Spring Festivals Research Articles

PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF THE TRADITIONAL FESTIVAL VALUES OF THE THAI PEOPLE IN TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN SON LA PROVINCE

Son La is a mountainous province located in the Northwest of the country, currently inhabited by numerous ethnic minority communities. Among them, the Thai ethnic community constitutes the majority, with a long history of settlement in this region and many traditional cultural values contributing to the distinctiveness of Son La Province's culture. The culture of the Thai ethnic community has become the dominant cultural foundation, encompassing not only the Son La region but also extending throughout the Northwest region. Among these, the traditional festivals of the Thai ethnic group best exemplify the cultural characteristics of each ethnic group and represent potential for sustainable tourism development in Son La Province. This article focuses on introducing some remarkable spring festivals of the Thai ethnic group in Son La Province, assessing the current situation and proposing solutions to preserve and promote the values of traditional festivals in the cultural tourism development of Son La Province

The impact of fireworks burning on air quality and their health effects in China during Spring Festivals of 2015–2022

Ambient monitoring online data of six criteria air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, O3 and CO) in 31 provincial capital cities in China during Spring Festivals from 2015 to 2022 were analyzed to estimate contributions of fireworks burning to PM2.5 and their health effects. It shows that daily average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, and CO during Spring Festivals of 2015-2022 dropped remarkably by 36.5%, 48.9%, 70.6%, 29.7%, and 36.8%, respectively, while 8h O3 concentrations increased significantly by 21.6%. Average contributions of fireworks burning to PM2.5 during intensive fireworks burning periods from 2015 to 2022 were 44.8 ± 14.7 %, 56.2 ± 16.9 %, 50.1 ± 16.2 %, 46.0 ± 16.8 %, 44.3 ± 14.9 %, 33.2 ± 20.7 %, 44.5 ± 15.5 % and 35.2 ± 23.3 %, respectively. The total excess health risk (ERtotal) based on Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS) and World Health Organization (WHO) air quality guidelines, and health-risk based air quality index values (HAQI) were estimated. Annual average values of ERtotal based on the WHO standard were 1.5–4.7 times as many as those estimated by CAAQS standards and annual average values of HAQI based on CAAQS Grade Ⅰ standard were higher than those based on CAAQS Grade Ⅱ standard. Main health risk factors were different under different air quality standards. It is necessary to further improve air quality to protect human health during Spring Festivals in China in the future.

Effects of the COVID-19 lockdown in Hubei, China: cessation of incense burning reduces regional landscape fire

Both anthropogenic and climatic factors are important determinants of landscape fire. Because the two groups of factors are intertwined and often act simultaneously, dissecting their effects on landscape fire is challenging. We used the COVID-19 lockdown event in Hubei, in which all immediate influences of anthropogenic factors were effectively removed, to quantify the effects of anthropogenic factors on landscape fire occurrence. We hypothesized that outdoor incense burning is the main causal factor of landscape fire. To test the hypothesis, we used random forest algorithm to model fire occurrence, including fire frequency, total area burned, and area of forest burned, for the lockdown period. We then estimated the differences between historical, simulated, and observed values of landscape fire and used the differences to represent the effects of anthropogenic activities on landscape fire. Our results showed that during the lockdown, landscape fire frequency was reduced by 77%, total area burned by 80%, and area of forest burned by 63%. By month, fire frequency decreased the most in April (85%), followed by February (80%), coinciding with the Qingming and Spring Festivals of 2020. The cessation of outdoor incense burning during the festival season was likely to be the most important factor that decreased fire occurrence, confirming our hypothesis about the causal relationship between outdoor incense-burning and landscape fire. Thus, educational programs encouraging people to stop outdoor incense burning during the festival season could reduce the occurrence of landscape fire.

