Biomineralization: From Molecular and Nano-structural Analyses to Environmental Science by Kazuyoshi Endo (Springer) (10 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This open access book is the proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Biomineralization (BIOMIN XIV) held in 2017 at Tsukuba. Over the past 45 years, biomineralization research has unveiled details of the characteristics of the nano-structure of various biominerals; the formation mechanism of this nano-structure, including the initial stage of crystallization; and the function of organic matrices in biominerals, and this knowledge has been applied to dental, medical, pharmaceutical, materials, agricultural and environmental sciences and paleontology. As such, biomineralization is an important interdisciplinary research area, and further advances are expected in both fundamental and applied research.

Genre: Science & Math

Transforming Education for Sustainability: Discourses on Justice, Inclusion, and Authenticity (Environmental Discourses in Science Education Book 7) by María S. Rivera Maulucci (Springer) Price verified 4 hours ago

This book investigates how educators and researchers in the sciences, social sciences, and the arts, connect concepts of sustainability to work in their fields of study and in the classrooms where they teach the next generation. Sustainability, with a focus on justice, authenticity and inclusivity, can be integrated into many different courses or disciplines even if it is beyond their historical focus. The narratives describe sustainability education in the classroom, the laboratory, and the field (broadly defined) and how the authors navigate the complexities of particular sustainability issues, such as climate change, water quality, soil health, biodiversity, resource use, and education in authentic ways that convey their complexity, the sociopolitical context, and their hopes for the future. The chapters explore how faculty engage students in learning about sustainability and the ways in which working at the edge of what we know about sustainability can be a significant source of engagement, motivation, and challenge. The authors discuss how they create learning experiences that foster democratic practices in which students are not just following protocols, but have a stake in creative decision-making, collecting and analysing data, and posing authentic questions. They also describe what happens when students are not just passively receiving information, but actively analysing, debating, dialoguing, arguing from evidence, and constructing nuanced understandings of complex socioscientific sustainability issues. The narratives include undergraduate student perspectives on what it means to engage in sustainability research and learning, how students navigate the complexities and contradictions inherent in sustainability issues, what makes for authentic, empowering learning experiences, and how students are encouraged to persevere in the field. This is an open access book.

Genre: Science & Math

Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission by Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission (1 Review)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota, 1916 Embracing the Transactions of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society,Volume 44, from December 1, ... by Various (1 Review)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Second Assessment of Climate Change for the Baltic Sea Basin (Regional Climate Studies) by The BACC II Author Team (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified one hour ago

?This book is an update of the first BACC assessment, published in 2008. It offers new and updated scientific findings in regional climate research for the Baltic Sea basin. These include climate changes since the last glaciation (approx. 12,000 years ago), changes in the recent past (the last 200 years), climate projections up until 2100 using state-of-the-art regional climate models and an assessment of climate-change impacts on terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. There are dedicated new chapters on sea-level rise, coastal erosion and impacts on urban areas. A new set of chapters deals with possible causes of regional climate change along with the global effects of increased greenhouse gas concentrations, namely atmospheric aerosols and land-cover change. The evidence collected and presented in this book shows that the regional climate has already started to change and this is expected to continue. Projections of potential future climates show that the region will probably become considerably warmer and wetter in some parts, but dryer in others. Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have already shown adjustments to increased temperatures and are expected to undergo further changes in the near future. The BACC II Author Team consists of 141 scientists from 12 countries, covering various disciplines related to climate research and related impacts. BACC II is a project of the Baltic Earth research network and contributes to the World Climate Research Programme.

Genre: Science & Math

Climate-Smart Forestry in Mountain Regions (Managing Forest Ecosystems Book 40) by Roberto Tognetti (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This open access book offers a cross-sectoral reference for both managers and scientists interested in climate-smart forestry, focusing on mountain regions. It provides a comprehensive analysis on forest issues, facilitating the implementation of climate objectives. This book includes structured summaries of each chapter. Funded by the EU's Horizon 2020 programme, CLIMO has brought together scientists and experts in continental and regional focus assessments through a cross-sectoral approach, facilitating the implementation of climate objectives. CLIMO has provided scientific analysis on issues including criteria and indicators, growth dynamics, management prescriptions, long-term perspectives, monitoring technologies, economic impacts, and governance tools.

Genre: Science & Math

Bioimage Data Analysis Workflows ‒ Advanced Components and Methods (Learning Materials in Biosciences) by Kota Miura (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 30 minutes ago

This open access textbook aims at providing detailed explanations on how to design and construct image analysis workflows to successfully conduct bioimage analysis. Addressing the main challenges in image data analysis, where acquisition by powerful imaging devices results in very large amounts of collected image data, the book discusses techniques relying on batch and GPU programming, as well as on powerful deep learning-based algorithms. In addition, downstream data processing techniques are introduced, such as Python libraries for data organization, plotting, and visualizations. Finally, by studying the way individual unique ideas are implemented in the workflows, readers are carefully guided through how the parameters driving biological systems are revealed by analyzing image data. These studies include segmentation of plant tissue epidermis, analysis of the spatial pattern of the eye development in fruit flies, and the analysis of collective cell migration dynamics. The presented content extends the Bioimage Data Analysis Workflows textbook (Miura, Sladoje, 2020), published in this same series, with new contributions and advanced material, while preserving the well-appreciated pedagogical approach adopted and promoted during the training schools for bioimage analysis organized within NEUBIAS - the Network of European Bioimage Analysts. This textbook is intended for advanced students in various fields of the life sciences and biomedicine, as well as staff scientists and faculty members who conduct regular quantitative analyses of microscopy images.

Genre: Science & Math

The Story of the Soil; from the Basis of Absolute Science and Real Life, by Cyril G. (Cyril George) Hopkins (19 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Mining Gold and Manufacturing Ignorance: Occupational Lung Disease and the Buying and Selling of Labour in Southern Africa by Jock McCulloch (Palgrave Macmillan) Price verified 5 hours ago

This open access book charts how South Africa's gold mines have systematically suppressed evidence of hazardous work practices and the risks associated with mining. For most of the twentieth century, South Africa was the world's largest producer of gold. Although the country enjoyed a reputation for leading the world in occupational health legislation, the mining companies developed a system of medical surveillance and workers' compensation which compromised the health of black gold miners, facilitated the spread of tuberculosis, and ravaged the communities and economies of labour-sending states. The culmination of two decades of meticulous archival research, this book exposes the making, contesting, and unravelling of the companies' capacity to shape - and corrupt - medical knowledge.

Genre: Science & Math

YOUMARES 9 - The Oceans: Our Research, Our Future: Proceedings of the 2018 conference for YOUng MArine RESearcher in Oldenburg, Germany by Simon Jungblut (Springer) (4 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This open access book summarizes peer-reviewed articles and the abstracts of oral and poster presentations given during the YOUMARES 9 conference which took place in Oldenburg, Germany, in September 2018. The aims of this book are to summarize state-of-the-art knowledge in marine sciences and to inspire scientists of all career stages in the development of further research. These conferences are organized by and for young marine researchers. Qualified early-career researchers, who moderated topical sessions during the conference, contributed literature reviews on specific topics within their research field.

Genre: Science & Math

Sentient Ecologies: Xenophobic Imaginaries of Landscape (Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology Book 31) by Alexandra Coțofană (Berghahn Books) (1 Review)    Price verified 3 hours ago

Employing methodological perspectives from the fields of political geography, environmental studies, anthropology, and their cognate disciplines, this volume explores alternative logics of sentient landscapes as racist, xenophobic, and right-wing. While the field of sentient landscapes has gained critical attention, the literature rarely seems to question the intentionality of sentient landscapes, which are often romanticized as pure, good, and just, and perceived as protectors of those who are powerless, indigenous, and colonized. The book takes a new stance on sentient landscapes with the intention of dispelling the denial of "coevalness" represented by their scholarly romanticization.

Genre: Science & Math

Transforming Trauma: Resilience and Healing Through Our Connections With Animals (New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond) by Philip Tedeschi (Purdue University Press) (28 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

Have you ever looked deep into the eyes of an animal and felt entirely known? Often, the connections we share with non-human animals represent our safest and most reliable relationships, offering unique and profound opportunities for healing in periods of hardship. This book focuses on research developments, models, and practical applications of human-animal connection and animal-assisted intervention for diverse populations who have experienced trauma. Physiological and psychological trauma are explored across three broad and interconnected domains: 1) child maltreatment and family violence; 2) acute and post-traumatic stress, including military service, war, and developmental trauma; and 3) times of crisis, such as the ever-increasing occurrence of natural disasters, community violence, terrorism, and anticipated or actual grief and loss. Contributing authors, who include international experts in the fields of trauma and human-animal connection, examine how our relationships with animals can help build resiliency and foster healing to transform trauma. A myriad of animal species and roles, including companion, therapy, and service animals are discussed. Authors also consider how animals are included in a variety of formal and informal models of trauma recovery across the human lifespan, with special attention paid to canine- and equine-assisted interventions and psychotherapy. In addition, authors emphasize the potential impacts to animals who provide trauma-informed services, and discuss how we can respect their participation and implement best practices and ethical standards to ensure their well-being. The reader is offered a comprehensive understanding of the history of research in this field, as well as the latest advancements and areas in need of further or refined investigation. Likewise, authors explore, in depth, emerging practices and methodologies for helping people and communities thrive in the face of traumatic events and their long-term impacts. As ...

