Problems of Local Disaster Management Plan at the Great East Japan Earthquake and Achievements 10 Years Later

According to the survey of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, sending and receiving of support, vertical division of organizations, business continuity, local collaboration, management of disaster prevention and mitigation, advance preparation for reconstruction, and number of personnel are listed as the problems of a local disaster management. As for these problems, the achievements are made clear by analyzing concretely the progress for 10 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake based on the data and examples. As a result it is found out that at the state level the know-how to formulate the subordinate plan of a regional disaster management plan has been summarized and the training system is being arranged to develop the human resources. And at the level of the local governments the rate of the local governments which have worked out a business continuity plan improves and the number of the personnel engaging in disaster management increases significantly. Furthermore, some remarkable advanced examples are observed in the problems of “vertical division of organizations” and “local collaboration.” In the future these measures should be implemented in the individual local governments and elaborated continuously by improving themselves through friendly rivalry.

Japanese Higher Education

In today’s information-driven society, the Japanese government envisions the next societal revolution as “Society 5.0,” where advanced technologies and service platforms integrate with and empower individuals in a human-based society. While Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education has traditionally focused on technical skills and knowledge in isolation, this paper will look at the potential role and benefits of incorporating liberal arts education into these technical studies. This concept of integrating the liberal arts into STEM education is known as STEAM. The purpose of the study is to create a foundation for clarifying the role of interdisciplinary education in overcoming the vertical division of academic disciplines and restoring the “integrated nature” of scholarship. This study seeks to show how the humanities, social sciences, and arts can be used to enhance STEM education, and, furthermore, how this STEAM approach to education is key to enabling Japan’s vision for Society 5.0.

Constitutional design and destiny of the states: The Weimar Constitution and the St Vitus Day Constitution in comparative perspective

The Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the St Vitus Day Constitution of 1921 were quite different in many aspects. Their comparison is nevertheless of interest not only because it shows some influences of the older one to the younger, but also for the fact that it displays the line of developments of the two countries - Germany and Yugoslavia. If considered from the standpoint of parliamentary government, territorial organization of the two states and some other features the analysis of the respective constitutional developments leads to several conclusions. The two constitutions had their initial shortcomings, but those did not belong to the same area of constitutional law. In Germany they concerned the horizontal separation of powers, whereas in Yugoslavia they belonged to the vertical division of power. Both constitutions under survey ended up in dictatorships. In both countries, attempts were made in the course of history to remedy the initial shortcomings or constructive errors of the two constitutions. In Germany such attempts were successful, which on the contrary was not the case in Yugoslavia. Germany therefore became a well-functioning liberal democracy, while Yugoslavia failed and disappeared.

Comparative Perspectives

This chapter develops three comparative perspectives. Beginning with direct democracy, enhancing the direct participation of people as in Switzerland—considered revolutionary in the nineteenth century—may still be regarded a progressive form of democracy. But are increased political rights, offering the people not only a voice in electing their representatives but also a chance to decide major decisions directly, really an efficient way to improve democracy? The second perspective deals with federalism. Traditionally understood as a means for the vertical division of power within states, can it also play a role for the supranational division of power and the participation of minorities? The last section places political power-sharing in a context of conflict resolution, especially in multicultural societies. The chapter ends by stressing that power-sharing is not just an institutional arrangement, but that it also has to be based on the specific culture of a society that intends to practice it.

The principle of the executive power unity in the contemporary Russian federative model

The article considers the unity of executive power in the federative model of contemporary Russia to show that a single system of executive power within the Russian political-legal culture presupposes a hierarchical relationship between executive authorities of different levels. Such specifics of the relationship between the federal executive bodies and executive bodies of the subjects of the Russian Federation contradicts the idea of a vertical division of powers. The Russian model of federal relations is based on the fact that if the interests of the federation and its subjects are intertwined the best decision is not to isolate or separate the levels of power but rather to help them to interact, to provide a joint solution to the challenges of the state and its constituent parts. The author studied the federal legal acts and the practice of the Constitutional Court, in which the principle of the unity of the executive power was reinforced and evaluated. The article is based on the culturological approach as a kind of the system-structural analysis of law and other elements of social reality. This approach allows to consider the specifics of the Russian federalism as a special model of public administration in dynamics, and the corresponding institutions in their constant interaction and development. The formal-legal method allowed to identify the legal content of the principle of the state power system unity as the ‘cornerstone’ of the Russian federative structure. As a result, the article presents the following cultural-historical model of the Russian federative relations: it allows for widespread decentralization in the political sphere (by providing a list of objects of joint jurisdiction of the federal center and the subjects of the Russian Federation, and also - by residual principle - the exclusive legislative competence of the subjects), while the federal center strengthens centralization mechanisms in the administrative sphere (through the distribution of powers within the joint jurisdiction), thus, ensuring political competition under the tough statist principles in public administration.

