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This book presents the economic heartbeat and institutional details that shaped Athenian society during the Classical period (508-323 BCE), employing an innovative and outside-the-box approach to studying history. It answers questions about societal structure, the roles of women, foreigners, and slaves, the transformation of their economy from agrarian to maritime, and commercially-oriented. 28 short fictional stories enliven the narrative, each accompanied by rigorous academic analysis - revealing how banking, insurance, and the Athenian drachma, the internationally accepted currency of the times, shaped their world.Exploring the symbiotic relationship between democracy and economic evolution, the book examines the sophisticated economic institutions of ancient Athens -ranging from property rights protection to market-driven price determination, anti-profiteering measures, measures to protect the Athenian currency¿s trustworthiness from forgery, business and labor mentality and practices, international trade patterns, as well as the existence of a robust public sector related also to the provision of a series of public goods. In a comprehensive analysis, the book scrutinizes daily life, societal structures, and customs, addressing a variety of questions such as marriage, cuisine, attire, values, and entertainment.Employing New Institutional Economics as a methodology, the book puts together historical evidence with institutional analysis, offering an interdisciplinary lens through economics, political science, strategy, and behavioral theory. Richly supported by ancient sources, inscriptions, and a vast modern bibliography, this work not only explains ancient Athens but also proposes its socioeconomic pattern as a guide for modern societal challenges in economic governance and democracy.

This book examines issues of intersectionality and multicultural competency, humility, and sensitivity necessary to work with interracial, intercultural, and interfaith couples. It describes a therapeutic approach that combines a social constructionist framework with ecological systems theory using an intersectional lens. Chapters explore key issues relevant to interracial, intercultural, and interfaith couples across the lifespan, including attraction and dating, cohabitation, marriage and polyamory, children, retirement as well as such potentially challenging topics as sex, politics, and religion. Featured areas of coverage include: How to apply ecological systems theory and social constructionism to guide self of the therapist reflections and clinical interventions that address the nuances of intersectionality among interracial, intercultural, and interfaith couples across the lifespan. Attention to intersectionality between therapists and clients. Strategies for addressing challenging issues within the current political environment in which diversity is debated and may become divisive. Case applications and extended reflections Interracial, Intercultural, and Interfaith Couples and Families Across the Life Cycle: A Clinician's Guide is an essential resource for clinicians, therapists, and practitioners as well as researchers, professors, and graduate students in family studies, clinical psychology, and public health, as well as all interrelated disciplines.

The three-volume set CCIS 2009, 2010 and 2011 constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Computer Vision and Image Processing, CVIP 2023, held in Jammu, India, during November 3-5, 2023. The 140 revised full papers presented in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 461 submissions. The papers focus on various important and emerging topics in image processing, computer vision applications, deep learning, and machine learning techniques in the domain.

​ This book enables readers with varying backgrounds to understand the need for Digital Twin technologies. The authors describe how digital twin amounts to the convergence of the physical and the virtual worlds where each industrial process, asset, service, or product gets a digital replica and dynamic digital blueprint and representation, from the design phase to the deployment phase. Through this book, readers will be enabled to work on Digital Twin techniques and gain from experience. The book will provide a high level of understanding of the emerging technologies and why Digital Twin offers the potential of acquiring and processing a tremendous amount of data from the physical world.

The purpose of this work is to focus mathematical modeling on issues affecting women¿s health. Working in six collaborative teams, researchers developed new mathematical models to address questions in a range of application areas. Topics include HIV, oral contraceptives, blood clotting, breast cancer, neonatal respiration, and outbreak forecasting. The work is the result of newly formed collaborative groups begun during the Collaborative Workshop for Women in Mathematical Biology hosted by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and UnitedHealth Group Optum in June 2022.This is an open access book.

