Characteristics of Temperature Change in China over the Last 2000 years and Spatial Patterns of Dryness/Wetness during Cold and Warm Periods

This paper presents new high-resolution proxies and paleoclimatic reconstructions for studying climate changes in China for the past 2000 years. Multi-proxy synthesized reconstructions show that temperature variation in China has exhibited significant 50–70-yr, 100–120-yr, and 200–250-yr cycles. Results also show that the amplitudes of decadal and centennial temperature variation were 1.3℃ and 0.7℃, respectively, with the latter significantly correlated with long-term changes in solar radiation, especially cold periods, which correspond approximately to sunspot minima. The most rapid warming in China occurred over AD 1870–2000, at a rate of 0.56°± 0.42℃（100 yr）^（-1）; however, temperatures recorded in the 20 th century may not be unprecedented for the last 2000 years, as data show records for the periods AD 981–1100 and AD1201–70 are comparable to the present. The ensemble means of dryness/wetness spatial patterns in eastern China across all centennial warm periods illustrate a tripole pattern： dry south of 25°N, wet from 25°–30°N, and dry to the north of 30°N. However, for all centennial cold periods, this spatial pattern also exhibits a meridional distribution. The increase in precipitation over the monsoonal regions of China associated with the 20 th century warming can primarily be attributed to a mega El Nino–Southern Oscillation and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. In addition, a significant association between increasing numbers of locusts and dry/cold conditions is found in eastern China. Plague intensity also generally increases in concert with wetness in northern China, while more precipitation is likely to have a negative effect in southern China.

Britain's Role in the Early Days of Cold War and the Extentof Avoidability of "War

This article probes the role that Great Britain played in stabilizing European economy and politics and its role in curbing the influence of communism during the first period of the Cold War by providing accurate statistics and hard believable facts. Apart from this, this article also discusses the extent of possibility of keeping peace during the Cold War. Through Vietnam War and Korean War and some other conflicts between two ideological rival blocs, the author safely concludes that peace is conditioned, if the power of balance is broken, the Cold War can be a hot one.

Molecular Mapping of QTLs for Cold Tolerance at the Budburst Period in Rice

The quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for cold tolerance at the budburst period (CTBP) was identified using a F2:3 population including 200 lines derived from a cross of indica and japonica Milyang 23/Jileng 1. A molecular linkage map of 97 SSR markers was constructed using interval mapping and covered a total length of 1 357.3 cM with an average distance of 13.99 cM, between adjacent markers in rice genome. The CTBP of F3 lines was evaluated at 5℃, and the survival seedling rate after treating under low temperature at the budburst period was used as cold tolerance index for CTBP. A continuous distribution near to normal for CTBP was observed in F3 lines, CTBP is a quantitative trait which was controlled by some genes. Three QTLs on chromosomes 2, 4 and 7 which are associated with CTBP were detected on location of RM6-RM240, RM273-RM303, RM214-RM11, respectively, which explained the range of the observed phenotypic variance from 11.5 to 20.5%. qCTBP4 detected on RM273-RM303 of chromosome 4 explained 20.5% of the observed phenotypic variance. The effect of qCTBP4’s allelic gene comes from Jileng 1., MSc; Correspondence

Iraq War and the Period of Important Strategic Opportunities

The American and British war against Iraq started on March 20, 2003 not only caused heavy casualties and ecological environmental disasters but also exerted impact on regional and world security, stability and development. Even so the war is a local war, and it is unlikely.

The Pontecorvo Affaire Reappraised： Five Decades of Cold War Spy-Stories （1948-1998）

In August 1950, the nuclear physicist Bruno Pontecorvo suddenly left Rome for Stockholm and disappeared without leaving any trace. Pontecorvo had joined the British atomic bomb project. His abrupt disappearance quickly became an international affaire, causing much concern to the western intelligence services, who were worried about the escape of atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, especially after Fuchs＇ famous case. In the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics （USSR）, Pontecorvo was welcomed with honour, but also isolated from the rest of the world for many decades. He always denied any direct involvement in the Soviet nuclear programme. According to him, he moved to Russia because of his socialist beliefs, working only on particle physics and peaceful applications of atomic energy. Who was really Bruno Pontecorvo？ A pacifist like Robert Oppenheimer or a communist agent like Klaus Fuchs？ Did he have access to any information about the Manhattan Project during the war, thanks to his friendship with Enrico Fermi？ Did he spy on the Anglo-Canadian programme like Igor Gouzenko, before moving to Russia？ Did he join Soviet military projects across more than 30 years in Dubna？ The author will discuss how the perception of Pontecorvo＇s case changed in the public opinion from the 1950s until the 1990s, as a mirror of the tensions between the two blocks. The whole affaire was object of harsh political confrontation in Italy for almost 50 years. Therefore, the author will also focus on the role played by the Italian communists in Pontecorvo＇s defection to the USSR as well as on such a local debate, which reflects the history of the post-war Italian Communist Party （PCI） until the end of the Cold War.

The Origin of the Cold War

The origin of the Cold War is a quite important problem in the history of postwar world.Thewar was faught by "cold"means-political-economic means,propaganda,and limited violence.Duringthe Second World War,the United States and Russia,proceed from the need of the antifascit strug-gle together,formed an alliance.Shortly after the Second World War,however,relations between theUnited States and the Soviet Union worsened dramatically.They could no longer cooperate and be-came opponent.The United States emerged from the World War Ⅱ a relatively unified,powerfuland confident nation,Victory gave Americans an uncritical pride in the productivity of their econo-my,in the prowess of their armed forces,in the rectitude of their motives,and in the strength

A Thematic Analysis of Cold Mountain——On W.P. Inman's Spiritual Pilgrimage

Cold Mountain is a physical and spiritual healing place,at the same time is Inman’s home and a refuge for his soul where he himself can retreat from the sufferings of the war.A redemptive journey to Cold Mounain which is fraught with physical and psychological hardships helps Inman to reconstruct the broken soul but Inman’s real redemption:an escape from a world where he has become so hopeless and meaningless can only obtain through death in the end.

International Politics of Western Literary Theory:Literary Theory as Doctrine and as Discipline

European literary criticism was rapidly transformed into literary theory through the United States after Rene Wellek and Austin Warren’s textbook Theory of Literary Theory by Harcourt,Brace and Co.(1949).Within a short period of time,American new criticism,European psychoanalysis,semiotics,structuralism,hermeneutics,deconstructivism,and so on,as well as the western Marxism,feminism,new historicism,post-colonial criticism,and cultural studies,all the critical methods little referenced to postwar Western ideology and Soviet Ideology,and are even known for their profound criticism of some problems in capitalist society.These intuitively scientific or neutral literary theories flourished during the Cold War years that contained the Soviet Union.During this period,“political correctness”not only influenced the direction of social development in the West,but also directly influenced the academic pattern and the development trend of universities at that time,so that“literary criticism”,which was originally only based on personal experience,benefited and became“literary theory”in the discipline and curriculum system.As a result,the discipline of literary theory,which benefited from the Cold War pattern,is often in conflict with the specific literary theory that transcends ideology.However,the Cold War ended with the failure of the Soviet Union and its socialist realism theory system,and the western literary theory unexpectedly gained full legitimacy like Fukuyama’s“the end of history”.In the post-Cold War era,Western literary critics reasonably expanded the controversial theories and this has become the most concerned topic for 30 years.Thus,the international politics of the disguised Western literary theory was highlighted.Such Western literary theory has been generalized in China in the last 40 years,because Chinese academic yet has not understood the difference between theory as discipline and theory as doctrine,even anti-western in recent years.

Objective identification research on cold vortex and mid-summer rainy periods in Northeast China

Considering the differences between the Northeast China Cold Vortex （CV） and the Mid-Summer （MS） rainy period and their corresponding atmospheric circulations are comprehensively analyzed, and the objective identification methods of defining the annual beginning and ending dates of Northeast China CV and MS rainy periods are developed respectively. The annual beginning date of the CV （MS） rainy period is as follows. In a period from April to August, if daily regional mean precipitation ryi is larger than yearly regional mean precipitation R （or 2R） on a certain day, the station precipitation rs is larger than the station yearly mean precipitation （r/ （or 2（r）） in at least 50% of stations in Northeast China, and this condition is satisfied in the following 2 （7） days, then this date is defined as the beginning date of the CV （MS） rainy period. While the definition of the ending date of the MS rainy period shows the opposite process to its beginning date. With this objective identification method, the multi-year average （1981-2010） beginning date of the CV rainy period is May 3, the beginning date of the MS rainy period is June 27, the ending day of the CV rainy period is defined as the day before the beginning date of the MS rainy period, and the ending date of the MS rainy period is August 29. Meanwhile, corresponding anomaly analysis at a 500-hPa geopotential height, 850-hPa wind, Omega and relative humidity fields all show that the definitions of the average beginning and ending dates of the CV and MS rainy periods have a certain circulation meaning. Furthermore, the daily evolution of the CV index, meridional and zonal wind index, etc. all show that these objectively defined beginning and ending dates of the CV and MS rainy periods have climate significance.

A Multi-cycle Climatic Fluctuation Record of the Last Interglacial Period:Typical Stratigraphic Section in the Salawusu River Valley on the Ordos Plateau,China

The Last Interglacial Period strata in the Milanggouwan section in the Salawusu River valley on the Ordos Plateau, China, have 8.5 sedimentary cycles composed alternately of eolian dune sands, fluvio-lacustrine facies and paleosols. Based on comprehensive analyses on the distribution of magnetic susceptibility and CaCO3 and paleo-ecology indicated by fossils in the region, it is considered that the sedimentation cycles resulted from dry-cold and warm-humid climate fluctuations. Magnetic susceptibility values and CaCO3 contents in stratigraphic sectors I, III, V and II, IV basically respectively present peaks and low vales, and the former three can in time correlate with MIS5a, MIS5c and MIS5e successively and the latter two with MIS5b and MIS5d. In addition, some horizons of eolian dune sands and the low vales of their magnetic susceptibility and CaCO3 are also correlated with 6 periods of cooling events indicated by the higher content of foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (S.) documented in the V29—191 drill in the North Atlantic and the cold events recorded by δ 18O in the ice cores in GRIP, especially with 9 periods of dust events in Chinese Loess Plateau.

Transnational Mathematics and Movements: Shiingshen Chern, Hua Luogeng, and the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study from World War II to the Cold War

This paper reconstructs,based on American and Chinese primary sources,the visits of Chinese mathematicians Shiing-shen Chern陈省身(Chen Xingshen)and Hua Luogeng华罗庚(Loo-Keng Hua)4 to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton in the United States in the 1940s,especially their interactions with Oswald Veblen and Hermann Weyl,two leading mathematicians at the IAS.It argues that Chern’s and Hua’s motivations and choices in regard to their transnational movements between China and the US were more nuanced and multifaceted than what is presented in existing accounts,and that socio-political factors combined with professional-personal ones to shape their decisions.The paper further uses their experiences to demonstrate the importance of transnational scientific interactions for the development of science in China,the US,and elsewhere in the twentieth century.

The Never Ending Cold War Over Energy and the Cyprus Issue

Within the context of a never ended Cold War in the energy field, the discoveries of natural gas resources in the Southern Eastern Mediterranean definitely create new impetus for the resolution of the longstanding Cyprus issues. After the failure of the last negotiations talks in July 2017, there is common strategic reason that calls for a mutually accepted resolution among all the parties involved. The situation calls to put aside national feelings and the burden of history and move forward. What is of crucial importance is not only the maintenance of international peace and regional stability but also the enhancement of the welfare of the people of this turbulent region. Whether the path of reason will be followed is remained to be seen.

Why the Cold War Will Never Return to World Politics

Every serious confrontation between the United States and Russia evokes new cold war debates.The Cold War found its true meaning because it had achieved to create its own momentum within time.This question is a great test in terms of measuring the level that today’s international relations has reached:Is cold war still relevant in a global politics?The answer to be given to this question depends on whether any cold war can be maintained against all the pluralistic tendencies of international relations.It will be a negative one because the dynamics unleashed by globalization are likely to marginalize new cold war regardless of the will to wage and sustain it.For,beyond the will to wage and sustain it,the concept of cold war is a technical issue that can only exist provided that it can achieve to subordinate all the dynamics of the global politics to itself.

