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The idea that changes in biodiversity can impact how ecosystems function has, over the last quarter century, gone from being a controversial notion to an accepted part of science and policy. As the field matures, it is high time to review progress, explore the links between this new research area and fundamental ecological concepts, and look ahead to the implementation of this knowledge.This book is designed to both provide an up-to-date overview of research in the area and to serve as a useful textbook for those studying the relationship between biodiversity and the functioning, stability and services of ecosystems. The Ecological and Societal Consequences of Biodiversity Loss is aimed at a wide audience of upper undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and academic and research staff.
Machine learning and optimization techniques are revolutionizing our world. Other types of information technology have not progressed as rapidly in recent years, in terms of real impact. The aim of this book is to present some of the innovative techniques in the field of optimization and machine learning, and to demonstrate how to apply them in the fields of engineering.Optimization and Machine Learning presents modern advances in the selection, configuration and engineering of algorithms that rely on machine learning and optimization. The first part of the book is dedicated to applications where optimization plays a major role, and the second part describes and implements several applications that are mainly based on machine learning techniques. The methods addressed in these chapters are compared against their competitors, and their effectiveness in their chosen field of application is illustrated.
One of the major challenges facing the world today is the interaction between demographic change and development. Demographic Dynamics and Development reviews the dominant demographic theory, demographic transition, and then presents a thorough investigation covering aging, fertility, contraception, nuptiality, mortality and migration, which are all aspects that drive these changes. Each chapter combines the latest empirical data with theoretical reflections on the implications for development.This book thus offers an overview of worldwide demographic data, studied with a view towards development. In doing so, it provides researchers and specialists with clear information through in-depth case studies, focusing on a country, a region or a particularly important scientific sub-theme.
The study of ecological systems is often impeded by components that escape perfect observation, such as the trajectories of moving animals or the status of plant seed banks. These hidden components can be efficiently handled with statistical modeling by using hidden variables, which are often called latent variables. Notably, the hidden variables framework enables us to model an underlying interaction structure between variables (including random effects in regression models) and perform data clustering, which are useful tools in the analysis of ecological data.This book provides an introduction to hidden variables in ecology, through recent works on statistical modeling as well as on estimation in models with latent variables. All models are illustrated with ecological examples involving different types of latent variables at different scales of organization, from individuals to ecosystems. Readers have access to the data and R codes to facilitate understanding of the model and to adapt inference tools to their own data.
The Anthropocene refers to all societies' current era of environmental challenges. For the social sciences, the Anthropocene represents a historical "moment" with huge potential: it offers people new ways of considering the human condition, as well as how they interact with the rest of the living world and with the planet on all levels. At the turn of the 21st century, the idea of the Anthropocene burst onto the older, diverse and varied scene of risk studies.This "new geological era", which is entirely created by humanity, went on to revive our understanding of environmental issues, as well as the analysis of the social and political problems that constitute risk situations.Drawing together contributions from specialists in social sciences concerning risks and the environment, Risks and the Anthropocene explores the advantages that the idea of the Anthropocene can offer in understanding risks and their management, as well as the limitations it presents.
Cognitive flexibility is the cornerstone of learning and enables us to cope with a constantly changing environment. By adapting our knowledge and habits in order to respond to new situations, cognitive flexibility plays a fundamental role in learning.This book proposes a study of the fundamental notions of cognitive flexibility: its measurement and development, its links with metacognition and critical thinking and the role of context in its expression, as well as its involvement in discovering solutions, transferring knowledge and processing analogies.Convergent perspectives are also presented in order to paint a clear picture of cognitive flexibility and to discuss the issues at stake. Thanks to the combined views of specialists in cognitive and developmental psychology, Cognitive Flexibility suggests new educational possibilities based on the results of empirical work on the subject.
Today, more than 80% of the data transmitted over networks and archived on our computers, tablets, cell phones or clouds is multimedia data - images, videos, audio, 3D data. The applications of this data range from video games to healthcare, and include computer-aided design, video surveillance and biometrics.It is becoming increasingly urgent to secure this data, not only during transmission and archiving, but also during its retrieval and use. Indeed, in today's "all-digital" world, it is becoming ever-easier to copy data, view it unrightfully, steal it or falsify it.Multimedia Security 1 analyzes the issues of the authentication of multimedia data, code and the embedding of hidden data, both from the point of view of defense and attack. Regarding the embedding of hidden data, it also covers invisibility, color, tracing and 3D data, as well as the detection of hidden messages in an image by steganalysis.
