An International Advisory Board recently met in Tokyo with the overarching goal of assessing the impact of satellite earth observation on society and policy. A series of roundtable discussions invited perspectives from experts to understand how Earth observations contribute to environmental and other policymaking, and how space agencies establish links between their programs, scientific advan…
What are the causes and consequences of species diversity in forested ecosystems, and how is this species diversity being affected by rapid environmental and climatic change, movement of invertebrate and vertebrate herbivores into new biogeographic regions, and expanding human populations and associated shifts in land-use patterns? In this book, we explore these questions for assemblages of for…
Minerals are very significant components of coal from both academic and practical perspectives. Minerals may react when the coal is burned, either forming an ash residue, or, in many cases, releasing volatile components, or being needed to be removed as slag from the blast furnace during metallurgical processing. Minerals in coal can also be a source of unwanted abrasion, stickiness, corrosion,…
Arthropods are invertebrates that constitute over 90% of the animal kingdom, and their bio-ecology is closely linked with global functioning and survival. Arthropods play an important role in maintaining the health of ecosystems, provide livelihoods and nutrition to human communities, and are important indicators of environmental change. Yet the population trends of several arthropods species s…
This book offers a practical guide to Agent Based economic modeling, adopting a "learning by doing" approach to help the reader master the fundamental tools needed to create and analyze Agent Based models. After providing them with a basic "toolkit" for Agent Based modeling, it present and discusses didactic models of real financial and economic systems in detail. While stressing the main featu…
This text explains how to use mathematical models and methods to analyze problems that arise in computer science. Proofs play a central role in this work because the authors share a belief with most mathematicians that proofs are essential for genuine understanding. Proofs also play a growing role in computer science; they are used to certify that software and hardware will always behave cor…
This book presents the works and research findings of physicists, economists, mathematicians, statisticians, and financial engineers who have undertaken data-driven modelling of market dynamics and other empirical studies in the field of Econophysics. During recent decades, the financial market landscape has changed dramatically with the deregulation of markets and the growing complexity of pro…
Nature provides us with many services seemingly for free: recharged groundwater, fertile soil and plant biomass created by photosynthesis. We human beings draw extensive benefits from these "ecosystem services," or ES -- food, water supply, recreation and protection from natural hazards. Major international studies, such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, have addressed the enormous role o…
This volume presents selected aspects of non-integer, or fractional order systems, whose analysis, synthesis and applications have increasingly become a real challenge for various research communities, ranging from science to engineering. The spectrum of applications of the fractional order calculus has incredibly expanded, in fact it would be hard to find a science/engineering-related subject …
The Advances in Microbiology, Infectious Diseases and Public Health Series will provide microbiologists, hygienists, epidemiologists and infectious diseases specialists with well-chosen contributed volumes containing updated information in the areas of basic and applied microbiology involving relevant issues for public health, including bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections, zoonoses and a…