Firms’ Perceptions of the Business Cycle and Their Managerial and Financial Conditions

Perception of the business cycle can differ among firms, which has been confirmed by extensive survey data. The question we want to answer in this paper is "What causes differences in business cycle perception?" by utilizing a newly designed questionnaire. Specifically, we match properties emphasizing the absolute level of economic activities or the direction of their changes and indicators of a firm's managerial and financial conditions, and examine the relationship between them. Based on our results, we could not find a particular indicator for the properties of firms that indicate level or trend change. However, a higher level of capital or number of employees suggests a tendency to emphasize change or rate of change, rather than the level of the business survey index. With regards to the time horizon of the business cycle, profit ratios (profit against sales or total assets) in general are good indicators. Firms with a high debt ratio tend to be myopic. Regression analysis shows that firms with high rates of investment/sales significantly tend to have a long-term vision.business cycle perception, financial indicators, managerial indicators, firm, Regression analysis

Biofilm formation among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from patients with urinary tract infection.

Staphylococci have been confirmed to form biofilms on various biomaterials. The purpose of this study was to investigate biofilm formation among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates from patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) and to assess the relationship between biofilm-forming capacities and virulence determinants/clinical background. Over a 12-year period from 1990 through 2001, a total of 109 MRSA isolates were collected from patients (one isolate per patient) with UTI at the urology ward of Okayama University Hospital. We used the in vitro microtiter plate assay to quantify biofilm formation. We then investigated the presence of several virulence determinants by polymerase chain reaction assay and found eight determinants (tst, sec, hla, hlb, fnbA, clfA, icaA, and agrII) to be predominant among these isolates. Enhanced biofilm formation was confirmed in hla-, hlb-, and fnbA-positive MRSA isolates, both individually and in combination. Upon review of the associated medical records, we concluded that the biofilm-forming capacities of MRSA isolates from catheter-related cases were significantly greater than those from catheter-unrelated cases. The percentage of hla-, hlb-, and fnbA-positive isolates was higher among MRSA isolates from catheter-related cases than those from catheter-unrelated cases. Our studies suggest that MRSA colonization and infection of the urinary tract may be promoted by hla, hlb, and fnbA gene products.</p

Gas Accretion from a Circumbinary Disk

A new computational scheme is developed to study gas accretion from a circumbinary disk. The scheme decomposes the gas velocity into two components one of which denotes the Keplerian rotation and the other of which does the deviation from it. This scheme enables us to solve the centrifugal balance of a gas disk against gravity with better accuracy, since the former inertia force cancels the gravity. It is applied to circumbinary disk rotating around binary of which primary and secondary has mass ratio, 1.4:0.95. The gravity is reduced artificially softened only in small circular regions around the primary and secondary. The radii are 7% of the binary separation and much smaller than those in the previous grid based simulations. 7 Models are constructed to study dependence on the gas temperature and the initial inner radius of the disk. The gas accretion shows both fast and slow time variations while the binary is assumed to have a circular orbit. The time variation is due to oscillation of spiral arms in the circumbinary disk. The masses of primary and secondary disks increase while oscillating appreciably. The mass accretion rate tends to be higher for the primary disk although the secondary disk has a higher accretion rate in certain periods. The primary disk is perturbed intensely by the impact of gas flow so that the outer part is removed. The secondary disk is quiet in most of time on the contrary. Both the primary and secondary disks have traveling spiral waves which transfer angular momentum within them.Comment: 41 pages, 25 PostScript figures, uses AASTeX, to appear in Ap

Tau phosphorylation at Alzheimer\u27s disease-related Ser356 contributes to tau stabilization when PAR-1/MARK activity is elevated.

Abnormal phosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is observed in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). AD-related phosphorylation of two tau residues, Ser262 and Ser356, by PAR-1/MARK stabilizes tau in the initial phase of mismetabolism, leading to subsequent phosphorylation events, accumulation, and toxicity. However, the relative contribution of phosphorylation at each of these sites to tau stabilization has not yet been elucidated. In a Drosophila model of human tau toxicity, we found that tau was phosphorylated at Ser262, but not at Ser356, and that blocking Ser262 phosphorylation decreased total tau levels. By contrast, when PAR-1 was co-overexpressed with tau, tau was hyperphosphorylated at both Ser262 and Ser356. Under these conditions, the protein levels of tau were significantly elevated, and prevention of tau phosphorylation at both residues was necessary to completely suppress this elevation. These results suggest that tau phosphorylation at Ser262 plays the predominant role in tau stabilization when PAR-1/MARK activity is normal, whereas Ser356 phosphorylation begins to contribute to this process when PAR-1/MARK activity is abnormally elevated, as in diseased brains

Changes in Water network Management since the Meiji Era and Issues Regarding Disaster Prevention at the Foot of Mt. Hira in Shiga Prefecture, Japan

