Open Access Books

This open access book provides an overview of the credit distribution ecosystem in Europe, with a specific focus on the definitions, laws, and authorities related to the figures of credit intermediaries (credit agents and brokers). It explores the regulatory framework, market structures, and technological innovations in credit intermediation. The analysis draws on the authors’ academic research in banking and finance, industry experience with institutional clients and financial product distribution, and the regulatory role of the OAM. The book defines and classifies credit intermediaries in different European jurisdictions, including the UK, and compares regulatory and legislative frameworks governing credit distribution across these markets. It also analyses the role of national supervisory authorities in this sector. Designed for finance professionals, regulators, and scholars, the book offers an in-depth examination of credit agents and brokers in the European market.

El reto y la complejidad de generar un proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje de calidad en una institución educativa del nivel medio superior es mayor cuando ingresan alumnos con características y necesidades afines al modelo de educación inclusiva, por lo que a partir de los postulados de esta expresión de atención a la diversidad como corriente educativa, el presente capítulo tiene como propósito principal conocer las actitudes del docente a nivel bachillerato sobre la educación inclusiva de acuerdo a su experiencia con alumnos que presentan Necesidades Específicas de Apoyo Educativo (NEAE) en una Preparatoria de la Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa. Como parte del diseño metodológico, se desarrolló un proceso documental a través de la revisión de literatura disponible acerca de la educación inclusiva, la formación docente y el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje en alumnos con NEAE, en fuentes de información impresa y digital. En cuanto al trabajo de campo, mediante un enfoque cuantitativo de investigación, se diseñó un cuestionario para un universo poblacional de 67 docentes, un muestreo de tipo probabilístico simple, con un margen de error del 10% y un nivel de confianza del 90%, cuyas respuestas fueron procesadas en SPSS. Entre los hallazgos se destaca que el 52.9 % de los maestros consideran que los alumnos con NEAE deben prepararse en una institución especial de acuerdo con su condición. No obstante, dicho rechazo hacia ellos deriva de la frustración e incomodidad por no sentirse preparados para atenderlos apropiadamente.

The four kingdoms motif enabled writers of various cultures, times, and places, to periodize history as the staged succession of empires barrelling towards an utopian age. The motif provided order to lived experiences under empire (the present), in view of ancestral traditions and cultural heritage (the past), and inspired outlooks assuring hope, deliverance, and restoration (the future). Four Kingdom Motifs before and beyond the Book of Daniel includes thirteen essays that explore the reach and redeployment of the motif in classical and ancient Near Eastern writings, Jewish and Christian scriptures, texts among the Dead Sea Scrolls, Apocrypha and pseudepigrapha, depictions in European architecture and cartography, as well as patristic, rabbinic, Islamic, and African writings from antiquity through the Mediaeval eras. Readership: Advanced students and scholars of the textual formation, apocalyptic theology, and historiographies of the book of Daniel and its diverse reception by writers and communities.

The book stems from the belief that places, all ‘places’, can be potential catalysts for new forms of community, culture, and urban function. The Baggio Hospital, with its history, architecture, and location within the urban fabric of the city of Milan, is one such place. Starting from these considerations, the work presented in the book focuses on a series of design proposals for the redevelopment and restoration of the Baggio Military Hospital in Milan, which, with its long tradition of serving the Armed Forces and the community, now finds itself at a crossroads: that between preserving its historical memory and the need to transform it in order to respond to contemporary challenges. In this context, collaboration with universities has not only been an opportunity to stimulate new ideas and approaches, but also a tangible sign of how the academic world can contribute significantly to the design of innovative and sustainable solutions for the regeneration of public heritage, in this case that of the Defense. The solutions presented are the result of intense work and research that focused not only on the functional needs of the structure—the hospital with its history and symbolic value—but also on the relationship between old and new, sustainability and accessibility, innovation and respect for memory. Each design proposal took into account the strategic importance of the architectural complex, seeking to integrate it harmoniously into the urban context of Milan, to make it not only a center for health and defense, but also a point of reference for the community. The possibility of reuse or shared use of the structure—as with any military asset—represents a strategic opportunity to enhance the value of military properties or areas that can be decommissioned, transforming them into functional resources for both the Defense and the community.

