الصفحة 33
الصفحة 33
Business Ethics : The Ethical Revolution of Minority Shareholders
The empirical part of the book presents four cases of US, French and Israeli companies, most of them in high-tech, in which the minority shareholders lose almost all of their investments. The cases are based on current events and try to find the common aspects and basic rules that govern the wrongdoing to minority shareholders.The book concludes that once the minority shareholders, who are ultimately all of us, are assisted by the new vehicles of Ethics, and are properly organized, motivated and conscious of their strengths, they will be able to win their fight and safeguard their interests.
Building the Inclusive City : Governance, Access, and the Urban Transformation of Dubai
This book is an anthropological urban study of the Emirate of Dubai, its institutions, and their evolution. It provides a contemporary history of disability in city planning from a non-Western perspective and explores the cultural context for its positioning. Three insights inform the author’s approach. First, disability research, much like other urban or social issues, must be situated in a particular place
Building for well-being : Exploring health-focused rating systems for design and construction professionals
The first introduction to health-focused building standards for design and construction professionals. More than a summary of the state of the field, this practical resource guides designers, builders, developers, and owners through considerations for incorporating WELL®, Fitwel®, and other systems from the planning phase to ground-breaking and beyond.Drawing on the authors’ backgrounds in sustainable design and public health, chapters on the evolution of the green building movement and the relationship between health and the built environment provide vital context for understanding health-focused standards and certifications. The final chapter looks toward the future of health and the built environment.
Building a Future with BRICs : The Next Decade for Offshoring
In 2003, Goldman Sachs published a startling report on the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) region: These four countries would be larger than the G6 economics within 40 years, muscling their way to economic dominance over the coming decades, and powering past developed countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan. This book focuses on the technology and technology-enabled services that underpin this social and economic revolution. The editor analyses the reasons why these four countries are in a unique position to lead a 21st century growth in international services. He then features 12 chapters written by the most important chief executives from the BRICs service economy. Indian technology leaders, such as Nandan Nilekani (Infosys), Shiv Nadar (HCL), and Rajendra Pawar (NIIT), feature alongside their peers from Brazil, Russia, and China outlining their views on the next decade for offshoring.
Browning Agents and Active Particles : Collective Dynamics in the Natural and Social Sciences
Lays out a vision for a coherent framework for understanding complex systems'' (from the foreword by J. Doyne Farmer). By developing the genuine idea of Brownian agents, the author combines concepts from informatics, such as multiagent systems, with approaches of statistical many-particle physics. This way, an efficient method for computer simulations of complex systems is developed which is also accessible to analytical investigations and quantitative predictions. The book demonstrates that Brownian agent models can be successfully applied in many different contexts, ranging from physicochemical pattern formation, to active motion and swarming in biological systems, to self-assembling of networks, evolutionary optimization, urban growth, economic agglomeration and even social systems.
Bright modernity : Color, commerce, and consumer culture
Color is a visible technology that invisibly connects so many puzzling aspects of modern Western consumer societies research and development, making and selling, predicting fashion trends, and more. Building on Regina Lee Blaszczyk’s go-to history of the “color revolution” in the United States, This book explores further transatlantic and multidisciplinary dimensions of the topic. Covering history from the mid nineteenth century into the immediate past, it examines the relationship between color, commerce, and consumer societies in unfamiliar settings and in the company of new kinds of experts. Readers will learn about the early dye industry, the dynamic nomenclature for color, and efforts to standardize, understand, and educate the public about color.
Bond Portfolio Optimization
1 The tools of modern portfolio theory are in general use in the equity markets, either in the form of portfolio optimization software or as an accepted frame- 2 work in which the asset managers think about stock selection. In the ?xed income market on the other hand, these tools seem irrelevant or inapplicable. Bond portfolios are nowadays mainly managed by a comparison of portfolio 3 4 risk measures vis ¶a vis a benchmark. The portfolio manager’s views about the future evolution of the term structure of interest rates translate th- selves directly into a positioning relative to his benchmark, taking the risks of these deviations from the benchmark into account only in a very crude 5 fashion, i.e. without really quantifying them probabilistically. This is quite surprising since sophisticated models for the evolution of interest rates are commonly used for interest rate derivatives pricing and the derivation of ?xed 6 income risk measures.
