"Measuring the Cost of Imperfect Information in the Tokyo Housing Market"

The cost of imperfect information is estimated in the real estate market of resale condominiums in central Tokyo by using a new, comprehensive data set of resale condominium transactions. The results suggest a substantial cost. Specifically, if information were perfectly available and marketing time is null, sellers would get benefits of 10.58% based on average interest rate, 31.28% on gross rent and 22.59% on net rent, against imputed rent of their property. Buyers spend 1,042,000 Yen on search activities for one transaction, which would be saved if information were prefect. This cost amounts to be equivalent to 13.2% of buyers' average annual income.

Improvement of bearing failure behaviour of T-shaped steel beam-reinforced concrete columns joints using perfbond plate connectors

[EN] For the joints composed of steel beams and reinforced concrete columns, shear failure and bearing failure are the key failure modes. The shear failure indicates stable hysteresis loop without the strength degradation. On the other hand, the bearing failure mode indicates large pinching and strength degration after the attainment of the maximum load.Accordingly, bearing failure in the joints should not be caused in RCS system.To improve the bearing failure behavior of S beam - RC column joint, joint details using perfobond plate connectors were proposed. Perfobond plate connectors were attached on the upper and bottom flanges at right angles to the steel flange. The objective of this study is to clarify the effectiveness of proposed joints details experimentally and theoretically.Six specimens were tested. All specimens were T-shaped planar beam - column joints with 350mm square RC column and S beams with the width of 125mm and the depth of 300mm. The beams were all continuous through the column.Perfobond plate connectors were attached on the bottom flanges at right angles to the steel flange.Three holes were set up in the perfobond plate connectors. The experimental variable was the transverse reinforcement ratio of the joints. The transverse reinforcement ratio of the joints was 0.181% and 0.815%. For each transverse reinforcement ratio of the joints, specimen without the perfobond plate connectors, specimen with the perfobond plate connectors and specimen with the reinforcing bar inserted the hole of perfobond plate connectors were planned.For all specimens, the hysteresis loop showed the reversed S-shape. However, energy dissipation for specimens for specimens with perfobond plate connectors was larger than of specimen without perfobond plate connectors. Bearing strength of specimens with perfobond plate connectors was larger than that of specimen without perfobond plate connectors. From the test results, shear strength of concrete connector a hole was 0.7 times compression strength of concrete.On the other hand, shear strength of inserted reinforcing bar was 1.25 times shear strength of reinforcing bar.Based on the stress transferring mechanism and resistance mechanism of joints proposed by authors, the design formulae of joints with perfobond plate connectors were proposed.The predictions were shown to be in good agreement with the test results.Yoshida, M.; Nishimura, Y. (2018). Improvement of bearing failure behaviour of T-shaped steel beam-reinforced concrete columns joints using perfbond plate connectors. En Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures. ASCCS 2018. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 457-463. https://doi.org/10.4995/ASCCS2018.2018.7007OCS45746

Improvement of bearing performance on exterior steel beam-reinforced concrete column joints with steel column

[EN] To improve the bearing failure behavior of the exterior steel beam-reinforced concrete column joints composed of reinforced concrete columns, joint details using steel column was proposed. Steel column was attached to the lower flanges at right angles to the steel flange. The objective of this study is to clarify the effectiveness of proposed joint details experimentally and theoretically. To clarify the influence of steel column on the bearing failure of the joint, seven T-shaped subassemblages were tested under reversed cyclic loading. All specimens had the same cross sections of the steel beam. The experimental variables were the embedded length of the steel column, whether there is the end plate at the tip of the embedded steel column, and, the arrangement of transverse reinforcement ratio surrounding the steel column. The following remarks can be drawn from the test results. 1) In case of the specimen with a short embedded length of the steel column, the punching shear failure on the upper surface of the steel beam flange was remarkable when the maximum strength was reached. However, in the specimen with long embedded length of steel column, it was not observed the punching shear failure. 2) The maximum strength increased with the embedded length of the steel column. Further, the maximum strength of the specimen with the embedded length of three times of the steel column depths is subjected to bending yield strength of the steel column. 3) It was shown that the transverse reinforcement to surround the steel column and the end plate were necessary to improve the bearing failure of the joint.Nakaue, S.; Nishimura, Y. (2018). Improvement of bearing performance on exterior steel beam-reinforced concrete column joints with steel column. En Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures. ASCCS 2018. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 491-497. https://doi.org/10.4995/ASCCS2018.2018.7077OCS49149

