Open Access Books

This book is planned to publish with an objective to provide a state-of-art reference book in the area of computational fluid dynamics for CFD engineers, scientists, applied physicists and post-graduate students. Also the aim of the book is the continuous and timely dissemination of new and innovative CFD research and developments. This reference book is a collection of 14 chapters characterized in 4 parts: modern principles of CFD, CFD in physics, industrial and in castle. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the computational experiment technology, numerical simulation of the hydrodynamics and heat transfer processes in a two dimensional gas, application of lattice Boltzmann method in heat transfer and fluid flow, etc. Several interesting applications area are also discusses in the book like underwater vehicle propeller, the flow behavior in gas-cooled nuclear reactors, simulation odour dispersion around windbreaks and so on.

Over the past decades, researchers have gathered data demonstrating that vitamin D and its metabolites possess activities far beyond the classic regulation of calcium–phosphate homeostasis. It is now well established that vitamin D is essential for the proper functioning of the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems. Furthermore, vitamin D and its analogs were shown to regulate proliferation and differentiation of keratinocyte, immune cells, and numerous cancer-derived cells, both in vivo and in vitro. On the other hand, population base studies have provided evidence that global vitamin D deficiency is correlated with the occurrence and aggravation of symptoms of skeletal, cardiovascular autoimmune, and skin disease; infections; metabolic and cognitive disorders; multiple types of cancers; as well as overall mortality. This Special Issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences, entitled “Vitamin D and Human Health”, summarizes recent advances in our understanding of pleiotropic activity of vitamin D with a focus on its protective role against cancer, hypertension, viral infections, and neurological diseases, as well as its impact on the immune system and mitochondria. Furthermore, eight research papers provide new insight into vitamin D research and highlight new directions and targets in the prevention and treatment of human diseases.

En Colombia, la descentralización ha sido la reforma clave de los años 80. Impulsada y proseguida bajo tres gobiernos, la descentralización hace parte hoy del paisaje político y administrativo del país. El objetivo de este libro, es tras la presentación crítica de la reforma, analizar los medios y alcances de la descentralización para determinar las nuevas medidas que necesita. Dario Fajardo, ex-director del Centro de Estudios Sociales de la Universidad Nacional y actual gerente de la Corpor...

The book is devoted to the design, application and characterization of thin films and structures, with special emphasis on optical applications. It comprises ten papers—five featured and five regular—authored by scientists all over the world. Diverse materials are studied and their possible applications are demonstrated and discussed—transparent conductive coatings and structures from ZnO doped with Al and Ga and Ti-doped SnO2, polymers and nanosized zeolite thin films for optical sensing, TiO2 with linear and nonlinear optical properties, organic diamagnetic materials, broadband optical coatings, CrWN glass molding coatings, and silicon on insulator waveguides.

In advance of the construction of an underground parking lot on the edge of the Saint-Georges quarter in the city of Lyon, on the right bank of the Saône, a team of Inrap archaeologists conducted an excavation between 2002 and 2004 with the goal of reconstructing the nature of the human installation from the beginning of Antiquity. Strongly supported by previous research and enriched by several complementary disciplines, the long and complex preventive excavation of the Parc Saint-Georges provided an opportunity to reconstruct the history of a riverbank with a difficult natural topography, which was gradually liberated from the river course, while not completely breaking from its influence. At this site, we find key evidence for the genesis of the formation of the alluvial plain of Lyon. At the end of the Protohistoric period, this was the location of the confluence of the original Rhone and Saône rivers, and then that of the new course of the Saône. The vitality of the fluvial network and port activities at Lugdunum are clearly illustrated by the discovery of a pier in association with a ferry dated to the end of the 1st century ad, and five heavy-tonnage barges dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. After a period of decreased occupation during the Early Middle Ages, the sector was progressively urbanized starting in the 12th century. At the center of the excavation, a zone with no construction was to be the future site of the port of Sablet. In the 16th century, this fluvial port was well established within the urban framework of the quarter. Seven fishwell boats provide evidence of commercial fishing activities. Significant changes were made in the second half of the 17th century in order to create a monumental port. A boat, which perhaps served for the transport of heavy merchandise, is dated to the middle of the 18th century. Until the end of the 19th century, the construction of the Fulchiron quay deprived the sector of direct access to the river, the bank was modified to accommodate the fluvial port of the quarter, and the environment was composed of "waterfront" houses. The significant historical data presented in this publication, obtained through a thorough exploitation of the information contributed by this excavation, represents a decisive advance in archaeological research, allowing a reconstruction of the early evolution of a major fluvial zone of the city of Lyon.

This reprint contains a series of articles and reviews that illustrate the state-of-the-art knowledge about Gamma Ray Bursts and provide deep insights on the challenges that will be faced in GRB physics in the next decade.

Das Leben und Werk des aus Oberschlesien stammenden Schriftstellers Alfred Hein wurde durch beide Weltkriege des 20. Jahrhunderts geprägt. Dieser in den ersten vier Jahrzehnten dieses Jahrhunderts schaffende Autor von Gedichten, Romanen und Erzählungen spürte sein ganzes Leben lang die Folgen des in seiner Jugend erlebten Ersten Weltkrieges und versuchte, seine eigene Vorstellung vom Frieden literarisch auszuarbeiten. Der Zweite Weltkrieg beendete dagegen frühzeitig seine schriftstellerische Laufbahn. Der vorliegende Band stellt im ersten Teil Heins Lebensweg dar, der ihn aus Oberschlesien durch die Westfront des Ersten Weltkrieges, Ostpreußen und Halle an der Saale nach Berlin führte, und charakterisiert sein literarisches Schaffen. Der zweite Teil des Bandes wird der Analyse von Kriegs- und Friedensräumen in ausgewählten Romanen Heins der 1920er- und 1930er-Jahre gewidmet. The life and work of Alfred Hein, a writer from Upper Silesia, was shaped by both world wars of the 20th century. This author of poems, novels and short stories, who created during the first four decades of this century, felt the consequences of the First World War he experienced in his youth throughout his life and tried to work out his own idea of peace in literature. The Second World War, however, ended his literary career at an early stage. The first part of this volume presents Hein’s life, which took him from Upper Silesia through the western front of the First World War, East Prussia and Halle an der Saale to Berlin, and characterises his literary work. The second part of the volume is devoted to the analysis of spaces of war and peace in selected novels by Hein from the 1920s and 1930s.

