Conformal Geometry of Sequential Test in Multidimensional Curved Exponential Family

This article presents a differential geometrical method for analyzing sequential test procedures. It is based on the primal result on the conformal geometry of statistical manifold developed in Kumon, Takemura and Takeuchi (2011). By introducing curvature-type random variables, the condition is first clarified for a statistical manifold to be an exponential family under an appropriate sequential test procedure. This result is further elaborated for investigating the efficient sequential test in a multidimensional curved exponential family. The theoretical results are numerically examined by using von Mises-Fisher and hyperboloid models

High-resolution reconstruction of late Pleistocene climate based on TOC content in a 54m sediment core drilled from Takano Formation, central Japan

The Takano Formation of late Pleistocene lacustrine sediment is distributed at the southern Nagano City. The TKN-2004 core, 53.88 m long, was taken at the central part or the basin, and is composed mostly or homogenous clayey silt. Age of the sediment was estimated from the relationship between radiometric ages and calibrated depths of DKP,Aso-4,K-Tz,Ata and Aso-2tephras, postulating that the sedimentation rate is constant.Paleoclimate from 169ka to 37ka was reconstructed on the basis of TOC content variation. The long-term TOC fluctuations are concordant with the SPECMAP curve. This result is supported by pollen composition. The short-term variations are similar to stadial-interstadial cycles in the Greenland ice cores, and most of warm peaks can be correlated with IS 9 to 25.長野市南部に分布する更新世後期の湖成層である高野層において,全層ボーリングを行い53.88mの連続したコア試料を得た.コア試料は,黒灰色ではぼ均質な粘土質シルト～シルトの層相を示し,多数のテフラ層を挟んでいる.これらのうち5つの広域指標テフラ(DKP,Aso-4,K-Tz, Ata,Aso-2)の放射年代値と補正深度を用いて年代モデルを作成した.高野層のTOC含有率の経年変動は,本コア試料中の花粉組成変化と同調しており,およそ169ka～37kaにおける数万年周期の長期の気候変動を示している.この変動はMIS 6-3前半における海洋酸素同位体比変動と同調しており,各ステージに対比される長期の温暖期･寒冷期が認識できた.また,数百～数千年周期の短期の寒暖変動も存在しており,これらは亜氷期-亜間氷期サイクルに相当すると考えられる.また,それらの温暖期の多くはIS9～25に対比される可能性がある.ArticleJournal of the Sedimentological Society of Japan. 64:37-41 (2007)journal articl

Estimation of sources and inflow of dioxins and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the sediment core of Lake Suwa, Japan

ArticleEnviromental Pollution. 138(3): 529-537 (2005)journal articl

New procedures for testing whether stock price processes are martingales

We propose procedures for testing whether stock price processes are martingales based on limit order type betting strategies. We first show that the null hypothesis of martingale property of a stock price process can be tested based on the capital process of a betting strategy. In particular with high frequency Markov type strategies we find that martingale null hypotheses are rejected for many stock price processes

A method for measuring the Neel relaxation time in a frozen ferrofluid

We report a novel method of determining the average Neel relaxation time and its temperature dependence by calculating derivatives of the measured time dependence of temperature for a frozen ferrofluid exposed to an alternating magnetic field. The ferrofluid, composed of dextran-coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (diameter 13.7 nm +/- 4.7 nm), was synthesized via wet chemical precipitation and characterized by x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. An alternating magnetic field of constant amplitude (H0 = 20 kA/m) driven at frequencies of 171 kHz, 232 kHz and 343 kHz was used to determine the temperature dependent magnetic energy absorption rate in the temperature range from 160 K to 210 K. We found that the specific absorption rate of the ferrofluid decreased monotonically with temperature over this range at the given frequencies. From these measured data, we determined the temperature dependence of the Neel relaxation time and estimate a room-temperature magnetocrystalline anisotropy constant of 40 kJ/m3, in agreement with previously published results

Protective effect of stromal Dickkopf-3 in prostate cancer: opposing roles for TGFBI and ECM-1

Aberrant transforming growth factor–β (TGF-β) signaling is a hallmark of the stromal microenvironment in cancer. Dickkopf-3 (Dkk-3), shown to inhibit TGF-β signaling, is downregulated in prostate cancer and upregulated in the stroma in benign prostatic hyperplasia, but the function of stromal Dkk-3 is unclear. Here we show that DKK3 silencing in WPMY-1 prostate stromal cells increases TGF-β signaling activity and that stromal cellconditioned media inhibit prostate cancer cell invasion in a Dkk-3-dependent manner. DKK3 silencing increased the level of the cell-adhesion regulator TGF-β–induced protein (TGFBI) in stromal and epithelial cell-conditioned media, and recombinant TGFBI increased prostate cancer cell invasion. Reduced expression of Dkk-3 in patient tumors was associated with increased expression of TGFBI. DKK3 silencing reduced the level of extracellular matrix protein-1 (ECM-1) in prostate stromal cell-conditioned media but increased it in epithelial cell-conditioned media, and recombinant ECM-1 inhibited TGFBI-induced prostate cancer cell invasion. Increased ECM1 and DKK3 mRNA expression in prostate tumors was associated with increased relapse-free survival. These observations are consistent with a model in which the loss of Dkk-3 in prostate cancer leads to increased secretion of TGFBI and ECM-1, which have tumor-promoting and tumor-protective roles, respectively. Determining how the balance between the opposing roles of extracellular factors influences prostate carcinogenesis will be key to developing therapies that target the tumor microenvironment

WNT signalling in prostate cancer

Genome sequencing and gene expression analyses of prostate tumours have highlighted the potential importance of genetic and epigenetic changes observed in WNT signalling pathway components in prostate tumours-particularly in the development of castration-resistant prostate cancer. WNT signalling is also important in the prostate tumour microenvironment, in which WNT proteins secreted by the tumour stroma promote resistance to therapy, and in prostate cancer stem or progenitor cells, in which WNT-β-catenin signals promote self-renewal or expansion. Preclinical studies have demonstrated the potential of inhibitors that target WNT receptor complexes at the cell membrane or that block the interaction of β-catenin with lymphoid enhancer-binding factor 1 and the androgen receptor, in preventing prostate cancer progression. Some WNT signalling inhibitors are in phase I trials, but they have yet to be tested in patients with prostate cancer

Serum amyloid A primes microglia for ATP-dependent interleukin-1\u3b2 release

Acute-phase response is a systemic reaction to environmental/inflammatory insults and involves production of acute-phase proteins, including serum amyloid A (SAA). Interleukin-1\u3b2 (IL-1\u3b2), a master regulator of neuroinflammation produced by activated inflammatory cells of the myeloid lineage, in particular microglia, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic diseases of the peripheral nervous system and CNS. IL-1\u3b2 release is promoted by ATP acting at the purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) in cells primed with toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands