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The article looks at the significance of the International Women's Year (IWY) 1975 for the development of Dutch policy on development-related gender equality issues. It analyses how the route to the IWY World Conference and Women's Tribune in Mexico City was marked by power struggles in and around the United Nations (UN), amongst member states, and between national governments and women's organisations, in a geopolitical context of the Cold War and Global North–South divisions. The article discusses how, despite little initial enthusiasm for the IWY amongst the Dutch government and feminist groups, engagement with IWY generated a new momentum for national and international policy advocacy that was to come to fruition after 1975. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1959, the United Nations (UN) proclaimed the year 1959–60 World Refugee Year (WRY). The aim of WRY was to urge members of the UN to focus on the issue of refugees in camps, provide additional financial support and foster humanitarian solutions to resettle refugees. In this article, I focus on the Victorian committee which was formed to oversee WRY activities, to consider the concept of 'rights', and its relationship to humanitarianism. Three arguments are advanced. First, moving beyond the polarisation between human rights and humanitarianism this article discusses the notion of humanitarian rights to capture the shifts taking place during the postwar period. Second, WRY illustrates techniques of modern humanitarian campaigning and fundraising, suggesting that compassion had to be generated. Finally, WRY provides a valuable opportunity to consider a key historic moment which throws into sharp relief a consideration of humanitarian rights in postwar Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the limited impact of the celebration in the U.S. of the 1968 the International Year for Human Rights (IYHR) to mark the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Topics covered include the lack of salience of the United Nations within the U.S. in these years, the complicated politics of 1968 in the U.S. which provided an opportunity to the evolution of human rights activism between the late 1940s and late 1970s, and observance activities of the IYHR in the U.S. which represented the tail end of 1940s-inspired activism.

In the article, the author profiles several remarkable women in Utah history to celebrate 2020 as the Year of the Woman. Among the featured American women are former U.S. First Lady Abigail Adams, who suffered a stillbirth in 1777, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, African American activist Rosa Parks, and Martha Hughes Cannon.

In April 1918, President Woodrow Wilson, alarmed at the high draftee rejection rate, proclaimed the second year of American engagement in World War I as "Children's Year." The motto of the nationwide program was to "Save 100,000 Babies." Children's Year represented a multipronged child welfare campaign aimed at gathering data on best practices regarding maternal and child health promotion, documenting the effects of poverty on ill health, reducing the school drop-out rate, ensuring safe play spaces for children, and addressing the unique needs of targeted populations such as orphans and delinquents. Thousands of communities across the country participated in Children's Year, which was overseen by the Children's Bureau and the Woman's Committee of the Council of National Defense. The 1919 White House Conference on Children's Health synthesized all of the Children's Year findings into concrete recommendations. But in an effort to minimize conflict with organized medicine and those who feared governmental intrusion into family life, stakeholders accepted a series of compromises. By so doing, they inadvertently helped enshrine the means-tested, class-based, fragmented approach to child well-being in the United States that persists to this day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the launch of the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations (UN). Theme of the UN of the year 1999; Description of the components in the development of a society for all ages; Call of the action plan for participation from individuals with interest in the aging of society.

