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This book traces the origins and evolution of cybersemiotics, beginning with the integration of semiotics into the theoretical framework of cybernetics and information theory. The book opens with chapters that situate the roots of cybersemiotics in Peircean semiotics, describe the advent of the Information Age and cybernetics, and lay out the proposition that notions of system, communication, self-reference, information, meaning, form, autopoiesis, and self-control are of equal topical interest to semiotics and systems theory. Subsequent chapters introduce a cybersemiotic viewpoint on the capacity of arts and other practices for knowing. This suggests pathways for developing Practice as Research and practice-led research, and prompts the reader to view this new configuration in cybersemiotic terms. Other contributors discuss cultural and perceptual shifts that lead to interaction with hybrid environments such as Alexa. The relationship of storytelling and cybersemiotics is covered at chapter length, and another chapter describes an individual-collectivity dialectics, in which the latter (Commind) constrains the former (interactants), but the former fuels the latter.The concluding chapter begins with the observation that digital technologies have infiltrated every corner of the metropolis - homes, workplaces, and places of leisure - to the extent that cities and bodies have transformed into interconnected interfaces. The book challenges the reader to participate in a broader discussion of the potential, limitations, alternatives, and criticisms of cybersemiotics.

This edited volume aims to better understand the multifaceted phenomenon we call health.Going beyond simple views of health as the absence of disease or as complete well-being, this book unites scientists and philosophers. The contributions clarify the links between health and adaptation, robustness, resilience, or dynamic homeostasis, and discuss how to achieve health and healthy aging through practices such as hormesis. The book is divided into three parts and a conclusion: the first part explains health from within specific disciplines, the second part explores health from the perspective of a bodily part, system, function, or even the environment in which organisms live, and the final part looks at more clinical or practical perspectives. It thereby gathers, across 30 chapters, diverse perspectives from the broad fields of evolutionary and systems biology, immunology, and biogerontology, more specific areas such as odontology, cardiology, neurology, andpublic health, as well as philosophical reflections on mental health, sexuality, authenticity and medical theories.The overarching aim is to inform, inspire and encourage intellectuals from various disciplines to assess whether explanations in these disparate fields and across biological levels can be sufficiently systematized and unified to clarify the complexity of health. It will be particularly useful for medical graduates, philosophy graduates and research professionals in the life sciences and general medicine, as well as for upper-level graduate philosophy of science students.

This book provides a platform for international scholars to share evidence for effective practices in integrated STEM education and contributes to the theoretical and practical knowledge gained from the diversity of approaches.Many publications on STEM education focus on one or two of the separate STEM disciplines without considering the potential for delivering STEM curriculum as an integrated approach.This publication analyzes the efficacy of an integrated STEM curriculum and instruction, providing evidence to examine and support various integrations. The volume focuses on the problems seen by academics working in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and provides valuable, high quality research outcomes and a set of valued practices which have demonstrated their use and viability to improve the quality of integrated STEM education.

This book highlights some of the latest advances in nanotechnology and nanomaterials from leading researchers in Ukraine, Europe and beyond. It features contributions presented at the 7th International Science and Practice Conference Nanotechnology and Nanomaterials (NANO2019), which was held on August 27¿30, 2019 at Lviv Polytechnic National University, and was jointly organized by the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, University of Tartu (Estonia), University of Turin (Italy), and Pierre and Marie Curie University (France). Internationally recognized experts from a wide range of universities and research institutions share their knowledge and key findings on material properties, behavior, and synthesis. This book¿s companion volume also addresses topics such as nano-optics, energy storage, and biomedical applications.

This open access book focuses on the discrepancies in biobank research regulations that are among the most significant hurdles to effective research collaboration. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has established stringent requirements for the processing of health and genetic data, while simultaneously allowing considerable multi-level exceptions for the purposes of scientific research. In addition to directly applicable exceptions, the GDPR places the regulatory responsibility for further defining how the Member States strike a balance between the individuals' rights and the public interest in research within their national legal orders. Since Member States' approaches to the trade-off between data subjects' rights on the one hand, and appropriate safeguards on the other, differ according to their ethical and legal traditions, their data protection requirements for research also differ considerably. This study takes a comprehensive approach to determine how the GDPR affects regulatory regimes on the use of personal data in biobanking research, with a particular focus on the balance between individuals' rights, public interest and scientific research. In this regard, it has two main goals: first, to scrutinize the GDPR research regime, its objective and constitutive elements, the impact it has on biobanking, and its role in a changing EU landscape post-Brexit; and second, to examine how various exceptions have been operationalized nationally, and what challenges and opportunities this diversification entails. The book not only captures the complexity GDPR creates for biobanking, but also sheds light on various approaches to tackling the corresponding challenges. It offers the first comprehensive analysis of GDPR for biobanking, and the most up-to-date overview of the national biobank regulatory frameworks in Europe.

