الصفحة 15
الصفحة 15
From Assessing to Conserving Biodiversity : Conceptual and Practical Challenges
This book despite increasing communication, accelerating policy and management responses, and notwithstanding improving ecosystem assessment and endangered species knowledge, conserving biodiversity continues to be more a concern than an accomplished task. Why is it so? The overexploitation of natural resources by our species is a frequently recognised factor, while the short-term economic interests of governments and stakeholders typically clash with the burdens that implementing conservation actions imply. But this is not the whole story. This book develops a different perspective on the problem by exploring the conceptual challenges and practical defiance posed by conserving biodiversity, namely: on the one hand, the difficulties in defining what biodiversity is and characterizing that “thing” to which the word ‘biodiversity’ refers to; on the other hand, the reasons why assessing biodiversity and putting in place effective conservation actions is arduous.
Frei Otto: Forschen, Bauen, Inspirieren = A Life of Research, Construction and Inspiration - DETAIL Special
Provides insights on the key aspects of his work. At its heart was the search for natural designs and an exploration of form-finding and self-development processes. As such he created a whole universe of ideas using membrane, net and convertible roofs with umbrellas, grid shells, and pneumatic structures. The book highlights his key works and how his ideas were adopted throughout the world. Read more...
Fragmentation in Semi-Arid and Arid Landscapes : Consequences for Human and Natural Systems
Exploring the concept of fragmentation, the ecological processes interrupted by fragmentation, and the social consequences of fragmented landscapes, this book presents a timely synthesis on the effects of fragmentation on arid and semi-arid pastoral systems throughout the world. the authors examine how fragmentation occurs, the patterns that result, and the consequences of fragmentation for ecosystems and the people who depend on them. The book will provide a valuable reference for students and researchers in rangeland ecology, park and natural resource management, environmental and ecological anthropology, economics and agriculture.
Fracture Mechanics of Ceramics ; Active Materials, Nanoscale Materials, Composites, Glass, and Fundamentals
The 8th International Symposium on fracture mechanics of ceramics was held in on the campus of the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA, on February 25-28, 2003. With the natural maturing of the fields of structural ceramics, this symposium focused on nano-scale materials, composites, thin films and coatings as well as glass. The symposium also addressed new issues on fundamentals of fracture mechanics and contact mechanics, and a session on reliability and standardization.
Fracture and Failure of Natural Building Stones : Applications in the Restoration of Ancient Monuments
The book consists of invited papers written by leading experts in the field. It contains original contributions concerning the latest developments in the fracture and failure of the natural building stones and their application in the restoration of ancient monuments. It covers a wide range of subjects - cluding purely mechanical aspects, physico-chemical approaches, appli- tions and case studies. The papers are arranged in two parts with a total of nine chapters. Part I is devoted to purely mechanical and structural aspects and applications, while Part II is devoted to the physico-chemical and environmental aspects including thermal effects.
Fractals in Biology and Medicine : Beyond Planting Trees
This volume it highlights the potential that fractal geometry offers for elucidating and explaining the complex make-up of cells, tissues and biological organisms either in normal or in pathological conditions, including the structural changes that occur in tumours. It helps develop the concepts, questions and methods required in research on fractal biology and natural phenomena and to evidence the pitfalls of a too simplistic application of these principles in investigating topical subjects of biology and medicine. It discusses present and future applications of fractal geometry, bringing together cellular and molecular biology, engineering, mathematics, physics, medicine and other disciplines and allowing an interdisciplinary vision.
Fractal Geometry, Complex Dimensions and Zeta Functions : Geometry and Spectra of Fractal Strings
Number theory, spectral geometry, and fractal geometry are interlinked in this in-depth study of the vibrations of fractal strings, that is, one-dimensional drums with fractal boundary. Key Features The Riemann hypothesis is given a natural geometric reformulation in the context of vibrating fractal strings Complex dimensions of a fractal string, defined as the poles of an associated zeta function, are studied in detail, then used to understand the oscillations intrinsic to the corresponding fractal geometries and frequency spectra Explicit formulas are extended to apply to the geometric, spectral, and dynamical zeta functions associated with a fractal Examples of such explicit formulas include a Prime Orbit Theorem with error term for self-similar flows, and a geometric tube formula The method of Diophantine approximation is used to study self-similar strings and flows Analytical and geometric methods are used to obtain new results about the vertical distribution of zeros of number-theoretic and other zeta functions Throughout new results are examined. The final chapter gives a new definition of fractality as the presence of nonreal complex dimensions with positive real parts, and discusses several open problems and extensions.
