Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB)
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Longitudinal Data Infrastructures in Europe
No full textThis open access book explores panels, infrastructures, open science, and the opportunities they offer. More than that, it shares our experiences in creating them. This is not a technical manual, but an accessible guide about social sciences infrastructures, how they work, and why they are essential for collaboration and the sharing of knowledge. Through stories, examples, and insights, we show that infrastructures are not only technological tools but living ecosystems that nurture ideas, connect people, and add to everyone’s work. The book speaks to students, teachers, researchers, and decision-makers, but also to citizens, communities, and those curious about the future of knowledge in social sciences. Open science here is not just theory, but a hands-on practice that widens horizons and makes discovery a shared adventure
The Policing Gap in NATO Operations
No full textThis open access brief examines NATO’s Stability Policing doctrine through an interdisciplinary lens, bridging military doctrine with social science to enhance the understanding and planning of stabilization operations. By addressing the policing gap—the absence of local law enforcement capacity to maintain security and the rule of law—the research highlights the complex interplay between formal and informal centers of power that shape internal security dynamics. Drawing on expert testimonies from high-ranking military officials, policymakers, and practitioners with experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, Libya, and the Balkans, this brief provides unique insights into the realities of stabilization missions. It introduces the concept of Internal Security Architecture, offering a systematic framework to analyze the power structures that influence security and policing. Through a rigorous methodology and an unprecedented collaboration between military, academic, policing, and think-tank experts, this research operationalizes innovative theoretical concepts. It proposes a set of analytical tools to map and assess internal security structures, supporting military planners and stability policing commanders in designing more effective interventions. This work lays the foundation for a new approach to crisis and conflict zones, emphasizing scientifically robust and unbiased methods to understand internal security systems. With contributions from leading experts, including insights from policymakers and gender equality specialists, the research advances the discourse on Stability Policing and provides actionable recommendations for the future of security planning and operations
Politische Sozialisation in völkischen Jugendbünden
No full textVölkische Jugendbünde wie der Freibund oder die Deutsche Gildenschaft sind Kaderschmieden der extremen Rechten. Mit ihren »Lagern« und »Fahrten« schaffen sie Erlebnisräume, in denen politische Haltungen affektiv vermittelt werden. Die Beiträger*innen analysieren aus sozialpsychologischer und psychoanalytischer Sicht das spezifische Attraktionspotenzial der bislang kaum erforschten Bünde. Dabei zeigen sie verheißungsvolle Vorstellungen exklusiver Gemeinschaft, konfliktfreier Generationenverhältnisse und geschlechterübergreifender Kameradschaft als scheinbar stimmige Antworten auf adoleszente Konflikte – und geben neue Ansätze für die politische Bildungsarbeit und Rechtsextremismusprävention
Rome's Visceral Reactions
No full textIn ancient Rome, the Latin word viscera denoted the inner parts of the body, where physical sensations related to fear and anger could be felt and whose injury meant certain death. Viscera were also entangled with religious, political, and reproductive imagery: the word could refer to cuts of sacrificial meat, the inner workings of a governing body, a mother’s fertile womb, and the offspring she has carried. It appears in scientific descriptions of human anatomy, in elaborations of violent deaths, accusations of political conspiracy, and the laments of parents who must watch their children die. The sudden expansions of viscera into vivid metaphors for the body politic, the violated womb, and the desecrated sacrifice materialized in parallel with watershed moments in Roman history, reflecting urgent contemporary anxieties about politics, reproduction, and succession. Rome’s Visceral Reactions traces and interprets the semantic history of viscera, whose progressive acquisition of new meanings offers a compelling case for the dynamic interaction between body metaphor, semantic change, and political crisis at Rome. Caitlin Hines follows the history of viscera from its earliest attestations through the end of the Julio-Claudian period and considers the works of Lucretius, Cicero, Vergil, Livy, Ovid, Seneca, and Lucan. Applying theories of embodied cognition and semantic change, Hines demonstrates how Roman authors influenced the development of their language through the invention, reception, and affirmation of innovative meanings and how pressing political and cultural crises could shape, and be shaped in return, by the sophisticated linguistic games of the Roman literary elite
Explainable Artificial Intelligence
No full textThis open access five-volume set constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second World Conference on Explainable Artificial Intelligence, xAI 2025, held in Istanbul, Turkey, during July 2025. The 96 revised full papers presented in these proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 224 submissions. The papers are organized in the following topical sections: Volume I: Concept-based Explainable AI; human-centered Explainability; explainability, privacy, and fairness in trustworthy AI; and XAI in healthcare. Volume II: Rule-based XAI systems & actionable explainable AI; features importance-based XAI; novel post-hoc & ante-hoc XAI approaches; and XAI for scientific discovery. Volume III: Generative AI meets explainable AI; Intrinsically interpretable explainable AI; benchmarking and XAI evaluation measures; and XAI for representational alignment. Volume IV: XAI in computer vision; counterfactuals in XAI; explainable sequential decision making; and explainable AI in finance & legal frameworks for XAI technologies. Volume V: Applications of XAI; human-centered XAI & argumentation; explainable and interactive hybrid decision making; and uncertainty in explainable AI
Healthcare in the United Arab Emirates