Ambient Noise Level in Eastern North China from ChinArray and Its Response to COVID-19

Abstract High-frequency (>1 Hz) ambient noise is usually closely related to anthropogenic activities. During the outbreak and spread of the COVID-19, as various anthropogenic activities are restricted, high-frequency ambient noise level has been observed to be reduced on a worldwide scale. The continuous waveform data at dense broadband seismic stations from ChinArray in eastern North China provides a good opportunity to study the temporal and spatial patterns of the ambient noise level in the region, and to further study the influencing factors, such as the topography and the population density. In this study, we calculated the average power spectral density of ambient noise at each station ±90 days around the Spring Festival in 2019 and in 2020, analyzed the noise level at different stations through normal times, Spring Festivals, epidemic control period, and recovery period, and studied the influencing factors of the noise level. We found that normally high-frequency (1–10 Hz) ambient noise correlates well with the surrounding sedimentary thickness: The noise level is higher when the surrounding sedimentary layer is thicker and vice versa. It correlates moderately with local population density and is time-varying due to anthropogenic activities. During the Spring Festival in 2019 and in 2020, and the epidemic control period after the Spring Festival in 2020, the reduction extent of the noise level correlates moderately with both the sedimentary thickness and population density; the ambient noise level reduces more significantly to the south of 40° N than to the north of it in the study region. Considering that the sedimentary thickness beneath each station is not time-varying, the variation in ambient noise level due to anthropogenic activities is clearly amplified by the sedimentary layer.

Estimating uncertainties of source contributions to PM2.5 using moving window evolving dispersion normalized PMF

Conventional factor analyses can present problems in cases with changing numbers of sources and/or time-dependent source compositions. There is also lack of a reliable method to estimate uncertainties in the source contributions derived by positive matrix factorization (PMF). Applying a moving window evolving PMF to hourly PM2.5 composition dataset from a field campaign in Tianjin China that included the Spring and Lantern Festivals and the start of COVID-19 pandemic has substantially improved the apportionment compared to a conventional analysis using the entire data. Festival-related sources (e.g., fireworks and residential burning here) have been clearly identified and estimated during both the Spring and Lantern Festivals. During this period, the sources changed because the time period overlaps with the outbreak of COVID-19 and related reductions in activity during the lockdown that began on Lunar New Year. Multiple PMF runs providing source contribution estimates made it possible to estimate the uncertainties in these values. Our results show that winds-dependent sources like dust and distant point sources have larger uncertainties than the other sources. Compared with conventional PMF analyses, the current method may better reflect the actual emissions as well as being able to estimate uncertainties. Thus, this approach appears to be an improvement if the appropriate data are available.

Haze episodes before and during the COVID-19 shutdown in Tianjin, China: Contribution of fireworks and residential burning

Potential health benefits from improved ambient air quality during the COVID-19 shutdown have been recently reported and discussed. Despite the shutdown measures being in place, northern China still suffered severe haze episodes (HE) that are not yet fully understood, particularly how the source emissions changed. Thus, the meteorological conditions and source emissions in processing five HEs occurred in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area were investigated by analyzing a comprehensive real-time measurement dataset including air quality data, particle physics, optical properties, chemistry, aerosol lidar remote sensing, and meteorology. Three HEs recorded before the shutdown began were related to accumulated primary pollutants and secondary aerosol formation under unfavorable dispersion conditions. The common “business as usual” emissions from local primary sources in this highly polluted area exceeded the wintertime atmospheric diffusive capacity to disperse them. Thus, an intensive haze formed under these adverse meteorological conditions such as in the first HE, with coal combustion to be the predominant source. Positive responses to the shutdown measures were demonstrated by reduced contributions from traffic and dust during the final two HEs that overlapped the Spring and Lantern Festivals, respectively. Local meteorological dispersion during the Spring Festival was the poorest among the five HEs. Increased residential burning plus fireworks emissions contributed to the elevated PM2.5 with the potential of enhancing the HEs. Our results highlight that reductions from shutdown measures alone do not prevent the occurrence of HEs. To further reduce air pollution and thus improve public health, abatement strategies with an emphasis on residential burning are needed.

