Richardson Affaire: Great Britain and the Tokugawa Bakufu 1862–1863

After Japan was forced to open its ports to the western powers, by the threat of western navies, it was further compelled to sign unequal treaties with the Great Powers. This triggered a sonnō jōi movement led by young samurai, who criticized the ruling Tokugawa regime for its concessions to the foreigners. They therefore sought to expel the Westerners and close the country to their trade. Their second task was to bring the downfall of the shogunate and the restoration of the Imperial rule. In order to achieve this, many radical samurai mounted murderous attacks against the foreigners. One of the most serious of these incidents occurred in September 1862, when British merchant Charles Lennox Richardson was murdered by samurai from the Satsuma domain. Apart from the previous attacks this time the culprits could be identified. British minister to Japan Colonel Neale therefore demanded the punishment of the assailants and an indemnity from the bakufu for its inability to secure lives and safety of British nationals. The Tokugawa government tried to resist and resorted to delaying tactics because of its fear of internal impact, if it yielded. It was only after the British representatives demonstrated, that they are willing to use the naval forces at their disposal, that bakufu submitted

The role of cytochromes P450 and aldo-keto reductases in prognosis of breast carcinoma patients

Metabolism of anticancer drugs affects their antitumor effects. This study has investigated the associations of gene expression of enzymes metabolizing anticancer drugs with therapy response and survival of breast carcinoma patients.Gene expression of 13 aldo-keto reductases (AKRs), carbonyl reductase 1, and 10 cytochromes P450 (CYPs) was assessed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in tumors and paired adjacent nonneoplastic tissues from 68 posttreatment breast carcinoma patients. Eleven candidate genes were then evaluated in an independent series of 50 pretreatment patients. Protein expression of the most significant genes was confirmed by immunoblotting.AKR1A1 was significantly overexpressed and AKR1C1-4, KCNAB1, CYP2C19, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5 downregulated in tumors compared with control nonneoplastic tissues after correction for multiple testing. Significant association of CYP2B6 transcript levels in tumors with expression of hormonal receptors was found in the posttreatment set and replicated in the pretreatment set of patients. Significantly higher intratumoral levels of AKR1C1, AKR1C2, or CYP2W1 were found in responders to neoadjuvant chemotherapy compared with nonresponders. Patients with high AKR7A3 or CYP2B6 levels in the pretreatment set had significantly longer disease-free survival than patients with low levels. Protein products of AKR1C1, AKR1C2, AKR7A3, CYP3A4, and carbonyl reductase (CBR1) were found in tumors and those of AKR1C1, AKR7A3, and CBR1 correlated with their transcript levels. Small interfering RNA-directed knockdown of AKR1C2 or vector-mediated upregulation of CYP3A4 in MDA-MB-231 model cell line had no effect on cell proliferation after paclitaxel treatment in vitro.Prognostic and predictive roles of drug-metabolizing enzymes strikingly differ between posttreatment and pretreatment breast carcinoma patients. Mechanisms of action of AKR1C2, AKR7A3, CYP2B6, CYP3A4, and CBR1 should continue to be further followed in breast carcinoma patients and models.13-25222J, GACR, Czech Science FoundationCzech Science Foundation [13-25222J]; Internal Grant Agency of the Czech Ministry of Health [NT/14055-3

Ki-67 as a prognostic marker in mantle cell lymphoma—consensus guidelines of the pathology panel of the European MCL Network

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) has a heterogeneous clinical course and is mainly an aggressive B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma; however, there are some indolent cases The Ki-67 index, defined by the percentage of Ki-67-positive lymphoma cells on histopathological slides, has been shown to be a very powerful prognostic biomarker. The pathology panel of the European MCL Network evaluated methods to assess the Ki-67 index including stringent counting, digital image analysis, and estimation by eyeballing. Counting of 2 × 500 lymphoma cells is the gold standard to assess the Ki-67 index since this value has been shown to predict survival in prospective randomized trials of the European MCL Network. Estimation by eyeballing and digital image analysis showed a poor concordance with the gold standard (concordance correlation coefficients [CCC] between 0.29 and 0.61 for eyeballing and CCC of 0.24 and 0.37 for two methods of digital image analysis, respectively). Counting a reduced number of lymphoma cells (2 × 100 cells) showed high interobserver agreement (CCC = 0.74). Pitfalls of the Ki-67 index are discussed and guidelines and recommendations for assessing the Ki-67 index in MCL are given

