Books published by WILEY

Veterinary Techniques in Llamas and AlpacasPractical resource for how-to information on performing hands-on procedures in llamas and alpacas, with step-by-step descriptions, photographs, and practice tips.Thoroughly revised to reflect new techniques, knowledge, and research, the Second Edition of Veterinary Techniques in Llamas and Alpacas provides practical step-by-step descriptions of techniques ranging from routine to not-so-common, helping veterinarians to confidently handle and perform common medical and surgical procedures in llamas and alpacas. To aid in practical application, hundreds of high-quality color photographs demonstrate the steps for each technique, making it a useful patient-side resource. Organized by body system, the book encompasses techniques associated with the physical exam, anesthesia, ultrasound, surgery, and more.Veterinary Techniques in Llamas and Alpacas presents a wide range of techniques, including:* Physical restraint and injection sites, including manual restraint (standing, sternal recumbency ("cushed"), and lateral recumbency), chute restraint, and ear squeeze* Catheterization, including jugular, cephalic, saphenous, lateral thoracic, auricular vein, auricular artery, femoral artery, intraosseous, intraperitoneal, and caudal epidural* The abdomen, including ultrasonography, abdominocentesis, liver biopsy, first forestomach compartment paracentesis, and intubation of the forestomach* The female genital system, with information on anatomical considerations, pregnancy diagnosis, vaginoscopy, teat and udder examination, mastectomy, c-section, and uterine torsionThe Second Edition of Veterinary Techniques in Llamas and Alpacas is an essential resource for veterinary practitioners with a camelid caseload, with accessible information and detailed picture-based tutorials on how to perform key procedures.

An initial course in scientific data analysis and hypothesis testing designed for students in all science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplinesData Analysis for the Geosciences: Essentials of Uncertainty, Comparison, and Visualization is a textbook for upper-level undergraduate STEM students, designed to be their statistics course in a degree program.This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to data analysis, visualization, and data-model comparisons and metrics, within the framework of the uncertainty around the values. It offers a learning experience based on real data from the Earth, ocean, atmospheric, space, and planetary sciences.Volume highlights include:* Serves as an initial course in scientific data analysis and hypothesis testing* Focuses on the methods of data processing* Introduces a wide range of analysis techniques* Describes the many ways to compare data with models* Centers on applications rather than derivations* Explains how to select appropriate statistics for meaningful decisions* Explores the importance of the concept of uncertainty* Uses examples from real geoscience observations* Homework problems at the end of chaptersThe American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals.

The latest edition of the official study guide for the AWS Advanced Networking certification specialty examThe newly revised second edition of the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Study Guide: Specialty (ANS-C01) Exam delivers an expert review of Amazon Web Services Networking fundamentals as they relate to the ANS-C01 exam. You'll find detailed explanations of critical exam topics combined with real-world scenarios that will help you build the robust knowledge base you need for the test--and to succeed in the field as an AWS Certified Networking specialist.Learn about the design, implementation and deployment of AWS cloud-based Networking solutions, core services implementation, AWS service architecture design and maintenance (including architectural best practices), monitoring, Hybrid networks, security, compliance, governance, and network automation. The book also offers one year of free access to Sybex's online interactive learning environment and expert study tools, featuring flashcards, a glossary of useful terms, chapter tests, practice exams, and a test bank to help you keep track of your progress and measure your exam readiness.The coveted AWS Advanced Networking credential proves your skills with Amazon Web Services and hybrid IT network architectures at scale. It assesses your ability to apply deep technical knowledge to the design and implementation of AWS Networking services. This book provides you with comprehensive review and practice opportunities so you can succeed on the challenging ANS-C01 exam the first time around. It also offers:* Coverage of all relevant exam domains and competencies* Explanations of how to apply the AWS skills discussed within to the real world in the context of an AWS Certified Networking-related career* Complimentary access to the practical Sybex online learning environment, complete with practice exams, flashcards, a glossary, and test bankAWS certification proves to potential employers that you have the knowledge and practical skills you need to deliver forward-looking, resilient, cloud-based solutions. The AWS Certified Advanced Networking Study Guide: Specialty (ANS-C01) Exam, 2nd Edition, is your ticket to the next big step in your career.

