Quiet Years Research Articles

Moldova, the Latvian Purges and Khrushchev’s Generational Struggle, 1958–1962

Historians of the Soviet Union have increasingly turned their attention to the seemingly quiet years of 1958–1962. Turnover in top leadership within the republics has long been noted, but the causes of these changes and their extent are still not precisely known. This study examines turnover rates for each of the republic central committees, then uses Moldova and Latvia as case studies. We conclude that the root cause of the change was a desire to replace the older generation. The targeting of nationalists, the more usual explanation, was in fact a rearguard action by the old guard, which slowed but did not stop the shift.

Large‐Scale Wave‐Driven Interactions and Plasma‐Neutral Coupling in the Low‐Latitude Ionosphere‐Thermosphere

AbstractThe plasma and neutral density variations, interactions and coupling processes within ±30° latitudes are examined concurrently by the DMSP‐F18 and Swarm‐C satellite during geomagnetically quiet years in 2020–2021. The wavenumber (WN) patterns are computed in the form of neutral and electron density for two altitudes and their latitudinal profiles are analyzed. We observe that the WN1 structure of the electron density has a significant seasonal dependence in the topside ionosphere and dominates all other structures but WN2 neutral density amplitude dominates all other structures in the middle thermosphere (∼440 km). Additionally, we analyze vertical‐temporal‐latitudinal tidal structures from the Climatological Tidal Model of the Thermosphere (CTMT) to find evidence for the modulation of the large‐scale waves (LSWs) neutral density structures. Through the examination of the in situ observational and modeling approaches, we show that the tidal contributors of WN structures obtained from CTMT can capture the influence of terrestrial sources on the WN structures of plasma‐neutral density and imprint the corresponding vertical coupling in the IT system. Correlation analysis reveals that the amplitudes of the WN1 and WN3 structures of electron density in topside ionosphere and those of neutral density in the middle thermosphere show intermittent but significant correlations with each other, unlike the WN2 and WN4 structures. This study provides new insights into the topside ionospheric response to wave driving in the lower atmosphere, which ultimately improves our capability to understand the interaction and vertical coupling of large‐scale structures, thereby advancing our predictive capabilities of space weather critical for satellite operations.

Near real-time global ionospheric total electron content modeling and nowcasting based on GNSS observations

For the purposes of routinely providing reliable and low-latency Global Ionosphere Maps (GIMs), a method of estimating hourly updated near real-time GIM with a time latency of about 1–2 h based on a 24-h data sliding window of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) near real-time observations and real-time data streams was presented. On the basis of the implementation of near real-time GIM estimation, an hourly updated GIM nowcasting method was further proposed to improve the accurate of short-term total electron content (TEC) prediction. We estimated the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory near real-time GIM (SHUG) and nowcasting GIM (SHPG) in the solar relatively active year (2014) and quiet year (2021), and employed GIMs provided by the International GNSS Service, the Global Positioning System (GPS) differential slant TECs (dSTECs) extracted from global independent GNSS stations, and the vertical TECs (VTECs) inverted from satellite altimetry as the references to validate the estimated results. The GPS dSTECs evaluation results show that SHUG behaves fairly consistent with the rapid GIMs, with a discrepancy of less than 1 TEC unit (TECu) overall. The standard deviations (STDs) of SHUG with respect to Jason-2/-3 VTECs are no more than 10% over the majority of rapid GIMs due to the instability of observations. The performance of 1-h nowcasting SHPG is significantlybetter than the Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) 1-day predicted GIM (C1PG). GPS dSTEC validation results indicate that 1-h nowcasting SHPG is 1 to 2 TECu more reliable than C1PG in eventful ionospheric electron activity regions, and it outperforms the C1PG by 10% overall versus Jason-2/-3 VTECs. The hourly updated SHUG and SHPG have relatively high reliability and low time latency, and thus can provide excellent service for (near) real-time users and offer more accurate TEC background information than daily predicted GIM for real-time GIM estimation.

