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

        Border images, border narratives

        The political aesthetics of boundaries and crossings

        by Johan Schimanski, Jopi Nyman

        This interdisciplinary volume explores the role of images and narratives in different borderscapes. Written by experienced scholars in the field, Border images, border narratives provides fresh insight into how borders, borderscapes, and migration are imagined and narrated in public and private spheres. Offering new ways to approach the political aesthetics of the border and its ambiguities, this volume makes a valuable contribution to the methodological renewal of border studies and presents ways of discussing cultural representations of borders and related processes. Influenced by the thinking of philosopher Jacques Rancière, this timely volume argues that narrated and mediated images of borders and borderscapes are central to the political process, as they contribute to the public negotiation of borders and address issues such as the in/visiblity of migrants and the formation of alternative borderscapes. The contributions analyse narratives and images in literary texts, political and popular imagery, surveillance data, border art, and documentaries, as well as problems related to borderland identities, migration, and trauma. The case studies provide a highly comparative range of geographical contexts ranging from Northern Europe and Britain, via Mediterranean and Mexican-USA borderlands, to Chinese borderlands from the perspectives of critical theory, literary studies, social anthropology, media studies, and political geography.

      • Trusted Partner
        November 2021

        The Forest of the Future – A New Reality

        Understanding the ecosystem

        by Hans Jürgen Böhmer

        What happened with forest dieback? The predictions of the 1980s that forests would be in decline across Europe have not come true. Currently, attention again focuses on the doom scenarios of the loss of entire forests and cultural landscapes in an emotional and sometimes hysterical debate. Biogeographer Hans Jürgen Böhmer refers to updated case studies and his 30 years of research experience on global ecosystems to demonstrate extremely complex interrelations of the natural world that various actors monitor in contrasting ways and characterized by different times and ideologies. Böhmer advocates to embed the sustainability debate more strongly in the living environment, rather than relying exclusively on model calculations.

      • Trusted Partner
        Fiction
        2020

        A Laughing Sun

        by Bayan Al Safadi

        These poetic tales for children address things around us such as the wall, the stone, the ear, the river, and others, humanize them, and present them as free verse poetry. It also includes an audio CD containing song versions of the tales, all of which are loaded with pedagogical, aesthetic, and humanitarian messages. The importance of “A Laughing Sun” stems from its adoption of the poetic tale in most poems. It carries implications for reverence of science, arts, freedom, and human diversity, and highlights the beauty of nature and the protection of the environment. The poems are replete with a sense of cheerfulness and humor, and the collection focuses on the imagination and stimulates both scientific and creative thinking.

      • Trusted Partner
        Humanities & Social Sciences
        April 2021

        The Irish tower house

        Society, economy and environment, c. 1300–1650

        by Victoria L. McAlister

        The Irish tower house examines the social role of castles in late-medieval and early modern Ireland. It uses a multidisciplinary methodology to uncover the lived experience of this historic culture, demonstrating the interconnectedness of society, economics and the environment. Of particular interest is the revelation of how concerned pre-modern people were with participation in the economy and the exploitation of the natural environment for economic gain. Material culture can shed light on how individuals shaped spaces around themselves, and tower houses, thanks to their pervasiveness in medieval and modern landscapes, represent a unique resource. Castles are the definitive building of the European Middle Ages, meaning that this book will be of great interest to scholars of both history and archaeology.

      • Trusted Partner
        Sociology & anthropology
        February 2017

        Environment, labour and capitalism at sea

        'Working the ground' in Scotland

        by Penny McCall Howard. Series edited by Alexander Smith

        This book explores how fishers make the sea productive through their labour, using technologies ranging from wooden boats to digital GPS plotters to create familiar places in a seemingly hostile environment. It shows how their lives are affected by capitalist forces in the markets they sell to, forces that shape even the relations between fishers on the same boat. Fishers frequently have to make impossible choices between safe seamanship and staying afloat economically, and the book describes the human impact of the high rate of deaths in the fishing industry. The book makes a unique contribution to understanding human-environment relations, examining the places fishers create and name at sea, as well as technologies and navigation practices. It combines phenomenology and political economy to offer new approaches for analyses of human-environment relations and technologies. It contributes to the social studies of fisheries through an analysis of how deeply fishing practices and social relations are shaped by political economy. It will be read in universities by social scientists and anthropologists and also by those with an interest in maritime Scotland.

