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Competition Law and Collusion in Public Procurement (Routledge Research in Competition Law)
by Penelope GiosaThis book examines infringements of competition law in public procurement settings, evaluating the latest European Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU to examine to what extent its provisions facilitate or deter collusion during specific award procedures.Public contracts account for a significant proportion of EU expenditure. In sectors such as energy, transport, social protection and the provision of health or education services, public authorities are the main purchasers. It is important to ensure that public contracts are awarded in an open, fair and transparent manner that enables domestic and non-domestic firms to compete on an equal basis, with the aim of improving the quality and lowering the price of purchases made by public authorities. This book assesses the competition law enforcement mechanisms that competition regulators bring to the area of public procurement in the attempt to deter bid rigging. It analyzes key tools for the public and private enforcement of competition law in the domain of public contracts, such as the leniency programme, damages claims for bid rigging and the whistle blower programme. The book uses auction theory as benchmark to assess the risk of collusion in the context of procurement procedures and techniques. Offering a holistic analysis informed by research, it makes recommendations for better design, set up and management of public tenders without distorting competition. Highlighting the need to make use of competition law enforcement mechanisms in the battle against collusion in public procurement, it identifies ways in which the procurement process can be improved, to reduce and prevent bid rigging.The book will be of interest to researchers in the field of competition law, public procurement and EU law.
Winnicott’s Letter to Bion: Playing, Dreaming, and Beyond (The International Psychoanalytical Association International Psychoanalysis Library)
by Steven H. Cooper Christopher G. LovettWinnicott’s Letter to Bion presents reflections on a fascinating moment in the history of psychoanalytic thinking.Donald Winnicott’s letter, sent on October 5, 1967, and conveying thoughts about two of Wilfred Bion’s papers, never received a response. In this book, international contributors elaborate on the contents of the letter, overlapping and divergent projects of the two psychoanalysts, and the meaning of Bion’s silence. The chapters consider topics including the historical context of their work, their focuses on play and reverie, and the question of the sensuous.Winnicott’s Letter to Bion will be of great interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, and to historians of psychoanalysis.
Economics of the Energy Crisis: Environment, Policy and Security in the Indian Subcontinent (Routledge Explorations in Environmental Economics)
by Somnath Hazra Anindya BhuktaThe global energy crisis is a two-dimensional phenomenon: on the one hand, the gap between a continuously depleting supply capacity of fossil fuel and rapidly increasing demand for energy is fast widening, and, on the other, the burning of fossil fuels intensifies the problem of global warming day by day.This book explores this global crisis through a regional focus, exploring the issues as they relate to the Indian subcontinent. The book argues that since no source of energy is entirely pollution-free, it is essential to place greater emphasis on enhancing energy-use efficiency. This requires proper auditing of existing energy use and proper management of future use. Providing the foundation for this argument, the first section of the book examines the root cause of the problem: the supply-demand imbalance of energy. Alongside this, market imperfections in energy pricing are also discussed. The second section of the volume explores the environmental and political dimensions, examining policies in the region designed to provide a sustainable environment. The third and final sections present several plausible policy prescriptions to solve the problem.This book will be of particular interest to researchers of energy economics and policy, sustainability, environmental studies and South Asia more broadly.
What is Economics and Why Does it Matter?
by Marcin Gorazda Tomasz KwarcińskiThrough a series of contemporary cases, issues, and applications, this book provides an engaging initiation to the philosophy of economics.The book explores the morality of economics, the role of the state, policies for well-being, and the methods applied by economists. To encourage the idea of debate, the book explores both the pro and contra arguments of key questions: Why can’t economists predict future crises? Why do we pay taxes, and who should pay more? Should we open borders for economic immigrants? Why do we rely on GDP? Is economics an experimental science? By exploring these questions, and many more, the book provides an accessible and thought-provoking overview of current debates in philosophy of economics.This book is an ideal introduction to contemporary issues and questions in the philosophy of economics for all academic readers.
Lacan and the Question of Consent: Why Yielding is Not Consenting
by Clotilde LeguilClotilde Leguil explores the boundary between “consenting” and “yielding” from a Lacanian standpoint.Starting from the definition Lacan gave to psychical and sexual trauma, this book makes the distinction between the ambiguity of consent and the experience of coercion. Clotilde Leguil refers to the #MeToo movement, campaigns against femicides and Vanessa Springora’s book Le Consentement (Consent), elaborating on the various degrees of coercion to demonstrate that desire is not drive and that forcing leaves an indelible mark on the individual. Beyond the legal and contractual approach of consent, this book elaborates on the crucial stakes, both clinical and ethical, that this distinction entails.Lacan and the Question of Consent will be of interest to psychoanalysts and psychoanalytic theorists. It will be relevant for academics and scholars of Lacanian studies, gender studies, feminism and human rights.
