Technology, Engineering & Agriculture Books

Book SynopsisOlive oil is considered to be such a crucial component of the so-called Mediterranean Diet'' that, since 2010, it has been inscribed in UNESCO''s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and is considered to be a very good dietary habit. In addition, a copious amount of scientific literature has provided evidence that regular consumption of olive oil is associated with longevity, healthier ageing, cardiovascular health, prevention and protection against cancer. Currently, olive oil is gaining a world-wide rise in popularity given that it is widely considered to be a functional food able to provide health and well-being. Indeed, in recent years, the consumption and production of olive tree products, such as olive oil as well as olive fruits, food containing olive oils, leaves, bioactive extracts and single molecules are also increasing world-wide. At the same time, scientific research about olive tree products is increasing exponentially, involving academics of several disciplines, especially agronomy, arboriculture, engineering, economics, food technology, medicine and pharmacology.

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Book SynopsisThe rapid adoption of the Internet and computing technologies by all sectors of modern society has made them an indispensable part of our daily work and life. Access to these resources is taken for granted by public agencies providing services to the community, by those who conduct business and commerce, and by those who use them to stay current on public affairs and in touch with their families and friends on a daily basis. Yet not all individuals have consistent access to these resources. They may be unable to afford them, they may need basic training in how to use them, or they may be displaced from their normal access points. This book outlines research targeted at documenting, describing, and analysing the impact internet and computers in public libraries have on the lives of individuals, families, and communities. It describes the characteristics of people who use public access computers and Internet connections, the types of use they engage in, and the impact that use has on their own lives, that of their families and friends, and the communities they live in. The book then continues to examine the effect of library characteristics and policies on public access computing use and impact, as a first step toward helping libraries understand how some of their services may be affecting the overall success of their efforts in providing public access services to their communities.

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Book SynopsisManufacturing plays an important role in the nation''s economy, employment, and national defence. Accordingly, Congress has maintained a strong interest in the health of the U.S. manufacturing sector. The Obama Administration has undertaken a number of initiatives intended to support U.S. manufacturing, including establishment of the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office (AMNPO), Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia program, National Robotics Initiative, and Materials Genome Initiative. In his FY2013 budget, President Obama proposed the creation of a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) to help accelerate innovation by investing in industrially relevant manufacturing technologies with broad applications, and to support manufacturing technology commercialisation by bridging the gap between the laboratory and the market. This book describes the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation while providing guidance on intellectual property rights for it, as well as institute performance metrics for NNMI.

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Book SynopsisThis book has the ambition of presenting sustainability issues in a simple way to students in the field of agriculture and the environment. There is much diversity in the viewpoints on the meaning of sustainability. Sustainability must be made operational in each specific context and scaled, and appropriate methods must be designed to achieve long-term goals for the environment, agriculture, energy and food security. The ultimate goal of the environment and agriculture is protecting soil and water to ensure food security for the growing population. This book discusses the integration of views pertaining to the sustainability of agriculture, the environment, renewable energy and food security.

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Book SynopsisAsset managers provide investment management services and ancillary services to clients as fiduciary agents. The diversity of clients'' needs results in a wide variety of firm structures and business models, ranging from investment boutiques that focus on a single product or clientele to large, complex financial institutions that offer multiple services. This book provides a brief overview of the asset management industry and an analysis of how asset management firms and the activities in which they engage can introduce vulnerabilities that could pose, amplify, or transmit threats to financial stability. It also describes the mission, membership, and scope of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which was created as part of a comprehensive reform of banking and securities market regulators. It provides an analysis of several major policy issues related to the FSOC that may come before the 113th Congress.

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Book SynopsisCarbon capture and sequestration (or storage) -- known as CCS -- has attracted congressional interest as a measure for mitigating global climate change because large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from fossil fuel use in the United States are potentially available to be captured and stored underground and prevented from reaching the atmosphere. Large, industrial sources of CO2, such as electricity-generating plants, are likely initial candidates for CCS because they are predominantly stationary, single-point sources. Electricity generation contributes over 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Currently, U.S. power plants do not capture large volumes of CO2 for CCS. This book covers only CCS and not other types of carbon sequestration activities, and it also aims to provide a snapshot of the DOE CCS program, including its current funding levels, together with some discussion of the program''s achievements and prospects for success in meeting its stated goals.