This textbook offers a hands-on introduction to general topology, a fundamental tool in mathematics and its applications. It provides solid foundations for further study in mathematics in general, and topology in particular.Aimed at undergraduate students in mathematics with no previous exposure to topology, the book presents key concepts in a mathematically rigorous yet accessible manner, illustrated by numerous examples. The essential feature of the book is the large sets of worked exercises at the end of each chapter. All of the basic topics are covered, namely, metric spaces, continuous maps, homeomorphisms, connectedness, and compactness. The book also explains the main constructions of new topological spaces such as product spaces and quotient spaces. The final chapter makes a foray into algebraic topology with the introduction of the fundamental group.Thanks to nearly 300 solved exercises and abundant examples, Point-Set Topology is especially suitable for supplementing a first lecture course on topology for undergraduates, and it can also be utilized for independent study. The only prerequisites for reading the book are familiarity with mathematical proofs, some elements of set theory, and a good grasp of calculus.

This translation of Musique au singulier (2001) from the French identifies what is common to music of all times and cultures. The author, François-Bernard Mâche is a composer and internationally renowned musicologist. He addresses the question of universals in music and demonstrates how musical play is a poetic and natural game that already takes shape in the animal world. Mâche invites the reader to reconsider the traditional opposition between nature and culture and to reflect on experiencing such intense emotions when both listening to and manipulating sounds. This title appeals to students and researchers working in musicology.

This book takes a novel approach by highlighting comparative and long-term historical perspectives on experimental practice. The juxtaposition of accounts of natural, social, and medical experimentation is very enlightening, especially because the authors put the emphasis on the different kinds of objects of experimentation (physical matter, chemical reagents, social groups, organizations, sick individuals, archeological remains) and demonstrate how much the kinds of objects matter for the practice of experimentation, its methods, tools, and methodologies. Taken together, the chapters raise several fascinating questions for further study: What do these different approaches have in common? Why do we call them "experimentation"? What are the intersections among the fields and their developments? The volume engages philosophical approaches that are not well known to Anglophone readers (Bachelard, Bergson, Bernard, Canguilhem, among others) and brings to attention a wealth of Francophone secondary literature on past and present scientific experimentation. The collection fills a yawning gap in science, science studies, and philosophy of science teaching, making it particularly valuable philosophers and historians of science in all subfields.

Fractures of the scapula are usually associated with high-energy trauma and its management has deeply changed in the last decade. The unfavorable scapular anatomy, combined with the complexity of the approaches for fracture fixation, make the treatment challenging, even for experienced surgeons. Furthermore, the literature is controversial regarding surgical indications and rationale for treatment. This book is designed to address and discuss critical aspects of decision making for the management of scapular fractures, including anatomy, epidemiology, surgical indications, rehabilitation, treatment, and outcomes. It also presents several challenging cases with adequate preoperative planning, emphasizing the different approaches, fixation strategies, soft tissue handling, and postoperative care. Floating shoulder and the association between scapular fractures and clavicle fractures are also addressed, as well as a hot topic and emerging issue: the periprosthetic scapular fracture following reverse shoulder arthroplasty. The approaches and fixation strategies will be the main points of the book and richly illustrated by images. Fractures of the Scapula - Current Concepts is an indispensable reference to shoulder surgeons, general orthopaedic surgeons, orthopaedic trauma surgeons, thoracic surgeons, orthopaedic fellows and residents, medical students, and physical therapists who are eager to deepen their knowledge in the management of the challenging scapular fractures. *the Editors modified the proposal based on the reviewer's feedback.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Big Data Analytics in Astronomy, Science, and Engineering, BDA 2023, which took place in Aizu, Japan during December 5-7, 2023. The 19 full papers included in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 55 submissions. They were organized in topical sections as follows: Data management and visualization; data science: architectures and systems; data science and applications; and cyber systems and information security.

This book constitutes the refereed conference proceedings of the second International Conference on Speech and Language Technologies for Low-Resource Languages, SPELLL 2023, held in Perundurai, Erode, India, during December 6-8, 2023. The 27 full papers and 6 short papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 94 submissions. The papers are divided into the following topical sections: language resources; language technologies; speech technologies; and workshops - regional fake, MMLOW, LC4.