Genre: Science & Math

Augmented Humanity: Being and Remaining Agentic in a Digitalized World by Peter T. Bryant (Palgrave Macmillan) (1 Review)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This open access book will examine the implications of digitalization for the understanding of humanity, conceived as a community of intelligent agency. It addresses important topics across a range of social and behavioral theories and identifies a range of novel mechanisms and their social behavioral effects. Across the book, the author highlights the expansion of intelligent processing capability brought about by digitalization and the challenges this exposes for integrating artificial and human capabilities. It includes the altered effects of bounded rationality in problem solving and decision making; related changes in the perception of rationality, plus novel myopias and biases. It also seeks to address cognitive intersubjectivity, learning from performance and agentic self-generation; and the novel methods and patterns of reasoned thought which emerge in a digitalized world; and how these mechanisms will combine in making and remaking the world of human experience and understanding. This book examines the problematics and prospects for digitally augmented humanity. In doing so, it maps the terrain for a future science of augmented agency. It will have cross-disciplinary appeal to students and scholars of applied psychology, cognitive and behavioral science, organizational psychology and management, business, finance, and digital cultures and humanities.

Genre: Science & Math

Horizons of Phenomenology: Essays on the State of the Field and Its Applications (Contributions to Phenomenology Book 122) by Jeff Yoshimi (Springer) Price verified 4 hours ago

This is an open access book which explores phenomenology as both an exceptionally diverse movement in philosophy as well as an active research method that crosses disciplinary boundaries. The volume brings together lively overviews of major areas and schools of phenomenology, as well as the most recent applications across a range of fields. The first part reviews the state-of-the-art in various areas of contemporary phenomenology, including several distinct schools of Husserl and Heidegger scholarship, as well as approaches derived from Merleau-Ponty, de Beauvoir, Fanon, and others. An innovative quantitative analysis of citation networks provides rich visualizations of the field as a whole. The second part showcases phenomenology as a living discipline that can advance research in other areas. While some areas of interaction between phenomenology and other disciplines are by now well established (e.g. cognitive science), this volume sheds light on newer areas of application. The goal is to move beyond discussions of philosophical method and highlight scholars who are actually doing phenomenology in a variety of areas, including: • Embodiment and questions of gender, race, and identity, • The arts (visual art, literature, architecture), and • Archaeology and anthropology. This volume offers a concise introduction to cutting edge phenomenological research and is suitable for both students and specialists.

Genre: Science & Math

Engineering Agile Big-Data Systems by Kevin Feeney (River Publishers) (1 Review)    Price verified 6 hours ago

To be effective, data-intensive systems require extensive ongoing customisation to reflect changing user requirements, organisational policies, and the structure and interpretation of the data they hold. Manual customisation is expensive, time-consuming, and error-prone. In large complex systems, the value of the data can be such that exhaustive testing is necessary before any new feature can be added to the existing design. In most cases, the precise details of requirements, policies and data will change during the lifetime of the system, forcing a choice between expensive modification and continued operation with an inefficient design.Engineering Agile Big-Data Systems outlines an approach to dealing with these problems in software and data engineering, describing a methodology for aligning these processes throughout product lifecycles. It discusses tools which can be used to achieve these goals, and, in a number of case studies, shows how the tools and methodology have been used to improve a variety of academic and business systems.

Genre: Science & Math

Data Assimilation Fundamentals: A Unified Formulation of the State and Parameter Estimation Problem (Springer Textbooks in Earth Sciences, Geography ... by Geir Evensen (Springer) Price verified 7 hours ago

This open-access textbook's significant contribution is the unified derivation of data-assimilation techniques from a common fundamental and optimal starting point, namely Bayes' theorem. Unique for this book is the "top-down" derivation of the assimilation methods. It starts from Bayes theorem and gradually introduces the assumptions and approximations needed to arrive at today's popular data-assimilation methods. This strategy is the opposite of most textbooks and reviews on data assimilation that typically take a bottom-up approach to derive a particular assimilation method. E.g., the derivation of the Kalman Filter from control theory and the derivation of the ensemble Kalman Filter as a low-rank approximation of the standard Kalman Filter. The bottom-up approach derives the assimilation methods from different mathematical principles, making it difficult to compare them. Thus, it is unclear which assumptions are made to derive an assimilation method and sometimes even which problem it aspires to solve. The book's top-down approach allows categorizing data-assimilation methods based on the approximations used. This approach enables the user to choose the most suitable method for a particular problem or application. Have you ever wondered about the difference between the ensemble 4DVar and the "ensemble randomized likelihood" (EnRML) methods? Do you know the differences between the ensemble smoother and the ensemble-Kalman smoother? Would you like to understand how a particle flow is related to a particle filter? In this book, we will provide clear answers to several such questions. The book provides the basis for an advanced course in data assimilation. It focuses on the unified derivation of the methods and illustrates their properties on multiple examples. It is suitable for graduate students, post-docs, scientists, and practitioners working in data assimilation.

Genre: Science & Math

Interdisciplinary Nutritional Management and Care for Older Adults: An Evidence-Based Practical Guide for Nurses (Perspectives in Nursing Management ... by Ólöf G. Geirsdóttir (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 4 hours ago

This open access book aims to primarily support nurses as leaders and champions of multimodal, Interdisciplinary nutrition care for older adults. A structured approach to fundamentals of nutrition care across Interdisciplinary settings is combined with additional short chapters about special topics in geriatric nutrition. The book is designed to provide highly accessible information on evidence-based management and care for older adults, with a focus on practical guidance and advice across acute, rehabilitation, and primary and secondary malnutrition prevention settings.The cost of malnutrition in England alone has been estimated to be £19.6 billion per year, or more than 15% of the total public expenditure on health and social care. ^65 years. The importance and benefit of specialised nutrition care, delivered by experts in field, is well established for those with complex nutrition care needs. However, despite the substantial adverse impact of malnutrition on patient and healthcare outcomes, specialised management of this condition is often under-resourced, overlooked and under-prioritised by both older adults and their treating teams. As an alternative, timely, efficient, and effective supportive nutrition care opportunities may be appropriately implemented by nurses and non-specialist Interdisciplinary healthcare team members, working together with nutrition specialists and the older adults they care for. Practical, low-risk opportunities should be considered across nutrition screening, assessment, intervention, and monitoring domains for many patients with, or at risk of malnutrition. Whilst a variety of team members may contribute to supportive nutrition care, the nursing profession provide a clear focal point. Nurses across diverse settings provide the backbone for Interdisciplinary teamwork and essential patient care. The nursing profession should consequently be considered best placed to administer Interdisciplinary, multimodal nutrition care, wherever ...

Genre: Science & Math

Atlas of Fallen Dust in Kuwait by Ali Al-Dousari (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This open access book serves as an atlas of deposited dust and dust storms in Kuwait in relation to local and global regions. It features a wealth of maps and images of dust storm trajectories in the region, together with detailed descriptions of the chemical and physical properties of fallen dust, including the amount, particle size, statistical parameters, spectra absorption, dust mineralogy, trace and major elements, organic matter, associated pollen, and radionuclides and connected pollutants. Given its scope, the book is a valuable resource for a broad range of researchers, including geologists, chemists, environmentalists, botanists, air quality specialists, nanotechnology scientists, and solar energy experts.

Genre: Science & Math

Vermin, Victims and Disease: British Debates over Bovine Tuberculosis and Badgers by Angela Cassidy (Palgrave Macmillan) (12 Reviews)    Price verified 2 hours ago

This open access book provides the first critical history of the controversy over whether to cull wild badgers to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in British cattle. This question has plagued several professional generations of politicians, policymakers, experts and campaigners since the early 1970s. Questions of what is known, who knows, who cares, who to trust and what to do about this complex problem have been the source of scientific, policy, and increasingly vociferous public debate ever since. This book integrates contemporary history, science and technology studies, human-animal relations, and policy research to conduct a cross-cutting analysis. It explores the worldviews of those involved with animal health, disease ecology and badger protection between the 1970s and 1990s, before reintegrating them to investigate the recent public polarisation of the controversy. Finally it asks how we might move beyond the current impasse.