Negotiating ＂Airy Curtains＂ Throughout the Cold War

This paper analyzes in a long-term perspective the evolution of the international system between the 1920s and the 1980s in the particular case of broadcasting frequency regulation. It addresses the constructing of ＂Airy Curtains＂--the immaterial equivalent to the Iron Curtain-along ideological frontiers by focusing on the International Telecommunication Union＇s frequency allocation conferences throughout the ＂Cold War＂. The question is raised： Which changes in the construction of ＂Airy Curtains＂ and the international system are observable in a long term perspective？ The paper answers this question by telling a story of specialization and differentiation of the international system. At the core of the paper the tensions between experts and diplomats in the negotiations on international regulations are discussed. The paper argues that in three periods the governance changed from an expert matter over a conflictual diplomatic period into a system where ＇Cold War engineers＇ and the ＇Engineering diplomats＇ took a pragmatic approach to the ideological conflicts and the political demand for Cold War broadcasting by a decoupling of politics and technology. In that context decision-making changed from ＂conference diplomacy＂ in the beginning to a complex process where many problems were solved outside the conferences themselves.

Bilateral and Regional Strategic and Security Relationship Between China and the US after the Cold War

Sino-US relations are complex relations with multi-aspects between the two bigcountries in the world. It has three levels: the global level, the Asia-Pacificlevel and the bilateral level. The critical relationship between China and the US isembodied in the regional and bilateral levels that are more specific and essential.Beyond the field of economy and trade, their relationship is mainly embodied in thestrategic and security field.

Latin America After the Cold War

Post-Cold-War Latin America currently presents a scene of overall political sta-bility, continued economic growth, accelerated regional integration and omni-directional diplomatic activity. Nations here are deepening reforms to head off po-tential fresh crises threatening regional peace and development.

From the Cold War to the 21st Century Towards a New Era in the Asia-Pacific

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More than a simple egg:Underlying mechanisms of cold tolerance in avian embryos

Avian embryos,which develop within eggs,exhibit remarkable tolerance to extremely low temperatures.Despite being a common trait among all birds,the mechanisms underlying this cold tolerance in avian embryos remain largely unknown.To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon and the coping mechanisms involved,we reviewed the literature on severe cold tolerance in embryos of both wild and domestic birds.We found that embryos of different bird orders exhibit tolerance to severe cold during their development.In response to cold stress,embryos slow down their heartbeat rates and metabolism.In severe cold temperatures,embryos can suspend these processes,entering a torpid-like state of cardiac arrest.To compensate for these developmental delays,embryos extend their regular incubation periods.Depending on their embryonic age,embryos of all bird species can tolerate acute severe cold regimes;only a few tolerate chronic severe cold regimes.We also discussed various extrinsic and intrinsic factors that affect the tolerance of bird embryos to low temperatures before and after incubation.Cold tolerance appears to be a heritable trait shared by wild and domestic embryos of all bird classes,regardless of egg size or development(altricial/precocial).Driven by environmental variability,cold tolerance in avian embryos is an optimal physiological and ecological strategy to mitigate the adverse effects of cold conditions on their development in response to fluctuating environmental temperatures.

A New Northern Flank: Sweden and Finland in NATO

On June 282022 Sweden and Finland were invited to join NATO.During a symbolic ceremony at the NATO Madrid Summit,all the central actors gathered in front of the cameras,as if to replicate a“family photo”in mini format:representatives from Sweden,Finland,and Turkey,as well as Secretary General Stoltenberg.The atmosphere was mixed:tense because of the dramatic backdrop of the Summit,relief because of the speedy process that had taken the process further.It was finally happening:Sweden and Finland would join the Atlantic Pact.But how did they get there?Over a few hectic months,two countries strongly associated with neutrality had moved their policies from emphasizing continuity to altering the very foundations of their security.Not only NATO critics were taken by surprise.Many NATO supporters were astonished by the rapid pace and the turnaround of the Swedish Social Democratic party.The relatively quick turnaround in Stockholm also meant that questions about the future and the consequences of NATO membership were postponed,not least because the Swedish election campaign put a lid on debate about strategic consequences:what journey awaits in the future and what strategic consequences does a future NATO membership have?This article discusses these questions in the belief that the temporal perspectives are connected:Sweden’s historical collaboration with NATO had significance for the country’s partner relationship,and in turn this influenced how Sweden became a member and what challenges the country faces together with its allies on a new northern flank in Europe.