This text builds upon the over 1500 papers published in peer-reviewed journals revealing that there are more than 200 biological codes in living systems. The author claims this experimental fact is bound to change biology forever. This book shows how this very discovery reveals that coding is a new mechanism of life, just as the discovery of electromagnetism revealed the existence of a new physical force in the universe. The existence of many biological codes, furthermore, Barbieri argues, is one of those experimental facts that have extraordinary theoretical consequences. It implies that coding is not only a mechanism that constantly operates in all living systems, but also a mechanism of evolution, more precisely a mechanism that gave origin to the absolute novelties of the history of life. This amounts to saying that evolution took place by two distinct mechanisms, by natural selection and by natural conventions, two mechanisms that are fundamentally different because natural selection is the result of copying and deals with information whereas natural conventions are the result of coding and deal with meaning. This volume appeals to students and researchers working in the fields of semiotics, philosophy, biology and mathematics.

Radio astronomy is irreversibly moving towards the exabyte era. In the advent of all-sky radio observations, efficient tools and methods to manage the large data volume generated have become imperative. This book brings together the knowledge of several different research fields to present an overview of current state-of-the-art methods in data-intensive radio astronomy. Its approach is comprehensive and data-centric, offering a coherent look at the four distinct parts of the data lifecycle: Data creation, storage and archivesData processingPost-processing and data analysisData access and reuse Large data management has been the topic of discussion within the astronomical community for decades. Some relevant areas explored in this volume are: ongoing technological innovations in interferometers and computing facilities; difficulties and possible solutions for the huge processing demands of radio telescope projects such as LOFAR, MeerKat, ASKAP; concepts for reliable and fast storage for archiving; and more. Written by experts across astrophysics, high-energy particle physics, data science, and computer science, this volume will help researchers and advanced students better understand the current state of data-intensive radio astronomy and tackle the major problems that may arise from future instruments.

This textbook arises from a master's course taught by the author at the University of Coimbra. It takes the reader from the very classical Galois theorem for fields to its generalization to the case of rings. Given a finite-dimensional Galois extension of fields, the classical bijection between the intermediate field extensions and the subgroups of the corresponding Galois group was extended by Grothendieck as an equivalence between finite-dimensional split algebras and finite sets on which the Galois group acts. Adding further profinite topologies on the Galois group and the sets on which it acts, these two theorems become valid in arbitrary dimension. Taking advantage of the power of category theory, the second part of the book generalizes this most general Galois theorem for fields to the case of commutative rings. This book should be of interest to field theorists and ring theorists wanting to discover new techniques which make it possible to liberate Galois theory from its traditional restricted context of field theory. It should also be of great interest to category theorists who want to apply their everyday techniques to produce deep results in other domains of mathematics.

This book initially delves into its fundamentals to initiate the exploration of online incentive mechanisms in wireless communications. Three case studies are provided to elaborate details on designing online mechanism design in practical system. For crowdsensing with random task arrivals, this book introduces a linear online incentive mechanism model with insurance of the quality of information for each incoming task. In the context of edge computing systems, the authors model a nonlinear online incentive mechanism with the consideration of mobile users' energy budget constraints. It also explores online incentive mechanism for collaborative task offloading in mobile edge computing to achieve on-arrival instant responses. This book not only disseminates current knowledge but also sheds light on future research directions. The design of incentive mechanisms in wireless communication systems is of paramount importance as it encourages dormant terminals within networks to contribute their valuable resources. The consideration of randomness of network processes enhances the mechanism design under online settings and decision making on the fly. This book endeavours to bridge existing knowledge gaps by comprehensively presenting and developing fundamental insights into online incentive mechanisms and their design methods in the realm of wireless communications. It's one of the first books to provide a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles of online incentive mechanisms and their intricately designed methods in the dynamic world of wireless communications. Future research directions include an investigation in the evolving domain of online incentive mechanism designs within wireless communications. This book strikes a balance between theoretical knowledge and practical application, making it a valuable resource for both researchers and practitioners in the field of wireless communications and network economics. Advanced-level students majoring in computer science and/or electrical engineering will want to purchase this book as a study guide.

This book features a selection of papers presented at the 15th International Conference "Economies of the Balkan and Eastern European Countries" (EBEEC), held at the University of the Aegean in Chios, Greece, May 12-14, 2023. The EBEEC conference serves as an annual meeting of policy makers from Eastern European and Balkan countries as well as scientists. More than 300 researchers and students attended the conference and presented their work in parallel sessions.This volume deals with various aspects of economic growth, prosperity and (environmental, social and economic) sustainability of countries in the region in the context of globalization and digitalization. It also examines topics such as consumer behavior towards new products and services, human capital, teleworking, the food market, international trade and foreign direct investment. In turn, the book proposes frameworks and solutions to help countries deal with and manage the complex local and global environment.