Marko I. Rupnik is one of the leading artists in the Catholic Church today. Initially characterized by a strong expressionism, he achieves, after an inner conversion, a symbolic synthesis between the early Christian and byzantine art and the avant-garde art. This paper focuses on the aesthetic and theological meanings of the logo of the Year of Mercy, made by Rupnik under the aspect of an unconventional image of Christ the Good Shepherd, but which has to, in point of fact, with an «anastasis», that has clear precedents in the work of the Slovenian Jesuit artist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 was a synchronized effort to simultaneously collect data from polar regions. Being the fourth in a series of IPYs, the demand for interdisciplinarity and new data products was high. However, despite all the research done on land, people, ocean, ice and atmosphere and the large amount of data collected, no central archive or portal was created for IPY data. In order to improve the availability and visibility of IPY data, a concerted effort between PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science, the International Council for Science (ICSU) World Data System (WDS), and the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) was undertaken to extract data resulting from IPY publications for long-term preservation. Overall, 1380 IPY-related references were collected. Of these, only 450 contained accessible data. All data were extracted, quality checked, annotated with metadata and uploaded to PANGAEA. The 450 articles dealt with a multitude of IPY topics - plankton biomass, water chemistry, ice thickness, whale sightings, Inuit health, alien species introductions by travellers or tundra biomass change, to mention just a few. Both the Arctic and the Antarctic were investigated in the articles, and all realms (land, people, ocean, ice and atmosphere) and a wide range of countries were covered. The data compilation can now be found with the identifier doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.150150, and individual parts can be searched using the PANGAEA search engine (www.pangaea.de) and adding "+project:ipy". With this effort, we hope to improve the visibility, accessibility and long-term storage of IPY data for future research and new data products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Polar Year 2007-2008 was a synchronized effort to simultaneously collect data from polar regions. Being the fourth in a row of IPYs, the demand for interdisciplinarity and new data products was high. However, despite of all the research done on land, people, ocean, ice and atmosphere and the large amount of data collected, no central archive or portal was created for IPY data. In order to address these issues, a concerted effort between PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science, the ICSU World Data System (WDS), and the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) was undertaken to extract data resulting from IPY publications for long-term preservation. 1380 IPY-related references were collected. Out of these, only 450 contained accessible data. All data was extracted, quality checked, annotated with metadata and uploaded to PANGAEA. The 450 articles dealt with a multitude of IPY topics - plankton biomass, water chemistry, ice thickness, whale sightings, Inuit health, alien species introductions by travelers or tundra biomass change - to mention just a few. Both, the Arctic and the Antarctic were investigated in the articles, and all realms (land, people, ocean, ice and atmosphere) and a wide range of countries were covered. The data compilation can now be found with the identifier doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 and individually searched for using the PANGAEA search engine (www.pangaea.de) and adding "+project:ipy". With this effort, we hope to improve the visibility, accessibility and long-term storage of IPY data for future research and new data products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research data landscape of the last International Polar Year was dramatically different from its predecessors. Data scientists documented lessons learned about management of large, diverse, andinterdisciplinary datasets to inform future development and practices. Improved, iterative, and adaptive data curation and system development methods to address these challenges will be facilitated by building collaborations locally and globally across the ‘data ecosystem', thus, shaping and sustaining an international data infrastructure to fulfil modern scientific needs and societal expectations. International coordination is necessary to achieve convergence between domain-specific data systems and hence enable multidisciplinary approaches needed to solve the Global Challenges.

The article reports that the year 2015 has been declared as the International Year of Light by the United Nations. The theme will raise awareness of the beauty and accessibility of science through activities, which will encourage and support observation of light and colour in the natural world. The International Year of Light is scope to insure that international policymakers and stakeholders are aware of the problem-solving potential of light technology.

In this article, the author uses a lecture about the chemical content of several opera stories to show how chemistry and opera can be related. The lecture was delivered at the University of Minho, Portugal, before a mixed academic audience in the context of the International Year of Chemistry. A description of four "pharmacy operas" including apothecary and arsenic operas is cited as the lecture opener. The article also includes a table showing the chemical content of the analyzed operas.

In this article the authors discuss eradicating global injustices related to energy poverty. They offer three different examples of energy consumption to illustrate how the global energy system perpetuates inequities and inequalities, including an energy-intensive lifestyle of a college student in Atlanta, Georgia, sustainable energy consumption by a older woman in London, England, and a farmer in Tanzania with no access to energy services. Topics include differences in attitudes toward energy of individuals in developed and developing countries, an overview of 10 programs in the Asia Pacific modeled after the United Nations International Year for Sustainable Energy for All initiative, and conceptualization of energy poverty.

An interview with Eleonora Mitrofanova, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is presented. When asked about the result's of UNESCO's activities in 2011, she cites its programming for the International Year of Youth and the International Year of Chemistry, as well as the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference. She also discusses Russia's contributions to the organization.

2012 is the European Year for Active Aging and Intergenerational Solidarity. The concept of active aging seems to be the cornerstone of future European approach to employment policies and working to resolve issues raised by global aging. What does this concept mean and what it entails in Europe where the risks and challenges of aging are at highest level? How well known is it acquired in Romania, especially by social policy generators? There are two questions to what this study will try to answer using the comparative analysis discursive textual method of European and Romanian approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the politics of French language and Dutch language collective memory as it relates to World War I (WWI) and special year events set to take place throughout Belgium in commemoration of the centennial of the war's outbreak. The author notes that Belgium's placement in relation to commemorative events throughout Europe seems peripheral, accompanied by the sentiment of Belgium as a victim. Nonetheless in Europe, it was the Flemish communities, which first initiated participation in commemorative events in the form of media, tourism, and education.

