Monday, July 31, 2017

Asymptotic Theory Of Weakly Dependent Random Processes

Asymptotic Theory Of Weakly Dependent Random Processes

Presenting tools to aid understanding of asymptotic theory and weakly dependent processes, this book is devoted to inequalities and limit theorems for sequences of random variables that are strongly mixing in the sense of Rosenblatt, or absolutely regular.

The first chapter introduces covariance inequalities under strong mixing or absolute regularity. These covariance inequalities are applied in Chapters 2, 3 and 4 to moment inequalities, rates of convergence in the strong law, and central limit theorems. Chapter 5 concerns coupling. In Chapter 6 new deviation inequalities and new moment inequalities for partial sums via the coupling lemmas of Chapter 5 are derived and applied to the bounded law of the iterated logarithm. Chapters 7 and 8 deal with the theory of empirical processes under weak dependence. Lastly, Chapter 9 describes links between ergodicity, return times and rates of mixing in the case of irreducible Markov chains. Each chapter ends with a set of exercises.

The book is an updated and extended translation of the French edition entitled "Théorie asymptotique des processus aléatoires faiblement dépendants" (Springer, 2000). It will be useful for students and researchers in mathematical statistics, econometrics, probability theory and dynamical systems who are interested in weakly dependent processes.

Piezoresistive Effect Of P-type Single Crystalline 3c-sic: Silicon Carbide Mechanical Sensors For Harsh Environments

Piezoresistive Effect Of P-type Single Crystalline 3c-sic: Silicon Carbide Mechanical Sensors For Harsh Environments

This book addresses the piezoresistance in p-type 3C-SiC, which it investigates using experimental characterization and theoretical analysis. The gauge factor, the piezoresistive coefficients in two-terminal and four-terminal resistors, the comparison between single crystalline and nanocrystalline SiC, along with the temperature dependence of the piezoresistive effect in p-type 3C-SiC are also discussed.

Silicon carbide (SiC) is an excellent material for electronic devices operating at high temperatures, thanks to its large energy band gap, superior mechanical properties and extreme chemical inertness. Among the numerous polytypes of SiC, the cubic single crystal, which is also well known as 3C-SiC, is the most promising platform for microelectromechanical (MEMS) applications, as it can be epitaxially grown on an Si substrate with diameters of up to several hundred millimeters. This feature makes 3C-SiC compatible with the conventional Si-based micro/nano processing and also cuts down the cost of SiC wafers.

The investigation into the piezoresistive effect in 3C-SiC is of significant interest for the development of mechanical transducers such as pressure sensors and strain sensors used for controlling combustion and deep well drilling. Although a number of studies have focused on the piezoresistive effect in n-type 3C-SiC, 4H-SiC and 6H-SiC, comparatively little attention has been paid to piezoresistance in p-type 3C-SiC.

In addition, the book investigates the piezoresistive effect of top-down fabricated SiC nanowires, revealing a high degree of sensitivity in nanowires employing an innovative nano strain-amplifier. The large gauge factors of the p-type 3C-SiC at both room temperature and high temperatures found here indicate that this polytype could be suitable for the development of mechanical sensing devices operating in harsh environments with high temperatures.

The Concept Of Truth In International Relations Theory: Critical Thought Beyond Post-positivism

The Concept Of Truth In International Relations Theory: Critical Thought Beyond Post-positivism

This book charts the role played by conceptions of truth in the development of a critical tradition of International Relations theory. Providing a detailed account of the conceptions which have shaped the work of Critical Theorists and Poststructuralists, the book reaffirms the importance of epistemic reflection for the discipline. It argues that the partially abstract character of the main strands of critical IR arises not from their concern with epistemic matters, but from their insistence that truth is purely intersubjective. Drawing on the philosophy of Theodor Adorno, the book argues that IR’s critical tradition can be rejuvenated by combining its original politicisation of truth with a critical account of its ‘objectivity’. The book will be a valuable resource for scholars and graduate students interested in the future of critical International Relations theory.

From Protein Structure To Function With Bioinformatics ( 2nd Edition)

From Protein Structure To Function With Bioinformatics ( 2nd Edition)

This book is about protein structural bioinformatics and how it can help understand and predict protein function. It covers structure-based methods that can assign and explain protein function based on overall folds, characteristics of protein surfaces, occurrence of small 3D motifs, protein-protein interactions and on dynamic properties. Such methods help extract maximum value from new experimental structures, but can often be applied to protein models. The book also, therefore, provides comprehensive coverage of methods for predicting or inferring protein structure, covering all structural classes from globular proteins and their membrane-resident counterparts to amyloid structures and intrinsically disordered proteins.

The book is split into two broad sections, the first covering methods to generate or infer protein structure, the second dealing with structure-based function annotation. Each chapter is written by world experts in the field. The first section covers methods ranging from traditional homology modelling and fold recognition to fragment-based ab initio methods, and includes a chapter, new for the second edition, on structure prediction using evolutionary covariance. Membrane proteins and intrinsically disordered proteins are each assigned chapters, while two new chapters deal with amyloid structures and means to predict modes of protein-protein interaction. The second section includes chapters covering functional diversity within protein folds and means to assign function based on surface properties and recurring motifs. Further chapters cover the key roles of protein dynamics in protein function and use of automated servers for function inference. The book concludes with two chapters covering case studies of structure prediction, based respectively on crystal structures and protein models, providing numerous examples of real-world usage of the methods mentioned previously.

This book is targeted at postgraduate students and academic researchers. It is most obviously of interest to protein bioinformaticians and structural biologists, but should also serve as a guide to biologists more broadly by highlighting the insights that structural bioinformatics can provide into proteins of their interest.

Phase Ii Clinical Development Of New Drugs

Phase Ii Clinical Development Of New Drugs

This book focuses on how to appropriately plan and develop a Phase II program, and how to design Phase II clinical trials and analyze their data. It provides a comprehensive overview of the entire drug development process and highlights key questions that need to be addressed for the successful execution of Phase II, so as to increase its success in Phase III and for drug approval. Lastly it warns project team members of the common potential pitfalls and offers tips on how to avoid them.

Climate Change Adaptation In Africa: Fostering Resilience And Capacity To Adapt (climate Change Management)

Climate Change Adaptation In Africa: Fostering Resilience And Capacity To Adapt (climate Change Management)

This collection showcases experiences from research and field projects in climate change adaptation on the African continent. It includes a set of papers presented at a symposium held in Addis Abeba in February 2016, which brought together international experts to discuss “fostering African resilience and capacity to adapt.” The papers introduce a wide range of methodological approaches and practical case studies to show how climate change adaptation can be implemented in regions and countries across the continent. Responding to the need for more cross-sectoral interaction among the various stakeholders working in the field of climate change adaptation, the book fosters the exchange of information on best practices across the African continent.

