241 research outputs found
"The Role of the Merchant Coalition in Pre-modern Japanese Economic Development: An Historical Institutional Analysis"
No full textThis paper examines the economic role of the merchant coalition (kabu nakama) in Japan during the the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century in Japan. During this period public sector enforcement of contracts was imperfect. Kabu nakama substituted for the public sector, using a multilateral punishment strategy. When the government (Bakufu) prohibited kabu nakama in 1841, the growth rate of the real money supply contracted, efficiency of price arbitrage declined, and the inflation rate increased.
Risky health behaviors and behavioral differences of the US youth: quasi-evidence with empirical study: policy implications
No full textThe focus of this paper is to examine the determinants and analyze the effects of risky health behaviors of alcohol and illicit drug use on social violence (drunken driving, riding in a car driven by a drunken driver, and not wearing seatbelts) among youth in the United States. Alcohol and illicit drug use usually lead to social violence as well as a reduction in health status and earnings. Although it is illegal to drink and drive in the U.S., forty-five percent of the traffic accidents among the age group of 14-18 are alcohol-related. Alcohol is a leading factor in deaths related to motor vehicle accidents.
This research defines use of alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, and other illicit drug use as risky health behavior. The use of some substances tend to precede and increase the risk of initiating habitual use of substances among the youth. The data used for this project is drawn from the 1992 and 2017 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey to examine the behavioral difference between two periods. The study examines the relationship between alcohol and illicit drug use and three types of violent behaviors: (1) drunken driving, (2) occupying a car driven by someone who has been drinking, and (3) not wearing seatbelts.
The results show that there is a positive relationship between the risky health behaviors of alcohol and illicit drug uses and social violence (drunken driving, riding in a car driven by a drunken driver, and not wearing seatbelts) among youth. The results suggest that binge drinking, smoking habits, as well as illicit drug use will contribute to the escalation of habitual, high-risk behaviors such as: drunken driving and not using seatbelts, among youth. The results also indicate that youth attitudes toward drunken driving will become more sensitive to multi-consumption habits as they get old. Controlling the consumption of alcohol and drug use at an early age is indeed an important factor in reducing drunken-driving behavior later. Drunken driving behavior is more likely to be a habitual behavior, and to reduce this behavior, access to alcohol and illicit drugs must be restricted among early teens.This audio recording was presented at the first annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity while the author was an undergraduate student at Rutgers University-Camden
A rare subadult cardinal fish, Pseudamia gelatinosa (Apogonidae), stranded at Shirahama, Wakayama, Japan
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MR vessel-encoded arterial spin labeling with the placement of metallic items to visualize the territorial blood flow after extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery : a proof-of-concept study
No full textBackground Depiction of bypass blood flow in patients who received extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) bypass surgery is important for patient care. Purpose To develop a vessel-encoded arterial spin labeling (VE-ASL) method using surgical staples as a magnetic resonance (MR)-conditional product in patients who received EC-IC bypass surgery. Material and Methods Pseudo-continuous labeling was used for VE-ASL acquisition with a 3-T MR unit. First, an experimental study was conducted to determine the appropriate number of surgical staples to obtain a spatially sufficient saturation effect. Thereafter, four healthy normal volunteers underwent a VE-ASL study to confirm the sufficiency of the saturation effect to the right or left common carotid artery. Finally, VE-ASL scanning was performed in seven patients after EC-IC bypass surgery to confirm the ability of VE-ASL to visualize the territorial bypass perfusion. All qualitative evaluation was performed by two neuroradiologists using a 3-point grading system (2 = good, 1 = moderate, 0 = poor). Results A quantity of 200 staples was found to be appropriate for VE-ASL scanning. In healthy volunteers, one neuroradiologist rated the images of all four cases as good, while the other rated three cases as good and one case as moderate. For the seven patients after EC-IC bypass surgery, one neuroradiologist rated all seven cases as good, and the other rated six cases as good and one case as moderate. Conclusion VE-ASL using surgical staples might be useful for the evaluation of territorial bypass perfusion in patients after EC-IC bypass surgery
Future treatment strategies for cryptorchidism to improve spermatogenesis
