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林地や工場などから発生する木質系バイオマスは、利用しやすい固体、液体、気体燃料に変換されることで魅力的なエネルギー資源になってきている。バイオエネルギーシステムは廃棄系木質バイオマスを含むこともあり、バイオマス変換技術は生化学的、熱化学的、物理化学的などの方法を用いて行われる。環境意識の高まりと原油価格の高騰は再生可能なエネルギー資源の利用を推し進めている。木質系バイオマスは持続的資源となりえるし、限りある化石資源に対して有用な再生可能な代替品ともなりうる。この論文では、日本国内における木質バイオマスの利用技術の展開とその利用における問題点を概説した。, Forests and woody biomass are becoming attractive sources of energy through the conversion of woody biomass into convenient solid, liquid or gaseous fuels to provide energy for industrial use. Bioenergy systems often use the waste woody biomass and the conversion of the biomass may involve biochemical, thermochemical, or physical/chemical processes. Enhanced environmental concerns and increasing the oil price are encouraging the use of renewable energy sources. Woody biomass can be a sustainable source of energy, a valuable renewable alternative to finite fossil fuels. In this paper, the development of utilization methods of woody biomass and their problems to use in Japan are reviewed.

傾斜したキャピラリー・バリアのもつ浸透抑制機能を利用すれば、地盤に浸透した降雨水を表層部で効果的に捕捉し、地盤深部への浸潤を低減できるため、地山斜面やため池堤防斜面などの斜面すべり防止技術への展開が可能となる。一方、キャピラリー・バリアを地表面の近傍で平面状に敷設すれば、土壌水を根群域に保水できるため、節水農業の効率化が可能となる。このような土のキャピラリー・バリアがもつ応用展開の可能性に着目し、傾斜キャピラリー・バリアによる斜面減災工法、ならびに平面状キャピラリー・バリアによる節水農法の現状を、既往の圃場実験に基づいてまとめた。, Capillary barrier is the simple soil layer system which is composed of a fine soil (sand) layer underlain by a coarse soil (gravel) layer. Water which infiltrates into the soil can be well retained above the interface between the sand and gravel layers because of the difference in hydraulic properties of the soil layer materials. In the case of a tilting interface, the water retained moves downward along the interface between the soil layers. This waterproof by the capillary barrier of soil with the tilted interface decreases rainwater infiltration into the deeper soil, and keep a soil slope stable. This special and attractive feature leads to a possible adoption of the capillary barrier as effective measures for slope protection of natural soil or embankment. On the other hand, in the case of a horizontal interface constructed in a farm field, water retained will be effectively consumed by plant growth. This water storage above the interface of the soil layers and within the plant root zone leads to another possible adoption of the capillary barrier as a water saving irrigation in the farm fields. In the paper, possible field applications of the capillary barrier of soil are reviewed based on results of some field experiments published previously.

In this paper, we reexamine the transfer paradox in a two-commodity world involving two countries. We show that even if the imported good in inferior, donor enrichment can never occur when the recipient imposes a tariff. We assert that if the tariff that the recipient imposes on an imported good is sufficiently lower, no transfer paradoxes arise for the donor and the recipient.

Argumentation theory is considered an interdisciplinary research area. Its techniques and results have found a wide range of applications in both theoretical and practical branches of artificial intelligence, education, and computer science. Most of the work done in argumentation use the on-line textual data (i.e. unstructured or semi-structured) which is intractable to be processed. This paper reports a novel approach to build a Relational Argument DataBase (RADB) with managing tools for argument mining, the design of the RADB depends on the Argumentation Interchange Format Ontology(AIF) using "Walton Theory". The proposed structure aims to: (i) summon and provide a myriad of arguments at the user's fingertips, (ii) retrieve the most relevant results to the subject of search, (iii) support the fast interaction between the different mining techniques and the existing arguments, and (iv) facilitate the interoperability among various agents/humans.

In the wireless LAN, the communications of many terminals are enabled by multihop communications. However, the number of accessing terminals for each access point is limited. In this paper, we restrict the number of the terminals which connect with an access point directly. We can hope that the total number of accessing terminals to each access point becomes uniform.

This paper presents a coherent decomposition scheme for polarimetric SAR data. Coherent decomposition means the decomposition is applied to a single or a few scattering matrix data. Based on the scattering matrix acquired with an FM-CW polarimetric SAR system, we have devised a simple decomposition technique using the coherency matrix for the purpose of identifying scatterers. This paper presents the decomposition technique and some decomposition results obtained by a fully polarimetric FM-CW radar. It is shown the scattering mechanisms are well recovered and the orientation angles of wire scatterer are precisely measured.

The aim of this paper is to identify trends in staff and educational development in the United Kingdom. Over the past thirty years, two aspects of higher education institutions have been developed; namely, “staff development” and “educational development”. The term” staff development” basically focuses on the improvement of the capabilities of staffs, and “educational development” refers to the improvement and innovation of educational processes. According to staff and educational developers, these two aspects are interrelated. This paper, however, describes them separately in order to provide a good practice for discussion of faculty development in Japan. Firstly, I explore how staff development arose in higher education and how educational developers were promoted to establish professional teaching. Secondly, I analyze how educational development has progressed from the individual level to the institutional level and network of subject disciplines. Nowadays, the role of leading educational developers involves promoting strategic institutional change. Finally, I conclude that both staff development and educational development provide systematic and scholarly support for developing and facilitating the full potential of teaching staff and learning communities in higher education to improve the quality of student learning.

In this paper, we reexamine the transfer paradox in a two-commodity world involving two countries. We show that even if the imported good is inferior, donor enrichment can never occur when the recipient imposes a tariff. We assert that if the tariff that the recipient imposes on an imported good is sufficiently lower, no transfer paradoxes arise for the donor and the recipient.

This paper focuses on the concept of reading in Japanese language education textbooks which use Natume Soseki’s novel, Kokoro as a media text. The current model of media literacy in Japanese language education focuses on these textbooks for reading classes. However students can develop a deeper understanding of the main themes in texts if they have some proficiency in media literacy. Several textbooks are considered individually, and I analyse how the differences in each textbook affect the reading of learners, and how learners get different perspectives from the textbooks in comparison to original text.

