Open Access Books

Every nation in Asia has dealt with COVID-19 differently and with varying levels of success in the absence of clear and effective leadership from the WHO. As a result, the WHO’s role in Asia as a global health organization is coming under increasing pressure. As its credibility is slowly being eroded by public displays of incompetence and negligence, it has also become an arena of contestation. Moreover, while the pandemic continues to undermine the future of global health governance as a whole, the highly interdependent economies in Asia have exposed the speed with which pandemics can spread, as intensive regional travel and business connections have caused every area in the region to be hit hard. The migrant labor necessary to sustain globalized economies has been strained and the security of international workers is now more precarious than ever, as millions have been left stranded, seen their entry blocked, or have limited access to health services. This volume provides an accessible framework for the understanding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, with a specific emphasis on global governance in health and labor.

Can the latest neuroscientific theories offer a powerful key to understanding eighteenth-century German literature? What links 4E Cognitive Science to the literary anthropology of the ganzer Mensch? In light of recent discoveries in neuroscience, readers are invited to immerse themselves in the most intimate prose of Sturm und Drang – examined in its formative stages – to embark on a journey back into the world of feelings and emotions. This volume traces an itinerary that captures the intrinsic vitality of a cultural moment that is, today more than ever, strikingly relevant. At the centre of the book, serving as the hub of its transdisciplinary weave, is the Gefühlstextualität: a new analytical category capable of revealing a poetics of emotion that emanates from the literary texture and resonates within our affective and cognitive horizons. Science and art, word and thought, heart and intellect, body and mind, author and reader, past and present enter into dialogue, opening original and innovative pathways for exploring the most intimate depths of human nature.

This is the first monographic study of the Semanario Erudito, one of the most important learned periodicals of late eighteenth-century Spain. Its editor, Antonio Valladares de Sotomayor (1737–1820), sought to recover the history of Spain and, through his periodical, instruct his readers. The book begins by discussing Valladares’s life and works; he was a prolific and popular dramatist, as well as a professional editor of books and other periodicals. Documents from Spain’s Archivo Histórico Nacional inform the next two chapters, which examine the periodical’s history; these chapters treat the censorship process, as well as the printers, sellers and readers of the Semanario. The book’s second half looks at what Valladares published – reformist tracts by arbitristas and proyectistas, reflections on the monarchy and the role of privados, writings by eighteenth-century figures such as Macanaz, Burriel, Mayans and Sarmiento – and suggests why he might have selected particular texts for his readers.

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This book (‘Spatial and regional development of the Mediterranean: A unified approach and selected tools’) discusses the main development challenges and factors influencing the attainment of territorial cohesion and competitiveness of Mediterranean regions. In addition to the main physical and socio-geographic features, it summarizes some of the results of the transnational project OTREMED (Tool for the Territorial Strategy of the MED Space). The methodology for developing a uniform approach to spatial and regional planning in the Mediterranean macroregion – or a tool for uniformly monitoring the area’s development challenges – has been developed as part of this project. This tool is based on selected development factors and indicators, which are presented in greater detail for the Mediterranean part of Slovenia.

The essays in Web Writing respond to contemporary debates over the proper role of the Internet in higher education, steering a middle course between polarized attitudes that often dominate the conversation. The authors argue for the wise integration of web tools into what the liberal arts does best: writing across the curriculum. All academic disciplines value clear and compelling prose, whether that prose comes in the shape of a persuasive essay, scientific report, or creative expression. The act of writing visually demonstrates how we think in original and critical ways and in ways that are deeper than those that can be taught or assessed by a computer. Furthermore, learning to write well requires engaged readers who encourage and challenge us to revise our muddled first drafts and craft more distinctive and informed points of view. Indeed, a new generation of web-based tools for authoring, annotating, editing, and publishing can dramatically enrich the writing process, but doing so requires liberal arts educators to rethink why and how we teach this skill, and to question those who blindly call for embracing or rejecting technology.

