How did the G. W. Bush administration manage to persuade Americans to go to war in Iraq in March 2003? How was this intervention, and the global campaign named as “war-on-terror,” legitimised linguistically? This book shows that the best legitimisation effects in political discourse are accomplished through the use of “proximization”—a cognitive-rhetorical strategy that draws on the speaker’s ability to present events as directly and increasingly affecting the addressee, usually in a negative or threatening way. There are three aspects of proximization: spatial, temporal and axiological. The spatial aspect involves the construal of events in the discourse as physically endangering the addressee. The temporal aspect involves presenting the events as increasingly momentous and historic and hence of central significance to both the addressee and the speaker. The axiological aspect consists in a growing clash between the system of values adhered to by the speaker and the addressee, and the values characterizing a third party whose actions, ideologically negative, are made “proximate” and thus threatening. Although the tripartite model of proximization proposed in the book is complex at the level of its linguistic realisation, the working assumption is intriguingly basic: addressees of political discourse are more likely to legitimise pre-emptive actions aimed at neutralizing the proximate “threat” if they construe the threat as personally consequential. The book shows how language of the war-on-terror, and especially the rhetoric of the Iraq war, respond to this precondition. This second revised edition features an extended preface and a new closing chapter.
This book investigates linguistic strategies of threat construction and fear generation in contemporary public communication, including state political discourse as well as non-governmental, media and institutional discourses. It describes the ways in which the construction of closeness and remoteness can be manipulated in the public sphere and bound up with fear, security and conflict. Featuring a series of case studies in different domains, from presidential speeches to environmental discourse, it demonstrates how political and organizational leaders enforce the imminence of an outside threat to claim legitimization of preventive policies. It reveals that the best legitimization effects are obtained by discursively constructed fear appeals, which ensure quick social mobilization. The scope of the book is of immediate concern in the modern globalized era where borders and distance dissolve and are re-imagined. It will appeal to students and researchers in linguistics, discourse analysis, media communication as well as social and political sciences.
This book explores the linguistic patterns of conflict, crisis and threat generation in Polish political rhetoric that have been at the heart of state-level policies since the Law and Justice (PiS) Party came to power in October 2015. Analysing a vast corpus of speeches, statements and remarks by prominent Law and Justice Party politicians, this book sheds light on internal parliamentary and presidential discourse against opponents of the government, before widening its lens to Poland's strained relations with the EU regarding refugee distribution and immigration. Drawing on theories from contemporary critical discourse studies and critical-cognitive pragmatics, the book shows how the crisis, conflict and threat elements in these discourses produce public coercion and strengthen the Party's leadership. Piotr Cap extends his argument further to examine discursive examples from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria, Italy and the UK, highlighting the correlation between the Law and Justice Party and broader socio-political and rhetorical trends in contemporary Europe. The result is an authoritative panorama of the mutual dependencies and shared discursive strategies of European right-wing groups.
The book presents an application of inductive and deductive research modes in an analysis of political discourse. The discussion is illustrated with text samples from inaugural addresses of US presidents and various speeches given by prominent NATO politicians. It is argued that both analytic approaches have their inherent inadequacies, which poses a need for an integrated research mode. Also, numerous observations are made about the rhetoric of the analyzed text types.
This book proposes a new theory (“proximization theory”) in the area of political/public legitimization discourse. Located at the intersection of Pragmatics, Cognitive Linguistics and critical approaches, the theory holds that legitimization of broadly consequential political/public policies, such as pre-emptive interventionist campaigns, is best accomplished by forced construals of virtual external threats encroaching upon the speaker and her audience’s home territory. The construals, which proceed along spatial, temporal and axiological lines, are forced by strategic deployment of lexico-grammatical choices drawn from the three domains. This proposal is illustrated primarily in the in-depth analysis of the 2001-2010 US discourse of the War-on-Terror, and secondarily in a number of pilot studies pointing to a wide range of further applications (environmental discourse, health communication, cyber-threat discourse, political party-representation). The theory and the empirical focus of the book will appeal to researchers working on interdisciplinary projects in Pragmatics, Semantics, Cognitive Linguistics, Critical Discourse Studies, as well as Journalism and Media Studies.