Genre: Science & Math

Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville by Mary Somerville (27 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Neighbourhoods in Transition: Brownfield Regeneration in European Metropolitan Areas (The Urban Book Series) by Emmanuel Rey (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This open access book is focused on the intersection between urban brownfields and the sustainability transitions of metreopolitan areas, cities and neighbourhoods. It provides both a theoretical and practical approach to the topic, offering a thorough introduction to urban brownfields and regeneration projects as well as an operational monitoring tool. Neighbourhoods in Transition begins with an overview of historic urban development and strategic areas in the hearts of towns to be developed. It then defines several key issues related to the topic, including urban brownfields, regeneration projects, and sustainability issues related to neighbourhood development. The second part of this book is focused on support tools, explaining the challenges faced, the steps involved in a regeneration process, and offering an operational monitoring tool. It applies the unique tool to case studies in three selected neighbourhoods and the outcomes of one case study are also presented and discussed, highlighting its benefits. The audience for this book will be both professional and academic. It will support researchers as an up-to-date reference book on urban brownfield regeneration projects, and also the work of architects, urban designers, urban planners and engineers involved in sustainability transitions of the built environment.

Genre: Science & Math

Transactions with the World: Ecocriticism and the Environmental Sensibility of New Hollywood by Adam O’Brien (Berghahn Books) Price verified 6 hours ago

In their bold experimentation and bracing engagement with culture and politics, the "New Hollywood" films of the late 1960s and early 1970s are justly celebrated contributions to American cinematic history. Relatively unexplored, however, has been the profound environmental sensibility that characterized movies such as The Wild Bunch, Chinatown, and Nashville. This brisk and engaging study explores how many hallmarks of New Hollywood filmmaking, such as the increased reliance on location shooting and the rejection of American self-mythologizing, made the era such a vividly "grounded" cinematic moment. Synthesizing a range of narrative, aesthetic, and ecocritical theories, it offers a genuinely fresh perspective on one of the most studied periods in film history.

Genre: Science & Math

Science of Societal Safety: Living at Times of Risks and Disasters (Trust Book 2) by Seiji Abe (Springer) (10 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

This open access book covers comprehensive but fundamental principles and concepts of disaster and accident prevention and mitigation, countermeasures, and recovery from disasters or accidents including treatment and care of the victims. Safety and security problems in our society involve not only engineering but also social, legal, economic, cultural, and psychological issues. The enhancement needed for societal safety includes comprehensive activities of all aspects from precaution to recovery, not only of people but also of governments. In this context, the authors, members of the Faculty of Societal Safety Science, Kansai University, conducted many discussions and concluded that the major strategy is consistent independently of the type and magnitude of disaster or accident, being also the principle of the foundation of our faculty. The topics treated in this book are rather widely distributed but are well organized sequentially to provide a clear understanding of the principles of societal safety. In the first part the fundamental concepts of safety are discussed. The second part deals with risks in the societal and natural environment. Then follows, in the third part, a description of the quantitative estimation of risk and its assessment and management. The fourth part is devoted to disaster prevention, mitigation, and recovery systems. The final, fifth part presents a future perspective of societal safety science. Thorough reading of this introductory volume of societal safety science provides a clear image of the issues. This is largely because the Japanese have suffered often from natural disasters and not only have gained much valuable information about disasters but also have accumulated a store of experience. We are still in the process of reconstruction from the Great East Japan earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. This book is especially valuable therefore in studying the safety and security of people and their societies.

Genre: Science & Math

Socio-Technical Innovation Bundles for Agri-Food Systems Transformation (Sustainable Development Goals Series) by Christopher B. Barrett (Palgrave Macmillan) (1 Review)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This open access book is the result of an expert panel convened by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Nature Sustainability. The panel tackled the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030 head-on, with respect to the global systems that produce and distribute food. The panel's rigorous synthesis and analysis of existing research leads compellingly to multiple actionable recommendations that, if adopted, would simultaneously lead to healthy and nutritious diets, equitable and inclusive value chains, resilience to shocks and stressors, and climate and environmental sustainability.

Genre: Science & Math

The Teleological and Kalam Cosmological Arguments Revisited (Palgrave Frontiers in Philosophy of Religion) by Andrew Loke (Palgrave Macmillan) (10 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

A prominent issue in many contemporary philosophy of religion debates concerns whether the universe has a Designer. This book moves the discussion ahead in a significant way by devising an original deductive formulation of the Teleological Argument (TA) which demonstrates that the following are the only possible categories of hypotheses concerning fine-tuning and order: (i) chance, (ii) regularity, (iii) combinations of regularity and chance, (iv) uncaused, and (v) design. This book also demonstrates that there are essential features of each category such that, while the alternatives to design are unlikely, the Design Hypothesis is not, and that one can argue for design by exclusion without having to ?rst assign a prior probability for design. By combining the TA with the Kalam Cosmological Argument (KCA) which it defends against various objections, this book responds to the God-of-the-gaps objection by demonstrating that the conclusion of the KCA-TA is not based on gaps which can be filled by further scientific progress, but follows from deduction and exclusion. This is an open access book.

Genre: Science & Math

Pandemics: Insurance and Social Protection (Springer Actuarial) by María del Carmen Boado-Penas (Springer) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This open access book collects expert contributions on actuarial modelling and related topics, from machine learning to legal aspects, and reflects on possible insurance designs during an epidemic/pandemic. Starting by considering the impulse given by COVID-19 to the insurance industry and to actuarial research, the text covers compartment models, mortality changes during a pandemic, risk-sharing in the presence of low probability events, group testing, compositional data analysis for detecting data inconsistencies, behaviouristic aspects in fighting a pandemic, and insurers' legal problems, amongst others. Concluding with an essay by a practicing actuary on the applicability of the methods proposed, this interdisciplinary book is aimed at actuaries as well as readers with a background in mathematics, economics, statistics, finance, epidemiology, or sociology.

Genre: Science & Math

Invasive Species in Forests and Rangelands of the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis for the United States Forest Sector by Therese M. Poland (Springer) (3 Reviews)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This open access book describes the serious threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. Invasive species have caused and will continue to cause enormous ecological and economic damage with ever increasing world trade. This multi-disciplinary book, written by over 100 national experts, presents the latest research on a wide range of natural science and social science fields that explore the ecology, impacts, and practical tools for management of invasive species. It covers species of all taxonomic groups from insects and pathogens, to plants, vertebrates, and aquatic organisms that impact a diversity of habitats in forests, rangelands and grasslands of the United States. It is well-illustrated, provides summaries of the most important invasive species and issues impacting all regions of the country, and includes a comprehensive primary reference list for each topic. This scientific synthesis provides the cultural, economic, scientific and social context for addressing environmental challenges posed by invasive species and will be a valuable resource for scholars, policy makers, natural resource managers and practitioners.

Genre: Science & Math

Continental Philosophy of Technoscience (Philosophy of Engineering and Technology Book 38) by Hub Zwart (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 4 hours ago

The key objective of this volume is to allow philosophy students and early-stage researchers to become practicing philosophers in technoscientific settings. Zwart focuses on the methodological issue of how to practice continental philosophy of technoscience today. This text draws upon continental authors such as Hegel, Engels, Heidegger, Bachelard and Lacan (and their fields of dialectics, phenomenology and psychoanalysis) in developing a coherent message around the technicity of science or rather, "technoscience". Within technoscience, the focus will be on recent developments in life sciences research, such as genomics, post-genomics, synthetic biology and global ecology. This book uniquely presents continental perspectives that tend to be underrepresented in mainstream philosophy of science, yet entail crucial insights for coming to terms with technoscience as it is evolving on a global scale today. This is an open access book.

Genre: Science & Math

The Depot Master by Joseph Crosby Lincoln (16 Reviews)    Price verified one hour ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Times of History, Times of Nature: Temporalization and the Limits of Modern Knowledge (Time and the World: Interdisciplinary Studies in Cultural ... by Anders Ekström (Berghahn Books) (1 Review)    Price verified 5 hours ago

As climate change becomes an increasingly important part of public discourse, the relationship between time in nature and history is changing. Nature can no longer be considered a slow and immobile background to human history, and the future can no longer be viewed as open and detached from the past. Times of History, Times of Nature engages with this historical shift in temporal sensibilities through a combination of detailed case studies and synthesizing efforts. Focusing on the history of knowledge, media theory, and environmental humanities, this volume explores the rich and nuanced notions of time and temporality that have emerged in response to climate change.

