Discarge compilation from The Global River Discharge (RivDIS) Project

The Global River Discharge (RivDIS) data set contains monthly discharge measurements for 1018 stations located throughout the world. The period of record varies widely from station to station, with a mean of 21.5 years. These data were digitized from published UNESCO archives by Charles Voromarty, Balaze Fekete, and B.A. Tucker of the Complex Systems Research Center (CSRC) at the University of New Hampshire. River discharge is typically measured through the use of a rating curve that relates local water level height to discharge. This rating curve is used to estimate discharge from the observed water level. The rating curves are periodically rechecked and recalibrated through on-site measurement of discharge and river stage.

人身取引問題に対するタイの法的枠組みにかんする一考察―ミャンマーからタイへの人口流入を背景として―

2003年人身取引にかんする議定書の発効を機に人身取引問題への取り組みがグローバル規模の課題となっている。タイは，2006年UNODCの報告によれば，人身取引被害者の出身国，中継国そして到達国としてもっとも高い指標に位置づけられている。本稿は，タイにおける人身取引問題のなかでも，ミャンマーからタイヘの多数の人口の流入が人身取引を誘発する要因のひとつをなしている点に着目し，ミャンマーからタイヘの人身取引問題とタイの移民労働政策との断ちがたい関係を分析し，それに対するタイおよびミャンマーの法的枠組みを考察する。タイにおけるミャンマー人の人身取引被害を労働搾取という観点からアプローチし，人身取引問題の解決には，刑法上の人身取引罪の加害者および被害者として法的手続で処理することに加え，自国の政治的経済的要因によってミャンマーからタイヘ越境し人身取引被害者となった者にとって最善の解決につながる法政策，さらには労働搾取による人身取引被害者をなくすための法政策が不可欠であることを論じる。

米国ユダヤ人の対イスラエル観の変化と新しいロビー組織J STREETの活動

The American Jewish community as a whole still remains very much supportive of Israel's policies. Most American mainstream Jewish organizations and their leaders have hardly criticized Israel's position regarding the occupation, settlements, and the peace process. But over the last ten years or so, different views and opinions have become more visible in the American Jewish community, as represented by J Street, a "pro-Israel and pro-peace" lobby. What has brought about this diversification in the American Jewish community over their attitude toward Israel's policies? Many opinion surveys indicate that younger American Jews have become more critical of Israel's policies with regard to the Palestine question and the peace process. This may be attributed to a shift in identity among young American Jews. Older American Jews tend to see Israel as democratic, progressive and peace-seeking, etc. In addition, they perceive Israel as a safe haven for Jews. But younger Jews draw from memories and impressions scene in recent events, such as the First and Second Intifada, and the military confrontations with Palestinian groups based in Gaza, all of which are perceived as morally and politically more complex than the wars Israel fought between 1948 and 1974. Communities in the Jewish diaspora try to influence the policies of their homeland in order to protect their identity and sets of values. While the American Jewish community is still strongly committed to liberal democratic values, its counterpart in Israel has leaned toward the political right and toward ethno-religious nationalism. The diffusion of identities and sets of values in both communities may bring about further shifts in the relations between the two communities.

Disruption of a Dynamin Homologue Affects Endocytosis, Organelle Morphology, and Cytokinesis in Dictyostelium discoideum

The identification and functional characterization of Dictyostelium discoideum dynamin A, a protein composed of 853 amino acids that shares up to 44% sequence identity with other dynamin-related proteins, is described. Dynamin A is present during all stages of D. discoideum development and is found predominantly in the cytosolic fraction and in association with endosomal and postlysosomal vacuoles. Overexpression of the protein has no adverse effect on the cells, whereas depletion of dynamin A by gene-targeting techniques leads to multiple and complex phenotypic changes. Cells lacking a functional copy of dymA show alterations of mitochondrial, nuclear, and endosomal morphology and a defect in fluid-phase uptake. They also become multinucleated due to a failure to complete normal cytokinesis. These pleiotropic effects of dynamin A depletion can be rescued by complementation with the cloned gene. Morphological studies using cells producing green fluorescent protein-dynamin A revealed that dynamin A associates with punctate cytoplasmic vesicles. Double labeling with vacuolin, a marker of a postlysosomal compartment in D. discoideum, showed an almost complete colocalization of vacuolin and dynamin A. Our results suggest that that dynamin A is likely to function in membrane trafficking processes along the endo-lysosomal pathway of D. discoideum but not at the plasma membrane.