An Algorithm of Recommending Apposite ID Photos

This article proposes an algorithm to recommend apposite ID photos for users by judging the photo of which the facial expression is apposite or not as the ID photo. Microsoft’s Kinect sensor is used for taking photos. Parts of the face, such as eyes, nose, and mouth, are analyzed as explanatory variables for judging face expression. Some body coordinate information such as head and shoulders is used to trim the photos. Neural networks and support vector machines are employed and compared to our proposed method. To achieve accurate results, ten examinees including specialized staff are selected for taking ID photo used for training models. A series of experiments are conducted to examine the validity. As a result, the accuracy of neural networks is better than that of the support vector machine. Furthermore, we analyze and discuss the difference between system results and specialized staffs’ opinions.

     

Personal Authentication Using a Kinect Sensor

This article proposes a new approach to personal authentication by exploring the features of a person’s face and voice. Microsoft’s Kinect sensor is used for facial and voice recognition. Parts of the face including the eyes, nose, and mouth, etc., are analyzed as position vectors. For voice recognition, a Kinect microphone array is adopted to record personal voices. Mel-frequency cepstrum coefficients, logarithmic power, and related values involved in the analysis of personal voice are also estimated from the voices. Neural networks,support vector machines and principal components analysis are employed and compared for personal authentication. To achieve accurate results, 20 examinees were selected for face and voice data used for training the authentication models. The experimental results show that the best accuracy is achieved when the model is trained by a support vector machine using both facial and voice features.     

Personal Identification Through Pedestrians’ Behavior

This article focuses on a new approach for personal identification by exploring the features of pedestrian behavior. The recent progress of a motion capture sensor system enables personal identification using human behavioral data observed from the sensor. Kinect is a motion sensing input device developed by Microsoft for Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Personal identification using the Microsoft Kinect sensor (hereafter referred to as Kinect) is presented in this study. Kinect is used to estimate body sizes and the walking behaviors of pedestrians. Body sizes such as height and width, and walking behavior such as joint angles and stride lengths, for example, are used as explanatory variables for personal identification. An algorithm for the personal identification of pedestrians is defined by a traditional neural network and by a support vector machine. In the numerical experiments, pictures of body sizes and the walking behaviors are captured from fifteen examinees through Kinect. The walking direction of pedestrians was specified as 0°, 90°, 180°, and 225°, and then the accuracies were compared. The results indicate that identification accuracy was best when the walking direction was 180°. In addition, the accuracy of the vector machine was better than that of the neural network.     

The Substitution Effect of Mobile Games on Console Games: An Empirical Analysis of the Japanese Video Game Industry

In this paper, we discuss the substitution effects between mobile games and console games. We estimate such effects by a fixed-effect regression with instrumental variables using panel data of about 100,000 observations. The results showed that the substitution effects of playing smart devices on 3DS, Wii, and PSP were recognizable, but did not have significant effects on PS3, and the substitution effects on PSP were very small. Therefore, mobile games had a substitution effect on casual console games, or on console games in which the play situation resembled mobile games. In addition, the substitution effects were at most about 0.1. The substitution effects were small. Our results indicate that mobile games represent the pioneers in the new market of gaming at least during our observation period. But new games and traditional games will coexist for a while.     

Research Note: The Paradox of Cloud Computing in Japan

Cloud Computing is defined as computer usage delivered as a service over the Internet. This cloud computing is classified as public computing, private computing, or hybrid computing. Public cloud computing is open to any customer who pays service charges. On the contrary, private cloud computing is used by a member of a company who has constructed a cloud computing system over a restricted domain on that company's information infrastructure. Hybrid cloud computing is a mix of both the public and private. Which type of cloud computing is popular in Japan? To answer this question I mailed questionnaires to 2,284 enterprises listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Market in 2012 and 2013. I analyzed the relationship between these answers and financial indexes using a multinomial logistic regression model. I concluded that the total assets was the most effective factor in the decision to introduce the public cloud, and the accumulated profit was one of the most effective factors in the decision to introduce the hybrid cloud. These findings are not consistent with orthodox price theory.     

当今时代的道德引路人——“全国道德模范与身边好人（北京海淀）现场交流活动”侧记

截至2013年12月,海淀区共树立了全国、市级道德模范和身边好人33名,＂感动海淀＂文明人物40人。2014年8月21日夜,北京航空航天大学晨兴音乐厅座无虚席。由中央文明办主办,首都文明办、中国文明网、中共海淀区委、海淀区人民政府承办,中共海淀区委宣传部、海淀区文明办协办的＂爱国、敬业、诚信、友善——全国道德模范与身边好人现场交流活动＂北京市海淀区专场演出,在北京航空航天大学晨兴音乐厅剧场举行。     

Did Social Security Improve Labor Productivity?