Genre: Science & Math

The Mason-Bees by Jean-Henri Fabre (54 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Migration And Mobility In Britain Since The Eighteenth Century by Colin Pooley (Routledge) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

Poplulation migration is one of the demographic and social processes which have structured the British economy and society over the last 250 years. It affects individuals, families, communities, places, economic and social structures and governments. This book examines the pattern and process of migration in Britain over the last three centuries. Using late 1990s research and data, the authors have shed light on migrations patterns including internal migration and movement overseas, its impact on social and economic change, and highlights differences by gender, age, family, position, socio-economic status and other variables.

Genre: Science & Math

Open Science: the Very Idea by Frank Miedema (Springer) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This open access book provides a broad context for the understanding of current problems of science and of the different movements aiming to improve the societal impact of science and research. The author offers insights with regard to ideas, old and new, about science, and their historical origins in philosophy and sociology of science, which is of interest to a broad readership. The book shows that scientifically grounded knowledge is required and helpful in understanding intellectual and political positions in various discussions on the grand challenges of our time and how science makes impact on society. The book reveals why interventions that look good or even obvious, are often met with resistance and are hard to realize in practice. Based on a thorough analysis, as well as personal experiences in aids research, university administration and as a science observer, the author provides - while being totally open regarding science's limitations- a realistic narrative about how research is conducted, and how reliable 'objective' knowledge is produced. His idea of science, which draws heavily on American pragmatism, fits in with the global Open Science movement. It is argued that Open Science is a truly and historically unique movement in that it translates the analysis of the problems of science into major institutional actions of system change in order to improve academic culture and the impact of science, engaging all actors in the field of science and academia.

Genre: Science & Math

Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar: Principles and Application (Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing Book 25) by Irena Hajnsek (Springer) (3 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This open access book focuses on the practical application of electromagnetic polarimetry principles in Earth remote sensing with an educational purpose. In the last decade, the operations from fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar such as the Japanese ALOS/PalSAR, the Canadian Radarsat-2 and the German TerraSAR-X and their easy data access for scientific use have developed further the research and data applications at L,C and X band. As a consequence, the wider distribution of polarimetric data sets across the remote sensing community boosted activity and development in polarimetric SAR applications, also in view of future missions. Numerous experiments with real data from spaceborne platforms are shown, with the aim of giving an up-to-date and complete treatment of the unique benefits of fully polarimetric synthetic aperture radar data in five different domains: forest, agriculture, cryosphere, urban and oceans.

Genre: Science & Math

Towards a Natural Social Contract: Transformative Social-Ecological Innovation for a Sustainable, Healthy and Just Society by Patrick Huntjens (Springer) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This open access book is a 2022 Nautilus Gold Medal winner in the category "World Cultures' Transformational Growth & Development". It states that the societal fault lines of our times are deeply intertwined and that they confront us with challenges affecting the security, fairness and sustainability of our societies. The author, Prof. Dr. Patrick Huntjens, argues that overcoming these existential challenges will require a fundamental shift from our current anthropocentric and economic growth-oriented approach to a more ecocentric and regenerative approach. He advocates for a Natural Social Contract that emphasizes long-term sustainability and the general welfare of both humankind and planet Earth. Achieving this crucial balance calls for an end to unlimited economic growth, overconsumption and over-individualisation for the benefit of ourselves, our planet, and future generations. To this end, sustainability, health, and justice in all social-ecological systems will require systemic innovation and prioritizing a collective effort. The Transformative Social-Ecological Innovation (TSEI) framework presented in this book serves that cause. It helps to diagnose and advance innovation and spur change across sectors, disciplines, and at different levels of governance. Altogether, TSEI identifies intervention points and formulates jointly developed and shared solutions to inform policymakers, administrators, concerned citizens, and professionals dedicated towards a more sustainable, healthy and just society. A wide readership of students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers interested in social innovation, transition studies, development studies, social policy, social justice, climate change, environmental studies, political science and economics will find this cutting-edge book particularly useful. "As a sustainability transition researcher, I am truly excited about this book. Two unique aspects of the book are that it considers bigger transformation issues ...

Genre: Science & Math

Perspectives On String Phenomenology (Advanced Series On Directions In High Energy Physics Book 22) by Bobby Acharya (World Scientific) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

The remarkable recent discovery of the Higgs boson at the CERN Large Hadron Collider completed the Standard Model of particle physics and has paved the way for understanding the physics which may lie beyond it. String/M theory has emerged as a broad framework for describing a plethora of diverse physical systems, which includes condensed matter systems, gravitational systems as well as elementary particle physics interactions. If string/M theory is to be considered as a candidate theory of Nature, it must contain an effectively four-dimensional universe among its solutions that is indistinguishable from our own. In these solutions, the extra dimensions of string/M theory are "compactified" on tiny scales which are often comparable to the Planck length. String phenomenology is the branch of string/M theory that studies such solutions, relates their properties to data, and aims to answer many of the outstanding questions of particle physics beyond the Standard Model.This book contains perspectives on string phenomenology from some of the leading experts in the field. Contributions will range from pedagogical general overviews and perspectives to more technical reviews. We hope that the reader will get a sense of the significant progress that has been made in the field in recent years (e.g. in the topic of moduli stabilization) as well as the topics currently being researched, outstanding problems and some perspectives for the future.

Genre: Science & Math

Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure by William Thomas Fernie (229 Reviews)    Price verified 2 hours ago

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genre: Science & Math

Reimagining Science Education in the Anthropocene (Palgrave Studies in Education and the Environment) by Maria F. G. Wallace (Palgrave Macmillan) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This open access edited volume invites transdisciplinary scholars to re-vision science education in the era of the Anthropocene. The collection assembles the works of educators from many walks of life and areas of practice together to help reorient science education toward the problems and peculiarities associated with the geologic times many call the Anthropocene. It has become evident that science education -- the way it is currently institutionalized in various forms of school science, government policy, classroom practice, educational research, and public/private research laboratories -- is ill-equipped and ill-conceived to deal with the expansive and urgent contexts of the Anthropocene. Paying homage to myopic knowledge systems, rigid state education directives, and academic-professional communities intent on reproducing the same practices, knowledges, and relationships that have endangered our shared world and shared presents/presence is misdirected. This volume brings together diverse scholars to reimagine the field in times of precarity.

Genre: Science & Math

Accelerator Physics (Fourth Edition): 4th Edition by Shyh-yuan Lee (World Scientific) (1 Review)    Price verified 60 minutes ago

Research and development of high energy accelerators began in 1911. Since then, progresses achieved are:The impacts of the accelerator development are evidenced by the many ground-breaking discoveries in particle and nuclear physics, atomic and molecular physics, condensed matter physics, biology, biomedical physics, nuclear medicine, medical therapy, and industrial processing. This book is intended to be used as a graduate or senior undergraduate textbook in accelerator physics and science. It can be used as preparatory course material in graduate accelerator physics thesis research. The text covers historical accelerator development, transverse betatron motion, synchrotron motion, an introduction to linear accelerators, and synchrotron radiation phenomena in low emittance electron storage rings, introduction to special topics such as the free electron laser and the beam-beam interaction. Hamiltonian dynamics is used to understand beam manipulation, instability and nonlinearity. Each section is followed by exercises, which are designed to reinforce the concept discussed and to solve a realistic accelerator design problem.

Genre: Science & Math

Delta Life: Exploring Dynamic Environments where Rivers Meet the Sea (Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology Book 28) by Franz Krause (Berghahn Books) Price verified 5 hours ago

Proposing a series of innovative steps towards better understanding human lives at the interstices of water and land, this volume includes eight ethnographies from deltas around the world. The book presents 'delta life' with intimate descriptions of the predicaments, imaginations and activities of delta inhabitants. Conceptually, the collection develops 'delta life' as a metaphor for approaching continual and intersecting sociocultural, economic and material transformations more widely. The book revolves around questions of hydrosociality, volatility, rhythms and scale. It thereby yields insights into people's lives that conventional, hydrological approaches to deltas cannot provide.

Genre: Science & Math

Antioxidants in Health and Disease by Antonis Zampelas (CRC Press) (30 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

Antioxidant use in health promotion and disease prevention either through dietary intake or supplementation is controversial. This book reviews the latest evidence-based research in the area, principally through prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. It assesses major dietary antioxidants and discusses their use in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and neurodegenerative and immune diseases. The use of antioxidants in health is also discussed along with common adverse effects associated with antioxidant use.

