Page 1
Page 1
Oil and Security : A World Beyond Petroleum
This book examines the economic impact of changes in the global demand and supply for fossil fuels both on the major producers in Middle Eastern countries around the Persian Gulf, other producers, as well as the world at large. The economic, social and political life of most countries is not only intimately linked to and influenced by the energy market but also affected by historical developments. Among other issues, it shows how the economic, social and political development of societies in Arabia, the peoples of the Arab Peninsula are influenced by their historic and cultural environment, and what the future may bring to this region when their principal economic assets, petroleum and gas, start to lose markets as alternative sources of fossil fuel, alternative, and renewable energy supply the bulk of global energy needs. It also describes how changing fossil fuel costs, access, security of supply, and environmental impacts may affect future economic, social, and political developments as well as technological advances and changes in priorities.
Observing the Sun with Coronado™ Telescopes
At around the turn of the millennium, the introduction of the Coronado range of solar telescopes and filters heralded the ‘coming of age’ of amateur solar astronomy. Before then, solar astronomy was mostly white-light only. Hydrogen-alpha systems were expensive and difficult to use, but today even the budget-priced Coronado PST (Personal Solar Telescope) provides a band pass of one Angstrom and is thermally stable. That means that today’s amateur solar observers can see – and image – sunspots, flares, prominences, plage, filaments, and active regions of the Sun, all in amazing detail.
Object-Based Image Analysis : Spatial Concepts for Knowledge-Driven Remote Sensing Applications
This book discusses means, technologies and approaches related to the processing and analysis of multi-sensor, multi-resolution data with a focus on the generation, modelling and classification of objects. The applications also address the integration of Geographic Information and the concurrent developments of GIScience and vanquish limitations of pixelwise image processing by exploiting image information context-driven and "intelligently".
Northeast Asia : Ripe for Integration?
Can regional mechanisms better institutionalize the increasing complexity of economic and security ties among the countries in Northeast Asia? As the international state system undergoes dramatic changes in both security and economic relations in the wake of the end of the Cold War, the Asian financial crisis, and the attack of 9/11, this question is now at the forefront of the minds of both academics and policymakers. Still, little research has been done to integrate the analysis of security and economic analysis of changes in the region within a broader context that will give us theoretically-informed policy insights. Against this backdrop, this book investigates the origins and evolution of Northeast Asia's new institutional architecture in trade, finance, and security from both a theoretical and empirical perspective.
Nordic consumer culture : State, market and consumers
Unpacking the complexities of Nordic consumer culture, this edited collection responds to the growing interest in regionalism within consumer research and marketing. By taking a closer look at the interaction between the state and the market in Nordic countries, The authors examine how consumer behaviour is impacted by the region’s unique context. Important elements of Nordic culture are explored, Such as its underlying element of mythology and the concept of ‘hygge,’ an object of global consumption.
Nonlinear Optical Crystals : A Complete Survey
Nonlinear optical crystals are widely used in modern optical science and technology for frequency conversion of laser light, i.e. to generate laser radiation at any specific wavelength in visible, UV or IR spectral regions. This unrivalled reference book contains the most complete and up-to-date information on properties of nonlinear optical crystals. It includes: * Database of 63 common and novel nonlinear optical crystals * Periodically-poled and self-frequency-doubling materials * Full description of linear and nonlinear optical properties * Significant amount of crystallophysical, thermophysical, spectroscopic, electro-optic and magneto-optic information * 7 mini-reviews on novel applications, such as deep-UV light generation, terahertz-wave generation, ultrashort laser pulse compression, photonic band-gap crystals, x3 nonlinearity, etc. * More than 1500 different references with full titles It is a vital source of information for scientists and engineers dealing with modern applications of nonlinear optical crystals in quantum electronics, photonics, optoelectronics and laser physics.
Non-Linear Dynamics and Fundamental Interactions
This volume contains the papers presented at the NATO Advanced Research Institute on "Non-Linear Dynamics and Fundamental Interactions" held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from Oct.10-16,2004. The main objective of the Workshop was to bring together people working in areas of Fundamental physics relating to Quantum Field Theory, Finite Temperature Field theory and their applications to problems in particle physics, phase transitions and overlap regions with the areas of Quantum Chaos. The other important area is related to aspects of Non-Linear Dynamics which has been considered with the topic of chaology. The applications of such techniques are to mesoscopic systems, nanostructures, quantum information, particle physics and cosmology. All this forms a very rich area to review critically and then find aspects that still need careful consideration with possible new developments to find appropriate solutions.
