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Economics and Management of Climate Change : Risks, Mitigation and Adaptation
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges for mankind. Although there is increasing evidence that climate change is already occurring, there is neither sufficient knowledge as to what extent climate change poses risks to societies and companies, nor about adequate strategies to cope with these risks. Bringing together an international group of scholars from environmental economics, political science and business, this book describes, analyses and evaluates climate change risks and responses of societies and companies. The book contributes to the question of how climate change can be mitigated by discussing efficient and effective design of mitigation measures, in particular emissions trading and clean development mechanism (CDM). Placing special emphasis on the impact of climate change risks on business, the book investigates in which way selected sectors of the economy are affected and what measures they can undertake to adapt to climate change risks.
Economic Geology of Natural Gas Hydrate
This is the first book that attempts to broadly integrate the most recent knowledge in the fields of hydrate nucleation and growth in permafrost regions and marine sediments. Gas hydrate reactant supply, growth models, and implications for pore fill by natural gas hydrate are discussed for both seawater precursors in marine sediments and for permafrost hydrate. These models for forming hydrate concentrations that will constitute targets for exploration are discussed, along with exploration methods. Thermodynamic models for the controlled conversion of hydrate to natural gas, which can be recovered using conventional industry practices, suggest that a number of different types of hydrate occurrence are likely to be practical sources of hydrate natural gas. Current progress in the various aspects of commercial development of hydrate gas deposits are discussed, along with the principal extractive issues that have yet to be resolved.
E-Commerce and Web Technologies ; 9th International Conference, EC-Web 2008 Turin, Italy, September 3-4, 2008 Proceedings
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Electronic Commerce and Web Technologies, EC-Web 2008, held in Turin, Italy, in September, 2008 in conjunction with Dexa 2008.
E-Commerce : Concepts, Principles, and Application
Discusses the background of e-commerce, the basic knowledge of e-commerce, the basic models of e-commerce, the basic principles of e-commerce and the cases of e-commerce. This book has formed a theoretical system of e-commerce with a clear integration boundary. The introduction of the systematic theory is guided by the background of e-commerce, centered on the model of e-commerce, paved with the principles of e-commerce and integrated with the cutting-edge cases.
Ecology and Behaviour of Mesozoic Reptiles
Our knowledge of extinct animals depends almost entirely upon the study of fossils. This richly illustrated book clothes the skeletons of dinosaurs and other Mesozoic reptiles with flesh, and shows how these fascinating animals evolved and probably lived. Expert provides an interesting synthesis of current views on their ecology, physiology and behaviour, and outlines the various hypotheses that have been proposed to explain their extinction.
Ecological and Health Effects of Building Materials
Deals with the present adverse effects of using precarious building materials on the ecology and human health. Also, the detailed discussions on the novel and greener construction materials and their utilization as an alternative to the conventional harmful existing methods and materials are also presented in the subsequent chapters. This book helps to fill the research gaps in the existing prior-art knowledge in the field of sustainable construction and green building materials and methods giving due importance to ecology and health, specifically to the fields of sustainable structural engineering, sustainable geotechnical engineering, sustainable road engineering, etc.
Eco-and ground bio-engineering : The use of vegetation to improve slope stability ; Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Eco-Engineering 13-17 September 2004
In an era where climate change, natural catastrophes and land degradation are major issues, the conservation of soil and vegetation in mountainous or sloping regions has become an international priority. How to avoid substrate mass movement through landslides and erosion using sustainable and ecologically sound techniques is rapidly becoming a scientific domain where knowledge from many different fields is required. These proceedings bring together papers from geotechnical and civil engineers, biologists, ecologists and foresters, who discuss current problems in slope stability research, and how to address those problems using ground bio- and eco-engineering techniques.
E-cigarette : A safer choice or a potential killer?
Aims to define the term e-cigarettes, to explain in detail what e-cigarettes are, to explain how e-cigarettes work, to review the range of e-cigarettes that currently exist, to define the term vaping and to examine the impact of e-cigarette usage on human health. The study will add to the current body of knowledge by showing why e-cigarettes are a public health concern due to their impac on human health. In this study, it is revealed that chemical exposure through e-cigarette use can harm an individual's health
Early Public Libraries and Colonial Citizenship in the British Southern Hemisphere
This Pivot book is a comparative study of six early colonial public libraries in nineteenth-century Australia, South Africa, and Southeast Asia. Drawing on networked conceptualisations of empire, transnational frameworks, and ‘new imperial history’ paradigms that privilege imbricated colonial and metropolitan ‘intercultures’, it looks at the neglected role of public libraries in shaping a programme of Anglophone civic education, scientific knowledge creation, and modernisation in the British southern hemisphere. The book’s six chapters analyse institutional models and precedents, reading publics and types, book holdings and catalogues, and regional scientific networks in order to demonstrate the significance of these libraries for the construction of colonial identity, citizenship, and national self-government as well as charting their influence in shaping perceptions of social class, gender, and race. Using primary source material from the recently completed ‘Book Catalogues of the Colonial Southern Hemisphere’ digital archive, the book argues that public libraries played a formative role in colonial public discourse, contributing to broader debates on imperial citizenship and nation-statehood across different geographic, cultural, and linguistic borders.
Early puberty in female
Over the past 20 years, a clear secular trend toward the earlier onset of puberty has been described. A better knowledge should help clinicians attempting to define both precocious and delayed puberty. The definition of precocious puberty for girls is the appearance of secondary sex characteristics development before the age of 8 years, while pubertal delay is based on the absence of the larche at the age of 13 years. Regarding precocious puberty, one should clinically distinguish between true precocious puberty, i.e. complete or central precocious puberty, and incomplete precocious puberty, which refers to premature the larche, premature pubarche and isolated menarche...
