Constructing a Coincident Index of Business Cycles without Assuming a One-factor Model

The Stock–Watson coincident index and its subsequent extensions assume a static linear one-factor structure for the component indicators. Such assumption is restrictive in practice, however, with as few as four indicators. In fact, such assumption is unnecessary if one defines a coincident index as an estimate of latent monthly real GDP. This paper considers VAR and factor models for latent monthly real GDP and other coincident indicators, and estimates the models using the observable mixed-frequency series. For US data, Schwartz’s Bayesian information criterion selects a two-factor model. The smoothed estimate of latent monthly real GDP is the proposed index.

A Generalization of Abel Inversion to non axisymmetric density distribution

Abel Inversion is currently used in laser-plasma studies in order to estimate the electronic density $n_e$ from the phase-shift map $\delta \phi$ obtained via interferometry. The main limitation of the Abel method is due to the assumption of axial symmetry of the electronic density, which is often hardly fulfilled. In this paper we present an improvement to the Abel inversion technique in which the axial symmetry condition is relaxed by means of a truncated Legendre Polinomial expansion in the azimutal angle. With the help of simulated interferograms, we will show that the generalized Abel inversion generates accurate densities maps when applied to non axisymmetric density sources

Suicide gene therapy with adenoviral vector delivery of HSV-tk gene and the intravenous administration of ganciclovir for patients with local recurrence of prostate cancer after hormonal therapy

「前立腺癌に対する herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase遺伝子発現アデノウイルスベクター及びガンシクロビルを用いた遺伝子治療臨床研究」を実施した．対象となる被験者は内分泌療法中に再燃してきた臨床的に遠隔転移を認めない局所再燃前立腺癌とした．まず herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase（HSV-tk）遺伝子発現アデノウイルスベクターを単独で腫瘍内に直接投与し，その後ガンシクロビル（ganciclovir：GCV）を全身投与した． 　本研究は2001年3月より第1例目の被験者の治療を開始し，平成17年7月に最終登録例である9例目の被験者の治療を実施し，6ヶ月以上観察し，臨床試験を終了とした（8名のべ9症例）． 　9症例すべてにおいて有意な副作用を認めなかった．また，ウイルスベクター投与後の抗アデノウイルス中和抗体価の上昇は軽度でかつ一過性であった．ウイルスベクター投与後，48時間において採取した組織において ｍRNA レベルでの HSV-tk 遺伝子の発現が確認された．治療効果の指標として腫瘍マーカーである PSA は9例中6例において低下した． 　結論として局所再燃前立腺癌に対し，HSV-tk 遺伝子発現アデノウイルスベクターを単独で局所内投与し，その後ガンシクロビルを全身投与することの安全性および治療効果が確認された

The ordering of obliques and adpositional elements

The order of verbs (V) and their object (O) has been of great interest among researchers.  However, few studies have examined the order of obliques (X) with respect to V and O.  Dryer (with Gensler) (2013) find the asymmetry between VO and OV languages in terms of the position of X: unlike VO languages, all three types of OV languages (XOV, OXV, and OVX) are widely attested.  Hawkins (2008) tries to explain this asymmetry by the interaction of three patterns, (i) Verb & Object Adjacency, (ii) Object & X on Same Side of Verb, and (iii) Object before X.  Although his analysis is successful in explaining the word order data in the world’s languages, there are still some problems.  In this paper, we argue that we can predict the possible word orders using only Hawkins’s (2004, 2008) Minimize Domains (MiD).  We also argue that compared to the prepositional counterparts, postpositions, postpositional clitics, and case suffixes are more likely to be connected to their noun (phrase) complement phonologically and morpho-syntactically.  In other words, the juncture between noun and adposition/clitic/affix in head-final languages is tighter than that in head-initial languages.  Assuming that adjuncts (X) consist of noun and adposition/clitic/affix, the domain of constituent recognition is different in the possible word orders of O, X and V.  We assume that postpositions/postpositional clitics/suffixes need only half of a word (^ = 0.5) for domain recognition because they are closely attached to the adjacent noun (phrase).  We conclude that any ordering of O, X and V is possible if the domain size is less than 4.  This analysis has advantages over Hawkins’s (2008) analysis because it is simpler and does not need to assume Hawkins’s principle of Argument Precedence