ELECTORAL ADVANTAGE, MALAPPORTIONMENT, AND ONE PARTY DOMINANCE IN JAPAN

Hickman,John C.,Kim,Chong Lim The Institute for Far Eastern Studies Kyungnam Uni 1992 ASIAN PERSPECTIVE Vol.16 No.1

We have examined one widely accepted conventional wisdom about party politics in Japan. It holds that the long-standing LDP dominance is attributable to the electoral system which confers an appreciable advantage to the electoral system which confers an appreciable advantage to the ruling party. Drawing upon the data gathered from ten national elections, 1963-1990 we have subjected the thesis to a systematic empirical test. The test led us to focus on the LDP's relative electoral advantage, the degree of malapportionment and how it helps "manufacture" a majority for the LDP, and the difficult issue of whether the LDP manipulates the system to its own advantage. By and large, the conventional wisdom has well withstood our rigorous test, suggesting that the thesis is essentially correct. There is no question that the LDP has derived the largest benefit from the existing electoral system. As a vote-seat conversion machine, the LDP has been the most efficient. The results of the most recent election, held on February 18, 1990 reaffirm our general point. The LDP won less than a majority hare of the vote: 46.1 percent, but it attained a clear majority in the House of Representatives, with 53.7 percent of the seats. Malapportionment is both large and unfairly skewed in favor of the ruling party. The value of a vote in an overrepresented district is as much as five times greater than the vote in a underrepresented district, and the LDP controls almost all of the overrepresented rural districts. Popular support for the LDP has steadily fallen since 1963: its vote shares dipped consistently below the 50 percent level throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s, which purt LDP dominance at risk. But the party has survived and continude in power, in part due to the safety margin created by the malapportionment. The magnitude of malapportionment has changed very little over the years despite several reapportionment efforts. The ICV scores we have computed earlier for the ten elections substantiate this claim. Japan's electoral system falls far short of the ideal of equal representation. The LDP has done too little and acted too late to bring any appreciable improvement each time it implemented an electoral reform. All of the circumstantial evidence that we have reviewed points to the subtle, highly effective LDP manipulation of the system. But subtlety does not absolve the LDP of the charge that is makes deliberate use of the system to protect its dominant position. It has delayed long overdue reapportionment reforms and ensured that the limited reapportionments undertaken would not damage its seat share. When the inequities in the electoral system have been challenged as unconstitutional, the conservative Supreme Court has responded in a manner that facilitates the LDP's dual strategy of delay and minimal reform. Thus far, the conventional wisdom was formulated on the basis of interesting but piecemeal evidence, consisting of episodic cases and ad hoc observations. Comprehensive attempts to bring systematic data and rigorous analysis to bear on the issue were rare. Our aim is to close the gap between interpretation and evidence. The analysis has yielded results which place the thesis on a more secure empirical foundation. In an absolute sense, all electoral systems are complex and unique mechanisms. But when viewed in comparative perspective, the perplexing array of elements comprising the electoral system for the Japanses House of Representatives, including a ballot system that is neither pure SNTV or preferential voting, low district magnitude in which each district elects one to six members, and an electoral formula based on a plurality rule constrained by a threshold requirement, means that it can have no close relatives. Although quite difficult to tackle, it would be extremely interesting to trace the relative effect of each of these electoral elements on the party politics and on the configuration of Japan's legislative politics. Such research would obviously require a large scale comparative study in the fine tradition of Douglas Rae (1967) and later continued in the work of Katz (1980), Taagepera and Shugart (1989), and King (1990). In a single country study lied ours, answers to the above question are beyond our reach. Despite adoption of the plurality rule and low district magnitude, the electoral system as a whole has worked in a manner that is more congenial to small parties than Anglo-American systems employing single member districts and plurality rules. Anc Japan's break-even point occurs at the level nearly equivalent to those in countries using versions of PR systems. If a small party manages to mobilize sufficient support to cross the break-even point, not only can it establish an electoral niche, but it can also prosper, free-riding on the benefits of the "Matthew Effect." While it is true that the LDP has been the largest beneficiary from the electoral system, it is also fair to say that the same system has not punished small parties as severely as in some other countries. In light of the evidence we have presented, there is no longer any doubt that the electoral system has helped shape Japan's multiparty system as it exists today, with the added twist that it gives a decisive edge to the LDP's legislative dominance.

