Open Access Books

The most fundamental function of the brain is the analysis and integration of sensory information in order to generate motor commands that result in directed, meaningful interactions with the environment. This process can be viewed as an internal comparison between the current state of the world and a desired state of the world, with any mismatch leading to compensatory action. For an animal to respond to external stimuli in a directed way in any given sensory situation, it first has to assess the orientation of its body with reference to the environment. The current body position computed in this way then has to be matched against the desired position, and any resulting discrepancy has to be compensated for by a change in limb position, movement direction, or a transition to a new movement mode. The desired body orientation depends on many different parameters, such as the animal’s nutritional state, its reproductive status, the time of day, the current behavioral state, or previous experience. Vertebrate brains process these parameters across diverse brain regions, involving millions of neurons, a fact that makes pinpointing the underlying circuitry a daunting endeavor. Across insects, a single brain area, the central complex, is involved in many of the mentioned fundamental processes: It contains an ordered array of head direction cells, its neurons are targeted by multisensory input pathways, visual and spatial memories reside in this region, and certain central-complex neurons are active just before movements of the animal, predicting its future turning direction. Additionally, state-dependent changes of neural response characteristics and a vast supply of neuromodulators suggests a highly dynamic, context-dependent remodeling of local circuitry. All of this places the central complex at the interface of sensory processing and motor planning, providing a location at which current and desired heading could be compared and adequate action can be selected in response. The highly regular, almost crystalline neuroarchitecture of this region has the advantage of enabling us to immediately connect structure with function - at the level of identified, individual neurons. The neural algorithms implemented in the circuitry that mediate action selection are thus uniquely accessible in this brain region. This research topic therefore aims at connecting the diverse aspects of central-complex function and develop an open-source framework in which to embed current knowledge (reviews) and novel findings from biological, theoretical, and engineering perspectives (original research articles, short communications). Four complementary sub-topics provide the main focus: 1) The current state of the world - Encoding and integration of sensory information; 2) Generating behavior - Motor planning and neural correlates of behavior; 3) Computing the desired state of the world - Integration of internal state, memory, and behavioral state; 4) Neural hardware and algorithms - The underlying circuits and computations of the central complex. By illuminating structure-function relations on multiple levels in diverse species, within a brain region that is omnipresent across insects, we aim at exposing fundamental principles that enable animals to generate adaptive behavior despite inhabiting a world of an infinite number of possible sensory scenarios.

This open access book argues, from a detailed consideration of the Christian Scriptures, that God intends that sin occur. It swims against the tide of current thinking in philosophy of religion, arguing for an unfashionable conclusion. The book begins by considering the history of views on the question, paying particular attention to the Reformed or Calvinistic tradition. The heart of the book is a detailed examination of key passages from the Christian Scriptures that, it is argued, show that God does intend that sin occur. It also discusses in detail two alternative views that could be used to reinterpret these texts, one view that God intends only that the substratum of the sinful action occur, not the sin itself, and the other that God acts because a sin will occur but not intending that that sin occur. The book argues that these interpretative strategies, even when combined together, do not produce a plausible interpretation of the texts adduced.

When the end of the Castro era arrives, the successor government and the Cuban people will need to answer certain questions: How is Castro's more than four-decade rule likely to affect a post-Castro Cuba? What will be the political, social, and economic challenges Cuba will confront? What are the impediments to Cuba's economic development and democratic transition? The authors examine Castro's political legacies, Cuba's generational and racial divisions, its demographic predicament, the legacy of a centralized economy, and the need for industrial restructuring.

Mit dem treffenden Ausdruck „Der wunderbare florentinische Geist“ bezeichnet Jacob Burckhardt den Geist der Erneuerung in Florenz zur Zeit der italienischen Renaissance - des Rinascimento. Er revolutionierte nicht nur die Dichtung, Musik und die bildenden Künste, sondern auch die Naturwissenschaften, die Architektur, die Ingenieurs-kunst, das politische Denken sowie das Finanz- und Handelswesen und verband dies alles mit der Philosophie und den beiden formalen Disziplinen - der Logik und der Mathematik. Dieser Geist wirkt bis heute fort. In seiner vielfältigen Gestalt dient er als Ausgangspunkt, um den Hintergrund der europäischen Kultur zu erkunden. Das Anliegen dieses Bandes ist es, dem Leser vertiefende Einblicke auf akademischen Streifzügen durch die Kultur und Ideengeschichte des Rinascimento zu verschaffen.

