Humanities & Social Sciences

Gelatinous zooplankton, widespread in pelagic environments, pose a challenge for surveillance due to their delicate, see-through bodies. Their presence often seems irregular, with fluctuating populations occasionally forming dense swarms. These efficient and non-selective feeders compete with fish for resources, and their abundant proliferation can alter the marine food web and result in ecosystem degradation. Hence, monitoring gelatinous zooplankton is crucial. In this study, we document their encounters over six years along the northeastern Adriatic coast, an important spawning area for small pelagic fish now experiencing frequent gelatinous zooplankton blooms. We compare findings from the north to those in the southern Adriatic. Continuous monitoring revealed that the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, predominantly present in the northern basin, significantly altered the taxonomic composition, temporal occurrence, and intensity of gelatinous zooplankton blooms, shifting dominance from native to introduced species.

Southeast Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world. This volume offers a timely approach to Southeast Asian Studies, covering recent transitions in the realms of urbanism, rural development, politics, and media. While most of the contributions deal with the era of post-independence, some tackle the colonial period and the resulting developments. The volume also includes insights from Southern India. As a tribute to the interdisciplinary project of Southeast Asian Studies, this book brings together authors from disciplines as diverse as area studies, sociology, history, geography, and journalism.

In this volume amulets and talismans are studied within a broader system of meaning that shapes how they were manufactured, activated and used in different networks. Text, material features and the environments in which these artifacts circulated, are studied alongside each other, resulting in an innovative approach to understand the many different functions these objects could fulfil in pre-modern times. Produced and used by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, the case studies presented here include objects that differ in size, material, language and shape. What the articles share is an all-round, in-depth approach that helps the reader understand the complexity of the objects discussed and will improve one’s understanding of the role they played within pre-modern societies. Contributors Hazem Hussein Abbas Ali, Gideon Bohak, Ursula Hammed, Juan Campo, Jean-Charles Coulon, Venetia Porter, Marcela Garcia Probert, Anne Regourd, Yasmine al-Saleh, Karl Schaefer and Petra M. Sijpesteijn.

Using the digital turn as a starting point, the essays in this volume explore the materiality of sacred texts in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, along with transitions between various media cultures and material forms. The essays explore how material factors have shaped the production and transmission of sacred texts, as well as impacting the way in which people engage with, use, and perform these texts, within and between religious traditions.

Education for sustainable development is presently a relevant topic in the policies of international organisations (such as UN/UNESCO and the European Union) and in national contexts such as Poland and Portugal. Within the policies implemented, civil society organisations and social movements undertake (adult) education for sustainable development projects and activities that have an important impact by raising awareness and promoting changes in the behaviour and attitudes of both countries’ populations. However, several challenges can be pointed out regarding the implementation of these initiatives. These challenges will be highlighted in this article, which focuses on the comparison of policies and practices implemented in Poland and Portugal.

Computer Communication Networks; Information Systems Applications (incl. Internet); Information Storage and Retrieval; Multimedia Information Systems; Communications Engineering, Networks; Computers and Society

Ohne Pflanzen können Menschen nicht leben. Trotz dieser elementaren Bedeutung der Pflanzen hat die Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft ihnen bisher nur wenig Aufmerksamkeit gewidmet. Dies ändert sich zurzeit: Seit einigen Jahren formiert sich das neue Forschungsfeld der Plant Studies, d.h. der kulturwissenschaftlichen Pflanzenforschung. Der vorliegende Band wendet sich an Lehrende und Studierende gleichermaßen. Er erläutert die Grundlagen der Plant Studies im deutschsprachigen Kontext, widmet sich kulturellen Praktiken und Metaphern im Zusammenhang mit Pflanzen und versammelt verschiedene Pflanzenlektüren, die sich der Literatur des 18. bis 21. Jahrhunderts widmen.

The UN Security Council has been given the primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The precise meaning of this responsibility, however, is contested. This lack of clarity is frequently criticised as a source of incoherent and selective decision-making, undermining the legitimacy of the Security Council. In case studies of the Security Council’s controversies on Iraq and Syria, this book instead reveals contestation and competing interpretations of responsibility as crucial conditions for the constitution and negotiation of normative order. The case studies also underline the importance of public Security Council meetings as dynamic sites for coping with a plurality of normative orders and how their symbolic and material manifestations shape processes of collective legitimation. This book concludes that these processes demonstrate the crucial role of justification and critique as practices of normative ordering in the Security Council. The Justification of Responsibility in the UN Security Council argues that normative orders in international organisations are constructed by multifaceted processes of questioning, reaffirming and coordinating claims of normativity and legitimacy. Connecting research on norms and legitimacy in international relations with pragmatist sociology, the book provides an account of the complexities and inconsistencies of decision-making processes and their normative foundations in international organisations. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of international organisations, international relations theory and global governance.

