Since the 1970s, neoliberalism has evolved from ideology to political programme, from political programme to public policy, and from public policy to constitutional rule. This process of change has been made possible through the endorsement of an uncritical, a-historical, and apolitical economic theory that legitimized technocratic despotism, financial deregulation, precarious labour, and constitutional-political emptying. This book examines critical perspectives in mainstream neoliberal development analysis. It examines the neoliberal experiment as a global historical construct through the cases of Africa, Latin America, and Europe. The analysis begins in 1980 with the Structural Adjustment Plans in Latin America and Africa, followed in 1990 by Maastricht in the case of Europe and the euphoric shift that took place, typified by the "Africa Rising" narrative, which attempts to promote the idea of an economically emerging continent. It also considers the weakness of the state resulting from neo-liberal austerity and fiscal stabilization policies, which have amplified the inability to collectively deal with the social, economic, and political impact of the COVID-19 crisis. One of the key features of the book is the extensive comparative analysis between regions, using case studies, including examples from African countries. The authors connect the different regional perspectives, included in the book, in a clear and coherent way, such that it will appeal to students and scholars interested in the social, economic, and political outcomes of globalization and will also be of interest to official development agencies and third sector organizations in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

This book reviews up-to-date knowledge on the biology and aquaculture of tilapia, with special focus on the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Tilapia are a group of fish species that have become one of the most cultured worldwide, currently having a big economic impact on both developed and developing countries. The first 12 chapters of the present book cover different aspects of tilapia biology such as genetics, nutrition, osmoregulation, pathology, reproduction and development. Each chapter includes both basic knowledge and its application to tilapia culture. The last 3 chapters are devoted to cutting-edge techniques for the industry of tilapia aquaculture. Experts from both academia and research institutes provide their expertise on the present book.

This book provides an overview of the design, synthesis, and characterization of different photoactive hybrid organic-inorganic materials, based on the combination of mainly organic molecules and inorganic nanostructures, tackling their uses in different scientific fields from photonics to biomedicine. There are many examples extensively describing how the confinement of organic compounds (i.e. chromophores, photochromic molecules or photoreactants), or other photoactive compounds (i.e.metal clusters) into several microporous systems can modulate the photophysical properties and photochemical reactions leading to interesting applications. Among (ordered)-hosts, different systems of diverse nature are widely used, such as the, the 1D- or 3D- channels of zeolitic frameworks, interlayer space of 2D-clays, the organic nanospace of curcubituril and cyclodextrins or the organo-inorganic porous crystalline MOFs systems. This volume highlights the advances of these photoactive materials and aims to be an inspiration for researchers working in materials science and photochemistry, including chemists, material engineers, physicists, biologists, and medical researchers.

This book provides an overview of the design, synthesis, and characterization of different photoactive hybrid organic-inorganic materials, based on the combination of mainly organic molecules and inorganic nanostructures, tackling their uses in different scientific fields from photonics to biomedicine. There are many examples extensively describing how the confinement of organic compounds (i.e. chromophores, photochromic molecules or photoreactants), or other photoactive compounds (i.e.metal clusters) into several microporous systems can modulate the photophysical properties and photochemical reactions leading to interesting applications. Among (ordered)-hosts, different systems of diverse nature are widely used, such as the, the 1D- or 3D- channels of zeolitic frameworks, interlayer space of 2D-clays, the organic nanospace of curcubituril and cyclodextrins or the organo-inorganic porous crystalline MOFs systems. This volume highlights the advances of these photoactive materials and aims to be an inspiration for researchers working in materials science and photochemistry, including chemists, material engineers, physicists, biologists, and medical researchers.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the workshops and special session co-located with the 17th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, PAAMS 2019, held in Avila, Spain, in June 2019. The total of 26 full and 8 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 47 submissions. The book also contains extended abstracts of the doctoral consortium contributions. The papers in this volume stem from the following meetings: Workshop on Agents-Based Solutions for Manufacturing and Supply Chain, AMSC; Second International Workshop on Blockchain Technology for Multi-Agent Systems, BTC4MAS; Workshop on MAS for Complex Networks and Social Computation; CNSC; Workshop on Multi-Agent Based Applications for Energy Markets, Smart Grids and Sustainable Energy Systems, MASGES; Workshop on Smart Cities and Intelligent Agents, SCIA; and Workshop on Swarm Intelligence and Swarm Robotics, SISR; as well as the special session on Software Agents and Virtualization for Internet of Things, SAVIoTS.

This book describes the common ground between electricity markets (EMs) and software agents (or artificial intelligence generally). It presents an up-to-date introduction to EMs and intelligent agents, and offers a comprehensive description of the research advances and key achievements related to existing and emerging market designs to reliably and efficiently manage the potential challenges of variable generation (VG). Most EMs are unique in their complex relationships between economics and the physics of energy, but were created without the notion that large penetrations of variable generation (VG) would be part of the supply mix. An advanced multi-agent approach simulates the behavior of power markets over time, particularly markets with large-scale penetrations of renewable resources. It is intended as a reference book for researchers, academics and industry practitioners, but given the scope of the chapters and the highly accessible style, the book also provides a coherent foundation for several different graduate courses.

