Externalities and Taxation/Subsidization Policy of Vehicle Information and Communication System

Traffic congestion in urban areas has become serious both in Japan and European countries.This study aims to calculate the optimal penetration level and taxation/subsidization level of VICS. VICS(Vehicle Information and Communication System) is a digital data communication system which promptly provides the latest necessary road traffic information to drivers via car navigation equipment. Drivers can receive real-time road traffic information about congestion and regulation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The world's first VICS service started in Japan in April 1996. It is impossible to realize the optimal level of penetration in the market mechanism when a service has technological externalities. VICS must have two type of technological externality. One is positive one-way externality which implies that the higher the level of penetration of VICS, the lower the travel times to the non-equipped drivers because of congestion reducing. The other is negative network externality which implies that a marginal equipped driver adversely affects the already equipped driver by increasing the travel time on alternative routes. Hence taxation or subsidization must be necessary to realize the optimal penetration level of VICS. Many studies explored the effect of market penetrations of PRG(route planning and guidance) on overall system travel time(e.g. Emmerink et al.(1995)). These studies, however, considered market penetration as an exogenous parameter. Recently, Yang (1999) developed the model to calculate the market penetration level endogenously. Lo and Szeto (2002) provided the methodology to analyze penetration level which simultaneously satisfies the three objectives (service providersÂf objective, traffic management agency's objective and usersÂf objective). But there are no studies to explore the optimal penetration level at which the marginal social benefit is equal to marginal social cost. This study develops the partial equilibrium economic model to calculate the optimal penetration level and taxation/subsidization level of VICS and calculate them by applying this model to Kantou-Area where is the most congested area in Japan. The result of our analysis shows that it must be necessary to realize optimal level of penetration of VICS to impose a fixed charge per VICS unit except in the case where the effect of negative externality is very weak.

Policy problems relating to the labor immigration control in Japan

This paper provides analyses of the following issues: i) The desirable Japanese admittance system of foreign workers, ii) The effects on the Japanese population structure and economy to which immigrants may have. The analyses insist that Japan should introduce the point system to examine the admittance of foreign workers, and grant permanent residence to them at the time of new entry, but the benefit from admitting immigrants would be small and diminish according to aging of the immigrants group.

Spontaneous regression of FDG/PET positive lung adenocarcinoma in an elderly man

  Spontaneous cancer regression, either partial or complete, is a rare phenomenon, particularly in patients with lung cancer. The present paper is the case report of an elderly lung cancer patient aged 80 who exhibited spontaneous regression of the primary lesion, without receiving any treatment. Spontaneous regression commenced two years after obtaining pathological specimens by transbronchial biopsy from the pulmonary lesion. It is interesting that the tumor lesion had a strong uptake (standardized uptake value max: 26.3) in 18fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography before biopsy and that the regression occurred after a long interval after the biopsy, and that the regression developed in an elderly man. It is unknown why spontaneous regression was observed in this case and what kind of mechanism was involved in the phenomenon. Even in the elderly, as observed in our case, spontaneous regression can occur. The patient should be closely followed up to monitor the clinical course of such an unusual phenomenon.

Immunohistochemical Studies of Experimental Diabetic Neuropathy

Accumulations of substance P, somatostatin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and dopamine-/3-hydroxylase (DBH) after ligation of the ischiadic nerve of streptozotocininduced diabetic rats were observed by an immunohistochemical technique and the results were examined both qualitatively and quantitatively. Besides, effects of administration of an aldose reductase inhibitor (ONO 2235), a key enzyme for polyol synthesis, on these accumulation patterns were studied. Immunofluorescent positiveness of these biological active substances was intensely observed along the axon in nerves of control animals. In the ischiadic nerves of diabetic rats, it was weakly observed in irregular shapes. On the other hand, in the ischiadic nerve of the diabetic rat treated with the aldose reductase inhibitor, substance P-, DBH- and VIP- immunoreactive positiveness was recovered in both distribution pattern and accumulation length. Our findings show that there are abnormalities of the axonal flow of the peripheral nerve in diabetic animals. These results also suggest that polyol pathway activity may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy and ONO-2235 may be useful in preventing diabetic complications

Protective effects of metallothionein against dopamine quinone-induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity

AbstractDopamine (DA) quinone as DA neuron-specific oxidative stress conjugates with cysteine residues in functional proteins to form quinoproteins. Here, we examined the effects of cysteine-rich metal-binding proteins, metallothionein (MT)-1 and -2, on DA quinone-induced neurotoxicity. MT quenched DA semiquinones in vitro. In dopaminergic cells, DA exposure increased quinoproteins and decreased cell viability; these were ameliorated by pretreatment with MT-inducer zinc. Repeated L-DOPA administration markedly elevated striatal quinoprotein levels and reduced the DA nerve terminals specifically on the lesioned side in MT-knockout parkinsonian mice, but not in wild-type mice. Our results suggested that intrinsic MT protects against L-DOPA-induced DA quinone neurotoxicity in parkinsonian mice by its quinone-quenching property

Verification of scenario for substorm ignition in the M-I coupling region

第2回極域科学シンポジウム/第35回極域宙空圏シンポジウム 11月16日（水） 統計数理研究所 セミナー室

Spontaniczna regresja gruczolakoraka płuc z pozytywnym wychwytem w badaniu FDG/PET u mężczyzny w podeszłym wieku

Spontaniczna regresja nowotworu, częściowa lub całkowita, jest rzadkim zjawiskiem, zwłaszcza w przypadku raka płuc. W niniejszej pracy opisano przypadek 80-letniego mężczyzny, u którego nastąpiła samoistna regresja pierwotnej zmiany bez zastosowania leczenia. Nastąpiła 2 lata po pobraniu próbek ze zmiany w płucach podczas biopsji przezoskrzelowej. Co ciekawe, zmiana charakteryzowała się silną absorpcją (maks. wartość absorpcji standardowej: 26,3) w pozytonowej tomografii emisyjnej przy użyciu 18-fluorodeoksyglukozy wykonanej przed biopsją, zaś regresja nastąpiła po dość długim czasie po biopsji. Znamienne było także to, że wystąpiła ona u mężczyzny w podeszłym wieku. Nie wiadomo, dlaczego doszło do cofnięcia się choroby w tym przypadku i jaki mechanizm spowodował to zjawisko. Okazuje się, że regresja może wystąpić nawet u starszej osoby. Taki pacjent powinien być objęty wnikliwą obserwacją i znajdować się pod opieką lekarską, aby możliwe było monitorowanie przebiegu klinicznego tak niezwykłego zjawiska.Spontaniczna regresja nowotworu, częściowa lub całkowita, jest rzadkim zjawiskiem, zwłaszcza w przypadku raka płuc. W niniejszej pracy opisano przypadek 80-letniego mężczyzny, u którego nastąpiła samoistna regresja pierwotnej zmiany bez zastosowania leczenia. Nastąpiła 2 lata po pobraniu próbek ze zmiany w płucach podczas biopsji przezoskrzelowej. Co ciekawe, zmiana charakteryzowała się silną absorpcją (maks. wartość absorpcji standardowej: 26,3) w pozytonowej tomografii emisyjnej przy użyciu 18-fluorodeoksyglukozy wykonanej przed biopsją, zaś regresja nastąpiła po dość długim czasie po biopsji. Znamienne było także to, że wystąpiła ona u mężczyzny w podeszłym wieku. Nie wiadomo, dlaczego doszło do cofnięcia się choroby w tym przypadku i jaki mechanizm spowodował to zjawisko. Okazuje się, że regresja może wystąpić nawet u starszej osoby. Taki pacjent powinien być objęty wnikliwą obserwacją i znajdować się pod opieką lekarską, aby możliwe było monitorowanie przebiegu klinicznego tak niezwykłego zjawiska

Recent Advance in Genome Editing-Based Gene Modification in Pigs

Recently, a series of genome editing technologies including ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9 systems have enabled gene modification in the endogenous target genes of various organisms including pigs, which are important for agricultural and biomedical research. Owing to its simple application for gene knockout and ease of use, the CRISPR/Cas9 is now in common use worldwide. The most important aspect of this process is the selection of the method used to deliver genome editing components to embryos. In earlier stages, zygote microinjection of these components [single guide RNA (sgRNA) + DNA/mRNA for Cas9] into the cytoplasm and/or nuclei of a zygote has been frequently employed. However, this method is always associated with the generation of mosaic embryos in which genome-edited and unedited cells are mixed together. To avoid this mosaic issue, in vitro electroporation of zygotes in the presence of sgRNA mixed with Cas9 protein, referred to as a ribonucleoprotein (RNP), is now in frequent use. This review provides a historical background of the production of genome-edited pigs and also presents current research concerning how genome editing is induced in somatic cell nuclear transfer-derived embryos that have been reconstituted with normal nuclei