Die Grenzen aufgezeigt:Technische Innovation und räumliche Abstraktion am Beispiel früher Landkarten der Grenzregion zwischen dem Herzogtum Luxemburg und dem Kurfürstentum Trier

in Schröder, Lina; Wegewitz, Markus (Eds.) Europäische Grenzregionen. Neue Wege im Umgang mit historischen Raum- und Grenzkonzeptionen in der Geschichtswissenschaft (2023, March)

Die Ausbildung und Verfestigung der kurtrierischen und luxemburgischen Landesherrschaften war im 14. Jahrhundert weitgehend zum Abschluss gekommen. Die Transformation vom Personenverbands- zum ... [more ▼]

Die Ausbildung und Verfestigung der kurtrierischen und luxemburgischen Landesherrschaften war im 14. Jahrhundert weitgehend zum Abschluss gekommen. Die Transformation vom Personenverbands- zum Flächenstaat frühneuzeitlicher Prägung hatte die Ausbildung einer zunehmend deutlicheren Grenze zwischen beiden Territorien zur Folge. Ebenso formierte sich auch eine Grenze im Grenzraum mit Frankreich und Lothringen. Die vereinfachende Darstellung komplexer teils überlagerter Grenzzonen in Form von abstrahierenden Linien musste von den zeitgenössischen Kartographen jedoch erst noch entwickelt werden. Die älteste regionale Karte mit einer angedeuteten partiellen Grenzmarkierung stammt aus dem Jahr 1555. Eine zunehmende Professionalisierung der Kartographie gelang ab der zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts durch Landesaufnahmen, initiiert von den jeweiligen Landesherren. Die Intention der Auftraggeber war dabei ähnlich: einerseits sollte das jeweilige Territorium durch die Karte möglichst als geschlossen beherrschter Raum dargestellt werden, andererseits galt es, die bisher nur verbal beschriebenen teils strittigen Grenzen als abstrakte Linien deutlich sichtbar zu machen. Die Karten der Landesaufnahmen waren zunächst geheim, dennoch fanden sie bereits nach wenigen Jahren Eingang in die Atlanten von Ortelius, de Jode und Mercator. Diese beeinflussten wiederum die Karten der Region in den späteren Atlanten der niederländischen, französischen und süddeutschen Kartenverleger. Der Beitrag beschreibt, ab wann und in welcher Form Grenzen in frühen Karten (16.-18. Jahrhundert) dargestellt wurden. Besonders in den Blick genommen wird der Prozess der Ausbildung von Linien zur abstrakten Darstellung unklarer, teils strittiger Grenzräume sowie die zunehmende Professionalisierung und Genauigkeit in der kartographischen Darstellung durch Vermessungen im Feld. [less ▲]

Umwelt

in Suwala, Lech (Ed.) Schlüsselbegriffe der Wirtschaftsgeographie (2023)

Subjektives Wohlbefinden und akademische Leistung in der Grundschule: Längsschnittliche Befunde von der 3. bis zum 5. Klasse.

Scientific Conference (2023, February 28)

Black Luxembourg

in Kelly, Natasha A.; Vassel, Olive (Eds.) Mapping Black Europe: Monuments, Markers, Memories (2023)

This chapter addresses migrants’ associations and narratives, and landscape traces of blackness in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It fosters a critical understanding of black representations, their ... [more ▼]

This chapter addresses migrants’ associations and narratives, and landscape traces of blackness in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It fosters a critical understanding of black representations, their absences, and presences in the country. In this context, Black Lives Matter’s (BLM’) impact has manifested itself on various levels of society, from rallies gathering together large numbers of people to artistic contestation tactics and the appropriation of public spaces, the mapping of buildings with colonial links, the defacement of monuments, and the renaming of streets, to mention just a few. All this happened in the context of uncovering Luxembourg’s colonial past, which is directly connected to Belgian colonization (Moes 2012). Although the early BLM movement had already pushed bottom-up and top-down discussions on racism, no political measures had been put in place until its impact in 2020. The events of that summer were a sort of “wake-up call” and a sudden turning point, with Black people raising their voices against unequal conditions in modern postcolonial societies in Europe, including in Luxembourg. Additionally, newly created associations of People of African Descent (PAD), such as the feminist and antiracist associations Finkapé and Lëtz Rise Up, have taken the lead and intensified their antiracist activities, shifting the conversation on race and racism from folklore to activism. As a result, the silencing of the colonial past has been broken. At the European level, an earlier study entitled “Being Black in Europe” (BBE), carried out by the Fundamental Rights Agency and published in 2018, had placed Luxembourg at the top of the list of European countries where perceptions of racism are very high. The BLM movements and the BBE study have also fostered a wave of debates at conferences, including one that focused on “Being Black in Luxembourg” and prompted studies on racism, a subject that previously had not been on the country’s public radar. [less ▲]

Guidelines for Renewal and Securitization of a Critical Infrastructure based on IoT Networks

in Smart Cities (2023)

Global warming has increased uncertainty regarding managing traditional water supply systems. Unfortunately, there is a need for the smart management of water supply systems. This work aims to design a ... [more ▼]

