Open Access Books

This book provides useful information to physicians for managing ocular hypertension, which is one of the more controversial ocular conditions. It examines the social aspects of the disease and the new technologies available for treating it. The information presented will help physicians better diagnose and manage this condition.

Cet ouvrage d'endocrinologie générale, sexuelle et moléculaire présente aussi bien les données fondamentales qu'il est indispensable de posséder que les apports plus récents de l'endocrinologie moderne : rythme biologique, physiologie des récepteurs, modes d'action des hormones.

Hydraulics and hydrology are ancient disciplines that play a crucial role in ensuring water security, safeguarding water environments, and maintaining water ecology. In recent years, the construction of high dams, such as the Baihetan Project, has not only resolved numerous problems but has also generated a wealth of practical theories, advanced techniques, and valuable practical experiences in the fields of hydraulics and hydrology. Physical models, numerical models, and prototype measurements are traditional research methods. However, with the rapid advancement of emerging technologies like information technology and big data, the integration of these technologies with hydraulics and hydrology has emerged as a prominent research topic in the current academic landscape. It is essential to summarize and disseminate the above-mentioned research findings to further promote the development of this area of interest. We hope that the work contained within this Reprint will be useful to the scientific community, policymakers, and stakeholders in the field of hydraulics and hydrology at large.

The aim of the conference, in line with previous initiatives, was to stimulate discussion among researchers who, in their respective disciplinary fields (physics, engineering, biology, medicine, epidemiology), actively contribute to the development of knowledge in the field of bioelectromagnetism and the interaction between electromagnetic fields and biosystems. Contributions cover the following, but not exclusive, topics: i) study of the effects of electromagnetic fields in vivo, in vitro, on humans (laboratory and/or epidemiological studies), ii) exposure/dosimetry, iii) biomedical applications, iv) interaction mechanisms, and v) food engineering.

Digital competence, teachers, infrastructures for teaching and working, challenges

Die Miniaturisierung von Produkten bei gleichzeitiger Integration mehrerer Funktionen ist ein aktueller globaler Trend, um Gewicht, Platz, Material und Kosten zu sparen. Jedes Jahr werden Milliarden metallische Mikrobauteile produziert, und die Tendenz steigt. Umformtechnische Verfahren bieten bei der Massenproduktion technologische, wirtschaftliche und ökologische Vorteile gegenüber anderen Fertigungsverfahren. Bei der Verkleinerung in den Mikrobereich treten jedoch Größeneffekte auf, welche die Formgebung, die Prozessstabilität, die Handhabung und die Werkzeugbeanspruchung negativ beeinträchtigen können. Das mehrstufige Kaltfließpressen aus der Blechebene kann die Auswirkungen der Größeneffekte mindern, aber der komplexe Materialfluss bringt auch Herausforderungen mit sich. Daher war es das Ziel dieser Arbeit, ein grundlegendes Verständnis für den Prozess zu schaffen, um Ingenieuren bei der Optimierung zu helfen und den Übergang zu industriellen Anwendungen zu unterstützen. Im Rahmen der Untersuchungen dieser Arbeit konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass durch die mehrstufige Umformung wesentlich filigranere Pin-Strukturen aus der Blechebene hergestellt werden können. Zudem wurde aufgezeigt, dass durch die Auswahl geeigneter prozess-, werkstück-, und werkzeugseitiger Einflussparameter die Materialausnutzung erheblich gesteigert werden kann. Die gemachten Handlungsempfehlungen zur Prozessoptimierung und dargelegten Anwendungsmöglichkeiten sollen dazu beitragen, das Verfahren in der industriellen Produktion effizienter und nachhaltiger zu gestalten.

En France, neuf des réacteurs nucléaires de production d’électricité sont arrivés en fin de vie et sont en phase de démantèlement, afin de rendre leurs sites libres pour tous usages. En outre, sur les 58 réacteurs électronucléaires en fonctionnement, 48 devraient arriver en fin d’exploitation avant 2050. Cette situation est commune aux nations industrialisées exploitant l’énergie nucléaire : dans la seule Union européenne, il y en a 75, aux États-Unis, il y en a 29. Ces chantiers de démantèlement ont des caractéristiques qui les distinguent des autres chantiers de démolition. Ils contiennent des matières radioactives, dont l’exposition externe aux rayonnements, l’ingestion ou l’inhalation accidentelle pourraient constituer des dangers. Les phénomènes associés à la radioactivité sont des obstacles au travail des hommes et à la mise en oeuvre des procédés classiques de démolition. La radioprotection joue donc ici un rôle central. Des techniques, des appareils et des procédés spécifiques ont été mis au point par les opérateurs spécialisés, et, de ce point de vue, les équipes françaises ont développé un savoir-faire scientifique et technique reconnu internationalement. Les 8 et 9 octobre 2014, l’Académie des sciences a consacré un séminaire aux sciences et techniques du démantèlement des installations nucléaires, au cours duquel ont été débattus tous les aspects de ces disciplines : la caractérisation des sources de radioactivité, la radioprotection, la logistique, la physicochimie, la mécanique des milieux continus, les codes de calcul, la robotique, les retours d’expériences, la formation, la prospective et le cas des accidents graves… L’objet de cet ouvrage est de rendre compte de ces journées d’étude et de dresser un panorama des besoins et conditions du démantèlement, de recenser les phénomènes scientifiques clés, de décrire les recherches en cours et d’identifier celles à mener pour permettre le retour au libre usage des sites d’installations électronucléaires, tout en assurant la protection des travailleurs et du public pour le présent et pour l’avenir.

