Open Access Books

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.

From 1944 to 1946, as the world pivoted from the Second World War to an unsteady peace, Americans in more than two hundred cities and towns mobilized to chase an implausible dream. The newly-created United Nations needed a meeting place, a central place for global diplomacy—a Capital of the World. But what would it look like, and where would it be? Without invitation, civic boosters in every region of the United States leapt at the prospect of transforming their hometowns into the Capital of the World. The idea stirred in big cities—Chicago, San Francisco, St. Louis, New Orleans, Denver, and more. It fired imaginations in the Black Hills of South Dakota and in small towns from coast to coast. Meanwhile, within the United Nations the search for a headquarters site became a debacle that threatened to undermine the organization in its earliest days. At times it seemed the world’s diplomats could agree on only one thing: under no circumstances did they want the United Nations to be based in New York. And for its part, New York worked mightily just to stay in the race it would eventually win. With a sweeping view of the United States’ place in the world at the end of World War II, Capital of the World tells the dramatic, surprising, and at times comic story of hometown promoters in pursuit of an extraordinary prize and the diplomats who struggled with the balance of power at a pivotal moment in history.

Richard Jefferies’s After London; Or, Wild England (1885) imagines an undetermined ecological event that devastates London and transforms England, its land, people, and wildlife. In this new critical edition, Michael Kramp and Sarita Jayanty Mizin provide a new scholarly apparatus for engaging the narrative, its contexts, and its legacies.

In an era where technological progress redefines the boundaries of business and management, ‘Digital Synergy - Innovative Management in the ICT Era’ emerges as a guide for current and aspiring leaders. This book delves into the heart of modern management practices, illuminated by the transformative power of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and digital synergy. Facing the relentless pace of change, adaptation, innovation, and the utilization of digital synergy are no longer optional; they are the bedrock of sustainable success. Through a carefully selected collection of theories, case studies, expert insights, and examples of digital synergy, this book provides the foresight and tools necessary to navigate through the complexities of a globalized, digital marketplace. The book is divided into four sections: 1. Financial and strategic management in uncertain times 2. Global trends and management challenges 3. Corporate social responsibility and effective CSR management 4. The future of logistics, with a special focus on military logistics Designed for business leaders, managers, students, and anyone keen on deepening their understanding of how ICT and digital synergy shape management strategies, this book is a call to action. It challenges to not just keep pace with technological progress but to lead the charge in leveraging it for strategic advantage.

This volume analyses the societal legacy of Lutheranism in Finland in broad terms. It contributes to the recent renewed interest in the history of religion in Finland and the Nordic countries by bringing together researchers in history, political science, economics, social psychology, education, linguistics, media studies, and theology to examine the mutual relationship between Lutheranism and society in Finland. The two main foci are (i) the historical effects of the Reformation and its aftermath on societal structures and on national identity, values, linguistic culture, education, and the economy, and (ii) the adaptation of the church – and its theology – to changes in the geo-political and sociocultural context. Important sub-themes include nationalism and religion, the secularization and institutionalization of traditional values, multiple Protestant ethics, and long continuities in history. Overall the book argues that large changes in societies cannot be explained via ‘secular’ factors alone, such as economic development or urbanization, but that factors pertaining to religion provide substantial explanatory power for understanding societal change and the resulting societal structures.

Die minimal invasive Chirurgie stellt besondere Anforderungen an die Chirurgen. Deshalb ist ein Simulator-Training wichtig. Für ein effektives Training ist eine automatisierte Beurteilung wesentlich. Deshalb wird hier ein neues, umfassendes Konzept für die automatisierte Bewertung von Fertigkeiten in der minimal invasiven Chirurgie für Virtual Reality Simulatoren vorgestellt. Dabei wird das Bewertungssystem für eine zeitnahe Beurteilung in einer Grid-Umgebung implementiert.

This book explores the strategies adopted by the Jesuit missions under the Portuguese and Spanish patronage before Islamic powers such as the Mughal Empire in South Asia and the expansion of Islam in the Southeast Asian peripheries. Based on a comparative perspective, this book examines the interconnections between the Jesuit proselytizing activities and the imperial projects of the Iberian crowns in Asia, highlighting the role of the Jesuit missionaries operating in Asian Islamic settings as diplomatic and cultural mediators. It is aimed at researchers and students working on Jesuit missions in South Asia, the Portuguese and Spanish empires in Asia, early modern cross-cultural diplomacy, early modern travel accounts, and early modern ethnography.

Legume crops provide a significant sources of plant-based proteins for humans. Grain legumes present outstanding nutritional and nutraceutical properties as sources of bioactive components with benefits in human health, while they are affordable food that contributes to achieving future food and feed security. Furthermore, they are major ingredients in the Mediterranean diet, playing a vital role in developing countries. Global food security requires a major re-focusing of plant sciences, crop improvement and production agronomy towards grain legumes (pulse crops) over coming decades, with intensive research to identify cultivars with improved grain characteristics, helping to develop novel legume-derived products (foods) adapted to today consumer preference. In this context, studies dealing with legume processing impact such as soaking, boiling, microwave cooking, germination, and fermentation among others, in their nutritional and anti-nutritional (i.e., food allergy) properties are of great interest in these future food developments. This Research Topic aims to bring together a collection of studies for a better understanding of current research in legume seed compounds functional properties to provide an updated and global vision of the importance of legumes in human health.

