Place In Scientific Research Research Articles

Carbon footprint generated by individual port websites. The missing idea in the concept of green ports

One of the objectives of European Union policy, as well as the assumptions of cooperation as part of United Nations, is to ensure sustainable development. The gradual decarbonisation of the economy is a significant element in this case. This is particularly important in transport, including maritime transport. That is why the concept of Green Ports is so important. It contains various infrastructure solutions that maximize the benefits of maritime transport while minimizing environmental damage. However, the term Green Ports is defined in the literature it is difficult to have a clear definition, a formula that defines the term and there is still a place for scientific research in this area. The purpose of the research is to analyze the assumptions of the Green Ports concept in economic terms, but also in legal terms. The authors want to focus on Internet infrastructure as a link in reducing the carbon footprint in maritime transport. For this purpose, they studied the carbon footprint generated by the websites of selected seaports (seaports considered by the Transport and Environment report (https://www.transportenvironment.org/discover/port-carbon-emissions-ranking/) the most polluting European ports and ports considered by the Leading Maritime Cities 2022 report to be the most technologically advanced (DNV, Menon Economics, 2022 https://www.dnv.com/maritime/publications/leading-maritime-cities-of-the-world-2022.html). Both at the United Nations and at the level of organizations of a regional nature (such as the European Union), the use of new technologies is closely linked to economic development or social progress. For example, access to the Internet has been recognized by the United Nations General Assembly as a human right. This is because it has been recognized that the Internet provides an opportunity to realize other rights, such as freedom of expression, the right to information, and education. However, there are also risks associated with the use of new technologies, if only in terms of the right to privacy, intellectual property, security or a clean environment. According to the authors, far less attention is paid to the risks than to the benefits. That’s why it’s worth building awareness to prevent harm rather than repair it. An important aspect of the research is to show that websites consume large amounts of energy. In addition, they have a negative impact on the environment, influencing the production of a significant amount of carbon dioxide. The main finding from the empirical part is that there is a certain relationship between the generation of CO2 by the ports and the “cleanliness” of their websites.

Design, synthesis, and applications of ring-functionalized histidines in peptide-based medicinal chemistry and drug discovery.

Modified and synthetic α-amino acids are known to show diverse applications. Histidine, which possesses numerous applications when subjected to synthetic modifications, is one such amino acid. The utility of modified histidines varies widely from remarkable biological activities to catalysis, and from nanotechnology to polymer chemistry. This renders histidine residue an important place in scientific research. Histidine is a well-studied scaffold and constitutes the active site of various enzymes catalyzing important reactions in the biological systems. A rational modification in histidine structure with a distinctly developed protocol extensively changes its physical and chemical properties. The utilization of modified histidines in search of potent, target selective and proteostable scaffolds is vital in the development of bioactive peptides with enhanced drug-likeliness. This review is a compilation and analysis of reported side-chain ring modifications at histidine followed by applications of ring-modified histidines in the synthesis of various categories of bioactive peptides and peptidomimetics.

Development and strengthening of educational potential in the field of fisheries at the K.I. Skryabin Kyrgyz national agrarian university

The Kyrgyz National Agrarian University named after K.I. Scriabin has created an educational and practical base for university, college students, as well as for training fish farmers from the private sector of aquaculture. The demonstration fishery is a place for scientific research and short-term courses for farmers. Teachers of KNAU together with teachers of the University of Eastern Finland have prepared educational and methodological complexes and other educational materials. The first stage of the FishEDU project was the training of teachers in fisheries disciplines. The training was conducted in Kyrgyzstan by international-level teachers, as well as foreign experts. All teachers and trainers have been trained in the fisheries of Kyrgyzstan and Finland. On the basis of KNAU, an electronic library, a laboratory for water research and a kitchen for making fish dishes are organized for students and farmers. At the second stage, a demonstration fish farm was built on the territory of KNAU, consisting of two blocks of trout and carp. Trout are grown in plastic pools, and 1 pond with a geomembrane is equipped for keeping carp. Water from the well enters the intake system, is degassed from underground nitrogen, and is saturated with oxygen. Having studied the local reservoirs of Kyrgyzstan, the stocking was carried out safely. Thus, the demonstration fish farm was built thanks to the hard work of KNAU employees and UVF representatives.

