397 research outputs found

    Planetary Hinterlands:Extraction, Abandonment and Care

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    This open access book considers the concept of the hinterland as a crucial tool for understanding the global and planetary present as a time defined by the lasting legacies of colonialism, increasing labor precarity under late capitalist regimes, and looming climate disasters. Traditionally seen to serve a (colonial) port or market town, the hinterland here becomes a lens to attend to the times and spaces shaped and experienced across the received categories of the urban, rural, wilderness or nature. In straddling these categories, the concept of the hinterland foregrounds the human and more-than-human lively processes and forms of care that go on even in sites defined by capitalist extraction and political abandonment. Bringing together scholars from the humanities and social sciences, the book rethinks hinterland materialities, affectivities, and ecologies across places and cultural imaginations, Global North and South, urban and rural, and land and water

    Rethink Digital Health Innovation: Understanding Socio-Technical Interoperability as Guiding Concept

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    Diese Dissertation sucht nach einem theoretischem Grundgerüst, um komplexe, digitale Gesundheitsinnovationen so zu entwickeln, dass sie bessere Erfolgsaussichten haben, auch in der alltäglichen Versorgungspraxis anzukommen. Denn obwohl es weder am Bedarf von noch an Ideen für digitale Gesundheitsinnovationen mangelt, bleibt die Flut an erfolgreich in der Praxis etablierten Lösungen leider aus. Dieser unzureichende Diffusionserfolg einer entwickelten Lösung - gern auch als Pilotitis pathologisiert - offenbart sich insbesondere dann, wenn die geplante Innovation mit größeren Ambitionen und Komplexität verbunden ist. Dem geübten Kritiker werden sofort ketzerische Gegenfragen in den Sinn kommen. Beispielsweise was denn unter komplexen, digitalen Gesundheitsinnovationen verstanden werden soll und ob es überhaupt möglich ist, eine universale Lösungsformel zu finden, die eine erfolgreiche Diffusion digitaler Gesundheitsinnovationen garantieren kann. Beide Fragen sind nicht nur berechtigt, sondern münden letztlich auch in zwei Forschungsstränge, welchen ich mich in dieser Dissertation explizit widme. In einem ersten Block erarbeite ich eine Abgrenzung jener digitalen Gesundheitsinnovationen, welche derzeit in Literatur und Praxis besondere Aufmerksamkeit aufgrund ihres hohen Potentials zur Versorgungsverbesserung und ihrer resultierenden Komplexität gewidmet ist. Genauer gesagt untersuche ich dominante Zielstellungen und welche Herausforderung mit ihnen einhergehen. Innerhalb der Arbeiten in diesem Forschungsstrang kristallisieren sich vier Zielstellungen heraus: 1. die Unterstützung kontinuierlicher, gemeinschaftlicher Versorgungsprozesse über diverse Leistungserbringer (auch als inter-organisationale Versorgungspfade bekannt); 2. die aktive Einbeziehung der Patient:innen in ihre Versorgungsprozesse (auch als Patient Empowerment oder Patient Engagement bekannt); 3. die Stärkung der sektoren-übergreifenden Zusammenarbeit zwischen Wissenschaft und Versorgungpraxis bis hin zu lernenden Gesundheitssystemen und 