bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Digital Image Correlation Analysis of CFRP to Brick Bonded Joints Fastened by Fiber Anchor
Authors: Caggegi Carmelo , Chevalier Luc , Pensée Vincent , Cuomo Massimo
Published: September 2014

In the framework of the reinforcement of masonry structures by FRP sheets (Fiber Reinforced Polymer), the use of “Fiber Anchor” is an innovative performing solution to increase the peak load and the dissipation capability of the strengthened system. To analyze the performance of this new technology an experimental campaign composed by 36 tests has been conducted. Six series of CFRP to brick bonded joint fastened by different configurations of fiber anchor have been tested. To deeply describe the measure fields, the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) has been used. The strain fields obtained in the series not fastened by anchors have permitted to define the bond stress field and the advancement of the stress transfer zone. The DIC appears as a performing methodology to use in a lot of civil engineering experimental problems.
Experimental Study of Brick Masonry Walls Strengthened with Textile Reinforced Mortar
Authors: Bernat-Maso Ernest , Roca Pere , Gil Lluís
Published: September 2014

The paper presents an experimental research on the use of Textile Reinforced Mortar (TRM) for the strengthening of brick load bearing masonry walls subjected to eccentric loading. Particular attention is given to the case of slender walls and to the ability of TRM reinforcement to enhance the response of such walls against buckling failure. The research has allowed the study of the influence of different mortar and fibre grid types and the possible benefit of using anchors to improve the connection between the walls and the external reinforcement. The experimental campaign has consisted of twelve tests on full scale wall specimens using a specific testing device designed to create a hinged boundary condition at the top and bottom wall ends. It has been observed that TRM reinforcement provides a significant increase of over 100% of the initial load bearing capacity under eccentric axial load. Moreover, a stiffer and more homogeneous behavior is noticed when TRM is applied. A simplified analytical method to calculate the ultimate axial-bending combination for TRM strengthened brick masonry walls, in agreement with the experiments, is also presented.
Laboratory Tests on Masonry Vaults with Backfill Strengthened at the Extrados
Authors: Hojdys Łukasz , Krajewski Piotr
Published: September 2014

This paper deals with the experimental behavior of two masonry vaults strengthened externally with a composite material. Thickness, internal span and rise of the vaults were 120 mm, 2000 mm and 730 mm, respectively. Masonry was made of solid clay bricks and lime mortar. An alkali-resistant coated glass fiber grid embedded in a cement-based matrix was used as strengthening material. The tensile strength of the glass grid as specified by its manufacturers was about 45kN/m. Both of the tested vaults were strengthened at their extrados. Expanded clay aggregate or lightweight concrete were used as a backfill. The vaults were tested under monotonic vertical loads applied at a quarter span. The main aim of the research presented here was to develop a strengthening method acceptable for vaults with frescoes, to determine the load-carrying capacity and to examine failure modes of the tested specimens. The results of the tests show that observed failure modes depend on the backfill configuration.
The Effects of Mortar Joints on the Efficiency of Anchored CFRP Sheets Reinforcements of Brick-Masonry
Authors: Briccoli Bati Silvia , Fagone Mario , Ranocchiai Giovanna
Published: September 2014

The first results of an experimental campaign are reported that evaluates the efficiency of anchored CFRP reinforcements on brick masonry. Near End Supported Single Shear Tests were carried out on masonry pillars made according two different patterns, in order to detect the influence of both bed and perpend joints. The results are compared with results obtained from previous experimental campaign in which CFRP reinforcements were applied on “only brick” surfaces.
Strengthening Strategies of a Historical Masonry Construction
Authors: Olivito Renato Sante , Tedesco Alessandro , Codispoti Rosamaria , Spadea Giuseppe
Published: September 2014

In the last years, great attention has been given to the preservation of cultural heritage, and different research areas investigated on restoration, conservation and strengthening of monumental ancient constructions. This has been great relevance especially in Italy, the country which holds the greatest cultural heritage in the world. In this context, the use of fiber-reinforced composites as strengthening materials of existing structures revealed to be an efficient, low cost and low impact technique, due to their advantages compared to the use of traditional materials. In the present work, the convent of San Bernardino, a historical construction which belongs to the cultural heritage of the territory of Cosenza, has been taken into consideration, and different strengthening techniques for some of its masonry arches and columns have been proposed. After a detailed cognitive analysis of the construction complex, its structural deficiencies and their reasons have been investigated. A low level of safety of the entire construction have been found, especially in columns and arches of cloister. Starting from this points, several reinforcement interventions, using glass fiber materials, have been designed, in accordance with recent Italian guidelines. In particular, the technique of continuous and discontinuous confinement of columns through the application of composite materials and the effectiveness of the insertion of fiber-reinforced bars as reinforcement of arches have been designed. The strengthening interventions proposed entailed a significant increase of masonry elements strength and improved the overall safety of the monumental complex.
Strengthening Masonry Cross Vaults Damaged by Geometric Instability
Authors: Theodossopoulos Dimitris , Sanderson James , Scott Michael
Published: September 2014