Cardio-oncology: The Clinical Overlap Of Cancer And Heart Disease

Cardio-oncology: The Clinical Overlap Of Cancer And Heart Disease

Co-edited and written by an interdisciplinary team of experts in oncology and cardiology, this book is a clinically useful resource on these overlapping topics:

• Cardiac complications in patients receiving cancer therapy

• The treatment of cancer in patients with cardiovascular disease

• The treatment of cardiovascular disease in patients with cancer

When relevant to medical practice, epidemiology and basic science are also included in the discussion and each chapter is written by an oncologist and a cardiologist. Additionally, the chapters follow a similar format to make the book truly interdisciplinary, user-friendly, and clinically applicable to specialists and non-specialists who care for patients with both cancer and cardiovascular disease.

A Practical Guide To Sentiment Analysis

A Practical Guide To Sentiment Analysis

Sentiment analysis research has been started long back and recently it is one of the demanding research topics. Research activities on Sentiment Analysis in natural language texts and other media are gaining ground with full swing. But, till date, no concise set of factors has been yet defined that really affects how writers’ sentiment i.e., broadly human sentiment is expressed, perceived, recognized, processed, and interpreted in natural languages. The existing reported solutions or the available systems are still far from perfect or fail to meet the satisfaction level of the end users. The reasons may be that there are dozens of conceptual rules that govern sentiment and even there are possibly unlimited clues that can convey these concepts from realization to practical implementation. Therefore, the main aim of this book is to provide a feasible research platform to our ambitious researchers towards developing the practical solutions that will be indeed beneficial for our society, business and future researches as well.

The Great Unknown: Seven Journeys To The Frontiers Of Science

The Great Unknown: Seven Journeys To The Frontiers Of Science

A captivating journey to the outer reaches of human knowledge

Ever since the dawn of civilization we have been driven by a desire to know. But are there limits to human knowledge? Are some things beyond the predictive powers of science and the capacities of the human brain? Or are those challenges the next big discovery waiting to happen?

In The Great Unknown, one of the world’s most brilliant mathematicians takes us into the minds of science’s greatest innovators as he probes the many mysteries we have yet to solve. From the very large to the very small, from the distant future to the deep past, from the complexities of the human brain to the infinities of mathematics, Marcus du Sautoy invites us to join him on a journey to the seven frontiers of knowledge, the outer edges where scientists are actively grappling with the unknown. Can we locate consciousness in the brain? What is dark energy made of? Can we speak of time before the Big Bang? Is it possible to predict the future?

At once exhilarating and mind bending, The Great Unknown will challenge you to think in new ways about every aspect of the known world. Du Sautoy reminds us that major breakthroughs were often ridiculed at the time of their discovery and invites us to consider big questions—about who we are and the nature of God—that even the most creative scientists have yet to answer definitively.

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy For Chronic Pain: A Clinical Manual And Guide

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy For Chronic Pain: A Clinical Manual And Guide

This unique new guide integrates recent advances in the biopsychosocial understanding of chronic pain with state–of–the–art cognitive therapy and mindfulness techniques to offer a fresh, highly–effective MBCT approach to helping individuals manage chronic pain.

There is intense interest from clinicians, researchers and patients alike in mindfulness–based therapeutic techniques, and the integration of mindfulness theory and practice with CBT

Provides everything a therapist needs to integrate MBCT into their practice and optimize its delivery, including a manualized 8–session program and guidance on how to teach MBCT skills

Features case studies and real–world examples that help practitioners to avoid common pitfalls and optimize the delivery of MBCT for chronic pain for their own individual clients

Features links to guided meditations, client and therapist handouts and other powerful tools

Flavor, Satiety And Food Intake

Flavor, Satiety And Food Intake

This unique book provides a comprehensive review of the latest science on a key aspect of appetite control. It brings together contributions by leading researchers worldwide who approach this complex, multifaceted issue from a variety of differing perspectives, including those of food science, psychology, nutrition, and medicine, among others.

It is well known that products that require greater oral processing tend to be more sating. At the same time, the orosensory exposure hypothesis holds that flavor and texture in the mouth are critical in determining meal–size. They may act as key predictors of nutritional benefits and so promote better processing of foods. These two related ideas are at the forefront of current thinking on flavor–satiety interactions. Yet, until Flavor, Satiety and Food Intake no book has offered an integrated treatment of both concepts. The only single–source reference of its kind, it brings health professionals, product developers, and students up to speed on the latest thinking and practices in this fascinating and important area of research.

Provides readers with a unique and timely summary of critical recent developments in research on the impact of flavor on satiety

Explores a topic of central importance both for food professionals seeking to develop healthier products and health professionals concerned with obesity and over–eating

Brings together relevant topics from the fields of food science, psychology, nutrition and medicine

Flavor, Satiety and Food Intake provides product developers with valuable information on how to integrate sensory evaluation with product formulation and marketing. It will also serve as a useful resource for health professionals and is a must–read for students of a range of disciplines in which appetite and satiety are studied.

The Discovery Of The Self: A Study In Psychological Cure

The Discovery Of The Self: A Study In Psychological Cure

Elizabeth Severn, known as "R.N." in Sandor Ferenczi’s Clinical Diary, was Ferenczi’s analysand for eight years, the patient with whom he conducted his controversial experiment in mutual analysis, and a psychoanalyst in her own right who had a transformative influence on his work. The Discovery of the Self is the distillation of that experience and allows us to hear the voice of one of the most important patients in the history of psychoanalysis. However, Freud branded Severn Ferenczi’s "evil genius" and her name does not appear in Ernest Jones’s biography, so she has remained largely unknown until now. This book is a reissue of Severn’s landmark work of 1933, together with an introduction by Peter L. Rudnytsky that sets out the unrecognized importance of her thinking both for the development of psychoanalysis and for contemporary theory.

Inspired by the realization that Severn has embedded disguised case histories both of herself and of Ferenczi, as well as of her daughter Margaret, Rudnytsky shows how The Discovery of the Self contains "the other side of the story" of mutual analysis and is thus an indispensable companion volume to the Clinical Diary. A full partner in Ferenczi’s rehabilitation of trauma theory and champion of the view that the analyst must participate in the patient’s reliving of past experiences, Severn emerges as the most profound conduit for Ferenczi’s legacy in the United States, if not in the entire world.

