Open Access Books

This open access book investigates how representation of Native Americans and Mexican-origin im/migrants takes place in high school history textbooks. Manually analyzing text and images in United States textbooks from the 1950s to 2022, the book documents stories of White victory and domination over Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) groups that disproportionately fill educational curricula. While representation and accurate information of non-White perspectives improves over time, the same limited tropes tend to be recycled from one textbook to the next. Textual analysis is augmented by focus groups and interviews with BIPOC students in California high schools. Together, the data show how misrepresentation and absence of BIPOC perspectives in textbooks impact youth identity. This book argues for an innovative rethinking of US history curricula to consider which stories are told, and which perspectives are represented.

New translation and first running commentary in English of Plotinus’s V. 7 [18]. No other Neoplatonic text has sparked as much debate as Ennead V. 7 [18] of Plotinus, ‘On the question of whether there are also Forms of individuals’. In this text, Plotinus is believed to postulate the existence of Forms of individuals alongside the traditional Platonic Forms of genera and species. If so, Plotinus stands as the sole figure in Platonism to advocate this problematic theory. Regrettably, most research on V. 7 [18] has focused solely on the Forms of individuals, overlooking other interesting aspects. This book demonstrates how Plotinus reconciles transmigration and biological heredity within his metaphysics of individuality, addressing a longstanding challenge for ancient philosophers from Pythagoras on. Plotinus’ theory of individuation represents a significant innovation in ancient thought. Plotinus on Individuation offers a comprehensive assessment of V. 7 [18], providing a new translation and the first running commentary in English. Filling an important void, this book enriches the scholarship on Plotinus and contributes considerably to the growing interest in Plotinus’ natural philosophy and the natural philosophies of the Neoplatonists in general.

[English]: Between 5th and 8th September 2018 the tenth edition of the INPUT conference took place in Viterbo, guests of the beautiful setting of the University of Tuscia and its DAFNE Department. INPUT is managed by an informal group of Italian academic researchers working in many fields related to the exploitation of informatics in planning.This Tenth Edition pursed multiple objectives with a holistic, boundary-less character, to face the complexity of today socio-ecological systems following a systemic approach aimed to problem solving. In particular, the Conference will aim to present the state of art of modeling approaches employed in urban and territorial planning in national and international contexts. Moreover, the conference has hosted a Geodesign workshop, by Carl Steinitz (Harvard Graduate School of Design) and Hrishi Ballal (on skype), Tess Canfield, Michele Campagna. Finally, on the last day of the conference, took place the QGIS hackfest, in which over 20 free software developers from all over Italy discussed the latest news and updates from the QGIS network. The acronym INPUT was born as INformatics for Urban and Regional Planning. In the transition to graphics, unintentionally, the first term was transformed into “Innovation”, with a fine example of serendipity, in which a small mistake turns into something new and intriguing. The opportunity is taken to propose to the organizers and the scientific committee of the next appointment to formalize this change of the acronym. This 10th edition was focused on Environmental and Territorial Modeling for planning and design. It has been considered a fundamental theme, especially in relation to the issue of environmental sustainability, which requires a rigorous and in-depth analysis of processes, a theme which can be satisfied by the territorial information systems and, above all, by modeling simulation of processes. In this topic, models are useful with the managerial approach, to highlight the many aspects of complex city and landscape systems. In consequence, their use must be deeply critical, not for rigid forecasts, but as an aid to the management decisions of complex systems.[Italiano]:Dal 5 all’8 settembre 2018 l’Università della Tuscia e il Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Forestali - DAFNE hanno ospitato la decima edizione del Congresso Internazionale INPUT. INPUT è un gruppo informale di ricercatori accademici italiani che operano in molti settori connessi all’uso dell’informatica nella pianificazione.Questa decima edizione del Congresso ha perseguito obiettivi multipli con un carattere olistico, senza confini, per affrontare la complessità degli attuali sistemi socio-ecologici seguendo un approccio sistemico finalizzato alla risoluzione dei problemi. In particolare, la conferenza è stata orientata a presentare lo stato dell'arte degli approcci di modellazione impiegati nella pianificazione urbana e territoriale in contesti nazionali e internazionali.Inoltre, la conferenza ha ospitato un seminario di Geodesign, di Carl Steinitz (Harvard Graduate School of Design) e Hrishi Ballal (via skype), Tess Canfield e Michele Campagna. Infine, l'ultimo giorno della conferenza, si è svolto l’hackfest di QGIS, in cui oltre 20 sviluppatori di software open source provenienti da tutta Italia hanno discusso le ultime novità e gli aggiornamenti dalla rete QGIS.L'acronimo “INPUT” è nato come “INformatics per Urban and Regional Planning”. Nella transizione alla grafica, involontariamente, il primo termine è stato trasformato in "Innovazione", con un bell'esempio di serendipità, in cui un piccolo errore si trasforma in qualcosa di nuovo e intrigante.

Die vorliegende Arbeit ist durch Problemstellungen motiviert, die im Rahmen des Sonderforschungsbereichs 588 Humanoide Roboter entstanden sind. Sie gliedert sich in zwei große Themenbereiche, in die computergestützte Modellierung von Starrkörpersystemen und in die Modellierung von reibungsbehaftetem Kontakt, wie er typischerweise bei Greifvorgängen einer Roboterhand auftritt.

