Current aopics in artificial intelligence ; 12th Conference of the Spanish Association for Artificial Intelligence, CAEPIA 2007, Salamanca, Spain, November 12-16, 2007, Selected Papers
The book presented address all current issues of artificial intelligence ranging from methodological and foundational aspects to advanced applications in various fields.
Cross cultural issues in consumer science and consumer psychology : Current perspectives and future directions
Shows cross-cultural issues in consumer psychology and consumer science as the world becomes an increasingly global marketplace. An international panel of experts analyzes current trends in consumer behavior across diverse countries worldwide and across cultural groups within countries, depicting commonly-used cross-cultural frameworks and research methods. Beginning with conceptualizing and quantifying culture at the national level, the volume then moves to individual levels of analysis of consumer decision-making, examining consumer data as they affect business decisions in marketing products internationally. The resulting work synthesizes the consumer science, international business, and consumer psychology literatures for a deeper understanding of all three disciplines and pathways to future research as cultures interact and tastes evolve.
Cost-Efficient Design
This is the first English edition of an established work on cost-driven product design and development. It offers tried and tested methods for understanding, influencing and reducing product costs. The methodology and organization of cost management, as well as the effects on each type of cost are described. Using this knowledge the product developer can assume responsibility for costs. The numerous examples and detailed derivation of results provide the practical user with problem solutions and hints. Methods such as Target Costing and Simultaneous Engineering are discribed. Thus the book will also help the specialist who does not have the overview of the complex interrelationships in the enterprise. The work is also suited for students, as well as for practicing engineers.
Control of Dead-time Processes
Control of Dead-time Processes introduces the fundamental techniques for controlling dead-time processes ranging from simple monovariable to complex multivariable cases. Solutions to dead-time-process-control problems are studied using classical proportional-integral-differential (PID) control for the simpler examples and dead-time-compensator (DTC) and model predictive control (MPC) methods for progressively more complex ones. Although MPC and DTC approaches originate in different areas of control, both use predictors to overcome the effects of dead time. Using this fact, the text analyses MPC as a dead-time-compensation strategy and shows how it can be used synergistically with robust DTC tuning methodologies.
Contrast Media in Ultrasonography : Basic Principles and Clinical Applications
This book provides a comprehensive account of the physical basis and the clinical applications of microbubble-based contrast agents. The principles underlying the use of specialized contrast-specific imaging techniques and the examination methodology are clearly described. The different clinical applications of microbubble-based agents are extensively explained with the aid of numerous high-quality illustrations, many of which are in color. In addition, research and therapeutic perspectives are addressed.
Continuum Mechanics using Mathematica® : Fundamentals, Applications and Scientific Computing
This book's methodological approach familiarizes readers with the mathematical tools required to correctly define and solve problems in continuum mechanics. The book covers essential principles and fundamental applications, and provides a solid basis for a deeper study of more challenging and specialized problems related to elasticity, fluid mechanics, plasticity, materials with memory, piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity, magneto-fluid mechanics, and state changes.
Contemporary Sociological Theory : An Integrated Multi-Level Approach
This book covers the major theoretical orientations that have been influential in American sociology since the mid-twentieth century. These include symbolic interaction, phenomenological sociology and ethnomethodology, social exchange and rational choice theories, sociology of emotions, functionalism and neofunctionalism, conflict and critical theory, selected feminist theories, structuration theory, systems theory, sociobiology, selected sociology of culture perspectives, and major themes from postmodern orientations.
Contemporary Qualitative Research : Exemplars for Science and Mathematics Educators
This volume offers a unique set of research exemplars for science, mathematics and technology educators. The volume explores the important challenge of how to translate leading-edge methodologies into practical research strategies and techniques. The book is divided into three major sections, The Golden Age of Research, Meeting the Research Crises and A New Era of Research, with chapters exploring a variety of methodologies and representational forms and texts. These include historical, narrative, literary, phenomenological, autobiographical, virtual and performance texts, among others. Qualitative Research in Postmodern Times is an exciting and accessible book that will be essential reading for science, mathematics and technology educators interested in new forms of educational research. Beginning researchers will find it practically helpful in planning and conducting their research studies, while experienced researchers will welcome new theoretical insights into postmodern methodologies.
Contemporary Medical Acupuncture : A Systems Approach
Contemporary Medical Acupuncture aims to bridge the gap between classical acupuncture therapy and contemporary medicine to achieve their ultimate integration. Based on updated reviews and systematic analyses, the meridians are actually systems of physiological and pathological reflexes in the body, and whole body reflex zones is proposed, which may efficiently inherit and clarify the meridian system. The systems methodology, together with the authors’ clinical expertise of 40 years, is applied to raise the reproducibility of effectiveness in treating various indications of acupuncture, especially intractable cases. Outstanding features of the book are its incisive and concrete descriptions about theories and techniques of clinical acupuncture, a novel systems approach, and a great deal of case studies.
Contemporary Empirical Methods in Software Engineering
This book presents contemporary empirical methods in software engineering related to the plurality of research methodologies, human factors, data collection and processing, aggregation and synthesis of evidence, and impact of software engineering research. The individual chapters discuss methods that impact the current evolution of empirical software engineering and form the backbone of future research.