Global warming has increased uncertainty regarding managing traditional water supply systems. Unfortunately, there is a need for the smart management of water supply systems. This work aims to design a solution for renewing and securing critical infrastructure that supplies water and provides water purification inside the range of applications of Industry 4.0 for Smart Cities. Therefore, we analyze the renewal requirements and the applicable use cases and propose a solution based on IoT networks for critical infrastructure in the urban environment. We describe the architecture of the IoT network and the specific hardware for securing a water supply and wastewater treatment chain. In addition, the water level control process for the supply chain and the system that ensures the optimal level of chemicals for wastewater treatment are detailed. Finally, we present the guidelines for infrastructure operators to carry out this operation within Industry 4.0, constituting a development framework for future research on the design of Smart Cities. [less ▲]

Cryptojacking

Article for general public (2023)

Metabolomic profiles in night shift workers: A cross-sectional study on hospital female nurses

in Frontiers in Public Health (2023)

Background and aim: Shift work, especially including night shifts, has been found associated with several diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cancers, and cardiovascular, mental, gastrointestinal and ... [more ▼]

Background and aim: Shift work, especially including night shifts, has been found associated with several diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cancers, and cardiovascular, mental, gastrointestinal and sleep disorders. Metabolomics (an omics-based methodology) may shed light on early biological alterations underlying these associations. We thus aimed to evaluate the effect of night shift work (NSW) on serum metabolites in a sample of hospital female nurses. Methods: We recruited 46 nurses currently working in NSW in Milan (Italy), matched to 51 colleagues not employed in night shifts. Participants filled in a questionnaire on demographics, lifestyle habits, personal and family health history and work, and donated a blood sample. The metabolome was evaluated through a validated targeted approach measuring 188 metabolites. Only metabolites with at least 50% observations above the detection limit were considered, after standardization and log-transformation. Associations between each metabolite and NSW were assessed applying Tobit regression models and Random Forest, a machine-learning algorithm. Results: When comparing current vs. never night shifters, we observed lower levels of 21 glycerophospholipids and 6 sphingolipids, and higher levels of serotonin (+171.0%, 95%CI: 49.1–392.7), aspartic acid (+155.8%, 95%CI: 40.8–364.7), and taurine (+182.1%, 95%CI: 67.6–374.9). The latter was higher in former vs. never night shifters too (+208.8%, 95%CI: 69.2–463.3). Tobit regression comparing ever (i.e., current + former) and never night shifters returned similar results. Years worked in night shifts did not seem to affect metabolite levels. The Random-Forest algorithm confirmed taurine and aspartic acid among the most important variables in discriminating current vs. never night shifters. Conclusions: This study, although based on a small sample size, shows altered levels of some metabolites in night shift workers. If confirmed, our results may shed light on early biological alterations that might be related to adverse health effects of NSW. [less ▲]

Digitising History From a Global Context; And What This Tells Us About Access and Inequality

in Historical Transactions - Royal Historical Society Blog (2023)

In this post we continue our series — ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ — which explores historians’ use and understanding of the digital tools and sources that shape modern research culture. The ... [more ▼]

In this post we continue our series — ‘Historical Research in the Digital Age’ — which explores historians’ use and understanding of the digital tools and sources that shape modern research culture. The series explores the impact and implications of digital resources (positive and negative) for how historians work today. In Part Five we hear from Gerben Zaagsma who is an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C²DH), University of Luxembourg. Here, Gerben explores the concept of ‘digital abundance’ in global perspective. Allocations of digital resources, and the capacity to access digital content, reflect wider divisions between Global Norths and Souths. However, as Gerben argues, the realities of digital imbalance also cut across these binary divisions. For many, a crucial impediment to research remains the lack of digital discoverability for analogue sources. Gerben also offers ways to better facilitate digital provision in the Global South and connect Northern / Southern research cultures. [less ▲]

Krich huet kee kloert Zil a wäert dofir sou laang virugoen, wéi de Putin lieft

Speeches/Talks (2023)

Dëse Krich huet kee kloert "Siegesbild" an kee kloert Zil an dofir wäert en och sou laang virugoen, wéi de Putin nach lieft. Dat fäert d'Inna Ganschow. D'Historikerin a Migratiounsfuerscherin vun der Uni ... [more ▼]

Dëse Krich huet kee kloert "Siegesbild" an kee kloert Zil an dofir wäert en och sou laang virugoen, wéi de Putin nach lieft. Dat fäert d'Inna Ganschow. D'Historikerin a Migratiounsfuerscherin vun der Uni Lëtzebuerg war en Donneschdeg de Moien eis Invitée vun der Redaktioun. [less ▲]

Nonstandard n-distances based on certain geometric constructions

in Beiträge zur Algebra und Geometrie (2023), 64(1), 107-126

The concept of n-distance was recently introduced to generalize the classical definition of distance to functions of n arguments. In this paper we investigate this concept through a number of examples ... [more ▼]

The concept of n-distance was recently introduced to generalize the classical definition of distance to functions of n arguments. In this paper we investigate this concept through a number of examples based on certain geometrical constructions. In particular, our study shows to which extent the computation of the best constant associated with an n-distance may sometimes be difficult and tricky. It also reveals that two important graph theoretical concepts, namely the total length of the Euclidean Steiner tree and the total length of the minimal spanning tree constructed on n points, are instances of n-distances. [less ▲]