Cultivating a Common Faith : John Dewey on Religion and Education

Hickman, Larry A. 한국종교교육학회 2004 宗敎敎育學硏究 Vol.18 No.-

John Dewey's lifelong attention to religious themes found expression in his 1934 book A Common Faith Among the pragmatic themes he developed there are that: a) human experience left to develop without "outside" interference is capable of generating ideals and values, and b) beliefs that are true, including religious beliefs, are so only when they have been tested in the laboratory of experience. Rather than choose among the world's religions, Dewey emphasized the religious quality that characterizes experiences of many types. He suggested some of the ways in which such experiences can be fostered through educational means with a view to developing a "common" faith - a faith in ideals that can be shared among the world's religions.

A new ~3.46Ga asteroid impact ejecta unit at Marble Bar, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia: A petrological, microprobe and laser ablation ICPMS study

Glikson, A.,Hickman, A.,Evans, N.J.,Kirkland, C.L.,Park, J.W.,Rapp, R.,Romano, S. Elsevier Scientific Pub. Co., etc.] 2016 Precambrian research Vol.279 No.-

<P>The Archean rock record contains seventeen asteroid impact ejecta units that represent the terrestrial vestiges of an extended late heavy bombardment (LHB). Correlated impact ejecta units include 3472-3470 Ma impact spherule layers in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, Kaapvaal Craton, South Africa, and the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, and several ejecta units dated between 3250 and 3220 Ma and between 2630 and 2480 Ma (Lowe and Byerly, 2010; Lowe et al., 2003, 2014). This paper reports the discovery and investigation of a new impact ejecta unit within the Marble Bar Chert Member (MBCM) of the felsic volcanic Duffer Formation, east Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. The age of the MBCM is constrained by a 3459 +/- 2 Ma U-Pb zircon date from the uppermost volcanic unit of the Duffer Formation and by a 3449 +/- 3 Ma U-Pb zircon date from the overlying felsic volcanic Panorama Formation, stratigraphically above the intervening un-dated Apex Basalt. The ejecta unit, observed in a drill core (ABDP 1) similar to 4 km south-southwest of Marble Bar, consists of multiple lenses and bands of almost totally silicified impact spherules 1-2 mm in diameter. All internal primary textures of the spherules have been destroyed. Nonetheless, Fe-rich spherule rims, largely composed of secondary siderite, are well preserved. Chemical analyses of the rims reveal iron-magnesium carbonate displaying high Fe, Mg, Ni, Co and Zn. Whole-rock and in-situ analyses (X-ray fluorescence, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICPMS), electron-microprobe (EMP) and EMP-calibrated laser ICPMS) reveal that the rims contain high Ni abundances and high Ni/Cr ratios (<50). The spherules are separated by an arenite matrix and spherule lenses also occur within bedded chert. The spherules are particularly visible over some similar to 14 m of true stratigraphic thickness in which chert breccia is interpreted to represent a tsunami generated diamictite affected by hydrothermal fragmentation and veining. Despite the almost total silicification of the MBCM whole-rock analysis by NIS Fire Assay and ICPMS indicates high Ir (2 ppb) and a low Pd/Ir ratio (2.0), consistent with geochemical features of impact ejecta units. Dense concentrations of spherules at the 57-58 m level and the 77 m level of the core, separated by banded chert, raise the possibility of two distinct impact events. Stratigraphic and isotopic age data distinguish between the 3459 and 3449 Ma age of the MBCM ejecta unit and similar to 3470.1 +/- 1.9 Ma impact ejecta units in the Antarctic Creek Member, Mount Ada Basalt, about 40 km to the west of Marble Bar. In combination with a 3472 +/- 2.3 Ma impact unit in the Barberton greenstone belt, these impact ejecta units record large Paleoarchean asteroid impacts, significant for understanding early bombardment rates on Earth and early crustal evolution. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</P>

ELECTORAL ADVANTAGE, MALAPPORTIONMENT, AND ONE PARTY DOMINANCE IN JAPAN

Kim, Chong Lim,Hickman, John C 경남대학교 극동문제연구소 1992 ASIAN PERSPECTIVE Vol.16 No.1

Balanced Accuracy and Confidence Probability of Interval Estimates

Stan Lipovetsky,Betty L. Hickman,Yi-Hsin Liu 한국신뢰성학회 2002 International Journal of Reliability and Applicati Vol.3 No.1

Effects of Age and High Frequency Hearing Loss on Binaural Speech Understanding Using HINT Study

Kim, Sung-Hee,Frisina Robert D.,Frisina Susan T.,Mapes Frances M.,Hickman Elizabeth D.,Frisina D. Robert The Acoustical Society of Korea 2007 韓國音響學會誌 Vol.26 No.e1

It has long been known that high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (HFHL) can contribute to difficulty in speech understanding by elderly listeners. This study evaluated the relative contribution of HFHL and age to speech understanding. Subjects included adult middle-aged and old groups with normal hearing or with limited HFHL. The Hearing-in-Noise-Test (HINT) was used to measure speech perception performance in quiet and in noise. The middle-aged groups showed significant effects of HFHL for speech intelligibility in quiet and in noise, but the old groups showed the difference in quiet only due to high frequency hearing. The results suggest that HFHL may affect speech intelligibility differently with age and therefore hearing aid selection needs to take into account the influence of age.

