bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Origins of Cuban Music and Dance
Authors: Lapidus Benjamin
Published: February 2025

Origins of Cuban Music and Dance: Changüí is the first in-depth study of changüí, a style of music and dance in Guantánamo, Cuba. Changüí is analogous to blues in the United States and is a crucible of Cuban Creole culture. Benjamin Lapidus describes changüí and its relationship to the roots of son, Cuba's national genre and the style of music that contributed to the development of salsa, in Eastern Cuba. He also highlights the connections between Afro-Haitian music and Cuban popular music through changüí, connections with the Caribbean that have been largely overlooked in the past.

After an initial historical discussion about the region of Guantánamo and the inter-connectedness of its various musical styles with a focus on changüí, Lapidus discusses the technical aspects of the genre as practiced within the region and beyond. He considers the socio-historical importance of its lyrics, presenting numerous musical transcriptions that explain how the music is structured, as well as providing background stories to songs. In a chapter unique to this book and a first in Cuban musicology and ethnography, Lapidus describes years of festivals and musical competitions to show how local musical identity takes shape, particularly when encountering national narratives of music history. The volume concludes with a comparison between changüí and son, as well as a bibliography, discography, and videography.
The Presence of God in the Christian Life
Authors: Knight Henry H.
Published: February 2025

While the most standard treatments of John Wesley's theology focus their attention on his distinctive 'way of salvation', they fail to provide a thorough examination of Wesley's 'means of grace.' This book offers the first detailed discussion of the means of grace as the liturgical, communal, and devotional context within which growth in the Christian life actually occurred. Knight shows how the means of grace together form an interrelated pattern that enables a growing relationship with God.
Psychological Courage
Authors: Putman Daniel
Published: February 2025

In this book, Daniel Putman outlays three forms of courage: physical, mental, and psychological. He defines psychological courage as the courage to face addictions, phobias, and obsessions, and to avoid self deception and admit mistakes. This book analyzes what psychological courage is and upholds it as a central virtue for human happiness.
With a Woman's Voice
Authors: Daniels Lucy
Published: February 2025

Having written a bestselling book at 22, survived a harrowing battle with anorexia nervosa, and pursued a successful career as a clinical psychologist, Lucy Daniels has led a remarkable life. In With a Woman's Voice: A Writer's Struggle for Emotional Freedom, her first book in 40 years, Daniels shares the experience of overcoming emotional hardships and gaining valuable insights from them, through psychoanalysis, that has enabled her to help others.

With a Woman's Voice is Daniels' memoir of the struggles she faces as a writer and a doctor of psychology, struggles that began at a very young age and continued long after the success of her two novels. As the child of a wealthy newspaper family, Daniels was emotionally deprived by her demanding parents and plagued by her own feelings of inadequacy and helplessness. Sent to a mental hospital for treatment of her anorexia, she spent years enduring brutal regimens of electroshock therapy, insulin injections, and force-feedings. It was during this time that she wrote Caleb, My Son.

Caleb, My Son became a national bestseller, earning accolades for its portrayal of racial and generational conflict in the South of the 50s. Her second book, High on a Hill, was a fictional account of the time she spent in the hospital. Her novels won her a Guggenheim fellowship and extensive praise.

After this early success, Daniels succumbed to writer's block that lasted several decades. She tells in her memoir of her decision to examine and resolve her problems, leading her to seek psychoanalytic treatment while pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology. After years of examining her difficulties and learning how they could be treated, she created a foundation that helps artists overcome emotional disorders and gain creative insight from both self-examination and psychotherapy.

With a Woman's Voice recalls these achievements, and the difficult years that led up to them, with insight, humor, and wisdom. Daniels provides a moving account of
Will it Liberate ?
Authors: Novak Michael
Published: February 2025

Michael Novak's work is challenging. We often disagree sharply in out interpretations and assessments of liberation theology, but he raises important issues which call for clarification and response.
Off in a Boat
Authors: Gunn Neil
Published: February 2025

In 1937, the Scottish writer, Neil Gunn, gave up his job in the civil service, sold his house in Inverness, and bought a boat. With his wife and his brother John, he set off on a three-month voyage around Inner Hebrides.

The boat had outlived its first youth, and its engine was somewhat cranky; she went tolerably under sail. These are not high recommendations, but for Gunn, and at times his fellow voyagers, the vessel was an argosy of freedom, of adventure and misadventure–for they were fairly inexperienced sailors, and the waters of the region are by no means placid.

