الصفحة 123
الصفحة 123
EQ-5D concepts and methods : a developmental history
The EuroQol Group is an international, cross-disciplinary group set up in 1987 to investigate issues related to the valuation of health. This book presents a series of papers from the early 1990s that illustrate the aspects of the development of EQ-5D including: the descriptive system, self-rated health, valuation issues, and semantic issues. Read less
Environments for Multi-Agent Systems III ; 3rd International Workshop, E4MAS 2006, Hakodate, Japan, May 8, 2006, Selected Revised and Invited Papers
This book are organized in topical sections on models, architecture, and design, mediated interaction and stigmery, governing environment, and applications.
Environments for Multi-Agent Systems II ; 2nd International Workshop, E4MAS 2005, Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 25, 2005, Selected Revised and Invited Papers
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Environments for Multiagent Systems, E4MAS 2005, held in July 2005. The 16 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from the lectures given at the workshop.
Environments for Multi-Agent Systems ; 1st International Workshop, E4MAS, 2004, New York, NY, July 19, 2004, Revised Selected Papers
The modern ?eld of multiagent systems has developed from two main lines of earlier research. Its practitioners generally regard it as a form of arti?cial intelligence (AI). Some of its earliest work was reported in a series of workshops in the US dating from1980,revealinglyentitled,“DistributedArti?cialIntelligence,”andpioneers often quoted a statement attributed to Nils Nilsson that “all AI is distributed. ” The locus of classical AI was what happens in the head of a single agent, and much MAS research re?ects this heritage with its emphasis on detailed modeling of the mental state and processes of individual agents. From this perspective, intelligenceisultimatelythepurviewofasinglemind,thoughitcanbeampli?ed by appropriate interactions with other minds. These interactions are typically mediated by structured protocols of various sorts, modeled on human conver- tional behavior. But the modern ?eld of MAS was not born of a single parent. A few - searchershavepersistentlyadvocatedideasfromthe?eldofarti?ciallife(ALife). These scientists were impressed by the complex adaptive behaviors of commu- ties of animals (often extremely simple animals, such as insects or even micro- ganisms). The computational models on which they drew were often created by biologists who used them not to solve practical engineering problems but to test their hypotheses about the mechanisms used by natural systems. In the ar- ?cial life model, intelligence need not reside in a single agent, but emerges at the level of the community from the nonlinear interactions among agents. - cause the individual agents are often subcognitive, their interactions cannot be modeled by protocols that presume linguistic competence.
Environmental security and environmental management : The role of risk assessment ; Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workhop on The Role of Risk Assessment in Environmental Security and Emergency Preparedness in the Mediterranean Region, held in Eilat, Israel, April 15-18, 2004
The concept of “environmental security” has emerged as one basis for understanding international conflicts. This phrase can mean a variety of things. It can signify security issues stemming from environmental concerns or conflicting needs, or it can mean that the environment is treated as a resource for the long term, and the question is what should be done today to preserve the quality of the environment in the future. In the same way that energy security is about ensuring access to energy for the long run, it can also mean that pressing environmental concerns create a situation where different countries and communities are forced to collaboratively design a unified response, even if cooperation is not generally in the logic of their relations. Over the last several years, the authors of this book and their colleagues have tried to demonstrate the power of risk assessment and decision analysis as valuable tools that decision makers should use for a broad range of environmental problems, including environmental security. Risk analysis is almost more a state of mind or a way of looking at problems than it is a kind of algorithm or a set of recipes. It projects a kind of rationality on problems and forces a certain degree of quantitative rigor, as opposed to the all too common tendency of making environmental recommendations based on anecdotal evidence.
Environmental Role of Wetlands in Headwaters
Internationally, the wetlands of headwater and upland regions provide many valuable environmental services. This book moves towards a more comprehensive inventory of the benefits and costs of headwater wetlands. It evaluates the research that tries to understand the tolerances, exchanges, checks and balances within headwater landscapes and the downstream impacts of changes in wetlands. It employs case studies and reviews from 21 nations spanning Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. It explores the new policy frameworks, changes in land husbandry, new systems for community education, participatory processes and technological interventions required for the effective management of headwater wetlands and the full integration of wetlands (including newly constructed wetlands) into environmental management and planning. In the past, most research dealt with wetlands as isolated features, this book examines wetlands in their watershed management context.