Foundations of software science and computation structures ; 24th International conference, FOSSACS 2021, Held as Part of the European joint conferences on theory and practice of software, ETAPS 2021, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, March 27 – April 1, 2021, proceedings
This book constitutes the proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Foundations of Software Science and Computational Structures, FOSSACS 2021, which was held during March 27 until April 1, 2021, as part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2021. The conference was planned to take place in Luxembourg and changed to an online format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foundation models for natural language processing : pre-trained language models integrating media
Covers basic natural language processing models, pre-trained language models BERT, GPT, and sequence-to-sequence converters, as well as the concepts of self-attention and context-sensitive embedding. Various approaches to improving these models are then discussed, such as expanding the pre-training parameters, increasing the length of input texts, or incorporating additional knowledge. An overview of the best performing models is then provided for about twenty application areas, e.g., question answering, translation, story generation, dialogue systems, image generation from text, etc. For each application area, the strengths and weaknesses of existing models are discussed, and an overview of further developments is provided. In addition, links to freely available code are provided. The concluding chapter summarizes the economic opportunities, risk mitigation, and potential developments of AI.
Fossil earthquakes : The formation and preservation of pseudotachylytes
This book encompass the principl results of field investigations, analyses of meso-scale and micro-scale textures and structures, laboratory experiments, chemical analyses, conceptual fault models, as well as the implications of fault related pseudotachylyte an its related fault rocks for our understanding of earthquakes. We hope that this book helps to bridge the gap between seismology and geology and that it encourages further studies of earthquake and seismic faulting processes.
Fortschritte der Chemie organischer Naturstoffe 89 = Progress in the chemistry of organic natural products
The volumes of this classic series, now referred to simply as "Zechmeister" after its founder, L. Zechmeister, have appeared under the Springer Imprint ever since the series' inauguration in 1938. The volumes contain contributions on various topics related to the origin, distribution, chemistry, synthesis, biochemistry, function or use of various classes of naturally occurring substances ranging from small molecules to biopolymers. Each contribution is written by a recognized authority in his field and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the topic in question. Addressed to biologists, technologists, and chemists alike, the series can be used by the expert as a source of information and literature citations and by the non-expert as a means of orientation in a rapidly developing discipline.
Fortschritte der Chemie organischer Naturstoffe = Progress in the chemistry of organic natural products 88
The volumes of this classic series, now referred to simply as "Zechmeister" after its founder, L. Zechmeister, have appeared under the Springer Imprint ever since the series' inauguration in 1938. The volumes contain contributions on various topics related to the origin, distribution, chemistry, synthesis, biochemistry, function or use of various classes of naturally occurring substances ranging from small molecules to biopolymers. Each contribution is written by a recognized authority in his field and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the topic in question. Addressed to biologists, technologists, and chemists alike, the series can be used by the expert as a source of information and literature citations and by the non-expert as a means of orientation in a rapidly developing discipline.
Forest Policies and Social Change in England
The book stresses how values and perceptions shape policies, and conversely how policies can modify perceptions, and also how policies can fail if they do not take perceptions into account. She concludes that many of the issues facing English forestry in the 21st century – from leisure, health and amenity provision, through education and rural as well as urban regeneration, to biodiversity conservation – go well beyond both national borders and the scope of forestry. This novel synthesis provides a valuable resource for advanced students and researchers from all areas of natural resource studies, including those interested in social history, socio-economics, cultural geography and environmental psychology, as well as those studying landscape ecology, environmental history, policy analysis and natural resource management.
