How Do Agricultural Markets Respond to Radiation Risk?: Evidence from the 2011 Disaster in Japan

Since the explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in March 2011, public anxiety surrounding the radioactive contamination of food and the environment has become widespread. This article examines how the price of vegetables in the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market was impacted in the wake of the nuclear accident. This study exploits the quasi-experimental condition generated by this accident to test the market price change using monthly panel data on the price of six types of fresh vegetable from each of the 47 prefectures in Japan. Our estimation results show that the price of vegetables grown in Fukushima Prefecture was discounted by 10 - 38 % after the disaster compared to the counter-factual estimates in the absence of a perceived radiation risk. This effect has persisted even after radioactive detection tests showed negative results in subsequent years. Consumer behavior of avoiding purchasing vegetables from Fukushima and instead buying vegetables grown in other areas may explain the price gap

Does Unit-Based Pricing Really Reduce Waste? A Causal Inference Approach with Panel Data

Preventing waste generation is the first priority of waste management policies in many countries. In this paper, we examine the effect of unit-based pricing policy using a causal inference approach. Although previous research has examined the impact of unit-based pricing, few studies implement a causal inference framework. We apply the approach called "Weighted Fixed Effects Regression Models for Causal Inference" developed by Imai and Kim (2016, 2019) and find that the effect of unit-based pricing is overestimated by standard linear fixed effects models. We also find evidence that the effect of unit-based pricing is not strictly increasing in the price of waste collection

Induction of outward current by orexin-B in mouse peritoneal macrophages

AbstractTo define effects of novel feeding regulating peptides, orexins, in immunocompetent cells, ion channel activity in mouse peritoneal macrophages was analyzed by the perforated patch-clamp method. Orexin-B (OX-B) induced an outward current at smaller holding potentials than K+ equilibrium potentials. Reversal potentials of OX-B induced current were dependent on external K+ concentrations but not on external Cl− concentration. Orexin-A is less effective than OX-B. Quinine blocked the outward current and tetraethylammonium partially suppressed the current. These results suggest that OX-B can modulate macrophage functions through the activation of Ca2+-dependent K+ channels

病原菌シグナルによるエンドウ原形質膜におけるホスファチジルイノシトールリン脂質のリン酸化とリゾリン脂質生成の制御

Effects of elicitor and suppressor from a pea pathogen, Mycosphaerella pinodes, on Pl etabolism in pea plasma membrane were examined in vitro. The elicitor induced rapid phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositols as well as production of lysophospholipid in plasma membranes, but these responses were severely inhibited by the suppressor. These results indicate that a membrane-associated phospholipase A is regulated coordinately by fungal signals, together with Pl metabolism, and that it may participate in signal transduction pathways leading to defense responses. To evaluate a possible rote of phospholipase A activation in induction of a pea defense response, the effect of free fatty acid on induction of a phytoalexin accumulation was also examined. When pea leaves were treated with linoleic- or linolenic acid, most commonly released in plant cells by phospholipase A, the accumulation of pisatin was induced even in the absence of the elicitor. It is, therefore, conceivable that free fatty acid(s) released from plasma membrane is also implicated in the early stage of elicitor-signal transduction in pea.エンドウの上胚軸組織により分離した原形質膜画分を褐紋病菌の生産するエリシターで処理すると、ホスファチジルイノシトールリン脂質の急速なリン酸化とリゾリン脂質の生成が誘導されたが、同菌より調製したサプレッサーの共存下では双方とも著しく阻害された。本結果は、ポリホスホイノシチド代謝系と同調的に作動するホリパーゼA活性化が存在すること、さらに、原形質膜における病原菌シグナルの受容・応答には複数の資質代謝系が介在する可能性を示唆している。一方、ホスホリパーゼAの活性化の役割を調べる目的で、本酵素によって原形質膜から生成されると考えられる脂肪酸(リノール酸ならびにリノレン酸)をエンドウ葉に処理したところ、エリシターの非存在下においてもファイトアレキシンであるピサチンの生成が誘導されることが示された。以上から、ポリホスホイノシチド代謝系と同調的に働くホスホリパーゼAがエリシターシグナルの初期伝達に深く関連しているものと考えられた

Control of the glass-liquid transition temperature in YBa2Cu3O7-x films

Magnetic field dependences of the glass-liquid transition temperature (Tg) were studied in YBa2Cu3O7−x films containing various types of nanoinclusions. The vortex configuration entangled or straight and pinning strength for each vortex are crucial to the behaviors of Tg. c-axis correlated pinning centers optimize these factors and achieve the upper limit of Tg, which is determined by loss of line tension of vortices, if they are elongated through a thickness of a sample. By optimizing pinning centers, critical temperature, and a matching field, a Tg value of 77 K can be obtained in YBa2Cu3O7−x in a magnetic field as high as 27 T

The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of porcine liver proline-β-naphthylamidase swEvidence for the identity with carboxylesterase

AbstractA cDNA clone for porcine liver proline-β-naphthylamidase was isolated and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequence of 567 residues was highly homologous with those of carboxylesterases (EC 3.1.1.1) previously reported for other species. In addition, proline-β-naphthylamidase purified from porcine liver was shown to have strong activity towards p-nitrophenylacetate, a representative substrate for carboxylesterases. These results suggest that proline-β-naphthylamidase is identical with carboxylesterase

Muscular blood flow responses as an early predictor of the severity of diabetic neuropathy at a later stage in streptozotocin-induced type I diabetic rats: a diffuse correlation spectroscopy study

We propose a novel application of diffuse correlation spectroscopy to evaluate microvascular malfunctions of muscle tissue affected by hyperglycemia and determine their correlation with the severity of diabetic neuropathy at a later stage. Microvascular responses of the thigh muscle and the mechanical pain threshold of the hind paw of streptozotocin-induced type I diabetic rats were continuously monitored once per week for 70 days. Significantly decreased baseline blood flow and reactive hyperemia responses were observed as early as 1 week after hyperglycemia induction. The reactive hyperemia response at 2 weeks of hyperglycemia was highly correlated with the mechanical pain threshold at 8 weeks, at which time a decreased pain threshold was statistically confirmed in hyperglycemic rats relative to controls. © 2018 Optical Society of America.1