Open Access Books

Following on from Theory and the Disappearing Future, Cohen, Colebrook and Miller turn their attention to the eco-critical and environmental humanities’ newest and most fashionable of concepts, the Anthropocene. The question that has escaped focus, as “tipping points” are acknowledged as passed, is how language, mnemo-technologies, and the epistemology of tropes appear to guide the accelerating ecocide, and how that implies a mutation within reading itself—from the era of extinction events. Only in this moment of seeming finality, the authors argue, does there arise an opportunity to be done with mourning and begin reading. Drawing freely on Paul de Man’s theory of reading, anthropomorphism and the sublime, Twilight of the Anthropocene Idols argues for a mode of critical activism liberated from all-too-human joys and anxieties regarding the future. It was quite a few decades ago (1983) that Jurgen Habermas declared that ‘master thinkers had fallen on hard times.’ His pronouncement of hard times was premature. For master thinkers it is the best of times. Not only is the world, supposedly, falling into a complete absence of care, thought and frugality, a few hyper-masters have emerged to tell us that these hard times should be the best of times. It is precisely because we face the end that we should embrace our power to geo-engineer, stage the revolution, return to profound thinking, reinvent the subject, and recognize ourselves fully as one global humanity. Enter anthropos.

The sharing economy is a fast-evolving field, but there are gaps in understanding how and why it emerges, evolves and becomes institutionalized. City governments play an important role in shaping the institutional environment of sharing economy organizations (SEOs). However, little is known about the institutional work of SEOs and city governments, and how it can help to leverage the sustainability potential of the sharing economy. This chapter aims to address these gaps by combining conceptual insights from neo-institutional theory with empirical data from five cities: Berlin, London, Malmö, San Francisco and Seoul. The mechanisms of institutional work of SEOs are analyzed using a framework developed by Lawrence and Suddaby and adapted by Zvolska and colleagues, which we modify to reflect the mechanisms of institutional work of city governments. Empirical data sources include case studies of SEOs, field observations and 80 in-depth interviews. Empirical examples illustrate the institutional work of SEOs and city governments. This chapter contributes to neo-institutional theory by testing the framework for institutional work against empirical data from SEOs, third-party actors and five city governments. It contributes to research on the sharing economy by adapting the framework for institutional work to the new agent, city government.

Der Band versammelt Beiträge, die sich mit Nachhaltigkeit und Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung (BNE) unter den Vorzeichen von Digitalität auseinandersetzen. Ziel ist es, Digitalität und Nachhaltigkeit in ein Verhältnis zu setzen und auf dieser Grundlage Bildung in einer «Kultur der Digitalität» zu konturieren. Die praxisbezogenen, empirischen und theoretisch-konzeptionellen Beiträge des Bandes nähern sich diesem Themenfeld auf inter- und transdisziplinäre Weise an. Dabei werden Perspektiven aus Medienbildung, Medien- und Fachdidaktik(en), kultureller Bildung und Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung eingenommen. Der Band richtet sich an Akteur:innen aus schulischen und außerschulischen Bildungskontexten sowie aus der Hochschulbildung.

Through his literary, historical and political oeuvre, Safvet-beg Bašagić (1870-1934) has formulated the great issues of bosnian-muslim nationalism, at a time when his community retreated from the demands placed upon it by the process of modernisation imposed by the austro-hungarian presence since the Berlin Congres of 1878. Inspired by ottoman, croat and serb nationalist movements of the 19th century, he attempted to establish an identity that was distinct from those of these movements by affirming the religious and cultural specificity of his fellow believers and compatriots. These engagements were intimately connected to the agrarian question in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Bašagić acted as a conservator, stressing that ownership of land was a historical right of the local beylicat, to which he belonged. During his lifetime he did not have the audience for which he would have wished; but the essential elements of his theses, despite their lack of scientific rigor, have flourished today.

Autophagy (also known as macroautophagy) is an evolutionarily conserved process by which cytoplasmic components are nonselectively enclosed within a double-membrane vesicle known as the autophagosome and delivered to the vacuole for degradation of toxic components and recycling of needed nutrients. This catabolic process is required for the adequate adaptation and response of the cell, and correspondingly the whole organism, to different types of stress including nutrient starvation or oxidative damage. Autophagy has been extensively investigated in yeasts and mammals but the identification of autophagy-related (ATG) genes in plant and algal genomes together with the characterization of autophagy-deficient mutants in plants have revealed that this process is structurally and functionally conserved in photosynthetic eukaryotes. Recent studies have demonstrated that autophagy is active at a basal level under normal growth in plants and is upregulated during senescence and in response to nutrient limitation, oxidative stress, salt and drought conditions and pathogen attack. Autophagy was initially considered as a non-selective pathway, but numerous observations mainly obtained in yeasts revealed that autophagy can also selectively eliminate specific proteins, protein complexes and organelles. Interestingly, several types of selective autophagy appear to be also conserved in plants, and the degradation of protein aggregates through specific adaptors or the delivery of chloroplast material to the vacuole via autophagy has been reported. This research topic aims to gather recent progress on different aspects of autophagy in plants and algae. We welcome all types of articles including original research, methods, opinions and reviews that provide new insights about the autophagy process and its regulation.