Forest Landscape Ecology : Transferring Knowledge to Practice
Forest Landscape Ecology: Transferring Knowledge to Practice is the first book to introduce landscape ecologists to the discipline of knowledge transfer. The book considers knowledge transfer in general, critically examines aspects of transfer that are unique to forest landscape ecology, and reviews several case studies of successful applications for policy developers and forest managers in North America. Readers are encouraged to recognize the value of sharing their knowledge, and to understand their role in active knowledge transfer. The intent is to connect, as seamlessly and effectively as possible, ecological principles to policy and practice.
Forest Entomology in East Africa : Forest Insects of Tanzania
East African forests, among the world’s most biologically rich and diverse, are subject to multiple pressures, including insects. As the first work to focus exclusively on East African forest insects, this monograph distils 135 years of scientific and historical literature extending from before the colonial era to the present into an authoritative survey of this region’s major pests of trees and wood, as well as their antagonists. This comprehensive treatise also addresses insects of social and economic importance, such as endemics, edible and collectible insects, wild bees and silk producers. It should be of great value to foresters, entomologists, conservation biologists, resource managers, safari outfitters and anyone else interested in the natural history of this fascinating region.
Forest Diversity and Management
Natural forests with thousands of years of ecological continuity are unrivalled as the treasure store of terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. And while there is currently no fully comprehensive inventory of the biota associated with any given forest, it is reasonable to assume that in conserving natural forests we can conserve the myriads of unnamed bacteria, fungi, insects, mites and nematodes that forests support. Drawing on diverse research from biodiversity experts around the world, this collection of papers reflects the diversity of forest types and forest issues that concern forest scientists globally. Forest types considered vary from savannah and tropical rainforests to the ancient oak forests of Poland; issues explored include the effects of logging, management practices, forest dynamics and climate change on forest structure and biodiversity.
Forensic Pathology Reviews ; Vol. 4
Building on the excellent foundation laid in earlier volumes of the series, leading forensic pathologists from the United States and around the world again provide in Forensic Pathology Reviews, Volume 4 evidence-based accounts of special topics of current interest from various fields of forensic pathology and death-scene investigation. The authors offer cutting-edge insights into death from environmental conditions (lightning and elder abuse), homicide by sharp force, death from natural causes (asthma, Marfan syndrome, and peliosis of the liver and spleen), and pathology of human endothelium in septic organ failure.
Food safety and toxicology : Present and future perspectives
Safety assurance of consumer goods has become a global challenge. The presence of natural and synthetic contaminants in food compromises food safety and poses a risk to public health. Discusses biological and chemical food contaminants, predictive and detection methods of food toxicants, survival mechanism of food pathogens, legislation on microbial contaminants to prevent public health risks and strategies to mitigate contamination.
Food preservation and safety of natural products
Food Preservation and Safety of Natural Products addresses the most common causes of food spoilage that create significant loss to global food production while also discussing how food serves as a vehicle for the transmission of pathogenic microorganisms responsible for mild to debilitating health conditions in humans. The book provides essential information for food safety professionals on issues relating to foodborne diseases and offers potential solutions by presenting various methods of incorporating natural products in food production to prevent the spread of foodborne pathogenic organisms. The demand for green consumerism and consumers general distaste for synthetic food additives poses a serious challenge to food safety and preservation. Natural products are used as green and sustainable source of bioactive compounds that can be applied in various fields including food. The use of plant and other natural products in food preservation is on the rise, hence this book reviews microbial mediated food spoilage, foodborne pathogens and food contamination and offers applications of natural products in food preservation.
Fluid Mechanics : An Introduction to the Theory of Fluid Flows
Advancements of fluid flow measuring techniques and of computational methods have led to new ways to treat laminar and turbulent flows. These methods are extensively used these days in research and engineering practise. This also requires new ways to teach the subject to students at higher educational institutions in an introductory manner. The book provides the knowledge to students in engineering and natural science needed to enter fluid mechanics applications in various fields. Analytical treatments are provided, based on the Navier-Stokes equations. Introductions are also given into numerical and experimental methods applied to flows. The main benefit the reader will derive from the book is a sound introduction into all aspects of fluid mechanics covering all relevant subfields.
