The trajectory of Sino-European relations:The political and economic impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

In the recent years, the power dynamics of Sino-European relations has shifted with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) becoming more assertive and strategic. However, with disruption and uncertainty in Europe due to the former US Trump administration, Brexit, and the Ukrainian war, the EU needs PRC’s international engagement to build a resilient international political community. PRC also needs the European market to expand outwardly, via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), to overcome its stagnation of domestic economy. Amidst this sensitive phase of the developing Sino-European relationship, the pandemic of Covid-19 hit the world.According to complex interdependence theory, the social and economic interconnectedness of the world transcends intergovernmental relationship. The pandemic brought a negative impact and weakened political resilience and European countries began to re-examine negative effects of complex interdependence, especially with PRC. The objective of this paper is to examine if this unique phenomenon of the pandemic has altered the trajectory of the Sino-European relationship. This literature is significant as few scholars in the field of Social Science have analysed Sino-European relations, specifically in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.Relevant organisations, or actors, include PRC, the EU and EU member state governments, ambassadors, State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), and private firms. There is no clear theory on how these actors react to pandemics in the complex interdependent modern era. Hence, this study takes an inductive approach by gathering relevant evidence for analysis. The main conclusion and implication of this study is that the actual data appears to show a decline of Chinese FDIs (Foreign Direct Investments) in Europe after the pandemic. However, the EU increasingly recognizes PRC as a systematic rival and involved parties are raising concern on PRC’s influence over Europe

Coffee as a Global Beverage before 1700

Coffee first appeared in world history in the middle of the fifteenth century, making its debut in the Middle East and diffusing to Europe during the seventeenth century. However, before colonial coffee appeared on the world market in the eighteenth century, coffee was produced in a very restricted area—Ethiopia and Yemen—and therefore, the amount of coffee on the world market was initially limited. In this article, I will discuss why coffee came to be drunk globally despite its limited production by examining the production, trade, and consumption of coffee prior to the eighteenth century.My conclusion is that the reason coffee became a “global beverage” before 1700 was because of the prior existence of a globaltrading network created by Indian Ocean traders. The network had long carried spices from east to west, and its existence facilitated the coffee trade and consequent culture prior to the eighteenth century, when the production of coffee expanded to other areas. The fact that coffee had already become a global beverage before 1700 led to the proliferation of a coffee drinking culture after colonial coffee appeared on the world market in the eighteenth century

Aberrant Expression of TFF1, TFF2, and PDX1 and Their Diagnostic Value in Lobular Endocervical Glandular Hyperplasia

Lobular endocervical glandular hyperplasia (LEGH) is a distinct benign glandular lesion expressing gastric gland mucous cell-type mucin (N-acetylglucosaminal -> 4galactose -> R [GlcNAc alpha 1 -> 4Gal -> R]). To investigate histogenesis and diagnostic markers of LEGH, we examined the immunohistochemical expression profile of gastric surface mucous cell (MUC5AC and TFF1), gastric gland mucous cell (MUC6, TFF2, and GlcNAc alpha 1 -> 4Gal -> R), gastric pyloric epithelial cell (PDX1), and endocervical cell (keratan sulfate) markers in normal endocervix samples and benign glandular lesions (nabothian cysts, tunnel clusters, and LEGHs). MUC5AC and MUC6 were expressed in normal endocervical mucosa and benign glandular lesions. TFF1, TFF2, GlcNAc alpha 1 -> 4Gal -> R, and PDX1 were expressed only in LEGH. Keratan sulfate was expressed in normal endocervical mucosa and benign glandular lesions. In LEGH, gastric surface mucous cell and gastric gland mucous cell differentiation were demonstrated, and transdifferentiation from endocervical mucosa into gastric pyloric mucosa was suggested. In addition to GlcNAc alpha 1 -> 4Gal -> R, TFF1, TFF2, and PDX1 are additional useful markers for LEGH.ArticleAMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PATHOLOGY. 135(2):253-261 (2011)journal articl

Changes in the molecular sieve of glomerular basement membrane in rats with aminonucleoside nephrosis.

Isolated and purified glomerular basement membranes (GBM) of normal and aminonucleoside (PAN) nephrosis rats were observed by electron microscopy after negative staining. Although GBM of normal rats appeared as a molecular sieve with uniform pores, GBM of nephrotic rats showed enlargement and elongation of the pores. For an average of fifty pores, the long dimension was 40.4+/-10.7 A and the short dimension 13.8+/-3.6 A in nephrosis whereas the long dimension was 12.3+/-2.5 A and the short dimension 8.4+/-1.0 A in normal rats. Changes in the pores in GBM were thought to result in increased permeability of serum protein and hence proteinuria

Tespa1 is a novel inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor binding protein in T and B lymphocytes

AbstractTespa1 has been recently reported to be a critical molecule in T-cell development, however, the precise molecular mechanisms of Tespa1 remain elusive. Here, we demonstrate that Tespa1 shows amino-acid sequence homology to KRAS-induced actin-interacting protein (KRAP), an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) binding protein, and that Tespa1 physically associates with IP3R in T and B lymphocytes. Two-consecutive phenylalanine residues (Phe185/Phe186) in Tespa1, which are conserved between Tespa1 and KRAP, are indispensable for the association between Tespa1 and IP3R. These findings suggest that Tespa1 plays critical roles in the immune system through the regulation of the IP3R

A Trial of Nutrition Education for Elementary School Children Using Their Dietary Survey Records (Case Study)