Mind Museums offer a fresh perspective on the heritage of mental health, bringing museums into sharp focus. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from architecture, museum and exhibition design, and heritage and museum studies, it examines former psychiatric asylums that have been converted into museums. The book presents a comprehensive investigation of mind museums, the first of its kind in Europe, and explores their potential in raising awareness and dismantling the stigma surrounding mental health. Through an indepth examination of selected European examples, Lanz describes what mind museums are and how they came to be. The innovative visitor studies carried out at the Museo di Storia della Psichiatria in Reggio Emilia, which are presented here, explore people’s encounters with mind museums and reveal the profound impact of such experiences. By uncovering the power of these heritage sites in facilitating discussions on mental health, civility, and care, Lanz provides new insights into the emotive capacity of the museum and visitors’ reflexivity at place-based memory sites. Mind Museums will be of great interest to scholars and postgraduatelevel students engaged in the study of museums, heritage, exhibition design, architecture, and mental health. It should also be of interest to heritage professionals, particularly those working in mind museums and other similar sites, such as prison museums and sites of conscience.

The digital PDF of the Introduction of this title are available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The word ‘precarity’ is widely used when discussing work and employment, social conditions and lived experiences, and social classes. There is not, however, a consensus on the precise meaning of the term or how it should best be used to explore social changes. Bringing together an international group of thinkers from a diverse range of fields, this book offers a distinctive and critical perspective approach to an important topic.

This eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contact

The Case Against Intervention - the fourth venture of the author Quah, Chee Heong, dwells upon contemporary social and economic issues. His previous books Optimal Currency Areas in East Asia, Eccentric Views on Money and Banking, and Austrian Economics in One Lesson lay stress on money, banking, and economics. This title concentrates on societal issues that currently define and affect our day-to-day lives which would certainly complement the curricula at colleges and universities. The objective of this work is to break the status quo and defy the fallacious reasoning in mainstream thinking, as Ronald Reagan once said, "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.

Le volume explore la relation de clientèle qui unit les élites aux couches populaires de Rome à l’époque moderne. À travers un voyage, très documenté, dans une ville en fort développement, l’auteur conduit le lecteur à travers l’espace urbain en explorant les différentes échelles du pouvoir politique : le palais, les îlots, le contrade, les quartiers. Le volume s’attache ainsi à comprendre comment un pouvoir local se crée, s’enracine et se perpétue dans la société urbaine. En empruntant à l’anthropologie politique les notions de pouvoir relationnel et de big-man, l’auteur suggère que l’une des clés de la conquête et du maintien du pouvoir local est à rechercher dans les liens qui unissent les « hommes illustres » des quartiers aux habitants de ces portions de l’espace urbain. C’est à l’échelle du quartier que se situe l’enjeux de la conquête de l’autorité informelle, condition préliminaire et nécessaire à l’obtention d’une charge municipale. Le quartier devient ainsi l’espace d’un jeu politique pluriel, d’une compétition locale, exacerbée par l’ouverture que caractérise l’élite capitoline jusqu’à la moitié du XVIIIe siècle.

Palaeography and Diplomatics are now central to History and Philology. This science offers a more empirical approach to History. Its importance reaches into Codicology, Onomastics, and Genealogy. The study of writing is essential to understanding historical processes.However, we must question the scope and limits of the study of writing. Should we treat aesthetic and ceremonial details as true reflections of complex histories? Is assigning symbolic meaning to graphic features objective or just based on assumptions? Can calligraphy trends show us social shifts? Exploring these problems shows the challenge of linking writing form to history. Graphic and stylistic symbols can have many reasons – practical, social, economic, or aesthetic. The texts here make clear that the study and interpretation of data must include a critical examination of the sources. We must also remember the context in which they grew, as this gives them true meaning. This volume therefore, invites us to reflect on the importance of Palaeography and Diplomatics in understanding historical processes, for which interdisciplinary dialogue is also particularly relevant.

