Books published by Springer Nature Switzerland AG

This book addresses the underexposed political dimensions of bioeconomy promotion. Who wins and who loses? How are institutions being shaped, and by whom? Drawing from experiences since the earlier days of biofuels promotion, it explores in unprecedented detail the global drive away from fossil fuels and towards a biomass-based economy.Multipurpose agriculture gains ever more traction as countries create new bio-based value chains ¿ or, rather, value webs. Governance, in this regard, proves to be key for steering developments towards inclusive agri-food-biomass systems instead of fueling just a handful of ¿flex crops¿ ridden with social equity and other environmental issues.Based on a rich global-level analysis of bioeconomy promotion and three in-depth case studies of key emerging economies (Brazil, India and Indonesia), the book also innovatively examines sustainability politics in Global South democracies.Ultimately, this book is about finding the politics for a fairer bioeconomy in the years and decades to come.

Sea otters and polar bears are carnivorous marine mammals that still resemble their terrestrial ancestors. Compared with Cetacea (whales and dolphins), Sirenia (dugongs and manatees), and Pinnipedia (seals, sea lions, and walrus), they are less adapted for an aquatic life and the most recently evolved among marine mammals. Sea otters are amphibious but seldom come ashore, and polar bears primarily occur on sea ice or along the shore. When at sea, both species spend most of their time swimming at the surface or making short, shallow dives when foraging or pursuing prey. Indeed, polar bears rarely pursue seals in water. Nevertheless, polar bears are powerful swimmers and will stalk seals from the water. As with many other large carnivores, they are solitary hunters. Although sea otters are gregarious and form aggregations at sea called rafts, they are primarily asocial. Except during mating, the principal interaction among sea otters occurs between a female and offspring during the six-month dependency period. In large carnivores (e.g., wolves and lions) that feed on ungulates, sociality and cooperation are favored because of the need to capture large prey and defend carcasses. Polar bears, which are the largest terrestrial carnivore, are solitary hunters of seals and are neither gregarious nor social. Males and females briefly associate during courtship and mating. During this time, males aggressively compete for females. At other times, males generally avoid each other except for aggregations of males that form while summering on land, and females with cubs avoid males, which are known for infanticide. As with sea otters, the interaction of polar bears outside of mating occurs between a female and her offspring during the 2-3 year dependency period. This interaction is critically important when altricial cubs are born in the winter den. This book provides new insight into the ethology and behavioral ecology of sea otters and polar bears. Each chapter reviews thediscoveries of previous studies and integrates recent research using new techniques and technology. The authors also address historic and current anthropogenic challenges for their survival as climate change alters entire marine ecosystems.

This book presents the state-of-the-art in supercomputer simulation. It includes the latest findings from leading researchers using systems from the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS) in 2019. The reports cover all fields of computational science and engineering ranging from CFD to computational physics and from chemistry to computer science with a special emphasis on industrially relevant applications. Presenting findings of one of Europe¿s leading systems, this volume covers a wide variety of applications that deliver a high level of sustained performance.The book covers the main methods in high-performance computing. Its outstanding results in achieving the best performance for production codes are of particular interest for both scientists and engineers. The book comes with a wealth of color illustrations and tables of results.

This book proposes a new solution to the problem of vagueness. There are several different ways of addressing this problem and no clear agreement on which one is correct. The author proposes that it should be understood as the problem of explaining vague predicates in a way that systematizes six intuitions about the phenomenon and satisfies three criteria of adequacy for an ideal theory of vagueness. The third criterion, which is called the ¿criterion of precisification¿, is the most controversial one. It is based on the intuition that a predicate is vague only if it is imprecise. The author considers some different definitions of linguistic imprecision, proposing that a predicate is imprecise if and only if there is no sharp boundary between objects to which its application yields some particular truth-value and objects to which its application does not yield that truth-value. The volume critically reviews the current theories of vagueness and proposes a new one, the Theory of Vagueness as Arbitrariness, which defines a vague predicate as an arbitrary predicate that must be precisified in order to contribute to a sentence that has truth-conditions. The main advantages of this theory over the current alternatives are that it satisfies all three criteria and systematizes the relevant intuitions.

