An Essay on Random Walk Process: Features and Testing

In econometric literature, a lot of kinds of stochastic processes are employed, of course, including an autoregression (AR)，a moving average (MA)，an ARMA, and an ARIMA processes, etc. Among those, a random walk process is very unique and has some remarkable features. One of the most possible reasons to take a certain stochastic process is the fact that no one knows the reality of the time series data to be analyzed. This brief essay focused on a random walk process that is one of the most popular stochastic processes to unveil its essence. Moreover, some non-parametric testing methodologies such as a run test, a rank test, and a mean square successive difference test are also reviewed and applied to the normal random series generated by Box- Muller transformation

An Essay on Remittances Effects to Economic Development: A Survey

In economic literature, the relationship between remittances and economic development is somehow ambiguous. Some supports their positive correlation but others stress negative. This paper surveys some existing literatures on the relationship from four points of view such as brain drain or gain, business cycle, Dutch disease or exchange rate appreciation, and direct and empirical effects of remittances on economic development and growth. The relationship is still ambiguous and mixed but the effects on exchange rate should be focused on if remittances are negatively correlated with economic development. For more fruitful empirical research results, it is required to improve statistics. Among three types of inflows to developing countries such as workers\u27 remittances, ODA, and FDI, a lot of literatures regard that FDI contains the strongest development-promoting effects. According to the conclusion of this study, workers\u27 remittances\u27 effects are still ambiguous. Remaining issue is to explore the differences of development-promoting effects among these three

A Survey on Poverty Indicators: Features and Axiom

In September 2000, building upon a decade of major United Nations conferences and summits, world leaders came together at the United Nations Headquarter in New York to adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration, committing their nations to a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets with a deadline of 2015 that have become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One of the most important targets of MDGs relates to ending poverty and hunger. For instance, Target is set to halve, between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day. This study aims to summarize the essence of some major poverty indices and relating axioms to contribute to worldwide poverty reduction from academic aspects, surveying relevant literatures

Identifying Trough of Recent Recession in Japan: An Application of Stochastic Business Indicator

In Japan, the Indexes of Business Conditions (CI) calculated by the Cabinet Office of the Government of Japan is employed for assessing business cycle. The CI consists of three components, such as leading, coincident, and lagging indexes. The CI is calculated by composing monthto-month percentage changes in multiple economic indicators. On contrary, in the U.S., for observing business condition, a stochastic business indicator is mainly employed. This study applies the latter U.S. approach to estimate a latent stochastic business indicator for Japanese economy according to Stock and Watson (1989，1990) using a state space model solved by Kalman filter. The estimated stochastic business indicator seems to fit quite well to existing Japanese official Indexes of Business Conditions. The estimated results appear to indicate that the trough month of the latest recession in Japan is March 2009

An Essay on Remittances Effects to Economic Development: A Survey

In economic literature, the relationship between remittances and economic development is somehow ambiguous. Some supports their positive correlation but others stress negative. This paper surveys some existing literatures on the relationship from four points of view such as brain drain or gain, business cycle, Dutch disease or exchange rate appreciation, and direct and empirical effects of remittances on economic development and growth. The relationship is still ambiguous and mixed but the effects on exchange rate should be focused on if remittances are negatively correlated with economic development. For more fruitful empirical research results, it is required to improve statistics. Among three types of inflows to developing countries such as workers\u27 remittances, ODA, and FDI, a lot of literatures regard that FDI contains the strongest development-promoting effects. According to the conclusion of this study, workers\u27 remittances\u27 effects are still ambiguous. Remaining issue is to explore the differences of development-promoting effects among these three

A Thiazolidinedione Improves In Vivo Insulin Action on Skeletal Muscle Glycogen Synthase in Insulin-Resistant Monkeys

Thiazolidinediones (TZD) have been shown to have anti-diabetic effects including the ability to decrease fasting hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia, increase insulin-mediated glucose disposal rate (M) and decrease hepatic glucose production, but the mechanisms of action are not well established. To determine whether a TZD (R-102380, Sankyo Company Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) could improve insulin action on skeletal muscle glycogen synthase (GS), the rate-limiting enzyme in glycogen synthesis, 4 insulin-resistant obese monkeys were given I mg/kg/ day R-102380 p.o. for a 6-week period. Skeletal muscle GS activity and glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) content were compared between pre-dosing and dosing periods before and during the maximal insulin-stimulation of a euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp

Crystallization characteristics of amorphous trehalose dried from alcohol

Trehalose forms a glass that can be used to preserve labile substances under desiccation. The crystallization characteristics, namely crystallization temperature (Tcry) and isothermal crystallization behavior of amorphous trehalose, dried from alcohol (methanol, ethanol), was analyzed and the results were compared with those for the amorphous trehalose freeze-dried from water. The use of alcohol as a solvent lowered the Tcry from 184 ± 6 °C for the case of an aqueous solvent to 103 ± 5 °C/methanol and 120 ± 8 °C/ethanol. The formation of multiple forms of crystals and partial melting were suggested by the thermal analysis. Isothermal crystallization experiments showed that the alcohol-originated amorphous trehalose was eventually exclusively converted into β-form crystals. The induction period (tind) before the start of isothermal crystallization was markedly shortened when alcohol was used as the solvent compared to water. The tind values for various amorphous sugar samples including the alcohol-originated ones could be correlated with difference between Tcry and the sample temperature

Distinct Roles of Zmynd17 and PGC1α in Mitochondrial Quality Control and Biogenesis in Skeletal Muscle

Maintaining skeletal muscle mitochondrial quality is important not only for muscle activity but also for systemic metabolism. Exercise has long been recognized to have a positive impact on muscle mitochondrial quality. Although exercise triggers various changes in the mitochondrial dynamics, its molecular basis remains to be elucidated. We have previously reported that inactivation of the muscle-specific protein, zinc finger MYND domain-containing protein 17 (Zmynd17), results in mitochondrial abnormalities. To investigate the link between Zmynd17 activity and exercise-induced mitochondrial maintenance, we observed the effect of consecutive exercise on the mitochondrial quality in Zmynd17-deficient muscles. Zmynd17-deficient mice displayed abnormal mitochondrial morphology in limb muscles, which remarkably improved upon voluntary exercise. Interestingly, morphological abnormalities in mitochondria were even more apparent when PGC1α, a regulator of exercise-induced mitochondrial biogenesis, was overexpressed in Zmynd17-KO limb muscle. These abnormalities were also ameliorated by voluntary exercise. Our results show that neither the effect of consecutive exercise on mitochondrial quality nor PGC1α-induced mitochondrial biogenesis are mediated through Zmynd17 activity, thereby suggesting the existence of a complex mechanism of mitochondrial quality control in muscles

Open dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal joint of the little finger subsequent to chronic radial collateral ligament injury : a case report of primary ligament reconstruction with a half-slip of the flexor digitorum superficialis : Case Report

Open dislocation of the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint is relatively rare. We report a case of a 32-year-old man who had open dislocation of the PIP joint of the little finger while playing American football. He had a history of chronic radial collateral ligament injury. We reconstructed the radial collateral ligament with a half-slip of the flexor digitorum superficialis tendon