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Materials for Tomorrow : Theory, Experiments and Modelling

This book contains six chapters on central topics in materials science. Each is written by specialists in the field, and gives a state-of-the-art presentation of the subject for graduate students and scientists not necessarily working in that field. Computer simulations of new materials, theory and experimental work are all extensively discussed. As nanomaterials are of great current interest, most of the topics discussed have a bearing on nanomaterials and nanodevices. In addition to inorganic nanotubes, metallic nanocrystals, electronic nanodevices, spintronics and interfaces on an atomic scale, the text also presents computer simulations on one of the less well understood fields in solid-state physics and materials science: glasses and undercooled fluids.

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Matematica si parte! : Nozioni di base ed esercizi per il primo anno di Ingegneria = Mathematics, let's go! : Basics and exercises for the first year of Engineering

This manual has been created to allow future engineering students to successfully face their studies. Some basic concepts in mathematics are presented, generally already learned before entering the University. It has been found that not all students have a complete mastery of this set of fundamental notions: therefore this manual provides useful support, in the form of both exercises and theoretical notions. The future student will be able to choose the chapters that interest him most, in order to verify his ability to solve problems such as "Review problems", using his own reasoning skills and knowledge.

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Matematica e cultura in Europa

Non è vero che la matematica susciti sempre poco interesse. Questa almeno è l'impressione che si ricava quando lo spunto per parlarne viene non solo dalla scienza e dalla tecnologia, ma anche dall'arte, dalla letteratura, dal cinema e dal teatro. Ce lo ha insegnato Michele Emmer con i suoi convegni Matematica e Cultura e lo abbiamo sperimentato a Bologna con le iniziative del 2000 per l'Anno Mondiale della Matematica e per Bologna Città Europea della Cultura. D’altra parte, negli ultimi anni abbiamo finalmente visto sullo schermo come protagonisti di film di successo dei matematici, non rappresentati come individui strani, ma come professionisti che svolgono il proprio lavoro, non necessariamente di insegnanti. Anche alcune opere teatrali di risonanza internazionale hanno parlato di matematici e questo ci ha spinto a organizzare per la prima volta in Italia, a Bologna, la rassegna Matematica e Teatro, che ha dato occasione non solo di assistere a spettacoli molto piacevoli, ma anche di parlare dei rapporti tra scienza, matematica e potere al tempo di Napoleone, di numeri primi, di teoria di Galois.

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Mass Extinction

The present book combines three main aspects: five major mass extinctions; contributions on some other minor extinctions; and more importantly contributions on the current mass extinction.

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Martingale Methods in Financial Modelling

This book provides a comprehensive, self-contained and up-to-date treatment of the main topics in the theory of option pricing. The first part of the text starts with discrete-time models of financial markets, including the Cox-Ross-Rubinstein binomial model. The passage from discrete- to continuous-time models, done in the Black-Scholes model setting, assumes familiarity with basic ideas and results from stochastic calculus. However, an Appendix containing all the necessary results is included. This model setting is later generalized to cover standard and exotic options involving several assets and/or currencies. An outline of the general theory of arbitrage pricing is presented. The second part of the text is devoted to the term structure modelling and the pricing of interest-rate derivatives. The main emphasis is on models that can be made consistent with market pricing practice.

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Martens and Fishers (Martes) in human-altered environments : An international perspective

