Policies, Promoters, and Patterns of Japanese-Korean and Japanese-Taiwanese Marriages in Imperial Japan: Making a Case for Inclusive History

This dissertation examines the policies, promoters, and patterns of Japanese-Korean marriages (naisen kekkon) and Japanese-Taiwanese marriages (naitai kyōkon) in imperial Japan. It seeks to answer why the Japanese empire sanctioned intermarriage when the Euro-American empires condemned marriage between colonizers and colonized subjects in the twentieth century. It also questions who were the people that promoted intermarriage and why people intermarried in Japan, where the government legalized intermarriage but did not promote it at the national level. This research further investigates what happened to people who intermarried before 1945 in postwar Japan, and why so little is known about the history of Japanese-Korean and Japanese-Taiwanese marriages in contemporary Japan. With existing studies on the history of intermarriage in the Japanese empire focusing on colonial Korea and Taiwan, this project focuses on Japan. Through analysis of internal and external influences on the discourse of intermarriage in the metropole, it first argues that imperial Japan’s sanctioning of intermarriage was based on its population policies and observations of its contemporaneous empires, thus should not be equated with the absence of racism in Japan and its isolation from the world. It then reveals that intermarriage was promoted in Japan at the local level by the members of the Harmony Association (Kyōwakai), district commissioners (hōmen’iin), and Japanese women. By studying the history of Japanese-Korean and Japanese-Taiwanese marriages together rather than separately, this research demonstrates the limitation of relying on categories such as “colonizer” and “colonized” alone in understanding the promoters and patterns of intermarriage, and proposes consideration of a/sexuality and ability in addition to race/ethnicity, gender, and class when studying colonizer-colonized relationships in modern empires. Lastly, this research traces the history of intermarriage post-1945 to reveal the existence of Japanese-Korean and Japanese-Taiwanese couples in postwar Japan and argues that it has been selectively remembered. Engaging with scholarship in modern Japanese history, imperial and colonial studies, and gender and sexuality studies, this dissertation ultimately makes a case for a more inclusive history that includes into history those who are marginalized in, excluded from, and/or forgotten in existing mainstream frameworks of history, to explain contemporary social issues of historical origin, such as disavowal of racism, in hopes of making a positive social change

Typhoid fever in children: Clinical presentation and risk factors

Objective: The diagnosis of typhoid fever based on widal test is on the rise despite its set back. We prospectively reviewed over one year period, cases of typhoid fever admitted in our centre to document the pattern of clinical presentation, risk factors and the reliability of Widal test in its diagnosis.Methods: This was a prospective study carried out in a NigerianTeaching Hospital. All children, whose parents consented, admittedwith a diagnosis of typhoid fever using the Centre for Disease Controland prevention (CDC) case definition for typhoid fever, between 1stJanuary and 31st December 2010, were consecutively reviewed using astructured questionnaire.Results: A total of 42 patients were admitted out of which 35 were analysed, the remaining 7 were excluded because consent was notobtained. The disease was more common in males than females withM: F ratio of 3:2. The study gives the incidence of suspected typhoidof 30.5 per 1000 admission. The age range of the study population was 6months to 15 years with cases being common among the age group fiveto nine years 13(37.1%). It has a bimodal peak of occurrence as itoccurs commonly in April/May and in August/September. The diseasewas common in the low socioeconomic classes. All the 35 patientshad fever (100%), vomiting 25 (71.4%), typhoid psychosis 3 (8.6%) and 4 (11.4%) had intestinal perforation. Culture was positive in 8 (22.9%) of the patients. Widal test were significant in 20 (57.1%) with a sensitivity of 62.5%, specificity 44.4%, positive predictive value 25%, negative predictive value 80% and the efficiency of the test was 48.6%.Conclusion: The incidence of typhoid fever in this study is 30.5 per 1000 admission, it is common during rainy and harmattan period. The use of Widal test is not too helpful in diagnosis of typhoid fever. Therefore, culture samples should be done in all cases of suspected typhoid fever

Early transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells after spinal cord injury relieves pain hypersensitivity through suppression of pain-related signaling cascades and reduced inflammatory cell recruitment

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) modulate inflammatory/immune responses and promote motor functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the effects of BMSC transplantation on central neuropathic pain and neuronal hyperexcitability after SCI remain elusive. This is of importance because BMSC-based therapies have been proposed for clinical treatment. We investigated the effects of BMSC transplantation on pain hypersensitivity in green fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive bone marrow-chimeric mice subjected to a contusion SCI, and the mechanisms of such effects. BMSC transplantation at day 3 post-SCI improved motor function and relieved SCI-induced hypersensitivities to mechanical and thermal stimulation. The pain improvements were mediated by suppression of protein kinase C-γ and phosphocyclic AMP response element binding protein expression in dorsal horn neurons. BMSC transplants significantly reduced levels of p-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK1/2) in both hematogenous macrophages and resident microglia and significantly reduced the infiltration of CD11b and GFP double-positive hematogenous macrophages without decreasing the CD11b-positive and GFP-negative activated spinal-microglia population. BMSC transplants prevented hematogenous macrophages recruitment by restoration of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB), which was associated with decreased levels of (a) inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6); (b) mediators of early secondary vascular pathogenesis (matrix metallopeptidase 9); (c) macrophage recruiting factors (CCL2, CCL5, and CXCL10), but increased levels of a microglial stimulating factor (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor). These findings support the use of BMSC transplants for SCI treatment. Furthermore, they suggest that BMSC reduce neuropathic pain through a variety of related mechanisms that include neuronal sparing and restoration of the disturbed BSCB, mediated through modulation of the activity of spinal-resident microglia and the activity and recruitment of hematogenous macrophages