Early Development of the Human Pelvic Diaphragm
A sound and detailed knowledge of the anatomy of the pelvic floor is of the utmost importance to gynecologists, obstetricians, surgeons, and urologists, since they all share the same responsibility in treating patients with different pathological conditions caused by pelvic floor dysfunction. The most common clinical expressions of pelvic floor dysfunction are urinary incontinence, anal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse. Most often these clinical expressions are found in women, and they are briefly discussed below based on the outline presented in the Third International Consultation on Incontinence, a joint effort of the International Continence Society and the World Health Organization.
Dynamics of Long-Life Assets : From Technology Adaptation to Upgrading the Business Model
The book provides readers with a better understanding of the factors that influence decisions, and put forward solutions to facilitate the rapid adaptation to changes in the business environment and customer needs through intelligent upgrade interventions. Further, it examines a number of sample cases from various contexts including car manufacturing, utilities, shipping and the furniture industry. The book offers a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners interested in the upgrading of capital-intensive products and services.
Dynamical Oceanography
This textbook provides a mathematical introduction to the theory of large-scale ocean circulation and is accessible for readers with an elementary knowledge of mathematics and physics, including continuum mechanics and solution methods for ordinary differential equations. The book consists of four parts. Part I (chapters 1 - 4) is a very brief introduction to ocean circulation and the mathematical formulation of the governing equations of ocean flows. In addition, concepts are introduced that are necessary to describe and understand large-scale ocean currents. In part II (chapters 5 - 10), the theory of mid-latitude wind-driven ocean circulation is presented. Part III (chapters 11 - 12) focuses on the understanding of equatorial currents and El Nino. In the last part IV, chapters 13 - 16, the theory of planetary scale flows is presented, covering topics such as the thermocline problem, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the stability of the thermohaline circulation and the Arctic Ocean circulation.
Dynamical Entropy in Operator Algebras
The book including quantum dynamical systems and applications of operator algebras and ergodic theory. Although the authors assume a basic knowledge of operator algebras, they give precise definitions of the notions and in most cases complete proofs of the results which are used.
Dynamic Vision for Perception and Control of Motion
The book uniquely details an approach to real-time machine vision for the understanding of dynamic scenes, viewed from a moving platform that begins with spatio-temporal representations of motion for hypothesized objects whose parameters are adjusted by well-known prediction error feedback and recursive estimation techniques. A coherent and up-to-date coverage of the subject matter is presented, with the machine vision and control aspects detailed, along with reports on the mission performance of the first vehicles using these innovative techniques built at Munich. Pointers to the future development and likely applications of this hugely important field of research are presented.
Dynamic Population Models
The book is well organized and clearly written so that it is accessible to those with only a minimal knowledge of calculus. It begins with a review of fixed rate population models, from the basic life table to multistate stable populations. The process of convergence to stability is described, and the regularities underlying change in the size and composition of any population are explored. Techniques for estimating rates from multistate population distributions are presented, and new multi-age, multistate dynamic models are developed.
Dynamic Inventory Management in Reverse Logistics
The integration of product recovery into regular production processes enables new opportunities for cost savings. In case of a dynamic planning situation, for instance when dealing with seasonality or the product life cycle, new motives for keeping stock arise.
Dynamic Epistemic Logic
Dynamic Epistemic Logic is the logic of knowledge change. This is not about one logical system, but about a whole family of logics that allows us to specify static and dynamic aspects of multi-agent systems. This book provides various logics to support such formal specifications, including proof systems. Concrete examples and epistemic puzzles enliven the exposition. The book also contains exercises including answers and is eminently suitable for graduate courses in logic.
Dynamic Asset Allocation with Forwards and Futures
DYNAMIC ASSET ALLOCATION WITH FORWARD AND FUTURES is an advanced text on the theory of forward and futures markets which aims at providing readers with a comprehensive knowledge of how prices are established and evolve over time, what optimal strategies one can expect from the participants, what characterizes such markets, and what major theoretical and practical differences distinguish futures from forward contracts. The book proposes an approach of these markets from the perspective of dynamic asset allocation and asset pricing theory within an inter-temporal framework. The main ingredients that are used are the assumed absence of frictions and arbitrage opportunities in financial and real markets, the uniqueness of the economic general equilibrium, when such an equilibrium is required and the tools of continuous time finance, namely martingale theory and stochastic dynamic programming. The scope of DYNAMIC ASSET ALLOCATION WITH FORWARD AND FUTURES is essentially theoretical, with emphasis on economic meaning and financial interpretation. Regarding investment and/or hedging, focus is on optimal strategies rather than on actual practice. Simulations, however, are performed when important insights can be delivered as to the practical relevance of some theoretical results. Also, optimal strategies using futures are shown to differ markedly from those using forwards. The following issues are examined: pure hedging, investment and hedging in complete or incomplete markets, currency risk, optimal spreading, presence of stochastic dividend or convenience yields, pricing of non-redundant futures or forwards by means of general equilibrium analysis, and revisiting of existing Capital Asset Pricing Models.
Dumbing Down : The Crisis of Quality and Equity in a Once-Great School System—and How to Reverse the Trend
This book examines the challenges and issues caused by a move to a marketized education system in Sweden. Observing the introduction of the school voucher system and a postmodern social constructivist view of knowledge, the move away from objective knowledge is identified as the core reason for Sweden’s current education crisis. The impact of declining education standards on the labor market is also discussed.
