A prospective longitudinal survey of erectile function status in symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia patients treated with dutasteride

We prospectively evaluated erectile function (EF) using the Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) and the erectile hardness score (EHS) as well as urinary statuses using the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS) before and 3, 6, and 12 months after a daily treatment with 0.5?mg dutasteride (DUT). Significant improvements were observed in IPSS and OABSS in 98 patients with the DUT treatment, and the effects were similar between 28 patients with potency with baseline SHIM of 8 or greater and 70 severe erectile dysfunction (ED) patients at baseline. In the 28 patients with potency, significant decreases were observed in SHIM and EHS after 3, 6, and 12 months of the DUT treatment, with the severity of ED according to SHIM deteriorating in half of these patients after 12 months of the DUT treatment. Eighteen out of 28 patients (64.3%) with potency at baseline had awareness of the occurrence of ED before the DUT treatment, were younger, and had higher SHIM and EHS just before the DUT treatment than their counterparts. Regular assessments of EF may be needed, especially in younger patients and those with higher levels of EF before the administration of DUT.     

Coalitionally strategy-proof social choice correspondences and the Pareto rule

This paper studies coalitional strategy-proofness of social choice correspondences that map preference profiles into sets of alternatives. In particular, we focus on the Pareto rule, which associates the set of Pareto optimal alternatives with each preference profile, and examine whether or not there is a necessary connection between coalitional strategy-proofness and Pareto optimality. The definition of coalitional strategy-proofness is given on the basis of a max–min criterion. We show that the Pareto rule is coalitionally strategy-proof in this sense. Moreover, we prove that given an arbitrary social choice correspondence satisfying the coalitional strategy-proofness and nonimposition, all alternatives selected by the correspondence are Pareto optimal. These two results imply that the Pareto rule is the maximal correspondence in the class of coalitionally strategy-proof and nonimposed social choice correspondences.     

Genetic risk of domestication in artificial fish stocking and its possible reduction

Genetic hazards associated with the stocking of fish juveniles produced in hatcheries were studied with simple mathematical models. Domestication is the process of acquiring a genetic characteristics that are advantageous in a hatchery environment but that are disadvantageous in a natural environment due to the selection pressure in the hatchery differing from that in the natural environment. Conditions for the propagation of mutants enhancing domestication were obtained for a variety of stocking strategies specified by parameters related to hatchery productivity and kind of brood stock used. By using this, the possibility of reducing the risk of domestication was studied. As a means of reducing the risk, selective use of wild-born individuals for brood stock was considered. The effectiveness of this was analyzed for both the cases where all brood stock is collected from the wild, and the male brood stock is collected from the wild and the female brood stock is born and reared in a hatchery. We also estimate how much hatchery release can be increased without increasing the risk by employing these means. It is concluded that the use of only male brood stock from the wild is not very effective in reducing the risk of domestication. Further, it is concluded that selective use of the wild-born individuals of both sexes for brood stock is highly desirable if the contribution of released individuals to the natural reproduction is high. In other words, substantial increase of hatchery release may be possible while keeping risk at a level comparable to that under moderate hatchery release, if it is accompanied by the selective use of wild-born individuals for brood stock.