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Governing the Sustainable Development Goals : Quantification in Global Public Policy
This book conceptualises the Sustainable Development Goals as epistemic infrastructures that connect numbers, networks and governing paradigms.The book approaches quantification not merely as a tool for governing, but rather as a broader epistemic system through which global public policy is produced. This book focuses on the role of international organisations in shaping and implementing the 2030 Agenda and demonstrates how the SDGs have transformed and accelerated trends in quantification.
Governing Europe under a Constitution : The Hard Road from the European Treaties to a European Constitutional Treaty
At the summit in Laeken in December 2001 the European Council opened the debate on the reform of the supranational structures through its "Declaration on the Future of the European Union" and proposed a wide-ranging agenda. The European Convention, with the mandate of the European Council, has been forming proposals for a more democratic, transparent and efficient European Union and presented a draft of a Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe on 20th of June 2003. On these fundaments the Intergovernmental Conference finally came to a compromise in summer 2004 after wrestling especially with the problem of qualified majority voting within the Council. On 29th of October 2004 the Heads of State and Governments of the 25 Member States signed the Treaty.
Governance for drought resilience : Land and water drought management in Europe
This book will aid regional water authorities and other relevant stakeholders interested in governance assessment, whether that context is about water, more specifically about drought or flooding events, or other environmental issues. Further, the GAT can and has also been applied more broadly to a range of governance contexts for water management and beyond.
Good and Evil in Art and Law : An Extended Essay
This is an interdisciplinary essay. It looks at art and especially literature in juxtaposition with law and speculates how the two disciplines approach, in their separate but inter-related ways, the notions of "good" and "evil". Full of detail, it examines how the two disciplines deal with these notions, why the evil-doer is often agrandicized in literature but is base in real life and how good and evil change with time. Though one discipline cannot influence the reasoning process of the other, this book, addressed to the general educated reader, is a plea for a broader humanistic education.
Globalization and Summit Reform : An Experiment in International Governance
This account of the 'L-20 project' describes and analyses a 3-year mobilization designed as an alternative to the political deadlocks preventing progress on critical global issues. The L-20 would include leaders from the existing G-countries, augmented by key regional powers such as China, Brazil, India, South Africa and Egypt. The book traces the origins and findings of the project, which generated a broad array of cutting-edge research and over twenty substantive, action-oriented workshops involving hundreds of experts and practitioners around the world. The workshop series examined in detail the operational possibilities for a Leaders Group addressing a range of issues, including infectious disease control, climate change/global warming, energy security, nuclear proliferation, management of international financial crises, and the provision of safe drinking water and sanitation, to name just a few.
Globalization and Regional Economic Modeling
Globalization is affecting regional economies in a broad spectrum of aspects, from labor market conditions and development policies to climate change. To understand better how this works, we need both conceptual and methodological contributions. We need new schemes to organize our thinking, direct our attention, and frame thought experiments on the basis of which guidance may be offered. And we need methodological innovations that enable us to carry out studies and thought experiments at levels of spatial and temporal resolution and formal complexity adequate to capture and account for the phenomena that characterize globalization. The chapters of this volume, written by an international cast of eminent regional scientists, represent contributions of both types, in many cases introducing and demonstrating the use of new tools for analyzing and understanding enormous changes underway in regional economies around the world.
Global Price Fixing
The book describes and analyzes the formation, operation, and impacts of modern global cartels. It provides a broad picture of the economics, competition law and history of international price fixing. A deeper understanding of the phenomenon is afforded by intensive case studies of collusion in the markets for lysine, citric acid, and vitamins. Particular attention is given to the economic injuries sustained by the cartels' customers. The author assesses whether antitrust enforcement by the European Union, the United States, and other countries is capable of deterring cartels in the foreseeable future.
