Open Access Books

The guidebook specifies the role of supervision in education, offering theoretical and practical insights that can help effectively implement supervision in educational settings. It is designed as a resource primarily for teachers and school administrators who seek to foster inclusive education and enhancing professional development. It is also addressed to supervision professionals and leaders, as well as educational policy makers, who have the capacity to implement effective legislation to support the development of inclusive education. The guidebook can serve as a valuable resource for researchers and students of education and educational psychology, offering the theoretical foundations and practical guidance on the effective use of supervision as a developmental tool in education contexts.

Poised at the convergence of most catabolic and anabolic pathways, mitochondria are the center of heterotrophic aerobic life, representing a hub in the overall metabolic network of cells. The energetic functions performed by mitochondria face the unavoidable redox hurdle of handling huge amounts of oxygen while keeping its own as well as the cellular redox environment under control. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced in the respiratory chain as a result of the energy supplying function of mitochondria. Originally considered an unavoidable by-product of oxidative phosphorylation, ROS have become crucial signaling molecules when their levels are kept within physiological range. This occurs when their production and scavenging are balanced within mitochondria and cells. Mitochondria-generated hydrogen peroxide can act as a signaling molecule within mitochondria or in the cytoplasm, affecting multiple networks that control, for example, cell cycle, stress response, cell migration and adhesion, energy metabolism, redox balance, cell contraction, and ion channels. However, under pathophysiological conditions, excessive ROS levels can happen due to either overproduction, overwhelming of antioxidant defenses, or both. Under oxidative stress, detrimental effects of ROS include oxidation of protein, lipids, and nucleic acids; mitochondrial depolarization and calcium overload; and cell-wide oscillations mediated by ROS-induced ROS release mechanisms. Mitochondrial dysfunction is central in the pathogenesis of numerous human maladies including cardiomyopathies and neurodegeneration. Diseases characterized by altered nutrient metabolism, such as diabetes and cancer, exhibit elevated ROS levels. These may contribute to pathogenesis by increasing DNA mutation, affecting regulatory signaling and transcription, and promoting inflammation. Under metabolic stress, several ionic channels present in the inner and outer mitochondrial membranes can have pro-life and -death effects. In the present E-book, based on the Frontiers Research Topic entitled: "Mitochondria: Hubs of cellular signaling, energetics and redox balance", we address one of the fundamental questions that the field of ROS biology faces today: how do mitochondria accomplish a reliable energy provision and at the same time keep ROS levels within physiological, non-harming, limits but crucial for cellular signaling function? Additionally, and within the perspective of mitochondria as signaling-energetic hubs in the extensive cellular metabolic network, we ask how can their collective dynamics scale from the subcellular to the cellular, tissue and organ levels to affect function in health and disease.

Sport biomechanics and training have been traditionally tested under laboratory conditions, requiring both specific conditions and expensive equipment. The novel use of wearable devices aims to fulfill the lack of ecology for such measures and provides an affordable and easy-to-use option to perform biomechanics. Lately, wearable sensors have allowed for the quantification of performance and workload by providing mechanical and physiological parameters and their popularity has grown exponentially. In this context, more and more wearable sensors are commercially available and, when applied to biomechanics, these devices are able to provide both kinetic and kinematic variables, consequently improving the feasibility and testing time of such assessments and, therefore, becoming a real alternative for sport practitioners and researchers. Additionally, wearable devices allow real-time monitoring and biofeedback.

In 1857, the young Hamburg merchant Gustav Amsinck set off for the United States. In the booming metropolis of New York, he expanded his brother's "goods commission and banking business" with skill, diligence and a wealth of ideas. Under his aegis, G. Amsinck & Co. survived revolts in South America, attempts to defraud, and shipwrecks. In addition to its core business which consisted especially of sugar and coffee trading the merchant banker also invested in new barrel tyre patents, prefabricated houses and was involved in the construction of the Panama Canal. Privately, Gustav Amsinck appreciates the beautiful arts and traveling. When the Hamburgische Wissenschaftliche Stiftung came into being in 1907, he was one of its most important donors. This biography traces the rise of this man, who achieved prestige and wealth with Hanseatic merchants' virtues in the land of unlimited possibilities.

Who are Haredim? And why are they the source of both increasing attention and continuing misunderstanding? New Trends in the Study of Haredi Culture and Society draws on the innovative research of leading scholars from a variety of disciplines—including history, religious studies, demography, linguistics, and geography—to trace the growing prominence of Haredi (often called ultra-Orthodox) Jews in Jewish life. Haredi Jews are committed to preserving a measure of segregation from the rest of society consistent with the guiding principles of their forebears; yet increasingly, they are appearing more visibly and assertively in public spaces. Demographic analysis suggests that they will constitute a much larger share—nearly one-quarter—of the world Jewish population over the next twenty years. By examining the evolution of political, cultural, and social trends in Haredi communities across the globe, this interdisciplinary and transnational volume sheds important light both on Haredi communities and on the societies of which they are part.

