Open Access Books

This reprint presents groundbreaking discoveries, practical techniques, and rigorous analyses related to the cultivation, preparation, and exploitation of mycelium composites. The papers cover a wide range of topics, including functional modifications of mycelium with inorganic particles, modifying and assessing the mechanical properties of mycelium composites, strategies for improving the flexural behaviour of composites, beehives from fungal materials, bio-welding and reinforcement of composites, bioreactors for fungal production, co-production of composites by fungi and bacteria, growing large-scale mycelium structures, sound absorption by composites, and the geometrical parameterisation of fungi. This informative compendium of techniques, methods, and insights on growing fungal material appeals to readers from all walks of life, from high school pupils to university professors, from mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers to chemists, from craft practitioners to industrial producers of fungal materials, and from biologists to architects and artists.

Recent forms of realism in continental philosophy that are habitually subsumed under the category of “speculative realism,” a denomination referring to rather heterogeneous strands of philosophy, bringing together object-oriented ontology (OOO), non-standard philosophy (or non-philosophy), the speculative realist ideas of Quentin Meillassoux and Marxism, have provided grounds for the much needed critique of culturalism in gender theory, and the authority with which post-structuralism has dominated feminist theory for decades. This publication aims to bring forth some of the feminist debates prompted by the so-called “speculative turn,” while demonstrating that there has never been a niche of “speculative realist feminism.” Whereas most of the contributions featured in this collection provide a theoretical approach invoking the necessity of foregrounding new forms of realism for a “feminism beyond gender as culture,” some of the essays tackle OOO only to invite a feminist critical challenge to its paradigm, while others refer to some extent to non-philosophy or the new materialisms but are not reducible to either of the two. We have invited essays from intellectual milieus outside the Anglo-Saxon academic center, bringing together authors from Serbia, Slovenia, France, Ireland, the UK, and Canada, aiming to promote feminist internationalism (rather than a “generous act of cultural inclusion”).

This book traces the past 150 years of Japan's diplomatic history, focusing on the thoughts and actions of the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since the ministry's establishment in 1869. It includes a discussion of the last fifteen years of the Edo period, beginning with the arrival of Commodore Perry in 1854. Since the Meiji era, Japan's foreign policy has been informed by its response to that “confrontation from the West." This foreign policy has been largely based on “accommodation diplomacy" (also called responsive diplomacy). Japan has designed its diplomatic response with an eye to its own foreign policy goals, applying the metric of what might be feasible more than what might be desirable. In “accommodation diplomacy," the international issues, international order, and the rules of the game are not defined. In that sense, there has been no all-encompassing strategy behind Japan's foreign policy. Instead, Japan has regarded the international situation simply, as a set of facts. It has sought to maximize the benefits to itself while minimizing risk. Its foreign policy has been an attempt to solve this conundrum through accommodation. Reflective of the times, this has required an abundance of creativity. Japan has needed to be both pragmatic and forward-thinking in its response to changes in the international environment. In the postwar period, as Japan aimed to elevate its standing in the competition-driven international environment, its foreign policy can be understood as an extension of the way it had comported itself since the Meiji era: emphasizing cooperation and coordination with other nations while responding to changes in the international environment.

The paths taken in the teaching and learning processes inscribe marks on the subjects that cross them. It was the desire to explore some of these records that encouraged the master's research, now unfolded in this work, which sought to problematize school inclusion practices from a dialogue with biopolitics.

