Embodied Technological Progress and the Productivity Slowdown in Japan

Concerns over the rise in the vintage of capital in the Japanese economy have focused attention on the technological progress embodied in capital. In this paper, we derive the theoretical relationship between the rate of technological progress embodied in capital, the obsolescence rate of capital, and the average vintage of capital, then we estimate these rates by using firm-level panel data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Basic Survey of Japanese Business Structure and Activities in the period between 1997 and 2002.To measure the obsolescence rate of capital by estimating the production function, it is necessary to construct a capital stock series that takes only physical depreciation into account for each vintage capital held by each firm. To do that, we prepared industry-specific patterns of the physical depreciation ratio of capital goods, based on the pattern of the physical depreciation ratio of each type of capital goods by obtaining information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the Japan Industrial Productivity Database (JIP) 2006’s investment matrices cross-classified by types of capital goods and industries. We applied these industry-specific patterns of the physical depreciation ratio of capital goods to the individual firms’ investment series, constructing a capital stock series in each firm.We measured the obsolescence rate by estimating the production function, which is similar to the one employed in Sakellaris and Wilson (2004). We added several control variables to their equations. The estimated obsolescence rate of machinery and equipment is found to be between 8 and 22 percent per annum, which is very close to the estimated ratios in other previous research using the production function. This estimation result implies that the average rate of technological progress embodied in machinery and equipment is between 0.2 and 0.4 percent in Japan. The average vintage of capital in the manufacturing industry in the 1990s was estimated to increase by almost two years, because of weak investment during that decade, and it has the effect of lowering the rate of productivity growth in the industry by 0.4 to 0.8 percentage points.ArticleRIETI Discussion Paper Series. : 08-E-017(2008)technical repor

Image_1_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.JPEG

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

Data_Sheet_5_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.PDF

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

Data_Sheet_4_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.PDF

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

Image_3_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.JPEG

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

Image_2_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.JPEG

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

Phosphorylated PPPSPXS peptides inhibit β-catenin phosphorylation by GSK3 in vitro.

<p><i>A</i>. The HA, Phos-E, Phos-C, Phos-D and Phos-A peptides (left panel) and the HA, Phos-A, and A-mut peptides (right panel) were included in the β-catenin phosphorylation assay. Each peptide was at 10 µM final concentration. <i>B</i>. Four-fold serial dilutions of HA, Phos-A, and A-mut peptides were included in the β-catenin phosphorylation assay. <i>C</i>. Four-fold serial dilutions of Phos-A, and 14-3-3BP peptides were included in the β-catenin phosphorylation assay. <i>D</i>. Four-fold serial dilutions of HA, Phos-E, Phos-A, Phos-C, and Phos-D peptides were included in the β-catenin phosphorylation assay. <i>E</i>. The result from D was quantified via Adobe Photoshop. β-catenin phosphorylation assays were performed in the presence of Axin and CK1 as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004926#pone-0004926-g001" target="_blank">Figure 1C</a>. Each peptide was at 10 µM, 2.5 µM, 0.63 µM, and 0.16 µM (four-fold serial dilutions) final concentration. The phosphorylation reaction products were analyzed by western blotting using an anti-phospho-Ser33/Ser37/Thr41 β-catenin antibody and an anti-β-catenin antibody.</p

Image_4_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.JPEG

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

Data_Sheet_3_Mathematical appraisal of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron epidemic outbreak in unprecedented Shanghai lockdown.PDF

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak is ongoing in Shanghai, home to 25 million population. Here, we presented a novel mathematical model to evaluate the Omicron spread and Zero-COVID strategy. Our model provided important parameters, the average quarantine ratio, the detection interval from being infected to being tested positive, and the spreading coefficient to understand the epidemic progression better. Moreover, we found that the key to a relatively accurate long-term forecast was to take the variation/relaxation of the parameters into consideration based on the flexible execution of the quarantine policy. This allowed us to propose the criteria for estimating the parameters and outcome for the ending stage that is likely to take place in late May. Altogether, this model helped to give a correct mathematical appraisal of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron outbreak under the strict Zero-COVID policy in China.</p

A working model for LRP6 inhibition of β-catenin phosphorylation by the Axin-GSK3 complex.

<p>While one of the five phosphorylated PPPSPXS motifs of LRP6 physically interacts with Axin, other phosphorylated PPPSPXS motifs may directly inhibit GSK3 phosphorylation of β-catenin in the Axin complex. Axin-binding to motif C is drawn arbitrarily. See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0004926#s3" target="_blank">Discussion</a> for details.</p