How can we create and sustain an America that never was, but should be? How can we build a truly multiracial democracy in which everyone is valued and possesses the needed political, economic and social capital so that democracy becomes a meaningful way of life, for all citizens? By critically probing these questions, the editors of Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy seize the opportunity to bridge the gap between our democratic aspirations and our current reality.   In a moment of democratic disappointment and anxiety, politicians, policy officials, scholars and citizens desire an effective response. This book assembles new voices and novel perspectives that offer a compelling vision for democracy and the prospects and possibilities afforded by community wealth building, an emerging policy paradigm focused on community-based, creative solutions to systemic problems. The contributors explore how, by cultivating the capacities of citizens, American democracy can be revived - indeed, created - as a veritable practice of everyday life. Scholars of democracy in political science, history, sociology, public policy, economics, African-American studies and related topics as well as policy practitioners, journalists and students will appreciate the cutting-edge work by leading scholars and the contributions from impactful practitioners from the White House to City Halls, in this discussion of the challenges facing contemporary American democracy and the prospects for reform and change.

Stockley's Herbal Medicines Interactions is now in its second edition and remains a unique collaboration between a team of experts in the fields of drug interactions, clinical herbal medicines, phytopharmacovigilance and regulation of herbal medicinal products. It provides an invaluable reference text for all healthcare professionals who require evidence-based information on the interactions of conventional medicines with herbal medicines, dietary supplements and nutraceuticals. Stockley's Herbal Medicines Interactions brings together available data on over 180 of the most commonly used herbal medicines, dietary supplements and nutraceuticals in highly structured, rigorously researched, and fully referenced monographs. Extensively updated for this second edition over 40 new monographs have been added for herbal medicines and dietary supplements, including Blue cohosh, Bergamot, Carnitine derivatives, Goat's rue, Hibiscus, Holy basil, Juniper, Kava and Squill. Substantial updates have been undertaken to the standing content, including revisions of the interactions of St John's wort, Milk thistle, Evening primrose oil, Ginkgo and many others. Key features include: Ease of use - structured format allows user to target key information at-a-glance. Clinically relevant - each monograph contains a concise summary on the available evidence and guidance on how the interaction can be managed. Ratings system - simple and intuitively understood, familiar to users of key drug interactions reference works. Worldwide appeal - as well as commonly used synonyms nomenclature includes approved pharmacopoeial names from Europe and the US. Indexing - full, comprehensive interactions indexing, with lead-ins from appropriate synonyms.

It is a truism to suggest that celebrity pervades all areas of life today. The growth and expansion of celebrity culture in recent years has been accompanied by an explosion of studies of the social function of celebrity and investigations into the fascination of specific celebrities. And yet fundamental questions about what the system of celebrity means for our society have yet to be resolved: Is celebrity a democratization of fame or a powerful hierarchy built on exclusion? Is celebrity created through public demand or is it manufactured? Is the growth of celebrity a harmful dumbing down of culture or an expansion of the public sphere? Why has celebrity come to have such prominence in today s expanding media? Milly Williamson unpacks these questions for students and researchers alike, re-examining some of the accepted explanations for celebrity culture. The book questions assumptions about the inevitability of the growth of celebrity culture, instead explaining how environments were created in which celebrity output flourished. It provides a compelling new history of the development of celebrity (both long-term and recent) which highlights the relationship between the economic function of celebrity in various media and entertainment industries and its changing social meanings and patterns of consumption.

The use of computers and the Internet in the testing community has expanded the opportunity for innovative testing. Until now, there was no one source that reviewed the latest methods of automated scoring for complex assessments. This is the first volume to provide that coverage, along with examples of "best practices" in the design, implementation, and evaluation of automated complex assessment. The contributing authors, all noted leaders in the field, introduce each method in the context of actual applications in real assessments so as to provide a realistic view of current industry practices. Evidence Centered Design, an innovative approach to assessment design, is used as the book's conceptual framework. The chapters review both well known methods for automated scoring such as rule-based logic, regression-based, and IRT systems, as well as more recent procedures such as Bayesian and neural networks. The concluding chapters compare and contrast the various methods and provide a vision for the future. Each chapter features a discussion of the philosophical and practical approaches of the method, the associated implications for validity, reliability, and implementation, and the calculations and processes of each technique. Intended for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in educational testing and measurement, psychometrics, cognitive science, technical training and assessment, diagnostic, licensing, and certification exams, and expert systems, the book also serves as a resource in advanced courses in educational measurement or psychometrics.

