As all manner of commerce becomes increasingly global, states must establish laws to protect property rights, human rights, and national security. In many cases, states delegate authority to resolve disputes regarding these laws to an independent court, whose power depends upon its ability to enforce its rulings. Examining detailed case studies of the International Court of Justice and the transition from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to the World Trade Organization, Leslie Johns finds that a court’s design has nuanced and mixed effects on international cooperation. A strong court is ideal when laws are precise and the court is nested within a political structure like the European Union. Strong courts encourage litigation but make states more likely to comply with agreements when compliance is easy and withdraw from agreements when it is difficult. A weak court is optimal when law is imprecise and states can easily exit agreements with minimal political or economic repercussions. Johns concludes the book with recommendations for promoting cooperation by creating more precise international laws and increasing both delegation and obligation to international courts.

This book was written as a help for individual persons who want to organize their creativity, be it for science (incl. engineering and commercial projects), art, or private projects. Its aim is to enlarge your options when having ideas and to improve the chance of realizing creative projects.It is written as a practical handbook and describes how organization can support generating, capturing, collecting (incl. enlarging, restructuring, etc.) and realizing ideas.While creativity "techniques" are dealt with, the focus is on the infrastructure to enable you to capture your fleeting ideas and cultivate them to finally realize them as creative projects.

The bestselling guide to the vagus nerve, now in 20+ languages: unlock the self-healing power of Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory Vagus exercises for reducing anxiety, healing trauma, and rebalancing your autonomic nervous system This comprehensive guide offers an easy-to-understand overview of the vagus nerve—and helps you unlock your body’s innate capacity to heal from stress, trauma, anxiety, and injury. Dr. Stanley Rosenberg, PhD, dispels long-held myths about the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and offers up-to-date research on how our physical health, emotional wellness, and the vagus nerve are all interconnected. Most importantly, he shows how these insights can help you heal your ANS—and live a less stressed, more balanced, and emotionally regulated life. This book offers: An in-depth overview of Stephen Porges’s Polyvagal Theory Step-by-step self-help techniques for regulating the vagus nerve Vagus exercises to relieve emotional, psychological, and physical symptoms Real-life case studies and stories from the author’s clinical practice Insights into the vagus nerve’s role in social behavior An overview of what happens in our bodies when we get stuck in stress states—and how to heal them Simple, research-backed recommendations for initiating deep relaxation, improving sleep, healing from trauma, and stimulating recovery from illness and injury Accessing the Healing Power of the Vagus Nerve is written for therapists, bodyworkers, trauma survivors, parents, and anyone struggling with chronic stress. Grounded in neurobiology research, clinical stories, and easy-to-follow exercises, this book gives you the tools to bring your body back into a state of safety, balance, and optimal functioning.

Design and construction in existing contexts is becoming increasingly important, and often the structures - sometimes of historical interest - can be preserved easily and at minimum cost by employing strengthening measures. Existing concrete members can be strengthened by using adhesives to bond additional reinforcing elements onto or into those members. This book explains the design rules, together with their background, and uses examples to illustrate their use, specifically for slabs, beams and columns. Concrete member strengthening measures can take the form of, for example, flexural strengthening with externally bonded (surface-mounted) CFRP strips, CF sheets and steel plates, flexural strengthening with CFRP strips bonded in slits (near-surface-mounted reinforcement), shear strengthening with externally bonded CF sheets and steel plates, and column strengthening with CF sheets as confining reinforcement. The explanations and background information provided are mainly based on the new German guideline "Strengthening of Concrete Members with Adhesively Bonded Reinforcement" by the German Committee for Structural Concrete (DAfStb). This is the first European guideline to regulate this topic in the form of a supplement to the Eurocode. As it is planned to produce a document in a future Eurocode 2, the DAfStb guideline serves as a starting point. The authors are extensively involved in the planning, design, operation and inspection of buildings for preservation and reconstruction, and in the updating of European Technical Approval Guidelines (ETAGs) and design rules. Selected chapters from the German concrete yearbook are now being published in the new English "Beton-Kalender Series" for the benefit of an international audience. Since it was founded in 1906, the Ernst & Sohn "Beton-Kalender" has been supporting developments in reinforced and prestressed concrete. The aim was to publish a yearbook to reflect progress in "ferro-concrete" structures until - as the book's first editor, Fritz von Emperger (1862-1942), expressed it - the "tempestuous development" in this form of construction came to an end. However, the "Beton-Kalender" quickly became the chosen work of reference for civil and structural engineers, and apart from the years 1945-1950 has been published annually ever since.

