"Long Term Loans and Investment in Japan: An Empirical Analysis Based on the Panel Data of Japanese Firms"

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether that the policy-based allocation of long-term funds played an important role in promoting the high economic growth in post-war Japan. Using the panel data functions of Japanese firms, we estimate Tobinfs Q investment functions in two different sample periods | 1972-84 and 1985-96. In 1972-84, we find that the long-term loan ratio had an additional positive effect on investment. In particular, the result holds true regardless of the size of corporate cash flows or the type of corporate groupings. However, in 1985-96, we cannot find that a higher ratio of long-term loans increased the Japanese firmfs investment. The result indicates that the size of long-term loans had a great influence on the firmfs investment only before the financial liberalization in Japan.

<ORIGINAL ARTICLE>ESR spin trapping study on ascorbic acid as a scavenger of hydroxyl and hydrogen radicals

The present study was carried out to confirm the usefulness of the ESR spin trapping technique for detecting and measuring short-lived radicals and to clarify the ability of ascorbic acid as a radical scavenger against radicals generated from irradiated human serum. One hundred μl of human serum was irradiated with 1 Gy of X-ray radiation coexisting with 35 μl of DETAPAC, 50 μl of various concentrations (2×10^M～60×10^M) of ascorbic acid, and 15 μl of DMPO. After irradiation at each concentration, the ESR signals were recorded using an ESR spectrometer. These signals were identified, and then normalized as the relative signal intensities against the standard signal intensity of manganese oxide marker. The relative signal intensities were plotted, and the results showed that the signals were from DMPO-OH and DMPO-H, showing the generation of ・OH and ・H, and that the relative signal intensities obtained at each concentration decreased as the concentration of ascorbic acid increased

<ORIGINAL>Microradiography in the differentiation and definite diagnosis of odontomas

The present study evaluated the usefulness of microradiography in differentiny and making a definite diagnosis of odontomas. A surgically removed odontoma from a 14-year-old girl was used here. The specimen was sectioned at approximately 100μm thickness and ground to 50μm. Microradiographic images were obtained using soft X-ray equipment (Sofron, Japan) under the conditions of : tube voltage, 10kVp ; tube current, 5mA ; FSD 7.5cm ; and exposure time, 20min. The images were evaluated by comparing to images obtained by histological procedures. The results showed that the microradiographic images had almost the same resolution as that of the microscopic images

オンライン授業の実践を通じた一考察 －アート系授業の課題とオンラインデジタルアーカイブ活用の有用性について－

　2020年度初頭より、新型コロナウイルス感染症の世界的な流行が発生した。その感染拡大に伴い、多くの教育機関で休講措置が取られ、４月になっても授業が開講できないという事態となった。その結果、学びの機会を確保するための対処法として、教育のIT化が急速に進み、日本においては特に大学の導入は目を見張るものがあった。本学でもオンラインによる授業整備が急遽施され、４月終わりという早い段階から全学的にオンライン授業が実施された。　講義ではなく芸術系演習科目を持つ筆者にとって、授業をどうやってオンライン授業で実施できるのかは大きな課題であった。本稿では、暗中模索の中で筆者の課題となった「１　感性情報」「２　視覚情報」「３　連帯感」３つの「伝達と共有」に着目した取り組み、並びにその利点や問題点を示す。また、主にアメリカの機関が提供する膨大な芸術系オンラインコンテンツについて記述し、その有効性と今後の活用方法を示す

Energy Efficient Resource Allocation Optimization in Fog Radio Access Networks with Outdated Channel Knowledge

Fog Radio Access Networks (F-RAN) are gaining worldwide interests for enabling mobile edge computing for Beyond 5G. However, to realize the future real-time and delay-sensitive applications, F-RAN tailored radio resource allocation and interference management become necessary. This work investigates user association and beamforming issues for providing energy efficient F-RANs. We formulate the energy efficiency maximization problem, where the F-RAN specific constraint to guarantee local edge processing is explicitly considered. To solve this intricate problem, we design an algorithm based on the Augmented Lagrangian (AL) method. Then, to alleviate the computational complexity, a heuristic low-complexity strategy is developed, where the tasks are split in two parts: one solving for user association and Fog Access Points (F-AP) activation in a centralized manner at the cloud, based on global but outdated user Channel State Information (CSI) to account for fronthaul delays, and the second solving for beamforming in a distributed manner at each active F-AP based on perfect but local CSIs. Simulation results show that the proposed heuristic method achieves an appreciable performance level as compared to the AL-based method, while largely outperforming the energy efficiency of the baseline F-RAN scheme and limiting the sum-rate degradation compared to the optimized sum-rate maximization algorithm

Collagen X Is Dispensable for Hypertrophic Differentiation and Endochondral Ossification of Human iPSC-Derived Chondrocytes

Collagen X is a non-fibril collagen produced by hypertrophic chondrocytes and was believed to associate with the calcification process of growth plate cartilage. The homozygous loss of Col10a1 gene in mice, however, demonstrated no remarkable effects on growth plate formation or skeletal development. To investigate the role of collagen X in human chondrocytes, we established human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) with heterozygous (COL10A1⁺/⁻) or homozygous (COL10A1⁻/⁻) deletions of COL10A1 gene using the dual sgRNA CRISPR/Cas9 system. Several mutant clones were established and differentiated into hypertrophic chondrocytes by a previously reported 3D induction method. No remarkable differences were observed during the differentiation process between parental and mutant cell lines, which differentiated into cells with features of hypertrophic chondrocytes, indicating that collagen X is dispensable for the hypertrophic differentiation of human chondrocytes in vitro. To investigate the effects of collagen X deficiency in vivo, chondrocyte pellets at the proliferating or prehypertrophic stage were transplanted into immunodeficient mice. Proliferating pellet-derived tissues demonstrated the zonal distribution of chondrocytes with the transition to bone tissues mimicking growth plates, and the proportion of bone tended to be larger in COL10A1⁻/⁻ tissues. Prehypertrophic pellet-derived tissues produced trabecular bone structures with features of endochondral ossification, and there was no clear difference between parental- and mutant-derived tissues. A transcriptome analysis of chondrocyte pellets at the hypertrophic phase showed a lower expression of proliferating-phase genes and a higher expression of calcification-phase genes in COL10A1⁻/⁻ pellets compared with parental cell pellets. These in vitro and in vivo data suggested that collagen X is dispensable for the hypertrophic differentiation and endochondral ossification of human iPSC-derived chondrocytes, though it may facilitate the differentiation process. Thus, COL10A1⁻/⁻ iPSC lines are useful for investigating the physiological role of collagen X in chondrocyte differentiation. © 2023 The Authors. JBMR Plus published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

Nurses' Practical Wisdom for the Support of Dementia Patients Among Hospital Outpatients

Purpose: To establish and understand nurses' practical wisdom and interventions of support for dementia and possible dementia patients at hospital outpatient wards. Methods: A qualitative design was used to collect data through semi-structured focus group interviews. The participants were 13 female nurses working at hospital outpatient wards.Data were analyzed using the KJ Method. Results: Seven themes symbolizing the properties of the final label were extracted as follows:‘Observation of patients with focused awareness, and are continuously engaged with their patients',‘Approach to the problems of the patients, and sensitively work to understand the worries of patients based on past cases of problems',‘Looking out for simple ways patients can look after themselves, implicitly and thoroughly, making the best use of the ways that patients are familiar with and which they are able to understand',‘Preparations for scheduled consultations by developing a network to assist with problem prevention and recording episodes about problems involving the patients',‘Requests for cooperation to continue treatment by choosing intermediaries/resources appropriately as based on the importance of the medical treatment',‘Responses that do not conflict with the feelings of the family by considering the possible reluctance of accepting that a family member has dementia', and‘Attitude not to blame matters on dementia by reflecting on how the environment and care ought to be'.’ Conclusion:Nurses' practical wisdom is a type of support provided for patients in a natural manner without being noticed as special or particular by the patients