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Book SynopsisFood fraud, or the act of defrauding buyers of food or ingredients for economic gain -- whether they be consumers or food manufacturers, retailers, and importers -- has vexed the food industry throughout history. Some of the earliest reported cases of food fraud, dating back thousands of years, involved olive oil, tea, wine, and spices. These products continue to be associated with fraud, along with some other foods. Although the vast majority of fraud incidents do not pose a public health risk, some cases have resulted in actual or potential public health risks. This book provides an overview of issues pertaining to food fraud and "economically motivated adulteration" or EMA, a category within food fraud. The book also examines the approaches that FDA uses to detect and prevent economic adulteration of food and medical products and the challenges FDA faces in detecting and preventing economic adulteration and views of stakeholders on options for FDA to enhance its efforts to address economic adulteration.

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Book SynopsisBook & CD-ROM. This book explores the developments, issues and research outlook of global agriculture. Topics discussed in this compilation include cotton and hydropower in Central Asia; rising grain exports by the former Soviet Union region; and resources, policies, and agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Book SynopsisRadio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is an emerging wireless communication technology that has stimulated numerous innovative applications in multiple industry sectors. This book focuses on the recent progress in RFID systems, with emphasis on their applications in transportation, construction, healthcare as well as the associated security and privacy issues. In addition, the book covers the state-of-the-art methodologies and tools for investigating RFID systems and identifies new research challenges and opportunities. This book will be an invaluable guide for researchers and industry practitioners in the field of electrical and computer engineering, wireless communication systems, and embedded systems.

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Book SynopsisMost food nutrition contains the phytochemicals for human health. Carotenoids and polyphenols, such as flavonoids and phenolic acids, might be especially responsible for their anti-oxidative capacity in vegetables and fruits. This volume will also focus on the relationship between their structure and functions.

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Book SynopsisIncreasing dependence on foreign sources of crude oil, concerns over global climate change, and the desire to promote domestic rural economies have raised interest in renewable biofuels as an alternative to petroleum in the U.S. transportation sector. However, energy from renewable sources has historically been more expensive to produce and use than fossil-fuel-based energy. This book describes agriculture-based biofuels and the evolution of the U.S. biofuels sector with a focus on the role that federal policy has played in shaping its development. It highlights emerging issues that are critical to the biofuels sector and of relevance to Congress. This book also summarises the best available public data on the production, capacity, cost, market demand, and feedstock availability for the production of biomass-based diesel and jet fuel. It includes an overview of the current conversion processes and current state-of-development for the production of biomass-based jet and diesel fuel, as well as the key companies pursuing this effort.

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Book SynopsisTemperate forests covering 34% of the Earth''s land have experienced human disturbances since ancient times and this is where the major industrial and agricultural enterprises are located nowadays. The heaviest human stress has been on European and North American ecosystems. Forest ecosystems are a major control of moisture circulation in watersheds. Boreal forests have been long recognised to influence global moisture circulation considerably. Therefore, it is logical to expect that further large-scale forest cover disturbances, such as catastrophic fires, large-scale insect outbreaks and forest logging, will affect the processes of water resource development and hydrological regime in any river basin. This book discusses the management and conservation of forest ecosystems in several areas in the world which include the Neotropics, Norway, United Kingdom and Siberia.

