Unusual Overshooting in Steady-state Response for Structure-dependent Integration Methods

It is numerically illustrated that an unusual overshooting phenomenon might occur in the solution of a forced vibration response if a structure-dependent integration method is applied to conduct the analysis, such as Chang explicit method [2002] and CR explicit method [2008]. This overshooting may occur in the steady-state response of a high frequency mode and it becomes significant as the natural frequency of the mode increases. This unusual overshooting behavior can be successfully detected by using a local truncation error derived from a forced vibration response rather than a free vibration response. A missing loading term in the difference equation for displacement increment is responsible for this unusual overshoot. It is analytically and numerically verified that the unusual overshooting behavior will automatically disappear after introducing the missing loading term into the difference equation for displacement increment.     

Fad,fetish or fixture: contingent valuation of performing and visual arts festivals in Singapore

This paper analyses how much culture is valued in a newly-developed economy with a distinct dichotomy of an arts-appreciating population segment and a less-culturally aware mass. An analytical framework weaving together the intrinsic, business and societal benefits of arts and culture is applied to explore whether arts festivals – a popular tourism event in many countries – are a temporary fad, an expensive governmental fetish or a naturally-evolving fixture. This has implications for government funding and cultural policy. Empirical evidence supports the notion that the long-running performing arts festival is a not a fad but a fixture with some fetish elements while the visual arts festival appears to be a fad but has the potential to be a fixture. Of particular concern, however, is the evidence from both festivals that the perceptions of community benefit, business benefits as well as bequest value from the arts are not significant determinants of willingness to pay for these events.     

The Cartometric Study of Landscapes

The authors describe a cartometric method of analyzing natural landscapes for developmental purposes. Cartometry is designed to provide a quantitative evaluation of the morphologic structure of the landscapes of a given study area. Taking an area in the northeastern part of Kustanay Oblast, the authors prepared sample maps showing the lake coverage of the area, the economic potential of the hydromorphic units of the landscapes, and the morphologic structure of the landscapes.     

Recalling the War in China： The Dahoufang Project in Chongqing and the Restoration of a Legacy

This article presents a rare inside view of a unique project currently underway in China to study and preserve the memory of possibly the single most seminal event in Chinese modern history, the War of Resistance against Japan （1937-45）. The article introduces a multi-faceted program to preserve the wartime cultural heritage; the work is ongoing in the thriving western metropolis of Chongqing, once China＇s bomb-torn wartime capital and international Allied command center. It describes how, seven decades after World War II, scholars, cultural workers, government experts, and artists in China are joining hands in an unprecedented, all-encompassing project to record, restore, and recount the extraordinary legacy of China＇s War of Resistance in its local, as well as national and global contexts.     

Economic interdependence and international interactions: the impact of country size on political conflict and cooperation

The trade–conflict model claims that one state, designated as the ‘actor’, is deterred from initiating conflict against a trading partner, designated as the ‘target’, for fear of losing the welfare gains associated with trade. This article extends the trade–conflict model to examine the effect of country size on the trade gains among countries. We derive three propositions with regard to international interactions that pertain to the links between trade, conflict and country size. These hypotheses all imply that a country with an improvement in its terms of trade with a large country will decrease conflict more than it would with an improvement in its terms of trade with a small country. A 30‐country sample from the Conflict and Peace Data Bank (COPDAB) is used for empirical tests. The empirical analyses support the derived hypotheses. The model predicts that a country's ability to influence domestic consumption in a trading partner is an important determinant of international interactions.     

激光诱导击穿光谱分析法及其在彩绘文物分析与表征中的应用

激光诱导击穿光谱分析法是基于激光辐射与物质相互作用产生等离子体而进行实时、快速测定、表征的一种光谱分析新方法。其具有高灵敏度、高分辨率,分析速度快,样品用量少,无需样品预处理,一次光谱可测定多种元素组分等特点,且可在非破坏和非接触的条件下进行在线和实时分析测定,已广泛应用于材料、生物、环境、冶金、医学和文物等领域的测量和表征研究。本文从激光诱导击穿光谱分析法的基本原理、仪器装置及其在彩绘文物研究中的应用和进展进行了综述。     

Chinese Social History: Forty Years of Research under the Chinese Economic Reform

In the wake of the Chinese economic reform, Chinese scholars have welcomed in the resurgence of historical social research. Looking back over the past 30-odd years of research development, it could be said there existed four general periods: A brainstorm period, an initial “beginning” period, a period of maturation and lastly an expansion period. From looking at the context of [its] theoretical development, it is clear that scholars researching Chinese social history were, from the beginning, focused on how exactly to define “society.” This, however, resulted in much debate about the different concepts of social history itself. Though the matter has yet to be settled, the ultimate research objective for the field of historical social research is in its pursuit of truth. In recent years following the dissolution of disciplinary boundaries, the interdisciplinary viewpoint(s) established by social and cultural history have also provided forth a new horizon for the development of Chinese historical social research.     

Civil-military tensions during the Kangxi emperor��s first southern tour

Starting with a court debate which broke out in the spring of 1684, this essay explores the multivalent symbolism of the Kangxi emperor’s first imperial tour to Shandong and Jiangsu provinces in the fall of 1684. Some courtiers advocated treating the Kangxi emperor’s touring activities as a rite of conquest, while others saw them as an exercise in sagely rule and benevolent civil governance. Here I suggest that this ritual controversy revealed a tension between civil and military values within the political culture of the Qing court. Furthermore, this ideological tension became most acute and apparent during the Kangxi emperor’s “eastern” and “southern” tours of 1684, when the imperial procession approached and crossed certain culturally and symbolically significant locations. As such, we are reminded that the legitimization of Qing rule was never fully complete, but was rather an open-ended and ongoing historical process.     

Structural change in local finance during China��s reform era: A case study

By looking at one particular case, this study determines what resources were available to local governments in order to finance local economic development in the reform era. It finds that although local finance expanded tremendously in this era, and extra-budgetary revenue also increased, those two things did not produce much financial surplus for capital construction and fixed investment. The only source at the local government’s disposal was cheap land expropriated from local peasants. Land thus becomes the key to understanding local finance during the reform era.