Variation In Japan Research Articles

Regional variation in the use of revascularisation for peripheral artery disease in Japan: a cross-sectional observational study

ObjectivesWe aimed to investigate the regional variations in the number of interventions and surgeries for peripheral artery disease (PAD) and explore the major determinants of the variations.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingThe Japanese Ministry...

Do bank shocks affect physical or R&D investments more? Evidence from Japan

This study focuses on physical and R&D investments to examine the effect of bank shocks on corporate investment behavior at the firm and economy levels. I use matched bank-firm lending data for listed Japanese companies from 1990 to 2013 to distinguish bank loan supply shocks from firms’ borrowing shocks. Notably, bank concentration increased in Japan during this period, thereby enhancing the granularity of bank shocks. The estimation result of each investment function reveals that bank shocks become highly relevant for firms’ physical investment relative to their R&D investment. Specifically, a negative bank shock of one standard deviation decreases the physical (R&D) investment rate by 12.6% (less than 1%) for firms with the median level of debt ratio. Consistent with this, the economy-level analysis shows that granular bank shocks account for 9.4% of the variation in Japan’s aggregate physical investment but have no explanatory power for the country’s aggregate R&D investment.

Characteristics of PM2.5-bound metals in Japan over six years: Spatial distribution, health risk, and source analysis

Air sampling campaigns were conducted at 100 survey sites across Japan from April 2014 to February 2020, and a comprehensive database of atmospheric particles was obtained. In this study, the characteristics of PM2.5 and 26 metals were investigated in depth. Spatially, the concentration of PM2.5 gradually increased from the northeast to the southwest of Japan. The pollution in Kitakyushu City was the most serious, reaching 19.8 μg m−3. As an important particle component, metals did not show obviously spatial variation in Japan, with a sum concentration of 0.4 μg m−3. Anthropogenic metals only accounted for about 8% of the total metals, but they could pose a serious threat to public health. For children, the non-carcinogenic risk and carcinogenic risk due to exposure to anthropogenic metals could not be neglected in Japan; the corresponding HI and CR values at 100 survey sites ranged from 2.7 to 15.0 and 4.1 × 10−5 to 3.4 × 10−4, respectively. Adults faced lower health risks than children, with HI values ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 and CR values ranging from 2.0 × 10−5 to 1.6 × 10−4. The integrated health risk assessment results showed that the coastal region of the Seto Inland Sea and the north Tohoku Region were the most heavily polluted areas of Japan; in this study, 20 survey sites were finally determined to be high-risk sites, among which pollution control for Niihama City, Kitakyushu City, Hachinohe City, and Shimonoseki City were of first priority. With further combination with a positive matrix factorization model, it can be known that these four cities mainly had five to seven metal sources, and their heavy pollution was mainly caused by ship emissions, industrial emissions, biomass burning, and coal combustion. Overall, our study comprehensively revealed the regional patterns of PM2.5-bound metal pollution across Japan, which can help in making cost-effective risk management policies with limited national/local budgets.

Archaeointensity record of weak field recurrence in Japan: new data from Late Yayoi and Kofun ceramic artifacts

Summary We present new absolute archaeointensity data from six archaeological sites situated in the Okayama Prefecture, Japan. The materials studied are well-dated fragments from pottery, ceramic coffins and haniwa artifacts. Their ages range from 160 AD to 675 AD, covering the Late Yayoi and Kofun periods. Rock magnetic experiments suggest the presence of magnetite and/or Ti-magnetite as the main carrier of the remanence, with a possible minor contribution of higher coercivity minerals. After thermal demagnetization experiments, the most magnetically stable samples were selected for archaeointensity analysis performed following the double-heating method proposed by Thellier and modified by Coe. Partial thermoremanent magnetization (pTRM) checks and pTRM tail-checks were performed for monitoring possible chemical alterations during heating. All measurements were corrected for both anisotropy and cooling-rate effects. Successful archaeointensity determinations, following rigorous selection criteria, were obtained for samples from all the investigated archaeological sites. Compared with literature data from Japan, the new high-quality data show significantly lower intensity values. They also reveal possible fast secular variation changes during the Late Yayoi period and very weak geomagnetic intensity field around 630 AD. Such values offer evidence of a possible recurrence of weak intensity field in East Asia, suggesting an ancient recurrence of the West Pacific Anomaly. The new data might change the archaeomagnetic field models interpretations in the area, even though more data are still necessary to better understand the secular variation in Japan and the temporal evolution of the geomagnetic field's behavior in East Asia.

