Articoli di riviste sul tema "Fields of Research – 370000 Studies in Human Society"

AbstractIn 2004, Natalie Lloyd and Jane Mulcock initiated the Australian Animals & Society Study Group, a network of social science, humanities and arts scholars that quickly grew to include more than 100 participants. In July 2005, about 50 participants attended the group's 4-day inaugural conference at the University of Western Australia, Perth. Papers in this issue emerged from the conference. They exemplify the Australian academy's work in the fields of History, Population Health, Sociology, Geography, and English and address strong themes: human-equine relationships; management of native and introduced animals; and relationships with other domestic, nonhuman animals—from cats and dogs to cattle. Human-Animal Studies is an expanding field in Australia. However, many scholars, due to funding and teaching concerns, focus their primary research in different domains. All authors in this issue—excepting one—are new scholars in their respective fields. The papers represent the diversity and innovation of recent Australian research on human-animal interactions. The authors look at both past and present, then anticipate future challenges in building an effective network to expand this field of study in Australia.

Given the short period of time internet research and related new fields had to establish themselves, it does not come as a surprise that their development is still a search for identity. Self-reflection is needed when it comes to recommendations for practice, and when it comes to empirical studies, and it is in the domain of theory where the glue can be found that integrates praxis with empirical research. The four collected papers published here date back to a panel I held on “Approaches towards ICTs and Society - Theories and Methodologies” at the IADIS ICT, Society and Human Beings 2009 (ICT 2009) Conference chaired by Gunilla Bradley.

Given the short period of time internet research and related new fields had to establish themselves, it does not come as a surprise that their development is still a search for identity. Self-reflection is needed when it comes to recommendations for practice, and when it comes to empirical studies, and it is in the domain of theory where the glue can be found that integrates praxis with empirical research. The four collected papers published here date back to a panel I held on “Approaches towards ICTs and Society - Theories and Methodologies” at the IADIS ICT, Society and Human Beings 2009 (ICT 2009) Conference chaired by Gunilla Bradley.

With the rapid development of science and technology in today’s society, various industries are pursuing information digitization and intelligence, and pattern recognition and computer vision are also constantly carrying out technological innovation. Computer vision is to let computers, cameras, and other machines receive information like human beings, analyze and process their semantic information, and make coping strategies. As an important research direction in the field of computer vision, human motion recognition has new solutions with the gradual rise of deep learning. Human motion recognition technology has a high market value, and it has broad application prospects in the fields of intelligent monitoring, motion analysis, human-computer interaction, and medical monitoring. This paper mainly studies the recognition of sports training action based on deep learning algorithm. Experimental work has been carried out in order to show the validity of the proposed research.

Concerned experts and others from a wide range of fields are required to take part in studies on “social” disaster phenomena such as earthquakes and typhoons causing drastic human and property damage and leaving subsequent social and economic destruction. In 2006, the Journal of Disaster Research (JDR) decided to be published as an academic journal in English for global society to help expand research beyond a domestic scope. The March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster – in the 6th year of the journal’s publication, has made an impact both domestically and globally due to the unprecedented earthquake and tsunami and resulting radiation leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. JDR will annually publish special issues on the Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster beginning in this issue of 2012, for five years, for the purpose of informing, recording and utilizing lessons learned from the disaster. Page charges are in principle free and widespread contributions are welcomed. I have studied disasters from the viewpoint of a planner. Nobody who is active and living in society is irrelevant to wide-scale events related to such disasters, and I still feel that it is important for people from a variety of fields to visit devastated sites, hear from the people experiencing such disasters and make their own standpoints. In American society, for example, disaster measures against earthquakes and other disasters have been studied involving a wide range of experts and others. After the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Kobe, research groups consisting of wide range of experts came to be formed in Japan and environments developed to produce a multidisciplinary journal such as the JDR. The ultimate goal of planned research is human research. A society is needed in which “human power” can be manifested in all aspects such as reviving reconstruction and rehabilitation. This is because contributions by researchers from widespread fields are anticipated in the future.

The publication presents an analysis of management specialist development problems arising in today's situation. Special attention is paid to management specialist development in the conditions of globalization, knowledge society development, European integration and the European Union enlargement. The publication provides an in‐depth analysis of management specialists development principles and practical experiences in the area of management specialist development. The absence of well‐founded general principles of management specialist development as well as specialprinciples of business and public management specialist development remains an important research problem.The absence of integrated and individualized university studies and of the practical realization of the life‐long learning principle in the area of management specialist development remains an important practical problem. The aim of the publication ‐ to formulate and ground the main principles of management specialist development as well as to describe an original management specialist development model based on the implementation of the idea of life ‐long learning. The research methodology is based on the concept of triangulation, combining the descriptive analysis, surveys and expert evaluation. The scientific novelty, theoretical and practical results are defined by the following:The following groups of principles are singled out: a) general development principles, applicable to specialists of all fields, including that of management; b) special principles of management specialist development, applicable exceptionally to management specialist development; c) specific principles of business management specialist development; d) specific principles of public management specialist development, applicable exceptionally to the development of specialists working in the public sector and public management. This model provides for combination of diverse forms of learning, university studies, independent researches, self‐development and in‐service training; long‐term individual programmers are designed to help people acquire different qualifications and develop their competences through studies in universities and other educational institutions and through participating in practical works, workshops and seminars. Introduction of long‐term individualized development programmers facilitates development of unique managerial skills and prepares every specialist for a unique position, a unique professional activity and individualized functions. The management specialist development model based on the implementation of the idea of life ‐ long learning as well as integrated and individualized university and non ‐ university studies is described. An important element of management specialist development process is development of human creativity. It also depicts specific characteristics of creativity and highlights new opportunities and possibilities for the development of the creative potential.

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is one of the longest-running European instruments supporting cooperation among scientists and researchers across Europe. COST is an intergovernmental framework composed of 35 countries, allowing the coordination of research that is otherwise funded on a European level, through the provision of platforms for European scientists to cooperate on a particular project and exchange expertise. As a precursor of advanced multidisciplinary research, COST contributes to reducing the fragmentation in European research investments and to opening the European Research Area to cooperation worldwide. It anticipates and complements the activities of the EU Framework Programmes, constituting a ‘bridge’ towards the scientific communities of emerging countries. It also increases the mobility of researchers across Europe, fostering the establishment of scientific excellence (see www.cost.esf.org). COST Foresight 2030 was an initiative designed to explore a broadly-shared vision for a future world beyond 2030, permeated and shaped by the digital revolution. It consisted of a set of events presenting long-term perspectives in the selected fields – Information and Communication Technologies/Computer and Communication Sciences and Technologies (ICT/CCST), Energy, Food Security, Natural Resources Management, Life Enhancement and Society – which play fundamental roles in human life and which are envisaged to be highly influenced by ICT/CCST-enabling technologies. The workshop ‘Living the Digital Revolution: The European Society in 2030’, the concluding one of the six workshops of the initiative, gathered 20 distinguished scholars and experts from Europe and beyond (AU, NZ, US) for an exploratory brainstorming session. Representing various fields in the social sciences and humanities, such as sociology, education and learning, future studies, law and ethics, economics and business, demography and ICT, the experts focused on the possible trajectories of European societies with regard to the accelerating advancements in ICT/CCST leading up to 2030.

AbstractThe study of parasites typically crosses into other research disciplines and spans across diverse scales, from molecular- to populational-levels, notwithstanding promoting an understanding of parasites set within evolutionary time. Today, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) help frame much of contemporary parasitological research, since parasites can be found in all ecosystems, blighting human, animal and plant health. In recognition of the multi-disciplinary nature of parasitological research, the 2017 Autumn Symposium of the British Society for Parasitology was held in London to provide a forum for novel exchange across medical, veterinary and wildlife fields of study. Whilst the meeting was devoted to the topic of parasitism, it sought to foster mutualism, the antithesis perhaps of parasitism, by forging new academic connections and social networks to exchange novel ideas. The meeting also celebrated the longstanding career of Professor David Rollinson, FLS in the award of the International Federation for Tropical Medicine Medal for his efforts spanning 40 years of parasitological research. Indeed, David has done so much to explore and promote the fascinating biology of parasitism, as exemplified by the 15 manuscripts contained within this Special Issue.

The 30th meeting of the Brazilian Society for Virology (SBV) was held, for the first time in its 30 years of existence, in Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso State, Central Western Brazil, a tropical region between the three richest biomes in the world: Amazon Florest, Cerrado and Pantanal. In recent years, the field of virology has been built in the State. The aim of this report is to support participants and virologists to receive the most up-to-date information about the meeting, which occurred from 16 to 19 October 2019. National and international speakers gave SBV the opportunity to learn about their experience on their virology fields, sharing recent scientific findings, compiling conferences, round table presentations and work presentations in oral and poster sessions. The meeting held over 300 attendants, who were also involved on oral and poster presentations, showing a great variety of recent unpublished studies on environmental, basic, animal, human, plant and invertebrate virology. In addition, SBV offered the Helio Gelli Pereira award for the best research studies in each field presented during the meeting. The 30th meeting of SBV was very productive and has also encouraged scientific partnership and collaboration among virologists worldwide.

Circular economy is a critical approach to realize the coordinated development of society, economy, and ecological environment. Given the fact that urban is a complex system in which human beings integrate material, energy, information, and natural environment and interact and influence each other, reviewing the urban circular economy research and development could benefit for having a better and comprehensive understanding on urban complexity. Mainly based on the Chinese literature studies from 1999 to 2020, this study aims to present an in-depth analysis of the research themes, policy systems, and index system of Chinaʼs urban-scale circular economy, discuss the changes and evolution trends of themes, levels, and perspectives in time series, sort out the policy systems at both the national and local levels, and analyze the design principles and application fields of indicators. Finally, we propose that future development of an urban circular economy should be built based on modern techniques, technologies, and models. The construction of development mechanism on the circular economy should be framed as “government-led, market-driven, legal norms, policy support, technological support, and public participation” and inject concepts such as “Internet +,” “sharing economy,” “Internet of Things,” and “artificial intelligence.”

Polyphenols, such as flavonoids and phenolic acids, are a group of specialized metabolites in plants that largely aid in plant defense by deterring biotic stressors and alleviating abiotic stress. Polyphenols offer a wide range of medical applications, acting as preventative and active treatments for diseases such as cancers and diabetes. Recently, researchers have proposed that polyphenols may contribute to certain applications aimed at tackling challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding the beneficial impacts of phytochemicals, such as polyphenols, could potentially help prepare society for future pandemics. Thus far, most reviews have focused on polyphenols in cancer prevention and treatment. This review aims to provide a comprehensive discussion on the critical roles that polyphenols play in both plant chemical defense and human health based on the most recent studies while highlighting prospective avenues for future research, as well as the implications for phytochemical-based applications in both agricultural and medical fields.

The problem of the study revolves around the most important tool in building human knowledge, and the most important means of understanding and friction among the members of the society to practice life or knowledge in all fields of social life and to meet their needs and determine how to satisfy them. The question on which this study is based is: How to link Arabic language education to its social and cultural dimensions? The importance of the topic lies in uncovering the profound historical and social links of the language to achieve an integrated, dynamic and dynamic social and cultural structure that will add to the teaching of the Arabic language associated with the teaching of Arabic culture.This research was based on the descriptive descriptive approach,The study reached the following results:The need to learn Arabic language interspersed with the culture of society ,Linking the linguistic studies of the Arabic language studies Socio-anthropological

With opportunities for human beings to coexist with artificial agents and autonomous robots are increasing, high-level interactive communication between them is increasingly needed. These human symbiotic systems are used for research on basic intelligent interaction design principles and methods and bidirectional communication based on effective collaboration and symbiosis between human beings and robots, agents, and computers, also known as artifacts. The research society on gHuman Symbiotic System (HSS)h was implemented by the Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Intelligent Informatics (SOFT) in 2007. The HSS encourages academic and industrial discussion of research on Human-Agent Interaction (HAI), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The objective of this special issue is to activate and expand top-quality research of HSS theory and applications. Reflecting the fact that this research covers a wide range of topics, we invited researchers from fields including intelligent robotics, human-machine interfaces, and Kansei engineering to contribute. This issue thus provides much of the latest practical research on HSS, introduced by core members of the research society. Of the 22 papers received, 14 were accepted after input from two reviewers each. The first paper, by Y. Tamura et al., presents an attentive deskwork support system that delivers required items objects to deskworkers. The second, by H. Masuta et al., discusses an integrated perceptual system for intelligent service robots. The third, by S. Akiguchi, develops an automatic pattern generation system based on user impression. The fourth, by Y. Jiang et al., deals with a novel interface recognizing directional user intent based on forearm pressure exerted by the user of an omnidirectional walker. The fifth paper, by K. Terabayashi et al., investigates effects of preoperation on the experience of hands of different sizes by classifying preoperations based on the hand/object relationship. The sixth, by Y. Tamura et al., proposes segmenting a performerfs body imitating behavior observed based on a system from which values are obtained by reinforcement learning. The seventh, by D. Katagami et al., discusses group-adaptive behavior based on utterance contents and social standing of a robot. The eighth, by H. Yamaguchi et al., presents a system for using discounted utterances in spontaneous conversations applying text-mining technology. The ninth paper, by A. Otaki et al., focuses on the development of human negotiation skill through interaction between human players and computer agents in bargaining games. The tenth, by D. Katagami et al., is also related to human negotiation skill implementing human gestures in negotiation scenarios for three negotiation agents. The eleventh, by R. Taki et al., realizes interactive emotion communication - bidirectional communication based on emotional behavior between human beings and robots. The twelfth, by J. Ichino et al., investigates the psychological effects of color on online documents through a proposed online document interface. The thirteenth paper, by T. Ando et al., studies the robot facial effectiveness in human interpretation. The fourteenth, by T. Ando et al., models robot self-sufficiency applying an urge system focusing on autonomous emotion. This issue has addressed the importance of HSS and highlighted innovative approaches to the development of artificial system more friendly to users. We thank the authors and referees for their ongoing efforts, without which this issue would not have been possible.

Human capital is closely related to the economic behaviour of an individual, especially to the way in which accumulated knowledge and skills increase person’s productivity and income, thus increasing the general welfare of a society. Within the Article, the author studies the historical development of the theory of human capital, paying attention to opinions, expressed by founders of this issue - T.Schultz and G.Becker. There are considered changes of competences of employees, growing out of transition from skills-based economy to knowledge-based economy. There is no united approach concerning researches on human capital in order to determine the content of human capital; there is a lack of unified opinion regarding its creation, therefore the author considers the interpretation of the content of human capital in scientific works of several Latvian and foreign authors. During the research, education was analyzed as one of the main elements of creation of human capital, because knowledge-based economy broadens the signification of self-education, lifelong learning; it demands improvements in the fields of science and research as well as quality improvement of working skills. As a result of successful implementation of these factors, it is possible to reach a positive impact on economic development of a region.

We propose a new conceptualization to make sense of the vast and diverse body of work regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR): (a) embedded CSR and (b) peripheral CSR. This distinction relies on psychological foundations originating primarily in industrial–organizational psychology and related fields (i.e., organizational behavior, human resource management) and allows for a better understanding of when and why CSR is likely to lead to positive outcomes for employees, organizations, and society. Embedded CSR involves an organization's core competencies and integrates CSR within a firm's strategy, routines, and operations, and therefore affects all employees. In contrast, peripheral CSR focuses on activities that are not integrated into an organization's strategy, routines, and operations (e.g., philanthropy, volunteering). We use our conceptualization to explain the success of CSR initiatives at GE, IBM, and Intel, and to reinterpret the scholarly CSR literature in the fields of marketing, corporate governance and legal studies, and economics. We also describe how our conceptualization can help bridge the much lamented micro–macro and science–practice gaps and helps guide future CSR research as well as organizational interventions.

With the increasing public attention to environmental protection, the control of pollution has become a joint goal of human. As one of the four major environmental pollutions, noise pollution seriously affects the normal study, work and health of teachers and students in schools, hence becoming an environmental issue of general concern in modern society. At present, the research and prevention of noise in colleges and universities are still in the initial stage in China. In addition, there are few noise studies in universities based on regions. Most of people are lack of enough attention to noise pollution, prevention and control measures and there is much room for improvement in all aspects. The purpose of this review is to summarize the current situation and causes of campus noise pollution in the central region of China and put forward some suggestions to improve the quality of sound environment on campus. In the end, it will provide some feasible references for the research in related fields.

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This article examines how the ethnoreligious immigrant organization Danish People’s Society utilized ethnic colonies as spatial mediums to promote and foster preservation of the Danish cultural and spiritual heritage in the USA. Informed by theoretical insights gained in the research fields of medium theory and human geography, I highlight place-naming and physical construction of the places as symbolic and material strategies employed by Danish People’s Society to establish the colonies as mediums. Based on the historical development of the colonies, the article argues that place-naming matters; place-naming may function as a powerful political and socially excluding act. In conclusion, I suggest that a more comprehensive understanding of the meaning, agency, and implications of spatial mediums requires that we approach these places as social, symbolic, and material constructions that are continually reconfigured and ascribed identity through interaction. DANSK RESUMÉ: Med udgangspunkt i to tidligere dansk-amerikanske kolonier undersøger denne artikel, hvorledes den etnoreligiøse immigrantorganisation Dansk Folkesamfund benyttede sig af etniske kolonier som spatiale medier til at facilitere og generere dansk folkeoplysning og kulturarvsbevaring i USA. Ved brug af teoretiske indsigter fra forskningsfelterne ‘medium theory’ og humangeografi fremhæver jeg navngivning og fysisk bebyggelse af steder som en henholdsvis symbolsk og materiel strategi, hvormed Dansk Folkesamfund etablerede kolonierne som medier. Baseret på stedernes historiske udvikling argumenterer jeg, at navngivningen af fysiske steder bør tages seriøst; stednavngivning kan være en magtful politisk og socialt ekskluderende handling. På denne baggrund konkluderes det, at vi for at få en mere fyldestgørende forståelse af den betydning og agens samt de implikationer, spatiale medier kan have, må tilgå dem som både symbolske, sociale og materielle konstruktioner, der kontinuerligt rekonfigureres og tilskrives identitet gennem interaktion.