4. die Etablierung daten-zentrierter Wertschöpfung für das Gesundheitswesen aufgrund steigender bzgl. Verfügbarkeit valider Daten, neuen Verarbeitungsmethoden (Stichwort Künstliche Intelligenz) sowie den zahlreichen Nutzungsmöglichkeiten. Im Fokus dieser Dissertation stehen daher weniger die autarken, klar abgrenzbaren Innovationen (bspw. eine Symptomtagebuch-App zur Beschwerdedokumentation). Vielmehr adressiert diese Doktorarbeit jene Innovationsvorhaben, welche eine oder mehrere der o.g. Zielstellung verfolgen, ein weiteres technologisches Puzzleteil in komplexe Informationssystemlandschaften hinzufügen und somit im Zusammenspiel mit diversen weiteren IT-Systemen zur Verbesserung der Gesundheitsversorgung und/ oder ihrer Organisation beitragen. In der Auseinandersetzung mit diesen Zielstellungen und verbundenen Herausforderungen der Systementwicklung rückte das Problem fragmentierter IT-Systemlandschaften des Gesundheitswesens in den Mittelpunkt. Darunter wird der unerfreuliche Zustand verstanden, dass unterschiedliche Informations- und Anwendungssysteme nicht wie gewünscht miteinander interagieren können. So kommt es zu Unterbrechungen von Informationsflüssen und Versorgungsprozessen, welche anderweitig durch fehleranfällige Zusatzaufwände (bspw. Doppeldokumentation) aufgefangen werden müssen. Um diesen Einschränkungen der Effektivität und Effizienz zu begegnen, müssen eben jene IT-System-Silos abgebaut werden. Alle o.g. Zielstellungen ordnen sich dieser defragmentierenden Wirkung unter, in dem sie 1. verschiedene Leistungserbringer, 2. Versorgungsteams und Patient:innen, 3. Wissenschaft und Versorgung oder 4. diverse Datenquellen und moderne Auswertungstechnologien zusammenführen wollen. Doch nun kommt es zu einem komplexen Ringschluss. Einerseits suchen die in dieser Arbeit thematisierten digitalen Gesundheitsinnovationen Wege zur Defragmentierung der Informationssystemlandschaften. Andererseits ist ihre eingeschränkte Erfolgsquote u.a. in eben jener bestehenden Fragmentierung begründet, die sie aufzulösen suchen. Mit diesem Erkenntnisgewinn eröffnet sich der zweite Forschungsstrang dieser Arbeit, der sich mit der Eigenschaft der 'Interoperabilität' intensiv auseinandersetzt. Er untersucht, wie diese Eigenschaft eine zentrale Rolle für Innovationsvorhaben in der Digital Health Domäne einnehmen soll. Denn Interoperabilität beschreibt, vereinfacht ausgedrückt, die Fähigkeit von zwei oder mehreren Systemen miteinander gemeinsame Aufgaben zu erfüllen. Sie repräsentiert somit das Kernanliegen der identifizierten Zielstellungen und ist Dreh- und Angelpunkt, wenn eine entwickelte Lösung in eine konkrete Zielumgebung integriert werden soll. Von einem technisch-dominierten Blickwinkel aus betrachtet, geht es hierbei um die Gewährleistung von validen, performanten und sicheren Kommunikationsszenarien, sodass die o.g. Informationsflussbrüche zwischen technischen Teilsystemen abgebaut werden. Ein rein technisches Interoperabilitätsverständnis genügt jedoch nicht, um die Vielfalt an Diffusionsbarrieren von digitalen Gesundheitsinnovationen zu umfassen. Denn beispielsweise das Fehlen adäquater Vergütungsoptionen innerhalb der gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen oder eine mangelhafte Passfähigkeit für den bestimmten Versorgungsprozess sind keine