Cross vaults can be easily destabilised when their thrusts are not sufficiently contained by the stiffness of their lateral walls or systems of buttresses. A quarter-scale model from the aisles of Holyrood Abbey church in Edinburgh, which collapsed in 1768 due to excessive load from diaphragm walls that substituted the original roof trusses, demonstrated earlier the pattern of cracks that leads to failure under horizontal spread of supports. A recent model of this vault aimed to study the effects of applying Aramid fibre reinforcement against such failure exactly at the critical cracks, compared to other tests that studied arches or vaults under point load, reinforced continuously. The paper presents how the quality of certain areas of the fabric diverted failure from the longitudinal vertex merging with the detachment of the ribs, as originally observed. Moreover, the repair allowed the vault to resist 50% more spread of its supports, and failure occurred ultimately when new cracks formed in parallel to the repaired ones. The tests and repairs validate qualitative observations on crack patterns and failure of real cases and highlight the benefits and limitations when specific repairs are made instead of wholesome application of a reinforcing mesh at the extrados of vaults.
Functionalization ZnAl1.9Eu0.1O4/SiO2 Nanoparticles Using Chitosan
Authors: Santos P.T. A. , Furtado C.M. , Santos Polyana T.A. , Costa A.C.F.M.
Published: September 2014

This work evaluated the use of chitosan as a biomolecule to functionalize the ZnAl1.9Eu0.1O4/SiO2nanoparticles with 3:1 w/w chitosan to nanoparticles. ZnAl1.9Eu0.1O4nanoparticles were obtained by combustion reaction and silanized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. After silanized chitosan were added to the diluted in 1% acetic acid. The materials were centrifuged and placed in an oven at 60 °C for solvent evaporation. ZnAl1.9Eu0.1O4nanoparticles silanized had a ZnAl2O4major phase and second phase EuAlO3. After functionalized ZnAl1.9Eu0.1O4nanoparticles showed characteristic crystalline phase of spinel and chitosan. The FTIR spectrum showed absorption bands characteristic of C=O, axial deformation of - CN and Si-O bands from the silane agent. By analysis SEM, observed in the chitosan impregnated particles of approximately spherical form, containing amorphous and crystalline phases, with smaller particles and larger 5μm. The higher mass loss was 88.3% observed for the functionalized chitosan nanoparticles.
Polyolefinic Surface Activation by Low and Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Treatments
Authors: Martinez M.A. , Abenojar J. , Encinas N.
Published: September 2014

Polyolefins are increasingly used in the construction of lightweight structures. Due to their low surface energy, it is difficult to have a proper bond with adhesives and paints. By using cold plasma treatments, these surfaces can be activated through the formation of highly reactive functional groups that can promote high strength adhesive bonds. This paper compares the results of cold plasma treatments using two techniques (low pressure and atmospheric plasma torch) applied on polypropylene and high density polyethylene. The obtained data allow the demonstration of a higher effectiveness of atmospheric plasma, with a significant increase in surface energy in both materials.
Experimental Methodology for Limit Strain Determination in a Carbon/Epoxy Composite under Tensile Fatigue Loading
Authors: Ancelotti C. , Noronha Melo M.L.M. , Gonçalves Vanderlei O. , Garcia K. , Pardini L.C.
Published: September 2014

This work proposes a methodology to obtain the carbon fiber/epoxy composite limit strain for structures surviving 120000 cycles. The damage progression was also evaluated using stiffness reduction and hysteresis loop analysis in order to obtain dynamic and secant modulus. The results provide information about composite fatigue behavior. This approach determined a limit strain range from 0.83 to 0.87%, a fatigue stress limit of 0.8% of the static strength, stiffness degradation (damage index) of about 5% (within the limit strain). The methodology presented herein may be used for determining of material design allowable when fatigue is key consideration.
Thermal Properties of a Barium Boron Silicate Glass as a Sealant for Use in Anode-Supported Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Authors: Silva Maviael Jose , dos Reis Signo Tadeu , de Mello-Castanho Sonia R.H.
Published: September 2014

The Solid oxide fuel cell is a very efficient and clean source of energy. The planar design of SOFC requires sealant at the edges of the cell to prevent fuel leakage (H2, CH4, etc) and air mixing at its working temperature (700 to 900°C). The extreme operation conditions of current cell designs involve both high temperatures and highly corrosive environments. As a consequence is necessary a material to seal the chambers of the anode and cathode along each cell unit (the anode-cathode-electrolyte and interconnects). The present work is an attempt to engineering glass compositions based on the BaO-Al2O3-SiO2-B2O3 system chosen due its thermal properties and good glass forming tendency. The glass formation or stability against crystallization and the coefficient of thermal expansion were determined by Differential Scanning Calorimeter and Dilatometric analysis, including sinterization curves. The main subject of this work is the development and selection of sealing glasses composition for SOFCs applications and also the development of new methodologies for preparation and evaluation of glass ceramics suitable for SOFC seals applications.
Influence of the Residue of Casting by Lost Wax in the Modulus of Elasticity and Porosity of Concretes
Authors: Machado Carine F. , Moravia Weber G.
Published: September 2014

