Unicharm (Japan)

ABSTRACT This article explores the effects of labelling previously unlabelled product attributes. Here, the impact of labelling extends beyond the information on the label itself; it includes the effect of revealing that labelling is feasible at all. We examine these informational and signalling effects in the context of freshness and fat content labelling for seafood, as they are seldom labelled in retail markets despite being economically viable to disclose. We first conduct a field sampling at randomly selected retail stores in Tokyo’s special wards and assess the distribution of freshness and fat content in retail horse mackerel. We then conduct three choice experiments: one without freshness and fat content as attributes, one displaying these values in absolute terms and one presenting them as standardized deviation scores for the market. Using a mixed logit model in willingness-to-pay (WTP) space, we demonstrate that informing consumers about the feasibility of labelling these attributes reduces WTP by 20–30% for fish that remain unlabelled. Furthermore, we show labelling freshness in absolute terms significantly rewards retailers with the freshest fish while heavily penalizing the majority of other sellers. In contrast, labelling in deviation terms results in positive marginal WTP over a much broader range of freshness levels.

Wearing face masks in public has become the norm in many countries post-2020. Although mask-wearing is effective in controlling infection, it has the negative side effect of occluding the mask wearer’s facial expressions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wearing transparent masks on the perception of facial expressions. Participants were required to categorize the perceived facial emotion of female (Experiment 1) and male (Experiment 2) faces with different facial expressions and to rate the perceived emotion intensity of the faces. Based on the group, the participants were assigned to, the faces were presented with a surgical mask, a transparent mask, or without a mask. The results showed that wearing a surgical mask impaired the performance of reading facial expressions, both with respect to recognition and perceived intensity of facial emotions. Specifically, the impairments were robustly observed in fear and happy faces for emotion recognition, and in happy faces for perceived intensity of emotion in Experiments 1 and 2. However, the impairments were moderated by wearing a transparent mask instead of a surgical mask. During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the transparent mask can be used in a range of situations where face-to-face communication is important.

顔を細く・小さく見せることに対する日本人の関心は高いが，どのような要因が顔の見かけの大きさを左右するかについては未検討な点が多い．本研究は，顔全体のサイズ知覚に，どの顔部位のサイズ情報が関与するか検証することを目的とした．そのためにまず，女性・男性顔132画像において，20箇所の顔部位の縦幅や横幅を計測した．また，その計測サイズとそれらの画像毎に評定された見かけの顔サイズ評定値との相関を算出した（研究1）．その結果，顔全体のサイズ知覚には，顔画像の性別に関係なく，顔面上部（額の長さ等）にくらべて顔面下部のサイズ（頬の広さや顎の長さ等）が強く正相関していた．この結果に基づき，顔面下部を衛生マスクで遮蔽し，顔面下部のサイズ情報を観察できなくすることで，顔のサイズ知覚が変わることも実証した（研究2）．これらの結果は，顔全体のサイズを判断する際，顔面下部のサイズ情報が重要な手がかりとして用いられていることを示している．

本研究では，花粉症対策に衛生マスクを持続的に着用する日常生活場面において，鼻の不快感に対するマスクへの着香効果を経時的に測定した．花粉症をもつ40名の被験者が2種の衛生マスク（ミント着香，または統制として無香マスク）をそれぞれ6時間着用し，携帯機器を通じて鼻の不快感について定期的に回答した．実験の結果，着香マスクは無香マスクに比べて装着直後に鼻の不快感の低減が強く生じた．しかし，香りの有無にかかわらず，マスク着用後，30分程度で不快感の低減効果は飽和状態となった．このことは，着香マスクの着用が鼻の不快感を低減させる効果は，着用を始めてから30分までの香りの印象が大きく影響することを示している．

衛生ナプキンや使い捨ておむつのような衛生用品は，皮膚との長期間の接触で使用されるため，これらの製品に含まれる化学物質が人体に悪影響を及ぼすかどうかを確認することが重要である。