Niigataken chuetsu-oki earthquake attacked the area where hundreds of small and medium-sized produciton firms concentrate most of which manufacure metal parts, industrial machines, and other related materials. The author visited some industrial parks in Kashiwazaki-shi on five days after the incidence to investigate and grasp dameges of manufacturing machines or apparatuses at the workshops and saw very immediate recoveries in spite of very severe condition like frequent occurrence of displacement or falling of equipments. This paper reports the resultant knowledge by field research carried out on the day and some following additional works. For example fixation of machines using anchor bolts was so effective to damage suppression, however, a lot of bolts fractured also. Later part of this report shortly treats remaining issues to be improved: designing and implementation of business continuity plan, risk management, and information delivery using internet environment.

Neuroimaging for diagnosis of dementia is becoming clinically important and includes computed tomography (CT) , magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) , single photon emission tomography (SPECT) , and positron emission tomography (PET) . Treatable and reversible dementias should be excluded before making diagnosis of Alzheimer type dementia, or other neurodegenerative diseases causing dementia. MRI is the most frequently used and helpful imaging modality for diagnosis of dementia. Secondary dementias detectable with MRI are cerebrovascular diseases, brain tumors, hydrocephalus, demyelinating diseases, inflammatory and infectious diseases. Diffusion - weighted MR imaging is sensitive for herpes encephalitis and Creutzfeldt - Jakob disease that could be hardly detected with conventional pulse sequences in the early stage of the diseases. MRI features for diagnosis of Alzheimer type dementia have been evaluated visually to detect atrophy of the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal region, but it is very difficult for elderly patients to differentiate pathologic atrophy from physiologic atrophy with aging. Recently the voxel - based specific regional analysis system for Alzheimer's disease (VSRAD) has been introduced for the diagnosis of Alzheimer type dementia with MRI. In this paper, the role of CT and MRI for diagnosis of treatable and reversible dementias is mentioned, and implementation and some clinical issues of VSRAD are discussed.

The role of stereotactic radiotherapy has become increasingly important because it has been introduced to treat not only intracranial but also extracranial lesions. The increased accuracy and conformity of radiation treatment has made it possible to apply more and more radical treatment. In this paper, first experience in using the Novalis for various brain, lung and liver tumors were reported. Stereotactic radiotherapy using Novalis shaped beam surgery system are effective and safe noninvasive treatment modalities for various intracranial and extracranial tumors.

A curriculum is made up of learning projects that facilitate the students to learn, and is composed of three essential elements including the objectives, strategies, and evaluation. It should be changeable as the occasion demands every year. A syllabus is defined as an outline of a course of study containing an outline, a schedule of topics, and many more items of information. The primary purpose of a syllabus is to communicate to one's students what the course is about, why the course is taught, its direction and aims, and what will be required of the students for them to complete the course with a passing grade. The objectives of the course are indicated as both general instructional objective (GIO) and specific behavioral objectives (SBOs) in the syllabus. The instructor evaluates whether the students have completed the course with a passing grade from the level of their achievement for the objectives. However, the system to evaluate whether or not the instructor performs the effective learning strategies is insufficient, although a questionnaire survey to evaluate the course can partly improve the learning strategies. This paper introduces our trial on the improvement of effective learning strategies using video-on-demand materials.

The aim of this paper is to review the situation of the spoken Japanese Education of intermediate and advanced levels in Russia and to offer some ways for improvement of it.

Over the past three decades, a new approach to society’s response to crime and criminality has been gaining ground around the world. Known as‘restorative justice’, this innovative approach revolves around the ideas that crime is primarily a violation of a relationship among victims, offenders and the community ; that the chief aim of the justice process should be to reconcile those most directly affected by the offending behaviour while addressing the injuries they suffered ; and that the resolution of crimerelated conflicts demands a positive effort on the part of victims and offenders, and the assumption of responsibility by the community. A restorative justice practice that has attracted much attention in recent years is conferencing. Conferencing is essentially an extension of the victimoffender mediation process involving not only offenders and victims but also their wider‘communities of care’, such as their respective families and other community members. It aims to involve the young offender, the victim, and their families in a decision-making process with the objective of reaching group-consensus on a‘just’outcome. At the same time, it seeks to increase the offender’s awareness of the human impact of his or her behaviour and to enable both the offender and victim to reconnect with key community support systems. Conferencing in New Zealand, referred to as‘Family Group Conferencing’（FGC）, was incorporated into the youth justice system in 1989 with the introduction of the Children, Young Persons and 38 Family Conferencing for Young Offenders : Some Lessons from New Zealand（MOUSOURAKIS）Their Families Act（CYPFA）. The Act emerged partly as a response to Maori demands for a system of justice more sensitive to their traditional cultural values, and it introduced significant changes to the approach for addressing issues of juvenile justice and family welfare. This paper analyses the function of Family Group Conferencing in New Zealand in relation to the broader resto

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the price linkage of commodity futures contracts on TCE (gold, silver, platinum and rubber) and on TGE (corn, soybean, raw sugar, and red bean) by using non-stationary time series models. As for TCE, I found no cointegration relationship among four contracts. I also found no cointegration relationship for each pair of four contracts. I can conclude that no price linkage among the futures contracts on TCE. I found Granger causality from gold to silver and platinum on TCE. Thus I can assume that gold gave some influences on the prices of silver and platinum, but silver and platinum gave no influences on the price of gold. The metal futures such as gold, silver and platinum gave no impact on rubber and rubber gave no influence on metal futures. As for TGE, I also found no cointegration relationship among four contracts. On the other hand, I found cointegration relationship between corn and soybean, corn and red bean, red bean and raw sugar, red bean and soybean. I can conclude that no price linkage exists among four contracts on TGE, but price linkage exists between corn and soybean, corn and red bean, red bean and raw sugar, red bean and soybean. I found no Granger causality among the contracts on TGE.

