This second edition has been updated and substantially expanded. Starting with the description of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, this cogently written textbook introduces the reader to the astronomy of galaxies, their structure, active galactic nuclei, evolution and large scale distribution in the Universe. After an extensive and thorough introduction to modern observational and theoretical co…
This book provides an introduction to incorporating preference information in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with a special emphasis in Value Efficiency Analysis. In addition to theoretical considerations, numerous illustrative examples are included. Hence, the book can be used as a teaching text as well. Only a modest mathematical background is needed to understand the main principles. The on…
This multi-disciplinary book will cater to students and those who want to have a more critical look behind the scenes of Antarctic science. This book will take a systems approach to providing insights into Antarctic ecosystems and the geophysical environment. Further, the book will link these insights to a discussion of current issues, such as climate change, bio prospecting, environmental mana…
Many endangered species of wild animals are managed in captivity through studbooks. In this book these data-rich resources are mined in innovative, integrated and statistically tested ways to maximise information gain for conservation practice – whether for captive or released/reintroduced or managed wild populations. This book is thus an important tool for all species managers, and for stude…
Intended to serve as a “citizen’s guide,” Controlling Knowledge is a vital resource for anyone seeking to understand how freedom of information and privacy protection are legally defined and how this legislation is shaping our individual rights as citizens of the information age.
This volume presents a broad panorama of the current status of research of invertebrate animals considered belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, such as hydra, jellyfish, sea anemone, and coral. In this book the Cnidarians are traced from the Earth’s primordial oceans, to their response to the warming and acidifying oceans. Due to the role of corals in the carbon and calcium cycles, various aspec…
This book provides insight into the Life Cycle Management (LCM) concept and the progress in its implementation. LCM is a management concept applied in industrial and service sectors to improve products and services, while enhancing the overall sustainability performance of business and its value chains. In this regard, LCM is an opportunity to differentiate through sustainability performance on…
The book presents an overview of the International practices and state-of-the-art of LCA studies in the agri-food sector, both in terms of adopted methodologies and application to particular products; the final purpose is to characterise and put order within the methodological issues connected to some important agri-food products (wine, olive oil, cereals and derived products, meat and fruit) a…
Funded for four years by the SSHRC’s Initiative for the New Economy, CRACIN systematically studied a wide variety of Canadian community ICT initiatives, bringing perspectives from sociology, computer science, critical theory, women’s studies, library and information sciences, and management studies to bear on networking technologies. A comprehensive thematic account of this in-depth researc…
This book highlights some of the most difficult and persistent exploration ever undertaken in the United States – in Burnsville Cove, a small limestone valley in west-central Virginia – while at the same time reviewing the scientific discoveries made in the area’s 116 km of caves in the course of 50 years. Overall, the book offers a unique combination of exploration and science by a conse…