Several least-squares problems related to the Hodrick–Prescott filtering

The Hodrick–Prescott (HP) filtering is frequently used in macroeconometrics to decompose time series, such as real gross domestic product, into their trend and cyclical components. Because the HP filtering is a basic econometric tool, it is necessary to have a precise understanding of the nature of it. This article contributes to the literature by listing several (penalized) least-squares problems that are related to the HP filtering, three of which are newly introduced in the article, and showing their properties. We also remark on their generalization.     

康定市吉居藏语所属问题

本文针对分布在四川甘孜州康定市吉居乡的藏族语言进行分析。吉居话的语言所属在以往研究里没有共识,有属于扎巴语的意见和属于康巴藏语的意见。通过与藏文的对比,可见该语言为一个属于康巴藏语崩波岗方言群的土话,并非木雅语或扎巴语。基于与吉居话周边土话的比较,我们提出吉居话属于崩波岗方言群雅砻江组的假设性结论。本文的分析方法亦能作为识别康巴藏语中方言所属的参考。     

藏语方言学研究与语言地图：如何看待“康方言”

本文介绍藏语方言学研究中的地理语言学的研究方法,并利用此方法对所谓的藏语“康方言”进行分析,探讨其具体语言现象,并提出在以往藏语研究中常见的“康方言”并不成立,应将其理解为“语言复合体”之见解.由于方言学研究涉及的领域除了语言本身之外,还需要考虑地理关系及历史关系,其研究不同于普通的方言研究.本文主要讨论有关“康方言”的三个问题,通过实际问题的讨论了解到,方言学研究中绘制语言地图是一种不可回避的过程,通过地图能了解到各个方言群的分布地域,并加上地理、历史等人文信息探讨方言的形成,才能得到可信的方言分类.     

A small but practically useful modification to the Hodrick–Prescott filtering: A note

The Hodrick–Prescott (HP) filtering is widely applied to decompose macroeconomic time series, such as real Gross Domestic Product, into cyclical and trend components. This paper presents a small but practically useful modification to this approach. The reason why this modified filtering is of practical use is that it provides not only identical trend estimates as the HP filtering but also extrapolations of the trend. We provide a proof based on a ridge regression representation of the modified HP filtering. This is mainly because it enhances our understanding of the approach.     

The Frisch–Waugh–Lovell theorem for the lasso and the ridge regression

The Frisch–Waugh–Lovell (FWL) (partitioned regression) theorem is essential in regression analysis. This is partly because it is quite useful to derive theoretical results. The lasso regression and the ridge regression, both of which are penalized least-squares regressions, have become popular statistical techniques. This article describes that the FWL theorem remains valid for these penalized least-squares regressions. More precisely, we demonstrate that the covariates corresponding to unpenalized regression parameters in these penalized least-squares regression can be projected out. Some other results related to the FWL theorem in such penalized least-squares regressions are also presented.     

Construction of the integrated model for practical career support to the professional athletes

Recently, along with the enhancement of the argument for career of athletes, many researchers who major in sports psychology focus mainly on athletic retirement, a coordination of transitions in sport or and outside sport, social support and professional assistance in career transition, in the context of the second career concerning to professional athletes in Japan. However, when it comes to career transition of professional athletes, it is necessary to consider "career" from the whole perspectives of human life. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to clarify the career transition of professional athletes by the way of questionnaire and interview survey, which is approached from the view point of industrial/organizational psychology. For this purpose, we implemented the interview survey to professional athletes in 2008. In addition, we carried out the investigation to professional football players (interview survey: 5 players, questionnaire survey: 102 players) in 2009. Consequently, three following findings were led in conclusion. (1)Career intervention to professional athletes should be performed before the turning point of the career (career transition). (2)It is important to assess the career intervention to professional athletes. (3)It is an important stance to watch the processes when professional athletes open up one's career by oneself.     

Interval estimation in discriminant analysis for large dimension

This paper is concerned with the interval estimation for the log odds of the posterior probability that the observation vector belongs to one of two homoscedastic multivariate normal distributions (Π₁ and Π₂). We give the limiting distribution of the unbiased estimator for the log odds as the sample sizes and the dimension jointly tend to infinity, and approximate the confidence interval based on the asymptotic distribution. Small-scale simulations are performed to check the precision of the approximation.     

Japanese Children's Reasoning about Conflicts with Parents

Ninety-five Japanese children (aged 6–12) were interviewed using hypothetical stories to examine their reasoning about parent–child conflicts. Participants were most likely to reject parental authority and to support child's discretion in conflict situations where the parent interfered in the child's personal choice and gave the child commands that violated moral and conventional principles. However, participants were most likely to accept parental authority when the child's wish conflicted with the parent's moral concern. Participants' reasoning was more varied when the child's wish went against the parent's conventional demand. Consistent with their cultural values, participants considered harmonious relationships in evaluating conventional and personal conflicts, but not moral conflicts. Age differences were observed in the endorsement of personal choice. Results suggest that children do not simply act upon their cultural values but also show resistance to parental authority for reasons beyond meeting selfish needs and form differentiated judgments about parent–child conflicts.     

Licensing and training requirements for direct care workers in Japan: what can the United States and Japan learn from each other?

Shortages of direct care workers have been of concern both in the United States and in Japan. This article compares issues surrounding long-term care provisions in the two countries and introduces Japan's unique licensure and certificate system for direct care workers. Japan has established three levels of direct care worker certificates and a direct care licensure, which can be potentially used as a career ladder. Studies show that this system has resulted in different work conditions and benefits between different certificate and licensure levels but had a limited impact on hourly wage and task differentiation. Implications for the United States are also discussed.     

Ecological Risk – Benefit Analysis of a Wetland Development Based on Risk Assessment Using "Expected Loss of Biodiversity"

Ecological risk from the development of a wetland is assessed quantitatively by means of a new risk measure, expected loss of biodiversity (ELB). ELB is defined as the weighted sum of the increments in the probabilities of extinction of the species living in the wetland due to its loss. The weighting for a particular species is calculated according to the length of the branch on the phylogenetic tree that will be lost if the species becomes extinct. The length of the branch on the phylogenetic tree is regarded as reflecting the extent of contribution of the species to the taxonomic diversity of the world of living things. The increments in the probabilities of extinction are calculated by a simulation used for making the Red List for vascular plants in Japan. The resulting ELB for the loss of Nakaikemi wetland is 9,200 years. This result is combined with the economic costs for conservation of the wetland to produce a value for the indicator of the "cost per unit of biodiversity saved." Depending on the scenario, the value is 13,000 yen per year-ELB or 110,000 to 420,000 yen per year-ELB (1 US dollar = 110 yen in 1999).