Examines the conditions where humans and martens are compatible and incompatible, and promotes land use practices that allow Martes to be representatively distributed and viable. All Martes have been documented to use forested habitats and 6 species (excluding the stone marten) are generally considered to require complex mid- to late-successional forests throughout much of their geographic ranges. All species in the genus require complex horizontal and vertical structure to provide escape cover protection from predators, habitat for their prey, access to food resources, and protection from the elements. Martens and the fisher have high metabolic rates, have large spatial requirements, have high surface area to volume ratios for animals that often inhabit high latitudes, and often require among the largest home range areas per unit body weight of any group of mammals. Resulting from these unique life history characteristics, this genus is particularly sensitive to human influences on their habitats, including habitat loss, stand-scale simplification of forest structure via some forms of logging, and landscape-scale effects of habitat fragmentation. Given their strong associations with structural complexity in forests, martens and the fisher are often considered as useful barometers of forest health and have been used as ecological indicators, flagship, and umbrella species in different parts of the world. Thus, efforts to successfully conserve and manage martens and fishers are associated with the ecological fates of other forest dependent species and can greatly influence ecosystem integrity within forests that are increasingly shared among wildlife and humans.We have made great strides in our fundamental understanding of how animals with these unique life history traits perceive and utilize habitats, respond to habitat change, and how their populations function and perform under different forms of human management and mismanagement.

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Markov Chains : Models, Algorithms and Applications

Markov chains are a particularly powerful and widely used tool for analyzing a variety of stochastic (probabilistic) systems over time. This monograph will present a series of Markov models, starting from the basic models and then building up to higher-order models. Included in the higher-order discussions are multivariate models, higher-order multivariate models, and higher-order hidden models. In each case, the focus is on the important kinds of applications that can be made with the class of models being considered in the current chapter. Special attention is given to numerical algorithms that can efficiently solve the models. Therefore, Markov Chains: Models, Algorithms and Applications outlines recent developments of Markov chain models for modeling queueing sequences, Internet, re-manufacturing systems, reverse logistics, inventory systems, bio-informatics, DNA sequences, genetic networks, data mining, and many other practical systems.

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Market-Consistent Actuarial Valuation

It is a challenging task to read the balance sheet of an insurance company. This derives from the fact that different positions are often measured by different yardsticks. Assets, for example, are mostly valued at market prices whereas liabilities are often measured by established actuarial methods. Market-Consistent Actuarial Valuation presents powerful methods to measure liabilities and assets in the same way. The mathematical framework that leads to market-consistent values for insurance liabilities is explained in detail by the authors. Topics covered are Stochastic discounting, Valuation portfolio in life and non-life insurance, Asset and liability management, Financial risks, Insurance technical risks, and Solvency.

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Maritime Spatial Planning : past, present, future

This book is the first comprehensive overview of maritime spatial planning. Situated at the intersection between theory and practice, the volume draws together several strands of interdisciplinary research, reflecting on the history of MSP as well as examining current practice and looking towards the future. The authors and contributors examine MSP from disciplines as diverse as geography, urban planning, political science, natural science, sociology and education; reflecting the growing critical engagement with MSP in many academic fields. This innovative and pioneering volume will be of interest and value to students and scholars of maritime spatial planning, as well as planners and practitioners.

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Marine Surface Films : Chemical Characteristics, Influence on Air-Sea Interactions and Remote Sensing

Since the late 1960s, various groups have investigated the influence of marine surface films on mechanisms dominating energy and mass transfer across the ocean/atmosphere interface. However, a compendium summarizing the state-of-the-art research in this field is still missing. The book fills this gap and transfers the accumulated knowledge to the scientific community. After a brief historical chapter basic chemical insights are presented, followed by theoretical and experimental approaches carried out in laboratory facilities. Air-sea interaction experiments are then described and finally, remote sensing applications with sea slicks and crude oil spills are presented.

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Marine environment protection and biodiversity conservation : The application and future development of the IMOs particularly sensitive sea area concept

Despite the potential benefits that PSSA designation can deliver, recent practice both within the IMO and by individual member States, has considerably undermined confidence in this emerging concept. The focus of this book is on the events within the IMO that have led to this lack of confidence arising. In doing so, this book presents an examination of coastal State practice with the PSSA concept.

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Map-based Mobile Services : Design, Interaction and Usability

It addresses methods and techniques for topics that range from design and rendering, context modelling, personalisation, multimodal interaction to usability test. Instead of striving for a seamless coverage of all essential theoretical and technical issues with an equal depth and extent, we attempt to pinpoint a number of research highlights and representative development activities at universities, research institutions and so- ware industry. The operational prototypes and platforms reported in the book are on the one hand outcome and feasibility proof of various approaches. On the other hand, they serve as a new starting point for the refinement of user interfaces and iterative usability tests.