rein technischen Probleme. Vielmehr kommt hier eine Grundhaltung der Wirtschaftsinformatik zum Tragen, die Informationssysteme - auch die des Gesundheitswesens - als sozio-technische Systeme begreift und dabei Technologie stets im Zusammenhang mit Menschen, die sie nutzen, von ihr beeinflusst werden oder sie organisieren, betrachtet. Soll eine digitale Gesundheitsinnovation, die einen Mehrwert gemäß der o.g. Zielstellungen verspricht, in eine existierende Informationssystemlandschaft der Gesundheitsversorgung integriert werden, so muss sie aus technischen sowie nicht-technischen Gesichtspunkten 'interoperabel' sein. Zwar ist die Notwendigkeit von Interoperabilität in der Wissenschaft, Politik und Praxis bekannt und auch positive Bewegungen der Domäne hin zu mehr Interoperabilität sind zu verspüren. Jedoch dominiert dabei einerseits ein technisches Verständnis und andererseits bleibt das Potential dieser Eigenschaft als Leitmotiv für das Innovationsmanagement bislang weitestgehend ungenutzt. An genau dieser Stelle knüpft nun der Hauptbeitrag dieser Doktorarbeit an, in dem sie eine sozio-technische Konzeptualisierung und Kontextualisierung von Interoperabilität für künftige digitale Gesundheitsinnovationen vorschlägt. Literatur- und expertenbasiert wird ein Rahmenwerk erarbeitet - das Digital Health Innovation Interoperability Framework - das insbesondere Innovatoren und Innovationsfördernde dabei unterstützen soll, die Diffusionswahrscheinlichkeit in die Praxis zu erhöhen. Nun sind mit diesem Framework viele Erkenntnisse und Botschaften verbunden, die ich für diesen Prolog wie folgt zusammenfassen möchte: 1. Um die Entwicklung digitaler Gesundheitsinnovationen bestmöglich auf eine erfolgreiche Integration in eine bestimmte Zielumgebung auszurichten, sind die Realisierung eines neuartigen Wertversprechens sowie die Gewährleistung sozio-technischer Interoperabilität die zwei zusammenhängenden Hauptaufgaben eines Innovationsprozesses. 2. Die Gewährleistung von Interoperabilität ist eine aktiv zu verantwortende Managementaufgabe und wird durch projektspezifische Bedingungen sowie von externen und internen Dynamiken beeinflusst. 3. Sozio-technische Interoperabilität im Kontext digitaler Gesundheitsinnovationen kann über sieben, interdependente Ebenen definiert werden: Politische und regulatorische Bedingungen; Vertragsbedingungen; Versorgungs- und Geschäftsprozesse; Nutzung; Information; Anwendungen; IT-Infrastruktur. 4. Um Interoperabilität auf jeder dieser Ebenen zu gewährleisten, sind Strategien differenziert zu definieren, welche auf einem Kontinuum zwischen Kompatibilitätsanforderungen aufseiten der Innovation und der Motivation von Anpassungen aufseiten der Zielumgebung verortet werden können. 5. Das Streben nach mehr Interoperabilität fördert sowohl den nachhaltigen Erfolg der einzelnen digitalen Gesundheitsinnovation als auch die Defragmentierung existierender Informationssystemlandschaften und trägt somit zur Verbesserung des Gesundheitswesens bei. Zugegeben: die letzte dieser fünf Botschaften trägt eher die Färbung einer Überzeugung, als dass sie ein Ergebnis wissenschaftlicher Beweisführung ist. Dennoch empfinde ich diese, wenn auch persönliche Erkenntnis als Maxim der Domäne, der ich mich zugehörig fühle - der IT-Systementwicklung des Gesundheitswesens