The purpose of this study is to present a theoretical analysis that seeks an answer on the question of what the meanings of food are in anthropology and sociology. As a result of the analysis, it is determined that food has three main meanings (i) consumption, (ii) transfer, and (iii) identity. Moreover, six sub-meanings are found under these three main meanings. Consumption is represented by hedonic and symbolic sub-meanings, transfer is represented by culture and emotion sub-meanings, and identity is represented by personal and national identity sub-meanings. One of the reasons that make this work unique is that it defines and categorizes meanings of food in terms of individual and society. Another value added by this study is the Food Meaning Diagram (FMD) as a contribution to the literature. Furthermore, the study provides a basis for the construction of research in the related fields and to guide the studies to be carried out within the framework of human sciences.

The article analyzes the phenomenon of the "cultural turn" in a series of fixed methodological turns in the social and humanitarian knowledge of the last decades. Appeal to this trend in different research fields makes it possible to discover the cultural direction of scientific search, which can be linked to the emergence of a special subject area of culturology. In turn, the emerging cultural research in its domestic experience is difficult to determine with the specifics of its research task. Moreover, it was the "cultural turn" in the social and humanitarian sphere in the West that was realized by its own research project. "Cultural studies" (the Birmingham (UK) Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies or The Birmingham School), which is an interdisciplinary research area that includes feminism, poststructuralism, post-modernism, post-colonialism, aspects of Marxism and humanism in the study of the process of creating values, values, identities. Difficulties in culturology self-determination of their theoretical originality in the study of culture in the context of the culture-centeredness of various subjectmatter branches do not reduce, but, on the contrary, increase its research potential for an integral examination of culture. However, the success of the scientific contribution of culturology in understanding the primary importance of culture in sociocultural processes is seen in the productive use of culture achieved in subject-oriented social analysis as diverse practices. Thus, culturology joins those studies that today increasingly pay attention to "practices" as a field in which it seeks a solution of pressing anthropological and socio-cultural problems. Today's request for an understanding of social processes, which in its complexity, the more so, does not fit into a predetermined human dimension, actualize a review of the understanding of society in the light of living human interaction. Then the multilayeredness, the diversity of the phenomenon of culture, the awareness of its various types will contribute to the discovery of culture as a living life of people fixed in living experience, defining it as a situationally manifested meaningful order of action.

The global implementation of information-communicative technologies into every sphere of human activity is being accompanied by the emergence of new forms of communication, le­ading to inevitable changes in the means of both the representation and reception of information. In this respect, the field of interest encompasses research into modern anonymous network creative writing, which, as a result of the technological qualities of the Internet space, produces such texts that require particular skills in both comprehension and reproduction. In turn, the products of network folklore, as they spontaneously spread on the Internet, acquire the status of particular signs of a precedent nature. At the same time, the very nature of anonymous network creative writing—amusing and colloquial—raises the attractiveness of such texts and facilitates their reception, allowing them to be used for manipulative aims. The fact that such network folklore can influence the process of idea-formation in society is predetermined by the fact that, by definition, it is the milieu where collective representations are condensed and transmitted. Thus, network folklore is in the focus of attention not only in folklore studies, but is extremely topical for research in such fields as cognitive science, linguistic-cultural studies, public relations, speech effect, and any others which take interest in the processes of keeping, receiving, and transmitting information.

The revolution of research, precisely, the revolution of knowledge has been transforming the role of modern universities in Europe and farther. Nowadays, it is emphasized the need to revise the whole process of research – technology – production. The enhancement of human knowledge is a consequence of the changes and transformations being done in all aspects of the practical life of the society. A quick development has accompanied the direct or indirect geographical group sciences. Among the widespread fields of study introduced nowadays, it is hard to find another field of study, which is more interdisciplinary than the one being discussed. Albania is trespassing another stage of social and economical transformations, and this is due to political changes undergone in the years 1990-1991. This stage is followed by other new changes which require further scientific studies based on specific topics. An important step has been done in the regional tackling of problems, where it was estimated the interdependence between the geographic environment and the demographic and economic development of specific regions. Such studies have been done in the field of tourism, a field much explored in the aspects of natural and cultural inheritance. The scientific research in Geography needs to be developed through detailed analysis, which is based on primary and secondary data. These data should be well interpreted from a contemporary point of view, characterized also from physical and geographical transformations, as well as social and economical ones. Although the curricula of Geography in Albanian universities has undergone several changes, (a lot of subjects have been added to the curricula), their effect on the scientific research has not been so much reflected. The field of the applicative scientific research in Geography is broad, because the object of Geography is broad. The applicative scientific research of Geography in Albania will give importance to the role of the geographer, especially in different levels of decisions. The paper will show concrete arguments for the necessity of strengthening the applicative character in the scientific research of Geography in our country.

Meteorological forecasting can not only reduce the losses caused by natural disasters to human society but also has a very important significance in the fields of water conservancy, aviation, and transportation. In order to improve the accuracy of meteorological forecasting, we should focus on the in-depth optical analysis of atmospheric cloud distribution. Compared with forward-scattered laser light, backscattered laser light can save more optical information. Therefore, this paper studies the backscattering of polarized laser light distributed in atmospheric clouds. In this study, a simulated annealing algorithm was used to invert the data of spaceborne lidar to obtain the depolarization degree and backscattering coefficient of atmospheric clouds and aerosols at different heights. Finally, based on the radar measurement example, the simulated annealing algorithm was used to analyze the atmospheric information of sunny, cloudy, and hazy weather in summer and winter, and the atmospheric depolarization and backscattering coefficients corresponding to different weather heights were obtained. The corresponding cloud layer type was judged. The research results prove the feasibility of the simulated annealing algorithm in the study of polarized laser backscattering in atmospheric cloud distribution. This study provides new ideas for radar data processing methods and provides a theoretical basis for further research in the field of meteorological forecasting.

Digitization is omnipresent and digital transformations are thus constantly taking place in all areas of society. Of course, education is also subject to these changes. Since it is an absolute prerequisite for both the future security of society and the development of the individual, it must be innovated continuously in order to guarantee the future opportunities of future generations. To ensure that these developments can be planned and shaped systematically, there are varieties of initiatives by education stakeholders. Current studies emphasize that the further digitisation of education is a very complex and demanding process, although successful theories, concepts and models already exist.Although the key role of the digitisation of education is taken into account, the new challenge of the interplay between human and artificial intelligence is emerging. Artificial intelligence has been researched and taught for many years, especially in the context of knowledge-based systems], but with digitisation it is gaining a completely new status and an exploding range of applications. The individual field of artificial intelligence is increasingly linked with other scientific fields in an interdisciplinary way, resulting in new methodological, technological, social and ethical challenges. Existing target systems in research and teaching are not to be replaced completely, but should rather be questioned and further developed in a very comprehensive way. For this reason, the proven problem-solving processes are being made more dynamic and agile. They will be optimised with the methods and means of digitisation as well as artificial intelligence. Due to the omnipresence of digitization and artificial intelligence, all processes, structures and functions must also be reviewed and adapted in education.A prerequisite for this is a renaissance of the interaction of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and their combination with areas of humanities, economics and social sciences. Applications of artificial intelligence are finding their way into all the above-mentioned scientific fields and promote their networking. These developments are already becoming visible in complex research and education projects, making it possible to demonstrate the sustainability of the new approaches in an exemplary manner.However, the rapid development of digitalisation in general and of artificial intelligence in particular is generating distortions in the systems. Seeking solutions for them is also on the agenda of research and teaching. This paper contributes to this debate by applying a systemic approach to develop a new understanding of the relationships between digitalisation and artificial intelligence. First, an overview of digitalisation in education as well as of smart systems based on human and artificial intelligence will be presented. The next section of this paper explains the theoretical basis of this research before discussing a specific example of STEAM influence on education. Finally, ethical borders of digitalisation and AI in education are highlighted.

Sociology is an unusual science. Many authors call its current state “paradoxical”, other authors speak about the crisis of this science. The article presents sociology as a project of the modern era. This interpretation can explain many of the contradictions and eclectic results of its development.Sociology as a project initiated by O. Comte was to combine social philosophy and empiricism. The latter was represented by socio-economic statistics and surveys, which were carried out in accordance with common sense by representatives of the state and other people. The project was aimed to create from these elements, different in nature, an integral science, built on the principles of natural sciences,i.e. representing a single hierarchy — from the most general ideas to concrete calculations.This project failed. The article discusses the reasons for this situation and different results of the project.The results of the sociological project can be conditionally divided into five groups: 1) “small” particular laws that say little about society as a whole; 2) specific methods of empirical research that yield accurate results in the fields of politics, marketing, human resource management, etc.; 3) the results achieved by deterministic theories; 4) sociological antinomies; 5)“negative results, which are also results” and lead to the comprehension of the fact, that there are some areas of social reality, to which scientific methods are radically inapplicable. Despite the fact that the goal of the project turned out to be unattainable, these results must be treated with reverence, because they are the work of outstanding scientists who called themselves sociologists, and some of them are really able to improve people’s lives. Today sociology is losing its monopoly on the production of useful knowledge about society, and its structure is beginning to be something like an exhibition of ideas in social philosophy and achievements in empirical studies of society.

The relevance of the stated problem reflects the study of the “friend-foe” dichotomy, which is clearly represented in the modern news discourse, since it reflects the most significant problems for society: migration, the COVID-19 pandemic, crime, various confrontations, problems of socially vulnerable citizens, etc. The subject of the research is to Refine the parameters for evaluating potentially dangerous texts for the subsequent creation of a library of software modules for theming and classifying news messages, including using AI technologies. Hypothesis: the proposed parameters of the system of interpretation of potentially dangerous text increase the chances of determining the prognostic level of the degree of propensity to illegal actions, so the creation of a digital library will help to quickly analyze the levels of potential dangers for the recipient. The use of digital technologies for psycholinguistic assessment of potentially dangerous texts optimizes the search and tracking of such texts, contributing to the development of measures to ensure the safety of the human psyche in conditions of massive impact on the recipient in order to change his personal attitudes. The author raises the problem of creating a single digital platform for evaluating such texts, noting the need for linguistic priority when creating semantic markup, which will allow us to qualitatively rank potentially dangerous texts. Such work requires the application of interdisciplinary efforts of specialists in the fields of linguistics, psychology, mythology, history, sociology, political science, cultural studies, mathematics, computer science and Digital Humanities. The practical value is unquestionable, since psycholinguodiagnostics of a person does not correlate with the potential danger of texts produced by such a person in society.

In this study had been investigated regional cooperation Middle East countries. This study includes, literature revive, historical background, comparison research and submitted to simple model. In this model dependent variables is economic and social development, independent variables are, population, education, culture, fiscal capital etc. Regional cooperation, which are includes social, economic and cultural are based for development. Middle East countries should be revised some economic and social cooperation in the world. These matters are important for countries. In responses to global competition their market (EU, Asia, China, North Africa) have started diversifying into new markets and production. Contrary to other economic cooperation MENA countries are differ from social and economic condition. My hypothesis is important this matter.For example, from port of Liverpool to port of Lagos distance between is 4576 mile. Time is 19.1 days. Nigeria gained independent from UK 1960, after that coined south and north. From port of Le Havre to port of Continuo distance between is 4290 mile .Time is 17.9 days. Benin gained independent from France at 1960.Many years had been some difficulties for trade two countries. Therefore regional cooperation is important .In fact, two countries Commerce City distance between is 85 mile.In this work a theoretical study and a model proposal are prepared about the information of an economic – social and political cooperation among 14 Middle- East countries and about the birth of the idea of a new cooperation (unity) while entering 21’st. century.The cooperation like EU, AET and NAFTA, BR?C-S, LAFTA, NAFTA, EEC, MERCESUR, SHANGAY-5, has brought some facilities to the economic life. It is impossible for a country today to live survive a closed economy to other countries in our globalize world.We would argue that the defining issue of economic geography is the need to explain concentrations of population and of economic activity: the distinction between manufacturing belt and farm belt, the existence of cities, the role of industry clusters. (Fujita, 1999, p. 4)Generally we talk about measuring development, in order to decision for future. So we can choose a series of indicators in different social fields, mainly economics, to describe how a particular society has progressed over the time. There are other phrases that have become important in the public debate trying to explain what development really means to a society. Among these we have: Well-being, Welfare state, Developed countries, Reducing poverty, Solution unemployment, Quality of Life, Human development, Social development etc. Classical sectors are chanced today. Today society called “Knowledge society”. Productive for work needs to quality education. Shortly, innovation policies criteria, globalization, WtrO rules, Wipo rule, Pisa scores requires new studies this field. Basically social and economic development has been result. I will explain reason and cause effect those reasons.Job creation is the first priorities in the MENA region. This model will be contributed to solution of unemployment. A free trade agreement (FTA) is a preferential arrangement among countries in which tariff rates among them are reduced to zero. However, different members of the arrangement may set external tariff for non- members at different rates (Krueger, 1997, p. 7) There are kind of agreement for example. Bilateral investment agreement, free trade agreement, regional investment agreement. I will try to my models similar to European Union.In sum up, according to Bell “Society can be viewed as three separate parts that, when integrated, create a harmonious relationship within society. The three parts: polity, market economy (techno-economic), and culture (human tradition) (Bell, 1976, p. 14) in addition to regional trade has impact of multiple effect some fields.

In this study had been investigated regional cooperation Middle East countries. This study includes, literature revive, historical background, comparison research and submitted to simple model. In this model dependent variables is economic and social development, independent variables are, population, education, culture, fiscal capital etc. Regional cooperation, which are includes social, economic and cultural are based for development. Middle East countries should be revised some economic and social cooperation in the world. These matters are important for countries. In responses to global competition their market (EU, Asia, China, North Africa) have started diversifying into new markets and production. Contrary to other economic cooperation MENA countries are differ from social and economic condition. My hypothesis is important this matter.For example, from port of Liverpool to port of Lagos distance between is 4576 mile. Time is 19.1 days. Nigeria gained independent from UK 1960, after that coined south and north. From port of Le Havre to port of Continuo distance between is 4290 mile .Time is 17.9 days. Benin gained independent from France at 1960.Many years had been some difficulties for trade two countries. Therefore regional cooperation is important .In fact, two countries Commerce City distance between is 85 mile.In this work a theoretical study and a model proposal are prepared about the information of an economic – social and political cooperation among 14 Middle- East countries and about the birth of the idea of a new cooperation (unity) while entering 21’st. century.The cooperation like EU, AET and NAFTA, BR?C-S, LAFTA, NAFTA, EEC, MERCESUR, SHANGAY-5, has brought some facilities to the economic life. It is impossible for a country today to live survive a closed economy to other countries in our globalize world.We would argue that the defining issue of economic geography is the need to explain concentrations of population and of economic activity: the distinction between manufacturing belt and farm belt, the existence of cities, the role of industry clusters. (Fujita, 1999, p. 4)Generally we talk about measuring development, in order to decision for future. So we can choose a series of indicators in different social fields, mainly economics, to describe how a particular society has progressed over the time. There are other phrases that have become important in the public debate trying to explain what development really means to a society. Among these we have: Well-being, Welfare state, Developed countries, Reducing poverty, Solution unemployment, Quality of Life, Human development, Social development etc. Classical sectors are chanced today. Today society called “Knowledge society”. Productive for work needs to quality education. Shortly, innovation policies criteria, globalization, WtrO rules, Wipo rule, Pisa scores requires new studies this field. Basically social and economic development has been result. I will explain reason and cause effect those reasons.Job creation is the first priorities in the MENA region. This model will be contributed to solution of unemployment. A free trade agreement (FTA) is a preferential arrangement among countries in which tariff rates among them are reduced to zero. However, different members of the arrangement may set external tariff for non- members at different rates (Krueger, 1997, p. 7) There are kind of agreement for example. Bilateral investment agreement, free trade agreement, regional investment agreement. I will try to my models similar to European Union.In sum up, according to Bell “Society can be viewed as three separate parts that, when integrated, create a harmonious relationship within society. The three parts: polity, market economy (techno-economic), and culture (human tradition) (Bell, 1976, p. 14) in addition to regional trade has impact of multiple effect some fields.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate which critical success factors (CSFs) influence interaction on campuses as identified by the facility directors (FDs) of Dutch university campuses and to discuss how these compare with the literature. Design/methodology/approach All 13 Dutch university campus FDs were interviewed (office and walking interview), focussing on CSFs relating to spaces and services that facilitate interaction. Open coding and thematic analysis resulted in empirically driven categories indicated by the respondents. Similarities and differences between the CSFs as previously identified in the literature are discussed. Findings The following categories emerged: constraints, motivators, designing spaces, designing services, building community and creating coherence. The campus is seen as a system containing subsystems and is itself part of a wider system (environment), forming a layered structure. Constraints and motivators are part of the environment but cannot be separated from the other four categories, as they influence their applicability. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to interviews with FDs and related staff. The richness of the findings shows that this was a relevant and efficient data collection strategy for the purpose of this study. Practical implications By viewing the campus as an open system, this study puts the practical applicability of CSFs into perspective yet provides a clear overview of CSFs related to campus interaction that may be included in future campus design policies. Social implications This (more) complete overview of CSFs identified in both literature and practice will help FDs, policymakers and campus designers to apply these CSFs in their campus designs. This improved campus design would increase the number of knowledge sharing interactions, contributing to innovation and valorisation. This could create a significant impact in all research fields, such as health, technology or well-being, benefitting society as a whole. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive overview and comparison of CSFs from both literature and practice, allowing more effective application of CSFs in campus design policies. A framework for future studies on CSFs for interaction on campuses is provided.