Psychological Analysis of Li JiaQi's Live-Streaming Consumers During the Spring Festival under the Epidemic

The current pandemic has largely changed the world across all sectors of the society. In this paper, we shall specifically look into the effect Covid-19 has had on Chinese social and commercial sector over the time of its existence. Things that normally occurred physically, have taken a toll and nowadays occur virtually thanks to the presence of web connections and streaming platforms. Precisely, our focus in this case is on the Chinese spring festivals and the impact coronavirus has had on the attendance and normal activities. Firstly, physical meetings to celebrate the festivals were entirely done away with by the Chinese government meaning people had to change and their modes of attendance. With this, the festivals generally took place virtually such that online streaming of events surged. The number of virtual attendees in hand with the demand for streaming services therefore grew tremendously and such developments has a number of implications. For example, revenue earned by the corporations that offer streaming services generally increased and for celebrities that took part in the festivals in terms of performance had their income secured. Therefore, COVID-19 largely affected a number of social activities in China for example shifting to online sales and purchases alters consumer culture but still, there are a number of positive developments

The Impact of the Control Measures during the COVID-19 Outbreak on Air Pollution in China

The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in Wuhan, China, in January 2020 just before the Spring Festival and subsequent country-wide measures to contain the virus, effectively resulted in the lock-down of the country. Most industries and businesses were closed, traffic was largely reduced, and people were restrained to their homes. This resulted in the reduction of emissions of trace gases and aerosols, the concentrations of which were strongly reduced in many cities around the country. Satellite imagery from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) showed an enormous reduction of tropospheric NO2 concentrations, but aerosol optical depth (AOD), as a measure of the amount of aerosols, was less affected, likely due to the different formation mechanisms and the influence of meteorological factors. In this study, satellite data and ground-based observations were used together to estimate the separate effects of the Spring Festival and the COVID-19 containment measures on atmospheric composition in the winter of 2020. To achieve this, data were analyzed for a period from 30 days before to 60 days after the Spring Festivals in 2017–2020. This extended period of time, including similar periods in previous years, were selected to account for both the decreasing concentrations in response to air pollution control measures, and meteorological effects on concentrations of trace gases and aerosols. Satellite data from TROPOMI provided the spatial distributions over mainland China of the tropospheric vertical column density (VCD) of NO2, and VCD of SO2 and CO. The MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) provided the aerosol optical depth (AOD). The comparison of the satellite data for different periods showed a large reduction of, e.g., NO2 tropospheric VCDs due to the Spring Festival of up to 80% in some regions, and an additional reduction due to the COVID-19 containment measures of up to 70% in highly populated areas with intensive anthropogenic activities. In other areas, both effects are very small. Ground-based in situ observations from 26 provincial capitals provided concentrations of NO2, SO2, CO, O3, PM2.5, and PM10. The analysis of these data was focused on the situation in Wuhan, based on daily averaged concentrations. The NO2 concentrations started to decrease a few days before the Spring Festival and increased after about two weeks, except in 2020 when they continued to be low. SO2 concentrations behaved in a similar way, whereas CO, PM2.5, and PM10 also decreased during the Spring Festival but did not trace NO2 concentrations as SO2 did. As could be expected from atmospheric chemistry considerations, O3 concentrations increased. The analysis of the effects of the Spring Festival and the COVID-19 containment measures was complicated due to meteorological influences. Uncertainties contributing to the estimates of the different effects on the trace gas concentrations are discussed. The situation in Wuhan is compared with that in 26 provincial capitals based on 30-day averages for four years, showing different effects across China.

