End Of 1970s Research Articles

Hybrid strategy for the seismic retrofitting of existing buildings through Base Isolation System

A hybrid procedure for seismic retrofit of an existing R.C. structure by using base isolation system is discussed in this paper. The case study is a high school building in Naples, built at the end of 1970s, as result of a gravity-load design approach. It consists of three jointed R.C. portions, having different features in plan and elevation. In particular, “Building 1” and “Building 2” are characterized by resisting frames only in transversal direction. These ones support the actions transferred by the floors, whose load-bearing elements are warped longitudinally. Both the two buildings are characterized by some R.C. shear walls, in correspondence of (internal/external) staircases. The three portions are separated by tight joints, whose width is inappropriate to avoid pounding damages due to earthquake shaking. Considering that the structure has no resisting frames in longitudinal direction, this school building has low seismic capacity longitudinally and a high lateral deformability, with a fundamental vibration period of TAS-IS =1.37s. In this case, seismic retrofit by using base isolation system has been necessary to improve its seismic response. On the other hand, the main aspects of modern capacity design approach are not complied with between dissipative and no-dissipative components. So, it is assumed that the current structural system has no ductility reserves, on local and global scale. For the seismic retrofit of the existing structure an “all rubber” base isolation system (BIS) has been assumed by using ϕ600 HDRBs, allowing to reach a TISO = 4.0s. To maximize the effectiveness of BIS, the three bodies have been connected at each floor level and the upper structure has been strengthened previously, reducing to TFB=0.30s the fundamental period of the strengthened fixed base solution. The proposed hybrid solution for seismic retrofitting merges two conceptually opposite design strategies, opting for BIS applied to an existing structure, stiffened ad hoc by using shear walls.

P-744 Fertility intention for a second or third child among childbearing couple in Shanghai, China

Abstract Study question What is the intention rate and related factors for a second or third child among childbearing couple? Summary answer Among couples with one child, 16.2% are willing to have a second child. Only 9.4% of couples with two children are pursuing third child. What is known already The decline in fertility is becoming an inevitable trend in most countries around the world. In the end of 1970s, the one-child policy was implemented. Since 21st century, China has gradually changed its fertility policy, from a selective two-child policy to a comprehensive two-child policy. Nevertheless, the number of total annual births in China has not shown an obviously increasing trend of growth. On August 20, 2021, the Chinese government amended the law to allow a couple to have three children. However, only a few studies have been conducted to evaluate fertility intention in the couples who already have kids. Study design, size, duration We conducted a cross-sectional survey in Shanghai from July to August in 2021. This study population was based on the female fertility database established between 2013 and 2017, which contains basic sociodemographic information and the reproductive intentions. We conducted this study to evaluate the fertility intention of the second or the third child and its related factors. Participants/materials, setting, methods From July to August in 2021, couples aged between 20 and 45 years old with one or two children was invited to participate in our study to give the information about “second/third births intention” and the factors that may probably related to it. Between the groups with and without second/third child intention, the chi-squared test and binary logistic regression was applied to compare the difference in the basic characteristics and relative factors. Main results and the role of chance Among couples with one child, 130 (16.2%) couples had intention to have a second child. Only 9.4% of couples with two children show the desire to have a third child. The ideal number of children for all our participants was 1.72±0.52. And the ideal number of children among couples with one child is 1.61±0.52. By contrast, the ideal number for couples with two kids was 2.06±0.34. The study showed great differences in Socioeconomic and personal factors between two groups. For second-child intention, the female age over 35 years, first child's age over 7 years, annual payment for the first child ranges from 70,000-100,000 RMB and children’s educational barriers were negatively associated with an intention to have a second child. Job with more free time makes it easier for couples to have a second child. Among couples with two children, parents with family financial constraints and children’s educational barriers are less likely to have a third child. Fertility-encouraged government policy can promote couples to pursue a second or third child. It is necessary to take measures to reduce the burden of raising children and increase free time for couples to relief parent’s pressure of rearing a child. Limitations, reasons for caution As this is a single-center study in Shanghai, the sample size is relatively small. Although our sample size still meets the basic statistical requirements and can detect a moderate effect size as significance, the results may not be applicable to some other regions. Wider implications of the findings The decision of fertility intention is influenced by female age, the first child’s age, family economic conditions, children’s education and national fertility policies. It is necessary to take measures to reduce the burden of raising children and increase free time for couples to relief parent’s pressure of rearing a child. Trial registration number ChiCTR2100045315

