Open Access Books

Tuberculosis remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. Despite saving an estimated 83 million lives since 2000, it claimed 1.23 million deaths in 2024 and a similar or higher number in previous years, while continuing to cause over 10 million new cases annually, including 10.4 million in 2024, according to the World Health Organization. Progress toward eradicating TB is multisectoral and depends both on the development of new tools in treatment and diagnostics and of effective advocacy to ensure rapid access to diagnostics and treatment while also addressing the stigma that remains associated with the disease in vulnerable communities. In this book, an international community of authors presents chapters on advances in the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis and challenges of extrapulmonary tuberculosis treatment. Collectively, these contributions summarise recent advances that help us stay at the forefront of the fight with the disease, now claimed a major cause of deaths related to antimicrobial resistance, and gradually edge closer to achieving the WHO targets of reducing TB incidence by 80%, TB deaths by 90%, and eliminating catastrophic costs for TB-affected households by 2030. The topics covered range from new all-oral regimens and the use of steroids in TB to AI-driven innovations in diagnostic imaging. They also include discussions of central nervous system-penetrating agents and novel mucosal delivery systems for neglected forms such as genital tract TB. The book, published by IntechOpen, attempts to broaden access to publishing for a diverse range of authors and is united by a shared commitment to fighting this difficult-to-eradicate and recurring disease.

Drawing on the author’s own experiences as a psychiatrist-psychotherapist, this fascinating new book gathers and analyzes folktales from around the world about adults struggling with conflicts and trying to determine truth. These narratives illustrate how storytelling is crucial to the process of reconciliation. The stories included within this book feature both familiar and forgotten ones: e.g., ""The Fisherman and the Djinn"" from Arabia; ""Why the Platypus Is Special"" from Australia; the Native American, ""How Nanapush Brought the Peace Pipe to the People,"" and the ancient Greek tale of ""Baucis and Philemon"". The anthology retells the tales and discusses them in terms of psychological and spiritual development - the role of individuation and wisdom in reconciling disputes. The tales reveal astonishing cross-cultural similarities about how to do so, and directly apply to many modern dilemmas. Particularly important is a new paradigm of truth and transformation illustrated by long overlooked tales of the Greek Muses. The Muses of Truth and Transformation draws on Chinen's research in adult cognitive, emotional, and spiritual development. The new perspective will appeal to Jungian analysts, psychotherapists, as well as students of psychology, mythology, and epistemology.

Positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are in vivo molecular imaging methods which are widely used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis and treatment follow-up of many major diseases. These methods use target-specific molecules as probes, which are labeled with radionuclides of short half-lives that are synthesized prior to the imaging studies. These probes are called radiopharmaceuticals. The use of PET and SPECT for brain imaging is of special significance since the brain controls all the body’s functions by processing information from the whole body and the outside world. It is the source of thoughts, intelligence, memory, speech, creativity, emotion, sensory functions, motion control, and other important body functions. Protected by the skull and the blood–brain barrier, the brain is somehow a privileged organ with regard to nutrient supply, immune response, and accessibility for diagnostic and therapeutic measures. Invasive procedures are rather limited for the latter purposes. Therefore, noninvasive imaging with PET and SPECT has gained high importance for a great variety of brain diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, motor dysfunctions, stroke, epilepsy, psychiatric diseases, and brain tumors. This Special Issue focuses on radiolabeled molecules that are used for these purposes, with special emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases and brain tumors.

This book presents new and original research in Statistical Information Theory, based on minimum divergence estimators and test statistics, from a theoretical and applied point of view, for different statistical problems with special emphasis on efficiency and robustness. Divergence statistics, based on maximum likelihood estimators, as well as Wald’s statistics, likelihood ratio statistics and Rao’s score statistics, share several optimum asymptotic properties, but are highly non-robust in cases of model misspecification under the presence of outlying observations. It is well-known that a small deviation from the underlying assumptions on the model can have drastic effect on the performance of these classical tests. Specifically, this book presents a robust version of the classical Wald statistical test, for testing simple and composite null hypotheses for general parametric models, based on minimum divergence estimators.

This work identifies classic marketing strategies for Shumee, scaling its business at a very fast pace. So it works in a blitzscaling environment, which is the main motive behind the creation of the presented case study. The project presents marketing strategies and a sales funnel illustrating the process of familiarizing customers with the brand. The publication describes the business model containing the most important elements affecting the functioning of the company, as well as the synergy of the strategy, consisting in combining several factors in order to achieve better results by the company.

