日本の神話および祭儀に見られる、太陽と稲の結びつき (アジアの宗教にみる神)

日本神話で太陽女神アマテラスは，同時に稲の女神とも見なせるほど堅密に，稲作と結びつけられている．この女神と稲の結びつきはまた，大嘗祭や伊勢神宮の祭祀にも，明瞭に看取できる．その上，天の石屋の神話に語られている，アマテラスの性質と振る舞いには，インドシナなどの神話で稲の神霊について語られていることと，明らかな吻合が認められ，そのことからこの女神が，稲の神格化された存在ともみなせる面を，持っていたことが窺われる．このように太陽と稲を，同一の神格に結びっける傾向は，日本の民間の信仰や祭りにもしばしば見られる．その顕著な例の一つとして，赤米の種子籾俵を，天道と呼ばれる太陽神的神格の御神体として，丁重に取り扱いながら崇める，対馬の豆酸の祭りを，挙げることができる．The　Sun－goddess　Amaterasu，　being　the　supreme　deity　of　Shintδ，　is　closely associated　also　with　the　rice　crop　throughout　the　mythology　as　well　as　in　her　cult　celebrated at　the　Inner　and　Outer　Shrines　of　Ise．　She　even　obviously　shows　some　of　the　characteristic traits　common　to　the　rice　deities　of　the　East　Asian　rice　cultivators．　A　similar　tendency　to connect　a　solar　deity　with　the　rice　is　found　also　in　folk　beliefs　and　lores　all　around　Japan；one of　the　conspicuous　examples　being　the　Tent6　festival　of　the　island　of　Tstlshima，　in　which　a straw　bag　containing　grains　of　a　special　kind　of　holy　red　rice　is　most　solemnly　reverenced　as an　incarnation　of　a　solar　deity

ニホン シンワ ニオケル イナサク ト ヤキハタ

特別寄

Association of Habitual Physical Activity Measured by an Accelerometer with High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients

After confirming the relationship between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and mortality in hemodialysis patients for study 1, we investigated the effect of physical activity on their HDL-C levels for study 2. In study 1, 266 hemodialysis patients were monitored prospectively for five years, and Cox proportional hazard regression confirmed the contribution of HDL-C to mortality. In study 2, 116 patients were recruited after excluding those with severe comorbidities or requiring assistance from another person to walk. Baseline characteristics, such as demographic factors, physical constitution, primary kidney disease, comorbid conditions, smoking habits, drug use, and laboratory parameters, were collected from patient hospital records. An accelerometer measured physical activity as the number of steps per day over five consecutive days, and multiple regression evaluated the association between physical activity and HDL-C levels. Seventy-seven patients died during the follow-up period. In study 1, we confirmed that HDL-C level was a significant predictor of mortality (P=0.03). After adjusting for patient characteristics in study 2, physical activity was independently associated with HDL-C levels (adjusted R2=0.255; P=0.005). In conclusion, physical inactivity was strongly associated with decreased HDL-C levels in hemodialysis patients

Utility of Regular Management of Physical Activity and Physical Function in Hemodialysis Patients

Background/Aims: Several clinical practice guidelines recommend regular assessment of physical activity and physical function as part of routine care in hemodialysis patients. However, there is no clear evidence to support these recommendations. We investigated whether the proportion of attendance at a regular program for management of physical activity and physical function can predict all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in hemodialysis patients. Methods: This retrospective cohort study consisted of 266 hemodialysis patients participating in the management program at least once. Participants were tracked for 3 years after their first attendance at the management program to determine their attendance proportion. The main study outcomes included all-cause mortality and a composite of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events. Results: Median patient age was 64.5 (interquartile range, 56.8 – 72.0) years, 45% were women, and the median time on hemodialysis was 35.5 (interquartile range, 12.0 – 114.3) months at baseline. Sixty-five patients died over a median follow-up of 79 months. The incidence of cardiovascular events was 60 over a median follow-up of 68 months. Even after adjusting for any of the prognostic models, participants who attended ≤ 75% of sessions (n = 140) had higher risks of mortality (hazard ratio (HR), 1.79; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00 – 3.36; P = 0.049) and cardiovascular events (HR, 1.84; 95% CI: 1.07 – 3.48; P = 0.03) than those attending > 75% of sessions (n = 126). Conclusion: Hemodialysis patients in whom physical activity and physical function could be assessed more regularly had better prognosis than those with only intermittent assessment

Selective Cross-Acyloin Condensation Catalyzed by Thiazolium Salt II Selective Formation of 1-Hydroxy-2-ones form Formaldehyde and a Variety of Other Aldehydes, and a Proposal for the Possible Mechanism

