Evaluating Information Retrieval and Access Tasks : NTCIR's Legacy of Research Impact
This open access book summarizes the first two decades of the NII Testbeds and Community for Information access Research (NTCIR). NTCIR is a series of evaluation forums run by a global team of researchers and hosted by the National Institute of Informatics (NII), Japan. The book is unique in that it discusses not just what was done at NTCIR, but also how it was done and the impact it has achieved. For example, in some chapters the reader sees the early seeds of what eventually grew to be the search engines that provide access to content on the World Wide Web, today’s smartphones that can tailor what they show to the needs of their owners, and the smart speakers that enrich our lives at home and on the move. We also get glimpses into how new search engines can be built for mathematical formulae, or for the digital record of a lived human life.
European Research Reloaded : Cooperation and Integration among Europeanized States
European integration has had an ever deepening impact on the member states. The first wave of research concerned the process of institution building and policy developments at the European Union (EU) level. The second wave, on Europeanization used the resulting integration as an explanatory factor in understanding domestic political change and continuity.This book argues that a third wave of research on the EU is needed to adequately understand the increased interconnectedness between the European and national political levels. We posit that this third wave should be sensitive to the temporal dimension of European integration and Europeanization. In particular, we ask: how has Europeanization affected current modes of integration and cooperation in the EU.
European Large Lakes Ecosystem changes and their ecological and socioeconomic impacts
Large lakes offer socio-economic benefits and can be used in many ways, and are often areas in which economic, cultural and political interests overlap. In this book the problems regarding the present status of European large lakes and the directions of change are discussed. Threats caused by direct human impact and by climate change, protection needs and restoration measures are considered.
European Higher Education Area: The Impact of Past and Future Policies
Sketches a vivid picture of the state of higher education in Europe almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The emphasis is on the role of the Bologna Process, The authors document long-term transformations and recent cracks in the established higher education pathways and the broader policy narratives that supported them for the last 20-30 years.Are we witnessing the advent of a new era? If so, that raises questions regarding the future of higher education, some of which are addressed in this volume. How will this new historical situation influence higher education? What can be done in higher education, building on what has been already achieved in these past years, including the Bologna Process itself, to benefit citizens, institutions, countries, and Europe as a whole?
European citizenship after Brexit : Freedom of movement and rights of residence
This book investigates European citizenship after Brexit, in light of the functionalist theory of citizenship. No matter its shape, Brexit will impact significantly on what has been labelled as one of the major achievements of EU integration: Citizenship of the Union. For the first time an automatic and collective lapse of status is observed. It is a form of involuntary loss of citizenship en masse, imposed by the automatic workings of the law on EU citizens of exclusively British nationality. It does not however create statelessness and it is likely to be tolerated under international law. This loss of citizenship is connected to a reduction of rights, affecting not solely the former Union citizens but also second country nationals in the United Kingdom and their family members.
Ethical and Social Issues in the Information Age
This book takes off where the second ended to examine ethical, social, and policy challenges stemming from the emergence of cyberspace, the convergence of telecommunication and computing technologies, and the miniaturalization of computing, telecommunication, and information-enabling devices. This accessible volume broadly surveys thought-provoking questions about the impact of these new technologies, with particular emphasis on the rapid growth of a multitude of computer networks, including the Internet. It assumes only a very modest familiarity with the basic computer literacy.
Ester Boserup’s legacy on sustainability : Orientations for contemporary research
The contents are organized in three sections reflecting important focal points of Boserup’s own work: Long-Term Socio-Ecological Change; Agriculture, Land Use, and Development; and Gender, Population, and Economy. The first three chapters offer a comprehensive review of her political and scientific work. Section Two focuses on the applicability of Boserup’s reflections on land use, technology, and agriculture, incorporating case studies which illuminate and test Boserup’s hypotheses on land use intensification and soil degradation, the impact of population growth on land use, the agricultural transition, and the role of women in development. The case studies examine both long historical time series and present-day dynamics, and explore different levels of geographical scale, from the local to the regional and the global. Section Three emphasizes the key role of women and gender relations for agriculture and development.
Essays on Transport Economics
This book covers the basic analytical methods used in transportation economics and policy analysis. Encompassing fields of economics such as Industrial Organisation, Welfare Economics, General Equilibrium Theory and Input-Output-Analysis.
Equity and efficiency considerations of public higher education
It has become part of the conventional wisdom in the economics of education that subsidies to higher education have a regressive distributional effect. Given that relatively more children from wealthier families enroll in higher education, many economist assume that these subsidies to higher education have an unwanted distributional impact. This volume presents new empirical evidence for the cross-sectional point of view and provides an analytical framework for the longitudinal perspective. The present volume also analyzes the equity and efficiency effects of widely-discussed funding reforms and proposes a voluntary graduate tax.
Environmental UV radiation : Impact on ecosystems and human health and predictive models ; Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Environmental UV Radiation: Impact on Ecosystems and Human Health and Predictive Models Pisa, Italy, June 2001
This volume originates from the NATO Advanced Study Institute Environmental UV Radiation: Impact on Ecosystems and Human Health and Predictive Models, held in Pisa, Italy in June 2001.
