VENTRICULAR ENLARGEMENT AND WATER INTOXICATION IN SCHIZOPHRENIA

To determine the extent to which atrophy was related to water intoxication in schizophrenic patients, ventricular enlargement in polydipsic schizophrenic patients with hyponatremia and schizophrenic controls without hyponatremia was measured in a linear way. Ventricular enlargement was found in both schizophrenic patient groups, and larger ventricles were associated with water intoxication. It is suggested that ventricular enlargement may reflect a developmental or degenerative pathological process involving the occurrence of water intoxication in schizophrenia

Factors that contribute to long-term survival in patients with leukemia not in remission at allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There has been insufficient examination of the factors affecting long-term survival of more than 5 years in patients with leukemia that is not in remission at transplantation.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>We retrospectively analyzed leukemia not in remission at allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) performed at our institution between January 1999 and July 2009. Forty-two patients with a median age of 39 years received intensified conditioning (n = 9), standard (n = 12) or reduced-intensity conditioning (n = 21) for allo-HCT. Fourteen patients received individual chemotherapy for cytoreduction during the three weeks prior to reduced-intensity conditioning. Diagnoses comprised acute leukemia (n = 29), chronic myeloid leukemia-accelerated phase (n = 2), myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML) (n = 10) and plasma cell leukemia (n = 1). In those with acute leukemia, cytogenetic abnormalities were intermediate (44%) or poor (56%). The median number of blast cells in bone marrow (BM) was 26.0% (range; 0.2-100) before the start of chemotherapy for allo-HCT. Six patients had leukemic involvement of the central nervous system. Stem cell sources were related BM (7%), related peripheral blood (31%), unrelated BM (48%) and unrelated cord blood (CB) (14%).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Engraftment was achieved in 33 (79%) of 42 patients. Median time to engraftment was 17 days (range: 9-32). At five years, the cumulative probabilities of acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and chronic GVHD were 63% and 37%, respectively. With a median follow-up of 85 months for surviving patients, the five-year Kaplan-Meier estimates of leukemia-free survival rate and overall survival (OS) were 17% and 19%, respectively. At five years, the cumulative probability of non-relapse mortality was 38%. In the univariable analyses of the influence of pre-transplant variables on OS, poor-risk cytogenetics, number of BM blasts (>26%), MDS overt AML and CB as stem cell source were significantly associated with worse prognosis (p = .03, p = .01, p = .02 and p < .001, respectively). In addition, based on a landmark analysis at 6 months post-transplant, the five-year Kaplan-Meier estimates of OS in patients with and without prior history of chronic GVHD were 64% and 17% (p = .022), respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Graft-versus-leukemia effects possibly mediated by chronic GVHD may have played a crucial role in long-term survival in, or cure of active leukemia.</p

Lunar Phase-Dependent Expression of Cryptochrome and a Photoperiodic Mechanism for Lunar Phase-Recognition in a Reef Fish, Goldlined Spinefoot

Lunar cycle-associated physiology has been found in a wide variety of organisms. Recent study has revealed that mRNA levels of Cryptochrome (Cry), one of the circadian clock genes, were significantly higher on a full moon night than on a new moon night in coral, implying the involvement of a photoreception system in the lunar-synchronized spawning. To better establish the generalities surrounding such a mechanism and explore the underlying molecular mechanism, we focused on the relationship between lunar phase, Cry gene expression, and the spawning behavior in a lunar-synchronized spawner, the goldlined spinefoot (Siganus guttatus), and we identified two kinds of Cry genes in this animal. Their mRNA levels showed lunar cycle-dependent expression in the medial part of the brain (mesencephalon and diencephalon) peaking at the first quarter moon. Since this lunar phase coincided with the reproductive phase of the goldlined spinefoot, Cry gene expression was considered a state variable in the lunar phase recognition system. Based on the expression profiles of SgCrys together with the moonlight's pattern of timing and duration during its nightly lunar cycle, we have further speculated on a model of lunar phase recognition for reproductive control in the goldlined spinefoot, which integrates both moonlight and circadian signals in a manner similar to photoperiodic response