Dissidence of a Communist Yiddish Writer: The Soviet Life and Fate of Chaim Gildin

Abstract: The article focuses on the rise and demise of Chaim Gildin (1883/4–1943), one of the most vociferous Soviet Yiddish writers, a pioneer of proletarian poetry and prose. It is also aimed at providing a broader perspective on the perilous Soviet Yiddish literary terrain, especially during the Stalinist repressions. In 1936, Gildin lost his Communist Party membership but was spared from arrest. Nevertheless, the secret police came after him in 1940, generally considered as a “quiet year.” His attempts to organize a collective protest—to compel the authorities to reverse the process of closing down Yiddish institutions—might have played a fatal role in his fate. It seems that Yiddish writers of proletarian persuasion generally tended to be more prone to activism than their former “bourgeois” counterparts, and this—rather than their writings—made them more vulnerable during the purges aimed to make the population fully obedient. Although Gildin’s secret police file is full of diligently collected information about his “harmful” prose and poetry, his oeuvre clearly played a secondary role in the decision to prosecute him. It seems that this was the pattern for the entire period of Stalinist repressions: while Yiddish literati were not prosecuted specifically for literary motives, investigators would pay much attention to their writings, whose ideological “defects” helped them to make the indictment look more convincing.

A Multi-Parametric and Multi-Layer Study to Investigate the Largest 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai Eruptions

On 20 December 2021, after six quiet years, the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted abruptly. Then, on 15 January 2022, the largest eruption produced a plume well registered from satellites and destroyed the volcanic cone previously formed in 2015, connecting the two islands. We applied a multi-parametric and multi-layer study to investigate all the possible pre-eruption signals and effects of this volcanic activity in the lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere. We focused our attention on: (a) seismological features considering the eruption in terms of an earthquake with equivalent energy released in the lithosphere; (b) atmospheric parameters, such as skin and air temperature, outgoing longwave radiation (OLR), cloud cover, relative humidity from climatological datasets; (c) varying magnetic field and electron density observed by ground magnetometers and satellites, even if the event was in the recovery phase of an intense geomagnetic storm. We found different precursors of this unique event in the lithosphere, as well as the effects due to the propagation of acoustic gravity and pressure waves and magnetic and electromagnetic coupling in the form of signals detected by ground stations and satellite data. All these parameters and their detailed investigation confirm the lithosphere–atmosphere–ionosphere coupling (LAIC) models introduced for natural hazards such as volcano eruptions and earthquakes.

Quiet Years are Still Busy Years

Editor's Note: This month, Larry Zimbler, MST, EA, returns with Nonprofit Business Advisor's 2021–2022 special tax issue, reviewing important changes made to laws and regulations affecting exempt organizations. Be sure to read Zimbler's analysis and always seek out competent, professional advice to safely navigate both tax and non‐tax compliance requirements.

Temporal variations of the ionospheric disturbances due to the seasonal variability over Turkey using IONOLAB-FFT algorithm

The ionosphere is exposed to forcing from below due to gravitational, geomagnetic and seismic activities, and above due to solar wind. These forces cause some medium and large scale irregularities and disturbances into the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. Some of these disturbances occur in the form of wave-like oscillations in the ionosphere which propagate at a certain frequency, duration and velocity. These disturbances can be detected by monitoring the ionosphere using Total Electron Content obtained from Global Positioning System (GPS-TEC). In this study, the temporal analysis of these disturbances due to the seasonal variability is carried out for a mid-latitude GPS network using Ionosphere Research Laboratory TEC (IONOLAB-TEC) over Turkey. The IONOLAB Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm is applied to GPS-TEC obtained from nine Turkish National Permanent GPS Network (TNPGN) active stations in Turkey for December (winter solstice), March (spring equinox), June (summer solstice), September (autumn equinox) months in 2010 (low solar activity), 2011 and 2012 (moderate solar activity). It is observed that the highest frequency accumulates around 0.2 mHz at morning and afternoon hours while it accumulates around 0.1 mHz at noon and night hours. The frequency increases from solar quiet year 2010 to solar quiet active year 2012. In all years, it is observed that most frequencies are grouped at higher frequencies for the equinox months. The lower frequencies are observed for the solstice months for all time intervals. The largest numbers of the durations accumulate around 100 min (1.66 h) for morning hours, 200 min (3.33 h) for noon hours, 200 min (3.33 h) for afternoon hours and 150 min (2.5 h) for night hours. After sunrise and sunset, the durations of the disturbances are shorter than those observed for noon and afternoon times. The duration shortens from solar quiet year 2010 to solar quiet active year 2012. The durations for equinox months are shorter than those for the solstice months.

