Dose-response relationship between sports activity and musculoskeletal pain in adolescents.

Physical activity has multiple health benefits but may also increase the risk of developing musculoskeletal pain (MSP). However, the relationship between physical activity and MSP has not been well characterized. This study examined the dose-response relationship between sports activity and MSP among adolescents. Two school-based serial surveys were conducted 1 year apart in adolescents aged 12 to 18 years in Unnan, Japan. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 2403 students. Associations between time spent in organized sports activity and MSP were analyzed cross-sectionally (n = 2403) and longitudinally (n = 374, students free of pain and in seventh or 10th grade at baseline) with repeated-measures Poisson regression and restricted cubic splines, with adjustment for potential confounders. The prevalence of overall pain, defined as having pain recently at least several times a week in at least one part of the body, was 27.4%. In the cross-sectional analysis, sports activity was significantly associated with pain prevalence. Each additional 1 h/wk of sports activity was associated with a 3% higher probability of having pain (prevalence ratio = 1.03, 95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.04). Similar trends were found across causes (traumatic and nontraumatic pain) and anatomic locations (upper limbs, lower back, and lower limbs). In longitudinal analysis, the risk ratio for developing pain at 1-year follow-up per 1 h/wk increase in baseline sports activity was 1.03 (95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.05). Spline models indicated a linear association (P < 0.001) but not a nonlinear association (P ≥ 0.45). The more the adolescents played sports, the more likely they were to have and develop pain.This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. MK is supported by a JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad. FI is supported by the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit (MC_UU_12015/1; MC_UU_12015/5).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Wolters Kluwer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.000000000000052

Field experiments in labor economics

In this thesis I show with three studies how field experiments can enhance our understanding of labor markets. Economists traditionally assume that individuals exclusively respond to monetary incentives. As a consequence, if workers have no prospect of future employment at the firm and pay is not contingent on their performance, a wage change should not affect effort. Some economists, however, have recognized that this narrow view of human motivation may severely limit our progress in understanding incentives. In Chapters 2 and 3, I investigate the role of psychological motives like the desire to reciprocate in the context of a real‐life work environment. The first experiment explores the impact of a wage increase on work performance when there is no economic reason for workers to change their effort. I find that workers reciprocate a generous wage with higher performance, particularly those workers who care about fairness and felt underpaid prior to the wage increase. The second experiment investigates the effects of a wage cut on performance when either all workers in a team or only some of them suffer the cut. I show that a general pay cut reduces performance, while a wage cut for only some of the workers reduces their performance more than twice as much. This finding demonstrates the powerful force of social comparison and the need to build the social nature of humans into economic theory. In Chapter 4, I examine the joint effects of monetary incentives and social interaction on work performance. Many jobs offer wage schemes that create positive or negative externalities on coworkers. Whether or not workers have the possibility to interact socially at work may distort the intended incentives of these schemes. I find that under relative incentives, when own effort imposes a negative externality on the coworker’s income, social interaction works against monetary incentives and leads to low performance due to collusion. However, the more workers differ in skills the less able they are to sustain collusive agreements. In der vorliegenden Dissertation zeige ich anhand von drei Studien wie Feldexperimente unser Verständnis von Arbeitsmärkten verbessern können. Ökonomen gehen traditionell davon aus, dass Individuen ausschliesslich auf materielle Anreize reagieren. Wenn also Arbeitskräfte keine Aussicht auf eine langfristige Anstellung haben und deren Lohn nicht von der Leistung abhängt, dann sollte eine Lohnveränderung keinen Einfluss auf die Arbeitsleistung haben. Manche Ökonomen haben jedoch erkannt, dass diese Sichtweise des menschlichen Verhaltens beschränkt ist und unseren Fortschritt im Verständnis von Anreizen bremsen kann. In den Kapiteln 2 und 3 untersuche ich die Bedeutung von psychologischen Motiven wie Fairness oder Reziprozität in echten Arbeitsumgebungen. Das erste Experiment untersucht den Einfluss einer Lohnerhöhung auf die Arbeitsleistung, wenn Arbeitskräfte keinen ökonomischen Grund haben, ihren Arbeitseinsatz zu ändern. Diese Studie zeigt, dass Arbeitskräfte einen grosszügigen Lohn mit höherer Arbeitsleistung erwidern. Dies gilt besonders für diejenigen, die Fairness als wichtig empfinden und sich vor der Lohnerhöhung unterbezahlt fühlten. Das zweite Experiment untersucht die Wirkung einer Lohnkürzung auf die Arbeitsleistung, wenn entweder das ganze Team oder nur einen Teil davon betroffen ist. Diese Studie zeigt auf, dass eine generelle Lohnkürzung die Arbeitsleistung senkt, wohingegen eine Lohnkürzung nur für einzelne Arbeitskräfte deren Leistung um mehr als das Doppelte reduziert. Diese Erkenntnis unterstreicht die Bedeutung von sozialen Motiven und die Notwendigkeit einer Veränderung des Menschenbilds in der Ökonomie. In Kapitel 4 erforsche ich den gemeinsamen Einfluss von materiellen Anreizen und sozialer Interaktion auf die Arbeitsleistung. Viele Firmen bieten Lohnsysteme an, bei welchen die eigene Leistung vor‐ oder nachteilhafte Nebeneffekte auf das Einkommen der Arbeitskollegen hat. Soziale Interaktion am Arbeitsplatz kann dabei die Anreize dieser Lohnsysteme verzerren. Diese Studie findet heraus, dass bei Entlohnung der Arbeitskräfte durch Turnieranreize, d.h. wenn die eigene Leistung sich nachteilhaft auf das Einkommen der Arbeitskollegen auswirkt, soziale Interaktion die Anreize ausser Kraft setzt und zu geheimen Absprachen führt. Wenn hingegen Arbeitskräfte sehr unterschiedliche Fähigkeiten besitzen, dann sind geheime Absprachen schwieriger aufrecht zu halten