Genre: Science & Math

Achieving the Paris Climate Agreement Goals: Global and Regional 100% Renewable Energy Scenarios with Non-energy GHG Pathways for +1.5°C and +2°C by Sven Teske (Springer) (6 Reviews)    Price verified 30 minutes ago

This open access book presents detailed pathways to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050, globally and across ten geographical regions. Based on state-of-the-art scenario modelling, it provides the vital missing link between renewable energy targets and the measures needed to achieve them. Bringing together the latest research in climate science, renewable energy technology, employment and resource impacts, the book breaks new ground by covering all the elements essential to achieving the ambitious climate mitigation targets set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. For example, sectoral implementation pathways, with special emphasis on differences between developed and developing countries and regional conditions, provide tools to implement the scenarios globally and domestically. Non-energy greenhouse gas mitigation scenarios define a sustainable pathway for land-use change and the agricultural sector. Furthermore, results of the impact of the scenarios on employment and mineral and resource requirements provide vital insight on economic and resource management implications. The book clearly demonstrates that the goals of the Paris Agreement are achievable and feasible with current technology and are beneficial in economic and employment terms. It is essential reading for anyone with responsibility for implementing renewable energy or climate targets internationally or domestically, including climate policy negotiators, policy-makers at all levels of government, businesses with renewable energy commitments, researchers and the renewable energy industry. Part 2 of this title can be found at this Link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-99177-7

Genre: Science & Math

European Traditions in Didactics of Mathematics (ICME-13 Monographs) by Werner Blum (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 60 minutes ago

This open access book discusses several didactic traditions in mathematics education in countries across Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, the Czech and Slovakian Republics, and the Scandinavian states. It shows that while they all share common features both in the practice of learning and teaching at school and in research and development, they each have special features due to specific historical and cultural developments. The book also presents interesting historical facts about these didactic traditions, the theories and examples developed in these countries.

Genre: Science & Math

Software for Exascale Computing - SPPEXA 2016-2019 (Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering Book 136) by Hans-Joachim Bungartz (Springer) (3 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

This open access book summarizes the research done and results obtained in the second funding phase of the Priority Program 1648 "Software for Exascale Computing" (SPPEXA) of the German Research Foundation (DFG) presented at the SPPEXA Symposium in Dresden during October 21-23, 2019. In that respect, it both represents a continuation of Vol. 113 in Springer's series Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering, the corresponding report of SPPEXA's first funding phase, and provides an overview of SPPEXA's contributions towards exascale computing in today's sumpercomputer technology. The individual chapters address one or more of the research directions (1) computational algorithms, (2) system software, (3) application software, (4) data management and exploration, (5) programming, and (6) software tools. The book has an interdisciplinary appeal: scholars from computational sub-fields in computer science, mathematics, physics, or engineering will find it of particular interest.

Genre: Science & Math

GMAT Foundations of Math: 900+ Practice Problems in Book and Online (Manhattan Prep GMAT Strategy Guides) by Manhattan Prep (962 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

Developed for test-takers who need a refresher, Manhattan Prep's GMAT Foundations of Math provides a user-friendly review of basic math concepts crucial for GMAT success. GMAT Foundations of Math comes with robust online resources, including a practice test, question banks, and interactive video lessons. Written by active instructors with 99th-percentile scores, this guide is designed with the student in mind. Designed to be user-friendly for all students, GMAT Foundations of Math provides: • 700+ practice problems for realistic review • Easy-to-follow explanations of fundamental math concepts • Step-by-step application of concepts to example problems GMAT Foundations of Math is an invaluable resource for any student who wants to cement their understanding and build their basic math skills for the GMAT.

Genre: Science & Math

Emerging States at Crossroads (Emerging-Economy State and International Policy Studies) by Keiichi Tsunekawa (Springer) (4 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND license. This volume analyzes the economic, social, and political challenges that emerging states confront today. Notwithstanding the growing importance of the 'emerging states' in global affairs and governance, many problems requiring immediate solutions have emerged at home largely as a consequence of the rapid economic development and associated sociopolitical changes. The middle-income trap is a major economic challenge faced by emerging states. This volume regards interest coordination for technological upgrading as crucial to avoid the trap and examines how various emerging states are grappling with this challenge by fostering public-private cooperation, voluntary associations of market players, and/or social networks. Social disparity is another serious problem. It is deeply rooted in history in the emerging states such as South Africa and many Latin American countries. However, income distribution is recently deteriorating even in East Asia that was once praised for its high economic growth with equity. Increasing pressure for political opening is another challenge for emerging states. This volume argues that the economic, social, and political problems are interwoven in the sense that the emerging states need to build political consensus in order to tackle the economic and social difficulties. Democratic institutions have not always been successful in this respect.

Genre: Science & Math

Dilated Cardiomyopathy: From Genetics to Clinical Management by Gianfranco Sinagra (Springer) (10 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This open access book presents a comprehensive overview of dilated cardiomyopathy, providing readers with practical guidelines for its clinical management. The first part of the book analyzes in detail the disease's pathophysiology, its diagnostic work up as well as the prognostic stratification, and illustrates the role of genetics and gene-environment interaction. The second part presents current and future treatment options, highlighting the importance of long-term and individualized treatments and follow-up. Furthermore, it discusses open issues, such as the apparent healing phenomenon, the early prognosis of arrhythmic events or the use of genetic testing in clinical practice. Offering a multidisciplinary approach for optimizing the clinical management of DCM, this book is an invaluable aid not only for the clinical cardiologists, but for all physicians involved in the care of this challenging disease.

Genre: Science & Math

Antioxidants in Health and Disease by Antonis Zampelas (CRC Press) (26 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

Antioxidant use in health promotion and disease prevention either through dietary intake or supplementation is controversial. This book reviews the latest evidence-based research in the area, principally through prospective cohort studies and randomized controlled trials. It assesses major dietary antioxidants and discusses their use in diseases such as cancer, diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease, HIV/AIDS, and neurodegenerative and immune diseases. The use of antioxidants in health is also discussed along with common adverse effects associated with antioxidant use.

Genre: Science & Math

Healthcare Biotechnology: A Practical Guide by Dimitris Dogramatzis (CRC Press) (5 Reviews)    Price verified one hour ago

Foreseeing and planning for all of the possibilities and pitfalls involved in bringing a biotechnology innovation from inception to widespread therapeutic use takes strong managerial skills and a solid grounding in biopharmaceutical research and development procedures. Unfortunately there has been a dearth of resources for this aspect of the field.

Genre: Science & Math

Bats in the Anthropocene: Conservation of Bats in a Changing World by Christian C. Voigt (Springer) (13 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book focuses on central themes related to the conservation of bats. It details their response to land-use change and management practices, intensified urbanization and roost disturbance and loss. Increasing interactions between humans and bats as a result of hunting, disease relationships, occupation of human dwellings, and conflict over fruit crops are explored in depth. Finally, contributors highlight the roles that taxonomy, conservation networks and conservation psychology have to play in conserving this imperilled but vital taxon. With over 1300 species, bats are the second largest order of mammals, yet as the Anthropocene dawns, bat populations around the world are in decline. Greater understanding of the anthropogenic drivers of this decline and exploration of possible mitigation measures are urgently needed if we are to retain global bat diversity in the coming decades. This book brings together teams of international experts to provide a global review of current understanding and recommend directions for future research and mitigation.

Genre: Science & Math

Innovations in Quantitative Risk Management: TU München, September 2013 (Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics Book 99) by Glau (Springer) (51 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

Quantitative models are omnipresent -but often controversially discussed- in todays risk management practice. New regulations, innovative ?nancial products, and advances in valuation techniques provide a continuous ?ow of challenging problems for ?nancial engineers and risk managers alike. Designing a sound stochastic model requires ?nding a careful balance between parsimonious model assumptions, mathematical viability, and interpretability of the output. Moreover, data requirements and the end-user training are to be considered as well. The KPMG Center of Excellence in Risk Management conference Risk Management Reloaded and this proceedings volume contribute to bridging the gap between academia -providing methodological advances- and practice -having a ?rm understanding of the economic conditions in which a given model is used. Discussed ?elds of application range from asset management, credit risk, and energy to risk management issues in insurance. Methodologically, dependence modeling, multiple-curve interest rate-models, and model risk are addressed. Finally, regulatory developments and possible limits of mathematical modeling are discussed.