This book presents recent advances in fault diagnosis strategies for complex dynamic systems. Its impetus derives from the need for an overview of the challenges of the fault diagnosis technique, especially for those demanding systems that require reliability, availability, maintainability and safety to ensure efficient operations. Moreover, the need for a high degree of tolerance with respect to possible faults represents a further key point, primarily for complex systems, as modeling and control are inherently challenging, and maintenance is both expensive and safety-critical.Diagnosis and Fault-tolerant Control 1 also presents and compares different diagnosis schemes using established case studies that are widely used in related literature. The main features of this book regard the analysis, design and implementation of proper solutions for the problems of fault diagnosis in safety critical systems. The design of the considered solutions involves robust data-driven, model-based approaches.
Change Detection and Image Time Series Analysis 1 presents a wide range of unsupervised methods for temporal evolution analysis through the use of image time series associated with optical and/or synthetic aperture radar acquisition modalities.Chapter 1 introduces two unsupervised approaches to multiple-change detection in bi-temporal multivariate images, with Chapters 2 and 3 addressing change detection in image time series in the context of the statistical analysis of covariance matrices. Chapter 4 focuses on wavelets and convolutional-neural filters for feature extraction and entropy-based anomaly detection, and Chapter 5 deals with a number of metrics such as cross correlation ratios and the Hausdorff distance for variational analysis of the state of snow. Chapter 6 presents a fractional dynamic stochastic field model for spatio temporal forecasting and for monitoring fast-moving meteorological events such as cyclones. Chapter 7 proposes an analysis based on characteristic points for texture modeling, in the context of graph theory, and Chapter 8 focuses on detecting new land cover types by classification-based change detection or feature/pixel based change detection. Chapter 9 focuses on the modeling of classes in the difference image and derives a multiclass model for this difference image in the context of change vector analysis.
We live in a world of major disruption, where the individual and the collective stand in opposition against the backdrop of globalization, digital revolution, community development, growing concerns around health and the planet, and now an unprecedented global health crisis.This book explores how these phenomena influence the social ties that surround food and the way we eat together. Extensive research is presented on institutional recommendations concerning eating together, the role of online communities in supporting weight loss, the perceived consequences of diets, the social phenomena involved in vegetarianism, market segmentation in the case of ritual and religious practices, and the rising tendency to "buy local" and to value local identity. As the Covid-19 crisis adds to the complexity of these issues, its impact is also taken into account.For both interested readers and the many players involved in the agri-food industry, these reflections shed light on the current developments in "eating together".
The Tactile Internet will change the landscape of communication by introducing a new paradigm that enables the remote delivery of haptic data.This book answers the many questions surrounding the Tactile Internet, including its reference architecture and adapted compression methods for conveying haptic information. It also describes the key enablers for deploying the applications of the Tactile Internet.As an antecedent technology, the IoT is tackled, explaining the differences and similarities between the Tactile Internet, the Internet of Things and the Internet of Everything. The essentials of teleoperation systems are summarized and the challenges that face this paradigm in its implementation and deployment are also discussed.Finally, a teleoperation case study demonstrating an application of the Tactile Internet is investigated to demonstrate its functionalities, architecture and performance.
Considering the uncertainties in mechanical engineering in order to improve the performance of future products or systems is becoming a competitive advantage, sometimes even a necessity, when seeking to guarantee an increasingly high safety requirement.Mechanical Engineering in Uncertainties deals with modeling, quantification and propagation of uncertainties. It also examines how to take into account uncertainties through reliability analyses and optimization under uncertainty. The spectrum of the methods presented ranges from classical approaches to more recent developments and advanced methods. The methodologies are illustrated by concrete examples in various fields of mechanics (civil engineering, mechanical engineering and fluid mechanics). This book is intended for both (young) researchers and engineers interested in the treatment of uncertainties in mechanical engineering.
