Animals in Our Midst : The Challenges of Co-existing with Animals in the Anthropocene
This book brings together authoritative voices in animal and environmental ethics, who address the many different facets of changing human-animal relationships in the Anthropocene. As we are living in complex times, the issue of how to establish meaningful relationships with other animals under Anthropocene conditions needs to be approached from a multitude of angles. This book offers the reader insight into the different discussions that exist around the topics of how we should understand animal agency, how we could take animal agency seriously in farms, urban areas and the wild, and what technologies are appropriate and morally desirable to use regarding animals. This book is of interest to both animal studies scholars and environmental ethics scholars, as well as to practitioners working with animals, such as wildlife managers, zookeepers, and conservation biologists.
ANEMONA : A Mulit-agent Methodology for Holonic Manufacturing Systems
ANEMONA is a multi-agent system (MAS) methodology for holonic manufacturing system (HMS) analysis and design, based on HMS requirements. The development process of ANEMONA provides clear and HMS-specific modeling guidelines for HMS designers, and complete development phases for the HMS life cycle.
Analytical Dynamics : Theory and Applications
This book takes a traditional approach to the development of the methods of analytical dynamics, using two types of examples throughout: simple illustrations of key results and thorough applications to complex, real-life problems
An Energy Analysis of Household Consumption : Changing Patterns of Direct and Indirect Use in India
The book presents a novel socio-economic approach to analysing the - ergy system and energy consumption in India from a household persp- tive. In doing so, it views households as the ultimate end-consumers and estimates and analyses the direct and indirect energy requirements of household consumption, both at an aggregate national level as well as at a disaggregate household level. In addition, the work incorporates two c- cial aspects often ignored by many energy studies that are characteristic of most developing countries, namely the importance of non-commercial sources of biomass energy in the energy systems of these countries, and the enormous diversity and inequity in the patterns of energy access and use across households with different lifestyles and levels of well being.
An Archaeological Evolution
An Archaeological Evolution is a personal recounting of his life as it is played out among some of the most important debates and movements in archaeology starting in the 1960's up to the 21st century.This seminal volume will be of interest to archaeologists (both professional and academic), anthropologists, historians, and conservators in or studying the United States but also, wherever archaeology is taught and practiced.
Amino acids and the asymmetry of life : Caught in the act of formation
This book describes how the basic building blocks of life, the amino acids, formed. After a comprehensible introduction into stereochemistry, the author addresses the inherent property of amino acids in living organisms, namely the preference for left-handedness. What was the cause for violation of parity of amino acids in the emergence of life on Earth? All the fascinating models proposed by physicists, chemists and biologist are vividly presented including the scientific conflicts.
AiREAS : Sustainocracy for a healthy city : Phase 3 : Civilian participation – Including the global health deal proposition
This volume describes phase 3 of the AiREAS multidisciplinary cocreation effort to produce a Healthy City. Phase 1 referred to making visible the invisible from an air quality and human exposure perspective. Phase 2 studies air quality related to health and Phase 3 looks at air quality, health and lifestyle from the perspective of persuasion to innovative change. The three books together describe the coming about and first results of the AiREAS "healthy city" cooperative in the city of Eindhoven and Province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. AiREAS is an initiative focused on the multidisciplinary co-creation of healthy cities using the core human value of human health and air quality as guiding principle for profound regional innovation.
Ages, generations and the social contract : The demographic challenges facing the welfare state
Our societies are ageing. The Family is changing. Labour force behaviour is evolving. How is the organisation of family and collective solidarity adapting in this context of longer life spans, low fertility, and work that is simultaneously scarce and abundant? The welfare states are currently facing three main challenges: ensure satisfactory living conditions for the elderly without increasing the cost burden on the active population, reduce social inequality, and maintain equity between successive generations. In this book, researchers from different countries compare their experiences and offer contrasting views on the future of social protection. They consider the theoretical aspects of the intergenerational debate, relations between generations within the family, the living standards of elderly people, and the question of social time.