Descriptive epidemiology of biliary tract cancer incidence and geographic variation in Japan.

The epidemiologic features of each biliary tract cancer (BTC) subtype have not been studied and disclosed in detail. The objective of this study was to provide an up-to-date description of the epidemiologic features of BTC by subtypes, especially in terms of the geographic variation of its incidence. We calculated the age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) of each BTC subtype at national and prefectural levels using the data from the national cancer registry in 2016 and 2017. The geographic distribution of each BTC subtype incidence was assessed by calculating the ASR ratio (ASRR) against median ASR at the prefectural level and reflecting them on the Japanese map. A total of 58 438 people diagnosed with malignant BTC were registered in the national cancer registry in 2016 and 2017 [12 497 for intrahepatic bile duct cancer (IHBDC), 16 568 for gallbladder cancer (GBC), 24 602 for extrahepatic bile duct cancer (EHBDC), 4613 for ampulla of Vater cancer (AVC) and 158 for others]. ASR was higher in men than in women for IHBDC, EHBDC and AVC, and similar between men and women for GBC. The ASR of EHBDC was approximately 2 times higher than those of the other subtypes for men and similar to that of GBC for women. The geographic distribution of ASRR was different among BTC subtypes, with larger variability in EHBDC, which was remarkably higher in the north-eastern region in both men and women. The pattern of the geographic distribution of incidence in each BTC subtype was different, which suggests different etiology among subtypes.

Analyzing the Impact of Climatic and Economic Variables on Tourism Demand Fluctuation in Japan

The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of climatic and economic variables on seasonal tourism demand variations in Japan’s major western areas. Seasonal tourism fluctuations can present a serious problem, since the profit and daily administration of stakeholders, as well as tourism policy design, are affected. Considering these aspects, this study investigated the influence of climatic and economic variables on tourism demand fluctuations in typical tourist destinations in western Japan. GMM (Generalized Method of Moments) estimations, based on two models, are implemented in an empirical study. The estimated parameters of the first model imply that rainfall is a negative factor in Kyoto’s tourism, while temperature and price levels are positive elements. In spite of the presence of these positive factors in Hiroshima, we could not determine the effects of rainfall and vitalization of the regional economy on tourism in this area. In Naha, temperature, price level, and vitalization of the regional economy may increase the number of visitors. The second model’s estimates for Kyoto imply that temperature, sunshine duration, and price level are positive influences. For Osaka, Fukuoka, and Hiroshima, we find that sunshine duration, and price level are positive factors. In Hiroshima, temperature is an additional positive factor, while the effects of vitalization of the regional economy cannot be determined. For Naha, temperature, price level, and vitalization of regional economy may increase the number of visitors, but no significant implication can be drawn about the effect of sunshine duration.

Geographical smoothing effects on wind power output variation in Japan

Geographical smoothing effects on wind power output variation in Japan

Climatological Features of Sub-Hourly Temperature Variations in Japan

Climatological Features of Sub-Hourly Temperature Variations in Japan

Integration of wild and captive genetic management approaches to support conservation of the endangered Japanese golden eagle

