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      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2022

        In defence of councillors

        by Colin Copus

        In defence of councillors is an unashamed defence of local representative democracy and of those elected to serve as councillors from the often ill-informed, ill-judged and inaccurate criticism made by the media, government and public, of councillors' personal, political and professional roles. By using qualitative research from a number of related projects, the book examines the roles, functions and responsibilities of councillors and the expectations placed upon them by citizens, communities and government. It also examines the impact council membership has on other facets of the councillor's life. The book examines how councillors develop strategies to overcome the constraints and restrictions on their office so as to be able to govern their communities, balance their political and public life and democratise and hold to account a vast array of unelected bodies that spend public money and develop public policy without the electoral mandate and legitimacy held by our councillors.

      • Trusted Partner
        Technology, Engineering & Agriculture
        November 2017

        Automation in Tree Fruit Production

        Principles and Practice

        by Qin Zhang

        Automation in agriculture is made possible by the integration of advanced agricultural technology and precision agriculture management. This book, uniquely, will focus on applications of automation to the important industry of tree fruit production. Written by experts in agricultural automation technology from around the world, chapters in this book cover topics such as automated tree fruit production systems, plant stress sensing and high-throughput phenotyping in precision horticulture, the economics of automation in tree fruit production, light interception sensing systems for canopy management, precision irrigation and water management, precision technologies for pest and disease management, opportunities for the application of robotics in tree fruit production, and the mechanical harvesting and handling of fruit crops. The book is a representative, concise overview of the variety of technologies currently being applied to tree fruit crops around the world and the challenges faced by engineers and farmers that these technologies raise. It is aimed at researchers and graduate students of agriculture systems, agricultural and biological engineering, crop and soil sciences, horticulture, precision agriculture, and other relevant disciplines. It will also be of use to agriculture consultants, engineers, and other professionals such as agricultural equipment manufacturers and management professionals who use precision agriculture technologies. Key Features: - Takes a systematic approach to how to apply precision and automation technologies to fruit production. - Combines the disciplines of economics, horticulture, and engineering. - Illustrated by case studies throughout describing actual applications of automation technology.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2015

        In defence of councillors

        by Colin Copus

        In defence of councillors is an unashamed defence of local representative democracy and of those elected to serve as councillors from the often ill-informed, ill-judged and inaccurate criticism made by the media, government and public, of councillors' personal, political and professional roles. By using qualitative research from a number of related projects, the book examines the roles, functions and responsibilities of councillors and the expectations placed upon them by citizens, communities and government. It also examines the impact council membership has on other facets of the councillor's life. The book examines how councillors develop strategies to overcome the constraints and restrictions on their office so as to be able to govern their communities, balance their political and public life and democratise and hold to account a vast array of unelected bodies that spend public money and develop public policy without the electoral mandate and legitimacy held by our councillors. ;

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2016

        Irish adventures in nation-building

        by Bryan Fanning

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2020

        Defense of the West

        by Stanley R. Sloan, Lawrence Freedman

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2023

        A defence of witchcraft belief

        by Eric Pudney

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2017

        Ephemeral vistas

        by Paul Greenhalgh

        The international exhibitions held around the world between 1851 and 1939 were spectacular gestures, which briefly held the attention of the world before disappearing into an abrupt oblivion, of the victims of their planned temporality. Known in Britain as Great Exhibitions, in France as Expositions Universelles and in America as World's Fairs, the genre became a self-perpetuating phenomenon, the extraordinary cultural spawn of industry and empire. Thoroughly in the spirit of the first industrial age, the exhibitions illustrated the relation between money and power, and revelled in the belief that the uncontrolled expression of that power was the quintessence of freedom. Philanthropy found its place on exhibition sites functioning as a conscience to the age although even here morality was inextricably linked to economic efficiency and expansion. Imperial achievement was celebrated to the full at international exhibitions. Nevertheless, most World's Fairs maintained an imperial element and out of this blossomed a vibrant racism. Between 1889 and 1914, the exhibitions became a human showcase, when people from all over the world were brought to sites in order to be seen by others for their gratification and education. In essence, the English national profile fabricated in the closing decades of the nineteenth century was derived from the pre-industrial world. The Fine Arts were an important ingredient in any international exhibition of calibre. This book incorporates comparative work on European and American empire-building, with the chronological focus primarily on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when these cultural exchanges were most powerfully at work.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        September 2008

