- Table View
- List View
Using Detection Dogs to Monitor Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Protect Aquatic Resources
by Ngaio L. RichardsThis book is about the varied range of emerging applications using specially trained detection dogs to monitor and protect aquatic ecosystems, animals, plants and related resources. Featuring contributions from those at the forefront of converging disciplines ranging from canine training, ecological and biological monitoring, water resource management, law enforcement, and eco-toxicology, it addresses everyone already immersed in these or related fields, and anyone seeking to gain a broader understanding of them. Chapters cover several common themes including monitoring presence/absence through biological and ecological surveys; maintaining and evaluating water quality; law enforcement and anti-poaching initiatives; public education, awareness and compliance; standards and best practices; optimal uses of dogs in relation to and in conjunction with other available tools and pragmatic considerations for selecting and working with dogs and handlers. The aim of the book is to stimulate new ideas, promote the sharing and dissemination of information and findings - and, ideally, to catalyze new and innovative partnerships, to strengthen the preservation and conservation of our aquatic heritage.
Using Energy Crops for Biofuels or Food: The Choice (Green Energy and Technology)
by Christina Papadopoulou Kyriaki Kitikidou Michael Tsatiris Annoula PaschalidouThis book performs a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to examine the current food crisis and how it relates to the use of crops for energy. It analyses how energy crops may help solve humankind’s environmental changes and summarises the economic and practical changes of cultivating and utilising energy crops. Two of humanity’s greatest challenges are the need for more food production as well as growing demands for energy. Biofuel cultivation has been identified as a solution to growing energy use, and biomass power plants offer a rare renewable energy source that requires only basic technology.In this context, a dilemma arises concerning whether energy crops should be used for energy or to help remedy the food crisis. SWOT analysis allows us to organise and weigh different pros and cons against each other in terms of economics, job creation, environmental impacts, the climate change agenda, and European Union (EU) directives that promote biofuels over fossil fuels. By pursuing this approach, the book helps researchers and decision-makers cut through the many competing arguments in connection with this complex subject.
Using Geochemical Data: To Understand Geological Processes (Longman Geochemistry Ser.)
by Hugh Rollinson Victoria PeaseThis textbook is a complete rewrite, and expansion of Hugh Rollinson's highly successful 1993 book Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation. Rollinson and Pease's new book covers the explosion in geochemical thinking over the past three decades, as new instruments and techniques have come online. It provides a comprehensive overview of how modern geochemical data are used in the understanding of geological and petrological processes. It covers major element, trace element, and radiogenic and stable isotope geochemistry. It explains the potential of many geochemical techniques, provides examples of their application, and emphasizes how to interpret the resulting data. Additional topics covered include the critical statistical analysis of geochemical data, current geochemical techniques, effective display of geochemical data, and the application of data in problem solving and identifying petrogenetic processes within a geological context. It will be invaluable for all graduate students, researchers, and professionals using geochemical techniques.
Using Geochemical Data: Evaluation, Presentation, Interpretation (Longman Geochemistry Series)
by Hugh R. RollinsonUsing Geochemical Data brings together in one volume a wide range of ideas and methods currently used in geochemistry, providing a foundation of knowledge from which the reader can interpret, evaluate and present geochemical data.
Using Historical Maps in Scientific Studies: Applications, Challenges, and Best Practices (SpringerBriefs in Geography)
by Yao-Yi Chiang Weiwei Duan Stefan Leyk Johannes H. Uhl Craig A. KnoblockThis book illustrates the first connection between the map user community and the developers of digital map processing technologies by providing several applications, challenges, and best practices in working with historical maps. After the introduction chapter, in this book, Chapter 2 presents a variety of existing applications of historical maps to demonstrate varying needs for processing historical maps in scientific studies (e.g., thousands of historical maps from a map series vs. a few historical maps from various publishers and with different cartographic styles). Chapter 2 also describes case studies introducing typical types of semi-automatic and automatic digital map processing technologies. The case studies showcase the strengths and weaknesses of semi-automatic and automatic approaches by testing them in a symbol recognition task on the same scanned map. Chapter 3 presents the technical challenges and trends in building a map processing, modeling, linking, and publishing framework. The framework will enable querying historical map collections as a unified and structured spatiotemporal source in which individual geographic phenomena (extracted from maps) are modeled (described) with semantic descriptions and linked to other data sources (e.g., DBpedia, a structured version of Wikipedia). Chapter 4 dives into the recent advancement in deep learning technologies and their applications on digital map processing. The chapter reviews existing deep learning models for their capabilities on geographic feature extraction from historical maps and compares different types of training strategies. A comprehensive experiment is described to compare different models and their performance.Historical maps are fascinating to look at and contain valuable retrospective place information difficult to find elsewhere. However, the full potential of historical maps has not been realized because the users of scanned historical maps and the developers of digital map processing technologies are from a wide range of disciplines and often work in silos. Each chapter in this book can be read individually, but the order of chapters in this book helps the reader to first understand the “product requirements” of a successful digital map processing system, then review the existing challenges and technologies, and finally follow the more recent trend of deep learning applications for processing historical maps. The primary audience for this book includes scientists and researchers whose work requires long-term historical geographic data as well as librarians. The secondary audience includes anyone who loves maps!
