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Onto-Cartography gives an unapologetic defense of naturalism and materialism, transforming these familiar positions and showing how culture itself is formed by nature. Bryant endorses a pan-ecological theory of being, arguing that societies are ecosystems that can only be understood by considering nonhuman material agencies such as rivers and mountain ranges alongside signifying agencies such as discourses, narratives and ideologies. In this way, Bryant lays the foundations for a new machine-oriented ontology. This theoretically omnivorous work draws on disciplines as diverse as deconstruction, psychoanalysis, Marxism, media studies, object-oriented ontology, the new materialist feminisms, actor-network theory, biology and sociology. Through its fresh attention to nonhumans and material being, it also provides a framework for integrating the most valuable findings of critical theory and social constructivism.

From one end of his philosophical work to the other, Gilles Deleuze consistently described his position as a transcendental empiricism. But just what is transcendental about Deleuze's transcendental empiricism? And how does his position fit with the traditional empiricism articulated by Hume? In Difference and Givenness, Levi Bryant addresses these long-neglected questions so critical to an understanding of Deleuze's thinking. Through a close examination of Deleuze's independent work--focusing especially on Difference and Repetition--as well as his engagement with thinkers such as Kant, Maïmon, Bergson, and Simondon, Bryant sets out to unearth Deleuze's transcendental empiricism and to show how it differs from transcendental idealism, absolute idealism, and traditional empiricism. What emerges from these efforts is a metaphysics that strives to articulate the conditions for real existence, capable of accounting for the individual itself without falling into conceptual or essentialist abstraction. In Bryant's analysis, Deleuze's metaphysics articulates an account of being as process or creative individuation based on difference, as well as a challenging critique--and explanation--of essentialist substance ontologies. A clear and powerful discussion of how Deleuze's project relates to two of the most influential strains in the history of philosophy, this book will prove essential to anyone seeking to understand Deleuze's thought and its specific contribution to metaphysics and epistemology.

Sharply intelligent, often personal reflections on the global crises of 2020 that are still ongoing By all accounts, 2020 was the longest year in recent memory, as people in the United States and across the globe careened from one unfolding catastrophe to another. The consequences of this devastating year are sure to impact the planet for decades, if not centuries, to come. This collection considers the question of that long 2020 from the perspective of the lived experience of the year, its long and deep roots in various human and nonhuman pasts, and the transformation of our sense of the future.The Long 2020 assembles a strikingly interdisciplinary group of scholars and thinkers to address how the many crises of 2020—epidemiological, political, ecological, and social—have unfolded, examining both their origins as well as their ongoing effects. The contributors address questions of time, history, and scale as they have played out, and continue to play out; the relationship between home and environment, with a focus on architecture, breathing, and human–nonhuman relations; and the experience of cultural, political, and social life, deploying cultural and political theory to explore questions of race, gender and sexuality, and democracy.The global pandemic has still not abated, reflecting the need to rethink our interrelatedness to viruses and other species. In bringing together this diverse group of authors, The Long 2020 offers a variety of perspectives on the impacts of that fraught year, the effects of which continue to permeate daily life.Contributors: Stacy Alaimo, U of Oregon; Elisabeth Anker, George Washington U; Janelle Baker, Athabasca U, Alberta, Canada; Daniel A. Barber, U of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design; Adia Benton, Northwestern U; Levi R. Bryant, Collin College; Beatriz Colomina, Princeton U; William E. Connolly, Johns Hopkins U; Cary Gabriel Costello, U of Wisconsin–Milwaukee; Megan Craig, Stony Brook U; Wai Chee Dimock, Harvard U; Paulla Ebron, Stanford U; Nirmala Erevelles, U of Alabama; Roderick A. Ferguson, Yale U; Rosa E. Ficek, U of Puerto Rico at Cayey; Stefanie Fishel, U of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland; Jonathan Flatley, Wayne State U; Jennifer Gabrys, U of Cambridge; David Gissen, Parsons School of Design and the New School, New York; Dehlia Hannah, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts; Karen Ho, U of Minnesota; Bonnie Honig, Brown U; Frédéric Keck, Laboratory of Social Anthropology (CNRS Paris); Eben Kirksey, Deakin Institute in Melbourne, Australia; Bernard C. Perley, U of British Columbia, Vancouver; Tom Rademacher; Renya Ramirez, U of California, Santa Cruz; Zoe Todd (Métis); Anna Tsing, U of California, Santa Cruz; Sarah E. Vaughn, U of California, Berkeley; Rebecca Wanzo, Washington U; McKenzie Wark, Eugene Lang College, New York City.

One of the fifty most influential living philosophers, a “self-promoting charlatan” (Brian Leiter), and the orchestrator of an “online orgy of stupidity” (Ray Brassier). In Skirmishes: With Friends, Enemies, and Neutrals, Graham Harman responds with flair and wit to some of his best-known critics and fellow travelers. Pulling no punches, Harman gives a masterclass in philosophical argumentation by dissecting, analyzing, and countering their criticism, be it from the Husserlian, Heideggerian, or Derridean corner. At the same time, Skirmishes provides an excellent introduction to the hottest debates in Speculative Realism and Object-Oriented Ontology, a speculative style of philosophy long foreclosed by the biases of mainstream continental thought, but which has turned in recent years into one of the most encompassing philosophies of our time, with a major impact on the arts, humanities, and architecture. Part One considers four prominent books on speculative realism. In dialogue with Tom Sparrow's The End of Phenomenology, Harman expresses agreement with Sparrow's critique while taking issue with Lee Braver's “transgressive realism” as not realist enough. Turning to Steven Shaviro's The Universe of Things, Harman defends his own object-oriented model against Shaviro's brand of process philosophy, while also engaging in side-debate with Levi R. Bryant's distinction between virtual proper being and local manifestations. In the third chapter, on Peter Gratton's Speculative Realism: Problems and Prospects, Harman opposes the author's attempt to use Derridean notions of time and difference against Speculative Realism, in what amounts to his most extensive engagement with Derrida to date. Chapter Four gives us Harman's response to Peter Wolfendale's massive polemic in Object-Oriented Philosophy, which he shows is based on a failed criticism of Harman's reading of Heidegger and a grumpy commitment to rationalist kitsch. Part Two responds to a series of briefer criticisms of object-oriented ontology. When Alberto Toscano accuses Harman and Bruno Latour of “neo-monadological” and anti-scientific thinking, Harman responds that the philosophical factors pushing Leibniz into monadology are still valid today. When Christopher Norris mocks Harman for seeing merit in the occasionalist school, he shows why Norris's middle-of-the-road scientific realism misses the point. In response to Dan Zahavi's contention that phenomenology has little to learn from speculative realism, Harman exposes the holes in Zahavi's reasoning. In a final response, Harman gives a point-by-point answer to Stephen Mulhall's critical foray in the London Review of Books. Amidst these lively debates, Harman sheds new light on what he regards as the central bias of philosophical modernism, which he terms the taxonomical standpoint. It is a book sure to provoke lively controversy among both friends and foes of object-oriented thought.