Gunn was a Scots nationalist in a sense that goes far beyond the political, even though he thought that an independent Scotland was the only proper basis for a reasonable civilization. He was by nature poetic, uplifted or cast down by changing skies, seascapes, and shores. His descriptions of those things, including their moods, are remarkably evocative. And he is also a passionate historian of his country, exalting its possibilities, anathematizing its shortcomings. The book is illustrated with Daisy Gunn's photographs taken on the voyage, which are palpably amateur but wonderfully telling.
Crown of Thorns
Authors: Groueff Stephane
Published: February 2025

A fascinating biography of Bulgaria's tragic monarch, Boris III, based on private correspondence and extensive interviews with members of the Bulgarian royal family. The son of King Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Boris became king after the first World War. Noted for defying Hitler wishes for Bulgaria's Jews, the popular king died mysteriously in 1943 after a stormy meeting with Hitler.
Drinking with Dickens
Authors: Dickens Cedric
Published: February 2025

Drinking with Dickens is a light-hearted sketch by Cedric Dickens, the great-grandson of Charles Dickens. There are vivid and memorable drinking scenes in Dickens' books, and Drinking with Dickens abounds in recipes, many based on the drinks of Dickensian England and America: Bishop, Dog's Nose, Hot Bowl Punch, Milk Punch, Mint Julep, Sherry Cobbler, Shrub and Negus, to mention only a few. Unbelievably it seems to be the first book on this vast and important subject, and Cedric has added some recipes and experiences of his own.

The Victorian sources include a penny notebook dated 1859 and kept by "Auntie Georgie," Georgina Hogarth, when she was looking after the younger children of Charles Dickens at Gads Hill. It starts with a recipe for Ginger Beer, a teetotal drink which calls for a quart of brandy!

Then there is the catalogue for the sale of Gads Hill after Charles Dickens died which shows what was in the cellar at that time.

This book transcends the generations. Cedric, with an eye for people and detail, describes a whole series of joyous episodes where drink, wisely taken, has been the catalyst.
Christianity and Change
Authors: Armstrong Ralph
Published: February 2025

To find more information about Rowman and Littlefield titles, please visit www.rowmanlittlefield.com.
The Teachers' Lounge (Uncensored)
Authors: Flynn Kelly
Published: February 2025

Teachers step to the front of the classroom every day and do their darnedest to capture their student’s attention and keep it.

But so many things get in the way: unruly kids, disagreeable parents, homes so broken it is beyond imagining, bureaucracy and red tape, the influence of technology and the media, a culture that celebrates misguided values, and most intrusively, government regulations that purport to improve teaching and learning, but in fact, are destroying it.

The Teachers’ Lounge (Uncensored) gives you a peek inside that classroom. Kelly Flynn takes readers by the hand and says, “Come inside my school, walk a mile in my halls, and then we’ll talk about education reform.”

With breathtaking clarity and a healthy dose of humor Kelly Flynn shares with readers what all teachers know; that when you teach in a public school there are days that you laugh, days that you cry, and days that you laugh until you cry. Each student is surprisingly, delightfully, wildly different, which is precisely why one-size-fits-all education does not work.
Breaking Open the Box
Authors: DaFoe Nancy
Published: February 2025

What do David Foster Wallace's essay on wars over usage and Pico Iyer's comma personification have to do with improving students' academic writing? Everything. For all of the attention supposedly paid to Bloom's Taxonomy-with creativity at the top-educators tend to shy away from encouraging students' creative choices in areas where traditional analysis and the critic's style and tone have reigned. While we do not want our students to write inane or empty verbiage, we unintentionally set them up for this inevitability--or worse.

The movement away from children's natural creative impulses in elementary school to a direction in which they literally fit their writing into preconfigured shapes is a gradual one. Although purportedly taught to instill academic structures, these boxes are also designed to facilitate the ease with which student product may be assessed.

We need a more creative approach to teaching writing. A methodology incorporating creativity, as modeled by students in this text, demonstrates the kind of progress we are all seeking, offering an exciting challenge for young writers and educators alike.
For Good and Evil
Authors: Adams Charles
Published: February 2025

A fascinating history... —Kirkus Reviews ...an acidly witty guide. —Wall Street Journal
No Child Left Behind
Authors: Hayes William
Published: February 2025

While few would quarrel with the goal of the No Child Left Behind legislation, the nation is badly divided over whether the law is having a positive effect on our schools. At the same time, it is also true that most Americans, including many professional educators, have only a limited understanding of the content and scope of the legislation. As we are currently engaged in a national debate about the future role of the federal government in the field of education, it is essential that people become better informed about the history, content, and results of No Child Left Behind. This book is a valuable tool informing the current discussion on the reauthorization of the law. As a result, the reader will be better able to make up his own mind as to the direction we should take as a nation in pursuing the noble objective of ensuring that no child is left behind.
Choosing Excellence in Public Schools
Authors: Hornbeck David W. , Conner Katherine
Published: February 2025