The selective cross-acyloin condensation, where 1-hydroxy-2-ones were obtained selectively from formaldehyde and a wide variety of other aldehydes, was achieved by using 3-ethylbenzothiazolium bromide as a catalyst in the presence of triethylamine. The present reaction is expected to afford a novel and facile method for the synthesis of 1-hydroxy-2-ones. A mechanism accounting for the selective formation of 1-hydroxy-2-one was proposed based on the results obtained by examining the reactions between formaldehyde and P-substituted benzaldehydes. It is of much interest in the mechanism that two catalytic species show an inverse selectivity toward aldehydes

New diagnostic criteria and severity assessment of acute cholangitis in revised Tokyo guidelines

Background: The Tokyo Guidelines for the management of acute cholangitis and cholecystitis were published in 2007 (TG07) and have been widely cited in the world literature. Because of new information that has been published since 2007, we organized the Tokyo Guidelines Revision Committee to conduct a multicenter analysis to develop the updated Tokyo Guidelines (TG13). Methods/materials : We retrospectively analyzed 1,432 biliary disease cases where acute cholangitis was suspected. The cases were collected from multiple tertiary care centers in Japan. The 'gold standard' for acute cholangitis in this study was that one of the three following conditions was present: (1) purulent bile was observed; (2) clinical remission following bile duct drainage; or (3) remission was achieved by antibacterial therapy alone, in patients in whom the only site of infection was the biliary tree. Comparisons were made for the validity of each diagnostic criterion among TG13, TG07 and Charcot's triad. Results: The major changes in diagnostic criteria of TG07 were re-arrangement of the diagnostic items and exclusion of abdominal pain from the diagnostic list. The sensitivity improved from 82.8 % (TG07) to 91.8 % (TG13). While the specificity was similar to TG07, the false positive rate in cases of acute cholecystitis was reduced from 15.5 to 5.9 %. The sensitivity of Charcot's triad was only 26.4 % but the specificity was 95.6 %. However, the false positive rate in cases of acute cholecystitis was 11.9 % and not negligible. As for severity grading, Grade II (moderate) acute cholangitis is defined as being associated with any two of the significant prognostic factors which were derived from evidence presented recently in the literature. The factors chosen allow severity assessment to be performed soon after diagnosis of acute cholangitis. Conclusion: TG13 present a new standard for the diagnosis, severity grading, and management of acute cholangitis. © 2012 The Author(s).link_to_subscribed_fulltex

New diagnostic criteria and severity assessment of acute cholecystitis in revised Tokyo guidelines

Background: The Tokyo Guidelines for the management of acute cholangitis and cholecystitis (TG07) were published in 2007 as the world's first guidelines for acute cholangitis and cholecystitis. The diagnostic criteria and severity assessment of acute cholecystitis have since been widely used all over the world. A validation study of TG07 has shown that the diagnostic criteria for acute cholecystitis are highly reliable but that the definition of definite diagnosis is ambiguous. In addition, considerable new evidence referring to acute cholecystitis as well as evaluations of TG07 have been published. Consequently, we organized the Tokyo Guidelines Revision Committee to evaluate TG07, recognize new evidence, and conduct a multi-center analysis to revise the guidelines (TG13). Methods and materials: We retrospectively analyzed 451 patients with acute cholecystitis from multiple tertiary care centers in Japan. All 451 patients were first evaluated using the criteria in TG07. The "gold standard" for acute cholecystitis in this study was a diagnosis by pathology. The validity of TG07 diagnostic criteria was investigated by comparing clinical with pathological diagnosis. Results: Of 451 patients evaluated, a total of 227 patients were given a diagnosis of acute cholecystitis by pathological examination (prevalence 50.3 %). TG07 criteria provided a definite diagnosis of acute cholecystitis in 224 patients. The sensitivity of TG07 diagnostic criteria for acute cholecystitis was 92.1 %, and the specificity was 93.3 %. Based on the preliminary results, new diagnostic criteria for acute cholecystitis were proposed. Using the new criteria, the sensitivity of definite diagnosis was 91.2 %, and the specificity was 96.9 %. The accuracy rate was improved from 92.7 to 94.0 %. In regard to severity grading among 227 patients, 111 patients were classified as Mild (Grade I), 104 as Moderate (Grade II), and 12 as Severe (Grade III). Conclusion: The proposed new diagnostic criteria achieved better performance than the diagnostic criteria in TG07. Therefore, the proposed criteria have been adopted as new diagnostic criteria for acute cholecystitis and are referred to as the 2013 Tokyo Guidelines (TG13). Regarding severity assessment, no new evidence was found to suggest that the criteria in TG07 needed major adjustment. As a result, TG07 severity assessment criteria have been adopted in TG13 with minor changes. © 2012 The Author(s).link_to_subscribed_fulltex