This work evaluated the influence of additions of the ceramic shell residue (CSR), from the industries of Lost Wax Casting, in the modulus of elasticity and porosity of concrete. The CSR was ground and underwent a physical, chemical, and microstructural characterization. It was also analyzed, the environmental risk of the residue. In the physical characterization of the residue were analyzed, the surface area, and particle size distribution. In chemical characterization, the material powder was subjected to testing of X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Microstructural characterization was performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The residue was utilized like addition by substitution of cement in concrete in the percentages of 10% and 15% by weight of Portland cement. It was evaluated properties of concrete in the fresh and hardened state, such as compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, absorption of water by total immersion and by capillarity. The results showed that the residue can be used in cement matrix and improve some properties of concrete. Thus, the CSR may contribute to improved sustainability and benefit the construction industry.
Manufacturing of Epoxy Composites Incorporated with Buriti Fibers and Evaluation of Thermogravimetric Behavior
Authors: Barbosa Anderson de Paula , Picanço Oliveira Michel , Altoé Giulio Rodrigues , Margem Frederico Muylaert , Monteiro Sergio Neves
Published: September 2014

The thermal resistance of natural fibers is a relevant property for technical application associated with relatively high temperature levels. In polymer composites manufacturated with natural fibers the resistance to thermal degradation may become a critical factor not only with respect to processing temperature but also in-service heating operational conditions. In the present work, epoxy composites incorporated with up to 30 vol% of fibers extracted from the petiole of the buriti palm tree were manufactured and evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis, by means of the TG, and its derivative, DTG, curves from room temperature to 700°C. The results showed thermal resistances above 200°C for both the isolated buriti fibers and its manufactured composites.
Synthesis of Alumina Using Aluminum Acetate
Authors: Cartaxo Juliana Melo , Galdino M.N. , Campos L.F.A. , Ferreira H.S. , Menezes R.R. , Neves Gelmires Araújo
Published: September 2014

Alumina is a material used in a wide range of applications, including refractories, structural materials, sensors, catalysts, etc. Several synthesis methods are available for the production of submicrometric and nanometric alpha alumina. However, there is few studies on the use of acetate for the synthesis of alumina. Thus, the present work has as aim the synthesis of alumina powders using aluminum acetate. The precursors were obtained from the decomposition of aluminum acetate under temperatures of 650oC and 850oC, resulting in an amorphous precursors and gamma-alumina. These materials were submitted to dissolution and calcination. Based on the results, it is observed a reduced in the temperature formation of alpha phase, at around 900oC, when using the adopted methodology of synthesis. Amorphous precursor was more susceptible to the synthesis procedure used and generated alpha alumina in lower temperatures.
Parameters Optimization of Heat Treatment for Obtaining Luminescent PZT Powders
Authors: da Silva Margarete Soares , Cavalheiro Alberto A. , Zaghete Maria Aparecida , Cilense Mário , Teixeira Guilhermina F. , Cavenago Gustavo F. , Dias Rafael Gomes , Silva Lucas L.
Published: September 2014

Low crystalline PZT powder samples were successfully synthesized using polymeric precursor method and slow decomposition steps. The polymeric resin precursor was thermal treated in a muffle type oven varying the temperature from 250 °C to 700 °C and the time from 3 to 24 hours in order to investigate the order/disorder mechanism toward the amorphous powders. Powder samples with low crystalline phases were obtained at lower temperatures and long time of thermal treatment, demonstrating a kinetic dependence for organic removal and a thermodynamic barrier for crystallization processes. Through XRD and FTIR spectroscopy characterizations the long time thermal treated samples showed to be composed of the solid solution of metal oxides in absent of organic matter, originating broad XRD peaks profiles and no carbonaceous bands in FTIR spectra. A Photoluminescence characterization showed that the peak emission is higher for disordered and homogeneous phases, which only can be reached through the long time of thermal treatment.
Characterization of Selenium Doped Silica Gels Synthesized by Sol-Gel Method
Authors: Kobayashi Renata Andrade , Toffoli Samuel Marcio
Published: September 2014

Selenium is a rare element in nature. It is used in the food, pharmaceutical, and glass industries. In commercial glasses, selenium is the element responsible for most of the pink or light red color, but its effect is primarily dependent on the oxidation state of the element in the glassy matrix. Besides, selenium is highly volatile, and as high as 80 wt% may be lost in the furnace during the industrial glass elaboration. The sol–gel method yields synthesized materials of high purity and homogeneity, and uses low processing temperatures. Samples of silica gels were obtained by sol-gel method, incorporating precursors of selenium, with the main objective of reducing selenium losses during its heating. The results of optical absorption, XRD and thermal analysis (TGA, DSC) of the gels are presented and discussed.
Study of 4.5%mol Y2O3-Doped ZrO2 with Submicrometer Grain Size
Authors: Lena Eleomar , Chinelatto Adriana Scoton Antonio , Chinelatto Adilson Luiz
Published: September 2014

