A partial differential equation to express a business cycle :an implication for Japan's law interest policy

This study presents an equation of income derived from the Keynesian IS curve and the consumption Euler equation that explains the business cycle. Drawing on multi-period data from Japan, the model confirms the conventional wisdom that the appropriate policy response to an inflationary gap is to increase the interest rate when economic growth accelerates and decrease it when growth decelerates. However, the model indicates that to stabilize a deflationary gap, policymakers should decrease the interest rate when growth accelerates and increase it when growth decelerates. This prescription defies generations of conventional wisdom but fits the historical data remarkably well.BusinessCycle,Partial Differential Equation,Japan,Monetary Policy

A partial differential equation to express a business cycle :an implication for Japan's law interest policy

This study presents an equation of income derived from the Keynesian IS curve and the consumption Euler equation that explains the business cycle. Drawing on multi-period data from Japan, the model confirms the conventional wisdom that the appropriate policy response to an inflationary gap is to increase the interest rate when economic growth accelerates and decrease it when growth decelerates. However, the model indicates that to stabilize a deflationary gap, policymakers should decrease the interest rate when growth accelerates and increase it when growth decelerates. This prescription defies generations of conventional wisdom but fits the historical data remarkably well

Unilateral loss of thoracic motion after blunt trauma: a sign of acute Brown-Séquard syndrome

Late-onset Brown-Séquard syndrome (BSS) is a rare condition resulting from a spinal cord injury that develops weeks to years after a blunt trauma. Acute-onset BSS after a blunt injury has been rarely reported. Here, we report on a case of BSS, in a 58-year-old man, that developed immediately after a motor vehicle accident. Upon admission, loss of right thoracic motion, complete right paresis, and loss of pain and temperature sensations below the C3 level on the left side were observed. Magnetic resonance imaging showed hyperintensities within the cervical spinal cord at the C2–C3 level, confirming the diagnosis of BSS. Thoracic motion rapidly recovered, but other neurological sequelae persisted. BSS related to cervical cord injury should be suspected when patients develop hemiparesis and contralateral sensory loss immediately after a blunt trauma. Likewise, clinicians should be aware that unilateral loss of thoracic motion could be an important sign of BSS

Therapeutic Intervention for Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CP/CPPS): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) has been treated with several different interventions with limited success. This meta-analysis aims to review all trials reporting on therapeutic intervention for CP/CPPS using the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI). Methods We searched Medline, PubMed, the Cochrane Pain, Palliative & Supportive Care Trials, the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, and the NIDDK website between 1947 and December 31, 2011 without language or study type restrictions. All RCTs for CP/CPPS lasting at least 6 weeks, with a minimum of 10 participants per arm, and using the NIH-CPSI score, the criterion standard for CP/CPPS, as an outcome measure were included. Data was extracted from each study by two independent reviewers. Gillbraith and I-squared plots were used for heterogeneity testing and Eggers and Peters methods for publication bias. Quality was assessed using a component approach and meta-regression was used to analyze sources of heterogeneity. Results: Mepartricin, percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS), and triple therapy comprised of doxazosin + ibuprofen + thiocolchicoside (DIT) resulted in clinically and statistically significant reduction in NIH-CPSI total score. The same agents and aerobic exercise resulted in clinically and statistically significant NIH-CPSI pain domain score reduction. Acupuncture, DIT, and PTNS were found to produce statistically and clinically significant reductions in the NIH-CPSI voiding domain. A statistically significant placebo effect was found for all outcomes and time analysis showed that efficacy of all treatments increased over time. Alpha-blockers, antibiotics, and combinations of the two failed to show statistically or clinically significant NIH-CPSI reductions. Conclusion: Results from this meta-analysis reflect our current inability to effectively manage CP/CPPS. Clinicians and researchers must consider placebo effect and treatment efficacy over time and design studies creatively so we can more fully elucidate the etiology and role of therapeutic intervention in CP/CPPS.

A VCP modulator, KUS121, as a promising therapeutic agent for post-traumatic osteoarthritis

京大開発の薬剤「KUS121」の変形性膝関節症への効果を確認 --外傷性変形性関節症の治療薬として臨床応用へ--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2020-12-17.Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) is a major cause which hinders patients from the recovery after intra-articular injuries or surgeries. Currently, no effective treatment is available. In this study, we showed that inhibition of the acute stage chondrocyte death is a promising strategy to mitigate the development of PTOA. Namely, we examined efficacies of Kyoto University Substance (KUS) 121, a valosin-containing protein modulator, for PTOA as well as its therapeutic mechanisms. In vivo, in a rat PTOA model by cyclic compressive loading, intra-articular treatments of KUS121 significantly improved the modified Mankin scores and reduced damaged-cartilage volumes, as compared to vehicle treatment. Moreover, KUS121 markedly reduced the numbers of TUNEL-, CHOP-, MMP-13-, and ADAMTS-5-positive chondrocytes in the damaged knees. In vitro, KUS121 rescued human articular chondrocytes from tunicamycin-induced cell death, in both monolayer culture and cartilage explants. It also significantly downregulated the protein or gene expression of ER stress markers, proinflammatory cytokines, and extracellular-matrix-degrading enzymes induced by tunicamycin or IL-1β. Collectively, these results demonstrated that KUS121 protected chondrocytes from cell death through the inhibition of excessive ER stress. Therefore, KUS121 would be a new, promising therapeutic agent with a protective effect on the progression of PTOA