This paper analyzes the relationship of long term interest rates between Japan and Euro zone in the framework of uncovered interest rate parity relationship (UIP) from June 1, 2000 through May 24, 2004. Engle and Granger cointegration test is conducted. We find no evidence of UIP in the entire term structure. Thus we find little evidence for longrun international linkages of long term interest rates between Japanese Yen and Euro from June 1, 2000 through May 24, 2004. The Granger causalities of Japanese interest rates on Euro interest are confirmed in the entire term structure. The Granger causalities of Euro interest rate on Japanese interest rate are confirmed only in 10 year.

Recently, many companies are interested in logistics which implements and controls the effective flow of goods and services with relating to information form the point of origin to the point of consumption in order to meet customers’ requirements. The origin of logistics is “Physical Distribution” as auxiliary functions in marketing. The ways of management have been always changed by various matters of surrounding companies. Therefore, the implementing and controlling the effective flow of goods and services have also altered physical distribution into logistics which includes strategic element. The purpose of this paper is to consider the relation between logistics and marketing, and to clarify the characterizations of recent logistics.

In 300MHz-3GHz, a probe used in measuring SAR (Specific Absorption Rate) of the mobile communication device is usually calibrated by use of a rectangular waveguide filled with the tissue equivalent liquid. Above 3GHz, however, this conventional calibration has the possibility of inaccurate assessment because the diameter of the probe is comparable with the cross-sectional dimension of the waveguide. Therefore, an alternative calibration for the SAR probe based on another principle is required and is developed by the authors. In our proposed calibration, first, the gain of the reference antenna in the liquid is evaluated by use of two antenna method based on the Friis transmission formula in the conducting medium, and then the electric field radiated by the reference antenna is related to the output voltage of the SAR probe at a point in the liquid. However, the fields are significantly reduced in the liquid and the gain is impossible to be calibrated in the far-field region. To overcome this difficulty, the Friis transmission formula in the conducting medium is extended in the near-field region. In the paper some numerical and experimental results of estimated gain based on the Friis transmission formula in the near-field region are reported and the validity of the new formula is checked.

Chronic liver disease causes health problem such as hepatic failure or hepatocellular carcinoma. As the disease progresses, some fibroses become apparent, and, as such, influence a vascular structure. We have proposed, previously, a method to extract various vascular features from CTAP images. In this paper we suggested that the method improved in this paper should be applicable to CTAP images of 9 patients. It reveals that the vascular-structure analysis can be useful for estimating liver fibrosis level.

The printing method of the thermal transfer printer is to push an ink ribbon that is heated and melted by a thermal head to a printing paper, and transfer the ink to desired positions on the paper. Thus it is important to place the heater of the thermal head at the position where the contact pressure becomes most high. The visco elastic properties of the ink, PET and platen rubber were measured with a rheometer. The contact pressures on the thermal head were calculated by FEM. The contact pressures under consideration of visco elasticity were different from those calculated by elastic analysis. The effect of sliding speed of the thermal head on the contact pressures was also examined. To examine the effect of the contact pressure on the print quality the optical densities were measured with the heater position of the thermal print head changed. The optical densities were changed with the heater position. It can be found that the optical densities decreased with the calculated contact pressure. We designed the thermal print head by using this analytical result, and confirmed the print characteristic., 熱転写プリンタの印刷方式は,インクと紙をサーマルヘッドにより直接加圧した上で,同時に印刷したい部分を加熱することで,インクを紙の最表面ににじむことなく定着する印刷力式である.したがって,接触圧力が最も高くなる位置にサーマルヘッドの発熱体を設計する必要がある.サーマルヘッドへの接触圧力解析には有限要素法(FEM)を用いて計算した.計算に用いたインク, PET,およびプラテンゴムの粘弾性物性値はレオメータで測定した.粘弾性変形を考慮した場合の接触圧力は,弾性変形のみで得られたものと異なってぃた.印刷品質ヘの接触圧力の影響を調ベるためにサーマルヘッドの発熱体の位置を変えたサンプルを用いて印刷濃度を測定し,発熱体の位置によって印刷濃度が変わることを確認した.印刷実験によって計算で求めた接触圧力解析結果の妥当性が検証され,この解析を用いるととによってサーマルヘッドの設計が可能であることを確認した.

前報で包装餅工場から排出される洗米等排水から溶質等成分を膜技術により分離することで排水を浄化・再生し, 透過液を洗米等用水としてリサイクルすることを目的に, 膜の選定に関する研究を行った.そして, 分画分子量15万Daのポリエーテルスルフォン系の中空糸限外濾過 (UF) 膜モジュールを用いることが適当であることを報告した.本研究では上記のUF膜モジュールを使用し, 洗米等次数別排水をUF処理し, それぞれの排水の80%を透過液として回収する際の操作条件について検討した.操作圧力および膜面線速を変化させ, 各操作条件における透過流束, 透過流束維持率, 水洗浄回復率および洗浄回復率への影響について検討し, 洗米等排水のUF処理に適した操作条件を決定した.3～5次洗米排水および浸漬排水に比較して, 1次および2次洗米排水の透過流束は著しく低く, 膜の洗浄回復性も低いことがわかった.そこで, 1次, 2次洗米排水は本研究ではリサイクルの対象から外すことにした.線速0.9m・s^<-1>において, 3～5次洗米排水を洗浄次数別にUF処理する場合は圧力0.02MPa, 浸漬排水の場合は圧力0.1MPaで限界透過流束に達し, それ以上圧力をかけても透過流束が増加しなかった.濾過圧力を増加させると, 透過流束維持率, 水洗浄回復率および洗剤洗浄回復率が低くなった.透過流束は線速に依存し, 線速の増加につれて増加したが, 洗米排水 (圧力0.02MPaにおいて) および浸漬排水 (圧力0.1MPaにおいて) ともに,線速0.9m・s^<-1>においてほぼ定常値に達し, これ以上の線速では増加の割合はごく僅かであった.透過流束と洗浄回復性に対しては, 濾過圧力が大きく影響するのに比べて, 膜面線速の影響は小さかった.以上の結果から3～5次洗米排水の再生・リサイクルに適した操作条件は圧力0.02MPa, 線速0.9m・s^<-1>で, 浸漬排水の場合は圧力0.1MPa, 線速0.9m・s-1であることが明らかになった., In our previous paper, ultrafiltration (UF) membrane modules were evaluated for clarification of rice washing and soaking drainage from packed rice cake manufacturing plant. And a hollow fiber membrane module of the molecular weight cut off of 150kDa, made by polyethersulfone, was found to be the most suitable. In this paper, suitable operating condition of above membrane module was studied. Drainage were obtained from a rice washing process, composed of five steps of washing and one step of soaking. The drainage from each step was filtrated by the OF membrane, and 80% of each drainage was recovered as permeate for recycling. From the view point of permeation flux and flux restoration rate by membrane washing, the various operating condition was evaluated. As the first and the second step drainage showed extremely low flux and low restoration rate, we concluded that the both drainage are not suitable for recycling after UF treatment and should be treated by active sludge processing as waste water. The third to the fifth step drainage showed higher flux and higher restoration rate than the first and the second steps, and the higher step drainage showed the higher flux and the higher restoration rate. Soaking drainage showed extremely higher flux and higher restoration rate than those of washing drainage. It was concluded the suitable OF operating condition for rice washing drainage treatment for clarification was 0.02 MPa pressure and 0.9m•s^<-1> flow velocity, and that for soaking drainage was 0.1 MPa pressure and 0.9m•s^<-1> flow velocity.

