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With the world population growth, energy consumption and the rapid development of industrial economy, a large amount of carbon emissions has brought destruction and threats to the earth's environment on which human beings depend. The development of low-carbon economy has become the consensus of governments all over the world and has been vigorously advocated & promoted. This paper focuses on the top five global GDP nations in 2022: The United States, China, Japan, Germany, and Britain. A comprehensive evaluation index system of urban low-carbon economic development level is constructed from four dimensions: economic development level, environmental quality, energy consumption emission intensity and social development speed by using literature review and field interview. The evaluation measures are determined using the TOPSIS evaluation method with entropy weight and the grey relational model, providing a comprehensive assessment of the low-carbon economy's development level in these five countries." Judging from the comprehensive evaluation score, the overall development of low-carbon economy in American cities is in good condition and has reached the development standard of low-carbon economy; Germany and Japan rank second and third, and they are low-carbon economies. Britain ranks fourth in comprehensive evaluation, although it belongs to a low-carbon economy country, but there is still a certain gap with Germany and Japan; There is still a big gap between China and the other four countries. Based on the measurement and evaluation outcomes, it presents recommendations and strategies to foster the growth of low-carbon economies, offering valuable insights for the advancement of such economies across different nations. The research results guide countries all over the world to reduce carbon emissions in the process of economic development, protect the earth environment on which human beings depend, and make a better tomorrow for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to reinterpret asylum theory (1954) propounded by Ortwin Henssler (1923–2017) as a free-space theory of education, as a way of grasping the problematic nature of 'pedagogical protection.' The theoretical potential of Henssler's thought has been more appreciated, accepted, and developed in Japan than in his native Germany. First, I outline Henssler's theory of asylum and show how his theory has been received and developed in Japan, especially in the fields of historical researches. Secondly, I discuss the possibility of reading Henssler's thought of asylum as a theory of 'pedagogical protection.' Thirdly, I consider whether it is possible to interpret 'free space' in education based on the model of asylum. Finally, I delineate some prospects for and challenges involved in connecting the theory of asylum to the theory of education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has indicated how diverse books contribute to a more culturally responsive pedagogy, allowing children to identify themselves in the stories they read and gain an appreciation for others whose lives are different from theirs. Moreover, a sensitive discussion of and critical responses to diverse picturebooks is found to positively influence a child's social and emotional learning competecies, apart from increasing a child's cultural knowledge and serving as a catalyst for social justice. This paper is meant to broaden early childhood educators' repertoire of picturebooks that can be used in the classroom to also include international titles (translated into English from their original languages) and multicultural titles to facilitate affective engagement with these narratives and introduce social and emotional learning skills (self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management and responsible decision-making). This paper provides a list of diverse books (from the Netherlands, Japan, Lithuania, Spain, Germany, France, Argentina – among others) for students in early childhood (from preschool to third grade) thematically organized across the five social and emotional learning competencies. Strategies such as book-bonding and literacy bags for family engagement will be shared while using the framework of culturally responsive teaching in an early childhood setting. Recommendations for how family members can be more involved are included, along with critical literacy strategies that include conversations, multiple perspectives and the sharing of authentic experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To sort out the literature related to conjunctival bacteria and summarize research hotspots and trends of this field. Materials and Methods. The relevant literature data from 1900 to 2019 was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database. After manual selection, each document record includes title, author, keywords, abstract, year, organization, and citation. We imported the downloaded data into CiteSpace V (version 5.5R2) to draw the knowledge map and conduct cooperative network analysis, discipline and journal analysis, cluster analysis, and burst keyword analysis. Results. After manual screening, there were 285 relevant papers published in the last 28 years (from 1991 to 2019), and the number is increasing year by year. The publications of conjunctival bacteria were dedicated by 1381 authors of 451 institutions in 56 countries/regions. The United States dominates this field (82 literatures), followed by Germany (23 literatures) and Japan (23 literatures). Overall, most cited papers were published with a focus on molecular biology, genetics, nursing, and toxicology. Most papers fall into the category of ophthalmology, veterinary sciences, and pharmacology and pharmacy. The only organized cluster is the "postantibiotic effect," and the top 5 keywords with the strongest citation bursts include "postoperative endophthalmiti(s)," "infectious keratoconjunctiviti(s)," "conjunctiviti(s)," "resistance," and "diversity". Conclusion. The global field of conjunctival bacteria has expanded in the last 28 years. The United States contributes most. However, there