ICUに於ける教育実習の評価の諸問題

The present essay examined the teacher certification program at ICU from the point of view of evaluation. For this purpose the authors analyzed the student grades as well as the evaluation sheets on student teachers by school teachers and by ICU faculty accumulated over the past few years. They tested the degree of correlations between different subjects in the program, and analyzed the data in evaluation sheets quantitatively. In so doing, they provided the classified data and some new points of view upon which they, or others, would make adequate recommendations for the improvement of the program in the near future. In part I, Kuriyama analyzed the student grades for those education course related to the program, along with the points of evaluation given by school teachers on the activities of student teachers. She found that there were correlations of a significant level between the G. P. A. and the grades for Teaching Practice, and between the grades for required education courses and those for Teaching Practice. As for the evaluation on student teachers, junior high school teachers gave grades consistently lower than those by their counterpart in senior high schools. The patterns of distribution of average grades among different points of evaluation remained the same for different subjects; social studies, English, science and mathematics. The factor analysis on the nine items of evaluation singled out Question 9 which referred to the student\u27s aptitude as a teacher. In part II, Tachikawa compared the grades on student teachers by junior and senior high school teachers and those by the ICU faculty who supervised the same student teachers. He focused upon the divergence in grades between junior high school teachers and the ICU faculty, with special reference to English. To find out the causes underlying the divergence, he classified and arranged the written comments on student teachers by school teachers and by the ICU faculty. Moreover, he potted the comments thus classified on graphs to show distinct patterns of the distribution of comments among different groups of evaluators, especially between junior high school teachers and the ICU faculty on student teachers in English. These graphs showed that the two groups evaluated these students, on some items, from diametrically opposite points of view, while science and high school teachers and the ICU faculty shared a similar frame of reference

EFFICACY OF INTERFERON THERAPY FOR CHRONIC HEPATITIS C ： A COOPERATIVE STUDY IN ELEVEN HOSPITALS

We investigated the influences of liver histology，serum levels of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HCV genotypes on responsiveness to interferon (IFN) therapy in 342 patients with chronic hepatitis C. Either 9 million units (MU) of lymphoblastoid alpha IFN or 3 MU of recombinant IFN-alpha was administered daily for 2 weeks and then three times a week for 22 weeks. IFN responses were divided into three groups on the basis of the results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay detecting HCV-RNA in serum. Complete response (CR) was defined as sustained elimination of HCV for at least 6 months after treatment，partial response (PR) as HCV elimination for a limited period，non-response (NR) as continuously positive for HCV-RNA in serum. Quantitation of pre-treament HCV-RNA amount in serum was determined by competitive PCR assay in 47 patients. HCV genotyping was performed in 114 patients by PCR with genotype-specific primers. CR was obtained in 97 patients (28.4%)，PR in 104 (30.4%) and NR in 141 (41.2%). IFN responses，represented by CR/PR/NR，were 15/18/11 in 44 patients with chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH)，72/65/73 in 210 patients with chronic aggressive hepatitis (CAH) 2a，and 10/21/57 in 88 patients with CAH2b. CR rate was lower in patients with CAH2b (11.4%) compared to those with CPH (34.1%) or CAH2a (34.3%). Averages of pre-treatment serum HCV-RNA amount (copies/50μl) were 10³·⁵⁵ in 13 CRs，10⁴·⁵⁶ in 17 PRs，and 10⁵·⁹⁵ in 17 NRs. There was a positive correlation between pre-treatment HCV-RNA levels and IFN unresponsiveness. HCV genotyping in 114 patients revealed that HCV type Ⅰ infection was observed in one，type Ⅱ in 94，type Ⅲ in 11，type Ⅳ in 6 and mixed (types Ⅱ and Ⅳ) in 2 patients，and their IFN responses (CR/PR/NR) were 0/0/1，28/26/40，3/5/3，1/3/2 and 0/1/1，respectively

Association between contrast extravasation on computed tomography scans and pseudoaneurysm formation in pediatric blunt splenic and hepatic injury: A multi-institutional observational study

PURPOSE: We aimed to examine the association between contrast extravasation (CE) on initial computed tomography (CT) scan and pseudoaneurysm (PSA) development in pediatric blunt splenic and/or liver injury. METHODS: We conducted a multi-institutional retrospective study in cases of blunt splenic and/or hepatic injury who underwent an initial attempt of nonoperative management. A logistic regression model was used to compare PSA formation and CE on initial CT scan, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with and without CE was used to assess the predictive performance of CE for PSA formation. RESULTS: Of 236 cases enrolled from 10 institutions, PSA formation was observed in 17 (7.2%). Multivariate analysis showed a significant association between CE on initial CT scan and increased incidence of PSA formation (odds ratio, 4.96; 95% confidence interval, 1.37-18.0). There was no statistically significant association between the grade of injury and PSA formation. The AUC improved from 0.75 (0.64-0.87) to 0.80 (0.70-0.91) with CE. CONCLUSION: Active CE on initial CT scan was an independent predictor of PSA formation. Selective use of follow-up CT in children who showed CE on initial CT may provide early identification of PSA formation, regardless of injury grade. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic and epidemiological, level III