This issue celebrates the fortieth anniversary ofInternational Labor and Working-Class History. A relative youngster, it was a product of the second of two waves that resulted in the foundation of many labor history journals and societies.1The first wave, between roughly 1956 and 1962 included the Dutch-basedInternational Review of Social History;2the Feltrinelli Institute'sAnnaliin Italy; Le mouvement socialin France;Labor Historyin the United States; the BritishBulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History;3the West GermanArchiv fur Sozialgeschichte;and Australia'sLabour History. These journals developed at a time when organized labor and left-wing politics were strong and confident of their future,4although many who were active in these journals were highly critical of the political strategies of the existing Left and, in Eric Hobsbawm's words, viewed them “as an attempt to find a way forward in Left politics through historical reflection.”5The second wave of journal creation in labor history took place in the 1970s and included not onlyILWCH(1972), butRadical History Review(1975),Labour/Le Travail(1976), andHistory Workshop Journal(1976). These journals were especially shaped by the radicalism of the 1960s—the Vietnam War, the Cuban revolution, and the wave of student, feminist, and left-wing unrest in Europe and the world in 1968 and subsequently.6The new journals were more transnational and more comparative; malleable youths, these journals were more susceptible to the influence of the social movements evolving around them. They were more attentive to the relationship between metropole and colonial territories and more focused on the burgeoning fields of black studies and women's history than was true earlier. Drawing upon the work of sociologists, political scientists, and demographers, they were also animated by the tremendous explosion of social history in the 1960s and 1970s and new research underway on social protest movements, race, and social conditions.7

The relationship between signs and human action is one of the most widely studied theories in art and communications. Humans are constantly producing new discourse and new discursive devices and the issue of the relationship between signs / action not only remains open, but is branching off and forming hybrids with other matters. This work explores one of its branches. We performed theoretical research on the foundations of video artivism, with the aim of achieving a conceptual definition. Firstly, the purpose of the study is defined and the historical background and basic sources of influence described in order to trace a map of its fields of application in teaching practices and empirical research. The results therefore come from a bibliographic review of academic as well as artistic and activist sources, which were based on sections of the differentiating features they respectively recognize and self-recognize as artivist. Six identified features are described: the intervention function, the hybrid code, against domination, disruption, disavowal and subversion, which are aimed at establishing processes, procedures, subjects and the specific forms in which artivism has an impact on society. The article also refers to selected cases as a conceptual sample of the theoretical assumptions made and to describe their capacity of transformation. La relación entre los signos y la acción humana representa uno de los asuntos más estudiados en el campo del arte y la comunicación. Y el ser humano no para de producir nuevos discursos y nuevos dispositivos discursivos, por lo cual, la pregunta sobre esa relación signos/acción no solo sigue abierta, sino que se ramifica e hibrida hacia otros materiales. Este trabajo explora una de sus ramas. Realizamos una indagación teórica de los fundamentos del videoartivismo, con el objetivo de realizar una delimitación conceptual. Para ello, se define el objeto de estudio, se describen los antecedentes históricos y fuentes básicas de influencia que permiten trazar un mapa de sus campos de aplicación en prácticas docentes o investigaciones empíricas. Se presentan resultados de una revisión bibliográfica de fuentes académicas, y también artísticas y activistas, a las que se ha interrogado a partir de una rúbrica sobre los rasgos diferenciales con los que respectivamente reconocen y se autorreconocen como artivistas. Se describen seis rasgos identificados: función de intervención, código híbrido, contra dominación, disruptividad, desautorización y subversión, que pretenden fijar los procesos, procedimientos, sujetos y forma específica en que el artivismo impacta en la sociedad. En paralelo, el texto remite casos seleccionados como muestra conceptual de ratificación de los supuestos teóricos, con los que describir su capacidad de transformación.

The “risk society” has become a key 21st century theme due to the economic expansion and population explosion spurred by science and technology development during the 20th century. We must create societies resilient against risk to preserve well-being and continue sustainable development. Although the ideal would be to create a society free from disaster and crisis, resources are limited. To achieve a more resilient society using these resources, we must become wise enough to identify the risks threatening society and clarify how we are to prepare against them. The traditional engineering approach is limited by its aim to reduce damage reduction as functional system of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability by focusing on mitigative action. We must instead add two factors – human activity and time dependency after a disaster – to make society more risk-resilient. The Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX) of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) seeks to create new social, public, and economic value by solving obvious problems in society. In promoting science and technology R&D for society, RISTEX supports the building of networks enabling researchers and stakeholders to cooperate in solving societal problems. Our initiatives use R&D employing knowledge in the field of the humanities and social sciences, combined with natural sciences and technologies. Based on these existing accumulated knowledge and skills, scientifically verifying issues and lessons learned from these disasters, RISTEX launched a new R&D focus area, entitled “Creating a Community-Based Robust and Resilient Society,” in 2012. This R&D focus is to develop disaster risk reduction systems making society robust and resilient in the face of large-scale disasters. Two crucial key words in this focus area are “community” and “links.” Specifically, we must reexamine community frameworks to facilitate how diverse elements of society – industry, academia, government, and citizens – can be linked and activated in overcoming complex widespread disasters. Our R&D focus is grounded in the reality of urban and regional areas, and fosters mutual multilayered cooperation. In this issue, which mark the half-way point in the six-year RISTEX R&D focus program, we present 13 papers of reports on R&D studies selected by RISTEX in fiscal years 1 and 2, reviews appraising the academic significance of these reports, and studies that introduce new findings obtained through experimental studies. Seven papers resulted from four projects in the first year, three dealing with postdisaster reconstruction. The first, the Land Conservation and Resilience after Flooding Disaster project, deals with assisting in farmland restoration following heavy rainfall. Based on a detailed activity survey and geographical analysis, the report discusses significant roles played by community and incorporated non-profit organizations collaborating with groups outside affected areas. Of the two reports on the Redevelopment of Tsunami Impacted Coastal Regions, one analyzes the reconstruction planning process of a district completing its group relocation relatively early among communities in coastal regions devastated by the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. The other describes the computer reconstruction of village swept away by the tsunami, workshops conducted to improve reconstruction accuracy and the process by which community identity is strengthened by sharing common memories. Reports on the Disaster Mitigation Project of Traditional Buildings discuss current and future prospects for comprehensive disaster mitigation efforts in preservation districts based on a questionnaire focusing on the social capital in preservation districts for groups of traditional buildings. They also present results of action research aimed at community building based on connecting the historic townscape with people and organizations. The last first-year project deals with Computer-Assisted Structuring of Disaster Information. Related papers propose the design of a database schema for effectively processing disaster management information and use of natural-language processing to assist in this process. They also discuss issues related to the construction of an online information processing system for facilitating information coordination at disaster response headquarters that must process vast amounts of information in disaster response efforts. Six papers resulted from four projects among those selected in the second year. A paper on Resilient Metropolitan Areas Creation proposes multiscale community-based disaster mitigation planning preparing for a Nankai megathrust earthquake based on the need for a diverse region-wide discussion. They also report on workshops conducted based on this approach. One of two reports on Edutainment Disaster Relief Training proposes a sustainable training model based on scientific analysis of disaster medicine training – the first such attempt in medical relief. It describes implementation of an actual drill. The other report points out the need to classify disaster medicine learners into several hierarchical levels and discusses elements necessary for developing training programs as medutainment based on a comprehensive review of domestic sources on educational approaches and disaster medicine. The report on Structuring an Autonomous Regional Disaster Prevention Community describes how safety measures adopted since the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake by fire companies suffering many casualties from the disaster are effective in regions at risk of disasters other than tsunamis such as landslides. The report the Life Recovery of Public Rented Temporary Housing Dwellers presents ethnography and interview survey results with residents of public rented temporary housing regarding elements of life recovery such the housing situation, income and livelihood. Many field specialists agree it is essential to integrate science and technology in promoting R&D helping reduce disaster risks while achieving a resilient society. We must now put this concept into practice to ensure that research results are implemented. In effective risk and crisis communication, we focus on key prerequisites of people and society. We also address social issues using accumulated knowledge and technologies in individual fields as a starting point and linking these to the launch of new social implementations for achieving a resilient society. We express our sincere thanks and appreciation to all of the authors and reviewers involved in this special issue for their invaluable contributions and support.

The amount of information human beings obtain from the external world through their visual senses exceeds 80% of the total amount of information they take in. Robots and similar automatons must thus be provided with visual functions equivalent to those of human beings, enabling them to grasp external conditions accurately and to move appropriately based on such conditions. Computer and machine vision systems technologically and practically realize such visual functions, and studies of these vision systems have drawn attention and research since the 1970s. Studies on the human and other biological visual systems have progressed steadily under the stimulus of rapid advances in the brai sciences field. Such studies have brought to light new types of useful information related to biological vision systems and such information has been used to promote studies of artificial visual senses. In separate developments based on the progress of integrated circuit systems, visual sensors imitating the sensing of the human retina and the eyes of insects and animals have been developed and efforts made to apply such sensors to a variety of control systems. Human beings fuse information obtained through the visual and other senses with information collected by interacting positively with the external world to form in the brain necessary images (models) related to the external world. Based on such images and models, human beings make decisions and plan for appropriate action to take under specific circumstances. In such cases, the human senses, including the visual sense, interact mutually rather than independently. When a visual stimulus differing from ordinary stimuli is perceived, the effect of such a stimulus is recognized both by the sensory organs and sometimes by the motor organs. Human beings fuse information obtained through the visual and other senses with information collected by interacting positively with the external world to form in the brain necessary images (models) related to the external world. Based on such images and models, human beings make decisions and plan for appropriate action to take under specific circumstances. In such cases, the human senses, including the visual sense, interact mutually rather than independently. When a visual stimulus differing from ordinary stimuli is perceived, the effect of such a stimulus is recognized both by the sensory organs and sometimes by the motor organs. In the present natural environment, where numerous conditions artificially produced by numerous automation and visual systems are present simultaneously, it becomes important to study the interference and interaction among the sensory, motor, and physiological organs. The human visual function gradually develops with maturation and declines with age, following a downward curve with the years. Simple deviations in the focusing range due to myopia or hyperopia can be corrected almost completely using ordinary glasses for near-sightedness or far-sightedness. Stenosis in the focusing range, however, caused by aging and a decline in the elasticity of the eye lens cannot be corrected by the use of ordinary glasses. Such correction requires either the use of 2 types of glasses, i.e., those for near-sightedness and those for far-sightedness, alternately depending on the distance between the glasses user and the object viewed. Bifocals may also be used. The use of double lenses, however, may cause problems for the user, who must change from one pair of glasses to the other and vice versa. Biofocal lenses present problems related to the need to shift the gaze unnaturally, the presence of an unnaturally deformed whole-vision field, and the undesirable occurrence of sensations such as nausea required in attempts to adjust to changed visual fields. Take the case of fine soldering work at very close range and parts handling done at a medium range simultaneously, for example. This presents both far-sighted and near-sighted personnel with difficulties in the use of glasses. Symptoms of hyperopia generally begin to appear in those aged 40 to 45 years old. With society rapidly aging and the number of children – successors to the aging – the working population is also aging, making it vital from a social viewpoint to mechatronically solve the many problems related to hyperopia and other vision-related developments. It is with great pleasure that we present a number of articles in this special edition that should prove both informative and interesting to researchers in the fields of robotic engineering and mechatronics. These articles offer new insights into studies on welfare and human engineering and are sure to make important contributions to the progress of related R&D.

The ability to control and modify DNA—the code of life, has long been cherished by the scientists. They want to use genome editing to investigate different diseases that affect humans. With this easier access to DNA sequences, scientists are on the verge of a third revolution that will deeply impact our lives, to the extent that computers have changed society: we are entering the era of “gene editing”, following the era of “gene reading”. Gene editing is the rational and precise modification of DNA sequences program in living cells and organisms. Nuclease-based gene editing is already widely used in research as a cost-effective, fast, and easy way to conduct genetic experiments. Other recent approaches to targeted genome modification – zinc-finger nucleases [ZFNs] and transcription-activator like effector nucleases [TALENs]– enable researchers to generate permanent mutations by introducing double-stranded breaks to activate repair pathways. These approaches are costly and time-consuming to engineer, limiting their widespread use, particularly for large scale, high-throughput studies. A new gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 offers the potential for substantial improvement over previous technologies in that it is simple to use and inexpensive and has a relatively high degree of precision and efficiency. These characteristics have led many in the scientific and business communities to assert that CRISPR-Cas9 will lead to groundbreaking advances in many fields, including agriculture, energy, ecosystem conservation, and in the investigation, prevention, and treatment of diseases. The advent of facile genome engineering using the bacterial RNA-guided CRISPR-Cas9 system in animals and plants is transforming biology. This article is an aim to understand CRISPR (CLUSTERED REGULARLY INTERSPACED PALINDROMIC REPEAT) biology from its initial discovery through the elucidation of the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme mechanism, which has set the stage for remarkable developments using this technology to modify, regulate, or mark genomic loci in a wide variety of cells and organisms from all three domains of life. CRISPR-Cas9 has triggered a revolution in which laboratories around the world are using the technology for innovative applications in biology. The power of this technology to systematically analyze gene functions in mammalian cells, study genomic rearrangements and the progression of cancers or other diseases, and potentially correct genetic mutations responsible for inherited disorders. CRISPR-Cas9 is having a major impact on functional genomics conducted in experimental systems. Its application in genome-wide studies will enable large-scale screening for drug targets and other phenotypes and will facilitate the generation of engineered animal models that will benefit pharmacological studies and the understanding of human diseases. CRISPR- Cas9 applications in plants and fungi also promise to change the pace and course of agricultural research. Future research directions to improve the technology will include engineering or identifying smaller Cas9 variants with distinct specificity that may be more amenable to delivery in human cells. Understanding the homology- directed repair mechanisms that follow Cas9-mediated DNA cleavage will enhance.

The article proposes the analysis of the development of the philosophy of education in the Third Reich, including its theoretical origin with corresponding social, cultural and political contexts. The leading role of the political romantics is showed in this process with its educational implications. This research has a wide-spread empirical background including narrative interviews with the former participants of the educational processes which are described both on the factual and interpretative level. The semantics and linguistic preferences of national-socialism used in its philosophy of education show the pedagogical intentions grounded on the race theory. The “folk view of world” in the period of the national-social movement was later changed into the philosophy of political education and folk-political anthropology (E. Krieck), where the concept folk community with its leader (Führer) is a constitutive one and the functional education has become a priority before the intentional strategies. The deformation of bourgeois human ideal through returning to the myth of origin and Nietzsche’s concept of the superman is remarkable in the new contrary ideals of “the Soldier” (A. Baeumler) and the “Worker”(E. Jünger) used in the educational practices of the national-socialism with the priority of the functional education. The identification of the “soldier way of life” as the representation of Nordic race with the pedagogical reality had consequences in the curriculum philosophy of schools and universities, where the physical education and the race theory have displaced the traditional subjects studies and their research fields, especially after their synchronic switching on the totalitarian state, which must understand itself as the educational one created for the German race. The national-socialist political pedagogic has the features of the “total mobilization” for the total war as the free decision of young men ready to die for Hitler’s Germany. Emphasizing of the self-activities, self-control, self-aid and self-education in the national-pedagogical directives is connected with the utopian dream of automatically fulfillment of all educational plans with the intention to create a new human for the new society. The new schools organized under national-socialism have showed the regress in comparison with educational institutions of the Weimar republic, where the educational system has showed more variety and flexibility as the chaotic improvisations of the educational reformers of the Third Reich with their fiction of the educational philosophy, which was only the well-known maid of the new political theology.

Indonesia is a state of law as stipulated in article 1 number 3 of the 1945 Constitution. Indonesia is one of the countries in the world, which is a state of law. Indonesia's position as a state of law has very broad implications in various other fields. The reality of Indonesian society's life cannot be separated from the existence of the law inherent in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society. The term legal state (Rechstaat) is no stranger to constitutional knowledge from ancient times to the present. It's just that in the practice of state administration people are still witnessing whether the rule of law has been fully implemented or not. This research is a type of normative research, and uses descriptive qualitative analysis through critical studies. The results of this study indicate that the concept of rechstaat prioritizes the wetmatigheid principle which then becomes the rechtmatigheid. Elements of Rechstsst: 1) The existence of protection of human rights, 2) The separation and distribution of state power to guarantee the protection of human rights, 3) Governance based on regulations, and 4) The existence of administrative justice. However, the implementation of the said rule of law has not yet been implemented well and comprehensivelyKeywords: Critical Study, Variety of Concepts, State, LawABSTRAKIndonesia ialah negara hukum sebagaimana tertuang dalam pasal 1 angka 3 Undang-undang Dasar Tahun 1945. Indonesia sebagai salah satu negara di dunia, yang merupakan negara hukum. Kedudukan Indonesia sebagai sebuah negara hukum, membawa implikasi yang sangat luas pada berbagai bidang lain. Realitas kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia yang tidak bisa dilepaskan dari keberadaan hukum yang melekat pada masyarakat yang multi-etnis, multi-kultural. Istilah negara hukum (Rechstaat) tidak asing lagi dalam pengetahuan ketatanegaraan sejak zaman purba hingga sekarang ini. Hanya saja dalam praktek ketatanegaraan, orang masih menyaksikan apakah negara hukum itu sudah dilaksanakan sepenuhnya atau tidak. Penelitian ini merupakan jenis penelitian normatif, dan menggunakan analisis deskriptif kualitatif melalui studi hukum kritis. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa Konsep rechstaat mengutamakan prinsip wetmatigheid yang kemudian menjadi rechtmatigheid. Unsur-unsur rechstaat: 1) adanya perlindungan terhadap hak-hak asasi manusia (HAM), 2) adanya pemisahan dan pembagian kekuasaan negara untuk menjamin perlindungan HAM, 3) pemerintahan berdasarkan peraturan, dan 4) adanya peradilan administrasi. Akan tetapi pada aspek implementatif negara hukum dimaksud belum terlaksana dengan baik dan komprehensifKata kunci: hukum, negara, ragam konsep, studi kritis

ABSTRACT This article examined the nature of prosperousness as the foundation of life of the Indonesian nation towards a prosperous society so that a philosophical approach was realized in a practical level (operational) through the national development. The research used the method of approach philosophical; stages of research, the study of literature; and data analysis, descriptive philosophical.The study results could be stated that fairness and prosperousness were terms that could not be separated, even though both of them were the object of study of science that it was different. Fairness or justice was the study of law and one of the objectives of the law while the prosperousness focused on meeting basic human needs. It was one of economic studies. Fair and prosperous were related to the time, place and the philosophy was adopted by a group of people who called himself as a country. Thus the implementation of both institutions in national development must be understood in the context and could not be separated from the culture, ideology, philosophy of life and philosophy of the nation that was followed. The essence of prosperousness based on Pancasila was social justice and social prosperity through national development in all fields for all the people of Indonesia proportionally and equally and it was inspired by the values of Pancasila unanimously and intactly.ABSTRAKKajian ini membahas hakikat adil dan makmur sebagai landasan hidup bangsa Indonesia menuju masyarakat yang sejahtera, sehingga pendekatannya lebih bersifat filosofis tetapi kemudian diwujudkan dalam tatanan praktis (operasional) melalui pembangunan nasional.Metode penelitian yang digunakan yaitu metode pendekatan filosofis ; tahap penelitian, studi kepustakaan; dan analisis data, deskriptif filosofis.Hasil kajian yang dapat dikemukakan adalah bahwa adil dan makmur adalah istilah yang tidak dapat dipisahkan, meskipun kedua hal tersebut merupakan obyek kajian dari ilmu yang berbeda. Keadilan atau adil adalah kajian hukum dan merupakan salah satu tujuan dari hukum, sedangkan makmur lebih menitikberatkan pada pemenuhan kebutuhan pokok manusia, sehingga merupakan kajian ekonomi. Adil dan makmur bersifat relatif, bergantung pada waktu, tempat serta falsafah yang dianut oleh sekelompok masyarakat yang kemudian menamakan dirinya sebagai negara. Dengan demikian penerapan kedua pranata tersebut dalam pembangunan nasional harus dipahami dalam konteks yang tidak dapat dipisahkan dari budaya, ideologi, pandangan hidup serta falsafah bangsa yang dianutnya. Hakikat adil dan makmur berdasarkan Pancasila merupakan keadilan sosial dan kemakmuran sosial melalui pembangunan nasional di segala bidang untuk seluruh rakyat Indonesia secara proporsional (sebanding) dan merata yang dijiwai oleh nilai-nilai Pancasila secara bulat dan utuh.

