India in Climate Change – the view from Tokyo

This chapter first examines Indo-Japanese relations to place the relationship in a wider context and then moves on to examine how Tokyo views New Delhi in relation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It introduces the ‘China prism’ and ‘nuclear lens’, two frameworks that significantly influence Tokyo’s perception of New Delhi. As a whole, the chapter argues that with regard to Japanese policymaking on climate change, India is viewed both in relation to and in comparison with China. India was Tokyo’s preferred partner in climate change until 1998, when, following India’s nuclear tests, there was a dramatic shift in Tokyo’s perception of India. It was then replaced by China, as the ‘better partner’ for Tokyo in climate change

Rule of Law in China: Chinese Law and Business: The Impact of the World Trade Organization on the Chinese Legal System

It is still early days to appreciate fully the effects of China’s World Trade Organization (WTO) accession in 2001. As China becomes more accustomed to WTO rules and regulations, it will also adopt a more thorough compliance with the spirit of the WTO agreements. While there is still a long way to go, the track record of China’s implementation has been generally favourable. This is most evident in the absence of disputes with China before the Dispute Settlement Mechanism, the judicial arm of the WTO. However, since many of the WTO commitments are broad and vague in anticipation of further definitions, member states’ expectations tend to exceed these commitments, and whilst China has attained a good basic level of compliance, it will face increasing pressure from the international community to go further still.Policy brief

Synthesis of artificial lymphoid tissue with immunological function.

The ability to generate functional artificial lymphoid tissue to induce specific immunity at ectopic sites could offer a potential breakthrough for treatment of diseases such as cancer and severe infection using immunotherapy. Artificial lymphoid tissue could also offer an informative tool to study further lymphoid tissue development and function in vivo. Here, we review the process of secondary and tertiary lymphoid organization, of which an understanding is essential for artificial lymphoid tissue synthesis. Using this knowledge, we consider the combination of cell types, soluble factors and scaffold properties that will enable proper accumulation and organization of lymphocytes into tissue grafts. Recent success in in vivo induction of artificial lymphoid tissue are also considered

'Renquan' - Chinese Human Rights: An' Import' from the West or a Chinese 'Export'?

Introduction Human rights, renquan, is not an indigenous Chinese term.1 In fact, renquan is a borrowed term from Japan that entered into China with Nationalist leaders bringing back new ideals after their return to China from exile in Japan (Angle, 2002; Svensson, 1996). Renquan does not originally exist in Chinese, nor does its Japanese equivalent jinken exist in Japanese. They are direct translations of human ren (Chinese) or jin (Japanese) and rights quan (Chinese) or ken (Japanese). Scholars of Chinese history and philosophy have connected human rights with Confucian notions like ren and li trying to establish that some kind of notion of human rights existed in China prior to Western influence (Peerenboom, 1993, 1995; Angle 2002). However, these ideals are quite far from the human rights as embodied in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNUDHR) from 1948. The origins of the human rights discourse in the West are equally problematic.2 However, there is agreement that human rights originated in the West with the concept of Natural Law, and developed during the age of Enlightenment. For the purposes of this chapter, human rights as defined in the United Nations treaties will be used as a reference point.3 It is recognised that the UN is far from being a truly ‘international’ organisation with its problematic and dated structure.4 However, as it is the closest to an ‘international organisation’ that we have to date, its treaties dealing with human rights will be used as reference definitions of ‘human rights’. The ‘universalist’ versus ‘relativist’ debate in human rights is very controversial and due to space limitations the chapter does not go into this discussion. The focus of this piece is on China’s concept of human rights, which started from a ‘universalist’ stance among Chinese intellectuals, but as it became an issue in policy, increasingly turned ‘relativist’. This chapter will examine the evolution of human rights in China – a product of Western influence that merged with local culture and traditions and developed in cooperation with Japan, and more recently with Asian countries and the global South. It will begin by tracing the origins and establishment of human rights in China. Though it is recognised that human rights is a broad concept, ranging from first, second, and third generation rights, the aim of this chapter is to trace the development of the concept in China, thus the definition of human rights will not be narrowed down. The analysis of the evolution of human rights in China begins with the Qing dynasty during which the human rights concept first entered China, and continues to the present day. In this discussion, China is understood as a continuum from Qing dynasty (1644-1912), the Republican period (1912-1949), and the People’s Republic of China (1949-present). The first section of this chapter examines how the concept of human rights entered China and developed domestically under external influences (both intellectual and political), while the second section of this chapter covers the projection of ‘Chinese human rights’ or rather the ‘export’ of a Chinese version of human rights. Through the examples of Chinese human rights White Papers, the Asian Values movement and survival emissions in climate change negotiations, it will be examined how human rights – originally an ‘import’ from the West – has become a Chinese ‘export’ post-Tiananmen

Biochemical and Physical Characterization of Fish Protein Isolate and Surimi for their Compatibility