Landsat 8‐observed water quality and its coupled environmental factors for urban scenery lakes: A case study of West Lake

Urban scenery lakes are not only popular sites for recreation, water sport, and visit of citizens and tourists, but also function for urban water drainage and storage, and hence, their water quality is a sensitive indicator of urban aquatic environment. This study focused on two important water quality parameters, TSM (total suspended matter) and CDOM (colored dissolved organic matter) in West Lake, a world famous urban scenery lake in Hangzhou, China. Based on Landsat 8 images, remote sensing inversion models for TSM and CDOM in West Lake were compared and the best ones were determined using exponential functions and green/red band ratios. Results show that the accuracy of TSM models is relatively better while CDOM models performed relatively poor, indicating that empirical estimation of CDOM for inland complex waters remains a challenge. The Landsat 8-derived results in West Lake from 2013 to 2017 show that TSM presented diverse distributions in different sections and months/seasons-the relatively high-concentration TSM was usually found in the north section and during spring festivals, holidays and summer vacations. These spatiotemporal patterns demonstrate the evidence that TSM in West Lake was highly linked to anthropogenic impacts, such as tourist visits, commercial activities, and urban drainage projects in Hangzhou. The relations between TSM and precipitation were also examined, but no significant correlations were found, showing that the impacts of rainfall on water quality of urban lakes are complicated, and using remote sensing for such studies is still with limitations. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Water quality (TSM and CDOM) of urban scenery lakes is highly influenced by urban tourist activities. Precipitation and TSM have not found significant relations in urban scenery lakes. An exponential model based on Landsat 8's bands 3 and 4 is good for TSM estimation. CDOM estimation remains a challenge for water color remote sensing in urban scenery lakes.

AZERBAYCAN TÜRK KÜLTÜRÜNDE İLKBAHAR BAYRAMI

This study deals with the spring festival which is celebrated with great excitement among Azerbaijani Turks. This festival is organised for celebrating the end of winter and the renewal of nature. The main purpose of this article is to give information about changes in nature during the festival month, various preparations for the festival and about the concept of “cersenbe” which is generally known as “celime;” and to elaborate on the celebrations organised for the festival. In addition, this study will also examine the similar and different characteristics of spring festivals organised by Turkish people in regions or geographies upon which they have lived and will investigate whether there are cultural ties between the ceremonies. As a method, this research is based on the information obtained from the primary sources and people related to the subject. Information collected from those who have first-hand knowledge is examined through making a comparison with other resources and ceremonies which were organized in the Bairams are found to have been organized by Azerbaijani Turks for years. This study provide information about preparations for the festival, “semeni” belief and its practices and the “Semeni halvah”. It also explains organization processes of various ceremonies such as “Bayram Toyu,” “Han Bezeme,” “Kose-Kose,” and “Godu-Godu”. Celebrations organized during the aforementioned bairams and ceremonies aims at wishing for a fertile year and for a healthy and peaceful life. Particularly, the “Semeni halvah” and the beliefs about it still exist among the people. As a result it is concluded that the festival known as Newroz has been celebrated by the Turks as a spring festival since ancient times and it has maintained its inherent beliefs up to the present.

The Relationship between the Students' Socialization and Sense of Belonging Who Attended University's Spring Festivals

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of spring festivals on university students' socialization and sense of belonging. According to this aim, this study's sample was 983 volunteer students including 460 women and 523 men who were studying at Istanbul Yildiz Technical University and Istanbul Aydin University. The data collection tools (p<0,05) consisted of a short collating the students' gender, age, class, university department, and other information concerning their university; the 'General Belonging' scale reformed by Malone et al. (2012) and adapted into Turkish by Duru (2015); and the 'Socializing' scale reformed by Sahan (2008). According to the results of this study, it was discovered that spring festivals have an effect on students' socialization and sense of belonging. Statistically significant differences were found with regard to the universities. Also, differences between belonging and socialization, as well as a significant correlation between belonging and socialization were found. In the light of these findings, it can be said that, spring festivals have a positive effect on students' socialization and improve their sense of belonging; therefore, spring festivals should be organized in a sustainable way at every university.