Changes In Japanese Household Income, Savings, And Consumption

When Japan experienced high economic growth, its society was characterized by low inequality in income, a high saving rate and a low consumption rate. However, after Japan's transition to slow economic growth, it was said that the society lost income mobility, and the inequality among households deteriorated. In addition, the aggregate household saving rate dropped drastically. Meanwhile, consumption expanded, which gave people more options regarding their expenditure. With this background, this thesis examines the impacts of these changes-- income mobility over time, savings rate changes, and intra-household allocation--using a long run panel data set for Japan. Chapter 1 studies income mobility in Japanese society. Household income mobility at the macro level is measured by six different methods. The results show that as a whole, household income mobility became lower in the long-run. At the micro level, unconditional micro income mobility indicated that it is possible that poorer people would catch up with richer people. Finally, conditional micro income mobility also shows that there exists conditional convergence. In Chapter 2, the causes for the decrease in the aggregate household saving are analyzed. The aggregate time series analysis reveals that the increase in the ratio of the aged population ratio partially explains the sharp decrease in the household saving rate. By using household level panel data, it was found that savings driven by the motive of home ownership could partly account for this decrease in the saving rate. The increasing burden of education expenditure is among the strongest candidates for explaining the change. Finally, some weak indirect evidence in support of the target saving hypothesis is found. In Chapter 3, the characteristics of intra-household allocation are discussed. Using the Slutsky symmetry test, the unitary model could not be rejected for the consumption behavior of one-person households. Meanwhile, the tests for SR1, distribution factor proportionality and linearity indicated that the collective model might explain the consumption behavior of two-person households. Finally, the hypothesis that three-person households could be represented by the collective model for two-person households could not be rejected

Inverse Power-Law Escape Statistics of Open Billiards

In a previous study of Dettmann and Georgiou, it was considered such a situation that point-wise particles repeatedly and elastically collided with the wall of a container without any particle-particle collision and eventually escaped through a small window from the container, which can be modeled by an open billiard. In the present study, point-wise particles were replaced with finite-size disks and disk-disk collisions were also considered, and inverse power laws of distributions of dwell time in the container were obtained from numerical simulations

Empirical dairy profits under fluctuating prices

Production theory suggests that average profits would be greater with more variation in prices, if farmers correctly adjust use of inputs and outputs to changes in prices. We provide an empirical nonparametric analysis of farmers' profits under price changes over 12 years using an unbalanced panel of dairy farmers. Each year that a farm participated, we have quantities of milk and other outputs and usage of 30 different inputs. If that farmer participated in the survey the following year, the profit that farmer would have earned that following year using the netput vector of the previous year and the price vector of the following year was calculated. This passive profit was compared to the actual profit the farmer produced the following year. Of the 2371 observations, 56% show netput vector changes which enhanced net profit implying that as a group, these farmers were not generally able to correctly adjust inputs in response to price changes consistently. Logit regression failed to differentiate characteristics of farmers who were successful.

To Fire or to Hoard? Explaining Japan’s Labor Market Response in the Great Recession

The Great Recession pushed Japan’s unemployment rate to historic highs, but the increase has been small by international standards and small relative to the large output shock. This paper explores Japan’s cyclical labor market response to the global financial crisis. Our findings suggest that: (i) employment responsiveness has been historically low but rising over time with the increasing importance of the non-regular workforce; (ii) the labor market response was consistent with historical patterns once we control for the size of the output shock; and (iii) the comparatively lower employment response vis-à-vis other countries can in part be explained by the quick implementation of an employment subsidy program, a more flexible wage system, and a corporate governance structure that places workers rights above shareholders.Unemployment;Economic recession;Global Financial Crisis 2008-2009;Labor markets;Manufacturing sector;employment, wages, wage, unemployment rate, employment losses, overtime pay, employment flexibility, worker, employment adjustment, compensation, regular employment, employment protection, unemployment insurance, employment contracts, benefits, total employment, share of employment, wage rate, wage subsidy, wage index, employment security, unemployment benefits, labor demand, salaries, employment experiences, effect on employment, employment dynamic, composition of employment, unemployment rates, employment statistics, unemployment statistics, employment level, rising unemployment, employment protection legislation, employment situation, job search, effects on employment, employment effects, employment market, low employment, employment subsidy, structural unemployment, wage level, employment growth, net employment, retirement age, wage indices, wage structure, employment levels, lifetime employment, rising unemployment rate, job creation, employment agency, employment subsidy program, wage equation