Professional Burnout and Its Effect on the Work of Teachers

This article discusses the phenomenon of burnout and its impact on teachers and their work. Although burnout has been increasingly receiving more attention in the scientific field, it is a matter of great importance to many different professions. It is a well-known fact that burnout is strongly present in a profession of high societal importance, such as teaching. For this reason, burnout among school teachers is a relevant problem and is taking an important place in scientific research regarding the efficacy of teachers' work. The main effects of professional burnout on the psychological well-being of teachers have also been outlined in this article.

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW ON ZERO WASTE CONCEPT

The disposal of wastes without being evaluated in the recycling and recovery process causes serious resource losses in terms of both material and energy. While the population and living standards in the world increase, there is an inevitable increase in consumption, which increases the pressure on our natural resources and disrupts the balance of the world, and our limited resources cannot keep up with the increasing needs. Considering this situation, the importance of efficient use of natural resources becomes even more evident. For this reason, zero waste implementation studies have become widespread both individually and institutionally all over the world in recent years. The concept of zero waste has begun to take its place in scientific research. Researchers primarily used definitions and explanations and added current examples to their scientific studies in order to place the concept in repertoires and raise awareness. This scientific study emerged in order to analyze the content of the studies on the concept of "zero waste" in the literature. The study, which was carried out with the qualitative method, was analyzed by content analysis, and the findings were presented in tables.

Poetic and Artistic Aspects of Digital Fabrication in Architecture

New production techniques and digital design tools allow new possibilities in architecture and digital fabrication laboratories provide an environment for these new opportunities. In addition to its potential in terms of science and technology, digital fabrication creates many opportunities for artistic aspects of architecture. Therefore we aimed to make a theoretical discussion and try to provide a new perspective for an evaluation of the phenomenon in the context of artistic and poetic aspects. From this perspective, to clarify the artistic aspects of architecture in the context of digital fabrication technologies and to understand how the subject is covered in the literature clearly, a comprehensive literature review has been made. Initially, the literature review was limited to the themes of digital fabrication and architecture to extract from out-of-context articles and 197 peer review journals written in the last 10 years were examined. Then, a pre-coding schema was prepared from two authors and extended after a detail literature review. The extended coding schema was grouped in terms of their semantic distance and these groups were used to make an assumption about papers. The software MAXQDA, which is commonly used in the social science, assist us to identify the semantic codes related to the research context without any omission. Articles were investigated with the keywords created after precoding. The remaining 51 articles on the field of Architecture were analysed through these codes. Our aim is not to prove if there is sufficient paper that discuss the artistic aspects of digital fabrication. However this methodology helps us to understand the focus of the papers and the tendencies as an approach in this context. In general, the subject of digital fabrication in architecture is studied more about materials, structures, processes, technology and how to use digital fabrication tools instead of why it was examined in the literature. From perspective of artistic dimension, the reviewed papers mainly emphasize ‘characteristic, identity, variety, style, concept, customization, subjective, subjectivity, formal, composition, tectonic, geometry, form’. On the other hand, ‘aesthetic, beauty, expression, art, stereotomy, craft, artifact, are less discusses codes. Words directly related to art and craft are not discussed in the articles and there is less discussion on the aesthetic values of digital fabrication. ‘Sense, experience, perception, intuition’ are also less discussed codes even if these are strong relationship with architectural context. Although not included in the academic literature, the issue of digital fabrication has begun to be discussed in the context of experience, through art installations in 1:1 scale produced by digital fabrication tools. In a nutshell, the issue of art is at least as valuable as the most frequently asked question of how in digital fabrication, and this aspect should be given more place in scientific research.

