Post-flood relief and agricultural development in Bangladesh

Rice production drastically increased in Bangladesh after severe flood years during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. Currently, Bangladesh is the third largest country in the world in terms of rice production. It was found that the production of Aman rice did not decrease in the rainy season, but the production of Boro rice showed great increase in the dry season, which resulted in the increase of overall production level after flood years. In this study, socio-economic changes in flood years were revealed from the analysis of the newspaper articles during post-flood seasons. Government supports were prompt but also inadequate; hence, in some regions farmers managed irrigation source on their own, which led to an increase of the overall rice production

Ecological Environment and Multi-ethnic Society in Northeast India : A Case Study in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam

本稿はインド北東地方，アッサム州ブラマプトラ川渓谷低地部における多民族社会の存立要因について，地域固有の生態環境とそれを基盤とした生業活動の観点から明らかにすることを目的とする。ミクロレベルの生態環境と対応させるために，既存研究で利用されてきた県・郡単位の統計データではなく，村落レベルのセンサスデータと現地の聞き取り調査を組み合わせて民族別の村落分布状況を調べた。その結果，調査対象としたブラマプトラ川渓谷東部のロキンプル県では生態環境の差異に応じて各民族がゆるやかに住み分けていることが判明した。各民族が居住する村落周辺の生態環境の差異は村落構造のみならず生業活動にも影響を与えている。アホムとミシン，スティヤという異なる民族の村落での観察により，生業活動の季節差，必要労働力の差，土地利用の差を利用する形で，人・家畜の往来，労働サービスの提供が村落間で生じていることが分かった。従来のアッサム州社会の研究では各民族の固有文化や社会慣習，宗教などが注目されていたが，新たに生態環境を基に地域を捉え直す視点を導入することで多民族社会の存立要因を明らかにし，現代的な課題の解決に貢献できる可能性があると思われる。Northeast India surrounded by Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Myanmar is the place of multi-ethnic society. In the plain area of the Brahmaputra valley in Assam, mixing of different ethnic groups founded the basis of present society and culture, but also often caused the conflict and social disorder. This study aims to discuss how these people have traditionally coexisted in the Brahmaputra valley from the viewpoint of ecological environment. The study area is Lakhimpur district in eastern Assam where many ethnic groups like Ahom, Mishing, Kachari, Khamti, and Bengali live in. Both primary and secondary data were collected to investigate the village location, village structure and livelihood pattern by ethnic groups. From the GIS analysis, it was found that people in the study area lived in different ecological zone by ethnic groups. Each group has the unique livelihood pattern based on local ecosystem. For instance, the Ahom living in plain zone and the Mishing and Chutiya living in river island zone grow different crops in the different season of a year. They can interact with each other by exchanging their livestock and labor services. The fluctuation of micro environment of the Brahmaputra floodplain may enable the coexistence of the different ethnic groups.本稿の一部は科学研究費補助金・特別研究員奨励費「地域防災力の向上に向けた民族知の評価に関する研究－インド・アッサム州の事例から－」（研究代表者：浅田晴久，課題番号11J00348）を使用した。なお、本稿の骨子は2012年度日本地理学会秋季学術大会（2012年10月，於・神戸大学），IGU 2013 Kyoto Regional Conference（2013年8月，於・国立京都国際会館）にて発表した

Livelihood and Land-Use Pattern of Immigrant Muslim Communities in the Brahmaputra Floodplain in Assam: A Comparative Study of Immigrant and Indigenous Communities

