Open Access Books

Before matter as we know it emerged, the universe was filled with the primordial state of hadronic matter called quark–gluon plasma. This hot soup of quarks and gluons is effectively an inescapable consequence of our current knowledge about the fundamental hadronic interactions: quantum chromodynamics. This book covers the ongoing search to verify the prediction experimentally and discusses the physical properties of this novel form of matter. It begins with an overview of the subject, followed by a discussion of experimental methods and results. The second half of the book covers hadronic matter in confined and deconfined form, and strangeness as a signature of the quark-gluon phase. It is ideal as an introduction for graduate students, as well as providing a valuable reference for researchers already working in this and related fields. This title, first published in 2002, has been reissued as an Open Access publication.

This book presents an argument for egalitarian anarchism (understood as a moral theory) and sheds light on numerous debates in political philosophy. It argues that social anarchism is a coherent philosophical position that follows from a more plausible principle that constrains which moral theories are acceptable.

The contributions in this volume provide a comprehensive picture of the challenges and opportunities facing teacher training today. There is a growing awareness of the importance of holistic, culturally sensitive, ethically oriented and pedagogically innovative approaches. The teaching figure emerges as a reflective agent, a promoter of equity, a facilitator of learning, and a professional in a state of constant evolution. Rather than offering a single model, this volume invites the comparison of experiences, the exploration of complexity, and the construction of training courses capable of responding to the needs of schools in the present and the future.

The purpose of this open access edited collection is to discuss the role and importance of stakeholder engagement in a sustainable circular economy from multiple theoretical and practical perspectives. Developing and maintaining a circular economy is an essential step to a more environmentally friendly and socially inclusive society. In addition to redesigning products and business models to minimise waste and increase the reuse of materials, a transition towards a sustainable circular economy requires collaboration and co-operation between various stakeholders from all parts of society. An international team of contributors explore how stakeholder engagement can foster and support sustainable change, assessing current literature and laying out guidance for future study. The collection is of interest to academics and students of sustainability management and sustainable business models, stakeholder theory and practice, and the circular economy.

Women were active in landscape architecture in Scandinavia throughout the twentieth century, yet little is known about their contribution. This volume presents new knowledge about women’s contributions to the cities and landscapes of the Scandinavian welfare states. Methodologically, the book demonstrates new ways of doing research in innovative, interdisciplinary and transnational collaborations to build new feminist histories.

Explores how next-generation intelligent systems are transforming industrial engineering through emerging digital and data-driven technologies. The contributions examine digital twins, smart automation, industrial robotics, predictive analytics, and AI-based optimization as drivers of change in production environments and organizational decision-making. Several chapters focus on cyber–physical systems and data-centered architectures that support real-time monitoring, simulation, and control, while others address the integration of machine learning, IoT, and advanced robotics in modern industry. Sustainability remains a recurring concern, with attention to energy use, resource management, and environmentally responsible production. Combining conceptual analysis with applied case studies, the work offers researchers and practitioners a clear view of adaptive and forward-looking industrial systems.

This collection of essays addresses a range of topics probing the interface between religious practice and the COVID-19 pandemic. Significant attention is given to religious and cultural debates over health care policy as well as vaccination policy development in the United States, but contributions from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe are included as well. In addition to the North American perspectives (with an emphasis on the white evangelical Christian encounter with public health regulation), the volume highlights voices from Islamic Nigeria and southern Africa, traditional Confucian culture, Greek Orthodoxy, Catholic social teaching, as well as the insights of Haṭha yoga from the Hindu tradition.

MATLAB is an indispensable asset for scientists, researchers, and engineers. The richness of the MATLAB computational environment combined with an integrated development environment (IDE) and straightforward interface, toolkits, and simulation and modeling capabilities, creates a research and development tool that has no equal. From quick code prototyping to full blown deployable applications, MATLAB stands as a de facto development language and environment serving the technical needs of a wide range of users. As a collection of diverse applications, each book chapter presents a novel application and use of MATLAB for a specific result.