A fresh take on financial data visualization for greater accuracy and understanding Your data provides a snapshot of the state of your business and is key to the success of your conversations, decisions, and communications. But all of that communication is lost — or incorrectly interpreted — without proper data visualizations that provide context and accurate representation of the numbers. In Visualizing Financial Data, authors Julie Rodriguez and Piotr Kaczmarek draw upon their understanding of information design and visual communication to show you how to turn your raw data into meaningful information. Coverage includes current conventions paired with innovative visualizations that cater to the unique requirements across financial domains, including investment management, financial accounting, regulatory reporting, sales, and marketing communications. Presented as a series of case studies, this highly visual guide presents problems and solutions in the context of real-world scenarios. With over 250 visualizations, you’ll have access to relevant examples that serve as a starting point to your implementations. • Expand the boundaries of data visualization conventions and learn new approaches to traditional charts and graphs • Optimize data communications that cater to you and your audience • Provide clarity to maximize understanding • Solve data presentation problems using efficient visualization techniques • Use the provided companion website to follow along with examples The companion website gives you the illustration files and the source data sets, and points you to the types of resources you need to get started.
A fresh take on financial data visualization for greater accuracy and understanding Your data provides a snapshot of the state of your business and is key to the success of your conversations, decisions, and communications. But all of that communication is lost — or incorrectly interpreted — without proper data visualizations that provide context and accurate representation of the numbers. In Visualizing Financial Data, authors Julie Rodriguez and Piotr Kaczmarek draw upon their understanding of information design and visual communication to show you how to turn your raw data into meaningful information. Coverage includes current conventions paired with innovative visualizations that cater to the unique requirements across financial domains, including investment management, financial accounting, regulatory reporting, sales, and marketing communications. Presented as a series of case studies, this highly visual guide presents problems and solutions in the context of real-world scenarios. With over 250 visualizations, you’ll have access to relevant examples that serve as a starting point to your implementations. • Expand the boundaries of data visualization conventions and learn new approaches to traditional charts and graphs • Optimize data communications that cater to you and your audience • Provide clarity to maximize understanding • Solve data presentation problems using efficient visualization techniques • Use the provided companion website to follow along with examples The companion website gives you the illustration files and the source data sets, and points you to the types of resources you need to get started.
The monograph comprehensively presents the research on the prototype of the biomimetic Multi-Spiked Connecting Scaffold (MSC-Scaffold) for cementless fixation of the components of a new generation of resurfacing arthroplasty (RA) endoprostheses. This research, carried out by a bioengineering-surgical team from three Polish universities, includes bioengineering design, rapid prototyping, manufacturing in selective laser melting, functionalization, surface modification, numerical studies, experimental in vitro studies, and pilot surgical experiments in an animal model. Features: •Presents the prototype of the multi-spiked connecting scaffold for a new generation of resurfacing endoprostheses of the knee and the hip. •Explains this prototype scaffold as the first worldwide design of the biomimetic fixation of components of diarthrodial joints resurfacing endoprostheses. •Insights into the entire process of bioengineering design and research on this novel way of resurfacing endoprostheses fixation. •Reviews main results of the scaffold prototyping and SLM manufacturing, structural and osteoconductive functionalization, and surface modification. •Reports experimental and numerical investigations of mechanical behavior of the scaffold-bone system, cell culture studies, and pilot surgical experiments in animal models. This book is aimed at professionals and graduate students in biomedical engineering, biomaterials engineering, and bone & joint surgery.
The question of the independence of Byzantine iconography continues to draw attention. Following extensive research on the persistence of Classical motifs in Byzantine art, interest has recently turned to the originality of the latter and its reliability as a historical source. This study examines whether military equipment (armour, weapons, insignia and costume) shown in images of the warrior saints reflects items actually used in the mid-Byzantine Army or merely repeats Classical forms. Such representations are compared with documentary evidence gathered chiefly from Byzantine military manuals. The author demonstrates that military equipment, being a vital branch of material culture subject to constant evolution, provides a good indicator of iconographic innovation in the art of Byzantium.
From fundamental concepts and results to recent advances in computational social choice, this open access book provides a thorough and in-depth look at multi-winner voting based on approval preferences. The main focus is on axiomatic analysis, algorithmic results and several applications that are relevant in artificial intelligence, computer science and elections of any kind. What is the best way to select a set of candidates for a shortlist, for an executive committee, or for product recommendations? Multi-winner voting is the process of selecting a fixed-size set of candidates based on the preferences expressed by the voters. A wide variety of decision processes in settings ranging from politics (parliamentary elections) to the design of modern computer applications (collaborative filtering, dynamic Q&A platforms, diversity in search results, etc.) share the problem of identifying a representative subset of alternatives. The study of multi-winner voting provides the principled analysis of this task. Approval-based committee voting rules (in short: ABC rules) are multi-winner voting rules particularly suitable for practical use. Their usability is founded on the straightforward form in which the voters can express preferences: voters simply have to differentiate between approved and disapproved candidates. Proposals for ABC rules are numerous, some dating back to the late 19th century while others have been introduced only very recently. This book explains and discusses these rules, highlighting their individual strengths and weaknesses. With the help of this book, the reader will be able to choose a suitable ABC voting rule in a principled fashion, participate in, and be up to date with the ongoing research on this topic.