Una cartografía de los feminismos latinoamericanos contemporáneos abarca una cantidad inmensa de corrientes de índole diversa: feminismos urbanos de clase media, feminismos comunitarios indígenas y noindígenas, ecofeminismos, feminismos descoloniales, para mencionar algunas. En esta particular intersección de quienes se reconocen como jóvenes activistas feministas, reside uno de los principales aportes de esta publicación. El abordaje de los estudios de los feminismos se ha hecho desde la trayectoria del largo y mediano plazo de las “olas" feministas, o desde el análisis de clase o desde posicionamientos teóricos. También se ha estudiado la relación de los movimientos feministas en su dinámica frente al Estado. La irrupción en la escena latinoamericana de jóvenes beligerantes contra el acoso, contra el femicidio, a favor de la interrupción voluntaria del embarazo, ha planteado el desafío de comprender las trayectorias, las subjetividades de estas jóvenes. Este libro, al visibilizar las particularidades de esa interseccionalidad jóvenes/feministas, alumbra elementos invisibilizados en los feminismos y permite caracterizar mejor las luchas sociales contemporáneas.

The information and risk society poses a new challenge for the law in all its fragments. Modern media communication and technologies increase people’s prosperity while stating new risks with not uncommonly devastating crisis-potential: The banking crisis, the safety net for the euro zone and the nuclear incident in Fukushima are only the latest forms of those specific modern common dangers which the law is facing – in many cases due to it’s domestically limited validity - not or not sufficiently prepared. In order to promote the international dialog within the jurisprudence there was a conference in October 2010 held by the faculty of law of the Georg-August-Universität, supported by the chair of GAU, together with the faculty of Seoul National University School of Law discussing main issues of law in a modern information and risk society. With this volume the results of this convention shall be made accessible to everybody interested. Thereby it illustrates not only the variety of new issues and aspects, but also reveals that this can only be the beginning on the way to a deeper understanding of the complex correlations. Volume 10 in the series „Göttinger Juristische Schriften“ The series is published by the Faculty of Law of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen und makes events at the faculty publicly available.

Emblematic animal of the Pyrenees, the Ibex has inhabited its two slopes since the most ancient times. By adapting to this environment, a typical Pyrenean form Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica appeared several millennia ago. Consumed during Prehistory, the Ibex became, during the Upper Paleolithic, an unavoidable figure of the prehistoric bestiary. Many of its representations are world-famous: painted Ibex from the Salon Noir (Niaux cave, Ariège) or sculpted on sperm whale teeth (Mas d’Azil cave, Ariège). This second volume of the book “Ibex and Pyrenees” is devoted to these prehistoric figurations and offers a detailed inventory for the French and Spanish Pyrenees that is completely new and richly illustrated. It also presents Palaeolithic sites outside the Pyrenees in which the ibex is well represented. Beyond its iconographic interest, accessible to all audiences, this inventory is intended to become a working tool for researchers and teachers; it has therefore been structured with this objective in mind and is coupled with an evolving online database. It brings together more than a hundred French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Belgian and Australian specialists and, like the first volume, is dedicated to Jean Clottes, a prehistorian from the Ariège region, honorary general curator of Heritage at the Ministry of Culture and an international specialist of decorated caves.

Comment (ré)aménager les espaces des bibliothèques, des learning centres aux relais lecture ? Réinterroger les modèles, mais aussi les expériences innovantes, identifier les partenaires, et surtout questionner tous ensemble les pratiques des publics, fidèles ou pas : tel est l'enjeu de ce livre, fruit des expériences partagées d'un collectif de spécialistes de la question, pour mettre l’aménagement au service du public. Cet ouvrage permet de comprendre, maîtriser et organiser le déroulement du processus de (ré)aménagement et de connaitre le rôle et les responsabilités de chaque acteur du projet, pour « co-construire un projet qui s’appuie autant sur le management que sur l’aménagement. »

Dans un contexte marqué par des mutations profondes et accélérées du paysage culturel institutionnel, les acteurs des bibliothèques et de la documentation sont incités à repenser l’organisation de leurs activités dans un cadre et un esprit plus transversaux et mutualistes. En matière de pratiques documentaires, cet impératif de mise en commun, parfois facteur de tensions dans la restructuration nécessaire des établissements, offre aussi aux professionnels une opportunité pour renouveler leur environnement et leurs méthodes de travail. Trois axes seront ici appréhendés, dans des réalités d’organisation et niveaux d’élaboration très divers : mutualiser en réseau d’établissements ; mutualiser en partage de contenus ; mutualiser en communauté d’acteurs.