Since the beginning of the 19th century, quantitative techniques have been used in literary and human sciences to describe, analyze and interpret texts. Such approaches were underrepresented until the end of the 20th century, but are becoming increasingly important in the digital humanities. The aim of the volume is to contextualize theories of theory, methodology and subject history on the one hand, and on the other hand to examine the significance of their results with a view to the digital present. In view of the innovative verve of digital humanities, it should not be forgotten that the idea of ​​juxtaposing interpretive close reading with descriptive-analytical, remote reading is not much younger than the idea of ​​close reading itself. Counting is by no means the first through the 'digital revolution' of the humanities. Rather, what has been determined by late Dilthey as the subject of the understanding and qualitatively oriented humanities has been declared 'measurable' for some 200 years.

Die elf Beiträge dieses Bandes diskutieren theoretische, methodische und praxisbezogene Problemfelder sprachbiographischer Forschung. Dabei umspannen sie die zentralen Anwendungsgebiete des sprachbiographischen Zuganges wie die Untersuchung von Mehrsprachigkeit und Migrationsprozessen und die Regionalsprachenforschung. Sie fragen zugleich nach der Aussagekraft sprachbiographischen Materials für die Rekonstruktion gesellschaftlicher Sprachwandelprozesse, verbreiteter Einstellungsmuster und Identitätskonstruktionen. Und sie erörtern das heuristische Potential des noch jungen Forschungsparadigmas für solche Bereiche, die bislang noch wenig im Fokus sprachbiographischer Analysen standen, wie die Gebärdenkommunikation oder die historische Soziolinguistik. Auf diese Weise dient der Sammelband sowohl einer Standortbestimmung des sprachbiographischen Paradigmas als auch seiner methodischen und thematischen Weiterentwicklung.

This collection explores the intersection of magic, reproduction, and horror in contemporary culture, examining how these elements reflect and critique societal anxieties during a time of unprecedented challenges to reproductive rights, scientific advances in reproduction, and rising magical thinking in our post-pandemic world. Addressing horror in popular culture, this volume investigates how bodies become sites of cultural contradiction, where ancient myths meet modern technologies, and where social power structures manifest through narratives of purity, contamination, and transformation. This book brings together diverse perspectives from biology, film studies, literary history, ethnology, and queer studies. Key features include analysis of horror across global cultures, from Anglo-American film to Indian cinema and East Asian popular culture; exploration of reproductive themes in young adult literature and superhero narratives; and examination of how magical thinking intersects with modern reproductive technologies. This volume's creative structure, organised around temporal categories, allows readers to trace the importance of these themes from ancient stories through to contemporary issues and future speculations, while highlighting the persistent role of magic in shaping cultural narratives about reproduction. This collection will appeal to scholars and graduate students interested in gender studies, film studies, cultural studies, and reproductive rights, as well as researchers working at the intersection of horror and society. It offers valuable insights for academics studying contemporary media, feminist theory, and the sociology of reproduction, while remaining accessible to informed readers seeking to understand how horror reflects and shapes cultural attitudes toward reproduction. The interdisciplinary approach makes it particularly valuable for those seeking to understand the complex relationships between magical thinking, reproductive rights, and popular culture in our rapidly changing world.

Indonesia

Kaum eine Website wird so oft aufgerufen wie das Lexikon »Wikipedia«. Möglich wurde es durch das Wiki-Konzept, das zum Mitmachen einlädt. Wie aber funktioniert ein Wiki und wie kann man es für die eigenen Ziele nutzbar machen? Wikis und die Wikipedia wirken undurchdringlich und unüberschaubar. Ein besseres Verständnis ist aber wichtig für diejenigen, die ein Wiki gründen, fördern oder erforschen wollen. »Wikis und die Wikipedia verstehen« ist der unentbehrliche Begleiter für den eigenen Zugang zum Thema und vermittelt Hintergrundwissen aus der Praxis und Erkenntnisse aus der Fachliteratur in einem systematischen Überblick.

An account of the mobilization of thousands of volunteers who rescued, supported, and welcomed refugees during the recent European refugee crisis.

Engineering design is a fundamental problem-solving model used by the discipline. Effective problem-solving requires the ability to find and incorporate quality information sources. To teach courses in this area effectively, educators need to understand the information needs of engineers and engineering students and their information gathering habits. This book provides essential guidance for engineering faculty and librarians wishing to better integrate information competencies into their curricular offerings. The treatment of the subject matter is pragmatic, accessible, and engaging. Rather than focusing on specific resources or interfaces, the book adopts a process-driven approach that outlasts changing information technologies. After several chapters introducing the conceptual underpinnings of the book, a sequence of contributions go into detail about specific steps in the design process and the information needs for those steps.