The aim of this study was to obtain 4.5%mol Y2O3-doped ZrO2dense with submicrometer grain size and studying the effects of using oxygen flow during calcination in the electrical properties of bodies sintered. The powders were synthesized by the Pechini method. After synthesis, the resins were dried and the calcinations were performed in air and in oxygen flow at 600°C for 2 h. The powders were pressed with 1600 MPa and sintered by Two Step Sintering (TSS) at 1500°C / 5 min and 1200°C, 1300oC, 1400°C, remaining at these temperatures for 2 and 10 hours. The sinterized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, apparent density, scanning electron microscopy and impedance spectroscopy. The apparent densities were greater than 94% for all conditions of calcination and sintering. The value of the activation energy was 0.7eV for the grain and 0.9 eV for the grain boundaries.
Obtaining of Chitosan/ZNAL1,9EU0,05O4 Film for Application as Biomaterial
Authors: Araújo P.M.A.G. , Santos P.T.A. , Santos P.T.A. , Silva F.N. , Costa A.C.F.M. , Araújo E.M.
Published: September 2014

This work reports the development and characterization by SEM, XRD, FTIR, emission and excitation chisonan/ZnAl1.9Eu0.05O4films with a mass proportion of 1:1. The powders were deagglomerated and passed 325 mesh screens and added to the diluted chitosan in 1% acetic acid. The materials were filtered and placed in petri dishes and placed in an oven at 60°C for solvent evaporation. After drying the film, a solution of 1M sodium hydroxide was added in order to obtain a film with neutral pH. With the XRD, it has been verified that the chitosan/ZnAl1.9Eu0.05O4films presented the chitosan peaks and ZnAl2O4. Through the SEM, it has been observed that the chitosan/ZnAl1.9Eu0.05O4presented a protruding surface. The results presented in emission and excitation spectra suggest that the film chitosan/ ZnAl1.9Eu0.05O4exhibit good luminescence properties, and are promising to be applied as a luminescent marker in future applications in the field of biomaterials.
Synthesis and Characterization of ZSM-5 Zeolite Using Kaolin as Si and Al Source
Authors: da Silva Valmir José , Freire Rodrigues Meiry Glaúcia
Published: September 2014

The objective of this work is to obtain synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolite using kaolin as Si and Al alternative source. Kaolin powder was dispersed under constant stirring into the sílica sol where the mass ratio of kaolin to silica was 1:2. After stirring for 2 hours, the dispersion was dried at 160 °C and calcined at 700 °C/2 hours. The synthesis of ZSM-5 zeolite was by hydrothermal treatment at 170 °C/48 hours under autogenous pressure. The materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, EDX, BET. According to the XRD, was possible to observe the formation of ZSM-5 zeolite with intense and well defined peaks set located between 2θ = 7-9° and 23-25°, typical of a crystalline material. The SEM showed the formation of particles clusters with orthorhombic shape characteristic of MFI structure. The results show that the hydrothermal treatment was efficient to produce ZSM-5 using calcined kaolin as alternative source.
Harnessing Chaos
Authors: Crossley James G.
Published: September 2014

Harnessing Chaos is an explanation of changes in dominant politicalized assumptions about what the Bible ‘really means’ in English culture since the 1960s. This book looks at how the social upheavals of the 1960s, and the economic shift from the post-war dominance of Keynesianism to the post-1970s dominance of neoliberalism, brought about certain emphases and nuances in the ways in which the Bible is popularly understood, particularly in relation to dominant political ideas. This book examines the decline of politically radical biblical interpretation in parliamentary politics and the victory of (a modified form of) Margaret Thatcher’s re-reading of the liberal Bible tradition, following the normalisation of (a modified form of) Thatcherism more generally.

Part I looks at the potential options for politicized readings of the Bible at the end of the the1960s, focussing on the examples of Christopher Hill and Enoch Powell. Part II analyses the role of Thatcher’s specific contribution to political interpretation of the Bible and assumptions about ‘religion’. Part III highlights the importance of (often unintended) ideological changes towards forms of Thatcherite interpretation in popular culture and with particular reference to Monty Python’s Life of Brian and the Manchester music scene between 1976 and 1994. Part IV concerns the modification of Thatcher’s Bible, particularly with reference to the embrace of socially liberal values, by looking at the electoral decline of the Conservative Party through the work of Jeffrey Archer on Judas and the final victory of Thatcherism through Tony Blair’s exegesis. Some consideration is then given to the Bible in an Age of Coalition and how politically radical biblical interpretations retain a presence outside parliamentary politics. Harnessing Chaos concludes with reflections on why politicians in English politicians bother using the Bible at all.
Suetonius
Authors: Wallace-Hadrill Andrew
Published: September 2014

Suetonius, a Roman historian, was the author of The Lives of the Caesars one of the most vivid surviving documents of the early Roma empire. His biographies illuminate not only the political history of the twelve rulers from Julius Caesar to Domitian, but also the whole social and cultural world to which these Caesar’s belonged. In the first major study of Suetonius in English, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill places the biographer in the context of tastes and intellectual currents of the early second century AD, and uses the portraits of earlier emperors to cast light on the values and ideology of the court of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian whom he served.

