Open Access Books

Due to the development of mobile and Web 2.0 technology, knowledge transfer, storage and retrieval have become much more rapid. In recent years, there have been more and more new and interesting findings in the research field of knowledge management. This book aims to introduce readers to the recent research topics, it is titled "New Research on Knowledge Management Models and Methods" and includes 19 chapters. Its focus is on the exploration of methods and models, covering the innovations of all knowledge management models and methods as well as deeper discussion. It is expected that this book provides relevant information about new research trends in comprehensive and novel knowledge management studies, and that it serves as an important resource for researchers, teachers and students, and for the development of practices in the knowledge management field.

This book includes various works in which different methodological and didactic proposals, documentary reviews and works on the conceptions of the agents involved in education try to shed some light on the complex theme of the union of the teaching of history and developmentFrom different competences: on the one hand, that great competition linked to discipline such as historical thinking and, on the other hand, but related to the above, the development of social and civic competences that help in the citizen training of students inThe different educational stages

Against this backdrop of accelerating environmental change, digital transformation, and demographic shifts, public policies confront unprecedented uncertainty. Conventional approaches have proven insufficient to address interconnected challenges such as climate change, migration, and urbanization. This volume advances analytical and multi-criteria decision-making frameworks as indispensable instruments for designing more coherent, transparent, and evidence-based sustainable policies. The book conceptualizes sustainability as a transformative paradigm encompassing institutional capacity, social inclusion, economic resilience, and long-term adaptability. By integrating robust analytical methodologies, including the Best–Worst Method (BWM), Neutrosophic logic, SWOT analysis, and simulation-based modeling, this monograph systematically addresses the inherent complexity of policymaking. It enables the rigorous evaluation of trade-offs, effective prioritization of policy alternatives, and systematic management of uncertainty across diverse governance contexts. Covering interconnected domains such as digital governance, smart cities, climate-induced migration, ageing and accessibility, sustainable finance, and urban transport systems, the volume offers transferable analytical frameworks derived from both Turkish and international contexts. Each policy domain is examined through comparative and practice-oriented perspectives, demonstrating how analytical tools can be applied across different governance levels while preserving a shared sustainability orientation. This compilation serves as a valuable reference for academics, researchers, and graduate students in public administration, urban studies, sustainability science, and policy analysis, as well as for policymakers and practitioners seeking evidence-based governance strategies. By merging theoretical profundity with methodological precision, the book positions sustainable public policy not merely as a normative aspiration but as a complex governance challenge. Ultimately, it paves the way for resilient, equitable, and forward-looking policy systems in an increasingly complex world.

We are honored and privileged to edit this Special Issue, “Fungal Taxonomy, Phylogeny, and Ecology: A Themed Issue Dedicated to Academician Wen-Ying Zhuang”. In this Special Issue, we are pleased to publish a comprehensive assemblage of 23 papers covering fungal taxonomy, phylogeny, and ecology, in which 76 new taxa from a broad taxonomic group and different ecological habitats are reported.

Innerhalb der USA gilt New Orleans seit jeher als die „unamerikanischste“ Stadt, als exotisch und anders, gar als „sozio-geographischer Unfall“. Hier überkreuzen sich nicht nur die Einflüsse verschiedener Kolonialkulturen, sondern auch die Routen des atlantischen Sklavenhandels und der asiatischen Arbeitsmigration und nicht zuletzt die ideellen wie materiellen Transferbewegungen zwischen den beiden Amerikas. Der vorliegende Band macht es sich zur Aufgabe, diese vielfältigen transarealen Zirkulationsprozesse zu analysieren und das Potential New Orleans' zur paradigmatischen Metropole des Globalen Südens auszuloten. Im Fokus stehen verschiedene Formen der kulturellen Kreolisierung, wie sie sich in der Sprache, der Literatur, der Musik, aber auch in Alltagsphänomen wie dem Karneval oder Computerspielen manifestieren. Within the USA, New Orleans has long been considered the ‘un-American’ city, seen as exotic and different, even as a ‘socio-geographical accident’. It is a crossroads not only for the influences of different colonial cultures but also for the routes of the Atlantic slave trade and immigration of Asian workers, and not least for material and non-material transfer between the two Americas. This volume seeks to analyse these manifold transareal circulation processes and to explore New Orleans’s potential as a paradigmatic metropolis of the Global South. The focus is on different forms of creolisation as manifested in language, literature and music, but also in everyday phenomena such as Carnival or computer games.

