“This Deus is a Fool’s Cap Buddha”:: ‘The Christian Sect’ as Seen by Early Modern Japanese Buddhists

Keine hundert Jahre lang durften christliche Missionare im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert sich in Japan aufhalten, ehe sie des Landes verwiesen wurden und das Christentum für über zweihundert Jahre verboten wurde. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht, wie das Christentum in Japan insbesondere von Buddhisten, den wichtigsten Dialogpartnern bzw. Konkurrenten, wahrgenommen wurde und welchen sprachlichen Niederschlag der Kontakt zwischen den beiden Religionsgemeinschaften im Japanischen fand. Während für viele christliche Termini bald Übersetzungsbegriffe geprägt wurden, wurde das Christentum insgesamt im Rahmen der bestehenden Terminologie gefasst: Noch die stärkste Ablehnung des Christentums erkannte implizit dessen kategoriale Kommensurabilität an, indem es als (wenn auch häretische) Sekte mit demselben Klassenbegriff belegt wurde wie die einheimischen Religionen auch. Die Religionspolitik des 7. Jahrhunderts trug dazu bei, dass dieser Sprachgebrauch – durch eine Erweiterung des extensionalen Sinns – wiederum Veränderungen in der bestehenden Terminologie hervorrief, die auch nach dem Verbot des Christentums nachwirkten. Der vorliegende Beitrag argumentiert, dass die Bildung des heute in Ostasien verbreiteten Begriffs für „Religion”, die erst in der zweiten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts erfolgte, maßgeblich durch diese Vorgeschichte geprägt ist. I

明治初期の《世俗性》の再考 : 島地黙雷、仏教、神道、国家

In the early Meiji period, Japanese Buddhists had to come to terms with a number of profound changes. The prime challenge for the clerical elite was the radically new religious policy of the Meiji government, no longer favoring Buddhism in the framework of the early modern temple registration system, but rather privileging Shinto in its attempts to find a suitable place for Japanese religions in the modern Japanese nation state. Institutionally, Buddhism was faced with the Great Promulgation Campaign initiated under the auspices of the Ministry of Edification from 1872 onwards. Anyone who wanted to continue religious teaching needed to join the campaign; at the same time, Buddhists were prohibited from engaging in sectarian proselytization while teaching under the campaign’s umbrella. Priests of the Jōdo Shinshū were active in overcoming this impasse, and among them Shimaji Mokurai of the sect’s Honganji branch was particularly effective. As a member of the first group of Japanese Buddhists to travel to Europe in 1872, he combined the traditional scholarship of a Buddhist priest with modern Western knowledge gleaned in France, Great Britain, and Germany. Drawing on premodern Japanese terminological precedents, Shimaji first conceptualized the separation of the spheres of politics and religion and, slightly later, that of “religious and secular teaching.” Out of this separation, a concept of “religion” first appeared in Japan. Shimaji’s intellectual move to separate a sphere of “religion” in order to free Buddhism from the restraints of early Meiji religious policy has structural parallels with the political ideology of secularism as described by Talal Asad. Contrary to Asad’s assumptions, however, secularism clearly is not purely a Western project. The case of Shimaji shows how Japanese thinkers and political actors drew upon their local tradition as well as new Western knowledge to come up with their own solutions to specific political problems that arose in the transition of Japan to the modern era

Moglichkeiten und Grenzen der Videoannotation mit Pan.do/ra - Forschung, Lehre und institutionelles Repositorium

Seit fast 10 Jahren wird am Heidelberger Zentrum für Transkulturelle Studien (HCTS) im Rahmen der Heidelberg Research Architecture mit Pan.do/ra eine open source Plattform zur Annotation von Audio- und Video-Material angeboten. Das web-basierte System erlaubt es mehreren Nutzern gleichzeitig, frei gewählte Segmente eines Videos mit unterschiedlichen Arten von Annotationen (Layer oder Spuren) zu versehen, zu bearbeiten, auszutauschen und zu exportieren. Dieser Beitrag stellt verschiedene Anwendungsszenarien an der Universität Heidelberg vor. Der Einsatz in der Forschung wird am Beispiel islamischer Predigten, der Einsatz in der Lehre am Beispiel japanischer Propagandafilme des Zweiten Weltkriegs dargestellt. Der Beitrag diskutiert dabei kritisch, wie hilfreich die vorgängige Annotation letztlich für die eigentliche Inhaltsanalyse ist. Außerdem werden der Einsatz als institutionelle Videoplattform und abschließend die Anforderungen und Herausforderungen für ein nachhaltiges Angebot auf universitärer Ebene diskutiert

Improved Route to Linear Triblock Copolymers by Coupling with Glycidyl Ether-Activated Poly(ethylene oxide) Chains