    Foundations of sustainable development. Common issues of sustainable development. Seminar class

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    У виданні викладено вимоги до проведення семінарського заняття «Загальні питання сталого розвитку» освітнього компоненту «Основи сталого розвитку». Навчальний посібник містить детальну рейтингову систему оцінювання освітнього компонента. Видання забезпечує вивчення студентами теоретичного матеріалу щодо основних концепцій розвитку суспільства, передісторії, передумов, віх і принципів сталого розвитку, підготовку до семінарського заняття, є корисним для самостійної роботи.The publication provides instructions for the seminar class "Common issues of sustainable development" of the educational component " Foundations of sustainable development". The study guide contains a detailed ranking assessment system of the educational component. The publication provides students with the study of theoretical material regarding the main society’s development concepts, prehistory, background, milestones and principles of sustainable development, preparation for the seminar class, and is useful for independent work

    The Role of a Microservice Architecture on cybersecurity and operational resilience in critical systems

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    Critical systems are characterized by their high degree of intolerance to threats, in other words, their high level of resilience, because depending on the context in which the system is inserted, the slightest failure could imply significant damage, whether in economic terms, or loss of reputation, of information, of infrastructure, of the environment, or human life. The security of such systems is traditionally associated with legacy infrastructures and data centers that are monolithic, which translates into increasingly high evolution and protection challenges. In the current context of rapid transformation where the variety of threats to systems has been consistently increasing, this dissertation aims to carry out a compatibility study of the microservice architecture, which is denoted by its characteristics such as resilience, scalability, modifiability and technological heterogeneity, being flexible in structural adaptations, and in rapidly evolving and highly complex settings, making it suited for agile environments. It also explores what response artificial intelligence, more specifically machine learning, can provide in a context of security and monitorability when combined with a simple banking system that adopts the microservice architecture.Os sistemas críticos são caracterizados pelo seu elevado grau de intolerância às ameaças, por outras palavras, o seu alto nível de resiliência, pois dependendo do contexto onde se insere o sistema, a mínima falha poderá implicar danos significativos, seja em termos económicos, de perda de reputação, de informação, de infraestrutura, de ambiente, ou de vida humana. A segurança informática de tais sistemas está tradicionalmente associada a infraestruturas e data centers legacy, ou seja, de natureza monolítica, o que se traduz em desafios de evolução e proteção cada vez mais elevados. No contexto atual de rápida transformação, onde as variedades de ameaças aos sistemas têm vindo consistentemente a aumentar, esta dissertação visa realizar um estudo de compatibilidade da arquitetura de microserviços, que se denota pelas suas caraterísticas tais como a resiliência, escalabilidade, modificabilidade e heterogeneidade tecnológica, sendo flexível em adaptações estruturais, e em cenários de rápida evolução e elevada complexidade, tornando-a adequada a ambientes ágeis. Explora também a resposta que a inteligência artificial, mais concretamente, machine learning, pode dar num contexto de segurança e monitorabilidade quando combinado com um simples sistema bancário que adota uma arquitetura de microserviços

    „Wild Democracy” – The figurative conceptualization of the Parliament in Hungarian editorial cartoons (1989 – 2019) [védés előtt]