Between the Vatican and Moscow: The Lithuanian Imprint on the Death Throes of the Soviet Union (1979–1989)

AbstractBy introducing different types of sources—published documents on Vatican's Eastern policy, archival material of the Soviet governmental agencies, egodocuments of local ecclesiastical leaders—this article tries to identify the role Lithuanian subjects have played in the field of Vatican-USSR relations during the first half of Pope John Paul II's pontificate. The research reveals that, since the end of 1970s, issues pertaining to the Lithuanian Catholic Church were considered priority agenda items—both within the halls of the Vatican and in the central government offices of the Soviet regime. An analysis of available sources illustrates also that interrelated issues of the boundaries of the Vilnius Archdiocese and the question of its further administration constituted the most acute node of issues during the period under review. The Soviet regime was the most interested in focusing on these issues, as it hoped thereby to dispel any mutual sympathies between Lithuanian Catholics and the Polish pope, put a stop to the emerging cooperation between Catholics in Lithuania and Poland, and bring an end to the politically costly case of Bishop Steponavičius, who by then had become a symbol of the Lithuanian Catholic Church's resistance. Suppressing of any attempts of the Holy See to be represented at commemoration of important events in Lithuania's history was yet another highly complicated task for the Soviet authorities.

Translation and Influence of One Two Three… Infinity in China

One Two Three… Infinity is a world-famous popular science work. The first edition of the book was published in 1946, but its first translation work in China was published in 1978 for the reason that China was experiencing an unprecedented cultural revolution from 1966-1976, thus the popular science publishing industry stagnated. The translators used some outdated words and deleted or modified some names of countries and people for reasons including politics, economics, and culture. However, the translation work gained a huge circulation and great impact in China, and it almost became a must-read for college students at the end of 1970s, being regarded as an enlightening textbook especially for students of science in China. In 2002, a new translation of One Two Three… Infinity was published by Science Press in China, with a unique style and also being one of the popular science works.

Modernization of Beauty in China

The article explores the socio-political and historical development of the great debate on aesthetics and the aesthetic fever in China during the 20th century. It introduces the main figures of the aesthetic movement and their aesthetic theories. It introduces the period of appropriation of the aesthetic debates to Marxist ideology that prevailed in China after 1949 and lasted until the end of 1970s. The 1980s and 1990s represent a shift in the Chinese aesthetic debate which focused on the adoption of Western aesthetic concepts and paradigms in a more scientific way. The article tackles the problem of Chinese society on the verge of the millennium, and problematizes the consumerism of art and attitudes towards aesthetics in general.

Definition of no‐fishing zones and fishing effort limits to reduce franciscana bycatch to sustainable levels in southern Brazil

AbstractFranciscana dolphin Pontoporia blainvillei bycatch has been high for near six decades in western South Atlantic, with large regional variation. In 2012, the Brazilian Government‐regulated gillnet fisheries in south and southeast Brazil by reducing fishing effort and establishing no‐fishing zones. However, there is evidence that the magnitude of franciscana bycatch remains high and unsustainable. The aims of this study were to identify hotspot areas of franciscana bycatch associated with two main gillnet fisheries and to propose no‐fishing zones combined with limited total allowable fishing effort (i.e. total net length per season) in order to meet management objectives in southern Brazil. A hierarchical Bayesian model using integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) was employed based on 1427 reported settings from 1999 to 2003 and 2006 to 2009. Hotspot zones were detected and are proposed as no‐fishing zone during the white croaker Micropogonias furnieri and striped weakfish Cynoscion guatucupa gillnet fishing seasons. Their extents represent 6% (1466.8 km2) and 19% (4493.7 km2) of the fishing ground (23 204.1 km2) during croaker and weakfish fishing seasons respectively. The total allowable fishing effort estimated outside the no‐fishing zones were estimated at 541 km (95% credible interval (CrI) [339; 940]) during croaker and 688 km (CrI [312; 2,166]) during weakfish fishing seasons, one order of magnitude lower than the current total fishing effort. The drastic reduction of total fishing effort estimated in this study is largely due to weak protection measures since the gillnet fisheries became the major conservation concern for franciscana by the end of 1970s in southern Brazil. Although the implementation of the proposed exclusion zones and limiting fishing effort will strongly impact the status quo, they were based on the best scientific evidence and on a clearly defined management goal to reduce the risk of the franciscana population’s collapse in southern Brazil.