Of all the topics of interest in the digital humanities, the network has received comparatively little attention. We live in a networked society: texts, sounds, ideas, people, consumerism, protest movements, politics, entertainment, academia, and other items circulate in and through networks that come together and break apart at various moments. In these interactions, data sets of all sorts are formed, or at the least, are latent. Such data affect what the humanities is or might be. While there exist networked spaces of interaction for digital humanities work, considering in more detail how networks affect traditional and future goals of humanistic inquiry is a timely pursuit. Networked Humanities: Within and Without the University takes up this issue as a volume of collected work that asks these questions: Have the humanities sufficiently addressed the ways its various forms of work, as networks, affect other networks, within and outside of the university? What might a networked digital humanities be, or what is it currently if it does, indeed, exist? Can an understanding of the humanities as a series of networks affect--positively or negatively--the ways publics perceive humanities research, pedagogy, and mission? In addressing these questions, Networked Humanities offers both a critical and timely contribution to the spacious present and potential future of the digital humanities, both within academe and beyond. Contributors include Neil Baird, Jenny Bay, Casey Boyle, James J. Brown, Jr., Levi R. Bryant, Naomi Clark, Bradley Dilger, Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Paul Gestwicki, Tarez Samra Graban, Jeffrey T. Grabill, Laurie Gries, Byron Hawk, John Jones, Nate Kreuter, Devoney Looser, Rudy McDaniel, Derek Mueller, Liza Potts, Jeff Pruchnic, Jim Ridolfo, Nathaniel Rivers, Jillian J. Sayre, Lars Söderlund, Clay Spinuzzi, and Kathleen Blake Yancey.

In 1961, when Franco Basaglia arrived outside the grim walls of the Gorizia asylum, on the Italian border with Yugoslavia, it was a place of horror, a Bedlam for the mentally sick and excluded, redolent of Basaglia's own wartime experience inside a fascist gaol. Patients were frequently restrained for long periods, and therapy was largely a matter of electric and insulin shocks. The corridors stank, and for many of the interned the doors were locked for life. This was a concentration camp, not a hospital.Basaglia, the new Director, was expected to practise all the skills of oppression in which he had been schooled, but he would have none of this. The place had to be closed down by opening it up from the inside, bringing freedom and democracy to the patients, the nurses and the psychiatrists working in that'total institution'.Inspired by the writings of authors such as Primo Levi, R. D. Laing, Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault and Frantz Fanon, and the practices of experimental therapeutic communities in the UK, Basaglia's seminal work as a psychiatrist and campaigner in Gorizia, Parma and Trieste fed into and substantially contributed to the national and international movement of 1968. In 1978 a law was passed (the'Basaglia law') which sanctioned the closure of the entire Italian asylum system.The first comprehensive study of this revolutionary approach to mental health care, The Man Who Closed the Asylums is a gripping account of one of the most influential movements in twentiethcentury psychiatry, which helped to transform the way we see mental illness. Basaglia's work saved countless people from a miserable existence, and his legacy persists, as an object lesson in the struggle against the brutality and ignorance that the establishment peddles to the public as common sense.

Find inspiration for a satisfying spiritual life of practice through the combination of contemporary mindfulness meditation and classical Hasidic spirituality.'The lessons in Kedushat Levi were not originally intended as intellectual curiosities or as demonstrations of R. Levi Yitzhak's brilliance. They were meant to inspire religious passion and deeper spiritual practice. I believe that these teachings will come to life in us when we bring them into our lives in practice.'—from the IntroductionThe soul yearns to feel connected to something greater and to know happiness despite personal suffering and seemingly endless need. Surprisingly, the perspectives of the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Hasidic spiritual teachers offer a radically different Jewish theology that speaks directly to today's spiritual seekers whose faith has been shattered by both modernity and the Holocaust. These masters taught of interdependence, interconnectedness, selflessness, service and joy, anticipating the insights of contemporary science and twenty-first-century spirituality.Bringing together the teachings of beloved Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev (1740–1809) and the practice of mindfulness meditation, Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater reveals a new entrance into Jewish spiritual life. Covering the Five Books of Moses, these two volumes present accessible translations of selections from Kedushat Levi, R. Levi Yitzhak's Hasidic Torah commentary, which emphasizes our spiritual capacity to transform consciousness and so our life experience. The selections are paired with Rabbi Slater's commentaries to illuminate their message.

Find inspiration for a satisfying spiritual life of practice through the combination of contemporary mindfulness meditation and classical Hasidic spirituality.'The lessons in Kedushat Levi were not originally intended as intellectual curiosities or as demonstrations of R. Levi Yitzhak's brilliance. They were meant to inspire religious passion and deeper spiritual practice. I believe that these teachings will come to life in us when we bring them into our lives in practice.'—from the IntroductionThe soul yearns to feel connected to something greater and to know happiness despite personal suffering and seemingly endless need. Surprisingly, the perspectives of the late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Hasidic spiritual teachers offer a radically different Jewish theology that speaks directly to today's spiritual seekers whose faith has been shattered by both modernity and the Holocaust. These masters taught of interdependence, interconnectedness, selflessness, service and joy, anticipating the insights of contemporary science and twenty-first-century spirituality.Bringing together the teachings of beloved Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev (1740–1809) and the practice of mindfulness meditation, Rabbi Jonathan P. Slater reveals a new entrance into Jewish spiritual life. Covering the Five Books of Moses, these two volumes present accessible translations of selections from Kedushat Levi, R. Levi Yitzhak's Hasidic Torah commentary, which emphasizes our spiritual capacity to transform consciousness and so our life experience. The selections are paired with Rabbi Slater's commentaries to illuminate their message.