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Book SynopsisIncreasing demands on energy has necessitated the development of large-scale, low-cost, renewable energy. Solar energy is highly attractive and extremely promising as the energy reaching the earth from the sun is orders of magnitude larger than today''s global energy consumption and is quiet, requires low maintenance, has no restrictions on size, can be located close to the point on consumption, and is a clean, direct and efficient mode of energy conversion. The challenge lies in making solar power economically competitive while working with the materials readily available in abundance along with all their inherent constraints, also using those materials as economically as possible. Novel materials and structures are constantly being investigated for possible application in the area of photovoltaics (PVs). This book begins by discussing nanostructure-based PVs. It then continues to provide information on several topics that include the environmental impacts from end-of-life disposal of PVs; photocured polymer electrolyte membranes for dye-sensitised solar cells; economic analysis of support policies in PV systems; indoor PVs; effect of urban density on PV performance; and PV effects in nanoscale ferroelectrics.

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Book SynopsisZinc Oxide (ZnO) is a metal oxide semiconductor of group II-IV whose nature resides at the borderline between covalent and ionic semiconductors. In the last decade it has raised several attention in the research field since it possesses promising catalytic, electrical, electronic and optical properties. It can be easily prepared in different shapes and sizes at both the micrometric and nanometric scale, including the forms of micro- and nanowires, nanobelts, nanotubes, micro- and nanoparticles, multipods, tetrapods, and flower-like microstructures. This different variety of morphologies has thus attracted considerable attention for potential application in solar cells, nanogenerators, field effect transistors, gas sensors and other electronic micro- and nanodevices. This book discusses the synthesis and the electrical properties of ZnO nanowires. It also discusses rough silver nanowires, nanobuds and nanoparticle substrates; the synthesis and properties of Ni nanowires in porous silicon templates; and phonon scattering and elastic energy propagation in nanowires.

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Book SynopsisIn the modern strategy of development, biotechnology assumes a major role in every country, more so in the arid regions. In spite of significant contributions to biotechnology by the developed nations, the information available for the arid zones is scant. Combining biotechnology and conservation is a novel idea of the editors of this book, who have collected articles on the species of the arid zones (e.g. Camel, Arabian Oryx, Date palm etc.,). The book aims to explore aspects related to the diversity, conservation and biotechnology of bacterial, plant and animal species from arid regions. Having to tolerate extreme environmental conditions, these species have developed unique adaptation strategies that can be utilised for biotechnology and their conservation poses a serious challenge. Research on plant and animal species from arid environments has received scarce attention in most major biotechnology books. This book is designed to bring together reviews from the biotechnology scientists from universities, government research institutes and private sector laboratories, policy makers and industry leaders who are interested in exploring the biotechnological applications of species from arid regions. It is assured that the chapters will represent various developing countries that fall within the arid zone. The book will be very useful for students, research scholars and scientists from all over the world, who are interested in biotechnology, environmental biology and conservation.

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Book SynopsisAccording to stakeholders with whom the United States Government Accountability office spoke, several conditions must be present to increase private sector involvement in the sale of flood insurance. First, insurers need to be able to accurately assess risk to determine premium rates. Second, insurers need to be able to charge premium rates that reflect the full estimated risk of potential flood losses while still allowing the companies to make a profit, as well as be able to decide which applicants they will insure. However, stakeholders said that such rates might seem unaffordable to many homeowners. Third, insurers need sufficient consumer participation to properly manage and diversify their risk, but stakeholders said that many property owners do not buy flood insurance because they may have an inaccurate perception of their risk of flooding. This book addresses the conditions needed for private sector involvement in flood insurance and strategies for increasing private sector involvement.

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Book SynopsisThe proposed Keystone XL pipeline has received considerable attention recently. If constructed, the pipeline would transport crude oil (eg: synthetic crude oil or diluted bitumen) derived from oil sands resources in Alberta, Canada to destinations in the United States and ultimately the international market. Policymakers continue to debate various issues associated with the proposed pipeline. Although some groups have opposed previous oil pipelines -- Alberta Clipper and the Keystone mainline, both of which are operating -- opposition to the Keystone XL proposal has generated substantially more interest among environmental stakeholders. This book discusses the background and the environmental issues the Keystone XL pipeline would cause.