In considering Eco-DRR, it is important to use resources and disaster prevention techniques that make the most of the unique ecosystems of each region. The purpose of this study was to analyze the changes in the water network and its management methods since the Meiji period in Minamikomatsu, Otsu City, located at the foot of Mt. Hira. Based on a literature survey of maps and documents stored in Minamikomatsu, interviews, and field surveys, a water network map was created for each period, and the changes in the management of the water network and issues related to disaster prevention were analyzed. As a result, we were able to confirm the traditional wisdom and techniques of water use and drainage by controlling water intake. On the other hand, the system of water network management has changed with the development of government, agriculture, tourism, and residential areas, and integrated management has become difficult. In addition, changes in the shape and flow of waterways and their disappearance have impeded and fragmented the flow in downstream areas, creating problems for disaster prevention. In the future, it will be important to secure and regenerate the continuity of water networks for watershed basin water control, and to establish a comprehensive water network management system

Illumination-Based Synchronization of High-Speed Vision Sensors

To acquire images of dynamic scenes from multiple points of view simultaneously, the acquisition time of vision sensors should be synchronized. This paper describes an illumination-based synchronization method derived from the phase-locked loop (PLL) algorithm. Incident light to a vision sensor from an intensity-modulated illumination source serves as the reference signal for synchronization. Analog and digital computation within the vision sensor forms a PLL to regulate the output signal, which corresponds to the vision frame timing, to be synchronized with the reference. Simulated and experimental results show that a 1,000 Hz frame rate vision sensor was successfully synchronized with 32 μs jitters

Comparative efficacy of swallowing therapies for dysphagia to prevent pneumonia in patients with acute or subacute stroke: A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Pneumonia is a frequent complication in patients with acute and subacute stroke. Hence, pneumonia prevention is a prominent issue. Although previous reports have demonstrated the efficacy of various swallowing therapies in preventing pneumonia, details of their efficacy profiles have not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of behavior interventions （BI）, metoclopramide （MCP）, prophylactic antibiotics （PA）, and pharyngeal electrical stimulation （PES） in preventing pneumonia between patients with acute to subacute stroke and a control group （N）. A network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted. The primary endpoint was the frequency of pneumonia. Integrated estimates were expressed as odds ratios （ORs） and 95％ credible intervals （CIs）. Five studies （n＝1,179） were included in the analysis. The frequency of pneumonia was significantly lower in group MCP than in groups BI, PA, and N （OR ［95％ CI］ of MCP vs. BI, PA vs. MCP, and MCP vs. N: 0.127 ［0.018 to 0.450］, 24.15 ［3.653 to 84.50］, and 0.081 ［0.013 to 0.273］, respectively）. There was no significant difference in the frequency of pneumonia between each treatment pair among the BI, PA, PES, and N groups. MCP showed good pneumonia prophylaxis in patients with acute to subacute stroke compared to BI or PA. Further clinical studies to verify the efficacy and safety profile of MCP in preventing pneumonia are warranted

Evaluation of the Growth-Inhibitory Spectrum of Three Types of Cyanoacrylate Nanoparticles on Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria

The development of novel effective antibacterial agents is crucial due to increasing antibiotic resistance in various bacteria. Poly (alkyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles (PACA-NPs) are promising novel antibacterial agents as they have shown antibacterial activity against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. However, the antibacterial mechanism remains unclear. Here, we compared the antibacterial efficacy of ethyl cyanoacrylate nanoparticles (ECA-NPs), isobutyl cyanoacrylate NPs (iBCA-NPs), and ethoxyethyl cyanoacrylate NPs (EECA-NPs) using five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative bacteria. Among these resin nanoparticles, ECA-NPs showed the highest growth inhibitory effect against all the examined bacterial species, and this effect was higher against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative. While iBCA-NP could inhibit the cell growth only in two Gram-positive bacteria, i.e., Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, it had negligible inhibitory effect against all five Gram-negative bacteria examined. Irrespective of the differences in growth inhibition induced by these three NPs, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), a well-known reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger, efficiently restored growth in all the bacterial strains to that similar to untreated cells. This strongly suggests that the exposure to NPs generates ROS, which mainly induces cell growth inhibition irrespective of the difference in bacterial species and cyanoacrylate NPs used

Dissecting the Daily Feeding Pattern: Peripheral CLOCK/CYCLE Generate the Feeding/Fasting Episodes and Neuronal Molecular Clocks Synchronize Them

A 24-h rhythm of feeding behavior, or synchronized feeding/fasting episodes during the day, is crucial for survival. Internal clocks and light input regulate rhythmic behaviors, but how they generate feeding rhythms is not fully understood. Here we aimed to dissect the molecular pathways that generate daily feeding patterns. By measuring the semidiurnal amount of food ingested by single flies, we demonstrate that the generation of feeding rhythms under light:dark conditions requires quasimodo (qsm) but not molecular clocks. Under constant darkness, rhythmic feeding patterns consist of two components: CLOCK (CLK) in digestive/metabolic tissues generating feeding/fasting episodes, and the molecular clock in neurons synchronizing them to subjective daytime. Although CLK is a part of the molecular clock, the generation of feeding/fasting episodes by CLK in metabolic tissues was independent of molecular clock machinery. Our results revealed novel functions of qsm and CLK in feeding rhythms in Drosophila