Choosing Excellence in Public Schools explains the origins of the low expectations we have of children, including, notably, children of color, those for whom English is a second language, poor children and children with disabilities. The book dispels the basis for low expectations. It makes clear the economic, demographic, civic, personal and moral imperative to educate all children to high standards and the consequences of not doing so. Hornbeck and Conner set forth a comprehensive, radical agenda based on proven practices and practical experience that will result in education success for virtually all children where faithfully implemented. This book breaks new ground. It establishes that the missing ingredient in school reform is the absence of values-driven, focused, well-financed, professionally staffed, technologically sophisticated grassroots expression of the public will insisting that the political, media, business, judicial and organized labor institutions that make the choices that result in our children's learning conditions make different, and effective choices. We get the education for our own children and grandchildren and those of others that we tolerate or demand.
Raising African-American Males
Authors: Harris Theresa L. , Taylor George H.
Published: February 2025

Raising African American Males is comprised of strategies and interventions that can assist and improve African American males' achievement in all areas of academics as well as in their everyday lives. Theresa Harris and George Taylor provide pedagogical strategies that employ various instructional tools for teachers, parents, African American youth, and administrators. In addition, this book can be a guide to improve the educational outlook for African American males and to provide the necessary resources used for training of parents, teachers, and students. The "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 and the Maryland Redesign of Teacher Education provides for the belief in the efficacy of all students. Many social inadequacies and injustices have resulted in social problems including the lack of resources for African American males to succeed.
Designing School Systems for All Students
Authors: Manley Robert J. , Hawkins Richard J.
Published: February 2025

Designing School Systems for All Students provides a clear methodology for school leaders, teachers, and school board members to follow as they redesign their schools for the benefit of students. The authors demonstrate how school leaders set the expectations for all students to learn and grow as important contributors to the culture. In the effective schools that the authors describe, students deliver performances, discuss and conduct important inquiries, and lead profound learning activities. The book explains how curriculum can be redesigned to engage students in advanced cognitive and social and emotional development. Additionally, several barriers to great schools that include assessment practices, false testing procedures, poor governance, ineffective leadership and staff development are described in stark detail. Throughout the book are examples of effective practices that make it possible for all students to prosper in school. This book is filled with practical ideas that are compiled into a toolkit to fix America's schools.
The Nurturing Teacher
Authors: VanSlyke-Briggs Kjersti
Published: February 2025

The Nurturing Teacher tackles the concerns of stressed teachers. Whether from nurturance suffering (stress related to caring for students) or from the piles of paperwork yet to be tackled, this text helps the reader sort through the causes of stress, the emotional, physical and social reactions to stress and how one can begin to plan a stress management plan. The book includes a historical overview of feminist education, the perception of caring teachers in the media and a look at emotional labor and the impact on the teacher.
The Urban School System of the Future
Authors: Smarick Andy
Published: February 2025

For more than two generations, the traditional urban school system—the district—has utterly failed to do its job: prepare its students for a lifetime of success. Millions and millions of boys and girls have suffered the grievous consequences. The district is irreparably broken. For the sake of today’s and tomorrow’s inner-city kids, it must be replaced. The Urban School System of the Future argues that vastly better results can be realized through the creation of a new type of organization that properly manages a city’s portfolio of schools using the revolutionary principles of chartering.

It will ensure that new schools are regularly created, that great schools are expanded and replicated, that persistently failing schools are closed, and that families have access to an array of high-quality options. This new entity will focus exclusively on school performance, meaning, among other things, our cities can thoughtfully integrate their traditional public, charter public, and private schools into a single, high-functioning k-12 system. For decades, the district has produced the most heartbreaking results for already at-risk kids. The Urban School System of the Future explains how we can finally turn the tide and create dynamic, responsive, high-performing, self-improving urban school systems that fulfill the promise of public education.
Measuring Up
Authors: Sabatini John , Albro Elizabeth , O'Reilly Tenaha
Published: February 2025

In recent decades, the science of reading acquisition has been advancing through interdisciplinary research in cognitive, psycholinguistic, developmental, genetic, neuroscience, cross-language, and experimental comparison studies of effective instruction. Some of the science of reading has emerged from the theory and research into the realm of practice and policy. Yet the science and practice of measuring “reading comprehension” has remained relatively immune to much of this foundational knowledge. Measuring Up questions the traditional format of reading comprehension tests, typically a single series of questions asked about a series of passages, and offers ideas and innovations we might expect in a next generation of 21st century reading assessments.