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Book SynopsisCarotenoids, naturally occurring pigments, are exclusively synthesized by plants and micro-organisms. Humans are not able to synthesize carotenoids and depend entirely on dietary intake of fruits, vegetables and nutritional supplements. Lycopene, a red coloured carotenoid phytonutrient, naturally produced in highest concentration in tomato and tomato-based products is a potent 1O2 quencher, and has been found to possess "antioxidant" and "antitumor" properties that mitigate the damaging effects of oxidative stress. This book discusses food sources, the potential role in human health of lycopene, and the antioxidant effects lycopene possesses.

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Book SynopsisOrganic farming is a system approach utilizing the natural cycles and biological interactions for crop production and protection. It aims at harmonizing with nature and a method of production without destroying the environment. Vermitechnology is one of the important components of organic farming. The earthworm (verm) is now known to be a good biological element for the recovery of vermifertilizer and vermin- protein for use in agro-ecosystems, aquaculture, poultry etc. Earthworm culture, popularly called vermiculture is being widely practicised in a big commercialized manner. Therefore, it is high time to enter into the vermitechnology as a part of the biotechnology programme. In India, some companies have adopted vermiculture, but by and large the general awareness remains limited, despite the fact that several non-governmental organizations and governmental institutions are trying hard to popularize vermitechnology. This book is an attempt to help those desirous of starting a vermicutlure and vermicompost industry. Based on this rationale, the Vermiculture Research Station in Aligarh, India embarked on an extensive programme of transferring vermitechnology to the farmers back in 2000 under the Lab to Land programme. The farmers were given specialized training through field demonstrations in vermitechnology, organizing special courses and setting-up their own field units in rural areas. It is heartening to note that female farmers have also come forward in this new venture and are now producing quality vermicompost to supplement their income.

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Book SynopsisThe primacy of crude oil as an energy source has provided a platform for social-economic development in most oil producing and consumer nations. Food, housing, transportation, investment services and inflationary trend is largely dependent on the volatility of crude oil prices. The anticipated shift in crude oil demand premised on the United States shale exploitation and the economic pandemonium generated in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has re-enacted crude oil pricing as the barometer for global economic trend. Crude oil exploitation, production, transportation and utilisation processes, however adversely impact on marine and coastal habitat. Pollution and infections attributable to toxic substances from crude oil and its derivatives can have long and short term health implications on animals and humans. Crude oil dependence is also contributory to global warming and its complications from climate change. This book examines the environmental and global market impact of crude oil production, analyses attempts to curb inherent challenges through energy efficiency and the development of renewable alternative energy sources.

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Book Synopsis"Food loss" represents the amount of edible food, post-harvest, that is available for human consumption but is not consumed for any reason; it includes cooking loss and natural shrinkage (eg: moisture loss); loss from mould, pests, or inadequate climate control; and plate waste. "Food waste" is a component of food loss and occurs when an edible item goes unconsumed, such as food discarded by retailers due to undesirable colour or blemishes and plate waste discarded by consumers. Food loss (particularly the food waste component) is becoming an increasingly important topic both domestically and internationally. Better estimates of the amount and value of food loss, including food waste, could help serve as quantitative baselines for policymakers and the food industry to set targets and develop initiatives, legislation, or policies to minimise food waste, conserve resources, and improve human nutrition. Reducing food loss would likely reduce food prices in the United States and the rest of the world, though the effects depend on the nature of supply, including import and export considerations. This book provides an estimated amount, value, and caloric value of post-harvest food losses at the retail and consumer level in the United States. It also discusses supermarket loss estimates for fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood and their use in the ERD loss-adjusted food availability data.