Emphasizing sustainability, balance, and the natural, green dominates our thinking about ecology like no other color. What about the catastrophic, the disruptive, the inaccessible, and the excessive? What of the ocean's turbulence, the fecundity of excrement, the solitude of an iceberg, multihued contaminations? Prismatic Ecology moves beyond the accustomed green readings of ecotheory and maps a colorful world of ecological possibility.In a series of linked essays that span place, time, and discipline, Jeffrey Jerome Cohen brings together writers who illustrate the vibrant worlds formed by colors. Organized by the structure of a prism, each chapter explores the coming into existence of nonanthropocentric ecologies. “Red” engages sites of animal violence, apocalyptic emergence, and activism; “Maroon” follows the aurora borealis to the far North and beholds in its shimmering alternative modes of world composition; “Chartreuse” is a meditation on postsustainability and possibility within sublime excess; “Grey” is the color of the undead; “Ultraviolet” is a potentially lethal force that opens vistas beyond humanly known nature.Featuring established and emerging scholars from varying disciplines, this volume presents a collaborative imagining of what a more-than-green ecology offers. While highlighting critical approaches not yet common within ecotheory, the contributions remain diverse and cover a range of topics including materiality, the inhuman, and the agency of objects. By way of color, Cohen guides readers through a reflection of an essentially complex and disordered universe and demonstrates the spectrum as an unfinishable totality, always in excess of what a human perceives.Contributors: Stacy Alaimo, U of Texas at Arlington; Levi R. Bryant, Collin College; Lowell Duckert, West Virginia U; Graham Harman, American U in Cairo; Bernd Herzogenrath, Goethe U of Frankfurt; Serenella Iovino, U of Turin, Italy; Eileen A. Joy; Robert McRuer, George Washington U; Tobias Menely, Miami U; Steve Mentz, St. John's U, New York City; Timothy Morton, Rice U; Vin Nardizzi, U of British Columbia; Serpil Oppermann, Hacettepe U, Ankara; Margaret Ronda, Rutgers U; Will Stockton, Clemson U; Allan Stoekl, Penn State U; Ben Woodard; Julian Yates, U of Delaware.

In the wake of much previous work on Gilles Deleuze's relations to other thinkers (including Bergson, Spinoza and Leibniz), his relation to Kant is now of great and active interest and a thriving area of research. In the context of the wider debate between'naturalism'and'transcendental philosophy', the implicit dispute between Deleuze's'transcendental empiricism'and Kant's'transcendental idealism'is of prime philosophical concern. Bringing together the work of international experts from both Deleuze scholarship and Kant scholarship, Thinking Between Deleuze and Kant addresses explicitly the varied and various connections between these two great European philosophers, providing key material for understanding the central philosophical problems in the wider'naturalism/ transcendental philosophy'debate. The book reflects an area of great current interest in Deleuze Studies and initiates an ongoing interest in Deleuze within Kant scholarship. The contributors are Mick Bowles, Levi R. Bryant, Patricia Farrell, Christian Kerslake, Matt Lee, Michael J. Olson, Henry Somers-Hall and Edward Willatt.

Anthropocene Religion argues that addressing a future, and present, shaped by worldwide catastrophic climate change involves not only radically rethinking the ideas of nature, and humanity's place within it, inherited from Western modernity. It also demands a reconceptualization of the nature and role of religion. The advent of the Anthropocene simultaneously displaces the human from the centre of the world and erodes all sharp distinctions between the natural environment and the realm of human activity. Similarly, the Anthropocene renders untenable concepts of religion that rely on reference to realms, beings or forces that wholly transcend nature. It is, however, possible to understand both religion and its divine referents in worldly rather than transcendent terms, just as it is possible to understand nature as dynamic and creative. The Gaia hypothesis offers us a figure through which to approach these concepts in their interconnectedness.

Grounded in contemporary landscape architecture theory and practice, Cybernetics and the Constructed Environment blends examples from art, design, and engineering with concepts from cybernetics and posthumanism, offering a transdisciplinary examination of the ramifications of cybernetics on the constructed environment. Cybernetics, or the study of communication and control in animals and machines, has grown increasingly relevant nearly 80 years after its inception. Cyber-physical systems, sensing networks, and spatial computing—algorithms and intelligent machines—create endless feedback loops with human and non-human actors, co-producing a cybernetic environment. Yet, when an ecosystem is meticulously managed by intelligent machines, can we still call it wild nature? Posthumanism ideas, such as new materialism, actor-network theory, and object-oriented ontology, have become increasingly popular among design disciplines, including landscape architecture, and may have provided transformative frameworks to understand this entangled reality. However, design still entails a sense of intentionality and an urge to control. How do we, then, address the tension between the designer's intentionality and the co-produced reality of more-than-human agents in the cybernetic environment? Is posthumanism enough to develop a framework to think beyond our all-too-human ways of thinking? For researchers, scholars, practitioners, and students in environmental design and engineering disciplines, this book maps out a paradigm of environmentalism and ecological design rooted in non-communication and uncontrollability, and puts a speculative turn on cybernetics.Chapters 8 and 9 of this book are freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Beyond Liminality: Ontologies of Abundant Betweenness examines the concept of liminality in the social sciences and humanities, and advocates for a more critical use of the concept while offering more precise alternatives.Originally conceived in response to the near-universal ritualization of changes of status (i.e.,'rites of passage'), liminality was a welcome and much-needed correction to the reigning static and structural models of culture at the time. However, it soon escaped its initial realm and was enthusiastically—and mostly uncritically—absorbed by many if not all scholarly disciplines. The very success of the concept suggests that there is something about it that resonates with our own cultural sentiments. However, the assumptions that underlie diagnoses of liminality are seldom noted and even more seldom analyzed and critiqued. This book examines the history of the concept, its evolution, and its current status, and asks whether liminality accurately reflects lived realities which might better be described by fluidity, hybridity, multiplicity, constant motion and recombination, and abundant betweenness.Beyond Liminality: Ontologies of Abundant Betweenness is key reading for scholars and students across the social sciences and humanities interested in ritual, performance, identity formation, rights, ontology, and epistemology.

A powerful and sophisticated analysis of how Western professionals have enabled kleptocratic elite networks and undermined the rule of law. After the Cold War ended, the British government created the conditions under which a large, multinational class of extremely wealthy kleptocrats based primarily in Russia and Eurasia could move to and thrive in London with a genuine sense of impunity. What is the role of professional enablers in the rise of kleptocracy? In Indulging Kleptocracy, John Heathershaw, Tena Prelec, and Tom Mayne examine the broad range of financial, legal, and related services provided in the UK with respect to suspicious wealth from Russian and Eurasian elites. Through a series of rich, gripping case studies, the authors show how powerful legal and financial service industries that know how to game the system have made it possible for these corrupt elites to operate with relative impunity. They detail how these enablers exploit deregulation and the under-enforcement of the law, offshore their clients'wealth, and enhance their reputations and influence via philanthropy, political donations and the use of the UK's punitive libel regime. They further argue that kleptocracy is not just a moral and economic problem that sits at the margins of real politics, but it impoverishes the global south and undermines institutions in the global north, eroding faith in democracy by empowering corrupt elite business-political networks in global politics. Shedding light on dangerous patterns of corruption, Indulging Kleptocracy explores one of the most fascinating stories in the post-Cold War era and offers suggestions on how to break the system of indulgences and stymie the globalization of kleptocracy.