Contaminated soils, sediments and water ; Vol.10 : Successes and challenges
Contaminated Soils, Sediments and Water: Successes and Challenges, Volume 10 contains a valuable collection of success stories (and challenges) in the areas of environmental fate, heavy metals, modeling, MTBE and oxygenates, regulatory, remediation, risk assessment, site assessment and sampling methodology. It demonstrates the progress that has been made in working together toward the optimization of established approaches, as well as embracing departures from traditional regulatory models in order to address the threats to our natural resources. The book is divided into eight sections: Part I: Environmental Fate; Part II: Heavy Metals; Part III: Modeling; Part IV: MTBE and Oxygenates; Part V: Radionuclides; Part VI: Regulatory; Part VII: Remediation; Part VIII: Risk Assessment and Remedial Approaches Towards Restoration and Management of Contaminated Rivers.
Consumer perception of product risks and benefits
Reflects the current thinking and research on how consumers’ perception of product risks and benefits affects their behavior. It provides the scientific, regulatory and industrial research community with a conceptual and methodological reference point for studies on consumer behavior and marketing. The contributions address various aspects of consumer psychology and behavior, risk perception and communication, marketing research strategies, as well as consumer product regulation. The book is divided into 4 parts: Product risks; Perception of product risks and benefits; Consumer behavior; Regulation and responsibility.
Construction audit: building a solid foundation
Provides real-life solutions to common problems in construction. Introduces project management techniques; while not concentrating on a special methodology, the book builds on project management fundamentals. Understanding this will help enable the reader to talk to project managers more effectively.
Concept and Design Developments in School Improvement Research : Longitudinal, Multilevel and Mixed Methods and Their Relevance for Educational Accountability
This book discusses challenges in school improvement research and different methodological approaches that have the potential to foster school improvement research. Research on school improvement and accountability analysis places high demands on a study’s design and method. The potential of combining the depth of case studies with the breath of quantitative measures and analyses in a mixed-methods design seems very promising. Consequently, the focus of the book lies on innovative methodological approaches.
Computing Meaning : Vol.3
This book provides an in-depth view of the current issues, problems and approaches in the computation of meaning as expressed in language. Aimed at linguists, computer scientists, and logicians with an interest in the computation of meaning, this book focuses on two main topics in recent research in computational semantics. The first topic is the definition and use of underspecified semantic representations, i.e. formal structures that represent part of the meaning of a linguistic object while leaving other parts unspecified. The second topic discussed is semantic annotation. Annotated corpora have become an indispensable resource both for linguists and for developers of language and speech technology, especially when used in combination with machine learning methods. The annotation in corpora has only marginally addressed semantic information, however, since semantic annotation methodologies are still in their infancy. This book discusses the development and application of such methodologies.
Computers and Productivity : How Firms Make a General Purpose Technology Work
Highlighting the importance of innovations, firm-sponsored training, and recruitment of high-skilled workers, this monograph analyses why and to what extent firms differ in their capabilities to make ICT work productively. The work also comprises a detailed discussion of economic theory concerning ICT use and complementary firm strategies. In addition it provides a comprehensive treatment of various methodological issues concerning the measurement of firm-level productivity in econometric analyses.
Computer vision / computer graphics collaboration Techniques ; 3rd International Conference on Computer Vision/Computer Graphics, MIRAGE 2007, Rocquencourt, France, March 28-30, 2007, Proceedings
This volume contains foundational, methodological, and application issues.
Computer simulation studies in condensed-matter physics XVIII ; Proceedings of the Eighteenth Workshop, Athens, GA, USA, March 7-11, 2005
This volume represents a "status report" emanating from presentations made during the 18th Annual Workshop on Computer Simulations Studies in Condensed Matter Physics at the Center for Simulational Physics at the University of Georgia in March 2005. It provides a broad overview of the most recent advances in the field, spanning the range from statistical physics to soft condensed matter and biological systems. Results on nanostructures and materials are included as are several descriptions of advances in quantum simulations and quantum computing as well as.methodological advances.
Computer Science Logic ; Vol. 3634
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 19th International Workshop on Computer Science Logic, CSL 2005, held as the 14th Annual Conference of the EACSL in Oxford, UK in August 2005. The 33 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited contributions were carefully reviewed and selected from 108 papers submitted. All current aspects of logic in computer science are addressed ranging from mathematical logic and logical foundations to methodological issues and applications of logics in various computing contexts. The volume is organized in topical sections on semantics and logics, type theory and lambda calculus, linear logic and ludics, constraints, finite models, decidability and complexity, verification and model checking, constructive reasoning and computational mathematics, and implicit computational complexity and rewriting.
Computer recognition systems 2
Computer recognition systems are nowadays one of the most promising directions in artificial intelligence. This book presents actual comprehensive study of this field. It contains a collection of over one hundred carefully selected articles contributed by experts of pattern recognition. It reports on current research with respect to both methodology and applications. In particular, it includes the following sections: Features, learning and classifiers / Image processing and computer vision / Speech and word recognition / Medical applications / Various applications. This book is a great reference tool for scientists who deal with the problems of designing computer pattern recognition systems. Its target readers can be the as well researchers as students of computer science, artificial intelligence or robotics.



