Magnetic Resonance (MR) has a huge potential as a clinical diagnostic tool that has yet to be developed. As the development of these MR tools progresses, the leading applications should include the non-invasive monitoring of metabolic-and pharmaco-dynamics within living tissue. In this paper, I introduce two experimental applications demonstrating these types of in vivo MR applications. One is the in vivo monitoring of water environmental changes over anti-edema drug administration in focal ischemic cerebral edema. The other is the magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) monitoring of in vivo pharmaco-dynamics of the polyol pathway in diabatic rats. Based on the directness and non-invasive nature of in vivo MR measurements, we can expect these methods will be widely adopted for clinical use in the near future.

This paper describes the energy consumption of heating and cooling of the houses in Niigata district. The data used in this paper were measured continuously from November 2002 to March 2004. The results are as follows. (1) Compared with energy consumption of heating in 2003 and 2004, heating energy consumption in 2003 is larger than 2004, because it was a mild winter in 2004. Cooling energy consumption in 2003 when was a cool summer, was less than energy consumption in 2004. (2) The amount of energy consumption except of heating, cooling and hot-water supply in 2003 is almost the same as 2004. (3) A change of the amount of total energy consumption in 2003 and 2004 is based on the heating and cooling energy. (4) The relationship between indoor and outdoor temperature difference and the amount of energy consumption would be same if the air-conditioning operation conditions are comparable for both 2003 and 2004.

CP Ti was mirror-polished and then abraded with waterproof SiC papers of two different grit sizes: 16 and 3μm. Aspolished and abraded surfaces were characterized by means of EPMA, XPS, XRD, and hardness test. Oxygen in the mirror-polished surface was uniformly distributed at the lowest level. Comparatively, abrading with SiC papers increased the surface oxygen amount and hardness. Owing to its excellent abrasivity, the coarse grit efficiently scratched the surface and hindered the regenerated oxide film from growing thick, but allowed only the metal-oxide interfacial gradient zone to extend. But, the fine grit merely rubbed the surface and allowed both the oxide film and interfacial zone to extend. Further, the surface appeared to be lightly yellow-colored, suggesting that the oxide film was thicker, probably within 10nm, than the nominal one. When compared with the bulk, the interfacial zone was rich in oxygen and therefore subjected to high coherency strain, which was introduced to relieve the great lattice mismatch between the outer and inner layers of titanium substrate. Effects of solute oxygen hardening and strain hardening were speculated to be responsible for the surface hardening of both SiC-abraded surfaces. In conclusion, abrading with a coarse grit led to accumulation of a high, non-uniform strain in the titanium substrate, thereby hardening the surface further.

This paper investigates a calibration method of 6 DOF acceleration sensor system using multiple linear accelerometers. So far, it has been considered that a set of 6 DOF acceleration data is to be essential to its calibration. In this accelerometer system, 6 DOF acceleration can be resolved using the geometrical condition of 6 linear accelerometers. Therefore, the measurement error results from the alignment error of the 6 linear accelerometers. And so, we analyze the alignment error and give a caribration method to identify the error only using some limited linear accelerations (acceleration of gravity). This paper discusses its calibration method with experiments for our prototype 6 DOF accelerometer. The results show that the calibration using limited data is possible and has good performance.

In recent decades, international trade liberalization has been advanced under the WTO non-discriminatory principle according to the consideration that a free trade system will give positive impacts on global economic welfare. However, the new round negotiations between member countries has a rough going as shown by the failure of the Hong Kong meeting of WTO ministers in December 2005, not all significant economies are ready to negotiate on dismantling politically sensitive border barriers in the WTO. On the other hand, more than 180 bilateral and sub-regional preferential trade agreements (PTAs) had been completed in the world by the year of 2005. The motives of PTAs are considered as follows: the less negotiating time compared to that of WTO, and the possibility of making some new rules which are not included in WTO principles, etc. This paper will clarify the possibilities of economic partnerships in East Asian agriculture by over viewing current situation in this region around FTAs. It will also point out the impacts that PTAs will give to the domestic industries, and the difficulties that regional economic cooperation in agricultural sector will face through a questionnaire survey on the agricultural economists of Japan, China and South Korea who are considered to have strong influences on their domestic agricultural policies. Some policy implications on the tasks of regional cooperation will be drawn as well.近年、自由貿易が世界の経済厚生を高めるという考えにより、国際貿易はWTOの無差別原則の下で自由化が進められてきた。しかし、2005年12月の香港閣僚会議に象徴されるように、WTO交渉は困難なものとなっている。その一方で、2005年11月時点で、地域を限定した地域貿易協定が世界で180以上も締結されており、束アジア地域においても同様の動きが広がっている。WTO交渉やFTAの締結において、農業部門は常に大きな問題とされてきた。したがって、国際貿易システムや経済統合の方向性は、農業をめぐる経済連携のあり方によって大きく左右されると考えられる。東アジア地域の中では、とりわけ日本、中国、韓国の間では、農産物および食品の貿易を通じて相互に強く依存する関係にあり、これら3カ国の経済連携のあり方は、東アジア地域全体にも大きな影響を与えると考えられる。しかしながら、実際に農業をめぐる経済連携を進めるにあたっては、それぞれの国の農業問題の特性、経済連携に対する考え方などを明らかにし、相互理解を深めることが不可欠であると考える。そこで、本研究では、日本、中国、韓国を対象として、各国の農業および農産物貿易の構造、および農業における経済連携の問題に関する認識・評価について分析することを通じて、東アジア地域におけるFTAの進展と農業を

