Open Access Books

The climate crisis is a human rights crisis as health, homes, education, and numerous other areas of human life are affected. In this work, the authors examine how the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies to the climate crisis and argue that children and youth are rights-makers, reshaping legal and political norms for everyone. The authors also analyse ways in which children/youth are leading the fight against climate change with rights advocacy. Their climate action at national level, in international forums, and in the courts is examined. It is concluded that children/youth have had distinct impacts across these different arenas in which human rights are shaped. Participation rights for children/youth, then, are bringing tangible change not just for themselves, but for everyone. The book will be an invaluable resource for academics, researchers and policy-makers working in human rights law, children’s rights, environmental law, childhood studies and social policy. It will also likely benefit climate advocates, litigators, and others as it outlines doctrinal footholds and procedural innovations in the area.

Various bacteria with hydantoinase activity were recovered from terrestrial soil samples of different geographic origins (Antarctica, South Africa, China). Based on these findings it is shown that microorganisms with hydantoinase activity are (i) distributed in various geographically distinct environmental habitats (ii) distributed worldwide (iii) found in certain bacterial genera.

The here collected contributions relating to the 46th International Conference of the Representation Disciplines Teachers, organized jointly by Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre University, and San Raffaele Roma University, aim to offer the scientific community a reflection on the theoretical and methodological aspects related to the concept of èkphrasis, a term that, in the field of representation, concerns descriptive, analogical, and digital activities that generate new knowledge in several areas of application. The Conference aims to place at the center of the discussion an interpretation of the concept of research that, without neglecting an idea of study, protection, and enhancement of environmental and cultural heritage, focuses on the needs of contemporary society and its possible developments, making use of innovative theoretical, methodological, and operational activities, including those characterized by an interdisciplinary approach. According to this interpretation, research can also be seen as a foreshadowing of the definition and testing of experimental proposals aimed at exploring new areas of investigation: this opens up imaginative and utopian perspectives in the relationship between the sciences, the arts, and the disciplines that contribute to common goals, through the experimentation of methods, techniques, and languages for conceiving, prefiguring, designing, and representing.

D’Henri duc d’Anjou devenant roi de Pologne jusqu’à Stanislas Leszczynski ou Marie Lesczynska, l’histoire des familles régnantes, mais plus globalement des noblesses de ces deux pays apparaît intimement mêlée dans le cadre de voyages, d’unions matrimoniales ou d’échanges culturels, comme ce fut le cas avec les salons et les loges maçonniques de l’Europe des Lumières. Le Centre Aquitain d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine de l’Université Michel de Montaigne et l’Université polonaise Nicolas Copernic de Toruń travaillant depuis de nombreuses années sur le milieu nobiliaire, ont souhaité, dans le contexte de construction d’une histoire européenne, confronter et rapprocher leurs méthodes, en englobant leurs recherches sur les noblesses polonaise et française aux xive et xxe siècles pour terminer sur le rôle éminent de Michel Poniatowski, prince polonais au service de la République française.

n 23 compact chapters by prominent experts from the Liechtenstein Institute, this handbook provides the most up-to-date and complete knowledge available on all facets of Liechtenstein’s political system, including topics such as the concept of the small state, the Princely House, popular rights, elections and foreign policy. Each self-contained chapter spans the spectrum of topics relating to Liechtenstein from historical developments, the legal situation, the state of international research and empirical findings to international comparisons. This weighty compendium answers questions such as: What contributed to the country’s enormous economic upswing? How do princely power and direct democracy work together? How can a micro-state participate in the ‘concert of powers’? Facts and analyses previously scattered throughout special publications are gathered here in one place. The book’s editors are authorities on politics in Liechtenstein at the independent Liechtenstein Institute.

This open access book offers critical, multidisciplinary analyses on graduate employability. The book examines employability at the macro, meso and micro levels: higher education policy, the labour market, higher education institutions, organisations, individuals and social groups, in European, North American and Australian contexts. The contributors provide social and contextual analysis of graduate employability as a theoretical concept, a discourse and policy imperative and a social and discursive practice. The volume also introduces novel methodological perspectives to study the process of graduate employability. There is an urgent need for comprehensive and unified critical perspectives on graduate employability, as such analyses have so far been scarce and often isolated. Besides filling this gap in the literature, the book will also serve as essential reading on courses that focus on graduate careers and employability as well as higher education policy and practice.

This book is a collection of a group of peer-reviewed scientific papers dealing with both the evaluation and the solution of the complex but pressing problem of water source pollution. In the case of both fresh and marine water, the environmental and health protection aspects are closely linked. Monitoring activities supply continuous information on the contamination levels in inland surface, ground, and coastal waters, providing an alert in case of increased or new contamination and monitoring the effectiveness of remediation strategies. On the other hand, new or improved remediation and bioremediation tools are urgently needed to tackle the scarcity of safe drinking water. The papers in this book represent interesting starting points for future researches.

