Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Rural Europe investigates how social entrepreneurship advances social innovation in rural Europe and contributes to fighting social and economic challenges in these regions. Based on longitudinal data collected in four European countries, this book explains how social enterprises enact their business model based on an entrepreneurial reconfiguration of resources they obtain from their network relations, and how their activities empower local communities, driving change and eventually innovation. In these activities, the entrepreneurial mindset and the role as intermediary between different groups and domains of society help to reframe challenges into opportunities. The argument in this book develops from a description of what social enterprises report to do to an analysis of how they do it, and results in an explanation of why they take these actions. In doing so it gradually broadens the view from a focus on the social enterprises themselves to their interactions and network partners and, finally, to their positioning in societal fields. The presented model complements network theory with the concept of strategic action fields. This book reveals the crucial role of social entrepreneurship in innovation in rural regions, and the rich insights provided have far reaching implications for research, practice and policy. This book will appeal to everyone interested in the interface of social entrepreneurship, innovation, and regional/rural development, either on a practical or academic level.

Summer, 1976. Jesse and his brother, Edgar, are on the road in search of victims. They're rovers, nearly indestructible nocturnal beings who must consume human blood in order to survive. For seventy years they've lurked on the fringes of society, roaming from town to town, dingy motel to dingy motel, stalking the transients, addicts, and prostitutes they feed on. This hard-boiled supernatural hell ride kicks off when the brothers encounter a young woman who disrupts their grim routine, forcing Jesse to confront his past and plunging his present into deadly chaos as he finds himself scrambling to save her life. The story plays out through the eyes of the brothers, a grieving father searching for his son's murderer, and a violent gang of rover bikers, coming to a shattering conclusion in Las Vegas on the eve of America's Bicentennial. Gripping, relentless, and ferocious, Rovers demonstrates once again why Richard Lange has been hailed as an "expert writer, his prose exact, his narrative tightly controlled" (Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times). Finalist for the 2022 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award

How can municipalities in Central Europe create favourable conditions for local business? What and how can municipalities learn from each other? How can each individual in the local area contribute? And what requirements have to be met before know-how can successfully be transferred on a communal level? To answer all these questions, the authors of this book draw on results from a six-year research programme and comprehensively discuss the manifold opportunities, restrictions and prerequisites of establishing favourable conditions for small and medium enterprises in rural municipalities in Central Europe.

Written by clinicians, for clinicians, Cardiovascular Medicine and Surgery offers a comprehensive, authoritative, and multidisciplinary approach to this rapidly evolving field. Covering every area relevant to the daily practice of cardiovascular medicine, this new and innovative reference text, led by Drs. Debabrata Mukherjee and Richard A. Lange, brings together a stellar team of cardiovascular specialists from leading medical centers worldwide who focus on cutting-edge strategies for the clinical and surgical management of patients. Both medicine and surgery are highlighted in chapters along with follow-up care and changing technology to equip the clinician for optimal patient care. Highly structured and templated chapters cover pathogenesis, diagnosis, management, special considerations/limitations, follow-up care, and on-going and future research , Provides clinicians and fellows with comprehensive, evidence-based guidance on clinical cardiology, cardiovascular imaging, cardiac catheterization, electrophysiology, heart failure, vascular medicine, cardiovascular surgery, adult congenital heart disease, and preventative cardiology. Offers a multidisciplinary, heart team approach for valvular pathologies and coronary heart disease, with chapters authored either by a cardiologist or cardiac surgeon, or both based on subspecialty. Features a dedicated section on cardiac surgery to provide cardiologists a better perspective of commonly performed cardiac surgical procedures, risks and benefits, follow-up patient care, and changing technology. Includes hundreds of high-quality full-color anatomic illustrations, diagnostic images (ECGs, transthoracic echocardiograms, angiograms, MRIs), diagnostic and management algorithms, quick-reference tables, and clinical case studies throughout. eBook provides on-the-go access to additional online-only figures, tables, and videos Serves as a comprehensive, easily accessible reference for busy practitioners and cardiovascular trainees. , Enrich Your eBook Reading Experience Read directly on your preferred device(s), such as computer, tablet, or smartphone. Easily convert to audiobook, powering your content with natural language text-to-speech. ,

How can municipalities in Central Europe create favourable conditions for local business? What and how can municipalities learn from each other? How can each individuals in the local area contribute? And what requirements have to be met before know how can successfully be transferred on a communal level?

