الصفحة 8
الصفحة 8
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.
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.
Foundations of landscape architecture : Integrating form and space using the language of site design
Illustrates the importance of spatial language. It introduces concepts, typologies, and rudimentary principles of form and space. Including designs for projects such as parks, campuses, and memorials, this text provides the core concepts necessary for designers to shape functional landscapes. Additionally, chapters discuss organizational and spatial design structures based on orthogonal forms, angular forms, and circular forms.
Foundation 3ds Max 8 Architectural Visualization
Welcome to the world of 3D architectural visualizations using the most powerful and versatile 3D software package on the planet: 3ds Max. In just the last few years, the visualization industry has arguably become the fastest-growing 3D industry, and may soon overtake all others in total number of users. Just as the use of computer-aided design became the norm for nearly all architectural, engineering, and construction firms in the 1990s, 3D visualizations have become standard practice today. This book takes you through the challenge of learning one of the most complex computer programs ever created, by way of easy-to-follow tutorials and instruction. It specifically focuses on those parts of the program you need to know to produce stunning architectural visualizations.
Forensic Anthropology and Medicine : Complementary Sciences From Recovery to Cause of Death
The aim of this book is to dissect forensic anthropology and forensic pathology in its various and valuable contributions to contemporary society. It gives answers and approaches key questions to this sciences' growing audience within different countries in the recent years. It aims to provide a practical approach to the investigation of bodies that are not fresh enough to be considered a normal forensic case.
Foreign Investor Misconduct in International Investment Law
examines the issue of foreign investor misconduct in modern international investment law, focusing on the approach that international investment law as it currently operates has developed towards foreign investor misconduct. The term ‘misconduct’ is not a legal notion, but is used to describe a certain phenomenon, namely, a group/class of actions. This term is convenient since it makes it possible to introduce and describe the phenomenon as such, without a division into concrete types of conduct, like ‘abuse of process’, ‘violation of national law’, ‘corruption’, ‘investment contrary to international norms and standards’, etc.
Food Anxiety in Globalising Vietnam
This book approaches the anxieties inherent in food consumption and production in Vietnam. The country’s rapid and recent economic integration into global agro-food systems and consumer markets spurred a new quality of food safety concerns, health issues and distrust in food distribution networks that have become increasingly obscured. This edited volume further puts the eating body centre stage by following how gendered body norms, food taboos, power structures and social differentiation shape people’s ambivalent relations with food. It uncovers Vietnam’s trajectories of agricultural modernisation against which consumers and producers manoeuvre amongst food self-sufficiency, security and abundance. It provides social science perspectives on anxieties related to food and surrounding discourses that travel between the local and the global, the individual and society and into the body. Therefore, the book’s lens of food anxiety matters for social theory and for understanding the embeddedness and discontinuities of food globalizations in Vietnam and beyond.
Flux Pinning in Superconductors
Covers the flux pinning mechanisms and properties and the electromagnetic phenomena caused by the flux pinning common for metallic, high-Tc and MgB2 superconductors. The condensation energy interaction known for normal precipitates or grain boundaries and the kinetic energy interaction proposed for artificial Nb pins in Nb-Ti, etc., are introduced for the pinning mechanism.
First Responder's Guide to Abnormal Psychology : Applications for Police, Firefighters and Rescue Personnel
Natural disasters. Hostage situations. Terror attacks. During these and other emergency situations, first responders make split-second judgments: evaluating risks, identifying dangerous conditions, and—often the hardest job of all—attending to those distressed and disturbed by their ordeal. First Responder's Guide to Abnormal Psychology gives readers critical insights into the human impact of extreme trauma, and the various levels of mental impairment suffered by both victims and survivors. Renowned trauma experts William Dorfman and Lenore Walker give this book immediate relevance through the use of real-life examples from a wide range of crisis situations. They have also deliberately minimized research citations within the text for greater readability.
Finite Mixture and Markov Switching Models
The prominence of finite mixture modelling is greater than ever. Many important statistical topics like clustering data, outlier treatment, or dealing with unobserved heterogeneity involve finite mixture models in some way or other. The area of potential applications goes beyond simple data analysis and extends to regression analysis and to non-linear time series analysis using Markov switching models.It is the first time that the Bayesian perspective of finite mixture modelling is systematically presented in book form. It is argued that the Bayesian approach provides much insight in this context and is easily implemented in practice. Although the main focus is on Bayesian inference, the author reviews several frequentist techniques, especially selecting the number of components of a finite mixture model, and discusses some of their shortcomings compared to the Bayesian approach. The aim of this book is to impart the finite mixture and Markov switching approach to statistical modelling to a wide-ranging community. This includes not only statisticians, but also biologists, economists, engineers, financial agents, market researcher, medical researchers or any other frequent user of statistical models. This book should help newcomers to the field to understand how finite mixture and Markov switching models are formulated, what structures they imply on the data, what they could be used for, and how they are estimated.
Finite element analysis in geotechnical engineering ; Vol.1 : Theory
Provides the reader with a detailed insight into the use of the finite element method in geotechnical engineering. As specialist knowledge required to perform geotechnical finite element analysis is not normally part of a single engineering degree course, this lucid work will prove invaluable. It brings together essential information presented in a manner understandable to most engineers. Volume 1 presents the theory, assumptions and approximations involved in finite element analysis
Finite element analysis in geotechnical engineering : Vol.2 : Application
Provides the reader with a detailed insight into the use of the finite element method in geotechnical engineering. As specialist knowledge required to perform geotechnical finite element analysis is not normally part of a single engineering degree course, this lucid work will prove invaluable. It brings together essential information presented in a manner understandable to most engineers. Volume 2 concentrates on its practical applications.
