The Effects of Collateral on Firm Performance

This paper examines how collateral and personal guarantees affect firms’ ex-post performance employing a propensity score matching estimation approach. Based on a unique firm-level panel data set of more than 500 small-and-medium-sized borrower firms in Japan, we find that borrowers that provide collateral to lenders experience larger increases in profitability and reductions in riskiness than borrowers that do not. The main channel through which the borrower enhances its profitability is cost-cutting restructuring. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that collateral reduces moral hazard by providing borrowers with an incentive to enhance their creditworthiness. We find little evidence that improvements in collateralized firms’ performance are driven by the intensified monitoring on the part of lenders, or by borrowing firms’ access to larger amounts of credit.collateral, moral hazard, propensity score

The Deodorizing Effect of Weak Acid Hypochlorous Solution against Ammonia

The deodorizing effect of weak acid hypochlorous solution against ammonia was investigated. When atomized particles of weak acid hypochlorous solution contacted ammonia, the ammonia concentration decreased in a concentration-dependent manner. The deodorizing effect was also observed against ammonia generated from the used floor cover for mice. When the floor mat was present, the ammonia concentration gently decreased but then rapidly decreased when the floor mat was removed. In the future, we will examine effective spraying conditions for weak acid hypochlorous solution in laboratory animal facilities, and we will also proceed with the validation of effects other than spraying

Survey Study of Resident Awareness on Waste Final Disposal Site

As construction of final waste disposal site is essential recently, a problem where we should build it becomes important issue. However, public opposition occurs for the construction because the final waste disposal site has negative image such as pollution of various kinds, increase of traffic volume and noise by truck and bulldozer, and aggravation of living conditions. Public opposition is the most critical problem in constructing final waste disposal site. The source of public opposition has been characterized as NIMBY or not-in-my-yard. This paper presents a survey of the resident awareness on final waste disposal site, and attempts to find factors which affect the public opposition using logistic regression analysis and CART(classification and regression tree)

Growth Plate Borderline Chondrocytes Behave as Transient Mesenchymal Precursor Cells

The growth plate provides a substantial source of mesenchymal cells in the endosteal marrow space during endochondral ossification. The current model postulates that a group of chondrocytes in the hypertrophic zone can escape from apoptosis and transform into cells that eventually become osteoblasts in an area beneath the growth plate. The growth plate is composed of cells with various morphologies; particularly at the periphery of the growth plate immediately adjacent to the perichondrium are “borderline” chondrocytes, which align perpendicularly to other chondrocytes. However, in vivo cell fates of these special chondrocytes have not been revealed. Here we show that borderline chondrocytes in growth plates behave as transient mesenchymal precursor cells for osteoblasts and marrow stromal cells. A single‐cell RNA‐seq analysis revealed subpopulations of Col2a1‐creER‐marked neonatal chondrocytes and their cell type–specific markers. A tamoxifen pulse to Pthrp‐creER mice in the neonatal stage (before the resting zone was formed) preferentially marked borderline chondrocytes. Following the chase, these cells marched into the nascent marrow space, expanded in the metaphyseal marrow, and became Col(2.3 kb)‐GFP+ osteoblasts and Cxcl12‐GFPhigh reticular stromal “CAR” cells. Interestingly, these borderline chondrocyte‐derived marrow cells were short‐lived, as they were significantly reduced during adulthood. These findings demonstrate based on in vivo lineage‐tracing experiments that borderline chondrocytes in the peripheral growth plate are a particularly important route for producing osteoblasts and marrow stromal cells in growing murine endochondral bones. A special microenvironment neighboring the osteogenic perichondrium might endow these chondrocytes with an enhanced potential to differentiate into marrow mesenchymal cells. © 2019 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151266/1/jbmr3719_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151266/2/jbmr3719-sup-0001-Suppl_Info_JBMR_021819.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151266/3/jbmr3719.pd

Design of a filtration system to improve the dose distribution of an accelerator‐based neutron capture therapy system

[Purpose] The aim of this study is to design and evaluate a neutron filtration system to improve the dose distribution of an accelerator-based neutron capture therapy system. [Methods] An LiF-sintered plate composed of 99%-enriched 6Li was utilized to filter out low-energy neutrons to increase the average neutron energy at the beam exit. A 5-mm thick filter to fit inside a 12-cm diameter circular collimator was manufactured, and experimental measurements were performed to measure the thermal neutron flux and gamma-ray dose rate inside a water phantom. The experimental measurements were compared with the Monte Carlo simulation, particle, and heavy ion transport code system. Following the experimental verification, three filter designs were modeled, and the thermal neutron flux and the biologically weighted dose distribution inside a phantom were simulated. Following the phantom simulation, a dummy patient CT dataset was used to simulate a boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) irradiation of the brain. A mock tumor located at 4, 6, 8 cm along the central axis and 4-cm off-axis was set, and the dose distribution was simulated for a maximum total biologically weighted brain dose of 12.5 Gy with a beam entering from the vertex. [Results] All three filters improved the beam penetration of the accelerator-based neutron source. Filter design C was found to be the most suitable filter, increasing the advantage depth from 9.1 to 9.9 cm. Compared with the unfiltered beam, the mean weighted dose in the tumor located at a depth of 8 cm along the beam axis was increased by ∼25%, and 34% for the tumor located at a depth of 8 cm and off-axis by 4 cm. [Conclusion] A neutron filtration system for an accelerator-based BNCT system was investigated using Monte Carlo simulation. The proposed filter design significantly improved the dose distribution for the treatment of deep targets in the brain

