Mixed oligopoly and spatial agglomeration in quasi-linear city

We apply a spatial model that includes both circular-city and linear-city models as special cases to the analysis of location-quantity model in mixed oligopoly. We find that the equilibrium pattern continuously moves from that of the circular-city to that of the linear-city and that the linear-city result is more likely in our setting as the equilibrium location.Linear-city, Circular-city, Location-quantity, Mixed oligopoly

Remodeling of Airway Walls in Fatal Asthmatics Decreases Lymphatic Distribution; Beyond Thickening of Airway Smooth Muscle Layers

ABSTRACTBackgroundWe previously reported the phenotypic distribution patterns of airway smooth muscles in fatal asthmatics; Type I asthmatics with smooth muscle bundle thickening only in large airways and Type II in whole airways. We hypothesized that increased smooth muscle bundles in the airway walls would disrupt airway lymphatics to impair airway clearance in these fatal asthmatics.MethodsThe autopsy lungs of seven fatal asthmatics (three Type I, four Type II asthmatics) and five controls were examined by immunohistochemistry to reveal the lymphatics distributed in the airway walls. The total area of lymphatics around each cross-sectioned airway was measured and its airway radius was calculated using an image analyzer system. Finally, the distribution areas of lymphatics in the same level of airways of bronchial trees were compared among Type I, Type II asthmatics and controls.ResultsThe total area of airway lymphatics in each lung was found to be positively correlated with the airway radius (R). The distribution areas of lymphatics in larger airways (1.5 < R < 2.0 mm) of both types of asthmatics were significantly decreased than controls, and Type I asthmatics contained much less lymphatics than Type II asthmatics in these airways. The lymphatics around smaller airways (0.5 < R < 1.0 mm) were also reduced in both phenotypes of asthmatics without statistic difference between them. The airway lymphatics of these fatal asthmatics were observed to be interrupted by thickened muscle bundle layers, and by fibrotic tissues developed around these airways as well.ConclusionsThese results indicate that distribution of lymphatics were decreased in the airway walls of fatal asthmatics which contained muscle bundles and fibro-connective tissues both of which were augmented in these airway walls to disrupt lymphatics, impair airway clearance and accelerate mucosal edema which would cause refractory status of these patients

Characterization of a monoclonal antibody that induces the acrosome reaction of sea urchin sperm.

A monoclonal antibody, J18/29, induces the acrosome reaction (AR) in spermatozoa of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. J18/29 induces increases in both intracellular Ca2+ and intracellular pH similar to those occurring upon induction of the AR by the natural inducer, the fucose sulfate-rich glycoconjugate of egg jelly. Lowering the Ca2+ concentration or the pH of the seawater inhibits the J18/29-induced AR, as does treatment with Co2+, an inhibitor of Ca2+ channels. The J18/29-induced AR is also inhibited by verapamil, tetraethylammonium chloride, and elevated K+. All these treatments cause similar inhibition of the egg jelly-induced AR. J18/29 reacts with a group of membrane proteins ranging in molecular mass from 340 to 25 kD, as shown by immunoprecipitation of lysates of 125I-labeled sperm and Western blots. The most prominent reacting proteins are of molecular masses of 320, 240, 170, and 58 kD. The basis of the multiple reactivity appears to reside in the polypeptide chains of these proteins, as J18/29 binding is sensitive to protease digestion but resistant to periodate oxidation. There are approximately 570,000 sites per cell for J18/29 binding. J18/29 is the only reagent of known binding specificity that induces the AR; it identifies a subset of sperm membrane proteins whose individual characterization may lead to the isolation of the receptors involved in the triggering of the AR at fertilization

Genomic Approaches for Dissecting Complex Traits Related to Quality Production of Range Grasses

Tropical grasses have been widely used as warm-season forage grasses in the warm temperate zone since the early 20th century because of their high yields; they have also been used as perennial forages in their native tropical areas. Increasing demand for animal production sparked by economic development in tropical countries is requiring breeders to improve native forage grasses in these countries. Considerable efforts have been made to breed accessions with improved characteristics and to develop new cultivars. However, cross-breeding is not common, owing to a lack of genetic information and to complexities related to polyploidy, high sterility rates, outcrossing, and apomixis. Nevertheless, several of the difficulties are being resolved by advanced research using molecular genetic tools, involving linkage analysis for the inheritance of genes for traits with major effects, such as apomixis. However, additional improvement is required for forage grasses with complex major traits that are controlled by multiple minor genes, such as forage yield, nutrient uptake, and sterility. In these cases, molecular tools can be combined with simple measurements of plant physical or morphological traits to support breeding. In addition, combining molecular tools with conventional breeding methods could lead to effective selection of promising breeding resources