      • Trusted Partner
        Animal husbandry
        December 2006

        Inositol Phosphates: Linking Agriculture and the Environment

        by Edited by Benjamin L Turner, Alan E Richardson, Edward Mullaney

        Inositol phosphates are a group of organic compounds found widely in the natural environment. They are important in agriculture because they constitute most of the phosphorus in grain seeds, but they cannot be digested by some animals. As a result, considerable research has been directed towards improving the digestibility of inositol phosphates in animal diets. Inositol phosphates are also abundant in soils and water bodies, yet a clear understanding of their behaviour in the environment remains elusive. This is surprising given the importance of phosphorus in the nutrition of both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Written by leading experts, this book brings together critical reviews on inositol phosphates in agriculture, ecology, and the environment. The sixteen chapters cover a diverse range of topics, including the synthesis and hydrolysis of inositol phosphates, their role in animal nutrition, and their fate in soils and aquatic ecosystems. It will prove valuable to a wide readership in the agricultural and biological sciences, and will serve as a unique reference source on this emerging topic.

      • Trusted Partner
        Environmental factors
        April 2014

        Natural Environments and Human Health

        by Alan Ewert, Alan W Ewert, Denise Mitten, Jill Overholt, Jillisa Overholt

        The role natural environments play in human health and wellbeing is attracting increasing attention. There is growing medical evidence that access to the natural environment can prevent disease, aid recovery, tackle obesity and improve mental health. This book examines the history of natural environments being used for stress-reduction, enjoyment, aesthetics and catharsis, and traces the development of the connection between humans and the environment, and how they impact our personal and collective health.

      • Trusted Partner
        Medicine
        September 2019

        Natural Environments and Human Health

        by Alan Ewert, Denise Mitten, Jill Overholt

        The role natural environments play in human health and wellbeing is attracting increasing attention. There is growing medical evidence that access to the natural environment can prevent disease, aid recovery, tackle obesity and improve mental health. This book examines the history of natural environments being used for stress-reduction, enjoyment, aesthetics and catharsis, and traces the development of the connection between humans and the environment, and how they impact our personal and collective health.

      • Trusted Partner
        2018

        Campus Environment and Design

        by Xu Hao

        The Campus Environment and Design series consists of 8 volumes, which are elaborately created by national recognized preschool education experts and senior professionals. Each volume has a theme with more than 2,000 design schemes to teach children and teachers to handle the spaces of doors and windows from festival layout, four seasons layout, classroom layout, hanging ornament layout, window  decoration layout,class theme layout, layout of corners and walls. The works can be used as toy classrooms, and can also be used for campus environment layout, which are convenient and practical for teaching through enjoyable activities.

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        Forestry & silviculture: practice & techniques
        November 1995

        Forestry, Economics and the Environment

        by Edited by Wiktor L Adamowicz, P C Boxall, M K Luckert, William E Phillips, William White

        Global interest in forest conservation, biodiversity preservation, and non-timber values has risen while pressures on the forest as a source of income and employment have also increased. These demands are often conflicting, making forest planning, allocation and policy formation very complex. This volume explores theoretical and applied issues surrounding forest resource allocation. The book is divided into three main subject areas: tropical forests - environment, economics and trade; non-timber valuation - theory and application; and ecosystem management. The first of these focuses on tropical forests, reflecting the fact that global environmental concerns surrounding these regions are often in conflict with local economic objectives. The second section examines non-timber values, which are important in planning and policy decisions, but are also very controversial. The third group of chapters consider ecosystem management, a concept that promotes the use of forest harvesting practices that mimic natural disturbance patterns. Overall, the book will be of interest to readers in forestry and environmental economics.

      • Trusted Partner

        Celebration of Life: Secrets of Evolution

        by Miao Desui

        What is life? Different people have different views. In the book Celebration of Life: Secrets of Evolution, Professor Miao Desui presents to readers epic and magnificent scenes of life evolution using rigorous, lucid, and poetic language. The book contains topics and contents including the origin of life, biological inheritance and variation, evidence of biological evolution, adaptability to the environment of living things, and other hot spots like genes, bacteria, and viruses. It not only reveals the true connotation of life, but also could make people marvel at the magnificence of the world.

      • Trusted Partner
        Limnology (freshwater)
        December 2004

        Organic Phosphorus in the Environment

        by Edited by Benjamin L Turner, Emmanuel Frossard, Darren S Baldwin

        Organic phosphorus is involved in almost every biological process. Organic forms of phosphorus often dominate in soils and aquatic systems and many organisms possess complex mechanisms enabling them to access phosphorus from organic compounds. However organic phosphorus remains the most poorly understood aspect of the global phosphorus cycle. This book brings together the latest research and opinion on the biogeochemistry of organic phosphorus from a wide range of disciplines and focuses specifically on the characterisation and transformations of organic phosphorus in terrestrial and aquatic systems. It examines analytical procedures for the chemical characterization of organic phosphorus in environmental samples, processes regulating organic phosphorus in the environment, and integration of the process at the ecosystem level. Ecological, chemical, microbiological and analytical aspects are explored. Written by a team of leading experts, the book will provide an invaluable reference for all those interested in organic phosphorus.