This note statistically investigates the relationship between social security expenditure indexes and labor productivity during 1980- 2009 in Japan based on the Solow type of production function. In the case of real social security expenditure per labor and per total working hours, labor productivity decreases with respect to real social security. On the other hand, in the case of real social security expenditure per private capital stock, labor productivity increases with respect to real social security. However, the partial regression coefficients of these three indexes are not significant statistically. Therefore, we could not derive a clear relationship between the social security indexes and labor productivity.     

A Microsimulation Model for Projections of Japanese Socioeconomic Structure

The Integrated Analytical Model for Household Simulation (INAHSIM) is a microsimulation model for the Japanese population that was first developed in the 1980s as a tool for household simulation. This study attempted to improve the conventional INAHSIM in order to construct a more comprehensive alternative that incorporates a larger number of social and economic elements. It also overcame the problem for simulation—the lack of kinship relations in the initial population—by imputing parent-child relationships between those parents and children who do not live together. This paper provides an overview of INAHSIM and adds certain details of the imputation that is essential for simulating the life event of “adult children resettling to care for their aged parents.” In addition, I will show the importance of the said life event in Japan by comparing the difference in the family type of elderly people between its future distribution with or without this life event. Finally, I will discuss the future possibilities for research on microsimulation models that will play an important role in policy making.     

The Effect of Changes in Nuptiality Behavior after the 1980s on the Poverty Rate for the Elderly in Japan -Analysis Using a Dynamic Microsimulation Model-

The social security system in Japan was developed under the premise that postwar families represented the most common type of family. A “postwar famil” refers to a family in which: (1) men and women are married; (2) husbands work as regular employees and wives are dependent homemakers; and (3) husbands and wives seldom get divorced. Therefore, the social security system is particularly generous towards dependent wives and widows. However, these premises are no longer valid because Japanese nuptiality behavior has completely changed since the 1980s. Marriage rates have decreased and divorce rates have significantly increased. Nevertheless, society still suffers from a wage inequality between men and women. As a result, the number of never-married or divorced elderly women will increase, and these women might face a serious poverty risk in the future. In this study, the author makes simulations of the living arrangements and poverty rates for the elderly in Japan and evaluates the effect of changes in nuptiality behavior on these poverty rates using a dynamic microsimulation model. The simulation results indicate that changes in nuptiality behavior will affect the poverty rate for elderly women, but not for elderly men.     

A New Type of Computer Premium and Its Correlation to Individual Wages

This paper examines statistical correlations between workers?? income levels or wages, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The analyzed data set is micro data collected through the Web in 2008 and 2010 by the Research Institute for Socionetwork Strategies. This micro data estimates the rank correlation of income classes with respect to three types of ICT labor service. Next, multiple linear regression functions are estimated for the wage levels with respect to age, sex, years of continuous employment, and three types of ICT labor service over all industries and in the manufacturing industry or service industry. Finally, a multiple regression analysis is conducted for individual utility levels with respect to income, leisure, and three types of ICT labor service. The results show that, first, the coefficients of rank correlation for all pooled data are positive and statistically significant. Second, individual ICT labor services have positive effects on workers?? wage levels, and the partial regression coefficients are statistically significant. Third, the partial regression coefficient of personal computer operation time decreased but the partial regression coefficient of mobile computer operation time related to work increased drastically from 2008 to 2010. Fourth, the use of the personal and mobile computer shifts the utility function upward with respect to income and leisure.     

智能家居：盛宴下的混战

谁能够成为标准的制造者和发布者,谁就能够执掌行业之牛耳。智能家居的标准之争将成为接下来国内外商业与科技巨头们竞争最为激烈的＂红海＂。走近家门,随着门锁开启的瞬间,家中的安防系统自动解除室内警戒,廊灯缓缓点亮,空调、新风系统自动启动,背景交响乐轻轻奏起;进入家中,轻点手机,电视屏幕徐徐拉开,电冰箱开始冷却食品;洗漱完毕准备晚休,窗帘定时自动关闭。入睡前,轻轻触动床头边面板上的＂晚安＂模式,室内所有需要关闭的灯光和电器设备进入休眠,同时安防系统自动开启处于警戒状态。     

Data Mining Approach for Direct Marketing of Banking Products with Profit/Cost Analysis

Nowadays, many businesses, such as banks, use direct marketing methods to reach customers to minimize the campaigning cost and maximize the return rate. To achieve this, huge customer data should be analyzed to determine the most appropriate product offer for each customer and the most effective channel to reach her/him. However, since only a very small amount of responses collected from the customers are positive to the offers, the dataset is very imbalanced. This decreases sensitivity ratio of prediction results and makes it difficult to make a successful product and channel selection for the offer. In this paper, we propose a hybrid system, which first classifies the customers to decide if s/he is interested in the offered product, and then clusters them for product and channel suggestions. Experiments with real life banking data show very promising accuracy results for predicting the proper product and channel for the customers. Moreover, cost-profit analysis is also added to this problem. Our experiment results show that the proposed method decreases a fraction of the total profit, but since the decrease in the total cost is very large, there is a huge increase in the overall profit/cost ratio.     

