الصفحة 1
الصفحة 1
New Vision 2050 : A Platinum Society
Presents the "New Vision 2050," which adds the concept of the “platinum society” to the “Vision 2050”.The 20th century was a century in which energy led the development of material civilization, resulting in deletion of resources, global warming and climate change. What form should sustainable material and energy take to protect the Earth? The "Vision 2050" was established 20 years ago as a model that we should pursue for the next half century. Fortunately, the world is on course for the Vision 2050.Since the author presented the concept of "Vision 2050" in 1999, the idea has been introduced in two books entitled Vision 2050: Roadmap for a Sustainable Earth (2008) and Beyond the Limits to Growth: New Ideas for Sustainability from Japan(2014). The latter includes a chapter that sheds light on the concept of a “platinum society”. In this publication, the author presents the "New Vision 2050" in more detail.
New Trends in Cancer for the 21st Century
It is difficult to imagine anyone who has not heard of cancer. This disease can affect families, friends or any one of us at any time in our lives. Every year nearly 3 million Europeans are diagnosed with cancer, leading to around 800,000 deaths per year. These deaths occur not only in aging populations, but also in children and adults who are in the most active period of their lives. This represents a tremendous problem that cannot be ignored by politicians or citizens. Fortunately, there is a constantly growing awareness that although cancer is a problem to be dealt with by clinicians, it should also be the concern of everyone. This volume contains the lectures held at the International Symposium on Cancer "New Trends in Cancer for the 21st Century". Fundamental researchers, politicians and representatives from patient coalitions share here their knowledge and interests as well as their concerns and experiences. Not only do these papers provide state-of-the-art information on cancer, they are also an opportunity to look at the problem from different points of view. It can be encouraging to realise that we are not alone in this fight.
Menopause
As people live longer, women are spending most of their lives in menopause, affected by a variety of estrogen-related conditions such as osteoporosis, cognitive and cardiovascular decline, increased risk of breast cancer and other symptoms that decrease the overall quality of life. Unfortunately, hormonal therapy was found to be less effective in decreasing the severity of some of these conditions than previously thought and may actually increase the risk of cancer. The aim of this research was to put a spotlight on natural treatments for menopause like changing life style and herbal medicines.
Innovations in rehabilitation sciences education : Preparing Leaders for the future
We are most fortunate to be housed in an institution that embraces risk taking and innovation in education. Part of the joy of working at McMaster University is the sense that you will be supported in your efforts to develop new ways of facilitating learning even if these are not always successful. We are privileged to work with a group of exceptional colleagues who embrace - novation and strive for ongoing excellence in education.
Influenza Vaccines for the Future
The threat constituted by the multiple outbreaks of avian influenza during the last few years is urgently calling for the development of new influenza vaccines. Fortunately, a quantum leap in technology has revolutionized the study of influenza and the engineering of new vaccine strains by reverse genetics. This volume provides a historical background and state-of-the-art information about the recent advances in the biology of influenza and the design of new influenza vaccines.
Ileo meccanico dell’intestino tenue : Aspetti TC e correlazioni eco-radiografiche = Mechanical ileus of the small intestine : CT aspects and echo-radiographic correlations
Mechanical occlusion of the small intestine is a frequently encountered clinical problem, whose clinical-instrumental management is made difficult by the complexity of the mechanisms responsible for the occlusive picture. The role of the radiologist is to promptly guide the therapeutic process on the basis of a correct interpretation of the iconographic pictures. The purpose of this volume - the only one of its kind - is to relate the pathophysiology of occlusion to imaging. The rich iconography, which ranges from clinical onset to resolution, emphasizes the role of multidetector computed tomography with intravenous contrast, which is the current gold standard. However, the correlations with the echo-radiographic methods are not forgotten, which retain an effective diagnostic role, with a low biological and economic cost. The mechanical ileus of the small intestine is a striking example in support of the dream of many professionals: that, that is, to have a figure of a fine abdominal emergency radiologist, an expert in organ and disease and not only in the machine, as often unfortunately it happens.
Holonic and multi-agent systems for manufacturing ; 2nd International conference on industrial applications of holonic and multi-agent systems, HoloMAS 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 22-24, 2005, Proceedings
The challenge faced in today’s manufacturing and business environments is the question of how to satisfy increasingly stringent customer requirements while managing growing system complexity. For example, customers expect high-quality, customizable, low-cost products that can be delivered quickly. The systems that deliver these expectations are by nature distributed, concurrent, and stochastic, and, as a result, increasingly difficult to manage. Unfortunately, the traditional hierarchical, strictly centralized approach to control used in these domains is characteristically inflexible, fragile, and difficult to maintain. These shortcomings have led to the development of a new class of manufacturing and supply-chain decision-making approaches in recent years. Solutions based on these approaches usually explore a set of highly distributed decision-making units that are capable of autonomous operations while cooperating interactively to resolve larger problems. The units, referred to as agents in classical computer science and software engineering, or holons if physically integrated with the manufacturing hardware, interact by exchanging information. These units are motivated by arriving at local solutions as well as collaborating and sharing resources and goals in solving the overall problem in question collectively.