En France, le choix de ne pas vouloir d'enfant est un choix que peu de personnes font (5 %) et qui va à contre-courant de l'image qui associe d'une part les enfants au bonheur et d'autre part la famille à un certain épanouissement de soi, à une certaine réussite tant personnelle que sociale. L'objectif de l'ouvrage est double : d'une part montrer que le refus d'entrer en parentalité est un objet sociologique, qui peut être analysé sous l'angle d'un choix de vie positif tout en étant marginal et marginalisé et d'autre part affirmer que le souhait de ne pas vouloir d'enfant doit être lu en interaction étroite avec les normes conjugales et professionnelles qui se reconfigurent depuis les avancées sociales, féministes et juridiques des années 1970. Faire le choix d'une vie sans enfant peut être lu comme un phénomène social dans le sens où cela révèle les normes sociales et de genre et procède d'une tension entre les valeurs libérales et les valeurs familiales de la société actuelle. À partir de données statistiques récentes et de récits de vie denses et régulièrement convoqués au fil du texte, l'ouvrage s'intéresse aux motivations des personnes volontairement sans-enfant qui ont accepté de témoigner. À la croisée de la sociologie de la famille, du genre et de la déviance, l'ouvrage permet de suivre le cheminement de la construction du non-désir d'enfant dans une société qui pose le désir d'enfant comme une évidence, constituant dès lors les personnes ne souhaitant pas devenir parent comme des outsiders de la parentalité.

This Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences presents recent advances and developments in the use of digital 3D technologies to protect and preserve cultural heritage. While most of the articles focus on aspects of 3D scanning, modeling, and presenting in VR of cultural heritage objects from buildings to small artifacts and clothing, part of the issue is devoted to 3D sound utilization in the cultural heritage field.

Dans ses Questions romaines, Plutarque convie son lecteur à une promenade à travers Rome, chaque station étant à la fois l’occasion d’observer des éléments d’architecture et d’aborder un thème en lien avec la vie, la culture, la politique ou la religion. C’est du moins à partir de cette lecture « topographique » élaborée par John Scheid que s’est noué un dialogue entre l’historien et son collègue, le biologiste Alain Berthoz, dialogue étendu à un vaste parcours pluridisciplinaire autour des arts de la mémoire et des images mentales. Couramment pratiquée dès l’Antiquité, la méthode des arts de la mémoire prend différentes formes au cours du temps, du théâtre de mémoire de la Renaissance à la poésie classique et contemporaine, des sciences sociales à l’architecture et à l’urbanisme, ou encore dans les neurosciences et les sciences cognitives, avec la mise en évidence des bases neurales de l’orientation. L’itinéraire proposé par ce livre nous révèle une dimension fascinante de notre histoire culturelle, toujours vivante à l’ère du numérique.

Depuis les premières œuvres importantes de Jules Verne – figure fondatrice à la fois par le contenu de ses romans et par son succès populaire – jusqu’au début de la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, cet ouvrage porte sur l’anticipation dans la francophonie et en propose une archéologie. D’où vient ce nouveau genre ? Comment s’est-il développé ? Les désignations génériques « anticipation » et « science-fiction » n’étant intervenues que tardivement, comment cette identité a-t-elle pu se dégager au fil des décennies, tant dans l’espace médiatique que dans le discours social fin de siècle ?Les auteurs de ce livre font valoir les dimensions historiques et sociales du genre et croisent des lectures axées sur la socialité des textes, tout en décodant les fictions et en les ancrant dans la réalité de leur époque. Ils offrent au lecteur – amateur de science-fiction, d’anticipation et, plus largement, d’histoire littéraire – une somme sur les premiers temps d’un genre indissociable des avancées de la science et des débats en cours.

How has the contraceptive pill developed in Germany from a politicized to a normalized technology? The author examines a wide range of historical discourses on the pill in the FRG from 1958 to 1989 and analyzes how the pill, as a material objectivation, helped shape social power relations, standardization efforts, and ideas of emancipation.