As a society today, we are so dependent on systems-of-systems that any malfunction has devastating consequences, both human and financial. Their technical design, functional complexity and numerous interfaces justify a significant investment in testing in order to limit anomalies and malfunctions. Based on more than 40 years of practice, this book goes beyond the simple testing of an application already extensively covered by other authors to focus on methodologies, techniques, continuous improvement processes, load estimates, metrics and reporting, which are illustrated by a case study. It also discusses several challenges for the near future. Pragmatic and clear, this book displays many examples and references that will help you improve the quality of your systemsof-systems efficiently and effectively and lead you to identify the impact of upstream decisions and their consequences. Advanced Testing of Systems-of-Systems 2 deals with the practical implementation and use of the techniques and methodologies proposed in the first volume.

As a society today, we are so dependent on systems-of-systems that any malfunction has devastating consequences, both human and financial. Their technical design, functional complexity and numerous interfaces justify a significant investment in testing in order to limit anomalies and malfunctions. Based on more than 40 years of practice in the development and testing of systems, including safety-critical systems, this book discusses development models, testing methodologies and techniques, and identifies their advantages and disadvantages. Pragmatic and clear, this book displays many examples and references that will help you improve the quality of your systemsof-systems efficiently and effectively and lead you to identify the impact of upstream decisions and their consequences. Advanced Testing of Systems-of-Systems 1 is complemented by a second volume dealing with the practical implementation and use of the techniques and methodologies proposed here.

Public key cryptography was introduced by Diffie and Hellman in 1976, and it was soon followed by concrete instantiations of public-key encryption and signatures; these led to an entirely new field of research with formal definitions and security models. Since then, impressive tools have been developed with seemingly magical properties, including those that exploit the rich structure of pairings on elliptic curves. Asymmetric Cryptography starts by presenting encryption and signatures, the basic primitives in public-key cryptography. It goes on to explain the notion of provable security, which formally defines what "e;secure"e; means in terms of a cryptographic scheme. A selection of famous families of protocols are then described, including zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation and key exchange. After a general introduction to pairing-based cryptography, this book presents advanced cryptographic schemes for confidentiality and authentication with additional properties such as anonymous signatures and multi-recipient encryption schemes. Finally, it details the more recent topic of verifiable computation.

Inequalities are central to the public debate and social science research. They are inextricably linked to geographical space, shaping human mobility and migration patterns, creating diverse living environments and changing individuals perceptions of the society they live in and the inequalities that endure within it. Geographical space contributes to the emergence and perpetuation of inequalities between individuals according to their socioeconomic position, gender, ethno-racial origin or even their age. Inequalities in Geographical Space examines inequalities in education, in the workplace, in public and private spaces and those related to migration. Written by geographers, sociologists and economists, this book draws on a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches and compares different spatial and temporal scales. It highlights the importance of geographical space as a vehicle for the expression, creation and reproduction of social, racial, economic and gender inequalities.

Faced with climate changes, pest pressure on plants is increasing and new pest complexes are appearing, for which plant protection solutions are not yet available. The reduction of anthropic pressure on agroecosystems requires a reduction in the use of chemical inputs and the promotion of biocontrol approaches. In this book, we present new advances on plant disease management that are emerging from research outputs. The ability of biocontrol products to directly (e.g. production of antimicrobial peptides or quorum quenching activities by microorganisms, use of plant or agro-industrial by-products as biopesticides, etc.) or indirectly (e.g. via the increase of plant defense or plant growth pathways) protect plants against pathogens and pests is also considered. We also address new strategies like the development of phage-based biocontrol products and those that consider the plant as a holobiont and plant microbiota as targets of biocontrol treatments. The important question of the current regulatory process needed to launch plant production products on the market is also addressed, such as methods to evaluate their environmental impact.

Optimizing the process of converting heat into mechanical power is a major challenge when it comes to meeting targets for protecting primary energy resources and minimizing our environmental impact. For many years to come, the use of thermal engines will continue to be necessary for transportation on land, by sea and by air, as well as for many industrial applications. Against this background, Thermodynamics of Heat Engines aims to present a comprehensive overview of the thermodynamic concepts, including combustion, that are necessary for understanding the phenomena governing the energy efficiency of internal and external combustion engines as well as that of gas turbines and jet propulsion engines. Existing and developing industrial applications, based on combined heat and power (CHP) or the use of staged cycles, are presented, with particular attention paid to the recovery of low temperature waste heat. This book, which is mainly intended for university and engineering students but is also useful for engineers and technicians working in the fields concerned, provides a basis for reflection on the optimization of energy systems.