Global perspectives on AI, ethics, and business economics : Charting the future
Offers an in-depth exploration of the complex and rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on its ethical, economic, and business dimensions. it provides a comprehensive analysis that intertwines historical context, philosophical ethics, global economic impacts, regulatory landscapes, workforce dynamics, corporate governance, consumer behavior, data ethics, and the use of AI for the good of society. after reviewing the evolution of AI, it offers insights into its historical milestones and the trajectory it may take in the future. this sets the stage for a broader discussion on how AI is not just a technological phenomenon but also a catalyst for ethical, economic, and societal transformation. the book emphasizes the importance of understanding AI’s historical development in order to gauge its potential impacts on our future.
Global optimization ; Vol. 85 : Scientific and engineering case studies
Optimization models based on a nonlinear systems description often possess multiple local optima. The objective of global optimization (GO) is to find the best possible solution of multiextremal problems. Global Optimization: Selected Case Studies illustrates the applicability of GO modeling techniques and solution strategies to real-world problems.The contributed chapters cover a broad range of applications from agroecosystem management, assembly line design, bioinformatics, biophysics, black box systems optimization, cellular mobile network design, chemical process optimization, chemical product design, composite structure design, computational modeling of atomic and molecular structures, controller design for induction motors, electrical engineering design, feeding strategies in animal husbandry, the inverse position problem in kinematics, laser design, learning in neural nets, mechanical engineering design, numerical solution of equations, radiotherapy planning, robot design, and satellite data analysis. The solution strategies discussed encompass a range of practically viable methods, including both theoretically rigorous and heuristic approaches.
Global history with Chinese characteristics : Autocratic States along the Silk Road in the decline of the Spanish and Qing Empires 1680-1796
This book examines perceptions and dialogues between China and Europe by analysing strategic geopolitical sites which fostered commerce, consumption and socioeconomic networks between China and Europe through a particular case study: Macau, connecting with South China, and Marseille in Mediterranean Europe from 1680 to 1800
Geotechnics of Roads : Fundamentals
Presents stresses and strains in road structures, water and heat migration within and between layers of road materials, and the effects of water on the strength and stiffness of those materials. It includes a deep analysis of soil compaction, one of the most important issues in road construction. Compaction accounts for only a small proportion of a construction budget but its effects on the long-term performance of a road are decisive. In addition, the book describes methodologies for nondestructive road evaluation including analysis of continuous compaction control, a powerful technique for real-time quality control of road structures.
Geotechnics of Roads : Advanced Analysis and Modeling
Develops 23 extended examples that cover most of the theoretical aspects presented in the book Geotechnics of Roads: Fundamentals. Moreover, for most examples, Volume 2 describes algorithms for solving complex problems and provides Matlab® scripts for their solution.
Geotechnical Slope Analysis
The influence of initial stresses, pore water pressures and seismic forces has been explored not only on performance indicators such as the ‘Factor of Safety’ but also on the location of critical slip surfaces. In addition to these factors, it is shown that the chosen method of analysis may also have a significant influence on the location of the critical slip surface. This book focuses on research studies concerning slope behaviour, the occurrence of landslides and the use of alternative methods of analysis and interpretation. The importance of uncertainties in slope performance and, more broadly, in geotechnical engineering is emphasised.
Geostatistics for environmental applications ; Proceedings of the Fifth European Conference on geostatistics for environmental applications
Once applied only to problems of mining-reserves assessment or petroleum-reservoir characterization, geostatistics is now being used in an increasingly large number of disciplines in environmental sciences. On the one hand, it enables the analysis and handling, in a rigorous probabilistic framework of the issues of spatial and temporal interpolation of continuous or categorical environmental variables. On the other hand, the methodology is also used to design and optimize sampling campaigns. "Geostatistics for Environmental Applications" contains forty selected contributions covering the latest progress in a broad spectrum of fields including air quality, climatology, ecology, groundwater hydrology, surface hydrology, oceanography, soil contamination, epidemiology and health, natural hazards, and remote sensing.
