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Contact Problems for Soft, Biological and Bioinspired Materials (Biologically-Inspired Systems #15)
by Feodor M. Borodich Xiaoqing JinThis book contains contributions from leading researchers in biomechanics, nanomechanics, tribology, contact mechanics, materials science and applications on various experimental techniques including atomic force microscopy (AFM) for studying soft, biomimetic and biological materials and objects. Biologists, physicists, researchers applying methods of contact mechanics and researchers testing materials using indentation techniques along with many other applied scientists will find this book a useful addition to their libraries. Moreover, several reviews in this book are written as introductions to several important and rather sophisticated research areas such as depth-sensing indentation, studying of biological cells by AFM probes, mechanics of adhesive contact and contact between viscoelastic (hereditary elastic) solids. The book containing new theoretical models, results of experimental studies and numerical simulations, along with reviews of above mentioned areas of contact mechanics in application to biological systems, would be beneficial for researchers in many areas of biology, medicine, engineering, mechanics and biomimetics.
Contactless 3D Fingerprint Identification (Advances in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition)
by Ajay KumarThis important text/reference presents the first dedicated review of techniques for contactless 3D fingerprint identification, including novel and previously unpublished research. The text provides a systematic introduction to 3D fingerprint identification, covering the latest advancements in contactless 2D and 3D sensing technologies, and detailed discussions on each key aspect in the development of an effective 3D fingerprint identification system.Topics and features: introduces the key concepts and trends in the acquisition and identification of fingerprint images, and a range of 3D fingerprint imaging techniques; proposes a low-cost method for online 3D fingerprint image acquisition, and an efficient 3D fingerprint imaging approach using coloured photometric stereo; describes pre-processing operations on point cloud 3D fingerprint data, and explains the specialized operations for reconstructing 3D fingerprints from live finger scans; examines the representation of minutiae in 3D space, providing details on recovering these features from point cloud data, and on matching such 3D minutiae templates; reviews various 3D fingerprint matching methods, including binary surface code-based approaches and a tetrahedron-based matching approach; discusses the uniqueness of 3D fingerprints, evaluating the benefits of employing 3D fingerprint identification over conventional 2D fingerprint techniques.This unique work is a must-read for all researchers seeking to make further advances in this area, towards the exciting opportunities afforded by contactless 3D fingerprint identification for improving the hygiene, user convenience, and matching accuracy of fingerprint biometric technologies.
Contactless Healthcare Facilitation and Commodity Delivery Management During COVID 19 Pandemic (Advanced Technologies and Societal Change)
by Mousmi Ajay Chaurasia Stefan MozarThis book offers concepts related to communication engineering principles to fight the current Covid situation, by developing contactless need-based solutions. COVID-19, a global pandemic makes us rethink how governments, organizations, and societies around the world can work with minimum or without physical contact. Technologies like artificial intelligence and big data are playing an essential role in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This book is a combination of chapters related to imaging and detective technologies used by the experts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and a combination of interesting content covering the need of hour solutions generated through cutting edge technologies. In the absence of a proper medicine or vaccine, it is quite evident that nutrition plays an important role in the quick recovery of covid patients which must be very carefully planned with proper diagnostics. Data analysis and X-Ray/CT Image analysis by next-generation techniques like deep sensing, machine learning is interesting and useful for research and applied healthcare professionals. Research findings with a focus on diagnostics and reports generated through important data analysis in the book are quite useful and can be referred to by researchers and professionals working in the area of cutting-edge technologies against COVID 19.
Contactless System for Measurement and Evaluation of Machined Surfaces (SpringerBriefs in Applied Sciences and Technology)
by Juraj RužbarskýThis book presents a contactless system for the measurement and evaluation of selected characteristics of machined surfaces. It describes the design and construction of new equipment designed for contactless characterization of surface geometry working based on laser profilometry by triangulation principle. The book focuses on the quality assessment of surfaces produced by the technology of abrasive waterjet cutting (AWJ) and by laser. The author analyses the performed experiment of measurement of machined surfaces of samples of aluminum, stainless steel, and constructional steel using the contactless method with the LPM system and contact method using Mitutoyo SJ 400 surface roughness tester.