Electromagnetic Waves 2 examines antennas in the field of radio waves. It analyzes the conditions of use and the parameters that are necessary in order to create an effective antenna.This book presents antennas' definitions, regulations and fundamental equations, and describes the various forms of antennas that can be used in radio: horns, waveguides, coaxial cables, printed and miniature antennas. It presents the characterization methods and the link budgets as well as the digital methods that make the fine calculation of radio antennas possible.Electromagnetic Waves 2 is a collaborative work, completed only with the invaluable contributions of Ibrahima Sakho, Hervé Sizun and JeanPierre Blot, not to mention the editor, Pierre-Noël Favennec. Aimed at students and engineers, this book provides essential theoretical support for the design and deployment of wireless radio and optical communication systems.
Climate change has been a central concern over recent years, with visible and highly publicized consequences such as melting Arctic ice and mountain glaciers, rising sea levels, and the submersion of low-lying coastal areas during mid-latitude and tropical cyclones.This book presents a review of the spatial impacts of contemporary climate change, with a focus on a systematic, multi-scalar approach. Beyond the facts ? rises in temperature, changes in the spatial distribution of precipitation, melting of the marine and terrestrial cryosphere, changes in hydrological regimes at high and medium latitudes, etc. ? it also analyzes the geopolitical consequences in the Arctic and Central Asia, changes to Mediterranean culture and to viticulture on a global scale, as well as impacts on the distribution of life, for example, in the Amazon rainforest, in large biomes on a global scale, and for birds.
The management and control of networks can no longer be envisaged without the introduction of artificial intelligence at all stages.Intelligent Network Management and Control deals with topical issues related mainly to intelligent security of computer networks, deployment of security services in SDN (software-defined networking), optimization of networks using artificial intelligence techniques and multi-criteria optimization methods for selecting networks in a heterogeneous environment.This book also focuses on selecting cloud computing services, intelligent unloading of calculations in the context of mobile cloud computing, intelligent resource management in a smart grid-cloud system for better energy efficiency, new architectures for the Internet of Vehicles (IoV), the application of artificial intelligence in cognitive radio networks and intelligent radio input to meet the on-road communication needs of autonomous vehicles.
Electromagnetic Waves 1 examines Maxwell's equations and wave propagation. It presents the scientific bases necessary for any application using electromagnetic fields, and analyzes Maxwell's equations, their meaning and their resolution for various situations and material environments.These equations are essential for understanding electromagnetism and its derived fields, such as radioelectricity, photonics, geolocation, measurement, telecommunications, medical imaging and radio astronomy.This book also deals with the propagation of electromagnetic, radio and optical waves, and analyzes the complex factors that must be taken into account in order to understand the problems of propagation in a free and confined space. Electromagnetic Waves 1 is a collaborative work, completed only with the invaluable contributions of Ibrahima Sakho, Hervé Sizun and JeanPierre Blot, not to mention the editor, Pierre-Noël Favennec. Aimed at students and engineers, this book provides essential theoretical support for the design and deployment of wireless radio and optical communication systems.
One of the essential characteristics of living beings is the explosion of variety in their forms that is intrinsically linked to the diversity of the environments they have adapted to.This book, the result of collaboration between international specialists, analyzes the multiplicity of these morphologies. It explores the origin of forms, their role in defining living things, and the relationship between form and function. It exposes the role of genes and epigenetics and examines the forms of bacteria, protists and plants. The Explosion of Life Forms also studies the memory of animals and their sensory processes, the forms of robots (built in the image of living things), and medical technologies aimed at restoring damaged living forms. Finally, this work questions a common principle of construction in the diversity of forms, as well as the idea of an abandonment of the form, a possible hidden defect of some modern philosophies.
Since the HMS Challenger expedition of 1872?1876, our vision of the ocean has changed completely. We now understand that it plays a key role in biodiversity, climate regulation, and mineral and biological resources, and as such, the ocean is a major service provider for humanity.Oceans draws on data from new oceanographic and satellite tools, acquired through international interdisciplinary programs. It describes the processes that control how the ocean functions, on different spatial and temporal scales. After considering the evolution of concepts in physical, chemical and biological oceanography, the book outlines the future of a warmer, acidified, less oxygenated ocean. It shows how a view of the ocean at different scales changes how we understand it. Finally, the book presents the challenges facing the ocean in terms of the exploitation of biological and mineral resources, in the context of sustainable development and the regulation of climate change.