Wie wird Raum durch historische und religiöse Ansprüche auf Grundbesitz konzipiert und konstituiert? Wie wird Enteignung in sich verändernden Eigentumsordnungen umgesetzt und theoretisiert? Die Beiträge dieses Bandes befassen sich mit postkolonialen Kritiken des Grundbesitzes und bieten eine dringend benötigte Kontextualisierung der Art und Weise, wie die Geschichte des göttlichen Besitzes, des Imperiums, des Siedlerkolonialismus, der Sklaverei und der Enteignung indigener Völker die heutige Praxis des Grundbesitzes beeinflusst. Das Buch vereint dafür Perspektiven aus den Bereichen Religionswissenschaft, Geschichte, Philosophie, Rechtsgeschichte, Ökonomie und Soziologie und leistet einen wichtigen Beitrag zur Verknüpfung von Theorie und Praxis in der Kritik zeitgenössischer Eigentumsordnungen in Europa und Nordamerika; es liefert zudem methodische Anregungen, um theoretische Diskussionen auf ein nuanciertes Verständnis der Vergangenheit zu gründen. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Integrative psychotherapy is a groundbreaking book where the authors present mindfulness- and compassion-oriented integrative psychotherapy (MCIP) as an integration of relational psychotherapy with the practice and research of mindfulness and compassion. The book elucidates an approach which is holistic and based on evidence-based processes of change related to the main dimensions of human experience. In this approach, mindfulness and compassion are viewed as meta-processes of change that are used within an attuned therapeutic relationship to create a powerful therapeutic model that provides transformation and growth. The authors offer an exciting perspective on intersubjective physiology and the mutual connection between the client’s and therapist’s autonomic nervous systems. Comprised of creatively applied research, the book will have an international appeal amongst psychotherapists/counsellors from different psychotherapy traditions and also students with advanced/postgraduate levels of experience.

Pendant quatre siècles Cularo, fondée sur une plaine d’inondation au confluent de l’Isère et du Drac, n’est qu’une agglomération moyenne de la cité romaine des Allobroges. Implantée aux confins d’un vaste territoire dont Vienne est le chef-lieu, elle commande un carrefour essentiel vers les Alpes et la vallée du Rhône.Son destin bascule à la fin de l’Antiquité, plus précisément à partir du dernier quart du IIIe s. après J.-C. La ville, transformée en place forte par les empereurs Dioclétien et Maximien, est dotée d’un rempart monumental. Moins d’un siècle plus tard, l’empereur Gratien l’élève au rang de chef-lieu de cité et lui donne son nom : Gratianopolis. Ce changement de statut suscite l’installation presque immédiate d’un siège épiscopal. Le cœur de la ville se fixe près de la "porte Viennoise" où le nouveau pouvoir religieux choisit d’établir sa cathédrale.Ce volume retrace l’évolution du quartier depuis ses origines romaines et, surtout, l’histoire d’une partie des monuments du complexe épiscopal : le premier baptistère, la cathédrale et son cloître, l’église Saint-Hugues, le palais des évêques, le cimetière paroissial, le rempart médiéval. C’est aussi l’histoire des restaurations de ces édifices qui est abordée, évoquant ainsi, à travers l’exemple de Grenoble, les débats permanents qui tournent autour de la notion même de patrimoine.Il est le fruit de ce qui fonde aujourd’hui l’archéologie urbaine : la fouille en profondeur des sédiments naturels et celle des fondations de constructions disparues, mais aussi la fouille des élévations masquées par les enduits et les constructions adventices. Étroitement associés à l’étude des archives, ces travaux permettent de restituer l’évolution de la topographie urbaine, mettant ainsi en évidence les origines de nos centre-villes qui constituent autant d’histoires particulières.