In “The implementation of modern African Constitutions: challenges and prospects”, the authors try to identify obstacles to constitutional implementation in Africa and, on the basis of good practice, assess how this could be overcome. A single volume like this cannot unravel the complexity of the causes and effects of, and solutions to, the problem of non-implementation of constitutions in Africa: the subject is far too intricate. Nevertheless, this study, represents a first attempt to draw attention to the issue, and hopes to open a serious debate about it and pave the way for making this issue an integral consideration in constitution-building in the future. The variety of perspectives provided in analysing the challenges to constitution-implementation in this volume should make it to appeal to academics, practitioners, policy makers and postgraduate research students interested in the intricacies of comparative African constitutional law.

Computer science

Contrairement à ce que l'on pense généralement, la société soviétique des années trente n'a pas retenti que de paroles officielles. De fait, elle a accordé une large place au discours individuel et, plus encore, au discours de soi. Pour encourager cette pratique, elle en a réinventé les formes et aménagé les lieux d'expression : du journal intime à l'autocritique publique, en passant par l'autorapport, l'autobiographie de parti ou encore le journal de production. Inscrites dans les routines administratives de la bureaucratie et du parti soviétiques, ces pratiques permettaient à l'appareil d'État de connaître et de reconnaître ses sujets, remplissant ainsi une fonction d'objectivation. Cependant, l'acte de parler de soi est ambigu : forme de dévoilement donnée à autrui, il est aussi, selon l'hypothèse de Michel Foucault, un acte de subjectivation. Cette tension conceptuelle s'inscrit au cœur du présent ouvrage. Elle permet de réviser l'interprétation du stalinisme comme un système uniquement coercitif, comme un ensemble de moyens de contrôle et d'interventions arbitraires dans la vie des citoyens, interprétation qui ne tient compte ni de la genèse historique ni de la composante dynamique de tout régime politique, aussi despotique soit-il. L'enjeu des contributions ici réunies est plutôt de, comprendre comment le système stalinien d'avant 1945 a pu s'imposer, et même obtenir l'approbation, la participation et la loyauté non seulement des membres du parti, mais aussi d'une grande partie de la population.

Inspired by decolonial thinking, this book challenges romantic images of Y Wladfa, the Welsh Patagonian settlement founded in 1865. Drawing on archival sources written in Spanish, Welsh and English, it exposes the complex human relationships of this settler colony, and in particular disrupts the myth of Welsh–Indigenous friendship by foregrounding Indigenous experience and revealing less familiar accounts in the record. A newly-developed framework applies three logics – possession, racialization/barbarisation, and assimilation – to make sense of settler colonialism in Patagonia and to debate Wales’s complex position as both colonised and coloniser. A new analysis of contemporary cultural products (television, film, textbooks) further demonstrates how the romantic view continues to shape racial stereotypes today, concluding that such settler origin countries as Wales are vital sites of decolonial debate.

In this research anthology, inequality in Swedish working life in a Sweden marked by increased inequality, is studied. Racialised inequality, racism and discrimination in individual workplaces are focused, but inequalities based on class and gender are also studied. The concept of inequality regime is used by several of the authors to analyse work organizations. The workplaces studied are found in different sectors, not least in healthcare. The book also includes contributions that provide comparative international perspectives and studies of the development of inequality over time. The anthology contains 12 chapters based on empirical studies of working life, one chapter that analyses working life inequality from a political theory perspective, an introduction and a closing chapter that frames and draws conclusions from the different studies, as well as an afterword. The authors are 22 researchers from different social science disciplines.

In nearly all societies and epochs, the heroic is gendered on many levels. However, social and cultural production of the heroic cannot be understood solely through the lens of masculinity, nor does it make sense to regard women or femininity merely as exceptions. Rather, it is important to take the relational character seriously. This volume is the first attempt to employ gender as an analytical category for heroism research. Using diverse approaches from the humanities, gender serves as a tracer of the heroic and as an instrument for examining its historical contexts, its medial and performative manifestations, as well as its temporal cycles and transformations. With the help of the gender category and its attributes, the heroic is reevaluated.