Open Access Books

In a collection of essays, former students, colleagues and friends of Prof Elna Mouton honour her life, career and scholarly contributions upon her retirement from Stellenbosch University. The various essays interact with Prof Mouton's concern for biblical hermeneutics, ethics and the interactions and connections between the two, ultimately illustrating the width and variety of interest that her work stimulated and which it interacted with.

Die vorliegende Dissertation ist gleichsam eine notwendige "Vorstudie" für die ursprünglich geplante Arbeit "Probleme der Übersetzung von Werken Zoščenkos ins Englische und Deutsche". Analyseobjekt dieser Arbeit sind nun die mehr als 600 Textvarianten, die in den fast 50 betroffenen Ausgaben aufgefunden wurden.Ausgangspunkt der Arbeit ist, daß die Sprache Zoščenkos das Zentrum seiner Kurzgeschichten bildet; sie dient nicht nur der sprachlichen Verpackung der Aussage, sondern ist ein entscheidender Teil von ihr, indem erstens die Sprachverwendung ohne direkte auktoriale Eingriffe die Aussagen des Erzählers in Zweifel zieht und zweitens sie selbst zum Objekt der Kritik wird.

This book discusses selected topics on the surgical anatomy of paranasal sinuses and their applications, highlighting recent advances in rhinology. It is organized into five sections on anatomy of the paranasal sinuses, radiology of midfacial structures, physiology of the nasolacrimal drainage system, paranasal sinus tumors, and paranasal sinus surgery. The book includes eight chapters that address the frontal sinus, nasal septum, lacrimal obstruction diseases, tumors of the frontoethmoidal region, and more. The chapters present new clinical and research developments as well as future perspectives on paranasal anatomy and treatment approaches.

Our contemporary societies are made of meta-organizations — organizations composed of other organizations. These range from international bodies like the International Whaling Commission, to national industry or business associations like the crowdfunding association Finance Participative France, to local associations such as fisheries co-management committees in Catalunya. Meta-organizations have become a defining feature of how actors coordinate, govern and make collective decisions. But what exactly makes them distinct, and why do they matter — both in theory and in practice? This book delves into the importance, characteristics and diversity of meta-organizations. It explores four interrelated perspectives: meta-organizations as a widespread, heterogeneous empirical phenomenon in contemporary society, as a conceptual framework that raises specific methodological challenges, as part of a broader theory of decision-based social orders, and ultimately as arenas where hegemonic and counter-hegemonic dynamics may unfold. By bridging theory and practice, this work offers new insights into how meta-organizations operate, how they can be studied and understood, the problems they raise and what they can achieve under certain conditions — making it essential reading for practitioners, students, scholars, and policymakers alike.

Although numerous essays on Aboriginal archaeology and historical accounts have explored the characteristics of Indigenous communities at the onset of colonization, academic criticism has largely overlooked their representation in Cuban literature and art. This book addresses that critical gap, emphasizing the significance of Indigenous figures in the Cuban social imagination from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. It examines a range of cultural texts—including poems, caricatures, plays, and essays—that depict Indigenous characters within both proto-nationalist and pro-Spanish discourses. In the former, the Indigenous figure serves to critique colonial authority and assert a rightful claim to the land; in the latter, it is used to ridicule Cuban separatists. The book’s theoretical framework draws on the works of Bronislaw Baczko, Benedict Anderson, and others to explore the formation of Creole social subjectivity and to illuminate the ideological conflicts embedded within the colonial order. Aunque numerosos ensayos sobre arqueología aborigen y relatos históricos han explorado las características de las comunidades indígenas al inicio de la colonización, la crítica académica ha pasado por alto en gran medida su representación en la literatura y el arte cubanos. Este libro viene a llenar esa laguna crítica, enfatizando la importancia de las figuras indígenas en el imaginario social de la isla desde finales del siglo XVIII hasta finales del siglo XIX. Examina una gama de textos culturales—incluyendo poemas, caricaturas, obras de teatro y ensayos—que representan personajes aborígenes dentro de discursos tanto protonacionalistas como pro-españoles. En los primeros, la figura del indígena sirve para criticar la autoridad colonial y afirmar un derecho legítimo a la tierra; en los segundos, se utiliza para ridiculizar a los separatistas cubanos. El marco teórico del libro se basa en las obras de Bronisław Baczko, Benedict Anderson y otros autores, con el cual este libro explora la formación de la subjetividad social criolla e ilumina los conflictos ideológicos que se desarrollaron dentro del orden colonial.