are little cooperation among authors and institutions. Overall, this bibliometric study organized one cluster, "postantibiotic effect", and identified the top 5 hotspots in conjunctival bacteria research: "postoperative endophthalmiti(s)," "infectious keratoconjunctiviti(s)," "conjunctiviti(s)," "resistance," and "diversity". Thus, further research focuses on these topics that may be more helpful to prevent ocular infection and improve prophylaxis strategies to bring a benefit to patients in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined mixed reality research published during 1994-17, on a series of bibliometric measures including growth rate, global share, citation impact, top countries, organizations and authors, preferred media of research communication and bibliographic characteristics of high cited papers. The study finds that mixed reality research registered faster (35.49%) growth, low citation impact averaged to (6.93) citations per paper, contributed too low share (0.03%) of its total research output in 24 years as highly cited papers. The USA, Japan, and Germany are seen as the world leaders in the subject, each had contributed at least 11% global publications share in 24 years. The mixed reality research is widely scattered across 68 countries with top most productive organizations and authors accounting for modest (23.35% and 16.56%) global publications share and modest (29.53% and 24.37%) global citation share respectively during the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New inter-national and transnational complexities of economic and political relationships destabilize extant categories and units of analysis for studying trajectories of social change and explaining commonalities and differences of complex inequalities across countries. New insights on gender regime change emerge by shifting from a singular to a multi-scalar analytical frame. The paper argues that complex inequalities cannot be understood by studying a bounded geographic unit of analysis. Toward this end, the paper compares Germany and Japan in a world regional perspective, applying Walby's gender regime theory. Case comparisons of Germany and Japan not only reveal historical pathways of national developments, but also can show the benefits of a multi-scalar analytic in differentiating varieties and futures of gender regimes. An examination of the care economy shows why a multi-scalar analytic is critical for tracking the economic geographies of reproductive/care labor (both paid and unpaid). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental issues are among the most critical issues nowadays. These issues are no longer confined to individual countries, and international society has been progressing in building global dialogues since the early 1970s. Within these international efforts, Germany and Japan have played essential roles in global environmental governance. However, there are major differences in nation-level environmental policies in both countries. Governance based on network structure is more efficient than that based on hierarchy for solving complex problems. The network structure is formed through horizontal cooperation among various autonomous actors, and the relationship intensity among actors is one of the key concepts in the governance. Using social network analysis as a framework to explain complicated societal structures explains how interaction among actors creates networks, and these networks further affect their interactions. The purpose of this study is to investigate the structure of environmental policy governance as collaborative governance in Germany and Japan. To address this goal, this paper analyzes the relationship between the informational dimension of governance networks and its complement resource-sharing networks in both countries. The results show that the information-sharing networks have lower-level network influence on the resource-sharing networks as higher-level networks even if not all of the information factors have singular influences. The results suggest that the information-sharing networks may be one of the pieces of the puzzle for explaining this phenomenon in environmental governance in Germany and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last five decades, there have been several phases of interest in the so-called hydrogen economy, stemming from the need for either energy security enhancement or climate change mitigation. None of these phases has been successful in terms of a major market development, mainly due to the lack of cost competitiveness and partially due to technology readiness challenges. Nevertheless, a new phase has begun very recently, which despite holding original objectives has the new motivation to be fully green, i.e. based on renewable energy. This new movement has already initiated bipartisan cooperation of some energy importing countries and those with abundant renewable energy resources and supporting infrastructure. One key challenge in this context is the diversity of pathways for the (national and international) export of non-electricity renewable energy. This poses another challenge, that is the need for an agnostic tool for comparing various supply chain pathways fairly while considering various techno-economic factors such as renewable energy sources, hydrogen production and conversion technologies, transport, and destination markets, along with all associated uncertainties. This paper addresses the above challenge by introducing a probabilistic decision analysis cycle methodology for evaluating various renewable energy supply chain pathways based on the hydrogen vector. The decision support tool is generic and can accommodate any kind of renewable chemical and fuel supply chain option. As a case study, we have investigated eight supply chain options composed of two electrolysers (alkaline and membrane) and four carrier options (compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia) for export from Australian ports to three destinations in Singapore, Japan, and Germany. The results clearly show the complexity of decision making induced by multiple factors, and that the