Bird species : How they arise, modify and vanish
The average person can name more bird species than they think, but do we really know what a bird “species” is? This open access book takes up several fascinating aspects of bird life to elucidate this basic concept in biology. From genetic and physiological basics to the phenomena of bird song and bird migration, it analyzes various interactions of birds – with their environment and other birds. Lastly, it shows imminent threats to birds in the Anthropocene, the era of global human impact.This book brings together various disciplines involved in observing bird species come into existence, modify, and vanish. It is a rich resource for bird enthusiasts who want to understand various processes at the cutting edge of current research in more detail. At the same time it offers students the opportunity to see primarily unconnected, but booming big-data approaches such as genomics and biogeography meet in a topic of broad interest. Lastly, the book enables conservationists to better understand the uncertainties surrounding “species” as entities of protection.
Biosphere Origin and Evolution
The book covers notions by scientists of various branches on the evolutionary relationship between the biosphere and geosphere, evolution features at various levels of living matter organization, and problems of prebiotic evolution and life origin. The data were collected in the course of the RAS program "Biosphere origin and evolution" (subprogram II) in 2003–2006. The objectives of this subprogram were (1) generalization of data related to problems of biosphere origin and evolution accumulated by geneticists, molecular biologists, zoologists, botanists, paleontologists, microbiologists, geologists, chemists, and archaeologists; (2) search for new interdisciplinary approaches to biosphere origin and evolution; (3) development of a "lingua franca" understandable by experts in various fields, which would allow apprehension of results concerning the topic obtained in allied sciences
Bioremediation of Soils Contaminated with Aromatic Compounds
Environmental biotechnology, which was in its infancy in the early 80's, has evolved thanks to the revolution brought about by molecular biology. Multiple successes in the biological cleanup of civil and industrial wastewater and of hydrocarbon soil pollution, demonstrate the vast power of clean technologies. In addition, the buildup of information on the activities of microorganisms as catalysts in all sorts of natural, industrial and animal environments has flourished. There is a continuing realization of the critical role of microbial processes in biological, industrial and geological systems. Since environmental biotechnology has matured, it is ready to tackle bigger challenges: the scaling up of many bioremediation systems still in progress, the search for novel biocatalysts for industrial applications, the continuing effort against common human life-threatening processes such as antibiotic resistance, the accumulation of hormone-mimicking substances (endocrine disrupters), the deposition of air-borne pesticides in the environment and, the degradation of recalcitrant contaminants. These endeavors will help prevent the contamination of food chains, protect human life and allow for human activity and economic development that do not compromise environmental sustainabijity.
Biomineralization : From molecular and nano-structural analyses to environmental science
Over the past 45 years, biomineralization research has unveiled details of the characteristics of the nano-structure of various biominerals; the formation mechanism of this nano-structure, including the initial stage of crystallization; and the function of organic matrices in biominerals, and this knowledge has been applied to dental, medical, pharmaceutical, materials, agricultural and environmental sciences and paleontology. As such, biomineralization is an important interdisciplinary research area, and further advances are expected in both fundamental and applied research.
Biomimetics for architecture & design : Nature - analogies - technology
Provides the readers with a timely guide to the application of biomimetic principles in architecture and engineering design. As a result of a combined effort by two internationally recognized authorities, the biologist Werner Nachtigall and the architect Göran Pohl, the book describes the principles which can be used to compare nature and technology, and at the same time it presents detailed explanations and examples showing how biology can be used as a source of inspiration and “translated” in building and architectural solutions (biomimicry). Even though nature cannot be directly copied, the living world can provide architects and engineers with a wealth of analogues and inspirations for their own creative designs. But how can analysis of natural entities give rise to advanced and sustainable design? By reporting on the latest bionic design methods and using extensive artwork, the book guides readers through the field of nature-inspired architecture, offering an extraordinary resource for professional architects, engineers, designers and urban planners, as well as for university teachers, researchers and students.