Taiwan a typical small Asian country with few energy resources is well known for its high-tech industry in the last 20 years. However as a member of the global village Taiwan feels the responsibility to reduce carbon emissions. The book tells you how Taiwan transforms itself from a high-tech island to become a low carbon island. The book address Taiwan's low-carbon developmental policies of the past 10 years, applies an econometric approach to estimate Taiwan's sector department CO2 emissions, shows how environmental change affects the economic growth of Taiwan, and provides two successful examples of low-carbon pilot regions in Taiwan. Stephen Shen, the Minister of the Environment Protection Agency of Taiwan, believes that the book arrives at the right time, because this is the time to educate the people of Taiwan, about the necessary action for achieving a low carbon society.

Published

University Dropout is a research book that gathers findings from the project Psychosocial Model of Early Alerts for Academic and Non-Academic University Dropout (SGI code 2395), carried out in collaboration with the Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia and the University of Boyacá. In this work, the reader is guided on what university dropout is, what causes it, and how early detection is achieved. Initially, the book presents an essay that guides the discussion on the conceptualization of university dropout, and subsequently, the findings of five different studies are presented. In the first part, two studies are presented that analyze the determinants of university dropout and how they are addressed in two of the most important higher education institutions in the department of Boyacá (Colombia), in order to recognize how university dropout is conceptually directed and what indicators universities use to detect, report, and intervene in dropout. Subsequently, three studies are presented that guide an innovative approach to addressing university dropout, which, based on the ecological theory of human development, configure an early warning system for university dropout, susceptible to being used in any higher education institution. Thru the book, the reader will be able to recognize conceptual and methodological elements that will allow them to rethink the processes of early detection of university dropout alerts and thus contribute to the reduction of this great scourge that afflicts our society.

V vodniku je predstavljenih osem ekskurzij Ljubljanskega geografskega društva, izvedenih med junijem 2015 in majem 2018, dodana je še ekskurzija iz septembra 2014, izvedena v okviru posveta ob 90-letnici prvega zavarovanja Doline Triglavskih jezer. Čeprav je ekskurzijam težko določiti vsebinsko rdečo nit, lahko z malce bolj ohlapnim pogledom izkristaliziramo štiri vodilne tematike: urbano geografijo s predstavitvijo Maribora, Velenja in Sevnice, regionalno geografijo s predstavitvijo Prlekije, Baške grape, Čepovanskega dola in Trebuše ter vojaško geografijo z obravnavo italijanske obrambne črte na območju Podbrda in podzemnih varovalnih objektov v Gotenici na Kočevskem. Izpostavimo lahko še geografijo zavarovanih območij, v okviru katere kar dva prispevka obravnavata Triglavski narodni park. Za članke je značilna slogovna raznolikost, od klasičnega geografskega pristopa do šegavega prispevka z literarno konotacijo.

A sense of participation and opportunities to share and participate in activities or groups that are important to them are crucial factors in human wellbeing. This book provides a robust empirical and theoretical analysis of reciprocity and its implications for social work and social policy practices by discussing how ideas of reciprocity can be understood and applied to welfare policy and social care practices, as well as how the act of reciprocity supports the wellbeing of citizens. Contributions from Finland, Germany, Russia, the UK, the USA and Canada illuminate the ways in which socio-political contexts influence the power relations between citizens, practitioners and the state, and the potential (or otherwise) for reciprocity to flourish. It will be essential reading for social care practitioners, researchers and educationalists as well as postgraduate students in social work and related social care and community-oriented professions and social policy makers.