        National Missile Defence and the politics of US identity

        A poststructural critique

        by Natalie Bormann

        Why adopt a poststructural lens for the reading of the military strategy of national missile defence (NMD)? No doubt, when contemplating an attack on US territory by intercontinental ballistic missiles, consulting Michel Foucault and critical international relations theory scholars may not seem the obvious route to take. The answer to this lies in another question: why has there been so much interest and continuous investment in NMD deployment when there is such ambiguity surrounding the status of threat to which it responds, controversy over its technological feasibility and concern about its cost? Posed in this manner, the question cannot be answered on its own terms - the terms given in official accounts of NMD that justify the system's significance on the basis of strategic feasibility studies and conventional threat predictions guided by worst-case scenarios. Instead, this book argues that the preferences leading to NMD deployment must be understood as satisfying requirements beyond strategic approaches and issues. In turning towards the interpretative modes of inquiry provided by critical social theory and poststructuralism, this book contests the conventional wisdom about NMD and suggests reading the strategy in terms of US identity. Presented as an analysis of discourses on threats to national security, around which the need for NMD deployment is predominantly framed, this book is an effort to let the two fields of critical international relations theory and US foreign policy speak directly to each other. It seeks to do so by showing how the concept of identity can be harnessed to an analysis of a contemporary military-strategic practice. ;

      • Trusted Partner

        Does Movement Really Make Us Smart?

        by Petra Jansen, Stefanie Richter

        Media reports often praise movement as a cure-all. But apart from its undisputed positive effect on health, does movement really make us smarter? Consider a national football team, for example – are these excessively sports-driven players automatically the smartest people? Should we simply replace all school subjects with sports? The authors provide a detailed summary of the latest scientific findings on the influence of movement on cognitive ability. They describe the effects of movement, on old age, embodiment, emotion, school as well as other factors that influence cognition. Target Group: teachers, lecturers, psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, psychotherapists, movement therapists.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        September 2021

        Enjoying the Moment

        by Changsha Bank Corporate Culture Construction Committee

        This is a collection of works on the theme of corporate culture. There are four chapters in the book: "Enjoy•Value", "Enjoy•Ecology", "Enjoy•Life", "Enjoy•Culture". The first chapter elaborates the development of Changsha Bank into a big, party building as the soul, management as the foundation, service as the key, love as the beauty, and technology as the first from the three dimensions of management, products and the future. It records the birth and development of Changsha Bank’s products Growth, imaginative business planning, etc.; Chapter 2 shows the steps of Changsha Bank to explore ecological banking, build a financial ecosystem, cross-border brand alliances, openness and win-win, compatibility and inclusiveness; Chapter 3 tells the story of employees' hard work, etc.; The fourth chapter presents the research results of the Changsha Bank’s Corporate Culture Construction Expert Advisory Committee.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        December 2010

        Beveridge and Voluntary Action in Britain and the Wider British World

        by Melanie Oppenheimer, Nicholas Deakin

        The relationship between the state and the voluntary sector has changed significantly since 1948 when Beveridge's major report, Voluntary Action, was first published. Sixty years later, a group of historians analyse and reassess the impact of Beveridge's ideas about voluntary action for social advance in this timely volume. Using examples from the UK, Australasia and Canada, this book clearly articulates the importance and significance of Beveridge's ideas on voluntary action within an international context. With the emphasis of governments on the importance of the voluntary or 'third sector' and the development of policies and practices to enhance social capital, build civil society and engage communities, this book will be invaluable for those interested in how the third sector has evolved over time. It will be of interest to historians, social policy researchers, political theorists, economists and educationalists. ;

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        March 2022

        The British left and the defence economy

        by Keith Mc Loughlin

      • Trusted Partner

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