String Theory and Fundamental Interactions : Gabriele Veneziano and Theoretical Physics : Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Examines the many ramifications this and similar early work has spawned over the past decades and the reader will find state-of-the art tutorial reviews on string cosmology, string dualities and symmetries, and much more. The book includes a concise updated scientific biography of, and an interview with, Prof. Veneziano, in which he relates his personal views about the present and future of fundamental physics.
Strategy, Structure and Performance in a Transition Economy : An Institutional Perspective on Configurations in Russia
Being one of the biggest transition markets, Russia plays an increasing role within the global economy. Non-Russian firms are expanding into Russia in order to exploit the abundant growth opportunities. Simultaneously they face stronger competition in their home markets due to the entrance of global Russian players which try to explore opportunities abroad.Based on the results of 177 survey responses, Tobias Weigl shows that the simple transfer of managerial and organizational skills, techniques, values and culture from developed countries to Russia is a false assumption among academics and practitioners. While executives from developed markets are driven by a rational economic model, which includes objective rules and arm’s length transaction structures, successful businesses in Russia need to incorporate the remaining influence of collectivism, paternalism and ‘blat’. Thus, successfully conducting business in Russia is based on network capitalism and relationships that co-exist within the pervasive environment of the Russian state.
Strategy and Governance of Networks : Cooperatives, Franchising, and Strategic Alliances
The book emphasizes research in economics and management of networks as an interdisciplinary field by offering new theoretical perspectives and presenting new empirical results on strategic and governance structure issues in cooperatives, franchising networks, alliances, joint ventures and venture capital relations. The authors apply different theoretical views on networks, such as transaction cost theory, property rights theory, resource- and knowledge-based theory, evolutionary theory, information richness theory and social exchange theory.
Strategic Trading in Illiquid Markets
The Area of Research and the Object of Investigation In this thesis we will investigate trading strategies in illiquid markets from a market microstructure perspective. Market microstructure is the academic term for the branch of financial economics that investigates trading and the organization of security markets, Historically, exchanges evolved as a location, where those interested in buy ing or selling securities could meet physically to transact. Thus, traditionally security trading was organized on exchange floors, where so-called dealers arranged all trades and provided liquidity by quoting prices at which they were willing buy or sell. Consequently, the initial surge of the market mi crostructure literature focused predominantly on this type of market design, which is often referred to as quote-driven. Nowadays, the interest is shifting towards order-driven markets. Beginning with the Toronto Stock Exchange in the mid 1970s and increasing in fre quency and scope, this market structure has emerged as the preeminent form of security trading worldwide. In order-driven markets, exchanges arrange trades by matching public orders, often by employing automatic execution systems. Introduction A major difference between a quote-driven and an order-driven market arises from the transparency pre- and post-trade.
Strategic leadership for business value creation : Principles and case studies
Focuses on leadership and strategy, corporate governance, operational excellence, and corporate social responsibility. In doing so, it offers both conceptual perspectives and case studies on these topics that are targeted at business executives who want to develop and mature towards being successful value creators in their leadership roles.
Strategic human resource management and employment relations : An international perspective
Analyses a collection of key strategic human resource management (HRM) and employment relations (ER) topics. The first part of the book provides a very focussed research commentary highlighting the key theoretical approaches in HRM and ER. The second part offers details of the design and implementation of strategic HRM and ER practices. The third part features a selection of contemporary research-based case studies that bring to life the debates and tensions inherent in the field of strategic HRM and ER.
Strategic entrepreneurship : Perspectives on dynamics, theories, and practices
Provides an introduction to the theories of strategic entrepreneurship and accounts of their real-world applications in the entrepreneurial sector. The book is divided into three parts. Chapters in Part I discuss strategic entrepreneurship dynamics and mechanisms. Chapters in Part II focus on strategic entrepreneurship concepts and theories. Chapters in Part III provide global examples of strategic entrepreneurship practices in action.
Strategic Competition in Oligopolies with Fluctuating Demand
Dynamic oligopolistic competition has implications both for the strategic management of firms and for the design of an effective competition policy. Consequently, the present book considers the issue from a private and social perspective. It discusses the potential pro- and anticollusive effects of long-term business strategies, especially for cooperation and reinvestment in production, financing and management compensation, in markets with fluctuating demand.
Stochastics of Environmental and Financial Economics : Centre of Advanced Study, Oslo, Norway, 2014-2015
These Proceedings offer a selection of peer-reviewed research and survey papers by some of the foremost international researchers in the fields of finance, energy, stochastics and risk, who present their latest findings on topical problems. The papers cover the areas of stochastic modeling in energy and financial markets; risk management with environmental factors from a stochastic control perspective; and valuation and hedging of derivatives in markets dominated by renewables, all of which further develop the theory of stochastic analysis and mathematical finance.
Sterile Insect Technique : Principles and Practice in Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management
The sterile insect technique (SIT) is an environment-friendly method of pest control that integrates well into area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes. A first of its kind, this book takes a generic, comprehensive, and global approach in describing the principles and practice of the SIT. The strengths and weaknesses, and successes and failures, of the SIT are evaluated openly and fairly from a scientific perspective. The SIT is applicable to some major pests of plant, animal and human health importance, and criteria are provided to guide in the selection of pests appropriate for the SIT. A great variety of subjects are covered, from the history of the SIT to improved prospects for its future application. The major chapters discuss the principles, technical components, and application of sterile insects. The four main strategic options in using the SIT — suppression, containment, prevention, and eradication — with examples of each option, are described in detail. Other chapters deal with supportive technologies, economic, environmental, and management considerations, and the socio-economic impact of AW-IPM programmes that integrate the SIT.