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    The expression of the Parliament is often associated with abstract concepts such as politics, democracy, or nationhood (Kapitány & Kapitány, 2002; Szabó & Oross, 2018) when instead of the literal meaning of the ‘building’, we refer to its figurative meanings. It has already been confirmed that political cartoons are rich in figurative devices (e.g., conceptual metaphor) (i.a. El Refaie, 2009) and they serve as a suitable corpus for the investigation of the figurative meaning of the Parliament. In the case of a conceptual metaphor, for instance, the Parliament (considered as a target domain) is understood via the source domain conceptually different from the target (e.g., COLOSSEUM). In that way, certain characteristic features of the source domain are mapped onto the target domain, and we are able to interpret politics, specifically the Parliament itself as the site of real, dangerous, life-or-death physical battles. All these figurative meanings can influence how we think about politics, its processes, and actors, how we argue in the case of a political problem and how we would try to solve it. The current research aims to examine how the Hungarian Parliament is visually represented in editorial cartoons and how these visual representations – through figurative conceptual devices such as conceptual metaphors and conceptual metonymies – construct the concept of the parliament. Furthermore, the thesis discusses how these cognitive devices cooperate with ironies and cultural references (such as idioms, allusions, and national symbols) which are determinant in evaluation procedures and the creation of emotional bonds between the viewer and the cartoon. In doing so, the dissertation studies the caricaturistic representations of the Parliament in three various periods (Körösényi, 2015); thus, the investigation is longitudinal (describing thirty years since 1989) and comparative. What are the novelties of the research? First, it examines Hungarian editorial cartoons in a cognitive linguistic framework, unlike this, so far Hungarian political cartoons have been discussed by historians (e.g., Tamás, 2014). Second, although the Parliament is an important concept (Kapitány & Kapitány, 2002), its figurative meaning has not been studied so widely yet. Third, it is a multimodal investigation of conceptual processes that fits into the trend of cognitive linguistic research that focuses on the cooperation of different processes. Fourth, this research examines a large data set in context where the contextual factors are limited to three types, namely idioms, allusions, and national symbols (context types are usually not defined in such concrete ways, e.g., Charteris-Black, 2011). Fifth, the dissertation applies Extended Conceptual Metaphor Theory (ECMT) (Kövecses, 2020) in practice in a larger corpus. Sixth, it is a diachronic investigation which is rare in the field of cartoon research (e.g., Frantzich, 2013) also in cognitive research, especially in multimodal research. The main results show that 1) the representation of the Parliament is strongly linked to such conceptual procedures as conceptual metonymy and conceptual metaphor. These cognitive devices are likely to cooperate with ironies and cultural references. 2) a limited number of cognitive devices (e.g., the conceptual metonymy THE PARLIAMENT STANDS FOR THE GOVERNMENT, or the conceptual metaphor THE PARLIAMENT IS A PLACE FOR PHYSICAL CONFLICT) are recurring in the corpus during the period between 1989 and 2019. However, regarding the perspectivization, content and function of these cognitive devices, it is said that the compared periods of democracy (Körösényi, 2015) show significant differences based on the diverse preferences and distribution of the cognitive devices with specific cultural references in each era. 3) the increase of more aggressive scenes emerges from the metaphoric domain of PHYSICAL CONFLICT, which goes hand in hand with a change in the use of national symbols referring to the perceived extreme nationalist content, and political slogans which are dominated by the direct elements (literal citations, showing violence overtly). An unexpected result is the detection of a shift in communication acting in the opposite direction, according to which in linguistic changes indirect processes took place (e.g., increasing use of causal type ironies), in visual processes direct changes became predominant, so for instance, violence appeared literally. In sum, the Parliament seems a permanent phenomenon throughout the years, however, this research points to its different meanings and nuances of meaning variants. So even the stability of the meaning of such a strong national symbol can be questioned