Nitrogen Fixation in Agriculture, Forestry, Ecology, and the Environment
Sustainability has a major part to play in the global challenge of continued development of regions, countries, and continents all around the World and biological nitrogen fixation has a key role in this process. This volume begins with chapters specifically addressing crops of major global importance, such as soybeans, rice, and sugar cane. It continues with a second important focus, agroforestry, and describes the use and promise of both legume trees with their rhizobial symbionts and other nitrogen-fixing trees with their actinorhizal colonization. An over-arching theme of all chapters is the interaction of the plants and trees with microbes and this theme allows other aspects of soil microbiology, such as interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and the impact of soil-stress factors on biological nitrogen fixation, to be addressed. Furthermore, a link to basic science occurs through the inclusion of chapters describing the biogeochemically important nitrogen cycle and its key relationships among nitrogen fixation, nitrification, and denitrification. The volume then provides an up-to-date view of the production of microbial inocula, especially those for legume crops.
Nitrogen Cycling in the Americas : Natural and Anthropogenic Influences and Controls
The rate of creation of reactive nitrogen (NR) on the earth has dramatically increased in the last half century mainly due to the production of N-fertilizer through the Haber-Bosch process, fossil fuel combustion, and the cultivation of plants that fix N from the atmosphere. The anthropogenic production of NR has been especially high in developed countries of the temperate zone, such as the USA and Canada, where severe eutrophication of estuaries and coastal zones, acidification of lakes and streams, loss of biodiversity, and reduced forest productivity have become common environmental problems associated with increasing nitrogen loads to ecosystems. This book presents a series of studies from across the Americas whose aim is to highlight key natural processes that control nitrogen cycling as well as discuss the main anthropogenic influences on the nitrogen cycle in both the tropical and temperate regions of the Americas.
New Perspectives in the Study of Mesoamerican Primates : Distribution, Ecology, Behavior, and Conservation
The purpose of this volume is to present a comprehensive overview of recent advances in primate field research, ecology, and conservation biology in Mesoamerica. The overall goal of each contribution is to integrate newly collected field data with theoretical perspectives drawn from evolutionary biology, socioecology, biological anthropology, and conservation to identify how our current knowledge of primate behavior and ecology has moved beyond more traditional approaches. A corollary to this, and an important goal of the volume is to identify geographical regions and species for which we continue to lack sufficient information, to develop action plans for future research, and to identify areas for immediate conservation action. Despite many decades of primate research in Mesoamerica, much is still unknown concerning the basic ecology and behavior of these species, demography, current distribution, and conservation status of local populations, and the effectiveness of conservation policies on primate survivorship. Four major areas of research are the focus of the volume: Evolutionary Biology and Biogeography; Population Demography and Ecology; Behavior; and Conservation and Management Policies.
New Paradigm for Re-engineering Education : Globalization, Localization and Individualization
In response to the challenges of globalization and local development, educational reforms are inevitably becoming one of the major trends in the Asia-Pacific Region or other parts of the world. Based on the most recent research and international observations, this book aims to present a new paradigm including various new concepts, frameworks and theories for reengineering education. It can provide educators, school leaders and practitioners, educational officials, change agents, researchers, and policy-makers with a comprehensive new perspective to implement educational reforms, enhance leadership, and change school management in a context of globalization, localization and individualization.
New methods for measuring and analyzing segregation
This book introduces new methods for measuring and analyzing residential segregation. It begins by placing all popular segregation indices in the “difference of group means” framework wherein index scores can be obtained as simple differences of group means on individual-level residential attainments scored from area racial composition. Drawing on the insight that in this framework index scores are additively determined by individual residential attainments, the book shows that the level of segregation in a given city can be equated to the effect of group membership (e.g., race) on individual residential attainments. This unifies separate research traditions in the field by joining the analysis of segregation at the aggregate level with the analysis of residential attainments for individuals.
Neural Information Processing ; Vol. 4234 ; 13th International Conference, ICONIP 2006, Hong Kong, China, October 3-6, 2006, Proceedings, Part III
This book and its companion volumes constitute the Proceedings of the 13th - ternationalConferenceonNeuralInformationProcessing(ICONIP2006)heldin Hong Kong during October 3–6,2006. ICONIP is the annual ?agship conference oftheAsiaPaci?cNeuralNetworkAssembly(APNNA)withthepasteventsheld in Seoul (1994), Beijing (1995), Hong Kong (1996), Dunedin (1997), Kitakyushu (1998), Perth(1999), Taejon(2000), Shanghai(2001), Singapore(2002), Istanbul (2003), Calcutta(2004), andTaipei(2005). Overtheyears, ICONIPhasmatured into a well-established series of international conference on neural information processing and related ?elds in the Asia and Paci?cregions. Following the tra- tion, ICONIP 2006 provided an academic forum for the participants to diss- inate their new research ?ndings and discuss emerging areas of research.
