Hotel de las Ideas
Hotel de las ideas is a cooperative, with 10 co-founders.
View Rights PortalDamián flees from two assassins who are chasing him on a lonely desert road. He manages to elude them but his car is running out of gas. In the distance he discovers a hotel that looks abandoned from the outside. He knocks on the door and is greeted by Mercedes, a beautiful blonde who invites him in. Inside the hotel is spectacular: every detail is taken care of to perfection, but there is something shady lurking within its walls and corridors. Damián thinks he hears voices calling his name, although he attributes them to stress and fatigue. Our anguished protagonist lives a terrifying experience when he tries to leave the next day and inexplicable things happen that prevent him from doing so. Suddenly, Damian will be trapped in this place that changes, that whispers, that makes us doubt if he is living a nightmare or if everything is a product of his hallucinations. A novel written to the rhythm of rock, with nods to horror classics and a twist that will take you to a place you may never be able, or want, to leave.
This book synthesises information on an important environmental problem - the invasion of natural ecosystems in Africa by alien Prosopis trees, and how they should be managed. It addresses how the problem came about, what we know about how it works, and how it can potentially be managed at different scales. The book has a focus on eastern Africa but includes studies from elsewhere. Prosopis trees were originally introduced to Africa as early as 1880 (in South Africa), and later to eastern Africa in 1917 (in Sudan). They are difficult to manage due to their ecological features, such as their ability to produce copious amounts of seed, and to compete successfully with native species for resources, but also because they have both beneficial uses and negative impacts, making them conflict species, where people disagree on goals for management and how they should be achieved. In eastern Africa, Prosopis juliflora invades rangeland, cropland, settlements and riparian ecosystems, causing negative impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services that rural communities depend on. This book considers the perceptions and conflicting interests of different stakeholder groups, and how engagement can be used to co-design management strategies and implement concrete control measures. The book is therefore not only of interest to those working with this invasive tree species, but also to persons involved in policy development and management of other invasive species, or in the wider field of sustainable environmental management.
Yang Peng's Award-winning Novels are a collection of the award-winning works of Yang Peng's many outstanding stories. Not only are the selected articles humorous, but also rich in imagination. They are also rich in profound educational philosophy that can enlighten the mind and help readers to reflect on themselves. Dr. Rome drove in the desert and stormed into a red abandoned hotel. He slept at the hotel and went up to the mirror to shave, only to find himself in the mirror turned into a seven-or-eight-year-old look. He was so scared! In panic, he broke into another room and found the room as strange as the previous one—the sun moved to the middle of the sky when it is night time! Since then, every time he enters a different room, something strange happens! Want to know what is going on? Welcome to the hotel where the time is time-dislocated!
Ireland and the Renaissance court is an interdisciplinary collection of essays exploring Irish and English courts, courtiers and politics in the early modern period, c. 1450-1650. Chapters are contributed by both established and emergent scholars working in the fields of history, literary studies, and philology. They focus on Gaelic cúirteanna, the indigenous centres of aristocratic life throughout the medieval period; on the regnal court of the emergent British empire based in London at Whitehall; and on Irish participation in the wider world of European elite life and letters. Collectively, they expand the chronological limits of 'early modern' Ireland to include the fifteenth century and recreate its multi-lingual character through exploration of its English, Irish and Latin archives. This volume is an innovative effort at moving beyond binary approaches to English-Irish history by demonstrating points of contact as well as contention.
This volume is the first ever attempt to unite and translate some of the key texts which informed Johan Huizinga's famous study of the Burgundian court, The Waning of the Middle Ages, a work which has never gone out of print. It combines these texts with sources that Huizinga did not consider, those that illuminate the wider civic world that the Burgundian court inhabited and the dynamic interaction between court and city. Through these sources, and an introduction offering new perspectives on recent historiography, the book tests whether Huizinga's controversial vision of the period still stands. Covering subjects including ceremonial events, such as the spectacles and gargantuan banquets that made the Burgundian dukes the talk of Europe, the workings of the court, and jousting, archery and rhetoric competitions, the book will appeal to students of late medieval and early modern Europe and to those with wider interests in court culture, ritual and ceremony.
This book explores the relationship between technology and social transformation in tourism, hospitality and gastronomy. It presents research and case studies, elaborating on benchmark practices adopted by tourism and hospitality professionals. In recent years, technology has transformed the tourism and hospitality industry; the chapters in this book cover areas such as guest experience and service quality, as well as operational areas such as housekeeping and waste management. Further social transformation in tourism is a result of drivers such as a growing interest in gastronomy and the use of social media; this is covered in the first part of the book. The second part outlines how communities may learn from these events. With contributions from academics, entrepreneurs, destination managers and government officials from the South Asia region, this book offers a real insight in to these areas of growing interest and provide a useful resource for those researching and studying within the areas of tourism development and hospitality.