インド北東地方に位置するアッサム州は，ムスリム人口の比率が高い州の1 つである。アッサム州内のムスリムの大多数はイギリス植民地時代の東ベンガルや独立後の東パキスタン，バングラデシュから移住してきた人々であるが，その人口は2011年センサスで州全体の34％に達している。ムスリム移民の増加は在来民との間にしばしば衝突を起こしてきたが，これまでは現地調査に基づくムスリム移民の実態に関する研究はほとんどみられなかった。本研究ではブラマプトラ川氾濫原に居住するムスリム移民と在来民との間で生業活動や土地利用にどのような差異がみられるのかを明らかにし，アッサム州社会におけるムスリム移民の位置づけを議論した。その結果，ブラマプトラ川の氾濫原地帯に居住しているムスリム移民は在来民とはまったく異なる技術を用いることで集約的な土地利用を実現していることが明らかになった。彼らの生業活動は在来民にとって脅威と捉えられてきたが，居住環境や生業形態が異なることから，経済的にはむしろ2つのコミュニティは共存できる関係にあることも示唆された。Assam is one among the states with the highest Muslim population in India. According to the Population Census 2011, Muslims recorded 34% of the total population in the state, with a 3% increase in the last decade. The increasing Muslim population in the last several decades is mainly due to the immigration from East Pakistan and Bangladesh, which induced several conflicts regarding land resources with the local indigenous Hindu communities. Although the conflicts between the immigrant Muslims and indigenous Hindus are often reported in the media and argued in sociological studies, fieldwork-based studies on the livelihood of the immigrant communities in the locality are scarce. This study tries to reveal the differences in the agricultural practices and land-use patterns of immigrant and indigenous communities in the Brahmaputra floodplain and examines the sustainability of the multi-ethnic society of Assam. In Nagaon district of central Assam, it was found that the residential areas of immigrant and indigenous communities were clearly demarcated based on the ecological environment. Immigrant communities built their villages by the riverbank plain of the Brahmaputra, a region where river water inundates seasonally, while the indigenous community lives mostly by the central plain near towns. To adapt to excessive water and flooding, the immigrant people have developed intensive fish farming in the rainy season and Boro rice cultivation in the dry season by modifying the original flat topography and introducing artificial groundwater irrigation. Their adaptation techniques to the existing environment are entirely different from those of indigenous villages, and they are able to generate higher productivity per unit of land. These techniques resulted in considerable differences in the livelihood and income of both communities. However, economic linkages have also been found from the field observations suggesting weak ties between the communities.本稿の一部は科学研究費補助金・研究活動スタート支援「インド，ブラマプトラ川河岸に住む外来住民と在来住民の「洪水とともに生きる知恵」」（ 研究代表者： 浅田晴久， 課題番号25883007）を使用した。本稿は，2015年9月26・27日に開催された日本南アジア学会第28回全国大会において実施されたパネル・セッション“Resources and Environmental Issues in Contemporary India”での発表をもとに作成したものである

iPSC-Based Compound Screening and In Vitro Trials Identify a Synergistic Anti-amyloid β Combination for Alzheimer’s Disease

In the process of drug development, in vitro studies do not always adequately predict human-specific drug responsiveness in clinical trials. Here, we applied the advantage of human iPSC-derived neurons, which offer human-specific drug responsiveness, to screen and evaluate therapeutic candidates for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Using AD patient neurons with nearly 100% purity from iPSCs, we established a robust and reproducible assay for amyloid β peptide (Aβ), a pathogenic molecule in AD, and screened a pharmaceutical compound library. We acquired 27 Aβ-lowering screen hits, prioritized hits by chemical structure-based clustering, and selected 6 leading compounds. Next, to maximize the anti-Aβ effect, we selected a synergistic combination of bromocriptine, cromolyn, and topiramate as an anti-Aβ cocktail. Finally, using neurons from familial and sporadic AD patients, we found that the cocktail showed a significant and potent anti-Aβ effect on patient cells. This human iPSC-based platform promises to be useful for AD drug development

Anti-Aβ Drug Screening Platform Using Human iPS Cell-Derived Neurons for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease

Background:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive memory and cognitive decline during middle to late adult life. The AD brain is characterized by deposition of amyloid β peptide (Aβ), which is produced from amyloid precursor protein by β- and γ-secretase (presenilin complex)-mediated sequential cleavage. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells potentially provide an opportunity to generate a human cell-based model of AD that would be crucial for drug discovery as well as for investigating mechanisms of the disease. Methodology/Principal Findings:We differentiated human iPS (hiPS) cells into neuronal cells expressing the forebrain marker, Foxg1, and the neocortical markers, Cux1, Satb2, Ctip2, and Tbr1. The iPS cell-derived neuronal cells also expressed amyloid precursor protein, β-secretase, and γ-secretase components, and were capable of secreting Aβ into the conditioned media. Aβ production was inhibited by β-secretase inhibitor, γ-secretase inhibitor (GSI), and an NSAID; however, there were different susceptibilities to all three drugs between early and late differentiation stages. At the early differentiation stage, GSI treatment caused a fast increase at lower dose (Aβ surge) and drastic decline of Aβ production. Conclusions/Significance:These results indicate that the hiPS cell-derived neuronal cells express functional β- and γ-secretases involved in Aβ production; however, anti-Aβ drug screening using these hiPS cell-derived neuronal cells requires sufficient neuronal differentiation

センサスデータでみるインド・アッサム州ブラマプトラ川渓谷の村落分布と人口動態

第７回南アジアにおける自然環境と人間活動に関する研究集会 : インド亜大陸・インドシナの自然災害と人間活動, 京都大学防災研究所大会議室S519D, 2012/02/04-0

ブラマプトラ川流域における気候と稲作

京都大学0048新制・課程博士博士(地域研究)甲第16329号地博第119号新制||地||39(附属図書館)28946京都大学大学院アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科東南アジア地域研究専攻(主査)准教授 安藤 和雄, 教授 岩田 明久, 准教授 水野 一晴学位規則第4条第1項該当Doctor of Area StudiesKyoto UniversityDA