2. The SM lifetime for the SAW resonator thus obtained is found to be more than 2000 times longer and the allowable power value is improved by one order of magnitude more than that usually obtained for polycrystalline Al films with Cu. A discussion of the epitaxial growth mode and lifetime of electromigration also is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a trellis-coded modulation scheme has been applied to multilevel PSK or QAM signals, its application for the continuous-phase FSK (CPFSK) with the limiter-discriminator detection has not been investigated well and the coding gain associated with it has not been obvious yet. In this paper, using a linear approximation, we have designed modulation parameters of this scheme. We have also executed the exact computer simulation and made clear the problem to obtain the actual coding gain as well as to increase them. Furthermore, utilizing the intersymbol interference caused by the IF filter, which greatly deteriorates the bit error rate (BER) performance in this scheme, we have proposed a sequence estimation scheme using the Viterbi algorithm. In this scheme, the sending signals are those of the binary continuous phase FSK. Through computer simulations, we have made clear that large improvements of BER really exist. The sequence estimation scheme is considered to work better than the trellis encoded scheme when considering the BER performance and the complexity of transmitter and receiver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, many methods have been reported for transforming fuzzy multiple-objective linear programming (MOLP) problems, However, the transformation into a crisp MOLP problem requires an extremely large number of constraints and decision variables which is the main disadvantage of these approaches. This paper proposes that a maximizing MOLP problem with trapezoidal positive fuzzy coefficients can be transformed into a crisp MOLP problem without increasing the number of constraints by basing the two indices on the inequality relation between trapezoidal fuzzy numbers. The usefulness of the proposed method is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of a highly intelligent society, the role of mobile communication represented by the key words ‘anytime, anywhere, and with anybody’ has become increasingly important. This paper describes mainly the mobile stations of the digital communication system in which the frequency-use efficiency is improved significantly, as well as of analog mobile communication system. Also described are the surface acoustic wave devices, especially the low insertion loss filters, which are expected to be the key devices of mobile communication for small and lightweight equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mason's equivalent circuit is well known as a linear equivalent circuit for acoustic devices. By combining Mason's equivalent circuit with Smith's equivalent circuit of surface acoustic wave devices, it becomes a very effective tool for the physical interpretation of acoustic devices. If such equivalent circuit analysis can also be performed for the nonlinear problem, then comparatively simpler and accurate analysis can be obtained fur almost all types of nonlinear problems. In this paper, equations are formulated to analyze the equivalent circuit of nonlinear-type acoustic devices. At first, Mason's equivalent circuit is extended to the nonlinear region for the basic circuits of a thin bar of length-extensional vibration and a broad plate of thickness-extensional vibrations. Next, this equivalent circuit is used to analyze the thickness-extensional vibration of Z-cut LiNbO3 and second harmonic generation at the resonance point is clarified. Finally, these nonlinear equivalent circuits of length-extensional vibration are applied to determine the nonlinear constants of PZT ceramics end the nonlinear constants of the equivalent circuit are clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers a plant with structured uncertainties, such as one with a transfer function where the denominator and the numerator, respectively, are represented by a convex combination of two polynomials. A necessary and sufficient condition for the robust stabilization is presented, and the systematic design method for the compensator is shown. Key words: Uncertain system; feedback control; robust stabilization; Hurwitz polynomial; interpolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]