Intensive agriculture has generally resulted in higher productivity, but also in a trend towards decreasing levels of agro-biodiversity, which represents a key point in ensuring the adaptability and resilience of agro-ecosystems in the global challenge to produce more and better food in a sustainable way. The biodiversity of vegetable crops includes genetic diversity—both as species diversity…
This book constitutes the proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Analysis of Images, Social Networks and Texts, AIST 2015, held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in April 2015. The 24 full and 8 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 140 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on analysis of images and videos; pattern recognition and machine learning;…
This book develops a set of reference methods capable of modeling uncertainties existing in membership functions, and analyzing and synthesizing the interval type-2 fuzzy systems with desired performances. It also provides numerous simulation results for various examples, which fill certain gaps in this area of research and may serve as benchmark solutions for the readers. Interval type-2 T-S…
This book introduces a new set of orthogonal hybrid functions (HF) which approximates time functions in a piecewise linear manner which is very suitable for practical applications. The book presents an analysis of different systems namely, time-invariant system, time-varying system, multi-delay systems---both homogeneous and non-homogeneous type- and the solutions are obtained in the form of…
This book presents the state of the art of type 2 diabetes genetics, from the process of genetic discovery to its interpretation and clinical application, and illustrates a model for other complex human phenotypes. The first section explores genome-wide association studies, the extension of this method to less accessible phenotypes and the arrival of next-generation sequencing. A further secti…
This open access book reports on cutting-edge electrical engineering and microelectronics solutions to foster and support digitalization in the semiconductor industry. Based on the outcomes of the European project iDev40, which were presented at the two first conference editions of the European Advances in Digital Transformation Conference (EADCT 2018 and EADTC 2019), the book covers different,…
Data is a common ground, a starting point for each ICT system. Data needs processing, use of different technologies and state-of-the-art methods in order to obtain new knowledge, to develop new useful applications that not only ease, but also increase the quality of life. These applications use the exploration of Big Data, High throughput data, Data Warehouse, Data Mining, Bioinformatics, Robot…
The papers included in this special issue cover a broad range of aspects ranging from genetics and breeding to crop production in the field. Climate change, intensified agriculture, modifications of land use, or pollution are often accompanied by larger fluctuations including extreme events. The growing world’s population and nutrient deficiencies in agricultural products for human or animal …
In a worldwide context of ever-growing competition for water and land, climate change, droughts and man-made water scarcity, and less-participatory water governance, agriculture faces the great challenge of producing enough food for a continually increasing population. In this line, this book provides a broad overview of innovation issues in the complex water–agriculture–food nexus, thus al…
his Open Access book is for scientists and experts who work on urban food policies. It provides a conceptual framework for understanding the urban food system sustainability and how it can be tackled by local governments. Written by a collective of researchers, this book describes the existing conceptual frameworks for an analysis of urban food policies, at the crossroads of the concepts of foo…