In Japan, many cases of adoptions involve the adoption of adult persons. The purposes of these adoptions are various, one, in particular, concerning matters of family succession. The most important effects of adult adoption are the duty of support someone adopted person, the right of succession, and the change of name of an adoptee. Adoption cases whose main purpose is to change the adopted person's name have recently become a social issue. From such a context, a proposal to restrict has been presented to the Ministry of Justice since 2001. It demands to install the restriction of adult adoption to Civil Code from the Ministry of Justice. However, this proposed legal restriction has some difficult problems. This paper will examine the issues concerning the restriction of adult adoptions.

This paper explores a learning effect of "Standard English" in the new English education curriculum (new EFL program) of Niigata University. In this program, new students take "Standard English" based on the entrance examination results etc, in the first semester. Then, the students take TOEIC at the last of that semester. Investigating the relation between the results of the National Center Test for University Entrance Examinations (NCT), "Standard English", and TOEIC showed the following findings; Two thousand one hundred ninety nine new students took TOEIC in fiscal year 2005. The average TOEIC score in Niigata University whole examinees was 427.8 points. This score was almost the same as the average score of the whole Japan's university students of fiscal 2004, and exceeded about 40 points from those new students of that year. Moreover, that score was better than the average mark of TOEIC IP carried out in Niigata University in May of fiscal 2003. There was a remarkable difference between faculties and within the faculty about the results of TOEIC, and also the difference was looked at by the selection method of an entrance examination. While correlation of 0.62 was measured between the score of TOEIC and NCT, correlation of "Standard English" and TOEIC was as low as 0.32.

Numerous snow defensive structures, built on Tertiary and Quarternary mudstone were collapsed and many others became vulnerable due to weakening of foundations during Mid-Niigata Earthquake. Heavy snowfall after the Mid-Niigata Earthquake further aggravated the problem. This paper deals the impact of heavy snow load on the foundations of defensive structures and discusses their weakening mechanism after the Mid-Niigata Earthquake. Geology of the study area is studied in detail. Geotechnical properties of the foundation materials are determined. The laboratory assessments of the effects of slaking on the behavior of mudstone, especially, the influence of degradation on strength resulting from gradual slaking are examined.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify distribution and characteric of historic buildings in SHIBATA castle town. The authors survey the shape of all buildings we can see in SHIBATA castle town area for the purpose. And we drew historic buildings from the all buildings. From this survey, 803 historic buildings are drawn and the percentage of historic buildings is 20%. There are 4 districts whose percentage of historic buildings is 30% in SHIBATA castle town area. About characteristics of historic buildings, 1 main form is drawn from 12 forms in Samurai zone and towzoneeach.Theform of town zone is in agreement with the characteristic streets.

The purpose of this report is to review the course of "Introduction to Japan" conducted for the Intensive Japanese Class students in 2004. It is hoped that the paper can provide some basic references for the future development of the introductory courses related to Japan and Japanese culture.

The current condition for human rights violations in Bangladesh has already reached in an alarming state to attract both national and international focus on it. Critics sometimes indicate the religious values of its people, where the majority of people are Muslim, to be the root cause of such type of violations. To make this criticism futile, this paper would discuss about various major types of human rights violations in Bangladesh and how Islam recognize these human rights in its core values. Then, a conclusion has been drawn showing that it is not Islam rather its unscrupulous abuse, illiteracy and poverty of the people, weak law and order situation, and corruption etc. those can be attributed as the root causes of human rights violations in Bangladesh.

This paper describes a new control method for a redundant parallel manipulator using an internal force sensor. In conventional control methods of a redundant parallel manipulator, optimal torque minimized actuator torque or maximized manipulability by using evaluation function is decided and used. However, these methods have to use a torque controlled actuator. It's torque is small, also it is expensive. So, we propose a new control method using a conventional geared actuator in this paper. In our method, internal forces produced by actuator redundancy is detected by an internal force sensor and controlled to be zero. We demonstrate about the proposed control system and the structure, the principle, and the experimental result of the redundant parallel manipulator using the internal force sensor.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of Japanese yen interest rate swap spreads from the beginning of 1994 through the middle of 2003. The whole sample is devided into two sub periods. The first sub period, named Sample A, is from January 1994 through January 1999. The second sub period, named Sample B, is from February 1999 through July 2003. For the Variables of determinants, I use TED spead, credit risk and slope of the yield curve .The VAR model without error correction term is estimated for the analysis of variance decomposition and impulse response function. The credit risk influenced swap spreads of all maturities more in Sample A than in Sample B. Especially in mid term such as 4 year and 5 year, the impacts of credit risk were very strong in Sample A.

