Hurricanes and Long-term GDP Growth: The Role of Institutional Quality

This paper compares the long-term effects on real per-capita GDP of two hurricanes in 1992, hurricane Andrew in Florida and hurricane Iniki in Hawaii. The literature suggests that the long-term effect on GDP of a natural disaster for a region with good pre-disaster institutional quality may be positive (i.e., GDP levels exceed those which would have materialized without the disaster) because the destruction of capital induces firms to investment in more technologically advanced structures and machines. In contrast, a region with bad pre-disaster institutional quality should experience a negative impact because it face severe limits in the amount it can borrow in international markets to replace the destroyed capital. If this claim holds, Florida, a state with poorer institutional quality, should not have performed as well as Hawaii, a state with stronger institutions, after each was hit by a hurricane in 1992. By analyzing twenty years of data for the two states using the synthetic control method, this paper shows that the pre-disaster institutional quality was not a powerful determinant of the long-term GDP growth in these two states. That is, Hawaii’s observed per-capita GDP values remained significantly lower than what Hawaii would have experienced without hurricane Iniki, while the gap between the observed values and the expected values was smaller for Florida. I speculate that other differences between these two economies, such as their size or proximity to the U.S. mainland, might explain why Hawaii was more adversely affected by hurricane Iniki

An Adult Case of Kawasaki Disease in a Pregnant Japanese Woman: A Case Report

Kawasaki disease is an acute febrile disease predominantly seen in young children. We report a case of Kawasaki disease in a 32-year-old pregnant woman. She developed a generalized erythematous skin rash accompanied by high fever. Bilateral conjunctival congestion, tender cervical lymphadenopathy, an edematous lower lip and peripheral edema followed by desquamation were observed. She was successfully treated with aspirin and intravenous gammaglobulin (1 g/kg/day). Her course was not complicated by coronary artery aneurysm and she delivered a healthy baby. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of Kawasaki disease in a pregnant woman. We suggest that Kawasaki disease should be included in the differential diagnosis of a generalized, erythematous skin rash accompanied by high fever in adults

An Overview of the Scholarly Literature Regarding the Mental Burden Perceived by the Mothers of Children with Autism

本研究は、自閉症児の母親の心的負担に関する先行研究を概観し、得られた知見を整理することを目的としている。分析視点は、①障害のある子どもの母親の心的負担を測定するための心理尺度はどのような尺度が開発されてきたか、②それらの尺度によって自閉症児の母親の心的負担について、どのようなことが明らかになったか、③自閉症児の母親の心的負担を軽減するための有効な支援としてどのような支援が指摘されているかとした。①について、障害のある子どもの母親全般を対象とした尺度開発は盛んに行われていた。しかし、自閉症に特化した尺度はあまりなかった。②について、自閉症児の母親の心的負担の特色として、「他の障害種の子どもの母親に比べて、相対的に高いこと」、「子どもの幼児期に高いこと」、「子どもの問題行動に由来する心的負担があること」、そして「子どもとの愛着形成の困難さに由来する心的負担があること」が明らかになった。③について、自閉症児の母親にとって「診断告知における配慮」や「同じ立場にある母親とのつながり」が有効な支援であった。This study aims to provide an overview of studies relating to the mental burden borne by the mothers of children with autism and to summarize the findings. To this end, three analytical perspectives are employed, namely（ 1） what kinds of psychological scales have been developed to measure the mental burden borne by mothers of children with disabilities;（ 2） what have these scales revealed about the mental burden borne by mothers of children with autism; and（ 3） what kinds of supports have been found to be effective in reducing the mental burden borne by mothers of children with autism. Regarding the first point, such scales have been actively developed; however, few of these scales have specifically targeted autism. Regarding the second point, which addresses the mental burden born specifically by mothers of children with autism, it was revealed that their burden“ is relatively high in comparison with the mothers of children with other types of disability,” that it“ is particularly high in early childhood,”“ that some mental burdens derive from problem behaviors,” and “that some mental burdens derive from the difficulty of forming attachments.” Finally, regarding the third point,“ consideration in the context of diagnostic notification” and“ connection with other mothers in a similar position” have proven to be effective supports for the mothers of children with autism

Transforming growth factor-beta and sonic hedgehog signaling in palatal epithelium regulate tenascin-C expression in palatal mesenchyme during soft palate development.

福岡歯科大学2020年

Counseling for hemodialysis outpatients.

Maintenance hemodialysis outpatients must limit salt and water intake to maintain electrolyte balance and blood pressure. In Kawashima Hospital, nationally registered dietitians provide hemodialysis patients with monthly nutritional counseling. We investigated whether nutritional counseling affects interdialytic weight gain (IDWG) and blood pressure. We investigated 48 hemodialysis patients whose monthly average IDWG ratio to dry weight exceeded 5.1% and who had not had a long-term hospital admittance of ＞1 month. After the 48-month nutritional counseling period, the IDWG ratio had improved in 37 of the patients (77.1%), significantly decreasing from 6.0±0.7 to 5.3±0.9%. Estimated salt and water intake decreased significantly from 13.3±2.7 to 11.8±2.4 g/day and 2528±455 to 2332±410 ml/day, respectively. During the intervention period, normalized protein catabolic rate and body mass index did not change substantially. Pre-hemodialysis systolic and diastolic blood pressures had significantly decreased from 149±19 to 134±18 mmHg, and 82±13 to 75±10 mmHg for 48 months after study initiation, respectively. The dosage of antihypertensive drugs had significantly decreased in the group that experienced improvement in the IDWG ratio. Long-term nutritional counseling by nationally registered dietitians may improve the IDWG ratio and blood pressure of hemodialysis patients by decreasing their salt and water intake