Brief Questioning by Nursing Staffs before Endoscopic Examination May Not Always Pick Up Clinical Symptoms of Endoscopic Reflux Esophagitis

The clinical features of patients reflux esophagitis without any symptoms have not been clearly demonstrated. This study evaluated the clinical features of patients with endoscopy-positive reflux esophagitis, who did not complain of symptoms, as detected by brief questioning by nursing staffs. Eight thousand and thirty-one patients not taking medication for gastrointestinal disease, were briefly asked about the presence of heartburn, dysphagia, odynophagia and acid regurgitation by nursing staffs before endoscopy for assessment of esophagitis utilizing the Los Angeles Classification. Endoscopically, 1199 (14.9%) patients were classified as positive for reflux esophagitis. The endoscope positive subjects who complain heartburn were 539/1199 (45.0%).The endoscope positive subjects who do not complain symptoms were 465 in 1199 positive reflux esophagitis (38.8%). We compared endoscopic positive subjects without any complain by brief question by nursing staffs to endoscopic positive subjects with heartburn. Male gender, no obesity, absence of hiatus hernia, and low-grade esophagitis were associated with endoscopy-positive patients who do not complain of symptoms. The results of this study indicated correct detection of clinical symptoms of reflux esophagitis might be not easy with brief questioning by nursing staffs before endoscopic examination

Idiopathic Bone Cavity of the Mandible

A case of an idiopathic bone cavity is presented and discussed. The patient was a 54-year-old Japanese male with a history of stomach carcinoma operation and hospitalization two years ago. He was referred to the Department of Dental Radiology with a panoramic radiograph performed by the dentist. The panoramic radiograph demonstrated a well-defined elliptical radiolucent lesion near the right angle of the mandible, situated below the mandibular canal and slightly above the inferior border of the mandible. The patient stated that the lesion progressed asymptomatically without any sensation. From the lesion was indicated, the patient was greatly anxious about metastasis of stomach carcinoma to the mandible. To define the diagnosis of the lesion, intraoral radiography, extraoral radiography, tomography, and sialography were carried out. All results showed that the lesion was an idiopathic bone cavity without relationship to salivary gland tissue. No biopsy was carried out, but the lesion was diagnosed to be benign, and a metastatic carcinoma was ruled out

Oxidative phosphorylation is a pivotal therapeutic target of fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva

酸化的リン酸化の抑制がFOPの新たな治療法に繋がる可能性. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2024-03-11.Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a non-physiological bone formation where soft tissue progenitor cells differentiate into chondrogenic cells. In fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a rare genetic disease characterized by progressive and systemic HO, the Activin A/mutated ACVR1/mTORC1 cascade induces HO in progenitors in muscle tissues. The relevant biological processes aberrantly regulated by activated mTORC1 remain unclear, however. RNA-sequencing analyses revealed the enrichment of genes involved in oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) during Activin A–induced chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells derived from FOP patient–specific induced pluripotent stem cells. Functional analyses showed a metabolic transition from glycolysis to OXPHOS during chondrogenesis, along with increased mitochondrial biogenesis. mTORC1 inhibition by rapamycin suppressed OXPHOS, whereas OXPHOS inhibitor IACS-010759 inhibited cartilage matrix formation in vitro, indicating that OXPHOS is principally involved in mTORC1-induced chondrogenesis. Furthermore, IACS-010759 inhibited the muscle injury–induced enrichment of fibro/adipogenic progenitor genes and HO in transgenic mice carrying the mutated human ACVR1. These data indicated that OXPHOS is a critical downstream mediator of mTORC1 signaling in chondrogenesis and therefore is a potential FOP therapeutic target