preferred supply chain combination (electrolyser technology, green energy carrier) in terms of least cost strongly depends on whether the expected levelized cost of hydrogen (ELCOH) or the expected levelized cost of energy (ELCOE) is used as a decision criterion. For instance, with ELCOH for the case study, under the given input parameters, the Ammonia combination with alkaline electrolysers (AE-NH 3) becomes the least-cost supply chain option for Singapore, Japan, and Germany with values of 8.60, 8.78 and 9.63 $/kgH 2 , respectively. This leaves liquid hydrogen (with alkaline electrolysers) as the second-best supply chain route, with ELCOH values of 9.05, 9.39 and 10.70 $/kgH 2 , respectively. However, with ELCOE, methanol (with alkaline electrolysers) becomes the preferred supply chain path for all destinations, and liquid hydrogen (with alkaline electrolysers) keeps its place as the second-best alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to clarify in what ways school performance and out-of-school lessons are linked, with special emphasis on social disparities in educational attainment. Previous research about shadow education indicates that out-of-school education may indeed be a factor to improve the academic achievement of school students. On the other hand, it is stated nearly without exception that the socioeconomic background of a student plays a significant role for academic achievement as well. Using data of the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), this paper shows new findings in comparing effects of shadow education investments on students' performance in Japan and Germany. We found that out-of-school education investments in both countries led to four significant outcomes: (i) in Japan, high school students' academic achievement is increased due to out-of-school lessons; (ii) in both countries there is great variation in how out-of-school lessons affect academic performance according to the types of out-of-school lessons and the area of stay; (iii) out-of-school education determines higher achievement scores in international comparison in a decisive way and therefore provides a reasonable explanation for the Japanese success in PISA; and (iv) since the mid-1990s the system in Japan has advanced from a mixed to a predominantly enrichment out-of-school education system, while the German out-of-school education system is still of remedial character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the InCites tool of Thomson Reuters, this study compares normalized citation impact values calculated for China, Japan, France, Germany, United States, and the UK throughout the time period from 1981 to 2010. InCites offers a unique opportunity to study the normalized citation impacts of countries using (i) a long publication window (1981 to 2010), (ii) a differentiation in (broad or more narrow) subject areas, and (iii) allowing for the use of statistical procedures in order to obtain an insightful investigation of national citation trends across the years. Using four broad categories, our results show significantly increasing trends in citation impact values for France, the UK, and especially Germany across the last thirty years in all areas. The citation impact of papers from China is still at a relatively low level (mostly below the world average), but the country follows an increasing trend line. The USA exhibits a stable pattern of high citation impact values across the years. With small impact differences between the publication years, the US trend is increasing in engineering and technology but decreasing in medical and health sciences as well as in agricultural sciences. Similar to the USA, Japan follows increasing as well as decreasing trends in different subject areas, but the variability across the years is small. In most of the years, papers from Japan perform below or approximately at the world average in each subject area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes public policy and public opinion responses toward immigrants in Germany and Japan, two countries whose immigration policies have relied on blood purity (jus sanguinis). The paper retraces the rationale for jus sanguinis and contends that it was adopted at the turn of the century in both countries out of political convenience. The principles and goals of immigration policies are compared cautioning that better principles must not mean better outcomes. It is reiterated that Germany has made a politically motivated move away from the ethnic monocultural concept, whereas Japan still hangs on more or less to the old model of silent and subtle assimilation. The more dissuasive Japanese model of tight immigration control, deportation and monocultural assimilation isthen compared to the more permissive German immigration model. A comparison of identity discourses in the form of Japanese Nihonjinron and German Leitkultur shows that both countries struggle with identifying and asserting their core values and that this has a negative impact on integration issues. The paper concludes that Germany has failed to bear the full consequences of its ambitious plans by taking into account the values, beliefs and worldviews of its immigrants, whereas Japan continues to treat immigrants as temporary guests denying any need for long-term integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the policy choices of Germany and Japan for contributing to international security and stability in Afghanistan. Both countries have been closely involved with Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks 2001. It is argued that the policy choice of Japan with a low military element and high civilian element differs significantly from the German military centered approach. An analysis of the goals and motives behind the foreign policy choices reveals that in Germany the military involvement has been justified with humanitarian reasons, national self interests and the right to 'unlimited' sovereignty. This logic has ultimately led to the acceptance of civilian casualties and participation into offensive counterinsurgency operations. It is suggested that elite driven discourses have