This volume contains reflections by four leading sociologists on the state of the discipline in a rapidly changing world. Essays by Michael Mann, Chantal Mouffe, Göran Therborn, and Bryan S. Turner.

Why do viewers perceive and interpret visuals differently despite common perceptual and cognitive mechanisms? The article addresses a number of challenges in visual communication and underlines the need for empirical analyses from a recipient perspective. Perception and interpretation of visuals is seen as an interactive meeting between the recipient, the multimodal message and the situational con

The paper presents results of a study on the use of the NOAA AVHRR data for desertification monitoring on a regional-global level. It is based on processing of the GIMMS 8 km global NDVI data set. Time series of annual integrated NDVI and standardized annual NDVI anomalies from the 1981-2003 periodic means were compared with a corresponding rainfall data set (i.e. 1981-2003) as well as a historica

Professor Håkan Olsson, Lund has addressed the problems caused by patenting in the field of biotechnology. His article was triggered by patent protection acquired by the American company Myriad Genetics. According to HO, Myriad requires that analyses of blood to trace the occurrence of these genes should be carried out in the company’s American laboratories, at a significant cost. Profit is infrin

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Denna rapport är en litteraturstudie om trafiksäkerhetseffekter av åtgärder med avseende på cyklisters och gåendes säkerhet. Åtgärder som behandlas i denna rapport är fysiska åtgärder, samt drift- och underhållsåtgärder. Syftet med rapporten är att sammanställa empirisk kun-skap om trafiksäkerhetseffekterna av olika åtgärder för gång- och cykeltrafik. Åtgärderna delades in i tre grupper, nämligen

Popular Abstract in Swedish Avinstitutionaliseringen av den psykiatriska vården har medfört att personer med funktionshinder p.g.a. en psykisk sjukdom numera huvudsakligen bor och erbjuds vård ute i samhället. I Sverige har få systematiska studier genomförts som undersöker livssituationen för individer med en allvarlig psykisk sjukdom som bor ute i samhället. Att drabbas av en sjukdom som schizofrThis 18-month follow-up study investigated needs for care and support, quality of life and social network in individuals with schizophrenia or a schizoaffective disorder living in the community and in contact with psychiatric services. The validity of Antonovsky's sense of coherence (SOC) measure was also examined. At baseline 120 patients were interviewed and 94 of these participated in the follo