Case studies explore the Million Trees initiative in Los Angeles; the relationship of cap-and-trade policy, public health, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental justice in Southern California; Urbanization, vulnerability and environmental justice in the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Sao Paulo, and in Antofagasta, Greater Concepcion and Valparaiso in Chile; Sociospatial patterns of vulnerability in the American southwest; and Urban flood control and land use planning in Greater Taipei, Taiwan ROC.

Based on the 2005 publication The Financial Appraisal Profile Model , this book discusses how the FAP model can present an integrated process for the appraisal of financial and strategic benefits and the assessment of risk in ICT (Information Communication Technology) project proposals.

This unique volume brings together original essays by well-known mass communication experts--master teachers--who provide practical information on teaching the communication and journalism courses in which they specialize. The authors make recommendations for practical/applied, theoretical, and advanced courses, representing every area of the mass communications curriculum. Its contributors include eminent specialists such as Maurine H. Beasley, who offers advice to teachers of media history; Dan Nimmo (political communication); Roy L. Moore (media law); Jay Black (media ethics); and John De Mott (media management). Chapter authors suggest course outlines, teaching strategies, and methods of testing, and provide reviews of current texts and supplementary materials such as films and other audio-visual aids.

Chapter topics in part I, The Introductory Course, include The Beginning Course in Mass Communication, and introductory courses to broadcasting, public relations, the film course, and internship programs. Part II, Applied Coursework, includes chapters on writing news for print and broadcast, reporting, advertising campaigns, audio and video production, and teaching research methods. Part III, which deals with advanced coursework, includes chapters on courses in mass communication law, mass media management, and history, mass media and politics, media criticism, and media ethics. Teaching Mass Communication will prove vitally important to faculty with new preparations for mass communication courses (including senior faculty keeping up with changes), media professionals, and new faculty preparing their teaching assignments.

The varied cultural functions of dress, textiles and clothwork provide an especially cogent lens through which to reexamine our assumptions about the Middle Ages because of the topic's conceptual breadth. Its implications range from the highly theoretical to the very concrete. At one end of the spectrum, questions of dress call up feminist theoretical investigations into the body and subjectivity, while broadening those inquiries to include theories of masculinity as well. At the other extreme, the production and distribution of textiles carries us into the domain of economic history and the study of material commodities, trade and cultural patterns of exchange within western Europe and between east and west. Contributors to this volume represent a broad array of disciplines currently involved in rethinking medieval culture in terms of the material world.

This contributed volume explores theories of media and communication and focuses on providing African perspectives on global conversations. Using broad cases relating to media and communication theories, this book explores socio-cultural issues affecting most modern African societies, providing a conceptual and empirical framework for explicating the potential place of media techniques and structures in Africa. As a good template for understanding and applying communication theories and approaches in the African context, the volume is a priceless asset for Media and Communication scholars.

Leading scientists discuss the most recent physical and experimental results in the physics of Bose-Einstein condensate theory, the theory of nonlinear lattices (including quantum and nonlinear lattices), and nonlinear optics and photonics. Classical and quantum aspects of the dynamics of nonlinear waves are considered. The contributions focus on the Gross-Pitaevskii equation and on the quantum nonlinear Schr dinger equation. Recent experimental results on atomic condensates and hydrogen bonded systems are reviewed. Particular attention is given to nonlinear matter waves in periodic potential.

Of all the Caribbean countries, Cuba possesses the most voluminous body of literature on mass communications. Following an informative introduction to the history of Cuban mass communications, this book is organized into three parts: resources, contemporary perspectives and historical perspectives. The resources section covers anthologies, bibliographies, catalogues, collections and other research materials. The contemporary perspectives of Cuban mass communications includes broadcasting, comic and graphic arts, film, freedom of the press, news agencies, popular culture, print media, Radio and Television Marti, training and education, and women and the media. The third section pulls together items of historical significance. To highlight the work of individual journalists, magazines and newspapers, 45 journalists and specific magazines and newspaper titles are singled out. This bibliography is representative in covering books, periodicals, dissertations, theses, and conference papers. Most of the more than 4,000 citations are in English or Spanish. The compiling editor completes this reference with author and general subject indices.

Food and agricultural standards have recently risen to the top of both national and international agendas. Popular concerns about the power of the World Trade Organization focus on the intertwined relationships between environmental protection, labor and human rights, and the standards used to produce and supply our food and fiber globally. In the developing world, agricultural grades and standards are an important part of the reconfiguration of roles and responsibilities between various public and private actors in market reform. This original and informative collection of studies of agri-food standards in the modern economy addresses these and helps to define the scope of the emerging study of the politics of standards setting. Following an overview essay dealing with the multiple ways of thinking about, approaching and defining food and agricultural standards, eleven case studies offer a rich body of evidence that assesses the processes, dynamics and potential consequences of global agri-food standards. For all interested in the strategic use of food and agricultural standards - from those in national and international governmental agencies, researchers and others in the academic and private sector to those in the private business sector - this volume offers a broader perspective on and will serve as an important resource.