Ce livre est une introduction à la pensée de Kendall L. Walton autant qu’il en est un commentaire critique. Il présente le concept de faire-semblant en tant que l’héritier du concept antique de mimêsis en philosophie de la représentation. Il aborde la théorie du grand livre de Walton en la confrontant à la théorie des systèmes symboliques de Nelson Goodman, son adversaire historique. Il retrace sa parenté à la philosophie du « comme si » de Hans Vaihinger. Il confond les critiques récentes de Gregory Currie, Peter Lamarque, Stacie Friend ou Derek Matravers. Le propos est, ainsi, de dépeindre de manière systématique la philosophie de Walton dans un paysage de philosophie contemporaine et, dans une moindre mesure, sur fond d’étendues d’histoire de la philosophie. Kendall L. Walton est l’un des plus importants philosophes de l’art et esthéticiens de la seconde moitié du xxe siècle. Son maître-ouvrage, Mimesis as Make-Believe, eut une grande influence, encore prégnante à cette heure, dans le monde analytique.

"Der öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunk erfüllt seinen Informationsauftrag in einer besonderen Verantwortlichkeit, ist ein auf Transparenz angelegter Informationsmittler, beansprucht für seine Journalisten aber alle Medienfreiheiten, die auch den Journalisten der konkurrierenden Medien zustehen. Auch dieser Rundfunk erschließt eine allgemein zugängliche Quelle, deren Nutzung jedermann zusteht. Die Arbeit sucht das Rundfunkverfassungsrecht, das Rundfunkorganisations- und Rundfunkfinanzierungsrecht, die Informationsfreiheitsgesetze und den Rundfunkauftrag im Rahmen des Wettbewerbsrechts in Leitgedanken zu verdichten. Auf dieser Grundlage werden Einzelfragen beantwortet, insbesondere zur Publizität von Gehältern und Honoraren, zum Erwerb von Rundfunkrechten, vor allem im Bereich von Sport und Großereignissen, zur Transparenz der Rundfunkgremien sowie zur Organisation der journalistisch-redaktionellen Arbeit und zu Grundlagen für ein Rundfunkvertrauen der Öffentlichkeit."

Ano de 2005. Temia-se que a recém-(re) inaugurada política do Brasil para a África não resistiria a uma mudança de governo. Lula completou dois mandatos e seu nome ficou associado a uma inédita prioridade conferida ao continente africano. Tratava-se, em sua origem, de uma “volta à África”. Passados cerca de quinze anos, a África vive um “boom” diplomático com a abertura de 320 novas embaixadas em seu território entre 2010 e 2016. No plano bilateral, segundo o FMI, o Brasil perdeu, de 2006 a 2018, sete posições no comércio com a África Subsaariana, enquanto Turquia e Indonésia ganharam, respectivamente, 7 e 8 posições. Mingua a política africana do Brasil assim como perdem momentum as políticas públicas de promoção da igualdade racial e sofrem evidentes ataques as pautas identitárias da população brasileira afrodescendente. Neste livro, pela primeira vez na literatura sobre a PEB, a autora aponta a vinculação entre as relações Brasil – África e a promoção da igualdade racial no Brasil, propondo a acadêmicos, a militantes do Movimento Negro e a lideranças políticas comprometidas com a luta contra o racismo no Brasil um debate informado em benefício de avanços conceituais no estudo, na formulação e execução da Política Externa do Brasil para a África.

This reprint offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary financial challenges, bringing together eighteen high-quality research contributions. It covers diverse topics such as corporate debt patterns, earnings quality in small- and medium-sized enterprises, and the role of governance structures in financial decision-making. Additionally, it delves into the topics of advanced risk management techniques, financial sustainability, and the integration of technological innovations, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. Designed for researchers, professionals, and policymakers, this reprint provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of corporate finance and risk management practices.

