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Creating and Enhancing Digital Astro Images
Digital imaging is now available to all amateur astronomers at a reasonable price. The advent of CCDs, DSLRs and – perhaps most significantly – webcams mean today’s astronomers can make colorful planetary or deep-sky images of breathtaking beauty. The results obtained with even modest equipment can be spectacular, but of course they depend crucially on the computer processing of the images after they have been captured. Enhancing Digital Images is not just an introduction to image processing, it is a deeply practical, comprehensive and fully illustrated in-depth guide to using a digital camera, performing image reduction and undertaking image enhancement – all without jargon or math. Here is everything you need to know about processing digital astronomical images, regardless of whether you are experienced or a relative beginner!
Craig’s Restorative Dental Materials ; 1st ed.
Covers everything you need to know to understand the science of selecting dental materials when designing and fabricating restorations. It begins with fundamentals and moves on to advanced skills in the manipulation of dental materials, providing insight on the latest advances and research along the way. From an expert author team led by Ronald Sakaguchi, this comprehensive resource is considered to be the standard in the field of dental restorations.
Court Delay and Law Enforcement in China : Civil process and economic perspective
On the basis of an empirical study and taking a comparative as well as an economic perspective Qing-Yun Jiang analyses the problem of court delay and law enforcement in China. He shows that delay is not a serious problem in the lower courts in respect to trial cases, but mainly in appeal cases and retrial cases, which require more time. Moreover, the study confirms that law enforcement has been an obstacle for the development of market economy and a bottleneck of the judiciary. The author concludes that judicial reform should not only deal with symptoms, but with the roots of the political and economic structure.
Coupled Models for the Hydrological Cycle : Integrating Atmosphere, Biosphere and Pedosphere
Hydrologists, climatologists, soil scientists and environmental engineers are frequently asked to analyse complex environmental problems. It is becoming increasingly apparent that these problems usually involve feedbacks between atmospheric, ecological, and hydrological systems, as well as human society. It is often the feedbacks between systems that are of greatest interest because they may produce unanticipated responses. That is why coupling of different compartments of the Earth system has emerged as a general challenge to the modelling community. This book considers an array of state-of-the-art coupling and modelling concepts. First the relevant Earth system cycles are presented, followed by a discussion on scale issues and multiple equilibria. Inter- and intra-compartmental coupling is addressed, along with a debate on non-linearities and questions of parameterisation. Several applications are presented, where a focus is on cases where the hydrological cycle plays a central role.
Counter-Terrorism Policing : Community, Cohesion and Security
This book charts these opportunities and challenges through unprecedented access to the police and diverse communities in Australian regional and metropolitan contexts. It locates these developments in an international comparison with like jurisdictions in the US, UK, and Canada and in light of former conflicts in Northern Ireland and South Africa. It examines the nature and impact of counter-terrorism on policing, diverse communities, legislation and policy and on the media. The book concludes by posing questions for the future of counter-terrorism policing in liberal democracies.
Countering Counterfeit Trade : Illicit Market Insights, Best-Practice Strategies, and Management Toolbox
The book constitutes a unique combination of in-depth insights into the counterfeit market, best-practice strategies, novel management tools, and product protection technologies.
Counteracting Urban Heat Island Effects in a Global Climate Change Scenario
Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) are a microclimatic phenomenon which manifests as a significant increase in the temperature of cities compared to their surrounding areas. Recently the phenomenon has been enforced by the tendency to climate change and in particular by extreme climate events. This book presents and analyzes the results of a project to develop and apply mitigation and adaptation strategies and measures for counteracting the global urban heat islands phenomenon, supported by the EU’s Central Europe Regional Development Fund.
COTS-Based software systems ; 4th International Conference, ICCBSS 2005, Bilbao, Spain, February 7-11, 2005, Proceedings
The theme “Build and Conquer” : software development is an engineering discipline, and not an artistic expression. Once we are ready to “build” our software systems using pieces previously builtin (similar to any other technology manufacturer), we will be able to “conquer” the software engineering process. If we take a look at other engineering disciplines such as car manufacturing, house appliances or aeronautics, we see that the final products are built through the integration of multiprovider commercial components. These components are successfully integrated and constitute an important part of the final product. Most software-related organizations still build software from scratch, omitting thousands of ready-built commercially available software components that could be used very effectively during the development phase. This year ICCBSS moves to Europe for the first time since the first conference took place in Orlando, FL, USA in 2002. The conference scope has enlarged over the years to include the Open Source community and Web Services technologies. so many of the characteristics of COTS are also applied to Open Source and Web Services.
Cost-sharing and Accessibility in Higher Education : A Fairer Deal?
Higher education finances lie at the crossroads in many Western countries. On the one hand, the surging demand of the past three or four decades, driven by a belief in higher education as a principal engine of social and economic advancement, has led to dramatic growth of the higher education systems in these countries. On the other hand, this growth in demand was accompanied by rapidly increasing per-student cost pressures at a time when governments seemed increasingly unable to keep pace with these cost pressures through public revenues. Hence, worldwide, the most common approach to the need for increasing revenue was to use some form or forms of cost sharing, or the shift of some of the higher educational per-student costs from governments and taxpayers to parents and students.
Costs of air pollution control : Analyses of emission control options for ozone abatement strategies
This work derives strategies for developing useful EU policies aimed at the control of air pollutants in Europe, especially ground-level ozone. The author starts with the air-pollution status quo in the late 1990s, placing further impacts of photooxidant concentrations into perspective. Emission sources are then analysed in detail, and a likely scenario for a business-as-usual development in emissions is proposed. From the cost-benefit perspective, it is shown that a holistic, integrated evaluation of all air pollutants and their effects results in a full accounting that reflects synergies and hidden benefits. The modelling scheme identifies emission targets needed to achieve compliance with EU thresholds, and calculations reveal the need to review established ozone thresholds and emission limits, even after discounting the positive effects of including central and eastern European nations.
