Constructing Social Systems through Computer-Mediated Communication

The question whether computer-mediated communication can support the formation of genuine social systems is addressed in this paper. Our hypothesis, that technology creates new forms of social systems beyond real-life milieus, includes the idea that the technology itself may influence how social binding emerges within on-line environments. In real-life communities, a precondition for social coherence is the existence of social conventions. By observing interaction in virtual environments, we found the use of a range of social conventions. These results were analyzed to determine how the use and emergence of conventions might be influenced by the technology. One factor contributing to the coherence of on-line social systems, but not the only one, appears to be the degree of social presence mediated by the technology. We suggest that social systems can emerge by computer-mediated communication and are shaped by the media of the specific environment

Flora and vegetation of Papuk mt

Planina Papuk se nalazi u kontinentalnom dijelu Hrvatske na prostoru dodira Središnje i Istočne Hrvatske. Najveći dio je 23. travnja 1999. godine proglašen Parkom prirode Papuk. Zbog svoje velike georaznolikosti Park prirode Papuk postaje prvi geopark iz Hrvatske 2007. godine. Prilike staništa u području Parka prirode Papuk su vrlo složene, što se odražava i u sastavu i rasporedu šumskih zajednica na tom području. Iako šume prekrivaju najveći dio površine Papuka, veliki značaj ima i nešumska vegetacija. Najviše ugroženih i zaštićenih biljnih vrsta raste na travnjacima, uz potoke, te na drugim nešumskim površinama. Veliki dio travnjaka vrlo brzo sukcesijom prelazi u šumu ili su pretvoreni u obradive površine. Na području Papuka možemo pronaći 50 ugroženih vrsta koje većinom postižu svoj ekološki optimum. Osnovni razlozi ugroženosti flore Parka prirode Papuk su nekontrolirano sakupljanje dekorativnih vrsta i nestajanje pojedinih tipova staništa.The mountain Papuk is located in the continental part of Croatia, where Middle and East Croatia meet. The largest part of the mountain became the Nature Park Papuk on April 23rd 1999. Because of its geological variety, it became the first Geopark in Croatia in 2007. Habitats in the area of the Nature Park Papuk are complex, which can be seen in the composition and layout of forest vegetation types. Even though forests cover the most of the area, non-forest vegetation is of huge importance. Most of endangered plant species grow on grasslands, near streams and other non-forest surfaces. The greatest deal of grasslands are becoming forests or they are being turned into agricultural lands. In the area of Papuk there are 50 endangered species and most of them are reaching their ecological optimum. The main reasons why they became endangered are uncontrollable collecting of decorative species and disappearing of certain habitats

Fragmentierung und Zerfall

Die gesellschaftlichen Auswirkungen elektronischer Kommunikationsmedien werden in der Literatur höchst unterschiedlich beurteilt. Einerseits wird die Vision formuliert, derzufolge sich im Internet neue Formen von Öffentlichkeit entfalten können, somit also werden integrierende Effekte der neuen Medien prognostiziert. Andererseits werden mögliche desintegrierende und disseminierende Konsequenzen elektronischer Medien hervorgehoben, die zu einer weiteren Fragmentierung und Ausdifferenzierung von Gesellschaft führen könnten. Als zentrale Herausforderung gilt dabei allgemein, wie der Unüberschaubarkeit und Komplexität, die mit den neuen Medien einhergeht, Einhalt geboten und das Problem der Selektion und Bewertung von Information gelöst werden kann. Der folgende Beitrag ist zu verstehen als erste Skizze, mit der weniger der Anspruch erhoben wird, ein bereits ausgereiftes Argumentationsraster zu präsentieren, als vielmehr versucht wird, Anregungen für weitere Diskussionen zu geben. Die zentrale These dieser Skizze besteht darin zu unterstellen, daß die elektronischen Kommunikationsmedien zu einer Zunahme an Kontingenz führen, da kontextübergreifende,intersubjektiv tragfähige Selektions- und Bewertungskriterien in den interaktiven Kommunikationsmedien - zumindest momentan - fehlen und es somit als Folge veränderter Kommunikationsverhältnisse zu einer weiteren Ausdifferenzierung von Gesellschaft kommen kann

Sustainability Assessment: A Review of Values, Concepts, and Methodological Approaches

Issues in Agriculture no. 10 from the series "Issues in Agriculture" published by the CGIAR Secretariat

Measuring pain and nociception: Through the glasses of a computational scientist. Transdisciplinary overview of methods

In a healthy state, pain plays an important role in natural biofeedback loops and helps to detect and prevent potentially harmful stimuli and situations. However, pain can become chronic and as such a pathological condition, losing its informative and adaptive function. Efficient pain treatment remains a largely unmet clinical need. One promising route to improve the characterization of pain, and with that the potential for more effective pain therapies, is the integration of different data modalities through cutting edge computational methods. Using these methods, multiscale, complex, and network models of pain signaling can be created and utilized for the benefit of patients. Such models require collaborative work of experts from different research domains such as medicine, biology, physiology, psychology as well as mathematics and data science. Efficient work of collaborative teams requires developing of a common language and common level of understanding as a prerequisite. One of ways to meet this need is to provide easy to comprehend overviews of certain topics within the pain research domain. Here, we propose such an overview on the topic of pain assessment in humans for computational researchers. Quantifications related to pain are necessary for building computational models. However, as defined by the International Association of the Study of Pain (IASP), pain is a sensory and emotional experience and thus, it cannot be measured and quantified objectively. This results in a need for clear distinctions between nociception, pain and correlates of pain. Therefore, here we review methods to assess pain as a percept and nociception as a biological basis for this percept in humans, with the goal of creating a roadmap of modelling options

Flora and vegetation of Papuk mt

Planina Papuk se nalazi u kontinentalnom dijelu Hrvatske na prostoru dodira Središnje i Istočne Hrvatske. Najveći dio je 23. travnja 1999. godine proglašen Parkom prirode Papuk. Zbog svoje velike georaznolikosti Park prirode Papuk postaje prvi geopark iz Hrvatske 2007. godine. Prilike staništa u području Parka prirode Papuk su vrlo složene, što se odražava i u sastavu i rasporedu šumskih zajednica na tom području. Iako šume prekrivaju najveći dio površine Papuka, veliki značaj ima i nešumska vegetacija. Najviše ugroženih i zaštićenih biljnih vrsta raste na travnjacima, uz potoke, te na drugim nešumskim površinama. Veliki dio travnjaka vrlo brzo sukcesijom prelazi u šumu ili su pretvoreni u obradive površine. Na području Papuka možemo pronaći 50 ugroženih vrsta koje većinom postižu svoj ekološki optimum. Osnovni razlozi ugroženosti flore Parka prirode Papuk su nekontrolirano sakupljanje dekorativnih vrsta i nestajanje pojedinih tipova staništa.The mountain Papuk is located in the continental part of Croatia, where Middle and East Croatia meet. The largest part of the mountain became the Nature Park Papuk on April 23rd 1999. Because of its geological variety, it became the first Geopark in Croatia in 2007. Habitats in the area of the Nature Park Papuk are complex, which can be seen in the composition and layout of forest vegetation types. Even though forests cover the most of the area, non-forest vegetation is of huge importance. Most of endangered plant species grow on grasslands, near streams and other non-forest surfaces. The greatest deal of grasslands are becoming forests or they are being turned into agricultural lands. In the area of Papuk there are 50 endangered species and most of them are reaching their ecological optimum. The main reasons why they became endangered are uncontrollable collecting of decorative species and disappearing of certain habitats