Atmospheric ozone plays a critical role in controlling ultraviolet radiation levels at the surface of the Earth. The absorption of ultraviolet radiation from the sun and the warm infrared from the earth influence temperatures in the lower stratosphere. The concentration of ozone is affected by NO, NO2, Cl, and Clo in a complex manner.

The various meanings of the terms ‘postmodernism’ and ‘postmodernity’ are traced; in various European languages these mean different things. Postmodernist discussion in the various arts is not synchronous. Postmodernism can be seen as the cultural expression of the times we supposedly live in, but are the achievements of modernity gone for ever?

Postmodernism is often virtually equated with French poststructuralism, and seen as anti-rationalist and anti-humanist, even downright nihilist. However, the idea of difference that is central to much poststructuralist thinking can also be used to construct a model of postmodernism/postmodernity that avoids the endless denials of poststructuralism while allowing the establishment of a grip on the distinctions of our own postmodern period from an earlier modernity.

The relevance of the term ‘postmodernism’ to a discussion of the music of this century is examined. Postmodernism in music does not have any precise meaning but can be used to evaluate a number of aspects of contemporary music.

Generalizing between postmodernity and postmodernism is of doubtful value. The shift from communism to postcommunism has led to a decline, or different significance, of postmodernism in Eastern Europe.

With the Meiji Restoration the first steps were taken in the third quarter of the 19th century to set up a national system of education in Japan. European educational theories were influential. Samuel Smiles became a reference for moral principles and Western heroes from Socrates to Florence Nightingale were exemplars. The articles explores the complex relationship of Western ideas with indigenous Japanese culture.

This paper considers the operation of representative democracy, with an emphasis on Germany. It analyses the implications of direct democracy (i.e. the regular use of referenda in reaching decisions on matters of public policy) for the operation of parliamentary and non-parliamentary democratic systems. The existing role of direct democracy in a number of societies is also considered.

There are many ideas of what that medieval institution, the university, should be in the age of the mass university. It should be an institution combining teaching and research and should aim to produce a mature, cultured individual. Attempts to make it into an institution simply for giving technical training aimed at the contemporary labour market are misguided.

Well-timed silence has more eloquence than speech. Martin Farquhar Tupper

Silence can express nothing or be meaningful. It is meaningful only in a communicative setting and, in an environment of words, silence is often the instrument of choice to communicate without explicit expression. After the last word, ‘the rest is silence’.

Electronic publishing has many advantages, including speed, low cost and searchability. It has made most progress in the physical sciences. Peer review remains an essential requirement. The dominance of English should be countered by the use of extended character sets. The preservation of electronic data is a great challenge due to the impermanence of magnetic and optical storage, but even more by the rapid change in both software and hardware.

Of the multitude of languages, many are endangered and threatened with extinction; this is a great potential loss of witnesses to human perception. Academies should support non-majority languages and oppose the acceleration of their loss due to the rise of computers with programs limited to majority languages.