Shareholding Networks in Japan

The Japanese shareholding network existing at the end of March 2002 is studied empirically. The network is constructed from 2,303 listed companies and 53 non-listed financial institutions. We consider this network as a directed graph by drawing edges from shareholders to stock corporations. The lengths of the shareholder lists vary with the companies, and the most comprehensive lists contain the top 30 shareholders. Consequently, the distribution of incoming edges has an upper bound, while that of outgoing edges has no bound. The distribution of outgoing degrees is well explained by the power law function with an exponential tail. The exponent in the power law range is gamma=1.7. To understand these features from the viewpoint of a company's growth, we consider the correlations between the outgoing degree and the company's age, profit, and total assets.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, International Conference Science of Complex Networks: from Biology to the Internet and WWW (CNET2004

Crosstalk Between Intestinal Microbiota Derived Metabolites and Tissues in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is an evidence based- cellular immunotherapy for hematological malignancies. Immune reactions not only promote graft-versus-tumor effects that kill hematological malignant cells but also graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) that is the primary complication characterized by systemic organ damages consisting of T-cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs) activation. GVHD has long been recognized as an immunological reaction that requires an immunosuppressive treatment targeting immune cells. However immune suppression cannot always prevent GVHD or effectively treat it once it has developed. Recent studies using high-throughput sequencing technology investigated the impact of microbial flora on GVHD and provided profound insights of the mechanism of GVHD other than immune cells. Allo-HSCT affects the intestinal microbiota and microbiome-metabolome axis that can alter intestinal homeostasis and the severity of experimental GVHD. This axis can potentially be manipulated via dietary intervention or metabolites produced by intestinal bacteria affected post-allo-HSCT. In this review, we discuss the mechanism of experimental GVHD regulation by the complex microbial community-metabolites-host tissue axis. Furthermore, we summarize the major findings of microbiome-based immunotherapeutic approaches that protect tissues from experimental GVHD. Understanding the complex relationships between gut microbiota-metabolites-host tissues axis provides crucial insight into the pathogenesis of GVHD and advances the development of new therapeutic approaches

Seasonal variation of radial brightness contrast of Saturn's rings viewed in mid-infrared by Subaru/COMICS

Aims. To investigate the mid-infrared (MIR) characteristics of Saturn's rings. Methods. We collected and analyzed MIR high spatial resolution images of Saturn's rings obtained in January 2008 and April 2005 with COMICS mounted on Subaru Telescope, and investigated the spatial variation in the surface brightness of the rings in multiple bands in the MIR. We also composed the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the C, B, and A rings and the Cassini Division, and estimated the temperatures of the rings from the SEDs assuming the optical depths. Results. We find that the C ring and the Cassini Division were warmer than the B and A rings in 2008, which could be accounted for by their lower albedos, lower optical depths, and smaller self-shadowing effect. We also find that the C ring and the Cassini Division were considerably brighter than the B and A rings in the MIR in 2008 and the radial contrast of the ring brightness is the inverse of that in 2005, which is interpreted as a result of a seasonal effect with changing elevations of the sun and observer above the ring plane.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Labour Productivity Superstatistics

We discuss superstatistics theory of labour productivity. Productivity distribution across workers, firms and industrial sectors are studied empirically and found to obey power-distributions, in sharp contrast to the equilibrium theories of mainstream economics. The Pareto index is found to decrease with the level of aggregation, {\it i.e.}, from workers to firms and to industrial sectors. In order to explain these phenomenological laws, we propose a superstatistics framework, where the role of the fluctuating temperature is played by the fluctuating demand.Comment: 13 pages including figure

Structure and temporal change of the credit network between banks and large firms in Japan

We present a new approach to understanding credit relationships between commercial banks and quoted firms, and with this approach, examine the temporal change in the structure of the Japanese credit network from 1980 to 2005. At each year, the credit network is regarded as a weighted bipartite graph where edges correspond to the relationships and weights refer to the amounts of loans. Reduction in the supply of credit affects firms as debtor, and failure of a firm influences banks as creditor. To quantify the dependency and influence between banks and firms, we propose a set of scores of banks and firms, which can be calculated by solving an eigenvalue problem determined by the weight of the credit network. We found that a few largest eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors are significant by using a null hypothesis of random bipartite graphs, and that the scores can quantitatively describe the stability or fragility of the credit network during the 25 years