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Web Search : Public Searching of the Web
The study of the Web search is an exciting and important area of interdisciplinary research. Our book provides a valuable insight into the growth and development of human interaction with Web search engines. In this book, our focus is on the human aspect of the interaction between user and Web search engine. We do not investigate the Web search engines themselves or their constantly changing interfaces, algorithms and features. We focus on exploring the cognitive and user aspects of public Web searching in the aggregate. We use a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods within the overall methodology known as transaction log analysis.
Venezuela : A Petro-State Using Renewable Energies : A Contribution to the Global Debate about New Renewable Energies for Electricity Generation
In spite of the economic role of oil, Venezuela has started developing hydroelectricity since the 1950s. At present, the country is trying to introduce additional renewable energy sources (RES) but still has to overcome a series of hurdles in order to deploy them. Unlike other developing countries, oil countries such as Venezuela do not lack financial means and sometimes show a tendency to solve problems by using money when other approaches could be more helpful. The main goal of this qualitative, comparative policy analysis is to find out whether the availability of oil revenues restraints or favors the adoption of RES. Based on the rentier state theory, Germán Massabié examines the reasons why Petro states try to dispose of their natural wealth to take advantage of non-conventional energy sources. He analyses and interprets primary and secondary data collected in Germany and in Venezuela and draws on interviews with Venezuelan experts, policy makers, and key actors. The study allows a look beyond laws, development programs, and official statements.
Vanishing and Finiteness Results in Geometric Analysis : A Generalization of the Bochner Technique
This book presents very recent results involving an extensive use of analytical tools in the study of geometrical and topological properties of complete Riemannian manifolds. It analyzes in detail an extension of the Bochner technique to the non compact setting, yielding conditions which ensure that solutions of geometrically significant differential equations either are trivial (vanishing results) or give rise to finite dimensional vector spaces (finiteness results). The book develops a range of methods from spectral theory and qualitative properties of solutions of PDEs to comparison theorems in Riemannian geometry and potential theory.
Validity and reliability in built environment research : A selection of case studies
Presents case studies that emphasize reliability and validity in different examples of qualitative, quantitative and mixed method data sets, as well as covering action research and grounded theory. The reader is guided through case studies that demonstrate: An understanding of the reliability and validity approaches from social science and built environment perspectives in alignment with the relevant research philosophies, approaches and data collection strategies / Real research projects that have been conducted by expert researchers on topics such as Lean, BIM, Housing and Sustainability to answer specific or evolving questions in relation to the reliability and validity of research / A simple and easy method that students at Masters and PhD levels can relate to in order to adopt a sound reliability and validity approach to their research
Validation in Chemical Measurement
Validation of measurement methods has been used for a very ciated measurement uncertainty? The answer must be: no. long time in chemistry. It is mostly based on the examination There can never be a mechanism or recipe for producing - of a measurement procedure for its characteristics such as tomatically valid results because one can never eliminate precision, accuracy, selectivity, sensitivity, repeatability, re- theskills, the role and the responsibility of the analyst. producibility, detectionlimit, quantification limit and more. ISO 9000:2000, item 3. 8. 5 defines validation as confer- When focussing on quality comparability and reliability mation by examination and provision of objective evidence in chemical measurement.
Understanding Risks and Uncertainties in Energy and Climate Policy : Multidisciplinary Methods and Tools for a Low Carbon Society
This book analyzes and seeks to consolidate the use of robust quantitative tools and qualitative methods for the design and assessment of energy and climate policies. In particular, it examines energy and climate policy performance and associated risks, as well as public acceptance and portfolio analysis in climate policy, and presents methods for evaluating the costs and benefits of flexible policy implementation as well as new framings for business and market actors. In turn, it discusses the development of alternative policy pathways and the identification of optimal switching points, drawing on concrete examples to do so. Lastly, it discusses climate change mitigation policies’ implications for the agricultural, food, building, transportation, service and manufacturing sectors.