廃棄物削減と資源の有効活用の観点から，使用済み紙おむつに含まれるパルプのリサイクルが一部検討されているが，紙おむつに再利用するためには，まだ多くの技術的課題が残されている。著者らは，大人用の使用済みの紙おむつからパルプ繊維を回収し，オゾン処理工程で殺菌および消毒を同時に行うことにより，使用済み紙おむつから衛生的で安全な上質パルプをリサイクルする技術の開発に取り組んでいる。本研究では使用済み紙おむつのリサイクルによって得られたパルプの安全性を評価するため，化学的リスクに着目し，残留タンパク分析，元素分析，残留有機化学物質の分析および塩素化合物の分析からなるフロースキームを構築し，実際にオゾン処理によって得られたリサイクルパルプに適用した。また，リサイクルパルプが衛生材料の公的な規格に適合することを確認した。

本稿では日系電機・電子部品メーカーA社の中間材を扱う上海における三つの販売部門を取り上げ，製品特性の違いにより取引先企業の本社所在地別構成や人材現地化の程度にどのような差異があるのかを検討した．結論として三つの総括部のうち，中国企業向けの販売比率が最も高い第1総括部では，管理職などへの中国人人材の登用が進んでおり，現地法人からの提案を受けるかたちで中国市場の需要に合わせた製品の開発・販売も行われていたが，それが低い第2総括部と第3総括部ではこのような傾向はみられなかった．特に第3総括部では，垂直統合型の製品を販売しているため，グループ企業などの日系企業への販売が多く，中国人人材の管理職への登用はあまり進んでいなかった．同社では今後一層人材の現地化を進めていく必要性が認識されていた．その一方で同社は，日本本社が取引に関する決定権を持ち続けながら，本社の現地法人への支援機能を強化する方針も採っていた．

A method to predict a diaper condition while worn is proposed in this study, based on the pattern paper of a disposable diaper, material properties and body shape. This paper in particular reports the analysis results on the posture of open legs when a tape-type baby diaper is worn by using the explicit finite element method. Upon analysis, geometric mapping of a diaper, dynamic computation regarding strain generated in a diaper resulting from mapping as a geometric boundary condition, and dynamic computation regarding strain of gather rubber as a geometric boundary condition are sequentially conducted to obtain the shape while worn. When the leg gather (hereinafter, “LG”) position as well as vacant space distribution was compared with the actual diaper in order to verify appropriateness of analysis results, the error rate was approximately 3.8% at maximum in regards to the LG position; therefore a certain level of appropriateness was confirmed. On the other hand, the error in analysis results was significant in the vacant space distribution, indicating the need to model the crease formed upon product packaging as observed in the actual diaper. Since it is possible to calculate the shape of a disposable diaper while worn based on the pattern paper and material properties with this method, it is considered to be useful upon investigating the shape of pattern paper in the design phase.

To elucidate how aging affects the muscular load required for pulling up pants-style disposable diapers, and why some elderly people cannot pull up the rear of their disposable diapers well, we evaluated the electromyogram (EMG) of 8 young subjects (21.5+/-1.5 years) and 7 elderly subjects (71.6+/-6.1 years). EMG was measured for four muscles--biceps brachii, deltoid, brachioradialis, and flexor carpi ulnaris. We evaluated the muscular load during a series of motions for pulling a disposable diaper up at the front and the rear of the body using an EMG-Video Synchronous Split Method. The analysis revealed that the front and the rear integral EMG of elderly subjects were both significantly larger than those of young subjects for all four muscles. For the deltoid and flexor carpi ulnaris muscles, the maximum amplitude of EMG when pulling up the rear of the disposable diapers was significantly larger in the elderly subjects than the young ones. These results suggest that the muscular load involved in pulling up the rear of disposable diapers may increase due to changes in body habitus caused by aging. Since muscular strength decreases with age, it seems likely that the elderly individuals will eventually be unable to pull up the rear of their diapers.