This volume features more than 20 essays that explore the work of one of the most important contemporary philosophers of mathematics. It will help readers to better appreciate this significant and prolific philosopher. Within philosophy of mathematics, Penelope Maddy initially advocated realism. She then went on to advance naturalism. Both of her positions became very influential in the field, along with her other work in the philosophy of logic. The contributors comment on and otherwise engage with Maddy's work. They also weigh in on the state of set theory and its philosophy, the philosophy and history of logic, naturalism, skepticism, and the myriad other areas to which Maddy left her mark. Overall, coverage traces her influence on these various ideas over the years. It will also help readers to better understand how philosophers working at the forefront of these areas see these concepts today. These essays will be essential reading for the wide group of philosophers working in these different areas as well as graduate students studying philosophy of mathematics and logic and the other related issues to which Maddy has contributed. The volume will also appeal to logicians and set theorists in general, as well as to philosophers working in analytic philosophy more widely, as well as to those working in the history of philosophy.

NEW VERSION This book introduces readers to the astonishing civilisation of the Incas. Its novelty lies in its general but highly informative synthesis of their history and astronomy through the accounts of contemporary chronicles and recent archaeological findings. Richly illustrated with the author's own photographs, it will attract the attention of seasoned travellers interested in ancient civilisations and keen to discover what people were capable of achieving so long ago, but also any reader interested in the history and prehistory of South American peoples, including students or university researchers wanting to know more about the pre-Columbian civilizations of Peru. The Inca civilisation was in fact the culmination of cultural contributions from a dozen or so complex pre-Columbian civilizations, such as those of Chavín, Nazca, Wari, or Tiwanaku. Intensely spiritual, the Inca people attributed metaphysical powers to all manner of objects and places they considered sacred, but at the same time the numerous alignments in their buildings show that they result from careful observations of the Sun, the Moon, and the stars at different times of the year. Indeed, the Incas were an essentially agrarian people, so time measurement and calendar devices were essential for the purely pragmatic problem of planning agricultural tasks during the tropical year. The book sets out to describe the Incas in their historical and geographical context, avoiding specialization or excessive technicality, but retaining a certain scientific rigor, and including a detailed consideration of their interest in the sky and astronomy. OLD VERSION The aim of this book is to transport the reader to the heart of the marvelous and fascinating history of the Andean peoples.This work synthesizes information about the Inca civilization and those which preceded it and highlights for these cultures the intimate relationships between the life of the peoples and the observation of the sky. The novelty of this work lies in the general character of the synthesis, avoiding specialization or excessive technicality but retaining the scientific rigor. The text immediately immerses the reader in the surprising cultural diversity of Peru. It quickly becomes apparent that limiting the history to only the Inca Empire would amount to considering only part of the historical diversity of this society and would neglect a major part of its richness.The prestigious Inca civilization was in fact the culmination of the cultural contributions of a dozen astonishing and complex pre-Columbian civilizations such as those of Chavín, Nazca, Wari or Tiwanaku. A major part of the book is focused on the study of the sky and on astronomy, which was of considerable importance in the peruvian universe. If these populations devoted themselves to observing the Sun, the Moon or the brightest planets, they also observed certain "dark" constellations appearing clearly in contrast against the bright background of the Milky Way which played an important role in the cosmic conception of the pre-Columbian worlds. The study of numerous architectural alignments testifies to the fact that these result from astronomical considerations such as the observations of the Sun and other stars (the Pleiades for example) at privileged moments (solstices and equinoxes) of the year. The importance of time measurement and calendar devices used for correct planning of agricultural tasks during the different seasons of the tropical year is also emphasized. The observation of the Sun certainly played a key role in the Inca civilization, particularly for determining the privileged moments of the astronomical year in relation to the agrarian rhythms associated with the tropical year. The history of the Inca people is imbued with an astonishing and pervasive spirituality that is discussed in great detail. These people in fact attributed metaphysical power to objects and places considered sacred which were integrated into a system of privileged directions radiating from the Cuzco temple of the Sun. On reading the various chapters of this book, the reader will undoubtedly retain the dominant idea that Peru has a long, eventful and fascinating history of very rich cultures and civilizations. This book is aimed at a rather wide and cultivated audience, passionate about history, ethnology, and astronomy of south american cultures. It is also intended for students or university researchers interested in the pre-Columbian civilizations of Peru.

