Open Access Books

This volume includes lectures and discussion from the Conference of the Association of German Professors of Constitutional Law in Bonn, 3–6 October 2018.

Ionic liquids continue to attract a great deal of research attention in an even increasing number of areas, including more traditional areas such as synthesis (organic and materials) and physical properties studies and predictions, as well as less obvious areas such as lubrication and enzymatic transformations. In this volume, recent advances in a number of these different areas are reported and reviewed, thus granting some appreciation for the future that ionic liquids research holds, and affording inspiration for those who have not previously considered the application of ionic liquids in their area of interest.

The Goettingen University acquired in 1773 a private natural history collection from Christian Wilhelm Buettner, one of its professors. This collection became the core of the University’s Academic Museum. In addition to thousands of items of natural history (minerals, plants, zoological items) 66 Art Things were part of Buettner‘s collection. The publication investigates the question, if and how the emergence of scholarly disciplines was stimulated by processes of forming and working with specific collections, taking the development of the Ethnographic collection starting from the 66 Art Things (1773) to the foundation of the Institute and Collection of Völkerkunde (1935/36) and the emergence of Völkerkunde as a university discipline in Göttingen as an example.

Chlamydia infections continue to pose a serious socioeconomic burden globally. Despite advances in diagnostic tests in recent decades, chlamydial infections still cannot be controlled, neither in developed countries nor in developing countries. Chlamydial infections date back to the beginning of recorded human history. Trachoma caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, which progresses to blindness, is mentioned in ancient Chinese inscriptions and Egyptian scrolls. Today, we must better apply our knowledge against this clever and evolving obligate intracellular parasitic microorganism. Chlamydia - Secret Enemy from Past to Present examines chlamydial infections using a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach. It discusses the microbiology, clinical presentation, and current approaches in the diagnosis and treatment management of chlamydial infection from the viewpoint of different clinics as well as includes relevant and recent literature.

The importance of Substantiierungslast (pleading requirements) for the practice of German civil procedure law can hardly be overstated: For a lawyer, the success of the lawsuit is at stake; for a judge, the Substantiierungslast provides procedural grounds to dismiss a case without taking evidence. In this context, fishing expeditions, general and specific denial as well as denial based on lack of sufficient knowledge are discussed. The author points out concerning developments, such as violations of the right to a fair hearing due to an over-reliance on pleading requirements, limited ways to appeal such decisions, and the Federal High Court’s increasing willingness to instrumentalize procedural burdens.

Zur Schriftkultur des Mittelalters und der Frühen Neuzeit gehören nicht nur Handschriften und Drucke, sondern auch Inschriften, die auf unterschiedlichen Materialien und Gegenständen, auf Plätzen und Gebäuden angebracht wurden. Auf den ersten Blick scheint ihr Zweck offenkundig: Sie zeigen Besitz an oder erinnern an vergangene Personen und Ereignisse. Rekonstruiert man aber die Kontexte und Praktiken sowie die Bedeutung von Beschreibstoffen, Layout und Formaten, eröffnen Inschriften eine Vieldeutigkeit, die keine einfachen Antworten mehr zulässt. Gesteigert wird dies noch, wenn man real erhaltene mit solchen Inschriften konfrontiert, die in Chroniken, Romanen, Legenden oder mystischen Visionen dieser Zeit beschrieben werden. Die Autorinnen und Autoren des vorliegenden Buches fragen danach, welche Bedeutungen den Inschriften in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit beigemessen wurden – etwa im städtischen Raum, an Gräbern, in intermedialen Konstellationen – und welche Funktionen sie darüber hinaus im historiografischen, geistlichen oder genealogischen Erzählen ausbilden konnten.

The reception history of the term autofiction, coined by Serge Doubrovsky in 1977 and strongly polarising since then, shows that autofictional writing has been used by numerous authors in the past decades as a possibility to give explosive insights into their lives on the one hand, but to refer to an indeterminable ""fictional"" part of their work on the other. The underlying interferences between fictional and factual narrative strategies seem to predestine autofiction for the representation and provocation of scandal. This volume brings together contributions that illuminate the relationship between autofiction and scandal from epistemological, literary-historical and reception-aesthetic perspectives and explore ethical questions of the demarcation between public and private space.

This book gets to the heart of discussions on big data and the digital age. It presents the 200-year history of the idea that people and societies are nothing more than the sum total of the data collected by quantitative methodology. It describes this history in the context of censuses and survey research in Great Britain, focusing on the actors involved, methodology, social classifications, and questions about race, ethnicity and disabilities.

Alginates are biodegradable, biocompatible, renewable, and natural polysaccharides in brown marine algae. Properties and Applications of Alginates provides an overview of the state of the art of chemical and material properties of alginates and biomedical and nanotechnology mechanisms underlying alginate biosynthesis. It discusses alginate-based materials’ fundamentals that combine research and technological advances with current limitations. Moreover, novel technologies using alginate composites are introduced, and as well as the latest developments in alginate-based technologies were reviewed. It also examines potential uses of alginates in immobilized biocatalysts, nanoparticle synthesis, wastewater treatment, heavy metal removal, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and biomedicine.

