Conference Hall Research Articles

Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of SpaceflightMichael J.Neufeld, Editor. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2013.

Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of Spaceflight Michael J. Neufeld, Editor. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2013.Books based on symposiums or conferences are usually very dry affairs, undertaken with the best of intentions to try to capture the essence of what had transpired in a poorly fluore scent-lit convention hall or auditorium and executed with all of the panache of a 1988 Yugo. In essence, when the book doesn't sell, everyone feigns surprise, rolls their eyes, and moves on.Upon starting (and restarting) Michael J. Neufeld's introduction to Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of this reviewer was troubled that this, indeed, would be such a similar undertaking. Thankfully, the introduction is short and perfunctory, providing the reader with the required outline of what follows: an assorted collection of nine essays that, despite their questionably natal origin (the aforementioned poorly-lit conference hall), are indeed a good read.Many reviewers have pointed out that the book is neatly laid out in three sections, each with three essays. first section details the early days of the US side of the Race, those heady days following the revelation that the Soviets forever placed their flag (and their iconic Cyrillic CCCP) into orbit first. second section (despite the promise featured in the text's subtitle), which is the only one to feature cosmonauts, further explores the dynamics of that race. third and final section explores the thirty-plus years of the US Space Shuttle era.At a glance, those other reviewers have showered this thin text with praise; however, they have been remiss in their mutual omission: mainly, that Neufeld fails to add a summative chapter that ties these essays neatly together. As a reader, the last chapter of the last section leaves us adrift-lost in space, if one will (more on this later).The first three essays examine the myth of the astronaut as hero. first of these, Setting the Scene for Human Spaceflights: Men into Space and Man and the Challenge, by Margaret A. Weitekamp, examines two American television programs that aired during the 1959-1960 television season. These two forgotten pre-Gagarin/pre-Sheppard programs looked at the challenges of spaceflight and outlined the model of men and masculinity that were required for such flights (women were not thought to be capable at the time). This theme is further examined in Matthew H. Hersch's 'Capsules are Swallowed': Mythology of the Pilot in American Spaceflight, as well as in James Spiller's Nostalgia for the Right Stuff: Astronauts and Public Anxiety about a Changing Nation, both historical reviews which take us full circle from the Mercury Seven to the last days of the shuttle program.How the Space Race was, and is, portrayed on an international scale is the subject of the middle three essays, the first of which, The Fiftieth Jubilee: Yuri Gagarin in the Soviet and Post-Soviet Imagination by Andrew Jenks, is the only essay to scrutinize only one spacefarer: Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Jenks's study of both pre- and post-Soviet Russia and its obsession with Gagarin's rise, death, and subsequent prominence as Soviet hero (even in a post-Soviet world) is quite thorough and illuminating. …

Building Envelope, HVAC Systems and RESs for the Energy Retrofit of a Conference Hall on Naples Promenade

Abstract In central position on the suggestive promenade of Naples, the Conference Hall of the University of Naples Federico II is here studied, with the aim to suggest an energy retrofit strategy, effective and compatible with the high natural and historical values of the site. In detail, the impact of possible energy efficiency measures is investigated, by analyzing the feasibility of interventions concerning all levers of building energy performance (and thus thermal envelope, HVAC system, RESs). Because of the high quality of the building and of the site, all energy efficiency measures have been selected in order to be respectful of the unique scenario offered by this city area. Building Performance Simulations, performed by accurately modeling the building and the active energy systems, show that the kind of architecture and the destination of use (i.e., high occupancy and endogenous sensible and latent gains) favor an energy retrofit mainly based on the deep refurbishment of the HVAC system and on the installation of a photovoltaic plant.