Sabatini, Albro, and O'Reilly believe that in light of the move towards Common Core State Standards and assessments, as well as significant national investments in reading and literacy education, it is a critical and opportune time to bring together the research and measurement community to address fundamental issues of measuring reading comprehension, both in theory and in practice.
Life Lessons for Educators
Authors: Smialek Mary Ann
Published: February 2025

Difficult and demanding times force educators to reevaluate their lives and current lifestyles. Times of crisis make them look for new ways to cope, grow, and thrive as individuals. Life Lessons for Educators provides a timely master plan to lead educators through today's difficult times. It charts out a journey that doesn't cost any money and that will afford educators and those they are the closest to with a priceless opportunity to live happy lives even in times of great stress. The recommendations put forward promote clarity, efficiency, and effectiveness in life. The Life Lessons for Educators have nothing to do with how much or how little money, talent, or opportunities you have. They have everything to do with how educators approach their current situations: what they think, say, and do to minimize the effects of negativity for themselves, their kids, and the students in their charge.
Beyond Tourism
Authors: Cushner Kenneth
Published: February 2025

If young people are to be adequately prepared for a complex and interdependent global society, educational experiences must consider the broader world in which teachers and their students live. Teachers can be central to the process of intercultural development, and must encourage and model an intercultural orientation for their young students as well as for their communities. A critical dimension of achieving intercultural understanding and competence is personal experience. In Beyond Tourism, Kenneth Cushner examines the development of intercultural competence through various dimensions of student travel and intercultural encounters, both for the classroom teacher conducting group travel as well as individuals embarking upon student exchange programs, intensive summer experiences, and international student teaching. The author examines: aspects of cross-cultural orientation, trip planning and preparation, intercultural adjustment, in-country experience and post-experience impact through his experiences of organizing and leading international and intercultural educational programs for children, pre-service, and in-service teachers on all seven continents. Cushner integrates current research on the intercultural experience and relates it to his personal travel experiences while providing guidelines to enable educators to integrate reflective travel as an active part of the educational experience of young people. Multicultural, social studies, and foreign language teachers, international educators and study abroad officers, and those interested in experiential education will find this book invaluable.
Taoist Lessons for Educational Leaders
Authors: Heller Daniel
Published: February 2025

This book explores ways in which educational leaders can apply the wisdom of the Tao in their day-to-day work in schools. It offers an alternative to the standard ways of western thinking to give the leader more possibilities when confronting a situation. We tend to value immediate and decisive action, winning, directing, and getting one’s way. Taoist Lessons for Educational Leaders offers another way of approaching the workplace. We can also value waiting and reflection before acting, seeing all participants as winners or at least no one as a loser, following as a form of leadership, and giving away some victories, as beneficial to the governance of a school. There is more than one way to “win” and more than one way assert one’s authority, as illustrated by this book.
The Violence Continuum
Authors: Manvell Elizabeth C.
Published: February 2025

We expect schools to be a safe haven, but after more than a decade of targeted school violence prevention laws and safety plans, students are still marginalized and bullied to the point of despondence, retaliation, and even suicide. This thoughtful exploration of what makes a school a safe place is based on the understanding that violence is a continuum of acts and attitudes–subtle to overt–that have a negative effect on how students feel and learn.

A school’s climate–how it feels to be a member of the learning community–depends on how each student is treated. We are challenged to recognize the often overlooked, yet pervasive, forms of emotional and physical violence that students face every day. After conducting an honest assessment of our own school’s climate, we learn how to nurture supportive relationships between students and adults and embed pro-social skills and respect for diversity in everything we do.When done, we are equipped with the understandings, tools, and commitment necessary to create a safe, positive school climate that is systemic and lasting.
Dissertation Solutions
Authors: Axelrod Bradley , Windell James
Published: February 2025

New graduate students are often unaware of the many hazards and pitfalls that occur during the dissertation process: intensive schedules, dwindling motivation, difficult or unavailable mentors, and research and publication complications. Lacking the experience and wherewithal to successfully overcome or avoid these impetuses for derailment, many students are unable to complete the dissertation process, losing sight somewhere in between reading, studying, collecting data, and writing a thesis.

