Indigenous Knowledge and Education in Africa
This book presents a strong philosophical, theoretical and practical argument for the mainstreaming of indigenous knowledge in curricula development, and in teaching and learning across the African continent. Since the dawn of political independence in Africa, there has been an ongoing search for the kind of education that will create a class of principled and innovative citizens who are sensitive to and committed to the needs of the continent. When indigenous or environment-generated knowledge forms the basis of learning in classrooms, learners are able to immediately connect their education with their lived reality. The result is much introspection, creativity and innovation across fields, sectors and disciplines, leading to societal transformation. Drawing on several theoretical assertions, examples from a wide range of disciplines, and experiences gathered from different continents at different points in history, the book establishes that for education to trigger the necessary transformation in Africa, it should be constructed on a strong foundation of learners’ indigenous knowledge. The book presents a distinct and uncharted pathway for Africa to advance sustainably through home-grown and grassroots based ideas, leading to advances in science and technology, growth of indigenous African business and the transformation of Africans into conscious and active participants in the continent’s progress.
Indian Life and Health Insurance Industry : A Marketing Approach
Due to its massive population, sound economic fundamentals, dynamic improvements in the insurance regulatory framework and an increasing awareness amongst Indians about the relevance of insurances, India offers extensive opportunities for market entry and expansion in the insurance industry. "The book reveals insightful ideas about the Indian insurance industry along with a discussion on the best practices of the marketing mix. Novi's impressive thesis, which forms the basis of this book, prompted me to contribute to her research with an India perspective. I am sure that this book will be an important reference material for emerging markets with similar growth dynamics."
Inconsistency tolerance
Inconsistency arises in many areas in advanced computing. Often inconsistency is unwanted, for example in the specification for a plan or in sensor fusion in robotics; however, sometimes inconsistency is useful. Whether inconsistency is unwanted or useful, there is a need to develop tolerance to inconsistency in application technologies such as databases, knowledge bases, and software systems. To address this situation, inconsistency tolerance is being built on foundational technologies for identifying and analyzing inconsistency in information, for representing and reasoning with inconsistent information, for resolving inconsistent information, and for merging inconsistent information. The idea for this book arose out of a Dagstuhl Seminar on the topic held in summer 2003. The nine chapters in this first book devoted to the subject of inconsistency tolerance were carefully invited and anonymously reviewed. The book provides an exciting introduction to this new field.
In the Pursuit of Winning : Problem Gambling Theory, Research and Treatment
Poker websites. State lotteries. Sports betting. As gambling outlets become easier to find, more—and younger—people are risking their finances, family lives, and health. In the Pursuit of Winning brings together an international panel of 35 experts to present theoretical, clinical, sociological, historical, and spiritual perspectives on problem gambling, and test popular addiction and disease models in the field. Early chapters examine the general psychology of gambling, before moving on to the irrational ideas associated with compulsive wagering, from belief in luck to illusions of control. The seven chapters in the second half are devoted to evidence-based interventions from a variety of clinical orientations. Case examples, Q&A sections, and a glossary add extra readability to the coverage.
Implementation and Application of Functional Languages ; Vol. 4015 ; 17th International Workshop, IFL 2005, Dublin, Ireland, September 19-21, 2005, Revised Selected Papers
The 17th International Workshop on Implementation and Application of Functional Languages (IFL 2005) was held in Dublin, Ireland, September 19–21, 2005. It was organized by the Department of Computer Science at Trinity College, University of Dublin. IFL 2005 was the 17th event in the annual series of IFL workshops. The aim of the workshop series is to bring together researchers actively engaged in the implementation and application of functional and function-based programming languages. It provides an open forum for researchers who wish to present and discuss new ideas and concepts, work in progress, preliminary results, etc., related primarily, but not exclusively, to the implementation and application of functional languages. Topics of interest cover a wide range from theoretical aspects over language design and implementation towards applications and tool support.