Embellishing Wang-In: Connections and Variations of Nationalism and Colonialism

It has been a while here in Korea that Wang-In(王仁) of Baekje Dynasty has been getting the spotlight as a national hero who transmitted the Thousand-Character Text(千字文) and advanced culture to the ancient Japan. The Historic Site of Wang-In in YeongAm-gun;JeollaNam-do province;which claimed to be his birthplace despite the lack of any reliable historical evidence. It has been the host to large-scale commemorative spring and autumn festivals. In this Site;there are variety of monuments and artifacts;including a handwriting by the former President Kim Dae-Jung.BR Initially;Wang-In was an ‘obscure figure,’ virtually unknown throughout the whole period of Korean traditional history. It was not until the colonial period by the Empire of Japan that the embellishments began extensively. Two of the representative cases were the Alleged Cemetery of Wang-In in Hirakata near Osaka and the Monument of Wang-In at Ueno Park in Tokyo.BR This study points out that it would be extremely dangerous to portray Wang-In as a leading figure of Korean nationalism;without serious criticisms on the embellishments imposed as part of the colonial policy of Naesonilche(內鮮一體;Korea and Japan are One);since he is viewed as a pro-Japan of the colonial memory in Japan. Based on these considerations;this study examines the connections and variations between colonialistic origin in Japan and nationalistic resurrection in Korea on the embellishment of Wang-In.

Enjoy Three Popular Pastimes: Unwinding, Shopping, and Eating

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Annual Meeting HighlightsFull AccessEnjoy Three Popular Pastimes: Unwinding, Shopping, and EatingVabren WattsVabren WattsSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:19 Feb 2015https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.pn.2015.2b5AbstractToronto’s Harbourfront Centre offers activities for everyone of every age to enjoy.Looking for a quick getaway between annual meeting sessions or at the end of a long day absorbing the latest clinical and research news? Grab a cab to Harbourfront Centre for a leisurely stroll, shopping, or dining along the picturesque shores of Lake Ontario.Visitors at Ann Tindale Park view merchandise from local vendors.www.harbourfrontcentre.comHarbourfront Centre is more than a year-round venue for arts programming, special events, and world-class performances; it’s an excellent way to spend the day enjoying a vast array of activities, according to its website. Located in close proximity to the CN Tower (Toronto’s signature structure) and the convention center, what is now the Harbourfront Centre was merely a wasteland amid condemned industrial buildings more than 40 years ago. After Pierre Trudeau, a former prime minister of Canada, pushed for legislation that would revitalize 100 central acres of lakefront property, the centre has been transformed into an international platform for cultural celebrations, education, and recreation—with more than 4,000 annual events that attract about 17 million visitors each year.A good place to begin a tour of Harbourfront Centre is with the mix of entertainment and shopping at Ann Tindale Park, a tree-lined park covered with plush, “environment-friendly” artificial grass. The park serves as the epicenter of spring and summer festivals. Visitors can stroll along the boardwalk to the recently built Exhibition Common to see whatever visual-arts events are going on or participate in a yoga class, for example.Entertainer at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.www.harbourfrontcentre.comFor more visual arts, head next door to the Bill Boyle Artport for the “Deep Woods” art exhibit, inspired by the beauty of some of Canada’s forests, or to the Powerplant Contemporary Art Gallery to see “The Unfinished Conversation: Encoding/Decoding,” an exhibit of photography capturing many aspects of the post-World War II era.If accompanied by children, an interesting option is the Natrel Pond, where paddle boating and canoeing are available, or the Brigantine Room in the Bill Boyle Artport to take part in the interactive musical “The Story of Babar,” written by French composer Francis Poulenc. End the evening with lakeside dining at the Amsterdam BrewHouse. The BrewHouse boasts that it is known for some of the most creative brewing-process techniques in the world and its freshly made artisan food. Other restaurants at Harbourfront Centre include Lakeside Local Bar & Grill, Lavazza Espression, and World Cafȳ.Harbourfront Centre is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. ■More information on Harbourfront Centre is posted at http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com. ISSUES NewArchived