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Manufacturing Systems Control Design : A Matrix-based Approach

The matrix-based approach presented here is a solution to the real-time application of control in discrete event systems and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), and offers a sound practical basis for the design of controllers for manufacturing systems.

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Manual for Soil Analysis - Monitoring and Assessing Soil Bioremediation

Reliable methods for monitoring and assessing soil quality are a prerequisite for successful soil bioremediation projects. The fifth volume of Soil Biology presents detailed descriptions of selected methods for evaluating, monitoring and assessing bioremediation treatments of soils contaminated with organic pollutants or heavy metals.

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Mantle Plumes : A Multidisciplinary Approach

In this book, a group of experts review these advances in plume research and present a general overview on recent plume studies.

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Manipulating Quantum Coherence in Solid State Systems

Presents a fundamental introduction to three solid-state approaches to achieving quantum computation: semiconductor spin-based, semiconductor charge-based, and superconducting approaches.

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Managing Forest Ecosystems : The Challenge of Climate Change

With climate change now charging up the political agenda, there are three issues commonly making the headlines: carbon budgets, renewable energy, and the anticipated impacts of climate change. Equally important, though currently less well covered, is the issue how these effects might be mitigated. Given the significant role that forests play in the climate system – as sources, sinks, and through carbon trading – this book discusses the current scientific evidence on the relationships between climate, forest resources and forest management practices around the world. Drawing on expertise from forest scientists from several continents, the book presents both in depth analysis of the current knowledge, and a series of case studies which assess the biological and the economic impacts of climate change. It includes sections on forest responses to climate change, monitoring and modeling changes, economic and management implications, and carbon sequestration under specific management systems.

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Managing European Coasts : Past, Present and Future

Many coastal areas and human activities are subject to increasing risks from natural and man-induced hazards such as flooding resulting from major changes in hydrology of river systems that has reached a global scale. Changes in the hydrological cycle coupled with changes in land and water management alter fluxes of materials transmitted from river catchments to the coastal zone, which have a major effect on coastal ecosystems. The increasing complexity of underlying processes and forcing functions that drive changes on coastal systems are witnessed at a multiplicity of temporal and spatial scales.

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Making Fisheries Management Work : Implementation of Policies for Sustainable Fishing

This book seeks to widen the perspective taken on implementation in fisheries management. The cases presented in this volume addresses legal, administrative, and political challenges regarding implementation of resource conservation policies. The book addresses problems relating to goal achievement, but also causes of deliberate change of political goals during implementation. Fisheries management systems are embedded in inert social structures and natural conditions that vary among different states. Consequently, the book takes a historical and comparative approach, describing the historical developments of national implementation systems and the conditions that shaped their development. It thus seeks to explain why national fisheries management systems have evolved differently, focusing on Norwegian, Faeroese, and EU/Danish management systems. The descriptive and explanatory outlines are accompanied by qualitative assessments of the systems effectiveness as tools for collective action.

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Making Ammonia : Fritz Haber, Walther Nernst, and the Nature of Scientific Discovery

This book discusses the progress of science and the transfer of scientific knowledge to technological application. It also identifies the factors necessary to achieve this progress. Based on a case study of the physical chemist Fritz Haber's discovery of ammonia synthesis between 1903 and 1909, the book places Haber's work in historical and scientific (physicochemical) context. The scientific developments of the preceding century are framed in a way that emphasizes the confluence of knowledge needed for Haber's success. Against this background, Haber's work is presented in detail along with the indispensable contributions of his colleague, the physical chemist, Walter Nernst, and their assistants. The detailed accounts of scientific advancement remind us of the physical basis on which our scientific theories and ideas are built. Without this reminder we often forget how complex, and how beautiful achievements in science can be.

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