Contágio
by David Quammen«Uma obra-prima.» New York Review of Books O livro mais importante e urgente para ler neste momento «É nossa a responsabilidade pela epidemia do novo coronavírus. Pode ter começado com um morcego numa gruta, mas foi a actividade humana que a disseminou.» David Quammen Num momento em que a Humanidade perde o chão com o tremendo impacto global da pandemia de um novo coranavírus, o SARS-CoV-2, é urgente ler o livro que previu este desastre viral e que nos diz como impedir que o mesmo volte a acontecer. À medida que a globalização ganha força e que invadimos ecossistemas milenares em prol de uma expansão económica sem limites, ficamos também à mercê de infecções perigosas que nos são transmitidas pelos animais que prosperavam nos habitats que destruímos. Doenças que estavam, antes, contidas e limitadas àquele espaço passam a circular entre os humanos com consequências catastróficas, como são disso exemplo a SIDA, o Ébola, a Malária e, mais recentemente, a COVID19. Na companhia dos melhores cientistas do mundo, mergulhando nas selvas centro-africanas, grutas da China meridional e telhados do Bangladesh, passando pelos laboratórios onde se investigam vírus altamente letais sob apertadas medidas de segurança, o conceituado autor de divulgação científica David Quammen conta-nos a história dos principais vírus zoonóticos que ameaçam os humanos e deixa um aviso: temos de nos preparar para o pior. Contágio, uma história dos vírus que estão a mudar o mundo é uma narrativa apaixonante, repleta de imprevistos, hipóteses e interrogações que, hoje, a braços com a nova pandemia de SARS-CoV-2, se tornou uma urgente chamada de atenção. «Arrepiante. Um livro brilhante e devastador.» Daily Mail Os elogios da crítica: «Pertinente e assustador.»New York Times «Uma leitura compulsiva plena de aventuras, contada a partir da linha da frente da prevenção de pandemias.»Wired «Quammen é um daqueles raros jornalistas científicos que mistura exploração com um talento inédito para a síntese e para a narrativa.»Nature «David Quammen é provavelmente o meu autor de ciência preferido: amável, erudito, subestimado, divertido, profundamente humano.»New York Magazine «David Quammen é o melhor escritor de história natural. Os seus livros impressionam pela sua precisão, energia e pela sua narrativa brilhante e evocativa.»The Wall Street Journal «Deslumbrante Quammen: revela o que nos faz viver e o que nos mata com paixão, humor e conhecimento.»Daniel Arjona, El confidencial «O facto de Quammen nunca ter recebido o prémio Pulitzer é uma autêntica vergonha.»Dwight Garner, The New York Times «Contágio é uma obra-prima fascinante do jornalismo científico que se lê como um policial.»Walter Isaacson, autor de Steve Jobs «Quammen é o melhor jornalista do mundo natural.»The New York Times «Um livro assustador, mas fundamental para entender a próxima pandemia global.»Publisher's Weekly «Um livro essencial.»Booklist «O livro que me ajudou a perceber a dinâmica do que estava a acontecer.» Paolo Giordano <p style="text-a
Contagio: La evolución de las pandemias
by David QuammenEL LIBRO INTERNACIONAL DE REFERENCIA DURANTE LA CUARENTENA. Desde hace años, para los expertos y cualquier persona informada, el estallido de la siguiente pandemia era una cuestión de tiempo, y su origen, evidente: un virus latente en animales que diera el salto al ser humano como el HIV que provocó el SIDA o el H1N1 que causó la gripe de 1918, el ébola, el SARS, el virus de Marburgo o el que produjo la gripe aviar. En esta obra de referencia internacional, David Quammen se sumerge en la historia reciente de esas enfermedades zoonóticas, y persigue su rastro en compañía de los mejores científicos del mundo en la selva centroafricana, las cuevas de China meridional o las azoteas de Bangladés, pero también en los sofisticados laboratorios cuyo personal investiga virus letales bajo las más altas medidas de seguridad. Aunque Contagio se lee como un thriller, repleto de incidentes, pistas e interrogantes, a la vista de la crisis desatada por la aparición del SARS-CoV-2, su lectura no solo resulta apasionante; es imprescindible. Reseñas:«Quammen es el mejor reportero del mundo natural.»Parul Sehgal, The New York Times «David Quammen es el mejor escritor de historia natural; sus libros impresionan por su precisión, su energía y su escritura brillante y evocativa.»David Barash, The Wall Streer Journal «El libro que me ayudó a entender la dinámica de lo que estaba pasando.»Paolo Giordano «Deslumbrante Quammen: desvela lo que nos hace vivir y lo que nos mata con pasión, humor y conocimiento.»Daniel Arjona, El confidencial «Un libro aterrador pero fundamental para entender la próxima pandemia global.»Publishers' Weekly «Que Quammen no haya ganado un premio Pulitzer es una auténtica vergüenza.»Dwight Garner, The New York Times «Una obra esencial.»Booklist (Starred Review)