The loss of biological diversity within species has the potential to significantly reduce resilience in the face of environmental change. Conservation of genetic variation needs to consider all available sources of diversity within a species, and approaches are required to integrate population management across traditionally separate wild and captive population domains. Here we report on a study that utilises different types of genetic analysis at different taxonomic scales and across an in situ – ex situ transition to support conservation planning for the Japanese golden eagle, a subspecies in serious regional decline. Mitochondrial DNA sequencing and nuclear DNA profiling are used to investigate subspecies differentiation and diversity in the natural population, revealing relatively high levels of variation in Japan. These results are compared with data from a newly established conservation breeding programme that indicates good representation of wild genetic variation in the captive founders. However, subsequent population viability analysis (PVA) to examine the demographic and genetic future of the captive population demonstrates the severe effects of existing reproductive skews, suggesting that this population is not sustainable without intensive genetic management. Lastly, the use of available molecular tools to validate and reconstruct pedigrees in Japanese golden eagle are evaluated and discussed in the context of captive and wild conservation management. The paper highlights the importance of producing and utilising comparative molecular genetic data across the population management spectrum and the benefits of PVA to support the implementation of integrated conservation plans.

Centennial-scale East Asian summer monsoon intensity based on δ18O values in ostracode shells and its relationship to land-ocean air temperature gradients over the past 1700 years

Centennial-scale variations in the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) remain ambiguous. In the present study, the δ18O of shells from the ostracode Bicornucythere bisanensis from Lake Nakaumi, Japan, were examined to identify the bottom salinity changes caused by EASM variations over the past 1700 yr. Four weak EASM periods were identified in Lake Nakaumi: at A.D. 600, 1000, 1350, and 1900. We detected discordance among the centennial-scale EASM variations in Japan and the δ18O of stalagmites (δ18Ostalagmite) in southern China. Furthermore, both total solar irradiance and atmospheric 14C concentration, which were previously considered to be linked with the centennial-scale EASM variations, were asynchronous with the EASM variations. Conversely, we observed significant positive and negative correlations between the EASM from Japan and the δ18Ostalagmite in north-central China, and the relationship was associated with the Asia-Pacific Oscillation (APO) index: centennial-scale EASM periods dominated during the high APO period. These synchronous variations imply that the strength of the EASM variations is tied to temperature gradients between East China and the north-central Pacific Ocean.

Not all international monetary shocks are alike for the Japanese economy

This paper examines the influence of monetary aggregates shocks in the U.S., China and the Euro area on Japan. China's monetary expansion has significant effects on Japan's economy that are quite different from those of the U.S. and Euro area. In line with the implications of the Mundell–Fleming model when there are capital controls in place, Chinese monetary expansion is found to primarily affect Japan through trade. The income absorption effect of China's monetary expansion is substantial for Japan. China's monetary expansion results in significant increases in Japan's industrial production, exports and inflation, and decreases in the trade-weighted yen. After 24months, monetary shocks in China forecast 20% of the variation in Japan's real trade balance. In contrast, U.S. monetary expansion results in contraction in Japan's industrial production, exports and trade balance (expenditure-switching). Monetary expansion in the Euro area does not significantly affect Japan. Structural vector error correction models and a factor-augmented model are estimated to establish robustness of results.

Snowfall variations in Japan and its linkage with tropical forcing

Snowfall variations in Japan and its linkage with tropical forcing

What explains the recent fluctuations in Japan’s output? A structural factor analysis of Japan’s industrial production

By applying the structural factor analysis developed by Foerster et al. (2011), we decompose the fluctuations of Japan’s industrial production (IP) into sectoral shocks and aggregate shocks, taking input–output relationships between sectors into account. Our results show that, except for the global financial crisis period, sectoral shocks explain, on an average, nearly half of the quarterly variations in Japan’s IP. Although the relative importance of sectoral shocks declined during the global financial crisis period, it increased again in the recent post-crisis period and, at this time, it contributes to the increased volatility of Japan’s IP. Specifically, our analysis suggests that the intersectoral spillovers brought about by disruptions of supply chain networks in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the declines in domestic production (or production capacity) in some sectors, as a result of a deterioration in global competitiveness, and a shift to overseas production have contributed to the recent increase in fluctuations of Japan’s IP.