In the 1990s, China sharply increased its share in the Japanese market for fresh vegetables. Faced with an influx of Chinese agricultural products, provisional safeguard measure on three items (i.e. Welsh onion, Shiitake mushrooms and Tatami-omote) was imposed by the Japanese Government in the period from April 23 to November 8, 2001. In the meantime, the Japanese government, vegetable farmers, and the groups related to production gathered together to make programs for a more competitive domestic vegetable production. In this paper, the circumstances of the competition between Japanese and Chinese agricultural products were briefly introduced. A report to Japan's correspondence to the situation of fresh vegetable production after the implementation of provisional safeguard measure was made, through the survey of two Welsh onion producing bases. Furthermore, policy implications on the structural reform program for vegetable production were drawn as the follows: Firstly, structural reform program of vegetable production will reach its limitations without touching the issue of institutional reforms of Japanese agricultural industry. Secondly, it is necessary to make an appropriate marketing strategy and establish a brand for vegetable farmers to ensure their profits from production.1990年代以降,中国の対日生鮮野菜の輸出が急激に増加し,日本市場におけるシェアも高まっている.日本政府は中国産農産物の輸入急増に伴い,2001年4月23日から11月8日までの間,ネギ,シイタケ,畳表の三品目について,暫定的セーフガードを発動した.その間,日本政府,野菜生産者及び産地は国内野菜生産の競争力向上のための計画立案に向け協議を行った.本稿では,日本産農産物と中国産農産物の競争状況を簡潔に説明し、暫定的セーフガード発動後における生鮮野菜生産の対応状況を二つのネギ産地の実態調査をもとに明らかにした.その結果,「野菜の構造改革対策」についての政策提言として,第一に,「野菜の構造改革対策」は日本農業における制度改革を欠いては,それ自体に限界があること.第二に,野菜生産者にとって収益性の高い生産を行うためには,適切な販売(マーケティング)戦略やブランドの確立が必要であることを示した.

Vertical alveolar distraction was first described by Chin and Toth in 1996. This method is an alternative procedure for augmentation of the alveolar ridge. A segmental osteotomy mobilizes the bone for transport. By using controlled, gradual distraction, it is possible to enlarge the segment of the bone and reconstruct the alveolar ridge. This paper presented our first experience with alveolar ridge distraction in a patient with a bone defect after segmental resection in tumor surgery. An internal distraction device (LEAD system(R), LEIBINGER) was used. This device achieved patient acceptability and comfort. Distraction osteogenesis was successfully done to correct the alveolar process deficiency without any complications. Correction of the site of deficiency made it possible to rehabilitate the dentition using osseointegrated implants. Vertical alveolar distraction seems to have many advantages compared with autogenous onlay bone grafting. The advantages are as follows ; easy and safe technique, no donor site morbidity, less bone resorption, no limitation of distraction, expanding the overlying soft tissue while distraction osteogenesis., 垂直的歯槽骨延長法は、1996年にChin and Tothにより初めて報告された顎堤形成法である｡骨切りした歯槽骨片を延長装置により徐々に上方に移動させ、骨断端間に新たな骨を再生させることにより、顎堤の高さを回復する。今回、腫瘍切除後の歯槽骨欠損に対して、プレート型延長装置(LEIBINGER社製LEADシステム(R))を用いて、垂直的歯槽骨延長法を施行した1例を経験した｡延長装置は小型で、患者にとって違和感はなく、また、感染などの合併症は認められなかった｡形成された顎堤は高さ、幅ともに良好で、インプラントにより機能的にも審美的にも満足いく咬合を再建可能であった｡垂直的歯槽骨延長法は、これまでおもに行われてきた骨移植と比較して、術式が簡単で安全、骨の採取が不要、術後の骨吸収が少ない、骨延長量に制限がない、骨周囲の骨膜や軟組織も延長するなどさまざまな利点を有し、歯槽骨欠損に対する有用な治療方法と考えられた｡

Two- and three-dimensional vision systems for inspection, control, and metrology : 29-30 October 2003 : Providence, Rhode Island, USA. : Oct 2003, Providence, RI, This paper describes a range-finder that uses two feedback loops. Each feedback loop is respectively used to control the phase and the modulation-amplitude in a sinusoidal phase-modulating interference signal. It enables us to perform unambiguous measurement and real-time processing on the interference signal. Also external disturbance superimposed on the interference signal is eliminated by the feedback control. A distributed-Bragg-reflector laser diode that has wide range in wavelength-tuning allows us to improve the measurement accuracy.

The third report in the present series, this paper offers an analysis of important recent studies (from 1980 to the present) of Japanese economic policy and thought in the 1910's and 20's. The economy of Japan following WWI can be described particularly in terms of its emphases on scientific development and industrial production. However, this progress in industrial development led to the appearance of a widened gap between rich and poor, and one of the major issues concerning the economic thought of the time was how to improve the lot of the poorer levels of society, including workers, farmers and city dwellers. Research in the field of economics during the 1910's and 20's had as one of its focal points the attempt to alleviate this exaggerated difference between the haves and havenots. The economics of the Association for the Study of Social Policy attempted to reduce the gap between rich and poor through the implementation at a national level of specific social policies. The ineffectiveness of these policies, however, resulted in a lack of faith in the ability of the Association to do anything about the situation in a concrete way. The crumbling of the economic policies associated with this Association for the Study of Social Policy allowed for the appearance new approaches, such as the Neoclassical economics of Tokuzo Fukuda and the Marxist economics of Hajime Kawakami. The present study introduces the work of Kanae Iida and Kanji Kobayashi. Seeking an approach to the study of economics based on firmly-grounded economic theories, this paper presents and comments on the work of Kanae Iida, Mikio Nishioka, Takutoshi Inoue, Tamotsu Nishizawa, Hideomi Tanaka, who themselves each analyzed the ideas of Tokuzo Fukuda. It also introduces and comments on the work of Shiro Sugihara, who investigated the thought of Hajime Kawakami. This paper also presents the research of Kunio Yanagita, and comments on the ideas of Yoshiteru Iwamoto and Takashi Fujii, with a particular em

Annual Conference : 2004, Uniiversity of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology. UK, This session outlines Japanese Children's media literacy. In this paper, we focused on three aspects of media literacy: Skills of Media Utilization, Critical Viewing and Positive Attitude in information gathering, and tried to make a scale of these abilities. As a result of our research of 401 Japanese children, we reached the following four conclusions. 1) As a result of the correlation analysis, the correlation coefficient of scale and each item is high. As a result of GP analysis, there are significant differences in all items. Then, the reliability of the scale is confirmed. 2) We find out that a person with Positive Attitude has a high level of skills and a high level of Critical Viewing. 3) Students with a high level of Skills of Media Utilization and Positive Attitude in information gathering think that the internet is easy to use, accurate, has up-to-date information, and like it. On the other hand, the low level group feels that TV is easy and accurate, and they like it. They seem to have a tendency to overestimate the information from TV.