This book describes the common ground between electricity markets (EMs) and software agents (or artificial intelligence generally). It presents an up-to-date introduction to EMs and intelligent agents, and offers a comprehensive description of the research advances and key achievements related to existing and emerging market designs to reliably and efficiently manage the potential challenges of variable generation (VG). Most EMs are unique in their complex relationships between economics and the physics of energy, but were created without the notion that large penetrations of variable generation (VG) would be part of the supply mix. An advanced multi-agent approach simulates the behavior of power markets over time, particularly markets with large-scale penetrations of renewable resources. It is intended as a reference book for researchers, academics and industry practitioners, but given the scope of the chapters and the highly accessible style, the book also provides a coherent foundation for several different graduate courses.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the nine workshops co-located with the 15th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, PAAMS 2017, held in Porto, Portugal, in June 2017.The 41 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 80 submissions. The volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the following workshops: Workshop on Agent based Applications for Air Transport and Application of Agents to Passenger Transport; Workshop on Agent-based Artificial Markets Computational Economics; Workshop on Agents and Multi-agent Systems for AAL and e-HEALTH; Workshop on Agent-Based Solutions for Manufacturing and Supply Chain; Workshop on MAS for Complex Networks and Social Computation; Workshop on Decision Making in Dynamic Information Environments; Workshop on Multi-agent based Applications for Smart Grids and Sustainable Energy Systems; Workshop on Multiagent System based Learning Environments; Workshop on Smart Cities and Intelligent Agents.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the workshops which complemented the 13th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, PAAMS 2015, held in Salamanca, Spain, in June 2015. The 36 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 91 submissions. This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the following workshops: Workshop on Agents and multi-agent Systems for AAL and e-HEALTH, Workshop on Agent-Based Solutions for Manufacturing and Supply Chain, Workshop on MAS for Complex Networks and Social Computation, Workshop on Intelligent Systems for Context-based Information Fusion, Workshop on Multi-agent based Applications for Smart Grids and Sustainable Energy Systems, Workshop on Multiagent System based Learning Environments, Workshop in Intelligent Human-Agent Societies.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the workshops which complemented the 12th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, PAAMS 2014, held in Salamanca, Spain, in June 2014. This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the following workshops: Workshop on Agent-based Approaches for the Transportation Modeling and Optimization (AATMO 2014); Workshop on Agent-based Modeling and Simulation of Complex Systems: Engineering and Applications (ABSEA 2014); Workshop on Agents and Multi-Agent Systems for Ambient-assisted Living and e-Health (A-HEALTH 2014); Workshop on Agent-based Solutions for Manufacturing and Supply Chain (AMSC 2014); Workshop on Intelligent Systems for Context-based Information Fusion (ISCIF 2014); Workshop on Multi-Agent based Applications for Smart Grids and Sustainable Energy Systems (MASGES 2014); Workshop on Active Security Through Multi-Agent Systems (WASMAS 2014); Workshop on Intelligent Human-Agent Societies (WIHAS 2014).

Populist nationalism fuses beliefs that citizens are being exploited by a privileged elite with claims that the national culture and interests are under threat from enemies within or without. Ideologically fluid, populist nationalists decry "out-of-touch" institutions such as political parties and the mainstream press while extolling the virtues of the "people." They claim that only populists can truly represent the nation and solve its problems, and often call for unorthodox solutions that appeal to the common people. The recent spread of populist nationalism throughout the world has triggered a growing interest in the subject, led mainly by journalists. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump in the US have provoked a flurry of media coverage in Europe and the Americas, along with parliamentary debates. Some social scientists have sought to explain the resurgence of nationalism and the spread of populism in recent decades, but important questions remain and most of the scholarship has not adequately addressed the fusion of nationalism and populism. It fails to examine the combination of populism and nationalism comparatively, especially the contrast between the more progressive and leftist versions such as those in Latin America, and the more traditional conservative varieties that are gaining strength in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This interdisciplinary collection by experts on Europe and the Americas fills this void. The volume examines various experiences with populist nationalism, and offers theoretical tools to assess its future. Some chapters are in-depth country case studies and others take a broader perspective, but all open the door for meaningful comparison.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the workshops co-located with the 20th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, PAAMS 2022, held in L'Aquila, Italy, in July 2022. The total of 25 full papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 39 submissions. The papers in this volume stem from the following meetings: Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Industry (AI4Industry); Workshop on Adaptive Smart areaS and Intelligent Agents (ASSIA); Workshop on Character Computing (C2); Workshop on Deep Learning Applications (DeLA); Workshop on Decision Support, Recommendation, and Persuasion in Artificial Intelligence (DeRePAI); Workshop on Multi-agent based Applications for Modern Energy Markets, Smart Grids and Future Power Systems (MASGES).