Viruses interact with all forms of life and have shaped evolution for 4 billion years. The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of conducting scientific research into viruses to understand the interactions between them and their hosts.Virology is made up of eight chapters, all of which have been written by outstanding female virologists, emphasizing women?s fundamental role in all aspects of science. It summarizes our current knowledge about the biology of viruses in general and analyzes the specific features of several ones of medical, veterinary and agricultural importance. Genome replication strategies of different virus families are covered, as well as strategies for survival within their hosts by counteraction of the cellular innate antiviral responses. Attention is also given to viral strategies for efficient dissemination in nature, as well as the evolution of a select group of viruses.
A Multi-Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) is the key component for complex applications. These applications put huge pressure on memory, communication devices and computing units. This book, presented in two volumes ? Architectures and Applications ? therefore celebrates the 20th anniversary of MPSoC, an interdisciplinary forum that focuses on multi-core and multi-processor hardware and software systems. It is this interdisciplinarity which has led to MPSoC bringing together experts in these fields from around the world, over the last two decades.Multi-Processor System-on-Chip 2 covers application-specific MPSoC design, including compilers and architecture exploration. This second volume describes optimization methods, tools to optimize and port specific applications on MPSoC architectures. Details on compilation, power consumption and wireless communication are also presented, as well as examples of modeling frameworks and CAD tools. Explanations of specific platforms for automotive and real-time computing are also included.
A Multi-Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) is the key component for complex applications. These applications put huge pressure on memory, communication devices and computing units. This book, presented in two volumes ? Architectures and Applications ? therefore celebrates the 20th anniversary of MPSoC, an interdisciplinary forum that focuses on multi-core and multi-processor hardware and software systems. It is this interdisciplinarity which has led to MPSoC bringing together experts in these fields from around the world, over the last two decades.Multi-Processor System-on-Chip 1 covers the key components of MPSoC: processors, memory, interconnect and interfaces. It describes advance features of these components and technologies to build efficient MPSoC architectures. All the main components are detailed: use of memory and their technology, communication support and consistency, and specific processor architectures for general purposes or for dedicated applications.
This book is part of Algebra and Geometry, a subject within the SCIENCES collection published by ISTE and Wiley, and the first of three volumes specifically focusing on algebra and its applications. Algebra and Applications 1 centers on non-associative algebras and includes an introduction to derived categories. The chapters are written by recognized experts in the field, providing insight into new trends, as well as a comprehensive introduction to the theory.The book incorporates self-contained surveys with the main results, applications and perspectives. The chapters in this volume cover a wide variety of algebraic structures and their related topics. Jordan superalgebras, Lie algebras, composition algebras, graded division algebras, non-associative C*- algebras, H*-algebras, Krichever-Novikov type algebras, preLie algebras and related structures, geometric structures on 3-Lie algebras and derived categories are all explored. Algebra and Applications 1 is of great interest to graduate students and researchers.Each chapter combines some of the features of both a graduate level textbook and of research level surveys.
In the age of genomics, oncogenetics is a growing discipline. It is defined as the identification and management of families where there is a suspected hereditary risk of cancer. This relatively new discipline is part of a modern medicine that aims to be both preventive and predictive.Constitutional Oncogenetics gives precise descriptions of the main syndromes that cause a predisposition for cancer. The first part examines the most common syndromes in the majority of the world, including the heightened hereditary risk of breast and ovarian cancer and Lynch syndrome. The second part introduces less common infracentesimal syndromes, such as Bloom syndrome and Fanconi syndrome. This book is intended for oncogenetic practitioners and other specialists, as well as medical students.
This book covers both the fundamental and applied aspects of advanced Na-ion batteries (NIB) which have proven to be a potential challenger to Li-ion batteries. Both the chemistry and design of positive and negative electrode materials are examined. In NIB, the electrolyte is also a crucial part of the batteries and the recent research, showing a possible alternative to classical electrolytes ? with the development of ionic liquid-based electrolytes ? is also explored.Cycling performance in NIB is also strongly associated with the quality of the electrode-electrolyte interface, where electrolyte degradation takes place; thus, Na-ion Batteries details the recent achievements in furthering knowledge of this interface. Finally, as the ultimate goal is commercialization of this new electrical storage technology, the last chapters are dedicated to the industrial point of view, given by two startup companies, who developed two different NIB chemistries for complementary applications and markets.