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Book SynopsisEnergy is an essential factor in development, since it stimulates, and supports economic growth, and development. Any form of energy can be transformed into another form, but the total energy always remains the same. Several different kinds of energy exist to explain all known natural phenomena. The word ''green'' designates more than a colour. It is a way of life, one that is becoming more and more common throughout the world. An interesting topic on ''sustainable technologies for a greener world'' details about what each technology is and how it achieves green goals. Over the years, all parts of a commercial refrigerator, such as the compressor, heat exchangers, refrigerant, and packaging, have been improved considerably due to the extensive research and development efforts carried out by academia and industry. However, the achieved and anticipated improvement in conventional refrigeration technology are incremental since this technology is already nearing its fundamentals limit of energy efficiency is described is ''magnetic refrigeration'' which is an evolving cooling technology. Recently, conventional chillers using absorption technology consume energy for hot water generator but absorption chillers carry no energy saving. With the aim of providing a single point solution for this dual purpose application, a product is launched but can provide simultaneous chilling and heating using its vapour absorption technology with 40% saving in heating energy. Using energy efficiency and managing customer energy use has become an integral and valuable exercise. The reason for this is green technology helps to sustain life on earth. This not only applies to humans but to plants, animals and the rest of the ecosystem. Energy prices and consumption will always be on an upward trajectory. In fact, energy costs have steadily risen over last decade and are expected to carry on doing so as consumption grows.

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Book SynopsisElectrochemical Capacitors (ECs) are a class of energy storage device that fill the gap between high energy density batteries and high-power-density electrostatic capacitors. ECs show shorter charge/discharge time and higher power density compared to batteries. However, to use ECs as alternatives to batteries, a significant increase in energy density is required. Although critical to the U.S.''s energy future, development of ECs has been hindered by the lack of cost-effective electrode materials that can store more energy. As a cheaper alternative transition metal, manganese (Mn) is abundant and environmentally-friendly. Manganese oxide shows theoretical capacitance of ~800 F g-1, which is comparable to that of RuO2. However, owing to low electronic and ionic conductance, manganese oxide powder exhibits much lower specific capacitances. This book discusses studies of charge-storage mechanism of manganese oxide nanomaterials for ECs. It also discusses sustainable electrode materials made from electrospun alkali lignin-based carbon nanofibres for high performacen supercapacitors; new strategies for the improvement of SC energy density by covalent and non-covalent addition of qunones of carbon surfaces; maganese dioxide based SCs; supercapacitors test methods; and hydrogenated barium titanate films and their potential for integrated SCs.

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Book SynopsisCassava is the most important of the root crops in the tropics and ranks fourth after rice, sugarcane and maize as a source of calorie for human needs. Since its introduction into Africa in the 16th century, cassava has spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa to become one of the dominant starchy staples in the diet of the people. Cassava is a major staple for about half of the Nigerian population and nearly 50 million tonnes of fresh cassava is produced annually in the country. This quantity is enough to meet the calorie requirement of 50 million people at about 200 calories per day. Cassava is important not just as a subsistence or food security crop, but also as a main source of cash income for producing households. Its production and processing provide employment and income for the rural poor, especially women and children. This book discusses the environmental impact cassava may have; the functional and nutritional characterization of cassava flour; cassava bread; other food products developed from using cassava roots and its derivatives; and cassava varieties and their breeding status.

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Book SynopsisOver 66,000 airline pilot jobs exist for larger mainline and smaller regional airlines that operate over 7,000 commercial aircraft. After a decade of turmoil that curtailed growth in the industry and resulted in fewer pilots employed at airlines since 2000, recent industry forecasts indicate that the global aviation industry is poised for growth. However, stakeholders have voiced concerns that imminent retirements, fewer pilots exiting the military, and new rules increasing the number of flight hours required to become a first officer for an airline, could result in a shortage of qualified airline pilots. This book describes what available data and forecasts reveal about the need for and potential availability of airline pilots, and what actions industry and government are taking or could take to attract and retain airline pilots. It then discusses what available data and forecasts reveal about the need for and potential availability of aerospace engineers, aircraft mechanics, and avionics technicians, and what actions industry and the federal government are taking to help attract and retain these professionals.