Food insecurity is a complex ‘wicked’ problem that results from a range of unstable and uncertain physical, social, cultural and economic factors that limits access to nutritious food. Globally, 800 million people are under-nourished, and around 2 billion are overweight/obese or have micronutrient deficiency. These populations are largely positioned in developing countries where disease burden is high and impacts health budgets and productivity. Similarly developed countries, cities and neighbourhoods are experiencing a greater emergence of vulnerable populations. This is in part explained by the change in the food production and manufacturing, the retraction in economic climates, the increase in food price, and in some regions reduced food availability and access.Vulnerable groups include but are not limited to migrant populations, Indigenous people, elderly, pregnant women, those with disability, homeless, young children and youth. Poor nutrition at significant periods of growth and development and during life impact long term health outcomes increasing non-communicable disease prevalence, health cost and reducing economic productivity.

This volume presents the papers from the conference Coal Mining in Boom and Crisis since 1945: The Ruhr Region as a Comparative Template for Processes of Transformation in Heavy Industry held at the German Mining Museum Bochum in March 2017, inquiring into the suitability of the Ruhr mining industry that dominates the region as a comparative template for processes of transformation in heavy industry.

Prva umetnina v žepu je narodov knjižni hram: Plečnikova Narodna in univerzitetna knjižnica skozi oči arhitektovega poznavalca Damjana Prelovška. V času svetovne gospodarske krize sta ljubljanski magistrat in celotna slovenska politika ob podpori javnosti odgovorno poskrbela, da je duhovno-materialna dediščina Slovencev dobila umetniško dovršen inspirativen prostor za njeno nadaljnje zbiranje, ohranjanje in preučevanje. Preteklost nas skozi Prelovškov zapis med drugim uči, kako ravnati, ko visi nad narodovo dediščino Damoklejev meč: ker takrat nismo pristali na tuja mnenja in blokade, povprečnost in negativno selekcijo, Slovenci danes hranimo in beremo knjige v vrhunskem in svetovno znanem arhitekturnem spomeniku.

A magyar mint idegen nyelv tanítása nagy múltra tekint vissza a felnőttek körében. Számos tankönyv és módszertani útmutatást adó munka született már e téren. A gyermekeknek szánt tankönyvek száma lényegesen alacsonyabb, ugyanakkor megfigyelhető, hogy folyamatosan gazdagodik az elektronikus tananyaggyűjtemények kínálata. A fiatalabb korcsoport magyarnyelv-tanításához kapcsolódó módszertani megközelítéseket feldolgozó munkák eddig többnyire szakfolyóiratok tanulmányaiként jelentek meg. E könyv szerzői arra tesznek kísérletet, hogy néhány olyan módszertani alapelvet mutassanak be, amelyek a kommunikatív kompetencia fejlesztését tartják szem előtt. A kötetben a nyelvtanítás sokszínű metodikai tárházának csak néhány elemével foglalkozunk, de bízunk abban, hogy megközelítésünk alkalmas arra, hogy a magyar nyelvvel ismerkedő, különböző életkorú gyermekeknek megkönnyítsük a nyelvtudásuk kiépítéséhez vezető kezdeti lépéseket. Könyvünkben az olvasó megismerkedhet a különböző tanulói csoportokkal és sajátosságaikkal. Bemutatjuk a nyelvtanítás–nyelvtanulás mint összetett folyamat komplex modelljét, amelyben kitérünk annak központi elemére, a motivációra is. A továbbiakban a kommunikatív kompetencia fogalmát járjuk körbe, majd a nyelvi készségek osztályozását és fejlesztési útjait vázoljuk. A kötetben elsősorban az óvodás- és iskolás korosztályú gyermekek magyarnyelv-tanítására összpontosítunk, mivel az ő esetükben a nyelvi fejlődésben a nyelvelsajátítás dominál. Az írásbeliség megjelenésével lassú átmenettel megjelenik a nyelvtanulás is. A kommunikatív kompetencia fejlesztésének lehetőségeként a dialógus alapú nyelvoktatásról olvashatunk bővebben. Ezt követően a jelenleg elérhető tankönyveket és tananyaggyűjteményeket vesszük számba, és a hiányzó tankönyvtípusok azonosításával jövőbeli kiadványok tervét villantjuk fel. Az utolsó fejezetben kitekintünk az ifjú korosztály tanításának – a kisebbekétől eltérő – módszertani jellemzőire, vagyis az ő körükben hogyan használhatóak a kisebbeknél bemutatott tanítási technikák. Az egyes fejezetek végén néhány összefoglaló kérdés segíti az olvasottak átismétlését, megjegyzését és továbbgondolását.