The article substantiates the relevance of the introduction of new methods and technologies of teaching in modern engineering-pedagogical education, which will provide quality training of specialists in the field of computer 3D design in connection with demand of society for the use of three-dimensional design technologies in all fields of human activity: engineering, education, art , architecture, design, construction, etc. The following methods of studying 3D design systems in professional training of future engineers-teachers in the field of computer technology have been considered in accordance with three directions of three-dimensional design: engineering design of technological. architectural objects, and production systems; development of modern methodical materials for studying three-dimensional design and printing technologies; teaching technologies of three-dimensional design to future specialists, whose professional activity involves the use of three-dimensional graphics. A review of scientific publications devoted to the study of three-dimensional design in higher education has been carried out. The analysis of current methods of teaching graphic disciplines states to the fact that most of them provide the formation of skills and abilities of students in the system of two-dimensional graphic training, whereas the issues of three-dimensional design remain poorly studied. The purpose of the article is to describe the methodology for teaching three-dimensional design systems to future engineers-teachers in the field of computer technology using the project method to determine the optimal strategy for development of both engineering and pedagogical components of their professional development. The article studies the use of the project method based on a systematic approach in the study of three-dimensional computer design to enhance the creative and research potential of students of engineering-pedagogical specialities. The paper introduces a model of professional activity in 3D design with a detailed justification of all its stages: analysis, animation, modeling, texturing, visualization and report for students’ effective understanding of the sequence of these stages and the peculiarities of working with them; Autodesk software product – 3ds MAX was used as the main design tool. An algorithm for the use of the project method was developed on the example of studying the discipline “Three-dimensional modeling and animation”. The following prospects for further research have been proposed: the definition of theoretical foundations and the development of teaching methods for three-dimensional computer design for future engineers-teachers in the process of studying professionally oriented disciplines.

Introduction. In today’s globalising world, science acquires a crucial importance: integrating humanity within the framework of solving global problems, it becomes one of the leading factors in social development, facilitating work and diversifying leisure time, as well as serving as an instrument of transformations in the political sphere. Undoubtedly, the social aspects of contemporary science are capturing the attention of a huge number of researchers. However, it is not clear that all areas of the sociology of science treat the object of their study in the same way.Aim. A lack of reflection on the unity or otherwise in the understanding of the essence of science in the various fields of sociological research makes it difficult to compare different theories of the institutional, cultural, social and communicative contexts of scientific development. An urgent methodological task therefore consists in developing an understanding of the various definitions of the concept of “science” used in the framework of contemporary sociological analysis of this phenomenon.Results and scientific novelty. In this paper, two dominant sociological views on science – as an experimental-mathematical approach to cognising the world and as a system of representations in general – are compared. We conclude that while researchers studying institutional aspects of science tend to interpret it in terms of the “heritage” of post-Enlightenment European rationalism, constructionist and communicatively-oriented researchers tend to approach science as the system of knowledge and cognition that is formed in any human society, having its own specific sociocultural features in each respective case. While each of these two approaches undoubtedly has its own methodological potential, in order to provide such a diverse field of studies with a common ground, it would be necessary to balance them with a third aspect. We argue that this balancing role, since both common for all mankind and unique for every culture, could be played by Heidegger’s conceptualisation of science as “the theory of the real”.Practical significance. In order to avoid a pluralism of incompatible theories, it is important to continually pose the question “what is the object of study when conducting a sociological study of various scientific phenomena?” – as well as to understand the “limits of applicability” of the particular interpretation of science on which basis sociological analysis proceeds.

В статье представлен анализ экспертных интервью (N=13), опирающийся на идеи семиотической диагностики. Интервью проводились с российскими специалистами в области генетики человека, медицинской генетики и геномной медицины. Уместность такой диагностики обусловлена не только спецификой перечисленных областей, вызвавших возникновение новых представлений о роли генома как кода и процедурах его редактирования, но и сущностью социально-гуманитарной экспертизы инноваций, выраженной в установлении различий в образах настоящего и будущего, которые используют все акторы сферы новых технологий. Цель исследования – выяснить, как эксперты смотрят на рост популярности генетики, как они описывают ожидания и запросы со стороны государства и общества, с какими, на их взгляд, проблемами сталкивается развитие научного знания в России. В ходе анализа полученных данных были выделены следующие основные темы: неопределенность; государственная поддержка и государственное регулирование; проблемы профессионального сообщества; этические ограничения и ответственность перед пациентами; ожидания, страхи и предубеждения людей. Проблема неопределенности – одна из ключевых для современного этапа развития знаний о геноме человека. Эксперты отмечают, что предусмотреть долгосрочные последствия использования генетических технологий невозможно, но это не означает, что необходимо приостановить исследовательскую деятельность. По словам экспертов, проблема неопределенности решается с помощью осторожности и продуманности действий специалистов, которые руководствуются ценностями научного познания и профессиональной этики. Интерес к результатам генетических исследований со стороны государства играет противоречивую роль. С одной стороны, совершенствуются меры государственной поддержки (финансовой, административной), с другой – возникает излишняя регламентация научной деятельности при том, что многие вопросы остаются нерешенными с точки зрения их правовой регуляции. Кроме того, эксперты описали проблемы, возникающие в научном и врачебном профессиональных сообществах. Появление в научно-организационном поле участников, монополизирующих ресурсы за счет сотрудничества с государством, рассматривается экспертами как процесс, который приведет к ограничениям свободного распространения научного знания. В научном сообществе также возникает проблема на уровне взаимодействия с врачами, которые не работают с генетическими данными и не всегда готовы принимать внедрение новых методик диагностики и лечения. Этические ограничения и ответственность перед пациентами специалисты называют главными принципами своей профессиональной деятельности. В высказываниях экспертов профессиональная этика является работающим саморегулирующим механизмом, предостерегающим от непродуманных действий. Наконец, эксперты отметили неготовность людей к внедрению генетических технологий в их повседневную жизнь. Отчасти это связано с потребительским отношением к новым услугам в области медицинской генетики, поскольку люди ожидают от нее быстрых и понятных решений и результатов, отчасти – с необоснованными страхами и мифами, визуализируемыми в современной культуре, об опасности всего, что связано с генетикой. Таким образом, научное знание о генах сталкивается с различными коллективными представлениями, интересами, страхами, политическими и идеологическими установками, что в итоге влияет и на деятельность самих ученых. The article presents an analysis of expert interviews (N=13) based on the ideas of semiotic diagnostics. The interviews were conducted with Russian specialists in the fields of human genetics, medical genetics, and genomic medicine. The relevance of such diagnostics is due not only to the specificity of the above mentioned fields, which caused the emergence of new ideas about the role of the genome as a code and about the procedures of its editing, but also to the essence of social and humanitarian assessment of innovation, expressed in the finding of differences in the images of the present and the future, which all actors of the sphere of new technologies use. The aim of the study is to find out how experts look at the growth of the popularity of genetics, how they describe the expectations and requests from the government and society, what problems, in their opinion, they face in the development of scientific knowledge in Russia. In analyzing the data, the following main topics were highlighted: uncertainty; government support and regulation; the professional community problems; ethical limitations and responsibility to patients; expectations, fears and prejudices of people. The problem of uncertainty is one of the key issues for the current stage of knowledge about human genome. Experts note that it is impossible to foresee the long-term consequences of the use of genetic technologies, but this does not mean that research activities should be suspended. According to experts, the problem of uncertainty is solved through cautious and thoughtful actions of specialists, who are guided by the values of scientific knowledge and professional ethics. The government’s interest in the results of genetic research plays a controversial role. On the one hand, government support measures (such as financial, administrative) are being improved; on the other hand, excessive regulation of scientific activities appears, while many issues remain unresolved in terms of their legal regulation. In addition, experts have described problems that arise in the scientific and medical communities. Experts see the emergence in the scientific and organizational field of participants who monopolize resources through cooperation with the government as a process that will lead to restrictions on the free dissemination of scientific knowledge. There is also a problem in the academic community at the level of interaction with doctors who do not work with genetic data and are not ready to accept new diagnostic and treatment methods. Experts call ethical limitations and responsibility to patients the main principles of their work. In the experts’ statements, professional ethics is a working self-regulatory mechanism that warns against ill-considered actions. Finally, experts note that people are not ready to introduce genetic technologies into their everyday lives. This is partly due to the consumer attitude toward new services in the field of medical genetics, as far as people expect quick and clear answers and results from it; partly due to unfounded fears and myths, visualized in contemporary culture, about the danger of everything related to genetics. Thus, scientific knowledge about genes collides with different collective ideas, interests, fears, political and ideological attitudes, which ultimately affects scientists themselves.

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>Although the digital era allows us to understand irregular human behaviours, jurisprudence attempts to organize and adapt those behaviours into societal rules and regulations. In the frame of technological improvements, knowledge which is used, collected, stored, protected by technical, economic and social fields have been moved onto electronic environments. Information Technology (IT) law plays a very important role to legalize data, information and knowledge within the digital platforms. At this point, Lege Lata (positive law) has a strong relationship between the problems which occurs within the digital era and providing opportunities to prevent regulations for a long time in society. IT law includes specific topics which are directly relevant to some fields such as copyrights, trademarks, criminal sanctions, etc. within the Internet environment. Although most of the countries have already constituted IT Laws in order to solve the digital problems and to prevent or reduce cybercrimes, North Cyprus IT Law improvements are still constitution stage because of some bureaucratic reasons and have seen as a hugely problematic issue for solving the digital problems in the country. For this reason, this study briefly attempts to investigate the constitution of IT Law in North Cyprus. Specifically, IT Law in the context of adaptation process to EU countries will be considered according to rules and regulations of EU IT Law from the two perspectives, called common law and civil law. Literature review will be used by this research to understand whether there are similarities between Turkey-EU countries and North Cyprus based on IT Law and cybercrime or not. The findings which will be relying on literature review will be discussed as a county case studies in the research.</p><p><strong>Öz</strong></p><p>İnternetin, ortaya çıkışı ve değişimi evreleri ardından, içerisinde bulunduğumuz “dijital çağ” olarak adlandırılan dönemdeki yüksek önemine istinaden; bu ortamda gerçekleştirilen faaliyetlerin, fonksiyonel olarak düzensiz insan davranışlarını inceleyen hukuk bilimi tarafından düzenleme altına alınması gerekliliği ortaya çıkmıştır. Teknolojik gelişmeler çerçevesinde insanoğlunun teknik, ekonomik ve toplumsal alanlarda kullandığı bilginin, elektronik ve benzeri makineler aracılığıyla toplanması, işlenmesi, saklanması ve korunması ile, bunlardan doğan ihtilafların çözümünü konu alan bilişim hukuku, pek çok ülkede, başta bilişim yasaları olmak üzere, çeşitli hukuki düzenlemeler ile Lege Lata (pozitif hukuk) olarak, varlık göstermiştir. Gerek internet ortamında yayınlanan eserler üzerindeki telif haklarına aykırı içerikler hususunda cezai müeyyideler getiren; gerekse, internet ortamında gerçekleşen dar ve geniş anlamdaki cezai sonuç doğurucu faaliyetleri kapsamı altına alan bilişim yasaları, belirtildiği gibi pek çok ülkede yürürlüğe girmiş ve gelişen teknoloji ışığında, daha yerinde düzenlemeler için revize edilmeye devam ediyor olsa da, Kuzey Kıbrıs’ta, henüz yürürlükte bir bilişim yasası bulunmamaktadır. Taslak halinde olan Bilişim Yasa Tasarısı ise, uzun yıllardır duyulan ihtiyaca ve sürdürülen çalışmalara rağmen yasalaştırılamamıştır. Bu kapsamda, çalışmada, literatür taraması çerçevesinde, hukuk düzeni olarak yakın bağlantısı nedeniyle örnek oluşturabilecek Türk Hukuku’nun ve yine Kuzey Kıbrıs’ın, Kıbrıs sorununda olası bir çözüm durumunda, katılma hedefi söz konusu olan Avrupa Birliği’nin çeşitli bilişim hukuku düzenlemelerine başlık ve genel amaçları ile değinilmekte; yasal boşluk nedeniyle Kuzey Kıbrıs’ta söz konusu olan mevcut sosyolojik sorunların tespitine ve ilgili sorunların aşılması için somut çözüm önerilerine yer verilmektedir.</p>

The first International Social Pedagogy Conference took place February 22-24, 2018 in Puebla, Mexico. The conference, Social Pedagogy and Social Education: Bridging Traditions and Innovations, was hosted by Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in partnership with the Social Pedagogy Association, ASU, REMPES, and Ceiba. The conference hosted over 350 participants from 17 countries and offered presentations in English, Spanish and Portuguese, representing a wide variety of topics which reflect many of the diverse areas encompassed by social pedagogy research and practice. In 2011, the first social pedagogy masters program in North America - a Master of Art in Social and Cultural Pedagogy - was approved by Arizona State University for the School of Social Transformation in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. Within two years students in that program created a graduate organization, SCP-GO (Social and Cultural Pedagogy Graduate Organization), to connect with each other, organize events, and represent students’ needs and interests to the faculty. As the first of these graduates transitioned from University into a variety of careers and post-graduate studies, a need presented for a professional association to facilitate connections in North America between practical and theoretical pedagogues. Thus, the Social Pedagogy Association was created in 2015. The Social Pedagogy Association (SPA) brings together practitioners, academics, students and others to exchange experiences and to share knowledge and resources about social pedagogy theory, research and practice. The SPA strives to be an inclusive organization that believes in the importance of the free flow of ideas and scholars for the advancement of research, theory and educational practices. We are here to encourage scholarly interaction, collaboration, and debate from diverse intellectual perspectives and countries of origin by bringing together practitioners, academics, students and others to exchange experiences and to share knowledge and resources about social pedagogy theory, research and practice. (O’Neil, 2015) The SPA recognized a disconnect between academia and practice. While academics often engage in interdisciplinary study, and many practitioners refer to the works and successes of others in their fields, there is often a gap in communication between research and practice. As social pedagogues we bear a responsibility to ensure that gap is minimized as effectively as possible. As the academic discipline and practical application of social pedagogy expands, it is necessary that theoretical and practical pedagogues communicate and work in tandem. In 2004, prominent social pedagogue, Henry Giroux, wrote: I think too many cultural studies theorists are remiss in suggesting that pedagogy is primarily about schools and, by implication, that the intersection of cultural studies and pedagogy has little to do with theorizing the role pedagogy might play in linking learning to social change outside of traditional sites of schooling. Pedagogy is not simply about the social construction of knowledge, values, and experiences; it is also a performative practice embodied in the lived interactions among educators, audiences, texts, and institutional formations. Pedagogy, at its best, implies that learning takes place across a spectrum of social practices and settings. (Giroux, 2004, p.61) Rooted deeply in northern Europe and South America, the field of Social Pedagogy is growing and changing as it spreads and develops in the UK, Central America, and, most recently, North America. The discipline has more than 150 years of history as both an interdisciplinary academic field of inquiry and a field of practice that is situated in the intersection of three areas of human activity: education, social work, and community development (Schugurensky, 2011). Hans Thiersch defined the role of social pedagogue thus: The role of the social pedagogue is to help people to critically analyze their problems, reflecting on the social causes of the individual problems and to find options for successful everyday life. The focus is connecting help for the individual with political action in the context of social justice and well-being, while recognizing social and political resources. (Schugurensky, 2014, p. 9) It is of utmost importance that pedagogues ‘across a spectrum’ listen to one another and aid each other in this critical analysis and reflection. This need for an increase in communication was recognized by members and partners of the SPA soon after its founding. “As a critical practice, pedagogy’s role lies not only in changing how people think about themselves and their relationship to others and the world, but also is energizing students and others to engage in those struggles that further possibilities for living in a more just society.” (Giroux, 2004, p. 64) As pedagogues, we must also energize and engage one another. There is possibly no greater power than that inherent in the exchange of ideas and culture. In 2017, Jan Rothuizen and Lotte Harbo reminded us that “Bridge-building means changing society and not just working with care but also with community development, so as to address the wider and systematic aspects that affect the marginalized groups” (Rothuzian, p.18). It was with this idea of bridging connections and supporting one another that the SPA organized and planned the first International Social Pedagogy Conference which took place February 22-24, 2018 in Puebla, Mexico. The conference, Social Pedagogy and Social Education: Bridging Traditions and Innovations, was hosted by Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) in partnership with the Social Pedagogy Association, ASU, REMPES, and Ceiba. The intention of this conference was to bridge differences within the theories of academia and help to unite those theories with the experiences of field-work practitioners, an important connection that is all-too-often overlooked. The conference was held with the intention of bringing together the various studies and practices of social pedagogy and social education around the world. The conference welcomed any and all researchers and practitioners whose work falls into the realm of social or critical pedagogies and social education, to include topics such as: refugee education, cultural pedagogy, the formation/education of social educators and social workers, technology and social education, pedagogical theory, social pedagogy and social education in schools, and more. The conference hosted over 350 participants from 17 countries and offered presentations in English, Spanish and Portuguese, representing a wide variety of topics which reflect many of the diverse areas encompassed by social pedagogy research and practice. By forging initial connections between researchers and practitioners, we hope to continue to find and increase ways in which these connections can influence and impact the growth of social pedagogy and social education around the world. The hope of the SPA is that we continue to identify tension fields, share successes and challenges internationally within the field and research, and come to an understanding of social pedagogy advised and shaped by our varied cultures, experiences, and educations. The SPA will be partnering in June of 2020 with the University of Central Lancashire (CLAN) to host the second International Social Pedagogy Conference in Larnaka, Cyprus. We are excited to see the unification of ideas and knowledge and look forward to a future of partnership with pedagogues around the world.