The use of computers and the Internet in the testing community has expanded the opportunity for innovative testing. Until now, there was no one source that reviewed the latest methods of automated scoring for complex assessments. This is the first volume to provide that coverage, along with examples of "best practices" in the design, implementation, and evaluation of automated complex assessment. The contributing authors, all noted leaders in the field, introduce each method in the context of actual applications in real assessments so as to provide a realistic view of current industry practices. Evidence Centered Design, an innovative approach to assessment design, is used as the book's conceptual framework. The chapters review both well known methods for automated scoring such as rule-based logic, regression-based, and IRT systems, as well as more recent procedures such as Bayesian and neural networks. The concluding chapters compare and contrast the various methods and provide a vision for the future. Each chapter features a discussion of the philosophical and practical approaches of the method, the associated implications for validity, reliability, and implementation, and the calculations and processes of each technique. Intended for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students in educational testing and measurement, psychometrics, cognitive science, technical training and assessment, diagnostic, licensing, and certification exams, and expert systems, the book also serves as a resource in advanced courses in educational measurement or psychometrics.

Pharmacognosy, the science of nature-derived drugs, pharmaceuticals, and poisons, played a crucial role in the development of modern medicine, and now has an equally important place in healthcare all over the world. This wide scope ranges from traditional medicine systems and herbal and nutritional therapies, the preparation and use of highly standardised and clinically tested herbal medicines, to the production of potent drugs used only in a purified form. Natural sources mainly focus on plants, fungi and algae, but drug discovery of novel compounds and structures includes bacteria and even marine animals. Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy is a landmark textbook that covers this spectrum of medicinal plant use. Written by leading experts in this field, this book takes the reader through the history, identification, and quality assurance of plant-based medicines to their therapeutic properties, safety, and compatibility and interaction with prescribed drugs. Aimed at students of all healthcare professions, including pharmacy, medicine, nursing and complementary therapies, the comprehensively updated information in this textbook is also relevant to those companies and organisations concerned with the regulation and testing of herbal medicines (phytomedicines), other natural health products, nutraceuticals and dietary supplements. Introduces the concepts and scope of pharmacognosy Examines the scientific evidence of plant-based medicines for a range of health conditions Extended and updated referencing includes recent reviews, WHO and official documents (open access where available) for quick access to further scientific literature Antimicrobial natural products: as antibiotics and antiseptics, and their potential as bacterial resistance modifiers Anticancer natural products: scope now includes their role in chemoprevention and associated anti-inflammatory mechanisms New chapter on pharmacovigilance for herbal medicines and related products Quality assurance and pharmacopoeial methods extended, with many new figures and examples Plant medicines of recent scientific interest (popularity, or notoriety) added throughout

It is a truism to suggest that celebrity pervades all areas of life today. The growth and expansion of celebrity culture in recent years has been accompanied by an explosion of studies of the social function of celebrity and investigations into the fascination of specific celebrities. And yet fundamental questions about what the system of celebrity means for our society have yet to be resolved: Is celebrity a democratization of fame or a powerful hierarchy built on exclusion? Is celebrity created through public demand or is it manufactured? Is the growth of celebrity a harmful dumbing down of culture or an expansion of the public sphere? Why has celebrity come to have such prominence in today s expanding media? Milly Williamson unpacks these questions for students and researchers alike, re-examining some of the accepted explanations for celebrity culture. The book questions assumptions about the inevitability of the growth of celebrity culture, instead explaining how environments were created in which celebrity output flourished. It provides a compelling new history of the development of celebrity (both long-term and recent) which highlights the relationship between the economic function of celebrity in various media and entertainment industries and its changing social meanings and patterns of consumption.

According to the calendar it was winter; but between Mentone and the frontier town of Ventimiglia, on the white road inlaid like a strip of ivory on dark rocks above the sapphire of the Mediterranean, it was fierce summer in the sunshine. A girl riding between two men, reined in her chestnut mare at a cross-road which led into the jade-green twilight of an olive grove. The men pulled up their horses also, and all three came to a sudden halt at a bridge flung across a swift but shallow river, whose stony bed cleft the valley. The afternoon sunshine poured down upon them, burnishing the coils of the girl's hair to gold, and giving a dazzling brilliancy to a complexion which for twenty years to come need not fear the light of day. She was gazing up the valley shut in on either side with thickly wooded hills, their rugged heads still gilded, their shoulders already half in shadow; but the eyes of the men rested only upon her. ...] Reprint of the mystery novel originally released in 1909.