The management and control of pests in the urban environment in the 21st Century faces many challenges. Pest populations adapt to changing conditions brought about by environmental changes caused by global warming, human population growth, and increased pollution. Urban pests are able to expand their ranges, densities, and habitats, sometimes causing large-scale damage and disease. This book provides collective insights from academic and industry experts on perspectives concerning urban pest management and regulatory innovations arising from the rapid onset of recent environmental challenges. Chapter topics address pest biology, advances in urban pest management practices, emerging urban pest control developments, new technologies, and regulations. The book describes new methods of pest control, their impacts on human health and the environment, and strategies for integrated management limiting the use of chemicals. It provides a practical resource for researchers and policy makers in pest management, urban health, medical entomology and environmental science. · An up-to-date and comprehensive resource on environmental urban pest management · Designed to appeal to pest control operators, public health professionals, and a range of field workers, as well as researching academics and graduate students · Brings both academic and industry experts together in one volume
This book introduces the reader to sustainable events management theory, based on academic research and illustrated with empirical case studies. The book provides a comprehensive view of the concepts of sustainable management and how it relates to the many sectors within the events industry. It emphasizes the fundamental importance of local communities, businesses and stakeholders to events organisation in regional, national and international locations. It brings into focus the international governing bodies, and national government strategic objectives as the corner stone for sustainable development in the events sector. The relationship between these strategic objectives and on-the-ground operational responsibilities are presented using research by contributing authors and accredited organisations to add scope and depth. Best-practice case studies are used throughout the book to highlight and explain particular sustainable management issues. The scope of the book is international and designed to educate undergraduate and postgraduate students and to support practitioners in their operational and administrative duties within their industry sectors.
This book is about managerial ability and how it might be assessed and improved, and it focuses on rural Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Traditionally, business studies have seldom covered the manager as a person and a decision maker in any great depth. Personnel management, production economics, financing, operations analysis techniques, etc. tend to be emphasized but the personal attributes of the decision makers have as much influence on success as the rules of good decision making. This book aims to correct this imbalance. The human characteristics of managers that define how a manager operates are explored, as are their impact on managerial ability. The details of the competencies a manager must possess are also presented and discussed as well as potential detracting biases. The book concludes with methods and techniques covering personal characteristic changes and associated managerial improvement. The concepts and conclusions of this book are all based on a body of research, excerpts of which are quoted in the text, drawn from the rich sources available in the international literature. Case studies describing successful managers and management advisors are used throughout. · First book which specifically focuses on human factors and decision making for SME managers. · Introduces new research specifically on the quantification of intuition, the primary decision making method used in SMEs. · Contains essential material required by researchers of decision making processes, business studies teachers, and extension workers from the world of SME business.
What's going on in London? A mass breakout of prisoners, an attack on a hotel and a bank robbery - all that happens within a short while. Sherlock Holmes draws a rapid deduction: This cannot be an accident. He already has a theory what and most of all who is behind it. Remains to find out how his arch enemy managed to do that. But Sherlock is on his tracks because the thieves and their leader have left their fingerprints ...
Phytosanitary risk management is essential to the global economy as well as the world's ability to feed itself. This book is about understanding the fundamentals of phytosanitary risk management for trade and non-trade issues, and how to manage those risks in an effective and efficient manner that is consistent with the international regulatory framework. Its purpose is to provide the international phytosanitary community and its principal stakeholders with a strong foundation in risk management concepts and a thorough guide to best practices. Starting with the conceptual background necessary for understanding risk management, this book then covers a risk management model with a detailed description of the structure and processes necessary for best practice risk management in the global economy. This is followed by an in-depth look at the continuum of phytosanitary measures with a laser-like focus on key risk management issues, and the book concludes with a final section devoted to an examination of the most compelling risk management issues of the day. This book is: - A comprehensive exposition of phytosanitary risk management. - Valuable both to the experienced risk manager and to those getting started in the field. - Written by a team of experts with extensive professional phytosanitary work experience and knowledge of plant health. Written for professionals, practitioners and policy makers who work in the international trade of plants and plant products and allied fields, this book provides the global phytosanitary community and its principal stakeholders with a practical guide to best risk management practices.
This book presents a global overview of the background to, and the current state of, crop protection and pest management in cotton crops. Cotton is one of the most economically important crops in the world and has been grown for centuries but maintaining high yields of good quality requires sophisticated approaches to pest management. The introduction and use of pesticides over the decades significantly increased cotton yields but lead to many adverse environmental impacts. Over time, new and alternative insecticides were developed but overuse has enabled pests to develop significant resistance. The development of genetically modified cotton varieties with toxins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis enabled much improved control of lepidopteran larvae, including bollworms, but as the toxins had no effect on sucking pests, farmers had no choice but to continue using insecticides. Also, some of the new cotton varieties developed in recent times have not adapted to different climatic conditions and the quality of cotton fibre declined as a result. This book shows the need for more research to select cotton varieties with high quality fibres suitable for different cotton growing areas and to develop integrated pest management strategies to minimise the use of pesticides. It also demonstrates the need for an inter-disciplinary approach bringing together plant breeders, entomologists, plant pathologists, agronomists and agricultural engineers to achieve high yields of high quality cotton. In the future, farmers will need to adopt new technology to determine when and how pesticides are used in conjunction with cultural and biological control strategies. · Emphasises the importance of research on growing cotton in a world experiencing climate change · Demonstrates how crucial crop protection is in achieving high yields of high quality cotton · Shows how new technology will bring major changes in how cotton is grown in the future
The Asia-Pacific area is notable as one of the fastest growing tourism regions and not surprisingly, tourism in this region has become the major driver of global tourism in general. Nonetheless, tourism industries in Asia Pacific has been challenged in recent years by a number of major crises and disasters including terrorism, outbreaks (e.g. SARS and Bird Flu), natural disasters (e.g. tsunamis, bushfires, flooding), and political crisis (e.g. protests and political instability).The aim of this book is to contribute to the understanding of crisis and disaster management generally, but with a specific focus on the Asia Pacific. With chapters contributed by international scholars and practitioners, this book discusses both the theoretical and practical approaches toward successful crisis and disaster management.