Based on the authors’ inside knowledge and extensive experience, Dissertation Solutions provides graduate students with the basic tools and skills to help them navigate the whole process with minimal damage, making the whole process of planning, researching, and writing more manageable. This thorough, but concise guide will help even the most naïve graduate student become experts in navigating and surviving their graduate experiences. Outlining the dissertation process, explaining the key players involved, and offering advice to help complete any research project, this book will also provide overwhelmed, intimidated, or just reluctant students with the motivation required to complete this arduous project.
Law in and As Culture
Authors: Picart Caroline Joan "Kay" S.
Published: February 2025

There are two oppositional narratives in relation to telling the story of indigenous peoples and minorities in relation to globalization and intellectual property rights. The first, the narrative of Optimism, is a story of the triumphant opening of brave new worlds of commercial integration and cultural inclusion. The second, the narrative of Fear, is a story of the endangerment, mourning, and loss of a traditional culture. While the story of Optimism deploys a rhetoric of commercial mobilization and “innovation,” the story of Fear emphasizes the rhetoric of preserving something “pure” and “traditional” that is “dying.” Both narratives have compelling rhetorical force, and actually need each other, in order to move their opposing audiences into action. However, as Picart shows, the realities behind these rhetorically framed political parables are more complex than a simple binary.

Hence, the book steers a careful path between hope rather than unbounded Optimism, and caution, rather than Fear, in exploring how law functions in and as culture as it contours the landscape of intellectual property rights, as experienced by indigenous peoples and minorities. Picart uses, among a variety of tools derived from law, critical and cultural studies, anthropology and communication, case studies to illustrate this approach. She tracks the fascinating stories of the controversies surrounding the ownership of a Taiwanese folk song; the struggle over control of the Mapuche’s traditional land in Chile against the backdrop of Chile’s drive towards modernization; the collaboration between the Kani tribe in India and a multinational corporation to patent an anti-fatigue chemical agent; the drive for respect and recognition by Australian Aboriginal artists for their visual expressions of folklore; and the challenges American women of color such as Josephine Baker and Katherine Dunham faced in relation to the evolving issues of choreography, improvisation and copyright. The book also analyzes the cultural conflicts that result from these encounters between indigenous populations or minorities and majority groups, reflects upon the ways in which these conflicts were negotiated or resolved, both nationally and internationally, and carefully explores proposals to mediate such conflicts.
Representing Ebola
Authors: Hasian Marouf A.
Published: February 2025

Representing Ebola provides readers with a critical legal analysis of the recent West African Ebola Outbreak. The author argues that a review of the scientific, military, legal, economic, political, and mediated coverage of this latest outbreak highlights the ways that organizations like the World Health Organization or Doctors Without Borders want to conceptualize the importance of rapid emergence from the West during African Ebola epidemics. The author concludes that while the U.S. military and other organizations prided themselves on their belated responses to this outbreak oftentimes journalists, scientists, and others overlooked the contributions that were made by contract tracers and indigenous public health workers. Sadly, the 2013-2015 West African outbreak took the lives of thousands of individuals, and the author contends that this contributed to sensationalist ways of representing local burial and food habits. The book concludes by noting that while many West African leaders appreciated the billions of dollars of promised aid that would flow toward this region in the wake of the Ebola outbreak real “health security” measures have to involve longer term infrastructural changes. Talk of how Westerners rescued the West Africans need to be augmented with more nuanced ways of thinking about how many of those who actually battled Ebola need to become part of future conversations regarding everything from theories of “aerial” transmission to the steps that need to be taken during the first few weeks of recorded outbreaks.
Theatrical Topographies
Authors: Misemer Sarah M.
Published: February 2025

The economic crisis in Argentina in 2001-2002 that spilled over into Uruguay causing fiscal and political problems is the starting point for my research on space and theater, and it demonstrates why we must look at the River Plate in both global and local ways. Connections among monetary policies, industries, and legal, social, and political movements mean that national spaces like Uruguay’s are fraught with tensions that come from both within and outside of borders. Recent economic crises like the one that is occurring in Greece, further demonstrate how nation states and trade blocks must constantly negotiate power as they toggle between national and international pressures. Nation states are being prompted to reconceive perspectives on governance that fall away from the parameters of Westphalian autonomy and reconcile their views with trends that instead require thinking about power as a network with shifting centers.

The introduction launches the study by addressing these political and economic trends, the spatial turn in theater and performance studies, the rise of multiculturalism, and also examines the Uruguayan historical context of the post-dictatorship and impunity laws that pit national sovereignty against international human rights laws. These crises are enacted on the Uruguayan stage and contextualized through networks and spatial topographies, intertextualties on the page, explorations of history and memory, and ultimately notions of identity in four areas: the postdramatic and economic realm (chapter one: Peveroni), cultural geography and pyschogeography (chapter two: Morena), midrash and questions of human rights and growing fascist trends (chapter three: Sanguinetti), and finally in mapmaking on the stage through mise-en-perf/performise and “wayfinding” through sites of contested power (chapter four: Calderón). The concluding chapter (Blanco) looks at the reinterpretation of Greek tragedy as a commentary on the messy process of democratization. Here, access to the polis and power are problematized through the lens of international sex trafficking and gendered roles that exclude portions of the populace from participation in the process of self-governance.
Literature and the Law in South Africa, 1910-2010
Authors: Laros Ted
Published: February 2025