Non-Conforming Women in Neoliberal Cities: Re-thinking Empowerment in Contemporary Diaspora Fiction and Film
by Shrimoyee ChattopadhyayThis book investigates the complex role space and movement play in the representation of South Asian diasporic communities in contemporary diaspora literature and films, the question of female empowerment in neoliberal Western cities, and the impact of trauma on female identities. It highlights the literary and cinematic portrayal of South Asian people’s migration to the UK and the US after the Second World War and discusses how the identities of the female characters are transformed in neoliberal cities. Focusing on South Asian women writers and directors, who are first- and second-generation immigrants in the West, the volume analyses how their works depict female empowerment in both British and American settings.The book will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of literature, film studies, diaspora studies, gender studies, and South Asian studies.
The Vicissitudes of Psychoanalysis in Soviet Russia, 1930-1980 (The History of Psychoanalysis Series)
by Lizaveta van MunsterenThis book considers the changing fortunes of psychoanalysis in Soviet Russia from 1930 to 1980.Approaching social history in a psychoanalytic key, Lizaveta van Munsteren argues that the growing split between official and informal languages of the time produced multiple strategies to keep alive the conversation around prohibited subjects. Through original archival research on figures such as Bluma Zeigarnik, Alexander Luria, Filipp Bassin and Dmitry Uznadze, van Munsteren offers a more nuanced understanding of Soviet studies of the unconscious and the role of language in the formation of the mind and in mental disturbances. This book makes a significant contribution to the historiography of psychoanalysis and to the study of the cultural influence of psychoanalysis and its interdisciplinary engagements.The Vicissitudes of Psychoanalysis in Soviet Russia, 1930-1980 will appeal to historians of psychoanalysis and psychology in Soviet Russia, psychosocial researchers and anyone interested in the critical history of psychoanalysis.
Shakespeare's Heartbeat: Drama Games for Autistic People
by Kelly HunterThis updated and revised edition of Shakespeare’s Heartbeat offers a step-by-step guide detailing how to demonstrate, play and perform sensory games based on two of Shakespeare’s most popular plays designed for autistic people of all ages. The original games of heartbeats, eye contact and spatial awareness were created at the Glebe School, Beckenham, with a group of twelve autistic teenagers who met and played with Kelly Hunter once a week over three years, 2002-2005. This second edition brings the book up to date with the additional knowledge Kelly Hunter has gained since then as the founding artistic director of Flute Theatre, the world’s only Shakespearean troupe to focus on the needs of autistic audiences. The book includes the following: A new chapter dedicated to performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest with autistic audiences, including Hunter’s adapted, interactive performance texts of both plays. A new resource for playing with younger autistic children and their families. A new resource for playing with those who require a lower demand approach. A new chapter with targets and techniques to understand the autism puzzle more clearly. New games based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Tempest which have been created over the last ten years, in addition to the original games detailed in the first edition. This book provides an indispensable learning tool for theatre practitioners, drama students, applied theatre students, teachers, autistic people and their families.
A Global Financial History of Oil Crises (Routledge Explorations in Economic History)
by Carlo Edoardo AltamuraIn this book, Altamura analyses the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, considering their impact on the world economy and subsequent reactions to the global instability.In terms of actors, the focus is on how international organisations such as the IMF, World Bank and OECD responded to the crisis, as well as the behaviour of commercial banks and central banks and of countries in the Global South. Altamura draws on newly available archival material from private financial institutions to paint a full picture of a rapidly changing world which paved the way for stagflation and interdependency.This monograph will be illuminating reading for economic and financial historians, plus scholars looking at energy history, the Cold War in a global context, the New International Economic Order and the political economy of the 1970s.
The Bajío Revolution: Remaking Capitalism, Community, and Patriarchy in Mexico, North America, and the World
by John TutinoIn The Bajío Revolution, John Tutino examines how popular insurgents reshaped Mexico, the United States, and global capitalism during the nineteenth century. After detailing New Spain’s silver-driven wealth, Tutino shows how the Bajío insurgency of 1810–20 broke silver flows and Asian trades, opening markets to industrial cloth made in England from cotton made by enslaved hands in the US South—while Bajío women claimed pivotal roles making maize to sustain families and guerrilla bands. As Mexico gained independence in 1821, mining remained broken while family growers held strong. Then, in the 1830s, a new silver-industrial capitalism fed by family maize makers rose in the Bajío. Women still led rural families and took on mill labor; one woman became Mexico’s leading silver capitalist. Facing that competition, in the 1840s the United States invaded to claim Texas for cotton and slavery and California for gold. The new Mexican capitalism carried on until the United States mobilized gold taken in war to join a global gold standard in the 1870s—blocking Mexico’s independent route to capitalism.