Contagion
by Mark HarrisonMuch as we take comfort in the belief that modern medicine and public health tactics can protect us from horrifying contagious diseases, such faith is dangerously unfounded. So demonstrates Mark Harrison in this pathbreaking investigation of the intimate connections between trade and disease throughout modern history. For centuries commerce has been the single most important factor in spreading diseases to different parts of the world, the author shows, and today the same is true. But in today's global world, commodities and germs are circulating with unprecedented speed. Beginning with the plagues that ravaged Eurasia in the fourteenth century, Harrison charts both the passage of disease and the desperate measures to prevent it. He examines the emergence of public health in the Western world, its subsequent development elsewhere, and a recurring pattern of misappropriation of quarantines, embargoes, and other sanitary measures for political or economic gain—even for use as weapons of war. In concluding chapters the author exposes the weaknesses of today's public health regulations—a set of rules that not only disrupt the global economy but also fail to protect the public from the afflictions of trade-borne disease.
The Contagion Myth: Why Viruses (including "Coronavirus") Are Not the Cause of Disease
by Thomas S. Cowan Sally Fallon MorellFor readers of Plague of Corruption, Thomas S. Cowan, MD, and Sally Fallon Morell ask the question: are there really such things as "viruses"? Or are electro smog, toxic living conditions, and 5G actually to blame for COVID-19? The official explanation for today&’s COVID-19 pandemic is a &“dangerous, infectious virus.&” This is the rationale for isolating a large portion of the world&’s population in their homes so as to curb its spread. From face masks to social distancing, from antivirals to vaccines, these measures are predicated on the assumption that tiny viruses can cause serious illness and that such illness is transmissible person-to-person. It was Louis Pasteur who convinced a skeptical medical community that contagious germs cause disease; his &“germ theory&” now serves as the official explanation for most illness. However, in his private diaries he states unequivocally that in his entire career he was not once able to transfer disease with a pure culture of bacteria (he obviously wasn&’t able to purify viruses at that time). He admitted that the whole effort to prove contagion was a failure, leading to his famous death bed confession that &“the germ is nothing, the terrain is everything.&” While the incidence and death statistics for COVID-19 may not be reliable, there is no question that many people have taken sick with a strange new disease—with odd symptoms like gasping for air and &“fizzing&” feelings—and hundreds of thousands have died. Many suspect that the cause is not viral but a kind of pollution unique to the modern age—electromagnetic pollution. Today we are surrounded by a jangle of overlapping and jarring frequencies—from power lines to the fridge to the cell phone. It started with the telegraph and progressed to worldwide electricity, then radar, then satellites that disrupt the ionosphere, then ubiquitous Wi-Fi. The most recent addition to this disturbing racket is fifth generation wireless—5G. In The Contagion Myth: Why Viruses (including Coronavirus) are Not the Cause of Disease, bestselling authors Thomas S. Cowan, MD, and Sally Fallon Morell tackle the true causes of COVID-19. On September 26, 2019, 5G wireless was turned on in Wuhan, China (and officially launched November 1) with a grid of about ten thousand antennas—more antennas than exist in the whole United States, all concentrated in one city. A spike in cases occurred on February 13, the same week that Wuhan turned on its 5G network for monitoring traffic. Illness has subsequently followed 5G installation in all the major cities in America. Since the dawn of the human race, medicine men and physicians have wondered about the cause of disease, especially what we call &“contagions,&” numerous people ill with similar symptoms, all at the same time. Does humankind suffer these outbreaks at the hands of an angry god or evil spirit? A disturbance in the atmosphere, a miasma? Do we catch the illness from others or from some outside influence? As the restriction of our freedoms continues, more and more people are wondering whether this is true. Could a packet of RNA fragments, which cannot even be defined as a living organism, cause such havoc? Perhaps something else is involved—something that has upset the balance of nature and made us more susceptible to disease? Perhaps there is no &“coronavirus&” at all; perhaps, as Pasteur said, &“the germ is nothing, the terrain is everything.&”