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Book SynopsisAdvances in the wine sector and especially in the phenolic compounds field have been spectacular over the last 20 years. Polyphenols are the second most abundant class of substances in nature. Wine phenolics are of considerable interest and receive more and more attention due to their implication in the organoleptic appreciation of wines (colour, flavour, astringency, bitterness, enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning, haze formation, aging behaviour) and to their bioactive functions (antioxidants, cardiovascular protective, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, anticancer). This book covers the chemistry of grapes and wine phenolics, the analytical methods for phenolic compounds analysis, the health benefits of wine phenolics and the revalorization of wine chain by-products in terms of polyphenols recovery. Included within the contents are cutting edge chapters on the impact of winemaking processes on the wine phenolic composition, the relationship between laccase and polyphenols, resveratrol as a major bioactive compound and the usage of phenolic compounds for assessing of wine authenticity. Written by a group of international scientists, this book provides up-to-date reviews, overviews and summaries of current research on the wine phenolics, as well as original research. This book is an important publication which will be of great use to enologists, chemists, process engineers, biochemists, pharmacologists and food scientists. Libraries in all universities and research establishments where these subjects are studied and taught should have copies of this book on their shelves.

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Book SynopsisThis book describes many important principles of fertilizer management and the environmental pollution problems due to the indiscriminate soil fertilization rate. The long-term impacts of organic or mineral fertilizer use have implications on soil fertility, crop yields, water quality, climatic change, greenhouse gas emissions, etc. Twelve chapters provide the state of the art of some important topics on subsistence agriculture, modern agronomy, and technological improvements which have sharply increased yields from cultivation, with a special emphasis on the sustainable management and environmental impact of commercial and nontraditional fertilizers. Without a doubt, this book is a valuable contribution to the agricultural sciences and it would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions, immeasurable acknowledgements, and recognized expertise from the authors.

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Book SynopsisTungsten alloying in microalloyed steels is of growing academic and industrial interests due to its positive role in the aspects of microstructural modification and properties improvement. This book has systematically described the functions of tungsten alloying in microalloyed steels. Topics covered include the effects of tungsten on the phase transformation behaviour of microalloyed steels by establishing the continuous cooling transformation diagrams in order to control the expected microstructure and the required mechanical properties; the effects of tungsten on the characteristics of precipitated particles in microalloyed steels; the microstructural evolution of microalloyed steels including grain size, phase component, pearlite interlamellar spacing, allotriomorphic ferrite and acicular ferrite after tungsten addition; the effects of tungsten on mechanical properties of microalloyed steels by means of hardness, impact toughness and room/low-temperature tensile properties tests; strategies for heat treatment of microalloyed steels with the purpose of determining the optimal heat treatment conditions for microalloyed steels with different tungsten additions; improvement of the corrosion resistance of microalloyed steels after tungsten addition; and the effects of tungsten on the hydrogen embrittlement behaviour of microalloyed steels. The text of this book is up-to-date, informative, readable and self-contained. It is not only a technical document that can be used in the research and development of tungsten alloying in microalloyed steels, but also a scientific and valuable literature for the metallurgists, engineers, materials scientists, academics and higher degree research students who make, use, study and design with steels and tungsten worldwide by introducing the latest research findings and achievements of tungsten alloying in microalloyed steels, and considering the metallurgical basis for steel research.

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Book SynopsisOptical Spectroscopy is an interdisciplinary science dedicated to generating and building knowledge in the field of spectroscopy and as a tool for practical investigations. This book has been elaborated for the use of specialists, students and young scientists interested in material characterization and direct investigation of various technological processes. As the title shows, the project of this book is ambitious and challenging. The topics have been selected to supply the physical background needed to understand the main spectroscopic principles and, at the same time, to reveal new potentiality for applications. Subjects like Reflectance Spectroscopy, Infrared Attenuated Total Reflection or Photoreflectance Spectroscopy provide an overview of classical methods in spectroscopy in contexts of new applications and reveal possibilities in new domains such as medicine, environmental investigations, etc. Various spectroscopic measurement methods embedded in characterization of materials, devices or technological processes are extensively presented.