Novel dynamical indices for the variations of the western Pacific subtropical high based on three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation in a warming climate

Previous studies have often used the 500 hPa geopotential height to define indices of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH). However, some studies reported that global warming caused a significant increase in geopotential height, particularly at the middle and lower latitudes, leading artificial results about long-term trend of the WPSH. To avoid the spurious signals resulting from global warming, this study first redefines the area, intensity, westward ridge point and ridge line indices of the WPSH by adopting the stream function R of horizontal circulation in the three-pattern decomposition of global atmospheric circulation (3P-DGAC). Subsequently, the climatic characteristics of the WPSH in summer are investigated by applying the new indices based on four reanalysis datasets. The results show that the circulation features of the WPSH could be revealed by the stream function R in 3P-DGAC. Moreover, the rain belt over East Asia is located at the northwest periphery of the zero-value isoline of the stream function R. We conclude that the climatological average WPSH is contracted and retreated eastward during 1979–2018 relative to 1948–1978. Nevertheless, by analyzing interdecadal changes of the time series of the new indices during 1948–2018, we find that area and intensity indices decrease with time before the end of 1970s and increase slightly with time after the end of 1970s, the western ridge point index moves eastward with time before the end of the 1970s and moves westward slightly with time after the end of 1970s, as well as there is no obvious interdecadal variations in the ridge line index. Because of the evident dynamical meaning, the stream function R in 3P-DGAC can be used as an objective indicator to describe the interdecadal variation of the WPSH under global warming.

Occurrence of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in the Gulf of Trieste and the northern Adriatic Sea

Abstract The Mediterranean common dolphin (Delphinus delphis), considered to have been very common in the past, had undergone a dramatic decline across most of the basin by the end of 1970s. In the northern Adriatic Sea, one of the regions with most available historical information, the common dolphin is thought to have been the most common and abundant cetacean throughout most of the 20th century. However, by the end of 1970s, it had virtually disappeared from the region and is now considered generally absent from the entire Adriatic Sea. This contribution summarizes the occurrence of common dolphins in the Gulf of Trieste and provides a brief review of published records in other parts of the Adriatic Sea. Systematic boat surveys in the wider area of the Gulf of Trieste between 2002 and 2019 confirmed that the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) is the only regularly occurring cetacean species in this area. Despite this, several records of common dolphins were documented in the Gulf of Trieste between 2009 and 2012, through sightings of live animals or recovery of dead stranded animals. Dorsal fin markings allowed the photo‐identification of some of these, suggesting that at least four different live individuals (three adults and one calf) occurred here in recent times. Most cases involved single adult individuals, but one included a mother‐calf pair that was temporarily resident in a port for several months, a behaviour atypical for this species. Photo‐identification showed that the presumed mother had previously been sighted in the Ionian Sea in Greece, over 1,000 km from the Gulf of Trieste, making this the longest documented movement for this species worldwide. At present, the common dolphin continues to be rare in the region.

Incidence and prognostic significance of serum immunoglobulins and paraproteins in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia: another valuable piece of the puzzle.