A trustworthy record is one that is both an accurate statement of facts and a genuine manifestation of those facts. Record trustworthiness thus has two qualitative dimensions: reliability and authenticity. Reliability means that the record is capable of standing for the facts to which it attests, while authenticity means that the record is what it claims to be. This study explores the evolution of the principles and methods for determining record trustworthiness from antiquity to the digital age, and from the perspectives of law and history. It also examines recent efforts undertaken by researchers in the field of archival science to develop methods for ensuring the trustworthiness of records created and maintained in electronic systems. Audience: The target audience for this study is legal scholars working in the field of evidence law, historians working in the field of historical methodology, and recordkeeping professionals (records managers, information technology specialists, archivists) working on the design and implementation of contemporary organizational recordkeeping systems.

Technology Assessment processes can be taken as a paradigm for interdisciplinary research. It is expected that interdisciplinary Technology Assessment is able to find solutions for actual sociopolitical problems that go beyond those expected from one individual scientific discipline alone. The common notion, that for tasks like this different disciplinary perspectives should be brought together, confronts the fact that there is no common notion on how interdisciplinary research should be done. In the present volume European experts of Technology Assessment present their perspectives on interdisciplinary research. Many focus on methodology, policy consulting, and participation of stakeholders, non-experts and citizens. Others present concrete case studies concerning climate change and health care. Each contribution is commented by an other scientist. The result is a discussion-like examination of the connection between interdisciplinarity and the main subjects of Technology Assesment.

Focusing primarily on visual forms of representation, but also including material on literary representation, this volume brings together studies as apparently disparate as the iconography of power in Mediterranean prehistory and clothing and cultural meaning in the First and Second World Wars. What draws these papers together is the common focus on how the scholar of the twenty-first century can pursue the interpretation of past representational cultural production from a gendered perspective. The fruit of research by academics from the fields of archaeology, classics and ancient history, art history and social history, and from both sides of the Atlantic, make this volume a fascinating introduction to a developing field.

One of the most challenging issues facing our current information society is the accelerating accumulation of data trails in transactional and communication systems, which may be used not only to profile the behaviour of individuals for commercial, marketing and law enforcement purposes, but also to locate and follow things and actions. Data mining, convergence, interoperability, ever- increasing computer capacities and the extreme miniaturisation of the hardware are all elements which contribute to a major contemporary challenge: the profiled world. This interdisciplinary volume offers twenty contributions that delve deeper into some of the complex but urgent questions that this profiled world addresses to data protection and privacy. The chapters of this volume were all presented at the second Conference on Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP2009) held in Brussels in January 2009 (www.cpdpconferences.org). The yearly CPDP conferences aim to become Europe's most important meeting where academics, practitioners, policy-makers and activists come together to exchange ideas and discuss emerging issues in information technology, privacy and data protection and law. This volume reflects the richness of the conference, containing chapters by leading lawyers, policymakers, computer, technology assessment and social scientists. The chapters cover generic themes such as the evolution of a new generation of data protection laws and the constitutionalisation of data protection and more specific issues like security breaches, unsolicited adjustments, social networks, surveillance and electronic voting. This book not only offers a very close and timely look on the state of data protection and privacy in our profiled world, but it also explores and invents ways to make sure this world remains a world we want to live in.

Small islands often enjoy a distinct juridical personality. Many, whether fully sovereign or not, successfully deploy this "gift of jurisdiction" to economic advantage, offsetting the potentially adverse effects of smallness, isolation and peripherality. These legal powers, reflected in supportive policy and culture, are themselves key economic resources in a development strategy. Globalization can be richly asymmetrical, offering lucrative opportunities for differentiation and nice strategies for small island jurisdictions. This book documents such lessons from a most unlikely group of North Atlantic Islands.

The Chinese market is appealing, but its legal environment is very complicated and full of nooses that await investors. This book intends to provide an in-depth analysis of the legal environment and its hidden risks for foreign investment. It covers two basic investment modes which are green-field and M and A, and almost all concrete legal issues including political risk, tax, land use rights, labor etc. Among them, three chapters focus on the legal system and its risks for the foreign investment in three special industries as private education, water market and insurance. The detailed analysis is based on the newest laws and regulations.

The aim of the book is to present the state of the art of the theory of symmetric (Hermitian) matrix Riccati equations and to contribute to the development of the theory of non-symmetric Riccati equations as well as to certain classes of coupled and generalized Riccati equations occurring in differential games and stochastic control. The volume offers a complete treatment of generalized and coupled Riccati equations. It deals with differential, discrete-time, algebraic or periodic symmetric and non-symmetric equations, with special emphasis on those equations appearing in control and systems theory. Extensions to Riccati theory allow to tackle robust control problems in a unified approach.

The book is intended to make available classical and recent results to engineers and mathematicians alike. It is accessible to graduate students in mathematics, applied mathematics, control engineering, physics or economics. Researchers working in any of the fields where Riccati equations are used can find the main results with the proper mathematical background.