Identification of RNF213 as a Susceptibility Gene for Moyamoya Disease and Its Possible Role in Vascular Development

もやもや病感受性遺伝子の特定とその機能についての発見. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2011-7-21.Background Moyamoya disease is an idiopathic vascular disorder of intracranial arteries. Its susceptibility locus has been mapped to 17q25.3 in Japanese families, but the susceptibility gene is unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings Genome-wide linkage analysis in eight three-generation families with moyamoya disease revealed linkage to 17q25.3 (P<10-4). Fine mapping demonstrated a 1.5-Mb disease locus bounded by D17S1806 and rs2280147. We conducted exome analysis of the eight index cases in these families, with results filtered through Ng criteria. There was a variant of p.N321S in PCMTD1 and p.R4810K in RNF213 in the 1.5-Mb locus of the eight index cases. The p.N321S variant in PCMTD1 could not be confirmed by the Sanger method. Sequencing RNF213 in 42 index cases confirmed p.R4810K and revealed it to be the only unregistered variant. Genotyping 39 SNPs around RNF213 revealed a founder haplotype transmitted in 42 families. Sequencing the 260-kb region covering the founder haplotype in one index case did not show any coding variants except p.R4810K. A case-control study demonstrated strong association of p.R4810K with moyamoya disease in East Asian populations (251 cases and 707 controls) with an odds ratio of 111.8 (P = 10−119). Sequencing of RNF213 in East Asian cases revealed additional novel variants: p.D4863N, p.E4950D, p.A5021V, p.D5160E, and p.E5176G. Among Caucasian cases, variants p.N3962D, p.D4013N, p.R4062Q and p.P4608S were identified. RNF213 encodes a 591-kDa cytosolic protein that possesses two functional domains: a Walker motif and a RING finger domain. These exhibit ATPase and ubiquitin ligase activities. Although the mutant alleles (p.R4810K or p.D4013N in the RING domain) did not affect transcription levels or ubiquitination activity, knockdown of RNF213 in zebrafish caused irregular wall formation in trunk arteries and abnormal sprouting vessels. Conclusions/Significance We provide evidence suggesting, for the first time, the involvement of RNF213 in genetic susceptibility to moyamoya disease

Diverse Effects of FK506 on the Apoptosis of Hepatocytes and Infiltrating Lymphocytes in an Allografted Rat Liver.

BACKGROUND: The current study investigated whether FK506 (FK) regulates the apoptotic systems in allografted rat liver and the contribution of Fas/Fas-ligand system and Bcl-2 family during acute rejection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The recipients were divided into three groups, the allo, the allo-FK, and the syn group. Rats were euthanized 1, 3, 5, and 7 d after OLT. Apoptotic activity was explored using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. The expression of Fas/Fas-ligand and Bcl-2/Bax in the grafted livers was investigated by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The apoptotic index (AI) of hepatocytes in the allo-FK group was less than that in the allo group. Fas in the allo group was more intense than that in the allo-FK group in the periportal areas on day 1 and 3, while Bcl-2 in the allo group was less intense than that in the allo-FK group in the pericaval areas at all time-points after OLT. CONCLUSION: FK provides beneficial antiapoptotic effects on hepatocytes in the grafted rat livers through both the down-regulation of Fas expression in the periportal areas and the up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression in the pericaval areas

ナンキョク ショウワキチ ニ オケル クウデン トウライ ホウイ ト ヒンド ニホン ナンキョク チイキ カンソクタイ ノ ホウコク

極地性低気圧に伴う空電を調査する目的で,10kHzで動作する自記式空電源方位測定機を製作し,1969年3月から1970年1月にかけて運転した.この論文では調査の科学的な目標と得られた結果について要旨を述べる.遠距離空電源について得られた結果から,次のようなことが判明した.即ち,もしこのような観測を南極で実施したとすると,これは各季節毎の地球上における定常性の雷雨頻発地区内での雷活動度を監視する有効な方法となる.さらにブリザード時の記録から,極地性低気圧はその内部に電気的に活発な領域を伴うようだという証拠をつかみえた