Extreme Nonlinear Optics : An Introduction
Following the birth of the laser in 1960, the field of "nonlinear optics" rapidly emerged. Today, laser intensities and pulse durations are readily available, for which the concepts and approximations of traditional nonlinear optics no longer apply. In this regime of "extreme nonlinear optics," a large variety of novel and unusual effects arise, for example frequency doubling in inversion symmetric materials or high-harmonic generation in gases, which can lead to attosecond electromagnetic pulses or pulse trains. Other examples of "extreme nonlinear optics" cover diverse areas such as solid-state physics, atomic physics, relativistic free electrons in a vacuum and even the vacuum itself. This book starts with an introduction to the field based primarily on extensions of two famous textbook examples, namely the Lorentz oscillator model and the Drude model. Here the level of sophistication should be accessible to any undergraduate physics student. Many graphical illustrations and examples are given. The following chapters gradually guide the student towards the current "state of the art" and provide a comprehensive overview of the field. Every chapter is accompanied by exercises to deepen the reader's understanding of important topics, with detailed solutions at the end of the book.
Extreme Conflict and Tropical Forests
At a time when the international community is devoting significant attention to the issue of governance as a key factor in global environmental decline, this book provides a timely insight into the relationships between extreme conflict, the international trade in forest products, and the social, economic and environmental condition of tropical forests and their human communities. Drawing on the expertise of both natural and social scientists, Extreme Conflict and Tropical Forests explores the underlying causes and the social and environmental consequences of conflict in tropical forest areas. Case studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America present a range of issues – from illicit crops and ‘conflict timber’ production, to the potential of peace parks for improving human security, social quality and biodiversity conservation.
Experimental vibration analysis for civil structures : Testing, sensing, monitoring, and control
Covers a wide range of topics in the areas of vibration testing, instrumentation, and analysis of civil engineering and critical infrastructure. It explains how recent research, development, and applications in experimental vibration analysis of civil engineering structures have progressed significantly due to advancements in the fields of sensor and testing technologies, instrumentation, data acquisition systems, computer technology, computational modeling and simulation of large and complex civil infrastructure systems. The book also examines how cutting-edge artificial intelligence and data analytics can be applied to infrastructure systems.
Experimental Algorithms ; 6th International Workshop, WEA 2007, Rome, Italy, June 6-8, 2007, Proceedings
Fostering and disseminating high quality research results focused on the experimental analysis of algorithms the papers are devoted to the design, analysis, implementation, experimental evaluation, and engineering of efficient algorithms. Among the application areas addressed are most fields applying advanced algorithmic techniques, such as combinatorial optimization, approximation, graph theory, discrete mathematics, data mining, simulation, cryptography and security, scheduling, searching, sorting, string matching, coding, networking, etc.
Experimental Algorithms ; 5th International Workshop, WEA 2006, Cala Galdana, Menorca, Spain, May 24-27, 2006, Proceedings
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Experimental and Efficient Algorithms, WEA 2006, held in Cala Galdana, Menorca, Spain in May 2006. The 26 revised full papers presented together with 3 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 92 submissions. The book is devoted to the design, analysis, implementation, experimental evaluation, and engineering of efficient algorithms. Among the application areas addressed are most fields applying advanced algorithmic techniques.
Evolutionary computation, machine learning and data mining in bioinformatics ; 5th European Conference, EvoBIO 2007, Valencia, Spain, April 11-13, 2007, Proceedings
This book Covers brings together experts in computer science with experts in bioinformatics and the biological sciences. It presents contributions on fundamental and theoretical issues along with papers dealing with different applications areas.
Evolutionary Computation in Dynamic and Uncertain Environments
This book provides a compilation on the state-of-the-art and recent advances of evolutionary algorithms in dynamic and uncertain environments within a unified framework. The motivation for this book arises from the fact that some degree of uncertainty in characterizing any realistic engineering systems is inevitable. Representative methods for addressing major sources of uncertainties in evolutionary computation, including handle of noisy fitness functions, use of approximate fitness functions, search for robust solutions, and tracking moving optimums, are presented. "Evolutionary Computation in Dynamic and Uncertain Environments" is a valuable reference for scientists, researchers, professionals and students in the field of engineering and science, particularly in the areas of computational intelligence, natural computing and evolutionary computation.
Evolution of Thin Film Morphology : Modeling and Simulations
Thin film deposition is the most ubiquitous and critical of the processes used to manufacture high tech devices. Morphology and microstructure of thin films directly controls their optical, magnetic, and electrical properties. This book focuses on modeling and simulations used in research on the morphological evolution during film growth. The authors emphasize the detailed mathematical formulation of the problem both through numerical calculations based on Langevin continuum equations, and through Monte Carlo simulations based on discrete surface growth models when an analytical formulism is not convenient. Evolution of Thin-Film Morphology will be of benefit to university researchers and industrial scientists working in the areas of semiconductor processing, optical coating, plasma etching, patterning, micro-machining, polishing, tribology, and any discipline that requires an understanding of thin film growth processes.
Evolution of the Web in Artificial Intelligence Environments
The material in this book is designed to be drawn from different Web application areas so as to provide an overview of important contributions in the development of the Web applications. These are mainly in the areas of Web personalisation, semantic Web and Web services.