A Beginner’s Guide to Generative AI: An Introductory Path to Diffusion Models, ChatGPT, and LLMs (Synthesis Lectures on Computer Science)
by Deepshikha Bhati Fnu Neha Angela Guercio Md Amiruzzaman Aloysius Bathi KasturiarachiThis book is the essential guide for anyone curious about AI’s creative power. In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, generative AI stands out as one of the most transformative technologies of our time. Designed for beginners and requiring no prior knowledge of AI, this book breaks down the fundamentals of generative AI, from text and image generation to the workings of models like ChatGPT and Google Bard. The authors provide step-by-step coverage of the essential concepts and techniques that power generative AI. From the basics of how machines learn to generate text and images, to the intricate workings of models like Transformers, ChatGPT, and Google Bard, readers will gain a solid foundation in AI's most cutting-edge tools. Rather than focusing on a single method, the authors introduce a spectrum of generative modeling techniques, including diffusion models, variational autoencoders, and transformers. This comprehensive exposure ensures readers will be well-prepared to understand and adapt to the rapidly evolving AI landscape. In addition, real-world applications of generative AI across various industries are explored including healthcare innovations, business analytics, and legal technology, and the authors provide practical insights and examples that show how generative AI is revolutionizing these fields.
Das ultimative Buch über Point & Click-Adventures
by Joerg BurbachPoint & Click-Adventures sind mehr als nostalgisches Rätseln – sie sind interaktive Erzählkunst. Dieses Buch beleuchtet das Genre aus gestalterischer, narrativer und medienkultureller Perspektive. Es verbindet persönliche Anekdoten mit fundierter Analyse, deckt Designprinzipien, historische Entwicklungen und aktuelle Remakes ab. Es zeigt so, wie Adventures Lernprozesse, Kreativität und kollaboratives Denken fördern können. Ein Standardwerk für alle, die sich professionell und / oder leidenschaftlich mit Games im allgemeinen und Point & Click-Adventures im Besonderen beschäftigen – ob in Entwicklung, Forschung, Lehre oder einfach aus Liebe zum Genre.
Production at the Leading Edge of Technology: Proceedings of the 14th Congress of the German Academic Association for Production Technology (WGP), Chemnitz University of Technology, December 2024 (Lecture Notes in Production Engineering)
by Steffen Ihlenfeldt Welf-Guntram Drossel Martin DixThis book contains all contributions to the congress, in which both detailed scientific investigations and technological innovations in the process chains of machining and forming are discussed as well as comprehensive, far-sighted overall views on the planning and control of production processes. These approaches are supplemented by more interdisciplinary cross-sectional topics such as robotics, control engineering, automation, materials technology, additive manufacturing and human-centered production. It is particularly striking that the main approaches presented aim to improve efficiency in production using data-driven methods such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, the use of measurement results to improve simulations is also frequently addressed. The book proceedings show that transformations can only succeed through the realization of both detailed technical improvements in production technologies and optimized production organization.
Warum Gehirne keine Computer sind
by Dale PurvesDieses Buch untersucht die scheinbar grundlegende Herausforderung in der Neurowissenschaft von heute: zu verstehen, wie die vom menschlichen Gehirn erzeugte Erfahrung mit der physischen Welt, in der wir leben, in Beziehung steht. Die 25 kurzen Kapitel präsentieren das Argument und die Beweise, dass Gehirne dieses Problem auf einer rein trial-and-error-Basis angehen. Das Ziel ist es, Neurowissenschaftler, Informatiker, Philosophen und andere interessierte Leser dazu anzuregen, dieses Konzept der neuronalen Funktion und seine Implikationen zu hinterfragen. Eine der Schlussfolgerungen ist dabei, dass Gehirne nicht „rechnen“.
