Explore the vast range of titles available.

No detailed description available for \"Lexical Innovation in Dasypodius' Dictionary\".

Numerous studies show that increasing species richness leads to higher ecosystem productivity. This effect is often attributed to more efficient portioning of multiple resources in communities with higher numbers of competing species, indicating the role of resource supply and stoichiometry for biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships. Here, we merged theory on ecological stoichiometry with a framework of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning to understand how resource use transfers into primary production. We applied a structural equation model to define patterns of diversity–productivity relationships with respect to available resources. Meta-analysis was used to summarize the findings across ecosystem types ranging from aquatic ecosystems to grasslands and forests. As hypothesized, resource supply increased realized productivity and richness, but we found significant differences between ecosystems and study types. Increased richness was associated with increased productivity, although this effect was not seen in experiments. More even communities had lower productivity, indicating that biomass production is often maintained by a few dominant species, and reduced dominance generally reduced ecosystem productivity. This synthesis, which integrates observational and experimental studies in a variety of ecosystems and geographical regions, exposes common patterns and differences in biodiversity–functioning relationships, and increases the mechanistic understanding of changes in ecosystems productivity.

Quantum chemical studies of the geometric and energy structure of spiropyran and merocyanine molecules, as well as intermediate states corresponding to the optimized geometry of molecules at different distances between the spiroatom and the oxygen atom are carried out. It is established that when the RCspiro-O distance increases to 2.375 Å, a phase transition occurs in the molecule structure. It is shown that the geometric structure of the spiropyran molecule is unique. As the RCspiro-O distance increases, the energy of the electronic system of the molecule increases. At the same time, hybridization of AO of the spiroatom gradually changes. Excitation of the spiropyran molecule to the S1 state, which is dissociative, causes the conversion of spiropyran to merocyanine. The energy structure of the merocyanine molecule is studied and it is shown that in this case, the relaxation of the electronic excitation includes TTT-TTS isomerization, as well as interconversion to the T1 and T2 states. In addition, it becomes possible to reduce the distance RCspiro-O to the phase transition. The perturbation caused by the phase transition causes the conversion of the excited molecule to the ground state, resulting in the photoconversion of spiropyran to merocyanine and vice versa. The described mechanism requires that the quantum yield of the photoconversion of spiropyran to merocyanine exceeds the quantum yield of the reverse transition.

The Work of Communication: Relational Perspectives on Working and Organizing in Contemporary Capitalism revolves around a two-part question: \"What have work and organization become under contemporary capitalism—and how should organization studies approach them?\" Changes in the texture of capitalism, heralded by social and organizational theorists alike, increasingly focus attention on communication as both vital to the conduct of work and as imperative to organizational performance. Yet most accounts of communication in organization studies fail to understand an alternate sense of the \"work of communication\" in the constitution of organizations, work practices, and economies. This book responds to that lack by portraying communicative practices—as opposed to individuals, interests, technologies, structures, organizations, or institutions—as the focal units of analysis in studies of the social and organizational problems occasioned by contemporary capitalism. Rather than suggesting that there exists a canonically \"correct\" route communicative analyses must follow, The Work of Communication: Relational Perspectives on Working and Organizing in Contemporary Capitalism explores the value of transcending longstanding divides between symbolic and material factors in studies of working and organizing. The recognition of dramatic shifts in technological, economic, and political forces, along with deep interconnections among the myriad of factors shaping working and organizing, sows doubts about whether organization studies is up to the vital task of addressing the social problems capitalism now creates. Kuhn, Ashcraft, and Cooren argue that novel insights into those social problems are possible if we tell different stories about working and organizing. To aid authors of those stories, they develop a set of conceptual resources that they capture under the mantle of communicative relationality. These resources allow analysts to profit from burgeoning interest in notions such as sociomateriality, posthumanism, performativity, and affect. It goes on to illustrate the benefits that investigations of work and organization can realize from communicative relationality by presenting case studies that analyze (a) the becoming of an idea, from its inception to solidification, (b) the emergence of what is taken to be the \"the product\" in high-tech startup entrepreneurship, and (c) the branding of work (in this case, academic writing and commercial aviation) through affective economies. Taken together, the book portrays \"the work of communication\" as simultaneously about how work in the \"new economy\" revolves around communicative practice and about how communication serves as a mode of explanation with the potential to cultivate novel stories about working and organizing. Aimed at academics, researchers, and policy makers, this book’s goal is to make tangible the contributions of communication for thinking about contemporary social and organizational problems.

Recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in poultry have raised interest in the interplay between avian influenza (AI) viruses and their wild hosts. Studies linking virus ecology to host ecology are still scarce, particularly for non-duck species. Here, we link capture–resighting data of greater white-fronted geese Anser albifrons albifrons with the AI virus infection data collected during capture in The Netherlands in four consecutive winters. We ask what factors are related to AI virus prevalence and whether there are ecological consequences associated with AI virus infection in staging white-fronted geese. Mean seasonal (low pathogenic) AI virus prevalence ranged between 2.5 and 10.7 per cent, among the highest reported values for non-duck species, and occurred in distinct peaks with near-zero prevalence before and after. Throat samples had a 2.4 times higher detection frequency than cloacal samples. AI virus infection was significantly related to age and body mass in some but not other winters. AI virus infection was not related to resighting probability, nor to maximum distance travelled, which was at least 191 km during the short infectious lifespan of an AI virus. Our results suggest that transmission via the respiratory route could be an important transmission route of AI virus in this species. Near-zero prevalence upon arrival on their wintering grounds, in combination with the epidemic nature of AI virus infections in white-fronted geese, suggests that white-fronted geese are not likely to disperse Asian AI viruses from their Siberian breeding grounds to their European wintering areas.