Evaluating the Uncanny Valley Theory Based on Human Attitudes

Background The uncanny valley theory is an idea that was proposed by Masahiro Mori in 1970 regarding the psychological effects of lifelike robotics (Mori, 1970). The uncanny valley is a phenomenon that occurs in animation and robotics, wherein things that look extremely similar to the human face, but differ slightly from its natural appearance or from its natural movements and expressions, are perceived to be disturbing, uncanny, and revolting (Mewes & Heloir). This study aims to analyze participants’ attitudes towards digital characters in order to understand how the uncanny valley affects audiences. Mori’s graph has been criticized on the grounds that familiarity is difficult to define ? that it is difficult to determine which emotion accurately represents the opposite of familiarity, and that the word “familiarity” itself may not actually be an accurate description of a positive human response to human-like entities (Ho, MacDorman, & Pramono, 2008). The word “likability” has been proposed as an alternative translation of Mori’s original word, because it is claimed by some to be a more accurate representation of the phenomena Mori was describing in his original article (Tinwell, Grimshaw, & Williams, 2011). Methods This study investigates attitudes toward digital stimuli through employed a quantitative approach based on semantic differential questionnaires. Perceived Humanness and Familiarity indices, based on indices developed by Ho & Macdorman (2011), were used to determine overall perception of human-likeness and familiarity toward all the stimuli, while other subscales, were determined based on the following six factors: hair animation, eye animation, lip sync, lighting, facial expression and the body movement of all the stimuli. The study was conducted in the conference hall of the Yahos Training Centre in Kuching, Malaysia. We applied a systematic sampling method for this study, because we preferred participants with a moderate knowledge of digital characters ? either in games or movies. Participants consisted of gamers, university students, moviegoers and creative professionals aged between 18 and 35. Participants were invited via email, on Facebook and over the phone. Participants rated all the stimuli based on the questionnaires. Conclusion Our findings have concluded that digital Emily has surpassed the uncanny valley in terms of realism and familiarity compared to other stimuli with high ratings in terms of lifelikeness, organicity and familiarity. Animation style and techniques should not focus on avoiding realistic animation but instead on other factors such as target audiences and the animation’s genre.

The Last and Next Decades of the Asian Core Program on Cutting‐Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia

The Last and Next Decades of the Asian Core Program on Cutting‐Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia

Physics at the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs boson (Scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 26 February 2014)

A scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) “Physics at the Large Hadron Collider. Higgs boson” was held in the conference hall of the Lebedev Physical Institute, RAS, on 26 February 2014.The agenda of the session, announced on the website http://www.gpad.ac.ru of the Physical Sciences Division, RAS, listed the following reports: (1) Boos E E (Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow) “Standard Model and predictions for the Higgs boson”; (2) Zaytsev A M (National Research Center Kurchatov Institute, Moscow) “ATLAS experiment. The Higgs boson and the Standard Model”; (3) Lanyov A V (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Moscow region) “CMS collaboration results: Higgs boson and search for new physics”; (4) Kazakov D I (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Moscow region) “The Higgs boson has been found: what is next?”Papers written on the basis of oral reports 1, 3, and 4 are published below. An extensive review of the topic in item 2 will be published in an upcoming issue of Physics–Uspekhi. • Standard Model and predictions for the Higgs boson, E E Boos Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 9, Pages 912–923 • CMS collaboration results: Higgs boson and search for new physics, A V Lanyov Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 9, Pages 923–930 • The Higgs boson is found: what is next?, D I Kazakov Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 9, Pages 930–942

El cuadro del <i>Recibimiento de Colón por los Reyes Católicos</i> de Raimundo de Madrazo: del Senado español a Nueva York

This text deals with the commission received by the Spanish painter Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta (1841-1920) to create a large canvas of Columbus Received by Ferdinand and Isabella , within the program devised by the Marquis of Barzanallana for the Conference Hall of the Spanish Senate. The author analyses the role played by Federico de Madrazo, Raimundo’s father, in the commission and conception of the work, which never occupied its place in the hall. Following a detailed analysis of the painting, its later destiny –unknown until now– is examined, as well as the possible American purchasers considered by Madrazo, once he ruled out the continuance of the work in Spain.