No full textOrchiopexy is one of the most frequently used surgical procedures for cryptorchidism and has been shown to have a beneficial effect on fertility. However, orchiopexy, especially for bilateral cryptorchidism, does not always guarantee subsequent fertility and paternity. Compared with a control group, paternity was significantly compromised in men with previous bilateral, but not unilateral cryptorchidism. Recent techniques of assisted reproductive technology, especially testicular sperm extraction with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (TESE-ICSI), have brought revolutionary changes in clinical therapy for infertiliy. If spermatozoa exists in testis of infertile men, logically there is a possibility of paternity. However, our study demonstrated that about 20% of pubertal boys who had had orchiopexy, were predicted to have lost their future paternity potential even if TESE-ICSI were conducted, because they were predicted to have no spermatozoa in the testis. To prevent or reverse the damage of spermatogenesis at prepuberty or puberty, we should not take a wait-and-see attitude but should consider a countermeasure for the pubertal boys who had had bilateral orchiopexy in childhood, especially when the serum follicle stimulating hormone level is elevated and testicular volume is lowered, before paternity is lost. In this review, we discuss the potential approaches including epidermal growth facter therapy, gene therapy and stem-cell therapy for cryptorchid patients in the future
A Case of Prostate Cancer Associated with Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw Followed by Retropharyngeal Abscess
No full textA 67-year-old man with castration-resistant prostate cancer associated with multiple bone metastases had been treated with zoledronic acid and docetaxel. Although there was no evidence of damage around the right lower jaw bone, the patient complained of pain in May 2011, which worsened during the next 2 weeks and was followed by difficulty with breathing. Computed tomographic (CT) findings of the cervical area showed swelling of the cervical tissue with air and tightening of the trachea, suggesting cellulitis caused by gas gangrene. He was intubated and treated with antibiotics. On the 12th hospital day, CT scan revealed a pharyngeal abscess and we performed a drainage operation. On the 20th hospital day, bone of the intraoral lower jaw was exposed, revealing that the infection was caused by osteonecrosis. Additional CT findings showed the abscess extending to the mediastinum and multiple liver metastases. Although antibiotic therapy was continued, the patient died of liver failure on the 61st day
A Case of Prostate Cancer Diagnosed by Lymphadenectomy
No full texterrataのpdfは、泌尿器科紀要vol.58 no.11 p.659(2012年11月発行)A 65-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of an elevated value of prostate specific antigen (PSA) (10.9 ng/ml). An eight-core prostate biopsy was negative. One year later, serum PSA increased to 55. 8 ng/ml and pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a left external iliac lymph node enlargement. A ten-core prostate biopsy was negative. Six months later, the serum PSA increased to 88.1 ng/ml, but an seventeen-core prostate biopsy was negative again. A positron emission tomographycomputed tomography scan showed nothing other than increased uptake localized to the left enlarged external iliac lymph node. Pelvic lymphadenectomy was performed and histological examination, including immunohistlogical staining with PSA, confirmed lymph node metastasis from prostate cancer. Androgen deprivation therapy was started and 2 month later, serum PSA declined to below 1.0 ng/ml
A Case of Ductal Adenocarcinoma of Prostate Associated with Retroperitoneal Multiple Cysts
No full textA 61-year-old man came to our hospital with a complaint of lower abdominal pain. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) around his abdominal area showed large multiple cysts in the pelvis suggesting a malignant tumor. He showed high levels of serum carbohydrate antigen 19- 9 (CA19-9) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). The complete diagnostic studies, including upper gastrointestinal endoscopy and colonoscopy examinations, failed to demonstrate the presence of alimentary primary tumors. With the diagnosis of cystic tumor in the pelvis, the operation was performed. The cysts adhered firmly to the surrounding organs including bladder and peritonium, which could not be resected completely. A histopathological diagnosis was papillary adenocarcinoma positive for prostate specific antigen (PSA). Because the level of serum PSA was 9.39 ng/ml, prostate biopsy was performed and ductal adenocarcinoma of prostate was revealed. After the operation, the levels of serum CA19-9 and CEA decreased to a normal level. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was started, and the level of PSA was normalized one month later. Ductal adenocarcinoma forming cysts is rare. We reviewed 15 cases reported in the Japanese literature
Swelling of distal extremities with peripheral blood eosinophilia in a young Asian woman
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