O livro analisa e discute as transformações no setor postal brasileiro,dialogando com as diversas mudanças pelas quais o mercado de trabalho passou e as implementações de estratégias governamentais que possibilitaram a modernização, a reestruturação operacional e a reforma organizacional da Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos (ECT) nos últimos 20 anos. Ao longo de cinco capítulos, a obra responde questionamentos acerca das características dos novos processos organizacionais da ECT e os seus impactos na regulação do setor postal, os reflexos dos processos de reestruturação operacional nas condições de trabalho e as influências dessas mudanças nas políticas de gestão das relações de trabalho na área.

Emerging Trends in Fisheries - Sustainable Practices and New Perspectives examines future directions in aquaculture and fisheries, offering an in-depth analysis of emerging trends in this sector. This work focuses on novel solutions and sustainable practices and discusses the dynamic interplay between aquaculture, aquatic ecosystems, and rural economies. Contributions from global experts cover a range of critical topics, including the potential of aquaculture family businesses to reduce rural-to-urban migration and the challenges and opportunities facing the aquaculture industry. The book also explores groundbreaking feed technologies, including the use of insects as a novel nutritional source and the role of seaweed in advancing integrated mariculture. Additionally, it emphasizes the vital role of plankton in marine fish and shellfish larval nutrition and explores the untapped potential of inland fisheries to boost rural economies in South Africa. With the invaluable contributions of experts regarding the future direction of fisheries, Emerging Trends in Fisheries - Sustainable Practices and New Perspectives offers essential information to researchers, policymakers, and professionals working towards sustainable fisheries development.

Le borgate nate in epoca fascista rappresentano una pagina fondamentale della storia di Roma contemporanea. Additate come i luoghi più malfamati della città, specchio dei suoi contrasti socio-economici e urbanistici, in esse può riassumersi il modo disordinato in cui la capitale è cresciuta e si è sviluppata. Avamposti dell’espansione edilizia del secondo dopoguerra, le borgate hanno costituito il luogo d’approdo per migliaia di famiglie dalle molteplici provenienze. Argomento fino a oggi poco dissodato, il processo di popolamento della periferia romana è affrontato in questo libro per mezzo di nuove fonti archivistiche, con cui è stato possibile verificare ipotesi di studio di recente acquisizione. Sullo sfondo, la storia del più importante Istituto di case popolari italiano svoltasi durante il ventennio, un periodo nel quale l’ente, fiancheggiatore delle politiche urbanistiche e abitative del fascismo per la capitale e, seppur a fasi alterne, organo edilizio del Governatorato, fu impegnato nella costruzione di intere parti di città e in quella di un vasto esperimento pedagogico di educazione fascista nei suoi caseggiati, contribuendo anch’esso all’instaurazione di un sistema dalle caratteristiche totalitarie.

The first university in London, and the first in England to accept people of all faiths and creeds, University College London occupies a prestigious position in the history of British education. Since its foundation in 1826 and the construction shortly afterwards of its iconic neoclassical building in Gower Street, UCL has been an increasingly influential presence in the capital’s Bloomsbury district, shaping the character of its built environment and acting as a magnet for other academic institutions. Over two hundred years UCL has expanded to form an extensive campus, its sprawling footprint and varied building stock reflecting growth in student numbers and advances in education, technology and culture. Having been part of UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture since 2013, the Survey of London is uniquely placed to offer the first comprehensive account of the university’s buildings and the evolution of its historic Bloomsbury campus. This monograph, published in 2026 to coincide with the bicentenary of UCL’s foundation, provides a new understanding of this significant estate in central London, bringing to light a complex and engaging architectural story with many facets that have been previously overlooked or neglected. It charts a progression in UCL’s architecture from the Greek Revival classicism of the early nineteenth century, through Victorian experimentation and inter-war Neo-Georgian, to post-war Brutalism and today to the high-tech, energy efficient and adaptable buildings expected of a modern university. Based on original documentary research and site investigation, and generously illustrated with more than 270 photographs, maps and drawings, many of them specially commissioned, the Survey’s monograph provides a valuable record and analysis of UCL’s Bloomsbury campus for the future.