In this issue of the journal, Corbigni et al. present a large retrospective multicentric study evaluating serum immunogloblins and paraproteins in patients (pts) with newly diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).1 This study is so far the largest (n = 1505) published on this topic. Its main findings include: hypogammaglobulinaemia of any class was detected in 13·2% of patients, while IgM and IgG paraproteins were present in 4·8 and 10%. Presence of IgM paraprotein significantly correlated with more advanced clinical stages, TP53 aberrations, and inferior treatment-free survival (TFS). Likewise, pts with decreased IgG or paraprotein of the same class experienced shorter TFS. Using receiver operator curve analysis for identification of an optimal threshold, serum concentration of IgA ≤ 0·82 g/l was also associated with inferior TFS. Complex perturbation of the immune system including both humoral and cellular mechanisms has long been recognized as one of the hallmarks of CLL.2 Hypogammaglobulinaemia, or decreased serum concentrations of immunoglobulins (Ig), is by far the most studied phenomenon of immune dysfunction in CLL, with first publications appearing more than 50 years ago.3, 4 Even these early studies in limited numbers of pts noted a significantly higher occurrence of infections in connection with hypogammaglobulinaemia. Results of studies published between 1975 and 2010 have been often conflicting regarding the frequency of hypogammaglobulinaemia at diagnosis (IgG, 5–39%, IgA, 3–37%, IgM, 4–64%) and its prognostic significance, most likely due to relatively small (usually n < 100) patient groups, heterogeneous proportion of early stages, different thresholds for hypogammaglobulinaemia, variable duration of follow-up and selection bias.5-9 After 2010, there have been four major publications dealing with the topic.10-14 Despite inevitable heterogeneity, some recurring patterns could be identified in the literature, namely, association of lower Ig concentrations with advancing disease or antileukaemic therapy and the unfavourable prognostic value of IgA hypogammaglobulinaemia in terms of shorter treatment-free and/or overall survival. From the clinical point of view, combination of significant IgG hypogammaglobulinaemia (the arbitrary cut-off is usually set to ≤ 5g/l) and repeated or severe bacterial infections represents a generally accepted indication for Ig replacement therapy15, 16 in the form of intravenous infusion (IVIG) or more recently, subcutaneous injection (SCIG) which is more cost-effective, more convenient for the patient and yields comparable results.16, 17 The research of monoclonal immunoglobulins/paraproteins in CLL has attracted much less attention than that of hypogammaglobulinaemia. First publications emerged at the end of 1970s and during the 1980s,18, 19 Pangalis et al. 1988,20 and several larger studies reported the frequency of paraproteins in newly diagnosed CLL pts between 7 and 35%;21-23 results regarding their prognostic value of were again inconclusive. In a recent Italian study, the presence of IgG or IgM paraproteins was linked with several unfavourable prognostic factors such as unmutated IGHV genes or TP53 aberrations and correlated with shorter TFS.22 The present study by Corbigni et al. seems to confirm some of the previously published findings, namely association of IgM paraprotein with advanced clinical stages and TP53 abnormalities, as well as significantly shorter TFS in pts with paraprotein or IgG/IgA deficiency (including multivariate analysis). None of these parameters was significant for shorter overall survival in the multivariate analysis; probably due to recent developments of the therapeutic armamentarium, namely novel targeted oral inhibitors such as ibrutinib, idelalisib, and venetoclax, whose introduction has led to marked survival improvement especially in pts with relapsed/refractory CLL. Finally, it is important to point out that the present study has several limitations: first, incidence and severity of infectious complications was not recorded; furthermore, there is no information on the cause of death (infection versus CLL progression versus other); subclasses of IgG and IgA have not been tested; also data regarding Ig replacement therapy is not available. Despite these constraints, the study by Corbigni et al. adds another valuable piece to the puzzle of the area investigating humoral immune dysfunction in CLL. Supported by programme PROGRES Q40/08 and by DRO (UHHK, 00179906). I declare no conflict of interest related to this publication.

‘Using’ Crisis of Governance as an Opportunity for ‘Re-invention’: Why the Supreme Court of India Took To Hearing Public Interest Litigations—A Case Study

What do the different State organs do when they face a crisis? Do the suffering institutions successfully re-invent themselves or is it that some other institution uses the crisis to find an ‘opportunity’ to re-invent itself? Can one’s crisis be another’s opportunity? This case-study analyses how the Supreme Court of India (hereinafter SCI) reinvented itself in a bid to further the cause of good governance in the country ever since emergency had been clamped on the nation towards the end of 1970s. Surely there has been a crisis of governance in India, caused by the pathetic performance of both the legislature and the executive. It has led to myriad problems in both social and political arenas. If left unaddressed, Indian people might have turned more violent than they already are and that could have perpetrated a failure of democracy in the country. But the SCI has successfully played a positive role in this regard. If the other institutions have failed the people, the Supreme Court has championed their cause. The world’s largest democracy stands saved until now. But is it wholly the judges’ heartfelt concern for the people that has prompted the Supreme Court to function in this fashion? Did anything go wrong during the emergency? Why is it that it has been more and more active ever since the emergency ended? And why is it that there has been an exponential growth in public interest litigations (hereinafter PILs) in the Supreme Court even though it cannot handle so many cases because of infrastructural paucities? Situating itself in the specific context of PILs entertained by the SCI and supporting it with the theoretical inputs of the so-called ‘principal-agent framework’, this essay argues that there has been a competition (i.e., between the court and the elected politicians) for ‘occupying’ more space in the domain of governance since the inception of the Constitution and it is only the Supreme Court that got the right ‘opportunity’ to achieve its objective in the wake of crisis in governance that became so visible in Indian politics ever since the fag-end of the 1970s. While the court tried other instruments earlier in its game plan vis-a-vis the elected politicians, the crisis situation since the end of the 1970s made it ‘invent’ a new tool in the form of PILs capable of safeguarding the interests of the people and insulating them against the mindless functioning of multiple state agencies. But how far can the SCI (hereinafter SCI) proceed with this new tool? Is there a risk of ‘overusing’ it? Does the court not have its own limitations in this regard, too? What should the Supreme Court do in order to avert a fresh ‘crisis’?

