This volume deals with land degradation, which is occurring in almost all terrestrial biomes and agro-ecologies, in both low and high income countries and is stretching to about 30% of the total global land area. About three billion people reside in these degraded lands. However, the impact of land degradation is especially severe on livelihoods of...
This book explores the social history of the anti-vivisection movement in Britain from its nineteenth-century beginnings until the 1960s. It discusses the ethical principles that inspired the movement and the socio-political background that explains its rise and fall. Opposition to vivisection began when medical practitioners complained it was cont...
We are not free from environmental risks that accompany the development of human societies. Modern economic development has accelerated environmental pollution, caused loss of natural habitats, and modified landscapes. These environmental changes have impacted natural systems: water and heat circulation, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity. These ch...
This book focuses on the linear selection index (LSI) theory and its statistical properties. It addresses the single-stage LSI theory by assuming that economic weights are fixed and known - or fixed, but unknown - to predict the net genetic merit in the phenotypic, marker and genomic context. Further, it shows how to combine the LSI theory with the...
This book addresses the various disciplinary aspects of nature-based solutions in flood risk management on private land. In recent decades, water management has been moving towards nature-based solutions. These are assumed to be much more multi-purpose than traditional "grey infrastructures" and seem to be regarded as a panacea for many e...
This book presents the proceedings volume of the YOUMARES 8 conference, which took place in Kiel, Germany, in September 2017, supported by the German Association for Marine Sciences (DGM). The YOUMARES conference series is entirely bottom-up organized by and for YOUng MARine RESearchers. Qualified early career scientists moderated the scientific se...
It overviews the poisoning which occurred in the 1950s and 1960s among the residents in Minamata who ate seafood contaminated with methylmercury discharged from the chemical factory, Chisso Corporation. It describes the history, symptoms pathogenesis and research on the causal agent, and discusses the responses of Chisso and the national and local ...
This open access wide-ranging collation of papers examines a host of issues in studying second-generation immigrants, their life courses, and their relations with older generations. Tightly focused on methodological aspects, both quantitative and qualitative, the volume features the work of authors from numerous countries, from differing discipline...
This book examines how China can increase the share of natural gas in its energy system. China's energy strategy has global ramifications and impact, and central to this strategy is the country's transition from coal to gas. The book presents the culmination of a two-year collaboration between the Development Research Center of the State ...
The aim of this book is to document for the first time the dimensions and requirements of effective integrated groundwater management (IGM). Groundwater management is a formidable challenge, one that remains one of humanity's foremost priorities. It has become a largely non-renewable resource that is overexploited in many parts of the world. I...
This book deals with contestations "from below" of legal policies and implementation practices in asylum and deportation. Consequently, it covers three types of mobilization: solidarity protests against the deportation of refused asylum seekers, refugee activism campaigning for residence rights and inclusion, and restrictive protests agai...
Intel Galileo and Intel Galileo Gen 2: API Features and Arduino Projects for Linux Programmers provides detailed information about Intel Galileo and Intel Galileo Gen 2 boards for all software developers interested in Arduino and the Linux platform. The book covers the new Arduino APIs and is an introduction for developers on natively using Linux.
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This book explores the formation and socio-spatial trajectories of large housing estates in Europe. Are these estates clustered or scattered? Which social groups originally had access to residential space in housing estates? What is the size, scale and geography of housing estates, their architectural and built environment composition, services and...
This book presents the results of the Interdisciplinary Research Group "Society – Water – Technology" of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It describes interdisciplinary evaluation criteria for major water engineering projects (MWEPs) and portrays an application to the Lower Jordan Valley (Middle East) and th...
This book discusses booming housing markets in cities around the globe, and the resulting challenges for policymakers and central banks. Cities are booming everywhere, leading to a growing demand for urban housing. In many cities this demand is out-pacing supply, which causes house prices to soar and increases the pressure on rental markets. These ...
This book provides an overview of current research on a variety of topics related to both large-scale and classroom assessment. First, the purposes, traditions and principles of assessment are considered, with particular attention to those common to all levels of assessment and those more connected with either classroom or large-scale assessment. A...