Recherche en histoire qui fait largement place aux vécus personnels, cet ouvrage explore la vie des moniales contemplatives à l’époque contemporaine à partir de quatre couvents de carmélites (Jambes et Floreffe) et de clarisses (Malonne et Saint-Servais) de la province de Namur. L’enquête monographique est précédée d’un relevé général des fondations de contemplatives en Wallonie et à Bruxelles aux 19e et 20e siècles qui témoigne de l’importance du phénomène : en 2000, malgré la fermeture d’une cinquantaine de maisons depuis les années 1960, il restait encore cinquante couvents de contemplatives. Au total, quelque 300 femmes ont été professes dans les maisons étudiées, les deux tiers entrées entre 1880 et 1930. Complétées par les témoignages oraux, les archives conventuelles constituent l’essentiel des sources exploitées, avec une attention particulière à la production poétique et littéraire des moniales (chants, poèmes, pièces de théâtre, sketches, etc.), ce qui permet de toucher du doigt l’aspect « pulsionnel » du vécu religieux. Le thème central qui émerge de l’étude est celui de la « séparation du monde », utopie et fondement du monachisme.

Les relations entre les États-Unis et l’Unesco ont toujours été complexes comme le démontre l’étude des 20 premières années de celles-ci. Lors de la création de l’Unesco quelques Américains ont énormément travaillé pour que cette Institution spécialisée des Nations- Unis existe. Leur rôle et leur apport sont ici soigneusement mis en évidence. Or, les premières déceptions arrivent rapidement car, à tort, du côté de Washington, on espérait voir l’Organisation participer efficacement à la lutte contre le communisme. Néanmoins, à la fin des années 1950, l’Unesco connaît un regain de faveur auprès du gouvernement américain. Et si l’hégémonie financière américaine à l’Unesco n’a jamais fait de doute, sa domination politique est mise en cause dès les premières années. Les États-Unis vont quitter l’Unesco en 1984, quand la première génération d’Américains, fondateurs de l’Unesco et fidèles malgré les déceptions a, depuis longtemps, quitté la scène politique. L’auteur a utilisé une documentation inédite et a multiplié les enquêtes orales. Gail Archibald

The femme fatale as a code of Viennese modernism. The article examines the image of the femme fatale as one of the key transnational images of European modernism. Special emphasis is placed on the Viennese ssecession context, as well as the formation of a new type of femininity in the archetypal images of femme fatale and femme fragile in the literature of fin de siècle. In the focus of the research is the transformation of these images in Ukrainian literature from decadence (M. Iatskiv, V. Pachovskyi, I. Franko) to expressionism (V. Vynnychenko). The article examines the ambivalent characterization of femme fatale in the works of Ukrainian authors, which reflects the reception of the image of the “new woman” – emancipated and threatening, awakening creative genius and at the same time associated with sexual threats.

Die theoretische Reichweite des Begriffs des Geschmacks von Kunst und Kultur auszuweiten, insbesondere auf das Feld der Politik, stellt einen Schnittpunkt der philosophischen Programme von zwei sehr unterschiedlichen DenkerInnen des 20. Jahrhunderts dar. Ausgehend von Pierre Bourdieus und Hannah Arendts jeweiligen Herangehensweisen an Kants "Kritik der Urteilskraft" werden Vergleich und wechselseitige Kritik der beiden philosophischen Standpunkte entwickelt. Auch die Philosophie erweist sich dabei als Geschmackssache, allerdings als eine, in der gute Gründe zählen. Der Autor plädiert für eine Theorie des Urteils und eine Praxis des Urteilens, die sich auf die realen gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse beziehen. Matthias Meindl, Studium der Philosophie an der Freien Universität Berlin und der Russistik und Germanistik an der Humboldt-Universität. Theoretische Schwerpunkte: Schnittpunkte zwischen ästhetischer und politischer Theorie sowie Kultur, Kunst und Literatur im postkommunistischen Russland.

América Latina está pasando desde hace varios años por una crisis política, económica y social cuya seriedad es cada vez más palpable. El primer ensayo de este trabajo evalúa el nuevo Tratado de Montevideo (1980) y su relevancia para el desarrollo económico y social de la región en el decenio de los ochenta; el segundo analiza las perspectivas socioeconómicas de la subregión centroamericana en los años venideros y las posibilidades futuras de integración en esta área latinoamericana tan convulsa.

