This book is intended to help people newly involved in the development of workplace safety and health programs to understand principles and concepts that can help them roll out what is often referred to as a "safety program." It introduces the safety and health landscape in simple terms and provides a framework for common program start-up or program improvement action steps.

Providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a primer on how to think about and go about creating a safety program, this book presents a higher-level overview, framework models and suggestions, resource information, and shares concepts that can help readers not only meet regulatory requirements but also provide true value to the organization. Safety consultant Greg G. Zigulis presents readers with an accessible overview of the types of things that should be known and considered in order to create and run an effective and sustainable health and safety program.

Written for a broad professional readership, this book will be invaluable for all SME businesspersons and practitioners who need a seasoned expert to provide an understandable introduction to safety programs, whatever their situation. It's particularly relevant to start-ups and people given responsibility for workplace safety without a background in this area.

These 4 volumes address a complex, ever-changing regulatory landscape and provide practical guidance for navigating the procedural and operational realities of healthcare regulation

In Principles and Processes for Regulating Healthcare Professionals: 4-Volume Set, experienced international healthcare regulator Marc Seale delivers a 4-volume set explaining the most critical aspects of UK healthcare regulation. This set includes:

• Foundations of the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals
• Processes to Regulate Healthcare Professionals
• Performance of Healthcare Professionals, Crossing Borders and New Professions
• The Operations of Regulators of Healthcare Professionals

Each volume offers a thorough and authoritative introduction to its topic based on the most recent legislation, best practices, regulatory standards, and tribunal and court decisions that govern the actions of UK healthcare practitioners. Perfect for the educators and teachers of healthcare students, Principles and Processes for Regulating Healthcare Professionals will also benefit consumer advocates, healthcare employers, members and leaders of professional associations, lawmakers and regulators.

The new edition of this popular introduction takes seriously the idea that health outcomes can be fully understood only by investigating the role the social world plays in our health.

Ratcliff and Axtell-Thompson put into practice the "upstream" imagery championed by public health experts, locating the causes of health problems - and their solutions - within the social environment. Each chapter explains how the shape of social institutions, the unequal realities of community life, and the politics behind corporate and governmental decisions produce and perpetuate unhealthy living and working conditions. This new edition links more strongly to existing US and international policy frameworks on the determinants of health and pays greater attention to socioeconomic factors, education, climate change, and neighborhood disparities.

Arguing that none of us should be placed in health-threatening situations that could be prevented, this provocative analysis uses social justice and human rights lenses to guide public discussion toward changes that can produce a healthier world for us all. It will continue to be invaluable to professionals and students in sociology, public health, and other fields related to health.

This book presents a theoretical and empirical investigation of predatory raiding in Russia. Predatory raiding in Russia is the process of depriving lawful owners of their businesses and property with the help of criminal methods, including corruption, fraud, and violence, wrapped in the clothes of legality. The book argues that significant changes in value of corporations, property, and land in Russia incentivize predatory raiders. The appreciation of economic assets influences predatory raiders' decision-making regarding the selection of potential targets for hostile takeovers. Unlike Western corporate raiders, who target weak companies in financial distress, Russian predatory raiders target primarily the most profitable, lucrative or economically promising companies, as well as private and public property, and land. Russian predatory raiders give clear preference to non-economic instruments for staging hostile takeovers. These comprise legal battles, corruption, fraud, intimidation and violence. Russian predatory raiders are distinctive for their frequent use of force, threat of force, or violence, as applied to businesses and property owners. This research relies on extensive video footage of violent hostile takeovers to draw inferences about the phenomenon of predatory raiding in Russia. In defining the perspective directions for the corporate predatory raiding movement and the anti-raiding campaign, the process of re-valuation of assets may be more important than the mass privatization of the 1990s.

This book offers insights into how modern technologies are transforming agriculture with a focus on their effects in aiding sustainability. It explores the current applications of technologies such as AI, IoT, and machine learning, and their impact on improving crop yield, resource efficiency, and environmental impact. Through practical examples and case studies, it demonstrates how these technologies can address challenges in agriculture and enhance operational efficiency.

Key Features:

• Analysis of how IoT devices and sensor networks are used for real-time monitoring of farm operations, soil conditions, and weather patterns.
• Studies emerging technologies like machine vision, predictive modelling, and natural language processing, for tasks such as crop monitoring and pest detection.
• Detailed discussion on machine learning algorithms, including supervised, unsupervised, and reinforcement learning, tailored for agricultural applications.
• Insights into how AI, IoT, and machine learning optimize resource use, improve crop yield and quality, and enhance sustainability.
• Case studies to highlight real-life examples from crop management to livestock and water conservation.

