The Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering is designed to be the authoritative and comprehensive reference covering all major aspects of the science of earthquake engineering, specifically focusing on the interaction between earthquakes and infrastructure. The encyclopedia comprises approximately 265 contributions. Since earthquake engineering deals with the interaction between earthquake distu…
This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the Third IAPR TC3 Workshop on Pattern Recognition of Social Signals in Human-Computer-Interaction, MPRSS 2014, held in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2014, as a satellite event of the International Conference on Pattern Recognition, ICPR 2014. The 14 revised papers presented focus on pattern recognition, machine learning …
This book brings together in a unique perspective aspects of natural history dioramas, their history, construction and rationale, interpretation and educational importance, from a number of different countries, from the west coast of the USA, across Europe to China. It describes the journey of dioramas from their inception through development to visions of their future. A complementary journey …
This encyclopedia provides a comprehensive reference to topics in biometrics including concepts, modalities, algorithms, devices, systems, security, performance testing, applications and standardization. With an A–Z format and over 1400 entries, it provides easy access to relevant information on all aspects of biometrics for those seeking entry into this broad field. Entries are written by…
The interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its increasingly likely chances for its emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, biochemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonalit…
This book discusses the historic range of variation (HRV) in the types, frequencies, severities and scales of natural disturbances, and explores how they create heterogeneous structure within upland hardwood forests of the Central Hardwood Region (CHR). The book was written in response to a 2012 forest planning rule which requires that national forests to be managed to sustain ‘ecological int…
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In societies all around the globe, the population is aging. This fact will pose important challenges to healthcare and social systems in industrialized and emerging economies alike. It is therefore critical to devise strategies to extend the healthy years of life and thus limit the exponential increase in healthcare cost associated with growing old and frail. Understanding the aging process …
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 12th International Workshop on Multiple Classifier Systems, MCS 2015, held in Günzburg, Germany, in June/July 2015. The 19 revised papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 25 submissions. The papers address issues in multiple classifier systems and ensemble methods, including pattern recognition, machine learning, neural n…
The legal status of armed forces stationed abroad is an important issue to all States and international organisations involved. Today the status of forces is often set out in Status of Forces Agreements (SOFAs) defining the rights and obligations of the deployed forces. Key in these agreements is immunity of military personnel from criminal jurisdiction of host State courts, as follows from…