Les années 1870-1889 sont celles de la conquête de la République par les républicains et de la victoire de la République parlementaire contre les différents révisionnismes constitutionnels. Maintes fois racontées dans le style hagiographique de la République triomphante, ou au contraire vilipendées par les nostalgiques de la Monarchie, ces années n’avaient pas encore fait l’objet d’une étude scientifique. L’analyse des élections de 1881, 1885 et 1889, le recours systématique aux documents originaux, voire aux archives inédites, permettent de donner une vision plus réaliste de ce que fut l’aventure républicaine dans un pays encore largement dominé par les partis monarchistes et l’Église du Syllabus. Pour lutter contre les partisans de l’absolutisme la République parlementaire n’hésita pas à prendre quelques distances vis-à-vis du libéralisme qui était sa gloire et son justificatif : d’où le titre de République absolue pour cette République qui, en gagnant de nombreux combats, creusait en même temps les conditions futures de sa chute.

The reprint describes all aspects of the fight against SARS-CoV-2- infection (COVID-19). RNA viruses are claimed to be the most common cause of infectious diseases in disasters. Distinguished medical teams in five different countries described their responses to COVID-19 for medically vulnerable people such as HIV-infected persons, the elderly, and cancer-bearing patients. The reprint also encompasses studies of serological, molecular, and image diagnosis of COVID-19. The pathogenic roles of GABA were also proposed.It was also proposed that SARS-CoV-2 infection upregulates GABA, protecting not only the central nervous system, but also the endothelia, pancreas, and gut microbiota. Very rare cases with spontaneous pneumothorax and acute exacerbation after tocilizumab treatment were reported. This reprint teaches effective measures against the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

This open access book presents the evolution of the Spanish economy over the past seven centuries since the end of the Reconquest and examines how much economic progress has Spain achieved, as well as its impact on living standards and income distribution over the very long run. It shows that preindustrial Spain was far from stagnant, although levels of output per head in the early nineteenth century were not much different from those on the eve of the Black Death (1348). It further discusses how phases of simultaneous per capita output and population expansion and shrinkage alternated, lending support to the recurring growth and frontier economy hypotheses. While a collapse in the 1570s gave way to sluggish growth and higher inequality after a long phase of sustained growth and lower inequality, the book shows how real per capita income has improved substantially over the last two centuries, driven by increased labor productivity, and derived from more intense andefficient use of physical and human capital per worker. Presenting exposure to international competition as a stimulus for this development, the book sheds light on the underperformance of Spain up to 1950 in a European comparison and describes the catch-up of Spain’s economy with more advanced countries until 2007. Finally, the book explains how modern economic growth is associated with an increase in the material well-being of its inhabitants, as the most dynamic economic phases of the last century have been associated with an improvement in income distribution, although the relationship between growth and inequality has not been linear. This book is a must-read for students, researchers, and scholars of economics and economic history interested in a better understanding of cliometrics, long-run analyses, economic development, economic growth, as well as the Spanish economy.

Alors que certaines manifestations religieuses se trouvent au cœur de l’actualité et qu’elles suscitent des débats passionnés, comment expliquer le peu d’intérêt apparent des sociologues pour le religieux, qui était pourtant un objet central chez les « pères fondateurs » de la sociologie ? Est-ce parce que le religieux n’est pas vu ou parce qu’il est évité ? Est-il encore considéré comme voué à disparaître ? Une telle situation ne s’explique-t-elle pas également par l’isolement de la sociologie des religions par rapport aux autres sociologies spécialisées ? En la matière, les sociologues se distinguent-ils de leurs collègues des autres sciences sociales, l’histoire, la science politique, la démographie ou l’anthropologie ? C’est à ces questions que cet ouvrage, issu d’un colloque de l’Association française de sciences sociales des religions, s’attache à répondre.

J. G. Fichte é uma figura central da história da filosofia europeia. A sua teoria da consciência humana, que intitulou Doutrina da Ciência, é a primeira tentativa de reconstrução da filosofia após a fim da metafísica moderna.Muito para além dos lugares comuns da história da filosofia, que a considerava tradicionalmente como um idealismo subjectivo ou um mero ponto de passagem entre Kant e Hegel, a Doutrina da Ciência constitui uma investigação, sobre bases teóricas inéditas, acerca das condições e categorias fundamentais do conhecimento e da acção. Com uma coerência ímpar, Fichte estuda as condições necessárias para construir uma teoria do conhecimento e da acção, partindo do conceito de liberdade para reflectir de modo radical sobre a consciência humana do mundo e de si, e sobre como podemos conhecer e agir eticamente.Este livro é a primeira introdução em português

Les incertitudes qui continuent de peser en France sur la définition d'une politique à l'égard de la dépendance des personnes âgées montrent tout l'intérêt de comparer notre situation à celle d'autres pays européens. La récente réforme instituant l'Allocation personnalisée d'autonomie qui, en élargissant les conditions d'accès semblait une réponse plus assurée, n'est pas pour autant une réponse stabilisée. Le processus est donc loin d'être achevé.