On the Consumption Insurance Effects of Long-term Care Insurance in Japan: Evidence from Micro-level Household Data

Using micro-level household data in the 2001 Comprehensive Survey of the Living Conditions of the People on Health and Welfare compiled by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, this paper examines how having a household member in need of long-term nursing care can result in welfare losses measured in terms of consumption. In so doing, this study evaluates the role of the public long-term care insurance scheme implemented in Japan in April 2000. The results indicate that when households include a disabled family member, household consumption net of long-term care costs do not decrease as much as before the introduction of long-term care insurance. Further, when compared with the surveys conducted in 1998, theadverse effects on consumption net of long-term care costs have become much weaker. These findings suggest that the introduction of social insurance in 2000 helped Japanese households to reduce the welfare losses associated with a disabled family member.social insurance, consumption insurance, long-term care insurance

On Effects of the Hyogo Earthquake on Household Consumption : A Note

Consumption Insurance, Japanese Households, Earthquake Shocks

"On the Consumption Insurance Effects of Long-term Care Insurance In Japan: Evidence from Micro Household Data"

Using micro-level household data in the 2001 Comprehensive Survey of the Living Conditions of the People on Health and Welfare as compiled by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, this paper examines how having a household member in need of long-term nursing care can result in welfare losses measured in terms of consumption. In doing so, the study evaluates the role of the public long-term care insurance scheme implemented in Japan in April 2000. The results indicate that when households included a disabled family member, household consumption net of long-term care costs did not decrease as much as before the introduction of long-term care insurance. When compared with the surveys conducted in 1995 and 1998, the adverse effects on consumption net of long-term care costs have became much weaker. These findings suggest that the introduction of social insurance in 2000 helped to reduce the welfare loss associated with having a disabled family member.

A Test of the Full Insurance Hypothesis: The Case of Japan

Exploiting the panel data structure of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, compiled from 1989 to 1997 by the Japanese Bureau of Statistics, this paper explores how effectively idiosyncratic shocks are shared among consumers in Japan. Tests are conducted for the total consumption, together with each category of consumption expenditures. In addition, the empirical analysis of the paper accounts for the disaster shock caused by the Hyogo Earthquake that took place in January 1995. While the overall empirical results indicate that the full insurance hypothesis is strongly rejected, they suggest that idiosyncratic shocks are insured at least partially. With respect to the effect of the earthquake shock, the residents in the earthquake area indeed bore more shocks than those in other regions. The paper also points out that the extent of risk-sharing among households in Japan is fairly similar to that in the US.

About the Effectivity of the Priming Water Channel in the Pool-and-Weir-Fishway

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

A Serine Palmitoyltransferase Inhibitor Blocks Hepatitis C Virus Replication in Human Hepatocytes

Background & AimsHost cell lipid rafts form a scaffold required for replication of hepatitis C virus (HCV). Serine palmitoyltransferases (SPTs) produce sphingolipids, which are essential components of the lipid rafts that associate with HCV nonstructural proteins. Prevention of the de novo synthesis of sphingolipids by an SPT inhibitor disrupts the HCV replication complex and thereby inhibits HCV replication. We investigated the ability of the SPT inhibitor NA808 to prevent HCV replication in cells and mice.MethodsWe tested the ability of NA808 to inhibit SPT’s enzymatic activity in FLR3-1 replicon cells. We used a replicon system to select for HCV variants that became resistant to NA808 at concentrations 4- to 6-fold the 50% inhibitory concentration, after 14 rounds of cell passage. We assessed the ability of NA808 or telaprevir to inhibit replication of HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, and 4a in mice with humanized livers (transplanted with human hepatocytes). NA808 was injected intravenously, with or without pegylated interferon alfa-2a and HCV polymerase and/or protease inhibitors.ResultsNA808 prevented HCV replication via noncompetitive inhibition of SPT; no resistance mutations developed. NA808 prevented replication of all HCV genotypes tested in mice with humanized livers. Intravenous NA808 significantly reduced viral load in the mice and had synergistic effects with pegylated interferon alfa-2a and HCV polymerase and protease inhibitors.ConclusionsThe SPT inhibitor NA808 prevents replication of HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, and 4a in cultured hepatocytes and in mice with humanized livers. It might be developed for treatment of HCV infection or used in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2a or HCV polymerase or protease inhibitors