This book extensively covers rock mechanics and engineering, playing a vital role in mining, geological, and civil applications. It explores the stability, failure, and behavior of rock masses, offering control and prediction methods. Fundamental concepts, stress and strain analyses, failure theories, and rock characteristics are addressed, essential for safety in mining and construction. Applications like geological hazard assessment, slope stability, and foundation design demonstrate its significance in civil and geological engineering. The book's structured approach includes an overview in Chapter 1, stress analyses in Chapter 2, and plane strain analyses in Chapter 3. Subsequent chapters delve into rock behavior, failure theories, and specific properties. Practical aspects, such as designing underground openings, are covered in later chapters. The incorporation of numerous solved tutorials enhances its value for students and educators seeking a comprehensive understanding of these pivotal topics.

Mental health nurses require a diverse set of skills to aid service users and their carers on their journey to recovery. During their training, students need to acquire and demonstrate skills to show that the care they provide is evidence-based and effective. Skills as diverse as assessment, forming therapeutic interactions, caring for physical and mental health needs, as well as leadership and management, can be difficult to learn and master - until now! Mental Health Nursing Skills provides students with a highly evidence-based and practical account of the skills required for nursing practice. The original text was developed in response to the Chief Nursing Officer's review of Mental Health Nursing in England and that of the Scottish Executive. The authors have updated the content to include reference to the “Playing Our Part” Review of Mental Health Nursing and the latest NMC pre-registration standards. The authors translate theory into clearly applied skills supported by practice examples, tips from service users, and accompanying online activities. With contributions from nursing academics, researchers, practitioners, and service users, this text reflects the best of theory and practice. Clearly mapped against all the benchmarks expected by professional nursing bodies and suitable for all settings, Mental Health Nursing Skills provides a high quality and student friendly account of the skills required for successful nursing practice.

While the concept of place remains undertheorized in Kierkegaard research, this study argues that place is at the center of Kierkegaard's thinking. The first part of the book shows that Kierkegaard's notion of situatedness as being-placed in a socio-historical situation conditioned by a situation prior to situatedness points to a realist position and a flat ontology. Secondly, the book develops a detailed analysis of the ontological structure of the existential place (the place we ourselves are) and concrete places (the places where we are). Place opens a qualified space within bounds (the existence-sphere), an atmosphere of elemental attunement and attuned elementality. Finally, the book collects the dots from part one and two in a topological realist approach to Kierkegaard's theology and three main definitions of God: God is love, God is that everything is possible, and God is the middle term. The book concludes that Kierkegaard's existential topography reveals a realist position: where we are is never exhausted by being the place where we are.

Corporate Totalitarianism reflects on the changing nature of economic, political, and social power in the global context and the ways in which this affects both individual and society.Inspired by the thought of Hannah Arendt and informed by Weber's work on rationalisation and bureaucracy, the book shows how fear and alienation are used to generate compliance in the population, shedding light on the growing state capture by capital interests. With attention to the manner in which propaganda, censorship, and surveillance are being used to monitor and disrupt dissenters through the exploitation of technology, the author considers not only the potential use and misuse of technology to enforce compliance but also its capacity to challenge corruption and protect human rights, with decentralised ledgers and blockchain technology currently offering the possibility of increased transparency, accountability, and trust in a variety of domains.An engaging study of the growth of power and control in contemporary societies, this book will appeal to scholars of social theory and political sociology with interests in the surveillance state and the social role of technology.

Precision Medicine and Human Health covers several aspects of precision medicine in 20 edited reviews by researchers and healthcare professionals. The breadth of information provided by the contributors aims to familiarize readers with basic and applied research in personalized therapy.Starting with an overview of the subject and its relationship with epigenetics, the book progresses into advanced topics that explain its wider applications. The use of precision medicine in treating different diseases such as protein misfolding disorders, gut ulcers and their effect on the gut microbiome, cancer treatment (for hepatocellular carcinoma, breast cancer, and oral cancer), fibromyalgia, high altitude sickness, and multiple sclerosis is explained. The book also covers modern therapeutic techniques to administer personalized therapy, including epithelial-mesenchymal therapy (EMT), circadian clock modulation, and artificial intelligence and phytoconstituents. The next chapters cover advanced technologies that are crucial to precision medicine, such as nanomaterials and advanced drug delivery systems. A concluding chapter on the therapeutic use of tannins in precision medicine rounds up the contents.Key Features:- Features 20 focused chapters contributed by scientific experts- Introduces readers to basic concepts in precision medicine- Covers the application of precision medicine in treating different diseases- Showcases several techniques used in experimental and clinical precision therapy- Explains modern technologies in precision medicine- Caters to a wide readership with introductions, structured headings, and referencesThis is an informative reference for healthcare professionals in clinics and hospitals and any scholar who wants to learn about basic and applied knowledge in precision medicine.

Traditional and Herbal Medicines for COVID-19 explores promising ways to manage COVID-19, post-COVID, and long-COVID conditions. The management plans are based on anti-virus activity, anti-inflammatory activity, and diverse health benefits of traditional and herbal medicines through a comprehensive summarization of scientific literature by experts in the field. It presents views of the origin of SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants and pathogenesis, and it proposes renewed strategies of diagnostics, vaccines, and therapies.Features Provides an in-depth analysis to illustrate the impact of traditional and herbal medicines on crucial protein targets responsible for the progress of SARS-CoV-2 infection and symptoms. Presents knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 and variants. Explores strategies to manage COVID-19, post-COVID, and long-COVID by applying traditional herbal medicines. Illustrates molecular aspects of anti-coronavirus activity from traditional herbal medicines. Features information on molecular mechanisms of target proteins involving COVID-19 infection and symptoms. Traditional and Herbal Medicines for COVID-19 serves as an ideal reference for researchers and experts in the fields of virology, epidemiology, drug discovery, and traditional herbal medicine. This book aligns with supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 by the United Nations to establish “Good Health and Well-Being.”

What is Human Resource Strategy? How are human resource strategies formulated and how can we explain the variance between what is espoused and what is actually implemented? What impact – if any – does human resource strategy have on the organization's “bottom line,” and how can this impact be explained? Is there one best HR strategy for all firms, or is the impact of HR strategy on performance contingent on some set of organizational, technological or environmental factors?Human Resource Strategy, third edition, provides an overview of the academic and practitioner responses to these and other questions. Applying an integrative framework, the authors review over thirty years'worth of empirical and theoretical research in an attempt to reconcile often-conflicting conceptual models and equivocal empirical findings. The book supports students in applying theory to practice and presents much of the relevant research in the context of the critical strategic decisions that executives are often forced to make with regard to human resource investments and deployments. As a result, often-complex theoretical models and scientific findings are presented such that they are not only understandable but also highly relevant to non-research-oriented practitioners. This new edition includes new chapters on innovations in HR strategies and diversity and introduces more practical examples. This book is an ideal resource for students and practitioners alike.