Widely considered the world's greatest living proverb scholar and known as the author of, among numerous other books, the Encyclopedia of World Proverbs and the coeditor of A Dictionary of American Proverbs, Wolfgang Mieder has brought particular attention and understanding to the uses of proverbs in politics. In this new collection of eight essays, he considers the role of proverbial speech in the American political scene from the Revolutionary War to the present.Mieder introduces this survey with an examination of what characterizes American proverbs, what are their origins, and how they have spread internationally with the expansion of America's political role. He then turns to the origins and varied historical uses of what has become the defining proverb of American democracy, ""government of the people, by the people, for the people."" The employment of proverbs had no brighter exponent among the nation's founding generation than Abigail Adams, who was not without influence despite the exclusion from political office of women. As they have for so much, her abundant letters provide rich sources for politically charged proverbs.Though it is especially associated with Abraham Lincoln, ""a house divided against itself cannot stand"" is a biblical proverb that has proven of wide value as a political expression. Frederick Douglass's proverbial prowess paralleled that of his contemporary Lincoln, and he employed it effectively in his battle for civil rights. Given proverbs' enduring role in American politics, it is an interesting exercise to compare how United States presidents have employed them in their inaugural addresses, which have produced such gems as John F. Kennedy's ""ask not"" dictum. The bonds Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill formed through the World War II alliance were expressed in the proverbial language that frequently enlivened their correspondence. Having addressed these aspects of the proverb in American politics, Mieder winds up by considering the sociopolitical significance of the ambiguous proverb ""good fences make good neighbors.""

Report assesses whether the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty continues to serve America's national interests, or whether adherence unduly constrains the U.S. ability to effectively respond to emerging security threats. Analyzes challenges confronting the United States from Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan, and China, and considers the potential role of a future U.S. land-based, intermediate-range conventional ballistic missile system.

This issue of Skriftkultur stems from our desire to honor our good colleague Geir Hjorthol with a festschrift on the occasion of his 70th birthday. As the recipient is a professor of literature and also interested in literary culture studies more generally, we have titled the issue Norwegian Nynorsk contemporary literature and written culture. Geir Hjorthol is himself responsible for the first article, in which he focuses on the role of music within Jon Fosses' novel, Septologien (2019–2022). This article became no less relevant when, a few weeks prior to completion of the issue, Fosse received the Nobel Prize in Literature 2023, the first Norwegian Nynorsk author in the prize’s history. In the second article, Jan Inge Sørbø questions whether reading literature may be stuck in a critical rut, where one is constantly occupied with revealing something hidden in the text. The four subsequent articles explore various recent Norwegian Nynorsk novels or authorships. In the first of these, Elin Stengrundet reflects on how Erlend Skjetne's young adult novel Eit anna blikk (2021) connects to modern migration literature and the Norwegian Nynorsk literary tradition, while Nora Simonhjell's article sheds new light on the inner coherence in the authorship of Olaug Nilssen. Marit Brekke and Wenke Mork Rogne present a post-humanistic reading of the Is-slottet (1963) by Tarjei Vesaas, while Beatrice G. Reed examines the precence of nature in Norwegian Nynorsk picture books for children in our time by taking a closer look at 13 prize-winning Norwegian Nynorsk picture books published up until the year 2000. Non-fiction and the topic of translation are covered by the next two articles. Brage Egil Herlofsen discusses the relationship between Norwegian Nynorsk literary culture and the essay genre, based on two books from the Norsk røyndom-series published by Samlaget (2018), while Marie Nedregotten Sørbø analyzes translations of Jane Austen from English to Norwegian nynorsk in light of literary cultural and hermeneutical perspectives. In the last article, Stian Hårstad shows how the language culture of our time places emphasis on increased pluralization, not least through the rise of digital technology, which facilitates new forms of interaction via writing, before discussing possible consequences this may have for written culture in general, and for studies of written cultures.

Ce volume entend redonner quelque consistance au personnage et à l'œuvre d’Anne-Marie Du Bocage. Il propose, après des analyses de ses principaux écrits et de ses positions philosophiques et religieuses, plusieurs dizaines de lettres et des documents iconographiques.Résolument cosmopolite malgré son attachement pour Rouen et la Normandie, lisant le latin, l'anglais et l’italien, et les traduisant, auteure d’une œuvre imposante, notamment parce qu’elle appartient aux plus grands genres, tenant enfin pendant des décennies un salon où se croisent diplomates et savants, Anne-Marie Du Bocage appartient sans conteste à l’élite intellectuelle du xviiie siècle. La postérité l’a pourtant oubliée.Ce volume entend redonner quelque consistance au personnage et à l’œuvre d’Anne-Marie Du Bocage. Il propose, après des analyses de ses principaux écrits et de ses positions philosophiques et religieuses, plusieurs dizaines de lettres et des documents iconographiques.Il ne constitue qu’un premier temps dans la redécouverte d’une femme et d’une œuvre qui méritent l’attention des spécialistes de littérature et d’histoire culturelle du xviiie siècle et, plus largement, de tous ceux et celles qui s’intéressent à la production des ouvrages de femmes, à leur carrière et à leur réception.