Jushinkei enerugi 1.96TeV no yoshi, han yoshi shototsu jikken ni okeru toppu kwoku seimitsu sokutei to hyojun mokei Higgusu ryushi tansaku

制度:新 ; 報告番号:乙2319号 ; 学位の種類:博士(理学) ; 授与年月日:2011/3/25 ; 早大学位記番号:新567

Monoclonal antibodies to a membrane glycoprotein induce the phosphorylation of histone H1 in sea urchin spermatozoa.

Two groups of mAbs reacting with external domains of a major sea urchin sperm membrane glycoprotein of 210 kD were isolated. Previous studies have shown that group I mAbs inhibit the acrosome reaction induced by egg jelly and also cause large increases in intracellular Ca2+ [( Ca2+]i). Group II mAbs, at comparable levels of cell surface binding, neither inhibit the egg jelly-induced acrosome reaction nor cause increases in [Ca2+]i. In this paper, we investigate the ability of these mAbs to induce the cAMP-dependent phosphorylation of sperm histone H1. Group I mAbs induce H1 phosphorylation to the same level and on the same peptide, as occurs upon treatment of sperm with egg jelly. These mAbs also activate adenylate cyclase to the same extent as egg jelly. Group II mAbs do not induce H1 phosphorylation and are only poor activators of adenylate cyclase. Group I mAbs compete with each other, but not with group II mAbs, for binding to the cell surface. These data indicate that the activation of adenylate cyclase is an initial event in the pathway leading from the binding of mAbs to a specific domain of the 210-kD protein at the cell surface, to the discrete phosphorylation of histone H1 in highly condensed sperm chromatin. The domain on the 210-kD protein recognized by group I mAbs plays a critical role in signal transduction during the early events of fertilization

Drug efficacy and safety of biologics and Janus kinase inhibitors in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are frequently associated with higher disease activity and impaired physical function, although they show intolerance for conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), such as methotrexate, because of their comorbidities. However, the present treatment recommendation based on randomized controlled trials is not distinguished by age or comorbidities. Therefore, this review aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) and Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) in elderly patients. Present bDMARDs, including tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4-immunoglobulin (abatacept), interleukin (IL)-6 receptor antibody (tocilizumab and salirumab), and anti-CD20 antibody (rituximab), may be similarly or slightly less effective or safe in elderly patients compared with younger patients. Oral glucocorticoid use, prolonged disease duration, and very old patients appear to be associated with an increased risk of adverse events, such as serious infection. Some recent cohort studies demonstrated that non-TNFi showed better retention than TNFi in elderly patients. Both TNFi and non-TNFi agents may not strongly influence the risk of adverse events such as cardiovascular events and malignancy in elderly patients. Regarding JAKi, the efficacy appears to be similar, although the safety (particularly for serious infections, including herpes zoster) may be attenuated by aging.This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in The Modern Rheumatology following peer review. The version of record, Ebina K.. Drug efficacy and safety of biologics and Janus kinase inhibitors in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Modern Rheumatology 32(2), 256-262, (2022); is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/mr/article/32/2/256/6348532 and https://doi.org/10.1093/mr/roab003

Cosmology before noon with multiple galaxy populations

Near-future facilities observing the high-redshift universe ($2<z<5$) will have an opportunity to take advantage of "multi-tracer" cosmology by observing multiple tracers of the matter density field: Lyman alpha emitters (LAE), Lyman break galaxies (LBG), and CMB lensing $\kappa$. In this work we use Fisher forecasts to investigate the effect of multi-tracers on next-generation facilities. In agreement with previous work, we show that multiple tracers improve constraints primarily from degeneracy breaking, instead of the traditional intuition of sample variance cancellation. Then, we forecast that for both BBN and CMB primary priors, the addition of lensing and LAEs onto a LBG-only sample will gain 25\% or more in many parameters, with the largest gains being factor of $\sim10$ improvement for $f_{\rm EDE}$. We include a preliminary approach towards modelling the impact of radiative transfer (RT) on forecasts involving LAEs by introducing a simplified model at linear theory level. Our results, albeit preliminary, show that the while RT influences LAE-only forecasts strongly, its effect on composite multi-tracer forecasts are limited.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figure