This book opens up a dialogue between pre-modern women identified as mystics in diverse locations from South Asia to Europe. It considers how women from the disparate religious traditions of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity expressed devotion in parallel ways. The argument is that women’s mysticism demands to be compared not because of any essential ‘female’ experience of the divine but because the parallel positions of marginalization that pre-modern women experienced led them to deploy intimate encounters with the divine to speak publicly and claim authority. The topics covered range from the Sufi devotional tradition of Sidis (Indians of African ancestry) to the Bhakti poet Mīr�baī and the nuns of Barking Abbey. Collectively the chapters show how mysticism allowed pre-modern women to speak and act by unsettling traditional gender roles and expectations for religious behaviour. At the same time as uncovering connections, the juxtaposition of women from different traditions serves to highlight distinctive features. The book draws on a range of disciplinary expertise and will be of particular interest to scholars of medieval religion and theology as well as history and literary studies.

Oil wealth facilitated Saudi Arabia's rapid modernization. Yet the resulting social changes produced tension in the kingdom between religious and state leaders, as well as between these two groups and the new elites. The Kuwait-Iraq crisis demonstrated both Saudi regional weakness and its importance to the U.S.-led West. It also increased the religious and socio-political tensions in the kingdom which threaten its stability. This work examines the contemporary tensions which form today's Saudi society and directs its path to the future.

In the Direction of the Persian Gulf (1977) analyses the Soviet Union's interest in the countries of the Persian Gulf against the background of its relations with the Arab world, and the complexities of power politics. It examines, from the nineteenth century to the present, Russia's involvement in and efforts to gain at least a foothold, if not control of this oil-rich region. Particular attention is paid to the Soviet's interest in Persian Gulf oil, and Russian fuel resources are also discussed. Although bilateral and multilateral local relations are closely examined, power politics in general and in the region and the Indian Ocean are not neglected. In addition to Soviet sources, the authors have used the Arab and Western press, periodicals and monitoring services extensively.

Taking a sustainable approach, this volume explores the various soil management techniques. It begins with an overview of the elementary concepts of soil management and then delves into new research and novel soil management tools and techniques. Topics include: * Clays as a critical component in sustainable agriculture with respect to carbon sequestration in conjunction with its interaction with soil enzymes * The potential utilization of microbes to mitigate crop stress * Resource conservation technologies and prospective carbon management strategies * The use of smart tools for monitoring soils * Effective nutrient management approaches * Nanotechnological interventions for soil management * Techniques for the remediation of soils contaminated by metals and pesticides

This much-revised edition of Professor Abir's Saudi Arabia in the Oil Era now includes consideration of both Gulf Wars. Abir examines the social and political forces that have shaped Saudi Arabia, including the impact of Islam and of Westernization, drawing heavily on Saudi sources. There is also essential analysis of regional security dilemmas and of the country's prospects in the post-Gulf War era.

Whereas most studies of Islamism focus on politics and religious ideology, this book analyses the ways in which Islamism in the Arab world is defined, reflected, transmitted and contested in a variety of creative and other cultural forms. It covers a range of contexts of production and reception, from the early twentieth century to the present, and with reference to cultural production in and/or about Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, the Gulf, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine. The material engaged with is produced in Arabic, English and French and includes fiction, autobiography, feature films, television series, television reportage, the press, rap music and video games. Throughout, the book highlights the multiple forms and contested interpretations of Islamism in the Arab world, exploring trends and tensions in the ways Islamism is represented to (primarily) Arab audiences and complicating simplistic perspectives on this phenomenon. The book considers repeated and idiosyncratic themes, modes of characterisation, motifs, structures of feeling and forms of engagement, in the context of an ongoing struggle for symbolic power in the region.

First Published in 1980. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This study of political relations in the Middle East analyzes the reasons behind the instability of the region.

This book is about the socio-political dynamics in modern Saudi Arabia both in European languages and Arabic. It discusses the changes that the country, society, educational system, government, politics of Saudi Arabia underwent due to modernisation.