Environmental Simulation Chambers : Application to Atmospheric Chemical Processes
Atmospheric pollution has many different detrimental impacts on air quality at urban, regional and global scales. Large volume photoreactors (often referred to as smog or simulation chambers) have been used very effectively to investigate and understand many varied aspects of atmospheric chemistry related to air pollution problems. Photochemical smog formation, which was first observed around 1945 in Los Angeles, is now a major environmental problem for all industrialised and densely populated regions of the world. Over the years many different modelling and experimental tools have been developed to analyse and simulate the complex chemical processes associated with tropspheric photooxidant formation. Work in environmental chambers has played a key role in the development of our understanding of the atmospheric chemistry associated with pollution problems on local, regional and global scales.
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 Risk Assessment : Quantitative Measures, Anthropogenic Influences, Human Impact
The world is a dirty place and getting dirtier all the time. The reasons for this ever-increasing lack of cleanliness are not hard to find, being basically caused by the actions of the six billion people who inhabit the planet. The needs of the people for air, water, food, housing, clothing, heating, materials, oil, gas, minerals, metals, chemicals, and so forth have, over the centuries, given rise to a variety of environmental problems that have been exacerbated or been newly created by the industrialization of the world, the increase in population, and the increase in longevity of the population. The costs of cleaning even fractions of the known environmental problems are truly enormous, as detailed in the volume Environmental Risk Analysis (I. Lerche and E. Paleologos, 2001, McGraw-Hill). The chances of causing new environmental problems, and their associated costs of clean up, are equally challenging in terms of anthropogenic influences and also of the natural environmental problems that can be triggered by humanity.
Environmental Problems of Central Asia and their Economic, Social and Security Impacts
entral Asia is a developing region with great potential, but there are valid concerns that current resource management practices are not sustainable, particularly with regard to the management of water resources. Recent changes in social structures, accompanied by regional climate change, have caused substantial environmental changes leading to security concerns in the region. As a result, the local economy has been significantly impacted to the extent that the potential for social unrest is of great concern.
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.
Environmental impact assessment of recycled wastes on surface and ground waters ; Vol.3 : Engineering modeling and sustainability
The state of the art of the impact assessment of recycled hazardous waste materials on surface and ground waters is presented. The topics include chemodynamics, toxicology, modeling and information systems. The book serves as a practical conceptual guide for those who have professional responsibility for the monitoring, design, management, or conduct of environmental impact assessment. It is believed that the book will prove useful to the reader who, regardless of disciplinary background, wants to examine in greater detail the kinds of interdisciplinary contributions to contemporary decision-making processes that characterize modern impact assessment project development.
Environmental Impact Assessment of Recycled Wastes on Surface and Ground Waters ; Vol.2 : Risk analysis
The state of the art of the impact assessment of recycled hazardous waste materials on surface and ground waters is presented. The topics include chemodynamics, toxicology, modeling and information systems. The book serves as a practical conceptual guide for those who have professional responsibility for the monitoring, design, management, or conduct of environmental impact assessment. It is believed that the book will prove useful to the reader who, regardless of disciplinary background, wants to examine in greater detail the kinds of interdisciplinary contributions to contemporary decision-making processes that characterize modern impact assessment project development.
Environmental Impact Assessment of Recycled Wastes on Surface and Ground Waters ; Vol.1 : Concepts, methodology and cemical analysis
The state of the art of the impact assessment of recycled hazardous waste materials on surface and ground waters is presented. The topics include chemodynamics, toxicology, modeling and information systems. Due to the wealth of information on this topic, the texts of T. Kassim (ed.): Environmental Impact Assessment are published in three separate volumes: vol. 1: Concepts, Methodology and Chemical Analysis; vol. 2: Risk Analysis and vol. 3: Engineering Modeling and Sustainability. The book serves as a practical conceptual guide for those who have professional responsibility for the monitoring, design, management, or conduct of environmental impact assessment. It is believed that the book will prove useful to the reader who, regardless of disciplinary background, wants to examine in greater detail the kinds of interdisciplinary contributions to contemporary decision-making processes that characterize modern impact assessment project development.
Environmental Health in Central and Eastern Europe
Complex chemical mixtures impact our health every day. In the United States, and also in Central and Eastern Europe, there are a number of locations where complex chemical mixtures have been released to environmental media. Although exposure to mixtures is common, minimal information exists to quantify these exposures, or to determine their impact on human or ecological receptors. These proceedings present some of the most current research conducted to quantify complex mixtures in the environment and investigate their potential impact on human health. Many of the manuscripts reported in these proceedings represent the most up-to-date measurements of population exposures in Central and Eastern Europe. These studies are of value to health and environmental professionals around the world as they develop strategies for assessing exposures, remediating contaminated environments, and improving public health.
Environmental health impacts of transport and mobility
Transport and mobility are essential parts of the current organization of society. Complex activities are interwoven in such a way that problems occurring from the actual process of constant movement cannot be separated, as they are so tightly interconnected. This book examines the health effects of transport and mobility by addressing the major issues related to the subject and analyzing their consequences. Thus not only are air pollution, noise, and sedentarism and its related endocrine problems discussed, but topics such as jet-lag, accidents and violent displacement are also addressed. The strength of this book over others in the field lies in its multidisciplinary approach to the issues by a number of experts in different scientific fields who are documenting the health effects of transport and mobility. Moreover, it enhances the understanding of the issues by integrating information from different geographical regions.



