Thanks to Suetonius’ attentions to the personal lives of the Caesar’s, their tastes, sexual preferences, and superstitions, and his neglect of grand affairs of state and military narrative , he has been underrated as a serious historical source and compared unfavourably with his contemporary, the historian Tacitus. Wallace-Hadrill looks freshly at Suetonius in his own terms as a scholarly and antiquarian writer rather than a failed narrative historian. He shows how biographies reveal aspects of early imperial society and culture which Tacitus’ narrative neglects, and how important he is as a source for the current generations of historians, interested as much in a society and culture as in politics and warfare.
Rudolf Steiner
Authors: Ullrich Heiner
Published: September 2014

Rudolf Steiner is indisputably a major thinker in education. Heiner Ullrich's volume offers the most coherent account of Steiner's educational thought. This work is divided into:Intellectual biography

Critical exposition of Steiner's work

The reception and influence of Steiner's work

The relevance of the work today
Jonathan Franzen at the End of Postmodernism
Authors: Burn Stephen J.
Published: September 2014

Jonathan Franzen is one of the most influential, critically-significant and popular contemporary American novelists.This book is the first full-length study of his work and attempts to articulate where American fiction is headed after postmodernism.Stephen Burn provides a comprehensive analysis of each of Franzen’s novels – from his early work to the major success of The Corrections – identifying key sources, delineating important narrative strategies, and revealing how Franzen's themes are reinforced by each novel's structure. Supplementing this analysis with comparisons to key contemporaries, David Foster Wallace and Richard Powers, Burn suggests how Franzen's work is indicative of the direction of experimental American fiction in the wake of the so-called end of postmodernism.
Post-War British Women Novelists and the Canon
Authors: Turner Nick
Published: September 2014

With the increasing number of books on contemporary fiction, there is a need for a work that examines whom we value, and why. These questions lie at the heart of this book which, by focusing on four novelists, literary and popular, interrogates the canon over the last fifty years. The argument unfolds to demonstrate that academic trends increasingly control canonicity, as do the demands of genre, the increasing commercialisation of literature, and the power of the literary prize. Turner argues that literary excellence, demonstrated by style and imaginative power, is often missing in many works that have become modern classics and makes a case for the value of the ‘universal' in literature.

Written in a jargon-free style, with reference to many supporting writers, the book raises a number of significant cultural questions about the arts, fashions and literary reputations, of interest to readers in contemporary literary studies.
The Measureless Time of Joyce, Deleuze and Derrida
Authors: Borg Ruben
Published: September 2014

By examining the relation between time and processes of figuration in James Joyce's later work, this ground-breaking study identifies his attempt to engage with the philosophical problem of describing time's characteristic movement whilst acknowledging the impossibility of reducing this movement to anything that can be observed, represented or even experienced. Ruben Borg argues that this problem informs the narrative structure, imagery and complex rhetorical strategies in Finnegan's Wake and Ulysses. Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Derrida, Borg challenges the assumption that Joycean time is organised around the idea of a totalising present. Emphasising his treatment of time as a force of measureless passing, Borg offers a better understanding of Joyce's endeavour to characterise time as a multiplicity that resists representation or objective measurement and its role as a central theme and structural element in his later work.
Emily Brontë and the Religious Imagination
Authors: Marsden Simon
Published: September 2014

Readers of Emily Brontë’s poetry and of Wuthering Heights have seen in their author, variously, a devout if somewhat unorthodox Christian, a heretic, or a visionary “mystic of the moors”. Rather than seeking to resolve this matter, Emily Brontë and the Religious Imagination suggests that such conflicting readings are the product of tensions, conflicts and ambiguities within the texts themselves. Rejecting the idea that a single, coherent set of religious doctrines are to be found in Brontë’s work, this book argues that Wuthering Heights and the poems dramatise individual experiences of faith in the context of a world in which such faith is always conflicted, always threatened. Brontë’s work dramatises the experience of imaginative faith that is always contested by the presence of other voices, other worldviews. Her characters cling to visionary faith in the face of death and mortality, awaiting and anticipating a final vindication, an eschatological fulfilment that always lies in a future beyond the scope of the text.
The Glyph and the Gramophone
Authors: Ferretter Luke
Published: September 2014