Optical properties and radiative forcing of urban aerosols in Nanjing, China

Continuous measurements of atmospheric aerosols were made in Nanjing, a megacity in China, from 18 January to 18 April, 2011 (Phase 1) and from 22 April 2011 to 21 April 2012 (Phase 2). Aerosol characteristics, optical properties, and direct radiative forcing (DRF) were studied through interpretations of these measurements. We found that during Phase 1, mean PM2.5, black carbon (BC), and aerosol scattering coefficient (Bsp) in Nanjing were 76.1 ± 59.3 μg m−3, 4.1 ± 2.2 μg m−3, and 170.9 ± 105.8 M m−1, respectively. High pollution episodes occurred during Spring and Lantern Festivals when hourly PM2.5 concentrations reached 440 μg m−3, possibly due to significant discharge of fireworks. Temporal variations of PM2.5, BC, and Bsp were similar to each other. It is estimated that inorganic scattering aerosols account for about 49 ± 8.6% of total aerosols while BC only accounted for 6.6 ± 2.9%, and nitrate was larger than sulfate. In Phase 2, optical properties of aerosols show great seasonality. High relative humidity (RH) in summer (June, July, August) likely attributed to large optical depth (AOD) and small Angstrom exponent (AE) of aerosols. Due to dust storms, AE of total aerosols was the smallest in spring (March, April, May). Annual mean 550-nm AOD and 675/440-nm AE were 0.6 ± 0.3 and 1.25 ± 0.29 for total aerosols, 0.04 ± 0.02 and 1.44 ± 0.50 for absorbing aerosols, 0.48 ± 0.29 and 1.64 ± 0.29 for fine aerosols, respectively. Annual single scattering albedo of aerosols ranged from 0.90 to 0.92. Real time wavelength-dependent surface albedo from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) was used to assess aerosol DRFs. Both total and absorbing aerosol DRFs had significant seasonal variations in Nanjing and they were the strongest in summer. Annual mean clear sky TOA DRF (including daytime and nighttime) of total and absorbing aerosols was about −6.9 and +4.5 W m−2, respectively. Aerosol DRFs were found to be sensitive to surface albedo. Over brighter surfaces, solar radiation was more absorbed by absorbing aerosols and less scattered by scattering aerosols.

Air Quality Characteristics and the Meteorological Conditions for the Few Air Polluted Examples during the Spring Festivals

Analysis on the variation characteristics of the air quality in Chongqing during the spring festivals from 2001 to 2013, and the weather-affecting system of the typical sample. The result shows that: Prior to and after the ban-lifting for the firecrackers setting in 2006, significant differences had shown in the API Index from the lunar New Years Eve to Jan.1. After an analysis on the large-scale circulation background during the spring festival of 2006 and 2008 with the meteorological observation data.The result shows that the air pollution during the spring festival is co-resulted from the pollution source of firecrackers setting and the meteorological system that is unsuitable for the pollutant diffusion.

Clinical analysis of children ocular trauma caused by fireworks and crackers during spring festival

Objective To investigate the clinical characters of the children ocular trauma caused by the fireworks and crackers during the spring festival.Methods The general conditions,therapeutic methods and effects of 70 eyes in 57 cases of the children ocular trauma caused by the fireworks and crackers during the spring festivals of last 4 years were analysed statistically.Results The male children were 43 cases (75.44％).The age of 7 ～ 14 years were 34 cases(59.65％).The rural patients were 46 cases (87.50％).After treatment,the corrected visual acuity of no light perception (ocular evisceration) were 2 eyes(2.86％),light perception to hand movement were 6 eyes (8.57％),counting fingers to 0.04 were 5 eyes (7.14％),0.05 ～ 0.25 were 17 eyes (24.29％),0.3 ～ 0.5 were 22 eyes (31.43％),0.6 or over were 18 eyes(25.71％).Conclusion Children usually play fireworks and crackers during the spring festival,so it is the high-incidence season of these ocular trauma.The education should be strengthened in order to increase children's awareness of self protection.Through the timely correct treatment,the majority of the cases may have a better curative effect,but the serious cases have a poor prognosis. Key words: Spring festival; Fireworks; crackers; Trauma, ocular, children

Firework injuries at a major trauma and burn center: A five-year prospective study

