Shock Transmission Mechanism of the Economic Crisis in East Asia : An Application of International Input-Output Analysis

This paper investigates the impacts of the 2008 economic crisis on industries in East Asia. By using the updated Asian international input-output table for 2008, the paper attempts to identify the transmission mechanism and the magnitude of impact of the crisis on industries in East Asia. The analyses reveal that the crisis significantly affected industrial output of the nine East Asian countries. In particular, the countries which are deeply involved in production networks were affected most seriously. Moreover, the analyses show that the impact was transmitted to East Asian industries considerably through the “triangular tradeâ€, in which China imports parts and components from neighboring East Asian countries and then exports final products to the U.S. and EU markets.International Trade, Input-output Tables, East Asia, Asian International Input-output Table, Triangular Trade, Production Network

Shock Transmission Mechanism of the Economic Crisis in East Asia : An Application of International Input-Output Analysis

This paper investigates the impacts of the 2008 economic crisis on industries in East Asia. By using the updated Asian international input-output table for 2008, the paper attempts to identify the transmission mechanism and the magnitude of impact of the crisis on industries in East Asia. The analyses reveal that the crisis significantly affected industrial output of the nine East Asian countries. In particular, the countries which are deeply involved in production networks were affected most seriously. Moreover, the analyses show that the impact was transmitted to East Asian industries considerably through the “triangular trade”, in which China imports parts and components from neighboring East Asian countries and then exports final products to the U.S. and EU markets

Cloud optical thickness and effective particle radius derived from transmitted solar radiation measurements : Comparison with cloud radar observations

A method is presented for determining the optical thickness and effective particle radius of stratiform clouds containing liquid water drops in the absence of drizzle from transmitted solar radiation measurements. The procedure compares measurements of the cloud transmittance from the ground at water-absorbing and nonabsorbing wavelengths with lookup tables of the transmittance precomputed for plane-parallel, vertically homogeneous clouds. The optical thickness derived from the cloud transmittance may be used to retrieve vertical profiles of cloud microphysics in combination with the radar reflectivity factor. To do this, we also present an algorithm for solving the radar equation with a constraint of the optical thickness at the visible wavelength. Observations of clouds were made in August and September 2003 at Koganei, Tokyo, Japan, using a PREDE i-skyradiometer and a 95-GHz cloud radar Super Polarimetric Ice Crystal Detection and Explication Radar (SPIDER). The optical thickness and effective radius of water clouds were derived from the i-skyradiometer. Then, the vertical profile of the effective radius was retrieved from SPIDER, using the optical thickness determined from the i-skyradiometer. We found that the effective radii derived by using these two instruments were in good agreement

Key Role of Human ABC Transporter ABCG2 in Photodynamic Therapy and Photodynamic Diagnosis

Accumulating evidence indicates that ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABCG2 plays a key role in regulating the cellular accumulation of porphyrin derivatives in cancer cells and thereby affects the efficacy of photodynamic therapy and photodynamic diagnosis. The activity of porphyrin efflux can be affected by genetic polymorphisms in the ABCG2 gene. On the other hand, Nrf2, an NF-E2-related transcription factor, has been shown to be involved in oxidative stress-mediated induction of the ABCG2 gene. Since patients have demonstrated individual differences in their response to photodynamic therapy, transcriptional activation and/or genetic polymorphisms of the ABCG2 gene in cancer cells may affect patients' responses to photodynamic therapy. Protein kinase inhibitors, including imatinib mesylate and gefitinib, are suggested to potentially enhance the efficacy of photodynamic therapy by blocking ABCG2-mediated porphyrin efflux from cancer cells. This review article provides an overview on the role of human ABC transporter ABCG2 in photodynamic therapy and photodynamic diagnosis

Exome Sequencing Reveals a Homozygous SYT14 Mutation in Adult-Onset, Autosomal-Recessive Spinocerebellar Ataxia with Psychomotor Retardation

Autosomal-recessive cerebellar ataxias (ARCAs) are clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorders associated with diverse neurological and nonneurological features that occur before the age of 20. Currently, mutations in more than 20 genes have been identified, but approximately half of the ARCA patients remain genetically unresolved. In this report, we describe a Japanese family in which two siblings have slow progression of a type of ARCA with psychomotor retardation. Using whole-exome sequencing combined with homozygosity mapping, we identified a homozygous missense mutation in SYT14, encoding synaptotagmin XIV (SYT14). Expression analysis of the mRNA of SYT14 by a TaqMan assay confirmed that SYT14 mRNA was highly expressed in human fetal and adult brain tissue as well as in the mouse brain (especially in the cerebellum). In an in vitro overexpression system, the mutant SYT14 showed intracellular localization different from that of the wild-type. An immunohistochemical analysis clearly showed that SYT14 is specifically localized to Purkinje cells of the cerebellum in humans and mice. Synaptotagmins are associated with exocytosis of secretory vesicles (including synaptic vesicles), indicating that the alteration of the membrane-trafficking machinery by the SYT14 mutation may represent a distinct pathomechanism associated with human neurodegenerative disorders