Willem Einthoven and the Development of the String Galvanometer. How an Instrument Escaped the Laboratory

In 1901 the Dutch physiologist Willem Einthoven invented the string galvanometer. It was an instrument capable of recording weak electrical pulses in the human body. He used it to investigate the human heartbeat and in 1924 was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine or physiology for the discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram. Soon after his first publication he contacted a number of Dutch and international instrument makers with a view to persuading them to produce his apparatus. The correspondence between Einthoven and these instrument makers gives us an insight into the process from prototype through to sellable instrument. It also reveals that these instrument makers had an important part to play in the earliest development of the string galvanometer on its way to becoming an electrocardiograph. The first impression that the string galvanometer made on instrument makers appears to have been an important guiding factor in the direction taken by the technological development of the apparatus. Secondary considerations such as financial and legal matters were decisive in whether or not the instrument was actually made.     

Risk assessment and structural integrity aspects of materials behaviour

Abstract

Risk has always been an inherent part of everyday life, but quantified assessment of risk is now an important part of several different aspects of materials and engineering applications. Risk is taken into account as an integral part of the design of many constructions in limit state design through the use of partial safety factors to achieve a target reliability, depending on the consequences of failure and the uncertainties of the input data and design relationships. Risk is also increasingly being used as a basis for decisions on inspection, maintenance, and life extension of engineering structures and infrastructure. As part of the effective management of projects, assessments of the financial risks both for the client and for the contractor are essential requirements. Environmental risk assessments are obligatory for major projects before decisions to proceed can be taken. The current status of the application of risk analysis methods to avoidance of failure by plastic collapse, fracture, buckling, fatigue, creep, and corrosion is reviewed, and applications in a range of industries are considered. The application of risk analysis to the use of new materials, methods of construction, and life extension is then briefly explored. Finally, the importance of a proper understanding of both risk analysis and materials behaviour for students on degree courses is stressed.     

元代的吴淞江治理及干流“改道”问题

曾为太湖的主要泄水入海通道的今黄浦江支流吴淞江 ,当有元一代 ,曾经进行过规模相当、持续不断的“治理”。通过对相关资料的重新考察 ,得出以下结论 :一、由于时人的“肆意妄为”,入元以后的十数年间 ,原本“安流”的吴淞江水系遭到了严重的破坏 ,从而开始了难以“恢复”的不可逆转。二、至元末的淀山湖工程、大德末的吴淞江工程以及泰定、至顺、至正中的工程 ,都不是“有效”的水利工程 ,究其原因 ,一是没有从整体的利害关系考虑 ,二是有违当时已经形成的“自然”态势 ,那就是太湖水流宣氵曳日益向南的“必然”演化。三、关于南宋吴淞江的干流 ,并不如许多研究者所言即明代的“虬江”、今天的西虬江。准确的表述应是 :当时的吴淞江河床包含今吴淞江南岸到虬江北岸间的整个区域。“虬江”亦是“旧江”,不过是由于河床垫高、水流分岔后的一股北去水道的遗迹而已     

任可澄词《金缕曲·咏史》评介

贵州教育家、史学家、政治家任可澄的《金缕曲.咏史》是一首从未发表过的词,笔者通过对这首词的介绍与分析,试图对任可澄文人从政的心路历程进行一些粗浅的研究。     

郑、韩两都平面布局初论

本文通过对郑国、韩国故都新郑的城垣、城门及 城内各设施的考古勘查、发掘,结合文献史料,分析了郑国、韩国 两都城各自的特点,认为郑邦墓、仓禀、社稷、宫殿、太庙里南北直 线布局于都城的中央,而韩国灭郑并沿用其都城,对其城形制作 了很大的改变,在中央筑隔城,使韩都形成西宫城东郭城的布局。     

Heritage and national identity: Exploring the relationship in Romania

Abstract

Within heritage studies the relationship between national heritage and national identity is frequently taken as axiomatic. The construction of a national heritage is an important part of nation‐building, and historic buildings and monuments can be powerful symbols of a nation's aspirations and identity. Yet this relationship has received relatively little empirical investigation. This paper reports an exploratory study of the heritage/national identity relationship in Romania which focuses on just one Roman monument – Trajan's bridge. For many Romanians the monument is a powerful symbol of their identity representing Dacian and Roman origins, Latinity, and the continuity of Romanian settlement in Transylvania. The monument was also seen by some as an important symbol of Romania's attempt to construct a post‐Communist identity, and to forge closer links with western Europe. However, the meanings of the monument are not shared by all Romanians, and in particular are strongly contested by Romania's Hungarian minority.     