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 Element develops and showcases a new methodological framework in which to study the connections between early modern travel writing and life- and self-writing. It opens perspectives to travel writing in its many modes. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The Special Issue “Fucoxanthin and Astaxanthin—Production, Biofunction, and Application” focuses on the research of marine fucoxanthin and astaxanthin and contains two reviews, ten articles, and one communication.

The phenomena of propaganda, persuasion, and manipulation continue to exert a strong influence in the media space. The aim of this volume is to identify the mechanisms used across various areas of the media to intentionally shape the ways of thinking and acting of mass communication audiences - both in the present day and from a historical perspective._x000D_ The volume employs diverse research methods from the intersection of the humanities and social sciences, including content and discourse analysis, case studies, framing analysis, critical discourse analysis, and linguistic analysis(including the framework of persuasive metaoperators) using digital tools._x000D_ The authors of the individual studies present, among other topics, the prototype of “Berlusconism” – the interconnection of power, market, and Italian television in the 1980s against the background of the boom economico, as well as its long-term impact on value systems and electoral practices; they analyze how the weekly Polityka (issues from 2006 and 2023) uses historical dates as persuasive resources in its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and they identify the dominant metaoperators in Vladimir Putin’s speeches from the early phase of the invasion of Ukraine. Further chapters present the framing of President Andrzej Duda’s and Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s visit to the United States on the websites of PR24, RMF24, TOK FM, and Radio ZET; the linguistic techniques of delegitimizing the LGBTQ+ community in Nasz Dziennik (2023); and the role of news tickers in Telewizja Republika’s program Dzisiaj as a form of persuasion._x000D_ The conducted research shows that the repertoire of media influence techniques is constantly evolving and adapting to changing political, cultural, and technological conditions – reinforcing the need to develop critical media literacy and media education.

All of this information at our fingertips-and we might not need any of it Concurrent with the compulsory connectivity of the digital age is the rise of the spoiler. The inevitability of information has changed the critical quality of modernity, leaving us with acute vertigo-a feeling that nothing new is left out there. Encompassing memes and trigger warnings, Vilem Flusser and Thomas Pynchon, Spoiler Alert wrangles with the state of surprise in post-historical times. Aaron Jaffe delivers a timely corrective to post-critical modes of reading that demonstrates the dangers of forfeiting critical suspicion. Forerunners: Ideas First Short books of thought-in-process scholarship, where intense analysis, questioning, and speculation take the lead

At present, many cultural artifacts are being destroyed due to natural and human forces. Advancements in coating materials and technologies are critical to the success of cultural relic preservation. Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated that, while using incorrect materials can result in more significant damage, using suitable coating materials and processes can safeguard cultural artifacts. However, because cultural treasures are made of diverse materials, scientists must deal with various preservation situations and problems to create coating materials and suitable coating technologies that address the specific circumstances of the artifacts at hand. This Special Issue covers cultural relic-coating analysis methodologies, the use of inorganic materials and inorganic–organic hybrid materials for reinforcing stone cultural relics, as well as the synthesis of functional nanomaterials and their application in waterproofing, anti-aging, and antibacterial treatments of cultural relics.

The here collected contributions relating to the 46th International Conference of the Representation Disciplines Teachers, organized jointly by Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre University, and San Raffaele Roma University, aim to offer the scientific community a reflection on the theoretical and methodological aspects related to the concept of èkphrasis, a term that, in the field of representation, concerns descriptive, analogical, and digital activities that generate new knowledge in several areas of application. The Conference aims to place at the center of the discussion an interpretation of the concept of research that, without neglecting an idea of study, protection, and enhancement of environmental and cultural heritage, focuses on the needs of contemporary society and its possible developments, making use of innovative theoretical, methodological, and operational activities, including those characterized by an interdisciplinary approach. According to this interpretation, research can also be seen as a foreshadowing of the definition and testing of experimental proposals aimed at exploring new areas of investigation: this opens up imaginative and utopian perspectives in the relationship between the sciences, the arts, and the disciplines that contribute to common goals, through the experimentation of methods, techniques, and languages for conceiving, prefiguring, designing, and representing.