Power-divergence-type measure of departure from diagonals-parameter symmetry for square contingency tables with ordered categories

For the analysis of square contingency tables with ordered categories, Goodman considered the diagonals-parameter symmetry (DPS) model. This paper proposes a measure to represent the degree of departure from the DPS model. The proposed measure is expressed by applying Read and Cressie’s power-divergence or Patil and Taillie’s diversity index. The measure would be useful for comparing the degree of departure from the DPS model in several tables. Examples are given.     

Estimation of sample selection bias models

Econometric models with sample selection biases are widely used in various fields of economics, such as labor economics. The Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLE) is seldom used to estimate models because of computational difficulty, while Heckman's two-step estimator is widely used to estimate these models. However, Heckman's two-step estimator sometimes performs poorly. In this paper, methods of calculating the MLE are analysed, and finite sample properties of the MLE and Heckman's two-step estimator are compared using Monte Carlo experiments and empirical examples.     

Effects of testosterone replacement therapy on hypogonadal men with osteopenia or osteoporosis: a subanalysis of a prospective randomized controlled study in Japan (EARTH study)

Objective: We investigated the effects of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) on bone mineral density (BMD) among hypogonadal men with osteopenia/osteoporosis.

Methods: From our previous EARTH study population, 74 patients with a clinical diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis and hypogonadism were included in this study, as the TRT (n?=?35) and control (n?=?34) groups. The TRT group was administered 250?mg of testosterone enanthate injection every 4 weeks for 12 months. The BMD, waist circumference, body mass index, body fat percentage, and muscle volume were measured at baseline and at 12 months. Blood biochemical data, including total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c, and adiponectin values were also evaluated.

Results: At the 12-month visit, BMD significantly increased in both groups. However, comparisons on changes of parameter values from baseline to the 12-month visit between the TRT and control groups were significantly different in BMD (5.0?±?5.0 vs. 3.0?±?3.2; p?=?.0434) and in adiponectin value (?0.90?±?3.33 vs. 0.10?±?2.04; p?=?.0192). There were no significant changes in other parameters.

Conclusions: TRT for 12 months could improve BMD with a decrease in adiponectin levels among hypogonadal men with osteopenia/osteoporosis.     

Measure of Asymmetry for Square Contingency Tables Having Ordered Categories

For the analysis of square contingency tables with nominal categories, Tomizawa and coworkers have considered measures that represent the degree of departure from symmetry. This paper proposes a measure that represents the degree of asymmetry for square contingency tables with ordered categories (instead of those with nominal categories). The measure proposed is expressed using the Cressie–Read power-divergence or Patil–Taillie diversity index, defined for the cumulative probabilities that an observation falls in row (column) category i or below and column (row) category j (> i ) or above. The measure depends on the order of listing the categories. It should be useful for comparing the degree of asymmetry in several tables with ordered categories. The relationship between the measure and the normal distribution is shown.     

A Probabilistic Approach to Assess External Doses to the Public Considering Spatial Variability of Radioactive Contamination and Interpopulation Differences in Behavior Pattern

Dose assessment is an important issue from the viewpoints of protecting people from radiation exposure and managing postaccident situations adequately. However, the radiation doses received by people cannot be determined with complete accuracy because of the uncertainties and the variability associated with any process of defining individual characteristics and in the dose assessment process itself. In this study, a dose assessment model was developed based on measurements and surveys of individual doses and relevant contributors (i.e., ambient dose rates and behavior patterns) in Fukushima City for four population groups: Fukushima City Office staff, Senior Citizens’ Club, Contractors’ Association, and Agricultural Cooperative. In addition, probabilistic assessments were performed for these population groups by considering the spatial variability of contamination and interpopulation differences resulting from behavior patterns. As a result of comparison with the actual measurements, the assessment results for participants from the Fukushima City Office agreed with the measured values, thereby validating the model and the approach. Although the assessment results obtained for the Senior Citizens’ Club and the Agricultural Cooperative differ partly from the measured values, by addressing further considerations in terms of dose reduction effects due to decontamination and the impact of additional exposure sources in agricultural fields, these results can be improved. By contrast, the measurements obtained for the participants from the Contractors’ Association were not reproduced well in the present study. To assess the doses to this group, further investigations of association members’ work activities and the related dose reduction effects are needed.     