Lacking any institutional credentials and once completely marginalized, Elizabeth Severn can at long last be given her due as a formidable psychoanalyst. Newly available for the first time in more than eighty years, The Discovery of the Self is simultaneously an engaging introduction to psychotherapy that will appeal to general readers as well as a sophisticated text to be savored by psychoanalytic scholars and clinicians as a "prequel" to the works of Heinz Kohut and a neglected classic of relational psychoanalysis.

The Wiley-blackwell Companion To Religion And Ecology

The Wiley-blackwell Companion To Religion And Ecology

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Ecology presents the first definitive overview of the latest developments in religious engagement with environmental issues throughout the world.

Offers a comprehensive overview of the latest thinking in the rapidly growing field of religion and ecology

Features newly–commissioned essays contributed by top scholars of diverse faiths and scientific traditions

Compares the religion–ecology interface in Christian (Western and Eastern), Islamic, Jewish, Buddhist, Daoist, and various indigenous peoples traditions

Provides an extensive spectrum of approaches religious, scientific, feminist, ethical, indigenous to relate religion and ecology to concrete contexts

Demonstrates the importance of religions contributions to discussions of pressing contemporary environmental and ecological issues and religions commitments to resolving these problems

Nanotechnology In Agriculture And Food Science

Nanotechnology In Agriculture And Food Science

A comprehensive overview of the current state of this highly relevant topic. An interdisciplinary team of researchers reports on the opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology in the agriculture and food sector, highlighting the scientific, technical, regulatory, safety, and societal impacts. They also discuss the perspectives for the future, and provide insights into ways of assuring safety so as to obtain confidence for the consumer, as well as an overview of the innovations and applications.

Essential reading for materials and agricultural scientists, food chemists and technologists, as well as toxicologists and ecotoxicologists.

Food Safety In China: Science, Technology, Management And Regulation

Food Safety In China: Science, Technology, Management And Regulation

From contaminated infant formula to a spate of all–too familiar headlines in recent years, food safety has emerged as one of the harsher realities behind China′s economic miracle. Tainted beef, horse meat and dioxin outbreaks in the western world have also put food safety in the global spotlight.

Food Safety in China: Science, Technology, Management and Regulation presents a comprehensive overview of the history and current state of food safety in China, along with emerging regulatory trends and the likely future needs of the country. Although the focus is on China, global perspectives are presented in the chapters and 33 of the 99 authors are from outside of China.

Timely and illuminating, this book offers invaluable insights into our understanding of a critical link in the increasingly globalized complex food supply chain of today′s world.

Microwave Materials And Applications, 2 Volume Set

Microwave Materials And Applications, 2 Volume Set

The recent rapid progress in wireless telecommunication, including the Internet of Things, 5th generation wireless systems, satellite broadcasting, and intelligent transport systems has increased the need for low–loss dielectric materials and modern fabrication techniques. These materials have excellent electrical, dielectric, and thermal properties and have enormous potential, especially in wireless communication, flexible electronics, and printed electronics.

Microwave Materials and Applications discusses the methods commonly employed for measuring microwave dielectric properties, the various attempts reported to solve problems of materials chemistry and crystal structure, doping, substitution, and composite formation, highlighting the processing techniques, morphology influences, and applications of microwave materials whilst summarizing many of the recent technical research accomplishments in the area of microwave dielectrics and applications

Chapters examine:

Oxide ceramics for dielectric resonators and substrates

HTCC, LTCC and ULTCC tapes for substrates

Polymer ceramic composites for printed circuit boards

Elastomer–ceramic composites for flexible electronics

Dielectric inks

EMI shielding materials

Microwave ferrites

A comprehensive Appendix presents the fundamental properties for more than 4000 low–loss dielectric ceramics, their composition, crystal structure, and their microwave dielectric properties.

Microwave Materials and Applications presents a comprehensive view of all aspects of microwave materials and applications, making it useful for scientists, industrialists, engineers, and students working on current and emerging applications of wireless communications and consumer electronics.

The Value Of Shame: Exploring A Health Resource In Cultural Contexts

The Value Of Shame: Exploring A Health Resource In Cultural Contexts

This volume combines empirical research-based and theoretical perspectives on shame in cultural contexts and from socio-culturally different perspectives, providing new insights and a more comprehensive cultural base for contemporary research and practice in the context of shame. It examines shame from a positive psychology perspective, from the angle of defining the concept as a psychological and cultural construct, and with regard to practical perspectives on shame across cultures.

The volume provides sound foundations for researchers and practitioners to develop new models, therapies and counseling practices to redefine and re-frame shame in a way that leads to strength, resilience and empowerment of the individual.

Social And Ecological System Dynamics

Social And Ecological System Dynamics

This book is a social―ecological system description and feedback analysis of the Lake Tana Basin, the headwater catchment of the Upper Blue Nile River. This basin is an important local, national, and international resource, and concern about its sustainable development is growing at many levels. Lake Tana Basin outflows of water, sediments, nutrients, and contaminants affect water that flows downstream in the Blue Nile across international boundaries into the Nile River; the lake and surrounding land have recently been proposed as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve; the basin has been designated as a key national economic growth corridor in the Ethiopian Growth and Transformation Plan. In spite of the Lake Tana Basin’s importance, there is no comprehensive, integrated, system-wide description of its characteristics and dynamics that can serve as a basis for its sustainable development. This book presents both the social and ecological characteristics of the region and an integrated, system-wide perspective of the feedback links that shape social and ecological change in the basin. Finally, it summarizes key research needs for sustainable development.

Science Year By Year: A Visual History, From Stone Tools To Space Travel

Science Year By Year: A Visual History, From Stone Tools To Space Travel

Packed with fascinating discoveries and facts, Science Year by Year takes kids on a fantastic visual journey through time, from stone tools and simple machines to rockets and robots.

Easy-to-follow illustrated timelines of pivotal scientific developments explore the ideas, experiments, and technologies that have shaped our daily lives over the past 2.5 million years. With more than 1,200 images, in-depth explanations of key inventors and innovations, quotes from groundbreaking scientists like Marie Curie, and stunning "moment in time" images of key events such as the first human landing on the moon, kids are sure to be amazed on every page. Young readers can learn about the early understanding of gravity, the discovery of dinosaur fossils, the first open heart surgery in human history, and much more.

Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution, Science Year by Year will fascinate kids as they go on an amazing journey through time, tracing key moments in the history of science and technology along the way.

Mvt: A Most Valuable Theorem

Mvt: A Most Valuable Theorem

This book is about the rise and supposed fall of the mean value theorem. It discusses the evolution of the theorem and the concepts behind it, how the theorem relates to other fundamental results in calculus, and modern re-evaluations of its role in the standard calculus course.

