Open Access Books

The book Hemophilia - Recent Advances covers various rapid advances being made in this field. The authors have produced state-of-the art chapters. Over some decades, management of hemophilia has progressed from episode based to prophylaxis. It has moved from plasma and cryoprecipitate to new generations of recombinant coagulation factors. Efforts have been made to cover recent advances in the field. The intricacies of genotype and phenotype of hemophilia are explained. Management with recombinant factors has added to problems like inhibitors, which require more skillful handling. Perioperative management of hemophilia is also explained. Every chapter of this book is peer reviewed and evidence based. The information provided in this book makes the readers well informed and more inquisitive, thereby raising new issues, innovation, and research.

A rapid growth in various industries and domestic activities is resulting in a huge amount of wastewater. Various types of wastewaters, such as textile, municipal, dairy, pharmaceutical, swine, and aquaculture, etc., are produced regularly by respective industries. These wastewaters are rich in nutrient content and promote eutrophication in the ecosystem and pose a threat to flora and fauna. According to an estimate, eutrophication causes losses of almost 2 billion US dollars annually, affecting real estate and fishing activities. Treatment of wastewater is a costly process and recently wastewater treatment with simultaneous energy production has received more attention. Microorganisms can be used to recover nutrients from wastewater and produce bioenergy (biodiesel, biohydrogen, bioelectricity, methane, etc.). A better understanding of the composition of various types of wastewaters and the development of technologies like anaerobic digestion (AD), microbial fuel cell (MFC), and microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) can help to make wastewater-based biorefinery a reality. To provide an overall overview to students, teachers, and researchers on wastewater to bioenergy technology ten chapters are included in this book.

The seafloor, which covers 71% of the Earth's surface, contains diverse habitats (from shallow coastal areas to the deepest ocean trenches) and is essential for ecosystem services (such as pollution regulation, food supply, and biodiversity conservation). However, despite its crucial role, only about a quarter of the seafloor has been mapped. This Special Issue aligns with global initiatives such as the UN Decade of Ocean Science and SDG 14 ("Life Below Water") by deepening our understanding of marine ecosystems. It combines traditional and modern methods and aims to integrate research from a wide range of habitats, climates, and regions. The studies presented have primarily examined macrofauna at the community and species level, with an additional focus on megafauna, foraminifera, and macroalgae. These studies integrated conventional techniques and remote sensing for data collection, as well as taxonomic, molecular, and biogeochemical analyses in the laboratory. By applying diverse metrics to assess biodiversity and physiological conditions, coupled with advanced statistical tools, these studies have successfully explored previously unexplored areas, identified invasive species, monitored pollution, and tested innovative substrates to enhance monitoring capabilities. Overall, this SI significantly enriches our understanding of marine benthic ecology and biogeography and provides critical insights that support the conservation and management of marine benthic ecosystems.

How did California Mennonites confront the challenges and promises of modernity?Books about Mennonites have centered primarily on the East Coast and the Midwest, where the majority of Mennonite communities in the United States are located. But these narratives neglect the unique history of the multitude of Mennonites living on the West Coast. In California Mennonites, Brian Froese relies on archival church records to examine the Mennonite experience in the Golden State, from the nineteenth-century migrants who came in search of sunshine and fertile soil to the traditionally agrarian community that struggled with issues of urbanization, race, gender, education, and labor in the twentieth century to the evangelically oriented, partially assimilated Mennonites of today.Froese places Mennonite experiences against a backdrop of major historical events, including World War II and Vietnam, and social issues, from labor disputes to the evolution of mental health care. California Mennonites include people who embrace a range of ideologies: many are historically rooted in the sixteenth-century Reformation ideals of the early Anabaptists (pacifism, congregationalism, discipleship); some embrace twentieth-century American evangelicalism (missions, Billy Graham); and others are committed to a type of social justice that involves forging practical ties to secular government programs while maintaining a quiet connection to religion. Through their experiences of religious diversity, changing demographics, and war, California Mennonites have wrestled with complicated questions of what it means to be American, Mennonite, and modern. This book—the first of its kind—will appeal to historians and religious studies scholars alike.