Steroidogenic enzymes in the CP

Peripherally derived steroids affect steroid production in the brain via the blood–brain barrier. However, steroid concentrations are lower in the cerebrospinal fluid than those in the blood, indicating restricted influx of steroids because of their metabolization by choroid plexus (CP) epithelial cells. Here, we analyzed the gene expression of steroidogenic enzymes [cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), 17α-hydroxylase/C17-C20 lyase (P450c17), 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β -HSD), 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (17β -HSD1), aromatase (Cyp19a1), and 5α-reductase type 1 (5α -R1)]. These genes were expressed to a lesser extent in the CP than in the testis and to a similar extent in the cerebral cortex. However, P450scc levels were higher in the CP than in the cerebral cortex, whereas Cyp19a1 levels showed the opposite trend. We also evaluated the effects of orchiectomy and testosterone on the expression of these genes. P450c17 and 5α -R1 levels were unaffected by orchiectomy, whereas P450scc and 3β -HSD levels were increased and decreased, respectively. Cyp19a1 expression increased upon testosterone treatment, whereas that of 17β -HSD decreased upon orchiectomy or administration of testosterone. Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that 17β -HSD was expressed in the cytoplasm of CP epithelial cells. These results indicate that CP epithelial cells synthesize and convert the certain types of steroids to contribute to the homeostasis of steroids in the brain

The Effects of Collateral on SME Performance in Japan

This paper examines how collateral and personal guarantees affect firms' ex-post performance employing the propensity score matching estimation approach. Based on a unique firm-level panel data set of more than 500 small and medium-sized borrower firms in Japan, we find the following: (1) the increase in profitability and reduction in riskiness of borrowers that provide collateral to lenders are more sizeable than of borrowers that do not; (2) On the other hand, the lending attitude and monitoring frequency of borrowers' main banks do not change significantly at the time of collateral being pledged; and (3) The increase in profitability of collateralized borrowers is driven by cost reductions rather than by sales growth. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that by providing collateral, borrowers curb their own incentives for moral hazard in order to further enhance their creditworthiness.

Relationship between a High-inspired Oxygen Concentration and Dorsal Atelectasis in High-energy Trauma Patients

We performed a retrospective cohort study of 911 high-energy trauma patients who underwent chest CT scans at least twice after admission. We hypothesized that in high-energy trauma patients, a high-inspired oxygen concentration delivered after admission results in dorsal atelectasis. The study’s primary outcome was dorsal atelectasis formation diagnosed based on CT images. We defined dorsal atelectasis as the presence of atelectasis at ≥ 10 mm thick on CT images. We defined high-inspired oxygen concentration as >60% oxygen delivered between two CT scans. Four hundred sixty-five patients (51.0%) developed atelectasis according to the second CT scan, and 338 (37.1%) received a high-inspired oxygen concentration. A univariate analysis showed that the rate of the high-inspired oxygen concentration in the atelectasis group was significantly higher than that in the non-atelectasis group (43.4% vs. 30.1%, p<0.001). However, a logistic regression analysis showed that there was no significant relationship between the oxygen concentration and the formation of dorsal atelectasis (OR: 1.197, 95%CI: 0.852-1.683, p=0.30). Age, the Injury Severity Score, BMI, and smoking were found to be risk factors of dorsal atelectasis formation in high-energy trauma patients. There was no relationship between the oxygen concentration and atelectasis formation in our series of high-energy trauma patients

Photonic-crystal nano-photodetector with ultrasmall capacitance for on-chip light-to-voltage conversion without an amplifier

The power consumption of a conventional photoreceiver is dominated by that of the electric amplifier connected to the photodetector (PD). An ultralow-capacitance PD can overcome this limitation, because it can generate sufficiently large voltage without an amplifier when combined with a high-impedance load. In this work, we demonstrate an ultracompact InGaAs PD based on a photonic crystal waveguide with a length of only 1.7 μm and a capacitance of less than 1 fF. Despite the small size of the device, a high responsivity of 1 A/W and a clear 40 Gbit/s eye diagram are observed, overcoming the conventional trade-off between size and responsivity. A resistor-loaded PD was actually fabricated for light-to-voltage conversion, and a kilo-volt/watt efficiency with a gigahertz bandwidth even without amplifiers was measured with an electro-optic probe. Combined experimental and theoretical results reveal that a bandwidth in excess of 10 GHz can be expected, leading to an ultralow energy consumption of less than 1 fJ/bit for the photoreceiver. Amplifier-less PDs with attractive performance levels are therefore feasible and a step toward a densely integrated photonic network/processor on a chip