determined foreign policy strategy. In the case of Japan the paper claims that the conservative LDP elite had been pushing for intensified military involvement which materialized in the dispatch of military vessels to the Indian Ocean and ground forces to Iraq. Similar to Germany these moves towards gaining international reputation were rooted in domestic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Processes occurring during the reactor operation and accidents change the thermal, chemical and other properties in nuclear fuel elements. This paper describes the processes in the nuclear fuel elements and tools for simulation at these processes. Fuel elements used at the Ignalina NPP were simulated with the FEMAXI-V (Japan) and TESPA-ROD (Germany) codes. The developed models were employed to analyse the processes in fuel elements in case of the large LOCA BDBA. The models and the results of the analysis are presented in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to compare typical social problems in Germany and Japan in the context of weavers and female weavers. Design/methodology/approach — The paper compares Gerhardt Hauptmann's Weavers (1892) with Wakizo Hosoi's The Tragic History of Female Weavers (1925). Findings — Despite remarkable differences, there are many similarities between the two works in terms of the economic situations in Germany and Japan. Originality/value — The paper explores differences and similarities in the two works and highlights some typical examples of social problems common to both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that governments of some otherwise enlightened states are increasingly fearful of acknowledging the restraints imposed on them by existing international law. They are also reluctant to enter into new commitments by way of international conventions that would expand the reach of international law. The paper asks whether these fears are based on a true understanding of international law or on some distorted view of it. It will draw comparisons and some contrasts between Australia and the United States in their reactions to a number of recent events as well as to some enduring situations of contemporary relevance. Had time (and the limits of my research) permitted, one might also have examined public attitudes toward international law in China, Japan, and Russia in this context, where similar fears appear to be entertained. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, also enlightened states, appear by contrast to belong to a group more dedicated to international law. As Robert Kagan has recently remarked, the experience of two world wars at close quarters, and the formation of the European Union, have made the European countries more dedicated to process, where the United States is more interested in results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to present, from the perspectives of Germany and Japan, some of the major issues facing the international community in reaching agreement on the Kyoto Protocol and its implementation. It also provides the background leading up to the creation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Berlin Mandate, and the Kyoto Protocol. Although the protocol was finally signed by all participating countries (except a few) after long, protracted negotiations, the Berlin Mandate, the legally-binding minimum targets set forth for reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2008 to 2012, and the priorities given to domestic solutions over external measures provided some countries, notably the United States, an excuse for rejecting the protocol. During the subsequent international negotiations Germany took a lead in pushing the hard-line European Union position, while Japan tried to mediate between the European Union and the soft-line United States position to bring the two sides closer together in an attempt to bring the United States back into the protocol, get it ratified by as many signatory countries as possible, and put into effect as soon as possible. The paper concludes that while the protocol's fate appears to have ended up in the hands of Russia, the greatest hurdle for GHG emissions reduction lies ultimately in the extent to which the governments of developed countries and European economies in transition can convince their citizens, corporations, and other entities to meet those targets within the prescribed time limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasing threat of irreversible, dangerous global warming, effective climate policy is one of the most urgent political challenges. And as mitigation costs are going to increase even in the case of cost efficient measures, government action against global warming needs the sovereign's support. So what is the role of public participation in modern market-based climate policy? Public Choice theory has been analysing respective questions since the 1970s, mainly because economists' recommendations for expanding the use of economic incentives had been ignored in practice. However, recently carbon taxes and cap-and-trade have been spreading, raising questions on the validity of Public Choice arguments anew. Against this background, the paper summarizes the hypotheses of Public Choice theory regarding public participation in climate policy instrument choice, surveys respective empirical studies, and adds new case study data on carbon market decision making in Germany and Japan. It mainly argues that public opinion will play an increasingly important role in effective and efficient climate policy, that political support by citizens becomes most effective via environmental groups' activities, and that strengthening citizen participation calls for lowering information costs and for supporting the civil society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The projected introduction of conditional automated driving systems to the market has sparked multifaceted research on human–machine interfaces (HMIs) for such systems. By moderating the roles of the human driver and the driving automation system, the HMI is indispensable in avoiding side effects of automation such as mode