There are presently two successful methods used to refine fish muscle proteins: surimi and fish protein isolate (FPI). Both surimi and FPI have the ability to form an elastic gel upon comminution and heating. However, their gelation behaviors are different as they are refined in a biochemically opposite way based on the nature of protein denaturation. The focus of this study was to compare surimi and FPI under various processing conditions, such as rigor mortis, frozen storage, comminution conditions, and blending effect, and how these conditions can affect their functional properties including gel texture. The structural changes and rheological properties of tilapia protein prepared using FPI and surimi with pre- and post-rigor muscle were evaluated. No rigor effect was observed on the gel-forming ability of FPI, although higher storage modulus (G’) and better gel texture were obtained in surimi made from pre-rigor tilapia compared to surimi made from post-rigor tilapia. Results suggested pre-rigor processing may improve gel-formation properties of surimi, but not as much for the gelation of FPI. Storing fish in a freezer for extended periods of time can adversely affect the gel-forming ability of muscle proteins. The effect of frozen storage (0, 1, and 3 mo) on the biochemical and physical characterization of FPI and surimi made from tilapia was elucidated. The Ca²⁺ATPase activity of tilapia fillet continuously reduced throughout the frozen storage; however, the decline trend of its activity was slower than cold or temperate water species. As reported by storage modulus (G’), storing whole fish frozen for 3 mo did not affect the gelling ability of FPI and surimi. The results from surface hydrophobicity, surface reactive sulfhydryl (SRSH) content, and differential scanning calorimetry also corresponded to the results from storage modulus. Thus, frozen tilapia, if stored up to 3 mo, may be used like fresh fish in the processing of FPI and surimi and no negative effects on gel qualities. The uniqueness of tropical fish tilapia was thought due to its high thermal stability. The quality of surimi gels was affected more so under various rigor stages and frozen storage compared to FPI gels. Conversely, the addition of salt into FPI induced a higher degree of unfolding protein structure prior to gelation compared to surimi. In addition, comminution conditions affected the quality of FPI gel more than that of surimi gel. A significant increase in puncture gel texture was observed when FPI and surimi were chopped at 25°C for 18 min compared to samples chopped at 5°C for 6 min. The comparable results were detected as measured by storage modulus. FPI chopped with 3% salt at 5°C for 6 min showed the lowest gel texture among all treatments, possibly because protein structure was not disintegrated appropriately and formed larger protein aggregates and coarser gels demonstrated by microscopic analyses. Results suggested controlling chopping temperature and time, and the addition of salt, may be significant factors to enhance production of high quality gel in FPI and surimi. Moreover, the effect of various comminution conditions on structural changes were investigated using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy. Both procedures exhibited increasing chopping temperature and time, adding salt, promoted a higher degree of unfolding protein structure in FPI and surimi paste made from tilapia, when they were chopped at 25°C for 18 min compared to samples chopped at 5°C for 6 min. Also, FPI and surimi gels prepared after chopping at 25°C for 18 min revealed higher β-sheet contents and more chemical bonds such as hydrophobic interactions and disulfide bonds than those at 5°C for 6 min. Controlling comminution conditions may be one of the important factors to produce high quality gels from FPI and surimi using tropical fish like tilapia. Additionally, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy are useful complementary tools, allowing a better interpretation of the structural changes in FPI and surimi under various comminution conditions. The gelation properties of blending two different fish proteins obtained from surimi and FPI at different ratios was evaluated. Effects of blending surimi and FPI on gel functionality (whiteness, hardness, and cohesiveness) demonstrated a linear pattern when the proportion of surimi is larger than or equal to that of FPI. Also, breaking force and penetration distance decreased significantly when the ratio of surimi to FPI decreased. Results indicated gels cooked in a water bath tended to exhibit a higher breaking force than gels cooked ohmically. On the other hand, a higher penetration distance was observed for gels cooked ohmically compared to gels cooked in a water bath. Blending surimi and FPI did not affect the inter-molecular interactions of protein in a linear pattern, like mixing various grades of surimi, but this might be feasible only when the proportion of FPI does not exceed 50%

Immunohistochemical Character of Hepatic Angiomyolipoma: For Its Management

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (AML) is notoriously difficult to diagnose without an invasive surgery even with the recent development of the various imaging modalities. Additionally, recent reports showed its malignant behavior after the surgery; it is important to diagnose the character of each tumor including the possible malignant potential and determine the postoperative management for each case. For this purpose, we have reviewed reports and focused on the immunohistochemical staining with p53 and ki67 of the tumors showing the representative case of 60-year-old female. The imaging study of her tumor showed the character similar to the hepatocellular carcinoma, and she underwent the hepatectomy. The resected tumor stained positive for HMB-45 that is a marker of the AML, and 30–50% of the tumor cells were positively stained with Ki67 that is a mitotic marker. Also, the atypical epithelioid cells displayed p53 immunoreactivity. These results suggest the malignant potential of our tumor based on the previous reports; therefore the careful followup for this case is necessary for a long period whether it shows metastasis, sizing up, and so forth