Populist nationalism fuses beliefs that citizens are being exploited by a privileged elite with claims that the national culture and interests are under threat from enemies within or without. Ideologically fluid, populist nationalists decry "out-of-touch" institutions such as political parties and the mainstream press while extolling the virtues of the "people." They claim that only populists can truly represent the nation and solve its problems, and often call for unorthodox solutions that appeal to the common people. The recent spread of populist nationalism throughout the world has triggered a growing interest in the subject, led mainly by journalists. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump in the US have provoked a flurry of media coverage in Europe and the Americas, along with parliamentary debates. Some social scientists have sought to explain the resurgence of nationalism and the spread of populism in recent decades, but important questions remain and most of the scholarship has not adequately addressed the fusion of nationalism and populism. It fails to examine the combination of populism and nationalism comparatively, especially the contrast between the more progressive and leftist versions such as those in Latin America, and the more traditional conservative varieties that are gaining strength in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This interdisciplinary collection by experts on Europe and the Americas fills this void. The volume examines various experiences with populist nationalism, and offers theoretical tools to assess its future. Some chapters are in-depth country case studies and others take a broader perspective, but all open the door for meaningful comparison.

This book constitutes the proceedings of the workshops co-located with the 19th International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems, PAAMS 2021, held in Salamanca, Spain, in October 2021.The total of 17 full and 9 short papers presented in this volume were carefully selected from 42 submissions. The papers in this volume stem from the following meetings:Workshop on Character Computing (C2); Workshop on Deep Learning Applications (DeLA); Workshop on Decision Support, Recommendation, and Persuasion in Artificial Intelligence (DeRePAI); Workshop on Multi-agent based Applications for Modern Energy Markets, Smart Grids and Future Power Systems (MASGES); Workshop on Smart Cities and Intelligent Agents (SCIA).

Nanobiotechnology in agriculture is a new knowledge area that offers novel possibilities to achieve high productivity levels at manageable costs during the production and merchandising of crops. This book shows us how we can use the cutting-edge knowledge about agriculture, nanotechnology, and biotechnology to increase the agricultural productivity and shape a sustainable future in order to increase the social welfare in rural areas and preserve the environmental health. Specialists from several countries will provide their feedback on a range of relevant topics such as environment-friendly use of nanofertilisers, nanodevices, nano-food packaging, nanocoating and nanocarriers and their relationship with the modern agriculture.

A rebel and feminist, the Switzerland-born Miriam Cahn is one of the major artists of her generation. Widely known for her drawings and paintings, she also experiments with photography, moving images, sculptures, and performance art. Cahn's diverse body of work is disturbing and dreamlike, filled with striking human figures pulsing with an energy both passionate and violent. These pieces, along with Cahn's reflections on artistic expression, have always responded to her contemporary moment. In the 1980s, her work addressed the feminist, peace, and environmental movements, while the work she produced in the 1990s and early 2000s contains allusions to the war in the former Yugoslavia, the conflict in the Middle East, and the September 11 terrorist attacks. Her recent production tackles ever-evolving political conflicts, engaging with the European refugee crisis and the "#metoo" movement. Miriam Cahn: I as Human examines different facets of the artist's prolific and troubling oeuvre, featuring contributions from art historians, critics, and philosophers including Kathleen Buhler, Paul B. Preciado, Elisabeth Lebovici, Adam Szymczyk, Natalia Sielewicz and .

If social science's "cultural turn" has taught us anything, it is that knowledge is constrained by the time and place in which it is produced. In response, scholars have begun to reassess social theory from the standpoints of groups and places outside of the European context upon which most grand theory is based. Here a distinguished group of scholars reevaluates widely accepted theories of state, property, race, and economics against Latin American experiences with a two-fold purpose. They seek to deepen our understanding of Latin America and the problems it faces. And, by testing social science paradigms against a broader variety of cases, they pursue a better and truly generalizable map of the social world.

Bringing universal theory into dialogue with specific history, the contributors consider what forms Latin American variations of classical themes might take and which theories are most useful in describing Latin America. For example, the Argentinian experience reveals the limitations of neoclassical descriptions of economic development, but Charles Tilly's emphasis on the importance of war and collective action to statemaking holds up well when thoughtfully adapted to Latin American situations. Marxist structural analysis is problematic in a region where political divisions do not fully expresses class cleavages, but aspects of Karl Polanyi's socioeconomic theory cross borders with relative ease.

This fresh theoretical discussion expands the scope of Latin American studies and social theory, bringing the two into an unprecedented conversation that will benefit both. Contributors are, in addition to the editors, Jeremy Adelman, Jorge I. Dominguez, Paul Gootenberg, Alan Knight, Robert M. Levine, Claudio Lomnitz, John Markoff, Veronica Montecinos, Steven C. Topik, and J. Samuel Valenzuela."