For 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.
For the uninitiated, the Irish District Court is a place of incomprehensible, organised chaos. This comprehensive account of the court's criminal proceedings, based on an original study which involved observing hundreds of cases, aims to demystify the mayhem and provide the reader with descriptions of language, participant discourse and procedure in the typical criminal case. In addition, the book captures a recent and important change in the District Court: the advent of the immigrant or the Limited-English-proficient (LEP) defendant. It traces the rise of these defendants and explores the issues involved in ensuring access to justice across languages. It also provides an original description of LEP defendants and interpreters in District Court proceedings, ultimately considering how they have altered the institution and how the characteristics of the District Court affect how limited English proficient defendants access justice at this level of the Irish courts system.
Since 1945 British governments have played an active role in managing the economy in the interests of securing high employment, economic growth and low inflation with their approach evolving in response to changing economic circumstances, intellectual shifts and past policy failures. This book provides an overview of economic management, particularly financial management, and addresses how it has changed and why it has not always been successful. It examines the actual policies that were introduced, the problems that various governments faced in implementing them and how the approach to policy-making changed. It also examines the main phases of economic policy-making and the conduct of policy-making, as there is a widespread consensus that until recently short-run economic management could have been more successful than it was. Clearly and authoritatively written, it will be of particular benefit to students of economics, politics and contemporary history, although it will appeal to anyone with an interest in economic affairs. ;
A major challenge for agriculture and future crop production is the deterioration in soil health and fertility. We have large areas of barren land across the globe with degraded soil which can only be made fertile by applying proper nutrition and soil health management practices. It is crucial to protect soil health in order to feed the world's ever-growing population. Healthy soil is a dynamic ecosystem containing microbes that aid in the breakdown of organic materials and minerals, increasing the availability of plant nutrients (nutrient recycling) and enhancing soil quality and crop output. Healthy soil also helps mitigate the impact of climate change by maintaining nutrients and sequestering atmospheric carbon. This book summarizes the numerous components of soil health management including cutting-edge technologies such as genome editing and rhizospheric engineering, together with conventional techniques for preserving soil nutrients.
This book provides a series of exercises of various types covering matters of hydrology and watershed management. The exercises include true/false questions, multiple choice questions, and numeric, graphical, and analytical exercises. The questions draw on the basic disciplines of hydrology and physics, with some stress placed on correct or appropriate units. The questions reflect the authors' many years of teaching watershed management at undergraduate and graduate levels. Questions cover: 1. Terminology and measurement of flow (and units) 2. Quantifying stream networks 3. Concepts of water balance and evapotranspiration 4. Slope recharge, groundwater hydrology, and water-table/phreatic aquifers 5. Single and paired watershed experiments 6. Impacts of fires on watersheds 7. Concepts and measurements of water quality 8. Flooding forests 9. Valuation of water 10. Protection of forest stream by buffers 11. Urban watershed concepts The book is self-contained, and designed to be used at any time in any place, either for revision or as source material for teaching. The work is graded so that easier questions are presented early, followed by harder questions. Answers are concise but contain enough information to help students study and revise on a topic-by-topic basis. The book concludes with suggestions for student exercises and projects and is an invaluable resource for both students and instructors.
The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus, is the most destructive and invasive termite species globally. It is also the only termite species listed in the world's 100 worst invasive alien species of the Global Invasive Species Database. Annually, its infestation costs more than $4 billion in control and damage repairs in the USA alone. This book is the first comprehensive resource drawing on all the literature on C. formosanus since Tokuichi Shiraki first described the species in 1909. The book covers the worldwide distribution of this species, its biogeography, and how it has dispersed from its native range in southern China and Taiwan to different parts of the world. It describes its present taxonomic status and discusses the species' biology, ecology, foraging behavior, physiology, chemical ecology and its association with symbionts. From a practical standpoint, the authors address all of the various management options for this species, such as baits, soil termiticides, wood preservatives, inspection and detection technologies, and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approaches. Lastly, there are chapters dedicated to another important destructive species, Coptotermes gestroi (the Asian subterranean termite), and the recently discovered C. formosanus/C. gestroi hybrids. This important book is an essential and valuable reference for researchers, graduate students, pest management professionals, chemical manufacturer personnel, building and property managers, and others. It provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of the biology and management of the Formosan subterranean termite and the Asian subterranean termite.