Will the Real Subject Please Stand Up? Autobiographical Voices in Biography

ABSTRACT Biographers exist in a tight partnership with their chosen subject and there is often during the research and writing an equivalent reflective personal journey for the biographer. This is generally obscured, buried among an overwhelming magnitude of sources while the biographer is simultaneously developing the all-important ‘relationship’ required to sustain the narrative journey ahead. Questions and selections beset the biographer, usually about access to, or veracity of, sources but perhaps there are more personal questions that could be put to the biographer. The many works on the craft of biography or collections about the life-writing journey tell only some of this tale. It is not often enough, however, that we acknowledge how biography can be unusually ‘double-voiced’ in communicating a strong sense of the teller in the tale: the biographer’s own life experience usually does lead them to the biography, but also influences the shaping of the work. These are still ‘tales of craft’ in one sense, but autobiographical reflections in another. Perhaps this very personal insight can only be attempted in the ‘afterlife’ of biography; the quiet moments and years that follow such consuming works. In this article, I reflect on this unusually emotional form of life writing.

Soda ash makers to expand

After several quiet years, the US soda ash industry is making noise. Two companies have announced big investments to expand their operations in Wyoming, home of a low-cost deposit of trona, a mineral from which soda ash (sodium carbonate) is derived. Genesis Energy says it will spend about $300 million to expand the capacity of its operations near Green River, Wyoming, by about 750,000 metric tons (t) per year. The firm runs two mining facilities in the Green River area and as part of the project plans to convert one of them to the solution process practiced at the other. The project will make the expanded plant one of the lowest-cost soda ash operations in the world, Genesis says. Similarly, Solvay says it will spend about $200 million to expand its Wyoming soda ash plant by 600,000 t and a sodium bicarbonate plant in Bulgaria by about 200,000 t. Solvay

Australian industrial relations in 2018: Inequality, policy stagnation and a brewing storm

This article introduces the Journal of Industrial Relations' Annual Review of Industrial Relations in 2018. Providing an overview of the other articles contained in the Annual Review issue, this article discusses industrial relations policy stagnation, and manoeuvring for change from both employer and employee representatives. With leadership uncertainty and change within the federal government, it has been a quiet year for industrial relations reform, although some key decisions from courts and tribunals are examined and some states’ return to private sector regulation noted. A number of questions are raised regarding potential for reform in 2019 and for how to conceptualise industrial relations change.

Morphology of Nightside Subauroral Ionospheric Convection: Monthly, Seasonal, Kp, and IMF Dependencies

AbstractIn this study we have used 7 years (2011–2017) of quiet (Kp ≤ 2+) to moderately disturbed (Kp = 3) time nightside line‐of‐sight measurements from six midlatitude Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars in the U.S. continent to characterize the subauroral convection in terms of magnetic latitude, magnetic local time, month, season, Kp, and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) clock angle. Our results show that (1) the quiet time (Kp ≤ 2+) subauroral flows are predominantly westward (20–90 m/s) in all months and become meridional (−20–20 m/s) near dawn and dusk, with the flows being the strongest and most structured in December and January. (2) The Kp dependency is prominent in all seasons such that for higher Kp the premidnight westward flow intensifies and the postmidnight eastward flow starts to emerge. (3) Sorting by IMF clock angle shows Bz+/Bz− features consistent with lower/higher Kp conditions, as expected, but also shows distinct differences that are associated with By sign. (4) There is a pronounced latitudinal variation in the zonal flow speed between 18 and 2 magnetic local time in winter (November to February) that exists under all IMF conditions but is most pronounced under IMF Bz− and higher Kp. Our analysis suggests that the quiet time subauroral flows are due to the combined effects of solar wind/magnetosphere coupling leading to penetration electric field and the neutral wind dynamo with the ionospheric conductivity modulating their relative dominance.

Industrial legislation in Australia in 2018

It has been a quiet year like last year for the passing of federal industrial legislation (due to a number of factors, including the political turmoil of the federal coalition government and their lack of an overall labour law reform agenda). This article examines key federal industrial legislative developments including the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (Cth). The article identifies that the federal Act contains much weaker compliance measures than the counterpart New South Wales legislation also passed in 2018 – the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (NSW). Also, although the Coalition government has attempted to continue to prosecute its case for further union governance measures, this agenda has been less successful than in previous years, with key government Bills not yet passed by the Parliament. The stagnation in the federal Parliament continues to motivate certain State Parliaments to address worker exploitation, and the article goes on to examine key State industrial legislation passed in 2018 including the Victorian labour hire licensing statute. In light of the continuing dominant position of the federal Labor opposition in opinion polls and an impending federal election in 2019, the article concludes by briefly considering the federal Labor opposition's agenda for industrial legislation.