The mean value theorem is one of the central results of calculus. It was called “the fundamental theorem of the differential calculus” because of its power to provide simple and rigorous proofs of basic results encountered in a first-year course in calculus. In mathematical terms, the book is a thorough treatment of this theorem and some related results in the field; in historical terms, it is not a history of calculus or mathematics, but a case study in both.

MVT: A Most Valuable Theorem is aimed at those who teach calculus, especially those setting out to do so for the first time. It is also accessible to anyone who has finished the first semester of the standard course in the subject and will be of interest to undergraduate mathematics majors as well as graduate students. Unlike other books, the present monograph treats the mathematical and historical aspects in equal measure, providing detailed and rigorous proofs of the mathematical results and even including original source material presenting the flavour of the history.

The Role Of Heat Shock Proteins In Reproductive System Development And Function

The Role Of Heat Shock Proteins In Reproductive System Development And Function

Due to the paucity of reviews on this subject, this volume aims to be timely and promote additional basic and translational research on these proteins in reproductive system development and function within the fields of Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology. The breadth of the work being conducted within Reproduction is exemplified by the contributors to this series who will provide reviews on: Grp78 roles in female reproduction, small heat shock proteins/co-chaperones as players in uterine smooth muscle function, the role of heat shock proteins in sperm function and maternal contribution to oogenesis and early embryogenesis, heat shock factors and testes development, HSP90 in ovarian biology and pathology, and the role of HSP70 in regulation of autophagy in pregnancy and parturition.

Updates In Liver Cancer Ed. By Hesham Mohamed Abdeldayem

Updates In Liver Cancer Ed. By Hesham Mohamed Abdeldayem

This book provides state-of-the-art reviews on the current knowledge and advances in research and management of liver cancers. It includes the most recent advances in that field, particularly, hepatocarcinogenesis and the potential role of intestinal microbiota, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cancer stem cells, aldehyde dehydrogenase-1, and hepatitis B virus.

This book also discusses the methods of diagnosis of HCC, the minimally invasive therapies for liver cancers, living donor liver transplantation for HCC, surgical management of liver metastases from colorectal cancers, and assessment and optimization for the future liver remnant.

Preface

1 Introductory Chapter: Updates on the Management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

2 Intestinal Microbiota, Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: The Potential Role of Dysbiosis in the Hepatocarcinogenesis

3 Cancer Stem Cells and Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 1 in Liver Cancers

4 Lipid Metabolism in Liver Cancer

5 Hepatitis B Virus–Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Carcinogenesis, Prevention, and Treatment

6 Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

7 Onco-Surgical Management of Liver Metastases from Colorectal Cancer

8 Minimally Invasive Treatments for Liver Cancer

9 Assessment and Optimization of the Future Liver Remnant

10 Living Donor Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Physiologic And Pathologic Angiogenesis: Signaling Mechanisms And Targeted Therapy Ed. By Dan And Agneta. Simionescu

Physiologic And Pathologic Angiogenesis: Signaling Mechanisms And Targeted Therapy Ed. By Dan And Agneta. Simionescu

The purpose of this book is to highlight novel advances in the field and to incentivize scientists from a variety of fields to pursue angiogenesis as a research avenue. This book will become a source of inspiration and novel ideas for all.

Blood vessel formation and maturation to capillaries, arteries, or veins is a fascinating area which can appeal to multiple scientists, students, and professors alike.

Angiogenesis is relevant to medicine, engineering, pharmacology, and pathology and to the many patients suffering from blood vessel diseases and cancer, among others.

Preface

1 TGF-β Activation and Signaling in Angiogenesis

2 Role of Notch, SDF-1 and Mononuclear Cells Recruitment in Angiogenesis

3 Angiogenesis Meets Skeletogenesis: The Cross-Talk between Two Dynamic Systems

4 Corneal Angiogenesis: Etiologies, Complications, and Management

5 Angiogenesis-Related Factors in Early Pregnancy Loss

6 Pathogenic Angiogenic Mechanisms in Alzheimer's Disease

7 Hypoxia, Angiogenesis and Atherogenesis

8 Coronary Collateral Growth: Clinical Perspectives and Recent Insights

9 Angiogenesis and Cardiovascular Diseases: The Emerging Role of HDACs

10 Unique Phenotypes of Endothelial Cells in Developing Arteries: A Lesson from the Ductus Arteriosus

11 Vascular Repair and Remodeling: A Review

12 Tumor Angiogenesis: A Focus on the Role of Cancer Stem Cells

13 VEGF-Mediated Signal Transduction in Tumor Angiogenesis

14 Noncoding RNAs in Lung Cancer Angiogenesis

15 Recent Advances in Angiogenesis Assessment Methods and their Clinical Applications

16 Novel Methods to Study Angiogenesis Using Tissue Explants

17 Therapeutic Angiogenesis: Foundations and Practical Application

18 Platelet Lysate to Promote Angiogenic Cell Therapies

19 Anti-VEGF Therapy in Cancer: A Double-Edged Sword

20 Antiangiogenic Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

21 MCAM and its Isoforms as Novel Targets in Angiogenesis Research and Therapy

On The Time And Temperature Dependent Behaviour Of Laminated Amorphous Polymers Subjected To Low-velocity Impact

On The Time And Temperature Dependent Behaviour Of Laminated Amorphous Polymers Subjected To Low-velocity Impact

The thesis investigates a polymeric laminate consisting of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) experimentally and numerically with regard to its impact behaviour and applicability.

After a basic characterization of the monolithic materials, PMMA-TPU-PMMA laminates were subjected to impact loadings at velocities up to 5 m/s using threepoint bending and dart impact tests. Based on the experimental basis, different material models for the Finite Element simulation are presented, which are able to capture the time and temperature dependent behaviour of the laminate. Final validation experiments, consisting of head-dummy impacts at 10 m/s on automotive side windows, were conducted for PMMA and the laminate in order to investigate their applicability as glass substitution products.

Square Matrices Of Order 2: Theory, Applications, And Problems

Square Matrices Of Order 2: Theory, Applications, And Problems

This unique and innovative book presents an exciting and complete detail of all the important topics related to the theory of square matrices of order 2. The readers exploring every detailed aspect of matrix theory are gently led toward understanding advanced topics. They will follow every notion of matrix theory with ease, accumulating a thorough understanding of algebraic and geometric aspects of matrices of order 2. The prime jewel of this book is its offering of an unusual collection of problems, theoretically motivated, most of which are new, original, and seeing the light of publication for the first time in the literature. Nearly all of the exercises are presented with detailed solutions and vary in difficulty from easy to more advanced. Many problems are particularly challenging. These, and not only these, invite the reader to unleash their creativity and research capabilities and to discover their own methods of attacking a problem.

