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Interdisciplinary public health reasoning and epidemic modelling : The case of black death

This is a book about interdisciplinary public health reasoning and epidemic m- th elling, in general, and the study of the infamous 14 century AD Black Death d- aster, in particular. We focus on the intellectual context in which epidemic mod- ling takes place, in a way that accounts for the present-day interdisciplinary and multicultural trends in scientific inquiry. Like most scientific fields, public health research defines itself based on knowledge, which raises serious epistemic and cognitive issues.

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Intelligent Virtual Agents ; Vol.3661 : 5th International Working Conference, IVA 2005, Kos, Greece, September 12-14, 2005, Proceedings

The origin of the Intelligent Virtual Agents conference dates from a successful workshop on Intelligent Virtual Environments held in Brighton at the 13th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI'98). This workshop was followed by a second one held in Salford in Manchester in 1999. Subsequent events took place in Madrid, Spain in 2001 and Irsee, Germany in 2003 and attracted participants from both sides of the Atlantic as well as Asia. th This volume contains the proceedings of the 5 International Working Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents, IVA 2005, held on Kos Island, Greece, September 12–14, 2005, which highlighted once again the importance and vigor of the research field. A half-day workshop under the title “Socially Competent IVA’s: We are not alone in this (virtual) world!” also took place as part of this event. IVA 2005 received 69 submissions from Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia. The papers published here are the 26 full papers and 14 short papers presented at the conference, as well as one-page descriptions of the 15 posters and the descriptions of the featured invited talks by Prof. Justine Cassell, of Northwestern University and Prof. Kerstin Dautenhahn, of the University of Hertfordshire. We would like to thank a number of people that have contributed to the success of this conference. First of all, we thank the authors for their high-quality work and their willingness to share their ideas.

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Intelligent Network Management and Control : Intelligent Security, Multi-criteria Optimization, Cloud Computing, Internet of Vehicles, Intelligent Radio

The management and control of networks can no longer be envisaged without the introduction of artificial intelligence at all stages. Deals with topical issues related mainly to intelligent security of computer networks, deployment of security services in SDN (software-defined networking), optimization of networks using artificial intelligence techniques and multi-criteria optimization methods for selecting networks in a heterogeneous environment. Focuses on selecting cloud computing services, intelligent unloading of calculations in the context of mobile cloud computing, intelligent resource management in a smart grid-cloud system for better energy efficiency, new architectures for the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), the application of artificial intelligence in cognitive radio networks and intelligent radio input to meet the on-road communication needs of autonomous vehicles.

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Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Intelligence ; 2nd International Workshop, IMTCI 2004, Warsaw, Poland, September 13-14, 2004. Revised Selected Papers

The 2nd Workshop on Intelligent Media Technology for Communicative Intelligence commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology in Warsaw aimed to explore the current research topics in the ?eld of int- ligent media technologies for communicative intelligence. Communicative intelligence represents a new challenge towards building a sup- intelligence on the ubiquitous global network by accumulating a huge amount of - man andknowledgeresources.The term "communicativeintelligence"re?ects the view that communication is at the very core of intelligence and its creation. Communication permits novel ideas to emerge from intimate interactions by multiple agents, ranging from collaboration to competition. The recent advance of information and commu- cation technologies has established an information infrastructure that allows humans and artifacts to communicate with each other beyond space and time. It enables us to advance a step further to realize a communicative intelligence with many fruitful applications. Intelligentmediatechnologiesattempttocaptureandaugmentpeople’scommuni- tive activities by embedding computers into the environment to enhance interactions in an unobtrusive manner. The introduction of embodied conversational agents that might mediate conversations among people in a social context is the next step in the p- cess. The scope of intelligent media technologies includes design and development of intelligent supports for content production, distribution, and utilization, since rich c- tent is crucial for communication in many applications. The promising applications of intelligence media technologies include e-learning, knowledge management systems, e-democracy, and other communication-intensivesubject domains.