Evolution from Cellular to Social Scales
Evolution is a critical challenge for many areas of science, technology and development of society. The book reviews general evolutionary facts such as origin of life and evolution of the genome and clues to evolution through simple systems. Emerging areas of science such as "systems biology" and "bio-complexity" are founded on the idea that phenomena need to be understood in the context of highly interactive processes operating at different levels and on different scales. This is where physics meets complexity in nature, and where we must begin to learn about complexity if we are to understand it. Similarly, there is an increasingly urgent need to understand and predict the evolutionary behavior of highly interacting man-made systems, in areas such as communications and transport, which permeate the modern world. The same applies to the evolution of human networks such as social, political and financial systems, where technology has tended to vastly increase both the complexity and speed of interaction, which is sometimes effectively instantaneous.
Evidence-based practice in medicine and health care : A discussion of the ethical issues
Evidence-based Medicine (EBM) is feared to become a kind of cook-book medicine that has nothing to do with the traditional skills and ethics. This volume shows the contribution EBM makes and might make to medical practice and health policy. It describes as many viewpoints as possible with a focus on the ethical issues that are at stake in this process. It shows how EBM has developed from an internal medical issue to an instrument for health policy. It is the outcome of the European Project "Ethical Issues of Evidence Based Practice in Medicine and Health Care" and gives insight into the ethical background of the debate on the role of EBM in various areas of medicine, including clinical practice, medical education, medical research, health policy and medical sociology.
European Robotics Symposium 2008
These monothematic proceedings represent a collection of papers presented at the 2nd European Robotics Symposium, held in Prague, March 26-27, 2008. The goal of the given selection of papers is to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent status in robotics research world-wide in the key areas of cognition, autonomy, adaptation and robustness in robotics.
European Large Lakes Ecosystem changes and their ecological and socioeconomic impacts
Large lakes offer socio-economic benefits and can be used in many ways, and are often areas in which economic, cultural and political interests overlap. In this book the problems regarding the present status of European large lakes and the directions of change are discussed. Threats caused by direct human impact and by climate change, protection needs and restoration measures are considered.
Ethics Expertise : History, Contemporary Perspectives, and Applications
This volume examines philosophical conceptions of ethics expertise from both historical and contemporary perspectives, including applications of ethics expertise in such areas as bioethics consultation, expert witnessing and policy making. It will be of interest to scholars of moral philosophy as well as contemporary practitioners in many areas of bioethics.
Establishing The Foundation Of Collaborative Networks ; IFIP TC 5 Working Group 5.5 Eighth IFIP Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises September 10-12, 2007, Guimarães, Portugal
While today production and service provision constitute the main areas of application for Collaborative Networks (CNs) worldwide, during the last decade the paradigm is extending to many new application areas. These developments emphasize the need for establishing a sounder foundation for collaborative networks, namely in terms of theoretical principles and formal models, capturing the concepts, entities, behaviors, and operations of the CNs, and developing technology-independent infrastructure architectures, tools and methodologies. This book includ represent a comprehensive overview of recent advances in various domains and lines of research and development on collaborative networks. There is a special emphasis on the CN topics related to trust aspects, performance and value systems, VO breeding environments, VO creation, e-contracting, collaborative architectures and frameworks, professional virtual communities, interoperability issues, business benefits, and case studies and applications in industry and services.
Essentials of business law
A practical, concise, and broad-based introduction to the vibrant field of business law. Both the traditional areas of law, such as contracts and property, and the emerging areas of law, such as e-commerce and environmental, are covered in short, informative chapters written to capture the essence of each topic. The objective of the text throughout its coverage is ease of use, ease of teaching, ease of assessment, and ease of understanding.
ESD Protection Device and Circuit Design for Advanced CMOS Technologies
ESD Protection Device and Circuit Design for Advanced CMOS Technologies is intended for practicing engineers working in the areas of circuit design, VLSI reliability and testing domains.
Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers ; International Conference, EHAWC 2007, Held as Part of HCI International 2007, Beijing, China, July 22-27, Proceedings
This book address the latest research and development efforts and highlight the human aspects of design and use of computing systems. It cover the entire field of Human-Computer Interaction, addressing major - vances in knowledge and effective use of computers in a variety of application areas. This volume contains thematic area of Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers, addressing the following major topics:Health and Well Being in the Working Environment, Ergonomics and Design
Environmental Security in Harbors and Coastal Areas : Management Using Comparative Risk Assessment and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
This book explores the challenges facing coastal areas during the next few decades and the difficult decisions needed to prevent a repeat of the past. Establishing, maintaining or enhancing a sense of environmental security in different coastal regions and improving the management of critical infrastructure will require (i) matching human demands with available environmental resources; (ii) recognition of environmental security threats and infrastructure vulnerabilities; and, (iii) identification of the range of available options for preventing and/or minimizing natural disasters, technological failures, and/or terror actions. This book emphasizes beliefs that the convergence of seemingly disparate viewpoints and often uncertain and limited information is possible only by using one or more available risk assessment methodologies and decision-making tools such as multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA).
Environmental Security and Public Safety ; Problems and Needs in Conversion Policy and Research after 15 Years of Conversion in Central and Eastern Europe
Although the end of the Cold War has paved the way to a substantial demilitarisation and conversion, the leftovers of this process – such as former military installations, military training areas, and huge quantities of unserviceable ammunition and equipment – still pose a severe threat to the environment of both NATO and Partner countries.The rehabilitation of these areas for civilian uses is extremely costly and is generally in the short and medium term not possible. For this reason, the development of new methods for the estimation avoidance of risks should receive special priority. In the context of this ARW, the reconnaissance and appraisal of conversion areas with respect to costs, returns, and legal considerations were discussed. The decades-long use of some areas led to the heavy loading of contaminates. Every task of conversion has as its goal the elimination of dangers to humans and nature, and the return of areas to civil use, such that these areas can be used realise economic interests of the society.



