The printing method of the thermal transfer printer is to push an ink ribbon that is heated and melted by a thermal print head to a printing paper, and transfer the ink desired positions on the paper. Thus it is important to place the heater of the thermal print head at the position where the contact pressure is most high. The visco elastic properties of the ink, PET and platen rubber were measured with a rheometer. The contact pressures on the thermal print head were calculated by FEM. The contact pressures under consideration of visco elasticity were different from those calculated by elastic analysis. The effect of sliding speed of the thermal print head on the contact pressures was also examined. To examine the effect of the contact pressure on the print quality the optical densities were measured with the heater positions of the thermal print head changed. The optical densities were changed with the heater positions. It can be found that the optical densities decreased with the calculated contact pressure.

The aim of this paper is to investigate how lexico-grammatical resources in Japanese contribute to realization of generic structure of texts. We have analyzed two texts: one belongs to genre of Explanation and the other to genre of News story. The Explanation text is structured serially, stage by stage, while the News story text is structured orbitally; the text has a nucleus and satellites which refer back to the nucleus. This difference in structure results from the difference of purposes of these genres. We have further analyzed these texts in terms of textual metafunction and nominalization. In the Explanation text, New in Macro Theme and hyper Theme predicts what to follow and clausal Themes create cohesive relations inside elements of schematic structure and relations to Macro Themes or hyper Themes. A shift to a new stage of schematic structure is indicated by nominalization in Theme which summarizes what has been said and nominalization in N-Rheme which presents culmination of New information given in the text. In the News story text, the Themes of first clause in each satellite refer back to information presented in the nucleus. These Themes create boundaries between satellites and cohesive relations to the nucleus.

This paper analyzes the students' actual use of the honorific expressions for a teacher and the changes in their usage corresponding to the developmental stages of the students. For these purposes the author gathered data by compositions that were written to teachers by the students of different age groups. The entire data was gathered from elementary, junior and senior high school students in Niigata city and its surrounding areas. Based on the obtained data, the actual figure of honorific expression by students is considered.

This paper presents QoS control enhanced architecture for VoIP networks. In this architecture we use both the probe flow delay and average loss rate measurement systems. First we apply the probability-based EMBAC scheme on our delay system. Then we propose a newprobability-based EMBAC with a severe congestion consideration scheme to improve the admission control scheme in both measurement systems. We compare the performance of the enhanced systems in terms of blocking probability under the same condition of achieving average packet loss rate no greater than the certain target by setting an appropriate admission threshold in each system under each scenario. In this study, it is shown through simulations that for the same target voice average loss rate, the enhanced systems proposed in this paper outperform the conventional schemes in handling the network resources. Then we will seek to prove that, for extra traffic loads within a busy period of time and with an optimal admission threshold chosen in advance, the enhanced systems can be a powerful and reliable EMBAC tool for VoIP networks in achieving high network performance with minimum blocking probability and minimum average loss rates. Finally it is shown that the enhanced systems have reasonable scalability.

GUS標識根粒菌を用い,バーミキュライトを含む5種類の土壌に接種した根粒菌の増殖を調べたところ,どの土壌でも接種1週間後に根粒菌密度は10倍以上に増加した。そこで,尿素,被覆尿素,石灰窒素の深層施肥区にバーミキュライトを充填したペーパーポットに播種と同時に根粒菌を接種し初生葉展開時に移植する方法,種子接種苗移植またはペーパーポット無接種苗を移植する方法で栽培を行った。土着根粒菌が定着していない建設残土を上乗せ客土した新潟県内の大規模水田転換畑初作圃場内で窒素肥料の深層施肥試験を行った。施肥は,標準施肥(1.6g N m^<-2>)に加え,尿素,100日タイプの被覆尿素,または石灰窒素(10g N m^<-2>)を移植直下深さ20cmの位置に深層施肥し,ダイズの子実収量と窒素含有量に対する施肥と根粒菌接種の効果を調べた。根粒菌無接種ペーパーポット苗移植では根粒の着生が認められず,窒素深層施肥無施用区の子実収量は約9g株^<-1>ともっとも低かった。無施用区のペーパーポット接種苗移植,種子接種苗移植ともに子実収量は約22g株^<-1>となり,根粒菌接種で有意に高まった。葉の寿命は石灰窒素区でもっとも長かった。また,株あたり子実収量は,尿素区32〜37g,被覆尿素区40〜44g,石灰窒素区38〜48gと深層施肥により増加した。以上の結果から,根粒菌を接種した苗を移植栽培することにより,根粒菌のいない転換畑の初年作でも根粒形成と窒素固定の寄与が期待できること,および,石灰窒素の深層施肥はダイズの生育および収量の増加に被覆尿素と同等の効果があることが示唆された。, Population of GUS marked bradyrhizobia inoculated in five different soils including calcined vermiculite increased over 10 times in a week. Each soybean seed was planted in a paper pot filled with vermiculite inoculated with or without bradyrhizobia, and the 10-d-old seedlings were transplanted with a paper pot to the first cropping reclaimed field in Niigata. In addition to the conventional fertilization (1.6 g N m^<-2>), deep placement of urea, 100 d type coated urea, or calcium cyanamide (10 g N m^<-2>) was applied. In conventional fertilization the soybean plants transplanted with non-inoculated paper pot did not nodulate due to the absence of indigenous bradyrhizobia, and the seed dry weight was lowest, about 9 g plant^<-1>. Seed dry weight of the plants either with paper pot inoculation or seed inoculation was higher, about 22 g plant^<-1>. Soybean plants with deep placement of calcium cyanamide exhibited prolonged leaf activity. With deep placement of urea, coated urea and calcium cyanamide, seed dry weight increased to 32-37, 40-44 and 38-47g plant^<-1> respectively. The highest average seed yield was obtained in the inoculated paper pot transplantation with calcium cyanamide.

