H. Takahashi – författare

The Challenge for Japanese Multinationals is about strategic issues of modern management from the view of global business practice. In the 2010 issue of Fortune Magazine's top 500 Multi-National Corporations, the USA ranked number one with 139 companies. This was followed with 71 companies in Japan and 149 in the EU. With the maturing of the domestic market, Japanese MNCs - not only in manufacturing industries but in non-manufacturing industries as well, will continue to globalize, with overseas expansion accelerating in emerging countries such as BRICs.

The Challenge for Japanese Multinationals is about strategic issues of modern management from the view of global business practice. In the 2010 issue of Fortune Magazine''s top 500 Multi-National Corporations, the USA ranked number one with 139 companies. This was followed with 71 companies in Japan and 149 in the EU. With the maturing of the domestic market, Japanese MNCs - not only in manufacturing industries but in non-manufacturing industries as well, will continue to globalize, with overseas expansion accelerating in emerging countries such as BRICs.

The Challenge for Japanese Multinationals is about strategic issues of modern management from the view of global business practice. In the 2010 issue of Fortune Magazine's top 500 Multi-National Corporations, the USA ranked number one with 139 companies. This was followed with 71 companies in Japan and 149 in the EU. With the maturing of the domestic market, Japanese MNCs - not only in manufacturing industries but in non-manufacturing industries as well, will continue to globalize, with overseas expansion accelerating in emerging countries such as BRICs.

For the middle ear to maintain its most important function, sound con­ duction, its pressure always needs to be kept around atmospheric level. The eustachian tube has long been believed to be the only organ playing the important role of pressure regulation of the middle ear. However, several phenomena that cannot be explained solely by reference to eustachian tube function have gradually emerged. For instance, otitis media with effusion cannot always be produced experimentally by selectively eliminating the ventilatory function of the eustachian tube by excising the tensor veli pala­ tini muscle and the hamulus pterygoideus. Also, most cases of otitis media with effusion (OME) in children can heal in spite of persistently poor tubal function even in the convalescent stage. In recent decades, gas exchange in the middle ear, particularly through the mastoid mucosa, has gradually come to light as another ventilation or pressure-regulation system for the middle ear. Although numbers of studies have revealed important information about the physiology and patho­ physiology of this function, there have been only a few studies related to gas exchange that directly contributed to the field of clinical otology by clarifying the pathogenesis of otitis media or to improving its treatment. One of the biggest reasons for the paucity of studies appears to be lack of an appropriate clinical method for assessing the gas exchange function.

For the middle ear to maintain its most important function, sound con­ duction, its pressure always needs to be kept around atmospheric level.

The middle ear is an organ that, like the lung, must maintain an aerated cavity within it to carry out its function. When hypoventilation occurs in the lung it threatens the maintenance of life, when it occurs in the middle ear it causes loss of hearing. For the middle ear to fulfill its vital sound-conduction function, its pressure must be maintained at approximately atmospheric level. The eustachian tube has long been known to play a key role in pressure regulation, but later research has revealed that transmucosal gas exchange is as important as the function of the eustachian tube, and that the ventilatory physiology of the middle ear is maintained by these two mechanisms in tandem. The findings presented in this volume answer many questions about ventilation and pressure regulation of the middle ear, and should be valuable to clinical practitioners in choosing appropriate modes of treatment for pathological conditions such as cholesteatoma and otitis media.