Aim/Purpose: This study examines how the use of a Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL) application influences the learners’ attitudes towards the process of learning, and more specifically in voluntary and mandatory environments. Background: Mobile devices and applications, which have become an integral part of our lives, are used for different purposes, including educational objectives. Among others, they are used in the process of foreign language acquisition. The use of a MALL application to learn foreign languages has advantages and drawbacks, which are important to understand, in order to achieve better learning results, while improving the enjoyment of the process. Methodology : The study population included people who participated in a foreign language course and used Duolingo application on a mobile device in parallel. One group consisted of high school pupils, who were obliged to use the application and filled in before and after questionnaires. The other group consisted of people who took face-to-face courses, and chose to use the same Duolingo application voluntarily, in order to assist their studies. The second group answered another questionnaire tailored to more experienced users. The findings were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22, and a model was examined with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Contribution: This paper helps to understand the perceived advantages and drawbacks of using a MALL application by students both in mandatory and voluntary environments. Findings: Most of the participants found the MALL Duolingo application enhanced the learning process. The gamification characteristics, ease of use, ubiquity and self-learning facilities had a stimulating effect on the process of learning, and contributed to the willingness to continue using the application and to recommend it to others. However, some statistically significant differences were found between the groups, referring to the characteristics of the application, among them ubiquity, lack of human feedback and simplicity of use. Recommendations for Practitioners: The research findings can contribute to both teachers and students who conduct and participate in foreign language courses, by helping them examine the possibility of combining mobile learning with a traditional face-to-face course. Moreover, the findings can assist developers of mobile learning applications, in order to include gamification options in the process of learning. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers in the fields of mobile applications and m-learning need to understand the factors enhancing the learning process, in order to develop the next generations of m-learning applications. Impact on Society: Mobile devices have become an accessory that almost every person in the world uses. Its ubiquitous characteristics allow using it everywhere and anytime. This is an opportunity to facilitate education to people all around the world. Gamification of m-learning applications can promote and encourage the use of these applications. Future Research Further examination is needed in different cultures, in order to understand if the findings are universal.

PurposeThe human efforts to be prepared better for the future challenges of natural disasters go back ages. Natural disasters occur when a natural event, such as an earthquake, triggers the social vulnerability. These natural disasters kill thousands of people worldwide annually and cause economic losses in millions of dollars. Moreover, the global cost of natural disasters has increased substantially, and mega-disasters occur when the need for recovery truly becomes national or international. There are several trends in nature and society, which suggest that this pattern may continue, with mega-disasters occurring more frequently in the future. In the past 100 years, the number of disasters and the number of people affected by these disasters have exponentially up surged. Thus, there is no other way to improve preparedness in a meaningful or diverse future-oriented manner.Design/methodology/approachThis paper focuses on how to design and customize a conceptual foresight model in “disaster risk management” in Iran, and offers an executive model to help decision-makers in disaster management, through which an appropriate practical framework for the implementation of foresight has been developed.FindingThe model has presented a possible framework for implementing a foresight practice within the context of disaster management. This paper particularly addresses different elements of a customized model, developed through a substantial literature review and comparative study for defining the suitable model in the disaster management context. The final model is validated using two rounds of the Delphi method, with the participation of national disaster management experts, practitioners and scientists.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the whole model could be used all around the world, the main source of data validating the proposed model is limited to the expert’s opinions in a developing country (I. R. Iran.) and the geographical conditions of Iran are considered as a core of attention in response to natural disasters. Based on the indicators for choosing Delphi participants and experts, only 43 qualified experts are selected to validate the model. The main focus of this research is on natural disasters issues.Practical implicationsThis study showed that while there has been a scattered global effort to recognize the increasing uncertainties in diverse disciplines, very little work in academic foresight has been undertaken to identify how it could be implemented. In particular, a series of factors in foresight processes is identified based on the comparative study and some additional elements are added to precisely identify the disaster management context and the most suitable model for national foresight implementation in disaster management.Originality/valueThe main value of this research paper is to clarify the exact relationship between the two interdisciplinary fields; the relationship between the key concepts of “futures studies” and “disaster management” has been thoroughly established. Also, a specific conceptual model for enriching the “pre-foresight” stage and selecting a proper “foresight approach” in “disaster management” is provided. This model has been validated through two rounds of the Delphi method. Finally, a cumulative framework of foresight patterns that includes the new model is presented to be applied in areas especially related to “natural disaster management”.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the relationship between different themes of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and companies’ market value (measured by Tobin Q) for Jordanian firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) for the period 2006-2010. Design/methodology/approach The annual reports of 26 companies on the ASE for the years 2006-2010 were selected for this study. Three industrial sectors were chosen: chemical; food and beverage; and pharmaceutical and medical (P&M). The CSR is measured by constructing an index consisting of four themes which are as follows: environmental 9 items; human resources 16 items; community 7 items; and products 7 items. The study adopts Tobin Q as the dependent variable to measure the market value of corporations. Two control variables were included in the regression analysis for their possible effects on the CSR and company’s market value relationship: size and leverage. This study performs a multiple regression analysis model to test the effect of the four CSR themes: environmental, human resources, community and products on the market value measured by Tobin Q. Findings The results revealed that environmental, community and product activities decreased market value in the food and beverage industry, while human resources activities had no effect on market value in the same industry. Moreover, the community theme was found to have a negative effect on market value in the P&M industry, while the three other themes were found to have no effect on market value in the same industry. The four themes had no effect on market value in the chemical industry. Research limitations/implications The current study has a number of limitations, which have implications for future research. First, the study focused only on three industrial sectors (chemical, food and beverage and P&M), which limited the results to only these industries. In addition, the CSR concept and its effect on profitability is an important issue for the financial and services sectors. Hence, it would be beneficial to investigate the CSR impact on profitability for the financial and services sectors. Moreover, the study focused only on one country, Jordan. An extension of this study could be a comparison of the CSR effect on financial performance between Jordan and other countries in the Middle East. Furthermore, the measurement of CSR is subject to criticism because it might generate bias according to subjective judgments about CSR items. The CSR items are equally weighted, which might not be acceptable because their nature and effect differ among industries. However, introducing qualitative measures for CSR that reflect various perspectives about CSR practices and implications is essential. Finally, the period chosen for this study includes the years of global financial crisis as well which had eroded the market value of many firms in different industries, and this may form a prominent limitation of this study. Practical implications The results of this study have given evidence of the role of CSR in Jordan. The investments in the CSR field could negatively affect or could have no effect on market value. Overall, regulators in Jordan should pay attention to the costs and benefits of CSR among companies. Companies will be encouraged to invest in CSR activities if the benefits on their financial performance exceed the costs (cost-benefit theory). Specifically, companies should select types of CSR activities that enhance their competiveness in the society. Social implications The results of this study provide practical implications to several users in the chemical, food and beverage and P&M industries. Managers, investors and other users may pay attention to the impact of CSR strategies on the company’s market value. For example, food and beverage managers may decrease their CSR investments around environmental, community and product activities because these decrease the market value and profitability of the company. However, the CSR investment in human resources does not affect the profitability in this industry. For the chemical industry, managers may not focus on CSR investments in the different activities (environmental, human resources, community and products) because these have no impact on the company’s market value. In regards to the P&M industry, managers may decrease their CSR investments around community activities because this decreases the market value. However, managers may not be concerned with CSR investments in environmental, human resources and products activities because these do not affect the company’s market value. Originality/value The relationship between CSR and a company’s financial performance has been tested broadly in the financial and management fields without any conclusive results. Some explanations for the inconclusive results are discussed. Inoue and Lee (2011, p. 791) noted three main issues that remain unresolved in the studies regarding the relationship between CSR and a company’s performance: using samples for different industries, using cross sectional observations and using aggregate CSR dimensions. The current study overcomes the main problems in the previous discussion. In particular, the study will focus on specific industries (chemical, food and beverage and P&M). In addition, the study will use multidimensional CSR measures. Moreover, financial performance will be measured by a single measure (market value) instead of using different measures of financial performance.

Abstract SYNTHESIS OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM FOR RESEARCH IN COMPARATIVE CRIMINOLOGY Introduction At the beginning of the development of the social sciences there was a considerable vogue for comparative research. A long period of empirical studies and almost total preoccupation with methodological problems followed. Once again, however, psychology, political science, sociology, and above all anthropology, have taken up the thread of this tradition, and the bibliography in these fields is becoming ever more abundant. The study of deviance, of various manifestations of criminality, and of social reaction against crime are, however, noticeably missing in the picture, even though there is nothing in the nature of criminology which precludes the development of comparative research. To many research workers in criminology, the time seemed ripe to take up the comparative tradition once again. Two imperatives were considered : the generalization of norms of deviance which are tied to the standard of living set by industrial civilization, thus putting the problem of criminality in a global light ; and, second, the development and standardization of methods of studying these phenomena, drawing on the experience of allied disciplines. The response of the participants in this Symposium and the results of their discussions were not unexpected. A consensus was arrived as to the problems it was thought important to study, and agreement was reached about the strategies of research to be undertaken. Priorities, however, were not established since too much depends on the availability of research teams, funds, etc. But the broad, overall look at the main problems in comparative criminology will, hopefully, open a new chapter in the history of crimino-logical research and in our continuing search for knowledge of man and society. The brief resume which follows should give the reader an idea of the extent of the problems tackled. The detailed proceedings of the Symposium will be published at a later date, in mimeographed form. Sectors of research proposed In a sense, this Symposium was prepared by all the participants. The organizers had requested that each person invited prepare a memorandum setting out the problems in comparative criminology which he considered to be most important. The compilation of their replies, reported to the plenary session at the opening of the Symposium, produced the following results : Summary of suggestions for research activities Note : In all that follows, it should be understood that all of these topics should be studied in a cross-cultural or international context. 1) Definitions and concepts : a) Social vs legal concept of deviance ; b) Distinction between political and criminal crimes ; c) The law : a moral imperative or a simple norm ; d) The concepts used in penal law : how adequate ? e.g. personality of criminal ; e) Who are the sinners in different cultures and at different times. 2) Procedures : a) Working concepts of criminal law and procedure ; b) Differentiating between factors relating to the liability-finding process and the sentencing process ; c) Behavioural manifestations of the administration of criminal justice ; d) Judicial decisions as related to the personality of the judges and of the accused ; e) Sentencing in the cross-national context (2 proposals) ; f) In developing countries, the gap between development of the legal apparatus and social behaviour ; g) Determination of liability ; h) The problem of definition and handling of dangerous offenders ; i) Decision-making by the sentencing judges, etc. (2 proposals) ; ;) Medical vs penal committals ; k) Law-enforcement, policing. 3) Personnel : a) Professionalization in career patterns ; b) Criteria for personnel selection ; c) Greater use of female personnel. 4) Causation. Situations related to criminality : a) How international relations and other external factors affect crime ; 6) Hierarchy of causes of crime ; c) Migrants. Minorities in general ; d) Relation to socio-economic development in different countries ; e) A biological approach to criminal subcultures, constitutional types, twin studies, etc. ; f) Cultural and social approach : norms of moral judgment, ideals presented to the young, etc. ; g) Effect of social change : crime in developing countries, etc. (6 proposals) ; h) Effects of mass media, rapid dissemination of patterns of deviant behaviour (2 proposals). 5) Varieties of crime and criminals : a) Traffic in drugs ; b) Prison riots ; c) Violence particularly in youth (7 proposals) ; d) Dangerousness ; e) Relation to the rights of man (including rights of deviants); f) Female crime (2 proposals) ; g) Prostitution ; i) The mentally ill offender ; ;) Cultural variations in types of crime ; k) Organized crime ; /) Use of firearms ; m) Gambling ; n) Victims and victimology. 6) Treatment : evaluation : a) Social re-adaptation of offenders ; b) Statistical research on corrections, with possible computerization of data ; c) Comparisons between prisons and other closed environments ; d) Extra-legal consequences of deprivation of liberty ; e) Rehabilitation in developing countries ; f ) Criteria for evaluation of programs of correction ; g) Biochemical treatment (2 proposals) ; i) Differential treatment of different types of offense. Evaluation ; /) Prisons as agencies of treatment ; k) Effects of different degrees of restriction of liberty ; /) Environments of correctional institutions ; m) Study of prison societies ; n) Crime as related to the total social system. 7) Research methodology : a) Publication of what is known regarding methodology ; b) Methods of research ; c) Culturally-comparable vs culturally-contrasting situations ; d) Development of a new clearer terminology to facilitate communication ; e) Actual social validity of the penal law. 8) Statistics : epidemiology : a) Need for comparable international statistics ; standardized criteria (3 proposals) ; b) Difficulties. Criminologists must collect the data themselves. 9) Training of research workers : Recruiting and training of « com-paratists ». 10) Machinery : Committee of co-ordination. Discussions The discussions at the Symposium were based on these suggestions, the main concentration falling on problems of manifestations of violence in the world today, the phenomenon of student contestation, and on human rights and the corresponding responsibilities attached thereto. Although the participants did not come to definite conclusions as to the respective merits of the problems submitted for consideration, they did discuss the conditions under which comparative studies of these problems should be approached, the techniques appropriate to obtaining valid results, and the limitations on this type or work. Four workshops were established and studied the various problems. The first tackled the problems of the definition of the criteria of « danger » represented by different type of criminals ; the problem of discovering whether the value system which underlies the Human Rights Declaration corresponds to the value system of today's youth; the problem of the treatment of criminals ; of female criminality ; and, finally, of violence in the form of individual and group manifestations. The second workshop devoted its main consideration to the revolt of youth and to organized crime, also proposing that an international instrument bank of documentation and information be established. The third workshop considered problems of theory : how the police and the public view the criminal ; the opportunity of making trans-cultural comparisons on such subjects as arrest, prison, etc. ; and the role of the media of information in the construction of value systems. The fourth workshop blazed a trail in the matter of methodology appropriate to research in comparative criminology. The period of discussions which followed the report of the four workshops gave rise to a confrontation between two schools of thought within the group of specialists. The question arose as to whether the problem of student contestation falls within the scope of the science of criminology. Several experts expressed the opinion that criminologists ought not to concern themselves with a question which really belongs in the realm of political science. On the other hand, the majority of the participants appeared to feel that the phenomenon of student contestation did indeed belong in the framework of criminological research. One of the experts in particular took it upon himself to be the spokesman of this school of thought. There are those, he said, who feel that criminology should confine itself and its research to known criminality, to hold-ups, rape, etc. However, one should not forget that penal law rests on political foundations, the legality of power, a certain moral consensus of the population. Today, it is exactly this « legitimate » authority that is being contested. Is it not to be expected, therefore, that criminology should show interest in all sociological phenomena which have legal and criminal implications ? Contestation and violence have consequences for the political foundations of penal law, and therefore are fit subjects for the research of the criminologist. International Centre {or Comparative Criminology The First International Symposium for Research in Comparative Criminology situated itself and its discussions within the framework and in the perspectives opened by the founding of the International Centre for Comparative Criminology. The Centre is sponsored jointly by the University of Montreal and the International Society for Criminology, with headquarters at the University of Montreal. As one of the participants emphasized, criminologists need a place to retreat from the daily struggle, to meditate, to seek out and propose instruments of research valid for the study of problems common to several societies. Viewing the facts as scientists, we are looking for operational concepts. Theoreticians and research workers will rough out the material and, hopefully, this will inspire conferences and symposiums of practitioners, jurists, sociologists, penologists, and other specialists. Above all, it will give common access to international experience, something which is lacking at present both at the level of documentation and of action. A bank of instruments of method- ology in the field of comparative criminology does not exist at the present time. The Centre will undertake to compile and analyse research methods used in scientific surveys, and it will establish such an instrument bank. It will also gather and analyse information pertaining to legislative reforms now in progress or being contemplated in the field of criminal justice. Through the use of computers, the Centre will be able to put these two projects into effect and make the results easily accessible to research workers, and to all those concerned in this field. The participants at the Symposium were given a view of the extent of the problems envisaged for research by the future Centre. It is hoped that this initiative will be of concrete use to research workers, private organizations, public services and governments at many levels, and in many countries.