Handbook of Terrorist and Insurgent Groups: A Global Survey of Threats, Tactics, and Characteristics examines the most current and significant terrorist and insurgent groups around the world. The purpose is to create a descriptive mosaic of what is a pointedly global security challenge.The volume brings together conceptual approaches to terrorism, insurgency, and cyberterrorism with substantive and empirical analyses of individual groups, organisations, and networks. By doing so, not only does the coverage highlight the past, present, and future orientations of the most prominent groups, but it also examines and illustrates their key characteristics and how they operate, including key leaders and ideologues. Highlighting specific, individual groups, the chapters collectively present a robust and comprehensive outlook on the current geography of terrorism and insurgency groups operating in the world today.This comprehensive volume brings the collective expertise and knowledge of more than 50 academics, intelligence and security officials, and professionals together, all of whom are considered subject experts in their respective areas of research and practice. The volume is based on both desk-based and fieldwork conducted by experts in these areas, incorporating analyses of secondary literature but also the use of primary data including first-hand interviews on the various groups'regions of operation, their tactics, and how their ideologies motivate their actions.

This book provides readers with state-of-the-art knowledge of established and emerging semiconducting materials, their processing, and the fabrication of chips and microprocessors. In addition to covering the fundamentals of these materials, it details the basics and workings of many semiconducting devices and their role in modern electronics and explores emerging semiconductors and their importance in future devices.• Provides readers with latest advances in semiconductors.• Covers diodes, transistors, and other devices using semiconducting materials.• Covers advances and challenges in semiconductors and their technological applications.• Discusses fundamentals and characteristics of emerging semiconductors for chip manufacturing.This book provides directions to scientists, engineers, and researchers in materials engineering and related disciplines to help them better understand the physics, characteristics, and applications of modern semiconductors.

Jean Petitot is a polyhedric thinker whose contributions has been fundamental in a number of disciplines, such as epistemology, morphodynamics, differential geometry, structural semiotics, neurogeometry, phenomenology, linguistics, cognitive grammars, the theory of catastrophes, social sciences, literary studies, and aesthetics. This book is a homage to his huge contribution about the main concepts of morphogenesis and meaning that constitute the center of gravity around which Petitotian reflection revolves and returns.The scientific path of Jean Petitot develops between these two poles, topology and meaning. At stake it was to challenge the hiatus separating the exact sciences from the humanities that was the main point of the Petitot seminar of EHESS Epistemology of Models. By designing the appropriate qualitative dynamics between the two poles, form and meaning, it is possible to understand the Saussurian sign in structural semiotics, or the Greimasian semiotic square fordeep narrative structures or even the canonical formula of the myth of Lévi Strauss in structural anthropology. These are just few results in applying the theory of catastrophes to the emergence of meaning. The book is a collection of testimonies by distinguished authors who worked extensively with Jean Petitot in the different fields of Mathematics, Neurogeometry, Semiotics, Aesthetics, and Epistemology. An extensive bibliography of Petitot's work is also presented.

What does it mean to become a sound mind in a healthy body and harmonious environment? This engaging introduction to the new field of philosophical health, written by its forerunner, presents the core tenets of the discipline. It explains in clear and elegant prose how a reflexive practice of sense-making can create a eudynamic balance between six existential senses: body, self, belonging, possibility, purpose, and the philosophical sense. Luis de Miranda, inspired by nearly a decade of practice as a philosophical counsellor – with individuals, groups, institutions, NGO's and corporations – offers a pragmatic open system that is supported with evidence from psychological science, various philosophical traditions or contemporary theories, as well as fascinating real stories from world wisdom. Meaning in action is clearly the new way ahead for philosophy, rediscovered here as the responsible and practical big sister – if not queen – of all disciplines and ways of life. The international philosophical health movement is the long-awaited response, globally and locally, to the overall confusion the world fell into due to mindless processes and unexamined behaviour. This book shows us how, in a spirit of compossibility and oneness in diversity we now can, at last, intercreate a harmonious, rich, and diverse planetary civilisation.

This insightful book explores the intersection of spirituality and leadership, examining cutting edge research, theory, and practices that help build healthy and long‑term effective leadership. Showcasing non‑Western views of leadership across a range of backgrounds, the book looks at leadership styles that raise and expand consciousness to enable better problem solving when addressing the complex challenges of organizations and societies.Across four sections, the book considers a myriad of themes from surrender to compassion, the dark and shadow side to the illuminating light of love, as well as offering a spotlight on individual leader development to highlight the role of the collective. Each chapter individually and collectively represents the essence of a profound shift in how leadership is approached in the 21st century. The volume offers a variety of viewpoints addressing this spiritual turn in leadership scholarship, and provides leadership tools to assist leaders in honing their practices to address contemporary challenges and unleash their full potential.In a world where the challenges are immense and multifaceted, this anthology explores leadership that transcends the mundane and ventures into the extraordinary. Leadership at the Spiritual Edge will be of use to researchers, scholars, and students of leadership studies, particularly those interested in new ways of viewing and developing leadership.

Gouvernements de proximité, les municipalités québécoises restent mal connues. Souvent pensées comme de simples administrations dédiées à la voirie et au déneigement, elles sont au contraire le lieu où s'incarnent les défis et les enjeux politiques de la gouvernance contemporaine. Ce dictionnaire a pour ambition d'être un manuel de référence, procurant au lectorat un ensemble de définitions courtes et accessibles sur plus de soixante-dix thèmes, abordant tant les éléments de base du fonctionnement et des responsabilités municipales traditionnelles que les enjeux émergents qui s'y manifestent. Rédigées par une cinquantaine d'expertes et experts issus de plusieurs disciplines, les entrées comprennent, en plus d'une définition, des points de repère historiques, un résumé de l'état des savoirs ainsi qu'une mise en lien avec des enjeux politiques actuels. Les auteurs et autrices ont pris soin de prendre en compte l'hétérogénéité qui caractérise la scène politique municipale québécoise, en s'intéressant notamment à la taille et à la dispersion sur le territoire des municipalités. Ce dictionnaire politique s'adresse tant au grand public qu'à des publics spécialisés (universitaires, professionnels, journalistes, élus), avides d'en connaitre davantage sur les rouages de ce gouvernement de proximité.

Autonomous manufacturing and cyber-physical systems are key enabling technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4) which are currently being incorporated into the building design and construction industries. These emerging IR4 technologies have the potential to effectively improve construction affordability and productivity, address current and future building demand, and reduce the environmental impact of the built environment. However, design approaches that make use of IR4 technologies are still relatively unexplored. While automation, such as mass production, promotes standardised design solutions, design thinking that embraces varying degrees of autonomy can lead to unique and considered approaches to design on an industrial scale.Behavioural Production: Semi-Autonomous Approaches to Architectural Design, Robotic Fabrication and Collective Robotic Construction explores design operating through the orchestration of spatiotemporal events. A multi-agent behaviour-based approach to computation is employed in architectural design and extended to individual and swarm-based robotic methods for additive manufacturing. Behavioural Production seeks to expand our capacity to engage with the world at large through varying degrees of autonomy. In an industrialised world where traditional craftsmanship has been marginalised and cannot scale to meet societal needs, this book speculates a means to bring scalable forms of creativity into the act of making. This is explored through the use of materials, generative algorithms, computer vision, machine learning, and robot systems as active agents in design conception and realisation. The book presents a collection of ideas, projects, and methods developed in the author's design practices and research labs in the fields of architecture and computer science. This body of work demonstrates that engaging with semi-autonomous processes does not diminish authorship, but rather expands it into new forms of design agency that seamlessly integrate with emerging manufacturing and construction technologies whilst authoring distinctive design character.

