Introduction

Graphene is formed of C atoms. C is an element in the IVth column of the periodic table and has four valence electrons in the outermost shell. It can make two types of chemical bonds, namely sp3, which results in diamond known from ancient times, and a more stable sp2, which results in graphite that is known for the last 500 years. A quick look at the discoveries of different allotropes of C is available in Table 4.1. The sp2 hybridization causes planar configuration involving 3 of the 4 electrons, which are 120° apart and are bound by σ bonds that add stiffness (and flatness too) to the linkage between the C–C atoms, while the fourth electron bound to the C atoms via the π bond projects out of the plane, and is available for conduction. Thus, the electronic structure that we shall be discussing elaborately is due to these π electrons.

Graphene was the first discovery of atomically thin perfect two-dimensional (2D) material. Andre Geim and co-workers successfully exfoliated graphene from graphite [2, 3]. Some of the remarkable properties of graphene (which, unfortunately, we shall not worry too much about) include its strength, impermeability, very large thermal conductivity (at least one order larger than copper), as a molecule sensor, transparent (for its usage in displays), in the field of biology, such as neuron growth and DNA sequencing, and many more. Owing to the tremendous fundamental and technological applications of graphene, the discovery earned a Nobel Prize to A. Geim and K. Novoselov, both from the University of Manchester in the UK in 2010.

The text proper of the book begins with Littlewood’s three principles. The first – ‘any measurable set is nearly a finite union of intervals’ – is essentially regularity of Lebesgue measure. The second – ‘any measurable function is nearly continuous’ – is Lusin’s Theorem. The third – ‘any convergent sequence of measurable functions is nearly uniformly continuous’ – is Egorov’s Theorem. Then what will be needed from general topology is summarised, with references, going as far as para-compactness. Modes of convergence – in measure (in probability), almost everywhere (almost sure), etc. – are discussed. The Borel hierarchy – the result of applying, to (say) the open sets, the sigma and delta operations (union and intersection) alternately – is developed, as far as the Souslin operation. Analytic sets – much used in the book – are briefly treated here.

This chapter reconstructs Flavius Agricola’s life and analyzes his self-presentation across a variety of different lines: the poetic form and references within his verse epitaph, his representation as a reclining diner, the apparent disjuncture between his youthful physique and older face, and the vessel he cradles in his hand.

Chapter 1 is devoted to the history of trilogues, tracing their origins and showing why they were created and how they have changed over time. In particular, the chapter highlights that trilogues have characterized the "European way" of adopting legislation since 1975, when the Parliament attained its first competences in budgetary matters and successfully advocated for the establishment of a conciliation procedure. The establishment of this procedure, which bears striking similarities to today’s trilogues, should be regarded as a “critical juncture.” It set a specific trajectory of institutional development and consolidation that has significantly shaped legislative interactions up to the present day, especially in the wake of subsequent Treaty amendments that have increasingly placed the three institutions in a relationship of mutual dependence.

The chapter examines tangible and intangible evidence associated with the Irish who emigrated and settled in America and who sometimes returned to Ireland and evaluates whether it can be considered as part of an Americanising of Irish identity. Material culture associated with Irish emigration to America such as posters, guidebooks, newspapers, wakes, places, spaces, letters, remittances and the returner, ideas and behaviours became integral parts of Irish society and their influence went beyond their practical use in facilitating departure. Each created a vision of America in Ireland which accords with Mark Wyman and Dirk Hoerder’s European-wide findings that two distinct images of America emerged in the home country: the ‘materialistic view of the land of wealth, and the idealistic view of the land of equal rights and democracy’. These largely positive views of America translated into ‘Americanising’ forces in Irish society alongside British and other European economic, political and cultural forces in Ireland. These two-way forces revolving around America as a destination and as a swiftly modernising country, particularly from the nineteenth century onwards, meant that Irish women and men of all backgrounds were exposed to American ideas, practices and behaviours.

Chapter 5 marks a pivot in the book away from the block universe and towards theology. Here, Paul Tillich’s magnum opus, Systematic Theology is assessed in detail, laying the foundations for further exploration into both Tillich’s work and his theological methodology.

Like the migrants from many other regions of India, Bengalis cherished high hopes of better lives when they left for British Malaya. As seen in the preceding three chapters, a group of migrants improved the conditions of their lives throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and some became quite successful in their professions. A majority, however, continued to suffer existential challenges under colonial and postcolonial conditions. From their journey to their settlement, the life and times of Bengali expatriates in the Malay world were full of stories of aspiration and struggle. This chapter captures a glimpse of these stories.

Pre-embarkation Difficulties

The embarkation process for migrant labourers was generally dreadful. Their grievances started at the very beginning of their journey. The Government of Bengal erected many depots and sub-depots to collect potential labourers in rural areas. The labourers were taken to a musafir khana (like a modern shelter house) at Calcutta port for overseas embarkation from these depots. One sub-depot at Goalundo (presently Rajbari district in Bangladesh) sent labourers to Calcutta port or the Assam tea gardens. Government medical officers had to prepare annual reports on these depots, which often positively depicted sanitary issues, accommodation and food supplies. However, such positive reports contradict the reality as reflected in other historical sources. For instance, about 615 emigrants were registered in the sub-depots at Garden Reach in Calcutta in May and June of 1918. Although a majority of them were able to reach the Calcutta shelter house, some emigrants were returned on account of their lack of physical fitness, by demand of their relatives, or simply because some of them refused to go any further than the Goalundo depot. Therefore, the pre-embarkation process was anything but easy.

