OPENING A DIRECT DIGITAL CHANNEL: THE IMPACT OF VERSIONING ON THE PHYSICAL PRODUCT MARKET WITH HETEROGENEOUS RETAILERS

Yuji Nakayama 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2018 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2018 No.07

The emergence of a new marketing channel affects the economy by expanding the consumer's choice of products, altering the competitiveness of retail markets and having an influence on manufacturers' profitability. The electronic commerce channel through the Internet constitutes a typical marketing channel with these features. In this paper, we construct a vertical product differentiation model comprising an upstream manufacturer and two downstream retailers. Our model is closely related to that in Chiang, Chhajed and Hess (2003). We incorporate cost asymmetry across the retailers into the model, a new feature which is not in their model. In this model, the manufacturer not only produces a physical product it sells to the downstream retailers, but also has an option of versioning to open a new direct channel for an alternate digital product. We find that, when the marginal cost of the physical product is in some range given other cost parameters, the direct digital channel reduces the quantity of the physical product sold by the inefficient retailer even if it increases total quantity of the physical product. We also find that, when it is higher than the above-mentioned range, the direct digital channel increases the quantity of the physical product sold by the efficient retailer even if it reduces its total quantity. Cost asymmetry across the retailers plays a role in these results. Taking the above results into account, we discuss managerial implications for a manufacturer supplying the physical and digital products.

Quantification of Imidazole Compounds in Ambient Aerosols at Suburban and Forest Sites in Western Japan

Yuji Takao,Takumi Atarashi,Takashi Kubo,Masaki Nagae,Tomoki Nakayama 한국대기환경학회 2019 Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment (AJAE) Vol.13 No.4

Ambient aerosol particles at forest and suburban sites in western Japan were analyzed for imidazole compounds, such as 4 (5)-Methylimidazole (4-MI), 1-ethylimidazole (1-EI), 2-ethylimidazole (2-EI), and imidazole-2-carboxaldehyde (IC). The aerosols were collected on quartz fiber filters and extracted by the solid phase extraction method. The extract was analyzed by HPLC/Q-TOF-MS using an ion-pairing agent. The concentration of 4-MI in winter was higher than those in summer at the forest site; its concentration was highest among the analyzed imidazoles. The concentration of 4-MI in the suburban site was several times higher than the forest site. Anthropogenic activities, such as vehicle emissions, are considered to be the major source of 4-MI in this region.

Unitarity meets channel-duality for rolling/decaying D-branes

Nakayama, Yu,Rey, Soo-Jong,Sugawara, Yuji IOP Publishing Ltd 2006 Journal of high energy physics Vol.2006 No.8

Investigations for decay of unstable D-brane and rolling of accelerated D-brane dynamics have revealed that various proposed prescriptions give different result for spectral amplitudes and observables. Here, we study them with particular attention to unitarity and open-closed channel duality. From <I>ab initio</I> derivation in the open string channel, both in Euclidean and Lorentzian worldsheet approaches, we find heretofore overlooked contribution to the spectral amplitudes and obervables. The contribution is fortuitously absent for decay of unstable D-brane, but is present for rolling of accelerated D-brane. We finally show that the contribution is imperative for ensuring unitarity and optical theorem at each order in string loop expansion.

D-brane propagation in two-dimensional black hole geometries

Nakayama, Yu,Rey, Soo-Jong,Sugawara, Yuji IOP Publishing Ltd 2005 Journal of high energy physics Vol.2005 No.9