Higher education : Handbook of theory and research ; Vol. 22
Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on twelve general areas that encompass the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.
Higher education : Handbook of theory and research ; Vol. 21
Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on twelve general areas that encompass the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.
Higher education : Handbook of theory and research ; Vol. 20
Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms of its conceptual and methodological rigor, and sets forth an agenda for future research intended to advance knowledge on the chosen topic. The Handbook focuses on twelve general areas that encompass the salient dimensions of scholarly and policy inquiries undertaken in the international higher education community. The series is fortunate to have attracted annual contributions from distinguished scholars throughout the world.
Gravity, Black Holes, and the Very Early Universe : An Introduction to General Relativity and Cosmology
In the early 1900s, Albert Einstein formulated two theories that would forever change the landscape of physics: the Special Theory of Relativity and the General Theory of Relativity. By 1925, quantum mechanics had been born out of the dissection of these two theories, and shortly after that, relativistic quantum field theory. We now had in place some important ties between the laws of physics and the types of particle interactions the new physics was uncovering. Gravity is one of the four types of forces that are found throughout the universe. In fact, although it is a relatively weak force, it operates at huge distances, and so must be accounted for in any cosmological system. Unfortunately, gravity continues to defy our neat categorization of how all the forces in nature work together.
Formal Approaches to Agent-Based Systems ; 3rd International Workshop, FAABS 2004, Greenbelt, MD, April 26-27, 2004, Revised Selected Papers
The 3rd Workshop on Formal Approaches to Agent-Based Systems (FAABS-III) was held at the Greenbelt Marriott Hotel (near NASA Goddard Space Flight Center) in April 2004 in conjunction with the IEEE Computer Society. The first FAABS workshop was help in April 2000 and the second in October 2002. Interest in agent-based systems continues to grow and this is seen in the wide range of conferences and journals that are addressing the research in this area as well as the prototype and developmental systems that are coming into use. Our third workshop, FAABS-III, was held in April, 2004. This volume contains the revised papers and posters presented at that workshop. The Organizing Committee was fortunate in having significant support in the planning and organization of these events, and were privileged to have wor- renowned keynote speakers Prof. J Moore (FAABS-I), Prof. Sir Roger Penrose (FAABS-II), and Prof. John McCarthy (FAABS-III), who spoke on the topic of se- aware computing systems, auguring perhaps a greater interest in autonomic computing as part of future FAABS events. We are grateful to all who attended the workshop, presented papers or posters, and participated in panel sessions and both formal and informal discussions to make the workshop a great success. Our thanks go to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Codes 588 and 581 (Software Engineering Laboratory) for their financial support and to the IEEE Computer Society (Technical Committee on Complexity in Computing) for their sponsorship and organizational assistance.
Financing public universities : The case of performance funding
"Financing Public Universities" addresses newer practices of resource allocation which tie funding to indicators of performance. The gist of these efforts is to raise the quality of institutional systems. Performance-based budgeting and funding of public universities is part of broader efforts to reform public management, and it is being promoted and implemented by various government agencies around the globe. In particular, European universities with their normally strong governmental ties, or higher education systems molded on European universities, are prime targets of such reforms. Performance funding has made its inroads in attempts to grant university systems managerial autonomy: autonomy was to be granted in exchange for funding modes which are tied to the measurement of performance indicators. Unfortunately, performance-based budgeting or funding measures cannot meet the various expectations: they do not raise the quality of teaching or learning; they do not raise research performance; they take back a great deal of managerial autonomy which is commonly judged to be essential for the well being of higher education institutions, in particular research universities; and they act as automata in place of proper governance and management.
Fetal compromise in labor
Sixty years ago, the purpose of introducing electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) was to reduce the incidence of intrapartum stillbirth. However, by the early 1980s, with falling stillbirth rates, fetal blood sampling had been widely abandoned, as many considered that EFM was sufficient on its own. Unfortunately, while the sensitivity of EFM for the detection of potential fetal compromise is high, specificity is low, and there is a high false positive rate which has been associated with a rising cesarean section rate. The authors suggest that EFM is considered and analyzed as a classic screening test and not a diagnostic test. Furthermore, it requires contextualization with other risk factors to achieve improved performance. A new proposed metric, the Fetal Reserve Index, takes into account additional risk factors and has demonstrated significantly improved performance metrics. It is going through the phases of further development, evaluation, and wider clinical implementation.
