‘Stick them to the cross’:Anti-trafficking apps and the production of ignorance

There is a long history of ignorance production around trafficking in human beings. A proliferation of anti-trafficking apps plays an important role in the reinforcement of this ignorance. Anti-trafficking apps work in different ways to other (mis)information tools, but there is a lack of academic research on the topic. This paper addresses this gap through an agnotological approach: focusing on how ignorance is produced and becomes productive, rather than seeing ignorance as just a lack of knowledge. We investigate how anti-trafficking apps are used to manipulate (mis)understandings of and responses to human trafficking by enabling new types of awareness raising, user participation and ignorance production. The networking of ignorance that this allows – and the integration of this into new aspects of everyday life – illustrates de Goede’s (2012) warning that “the network is problematic as a security technique…because, ultimately, it has no outside” (p. 228)

Requirements Engineering

Requirements Engineering (RE) aims to ensure that systems meet the needs of their stakeholders including users, sponsors, and customers. Often consid- ered as one of the earliest activities in software engineering, it has developed into a set of activities that touch almost every step of the software development process. In this chapter, we reflect on how the need for RE was first recognised and how its foundational concepts were developed. We present the seminal papers on four main activities of the RE process, namely (i) elicitation, (ii) modelling & analysis, (iii) as- surance, and (iv) management & evolution. We also discuss some current research challenges in the area, including security requirements engineering as well as RE for mobile and ubiquitous computing. Finally, we identify some open challenges and research gaps that require further exploration

Extending the temporal context of ethnobotanical databases: the case study of the Campania region (southern Italy)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ethnobotanical studies generally describe the traditional knowledge of a territory according to a "hic et nunc" principle. The need of approaching this field also embedding historical data has been frequently acknowledged. With their long history of civilization some regions of the Mediterranean basin seem to be particularly suited for an historical approach to be adopted. Campania, a region of southern Italy, has been selected for a database implementation containing present and past information on plant uses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A relational database has been built on the basis of information gathered from different historical sources, including diaries, travel accounts, and treatises on medicinal plants, written by explorers, botanists, physicians, who travelled in Campania during the last three centuries. Moreover, ethnobotanical uses described in historical herbal collections and in Ancient and Medieval texts from the Mediterranean Region have been included in the database.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1672 different uses, ranging from medicinal, to alimentary, ceremonial, veterinary, have been recorded for 474 species listed in the data base. Information is not uniformly spread over the Campanian territory; Sannio being the most studied geographical area and Cilento the least one. About 50 plants have been continuously used in the last three centuries in the cure of the same affections. A comparison with the uses reported for the same species in Ancient treatises shows that the origin of present ethnomedicine from old learned medical doctrines needs a case-by-case confirmation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The database is flexible enough to represent a useful tool for researchers who need to store and compare present and previous ethnobotanical uses from Mediterranean Countries.</p

Educational robotics as an Innovative teaching practice using technology: minimization of risks

This research is focused on studying educational robotics, specifically robots which provide functions of educational activity. We have considered the questions of intelligent agents' behavior and have studied their educational opportunities. Educational robotics is a powerful tool of developing person's skills and abilities in various fields of technical creativity and professional activity. The evolutionary development of robotics is connected with development of artificial intelligence, where emotions play a great role in operations. Nowadays the main thing is to form the ability and skills of optimum interaction with social environment when a person, based on gained knowledge, is capable to put goals of the activity in strict accordance with laws and society conditions and using current technology

Cognitive and sociocultural aspects of robotized technology: innovative processes of adaptation

The paper dwells upon interaction between socio-cultural phenomena and cognitive characteristics of robotized technology. The interdisciplinary approach was employed in order to cast light on the manifold and multilevel identity of scientific advance in terms of robotized technology within the mental realm. Analyzing robotized technology from the viewpoint of its significance for the modern society is one of the upcoming trends in the contemporary scientific realm. The robots under production are capable of interacting with people; this results in a growing necessity for the studies on social status of robotized technological items. Socio-cultural aspect of cognitive robotized technology is reflected in the fact that the nature becomes 'aware' of itself via human brain, a human being tends to strives for perfection in their intellectual and moral dimensions

Multidisciplinary Approaches to Study Ancient Cities in a Seismic Region

The paper focuses on the strong connections between natural resources, environment, and urban development in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city of Hierapolis of Phrygia (Pamukkale, Turkey). The ancient city was founded on a travertine terrace crossed by an active fault, responsible for impressive geothermal phenomena, i.e.,flowing of thermal water, emission of gases, and frequent earthquakes, while the surrounding territory offered various stone qualities (travertine, alabaster, marbles, etc.). These environmental features affected the cultural identity of Hierapolis and its urban layout, conditioning also the construction techniques and the monumentalization of the city. In recent year, a multidisciplinary research has been performed, which saw the factual integration of archaeological, geo-archaeological, and archaeometric perspectives, in order to reconstruct how the natural resources and environmental phenomena impacted on the urban history of Hierapolis and the conservation of its monuments. The main methods for the reconstruction of the ancient landscape, the tectonic context, and the cityscape are discussed