MASUMİYET MÜZESİ’NİN SINIRLARI: “DÜŞÜNCESİZ” NOSTALJİ VE MASUMİYETİN İMKÂNSIZLIĞI

Nostalgia promises wholeness, happiness and a sense of being at home in response to the social discontent and sense of being disintegrated. Therefore as discontent grows, it is observed that the interest toward nostalgic themes also grows. So in literature, nostalgic discourse becomes strong and the past is handled in such a way that satisfies the lack which people feel today. Orhan Pamuk’s novel The Museum of Innocence which was published in 2008 narrates a love story which takes place at the end of 1970s and aims to refresh our collective memory of that years. But Pamuk’s style of expressing emotions with the lack of profundity and with his effort of naming the emotions recurrently, the text’s nostalgic intentions turn into a formof a “set up stage”. Lack of attention and perspective toward political issues, its peaceful melancholy towards residuals and ruins of the past and its point of view away from “suspicion”, moves the novel away from modernist “reflective nostalgia” and the notion of innocence. Despite the memory being an “anti-museum”, narrator Kemal and Orhan Pamuk both transform their powerful desire to seize the past into a proud museum which has a meaning they are sure of.

Хроника «заднего двора». Латинская Америка глазами советских карикатуристов периода холодной войны

The article is devoted to the question of the perception of Latin America by Soviet cartoonists in the end of 1970s — mid 1980s. Following the order of power, artists realized a propaganda function, broadcasting ideological attitudes to the masses. On the pages of the most influential satirical publication of the USSR, the magazine Crocodile, published a large number of materials related to the events of international life, which reflected specific ideological attitudes. Cartoonists didn’t interested in Latin America itself, but they managed to create a number of vivid and memorable images without national specificity. Images of dictators (A.Pinochet, A.Somoza, H.N.Duarte, A.Stroessner) reproduces stereotypes of the 1930s and 1950s associated with images of fascist criminals, which doesn’t allow to make the image relevant. The caricature demonstrates a shift in ideological accents, a conversion from the propaganda of national liberation movements to the principles of stability and the striving for peace. Thus, there is a transformation of Soviet ideology from offensive to defensive.

Prvi obimniji pokloni akademika - likovnih umetnika umetničkoj zbirci SANU - Nedeljko Gvozdenović, Ljubica Sokić, Aleksandar Deroko

Art Collection of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA) has formed in parallel with the establishment of the institution itself. At first, art pieces have served the purpose of adorning the premises of the Academy. Gradually, the art collection has become profiled and intentionally complemented by portraits of academics and later with art work of academics and artists. Immediately after founding of the SASA Gallery, at the end of 1970s, at the initiative of the SASA Department of Fine Arts and Music, the Art Collection was duly listed according to rules of museology. Systematic purchase of works by artists/academics was planned, according to a defined programme. Still, the largest number of works has become part of the Collection as gifts of SASA members and numerous other donors. The largest art donation were drawings and other art on paper by academic Ivan Radović, gifted to the Academy by his widow, Olga. Soon, other academics/artists began to select their works to donate, in order to be representative of their art. This is how the gifts of Nedeljko Gvozdenović, Ljubica Sokić and Aleksandar Deroko have laid the foundations for today's Art Collection of the Arts Academy.

