Open Access Books

"Senshi was born in 964 and died in 1035, in the Heian period of Japanese history (794–1185). Most of the poems discussed here are what may loosely be called Buddhist poems, since they deal with Buddhist scriptures, practices, and ideas. For this reason, most of them have been treated as examples of a category or subgenre of waka called Shakkyoka, “Buddhist poems.” Yet many Shakkyoka are more like other poems in the waka canon than they are unlike them. In the case of Senshi’s “Buddhist poems,” their language links them to the traditions of secular verse. Moreover, the poems use the essentially secular public literary language of waka to address and express serious and relatively private religious concerns and aspirations. In reading Senshi’s poems, it is as important to think about their relationship to the traditions and conventions of waka and to other waka texts as it is to think about their relationship to Buddhist thoughts, practices, and texts. The Buddhist Poetry of the Great Kamo Priestess creates a context for the reading of Senshi’s poems by presenting what is known and what has been thought about her and them. As such, it is a vital source for any reader of Senshi and other literature of the Heian period."

Of the Nubian Archaeological Campaigns responding to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the survey and excavations carried out within Sudanese Nubia represent the most substantial achievement of the larger enterprise. Many components of the larger project of the UNESCO – Sudan Antiquities Service Survey have been published, in addition to the reports of a number of other major projects assigned separate concessions within the region. However, the results of one major element, the Archaeological Survey of Sudanese Nubia (ASSN) between the Second Cataract and the Dal Cataract remain largely unpublished. This volume, focusing on the pharaonic sites, is the first of a series which aims to bring to publication the records of the ASSN. These records represent a major body of data relating to a region largely now lost to flooding. This is also a region of very considerable importance for understanding the archaeology and history of Nubia more generally, not least in relation to the still often poorly understood relationships between Lower Nubia to the north and the surviving areas of Middle and Upper Nubia, to the south. The ASSN project fieldwork was undertaken over six years between 1963 and 1969, investigating c.130km of the river valley between Gemai, at the south end of the Second Cataract, and Dal.

The idea of improvisation, broadly defined, has been integral to our imagination of the medieval musical past. It can be related to many elements of production: to the act of un-notated creation; to the manipulation and amplification of notated materials; to our observance of rigid rules and formulae; or to spontaneous freedom. Likely a product of the Carolingian Renaissance, this is the first medieval music treatise to address an aspect of chant performance that does not only relate to a memorized repertoire, but includes an unwritten practice of extemporizing an accompanying voice to a pre-given melody. The art of “coloration” or the ornamentation of a line, whether polyphonic or monophonic, had been an integral part of extemporization since at least the time of the Ad organum faciendum treatises. When planning author's ontological inquiries, the author's would do well to remember the possible existence of creativity that is not inspired, or ephemerality that is not performer- or expression-centered.

Jane Austen and Critical Theory is a collection of new essays that addresses the absence of Critical Theory in Austen studies—an absence that has limited the reach of Austen criticism. The collection brings together innovative scholars who ask new and challenging questions about the efficacy of Austen’s work. This volume confronts mythical understandings of Austen as “Dear Aunt Jane,” the early twentieth-century legacy of Austen as a cultural salve, and the persistent habit of reading her works for advice or instructions. The authors pursue a diversity of methods, encourage us to build new kinds of relationships to Austen and her writings, and demonstrate how these relationships might generate new ideas and possibilities—ideas and possibilities that promise to expand the ways in which we deploy Austen. The book specifically reminds us of the vital importance of Austen and her fiction for central concerns of the humanities, including the place of the individual within civil society, the potential for new identities and communities, the urgency to address racial and sexual oppression, and the need to imagine more just futures.