Using Mathematica for Quantum Mechanics: A Student’s Manual
by Roman SchmiedThis book revisits many of the problems encountered in introductory quantum mechanics, focusing on computer implementations for finding and visualizing analytical and numerical solutions. It subsequently uses these implementations as building blocks to solve more complex problems, such as coherent laser-driven dynamics in the Rubidium hyperfine structure or the Rashba interaction of an electron moving in 2D. The simulations are highlighted using the programming language Mathematica. No prior knowledge of Mathematica is needed; alternatives, such as Matlab, Python, or Maple, can also be used.
Using NEPA to Combat Global Warming
by David L. KeysThis book will help policy makers, university students, and the general public understand how the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is intended to work, and how it can be used to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to combat global warming. Unlike all other books on NEPA, this book focuses on the global warming problem in terms of thermodynamics and entropy. It explains how NEPA can help combat global warming by operationalizing the “energy requirements and conservation potential” analysis requirement in the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations, 40 CFR 1502.16 (a)(7), and it puts the past, present, and future of the NEPA statute, the CEQ regulations, and energy analysis requirements all in one easy to find, portable place. It will be an excellent resource for university students and teachers, policy analysts, and those members of the public that want to know all about the NEPA Process. As a third edition, the book contains new analysis on the amended NEPA statute (2023) and revised CEQ regulations (2024), CEQ’s January 9, 2023 interim guidance on how to incorporate GHG emissions into NEPA documents, the social costs of carbon, the long-term strategy of the United States to get to net-zero GHG by 2050, assessing climate risk in NEPA reviews, and the link between energy requirements analysis required by 40 CFR 1502.16 (a) (7) and reduced GHG emissions.
Using R for Digital Soil Mapping
by Brendan P. Malone Budiman Minasny Alex B. McbratneyThis book describes and provides many detailed examples of implementing Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) using R. The work adheres to Digital Soil Mapping theory, and presents a strong focus on how to apply it. DSM exercises are also included and cover procedures for handling and manipulating soil and spatial data in R. The book also introduces the basic concepts and practices for building spatial soil prediction functions, and then ultimately producing digital soil maps.
Using Risk Analysis for Flood Protection Assessment
by Martina Zeleňáková Lenka ZvijákováThis book explores the benefits of using risk analysis techniques in the evaluation of flood protection structures, and examines the results of the environmental impact assessment for selected planned flood protection projects. The objective of the book is to propose a methodology for environmental impact assessment in water management. In more detail, flood mitigation measures are investigated with the aim of selecting the best option for the approval process. This methodology is intended to streamline the process of environmental impact assessment for structures in the field of the water management. The book’s environmental impact assessment system for water management structures analyzes the respective risks for different options. The results are intended to support the selection of future projects that pose minimum risks to the environment. Comparison of alternatives and designation of the optimal variant are implemented on the basis of selected criteria that objectively describe the characteristics of the planned alternatives and their respective impacts on the environment. The proposed Guideline for environmental impact assessment of flood protection objects employs multi-parametric risk analysis, a method intended to not only enhance the transparency and sensitivity of the evaluation process, but also successfully addresses the requirements of environmental impact assessment systems in the European Union. These modifications are intended to improve the outcomes of the environmental impact assessment, but may also be applied to other infrastructure projects. The case study proves that the primary aim – to improve transparency and minimize subjectivity in the environmental impact assessment process specific to flood protection structure projects – is met for the planned project in Kružlov, Slovakia.