Stem Cells, Human Embryos and Ethics : Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Is it acceptable from an ethical point of view to use stem cells from human embryos for scientific research and clinical therapy? And what are the weaknesses and strengths of various opinions and positions when they are critically evaluated? These are the main problems dealt with in this book. The various chapters as a whole give a comprehensive, many-sided and balanced discussion of the subject. The book contains contributions from biological, medical, social, political, philosophical and theological perspectives.
Stem Cells in Reproduction and in the Brain
Recently, expectations of the potential of regenerative medicine have risen because of the exciting results obtained in various areas of research. This book contains contributions from leading researchers in the field who describe their successes and the problems that remain in converting the hopes into concrete therapies. The focus of the book is on the role of stem cells in two main areas -- reproduction and the brain -- described from molecular, cellular, in vivo and clinical perspectives.
Statistical Methods for Human Rights
Human rights issues are shaping the modern world. They define the expectations by which nations are judged and affect the policy of governments, corporations, and foundations. They have set the agenda in prosecutions at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, funding decisions by the International Monetary Fund, and corporate expansion programs by multinationals. Statistics is central to the modern perspective on human rights. It allows researchers to measure the effect of health care policies, the penetration of educational opportunity, and progress towards gender equality. The new wave of entrepreneurial charities demands impact assessments and documentation of milestone achievement. Non-governmental organizations need statistics to build cases, conduct surveys, and target their efforts.
Statistical Learning from a Regression Perspective
Statistical Learning from a Regression Perspective considers statistical learning applications when interest centers on the conditional distribution of the response variable, given a set of predictors, and when it is important to characterize how the predictors are related to the response. As a first approximation, this is can be seen as an extension of nonparametric regression. Among the statistical learning procedures examined are bagging, random forests, boosting, and support vector machines. Response variables may be quantitative or categorical.
Stable Isotope Ecology
The book approaches the use of isotopes from the perspective of ecological and biological research, but its concepts can be applied within other disciplines as well. In order to enable scientists to establish source-sink connections in ecological settings, Stable Isotope Ecology begins by reviewing fundamental topics of tracer fractionation and mixing. Several mini-reviews profile problems and successes encountered with isotope tracing in particular focus areas, while emphasizing the role that humans increasingly play in changing our planetary ecosphere. A novel, step-by-step spreadsheet modeling approach is also presented for circulating tracers in any ecological system, including any favorite system an ecologist might dream up while sitting at a computer. Just type in values and watch the isotope action unfold in the dynamic models.
Speech Separation by Humans and Machines
the ability to focus on one voice in a sea of noises - is a highly sophisticated skill that is usually effortless to listeners but largely impossible for machines. Investigating and unraveling this capacity spans numerous fields including psychology, physiology, engineering, and computer science. All these perspectives are brought together in this volume which, for the first time, provides a comprehensive and authoritative discussion of our understanding of how humans separate speech, and the state of the art in approaching these abilities with machines. This material is drawn from an October 2003 workshop, sponsored by the National Science Foundation
Spatial Database Systems : Design, Implementation and Project Management
Places spatial data within the broader domain of information technology (IT) while providing a comprehensive and coherent explanation of the guiding principles, methods, implementation and operational management of spatial databases within the workplace. The text explains the key concepts, issues and processes of spatial data implementation and provides a holistic management perspective that complements the technical aspects of spatial data stressed in other textbooks. In this respect, this book is unique in its coverage of spatial database principles and architecture, database modelling including UML, database and spatial data standards, spatial data infrastructure, database implementation, and workplace-oriented project management including user needs study and end user education.
Spatial Analysis and GeoComputation : Selected Essays
Spatial analysis has been in existence for a long time. More recently, GeoComputation - a new computationally intensive paradigm - is changing research practice in spatial analysis. Coupled with improvements in data availability and increases in computer memory and speed, novel perspectives and techniques from the field of computational intelligence give rise to new types of geocomputational concepts, models, and techniques in spatial analysis. This volume contains selected essays of Manfred M. Fischer in the field of spatial analysis from the perspective of GeoComputation. The volume is structured in four parts. The first sets the context by dealing with broad issues related with spatial analysis and the role of GIS. The second relates to computational intelligence technologies such as neural networks that provide a new style of performing spatial modelling and analysis tasks in geography and other spatial sciences. The third part provides the theoretical framework required and displays the efficient use of various adaptive pattern classifiers in remote sensing environments. The final part outlines the latest, most significant developments in neural spatial interaction modelling.
Space, Place and Educational Settings
Explores the nexus between knowledge and space with a particular emphasis on the role of educational settings that are, both, shaping and being reshaped by socio-economic and political processes. It gives insight into the complex interplay of educational inequalities and practices of educational governance in the neighborhood and at larger geographical scales. The book adopts quantitative and qualitative methodologies and explores a wide range of theoretical perspectives by drawing upon empirical cases and examples from France, Germany, Italy, the UK and North America, and presents and reflects ongoing research of international scholars from various disciplinary backgrounds such as education, human geography, public policy, sociology, and urban and regional planning.
Space, Movement, and Visibility in Pompeian Houses
Examines the pivotal role of movement, visibility, and experience within Pompeian houses as a major factor determining house form; the use of space; and the manner, meaning, and modalities of domestic daily life, through the application of GIS-based analysis. Through close consideration of ancient literature, detailed explanations of methodology, and exploration of results, Michael Anderson provides new perspectives on Pompeian domestic space including room types and household activities that rarely feature in the discussion of ancient housing. Readers gain a better understanding of priorities in the design of Pompeian houses, the degree to which daily life was interrupted by earthquake damage in the site’s final years, and evolving motivations behind wall painting decoration. The volume not only explores how Pompeian houses reflected the needs of everyday life as imagined by their architects, but also how these spaces served to influence and control daily activities and ultimately how they were transformed by the spatial and visual requirements of domestic life.



