On the Peculiarities of Political Media Communications in the Digital Age

Political processes in the modern world cannot be considered in isolation from the mass media, the role and importance of which are indisputable. In this regard, the topic of mediatization of the political sphere has taken an important place in scientific research, which analyzes the problems of interaction of politics with information and communication channels. The expansion of the networks and the improvement of information and communication technologies open up prospects for a higher level of integration of politics and mass media. The arsenal of this integration is being replenished with new ways and forms of interaction that strengthen the mutual influence of mass media and politics. This process is further enhanced by new media, such as social networks, the blogosphere, podcasts, which are beginning to play an important communicative role in society. The mediatization of politics in the digital age leads to the ordering of information by group interests, acts as a filter on the way of spreading unacceptable information. It creates a space where the audience receives information about politics in an adapted form, with symbols, etc. Thus, political media communications in the digital age do not only record and analyze political processes, but also directly affect them. These channels play an important role in the process of political socialization of the individual, in the formation of public opinion regarding the events of the political life of society, which actualizes the study of problems in the field of interaction between politics and mass media.

Sustainable Fashion as a Research Object in Foreign Scientific Literature

The concept of sustainability in fashion, having been developed on the basis of ecodesign concepts, takes an important place in scientific research all over the world. The aim of study is to analize and summarise foreign scientific researches about sustainability in fashion. The results were achieved by using methods of sources analysis, which refer to different research fields, in the context of sustainable fashion and their further synthesis according to areas. The main directions of research in each area were identified and summarized in the conclusions.
 There were considered basic concept definitions – sustainable fashion and the principles of sustainable design, which are used in modern scientific works of foreign researchers. The analysis of foreign scientific sources in the context of sustainable fashion was provided in areas of: economics, marketing, management; sociology and psychology of consumer behavior; ecology; technologies based on the principles of sustainable design; design; aesthetics and art history; education; legislation; information technology. The scientific value of study. For the first time the systematization of foreign research in the context of sustainable fashion was carried out. The conclusions are given after the analysis of each area, underlining the main directions of foreign scientists` research.
 Conclusions. Researchers from all over the world pay attention to the issues of sustainable fashion and explore problems of the integration of sustainable fashion into everyday life. Sustainable fashion sets up new values that actualize the issues of aesthetics of sustainable fashion in the theory of art history and design practice. However, it should be noted that the analized scientific works concerning fashion design in the context of sustainable fashion, do not reveal aspects of design related to the creative process and aesthetic perception. Sustainable fashion needs changes of existing design tools in the context of sustainable design principles. Therefore, there is a need for their further study.

Étude de l’activité antioxydante et détermination des teneurs en éléments minéraux des feuilles et fleurs de Ziziphus mauritiana lam

In Senegal, like almost everywhere in Africa, the majority of the population uses medicinal plants for treatment. Thus, medicinal plants occupy an important place in scientific research. The objective of this study is to contribute to the valorization of Z. mauritiana through the study of the antioxidant capacity and its nutritional composition. The leaf extract showed greater antioxidant capacity. It presented the lowest IC50 which are 40.5049 ± 0.0313 and 44.3500 ± 0.0412 μg/ml respectively for the inhibition of DPPH and ABTS radicals. The flower extract presented an IC50 of 715.4129 ± 0.0221 μg/ml with DPPH and IC50 of 80.9238 ± 0.01212 μg/ml with ABTS. The water content in the flowers is slightly higher than the leaves, respectively 9.6095 ± 0.0233 g/100g and 9.4400 ± 0.4511 g/100g. The ash content in the leaves was significantly higher than in the flowers (respectively 9,954 g/100g and 8,621 g/100g). The leaves contained respectively 4.3765 ± 0.0445; 4.1750 ± 0.6466; 284.0000 ± 0.5204; 19.9500 ± 1.2413; 65.9012 ± 1.5366; 65.5000 ± 0.6765 and 2.1170 ± 0.0076 g/100g of zinc, iron, magnesium, copper, potassium, calcium and sodium. The composition of flowers in the same order was 4.0660 ± 0.0701; 4.2500 ± 0.4543; 322.5000 ± 2.4149; 21.4250 ± 0.6495; 80.3750 ± 1.9211 and 62.7250 ± 1.1669 g/100g. The leaves and flowers of Ziziphus mauritiana lam. contain minerals and are a potential source of natural antioxidants. It could be beneficial in the prevention of degenerative diseases linked to oxidative stress.