This open access book sets out the contours of feminist political ecology (FPE) as a major contribution to ongoing debates in the field. As Professor Lyla Mehta says in her Foreword, the book is "foregrounding multiple ways of knowing and being, thus enabling new conceptions of politics, justice and alternatives to dominant, capitalist development trajectories". In an innovative methodological twist, the edited book engages the reader in conversations that have emerged from the multi-sited and cross-generational dialogues of the Well-Being Ecology Gender cOmmunities (WEGO) network over the last four years. The conversations explore topics that range from climate change and extractivism, to body politics and health, degrowth, care and community well-being. The authors reflect on their collective learning process as they map out the new directions of FPE research and analysis. The chapters highlight WEGO transnational/transdisciplinary conversations with local communities, social movements and different academic spaces. The book foregrounds the ethics of doing feminist work inside and outside academe and brings to life the importance of doing reflexive research aware of situated historical and contemporary geographical contours of power.

This book is one of the outcomes of the project Cultivated Wilderness: Socio-economic development and environmental change in pre-Columbian Amazonia (http://www.cultivated-wilderness.org/). The project has particularly focused on the previously relatively unknown prehistory of the Amazonian hinterland. Our work has revealed that pre-Columbian settlements in the Santarém region in the State of Pará, Brazilian Amazonas, were not (as formerly often assumed) limited to the vicinities of permanent water courses, such as rivers and lakes. On the contrary, the majority of region’s archaeological sites are found in an upland area known as the Belterra Plateau, situated south of the present city of Santarém. Series of radiocarbon and luminescence dates link these sites to an expansion of human settlement occurring during the period A.D. 1300–1500. The period appears to have been associated with major transformations of the prehistoric societies, significant population growth and the development of new types of water management and agriculture. The workshop Beyond Waters: Archaeology and Environmental History of the Amazonian Inland formed part of the IX Sesquiannual Conference of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America (SALSA), held in Gothenburg, Sweden in June 2014. The presenters and participants at the workshop included members of the Cultivated Wilderness-project, as well as partners and colleagues from several countries in Latin America and Europe. The contributions of the present volume span a wide range of subjects and fields, including archaeology, soil science, landscape archaeology, paleobotany, stylistic studies, historical information and digital mediation, which gives the book a broad thematic scope.

This book is a study of the UK-based Ahmadiyya Muslim community in the context of the twentieth-century South Asian diaspora. Originating in late nineteenth-century Punjab, the Ahmadis are today a vibrant international religious movement; they are also a group that has been declared heretic by other Muslims and one that continues to face persecution in Pakistan, the country the Ahmadis made their home after the partition of India in 1947. Structured as a series of case studies, the book focuses on the ways in which the Ahmadis balance the demands of faith, community and modern life in the diaspora. Following an overview of the history and beliefs of the Ahmadis, the chapters examine in turn the use of ceremonial occasions to consolidate a diverse international community; the paradoxical survival of the enchantments of dreams and charisma within the structures of an institutional bureaucracy; asylum claims and the ways in which the plight of asylum seekers has been strategically deployed to position the Ahmadis on the UK political stage; and how the planning and building of mosques serves to establish a home within the diaspora. Based on fieldwork conducted over several years in a range of formal and informal contexts, this timely book will be of interest to an interdisciplinary audience from social and cultural anthropology, South Asian studies, the study of Islam and of Muslims in Europe, refugee, asylum and diaspora studies, as well as more generally religious studies and history.

The economic crisis in the wake of the COVID pandemic is putting Cuba's socialism to a severe test. The government in Havana has put a reform of the economy, institutional structure and social policies on the agenda. This volume brings together contributions from leading international experts as well as from the island itself, analysing the economic, political and social challenges facing Cuba today.

The Special Issue “Advanced Technology for Solar Thermal Cooling, Heating, and Energy Storage” highlights recent advances that expand the role of solar energy in meeting cooling, heating, and storage demands. Published contributions focus on innovative approaches to overcome the variability of solar resources while improving system efficiency and integration. The main topics include the development of advanced storage methods such as sorption, thermochemical, and phase change materials, which enable solar energy to be stored and released on demand. Several papers present hybrid configurations that combine thermal and electrical systems or integrate solar cooling with heating and power generation for multi-use applications. Other studies emphasize the optimization of heat transfer processes, the design of nanoparticle-enhanced materials, and the use of simulation tools and control strategies to improve system reliability. Case studies and experimental validations provide evidence of how these concepts perform under real conditions. Taken together, these studies highlight the advancing maturity of solar thermal technologies and their promise in delivering efficient, resilient, and sustainable energy systems of the future.