Recent developments in the field of nutrition have led to increased interest in herbs and medicinal plants as phytochemical-rich sources for functional food, nutraceuticals, and drugs. As research sheds light on the therapeutic potential of various bioactive phytochemicals, the demand for plant extracts and oils has increased.Black cumin or black seeds (Nigella sativa) have particularly widespread nutritional and medicinal applications. In traditional medicine, black seeds are used to manage fatigue and chronic headache. Black seed oil is used as an antiseptic and analgesic remedy and for treatment of joint's pain and stiffness and can be mixed with sesame oil to treat dermatosis, abdominal disorders, cough, headache, fever, liver ailments, jaundice, sore eyes, and hemorrhoids. Thymoquinone, the main constituent in black seed volatile oil, has been shown to suppress carcinogenesis.Black cumin (Nigella sativa) seeds: Chemistry, Technology, Functionality, and Applications presents in detail the chemical composition, therapeutic properties, and functionality of high-value oils, phytochemicals, nutrients, and volatiles of the Nigella sativa seed. Organized by formulation (seeds, fixed oil, essential oil, and extracts), chapters break this seed down into its chemical constituents and explore their role in the development of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, novel food, natural drugs, and feed. Following numerous reports on the health-promoting activities of Nigella sativa, this is the first comprehensive presentation of the functional, nutritional, and pharmacological traits of Nigella sativa seeds and seed oil constituents.

This edited book presents scientific and practical recommendations for the successful state and corporate management of regional development under the conditions of the digital economy. These conditions have produced a number of changes. On the one hand, new aspects of regional economies, which require management, are emerging, above all, digital technologies that have to be understood by the population, employees in the labor market, and regional companies. On the other hand, new opportunities for improving practices in the state and corporate management of regional development on the basis of digital technologies are also emerging: e-government systems, digital marketing, online trade, ¿smart¿ regions, etc. This book provides an overview of the leading digital technologies and demonstrates how they can be used to improve modern practices in the state and corporate management of regional development in the digital economy. The authors develop the conceptual foundations and put forwardpractical recommendations. In closing, the authors¿ conclusions and recommendations are applied to the example of modern Russia, ensuring the practical relevance of the research.

This book presents the work of the RILEM Technical Committee 259-ISR. Addressing two complementary but fundamental issues: the kinetics of the reaction, and how this will affect the integrity of the structure (serviceability and strength), it also provides methodology for assessing past deterioration to enable readers to make engineering/science-based predictions concerning future expansion. The book is divided into six major topics: selection and interpretation of optimal monitoring system for structures undergoing expansion to monitor the progress of the swelling evolution and its consequences; development/refinement of current laboratory procedures to determine the kinetics of the reaction i.e. expansion vs (future) time, and to determine the kinetic characteristics of the time-dependent reaction to be used in a finite element simulation; extrapolation of results from structural component laboratory testing; selection of material properties based on data from existing structuresaffected by the alkali silica reaction or delayed ettringite formation; identification of critical features that should be present in a finite element code, development of test problems for validation, and a survey of relevant programs able to conduct a transient structural analysis of a structure undergoing chemically induced expansion; and lastly guidelines for finite element codes. The book is intended for practitioners responsible for concrete structures affected by the damaging alkali aggregate reaction, engineers dealing with aging structures, and researchers in the field.

This book presents the very first, interdisciplinarily grounded, comprehensive appraisal of a future ¿Common European Law on Investment Screening¿. Thereby, it provides a foundation for a European administrative law framework for investment screening by setting out viable solutions and evaluating their pros and cons.Daimler, the harbour terminal in Zeebrugge, or Saxo Bank are only three recent examples of controversially discussed company takeovers in Europe. The ¿elephant in the room¿ is China and its ¿Belt and Road Initiative¿. The political will in Europe is growing to more actively control investments flowing into the EU. The current regulatory initiatives raise several fundamental, constitutional and regulatory issues. Surprisingly, they have not been addressed in any depth so far. The book takes stock of the current rather fragmented regulatory approaches and combines contributions from leading international academics, practitioners, and policy makers in their respective fields. Due to the volume¿s comprehensive approach, it is expected to influence the broader debate on the EU¿s upcoming regulation of this matter.The book is addressed to participants from academia as well as to representatives from government, business, and civil society.