Famine Early Warning Systems and Remote Sensing Data
This book describes the interdisciplinary work of USAID’s Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) and its in uence on how food security crises are identi ed, documented and the kind of responses that result. The book describes FEWS NET’s systems and methods for using satellite remote sensing to identify and describe how biophysical hazards impact the lives and livelihoods of the po- lation where they occur. It presents several illustrative case studies that will dem- strate the integration of both physical and social science disciplines in its work. FEWS NET’s operational needs have driven science in biophysical remote sensing applications through its collaboration with the US Geological Survey, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and US Department of Agriculture, as well as methodologies in the social science domain through its support of the US Agency for International - velopment, UN World Food Program and numerous international non-governmental organizations such as Save the Children, Oxfam and others. Because FEWS NET is an organization that must provide a global picture of food insecurity to decision makers, the information it relies on are by necessity - servable and able to be documented.
Explosively Driven Pulsed Power : Helical Magnetic Flux Compression Generators
While the basic operating principles of Helical Magnetic Flux Compression Generators are easy to understand, the details of their construction and performance limits have been described only in government reports, many of them classified. Conferences in the field of flux compression are also dominated by contributions from government (US and foreign) laboratories. And the government-sponsored research has usually been concerned with very large generators with explosive charges that require elaborate facilities and safety arrangements. This book emphasizes research into small generators (less than 500 grams of high explosives) and explains in detail the physical fundamentals, construction details, and parameter-variation effects related to them.
Evolutionary Stasis and Change in the Dominican Republic Neogene
In practice, however, science is no less susceptible to fads, culture shifts, and pendulum swings than any other realm of human endeavor. This is an especially important feature of science to keep in mind in the present climate of shrinking government funding (at least in prop- tion to the demand) and the resulting susceptibility of individual scientists and entire disciplines to being influenced by the changing priorities of funding agencies (even if, as such agencies maintain, those priorities come ultimately “from the c- munity”). The present volume is in several important respects a testimonial to both the threats and opportunities that such scientific culture swings pose, both for the individual researcher and a wider field. When scientific research in the Dominican Republic Neogene began more than a century ago, paleontology was an essentially descriptive discipline, focused mainly on finding, describing, and documenting the taxa represented in the fossil record, and (especially in invertebrate paleontology) on using these taxa for bi- tratigraphic correlation.
EU-Turkey Relations : Theories, Institutions, and Policies
This book explores the new complexities and ambiguities that epitomize EU-Turkey relations. With a strong focus on the developments in the last decade, the book provides full access to a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted relationship through three entry points: (1) Theories and Concepts, (2) Institutions, and (3) Policies. Part I brings together complementary and competing analytical approaches to study the evolution of EU-Turkey relations, ranging from traditional integration theories to novel concepts. Part II investigates the institutional machinery of EU-Turkey relations by analyzing the roles and perspectives of the European Council, the European Commission, and the European Parliament. Part III offers analyses of the policies most relevant for the relationship: enlargement policy, trade and macroeconomic policies, foreign and security policy, migration and asylum policies, and energy policy. In Part IV, the volume closes with a systematic survey of the conditions under which cooperative trends in EU-Turkey relations could be (re)invigorated. The systematic setup and the balanced combination of distinguished experts from EU- and Turkey-based institutions make this book a fundamental reading for students, researchers, lecturers, and practitioners of EU-Turkey relations, European integration and Turkish foreign policy.
European E-Democracy in Practice
This book explores how digital tools and social media technologies can contribute to better participation and involvement of EU citizens in European politics. By analyzing selected representative e-participation projects at the local, national and European governmental levels, it identifies the preconditions, best practices and shortcomings of e-participation practices in connection with EU decision-making procedures and institutions
Euro-Par 2007 Workshops : Parallel Processing ; HPPC 2007, UNICORE Summit 2007, and VHPC 2007, Rennes, France, August 28-31, 2007, Revised Selected Papers
Parallel and distributed processing , although within the focus of computer science research for along time ,is gainingmore and more importance in awidespectrum of applications. These proceedings aim to demonstrate the use of parallel and distributed processing concepts in diferent application felds, and attempt to spark interest in novel research directions to advance the embracing model of high-performance computing research in general. The objective of these workshops is to specifcally address researchers c- ing from university, industry and governmental research organizations and application-oriented companies, in order to close the gap between purely sentifc research and the applicability of the research ideas to real-life problems.