Genre: Science & Math

Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas: Linkages between Science, Policy and Practice (Theory and Practice of Urban ... by Nadja Kabisch (Springer) (20 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This open access book brings together research findings and experiences from science, policy and practice to highlight and debate the importance of nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation in urban areas. Emphasis is given to the potential of nature-based approaches to create multiple-benefits for society. The expert contributions present recommendations for creating synergies between ongoing policy processes, scientific programmes and practical implementation of climate change and nature conservation measures in global urban areas. Except where otherwise noted, this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Genre: Science & Math

The Comstocks of Cornell: John Henry Comstock and Anna Botsford Comstock by Anna Botsford Comstock (Comstock Publishing Associates) (5 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

The Comstocks of Cornell is the autobiography written by naturalist educator Anna Botsford Comstock about her life and her husband's, entomologist John Henry Comstock -- both prominent figures in the scientific community and in Cornell University history. A first edition was published in 1953, but it omitted key Cornellians, historical anecdotes, and personal insights. Karen Penders St. Clair's twenty-first century edition returns Mrs. Comstock's voice to her book by rekeying her entire manuscript as she wrote it, and preserving the memories of the personal and professional lives of the Comstocks that she had originally intended to share. The book includes a complete epilogue of the Comstocks' last years and fills in gaps from the 1953 edition. Described as serious legacy work, the book is an essential part of Cornell University history and an important piece of Cornell University Press history.

Genre: Science & Math

Spectral and High Order Methods for Partial Differential Equations ICOSAHOM 2018: Selected Papers from the ICOSAHOM Conference, London, UK, July ... by Spencer J. Sherwin (Springer) (1 Review)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This open access book features a selection of high-quality papers from the presentations at the International Conference on Spectral and High-Order Methods 2018, offering an overview of the depth and breadth of the activities within this important research area. The carefully reviewed papers provide a snapshot of the state of the art, while the extensive bibliography helps initiate new research directions.

Genre: Science & Math

The Aria of Galvanize: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller by Wilder Page (Skyland Press) (103 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

She was MADE to survive, she just doesn't know it yet! A hero born of cybernetic experimentation... Incarnate Number Seven, a cybernetically enhanced young woman with no memories and only a basic operating system, awakens to a devastated world painted in blood, desperation, and genocide. Guided only by a moody artificial intelligence program and scattered digital memories into the past, Seven must traverse the perilous Gateway region, fighting past its savage inhabitants and monsters to learn who she was and what happened to her world. Maybe, if she's lucky, she'll even save what's left of humanity in the process... If you're a fan of Fallout, The Walking Dead, or Westworld, then you'll love this thrilling dystopian, scifi adventure! Rating Warning - Mature: Graphic violence, death, gore (moderate), language (moderate), sexual innuendo, slavery, human trafficking, cults

Genre: Science & Math

Food Price Volatility and Its Implications for Food Security and Policy by Matthias Kalkuhl (Springer) (5 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book provides fresh insights into concepts, methods and new research findings on the causes of excessive food price volatility. It also discusses the implications for food security and policy responses to mitigate excessive volatility. The approaches applied by the contributors range from on-the-ground surveys, to panel econometrics and innovative high-frequency time series analysis as well as computational economics methods. It offers policy analysts and decision-makers guidance on dealing with extreme volatility.

Genre: Science & Math

Marine Anthropogenic Litter by Bergmann (Springer) (6 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book describes how man-made litter, primarily plastic, has spread into the remotest parts of the oceans and covers all aspects of this pollution problem from the impacts on wildlife and human health to socio-economic and political issues. Marine litter is a prime threat to marine wildlife, habitats and food webs worldwide. The book illustrates how advanced technologies from deep-sea research, microbiology and mathematic modelling as well as classic beach litter counts by volunteers contributed to the broad awareness of marine litter as a problem of global significance. The authors summarise more than five decades of marine litter research, which receives growing attention after the recent discovery of great oceanic garbage patches and the ubiquity of microscopic plastic particles in marine organisms and habitats. In 16 chapters, authors from all over the world have created a universal view on the diverse field of marine litter pollution, the biological impacts, dedicated research activities, and the various national and international legislative efforts to combat this environmental problem. They recommend future research directions necessary for a comprehensive understanding of this environmental issue and the development of efficient management strategies. This book addresses scientists, and it provides a solid knowledge base for policy makers, NGOs, and the broader public.

Genre: Science & Math

One Hundred Years Of General Relativity: From Genesis And Empirical Foundations To Gravitational Waves, Cosmology And Quantum Gravity - Volume 1: ... by Wei-Tou Ni (World Scientific) (213 Reviews)    Price verified 3 hours ago

The aim of this two-volume title is to give a comprehensive review of one hundred years of development of general relativity and its scientific influences. This unique title provides a broad introduction and review to the fascinating and profound subject of general relativity, its historical development, its important theoretical consequences, gravitational wave detection and applications to astrophysics and cosmology. The series focuses on five aspects of the theory: The first three topics are covered in Volume 1 and the remaining two are covered in Volume 2. While this is a two-volume title, it is designed so that each volume can be a standalone reference volume for the related topic.

Genre: Science & Math

Aquaponics Food Production Systems: Combined Aquaculture and Hydroponic Production Technologies for the Future by Simon Goddek (Springer) (142 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This open access book, written by world experts in aquaponics and related technologies, provides the authoritative and comprehensive overview of the key aquaculture and hydroponic and other integrated systems, socio-economic and environmental aspects. Aquaponic systems, which combine aquaculture and vegetable food production offer alternative technology solutions for a world that is increasingly under stress through population growth, urbanisation, water shortages, land and soil degradation, environmental pollution, world hunger and climate change.

Genre: Science & Math

Dissecting the Criminal Corpse: Staging Post-Execution Punishment in Early Modern England (Palgrave Historical Studies in the Criminal Corpse and its ... by Elizabeth T. Hurren (Palgrave Macmillan) (26 Reviews)    Price verified 3 hours ago

Those convicted of homicide were hanged on the public gallows before being dissected under the Murder Act in Georgian England. Yet, from 1752, whether criminals actually died on the hanging tree or in the dissection room remained a medical mystery in early modern society. Dissecting the Criminal Corpse takes issue with the historical cliché of corpses dangling from the hangman's rope in crime studies. Some convicted murderers did survive execution in early modern England. Establishing medical death in the heart-lungs-brain was a physical enigma. Criminals had large bull-necks, strong willpowers, and hearty survival instincts. Extreme hypothermia often disguised coma in a prisoner hanged in the winter cold. The youngest and fittest were capable of reviving on the dissection table. Many died under the lancet. Capital legislation disguised a complex medical choreography that surgeons staged. They broke the Hippocratic Oath by executing the Dangerous Dead across England from 1752 until 1832. This book is open access under a CC-BY license.

Genre: Science & Math

Nature Guiding by William Gould Vinal (Comstock Publishing Associates) (4 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

Nature Guiding is the science of inculcating nature enthusiasm, nature principles, and nature facts into the spirit of individuals. "Doing" nature-study means observing, wondering, and solving problems. It could include collecting, building, measuring, painting, planning, writing, touching, experimenting or any of a wide range of other activities. Most importantly, it allows children to be "original investigators." This book is intended as a resource for teachers and students engaged in nature study at summer camps and in schools. William Gould Vinal believed that the teacher of nature study should be "in sympathy with the simple life and the country way," that the nature study should emphasize observation of the interactions of plants and animals in their environment, and not be reduced to matters of taxonomy and anatomy. In Nature Guiding, he offers advice to camp counselors and school teachers on incorporating nature study into everyday activities, as well as suggestions for parents and others about using visits to state and national parks to teach nature lore.

Genre: Science & Math

Handbook of Mathematical Geosciences: Fifty Years of IAMG by B.S. Daya Sagar (Springer) (34 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This Open Access handbook published at the IAMG's 50th anniversary, presents a compilation of invited path-breaking research contributions by award-winning geoscientists who have been instrumental in shaping the IAMG. It contains 45 chapters that are categorized broadly into five parts (i) theory, (ii) general applications, (iii) exploration and resource estimation, (iv) reviews, and (v) reminiscences covering related topics like mathematical geosciences, mathematical morphology, geostatistics, fractals and multifractals, spatial statistics, multipoint geostatistics, compositional data analysis, informatics, geocomputation, numerical methods, and chaos theory in the geosciences.

Genre: Science & Math

Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems: 25th International Conference, TACAS 2019, Held as Part of the European Joint ... by Tomáš Vojnar (Springer) (27 Reviews)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This book is Open Access under a CC BY licence. The LNCS 11427 and 11428 proceedings set constitutes the proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems, TACAS 2019, which took place in Prague, Czech Republic, in April 2019, held as part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2019. The total of 42 full and 8 short tool demo papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from 164 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections as follows: Part I: SAT and SMT, SAT solving and theorem proving; verification and analysis; model checking; tool demo; and machine learning. Part II: concurrent and distributed systems; monitoring and runtime verification; hybrid and stochastic systems; synthesis; symbolic verification; and safety and fault-tolerant systems.