This book addresses the need to re-imagine and re-conceptualise the Just City in light of recent systemic shocks: climate change, the pandemic, a generalised erosion of democratic standards and more. It contains texts by a number of guests and 43 manifestos written by students from 25 universities from all over the world. A “Manifesto for the Just City” comes in the wake of the realisation that socio-spatial justice is a crucial dimension for sustainability transitions. Growing inequality and the erosion of the public sphere undermine the social and political structures required to fight climate change, pandemics and other systemic shocks. With this book, we have sought to encourage students to formulate their own visions for the Just City and for a just transition. This book is result of an Urban Thinkers Campus organised between 9 and 30 November 2020. The Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) model is an initiative of UN-Habitat’s World Urban Campaign, conceived in 2014 as an open space for critical exchange between stakeholders and partners. It aims to promote debate and action on sustainable and inclusive urbanization upholding the principles and guidelines contained in the New Urban Agenda, launched at Habitat-III in 2016 in Quito, Ecuador.

This book's stated purpose is to provide a discussion of the technical basis and clinical applications of positron emission tomography (PET), as well as their recent progress in nuclear medicine. It also summarizes current literature about research and clinical science in PET. The book is divided into two broad sections: basic science and clinical science. The basic science section examines PET imaging processing, kinetic modeling, free software, and radiopharmaceuticals. The clinical science section demonstrates various clinical applications and diagnoses. The text is intended not only for scientists, but also for all clinicians seeking recent information regarding PET.

Climate change mitigation and the Green Deal will remain a central topic for the EU. As a major historical contributor to greenhouse gases, it has the opportunity to reverse this trend of ever more emissions, including by providing a model to leapfrog the carbon age: EU funding and the assessment of state aid and competition law; legal Instruments, including technical standardisation, criminal law sanctions and market-based measures, such as tax incentives or the future extension of emissions trading to consumers; education; the external dimension, a potential new green hegemony and the CBAM; social aspects; climate rights enforcement; and issues arising in specific sectors, including energy, transport, public procurement, urban planning and migration. With contributions by Līga Briķena | Walter Frenz | Lisa-Marie Hartwig | Trygve Ben Holland | Sarah Holland-Kunkel | Kirk W. Junker | María Luisa Jiménez Gómez | Marvin Jürgens | Mirko Kruse | Tatjana Muravska | Hans-Martin Niemeier |Kleoniki Pouikli | André Röhl | Lydia Scholz | Zynep Şentürk | Celia Maria Silva Carvalho | Marc Stauch | Sergejs Stacenko | Kai Stührenberg | Christiane Trüe | Jan Wedemeier

Fruit du colloque international tenu à l’Université de Tours en novembre 2006 sous les auspices de la Société Française Shakespeare, manifestation destinée surtout aux étudiants des Concours d’anglais, ce volume se veut une contribution plus que ponctuelle aux études shakespeariennes. Ses treize articles, dont celui de R. Brian Parker, éditeur scientifique de Coriolan pour la série The Oxford Shakespeare, témoignent par la diversité de leurs approches de l’intérêt et des débats que continue à...

Advances in Plant Breeding - From Techniques to Stress Tolerance presents a comprehensive overview of the latest innovations in plant breeding, highlighting both traditional and molecular approaches for improving crop resilience and productivity. This volume examines key areas, including drought and salinity tolerance, the introgression of resistance genes, and strategies to combat biotic stressors, such as pests, diseases, and nematodes. It also addresses the role of genetic engineering in ensuring food and nutritional security while offering a perspective on novel techniques such as seed priming for managing stress associated with microgravity. The book combines case studies, conceptual advances, and applied strategies, making it a valuable resource for researchers, graduate students, plant breeders, and agricultural practitioners. By bridging conventional breeding practices with modern genetic tools, this collection highlights sustainable solutions to global agricultural challenges and food security issues.

In this volume you will find contributions on transnational European drama of the early modern period, featuring a range of innovative approaches. The volume, for the first time, covers dramas and theatre plays in Latin, English, French, Polish, Dutch, and Spanish. A second innovation is its combination of literary historical research and digital humanities. The topics range from court ballets to the reception of Seneca, from visual evidence of commedia dell’arte performances to the use of onomastics to trace connections between plays, and from TEI-tagging to the creation of Wikidata pages and digital networks on the role of the scheming slave in ancient and early modern Europe. Contributors include: Michał Bajer and Piotr Urbanski, Radhika Koul, Linda Simonis, Nigel Smith, Gabriela Villanueva Noriega, Barbara Fuchs, Thom Pritchard, M.A. Katritzky, Justyna Łukaszewska-Haberkowa, Ioana Galleron, Neven Jovanović, Julia Beine, James A. Parente, Jr.