Environmental Policy Instruments for Conserving Global Biodiversity
If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes. —Mark 9:23 The current, unprecedented loss of global biodiversity as a result of anthropo genic interference in the world's ecosystems is affecting human well-being across the globe with increasing severity. It therefore represents a major chal lenge in international environmental policymaking. With the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the community of states has recognized the in creasing importance of preserving biodiversity. Given the extensive context of biodiversity loss and preservation, this study focuses on two issues, which are at the center of the public discussion regarding the objectives of conservation and the sustainable use of biodiversity, and that are addressed by specific policy instruments. The first issue is the regulation of cross-border trade in genetic information and genetic resources. Here, the question is whether the commercial use of genetic information derived from bio diversity can create incentives for its preservation. The second issue involves the conservation of biodiversity through the protection of ecologically valuable eco systems from human use.
Environmental Issues in Latin America and the Caribbean
This book is a non-technical interdisciplinary collection of 12 essays, each of which uses natural or social science methods. The essays analyze a representative set of environmental issues in Latin America and the Caribbean. They consider problems at international, regional, national, and local levels and examine current and historical environmental policy. The essays are organized according to theme and approach into five parts: -conservation challenges; -national policies, local communities, and rural development; -market mechanisms for protecting public goods; -public participation and environmental justice; -the effects of development policies on the environment. Contributors are researchers from Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the United States
Environmental Governance in Latin America
The multiple purposes of nature – livelihood for communities, revenues for states, commodities for companies, and biodiversity for conservationists – have turned environmental governance in Latin America into a highly contested arena. In such a resource-rich region, unequal power relations, conflicting priorities, and trade-offs among multiple goals have led to a myriad of contrasting initiatives that are reshaping social relations and rural territories. This edited collection addresses these tensions by unpacking environmental governance as a complex process of formulating and contesting values, procedures and practices shaping the access, control and use of natural resources. Contributors from various fields address the challenges, limitations, and possibilities for a more sustainable, equal, and fair development. In this book, environmental governance is seen as an overarching concept defining the dynamic and multi-layered repertoire of society-nature interactions, where images of nature and discourses on the use of natural resources are mediated by contextual processes at multiple scales.
Environmental Effects of Afforestation in North-Western Europe : From Field Observations to Decision Support
Recognising the need for effective decision making in relation to land-use change, this timely book develops a series of tools for estimating the environmental impacts of afforestation. It also presents guidelines and decision support systems (DSS) to enable both policy makers and forest managers to maximize the benefits and minimize the adverse effects of afforestation. This book will provide a valuable resource for both graduate students and researchers in forest, environmental and biological sciences, as well as for landscape planners and policy makers involved in afforestation projects at local, regional and international levels.
Entertainment computing – ICEC 2007 ; 6th International Conference, Shanghai, China, September 15-17, 2007, Proceedings
This book are organized in topical sections on augmented, virtual and mixed reality, computer games, image processing, mesh and modeling, digital storytelling and interactive systems, sound, music and creative environments, video processing, rendering, computer animation and networks, game based interfaces, as well as robots and cyber pets.
Entertainment computing - ICEC 2006 ; 5th International Conference, Cambridge, UK, September 20-22, 2006, Proceeding
ICEC 2006 attracted 47 full paper submissions, 48 short paper submissions in total 95 technical papers. Based on a thorough review and selection process by 85 international experts from academia and industry as members of the Program Committee, a high-quality program was compiled. The International Program Committee consisted of experts from all over the world As a result, 17 full papers and 17 short papers were accepted as submitted or with minor revisions. For the remaining submissions, 28 were recommended to change according to the reviews and were submitted as posters. This proceedings volume presents 62 technical contributions which are from many different countries.
Entertainment Computing - ICEC 2005 ; 4th International Conference, Sanda, Japan, September 19-21, 2005, Proceedings
First of all, we appreciate the hard work of all the authors who contributed to ICEC 2005 by submitting their papers. ICEC 2005 attracted 95 technical paper submissions, 8 poster submissions and 7 demo submissions, in total 110. This number is nearly equal to ICEC 2004. Based on a thorough review and selection process carried out by 76 international experts from academia and industry as members of the senior and international program committees, a high-quality program was compiled. The program committee consisted of experts from all over the world: 1 from Austria, 3 from Bulgaria, 2 from Canada, 4 from China, 1 from Finland, 4 from France, 10 from Germany, 1 from Greece, 1 from Ireland, 1 from Israel, 1 from Italy, 26 from Japan, 1 from Korea, 4 from The Netherlands, 1 from New Zealand, 1 from Norway, 1 from Singapore, 1 from Thailand, 4 from the UK, and 8 from the USA. In this number, reviewers are included. The final decision was made at the senior program committee meeting based on three reviewers' feedback, available online via the conference management tool. Through earnest and fair discussion at the meeting, 25 technical papers were accepted as long papers and 32 technical papers were accepted as short papers from 95 submitted technical papers. Moreover, 3 poster papers and 5 demo papers were accepted.