100th anniversary of the birth of B M Pontecorvo (Scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2 September 2013)

A scientific session “Prospects of Studies in Neutrino Particle Physics and Astrophysics,” of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (DPS RAS), devoted to the centenary of B M Pontecorvo, was held on 2-3 September 2014 at the JINR international conference hall (Dubna, Moscow region). The following reports were put on the session agenda as posted on the website http://www.gpad.ac.ru of the RAS Physical Sciences Division: (1) Kudenko Yu G (Institute for Nuclear Research, RAS, Moscow; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Dolgoprudnyi, Moscow region; National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Moscow) “Long-baseline neutrino accelerator experiments: results and prospects”; (2) Spiering Ch (Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Germany) “Results obtained by ICECUBE and prospects of neutrino astronomy”; (3) Barabash A S (Alikhanov Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, Moscow) “Double beta decay experiments: current status and prospects”; (4) Bilenky S M (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Moscow region; Technische Universitat M'unchen, Garching, Germany) “Bruno Pontecorvo and the neutrino”; (5) Olshevskiy A G (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, Moscow region) “Reactor neutrino experiments: results and prospects”; (6) Gavrin V N (Institute for Nuclear Research, RAS, Moscow) “Low-energy neutrino research at the Baksan Neutrino Laboratory”; (7) Gorbunov D S (Institute for Nuclear Research, RAS, Moscow): “Sterile neutrinos and their role in particle physics and cosmology”; (8) Derbin A V (Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina, Leningrad region) “Solar neutrino experiments”; (9) Rubakov V A (Institute for Nuclear Research, RAS, Moscow) “Prospects of studies in the field of neutrino particle physics and astrophysics.” An article by V N Gavrin, close in essence to talk 6, was published in Usp. Fiz. Nauk 181 (9), 975 (2011) [Phys. Usp. 54 (9) 941 (2011)]. Articles by V A Rubakov, close in essence to talk 9, were published in Usp. Fiz. Nauk 182 (10) 1017 (2012); 181 (6) 655 (2011) [Phys. Usp. 55 (10) 949 (2012); 54 (6) 633 (2011)]. Articles based on talks 1-5, 7, and 8 are published below. • Long-baseline neutrino accelerator experiments: results and prospects, Yu G Kudenko Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 462–469 • High-energy neutrino astronomy: a glimpse of the promised land, Ch Spiering Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 470–481 • Double beta decay experiments: current status and prospects, A S Barabash Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 482–488 • Bruno Pontecorvo and the neutrino, S M Bilenky Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 489–496 • Reactor neutrino experiments: results and prospects, A G Olshevskiy Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 497–502 • Sterile neutrinos and their role in particle physics and cosmology, D S Gorbunov Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 503–511 • Solar neutrino experiments, A V Derbin Physics-Uspekhi, 2014, Volume 57, Number 5, Pages 512–524

American Society of Nephrology Quiz and Questionnaire 2013: transplantation.

The nephrology quiz and questionnaire remains an extremely popular session for attendees of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Nephrology. As in past years, the conference hall was overflowing with interested audience members. Topics covered by expert discussants included electrolyte and acid-base disorders, glomerular disease, ESRD/dialysis, and transplantation. Complex cases representing each of these categories along with single best answer questions were prepared by a panel of experts. Before the meeting, program directors of United States nephrology training programs answered questions through an Internet-based questionnaire. A new addition to the nephrology quiz and questionnaire was participation in the questionnaire by nephrology fellows. To review the process, members of the audience test their knowledge and judgment on a series of case-oriented questions prepared and discussed by experts. Their answers are compared in real time using audience response devices with the answers of nephrology fellows and training program directors. The correct and incorrect answers are then briefly discussed after the audience responds, and the results of the questionnaire are displayed. This article recapitulates the session and reproduces its educational value for the readers of CJASN. Enjoy the clinical cases and expert discussions.

American Society of Nephrology Quiz and Questionnaire 2013

The Nephrology Quiz and Questionnaire (NQ&Q) remains an extremely popular session for attendees of the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Nephrology. As in past years, the conference hall of the 2013 meeting was overflowing with interested audience members. Topics covered by expert discussants included electrolyte and acid-base disorders, glomerular disease, ESRD/dialysis, and transplantation. Complex cases representing each of these categories, along with single best answer questions, were prepared by a panel of experts. Before the meeting, program directors of United States nephrology training programs answered questions through an Internet-based questionnaire. A new addition to the NQ&Q was participation in the questionnaire by nephrology fellows. To review the process, members of the audience test their knowledge and judgment on a series of case-oriented questions prepared and discussed by experts. Their answers are compared in real time using audience response devices with the answers of nephrology fellows and training program directors. The correct and incorrect answers are then briefly discussed after the audience responses and the results of the questionnaire are displayed. This article recapitulates the session and reproduces its educational value for CJASN readers. Enjoy the clinical cases and expert discussions.

