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The Physics of Birdsong
In recent years birdsong has developed into an extremely interesting problem for researchers in several branches of the scientific community. The reason is that of the approximately 10,000 species of birds known to exist, some 4000 share with humans (and just a few other species in the animal kingdom) a remarkable feature: their acquisition of vocalization requires a certain degree of exposure to a tutor. Between the complex neural architecture involved in the process and the song itself, stands a delicate apparatus that the bird must control with incredible precision. This book deals with the physical mechanisms at work in the production of birdsong, the acoustic effects that the avian vocal organ is capable of generating, and the nature of the neural instructions needed to drive it. The book provides fascinating reading for physicists, biologists and general readers alike.
The Physical Basis of The Direction of Time
This thoroughly revised 5th edition of Zeh's classic text investigates irreversible phenomena and their foundation in classical, quantum and cosmological settings. It includes new sections on the meaning of probabilities in a cosmological context, irreversible aspects of quantum computers, and various consequences of the expansion of the Universe.
The Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation : An Introduction
In this book different aspects of the oceanic thermohaline circulation, the dominant meridionally overturning mode of the global ocean circulation, are presented. The topics, presented in this book, are the aspects of thermodynamics of seawater and geophysical fluid dynamics that are important for the understanding of this current system, basic observational hydrographic methods to study the thermohaline circulation, and a description of the thermohaline circulation, based on observational evidence. This includes the deep circulation in the abyssal basins, global deep upwelling, the shallow return flow to high latitudes, and the formation and descent of high-density deep water masses in these cold regions. This book is intended to be used by advanced undergraduates and graduate students in physical oceanography, climatology, geography and environmental sciences, paleoceanography, marine biology and marine chemistry.
The Mediterranean Sea
This volume deals with several aspects of the chemical contamination of the Mediterranean Sea and its health. After a description of the general physical and socio-economic context, exploration of processes governing the fate of chemicals, the budget of both inorganic and organic major and preoccupant contaminants and a description of new tools to study the impact of pollution on the Mediterranean Sea are discussed. The book serves as a reference source for the chemical aspects of the Mediterranean Sea for students and scientists and a practical guide for those who have professional responsibility for the management and operation of environmental impact assessment programmes.
The many faces of health, competence and well-being in old age : Integrating Epidemiological, Psychological and Social Perspectives
These key issues are addressed based on three converging research streams: social-ecological research, which assumes that major processes and outcomes of ageing such as day-to-day competence are shaped by social and physical-spatial environments; geropsychology research, which is driven by a life-span developmental conception of ageing; and epidemiology, which offers most fundamental disease, function and prevention-related data. Each of the three major research directions are outlined by a short introduction, followed by three chapters treating in an empirical manner most recent key research questions. All chapters are then also discussed by renowned ageing experts. This volume links ageing research with policy considerations and implications and establishes a link between European research and the knowledge base of the international scientific community concerned with ageing.
The linear algebra : A beginning graduate student ought to know
Linear algebra is a living, active branch of mathematics which is central to almost all other areas of mathematics, both pure and applied, as well as computer science, the physical and social sciences, and engineering. It entails an extensive corpus of theoretical results as well as a large body of computational techniques.The volume is self-contained to the extent that it does not assume any previous formal knowledge of linear algebra.
The Landscapists
Who defines the landscapes around us? What practices are employed as contemporary landscapes are produced? This issue argues that landscapes are made and remade through interrelations between people and the worlds around them – from geographers investigating the lives of urban wastelands to landscape architects projecting future cities, and from migrants navigating border systems to artists working with local residents. In contrast to tendencies to emphasise the physical forms of landscapes, with their potential to be redesigned and represented in drawings, this issue brings to the forefront the social constructedness of landscapes by focusing on a range of critical practices and daily actions. As conventional frames of landscape are challenged, other ways of measuring, mapping, imagining, designing, building and occupying them are revealed.
The Interstellar Medium
Describing interstellar matter in our galaxy in all of its various forms, this book also considers the physical and chemical processes that are occurring within this matter. The first seven chapters present the various components making up the interstellar matter and detail the ways that we are able to study them. The following seven chapters are devoted to the physical, chemical and dynamical processes that control the behaviour of interstellar matter. These include the instabilities and cloud collapse processes that lead to the formation of stars. The last chapter summarizes the transformations that can occur between the different phases of the interstellar medium. Emphasizing methods over results, "The Interstellar Medium" is written for graduate students, for young astronomers, and also for any researchers who have developed an interest in the interstellar medium.
The internet of things ; 1st International Conference, IOT 2008, Zurich, Switzerland, March 26-28, 2008. Proceedings
Contains the proceeding softhe Internet of Things (IOT)Conference 2008, the ?rst international conference of its kind. The conference took place in Zurich,Switzerland, March26–28,2008. The term ‘Internet of Things’ hascome to describe a number of technologies and researchdisciplines that enable the - ternet to reach out into the real world of physical objects. Technologies such as RFID, short-range wireless communications, real-time localization, and sensor networks are becoming increasingly common, bringing the ‘Internet of Things’ into industrial, commercial, and domestic use. IOT 2008 brought together le- ing researchersand practitioners, from both academia and industry, to facilitate the sharing of ideas, applications, and research results.
The Initial Mass Function 50 Years Later
Contains the proceedings of a Conference intended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the IMF concept by Ed Salpeter along with Ed Salpeter's 80th birthday. It summarizes a vast amounts of information, and updates the Herstmonceux book on the IMF,(eds. Howell and Gilmore, 1998 - ASP publ). The book collects many long reviews on IMF determinations in the Galaxy, in galaxies, and in the Early Universe as well as deep implications of the IMF on star formation theories and on the physical conditions of the gas before and after star formation. It provides basic information needed for the coverage of these important quantities in graduate courses of Stellar Evolution, Star Formation, Interstellar Medium, Galactic Dynamics, Formation and Evolution of Galaxies. The book covers all aspects of the current researches in this field, as testified by the large number of contributing scientists.
