Dynamic Analysis of Product Lifecycle and Sea/Air Modal Choice: Evidence of Export from Japan

Hideki MURAKAMI,Yukari MATSUSE 한국해운물류학회 2014 The Asian journal of shipping and Logistics Vol.30 No.3

Here, we test the hypothesis that commodities at their peak valuation are transported by air, while those at their inception and maturity are shipped by sea, as well as the theory that shippers choose air to transport high-valued commodities. We empirically investigated how the product lifecycle of commodities is reflected by shippers’ choices of air over seaborne transportation. We also assumed that commodities that achieved substantial innovation in their lifecycles would be moved by air transportation so that these commodities could reach targeted markets as quickly as possible to avoid the opportunity costs that might be generated by missed business chances. We constructed two sets of unbalanced panel data of 14 commodities for 24 years drawn from Japan’s customs, demographic, and international statistics. By estimating structural equation systems that consisted of commodity-specific export and export air ratio functions, we found that the product lifecycle of cargo outgoing from Japan exactly matched the upward and downward movement of the air ratio.

Japanese Domestic Airfares under the Regulatory Regime : What will be expected after the revision of the current charging system?

Murakami, Hideki 한국해운물류학회 2003 해운물류:이론과실천 Vol.- No.5

This paper statistically investigates the charging system of Japanese domestic air fares and predicts the effect of the revision of the current system on the consumer's surplus. Using 222 observations of cross-sectional data from 1995, this paper empirically demonstrates that (a) the fares in the long haul markets were set higher regardless of the number of passengers. (b) in the outstandingly dense markets, the fares were set higher than the predicted full cost level, and (c) in the thin and shorter haul markets, fares were a little lower. Considering the price elasticity of these three types of routes, this paper concludes that the reduction of air fares in the long haul markets (especially dense markets) to the "distance-proportional level" would lead to a substantial gain in consumer's surplus. Furthermore, this gain would surpass the loss of consumer's surplus that might arise in shorter haul routes. There still remains substantial room for the Japanese government to improve the consumer's benefit without worsening, and possibly even improving, the status quo of the airlines.

An Economic Analysis of Duopolistic Competition between Gulliver and Dwarf Airlines : The case of Japanese Domestic Air Markets

Murakami, Hideki 한국해운학회 2002 해운물류연구 Vol.36 No.-

This paper theoretically analyses the effects of an alliance by two small (dwarf) airlines on their own profit, their rival's profit, and the economic welfare. The rival is assumed to be a gigantic Gulliver. The Gulliver and the dwarves' profits will change in a different direction in the post-alliance situation. With regards to the social welfare, as long as the dwarf airline's alliance leads to the simultaneous achievement of strong economies of density, thorough product differentiation, seamlessness, and cost reduction, the social welfare would presumably be improved. The political implication is that firms' asymmetric factors (cost difference and product differentiation) should be maintained in the post alliance situation: otherwise, we cannot tell whether the dwarves' alliance will improve the social welfare or not.

Market Performance of Low-Cost Entry into the Airline Industry: A Case of Two Major Japanese Markets

Hideki MURAKAMI 한국해운물류학회 2009 The Asian journal of shipping and Logistics Vol.25 No.1

This is an empirical analysis of the dynamic changes in consumer surplus and industry profits after a low-cost carrier (LCC) enters markets, performed by estimating structural demand and price equations using unbalanced carrier-specific panel data of two to four carriers on nine routes for four to eight years (130 samples). Our findings are that gains in consumer surplus were substantial for as long as two years after market entry, but losses began in the third year, when two of the LCCs agreed on a code share with All Nippon Airways (ANA), a full-service carrier; since the third year, those carriers seem to have regained profitability. Our conclusion is that Japanese regulatory sectors, which have allowed full-service carriers other than ANA to engage in behavior that drives LCCs out of competitive markets while also allowing the code-shares between ANA and LCCs, seem to stand by the industry instead of consumers.

Flow-based Service Discipline for TCP Streaming in Advanced IP Router

Naotoshi Yoshihara,Hideki Tode,Koso Murakami 한국멀티미디어학회 2009 한국멀티미디어학회 국제학술대회 Vol.2009 No.-

Video-sharing applications using TCP (called "TCP streaming") like YouTube have been increased recently. However, it is difficult for the existing IP network to guarantee QoS of TCP streaming. So far, to achieve the QoS enhancement per flow, we have proposed the class-based output buffer control mechanism in QoS-aware router. In this paper, to guarantee more sophisticated QoS for TCP streaming, we propose the mechanism which calculates transmission bandwidth and buffer volume preferentially available (called "basic volume") according to active flows' condition estimated by measuring transmitted packets per flow. Furthermore, by computer simulation, the effectiveness of our proposal is verified.

Iatrogenic Lumbar Vertebral Fracture during Osteosynthesis for a Trochanteric Fracture of the Femur in Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis

Takeshi Sasagawa,Hideki Murakami,Yoshinobu Maruhashi,Takeshi Segawa,Daiki Yamamoto,Shusuke Shimizu,Yasuhiko Morita,Takuya Nakamura 대한척추외과학회 2015 Asian Spine Journal Vol.9 No.5

Vertebral fractures occur with only slight trauma in patients with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH). However, a lumbar vertebra fracture, due to an intraoperative body position has not been previously reported. An 87-year-old woman with kyphosis sustained a left trochanteric fracture of her femur. The patient was placed in a supine position during the operation. Postoperatively, the patient experienced severe right thigh pain. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an L4 vertebral fracture. Computed tomography revealed ankylosis from the upper thoracic spine to the sacrum. While in a supine position under general anesthesia, the contact of the patient’s lower back with operating table likely created a fulcrum at her lumbosacral spine acting as a long lever arm, bearing the mass of her upper body. We performed L1–S2 posterior stabilization. DISH patients with kyphosis placed in a supine position have an increased risk for lumbar vertebral fracture.

