Open Access Books

Andrew Podger's monograph, The Role of Departmental Secretaries, Personal reflections on the breadth of responsibilities today, is an important contribution to the broader public policy discourse in Australia. Andrew has been, at times, an unflinching commentator on issues of bureaucratic performance, accountability and responsiveness to government. Andrew's reflections are drawn from his own experiences within the inner circle of Australian policy-making. In this monograph, he presents a highly nuanced portrait of the role of Commonwealth departmental secretaries. Although a 'player' himself at key moments in recent policy history, Andrew is a dispassionate and thoughtful observer of events. This is not merely a memoir: this work is rich in analysis and Andrew offers a number of 'lessons learned' to be heeded (or not) by the present and future generations of policy practitioners.

Published

The International Conference on Economics and Social Sciences (ICESS)organized by Bucharest University of Economic Studies provides an opportunity for all those interested in Economics and Social Sciences to discuss and exchange research ideas. The papers presented at the Conference are available online in the Conference Proceedings series (ISSN 2704-6524). Volume 2021 Resilience and Economic Intelligence Through Digitalization and Big Data Analytics: During 2020, leaders found themselves at a historic crossroads, taking decisions under remarkable pressures and uncertainties. However, windows of opportunity are being created to shape the economic recovery, restore the health of the environment, develop sustainable business models, strengthen regional development, revitalize global cooperation, harness Industry 4.0, and redesign the social contracts, skills, and jobs.

Complementary to revelation in the Word, Christianity depends on visual media that provide insight into the realm of the otherwise invisible. One such medium for the Christian Middle Ages is the vision, which, however, needs to be translated into material images in order to be accessible not only to the eye of a few chosen ones, but also to a larger circle of viewers. In a diachronic perspective, the book takes a look at three different media constellations that shape the history of the representation of visions between the early and late Middle Ages: Vision as written image (early medieval Apocalypse manuscripts, vision books of Hildegard of Bingen and Birgitta of Sweden), Vision as interior space (representations of dreams and the Ascension, English Apocalypse cycles, Adoration diptychs), and Vision as body-sign (the stigmatizations of Francis and Catherine of Siena, representations of the Gregory Mass). The history of medieval representations of visions thus not only provides useful information about the high value of image-based communication within a (supposed) " written religion," it also brings to light a prehistory of those more open concepts of image and media that have replaced the mimesis-based easel painting of modern times since the modern era.

Adipose tissue, or “fat”, has become synonymous with obesity. The public discourse frames a desire to reduce or even banish this tissue at almost every turn, with reasons ranging from aesthetics to health improvements. During decades of research into the development of adipose tissue-reducing interventions, there has also been an increasing acknowledgement and understanding of the physiological necessity for adipose tissue. Functional adipose tissue contributes to overall health due to its role in an incredibly diverse array of processes. For that reason, dysfunction in this tissue continues to be linked to a wide variety of pathologies, from infection to cancer and everything in between. In this book, we gather expert input from those currently expanding this field to provide insight into the importance of adipose tissue.

Forests cover 30% of the Earth’s land area, or nearly four billion hectares. Enhancing the benefits and ecosystem services of forests has been increasingly recognized as an essential part of nature-based solutions for solving many emerging global environmental problems today. A core science supporting forest management is understanding the interactions of forests, water, and people. These interactions have become increasingly complex under climate change and its associated impacts, such as the increases in the intensity and frequency of drought and floods, increasing population and deforestation, and a rise in global demands for multiple ecosystem services including clean water supply and carbon sequestration. Forest watershed managers have recognized that water management is an essential component of forest management. Global environmental change is posing more challenges for managing forests and water toward sustainable development. New science on forest and water is critically needed across the globe. The International Forests and Water Conference 2018, Valdivia, Chile (http://forestsandwater2018.cl/), a joint effort of the 5th IUFRO International Conference on Forests and Water in a Changing Environment and the Second Latin American Conference on Forests and Water provided a unique forum to examine forest and water issues in Latin America under a global context. This book represents a collection of some of the peer-reviewed papers presented at the conference that were published in a Special Issue of Forests.

Topology is an area of mathematics that establishes relations and transformations between spaces with a certain structure depending on their position and considering the structure of the ambient space where these relations exist. This book discusses various concepts and theories of topology, including diffeomorphisms, immersions, Hausdorff spaces, cobordisms, homotopy theory, symplectic manifolds, topology of quantum field theory, algebraic varieties, dimension theory, Koszul complexes, continuum theory, and metrizability, among others.