Multi-Parametric Climatological Analysis Associated with Global Significant Volcanic Eruptions During 2002–2017

In this work, we search for physical and chemical climatological anomalies preceding major volcanic explosive eruptions (mostly VEI—Volcanic Explosivity Index 4+) occurred from 2002 to 2017, by applying two specific algorithms, i.e. CAPRI and MEANS. The former algorithm has been already used for a multi-climatological analysis of the Amatrice-Norcia 2016–2017 earthquake preparatory phase (Piscini et al., In: Pure Appl Geophys, 174:3673–3688, 2017). Here we analyse some climatological parameters for a three-month period before each volcanic explosive eruption then we compare the behavior with the typical one of the past. The analysis is applied to an area with dimensions comparable to the volcano crater, because it is the increase of the magmatic camera activity that, in turn, can cause a temperature increase whose evidence could be detected at the surface (Slezin, In: J Volcanol Geotherm Res, 122(1–2), 7–50, 2003), while the use of a larger area would provide a greater probability of occurrence of other events (e.g., other volcano eruption, meteorological storms, etcetera). Therefore, a smaller area of study reduces the risk to get “false alarms”. In particular, we considered thermal skin temperature, (skt) and total water vapour content (tcwv) from ECMWF European centre and aerosol optical thickness (AOT), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and atmospheric dimethylsulphide (DMS) are obtained from NASA MERRA-2 Global Modeling and Assimilation data archive. The latter compound was added in the analysis to check the validity of the method, since we did not expect significant anomalies from this parameter. The models above described are used for their temporal-spatial completeness, allowing performing time series analyses and for a real time monitoring on a global scale. By simultaneous analysis, we found for almost all volcanic eruptions some anomalies in about all analyzed parameters that precede by 75 days to 20 days the explosion. These anomalies are not always simultaneous, but we find an interesting synchronicity that probably reveals a correlation among the different datasets. In addition, the Agung volcano, which has recently started an eruptive activity (25 November 2017) without reaching a VEI4+ explosion, has also been investigated. The data related to this volcano present a small number of anomalies, much lower than all attributed to the other analyzed explosive volcanoes and this is in high agreement with the low-explosive nature of the Agung volcano eruption. We find that the occurrence of thermal anomalies typically preceding stratovolcano/caldera eruptions seems to take place some days after SO2 emissions. The climatological anomalies that precede eruptions at high latitudes usually surround the volcano in a wider area outside the volcanic edifice. We verify that the number of positive anomalies is systematically greater in the year that precedes the investigated eruption with respect to a quiet year of comparison with accuracy from 91 to 100%, suggesting that the applied methods detected climatological anomalies likely related to imminent volcanic eruptions.

Solar quiet (Sq) and conductivity-depth structure of Asia sub-region using solar quiet field variation

The study used some selected magnetic field records to establish the equivalent external and internal ionospheric current system for the moderate solar quiet year 2012. The month-by-month behaviour of the equivalent current for both external and internal current appears stronger in local summer months (May-August) and weaker in local winter months (November-February). The current vortex appears earlier in local summer than in local winter months and disappeared in December. In each of the month, the latitudinal position of the internal Sq current vortex appeared at a considerable higher latitude than the external. A regression line fitted to the estimated conductivity values gives a profile that starts at 0.02 S/m at a depth of about 30 km and rose gradually to about 0.03 S/m seen at ∼120 km depth. Consequently the conductivity profile increases significantly to about 0.07 S/m at depth of about 400 km followed by a sharp steep increase through the transition zone and reached its peak value ∼0.3 S/m at depth of about 770 km. An evidence of discontinuity was observed at depth of about 370-440 km and 603-671 km. The sharp steep increase in conductivity profile at depth of about 400 km may be due to phase change of the mantle minerals from olivine to spinel structure.