Matrices have a vast practical importance to mathematics, science, and engineering; therefore the readership of this book is intended to be broad: high school students wishing to learn the fundamentals of matrix theory, first year students who like to participate in mathematical competitions, graduate students who want to learn more about an application of a certain technique, doctoral students who are preparing for their prelim exams in linear algebra, and linear algebra instructors. Chapters 1–3 complement a standard linear algebra course. Pure and applied mathematicians who use matrix theory for their applications will find this book useful as a refresher. In fact, anyone who is willing to explore the methodologies discussed in this book and work through a collection of problems involving matrices of order 2 will be enriched.

Design And Control Of Highly Conductive Single-molecule Junctions: A Focus On The Metal-molecule Interface

Design And Control Of Highly Conductive Single-molecule Junctions: A Focus On The Metal-molecule Interface

This thesis describes improvements to and control of the electrical conductance in single-molecule junctions (SMJs), which have potential applications in molecular electronics, with a focus on the bonding between the metal and molecule. In order to improve the electrical conductance, the π orbital of the molecule is directly bonded to the metal orbital, because anchoring groups, which were typically used in other studies to bind molecule with metal electrodes, became resistive spacers. Using this direct π-binding, the author has successfully demonstrated highly conductive SMJs involving benzene, endohedral metallofullerene [email protected], and nitrogen. Subsequently, the author investigated control of the electrical conductance of SMJs using pyrazine. The nitrogen atom in the π-conjugated system of pyrazine was expected to function as an anchoring point, and two bonding states were expected. One originates primarily from the π orbital, while the other originates primarily from an n state of the nitrogen. Measurements of conductance and dI/dV spectra coupled with theoretical calculations revealed that the pyrazine SMJ has bistable conductance states, in which the pyrazine axis is either tilted or parallel with respect to the junction axis. The bistable states were switched by changing the gap size between the metal electrodes using an external force. Notably, it is difficult to change the electrical properties of bulk-state materials using mechanical force. The findings reveal that the electron transport properties of a SMJ can be controlled by designing a proper metal–molecule interface, which has considerable potential for molecular electronics. Moreover, this thesis will serve as a guideline for every step of SMJ research: design, fabrication, evaluation, and control.

Algorithms Of Estimation For Nonlinear Systems: A Differential And Algebraic Viewpoint

Algorithms Of Estimation For Nonlinear Systems: A Differential And Algebraic Viewpoint

This book acquaints readers with recent developments in dynamical systems theory and its applications, with a strong focus on the control and estimation of nonlinear systems.

Several algorithms are proposed and worked out for a set of model systems, in particular so-called input-affine or bilinear systems, which can serve to approximate a wide class of nonlinear control systems. These can either take the form of state space models or be represented by an input-output equation.

The approach taken here further highlights the role of modern mathematical and conceptual tools, including differential algebraic theory, observer design for nonlinear systems and generalized canonical forms.

Developments In Near-infrared Spectroscopy Ed. By Konstantinos G. Kyprianidis And Jan Skvaril

Developments In Near-infrared Spectroscopy Ed. By Konstantinos G. Kyprianidis And Jan Skvaril

This volume intends to cover recent developments in NIRS and provide a broad perspective of some of the challenges that characterize the field. The book comprises six chapters overall and covers several sectors. The target audience for this book includes engineers, practitioners, and researchers involved in NIRS system design and utilization in different applications.

Over the past few decades, exciting developments have taken place in the field of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). This has been enabled by the advent of robust Fourier transform interferometers and diode array solutions, coupled with complex chemometric methods that can easily be executed using modern microprocessors.

Preface

1 The NIRS Cap: Key Part of Emerging Wearable Brain-Device Interfaces

2 Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS): A Novel Tool for Intravascular Coronary Imaging

3 Highly Sensitive Singlet Oxygen Spectroscopic System Using InGaAs PIN Photodiode

4 Carbohydrate Analysis by NIRS-Chemometrics

5 Using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Agricultural Systems

6 Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Multivariate Tools for Analysis of Trace Metals in Environmental Matrices

Bariatric Surgical Practice Guide: Recommendations

Bariatric Surgical Practice Guide: Recommendations

This book provides a comprehensive review of literature of various aspects of bariatric surgery arriving at practical recommendations for simplifying day to day practice. This book is divided into 10 sections covering selection of patient, preoperative predictors of outcome, technical considerations, specific situations, post-operative pathways, management of complications, revisional surgery, and perioperative nutritional aspects. It covers specific situations in bariatric surgery such as GERD, hernia repair, gallstone disease, PCOD, NAFLD and end-organ disease.

Bariatric Surgical Practice Guide is a quick resource for practicing bariatric surgeons, young and experienced, to understand all practical aspects of this surgery which is gaining importance worldwide at a rapid pace. Recommendations are based on existing literature as well as opinions of the authors who work at state-of-the-art clinical facilities.

D.d. Kosambi: Selected Works In Mathematics And Statistics

D.d. Kosambi: Selected Works In Mathematics And Statistics

This book fills an important gap in studies on D. D. Kosambi. For the first time, the mathematical work of Kosambi is described, collected and presented in a manner that is accessible to non-mathematicians as well. A number of his papers that are difficult to obtain in these areas are made available here. In addition, there are essays by Kosambi that have not been published earlier as well as some of his lesser known works. Each of the twenty four papers is prefaced by a commentary on the significance of the work, and where possible, extracts from technical reviews by other mathematicians.

Digital Methods And Remote Sensing In Archaeology: Archaeology In The Age Of Sensing

Digital Methods And Remote Sensing In Archaeology: Archaeology In The Age Of Sensing

​​​This volume debuts the new scope of Remote Sensing, which was first defined as the analysis of data collected by sensors that were not in physical contact with the objects under investigation (using cameras, scanners, and radar systems operating from spaceborne or airborne platforms). A wider characterization is now possible: Remote Sensing can be any non-destructive approach to viewing the buried and nominally invisible evidence of past activity. Spaceborne and airborne sensors, now supplemented by laser scanning, are united using ground-based geophysical instruments and undersea remote sensing, as well as other non-invasive techniques such as surface collection or field-walking survey. Now, any method that enables observation of evidence on or beneath the surface of the earth, without impact on the surviving stratigraphy, is legitimately within the realm of Remote Sensing. ​The new interfaces and senses engaged in Remote Sensing appear throughout the book. On a philosophical level, this is about the landscapes and built environments that reveal history through place and time. It is about new perspectives―the views of history possible with Remote Sensing and fostered in part by immersive, interactive 3D and 4D environments discussed in this volume. These perspectives are both the result and the implementation of technological, cultural, and epistemological advances in record keeping, interpretation, and conceptualization. Methodology presented here builds on the current ease and speed in collecting data sets on the scale of the object, site, locality, and landscape. As this volume shows, many disciplines surrounding archaeology and related cultural studies are currently involved in Remote Sensing, and its relevance will only increase as the methodology expands.