The public space of democracies is constructed in a context that is marked by the digital transformation of the economy and society. This construction is carried out primarily through deliberation. Deliberation informs and guides both individual and collective action. To shed light on the concept of deliberation, it is important to consider the rationality of choice; but what type of rationality is this? References to economic reason are at once widespread, crucial and controversial. This book therefore deals with arguments used by individuals based on the notions of preferential choice and rational behavior, and also criticizes them. These arguments are examined in the context of the major themes of public debate that help to construct the contemporary public space: "e;populism"e;, social insurance, social responsibility and environmental issues. Economic Reason and Political Reason underlines the importance of the pragmatist shift of the 2000s and revisits, through the lens of this new approach, the great utilitarian and Rawlsian normative constructs that dominated normative political economics at the end of the 20th century. Alternative approaches, based on the concept of deliberative democracy, are proposed and discussed.

This book reviews the concept of Software-Defined Networking (SDN) by studying the SDN architecture. It provides a detailed analysis of state-of-the-art distributed SDN controller platforms by assessing their advantages and drawbacks and classifying them in novel ways according to various criteria. Additionally, a thorough examination of the major challenges of existing distributed SDN controllers is provided along with insights into emerging and future trends in that area. Decentralization challenges in large-scale networks are tackled using three novel approaches, applied to the SDN control plane presented in the book. The first approach addresses the SDN controller placement optimization problem in large-scale IoT-like networks by proposing novel scalability and reliability aware controller placement strategies. The second and third approaches tackle the knowledge sharing problem between the distributed controllers by suggesting adaptive multilevel consistency models following the concept of continuous Quorum-based consistency. These approaches have been validated using different SDN applications, developed from real-world SDN controllers.

Heat is a branch of thermodynamics that occupies a unique position due to its involvement in the field of practice. Being linked to the management, transport and exchange of energy in thermal form, it impacts all aspects of human life and activity. Heat transfers are, by nature, classified as conduction, convection (which inserts conduction into fluid mechanics) and radiation. The importance of these three transfer methods has resulted justifiably in a separate volume being afforded to each of them, with the subject of convection split into two volumes. This fourth volume is dedicated to convection, more specifically, the problem of particular convective transfers. Twophase convection is considered and a more recent and much lesser-known field is presented, that of phase change transfer. Particular significance is given to numerical applications, allowing the reader to handle orders of magnitude, an important point in all physics. Heat Transfer 4 combines a basic approach with a deeper understanding of the discipline and will therefore appeal to a wide audience, from technician to engineer, from doctoral student to teacher-researcher.

The marine environment, in addition to a not insignificant background of "e;natural"e; radioactivity, has continued to receive inputs of radionuclides directly or indirectly through atomic fallout, discharges from the nuclear industry or from nuclear accidents. After their introduction, the fate of these radionuclides is complex with modifications of physicochemical forms, dispersion in marine water masses and adsorption onto sedimentary particles. Marine organisms then bioaccumulate these radionuclides to a greater or lesser extent, dispersing them via their burrowing activities, horizontal and vertical migrations or through food webs. All of these phenomena lead to very variable radioactive contamination, depending on location and the nature of the marine environments concerned, and consequently, to very different doses of irradiation to marine organisms. The harmful effects of ionizing radiation on living marine organisms are felt at varying levels of biological organization from the molecule to the ecosystem, passing through the cell, the organ, the individual and the population. In the end, the radioactive risk for marine organisms can decline according to several situations, which can be normal, programmed or accidental.

This book illustrates simply, but with many details, the state of the art of reliability science, exploring clear reliability disciplines and applications through concrete examples from their industries and from real life, based on industrial experiences. Many experts believe that reliability is not only a matter of statistics but is a multidisciplinary scientific topic, involving materials, tests, simulations, quality tools, manufacturing, electronics, mechatronics, environmental engineering and Big Data, among others. For a complex mechatronic system, failure risks have to be identified at an early stage of the design. In the automotive and aeronautic industries, fatigue simulation is used both widely and efficiently. Problems arise from the variability of inputs such as fatigue parameters and life curves. This book aims to discuss probabilistic fatigue and reliability simulation. To do this, Reliability and Physics-of-Healthy in Mechatronics provides a study on some concepts of a predictive reliability model of microelectronics, with examples from the automotive, aeronautic and space industries, based on entropy and Physics-of-Healthy.