Genre: Science & Math

Sensitivity Analysis: Matrix Methods in Demography and Ecology (Demographic Research Monographs) by Hal Caswell (Springer) (8 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

This open access book shows how to use sensitivity analysis in demography. It presents new methods for individuals, cohorts, and populations, with applications to humans, other animals, and plants. The analyses are based on matrix formulations of age-classified, stage-classified, and multistate population models. Methods are presented for linear and nonlinear, deterministic and stochastic, and time-invariant and time-varying cases. Readers will discover results on the sensitivity of statistics of longevity, life disparity, occupancy times, the net reproductive rate, and statistics of Markov chain models in demography. They will also see applications of sensitivity analysis to population growth rates, stable population structures, reproductive value, equilibria under immigration and nonlinearity, and population cycles. Individual stochasticity is a theme throughout, with a focus that goes beyond expected values to include variances in demographic outcomes. The calculations are easily and accurately implemented in matrix-oriented programming languages such as Matlab or R. Sensitivity analysis will help readers create models to predict the effect of future changes, to evaluate policy effects, and to identify possible evolutionary responses to the environment. Complete with many examples of the application, the book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students in human demography and population biology. The material will also appeal to those in mathematical biology and applied mathematics.

Genre: Science & Math

Biodiversity Conservation and Phylogenetic Systematics: Preserving our evolutionary heritage in an extinction crisis (Topics in Biodiversity and ... by Roseli Pellens (Springer) (29 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book is about phylogenetic diversity as an approach to reduce biodiversity losses in this period of mass extinction. Chapters in the first section deal with questions such as the way we value phylogenetic diversity among other criteria for biodiversity conservation; the choice of measures; the loss of phylogenetic diversity with extinction; the importance of organisms that are deeply branched in the tree of life, and the role of relict species. The second section is composed by contributions exploring methodological aspects, such as how to deal with abundance, sampling effort, or conflicting trees in analysis of phylogenetic diversity. The last section is devoted to applications, showing how phylogenetic diversity can be integrated in systematic conservation planning, in EDGE and HEDGE evaluations. This wide coverage makes the book a reference for academics, policy makers and stakeholders dealing with biodiversity conservation.

Genre: Science & Math

The Archaeology of Europe’s Drowned Landscapes (Coastal Research Library Book 35) by Geoff Bailey (Springer) (17 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This open access volume provides for the first time a comprehensive description and scientific evaluation of underwater archaeological finds referring to human occupation of the continental shelf around the coastlines of Europe and the Mediterranean when sea levels were lower than present. These are the largest body of underwater finds worldwide, amounting to over 2500 find spots, ranging from individual stone tools to underwater villages with unique conditions of preservation. The material reviewed here ranges in date from the Lower Palaeolithic period to the Bronze Age and covers 20 countries bordering all the major marine basins from the Atlantic coasts of Ireland and Norway to the Black Sea, and from the western Baltic to the eastern Mediterranean. The finds from each country are presented in their archaeological context, with information on the history of discovery, conditions of preservation and visibility, their relationship to regional changes in sea-level and coastal geomorphology, and the institutional arrangements for their investigation and protection. Editorial introductions summarise the findings from each of the major marine basins. There is also a final section with extensive discussion of the historical background and the legal and regulatory frameworks that inform the management of the underwater cultural heritage and collaboration between offshore industries, archaeologists and government agencies. The volume is based on the work of COST Action TD0902 SPLASHCOS, a multi-disciplinary and multi-national research network supported by the EU-funded COST organisation (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). The primary readership is research and professional archaeologists, marine and Quaternary scientists, cultural-heritage managers, commercial and governmental organisations, policy makers, and all those with an interest in the sea floor of the continental shelf and the human impact of changes in climate, sea-level and coastal ...

Genre: Science & Math

Introduction to Paremiology: A Comprehensive Guide to Proverb Studies by Hrisztalina Hrisztova-Gotthardt (De Gruyter Open Poland) (5 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This handbook introduces key elements of the philological research area called paremiology (the study of proverbs). It presents the main subject area as well as the current status of paremiological research. The basic notions, among others, include defining proverbs, main proverb features, origin, collecting and categorization of proverbs. Each chapter is written by a leading scholar-specialist in their area of proverbial research. Since the book represents a measured balance between the popular and scientific approach, it is recommended to a wide readership including experienced and budding scholars, students of linguistics, as well as other professionals interested in the study of proverbs.

Genre: Science & Math

Agricultural and Forestry Reconstruction After the Great East Japan Earthquake: Tsunami, Radioactive, and Reputational Damages by Toshiyuki Monma (Springer) (4 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book summarizes the results of 3 years of agricultural and forestry reconstructive efforts and applied research conducted directly in the affected areas of Fukushima following the Great East Japan Earthquake. It describes fast and effective revival methods and technologies from tsunami and radiation damages, demonstrated through the collaborative efforts of researchers, students, local farmers, forest owners, and municipalities gathered under the Tokyo University of Agriculture East Japan Assistance Project. Consisting of four parts, the first part of the book provides an overview of the damage and measures taken to overcome them by the local municipalities and the Tokyo University of Agriculture. The second part presents data and results of agricultural recovery from the tsunami -- for example, monitoring systems, reconstruction models, and convenient, low-cost methods developed for the restoration of tsunami-damaged paddy fields. The third part focuses on recovery from radiation-contaminated farmlands and forests and consequent reputational damages. Included are various primary data obtained from field experiments and surveys, studies on the mechanism of contamination, and the results of radical monitoring, decontamination, and restoration techniques performed at this site. The final part is a collection of reflections of local farmers, forest owners, and students who participated in the project. The academic trials and errors recorded in this book are an invaluable contribution to disaster management and recovery processes. It is written for a wide audience, not limited to researchers and students, but also for government and state officials, municipalities, agricultural cooperative staff members, and farmers.

Genre: Science & Math

Advances in Discrete Differential Geometry by Alexander I. Bobenko (Springer) (49 Reviews)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This is one of the first books on a newly emerging field of discrete differential geometry and an excellent way to access this exciting area. It surveys the fascinating connections between discrete models in differential geometry and complex analysis, integrable systems and applications in computer graphics. The authors take a closer look at discrete models in differential geometry and dynamical systems. Their curves are polygonal, surfaces are made from triangles and quadrilaterals, and time is discrete. Nevertheless, the difference between the corresponding smooth curves, surfaces and classical dynamical systems with continuous time can hardly be seen. This is the paradigm of structure-preserving discretizations. Current advances in this field are stimulated to a large extent by its relevance for computer graphics and mathematical physics. This book is written by specialists working together on a common research project. It is about differential geometry and dynamical systems, smooth and discrete theories, and on pure mathematics and its practical applications. The interaction of these facets is demonstrated by concrete examples, including discrete conformal mappings, discrete complex analysis, discrete curvatures and special surfaces, discrete integrable systems, conformal texture mappings in computer graphics, and free-form architecture. This richly illustrated book will convince readers that this new branch of mathematics is both beautiful and useful. It will appeal to graduate students and researchers in differential geometry, complex analysis, mathematical physics, numerical methods, discrete geometry, as well as computer graphics and geometry processing.

Genre: Science & Math

Volcanic Unrest: From Science to Society (Advances in Volcanology) by Joachim Gottsmann (Springer) (23 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This open access book summarizes the findings of the VUELCO project, a multi-disciplinary and cross-boundary research funded by the European Commission's 7th framework program. It comprises four broad topics: 1. The global significance of volcanic unrest 2. Geophysical and geochemical fingerprints of unrest and precursory activity 3. Magma dynamics leading to unrest phenomena 4. Bridging the gap between science and decision-making Volcanic unrest is a complex multi-hazard phenomenon. The fact that unrest may, or may not lead to an imminent eruption contributes significant uncertainty to short-term volcanic hazard and risk assessment. Although it is reasonable to assume that all eruptions are associated with precursory activity of some sort, the understanding of the causative links between subsurface processes, resulting unrest signals and imminent eruption is incomplete. When a volcano evolves from dormancy into a phase of unrest, important scientific, political and social questions need to be addressed. This book is aimed at graduate students, researchers of volcanic phenomena, professionals in volcanic hazard and risk assessment, observatory personnel, as well as emergency managers who wish to learn about the complex nature of volcanic unrest and how to utilize new findings to deal with unrest phenomena at scientific and emergency managing levels. This book is open access under a CC BY license.

Genre: Science & Math

Investigating the Body in the Victorian Asylum: Doctors, Patients, and Practices (Mental Health in Historical Perspective) by Jennifer Wallis (Palgrave Macmillan) (45 Reviews)    Price verified 3 hours ago

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book explores how the body was investigated in the late nineteenth-century asylum in Britain. As more and more Victorian asylum doctors looked to the bodily fabric to reveal the 'truth' of mental disease, a whole host of techniques and technologies were brought to bear upon the patient's body. These practices encompassed the clinical and the pathological, from testing the patient's reflexes to dissecting the brain. Investigating the Body in the Victorian Asylum takes a unique approach to the topic, conducting a chapter-by-chapter dissection of the body. It considers how asylum doctors viewed and investigated the skin, muscles, bones, brain, and bodily fluids. The book demonstrates the importance of the body in nineteenth-century psychiatry as well as how the asylum functioned as a site of research, and will be of value to historians of psychiatry, the body, and scientific practice.