The article examines the main events of the Year of the Chinese Language which Look place in Russia in 2010 and its significance for promoting the relations of strategic partnership and interaction between the two countries, as well as the problenis ot teachrng and studying Chinese in modern Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article says that the World Veterinary Year is being celebrated in 2011 to mark 250th anniversary of the foundation of the world's first veterinary school (modern system) in Lyon, France, and the theme for the year is "Vet for health," "Vet for food" and "Vet for the planet!" It discusses the interdependence of food, health and environment, and how veterinary medicine can help in realizing sustainable development and food security.

The article offers information on the panel discussion "Restructuring of the Ritual Year in the Post-Socialist Countries: European Values, Ideology and Ethnography," held during the congress of International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICEES) in Stockholm, Sweden in August 2010. The discussion focused on the aspects of national festival years of former socialist countries. Panelists included Gabor Barna, Ekaterina Anastasova and Arunas Vaicekauskas.

After several mystical visions of the nun, Pelagia, the holy icon of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (Panagia) was found in 1823. According to tradition, Pelagia repeatedly witnessed the Panagia in her visions where she received orders from her to find the Virgin's icon and also to build her church. The icon was unearthed in the field where it had remained since the church, built on the ruins of a pagan temple, was destroyed in the 10th century. Two years before the icon was found, the Greek War of Independence broke out. The finding of the icon, the construction of the Church of the Panagia, Euangelistria, the enormous crowds of pilgrims and all the miracles worked by the icon, contributed to the outcome that the island was declared a sacred island, and Pelagia became sanctified. The ritual year of the miraculous icon on Tinos starts on 30 January with the festival dedicated to the Finding of the Icon. The next festival is dedicated to the Day of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. This day has both a religious and a national ideological significance, since 25 March is celebrated as Independence Day. July 23 is dedicated to the "Vision" of Saint Pelagia. The most important festival, the Dormition of the Panagia, is celebrated on 15 August. During the festivals official processions, carrying the icon in its midst, are important, but also popular customs related to the importance of fetching holy water and earth as well as the other symbols which have a long tradition within Greek religions. Accordingly, the article aims to present the ritual year of the miraculous icon on Tinos, thus exploring the relation between official and popular religion. Since several of the rituals and symbols recur across many religious groupings in the Middle East and Mediterranean, they might be studied from a comparative perspective, thus transcending European heritages: liberating the ethnological imagination.¹ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the NASA International Polar Year activities, a Ka-band cross-track interferometric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) recently demonstrated high-precision elevation swath mapping capability. This proof-of-concept instrument was achieved by interfacing two Ka-band slotted-waveguide antennas in a cross-track geometry and Ka-band electronics with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's L-band uninhabited aerial vehicle SAR. Deployed on the NASA Gulfstream III, initial engineering flights in March and April 2009 marked the first airborne demonstration of single-pass cross-track interferometry at Ka-band. Results of a preliminary interferometric assessment indicate height precisions that, for a 3 m \times 3 m posting, range from 30 cm in the near range to 3 m in the far range and greater than 5 km of swath over the urban areas imaged. The engineering flights were followed by a comprehensive campaign to Greenland in May 2009 for ice-surface topography mapping assessment. Toward that end, coordinated flights with the NASA Wallops Airborne Topographic Mapper lidar were conducted in addition to establishing ground calibration sites at both the Summit Station of the National Science Foundation and the Swiss Camp of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Environmental Sciences. Comparisons of the radar-derived elevation measurements with both in situ and lidar data are planned for a subsequent paper; however, at this stage, a single data example over rugged ice cover produced a swath up to 7 km with the desired height precision as estimated from interferometric correlation data. While a systematic calibration, including assessment and modeling of biases, due to penetration of the electromagnetic waves into the snow cover has not yet been addressed, these initial results indicate that we will exceed our system requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on the significance of promotion of the year 2011 as the Global Year Against Acute Pain by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). The author believes that any campaign to improve management of acute pain is not only meant to address healthcare professionals but also to empower patients and to challenge those who run healthcare systems and educate future healthcare professionals. Anesthetists are urged to accept the challenge to improve acute pain management in the patients under his or her care.