This book considers the challenges related to the effective implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to the cultural heritage digitization process. Particular focus is placed on improvements to the data acquisition stage, as well as the data enrichment and curation stages, using advanced artificial intelligence techniques and tools. An emphasis is placed on recent applications related to deep learning for visual recognition, generative models, natural language processing, and super resolution. The book is a valuable reference for researchers working in the multidisciplinary field of cultural heritage and AI, as well as professional experts in the art and culture domains, such as museums, libraries, and historic sites and buildings.Reports on techniques and methods that leverage AI and machine learning and their impact on the digitization of cultural heritage; Addresses challenges of improving data acquisition, enrichment and management processes;Highlights contributions from international researchers from diverse fields and subject areas.

This book presents prospective, industrially proven methods and software solutions for storing, processing, and viewing multimedia content on digital cameras, camcorders, TV, and mobile devices. Most of the algorithms described here are implemented as systems on chip firmware or as software products and have low computational complexity and memory consumption. In the four parts of the book, which contains a total of 16 chapters, the authors address solutions for the conversion of images and videos by super-resolution, depth estimation and control and mono-to-stereo (2D to 3D) conversion; display applications by video editing; the real-time detection of sport episodes; and the generation and reproduction of natural effects. The practical principles of machine learning are illustrated using technologies such as image classification as a service, mobile user profiling, and automatic view planning with dictionary-based compressed sensing in magnetic resonance imaging. The implementation of these technologies in mobile devices is discussed in relation to algorithms using a depth camera based on a colour-coded aperture, the animated graphical abstract of an image, a motion photo, and approaches and methods for iris recognition on mobile platforms. The book reflects the authors¿ practical experience in the development of algorithms for industrial R&D and the commercialization of technologies.Explains digital techniques for digital cameras, camcorders, TV, mobile devices;Offers essential algorithms for the processing pipeline in multimedia devices and accompanying software tools;Features advanced topics on data processing, addressing current technology challenges.

This book investigates the production of public space in contemporary urban contexts as conditioned by the suffusion of urban life with digital technologies. A ¿social production of technology¿ approach is taken to frame the digitally-mediated city as a communal social and cultural project. Acknowledging the multivalent and shifting nature of public space and the heterogeneity of the urban actors who form it, the ¿agency¿ of these different actors in appropriating digital technologies takes center stage. The dynamics of negotiations between regimes of control and impulses towards freedom and experimentation, the entanglement of the spatial commons and the digital commons, changes in the notions of what constitutes membership in a public or counterpublic, and evolving relationships between the various individuals and groups who share and constitute public space, are all revealed in different actors¿ appropriation of digital technologies in the formation of public spaces and the conducting of public life in cities.The book is divided into two sections. Drawing on classic and contemporary scholars on public space, and on digital culture, Section I explores the implications of the convergence of these bodies of knowledge and lenses of critique and examination on the present urban condition, establishing a conceptual foundation upon which public space discourse is brought to bear on an interrogation of the ¿wired¿ or ¿mediated¿ city. Structured by the core concepts that underlie Hannah Arendt¿s notion of agency in the constitution of the public sphere, Section II is devoted to discussing, and demonstrating through myriad concrete examples, how different ¿affordances¿ of digital technologies are implicated in the production of public space and in the interplay between urban governance and control, urban life and citizenship, and urban commodification. The topics in this book are of broad and current international relevance, and will appeal to scholars and students in architecture, urbanism, design, sociology, and digital culture.