American Society of Nephrology Quiz and Questionnaire 2013

The Nephrology Quiz and Questionnaire (NQ&Q) remains an extremely popular session for attendees of the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology. As in past years, the conference hall was overflowing with interested audience members. Topics covered by expert discussants included electrolyte and acid-base disorders, glomerular disease, ESRD/dialysis, and transplantation. Complex cases representing each of these categories along with single-best-answer questions were prepared by a panel of experts. Prior to the meeting, program directors of United States nephrology training programs answered questions through an Internet-based questionnaire. A new addition to the NQ&Q was participation in the questionnaire by nephrology fellows. To review the process, members of the audience test their knowledge and judgment on a series of case-oriented questions prepared and discussed by experts. Their answers are compared in real time using audience response devices with the answers of nephrology fellows and training program directors. The correct and incorrect answers are then briefly discussed after the audience responses, and the results of the questionnaire are displayed. This article recapitulates the session and reproduces its educational value for the readers of CJASN. Enjoy the clinical cases and expert discussions.

An Investigation on Dynamic Human Body Communication Channel Characteristics at 45 MHz in Different Surrounding Environments

This letter investigated characteristics of human body as a communication channel at 45 MHz, in different surrounding environments, taking into account parameter changes arising from body activities. A large amount of measurement data has been collected in five real environments for random body motions: in a conference hall, laboratory, grove, playground, and an anechoic chamber. The received power for nine human body communication (HBC) channels was acquired, with more than 2 700 000 data snapshots in total. Environmentally independent analysis of the mean and standard deviations of the received power was performed. The results of applying the Nakagami function were satisfying for the conference hall; the results of applying Lognormal function showed that it was a suitable model for the rest of the investigated environments. Lognormal and Weibull functions served well for level crossing rate (LCR) and average fade duration (AFD) in all environments. In our research, we observed lower values of LCR and AFD in HBC, compared to their usual values for ISM-band communication.

Spiritual Serenade and a Night of Muslim Spirituality ( Kuala Lumpur , 21 June 2013 )

Thanks to the initiative of IAIS Malaysia, Fajr Symphony, Crescent Collective and Urban Village, ‘Desert Rose’ from Africa made its debut performance in the IAIS Conference Hall on 21 st June 2013, where a common feeling pervaded that “music connects people” and “music unites people, in a world of differences”. By late evening the Hall was packed with people from various communities and creeds wanting to be healed from the wounds of divisiveness and cultural insensitivities, or just waiting to be serenaded and inspired by spiritual songs after a day of frayed nerves and work tension.