This series of essays, written by scholars and practitioners of engineering and music after visits to indigenous communities in Bolivia and Sierra Leone, illustrate the experiences, conversations, and insights that arose from consilient research. As the authors and contributors dive more deeply into each other's Western traditions of expertise, a surprising commonality emerges between music and technology - a commonality rooted in ignorance toward the power of indigeneity. This is an unexplored area of inquiry in both engineering and music. Each discipline follows rigorous traditions in Western academic institutions that have not only disregarded but have demeaned ancestral and indigenous traditions. By bringing together diverse artists and engineers, this exploration examines how engaging with non-Western knowledge can alter the understanding of Western experts in any field.

This book presents the proceedings of the NeuroIS Retreat 2023, May 30¿June 1, Vienna, Austria, reporting on topics at the intersection of information systems (IS) research, neurophysiology and the brain sciences. Readers will discover the latest findings from top scholars in the field of NeuroIS, which offer detailed insights on the neurobiology underlying IS behavior, essential methods and tools and their applications for IS, as well as the application of neuroscience and neurophysiological theories to advance IS theory.

This book explores fundamental and advanced concepts related to the AI-enabled Edge Technology paradigm, also known as Edge Intelligence, within the framework of the Internet of Things (IoT). Expanding the application of Edge computing is increasingly necessary. This can involve exploring automated, intelligent computational learning theorems, and ANN-oriented, trustworthy machine learning perspectives to enhance computational intelligence. The book functions as a valuable resource for professionals in the sector and also acts as a comprehensive learning tool for newcomers in the field of AI-enabled Edge Technologies and their applications, covering both fundamental and advanced concepts. This book uses data and network engineering and intelligent decision support system-by-design principles to design a reliable IoT edge-cloud ecosystem and to implement cyber-physical pervasive infrastructure solutions. The book will help readers understand the design architecture and AI algorithms and learn analytics through IoT edge, device-edge and the state-of-the-art in cloud-IoT countermeasures. The book is a valuable reference for anyone doing undergraduate or postgraduate studies, conducting research, or working in the computer science, information technology, electronics engineering, and complicated mathematical modeling domains.

This edited collection is a follow-up to Algoma University's inaugural conference on mental health and addiction held at the Brampton campus in Ontario, Canada. We live in a society where many marginalized communities continue to bear a historically disproportionate burden on their psychological, mental, and economic well-being, especially under the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has had a continuing impact on marginalized and racialized communities at all levels. We are now witnessing the compounded effects in the form of a worsening mental health and addiction crisis and its subsequent impact on children's education, service delivery, and overall psychosocial well-being.Covid-19 has widened the gap and increased poverty disparities between high-income and low-income individuals. Furthermore, it has affected the psychosocial resilience of people. As communities of scholars, practitioners, and researchers, we have a responsibility to address these existential issues in ways that are ethical and transformative. This type of engagement should help mitigate the consequences of the pandemic in an intersectional manner. These conversations should assist us in understanding and addressing the trauma and suffering that marginalized communities and individuals continue to endure. Together, we can work to find answers to mental health and addiction challenges, while valuing people's histories and realities within this intersectional engagement.This book aims to redefine psychiatric discourse in the age of the pandemic and encourage us to imagine how the world can be reformed in ways that are both ethical and political. It has the potential to shed light on the values and realities of communities in discussions of medical sociology, particularly concerning the impact of Covid-19 on marginalized communities.This book is structured into three volumes. Volume one delves into the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of various ethnic groups. Volume two specifically addresses the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Afro-Black individuals. Volume three explores the connections between the COVID-19 pandemic, psychological well-being, and colonialism.