Two Minds : Intuition and Analysis in the History of Economic Thought
Intuition is warm and fuzzy, qualitative, not measurable. Economics, on the other hand, is quantitative, and if it is not a hard science, at least it is the "queen of the social sciences." It is, therefore, intuitively obvious, that intuition and economics are as if oil and water. The problem is, what is intuitively obvious is not always correct. And, there are two major reasons why intuition and economics are not like oil and water. First, economics concerns itself with decision making, and decisions are made in the brain. The human brain is the size of a grapefruit, weighing three pounds with approximately 180 billion neurons, each physically independent but interacting with the other neurons. What we call intuition is, like decision making, a natural information processing function of the brain. Second, despite the current emphasis on quantitative analysis and deductive logic there is a rich history of economists speaking about intuition. First, the human brain, specifically the neocortex, has a left and right hemisphere. The specialized analytical style of the left hemisphere and the specialized intuitive style of the right hemispheres complement each other.
Transnational Solidarity in Times of Crises : Citizen Organisations and Collective Learning in Europe
This book is devoted to an in-depth, qualitative analysis of practices of cross-national solidarity in response to the current political and social crises, from citizens’ initiatives to networks of cooperation among civil society actors.
Traceability in Chemical Measurement
Metrological traceability of chemical measurement results means the establishment of a relation to metrological stated references through an unbroken chain of comparisons. This volume collects 56 outstanding papers on the topic, mostly published in the period 2000-2003 in the journal "Accreditation and Quality Assurance". They provide the latest understanding, and possibly the rationale why it is important to integrate the concept of metrological traceability including suitable measurement standards such as certified reference materials, into the standard measurement procedures of every analytical laboratory. In addition, this anthology considers the benefits to both the analytical laboratory and the user of the measurement results.
Topological Data Analysis for Genomics and Evolution : Topology in Biology
Biology has entered the age of Big Data. A technical revolution has transformed the field, and extracting meaningful information from large biological data sets is now a central methodological challenge. Algebraic topology is a well-established branch of pure mathematics that studies qualitative descriptors of the shape of geometric objects. It aims to reduce comparisons of shape to a comparison of algebraic invariants, such as numbers, which are typically easier to work with. Topological data analysis is a rapidly developing subfield that leverages the tools of algebraic topology to provide robust multiscale analysis of data sets. This book introduces the central ideas and techniques of topological data analysis and its specific applications to biology, including the evolution of viruses, bacteria and humans, genomics of cancer, and single cell characterization of developmental processes.
Therapeutic use of medicinal plants and their extracts ; Vol.2 : Phytochemistry and bioactive compounds
Starts with a general introduction to phytochemistry, followed by chapters on plant constituents, their origins and chemistry, but also discussing animal-, microorganism- and mineral-based drugs. Further chapters cover vitamins, food additives and excipients as well as xenobiotics and poisons. The book also explores the herbal approach to disease management and molecular pharmacognosy and introduces methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis of plant constituents. Phytochemicals are classified as primary (e.g. carbohydrates, lipids, amino acid derivations, etc.) or secondary (e.g. alkaloids, terpenes and terpenoids, phenolic compounds, glycosides, etc.) metabolites according to their metabolic route of origin, chemical structure and function. A wide variety of primary and secondary phytochemicals are present in medicinal plants, some of which are active phytomedicines and some of which are pharmaceutical excipients.
The World of the Seafarer : Qualitative Accounts of Working in the Global Shipping Industry
This book constitutes an ethnographic mosaic which depicts the contextual complexities of the life and work of seafarers who are employed in the international merchant cargo fleet. The collection is based upon the observations and interviews of researchers in multiple disciplines.