Comprehensive Materials Processing, Second Edition, 13-vol set, consolidates and enhances the most up-to-date literature of the materials processing and manufacturing universe. It provides authoritative analysis of all processes, technologies, and techniques for converting industrial materials from a raw state into finished parts or products. Coverage encompasses solidification, powder, deposition, and deformation processing. Additional discussion includes plant and tool design, analysis and characterization of processing techniques, high-temperatures studies, and the influence of process scale on component characteristics and behavior. Building and expanding on the previous edition, it includes recent developments and advances in the field, such as updated processing technologies, costs and characterizations. This new edition will also explore sustainability and environmental impact of materials processing in greater detail. Comprehensive Materials Processing, Second Edition will serve as a valuable, one-stop resource to students, academics, and researchers in the fields of engineering and materials science, as well as those in adjacent fields. Industry professionals will also benefit from this comprehensive resource. - Updated to include recent developments in the field, such as updated processing technologies and costs - Explores sustainability and the environmental impact of materials - Includes practical tools such as integrated case studies, user-defined process schemata, and multimedia modeling and functionality - Maximizes research efficiency by collating the most important and established information into one concise resource with consistently formatted chapters

Exhibition spaces are physical places of knowledge production and exchange. Their spatial properties play an important role in contextualizing information. Virtual stagings of exhibitions should therefore retain these properties. The Beyond Matter research project (2019–23) aims to unravel the intertwining of physical and virtual structures and their impact on spatial aspects in art production, curating, and art education, and thus to identify ways to preserve cultural heritage in the digital age. This publication offers a comprehensive overview of the diverse research activities, exhibition and book projects, and symposia that have taken place or emerged in the course of the international Beyond Matter project at the various partner institutions.

Deleuze, Mathematics, Metaphysics provides new solutions to the central problems of the philosophy of mathematics by reconstructing Deleuze's metaphysics. It does so through direct engagement with analytic and continental philosophy, along with the formal and natural sciences. These new Deleuzian solutions reject equally other-worldly accounts of mathematics, such as Platonism, and accounts which treat mathematics as a useful fiction or an empty formalist game. Instead, Deleuze, Mathematics, Metaphysics argues that mathematical truth is grounded in the necessity of difference itself. Since difference is entirely this-worldly, the truth of mathematics does not require us to posit the reality of transcendent entities or possible worlds. Doing so not only provides a new metaphysics of mathematics; it also explains the usefulness of mathematics for science and why mathematical truth appear to have such otherworldly properties in the first place.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimization, IPCO 2024, held in Wrocław, Poland, during July 3–5, 2024. The 33 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 101 submissions. IPCO is under the auspices of the Mathematical Optimization Society, and it is an important forum for presenting present recent developments in theory, computation, and applications. The scope of IPCO is viewed in a broad sense, to include algorithmic and structural results in integer programming and combinatorial optimization as well as revealing computational studies and novel applications of discrete optimization to practical problems.

We live under the threat of humanity's self-inflicted extinction. While technological approaches to climate mitigation are admirable, our ecological crisis results ultimately from an inherited, unexamined concept of selfhood and a misconceived view of nature. The received idea that our self exists inside our skull engenders an assumption that nature is'out there,'with devastating results. This book explores three new ways of thinking about the interrelation of ourselves and'nature': Merleau-Ponty's notion of embodiment, the connection between enactivism and affordances, and object oriented ontology. These approaches to selfhood reorder our moral obligations: What are our responsibilities to ourselves, our children, and nature itself? An embodied ethic can transcend cultural biases and offer a new way of confronting climate change. To meet environmental challenges, we need to change our minds about our minds.

With more than 10,000 known species, recent reptiles (excluding birds) are the most specious tetrapod class. Their diversity is high, and many of them are frequently used as model organisms in phylogeographic and ecological studies. On the other hand, unique aspects of their biology are still being studied and important contributions to their understanding have just been issued. These aspects include the evolution of viviparity and of venom glands, metabolic regulation in poikilotherms, their ecophysiological tolerance and neurobiological and sensorial capacities such as infrared imaging and chemosensitivity. Genetic and developmental phenomena such as parthenogenesis and temperature-dependent sex determination are also special to reptiles. They are generally important for understanding evolutionary processes in vertebrates.The latest results of worldwide research on dinosaurs and other fossil reptiles, crocodiles and turtles conclude this first volume of Reptilia in the Handbook of Zoology.

Diminishing confined fossil resources has spurred the scientific community to strive for alternative, sustainable resources, such as terrestrial biomass, which can potentially substitute fossil-based derivatives. Lignocellulosic biomass is deemed an indispensable carbon source for meeting industrial and social demands regarding energy/fuels and chemicals. Over the past decade, significant advances have been shown in developing a broad spectrum of high-value chemicals and functional materials derived from biomass-based substrates. In connection with this, furanic chemicals, such as 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural, have recently received considerable attention due to their potential applications. Catalytic Transformations of Sustainable and Versatile Furanic Chemicals aims to explicitly display the latest technical developments on designing functional catalysts, optimizing process and reaction parameters, and improving the stability of the employed materials on the transformation of HMF and furfural to a wide range of value-added chemicals via oxidation, reduction, hydrodeoxygenation, and reductive amination processes.Features: Highlighting the importance and significance of HMF and furfural. Evaluating the transformations of HMF and furfural with various catalytic processes. Designing robust and efficient catalytic systems. Understanding the stability of catalytic materials. Understanding the characteristic features of the catalytic materials. This book aims to target not only researchers focusing on biomass valorization from academic to industrial sectors but also graduate students interested in pursuing their higher education in biochemicals (especially furanic compounds), covering various aspects in organic synthesis routes, preparation of inorganic materials and physico-chemical properties, for both chemists and chemical engineers.

This book is a compilation of selected papers from the 3rd International Conference on Smart Manufacturing, Industrial & Logistics Engineering (SMILE2023) and the 7th Asian Conference of Management Science and Applications (ACMSA2023). The book focuses on the recent theoretical and methodological developments, significant technical applications, case studies, and survey results in the areas of manufacturing informatics, manufacturing intelligence, big data analytics and data mining, modeling and decision analysis, Internet of Things, green supply chains, and intelligent logistics. The book makes valuable contributions to academic researchers and engineers in smart manufacturing, industrial engineering, and logistics, as well as readers will encounter new ideas to promote Digital Intelligence Transformation.