Using Statistics to Understand the Environment
by Penny A. Cook P. WheaterUsing Statistics to Understand the Environment covers all the basic tests required for environmental practicals and projects and points the way to the more advanced techniques that may be needed in more complex research designs. Following an introduction to project design, the book covers methods to describe data, to examine differences between samples, and to identify relationships and associations between variables.Featuring: worked examples covering a wide range of environmental topics, drawings and icons, chapter summaries, a glossary of statistical terms and a further reading section, this book focuses on the needs of the researcher rather than on the mathematics behind the tests.
Using Supercritical Water Oxidation to Treat Hydrolysate from VX Neutralization
by Committee on Review Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal ProgramInformation on Using Supercritical Water Oxidation to Treat Hydrolysate from VX Neutralization
Using Training to Build Capacity: An Evaluation of the World Bank's Project-based and WBI Training
by World BankThe World Bank finances about US$720 million in training every year, through both its lending projects and its in-house World Bank Institute (WBI). The evaluation found that while most of the training reviewed resulted in demonstrable participant learning, this learning frequently did not lead to real change in participants' workplace performance. Poor training outcomes most often resulted from training content that wasn't relevant to the needs and goals of the target institutions, or from the trainees' lack of incentives or resources to apply learning in their workplaces. These findings highlight how important it is for training to be embedded in broader capacity-building programs that identify and address organizational and institutional capacity constraints alongside human ones.
Utah Oil Shale: Science, Technology, and Policy Perspectives
by Jennifer P. SpintiIncludes full-color isopach and richness maps for each organic-rich and organic-lean oil shale interval within the upper Green River Formation. Offers computational exploration of trade-offs in drilling and heating options on the net energy return for oil produced from an in situ process. Analyzes costs and emissions associated with in situ production of oil shale. Discusses legal and policy issues for a nascent oil shale industry.
Utah, Our Home
by John S. McCormickUtah, Our Home is a multi-media textbook program for Utah Studies. The program is based on Utah's Core Standards for social studies and teaches civics, history, geography, and economics.
Utilization of Geospatial Information in Daily Life: Expression and Analysis of Dynamic Life Activity (New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives #65)
by Yoshihide Sekimoto Yasuhiro KawaharaThis book focuses on geospatial information in living spaces, providing many examples of its collection and use as well as discussing the problems of how it is used and its future prospects.Geospatial information science is in the process of evolving and being systematized, with the technical and usage aspects of the real world stimulating each other. This book systematizes the technical aspects of positioning; of geography, which manages and represents what is measured in units of earth coordinates; and of data science, which aims to efficiently express and process geographic information, all by introducing contemporary examples that are systematized with regard to their use in our living spaces. Examples of geospatial information used in almost all aspects of our lives, including urban areas, transportation, disaster prevention, health and medical care, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, culture, ecology, and topography, are presented, along with examples of their use in each area. One of the major features of this book is that it describes the use of data from earthquake disasters that is unique to Japan, as well as the use of open data and personal data in Japan, which is a trend that is gaining attention in many countries. In this way the book systematically describes events and circumstances in living spaces that are revealed by the expression and analysis of geospatial data, with case studies and discusses their use in the IoT era.
Utilization of Operational Environmental Satellite Data: Ensuring Readiness for 2010 and Beyond
by Committee on Environmental Satellite Data UtilizationThe system of satellites in place to provide environmental data-data to monitor events such as forest fires and floods; to make weather predictions; and to assess crops, transportation impacts, fisheries, land-use patterns, sea temperature, and soil moisture, among other things- serves a wide and growing array of users. In the coming years as the next generation of operational environmental satellites in put in orbit, the will be a large expansion in data availability. To ensure that these data serve effectively this broad user community, a new vision for the future of operational environmental satellite data utilization is needed. To help develop approaches for handling this potential data overload, NASA, with technical support from NOAA, asked the NRC to conduct an end-to-end review of issues about the utilization of operational environmental satellite data for 2010 and beyond. This report presents the result of that review. It focuses on ensuring the value of environmental satellite data for addressing specific user needs, distribution of such data, and data access and utilization.