Long-term change of the assemblages and abundance of cladocerans in different ecotypes of Lake Taihu

枝角类作为淡水湖泊生态系统中的初级消费者之一，对生存环境的改变极为敏感.本文分析了太湖西、中和东部等湖区的钻孔沉积物、表层沉积物以及春夏秋季活体枝角类的组成与丰度.结果表明：活体枝角类组成以象鼻溞（Bosmina spp.）为优势种，秋季枝角类属种数量最多.太湖不同生态型湖区表层沉积物枝角类组成均以象鼻溞为优势种，其中西部与中心湖区的枝角类组成与丰度较为相似，种类单一，枝角类绝对丰度高；东部湖区枝角类属种较为丰富，绝对丰度低，优势种由浮游种象鼻溞以及沿岸种圆形盘肠溞（Chydorus sphaericus sl）和西方笔纹溞（Graptoleberis testudinaria）等种属构成.百年以来，太湖枝角类组成与丰度随着营养水平增加而改变，富营养指示种（Bosmina longirostris）丰度的增加与贫营养指示种（Bosmina longispina）丰度的下降，响应了湖区生态环境的演变过程.1970s末期，太湖西部与中心湖区在进入富营养化阶段，枝角类组成单一，象鼻溞占有绝对优势，与东部湖区相比，沿岸种、底栖种稀少.东部湖区在1960s以后，枝角类属种数量增加，但丰度下降，响应了1960s以来该区域营养水平提高、沉水植被生物量增加以及沼泽化加剧的环境过程.;Cladoceran, as one of the primary consumers in freshwater lake ecosystem, is sensitive to environmental change. So far, fruitful researches of subfossil cladocerans have been applied in many fields, such as paleoclimate reconstruction, food web, and nutritional changes and so on. However, most of studies focused on the lakes in boreal, temperate and subarctic zones, especially the alpine and deep lakes. Few works paid attention to freshwater shallow lakes in the middle and low latitudes of subtropics in Asia. Lake Taihu, located in the south of the Yangtze River Delta, is a large shallow lake covering over 2000 km² area which is also the third largest freshwater lake in China. Lake Taihu is ecologically divided into different basins. The west and north parts of Lake Taihu are observed increase of nutrient which has led to the emergence of non-N₂ fixing Microcystis sp. cyanobacterium causing serious cyanobacterial blooms and reduced biodiversity. The eastern part of Lake Taihu is also a mild eutrophic lake under the condition of growing large number of submerge plants. Those changes had influence on cladoceran composition and abundance. In this paper, we analysed the composition and abundance of cladoceran assemblages from cores and surface sediments and modern waters in spring, summer and autumn of the western, central and eastern parts of Lake Taihu. The results showed that Bosmina spp. was the dominant cladoceran of the sediments and water in different ecotypes of Lake Taihu. The composition of modern cladoceran was basically the largest number of cladoceran species in autumn. The cladoceran composition was single but with a high-level abundance in the western and central Lake Taihu. The cladoceran species in the eastern Lake Taihu were relatively rich but with a low-level abundance. The dominant species in the east part of Lake Taihu were composed of several species such as Bosmina spp., Chydorus sphaericus sl and Graptoleberis testudinaria. Over the past century, the composition and abundance of cladoceran in Lake Taihu had changed with the change of ecological environment. Especially, the change of the relative proportion of the eutrophic species (Bosmina longirostris) and the poor nutrient species (Bosmina longispina) indicated the evolution process of the eutrophication in Lake Taihu. At the end of 1970s, the western and central regions of Lake Taihu entered the eutrophication stage. The composition of cladoceran assemblages was single with a high-level abundance of Bosmina spp. and scarce littoral and benthic species compared with the eastern Lake Taihu. After 1960s, the cladoceran community in eastern Lake Taihu became relatively abundant but with a decrease of the abundance of cladocerans, which responded to the expansion of submerged vegetation biomass, swampiness and the aggravating eutrophication since 1960 AD.

On Particularities of the Vapor Pressure Measurements of Refractory Substances at Very High Temperatures

Vapor pressure measurements of refractory materials at very high pressure remain relevant for constructing adequate equations of state up to the domain of a critical point. In the present paper, an attempt is made to provide a reliable physical ground for the experimental method based on a laser-induced evaporation into the buffer gas, which was used by a number of researchers since the end of 1970s. It is shown that there is a low pressure limit (of roughly 0.1 bar) intrinsically inherent for this kind of measurements. A developed mathematical model is used for interpretation of some controversial or not sufficiently explained experimental results. The model also provides some hints, which could help make more reliable vapor pressure measurements in the future.