Snowfall variations in Japan and its linkage with tropical forcing

ABSTRACTIn this study, the causes of inter‐annual variability of wintertime snowfall in the coastal plain facing the Sea of Japan over the past 33 years (1980–2012) are investigated. The observational evidence showed that intensified cold air intrusion from the Eurasian continent towards Japan in combination with anomalous cyclonic circulation favours in situ heavy snowfall. The composite analysis of the tropical convection during the heavy snow winters indicates that enhancement of convection in the vicinity of the Philippines, including the eastern Indian Ocean, is responsible for the emergence of anti‐cyclonic circulation over the Asian continent and subsequent anomalous cyclonic circulation around Japan. Idealized experiments by use of the linear baroclinic model (LBM) were conducted to elucidate the origin of the teleconnection. We put idealized diabatic heating in the LBM under the wintertime atmospheric circulation and examined the heat‐induced response. The experimental results clearly indicated that the intensified convection over the maritime continents and the neighbouring oceans is primarily responsible for the pair of the anti‐cyclonic and cyclonic circulation. Thus, a study of the predictability of the tropical forcing may shed light on the predictable dynamics of snowy winters in Japan.

Prevalence of Helicobacter pylori Infection by Birth Year and Geographic Area in Japan

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori)-related diseases are responsible for a tremendous amount of morbidity and mortality in Japan. We estimated the prevalence of H. pylori infection by sex, birth year, and geographic area among Japanese adults. This cross-sectional study included 14,716 subjects aged 20 years or more who underwent a health checkup between May 1997 and March 2013 in seven geographic areas throughout Japan. Relevant information on the demographics and status of H. pylori infection was retrieved from the electronic database. The univariate log-binominal regression model was used to estimate the prevalence of H. pylori infection, taking birth year into consideration. The multivariate log-binominal regression model was used to compare the prevalence of H. pylori infection between seven geographic areas. The overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 37.6% in women and 43.2% in men. Among seven geographic areas, Hokkaido showed the lowest prevalence (29.4%), while Yamagata Prefecture represented the highest (54.5%). The prevalence of H. pylori infection was highest in the 1940-1949 birth cohort and then decreased in the ensuing birth cohorts; the risk ratio (RR) was 0.85 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84-0.87) for changes in the 10-year birth cohort. Individuals in Yamagata Prefecture had the highest RR of acquiring H. pylori infection in all three birth cohorts (RR = 1.53 for 1940, RR = 1.69 for 1950, and RR = 1.85 for 1960) when compared with those in Hokkaido. The prevalence of H. pylori infection increases with age and exhibits geographic variation in Japan. There has been a striking decrease in the prevalence of H. pylori infection, especially in younger Japanese populations.

Consideration of Risk Variations in Japan Derived from the Proposed Revisions of the Current Countermeasures against BSE

The Food Safety Commission of Japan (FSCJ) conducted assessments on human health risks associated with the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) agent, in response to requests from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (MHLW). FSCJ conducted risk assessments under the assumption that the present feed control measures are maintained in Japan, the US, Canada, France and the Netherlands. The assessments were also based on the current BSE status and infection risks in cattle in these countries, and interspecies barrier of BSE transmission between cattle and humans. Consequently, FSCJ concludes that in these countries, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is highly unlikely to develop in association with consumption of BSE prions through meat and offal (excluding the tonsils and distal ileum) from cattle at or under 30 months of age. Conclusions on the domestic and border measures are as follows: 1) Domestic measures: Negligible influences to human health are predicted from the changes in the age limit for BSE testing of cattle in Japan from the current 20 months to 30 months; changes in definition on age of specified risk materials (SRMs: skull excluding tonsils, spinal cord and vertebral column) from “all ages” to “over 30 months of age” in Japan have negligible influences to human health: 2) Border measures: Negligible influences to human health are predicted from the changes in the age restriction from the current 20 months to 30 months on cattle meat and offal imported from the US and Canada; negligible influences to human health are predicted between the current ban and implementation of the age restriction of 30 month on import of cattle meat and offal from France and the Netherlands; changes in definition on age of SRMs (skull excluding tonsils, spinal cord and vertebral column) from “all ages” (equivalent to “import ban” for France and the Netherland) have negligible influences to human health.