Financing public universities : The case of performance funding
"Financing Public Universities" addresses newer practices of resource allocation which tie funding to indicators of performance. The gist of these efforts is to raise the quality of institutional systems. Performance-based budgeting and funding of public universities is part of broader efforts to reform public management, and it is being promoted and implemented by various government agencies around the globe. In particular, European universities with their normally strong governmental ties, or higher education systems molded on European universities, are prime targets of such reforms. Performance funding has made its inroads in attempts to grant university systems managerial autonomy: autonomy was to be granted in exchange for funding modes which are tied to the measurement of performance indicators. Unfortunately, performance-based budgeting or funding measures cannot meet the various expectations: they do not raise the quality of teaching or learning; they do not raise research performance; they take back a great deal of managerial autonomy which is commonly judged to be essential for the well being of higher education institutions, in particular research universities; and they act as automata in place of proper governance and management.
Financial risk management with bayesian estimation of GARCH models : Theory and applications
This book presents methodologies for the Bayesian estimation of GARCH models and their application to financial risk management. The study of these models from a Bayesian viewpoint is relatively recent and can be considered very promising due to the advantages of the Bayesian approach, in particular the possibility of obtaining small-sample results and integrating these results in a formal decision model. The first two chapters introduce the work and give an overview of the Bayesian paradigm for inference. The next three chapters describe the estimation of the GARCH model with Normal innovations and the linear regression models with conditionally Normal and Student-t-GJR errors. The sixth chapter shows how agents facing different risk perspectives can select their optimal Value at Risk Bayesian point estimate and documents that the differences between individuals can be substantial in terms of regulatory capital.
Financial Modeling Under Non-Gaussian Distributions
Practitioners and researchers who have handled financial market data know that asset returns do not behave according to the bell-shaped curve, associated with the Gaussian or normal distribution. Indeed, the use of Gaussian models when the asset return distributions are not normal could lead to a wrong choice of portfolio, the underestimation of extreme losses or mispriced derivative products. Consequently, non-Gaussian models and models based on processes with jumps are gaining popularity among financial market practitioners.
Filtering Theory : With Applications to Fault Detection, Isolation, and Estimation
The focus of this book is on filtering for linear processes, and its primary goal is to design filters from a class of linear stable unbiased filters that yield an estimation error with the lowest root-mean-square (RMS) norm. Various hierarchical classes of filtering problems are defined based on the availability of statistical knowledge regarding noise, disturbances, and other uncertainties. An important characteristic of the approach employed in this work for several aspects of filter analysis and design is structural in nature, revealing an inherent freedom to incorporate other classical secondary engineering constraints—such as placement of filter poles at desired locations—in filter design. Such a structural approach requires an understanding of powerful tools that then may be used in several engineering applications besides filtering.
Fetus abnormalities relating drug
Drugs use in pregnancy remains a major public health problem. Fetal teratogenicity results from the effect of these substances during fetal development, particularly when used in combination. Approximately 3-5% of live births are complicated by a birth defect each year totaling around 120,000 babies. Additionally, more women taking any kind of medication has more than doubled in the last 30 years. Current evidence suggests that between 65%-94 % of women take at least one prescription drug during pregnancy. Nearly 70% of women are taking a medication in the first trimester during organogenesis. On average, women are taking 3 medications in pregnancy with over 50% of women using four or more. This includes over the counter medications and herbal supplements. During pregnancy, drugs are often required to treat certain disorders.
Fetal and Neonatal Pathology
The book presenting the same practical approach to the examination of both fetuses and perinatal deaths. It provides essential clinical and pathophysiological information and discusses the pathogenesis of abnormalities as a basis for appropriate methods of investigation. Part 1 deals with the examination of the products of conception after the termination of pregnancy for fetal anomalies. The range of pathological abnormalities is described and their relevance discussed. Special attention is paid to the differences in pathological findings of specific conditions between the second and third trimesters. Part 2 is organised by system, describing and illustrating those pathological problems which are likely to be encountered in the fetus and neonate. Each chapter is introduced by a concise account of the development of the relevant system. There is also a discussion, as appropriate, of changes at birth as well as changes in normal function that may occur during the neonatal period.
Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery
"Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery" is a high level text covering recent advances in the field. It includes anatomy, normal and abnormal physiology, investigation techniques, inflammatory conditions and treatment options.
FastSLAM : A Scalable Method for the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Problem in Robotics
This monograph describes a new family of algorithms for the simultaneous localization and mapping problem in robotics (SLAM). SLAM addresses the problem of acquiring an environment map with a roving robot, while simultaneously localizing the robot relative to this map. This problem has received enormous attention in the robotics community in the past few years, reaching a peak of popularity on the occasion of the DARPA Grand Challenge in October 2005, which was won by the team headed by the authors. The FastSLAM family of algorithms applies particle filters to the SLAM Problem, which provides new insights into the data association problem that is paramount in SLAM. The FastSLAM-type algorithms have enabled robots to acquire maps of unprecedented size and accuracy, in a number of robot application domains and have been successfully applied in different dynamic environments, including the solution to the problem of people tracking.