Реформаційна проблематика в наукових працях викладачів кафедри теорії держави та права Національної академії внутрішніх справ

The purpose of the scientific article is to study, generalize and systematize the reformation issues in the scientific works of lecturer of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs as a priority of research work of this unit and an important component of historiography of legal reform. The methodological basis of scientific research is a set of philosophical, philosophical and scientific principles, principles of scientific knowledge, methodological approaches, general methods of thinking, philosophical, general and specific scientific methods, the use of which provided validity and reliability of research results and promising vectors development of the problems of reforms, their various images, dimensions and aspects in the scientific achievements of the staff of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. The scientific novelty of the publication is the first time, processed, summarized and systematized reformation issues in scientific studies lecturer of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs of various historical generations and proved that it is a priority vector research of this unit and important component of the historiography of legal reform; improved the characteristics of the content and features of research work of the department of higher education and its importance in the implementation of the tasks of modern higher education; scientific ideas about the state and main directions of research work of the Department of Theory of State and Law through the prism of the century-old progress of the National Academy of Internal Affairs were further developed. The conclusions of the scientific article are as follows: research work of the department of higher education is one of the key areas of its activities, as the department is not just a certain number of research and teaching staff, but rather learning style, atmosphere of knowledge, motivational field scientific understanding of reality, the place of scientific research. The research work of the department is one of the leading activities of scientific and pedagogical workers of the institution of higher education, which is aimed at cognition and transformation of the surrounding reality with the help of scientific tools. The formation of research potential of the Department of Theory of State and Law is directly and inextricably linked with the formation and centuries-old progress of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. The main vectors of scientific research of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs in recent years include: current issues of origin, development and functioning of the state and law, as well as other related phenomena and processes of social reality; problems of human rights and the mechanism of their provision; theoretical and methodological principles of legal activity and prospects of its development; issues of legal comparative studies as a modern stage in the genesis of comparative jurisprudence; problems of national, civil and information security of Ukraine, etc. At the same time, life puts on the agenda a number of new issues that require doctrinal understanding, including fundamental and applied issues related to significant transformations, progressive changes in social relations and covered by the reformation issues. The latter occupies a prominent place in the scientific achievements of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs of different historical generations, and their subject, mostly state and legal, orientation is due to areas of knowledge and specialties in which educational activities are carried out traditions and schools that have developed and are developing in the academy. Scientific works of teachers of the Department of Theory of State and Law of the National Academy of Internal Affairs, devoted to the reform of state and legal phenomena and processes, are an important component of the historiography of legal reform. Keywords: reform; reformation issues; legal reform; historiography; National Academy of Internal Affairs; Department of Theory of State and Law.

ON THE ISSUE ABOUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NARRATIVE ADVERTISING IN POPULAR SCIENCE JOURNALS

The issue of studying the effectiveness of advertising in popular science journals does not occupy a large place in scientific research. This state of affairs is challenging, since the activities of popular science journals are aimed at attracting the attention and interest of young people, creative and active potential, to science issues. The effectiveness of narrative advertising as a social-psychological communication technology has been examined in the article. The research has been carried out within the framework of a semiotic approach. The results of the research of narrative advertising texts, in which young people engaged in scientific activities and young people whose professional functionality is not related to scientific research took part, have been described. The toolkit used made it possible to identify differences between the perception of narrative advertising texts by two groups of respondents and also similar trends in the perception of texts, which suggests a possibility of developing an effective advertising strategy for promoting a popular science magazine. The research results may be of interest for professionals working in the field of advertising, especially in the field of advertising of intellectual services.