Claude Montefiore (1858-1938) was among the major founders of Anglo-Liberal Judaism and the World Union for Progressive Judaism, and was known for his radical ideas and deep sympathy for Christian ideas. This volume explores why and how Montefiore engaged Christianity, and the reaction to this engagement by many contemporary Jewish luminaries.

In 1950, the amino acid sequences of vasopressin and oxytocin were determined, and both peptides were chemically synthesised. This characterisation of oxytocin led to the Nobel Prize being awarded to Vincent du Vigneaud in 1955. The common evolutionary origin of vasopressin and oxytocin dates back to millions of years ago, which suggests that oxytocin has effects that go beyond uterine contractions and pregnancy. Nevertheless, such evidence was uncovered only in early 2000, when mice depleted of either oxytocin or its receptor were observed to develop late-onset obesity and metabolic syndrome, thus establishing the involvement of oxytocin in the regulation of energy and metabolism. The effects of oxytocin on fat and energy are both direct, since oxytocin is anorexigenic, and indirect, since oxytocin regulates the lean/fat mass composition in skeletal muscle. Peripheral oxytocin promotes osteoblast differentiation and function. Oxytocin acts on fat, muscle, and bone. Evolutionarily, the anabolic effect of oxytocin on bone and muscle makes sense since oxytocin concentrations increase during stressful physiological situations, including pregnancy and lactation in mammals, and triggers aggressive behaviour that, in females, is important for the protection of offspring after labour, when they are most vulnerable to predators and plasma oxytocin is at its peak. This demonstrates that the effects of oxytocin are beneficial in the management of osteoporosis, body fat gain, and sarcopenia, indicating the therapeutic potential but also challenges, namely, to find a single route able to reach all the targets.

Intellectual Property rights are expanding and, thus, overlapping more than ever before. This poses challenges to a system devised as comprising a set of isolated compartments, each with its defined purpose.

Négociant, mécène et protestant languedocien, originaire de Lunel, (Jean)-Louis Médard, 1768-1841, a légué à sa ville natale une bibliothèque exceptionnelle, témoignage de première importance sur la culture libérale du temps. Bibliophile, philanthrope, homme de la Réforme et des Lumières, marqué par la Révolution, il appartient pleinement à cette génération qui a voulu changer le monde. Le colloque « Autour de Louis Médard » a permis de faire sortir de l'ombre ce bourgeois éclairé et, à trav...

This volume analyzes the consequences of the growing reliance on the solidarity principle as a platform to address the needs of socially vulnerable groups. Emphasizing labor law and policy, this original contribution explores how the solidarity principle is rendered in policies and practices, demonstrating very concrete limitations and advantages.

Il y a cent ans prenait fin la Première Guerre mondiale. Ses commémorations nous permettent de reconsidérer dans son ensemble et dans ses spécificités les formes de la mémoire du conflit. Mais peut-on parler d’une mémoire ? Il existe en réalité une pluralité de mémoires qui varient selon les origines familiale et sociale, mais qui restent largement nationale et hétérogène d’un pays à un autre. L’objet de cette publication est de cartographier l’évolution dans le temps, jusqu’à aujourd’hui, des mémoires de la Première Guerre mondiale en Europe, à travers les textes d’éminents historiens. Trop souvent négligée, la péninsule des Balkans est ici particulièrement étudiée à côté des grandes puissances traditionnelles européennes. Compte tenu de leurs histoires respectives, certains pays ont vu la mémoire de la Grande Guerre avoir une forte dynamique historiographique et mémorielle quand dans d’autres elle a été relayée au second plan par d’autres événements contemporains. Ces articles consacrés aux cas nationaux coexistent avec des études novatrices consacrées aux dimensions paneuropéennes et transnationales des mémoires, courants historiographiques émergents qui ouvrent une perspective différente.

Les perspectives esquissées par les auteurs des dix-sept articles regroupés dans ce volume montrent que les contenus implicites sont omniprésents, mais qu'ils obéissent à divers fonctionnements linguistiques et à diverses finalités. On reconnaîtra, à la lecture, les méthodes et traditions de recherche spécifiques au linguiste, au spécialiste de littérature ou de civilisation et l'on constatera aussi la fécondité de l'approche interdisciplinaire.

Welcome to the evolving world of otorhinolaryngology, where each discovery helps us better understand the delicate connections between the ear, nose, and throat. The field of otorhinolaryngology has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades, thanks to the relentless efforts of researchers, clinicians, and surgeons dedicated to improving patient care. Written by well-known authors, this book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of many recent developments in diagnosing and treating ear, nose, and throat (ENT) disorders. We investigate various topics, including auditory pathologies, nasal and sinus diseases, oropharyngeal and laryngeal conditions. Each chapter is written to offer the reader an in-depth understanding of the underlying pathophysiology, clinical presentation, and current therapeutic approaches.