    Exploring the digital servitization capabilities of the firm

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    Digital servitization is a transition process through which manufacturing firms move from offering products to offering integrated solutions between products, services, and digital technologies. Digital servitization consists of one of the main paradigm changes that manufacturing firms are facing in the current rise of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). In this regard, many studies are exploring the capabilities that firms must develop to successfully carry out this transition. However, important research gaps remain, among which stand out: I) How firms can create value through their digital servitization capabilities; II) Which digitial servitization capabilities are required for the offering of smart services and; III) How firms can use their digital servitization capabilities to create value in the different trajectories of the digital servitization paradigm. To cover these gaps, this thesis is organized into three articles. Article I proposes a theoretical framework of four core digital servitization capabilities (Integration, Provision, Orchestration, and Manufacturing), conducts a multiple case study, and applies the fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify configurations of these capabilities for value creation. Article II uses this same framework to identify how firms build digital servitization capabilities for the successful offering of smart services. This is done by applying a mixed-method approach, combining the emerging quantitative technique Necessary Conditions Analysis (NCA) with a qualitative multiple case study. Article III uses the framework to explore how firms following different digital servitization trajectories can configure their capabilities to create value. To do so, a cluster analysis is applied, followed by the fsQCA. Together, the results of the three articles demonstrate that integration and manufacturing capabilities, as well as their interaction, is the basis of value creation through digital servitization. Provision and orchestration capabilities are only secondary in this regard, but they have multiple interchangeable elements that confer different options for firms to configure them in order to create value.A servitização digital consiste em um processo de transição, através do qual firmas de setores industriais transitam da oferta de produtos para a oferta de soluções integradas entre produtos, serviços e tecnologias digitais. O fenômeno da servitização digital está altamente associado à atual quarta revolução industrial (Indústria 4.0), iniciada a partir do advento de tecnologias digitais diruptivas, como a Internet das Coisas, Computação em Nuvem, Análise de Big Data, Aprendizado de Máquina e Inteligência Artificial. Tais tecnologias têm imposto novas formas de produção e de criação de valor às firmas industriais, dentre as quais a servitização digital se destaca como uma das principais mudanças de paradigma enfrentadas. Por esta razão, muitos estudos tem explorado as capacidades (conjuntos de conhecimentos, recursos, rotinas e habilidades) que as firmas precisam desenvolver para transitarem com sucesso para servitização digital. Porém, importantes lacunas de pesquisa permanecem, dentre as quais se destacam: I) Como as capacidades de servitização digital criam valor para firma; II) Quais capacidades de servitização digital são necessárias para a oferta de serviços inteligentes e; III) Como as firmas usam suas capacidades de servitização digital para criarem valor nas diferentes trajetórias do paradigma da servitização digital. Com o objetivo de preencher estas lacunas, a presente tese propõe-se a responder à seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: Como as firmas utilizam suas capacidades de servitização digital para criarem valor? Para tanto, a tese foi estruturada em três artigos. O Artigo I – Explorando Configurações de Capacidades de Servitização Digital para Criação de Valor, propõe um modelo teórico de quatro capacidades centrais de servitização digital da firma (Integração, Provisão, Orquestração e Manufatura), conduz um estudo de múltiplos casos, e aplica a Análise Comparativa Qualitativa de Conjuntos Fuzzy (do inglês: Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, fsQCA) para identificar configurações dessas capacidades que criam valor. Os resultados mostram que as firmas podem criar valor através de duas configurações de capacidades: integração, provisão e manufatura (CI*CP*CM), ou integração, orquestração e manufatura (CI*CO*CM). O Artigo II – Construindo Capacidades de Servitização Digital para a Oferta de Serviços Inteligentes, utiliza o mesmo modelo de capacidades proposto no Artigo I, e aplica o método misto, combinando a técnica quantitativa emergente Análise de Condições Necessárias (do inglês: Necessary Conditions Analysis, NCA) com um estudo qualitativo de múltiplos 7 casos. Os resultados identificam que empresas de setores industriais seguem três etapas na construção de capacidades de servitização digital visando a oferta de serviços inteligentes: Implementação, Otimização e Customização. O Artigo III – Configurando as Capacidades de Servitização Digital da Firma para Criação de Valor em Diferentes Trajetórias, também utiliza o modelo de capacidades desenvolvido no Artigo I, conduz uma análise de cluster para identificar as trajetórias de servitização digital das firmas, e aplica o fsQCA para identificar as configurações de capacidades que resultam em criação de valor em cada trajetória. Os resultados demonstram que as firmas seguem quatro trajetórias de servitização digital (Tradicional, Digitalização, Servitização e Convergência), e que, em cada trajetória, diferentes configurações de capacidades são utilizadas para criação de valor. Juntos, os três artigos da tese demonstram que as capacidades de integração e de manufatura, bem como a interação entre elas, é a base da criação de valor através da servitização digital. As capacidades de provisão e de orquestração possuem apenas um papel secundário neste sentido, porém, a intercambialidade entre seus elementos confere diferentes opções para as firmas configurá-las a fim de criarem valor

    Understanding the role of value in coral reef science

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    This thesis explores the role of value in coral science from the perspective of philosophy of science in practice. More specifically, it looks at the epistemology of different practices and theories in coral science, particularly how they interact with various forms of value, and how these forms of value can be understood. The arguments are organised into five chapters, which all make use of data collected in interviews with coral scientists, as well as ideas from coral science literature. The first presents an examination of ecological baselines, which I show do not simply ‘shift’ as has been supposed, but vary for a variety of reasons. This raises a question I address in the second chapter: when is this variation considered legitimate? The answer depends on the value of different reef states being considered. After showing how coral scientists navigate this in practice, I move on to the next two chapters where I explore areas of coral science where important forms of valuation take place: first, the value frameworks of intrinsic value and ecosystem services; and second, the use of bioacoustic techniques to assess reef health from non-human perspectives. These offer examples of how different forms of value shape coral science and make it relevant to the lifeforms practising and influenced by it. In the final chapter I present a view of coral science as a form of multispecies niche construction, both in the lab and the field. On this view, coral science is aimed at the flourishing of a range of living systems. This offers a better understanding of science-value interactions in socio-ecological contexts, such as when faced with decisions about baselines and interventions designed around these. Understanding how to navigate such situations is likely to become increasingly important as the challenges of surviving as a species continue to mount.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