Whereas most studies of Islamism focus on politics and religious ideology, this book analyses the ways in which Islamism in the Arab world is defined, reflected, transmitted and contested in a variety of creative and other cultural forms. It covers a range of contexts of production and reception, from the early twentieth century to the present, and with reference to cultural production in and/or about Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, the Gulf, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine. The material engaged with is produced in Arabic, English and French and includes fiction, autobiography, feature films, television series, television reportage, the press, rap music and video games. Throughout, the book highlights the multiple forms and contested interpretations of Islamism in the Arab world, exploring trends and tensions in the ways Islamism is represented to (primarily) Arab audiences and complicating simplistic perspectives on this phenomenon. The book considers repeated and idiosyncratic themes, modes of characterisation, motifs, structures of feeling and forms of engagement, in the context of an ongoing struggle for symbolic power in the region.

This three-volume set of LNCS 14086, LNCS 14087 and LNCS 14088 constitutes - in conjunction with the double-volume set LNAI 14089-14090- the refereed proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Intelligent Computing, ICIC 2023, held in Zhengzhou, China, in August 2023. The 337 full papers of the three proceedings volumes were carefully reviewed and selected from 828 submissions. This year, the conference concentrated mainly on the theories and methodologies as well as the emerging applications of intelligent computing. Its aim was to unify the picture of contemporary intelligent computing techniques as an integral concept that highlights the trends in advanced computational intelligence and bridges theoretical research with applications. Therefore, the theme for this conference was "Advanced Intelligent Computing Technology and Applications". Papers that focused on this theme were solicited, addressing theories, methodologies, and applications in science and technology.

This three-volume set of LNCS 14086, LNCS 14087 and LNCS 14088 constitutes - in conjunction with the double-volume set LNAI 14089-14090- the refereed proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Intelligent Computing, ICIC 2023, held in Zhengzhou, China, in August 2023.The 337 full papers of the three proceedings volumes were carefully reviewed and selected from 828 submissions. This year, the conference concentrated mainly on the theories and methodologies as well as the emerging applications of intelligent computing. Its aim was to unify the picture of contemporary intelligent computing techniques as an integral concept that highlights the trends in advanced computational intelligence and bridges theoretical research with applications. Therefore, the theme for this conference was "Advanced Intelligent Computing Technology and Applications". Papers that focused on this theme were solicited, addressing theories, methodologies, and applications in science and technology.

This volume focuses on indigenous knowledge in analyzing the traditions and communication processes within various communities of Northeast India. It deals with the historical and theoretical trajectory of communication for social change as a discipline, bringing together a series of interesting case studies from the sphere of meaningful learning where individuals and communities engage in a cooperative and dialogic environment to promote change at multiple levels. The case studies cover a range of media - radio, video, ‘forum theatre’ - and considers both practitioners and audiences. The authors’ focus on narration, diversity, participation, and interaction is timely, and expands knowledge relating to these areas by linking them in new ways. It is of interest to an academic audience as well as practitioners researching and working in areas of education, communication, community development, and social work. 

When I began a survey of source material for this book in the early 1980s, I was somewhat surprised by the paucity of sources relating to socio-political dynamics in modem Saudi Arabia both in European languages and Arabic. Thus, William Rugh's article 'Emergence of a New Middle Class in Saudi Arabia' (1973), for instance, remains a classic to this day. In the field of social anthropology I found only a handful of serious studies of the Saudi population produced by western and Arab scholars (Katakura, Lancaster, Cole, Shamekh, and :tfamzah's outdated work). Other sources in Arabic largely dealt with the kingdom's geography and tribal division, past history to the twentieth century, the reign of Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, and the rise of the Wahhabi movement and its impact on the Arabian Peninsula. The contribution of Saudi scholars of good standing to the subject was minimal, as the Saudi modem elites were beginning to emerge in the middle of the century and only lately have they begun to publish worthwhile scholarly studies of their society and government - studies inhibited, unfortunately, by the character of the regime and its strict censorship laws.

