The Influence of Truncal Vagotomy on Acute Gastric Mucosal Lesion in Obstructive Jaundice

With a view to examining the influence of truncal vagotomy on acute gastric mucosal lesion (AGML) in obstructive jaundice, the authors prepared the non-vagotomized group and the vagotomized group of rats with obstructive jaundice. Further, cold restraint stress was loaded on the two groups for 30 min, and the following results were obtained: 1) The incidence of AGML in the vagotomized group before stress was inhibited to 17% in both the 3-week group and 4-week group, as compared to 33-38% in the non-vagotomized group. The incidence of AGML in the vagotomized group after stress was inhibited to 17% in the 3-week group and 33% in the 4-week group, as compared to 78% in the non-vagotomized group. 2) Gastric mucosal histamine (HA) contents in the vagotomized group before stress in both the 3-week group and the 4-week group were significantly increased (p < 0.05) as compared with the levels in the non-vagotomized group. As concerns gastric mucosal serotonin (5-HT) contents, however, no significant difference was noted between both groups. The contents of both amines in the gastric mucosa in the non-vagotomized group, a significant decrease (p < 0.05) was observed in both the 3-week group and 4-week group after stress, while in the vagotomized group no significant changes were found

Cancer of Unknown Primary Site:A Review of 28 Cases and the Efficacy of Cisplatin/Docetaxel Therapy at a Single Institute in Japan

We evaluated the efficacy and toxicity of cisplatin/docetaxel (CDDP/TXT) chemotherapy and identified prognostic factors in Japanese patients with cancer of unknown primary site (CUP). Twenty-eight consecutive patients seen at a single institute were reviewed retrospectively. Sixteen patients were treated with TXT 80mg/m2, followed by CDDP 75mg/m2. The overall response rate to CDDP/TXT treatment was 62.5%, with a median survival time (MST) of 22.7 months. Common adverse reactions were myelosuppression and hyponatremia. The MST of all 28 patients with CUP was 8.3 months, and the 1-year overall survival rate was 45.6%. Univariate analysis identified 5 prognostic factors:performance status, liver involvement, bone involvement, pleural involvement, and lymph node involvement. In conclusion, CDDP/TXT chemotherapy is effective with tolerable toxicity in patients with CUP. Japanese patients with CUP might be chemosensitive and may survive longer

Analysis of T-cell alloantigen response via a direct pathway in kidney transplant recipients with donor-specific antibodies

Donor-specific antibodies (DSAs) are the main cause of graft loss over time. The direct pathway of alloantigen recognition is important in the pathogenesis of acute rejection. Recent studies have suggested that the direct pathway also contributes to the pathogenesis of chronic injury. Nevertheless, there are no reports on T-cell alloantigen response via the direct pathway in kidney recipients with DSAs. We analyzed the T-cell alloantigen response via the direct pathway in kidney recipients with DSAs (DSA+) or without DSAs (DSA−). A mixed lymphocyte reaction assay was implemented to assess the direct pathway response. DSA+ patients showed significantly higher CD8+ and CD4+ T cell responses to donor cells than DSA− patients. Furthermore, proliferating CD4+ T cells showed a marked increase in Th1 and Th17 responses in DSA+ patients than in DSA− patients. In a comparison between anti-donor and third-party responses, the anti-donor CD8+ and CD4+ T cell response was significantly lower than the anti-third-party response. In contrast, the donor-specific hyporesponsiveness was absent in DSA+ patients. Our study demonstrated that DSA+ recipients have a greater potential for developing immune responses against the donor tissues via the direct alloantigen recognition pathway. These data contribute to an understanding of DSAs pathogenicity during kidney transplantation

Integrated radiation monitoring and interlock system for the LHD deuterium experiments