The semantic web : Research and applications ; Vol. 3532 ; 2nd European Semantic Web Conference, ESWC 2005, Heraklion, Crete, Greece, May 29--June 1, 2005, Proceedings
The vision of the Semantic Web is to enhance today’s Web via the exploi- tion of machine-processable metadata. The explicit representation of the sem- tics of data, accompanied with domain theories (ontologies), will enable a web that provides a qualitatively new level of service. It will weave together an - crediblylargenetworkofhumanknowledgeandwillcomplementitwithmachine processability. Various automated services will help the user to achieve goals by accessing and providing information in a machine-understandable form. This process may ultimately create extremely knowledgeable systems with various specialized reasoning services systems. Many technologies and methodologies are being developed within arti?cial intelligence, human language technology, machine learning, databases, software engineering and information systems that can contribute to the realization of this vision.
The Root Canal Anatomy in Permanent Dentition
Describes the most commonly methods used for the study of the internal anatomy of teeth and provides a complete review of the literature concerning the current state of research employing contemporary imaging tools such as micro-CT and CBCT, which offer greater accuracy whether using qualitative or quantitative approaches. In order to facilitate the management of complex anatomic anomalies, specific clinical protocols and valuable practical tips are suggested.
The role of internal audit in Improving internal control : A case study in an insurance company
This research aims to clarifying the definition of internal audit and how developing internal control and give recommendation to improve controls. research was approached as a case study on an insurance company in Syria of 2021 by using primary and qualitative data with the motor department, the medical, life and travel department, and the technical department and randomly withdraw sample for each claims and policies to evaluate controls and keep up with policies and procedures. Internal audit has a big role to avoid and protect companies from mistakes, omission and fraud and provide value to company and to reducing the risks. Internal audit influences an organization positively by service assurance of internal control.
The Institutional Compass : Method, Use and Scope
Presents a new generation multi-criteria, multi-stake holder, decision aide, called an "institutional compass". Based on hard data, the compass tells us what quality-direction we are heading in as an institution, region, system or organisation. The quality is not chosen from the usual scalar qualities of: good, neutral and bad. Instead, it is a quality chosen between: harmony, discipline and excitement. None is good in and of itself. We need some of each.
The impact of crisis on the financial performance : case study on UK’s oil, gas, and coal companies
Focuses on the impact of the crises (BREXIT, Covid-19, and Russian-Ukrainian war) on the financial performance of 6 companies in the oil, gas, and coal sector, as a sample of the whole sector. Based on the market cap, these companies were categorised into large, mid, and small sizes. The data used in this research is both qualitative and quantitative analysed in Eviews student version 12. The study concludes that BREXIT and RussianUkrainian war have an impact on profitability ratio on the long run...
The Illusion of Linearity : From Analysis to Improvement
Based on both quantitative and qualitative research, "The Illusion of Linearity: From Analysis to Improvement" discusses the following issues: (1) how the illusion of linearity appears in diverse domains of mathematics and science and how it is conceptually related to other more general misconceptions identified in the research literature, (2) what are the crucial psychological, mathematical, and educational factors being responsible for the occurrence and persistence of the phenomenon, and (3) how the illusion of linearity can be remedied by appropriate instruction.
The Globalization of Science Curricula
Provides a significant and timely investigation into the impacts that globalization has exerted on science curricula in a diverse range of countries using extensive data sets collected by the IEA between 1995 and 2015. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, this book considers the extent to which there have been changes to the intended and implemented science curricula in different countries over the last 20 years. Consideration is then given as to whether science curricula are becoming increasingly similar across countries over time. Finally the issue of whether the basis of an international core curriculum can be identified is addressed.
The Fundamentals of Building Materials
Includes four chapters that describe the properties and characteristics of a variety of building materials. Chapter One considers the features of sol-silicate paints obtained by mixing a silica sol with sodium water glass. Chapter Two analyzes the presence of radon in various building materials. Chapter Three uses a qualitative research method to present a comprehensive typology of concrete blocks in different types of building construction. Lastly, Chapter Four examines the case of stabilized mud blocks as filler material and discusses the engineering viability and properties of such stabilized mud blocks.
