Soldiers against Orders : A Radical Form of Civil Disobedience?

二つの大戦を経験した世界は、一般の兵士や官吏が、幾多の残虐行為を命令に従って遂行していた ことに衝撃をうけた。戦後、国際法上は、違法なあるいは非人道的な命令には従わない権利のみなら ず義務が、個々人にあるとされるようになった。軍隊では、命令服従関係が基本的な原理である。軍 隊内という国家の政策が執行される最先端での不服従は、国内法上は違法とされている。本稿では、 軍人による「急進的な」不服従について、市民的不服従の理念から位置づける

Transformation of conscription system in Germany : Confrontation between a state and an individual

Military conscription was a part of modernization. In pre-modern times, a feudal lord was not able to use all of the people for military service. By introducing universal suffrage, a modern state was able to enforce people to exercise violence. A modern state attempted to control not only its people's behavior, but also their inner life. An army has functioned as a school of nations. Through training in an army, people were standardized and disciplined. Conscientious objection was a form of “deviation" from the state integration, and therefore objectors were severely punished until the end of World War II. After the horrible experiences of war and the Holocaust, conscientious objection is considered a basic human right and by the state guaranteed. Legislation makes conscientious objection no longer a form of “deviation." The system to integrate objectors in the German Democratic Republic was the construction units (Baueinheiten). Objectors were subjected to ill treatment and lifelong discrimination. Through their experiences, they organized peace movements and provided a vital nucleus for unofficial civil movements during the late 1980s. The state of GDR had failed to integrate objectors and driven them to estrangement. In contrast, the state of the Federal Republic of Germany succeeded in integration through the introduction of civil service (Zivildienst). The number of Zivis outnumbered that of conscripts in the army in 1999. There is now a new impact of objectors on society, because they have become an indispensable part of social welfare service. Now in FRG, soldiers in the army have the right and the duty to refuse a senior officers' order, when the order is inhuman or unlawful. Soldiers should act as citizens with their own responsibility. I would like to survey the transformation of conscription system in Germany, from the viewpoint of how the state has tried to integrate each individual

キズツク ヘイシ センジョウ ノ ヒガイシャ

多胡圭一教授國井和郎教授退官記念

Origin of an Orbiting Star Around the Galactic Supermassive Black Hole

The tremendous tidal force that is linked to the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of our galaxy is expected to strongly subdue star formation in its vicinity. Stars within 1" from the SMBH thus likely formed further from the SMBH and migrated to their current positions. In this study, spectroscopic observations of the star S0-6/S10, one of the closest (projected distance from the SMBH of about 0.3") late-type stars were conducted. Using metal absorption lines in the spectra of S0-6, the radial velocity of S0-6 from 2014 to 2021 was measured, and a marginal acceleration was detected, which indicated that S0-6 is close to the SMBH. The S0-6 spectra were employed to determine its stellar parameters including temperature, chemical abundances ([M/H], [Fe/H], [alpha/Fe], [Ca/Fe], [Mg/Fe], [Ti/Fe]), and age. As suggested by the results of this study, S0-6 is very old (> ~10 Gyr) and has an origin different from that of stars born in the central pc region.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 10 tables, accepted for publication in Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Ser. B, Physical and Biological Science

Photopumped laser oscillation and charge-injected luminescence from organic semiconductor single crystals of a thiophene/phenylene co-oligomer

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 87:221113(2005) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2138361 .ArticleAPPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 87:221113(2005)journal articl

Deterioration of high-resolution computed tomography findings predicts disease progression after initial decline in forced vital capacity in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients treated with pirfenidone

Background Pirfenidone suppresses the decline of forced vital capacity (FVC) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). However, IPF progresses in some patients despite treatment. We analyzed patients with meaningful FVC declines during pirfenidone treatment and explored the factors predictive of disease progression after FVC decline. Methods This study was a retrospective, multicenter, observational study conducted by the Okayama Respiratory Disease Study Group. We defined initial decline in %FVC as 5% or greater per 6-month period during pirfenidone treatment. IPF patients who were treated with pirfenidone and experienced an initial decline from December 2008 to September 2017 were enrolled. Results We analyzed 21 patients with IPF. After the initial decline, 4 (19.0%) patients showed improvement in disease, 11 (52.4%) showed stable disease, and 6 (28.6%) showed progressive disease. There was no significant correlation between %FVC reduction on initial decline and subsequent %FVC change (p = 0.475). Deterioration of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings on initial decline was observed significantly more often in the progressive versus improved/stable disease groups (100% vs 20.0%, p = 0.009). Conclusions We revealed that deterioration of HRCT findings may predict disease progression after the initial decline in %FVC in IPF patients treated with pirfenidone

Nintedanib can be used safely and effectively for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with predicted forced vital capacity <= 50%: A multi-center retrospective analysis

Background Nintedanib is a multi-kinase inhibitor approved for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); however, its efficacy and safety for patients with IPF and restricted pulmonary function remain unclear. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of nintedanib for patients with IPF and forced vital capacity (FVC) ≤ 50%. Methods This was a multi-center retrospective study performed by the Okayama Respiratory Disease Study Group. Patients were allocated into FVC ≤ 50% and FVC > 50% groups based on their predicted FVC. The primary endpoints were FVC changes from baseline after 6 and 12 months. Results 45 patients were eligible for the study. 18 patients had FVC ≤ 50%, and 27 patients had FVC > 50%. Overall, 31 and 19 patients underwent pulmonary function tests at 6 and 12 months after initiating nintedanib, respectively. FVC changes from baseline at 6 and 12 months after initiating nintedanib were comparable between the two groups. Adverse events were seen in all patients, and the rates of patients who discontinued nintedanib were also comparable (38.9% vs. 37.0%, p = 1.000). Multiple regression analysis showed that age and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/FVC were negatively correlated with changes in FVC at 6 months after initiating nintedanib. Conclusions Our data suggest that nintedanib can be a useful agent for IPF patients, including those with a low FVC, and that age and FEV1/FVC are predictive markers for changes in FVC following nintedanib treatment