My Heavens : The Adventures of a Lonely Stargazer Building an Over-the-Top Observatory
Whether you might want to undertake building an over-the-top dome observatory yourself or not, you are sure to enjoy this informative tale by Gordon Rogers, told with humor and humility, of his torturous but ultimately rewarding experience with building for himself, attached to his own home, a fancy and sophisticated dome observatory, just for the pleasure of sky watching on beautiful nights (of which there are far too few in England!). Read about all the thinking and planning that went into this venture, and the options considered and rejected. Read about the choices and mistakes made along the way. Finally, read and discover the joys of sky watching using state-of-the-art equipment, and share in the author’s frustrations and triumphs as he completed this project of a lifetime.
Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage : Economic, Cultural and Social Identity
Our first contact with music is almost certainly in our childhood when our parents sing lullabies to us at bedtime. In a community where music is important, these songs are likely to be successfully transmitted from one generation to the next. This is similar to the concept of intangible cultural heritage and how it is transmitted.
Multivariate and Mixture Distribution Rasch Models : Extensions and Applications
This volume covers extensions of the Rasch model, one of the most researched and applied models in educational research and social science. This collection contains 22 chapters by some of the most recognized international experts in the field. They cover topics ranging from general model extensions to applications in fields as diverse as cognition, personality, organizational and sports psychology, and health sciences and education.
Multimodal Intelligent Information Presentation
Intelligent Multimodal Information Presentation relates to the ability of a computer system to automatically produce interactive information presentations, taking into account the specifics about the user, such as needs, interests and knowledge, and engaging in a collaborative interaction that helps the retrieval of relevant information and its understanding on the part of the user.The volume includes descriptions of some of the most representative recent works on Intelligent Information Presentation and a view of the challenges ahead.
Multilingualism: Understanding Linguistic Diversity
Multilingualism is everywhere in our globalised society. Delving into the 'social life' of languages, John Edwards provides a brief yet compelling overview of multilingualism and its sociocultural implications and consequences. Covering major topics including language origins, language death, lingua francas, pidgins, creoles and artificial languages, this book provides a complete introduction to what happens when languages meet.
Multilingualism, Cultural Identity, and Education in Morocco
This book is an original contribution to the field of multilingualism and cultural identity. It investigates the ramifications of multilingualism for language choice patterns and attitudes among Moroccans. It focuses on the impact of multilingualism on cultural identity and education. It includes a debate on education and language planning policies in Morocco since independence. It reveals the complexity of post-colonial Morocco characterized by contradictory attitudes toward the languages in contact and toward language policy and education. It is of interest to students and researchers of sociolinguistics, cultural studies, anthropology and gender studies as well as for specialists of education and language policy/planning.
Multilevel Urban Governance and the `European City : Discussing Metropolitan Reforms in Stockholm and Helsinki
Urban scholars have come up with very different answers to the question of what the main defining characteristics of urban Europe are and whether they can be described in a distinct ideal-typical model, the ’European City’. In order to fully understand the prevailing political arrangements and ongoing transformations in urban Europe, they have increasingly turned towards ‘multilevel governance approaches’ to conduct more comprehensive and comparative analyses of urban politics and policies. Nico Giersig reflects on these debates and exemplifies the specificities of Nordic cities within Europe as a whole. He accomplishes this by means of a systematic comparison of governance arrangements and their dynamics in two Nordic capital regions.
Multilevel Synthesis : From the Group to the Individual
This book presents a historical panorama of the evolution of demographic thought from its eighteenth-century origins up to the present day, and uses it to demonstrate how the multilevel approach can resolve some of the contradictions that have become apparent and achieve a synthesis of the different approaches employed. Part one guides the reader from period analysis to multilevel analysis, examining longitudinal and event history analysis on the way. Part two is a detailed account of multilevel analysis, its methods, and the relevant mathematical models notably as regards the type of variables being used. Numerous examples, examined across successive sections, make the book clear and easy to follow.
Multilateralism, regionalism and bilateralism in trade and investment : 2006 World report on regional integration
The present first volume of the World Report on Regional Integration is a timely product of the research undertaken at UNU-CRIS. This new series of World Reports will certainly contribute to the discussion on the interaction between regional and global governance. And by bringing together insights from different parts of the UN system, in particular the five UN regional economic commissions and UNCTAD, this report will also contribute to a better understanding of the role of regions in the UN.
Multidimensional Poverty Measurement : Concepts and Applications
Conceptualization and measurement of poverty have traditionally relied on purely economic approaches, with income or consumption as the only indicator. Multidimensional approaches have increasingly been used to understand poverty, but have yet to be fully operationalized. This book uses factor analysis and structural equations modeling to develop a multidimensional framework that integrates capability and social inclusion as additional poverty indicators. The empirical relevance of this methodological contribution is demonstrated through its application in the United States and Nepal. The proposed approach not only helps to identify different categories of the poor, but also to more accurately target resources and policies of poverty alleviation. The book will therefore be an important reference for professionals in development agencies as well as for poverty and policy researchers.
Multicriteria Optimization
Decision makers in many areas, from industry to engineering and the social sector, face an increasing need to consider multiple, conflicting objectives in their decision processes. In many cases these real world decision problems can be formulated as multicriteria mathematical optimization models. The solution of such models requires appropriate techniques to compute so called efficient, or Pareto optimal, or compromise solutions that - unlike traditional mathematical programming methods - take the contradictory nature of the criteria into account. This book provides the necessary mathematical foundation of multicriteria optimization to solve nonlinear, linear and combinatorial problems with multiple criteria. Motivational examples illustrate the use of multicriteria optimization in practice. Numerous illustrations and exercises as well as an extensive bibliography are provided.