Biometric systems : Technology, design and performance evaluation
The use of computers to recognize humans from physical and behavioral traits dates back to the digital computer evolution of the 1960s. But even after decades of research and hundreds of major deployments, the field of biometrics remains fresh and exciting as new technologies are developed andoldtechnologiesareimprovedandfieldedinnewapplications.Wor- wide over the past few years,there has been a marked increase in both g- ernment and private sector interest in large-scale biometric deployments for accelerating human–machine processes, efficiently delivering human services, fighting identity fraud and even combating terrorism. The p- pose of this book is to explore the current state of the art in biometrics- tems and it is the system aspect that we have wished to emphasize. By their nature, biometric technologies sit at the exact boundary of the human–machineinterface.Butlikealltechnologies,bythemselvestheycan provide no value until deployed in a system with support hardware, n- work connections, computers, policies and procedures, all tuned together to work withpeople to improve some real business process within a social structure.
Biology of Inositols and Phosphoinositides
This volume describes the current status of the biology of inositols and phosphoinositides with an emphasis on the development in the area since the publication of volume 26 in 1996 in this series. The progress made in dissecting the genetics, structure and evolution of the seminal enzyme for synthesis of inositol in the biological system has driven the understanding of the enzyme forward. With the current genomic and proteomic tools in place the new role of inositols, inositol phosphates and phosphoinositides in cell signaling or stress response has been explored. These advances are described.
Biologically Inspired Algorithms for Financial Modelling
Then Part I provides a thorough guide to the various bioinspired methodologies – neural networks, evolutionary computing (particularly genetic algorithms and grammatical evolution), particle swarm and ant colony optimization, and immune systems. Part II brings the reader through the development of market trading systems. Finally, Part III examines real-world case studies where BIA methodologies are employed to construct trading systems in equity and foreign exchange markets, and for the prediction of corporate bond ratings and corporate failures.
Biological processes associated with impact events
The biological effects of asteroid and comet impacts have been widely viewed as primarily destructive. The role of an impactor in the K/T boundary extinctions has had a particularly important influence on thinking concerning the role of impacts in ecological and biological changes. th During the 10 and final workshop of the ESF IMPACT program during March 2003, we sought to investigate the wider aspects of the involvement of impact events in biological processes, including the beneficial role of these events from the prebiotic through to the ecosystem level. The ESF IMPACT programme (1998-2003) was an interdisciplinary effort that is aimed at understanding impact processes and their effects on the Earth environment, including environmental, geological and biological changes.
Biological nitrogen fixation, sustainable agriculture and the environment ; Proceedings of the 14th International nitrogen fixation congress
Covers aspects of fundamental and applied nitrogen-fixation research, from biochemistry and chemistry through genetics, regulation and physiology to agricultural practice and environmental impact. This work describes progress on studies of potential catalysts for nitrogen fixation; how the N2-fixing process is regulated in living cells; and more.
Biological nitrogen fixation : Towards poverty alleviation through sustainable agriculture ; Proceedings of the 15th International nitrogen fixation congress and the 12th International Conference of the African Association for Biological Nitrogen Fixation
This volume covers recent developments in both fundamental and applied research in biological nitrogen fixation. It emphasizes the application of biological nitrogen fixation for sustainable agriculture, which should lead to poverty alleviation, environmental protection, and good agricultural practices generally. The roles of, and advances in, plant breeding, plant molecular biology, nodule physiology, and symbiotic and associative interactions between plants and microbes in sustaining agricultural productivity and soil fertility are described. The evolution of symbioses and nitrogen fixation are also covered in this volume. To ensure high agricultural productivity, while protecting the environment (both soil and water resources), requires plant cultivars that also respond to beneficial microbes.
Bioinspired optimization methods and their applications ; 9th International conference, BIOMA 2020, Brussels, Belgium, November 19–20, 2020, Proceedings
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Bioinspired Optimization Methods and Their Applications, BIOMA 2020, held in Brussels, Belgium, in November 2020. The 24 full papers presented in this book were carefully reviewed and selected from 68 submissions. The papers in this BIOMA proceedings specialized in bioinspired algorithms as a means for solving the optimization problems and came in two categories: theoretical studies and methodology advancements on the one hand, and algorithm adjustments and their applications on the other.
Bio-inspired modeling of cognitive tasks ; 2nd International Work-conference on the interplay between natural and artificial computation, IWINAC 2007, La Manga del Mar Menor, Spain, June 18-21, 2007, Proceedings, Part I
This volume includes all the contributions mainly related with theoretical, conceptual and methodological aspects linking AI and knowledge engineering with neurophysiology, clinics and cognition.
