Open Access Books

Noncommunicable Diseases: A Compendium introduces readers to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) – what they are, their burden, their determinants and how they can be prevented and controlled. Focusing on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory disease and their five shared main risk factors (tobacco use, harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and air pollution) as defined by the United Nations, this book provides a synopsis of one of the world’s biggest challenges of the 21st century. NCDs prematurely claim the lives of millions of people across the world every year, with untold suffering to hundreds of millions more, trapping many people in poverty and curtailing economic growth and sustainable development. While resources between and within countries largely differ, the key principles of surveillance, prevention and management apply to all countries, as does the need to focus resources on the most cost-effective and affordable interventions and the need for strong political will, sufficient resources, and sustained and broad partnerships. This compendium consists of 59 short and accessible chapters in six sections: (i) describing and measuring the burden and impact of NCDs; (ii) the burden, epidemiology and priority interventions for individual NCDs; (iii) social determinants and risk factors for NCDs and priority interventions; (iv) global policy; (v) cross-cutting issues; and (vi) stakeholder action. Drawing on the expertise of a large and diverse team of internationally renowned policy and academic experts, the book describes the key epidemiologic features of NCDs and evidence-based interventions in a concise manner that will be useful for policymakers across all parts of society, as well as for public health and clinical practitioners.

L’histoire de la mise en scène des tragédies grecques se confond avec celle de l’invention de la scène moderne. En effet dans leur quête de ce théâtre des origines, les metteurs en scène ont construit l’utopie d’un spectacle total, capable à la fois de rénover les pratiques scéniques, de créer un événement social ou mystique et de susciter la terreur et la pitié chères à Aristote. En partant d’une reconstitution des conventions théâtrales antiques, l’auteur cherche à évaluer le rapport qu’entretiennent les créateurs contemporains avec un théâtre devenu mythique : de la radicalisation de la distance qui les sépare de l’Antiquité à la volonté de surmonter cette distance, tous ont fondé, à partir de ce matériau, un théâtre de la modernité.

Bringing together the latest research among various communities of practice (disciplinary and place based as well as thematically organised), this volume reflects upon the knowledge, experience and practice gained through taking a unique community of practice approach to fostering gender equality in the sectors of research and innovation, and higher education in Europe and beyond. Based on research funded by the European Union, it considers how inter-organisational collaboration can foster change for gender equality through sharing of experiences of Gender Equality Plan implementation and examining the role of measures such as change-monitoring systems. As such, it will appeal to social scientists with interests in organisational change, the sociology of work and gender equality.

undefined

Social safety in social environments entails the sense of feeling safe with other people. Thus, social safety and security are very important to our life. Although research in this area has made significant progress in the past few years, there are still many social problems that require attention and further development in order to secure peace of mind. There is a very clear and accurate understanding and judgment of the overall situation of social security in the current and future period. This Special Issue focuses on a number of contemporary issues in social safety and security. The objective of this book is to rapidly disseminate the latest research and knowledge in this important area.

This is the first book to combine contemporary debates in ballad studies with the insights of modern textual scholarship. Just like canonical literature and music, the ballad should not be seen as a uniquely authentic item inextricably tied to a documented source, but rather as an unstable structure subject to the vagaries of production, reception, and editing. Among the matters addressed are topics central to the subject, including ballad origins, oral and printed transmission, sound and writing, agency and editing, and textual and melodic indeterminacy and instability. While drawing on the time-honoured materials of ballad studies, the book offers a theoretical framework for the discipline to complement the largely ethnographic approach that has dominated in recent decades. Primarily directed at the community of ballad and folk song scholars, the book will be of interest to researchers in several adjacent fields, including folklore, oral literature, ethnomusicology, and textual scholarship.

This book sets itself specific objective: namely, the consideration of the design of the river landscape as a cultural and social investment. The aim is at "control" of a landscape which is transformed while preserving harmonious forms and structures that are sustainable from an ecological and environmental aspect, and is continually redesigned on the basis of human requirements, without overwhelming nature. The need for hydraulic defence of the rivers thus becomes an opportunity for a "third landscape" project, a chance to transform "non-places" into "places".

Shadow Plays explores popular forms of entertainment used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to transport viewers to a new world, foreshadowing present-day virtual, augmented, and extended reality experiences (VR, AR, and XR). Typically studied as part of the prehistory of cinema or the archaeology of media, analog technologies such as the mondo nuovo or cosmorama, the magic lantern, the moving panorama, and the stereoscope evoked shadow copies of our world long before the advent of digital technologies and exercised a powerful pull on minds and imaginations. Through six case histories and eight interactive simulations, Massimo Riva explores themes of virtual travel, social surveillance, and utopian imagination, shedding light on illustrious or, in some instances, forgotten figures and inventions from Italy's past. Arguing for the continuity of experience and imagination, Riva adopts the term virtual realism, an experience marked by the virtualization of the real and the realization of the virtual. At a time when the gap between simulations and "real" experiences is getting ever smaller, a cultural-historical exploration of the prehistory of virtual reality can help us better understand the present in light of the past while exploring the past using the tools forged in the present.