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of insular environments: the 1st Summer School on Geomorphology, Ecology, and Marine Biology in the Tremiti Islands (Southern Adriatic Sea, Puglia, Italy)

ABSTRACT This paper is the outcome of the 1st Summer School on Geomorphology, Ecology, and Marine Biology in insular environments, focused on the advanced and multidisciplinary methods for the scientific investigation of marine coastal areas. It was held at Tremiti Islands, a significant laboratory for geomorphological, biological, and ecological studies because of its dynamic interaction between geodiversity and biodiversity, which makes it an ideal place for scientific research and geotourism. Landscape information was collected during field trips, while practical activities were finalized to sampling sediments and data collection of hard bottom assemblages. The map is the result of a multidisciplinary analysis incorporating geomorphological field observations and advanced methods applicable for ecological and environmental research, supported by scientific diving. This work represents a useful tool for the dissemination of environmental knowledge of the area and for understanding the relationships between landscape and natural heritage through modern and environmentally aware tourism.

In search of better science: on the epistemic costs of systematic reviews and the need for a pluralistic stance to literature search

This paper reviews the current status of academic search engines and emerging trends in scientific information retrieval and argues for two key claims. First, since systematic searches rely on the widespread use of academic search engines and the latter are generally not powered by cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI) and not well-positioned to further the goals of findability and discoverability, there are some non-trivial epistemic costs associated with the tradition of systematic search. Second, while narrative reviews are typically criticized because of their lack of transparency, accountability, and reproducibility, they do deserve a place in scientific research. Specifically, once narrative reviews are properly understood as enabled by modern tools such as non-academic search engines, AI-powered recommender systems and academic social networks, it is possible to appreciate how these can indeed further the goal of literature discoverability. The upshot of this piece is that there are multiple goals and trade-offs involved in the process of scientific document search and that we should acknowledge virtues and limitations of different approaches to information retrieval and be prepared to welcome their combined use.

Implementation of High Order QAM Modulation on SDR

Nowadays, SDR (software-defined radio) has increasingly occupied a place in scientific research and teaching with its powerful signal processing capability and custom ability. XSRP is a development platform which uses an SDR architecture. In this paper, we develop a wireless real-time audio transmission system with high order modulation (64QAM) based on XSRP platform. We use LabVIEW and MATLAB to write the program’s overall framework and functions. We also analyse the performance of different modulation modes by comparing the constellations and waveforms of the transmitter and receiver under the real situation. The results show that high order QAM modulation achieves a good balance between efficiency and quality.

МІСЦЕ ТА РОЛЬ НАУКОВИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕНЬ У ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННІ ОСВІТНЬОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ВИЩОГО ВІЙСЬКОВОГО НАВЧАЛЬНОГО ЗАКЛАДУ ТЕХНІЧНОГО ПРОФІЛЮ ПІДГОТОВКИ