The recent SARS-Cov-2 pandemic has turned the clinical and academic world upside down. Despite the protocols that were promptly implemented, this emergency situation caused delays in all aspects of non-urgent and deferrable medical care. Even in the field of dentistry, the pandemic led to delays in the treatment and application of more stringent protocols, often postponing less urgent treatments with significant consequences for the oral health of patients. The goal of this Special Issue is to disseminate relevant knowledge of the recent SARS-Cov-2 pandemic with a focus on related applications in the fields of medicine and dentistry. Different types of manuscripts concerning these topics will be considered, including clinical studies, trials, systematic reviews, prospective studies, and proposals of new protocols or scientific evidence regarding dental clinics and SARS-Cov-2 infections.

This book draws together the major recent advances in the modeling of karst systems. Based on the dissolution kinetics of limestone, and flow and transport processes in its fractures, it presents a hierarchy of cave genetic situations that range from the enlargement of a single fracture to the evolution of cavernous drainage patterns in confined and unconfined karst aquifers. These results are also applied to the evolution of leakage below dam sites in karst. The book offers a wealth of informations that help to understand the development of cave systems. It addresses geologists, hydrologists, geomorphologists, and geographers. It is also of interest to all scientists and engineers who have responsibilities for groundwater exploration and management in karst terrains. A CD including all figures figures from the nook and numerous animations presenting the results is enclosed.

This is a collection of research articles reporting the most recent progress in organic optoelectronic materials and devices. The involved research work covers materials of organic and hybrid semiconductors, designs in micro and nano scales, structures for microcavity and random lasing, and devices for light emission or detection. Although these research results deal with only a narrow band of the broad topic of organic optoelectronics, they are believed to make excellent contributions to the new development of related fields. Appreciations should be delivered to all of the authors, whose support enabled the successful completion of this Special Issue.

Despite formal equality gains such as LGBTQ workplace protections (Bostock v. Clayton County 2020), heteronormative cultural orders still permeate queer rights discourse. Laura Borchert engages with the cultural-legal construction of sexual minorities in the US and deconstructs naturalized assumptions about ›the Queer‹ in US law and culture by conducting interdisciplinary wide readings of legal texts. She makes a strong case for utilizing suspect classification to secure queer rights and offers the first distinctively cultural studies perspective on equal protection and sexual orientation by using a queer hermeneutics of law.

"Direkte Demokratie in all ihren Erscheinungsformen ist und bleibt in Deutschland ein Reizthema. Das neue „Jahrbuch für direkte Demokratie“ will als kritisches interdisziplinäres Forum für alle Fragen unmittelbarer Demokratie zur Versachlichung der Debatte beitragen. Es vereint in seinem ersten Teil fundierte wissenschaftliche Beiträge von Kritikern wie Befürwortern unmittelbarer Sachentscheidungen des Volkes. Eine verlässliche Dokumentation von Volksentscheiden und Volksbegehren auf Landesebene sowie eine Auswahl an Bürgerentscheiden bzw. -begehren gibt im zweiten Teil Aufschluss über Verbreitung und Praxis direkter Demokratie. Jahresberichte erweitern das Jahrbuch um die internationale Perspektive, spüren aber auch den Entwicklungstendenzen in den einzelnen Ländern der Bundesrepublik nach. Ausgewählte Gerichtsentscheidungen und Gutachten illustrieren die Debatte um die rechtlichen Grenzen der direkten Demokratie. Schließlich enthält jedes Jahrbuch in seinem dritten Teil einen umfangreichen Rezensions- und Neuerscheinungsabschnitt, der über aktuelle Publikationen zum Thema informiert und gleichzeitig Raum für kritische Auseinandersetzung bietet. Rechts- und Politikwissenschaftler, Ökonomen und alle an der Mitwirkung des Volkes an Sachentscheidungen Interessierten erhalten mit dem neuen Jahrbuch regelmäßig handlichen Aufschluss über den aktuellen Stand von Theorie und Praxis direkter Demokratie."