Topic Modeling: Advanced Techniques and Applications (Machine Learning: Foundations, Methodologies, and Applications)
by Qing Li Yanghui RaoAs a well-known text mining tool, topic modeling can effectively discover the latent semantic structure of text data. Extracting topics from documents is also one of the fundamental challenges in natural language processing. Although topic models have seen significant achievements over the past three decades, there remains a scarcity of methods that effectively model temporal aspect. Moreover, many contemporary topic models continue to grapple with the issue of noise contamination, particularly in social media data. This book presents several approaches designed to address these two limitations. Initially, traditional lifelong topic models aim to accumulate knowledge learned from experience for future task. However, the sequence of topics extracted by these methods may shift over time, leading to semantic misalignment between the topic representations across document streams. Such misalignment can degrade the performances of various downstream tasks, including online document classification and dynamic information retrieval at the topic level. Additionally, the challenge of coherent topic modeling is particularly relevant due to the noise and large scale of social media datasets. Messages on social media platforms often consists of only a few words, resulting in a lack of significant context. Models applied directly to this type of text frequently encounter the problem of feature sparsity, which can yield unsatisfactory outcomes. In the context of emotion detection, public emotions are known to fluctuate across different topics, and topics can evoke public emotion. Thus, there is a strong interconnection between topic discovery and emotion detection. Jointly modeling topics and emotions is a suitable strategy for these tasks. This book also examines the impact of topics on emotion detection and other related areas.
Machtasymmetrien im Gebärdensprachdolmetschen: Beschwerdemanagement und Schlichtung als Beitrag zur Professionalisierung (Sozialer Wandel und Kohäsionsforschung)
by Anika Loidl-WunderIn Deutschland mangelt es an formalisierten Beschwerde- und Schlichtungssystemen für Gebärdensprachdolmetscher*innen (GSD) und ihre Kund*innen. Ein Überhang von Machtmitteln erhöht das Risiko für GSD, sich gegenüber tauben Kund*innen repressiv zu verhalten. Beschwerde- und Schlichtungsstellen werden als Möglichkeit diskutiert, diese Machtasymmetrie zu reflektieren und zu bearbeiten und eine Zusammenarbeit auf Augenhöhe zu ermöglichen. Die empirische Fundierung umfasst Fokusgruppendiskussionen, begleitende Beobachtungen und Expert*inneninterviews und verfolgt einen möglichst partizipativen, community-basierten Ansatz. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass eine Beschwerde- und Schlichtungsstelle einen Baustein für eine rechtebasierte, emanzipatorische Professionalisierung des Berufsstandes von GSD bildet. Allyship in der Dienstleistungsbeziehung wird so um machtkritische Perspektiven erweitert. Eine Beschwerde- und Schlichtungsstelle kann, über eine moralische Selbstverpflichtung Dolmetschender hinaus, als Einlösung der Rechte tauber Menschen verstanden werden.
Computer Aided Verification: 37th International Conference, CAV 2025, Zagreb, Croatia, July 23-25, 2025, Proceedings, Part I (Lecture Notes in Computer Science #15931)
by Ruzica Piskac Zvonimir RakamarićThis open access 4-volume set constitutes the proceedings of the 37th International Conference on Computer Aided Verification, CAV 2025, held in Zagreb, Croatia, in July 23-25, 2025. The 51 regular papers presented together 24 tool papers, 4 casestudy papers in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 305 submissions. The accepted papers cover a wide spectrum of topics, from theoretical results to applications of formal methods. These papers apply or extend formal methods to a wide range of domains such as concurrency, machine learning and neural networks, quantum systems, as well as hybrid and stochastic systems.
Perturbation Based Privacy in Crowdsensing (Wireless Networks)
by Xuemin Shen Zhirun Zheng Zhetao LiThis book investigates perturbation-based privacy in crowdsensing systems. The authors first present an explicit overview of crowdsensing systems and privacy challenges and briefly discuss how the noise added by perturbation-based privacy-preserving techniques could inevitably degrade data quality and facilitate the success of data poisoning attacks on crowdsensing. The authors then give a comprehensive review of classical privacy notions for perturbation-based privacy-preserving techniques and theoretically analyze the relations between these privacy notions. The next four chapters conduct a series of studies on privacy preservation in crowdsensing systems from three dimensions of data privacy, data utility and data poisoning. Finally, the book explores open issues and outlines future research directions for perturbation-based privacy preservation in crowdsensing systems. Advanced-level students majoring in the areas of network security, computer science and electrical engineering will find this book useful as a secondary text. Professionals seeking privacy-preserving solutions for crowdsensing systems will also find this book useful as a reference.
Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) Technology for Multifaceted Applications
by Ayan Karmakar Kamaljeet SinghThis book details simple methodology for the realization of the practical micro devices employed in general applications. The book brings out practical concept along with process details associated with the device realization. The micro device fabrication technique is similar to MEMS and the application and methodologies are compatible to standard CMOS technologies. This book covers basic of wafer, general micro devices such as micro-heater, temperature sensor, humidity sensor, gas sensor, pyro-device along with associated characterization, integration and assembly aspects. This book provides basic overview and discusses practical aspects with characterization data. This book is targeted for the beginners and researchers providing insight into the practical aspects of this technology.
Electronic Materials Innovations and Reliability in Advanced Memory Packaging (Springer Series in Reliability Engineering)
by Chong Leong Gan Chen Yu HuangThis book provides a comprehensive introduction the reliability, and electronic materials innovations in advanced memory device packaging from component to system level. Special features of this book are sections covering not only the advanced packaging materials, but also system level packaging and integration in memory modules and solid state drives (SSD). The book is an extremely useful and applicable guide to professionals and students on materials reliability in memory device packaging - from component to system level.
Disciplinary literacy in primary schools: Reading, writing and speaking across the curriculum
by Shareen WilkinsonDrawing on the research evidence, Disciplinary Literacy in Primary Schools offers both theoretical and practical examples of how teachers can support primary pupils in reading, writing and speaking across the subject disciplines. Shareen Wilkinson draws on twenty years' experience in primary education to outline the ways in which disciplinary literacy can help pupils to read, write and speak like scientists, geographers and historians, while exploring other areas across the curriculum. This is an essential professional development resource for all Trust leads, senior leaders, local authority advisers, teachers, curriculum leads and subject leads who are passionate about having exemplary practice.
The A-Z of Good Governance (John Catt A-Z series)
by Roy BlatchfordThe A-Z of Good Governance is a special source of advice and reflection for every school leader, governor and trustee, organised around the 26 letters of the English alphabet._____________________________________________________________________'What impresses in so many boards is that members turn up very well prepared, having read papers in advance, often annotating them with questions and points for clarification. Naturally some governors are more interested in finance or buildings or human resources, based on their own skills-set. Others are fascinated by academic performance data or extra-curricular provision or the latest initiatives with wellbeing. The skilled chair ensures that the sum of the parts is fully harnessed.' Roy Blatchford
The A-Z of Good Governance (John Catt A-Z series)
by Roy BlatchfordThe A-Z of Good Governance is a special source of advice and reflection for every school leader, governor and trustee, organised around the 26 letters of the English alphabet._____________________________________________________________________'What impresses in so many boards is that members turn up very well prepared, having read papers in advance, often annotating them with questions and points for clarification. Naturally some governors are more interested in finance or buildings or human resources, based on their own skills-set. Others are fascinated by academic performance data or extra-curricular provision or the latest initiatives with wellbeing. The skilled chair ensures that the sum of the parts is fully harnessed.' Roy Blatchford
Disciplinary literacy in primary schools: Reading, writing and speaking across the curriculum
by Shareen WilkinsonDrawing on the research evidence, Disciplinary Literacy in Primary Schools offers both theoretical and practical examples of how teachers can support primary pupils in reading, writing and speaking across the subject disciplines. Shareen Wilkinson draws on twenty years' experience in primary education to outline the ways in which disciplinary literacy can help pupils to read, write and speak like scientists, geographers and historians, while exploring other areas across the curriculum. This is an essential professional development resource for all Trust leads, senior leaders, local authority advisers, teachers, curriculum leads and subject leads who are passionate about having exemplary practice.
Slavery's Medicine: Illness and Labor in the British Plantation Caribbean (Early American Histories)
by Claire E. GheriniHealthcare and hierarchy in Caribbean plantation slavery From their inception, British Caribbean sugar plantations generated wealth on the basis of nightmarish systems of labor exploitation, where illness was a constant of enslaved life. Then, in the second half of the eighteenth century, plantation owners tried to &“improve&” plantation slavery, targeting medicine and healing. But rather than improve rates of illness, they sought instead to make the work of medicine and care more economically predictable and efficient and to hurry the sick back to work. Healthcare became an arena for contests for power, as people struggled with one another over the terms of their work and how they recovered from illness. Slavery's Medicine uses a rich and substantial archival base to document the experiences of the sick, managers, doctors, absentee plantation owners, enslaved healers, and medical advice authors in this new, modern system of body management. Modern medicine ultimately sustained hierarchies among enslaved people and middling whites. Yet modern medicine also encouraged acts of resistance. It was, therefore, the creation of proprietors as well as enslaved men and women themselves.