Poly(ethylene oxide) block copolymers (PEO$_z$ BCP) have been demonstrated to exhibit remarkably high lithium ion (Li$^+$) conductivity for Li$^+$ batteries applications. For linear poly(isoprene)-b-poly(styrene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymers (PI$_x$PS$_y$PEO$_z$), a pronounced maximum ion conductivity was reported for short PEO$_z$ molecular weights around 2 kg mol$^{−1}$. To later enable a systematic exploration of the influence of the PI$_x$ and PS$_y$ block lengths and related morphologies on the ion conductivity, a synthetic method is needed where the short PEO$_z$ block length can be kept constant, while the PI$_x$ and PS$_y$ block lengths could be systematically and independently varied. Here, we introduce a glycidyl ether route that allows covalent attachment of pre-synthesized glycidyl-end functionalized PEO$_z$ chains to terminate PI$_x$PS$_y$ BCPs. The attachment proceeds to full conversion in a simplified and reproducible one-pot polymerization such that PI$_x$PS$_y$PEO$_z$ with narrow chain length distribution and a fixed PEO$_z$ block length of z = 1.9 kg mol$^{−1}$ and a Đ = 1.03 are obtained. The successful quantitative end group modification of the PEO$_z$ block was verified by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). We demonstrate further that with a controlled casting process, ordered microphases with macroscopic long-range directional order can be fabricated, as demonstrated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). It has already been shown in a patent, published by us, that BCPs from the synthesis method presented here exhibit comparable or even higher ionic conductivities than those previously published. Therefore, this PEO$_z$ BCP system is ideally suitable to relate BCP morphology, order and orientation to macroscopic Li$^+$ conductivity in Li$^+$ batteries

Mobilization of hematopoietic stem cells with the novel CXCR4 antagonist POL6326 (balixafortide) in healthy volunteers—Results of a dose escalation trial

Background: Certain disadvantages of the standard hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) mobilizing agent G-CSF fuel the quest for alternatives. We herein report results of a Phase I dose escalation trial comparing mobilization with a peptidic CXCR4 antagonist POL6326 (balixafortide) vs. G-CSF. Methods: Healthy male volunteer donors with a documented average mobilization response to G-CSF received, following ≥6 weeks wash-out, a 1–2 h infusion of 500–2500 µg/kg of balixafortide. Safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics were assessed. Results: Balixafortide was well tolerated and rated favorably over G-CSF by subjects. At all doses tested balixafortide mobilized HSPC. In the dose range between 1500 and 2500 µg/kg mobilization was similar, reaching 38.2 ± 2.8 CD34 + cells/µL (mean ± SEM). Balixafortide caused mixed leukocytosis in the mid-20 K/µL range. B-lymphocytosis was more pronounced, whereas neutrophilia and monocytosis were markedly less accentuated with balixafortide compared to G-CSF. At the 24 h time point, leukocytes had largely normalized. Conclusions: Balixafortide is safe, well tolerated, and induces efficient mobilization of HSPCs in healthy male volunteers. Based on experience with current apheresis technology, the observed mobilization at doses ≥1500 µg/kg of balixafortide is predicted to yield in a single apheresis a standard dose of 4× 10E6 CD34+ cells/kg from most individuals donating for an approximately weight-matched recipient. Exploration of alternative dosing regimens may provide even higher mobilization responses. Trial Registration European Medicines Agency (EudraCT-Nr. 2011-003316-23) and clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01841476

ESID: A Visual Analytics Tool to Epidemiological Emergencies

Visual analysis tools can help illustrate the spread of infectious diseases and enable informed decisions on epidemiology and public health issues. To create visualisation tools that are intuitive, easy to use, and effective in communicating information, continued research and development focusing on user-centric and methodological design models is extremely important. As a contribution to this topic, this paper presents the design and development of the visual analytics application ESID (Epidemiological Scenarios for Infectious Diseases). The goal of ESID is to provide a platform for rapid assessment of the most effective interventions for infectious disease control. ESID provides spatial-temporal analysis, forecasting, comparison of simulations, interactive filters, and accessibility options. In its current form, it shows the simulations of a hybrid graph-equation-based model as introduced in for infection control. The model can be stratified for different age groups and takes into account the properties of the infectious disease as well as human mobility and contact behaviour.Comment: 6 pages, 5 images and 1 table, Eurovis workshop on visual analytics (EuroVA) 202

ESID: Exploring the Design and Development of a Visual Analytics Tool for Epidemiological Emergencies

Visual analytics tools can help illustrate the spread of infectious diseases and enable informed decisions on epidemiological and public health issues. To create visualisation tools that are intuitive, easy to use, and effective in communicating information, continued research and development focusing on user-centric and methodological design models is extremely important. As a contribution to this topic, this paper presents the design and development process of the visual analytics application ESID (Epidemiological Scenarios for Infectious Diseases). ESID is a visual analytics tool aimed at projecting the future developments of infectious disease spread using reported and simulated data based on sound mathematical-epidemiological models. The development process involved a collaborative and participatory design approach with project partners from diverse scientific fields. The findings from these studies, along with the guidelines derived from them, played a pivotal role in shaping the visualisation tool