9/11 and Middle Eastern Studies past and future: revisiting Ivory towers on sand

The events of 9/11 intensified attacks on the field of Middle Eastern Studies, especially in the US—attacks whose reverberations have been felt ever since in academia and beyond. A key moment was the publication in 2001 of a book by Martin Kramer, Ivory towers on sand , which accused the field of irrelevance, failure to predict, lack of patriotism and wilful blindness to the failings in the Arab and Islamic world. In a Foreword to this review article, Gerd Nonneman points out that the importance of the heated debate this occasioned, both on intellectual and political grounds, has if anything been heightened in today's policy environment. At the request of International Affairs , Fred Halliday therefore revisits the book's arguments. He accepts the desirability for scholars to engage in public assessment and critique of others' work and to relate this to broader concerns of both epistemology and public policy. He also acknowledges shortcomings in the literature on Islamism and civil society, and in Edward Said's Orientalism . But he concludes that Kramer's book fails to resolve the questions broached, adds nothing that is original to debates on social science method and theory, distorts the state of contemporary Middle Eastern Studies (in part by ignoring most of the important work done outside the US) and that the book has had damaging consequences for university life itself. In part, the article suggests, this is a reflection of a lack—shared by significant areas of recent social science writing, including Said's Orientalism —of an adequate grounding in issues of social science methodology and philosophy. It also reflects an untenable assumption about the nature of the relationship between academic work and public policy issues.     

Current status and future prospect of local food production in Hungary: a spatial analysis

There is an increasing interest in Hungary to relocalize food. Spatial patterns and development potential of local food systems (LFSs) are analysed in this paper to help spatial planning practices. A composite Policy Intervention for Food Relocalization Index (PIFRI) is introduced to quantitatively reveal how rural development programme measures should be allocated efficiently to promote local food production. PIFRI points out lagging areas and hidden dimensions of development that need further support, and thus helps setting desirable and realistic policy goals. Besides socio-economic processes, biophysical limitations (availability of agricultural areas) are also accounted for. Results show that LFS development is at an early stage in Hungary. The present level of local food activity and future prospects mismatch. Eastern Hungary has the highest potential for further development as it has relatively widespread and intensive local food production activity. The few small-scale farmers operating in the Budapest area have been already engaged in short food supply chains to enjoy various benefits (and higher profit). Results imply a complex mix of several underlying causes behind the experienced patterns.     

馆藏文物保存环境研究的发展与现状

随着对预防性保护理念的深入理解,馆藏文物保存环境研究已成为国内外文物保护科技工作中不可或缺的重点领域.为此聚焦国际博物馆环境研究的最新动向,重点介绍近年来我国在馆藏文物保存环境监测、检测、评估、调控等方面取得的研究成果,并对“十二五”期间馆藏文物保存环境研究的发展方向进行了展望.     

Middle atmospheric electrodynamic modification by particle precipitation at the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly

Evidence for a localized middle atmospheric electrodynamic modification at low latitudes (southern Brazilian coast) of the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly (SAMA), in association with enhanced geomagnetic activity, are presented in a unified way combining recent observational efforts and related numerical studies. They involve a distortion effect in the fair weather electric field at balloon altitudes. This effect is attributed to a local intensification of energetic electron precipitation through a related middle atmospheric ionization enhancement and is elucidated by numeric simulation. From the electric field measurements and the numeric simulation, the intensification of precipitation is considered to occur in fairly narrow regions at the observed low L values (around L = 1.13) of the SAMA, with horizontal extensions of the order of a few hundred kilometers. A physical mechanism that could be responsible for this sort of intensification is suggested. Furthermore, a comparison of the phenomenon of middle atmospheric electrodynamic modification at the SAMA with a similar one at auroral latitudes, in response to enhanced solar and geomagnetic activity, is also given.     

