The economics and finance of commodity price shocks
Provides a variety of modelling frameworks for documenting the frequency and intensity of commodity price shocks. Second, to evaluate existing approaches used for forecasting large movements in future commodity prices. Third, to cover a wide range and aspects of global commodities including currencies, rare–hard–lustrous transition metals, agricultural commodities, energy, and health pandemics. Some attempts have already been made towards modelling commodity price shocks. However, most tend to narrowly focus on a subset of commodity markets, i.e., agricultural commodities market and/or the energy market. In this book, the author moves the needle forward by operationalizing different models, which allow researchers to identify the underlying causes and effects of commodity price shocks. Readers also learn about different commodity price forecasting models.
The ecological scarcity method for the European Union : A Volkswagen research initiative : Environmental assessments
Provides a powerful tool for unbiased environmental assessments in enterprises and surveys the current impacts and the targets published by environmental authorities, specifically the European Environment Agency. ESM assesses environmental impacts of manufacturing sites and production processes. Developed in 1990 in Switzerland, ESM has already gained regulatory status in proving entitlements for tax exemptions. The method assesses all important impacts in air, water, energy consumption, waste generation and freshwater consumption and also supports en vironmental investment decisions.
The Earths Atmosphere : Its Physics and Dynamics
Covers a wide area of the atmospheric science, focusing particularly on those physical and dynamical aspects of our environment which tend to create heat sources and sinks in the earth-atmosphere system and which it seeks to balance through circulation at different time and space scales. The processes of heat transfer in the atmosphere and ocean by general circulation and by waves and oscillations are discussed in detail. The heat balance of the atmosphere is considered, after taking into consideration the role of various types of greenhouse gases that may be present. In this context, the publication of the book will be very timely and will be welcomed by all those interested in knowing more about our atmosphere and the way it works, especially with regard to the contentious issue of global warming by greenhouse gases released by human activities on earth.
The Dynamics of Thought
This volume is a collection of some of the most important philosophical papers by Peter Gärdenfors. Spanning a period of more than 20 years of his research, they cover a wide ground of topics, from early works on decision theory, belief revision and nonmonotonic logic to more recent work on conceptual spaces, inductive reasoning, semantics and the evolutions of thinking. Many of the papers have only been published in places that are difficult to access. The common theme of all the papers is the dynamics of thought. Several of the papers have become minor classics and the volume bears witness of the wide scope of Gärdenfors’ research and of his crisp and often witty style of writing. The volume will be of interest to researchers in philosophy and other cognitive sciences.
The Dynamics of Complex Urban Systems : An Interdisciplinary Approach
The present book outlines a conceptual framework for modelling and forecasting the dynamics of both growth-limited cities and megacities bringing together experts from several disciplines. The interdisciplinary point of view is particularly stressed. The contributions presented reflect the various interdependencies between structural (physics and mathematics models) and social development (spatial decision making and urban planning models). The volume emphasizes not only the contributions from different disciplines but also pays attention to specific problems like model calibration, data availability and management, case studies and interactions with urban planners. It is the collection of all the contributions of the speakers at the international workshop "The Dynamics of Complex Urban Systems: an interdisciplinary approach" held at Monte Verità (Ascona/Switzerland) from 4th to 6th of November 2004.
The Distributed University for Sustainable Higher Education
Discusses the re-imagining of the higher education sector. It exposes problems that relate to the way that universities have become over-managed business enterprises which may not reflect societal, national, or global educational needs. From there, it proposes some solutions, including three innovative programs, that make universities more responsive to needs, as well as reduce their impact on the environment. The central idea of this book is developing the ‘Distributed University,’ which distributes education to where it is needed, reducing local and global inequalities in access, and emphasizing local relevance in place of large centralized campuses, with a low impact on the environment. It emphasizes the distribution of trust in place of managerialism and collaboration in place of competition.
The Discovery of Historicity in German Idealism and Historism
Develops its philosophy of history as the theory of becoming absolute and as absolute knowledge. Historism also originates from Hegel's and Schelling's discovery of absolute historicity as it turns against Idealism's philosophy of history by emphasizing the singular and unique in the process of history. German Idealism and Historism can be considered as the central German contribution to the history of ideas. Since Idealism became most influential for modern philosophy and Historism for modern historiography, they are analyzed in this volume in a collaboration of philosophers and historians. German Idealism is presented in Schelling and its critics Schlegel, Baader, and Nietzsche; Historism in Ranke, Droysen, Burckhardt, and Treitschke. The volume further presents the impact of Idealism and Historism on present German approaches to the philosophy of history and outlines the debates on the possibility of a philosophy of history and on the methodology of the historical sciences.
The Disappearing Computer : Interaction Design, System Infrastructures and Applications for Smart Environments
Elaborates how it will be replaced by a new generation of technologies, moving computing off the desktop and ultimately integrating it with real world objects and everyday environments. Computing becomes thus an inseparable part of our everyday activities while simultaneously disappearing into the background. It becomes a ubiquitous utility taking on a role similar to electricity – an enabling but invisible and pervasive medium revealing its functionality on request in an unobtrusive way and supporting people’s everyday activities. This book provides a unique combination of concepts, methods and prototypes of ubiquitous and pervasive computing reflecting the current interest in smart environments and ambient intelligence.