Utilization of Renormalized Mean-Field Theory upon Novel Quantum Materials (Springer Theses)
by Wei-Lin TuThis book offers a new approach to the long-standing problem of high-Tc copper-oxide superconductors. It has been demonstrated that starting from a strongly correlated Hamiltonian, even within the mean-field regime, the “competing orders” revealed by experiments can be achieved using numerical calculations. In the introduction, readers will find a brief review of the high-Tc problem and the unique challenges it poses, as well as a comparatively simple numerical approach, the renormalized mean-field theory (RMFT), which provides rich results detailed in the following chapters. With an additional phase picked up by the original Hamiltonian, some behaviors of interactive fermions under an external magnetic field, which have since been experimentally observed using cold atom techniques, are also highlighted.
Utopia in Practice: Bishan Project and Rural Reconstruction (Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics)
by Ou NingThis book is a collection of texts on one of China's boldest social experiments in recent years: the rural reconstruction project in Bishan. The Bishan Project (2011-2016) was a rural reconstruction project in a small village Bishan, Anhui Province, China. The writings describe and criticize the social problems caused by China’s over-loading urbanization process and starts a a contemporary agrarianism and agritopianism discourse to resist the modernism and developmentalism doctrine which dominated China for more than a century, answering a global desire for the theory and action of the alternative social solution for today’s environmental and political crises.This practical utopian commune project ran for 6 years and caused a national debate on rural issues in China, when it was invited to be exhibited and presented abroad. This collection of writing will be of interest to artists, China scholars, architects, and the cultural community at large.
Utopia in the Anthropocene: A Change Plan for a Sustainable and Equitable World (Routledge Studies in Sustainability)
by Michael HarveyUtopia in the Anthropocene takes a cross-disciplinary approach to analyse our current world problems, identify the key resistance to change and take the reader step by step towards a more sustainable, equitable and rewarding world. It presents paradigm-shifting models of economics, political decision-making, business organization and leadership and community life. These are supported by psychological evidence, utopian literature and inspirational changes in history.The Anthropocene is in crisis, because human activity is changing almost everything about life on this planet at an unparalleled pace. Climate change, the environmental emergency, economic inequality, threats to democracy and peace and an onslaught of new technology: these planetwide risks can seem too big to comprehend, let alone manage. Our reckless pursuit of infinite economic growth on a finite planet could even take us towards a global dystopia. As an unprecedented frenzy of change grips the world, the case for utopia is stronger than ever. An effective change plan requires a bold, imaginative vision, practical goals and clarity around the psychological values necessary to bring about a transformation. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of the environmental humanities, sustainability studies, ecological economics, organizational psychology, politics, utopian philosophy and literature – and all who long for a better world.
Utopian and Dystopian Explorations of Pandemics and Ecological Breakdown: Entangled Futurities (ISSN)
by Conrad Scott Rhiannon Firth Heather Alberro Nora Castle Emrah AtasoyThis edited collection, which is situated within the environmental humanities and environmental social sciences, brings together utopian and dystopian representations of pandemics from across literature, the arts, and social movements.Featuring analyses of literary works, TV and film, theater, politics, and activism, the chapters in this volume home in on critical topics such as posthumanism, multispecies futures, agency, political ecology, environmental justice, and Indigenous and settler-colonial environmental relations. The book asks: how do pandemics and ecological breakdown show us the ways that humans are deeply interconnected with the more-than-human world? And what might we learn from exploring those entanglements, both within creative works and in lived reality? Brazilian, Indian, Polish, and Dutch texts feature alongside classic literary works like Defoe’s A Journal of a Plague Year (1722) and Matheson’s I Am Legend (1954), as well as broader takes on movements like global youth climate activism. These investigations are united by their thematic interests in the future of human and nonhuman relationships in the shadow of climate emergency and increasing pandemic risk, as well as in the glimmers of utopian hope they exhibit for the creation of more just futures.This exploration of how pandemics illuminate the entangled materialities and shared vulnerabilities of all living things is an engaging and timely analysis that will appeal to environmentally minded researchers, academics, and students across various disciplines within the humanities and social sciences.