An ever-increasing integration of technology in our daily life took place over the last years. Humanoid robots like other autonomous systems are becoming increasingly relevant. For these systems it is essential to perceive their current environment at the required level of detail. Therefore, this publication introduces the interest-driven audiovisual scene exploration based on multimodal saliency, knowledge-driven curiosity and other aspects, which achieve an important scientific contribution.

Il libro ripropone le lezioni tenute da Robert Spaemann nel corso del decimo ciclo della Scuola di Alta Formazione Filosofica, svoltosi a Torino dal 24 al 28 ottobre 2011. Nella versione che presentiamo ai lettori si alternano testi desunti direttamente dalla registrazione e saggi già precedentemente pubblicati, dalla cui lettura Spaemann effettivamente aveva preso le mosse per le sue lezioni, dalle quali vengono riportati dibattiti e chiarimenti avvenuti. Per comprendere la posizione di Spaemann giova soffermarsi in particolare sul primo capitolo, che non ha solo valore introduttivo, ma delinea in modo sintetico e assai efficace il nucleo centrale delle proposte teoriche del filosofo tedesco. Esplicito in Spaemann il riferimento alla tradizione classica, a partire da Aristotele, ma è nondimeno chiaro che un puro e semplice ritorno a quelle filosofie non può aver luogo senza un accurato confronto con gli sviluppi moderni della filosofia e delle scienze. Come osserva Spaemann, l’uomo della modernità ha rimosso il riferimento a una teleologia e abbandonato il concetto di vita, avendoli ritenuti punti di riferimento inservibili.

The journal of regional historical research for Lower Saxony and Bremen. The *Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte* is dedicated to all periods and sub-disciplines of historical studies and, in line with the Historical Commission, regards the present-day federal states of Bremen and Lower Saxony as its academic field of activity. It features annually changing thematic focuses, comprising the lectures—revised into essays—delivered at the most recent annual conference of the Historical Commission. The extensive review section offers reviews of works on the regional history of north-western Germany, as well as on more general works.

Writing history is an art and a craft. This handbook supports research students and independent scholars by showing how the historical profession works and how to participate in its vibrant community of scholars. It outlines techniques to help design large-scale research projects, demonstrates the difference between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies and provides advice on bringing projects to a positive conclusion. This friendly guide is frank about the pains and pleasures of sticking with a long-term project, and explains how to present original research to wider audiences, including the appropriate use of social media, the art of public lecturing and strategies for publication. Written by esteemed historians Penelope J. Corfield and Tim Hitchcock, Becoming a Historian debunks the myths and demystifies the systems that can make the world of research feel intimidating, and offers step-by-step advice on participating in the historical community.

This book is a collection of articles by Italian and foreign scholars designed to offer an overview of the processes and issues involved in the history of the confraternity movement, as yielded by studies in the historical, social, legal, literary and artistic spheres in the course of the twentieth century. The articles deal with the historical context of western Europe, and more specifically with Italy, in the period comprised between the Middle Ages and the early Modern Age. The collection is divided into four sections: Individuals and groups, which explores the emergence of an interest in confraternity communities in disciplines addressing the history of social groups, of the rural world, of women and of young people. The legal and institutional framework deals with issues of legitimacy and institutional structure. The economics of charity analyses the relations between the confraternities and the hospital structures, the procedures for the administration of the assets, and the strategies of governance underlying the policies of aid of which the confraternities were the principal instrument. Finally, the section Theatrical, musical, artistic and documentary evidence is devoted to the sources that have handed down evidence of the operation of the confraternities.

"Eine Flexibilisierung des zu starren Schrankenkatalogs des deutschen und europäischen Urheberrechts ist dringend erforderlich. Dies zeigt sich insbesondere bei der Konfrontation der Schranken mit neuartigen Formen der Werknutzung. Im Rahmen der technologieneutral und wertungsoffen ausgestalteten Fair Use-Schranke des US-amerikanischen Urheberrechts gelingt es hingegen deutlich problemloser, auch einer veränderten Werknutzungsrealität gerecht zu werden. Rechtsvergleichend untersucht der Autor, wie sich aus Erkenntnissen zur Fair Use-Schranke und dem im europäischen und internationalen Recht etablierten urheberrechtlichen Dreistufentest eine Auffanggeneralklausel gestalten lässt, die den zu starren Schranken der InfoSoc-Richtlinie bzw. des UrhG die erforderliche Flexibilität verleihen könnte, ohne als Fremdkörper im europäischen Recht zu erscheinen."

Une ville n’est pas seulement un ensemble de rues et de maisons avec un nombre donné d’habitants, mais c’est aussi, par-dessus tout, l’expression profonde de la culture des personnes qui y vivent. Ce livre a pour but de fournir aux étudiants et aux enseignants les méthodes analytiques et les marches à suivre pour appréhender une ville, de telle sorte qu’ils puissent s’approprier l’endroit où ils vivent. Pondichéry a été choisie comme exemple pour cette analyse. Différents chapitres traitent du site de Pondichéry, de sa morphologie et de son plan, de son territoire urbain et des points de repère, de son architecture (particulièrement des maisons traditionnelles tamoules) et de ses aspects socio-culturels. Le livre contient de nombreux croquis, cartes, listes, élévations et photographies, pour une meilleure compréhension de la ville.