Spatterlight
We manage rights for science-fiction and fantasy legend Jack Vane (1916 - 2013) and selected titles by Tanith Lee, Michael Shea, Matthew Hughes, and others.
View Rights PortalWe manage rights for science-fiction and fantasy legend Jack Vane (1916 - 2013) and selected titles by Tanith Lee, Michael Shea, Matthew Hughes, and others.
View Rights PortalSparsile Books is an independent publisher, based in Glasgow, specialising in high quality fiction and non-fiction. We see publishing as an art in itself, and work closely with our authors to ensure that the books we publish give readers a unique vision of the world. Since our beginning in 2018, we have been fortunate to discover some truly exceptional writers, and look forward to developing many more.
View Rights PortalFor large-scale agroecosystems, patterns of pest population increases (graded increases or abrupt outbreaks) and declines (graded suppression or abrupt crashes) vary considerably and are influenced by factors within crop fields and across broader landscape scales. Better understanding of pest population dynamics and the implications of spatial interactions on the function and development of pest management approaches are the main themes of this important book. The book builds from a 60+ year history of field-based pest management by focusing on the drivers of pest management in large-scale agroecosystems and the landscape-scale processes that affect these drivers and contribute to variation in pest outbreaks and suppression. These drivers include abiotic and biotic influences such as weather, spatial composition and arrangement of landscape elements, and widely applied managed inputs such as planting and crop rotation schedules, crop varietal selection, and land and soil conservation efforts. The book introduces general concepts, opportunities, and challenges of arthropod management in large-scale agroecosystems. Case studies from major field crop-based agroecosystems are used to present research approaches and improve understanding and management of pest and beneficial insects in large-scale agroecosystems. Specific research findings are provided on multi-trophic interactions within the system as influenced by climate, landscape, and other ecological, agricultural, and social/economic components of the agroecosystem. The book concludes with a synthesis of these concepts and prospectus for future research and developments in arthropod management in large-scale, plant-based agroecosystems. The book is essential reading for researchers in applied entomology and ecology and for pest management practitioners.
The use of geographical information systems (including remote sensing) and spatial analysis in public health is now widespread. Its importance and potential for the monitoring of animal diseases has never been greater with the recent outbreaks of BSE and Foot-and-Mouth Disease. GIS and Spatial Analysis in Veterinary Science is the first book to review how such practices can be applied to veterinary science. Topics covered include the application of GIS to epidemic disease response, to companion animal epidemiology and to the management of wildlife diseases. It also covers the parallels with human health and spatial statistics in the biomedical sciences.
Soil is a fundamental and critical, yet often overlooked, component of terrestrial ecosystems. It is an extremely complex environment, supporting levels of diversity far greater than any ecosystem above ground. Bringing together existing knowledge in the areas of soil biology and physics, this book explores the key characteristics of soil spatial architecture, including how it develops and the consequences this has for life underground. The effects of soil's physical and biological components on their interactions and functions are used to demonstrate their roles in ecosystem dynamics.
Conservatism, Christian Democracy, and the Dynamics of Transformation compares the centre-right political traditions of Britain, the Nordic countries, France, West Germany, and Austria and looks for evidence of political cooperation and influence across borders during the period 1945-90. The book explores howa variety of intellectuals, politicians, and political parties transformed their politics in response to major economic, social, and political challenges and seeks to explain why conservatives and Christian democrats came to feel that they belonged to a wider centre-right political family by the end of this period. It also examines why these political traditions found it difficult to cooperate with each other after the Second World War and why they decided to invest more political capital in inter-party relations and wider transnational projects from the 1960s. As the book shows, these developments resulted in two new centre-right internationals: the European Democrat Union and the International Democrat Union.
In many European countries, there has been a decline in the agricultural labour force, providing a major challenge for the rural economy and society. This book provides an analysis of rural employment dynamics in European Union (EU) member states.
