Open Access Books

Recuperación de la herencia ideológica, pero a la vez búsqueda de los hallazgos que las ciencias sociales han logrado obtener a partir de investigaciones sobre distintos aspectos de la realidad de América Latina, cada parte de este libro se ajusta a una etapa del proceso histórico vivido por el continente durante el siglo XX.

This research seeks to examine the internal politics of the Chilean Single Workers' Union (CUT) based on the meanings and practices perceived by its protagonists. The bulk of the fieldwork was conducted during 2017, when the organization was undergoing a turbulent period, following the public exposure of various accusations of fraud during the August 2016 electoral process. Following this event, the CUT was under scrutiny by the press, Congress (with the appointment of an investigative commission in the Chamber of Deputies), and its own leaders. Internally, numerous meetings were held, a Congress was held, the statutes were amended, and elections were repeated. In this sense, the study is marked by a powerful situation whose repercussions will have to be evaluated in retrospect.

The enteric protozoans Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis are the most common diarrhoea-causing protozoan parasites worldwide. Cryptosporidium spp. is a leading cause of diarrhoea morbidity and mortality in children younger than 5 years of age in poor-resource settings in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Although infection by G. duodenalis is rarely a fatal condition, giardiasis is commonly associated with childhood growth faltering and cognitive impairment. Because of their significant socioeconomic impact, particularly in low-income countries, giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis joined the “Neglected Disease Initiative” launched by the World Health Organization in 2004. Both Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis are ubiquitous in the environment and can infect a wide range of hosts with different specificities, meaning that humans may acquire the infection via waterborne, foodborne, or zoonotic transmission. Recent advances in detection and molecular epidemiology have indicated that certain species/genotypes of Cryptosporidium and G. duodenalis have an expanded range of suitable hosts, suggesting that their transmission pathways are more intricate than previously thought, challenging our current notion of host specificities. Therefore, there is a clear need for more studies that aim to investigate the frequency and molecular diversity of these parasites in humans, production and companion animals, and wildlife species. This information would be extremely useful to elucidate the transmission dynamics of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis and to investigate the exact contribution of zoonotic events to human infections.

The impact of antiquity in history, literature and visual art is presented in its versatility and multiplicity. All contributions come from the editorial and advisory boards of the Metamorphoses series covering various questions, contents and methods in dealing with the impact of antiquity from the 15th century to modern times. Central questions such as the self-representation of rulers, the impact of Greek philosophy, the moralization of antiquity, and the educational background of the Goethe era, but also the way museums deal with their own historical collection are addressed.

This collection of articles addresses the most modern forms of loss reserving methodology: granular models and machine learning models. New methodologies come with questions about their applicability. These questions are discussed in one article, which focuses on the relative merits of granular and machine learning models. Others illustrate applications with real-world data. The examples include neural networks, which, though well known in some disciplines, have previously been limited in the actuarial literature. This volume expands on that literature, with specific attention to their application to loss reserving. For example, one of the articles introduces the application of neural networks of the gated recurrent unit form to the actuarial literature, whereas another uses a penalized neural network. Neural networks are not the only form of machine learning, and two other papers outline applications of gradient boosting and regression trees respectively. Both articles construct loss reserves at the individual claim level so that these models resemble granular models. One of these articles provides a practical application of the model to claim watching, the action of monitoring claim development and anticipating major features. Such watching can be used as an early warning system or for other administrative purposes. Overall, this volume is an extremely useful addition to the libraries of those working at the loss reserving frontier.

“We were always here” expresses the simultaneously decisive and subtle presence of women, girls, and boys in cultural management. Reflecting on the role of this discipline in social transformation compels us to ask: Where are women and children? What challenges do they face in the struggle for recognition as cultural agents? And what are the paths to recognizing their creative and transformative potential? The reflections shared in this book reveal the challenges these social groups face in this field, but also the potential that cultural management possesses to promote the exercise of the cultural rights of women and children when the conditions that still restrict their full participation are made visible and addressed. This work presents the landscape as a field of dispute over the legitimacy of positions and knowledge for naming and recognizing oneself as a cultural manager, but also as a universe of creative, pedagogical, and transformative possibilities.

Hip surgery became a benchmark for large joint surgery development. Surgical techniques for the treatment of degenerative, developmental, and traumatic hip pathologies became a challenge, aiming to restore the patients' ambulation in otherwise disabling pathological conditions of the hip joint. In this book the authors present an overview of the pathological basis of the diseased hip and the currently available surgical solutions that provide long-term relief using a reconstructing surgical approach.The book aims to expose young orthopedic surgeons to exciting and continuously developing information on hip surgery, and experienced colleagues will benefit from concise information that might be beneficial in routine surgical activity.

One central aim of science is to provide explanations of natural phenomena. What role(s) does mathematics play in achieving this aim? How does mathematics contribute to the explanatory power of science? Rules to Infinity defends the thesis, common though perhaps inchoate among many members of the Vienna Circle, that mathematics contributes to the explanatory power of science by expressing conceptual rules, rules which allow the transformation of empirical descriptions. Mathematics should not be thought of as describing, in any substantive sense, an abstract realm of eternal mathematical objects, as traditional platonists have thought. In Rules to Infinity, this view, which I call mathematical normativism, is updated with contemporary philosophical tools, and it is argued that normativism is compatible with mainstream semantic theory. This allows the normativist to accept that there are mathematical truths, while resisting the platonistic idea that there exist abstract mathematical objects that explain such truths. Furthermore, Rules to Infinity defends a particular account of the distinction between scientific explanations that are in some sense distinctively mathematical – those that explain natural phenomena in some uniquely mathematical way – and those that are only standardly mathematical, and it lays out desiderata for any account of this distinction. Normativism is compared with other prominent views in the philosophy of mathematics such as neo-Fregeanism, fictionalism, conventionalism, and structuralism. Rules to Infinity serves as an entry point into debates at the forefront of philosophy of science and mathematics, and it defends novel positions in these debates.