E-Training Practices for Professional Organizations
E-Training Practices for Professional Organizations is an essential reference for anyone interested in the integration of e-business, e-work and e-learning processes. The book collects, for the first time, the proceedings from the 2003 IFIP eTrain Conference held in Pori, Finland. The text serves as a multi-disciplinary resource for information on the research, development and applications of all topics related to e-Learning. The first half of the book discusses theories, paradigms and their applications in academia and industry. The last half of the book examines learning environments, design issues and collaboration among the corporate, governmental and academic sectors. With academic and professional contributors, E-Training Practices for Professional Organizations reflects the multi-faceted and exciting nature of e-training studies. This volume presents the balanced view of past developments and current research necessary to truly reach the potential of this burgeoning field.
Ethical Dimensions of the Economy : Making Use of Hegel and the Concepts of Public and Merit Goods
This book reflects philosophically about the socio-political dimension of economics. Part I provides normative reflections on the economy: Section I reflects on the interconnections between the multiple discourses on the economy, section II presents Hegel's claim that the economic order is an ethical institution and defends his ontological view of the economy against the one of Adam Smith. Section III dialogues with economists about their concepts of public and merit goods. This section defends a Hegelian ontology of the economy through an analysis of technical concepts used by economists. Part II provides applications derived from the normative analysis: Section I presents the views of authors in different academic disciplines pointing to failures in late capitalism, in particular failures of American capitalism and section II asks the question: " What must one pay attention to in a transition from a command economy to a free market?" Section III draws attention to an overlap of ideas found in Catholic Social Thought and in the publications of some recent Nobel prize winners in economics (Buchanan, Sen, Stiglitz).
Essentials in Food Science
Knowledge of food science is applicable to all persons, in diverse college majors. This text is designed with a user-friendly approach to Food Science for the non-major. This text reviews an Introduction to Food Components – quality and water. Next it addresses carbohydrates – including starches, pectins and gums, breads and pasta, vegetables and fruits. Then proteins – meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, milk and milk products are presented. Following proteins are fats and emulsions. Then sugars and sweeteners, and baked products, the latter of which builds upon basic food component knowledge. Various aspects of Food Production are examined, including food safety, preservation and processing, food additives and packaging. Government regulation and labeling complete the chapter information.
E-Service Intelligence : Methodologies, Technologies and Applications
Business organizations and governments are nowadays developing and providing internet based electronic services (e-services) featuring various intelligent functions. E-Service Intelligence integrates intelligent techniques into e-service systems for realizing intelligent internet information searching, presentation, provision, recommendation, online system design, implementation, and assessment to internet users. This book offers a thorough introduction and systematic overview of the new field and covers the state-of-the-art of the research and development in E-Service Intelligence ranging from e-services and/or intelligent techniques to web information presentation, search, and mining, to personalization, privacy, and trust in e-services, to e-service evaluation, optimization and knowledge discovery, and to intelligent e-service system developments.
Environmental Value Transfer : Issues and Methods
The transfer of environmental values in time and space has increased rapidly with the widespread use of cost benefit analysis in project evaluation and regulatory assessments over the last three decades. The purpose of this volume is to take a snapshot of the research that is ongoing in the area of value transfer (benefit transfer). It includes papers by some of the most influential authors in the area, and covers the latest developments in the field. It will be useful for academics conducting research in this area and for practitioners in government agencies and ministries, as well as consulting firms.
Environmental Policy Analyses : Learning from the Past for the Future - 25 Years of Research
The criteria used to select the fifteen contributions in this book were their impact on the scientific debate at the time of their publication, their validity for p- sent conceptualizations of policy analysis in the field of the environment, and their contribution to the development of policy analysis as a whole . Moreover, the selected contributions mainly focus on empirical appli- tions in the field of environmental policies or the interface between en- ronmental and non-environmental policies. Some have led to concrete p- icy recommendations of which most have been partly implemented since, This research also sometimes addressed regional political administrative arrangements leading to administrative reforms and new strategic directions of implementing agencies.
Entrepreneurship Policy : Theory and Practice
Entrepreneurship Policy: Theory and Practice is the first book to fully analyze the construction of entrepreneurship policy, a rapidly-evolving area of policy about which little is known. From a study and assessment of the practices of governments in thirteen countries in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region, this book fully describes the policy area and shares new tools and methods for better understanding and explaining the how and why of an entrepreneurship policy approach. Methods of note include the entrepreneurship policy comprehensiveness index and the context method. It presents a conceptual model describing the many factors which affect, in a dynamic way, the level of entrepreneurship in a country or region. It also describes a typology of entrepreneurship policy which will be useful to others in categorizing their policy approaches.
Enhancing urban environment by environmental upgrading and restoration ; Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on enhancing urban environment : environmental upgrading of municipal pollution control facilities and restoration of urban waters, Rome, Italy from 6 - 9 November 2003.