No full textHealthcare in the UAE: A Comprehensive Insight into a Transformative Journey This open-access first-of-its-kind book in United Arab Emirates (UAE) healthcare history was designed to become an essential resource for various stakeholders seeking an in-depth understanding of the healthcare landscape across the UAE, spanning all seven emirates and encompassing both private and public health systems. It systematically explores the evolving journey of healthcare policy, service delivery, and innovation in the UAE, celebrating key milestones and success stories while shedding light on ongoing challenges and unmet needs. Authored by a diverse group of experts from across the UAE, it draws contributions from professionals in primary care, specialist care, preventive medicine, public health policy, regulatory frameworks, reimbursement systems, clinical research, health informatics, health economics, medical education, training, and licensing. Additionally, it examines evolving interest areas in the UAE healthcare sector, such as the flourishing medical tourism industry and the growing use of precision medicine and artificial intelligence. Individual chapters not only delve into the challenges facing specific healthcare disciplines but also offer strategic insights into future directions, outlining clear roadmaps for desired changes. The book also presents a forward-looking blueprint for the growth of the healthcare sector over the next 50 years to meet national priorities of health longevity and infrastructure sustainability. This is the first comprehensive publication to provide such a broad, in-depth analysis of healthcare in the UAE. Endorsed by the prestigious Emirates Oncology Society and the Emirates Medical Association, it is a landmark contribution to understanding and advancing healthcare in the region. Whether you are a healthcare professional, policy maker, academic scholar, or investor, this book offers valuable perspectives and actionable insights into one of the world's most dynamic healthcare systems
Reflexivities and Knowledge Production in Migration Studies
No full textThis open access book brings together cutting-edge work on reflexive approaches within migration studies and emphasizes the boundedness and political character of knowledge production. Beyond presenting a state-of-the-art of the problematic aspects of knowledge production in migration studies, this volume is innovative insofar as the contributions all formulate alternatives. They should lead to transform knowledge production in relation to migration and therefore contribute to alter our ways to do research and tackle established power relations. By discussing a diverse range of topical subjects – among others, epistemology, power, ethnocentrism, racism, decoloniality, gender and methodology – this volume is a great resource to students, to junior and senior academics in migration studies and social sciences more general as well as to policy-makers in European countries
City Makers and the Politics of Urban Diversity Governance
No full textThis open access book examines the rising challenges of managing diversity in European and Asian cities. It spotlights the roles of varied city makers - from urban leaders to migrant communities and civil society activists - in negotiating and transforming their city’s diversity governance. The book brings together the contributions of urban studies and migration studies scholars, which offer rich empirical analyses on various European and Asian cities, such as Paris, Singapore, Barcelona, and Guangzhou. Adopting a comparative lens, the book presents a decentered understanding of 'super-diverse' cities, examining shifts in urban policy-making within different geographical contexts, with distinct patterns of migration and diversification. By advancing urban comparison as a research tool, it contributes to the contemporary discussions on the local turn of migration and diversity policies
Citizen Sensing for Risk Response
No full textThis open access book provides novel insights into the field, exploring the potential for the 'sensing citizens' to concretely influence risk governance by filling - intentional or accidental - official informational gaps. Grassroots-driven environmental monitoring based on own senses or on sensor technology, i.e., 'citizen sensing', can be considered a constructive response to crises. When lay people distrust official information or just want to fill data gaps, they may resort to sensors and data infrastructures to visualize, monitor, and report risks caused by environmental factors to public health. Although through a possible initial conflict, citizen sensing may ultimately have the potential to contribute to institutional risk governance. Citizen sensing proves to be a practice able to address governance challenges with the way data over an (environmental) risk problem are gathered and provided to the public. This essentially unveils the issue of a perceived legitimacy gap in current (environmental) risk governance. Nonetheless, it also opens avenues for a more inclusive and transparent governmental response to pressing and complex risks, affecting first and foremost local people
Die Bedeutung der Physiologie und Ethologie der Tiere als Grundlage für Tierschutz und Tierschutzrechtsverfahren
No full textThis monograph consolidates the essential physiological and ethological foundations for assessing the well-being of animals. It thereby lays the groundwork for understanding the reality of animals' lives. The focus is on aspects such as pain, suffering, harm, fear, and stress, as well as the five freedoms, which are scientifically elaborated upon. Based on this, the work offers practical assistance for the evaluation and assessment of well-being – regardless of the purpose of use. Both Article 20a of the German Constitution and §§ 1 and 2 of the Animal Protection Act, as well as the outlined physiological connections, demand a species- and use-independent evaluation of well-being.PublishedDiese Monographie bündelt die wesentlichen physiologischen und ethologischen Grundlagen zur Beurteilung des Wohlbefindens von Tieren. Sie schafft damit die Grundlage, sich in die Lebenswirklichkeit von Tieren hineinzuversetzen. Im Zentrum stehen Aspekte wie Schmerzen, Leiden, Schäden, Ängste und Stress sowie die fünf Freiheiten, die wissenschaftlich aufgearbeitet werden. Darauf basierend bietet das Werk praxisnahe Hilfestellungen für die Bewertung und Einschätzung des Wohlbefindens – unabhängig von der Nutzungsform. Sowohl Art. 20a GG als auch die §§ 1 und 2 des Tierschutzgesetzes sowie die dargelegten physiologischen Zusammenhänge verlangen eine spezies- und nutzungsunabhängige Wertung von Wohlbefinden