El tema de las dinámicas culturales ha experimentado un desarrollo importante durante los últimos años dentro de la arqueología mesoamericana. Apoyándose a la vez sobre el mejoramiento de los conocimientos acerca de los contenidos culturales de las diferentes entidades, como de sus evoluciones diacrónicas, y gracias a una renovación de los acercamientos teóricos, el estudio de relaciones tan diversas como el comercio y el abastecimiento en materias primas, los intercambios a nivel de la ideol...

Some of the studies in this publication excavate lost or disappearing indigenous toponyms. Those researchers contribute in a very concrete way to the preservation of indigenous toponyms, and thereby also the associated cultural heritage. The other papers explore how place naming functions as a mechanism with which to create mental maps and exert socio-political power.

China's exploitation by Western imperialism is well known, but the imperialist treatment within China of ethnic minorities has been little explored. Around the geographic periphery of China, as well as some of the less accessible parts of the interior, and even in its cities, live a variety of peoples of different origins, languages, ecological adaptations, and cultures. These people have interacted for centuries with the Han Chinese majority, with other minority ethnic groups (minzu), and with non-Chinese, but identification of distinct groups and analysis of their history and relationship to others still are problematic.Cultural Encounters on China's Ethnic Frontiers provides rich material for the comparative study of colonialism and imperialism and for the study of Chinese nation-building. It represents some of the first scholarship on ethnic minorities in China based on direct research since before World War II. This, combined with increasing awareness in the West of the importance of ethnic relations, makes it an especially timely book. It will be of interest to anthopologists, historians, and political scientists, as well as to sinologists.China's exploitation by Western imperialism is well known, but the imperialist treatment within China of ethnic minorities has been little explored. Around the geographic periphery of China, as well as some of the less accessible parts of the interior, and even in its cities, live a variety of peoples of different origins, languages, ecological adaptations, and cultures. These people have interacted for centuries with the Han Chinese majority, with other minority ethnic groups (minzu), and with non-Chinese, but identification of distinct groups and analysis of their history and relationship to others still are problematic.Cultural Encounters on China's Ethnic Frontiers provides rich material for the comparative study of colonialism and imperialism and for the study of Chinese nation-building. It represents some of the first scholarship on ethnic minorities in China based on direct research since before World War II. This, combined with increasing awareness in the West of the importance of ethnic relations, makes it an especially timely book. It will be of interest to anthopologists, historians, and political scientists, as well as to sinologists.

Ce cycle thématique de l’Institut d’études avancées (IEA) de l’université de Cergy-Pontoise, a été organisé par le CIRAC en coopération avec le centre de recherche Civilisations et identités culturelles comparées (CICC), avec le concours du Centre interdisciplinaire d’études et de recherches sur l’Allemagne (CIERA) et du Deutsch-Französisches Institut (DFI). Composé de trois tables rondes, il a réuni des spécialistes français et allemands de haut niveau qui ont dressé un état des lieux des positions et des approches françaises et allemandes sur les principaux chantiers de l’Union européenne.

According to the National Research Council, the use of embedded systems throughout society could well overtake previous milestones in the information revolution. Mechatronics is the synergistic combination of electronic, mechanical engineering, controls, software and systems engineering in the design of processes and products. Mechatronic systems put “intelligence” into physical systems. Embedded sensors/actuators/processors are integral parts of mechatronic systems. The implementation of mechatronic systems is consistently on the rise. However, manufacturers are working hard to reduce the implementation cost of these systems while trying avoid compromising product quality. One way of addressing these conflicting objectives is through new automatic control methods, virtual sensing/estimation, and new innovative hardware topologies.

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As in many areas of medicine, treatment of viral hepatitis has seen an acceleration of change driven by new therapies and evolving technology. Thanks to the direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs), the era of HCV eradication and cure has begun. As regards to hepatitis B therapy, potent antiviral drugs for suppression of viral replication are available, new research activities to enhance eradication are visible, and these may influence clinical practice in the coming years. This book covers the latest advances in hepatitis C and hepatitis B therapeutics as well as the emerging and investigational treatment strategies. "Advances in Treatment of Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B" book is an up-to-date source of information for physicians, residents, and advanced medical students seeking a broader understanding of treatment of viral hepatitis. The authors of the chapters come from many eminent centers around the world and are experts in their respective fields.