A man of the central highlands: the works of Nguyen Ngoc An

This is a paper on the artistic works of artist Nguyen Ngọc An.He was born and has been living in Kon Tum, a city of the central highlands of Vietnam.The Kon Tum province has two borders with the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos. The northern part of the province has higher mountains and Kon Tum city is 525 meters from sea level.The city of Kon Tum was established by the French missionaries, Missions Etrangeres de Paris in the mid-19th century (Hickey, 1982a, pp. 190-197).An old wooden church and a mission built between 1913 and 1918 are still in use.The main followers of the Catholic Church in Kon Tum are people of the Bana ethnic group. Nguyen Ngọc An is a member of the Art Association of Vietnam (Hoi My thuat Viet Nam) and an owner of a well-known garden cafe called Eva Cafe in Kon Tum, where he installs his art works. He also organizes special trips for tourists to get to know the society of the Bana ethnic minority.This paper is an endeavor to understand An’s identity as “a man of the Highlands” which is reflected in his art works

Mỹ So’n in Green: a painting of the Champa sanctuary of Mỹ So’n by Đàng Năng Tho

This article examines a painting of the Mỹ So’n sanctuary of the historical kingdom of Champa by a Cham ethnic minority artist, Đàng Năng Thọ’. The Cham people are thought to be the descendants of the Champa kingdom and are one of 54 state-recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam.Due to their historical conflicts with the Vietnamese and their participation in ethno-nationalistic movements in the 1960s, Cham-related issues are considered to be “sensitive”. Mỹ So’n is a Hindu sanctuary of the Cham royalty constructed between the 4th and 13th centuries. Mỹ So’n is considered the most significant religious site of Champa at its height.In 1999 Mỹ So’n was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.Mỹ So’n has become one of the Vietnam’s most significant cultural heritages, and Vietnamese artists take Mỹ So’n as their theme for artistic creation. This article is an endeavor to decipher the message that a painting of Mỹ So’n sanctuary by Đàng Năng Thọ’ conveys.His assertion of Mỹ So’n as the Cham people’s spiritual homeland and the possibility of art as a strategy for the ethnic minority people to claim ownership of their cultural heritage are argued

"Race or ethnic group?" Politics of race in Malaysia

This paper investigates the reasons why university students in Malaysia prefer the term race over ethnic groups.The usage of the word race by students and faculty members in the classroom will be examined, along with academic writings and media usages of this term.Further, reasons for the pervasiveness of the term race in Malaysia will be explored.In this paper I argue that the concept of race is used to create a notion that the three major ethnic groups in Malaysia are physically/biologically separate groups, and that their differences will never be changed.Such sedentary ethnic divisions are important for the maintenance of social hierarchy and status quo in Malaysia

Efficacy of shear wave elastography for assessment of liver function in patients with heart failure

Aims Liver dysfunction is important for prognosis in heart failure (HF). Shear wave elastography (SWE), which is a novel ultrasound technique for charactering tissues, has been used in liver diseases. However, clinical implication of SWE, including dispersion slope, remains unknown in heart diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of SWE assessing liver function in the severity of HF. Methods and results We enrolled 316 consecutive patients with or suspected heart diseases, who were classified according to the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association stage of HF, including 37 with Stage A, 139 with Stage B, 114 with Stage C, and 26 with Stage D, and 45 normal subjects. Elasticity and dispersion slope of shear wave were assessed according to the HF stage. Elasticity and dispersion slope were not elevated in normal subjects and patients with Stage A. Elasticity was slightly increased from Stage A to Stage C and was remarkably elevated in Stage D (normal: 5.2 ± 1.1 kPa, Stage A: 5.4 ± 1.2 kPa, Stage B: 6.4 ± 1.8 kPa, Stage C: 7.8 ± 3.5 kPa, and Stage D: 17.7 ± 12.7 kPa), whereas dispersion slope was gradually increased from Stage A to Stage D (normal: 9.7 ± 1.7m/s/kHz, Stage A: 10.4 ± 1.6m/s/kHz, Stage B: 11.7 ± 2.4m/s/kHz, Stage C: 13.2 ± 3.4m/s/kHz, and Stage D: 17.6 ± 5.6 m/s/kHz). In the early HF stage, dispersion slope was elevated. In the advanced HF stage, both elasticity and dispersion slope were elevated. Liver function test abnormalities were observed only from Stage C or Stage D. Conclusions Dispersion slope could detect early liver damage, and the combination of elasticity and dispersion slope could clarify the progression of liver dysfunction in HF. SWE may be valuable to manage therapeutic strategies in patients with HF

Assessment of congestion and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure using shear wave elasticity

Aims The relief of congestion is essential for the prevention of worsening heart failure (HF) resulting in hospitalizations. Assessment of the degree of organ congestion in the chronic phase of HF is important for determining therapeutic strategies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of shear wave (SW) elasticity for assessing congestion and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic HF. Methods and results We prospectively enrolled 345 consecutive patients with chronic HF who underwent SW elastography at outpatient clinic. Patients were divided into two groups according to the median value of SW elasticity: low group (SW elasticity = 6.4 kPa, n = 169). The endpoint was cardiovascular death or hospitalization for HF. During the median follow-up period of 19 months (range: 7-36 months), cardiovascular death or hospitalization for HF occurred in 4 patients of low group and 27 patients of high group. In high group, 8 patients died, and 19 patients were hospitalized for HF. In low group, 3 patients died, and 1 patient was hospitalized. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the event-free survival rate was worse in high group than in low group (log-rank test, P = 0.004). After adjusting for variables, high SW elasticity was independently related to cardiac events. In multivariate regression analysis, SW elasticity was correlated with left atrial volume index, early diastolic mitral inflow velocity to mitral annular velocity ratio, and inferior vena cava diameter. Conclusions The SW elasticity reflected haemodynamic congestion in patients with chronic HF, which was related to cardiac events

DIHS/DRESS患者における血清中HHV6B microRNAの変化

博士（医学）・甲第699号・平成31年3月15日Copyright © 2018. Acta Dermato-Venereologica. All rights reserved.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)