This book is about the socio-political dynamics in modern Saudi Arabia both in European languages and Arabic. It discusses the changes that the country, society, educational system, government, politics of Saudi Arabia underwent due to modernisation.

Saudi Arabia has undergone a rapid social and economic transformation. When Ibn Saud declared the nation a unified kingdom in 1932, the majority of its population was nomadic and lived in a state of poverty or semi-poverty. Now the processes of modernisation, financed by the exploitation of the country's vast oil reserves, have produced a prosperous and predominantly urban population. However, this social change has not been without its tensions; the emergence of a rising middle class has called into question the monopoly of power of the House of Saud, its involvement in the kingdom's economy and its oil and foreign policy, while the rapid urbanisation of the rural population has eroded the traditional social structures and has not solved, but in some cases promoted, social division. This book, first published in 1988, explores the recent history of the Saudi oil state in an analysis of the struggle for social and political power in modern Saudi Arabia.

First Published in 1980. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This text analyzes the USSR's interest in the countries of the Persian Gulf. The book places such interest within the context of the USSR's relations with the Arab world and the complexities of power politics.

This study of political relations in the Middle East analyzes the reasons behind the instability of the region.

Philosophy in Reality offers a new vision of the relation between science and philosophy in the framework of a non-propositional logic of real processes, grounded in the physics of the real world. This logical system is based on the work of the Franco-Romanian thinker Stephane Lupasco (1900-1988), previously presented by Joseph Brenner in the book Logic in Reality (Springer, 2008). The present book was inspired in part by the ancient Chinese Book of Changes (I Ching) and its scientific-philosophical discussion of change. The emphasis in Philosophy in Reality is on the recovery of dialectics and semantics from reductionist applications and their incorporation into a new synthetic paradigm for knowledge. Through an original re-interpretation of both classical and modern Western thought, this book addresses philosophical issues in scientific fields as well as long-standing conceptual problems such as the origin, nature and role of meaning, the unity of knowledge and the origin of morality. In a rigorous transdisciplinary manner, it discusses foundational and current issues in the physical sciences - mathematics, information, communication and systems theory and their implications for philosophy. The same framework is applied to problems of the origins of society, the transformation of reality by human subjects, and the emergence of a global, sustainable information society. In summary, Philosophy in Reality provides a wealth of new perspectives and references, supporting research by both philosophers and physical and social scientists concerned with the many facets of reality.

Philosophy in Reality offers a new vision of the relation between science and philosophy in the framework of a non-propositional logic of real processes, grounded in the physics of the real world. This logical system is based on the work of the Franco-Romanian thinker Stephane Lupasco (1900-1988), previously presented by Joseph Brenner in the book Logic in Reality (Springer, 2008). The present book was inspired in part by the ancient Chinese Book of Changes (I Ching) and its scientific-philosophical discussion of change. The emphasis in Philosophy in Reality is on the recovery of dialectics and semantics from reductionist applications and their incorporation into a new synthetic paradigm for knowledge. Through an original re-interpretation of both classical and modern Western thought, this book addresses philosophical issues in scientific fields as well as long-standing conceptual problems such as the origin, nature and role of meaning, the unity of knowledge and the origin of morality. In a rigorous transdisciplinary manner, it discusses foundational and current issues in the physical sciences - mathematics, information, communication and systems theory and their implications for philosophy. The same framework is applied to problems of the origins of society, the transformation of reality by human subjects, and the emergence of a global, sustainable information society. In summary, Philosophy in Reality provides a wealth of new perspectives and references, supporting research by both philosophers and physical and social scientists concerned with the many facets of reality.