Multi-Agent-Based Simulation VIII ; International Workshop, MABS 2007, Honolulu, HI, USA, May 15, 2007, Revised and Invited Papers
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, MABS 2007, held in Honolulu, HI, USA in May 2007 as an associated event of AAMAS 2007, the main international conference on autonomous agents and multi-agent systems.The 10 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 20 submissions.The papers are organized in topical sections on architectures; teams, learning, education; economy, trust and reputation.
Multi-Agent Systems and Applications ; 9th ECCAI Advanced Course ACAI 2001 and Agent Link's 3rd European Agent Systems Summer School, EASSS 2001, Prague, Czech Republic, July 2-13, 2001. Selected Tutorial Papers
The Advanced Course on Artificial Intelligence ACAI 2001 with the subtitle M ulti- Agent Systems and Their Applications , held in Prague, Czech Republic, was a joint event of ECCAI (the European Coordinating Committee for Artificial Intelligence) and AgentLink, the European Network of Excellence for Agent-Based Computing. Whereas ECCAI organizes two-week ACAI courses on different topics every second year, AgentLink s European Agent Systems Summer School (EASSS) has been an annual event since 1999. This year, both of these important events were merged together, giving weight to the fact that multi-agent systems currently represent one of the hottest topics in AI research. The name, ACAI 2001 Summer School, is intended to emphasize that this event continues the tradition of regular ECCAI activities (ACAI), as well as the EASSS summer schools of AgentLink.
Multi-Agent and Multi-Agent-Based Simulation ; Joint Workshop MABS 2004
The aim of the workshop was to provide a forum for work in both appli- tions of multi-agent-based simulation and the technical challenges of simulating large multi-agent systems (MAS). There has been considerable recent progress in modelling and analyzing multi-agent systems, and in techniques that apply MAS models to complex real-world systems such as social systems and organi- tions. Simulation is an increasingly important strand that weaves together this work. In high-risk, high-cost situations, simulations provide critical cost/benefit leverage, and make possible explorations that cannot be carried out in situ: – Multi-agent approaches to simulating complex systems are keytools in interdisciplinary studies of social systems. Agent-based social simulation (ABSS) research simulates and synthesizes social behavior in order to understand real social systems with properties of self-organization, scalability, robustness, and openness. – In the MAS community, simulation has been applied to awide range of MAS research and design problems, from models of complex individual agents - ploying sophisticated internal mechanisms to models of large-scale societies of relatively simple agents which focus more on the interactions between agents.
Moving Millions : Transport Strategies for Sustainable Development in Megacities
The Alliance for Global Sustainability is an international partnership among four of the leading scienti?c and technological universities worldwide: • The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT-AGS); • The University of Tokyo (UT); • The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH); and • The Chalmers University of Technology. Created in 1997, the AGS today brings together hundreds of university scientists, engineers, and social scientists to address complex issues that lie at the intersection of environmental, economic, and social policy goals. Since its inception, the AGS has promoted and supported multidisciplinary research teams drawn from its partner institutions. Working on critical issues in sustainability across several ?elds encompassing energy and climate, mobility, urban systems, water and agriculture, cleaner technologies, public policy, and communications, these teams have developed a signi?cant body of new knowledge.
Motivational profiles in TIMSS mathematics : Exploring student clusters across aountries and time
This open access book presents a person-centered exploration of student profiles, using variables related to motivation to do school mathematics derived from the IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data. Statistical cluster analysis is used to identify groups of students with similar motivational profiles, across grades and over time, for multiple participating countries. In this book, a person-centered analysis of distinct and meaningful motivational profiles and their differences on sociodemographic variables and mathematics performance broadens understanding about the role that motivation characteristics play in learning and achievement in mathematics.
Motivational Aspects of Prejudice and Racism
Motivational Aspects of Prejudice and Racism examines the cognitive processes as well as the motivational forces that create and sustain social hierarchies based on racial categories. A panel of top scholars analyzes the subtle and explicit manifestations of bias within and across racial groups, while refuting the idea that race has lost its power as a social concept. Chapter authors review the evolution of the psychological understanding of racism and its effects, pinpoint emerging trends in racism research, and illuminate the experience of prejudice from minority group members’ perspectives. Well-known psychosocial phenomena as the cross-race identification effect, social identity, and majority culture members' conflicting attitudes regarding race, are explored, with the underlying ideologies that nurture them. The volume concludes with a realistic assessment of the future, and possible elimination, of racism. Readers are challenged to re-think self and social identities and self-concepts—particularly relevant ideas as America grows more diverse, and potentially more divided.
Mortality and Maldevelopment : Part I : Congenital cardiovascular malformations
The most frequent of them all are the many types of malformations of the cardiovascular system, the heart and its blood vessels.Study of these conditions during the twentieth century took many forms, revolving about examination and analysis of their causes, genetic, nongenetic, and complex. To aid in unraveling the complexities of this causation, various influences on their frequency are considered, among them social conditions, maternal health, birthweight, newborn maturity. And of course the known and possible environmental bases of their occurrence are fully described.
Morphosemantic Number : From Kiowa Noun Classes To UG Number Features
This volume presents: the foundations of a unified morphosemantic theory of number; insight into the flow of information from the lexicon, via syntax, into the morphology; wide-ranging topics: nominal semantics, noun classes, DP syntax, agreement, suppletion, complex morphology.
Moral reasoning at work : Rethinking ethics in organizations ; 2nd ed.
Moral Reasoning at Work offers a fresh perspective on how to live with them using ethics and moral psychology research. It argues that decision-makers must go beyond compliance and traditional approaches to ethics to prepare for moral dilemmas. The book has been updated with a range of examples from the author’s more recent research, to reflect current issues affecting organizations in the digital age. With two new chapters on artificial intelligence and social media, this new edition provides an up-to-date overview of ethical challenges in organizations.



















