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Over the past few decades, the field of bioactive materials for bone tissue engineering has emerged as a prominent approach in addressing bone traumas. The focus lies on the production of durable implants and bone substitutes capable of bypassing complications associated with rejection. HA is a well-known bioceramic with a close chemical and structural resemblance to the mineral composition of vertebrate bones and teeth. Despite its favorable bone regeneration properties, HA is prone to brittleness, limiting its use in load-bearing applications. To overcome this drawback, HA can be applied as a coating on metallic or polymeric implants, with the aim of significantly enhancing their overall performance. Synthetic HA is typically produced by means of several chemical routes. Recent approaches have been reported for extracting HA from natural and sustainable resources. Biologically derived apatite is a carbonated HA, which differs from synthetic HA in terms of composition, stoichiometry, crystallinity degree, crystal size/morphology, and consequently, degradation rate and overall biological performance. This reprint is devoted to the synthesis and characterization techniques of HA-based coatings. The Special Issue’s scope includes both synthetic and naturally derived HA materials. Notably, significant attention was directed toward the development of bioactive and biodegradable HA-based biomaterials with tunable properties. These biomaterials are specifically designed for a range of applications, including bone repair and regeneration, tissue engineering, orthopedics, biosensing, dental implants, and in vivo testing.

Taillées, sculptées, gravées ou brutes, les pierres jouent un rôle notoire dans de nombreuses religions où elles participent à la monumentalisation des lieux de culte, pérennisent l’inscription de textes ou matérialisent divers agents non-humains, qu’il s’agisse de divinités, d’ancêtres ou de héros. Mais au sein d’un large éventail de matières lithiques, qui vont du monolithe à la gemme, il existe des pierres d’exception auxquelles sont attribuées des formes de vitalité, d’intentionnalité ou de pouvoir. Ces roches, qui se distinguent par leurs propriétés sensibles, leur saillance topographique ou par les attentions dont elles font l’objet, se voient accorder des qualités semblables à celles de plantes, d’animaux ou de divinités. Pierres qui respirent, mangent, poussent, parlent ou pleurent, roches qui se déplacent, fécondent, soignent et parfois même se révoltent et scellent des serments, sont autant de protagonistes qui défient nos catégories.Que peuvent les pierres ? D’où vient leur puissance et comment se manifeste-t-elle ? Peut-on dire que des roches sont « vivantes » ? Est-ce le rituel qui permet de les animer et de leur conférer une capacité d’action hors du commun ou y-a-t-il des contextes dans lesquels des pierres présentent une vitalité et une force intrinsèques ? Et dans ce cas, comment les qualités de ces roches singulières sont-elles exploitées par les rites ? De quelles images, signes graphiques ou substances les recouvre-t-on afin de renforcer leur efficacité ? Enfin, quels corpus de savoirs construisent leurs pouvoirs et participent à leur transmission ? Une mine de questions ouvre un dialogue entre anthropologues et historiens autour des liens que les humains tissent avec des roches singulières. C’est en mettant en relation les qualités matérielles des pierres et leur ancrage spatial, les gestes, les pratiques et les discours dans lesquels elles sont prises, que les contributions de cet ouvrage explorent les modes d’action et d’animation de roches d’exception dans des aires culturelles, des périodes historiques et des contextes religieux variés.

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

This book contains research on the pedagogical aspects of fluid mechanics and includes case studies, lesson plans, articles on historical aspects of fluid mechanics, and novel and interesting experiments and theoretical calculations that convey complex ideas in creative ways. The current volume showcases the teaching practices of fluid dynamicists from different disciplines, ranging from mathematics, physics, mechanical engineering, and environmental engineering to chemical engineering. The suitability of these articles ranges from early undergraduate to graduate level courses and can be read by faculty and students alike. We hope this collection will encourage cross-disciplinary pedagogical practices and give students a glimpse of the wide range of applications of fluid dynamics.

