A System for Monitoring Animals Based on Behavioral Information and Internal State Information

Managing the risk of injury or illness is an important consideration when keeping pets. This risk can be minimized if pets are monitored on a regular basis, but this can be difficult and time-consuming. However, because only the external behavior of the animal can be observed and the internal condition cannot be assessed, the animal’s state can easily be misjudged. Additionally, although some systems use heartbeat measurement to determine a state of tension, or use rest to assess the internal state, because an increase in heart rate can also occur as a result of exercise, it is desirable to use this measurement in combination with behavioral information. In the current study, we proposed a monitoring system for animals using video image analysis. The proposed system first extracts features related to behavioral information and the animal’s internal state via mask R-CNN using video images taken from the top of the cage. These features are used to detect typical daily activities and anomalous activities. This method produces an alert when the hamster behaves in an unusual way. In our experiment, the daily behavior of a hamster was measured and analyzed using the proposed system. The results showed that the features of the hamster’s behavior were successfully detected. When loud sounds were presented from outside the cage, the system was able to discriminate between the behavioral and internal changes of the hamster. In future research, we plan to improve the accuracy of the measurement of small movements and develop a more accurate system

Taxa de Juros e Concentração Bancária no Brasil

This paper analyses the price-concentration relationship for the Brazilian banking industry. Interest rate on loans proxies for price and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index proxies for concentration. A positive price-concentration relationship may be associated with anti-competitive behaviour while a negative one may reflect banks passing scale efficiency gains on to consumers. Berger & Hannan (1989) found a positive relationship for the US banking sector using a geographical concept of market. Due to institutional differences between the Brazilian and the US banking industries, this paper uses a loan category-based concept of market to find no relationship between interest rate on loans and concentration.

Determinantes do investimento direto japonês no Brasil na década de 80: uma análise empírica

A visão dominante sobre o investimento direto estrangeiro (IDE) japonês no setor manufatureiro, baseada no argumento da relocalização de indústrias em declínio no Japão para países com menor nível de desenvolvimento industrial，foi adequada para explicar a maior parte do investimento japonês ao exterior, inclusive ao Brasil，até o final dos anos 70. As novas situações vivenciadas pelo Japão na década de 80, no entanto, passaram a exigir novas explicações para a dinâmica do IDE japonês，particularmente no caso brasileiro. A partir da avaliação das contribuições teóricas e das pesquisas empíricas existentes para a compreensão do IDE japonês，desenvolveu-se um modelo econométrico com o objetivo de identificar os principais determinantes do investimento direto japonês no Brasil na década de 80- Este modelo apresenta a particularidade de incorporar dados sobre as firmas que investem no país, procedimento pouco usual nos trabalhos empíricos sobre o tema que, na sua grande maioria，restringem-se aos dados setoriais.The prevailing view about Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) in the manufacturing sector based on the argument that it has suited to the reallocation of sunset industries in Japan to countries with lower levels of industrial development was adequate for explaining the majority of Japanese investment overseas up to late 70s. Nevertheless，the new situations that faced Japan in the 80s demanded new interpretations for the dynamics of Japanese FDI，specially for the Brazilian case. After evaluating the available theoretical contributions and empirical research for understanding Japanese FDI, an econometric model was developed in order to identify the main determinants of Japanese direct investment in Brasil in the 80s- This model embodies firm level data，as opposed to most empirical work on FDI motives which deals with industry level data

Fluxos Internacionais de capitais japoneses e o Brasil

Trabalho apresentado no III Encontro Brasileiro de Estudos sobre o Japão e Pacífico, realizado em 4 e 5 de novembro de 1993, no Parlamento Latino-Americano, São Paulo

A Case of Giant Bladder Carcinosarcoma without Submucosal Invasion

Carcinosarcoma is a rare biphasic neoplasia containing both malignant mesenchymal and epithelial elements. Bladder carcinosarcoma commonly presented as high-grade, advanced stage, and aggressive behavior with a poor prognosis. An 83-year-old male presented with painless gross hematuria to our hospital. Cystoscopy revealed massive nonpapillary bladder tumor on the right wall. The 91 g tumor could be completely removed with transurethral resection. Histology of the tumor was diagnosed as carcinosarcoma with no submucosal invasion composed of biphasic malignant epithelial and mesenchymal cells. Epithelial malignancy was urothelial cancer and mesenchymal one was chondrosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma. The specimens taken at the second-look TUR-Bt revealed that carcinoma in situ (urothelial cancer) but not sarcoma existed at the mucosa surrounding the previous tumor site. 80 mg of BCG instillation intravesically every week for six weeks was successfully administered to the patient. There is no tumor recurrence for 6 months after treatments

微小液滴上に形成した脂質二重膜による膜輸送計測

学位の種別:課程博士University of Tokyo(東京大学

Surgical Castration in Hormone-Refractory Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients Can Be an Alternative for Medical Castration

Background. Most patients with metastatic prostate cancer are endocrinologically treated with LHRH agonist, but finally castration-refractory and hormone-refractory cancers occur. Serum testosterone levels get low to “the castration level” by LHRH agonists but may not get low enough against castration-refractory prostate cancer. Methods. As case series, twelve patients suffering from hormone-refractory prostate cancer continuously on LHRH agonist underwent surgical castration. Additionally, one hundred and thirty-nine prostate cancer patients on LHRH agonist or surgical castration were tested for serum total testosterone levels. Results. Surgical castration caused decrease in serum PSA in one out of 12 hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients with PSA reduction rate 74%. Serum total testosterone levels were below the sensitivity threshold (0.05 ng/mL) in 40 of 89 (44.9%) medically castrated patients and 33 of 50 (66.0%) surgically castrated patients (P = .20). Conclusion. Even hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients are candidates for surgical castration because of endocrinological, oncological, and economical reasons