confusion, misuse, and disuse. In addition to safety aspects, the usability of HMIs plays a vital role in improving the trust and acceptance of the automated driving system. This paper aggregates common research methods and findings based on an extensive literature review. Empirical studies, frameworks, and review articles are included. Findings and conclusions are presented with a focus on study characteristics such as test cases, dependent variables, testing environments, or participant samples. These methods and findings are discussed critically, taking into consideration requirements for usability assessments of HMIs in the context of conditional automated driving. The paper concludes with a derivation of recommended study characteristics framing best practice advice for the design of experiments. The advised selection of scenarios and metrics will be applied in a future validation study series comprising a driving simulator experiment and three real driving experiments on test tracks in Germany, the USA, and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: After 100years phenolic resins continue to be a prominent resin system with an impressive worldwide volume of nearly 6million tons/year. It is a ubiquitous adhesive for a diverse spectrum of materials such as wood, glass, metal, paper and rubber with several of these applications being developed by Baekeland during the early stages of his resin commercialization. Many recent technical conferences have been held and were identified with important early Baekeland advances such as Baekeland 2007, Baekeland 2009 and the more recent Baekeland 2011 – all commemorating different initial activities of Baekeland and centennial recognition of his 1907 patent, first production of phenolic resin in Erkner, Germany in 1909 and the centennial celebration of the production of phenolic resin in Japan in 1911. This presentation provides an overview and evaluation of large volume application markets for resole and novolak resins in 2011 and comments related to anticipated greater growth of novolak resins over resole resins. Both resole and novolak resins are viewed as reactive intermediates that undergo a variety of chemical transformations into various improved and in many instances upgraded resin systems that lead to both recognizable and newly reactive resins for value added products. New areas involving phenolic resins are described and consist of Phenol Resorcinol Formaldehyde (PRF) resins, Nanomodification, Novel Novolak Process, ionic liquids, Phenolic Hybrids, and Poly Aryl Ether Amide based on novolak and phenylene bisoxazoline (PBO). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Wind power generation in Japan is underdeveloped. Despite relatively good geographical and meteorological conditions, wind supplies less than 0.2% of the national electricity demand. Germany, in contrast, is able to provide over 6% of its electricity from wind power. This article will outline the main reasons for the marginal position of wind power in Japan by comparing and contrasting it with the political market for wind power in Germany. Using the concept of ‘Technological Innovation Systems’ (TIS), this paper will show how wind power has been impeded in Japan, but has been fostered in Germany, where policy designs and market mechanisms have produced positive feedback loops. Both technical problems and political inertia account for the modest growth of wind power in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japan is often blamed for not coming to terms with its own wartime past and for focusing solely on its role as a victim of the war. Germany, however, is often seen as the model that Japan has to emulate, having penitently accepted responsibility. Thus, in order to work out how these popular myths are being perpetuated, the media prove to be a good source of information, since they help to uphold memory and myth at the same time. In this paper, it will be examined how the 'memory' of the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima is being upheld in Japan and Germany − and what kinds of ' myths' are being created in the process. In focusing on two TV dramas, it shall be worked out to what extent Japan and Germany are represented as 'victims' and to what extent, if at all, the issue of war responsibility features in these dramas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the mechanisms of stratification and inequalities in educational achievements. The main objective is to determine how stratification leads to unequal educational outcomes and how inequalities are channelled through student characteristics, school characteristics and peer effects. This analysis is undertaken in five countries differentiated by their schooling systems. The countries are Japan, Finland, Germany, Italy and the UK, and the dataset used is PISA 2003. The analysis consists of a multilevel econometric model used to explain variations in performance scores. The explanatory variables are student, school and peer characteristics. The institutional context of each education system is used to interpret the results and to describe how inequalities arise. In the last section, policy implications, based on the regression results, are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Renewable energy sources derived principally from solar energy have been gaining ground over the last few years and are now beginning to contribute to the global energy mix. Solar energy in the form of direct electricity conversion (photovoltaics) is already very popular in countries such as the United States, Germany and Japan. The enormous potential of photovoltaic (PV) technology is also obvious and favourable in countries with high irradiation such as the Mediterranean region. The objective of this paper is to review the different up and coming PV technologies, to explore the potential of different PV systems in countries with high solar irradiation and to compare their performance through the assessment of thirteen different types of PV systems that have been installed side by side in Nicosia, Cyprus and Stuttgart, Germany. Finally useful insight into the performance of the PV systems as a function of the meteorological conditions and location will be highlighted. