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Please predict whether this patent is acceptable.PATENT ABSTRACT: An estimation data input unit 90 inputs estimation data including one or more explanatory variables which are information that may influence deterioration of an object. A component determination unit 91 determines a component to be used for estimation of deterioration of the object based on a hierarchical latent structure, which is a structure in which latent variables are represented by a tree structure and each of the components representing a probability model is assigned to each node at the lowest level of the tree structure, a gate function to determine a branch direction at each node of the hierarchical latent structure, and the estimation data. A deterioration estimation unit 92 estimates the deterioration of the object based on the component determined by the component determination unit 91 and the estimation data.