The papers reported here will contribute to proposing new insights into the mechanisms of several conditions, as well as suggesting new diagnostic alternatives and therapeutic targets in widespread pathologies such inflammation and inflammatory-based diseases. The discovery of the new is, as always, anchored in recourse to the old.

This e-book has been developed as result of the Video Conference Educational Service (ViCES) project under the TEMPUS action of the European Commission (144650-TEMPUS-2008-IT-JPGR. It is intended to serve as a set of guidelines for the setup and usage of videoconference tools in educational and vocational training institutions. It also offers suggestions to: companies, agencies and institutions that plan to introduce video conferencing based training experiences. The e-book covers both technical and organizational issues related to video conferencing educational services, such as: Learning Methodology Guideline, Non functional Requirements Recommendation, Organizational Structure & Business Processes Recommendation, Service Level Agreement Recommendation, Video Conferencing Service Sustainability Strategy, and Video Conferencing end Station Basic Tutorial.

The International Workshop on Models and Analysis of Vocal Emissions for Biomedical Applications (MAVEBA) came into being in 1999 from the particularly felt need of sharing know-how, objectives and results between areas that until then seemed quite distinct such as bioengineering, medicine and singing. MAVEBA deals with all aspects concerning the study of the human voice with applications ranging from the newborn to the adult and elderly. Over the years the initial issues have grown and spread also in other fields of research such as occupational voice disorders, neurology, rehabilitation, image and video analysis. MAVEBA takes place every two years in Firenze, Italy. This edition celebrates twenty-four years of uninterrupted and successful research in the field of voice analysis.

Dear Colleagues, I am very happy to have this Special Issue of the journal Energies on the topic of Design and Control of Electrical Motor Drives published. Electrical motor drives are widely used in the industry, automation, transportation, and home appliances. Indeed, rolling mills, machine tools, high-speed trains, subway systems, elevators, electric vehicles, air conditioners, all depend on electrical motor drives.However, the production of effective and practical motors and drives requires flexibility in the regulation of current, torque, flux, acceleration, position, and speed. Without proper modeling, drive, and control, these motor drive systems cannot function effectively.To address these issues, we need to focus on the design, modeling, drive, and control of different types of motors, such as induction motors, permanent magnet synchronous motors, brushless DC motors, DC motors, synchronous reluctance motors, switched reluctance motors, flux-switching motors, linear motors, and step motors.Therefore, relevant research topics in this field of study include modeling electrical motor drives, both in transient and in steady-state, and designing control methods based on novel control strategies (e.g., PI controllers, fuzzy logic controllers, neural network controllers, predictive controllers, adaptive controllers, nonlinear controllers, etc.), with particular attention to transient responses, load disturbances, fault tolerance, and multi-motor drive techniques. This Special Issue include original contributions regarding recent developments and ideas in motor design, motor drive, and motor control. The topics include motor design, field-oriented control, torque control, reliability improvement, advanced controllers for motor drive systems, DSP-based sensorless motor drive systems, high-performance motor drive systems, high-efficiency motor drive systems, and practical applications of motor drive systems. I want to sincerely thank authors, reviewers, and staff members for their time and efforts. Prof. Dr. Tian-Hua Liu Guest Editor

Industrial / commercial art & design

"The White Man does not understand the Indian for the reason that he does not understand America. He is too far removed from its formative process. The roots of the tree of his life have not yet grasped rock and soil." The words of Lakota writer Luther Standing Bear foretold the current debate on the value of Native American studies in higher education. Studying Native America addresses for the first time in a comprehensive way the place of this critical discipline in the university curriculum. Leading scholars in anthropology, demography, English and literature, history, law, social work, linguistics, public health, psychology, and sociology have come together to explore what Native American studies has been, what it is, and what it may be in the future. The book's thirteen contributors and editor Russell Thornton, stress the frequent incompatibility of traditional academic teaching methods with the social and cultural concerns that gave rise to the field of Native American studies. Beginning with the intellectual and institutional history of Native American studies, the book examines its literature, language, historical narratives, and anthropology. The volume discusses the effects on Native American studies of law and constitutionalism; cosmology, epistemology, and religion; identity; demography; colonialism and post-colonialism; science and technology; and repatriation of human remains and cultural objects.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic microorganisms of fundamental importance to Earth’s ecosystems and to a wide range of biological and applied studies. Their roles in oxygenic photosynthesis, nutrient cycling, and biomass production have made them a central focus of research in energy-related processes, environmental systems, and industrial biology. Cyanobacteria – Exploring Their Role in Energy, Environment, and Industry provides an overview of key concepts and current research related to cyanobacterial biology and applications. The volume covers fundamental aspects of photosynthesis, including the structural and functional roles of Photosystem II cofactors, as well as advances in genetic modification, cyanobacteria as biological chassis, algae-based biorefineries, wastewater treatment, and the ecological dynamics that influence cyanobacterial populations in natural environments. Rather than emphasizing technological deployment, this book focuses on foundational knowledge and representative studies that illustrate the diversity and relevance of cyanobacteria across scientific disciplines. It is intended as a reference for researchers, graduate students, and professionals seeking a clear and comprehensive introduction to the field.