We study propagation of D0-brane in two-dimensional lorentzian black hole backgrounds by the method of boundary conformal field theory of SL(2,&BbbR;)/U(1) supercoset at level <I>k</I>. Typically, such backgrounds arise as near-horizon geometries of <I>k</I> coincident non-extremal NS5-branes, where 1/<I>k</I> measures curvature of the backgrounds in string unit and hence size of string worldsheet effects. At classical level, string worldsheet effects are suppressed and D0-brane propagation in the lorentzian black hole geometry is simply given by the Wick rotation of D1-brane contour in the euclidean black hole geometry. Taking account of string worldsheet effects, boundary state of the lorentzian D0-brane is formally constructible via Wick rotation from that of the euclidean D1-brane. However, the construction is subject to ambiguities in boundary conditions. We propose exact boundary states describing the D0-brane, and clarify physical interpretations of various boundary states constructed from different boundary conditions. As it falls into the black hole, the D0-brane radiates off to the horizon and to the infinity. From the boundary states constructed, we compute physical observables of such radiative process. We find that part of the radiation to infinity is in effective thermal distribution at the Hawking temperature. We also find that part of the radiation to horizon is in the Hagedorn distribution, dominated by massive, highly non-relativistic closed string states, much like the tachyon matter. Remarkably, such distribution emerges only after string worldsheet effects are taken exactly into account. From these results, we observe that nature of the radiation distribution changes dramatically across the conifold geometry <I>k</I> = 1 (<I>k</I> = 3 for the bosonic case), exposing the `string - black hole transition' therein.

Wide Residual Networks for Semantic Segmentation

Yoshiki NAKAYAMA,Huimin LU,Yujie LI,Hyoungseop KIM 제어로봇시스템학회 2018 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2018 No.10

In the task of object recognition, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved high performance. In addition, these CNNs are also applied to the field of semantic image segmentation. However, applying the classification models to semantic segmentation tasks has a problem, lack of global context and reduction in resolution. In this work, we propose global context module and high resolution path in order to solve above problems. By simply combining them with an existing classification model (wide residual networks), our methods yield high-accuracy segmentation models. Our proposed approaches produce competitive results, the mean intersection over union (IoU) 67.6% and global accuracy 91.1%, on CamVid test set.

Development of a WLAN Based Monitoring System for Group Activity Measurement in Real-Time

Tsunoda, Hiroshi,Nakayama, Hidehisa,Ohta, Kohei,Suzuki, Akihiro,Nishiyama, Hiroki,Nagatomi, Ryoichi,Hashimoto, Kazuo,Waizumi, Yuji,Keeni, Glenn Mansfield,Nemoto, Yoshiaki The Korea Institute of Information and Commucation 2011 Journal of communications and networks Vol.13 No.2

In recent years, there has been a rise in epidemiological evidence suggesting the health benefits of a physically active lifestyle. However, it is not always easy for individuals to personally recognize the optimal conditions for exercise and physical activity. Wearable acceleration-based pedometers have become widely used in estimating the amount of physical activity, and to a limited extent, providing information regarding exercise intensity, but they have never been used to assess adaptation to exercise. In order to realize simultaneous activity monitoring for multiple users exercising outdoors, we developed a prototype wireless local area network (WLAN) based system. In our system, a WLAN is deployed outside, and a user wearing a smart phone and monitoring device exercises freely within the coverage area of the wireless network. By doing so, the developed system is able to monitor the activity of each user andmeasures various parameters including those related to exercise adaptation. In a demonstration experiment, the developed system was evaluated and used to monitor users enjoying a Nordic walk, after which users were immediately able to receive their exercise report. In this paper, we discuss the requirements and issues in developing an activity monitoring system and report the findings we obtained through the demonstration experiment.

Caring for Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma in Japan: Evaluation of a Palliative Care Educational Program

Nagamatsu, Yasuko,Nakayama, Yukiko,Clayson, Helen,Natori, Yuji,Ohata, Misato,Matsuura-Moriguchi, Shino,Porter, Sarah E. Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.21

Purpose: This study evaluated the effect of an Educational Program on Palliative Care for MPM for Nurses in Japan. Program: The 5-h program consisted of lectures and care planning group work. Materials and Methods: This study used a pretest-posttest design with a single cohort of nurses and included a Difficulties in Palliative Care for Patients with MPM (DPCMPM) Scale with 15 items. The pre- and posttest scores were compared using a t-test. Results: We included 27 female nurses with a mean of 14.4 years of nursing experience. In 12 of 15 DPCMPM items, the posttest difficulty scores were lower than the pretest scores. Participants highly evaluated the program for validity, clarity, clinical usefulness, and the facilitators. The Palliative Care for MPM Handbook for Nurses was developed as an educational tool for clinical settings. Conclusions: The Educational Program on Palliative Care for MPM for Nurses was effective in reducing nursing difficulties.