NBRP databases: databases of biological resources in Japan

The National BioResource Project (NBRP) is a Japanese project that aims to establish a system for collecting, preserving and providing bioresources for use as experimental materials for life science research. It is promoted by 27 core resource facilities, each concerned with a particular group of organisms, and by one information center. The NBRP database is a product of this project. Thirty databases and an integrated database-retrieval system (BioResource World: BRW) have been created and made available through the NBRP home page (http://www.nbrp.jp). The 30 independent databases have individual features which directly reflect the data maintained by each resource facility. The BRW is designed for users who need to search across several resources without moving from one database to another. BRW provides access to a collection of 4.5-million records on bioresources including wild species, inbred lines, mutants, genetically engineered lines, DNA clones and so on. BRW supports summary browsing, keyword searching, and searching by DNA sequences or gene ontology. The results of searches provide links to online requests for distribution of research materials. A circulation system allows users to submit details of papers published on research conducted using NBRP resources

発症早期ALS患者に対する超高用量メチルコバラミンの有効性・安全性について : ランダム化比較試験

Importance: Post hoc analysis in a phase 2/3 trial indicated ultra-high dose methylcobalamin slowed decline of the Revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) total score at week 16 as well as at week 182, without increase of adverse events, in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who were enrolled within 1 year from onset. Objective: To validate the efficacy and safety of ultra-high dose methylcobalamin for patients with ALS enrolled within 1 year of onset. Design: A multicenter, placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized phase 3 trial with 12-week observation and 16-week randomized period, conducted from October 2017 to September 2019. Setting: Twenty-five neurology centers in Japan. Participants: Patients with ALS diagnosed within 1 year of onset by the updated Awaji criteria were initially enrolled. Of those, patients fulfilling the following criteria after 12-week observation were eligible for randomization: 1- or 2-point decrease in ALSFRS-R total score, a percent forced vital capacity over 60%, no history of noninvasive respiratory support and tracheostomy, and being ambulant. The target number was 64 in both methylcobalamin and placebo groups. Of 203 patients enrolled in the observation, 130 patients (age, 61.0 ± 11.7 years; female, 56) met the criteria and were randomly assigned through an electronic web-response system to methylcobalamin or placebo (65 for each). Of these, 129 patients were eligible for the full analysis set, and 126 completed the double-blind stage. Interventions: Intramuscular injection of methylcobalamin 50 mg or placebo twice weekly for 16 weeks. Main outcomes and measures: The primary endpoint was change in ALSFRS-R total score from baseline to week 16 in the full analysis set. Results: The least-squares mean difference in ALSFRS-R total score at week 16 of the randomized period was 1.97 points greater with methylcobalamin than placebo (−2.66 versus −4.63; 95% CI, 0.44–3.50; P = 0.012). The incidence of adverse events was similar between the two groups. Conclusions and relevance: Ultra-high dose methylcobalamin was efficacious in slowing functional decline and safe in the 16-week treatment period in ALS patients in the early stage and with moderate progression rate. Trial registration: UMIN-CTR Identifier: UMIN000029588 (umin.ac.jp/ctr); ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03548311 (clinicaltrials.gov

Complete Genomic Structure of the Bloom-forming Toxic Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-843

The nucleotide sequence of the complete genome of a cyanobacterium, Microcystis aeruginosa NIES-843, was determined. The genome of M. aeruginosa is a single, circular chromosome of 5 842 795 base pairs (bp) in length, with an average GC content of 42.3%. The chromosome comprises 6312 putative protein-encoding genes, two sets of rRNA genes, 42 tRNA genes representing 41 tRNA species, and genes for tmRNA, the B subunit of RNase P, SRP RNA, and 6Sa RNA. Forty-five percent of the putative protein-encoding sequences showed sequence similarity to genes of known function, 32% were similar to hypothetical genes, and the remaining 23% had no apparent similarity to reported genes. A total of 688 kb of the genome, equivalent to 11.8% of the entire genome, were composed of both insertion sequences and miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements. This is indicative of a plasticity of the M. aeruginosa genome, through a mechanism that involves homologous recombination mediated by repetitive DNA elements. In addition to known gene clusters related to the synthesis of microcystin and cyanopeptolin, novel gene clusters that may be involved in the synthesis and modification of toxic small polypeptides were identified. Compared with other cyanobacteria, a relatively small number of genes for two component systems and a large number of genes for restriction-modification systems were notable characteristics of the M. aeruginosa genome