アルバータ州ラクリートの メノナイト共同体について

2017年夏にカナダのアルバータ州北辺にあるラクリートという村落のメノナイト共同体を訪れ，現地調査を行った。この研究ノートは，まず背景知識として，メノナイトとは何か，なぜカナダに多数のメノナイトのコミュニティがあるのか，メノナイトの人々が従事する主な産業は何かなどについて整理する。その後，ラクリートのメノナイトの人々の信仰，その暮らしぶり，教会生活，母語であるメノナイト低地ドイツ語の使用，その村のメノナイト以外の人とのかかわり，世界各地のメノナイト共同体との交流などについて報告する。当地の行政機関と文化センター訪問，ある教会の牧師とのインタビュー，2つの家庭の訪問，海外のメノナイト支援を行っている団体見学などで得た生の情報から見られるこの地の共同体の姿を描く

Ipomoea batatas and Agarics blazei ameliorate diabetic disorders with therapeutic antioxidant potential in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Ipomoea batatas, Agaricus blazei and Smallanthus sonchifolius are known to favorably influence diabetes mellitus. To clarify their antidiabetic efficacy and hypoglycemic mechanisms, we treated streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats with daily oral feeding of powdered Ipomoea batatas (5 g kg−1 d−1), Agaricus blazei (1 g kg−1 d−1) or Smallanthus sonchifolius (4 g kg−1 d−1) for 2 months. Treatments with Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei, but not Smallanthus sonchifolius, significantly suppressed the increases of fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c levels, and restored body weight loss during diabetes. Serum insulin levels after oral glucose administration tests increased along the treatments of Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei. Moreover, Ipomoea batatas and Agaricus blazei reduced superoxide production from leukocytes and vascular homogenates, serum 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine, and vascular nitrotyrosine formation of diabetic rats to comparable levels of normal control animals. Stress- and inflammation-related p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activity and tumor necrosis factor-α production of diabetic rats were significantly depressed by Ipomoea batatas administration. Histological examination also exhibited improvement of pancreatic β-cells mass after treatments with Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei. These results suggest that hypoglycemic effects of Ipomoea batatas or Agaricus blazei result from their suppression of oxidative stress and proinflammatory cytokine production followed by improvement of pancreatic β-cells mass

Software Defined Media: Virtualization of Audio-Visual Services

Internet-native audio-visual services are witnessing rapid development. Among these services, object-based audio-visual services are gaining importance. In 2014, we established the Software Defined Media (SDM) consortium to target new research areas and markets involving object-based digital media and Internet-by-design audio-visual environments. In this paper, we introduce the SDM architecture that virtualizes networked audio-visual services along with the development of smart buildings and smart cities using Internet of Things (IoT) devices and smart building facilities. Moreover, we design the SDM architecture as a layered architecture to promote the development of innovative applications on the basis of rapid advancements in software-defined networking (SDN). Then, we implement a prototype system based on the architecture, present the system at an exhibition, and provide it as an SDM API to application developers at hackathons. Various types of applications are developed using the API at these events. An evaluation of SDM API access shows that the prototype SDM platform effectively provides 3D audio reproducibility and interactiveness for SDM applications.Comment: IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC2017), Paris, France, 21-25 May 201

後期近代から見るフッタライトの近代性

再洗礼派フッタライトは16世紀の宗教改革時に誕生したが，極めて早い時期からその後の近代を先取りするようないくつもの特徴（近代性）を備えていた。特に個人の信仰の自由，「子ども」の重視，幼児教育・初等教育制度の創設，民主的なコロニー運営などに注目する。その一方で，国民国家形成などの近代化を拒んだことが，後期近代という時代においてあらためて評価される可能性もある。しかし，後期近代という観点からすれば，日本をはじめとした多くの社会同様，女性の活躍やLGBTQにかかわる問題点も見つかる。だが，そうしたことはあるものの，フッタライトの生き方は，盛期近代への反省期である後期近代にいるわれわれの生き方に反省を迫るものでもある