Advancements in contact mechanics play an important role in the design of modern mechanical and bio-medical systems, enhancing their efficiency, power density, and reliability. They lay the foundation to research on the adhesion, friction, lubrication, fatigue, and wear of contacting interfaces and materials. There are numerous contact problems at different working conditions in applications such as machine elements, mechanical systems, and manufacturing processes. Each of these contact problems has specific challenges. To meet the demands, advanced analytical, numerical, and experimental methodologies have been developed. This Reprint aims to expand our understanding of the normal contact problems of layered structures and/or rough surfaces, the tribological and dynamic behavior of interacting surfaces, and the design and optimization of mechanical systems based on contact mechanics.

A reflexão sobre a ecologia digital emerge hoje como uma das tarefas epistemológicas, teológicas e culturais mais prementes no contexto da transição civilizacional provocada pela digitalização generalizada da vida humana. Este fenómeno não se limita à dimensão tecnológica: transforma radicalmente o modo como o ser humano habita o mundo, comunica, interpreta a realidade e se relaciona com os outros e consigo mesmo. Neste sentido, o Papa Francisco alerta, na encíclica Laudato Si’, para «as dinâmicas dos mass media e do mundo digital, que, quando se tornam omnipresentes, não favorecem o desenvolvimento duma capacidade de viver com sabedoria, pensar em profundidade, amar com generosidade» (§ 47). A ecologia digital, pensada a partir desta constatação, solicita uma abordagem que conjugue ética, antropologia, teologia e epistemologia numa perspetiva transdisciplinar.

In 2018, the Field Museum embarked on a four-year renovation of its Native North American Hall. Partnership with the Native American community was a central focus of this project, culminating in the new permanent exhibition, Native Truths: Our Voices, Our Stories. This edited volume delves into the collaborative journey of the exhibition, presenting perspectives on its major themes and the processes by which it was created. The contributors, including members of the exhibition’s Native American Advisory Committee, offer a transformative perspective on museum curation, highlighting the shift towards practice which involves and honors Indigenous communities. They explore the intersection of contemporary Indigenous theory and museum practice, weaving together the fundamental concepts underpinning Native American worldviews and contemporary concerns, and the challenges faced in bringing about a major exhibition that centers Native American collaboration. The text is enriched by personal accounts from Indigenous artists and community members, and showcases visual highlights from the exhibition installations.

This book offers a transcription, translation and annotation of the correspondence between the German scholars Rudolf Lenz and Robert Lehmann-Nitsche, based in Chile and Argentina respectively.

Europe`s boundaries have mainly been shaped by cultural, religious, and political conceptions rather than by geography. This volume of bilingual essays from renowned European scholars outlines the transformation of Europe`s boundaries from the fall of the ancient world to the age of decolonization, or the end of the explicit endeavor to Europeanize the world.From the decline of the Roman Empire to the polycentrism of today`s world, the essays span such aspects as the confrontation of Christian Europe with Islam and the changing role of the Mediterranean from mare nostrum to a frontier between nations. Scandinavia, eastern Europe and the Atlantic are also analyzed as boundaries in the context of exploration, migratory movements, cultural exchanges, and war. The Boundaries of Europe, edited by Pietro Rossi, is the first installment in the ALLEA book series Discourses on Intellectual Europe, which seeks to explore the question of an intrinsic or quintessential European identity in light of the rising skepticism towards Europe as an integrated cultural and intellectual region.