In the twenty years since Ray Land and Erik Meyer published their first paper on Threshold Concepts, there has been a steady stream of papers mulling over their original suggestions that learning, far from proceeding in an orderly fashion, is instead a process of struggle – perhaps alienation and confusion – that puts students in a troublesome liminal ‘in-between'state. As their understanding develops, liminality gives way to transformational insight whereby a whole field of study comes, often quite abruptly, into focus. There is a gain but often also a loss: in this new world, old certainties, assumptions and even aspects of our identity can be left by the wayside. Threshold Concepts in the Moment is the sixth collection in the series on the subject of Threshold Concepts, following the 8th Biennial Conference held in 2021, anchored at London's UCL but running online across the world. Its contributors, who range from ‘old hands'to new members of the community finding their feet, mull over the insights of the threshold concepts framework in higher education, scrutinise their own fields of study, explore the implications of liminality for pedagogy and becoming professional practitioners, and consider the broad implications for pedagogy of factoring in the troublesomeness of knowledge and learning.

Critical Care Obstetrics Improve medical outcomes for both mothers and children with this essential guide For the first time in decades, maternal mortality rates are climbing in the United States. Factors including lack of access to prenatal care, un- or underinsured populations, rising rates of cardiovascular disease, and more combine to make pregnancy and childbirth more dangerous prospects. In this environment, the study of critical care obstetrics has never been more essential. Critical Care Obstetrics, Seventh Edition a fully updated guide to the medical management of serious conditions in pregnancy and childbirth. Beginning with basic principles, it surveys the potential serious complications occurring in pregnancy and delivery and the techniques and procedures for maximizing patient outcomes for both pregnant people and fetuses. This clear, accessible text promises to continue the essential work of earlier editions. Readers of the seventh edition of Critical Care Obstetrics will also find: Detailed protocols for implementing life-saving treatments in emergencies New chapters on topics including ECMO, antibiotics, and pneumonia Authorship by internationally renowned experts in emergency obstetrics Critical Care Obstetrics is ideal for working clinical obstetricians and for trainees in obstetrics and gynecology.

Although frequently observed in natural habitats across Israel, the true nature of the'strange growths'(galls) that appear on various plants is not always clear. Insect-induced plant galls are actually the most intimate way in which animals feed on plants. This book reveals to naturalists and scientists one of the most impressive and conspicuous groups among gall-forming insects: aphids that form galls on wild pistachio (Pistacia). The gall serves as an incubator for the aphids, providing them with a rich food supply and shelter from natural enemies and abiotic factors. Several aphid generations develop in galls from spring to fall. During these months, the gall functions as a dynamic and complex multitrophic ecological (mini) system, including pathogens, competitors, parasites, and predators. The first part of the book describes the multi-disciplinary information on the biology and ecology of the aphids and gall system from molecular, anatomical, physiological, biochemical, behavioral, biogeographic, and evolutionary points of view. The second part of the book is in fact an informative and photographic guide to all the aphid-induced galls on wild pistachios in Israel.

Pharmacology in Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia A concise yet comprehensive and usable pharmacological resource for veterinary practitioners In Pharmacology in Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia, a team of distinguished veterinary practitioners delivers a singular and comprehensive text dedicated to anesthetic drug pharmacology and drug interactions related specifically to anesthetic drugs in a veterinary setting. This concise, easily navigable reference combines information scattered throughout the academic literature and covers mechanisms of action of commonly used drugs in commonly encountered species, drug interactions, and clinical uses of anesthetic drugs. The volume explores drug metabolism, the effects of various drugs on organ systems, risks of adverse effects, as well as the impact of anesthesia on drugs, and the effects of drugs on anesthesia. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenomics in veterinary anesthesia Comprehensive explorations of veterinary regulatory concerns associated with anesthesia and analgesia for food animals Practical discussions of alpha-2 agonists and antagonists, phenothiazines, butyrophenones, benzodiazepines, and opioid agonists and antagonists Fulsome treatments of local anesthetics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, inhalants, and induction drugs Perfect for veterinary anesthesiologists and criticalists, internists, and surgeons, Pharmacology in Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia will also earn a place in the libraries of private practitioners and veterinary technicians performing anesthesia as well as researchers using veterinary species as a model.

Obtain real-world knowledge of organizational behaviour to better understand people within organizations and make businesses operate more effectively.Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour is a hands-on and streamlined textbook exploring an area that can at times seem challenging and abstract. It covers key areas including individual differences at work, motivation, leadership styles and conflict and negotiation, without assuming students'prior knowledge or working experience. It also explores cutting edge topics such as the implications of technology and remote working on workplace behaviour.This new textbook examines power, status and political behaviours, organizational change and culture and organizational structure and design. It includes real-world examples throughout and is supported by a range of features including learning outcomes, key concepts and terminology boxes and reflective exercises to aid professional development.Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour is an essential resource for masters level and upper-level undergraduate students on HRM and Management degrees, taking modules on Organizational Behaviour.

Thio's Deviant Behavior explores the current state and future directions of deviance. Building upon the work of the late Alex Thio, authors Jim Taylor and Martin Schwartz provide a solid foundation in scientific theories of deviance. The authors encourage you to apply your understanding of key concepts to emerging forms of deviant behavior such as Internet trolling and prescription drug abuse. The 13th Edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect recent trends in deviance, including new coverage of school violence, sexual harassment, self-injury, online stalking, modern forms of fraud and more. Relevant stories from pop culture and coverage of recent high-profile cases involving prominent media personalities enable you to see how the study of deviance can be helpful in understanding today's world.

The Interprofessional Health Care Team: Leadership and Development, Third Edition is designed to help future health professionals realize their capacity for leadership and develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are requisite to becoming a positive agent of change and growth in themselves and others and the organizations within which they work. It describes possibilities and options, theories, exercises, rich references, and stimulating questions that will inspire both novices and experts to think differently about their roles and styles as leaders or members of a team. The authors provide many tools to empower readers and facilitate the fostering of productive teamwork. It is an inspiring book with easily operational principles. It is written for many audiences and to achieve many goals all centered on best practices to attain quality care, particularly during this time of reinventing and transforming health care.