Fair Allocation with Binary Valuations for Mixed Divisible and Indivisible Goods

The fair allocation of mixed goods, consisting of both divisible and indivisible goods, among agents with heterogeneous preferences, has been a prominent topic of study in economics and computer science. In this paper, we investigate the nature of fair allocations when agents have binary valuations. We define an allocation as fair if its utility vector minimizes a symmetric strictly convex function, which includes conventional fairness criteria such as maximum egalitarian social welfare and maximum Nash social welfare. While a good structure is known for the continuous case (where only divisible goods exist) or the discrete case (where only indivisible goods exist), deriving such a structure in the hybrid case remains challenging. Our contributions are twofold. First, we demonstrate that the hybrid case does not inherit some of the nice properties of continuous or discrete cases, while it does inherit the proximity theorem. Second, we analyze the computational complexity of finding a fair allocation of mixed goods based on the proximity theorem. In particular, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for the case when all divisible goods are identical and homogeneous, and demonstrate that the problem is NP-hard in general. Our results also contribute to a deeper understanding of the hybrid convex analysis

Integrated examination and comparison of prospection methods at japanese historical Kiln sites

Magnetic prospection in Japan has been used widely for surveying archaeological sites with thermoremanent magnetism. Kiln sites are a good target and much data has already been accumulated over a long period of time. Magnetic anomalies are two-dimensional, however, while many archaeologists today require three-dimensional data in order to be able to plan for the excavation and preservation of a kiln site. Our group has therefore examined in detail how kiln type can be assessed by archaeologic..

Identification of a potent immunostimulatory oligodeoxynucleotide from Streptococcus thermophilus lacZ

Immunostimulatory sequences of oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), such as CpG ODNs, are potent stimulators of innate immunity. Here, we identified a strong immunostimulatory CpG ODN, which we named MsST, from the lac Z gene of Streptococcus (S.) thermophilus ATCC19258, and we evaluated its immune functions. In in vitro studies, MsST had a similar ability as the murine prototype CpG ODN 1555 to induce inflammatory cytokine production and cell proliferation. In mouse splenocytes, MsST increased the number of CD80+CD11c+and CD86+CD11c+ dendritic cells and CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells. We also analyzed the effects of MsST on the expression of regulatory cytokines by real-time quantitative PCR. MsST was more potent at inducing interleukin-10 expression than the ODN control 1612, indicating that MsST can augment the regulatory T cell response via Toll-like receptor 9, which plays an important role in suppressing T helper type 2 responses. These results suggest that S. thermophilus, whose genes include a strong Immunostimulatory sequence-ODN, is a good candidate for a starter culture to develop new physiologically functional foods and feeds.ArticleANIMAL SCIENCE JOURNAL. 80(5):597-604 (2009)journal articl

Effects of pulsing procedure of interleukin-12 in combination with interleukin-2 on the activation of peripheral blood lymphocytes derived from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), natural killer (NK) cell activity decreases significantly, and the reduced activity may be associated with the progression of HCC. In this study we evaluated the effects of pulsing with interleukin (IL)-2 and/or IL-12 on the activation of freshly isolated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) derived from patients with HCC. PBL obtained from 9 HCC patients, 4 liver cirrhosis patients, and 9 normal subjects were cultured in the presence of IL-2 and/or IL-12. After 24 h of incubation, the levels of interferon (IFN)-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha presented in the supernatants were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production of PBL pulsed by a combination of IL-2 and IL-12 was significantly higher than those of PBL stimulated by either IL-2 or IL-12 alone. The mRNA encoding perforin, granzyme B, as well as IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, were markedly enhanced in PBL stimulated with a combination of IL-12 and IL-2. The pulsing procedure of IL-12 in combination with IL-2 resulted in the increase of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, and the expression of perforin and granzyme B mRNA in PBL obtained from HCC patients, as well as in those obtained from normal subjects. These results indicate that adoptive immunotherapy based on PBL pulsed with a combination of IL-2 and IL-12 may be a promising adjunctive strategy for HCC treatment.</p

Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC) for Bilateral Severe Ischemic Foot after Revascularization: A Patient Report

The Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC) Therapy (KCI, San Antonio, TX) is a unique system that helps promote wound healing. We report a case of severe ischemic foot in which VAC therapy markedly improved wound healing. A 73-year-old man underwent left axillopopliteal bypass and left 3rd, 4th and 5th digital amputations for gangrene. Although his amputation stumps were complicated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, the stumps were successfully healed by VAC. He also had gangrene in his right 1st toe, which could not healed by VAC alone, and we performed right femoropopliteal bypass and right 1st digital amputation. The stump with MRSA infection was also successfully healed by VAC. Histopathologic examination revealed a lot of microvessels in the increased granulation tissue