Contagious Yawning (Fountas & Pinnell LLI Purple #Level U)
by Alexis BurlingYawning Can Be Contagious. Even if you weren't sleepy at the time, you can probably remember a time when you yawned soon after seeing someone else yawn. If so, you're not alone. Plenty of people, along with some primate species and dogs, have experienced a phenomenon known as "contagious yawning." Finding out the reasons why will definitely not put you to sleep.
Containment in the Pharmaceutical Industry (Drugs And The Pharmaceutical Sciences Ser. #108)
by James P. WoodDelivering an encompassing overview of the factors, varieties, and applications determining product containment, this concise reference provides authoritative information on containment processes. It reviews the historical context, definition, evolution, and application of containment technology, analyzes a variety of containment techniques in new
Contaminant Levels and Ecological Effects: Understanding and Predicting with Chemometric Methods (Emerging Contaminants and Associated Treatment Technologies)
by Biljana Balabanova Trajče StafilovThis volume uses chemometric mathematical modelling approaches to investigate geographic areas at risk of ecological degradation due to pollution. While most analytical approaches in environmental research involve sophisticated and sensitive instrumental techniques, this book employs chemometric techniques to create a corresponding data matrix to extract accurate and realistic environmental information in areas vulnerable to and affected by hazardous substances. The text offers case studies to establish a general framework of the opportunities, advantages, weaknesses and challenges of these mathematical approaches, and provides a chemometric model of each focus area to assess the long-distance distribution of pollutants. The case studies highlight the potential use of novel chemometric models for mitigating and preventing environmental pollution and ecological risks, while also providing reviews of the current status and developments in chemometric analysis of environmental pollution. The book will be of interest to students and researchers in environmental and agricultural chemistry, environmental pollution modelling and ecological degradation.
Contaminants and Clean Technologies
by Pankaj Chowdhary Abhay RajContaminants and Clean Technologies provides valuable information on environmental contaminants such as industrial pollutants, micropollutants, pesticides, endocrine disruptors, pharmaceuticals, toxins, and hormones. It focuses on the various types of environmental contaminants discharged from various sources; their toxicological effects in environments, humans, animals, and plants; and their removal methods. It also covers, comprehensively, information on the contaminants released by various industries and agricultural practices, which cause severe threats to the environment. Features of the book: Elucidates systematic information on various types of environmental contaminants, and their fate and consequences Discusses contaminants such as endocrine disruptors, pharmaceutical waste, and personal care products Provides an overview of physicochemical and biological treatment technologies for sustainable development Details recent research finding in the area of environmental contaminants and their future challenges
Contaminants and Ecological Subsidies: The Land-Water Interface
by Johanna M. Kraus David M. Walters Marc A. MillsThis volume explores the effects of aquatic contaminants on ecological subsidies and food web exposure at the boundary of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. It provides the first synthesis of the findings and principles governing the “dark side” of contaminant effects on ecological subsidies. Furthermore, the volume provides extensive coverage of the tools being developed to help managers and researchers better understand the implications of contaminants movement and their effects on natural resources and ecosystem processes. Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems are linked through movements of energy and nutrients which subsidize recipient food webs. As a result, contaminants that concentrate in aquatic systems because of the effects of gravity on water and organic matter have the potential to impact both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem processes. Within the last decade, increased attention has been paid to this phenomenon, particularly the effects of aquatic contaminants on resource and contaminant export to terrestrial consumers, and the potential implications for management. This volume, curated and edited by three field leaders, incorporates empirical results, management applications and theoretical synthesis and is a key reference for academics, government researchers and consultants.