Neural Information Processing ; Vol. 4232 ; 13th International Conference, ICONIP 2006, Hong Kong, China, October 3-6, 2006, Proceedings, Part I
This book and its companion volumes constitute the Proceedings of the 13th - ternationalConferenceonNeuralInformationProcessing(ICONIP2006)heldin Hong Kong during October 3–6,2006. ICONIP is the annual ?agship conference oftheAsiaPaci?cNeuralNetworkAssembly(APNNA)withthepasteventsheld in Seoul (1994), Beijing (1995), Hong Kong (1996), Dunedin (1997), Kitakyushu (1998), Perth(1999), Taejon(2000), Shanghai(2001), Singapore(2002), Istanbul (2003), Calcutta(2004), andTaipei(2005). Overtheyears, ICONIPhasmatured into a well-established series of international conference on neural information processing and related ?elds in the Asia and Paci?cregions. Following the tra- tion, ICONIP 2006 provided an academic forum for the participants to diss- inate their new research ?ndings and discuss emerging areas of research.
Network-Centric Collaboration and Supporting Frameworks ; IFIP TC 5 WG 5.5, Seventh IFIP Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises, 25-27 September 2006, Helsinki, Finland
This book contains a number of selected articles from PRO-VE’06, the seventh working conference on virtual enterprises held in Helsinki, Finland, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and the Society of Collaborative Networks (SOCOLNET). Being recognized as the most focused scientific and technical conference on Collaborative Networks, PRO-VE continues offering the opportunity for presentation and discussion of both the latest research developments as well as the practical application case studies. Following the vision of IFIP and SOCOLNET, the PRO-VE conference offers a forum for collaboration and knowledge exchange among experts from different regions of the world.
Network and Parallel Computing ; IFIP International Conference, NPC 2005, Beijing, China, November 30 - December 3, 2005, Proceedings
These proceedings contain the papers presented at the 2005 IFIP International Conference on Network and Parallel Computing (NPC 2005), held in Beijing, China, between November 30 and December 3, 2005. The goal of the conference was to establish an international forum for engineers and scientists to present their ideas and experiences in network and parallel computing. A total of 320 submissions were received in response to our Call for Papers. These papers were from the following countries or regions: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lux- burg, Nepal, Netherlands, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and United States.
Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change Adaptation in Urban Areas : Linkages between Science, Policy and Practice
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.This book brings together research findings and experiences from science, policy and practice to highlight and debate the importance of nature-based solutions to climate change adaptation in urban areas. Emphasis is given to the potential of nature-based approaches to create multiple-benefits for society
Nature-Based Flood Risk Management on Private Land : Disciplinary Perspectives on a Multidisciplinary Challenge
This book addresses the various disciplinary aspects of nature-based solutions in flood risk management on private land. In recent decades, water management has been moving towards nature-based solutions. These are assumed to be much more multi-purpose than traditional “grey infrastructures” and seem to be regarded as a panacea for many environmental issues. At the same time, such measures require more – and mostly privately owned – land and more diverse stakeholder involvement than traditional (grey) engineering approaches. They also present challenges related to different disciplines. Nature-based solutions for flood risk management not only require technical expertise, but also call for interdisciplinary insights from land-use planning, economics, property rights, sociology, landscape planning, ecology, hydrology, agriculture and other disciplines to address the challenges of implementing them. Ultimately, nature-based flood risk management is a multi-disciplinary endeavor.
Napoleonic Governance in the Netherlands and Northwest Germany : Conquest, Incorporation, and Integration
This Palgrave Pivot explores the ways in which French Emperor Napoleon tried to integrate the present-day Netherlands and Northwest Germany into his Empire, by replacing traditional institutions and governing practices with French ones ('Napoleonic governance'). The northern periphery of the Napoleonic Empire continues to be overlooked by the bulk of historians; this study shows that a transregional approach can yield important findings. In a broader sense, the study does not deal with these regions alone, but also with the difficulties that are inherent to European integration.
Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage : Economic, Cultural and Social Identity
Our first contact with music is almost certainly in our childhood when our parents sing lullabies to us at bedtime. In a community where music is important, these songs are likely to be successfully transmitted from one generation to the next. This is similar to the concept of intangible cultural heritage and how it is transmitted.