Introduction. Military higher education institutions (HEI) of technical profile feel necessity in scientific research to satisfy a row of interconnected needs of military education. In available resources, publications revealing questions of organizing scientific research for satisfying needs of military education in Ukraine and higher educational institutions of technical profile were not found.Purpose. To determine the place and role (including possible variants of usage) of scientific research in supplying the educational activities in military HEI.Methods. The method of analysis and synthesis and the method of expert evaluations are used.Results. While determining the place and role of scientific research in supplying the educational activities in military HEI:importance of scientific research in solving problems considering management of educational activities and teaching academic disciplines in military HEI was proved;place of scientific research in organization of educational process was determined;attention on the role of scientific research in actualization of educational content and development of lecturers and researchers was paid.In order to solve the problems in organization of scientific research for the interests of military HEI, a perspective model for organizing the scientific support of educational activities in military HEI has been developed. It defines: structural elements (subjects of scientific support, structural units in which they are administratively united, directorate of military HEI), their tasks and the way of interaction during the ordering, execution, acceptance of scientific researches and implementation of scientific results.Originality. A model for organizing the scientific support of educational activities in military HEI was first proposed.Conclusion. Up to now, guideline documents do not define a model of conducting research projects to meet needs of educational activities of military HEI of Armed Forces of Ukraine. Perspective of further research is creation of mechanism of conducting scientific research to supply functioning and development of system of military education in general and educational activities of HEI of technical profile in particular.

Culture in the Digital Civilization: A New Stage in Understanding the Future Strategy for Sustainable Development

The current situation is determined by a plurality of uncertainties of social, economic, environmental and technological nature, which cause instability of development and form a new stage of social development conventionally called digital civi­lization. The ambiguity of interpretation of this term is also reflected in its derivatives, and this fully applies to the concept of digital economy.Development of the digital infrastructure, transition to the network principles of communication, and personalization of the Internet, are the factors that change the ethical principles and foundations of social and cultural interaction. The issue of individual and collective cultural practices and behavior models based on the new hierarchy of values is of particular relevance in social and humanitarian knowledge. In the information society, the dramatization of trust and the vulnerability of freedom testify to the society’s transition to a new quality — “normal anomie”.Basing on the analysis of scientific projects, documents, some forecasts and development scenarios of the digital economy and its social consequences, this study aims to trace the reflection of the relationship between the digital economy and culture, and to identify the ways that reflect the inclusion of culture in digital economy development programs. In this case, culture can be considered in the context of these programs as an element of infrastructure, and an institutional contour, representing a part of human and technological capital.The authors’ ideas are concentrated around the search for the grounds of the transformational changes taking place in scientific research, educational and cultural practices that have potential to form a sustainable cultural context of the digital civilization, which will be supported in order to prevent the pressure of the processes generated by technology that lead to “dehumanization” of development.The applied part of the study reveals one aspect of “digital culture” — its ability to saturate network multimedia spaces with meanings and values. This increases the requirements for the quality of information on open national cultural resources — websites of libraries, cultural and recreational centers, museums, departmental portals.The article pays special attention to the analysis of consistency of the tasks on scientific-technical and technological “breakthrough” with the humanistic values of development at the initial stage of implementation of the project of “digital economy of Russia”. These transformations require community to formulate a clear and intelligible position on the humanistic imperative of developing the digital economy and digital civilization in Russia and the world. At this stage, it is still possible to identify what kind of adjustment this project needs, partial or thorough, in order to avoid ending up in a situation of value-semantic chaos, losing the main thing — socio-cultural human component of the next stage of epochal changes. There is a need for a public examination of the Digital Economy Development Program in Russia, and more coordinated, targeted civil society activities to preserve cultural and human capital.

Connecting the lab, down to the pipette

In a reflection of the transformation taking place in scientific research, Analytica, Germany’s huge, biennial lab instrument show, is no longer just about the latest lab hardware; it’s become a software expo too. Yes, the show’s halls are still full of shiny new instruments with world-record capabilities, but many now come with touch screens and Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity. If Analytica’s exhibitors have their way, labs where even the fridges are generating data will soon be the norm. More than 35,000 visitors made the journey to pack Analytica’s huge exhibition halls and conference rooms in sun-drenched Munich earlier this month. It’s a good place for lab managers to scope out whether, among other things, they need to buy in to the idea of the connected lab, even for the most mundane equipment. The pitch from hardware manufacturers at Analytica was that digitally connected equipment has a host of advantages. It