On the characteristics of earthquake stress release variations in Japan

The amount of stress released during earthquakes is a fundamental characteristic of the earthquake rupture process. As such, it represents a key parameter for improving our understanding of earthquake source physics and for reliable ground motion prediction. Large earthquake populations usually show variations in stress release as large as three orders of magnitude, but the underlying mechanisms have remained largely elusive, and particularly the dependence of stress release on earthquake size is still a matter of debate. Here I use a unique dataset from Japan encompassing earthquakes of a wide magnitude range and spatial coverage to show that stress release variations of crustal earthquakes are strongly correlated with heat flow variations, indicating that they are thermally controlled. In contrast, subcrustal events depict highest stress release in regions of strong subduction-interface coupling and overall less pronounced variability as compared with crustal earthquakes. Stress release is overall only weakly dependent on earthquake size, but at local scales (i.e., within individual earthquake sequences) the dependence can be very strong and apparently varies with stress regime. Accounting for these systematic variations reduces the stress release variability on local scale by a factor of two to three as compared with the full earthquake population, a finding that is of key significance in the endeavor to reduce the uncertainties in future ground motion predictions.

Parathyroid Hormone Control Survey to Determine Inter‐method and Inter‐lab Variations in Japan

For uremic patients, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes suggest that parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels should be maintained within approximately 2-9 times the upper normal limit for the assay. One of reasons for the lack of definite approximate PTH values is the inability to use the Allegro Intact PTH assay from Nicols. We aimed to evaluate whether other parathyroid hormone assays were suitable for these assessments. We compared the parathyroid hormone concentrations measured with five commercial immunoassays by using three serum pools and seven artificially spiked samples of parathyroid hormone; the Total Intact parathyroid hormone assay was used as the reference assay. Although the results of parathyroid hormone assays showed high correlation, the concentrations differed from Yamasa's assay to another. And the third/second-generation assay ratio was approximately 60%. Further, the Immulite assay overestimated the levels of 1-84 PTH. We showed important inter-method variations in the parathyroid hormone assays used in Japan.

Nucleotide Sequence Variations in a Medicinal Relative of Asparagus, <i>Asparagus cochinchinensis</i> (Lour.) Merrill (Asparagaceae)

To determine the eVolutionary history of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Asparagaceae), we investigated the geographic pattern of its nucleotide sequence variations in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and China. We found 21 polymorphic nucleotide sites by sequencing the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, which gave rise to a total of 15 haplotypes, labeled A to O. The A-type was found only in inland China (Guizhou and Sichuan), and the other haplotypes in China extended to several lineages; therefore, A. cochinchinensis may have its origin in the interior of China. The I-type has large distribution area and it also experienced a quick expansion in relative recent years. Haplotype differentiation was observed between the eastern and western side of the Central Mountain Ridge in Taiwan. Two lineages were found in Japan, one in the Yaeyama Islands and the other in remaining areas of Japan, implying that A. cochinchinensis independently colonized in Japan at least twice.

Evidence-based guidelines for treatment of uterine body neoplasm in Japan: Japan Society of Gynecologic Oncology (JSGO) 2009 edition

Endometrial carcinoma is one of the most common gynecologic malignancies in Japan and its incidence has increased recently. Although surgery is the cornerstone of the management of patients with endometrial cancer, there is significant variation in Japan with regard to the type of hysterectomy employed. Additionally, it remains controversial whether full nodal staging is required in all patients. Furthermore, adjuvant therapy differs between Japan and Western countries. To delineate clearly the standard of care for endometrial cancer treatment in Japan, the guidelines for the treatment of endometrial cancer were published in 2006 and revised in 2009. The 2009 edition included topics not addressed in the previous edition including the treatment of mesenchymal tumors, for example leiomyosarcoma, and sections covering the treatment of serous and clear-cell adenocarcinoma. These guidelines are composed of nine chapters and include nine algorithms. The guidelines also contain fifty-one clinical questions (CQs) and each CQ consists of recommendations, background, explanations, and references. The treatment recommendations herein are tailored to reflect current Japanese clinical practice and ensure equitable care for all Japanese women diagnosed with endometrial cancer.