Leading from the North aims to improve public dialogue around the future of Northern Australia to underpin robust and flexible planning and policy frameworks. A number of areas are addressed including social infrastructure, governance systems, economic, business and regional development, climate and its implications, the roles and trends in demography and migration in the region. This book not only speaks to the issues of development in Northern Australia but also other regional areas, and examines opportunities for growth with changing economies and technologies. The authors of this book consist of leading researchers, academics and experts from Charles Darwin University, The Australian National University, James Cook University, the Australian Institute of Marine Science and many other collaborative partners. Many of the authors have first-hand experience of living and working in Northern Australia. They understand the real issues and challenges faced by people living in Northern Australia and other similar regional areas. Backed by their expertise and experience, the authors present their discussions and findings from a local perspective.

This book sheds light on how humans deal with adversity, especially in uncertain and turbulent times, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Resilience theory has become popular in scholarly discourse, and the term is difficult to define as so many opinions exist. This book aims to engage critically with resilience theory as a scholarly debate from the unique vantage point of the world of social work as well as theology. This specific aspect of originality contributes to the generation of new knowledge in the broad field of social sciences and humanities. The inception of the book stems from an interdisciplinary conference held at Hugenote Kollege, Wellington, where scholars from social work as well as theology engaged in a discourse on resilience. Professor Adrian van Breda, a specialist in resilience theory and from the social work department of the University of Johannesburg, was one of the keynote speakers, inspiring scholars to understand what is meant by resilience. Professor Yolanda Dreyer from the University of Pretoria and a seasoned theologian and prolific writer on trauma and resilience, was also a keynote speaker, providing insights from a theological perspective. The collaboration between these two fields of thought is unique and rendered new insights into engaging with resilience. Different methodologies and perspectives from researchers are prevalent as contributors are from different scholarly fields. The book ranges from linguistical, liturgical, philosophical, practical, autoethnographical, anthropological, sociological, and online methodological approaches contributing to ways to deal with traumatic, turbulent and trying times. The book is divided into four main themes that stood out from the results obtained at the conference, namely, (1) religious imagination and resilience, (2) communities and resilience, (3) online teaching and resilience, and (4) the resilience of philosophical questions.

The central topic of the book is contemporary ceramic art production in Italy, which is explored and analyzed in all declinations in order to illustrate the methodological models adopted by artists and designers. In particular, the investigation aims at tracing a paradigmatic sampling of ceramic art making and to identify the most significant contemporary experiences for each approach. The research strategy adopted is case study and it is supported by indirect and direct sources, including the testimonies of the protagonists. The analysis of creative dynamics also permits to deal with some modern aesthetics issues, such as the relationship between art and technique, the hierarchy between forms of expression, the gender issues, the relationship between art, industry and craft, and artistic communication. Thus, through the dialectical comparisons between the cases examined and their exposition in chronological order, the study retraces salient moments in the history of Italian contemporary fictile art.

Krisenerfahrungen prägen die deutschsprachige Kultur von Grimmelshausen bis Grass und sind heute aktueller denn je. Klimawandel, Pandemie und politische Polarisierung stellen nicht nur das gesellschaftliche Zusammenleben infrage, sondern fordern auch die Germanistik heraus: Wie kann ein philologisches Fach zur Bewältigung globaler Probleme beitragen? Die internationalen Beiträger*innen verbinden drei Perspektiven: die Analyse von Krisen in Literatur und Kultur, die theoretische Reflexion des Krisenbegriffs sowie die Auseinandersetzung mit der »Krise der Germanistik« selbst. Sie zeigen, wie das Fach durch interkulturelle und interdisziplinäre Ansätze neue Relevanz gewinnen kann, indem es aus den Krisen produktive Impulse gewinnt.