Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
Not a member yet
85081 research outputs found
Sort by
Grounding Digitalization
No full textDigitalization is usually perceived as an invisible process and its cultural embeddedness as well as its material, spatial, and environmental grounding are often neglected. However, digital technologies and transformations are shaped not only by cultural values, practices, and imaginaries, but also by network infrastructures and spatial orders. They consume environmental resources and cause high carbon dioxide emissions and electronic waste. At the same time, these materialities intervene in spaces, thereby reconfiguring socio-spatial arrangements. The contributors to this volume analyze digitalization from a »grounding« perspective that explores involved cultural practices, technologies, materialities, and spaces
The State and the Imperative for Social Policy Reform in Africa
No full textThis concise and interdisciplinary open access volume explores the imperative of social policy reform in Sub-Saharan Africa and the potential nature of such a reform. Its chapters study social policy changes that have been made before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and those that need to be made towards better protecting individuals, families, and communities against exposure to insecurity, poverty, and other vulnerabilities throughout their lifecycle. As argued, for this to happen, the state needs to play a pivotal role in building harmonised and coordinated social policy systems. The chapters also stress the need for a holistic social policy reform that spans key areas including health, education, disability, gender, and migration policies. Besides this, the volume considers the role of automatic stabilisers and novel issues such as the impact of social media. Finally, the volume draws our attention to the respective roles of state actors, national non-state actors, and transnational actors
Signature Methods in Finance
No full textThis Open Access volume offers an accessible entry point into the fast-growing field of signature methods in finance. It is written for early-career researchers and quantitatively minded practitioners—quant analysts and applied researchers—seeking a clear, practical introduction. It highlights recent developments and includes coding examples to help readers apply signature methods in practice. The advantages of modeling financial markets from a path-wise perspective, rather than as a traditional series of returns, are increasingly gaining recognition. Signature methods provide a parsimonious description of paths of stochastic processes and, through the signature kernel, open a rich and compelling framework at the interface between machine learning and mathematical finance. “I have been extraordinarily fortunate to work alongside brilliant collaborators throughout this journey, and this book beautifully reflects the richness of that shared contribution—for which I am deeply grateful.”—Prof Terry Lyons, University of Oxford, Imperial College, and PI of DataSig “This fascinating collection, dedicated to Terry Lyons, offers invaluable insights into signature methods and their many uses.” Jim Gatheral, Presidential Professor, Baruch College, Quant of the Year 2021 "A timely and important contribution to the fast-growing field of signature methods, showcasing the theory and applications of these powerful ideas.” — Prof Ben Hambly, University of Oxford “An impressive book on signatures with articles by the most distinguished researchers in the field. A reference from day one." – Dr Hans Buehler, co-CEO XTX Markets, Quant of the Year 2022 "This book provides a masterful exposition and development of signature methods in finance. It is concise, precise, and actionable. It will be an excellent source for anyone interested in modern financial engineering techniques." – Prof Alexander Lipton, Global Head of R&D, ADIA, and Founding Member ADIA Lab, Quant of the Year 2000 and Buy-side Quant of the Year 2021
Geschlecht und Krankheit in der Kunst
No full textWie wird Krankheit im Bild inszeniert und was sagt das über Geschlecht aus? Anhand der Darstellungen von Syphilis, Tuberkulose und Gicht analysiert Johanna Johnen geschlechtsspezifische Zuschreibungen in der Kunst. Krankheit ist nicht nur medizinisch, sondern auch gesellschaftlich codiert: als Zeichen dämonisierter Weiblichkeit, als Sinnbild für domestizierte Reinheit der weiblichen Oberschicht oder als ambivalenter Ausdruck männlicher Dekadenz. So offenbaren sich komplexe Verflechtungen von Geschlecht, Klasse und Rassifizierung in der Ikonografie der Krankheitsdarstellungen – ein kritischer Blick auf historische Bildwelten und ihre machtvollen Zuschreibungen
Municipal Tasks and Financing
No full textThis an Open access book. It provides a comparative and multidisciplinary analysis of how local governments perform their tasks and how these are financed. The volume stands out with three essential features. First, the comparative research reflected in the volume has a global geographical scope because it is the outcome of a Horizon 2020 project involving 18 partners from six continents. Therefore, it includes highly topical and so far under-researched case studies beyond just the European continent. Secondly, we look at the above-mentioned topics from a timely urban-rural perspective, as the ultimate aim is to explore the impact of the phenomenon of urbanisation on local governments and the response of urban and rural municipalities. Thirdly, the book focuses within broader research on municipal tasks and finances on several specific topics that have been revealed by our project as particularly relevant. These are public transport policies of urban and rural local governments, different ways of public service provision like PPP and public enterprises, financial equalization between urban and rural municipalities, as well as special fees as alternative sources of local revenue
Place and the Social-Spatial Determinants of Health