These essays represent a summation of Piotr Steinkeller's decades-long thinking and writing about the history of third millennium BCE Babylonia and the ways in which it is reflected in ancient historical and literary sources and art, as well as of how these written and visual materials may be used by the modern historian to attain, if not a reliable record of histoire événementielle, a comprehensive picture of how the ancients understood their history. The book focuses on the history of early Babylonian kingship, as it evolved over a period from Late Uruk down to Old Babylonian times, and the impact of the concepts of kingship on contemporaneous history writing and visual art. Here comparisons are drawn between Babylonia and similar developments in ancient Egypt, China and Mesoamerica. Other issues treated is the intersection between history writing and the scholarly, lexical, and literary traditions in early Babylonia; and the question of how the modern historian should approach the study of ancient sources of "historical" nature. Such a broad and comprehensive overview is novel in Mesopotamian studies to date. As such, it should contribute to an improved and more nuanced understanding of early Babylonian history.
Apply business requirements to IT infrastructure and deliver a high-quality product by understanding architectures such as microservices, DevOps, and cloud-native using modern C++ standards and features Key FeaturesDesign scalable large-scale applications with the C++ programming languageArchitect software solutions in a cloud-based environment with continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD)Achieve architectural goals by leveraging design patterns, language features, and useful toolsBook Description Software architecture refers to the high-level design of complex applications. It is evolving just like the languages we use, but there are architectural concepts and patterns that you can learn to write high-performance apps in a high-level language without sacrificing readability and maintainability. If you're working with modern C++, this practical guide will help you put your knowledge to work and design distributed, large-scale apps. You'll start by getting up to speed with architectural concepts, including established patterns and rising trends, then move on to understanding what software architecture actually is and start exploring its components. Next, you'll discover the design concepts involved in application architecture and the patterns in software development, before going on to learn how to build, package, integrate, and deploy your components. In the concluding chapters, you'll explore different architectural qualities, such as maintainability, reusability, testability, performance, scalability, and security. Finally, you will get an overview of distributed systems, such as service-oriented architecture, microservices, and cloud-native, and understand how to apply them in application development. By the end of this book, you'll be able to build distributed services using modern C++ and associated tools to deliver solutions as per your clients' requirements. What you will learnUnderstand how to apply the principles of software architectureApply design patterns and best practices to meet your architectural goalsWrite elegant, safe, and performant code using the latest C++ featuresBuild applications that are easy to maintain and deployExplore the different architectural approaches and learn to apply them as per your requirementSimplify development and operations using application containersDiscover various techniques to solve common problems in software design and developmentWho this book is for This software architecture C++ programming book is for experienced C++ developers looking to become software architects or develop enterprise-grade applications.
This issue of Cardiology Clinics, edited by Sharmila Dorbala and Piotr Slomka, examines Nuclear Cardiology. Topics include Advances in SPECT Hardware and Software; Advances in PET Hardware and Software; Technical Advances and Clinical Applications of Cardiac PET/MR; Translational Coronary Atherosclerosis Imaging (NaF PET, FDG); Quantitative Nuclear Cardiology Using New Generation Equipment; Myocardial Perfusion Flow Tracers; Translational Molecular Nuclear Cardiology; Radionuclide Imaging in Congestive Heart Failure (Sarcoid, Amyloid, Viability); Clinical Applications of Imaging Myocardial Innervation; Gated Radionuclide Imaging Including Dyssynchrony Assessment; Clinical PET Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Including Flow Quantitation; and Novel Applications of Radionuclide Imaging in Peripheral Vascular Disease.