Robert Klotman: A Life of Musical Leadership

When Robert was inducted into the Music Educators National Conference Hall of Fame in 2004, the nominating statement read, Klotman is best known for his extensive work in string pedagogy, his leadership in professional organizations, and his teaching at Indiana (1) By this time, his career had spanned decades, and he had been active across the whole spectrum of music education from K-12 through university levels. Because of his forceful personality, his leadership skills, and his ability to anticipate the impact of new teaching ideologies, significantly influenced how stringed instruments are taught in public schools in this country. Perhaps most importantly, he had the vision to reach out internationally and helped to bring Suzuki violin pedagogy to the United States. Given the impact of Klotman's work on string education, it is appropriate to look beyond the formal trajectory of his career at his childhood and education, the people and ideals that motivated him, and the major life experiences that shaped his career. For music educators it is appropriate to search out, in particular, the distinct issues that were important to and to consider how his advocacy for those issues shaped the path of music education in the United States during the last half of the twentieth century. Robert Howard was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on November 22, 1918. (2) His parents, Louis Harry and Pearl (Warshawksy) Kaplan were immigrants from Tetiev, a small town in the Ukraine located approximately seventy miles southwest of Kiev. (3) In the late 1800s, many Jewish families from that region came to the United States, often settling in the Cleveland area. Louis and Pearl married on December 16, 1917, but divorced when Robert was young. (4) Pearl raised her children on her salary as the owner of a beauty shop. began his musical studies at the age of nine. He remembers his father as being a very musical person who could pick up and play the violin without any instruction. In his family, it was just as natural to excel in music as it was to work hard in academic subjects. (5) Robert sang in the school choir in the third grade. However, when he sang he wanted to hear himself over the other children's voices, so he would sing louder than anyone else. His teacher said to him, I've got a special job for you, and made him the curtain puller. Disappointed, he went home to his mother who stated, Don't cry. You've always liked to play the violin. Thus, attributes the beginning of his violin career to his third-grade choir teacher. (6) His mother could not afford for him to take violin lessons, so she worked out an agreement with a local violinist named Hyman Schandler of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Pearl would style the hair of Schandler's wife in exchange for a weekly lesson for her son. Klotman's mother was supportive of his music lessons, requiring him to practice daily. Later, she said that had she known he would become a professional musician, she would have made him practice three hours per day instead of only one hour. (7) During the years 1932-36, attended Glenville High School in Cleveland Heights, a suburb originally settled by northern European immigrants. After World War I and during the Great Depression, this area became an epicenter of Cleveland's Jewish population. (8) Ralph E. Rush (1903-65) was Klotman's high school orchestra teacher and an early mentor. (9) Rush became the band and orchestra teacher at the school in 1933 and immediately led the orchestra to first division honors at the national orchestra competition in Madison, Wisconsin. (10) says that Rush eventually became a father figure for him. Rush was likely Klotman's first real influence in his career choice and instilled in him the responsibility of belonging to a professional organization and serving the profession. (11) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] According to Klotman, people are often curious as to why he attended the Methodist school Ohio Northern University. …

Analysis of Natural Ventilation Efficiency of a Passive Solar Chimney in a Conference Hall of the Magic School of Green Technology

This study focuses on the efficiency of passive solar chimney in natural ventilation performance of the conference hall at the Magic School of Green Technology (MSGT) in Tainan, Taiwan. The air exchange rate in the conference hall was between 5.73 ACH and 9.11 ACH, which exceeded the minimum air ventilation rate required in Taiwan. This shows that a passive solar chimney can effectively applied to the conference hall to meet indoor ventilation and air exchange requirements without using air conditioning.

Advances in astronomy (Scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 27 February 2013)

A scientific session of the Division of Physical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), entitled “Advances in Astronomy” was held on 27 February 2013 at the conference hall of the Lebedev Physical Institute, RAS. The following reports were put on the session agenda posted on the website http://www.gpad.ac.ru of the RAS Physical Sciences Division: (1) Chernin A D (Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow) “Dark energy in the local Universe: HST data, nonlinear theory, and computer simulations”; (2) Gnedin Yu N (Main (Pulkovo) Astronomical Observatory, RAS, St. Petersburg) “A new method of supermassive black hole studies based on polarimetric observations of active galactic nuclei”; (3) Efremov Yu N (Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University, Moscow) “Our Galaxy: grand design and moderately active nucleus”; (4) Gilfanov M R (Space Research Institute, RAS, Moscow) “X-ray binaries, star formation, and type-Ia supernova progenitors”; (5) Balega Yu Yu (Special Astrophysical Observatory, RAS, Nizhnii Arkhyz, Karachaevo-Cherkessia Republic) “The nearest 'star factory' in the Orion Nebula”; (6) Bisikalo D V (Institute of Astronomy, RAS, Moscow) “Atmospheres of giant exoplanets”; (7) Korablev O I (Space Research Institute, RAS, Moscow) “Spectroscopy of the atmospheres of Venus and Mars: new methods and new results”; (8) Ipatov A V (Institute of Applied Astronomy, RAS, St. Petersburg) “A new-generation radio interferometer for fundamental and applied research”.Summaries of the papers based on reports 1, 2, 4, 7, 8 are given below. • Dark energy in the nearby Universe: HST data, nonlinear theory, and computer simulations, A D Chernin Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 7, Pages 704–709 • Investigating supermassive black holes: a new method based on the polarimetric observations of active galactic nuclei, Yu N Gnedin Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 7, Pages 709–714 • X-ray binaries and star formation, M R Gil'fanov Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 7, Pages 714–722 • Space-based spectroscopy of Mars: new methods and new results, O I Korablev Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 7, Pages 722–729 • A new-generation interferometer for fundamental and applied research, A V Ipatov Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 7, Pages 729–737