    The universe without us: a history of the science and ethics of human extinction

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    This dissertation consists of two parts. Part I is an intellectual history of thinking about human extinction (mostly) within the Western tradition. When did our forebears first imagine humanity ceasing to exist? Have people always believed that human extinction is a real possibility, or were some convinced that this could never happen? How has our thinking about extinction evolved over time? Why do so many notable figures today believe that the probability of extinction this century is higher than ever before in our 300,000-year history on Earth? Exploring these questions takes readers from the ancient Greeks, Persians, and Egyptians, through the 18th-century Enlightenment, past scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century like thermodynamics and evolutionary theory, up to the Atomic Age, the rise of modern environmentalism in the 1970s, and contemporary fears about climate change, global pandemics, and artificial general intelligence (AGI). Part II is a history of Western thinking about the ethical and evaluative implications of human extinction. Would causing or allowing our extinction be morally right or wrong? Would our extinction be good or bad, better or worse compared to continuing to exist? For what reasons? Under which conditions? Do we have a moral obligation to create future people? Would past “progress” be rendered meaningless if humanity were to die out? Does the fact that we might be unique in the universe—the only “rational” and “moral” creatures—give us extra reason to ensure our survival? I place these questions under the umbrella of Existential Ethics, tracing the development of this field from the early 1700s through Mary Shelley’s 1826 novel The Last Man, the gloomy German pessimists of the latter 19th century, and post-World War II reflections on nuclear “omnicide,” up to current-day thinkers associated with “longtermism” and “antinatalism.” In the dissertation, I call the first history “History #1” and the second “History #2.” A main thesis of Part I is that Western thinking about human extinction can be segmented into five distinction periods, each of which corresponds to a unique “existential mood.” An existential mood arises from a particular set of answers to fundamental questions about the possibility, probability, etiology, and so on, of human extinction. I claim that the idea of human extinction first appeared among the ancient Greeks, but was eclipsed for roughly 1,500 years with the rise of Christianity. A central contention of Part II is that philosophers have thus far conflated six distinct types of “human extinction,” each of which has its own unique ethical and evaluative implications. I further contend that it is crucial to distinguish between the process or event of Going Extinct and the state or condition of Being Extinct, which one should see as orthogonal to the six types of extinction that I delineate. My aim with the second part of the book is to not only trace the history of Western thinking about the ethics of annihilation, but lay the theoretical groundwork for future research on the topic. I then outline my own views within “Existential Ethics,” which combine ideas and positions to yield a novel account of the conditions under which our extinction would be bad, and why there is a sense in which Being Extinct might be better than Being Extant, or continuing to exist

    Foreword

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    I write this foreword from the traditional lands of the Ainawan people. It is a complex region of environmental, social and cultural change that has experienced a series of recent and historical natural disasters. It is a region that inspires the multiple ways in which we can co-produce knowledge that protects, transforms, stewards and sustains

    Assessment, Diagnosis and Service Life Prediction

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    Service life prediction is crucial for the adoption of more sustainable solutions, allowing developers to optimize the costs and environmental impact of buildings during their life cycle. An accurate assessment of the service life of buildings requires a thorough understanding of the degradation mechanisms and behaviour of the construction materials. Building pathology assessment methods characterize the deterioration state of buildings, using specific measurable properties as indicators. Based on this information, different service life prediction methodologies can be defined to provide reliable data concerning the most probable failure time of whole buildings and individual components according to their characteristics and their age. This Special Issue provides new perspectives on the existing knowledge related with various aspects of the Assessment, Diagnosis and Service Life Prediction of buildings and their components. The ten original research studies published in this Special Issue result from research centres and university departments of Civil and Construction Engineering, Safety Management, Environmental Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, and Architecture and the Built Environment, with relevant contributions from experts from Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Norway, Portugal, and Taiwan. The studies included in this Special Issue address topics related to: Building pathology assessment methods; Diagnosis of defects in buildings and components; Appropriate intervention and repair techniques; Deterministic and stochastic service life prediction models
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