The Didactical Challenge of Symbolic Calculators : Turning a Computational Device into a Mathematical Instrument
This text offers the first English-language exposition of how an innovative synthesis of the theories of instrumentation and didactics can be used to illuminate the complexities of technology integration. It offers important guidance for policy and practice through its analysis of the central role of the teacher and its identification of key principles for effective didactical design and management. These distinctive features make this book essential reading for researchers, teacher educators, and graduate students in mathematics education and technology in education, as well as for teachers of mathematics at upper-secondary and university levels
The Descent of Human Sex Ratio at Birth : A Dialogue between Mathematics, Biology and Sociology
"Since the 18th century, one phenomenon, the proportion of the sexes at birth among human beings, has contributed to various developments such as the calculus of probabilities, administrative statistics, the moral and social sciences, the statistics of variability, post-Darwinian biology and Durkheimian sociology. This fact is brought to the critical attention of readers who rarely work together -- mathematicians, biologists, historians, social scientists and historians of the sciences -- along a three centuries European journey, meeting Süssmilch, Condorcet, Laplace, Fourier, Girou de Buzareingues, Poisson, Quetelet, Darwin, Düsing, Gini, Halbwachs or Fisher."
The Demography of Disasters : Impacts for Population and Place
Provides worldwide examples demonstrating the importance of the interplay between demography and disasters in regions and spatially. It marks an advance in practical and theoretical insights for understanding the role of demography in planning for and mitigating impacts from disasters in developed nations.
The Deck Access Housing Design Guide : A Return to Streets in the Sky
A practical design guide to deck access housing. It focuses on the contemporary use of deck access housing, sharing practical guidance and providing in-depth case studies, while also presenting historical context about this flexible and evolving housing type. Featured architects from the UK: AHMM · Apparata · Cartwright Pickard · Collective Architecture · DO Architecture · Hawkins Brown · Haworth Tompkins · Henley Halebrown · Levitt Bernstein · Maccreanor Lavington · Mæ · Matthew Lloyd · Pitman Tozer · Pollard Thomas Edwards · Proctor & Matthews · PRP · RCKa. Featured architects from mainland Europe: ANMA · Arquitectura Produccions · Atelier Kempe Thill · Bureau Massa · DAMAST · Estudio Herreros · Fink + Jocher · KAAN · LEVS · Martin-Löf · MEF · Muñoz Miranda · Passelac & Roques · Waechter + Waechter
The Death of Metaphysics ; The Death of Culture : Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Morality
Critically explores the nature and depth of our contemporary cultural crisis: its lack of traditional orientation and moral understanding. Prime among the issues at stake are the meaning and significance of birth, copulation, suffering, and death, expressed in debates regarding human embryo-experimentation and stem cell research, the character of moral and scientific norms, as well as more fundamentally, the character of an adequate epistemology for coming to appreciate the deep nature of reality and its normative implications.
The Data Shake : Opportunities and obstacles for urban policy making
Represents one of the key milestones of PoliVisu, an H2020 research and innovation project funded by the European Commission under the call “Policy-development in the age of big data: data-driven policy-making, policy-modelling and policy-implementation”.
The darker side of tanning : A review of outdoor, Indoor, and artificial tanning
The desire for tanned skin has led to the widespread use of outdoor sunbathing, indoor tanning beds, and artificial tanning products. However, accumulating evidence indicates that all forms of purposeful tanning have serious health risks. This thesis reviews the literature on the dangers of both sunlight and artificial ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure from tanning activities. Epidemiological studies demonstrate strong links between UV exposure from sun and tanning beds and increased incidence of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers...
The Culture of Capital Punishment in Japan
Provides a comparative perspective on capital punishment in Japan and the United States. Alongside the US, Japan is one of only a few developed democracies in the world which retains capital punishment and continues to carry out executions on a regular basis. There are some similarities between the two systems of capital punishment but there are also many striking differences.
The Critique of Psychology : From Kant to Postcolonial Theory
This is not a book of critique for critique’s sake: Teo defines the field as a work in progress with goals that are evolving yet constant. In emphasizing ethical and political questions faced by psychology as a discipline, this visionary book points students, academics, and practitioners toward new possibilities for their shared future.
The Crisis for Young People : Generational Inequalities in Education, Work, Housing and Welfare
Provides an original and challenging analysis of one of the most pressing social issues of our times: intergenerational inequality. Based on recent mixed-method research, it explores the extent and scope of generational divides through an up-to-date analysis of the changing opportunities for young people in Britain across different life domains. A central question addressed is whether current changes are best understood as growing inequalities within and across age groups, or whether we face a genuine intergenerational decline over the life course of this and future generations of youth. Andy Green’s controversial manifesto for intergenerational equity includes replacing higher education fees with a tax on graduates of all ages; the introduction of capital gains tax on sales of first homes; voting at 16, and a new charter of rights for private tenants.
The Coupling of Safety and Security : Exploring Interrelations in Theory and Practice
This book back at how safety and security have developed in hazardous technologies and activities, explaining what has become an intersection between the two in both strategies and management practices.
The Council of Europe : Monitoring Procedures and the Constitutional Autonomy of the Member States, A European law study, based upon documents and commentaries, illustrated by the Council of Europe’s actions against the constitutional reform in Liechtenstein
Examines in depth the Council of Europe’s legal bases, organisation and duties in this regard, basing the work on the charter and a multitude of the Council’s legal acts and documents. The assessment provides informative, penetrating insight into the tensions of law and reality, finely elucidating the antagonism of the states’ international law and sovereignty, and yielding a rich source of reading for everyone interested in politics, international law, European law and state law.



