Known as either 'soft' or 'hard' 'managerialism', 'new managerialism' or 'new public management', this new narrative has, irrespective of moniker, permeated the institutions of higher education almost everywhere. Taking this as its context, this volume is founded on a comprehensive international comparative analysis of the evolving role of middle-level academic managers-deans, heads of department and their equivalents. The chapters address key questions that will determine the future of academe: have the imperatives of management theory caused a realignment of the values and expectations of middle-level academic managers? In what way do the new expectations placed on this group shape the academic profession as a whole? And, whose interests do middle-level academic managers represent? Based on material presented at one of the high-level Douro Seminars on research into tertiary education, this volume systematically combines theoretical views with empirical analysis. It argues that 'managerialist' pressure has resulted in changes in the way academic performance is measured. There has been a shift in criteria away from research reputation, teaching and scholarship to the measurement of performance based upon management capacities. This has given middle-level academic managers a pivotal role halfway between the predilections of high-level decision makers and the maintenance of academic values and control. The enhanced expectations and more defined functions of middle-level academic managers are in clear contrast to earlier times, when the position was considered a public-spirited rite of passage for career-minded academics. Despite this, the contributors to this book believe that the middle-level managers in the ten countries examined are neither corporate lackeys nor champions of academe. It is becoming increasingly clear that the ability of organisations to achieve their aims is largely dependent on the skill and dedication of middle managers. Past studies of organisational dynamics have been preoccupied with the executive level of management. This text, which will be of great interest to researchers and policy makers alike, attempts to redress the balance.

This book shows that the problem of climate adaptation, which is described in social planning terms as 'wicked,' is at odds with the contemporary practice of spatial planning. The author proposes a new adjusted framework which is more adaptable to unpredictable, wicked, dynamic and non-linear processes. The inspiration for this new method is the behaviour of swarms: bees, ants, birds and fish are capable of self-organization, which enables the system to become less vulnerable to sudden environmental changes. The framework proposed in Swarm Planning consists of these four elements: Two levels of complexity, the first being the whole system and the second its individual components. Each of these has different attributes for adapting to change. Five layers, consisting of networks, focal points, unplanned space, natural resources and emerging occupation patterns. Each layer has its own spatial dynamic, and each is connected to a spatial scale. Non-linear processes, which emerge in different parts of the framework and include emerging patterns, connectedness and tipping points among others. Two planning processes; the first, 'from small to large' works upward from the slowest changing elements to more rapidly-changing ones. The second, 'on the list of partners' addresses each layer from networks through emerging occupation patterns. Swarm Planning applies this framework to a series of pilot studies, and appraises its performance using criteria for an adaptive landscape. The results show that the use of the Swarm Planning Framework reduces the vulnerability of landscapes as well as the impact of climate hazards and disasters, improves response to unexpected hazards and contains adaptation strategies. "This book is a must for planners in government and the private sector as it outlines the concept, strategies and techniques for swarm planning. It is also an important guide for policymakers looking to engage communities in a dialogue about the adaptation planning process." Professor John Martin, La Trobe University "The ultimate value of the book lies in encouraging the planning community to consider options that go far beyond those offered by business-as-usual planning methodologies developed for a set of operating conditions that are fast becoming obsolete. As such it makes an important and much needed contribution to the field." Assistant Professor Dr. Chrisna du Plessis, University of Pretoria

Wood is one of the most intriguing structural materials and the only one that is truly renewable. Along with stone, wood is the oldest structural material on the planet and has been extensively used throughout human history. Due to its aesthetical value and positive environmental impact, wood has experienced a renaissance in construction.

As a biodegradable, hygroscopic, non-isotropic material, wood presents special challenges for a professional and requires through knowledge ranging from biology to continuum mechanics.

This state-of-the-art report reflects the current knowledge in the area of in situ assessment of the physical and mechanical properties of wood structures. Nondestructive, semi-destructive and destructive methods are described in a systematic manner where technology, equipment and limitations are discussed. Some of the discussed methods are used in other materials such as masonry and concrete. Most of the methods, however, are specific to wood and special qualifications are required to understand and apply these methods effectively. Existing methods are constantly improved and new methods are being developed. This report includes methods that are used in practice or have shown significant promise and have a body of knowledge that supports statements made in this report.

This is a useable tool for professionals, researchers, educators and students

This volume contains essays by or about Jacob Mincer who is a founding father of modern empirical labor economics. This personal collection not only examines Mincer 's research, it also assesses the impact of his work on the careers of several important economists and includes portions of Mincer 's correspondence with those scholars. Contributors to this volume include Gary Becker and James Heckman, each of whom is a Nobel Laureate and former Mincer collaborator.

The contributors of this volume pay tribute to and seek to account for the astonishing durability of the detective story as a genre. The essays take a variety of theoretical approaches and include detective fiction in languages other than English. Particular attention is paid to the "Golden Age" of English detective story writing and to the hard-boiled American version of the genre.