Fully revised and updated, this pocket handbook for clinical assessment covers a comprehensive range of neurological, neuropsychological, neuropsychiatric, and neurobehavioral syndromes and disorders. Now in its fourth edition, this ready reference helps the busy clinician or doctoral-level trainee select from among hundreds of tests and assessment techniques in clinical neuropsychology. It guides clinicians in developing tailored, hypothesis-driven approaches for assessing patients with a broad range of common neuropsychological syndromes and neurological disorders. This book is an invaluable diagnostic guide designed to fit into a lab coat pocket for accessible and immediate use. Major updates to the new edition include: A revamped approach to contemporary neuropsychological assessment that incorporates cultural factors, mood, emotion and affect, medications, cognitive functioning and electrophysiology data, as well as emerging trends including tele-neuropsychology, positive neuropsychology, and consumer‑focused reports. New and expanded coverage of topics including updates on neurodegenerative disorders and mild cognitive impairment (MCI); lifestyle interventions to maximize cognitive functioning in MCI and dementia; chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), autoimmune disorders, and motor disorders. An increased emphasis on neuropsychiatric syndromes. New topics include intellectual disabilities, the impact of marijuana and alcohol on cognitive functioning, anxiety disorders/PTSD, and an expanded focus on mood disorders. Updated online resources to support teaching and learning through neuroimaging figures and video demonstrations of exam techniques, and extended reading lists that have been expanded and more fully integrated into assessment chapters.

This book explicitly and intentionally uses organizational theory concepts and ideas to examine key issues in the criminal legal realm. Addressing some of the many organizational theories, this volume examines a variety of approaches and theoretical frameworks to explore and explain challenges that are both presented to and faced by the criminal legal system and the individuals served by or working within it. This volume is divided into two parts: organizational theories and organizational concepts and ideas. Within these parts, individual chapters provide readers with new lenses or frameworks for considering criminal legal organization, including one that involves organizational theoretical explanations for how and why criminal legal organizations and their staff and workers operate in these critically salient spaces. The book concludes with a chapter that outlines important considerations for anyone seeking to learn or teach organizational theory as a way of explaining or understanding criminal legal organizations. Additional reading suggestions and two sample syllabi are provided. The book is ideal for criminal justice and criminology undergraduate and graduate students, but is also relevant to individuals considering criminal legal organizations in courses in sociology, law and society, and organizational behavior.

Eliza Fox must be smarter than the police and a step ahead of the killer.When an exchange student is found dead in the music practice rooms of Wexford College, there are few suspects and no clear answers. Martina Noto's parents will fly into California from Rome as soon as they can, but until then the nearest relatives are Martina's cousins: Private Investigator Eliza Fox and her mother, Francesca Noto-Fox.As detectives Byron Comstock and Jessica Fonseca get familiar with the case, Eliza is determined to help catch Martina's killer. She quickly begins her own investigation and is soon caught up in the twists and turns of finding the murderer, a far cry from her usual work as a paralegal. Often out of her depth, Eliza must overcome her own inexperience and learn to trust her instincts as she fumbles through her first high-stakes case. Filled with both humor and suspense, this is one traditional mystery novel you don't want to miss.

Smart Protective Coatings for Corrosion Control Overview of the latest research in advanced coatings for anticorrosion and the development of optimized surfaces with high anticorrosion ability Smart Protective Coatings for Corrosion Control introduces the newest research developments in self-healing coatings, self-reporting coatings, and superhydrophobic coatings, reviewing corrosion processes and strategies, smart coatings for corrosion protection, techniques for synthesizing and applying smart coatings, different kinds of self-healing and self-reporting coatings activated by different environmental stimuli, and current and future trends of protective coatings for automotive, aerospace, marine, nuclear, oil/gas, and military applications. This book also discusses new ideas in the field, such as the combination of self-healing and self-reporting properties, new techniques to study localized microscale electrochemical corrosion behavior, as well as atmospheric corrosion monitor technique to study the real-time protection behavior of coatings in different environments. The processes of coating degradation and metal corrosion are discussed in detail so that non-experts can gain a basic understanding of the corrosion protection techniques. Written by two highly qualified academics with significant research experience in the field, Smart Protective Coatings for Corrosion Control includes information on: Coating preparation, filler preparation, surface characterization, macroscopic and microscopic electrochemical properties, and self-healing performance of self-healing coating systems under different environmental stimuliPhotothermal conversion species such as graphene oxide, titanium nitride, and Fe3O4Different types of corrosion indicators, such as phenolphthalein, sulfosalicylic acid-modified carbon dots, and phenanthrolineHigh-mobility polymer networks that endow a shape memory effect and allow coatings to recover their original shape and barrier propertiesSolutions to three corrosion conditions—room temperature immersion, alternating wet-dry, and outdoor atmospheric exposure conditions Presenting the latest research in the field, Smart Protective Coatings for Corrosion Control is a practical and highly valuable reference on the subject for scientists, researchers, and students in diverse programs of study.

Meister Eckhart might have liked it. Indeed, many-one thinking is the idea that there is the one ultimate origin, coherence, spirit of it all... but not without a multitude and diversity emerging within, which is the evolving universe with planets like Earth, with its biosphere and humankind, with you and me living in it. The Many-One is thought of as the whole of the cosmos complementing and entangled with all its parts, as beings inside Being and Being inside beings, as the Creator and'his'co-creating creatures. The both-one-and-many idea takes a strong stance against any ultimate either-or-reduction, against isms of all sorts. Being unity and plurality and duality all at once, the Many-One is neither monistic nor pluralistic nor dualistic in any way. Inside this broad frame, it is open for many specific approaches, not least those represented in this volume, which are cosmic holism, cultural-spiritual-evolution thought, Higher-We, integral thinking, the Metaphysics of Adjacency, panentheism, process theology, and transpersonal-participatory thinking. However, the many-one idea also chimes in with approaches not sampled here, like Roy Bhaskar's Critical Realism, Edgar Morin's Complex Thought, or metamodernism.

Operating between film theory, media philosophy, archival practice, and audiovisual research, Jiri Anger focuses on the relationship between figuration and materiality in early films, experimental found footage cinema, and video essays. Would it be possible to do film theory from below, through the perspective of moving-image objects, of their multifarious details and facets, however marginal, unintentional, or aleatory they might be? Could we treat scratches, stains, and shakes in archival footage as speculatively and aesthetically generative features? Do these material actors have the capacity to create “weird shapes” within the figurative image that decenter, distort, and transform the existing conceptual and methodological frameworks?Building on his theoretical as well as practical experience with the recently digitized corpus of the first Czech films, created by Jan Kríženecký between 1898 and 1911, the author demonstrates how technological defects and accidents in archival films shape their aesthetic function and our understanding of the materiality of film in the digital age. The specific clashes between the figurative and material spheres are understood through the concept of a “crack-up.” This term, developed by Francis Scott Fitzgerald and theoretically reimagined by Gilles Deleuze, allows us to capture the convoluted relationship between figuration and materiality as inherent to the medium of film, containing negativity and productivity, difference and simultaneity, contingency and fate, at the same time, even within the tiniest cinematic units.