Implementation and application of functional languages ; Vol. 3474 ; 16th International Workshop, IFL 2004, Lübeck, Germany, September 8-10, 2004, Revised Selected Papers
The 16th International Workshop on Implementation and Application of Fu- tional Languages (IFL 2004) was held in Lub ¨ eck, Germany, September 8–10, 2004. It was jointly organized by the Institute of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics of the University of Kiel and the Institute of Software Technology and Programming Languages of the University of Lub ¨ eck. IFL 2004 was the sixteenth event in the annual series of IFL workshops. The aim of the workshop series is to bring together researchers actively engaged in the implementation and application of functional and function-based progr- ming languages. It provides an open forum for researchers who wish to present and discuss new ideas and concepts, work in progress, preliminary results, etc., related primarily, but not exclusively, to the implementation and application of functional languages. Topics of interest cover a wide range from theoretical - pects over language design and implementation towards applications and tool support.
Implant Dentistry at a Glance
Provides a concise and accessible introduction and revision aid, comprehensively covering all the constituent sub-topics that comprise implant dentistry. Following the familiar, easy-to-use at a Glance format, each topic is presented as a double-page spread with facts accompanied by clear diagrams and clinical photographs encapsulating essential information. Implant Dentistry at a Glance is an ideal companion for all students of dentistry, junior clinicians and members of the dental team with an interest in implant dentistry.
Implant Aesthetics : Keys to Diagnosis and Treatment
Provides clinicians with detailed guidelines on the nature of the ideal anterior dental implant and, more importantly, how the desired aesthetic outcome is to be achieved. It reflects the incredible paradigm shift that has taken place within implant dentistry during the past 5 years, with recognition of the importance of a ‘crown down’ approach to diagnosis, planning, and treatment, especially in the anterior zone.
Imaging for Detection and Identification
The dynamic interaction between world-renowned scientists from the usually disparate communities of pure mathematicians and applied sci- tists which occurred at our seven previous ASI’s continued at this meeting. The fusion of basic ideas in mathematics, radar, sonar, biology, and ch- istry with ongoing improvements in hardware and computation offers the promise of much more sophisticated and accurate detection and identi?cation capabilities than currently exist. Coupled with the dramatic rise in the need for surveillance in innumerable aspects of our daily lives, brought about by hostile acts deemed unimaginable only a few short years ago, the time is ripe for image processing scientists in these usually diverse ?elds to join together in a concerted effort to combat the new brands of terrorism. This ASI was one important initial step.
Image and video retrieval ; Vol. 3568 ; 4th International conference, CIVR 2005, Singapore, July 20-22, 2005, Proceedings
It was our great pleasure to host the 4th International Conference on Image and Video Retrieval (CIVR) at the National University of Singapore on 20–22 July 2005. CIVR aims to provide an international forum for the discussion of research challenges and exchange of ideas among researchers and practitioners in image/video retrieval technologies. It addresses innovative research in the broad ?eld of image and video retrieval. A unique feature of this conference is the high level of participation by researchers from both academia and industry. Another unique feature of CIVR this year was in its format – it o?ered both the traditional oral presentation sessions, as well as the short presentation cum poster sessions. The latter provided an informal alternative forum for animated discussions and exchanges of ideas among the participants.After a rigorous review process, 20 papers were accepted for oral presentations, and 42 papers were accepted for poster presentations. In addition to the accepted submitted papers, the program also included 4 invited papers, 1 keynote industrial paper, and 4 invited industrial papers. Altogether, we o?ered a diverse and interesting program, addressing the current interests and future trends in this area.
Image and video retrieval ; Vol. 4071 ; 5th Internatinoal Conference, CIVR 2006, Tempe, AZ, USA, July 13-15, 2006, Proceedings
This volume contains the proceeding of the 5th International Conference on - age and Video Retrieval (CIVR), July 13–15, 2006, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA: http://www. civr2006. org. Image and video retrieval cont- ues to be one of the most exciting and fast-growing research areas in the ?eld of multimedia technology. However, opportunities for exchanging ideas between researchers and users of image and video retrieval systems are still limited.