We present evidence that both geophysical and thermodynamic conditions in sea ice are important in understanding pathways of accumulation or rejection of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs). α- and γ-HCH concentrations and α-HCH enantiomer fractions have been measured in various ice classes and ages from the Canadian High Arctic. Mean α-HCH concentrations reached 0.642 ± 0.046 ng L-1 in new and young ice (<30 cm), 0.261 ±0.015 ng L-1 in the first-year ice (30-200 cm) and 0.208 ±0.045 in the old ice (>200 cm). Mean γ-HCH concentrations were 0.066 ± 0.006 ng L-1 in new and young ice, 0.040 ±0.002 ng L-1 in the first-year ice and 0.040 ±0.007 ng L-1 in the old ice. In general, α-HCH concentrations and vertical distributions were highly dependent on the initial entrapment of brine and the subsequent desalination process. γ-HCH levels and distribution in sea ice were not as clearly related to ice formation processes. During the year, first-year ice progressed from freezing (accumulation) to melting (ablation). Relations between the geophysical state of the sea ice and the vertical distribution of HCHs are described as ice passes through these thermodynamic states. In melting ice, which corresponded to the algal bloom period, the influence of biological processes within the bottom part of the ice on HCH concentrations and α-HCH enantiomer fraction is discussed using both univariate and multivariate approaches.[Traduit par la rédaction] Nous présentons des faits montrant que tant les conditions géophysiques que les conditions thermodynamiques dans la glace de mer sont importantes pour la compréhension des voies d'accumulation ou de rejet des hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCH). Nous avons mesuré les concentrations de α-HCH et de γ-HCH ainsi que les fractions des énantiomères α-HCH dans diverses classes et divers âges de la glace de l'Arctique septentrional canadien. Les concentrations moyennes de α-HCH ont atteint 0,642 ±0,046 ng L-1 dans la nouvelle glace et la jeune glace (<30 cm), 0,261 ±0,015 ng L-1 dans la glace de première année (30-200 cm) et 0,208 ±0,045 ng L-1 dans la vieille glace (>200 cm). Les concentrations moyennes de γ-HCH étaient de 0,066 ±0.006 ng L-1 dans la nouvelle glace et la jeune glace, 0,040 ±0,002 ng L-1 dans la glace de première année et 0,040 ±0,007 ng L-1 dans la vieille glace. En général, les concentrations et les distributions verticales de α-HCH étaient fortement liées au piégeage initial de la saumure et au processus de dessalement subséquent. Les niveaux et la distribution de γ-HCH dans la glace de mer n'étaient pas clairement liés aux processus de formation de la glace. Au cours de l'année, la glace de première année a progressé de la congélation (accumulation) à la fonte (ablation). Nous décrivons les relations entre l'état géophysique de la glace de mer et la distribution verticale des HCH au fur et à mesure que la glace passe par ces états thermodynamiques. Dans la glace fondante, c'est-à-dire pendant la période de prolifération des algues, nous étudions l'influence des processus biologiques dans la partie inférieure de la glace sur les concentrations de HCH et la fraction des énantiomères α-HCH, tant au moyen d'approches à une variable que d'approches à plusieurs variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Circumpolar Flaw Lead (CFL) system study is a Canadian-led International Polar Year (IPY) initiative with over 350 participants from 27 countries. The study is multidisciplinary in nature, integrating physical sciences, biological sciences and Inuvialuit traditional knowledge. The CFL study is designed to investigate the importance of changing climate processes in the flaw lead system of the northern hemisphere on the physical, biogeochemical and biological components of the Arctic marine system. The circumpolar flaw lead is a perennial characteristic of the Arctic throughout the winter season and forms when the mobile multi-year (MY) pack ice moves away from coastal fast ice, creating recurrent and interconnected polynyas in the Norwegian, Icelandic, North American and Siberian sectors of the Arctic. The CFL study was 293 days in duration and involved the overwintering of the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen in the Cape Bathurst flaw lead throughout the annual sea-ice cycle of 2007-2008.In this paper we provide an introduction to the CFL project and then use preliminary data from the field season to describe the physical flaw lead system, as observed during the CFL overwintering project. Preliminary data show that ocean circulation is affected by eddy propagation into Amundsen Gulf (AG). Upwelling features arising along the ice edge and along abrupt topography are also detected and identified as important processes that bring nutrient rich waters up to the euphotic zone. Analysis of sea-ice relative vorticity and sea-ice area by ice type in the AG during the CFL study illustrates increased variability in ice vorticity in late autumn 2007 and an increase in new and young ice areas in the AG during winter. Analysis of atmospheric data show that a strong northeast-southwest pressure gradient present over the AG in autumn may be a synoptic-scale atmospheric response to sensible and latent heat fluxes arising from areas of open water persisting into late November 2007. The median atmospheric boundary layer temperature profile over the Cape Bathurst flaw lead during the winter season was stable but much less so when compared to Russian ice island stations.[Traduit par la rédaction] L'étude du système du chenal de séparation circumpolaire (CSC) est une initiative de l'Année polaire internationale (API) menée par le Canada et à laquelle 350 participants provenant de 27 pays ont pris part. L'étude, de nature multidisciplinaire, fait appel aux sciences physiques et biologiques ainsi qu'au savoir traditionnel Inuvialuit. L'étude du CSC vise à examiner les répercussions des processus climatiques changeants dans le système du chenal de séparation de l'hémisphère Nord sur les composantes physiques, biogéochimiques et biologiques du système marin arctique. Le CSC est une caractéristique permanente de l'Arctique durant la saison d'hiver et se forme quand la banquise mobile de glace de plusieurs années s'éloigne de la banquise côtière fixe en créant des polynies récurrentes et interconnectées dans les secteurs norvégien, islandais, nord-américain et sibérien de l'Arctique. Pour mener l'étude du CSC, qui a duré 293 jours, le brise-glace de recherche canadien NGCC Amundsen est demeuré dans le chenal de séparation du cap Bathurst tout l'hiver, c'est-à-dire pendant tout le cycle annuel des glaces de mer de 2007-2008.Dans cet article, nous fournissons une introduction au projet du CSC, puis nous utilisons les données préliminaires de la saison sur le terrain pour décrire le système physique du chenal de séparation, tel qu'observé durant l'hiver du projet du CSC. Les données préliminaires montrent que la circulation océanique est influencée par la propagation de tourbillon dans le golfe d'Amundsen (GA). Des caractéristiques de remontée d'eau le long de la lisière des glaces et le long d'éléments topographiques abrupts ont aussi été observées et identifiées comme des processus importants apportant des eaux riches en nutriments jusqu'à la zone euphotique. L'analyse de la vorticité relative de la glace de mer et de la superficie de la glace de mer par type dans le GA durant l'étude du CSC révèle une variabilité accrue dans la vorticité de la glace à la fin de l'automne 2007 et un accroissement des superficies de nouvelle et de jeune glace dans le GA durant l'hiver. L'analyse des données atmosphériques montre que la présence d'un fort gradient de pression nord est - sud ouest au-dessus du GA en automne peut être une réponse atmosphérique d'échelle synoptique aux flux de chaleur sensible et latente à partir des zones d'eaux libres qui ont persisté jusque vers la fin de novembre 2007. Le profil thermique de la couche limite atmosphérique médiane au-dessus du chenal de séparation du cap Bathurst durant la saison hivernale était stable, mais beaucoup moins que les profils observés aux stations des îles de glace russes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents German and English language abstracts of articles in this issue on such topics as volunteerism, the European Year of Volunteering 2011, and international climate movements.