In 1994, artistic freedom pertaining inter alia to literature was enshrined in the South African Constitution. Clearly, the establishment of this right was long overdue compared to other nations within the Commonwealth. Indeed, the legal framework and practices regarding the regulation of literature that were introduced following the nation’s transition to a non-racial democracy seemed to form a decisive turning point in the history of South African censorship of literature. This study employs a historical sociological point of view to describe how the nation’s emerging literary field helped pave the way for the constitutional entrenchment of this right in 1994. On the basis of institutional and poetological analyses of all the legal trials concerning literature that were held in South Africa during the period 1910–2010, it describes how the battles fought in and around the courts between literary, judicial and executive elites eventually led to a constitutional exceptio artis for literature. As the South African judiciary displayed an ongoing orientation towards both English and American law in this period, the analyses are firmly placed in the context of developments occurring concurrently in these two legal systems.
Shih-I Hsiung
Authors: Zheng Da
Published: February 2025

In 1933, Shih-I Hsiung (1902–1991), a student from China, met with Allardyce Nicoll, a Shakespearean scholar at the University of London, to discuss his PhD study in English drama. After learning about Hsiung’s interest and background, Nicoll suggested that he should consider studying Chinese drama for his dissertation and writing a play of a Chinese subject. Hsiung took the advice to heart and set out to write Lady Precious Stream, a play based on a classical Beijing opera. In six weeks, the writing was completed; six months later, the manuscript was accepted for publication by Methuen; and not long after, Little Theater in London agreed to produce the play, which ran for 900 successive shows. The phenomenal success turned Hsiung into stardom all at once: he became the first Chinese to write and direct a West End play in England; in 1936, the play had its Broadway premiere and subsequent performances in Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, and other U.S. cities; and it has been produced and staged in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia ever since. Following the success of Lady Precious Stream, Hsiung translated into English the Chinese classic The Romance of the Western Chamber; in addition, he wrote a number of plays, novels, and essays, in both English and Chinese, as well as the biography The Life of Chiang Kai-shek.Shih-I Hsiung: A Glorious Showman unfolds the transnational and transcultural life experience of an extraordinary showman: a literary master, a theater man, and a social actor bold and impassioned on socio-cultural stages. Hsiung introduced English and American literature to readers in China through his translation works in the 1920s and early 1930s. After his arrival in England, he began writing in English for audiences not familiar with the Chinese culture. His works were known for their originality, humor, and a deep sense of cultural and historical engagement. Later in his life when he was residing in Hong Kong, he was devoted to education and was also active in Chinese literary and theater circles.
America's Changing Icons
Authors: Babic Annessa Ann
Published: February 2025

America’s Changing Icons is a discursive examination of the female patriotic icon in the United States. This creative and entertaining work examines her use and decline, particularly in the 20th century, with a particular focus on popular culture icons like Lady Columbia, Rosie the Riveter, and Wonder Woman. These fictional creations, used with advertisements; letters; and literature of the eras work together to craft a multi-layered and dynamic portrait of cultural politics, tides, and perceptions about American women, life, and place.
The Problem of Religion, Christianity, and the Role of Protestantism in the Philosophy of the Early Hegel (1795–1806)
Authors: Bártfai Imre
Published: February 2025

The aim of this book is to provide the English-speaking public interested in philosophy, history of philosophy, (especially in German idealism) a one-book summary of Hegel's view on Protestantism, which is also the explication of his philosophical development, in the context of the wider problem of religion which determined the evolution of his early system. The book does not only reconstruct Hegel’s view on Protestantism, but also his philosophical evolution. The book unites historical and philosophical perspectives, Hegel’s theoretical beginnings in the context of religion necessitate a survey of the historical context of his ideas and research. Furthermore the relevant methodical problems get ample attention in the text too. The book places itself on the border between the historical interest in Hegel’s philosophy, and the systematical interest, which is peculiar of German research.
Will Artificial Intelligence Nurse Practitioners Become True? Performance Evaluation of ChatGPT in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Exams
Authors: Peng Lang , Wu Yi , Sun Jiayi , Xing Yihong , Li Mingqin , Li Mingzi
Published: February 2025