Genre: Science & Math

Flowing Matter (Soft and Biological Matter) by Federico Toschi (Springer) (13 Reviews)    Price verified 7 hours ago

This open access 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 crossroads between physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, biology and earth sciences, and relies on a multidisciplinary approach to describe the emergence of the macroscopic behaviours in a system from the coordinated dynamics of its microscopic constituents. Depending on the microscopic interactions, an assembly of molecules or of mesoscopic particles can flow like a simple Newtonian fluid, deform elastically like a solid or behave in a complex manner. When the internal constituents are active, as for biological entities, one generally observes complex large-scale collective motions. Phenomenology is further complicated by the invariable tendency of fluids to display chaos at the large scales or when stirred strongly enough. This volume presents several research topics that address these phenomena encompassing the traditional micro-, meso-, and macro-scales descriptions, and contributes to our understanding of the fundamentals of flowing matter. This book is the legacy of the COST Action MP1305 "Flowing Matter".

Genre: Science & Math

Innovative Medicine: Basic Research and Development by Kazuwa Nakao (Springer) (14 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

This book is devoted to innovative medicine, comprising the proceedings of the Uehara Memorial Foundation Symposium 2014. It remains extremely rare for the findings of basic research to be developed into clinical applications, and it takes a long time for the process to be achieved. The task of advancing the development of basic research into clinical reality lies with translational science, yet the field seems to struggle to find a way to move forward. To create innovative medical technology, many steps need to be taken: development and analysis of optimal animal models of human diseases, elucidation of genomic and epidemiological data, and establishment of "proof of concept". There is also considerable demand for progress in drug research, new surgical procedures, and new clinical devices and equipment. While the original research target may be rare diseases, it is also important to apply those findings more broadly to common diseases. The book covers a wide range of topics and is organized into three complementary parts. The first part is basic research for innovative medicine, the second is translational research for innovative medicine, and the third is new technology for innovative medicine. This book helps to understand innovative medicine and to make progress in its realization.

Genre: Science & Math

An Introduction to Nonlinear Optimization Theory by Marius Durea (De Gruyter Open Poland) (89 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

The goal of this book is to present the main ideas and techniques in the field of continuous smooth and nonsmooth optimization. Starting with the case of differentiable data and the classical results on constrained optimization problems, and continuing with the topic of nonsmooth objects involved in optimization theory, the book concentrates on both theoretical and practical aspects of this field. This book prepares those who are engaged in research by giving repeated insights into ideas that are subsequently dealt with and illustrated in detail.

Genre: Science & Math

Stochastics of Environmental and Financial Economics: Centre of Advanced Study, Oslo, Norway, 2014-2015 (Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & ... by Fred Espen Benth (Springer) (30 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

These Proceedings offer a selection of peer-reviewed research and survey papers by some of the foremost international researchers in the fields of finance, energy, stochastics and risk, who present their latest findings on topical problems. The papers cover the areas of stochastic modeling in energy and financial markets; risk management with environmental factors from a stochastic control perspective; and valuation and hedging of derivatives in markets dominated by renewables, all of which further develop the theory of stochastic analysis and mathematical finance. The papers were presented at the first conference on "Stochastics of Environmental and Financial Economics (SEFE)", being part of the activity in the SEFE research group of the Centre of Advanced Study (CAS) at the Academy of Sciences in Oslo, Norway during the 2014/2015 academic year.

Genre: Science & Math

Fundamentals of Clinical Data Science by Pieter Kubben (Springer) (60 Reviews)    Price verified 4 hours ago

This open access book comprehensively covers the fundamentals of clinical data science, focusing on data collection, modelling and clinical applications. Topics covered in the first section on data collection include: data sources, data at scale (big data), data stewardship (FAIR data) and related privacy concerns. Aspects of predictive modelling using techniques such as classification, regression or clustering, and prediction model validation will be covered in the second section. The third section covers aspects of (mobile) clinical decision support systems, operational excellence and value-based healthcare. Fundamentals of Clinical Data Science is an essential resource for healthcare professionals and IT consultants intending to develop and refine their skills in personalized medicine, using solutions based on large datasets from electronic health records or telemonitoring programmes. The book's promise is "no math, no code"and will explain the topics in a style that is optimized for a healthcare audience.

Genre: Science & Math

Atlas: A 25-year Insider Story Of The Lhc Experiment (Advanced Series On Directions In High Energy Physics Book 30) by The ATLAS Collaboration (World Scientific) (25 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book is written by the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to document and reflect on its more than 25 years of history. It covers all aspects of this global science project at the forefront of particle physics. The historical part recalls first the early stages of discussions in the community leading to the formation of the collaboration in 1992. In a unique approach, the second part documents the evolution from early detector concepts to the final instrument, covering the technical, financial and human aspects. This includes the phases of construction of detector components in the various institutes around the world as well as their installation and commissioning in the underground cavern at CERN.An important part is devoted to the operation of the whole experiment. The book highlights the capabilities and physics accomplishments so far, including the Higgs boson discovery (jointly announced with CMS). It features the various aspects of a broad spectrum of activities needed to arrive at the physics results. The book includes also an outlook to the detector upgrade activities preparing the experiment for the high-luminosity LHC phase of the next decades. Last but not least, it reveals the human aspects of the large ATLAS community working together pursuing common physics goals.The book is aimed at a broad readership with interest in large science projects and their history, as well as in the human endeavour of a worldwide collaboration.

Genre: Science & Math

Secondary Analysis of Electronic Health Records by MIT Critical Data (Springer) (26 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

This book trains the next generation of scientists representing different disciplines to leverage the data generated during routine patient care. It formulates a more complete lexicon of evidence-based recommendations and support shared, ethical decision making by doctors with their patients. Diagnostic and therapeutic technologies continue to evolve rapidly, and both individual practitioners and clinical teams face increasingly complex ethical decisions. Unfortunately, the current state of medical knowledge does not provide the guidance to make the majority of clinical decisions on the basis of evidence. The present research infrastructure is inefficient and frequently produces unreliable results that cannot be replicated. Even randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the traditional gold standards of the research reliability hierarchy, are not without limitations. They can be costly, labor intensive, and slow, and can return results that are seldom generalizable to every patient population. Furthermore, many pertinent but unresolved clinical and medical systems issues do not seem to have attracted the interest of the research enterprise, which has come to focus instead on cellular and molecular investigations and single-agent (e.g., a drug or device) effects. For clinicians, the end result is a bit of a "data desert" when it comes to making decisions. The new research infrastructure proposed in this book will help the medical profession to make ethically sound and well informed decisions for their patients.

Genre: Science & Math

The Economy as a Complex Spatial System: Macro, Meso and Micro Perspectives (Springer Proceedings in Complexity) by Pasquale Commendatore (Springer) (32 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This collected volume represents the final outcome of the COST Action IS1104 "The EU in the new complex geography of economic systems: models, tools and policy evaluation". Visualizing the EU as a complex and multi-layered network, the book is organized in three parts, each of them dealing with a different level of analysis: At the macro-level, Part I considers the interactions within large economic systems (regions or countries) involving trade, workers migration, and other factor movements. At the meso-level, Part II discusses interactions within specific but wide-ranging markets, with a focus on financial markets and banking systems. Lastly, at the micro-level, Part III explores the decision-making of single firms, especially in the context of location decisions.

Genre: Science & Math

Biodiversity of Angola: Science & Conservation: A Modern Synthesis by Brian J. Huntley (Springer) (6 Reviews)    Price verified 5 hours ago

This open access multi-authored book presents a 'state of the science' synthesis of knowledge on the biodiversity of Angola, based on sources in peer-reviewed journals, in books and where appropriate, unpublished official reports. The book identifies Angola as one of the most biologically diverse countries in Africa, but notes that its fauna, flora, habitats and the processes that drive the dynamics of its ecosystems are still very poorly researched and documented. This 'state of the science' synthesis is for the use of all students of Angola's biodiversity, and for those responsible for the planning, development and sustainable management of the country's living resources. The volume brings together the results of expeditions and research undertaken in Angola since the late eighteenth century, with emphasis on work conducted in the four decades since Angola's independence in 1975. The individual chapters have been written by leaders in their fields, and reviewed by peers familiar with the region.

Genre: Science & Math