Échographie de contraste : Méthodologie et applications cliniques = Contrast ultrasound : Methodology and clinical applications
The availability of ultrasound contrast agents has introduced a new dimension in ultrasound examination with the possibility of real-time exploration of the kinetics of contrast enhancement of various lesions. The potential indications for these microbubbles affect almost all deep and superficial organs, but also the possibilities of pharmacological studies for neoangiogenesis or therapeutic guidance by physical methods. Finally, new applications are emerging in the field of targeted products and the transport of active ingredients. It seemed opportune to us to attempt to take stock of this changing world through intense collaboration between the various teams involved and recognized in this field, of which unfortunately, only some are represented here. We want this book to be a current reference point for contrast ultrasound, a point that will certainly require development in the coming years. He strongly demonstrates that ultrasound can play a very important role in modern diagnostic and therapeutic imaging because of their diagnostic performance but also because of their non-invasive nature. We hope you enjoy looking for useful information as much as we did discovering real-time functional ultrasound imaging and writing these various chapters.
Dynamic Cognitive Processes
The conference from which this book derives took place in Tsukuba, Japan in March 2004. The fifth in a continuing series of conferences, this one was organized to examine dynamic processes in "lower order" cognition from perception to attention to memory, considering both the behavioral and the neural levels. We were fortunate to attract a terrific group of con tributors representing five countries, which resulted in an exciting confer ence and, as the reader will quickly discover, an excellent set of chapters.
Computational logic in multi-agent systems ; 4th International Workshop, CLIMA IV, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA, January 6-7, 2004, Revised Selected and Invited Papers
Though multiagent systems (MASs) are being increasingly used, few methods exist to ensure survivability of MASs. All existing methods suffer from two flaws. First, a centralized survivability algorithm (CSA) ensures survivability of the MAS – unfortunately, if the node on which the CSA exists goes down, the survivability of the MAS is questionable. Second, no mechanism exists to change how the MAS is deployed when external factors trigger a re-evaluation of the survivability of the MAS. In this paper, we present three algorithms to address these two important problems. Our algorithms can be built on top of any CSA. Our algorithms are completely distributed and can handle external triggers to compute a new deployment. We report on experiments assessing the efficiency of these algorithms.
Mathematical Modelling for Sustainable Development
Mathematics needs Sustainable Development. When science was gradually reinvented in European medieval societies, it was legitimised as contributing to the disclosure of God’s divine creation. The conflicts that emerged became well known as a result of the clash between Galileo and the Church. Science found a new legitimacy through recognition that it was a powerful force against superstition. In the Enlightenment the argument was pushed forward by attributing Progress to the advancement of science: science could produce a better world by promoting rationality. In our modern society, science has become intimately linked to technology. Science for its own sake unfortunately rarely has positive outcomes in terms of research grant applications. Meanwhile, science and technology, and the progress they are supposed to produce, meet with wide scale scepticism. We all know of the current global problems: climate change, resource depletion, a thinning ozone layer, space debris, declining biodiversity, malnutrition, dying ecosystems, global inequity, and the risk of unprecedented nuclear wars
Beyond Kyoto : A new global climate certificate system : Continuing Kyoto commitsments or a global ´Cap and Trade´ scheme for a sustainable climate policy?
This book shows how humankind can ‘prevent dangerous interference with the c- mate system’ without dangerous interference with the global economic system. In the two underlying studies on behalf of the Ministry of Environment and Transport of i the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, the results have been elaborated through scientific evaluation of different climate protection systems and intensive developmental work on an efficient climate protection system. The results will be presented in nine chapters according to the following nine basic R&D steps: 1. Quantifying the ‘ultimate climate objective’ of the world community in order ‘to prevent dangerous interference with the climate system,’ thus achieving climate sustainability; 2. Development of a comprehensive standard system for evaluating the prospect of success for different climate protection systems; 3. Based on this scientific standard system, evaluation of the current Kyoto system and of the most important proposals for ‘incremental regime evolution’ of the Kyoto system. Unfortunately, it must be noted that these systems are incapable of achi- ing climate sustainability; 4. Evaluating three proposals for ‘structural regime change’ of the Kyoto system. Following this objective evaluation process and numeric comparison of the diff- ent proposals, 5. Description of the eight basic elements of GCCS and its in-depth ‘critical asse- ment;’ 6.
Beginning Groovy and Grails : From novice to professional
Web frameworks are playing a major role in the creation of today's most compelling web applications, because they automate many of the tedious tasks, allowing developers to instead focus on providing users with creative and powerful features. Java developers have been particularly fortunate in this area, having been able to take advantage of Grails, an open source framework that supercharges productivity when building Java–driven web sites. Grails is based on Groovy, which is a very popular and growing dynamic scripting language for Java developers and was inspired by Python, Ruby, and Smalltalk.
