Books on the topic 'INFORMATION THEORETIC MEASURES'

The textbook reveals the concept and meaning of digital technologies, the legal nature of information interaction in the implementation of control measures based on general theoretical concepts and regulatory legal acts. Special attention is paid to the types of information systems used in the control process in the financial and budgetary sphere. The necessity of creating information systems based on international experience, global indices and rules of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is justified. The article defines the specific characteristics of the state information systems used in the control (monitoring) in the financial and budgetary sphere, and also considers the subsystems that make up the state integrated information system "Electronic Budget" and other information systems in the information space of the Russian Federation. The article analyzes interdepartmental information interaction and digital methods that ensure the protection of information in the course of financial control. For graduate students, postgraduates and teachers of law and non-legal universities, as well as for practitioners.

The book Geography of Barriers: Examples of Good Barrier-free Practice offers a collection of texts that are interested in making space, services, and information accessible. Thus, the collection is primarily about barriers, their nature, localization, and possible effects. Under barriers, most people imagine material barriers for wheelchair users in the form of steps or sidewalk curbs. Only a few would think that barriers can be represented by loosely placed rugs, unfit lighting, large glass surface, a doorbell without visual output, unwanted attention, frequent asking and offering help, lack of language knowledge, pity, etc. Thus, the book broadens awareness of what can be considered a barrier. The texts are divided into three parts – theoretical, methodic, and empirical – and their arrangement follows the logic of thematic focusing from the most general to the most concrete types of barriers. While the theoretical part places the policies of accessibility into the wider context of scientific disciplines and their development – such as disability studies, disability geography or service design, the methodic part discusses the introduction of accessibility policies in the city of Brno, describing how it tried to make its space, services, and information more accessible. Finally, the empirical part offers 18 examples of relatively good barrier-free implementations that have been recently realized in Brno. This division reflects an effort to target several groups of readers. The first part thus addresses mainly students interested in accessibility issues, the second, methodic part is intended for politicians and municipalities searching for inspiration to implement their own accessibility measures and policies. The last part stating concrete examples of good barrier-free implementations is aimed at general public, at people who like to think about a whole range of topics related to accessibility of space, services, and information.

In this chapter I provide additional rationalization for using the info-metrics framework. This time the justifications are in terms of the statistical, mathematical, and information-theoretic properties of the formalism. Specifically, in this chapter I discuss optimality, statistical and computational efficiency, sufficiency, the concentration theorem, the conditional limit theorem, and the concept of information compression. These properties, together with the other properties and measures developed in earlier chapters, provide logical, mathematical, and statistical justifications for employing the info-metrics framework.

This chapter translates the theoretical principles illustrated in Chapter 5 into an empirical measure that can be applied to real human brains. It explains how transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG) can be employed to derive a surrogate measure of information integration, the perturbational complexity index (PCI). By describing the results of a series of experiments, it demonstrates that PCI can discriminate with very high accuracy between consciousness and unconsciousness, across many different conditions, ranging from wakefulness to sleep, dreaming esthesia and coma patients. The chapter ends by suggesting that principled measures of brain complexity can also help understanding the mechanisms of loss and recovery of consciousness in both physiological and pathological conditions.

Principle 17 requires that States provide specific safeguards to individuals who exercise their right of access to archives, in particular to know whether their personal information is included therein. This principle reflects contemporary standards related to access to archives, freedom of information, data protection and any other situation related to privacy rights. Every person is entitled to know whether his/her name appears in State archives and, if so, by virtue of their right to access, shall be given the opportunity to challenge the validity of the information concerning them. After providing a contextual and historical background on Principle 17, this chapter discusses its theoretical framework as well as the ways in which European institutions have addressed the issue of holding of names and personal information by state agents. It also highlights some of the problems and potential implications raised by Principle 17.

Principle 13 deals with the publication of the commission’s reports. The principle of publicity is a key component of the United Nations’ Updated Impunity Principles. Through full publication and wide dissemination of a report, the right to the truth is realized. An authoritative account of violations might also promote accountability and reconciliation. A final report should be widely accessible, taking into consideration cultural and technological contexts. However, commissions may receive information confidentially and exclude some information from reports for security reasons and to avoid interference with witnesses and commissioners. This chapter first provides a contextual and historical background on Principle 13 before discussing its theoretical framework and how commissions have adopted confidentiality measures to protect witnesses and victims.