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper focuses on childlessness in Germany and Japan and its sociological meanings in family formation in postmodern societies. First, it shows the trends of fertility decline and increasing childlessness, and clarifies the similarities and differences in both countries, by comparing parity composition, educational attainment, and other socioeconomic correlates of childlessness. Second, using the data of attitudinal surveys, such as the 2003 Population Policy Acceptance Study (PPAS) in Germany and the 13th National Fertility Survey (JNFS; 2005) in Japan, the reasons for having no children are observed. Third, referring to the discussions of German scholars, it tries to explain the sociological meanings of childlessness and to describe the development toward a childless society (even if it's demographically not sustainable) as one of the possible consequences of the Second Demographic Transition. Important findings are as follows: (1) In Germany the fertility decline began early in the mid-1960s but in Japan later from mid-1970s so that the increase of childlessness has been a little delayed. The proportion of childless women in Western Germany increased to 28% for the 1967 cohort. In Japan, it has increased to 12.7% for the 1960 cohort, but is expected to reach 30% for the 1970 cohort. (2) The educational gap in childlessness is clearly observed in Germany; however, this is not so simple in Japan. Corresponding with the increase of childlessness, the desired number of children in average is declining. The emergence of a child-free culture is observed in Germany by PPAS, but not yet in Japan by JNFS. (3) Polarization may proceed further in both countries, between childless people and people with many children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organisations attempt to contribute their share towards fighting the climate crisis by trying to reduce their emission of greenhouse gases effectively towards net zero. An instrument to guide their reduction efforts is internal carbon pricing. Next to choosing the right pricing tool, defining the exact value of an internal carbon price, especially against the background of potential regulatory external carbon prices, and assessing its impact on business units' energy systems poses a challenge for organisations. The academic literature has so far not examined the impact differences of an internal carbon price across different countries, which this paper addresses by using an optimisation model. First, it analyses the energy system cost increase of a real-world facility based on an internal carbon price compared to a potential regulatory carbon price within a country. Second, we evaluate the energy system cost increase based on an internal carbon price across different countries. The results show that with regard to internal carbon prices the additional total system cost compared to potential external carbon prices stays within 9%, 15%, and 59% for Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, respectively. The increase in the energy system cost in each country varies between 3% and 93%. For all countries, the cost differences can be reduced by allowing the installation of renewables. The integration of renewables via energy storage and power-to-heat technologies depends on the renewable potentials and the availability of carbon capture and storage. If organisations do not account for these differences, it might raise the disapproval of internal carbon prices within the organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Median peaks of the return stroke current and the ICC fast pulses in this study are 6.4 kA and 3.0 kA, respectively. • Observed parameters do not show much difference from those observed at tall structures considering instrumental effect. • The local conditions do not have much inference on the parameters of the fast pulses as well as the return strokes. • The local conditions such as height of the different charge layer have some influence on the IS of the upward flashes. The authors have carried out measurement of the current waveforms associated with lightning discharges to wind turbines at Nikaho near the coast of the Sea of Japan since 2013. In this paper measured waveforms in winter up to 2020 are investigated and the current waveforms associated with return strokes after the extinction of the ICC (initial continuous current) and fast pulses superimposed on the ICC with the current peak of 2 kA or higher and with the risetimes of 8 µs or shorter are studied. The median current peaks of the 107 return strokes and the 123 fast pulses were 6.4 kA and 3.0 kA, respectively. The observed median current peaks of return strokes and fast pulses at the Nikaho wind turbines (6.4 kA and 3.0 kA) do not show much difference from those observed at the Gaisberg tower (9.2 kA and 4.2 kA), the Säntis tower (8 kA and 3.4 kA) and the Peissenberg tower in Germany (return stroke: 8.5 kA but no report on fast pulses) when the long sampling interval and the low upper cutoff frequency of the measuring system at the Nikaho wind turbines is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The upgrade of JT-60U to JT-60 Super Advanced (JT-60SA), a fully superconducting tokamak, will be performed in the framework of the Broader Approach (BA) agreement between Europe (EU) and Japan. In particular, the Toroidal Field (TF) system, which includes 18 coils, is foreseen to be procured by France, Italy and Germany. This work covers activities from design and manufacturing to shipping to Japan. The present paper is mainly devoted to the analyses that lead to the conductor design and to the technical specifications of the joints for the JT-60SA TF coils. The conductor geometry is described, which is derived from Cable-In-Conduit concept and adapted to the actual JT-60SA tokamak operating conditions, principally the ITER-like scenario. The reported simulations and calculations are particularly dealing with the stability analysis and the power deposition during normal and off-normal