Correlation and Regression Analysis for Characterizations of a University Hospital

One of the most important issues in hospital management is how to determine the indicators for revenue of a large-scale hospital. Although it has been pointed out that the averaged value of length of stay in a hospital is an indicator of its revenue, quantitative evaluation has not been conducted. In this paper, we propose an analytic process based on methods for correlation and regression analysis to evaluate this indicator by using stored data in hospital information systems. We applied this method to data combined with discharge summaries and medical treatment fees, collected from 1997 to 2000 in Chiba University Hospital. The result shows that the length of stay can explain around 60-90% of the revenue during this period.     

应对通胀的两难困局

改善经济的总体效率．在投入不变的条件下增加产出是缓解通货膨胀最根本的手段。这里潜力最大的行业就是金融业。     

实创股份：金秋送爽“大丰收”

2011年以来．实创股份所属园区新签约入驻企业70多家。其中7月份就有25家企业入驻签约。新落户企业预计达产后将实现总收入240亿元以上，有助于快速提升北部研发服务和高新技术产业聚集区经济规模体量，有助于加快形成战略性新兴产业领域的高端集群。     

Mining History of Gamification Towards Finding Expertise in Question and Answering Communities: Experience and Practice with Stack Exchange

Recently, an online Q&A tool has become an essential part of individual communities and organizations of experts on specific topics. Using the answers to questions about specific topics will help such communities work more efficiently in their fields. Currently, Q&A online communities are adopting gamification to engage users by granting awards to successful users. In this paper, we investigate how to mine award achievement histories to find expertise. We propose the use of sequence analysis and clustering techniques. Specifically, we study the history of Stack Exchange, a large Q&A community that employs gamification. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of using award achievement history to find expertise in Q&A communities.     

The Boosting Effect of E-WOM on Macro-level Consumption: A Cross-Industry Empirical Analysis in Japan

In this study, we carry out an empirical analysis on how electronic word-of-mouth (hereinafter “e-WOM”) marketing on e-WOM websites and electronic-commerce websites on the Internet boosts consumption on a macro-level. In our analysis, we conduct a model analysis of consumer behavior using data composed of more than 30,000 questionnaire surveys and quantitatively find the elasticity coefficient of the boost to consumption by performing a two-step GMM (generalized method of moments), which uses instrumental variables. The results of the analysis show e-WOM significantly increased expenditures in six fields: computers, electrical appliances, etc.; music; hobbies; clothing, accessories, etc.; beauty products, etc.; and goods for everyday life, etc. Furthermore, there was no field that had a significantly negative value. These results showed that, in the majority of the target fields, e-WOM had not only the effect of winning customers from the competition, but also the effect of boosting consumption on a macro-level. In addition, even from people’s subjective evaluations, there were many in all the generational groups who said that e-WOM boosted expenditures.     

Research Note: Analysis of the Characteristics of Victims in Information Security Incident Damages: The Case of Japanese Internet Users

In this article, the authors investigate the attributes of victims in information security incident damages for the purpose of reducing the damages. The Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan, in 2010, conducted an Internet survey targeted to Japanese Internet home users entitled, “Survey of awareness toward information security incidents” that is used in this article. Using micro data collected from this survey, they employed multinomial logit regression analysis to show factors affecting the user’s experience of the incidents of damage through particular incidents. They concluded that the overconfidence regarding information security knowledge increased the probability for phishing and spoofing.     

Facebook Explore Feed: Perception and Consequences of the Experiment

The Review of Socionetwork Strategies - Facebook is the most used social network in the world. It dedicates a lot of energy and resources to developing and fine-tuning its algorithms, thus enabling...     

Impact of Online Customer Reviews on Sales Outcomes: An Empirical Study Based on Prospect Theory

This study examines the influence of the valence of online customer reviews on sales outcomes based on prospect theory. Numerous studies have revealed the importance of customer reviews in online marketing. However, only few studies have explored the impact of online customer reviews on sales outcomes in the dynamic process. Prior studies in behavioral economics literature have indicated that people differently value gains and losses and that losses have more emotional impact than an equivalent amount of gains. This study verifies whether prospect theory applies to the relation between online customer reviews and sales outcomes. Relevant data were collected from Amazon.co.jp, and three statistical models were employed to investigate the relation between the two factors. Major findings confirm that negative customer reviews considerably impact online sales than positive reviews. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the marginal effects of positive and negative reviews decrease with the increase in their volume. The results of this study will enable marketers to compare the relative sales effects of different types of customer reviews and improve the effectiveness of customer service management.