Image Analysis and Recognition ; Vol. 4142 ; 3rd International Conference, ICIAR 2006, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, September 18-20, 2006, Proceedings, Part II
ICIAR 2006, the International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition, was the third ICIAR conference, and was held in P´ ovoa de Varzim, Portugal. ICIARisorganizedannually,andalternatesbetweenEuropeandNorthAmerica. ICIAR 2004 was held in Porto, Portugal and ICIAR 2005 in Toronto, Canada. The idea of o?ering these conferences came as a result of discussion between researchers in Portugal and Canada to encourage collaboration and exchange, mainlybetweenthesetwocountries,butalsowiththeopenparticipationofother countries, addressing recent advances in theory, methodology and applications. The response to the call for papers for ICIAR 2006 was higher than the two previous editions. From 389 full papers submitted, 163 were ?nally accepted (71 oral presentations, and 92 posters). The review process was carried out by the Program Committee members and other reviewers; all are experts in various image analysis and recognition areas. Each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers, and also checked by the conference Co-chairs. The high quality of the papers in these proceedings is attributed ?rst to the authors, and second to the quality of the reviews provided by the experts.
Image Analysis and Recognition ; Vol. 4141 ; 3rd International Conference, ICIAR 2006, Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, September 18-20, 2006, Proceedings, Part I
ICIAR 2006, the International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition, was the third ICIAR conference, and was held in P´ ovoa de Varzim, Portugal. ICIARisorganizedannually,andalternatesbetweenEuropeandNorthAmerica. ICIAR 2004 was held in Porto, Portugal and ICIAR 2005 in Toronto, Canada. The idea of o?ering these conferences came as a result of discussion between researchers in Portugal and Canada to encourage collaboration and exchange, mainlybetweenthesetwocountries,butalsowiththeopenparticipationofother countries, addressing recent advances in theory, methodology and applications. The response to the call for papers for ICIAR 2006 was higher than the two previous editions. From 389 full papers submitted, 163 were ?nally accepted (71 oral presentations, and 92 posters). The review process was carried out by the Program Committee members and other reviewers; all are experts in various image analysis and recognition areas. Each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers, and also checked by the conference Co-chairs. .
Image Analysis and Recognition ; Vol. 3656 ; 2ond International Conference, ICIAR 2005, Toronto, Canada, September 28-30, 2005, Proceedings
ICIAR 2005, the International Conference on Image Analysis and Recognition, was the second ICIAR conference, and was held in Toronto, Canada. ICIAR is organized annually, and alternates between Europe and North America. ICIAR 2004 was held in Porto, Portugal. The idea of o?ering these conferences came as a result of discussion between researchers in Portugal and Canada to encourage collaboration and exchange, mainly between these two countries, but also with the open participation of other countries, addressing recent advances in theory, methodology and applications. TheresponsetothecallforpapersforICIAR2005wasencouraging.From295 full papers submitted, 153 were ?nally accepted (80 oral presentations, and 73 posters). The review process was carried out by the Program Committee m- bers and other reviewers ; all are experts in various image analysis and recognition areas. Each paper was reviewed by at least two reviewers, and also checked by the conference co-chairs. The high quality of the papers in these proceedings is attributed ?rst to the authors,and second to the quality of the reviews provided by the experts. We would like to thank the authors for responding to our call, andwewholeheartedlythankthe reviewersfor theirexcellentwork,andfortheir timely response. It is this collective e?ort that resulted in the strong conference program and high-quality proceedings in your hands.