British policy in China and Russo-japanese rivalry in the Far east

By the end of the 19th century Great Britain had to deal with new serious problems in the Far East. The position of its international rivals – especially Russia – rose considerably during the 90s. This was quite apparent in the northern part of Qing Empire – Manchuria where the Russians gained important concessions and a naval base of Port Arthur. Britain therefore tried to utilize the deepening of the Russo-Japanese rivalry, which was apparent since the second half of the 19th century. After new Russian pressure ensuing the Boxer revolution, London started direct negotiations with Tokyo. Their result was the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, which ended the era of British “Splendid Isolation”. Thanks to this development and naval and economic cooperation of both countries, Japan was able to soundly defeat Russia in the Russo-Japanese war. This was a considerable success of the British diplomacy, which was able to stop its main opponent without going to war itself. On the other hand, the rise of Japan as a Great Power meant, that the Land of the Rising Sun became a key factor in the British position in China. Britain started to be increasingly dependent on its support in next years

Bosnian crisis 1908-1909

The Bosnian crisis is one of the most important milestones on the way to the First World War. It is because this act of Austria-Hungary totaly destroyed a chance to create a Austro-Russian rapprochement on the Balkans. From this crisis the rivalry between these two empires fully started and it was this rivalry, which caused the collapse ofEuropean diplomatic system in July 1914. The aim ofthis work is to analyze all the circumstances and conditions, which influenced the decision of Vienna to take this action and how and why this action ruined the long termed policy of Austro-Russian entente

The World of Japanese Chronicles. War Stories in the Japanese Historiography

The Japanese historiography had an early beginning. Its tradition started with the chronicles Kojiki and Nihongi compiled for the Imperial Court in Kyoto in the 8th century. There were created a lot of other historical works – official histories, biographies, diaries etc. – during the Heian Period. However, with the rise of the samurai class and its seizure of political power, the character of Japanese medieval historiography changed. The new type of chronicle (gunki monogatari) was a combination of official histories, war tales and historical anecdotes written in a high literary language. Their goal was not only to record history but also to serve as a model of behaviour for the members of the military class. These chronicles therefore combined reality with fiction quite freely and can be considered not only as scholarly but also as literary works. Their popularity was at its peak in the Kamakura and early Muromachi Periods. Since the 15th century the changes in political and cultural climate in Japan lead to their gradual decline. They were replaced by a new type of historical works more corresponding to the taste of contemporary readership

Svět japonských kronik. Válečné příběhy v japonské historiografii

Japonská historiografie stojí na samém počátku japonské literární tradice díky kronikám Kodžiki a Nihongi vytvořené císařským dvorem v 8. století. Záhy vznikla řada dalších historických děl - oficiální dějiny, životopisy, deníky atd. Se vzestupem samurajské třídy a její politické moci se však charakter japonské středověké historiografie změnil. Nový typ kroniky (gunki monogatari) byl kombinací oficiálních dějin, válečných příběhů a historických anekdot sepsaných na vysoké literární úrovni. Jejich cílem bylo nejen zaznamenat dějinné události, ale též sloužit jako vzor chování pro členy vojenské vrstvy. Tato díla tedy kombinovala reálné události s fikcí a je třeba je považovat nejen za "odborná", ale též jako literární díla. Vrchol své popularity zaznamenala během období Kamakura a Muromači. Změny v politickém uspořádání v průběhu 15. století vedly k postupnému úpadku tohoto žánru a zrodu nového typu historických děl, jež lépe korespondovaly s očekáváním a vkusem jejich čtenářů.The Japanese historiography had an early beginning. Its tradition started with the chronicles Kojiki and Nihongi compiled for the Imperial Court in Kyoto in the 8th century. There were created a lot of other historical works – official histories, biographies, diaries etc. – during the Heian Period. However, with the rise of the samurai class and its seizure of political power, the character of Japanese medieval historiography changed. The new type of chronicle (gunki monogatari) was a combination of official histories, war tales and historical anecdotes written in a high literary language. Their goal was not only to record history but also to serve as a model of behaviour for the members of the military class. These chronicles therefore combined reality with fiction quite freely and can be considered not only as scholarly but also as literary works. Their popularity was at its peak in the Kamakura and early Muromachi Periods. Since the 15th century the changes in political and cultural climate in Japan lead to their gradual decline. They were replaced by a new type of historical works more corresponding to the taste of contemporary readership

Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire 1896-1941

The relations between Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire went through many changes and crisis in the years 1896-1914. Their development influenced considerably the international position of the Habsburg Monarchy. The main goal of this thesis was an analysis of the particular stages of this process and to determine how the mutual relations influenced the policy of both states in general and to assess its significance. Pursuing this objective the author of this thesis undertook extensive research of documents in Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv in Vienna and other institutions in the Czech Republic, which funds gave him a considerable amount of archival sources for reaching relevant conclusions. He also used an amount of published sources and literature. Thanks to this research he made a complete view of the problematic, which he then analyzed in its complexity. During his research the author came to the conclusion that the relationship of the Habsburg Monarchy towards the Ottoman Empire was quite important for general development of the Austro-Hungarian foreign policy. This fact proved especially in the period of the Austro-Russian cooperation in the years 1897-1907, during the Bosnian Crisis and in the course of the Balkan Wars. The significance of the relations between Vienna and Istanbul proved..