学童期の栄養教育の一方法として,食事秤量調査結果の懇切な還付による教育の有用性について検討するために,小学校4・5年生5名を対象に事例研究な行った。実態把握と効果判定のための両調査成績およびアンケート記述内容の解析により,次の結果を得た。(1)穀類摂取量増加の指導効果はみられなかったが,油脂・肉類摂取量が適正域へ減じ,魚介類のそれが増え,摂取脂肪酸組成比と動物性タンパク質比の有意な改善が認められ,摂取栄養充足率は概して適正域へ移行した。(2)3群基礎食品の知識の改善率に応じて食事内容が充足し,食事バランスが上昇する傾向がうかがわれた。(3)対象児と母親の調査終了後の反応より食意識啓発の様相をうかがうことができた

An actual condition survey on “career development regarding cancer nursing”

本研究の目的は，看護職者のキャリアディベロップメント支援のための継続教育プログラムの構築の基礎資料を得るために，A県下の看護職者のがん看護に関する学習状況やキャリア志向の実態を明らかにすることである．A県下病床数１００床以上の外・内科を併設する病院１７施設の看護職者１０１７名中６８６名（回収率６７．５％）を分析対象とした．結果，がん看護に関する学習項目全てにおいて学習ニードが高かった．また，がん看護の学習機会を持つ者や学習の阻害要因はないと回答した者が多かった．職業的満足感では“看護の仕事にやりがいを感じている”“仕事上での目標がある”と回答した者が多く，“今の看護の仕事に満足している”とした者は約半数であった．がんに関する資格取得希望者は少なかった．がん看護に関する学習ニードと対象者の背景および学習機会，阻害要因，キャリア志向との関係については，学習機会があると回答した方が学習ニードの合計得点の平均値が高かった（P＜０．０５）．また，阻害要因があると回答した方が学習ニードの合計得点の平均値が高かった（P＜０．０５）．職業的満足感では“看護の仕事にやりがいを感じている”で〈そう思う群〉の方が学習ニードの合計得点の平均値が高かった（P＜０．０５）．“仕事上での目標がある”では〈そう思う群〉の方が学習ニードの合計得点の平均値が高かった（P＜０．０５）．“今の看護の仕事に満足している”では〈思わない群〉の方が学習ニードの合計得点の平均値が高かった（P＜０．０５）．資格取得希望者の方が学習ニードの合計得点の平均値が高かった（P＜０．０５）．以上より，がん看護に関する学習ニードの高さが示された．がん看護に関するキャリアディベロップにおいて，施設側と教育側の連携と学習ニードを充実させていくことが鍵となることが示唆された．The objective of this study was to elucidate the actual conditions of learning needs for cancer nursing and career-intended mind among nursing staff in Prefecture A in order to obtain basic information for establishing a continuing educational programs as support for developing a career of nursing staff. A survey was conducted on １０１７ nurses working at one of １７ hospitals with ≥１００ beds in Prefecture A that have both a department of surgery and a department of internal medicine. Answers from ６８６ nurses （response rate, ６７．５％）were analyzed. The results indicated that there was a high level of learning needs in all learning items regarding cancer nursing. In addition, many nurses answered that they had opportunities to learn cancer nursing or that they had no obstacles to learn. Regarding job satisfaction, many nurses answered that they “feel worthwhile in nursing work” and “have objectives in their jobs” and approximately half of them answered that they “are satisfied with current nursing work”. Few nurses had a desire to acquire qualifications for being engaged in a high level of cancer care. In comparison of average scores of learning needs, nurses who answered there was a learning opportunities have higher scores than total average scores（P＜０．０５）. In addition, learning need was high the one where had a hindrances to learning（P＜０．０５）. As for the learning needs regarding cancer nursing and the relations of the career intention, learning need was higher Agree group in “find nursing work rewarding” （P＜０．０５） and “have career objectives” （P＜０．０５）. Furthermore, learning need was higher Disagree group in “are satisfied with current nursing work” （P＜ ０．０５）. Learning need was higher a qualification applicant （P＜０．０５）. These findings indicate a high level of learning needs regarding cancer nursing. It is necessary for “career development regarding cancer nursing” to be filled up in cooperation and learning need

Successes and failures in language planning for European languages in Asian nations

Although there have been some attempts to examine language planning and its successes and failures in South and East Asian languages, especially as such planning relates to English and to other European languages, no systematic cross-national study is available that looks systemati-cally at these issues. While such a study is not possible within the limits imposed by this paper – a monograph would probably be needed; we attempt to sketch the broad outlines of what such a study might look like and provide some basic data about, and examples of the successful and more problematic language policy and planning that has occurred in this region. If we look beyond the large regional languages (e.g., Bengali, Chinese, Japanese, Javanese, Korean, and more recently Malay/Indonesian and Filipino) and the multitude of minority lan-guages, we find European – and of course Arabic and other Asian languages – have become es-tablished in the various polities in the region. These languages have come to be used for a number of reasons, including: •Trade internally within the region, from the Arabian peninsula, and later from Europe (Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish); •Religious proselytisation conducted through Arabic and various European languages; •Colonization, as conducted through various European (and Asian) languages; •Languages learned to access overseas education and technology; •Wars of aggression, some of which were linked to European, North American, and Asian colonial development; •The geopolitics of the “cold war”, especially for Russian and English; and •The rise of English as an economic world language or lingua franca