The repair of deteriorated, damaged and substandard civil infrastructures has become one of the most important issues for the civil engineer worldwide. This important book discusses the use of externally-bonded fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites to strengthen, rehabilitate and retrofit civil engineering structures, covering such aspects as material behaviour, structural design and quality assurance.The first three chapters of the book review structurally-deficient civil engineering infrastructure, including concrete, metallic, masonry and timber structures. FRP composites used in rehabilitation and surface preparation of the component materials are also reviewed. The next four chapters deal with the design of FRP systems for the flexural and shear strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams and the strengthening of RC columns. The following two chapters examine the strengthening of metallic and masonry structures with FRP composites. The last four chapters of the book are devoted to practical considerations in the flexural strengthening of beams with unstressed and prestressed FRP plates, durability of externally bonded FRP composite systems, quality assurance and control, maintenance, repair, and case studies.With its distinguished editors and international team of contributors, Strengthening and rehabilitation of civil infrastructures using fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is a valuable reference guide for engineers, scientists and technical personnel in civil and structural engineering working on the rehabilitation and strengthening of the civil infrastructure. - Reviews the use of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in structurally damaged and sub-standard civil engineering structures - Examines the role and benefits of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites in different types of structures such as masonry and metallic strengthening - Covers practical considerations including material behaviour, structural design and quality assurance

The proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Health, Technology, and Life Science (ICO-HELICS 2022) shared ideas, pre-clinical and clinical research results, and literature review, on various aspects of medical science including heart disease, stroke, cancers, vaccines, infections, immunological disease, reproductive health, pharmacology and other health diseases. The proceedings aim to deliver new insights to the knowledge and practice of health workers and equip them in providing the best quality health care and clinical outcomes. As the idea of advanced clinical research originated from basic or fundamental research, it explores the life processes that are universal in their application to scientific knowledge. Therefore, these proceedings will also be of interest to academics, practitioners, health workers, and professionals involved in medical research.

The idea of preparing a technical document for the repairs and interventions upon concrete structures goes back to the former fib COM 5: Structural Service Life Aspects, being the goal of the then TG 5.9. After a long period of reduced activity, and taking into account the reorganization of fib commissions that meanwhile took place, on June 2017 a different approach was proposed to push forward the task of TG 8.1 (formerly TG 5.9). The (new) goal of TG 8.1 was to deliver a ‘how-to-do’ guide, gathering together protection, repair, and strengthening techniques for concrete structures. Chapters are intended to provide both guidelines and case-studies, serving as support to the application of fib MC 2020 pre-normative specifications. Each chapter was written by an editorial team comprising desirably at least a researcher, a designer and a contractor. Templates have been prepared in order to harmonize the contents and the presentation of the different methods. Following the writing process, chapters were reviewed by experts and, after amendments by the authors, they underwent a second review process by COM 8 and TG 3.4 members, as well as by different practitioners. For each protection, repair and strengthening method addressed in this guide, readers have a description of when to adopt it, which materials and systems are required, which techniques are available, and what kind of equipment is needed. It then presents a summary of stakeholders’ roles and qualifications, design guidelines referring to most relevant codes and references, the intervention procedure, quality control measures and monitoring and maintenance activities. Due to the extent of the guide, it was decided to publish it as bulletin 102, addressing protection and repair methods, and bulletin 103, addressing strengthening methods. We would like to thank the authors, reviewers and members of COM 8 and TG 3.4 for their work in developing this fib Bulletin, which we hope will be useful for professionals working in the field of existing concrete structures, especially those concerned with life-cycle management and conservation activities. As noted above, this Bulletin is also intended to act as a background and supporting document to the next edition of the fib Model Code for Concrete Structures, which is currently under development under the auspices of TG10.1 with the working title of ‘fib Model Code 2020’.