I was glad to read today, on December 16th of 2016, that the Sports Sciences Department of the University of Beira Interior (UBI) appears in an outstanding place in the Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking for Sport Science Schools and Departments. We could indicate that this small department is actually in the top 80 of the sports schools of the world, which is something that should be highlighted.In 2007, the head of the Department of Sports Sciences at UBI and currently president of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (UBI) called for the development of internal research in the field of sports sciences, not only on the national panorama, but above all on an international level. This wish was strongly based on a complete lack of research in the department, in which until 2007 there was no single publication with indexing, much less with ISI or Scopus or any relevant project or book recognized by the scientific community. It was a herculean and risky challenge, but today we think that it has been more than achieved. At that time the cornerstones for the development and sustainability of the investigation in the department were based on three key-vectors: selection and recruitment of more teachers with experience and research potential; acquisition of equipment, laboratory software and reformulation of the advanced training proposal (reformulation of the Master course and Doctoral study plan).As a complement to the quality of the existing teachers, external professors were hired. The rectory was present in the creation of an R & D unit in consortium with UTAD, UMa and 5 Polytechnics Schools, under the designation of CIDESD with headquarters in UTAD and a center in UBI. As far as the equipment is concerned, the department has acquired high quality material and diversification through internal funds (Department / Faculty) and also with the individual scientific production funds of the research unit CIDESD/UBI. Between 2008 and 2013, these acquisitions encouraged the exponential writing of articles, the development of projects and the conclusion with high quality of masters and doctoral theses. This was only possible due to the high scientific production carried out, which was strictly thought in favor of our students and the Department of Sports Sciences. The acquisition of research material had not only a typical laboratory concern but also an ecological one, that is, most of the acquired equipment was portable, allowing us to carry out several studies outside the Department, going to the places where the individuals that composed the samples were. Finally, since 2009, there has been a strong internationalization policy for the Masters course, especially with the arrival of highly qualified teachers from worldwide, which has allowed the promotion of research policies and a significant increase in quantity, but above all in the quality of the published articles. In this research policies project - it was sought to present a line of concrete study that addressed some pertinent problems to which the international literature has not yet shown any final conclusions.In the last two decades, scientific research in Sport Sciences has grown exponentially in the department. Unfortunately, most of the resources, such as critical mass or equipment (laboratories) are still scarce in our country, although some universities have taken important steps in order to reverse this situation. Thus, UBI could not remain unaware of this "revolution". We had a young department with quality and capacity to perform quality research. To this purpose, it was urgent to develop protocols and / or connect with universities and researchers of international reference, which would transport us to higher levels of research. Since our field of study was so vast and complex, we had to focus on the following points of interest: A) preparing research projects in the field of sports performance; B) drawing short - term strategies for the construction of a root laboratory that would be able to transport us to the "front line"; C) helping integrate our young doctoral students (teachers) into the "world" of research. Considering the opening of the European university space resulting from the Maastricht Treaty, one of the pillars of the internationalization policy has been the focus on European cooperation activities. Numerous protocols were developed with the University of Pitesti, the Public University of Navarra, the Pablo de Olavide University, and the University of Barry State. These contacts were a result from the social and academic networks established with members of these universities.After hiring the new professors whose doctorates were concluded between 2007 and 2009, the mission of equating a course development strategy and improving its attractiveness was crucial. Given the fact that, at the level of the 2nd cycle offer, the demand was low, it was therefore necessary to attract students from other schools of the country. It was obvious that this would only be possible with the use of previous personal knowledge networks and the support of the Center for Research in Sport, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), a research center where UBI is an integrated member.The 2nd cycle of studies of the Master’s Degree in Sports Sciences was created in the 1st year of the Bologna Process adjustments of the courses given at the UBI. At that time, the Department's doctoral faculty was exiguous and very little diversified. For this reason, the Curricular Units proposed for the curriculum were based in the possibility of hiring other human resources. National and international teachers of recognized pedagogical and scientific value were recruited, with special emphasis on the prestigious curriculum of publications in the area of Sports Sciences. Provisional calls were launched and readily accepted on the condition that they taught concentrated classes, similar to what already being done in many foreign universities and also in some national ones.In the main scientific area of the cycle of studies (Sports Sciences) all the teachers integrated in the service distribution are effective members or collaborators of CIDESD. CIDESD is a research unit accredited by FCT (since the 12th of December of 2009) with the initial classification of GOOD and nowadays of VERY GOOD. Also worth mentioning is the collaboration with the Center for Excellence in Studies, Research and Sports Medicine and the Navarro Institute of Sport, Government of Navarra.The approach to scientific research has also been a point of honor of this department, carried out in a sustainable way, mainly through teaching / learning methodologies specific to each curricular unit (CU), mostly through research seminars. This approach begins in the 1st semester of the 1st year, encouraging the student to the good practices of scientific research, particularly in his area of interest. However, the ultimate milestone of his effective integration into the scientific research can only be consolidated if the student is qualified to prepare or eventually to submit a scientific paper in an ISI-indexed journal provided by the Seminar CUs. Finally, we must highlight the involvement in the implementation of technical-scientific events allowing contact with basic and applied science, of which the Research Seminar of CIDESD and CIDESD Junior is the best example. It should also be said that the scientific activity produced by teachers and students is strongly implemented in the methodological orientation of teaching / research and in the provision of services and advice to the academic community and to civil society in general. Regarding to the research-community relationship, the type of research developed is powerfully applied by integrating and transmitting immediately the produced knowledge to the stakeholders (e.g., clubs, municipalities, gymnasiums and swimming pools). Therefore, this applied research par excellence in the physical activity context of exercise and sport in its most diverse fields of application brings economic benefits to the partners of the course.It should be mentioned that in the last two years there has been a significant increase in the publication of scientific articles in journals indexed to the ISI Web of Knowledge, a true and successful Case Study at the national level. Also note that part of the articles published during the last years were launched in magazines with an impact factor higher than 1.0. Also noteworthy are the publications in book or chapter format of books with scientific review. There are also dozens of abstracts published in national and international conferences (with scientific review). In fact, we consider this type of publication as an excellent measure of dissemination of the work produced by senior researchers and 3rd cycle students. In some cases, even for the 2nd cycle students.We succeeded in spreading knowledge through the range of articles available in worldwide renowned journals, i.e.: Original Research, Brief Reviews, Reviews, Methodological Reports, Research Notes, and Letters to Editor. In terms of impact, if we consider that the UBI Teaching Activity Regulation defined 0.4 as the impact reference median to the Sports Sciences, the publications in question are clearly above this level with an average close to 1.0 impact, a high value for the sports sciences. It should be emphasized that more than 50 percent of the articles refer to 1.8-1.9 impact journals, and that we have had a review - recently published in the highest impact factor journal of the area (Sports Medicine: 5.2).With this philosophy of publications, it was intended to carry out a large number of scientific studies that addressed a panoply of issues considered more relevant like the ones related to the effectiveness of Strength Training and Physical Condition on performance improvements in High Performance Sports, Public School and Exercise /Health. Consequently, this line of thought / intervention, in addition to discussing in a pragmatic and scientific way different topics related to the methodology of Strength Training and Physical Condition, tried to do a parallelism between theory and practice, that is, most of the abovementioned articles are of a highly practical nature in order to daily assist coaches, physical education teachers and health / sport professionals. We also analyzed the Simultaneous Training of Strength and Aerobic thematic, as well as the problematic of the Detraining. These are two hot topics as both are far from consensus in the scientific community.Since the origin of the Department (1994), the first four experimental studies conducted in our laboratories have been published in two of the best sports training magazines. In the five-year period in question, the level of scientific production was exponential with more 100 international ISI articles published or accepted for publication in journals indexed to international reference databases by the end of 2013. The participation in conferences such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the European College of Sport Science (ECSS) as well as the positive evaluation of 2 R & D projects by international panels (with emphasis on the project approved in call 2010) seem to indicate that the scientific community recognizes the efforts done to contribute for a better understanding of the sportive phenomenon, both in theoretical as in empirical terms. We should also note the level of involvement in the scientific community with referee reports for international reference journals and with several coauthors affiliated to different universities (national and international).The research networks developed in 5 years and the funding of the international R & D Projects planned for the coming years, will not only allow the renewal of equipment and software, but also bring the possibility of hiring highly qualified human resources, guaranteeing important conditions to continue in the line of international merit investigation. It is also an important incentive to further progress in the worldwide scientific production, recognized by the scientific community as well as helping UBI to consolidate its role in the country and in the world, in this scientific area. However, there are still some teachers who feel some lack of motivation to publish regularly.

The Routledge Handbook of language and culture represents a comprehensive study on the inextricable relationship between language and culture. It is structured into seven parts and 33 chapters. Part 1, Overview and historical background, by Farzad Sharifian, starts with an outline of the book and a synopsis of research on language and culture. The second chapter, John Leavitt’s Linguistic relativity: precursors and transformations discusses further the historical development of the concept of linguistic relativity, identifying different schools’ of thought views on the relation between language and culture. He also tries to demystify some misrepresentations held towards Boas, Sapir, and Whorf’ theories (pp. 24-26). Chapter 3, Ethnosyntax, by Anna Gladkova provides an overview of research on ethnosyntax, starting from the theoretical basis laid by Sapir and Whorf and investigates the differences between a narrow sense of ethnosyntax, which focuses on cultural meanings of various grammatical structures and a broader sense, which emphasises the pragmatic and cultural norms’ impact on the choice of grammatical structures. John Leavitt presents in the fourth chapter, titled Ethnosemantics, a historical account of research on meaning across cultures, introducing three traditions, i.e. ‘classical’ ethnosemantics (also referred to as ethnoscience or cognitive anthropology), Boasian cultural semantics (linguistically inspired anthropology) and Neohumboldtian comparative semantics (word-field theory, or content-oriented Linguistics). In Chapter 5, Goddard underlines the fact that ethnopragmatics investigates emic (or culture-internal) approaches to the use of different speech practices across various world languages, which accounts for the fact that there exists a connection between the cultural values or norms and the speech practices peculiar to a speech community. One of the key objectives of ethnopragmatics is to investigate ‘cultural key words’, i.e. words that encapsulate culturally construed concepts. The concept of ‘linguaculture’ (or languaculture) is tackled in Risager’s Chapter 6, Linguaculture: the language–culture nexus in transnational perspective. The author makes reference to American scholars that first introduced this notion, Paul Friedrich, who looks at language and culture as a single domain in which verbal aspects of culture are mingled with semantic meanings, and Michael Agar, for whom culture resides in language while language is loaded with culture. Risager himself brought forth a new global and transnational perspective on the concept of linguaculture, i.e. the use of language (linguistic practice) is seen as flows in people’s social networks and speech communities. These flows enhance as people migrate or learn new languages, in permanent dynamics. Lidia Tanaka’s Chapter 7, Language, gender, and culture deals with research on language, gender, and culture. According to her, the language-gender relationship has been studied by researchers from various fields, including psychology, linguistics, and anthropology, who mainly consider gender as a construct that preserves inequalities in society, with the help of language, too. Tanaka lists diachronically different approaches to language and gender, focusing on three specific ones: gender stereotyped linguistic resources, semantically, pragmatically or lexically designated language features (including register) and gender-based spoken discourse strategies (talking-time imbalances or interruptions). In Chapter 8, Language, culture, and context, Istvan Kecskes delves into the relationship between language, culture, and context from a socio-cognitive perspective. The author considers culture to be a set of shared knowledge structures that encapsulate the values, norms, and customs that the members of a society have in common. According to him, both language and context are rooted in culture and carriers of it, though reflecting culture in a different way. Language encodes past experience with different contexts, whereas context reflects present experience. The author also provides relevant examples of formulaic language that demonstrate the functioning of both types of context, within the larger interplay between language, culture, and context. Sara Miller’s Chapter 9, Language, culture, and politeness reviews traditional approaches to politeness research, with particular attention given to ‘discursive approach’ to politeness. Much along the lines of the previous chapter, Miller stresses the role of context in judgements of (im)polite language, maintaining that individuals represent active agents who challenge and negotiate cultural as well as linguistic norms in actual communicative contexts. Chapter 10, Language, culture, and interaction, by Peter Eglin focuses on language, culture and interaction from the perspective of the correspondence theory of meaning. According to him, abstracting language and culture from their current uses, as if they were not interdependent would not lead to an understanding of words’ true meaning. David Kronenfeld introduces in Chapter 11, Culture and kinship language, a review of research on culture and kinship language, starting with linguistic anthropology. He explains two formal analytic definitional systems of kinship terms: the semantic (distinctions between kin categories, i.e. father vs mother) and pragmatic (interrelations between referents of kin terms, i.e. ‘nephew’ = ‘child of a sibling’). Chapter 12, Cultural semiotics, by Peeter Torop deals with the field of ‘semiotics of culture’, which may refer either to methodological instrument, to a whole array of methods or to a sub-discipline of general semiotics. In this last respect, it investigates cultures as a form of human symbolic activity, as well as a system of cultural languages (i.e. sign systems). Language, as “the preserver of the culture’s collective experience and the reflector of its creativity” represents an essential component of cultural semiotics, being a major sign system. Nigel Armstrong, in Chapter 13, Culture and translation, tackles the interrelation between language, culture, and translation, with an emphasis on the complexities entailed by translation of culturally laden aspects. In his opinion, culture has a double-sided dimension: the anthropological sense (referring to practices and traditions which characterise a community) and a narrower sense, related to artistic endeavours. However, both sides of culture permeate language at all levels. Chapter 14, Language, culture, and identity, by Sandra Schecter tackles several approaches to research on language, culture, and identity: social anthropological (the limits at play in the social construction of differences between various groups of people), sociocultural (the interplay between an individual’s various identities, which can be both externally and internally construed, in sociocultural contexts), participatory-relational (the manner in which individuals create their social–linguistic identities). Patrick McConvell, in Chapter 15, Language and culture history: the contribution of linguistic prehistory reviews research in this field where historical linguistic evidence is exploited in the reconstruction and understanding of prehistoric cultures. He makes an account of research in linguistic prehistory, with a focus on proto- and early Indo-European cultures, on several North American language families, on Africa, Australian, and Austronesian Aboriginal languages. McConvell also underlines the importance of interdisciplinary research in this area, which greatly benefits from studies in other disciplines, such as archaeology, palaeobiology, or biological genetics. Part four starts with Ning Yu’s Chapter 16, Embodiment, culture, and language, which gives an account of theory and research on the interplay between language, culture, and body, as seen from the standpoint of Cultural Linguistics. Yu presents a survey of embodiment (in embodied cognition research) from a multidisciplinary perspective, starting with the rather universalistic Conceptual Metaphor Theory. On the other hand, Cultural Linguistics has concentrated on the role played by culture in shaping embodied language, as various cultures conceptualise body and bodily experience in different ways. Chapter 17, Culture and language processing, by Crystal Robinson and Jeanette Altarriba deals with research in the field of how culture influence language processing, in particular in the case of bilingualism and emotion, alongside language and memory. Clearly, the linguistic and cultural character of each individual’s background has to be considered as a variable in research on cognition and cognitive processing. Frank Polzenhagen and Xiaoyan Xia, in Chapter 18, Language, culture, and prototypicality bring forth a survey of prototypicality across different disciplines, including cognitive linguistics and cognitive psychology. According to them, linguistic prototypes play a critical part in social (re-)cognition, as they are socially diagnostic and function as linguistic identity markers. Moreover, individuals may develop ‘culturally blended concepts’ as a result of exposure to several systems of conceptual categorisation, especially in the case of L2 learning (language-contact or culture-contact situations). In Chapter 19, Colour language, thought, and culture, Don Dedrick investigates the issue of the colour words in different languages and how these influence cognition, a question that has been addressed by researchers from various disciplines, such as anthropology, linguistics, cognitive psychology, or neuroscience. He cannot but observe the constant debate in this respect, and he argues that it is indeed difficult to reach consensus, as colour language occasionally reveals effects of language on thought and, at other times, it is impervious to such effects. Chapter 20, Language, culture, and spatial cognition, by Penelope Brown concentrates on conceptualisations of space, providing a framework for thinking about and referring to objects and events, along with more abstract notions such as time, number, or kinship. She lists three frames of reference used by languages in order to refer to spatial relations, i.e. a) an ‘absolute’ coordinate system, like north, south, east, west; b) a ‘relative’ coordinate system envisaged from the body’s standpoint; and c) an intrinsic, object-centred coordinate system. Chris Sinha and Enrique Bernárdez focus on, in Chapter 21, Space, time, and space–time: metaphors, maps, and fusions, research on linguistic and cultural concepts of time and space, starting with the seminal Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), which they denounce for failing to situate space–time mapping within the broader patterns of culture and world perspective. Sinha and Bernárdez further argue that although it is possible in all cultures for individuals to experience and discuss about events in terms of their duration and succession, the specific words and concepts they use to refer to temporal landmarks temporal and duration are most of the time language and culture specific. Chapter 22, Culture and language development, by Laura Sterponi and Paul Lai provides an account of research on the interplay between culture and language acquisition. They refer to two widely accepted perspectives in this respect: a developmental mechanism inherent in human beings and a set of particular social contexts in which children are ‘initiated’ into the cultural meaning systems. Both perspectives define culture as “both related to the psychological make-up of the individual and to the socio-historical contexts in which s/he is born and develops”. Anna Wierzbicka presents, in Chapter 23, Language and cultural scripts discusses representations of cultural norms which are encoded in language. She contends that the system of meaning interpretation developed by herself and her colleagues, i.e. Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM), may easily be used to capture and convey cultural scripts. Through NSM cross-cultural experiences can be captured in a thorough manner by using a reduced number of conceptual primes which seem to exist in all languages. Chapter 24, Culture and emotional language, by Jean-Marc Dewaele brings forth the issue of the relationship between language, culture, and emotion, which has been researched by cultural and cognitive psychologists and applied linguists alike, although with some differences in focus. He considers that within this context, it is important to see differences between emotion contexts in bilinguals, since these may lead to different perceptions of the self. He infers that generally, culture revolves around the experience and communication of emotions, conveyed through linguistic expression. The fifth part starts with Chapter 25, Language and culture in sociolinguistics, by Meredith Marra, who underlines that culture is a central concept in Interactional Sociolinguistics, where language is considered as social interaction. In linguistic interaction, culture, and especially cultural differences are deemed as a cause of potential miscommunication. Mara also remarks that the paradigm change in sociolinguistics, from Interactional Sociolinguistics to social constructionism reshaped ‘culture’ into a more dynamic as well as less rigid concept. Claudia Strauss’ Chapter 26, Language and culture in cognitive anthropology deals with the relationship between human society and human thought/thinking. The author contends that cognitive anthropologists may be subdivided into two groups, i.e. ones that are concerned with the process of thinking (cognition-in-practice scholars), and the others focusing on the product of thinking or thoughts (concerned with shared cultural understandings). She goes on to explore how different approaches to cognitive anthropology have counted on units of language, i.e. lexical items and their meanings, along with larger chunks of discourse, as information, which may represent learned cultural schemata. Part VI starts with Chapter 27, Language and culture in second language learning, by Claire Kramsch, in which she makes a survey of the definition of ‘culture’ in foreign language learning and its evolution from a component of literature and the arts to a more comprehensive purport, that of culturally appropriate use of language, along with an appropriate use of sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic norms. According to her, in the postmodern era, communication is not only mere transmission of information, it represents construal and positioning of the self and of self-identity. Chapter 28, Writing across cultures: ‘culture’ in second language writing studies, by Dwight Atkinson focuses on the usefulness of culture in second-language writing (SLW). He reviews several approaches to the issue: contrastive rhetoric (dealing with the impact of first-language patterns of text organisation on writers in a second language), or even alternate notions, like‘ cosmopolitanism’, ‘critical multiculturalism’, and hybridity, as of late native culture is becoming irrelevant or at best far less significant. Ian Malcolm tackles, in Chapter 29, Language and culture in second dialect learning, the issue of ‘standard’ Englishes (e.g., Standard American English, Standard Australian English) versus minority ‘non-standard’ speakers of English. He deplores the fact that in US specialist literature, speaking the ‘non-standard’ variety of English was associated with cognitive, cultural, and linguistic insufficiency. He further refers to other specialists who have demonstrated that ‘non-standard’ varieties can be just as systematic and highly structured as the standard variety. Chapter 30, Language and culture in intercultural communication, by Hans-Georg Wolf gives an account of research in intercultural education, focusing on several paradigms, i.e. the dominant one, investigating successful functioning in intercultural encounters, the minor one, exploring intercultural understanding and the ‘deconstructionist, and or postmodernist’. He further examines different interpretations of the concepts associated with intercultural communication, including the functionalist school, the intercultural understanding approach and a third one, the most removed from culture, focusing on socio-political inequalities, fluidity, situationality, and negotiability. Andy Kirkpatrick’s Chapter 31, World Englishes and local cultures gives a synopsis of research paradigm from applied linguistics which investigates the development of Englishes around the world, through processes like indigenisation or nativisation of the language. Kirkpatrick discusses the ways in which new Englishes accommodate the culture of the very speech community which develops them, e.g. adopting lexical items to express to express culture-specific concepts. Speakers of new varieties could use pragmatic norms rooted in cultural values and norms of the specific new speech community which have not previously been associated with English. Moreover, they can use these new Englishes to write local literatures, often exploiting culturally preferred rhetorical norms. Part seven starts with Chapter 32, Cultural Linguistics, by Farzad Sharifian gives an account of the recent multidisciplinary research field of Cultural Linguistics, which explores the relationship between language and cultural cognition, particularly in the case of cultural conceptualisations. Sharifian also brings forth illustrations of how cultural conceptualisations may be linguistically encoded. The last chapter, A future agenda for research on language and culture, by Roslyn Frank provides an appraisal of Cultural Linguistics as a prospective path for research in the field of language and culture. She states that ‘Cultural Linguistics could potentially create a paradigm that “successfully melds together complementary approaches, e.g., viewing language as ‘a complex adaptive system’ and bringing to bear upon it concepts drawn from cognitive science such as ‘distributed cognition’ and ‘multi-agent dynamic systems theory’.” She further asserts that Cultural Linguistics has the potential to function as “a bridge that brings together researchers from a variety of fields, allowing them to focus on problems of mutual concern from a new perspective” and most likely unveil new issues (as well as solutions) which have not been evident so far. In conclusion, the Handbook will most certainly serve as clear and coherent guidelines for scholarly thinking and further research on language and culture, and also open up new investigative vistas in each of the areas tackled.