Image Analysis ; 14th Scandinavian Conference, SCIA 2005, Joensuu, Finland, June 19-22, 2005, Proceedings
This proceedings volume collects the scienti?c presentations of the Scandinavian Conference on Image Analysis, SCIA 2005, which was held at the University of Joensuu, Finland, June 19–22, 2005. The conference was the fourteenth in the series of biennial conferences started in 1980. The name of the series re?ects the fact that the conferences are organized in the Nordic (Scandinavian) countries, following the cycle Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. The event itself has always been international in its participants and presentations. Today there are many conferences in the ?elds related to SCIA. In this s- uation our goal is to keep up the reputation for the high quality and friendly environment of SCIA. We hope that participants feel that it’s worth attending the conference. Therefore, both the scienti?c and social program were designed to support the best features of a scienti?c meeting: to get new ideas for research and to have the possibility to exchange thoughts with fellow scientists.
Ideals, Varieties, and Algorithms : An Introduction to Computational Algebraic Geometry and Commutative Algebra
Algebraic Geometry is the study of systems of polynomial equations in one or more variables.The solutions of a system of polynomial equations form a geometric object called a variety; the corresponding algebraic object is an ideal. There is a close relationship between ideals and varieties which reveals the intimate link between algebra and geometry. Written at a level appropriate to undergraduates, this book covers such topics as the Hilbert Basis Theorem, the Nullstellensatz, invariant theory, projective geometry, and dimension theory.
Ideals and Reality : Projective Modules and Number of Generators of Ideals
The book gives a comprehensive introduction to basic commutative algebra, together with the related methods from homological algebra, which will enable students who know only the fundamentals of algebra to enjoy the power of using these tools. At the same time, it also serves as a valuable reference for the research specialist and as potential course material, because the authors present, for the first time in book form, an approach here that is an intermix of classical algebraic K-theory and complete intersection techniques, making connections with the famous results of Forster-Swan and Eisenbud-Evans. A study of projective modules and their connections with topological vector bundles in a form due to Vaserstein is included. Important subsidiary results appear in the copious exercises.
Hypercomputation : Computing Beyond the Church-Turing Barrier
Hypercomputation is a relatively new theory of computation which treats computing methods and devices that transcend the Church-Turing thesis. This book will provide a thorough description of the field of hypercomputation, covering all attempts at devising conceptual hypermachines and all new promising computational paradigms that may eventually lead to the construction of a hypermachine.Readers will reach a deeper understanding of what computability is and why the Church-Turing thesis poses an arbitrary limit to what actually can be computed. Hypercomputing is quite a novel idea, and therefore the book is interesting to the reader in its own right.
Hybrid metaheuristics ; Vol. 4030 ; 3rd International Workshop, HM 2006, Gran Canaria, Spain, October 13-14, 2006, Proceedings
The selection of papers for HM 2006 consolidated some of the mainstream issues that have emerged from the past editions. Firstly, there are prominent examples of e?ective hybrid techniques whose design and implementation were motivated by challenging real-world applications. We believe this is particularly important for two reasons: on the one hand, researchers are conscious that the primary goal of developing algorithms is to solve relevant real-life problems; on the other hand, the path towarde?cient solving methods for practical problems is a source of new outstanding ideas and theories. A second important issue is that the research community on metaheur- tics has become increasingly interested in and open to techniques and methods known from arti?cial intelligence (AI) and operations research (OR). So far, the most representative examples of such integration have been the use of AI/OR techniques as subordinates of metaheuristic methods. As a historical and - ymological note, this is in perfect accordance with the original meaning of a metaheuristic as a “general strategy controlling a subordinate heuristic. ” The awareness of the need for a sound experimental methodology is a third keypoint.
Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithms
Hybridization of evolutionary algorithms is getting popular due to their capabilities in handling several real world problems involving complexity, noisy environment, imprecision, uncertainty and vagueness. This edited volume is targeted to present the latest state-of-the-art methodologies in ’Hybrid Evolutionary Algorithms’. This book deals with the theoretical and methodological aspects, as well as various applications to many real world problems from science, technology, business or commerce. This volume comprises of 14 chapters including an introductory chapter giving the fundamental definitions and some important research challenges. Chapters were selected on the basis of fundamental ideas/concepts rather than the thoroughness of techniques deployed.



