Contaminants in Agriculture: Sources, Impacts and Management
by M. Naeem Abid Ali Ansari Sarvajeet Singh GillThis comprehensive volume covers recent studies into agricultural problems caused by soil and water contamination. Considering the importance of agricultural crops to human health, the editors have focused on chapters detailing the negative impact of heavy metals, excessive chemical fertilizer use, nutrients, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, agricultural wastes and toxic pollutants, among others, on agricultural soil and crops. In addition, the chapters offer solutions to these negative impacts through various scientific approaches, including using biotechnology, nanotechnology, nutrient management strategies, biofertilizers, as well as potent PGRs and elicitors. This book serves as a key source of information on scientific and engineered approaches and challenges for the bioremediation of agricultural contamination worldwide. This book should be helpful for research students, teachers, agriculturalists, agronomists, botanists, and plant growers, as well as in the fields of agriculture, agronomy, plant science, plant biology, and biotechnology, among others. It serves as an excellent reference on the current research and future directions of contaminants in agriculture from laboratory research to field application.
Contaminants of Emerging Concerns and Reigning Removal Technologies (Sustainable Water Developments - Resources, Management, Treatment, Efficiency and Reuse #8)
by Manish KumarWith an increased demand for wastewater reuse, groundwater recharge with treated wastewater has been practiced across the globe. As a result, groundwater quality deteriorates by emerging micropollutants from various anthropogenic origins, including untreated wastewater, seepage of landfill leachate, and runoff from agricultural lands. The fate of such emerging and geogenic contaminants in subsurface systems, especially in the groundwater, depends on several factors. Physicochemical properties of contaminants such as octanol-water partition coefficient, dissociation constant, water solubility, susceptibility to biodegradation under anaerobic conditions, and environmental persistence under diverse geological and pH conditions play a critical role during subsurface mass flow. Thus, advanced wastewater treatment techniques, followed by implementing stricter guidelines, are some of the measures that can safeguard water resources. This book, in general, gives an understanding of the fate and mitigation strategies for emerging and geogenic contaminants in the groundwater. The first and second sections provide a detailed insight into various removal techniques and mitigation approaches. Possible treatment strategies, including bioremediation and natural attenuation, are also covered in those sections. Environmental assessment, groundwater vulnerability, health effects, and regulations pertaining to various contaminants are systematically presented in the third section.
Contaminants of the Great Lakes (The Handbook of Environmental Chemistry #101)
by Jill Crossman Chris WeisenerThis book reviews the globally important freshwater resource of the Great Lakes, which is currently threatened by contaminants that compromise water quality and impact its ecological and economic health. Divided into four parts, this volume covers historic, current and emerging sources of contamination from heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants to microplastics; and identifies their ecological impacts. Due to factors ranging from rapidly changing land use practices, climate change and our emerging understanding of their impact on biological, chemical and physical interactions, the effectiveness of management strategies has proven highly variable. Continued enhancements in the rate of lake recovery are required to sustain the health of the Great Lakes. Accordingly, the book also explores recent advances in contaminant detection, along with future steps forward in lake management approaches. Revealing our current knowledge gaps and providing a roadmap towards sustainable solutions, the book offers a valuable asset for scientists, managers and the public alike.
