Hybrid Assessment Scheme Based on the Stern-Judging Rule for Maintaining Cooperation under Indirect Reciprocity

Intensive studies on indirect reciprocity have explored rational assessment rules for maintaining cooperation and several have demonstrated the effects of the stern-judging rule. Uchida and Sasaki demonstrated that the stern-judging rule is not suitable for maintaining cooperative regimes in private assessment conditions while a public assessment system has been assumed in most studies. Although both assessment systems are oversimplified and society is most accurately represented by a mixture of these systems, little analysis has been reported on their mixture. Here, we investigated how much weight on the use of information originating from a public source is needed to maintain cooperative regimes for players adopting the stern-judging rule when players get information from both public and private sources. We did this by considering a hybrid-assessment scheme in which players use both assessment systems and by using evolutionary game theory. We calculated replicator equations using the expected payoffs of three strategies: unconditional cooperation, unconditional defection, and stern-judging rule adoption. Our analysis shows that the use of the rule helps to maintain cooperation if reputation information from a unique public notice board is used with more than a threshold probability. This hybrid-assessment scheme can be applied to other rules, including the simple-standing rule and the staying rule

Diffusion with a broad class of stochastic diffusion coefficients

In many physical or biological systems, diffusion can be described by Brownian motions with stochastic diffusion coefficients (DCs). Recently, specific models of the motions have been proposed for anomalous diffusion. In the present study, we investigate properties of the diffusion with a broad class of stochastic DCs using the Fokker-Planck formalism. We show that for a finite time, the propagator is non-Gaussian and heavy-tailed. This means that when the mean square displacements are the same, for a finite time, some of the diffusing particles with stochastic DCs diffuse farther than the particles with deterministic DCs or exhibiting a fractional Brownian motion.Comment: 4 page

Prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease and Variation of Its Risk Factors by the Regions in Okayama Prefecture

Objective: The prevention of chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression is an important issue from health and financial perspectives. We conducted a single-year cross-sectional study to clarify the prevalence of CKD and its risk factors along with variations in these factors among five medical regions in Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Methods and Results: Data concerning the renal function and proteinuria as well as other CKD risk factors were obtained from the database of the Japanese National Health Insurance. The proportion of CKD patients at an increased risk of progression to end-stage renal disease (ESRD), classified as orange and red on the CKD heatmap, ranged from 6-9% and did not vary significantly by the regions. However, the causes of the increased severity differed between regions where renal dysfunction was predominant and regions where there were many patients with proteinuria. CKD risk factors, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyper low-density lipoprotein-cholesterolemia, obesity, smoking and lack of exercise, also differed among these regions, suggesting that different regions need tailored interventions that suit the characteristics of the region, such as an increased health checkup ratio, dietary guidance and promotion of exercise opportunities. Conclusions: Approximately 6-9% of people are at an increased risk of developing ESRD (orange or red on a CKD heatmap) among the population with National Health Insurance in Okayama Prefecture. The underlying health problems that cause CKD may differ among the regions. Thus, it is necessary to consider intervention methods for preventing CKD progression that are tailored to each region's health problems

Profound reduction of mature B cell numbers, reactivities and serum lg levels in mice which simultaneously carry the XID and CD40 deficiency gense

It has been known for some time that single mutant nude or CD40T mice have apparently normal numbers of cells in the precursor compartments of bone marrow and the mature B cell compartments of the periphery. X-linked immunodeficiency (XID) mice are deficient only in some of the slgM+slgD+ B cells. We have investigated further the contributions of the xid mutation, of the T cell deficiency of nude and of the inability of CD40T B cells to cooperate with T cells in the generation of the precursor and the mature B cell compartments in mice. Double mutant XIDInu and XIDlCD4OT mice have precursor B cell compartments that are no more deficient than the single mutant XID mice. However, the peripheral B cell compartments of both XIDInu and XIDlCD40T are even more deficient than those of single mutant XID mice. While 10% of the peripheral B cells of wild-type or CD40T, one-third of XID and half of XIDInu mice turn over rapidly, as many as threequarters of those in XIDlCD40T are short-lived. Total numbers of slgM+slgD+ B cells in the spleen are at best 1615% of normal mice at 6-8 weeks of age in XID, XIDInu and XIDICD40T mice. They remain that low at 3 months of age in XIDICD40T mice, while in XID mice these peripheral B cells slowly build up in numbers with age. As expected, double mutant XIDlCD40T mice do not respond to the T-dependent antigen keyhole limpet hemocyanin. Only the responses to the T-independent type I antigen, TNP-lipopolysaccharide (LPS), appear to be normal. In vitro, their splenic B cells respond poorly to LPS or to IgM-specific antibody in either the absence or presence of cytokines. Most notably, serum IgM, lgG2b and lgG3 levels are severely depressed, while IgG1, lgG2a and IgA levels are <I0 pglml. The results suggest a model of mature B cell development in which the peripheral, mature B cell compartments are generated in two parallel, not tandemly organized pathways. They could be selected and/or stimulated at the transition from immature to mature B cells: in btk controlled or in CD40 controlled way

Inferior Vena Caval Thrombosis After Traumatic Liver Injury

We report here the case of a 35-year-old man who presented with inferior vena cava thrombosis (IVCT) after blunt hepatic trauma. The IVCT was incidentally detected by computed tomography (CT) 35 days after deep parenchymal suturing and suture approximation for liver lacerations. The patient denied any symptoms of thrombophlebitis. However, he had presented with significantly elevated values of FDP-D-dimer and a modest increase in plasminogen concentration, which indicated that he had been in a hypercoagulable and hypofibrinolytic state after the operation. He had not undergone any prophylactic anticoagulant therapy because of his concomitant subarachnoid hemorrhage and huge hepatic hematoma. The patient was treated with an emercy thrombectomy. Posttraumatic IVCT is extremely rare phenomenon. We should consider IVCT in patients with a severe hepatic injury, particularly if their coagulation system change into hypercoagulable and hypofibrinolytic state. Additionally, this case made us reflect on the treatment of traumatic liver injury