Agency and causal explanation in economics
This book provides an exploration of the consequences of the ontological differences between natural and social objects (sometimes described as objects of nature and objects of thought) in the workings of causal and agency relationships.
After Bourdieu : Influence, Critique, Elaboration
Intellectual origins & orientations We begin by providing an overview of Bourdieu’s life as a scholar and a public intellectual. The numerous obituaries and memorial tributes that have appeared following Bourdieu’s untimely death have revealed something of his life and career, but few have stressed the intersection of his social origins, career trajectory, and public intellectual life with the changing political and social context of France. This is precisely what David Swartz’s “In memoriam” attempts to accomplish. In it he emphasizes the coincidence of Bourdieu’s young and later adulthood with the period of decolonization, the May 1968 French university crisis, the opening up of France to privatization of many domains previously entrusted to the state (l’état providence), and, most threatening to post-World War II reforms, the emergence of globalization as the hegemonic structure of the 21st century.
Advancing Quality of Life in a Turbulent World
Environmental issues continued to loom large in the last decade of the twentieth century,especially environmental problems related to rising levels of CO emissions and 2 other greenhouse gases on the planet’s average temperatures and, subsequently, storm patterns. Floods and droughts, in combination with unseasonably high and low temperatures became the norm rather than the exception for large expanses of Africa,Asia and Oceania. Even large areas of Europe and NorthAmerica were s- jected to recurrent floods and droughts and experienced unseasonable extremes of hot and cold temperatures associated with man-made intrusions into the natural environment. And, still, a global plan of action to haltman-related patterns of def- estation, desertification, and over-fishing of the seas has yet to come into being. At the same time, the number of regional conflicts and civil wars increased and, with them, the lives of many women, children, old people and other n- combatants were lost in these conflicts.
Advances in Telerobotics
The main purpose of this book is to provide readers with recent advances in the field of Telerobotics. It describes methods, experimental results, applications, and developments, highly relevant for scientists, researchers, and students in Teleoperation. This book is structured in three parts: I. Human System Interfaces, II. Control, and III. Applications. Chapters in part I concentrate on human interface technology which allows a human operator to close the control loop of a remote robot. Topics related to control algorithms - in particular for the case with time delay in the communication network - are the focus in part II, concentrating on bilateral control methods. Part III presents a variety of advanced applications in surgery, space, and other fields relevant to everyday life.
Advances in Mathematical and Statistical Modeling
Enrique Castillo is a leading figure in several mathematical, statistical, and engineering fields, having contributed seminal work in such areas as statistical modeling, extreme value analysis, multivariate distribution theory, Bayesian networks, neural networks, functional equations, artificial intelligence, linear algebra, optimization methods, numerical methods, reliability engineering, as well as sensitivity analysis and its applications. Organized to honor Castillo's significant contributions, this volume is an outgrowth of the International Conference on Mathematical and Statistical Modeling and covers recent advances in the field. Also presented are applications to safety, reliability and life-testing, financial modeling, quality control, general inference, as well as neural networks and computational techniques.
Advances in Life Cycle Engineering for Sustainable Manufacturing Businesses ; Proceedings of the 14th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, June 11th-13th, 2007
Life cycle engineering deals with technologies for shifting the industry from mass production and mass consumption paradigm to closed loop manufacturing paradigm, in which required functions are provided for customers with the minimum amount of production. This subject is discussed from the various aspects, such as life cycle design, design for environment, reduce/reuse/recycle, life cycle assessment, and sustainable business models.Advances in Life Cycle Engineering for Sustainable Manufacturing Businesses gathers together papers from the 14th CIRP Life Cycle Engineering Conference. This conference is the longest running annual meeting in the field, in which papers are presented regarding developments of leading edge technologies, proposals of new concepts, and prominent industry case studies.
