Open Access Books

French Guyane, Guyana and Suriname are not often focused on. Sometimes French Guyane is believed to be an island, and one often wonders where Guyana is situated, or Suriname. This collection of essays aims to increase the visibility of the Guyanas and more particularly of the three countries mentioned above. It also means to contribute to scholarship already published and share the knowledge across various disciplinary fields. It will question the traditional divide between disciplines as the best way to approach such complex territories that contain many geographies, histories, languages and cultures. Moving away from simplistic and binary perspectives, the contributors of the volume address these questions that revisit colonial and postcolonial identities, and the porosity between their borders. What can the Guyanas do for us and what can we do for them? Creative and academic writers such as Gaiutra Bahadur, Sonja Boon, Janette Bulkan, Juanita Cox, Tim Cribb, Cyril Dabydeen, Charles Forsdick, Lisa Katharina Grund, Kathleen Gyssels, Natalie Hopkinson, Ateeka Khan, Sinah Kloß, Michael Mitchell, Gabriel Cambraia Neiva, Clem Seecharan, Janice Lowe Shinebourne, explore their Guyanas and others’.

Background Social determinants of health (SDOH) have increasingly entered health policy conversations as a growing body of researches, reveal the direct relationship between social determinants and health outcome. In fact, the recent literature is moving from the traditional model that focus on how health affects economic status, to a new view that economic status affects health. Objectives To investigate the principal conceptual frameworks for action on social determinants of health. Another aim is to contribute on the ongoing discourse on feasible measures which could be used to alert regions to inequalities in the distribution of health. Methodology, Italian data are used as a demonstration. Quadrant charts illustrate associations between how much regions spend on health and how effectively health system functions. The relevant inequality measures are used to rank health inequalities. Main results Frameworks have been presented to help communities, health professionals and others begin to better understand and address a variety of factors that affects health. Quadrant analysis technique shows the extent to which spending more on health, translates into better health outcomes, higher quality of care and improve access to care across the Italian regions, whilst also recognition the importance of major risk factors. Conclusions The social inequalities in health and what this means for how we understand and reduce them, as not to date been compressively examined empirically. There is an urgent need to expand our knowledge with comparable data on health determinants and more refined health outcomes. Furthermore, there is a need for feasible inequality measures in the health information systems. The measures used in this study, provide a step to inform and guide the uptake of equity-sensitive policies.

Despite a stop-and-go policy, over the past twenty years the European Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean Region have joined forces to scale-up their partnership. Today, the time seems ripe for the EU to give new impetus to bi-regional relations as the US interest in the region appears to be decreasing, and China quickly steps in. The near future will indicate whether the political will to bolster relations between the EU and the region is actually stronger than before: how will the agreements between the EU and Mexico, Chile, and the Caribbean be updated? Will the EU-MERCOSUR Association Agreement be completed? If so, the EU will be able to enact free trade agreements with all the countries in the region, except Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba. The latter is already involved in its first ever negotiation with the EU to strengthen bilateral cooperation. This volume provides an overview and wide-ranging analyses on the ongoing negotiations, viable options and possible results.

The Guide for the evaluation of agroecology proposes an approach and methodological tools for assessing the effects of agro ecological practices and systems on the agro-environmental and socio-economic performance of agriculture, and for assessing the conditions necessary for the development of agroecology. It aims to: help development stakeholders better design their projects, programmes and public policies in support of agroecology; facilitate the creation of references (performance and conditions necessary for development); and assist farmers so that they can better evaluate the results of their practices and thus have guidance for making decisions. This Guide is divided into three parts. The first part presents the general approaches for one-off evaluations and for monitoring and evaluation. The second part consists of evaluation sheets covering either agro-environmental and socio-economic aspects that may be impacted by agroecology, or the conditions necessary for the development of agroecology. The third part proposes additional methodologies in the form of tool sheets. This guide is the result of collaboration between GTAE (Agrisud International, AVSF, CARI and GRET), AgroParisTech, CIRAD, IRD and Institut Agro Montpellier.

Die Ethik im Umgang mit Tieren braucht mehr als das Gespräch über Rechte und Pflichten. Friederike Zenker zeigt auf, wie wichtig unsere Wahrnehmung für die Mensch-Tier-Beziehung ist und welche Rolle Bilder dabei spielen. Ihre Analyse exemplarischer Fotografien verbindet Elemente der Ethik und der Ästhetik miteinander und verdeutlicht, dass Tiere nicht nur als Vertretende einer Art, sondern vielmehr als nicht austauschbare Individuen gesehen werden können. Dieser zentrale Pfeiler zeitgemäßer Beziehungen zu Tieren wird im Begriff der »tierlichen Singularität« zusammengefasst - eine Einladung an verschiedene Disziplinen, ihre Sichtweisen auf die Tierethik zu erweitern.

Updates the policy context of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) patient safety initiative; documents the priorities and activities being undertaken; lays out an evaluation framework and possible measures of the effects on patient outcomes and on stakeholders other than patients. Discusses implications of the findings for future AHRQ policy, programming, and research; suggests ways to strengthen AHRQ activities.

