Humanities & Social Sciences

This open-access book compiles seven monographs from researchers at the forefront of services computing and artificial intelligence for smart cities. This is structured into three thematic parts: service composition, big data analysis, and service integration for smart cities. The first part describes service compositions for smart cities, where interaction between services and the physical world, including humans, is paramount, unlike services on the Web and clouds. The second part addresses the challenges of big data analytics in smart cities, with a focus on privacy-preserving methodologies. The third part reports human-centered service integration for applications in smart cities.

We are bodies start from other bodies. Yet, we rarely consider how our bodies extend into our surroundings. Discusses our body schema, peripersonal and extra personal space. Considers buildings as extensions of our bodies and minds and develops the con-cept of nested bodies that engage the senses, spatial cognition and a sense of place, audi-tory system and acoustic architecture, the haptic system and texture, tasting, smelling and the imagination, visual perception and chronobiology, atmospheric space.

In this collection, a mix of renowned academics and newer voices reflect on some of the realities of international research partnerships. They both question and highlight the agency of academics, donors and research institutions in the geopolitics of knowledge and power. The contributors offer fresh insights on institutional transformation, the setting of research agendas, and access to research funding, while highlighting the dilemmas researchers face when their institutions are vulnerable to state and donor influence. Offering a range of perspectives on why academics should collaborate and what for, this book will be useful to anyone interested in how scholars are adapting to the realities of international networking and how research institutions are finding innovative ways to make North–South partnerships and collaborations increasingly fair, sustainable and mutually beneficial.

This work is part of the research carried out within the EINITE and SMITE projects for the case of Catalonia. In this chapter, firstly, a brief state of the art of research carried out in recent years on the evolution of economic inequality in the pre-industrial world is traced. Subsequently, through the previously existing literature and the study of the empirical evidence compiled for this work, the characteristics of the fiscal sources available for some Catalan localities, i.e. the books of estimes, vàlues or manifests, and the sample of localities studied in the EINITE/SMITE projects are described in detail. The second part of the work focuses on the analysis of a case study, the town of Balaguer.

Gegenstand der Arbeit ist die Entwicklung eines kollisionsrechtlichen Konzepts für grenzüberschreitendes Handeln von Verwertungsgesellschaften (VGs). Trotz bewusster Förderung der Europäisierung von VGs und einer zunehmenden Internationalisierung ihrer Tätigkeit blieb diese Frage bislang unbeachtet. Die Arbeit befasst sich mit der Problematik zunächst auf Ebene des Internationalen Privatrechts (IPR), um sodann Besonderheiten für VGs im EU-Binnenmarkt herauszuarbeiten. Entwickelt wurde das Kollisionsrecht auf Grundlage eines funktionsbasierten Ansatzes sowie aus den systematischen Zusammenhängen innerhalb der Querschnittsmaterie "Verwertungsgesellschaftsrecht". Es ist insoweit verallgemeinerbar und überall dort gültig, wo die Funktionsbezüge des Verwertungsgesellschaftsrechts in entsprechender Form bestehen.

Gabii through its Artefacts brings together 15 papers written by as many scholars on objects from the excavations of the town of Gabii undertaken by three different international teams since 2007: The Gabii Project, which is a primarily US-based group of scholars; a team from the Musée du Louvre; and a team from the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” collaborating with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma. The contributions aim to consider artefacts outside the ceramic report and small finds catalogue format in terms of both the wide variety of materials and the possibilities for unique individual stories. Objects ranging from the pre-Roman to Imperial periods are examined using a mix of approaches, making an effort to be sensitive to excavation context and formation processes. Approaches include archaeometric, spatial, and statistical analyses, artefact life history approaches, and archival approaches. Thus, different scales of analysis are also undertaken: in some cases individual objects are focused on, in others whole classes or assemblages. The papers ultimately share the common goal of offering new stories about the inhabitants of Gabii told through their artefacts. Together they enliven the Gabines’ behaviours: their concerns about personal and economic security and status, their productive activities and trade connections to other towns, their aesthetic and ritual concerns, their political affiliations and aspirations.

Is software dead? Services like Google, Dropbox, Adobe Creative Cloud, or Social Media apps are all-pervasive in our digital media landscape. This marks the (re)emergence of the service paradigm that challenges traditional business and license models as well as modes of media creation and use. The short essays in this edited collection discuss how services shift the notion of software, the cultural technique of programming, conditions of labor as well as the ecology and politics of data and how they influence dispositifs of knowledge.

Die digitale Transformation erschließt neue Dimensionen für die wissenschaftliche Weiterbildung an Hochschulen. Dazu gehören digital unterstützte Konzepte und Formate sowie eine erweiterte zeitliche und räumliche Flexibilität. In dem Sammelband wird die digitale Transformation der wissenschaftlichen Weiterbildung auf theoretischer, empirischer und praktischer Ebene betrachtet. Die Autor:innen thematisieren Chancen und Herausforderungen der Digitalisierung für die gesamte pädagogische Handlungskette und verschiedene Bereiche des Bildungsmanagements. Kernpunkte sind: transformative Forschung, Entwicklung und Evaluation digitaler Lerndesigns, Professionalisierung des Personals, digitale Lehrkompetenz, technisch-didaktisches Plattformdesign, Selbstlernangebote, Marketingmaßnahmen sowie Angebots- und Kursmanagement. Der Sammelband bietet einen Überblick zum aktuellen Stand der digitalen Transformation in der wissenschaftlichen Weiterbildung.