Early Transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells After Spinal Cord Injury Relieves Pain Hypersensitivity Through Suppression of Pain-Related Signaling Cascades and Reduced Inflammatory Cell Recruitment

This novel study demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cell transplants after spinal cord injury reduce neuropathic pain, giving details of reduced pain signalling pathways affected. The work is essential in the translation of stem cell therapies for CNS regeneration.Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSC) modulate inflammatory/immune responses and promote motor functional recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). However, the effects of BMSC transplantation on central neuropathic pain and neuronal hyperexcitability after SCI remain elusive. This is of importance because BMSC-based therapies have been proposed for clinical treatment. We investigated the effects of BMSC transplantation on pain hypersensitivity in green fluorescent protein (GFP)-positive bone marrow-chimeric mice subjected to a contusion SCI, and the mechanisms of such effects. BMSC transplantation at day 3 post-SCI improved motor function and relieved SCI-induced hypersensitivities to mechanical and thermal stimulation. The pain improvements were mediated by suppression of protein kinase C-γ and phosphocyclic AMP response element binding protein expression in dorsal horn neurons. BMSC transplants significantly reduced levels of p-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-ERK1/2) in both hematogenous macrophages and resident microglia and significantly reduced the infiltration of CD11b and GFP double-positive hematogenous macrophages without decreasing the CD11b-positive and GFP-negative activated spinal-microglia population. BMSC transplants prevented hematogenous macrophages recruitment by restoration of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB), which was associated with decreased levels of (a) inflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6); (b) mediators of early secondary vascular pathogenesis (matrix metallopeptidase 9); (c) macrophage recruiting factors (CCL2, CCL5, and CXCL10), but increased levels of a microglial stimulating factor (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor). These findings support the use of BMSC transplants for SCI treatment. Furthermore, they suggest that BMSC reduce neuropathic pain through a variety of related mechanisms that include neuronal sparing and restoration of the disturbed BSCB, mediated through modulation of the activity of spinal-resident microglia and the activity and recruitment of hematogenous macrophages

The prevalence and phenotype of activated microglia/macrophages within the spinal cord of the hyperostotic mouse (twy/twy) changes in response to chronic progressive spinalcord compression:implications for human cervical compressive myelopathy

Background:Cervical compressive myelopathy, e.g. due to spondylosis or ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament is a common cause of spinal cord dysfunction. Although human pathological studies have reported neuronal loss and demyelination in the chronically compressed spinal cord, little is known about the mechanisms involved. In particular, the neuroinflammatory processes that are thought to underlie the condition are poorly understood. The present study assessed the localized prevalence of activated M1 and M2 microglia/macrophages in twy/twy mice that develop spontaneous cervical spinal cord compression, as a model of human disease.Methods:Inflammatory cells and cytokines were assessed in compressed lesions of the spinal cords in 12-, 18- and 24-weeks old twy/twy mice by immunohistochemical, immunoblot and flow cytometric analysis. Computed tomography and standard histology confirmed a progressive spinal cord compression through the spontaneously development of an impinging calcified mass.Results:The prevalence of CD11b-positive cells, in the compressed spinal cord increased over time with a concurrent decrease in neurons. The CD11b-positive cell population was initially formed of arginase-1- and CD206-positive M2 microglia/macrophages, which later shifted towards iNOS- and CD16/32-positive M1 microglia/macrophages. There was a transient increase in levels of T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines at 18 weeks, whereas levels of Th1 cytokines as well as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF) and macrophage antigen (Mac) -2 progressively increased.Conclusions:Spinal cord compression was associated with a temporal M2 microglia/macrophage response, which may act as a possible repair or neuroprotective mechanism. However, the persistence of the neural insult also associated with persistent expression of Th1 cytokines and increased prevalence of activated M1 microglia/macrophages, which may lead to neuronal loss and demyelination despite the presence of neurotrophic factors. This understanding of the aetiopathology of chronic spinal cord compression is of importance in the development of new treatment targets in human disease

Do social networks prevent or promote bank runs?

We report experimental evidence on the effect of observability of actions on bank runs. We model depositors’ decision-making in a sequential framework, with three depositors located at the nodes of a network. Depositors observe the other depositors’ actions only if connected by the network. Theoretically, a sufficient condition to prevent bank runs is that the second depositor to act is able to observe the first one's action (no matter what is observed). Experimentally, we find that observability of actions affects the likelihood of bank runs, but depositors’ choice is highly influenced by the particular action that is being observed. Depositors who are observed by others at the beginning of the line are more likely to keep their money deposited, leading to less bank runs. When withdrawals are observed, bank runs are more likely even when the mere observation of actions should prevent them

Think twice before running! Bank runs and cognitive abilities

We assess the effect of cognitive abilities on withdrawal decisions in a bank-run game. In our setup, depositors choose sequentially between withdrawing or keeping their funds deposited in a common bank. Depositors may observe previous decisions depending on the information structure. Theoretically, the last depositor in the sequence of decisions has a dominant strategy and should always keep the funds deposited, regardless of what she observes (if anything). Recognizing the dominant strategy, however, is not always straightforward. If there exists strategic uncertainty (e.g., if the last depositor has no information regarding the decisions of predecessors), then the identification of the dominant strategy is more difficult than in a situation with no strategic uncertainty (e.g., the last depositor is informed about all previous decisions). We find that cognitive abilities, as measured by the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT), predict withdrawals in the presence of strategic uncertainty (participants with stronger abilities tend to iden- tify the dominant strategy more easily) but that the CRT does not predict behavior when strategic uncertainty is absent (JEL Class.: C91, D03, D8, G02, J16