Hachisuka Mochiaki’s Overseas Achievements

Hachisuka Mochiaki (1846-1918) was the last lord of the Awa (Tokushima) domain, and he became a successful businessman and a statesman after the Meiji Restoration. He went to the UK to study when he was 25 years old, and stayed there for seven years, during which he graduated from college at the Balliol College, University of Oxford. Three years after returning to Japan, he was appointed to an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Japan in France (also serving as a minister in Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Belgium) and he stayed in Paris three years. Despite ten years of foreign life, little has been known about his overseas activities. In this study, we investigated his overseas activities using digital archives of European libraries, and could find information from British Newspaper Archive, Welsh Newspaper Online, and Gallica. He began to attend public events in the UK after graduating from the Oxford University. He received in an audience by Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales in 1877 and 1878, and attended to parties hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also participated in the launching ceremony of three Japanese warships Kongo, Fuso, and Hiei in 1877. He worked variously as a diplomat in Paris during 1884-1886. He signed three treaties, the Geneva Convention, the treaty on remittance by postal money order, and the International Meter Convention. Conpared with signing the Geneva Convention remaining two have not received much attention so far. In this study we found that he encouraged the Japanese government to join the International Meter Convention and negotiated with the Comité International des Poids et Mesures many times. He organized Japanese exhibition at a museum to introduce Japanese culture to Parisians, and he contributed to the academic exchange between France and Japan with the Geographical Society. And he and his wife Yoriko participated in many social events, and they held parties, concerts and theaters in Paris and Brussels. Several French newspapers mentioned elegant behavior of his wife Yoriko at those parties. And He focused on politics and business after returning to Japan, but also worked to promote exchange with foreign countries. In particular, he established the Welcome Society, which was the first organization in Japan for attracting and accommodating foreign tourists, with other of founders, and became the chairman of the organization. His abundant overseas experience and wide-ranging personal connections helped to establish this association

Currency Invoicing and Foreign Exchange Risk Management: A Case Study of Japanese Firms (Japanese)

This paper, through interviews with 12 major Japanese firms, has revealed new "stylized facts" of the Japanese firms' strategy of currency invoicing, foreign exchange risk managements, and price-setting in recent years. It is also investigated whether these stylized facts are consistent with what has been theoretically and empirically found in the literature. First, the amendment of Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law in 1998 had significant impact on the foreign exchange risk management of Japanese firms. Electronics and automobile companies pursue the most efficient settlements of trade transactions under the amended law, and currency invoicing is one of the most important strategic variables to optimize their foreign exchange risk managements. Second, as intra-firm trade has been increasingly a major part of their external trade, Japanese electronics and automobile companies have a strong tendency to choose local currency invoicing in exports to advanced countries, while U.S. dollar invoicing has been increasing when exporting to East Asian countries. Such an invoicing strategy aims at stabilizing the local currency (or U.S. dollar) price of their exports in local markets, which conforms to the pricing-to-market (PTM) behavior discussed in the literature. Third, the recent increase in U.S. dollar invoicing in East Asia can be attributed to (i) U.S. dollar's dominant role of world financial and foreign exchange transactions, (ii) the importance of the U.S. markets as a final export destination, and (iii) the increasing intra-firm transactions as Japanese firms has established regional production networks. Fourth, the currency invoicing and price-setting strategies are affected by competitors in global markets where it is hard to pass-through exchange rate risks to importers due to the strong market competition. Since U.S. dollar invoicing is now dominant in the East Asian markets, not only Japanese parent companies but also local affiliates in East Asia will take exchange rate risks against the U.S. dollar if the dollar fluctuates unstably. As the intra-regional trade keeps growing, it will become more important for East Asian countries including Japan to stabilize the exchange rate not vis-a-vis the U.S. dollar but between the regional currencies. This aspect will have important implications for new strategy of optimal exchange rate risk management and, hence, establishing regional currency arrangements such as a common currency basket in East Asia.

Mitochondrial intermediate peptidase is a novel regulator of sirtuin-3 activation by caloric restriction

Sirtuin-3 (SIRT3) regulates mitochondrial quality and is involved in the anti-ageing and pro-longevity actions of caloric restriction (CR). Here, we show that CR upregulates the mature form of SIRT3 and mitochondrial intermediate peptidase (MIPEP), a mitochondrial signal peptidase (MtSPase), in white adipose tissue. We also demonstrate that upregulation of mature SIRT3 is dependent on MIPEP in 3T3-L1 cells, suggesting that MIPEP may contribute to the maintenance of mitochondrial quality during CRvia activation of SIRT3. This novel mechanism of SIRT3 activation through MIPEP facilitates the elucidation of additional molecular pathways of CR

Pipeline scheduling with input port constraints for an FPGA-based biochemical simulator