Development of a WLAN Based Monitoring System for Group Activity Measurement in Real-Time

Hiroshi Tsunoda,Hidehisa Nakayama,Kohei Ohta,Akihiro Suzuki,Hiroki Nishiyama,Ryoichi Nagatomi,Kazuo Hashimoto,Yuji Waizumi,Glenn Mansfield Keeni,Yoshiaki Nemoto 한국통신학회 2011 Journal of communications and networks Vol.13 No.2

In recent years, there has been a rise in epidemiological evidence suggesting the health benefits of a physically active lifestyle. However, it is not always easy for individuals to personally recognize the optimal conditions for exercise and physical activity. Wearable acceleration-based pedometers have become widely used in estimating the amount of physical activity, and to a limited extent,providing information regarding exercise intensity, but they have never been used to assess adaptation to exercise. In order to realize simultaneous activity monitoring for multiple users exercising outdoors, we developed a prototype wireless local area network (WLAN) based system. In our system, a WLAN is deployed outside, and a user wearing a smart phone and monitoring device exercises freely within the coverage area of the wireless network. By doing so, the developed system is able to monitor the activity of each user andmeasures various parameters including those related to exercise adaptation. In a demonstration experiment, the developed system was evaluated and used to monitor users enjoying a Nordic walk, after which users were immediately able to receive their exercise report. In this paper, we discuss the requirements and issues in developing an activity monitoring system and report the findings we obtained through the demonstration experiment.

Recognition of Surrounding Environment for Electric Wheelchair Based on WideSeg

Yuki SAKAI,Yoshiki NAKAYAMA,Huimin LU,Yujie LI,Hyoungseop KIM 제어로봇시스템학회 2019 제어로봇시스템학회 국제학술대회 논문집 Vol.2019 No.10

At present, the aging population is growing in Japan. Along with that, the expectation for the utilization of welfare equipment is increasing. Electric wheelchair, a convenient transportation tool, is popularized rapidly. On the other hand, accidents have occurred, and the dangers for driving are pointed out. Therefore, it needs to improve accident factors, reduce accidents and improve the convenience of electric wheelchair by automation. Environmental recognition is necessary for the development of autonomous electric wheelchair. Environmental recognition includes self-position estimation, recognition of sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic lights, moving object prediction, etc. In order to solve these various problems, this paper examines the segmentation of sidewalks, crosswalks and traffic lights. We develop the WideSeg that is one of semantic segmentation algorithms applying convolutional neural networks (CNN).

Prognostication of early-onset endometrioid endometrial cancer based on genome-wide DNA methylation profiles

Takuro Hirano,Eri Arai,Mao Fujimoto,Yuji Nakayama,Ying Tian,Nanako Ito,Takeshi Makabe,Wataru Yamagami,Nobuyuki Susumu,Daisuke Aoki,Yae Kanai 대한부인종양학회 2022 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.33 No.6

Objective: The aim of this study was to establish criteria that would indicate whether fertility preservation therapy would likely be safe for patients aged 40 years or less with endometrioid endometrial cancer based on their DNA methylation profile. Methods: Forty-nine fresh-frozen tissue samples from patients with endometrial cancer from an initial cohort and 31 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples from a second cohort were subjected to genome-wide DNA methylation analysis using the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip. Results: Epigenomic clustering of early-onset endometrial cancer was correlated with the widely used recurrence risk classification. Genes showing differences in DNA methylation levels between the low-recurrence-risk category and intermediate- and high-risk categories were accumulated in pathways related to fibroblast growth factor and nuclear factor-κB signaling. DNA hypomethylation and overexpression of were frequently observed in the low-risk category. Eight hundred thirty-one marker CpG probes showed area under the curve values of >0.7 on the receiver operating characteristic curve for discrimination of patients belonging to the low-risk category. By combining marker CpG sites, seven panels for placing patients into the low-risk category with 91.3% or more sensitivity and specificity in both the initial and second cohorts were established. Conclusions: DNA methylation diagnostics criteria using up to 6 of 8 CpG sites for ,and may be applicable to recurrence risk,,,,estimation for patients aged 40 years or less with endometrial cancer, regardless of tumor cell content, even if formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded biopsy or curettage materials are used.