Method of mathematical modeling in the meliorative geography and recreation

The actuality of the problem is determined by dependence of agriculture on the natural factors, and in particular, on the weather-climate conditions. All components of natural-agromeliorative systems and in particular hydrometeorological factors take an active part in the formation of agricultural crops. When solving these questions, it is necessary to have an objective estimation of the influence of the different factors including weather and climate on the level of agricultural production. This will allow us to determine contribution of various indicators of agro-meteorological conditions in the estimation of cereal harvest more reasonably. In this connection, the research of the weather-climatic conditions influence on the vegetation of agricultural crops in general and in the conditions of grain farming development in Kharkiv region, in particular.The method of mathematical modeling was chosen to study the problems formulated in the work. The study of the phenomena of nature and human activity without the use of mathematical methods is considered one-sided, because it does not take into account one of the important aspects of any study - the side of quantitative relationships and appropriateness. The result of the research is an analysis of statistical indicators of agricultural crops harvest and hydrometeorological conditions in Kharkiv region during the period 1972-2016.Having analyzed these indicators, we have determined that the quantitative dependence of the crop on the number of dry days is a complex nonlinear multi-parameter. At the same time, close connection between the harvest of corn and sugar beets with weather conditions was very significant, as indicated by the large correlation coefficient between them, which is equal to 0.87-0.90.We have worked out a hypothesis about the form of functional dependence between these components. Using method of mathematical modeling to analyze the spatio-temporal structure of natural-anthropogenic phenomenon development allows us to unify the hydrometeorological characteristics, and it can be used in different fields of science, in particular, in recreational geography.It is noted that recreational geography is the newest branch of knowledge, where mathematical methods occupy an important place in scientific research. The model of the natural-recreational system is proposed in the work. This allows us to introduce a complex study of interdisciplinary connections of investigated objects. The feature of the model is in the fact that it allows to cover all levels of the systems development from planning, designing and creating recreational systems, to estimation and forecast of their functioning.The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the extended concept of the natural-recreational system is formulated, and the principles and methods of research, in particular, the method of mathematical modeling, allow us to consider the system as a holistic natural-anthropogy of formation. The methodical approach provides the interdisciplinary level of research of the natural-recreational system. It is possible to study the systemic nature of the system components connections.The practical value of the work focuses on the agricultural sector. The discovery of quantitative estimation of crops harvest dependence on weather factors allows us to calculate crop yields in each particular case. This technique can form the basis for forecasting crop yields.

Social Science Methods for Psychodynamic Inquiry: The Unconscious on the World Scene by William R. Meyers