Prunus is one of the most important genera of fruit. It includes peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, and other stone fruits. This book discusses breeding, germplasm, fruit tree physiology, pruning, production, and nutritional studies of the Prunus species. It includes two sections on “Molecular and Breeding Studies and Germplasm Diversity in Prunus Species” and “Physiological and Nutritional Studies on Prunus Species.”

Terrortimes, Terrorscapes: Continuities of Space, Time, and Memory in Twentieth-Century War and Genocide investigates interconnections between space and violence throughout the twentieth century, and how such connections informed collective memory. The interdisciplinary volume shows how entangled notions of time and space amplified by memory narratives led to continuities of violence across different conflicts creating “terrortimes” and “terrorscapes” in their wake. The volume examines such continuities of violence with the help of an analytical framework built around different themes. Its first part, spatial and temporal continuities of violence, looks at contested spaces and ideas of national, ethnic, or religious homogeneity that are often at the heart of prolonged conflicts. The second part, on states and actors, addresses the role of states as enablers of violence, asymmetric power dynamics, and the connection between imperialism and genocide in Africa. Imagination and emotion—the focus of the third part—explores utopian visions and their limits that instigate or hinder, and the mobilization of emotion through propaganda. Finally, the fourth part shows how the recollection of the past sometimes triggers new terrortimes. Departing from an understanding of violence limited to certain areas and time frames, this volume describes continuities of violence as overlapping fabrics woven together from notions of space, time, and memory.

The Wandering Earth, Chinese science fiction, VFX-heavy science fiction films

Explores the phenomenon of distrusting evidence coming from reliable sources with current examples including climate change and vaccine scepticism. The book argues that evidence resistance relates to a type of cognitive malfunction and distinguishes it from justified evidence rejection occurring in environments polluted with disinformation.

L'ouvrage porte un regard interdisciplinaire sur l’apprentissage en milieu de travail et la transmission professionnelle, et ouvre le débat autour des conditions de circulation et de partage de l’expérience en situation de travail, des formats d’apprentissage et des dispositifs favorisant la professionnalisation.L'évolution et le maintien des compétences est une préoccupation forte pour les milieux et les personnes qui ont à penser la continuité des activités de travail. Or cet enjeu, exprimé aussi bien en dehors du travail qu’en son sein, est remodelé par l’actualité politique des réformes sur la formation professionnelle qui réinterrogent les conditions et les modalités de transmission-apprentissage en milieu de travail.Au croisement de recherches en sciences de l’éducation et de la formation, et de l’ergonomie constructive, cet ouvrage apporte un éclairage sur ces enjeux renouvelés et ouvre le débat autour de trois thématiques : celle des conditions de circulation et de partage de l’expérience professionnelle en situation de travail ; celle des formats de transmission de l’expérience, d’étayages et d’interactions apprenantes au travail et celle des questions de conception de dispositifs favorisant la transmission professionnelle à travers des ingénieries de formation en situation de travail.Les contributions portent ainsi un regard interdisciplinaire sur la professionnalisation, la considérant comme un processus fortement dépendant de la qualité des articulations entre formation et travail. Le livre intéressera donc au premier chef la communauté scientifique, mais donnera également des repères aux professionnels et aux praticiens de la formation professionnelle.

Medical Mercenaries and Transimperial Science traces the trajectories of some 300 physicians from German-speaking Switzerland, Habsburg Austria, and the German Empire who served in the Dutch East Indies’ military and civil medical institutions between the 1870s and 1920s. The book offers new insights into the transimperial networks that shaped medicine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, highlighting the crucial yet ambivalent role of foreign physicians in the Dutch Empire. It shows how colonial medicine functioned as a vehicle for performing bourgeois respectability, scientific authority, and imperial masculinity, all while constantly being challenged and renegotiated in light of unfamiliar diseases, indigenous expertise, and local resistance. Following German-speaking physicians across the colonial military, laboratories, and plantations, the study reveals how colonial medicine structured hierarchies of race, class, gender, and nationality, and how knowledge forged in the tropics reshaped metropolitan medical discourse in German-speaking Europe and beyond.