Обстоятельства помешали научному редактору номера – Елене Георгиевне Гребенщиковой – написать предисловие. В нашем молодом журнале есть уже своя традиция: научный редактор предваряет номер концептуальной преамбулой к статьям, посвященных обсуждению различных аспектов одной проблемы. Авторов данного номера объединяют исследовательские и организационные обстоятельства. Все мы были вовлечены в исследовательское поле биоэтики Борисом Григорьевичем Юдиным. Привлечение же методологических потенциалов семиотики для решения задач биоэтики произошло на «томской почве» как результат организации серий конференций. Эти серии стартовали с конференции «Антропологические основания биоэтики», которая, по словам Б.Г. Юдина, была первой в России научной конференцией «по биоэтике». Основные доклады этой научной встречи составили содержание номера журнала «Бюллетень сибирской медицины». Среди его публикаций были две статьи, определившее дальнейшее, – «Чтоб сказку сделать былью? (Конструирование человека)» [Юдин 2006] и «Тело страдания: философско-антропологическое истолкование» [Тищенко 2006]. Слова «Конструирование человека» дали случайным образом название ряду конференций, проводимых Томским государственным педагогическим университетом. Специализация указанного университета понятным образом привлекла к участию коллег-педагогов, интерпретировавших слово «конструирование» в качестве указания на суть образования. Было любопытно наблюдать такую стихийно складывающуюся прагматику с учетом различий русскоязычного и англоязычного названия статьи [Юдин 2006] – словами «Чтоб сказку сделать былью?», заканчивающими вопросительным знаком цитату из песни о цели рождения советского человека, и «To make a dream true?», где под вопрос ставилась возможность мечтой-иллюзией заменить действительность. Поскольку организаторы конференции испытывают некоторую зависимость от тематики заявляемых докладов, для «чистой» биоэтики была создана отдельная секция «Тело и власть», название которой стало парафразом другой упомянутой статьи [Тищенко 2006]. Параллельно с серией конференций «Конструирование человека» был организован ряд конференций «Системы и модели: границы интерпретаций», акцентировавших не столько биоэтику, сколько постнеклассическую парадигму семиотического моделирования. Слова «системы и модели» цитировали название известной в семиотике книги А.А. Шарова и Ю.А.Шрейдера; фиксировали проблему нахождения пределов применимости математических моделей в синергетике; приглашали к обсуждению системной методологии. Слова «границы интерпретаций» изначально определяли соотношение герменевтики и семиотики в методологии исследования социокультурной динамики. Замечу, что географическое образование заставляло меня трактовать понятие «границы» исключительно в семиотическом ракурсе. Доклады, представленные на первой конференции «Системы и модели: границы интерпретаций», составили номер журнала «Вестник Томского государственного педагогического университета» (2008, № 1), из содержания которого ясно, что эта научная встреча была посвящена обсуждению наследия Эрика Григорьевича Юдина и современному прочтению его версии системного подхода. В этом номере есть много заслуживающих внимания материалов, но для определения области пересечения биоэтики и семиотики, необходимо назвать статью Р.Г. Апресяна [Апресян 2008], хотя в самой статье отсутствует прямое обращение и к семиотике, и к биоэтике. В статье лаконично и предметно установлены ценностные границы локусов модели «этический квадрат», созданной Р.Г. Апресяном. Ясность изложения [Апресян 2008] позволила разглядеть сразу несколько моментов, объединяющих и разделяющих биоэтику с педагогикой. Настороженность биоэтики вызывает любое воззвание превзойти норму, а любая педагогика взывает к тому, чтобы превзойти норму. Общность биоэтики и педагогики составляет распределение символики ролей для всех своих субъектов, подчиненное коммуникативным форматам, устанавливающих пределы допустимого/отвергаемого внутри коммуникативных ареалов. Выяснение этой общности позволило увидеть, что модели биоэтики, по сути, формируют синтаксис коммуникативных ролей субъектов биомедицины. Причем, фиксируют эти роли или в индексах, или в иконических знаках, или даже в символах. Генезис биоэтики есть ответ на социальный запрос в необходимости «сторожа» (в смысле: «…пойди, поставь сторожа; пусть он сказывает, что увидит») для предотвращения моральных катаклизмов, вызываемых темпом прогресса (в чем бы он не выражался) и соблазнами прогресса. Темп трансформаций порождает неопределенность социальных сценариев, а, следовательно, технику биоэтических экспертиз диктует синхрония и абдукция, что явно служит указателем релевантности концепции семиозиса, созданной Ч.С. Пирсом. Семиотическая сущность решения задач биоэтики была увидена столь четко, что удивление вызывало только одно: почему биоэтика, потенциально обладая «ключом» методов семиотики, подбирает «отмычки» для анализа спонтанно возникающих кейсов? Подчеркну, что упомянутый «ключ» открывает «двери», не столько ведущие к анализу нарративов субъектов, нормативных дискурсов и уже случившихся кейсов, сколько к прогностике кейсов в синхронии с меняющимся контекстом. Вместе с тем представленные резоны для обоснования того, что методы семиотики обладают релевантностью для решения задач биоэтики, могут встретить вопрос: зачем биоэтике применять эти методы, если она и без них прекрасно решает свои задачи? Возможным ответом на этот вопрос будет – для того чтобы осуществить точную и опережающую диагностику социокультурных трансформаций, способных вызвать и уже вызывающих модификацию «человеческого в человеке», т.е. вызывающих скольжение границ нормы. Излишне объяснять преимущества диагностики в качестве процедуры с точным результатом, способным опередить наступление необратимых состояний. Семиотические методы устремлены к достижению точности, и их применение объединяет всё гуманитарное знание. При этом семиотика сама существует в нескольких конкурирующих направлениях, и ее исследовательские методы очень отличаются в конкретных научных областях, в том числе и тех, которые составляют «computer science», ответственных за тотальную «цифровизацию» и самоорганизацию «информационного общества». У перечисленных сущностей – точности, самоорганизации, семиотики, «computer science» и даже «цифровизации» – есть идейный общий знаменатель: философия процесса. Создатель философии процесса – А.Н. Уайтхед – видел ее результат в оригинальной концепции символизма, обладающей сущностными пересечениями с концепцией семиозиса Ч.С. Пирса. Если концепция семиозиса раскрывала микропроцессы, обеспечивающие самопроизвольный «рост символов», то концепция А.Н. Уайтхеда устанавливала направления воздействий этого «роста» и основной оператор воздействия: навык организаций «революций в символизме». А также критерии, по которым можно диагностировать событие «перекодирования» символа, т.е. отличить его от того, что событийным рождением нового символизма не является. Т.е. диагностировать дистанцию, отделяющую «событие-в-действительности» от «события-в-реальности». А, следовательно, диагностировать генезисы и цели идейных направлений «конструирования человека». Или диагностировать «семиотические аттракторы», завершающие фазовые переходы в конкуренции сценариев социокультурной динамики. В социокультурных трансформациях сила аттракторов аналогична силе мечты (вспомним слово «dream» в названии статьи [Юдин 2006]). Мечты, имеющей две стороны, – миф и утопию. Биоэтика как «сторож» социокультурных трансформаций вынуждена распознавать миф и утопию в манипуляции целями. Жизненными целями. Целями, диктующими вариативную селекцию ценностей. В феномене мечты и в его воплощениях – в мифе и в утопии – отсутствуют позитив или негатив. Всё зависит, с какой целью им придаются. Зависит от разновидности процессов: процесса рецепции символики мифа с компенсаторными целями или процесса акцептации символических асимптот с целями cамореализации [Брызгалина 2020; Бараш, Антоновский 2019; Шульман, Кутузова 2020]. Обладание представлениями о «росте символов» способно из наблюдаемых мерцаний визуального «вытянуть» то, что скрывают внешние эффекты – осуществить семиотическую диагностику на основе аналогий между симптомами и семантикой, синдромами и синтактикой, анамнезом (в сочетании с целеполаганием) и прагматикой. Такая диагностика создает область пересечения биоэтики и семиотики. Область формируют: (а) изначальные позиции биоэтики в её прагматической концентрации трансдисциплинарного знания для разрешения конкретной проблемы индивидуальности (с сочувственным принятием веера индивидуальных целей); и (б) постнеклассические преимущества семиотики, эффективно реализующие свои потенциалы в расширяющемся трансдисциплинарном поле. В завершении должна выразить благодарность Р.Г. Апресяну, П.Д. Тищенко, Б.Г.Юдину за их щедрые разъяснения существа задач биоэтики, что позволило увидеть эти задачи посредством «оптических» инструментов семиотики. И благодарность всем авторам этого номера за интерес к семиотике, проявленный на основе глубокого понимания решаемых в настоящее время биоэтикой задач и/или оригинальной постановкой этих задач. Circumstances prevented the scientific editor of the issue – Elena G. Grebenshchikova – from writing a foreword. Our young journal already has its own tradition: a scientific editor prefaces an issue with a conceptual preamble to articles discussing various aspects of one problem. The authors of this issue are united by research and organizational circumstances. We were all involved in the research field of bioethics by Boris G. Yudin. Implementation of the methodological potentials of semiotics for solving the problems of bioethics was begun on “Tomsk grounds” as a result of the organization of several conference series. These series started with the conference “Anthropological Foundations of Bioethics”, which, according to Yudin, was the first scientific conference “on bioethics” in Russia. The main reports of this scientific meeting became the content of an issue of Bulletin of Siberian Medicine journal. Among the publications in the issue, there were two articles that determined the further development – “To make a dream true? (Human engineering)” [Yudin 2006] and “The body of suffering: The philosophical and anthropological interpretation” [Tishchenko 2006]. The words “human engineering” (or “human construction”) incidentally gave a title to a number of conferences held by Tomsk State Pedagogical University. The specialization of this university understandably attracted the participation of fellow educators, who interpreted the word “construction” as an indication of the essence of education. It was curious to observe such a spontaneously emerging pragmatism, taking into account the differences between the Russian and English versions of the article title [Yudin 2006] – i.e. between the words “To make a fairy tale come true?” ending with a question mark a quote from a song about the purpose of the Soviet person’s birth and “To make a dream true?” calling the possibility to replace the reality by a dream-illusion into question. Since conference organizers experience some dependence on the subject of submitted reports, a separate section “Body and Power” was created for “pure” bioethics, and the title of the section became a paraphrase of another mentioned article [Tishchenko 2006]. In parallel with the series of conferences “Human Construction”, a number of conferences “Systems and Models: Limits of Interpretation” were organized, which emphasized the post-nonclassical paradigm of semiotic modeling rather than bioethics itself. The words “systems and models” quoted the title of the well-known book in semiotics by A. A. Sharov and Yu. A. Shreider; fixed the problem of finding the limits of applicability of mathematical models in synergetics; invited to discuss the system methodology. The words “limits of interpretation” initially determined the relationship between hermeneutics and semiotics in the methodology of sociocultural dynamics study. I note that the geographical education background forced me to interpret the concept “limit”, or “border”, exclusively from a semiotic perspective. The reports presented at the first conference “Systems and Models: Limits of Interpretation” made up an issue of the Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin journal (2008, No. 1). From the content of the issue it is clear that this scientific meeting was devoted to the discussion of the legacy of Eric G. Yudin and the modern interpretation of his version of the systems approach. The issue contains many noteworthy materials; however, in order to define the area of the intersection of bioethics and semiotics, it is necessary to highlight the article by Ruben G. Apressyan [Apressyan 2008], although the article itself lacks a direct reference to either semiotics or bioethics. The article laconically and substantively establishes the value boundaries of the loci of the “ethical square” model that Apressyan created. The clarity of presentation [Apressyan 2008] made it possible to discern simultaneously several points that unite and separate bioethics and pedagogy. The alertness of bioethics evokes any appeal to surpass the norm, while any pedagogy calls to surpass the norm. The commonality of bioethics and pedagogy is the distribution of the symbolism of roles for all their subjects, subordinated to communicative formats which set the limits of what is permissible/rejected within communicative areas. The elucidation of this commonality made it possible to see that the models of bioethics, in fact, form the syntax of the communicative roles of the subjects of biomedicine. Moreover, these models define the roles either in indices, or in iconic signs, or even in symbols. The genesis of bioethics is a response to the social demand for a “watchman” (in the sense: “Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth”) to prevent moral cataclysms caused by the pace of progress (whatever it is expressed in) and the temptations of progress. The pace of transformations gives rise to the uncertainty of social scenarios, and, consequently, the technique of bioethical examinations is dictated by synchrony and abduction, which clearly serves as an indicator of the relevance of the concept of semiosis created by Charles Sanders Peirce. The semiotic essence of solving the problems of bioethics was seen so clearly that only one thing aroused surprise: why does bioethics, potentially possessing the “key” of semiotics methods, select “lock-picking tools” for the analysis of spontaneously arising cases? Let me emphasize that the mentioned “key” opens “doors” that do not lead to the analysis of narratives of subjects, normative discourses and cases that have already happened, but to the forecasting of cases in synchrony with the changing context. At the same time, the presented reasons for substantiating the fact that the methods of semiotics are relevant for solving the problems of bioethics may face the question: why should bioethics apply these methods if it perfectly solves its problems without them? A possible answer to this question would be – in order to carry out accurate and advanced diagnostics of sociocultural transformations that can cause and are already causing a modification of the “human in a human being”, i.e. causing the sliding of norm boundaries. It is unnecessary to explain the advantages of diagnostics as a procedure with an accurate result that can anticipate the onset of irreversible conditions. Semiotic methods are aimed at achieving accuracy, and their application unites all humanitarian knowledge. At that, semiotics itself exists in several competing directions, and its research methods are very different in specific scientific fields, including those that make up “computer science” which is responsible for the total “digitalization” and self-organization of an “information society”. The listed entities – accuracy, self-organization, semiotics, “computer science”, and even “digitalization” – have an ideological common denominator: process philosophy. The creator of process philosophy – Alfred North Whitehead – saw its result in the original concept of symbolism, which has essential intersections with Peirce’s concept of semiosis. While the concept of semiosis revealed microprocesses that ensured the spontaneous “growth of symbols”, Whitehead’s concept established the directions of the impact of this “growth” and the main operator of the impact: the skill of organizing “revolutions in symbolism” as well as the criteria by which one can diagnose the occasion of “re-coding” of a symbol, i.e. distinguish the occasion from the fact that is not the eventual birth of a new symbolism, or diagnose the distance separating the “occasion-in-actuality” from the “occasion-in-reality”, and, consequently, diagnose the geneses and goals of the ideological directions of “human construction”, or “semiotic attractors” that complete phase transitions in the competition of sociocultural dynamics scenarios. In sociocultural transformations, the power of attractors is similar to the power of a dream (recalling the word “dream” from the article title [Yudin 2006]), a dream that has two sides – myth and utopia. Bioethics as a “watchman” of sociocultural transformations is forced to recognize myth and utopia in the manipulation of goals: life goals, goals dictating variable selection of values. There is neither the positive nor the negative in the phenomenon of dreams and its incarnations – myth and utopia. It all depends on what goals are being pursued. It depends on the variety of processes: process of the reception of the symbolics of a myth with compensatory goals, or of the acceptance of symbolic asymptotes with the goals of self-realization [Bryzgalina 2020; Barash, Antonovskiy 2019; Schulman, Kutuzova 2020]. Possession of ideas about the “growth of symbols” is capable to reveal what external effects hide, extracting it from the observed flickers of the visual – to carry out semiotic diagnostics based on analogies between symptoms and semantics, syndromes and syntactics, anamnesis (in combination with goal-setting) and pragmatics. Such diagnostics create an area of intersection of bioethics and semiotics. The area is formed by: (a) the initial position of bioethics in its pragmatic concentration of transdisciplinary knowledge for solving a specific problem of individuality (with a sympathetic acceptance of a set of individual goals); and (b) the post-nonclassical advantages of semiotics which effectively realize their potentials in the expanding transdisciplinary field. In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to Ruben G. Apressyan, Pavel D. Tishchenko, Boris G. Yudin for their generous explanations of the essence of the tasks of bioethics, which made it possible to see these tasks through the “optical” instruments of semiotics. I thank all the authors of this issue for their interest in semiotics demonstrated through the deep understanding of the problems currently being solved by bioethics and/or the original formulation of these problems.

