章高元与中日甲午战争——兼论章高元在胶州湾事件中的表现

清军将领章高元在中日甲午战争中奉命增援前往辽东战场,在盖平战役中他不畏强暴.奋勇杀敌,建树了英雄业绩,虽败尤荣,表现了可贵的爱国主义精神.章高元在胶州湾事件中坚持抵抗态度,但违心服从清廷旨意,对其后丧地负有一定责任.应肯定章高元是一个有作为的抵抗派人物,是功大于过的爱国将领.     

岳飞之死与宋代文人政治的历史困境

岳飞之死乃是宋代政治的一大悲剧事件。一般认为是高宗、秦桧为与金媾和而杀害了岳飞,但从更深的政治文化传统来看,岳飞实为宋代士大夫官僚集团共同谋害。他的死象征了士大夫从武将手中重新夺回兵权,恢复了自宋代立国以来的文人主导政治的传统。岳飞之死亦显示了宋代文化的悲剧性质,是自北宋以来文人迫害武将传统的历史循环,显示了宋代文人集团极其狭隘的政治心胸。审视岳飞悲剧可以看出,士大夫们已经把维护本集团利益日益看得高于一切,甚至置王朝的整体利益于不顾,他们最终自陷于历史的困境而不能自拔。这也是整个所谓"宋型文化"失败的个案透视。     

近10余年周恩来与新中国外交研究述评

作为新中国第一任总理兼外交部长,周恩来直接领导新中国外交工作长达26年,他为中国与世界的和平事业作出了不可磨灭的杰出贡献。本文就自1997年以来周恩来与新中国外交这一研究领域的国内外主要研究成果和现存问题做一简要评述。一、近10余年出版的相关图书概况自20世纪90年代中后期至今,国内外先后出版了一批关于周恩来与新中国外交的图书,这些图书大致可以分为三类:     

港澳与珠江三角洲文化特色及其关系比较

港澳文化与珠江三角洲文化都以岭南文化为本根,由于历史原因,形成不同文化特色;港澳文化与珠江三角洲文化之间是互动关系,这种互动性在时空分布上是一个动态过程;港澳与珠江三角洲文化的交流与融合,最终将导致文化的趋同。     

Exploring the Value of Professional Body Accreditation for Masters Programmes

Masters programmes face a range of pressures including the drive for increased numbers, for widening participation and for increasingly vocational approaches. Maintaining quality and consistency of knowledge and skill sets between programmes is becoming difficult. This paper critically appraises the value of accreditation of a UK Masters programme by a professional body; the Chartered Institution of Water and Environment Management (CIWEM). Accreditation is an external audit of programme and module content, delivery and facilities. Questionnaires to students, graduates, employers and programme managers indicate that accreditation encourages increased reflective practices and harmonizes the skill sets of the programmes with workplace drivers.     

Foundation Degrees in Geography and Tourism: A Critical Reflection on Student Experiences and the Implications for Undergraduate Degree Courses

Over the last decade, some UK Geography Departments have diversified their range of courses to offer Foundation degrees (Fds), providing students with alternative routes through higher education (HE). These courses are delivered either offsite at further education colleges (FECs), embedded within an undergraduate programme at higher education institutions (HEIs), or by work-based learning. These pathways present students, staff and institutions with new opportunities, issues and challenges. This study examines contrasting pathways of offsite and onsite Fds in Tourism Management and Development Geography offered by two HEIs and two FECs in southwest England. The needs and experiences of Fd students are varied, related to the individual's personal and academic background, the course pathway taken, institution-specific issues and the degree of support and preparedness for HE. The contrasting academic cultures, teaching methods and assessments encountered in FECs and HEIs, and the availability of resources, raise generic and specific issues, such as confidence building and learning to become independent and autonomous learners, which challenge Geography and Tourism students during their academic careers. This study concludes that closer collaboration between the HEI and the partner FEC is necessary for Geography and Tourism courses, and highlights the need for better alignment and reinforcement of HE systems in FECs, for instance through fieldwork, and the offering effective induction and support in study skills. Finally, it is important to facilitate the smooth transitions of students ‘topping-up’ to Year 3 of an Honours degree at the parent HEI. Managers of undergraduate courses in Geography and associated subjects can also learn from the vocational and contextualized learning promoted by Fd courses and direct entry students to undergraduate courses.     

The Partito Democratico after the 2013 elections: all change?

This article analyzes the changes that occurred within the Partito Democratico (PD, Democratic Party) from the fiasco of the general election in February 2013 until the European elections in May 2014, focusing in particular on the extent to which the presence of a new, distinctive type of leadership has contributed to such transformations. The first section describes the most relevant events affecting the party in the period considered, such as the failure to gain a parliamentary majority, the problematic re-election of Giorgio Napolitano as President of the Italian Republic, the transition from Pier Luigi Bersani to Matteo Renzi as party leader, and the transition from Enrico Letta to Renzi as Prime Minister. The following sections deal with questions of renewal in the party's organization, with an emphasis on the key role played by Matteo Renzi as the new leader. To achieve its goal and explain how the PD has changed in recent months, the article resorts to the well-known framework of the three party faces proposed by Katz and Mair.     

Making the Brain Plastic: Early Neuroanatomical Staining Techniques and the Pursuit of Structural Plasticity, 1910–1970

The concept of neuronal plasticity is widely used, but seldom defined in the neurosciences. It can signify many different occurrences, such as structural alterations of axons and dendrites (Cotman & Nadler, 1978), behavioural adaptations (Rosenzweig & Bennett, 1996), or physiological changes in synapse formation (Martin et al., 2000) at different stages of health and disease. Although there is such a wealth of research from many disciplines, the neuroanatomical aspects of plasticity are the focus of this paper. It seeks to illuminate the evolution of different concepts of plasticity concerning the structure and circuitry of the central nervous system (CNS). Early modern morphological research on de- and regeneration phenomena in the 19th- and early 20th-century is well documented. These studies, however, almost exclusively concentrated on the peripheral nervous system (PNS). It was one of the major contributions of Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852–1934), that he applied the concept of regenerative capacities to the CNS. But the term plasticity seemed to have disappeared for about two decades after his death. The ensuing comeback of the expression may be attributed, at least in part, to new neuroanatomical staining and tracing methods. The pursuit of these techniques will serve as a guidepost through varying approaches in different times: It was the 1950s which seemed to spawn the time for new departures in structural investigations of neuronal plasticity.     

淮军将领王芝生生平事迹考

淮军将领王芝生官至澎湖镇总兵,记名提督,诰授建威将军,历经咸丰、同治、光绪三朝,参加平定太平军、捻军起义等重要战役,因吸食鸦片一度被革职查办.复职后,主持修建江阴炮台,防御外敌入侵;在澎湖总兵任上整饬兵制、积极救援外国遇险船员,受到到中外舆论的高度肯定.     

近代日本地税改革中的土地等级制度

土地等级制度是维新政府为加快地税改革的进度,保证地税收入而施行的措施。该制度经过地方府县的试行后,被政府采纳并规范化,形成了完善的土地等级编制规则,最终成为政府向农民摊派地税的手段。本文将主要讨论政府的土地等级制度政策与县厅的执行情况,论述土地等级制度的产生、发展与变形以及编制土地等级对地税改革及当时的社会所带来的影响。