Truth, Objects, Infinity: New Perspectives On The Philosophy Of Paul Benacerraf

Truth, Objects, Infinity: New Perspectives On The Philosophy Of Paul Benacerraf

This volume features essays about and by Paul Benacerraf, whose ideas have circulated in the philosophical community since the early nineteen sixties, shaping key areas in the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, the philosophy of logic, and epistemology. The book started as a workshop held in Paris at the Collège de France in May 2012 with the participation of Paul Benacerraf. The introduction addresses the methodological point of the legitimate use of so-called “Princess Margaret Premises” in drawing philosophical conclusions from Gödel’s first incompleteness theorem. The book is then divided into three sections. The first is devoted to an assessment of the improved version of the original dilemma of “Mathematical Truth” due to Hartry Field: the challenge to the platonist is now to explain the reliability of our mathematical beliefs given the very subject matter of mathematics, either pure or applied. The second addresses the issue of the ontological status of numbers: Frege’s logicism, fictionalism, structuralism, and Bourbaki’s theory of structures are called up for an appraisal of Benacerraf’s negative conclusions of “What Numbers Could Not Be.” The third is devoted to supertasks and bears witness to the unique standing of Benacerraf’s first publication: “Tasks, Super-Tasks, and Modern Eleatics” in debates on Zeno’s paradox and associated paradoxes, infinitary mathematics, and constructivism and finitism in the philosophy of mathematics.

Two yet unpublished essays by Benacerraf have been included in the volume: an early version of “Mathematical Truth” from 1968 and an essay on “What Numbers Could Not Be” from the mid 1970’s. A complete chronological bibliography of Benacerraf’s work to 2016 is provided.

Essays by Jody Azzouni, Paul Benacerraf, Justin Clarke-Doane, Sébastien Gandon, Brice Halimi, Jon Pérez Laraudogoitia, Mary Leng, Antonio León-Sánchez and Ana C. León-Mejía, Marco Panza, Fabrice Pataut, Philippe de Rouilhan, Andrea Sereni, and Stewart Shapiro.

Plant-microbe Interaction: An Approach To Sustainable Agriculture

Plant-microbe Interaction: An Approach To Sustainable Agriculture

The book addresses current public concern about the adverse effect of agrochemicals and their effect on the agro-ecosystem. This book also aims to satisfy and contribute to the increasing interest in understanding the co-operative activities among microbial populations and their interaction with plants. It contains chapters on a variety of interrelated aspects of plant-microbe interactions with a single theme of stress management and sustainable agriculture. The book will be very useful for students, academicians, researcher working on plant-microbe interaction and also for policy makers involved in food security and sustainable agriculture.

Combating Desertification And Land Degradation: Spatial Strategies Using Vegetation

Combating Desertification And Land Degradation: Spatial Strategies Using Vegetation

This book reports an approach developed to research and apply methods of assessing patterns of processes in the landscape, and suitability of different types of vegetation to mitigate soil erosion and sediment flux. Practical guidelines on a spatially strategic approach to management of land degradation at a range of spatial scales were produced. Originally developed for the Mediterranean environment, it has much wider potential global application. It provides researchers with methods to acquire the knowledge necessary for such an approach and provides practitioners with guidance on implementation and benefits of targeted methods of soil erosion control. It includes substantial information about processes and vegetation in the Mediterranean environment and the species effectiveness in soil erosion control.

Science Fiction By Scientists: An Anthology Of Short Stories

Science Fiction By Scientists: An Anthology Of Short Stories

This anthology contains fourteen intriguing stories by active research scientists and other writers trained in science.

Science is at the heart of real science fiction, which is more than just westerns with ray guns or fantasy with spaceships. The people who do science and love science best are scientists. Scientists like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Fred Hoyle wrote some of the legendary tales of golden age science fiction. Today there is a new generation of scientists writing science fiction informed with the expertise of their fields, from astrophysics to computer science, biochemistry to rocket science, quantum physics to genetics, speculating about what is possible in our universe. Here lies the sense of wonder only science can deliver. All the stories in this volume are supplemented by afterwords commenting on the science underlying each story.

Graptolite Paleobiology

Graptolite Paleobiology

The graptolites constitute one of the geologically most useful taxonomic groups of fossils for dating rock successions, understanding paleobiogeography and reconstructing plate tectonic configurations in the Lower Palaeozoic. Graptolites were largely planktic, marine organisms, and as one of the first groups that explored the expanses of the world s oceans are vital for understanding Palaeozoic ecology. They are the best and often the only fossil group for dating Lower Palaeozoic rock successions precisely. Thousands of taxa have been described from all over the planet and are used for a wide variety of geological and palaeontological (biological) research topics. The recent recognition of the modern pterobranch Rhabdopleura as a living benthic graptolite enables a much better understanding and interpretation of the fossil Graptolithina.

In the decades since the latest edition of the Graptolite Treatise, the enormous increase of knowledge on this group of organisms has never been synthesised in a compelling and coherent way, and information is scattered in scientific publications and difficult to sort through. This volume provides an up–to–date insight into research on graptolites. Such research has advanced considerably with the use of new methods of investigation and documentation. SEM investigation and research on ultrastructure of the tubaria has made it possible to compare extant and extinct taxa in much more detail. Cladistic interpretation of graptolite taxonomy and evolution has advanced the understanding of this group of organisms considerably in the last two decades, and has highlighted their importance in our understanding of evolutionary processes. This book will show graptolites, including their modern, living relatives, in a quite new and fascinating light, and will demonstrate the impact that the group has had on the evolution of the modern marine ecosystem.

This book is aimed not only at earth scientists but also at biologists, ecologists and oceanographers. It is a readable and comprehensible volume for students at the MSc level, while remaining accessible to undergraduates and non–specialists seeking up–to–date information about this fascinating topic in palaeobiology.

Shrinking Cities And First Suburbs: The Case Of Detroit And Warren, Michigan

Shrinking Cities And First Suburbs: The Case Of Detroit And Warren, Michigan

This book examines Warren, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, as a shrinking city facing a crisis of economic downturn, automotive restructuring, high unemployment, and real estate foreclosures. The author explores Warren’s attempt to develop planning strategies, culturally-based initiatives, community design projects, and creative partnerships in the region in order to address the challenges of shrinkage and foreclosures at multiple scales. Global urban development is currently characterized by varied combination of metropolitan growth and urban core shrinkage. While much of the shrinkage is concentrated in central cities, first suburbs are now facing the same problem. The Warren case illustrates opportunities for flexible policies combining rightsizing, shared maintenance, and incremental development in struggling first suburban communities, which are less studied and often ignored.

Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption In American Archaeology

Foreign Objects: Rethinking Indigenous Consumption In American Archaeology

Brass tinklers and pendants. Owl effigies, copper kettles, crucifixes with blue glass stones. What do they have in common? The answer spans thousands of years and a multitude of peoples and places, and reveals how people made sense of their world as they collected and used the objects they encountered.

Foreign Objects demonstrates the breadth and vibrancy of contemporary archaeology. Taking a broad set of archaeological cases from across the Americas, editor Craig N. Cipolla and the volume contributors explore how indigenous communities have socialized foreign objects over time. The book critiques the artificial divide between prehistory and history, studying instead the long-term indigenous histories of consumption, a term typically associated with capitalism and modern-world colonialism.

The case studies range from “exotic” stone tools used millennia ago to nineteenth-century patent medicines made and marketed by an Indian doctress. Foreign Objects focuses on how indigenous groups and foreign objects became entangled with one another in myriad ways. The book explores how the framework of consumption can shed new light on trade, exchange, materiality, and cultural production.

Contributors place foreign objects in the spotlight and offer a comparison of how this general class of material played a part in indigenous and colonial worlds. Each chapter illustrates how notions of consumption fit into their place in time and also delves into how foreign objects related to ideas of the body and personhood, how people used them to participate in political and spiritual worlds, and how they presented new ways of enduring or resisting European colonialism and capitalism. Foreign Objects is a critical look at consumption through the lens of indigenous knowledge and archaeological theory.

Ultrasound: Food Applications

Ultrasound: Food Applications

Part I: Fundamentals of ultrasound

This part will cover the main basic principles of ultrasound generation and propagation and those phenomena related to low and high intensity ultrasound applications. The mechanisms involved in food analysis and process monitoring and in food process intensification will be shown.

Part II: Low intensity ultrasound applications

Low intensity ultrasound applications have been used for non–destructive food analysis as well as for process monitoring. Ultrasonic techniques, based on velocity, attenuation or frequency spectrum analysis, may be considered as rapid, simple, portable and suitable for on–line measurements. Although industrial applications of low–intensity ultrasound, such as meat carcass evaluation, have been used in the food industry for decades, this section will cover the most novel applications, which could be considered as highly relevant for future application in the food industry. Chapters addressing this issue will be divided into three subsections: (1) food control, (2) process monitoring, (3) new trends.

Part III: High intensity ultrasound applications

High intensity ultrasound application constitutes a way to intensify many food processes. However, the efficient generation and application of ultrasound is essential to achieving a successful effect. This part of the book will begin with a chapter dealing with the importance of the design of efficient ultrasonic application systems. The medium is essential to achieve efficient transmission, and for that reason the particular challenges of applying ultrasound in different media will be addressed.

The next part of this section constitutes an up–to–date vision of the use of high intensity ultrasound in food processes. The chapters will be divided into four sections, according to the medium in which the ultrasound vibration is transmitted from the transducers to the product being treated. Thus, solid, liquid, supercritical and gas media have been used for ultrasound propagation. Previous books addressing ultrasonic applications in food processing have been based on the process itself, so chapters have been divided in mass and heat transport, microbial inactivation, etc. This new book will propose a revolutionary overview of ultrasonic applications based on (in the authors opinion) the most relevant factor affecting the efficiency of ultrasound applications: the medium in which ultrasound is propagated. Depending on the medium, ultrasonic phenomena can be completely different, but it also affects the complexity of the ultrasonic generation, propagation and application.

In addition, the effect of high intensity ultrasound on major components of food, such as proteins, carbohydrates and lipids will be also covered, since this type of information has not been deeply studied in previous books.

Other aspects related to the challenges of food industry to incorporate ultrasound devices will be also considered. This point is also very important since, in the last few years, researchers have made huge efforts to integrate fully automated and efficient ultrasound systems to the food production lines but, in some cases, it was not satisfactory. In this sense, it is necessary to identify and review the main related problems to efficiently produce and transmit ultrasound, scale–up, reduce cost, save energy and guarantee the production of safe, healthy and high added value foods.

The Orthopedic Consult Survival Guide

The Orthopedic Consult Survival Guide

This is a quick-reference resource covering the most common acute orthopedic injuries. Including bulleted text and easy-to-follow algorithms, protocols, and images, this “pocket consultant” provides the most up-to-date information when you need it most. Organized anatomically for fast reference, each chapter is broken down into the most common and most serious injuries with tips on how to evaluate and treat adult and pediatric patients. Each injury pattern discussed includes a brief description covering what to ask, what to bring, what to request, what to test, what to look for, and how to further evaluate. The contributing authors are senior orthopedic surgery residents at a major Level-1 Trauma Center who have experience managing a high volume of orthopedic injuries and who have trained many young residents.

Covering all aspects of acute care, The Orthopedic Consult Survival Guide is an indispensable tool for medical students, residents, fellows, attendings , and affiliated providers in orthopedic surgery, emergency medicine, and surgery caring for orthopedic patients in emergency rooms, urgent care centers, and primary practice settings.

Immunogenetics Of Fungal Diseases

Immunogenetics Of Fungal Diseases

This book provides up-to-date information on immunogenetics of fungal diseases in the context of primary and acquired immunodeficiencies. Different aspects of this emerging field are covered, including epidemiology of fungal diseases, innate and adaptive antifungal immunity, and the role of immunogenetics in defining susceptibility to fungal diseases in primary (CMC, CGD, etc.) immunodeficiencies and hematologic patients. The available information will also be discussed in the scope of new biomarker discovery and development of immunotherapeutic approaches for personalized diagnostics and therapy. The book addresses Professors, researchers and advanced students of Medicine, Immunology, Microbiology and Genetics.

Recombinant Virus Vaccines

Recombinant Virus Vaccines

This volume provides readers with methods and protocols for understanding the development of recombinant viruses and their use as vaccines platforms. Recombinant Virus Vaccines: Methods and Protocols details the use of recombinant vaccines that are employed to either produce immunogens in vitro or elicit antibody production in vivo. The chapters in this book are divided into four parts: Part I explores double-stranded DNA viruses; Part II discusses negative sense single-stranded RNA viruses; Part III talks about positive sense single-stranded RNA viruses; and Part IV describes bacteriophages. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.

Thorough and cutting-edge, Recombinant Virus Vaccines: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for scientists and clinicians who are interested in learning about and adopting methods for use in basic and biomedical research directed toward generating and developing recombinant viral vaccines.

