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The conventional accounts of the history of the sovereign state system assume that territorial sovereignty originated in Europe and spread to the rest of the world through colonial expansion. This implies that territory, which is a core feature of the modern state, and more specifically, linear borders, had not existed outside Europe before other societies encountered the West. Focusing on early modern Japan, this article challenges that assumption by showing that there was a similar territorial order outside Europe that developed in parallel with its European counterpart. Through an investigation of boundary disputes, boundary markers, and map-making during the Edo period (1603–1868), it demonstrates that linear borders were not foreign to early modern Japan. Domains in Edo Japan were already well into the process of building a territorial order with demarcated borders and mutual exclusion. This article contributes to International Relations scholarship by addressing the "Westphalian myth" from a geographical rather than temporal perspective and shifting the focus of the study of non-Western international systems from differences to similarities. It also suggests a potential revision of scholarly understandings of discontinuity before and after the Meiji Restoration in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the applicability of a stochastic typhoon model, STM, for probabilistic forecasting of storm surge induced by a typhoon. When a typhoon forms and approaches the coast, the present STM generates a number of virtual typhoons with initial conditions specified by the recent history of the actual typhoon. Storm surge is then computed for each of the generated typhoons, and the probabilistic characteristics of the estimated storm surges are investigated. The present STM is based on the higher-order autoregressive model, which can account for the history of the characteristics of individual typhoons. The concept of minimal pressure was introduced to improve the predictive skills of the statistical characteristics of extreme typhoons. The model was applied to the cases of Typhoons Jebi and Trami, which hit Japan in 2018. The present system reasonably explained the contrasting characteristics of Jebi and Trami in terms of their peak storm surge levels in the inner part of Osaka Bay. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis of the present probabilistic forecasting system suggested that a relatively large number of virtual typhoons are needed for forecasting of the worst storm surge conditions induced by the arbitrary actual typhoons approaching the target coast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floristic surveys are crucial to the conservation of biodiversity, but the vast majority of such surveys are limited to listing species names, and few take into account the evolutionary history of species. Here, we combine classical taxonomic and molecular phylogenetic (DNA barcoding) approaches to catalog the biodiversity of pteridophytes (ferns and lycophytes) of the Nectandra Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica. Surveys were carried out over three field seasons (2008, 2011, and 2013), resulting in 176 species representing 69 genera and 22 families of pteridophytes. Our literature survey of protected areas in Costa Rica shows that Nectandra has an exceptionally diverse pteridophyte flora for its size. Plastid rbcL was selected as a DNA barcode marker and obtained for >95% of pteridophyte taxa at this site. Combined molecular and morphological analyses revealed two previously undescribed taxa that appear to be of hybrid origin. The utility of rbcL for species identification was assessed by calculating minimum interspecific distances and found to have a failure rate of 18%. Finally we compared the distribution of minimum interspecific rbcL distances with two other areas that have been the focus of pteridophyte molecular surveys: Japan and Tahiti. The comparison shows that Nectandra is more similar to Japan than Tahiti, which may reflect the biogeographic history of these floras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of linagliptin in Japan by estimating the lifetime outcome based on clinical event rates from the Asian subpopulation of the CARMELINA trial. In CARMELINA, linagliptin added to standard of care (SoC) versus SoC demonstrated noninferiority with regard to risk of composite cardiovascular (CV) outcome in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of CV and kidney events. Issues resulting from conducting a cost-effectiveness analysis using data from a clinical noninferiority study were also investigated. Methods: A microsimulation model was used to evaluate linagliptin/SoC versus SoC in terms of direct costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) from a Japanese public healthcare payer's perspective. Cost data were obtained from recent Japanese publications. The time horizon was defined as lifetime, and the discount rate for costs and effectiveness was 2% per year. One-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Results: In the base case analysis, and taking medical history into account, the incremental effectiveness of linagliptin/SoC versus SoC was 1.34 QALYs, and the incremental cost for linagliptin was − 545,319 yen. In the one-way sensitivity analysis, the parameter which most affected the results was the hazard ratio for renal failure of linagliptin/SoC compared with SoC. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that the probability of reduced costs and increased effectiveness (dominant) was 48%. Assuming an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) threshold of 5 million yen, the probability that the ICER was below the threshold was 89% for linagliptin/SoC compared with SoC. Conclusions: This evaluation, using Asian subpopulation data from the CARMELINA trial, suggested that the cost-effectiveness of linagliptin for a lifetime outcome was favourable in Japan. However, the results must be interpreted cautiously because of the noninferiority trial data source, which might cause ICER variations for each parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear meltdown in Fukushima, Japan, on March 11, 2011 ("3.11") prompted global changes in national energy policies. Public discourse created the image that "Fukushima" had prompted Germany's Energiewende, and much research asking why the reaction of decision makers in Germany was significantly different from those in Japan has been conducted since that time. However, the effect on policy actors themselves in the policy-making network has been overlooked. Taking Germany's socio-political history into account, we question such conclusions and argue that the measurable effect is much less than some conclude. Using an unconventional merged methods research design and innovative survey instrument with a policy-actor-network approach (the G-GEPON 2 Survey), we asked major German policy actors, interest groups, stakeholders, and civil society actors about their opinions, attitudes and governmental support regarding energy policy decisions pre- and post-Fukushima. We found that an established institutional landscape of policy actors and their cooperation in policy processes has not been affected by 3.11. New forms of inquiry for policy research show the potential to provide insights into policy processes which were not measurable with traditional single-method inquiries. Furthermore, we have found that emulation of national legal frameworks must consider socio-political traditions. We attempt to create new forms of investigation to reveal hidden structures in policy processes which are empirically difficult to grasp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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