Cost-Benefit Analysis of Environmental Goods by Applying Contingent Valuation Method : Some Japanese Case Studies
Contingent valuation is one of the means of incorporating socio-environmental considerations in cost–benefit analysis. The authors of this book have examined environmental valuation methods through the lens of cost–benefit analysis focused on three case studies in Japan: public parks, a bay wetland, and a recreational theme park. With implications for the world at large, the findings presented here serve as a valuable source of information on Japanese behavior regarding the valuation of environmental goods. New, alternative approaches and guidelines for cost–benefit analysis in the public and private spheres also are discussed. This volume makes an important addition to the library of all researchers and other scientists in the fields of environmental science and environmental economics.
Cosmology
Cosmology deals with the current state of thinking about the basic questions at the center of the field of cosmology. More emphasis than usual is put on the connections to related domains of science, such as geometry, relativity, thermodynamics, particle physics, and - in particular - on the intrinsic connections between the different topics. The chapters are illustrated with many figures that are as exact as currently possible, e.g. in the case of geometry and relativity. Readers acquire a graduate-level knowledge of cosmology as it is required to understand the cosmological impact of their particular research topics, as well as an introduction into the current research in the field.
Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing : Estimation of Agricultural Crop Biomass Water Equivalent
Provides methods for the estimation of Biomass Water Equivalent (BEW), an essential step for improving the accuracy of area-wide soil moisture by cosmic-ray neutron sensors (CRNS). Three techniques are explained in detail: (i) traditional in-situ destructive sampling, (ii) satellite based remote sensing of plant surfaces, and (iii) biomass estimation via the use of the CRNS itself. The advantages and disadvantages of each method are discussed along with step by step instructions on proper procedures and implementation.
Cosmetic creams development and formulation of effective skin care products
A guide to cosmetic creams that focuses on formulation, production, and safety concerns. It puts the focus on the structure and formulation of a cosmetic cream, the production process, the effect of each ingredient, as well as safety considerations. Comprehensive in scope, the book contains a basic definition of cosmetics and describes the types of skin creams currently on the market, the major ingredients used, and example compositions. The author, Wilfried Rähse?a noted expert on the topic?offers guidelines for estimating manufacturing costs and includes procedures for an effective safety assessment.
Cosmetic and reconstructive facial plastic surgery : A review of medical and biomedical engineering and science concepts
Provides an extensive overview of the most recent technological advancements in facial plastic and reconstructive surgeries and head and neck surgery through a thorough review of the literature in biomedical engineering, technology, and medicine. Coverage includes the most recent engineering and computing techniques, such as robotics, biomechanics, artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning (DL), machine learning (ML), and optimization, as well as the medical and surgical aspects of medical and scientific methods, surgical and non-surgical procedure types, complications, patient care, and psychological factors.
Cosmeceutical science in clinical practice
Cosmeceuticals – skin care products that fall between a cosmetic and a pharmaceutical, with active ingredients that counter skin aging and promote skin rejuvenation – are an invaluable adjunct to the cosmetic dermatologist or plastic surgeon performing minimally invasive aesthetic procedures. This guide from expert researchers and practitioners explains how best to integrate the potential of cosmeceutical products into the best international clinical practice, with new chapters to cover the very latest developments in this area.
Coryphantha : Cacti of Mexico and Southern USA
This unique reference work presents the first comprehensive taxonomy of Coryphantha, with a complete key to the genus. During this process, the authors even discovered some new plants. More than 300 high-quality colour photos showing the various cacti and their habitats as well as distribution cards and illustrations explaining the morphological details complement the text.
Corticofugal Modulation of Sensory Information
Sensory signals reach the cerebral cortex after having made synapses in different relay stations along the sensory pathway. The flow of sensory information in subcortical relay stations is controlled by the action of precise topographic connections from the neocortex. Several lines of research indicate that the massive corticifugal system improves ongoing subcortical sensory processing and reorganizes the receptive fields in visual, auditory and somatosensory systems. In all these sensory systems cortical neurons mediate both the highly focused positive feedback to subcortical neurons with ove
Cortical Deficits In Schizophrenia : From Genes to Function
Opens with a chapter by Paul Harrison highlighting the several convergence points among the diverse schizophrenia-related genes. This is followed by chapters reviewing several different specific genes, including Neuregulin, DISC-1, dysbindin, and Homer, among others, and by several chapters presenting information on physiological cortical processes that could be affected by those genes. These include glutamatergic, GABAergic and cholinergic neurotransmission.Current hot topics in schizophrenia research are also highlighted in the book. A concept that is gaining strength in the field, the chapters in this book summarize the current state of affairs in schizophrenia pathophysiology, with a consideration of genetic elements that may contribute to it. Cortical Deficits in Schizophrenia: From Genes to Function will prove a useful tool for those interested in a better understanding of schizophrenia. Even if more predisposing genes (not included in this book) become identified, the work laid out here will prove critical for assigning a functional (or dysfunctional) role to those genes. Although this is a fast-evolving field, the information and concepts covered in this book will likely be useful for years to come.
Corrosion of Steel in Concrete : Understanding, Investigation and Repair
A guide for designing, constructing and maintaining reinforced concrete structures, such as buildings and bridges which are subject to reinforcement corrosion. It presents the basics of theory and practice in steel corrosion in concrete and reviews the latest research and developments, such as progress on measuring the corrosion threshold for chloride-induced corrosion.