This book examines the modern pandemic of online child sexual exploitation (OCSE). It explores the prevalence, perpetration, impact, and victimization of as well as therapy for child sexual exploitation and its interaction with child sexual abuse. Chapters discuss OCSE from neuropsychological, epidemiological, neurological, behavioral, psychological, clinical, neurobiological and epigenetic perspectives. The volume also addresses the physical and mental impact of early exposure to pornography. The book serves as a resource on an issue that is proving exponentially complex as technology ceaselessly evolves at a faster rate than its consequences can be understood and addressed.Key areas of coverage include:Neuropsychological changes and dysfunctional coping mechanisms resulting from both online and offline child sexual abuse.The psychological, emotional, and physical impacts (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD, and self-harm) of child sexual abuse.Prevention and early intervention strategies, including scalable technological responses.Developing a public health approach to preventing and addressing online child abuse and exploitation.Porn culture and its impact on children, adolescents, and emerging adults.The neurobiology and epigenetic impact of trauma.This book is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians, and graduate students in child and school psychology, public health, social work as well as interrelated disciplines, including neuropsychology, neurobiology, sociology, anthropology, and educational policy and politics.

This book offers an original contribution to the area of international research on comparative education policies and the influence of transnational agencies on national school policy and reform. With a focus on grasping what the Nordic model or the Nordic dimension means in school and educational policy, the book explores in depth the school policy contexts of the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It demonstrates how these particular national contexts engage with and contextualize transnational collaboration on issues like school reform, accountability, evidence and what works, and digitalization. The book situates these policy issues over a long period of time while integrating the latest developments and reforms. It demonstrates how context matters. It shows how the often elusive, but pervasive Nordic dimension can only be fully understood by painstaking scrutiny of the five national contexts, their particular trajectories and mutual interactions in formal and informal education.

This book is the first comprehensive review of the subsurface monitoring theory and practice. It presents all aspects of a subsurface monitoring system SM-NI to be organized in impacted areas of nuclear industry enterprises. The content of the book covers the whole set of the SM-NI projecting and implementation issues ¿ from the theoretical and regulatory framework, through the description of the sources of impact on geological environment to examples of use the SM-NI to solve environmental problems on the main types of environmentally significant nuclear industry enterprises. Development of the SM-NI was based on long-term research studies including modeling of pollutants transport in the geological environment.The book is intended for a wide range of nuclear industry employees and specialists in environment protection and radiation safety of nuclear industry enterprises. It might be useful for ecologists, students and postgraduates concerned about environment protection inthe field of nuclear technology

This book honors the career of Professor Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch who was a pioneer and leader in the field of limnogeology since the 1980s. Her work was instrumental in guiding students and professionals in the field until her untimely death in 2016. This collection of chapters was written by her colleagues and students and recognize the important role that Professor Gierlowski-Kordesch had in advancing the field of limnogeology. The chapters show the breadth of her reach as these have been contributed from virtually every continent.This book will be a primary reference for scientists, professionals and graduate students who are interested in the latest advances in limnogeologic processes and basin descriptions in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and China.*Free supplementary material available online for chapters 3,11,12 and 13.Access by searching for the book on link.springer.com

This book covers the sustainability issues of a green environment towards economics and society in terms of alteration in industrial pollution levels, effect of reduced carbon emissions, changes in water bodies characteristics with respect to heavy metal contamination, monitoring of associated impact with respect to ecology and biodiversity, impact of reduced noise levels and air quality influences on human health, handling and management of biomedical waste. According to WHO, 80% of people living in urban areas are exposed to air exceeding safe limits. The advent of "sustainability¿ in development science has led planners to apply evolving notions of "sustainability¿ to the contemporary debate over how cities and regions should be revitalized, redeveloped, and reformed. Market allocation of resources, sustained levels of growth and consumption, an assumption that natural resources are unlimited and a belief that economic growth will ¿trickle down¿ to the poor have been its hallmarks. The recent advance technology helps to promote green and clean modern societies continuously. The Internet of things will be playing an important role in the upcoming years in environment protection and sustainable development.There is a focus on paradigm shift in the sustainable development for the green environment during the period of isolation of COVID-19. This is the moment for the mobilization against the climate crisis. The sudden fall in pollutants and subsequent blue skies signifies a dramatic shift for India and also other affected countries during this period. Fighting climate change requires a collaborative approach between all spheres of society unlike the former. It must heavily redirect resources towards local, sustainable activities, including education, health, sustainable agriculture and circular management of resources. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in the dramatic change in the different aspects of the environment. The global lockdown has led to a rejuvenation of nature, ecosystems, biodiversity. Even urban environments are discovering a degree of peace and serenity, which led to decrease in greenhouse gas emission.