This collection of essays by leading global historians sheds light on the field's conceptual foundations and analytical instruments. Readers are guided to question implicit assumptions, critically assess the extant literature and reflect on the implications of history going global. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

The fatigue of metallic materials stands as a pivotal challenge in engineering applications. Exploring the fatigue damage mechanism and fatigue life prediction of metallic materials is of paramount importance. This reprint includes articles that explore relevant topics, and they are intended for academic researchers, engineers, and students seeking a comprehensive understanding of the recent advancements in this field.

Linguists interested in the history of languages as well as historians focussing on regional studies favorably resort to onomatology in order to prove the evidence or insights of their own research. Onomastics, in itself an interesting subject, can provide relevant data regarding questions of identity of both individuals and social groups, such as village communities, for example. The volume on hand covers several decades of texts by Ulrich Scheuermann presenting his onomastical research on fieldnames predominantly from Lower Saxony. Not only is this collection of essays a knowledgeable introduction into practical onomastical methods which require critical assessment of sources, detailed etymological and grammatical analysis as well as solid local knowledge. With their variety of findings the essays also illustrate the close connections between field and place names and names of deserted settlements or villages.

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo poner de manifiesto la utilidad del método estilístico para el análisis de la literatura. Para ello, en primer lugar, se ofrece una breve panorámica sobre las opiniones que algunos especialistas han vertido en relación a la estilística enfatizando en algunas características de dicha metodología. En segundo lugar, se estudian poemas del poeta granadino Jesús Montiel para, a partir de las pautas de examen de la escuela alonsiana, ahondar en su poética, una de las más novedosas dentro del panorama poético Spanish en la actualidad.

The Quran speaks of living with each other on a footing of love, kindness, mercy and mutual consultation between husband and wife. It also addresses those times when the atmosphere is strained. This paper examines the issue of marital discord with a deep sensitivity to the perspective of women. Criticizing an approach to the Quran that is misogynistic rather than emancipatory the paper moves the debate forward by introducing an alternative interpretation of the Quranic text dealing with the issue of marital discord. The explanation is fresh, firmly on the side of women’s human rights and recaptures the full Islamic spirit of human dignity.

Cet ouvrage réunit les résultats de deux manifestations complémentaires : d’une part, la table ronde intitulée « Rendre à César », organisée le mercredi 20 juin 2012, à Paris, au Musée du Louvre et, d’autre part, les « Rencontres autour de la sculpture romaine conservée en France » qui ont eu lieu du 18 au 20 octobre 2012 au Musée départemental Arles antique. La richesse des interventions lors de ces deux manifestations permet de restituer un ouvrage composé de trente-huit articles, répartis en trois parties et une conclusion. La première partie, en écho et en développement de la table ronde du Louvre, porte sur le portrait du « César du Rhône », aussi bien que sur « Le portrait romain en Gaule ». La deuxième partie publie cinq études autour des « nouvelles techniques d’investigations scientifiques » et présente l’analyse des matériaux des sculptures en pierre et en bronze, découvertes dans le Rhône à Arles, ainsi qu’une étude ethnoarchéologique sur les techniques de production du portrait. Enfin une troisième partie présente les « découvertes récentes et les nouvelles recherches », déclinées en seize études qui sont consacrées à des études de cas (Autun, Vaison-la-Romaine, Nîmes, Metz-Divodurum, Apt), ainsi qu’à des relectures novatrices de sculptures méconnues (Plouarzel, Langres, Avignonet-Lauragais, Vernègues, vallée de l’Ubaye, Besançon, Lyon). Robert Turcan signe la conclusion. Ainsi, « La sculpture romaine en Occident. Nouveaux regards » reflète la variété et l’intérêt des questionnements actuels dans ce domaine.

“But every day at least one line should be directed against me, just as the telescopes are now directed against the comet.” Franz Kafka In the field of tension between writing and mediality, Franz Kafka's work gains a dynamic that is as profound as it is paradoxical: a movement arises between the writing process and the written product, in which what already exists is constantly rewritten and rewritten anew through references to his own and other texts and media. This book is dedicated to this context, emphasizing the undiminished topicality of Kafka's work 100 years after his death. The focus is on central key texts of one of the most important works of world literature: from the great novels to the diverse stories and short prose forms from all creative phases to Kafka's autobiographical writing in his letters and diaries. Under the aspect of writing and mediality, the relationships between literary texts and other visual or auditory media such as image and sound elements or films as well as the mediality of writing itself are negotiated, supplemented, for example, by the materials used such as paper, pencil or pen and their relevance for an existential writing program designed as a life project.