The Contaminated Case of Cooking Contest
by Peter WongWith time travel and mysteries that need solving, the Galactic Academy of Science (G.A.S.) series instructs readers on how to think like scientists. Under the guidance of a Dude or Dudette from the future, the middle school characters are faced with treacherous, present-day crimes that require a historical knowledge of science in order to be solved. From investigating problems to analyzing data and constructing explanations and solutions, this series blends elements of sci-fi with educational methods that distill the key thinking habits of scientists and engineers. The science of food safety combines with mystery in this G.A.S. adventure about an outbreak of foodborne illness When a cruise featuring a cooking contest turns into a disaster of vomiting passengers, seventh-grade G.A.S. trainees Mae and Clinton have a mystery to solve. With help from Selectra Volt, Dudette from the future, the two kids travel through time to learn about the science of food safety. Between journeys to the past, they investigate clues aboard ship. But when a storm comes, and conditions aboard the disabled ship become desperate, can Mae and Clinton discover the cause of the outbreak in time?
Contaminated Land: Problems and Solutions, Second Edition
by Griselda PollockContaminated land is a problem both in the short and long term as it cannot be used without remediation. The investigation and analysis of the problem, along with the legal responsibilities surrounding the issues, continue to present difficulties to those wishing to use or develop a contaminated site. Since publication of the 1st edition, the area
Contaminated Sediments in Freshwater Systems
by Frank R. SpellmanAssessment of freshwater sediments can determine whether chemical concentrations are sufficient to cause adverse effects on aquatic organisms or organisms higher in the food chain, including humans. This book presents methods for assessing sediments and includes an integration of physical, chemical, and biological information. It examines the elements of quality assurance and control programs, considerations for the conduct of field surveys, screening-level analyses, chemical analyses, toxicity tests for assessing biological impacts, assessments of benthic invertebrate community structure, surveys of fish tumors and abnormalities, and data presentation and interpretation techniques.
Contaminated Urban Soils (Environmental Pollution #18)
by Helmut MeuserThis book gives a current overview of all facets of urban soils. Different urban land-use types in a number of examples worldwide are introduced. Many examples in different countries are provided in order to illustrate the situation in detail. The contaminant sources of urban soils (e.g., dust deposition, contamination along roadsides, contamination of floodplains, application of wastewater, anthropogenic deposits) are comprehensively presented. For practical application purposes a key with which to identify technogenic materials during field work is presented. Features like reductomorphic conditions in landfill soils, acidification of coal mining heaps and the impact of physical characteristics such as sealing are taken into consideration in the context of the contamination problem. The mobility of contaminants in the soils under consideration is introduced and discussed. The content of the book, however, is not limited to the description of contaminated urban soils. Different methods of assessment (classification, functional assessment, assessment focused on pathways with reference to standardized exposure scenarios) are introduced. Finally, quality standards for contaminated land in a number of countries are listed, compared and discussed. The book links up the contamination problem of urban soils with geographical aspects such as the historical development of city growth, the process of urbanization and the urban-to-rural gradients. Accordingly, the reader will be able to understand the specific problems of contaminated urban soils and will find sensible approaches to assessment.
ContamiNation
by Mckay JenkinsAn investigation into the dangers of the chemicals present in our daily lives, along with practical advice for reducing these toxins in our bodies and homes, from acclaimed journalist McKay Jenkins. A few years ago, journalism professor McKay Jenkins went in for a routine medical exam. What doctors found was not routine at all: a tumor, the size of a navel orange, was lurking in his abdomen. When Jenkins returned to the hospital to have the tumor removed, he was visited by a couple of researchers with clipboards. They had some questions for him. Odd questions. How much exposure had he had to toxic chemicals and other contaminants? Asbestos dust? Vinyl chlorine? Pesticides? A million questions, all about seemingly obscure chemicals. Jenkins, an exercise nut and an enviro-conscious, organic-garden kind of guy, suddenly realized he'd spent his life marinating in toxic stuff, from his wall-to-wall carpeting, to his dryer sheets, to his drinking water. And from the moment he left the hospital, he resolved to discover the truth about chemicals and the "healthy" levels of exposure we encounter each day as Americans. Jenkins spent the next two years digging, exploring five frontiers of toxic exposure--the body, the home, the drinking water, the lawn, and the local box store--and asking how we allowed ourselves to get to this point. He soon learned that the giants of the chemical industry operate virtually unchecked, and a parent has almost no way of finding out what the toy her child is putting in his or her mouth is made of. Most important, though, Jenkins wanted to know what we can do to turn things around. Though toxins may be present in products we all use every day--from ant spray, perfume, and grass seed to shower curtains and, yes, baby shampoo--there are ways to lessen our exposure. ContamiNation is an eye-opening report from the front lines of consumer advocacy.