Non‐Precious‐Metal Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysis

Non‐Precious‐Metal Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysis

Hefei: An emerging city in inland China

Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, is located in China's central region. A city with over 2200 years of history, Hefei was still a middle-sized city at the end of 1970s. Over the past decade, however, the city had experienced a dramatic spatial expansion and economic growth. This paper discusses Hefei's history of development, its achievement in socioeconomic and spatial development, and its challenges with regard to future development. Urban researchers have largely ignored cities in China's central region; as such, this paper will serve to enrich the international literature in this field and enable readers to better understand the urbanization and industrialization efforts of a typical emerging city in inland China.

Secular Changes in Child Height in Japan and South Korea: Consumption of Animal Proteins and “Essential Nutrients”

Child height in Japan and South Korea increased dramatically over the past half century. At age 17 - 18 years, male students in Japan were 2 cm taller in the 1960s through 1970s, still barely taller in the 1980s than S. Korean students, but by the early 1990s they ceased to grow any taller in height, whereas their Korean peers kept increasing in height to overtake their Japanese peers by 3 cm in the mid-2000s. Economic growth was rapid in both countries, but S. Korea some two decades behind Japan. Per capita GDP in Japan was four times that in S. Korea in the mid-1980s and twice in the early-2000s. Food consumption increased conspicuously in both countries, with per capita net supply of animal products in Japan noticeably exceeding that in S. Korea in the early-2000s. However, per capita total caloric intake has been a few hundred kcal/day greater in S. Korea than in Japan since the end of 1970s, mainly from cereals. In particular, S. Koreans have consumed nearly twice as many vegetables as Japanese after the early 1980s. What may deserve attention is that Japanese youth, as compared to their older generations, drastically reduced their consumption of fruit and vegetables in the mid-1970s, whereas their S. Korean counterparts have maintained their consumption of these produce. These contrasts in food consumption patterns may have contributed to the differences in child height development in the two countries.

Pope John Paul II discourses and Poland's national symbols during the political transition (1978-1989)

This paper aims to show how the then new pope John Paul II represented an important factor in the downfall of the Communist regime in Poland using as tools his charismatic discourse, knowledge of Polish national culture and the powers granted to him by the Roman Catholic Church. In order to do this, it will resort to analysis of Wojtyła’s speeches during the time, connecting them to the aforementioned cultural aspects. The final years of the Cold War introduced a range of new actors that contributed to the American preponderance in the international system after the demise of the USSR. In such context, the Vatican influenced political change in some Communist countries in the end of 1970s. The oldest diplomacy in the world was able to be among the high players in the system once again, mainly in the home country of the then Pope John Paul II. The paper arguments that Karol Wojtyła played an instrumental role during the Polish political transition and that was possible because of what he represented to the Poles and the way he used the cultural aspects of the country on his favor.

Spatial heterogeneity and long-term dynamics of cladoceran ephippia in a monsoonal reservoir, driven by hydrology and eutrophication

Most freshwater Cladocera produce ephippia to survive harsh episodes in their life cycle. Ephippia represent the dormant community in sediments and allow tracing population dynamics and community succession with environmental change in water bodies in time. As reservoirs are created by damming rivers, the species composition and structure of a dormant cladoceran community are expected to depend on trophic state as well as on hydrological conditions. We collected ephippia from sediments in the transition and lacustrine zones of Liuxihe reservoir, a warm-water impoundment in southern China. High species richness with low abundance was found in the transitional zone, while high abundance was found at the lacustrine zone. Ephippia identified Daphnia galeata as the first Cladocera colonizer of the newly created water body, but littoral or small sized species—Scapholeberis sp. and Bosmina sp. fast increased and became dominated from damming till the end of 1970s. Medium-sized pelagic species—Moina micrura and D. galeata—increased from 1975 onwards, corresponding to an increase in diatom abundance with slight eutrophication and hydrological shift due to the construction of two small dams in the upstream zone of the feeding rivers. A two-way stepwise linear regression analysis showed that spatial variables explained 33% of ephippial total abundance while diatom abundance explained 5.2%. Hydrological conditions in the dry season (October to next March) were unrelated to total ephippial abundance but explained 37.5% in the wet season (April to September). We conclude the distinct longitudinal gradient and vertical variation of the dormant community provide useful information for understanding of long-term dynamics of site-specific hydrological processes, primary productivity and hydrologic events.