This book is dedicated to the study of the theory of electromagnetism. It is not intended to cover all aspects of the topic, but instead will give a certain perspective, that of its relationship with special relativity. Indeed, special relativity is intrinsic to electromagnetism; thus, this paradigm eliminates some false paradoxes. Electromagnetism also discusses the limit of classical mechanics, and covers problems that arise when phenomena related to the propagation of electromagnetic waves are encountered. These are problems that even the greatest scientists of the last two hundred years have not been able to entirely overcome. This book is directed towards the undergraduate level, and will also support the readers as they move on to advanced technical training, such as an engineering or master's degree.

Our transition towards a cleaner and more sustainable future has seen an increase in the use of electrical energy in the functioning of our society. This implies the need to develop tools and methods which allow us to study electromagnetic devices and ensure their functioning for as long as possible. This requires us to use these tools to understand their behavior, not just as one component, but also in the entire systems in which they can be found, throughout their life cycle. This book provides electrical engineering students and researchers with the resources to analyze how synchronous machines behave over their entire field of operation, particularly focusing on hybrid excited synchronous machines (HESMs). The field of HESMs, although not a fundamental problem in the strict sense of the term, provides answers to a range of fundamental problems: the flux weakening of permanent magnet machines, energy optimization, and lastly the increasing costs of rare-earths permanent magnets.

Microwave and Millimeter-wave Antenna Design for 5G Smartphone Applications In-depth and practical coverage of design considerations for 5G antennas In Microwave and Millimeter-wave Antenna Design for 5G Smartphone Applications, two distinguished researchers deliver a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to antenna design methodologies. The book covers approaches ranging from sub-6GHz microwave to the millimeter-wave spectrum, explaining how microwave and millimeter-wave 5G antennas coexist and function, both independently and collaboratively. The book offers coverage of key considerations for designing millimeter-wave 5G antennas within space-constrained mobile devices, as well as practical concerns, like cost, fabrication yield, and heat dissipation. Readers will also find explorations of the likely future directions of 5G antenna evolution, as well as: A thorough introduction to basic concepts in 5G FR1 Band mobile antenna design, including discussions of antenna placement, element design, and topologies Comprehensive explorations of antenna feeding mechanisms and impedance matching, including chassis considerations and effects Practical discussions of frequency tunable millimeter-wave 5G antenna-in-package Fulsome treatments of compact millimeter-wave 5G antenna solutions and millimeter-wave antenna-on-display technologies for 5G mobile devices Perfect for antenna, microwave, communications, and radio-frequency engineers, Microwave and Millimeter-wave Antenna Design for 5G Smartphone Applications will also benefit graduate students, policymakers, regulators, and researchers with an interest in communications and antennas.

Face analysis is essential for a large number of applications such as human-computer interaction or multimedia (e.g. content indexing and retrieval). Although many approaches are under investigation, performance under uncontrolled conditions is still not satisfactory. The variations that impact facial appearance (e.g. pose, expression, illumination, occlusion, motion blur) make it a difficult problem to solve.This book describes the progress towards this goal, from a core building block landmark detection to the higher level of micro and macro expression recognition. Specifically, the book addresses the modeling of temporal information to coincide with the dynamic nature of the face. It also includes a benchmark of recent solutions along with details about the acquisition of a dataset for such tasks.

Foodstuffs can be the vector of a variety of hazards that adversely affect the health of the consumer. Viruses are the leading causes of foodborne infectious diseases, and pathogenic bacteria and bacterial toxins are the leading agents of zoonotic diseases in Europe, not to mention other biological hazards, such as parasites, which can spread to humans through food. In addition to these biological dangers, chemicals used in agriculture, environmental pollutants and additives can all end up on the consumer s plate and ultimately damage their health. Hazards in the Food Processing and Distribution Chain covers both chemical and microbiological dangers, aiming to outline the principle of risk analysis with some examples to illustrate the reasoning involved in this process.

The sciences are, in essence, highly semiotized. Our ways of thinking and communicating about science are based on permanent transformations from one system of signs to another, such as scriptural, graphic, symbolic, oral and gestural signs. The semiotic focus studied in this book makes it possible to grasp part of the complexity of teaching and learning phenomena by focusing on the variety of possible interpretations of the signs that circulate within the science classroom. Semiotic Approaches in Science Didactics brings together contributions from didactic research involving various disciplines such as mathematics, chemistry, physics and geography, which mobilize different types of semiotic support. It offers the key to understanding and even reducing some of the misunderstandings that can arise between a speaker and a receiver in scientific teaching situations.

