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Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir

Title: Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir. 

Author: Brianna Craft. 

Publication info: Chicago : Lawrence Hill Books. 2023. eBook. 

Location: Academic eBook Collection

Description: One of Ms. Magazine's 'Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2023.' Authentic and inspiring, Everything That Rises personalizes the realities of climate change by paralleling our relationship to the planet with the way we interact within our own homes. Nineteen-year-old Brianna Craft is having a panic attack. A professor's matter-of-fact explanation of the phenomenon known as 'climate change' has her white-knuckling the table in her first environmental studies lecture. Out of her father's house, she was supposed to be safe. This moment changed everything for Brianna. For her first internship, she jumped at the chance to assist the Least Developed Countries Group at the United Nations' negotiations meant to produce a new climate treaty. While working for those most ignored yet most impacted by the climate crisis, she grappled with the negligent indifference of those who hold the most power. This dynamic painfully reminded her of growing up in a house where the loudest voice always won and violence silenced those in need. Four years later, Brianna witnessed the adoption of the first universal climate treaty, the Paris Agreement. In this memoir that blends the political with the personal, Brianna dives into what it means to advocate for the future, and for the people and places you love, all while ensuring your own voice doesn't get lost in the process. It will take all of us to protect our home.

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Title: Ethically Challenged: Private Equity Storms US Health Care.

Author: Laura Katz Olson.

Publication info: Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2022. 

Location: Academic eBook Collection

Description: Revealing the dark truth about the impact of predatory private equity firms on American health care.Won Gold from the Axiom Book Award in the Category of Business Ethics, the Benjamin Franklin Awards by the Independent Book Publishers Association and the North American Book Award in the Catergory of Business Finance, Finalist of the American Book Fest Best Book Social Change and Current Events by the American Book FestPrivate equity (PE) firms pervade all aspects of our modern lives. Unlike other corporations, which generally manufacture products or provide services, they leverage considerable debt and other people's money to buy and sell businesses with the sole aim of earning supersized profits in the shortest time possible. With a voracious appetite and trillions of dollars at its disposal, the private equity industry is now buying everything from your opioid treatment center to that helicopter that helps swoop you up from a car crash site. It may even control how and when you can get your kidney dialysis. In Ethically Challenged, Laura Katz Olson describes how PE firms are gobbling up physician and dental practices; home care and hospice agencies; substance abuse, eating disorder, and autism services; urgent care facilities; and emergency medical transportation. With a sharp eye on cost and quality of care, Olson investigates the PE industry's impact on these essential services. She explains how PE firms pile up massive debt on their investment targets and how they bleed these enterprises with assorted fees and dividends for themselves. Throughout, she argues that public pension funds, which provide the preponderance of equity for PE buyouts, tend to ignore the pesky fact that their money may be undermining the very health care system their workers and retirees rely on.Weaving together insights from interviews with business owners and experts, newspaper articles, purchased data sets, and industry publications, Olson offers a unique perspective and appreciation of the significance of PE investments in health care. The first book to comprehensively address private equity and health care, Ethically Challenged raises the curtain on an industry notorious for its secrecy, exposing the nefarious side of its maneuvers.

Title: Loneliness: Science and Practice. 

Authors: Dilip V. Jeste, Tanya T. Nguyen, Nancy J. Donovan. 

Publication info: American Psychiatric Association Publishing. 2022. 

Available: Academic eBook Collection

Description: The internet, social media platforms, and digital technology all seem to point to a world of greater interconnectivity and social connection. Yet even against this background of global social networks, loneliness remains a major issue for millions of individuals, and one with tangible consequences: studies have demonstrated that loneliness correlates with to an increased risk of mental illnesses, as well as a 45% increased risk of death.In Loneliness: Science and Practice, experts from the United States and Europe seek to construct a translational framework for recognizing and addressing loneliness in the clinical context. Based on the latest literature on the topic, the book tackles • The theoretical foundations of loneliness and other dimensions of social connection. Readers will benefit from validated rating scales to measure loneliness that account for the varied experiences of, and factors that contribute to, loneliness.• The incidence and presentation of loneliness throughout the life cycle• Loneliness among marginalized communities, including racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, and individuals with mental illnesses• The neurobiological and systemic neuroendocrine and inflammatory mechanisms of loneliness• Interventions for loneliness, from research-based interventions for both younger and older age groups to community-based interventions Throughout this guide, clinical vignettes help ground the theoretical information in real-world applicability. Key points help readers reference each chapter's most salient points quickly, and lists of suggested readings open the door to further exploration.By examining the psychosocial and biological mechanisms of loneliness, as well as the unique social and cultural contexts in which it can occur, Loneliness: Science and Practice offers readers a holistic understanding of loneliness and a framework for addressing it in the distinct communities they serve.

     

Left: A portrait of Louis Braille. 

Right: The Braille alphabet.

Louis Braille was accidentally blinded in both eyes after an accident in his father's shop when he was three years old. He attended the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in France, where he excelled in his school work and started creating a new communication system for the blind and visually impaired. At the time, there were some resources for the visually impaired that made reading possible, including those made by Valentin Haüy, the founder of Louis Braille's school. However, these resources did not make writing and unspoken communication possible. These resources were also fragile, incredibly large and heavy (especially for youth), and expensive.  

By the age of fifteen, Louis Braille created the communication system that we know as Braille. He spent most of his life improving this system. Initially, he used both dots and dashes, but eliminated the dashes for simplicity. A passionate musician himself, Braille later added music symbols and syntax. 

Instructors and staff at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth effectively banned the use of Braille until 1854, two years after Louis Braille's death. Slowly, Braille was used throughout France, then Europe, and by 1916, the United States. It has since been improved and adapted to new technology, allowing the visually impaired to browse the Internet, complete homework and professional tasks, use computer software applications, and more. 

January 4th is celebrated as World Braille Day (for Louis Braille's birthday). 

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