This volume collects and presents the fundamentals, tools, and processes of utilizing geospatial information technologies to process remotely sensed data for use in agricultural monitoring and management. The issues related to handling digital agro-geoinformation, such as collecting (including field visits and remote sensing), processing, storing, archiving, preservation, retrieving, transmitting, accessing, visualization, analyzing, synthesizing, presenting, and disseminating agro-geoinformation have never before been systematically documented in one volume. The book is edited by International Conference on Agro-Geoinformatics organizers Dr. Liping Di (George Mason University), who coined the term ¿Agro-Geoinformatics¿ in 2012, and Dr. Berk Üstündä (Istanbul Technical University) and are uniquely positioned to curate and edit this foundational text.The book is composed of eighteen chapters that can each stand alone but also build on each other to give the reader a comprehensive understanding of agro-geoinformatics and what the tools and processes that compose the field can accomplish. Topics covered include land parcel identification, image processing in agricultural observation systems, databasing and managing agricultural data, crop status monitoring, moisture and evapotranspiration assessment, flood damage monitoring, agricultural decision support systems and more.

Globally, there is a need to promote and empower practical action towards better environmental conservation and greater sustainability; education aspires to achieve and motivate this ¿ one mind at a time. This book advances a future-oriented vision of the development of environmental sustainability education in settings outside the high-school. It provides practical guidance for teacher practitioners and policy makers in community-oriented environmental sustainability education. It promotes a modern holistic approach to sustainability learning in and by the community through participative engagement with sustainability issues. Its special foci include working with volunteers and citizen scientists, through museums or through re-purposing Higher Education. Its approach emphasises the implementation of the United Nation¿s Sustainable Development Goals and cooperation with environmental management professionals. This book¿s cosponsors include the International Association for Headwater Control and FAO ¿ European Forestry Commission¿s Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds, as well as the International Environmental Education Conferences, Eger, Hungary and the Hungarian Academy of Science¿s Subcommittee on Future Studies. Community education has long been a goal for environmental management, whose practitioners realise that interventions, such as biodiversity conservation, are only truly sustainable when supported by the local land-user and stakeholder communities; this depends upon these stakeholders¿ understanding why intervention is necessary.

This book presents the soil pedodiversity in Libya. Soils are the source of all life; there can be no life without them. Further, each soil has its own history and its present conditions, which have been shaped by many different factors (e.g. climate, biota, parent material, and relief or topography). The book, divided into eight chapters, provides extensive information on Libyan soils. Chapter one provides an introduction and a broad perspective of the subject, while Chapter two covers the history of soil mapping and research in Libya. Chapter three focuses on local factors of soil formation and describes the geology and climate of the region to explain the diversity of its soils. Chapter four discusses soil classification systems and those most commonly used in the country. The fifth chapter illustrates the constraints and limiting factors that negatively affect agricultural activities across the country. The land cover/land use and the vegetation of the country are described in Chapter six. In turn, Chapter seven presents the status quo of soil biology, the corresponding related research activities, and the other biological properties of Libyan soils. The final chapter (Chapter eight) focus on land degradation and desertification in Libya, emphasizing the main causes, impacts of the phenomena, and efforts to combat it. This book demonstrates the problems that the country is currently facing as a result of climate change, soil erosion, salinization, and pollution, and outlines potential remedies to improve local food security. Bringing together the perspectives and expertise of many distinguished scientists from various universities and institutions in and outside of Libya, the book represents a unique and highly valuable resource.