Toni Morrison is the first African-American writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. Morrison has written seven novels and a collection of essays and lectures. She has completed Beloved, Jazz and Paradise in her three-part series on love. She published Jazz in 1992. It takes place in City, New York in the mid-1920s. This period in the United States was "Jazz Age". The period from 1990s to 1940s, when African-Americans migrated to die norm, was called "The Great Migration." They looked for freedom and the excitement of City life. Jazz was not only the music but the way of life for the African-Americans. In the previous paper I have hardly described the relationship between "the groove of a record" and "young loving." This one explains the relationship between "the groove of a record" and "young loving."

This paper analyzes the students' actual use of the honorific expressions to a teacher and the changes in their usage accompanied by the developmental stage of the students. For these purposes the author gathered data by recording conversations between students and teachers, and these between students and the author, and at the same time analyzed questionnaires and compositions written by students. The entire data was gathered from elementary, junior and senior high school students in Niigata city and its surrounding areas. Based on the obtained data, the actual usage of honorific expression of students is examined. Consequently, it became clear that, the language activities varies with a student's growth process. The 3rd grade elementary schoolchildren consider teachers to be "their absolute superiors" and use consistently honorific in conversation, although their knowledge of an honorific is deficient. In the data of the 6th grade elementary and the 2nd grade junior schoolchildren the intimacy and the various self-expressions to a teacher are observed overwhelmingly. They are attaching greater importance to the intimacy with a teacher than to a vertical relation. In the case of the 2nd grade senior high school students, they recognize the conversation with a teacher to be a public scene, and use honorific expression intentionally.

The purpose of this paper is to propose the model in the writing class of the latter half of the Japanese beginners. "Peer response" is widely practiced in ESL but not in Japanese learning. So I tried this activity in my writing class. Students write compositions with the same theme at home. And they read them each other in class, write comments in the sheets and talk with. After that, they hand it in a teacher. The teacher corrects them and writes comments in the sheets. Students write it again referring to 2 sheets. The result is that producing quantity was increased; the structure of the composition was improved. It can be said it was effective activity in the writing class of Japanese beginners.

The learners of Japanese do not have any problem writing short compositions. But in the case of longer compositions they become too complicated and confusing. Besides, even those foreign students who master daily conversation, when writing a formal report form compositions, which are diffcult to understand. The aim of this study is to find out how the advisers of the foreign student consult them on the structure and composition of students thesis and other papers. Results of the study are as follows; 1. The Japanese learners use the conjunctive particle -te more frequently than native Japanese speakers. 2. As for the viewpoint of the description native Japanese speakers tend to use a fixed viewpoint of the main character. But the Japanese learners use different standpoints at the same time, which becomes confusing. 3. Comparing to native Japanese speakers, the compositions of the learners are unbalanced.

Treatment of taste disorder patients was started at our department since gustatory outpatient clinic was opened in October 1999. For the purpose of grasping the clinical features of these patients, a clinical study was performed. Fifty-three patients (17 males and 36 females) who were examined and treated at our gustatory clinic from October 1999 to February 2002 were studied. Patient's age was distributed from 23 to 96 years, and the average age was 66.6 years. The most numerous group consisted in 15 female patients in their 70. The most frequent chief complaint was lack of taste (hypogeusia) and was reported by 18 patients. Among other complaints were bitter taste (pantogeusia) in 12 patients, tongue pain or dry mouth (intraoral conditions not related to taste) in 15 patients, heterogeusia in 3 patients. The diagnosis was drug-induced taste disorder in 10 patients, oral candidiasis in 7 patients, iron deficiency-induced taste disorder in 6 patients, idiopathic and peripheral conduction taste disorders each in 5 patients, and zinc deficiency-induced taste disorder in 3 patients. The treatment mainly consisted in dietary instructions, zinc prescription and oral care. The treatment outcome was investigated using the paper disk method by which a decrease of the psychogeusic threshold for all the tastes was found after treatment in the 14 patients whose chief complaint was a lack of taste. A tendency of quick recovery was observed in the patients who visited our clinic shortly after they have noticed taste-related symptoms. Moreover, since positive effects were obtained by zinc intake in many patients with normal serum zinc level, a latent zinc deficiency was suspected in these patients., 新潟大学歯学部附属病院加齢歯科では、平成11年10月に味覚外来を開設し、味覚障害患者の治療にあたってきた｡今回、味覚外来受診者の臨床的特徴を把握し、診療体制の充実を図るために臨床統計的検討を行った｡対象は平成11年10月から平成14年2月までに味覚外来を受診した53名(男性17名、女性36名)とした｡患者の年齢は23歳から96歳に分布し、平均年齢は66.6歳であった｡70歳代の女性患者が15名と最多であった｡主訴は、味がわからないなどの味覚減退が18名と最も多く、ロの中が苦いなどの自発性異常味覚12名、舌痛、口渇など口腔内症状15名、異味症3名などであった｡診断は、薬剤性味覚障害10名、口腔カンジダ症各7名、鉄欠乏性味覚障害6名、特発性、末梢伝導路性味覚障害各5名、亜鉛欠乏性味覚障害3名であった｡治療は、食事指導や亜鉛内服療法、口腔ケアなどを行った｡主訴に味がわからないと訴えた患者14名について、濾紙ディスク検査の結果を治療前後で比較したところ、全ての味質において、治療後に味覚閾値の低下がみられた｡症状が発現してから来院までの期間が短い方に治癒率が高い傾向にあった｡また、血清亜鉛値が正常値であっても、亜鉛内服により良好な効果が得られた患者が多く、潜在的な亜鉛欠乏が推察された｡