The Inferior Colliculus
Winer and Schreiner's The Inferior Colliculus is the first critical, comprehensive reference presenting the current knowledge of the inferior colliculus from a variety of perspectives, including anatomical, physiological, developmental, neurochemical, biophysical, neuroethological and clinical vantage points. the book is an ideal introduction to the inferior colliculus and central auditory processing for clinicians, otolaryngologists, graduate and postgraduate research workers in the auditory and other sensory-motor systems.
The Hidden Messages in Drinking Water and Hydrotherapy
Water is essential for life and maintaining optimal levels of hydration is important for humans to function well. Water makes up a large proportion of our body weight (60% on average), distributed between the intracellular (inside cells) and extracellular (water in the blood and in between cells) compartments. Water is the major component of body fluids, such as blood, synovial fluid (fluid in the joints), saliva and urine, which perform vital functions in the body. The concentration of solutes (osmolality) in body fluids is closely controlled, and even very small changes in osmolality trigger a physiological response; either to increase body water by reducing urinary output and stimulating thirst; or to excrete excess water as urine. Generally, body water is maintained within narrow limits. However, if water losses are not sufficiently replaced, dehydration occurs. Extreme dehydration is very serious and can be fatal. More mild dehydration (about 2% loss of body weight) can result in headaches, fatigue and reduced physical and mental performance. It is also possible to consume too much water and in rare cases this can result in hyponatraemia (low levels of sodium in the blood).
The Global Lives of German Migrants : Consequences of International Migration Across the Life Course
Based on the German case, this book highlights the increasing flows of migration and the internationalisation of individual life courses. It analyses the experiences of migration across four central domains - employment and income, partners and families, health and wellbeing, as well as friends and social participation - which potentially have far-reaching consequences for social inequalities and life chances.
The Genesis of General Relativity : Sources and Interpretations
Represents the most comprehensive documentation and study of the creation of general relativity; one of the fundamental physical theories of the 20th century. It comprises key sources from Einstein and others who from the late 19th to the early 20th century contributed to this monumental development. Some of these sources are presented here in translation for the first time. Einstein’s famous Zurich notebook, which documents the pivotal steps toward general relativity, is reproduced here for the first time and transcribed in its entirety.
The Fast Solution of Boundary Integral Equations
The use of surface potentials to describe solutions of partial differential equations goes back to the middle of the 19th century. Numerical approximation procedures, known today as Boundary Element Methods (BEM), have been developed in the physics and engineering community since the 1950s. These methods turn out to be powerful tools for numerical studies of various physical phenomena which can be described mathematically by partial differential equations. The Fast Solution of Boundary Integral Equations provides a detailed description of fast boundary element methods which are based on rigorous mathematical analysis. In particular, a symmetric formulation of boundary integral equations is used, Galerkin discretisation is discussed, and the necessary related stability and error estimates are derived. For the practical use of boundary integral methods, efficient algorithms together with their implementation are needed.
The Expanding Cell
After division, plant cells are able to increase their volume enormously by cell expansion, making the expanding cell a crucial player in the production of biomass. The study of plant cell expansion involves many different disciplines and technical approaches, and this book is the first attempt to bring this diversity together to present a multifaceted view of the most up-to-date knowledge. Included are data ranging from biophysical measurements and chemical analysis to molecular biological approaches and microscopy.
The Earths Atmosphere : Its Physics and Dynamics
Covers a wide area of the atmospheric science, focusing particularly on those physical and dynamical aspects of our environment which tend to create heat sources and sinks in the earth-atmosphere system and which it seeks to balance through circulation at different time and space scales. The processes of heat transfer in the atmosphere and ocean by general circulation and by waves and oscillations are discussed in detail. The heat balance of the atmosphere is considered, after taking into consideration the role of various types of greenhouse gases that may be present. In this context, the publication of the book will be very timely and will be welcomed by all those interested in knowing more about our atmosphere and the way it works, especially with regard to the contentious issue of global warming by greenhouse gases released by human activities on earth.
The Drift of Sea Ice
Presents in The Drift of Sea Ice the fundamental laws of sea ice drift which come from the material properties of sea ice and the basic laws of mechanics. The resulting system of equations is analysed for the general properties of sea ice drift, the free drift model and analytical models for ice drift in the presence of internal friction, and the construction of numerical ice drift models is detailed. The science of sea ice drift through its 100-year history to the present day is explained. The text includes the geophysical theory, observations from field programs, and mathematical models. Topics covered include the science of sea ice drift, forecasting drift velocity based on volume, size and shape, sea ice ridging and remote sensing, modelling of the ice conditions, and finally the role of sea ice drift in research fields in ice-covered seas, oceanography, marine ecology and engineering.
The Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics
Presents the essential information about statistical tests, concepts, and analytical methods in language that is accessible to practitioners and students of the vast community using statistics in medicine, engineering, physical science, life science, social science, and business/economics. The reference is alphabetically arranged to provide quick access to the fundamental tools of statistical methodology and biographies of famous statisticians. The more than 500 entries include definitions, history, mathematical details, limitations, examples, references, and further readings. All entries include cross-references as well as the key citations. The back matter includes a timeline of statistical inventions. This reference will be an enduring resource for locating convenient overviews about this essential field of study.
The cloud-to-thing continuum : Opportunities and challenges in cloud, fog and edge computing
Offers massive societal and economic opportunities while at the same time significant challenges, not least the delivery and management of the technical infrastructure underpinning it, the deluge of data generated from it, ensuring privacy and security, and capturing value from it.