D. H. Lawrence wrote in 1914, ‘Primarily I am a passionately religious man, and my novels must be written from the depths of my religious experience.’ Although he had broken with the Congregationalist faith of his childhood by his early twenties, Lawrence remained throughout his writing life a passionately religious man. There have been studies in the last twenty years of certain aspects of Lawrence’s religious writing, but we lack a survey of the history of his developing religious thought and of his expressions of that thought in his literary works. This book provides that survey, from 1915 to the end of Lawrence’s life. Covering the war years, Lawrence’s American works, his time in Australia and Mexico, and the works of the last years of his life, this book provides readers with a complete analysis, during this period, of Lawrence as a religious man, thinker and artist.
Interrupting Auschwitz: Art, Religion and Philosophy
Authors: Cohen Josh
Published: September 2014

Josh Cohen argues that Auschwitz is a key problem for how we think and therefore we cannot be assured that Auschwitz will not repeat itself.
Badiou and Derrida
Authors: Calcagno Antonio
Published: September 2014

This exciting new book makes a major contribution to Continental philosophy, bringing together for the first time the crucial work on politics by two giants of contemporary French philosophy, Jacques Derrida and Alain Badiou. Derrida has long been recognised as one of the most influential and indeed controversial thinkers in contemporary philosophy and Badiou is fast emerging as a central figure in French thought, as well as in Anglo-American philosophy - his magnum opus, Being and Event, and its long-awaited sequel, Logics of Worlds, have confirmed his position as one of the most significant thinkers working in philosophy today. Both philosophers have devoted a substantial amount of their oeuvre to politics and the question of the nature of the political. Here Antonio Calcagno shows how the political views of these two major thinkers diverge and converge, thus providing a comprehensive exposition of their respective political systems. Both Badiou and Derrida give the event a central role in structuring politics and political thinking and Calcagno advances a theory about the relationship between political events and time that can account for both political undecidability and decidability. This book navigates some very intriguing developments in Continental thought and offers a clear and fascinating account of the political theories of two major contemporary thinkers.
Jacques Derrida
Authors: Powell Jason
Published: September 2014

At the time of his death in 2004, Jacques Derrida was arguably the most influential and the most controversial thinker in contemporary philosophy. Deconstruction, the movement that he founded, has received as much criticism as admiration and provoked one of the most contentious philosophical debates of the twentieth century. Jacques Derrida: A Biography offers for the first time a complete biographical overview of this important philosopher, drawing on Derrida's own accounts of his life as well as the narratives of friends and colleagues. Powell explores Derrida's early life in Algeria, his higher education in Paris and his development as a thinker. Jacques Derrida: A Biography provides an essential and engaging account of this major philosopher's remarkable life and work.
Levinas: A Guide For the Perplexed
Authors: Hutchens Benjamin
Published: September 2014

Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed are clear, concise, and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers, and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging-or, indeed, downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to fathom, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.

Emmanuel Levinas is one of the most influential ethicists of recent times. The importance and relevance of his work has been recognized and celebrated within philosophy, religion, sociology, political theory, and other disciplines. His writing, however, undoubtedly presents the reader with a significant challenge. Often labyrinthine, paradoxical, and opaque, Levinas' work seeks to articulate a complex ideology and some hard-to-grasp concepts.

Levinas: A Guide for the Perplexed is the ideal text for the student, teacher, or lay reader who wants to develop a full and effective understanding of this major modern philosopher. Focused upon precisely why Levinas is a difficult subject for study, the text guides the reader through the core themes and concepts in his writing, providing a thorough overview of his work. Valuably, the book also emphasizes Levinas's importance for contemporary ethical problems and thinking.
Ricoeur and Lacan
Authors: Simms Karl
Published: September 2014

This is the first comparative study of the work of the philosopher Paul Ricoeur and the psychoanalayst Jacques Lacan. The book explores the conflict between the two thinkers that arose from their differing views of ethics: Ricoeur's universalist stance drew on a phenomenological reading of Kant, whereas Lacan's was a relativist position, derived from a psychoanalytic reading of Freud and de Sade. Ricoeur and Lacan gives a full critical overview of the work of both figures, tracing the origins and development of their principal ideas, and identifying key similarities and differences. Not only a valuable and original addition to the literature on two major thinkers, Ricoeur and Lacan is also an important study of contemporary Continental ethics.
Starting with Derrida
Authors: Gaston Sean
Published: September 2014

In this rigorous historical analysis, Lauer challenges traditional readings that have reduced two of German idealism's most important thinkers to opposing caricatures: Hegel the uncompromising systematist blind to the novelty and contingency of human life and Schelling the protean thinker drawn to all manner of pseudoscientific charlatanry. Bringing together recent scholarship that is just beginning to realise Schelling's centrality in the overthrow of metaphysics and Hegel's openness to diversity and innovation, this book shows that both thinkers can be read as contributing to the Kantian project of showing both the utter necessity and the limitations of reason.