Tracheal Agenesis: Vertical Division of the Native Esophagus – A Novel Surgical Approach and Review of the Literature

Introduction: Tracheal agenesis (TA) is rare and usually fatal. Few survivors with concomitant tracheoesophageal fistulae (TEF) who underwent ligation of the distal esophagus with creation of a spit-fistula and neo-trachea from the proximal esophagus exist. We report a novel surgical technique whereby the esophagus is divided longitudinally to preserve a functional alimentation tract and a parallel neo-trachea. We review the literature of reported cases, including survivors beyond 12 months. Methods: Case report and literature review. Results: A female infant with prenatal polyhydramnios was born at 35 weeks gestation with immediate respiratory distress and absent cry. Oxygenation was maintained with a laryngeal mask airway. Despite a normal appearing larynx, she could not be intubated and emergent neck exploration disclosed no cervical trachea. The patient was placed on extra corporeal membranous oxygenation (ECMO), and later diagnosed with TA, Floyd Type I. Parental desire for reconstruction but refusal of a spit-fistula necessitated a novel procedure. The esophagus was divided longitudinally via a microstapler to preserve the original alimentary tract and create a parallel neo-trachea originating from the TEF and terminating as a cervical stoma. The healing process was complicated but the baby was ultimately discharged to home where she developed normally neurologically until succumbing one night to accidental decannulation at 16 months of age. Conclusion: We describe a novel surgical approach to manage TA. This includes avoiding creation of a spit fistula and preserving the native esophagus. We then survey the literature, reporting the survivorship duration and operative management of 174 reported cases of TA.

Social Dialects in Modern French Language

The article is a study of phonetic-morphological and semantic-stylistic features of argotic vocabulary in contemporary French language. The work is devoted to questions of structural-semantic and phonetic-morphological peculiarities of the argotic vocabulary in printed mass media. The conducted research has shown that the argotic vocabulary can be considered as a special lexical subsystem of spoken language, which is characterized by a steady tendency to penetrate into higher linguistic levels due to its phonetic-morphological and semantic features. The systematization of phonetic and semantic processes in the argotic dictionary is carried out. We have noticed that argot from a linguistic point of view is an expressive lexical subsystem of spoken language, which is characterized by a large expressive potential and rapid changes in vocabulary and penetrates into higher levels of the French language. From the point of view of modern linguistics, the French language can be viewed in vertical and horizontal sections. Horizontal division is caused by the existence of the dialectal partition of the French language. The vertical division is explained by the existence of social groups that use one or another sociolect. Analyzing the evolution of the definition of argot, we can assume that in its development argot passed the long way from the language taboo to the special lexical subsystem of the literary-spoken language. We have noticed that it is important to distinguish argot and spoken language. In spite of the both scientific and practical interest in the spoken language problem and the emergence of numerous studies that led to the creation of colloquialism as a special section of linguistics, a number of aspects of spoken language (approaches to its identification, differentiation of spoken language and related phenomena) remain insufficiently highlighted. The spoken language (vernacular), according to modern linguistic assertions, occupies an intermediate position between the spoken-literary language, dialects and sociolects. We have noticed that the democratization of the norms of the literary language led to the emergence of a literary-colloquial form of spoken language. Such a combination of literary and spoken language is caused by the nature of social development. Key words: argot; slang; French language; dialect; argotheistic vocabulary; non-normative variant elements; semantics; phonetics; morphology; mass media.

Prevention of scarring of a dacryorhinostomy

Pathology of the vertical section of the lacrimal duct continues to attract the interest of otorhinolaryngologists and ophthalmologists. With the development of new technologies, an active search began for effective and safe methods of conservative and surgical treatment of the disease of the lacrimal organs. Measures aimed at preventing scarring: various drains, differing in shape, material, method of conduction, and duration of stay in the lacrimal ducts, medical methods can not only contribute to recovery, but also extend the time and negatively affect the outcome of treatment. The problem of scarring formed dacryorrhinostomy remains unresolved to this point. The article presents the results of the examination of patients with pathology of the vertical division of the lacrimal duct after video endoscopic endonasal dacryocystorhinostomy performed in the ENT department of the Clinics of Samara State Medical University. In all patients, the stoma of 0,7–0,8 сm is formed endonasally. The data of the video endoscopic examination of the nasal cavity and lacrimal ducts after the use of stents and the preparation Antiadgesin were analyzed. Patients are divided into 2 groups. Group 1 – 17 people who, after the formation of dacryorhinostomy, used bicanalicular silicone stents that were in the lumen of the lacrimal duct for 2 to 4 weeks, group 2 – 12 people who after the formation of the dacryorrhinostomy injected the drug „Antiadhesin“ into the lacrimal duct through the upper and lower tear points with blunt cannula in the amount of 1 ml. The effectiveness of prophylactic measures aimed at eliminating stenosis of the dacryorhinostomy was evaluated. Data on the greater efficiency of surgical intervention in patients in group 2 with the use of the drug Antiadgesin compared with group 1 using stents.