Marginal inhomogeneity models for square contingency tables with nominal categories

For the analysis of square contingency tables with nominal categories, this paper proposes two kinds of models that indicate the structure of marginal inhomogeneity. One model states that the absolute values of log odds of the row marginal probability to the corresponding column marginal probability for each category i are constant for every i. The other model states that, on the condition that an observation falls in one of the off-diagonal cells in the square table, the absolute values of log odds of the conditional row marginal probability to the corresponding conditional column marginal probability for each category i are constant for every i. These models are used when the marginal homogeneity model does not hold, and the values of parameters in the models are useful for seeing the degree of departure from marginal homogeneity for the data on a nominal scale. Examples are given.     

Community-Based System,Reports, and Substantiated Cases of Elder Abuse: Disparities Between Municipalities and Relating Factors in Japan

This study examines (1) the staffing and financial characteristics of systems for elder abuse detection and intervention in the municipal governments of Japan and (2) the relationship among the development of detection and intervention systems, the reporting rates of suspected elder abuse cases, and substantiated abuse rates in 927 municipalities across Japan. Progressive systems for the detection and intervention of elder abuse were significantly associated with a larger number of public officers than in non-progressive systems. Furthermore, greater rates of both suspected and substantiated cases of abuse were associated with progressive systems for elder abuse detection and intervention. Per capita annual expenditures on the comprehensive support project and the community general support center's catchment under the Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) program showed no significant association with the development of systems, the rate of suspected cases, or the number of substantiated cases. National social policy makers should examine strategies that would help municipalities assign sufficient staff to elder abuse detection and intervention programs.     

Environmental Sociology in Japan and Environmental Problems in Asian Societies

This paper discusses typical aspects of environmental sociology in Japan and what characteristics can be found in Japanese environmental problems when they are viewed from their relation to environmental problems in Asian societies.
The most prominent feature of environmental sociology in Japan is that it has been mainly the sociology of environmental problems, whereas in the United States is has been mainly the sociology of the environment. The second characteristic is closely related to the first: environmental sociology in Japan has focused on the local community and the life of people and victims affected by environmental problems.
The third property would be that many studies by environmental sociologists have been accumulated by the Japanese Association for Environmental Sociology, which was set up in 1990.
The approach to the study of environmental problems in Asian societies reflects these characteristics. Views from the historical interaction between Japan and other Asian countries are essential to the study of environmental problems in Asian countries.     

Bioaccessibility of Fukushima‐Accident‐Derived Cs in Soils and the Contribution of Soil Ingestion to Radiation Doses in Children

Ingestion of contaminated soil is one potential internal exposure pathway in areas contaminated by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Doses from this pathway can be overestimated if the availability of radioactive nuclides in soils for the gastrointestinal tract is not considered. The concept of bioaccessibility has been adopted to evaluate this availability based on in vitro tests. This study evaluated the bioaccessibility of radioactive cesium from soils via the physiologically‐based extraction test (PBET) and the extractability of those via an extraction test with 1 mol/L of hydrochloric acid (HCl). The bioaccessibility obtained in the PBET was 5.3% ± 1%, and the extractability in the tests with HCl was 16% ± 3%. The bioaccessibility was strongly correlated with the extractability. This result indicates the possibility that the extractability in HCl can be used as a good predictor of the bioaccessibility with PBET. In addition, we assessed the doses to children from the ingestion of soil via hand‐to‐mouth activity based on our PBET results using a probabilistic approach considering the spatial distribution of radioactive cesium in Date City in Fukushima Prefecture and the interindividual differences in the surveyed amounts of soil ingestion in Japan. The results of this assessment indicate that even if children were to routinely ingest a large amount of soil with relatively high contamination, the radiation doses from this pathway are negligible compared with doses from external exposure owing to deposited radionuclides in Fukushima Prefecture.