Copyright of Neue Soziale Bewegungen is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Neue Soziale Bewegungen is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Neue Soziale Bewegungen is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The year 2009 was declared the "International Darwin Year" by the International Union of Biological Sciences. It generated a lot of intellectual activity in the Western world through conferences, seminars, websites, and publication of books. There was hardly any enthusiasm in the Muslim world; no one seemed to be interested in celebrating the bicentennial of Darwin's birth or the sesquicentennial of the publication of On the Origin of Species. This third installment of the series "Darwin's Shadow" explores Darwinian and post-Darwinian evolutionary theories from an Islamic perspective. Surveying the intellectual landscape of the Muslim world, the article situates Darwin's arrival and post-Darwinian responses in a broad historical and social context and then suggests why Muslims should not ignore evolutionary perspectives, even though these have little to do with their worldview. The article also indicates areas where evolutionary theories in cosmology and biology overlap with religious beliefs and how this overlap produces conflict between the metaphysical structures of religious and evolutionary worldviews. The only version of evolution which requires serious examination is the so-called theistic evolution, because all other versions are obviously outside the pale of the Islamic worldview and therefore need no further attention. Fundamentals of theistic evolution are compared with the Qur'ānic creation narrative and it is shown that the two are not compatible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Vereinte Nationen is the property of Berliner Wissenschaftsverlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