Microfabricated mammalian organ systems and their integration into models of whole animals and humans

Sung, J.,Esch, M.,Prot, J. M.,Long, C.,Smith, A.,Hickman, J.,Shuler, M. Royal Society of Chemistry 2013 Lab on a chip Vol.13 No.7

HCC : Phase 2 Trial of JX-594, a Targeted Multi-Mechanistic Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus, Followed by Sorafenib in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

( C Breitbach ),( M Cho ),( T H Hwang ),( C W Kim ),( U B Jeon,),( H Y Woo ),( K T Yoon ),( J W Lee ),( J Burke ),( T Hickman ),( K Duboi ),( L Longpre ),( R Patt ),( D H Kirn ) 대한간학회 2013 춘·추계 학술대회 (KASL) Vol.2013 No.1

Background: JX-594 is a targeted oncolytic vaccinia virus designed to selectively replicate in and destroy cancer cells with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/ ras pathway activation. Direct oncolysis plus granulocyte macrophage?colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) expression is accompanied by tumor vascular disruption and anti-tumoral immunity (Reviewed in Nat Rev Cancer 2009). JX-594 was well-tolerated intravenously (IV) (Nature 2011) and intratumorally (IT) (Lancet Oncol 2008). Complementary anti-tumor effects are predicted with JX-594 followed by sorafenib due to acute vascular disruption effects with JX-594 and anti-angiogenic effects with sorafenib. Objectives: The primary objective of the study was to determine the safety of JX-594 followed by sorafenib in patients with advanced HCC. Secondary objectives include disease control rate (DCR) based on mRECIST and/or Choi response criteria at Day 6 (optional), Day 25 (after JX-594 only), 6 and 12 weeks. Methods: Treatment-refractory HCC patients received JX-594 for three weeks (Day 1 IV, Day 8 IT and Day 22 IT) followed by sorafenib. An IT boost dose of JX-594 at Week 12 was optional. Results: Twenty-five (25) patients were treated in this study; twenty (20) were refractory to sorafenib. Enrollment has been completed. The sequential treatment regimen was well-tolerated. Transient flu-like symptoms (Grade 1-2) and transient leukopenia (lymphopenia, neutropenia) were the most common adverse events following JX-594 therapy. Sorafenib toxicities were consistent with the expected toxicity profile. After JX-594 alone at Day 25, 56% of patients exhibited Choi tumor responses (range 19-48% reduced enhancement). Following subsequent sorafenib therapy, 76% had Choi responses at Week 6-12, including 83% sorafenib-failure patients. The disease control rate was 80% with JX-594 alone and 38% following initiation of sorafenib. Conclusions: JX-594 was well-tolerated and associated with Choi tumor responses following IV and IT injections in patients with advanced HCC. Subsequent sorafenib was associated with the expected toxicity profile. Further trials of JX-594 in HCC patients are warranted.

JX-594 (Vaccinia GM-CSF/Thymidine Kinase-deactivated virus) Followed by Sorafenib Therapy in Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Pilot Study for Phase 3 (초)

( M. Cho ),( J. Heo ),( C. W. Kim ),( W. B. Jun ),( H. Y. Woo ),( G. T. Yoon ),( T. H. Hwang ),( D. H. Kirn ),( C. J. Breitbach ),( R. Patt ),( T. Hickman ),( J. C. Bell ) 대한간학회 2010 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.16 No.3(S)

Sequential Therapy With JX-594, A Targeted Oncolytic Poxvirus, Followed by Sorafenib in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Preclinical and Clinical Demonstration of Combination Efficacy

Heo, Jeong,Breitbach, Caroline J,Moon, Anne,Kim, Chang Won,Patt, Rick,Kim, Mi Kyung,Lee, Yu Kyung,Oh, Sung Yong,Woo, Hyun Young,Parato, Kelley,Rintoul, Julia,Falls, Theresa,Hickman, Theresa,Rhee, Byun Elsevier 2011 MOLECULAR THERAPY Vol.19 No.6