Smart Agriculture for Sustainable Practices is for researchers, professionals, and policymakers interested in leveraging technology for sustainable agricultural practices.

Cybercrime and the Autism Spectrum explores the intersection of cybercrime and the autism spectrum, offering a multidimensional perspective from a clinician, an attorney, and a technical forensic expert. With a focus on real-life anonymized cases, discover how the online world impacts autistic individuals as both victim and offender.

This book provides strategies on how to detect and prevent autistic individuals engaging in criminal behavior online, such as communication with minors, child pornography, stalking, and online radicalization. Current research and clinical case studies provide a sympathetic and non-pathologizing insight into recognizing problematic behavior, creating online safety, and treatment for autistic individuals.

This is essential reading for mental health professionals working with neurodiverse individuals and their families, attorneys working with autistic clients, judges, law enforcement officers, those in training, and anyone seeking to understand the challenges and vulnerabilities facing autistic people in the digital age will have renewed compassion for the difficulties they face.

Arguing for equality as the necessary foundation of liberty

During Ralph Waldo Emerson's lifetime, the idea of universal human equality was under intensive assault. Repeatedly - in contexts ranging from slavery, to marriage, to politics and workers' rights - Americans of the time were being told that equality was an obsolete ideal and that the future would belong to those who accepted the hard truth that liberty lies not in egalitarian values but in hierarchies of domination and submission. Greg Garvey's Emerson and the Defense of Equality focuses on Emerson as a real-time defender of equality during the antebellum culture wars.

In contrast to studies that treat individual liberty as Emerson's primary concern, Garvey argues that Emerson's works define a broad and sustained defense of equality as the necessary foundation of liberty. When read as part of a debate about equality, Emerson's Nature is a treatise on individuality and the common weal his anti-slavery speeches and English Traits advance evolutionary theories to rebut polygenesist arguments for white supremacy the essays 'Love' and 'Domestic Life' challenge gender spheres and explore equality in marriage, friendship, and citizenship. As Emerson speculates on the future, 'Politics' and 'The Young American' anticipate a 'beneficent socialism' in which human rights will always have priority over property rights. In his career-long effort to defend a threatened ideal, Emerson develops an aspirational vision of society that understands equality to be a fundamental aspect of liberty.

The concept of disability is actively used by social justice movements and welfare state systems, but it is often rejected by people involved with patient organisations, neurodiversity movements, and comparable diversity proponents.

This book unites these social actor positions by outlining an overarching disability model. It discusses the potential for the model to serve as a boundary object for people with impairments, activist organisations, professionals, redistributive welfare systems, and scholarly works in Disability Studies. Using a three-fold model in which disability is understood as a social construction, a valued condition, and an unwanted state that can improve from therapy, it shows the potential of the three frameworks as discursive powers inherent to a broad and unifying model of disability as well as the possible use of such a broad disability model for diverse actors positioned in heterogeneous social arenas.

It will be of interest to all scholars, students, and professionals working within the field of Disability Studies, sociology, social policy, health studies, and social work.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

A fascinating journey into a new paradigm, World Competitiveness, and how it gained such importance in developing global prosperity.

In World Competitiveness: Rewriting the Rules of Global Prosperity, Stephane Garelli, a world-renowned professor who has pioneered this concept, explains what World Competitiveness means and implies, and why it has become such a strategic priority for governments and businesses worldwide.

World Competitiveness gained prominence during the four decades often described as the "golden era of globalization", stretching from China's "open door policy" in 1978 to the onset of the COVID pandemic in 2018. Then, people could travel freely, communicate, and share ideas and experiences. Companies invested, manufactured, and traded in previously closed markets. Governments compared and enhanced their strategies. Shared prosperity was the objective.

World Competitiveness, as a field of knowledge, was not researched in libraries but experienced first-hand and on-site through numerous travels and discussions with government and business leaders, and academics. Later, it was conceptualized and theorized.

This book retraces this endeavour, from the origin of competitiveness to the modern world, which is fracturing again. It blends travel experiences, practical examples, and new theories. It is so-what, future-oriented, and above all, positive. Despite recent upheavals, the world economy is fundamentally resilient, and to paraphrase Mark Twain, "not as bad as it sounds."

This book explains complex environment of climate finance in Africa, emphasizing the critical need for financial resources to reduce the effects of climate change in the region. It investigates specific obstacles that African countries face when seeking climate funding such as poor financial institutions and lack of technical experience. It offers practical options for closing the climate financing gap, pushing for stronger legislative frameworks, capacity-building programs, and the possible alternative sources.