Temporary or permanent, local or international, voluntary or forced, legal or illegal, registered or unregistered migrations of individuals, whole communities or individual groups are an important factor in constructing and modifying (modern) societies. The extent of international migrations is truly immense. At the time of the preparation of this publication more than 200 million people have been involved in migrations in a single year according to the United Nations. Furthermore, three times more wish to migrate, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa towards some of the most economically developed areas of the world according to the estimates by the Gallup Institute (Esipova, 2011). Some authors, although aware that it is not a new phenomenon, talk about the era of migration (Castles, Miller, 2009) or the globalization of migration (Friedman, 2004). The global dimensions of migration are definitely influenced also by the increasingly visible features of modern societies like constantly changing conditions, instability, fluidity, uncertainty etc. (Beck, 2009; Bauman, 2002).The extent, direction, type of migrations and their consequences are affected by many social and natural factors in the areas of emigration and immigration. In addition, researchers from many scientific disciplines who study migrations have raised a wide range of research questions (Boyle, 2009, 96), use a variety of methodological approaches and look for different interpretations in various spatial, temporal and contextual frameworks. The migrations are a complex, multi-layered, variable, contextual process that takes place at several levels. Because of this, research on migrations has become an increasingly interdisciplinary field, since the topics and problems are so complex that they cannot be grasped solely and exclusively from the perspective of a single discipline or theory. Therefore, we are witnessing a profusion of different “faces of migration”, which is reflected and at the same time also contributed to by this thematic issue of the journal Ars & Humanitas.While mobility or migration are not new phenomena, as people have moved and migrated throughout the history of mankind, only recently, in the last few decades, has theoretical and research focus on them intensified considerably. In the last two decades a number of research projects, university programs and courses, research institutes, scientific conferences, seminars, magazines, books and other publications, involving research, academia as well as politics and various civil society organizations have emerged. This shows the recent exceptional interest in the issue of migration, both in terms of knowledge of the processes involved, their mapping in the history of mankind, as well as the theoretical development of migration studies and daily management of this politically sensitive issue.Migration affects many entities on many different levels: the individuals, their families and entire communities at the local level in the emigrant societies as well as in the receiving societies. The migration is changing not only the lives of individuals but whole communities and societies, as well as social relations; it is also shifting the cultural patterns and bringing important social transformations (Castles 2010). This of course raises a number of questions, problems and issues ranging from human rights violations to literary achievements. Some of these are addressed by the authors in this thematic issue.The title “Many faces of migration”, connecting contributions in this special issue, is borrowed from the already mentioned Gallup Institute’s report on global migration (Esipova, 2011). The guiding principle in the selection of the contributions has been their diversity, reflected also in the list of disciplines represented by the authors: sociology, geography, ethnology and cultural anthropology, history, art history, modern Mediterranean studies, gender studies and media studies. Such an approach necessarily leads not only to a diverse, but at least seemingly also incompatible, perhaps even opposing views “on a given topic. However, we did not want to silence the voices of “other” disciplines, but within the reviewing procedures actually invited scientists from the fields represented by the contributors to this volume. The wealth of the selected contributions lies therefore not only in their coherence and complementarity, but also in the diversity of views, stories and interpretations.The paper of Zora Žbontar deals with the attitudes towards foreigners in ancient Greece, where the hospitality to strangers was considered so worthy a virtue that everyone was expected to “demonstrate hospitality and protection to any foreigner who has knocked on their door”. The contrast between the hospitality of ancient Greece and the modern emergence of xenophobia and ways of dealing with migration issues in economically developed countries is especially challenging. “In an open gesture of hospitality to strangers the ancient Greeks showed their civilization”.Although the aforementioned research by the United Nations and Gallup Institute support some traditional stereotypes of the main global flows of migrants, and the areas about which the potential migrants “dream”, Bojan Baskar stresses the coexistence of different migratory desires, migration flows and their interpretations. In his paper he specifically focuses on overcoming and relativising stereotypes as well as theories of immobile and non-enterprising (Alpine) mountain populations and migrations.The different strategies of the crossing borders adopted by migrant women are studied by Mirjana Morokvasic. She marks them as true social innovators, inventing different ways of transnational life resulting in a bottom-up contribution to the integrative processes across Europe. Some of their innovations go as far as to shift diverse real and symbolic boundaries of belonging to a nation, gender, profession.Elaine Burroughs and Zoë O’Reilly highlight the close relations between the otherwise well-established terminology used in statistics and science to label immigrants in Ireland and elsewhere in EU, and the negative representations of certain types of migrants in politics and the public. The discussion focusses particularly on asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who come from outside the EU. The use of language can quickly become a political means of exclusion, therefore the authors propose the development and use of more considerate and balanced migration terminology.Damir Josipovič proposes a change of the focal point for identifying and interpreting the well-studied migrations in the former Yugoslavia. The author suggests changing the dualistic view of these migrations to an integrated, holistic view. Instead of a simplified understanding of these migrations as either international or domestic, voluntary or forced, he proposes a concept of pseudo-voluntary migrations.Maja Korać-Sanderson's contribution highlights an interesting phenomenon in the shift in the traditional patterns of gender roles. The conclusions are derived from the study of the family life of Chinese traders in transitional Serbia. While many studies suggest that child care in recent decades in immigrant societies is generally performed by immigrants, her study reveals that in Serbia, the Chinese merchants entrust the care of their children mostly to local middle class women. The author finds this switch of roles in the “division of labour” in the child care favourable for both parties involved.Francesco Della Puppa focuses on a specific part of the mosaic of contemporary migrations in the Mediterranean: the Bangladeshi immigrant community in the highly industrialized North East of Italy. The results of his in-depth qualitative study reveal the factors that shape this segment of the Bangladeshi diaspora, the experiences of migrants and the effects of migration on their social and biographical trajectories.John A. Schembri and Maria Attard present a snippet of a more typical Mediterranean migration process - immigration to Malta. The authors highlight the reduction in migration between Malta and the United Kingdom, while there is an increase in immigration to Malta from the rest of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst the various impacts of immigration to Malta the extraordinary concentration of immigrant populations is emphasized, since the population density of Malta far exceeds that of nearly all other European countries.Miha Kozorog studies the link between migration and constructing their places of their origin. On the basis of Ardener’s theory the author expresses “remoteness” of the emigratory Slavia Friulana in terms of topology, in relation to other places, rather than in topography. “Remoteness” is formed in relation to the “outside world”, to those who speak of “remote areas” from the privileged centres. The example of an artistic event, which organizers aim “to open a place like this to the outside world”, “to encourage the production of more cosmopolitan place”, shows only the temporary effect of such event on the reduction of the “remoteness”.Jani Kozina presents a study of the basic temporal and spatial characteristics of migration “of people in creative occupations” in Slovenia. The definition of this specific segment of the population and approach to study its migrations are principally based on the work of Richard Florida. The author observes that people with creative occupations in Slovenia are very immobile and in this respect quite similar to other professional groups in Slovenia, but also to the people in creative professions in the Southern and Eastern Europe, which are considered to be among the least mobile in Europe. Detailed analyses show that the people in creative occupations from the more developed regions generally migrate more intensely and are also more willing to relocate.Mojca Pajnik and Veronika Bajt study the experiences of migrant women with the access to the labour market in Slovenia. Existing laws and policies push the migrants into a position where, if they want to get to work, have to accept less demanding work. In doing so, the migrant women are targets of stereotyped reactions and practices of discrimination on the basis of sex, age, attributed ethnic and religious affiliation, or some other circumstances, particularly the fact of being migrants. At the same time the latter results in the absence of any protection from the state.Migration studies often assume that the target countries are “modern” and countries of origin “traditional”. Anıl Al- Rebholz argues that such a dichotomous conceptualization of modern and traditional further promotes stereotypical, essentialist and homogenizing images of Muslim women in the “western world”. On the basis of biographical narratives of young Kurdish and Moroccan women as well as the relationships between mothers and daughters, the author illustrates a variety of strategies of empowerment of young women in the context of transnational migration.A specific face of migration is highlighted in the text of Svenka Savić, namely the face of artistic migration between Slovenia and Serbia after the Second World War. The author explains how more than thirty artists from Slovenia, with their pioneering work in three ensembles (opera, ballet and theatre), significantly contributed to the development of the performing arts in the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad.We believe that in the present thematic issue we have succeeded in capturing an important part of the modern European research dynamic in the field of migration. In addition to well-known scholars in this field several young authors at the beginning their research careers have been shortlisted for the publication. We are glad of their success as it bodes a vibrancy of this research area in the future. At the same time, we were pleased to receive responses to the invitation from representatives of so many disciplines, and that the number of papers received significantly exceeded the maximum volume of the journal. Recognising and understanding of the many faces of migration are important steps towards the comprehensive knowledge needed to successfully meet the challenges of migration issues today and even more so in the future. It is therefore of utmost importance that researchers find ways of transferring their academic knowledge into practice – to all levels of education, the media, the wider public and, of course, the decision makers in local, national and international institutions. The call also applies to all authors in this issue of the journal.

Temporary or permanent, local or international, voluntary or forced, legal or illegal, registered or unregistered migrations of individuals, whole communities or individual groups are an important factor in constructing and modifying (modern) societies. The extent of international migrations is truly immense. At the time of the preparation of this publication more than 200 million people have been involved in migrations in a single year according to the United Nations. Furthermore, three times more wish to migrate, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa towards some of the most economically developed areas of the world according to the estimates by the Gallup Institute (Esipova, 2011). Some authors, although aware that it is not a new phenomenon, talk about the era of migration (Castles, Miller, 2009) or the globalization of migration (Friedman, 2004). The global dimensions of migration are definitely influenced also by the increasingly visible features of modern societies like constantly changing conditions, instability, fluidity, uncertainty etc. (Beck, 2009; Bauman, 2002).The extent, direction, type of migrations and their consequences are affected by many social and natural factors in the areas of emigration and immigration. In addition, researchers from many scientific disciplines who study migrations have raised a wide range of research questions (Boyle, 2009, 96), use a variety of methodological approaches and look for different interpretations in various spatial, temporal and contextual frameworks. The migrations are a complex, multi-layered, variable, contextual process that takes place at several levels. Because of this, research on migrations has become an increasingly interdisciplinary field, since the topics and problems are so complex that they cannot be grasped solely and exclusively from the perspective of a single discipline or theory. Therefore, we are witnessing a profusion of different “faces of migration”, which is reflected and at the same time also contributed to by this thematic issue of the journal Ars & Humanitas.While mobility or migration are not new phenomena, as people have moved and migrated throughout the history of mankind, only recently, in the last few decades, has theoretical and research focus on them intensified considerably. In the last two decades a number of research projects, university programs and courses, research institutes, scientific conferences, seminars, magazines, books and other publications, involving research, academia as well as politics and various civil society organizations have emerged. This shows the recent exceptional interest in the issue of migration, both in terms of knowledge of the processes involved, their mapping in the history of mankind, as well as the theoretical development of migration studies and daily management of this politically sensitive issue.Migration affects many entities on many different levels: the individuals, their families and entire communities at the local level in the emigrant societies as well as in the receiving societies. The migration is changing not only the lives of individuals but whole communities and societies, as well as social relations; it is also shifting the cultural patterns and bringing important social transformations (Castles 2010). This of course raises a number of questions, problems and issues ranging from human rights violations to literary achievements. Some of these are addressed by the authors in this thematic issue.The title “Many faces of migration”, connecting contributions in this special issue, is borrowed from the already mentioned Gallup Institute’s report on global migration (Esipova, 2011). The guiding principle in the selection of the contributions has been their diversity, reflected also in the list of disciplines represented by the authors: sociology, geography, ethnology and cultural anthropology, history, art history, modern Mediterranean studies, gender studies and media studies. Such an approach necessarily leads not only to a diverse, but at least seemingly also incompatible, perhaps even opposing views “on a given topic. However, we did not want to silence the voices of “other” disciplines, but within the reviewing procedures actually invited scientists from the fields represented by the contributors to this volume. The wealth of the selected contributions lies therefore not only in their coherence and complementarity, but also in the diversity of views, stories and interpretations.The paper of Zora Žbontar deals with the attitudes towards foreigners in ancient Greece, where the hospitality to strangers was considered so worthy a virtue that everyone was expected to “demonstrate hospitality and protection to any foreigner who has knocked on their door”. The contrast between the hospitality of ancient Greece and the modern emergence of xenophobia and ways of dealing with migration issues in economically developed countries is especially challenging. “In an open gesture of hospitality to strangers the ancient Greeks showed their civilization”.Although the aforementioned research by the United Nations and Gallup Institute support some traditional stereotypes of the main global flows of migrants, and the areas about which the potential migrants “dream”, Bojan Baskar stresses the coexistence of different migratory desires, migration flows and their interpretations. In his paper he specifically focuses on overcoming and relativising stereotypes as well as theories of immobile and non-enterprising (Alpine) mountain populations and migrations.The different strategies of the crossing borders adopted by migrant women are studied by Mirjana Morokvasic. She marks them as true social innovators, inventing different ways of transnational life resulting in a bottom-up contribution to the integrative processes across Europe. Some of their innovations go as far as to shift diverse real and symbolic boundaries of belonging to a nation, gender, profession.Elaine Burroughs and Zoë O’Reilly highlight the close relations between the otherwise well-established terminology used in statistics and science to label immigrants in Ireland and elsewhere in EU, and the negative representations of certain types of migrants in politics and the public. The discussion focusses particularly on asylum seekers and illegal immigrants who come from outside the EU. The use of language can quickly become a political means of exclusion, therefore the authors propose the development and use of more considerate and balanced migration terminology.Damir Josipovič proposes a change of the focal point for identifying and interpreting the well-studied migrations in the former Yugoslavia. The author suggests changing the dualistic view of these migrations to an integrated, holistic view. Instead of a simplified understanding of these migrations as either international or domestic, voluntary or forced, he proposes a concept of pseudo-voluntary migrations.Maja Korać-Sanderson's contribution highlights an interesting phenomenon in the shift in the traditional patterns of gender roles. The conclusions are derived from the study of the family life of Chinese traders in transitional Serbia. While many studies suggest that child care in recent decades in immigrant societies is generally performed by immigrants, her study reveals that in Serbia, the Chinese merchants entrust the care of their children mostly to local middle class women. The author finds this switch of roles in the “division of labour” in the child care favourable for both parties involved.Francesco Della Puppa focuses on a specific part of the mosaic of contemporary migrations in the Mediterranean: the Bangladeshi immigrant community in the highly industrialized North East of Italy. The results of his in-depth qualitative study reveal the factors that shape this segment of the Bangladeshi diaspora, the experiences of migrants and the effects of migration on their social and biographical trajectories.John A. Schembri and Maria Attard present a snippet of a more typical Mediterranean migration process - immigration to Malta. The authors highlight the reduction in migration between Malta and the United Kingdom, while there is an increase in immigration to Malta from the rest of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst the various impacts of immigration to Malta the extraordinary concentration of immigrant populations is emphasized, since the population density of Malta far exceeds that of nearly all other European countries.Miha Kozorog studies the link between migration and constructing their places of their origin. On the basis of Ardener’s theory the author expresses “remoteness” of the emigratory Slavia Friulana in terms of topology, in relation to other places, rather than in topography. “Remoteness” is formed in relation to the “outside world”, to those who speak of “remote areas” from the privileged centres. The example of an artistic event, which organizers aim “to open a place like this to the outside world”, “to encourage the production of more cosmopolitan place”, shows only the temporary effect of such event on the reduction of the “remoteness”.Jani Kozina presents a study of the basic temporal and spatial characteristics of migration “of people in creative occupations” in Slovenia. The definition of this specific segment of the population and approach to study its migrations are principally based on the work of Richard Florida. The author observes that people with creative occupations in Slovenia are very immobile and in this respect quite similar to other professional groups in Slovenia, but also to the people in creative professions in the Southern and Eastern Europe, which are considered to be among the least mobile in Europe. Detailed analyses show that the people in creative occupations from the more developed regions generally migrate more intensely and are also more willing to relocate.Mojca Pajnik and Veronika Bajt study the experiences of migrant women with the access to the labour market in Slovenia. Existing laws and policies push the migrants into a position where, if they want to get to work, have to accept less demanding work. In doing so, the migrant women are targets of stereotyped reactions and practices of discrimination on the basis of sex, age, attributed ethnic and religious affiliation, or some other circumstances, particularly the fact of being migrants. At the same time the latter results in the absence of any protection from the state.Migration studies often assume that the target countries are “modern” and countries of origin “traditional”. Anıl Al- Rebholz argues that such a dichotomous conceptualization of modern and traditional further promotes stereotypical, essentialist and homogenizing images of Muslim women in the “western world”. On the basis of biographical narratives of young Kurdish and Moroccan women as well as the relationships between mothers and daughters, the author illustrates a variety of strategies of empowerment of young women in the context of transnational migration.A specific face of migration is highlighted in the text of Svenka Savić, namely the face of artistic migration between Slovenia and Serbia after the Second World War. The author explains how more than thirty artists from Slovenia, with their pioneering work in three ensembles (opera, ballet and theatre), significantly contributed to the development of the performing arts in the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad.We believe that in the present thematic issue we have succeeded in capturing an important part of the modern European research dynamic in the field of migration. In addition to well-known scholars in this field several young authors at the beginning their research careers have been shortlisted for the publication. We are glad of their success as it bodes a vibrancy of this research area in the future. At the same time, we were pleased to receive responses to the invitation from representatives of so many disciplines, and that the number of papers received significantly exceeded the maximum volume of the journal. Recognising and understanding of the many faces of migration are important steps towards the comprehensive knowledge needed to successfully meet the challenges of migration issues today and even more so in the future. It is therefore of utmost importance that researchers find ways of transferring their academic knowledge into practice – to all levels of education, the media, the wider public and, of course, the decision makers in local, national and international institutions. The call also applies to all authors in this issue of the journal.