To answer all these questions, the authors of this book comprehensively discuss the manifold opportunities, restrictions and prerequisites of establishing favourable conditions for small and medium enterprises in rural municipalities in Central Europe. Conclusions are therein drawn for similar regions throughout Europe and the world.

Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Rural Europe investigates how social entrepreneurship advances social innovation in rural Europe and contributes to fighting social and economic challenges in these regions. Based on longitudinal data collected in four European countries, this book explains how social enterprises enact their business model based on an entrepreneurial reconfiguration of resources they obtain from their network relations, and how their activities empower local communities, driving change and eventually innovation. In these activities, the entrepreneurial mindset and the role as intermediary between different groups and domains of society help to reframe challenges into opportunities. The argument in this book develops from a description of what social enterprises report to do to an analysis of how they do it, and results in an explanation of why they take these actions. In doing so it gradually broadens the view from a focus on the social enterprises themselves to their interactions and network partners and, finally, to their positioning in societal fields. The presented model complements network theory with the concept of strategic action fields. This book reveals the crucial role of social entrepreneurship in innovation in rural regions, and the rich insights provided have far reaching implications for research, practice and policy. This book will appeal to everyone interested in the interface of social entrepreneurship, innovation, and regional/rural development, either on a practical or academic level.

Winner of the CWA Short Story Dagger. Every life is uncertain. Every choice is a danger. Set on the dark side of Los Angeles, this is a masterful collection of edge-of-your-seat tales: a prison guard must protect an inmate being tried for heinous crimes. A father and son set out to rescue a young couple trapped during a wildfire after they cross the border. An ex-con trying to make good as a security guard stumbles onto a burglary plot. A young father must submit to blackmail to protect the fragile life he's built. Sweet Nothing is an intense and gripping journey through real lives with big problems, from one of America's great short story writers.

"Angel Baby is taut and vicious, unfurling like a rumba of rattlesnakes." ---Los Angeles Times
Luz has made lots of mistakes. She should never have left her daughter in L.A. She should never have returned to Tijuana. She should never have married "El Principe, "a key player in a vicious drug cartel. But today's the day she sets things right. Taking only the clothes on her back, a Colt .45, and all the money in her husband's safe, she makes a desperate attempt to escape the hell her life has become. Between her and her little girl lie a border, a desert, a coldblooded enforcer, and a corrupt cop on the scent of cash.
Relentlessly paced and emotionally gripping, ANGEL BABY is "a lean novel that leaps and sings with hard-boiled intuition...it's his best work yet." ("Los Angeles Review of Books").

Summer, 1976. Jesse and his brother, Edgar, are on the road in search of victims. They're rovers, nearly indestructible nocturnal beings who must consume human blood in order to survive. For seventy years they've lurked on the fringes of society, roaming from town to town, dingy motel to dingy motel, stalking the transients, addicts, and prostitutes they feed on. This hard-boiled supernatural hell ride kicks off when the brothers encounter a young woman who disrupts their grim routine, forcing Jesse to confront his past and plunging his present into deadly chaos as he finds himself scrambling to save her life. The story plays out through the eyes of the brothers, a grieving father searching for his son's murderer, and a violent gang of rover bikers, coming to a shattering conclusion in Las Vegas on the eve of America's Bicentennial. Gripping, relentless, and ferocious, Rovers demonstrates once again why Richard Lange has been hailed as an "expert writer, his prose exact, his narrative tightly controlled" (Steph Cha, Los Angeles Times).