Key Features
Addresses timely and relevant issues about existing gaps and future sustainable climate finances in Africa.
Reviews the existing impact of climate change, such as floods, droughts, food security, issues of sustainable development goals, issues of funds, policies, and others.
Includes the strengths and weaknesses of climate change mitigation and adaptation in Africa.
Underlines the importance of increased public and private investment, new financing arrangements, and stronger international cooperation in fulfilling Africa's climate finance needs.
Emphasizes the exploration of innovative financing mechanisms.

This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in climatology, environmental sciences, policymakers, climate activists, and other stakeholders in climate research.

In a series of specially commissioned essays, an international team of scholars examine both Platonism's metaphysical principles (the One or the Form of the Good and the Indefinite Dyad: the principles that account for unity and multiplicity) and the tradition's role as a source for ethical and political principles. In honor of Lloyd Gerson's remarkable contribution to Platonic scholarship, the full breadth of the tradition has been explored: from Plato's own manipulation of the wisdom that preceded him via his students in the Old Academy, Speusippus and Aristotle, and on to the Middle Platonic (Alcinous) and Neoplatonic (Plotinus, Proclus, Damascius) phases. An extensive section on Christian Platonism examines the Platonic appropriations of Cyril of Alexandria, as well as the great mediator of Plato in the Latin West, Marsilio Ficino, while the volume traces the influence of Platonic principles up to Heidegger. Key topics in this volume include time and eternity, the origin of evil, the planetary orbits, the status of nature, and theurgy. This Festschrift includes Gerson's intellectual autobiography in the light of Platonic principles, particularly as a justification for libertarianism.

This book explores China's unique approach to tackling poverty. Blending economic, social, political, cultural, and environmental strategies, it offers fresh insights into tackling poverty in all its forms.

Viewing poverty as a complex social phenomenon, the author first categorises the root causes of poverty in China into five types. In order to combat poverty, China has implemented various measures, including institutional reforms, infrastructure expansion, population relocation, and targeted support for ethnic groups. The focus has shifted from solutions dependent on external aid to a self-sustaining approach that empowers individuals and communities. The book documents China's experience of eradicating poverty with the support of social networks in rural areas, including cooperatives, mutual funds and community-based organisations, and illustrates how isolated individuals were transformed into cohesive groups capable of sustainable development. It also emphasises the importance of institutional innovation, cultural revitalisation, and social organisation for achieving long-term poverty reduction. Drawing on China's experience, the study provides a valuable framework for addressing global poverty and strategies for tackling its complex manifestations.

This book will be of interest to scholars, students, and policymakers studying development, international development, economics, political economy, and China's experience of poverty governance.

The purpose of this book is to explore the fundamentals and implementation strategies of smart agriculture through the integration of artificial intelligence and Internet of Things technologies. It examines critical aspects of planning and decision-making while providing recommendations for implementing efficient and effective intelligent agriculture solutions. Readers will gain valuable insights into how these smart technologies enhance productivity, sustainability, and precision in contemporary technology-driven farming systems.

This book:

• Discusses artificial intelligence-based 3D mapping of soil, smart weeding systems, and crop visualization in smart agriculture
• Covers data analytics-based decision-making, improving crop quality based on precise prediction, minimizing the use of pesticides for better soil quality, and precision farming systems
• Examines problems like weather forecasting, crop prediction, calculation of pesticide quantity, irrigation requirement, and prediction of the right time for seeding
• Highlights the role and importance of data visualization techniques in smart agriculture implementation
• Presents the internet of things and artificial intelligence-based solutions for smart agriculture

It is primarily written for senior undergraduate, graduate students, and academic researchers in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, and communications engineering, computer science and engineering, and agricultural science and engineering.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank were founded at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference on the premise that international cooperation and multilateralism would be to the benefit and enrichment of all. Yet, the establishment and evolution of the global financial architecture into its current form were not inevitable: this edited volume examines the "roads not taken" - critical junctures in the histories of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - where the choices made, and the decisions taken, would have far-reaching consequences.

Geoeconomic fragmentation, nationalism, and extreme protectionism pose threats to the open trade and payments system and are jeopardizing the hard-won gains in global incomes and living standards driven by postwar trade and globalization. Against the urgent need to rekindle the Bretton Woods spirit of cooperation and multilateralism, while also reckoning with the shortcomings of the postwar international order as they were revealed over time, the authors of this volume turn to history for inspiration, lessons, and insights from both the roads taken and those left for another day. The book also demonstrates that future reform can be inspired by previous intellectual and theoretical efforts.

The book will be of great interest to readers interested in the past, present, and future of international monetary systems, economic governance, and international finance and banking more broadly.

This book offers strong rationales for adopting a critical view of health communication by demonstrating how theories and critical practices can be enriched by foregrounding issues of power, politics, and culture.