Reviewed by: Social Science Methods for Psychodynamic Inquiry: The Unconscious on the World Scene by William R. Meyers Steffen Krüger (bio) Social Science Methods for Psychodynamic Inquiry: The Unconscious on the World Scene. William R. Meyers. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015. 253 pp. This book is conceived as a guidebook and toolbox, a "how-to" manual for inquiries into the psychodynamics of world politics. Offering small and easily accessible subchapters, Meyers outlines different methodological approaches to integrating social scientific and psychoanalytic viewpoints with the aim of shedding light on non-rational and bizarre aspects of world politics. With clinical and counseling psychologists and social and political scientists as the intended audience (pp. 1–2), Meyers is aware of the challenges inherent in the task of sensitizing readers to the workings of the unconscious in the socio-cultural field. Large parts of his audience will have grown up on a cognitive, positivistic academic diet that has fostered a skeptical attitude towards psychoanalysis and its place in scientific research. When Meyers writes that "[m]any people greet the idea of unconscious mental processes with intense skepticism and even with outright rejection" (p. 62), he seems to have at least one eye on his own audience. Thus, one of his main concerns throughout is to demonstrate the usefulness of psychodynamic research for the study of world politics. In this respect, concerns for meeting the standards of established social science take center stage, and testability and replication become important criteria for evaluating the success of integrating psychodynamic and social research. The ultimate goal is to give "the reader an understanding of the generality of the phenomena found" (p. 88). Indeed, Meyers's requirements of testability and generality extend to the unconscious itself. After presenting various theories of unconscious mental life (Sigmund Freud's, Anna Freud's, ego-psychological, Lacanian, Žižekian), the author summarizes: "Each of these conceptions of the unconscious, when confronted with a seemingly irrational political/social event, may yield a different interpretation of that event. But what is key is that each of these interpretations is very likely to be testable" (p. 15). Indeed, Meyers handles the testing of [End Page 248] the accuracy of psychodynamic findings with great caution. The tests remain focused on specific historical cases, and while generality remains his goal, Meyers is careful not to abstract findings from one case and transfer them broadly to other historical scenarios. There is much to admire in this book and ample evidence of Meyers's sophistication and long-standing experience as a versatile scientist. One of his key phrases, "We don't know until we look" (p. 7), refers implicitly to the application of evenly hovering attention and empathic understanding, the crucial psychoanalytic technique that Meyers defines as central to interpreting empirical material (p. 30). His acknowledgment of Frankfurt School philosophy testifies to the social engagement at the root of Meyers's scientific endeavors: "Social scientists…know something has gone wrong (e.g. racism, sexism, absurdly skewed distribution of income and wealth, and threats from climate change), and in that sense they are at one with the 'critical theorists,' although this fact is not openly acknowledged" (p. 20). Furthermore, Meyers demonstrates the willingness and ability to work with concepts such as mentalization, perspectival thought, and theory of mind across various disciplinary divides (pp. 25ff). Even his attempts to measure and test the accuracy of empathic understanding, about which I have certain reservations, are intriguing in their willingness to approach psychodynamic issues from a scientific perspective, especially as science usually keeps a safe distance from such matters (pp. 31ff). Ultimately, the variety of mixed-method designs that Meyers suggests for coordinating qualitative and quantitative methods in psychodynamic research is impressively creative and inspiring. In the early introductory part of his book, Meyers showcases his broad methodological scope and sophistication. For example, his examination of the incidence of lethal neglect of infants in orphanages in Ireland demonstrates in a compressed way the multiperspectival approach that he considers essential to understanding such cases. Writing that "there may be evidence for the characterization of the infants as 'children of Satan'" (p. 6), he explains that such terminology should trigger inquiry: [End Page 249...

Mothers’ Experiences of Children in the Autistic Spectrum in Greece: Narratives of Development, Education and Disability Across their Blogs

Autism occupies a prominent place in scientific research both as a medical and as a socio-cultural phenomenon. Autism is studied as a disorder and a diagnostic label, as an experience of people with autism, their parents and their supporters, and finally as a disability related to stigma and rejection. The purpose of this article is to describe the posted experiences on personal blogs of five mothers who have school-aged children in the autistic spectrum in Greece. The qualitative method of content analysis is used for analysing the personal narratives across their blogs because this method focuses on describing and understanding the presented experiences and acknowledges the central role of the researcher in describing and signifying the issues discussed. The results of the content analysis show that the mothers seem to view autism through a developmental perspective and as they lead efforts for their child’s developmental timeline they are worried about their child’s developmental course and tend to experience high levels of anxiety, depression and burnout. The mothers act as practical scientists and co-therapists, taking an active role in educating and raising their children, finding a school and selecting appropriate interventions. The mothers struggle to obtain quality in education and services, while faced with the absence of technical infrastructure and understaffing in schools, lack of funding, covert or overt practices of acceptance and rejection of people with disabilities in the educational system, the attitudes and ignorance of some educators, and the high cost of private services. These mothers, at first, view autism as a tragedy and within their social environment they face covert or overt rejection since their children are stigmatised as “abnormal”. Later on, the mothers accept their child’s disability as a prerequisite for gaining a new life experience. It seems that the mothers have a mixed perception of disability, which sometimes tends to be closer to the medical model, sometimes to the hybrid model, while other times to the social model of disability.