With portland cement and cementitious building products (currently used in over 95% of cement applications) consuming vast quantities of natural resources, constitutse a large proportion of industrial waste and currently represent about 5% of anthropogenic global CO2 emissions, there is an urgent need for innovative, creative, cost-effective and sustainable approaches to reduce the tremendous environmental impact of conventional cement-based technology and applications.

Magnesia cements offer one alternative, witha unique set of properties that set them apart from the conventional Portland based cements, such as superior strength, fire resistance, and exceptional ability to bond to a wide range of aggregates. Sorel cement as well as some magnesium compounds and minerals also have the ability to react with atmospheric carbon dioxide and effectively sequester it via carbonation. This will have obvious appeal as carbon dioxide sequestration is currently center stage as an environmental concern.

This reference handbook provides detailed analysis of the chemistry, properties, manufacture and the classical and new uses for magnesia cements. The focus is on Sorel cement (magnesium oxychloride), magnesium oxysulfate and magnesium phosphate cements. The work is ideally suited for materials scientists, cement chemists and ceramicists researching related subjects at academic institutions, and beyond materials research, for any academic working with construction and remediation, cement clinker, novel cement systems (sustainability), hydration and durability, thermodynamic modeling, waste management, and hydrate characterization. Research engineers working on any aspect of cement systems with environmental impacts will also be highly interested.
Formulary information aids research into more environmentally-friendly cement systems

Property chemistry discussion aids chemical phase analysis and improves impact of formulation

Applications analysis and history of global uses provides support for future environmentally stable industrial, building, and non-building applications "

This book constitutes - in conjunction with the two-volume set LNCS 10954 and LNCS 10955 - the refereed proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Intelligent Computing, ICIC 2018, held in Wuhan, China, in August 2018. The 275 full papers and 72 short papers of the three proceedings volumes were carefully reviewed and selected from 632 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections such as Evolutionary Computation and Learning; Neural Networks; Pattern Recognition; Image Processing; Information Security; Virtual Reality and Human-Computer Interaction; Business Intelligence and Multimedia Technology; Biomedical Informatics Theory and Methods; Swarm Intelligence and Optimization; Natural Computing; Quantum Computing; Intelligent Computing in Computer Vision; Fuzzy Theory and Algorithms; Machine Learning; Systems Biology; Intelligent Systems and Applications for Bioengineering; Evolutionary Optimization: Foundations and Its Applications to Intelligent Data Analytics; Swarm Evolutionary Algorithms for Scheduling and Combinatorial Optimization; Swarm Intelligence and Applications in Combinatorial Qoptimization; Advances in Metaheuristic Optimization Algorithm; Advances in Image Processing and Pattern Techniques; Bioinformatics.

This book reviews the current state of information on reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and their role in cell communication during plant growth, development and adaptation to stress conditions. It addresses current research advances made in the area of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) signaling. These free radical molecules are important in plant-microbe interactions, responses to abiotic stress, stomatal regulation and a range of developmental processes. Due to their short half-life, high diffusion capability and ability to react with different components in the cell, ROS and RNS participate in various processes connected with signaling and communication in plants. The book's respective chapters address the latest advances made in the niche area of ROS and RNS in plants. It offers a valuable guide for researchers and students alike, providing insights into cutting-edge free radical research. The information on specialized topics presented is also highly relevant for applied fields such as food security, agricultural practices and medicinal use of plants.

This book reviews the current state of information on reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and their role in cell communication during plant growth, development and adaptation to stress conditions. It addresses current research advances made in the area of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS and RNS) signaling. These free radical molecules are important in plant-microbe interactions, responses to abiotic stress, stomatal regulation and a range of developmental processes. Due to their short half-life, high diffusion capability and ability to react with different components in the cell, ROS and RNS participate in various processes connected with signaling and communication in plants. The book's respective chapters address the latest advances made in the niche area of ROS and RNS in plants. It offers a valuable guide for researchers and students alike, providing insights into cutting-edge free radical research. The information on specialized topics presented is also highly relevant for applied fields such as food security, agricultural practices and medicinal use of plants.