No full textThis open access contributed volume is the first to address Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) from a place-based perspective with a transdisciplinary, global outlook. In this open access book, experts from geography, public health, urban planning, sociology, architecture, and more respond to growing calls for action on SDoH to improve health outcomes and promote health equity. Through theoretical considerations and case studies, the book explores how a spatial perspective influences, expands, and enriches understanding of SDoH across different scales and applications. Failing to account for patterns of structural health factors using an explicitly spatial approach can lead to biased, misinterpreted, or incomplete analyses. Adopting a geographic, place-based perspective remains crucial for SDoH studies from theoretical, analytical, and technological standpoints. The chapters in this book highlight areas needing further attention, such as spatial mismatch in health services, the complexities of social and spatial networks, and the impact of government policies on health disparities. Guided by SDoH frameworks, the book is divided into the sections on conceptualizing Social-Spatial Determinants of Health (S&SDoH), integrating S&SDoH in practice, methodological approaches and techniques for measuring S&SDoH, and empirical illustrations of S&SDoH
Critical Perspectives on EdTech in Higher Education
No full textThis open access book provides critical perspectives on educational technology (EdTech) platforms and platformisation in higher education. It focuses on three analytical dimensions: higher education actors’ struggles with the tension between autonomy from and dependence on EdTech platforms, the effects of platform features and platformisation on human interactions in higher education, and future scenarios and alternatives to dominant commercial paths. The book will appeal to academics interested in higher education digitalisation and digital teaching and learning, as well as higher education and educational technology practitioners
Reading Nature and Cultures
No full textThe globally acclaimed novel »The Whale Rider« by Witi Ihimaera connects with today’s pressing issues: decolonization, environmental protection, cultural resilience. The contributors to this volume offer readers intercultural and interdisciplinary perspectives on this work through accessible scholarly and personal analyses. They show how literature can bridge nature and cultures, myth and reality, Indigenous stories and international audiences. Readers gain new insights into Māori literature and its global contexts – making this a compelling read for scholars and curious minds alike
Slow Electronics with Reservoir Computing
No full textThis open access book discusses “slow electronics”, the study of devices processing signals with low frequencies. Computers have the remarkable ability to process data at high speeds, but they encounter difficulties when handling signals with low frequencies of less than ~100Hz. They unexpectedly require a substantial amount of energy. This poses a challenge for such as biomedical wearables and environmental monitors that need real-time processing of slow signals, especially in energy-limited 'edge’ environments with small batteries. One possible solution to this issue is event-driven processing, which entails the use of non-volatile memory to read/write data and parameters every time a slow (sporadic) signal is detected. However, this approach is highly energy-consuming and unsuitable for the edge environments. To address this challenge, the authors propose “slow electronics” by developing electronic devices and systems that can process low-frequency signals more efficiently. The biological brain is an excellent example of the slow electronics, as it processes low-frequency signals in real time with exceptional energy efficiency. The authors have employed reservoir computing with a spiking neural network (SNN) to simulate the learning and inference of the brain. The integration of slow electronics with SNN reservoir computing allows for real-time data processing in edge environments without an internet connection. This will reveal the determinism or periodicity behind unconscious behaviours and habits that have been difficult to explore due to privacy barriers thus far. Moreover, it may provide a more profound understanding of a craftsman's skills, which they may not even be aware of. This book emphasises the most recent concepts and technological developments in slow electronics. Discussion on the captivating subject of slow electronics are given by delving into the complexities of reservoir calculation, analogue CMOS circuits, artificial neuromorphic devices, and numerical simulation with extended time constants, paving the way for more people-friendly devices in the future
Dialektik der Würde
No full textIn contrast to autonomy-centered conceptions of dignity, this study develops a vulnerability-theoretical understanding as the basis for a social concept of freedom. Human dignity is grounded in being a vulnerable natural being, not in the capacity for autonomy as a rational being. Subjectivity is constituted through recognition by the conscience, which drives the realization of freedom not through self-empowerment, but through conscience-guided self-restriction in relation to suffering nature.PublishedDie Würde gilt als der höchste Wert, nach dem sich die Ordnung des Zusammenlebens auszurichten hat. Wie Freiheit geordnet wird, hängt also davon ab, was man unter Würde versteht. Mit Kant hat sich in der modernen Gesellschaft ein autonomiegestütztes Würdeverständnis etabliert. Um die ökologischen und sozialen Defizite des daraus folgenden formalen und individualistischen Freiheitsbegriffs zu korrigieren, wird hier ein vulnerabilitätstheoretisches Verständnis als Grundlage für eine ökologisch-soziale Freiheitsordnung entwickelt. Der Mensch besitzt demnach Würde, nicht, weil er als Vernunftwesen autonomiefähig, sondern weil er als Naturwesen samt seiner Freiheit vulnerabel ist und vom objektiven Gewissen als solches Subjekt anerkannt wird. Das Gewissen ist also der Grund der Würde, nicht die Autonomie. Der dialektische Freiheitsfortschritt wird anstatt in der Selbstermächtigung des Menschen in der gewissensgeleiteten, empathischen Selbstbeschränkung gegenüber der leidenden Natur gesehen