Every ship that came to Dejima was inspected. The sails were taken off until that ship was ready to leave. Religious books and weapons were taken away. Religious services were not allowed on the island.
The island of Dejima was part of the city of Nagasaki. Dejima was small, 120 by 75 meters. 25 local Japanese families owned the land. They got a yearly rent from the Dutch. The island was linked to the mainland by a small bridge with guards. There were houses for about twenty Dutchmen and warehouses for goods.
The Dutch were watched by a number of Japanese officials, gatekeepers and night watchmen. There was also a head supervisor ("otona") who had about fifty people working for him. There were a number of traders to sell the people on Dejima food and drink and other items they needed. There were also about 150 "tsūji" ("translators"). They all had to be paid by the "VOC". Like the city of Nagasaki, Dejima was under direct supervision of Edo by a governor ("Nagasaki bugyō").
It was very expensive for the Dutch to pay for their trading post. But their trade with Japan was very profitable for the "VOC". At first they made profits of 50% or more. Trade became less in the 18th century. This was because only two ships per year were allowed to dock at Dejima. The "VOC" had no more money in 1795, and went bankrupt. After that, the Dutch government took over the trade with Japan. Life on Dejima became especially difficult when the Netherlands (then called the Batavian Republic) was under French Napoleonic rule. All contact with the homeland was broken off. For a time Dejima was the only place in the world where the Dutch flag was flown because they were not ruled by France.
The most important Dutch official in Dejima was called the "Opperhoofd" by the Dutch. The Japanese also called him "Kapitan" (from Portuguese "capitão").
Lua
Lua is an open source programming language. It was created in 1993 by Roberto Ierusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, and Waldemar Celes. Lua is used for many different things, especially in video games such as World of Warcraft and SimCity 4. It is also used in the popular virtual world sharing website Roblox under a dialect called Luau. In June 2010, Apple Inc. changed the terms of use for the software development kit of its iOS operating system to allow the use of Lua. This led to Lua being used to make iPhone applications such as Angry Birds. In June 2011, Lua was ranked the tenth most popular programming language by the TIOBE Index.
An example Hello World program in Lua:
print("Hello World!")
An example of setting a value, then printing it:
a = "Hello World!"
print(a)
Innate immune system
The innate immune system defends the host from infections. It includes cells which recognize and respond to pathogens (germs) right away. The innate immune system response is not specific: it responds the same way to all pathogens that it recognises.
Unlike the adaptive immune system, the innate immune system does not give long-lasting immunity against specific infections.
Innate immune systems rapidly defend against infections in all plant and animal life. The innate system is the evolutionarily older defense strategy. It is the main immune system found in plants, fungi, insects, and in primitive multicellular organisms. The system is not adaptable and does not change over the course of an individual's lifetime.
The vertebrate innate immune system:
The innate immune system includes the skin. The outer layers of the skin are called "epithelial". Epithelial cells form a waxy physical barrier that keeps out most infectious agents. These cells are the innate immune system's first line of defense against invading organisms.
Old skin cells drop off, and this helps remove bacteria that have stuck to the skin.
The skin continues internally as the lining of the intestine and lung. In the intestines or lungs, movement by peristalsis or cilia helps to remove infectious agents. Also, mucus traps infectious agents. In the intestines, gut flora can prevent pathogenic bacteria by secreting toxic substances, or by competing with pathogenic bacteria for nutrients or for attachment to cell surfaces.
The flushing action of tears and saliva helps prevent infection of the eyes and mouth.
Inflammation is one of the first responses of the immune system to pathogens or foreign substances that get past the anatomical barriers.
Inflammation is stimulated by chemical factors released by injured cells. It sets up a physical barrier against the spread of infection, and promotes healing of damaged tissue after the clearance of pathogens.
Chemical factors produced during inflammation attract phagocytes, especially neutrophils. Neutrophils then trigger other parts of the immune system.
The complement system is a biochemical cascade of the immune system that helps antibodies clear pathogens or mark them for destruction by other cells.
The cascade is composed of many plasma proteins, which are made in the liver. The proteins work together to:
Elements of the complement cascade can be found in many non-mammalian species including plants, birds, fish and some species of invertebrates.
All white blood cells (WBC) are known as leukocytes. Leukocytes are different from other cells of the body: they work like independent, single-celled organisms. They can move freely, and capture cell debris, foreign particles, or invading microorganisms. They are produced by blood-forming stem cells in the bone marrow.
The innate leukocytes include: Natural killer cells, mast cells, eosinophils, basophils; and the phagocytic cells including macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells. They identify and eliminate pathogens that cause infection.
Mast cells are a type of innate immune cell in connective tissue and the mucous membranes. They are intimately associated with defence against pathogens and wound healing. They are also often associated with allergy and anaphylaxis. When activated, mast cells rapidly release characteristic granules, rich in histamine and heparin, along with various hormonal mediators, and chemotactic cytokines into the environment. Histamine dilates blood vessels, causing the signs of inflammation, and recruits neutrophils and macrophages.
The word 'phagocyte' literally means 'eating cell'. These are immune cells that engulf, i.e. phagocytose, pathogens or particles. To engulf a particle or pathogen, a phagocyte extends portions of its plasma membrane, wrapping the membrane around the particle until it is enveloped (i.e. the particle is now inside the cell). Once inside the cell, the invading pathogen is contained inside an endosome which merges with a lysosome. The lysosome contains enzymes and acids that kill and digest the particle or organism. Phagocytes generally patrol the body searching for pathogens, but are also able to react to a group of highly specialized molecular signals produced by other cells, called cytokines. The phagocytic cells of the immune system include macrophages], neutrophils, and dendritic cells.
Phagocytosis of the hosts’ own cells is common as part of regular tissue development and maintenance. When host cells die, phagocytic cells remove them from the affected site. By removing dead cells, phagocytosis is an important part of the healing process.
Macrophages are large phagocytic leukocytes. They can move across the cell membrane of capillary vessels and go between cells to hunt invading pathogens. Macrophages are the most efficient phagocytes, and can phagocytose substantial numbers of bacteria or other cells or microbes.
The binding of bacterial molecules to receptors on the surface of a macrophage triggers it to engulf and destroy the bacteria. Pathogens also stimulate the macrophage to produce chemokines, which summon other cells to the site of infection.