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Intelligent Life in the Universe : Principles and Requirements Behind Its Emergence

This book addresses the possible origins, development and fate of intelligent life in the universe. The author presents a wide-ranging analysis of the type of knowldege that can be inferred about extraterrestial intelligent societies from our own biological, cultural and scientific evolution, and from the likely future of mankind. Providing extensive background information from astronomy, geology, chemistry and biology, the book will appeal to both the scientist and the general reader.

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Intelligent Interactive Systems in Knowledge-Based Environments

The main aim of this research book is to report a sample of the most recent advances in the field of intelligent interactive systems in knowledge-based environment.

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Integration of Information for Environmental Security : Environmental Security - Information Security - Disaster Forecast and Prevention - Water Resources Management

Currently the necessary information exists in a multitude of forms and formats geographically and physically scattered over different countries, institutes and organisations, and are subject to widely different data policies and management schemes. Moreover, there is no complete and updated overview of the existing information, e.g. in the form of a metadata catalogue. As a result, integration of this information in case of emergencies has proven to be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Although in some cases, interesting and impressive "demonstrations" have been shown of the possibilities of the integration of information, for a number of reasons these have reached the "operational" stage.

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Integration in Asia and Europe : Historical Dynamics, Political Issues, and Economic Perspectives

This book critically analyses the economic and institutional changes in both Europe and Asia. There is considerable potential for instability, but one also finds regional growth opportunities. Comparative policy analysis and evaluation of various cooperation strategies are presented. Emphasis is on banking, financial market dynamics, ICT, and macroeconomic policies as well as trade, energy, and environmental issues.

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Integrating Data Science and Earth Science : Challenges and Solutions

This book presents the results of three years collaboration between earth scientists and data scientist, in developing and applying data science methods for scientific discovery. The book will be highly beneficial for other researchers at senior and graduate level, interested in applying visual data exploration, computational approaches and scientifc workflows.

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Integrated Water Resources Management and Security in the Middle East

Integrated Water Resources Management and Security in the Middle East brings together diverse voices relating to the critical issue of water management in one of the world’s most politically volatile areas: the Middle East. The book brings together Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian and international expert opinions on creating a holistic and comprehensive view of water management challenges and strategies in an area of conflict and resource scarcity.The book takes security studies to the next level beyond military preparedness to address the security implications of the most fundamental of resources, that of water. Indeed, the book delves deeply into the underlying ideological underpinnings of various water regimes and possible opportunities for new decision-making models and regional cooperation.This book serves an important place in the scholarly literature on this topic for its breadth of participants and perspectives and its concrete steps forward. It moves the academic discourse beyond pointing fingers and toward constructive solutions and dialogue.

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Integrated Water Management : Practical Experiences and Case Studies

This book introduced a whole range of specific definitions, objectives and constraints regarding the various aspects of water management, including water quality management, policies, economic aspects, ecology, price, and sustainable development. These issues all require the formulation of common, integrated, sustainable approaches for managing the water system from a multidisciplinary perspective, and the definition of new professional skills, requirements which become even more evident where transboundary areas are concerned.

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Integrated Urban Water Resources Management

Growing populations and rising standards of living exert stress on water supply and the quality of drinking water. In wastewater management, new challenges are caused by new chemicals of concern, including endocrine disrupters, pharmaceuticals, hormones, and personal care products, which often pass through wastewater treatment plants unabated, but may cause serious impacts on receiving aquatic ecosystems. Advanced wastewater treatment leads to production of biosolids, which are processed in various ways, including on-land applications in agriculture. Municipal effluents, combined with increasing withdrawals of water, lead to the worsening of receiving water quality. Expert opinions indicate that the only way to deal with the current urban water management dilemmas is by integrated management and innovative delivery of water services. This book presents important aspects of Challenges in Management of Urban Water Resources, Challenges in Urban Water Supply, Urban Drainage and Water Bodies, Wastewater Treatment and Security, and Wastewater Treatment and Reuse.

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Integrated River Basin Management through Decentralization

Drawing upon a worldwide survey of river basin organizations and in-depth studies of eight river basins in a variety of locations around the globe, this book examines how institutional arrangements for managing water resources at the river-basin level have been designed and implemented, what the impetus for these arrangements has been, and what institutional features appear to be associated with greater or lesser success in river basin management.