Utopianism for a Dying Planet: Life after Consumerism
by Gregory ClaeysHow the utopian tradition offers answers to today’s environmental crisesIn the face of Earth’s environmental breakdown, it is clear that technological innovation alone won’t save our planet. A more radical approach is required, one that involves profound changes in individual and collective behavior. Utopianism for a Dying Planet examines the ways the expansive history of utopian thought, from its origins in ancient Sparta and ideas of the Golden Age through to today's thinkers, can offer moral and imaginative guidance in the face of catastrophe. The utopian tradition, which has been critical of conspicuous consumption and luxurious indulgence, might light a path to a society that emphasizes equality, sociability, and sustainability.Gregory Claeys unfolds his argument through a wide-ranging consideration of utopian literature, social theory, and intentional communities. He defends a realist definition of utopia, focusing on ideas of sociability and belonging as central to utopian narratives. He surveys the development of these themes during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries before examining twentieth- and twenty-first-century debates about alternatives to consumerism. Claeys contends that the current global warming limit of 1.5C (2.7F) will result in cataclysm if there is no further reduction in the cap. In response, he offers a radical Green New Deal program, which combines ideas from the theory of sociability with proposals to withdraw from fossil fuels and cease reliance on unsustainable commodities.An urgent and comprehensive search for antidotes to our planet’s destruction, Utopianism for a Dying Planet asks for a revival of utopian ideas, not as an escape from reality, but as a powerful means of changing it.
UV-B Radiation and Plant Life: Molecular Biology to Ecology
by Pedro J. Aphalo Amy T. Austin Carlos L. Ballaré Paul W. Barnes Susanne Baldermann Melanie Binkert Janet F. Bornman Isabelle N. Bottger Stephan D. Flint Franziska S. Hanschen Éva Hideg Marcel Jansen Gareth I. Jenkins Karel Klem Susanne Neugart Monika Schreiner Åke Strid Mark A. Tobler Roman Ulm Otmar Urban Jason Wargent Melanie WiesnerUltraviolet-B radiation (UV-B) has profound effects on plant growth and development, and exposure varies with ozone depletion and across geographic regions, with ecosystem and agricultural consequences. This book deals with large-scale impacts but also how UV-B affects plants at the molecular level is also fascinating, and the UV-B photoreceptor has only recently been characterised. While UV-B radiation can be damaging, it also has a more positive role in plant photomorphogenesis. Consequently UV-B treatments are being developed as innovative approaches to improve horticulture. This book is a timely synthesis of what we know and need to know about UV-B radiation and plants.
V.A. Fock - Selected Works: Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory
by L. D. Faddeev L. A. Khalfin I. V. KomarovIn the period between the birth of quantum mechanics and the late 1950s, V.A. Fock wrote papers that are now deemed classics. In his works on theoretical physics, Fock not only skillfully applied advanced analytical and algebraic methods, but also systematically created new mathematical tools when existing approaches proved insufficient. This co
Vacant to Vibrant: Creating Successful Green Infrastructure Networks
by Sandra AlbroVacant lots, so often seen as neighborhood blight, have the potential to be a key element of community revitalization. As manufacturing cities reinvent themselves after decades of lost jobs and population, abundant vacant land resources and interest in green infrastructure are expanding opportunities for community and environmental resilience. Vacant to Vibrant explains how inexpensive green infrastructure projects can reduce stormwater runoff and pollution, and provide neighborhood amenities, especially in areas with little or no access to existing green space.Sandra Albro offers practical insights through her experience leading the five-year Vacant to Vibrant project, which piloted the creation of green infrastructure networks in Gary, Indiana; Cleveland, Ohio; and Buffalo, New York. Vacant to Vibrant provides a point of comparison among the three cities as they adapt old systems to new, green technology. An overview of the larger economic and social dynamics in play throughout the Rust Belt region establishes context for the promise of green infrastructure. Albro then offers lessons learned from the Vacant to Vibrant project, including planning, design, community engagement, implementation, and maintenance successes and challenges. An appendix shows designs and plans that can be adapted to small vacant lots.Landscape architects and other professionals whose work involves urban greening will learn new approaches for creating infrastructure networks and facilitating more equitable access to green space.
Vacationscape: Developing Tourist Areas
by Clare A. GunnThe third edition of this classic volume integrates the idea of balancing tourism with protection of the resources upon which it depends. The text stresses the role of the community, identifies potential pitfalls, and raises issues of developmental ethics. It includes topics such as environmental impact, sustainability, and ecotourism. Special emphasis is given to the growing need for business to implement environmental protection and ecological integrity as an essential part of economic development. The book is filled with many sketches, functional diagrams, and photographs.