The Internet of Edges is a new paradigm whose objective is to keep data and processing close to the user. This book presents three different levels of Edge networking: MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing), Fog and Far Edge (sometimes called Mist or Skin). It also reviews participatory networks, in which user equipment provides the resources for the Edge network. Edge networks can be disconnected from the core Internet, and the interconnection of autonomous edge networks can then form the Internet of Edges. This book analyzes the characteristics of Edge networks in detail, showing their capacity to replace the imposing Clouds of core networks due to their superior server response time, data security and energy saving.

Libraries continually focus on adaptation and adopt different transformation strategies to achieve this goal. These strategies demonstrate a clear desire to stay in tune with the times, while retaining the basic principles that underpin their day-to-day work and ensure they continue to exist. This book is a complete synthesis, a helpful resource for librarians and information professionals that develops four major strategies. The first focuses on understanding the environment and society, with organizational changes affecting cultural institutions (public or private), and the emergence of the library space. The second shows how management methods evolve within them (participatory approach, benevolence, empathy) with an emphasis on project management. The third strategy focuses on the integration of new library tools to better reach audiences. Finally, the fourth develops an essential and indispensable aspect of library marketing. This book is a complete synthesis, a helpful resource for librarians and information professionals that develops four major strategies. The first focuses on understanding the environment and society, with organizational changes affecting cultural institutions (public or private), and the emergence of the library space. The second shows how management methods evolve within them (participatory approach, benevolence, empathy) with an emphasis on project management. The third strategy focuses on the integration of new library tools to better reach audiences. Finally, the fourth develops an essential and indispensable aspect of library marketing.Libraries continually focus on adaptation and adopt different transformation strategies to achieve this goal. These strategies demonstrate a clear desire to stay in tune with the times, while retaining the basic principles that underpin their day-to-day work and ensure they continue to exist. This book is a complete synthesis, a helpful resource for librarians and information professionals that develops four major strategies. The first focuses on understanding the environment and society, with organizational changes affecting cultural institutions (public or private), and the emergence of the library space. The second shows how management methods evolve within them (participatory approach, benevolence, empathy) with an emphasis on project management. The third strategy focuses on the integration of new library tools to better reach audiences. Finally, the fourth develops an essential and indispensable aspect of library marketing. Jean-

Vehicular networks were first developed to ensure safe driving and to extend the Internet to the road. However, we can now see that the ability of vehicles to engage in cyber-activity may result in tracking and privacy violations through the interception of messages, which are frequently exchanged on road. This book serves as a guide for students, developers and researchers who are interested in vehicular networks and the associated security and privacy issues. It facilitates the understanding of the technologies used and their various types, highlighting the importance of privacy and security issues and the direct impact they have on the safety of their users. It also explains various solutions and proposals to protect location and identity privacy, including two anonymous authentication methods that preserve identity privacy and a total of five schemes that preserve location privacy in the vehicular ad hoc networks and the cloud-enabled internet of vehicles, respectively.

One family of viruses is responsible for the infection of many species of vertebrates. These are the retroviruses whose genomic RNA is used to support genetic information and ensures many essential functions that are required for the formation of an infectious viral particle. These functions depend on structures formed by the folding of the genomic RNA. Structures and Functions of Retroviral RNAs describes the formation of these structures and their specific interactions with nucleic acids and proteins. In light of recent advances in molecular virology, it provides an understanding of the various facets of the retroviral genome. It emphasizes in particular that the study of the structure function relationship of retroviral RNAs is a driving force behind increased research into HIV-1, the main causal agent of AIDS. Indeed, one of the challenges of pharmacology lies in the exploitation of several targets which allow us to anticipate and stem the emergence of resistance to anti-HIV drugs. The book also presents structures and interactions that may be potential future targets in this regard.

Who hasn t dreamed of seeing matter transformed in a way that suits you? This is the goal of 4D printing, using materials that can change in terms of shape and property under the effect of energy stimulation. From the description of the actions and actuators, the authors show the weaknesses that limit the industrialization of 4D printing processes; these are the modes of energy stimulation.To prepare for the future, two chapters are introduced: Material-Process Duality in Industrial 4D Printing and How to Approach 4D Printing in Design . If the capture and reuse of 4D printing knowledge is necessary for this objective, the conclusion leaves the existing myth around the 4D printing theme and proposes a draft roadmap that should be the subject of reflection and scientific debate on a concept that is still immature, but full of promise.

