Malcolm is a geek who's into old-school rap and finds himself in the middle of an adventure involving shady drug dealers, offbeat weirdos and a backpack that can make or break his chance of getting into Harvard.

Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with the latest discoveries on the human microbiome, a practical guide in the tradition of Wheat Belly and Grain Brain that conclusively demonstrates the inextricable, biological link between mind and body.

We have all experienced the connection between our mind and our gut—the decision we made because it “felt right”; the butterflies in our stomach before a big meeting; the anxious stomach rumbling when we’re stressed out. While the dialogue between the gut and the brain has been recognized by ancient healing traditions, including Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, Western medicine has failed to appreciate the complexity of how the brain, gut, and more recently, the microbiome—the microorganisms that live inside us—communicate with one another. In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer, executive director of the UCLA Center for Neurobiology of Stress, offers a revolutionary look at this developing science, teaching us how to harness the power of the mind-gut connection to take charge of our health.

The Mind-Gut Connection shows how to keep the brain-gut communication clear and balanced to:

• heal the gut by focusing on a plant-based diet
• balance the microbiome by consuming fermented foods and probiotics, fasting, and cutting out sugar and processed foods
• promote weight loss by detoxifying and creating healthy digestion and maximum nutrient absorption
• boost immunity and prevent the onset of neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
• generate a happier mindset and reduce fatigue, moodiness, anxiety, and depression
• prevent and heal GI disorders such as leaky gut syndrome, food sensitivities and allergies, and IBS, as well as digestive discomfort such as heartburn and bloating and much more.

This volume presents psychobiographical research in non-WEIRD—Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic—contexts and samples, focusing on culture, transcultural and transdisciplinary work. It creates a platform for researchers, scholars and scientists from diverse backgrounds to put forth new theoretical and methodological stances in psychobiography, thereby making the field more inclusive, diverse and equitable. The chapters in this volume investigate the role of context across the life course of non-WEIRD psychological subjects, as well as the interplay between them and their environments across the life span. They further elucidate cognitive, affective and behavioural aspects of individuals with non-WEIRD backgrounds.The volume provides a broad and at the same time in-depth perspective into psychobiography beyond the usual contexts and therefore has new and original learnings to offer across disciplines and cultures. It is a breakthrough in terms of its transcultural and transdisciplinary insights into lives lived in different contexts in the world. "Every person is in certain respects (a) like all other persons, (b) like some other persons, (c) like no other persons.  This book is a challenging and fascinating exploration of extending psychobiography beyond its origins in Europe and America to women and men of different races and social and economic classes from Africa, Asia, and around the world. At its best, psychobiography can increase people's awareness of their own subjective experience and that of others, contributing to movements for social, cultural and political  change." William McKinley Runyan,  Professor Emeritus & Professor of the Graduate School,  School of Social Welfare, U. of California Berkeley Beyond Weird is beyond needed.  The book triumphantly fills the gap created by a dearth of studies of people other than Western, educated, European and American men.  James William Anderson, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago.

This timely Research Handbook provides novel insights into the institutional complexities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Through a defined focus on the post-Cold War evolution of NATO, it provides various theoretical perspectives on the Alliance and assesses wider research efforts within NATO studies. Written by thirty renowned international scholars and practitioners, chapters provide multidisciplinary insights into NATO’s legal and political developments. They examine existing research ventures within NATO scholarship, as well as potential future methodological advancements. The Research Handbook looks closely at NATO’s political and military decision-making, its principles of governance and its key fields of action. It additionally offers a significant analysis of the organization’s stability and cohesion. This comprehensive Research Handbook will be important for academics studying law, politics and international relations surveying the intricacies of regional organizations. It will be particularly beneficial for NATO practitioners and for researchers endeavouring to further the field of NATO studies.

The fifth instalment of Prototype's annual anthology: a space for new work, open to all and free from formal guidelines or restrictions. Poetry, prose, visual work and experiments in between. With contributions by Alex Aspden, Ed Atkins & Steven Zultanski, Mau Baiocco, Claire Carroll, Hal Coase, James M. Creed, Iulia David, Nia Davies, Fiona Glen, Olivia Heal, Emma Hellyer, Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou, Rowe Irvin, Sasja Janssen (trans. Michele Hutchison), Bhanu Kapil, Sharon Kivland, Jeff Ko, Prerana Kumar, Grace Connolly Linden, Dasha Loyko, Nasim Luczaj, Ian Macartney, So Mayer, Catrin Morgan, Ghazal Mosadeq, Kashif Sharma-Patel, Helen Quah, Dipanjali Roy, Leonie Rushforth, Stanley Schtinter, Lutz Seiler (trans. Stefan Tobler), Madeleine Stack, Malin Stahl, Corin Sworn, Olly Todd, Yasmin Vardi, Kate Wakeling, Nathan Walker, Ahren Warner, Stephen Watts & Rojbin Arjen Yigit

Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. Forward-looking and innovative, Elgar Research Agendas are an essential resource for PhD students, scholars and anybody who wants to be at the forefront of research. Exploring current debates on the topic, this book maps out an agenda for theory, research and practice about the role and function of small and medium-sized towns in various contexts and at different territorial scales. Chapters highlight new insights and approaches to studying small and medium-sized towns, moving beyond the 'urban bias' to provide nuanced thought on these spaces both in terms of their relation to larger cities, and in terms of implications related to their size. Contributions from top scholars in the field across a number of disciplines cover a broad range of relevant areas of study, including: socio-spatial identities, urbanization, suburbanization, resilience, innovation, entrepreneurship, industrial and tourism development and digitalization. The book concludes with an outline of the road ahead and a call for further theorizing. Urban planning and human geography scholars will find this to be an invigorating read with contributions from scholars across urban planning, economic geography, tourism and public policy providing a holistic understanding of the topic.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.