This book looks at the challenge of providing reliable and cost-effective power solutions to expanding communications networks in remote and rural areas where grid electricity is limited or not available. It examines the use of renewable energy systems to provide off-grid remote electrification from a variety of resources, including regenerative fuel cells, ultracapacitors, wind energy, and photovoltaic power systems, and proposes a powerful hybrid system that can replace the need and high operation costs of batteries and diesel powered electric generators.Analyzes types of communications stations and their rate of consumption of electrical power;Presents brief descriptions of various types of renewable energy;Investigates renewable energy systems as a source for powering communication stations.

This book addresses theories and empirical procedures for the application of machine learning and data mining to solve problems in cyber dynamics. It explains the fundamentals of cyber dynamics, and presents how these resilient algorithms, strategies, techniques can be used for the development of the cyberspace environment such as:cloud computing services;cyber security; data analytics; and,disruptive technologies like blockchain.The book presents new machine learning and data mining approaches in solving problems in cyber dynamics. Basic concepts, related work reviews, illustrations, empirical results and tables are integrated in each chapter to enable the reader to fully understand the concepts, methodology, and the results presented. The book contains empirical solutions of problems in cyber dynamics ready for industrial applications. The book will be an excellent starting point for postgraduate students and researchers because each chapter is design to have future research directions.

The Mesopotamian marshes are important for economic, social, and biodiversity values and have been home to indigenous human communities for millennia. They are regarded as a legendary site.This multi-authored book contains chapters written by world-renowned experts in their field. Both basic and applied information are made available, making the book a must-have for a wide spectrum of users. For example, an understanding of the natural and the social aspects of the marshes, as described here, is an obvious prerequisite for a pest management plan in this area. Scholars interested in wetlands can use this book as a guide to compare different wetlands areas in Asia. The bibliography section contains valuable references to the marsh areas and research in the field.This book serves as an up-to-date comprehensive source of information on different aspects of the southern marshes of Iraq and is aimed at academic scholars, environmentalists, and decision makers.

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) integrate computing and communication capabilities by monitoring and controlling the physical systems via embedded hardware and computers. This book brings together new and futuristic findings on IoT, Cyber Physical Systems and Robotics leading towards Automation and solving issues of various critical applications in Real-time. The book initially overviews the concepts of IoT, IIoT and Cyber Physical Systems followed by various critical applications and discusses the latest designs and developments that provide common solutions for the convergence of technologies. In addition, the book specifies methodologies, algorithms and other relevant architectures in various fields that include Automation, Robotics, Smart Agriculture and Industry 4.0.The book is intended for practitioners, enterprise representatives, scientists, students and Ph.D Scholars in hopes of steering research further towards cyber physical systems design and development and implementation across various domains. Additionally, this book can be used as a secondary reference, or rather one-stop guide, by professionals for real-life implementation of cyber physical systems.The book highlights:¿ A Critical Coverage of various domains: IoT, Cyber Physical Systems, Industry 4.0, Smart Automation and related critical applications.¿ Advanced elaborations for target audiences to understand the conceptual methodology and future directions of cyber physical systems and IoT.¿ An approach towards Research Orientations to enable researchers to point out areas and scope for implementation of Cyber Physical Systems in several domains for better productivity.

This book reviews the application of nanosensors in food and agriculture. Nanotechnology has the potential to become transformative technology that will impact almost all sectors. Tools like nanosensors, which detect specific molecular interactions, can be used for on-site, in-situ and online measurements of various parameters in clinical diagnostics, environmental and food monitoring, and quality control.Due to their unprecedented performance and sensitivity, nanobiosensors are gaining importance in precision farming. The book examines the use of nanobiosensors in the monitoring of food additives, toxins and mycotoxins, microbial contamination, food allergens, nutritional constituents, pesticides, environmental parameters, plant diseases and genetically modified organisms. It also discusses the role of biosensors in increasing crop productivity in sustainable agriculture, and nanosensor-based smart delivery systems to optimize the use of natural resources such as water, nutrients and agrochemicals in precision farming.