Advances in Earthquake Engineering for Urban Risk Reduction
It is the vulnerable buildings - liable to cause damage and loss of life - that need immediate attention and urgent appraisal in order to decide if structural rehabilitation and upgrading are feasible. Current economic, efficient and occupant-friendly rehabilitation techniques vary widely and include the application either of precast concrete panels or layers, strips and patches of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) in strategic locations. The papers in this book, many by renowned authorities in earthquake engineering, chart new and vital directions of research and application in the assessment and rehabilitation of buildings in seismic regions. While several papers discuss the probabilistic prediction and quantification of structural damage, others present approaches related with the in-situ and occupant friendly upgrading of buildings and propose both economical and practical techniques to address the problem.
Advances in Cardiac Signal Processing
Deals with the acquisition and extraction of the various morphological features of the electrocardiogram signals.In the first chapters the book first presents data fusion and different data mining techniques that have been used for the cardiac state diagnosis. The second part deals with heart rate variability (HRV), a non-invasive measurement of cardiovascular autonomic regulation. Next, visualization of ECG data is discussed, an important part of the display in life threatening state. Here, the handling of data is discussed which were acquired during several hours. In the following chapters the book discusses aortic pressure measurement which is of significant clinical importance. It presents non-invasive methods for analysis of the aortic pressure waveform, indicating how it can be employed to determine cardiac contractility, arterial compliance, and peripheral resistance. In addition, the book demonstrates methods to extract diagnostic parameters for assessing cardiac function. Further the measurement strategies for contractile effort of the left ventricle are presented. Finally, the book concludes about the future of cardiac signal processing leading to next generation research topics which directly impacts the cardiac health care.
Advanced Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting Techniques
Time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) is a remarkable technique for recording low-level light signals with extremely high precision and picosecond-time resolution. TCSPC has developed from an intrinsically time-consuming and one-dimensional technique into a fast, multi-dimensional technique to record light signals. So this reference and text describes how advanced TCSPC techniques work and demonstrates their application to time-resolved laser scanning microscopy, single molecule spectroscopy, photon correlation experiments, and diffuse optical tomography of biological tissue. It gives practical hints about constructing suitable optical systems, choosing and using detectors, detector safety, preamplifiers, and using the control features and optimising the operating conditions of TCSPC devices. Advanced TCSPC Techniques is an indispensable tool for everyone in research and development who is confronted with the task of recording low-intensity light signals in the picosecond and nanosecond range.
Advanced Techniques in Biophysics
Technical advancements are basic elements in our life. In biophysical studies, new applications and improvements in well-established techniques are being implemented every day. This book deals with advancements produced not only from a technical point of view, but also from new approaches that are being taken in the study of biophysical samples, such as nanotechniques or single-cell measurements. This book constitutes a privileged observatory for reviewing novel applications of biophysical techniques that can help the reader enter an area where the technology is progressing quickly and where a comprehensive explanation is not always to be found.
Advanced memory optimization techniques for low-power embedded processors
this book explores a collaborative approach by proposing novel memory hierarchies and software optimization techniques for the optimal utilization of these memory hierarchies. Linking memory architecture design with memory-architecture aware compilation results in fast, energy-efficient and timing predictable memory accesses.The evaluation of the optimization techniques using real-life benchmarks for a single processor system, a multiprocessor system-on-chip (SoC) and for a digital signal processor system, reports significant reductions in the energy consumption and performance improvement of these systems. The book presents a wide range of optimizations, progressively increasing in the complexity of analysis and of memory hierarchies. The final chapter covers optimization techniques for applications consisting of multiple processes found in most modern embedded devices.
Adhesive Bonding of Aircraft Composite Structures: Non-destructive Testing and Quality Assurance Concepts
This book is under a CC BY 4.0 license. It presents the results of the ComBoNDT European project, which aimed at the development of more secure, time- and cost-saving extended non-destructive inspection tools for carbon fiber reinforced plastics, adhered surfaces and bonded joints. The book reports the optimal use of composite materials to allow weight savings, reduction in fuel consumptions, savings during production and higher cost efficiency for ground operations.



