conditions (AC losses, nuclear heating). The final conductor solution was selected through a trade-off between scientific approach and industrial technical orientation. Besides, the TF system connections layout is shown, derived from the industrially assessed twin-box concept, together with the associated thermo-hydraulic calculations ensuring a proper temperature margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional financial arrangements and monetary integration in East Asia and Europe have made considerable progress in recent years. This paper discusses whether governments in both regions, Japan and Germany as the most advanced regional economies in particular, can use the new dynamics as levers to raise their status vis-à-vis the United States. It will be argued that activities are defensive rather than offensive, aiming at protecting the respective region from financial risk. Japan, in particular, would find it difficult to raise its status vis-à-vis the United States significantly by promoting regional financial and monetary integration, principal reasons being actor heterogeneity, the role of China, hesitation to bear burden and risk, and the historical legacy of a bank-oriented system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes car interior sound preferences in general public. Subjective evaluation experiments were performed in Japan, Germany and the United States to investigate the interior sound preferences. Two hundred subjects in each country participated in the experiment. As a result, four kinds of preferences were found. A sound preference evaluation system was developed to calculate numeric preference values from recorded sound stimuli. Furthermore, subjects' characteristics in each preference were clarified. The results showed that women, older people and people not interested in cars preferred quiet sound, while men, younger people, and people who like cars preferred powerful sound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the evolution of the photovoltaics industry in Australia, Germany and Japan taking a comparative perspective. A modification of the sectoral innovation system framework is used to discuss: knowledge and technologies, actors and interactions, institutions and funding, development of markets and technological structure, as a way to understand the changes. In the process of transition from niche to mass production, national players have specialised in different activities, and the institutions’ building block has been a key determinant. In the case of Australia, it is also the least developed area which ultimately exposes the country to losing its innovation benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using patent data from the United States, Japan, and Germany, this paper examines both innovation and diffusion of air pollution control equipment. Whereas the United States was an early adopter of stringent sulfur dioxide (SO2) standards, both Japan and Germany introduced stringent nitrogen dioxide (NO X ) standards much earlier than the US. Nonetheless, in both cases, tightened standards in the US led to more domestic patenting, but not more foreign patenting. Overall, the data suggest that inventors respond to environmental regulatory pressure in their own country, but not to foreign environmental regulations. Moreover, any technology transfer that occurs appears to be indirect. Domestic innovation occurs even for technologies that have already experienced significant innovative activity abroad and utilities purchase pollution abatement equipment from domestic firms. However, patent citation data from the US do show that earlier foreign patents are an important building block for NO X pollution control innovations in the US. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper places the story of the overworked American in context by examining mismatches between preferred and actual work hours among Japanese, Swedish, West German, and U.S. workers. Although many full-timers in all four countries want to work fewer hours, mismatches come in many forms, and their distributions and determinants vary cross-nationally. The United States, for instance, has an unusually large number of full-time workers who want to work more hours, and a workforce that is especially motivated by opportunities for advancement and a desire for high incomes. Ultimately, the prevalence and determinants of hour mismatches are found to reflect cross-national differences in social, political, and economic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Germany and Japan are going through major energy reforms, natural gas consumption is taking a growing share in their energy supply. This paper adopts a Machine Learning approach to assess the causal link between natural gas consumption and economic growth for both economies. A Causal Direction from Dependency (D2C) algorithm with the interconnection of the sub-class is employed using yearly data from 1970 to 2018. The interconnections of the sub-classes are found for both economies, indicating evidence of causalities operating in both directions. In addition, the propagation over the seven eras is linear and homogeneously continue for Japan, while this effect meets a stabilization phase in the fifth era for Germany. The empirical findings claim strong support for the existence of a bidirectional causality between these variables in Germany and Japan, which is in line with the "feedback hypothesis". Although the strength of this bidirectional relationship is clear for both economies, its time-propagation is expected to be longer for Japan. Accordingly, this study claims that the gas supply should be further strengthened to progressively replace the most polluting fuels (oil and coal) and ensure a feasible transition towards a renewable path. • The causal link between natural gas consumption and economic growth exists for both countries. • Predictive analysis highlights a propagation effect between natural gas consumption and economic growth for both economies. • We found empirical sustain for the "feedback hypothesis" for Germany and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]