This widely successful title supports the reader in working with groups through a variety of exercises and group-dynamic work models. People who work with groups and teams in a wide variety of fields such as health and education, human resources, and team building will find many exercises as well as models showing different phases and the development of group dynamics. The book’s 10 chapters cover many different aspects and stages of group processes such as the beginning of a seminar, training of observational skills, communicative competence and feedback, cooperation and competition, group decisions and group conflicts, and many more. Each chapter contains an introduction to the topic, eight main exercises (with many variants) and working papers. On the enclosed CD-ROM, numerous materials that can be used in performing the exercises are provided for printing. For:• psychologists• medical professionals• social scientists• social workers• coaches
Burkina Faso’s religious landscape, where traditional, Islamic and Christian religions intersect, is part of a social and historical context spread over several centuries marked by a diversity that has been studied by researchers for a long time. As the security situation deteriorates in recent years in the Sahel region, the religious question is increasingly being redefined and placed at the forefront of the Burkinabe socio-political scene. This collective work offers readers a synthesis of the knowledge accumulated by researchers over the past decades on the different religions and the social dynamics associated with them to shed light on the management of the country’s religious diversity and coexistence without masking the new tensions and conflicts being experienced. The first part of the book thoroughly explores the religious movements and currents present in the country to underline the centrality of religion in understanding social change in its polity. In the second part, the interactions between religions are analyzed across current transversal themes and questions, such as education, demography, politics, the role of faith-based NGOs, the historicity of the notion of jihad or the use of new information and communication technologies to show the connections within the construction of knowledge and political contexts. The contributions acutely show that recent socio-political dynamics in Burkina Faso are undoubtedly redefining religious boundaries and exposing the limitations of a historically and socially rooted contexts of diversity, yet the question remains on how to draw on this diversity and religious coexistence to confront new emerging tensions and conflicts.
This engaging book serves as a comprehensive guide to chess, featuring 10 interactive spreads. It delves into over 100 topics on chess history, culture, etiquette, rules, basic techniques, and stories. Presented through dynamic formats such as pop-ups and pull-tabs, the book is designed to captivate young readers. These interactive elements aim to enhance key skills, including concentration, observation, logical thinking, spatial reasoning, expression, and computational abilities. Most importantly, they create a relaxed learning environment where children can easily grasp chess fundamentals. Additionally, supportive chess video animations and audio stories are available to enrich the learning experience.
The development of computer simulation models is an important growth area in both pure and applied ecology. The opportunity that mathematical models provide to integrate the components of an ecosystem, results in the ability to make quantitative predictions about the future behaviour of that system, or of elements within it. This means that they are powerful tools with wide applications and enormous potential for increasing our understanding of natural systems and our ability to use them in a sustainable way. This book is, almost uniquely, a complete account of one such model, the Hurley Pasture Model, a dynamic, deterministic, mechanistic simulation model for grassland, which has been developed by the author over some twenty years, in collaboration with scientists at several centres. Firstly, the rationale and theoretical elements of this type of model are described. An overview of the Hurley grassland simulator and the derivation and construction of its plant, animal, soil and litter, water, and environment and management components is then given. Next, the model is evaluated by a series of long and short-term dynamic simulations and steady state responses, which demonstrate how predictions can be made about the effects of, for example, climate change or particular regimes of fertilizer application, grazing or cutting. This book will be of great value to grassland agronomists and modellers, crop physiologists and plant ecologists, and to students of ecology as a case study of a plant ecosystem model. It will also be of interest to other ecologists and environmentalists and those in the field of computer modelling and its applications.
The 3rd edition of this popular textbook introduces the reader to the investigation of vegetation systems with an emphasis on data analysis. The book succinctly illustrates the various paths leading to high quality data suitable for pattern recognition, pattern testing, static and dynamic modelling and model testing including spatial and temporal aspects of ecosystems. Step-by-step introductions using small examples lead to more demanding approaches illustrated by real world examples aimed at explaining interpretations. All data sets and examples described in the book are available online and are written using the freely available statistical package R. This book will be of particular value to beginning graduate students and postdoctoral researchers of vegetation ecology, ecological data analysis, and ecological modelling, and experienced researchers needing a guide to new methods. A completely revised and updated edition of this popular introduction to data analysis in vegetation ecology. Includes practical step-by-step examples using the freely available statistical package R. Complex concepts and operations are explained using clear illustrations and case studies relating to real world phenomena. Emphasizes method selection rather than just giving a set of recipes.
