Essays on monetary economics and financial economics

In this dissertation three different economic issues have been analyzed. The first issue is whether monetary policy rules can improve forecasting accuracy of inflation. The second is whether the preference of a central bank is symmetry or not. The last issue is whether the behavior of aggregate dividends is asymmetry. Each issue is considered in Chapter II, III and IV, respectively. The linkage between monetary policy rules and the prediction of inflation is explored in Chapter II. Our analysis finds that the prediction performance of the term structure model hinges on monetary policy rules, which involve the manipulation of the federal funds rate in response to the change in the price level. As the Fed's reaction to inflation becomes stronger, the predictive information contained in the term structure becomes weaker. Using the long-run Taylor rule, a new assessment of the prediction performance regarding future change in inflation is provided. The empirical results indicate that the long-run Taylor rule improves forecasting accuracy. In chapter III, the asymmetric preferences of the central bank of Korea are examined under New Keynesian sticky prices forward-looking economy framework. To this end, this chapter adopts the central bank's objective functional form as a linear-exponential function instead of the standard quadratic function. The monetary policy reaction function is derived and then asymmetric preference parameters are estimated during the inflation targeting period: 1998:9-2005:12. The empirical evidence supports that while the objective of output stability is symmetry, but the objective of price stability is not symmetry. Specifically, it appears that the central bank of Korea aggressively responds to positive inflation gaps compared to negative inflation gaps. Chapter IV examines the nonlinear dividend behavior of the aggregate stock market. We propose a nonlinear dividend model that assumes managers minimize the regime dependent adjustment costs associated with being away from their target dividend payout. By using the threshold vector error correction model, we find significant evidence of a threshold effect in aggregate dividends of S&P 500 Index in quarterly data when real stock prices are used for the target. We also find that when dividends are relatively higher than target, the adjustment cost of dividends is much smaller than that when they are lower

Granular Cell Tumor of the Urinary Bladder

A 67-year-old Korean man presented with gross, painless hematuria that had lasted for the previous 2 months. Cystoscopy showed a semispherical tumor approximately 1 cm in diameter that was covered with normal bladder mucosa and extended from the bladder neck to the posterior wall of the bladder. The patient underwent transurethral resection of the tumor. Histological examination and immunohistochemical staining showed a granular cell tumor (GCT). There were no features suggesting a malignant phenotype. On follow-up, the patient has remained free of bladder recurrence. We herein report this case of a GCT of the urinary bladder and review the literature

Alpha-Methylacyl-Coenzyme A Racemase-Expressing Urachal Adenocarcinoma of the Abdominal Wall

Urachal adenocarcinomas are very rare and about one third of these neoplasms arise in urachal remnants. To demonstrate the origin of the urachal adenocarcinoma is not easy, but it is very important for managing patient care. We report on a 35-year-old man who complained of a palpable mass in the periumbilical area. The mass was incidentally identified 10 days earlier. Computed tomography revealed a well-defined enhancing mass with internal calcification and septation abutting on the dome of the urinary bladder. The clinical diagnosis was urachal cancer, which seemed to invade the urinary bladder. Thus, we performed mass excision and partial resection of the bladder. Histopathologically, the mass was diagnosed as mucinous cystadenocarcinoma originating from urachal remnants that showed an unusual expression of alpha-methylacyl-coenzyme A racemase (AMACR). To our knowledge, this report is the first case of AMACR-expressing urachal adenocarcinoma arising in the abdominal wall

GSTM1 Tissue Genotype as a Recurrence Predictor in Non-muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Tissue genotyping is more useful approach than using blood genomic DNA, which can reflect the effects of the somatic mutations in cancer. Although polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferase (GST) have been associated with the risk of bladder cancer (BC) development, few reports provide information about the prognosis of BC. We investigated glutathione S-transferase mu (GSTM1) and glutathione S-transferase theta (GSTT1) genotypes using genomic DNA from primary 165 BC tissue samples to assess the association with disease prognosis. DNA samples from tumor were analyzed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results were compared with clinicopathological parameters. The prognostic significance of the GSTs was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression model. Kaplan-Meier estimates revealed significant differences in time to tumor recurrence according to the GSTM1 tissue genotype (P = 0.038) in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). Multivariate Cox regression analysis also revealed that the tissue GSTM1 genotype (hazards ratio [HR]: 0.377, P = 0.031) was an independent predictor of bladder tumor recurrence in NMIBC. This identification of GSTM1 tissue genotype as a prognosticator for determining recurrence in NMIBC should prove highly useful in a clinical setting

Atopic Dermatitis-Like Skin Lesions Reduced by Topical Application and Intraperitoneal Injection of Hirsutenone in NC/Nga Mice

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease. The increasing prevalence and severity of AD have prompted the developments of safer, more effective drugs. Although topical corticosteroids have been used as first line therapy for AD, their potential side effects limit their clinical applications. To investigate the effect of hirsutenone (HIR), a diarylheptanoid compound, on AD-like skin lesions and other factors related to immune response is the aim of this paper Th2-related cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-13), eosinophil, IgE inflammatory factors (COX-2, iNOS) levels were reduced in blood, lymphocytes, and tissue after HIR treatment. These results suggest that HIR might be an effective treatment for AD