Nurse practitioners play a vital role in contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and Universal Health Coverage, especially the management of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT are becoming promising resources for healthcare professionals. This study aimed to explore the capability of ChatGPT as a nurse practitioner by validating the performance of ChatGPT-3.5 and GPT-4 in the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) practice examinations. Questions from exams for five nurse practitioner disciplines were used to evaluate the accuracy and consistency of the responses in two phases. In the first phase, the accuracy rates and concordance of answers between the two versions with the five exam sets, totaling 535 questions were analyzed. In the second phase, the consistency of ChatGPT-4 performance in six retests, each involving five random questions from each set. ChatGPT-3.5 achieved an overall accuracy rate of 80.6%, while ChatGPT-4 achieved 90.7%. ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 showed strong consistency within all sets, while ChatGPT-4 performed better than ChatGPT-3.5. In the retests, ChatGPT-4 provided exactly the same answers as generated initially, including the incorrect ones. In conclusion, ChatGPT demonstrated excellent performance in AANP practice exams, with high levels of accuracy and consistency. This suggests that ChatGPT may support nurse practitioners in making clinical decisions and improving efficiency. Further studies could explore ways to integrate artificial intelligence tools with nurse practitioner practice to enhance the advanced practice nursing workforce.
Microbial Fuel Cells for Sustainable Biofuel Production: Cutting-edge Technology
Authors: Korsa Gamachis , Bekele Gessesse Kebede , Beyene Abera , Alemu Digafe , Meka Abu Feyisa , Tibebu Solomon , Gutema Beamlak Teshome , Ayele Abate
Published: February 2025

As of 2023, coal, oil, and natural gas, which are non-renewable fossil fuels, account for about 80% of the world’s energy consumption. This underscores the pressing necessity for alternative energy sources in light of the worsening climate crisis.

Apart from the problems, this review evaluates the potential of microbial fuel cells for biofuel production, which contributes to just 10–20% of the total energy consumption due to its relatively low environmental impact. The aim of this systematic review is to elucidate microbial fuel cells and their role in producing a range of bio-based fuels, including biogas, biodiesel, bioethanol, and biobutanol. The findings are categorized into ten main areas: biomass conversion techniques, substrates and microbial strains, design components of microbial fuel cells, strain improvement through metabolic engineering, enhancements of nanomaterials for biofuel production, advantages and disadvantages of biofuels, integration in biorefineries, potential applications, the challenges and limitations, and future trends in microbial fuel cell technology. This review also underscores the promise of microbial fuel cells as a sustainable and eco-friendly option for bioenergy production, emphasizing the need for advancements in design and efficiency to compete with conventional fossil fuels. Harnessing innovative strategies pertaining to the technology of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can potentially transform energy generation into a more sustainable and commercially viable practice, positively impacting environmental conservation and public health.
Adaptive Leadership in Times of Organizational Change Driven by Digital Technologies
Authors: Herman Boikanyo Dinko
Published: February 2025

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, organizations face challenges and opportunities that demand dynamic leadership. This chapter explores adaptive leadership, a style uniquely suited to navigating the complexities of digital transformation. It begins by defining adaptive leadership and comparing it to other leadership approaches. The discussion then highlights the transformative impact of technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain, IoT, and big data on organizations. The chapter examines adaptive leadership’s critical role, emphasizing the skills and strategies leaders need to leverage digital change effectively. Grounded in theories such as Adaptive Leadership Theory, Complexity Leadership Theory, and Situational Leadership Theory, it provides a robust framework for understanding leadership in the digital age. Challenges like resistance to change and skill gaps are addressed, alongside opportunities for innovation and competitive advantage. Through real-world case studies, the chapter offers practical insights and a roadmap for fostering adaptability within organizations. It concludes by exploring emerging digital trends, predicting their implications for leadership, and providing actionable recommendations. This analysis equips leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to thrive amidst organizational change and sustain effective leadership in an ever-evolving digital world.
Clustered Federated Learning: A Review
Authors: Morafah Majid , Morafah Mahdi
Published: February 2025

Clustered Federated Learning (CFL) has emerged as a powerful extension of traditional federated learning to address the challenges posed by heterogeneous, non-IID data across distributed clients. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art CFL methods, categorizing them into model-based, feature-based, and hybrid approaches. Model-based clustering leverages client model updates to form clusters, while feature-based methods utilize client data characteristics, and hybrid approaches integrate both aspects to achieve robust clustering. The chapter also discusses the evaluation metrics and benchmarks used to assess CFL performance, such as accuracy, personalization, and cluster quality, along with case studies demonstrating CFL’s applicability in diverse domains like healthcare, IoT, and autonomous systems. We identify key challenges in CFL, including scalability, dynamic clustering, and privacy preservation, and propose future research directions to further enhance the effectiveness and scalability of CFL frameworks. Overall, this chapter aims to provide a deep understanding of CFL, highlighting its potential to improve federated learning outcomes in complex, real-world scenarios with non-IID data.
Perspective Chapter: Job Creation as a Catalyst for Poverty Alleviation in South Africa
Authors: Evans Netshivhambe Ntshengedzeni
Published: February 2025

