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The Japanese expansionism in Asia and the Italian expansion in Africa: A comparative study of the early Italian and Japanese colonialism
Full text linkNikolaos Mavropoulos
Dissertation Abstract
The Japanese expansionism in Asia and the Italian expansion in Africa: A comparative study of the early Italian and Japanese colonialism (1868-1901)
Modern Japan and Italy were formed in the same period, the period of the New Imperialism, a time of diplomatic mistrust, protectionism, frenetic colonial and economic rivalry and of militarism, when the Great Powers (British Empire, the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire) had already established their hegemonic position in the world. Japan and Italy at the end of the 19th century were in need of stability, internal and external security, economic reorganization and immediate settlement of the economic and social problems arising from the rapid increase of their population. Furthermore, seeking to compete on an equal footing with the Powers of the era, claiming a place in the sun, they considered modernization and rapid industrialization as the only way forward. These facts as well as the policy of expansion that they partly adopted for the resolution of these issues are unique and particular. The phenomenon of the early Japanese colonialism in relation to that of the other states is intensely reminiscent, as to the origins and aspirations, of the corresponding Italian one. Its collation with that of Britain's or Germany's in the period under examination would be inappropriate. Britain even though also an island state was technologically developed, robust, having the most powerful fleet and the most extensive empire in the world. The German Empire although it too was formed late (1871) and bedevilled like Japan by the problem of overpopulation did not share the same concerns about securing its independence as it was the superpower of the era, industrialized and militarily all-powerful the very next day after its unification. Securing new markets, meeting industrial needs for raw materials, the quest for lebensraum and arable land constituted common elements for all the imperialist Powers. Besides, the human inclination towards imperialism is self-evident. Men, acting individually or collectively, have always sought to establish dominance over others, where possible. So, what are the particularities that constitute the Japanese and the Italian colonial project distinctive? Both states fearing their exclusion from the markets, their pushing aside from the international developments, their marginalisation and their conversion into supernumeraries in the era of the chaotic imperialist struggle, envisaged in their own colonial expansion their strategic security and survival.
They both viewed military victories and territorial expansion as the shortest way to obtain a place in the sun. Thus, even if they had not achieved the degree of industrialization and of economic development of the more powerful states, still being weak and agrarian, they attempted to ensure their position in the world through the colonies and the trade. The problem of their economic backwardness and military weakness was causing insecurity and stress even when they were achieving successes. The expansion and the establishment of spheres of influence constituted a necessity for the survival of the nation. The possession of colonies would present to the world a powerful, prestigious and modern Italy and Japan, arbiters of developments and, in addition, it would contribute to the stability of the international system. So they participated in the colonial struggle imitating the imperialist powers. Contrary to Lenin's theory about the unbreakable relationship between imperialism and the export of surplus capital, in the dawn of their colonial adventure, Japan and Italy had difficulty in luring domestic capital into colonial investment since they had a shortage not an excess of private capital. Despite their terrible fiscal position however, immediately after their formation, they inaugurated a policy of expansion. It was then presumed by the respective ruling classes that the participation in the colonial game would be panacea, it would, as if by magic, form the lever that would topple and nullify their disadvantageous geopolitical position abroad and would resolve the economic and social problems of vital importance that beset them in the interior. This consideration, this common perception, these convictions which were shared by politicians, merchants, industrialists and military simultaneously in two regions of the world so remote and alienated between them provoke the interest of the scholar.
Was this colonialism a simple "reaction" to the progress of the rest of the imperialists? In the manifestation of the Japanese and Italian imperialism up until 1901 what are the underlying characteristics, what is the role of the monarchy and of the religion or of social Darwinism, what is the impact on the conquered peoples? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the integration to the Japanese Empire of peoples racially related to it? What is the ideology, the theoretical pillars which were nurtured at the end of the 19th century and on which they supported the background of their subsequent colonial expansion? What are the particular elements, the impulses, the ideologies that the early Italian and the early Japanese colonialism shared, elements which even pushed them into fighting for similar goals in Beijing during the Boxer rebellion (1899-1901)? This research responds to these demanding questions as well as traces the origins of the two states', mutatis mutandis, similar and common historical evolution up until the middle of the 20th century by researching the relative literature and archives
Challenges of characterizing degradation in hydrogen polymer electrolyte fuel cells
No full textIn this issue of Chem Catalysis, Xie and colleagues investigate degradation mechanisms in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and their evolution over prolonged operation. Using advanced characterization techniques, the authors analyze modifications in catalyst morphology and ionomer properties
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Prognostic value of exercise cardiac tomography performed late after percutaneous coronary intervention in symptomatic and symptom-free patients
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Prognostic value of exercise cardiac tomography performed late after percutaneous coronary intervention in symptomatic and symptom-free patients
No full textPrognostic value of exercise cardiac tomography performed late after percutaneous coronary intervention in symptomatic and symptom-free patients
No full textA computational model of inner speech supporting flexible goal-directed behaviour in Autism
No full textExperimental and computational studies propose that inner speech boosts categorisation skills and executive functions, making human behaviour more focused and flexible. In addition, many clinical studies highlight a relationship between poor inner-speech and an executive impairment in autism spectrum condition (ASC), but contrasting findings are reported. Here we directly investigate the latter issue through a previously implemented and validated computational model of the Wisconsin Cards Sorting Tests. In particular, the model was applied to explore potential individual differences in cognitive flexibility and inner speech contribution in autistic and neurotypical participants. Our model predicts that the use of inner-speech could increase along the life-span of neurotypical participants but would be reduced in autistic ones. Although we found more attentional failures (i.e., wrong behavioural rule switches) in autistic children/teenagers and more perseverative behaviours in autistic young/older adults, only autistic children and older adults exhibited a lower performance (i.e., fewer consecutive correct rule switches) than matched control groups. Overall, our results corroborate the idea that the reduced use of inner speech could represent a disadvantage for autistic children and autistic older adults. Moreover, the results suggest that cognitive-behavioural therapies should focus on developing inner speech skills in autistic children as this could provide cognitive support throughout their whole life span
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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