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Integrated Risk and Vulnerability Management Assisted by Decision Support Systems : Relevance and Impact on Governance

This book includes terms of reference and offers an augmented volume of relevant work initiated within the comprehensive concept of “Knowledge Management and Risk Governance”.

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Integrated Groundwater Management : Concepts, Approaches and Challenges

The aim of this book is to document for the first time the dimensions and requirements of effective integrated groundwater management (IGM). Groundwater management is a formidable challenge, one that remains one of humanity’s foremost priorities. It has become a largely non-renewable resource that is overexploited in many parts of the world. In the 21st century, the issue moves from how to simply obtain the water we need to how we manage it sustainably for future generations, future economies, and future ecosystems. The focus then becomes one of understanding the drivers and current state of the groundwater resource, and restoring equilibrium to at-risk aquifers. Many interrelated dimensions, however, come to bear when trying to manage groundwater effectively. An integrated approach to groundwater necessarily involves many factors beyond the aquifer itself, such as surface water, water use, water quality, and ecohydrology.

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Integrated Graphic and Computer Modelling

Full colour throughout, the book explores programming language developments from machine code to more natural language forms, and the basic display operations and commands needed to create effective computer graphic systems. As the visual presentation of real and virtual environments becomes more and more the norm in application systems, a clear understanding of the theory that underpins these techniques is required of all students and practitioners studying and working on large computer systems.

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Integrated Assessment of Water Resources and Global Change : A North-South Analysis

The key papers in this volume from the Bonn conference focus on the challenges of integrated assessment of water resources in the context of global change. The growing gap between North and South is also addressed, in terms not only of access to water and its quality, but also of the capacity to do research and implement solutions. The coverage of the papers is up-to-date and comprehensive. Highlights include emerging concepts such as blue and green water, virtual water, the water footprints of nations, multi-agent modelling, linkages between water and biodiversity, and social learning and adaptive management.

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Integral bridges : a fundamental approach to the time–temperature loading problem

In recent years, integral bridges have become increasingly popular in the UK. The Highways Agency standard now requires, where possible, that all new bridges with a length of less than sixty metres should be of integral form. In addition, it has been found that, due especially to the problems and costs associated with failed expansion joints, integral bridges are not only cost effective but also have a longer lifespan. Integral Bridges was commissioned by the Highways Agency to produce guidance for bridge designers by addressing the thermally induced soil/structure interaction problem created by environmental changes of temperature and the associated cyclical displacements imposed on the granular backfill to the bridge abutments. It develops a better theoretical understanding of the cyclic performance, in particular the strain racheting in the backfill soil when in contact with a stiff structure. It also identifies the governing soil parameters and examines their influence in the interaction problem, develops numerical modelling procedures to predict interactive soil behaviour, and identifies and quantifies the controlling features of bridge structures relevant to the interaction problem.

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Institutions, Sustainability, and Natural Resources : Institutions for Sustainable Forest Management

A new economic theory, rather than a new public policy based on old theory, is needed to guide humanity toward sustainability. Institutions are a critical dimension of sustainability and sustainable forest management, and economic analysis of institutional dimension requires an inclusionist rather than an exclusionist approach. This book provides a systematic critique of neoclassical economic approaches and their limitations with respect to sustainability. Leading institutional economists discuss theoretical perspectives about appropriate institutions for sustainable forest management, markets for environmental services, deforestation and specialization, and some country experiences about Kyoto Protocol, international trade, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable forest management in general. The book includes the ideas from old as well as new institutional economics and discusses the main features of Post-Newtonian economics.This book follows a companion book, Economics, Sustainability, and Natural Resources: Economics of Sustainable Forest Management, volume 1 of the series.

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Institutional Dynamics in Environmental Governance

This book presents fresh analyses of a number of well-known cases, but does so from one comprehensive view, the so-called policy arrangement approach. Cases discussed range over organic farming, integrated water management, nature policy, cultural heritage policy, integrated region-oriented policy, corporate environmental management and target group policy, always in search of the commonality of experience and conclusions to be drawn in understanding the past and in formulating future perspectives.

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