Obama and Putin

In the spring of 2012, soon after Vladimir Putin returned to the Russian presidency following four quiet years as prime minister, Barack Obama sat down with a few of his top advisers in the White House Situation Room to discuss the way forward. Obama had invested a lot in the “reset” with Russia, and believed it had achieved some meaningful wins. But he had no illusions about the Russian leader—having first met Putin during a tense 2009 meeting in Moscow, when Obama was subjected to one of his customary harangues about the West’s betrayals—and understood that U.S.-Russian relations were likely to get worse. “The main challenge is to put him in a box to stop making mischief,” Obama asserted. Yet he wondered what leverage the United States had to influence Putin, and struggled with how to send this message in a way the Russian leader would understand. “We have to look him in the eye,” the president said—knowingly referring to George W. Bush’s infamous statement in 2001 that he had looked into Putin’s eye and got a sense of his soul—“to tell him, ‘don’t think you can screw around without consequence.’”1

Waldpolitischer Jahresrückblick 2017

Annual review of Swiss forest policy 2017 For Swiss forest policy, 2017 was a quiet year and marked by continuity. The Federal Administration mainly conducted implementation tasks, such as the interim evaluation of the Forest Policy 2020, which is planned to continue past 2020. Swiss wood and the timber industry were predominant topics at the administrative level as well as in the parliament. The Federal Court mainly addressed classic cases related to appraising what can be considered as forest and the allowed distance of buildings to forests, while the number of such cases has strongly decreased. In contrast to Swiss forest policy in the narrow sense, forest-relevant policies experienced more changes, as exemplified by the adoption of the Swiss Biodiversity Action Plan. However, here too we do not find any fundamental changes in direction from the previous year.

The 2017 Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Season: A Quiet Year

Tropical cyclone activity in the eastern North Pacific during 2017 was near the long-term average overall. Of the 18 tropical storms that formed, nine became hurricanes and four attained major hurr...

Features of the inter-hemispheric field-aligned current system over Malaysia ionosphere

Magnetic records of the declination (D) component for the solar quiet year 2011–2013 obtained from Magnetic Data Acquisition System (MAGDAS) at Langkawi (Geog. Lon. 99.68∘ E, Geog. Lat. 6.30∘N), Malaysia were utilized in this study. The minutes averages were used to delineate the diurnal (Sq(D)) variation. The monthly mean (MSq(D)) and their seasonal variabilities (SVq(D)) were also analysed. The Sq(D) and their MSq(D) exhibit smooth regular occurring pattern in the month of April–September and became highly perturbed in October–March across the years. The highest positive (∼3.5 arc-min) and the negative (∼−3.0 arc-min) values were observed in August 2011 during the dawn and noon sectors. These maxima shifted to July and September in 2012 with peaks ∼3.2 and −3.0 arc-min. In 2013, the positive maximum (∼3.0 arc-min) and its negative (∼−2.5 arc-min) were again seen in August. This implies that the dawn and noon sectors of August 2011 and 2013 are strongly influenced by IHFACs and this effect shifted to July and September in 2012. IHFACs through the years flow from the winter to summer hemisphere during the noon and dusk sectors and flow in opposite direction during the dawn sector. The day-to-day magnitudes of Sq(D) and MSq(D) seems to suggest the inter-hemispheric imbalance of the ionospheric Sq current earlier established by Van Sabben as the cause of IHFACs is not strongly affected by the changes in annual solar variation. Dusk-side IHFACs were observed to be northbound in all the seasons with the exception of June solstice. The direction of IHFACs does not change except in April and November. The current intensity is not large in solstices except in August 2011 and 2013 but it shifted to July in 2012. The result further showed that the magnitude of the duskside IHFACS is determined to some extent by the strength of the noontime IHFACs. IHFACs were generally observed to be greater during the daytime than night-time hours.

Unusual quake rattles Mexico.

Magnitude-8.2 earthquake may have relieved stress in Tehuantepec gap after more than 100 years of quiet.

Psychodynamische Gruppentherapie

This article gives a brief overview of the basic concepts and terms of group psychotherapy. It describes the development from the beginnings to the present. In particular, the group boom of the 1970s and 1980s and the "quiet years" thereafter are described. The current situation in Germany is characterized by the four fields of polarization between psychoanalytically oriented (tiefenpsychologisch fundiert) and analytical group therapy as well as between individual and group treatment. This is due to the professional political developments following the psychotherapists law. The author sees in recent times the opportunity to reduce these delimitations and to reach a stronger integration in the area of the psychoanalytically based (psychodynamic) field under the signs of the influence of interactional and intersubjective perspectives.