Memory of China：5000 Years of Civilization

Golden ornament of sun birds is an object unearthed from the Jinsha site near Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province in 2001. Made in the late period of the Shang Dynasty （1300 - 1046 BC）, this hollow-out work is composed of two layers. The inner layer features 12 revolving dented sunrays evenly distributed to form a circle.     

培养大学生创新能力的实践探索

本文联系高等教育的实际 ,谈了如何认真贯彻落实第三次全国教育工作会议精神 ,从转变教育思想 ,更新教育观念、确立新的人才培养目标、建立全新的课程结构体系、设立科学的教学内容和方法、实行创新的教育管理和拥有不断创新的师资队伍等方面 ,论述了培养大学生创新能力的途径和方法     

多媒体英语教学尝试

多媒体教学是教育革命中的一种新型的教学形式,从教学模式、教学思想、教学过程、教学组织方面入手,对多媒体英语教学进行了初步尝试。     

如何面对新教材的问世

为更好贯彻新教材 (《体育与健康》)的精神 ,使体育课教学上一个台阶 ,根据新教材推出的时代背景以及学习实践的体会 ,在对新教材有了更深刻的认识后 ,本文提出了面对新教材如何选择教学内容、改进教学方法和构建一个比较客观而积极的评价体系的粗略构想。     

THE HUMANITIES AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN TRANSITION

The humanities and the social sciences particularly suffered under communism because of the susceptibility of their disciplines to political and ideological manipulation. Nevertheless, in some of them the intellectual climate was more liberal in the Academy than in the universities. With transition, a much reduced research staff has adopted new approaches to research and to the definition of areas of research, one of which is a reevaluation of the recent history of the Czech Republic. A major task of the humanities and the social sciences is permanent reflection on the human condition.     

The effect of dust particles on cellulose degradation

This study focuses on the changes in properties of cellulose-based paper, which can take place as a consequence of its contamination by dust particles. The PM1 (fine) and PM10 (coarse) fractions of the dust particles from archival repositories were collected on cellulose filters Whatman 41, polytetrafluorethylene, and quartz filters. The latter two types of samples were subsequently analyzed gravimetrically, with ion chromatography, PIXE, and the thermal–optical transmission method, giving mass, ionic, elemental carbon, and organic carbon concentrations. After artificial aging, the viscosity-average degree of polymerization of cellulose (DP_v) was measured. It was confirmed that cellulose-based paper can undergo substantial changes when contaminated by dust particles and artificially aged. The decrease of the DP_v of cellulose showed a negative correlation with the deposited mass of sulfate ions in the dust particles. Considering the particle size fraction, the results suggest the decisive importance of the fine (PM1) particles. The results provide better understanding of how particulate matter contributes to the chemical degradation of cellulose-based paper. Such knowledge is of importance when considering appropriate conservation measures in archives, libraries, and galleries.     

Structural embeddedness of students’ professional expectations: the Czech Republic and Taiwan in comparative perspective

Abstract

We compare the role of gender, socioeconomic background and measured ability on students’ secondary school placement and professional expectations in Taiwan and the Czech Republic, two countries that have experienced substantial reforms in their educational systems in the context of political change and economic development. Using data from the international PISA 2006 survey of 15-year-olds, our analysis reveals that Czech academic upper-secondary schools are much more selective in terms of socioeconomic background and gender than comparable Taiwanese senior high schools. Controlling for measured ability and other factors, students’ professional expectations are also more closely linked to socioeconomic background and gender in the Czech Republic than in Taiwan.     

Burnout among university faculty: the central role of work–family conflict

This study examined both direct and indirect associations of faculty burnout with psychosocial work environments, using the job resources-demands framework. A sample of 2,229 faculty members (57.1% male) throughout public universities in the Czech Republic completed a questionnaire comprising measures of burnout and psychosocial work environment characteristics from the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II. We formulated a structural model that hypothesised a positive effect of job demands (quantitative demands, work-family conflict (WFC), job insecurity) and a negative effect of job resources (influence, social community, role clarity) on burnout. Results showed that the strongest predictor of burnout was WFC, which had a direct positive effect on burnout and mediated the positive effect of quantitative demands on burnout. Further, a small direct negative effect of age and an indirect positive effect of involvement in research grants and administrative paperwork on burnout were observed. The findings indicate that university management can most effectively address burnout in academic staff not only by implementing policies that reduce WFC, workload and administrative paperwork, but also by providing more job resources to younger faculty and faculty involved in grant-based projects.