Staatsrepräsentation bedient sich häufig musikalischer Elemente. Der Band thematisiert diese spezifische Koppelung von Musik und Politik mit besonderem Akzent auf dem Aufführungscharakter staatlicher Veranstaltungen. Musik stiftet mehrfach Sinn: durch ihre Präsenz in der Performanz und durch ein historisch gewachsenes, politisch konnotiertes Repertoire. Während Letzteres bereits politologische und musikologische Forschungstraditionen begründet hat, ist das Performative bislang eher rudimentär beleuchtet worden. Der Band schließt diese Lücke, indem er den Staat als musikalischen Akteur ins Zentrum rückt. Theoretische Ansätze treten neben interdisziplinär ausgerichtete Perspektiven, ergänzt durch Erfahrungsberichte von Entscheidungsträger*innen aus Politik und Verwaltung, u. a. dem Diplomatischen Dienst. Die wissenschaftliche Kommentierung dieser Darstellungen von Zeitzeug*innen eröffnet weitere Forschungsfelder. The representation of a state is often combined with musical elements. This book explores the specific relationship between music and politics. A special focus reveals some performance character within state ceremonies and events, and the significance of music in creating meaning through its presence by performances and its politically charged repertoire. While previous musicological and politological research has focused on that, this volume seeks to fill a current gap by examining the performative nature of music in state events. Theoretical approaches are combined with interdisciplinary perspectives, including inside perspectives of decision-makers in politics, administration, and the diplomatic service. Scholarly commentary on these eyewitness’ memories opens up further areas of research.

A subsea pipeline (also known as an offshore pipeline or submarine pipeline) is a pipeline that is laid on the seabed or inside a specially constructed trench. The use of pipelines represents a reliable mode of transport of oil and gas. The prevention of failure scenarios, such as improper pressurization, localized buckling, fatigue failure and instability, the limit strength, internal/external pressure, corrosion-resistant material selection, and stability management, is the main concern in the design, installation, and operation of submarine pipelines. Fifteen recent research studies broadly covering the structural design and analysis of subsea pipelines or risers are featured in this reprint. The applications of the digital twin in subsea pipelines are highlighted. Classic structural topics including collapse strength, burst strength, tensile performance, buckling, fatigue, and bending are investigated in this reprint using numerical and experimental methods. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and proportional integral derivative (PID) control of the pipelines and risers are also included.

This publication on the reassessment of Swiss graphic design history has the format of a reference book. “Tempting Terms” assembles a variety of keywords that are without any systematic order or normative or comprehensive conception. This approach is an appropriate response to the expectations raised by the title of the research project Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Revisited. It engages on how a critical rereading of a national label might be achieved-a label that is equally understood as a style, as an economic argument in graphic design history, and an ongoing practice. The essays are written by researchers who share an enthusiasm for graphic design but come from a variety of backgrounds, from graphic design practice and teaching to art history. The specific structure of this publication intends to bring to the foreground various perspectives on the subject by individuals with their own specific self-understanding as practitioners, teachers, art historians, and designers. It is intended that the authors’ competencies should complement and challenge each other in a productive way.

Urban Oases is an ode to the architecture of Dutch hofjes. It explains why hofjes have been a natural and attractive part of the urban fabric of the Netherlands for six centuries and why they continue to appeal to new generations. The appeal of hofje architecture lies in its ability to renew its medieval archetype – an enclosed living environment around a shared green garden. Hofjes allow both residents and visitors to enjoy an especially serene and intimate atmosphere that contrasts surprisingly with the urban experience of hustle and bustle. The drawings, text and photography of Urban Oases take the reader to the capillaries of old Dutch cities and are relevant to an important contemporary global question: How can high-quality, compact residential environments be created in twenty-first century cities? Inspired by this extraordinary architectural heritage, the author addresses everyone who wants to contribute to a sustainable and liveable city.

Popular education beyond the school setting interweaves the experiences of two educational projects that connect the realities of Colombia’s Pacific and Caribbean regions. In Cali, the Corporación para el Desarrollo Regional leads one initiative, while in Santa Marta, the Cristo Rey Educational Institution spearheads another. Both cases draw on elements of critical pedagogy and interculturality, responding to local needs and interests that shape their educational processes and project them toward an ethical and political horizon of community transformation. This book also examines the school as a quintessential modern institution, analyzing it from the critical perspective of its actors. At the same time, it acknowledges that the educational landscape is inherently multicultural, introducing new challenges for teaching. While formal education takes place within the school, the broader community often provides alternative approaches that should be considered, debated, and integrated into institutional discussions. Such engagement may open pathways toward the meaningful inclusion of diverse perspectives.