Search

At a fundamental level, service-oriented crowdsourcing applies the principles of service-oriented architecture (SOA) to the discovery, composition and selection of a scalable human workforce. Service-Oriented Crowdsourcing: Architecture, Protocols and Algorithms provides both an analysis of contemporary crowdsourcing systems, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, and a statistical description of task-based marketplaces. The book also introduces a novel mixed service-oriented computing paradigm by providing an architectural description of the Human-Provided Services (HPS) framework and the application of social principles to human coordination and delegation actions. Finally, it examines previously investigated concepts and applies them to business process management integration, including the extension of XML-based industry standards and the instantiation of flexible processes in crowdsourcing environments. Service-Oriented Crowdsourcing is intended for researchers and other academics as an in-depth guide to developing new applications based on crowdsourcing platforms and evaluating various selection and ranking algorithms. Practitioners and other industry professionals will also find this book invaluable.

In Caribbean and Atlantic Diaspora Dance: Igniting Citizenship, Yvonne Daniel provides a sweeping cultural and historical examination of diaspora dance genres. In discussing relationships among African, Caribbean, and other diasporic dances, Daniel investigates social dances brought to the islands by Europeans and Africans, including quadrilles and drum-dances as well as popular dances that followed, such as Carnival parading, Pan-Caribbean danzas,rumba, merengue, mambo, reggae, and zouk. Daniel reviews sacred dance and closely documents combat dances, such as Martinican ladja, Trinidadian kalinda, and Cuban juego de maní. In drawing on scores of performers and consultants from the region as well as on her own professional dance experience and acumen, Daniel adeptly places Caribbean dance in the context of cultural and economic globalization, connecting local practices to transnational and global processes and emphasizing the important role of dance in critical regional tourism.

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is exceptionally biodiverse. It contains about half of the world’s remaining tropical forests, nearly one-fifth of its coastal habitats, and some of its most productive agricultural and marine areas. But agriculture, fishing and other human activities linked to rapid population and economic growth increasingly threaten that biodiversity. Moreover, poverty, weak regulatory capacity, and limited political will hamper conservation. Given this dilemma, it is critically important to design conservation strategies on the basis of the best available information about both biodiversity and the track records of the various policies that have been used to protect it. This rigorously researched book has three key aims. It describes the status of biodiversity in LAC, the main threats to this biodiversity, and the drivers of these threats. It identifies the main policies being used to conserve biodiversity and assesses their effectiveness and potential for further implementation. It proposes five specific lines of practical action for conserving LAC biodiversity, based on: green agriculture; strengthening terrestrial protected areas and co-management; improving environmental governance; strengthening coastal and marine resource management; and improving biodiversity data and policy evaluation.

Nearshore hardbottom reefs of Florida’s east coast are used by over 1100 species of fishes, invertebrates, algae, and sea turtles. These rocky reefs support reproduction, settlement, and habitat use, and are energy sources and sinks. They are also buried by beach renourishment projects in which artificial reefs are used for mitigation. This comprehensive book is for research scientists and agency personnel, yet accessible to interested laypersons including beachfront residents and water-users. An unprecedented collection of research information and often stunning color photographs are assembled including over 1250 technical citations and 127 figures. These shallow reefs are part of a mosaic of coastal shelf habitats including estuarine seagrasses and mangroves, and offshore coral reefs. These hardbottom habitats are federally designated as Essential Fish Habitats - Habitats of Particular Concern and are important feeding areas for federally-protected sea turtles. Organismal and assemblage responses to natural and man-made disturbances, including climate change, are examined in the context of new research and management opportunities for east Florida’s islands in the sand.

An examination of the vibrant traditional and folk arts inspired by the sacramental use of peyote by members of the Native American Church

This work summarizes the science and management of a rapidly expanding topic in climate science, namely adaptation and mitigation. The term 'blue carbon' refers to the rates, pathways and volumes of greenhouse carbon sequestered in coastal estuarine and marine ecosystems such as salt marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows. Blue carbon and its vital role in climate change mitigation are central to this book. Readers find summaries and analysis of both the basic scientific data and data from blue carbon field projects, and a practical guide on how to manage a successful blue carbon field project. There is a discussion on how to maximize the carbon sequestration and consideration of whether blue carbon projects make a difference. The work is not only of interest to scholars involved in climate science, but also those in the marine sciences, and those in ecosystem ecology, biogeochemistry; geochemistry; estuarine and marine plant ecology.

Alcohol use is complex and multifaceted. Our understanding must be also. Alcohol use, both problematic and not, can be understood at many levels – from basic biological systems through to global public health interventions. To provide the multi-level perspective needed to address this complexity, the Handbook of Alcohol Use draws together an eclectic set of authors, including both researchers and practitioners, to examine the causes, processes and effects of alcohol consumption. Specifically, this book approaches the topic from biological, individual cognition, small group/systems, and domestic/global population perspectives. Each examines alcohol use differently and each offers its own ways to combat problematic behavior. While these alternative viewpoints are sometimes construed as incompatible or antagonistic, the current volume also explores how they can be complimentary.In summary, the Handbook of Alcohol Use brings together an international group of experts to explore how alcohol use can be understood from various perspectives and how these conceptualizations relate. In doing so, it allows us to understand alcohol consumption, and our responses to it, more from an account which spans 'from synapse to society'. - Explores alcohol use from individual through to societal levels - Synthesizes these varied levels of analysis on alcohol use - Draws on an international team of experts including researchers and alcohol treatment practitioners - Makes clear the implications of research for practice (and vice versa)

Part of the Oxford American Rheumatology Library, this concise, authoritative pocketbook provides the most up-to-date information on the diagnosis, treatment and management of lupus. The volume describes the pathophysiology of the condition, diagnostic strategies and tools, and current and emerging therapeutic options, focusing on direct clinical applications for busy healthcare professionals. One million people in the United States suffer from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE or lupus), a chronic autoimmune disease that is potentially debilitating and sometimes fatal as the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. SLE can affect any part of the body, but most often damages the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys and nervous system. The course of the disease is unpredictable, with periods of illness alternating with remission. It can be treated symptomatically, mainly with corticosteroids and immunosuppressants, though there is currently no cure. Several promising new treatments, however, are in late-stage clinical trials. Lupus is one of several diseases known as the 'great imitator' because its symptoms vary so widely and it often mimics or is mistaken for other illnesses, and because the symptoms come and go unpredictably. As a result, patients present with varied symptoms to different practitioners and diagnosis can be elusive, with patients sometimes suffering unexplained symptoms and untreated lupus for years. Hence, a practical guide to the diagnosis and treatment of lupus would be valuable to an array of clinicians and may help expedite earlier diagnosis and better patient care. The target audience is rheumatologists in training and primary care physicians who care for lupus patients and allied health professionals who assist in their management. The book will fulfill a need for a concise, practical guide to Lupus for clinicians that distills the principal features of this complicated, often misunderstood disorder. Dr. Daniel J. Wallace is one of the world's leading authorities on the disorder, an eminent clinician who has treated over 2,000 lupus patients, the largest such practice in America. He is the author of another Oxford book--The Lupus Book, and the editor of the premier authoritative lupus textbook, Dubois' Lupus Erythematosus.