This edited collection is a follow-up to Algoma University's inaugural conference on mental health and addiction held at the Brampton campus in Ontario, Canada. We live in a society where many marginalized communities continue to bear a historically disproportionate burden on their psychological, mental, and economic well-being, especially under the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has had a continuing impact on marginalized and racialized communities at all levels. We are now witnessing the compounded effects in the form of a worsening mental health and addiction crisis and its subsequent impact on children's education, service delivery, and overall psychosocial well-being. Covid-19 has widened the gap and increased poverty disparities between high-income and low-income individuals. Furthermore, it has affected the psychosocial resilience of people. As communities of scholars, practitioners, and researchers, we have a responsibility to address these existential issues in ways that are ethical and transformative. This type of engagement should help mitigate the consequences of the pandemic in an intersectional manner. These conversations should assist us in understanding and addressing the trauma and suffering that marginalized communities and individuals continue to endure. Together, we can work to find answers to mental health and addiction challenges, while valuing people's histories and realities within this intersectional engagement. This book aims to redefine psychiatric discourse in the age of the pandemic and encourage us to imagine how the world can be reformed in ways that are both ethical and political. It has the potential to shed light on the values and realities of communities in discussions of medical sociology, particularly concerning the impact of Covid-19 on marginalized communities. This book is structured into three volumes. Volume one delves into the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of various ethnic groups. Volume two specifically addresses the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of Afro-Black individuals. Volume three explores the connections between the COVID-19 pandemic, psychological well-being, and colonialism.

Focusing on emerging features of digital transformation, digital economy, digital innovation, and digital entrepreneurship, this edited volume highlights new aspects of digital transformation and research progress in the field. Chapters cover a wide range of topics such as: promoting the growth of the digital economy through the alertness of entrepreneurs; predicting entrepreneurial performance through the lens of entrepreneurial orientation and digital adoption with a machine learning approach; proposing a guide to emphasize the key aspects of social media analytics; examining the digital pathology ecosystem and key drivers for investment in more efficient disease diagnosis and monitoring; exploring how humane orientation contributes to the intention to use digital entrepreneurship with a gender perspective. Concluding with a review of the extant digital economy literature, the volume proposes a future research agenda which will be useful not only for researchers and academics, but also for entrepreneurs and policymakers.

Boundary Element Method for Magnetohydrodynamic Flow" offers one of the first systematic and detailed treatments of the application of boundary element method (BEM) to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow problems. It aims to fill in the gaps left by the earlier books on the application of BEM to some physical problems such as fluid dynamics, elasticity, and geophysics. An overview of the theory of MHD flow and a comprehensive mathematical formulation of BEM for convection-diffusion-type differential equations are provided by the authors, who heavily rely on their research and experience in the disciplines of BEM and MHD flow. The book first discusses the basic principles of the BEM approach for the MHD duct flow problems in coupled form with the fundamental solution derived by the authors. Specifically, the BEM solutions of MHD flow in pipes of rectangular or circular cross-sections, and MHD flow in infinite regions, are all covered emphasizing the convergence of infinite boundary integrals. This book, especially, concentrates on the MHD flow in regions with partly insulated partly perfectly conducting boundaries by BEM giving also the parabolic boundary layer thickness emanating from the points of discontinuities on the walls. The book secondly includes the dual reciprocity boundary element technique (DRBEM), an alternative form of BEM that expands the applicability of BEM to MHD flow and heat transfer problems as well as buoyancy MHD flow with magnetic potential and inductionless MHD flow. The purpose of the book is to serve as a research book for applied mathematicians, engineers, scientists, and graduate students who wish to learn in-depth about the formulation and application of BEM in MHD flow problems. As such, it is an invaluable resource and a major contribution to the numerical solution of MHD flow problems.

This open access book creates conceptual links between political emotions, citizenship, home and belonging. The book describes that, in the case of decided return and reintegration to a post-conflict society and a fragmented state, like Bosnia and Herzegovina, the returnees do not conceptualize the emotional dimension of their BiH citizenship as home and belonging as this citizenship does not make them feel safe and secure. Instead, ¿feeling at home¿ is found in family, place and time, while belonging is categorized as ethnic, religious, relational, landscape, linguistic, and economic. The emotional dimension of the home state citizenship is constituted through a wide spectrum of emotions, ranging from anger, frustration, fear, guilt, shame, disappointment, nostalgia, powerlessness, to patriotic love, pride, defiance, joy, happiness and hope. This book provides a valuable resource to students and scholars of migration and diaspora studies, as well as political scientists, human geographers and anthropologists.