A landmark work of lesbian literature with a reflective introduction written by the author twenty years later Lover was first published in 1972 to tremendous critical acclaim. Emerging out of the women's and gay liberation movement alongside the early work of writers such as Rita Mae Brown and Jill Johnston, the novel features fictional and historical characters who run the gamut from saint to white trash, and who are by turn vulnerable and strong. One of the finest examples of early post-Stonewall lesbian fiction, Lover paints a fascinating mural of one of the most significant times in LGBTQ history. In the introduction to this updated edition edition, Bertha Harris offers a window into the cultural and personal milieu in which she wrote. Revealing the real-life personalities behind some of the novel's characters, Harris reframes the story within its unique moment in time, and gives readers new insights into the heady post-Stonewall days. This audacious and outrageous novel is a gem of early lesbian writing, ready to be rediscovered by a new generation.

Closed injuries and abdominal wounds have always been a difficult surgical problem. The presence of many vital organs in the abdominal cavity, the specifics of their anatomical structure, vascular architectonics, and innervation, the immediate proximity of intestinal contents rich in pathogenic flora, and the presence of organs producing extremely active enzymes lead to massive internal bleeding, rapid development of peritonitis, and irreversible changes in organs and tissues. The problem of modern diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to abdominal trauma is very relevant and requires detailed coverage. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the different types of abdominal trauma and their treatment.

Rimbaud asserted that the poet’s mission was to “find a language”. Poetry is a kind of laboratory of fully modern language: the poet “would define the degree of newness awakening in his lifetime in the universal soul”. Rimbaud thus thrusts the poet’s work towards some utopian horizon, since “the time of a universal language will come!” (letter to Paul Demeny, 15th May 1871). Mallarmé considers language as the inheritance of the mysteries of times gone by and sees the poet as “purifying the dialect of the tribe”. Are we then to understand that poetry irremediably turns its back on current language or rather that it manifests the truth of such language?

The importance of good practices for the mental and physical health of employees is increasing. Human-centric organizational policies, aimed at social goals, are gaining greater attention. Individuals with impaired physical abilities are not only at risk of reduced work efficiency but also experience poorer well-being. This article draws upon the documentation of the „Efficient Employee” Project, focused on actions for individuals with movement disabilities hindering their professional work. Co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund, with the Małopolski Orthopedic-Rehabilitation Hospital named after Prof. Bogusław Frańczuk in Krakow as the beneficiary. The research objective is to assess the correlation between the comprehensiveness of the program and the health outcomes of rehabilitation. The article also refers to the study of the „Blue Zones” community.

Latin American literature has depicted warrior woman and trans warrior characters in armed conflicts, but literary critics have not paid much attention to their empowerment. They also have critiqued these characters using traditional gender binary concepts or have viewed their access to power as evil or abnormal. Warrior Women and Trans Warriors: Performing Masculinities in Twentieth-Century Latin American Literature introduces a new perspective by analyzing how one trans warrior and two warrior women from three canonical novels contest traditional codes of behavior and appearance. It examines Pintada in the Mexican novel Los de abajo (1915); doña Bárbara in the Venezuelan novel Doña Bárbara (1929); and Diadorim in the Brazilian novel Grande sertão: veredas (1956). Warrior Women and Trans Warriors focuses on how these three characters challenge conventional norms and empower themselves by giving orders, using weapons, fighting, competing with other characters, exposing traditional gender ideologies, and transgressing sartorial gender rules. Drawing on trans theory, intersectionality, gender performance theory, and masculinities studies, this book argues that performing masculinities allow these characters to occupy the place of the most-desired position of their contexts.

The book presents the results of diagnostic tests conducted on the angular contact ball bearing no. B7208CTAP4, widely used in the industry. Various defects of different sizes were intentionally introduced to the outer ring, inner ring and balls using an EDM machine equipped with specially designed electrodes. The arc was strategically positioned to simulate the most probable contact point with the rolling element, correspond to the nominal contact angle of the bearing. Vibration measurements were subsequently taken by recording the vibration velocity signal using a purposebuilt laboratory stand. The tests included bearings in various configurations, both with and without defects. The bearing’s condition was assessed by comparing the obtained results to the reference values derived from tests on defect-free bearings. In diagnostics, both recurrence plots and recurrence quantification methods were applied. The results were compared to those obtained through traditional methods of bearing diagnosis.