Effects of multimarket contact on airlines` pricing behaviors: Empirical evidences and future perspective

( Ryota Asahi ),( Hideki Murakami ) 한국해운물류학회(구 한국해운학회) 2013 해운물류연구 Vol.29 No.3

Globalization has been discussed as an important market environment in various territories. Maritime industry is also closely associated with globalization. Together with globalization, faster, more reliable, and cheaper maritime transport services have facilitated the expansion of global trade. With the development of emerging economies, the maritime industry had increased dramatically. The rise of China as the world manufacturing center was a key driver of this growth. Since 2008, however, there have been some declines because of the global financial crisis. It is not easy for container ports to have a sufficient container cargo volumes including transshipment. Therefore, container ports in individual countries require effective strategies for generating sufficient container traffic. Through a country-level analysis, this paper is designed to empirically investigate the influences of globalization on individual container ports` internal capabilities and transshipment traffic volumes.

Advanced Inter/Intra-Stream FEC Method in Distributed Multi-Server Network

Akihiro Fujimoto,Hideki Tode,Koso Murakami 한국멀티미디어학회 2009 한국멀티미디어학회 국제학술대회 Vol.2009 No.-

To establish seamless and highly robust contents distribution technology in the environment of so-called multi-server contents distribution network, we have proposed the new concept, Inter-Stream FEC, that means data recovery method between several streams by introducing redundant parity streams generated by inter-stream cooperation. In this paper, we extensively improve the original Inter-Stream FEC method. We focus on the recovery failure events in the original method, especially the events due to packet loss on the same link, and propose its remedy. The proposed method makes existing FEC and Inter-Stream FEC cooperate deeply and this leads to higher loss recovery ratio. Besides, we evaluate the original method and the extensively proposed method through computer simulation.

Implantation of Liquid Nitrogen Frozen Tumor Tissue after Posterior Decompression and Stabilization for Metastatic Spinal Tumors

Kazuya Shinmura,Hideki Murakami,Satoru Demura,Satoshi Kato,Katsuhito Yoshioka,Hiroyuki Hayashi,Noriaki Yokogawa,Takashi Igarashi,Moriyuki Fujii,Noritaka Yonezawa,Hiroyuki Tsuchiya 대한척추외과학회 2015 Asian Spine Journal Vol.9 No.6

Study Design: A retrospective study. Purpose: To evaluate the immunity-enhancing effect of implantation of a liquid nitrogen-treated tumor. Overview of Literature: We have developed a new technique of implanting a tumor frozen in liquid nitrogen after posterior decompression and stabilization, with the aim of enhancing antitumor immunity in order to prolong the survival period of the patient. In the current study, the immunity-enhancing effect of this new technique has been evaluated. Methods: The subjects were 19 patients in whom we had earlier performed decompression and stabilization between April 2011 and September 2013. The 19 subjects were divided into two groups, namely a frozen autologous tumor tissue implantation group (n=15; “implantation group”), which consisted of patients, who underwent implantation with autologous tumor tissue frozen in liquid nitrogen, and a control group (n=4), which consisted of patients, who did not undergo autologous cancer transplantation. To evaluate the immunity-enhancing effect of the protocol, plasma cytokines (interferon [IFN]-γ and interleukin [IL]-12) were analyzed before surgery and a month after surgery. Results: The mean rate of increase in IFN-γ was significantly higher in the implantation group (p =0.03). Regarding IL-12, no significant difference was observed between the groups, although the implantation group exhibited increased levels of IL-12 (p =0.22). Conclusions: Decompression and stabilization combined with autologous frozen tumor cell implantation can enhance cancer immunity in metastatic spinal tumor patients. It is hypothesized that this procedure might prevent local recurrence and prolong survival period.

Invasiveness Reduction of Recent Total En Bloc Spondylectomy: Assessment of the Learning Curve

Takayoshi Ishii,Hideki Murakami,Satoru Demura,Satoshi Kato,Katsuhito Yoshioka,Moriyuki Fujii,Takashi Igarashi,Hiroyuki Tsuchiya 대한척추외과학회 2016 Asian Spine Journal Vol.10 No.3

Study Design: Case-control study. Purpose: To evaluate the surgical magnitude and learning curve of “second-generation” total en bloc spondylectomy (TES). Overview of Literature: In June 2010, we developed second-generation TES combined with tumor-induced cryoimmunology, which does not require autograft harvesting. Methods: TES was performed in 63 patients between June 2010 and September 2013. Three groups of patients were evaluated: 20 undergoing surgery in the first year of development of second-generation TES (group I), 20 in the second year (group II), and 23 in the third year (group III). Patient backgrounds showed no remarkable differences. Operating time, intraoperative blood loss, blood transfusion, and postoperative C-reactive protein and creatine phosphokinase were compared among the groups. Results: Mean±standard deviation operating time was 486±130 minutes in group I, 441±85 minutes in group II, and 396±75 minutes in group III. The time was significantly shorter in group III than in group I (p <0.05). Intraoperative blood loss was 901±646 mL in group I, 433±177 mL in group II, and 411±167 mL in group III. Blood loss was significantly lower in groups II and III than in group I (p <0.01). Transfusion was not required in 20 of 23 patients in group III, and mean C-reactive protein levels on postoperative day 3 were significantly lower in this group than in group I (6.12 mg/L vs. 10.07 mg/L; p <0.05). Postoperative creatine phosphokinase levels did not differ among the groups. Conclusions: TES is associated with a significant learning curve. Thus, second-generation TES can no longer be considered highly invasive.