This book takes the small rural town of La Calera, in the outskirts of the Colombian capital of Bogotá, as a case study to analyze how residents from different social classes - wealthier ex-urban newcomers arriving to traditionally peasant and rural areas - interact to decide how nature will be used in the face of further urban expansion. Contrary to the conflicts in other gentrification cases, including those of "green" gentrification, this book shows how newcomers and longtimers in La Calera use environmental concerns to bridge social class rifts and push the state to provide water, public space, and decision-making power. Residents see abundant ecological resources like water and land around them, but they do not have access to aqueducts, green public space or power over planning decisions affecting the distribution of these resources. As a response, and to challenge the state more effectively, newcomers and longtimers create inter-class alliances through what the author calls third nature: the way residents try to both protect and keep using existing ecological goods. To do so, despite high levels of class inequality, residents had a similar goal of protecting ecological resources around them by intervening in the physical and political landscapes against a state that induces scarcity, selectively enforcing environmental policies to the detriment of Calerunos. As cities all around the Global South continue to grow, urban expansion posits a threat to the environment by transforming agricultural and protected areas into denser residential or touristic spaces. Moreover, as natural resources become scarcer in the face of climate change, inequality might further existing environmental privileges and vulnerabilities. By examining closely how Calerunos bridge class inequalities for environmental reasons, this case highlights processes that inform other gentrifying rural spaces around the world.

This book summarizes the past, present, and future work in biotribology with a special emphasis on its applications in the design and manufacture of biomedical devices and their potential future uses. The book covers several aspects of biotribology such as biocompatible materials, joint tribology, skin tribology, oral tribology, tribology of the other human bodies or tissues, animal tribology, plant tribology, medical device tribology, and more.This is an essential reference for academics, biomedical researchers, biologists, tribologists, chemists, physicists, biomedical scientists, materials engineers, mechanical engineers and other professionals in related engineering, medicine, and biomedical industries. This book can also serve as a useful research text for undergraduate and graduate engineering courses such as tribology, materials, biomaterials, material characterization, interface science, and biomedical science.

This monograph discusses the concept of solidarity. Using Germany as a case study, the book investigates how political actors - political parties in specific - use the term solidarity in their programmatic documents. It maps out the attitudes, features, and behaviors that the parties continuously denote as expressions of solidarity and reconstructs the generalized concept of solidarity held by each party. It categorizes earlier ideas of solidarity into micro and macro perspectives and uses both theoretical and empirical considerations to build a model of solidarity and identify the elements that make solidarity what it is.Departing from the typical procedure in intellectual history research, this volume takes inspiration from Wittgenstein, starting with the language and tracing it back to its historical setting. Thus, it avoids the trap of speaking of only one meaning of solidarity and allows for more attuned analysis of the differences in understanding the concept. Furthermore, it links the scientific study of the concept of solidarity with research on political competition, and - in broader sense - political theory and party politics research. Closing the gap in scientific coverage of the concept of solidarity, this book will be of interest to students and researchers studying political theory, political sociology, political philosophy, political history, and political parties.

Land deterioration, drought, desertification, and water resources shrinkage threaten natural resources, negatively impacting environmental, economic, and political stability. The increasing occurrence of climate change (extremes) impacts land degradation processes, soil erosion by water and wind, and salinization. The researchers have invested several years of scientific research in natural resources deterioration, including soil degradation and erosion, land degradation, desertification, and climate changes, which are interesting enough. However, the link between science and policymaking appears to be less active as serious actions do not take fast. The eighteen chapters of this book focus more on topics related to natural resources deterioration, such as land degradation, desertification, drought, climate change, and analysis of numerous case studies. This book presents experts' overviews, study results, experiences, and knowledge of natural resources deterioration in MENA countries. It attracts researchers, experts, scholars, scientists, academics, students, practitioners, graduates, or anybody interested in land degradation, desertification, climate change, and natural hazards that fall within natural resources deterioration. Therefore, researchers keep continuing to do their investigations and produce results that convince stakeholders and policymaking to act immediately towards protecting natural resources and their sustainability.