This book presents a multitude of different, yet related, innovations in educational measurement and provides insight in their practical possibilities.The book not only addresses several improvements in the quality of educational measurement and innovations in (inter)national large scale assessments, but also several advances in psychometrics and i...
This book analyses Iberian expansion by using knowledge accumulated in recent years to test some of the most important theories regarding Europe's economic development. Adopting a comparative perspective, it considers the impact of early globalization on Iberian and Western European institutions, social development and political economies. In ...
This open access thematic report identifies factors and conditions that can help schools and education systems promote tolerance in a globalized world. The IEA's International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) is a comparative research program designed to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citi...
This book bridges the disciplinary boundaries within the social sciences to explore the role of social institutions in shaping geographical contexts, and in creating new knowledge. It includes theorizations as well as original empirical case studies on the emergence, maintenance and change of institutions as well as on their constraining and enabli...
This book aims to provide case studies and a general view of the main processes involved in the ecosystem shifts occurring in the high mountains, and to analyse the implications for nature conservation. Although case studies from the Pyrenees are preponderant, conclusions are aimed at any mountain range surrounded by highly populated lowland areas....
This edited volume examines the policies and practices of rising powers on peacebuilding. It analyzes how and why their approaches differ from those of traditional donors and multilateral institutions. The policies of the rising powers towards peacebuilding may significantly influence how the UN and others undertake peacebuilding in the future. Thi...
This thesis lays the groundwork for the automatic supervision of the laser incision process, which aims to complement surgeons' perception of the state of tissues and enhance their control over laser incisions. The research problem is formulated as the estimation of variables that are representative of the state of tissues during laser cutting...
This book presents the findings of a team of scientists and practitioners who have been working on the project "Benefits of Governance in Drought Adaptation" (in short: the DROP project), which is included in the European Union's INTERREG IVB NWE programme. The DROP governance team developed a Governance Assessment Tool (GAT), which ...
The objective of this report is to examine the extent to which countries in Latin America and the Caribbean participate in global value chains and what are the drivers of such participation. Production processes have been increasingly fragmented worldwide. For example, the production of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner involves 43 suppliers located in 13...
This book presents twelve unique studies on mediation from researchers in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, respectively. Each study highlights important aspects of mediation, including the role of children in family mediation, the evolution and ambivalent application of restorative justice in the Nordic countries, the confusion of roles in cour...
This Brief presents new approaches and innovative challenges to address bringing technology into community-oriented policing efforts. "Community-oriented policing" is an approach that encourages police to develop and maintain personal relationships with citizens and community organizations. By developing these partnerships, the goal is to...
This engaging free book discusses how a values and valuing perspective can facilitate a more effective mathematics pedagogical experience, and allows readers to explore multiple applications of the values perspective across different education systems. It also clearly shows that teaching mathematics involves not only reasoning and feelings, but als...
This book deals with contestations "from below" of legal policies and implementation practices in asylum and deportation. Consequently, it covers three types of mobilization: solidarity protests against the deportation of refused asylum seekers, refugee activism campaigning for residence rights and inclusion, and restrictive protests agai...
In this Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology on "High Density Lipoproteins – from biological understanding to clinical exploitation" contributing authors (members of COST Action BM0904/HDLnet) summarize in more than 20 chapters our current knowledge on the structure, function, metabolism and regulation of HDL in health and several dise...
The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. Nutrients and pollutants from coastal communities and dozens of rivers flow into the Gulf, including material from the Mississippi River watershed, whi...
This short open access book investigates the role of renewable energy in East Africa to provide policy-relevant inputs for the achievement of a cost-effective electrification process in the region. For each country, the authors review the current situation in the domestic power sector, adopt a GIS-based approach to plot renewable energy resources p...
The Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry first introduced the concept of "Interface Oral Health Science", designed to establish and maintain healthy oral cavities, which are home to a number of mixed systems. Included in those systems are: (1) host tissues such as teeth, mucosa, muscle and bone, (2) parasites and microorganis...
This book, published in the Soft and Biological Matter series, presents an introduction to selected research topics in the broad field of flowing matter, including the dynamics of fluids with a complex internal structure -from nematic fluids to soft glasses- as well as active matter and turbulent phenomena.Flowing matter is a subject at the crossro...
Predicting the time needed to complete a project, task or daily activity can be difficult and people frequently underestimate how long an activity will take. This book sheds light on why and when this happens, what we should do to avoid it and how to give more realistic time predictions. It describes methods for predicting time usage in situations ...
This book demonstrates the application of simulation modelling and network analysis techniques in the field of Roman studies. It summarizes and discusses the results of a 5-year research project carried out by the editors that aimed to apply spatial dynamical modelling to reconstruct and understand the socio-economic development of the Dutch part o...
With this graduate-level primer, the principles of the standard model of particle physics receive a particular skillful, personal and enduring exposition by one of the great contributors to the field. In 2013 the late Prof. Altarelli wrote: The discovery of the Higgs boson and the non-observation of new particles or exotic phenomena have made a big...
This book provides a unique synthesis of concepts and tools to examine natural resource, socio-economic, legal, policy and institutional issues that are important for managing urban growth into the future. The book will particularly help the reader to understand the current issues and challenges and develop strategies and practices to cope with fut...
Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology attempts to provide concise, critical reviews of timely advances, philosophy and significant areas of accomplished or needed endeavor in the total field of xenobiotics, in any segment of the environment, as well as toxicological implications....
Symbolising the motivations of our actions and efforts, it reflects something much more aspirational and contributes to our global society. This book offers novel solutions to ensure employees support a wider organizational meaning whilst guaranteeing that the company benefits from the employee's individual sense of purpose. Advocating a shift...
This book is the first academic study of the post-mortem practice of gibbeting ('hanging in chains'), since the nineteenth century. Gibbeting involved placing the executed body of a malefactor in an iron cage and suspending it from a tall post. A body might remain in the gibbet for many decades, while it gradually fell to pieces. Hanging ...
This book reports on the results of an extended survey conducted across Europe within the framework of the APPRAISAL FP7 project to determine the extent to which an integrated assessment approach to air quality is being adopted, on the one hand, by regional and local authorities to develop air quality plans and, on the other, by researchers. Follow...
This book is an open access publication.Forest ecosystems in Central Europe are changing as a result of anthropogenic influences and changing climate conditions. As such, a large-scale monitoring programme was undertaken in order to understand the influence of site modification, deposition of air pollutants, and climate.
This book presents the sci...
This book provides insight on current patterns of migration in Switzerland, which fall along a continuum from long-term and permanent to more temporary and fluid. These patterns are shaped by the interplay of legal norms, economic drivers and societal factors. The various dimensions of this Migration-Mobility Nexus are investigated by means of new...
This book examines health trajectories and health transitions at different stages of the life course, including childhood, adulthood and later life. It provides findings that assess the role of biological and social transitions on health status over time.The essays examine a wide range of health issues, including the consequences of military servic...
The open access book discusses human health and wellbeing within the context of built environments. It provides a comprehensive overview of relevant sources of literature and user complaints that clearly demonstrate the consequences of lack of attention to health in current building design and planning. Current designing of energy-efficient buildin...
This book discusses booming housing markets in cities around the globe, and the resulting challenges for policymakers and central banks. Cities are booming everywhere, leading to a growing demand for urban housing. In many cities this demand is out-pacing supply, which causes house prices to soar and increases the pressure on rental markets. These ...
This book describes the extensive contributions made toward the advancement of human assessment by scientists from one of the world's leading research institutions, Educational Testing Service. The book's four major sections detail research and development in measurement and statistics, education policy analysis and evaluation, scienti...