Papers contained in this volume were prepared for the XV East Asia Net (EAN) Research Workshop, held at University Ca’ Foscari of Venice in Spring 2015. The workshop addressed two themes: the nature-culture-society nexus and cultural diplomacy. Works featured in this book draw from a variety of disciplinary and methodological approaches, representative of the the current trends in multidisciplinary research in the field of Asian Studies.

Earthquakes have been a topic of great interest for years, particularly in understanding their causes, characteristics, and the role of seismic waves in studying them. Seismic data are also integrated with other information to investigate the plate tectonic processes that cause earthquakes. This book covers a wide range of topics, including earthquake disasters by computational gravimetry, seismic resistant buildings, statistical seismology, geomagnetic and ionospheric anomalies as earthquake precursors, crustal Velocity and source rupture models, ground motion amplification, socio-economic impacts of earthquakes, SAR differential interferometry and paleoseismic zones of the earth’s crust.

Der demografische Wandel stellt neue Anforderungen an das Bildungssystem. Angebote intergenerationellen Lernens gewinnen in der Erwachsenenbildung daher zunehmend an Bedeutung. Erwachsenenbildner/-innen stehen bei der Entwicklung intergenerationeller Bildungsveranstaltungen vor der Herausforderung Lernprozesse zwischen den Generationen - die sonst eher beiläufig im Alltags- und Familienleben geschehen - durch gezielte Lernangebote zu ermöglichen. Die Autorin geht in ihrem Buch empirisch der Frage nach, wie Erwachsenenbildner/-innen mit dieser Herausforderung umgehen und wie intergenerationelle Lernprozesse gestaltet und umgesetzt werden können. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse ermöglichen Aussagen über die Professionalisierung und Qualifizierung von Erwachsenenbildner/-innen im Hinblick auf intergenerationelles Lernen und geben Anregungen für die Forschung und erwachsenenpädagogische Praxis.

« Plus cette affaire est finie, plus il est évident qu’elle ne finira jamais », affirme l’auteur de Notre Jeunesse. Moment fondateur pour la culture républicaine et pour les intellectuels, l’affaire Dreyfus ne cesse d’être invoquée et convoquée à gauche comme à l’extrême droite. Une dizaine d’études ainsi que la bibliographie du centenaire sont présentées ici, sous le patronage de Pierre Vidal-Naquet, avec le concours de la Ville d’Orléans, du centre Charles Péguy et de l’équipe Littérature et Histoire de la Faculté des Lettres d’Orléans. Les unes et les autres s’attachent à définir, en des contextes différents – à la Belle Époque, dans l’entre-deux-guerres ou pendant la guerre d’Algérie... –, les postérités intellectuelle et politique de l’Affaire. Modèle, symbole ou repoussoir, l’affaire Dreyfus se voit réinterprétée et reconstruite tout au long du siècle, d’abord par les hommes qui l’ont vécue puis par les générations suivantes ; objet d’histoire, certes, mais aussi enjeu de mémoire, référence morale, idéologique et opérateur politique, l’Affaire apparaît bien, ainsi que le pressentait Péguy, comme un véritable « revenant ».

This reprint has captured the breadth of research on fractional calculus applications in various robotic systems. This reprint highlights fractional calculus's numerous and diverse applications in improving robotic systems, emphasizing its importance in modern robotics research and development. Researchers have addressed complex problems with greater precision and efficiency by incorporating fractional calculus into their methodologies, demonstrating the versatility and robustness of this mathematical approach, which ranges from improving control accuracy and path planning to increasing system robustness against disturbances and uncertainties. This reprint pushes the boundaries of robotics, stressing both theoretical advances and practical applications. It also proposes novel answers to long-standing robotics difficulties, demonstrating fractional calculus's potential to transform several elements of robotic technology. In conclusion, this reprint emphasizes the importance of fractional calculus in advancing robotic technology and urges more research and development in this promising field.