Principle 15 requires States to adopt measures that facilitate access to archives for victims, persons implicated in human rights violations, and individuals undertaking historical research. Access to records/archives means making them available for consultation as a result both of legal authorization and the existence of finding aids. Authorizing access to archives, particularly those of governments, is a political act. After providing a contextual and historical background on Principle 15, this chapter discusses its theoretical framework as well as its implementation, focusing on how international and national courts have taken a variety of positions on access. While the theoretical and best practice framework for access to archives exists, the chapter argues that implementation of Principle 15 is far from satisfactory. It also highlights important challenges that persist due to the reluctance of states to provide access to information, often linked to national security concerns.

This book sets out a measure of authority for seventy-six major international organizations (IOs) from 1950 to 2010 in an effort to provide systematic comparative information on international governance. On the premise that transparency is key in the production of data, the authors chart a path in laying out the assumptions that underpin the measure. Successive chapters detail the authors’ theoretical, conceptual, and coding decisions. In order to assess their authority, the authors model the composition of IO bodies, their roles in decision making, the bindingness of IO decisions, and the mechanisms through which they seek to settle disputes. Profiles of regional, cross-regional, and global IOs explain how they are composed and how they make decisions. A distinctive feature of the measure is that it breaks down the concept of international authority into discrete dimensions. The Measure of International Authority (MIA) is built up from coherent ingredients—the composition and role of individual IO bodies at each stage in policy making, constitutional reform, the budget, financial compliance, membership accession, and the suspension of members. These observations can be assembled—like Lego blocks—in diverse ways for diverse purposes. This produces a flexible tool for investigating international governance and testing theory.

Game theory is the science of interactive decision making. It has been used in the field of international relations (IR) for over 50 years. Almost all of the early applications of game theory in international relations drew upon the theory of zero-sum games, but the first generation of applications was also developed during the most intense period of the Cold War. The theoretical foundations for the second wave of the game theory literature in international relations were laid by a mathematician, John Nash, a co-recipient of the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics. His major achievement was to generalize the minimax solution which emerged from the first wave. The result is the now famous Nash equilibrium—the accepted measure of rational behavior in strategic form games. During the third wave, from roughly the early to mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, there was a distinct move away from static strategic form games toward dynamic games depicted in extensive form. The assumption of complete information also fell by the wayside; games of incomplete information became the norm. Technical refinements of Nash’s equilibrium concept both encouraged and facilitated these important developments. In the fourth and final wave, which can be dated, roughly, from around the middle of the 1990s, extensive form games of incomplete information appeared regularly in the strategic literature. The fourth wave is a period in which game theory was no longer considered a niche methodology, having finally emerged as a mainstream theoretical tool.

This is a one-stop book for anyone who wants an overview of the research approaches and issues concerning suicide. Leading researchers provide a comprehensive toolbox of the current best practices in suicide research, showing you how to conduct high-quality research using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods in suicide-prevention from a public health perspective. Other aspects that are crucial to effective suicide research are also presented, including the proper use of epidemiological measures and study designs, definitional issues, historical background, and ethical aspects. The clearly written chapters include both theoretical and practical information along with specific examples from different areas of suicide research and prevention, and also explore essential topics such as psychological autopsies, health economics, and technological advances. This volume is ideal for researchers, students, and academics interested in suicide research, as well as policy makers, clinicians, and other practitioners.

In response to cartel formation, competition lawyers and policymakers in nine Asian jurisdictions have experimented with leniency programmes. This mechanism allows firms to come forward with information in relation to their illegal cartel participation in return for a reduction of or immunity from a sanction. The experimentation plays out across three different dimensions: the revision of early adopted leniency programmes, the introduction of newly written leniency programmes, and the decision – deliberate or otherwise – not to create a leniency programme. This volume is the first to analyse the empirical evidence across a number of countries to determine how effective these measures have been, and how they have been amended in response to problems encountered. In this volume, local experts from key Asian jurisdictions, together with international experts, offer an introduction to this fast-developing field, and explore the theoretical, international and regulatory contexts of leniency programmes.