Contamination of Groundwaters
by Domy C. AdrianoInternational experts have contributed key chapters to this major work on groundwater contamination. Section 1: Methodology and Modeling deals with both organic and inorganic contaminants, including those from agricultural operations. Section 2: Case Studies presents contamination scenarios with both inorganic and organic chemicals including agriculturally-related constituents, such as the nitrates.This important new publication is a welcome addition to the literature and will enhance recent information on methodology, modeling and real-world situations. It is of interest to scientists and planners in local and national government; environmental chemists, geochemists, geologists, and health and safety officers; river authorities; hydrologists; and the mining and land reclamation industries.
Contemplation and Counseling: An Integrative Model for Practitioners (Christian Association for Psychological Studies Books)
by P. Gregg BlantonInterest in mindfulness and contemplative thought is growing among Christians, and it's time to consider the place of contemplative prayer within the field of counseling. Can contemplative prayer be integrated into therapeutic work? Can it in fact serve as a foundation on which to build a new approach to counseling? In Contemplation and Counseling Gregg Blanton presents a new paradigm for integrating contemplative prayer with counseling practice. He contends that contemplative prayer can illuminate the purposes of counseling and suggest interventions that help us accomplish these goals. This paradigm builds an alliance between science, theology, and Christian contemplative thought to create a dynamic approach to counseling and balance various dimensions of the human person: emotion, cognition, and action. And by recognizing the power of both words and silence, it harmonizes their functions. Based on this integrative foundation, Blanton offers eleven fundamental interventions to fit the needs of clients (including silence, empathy, and teaching contemplative prayer) and a practical four-stage process for helping clients change, using examples from his own counseling experience and from the Bible. Ultimately, contemplative prayer leads us to the healing power of love. How we view our clients, the ways that we relate with them, and the strategies that we use to help them change are all informed by our loving search for God in contemplative prayer. Particular topics include how Christian contemplation compares with therapeutic uses of mindfulness insights from interpersonal neurobiology understood in light of Scripture psychological and spiritual benefits of lectio divina and centering prayer how practicing contemplative prayer can help counselors develop traits that correlate with positive client outcomes when and how to teach contemplative practices to clients the role of the body, emotions, conscious and unconscious mind, and behavior in contemplative practice and counseling
Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge
by Brian Hodel B. Alan WallaceB. Alan Wallace, renowned Buddhist scholar, integrates the contemplative methodologies of Buddhism and Western science into a single discipline: contemplative science. The science of consciousness investigates the mind through Buddhist contemplative techniques, such as shamatha, an organized, detailed system of training the attention. Just as scientists make observations and conduct experiments with the aid of technology, contemplatives have long tested their theories with the help of highly developed meditative skills of observation and experimentation. Contemplative science allows for a deeper knowledge of mental phenomena, and its emphasis on strict mental discipline counteracts the effects of conative (intention and desire), attentional,cognitive, and affective imbalances. Just as behaviorism, psychology, and neuroscience shed light on the cognitive processes enabling us to survive and flourish, contemplative science offers a groundbreaking perspective for expanding our capacity to realize genuine well-being. It also forges a link between the material world and the realm of the subconscious, transcending a traditional science-based understanding of the self.
Contemporary Acarology: 2017
by Michael J. Skvarla Ronald Ochoa Jose Carlos Verle Rodrigues H. Joel HutchesonThis book gathers papers presented at the annual meetings of the Acarological Society of America (ASA), jointly organized with the Entomological Society of America. The ASA plans to publish presentations from its annual meetings on a yearly basis; this book represents the first in the series.