Paradoxes of Migration in Tajikistan is the first ethnographic monograph on migration in Tajikistan, one of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world. Moving beyond economistic push-pull narratives about post-Soviet migration, it foregrounds the experiences of those who ‘stay put’ in the sending society and struggle to reproduce their moral communities. Elena Borisova examines the role of mobility in historical and cultural ideas about the good life and how it becomes entwined with people’s efforts to become good, moral and modern subjects. Addressing the complex relationship between the economic, imaginative and moral aspects of (im)mobility, she shows that mass migration from Tajikistan is as much a project of navigating ethical personhood as it is a quest for economic resources. This book reveals how transnational regimes and structures of mobility, citizenship and histories map out in the intimate spheres of the body, the person and the family. It is a contribution to contemporary migration research, which is mostly centred on Europe and North America, and to the field of Central Asian studies. It will be of interest to researchers of migration, (im)mobility and citizenship, and to scholars of all disciplines working on Central Asia. Praise for Paradoxes of Migration in Tajikistan ‘In this vivid and poignant ethnography, grounded in an intimate portrait of life in northern Tajikistan, Borisova shows how migration is much more than a response to economic necessity...Taking us from homes and wedding halls to passport offices and border posts, Borisova illuminates migration as an ethical project inseparable from the search for a good life – an argument of profound relevance for scholars of migration, as well as for students of anthropology.’ Madeleine Reeves, University of Oxford ‘This deeply researched account of the lived experience of migration between Tajikistan and Russia is a must-read for all those interested in Central Asia and the migratory experience more generally. This remarkable book is a testament to anthropology’s relevance for understanding some of the most pressing issues and sensitive world regions of the present era.’ Magnus Marsden, University of Sussex ‘Paradoxes of Migration in Tajikistan is a masterful account of migrants’ mobility between Tajikistan and Russia. Carefully examining how people live their lives on the move under difficult conditions, Borisova’s lucidly written book is set to become a landmark study in the anthropology of migration.’ Till Mostowlansky, Geneva Graduate Institute 'An amazing book. Borisova offers a rich fieldwork-based account of life in the North of Tajikistan, which is also a delightful read. This work requires a substantial rethinking about how we conceptualise and think of mobility and migration. Paying attention to the politics of care and ethical struggles the book helps a reader to understand what migration is and how it is weaved into everyday fabric of life in Tajikistan.' Malika Bahovadinova, University of Amsterdam

This reprint of the Special Issue "Advances in Plant Taxonomy and Systematics", includes an Editorial and fifteen high-quality papers published between April 2022 and April 2023 by global researchers. This collection addresses scholars and students interested in current progresses in taxonomy and systematics, which are crucial for all plant applications.

ATP is normally regarded as the major source of fuel for the energy-demanding processes within cells; however, ATP and other nucleotides (such as ADP, UTP, UDP) can be released from cells, where they act as autocrine or paracrine signaling molecules to affect cellular and tissue functions. In response to various stimuli, ATP and other nucleotides are released from cells in a regulated fashion, either by exocytosis of nucleotide-containing vesicles, or through channels in the plasma membrane. This process occurs in virtually every organ or cell in the body. The cellular effects of these extracellular nucleotides are mediated through specific membrane receptors (P2X and P2Y). These nucleotide signals can be terminated by rapid degradation of the ligand molecules by ecto-nucleotidases (e.g., NTPDases and NPPs). Many of the molecular components essential to nucleotide signaling have been cloned and characterized in detail, and their crystal structures are beginning to emerge. The collected data on extracellular nucleotides suggest a vivid and dynamic signaling system that is modulated by the expression and sensitivity of specific receptors on cells, and by the regulated release and extracellular degradation of ATP and other nucleotides; thus creating a microenvironment of highly regulated paracrine or autocrine control mechanisms. Within the kidney, extracellular nucleotides have emerged as potent modulators of glomerular, tubular, and microvascular functions. These functions include, but are not limited to, tubular transport of water and sodium, tubuloglomerular feedback and auto-regulation, regulation of blood pressure and the microcirculation, oxidative stress, and cell proliferation/ necrosis/apoptosis. Moreover, studies have also uncovered the interaction of nucleotide signaling with other mediators of renal function, such as vasopressin, aldosterone, nitric oxide, prostaglandins, angiotensin II, and the ATP-break down product adenosine. These insights have provided a more comprehensive and cohesive picture of the role of extracellular nucleotides in the regulation of renal function in health and disease. The availability of transgenic mouse models of the key proteins involved in nucleotide signaling has markedly enhanced our understanding of the physiological and pathophysiological roles of the different components of the system in the kidney. Although at a preliminary stage, the pathophysiological significance of this system in the kidney holds the key for the development of an entirely new class of drugs for the treatment of disease conditions, including disorders of water and/or sodium homeostasis, hypertension, acute kidney injury, etc. Thus, the regulation of renal function by extracellular nucleotides is clearly emerging as a distinct field and discipline in renal physiology and pathophysiology that has the potential to develop new drug treatments. In this e-book, we bring together a spectrum of excellent papers by leading experts in the field which present and discuss the latest developments and state-of-the-art technologies.Last but not least, we thank all the authors for contributing their valuable work and the Frontiers in Physiology Editorial Office for bringing out this e-book.