The Role of Crises in Shaping Financial Systems: From the Global Financial Crisis to COVID-19 underscores the role of crises as turning points for the financial sector and its interactions with the real economy. It sheds new light on the financial industry through the lens of three recent crises – the global financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The book provides in-depth insight into the financial systems in European Economic Area countries, accentuating the role of crises in shaping the condition and development of the financial arena. The authors pay special attention to the differences between “old” and “new” Europe, i.e. countries that joined the EU in 2004 or later. It explores the implications of recent turbulences for financial institutions, financial markets, and public finance, and their relationship with the economy. The book examines low or negative interest rates, non-standard monetary policy, fiscal stimulus, dense safety nets, regulatory inflation, weak profitability of the financial sector, and the sovereign-bank nexus. Post-crisis developments are assessed, comprehensively and empirically, from both macro- and microeconomic perspectives to help readers understand the nature of policy measures and their socio-economic implications. The authors outline their predictions for the future of financial systems, focusing on the structural changes and legacy of the COVID-19 crisis and global financial interlinkages. The book adopts both theoretical and practical approaches to explore the key issues and, as such, will appeal to academics and students of financial economics and international finance, as well as policymakers and financial regulators.
This book lies at the interface of machine learning – a subfield of computer science that develops algorithms for challenging tasks such as shape or image recognition, where traditional algorithms fail – and photonics – the physical science of light, which underlies many of the optical communications technologies used in our information society. It provides a thorough introduction to reservoir computing and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Recently, photonic implementations of reservoir computing (a machine learning algorithm based on artificial neural networks) have made a breakthrough in optical computing possible. In this book, the author pushes the performance of these systems significantly beyond what was achieved before. By interfacing a photonic reservoir computer with a high-speed electronic device (an FPGA), the author successfully interacts with the reservoir computer in real time, allowing him to considerably expand its capabilities and range of possible applications. Furthermore, the author draws on his expertise in machine learning and FPGA programming to make progress on a very different problem, namely the real-time image analysis of optical coherence tomography for atherosclerotic arteries.
This book investigates an important but under-researched aspect of dictionary making: the use of a controlled vocabulary in definitions. The main concern of the author is the role of a definition vocabulary in how foreign learners understand and perceive dictionary definitions. The author takes the reader through a detailed historical account of controlled vocabularies and examines definitions in a range of English dictionaries with respect to their vocabulary loads. He performs a series of experiments with university students to reveal merits and shortcomings of restricted vocabularies. This monograph has been written with the aim to fill a gap in the literature on defining vocabulary. It is intended for lexicographers, dictionary editors, course designers, teachers, and students, as well as anyone who wishes to explain words in an intelligible way.
Outcrops of granitic rocks cover a large proportion of the Earth's surface and host a range of spectacular landforms and landscapes, from extensive plains dotted by inselbergs to deeply dissected mountain ranges. They are often strikingly beautiful, but more importantly, they provide valuable insights into the mechanisms of geomorphic evolution both in the past and at present. The book offers a comprehensive view of the geomorphology of granite areas, examining individual landforms and their assemblages. Weathering processes, and the phenomenon of deep weathering in particular, are given much emphasis as these are fundamental to the understanding of the geomorphic evolution of granite areas. Granite landforms directly related to weathering, such as boulders, tors, inselbergs, and features of surface microrelief are examined in respect to their characteristics and origin. Patterns of slope evolution are shown in the context of both rock slopes and deeply weathered terrains. Granite geomorphology in the coastal, periglacial and glacial context is presented to show how the characteristics of granite control landform evolution in these specific environments. In the closing part a variety of geological controls is reviewed and their primacy over other factors is advocated, followed by an attempt to provide a typology of natural granite landscapes. Finally, certain specific ways of human transformation of granite landscapes are presented. The book will be useful to a range of earth science disciplines, including geomorphology, igneous petrology, engineering geology and soil science. Cultural geographers and people dealing with conservation of geological heritage should find it of interest. Examples from all parts of the world and extensive referencing ensure that it will act as an up-to-date guidebook to the fascinating world of granite geomorphology.
Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this convenient resource provides systematic information on how Poland deals with the role religion plays or can play in society, the legal status of religious communities and institutions, and the legal interaction among religion, culture, education, and media. After a general introduction describing the social and historical background, the book goes on to explain the legal framework in which religion is approached. Coverage proceeds from the principle of religious freedom through the rights and contractual obligations of religious communities; international, transnational, and regional law effects; and the legal parameters affecting the influence of religion in politics and public life. Also covered are legal positions on religion in such specific fields as church financing, labour and employment, and matrimonial and family law. A clear and comprehensive overview of relevant legislation and legal doctrine make the book an invaluable reference source and very useful guide. Succinct and practical, this book will prove to be of great value to practitioners in the myriad instances where a law-related religious interest arises in Poland. Academics and researchers will appreciate its value as a thorough but concise treatment of the legal aspects of diversity and multiculturalism in which religion plays such an important part.