Wer sich für die krisenhaften Zuspitzungen in der Politik des Kalten Kriegs interessiert, kommt um eine Analyse der hinter diesen Prozessen liegenden Kulturen des Entscheidens nicht herum. Als Spitzenereignis steht die Kubakrise dafür, wie eine falsche Weichenstellung von Seiten der beteiligten Politiker die Welt in den Atomkrieg hätte führen können. »Wer als erster schießt, ist als zweiter tot«, so resümierte ein amerikanischer General das spieltheoretische Dilemma in diesen Jahrzehnten. Aber nicht nur im Militärischen, sondern auch in vielen anderen politischen Kontexten standen sich West und Ost politisch, ökonomisch und mit Blick auf die jeweilige Gesellschaftspolitik konfrontativ gegenüber und prägten in Abgrenzung und in Parallelität zueinander eigene Stile des Entscheidens. Die Konkurrenz zum jeweiligen Gegner, der Glaube an die Machbarkeit politischer Visionen und die Steuerung der Gesellschaft trieb die theoretischen wie auch praktischen Bemühungen dazu an. Wie die Politik in Ost und West in ihren Spitzen, aber auch in den untergeordneten Instanzen den Vorgang des Entscheidens konzipierte und durchführte, wie man sich bei diesen Prozessen von Experten aus Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft beraten ließ und auf welche Weise politische Institutionen Informationen aufnahmen und verarbeiteten – das sind die Kernfragen des vorliegenden Bandes, denen die Autorinnen und Autoren anhand verschiedener Fallbeispiele aus USA und UdSSR, BRD, DDR und Tschechoslowakei nachgehen.

The treatise is the first coherent and comprehensive presentation of the important sub-field of ""technology entrepreneurship"" emphasizing the science and engineering perspectives. It is a presentation of technology entrepreneurship as an inter-cultural approach referring to the US and Germany. It integrates micro- and macro aspects referring to numerous cases of firms' foundations. The book provides also a new semi-quantitative approach to growth of new technology ventures.

The volume starts with an exploration of the concept of capacity building and goes on to focus on two examples of capacity promotion for early childhood education, care and development (ECD). The First Nations Partnerships Program (FNPP), an innovative and successful post-secondary education program initiated in 1989 at the request of a large tribal council in northern Canada, led to 10 educational deliveries with diverse Indigenous communities over the subsequent two decades. The second program, launched in 1994 at the request of UNICEF headquarters, focuses on sub-Saharan Africa. While the program encompasses a range of capacity-promoting activities, the central vehicle for this ECD development work is the Early Childhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU), a program created in 2001 and now in transition to African universities. This book describes approaches to capacity promotion that respond to the complexities and possibilities of communities—at local and country levels. These initiatives challenge established developmental narratives in ECD and international development, and in so doing provide alternative ways for scholars and practitioners in ECD, education, and the broad international development field to enhance capacities.

Navigation is one of the main challenges in robotics. Different technologies and strategies are involved, such as sensing, positioning, mapping, approaching, tracking, formation, control, communication, human interfaces, and learning. The aim of this Special Issue is to contribute to the state-of-the-art and current applications of robot navigation. Typical areas of interest include the following: development of robotics and sensors designed to be utilized within any radiological environment; perception, stand-alone, and cooperative approaches; SLAM; map-based, landmark-based, and beacon-based navigations (2D and 3D); data fusion for mobile robot navigation; wireless sensor networks for mobile robot navigation; network control systems; robot formation and tracking; adaptive robot navigation and control; biologically inspired robot navigation; path planning; applications of mobile robot navigation; genetic algorithms for mobile robot navigation; and tracking algorithms.

Due to the rise of organized crime and the rapid development of surveillance technologies, such technologies are increasingly used for the purpose of criminal investigation. However, the proliferation of such highly intrusive measures can jeopardize the individual right to privacy and the constitutionally protected secrecy of private telecommunication. It is therefore necessary to devise a legal framework that balances the need for efficient law enforcement with individuals’ privacy rights. In this study, the author discusses the laws on covert surveillance as an investigative measure in the criminal process of the United States, Germany, and the P.R. China from theoretical and empirical perspectives. The author then provides a horizontal comparison of the three legal systems, with the aim of identifying solutions that achieve a proper balance between the protection of the right to privacy and the effective combat of crime.