Fighting for a Living investigates the circumstances that have produced starkly different systems of recruiting and employing soldiers in different parts of the globe over the last 500 years. It does so on the basis of a wide range of case studies taken from Europe, Africa, America, the Middle East and Asia. The novelty of "Fighting for a Living" is that it is not military history in the traditional sense (concentrating at wars and battles or on military technology) but that it looks at military service and warfare as forms of labour, and at the soldiers as workers. Military employment offers excellent opportunities for this kind of international comparison. Where many forms of human activity are restricted by the conditions of nature or the stage of development of a given society, organized violence is ubiquitous. Soldiers, in one form or another, are always part of the picture, in any period and in every region. Nevertheless, Fighting for a Living is the first study to undertake a systematic comparative analysis of military labour. It therefore speaks to two distinct, and normally quite separate, communities: that of labour historians and that of military historians. This title was made Open Access by libraries from around the world through Knowledge Unlatched.

Our planet is nowadays continuously monitored by powerful remote sensors operating in wide portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our capability of acquiring detailed information on the environment has been revolutionized by revealing its inner structure, morphology and dynamical changes. The way we now observe and study the evolution of the Earth’s status has even radically influenced our perception and conception of the world we live in. The aim of this book is to bring together contributions from experts to present new research results and prospects of the future developments in the area of geosciences and remote sensing; emerging research directions are discussed. The volume consists of twenty-six chapters, encompassing both theoretical aspects and application-oriented studies. An unfolding perspective on various current trends in this extremely rich area is offered. The book chapters can be categorized along different perspectives, among others, use of active or passive sensors, employed technologies and configurations, considered scenario on the Earth, scientific research area involved in the studies.

The existence of financial intermediaries is arguably an artifact of information asymmetry. Beyond simple financial transactions, financial intermediation provides a mechanism for information transmission, which can reduce the degree of information asymmetry and consequently increase market efficiency. During the process of information transmission, the bank is able to provide unique services in the production and exchange of information. Therefore, banks have comparative advantages in information production, transmission, and utilisation. This book provides an overview of commercial banking and includes empirical methods in banking such risk and bank performance, capital regulation, bank competition and foreign bank entry, bank regulation on bank performance, and capital adequacy and deposit insurance.

Campus Medius explores and expands the possibilities of digital cartography in cultural and media studies. Simon Ganahl documents the development of the project from a historical case study to a mapping platform. Based on the question of what a media experience is, the concepts of the apparatus (dispositif) and the actor-network are translated into a data model. A time-space of twenty-four hours in Vienna in May 1933, marked by a so-called »Turks Deliverance Celebration« (Türkenbefreiungsfeier), serves as an empirical laboratory. This Austrofascist rally is mapped from multiple perspectives and woven into media-historical networks, spanning from the seventeenth century up to the present day.

The automatic retrieval of images according to the similarity of their content is a challenging task with many application fields. In this book the automatic retrieval of images according to human spontaneous perception without further effort or knowledge is considered. A system is therefore designed and analyzed. Methods for the detection and extraction of regions and for the extraction and comparison of color, shape, and texture features are also investigated.

« Le 11 mars 2011, le district Nord-Est du Japon a été frappé par un tremblement de terre massif suivi d’un tsunami majeur et d’une série d’accidents à la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima avec fuites d’éléments radioactifs ». Tel est le message que le professeur Kanazawa, président du Science Council of Japan (SCJ) adressa quelques jours après la catastrophe aux présidents des académies des sciences étrangère …

This collection of research and review papers is aimed at depicting the state of the art on the possible correlations between processing variables, obtained structure and special properties which this structure induces on the plastic part. The extraordinary capacity of plastics to modify their properties according to a particular structure is evidenced for several transformation processes and for many applications. The final common goal is to take profit of this peculiar capacity of plastics by inducing, through a suitable processing, a specific spatial organization.

This book is devoted to the state of the art, pitfalls and perspectives in the diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma – a peculiar malignant tumour arising from mesothelial cells that line the pleura, the pericardium and the peritoneum. Mesothelioma is known for its strong association with asbestos exposure, difficult surgical treatment and dismal prognosis. However, recent years have yielded significant discoveries on, for example, germline mutations in BAP1 gene coding BRCA1-associated protein 1, the pathogenetic role of inflammation, and innovative treatment approaches such as immune checkpoint inhibitors. The volume is intended to summarise classic views and innovations in the pathogenetic concepts, diagnostics, treatment and scientific studies of mesothelioma, resulting in a comprehensive reference work as well as a source of ideas for relevant clinical and basic research.

Wilms tumor is a rare kidney cancer that is usually diagnosed in children under the age of six. Wilms tumor is mostly the result of aberrations in WT1 gene, located on chromosome 11p13. In addition to being a risk factor for Wilms tumor, WT1 aberrations cause extra renal complications and other malignancies. This book brings together the basic and clinical aspects of Wilms tumor and WT1 research under three sections. Section I provides a comprehensive guide to the epidemiology, diagnostics, management, and treatment of Wilms tumor. Section II covers the biological aspects of Wilms tumor and WT1. Section III focuses on the role of WT1 in cardiac development, prostate cancer, glioblastoma and minimal residual disease.

Although fitness and health have similar properties, they are, in reality, two very different concepts. While health refers to the absence of diseases, fitness refers to the degree of body functioning and the ability of the body to handle physical demands. The more efficient the body functions, the higher the level of fitness. The higher the level of fitness, the greater the chance of the body being free of diseases and maintaining a healthy state.