Open Access Books

Rituals, although seemingly traditional and fixed, a re v ery m uch contextualand subject to change. Rituals do not exist and are not performed in a vacuum,and are not independent of time and place. They are deeply influenced by thecultural, social, economic, and political contexts in which they appear. Trendsin culture also lead to ritual trends. Therefore, rituals are a dynamic field, whichis reflected in this Special Issue of Religions regarding "Exploring RitualFields Today".

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences.

This book, written by a group of specialists in the different areas involved, summarises what we understand of the production and distribution of oxygen, the most abundant metal in the Universe. After presenting the methods of oxygen abundance determination in various media, it traces a panorama of oxygen in the Universe, describes the mechanisms and sites of oxygen production and finally discusses the chemical evolution of oxygen in different galactic and extra galactic contexts. An appendix thoroughly discusses the oxygen atomic data.

This reprint explores diverse dimensions of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), integrating cutting-edge research across clinical, neuropsychological, and psychosocial domains. It highlights innovative approaches to the diagnosis, treatment, and understanding of ADHD, offering a comprehensive perspective on this complex condition. The collection includes studies on psychotic-like experiences in ADHD, elucidating mechanisms such as rumination, trauma, and negative affect. The Creative Awareness Theory presents a novel perspective on inherent self-regulation among individuals with ADHD. Diagnostic advancements are represented by the Distractor-Embedded Auditory Continuous Performance Test, an objective tool that addresses challenges in ADHD assessment. Neurodevelopmental impairments are further explored in psychosomatic patients, while the "push–pull" mechanism of attention and emotion in children provides insights into behavioural dynamics. The prevalence and correlates of ADHD in adults with multiple sclerosis, as well as the link between ADHD and dyslipidaemia, highlight co-occurring conditions and their implications. Additional studies address the systematic stimulation of executive functions in ADHD populations, risks of premature discontinuation in opioid withdrawal treatment, and the development of female-specific ADHD treatment programmes. Predictive tools, such as a nomogram for identifying ADHD and ASD in child and adolescent mental health services, round out this multidisciplinary examination. This Special Issue serves as a valuable resource for clinicians, researchers, and practitioners aiming to advance the understanding and management of ADHD.

Wie erscheinen, «entstehen» Bilder? Welche Eigenschaften, Strukturen und Entwicklungen lassen sich in frühen graphischen Äusserungen beobachten? Sind frühe Bildmerkmale in einer bestimmten Kultur allgemein oder individuell? Worin besteht frühe bildhafte Erkenntnis und Ästhetik? Auf welche allgemeinen Bestimmungen von «Bild» oder «Bildern» verweist die Bildgenese? Auf welche allgemeinen Aspekte des frühen symbolischen Verhaltens verweisen frühe Bilder? Der vorliegende dritte Band zur Thematik erläutert ausführlich die begrifflichen und methodischen Einzelheiten, die der Untersuchung früher Zeichnungen und Malereien von Kindern im Vorschulalter, dargestellt in den ersten beiden Bände, zugrunde liegen, mit eingeschlossen der Illustration der untersuchten Bildmerkmale anhand von Typenbildern.

In the World of the Second Sophistic, the Roman Empire's Greek elite turned education, paideia, and knowledge of the Classical age into a vital factor in their struggle for political power. This book presents, for the first time, studies from a broad range of disciplines on various fields of life and on different media, in which this ideology became manifest.

This book deals with the rapid progress in the area of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). MDS are a group of age-associated heterogeneous malignant bone marrow stem cell disorders. MDS are characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, which leads to refractory cytopenias and to clonal instability. Patients with MDS have myeloid dysplasia, intramedullary apoptosis and an increased risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The use of next generation sequencing has allowed for the identification of molecular mutations in several genes in about 90% of MDS patients. Several mutations will likely be incorporated into future prognostic scoring systems for MDS. About 50% of MDS cases are characterized by the presence of cytogenetic abnormalities. The correct morphological and cytogenetic analysis interpretation plays an important role in diagnosis and prognosis of these disorders. Cell death and an inflammatory gene signature are associated with MDS. Better understanding of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of MDS pathogenesis provides an opportunity for new treatment strategies to be developed. Promising novel therapies targeting pathophysiological mechanisms of MDS are being studied but the drugs currently used in MDS therapy remain limited. The only curative therapy for MDS is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Recent advances in strategies to minimize transplant-related toxicity make this treatment possible for more MDS patients who are sufficiently fit.

Par leur caractère toujours plus affirmé d'« exploration du langage », les textes de Nathalie Sarraute constituent pour l'analyse stylistique un objet d'élection. L'œuvre est gouvernée par une « idée fixe » d'essence dynamique : les tropismes, mouvements intérieurs qu'il s'agit d'exprimer par une « forme sensible ». Alors que la résistance opposée au langage par le « non-nommé » de l'expérience voue le discours à une référence opaque ou instable, la phrase se porte au secours du mot, déployée en un processus d'explication. Elle impose dans l'écrit une élasticité caractéristique de l'oral, s'affranchissant de la norme syntaxique pour mettre en scène un tropisme-phrase soumis aux déterminations pragmatiques de l'énonciation. La distension et la stratification de l'énoncé posent le problème de sa délimitation et de sa hiérarchisation : jusqu'à quel point y a-t-il phrase ? La perturbation de la linéarité fait saillir l'armature prédicative du discours, tandis que s'affiche le pouvoir structurant et signifiant de la ponctuation. L'écriture invente ainsi une prosodie susceptible de « capter cela, ce mouvement ».