La conversion religieuse est un processus énigmatique, parfois insaisissable, entre les bouleversements spirituels et leur encadrement religieux, entre la portée d’un changement individuel et l’ampleur de ses effets sociaux. À partir d’une ethnographie de la conversion religieuse menée durant plusieurs années et avec une optique comparative inédite entre les trois monothéismes, l’ouvrage détaille la façon dont on se convertit aujourd’hui en France. Loin de l’idée communément admise de l’abjuration soudaine d’un individu, ce livre montre le rôle central de la nouvelle religion dans l’émergence d’un récit de conversion et l’importance cruciale des proches (familles et amis) dans l’évolution spirituelle des convertis qui vivent en quelque sorte un coming-out religieux. En laissant une large place à ceux qui traversent, encadrent et accompagnent cette odyssée spirituelle, l’ouvrage détaille les étapes de la conversion religieuse en montrant ce qui est attendu des convertis et les façons dont ils s’emploient à y répondre. L’auteur développe une conception relationnelle des conversions religieuses tout en questionnant la place contestée du religieux dans la société française. Les histoires de conversions rapportées dans cet ouvrage témoignent des redéfinitions en cours des identités religieuses en France et la singularité des nouveaux convertis dans un pays laïc et sécularisé, croyants dans un monde incroyant.

This study analyses the crisis and transformations of theocracy as a political model in Europe in the first half of the 18th century. The work focuses on the transition from a positive and normative seventeenth-century consideration of theocracy, associated with the Jewish people, to its description in the 18th century as a universal, negative and primitive model. To this end, three authors are examined in their role of emblematic figures of this change, namely: Jacques Basnage, John Toland and Giambattista Vico. The study then highlights a radicalisation phase in mid-eighteenth-century France in the works by Nicolas Antoine Boulanger, and ends with the description of Boulanger’s theocracy in Diderot and d'Alembert’s Encyclopédie.

This book attempts to cover various issues of water quality in the fields of Hydroecology and Hydrobiology and present various Water Treatment Technologies. Sustainable choices of water use that prevent water quality problems aiming at the protection of available water resources and the enhancement of the aquatic ecosystems should be our main target.

À l'heure où la psychiatrie connaît un mouvement de déshospitalisation et d'autonomisation des résidents, l'équipe éducative d'un foyer pour adultes en situation de handicap psychique s'interroge : « Au-delà de nos bonnes intentions et de notre volonté, nos activités sont-elles vitalisantes pour nos résidents ? Favorisent-elles, la mobilisation de leurs ressources ? ». L'équipe exprime ainsi son souci de ne pas forger, malgré elle, une institution qui « capture » ses résidents. Il s'agit dès lors, comme le formule Ehrenberg, d'aider les gens à s'aider par eux-mêmes dans une alliance partenariale, dans une relation d'aide pratiquant la remise en mouvement de personnes qui subissent entièrement leur situation. En étroite collaboration avec l'équipe en place, Kim Stroumza et Claude de Jonckheere passent à la loupe quatre séquences d'activité (une interaction informelle, une réunion d'équipe, les suites d'un week-end agité, une visite à domicile lors d'un appui social ambulatoire). L'analyse de ces séquences met en lumière - à travers les activités quotidiennes - la reconnaissance que les éducateurs apportent aux résidents, les obstacles auxquels se heurtent ces activités, comment les approches sont ajustées, ou encore, dans quelle perspective de pensée et d'action se placent les professionnels. L'analyse des auteurs aboutit à une modélisation des activités éducatives du foyer.

Uniting the usually distinct areas of particle physics and quantum field theory, gravity and general relativity, this expansive and comprehensive textbook of fundamental and theoretical physics describes the quest to consolidate the elementary particles that are the basic building blocks of nature. Designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students and abounding in worked examples and detailed derivations, as well as historical anecdotes and philosophical and methodological perspectives, this textbook provides students with a unified understanding of all matter at the fundamental level. Topics range from gauge principles, particle decay and scattering cross-sections, the Higgs mechanism and mass generation, to spacetime geometries and supersymmetry. By combining historically separate areas of study and presenting them in a logically consistent manner, students will appreciate the underlying similarities and conceptual connections across these fields. This title, first published in 2015, has been reissued as an Open Access publication.