      • Trusted Partner
        Agriculture & related industries
        May 1996

        European Environment and CAP Reform

        Policies and Prospects for Conservation

        by Edited by Martin Whitby

        As part of the reform of its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), in 1992 the European Community adopted a regulation of Accompanying Measures aimed at supporting farmers in conserving the European environment. This book explores the implementation of the Regulation throughout Europe and examines its genesis, delivery and prospects. Individual chapters explore the politics of the regulation and the ecological resources on which it has to work. Eight further chapters examine its implementation in individual member states, highlighting the remarkable diversity both of the ecosystems being conserved and the ways in which the regulation is being implemented. The volume concludes with two speculative chapters, one on the extent and measurement of potential economic benefits from these measures and another offering some broad conclusions on the potential impact of the regulation and its possible evolution. The volume is multidisciplinary, including political scientists, economists, sociologists, geographers and civil servants amongst its authors. The area covered by its country chapters amounts to more than eighty per cent of the European Union of fifteen states.

      • Trusted Partner
        Children's & YA

        The Nest of Magpies

        by Hai Fei

        This is a very realistic original picture book. The author turns his attention to the northwest of China, where strong winds and sands dominate the sky, and tells a touching story that depicts the scene that "when the sand advances, humans retreat; when humans advance, the sand retreats." The hero of the book is a boy called Shawa, who is good friends with the magpies on a white poplar. He has been curious about the magpies' nest and wanted to know what it looks like inside, but he has never had a chance. Finally, his curiosity is satisfied after the white poplar is destroyed by a sandstorm and then falls. Surprisingly, there is water, the source of life, inside the nest where magpies fly away and their eggs are broken. Nature gives Shawa a life lesson with its double face of tenderness and grimness.   The book, with its concise and powerful narrative and liberal painting style, integrates paintings with texts, in which the scenery of the northwest, the mighty power of nature, and the simplicity and warmth of personal relationships have all been vividly expressed. It makes readers consider the relationship between humanity and nature from a small but large perspective: humans are both small and great in a harsh natural environment. Only by respecting nature and learning to live in harmony with nature can we have a peaceful and happy life. This book is a beautiful hymn to nature and humanity.

      • Trusted Partner
      • Trusted Partner
        February 2021

        Layers

        by Poznanski, U.

        Can You Believe Your Eyes?   Dorian has been living on the streets since running away from home, and has always managed to fend for himself pretty well. But when he wakes up one morning beside a dead homeless man who has evidently been murdered, Dorian panics – he can’t remember anything of what happened the previous night. Is he responsible for the man’s murder? Then a stranger appears with an unexpected offer of help, and Dorian seizes the opportunity with both hands – this is his chance to hide from the police. The stranger works with young people in need, and he takes Dorian to a villa where he is given food, new clothes and even schooling.But Dorian soon learns that you get nothing for free in this life. In return for being looked after at the villa, Dorian is expected to distribute mysterious free gifts – gifts which are very carefully sealed. And when an unexpected turn of events results in him keeping one of the gifts, he finds himself being hunted by merciless pursuers.   After the international YA-bestseller Erebos, Saeculum and The Eleria-Trilogy Ursula Poznanski now presents her new thriller: Layers   Awarded with the Hans-Jörg-Martin Prize 2016 for the best YA-Thriller! More information also available under: www.layers-buch.de

      • Trusted Partner
        Crime & mystery
        2020

        Express to Galicia

        by Bohdan Kolomiychuk

        Anton Piller, a former university lecturer from Switzerland, arrives in Venice to sell a unique translated manuscript and earn a large sum of money. Shortly after, he is shot dead, and his body is carried away by the canals. In 1906, in Baden, Felix, a doctor’s assistant, bribed with a precious ring, passes a secret letter to a Russian patient, Orlov, who strangely disappears from the clinic. Commissioner Vistovych, a restrained and cold-blooded Galician investigator, is drawn into the whirlpool of dangerous events. It turns out that the information from this secret document can turn not only human lives but also world history upside down. This novel is a true detective thriller, captivating the reader from beginning to end.

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