Background and objectiveIn China, fireworks are an integral part of the celebration of the annual Spring Festival, but the number of injuries associated with their private use seen in emergency rooms increases dramatically. To raise awareness and help guide future prevention practices in this city, we investigated the epidemiology of firework-related injuries presented at our trauma and burn center in Beijing during the Spring Festivals of 2007–2011. MethodsPatients were interviewed using a pre-coded questionnaire to elicit information regarding age, gender, causes, injured body part, type of injury, diagnosis, and disposition. ResultFrom 2007 to 2011, during the Spring Festivals 734 patients with fire-work related injuries were seen at our trauma and burn center in Beijing, the median patients of the five year were 140(136–150). The mean age of the patients was 26±15.3 years (range, 1–95 years). Of the 734 patients, the highest proportion of injuries were the 5–14 year-old age group The majority of the patients were male (87.9%), the overall male:female ratio was 7.41:1, and males were predominant in all age groups. For all 5 years, the incidence of firework-related injuries during the Spring Festival Holidays peaked specifically on the first, fifth, and last days, respectively. Injuries were mainly due to improper handling (415/610, 68.0%) or setting off illegal fireworks (195/610, 32.0%). The most frequently injured body parts were the hands and fingers (32.0%), head or face except eyes (28.3%), and trunk (22.4%). Burns were the most common type of injury (65.7%), most of the burned patients (437/453) were between 1% and 10%, and the most common region burned were hands and fingers (218/754). Contusions or lacerations were the second common type of injury (34.3%). Most of the patients (642, 87.5%) were treated and released, while 37 (5%) were treated and transferred, and 55 (7.5%) were admitted for advanced treatment. ConclusionThe private use of fireworks during the Spring Festival Holidays is associated with a considerable number of injuries to various parts of the body. We can minimize the number and severity of accidents by raising awareness of safety practices, encouraging professional displays only and motivating manufacturers to adhere to strict quality control.

Analysis of 120 cases of ocular trauma caused by fireworks during the Spring Festival.

Objective To analyze the ocular trauma caused by fireworks during the Spring Festival.Methods Analyzing the sex and the age of patients,the characteristic and the time of ocular traumas during the last 6 Spring Festivals in Yan' an.Results In 120 patienst(128 eyes),112 cases(93.33％)were male,and 8 cases(0.67％)were female; ＜ 10 years:5 cases 6 eyes,(4.17％);11-20 years:37 cases 40 eyes,(30.83％);21-40 years:72 cases 75 eyes,(60％); ＞40 years:6 cases 7 eyes,(5％).Moreover,open ocular injury were 18 cases 18 eyes,(14.06％),closed ocular injury were 102 cases 110 eyes,(85.94％);and 15 eyes(10.83％)resulted in blindness.The time of injury were mainly in the Eve of the New Year,the first day,the fifth day,the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year.Conclusion The wounded by fireworks during the Spring Festival are mainly men of 15-35 years old,and the trauma is serious.It will be getting good therapeutic effect if being given good treatment in time,but the incidence rate of single eye being blind is high.So people should strengthen the precaution and protect themselves against injures. Key words: Spring Festival; Fireworks; Ocular trauma

The Festival of Ziparwa and the AN.TAḪ.ŠUM andnuntarriyašḫa- Festivals

The present contribution seeks to demonstrate that the composition known as the Festival of Ziparwa (CTH 750) in fact belongs to the multi-day spring and autumn festivals AN.TAḪ.ŠUM and nuntarriyašḫa-. That said, determining which tablets might belong to which festival remains in most cases difficult or impossible, as there does not seem to have been much difference between the spring and the fall versions. Nevertheless, it is clear that the sequence of events described in CTH 750 occurred on the twelfth and thirteenth days of the AN.TAḪ.ŠUM festival in the spring, and on the eighth, ninth and tenth days of the nuntarriyašḫa- festival in the fall.

The joys of SPRING

The Spring festivals of Easter, Vaisakhi and Wesak offer an ideal opportunity for inspiring thought, discussion and learning, both indoors and outdoors, as Linda Mort explains.