Yifei Yan’s ambitious multi-method case study of government middle schools in Beijing and Delhi provides fresh insights into how educational accountability can be designed to work, in part and as a whole. Getting schools to work better is a challenge just about everywhere. Many policy experts prescribe measures for strengthening school accountability, either through government command and control or through alternative market and societal actors. In challenging this conventional wisdom, this book examines how China and India are tackling the challenge with a specific focus on supporting teachers along with traditional accountability-strengthening measures. The book draws implications from its case studies for how education systems can be designed towards the fulfilment of Sustainable Development Goal 4. It further develops the concept of "Accountability 3.0" to elucidate a novel and more holistic reconceptualisation of the appropriate means needed to fulfil multiple purposes of accountability, in which providing support to frontline workers is viewed as an integral component. This book will appeal to a wide spectrum of scholars and practitioners in the fields of comparative education, public administration, public policy and development studies, among others. It will be especially interesting to those from the developing world facing similar accountability challenges as described.

The first chapter is available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND license. Evan Easton-Calabria’s critical history of refugee self-reliance assistance brings new dimensions to refugee and international development studies. The promotion of refugee self-reliance is evident today, yet its history remains largely unexplored, with good practices and longstanding issues often missed. Through archival and contemporary evidence, this book documents a century of little-known efforts to foster refugee self-reliance, including the economic, political, and social motives driving this assistance. With five case studies from Greece, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, and Egypt, the book tracks refugee self-reliance as a malleable concept used to pursue ulterior interests. It reshapes understandings of refugee self-reliance and delivers important messages for contemporary policy making.

Exploring Reproduction: Anthropological Perspectives introduces students to the dynamic field of the anthropology of reproduction, examining how human reproduction is shaped by cultural, historical, and political forces. This textbook engages with key issues such as fertility, infertility, assisted reproductive technologies, childbirth, contraception, reproductive governance, genetics, and justice. Drawing on foundational anthropological concepts—like personhood, stratified reproduction, and biopolitics—it introduces students to the various ways in which reproduction intersects with gender, sexuality, kinship, and social institutions. Through case studies and theoretical insights, the book showcases the relevance of anthropological approaches to understanding reproductive health, rights, and policy across diverse contexts. Exploring Reproduction: Anthropological Perspectives is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology, sociology, public health, allied medicine, biology, and related fields exploring reproduction, identity, and power.

Der Staat fördert die berufliche Weiterbildung und verfolgt mit dieser Förderung nicht nur wirtschaftspolitische, sondern vor allem auch sozialpolitische Ziele.Die geförderten Weiterbildungsmaßnahmen werden - wie viele andere Sozialleistungen - in großem Umfang von Dritten erbracht. Hierfür sind bestimmte tatsächlich-organisatorische und rechtliche Strukturen nötig, wobei es sich im Weiterbildungsbereich als einem historisch gewachsenen System vielfach um wettbewerbsgeprägte Strukturen handelt. Dabei ist nicht selbstverständlich, dass die mit der einzelnen Leistung angestrebte Förderung so beim Weiterbildungsteilnehmer ankommt, wie dies von der Förderungsleistung vorgesehen ist. Gegenstand der Untersuchung ist daher neben der Darstellung der Förderungsleistungen auch eine Analyse der Maßnahmen, die sicherstellen sollen, dass die Ziele der Förderleistungen auch erreicht werden. Ob und wie die Förderungszwecke insbesondere bei der Durchführung durch Dritte erreicht werden, wird mit Hilfe eines Vergleichs der Rechtsordnungen von Deutschland und Schweden untersucht.

The recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has changed societies and research around the world. As such, this new book examines the latest developments in the field of neuroscience related to these changes. It includes six chapters in two sections: “COVID-19 Effects: Neurology, Neuroimmunology, Neurogenesis” and “Molecular and Cellular Neurochemistry.” The first section includes chapters that address such topics as COVID’s effect on adult neurogenesis, neurological manifestations of COVID-19, and COVID-19 and seizures. Chapters in the second section discuss peripheral biomarkers in multiple sclerosis, amino acids as neurotransmitters, advancements in RNA sequencing technologies, and more.

This report leverages existing data on wellness programs to explore patterns of wellness program availability, employers’ use of incentives, and program participation and utilization among employees. The findings underscore the increasing prevalence of worksite wellness programs. Actual use of wellness programs remains limited, but may increase modestly with the use of monetary incentives. Evidence of cost savings is limited.