As urban areas keep growing, water infrastructure ages, and the requirements on environmental protection become more rigorous, there is a continual need for upgrading water pollution control facilities and restoring degraded urban waters. Such issues are addressed in this book by focusing on five major topics: (a) Upgrading stormwater management facilities, (b) Retrofitting / upgrading combined sewer overflow (CSO) facilities, (c) Optimising/upgrading sewage treatment plant performance, (d) Urban stream restoration, and (e) Challenges in restoring urban environment. Each chapter contains some overview papers followed by research or case study papers. Besides presentations of new approaches and accomplishments in the field of upgrading and restoration, several papers provide analysis of vast needs in this field in several countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which either recently joined the European Union (EU) or are preparing for accession, and need to comply with the existing EU directives dealing with environmental protection. As such, this book will be of primary interest to researchers and university lecturers dealing with environmental upgrading and restoration, environmental planners from all levels of government, municipal engineers and politicians, and finally the private industry representatives (consultants, private utilities and environmental technology suppliers) searching for new business opportunities among the new or aspiring members of EU.
Engineering Interactive Systems ; EIS 2007 Joint Working Conferences, EHCI 2007, DSV-IS 2007, HCSE 2007, Salamanca, Spain, March 22-24, 2007. Selected Papers
This book constitutes the post-conference proceedings of the WG2.7/13.4 10th Conference on Engineering Human Computer Interaction (EHCI 2007), the WG 13.2 First Conference on Human Centred Software Engineering (HCSE 2007), and the 14th Conference on Design Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems (DSV-IS 2007); jointly held as EIS 2007, the international event on Engineering Interactive Systems, in Salamanca, Spain, in March 2007 - under the auspices of IFIP.
Energy transition and energy democracy in East Asia
Provides down-to-earth information on what kind of actions are being taken by the Government, Local community, Businesses, Researchers, NGOs on the energy transition in this region. It gives an updated picture of the energy transition in the East Asian countries, where the economic growth, as well as CO2 emission growth, is significant.
Energy and American Society – Thirteen Myths
This book takes on a central quandary in the study of energy and environmental policy: What myths continue to exist in American culture concerning energy, the environment, and society? It enrolls twenty-four of the nation’s top experts working on energy policy in industry, government laboratories, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and universities to debunk and contextualize thirteen energy myths relating to electric power, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, and climate change. While the book focuses on the American experience, it will be of interest to those working in the fields of energy policy, energy and the environment, and technology assessment worldwide.
Endogenous Public Policy and Contests
This book studies endogenous policy determination focusing on the role of interest groups and their lobbying efforts in the determination of public policy. Applying strategic contest theory, it clarifies the fundamental parameters that determine the behavior of the government and the interest groups - the two contestants for the "prizes" associated with public policy.
Encyclopedia of diasporas : Immigrant and refugee cultures around the world ; Vol. I : Overviews and Topics ; Vol. II : Diaspora communities
The encyclopedia consists of two volumes covering three main sections: Diaspora Overviews covers over 20 ethnic groups that have experienced voluntary or forced immigration. These essays discuss the history behind the social, economic, and political reasons for leaving the original countries, and the cultures in the new places; Topics discusses the impact and assimilation that the immigrant cultures experience in their adopted cultures, including the arts they bring, the struggles they face, and some of the cities that are in the forefront of receiving immigrant cultures; Diaspora Communities include over 60 portraits of specific diaspora communities. Each portrait follows a standard outline to facilitate comparisons. The Encyclopedia of Diasporas can be used both to gain a general understanding of immigration and immigrants, and to find out about particular cultures, topics and communities. It will prove of great value to researchers and students, curriculum developers, teachers, and government officials. It brings together the disciplines of anthropology, social studies, political studies, international studies, and immigrant and immigration studies
Enabling Semantic Web Services : The Web Service Modeling Ontology
Service-oriented computing has become one of the predominant factors in current IT research and development. Web services seem to be the middleware solution of the future for highly interoperable distributed software solutions. In parallel, research on the Semantic Web provides the results required to exploit distributed machine-processable data. To combine these two research lines into industrial-strength applications, a number of research projects have been set up by organizations like W3C and the EU. After a brief presentation of the underlying basic technologies and standards of the World Wide Web, the Semantic Web, and Web Services, they detail all the elements of WSMO from basic concepts to possible applications in e-commerce, e-government and e-banking, and they also describe its relation to other approaches like OWL-S or WSDL-S.



