Queer Methods and Methodologies provides the first systematic consideration of the implications of a queer perspective in the pursuit of social scientific research. This volume grapples with key contemporary questions regarding the methodological implications for social science research undertaken from diverse queer perspectives, and explores the limitations and potentials of queer engagements with social science research techniques and methodologies. With contributors based in the UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia, this truly international volume will appeal to anyone pursuing research at the intersections between social scientific research and queer perspectives, as well as those engaging with methodological considerations in social science research more broadly.

Wildlife pathogens can alter host fitness. Low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) infection is thought to have negligible impacts on wild birds; however, effects of infection in free‐living birds are largely unstudied. We investigated the extent to which LPAIV infection and shedding were associated with body condition and immune status in free‐living mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), a partially migratory key LPAIV host species. We sampled mallards throughout the species' annual autumn LPAIV infection peak, and we classified individuals according to age, sex, and migratory strategy (based on stable hydrogen isotope analysis) when analyzing data on body mass and five indices of immune status. Body mass was similar for LPAIV‐infected and noninfected birds. The degree of virus shedding from the cloaca and oropharynx was not associated with body mass. LPAIV infection and shedding were not associated with natural antibody (NAbs) and complement titers (first lines of defense against infections), concentrations of the acute phase protein haptoglobin (Hp), ratios of heterophils to lymphocytes (H:L ratio), and avian influenza virus (AIV)‐specific antibody concentrations. NAbs titers were higher in LPAIV‐infected males and local (i.e., short distance) migrants than in infected females and distant (i.e., long distance) migrants. Hp concentrations were higher in LPAIV‐infected juveniles and females compared to infected adults and males. NAbs, complement, and Hp levels were lower in LPAIV‐infected mallards in early autumn. Our study demonstrates weak associations between infection with and shedding of LPAIV and the body condition and immune status of free‐living mallards. These results may support the role of mallards as asymptomatic carriers of LPAIV and raise questions about possible coevolution between virus and host. Avian influenza virus infection likely has minor effects on the body condition and immune status of a free‐living key host species, the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), which may support their role as asymptomatic carriers of this virus. This result raises the question whether this is a consequence of co‐evolution between mallards and avian influenza virus.

Virtual Reality is not real life. Instead it is life-like creations using computergenerated scenarios. Human behavior is replicated in virtual scenarios, where every detail is controlled by computers, and in situations that can be repeated under the same conditions. Based on technology and design, the user can experience presence. In the virtual world, users are embodied in avatars that represent them and are the means to interact with the virtual environment. Avatars are graphical models that behave on behalf of the human behind them. The user avatar is a proxy that also backs interaction with others, allowing computer-mediated interactions. Analyses directed to understand people's perceptions, personal and social behavior in computer mediated interactions, comprise a multidisciplinary area of study that involves, among others, computer science, psychology and sociology. In the last two decades a number of studies supported by Virtual Reality have been conducted to understand human behavior, in some cases the implications of the technology, or to reproduce artificial human behavior. This book presents a collection of studies from recognized researchers in the area.

The interrelationality of health and peace is complex, multifactorial, and imbued with political and economic challenges. Peace and health outcomes reflect shared fundamental values related to the achievement of a balanced holistic condition on the individual and collective level. This causal relationship between social inequity and health requires special attention be paid to the impact of political instability and structural violence on undermining health systems in conflict zones. The mutual dependency between peace and health means that peace cannot be achieved without the existence of physical, mental, social, and spiritual health, and holistic health cannot be sustained under violent conditions. The interrelationality of peace and health as mutual conditions shapes our understanding of global solidarity and advocacy in relation to health diplomacy and peace promotion if addressed equally across all conflict zones. This commentary analyzes the unique interdisciplinary contextual factors that contribute to, or undermine the realization of global health and peace in three active conflict zones: Palestine, Ukraine, and Venezuela. Contextual analysis, review of the evidence, and synthesis of the authors' perspectives were used. The health-peace nexus remains a theoretical approach and lacks real application in most settings under crisis. Peace is a multifaceted phenomenon that necessitates the participation, dedication, and action of all sectors and stakeholders in global societies, including health policymakers, scientists, professionals, and people. Both the \"right to health\" and the \"right to peace\" even at the minimum remains unfulfilled, particularly in Palestine, and can be realized through two trajectories: (1) honest, responsible, and fair accountability, transparency, and political commitment empowered by reliable global health diplomacy for maintaining peace, eliminating the roots of injustice, and protecting health systems, and (2) equitable and real implementation of peace-health approaches, policies and actions driven by monitoring mechanisms that promote health, well-being, health security and equity for all nations under conflicts.