Galaxies are vast ensembles of stars, gas and dust, embedded in dark matter halos. They are the basic building blocks of the Universe, gathered in groups, clusters and super-clusters. They exist in many forms, either as spheroids or disks. Classifications, such as the Hubble sequence (based on mass concentration and gas fraction) and the colormagnitude diagram (which separates a blue cloud from a red sequence) help to understand their formation and evolution. Galaxies spend a large part of their lives in the blue cloud, forming stars as spiral or dwarf galaxies. Then, via a mechanism that is still unclear, they stop forming stars and quietly end in the red sequence, as spheroids. This transformation may be due to galaxy interactions, or because of the feedback of active nuclei, through the energy released by their central super-massive black holes. These mechanisms could explain the history of cosmic star formation, the rate of which was far greater in the first half of the Universe?s life.Galaxies delves into all of these surrounding subjects in six chapters written by dedicated, specialist astronomers and researchers in the field, from their numerical simulations to their evolutions.
The accessibility requirement of educational policies is a reinvention of schools beyond the education of students with disabilities.Accessibility or Reinventing Education studies the changes that have redefined the roles and missions of schools, by asking them to consider the obstacles to learning imposed on students - regardless of their particular characteristics - in order to make themselves accessible to the greatest number.This book examines the ways in which school stakeholders are addressing the need for accessibility to bring its principles to life on a daily basis. Particular attention is given to the strategies developed by teachers for creating accessible school environments, the conditions for mobilizing digital technologies, and the redefinition of relationships between teachers and their specialist counterparts. Finally, the new figures of "ineducablility", established because of the accessibility imperative, are considered, and a grammar of accessibility is proposed, setting the stage for accessibility in school environments and the implementation of inclusive policies.
Networks are now embedded in daily life thanks to smaller, faster, inexpensive components that are more powerful and increasingly connected. Parallel to this quantitative explosion of communication networks, technology has become more complex. This development comes with challenges related to management and control, and it has become necessary to manage the service level demands of the client to which the service provider commits. Different approaches to managing one or more service level components in different emerging environments are explored, such as: the Internet of Things, the Cloud, smart grids, e-health, mesh networking, D2D (Device to Device), smart cities and even green networking.This book therefore allows for a better understanding of the important challenges and issues relating to Quality of Service (QoS) management, security and mobility in these types of environment.
The aim of this book is to reflect the current cutting-edge thinking and established practices in the investigation of queueing systems and networks. This second volume includes eight chapters written by experts wellknown in their areas. The book conducts a stability analysis of certain types of multiserver regenerative queueing systems; a transient evaluation of Markovian queueing systems, focusing on closed-form distributions and numerical techniques; analysis of queueing models in service sectors using analytical and simulation approaches; plus an investigation of probability distributions in queueing models and their use in economics, industry, demography and environmental studies. This book also considers techniques for the control of information in queueing systems and their impact on strategic customer behavior, social welfare and the revenue of monopolists. In addition, applications of maximum entropy methods of inference for the analysis of a stable M/G/1 queue with heavy tails, and inventory models with positive service time - including perishable items and stock supplied using various algorithmic control policies ((s; S); (r;Q), etc.).
The aim of this book is to reflect the current cutting-edge thinking and established practices in the investigation of queueing systems and networks.This first volume includes ten chapters written by experts well-known in their areas. The book studies the analysis of queues with interdependent arrival and service times, characteristics of fluid queues, modifications of retrial queueing systems and finite-source retrial queues with random breakdowns, repairs and customers' collisions. Some recent tendencies in the asymptotic analysis include the average and diffusion approximation of Markov queueing systems and networks, the diffusion and Gaussian limits of multi-channel queueing networks with rather general input flow, and the analysis of two-time-scale nonhomogenous Markov chains using the large deviations principle.The book also analyzes transient behavior of infinite-server queueing models with a mixed arrival process, the strong stability of queueing systems and networks, and applications of fast simulation methods for solving high-dimension combinatorial problems.
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