Standing Together In Troubled Times: Unpublished Letters Of Pauli, Einstein, Franck And Others

Standing Together In Troubled Times: Unpublished Letters Of Pauli, Einstein, Franck And Others

This captivating book is a story of the friendship between a genius physicist Wolfgang Pauli and Charlotte Houtermans whose career in physics was not as glamorous. They met in the late 1920s in Germany, at the very onset of the quantum era and personally knew all the major players in the emergent quantum world that was very much part of central Europe: Germany, Austria, Hungary, Denmark and Switzerland. And Charlotte was a student at Göttingen that was right at the heart.Caught between two evils Soviet Communism and German National Socialism she would have probably perished if it were not for the brotherhood of physicists: Niels Bohr, Wolfgang Pauli, Albert Einstein, James Franck, Max Born, Robert Oppenheimer and many other noted scientists who tried to save friends and colleagues (either leftist sympathizers or Jews) who were in mortal danger of being entrapped in a simmering pre-WWII Europe.Using newly discovered documents from the Houtermans family archive: twenty three Pauli's letters to Charlotte Houtermans, her correspondence with other great physicists, Charlotte's diaries, interviews with her children, almost all documents presented in this book are published for the first time.

Heteronuclear Efimov Scenario In Ultracold Quantum Gases

Heteronuclear Efimov Scenario In Ultracold Quantum Gases

This thesis represents a decisive breakthrough in our understanding of the physics of universal quantum-mechanical three-body systems.

The Efimov scenario is a prime example of how fundamental few-body physics features universally across seemingly disparate fields of modern quantum physics. Initially postulated for nuclear physics more than 40 years ago, the Efimov effect has now become a new research paradigm not only in ultracold atomic gases but also in molecular, biological and condensed matter systems. Despite a lot of effort since its first observations, the scaling behavior, which is a hallmark property and often referred to as the “holy grail” of Efimov physics, remained hidden until recently. In this work, the author demonstrates this behavior for the first time for a heteronuclear mixture of ultracold Li and Cs atoms, and pioneers the experimental understanding of microscopic, non-universal properties in such systems. Based on the application of Born-Oppenheimer approximation, well known from molecular physics textbooks, an exceptionally clear and intuitive picture of heteronuclear Efimov physics is revealed.

Life And Death Decisions In The Clinical Setting: Moral Decision Making Through Dialogic Consensus

Life And Death Decisions In The Clinical Setting: Moral Decision Making Through Dialogic Consensus

This book moves away from the frameworks that have traditionally guided ethical decision-making in the Western clinical setting, towards an inclusive, non-coercive and, reflective dialogic approach to moral decision-making. Inspired in part by Jürgen Habermas’s discourse theory of morality and principles of communicative action, the book offers a proportionist approach as a way of balancing out the wisdom in traditional frameworks, set in the actual reality of the clinical situation at hand. Putting this approach into practice requires having a conversation, a dialogue or a discourse, with collaboration amongst all the stakeholders. The aim of the dialogue is to reach consensus in the decision, via mutual understanding of the values held by the patient and others whom they see as significant. This book aims to underscore the moral philosophical foundations for having a meaningful conversation. Life and Death Decision in the Clinical Setting is especially relevant in our contemporary era, characterised medically by an ever-increasing armamentarium of life-sustaining technology, but also by increasing multiculturalism, a multiplicity of faiths, and increasing value pluralism.

Artistic Visions And The Promise Of Beauty: Cross-cultural Perspectives

Artistic Visions And The Promise Of Beauty: Cross-cultural Perspectives

This volume examines the motives behind rejections of beauty often found within contemporary art practice, where much critically acclaimed art is deliberately ugly and alienating. It reflects on the nature and value of beauty, asking whether beauty still has a future in art and what role it can play in our lives generally. The volume discusses the possible “end of art,” what art is, and the relation between art and beauty beyond their historically Western horizons to include perspectives from Asia.

The individual chapters address a number of interrelated issues, including: art, beauty and the sacred; beauty as a source of joy and consolation; beauty as a bridge between the natural and the human; beauty and the human form; the role of curatorial practice in defining art; order and creativity; and the distinction between art and craft. The volume offers a valuable addition to cross-cultural dialogue and, in particular, to the sparse literature on art and beauty in comparative context. It demonstrates the relevance of the rich tradition of Asian aesthetics and the vibrant practices of contemporary art in Asia to Western discussions about the future of art and the role of beauty.

Healthcare, Frugal Innovation, And Professional Voluntarism: A Cost-benefit Analysis

Healthcare, Frugal Innovation, And Professional Voluntarism: A Cost-benefit Analysis

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

This book investigates what international placements of healthcare employees in low resource settings add to the UK workforce and the efficacy of its national health system. The authors present empirical data collected from a volunteer deployment project in Uganda focused on reducing maternal and new-born mortality and discuss the learning and experiential outcomes for UK health care professionals acting as long term volunteers in low resource settings. They also develop a model for structured placement that offers optimal learning and experiential outcomes and minimizes risk, while shedding new light on the role that international placements play as part of continuing professional development both in the UK and in other sending countries.

How To Rethink Mental Illness: The Human Contexts Behind The Labels

How To Rethink Mental Illness: The Human Contexts Behind The Labels

The world of mental illness is typically framed around symptoms and cures, where every client is given a label. In this challenging new book, Professor Bernard Guerin provides a fresh alternative to considering these issues, based in interdisciplinary social sciences and discourse analysis rather than medical studies or cognitive metaphors.

A timely and articulate challenge to mainstream approaches, Guerin asks the reader to observe the ecological contexts for behavior rather than diagnose symptoms, to find new ways to understand and help those experiencing mental distress. This book shows the reader:

how we attribute ‘mental illness’ to someone’s behavior

why we call some forms of suffering ‘mental’ but not others

what Western diagnoses look like when you strip away the theory and categories

why psychiatry and psychology appeared for the first time at the start of modernity

the relationship between capitalism and modern ideas of ‘mental illness’

why it seems that women, the poor and people of Indigenous and non-Western backgrounds have worse ‘mental health’

how we can rethink the ‘hearing of voices’ more ecologically

how self-identity has evolved historically

how thinking arises from our social contexts rather than from inside our heads.

Offering solutions rather than theory to develop a new ‘post-internal’ psychology, How to Rethink Mental Illness will be essential reading for every mental health professional, as well as anyone who has either experienced a mental illness themselves, or helped a friend or family member who has.

The Colt 1911 Pistol (Osprey Weapon 9)

Download The Colt 1911 Pistol (Osprey Weapon 9) First used in combat during the Punitive Expedition into Me...