Geometry and Topology in Hamiltonian Dynamics and Statistical Mechanics
This book explores the foundations of hamiltonian dynamical systems and statistical mechanics, in particular phase transition, from the point of view of geometry and topology. A broad participation of topology in these fields has been lacking and this book will provide a welcome overview of the current research in the area, in which the author himself is a pioneer. Using geometrical thinking to solve fundamental problems in these areas, compared to the purely analytical methods usually used in physics could be highly productive. The author skillfully guides the reader, whether mathematician or physicists through the background needed to understand and use these techniques.
Geomagnetics for aeronautical safety : A case study in and around the Balkans
Flying safely in aircraft implies the use of navigation instruments. Among them, the magnetic compass is still a first choice for orientation and it is compulsory in all aircraft. In our increasingly sophisticated but fragile world of global navigation systems and gyroscopic sensors, the compass is especially useful as a back-up: it is highly reliable and likely to survive in harsh electromagnetic aggressions or when all power supplies fail. This book examines in detail how the science of geomagnetism is able to promote correct use of the magnetic compass for navigation. A selected group of specialists met in Ohrid, Macedonia to expose their approaches to the question. Using techniques from Geology, Instrument science, Magnetism, Chaos theory and Potential Fields applied to the Balkan region and surroundings, they put together a roadmap to fully tackle the issue of measurement, analysis, mapping and forecasting the magnetic declination in support of aeronautical safety.
Geo-information for Disaster Management
Geo-information technology offers an opportunity to support disaster management: industrial accidents, road collisions, complex emergencies, earthquakes, fires, floods and similar catastrophes (for example the recent huge disaster with the Tsunami in South-East Asia on 26 December 2004). Access to needed information, facilitation of the interoperability of emergency services, and provision of high-quality care to the public are a number of the key requirements. The book provides a broad overview of the (geo-information) technology, software, systems needed, used and to be developed for disaster management. The book provokes a wide discussion on systems and requirements for use of geo-information under time and stress constraints and unfamiliar situations, environments and circumstances.
Geographies of Schooling
This book explores the complex relationship between schooling as a set of practices embedded in educational institutions and their specific spatial dimensions from different disciplinary perspectives.The book covers a broad range of topics, all examined from a spatial perspective: the governance of schooling, the transition processes of and within national school systems, the question of small schools in peripheral areas as well as the embeddedness of schooling in broader processes of social change. Transcending disciplinary boundaries, the book offers deep insights into current theoretical debates and empirical case studies within the broad research field encompassing the complex relationship between education and space.
Genetic Engineering of Mesenchymal Stem Cells
MSC (mesenchymal stem cells) have been reported to initiate revascularization after injury, to facilitate engraftment of blood-forming stem cells, and to reduce the incidence of graft-vs. host disease through their immune-suppressive qualities. Finally, bone marrow-derived MSC have been reported to home to areas of solid tumor revascularization, and thus may be used as delivery vehicles to target ablative agents into dividing tumor cells. Recently the characteristics of human MSC from adipose (fat) tissue have also been identified. The possibility of repairing tissues, speeding stem cell engraftment, and targeting solid tumors for specific killing, using MSC easily harvested from bone marrow, or better yet, from unwanted fat tissue, holds broad appeal, and is an intriguing possibility that could have dramatic effect on health care. This book has information on how to isolate, grow, and characterize MSC from marrow and fat, and gives important insight into how these cells may be used for gene delivery and cellular therapies in the future. Updates on emerging clinical trials are given.
Generalized Bounds for Convex Multistage Stochastic Programs
The auther was involved in several industry projects in the field of power management, on the occasion of which I was repeatedly c- fronted with complex decision problems under uncertainty. Although usually hard to solve, I quickly learned to appreciate the benefit of stochastic progr- ming models and developed a strong interest in their theoretical properties. Motivated both by practical questions and theoretical concerns, I became p- ticularly interested in the art of finding tight bounds on the optimal value of a given model. The present work attempts to make a contribution to this important branch of stochastic optimization theory. In particular, it aims at extending some classical bounding methods to broader problem classes of practical relevance.