Minorité chrétienne d’Égypte, les coptes - environ 6 % de la population - pâtissent à différents niveaux du régime nassérien (1954-1970) qui, malgré des principes laïcs, laisse se développer l’islamisation de la société. Quelles stratégies les coptes mettent-ils alors en œuvre pour préserver leur identité ? Autour de quelles images se fédèrent-ils pour faire face à leur marginalisation accrue dans le pays ? Dès les années 1950, alors que la communauté entame un repli sur elle-même, se dévelop...

The book, divided into three parts, proposes to study sports practices in the light of a new science: motor praxeology.

Luso-Moroccan relations are undoubtedly the reflection of a secular relationship that has its roots in a Mediterranean heritage and a historical process that varies in its aspect of both confrontation and contact. And it is also a relationship with a strongly strategic component. Portugal and Morocco, two countries of the finis terrae, with a binational history, embody a beautiful and epic aspect of this contact between the North and the South of the Mediterranean. The presence of the Portuguese in Morocco from 1415 to 1541, -the year in which Portugal began to lose its fortresses in North Africa- arose to solve vital problems (economic and socio-political) resulting from the lengthy European depression as well as to escape and resist the threat of annexation by the kingdom of León-Castela, whose power was imposed throughout Spain. It is therefore to ensure its national survival that Portugal undertook its expansion, embarking on the conquest of North Africa. The conquest of Agadir in 1505 and the expansion in the southern region of Morocco obeyed contrary to the northern phase to other factors of strategic and economic nature that aimed to isolate the Maghreb country from its Afro-Sub-Saharan space and enjoy its riches. Such intention generated a local and later national reaction personified in the Saadid sheikhs who unleashed a multidimensional counter-offensive aimed at suffocating the Portuguese fortresses economically and militarily, fighting their allies the Moors of peace, re-establishing the trade with the Maghreb.

Augmented reality (AR) systems offer new possibilities for enhancing how people interact with information and their environment in the construction sector. However, traditional software-driven approaches to AR system design have limitations in creating intuitive user experiences. This research presents a new user-centric framework and ontology for BIM-AR system development focused on human needs and perspectives. The BIM-AR Framework consists of a 5-step circular hybrid process with the user at the center. To enable knowledge sharing, the Augmented Reality Computer-Human Interaction (ARCHI) ontology was developed using Protégé based on established design principles. Initial validation indicates the framework's potential for improved AR system design, but further expert review and case studies are needed. The ontology also requires additional refinement and linkage to open data. This pioneering research lays the groundwork for next-generation AR systems that emphasize usability by taking a human-focused approach. With rigorous validation and evolution, the framework and ontology could transform AR technology development to create more purpose-driven and adopted solutions. This research represents a paradigm shift to user-centric AR system design that has significant potential to improve how augmented reality enhances construction project management

Mammalian ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters constitute a superfamily of proteins involved in many essential cellular processes. Most of these transporters are transmembrane proteins and allow the active transport of solutes, small molecules, and lipids across biological membranes. On the one hand, some of these transporters are involved in drug resistance (also referred to as MDR or multidrug resistance), a process known to be a major brake in most anticancer treatments, and the medical challenge is thus to specifically inhibit their function. On the other hand, molecular defects in some of these ABC transporters are correlated with several rare human diseases, the most well-documented of which being cystic fibrosis, which is caused by genetic variations in ABCC7/CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator). In the latter case, the goal is to rescue the function of the deficient transporters using various means, such as targeted pharmacotherapies and cell or gene therapy. The aim of this Special Issue, “ABC Transporters in Human Diseases”, is to present, through original articles and reviews, the state-of-the-art of our current knowledge about the role of ABC transporters in human diseases and the proposed therapeutic options based on studies ranging from cell and animal models to patients.

Sewage Treatment Plants: Economic Evaluation of Innovative Technologies for Energy Efficiency aims to show how cost saving can be achieved in sewage treatment plants through implementation of novel, energy efficient technologies or modification of the conventional, energy demanding treatment facilities towards the concept of energy streamlining. The book brings together knowledge from Engineering, Economics, Utility Management and Practice and helps to provide a better understanding of the real economic value with methodologies and practices about innovative energy technologies and policies in sewage treatment plants.

Originally published in 2003. The fruit of a lifetime's reading and thinking about literature, its delights and its responsibilities, this book by acclaimed poet and critic Anthony Hecht explores the mysteries of poetry, offering profound insight into poetic form, meter, rhyme, and meaning. Ranging from Renaissance to contemporary poets, Hecht considers the work of Shakespeare, Sidney, and Noel; Housman, Hopkins, Eliot, and Auden; Frost, Bishop, and Wilbur; Amichai, Simic, and Heaney. Stepping back from individual poets, Hecht muses on rhyme and on meter, and also discusses St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians and Melville's Moby-Dick. Uniting these diverse subjects is Hecht's preoccupation with the careful deployment of words, the richness and versatility of language and of those who use it well.Elegantly written, deeply informed, and intellectually playful, Melodies Unheard confirms Anthony Hecht's reputation as one of our most original and imaginative thinkers on the literary arts.