This volume presents several case studies highlighting the latest findings in Industry 4.0 projects utilizing S-BPM features. Their potential is explored in detail, while the limits of engineering a company from a communication-centred perspective are also discussed.
After a general introduction and an overview of the book in chapter 1, chapter 2 ...
The Jingshan Report is a collection of research papers on key issues for China's financial opening, including reform of the RMB exchange rate regime, management of cross-border capital flows and financial support for the Belt and Road Initiative. Authored by leading experts in the relevant fields, the report examines the evolution, current sta...
This book has brought together leading investigators who work in the new arena of brain connectomics. This includes 'macro-connectome' efforts to comprehensively chart long-distance pathways and functional networks; 'micro-connectome' efforts to identify every neuron, axon, dendrite, synapse, and glial process within restricted ...
This open access textbook takes the reader step-by-step through the concepts of mechanics in a clear and detailed manner. Mechanics is considered to be the core of physics, where a deep understanding of the concepts is essential in understanding all branches of physics. Many proofs and examples are included to help the reader grasp the fundamentals...
To understand how the world's ecosystems are changing we need to understand cities, and to create better cities we need to understand the ecosystems they depend on. The failure of most markets, government policies and even urban studies to take these relations into account has put cities, and increasingly the whole world, in a difficult positi...
This open access volume presents a comprehensive account of all aspects of biological invasions in South Africa, where research has been conducted over more than three decades, and where bold initiatives have been implemented in attempts to control invasions and to reduce their ecological, economic and social effects. It covers a broad range of the...
This Open Access biography chronicles the life and achievements of the Norwegian engineer and physicist Rolf Widerøe. Readers who meet him in the pages of this book will wonder why he isn't better known.The first of Widerøe's many pioneering contributions in the field of accelerator physics was the betatron. He later went on to build th...
This open access book presents the key aspects of statistics in Wasserstein spaces, i.e. statistics in the space of probability measures when endowed with the geometry of optimal transportation. Further to reviewing state-of-the-art aspects, it also provides an accessible introduction to the fundamentals of this current topic, as well as an overvie...
This open access report explores the nature and extent of students' misconceptions and misunderstandings related to core concepts in physics and mathematics and physics across grades four, eight and 12. Twenty years of data from the IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and TIMSS Advanced assessments are anal...
This open access monograph argues established democratic norms for freedom of expression should be implemented on the internet. Moderating policies of tech companies as Facebook, Twitter and Google have resulted in posts being removed on an industrial scale. While this moderation is often encouraged by governments - on the pretext that terrorism, b...
This open access book comprises 10 high-level papers on research and innovation within the Flexitranstore Project that were presented at the FLEXITRANSTORE special session organized as part of the 21st International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering.FLEXITRANSTORE (An Integrated Platform for Increased FLEXIbility in smart TRANSmission grids wit...
This free book explores the fundamentals of computer music and functional programming through the Haskell programming language. Functional programming is typically considered difficult to learn. This introduction in the context of creating music will allow students and professionals with a musical inclination to leverage their experience to help un...
I've already accepted the fact that Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) is a business trend that's here to stay. According to one report I recently read, just 23 percent of enterprise employees use company-sanctioned mobile devices only - meaning 77 percent of employees are using their own devices in some capacity to do their job. 1 As the Chief...
How to Read a Folktale offers the first English translation of Ibonia, a spellbinding tale of old Madagascar. Ibonia is a folktale on epic scale. Much of its plot sounds familiar: a powerful royal hero attempts to rescue his betrothed from an evil adversary and, after a series of tests and duels, he and his lover are joyfully united with a marriage...
Linux systems are everywhere today, even in companies once considered "pure Windows." If you're a sysadmin, network administrator, or developer in a small Windows shop, you may have to jump in and fix a system problem when your site goes down. What if you have no Linux knowledge? This short guide provides tips to help you survive.
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This enzymology textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students covers the syllabi of most universities where this subject is regularly taught. It focuses on the synchrony between the two broad mechanistic facets of enzymology: the chemical and the kinetic, and also highlights the synergy between enzyme structure and mechanism. Designed f...