Quoting other peopleʼs arguments by politicians, to rely on someone elseʼs work is rarely seen, but often causing extreme emotions. Recalling (especially inaccurate) the fragment from foreign language authors can cause misunderstanding, confusion of content and change the original meaning. The rhetorical device of this kind can be traced and watched several times by access to the media, what was done in our sociological analysis. Politicians, like actors, through the selection of specific measures of self-presentation (in this case, quotations from literature, cite the author of the widely known) provide customers reality as amended, such that they would like to be seen (Goffman 2008). The analyzed verbal speech in the Sejm were characterized by a strong emotional tone and illustrates language, that is far from the classical canons of savoir vivre (Marcjanik 2014; Achtelik, Tambor 2013). Verbal bon ton in parliament has, through its application, fulfilled many functions, from polite sarcasm through the manifesto of the supremacy, to the personal presentation of erudition. At the outset, the author describes leading concepts used in the chapter. In the next part the author addresses the videos with the participation of politicians who during their public appearances quoted of another authors. In summary the author of the chapter focuses on the function of citations and there are taken into account the positive aspects of using the prose/poetry by individuals elected to public office.

This scholarly book explores education’s vital yet underemphasised role in addressing climate change, positioning it as both a powerful tool for climate action and a sector directly impacted by environmental challenges.Challenging traditional, fact-based educational models, the book advocates for a transformative framework that integrates social-emotional learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and action-oriented teaching. Through empirical research, theoretical insights, and real-world case studies – such as the Keep it Cool – Climate Change Education (KIC-CCE) initiative in South Africa – it illustrates how education can drive awareness, empower communities, support green employment, and foster resilience, particularly among marginalised populations. Aligning with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 4 (quality education) and 13 (climate action), the book highlights the importance of teacher preparedness, gender equality, and community engagement. Rich in academic rigour and practical relevance, it first offers scholars, but also policymakers and practitioners, a forward-thinking perspective on integrating climate change education into curricula and broader educational systems.

Recent years have seen a vast development in various methodologies for object detection and feature extraction and recognition, both in theory and in practice. When processing images, videos, or other types of multimedia, one needs efficient solutions to perform fast and reliable processing. Computational intelligence is used for medical screening where the detection of disease symptoms is carried out, in prevention monitoring to detect suspicious behavior, in agriculture systems to help with growing plants and animal breeding, in transportation systems for the control of incoming and outgoing transportation, for unmanned vehicles to detect obstacles and avoid collisions, in optics and materials for the detection of surface damage, etc. In many cases, we use developed techniques which help us to recognize some special features. In the context of this innovative research on computational intelligence, the Special Issue “Advanced Computational Intelligence for Object Detection, Feature Extraction and Recognition in Smart Sensor Environments” present an excellent opportunity for the dissemination of recent results and achievements for further innovations and development. It is my pleasure to present this collection of excellent contributions to the research community. - Prof. Marcin Woźniak, Silesian University of Technology, Poland –

Enabling the City is a collaborative book that focuses on how interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary processes of knowledge production may contribute to urban transformation at a local level in the 21st century, striking a balance between enthusiastic support for such transformational potential and a cautious note regarding the persistent challenges to the ethos as well as the practice of inter and transdisciplinarity. The rich stories reflect different research and local practice cultures, exploring issues such as ageing, community, health and dementia, public space, energy, mobility cultures, heritage, housing, re-use, and renewal, as well as more universal questions about urban sustainability and climate change, and perhaps most importantly, education. Against this backdrop, aspirations for the 21st century are related to the international, national, and local agendas expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and in the New Urban Agenda (NUA), raising fundamental questions of how to enable development. We highlight aspects of transformative learning and ways of knowing, critical to any collaborative and participatory process.

The volume provides 332 abstracts of charters issued by Emperor Frederick III (1440-1493) between 1476 and 1479, which are preserved in the former Habsburg House and State Archives (Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv) in Vienna. During this period, the course for the future was set: in the West, the war of succession in the Duchy of Burgundy began, in the East, persistent tensions with Hungary resulted in open war. Thus, the most significant documents of the volume are those referring to the peace negotiations with the King of Hungary, Matthias Corvinus (1477), and the complex of charters related to the investiture of Frederick´s son Maximilian with Burgundy (1478), whereas a main focus is on the administration of the hereditary Habsburg territories, which are marked by an increase in written records and also charters issued by the imperial chancellery.

This book pilots the reader into the future. The first three chapters introduce new materials and material processing methods. Then five chapters present innovative new design directions and solutions. The main section of the book contains ten chapters organized around problems and methods of manufacturing and technology, from cutting process optimisation through maintenance and control to the Digital Factory. The last two chapters deal with information and energy, as the foundations of a prospering economy.