Systems and Uses of Digital Sciences for Knowledge Organization is a large-scale scientific work that brings together researchers and R&D professionals to discuss ideas and actions in the organization of knowledge. The main objective of this book is to define collaborative strategies, use advanced technologies in multiple research fields and outline applications of knowledge organization and its cultural, education, economic and industrial potential.The organization of knowledge and advanced technologies (OCTA) asks the following questions: How can we strengthen alliances between multi-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary studies? How can we broaden our skills surrounding common objects of study? How can we innovate the solutions found and propose sustainable development to society confidently? This book is a result of intensive and collaborative work between highly respected scientific authors. The nine chapters that have been selected for this book have been peer-reviewed by the OCTA program committee, both as written submissions and when presented during the OCTA multi-conference on organization.

Heat is a branch of thermodynamics that occupies a unique position due to its involvement in the field of practice. Being linked to the management, transport and exchange of energy in thermal form, it impacts all aspects of human life and activity. Heat transfers are, by nature, classified as conduction, convection (which inserts conduction into fluid mechanics) and radiation. The importance of these three transfer methods has resulted justifiably in a separate volume being afforded to each of them, with the subject of convection split into two volumes.This third volume is dedicated to convection, more specifically, the foundations of convective transfers. Various angles are considered to cover this topic, including empirical relationships and analytically approaching boundary layers, including the integral methods and numerical approaches. The problem of heat exchangers is presented, without aiming to be an exhaustive treatise. Heat Transfer 3 combines a basic approach with a deeper understanding of the discipline and will therefore appeal to a wide audience, from technician to engineer, from doctoral student to teacher-researcher.

PREBIOTICS AND PROBIOTICS IN DISEASE REGULATION AND MANAGEMENT The book covers all the emerging technologies and the challenges related to the synthesis and application of prebiotics and probiotics including the recent developments in the delivery of prebiotics, probiotics for the treatment of various diseases, the immune-boosting activity of the emerging prebiotics and probiotic ingredients, and the anti-cancer and anti-tumor potential The demand for biobased products is increasing enormously, among which are prebiotic oligosaccharides and probiotics, which occupy a major share of the food industry. Even though the majority of agro waste is currently being used for the production of 2G biofuels, agro waste such as citrus peel, sugar beet pulp, copra meal, and wheat husk can be considered for the production of prebiotic oligosaccharides. Prebiotics are dietary fibers that are selectively fermented by the microbes present in the gut and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestine and regulate the growth of harmful bacteria. The book highlights the importance of nutraceuticals (prebiotics, and probiotics) in maintaining gut homeostasis, prevention, and treatment of gut-related disorders, as anti-cancer agents, immune-modulatory agents, and treatment of metabolic disorders. It brings out the current challenges involved in the formulation and development of nutraceuticals, together with the application of nanotechnology and bioinformatics-based approaches to study the effect of nutraceuticals on oral health, and gut microflora in a very precise way. Audience The book will be read by food scientists and biotechnologists, as well as researchers in nutraceuticals and food processing research companies, nutraceutical/supplement product developers, and those in pharmaceutical companies.

All galaxies host a super-massive black hole in their center. These black holes grow their mass in symbiosis with their host galaxy and moderate their star formation. When matter is driven towards the nucleus, an accretion disk is formed to transfer angular momentum and considerable energy is released when the material falls into the black hole: this is the phenomenon of active galactic nuclei (AGN). A nucleus can shine one thousand times more brightly than the entire galaxy with its 200 billion stars. The nuclear activity can take many forms, from very powerful quasars to more ordinary Seyfert galaxies, passing by radio-galaxies, which eject a collimated plasma at ten times the radius of the galaxy.This book examines all of these manifestations and presents a unified view. When two galaxies merge, a binary black hole is formed and the two black holes will spiral inwards and merge, emitting long gravitational waves, which could be detected by the future LISA satellite.

This book is devoted to the theory of legal theory, also referred to as the "e;meta-theory of law"e;.The aim of this emerging discipline is to determine the objectives, aims and methods of legal theory, and to establish the conditions of possibility as well as the validity criteria for theoretical discourse on law. The contributions in this book provide an overview of these aspects through different perspectives and approaches.The very purpose of legal theory has been disputed and the subject area is currently subject to increasing cross-fertilization between different, and sometimes diverging, traditions. Meta-theory of Law assesses these emerging trends by questioning two basic objects of legal theory, the "e;nature"e; and the "e;science"e; of law.