This book explores the diversity of restructuring instruments applied to financial institutions in EU countries during the Global Financial Crisis. It investigates the cost of that support before evaluating its effects, as well as providing an extensive analysis of the measures undertaken. The first chapter presents a historical outline, discusses causes of crises, and offers an overview of the restructuring instruments and of how they were used for crisis management before 2007. The following chapters explore the financial environment in the EU before the crisis outbreak, the rescue actions and financial landscape after the events of the crisis. This book offers a critical and thorough analysis of the financial support provided to banks, providing case studies of over 95 banks from 17 EU member states. The authors provide an in-depth study of the pre and post-crisis landscape, and demonstrate that the crisis has by no means been overcome.
Accompanying DVD-ROM contains the electronic proceedings of the summer school on mathematical general relativity and global properties of solutions of Einstein's equations held at Cargèse, Corsica, France, July 20-Aug. 10, 2002.
Metaphysics or Ontology? treats the evolution of the object of metaphysics from being, to the concept of being, to, finally, the object (thought). Possible being must be non-contradictory, but an object of thought includes anything a human being can think, including contradictions and nothingness. When the concept of being, or object of thought, replaces existence as the object of metaphysics, it becomes something other than metaphysics—ontology, or something beyond ontology. However, ontology cannot examine existence because it only investigates concepts and possibility. Only classical metaphysics investigates reality qua reality. This book masterfully treats the history of this controversy and many other important metaphysical questions raised over the centuries
This book represents the current (1985) state of knowledge about Zariski surfaces and related topics in differential equations in characteristic p > 0. It is aimed at research mathematicians and graduate and advanced undergraduate students of mathematics and computer science.
Many students want an introduction to finance. Those who are quantitatively-oriented learners can benefit in particular from an introduction that puts more emphasis on mathematics and graphical presentations than on verbal descriptions. By illustrating core finance facts and concepts through equations and graphical material, Finance: A Quantitative Introduction can help people studying business management, marketing, accounting, and other subjects. By using few lengthy verbal explanations and many illustrations, it can teach readers quickly and efficiently. Chapter-concluding questions (with answers) and case studies enhance its utility as a textbook and a reference Mixture of theory and problem-solving contains enough mathematical tools to help readers assess facts and evaluate real data in practical tasks Short, simple presentation is perfect for non-native English speakers
In 1807 Napoleon Bonaparte created the Duchy of Warsaw from the Polish lands that had been ceded to France by Prussia. His Civil Code was enforced in the new Duchy too and, unlike the Catholic Church, it allowed the dissolution of marriage by divorce. This book sheds new light on the application of Napoleonic divorce regulations in the Polish lands between 1808-1852. Unlike what has been argued so far, this book demonstrates that divorces were happening frequently in 19th century Poland and even with the same rate as in France. In addition to the analysis of the Napoleonic divorce law, the reader is provided with a fully comprehensive description of parties as well as courts and officials involved in divorce proceedings, their course and the grounds for divorce.
This book presents a coherent framework for understanding the dynamics of piecewise-smooth and hybrid systems. An informal introduction expounds the ubiquity of such models via numerous. The results are presented in an informal style, and illustrated with many examples. The book is aimed at a wide audience of applied mathematicians, engineers and scientists at the beginning postgraduate level. Almost no mathematical background is assumed other than basic calculus and algebra.
This book addresses key design and computational issues related to radiators in hydronic heating installations. A historical outline is included to highlight the evolution of radiators and heating technologies. Further, the book includes a chapter on thermal comfort, which is the decisive factor in selecting the ideal heating system and radiator type. The majority of the book is devoted to an extensive discussion of the types and kinds of radiators currently in use, and to identifying the reasons for the remarkable diversity of design solutions. The differences between the solutions are also addressed, both in terms of the effects of operation and of the thermal comfort that needs to be ensured. The book then compares the advantages and disadvantages of each solution, as well as its potential applications. A detailed discussion, supported by an extensive theoretical and mathematical analysis, is presented of the computational relations that are used in selecting the radiator type. The dynamics of radiator heat output regulation are also covered, with particular emphasis on underfloor-surface radiators, for which this aspect is particularly important. The book closes with a chapter presenting computational examples. It includes numerous examples of calculations for all essential thermal parameters of radiator operation in heating installations.
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