Poverty remains a global challenge, exacerbated by economic downturns, national debt, and systemic inequalities, particularly in developing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s 2024 G20 Summit address highlighted the urgent need to address these interconnected crises, emphasising Africa’s disproportionate vulnerability to global challenges such as economic stagnation, debt burdens, and climate change. This study critically examines poverty and inequality in South Africa, focusing on the structural barriers that perpetuate socio-economic divides despite the country’s classification as an upper-middle-income nation. Drawing on multidisciplinary sources, including public reports, academic literature, and political discourse, the research highlights the disconnect between public rhetoric by government officials and on-the-ground realities. Findings reveal that government interventions often default to short-term solutions like social grants, which, while providing immediate relief, fail to address the systemic roots of poverty, such as limited education, inadequate job creation, and unequal access to resources. The study argues for a paradigm shift from rhetorical commitments to actionable strategies, emphasising job creation, capacity building, and equitable resource distribution. The research calls for accountability, transparency, and community involvement in policy implementation to bridge the gap between rhetoric and results. By addressing structural inequality, it highlights how nations like South Africa can drive sustainable empowerment and hold global leaders accountable for meaningful poverty alleviation.
Pediatric Fractures Treated by Resorbable Implants
Authors: Jozsa Gergo , Varga Marcell
Published: February 2025

Biodegradable implants have seen an increase in application in pediatrics. Designed to naturally dissolve over time, they offer a promising alternative to traditional metal implants by reducing long-term complications. Initially limited to fixation of knee joint fractures—where the need for a material that could safely degrade as the bone heals was first recognized—since then, their application has expanded considerably. Today, these are effectively employed to treat fractures in the ankle and elbow joints. More recently, the use of these implants has extended to fractures in the forearm and wrist, further demonstrating their versatility and growing acceptance in pediatric orthopedics. The study provides a comprehensive overview of the indications for implants—from clavicle to ankle—and details the surgical techniques required for proper fixation. Illustrations are also offered for visual evidence of successful outcomes. A major advantage is their ability to offer results comparable to metal counterparts. Despite being newer, resorbable implants have proven equally effective and safe over the years. Their ability to dissolve naturally renders them a viable option for pediatric patients, minimizing the need for future surgical interventions. This process reduces the risk of infections, complications of removal, or foreign material reactions. In summary, resorbable implants represent an important advancement in the treatment of childhood fractures. Their expanding range of applications, from the clavicle to the ankle, along with the positive clinical outcomes associated with their use, positions them as a highly effective and less invasive alternative to traditional metal implants in pediatric fracture management.
A Narrative View on Drug Development and Its Ethical Aspects
Authors: Klüglich Matthias
Published: February 2025

Historically, searching for new drugs evolved from a trial-and-error paradigm toward a more science-based approach. The driving force behind it has always been dual headed, as altruistic principles went hand in hand with hope for profit. Constraints of budget, time and quality necessitate constant validation along ethical standards and practical feasibility. Hoping to find a formula for predicting success, the digital, virtual and artificial intelligence revolution provides a tentative answer to the quo vadis of drug research. When altruistic and economic goals are aligned, focus can increasingly be set on rare diseases and vulnerable populations, which, however, creates new ethical challenges.
Perspective Chapter: An Overview of Time Series Decomposition and Its Applications
Authors: Das Pankaj , Barman Samir
Published: February 2025

Time series (TS) data is ubiquitous in various fields such as finance, economics, meteorology, and engineering. The analysis of TS data aims to understand the underlying patterns, make predictions, and inform decision-making. One of the fundamental techniques in TS analysis is decomposition, which breaks down a TS into its constituent components: trend, seasonality, and residuals. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of TS decomposition, breaking down data into trend, seasonality, and residuals. It covers classical methods, such as additive and multiplicative models, advanced techniques like X-12-ARIMA and Seasonal-Trend decomposition using LOESS (STL), and recent approaches, including machine learning (ML) based decompositions. Practical applications in agriculture, meteorology, and economics, along with challenges like non-stationarity and nonlinear behavior, are discussed. The chapter offers guidelines for selecting appropriate methods and includes case studies for real-world insights. It is a valuable resource for researchers, data scientists, and professionals analyzing complex TS data.