饱水竹木漆器保护修复的历史、现状与展望

饱水竹木漆器是馆藏文物的重要组成部分,其保护修复过程比较复杂.通过杳阅国内外文献,本文简要介绍了饱水竹木漆器保护修复的历史与现状,并阐述未来饱水竹木漆器保护修复研究的主要内容.     

Middle Bronze Age Ramparts: Functional and Symbolic Structures

Abstract

The Middle Bronze Age is a period of urban rebirth, with one of its hallmarks being massive earthworks surrounding cities. These structures have been studied extensively, with traditional interpretations of their function revolving around defensive aspects. However several scholars have called into question the validity of these interpretations, offering alternative explanations revolving around more “social” reasons. The present paper suggests that while the structures were constructed for protecting the city and its inhabitants, this only strengthens its “social” symbolism. Of major importance to its symbolism is the effect the ramparts had on the landscape, altering it permanently, and giving an impression of controlling the landscape.     

Population geography: disorder,death and future directions

This is one in a series of reports on research trends in population geography. The author suggests that recent political changes concerning the breakup of the former Soviet Union and a possible decline in concern among developed countries about the problems of developing ones should affect the research agenda. Particular attention is given to studies done on differential mortality and internal migration in developed countries.     

ALOMAR: atmospheric science using lidars,radars and ground based instruments

On top of the 379 m high Ramnan mountain on the island of Andøya (69°30′N, 16°01′E) in Northern Norway, the ALOMAR (The Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmospheric Research) will soon be in operation. Through measurements of different atmospheric parameters, ALOMAR will provide information on the dynamics of the middle and upper atmosphere using ground-based instrumentation. Routine measurements, including ozone observations, can be carried out more efficiently than currently possible. The observatory is currently using three LIDAR instruments, one radar and several ground-based instruments to measure density, temperature, wind profiles and aerosol densities over a height range of approximately 10 to 100 km. ALOMAR will provide scientists worldwide with the opportunity for year-round, in-depth studies of the polar middle atmosphere, concentrating on physics, chemistry and meteorology. The observatory will offer unique research opportunities, and its activities can be correlated using the Andøya Rocket Range (ARR), who operate the facility, and with other important research facilities such as the EISCAT radar, and the University of Tromsø observatories which are located nearby. There are many opportunities for additional cooperative scientific experiments using ground-based measurements and instruments carried by aircraft, balloons and sounding rockets.     

Equatorial spread-F and neutral atmospheric turbulence : a review and a comparative anatomy

A number of satellite and rocket plasma density spectra obtained during equatorial spread-F conditions are presented and discussed in the light of similar measurements in the neutral atmosphere. We discuss this comparison in some detail and find both distinct similarities and subtle differences. The horizontal spectral measurements show a peak at an outer scale quite similar to the scale of the undulations caused by gravity wave interactions with the ionosphere. This feature is similar to a buoyancy subrange but it is easy to show that the amplitudes of the plasma fluctuations are too large to be directly driven by the neutral atmosphere. At intermediate scales the plasma fluctuations have a one-dimensional horizontal spectrum with a power law well described by a ($\text{−5}\text{3}$) slope. Once again it can be shown that the neutral fluid cannot be similarly structured at 400 km altitude due to the high viscosity coefficient. A plasma cascade process seems to be operating but it is not at all clear how the spectrum is formed. Furthermore, vertical power spectra seem to run the gamut in spectral form with slopes (n) varying in the range from −1 to −3. So the horizontal spectra are near universal in form, while the vertical spectra are quite variable.     

中东铁路 世纪的穿越

19世纪末20世纪初.俄国人通过和清政府签订不平等条约,在中国东北修建了一条呈T字形的大铁路.这条铁路经历了清末、民国、伪满、解放战争和新中国成立初期的沧桑岁月、是近代中国屈辱、抗争的见证.同时也是这条铁路催生了一批以哈尔滨.满洲里和绥芬河站为代表的近代城市和重要的铁路通商口岸,并留存下了大批具有俄罗斯风格、折衷主义风格和新艺术运动风格的历史建筑,吸引着无数爱好者为它倾倒.