Enterprising worlds : A geographic perspective on economics, environments & ethics
Enterprising World represents the culmination of several years of work by geographers, planners, and economists. The chapters included in this volume represent the collective efforts of the International Geographical Union’s Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces. This collection is the result of the 2005 annual meeting in Toledo, Ohio (USA). The chapters have been selected based on their contribution to the broader community of economic geographers and policymakers and to demonstrate the inherent interconnectedness of these themes (and at times the conceptual tension that exists between ethics, economics, and the environment) insofar as these important issues shape the contours and cleavages of contemporary regional development.
Enterprise Information Systems VII
The purpose of the 7th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS) was to bring together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the advances and business applications of information systems. Five simultaneous tracks have been held, covering different aspects of Enterprise Information Systems Applications, including Enterprise Database Technology, Systems Integration, Artificial Intelligence, Decision Support Systems, Information Systems Analysis and Specification, Internet Computing, Electronic Commerce and Human Factors.
Enterprise Information Systems VI
This book contains the best papers of the Sixth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2004), held in Porto (Portugal) and organized by INSTICC (Institute for Systems and Technologies of Information, Communication and Control) in collaboration with PORTUCALENSE UNIVERSITY, who hosted the event. Following the route started in 1999, ICEIS has become a major point of contact between research scientists, engineers and practitioners on the area of business applications of information systems. This conference has received an increased interest every year, from especially from the international academic community, and it is now one of the world largest conferences in its area. This year, five simultaneous tracks were held, covering different aspects related to enterprise computing, including: “Databases and Information Systems Integration”,
Enterprise Information Systems V
ICEIS focuses on real world applications and aims at bringing together researchers, engineers and practitioners interested in the advances and business applications of information systems. As in previous years, ICEIS’2003 held four simultaneous tracks covering different aspects of enterprise computing: Databases and Information Systems Integration, Artificial Intelligence and Decision Support Systems, Information Systems Analysis and Specification and Software Agents and Internet Computing. Although ICEIS’2003 received 546 paper submissions from over 50 countries, only 80 were accepted as full papers and presented in 30-minutes oral presentations. With an acceptance rate of 15%, these numbers demonstrate the intention of preserving a high quality forum for future editions of this conference. From the articles accepted as long papers for the conference, only 32 were selected for inclusion in this book Additional keynote lectures, tutorials and industrial sessions were also held during ICEIS’2003, and, for the first time this year, the 1st Doctoral Consortium on Enterprise Information Systems gave PhD students an opportunity to present their work to an international audience of experts in the field of information systems.
Enterprise Information Systems ; 8th International Conference, ICEIS 2006, Paphos, Cyprus, May 23-27, 2006, Revised Selected Papers
This book contains the carefully selected best papers of the 8th International Conference on Enterprise Information Sysetms, ICEIS 2006, held in Paphos, Cyprus, in May 2006.The 4 invited papers and 27 revised and selected papers presented in this volume cover different aspects related to enterprise computing. They were selected from 63 accepted papers (out of more than 400 submissions). The contributions are grouped in sections on databases and information systems integration.
Enterprise Applications and Services in the Finance Industry ; 3rd International Workshop, FinanceCom 2007, Montreal, Canada, December 8, 2007. Revised Papers
This book constitutes the proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Enterprise Applications and Services in the Finance Industry, FinanceCom2008, held in Paris, France, on December 13, 2008. The workshop spans multiple disciplines, including technical, economic, sociological and behavioral sciences. The guiding theme of this workshop was concerned with innovations in the financial services industry, driven by either new business models or changed regulations.
Entering Emerging Markets : Motorola's Blueprint for Going Global
The book describes the strategies and processes of a multi-national US corporation applied in entering emerging markets around the globe. It details the structured approach, innovative ways and concerted efforts involved. Executives learned how to gain foothold in unknown territory and how to deal with complexity and diversity.