In readings of texts spanning each thinker's career, Lauer shows that animating much of Hegel and Schellings’ most passionate work is their recognition of the need neither for a canonization of reason nor for its overthrow, but for its ‘suspension'. Their lifelong willingness to revisit both their definitions of reason and their accounts of its role in philosophy give these discussions a vitality and depth that few in the history of philosophy can match.
Kabbalah: A Guide for the Perplexed
Authors: Giller Pinchas
Published: September 2014

This is accessible and reliable survey of Kabbalah's key elements, uniquely exploring the contemporary phenomena of its popularity and the notoreity of some its modern purveyors. "Kabbalah: A Guide for the Perplexed" is a concise and accessible introduction to the major elements of the prevalent metaphysical system of Judaism, Kabbalah. The book covers the historical and theoretical essence of Kabbalah, offering a clear definition of the term and the limitations of what Kabbalah is and is not. Pinchas Giller provides an overview of the history of the movement, reflecting the sweep of Jewish history as a whole, and examines its metaphysical system, the advanced mythos of early and later Luria, doctrines of the soul, and the mysteries of Jewish religious practice and law. The book concludes with a summary of the contemporary kabbalistic phenomena, particularly in light of the notoriety of some modern purveyors of Kabbalah. As cogent and objective as possible, this is the ideal companion for those wishing to gain a sound understanding of this often perplexing mystical aspect of Judaism. "Continuum's Guides for the Perplexed" are clear, concise and accessible introductions to thinkers, writers and subjects that students and readers can find especially challenging - or indeed downright bewildering. Concentrating specifically on what it is that makes the subject difficult to grasp, these books explain and explore key themes and ideas, guiding the reader towards a thorough understanding of demanding material.
Religion at Ground Zero
Authors: Brittain Christopher Craig
Published: September 2014

‘The world will never be the same!’ How many times have human beings uttered this cry after a tragic event? This book analyzes how such emotive reactions impact on the way religion is understood, exploring theological responses to human tragedy and cultural shock by focusing on reactions to the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7, the two World Wars and the Holocaust, the 2004 South-East Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. It discusses themes such as the theodicy question, the function of religious discourse in the face of tragedy, and the relationship between religion and politics. The book explores the tension between religion's capacity to both cause and enhance the suffering and destruction surrounding historical tragedies, but also its potential to serve as a powerful resource for responding to such disasters. Analyzing this dialectic, it engages with the work of Slavoj Žižek, Karl Barth, Theodor Adorno, Emil Fackenheim and Rowan Williams, examining the role of belief, difficulties of overcoming the influence of ideology, and the significance of trust and humility.
Thinking and Seeing with Women in Revelation
Authors: Huber Lynn R.
Published: September 2014

Lynn R. Huber argues that the visionary aspect of Revelation, with its use of metaphorical thinking and language, is the crux of the text's persuasive power. Emerging from a context that employs imagery to promote imperial mythologies, Revelation draws upon a long tradition of using feminine imagery as a tool of persuasion. It does so even while shaping a community identity in contrast to the dominant culture and in exclusive relationship with the Lamb.

By drawing upon the work of medieval and modern visionaries, Huber answers acall to examine the way 'real' readers engage with biblical texts. Revealing how Revelation continues to persuade audiences through appeals to the visual and provocative imagery she offers a new sense of how the text metaphorical language simultaneously limits and invites new meaning, unfurling a range of interpretations.
Hans Urs von Balthasar and the Question of Tragedy in the Novels of Thomas Hardy
Authors: Taylor Kevin
Published: September 2014

What role do novels, drama, and tragedy play within Christian thought and living? The twentieth century Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar addressed these questions using tragic drama. For him, Christ was the true tragic hero of the world who exceeded all tragic literature and experience. Balthasar demonstrated how ancient, pre-Christian tragedy and Renaissance works contained important Christian concepts, but he critiqued modern novels as failing to be either truly tragic or Christian. By examining the tragic novels of Thomas Hardy on their own terms, we have an important counterpoint to Balthasar’s argument that the novel is too prosaic for theological reflection. Hardy’s novels are an apt pairing for examination and critique, as they are both classically and biblically influenced, as well as contemporary. The larger implication for Balthasar’s theology is that his innovations in theological aesthetics and tragedy must be expanded in the light of modernity and the tragic novel.
Santo Daime
Authors: Dawson Andrew
Published: September 2014

Santo Daime: A New World Religion deals with a young, exotic and controversial religious movement. Emerging in the Brazilian Amazon in the 1930s, Santo Daime has since spread to many of the world's major cities. Santo Daime is a mixture of indigenous, popular Catholic, Afro-Brazilian, esoteric, Spiritist, and new age beliefs and activities. Ritual practice is centred on the consumption of a psychotropic beverage called 'Daime' which members believe enhances their interaction with the supernatural world. Because Daime is treated as an illegal narcotic in many parts of the world, outside of its Brazilian homeland most Santo Daime rituals are practised clandestinely. This book unites extensive fieldwork experience with an established theoretical background and makes a significant contribution to understanding the contemporary interface of religion and late-modern society. Individualization and religious subjectivism, pluralization and religious hybridism, transformation and detraditionalization, globalization and religious identity, and commoditization and religious consumption are among the many issues engaged by this book. Santo Daime: A New World Religion is an accessible and multi-disciplinary book suitable for undergraduate students and researchers working in Religious Studies, Sociology of Religion, Anthropology, Cultural Studies and Latin American Studies.
The African Christian Diaspora
Authors: Adogame Afe
Published: September 2014