This book contains a collection of works showcasing the latest research into global health economics conducted by leading experts in the field from the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at the University of York and other partner research institutions. Each chapter focuses upon an important topic in global health economics and a number of separate research projects. The discussion delves into health care policy evaluation; economic evaluation; econometric and other analytic methods; health equity and universal health coverage; consideration of cost-effectiveness thresholds and opportunity costs in the health sector; health system challenges and possible solutions; and others. Case study examples from a variety of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings are also showcased in the final part of this volume. The research presented seeks to contribute toward increasing understanding on how health policy can be enhanced to improve the welfare of LMIC populations. It is strongly recommended for public health policymakers and analysts in low- and middle-income country settings and those affiliated to international health organizations and donor organizations.

The aim of this reprint is to immerse readers in the forefront of technological innovation within image and signal processing. This collection of 14 articles explores a wide array of applications and methodologies, from cutting-edge deep learning techniques to practical solutions addressing real-world challenges in industries such as agriculture, healthcare, transportation, and cultural heritage preservation. The reprint highlights advancements like intelligent systems for disease detection, enhanced object detection models for industrial safety, and lightweight networks for autonomous driving. It delves into topics such as terrain modeling, dynamic colorimetric analysis, and video compression tailored for vehicular communication. By combining foundational research with applied solutions, the articles demonstrate the vast potential of image and signal processing to drive progress across diverse domains. Through the insights of leading experts, this reprint not only showcases innovative solutions but also envisions the future trajectory of the field. It emphasizes sustainable approaches, efficiency, and the integration of advanced technologies to meet global challenges. The collection provides readers with a unique opportunity to explore how these transformative tools are reshaping industries while fostering sustainable development and a better quality of life.

The volumes offer a commented edition of Austro-Hungarian consular reports from the Vilayet Kosovo and for the first years of the Serbian administration in Kosovo, 1870-1914. Volume 1/1: https://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:1472 Volume 1/2: https://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:1473 Volume 1/3: https://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:1474 Volume 1/4: https://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:1475 Volume 1/5: https://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:1476 Maps: https://e-book.fwf.ac.at/o:1477

This monograph explores the ways in which people experience ‘development’ and how development shapes and maintains their lives. The discussion begins with Lampung Province, moves to one of the province’s highland regions, and ends in a village in this highland region. Colonial and post-colonial initiatives drove the transformation of Lampung in the twentieth century bringing mixed results and effects including rapid growth in agricultural production, the formation of ‘wealthy zones’ in some areas, and the creation of pockets of poverty in other areas. In Sumber Jaya and the highlands of Way Tenong, migrants have transformed one of Lampung’s last frontier regions into one of its ‘wealthy zones’. Although the bulk of these migrants migrated spontaneously, they were integrated within the framework of planned development. The level of progress that the region has achieved is largely the result of villagers’ efforts to bring state resources to the village. In conflict with forestry authorities for decades, farmers in some villages have agreed to establish a new relationship with authorities, but the struggle for control over land resources continues.

Adipose tissue is a rich, ubiquitous, and easily accessible source for multipotent mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs), so-called adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs). Primary isolated ASCs are a heterogeneous preparation consisting of several subpopulations of stromal/stem and precursor cells. Donor-specific differences in ASC isolations and the lack of culture standardization hinder the comparison of results from different studies. Nevertheless, ASCs are already being used in different in vivo models and clinical trials to investigate their ability to improve tissue and organ regeneration. Many questions concerning their counterparts and biology in situ, their differentiation potential in vitro and in vivo, and the mechanisms of regeneration (paracrine effects, including regeneration-promoting factors and extracellular vesicles, differentiation, and immunomodulation) are not completely understood or remain unanswered. This Special Issue covers research articles investigating various adipose tissues as a source for ASC isolation, specific cultures methods to enhance proliferation or viability, and the differentiation capacity. Furthermore, other studies highlight aspects of various diseases, the immunosuppressive potential of ASCs and their derivates, or the in vivo tracking of transplanted ASCs. This edition is complemented by a review that summarizes the current knowledge of spheroid culture system methods and applications for mesenchymal stem cells.