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Book SynopsisGenetically engineered (GE) varieties with pest management traits became commercially available for major crops in 1996. Over 15 years later, adoption of these varieties by U.S. farmers is widespread and U.S. consumers eat many products derived from GE crops -- including cornmeal, oils, and sugars -- largely unaware that these products were derived from GE crops. Despite the rapid increase in the adoption of corn, soybean, and cotton GE varieties by U.S. farmers, questions persist regarding their economic and environmental impacts, the evolution of weed resistance, and consumer acceptance. This book examines issues related to three major stakeholders in agricultural biotechnology: GE seed suppliers and technology providers (biotech firms), farmers, and consumers.

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Book SynopsisTransportation is important. It is about people and how they live their lives, how they get to work, how they get their children to school, how they buy food, clothes, and other necessities, and how families visit one another around the country. It is also about business. Transportation is critical to how the supply chain functions, how raw materials get to factories, how goods get to market, how food gets from farmers to kitchen tables, and how energy products move from areas of production to areas of consumption. An efficient national transportation network allows business to lower transportation costs, which lowers production costs and enhances productivity and profits. It allows American business to be competitive in the global marketplace and for the Nation''s economy to prosper and grow. One need only look at the Interstate Highway System to see how that investment in the transportation network has benefited the nation and encouraged tremendous economic growth over the past two generations. This book discusses findings and recommendations made by the Special Panel on 21st century freight transportation, as well as federal freight policies.

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Book SynopsisThe advanced materials and devices based on nanotechnology and piezoelectric approaches have found wide applications in modern science and techniques. Tremendous interest to similar studies is supported owing to fast improvement of theoretical, experimental and numerical methods. These achievements expand scientific knowledge on the physical world and provide a forecast on the development of very fine processes and transformations occurring during processing, loading and work of modern materials and devices under critical conditions. The considered specimens demonstrate a broad spectrum of properties in scale from nanometers up to macroscopic range. The discussed devices and goods possess very high accuracy, longevity and extended possibilities to work in wide temperature and pressure ranges; they demonstrate characteristics directly defined by developed compositions, technical and technological solutions.

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Book SynopsisOn 25 March 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) jointly proposed a rule defining the scope of waters protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The proposal would revise regulations that have been in place for over 25 years. This book describes the proposed rule and includes a table comparing the existing regulatory language that defines "waters of the United States" with the proposal. In 2006, the Supreme Court decided Rapanos v. United States, the most recent and well-known of three Supreme Court decisions wrestling with the question of which wetlands are covered by the wetlands permitting program in the Clean Water Act. This book also provides background including the pre-Rapanos Supreme Court opinions, then moves on to Rapanos itself and the Corps/EPA guidance documents.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a comprehensive review of energy research studies from authors around the globe, including recent research in energy efficient appliances and energy efficient behaviors; renewable energy technologies and sustainable development; demand for clean energies efficient development in building technologies; recent advances in biomass and biogas development and perspectives; development and evaluation of a direct expansion heat pump system; assessment of the measured data with respect to renewable energy technologies; capacity of manets employing a continuous interference model with a propagation channel considering law of conservation of energy; assessing the sustainability of bioenergy systems; investigation of design parameters effect on power output and thermal efficiency of the stirling engine with irreversibility consideration using finite speed thermodynamics; energy saving and optimization of heat exchanger networks using an evolutionary method; and optimization of powered stirling heat engine with finite speed thermodynamics.

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Book SynopsisThis book covers leading-edge research in a cross-section of fields centering on engineering applications including current research data on mathematical evaluation of the nighttime boundary layer heights and plume dispersion under calm conditions; adsorption refrigeration; hardware acceleration unit-based signal processing reconfigurable through software; mathematical modeling of the MEMs behavioral performance by the system identification theory; dynamics and control for spacecraft electromagnetic docking and formation; natural and active flow control assisted building ventilation of the future; mechanochemical cleavage of DNA by ultrasound; properties of aluminum and copper materials welded by cold pressure welding; and model predictive control of a binary distillation column.