The last three decades have witnessed a rapid proliferation of African Christian communities, particularly in Europe and North American diaspora, thus resulting in the remapping of old religious landscapes. This migratory trend and development bring to the fore the crucial role, functions and import of religious symbolic systems in new geo-cultural contexts. The trans-national linkages between African-led churches in the countries of origin (Africa) and the “host” societies are assuming increasing importance for African immigrants. The links and networks that are established and maintained between these contexts are of immense religious, cultural, economic, political and social importance. This suggests how African Christianities can be understood within processes of religious transnationalism and African modernity.

Based on extensive religious ethnography undertaken by the author among African Christian communities in Europe, the USA and Africa in the last 17 years, this book maps and describes the incipience and consolidation of new brands of African Christianities in diaspora. The book demonstrates how African Christianities are negotiating and assimilating notions of the global while maintaining their local identities.
Girls Behind Bars
Authors: Sharma Suniti
Published: September 2014

While scholarship on the education of youth behind bars has largely focused on boys, more than one in three youth arrests in the United States is female. Girls Behind Bars sets out to address this imbalance.

First, the book offers autobiographies, life-stories, and counter-stories in order to counter simplistic generalizations and empirical prescriptions. Next, the study provides the educational community with critical perspectives that examine empiricist epistemologies and positivist methodologies that label certain groups of girls as delinquent and mark them for punitive and corrective treatment behind bars. Third, the book opens up the discussion on girls' gender, desire, and sexuality by offering a language for these issues absent in educational discourse. Finally, the book supports calls for educators and practitioners in their desire to envision and create transformative spaces that enable young girls behind bars to reclaim their education.

Including a foreword by William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn, this important and powerful book gives voice to a neglected, silenced, and misrepresented population – young girls behind bars.
Shakespeare and Music
Authors: Lindley David
Published: September 2014

Music permeates Shakespeare's plays. This comprehensive study explores the variety of its theatrical functions, situating them in the context of the Early Modern period's understanding of music. From the trumpet calls which animate the battle scenes of the histories and tragedies to the songs which inflect the moods of the comedies and romances, Shakespeare experiments throughout his career with music's potential to contribute to the effect of his dramas. David Lindley sets the musical scene of Shakespeare's England, outlining the period's theoretical understanding of music and discussing the experience of music heard in the streets, alehouses, private residences, courts and theatres, which an audience brought with them to the Globe and Blackfriars. Music could be praised as a symbol of divine and political harmony, or vilified as an incitement to lust and effeminacy; it could heal and cure, or fuel drunken rebellion. Focusing throughout on the plays as theatrical events, this work analyzes Shakespeare's dramatic and thematic exploitation of these conflicting perceptions of music.
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on : The Epistle Of James
Authors: Allison ,   Jr. Dale C.
Published: September 2014

For over one hundred years International Critical Commentaries have had a special place amongst works on the Bible. They have sought to bring together all the relevant aids to exegesis — linguistic, textual, archaeological,historical, literary and theological — to help the reader understand the meaning of the books of the Old and New Testaments. The new commentaries continue this tradition. New evidence now available, as well as new methods of study, will be incorporated in the confidant expectation that there will be an even greater need for such commentaries in the twenty-first century than there has been in the past. The authors, of the highest international standing, make no attempt to secure a uniform theological or critical approach to the biblical text: contributors have been invited for their scholarly distinction, not for their adherence to any one school of thought. Dale C. Allison, Jr., Errett M. Grable Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Early Christianity at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, adds to this prestigious serious a masterful exegetical and critical commentary on James.
Matthew 8-18: Volume 2
Authors: Davies W. D. , Allison ,   Jr Dale C.
Published: September 2014

W. D. Davies 'How should this massive work of scholarship be assessed? The three volumes stand as one of the major commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew in which all future interpreters of the Gospel will find a source of fruitful dialogue and helpful ideas. It is a "must have", both in libraries and in footnotes. Davies and Allison are to be thoroughly commended on the fruits of their considerable toil.'
The Story of the Malakand Field Force
Authors: Churchill Winston
Published: September 2014

Seeking military distinction, the 22-year-old Winston Churchill talked his way into the Malakand Field Force as a war correspondent, reporting on the front line in a struggle against restless frontier tribes. Churchill describes dramatic campaigns, his writing always rooted in the exotic and, at times, adverse environment of the Northwest Frontier, an area now part of Pakistan. This experience of entrenched and increasingly mechanized warfare likely influenced his command during the First World War, when he was better able than most to understand the nature of military stalemate. In this his first book he collected his reports of the conflict, providing a fascinating look at the start of Churchill's career as a writer and as a soldier.