As elite communities in medieval societies the Military Orders were driven by the ambition to develop built environments that fulfilled monastic needs as well as military requirements and, in addition, residential and representational purposes. Growing affluence and an international orientation provided a wide range of development potential. That this potential was in fact exploited may be exemplified by the advanced fortifications erected by Templars and Hospitallers in the Levant. Although the history of the Military Orders has been the subject of research for a long time, their material legacy has attracted less attention. In recent years, however, a vast range of topics concerning the Orders' building activities has become the object of investigation, primarily with the help of archaeology. They comprise the choice of sites and building materials, provision and storage of food and water, aspects of the daily life, the design and layout of commanderies, churches and fortifications, their spatial arrangement, and the role these buildings played in their environmental context. This volume contains ten articles discussing the archaeology and architecture of buildings erected by the three major Military Orders in different geographical regions. They cover most countries of Western Europe and include a number of important fortifications in the Levant. These studies break new ground in the investigation of the built fabric of the Military Orders. Written by noted international scholars this publication is an important contribution to modern research on these institutions, which, in their association of monasticism and knighthood, were so typical for the Middle Ages.

As elite communities in medieval societies the Military Orders were driven by the ambition to develop built environments that fulfilled monastic needs as well as military requirements and, in addition, residential and representational purposes. Growing affluence and an international orientation provided a wide range of development potential. That this potential was in fact exploited may be exemplified by the advanced fortifications erected by Templars and Hospitallers in the Levant. Although the history of the Military Orders has been the subject of research for a long time, their material legacy has attracted less attention. In recent years, however, a vast range of topics concerning the Orders' building activities has become the object of investigation, primarily with the help of archaeology. They comprise the choice of sites and building materials, provision and storage of food and water, aspects of the daily life, the design and layout of commanderies, churches and fortifications, their spatial arrangement, and the role these buildings played in their environmental context. This volume contains ten articles discussing the archaeology and architecture of buildings erected by the three major Military Orders in different geographical regions. They cover most countries of Western Europe and include a number of important fortifications in the Levant. These studies break new ground in the investigation of the built fabric of the Military Orders. Written by noted international scholars this publication is an important contribution to modern research on these institutions, which, in their association of monasticism and knighthood, were so typical for the Middle Ages.

This book starts with the basic concepts of fuzzy sets and progresses througha normative view on possibility distributions and OWA operators in multiple criteria decisions.

Five applications (that all build on experience from solving complex real world problems)of possibility distributions to strategic decisions about closing/not closinga production plant using fuzzy real options, portfolio selection with imprecise future data, predictive probabilities and possibilities for risk assessment in grid computing, fuzzy ontologies for process industry, and design (and implementation) of mobile value servicesare presented and carefully discussed. It can be useful for researchers and students workingin soft computing, real options, fuzzy decision making, grid computing, knowledge mobilization andmobile value services."

This book shows how the application of fuzzy logic can benefit management, group decision making, strategic planning, supply chain management and other business imperatives. The theoretical analysis is fully supported by real-life case studies. The book develops themes that businesses can use to master effectiveness and quality, work with flexibility, and support continuous learning in the organization and the individual.

This book starts with the basic concepts of fuzzy sets and progresses througha normative view on possibility distributions and OWA operators in multiple criteria decisions.

Five applications (that all build on experience from solving complex real world problems)of possibility distributions to strategic decisions about closing/not closinga production plant using fuzzy real options, portfolio selection with imprecise future data, predictive probabilities and possibilities for risk assessment in grid computing, fuzzy ontologies for process industry, and design (and implementation) of mobile value servicesare presented and carefully discussed. It can be useful for researchers and students workingin soft computing, real options, fuzzy decision making, grid computing, knowledge mobilization andmobile value services."

Many decision-making tasks are too complex to be understood quantitatively, however, humans succeed by using knowledge that is imprecise rather than precise. Fuzzy logic resembles human reasoning in its use of imprecise informa tion to generate decisions. Unlike classical logic which requires a deep under standing of a system, exact equations, and precise numeric values, fuzzy logic incorporates an alternative way of thinking, which allows modeling complex systems using a higher level of abstraction originating from our knowledge and experience. Fuzzy logic allows expressing this knowledge with subjective concepts such as very big and a long time which are mapped into exact numeric ranges. Since knowledge can be expressed in a more natural by using fuzzy sets, many decision (and engineering) problems can be greatly simplified. Fuzzy logic provides an inference morphology that enables approximate human reasoning capabilities to be applied to knowledge-based systems. The theory of fuzzy logic provides a mathematical strength to capture the un certainties associated with human cognitive processes, such as thinking and reasoning. The conventional approaches to knowledge representation lack the means for representating the meaning of fuzzy concepts. As a consequence, the approaches based on first order logic do not provide an appropriate con ceptual framework for dealing with the representation of commonsense knowl edge, since such knowledge is by its nature both lexically imprecise and non categorical."

Fuzzy Logic in Management demonstrates that difficult problems and changes in the management environment can be more easily handled by bringing fuzzy logic into the practice of management. This explicit theme is developed through the book as follows: Chapter 1, "Management and Intelligent Support Technologies," is a short survey of management leadership and what can be gained from support technologies. Chapter 2, "Fuzzy Sets and Fuzzy Logic," provides a short introduction to fuzzy sets, fuzzy relations, the extension principle, fuzzy implications and linguistic variables. Chapter 3, "Group Decision Support Systems," deals with group decision making, and discusses methods for supporting the consensus reaching processes. Chapter 4, "Fuzzy Real Options for Strategic Planning," summarizes research where the fuzzy real options theory was implemented as a series of models. These models were thoroughly tested on a number of real life investments, and validated in 2001. Chapter 5, "Soft Computing Methods for Reducing the Bullwhip Effect," summarizes research work focused on the demand fluctuations in supply chains. The program enhanced existing theoretical frameworks with fuzzy logic modeling. Chapter 6, "Knowledge Management," outlines the collection, storing, transfer and management of knowledge using fuzzy logic. The principles are worked out in detail with software agents. Chapter 7, "Mobile Technology Application," introduces various applications including empirical facts and how mobile technology can be supported with software agents.

Implicitly the book develops themes that successful companies should use to (1) master effectiveness and quality in both the details and the whole, (2) build on and work with flexibility, and (3) support continuous learning in both the organizational and the individual level.

Many decision-making tasks are too complex to be understood quantitatively, however, humans succeed by using knowledge that is imprecise rather than precise. Fuzzy logic resembles human reasoning in its use of imprecise informa tion to generate decisions. Unlike classical logic which requires a deep under standing of a system, exact equations, and precise numeric values, fuzzy logic incorporates an alternative way of thinking, which allows modeling complex systems using a higher level of abstraction originating from our knowledge and experience. Fuzzy logic allows expressing this knowledge with subjective concepts such as very big and a long time which are mapped into exact numeric ranges. Since knowledge can be expressed in a more natural by using fuzzy sets, many decision (and engineering) problems can be greatly simplified. Fuzzy logic provides an inference morphology that enables approximate human reasoning capabilities to be applied to knowledge-based systems. The theory of fuzzy logic provides a mathematical strength to capture the un certainties associated with human cognitive processes, such as thinking and reasoning. The conventional approaches to knowledge representation lack the means for representating the meaning of fuzzy concepts. As a consequence, the approaches based on first order logic do not provide an appropriate con ceptual framework for dealing with the representation of commonsense knowl edge, since such knowledge is by its nature both lexically imprecise and non categorical."

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