This paper discusses design methodology of high-throughput arithmetic pipeline modules for an FPGA-based biochemical simulator. Since limitation of data-input bandwidth caused by port constraints often has a negative impact on pipeline scheduling results, we propose a priority assignment method of input data which enables efficient arithmetic pipeline scheduling under given input port constraints. Evaluation results with frequently used rate-law functions in biochemical models revealed that the proposed method achieved shorter latency compared to ASAP and ALAP scheduling with random input orders, reducing hardware costs by 17.57% and by 27.43% on average, respectively.The original publication is available at www.springerlink.co

Quality of life of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents during the COVID-19 pandemic : a 1-year follow-up study

This study aimed to reveal changes in the quality of life (QOL) of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their parents, and the interaction between their QOL and parental mental state during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Eighty-nine school-aged children and parents participated in surveys in May 2020 (T1) and May 2021 (T2). The parents completed questionnaires that assessed their QOL, depression, parenting stress, and living conditions. Children's temporary mood status was evaluated using the self-reported visual analog scale (VAS). Children's QOL and VAS at T2 were higher than their QOL at T1. Parents' QOL at T2 was lower than their QOL at T1. Severe parental depression at T1 had a synergistic effect on severe parenting stress and severe depressive state at T2. Additionally, children's high QOL at T1 had a synergistic effect on low parenting stress and children's high QOL at T2. Furthermore, children's low VAS scores and parents' low QOL at T2 were associated with deterioration of family economic status. Children and parents' QOL changed during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Improvement in children's QOL was influenced by reduced maternal depressive symptoms. Public support for parental mental health is important to avoid decreasing QOL.Peer reviewe

Comparação do estado nutricional em pacientes com insuficiência renal crônica com e sem hiperparatireoidismo secundário

Objective: To compare by means of a specific instrument (Malnutrition Inflammation Score - MIS) and dietary recall, the nutritional profile of patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) on hemodialysis with and without Secondary Hyperparathyroidism (HPT2). Methods: cross-sectional study with 204 patients with CRF on hemodialysis with and without HPT2. Nutritional status was assessed by means of the MIS instrument and food intake by 24-hour recall. Data from the latter was analyzed using Avanutri® software. Results: Of the total patients, 136 had HPT2 and 68 did not, most of them being male, alcoholic and sedentary in both groups. Regarding MIS, validated instrument to assess nutritional risk, the number of patients with a score> 6 (indicating nutritional risk) was 48.5% for those without HPT2 and 49.3% for those with HPT2, however, there was no statistical difference between the groups (p> 0.05). Regarding the consumption of micronutrients, it was found that people with CRF and HPT2 consumed in greater quantities all micronutrients, except for vitamin B12. With regard to micronutrients that can directly intervene in HPT2, vitamin D and phosphorus were significantly more consumed by the group with CRF and HPT2.Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in the nutritional status of patients with CRF on hemodialysis with and without HPT2. Patients with CRF and HPT2 consumed a greater amount of all micronutrients, especially vitamin D and phosphorus, but maintained adequate serum levels, which may indicate the fulfillment of specific recommendations for the treatment of HPT2.Objetivo: Comparar, por meio de instrumento específico (Malnutrition Inflammation Score - MIS) e recordatório alimentar, o perfil nutricional de pacientes com Insuficiência Renal Crônica (IRC) em hemodiálise com e sem Hiperparatireoidismo Secundário (HPT2). Métodos: estudo transversal com 204 pacientes com IRC em hemodiálise com e sem HPT2. O estado nutricional foi avaliado por meio do instrumento MIS e a ingesta alimentar por recordatório 24h, sendo dados deste último analisados pelo software Avanutri®. Resultados: Do total de pacientes, 136 tinham HPT2 e 68 não tinham, sendo a maioria do sexo masculino, etilistas e sedentários. Em relação ao MIS, o número de pacientes com pontuação > 6 (indicando risco nutricional) foi de 48,5% para aqueles sem HPT2 e 49,3% para os com HPT2, porém, não houve diferença estatística entre esses grupos (p >0,05). Com relação ao consumo de micronutrientes, identificou-se que as pessoas com IRC e HPT2 consumiram em maior quantidade todos os micronutrientes, com exceção a vitamina B12. No que diz respeito aqueles micronutrientes que podem intervir diretamente no HPT2, a vitamina D e o fósforo foram significativamente mais consumidos pelo grupo com IRC e HPT2. Conclusão: Não houve diferença estatística no estado nutricional de pacientes com IRC em hemodiálise com e sem HPT2. Os pacientes com IRC e HPT2 consumiram em maior quantidade todos os micronutrientes, em especial de vitamina D e fósforo, porém mantiveram os níveis séricos adequados podendo indicar, o atendimento de recomendações específicas para tratamento do HPT2