The analysis at hand is tracing a major literary strategy within Ernst Toller?s (1893–1939) œuvre, a strategy operating on the level of motif. Related motifs become part of a process that is best described as parallelization. The analysis focuses on the genesis and intricate structure of the complexes of motif „theatrum mundi“, „doppelgänger“, „masses/leader“. Its major goal is to establish new impulses for further research into the literary techniques which are structuring Ernst Toller?s œuvre.

Clear conceptual sharpness—distinctness: that is the strength of language. Where the clearly defining mind reaches its limits, conceptual confusion and poetic potential arise. To make such ideas nevertheless semiotically graspable and aesthetically usable, an indistinct medium is needed. Music seems particularly suitable for this. This is especially of interest in relation to the 18th century, the age of aesthetics and sentimentalism. Gerstenberg's examination of overlapping literary and musical media concepts and genres is an attempt to make the impossible poetically possible: To combine the distinctness of language with the indistinctness of music and thus to make the aporia of ‘certain sentiments’ tangible.

This monograph describes the evolution of the U.S. global defense posture from 1783 to the present as the nation grew from a relatively weak and insular regional power into the preeminent global power. As new and unpredictable threats emerge, alliance relationships are revised, and resources decline, past efforts at dealing with similar problems yield important lessons for future decisions.

"Träumerisch haftet der Blik auf den schlanken Minarets der alten Dome der Christenheit, nur ungern nimmt man von ihnen Abschied, wenn nicht der heimliche Gedanke des Wiedersehens aufkäme, denn das Sprichwort sagt: Wer einmal Taksim Wasser getrunken hat, der kommt wieder!" Diese wehmütigen Gedanken notiert der Botaniker Carl Haussknecht am 13. Februar 1869 im damaligen Konstantinopel in sein – hier erstmals in Buchform veröffentlichtes – Tagebuch. Er befindet sich auf dem Rückweg nach Weimar, nachdem ihn zwei Reisen, oft abseits bekannter Wege, drei Jahre lang durch das Osmanische Reich bis nach Persien geführt haben. Ende 1868 nimmt er in Teheran sogar an einer Audienz beim Schah teil, der großes Interesse an Stationen seiner Reise und seinen kartografischen Aufnahmen zeigt. Neben der hauptsächlichen Aufgabe des Sammelns von Pflanzen hält Haussknecht aber nicht nur botanische und topografische Informationen fest. Ganz frei heraus notiert und kommentiert er seine vielseitigen Beobachtungen und berichtet über Begebenheiten und Begegnungen. Sein Urteil über die bereisten Regionen mit ihren Bräuchen und Bewohnern steht unter dem Eindruck seiner unmittelbaren Reiseerlebnisse. Und immer wieder wecken Landschaften und Feiertage Erinnerungen an die Heimat und Heimweh nach den Seinen.

British women were the first of all other nationalities to travel around the world. Among the reasons were their legal status, customs and manners, as well as economic situation. The women, as the citizens of the country where, after the Industrial Revolution, the costs of living were the highest in Europe, could still afford to cover their expenses, and tried to find the alternative ways to lead their existence. Moreover, the Georgian and Victorian mores forced them into exile. The travels to the successively enlarged British Empire were easier for British women than for their counterparts in other nations. They could always find the help and care partly from the imperial administration in foreign countries. Due to this, they could easily cover the cost of living in these countries. Some of them contributed to the creation of the new profession based on traveling. Describing their adventures within the literary genre of travel writing, they developed the unique kind of women’s travel writing, which is now a part of world’s heritage. The pioneering enterprises in travel undertaken by British women underpin much of the travel and tourism culture, marking in turn the beginning of professional travel offices. Their travelogues expanded the knowledge of the British Empire as well as the world.

Chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality world-wide. The most common cause is chronic cigarette smoke inhalation which results in a chronic progressive debilitating lung disease with systemic involvement. COPD poses considerable challenges to health care resources, both in the chronic phase and as a result of acute exacerbations which can often require hospital admission. At the current time it is vital that scientific resources are channeled towards understanding the pathogenesis and natural history of the disease, to direct new treatment strategies for rigorous evaluation. This book encompasses some emerging concepts and new treatment modalities which hopefully will lead to better outcomes for this devastating disease.

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 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

The majority of the twelve species of diadromous fish found in mainland France are considered as vulnerable or endangered. To understand their ecology, numerous studies have been carried out to collect individual data, notably using a non-lethal method of analysis for fish: scale sampling. This book highlights the possible uses of scales for monitoring and observing seven of the twelve French diadromous species: Atlantic salmon, sea trout, the three species of shad, mullet and smelt. The authors extend the analysis of scales to other types of data interpretation, from scalimetry (scale- reading and back-calculation)—the most common method for estimating the age and some traits of the life of fish—to isotopic and microchemical studies, genetic characterization, the recognition of species, biological forms, fish of domestic origin, and stock discrimination. These uses are illustrated with examples taken mainly from the salmonid and alosine families. This practical guide is intended for professionals in research and Science-Policy-Interface-offices, researchers and students involved in aquatic environment research, as well as diadromous fish associations and fishing and environmental protection federations.