46622 research outputs found
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Geotechnical Modeling and Intelligent Systems
No full textThis open access book provides insights into research topics related to geotechnical engineering simulations. With the development of computing power and artificial intelligence, research methods in geotechnical engineering are gradually shifting from field surveys and physical experiments toward simulation and prediction. Through simulations, it is possible to infer the impact of engineering structures on soil and rock masses, as well as their response to natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, and debris flows, allowing for early planning of mitigation measures. Inside, readers will find cutting-edge studies on microbial soil stabilization, finite element simulations, centrifuge modeling, and machine learning applications. Topics include advanced material characterization, predictive modeling of tunnels and slopes, AI-enhanced monitoring systems, and risk mitigation strategies for deep excavations and mining subsidence. These contributions illustrate how intelligent systems are optimizing both design and safety across a wide range of geotechnical scenarios. This volume is an essential resource for researchers, engineers, and graduate students seeking to leverage intelligent technologies for more efficient, accurate, and resilient geotechnical solutions. With its integration of theory, experimentation, and smart modeling, it offers a forward-looking perspective on the future of infrastructure in a rapidly evolving technological landscape
Animals and Landscapes
No full textThis volume explores various connections between animals and landscapes, challenging traditional anthropocentric framings and acknowledging the agency of other-than-human species in shaping human surroundings. A critical departure from traditional perspectives, Animals and Landscapes challenges the prevalent anthropocentric and ocularcentric approaches to the scenic landscape. Instead, the contributors adopt a multispecies lens, prioritising the more-than-human and illuminating the intricate relationships between bodies, actions, and place. The chapters navigate a range of environments, exploring visual and aesthetic experiences as well as the entanglements of place, action, bodies, and subjectivities. In doing so the authors discuss historical, geographical, social, economic, and cultural frameworks that shape landscapes, revealing the often-ignored agency of non-human species. Moving beyond human-centric framings of landscapes, it acknowledges the active role that other species play in shaping, using, and producing these environments. Central to this thematic exploration is the idea that animals have their own geographies and act as place-making agents. Underscoring the dynamic role animals play in shaping the spaces they inhabit, this volume encourages a re-evaluation of the narratives that have predominantly marginalised the role of animals in shaping our understanding of place. This interdisciplinary book will appeal to academics and students of sociology, visual culture, geography, and cultural studies, film, and media and television studies with interests in landscape studies and human-animal studies
Sustainable Digital Finance
No full textDigital innovation is significantly reshaping the financial services landscape, pioneering new avenues for sustainable access, distribution, and management of financial resources. A myriad of real-world applications, such as enabling digital supply chain finance across agricultural and fashion value chains, and leveraging digital currencies to fuel smart meters in schools in developing nations, are continually emerging. Moreover, the advent of digital investment marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms, token-based financing, new payment infrastructures, digital wallets for waste management, and blockchain-based autonomous decentralized organizations, among others, underline the expansive and inclusive capabilities of digital finance. The potential of digital innovation extends far beyond our current imaginings. In this vein, this book seeks to present visionary, yet practical, perspectives that employ innovative technologies to address overarching sustainability challenges. This is an open access book
Precision Medicine in Africa: Promises and Opportunities
No full textThe relevance of genomic medicine embodies using an individual's genomics and molecular genetic information to personalize treatment and predict drug response to ensure safer and more cost-effective therapies. An African framework for implementing genomic medicine was recently developed to highlight the elements required within the African context and provide some recommendations on how African countries can work on putting them in place by building on existing infrastructure. These measures would enable resource-limited countries to implement appropriate genomics-based health-related interventions, drawing on experiences from elsewhere but adapting to the African context where necessary. In developing the framework, the existing genomic medicine activities in Africa were investigated. This book aims to describe the current status of precision medicine and discuss the clinical studies related to precision medicine that have been conducted on African populations to improve healthcarein Africa. This book comprises three sections: infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, and bioinformatics tools and resources. Each section is covered in several chapters, each dealing with a specific disease or group of diseases together with the necessary formalism. Based on existing literature, the collection summarizes Africa's state of the art of genomics and precision medicine activities. The book is helpful for researchers, clinicians, and policymakers; the secondary audience is students, funders, and healthcare staff. This is an open access book
Anticolonialism, race and violence in Basque radical nationalism (1892-1936)
No full textAn Open Access edition of this book will be available on the Liverpool University Press website and the OAPEN library as part of the Opening the Future project with COPIM. This is the first in-depth study of the origins and development of anticolonial language and rhetoric within early Basque radical nationalism. The monograph traces the waxing and waning of anticolonial ideas during the first few decades of the Basque nationalist movement through a close examination of Basque periodicals. This close examination of Basque anticolonialism – which is studied in parallel to that of key moments of global anticolonialism – allows us to understand the Basque radical ideology better, including the strategic character of its recurrent anticolonial language. The monograph argues that despite the undeniable presence of anticolonial ideas within the movement, Basque anticolonialism was more strategic than heartfelt. This strategic use of anticolonial rhetoric explains why, from the start of the movement, Basque nationalists mixed anticolonial rhetoric with imperialist, racist and sometimes Orientalist discourses. By unpacking the set of complex and often contradictory ideas that existed in the Basque anticolonial corpus, this book offers a first glimpse into the complexities of European anticolonialism. The monograph also explores how Basque radicals began to consider different strategies used in colonial settings, including violence, when forcing analogies between the Basques and other colonised nations. (Anti)colonialism, violence and race are the main themes of this book
Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas and Beyond
No full textThis is the first book-length analysis of Quentin Skinner’s seminal essay ‘Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas’. Skinner’s essay is one of the most influential historical articles ever published, written by one of the world’s most prominent scholars in intellectual history and a leading figure in the so-called ‘Cambridge School’ of the history of political thought. Skinner’s essay defended a strongly historical approach to interpreting historical texts: without an appropriately historical mentality and historical method, Skinner argued, the result is mythology, not history. Skinner’s contextualism has always been controversial, but many previous commentators have caricatured his position. The authors in this volume seek to be fair to Skinner, while disagreeing with him to greater or lesser extents. Chapters in this interdisciplinary collection cover many issues, including: the previously unknown first draft of Skinner’s essay; Skinner’s theoretical and philosophical foundations; how well his ideas stand up in Islamic, ancient Greek, and Indian contexts; ideology, rhetoric and language; and what Skinner’s historical method could look like in the age of digital humanities and computational text analysis. The book concludes with Skinner’s response to his commentators and critics