In addition to the contracted or indentured labourers, ‘free’ migrants also embarked from the Calcutta port and experienced a frustrating process. They left their villages and found their way to the Calcutta port by trains or bullock carts. After that, they boarded a ship for a ten- to fifteen-day voyage to Southeast Asian ports. Thousands of them disembarked at Penang or Port Swettenham.

This chapter uncovers the unintended trajectory of Taiwanese women’s freedom among younger adopted daughters in the Japanese colonial courts. Family-centric, gender-based physical unfreedom continued to be one of the salient administrative and legal problems in Taiwan from the precolonial period to the late 1910s. Male household heads were not ready to follow the judicial construction of women’s freedom of movement during the early to mid-1920s. However, Japanese judges involved with female litigants shifted their focus to women’s freedom of choice – defined by intent and contractual freedom among adopted daughters – as a new boundary delineating their relationships with households in civil and criminal cases in the late 1920s. Women’s choice continued to be a central point of dispute when adopted daughters became targets of their parents and strangers. These daughters’ ambiguous capacity regarding their age, class background, and sexual integrity was misrepresented to legitimize their adverse labor and life conditions, including sex work. Yet, it was within the flexible contours of choice that the courts protected women’s agency, which, in turn, became a constitutive part of colonial history.

Exporting goods from Bengal into the Malay world took a new turn with British imperial expansion. The EIC established monopolistic maritime trade, which reshaped the commercial network for the circulation of Bengali commodities across the Indian Ocean world, particularly in the intra-Asian markets around the rim of the Bay of Bengal. They transported Bengali commodities to long-distance seaports, including Europe, Africa, the Americas and Australia. The movement of these goods steadily increased, which integrated the market and facilitated Bengali mobility within the British colonies. Most of the formal professions undertaken by the Bengalis in the Malay world have been discussed in the preceding chapter. This chapter explores two other aspects related to Bengali migrant employment: the flow of products from Bengal and the involvement of Bengali migrants in trade and commerce. It mainly focuses on Bengali petty traders who played an essential role in shaping a transnational commercial space from the late nineteenth century.

Bengal Commodities across the Indian Ocean World

Before the advent of colonialism, seaports in the Indian Ocean, particularly those located between the coast of Bengal and the Malay Archipelago, were integrated into local, intra-regional and inter-regional networks of merchant communities and zones of commodity exchange. In other words, these commercial zones were structured in micro-, meso- and macro-regions. The increasing dominance of European, and especially EIC, shipping from the mid-eighteenth century did not change this spatial organisation of commercial activities around the seaports. After getting hold of Bencoolen, Bengal and Penang by the end of the eighteenth century, the British controlled the trade network across the northeastern Indian Ocean. During the early nineteenth century, the British took over Malacca and Singapore and formed the Straits Settlements, which included three main seaports: Penang, Malacca and Singapore. These seaports were made duty free for all merchants and were clearinghouses of intra-Asian and long-distance trade. A large quantity of Bengal commodities was transported from the Calcutta port to the ports of the Malay Peninsula, notably Malacca, Penang and Singapore. The EIC re-exported most of the commodities from these seaports to the eastern coast of the Indian Ocean, particularly Java, China, Thailand and Australia. Thus, the British created an exclusive commercial zone between South and Southeast Asia.

This chapter tests the short-text MDA approach at the micro-structural (turn) level in the TLC. The L2 (examinee) and L1 (examiner) turns are treated separately in an exploration of the discourse functions that are present for each type of speaker. A range of metadata variables are explored to see what effect they have on the use of micro-structural discourse functions. The analysis of learner language finds and discusses six dimensions of functional linguistic variation (L2 communicative functions). When metadata is considered, the findings show variation in learner discourse functions based on the learners’ overall mark and proficiency level in different task types. Functional variation attributable to different L1 backgrounds is also observed. Examiner turns reveal distinct repertoires of discourse functions compared to learners, suggesting the influence of social roles on the discourse of both. Narrative elements are discovered at the micro-structural level. The study sets the stage for further chapters that will explore discourse functions at the macro-structural level, considering their implications for our understanding of discourse analysis and its sensitivity to various factors such as role, proficiency and task.

This chapter first analyses the rights and interests of the primary stakeholders in the music industry and introduces the various contracts entered into between musicians and their corporate partners. It then discusses the music value chain that results from such contracts in the streaming age. Two separate subsections are dedicated to, respectively, the division of revenues and the ongoing quest towards enhanced transparency. A concluding ‘bridge’ brings together the most relevant findings that lead into the analysis of the relevant legal framework in the subsequent chapters.

The book emphasizes the critical importance of prioritizing mental health, brain health, cognition, and overall wellbeing in the same manner as physical health. It explores various lifestyle factors that contribute to enhancing these aspects of life, highlighting the benefits of incorporating them into daily routines. While, initially, adopting these habits may require effort, they eventually become easier to maintain and yield significant benefits for mental and physical health. Choosing enjoyable activities is key to sustaining these habits over time. Research underscores the substantial impact of a healthy lifestyle on reducing the risk of depression and promoting mental wellbeing, even among individuals with a genetic predisposition. Mental health and wellbeing are fundamental to daily functioning, cognitive abilities, and quality of life, influencing relationships, productivity, and personal growth. Similarly, cognition and brain health are crucial on both individual and societal levels, impacting daily functioning, economic productivity, and benefiting society. Promoting these aspects throughout life, from childhood to old age, fosters resilience, creativity, and societal flourishing. Ultimately, prioritizing brain health, cognition, and mental health enhances overall quality of life and contributes to a thriving society.