YU Hua's beautiful, heartbreaking novel Cries in the Drizzle follows a young Chinese boy throughout his childhood and adolescence during the reign of Chairman Mao. The middle son of three, SUN Guanglin is constantly neglected by his parents and his younger and older brother. Sent away at age six to live with another family, he returns to his parents' house six years later on the same night that their home burns to the ground, making him even more a black sheep. Yet SUN Guanglin's status as an outcast, both at home and in his village, places him in a unique position to observe the changing nature of Chinese society, as social dynamics, and his very own family, are changed forever under Communist rule.
The 'overtourism' phenomenon is defined as the excessive growth of visitors leading to overcrowding and the consequencial suffering of residents, due to temporary and often seasonal tourism peaks, that lead to permanent changes in lifestyles, amenities and well-being. Enormous tensions in overtourism affected destinations have driven the intensification of policy making and scholarly attention toward seeking antidotes to an issue that is considered paradoxical and problematic. Moving beyond the 'top 10 things you can do about overtourism', this book examines the evolution of the phenomenon and explores the genesis of overtourism as well as the system dynamics underpinning it. With a rigorous scientific approach the book uses systems-thinking and contemporary paradigms around sustainable development, resilience planning and degrowth; while considering global economic, socio-political, environmental
What does it mean to be called an industrial designer? This book traces the remarkable rise of this professional identity in historical perspective from a position of anonymity in the early twentieth century, to mid-century professionalisation, to decline and disintegration by 1980. Drawing on new, extensive, original archival research, it uncovers the history of a profession in a state of re-invention, 1930-1980 in Britain and the United States. The book tests assumptions about the relationship between the professions in the two countries, bringing them into comparative historical perspective for the first time. The gendered dynamics of professionalisation and their interaction with the representation of the heroic male designer are interrogated and critically examined. Building on new gender perspectives to the history of the industrial design profession, the book calls for a re-examination of the limits and boundaries of what constitutes professional identity and work.
The book is a collection of essays about the transformation of America, which has turned from a united nation to one more divided than ever. Some pundits predict that, if things don’t change, another civil war could occur. Have we reached a point of no return? Hopefully, America is mature enough to learn from its mistakes and avoid further scars along its evolving history. "Trumplandia is a welcome addition toward understanding current events, Washington’s international policy, and the present American society; a society polarized and divided as it has not been since the Civil War.” NICHOLAS DIMA, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor and Research Associate, Nelson Institute, James Madison University, Virginia. "The book is fascinating. It provides background to, and insights into [the] current and past political history as well as offering a personal view... of the country and society. Presented in thematic form in chapters and sections, the insights offered provide a suggestive radiography...” Dr. DENNIS DELETANT, OBE, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC. "There has been this backsliding in... what a truly functioning rule-of-law state is, that has proper separation of co-equal powers, which, if you don’t keep working on that, you backslide. And I am even worried about that here, in the United States right now, about backsliding.” OBIE MOORE, Esq., OLM Advisors LLC, Washington DC “Indeed, Trumplandia should be a welcome addition to any scholar, student or layman’s library, especially in its international edition. If anyone loses sleep over its challenging assertions, then it will have been well worth it.” ERNESTO MORALES HIZON, Ph.D. Candidate in American and Comparative Politics at Claremont Graduate University, Member, Integrated Bar of the Philippines ABOUT THE AUTHOR: TIBERIU DIANU has practiced law in Romania (as a corporate lawyer, judge, senior counselor at the Ministry of Justice, university professor and senior legal researcher), and in the United States (as a legal expert for the judiciary). He published several books and a host of articles in law, politics, and post-communist societies. Tiberiu currently lives and works in Washington, DC.
Examining the relationship between sustainability and farmland management in diffeing tempoarla spatial and production contexts - this book considers famrland multifuctionality, systems and sytemic thinking, the debates over information, knowledge and ethical aspects.