The adult North and the young South: Reflections on the civilizing mission of children's rights

The civilization of the children of the "savages" in the colonial world was seen as a crucial issue from early on was an inherent part of the colonization project in Africa, America and Oceania in the 19th century. The idea of civilizing "the savages," today's South, through children has continued in the post-colonial era with the development of mass-schooling systems and various child-focused development projects. This has led to an export of internationally defined standards for a "good childhood" through various foreign funded development programs in South. While many NGOs, legitimizing their work on the basis of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), are genuinely working for an improvement of children's conditions, they have also taken on the role as a second guardian in order to cultivate "proper" children and parents who can live up to the supposedly universal ideals of a "good childhood." The article adopts a critical view on the child rights movement by shedding light on the crucial role, which NGOs play as civilizing institutions in the South. The article specifically draws attention to the double-sided patronization of children and parents, and "infantilization" of nations in South, which implicitly lies beneath CRC and the child rights movement.     

The Country,the City and the State in the Australian Settlement

The Australian Settlement, as formulated by Paul Kelly, had a sixth pillar: a settlement between the city and the country in which the state compensated people living in the country for the costs of remoteness and sparse settlement. This was underpinned by the reliance of Australian export performance on agriculture, by nation-building commitments to peopling the continent, and by agrarian beliefs in the virtues of country life. Australia's egalitarianism had a spatial and regional as well as a class dimension. Changes in Australia's economy, demography, and political culture have eroded these foundations, leaving rural Australia vulnerable to the neoliberal agenda. The dismantling of tariffs, the restructuring of agriculture, microeconomic reforms driven by National Competition Policy, and regional policy which stresses self-reliance, all treat rural Australia as a minor part of the nation rather than its economic and cultural foundation, and reject claims to special treatment. To give country Australia its own pillar makes visible the magnitude of the historic shifts which have taken place in the state's relationship to rural Australia since 1983 and brings it into the main frame for understanding Australia's abandonment of protective statism.     

近代北方药品供销体系的构建

进入近代以后 ,随着北方经济市场化与外向化进程的加快 ,其药品的供销在种类、规模、运营方式、运销路线等方面 ,都发生了一系列新的变化 ,从而使近代北方的药品供销体系得以逐步地构建起来。这既是北方医药事业不断发展的具体体现 ,也是北方经济近代化的重要组成部分     

‘Unlawful Warfare is Uncivilised’: The International Debate on the Punishment of War Crimes, 1872–19181

The issue of the punishment of war crimes has had a long history of debate in the twentieth and even already in the twenty-first century. Not much, however, is known about the debate on the issue before and during the First World War. This article tries to explore the debate among Western European jurists and publicists on the issue in the period between 1872 and 1918, linking it to the idea of civilised behaviour in wartime, as many jurists and publicists of the time believed that civilised states would in general not violate the laws of war. If that was nevertheless the case these violations were considered to be the consequence of an uncivilised behaviour, which was the more problematic the more the power concerned had been considered a part of the international community of civilised states. Crimes committed by nations that had been considered fully civilised before 1914 were therefore highlighted in the debate, whereas crimes committed in so-called semi-civilised or uncivilised areas of the world were only taken up if specific political or propagandistic reasons made it seem appropriate.     

元初江南儒士的处境及社会角色的转变

宋元更替,使原先在江南社会中占统治地位的儒士阶层受到很大的冲击。在客观环境与元政权笼络政策的共同作用下,江南儒士阶层迅速分化。有的仍以遗民自居,敌视元朝;有的拒绝仕宦,归隐民间;但大多数江南儒士开始承认元朝的统治,接受元政权任命的学官,于是江南社会中逐渐形成了一个由学官组成的社会群体．儒士阶层完成了社会角色的转变。     

Post-communist Eastern Europe and the cartography of independence

The collapse of Communism in the USSR and Eastern Europe between 1989 and 1991 was followed by a decade of new-found independence for two groups of states: (1) the former Soviet Socialist Republics of the USSR, and (2) the former Communist states of Eastern Europe, all but two of which were Soviet satellites. As part of an effort to redefine their character and relative location on the European stage, almost all of these states launched a cartography of independence, putting the world on notice that a new set of geographical realities had taken hold of the region. During the 1990s, maps were requested from each country’s embassy in Washington, DC; 15 of the 19 embassies responded, usually with multiple maps. Using perception theory, communication theory, and semiotic theory, these cartographic artifacts, some of which are presented in this article, were analyzed with the objective of understanding how each country wished to present itself in the post-Communist era. Through the lens of persuasive cartography, we are able to note the nation-building process at work and the emergence not only of newly independent countries but of a new Europe.     

海贸与移民互动:17-18世纪闽南人移民海外原因分析--以闽南人移民台湾为例

17-18世纪是闽南人海外移民的高潮时期,也是台湾移民社会形成和发展时期.台湾移民以闽南人为主,可说是闽南社会在海峡对岸的延伸.推动闽南人移民海外的内因是明中叶以来的人口压力,而16世纪中叶欧人东来以后带动的商贸和东亚、东南亚沿海地区的开发使对中国商贩和劳力的需求大增,则是吸引闽南移民的拉力.在整个17-18世纪,始终存在着华人海上商贸和海外移民的互动.闽南人冒险、重商的人文精神,则是使这种推力与拉力作用得以实现的主观原因.17世纪20年代以来,由泉籍郑氏集团主导的海外华商网络和台湾开发则是台湾泉籍人多于漳籍人和泉籍人主导台湾商贸的主要原因,这与17-18世纪海外华商网络和华人社会以闽南人为主、闽南籍者又以泉府人居多是相一致的.     