In hierdie werk bied J.S. Krüger aan die leser ’n keurige Afrikaans vertaling en mistiekreligieuse vertolking van die Paradiso van die Italiaanse digter-denker Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). Dit is die derde deel van die grootste trilogie, Divina Commedia, bestaande uit Inferno (2013) en Purgatorio (2020), en hierdie publikasie sluit met die vertaling-vertolking van die Paradiso af. Die Paradiso is stellig een van die merkwaardigste religieuse en artistieke hoogtepunte van die Westerse beskawing, verskynend op die kruin van die Middeleeuse epog, daardie sublieme sintese van Christelike geloof en Griekse filosofie, tans opgeneem in ’n skynbaar onomkeerbare proses van disintegrasie. ’n Sentrale uitgangspunt van die boek, afwykend van die heersende sekularisme en materialisme in die post-moderne Weste, is dat religie ’n sentrale neiging en behoefte van die menslike spesie is. Die skrywer sien mistiek as verbinding van diepsinnige kognitiewe insig, emosionele suiwerheid en morele skoonheid, as die hoogste vlak van menslike ontwikkeling. Dante se trilogie word gelees as die aanbod van ’n God-aanskouende kenner van die menslike lot van leef en sterf en hiernamaals voortleef, as inderdaad die uitdruk van Dante se eie lewensloop sy eksistensiële lyding, loutering en finale katarsis: sy besef van persoonlike tekortkominge en lyding in moeilike omstandighede (Inferno) in sy jeug; geleidelik oorkom in ’n lang proses van ballingskap in sy eie vaderland (Purgatorio); uiteindelik gefinaliseer in ’n deurbraak tot innerlike vrede in God-aanskouende saligheid kort voor sy dood (Paradiso). Hierdie publikasie word aanbeveel vir navorsende en benieude lesers met ’n besef van religieuse krisis en die behoefte aan ’n integrerende visie: skynbaar onoorkomelike historiese diskontinuïteite en skynbaar onversoenbare hedendaagse breuke en konflikte.

The Routledge Handbook of Private Law and Sustainability reflects on how the law can help tackle the current environmental challenges and make our societies more resilient to future crises. Sustainability has been high on the political agenda since the approval of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and the EU Green Deal in 2019. The Green Agenda aims at making Europe the first climate‑neutral continent by 2050, but humanity persists in an ecological overshoot that puts at risk the survival of species, including that of our own. Drawing together a selection of leading thinkers in the field, this Handbook provides a curated overview of the most recent and relevant discussions for private lawyers related to environmental and sustainability concerns. The authors delve into case study examples from 20 countries in Europe and beyond and discuss a wide range of issues, including new property law and consumer law paradigms, the use of legal tech for promoting sustainable property management, strategies for fighting planned obsolescence, eco‑design, the servitisation economy, advances on corporate climate litigation and mandated green private sludges. Overall, the volume is designed to empower new generations of legal scholars to take an active role in the transition to a more sustainable future. It will also assist policymakers in producing better policy, through pinpointing the main legal issues that need to be addressed and offering a comparative overview of legal solutions and best practices. Divided into six key parts and overseen by a team of internationally recognised expert editors, this Handbook will be an essential resource for students, scholars, private lawyers and policymakers who wish to have a comprehensive, fundamental overview of how environmental sustainability concerns reflect on private law.

Despite the current need for reliable and valid test instruments to monitor the sign language acquisition of Deaf children in different countries, very few tests offering strong evidence for their psychometric properties are commercially available. A German Sign Language (DGS) test that focuses on linguistic structures acquired in preschool- and school-aged children (4-8 years old) is urgently needed. The present study uses as a template a test which has sound psychometric properties and has been standardized on another sign language as a starting point for tests of sign languages that are less documented, such as DGS.This book makes a novel contribution to the field by examining linguistic, cultural, methodological, and theoretical issues in the process of the adaptation from the source language test to the target language test, and by providing a model for future test adaptations. It also includes concrete steps for the test development and adaptation process.Adaptation and Evaluation of a German Sign Language Test addresses students and researchers alike who are involved in sign language test development and adaptation. It also provides a comprehensive summary in German.