2015 has already been claimed as International Year of Light by United Nations. Light and light-based technologies have received wide attention. United States and Europe were aware of this trend early and in 2013 they had proposed the White Paper and strategic roadmap about light-based technologies respectively. During the transition process of technology trends, many opportunities will arise inevitably. At this moment, it is necessary to find out the self-position and confirm the development direction quickly. With multi-party cooperation, the cornerstone of the industry could be raised and the time length of technology development could be folded up. Therefore, it would have a chance to grasp the world level market. In addition, education and training must also act simultaneously. This can provide the industry adequate engineering and R & D people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's views about the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (IPY) and the Norwegian-American Scientific Traverse of East Antarctica. The author says that 50 or 60 thousand scientists, technicians and crew carried out more than 200 research projects during the IPY. The author further says that new research programmes are being conceived to address questions raised by the old ones and plans are being made to sustain polar monitoring systems in Norway and other countries.

The article offers information on the celebrations for the International Polar Year (IPY). This is a campaign of internationally coordinated research for the study of the Earth's polar regions, how the regions are changing, and the impact of the changes on the health of the biosphere. It also provides education to the public and training to aspiring scientists, leaders, and educators in the field. IPY has delivered lectures and released publications to the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) in Fairbanks, Alaska and outreach programs for several students. It is noted that the 4th IPY, which began in March 2007 and ended in March 2009, presented the International Conference on Permafrost at the UAF in July 2008. Information on several IPY researches are also included.

This section offers news briefs concerning the field of pain and palliative care pharmacotherapy in the U.S. as of March 2009. Javelin Pharmaceuticals announced that it had completed patient enrollment in the second of two pivotal phase 3 studies for its diclofenac sodium injection. A law intended to crack down on rogue online pharmacies that sell drugs without a valid prescription was passed in October 2008. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) announced the launch of the Global Year Against Cancer Pain.

The article offers information on the event International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL) 2015 organized by International Commission for Optics (ICO) Territorial Committee of Japan held at University of Tokyo on April 21, 2015 to promote the significance of light to public.

"Invisible journey" is a one million year journey through ice and through time. The project was initiated by a group of scientists and artists at the international ARENA "Large Astronomical Infrastructures at CONCORDIA" conference at Roscoff, October 2006, and obtained the label of the International Polar Year in March 2007. The aim of the "Invisible journey" is to send a message towards the future. This message will take the form of an object which will be deposited in the Antarctic ice-pack. The object will be transported on its slow voyage through the ice-pack, as it migrates from its launch point towards the Antarctic ocean, for a period of ∼1 million years. The "Invisible object" is a kind of post-card that we wish to send to our descendants. The messages will be collected from all over the Earth. By this action, we wish to reinforce connections between people, in particular between those of the far North and the far South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Water year 2006 (October 2005 through September 2006) turned out to be one of the wetter years in northern California. Based on preliminary data, the Sacramento River basin was the 6th wettest water year of record, from 1906, and for the San Joaquin River it was 9th wettest of a record which begins in 1901. For both systems the April through July runoff was 7th largest, making 2 years in a row with excellent snow melt runoff. It was also a year of significant flooding, the first since 1998. A major flood occurred at the end of the calendar year during the New Year holiday. This paper provides a description of water year 2006 and some of its significant events. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The UN commissioned UNESCO to devote 2008 to all world languages. Such endeavor, as far as the academic world is concerned (particularly all language schools and faculties), took a compulsory nuance of sorts. Yet, the diagnosis of the world's situation vis-à-vis our concern here, shows the precarious and serious condition this cultural wealth is now going through. Still, no matter how awesome, the preliminary outlines and drafts of some particularities offered by each of the Continents on the future of many languages do give us a wider perspective to better reflect on the problem. The almost weekly disappearance of a language around the world, and the concentration of 80% of the world's population in only 4% of the spoken languages is certainly a fact for concern. Thus, the languages themselves, another of the world's resources and wealth, threatened as they are in the midst of a dangerous world in crisis, will find in defending diversity their inexorable flagship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ars Medica Revista de Humanidades is the property of Grupo ARS XXI de Comunicacion, S.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on the declaration of the year 2006 as the Year of Russia in China by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The declaration confirmed the high potential of the Russian-Chinese partnership. It offers information on events organized as part of the Year of Russia in China. A second Russian-Chinese summit of economic and business circles will be held in the course of the year.