关于《史记》的缺补问题

《史记》的缺补问题在学术界一直争论较大。这一疑案总的看有两大关键问题：一是《史记》的亡缺问题,二是《史记》的补窜问题。关于《史记》的亡缺,古今以来的学者有多种说法,归纳起来,主要有七种;《史记》的补窜问题较为复杂,所谓“补”,是指对《史记》缺亡的部分进行补写,附骥《史记》而行;“续”是指对《史记》以后的事件进行续写;“窜”是指其他文字窜入《史记》文本之中。补窜问题涉及到《史记》中的许多篇目,古今学者也进行了多方面的考辨。解决《史记》的缺补问题,对于搞清《史记》文本的本来面目具有重要意义。     

‘All Signs Indicate that Gestapo Agents Murdered Him’: Soviet Disinformation,the Katyn massacre and the Raoul Wallenberg Case, 1945–7

In the years 1945–52, that is, between Raoul Wallenberg's incarceration in the Lubianka prison in Moscow (6 February 1945) and the first Swedish demand for his return (11 February 1952), more than fifty people provided the Swedish Foreign Ministry with diffuse and often contradictory information about his whereabouts. This article argues that a number of these testimonies may have been part of a Soviet campaign of disinformation aimed at diverting the Swedes' attention away from Moscow and to have them believe that Wallenberg had died in Hungary. The appearance of messages to this effect by February–March 1945 may indicate that the Soviets had already decided at this early point never to let Wallenberg return alive, or at least to construct an option that would allow for such a decision. In August 1947, after twenty-six Swedish diplomatic approaches on account of Wallenberg over the course of two and a half years, the Soviets handed over a note signed by Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Vyshinskii that declared that Wallenberg had presumably died in Hungary. The note had the desired effect. No Swedish diplomatic approaches on Wallenberg were made for the next five years. This article argues that the Vyshinskii note was an extraordinary measure taken by the Soviets finally to get the message of Wallenberg's death in Hungary through to the Swedes. The Soviet disinformation regarding the 1940 Katyn massacre provides an interesting point of reference for understanding the way in which the Soviets tried to mislead Sweden over Wallenberg.     

Women on the Third Crusade

Historians remain undecided over whether or not women actually took up arms during crusading expeditions. Opinions vary widely, from denying that women could ever be true crucesignati to concluding that they took an active role in the fighting, This study focuses on the Third Crusade, for which the chronicle evidence is particularly full. Some of the narrative accounts of the crusade never mention women or even deny that they took part, while others describe their assisting crusaders in constructing siege works or performing menial tasks. The Muslim sources for the Third Crusade, however, depict Christian women taking part in the fighting, armed as knights. The study discusses the reasons behind these divergent depictions of women in the Third Crusade. It examines the evidence for women taking an active part in military activity in Europe, and concludes that women could certainly have taken an active military role in the Third Crusade. Yet, as the European sources are silent on the subject, it is unlikely that women did play a significant military role, although it is possible that some fought in particularly desperate battles.     

Women on the Third Crusade

Historians remain undecided over whether or not women actually took up arms during crusading expeditions. Opinions vary widely, from denying that women could ever be true crucesignati to concluding that they took an active role in the fighting, This study focuses on the Third Crusade, for which the chronicle evidence is particularly full. Some of the narrative accounts of the crusade never mention women or even deny that they took part, while others describe their assisting crusaders in constructing siege works or performing menial tasks. The Muslim sources for the Third Crusade, however, depict Christian women taking part in the fighting, armed as knights. The study discusses the reasons behind these divergent depictions of women in the Third Crusade. It examines the evidence for women taking an active part in military activity in Europe, and concludes that women could certainly have taken an active military role in the Third Crusade. Yet, as the European sources are silent on the subject, it is unlikely that women did play a significant military role, although it is possible that some fought in particularly desperate battles.     

Conservation of Mining Sites in the Gwydyr Forest Area of the Snowdonia National Park

Abstract

The Gwydyr Forest near Llanrwst in the Snowdonia National Park contains a significant number of mining remains in an area of some eight square kilometres. These structures provide examples of a whole range of mining and dressing processes from the use of simple hand dressing techniques to the foundations of an early flotation mill. In the recent past, buildings have been needlessly demolished but this process has been partially arrested in the last five years, helped by the introduction of a land reclamation scheme which, in addition to public safety, takes account of the industrial archaeology of the area. Up to 1989, conservation work had been carried out on only one site, but schemes have also been proposed for two others. The purpose of this paper is to indicate the approaches taken and the factors to be considered before conservation work can be carried out on mining sites.