Chapter 4 considers the different sensibilities that inform current conventions of ethnographic authorship. The author juxtaposes the “renegade practices” of contemporary ethnographic writing with the more disciplined traditions of standard research reporting. The rest of the chapter elaborates on the ethnographic writing process through two orienting frameworks. The first, organizational approach, emphasizes a need to communicate research results with a measure of empirical precision. This includes discussions of how to develop and organize themes, select useful illustrations, and decide on requisite background and theoretical information. The second, evocative approach, prioritizes the authorial role in communicating meaning and sentiment through effective use of voice, rhythms, textures, and imagination. The author argues that good ethnographic writing must find a productive balance between these competing dispositions. Ultimately ethnography is presented as an adverbial mode of writing that animates social life by describing not only what takes place but also how it occurs.

The quality of data collected in official spatial databases is crucial in making strategic decisions as well as in the implementation of planning and design works. Awareness of the level of the quality of these data is also important for individual users of official spatial data. The author presents methods and models of description and evaluation of the quality of spatial data collected in public registers. Data describing the space in the highest degree of detail, which are collected in three databases: land and buildings registry (EGiB), geodetic registry of the land infrastructure network (GESUT) and in database of topographic objects (BDOT500) were analyzed. The results of the research concerned selected aspects of activities in terms of the spatial data quality. These activities include: the assessment of the accuracy of data collected in official spatial databases; determination of the uncertainty of the area of registry parcels, analysis of the risk of damage to the underground infrastructure network due to the quality of spatial data, construction of the quality model of data collected in official databases and visualization of the phenomenon of uncertainty in spatial data. The evaluation of the accuracy of data collected in official, large-scale spatial databases was based on a representative sample of data. The test sample was a set of deviations of coordinates with three variables dX, dY and Dl – deviations from the X and Y coordinates and the length of the point offset vector of the test sample in relation to its position recognized as a faultless. The compatibility of empirical data accuracy distributions with models (theoretical distributions of random variables) was investigated and also the accuracy of the spatial data has been assessed by means of the methods resistant to the outliers. In the process of determination of the accuracy of spatial data collected in public registers, the author’s solution was used – resistant method of the relative frequency. Weight functions, which modify (to varying degree) the sizes of the vectors Dl – the lengths of the points offset vector of the test sample in relation to their position recognized as a faultless were proposed. From the scope of the uncertainty of estimation of the area of registry parcels the impact of the errors of the geodetic network points was determined (points of reference and of the higher class networks) and the effect of the correlation between the coordinates of the same point on the accuracy of the determined plot area. The scope of the correction was determined (in EGiB database) of the plots area, calculated on the basis of re-measurements, performed using equivalent techniques (in terms of accuracy). The analysis of the risk of damage to the underground infrastructure network due to the low quality of spatial data is another research topic presented in the paper. Three main factors have been identified that influence the value of this risk: incompleteness of spatial data sets and insufficient accuracy of determination of the horizontal and vertical position of underground infrastructure. A method for estimation of the project risk has been developed (quantitative and qualitative) and the author’s risk estimation technique, based on the idea of fuzzy logic was proposed. Maps (2D and 3D) of the risk of damage to the underground infrastructure network were developed in the form of large-scale thematic maps, presenting the design risk in qualitative and quantitative form. The data quality model is a set of rules used to describe the quality of these data sets. The model that has been proposed defines a standardized approach for assessing and reporting the quality of EGiB, GESUT and BDOT500 spatial data bases. Quantitative and qualitative rules (automatic, office and field) of data sets control were defined. The minimum sample size and the number of eligible nonconformities in random samples were determined. The data quality elements were described using the following descriptors: range, measure, result, and type and unit of value. Data quality studies were performed according to the users needs. The values of impact weights were determined by the hierarchical analytical process method (AHP). The harmonization of conceptual models of EGiB, GESUT and BDOT500 databases with BDOT10k database was analysed too. It was found that the downloading and supplying of the information in BDOT10k creation and update processes from the analyzed registers are limited. An effective approach to providing spatial data sets users with information concerning data uncertainty are cartographic visualization techniques. Based on the author’s own experience and research works on the quality of official spatial database data examination, the set of methods for visualization of the uncertainty of data bases EGiB, GESUT and BDOT500 was defined. This set includes visualization techniques designed to present three types of uncertainty: location, attribute values and time. Uncertainty of the position was defined (for surface, line, and point objects) using several (three to five) visual variables. Uncertainty of attribute values and time uncertainty, describing (for example) completeness or timeliness of sets, are presented by means of three graphical variables. The research problems presented in the paper are of cognitive and application importance. They indicate on the possibility of effective evaluation of the quality of spatial data collected in public registers and may be an important element of the expert system.