"This book explores the discourse on conflict prevention and peacebuilding by bringing together researchers from China and Switzerland over a series policy dialogues. The Charter of the United Nations, adopted in the immediate aftermath of World War II, is clear about the fundamental necessity for the international community to act in partnership to prevent violent conflict. Given recent shifts in global power dynamics, there is an apparent need for international policy issues to be addressed in ways that are inclusive of a wider variety of perspectives and approaches. Chinese policy actors are increasingly interested in fostering their own discourse on issues of prevention and peacebuilding, rooted in Chinese experience, and engaging with peers from other contexts. The chapters in this volume explore the rationale for conflict prevention and review prevailing academic and practitioner discourses on fundamental questions such as the rationales for why conflicts should be prevented and whether ‘mainstream approaches’ are still relevant. This book will be of interest to students of peacebuilding, conflict resolution, Chinese politics, and International Relations."

Angesichts steigender Studierendenzahlen und konstant hoher Studienabbruchquoten wächst die Anzahl an Studienaussteiger:innen seit Jahren an. Eine gelungene Arbeitsmarktintegration dieser wachsenden Personengruppe ist aus wirtschafts- und bildungspolitischer Sicht hoch relevant, nicht zuletzt aufgrund des regelmäßig konstatierten Fachkräftemangels. Bislang ist allerdings nur wenig darüber bekannt, bei welchen Unternehmen sich Studienaussteiger:innen bewerben und wie Personalverantwortliche in Unternehmen Studienaussteiger:innen beurteilen. Hier knüpft der vorliegende Beitrag an. Er basiert auf einer Zufallsstichprobe von über 1.000 Unternehmen, die Stellen im kaufmännischen oder im IT-Bereich ausgeschrieben hatten. Die Publikation gliedert sich in zwei Abschnitte und beantwortet folgende übergreifende Fragen: I. Wo bewerben sich Studienaussteiger:innen und wie werden diese Bewerbungen von Unternehmen bewertet? II. In welchen Unternehmen werden Studienaussteiger:innen bereits beschäftigt und welche Erfahrungen haben Unternehmen mit ihnen gemacht? Die Ergebnisse zeigen sowohl Chancen als auch Hemmnisse einer gelingenden Integration von Studienaussteiger:innen in den Ausbildungs- und Arbeitsmarkt auf.

This open access book Design Participation presents doable and demonstrated ways by which design can become a major contributor to social and environmental change. This entails a shift from seeking to define solutions to opening spaces in which others—activists, entrepreneurs, civil servants, neighborhood communities, politicians (and so on) —can effectively elaborate on and find (re)solutions to the matters they are facing. It is now time to pursue design participation for real: in earnest, skillfully and for real problems. Building on a twenty-year research program, Design Participation shows that participation matters and provides an encompassing resource for understanding the matters of participation: how to think, reflect, plan and work in design participation in different settings and for different issues.

Jones, Barry Owen (1932- ). Australian politician, writer and lawyer, born in Geelong. Educated at Melbourne University, he was a public servant, high school teacher, television and radio performer, university lecturer and lawyer before serving as a Labor MP in the Victorian Parliament 1972-77 and the Australian House of Representatives 1977-98. He took a leading role in reviving the Australian film industry, abolishing the death penalty in Australia, and was the first politician to raise public awareness of global warming, the ‘post-industrial’ society, the IT revolution, biotechnology, the rise of ‘the Third Age’ and the need to preserve Antarctica as a wilderness. In the Hawke Government, he was Minister for Science 1983-90, Prices and Consumer Affairs 1987, Small Business 1987-90 and Customs 1988-90. He became a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO, Paris 1991-95 and National President of the Australian Labor Party 1992-2000, 2005-06. He was Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Convention 1998. His books include Decades of Decision 1860- (1965), Joseph II (1968), Age of Apocalypse (1975), and he edited The Penalty is Death (1968). Sleepers, Wake!: Technology and the Future of Work was published by Oxford University Press in 1982, became a bestseller and has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Swedish and braille. The fourth edition was published in 1995.

Institutionen bestimmen die Anpassungsfähigkeit und die Innovationsfähigkeit politischer und wirtschaftlicher Systeme und entscheiden damit mittel- und langfristig über deren Erfolg. Am Beispiel der Regionalpolitik in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern untersucht die Arbeit die institutionellen Strukturen in Europa und Deutschland. Regionalpolitik wird durch konstruktivistische Politikkonzeptionen geprägt und im Rahmen eines verflochtenen politischen Systems geplant und implementiert. Dies führt zur Zentralisierung der Entscheidungskompetenzen, zu massivem rent-seeking-Verhalten und somit zur ineffizienten Allokation knapper Mittel. Durch eine ordnungspolitische Reform der Regionalpolitik, die Entscheidungskompetenzen radikal dezentralisiert, könnte ihre Effektivität erheblich erhöht werden.

This new important book is a collection of research and review articles from different parts of the world discussing the dynamic and vibrant field of hydrogels. The articles are linking new findings and critically reviewing the fundamental concepts and principles that are making the base for innovation. Each chapter discusses the potential of hydrogels in diverse areas. These areas include tissue engineering, implants, controlled drug release, and oil reserve treatment. The book is offering an up-to-date knowledge of hydrogels to experienced as well as new researchers.

For the people of Timor-Leste, independence promised a fundamental transformation from foreign occupation to self-rule, from brutality to respect for basic rights, and from poverty to prosperity. In the eyes of the country’s political leaders, revenue from the country’s oil and gas reserves is the means by which that transformation could be effected. Over the past decade, they have formulated ambitious plans for state-led development projects and rapid economic growth. Paradoxically, these modernist visions are simultaneously informed by and contradict ideas stemming from custom, religion, accountability and responsibility to future generations. This book explores how the promise of prosperity informs policy and how policy debates shape expectations about the future in one of the world’s newest and poorest nation-states.