From the history of physics (Scientific session of the General Meeting of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 December 2012)

A scientific session of the General Meeting of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) was held in the conference hall of the Lebedev Physical Institute, RAS on 17 December 2012. The following reports were put on the session's agenda posted on the website http://www.gpad.ac.ru of the RAS Physical Sciences Division: (1) Dianov E M (Fiber Optics Research Center, RAS, Moscow) “On the threshold of a peta era”; (2) Zabrodskii A G (Ioffe Physical Technical Institute, RAS, St. Petersburg) “Scientists' contribution to the great victory in WWII using the example of the Leningrad (now A F Ioffe) Physical Technical Institute”; (3) Ilkaev R I (Russian Federal Nuclear Center --- All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics, Sarov) “Major stages of the Soviet Atomic Project”; (4) Cherepashchuk A M (Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow) “History of the Astronomy history ”.Papers written on the basis of the reports are published below. • On the Threshold of Peta-era, E M Dianov Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 5, Pages 486–492 • Scientists' contribution to the Great Victory in WWII on the example of the Leningrad (now A F Ioffe) Physical Technical Institute, A G Zabrodskii Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 5, Pages 493–502 • Major stages of the Atomic Project, R I Ilkaev Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 5, Pages 502–509 • History of the Universe History, A M Cherepashchuk Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 5, Pages 509–530

My Trip to the XXI Congress of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery

My Trip to the XXI Congress of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery

100th anniversary of the discovery of cosmic rays (Scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 24 October 2012)

A scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), entitled “100th anniversary of the discovery of cosmic rays,” was held on 24 October 2012 in the conference hall of the Lebedev Physical Institute, RAS. The agenda of the session announced on the RAS Physical Sciences Division website www.gpad.ac.ru included the following reports: (1) Panasyuk M I (Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Lomonosov State University, Moscow) “The contribution of Russian scientists to the centennial history of the development of the physics of cosmic rays”; (2) Ryazhskaya O G (Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) “On experiments in underground physics”; (3) Krymskii G F, Berezhko E G (Shafer Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk) “The origin of cosmic rays”; (4) Stozhkov Yu I (Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) “Cosmic rays in the heliosphere”; (5) Troitsky S V (Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow) “Cosmic particles of energies >1019 eV: a short review of results.” Papers based on reports 2 and 5 are presented below. • On experiments in Underground Physics, O G Ryazhskaya Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 3, Pages 296–304 • Cosmic particles with energies above 1019 eV: a brief summary of results, S V Troitsky Physics-Uspekhi, 2013, Volume 56, Number 3, Pages 304–310

Alem Bekagn: The African Union's accidental human rights memorial

The African Union's new offices in Addis Ababa stand upon the site of the city's former central prison, known as Alem Bekagn, where thousands of people suffered and died. This article traces the history of the prison and examines efforts to create a memorial at the site. These initiatives illustrate the African Union (AU) in transition. They echo AU commitments to act against atrocities and in support of rights and justice and suggest a distinct vision of pan-African community and a corresponding institutional culture. But, much like the AU itself, the meaning of the planned memorial is ambivalent and contested. The fact that the AU bulldozed Ethiopia's most notorious prison in order to establish its new offices and a conference hall is richly symbolic of ‘buried memory’ – the tendency of post-colonial elites to suppress the memory of victims of state violence while celebrating chosen heroes. The AU still venerates leaders and is quiet about current violations, but the organization's promise and process to remember the ordinary victims of state violence indicate a political opening and may contribute a novel space for the recounting of human rights abuses.

China in the heart of Africa

‘China’s gift to Africa.” The new headquarters of the African Union, a towering 20-storey building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is so called because China picked up the $200 million tab for the state-of-the-art complex. Ethiopia’s tallest building, completed in December 2011 in time for an AU summit the following month, includes a 2,500-seat conference hall. The gift prompted Ethiopia’s late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to refer to Africa’s current economic boom as a “renaissance,” due partly to China’s “amazing re-emergence and its commitments to a win-win partnership with Africa.”