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Book SynopsisThis series covers leading-edge research focusing on the environment, including current research data on lead adsorption into activated carbon; energy efficiency improvement utilizing high technology; clean and green energy technologies, sustainable development and environment; a review of published "environmental flows" research; the study of biodiversity corals community on coral reefs of Vietnam; microbial community in heavy metal bioremediation; and the relationship between climatic factors prevailing prior to flowering or subsequent to boll setting and cotton production.

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Book SynopsisThis compilation examines agricultural research from across the globe and covers a broad spectrum of related topics. In this book, the authors discuss research including cotton pests and the actual strategies for their management control; cotton production and climatic factors: studying this relationship by different applied statistical methods; screening to select natural substances for control of postharvest aflatoxigenic fungi in maize and peanut agroecosystems; peculiarities of photosynthesis of wheat genotypes contrast in grain yield and their use in breeding programs; cunila d. royen ex. l., glechon epl. and hesperozygis epl. (lamiaceae) in South America: an ethnobotanical and phytochemical review; bacterial endophytes inhabiting potato plants (solanum tuberosum l.); and a discussion on common scab disease in central Europe.

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Book SynopsisFossil records indicate the Neotropical Dry Forests had a more continuous distribution in the recent geological past, especially in the late Pleistocene, more precisely at the end of the last glacial period. Seasonal Deciduous Forests are remnants of a broader continuous distribution that was present in the past, ranging from North-Eastern Brazil to Argentina in the Pleistocene dry period. This currently fragmented structure is the result of the dry, cold climate that caused the retraction of Wet Forests to riversides and the spread of seasonal forests. This book discusses the ecology, species diversity and sustainable management of dry forests. The topics include a biogeographical overview of the "lianescent clade" of violaceae in the Neotropical region; diversity and distribution of hymenoptera aculeate in mid-western Brazilian dry forests; the Brazilian "caatinga"; changes in the labile and recalcitrant organic matter fractions due to transformation of semi-deciduous dry tropical forest to pasture in the western llanos, Venezuela; ecology and management of the dry forests and savannas of the western Chaco region, Argentina; predicting pasture security in rangeland districts of Kenya using 1 km resolution spot vegetation sensor ndvi data.

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Book SynopsisSolar and other renewable power can play an important role in future electricity system, as shown by numerous energy and electricity system model studies. Many of these studies have in common that they focus on cost as the central issue, either by optimizing it or using it as a key variable in simulation. This book examines the renewable energy policies in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in order to identify the policy motivations and constraints for expanding renewables in these countries. It also discusses safety hazards associated with the use of solar panels; rotating prism array for solar tracking; fabrication, electronic properties and microstructure of TiO2-based dye-sensitized solar cells; solar tower power plants performance and reliability analysis; liquid crystal devices for photovoltaic systems; and mechanisms for solar technologies.

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Book SynopsisThe study of complex hysteresis problems has become increasingly important in recent years, since the hysteresis phenomenon affects significantly the decisions that have to be rendered in a wide range of real-world practical applications. For example, the so-called hysteresis effects may influence substantially some fields not directly related to the natural sciences such as finance, economy, or fiscal policy. In addition, such phenomenon is also typically present in many engineering and physics applications of interest such as in magnetism, spin-valve technology, semiconductors, surface physics, aeronautical and civil engineering aerodynamics, complex battery systems, biology, etc. This book focuses on the most recent attempts for modeling a diverse variety of complex hysteresis problems faced in economics, engineering, and physics. The chapters of this book provide a self-contained, rigorous, and clear treatment of the different types and sources of hysteresis under a large spectrum of applications. The book also highlights how stochastic control and other mathematical tools as well as econometric techniques can be applied for analyzing the complex properties of hysteresis problems. This authoritative book is a definitive guide on how to understand the newest designs for modeling hysteresis in highly complex systems and thus it will be an essential reading for graduate students and researchers in economics, engineering, and physics.

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