Issues Raised Involving the Copper Hypotheses in the Causation of Alzheimer's Disease

I present evidence that the epidemic of Alzheimer's disease is a new phenomenon exploding in the latter part of the 20th century in developed countries. I postulate that a major causative factor in the epidemic is the coincident use of copper plumbing, and the ingestion of inorganic copper leaching from the copper plumbing. I present evidence to support this hypothesis and discuss various objections and criticisms that have been raised about the hypothesis, and my responses to these criticisms. I conclude that the hypothesis is well supported by the evidence and deserves serious consideration, because if it is valid, it indentifies a partially preventable cause of Alzheimer's disease

Banking relationships during financial distress: the evidence from Japan

This article examines some implications of the failure of three large Japanese banks in 1997 and 1998. The authors examine the response in the equity returns of surviving Japanese banks to the three failure announcements. In addition, they provide evidence on the clients of failed and surviving banks.Bank failures ; Banks and banking - Japan

Ligation of Portal Vein for Hemorrhage During Operation on Hydatid Cyst of the Liver,: With a Study of the Relation of Urinary Excretion to Hepatic Functions.

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The value of banking relationships during a financial crisis: evidence from failures of Japanese banks

In this paper, we provide evidence on the value of banking relationships by examining the stock market valuation impact of three large bank failures in Japan in 1997 and 1998 on their clients and the clients of surviving banks. Bank failures are theorized to have adverse consequences for other firms in general and for customers of the failed institutions in particular. Firms that are customers of the failed institution may be adversely affected because they may lose an ongoing source of funding and need to incur the expense of search and providing financial and other information about themselves to new lenders. Firms that are not customers of the failed bank may be adversely affected because the failure may signal existing but yet unrecognized problems at other banks, ignite problems at other banks through spillover or contagion, or foretell adverse economic conditions for the economy in the region or nationwide. ; Unlike previous studies of this type, we examine the impact of bank failure announcements on the market valuation not only of the client firms of the failed banks but on all firms including the clients of surviving banks. We find that, as in previous studies, the market value of customers of the failed banks is adversely affected at the date of the failure announcements. Firms that have greater access to alternative sources of funding experience a less severe adverse impact from bank failure announcements. Similarly, clients of banks that are more profitable, better capitalized, and have lower loan loss reserves suffer less from the failure announcements. However, we also find that these effects are not significantly different from the effects experienced by all firms in the economy. That is, the bank failures represent "bad news" for all firms in the economy, not just for the customers of the failed banks.

The value of banking relationships during a financial crisis: evidence from failures of Japanese banks

In this paper, we provide evidence on the value of banking relationships by examining the stock market valuation impact of three large bank failures in Japan in 1997 and 1998 on their clients and the clients of surviving banks. Bank failures are theorized to have adverse consequences for other firms in general, and for customers of the failed institutions in particular. Firms that are customers of the failed institution may be adversely affected because, among other things, they may lose an ongoing source of funding and need to incur the expense of search and providing financial and other information about themselves to new lenders. Hence, severance of banking ties due to a bank failure can have adverse consequences for the clients of the failed bank. In addition, firms that are not customers of the failed bank may be adversely affected because the failure may signal existing but yet unrecognized problems at other banks, ignite problems at other banks through spillover or contagion, or foretell adverse economic conditions for the economy in the region or nationwide. ; Unlike previous studies of this type, we examine not only the impact of bank failure announcements on the market valuation of the client firms of the failed banks, but the impact of the announcements on all firms including the clients of surviving banks. By also examining the stock valuation of the failure announcements for firms that did not have relationships with the failed institutions, we can identify any differences in the effects on clients and non-clients of the failed banks. This is particularly important when the distress or failure announcements occur in the midst of an on-going financial crisis, and therefore, can have strong implications for the viability of surviving banks and their relationships with client firms. ; We find that, as in previous studies, the market value of customers of the failed banks is adversely affected at the date of the failure announcements. In addition, the effects are related to the financial characteristics of the client firms and their primary banks. Firms that have greater access to alternative sources of funding experience a less severe adverse impact from bank failure announcements. Similarly, clients of banks that are more profitable, better capitalized, and have lower loan loss reserves suffer less from the failure announcements. However, we also find that these effects are not significantly different from the effects experienced by all firms in the economy. That is, the bank failures represent "bad news" for all firms in the economy, not just for the customers of the failed banks.Financial crises - Japan ; Bank failures

Influential Article Review - Disseminating Innovation and Technology Knowledge On Social Networks

This paper examines innovation. We present insights from a highly influential paper. Here are the highlights from this paper Peer effects in innovation adoption decisions have been extensively studied. However, the underlying mechanisms of peer effects are generally not explicitly accounted for. Gaps in this knowledge could lead to misestimation of peer effects and inefficient interventions. This study examined the role of two mechanisms—sharing experiences (namely, experience effect) and externalities—in the adoption of an agricultural innovation. By referring to the diffusion process of a new crop in Chinese villages, we developed a simulation model that incorporated experience effect and externality effect on a multiplex network. The model allowed us to estimate the influence of each specific effect and to investigate the interplay of the positive and negative directions of the effects. The main results of simulation experiments were the following: (1) a negative externality effect in the system caused the diffusion of innovation to vary around a middle-level rate, which resulted in a fluctuating diffusion curve rather than a commonly found S-shaped one; (2) in the case of full diffusion, experience effect significantly shaped the diffusion process at the early stage, while externality effect mattered more at the late stage; and (3) network properties (i.e. connectivity, transitivity, and network distance) imposed indirect influence on diffusion through specific peer effects. Overall, our study illustrated the need to understand specific causal mechanisms when studying peer effects. Simulation methods such as agent-based modelling provide an effective approach to facilitate such understanding. For our overseas readers, we then present the insights from this paper in Spanish, French, Portuguese, and German

Erythrocyte metabolism and function: Hexokinase inhibition by 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and interaction with ATP and Mg2+

Recent findings have suggested an important role for variation in levels of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and ATP in the regulation of oxygen transport by the human erythrocyte, and in making homeostatic adjustments to hypoxia. For this reason, the erythrocytic glycolytic mechanisms which control or bring about changes in levels of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and ATP are of vital importance in understanding respiratory homeostasis. Hexokinase is the first step in glycolysis, and available evidence suggests that it is an important rate-limiting step in the erythrocyte. In this paper we have examined a possible mechanism for feedback control of glycolysis through 2,3-diphosphoglycerate inhibition of hexokinase activity. We have found that 2,3-diphosphoglycerate does inhibit hexokinase and have shown that the inhibition is relieved by increasing concentrations of ATP and Mg2+. It is our conclusion that inhibition of erythrocyte hexokinase by 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, with modulation by ATP and/or Mg2+, is well suited for feedback control of glycolysis, and hence for the control of levels of 2,3-diphosphoglycerate and ATP, which in turn regulate hemoglobin function.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32867/1/0000245.pd