The Caspian region has a wealth of crude oil and natural gas. Turkey aspires to be a key player in transporting oil and gas from the Caspian area to world markets. This hope is challenged by commercial and regional issues, terrorist threats, and the potential for disruption of tanker traffic in the Bosporus. Helping Turkey build its capacity for pipeline security and maritime disaster response is a promising yet modest area for USAF engagement.

The immune system detects "danger" through a series of what we call pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or damage-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs), working in concert with both positive and negative signals derived from other tissues. PAMPs are molecules associated with groups of pathogens that are small molecular motifs conserved within a class of microbes. They are recognized by Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and other pattern recognition receptors. A vast array of different types of molecules can serve as PAMPs, including glycans and glycoconjugates. Bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPSs), endotoxins found on the cell membranes of Gram-negative bacteria, are considered to be the prototypical class of PAMPs. LPSs are specifically recognized by TLR4, a recognition receptor of the innate immune system. Other PAMPs include bacterial flagellin (recognized by TLR5), lipoteichoic acid from Gram-positive bacteria, peptidoglycan, and nucleic acid variants normally associated with viruses, such as double-stranded RNA, recognized by TLR3 or unmethylated CpG motifs, recognized by TLR9. DAMPs, also known as alarmins, are molecules released by stressed cells undergoing necrosis that act as endogenous danger signals to promote and exacerbate the immune and inflammatory response. DAMPs vary greatly depending on the type of cell (epithelial, mesenchymal, etc.) and injured tissue. Some endogenous danger signals include heat-shock proteins, HMGB1 (high-mobility group box 1), reactive oxygen intermediates, extracellular matrix breakdown products such as hyaluronan fragments, neuromediators, and cytokines like the interferons (IFNs). Non-protein DAMPs include ATP, uric acid, heparin sulfate, and DNA. Furthermore, accumulating evidence supports correlation between alarmins and changes in the microbiome. Increased serum or plasma levels of these DAMPs have been associated with many inflammatory diseases, including gastric and intestinal inflammatory diseases, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), sepsis and multiple organ failure, allergies particularly in the lungs, atherosclerosis, age-associated insulin resistance, arthritis, lupus, neuro-inflammation/degeneration and more recently in tumors, which is particularly interesting with the emergence of immunotherapies. Therapeutic strategies are being developed to modulate the expression of these DAMPs for the treatment of these diseases. A vast number of reviews have already been published in this area; thus, in an effort to not duplicate what has already been written, we will focus on recent discoveries particularly in disease models that are epidemic in Western society: intestinal chronic inflammatory diseases including GVHD and its relationship with the microbiome, chronic infectious diseases, allergies, autoimmune diseases, neuroinflammation and cancers. We will also focus on the basic cellular roles of macrophages, T cells and B cells. This research topic brings together sixteen articles that provide novel insights into the mechanisms of action of DAMPS/alarmins and their regulation and subsequent immunologically driven responses.

An innovative historical analysis of the intersection of religion and technology in making the modern state, focusing on bodily production and reproduction across the human-animal divide.In Milk and Honey, Tamar Novick writes a revolutionary environmental history of the state that centers on the intersection of technology and religion in modern Palestine/Israel. Focusing on animals and the management of their production and reproduction across three political regimes—the late-Ottoman rule, British rule, and the early Israeli state—Novick draws attention to the ways in which settlers and state experts used agricultural technology to recreate a biblical idea of past plenitude, literally a “land flowing with milk and honey,” through the humanimal body.Novick presents a series of case studies involving the management of water buffalo, bees, goats, sheep, cows, and people. She traces the intimate forms of knowledge and bodily labor—production and reproduction—in which this process took place, and the intertwining of bodily, political, and environmental realms in the transformation of Palestine/Israel. Her wide-ranging approach shows technology never replaced religion as a colonial device. Rather, it merged with settler-colonial aspirations to salvage the land, bolstering the effort to seize control over territory and people.Fusing technology, religious fervor, bodily labor, and political ecology Milk and Honey provides a novel account of the practices that defined and continue to shape settler-colonialism in the Palestine/Israel, revealing the ongoing entanglement of technoscience and religion in our time.