Double challenges to Japanese farmers : nuclear accident and transpactfic regional partnership = 日本農民的雙重挑戰 : 核危機及太平洋區域的合作關係

For a while after Japan was struck by a major earthquake and tsunami on 11 March this year, gloomy and depressing atmosphere was dominant in Japanese people. As soon as the disaster occurred, corporations refrained from distributing their commercial messages (CMs) on TV. Japanese people are usually exposed by the enormous amount of CMs, but could not but repeatedly watch CMs produced by AC (Advertising Council Japan), a private non-profit agency, during the few weeks. Most of the agency’s CMs are more public than those of other private companies, such as a CM to enhance women’s awareness of breast cancer screening tests. Many Japanese people watched again and again a CM that three Japanese soccer players sent solidarity messages to people who suffered from the earthquake and tsunami. One of them, Uchida Atsuto, a brilliant soccer player who is affiliated with a German club, tried to cheer up Japanese people by saying, “each person should do what he or she can do. Japan is like a team”. He advised his fellow Japanese people to be united (like an organised soccer team) in order to overcome difficulties. The representation of Japanese people as a whole and coherent unit is not new, but it is much more influential in the media after the earthquake and tsunami. I do not intend to deny this kind of nationalism to recover from the disaster. Rather I am just concerned that this representation can lead us to overlooking the unfair relationship between different groups of Japanese people. The list of people who are disadvantaged includes casual workers, people living in Fukushima, and farmers and fisheries. This paper focuses particularly on Japanese farmers who suffer from the nuclear accident. They are also challenged by Transpacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPPA), a regional economic partnership agreement, which aims to facilitate trade liberalisation in the Pacific and Asian region

The United States reasserts trade rule-making through USMCA and challenges CPTPP

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Takemasa Sekine Associate Professor at Nagoya University of Commerce & Business, explains that "Most countries have shifted their interest and resources to negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) directly with trade partners, trying to introduce new trade rules that have not materialized under the WTO.

Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection as the Pathogenesis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), resulted from tobacco smoking, has an extremely poor prognosis and is a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this chapter, we review the role of bacterial infection on the pathogenesis of COPD, with a particular focus on Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Chronic infection with P. aeruginosa has been shown to contribute to COPD pathogenesis under certain conditions. In addition, P. aeruginosa is a major factor influencing severe symptoms, acute exacerbation, and the progression of COPD. Treatment for chronic P. aeruginosa infection may become a new strategy for addressing COPD

Über den N- und Harnsäurestoffwechsel bei der Leberpräparatgabe

Von manchen Autoren wurde klar gestellt, dass das Leberpräparat bei perniziöser Anämie, bei sekundärer Anämie und auch bei Nephrose wirksam ist Wir haben je einem Patienten von Gicht, amyotrophischer Lateralsklerose und Fettsucht, sowie einem Gesunden Hepatose (eine Art Leberpräparat) gegeben und den Einfluss der Hepatose auf den Harnsäure-, Harnstoff-, Ammoniak-, Rest-N-, Gesamt-, N-Gehalt im Blut und auch auf den Gesamt-N-, Harnstoff- und Harnsäure-Gehalt im Harn untersucht. Die Ergebnisse sind folgende: Beim Gichtkranken stieg der Harnsäurespiegel im Blut stark an und es zeigten sich vermehrte Gichtanfälle und eine Neubildung der Gichttophen. Bei den anderen war die Harnsäurevermehrung im Blut nicht so deutlich, aber die Harnsäureausscheidung im Harn nahm ziemlich auffallend zu. Der Ammoniakgehalt im Blut neigte zu leichter Verminderung, ausgenommen beim Gichtkranken. Beim Gichtkranken, welcher eine Funktionsstörung der Leber und der Niere aufwies, stieg der Rest-N-Gehalt im Blut deutlich an, während das bei den anderen nicht der Fall war. Der Gesamt-N-Gehalt im Harn vermehrte sich bei allen ohne Ausnahme. Der Harnstoff im Blut zeigte beim Gichtkranken eine geringe Vermehrung, bei den anderen blieb er dagegen fast unverändert. Für diese Ergebnisse soll der Faktor, dass Hepatose N-reich ist, eine grosse Rolle spielen, aber auch die Tatsache, dass Hepatose Vitamins und andere noch unklare wirksame Substanzen enthält, wie von uns schon an anderen Orten veröffentlicht wurde, mag einen Einfluss ausüben

Study of electro-absorption effects in 1300nm In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dot materials

No abstract available

Split T-cell tolerance as a guide for the development of tumor antigen-specific immunotherapy

Tumor antigens NY-ESO-1 and p53 both frequently induce spontaneous serum antibody in cancer patients. While NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ and CD4+ circulating T-cells occur mainly in NY-ESO-1-seropositive patients, p53-specific circulating CD8+ and CD4+ T-cells are respectively undetectable and common in most individuals. Understanding T-cell split tolerance can help define suitable targets for immunotherapy