The Large Helical Device (LHD) successfully started the deuterium experiment in March 2017, in which further plasma performance improvement is envisaged to provide a firm basis for the helical reactor design. Some major upgrades of facilities have been made for safe and productive deuterium experiments. For radiation safety, the tritium removal system, the integrated radiation monitoring system, and the access control system have been newly installed. Each system has new interlock signals that will prevent any unsafe plasma operation or plant condition. Major interlock extensions have been implemented as a part of the integrated radiation monitoring system, which also has an inter-connection to the LHD central operation and control system. The radiation monitoring system RMSAFE (Radiation Monitoring System Applicable to Fusion Experiments) is already operating for monitoring γ(X)-rays in LHD. Some neutron measurements have been additionally applied for the deuterium experiments. The LHD data acquisition system LABCOM can acquire and process 24 h every day continuous data streams. Since γ(X)-ray and neutron measurements require higher availability, the sensors, controllers, data acquisition computers, network connections, and visualization servers have been designed to be duplicated or multiplexed for redundancy. The radiation monitoring displays in the LHD control room have been carefully designed to have excellent visual recognition, and to make users immediately aware of several alerts regarding the dose limits. The radiation safety web pages have been also upgraded to always show both dose rates of γ(X)-rays and neutrons in real time

Sources of global competitiveness of Japanese manufacturing firms.

This dissertation analyzes the sources of Japanese manufacturing firms' success in global markets. A main purpose of the research is to explain the link between domestic competitive factors and the international strategies of Japanese firms. It attempts to explain (1) the relative success of specific firms compared to other firms in the same domestic industry, and (2) The globally successful firms in general, while taking account of the industry specific factors by identifying some of the most important factors on the level of the firm. The main factors identified are domestic competitive position and the role of research and development (R and D). First, a conceptual analysis of the simultaneously competitive and cooperative behavior of large Japanese firms is presented. The firm's length of time in a market and the product's age are the major aspects of this analysis of competition in the domestic market. Second, domestic competition between Japanese firms is analyzed statistically with respect to the market share of each firm and the membership in an industrial group. The result of the multiple regression analysis suggests that a domestic leader has less export intensity than do domestic followers in an industry. Because followers' sales are blocked by leader's strong control over the domestic market, the only way for the followers to grow is to go abroad. However, much smaller firms, (minors) export less than do other followers. The industrial group affiliation however does not affect export performance in general, based on data from 1971, 1975, 1980, and 1983. Third, product and process innovations and /or improvements are analyzed as critical sources of competitive advantage in the global market. Analysis of 1983 data reveals a positive relationship between exports and R and D expenditures, after controlling for the size effect of firms. The concluding section points out the critical sources of competitiveness of Japanese firms based on the above analyses. It also discusses the implications of Japanese firms' international strategy.Ph.D.ManagementUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162059/1/8907057.pd

Domestic Competitive Position and Export Strategy of Japanese Manufacturing Firms: 1971--1985

This paper analyzes Japanese manufacturing firms' export behavior and their performance. In a slow growth era, leading firms' and minor firms' export ratio tended to be less than that of follower (medium market share) firms in the same industry; there appears to be an inverted-U shape between export ratio and relative size of firms. An affiliation with a large industrial group has no positive relationship with export ratio, while other firm-specific factors do not show consistent relationships with it in the years 1971 to 1985. Exports and firm performance do not have a positive relationship. Competitive environment in the domestic market is related to the export strategy of Japanese firms.domestic competition, market share, export

The implicit return on domestic and international sales: An empirical analysis of US and Japanese firms

An empirical analysis of imputed returns on international and domestic sales suggests that neither US nor Japanese manufacturing firms consistently used domestic profits to subsidize foreign operations. Apart from the early 1990s, when the yen was particularly strong, Japanese firms generally realized higher profits in foreign markets than in their domestic market, opposite to the conventional direction for cross-subsidization. US firms also tended to have higher estimated returns from foreign markets after 1985. Our results are consistent with Hymer's theory of ownership advantage, which posits that firms with successful foreign operations must have specific advantages, relative to local firms.