In health communication, critical approaches highlight the role of communication in constituting, reinforcing, and resisting inequitable power relations that underlie the sociocultural and structural barriers to well-being. This book highlights the theoretical and practical contributions of critical health communication to allow readers to gain in-depth understanding of the tools and methods required to conduct critical research. It includes a broad array of approaches to health communication scholarship such as rhetorical, feminist, anti-racist, and intersectional perspectives. Chapters present research from a variety of international and local contexts addressing medical and public health challenges and center issues of power, resistance, voice, and social change from marginalized perspectives.

Outlining the centrality of critical approaches to theorizing and practicing health communication in more equitable, ethical, and effective ways, this book will be of interest to scholars and graduate students in health communication, critical and cultural communication, as well as other health-related courses.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 International license.

The development of Smart Cities (SC) is inextricably linked to the need to obtain financing for both current projects and long-term investments. Issues related to the financing of Smart Cities, raising funds, their capital structure or financing risks are underexplored and are described in a fragmented manner, with reference to individual initiatives or projects. This book argues that the creation of Smart Cities requires a long-term and holistic approach toward financing strategies. It systematizes the issues related to Smart City financing and develops a financing model that considers a lasting, systematic and complete approach to the development of Smart City solutions. It identifies the opportunities and risks associated with the various sources of financing and the risks of financing in the developed model and presents complex issues related to urban finance in a structured manner. The book characterizes project and collective financing (crowdfunding, associations and foundations), as innovative forms of fundraising and examines the cost of capital and risk vs. green and sustainable financing. The book is illustrated with accessible analyses and practical examples. This book is a comprehensive reference for students and scholars in the fields of public management, public finance and urban planning. It can also be used by both Smart City researchers and practitioners, such as representatives of city governments, municipal governments and local stakeholders, in the process of analyzing and selecting sources of financing for Smart City solutions.

This book provides the core knowledge that all doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and non-clinical leaders and managers at all levels should have at their fingertips to plan and execute both large-scale and continuous incremental improvement.

The contributors of this book collectively cover the motivational aspects for such improvements as well as the core frameworks and techniques that are proven to be effective in the world's best healthcare organisations, and in other industries. The book is rich with examples and case studies, with a focus on 'what works' in healthcare organisational improvement and how it can be executed effectively. Most of the book's contributors are senior practitioners who have first-hand experience of leading healthcare transformation projects and can speak to how constraints can be overcome to provide real gains.

Focusing on improving organisational leadership, management and systems, this book will be of great interest to clinical leaders, medical colleges and healthcare associations.

From climate disasters to technological disruptions, society faces an unprecedented wave of risks that threaten global stability and economic security. Each year, over 20 million people die due to pollution, disease, accidents, and environmental hazards, while millions more suffer long-term health effects. Yet, within these challenges lie vast business opportunities for industries prepared to lead in risk mitigation.

This book examines how the healthcare, insurance, construction, and manufacturing sectors can adapt, innovate, and thrive in a world increasingly characterized by unpredictable risks. From addressing systemic vulnerabilities in the healthcare industry to integrating sustainability into manufacturing practices, leaders must reassess their strategies to strike a balance between resilience and profitability.

As technology accelerates societal integration, whether through cyber advancements or social media, the pace at which risks emerge and propagate continues to grow. Companies that embrace this new reality, integrating risk mitigation into their business models, will not only safeguard their operations but also unlock new opportunities for innovation, market expansion, and sustained competitive advantage. Those that fail to adapt will be left behind in the wake of creative destruction.

This book is a roadmap for forward-thinking professionals, providing insights, strategies, and frameworks to navigate emerging risks and position their businesses for long term success.

This book engages with the critical issue of nutrition and its relationship with the full spectrum of human development challenges in India. It examines concerns around both undernutrition and overnutrition through a range of case studies, documenting key interventions and strategies implemented by governments, NGOs, and other stakeholders.

The book broadly discusses macroeconomic and social issues affecting India's progress in addressing nutrition challenges, linking them to mesoand micro-level factors-from food and health systems to grassroots realities. It explores not only policy imperatives but, more importantly, the processes and mechanisms necessary to achieve them. Special attention is given to the role of women and women's collectives, the importance of comprehensive, decentralized, and community-based approaches to improving nutrition among the most vulnerable, and the critical life phases that require targeted interventions. The volume also presents large-scale, state-led, and statewide models and strategies, offering valuable insights for policymakers, governments, and institutions grappling with similar issues.

Part of the Innovations, Practice and the Future of Public Policy in India series, this open access volume will interest policy professionals, administrators, academics, and researchers working in public health, nutrition and dietetics, allied health, health and social care, health and development, public policy, social policy, and South Asian studies.