Current Natural Sciences

This book summarizes the study of similarity and reducing subspaces for a class of multiplication operators on the Bergman space, Dirichlet space, and Sobolev disc algebra.

It also investigates the compactness of certain radial and Hankel operators on the weighted Bergman space. The research methods combine operator theory techniques with infinite matrix manipulations.

The book consists of five chapters. In the first chapter, we characterize the similarity and commutant of certain analytic Toeplitz operators. The second chapter focuses on the similarity of multiplication operator induced by finite Blaschke product and characterize the compactness of a class of Hankel operators. The third chapter discusses the quasi-similarity and reducing subspaces of a class of multiplication operator with monomial symbol in the Fock space. The fourth chapter explores the similarity and reducing subspaces of a class of multiplication operator induced by monomial symbol in the Sobolev disc algebra. The fifth chapter addresses the algebra matrix and similarity classification of certain Cowen-Douglas operators.

The theme of the book is straightforward. Its contents can be comfortably understood by readers with a background in single-variable complex analysis and basic knowledge of operator theory.

This book introduces the theories and methods of laser coherent detection in the field of high-performance target detection. It includes five chapters, including the theoretical foundation of laser coherent detection, laser coherent detection of atmospheric disturbances, the chirped amplitude-modulated (AM) laser coherent detection of range and velocity, laser coherent detection based on the micro-Doppler effect, and laser coherent detection of synthetic aperture lidars (SALs).

The book offers an invaluable resource for researchers, especially those who are engaged in fields including laser imaging, photoelectric information acquisition, target detection and recognition, and laser technology. Additionally, it can be used as a reference book for professional teachers, advanced undergraduates, and postgraduates of relevant majors.

Mosses are special and ancient terrestrial plants. Due to their small size and limited taxonomic traits, many moss taxa are still taxonomically problematic. Macromitrium Brid. (Orthotrichaceae, Bryopsida), the third largest moss genus with almost a thousand species names, is a representative genus of taxonomically challenging taxa. The genus is most species-rich around the Pacific Ocean with a typical pan-tropical distribution. The present monograph is basically a type specimen-based systematic summary, mainly based on our taxonomical revisions on the genus in the past 20 years, partially on regional revisions of other bryologists. The book provides detailed and comprehensive information on 271 confirmed species, most with illustrations and some with color photos. This book brings together the latest findings of the genus Macromitrium and valuable reference for professionals and amateurs.

The vascular plants distributed in Central Asia comprehensive and systematic are recorded in this book. Families are arranged systematically, but genera and species are arranged in alphabetical order. The classification for lycophytes and ferns, gymnosperm and angiosperm were based on PPG I (2016), Christenhusz et al. (2011) and APG IV (2016), respectively. The family, genus, Latin name, important synonym and distributed country in Central Asia were recorded for each species. The original data of this book was based on the botanical records, floras and checklists published in five Central Asia countries. All the data were cleaned according the latest research progress in taxonomy and systematics. In total, 9643 vascular taxa (248 subspecies and 68 varieties) belonging to 1198 genera and 139 families were recorded in Central Asia, including 70 taxa of lycophytes and ferns, 36 taxa of gymnosperm, and 9537 taxa of angiosperm. The book also includes some introduced species (*) and species of doubtful distribution (?).

North Asia, the Asian portion of the Russian Federation, covering over 13 million square kilometers, constitutes 77% of Russia’s territory and 30% of Asia’s. The study of its flora, which began in the 18th century, has yielded over 300 Russian-language publications on the flora of different regions of North Asia, posing language barriers for global researchers. In the Big Data Era, international collaboration can break these barriers, integrating North Asia’s plant data into wider Asian and Eurasian databases. This is vital for studying vascular plant origins, evolution, and conservation.

This book, part of the “Mapping Asia Plants” project, presents an integrated checklist of North Asia’s vascular plants. Organized by the 27 administrative divisions of Asian Russia, it compiles floristic data into a list that includes species, subspecies, varieties, and selected synonyms, accounting for 162 families, 1151 genera, 6459 species, 487 subspecies, and 176 varieties. This work offers a high-quality and essential reference for worldwide botanical researchers, herbarium curators, professionals, and enthusiasts.

The Asian liverworts and hornworts were first comprehensively and systematically recorded in the book. The systematic arrangement used in this book follows the structure outlined in the “Syllabus of Plant Families” (Part 3 Bryophytes and seedless Vascular Plants), published in 2009. Additionally, this book incorporates the latest research findings. Families are systematically arranged as described, with genera and species listed alphabetically. Distribution in Asia is presented by individual countries, while distribution outside Asia is categorized by continents. Each accepted species includes Latin scientific name, basionym and other synonyms. Type specimens, including the species’ original localities in Asia, are listed for both accepted names and synonyms. The distribution locations within Asia are based on the literature references.

This book provides a comprehensive survey and investigation into the monotonicity conditions applied to the coefficients of trigonometric (or Fourier) series, exploring how these conditions influence various convergence properties, along with related topics on positivity and monotonicity. Highlighting recent breakthroughs, the book offers a systematic review of the history and development of this area, focusing on current ideas, methods, and techniques to equip readers for future advancements.

Designed to be both systematic and original, the book serves as an accessible resource for mathematicians and students in analysis. With its self-contained approach, it requires only a basic knowledge of analysis, making it suitable as an advanced textbook for graduate students or a reference for researchers interested in this field.

This book offers a concise and comprehensive introduction to Hierarchical Quantile Modeling, a modern statistical methodology that extends traditional hierarchical models and quantile regression techniques to analyze complex data structures often found in fields like biology, economics, and education. Unlike classic models, Hierarchical Quantile Modeling accommodates heteroscedasticity and nonparametric relationships, allowing for a detailed study of the entire conditional distribution of a response variable.

The book is structured in four parts: an introduction to hierarchical modeling, a detailed look at quantile regression, an in-depth exploration of Hierarchical Quantile Modeling, and practical applications using real-world hierarchical, repeated, and clustered data. Drawing on the author’s decade-long experience in research and teaching, this guide is ideal for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners. It includes examples and software guidance using R, S-plus, SAS, and SPSS, making it a valuable resource for anyone interested in advanced statistical analysis.

This book presents the latest research on global well-posedness including asymptotic behavior of solutions to some non-classical diffusion equations with fading memories, nonlocal terms or delays in several time-dependent spaces. The results collected in this book have been established by the authors and their collaborators over recent years.

This book has two distinguishing features. First, while there are many published works on non-classical diffusion equations in Sobolev spaces without time-dependent terms but few results in time-dependent spaces, this book fills this gap. Second, this book provides new results on the existence, regularity and upper semicontinuity of time-dependent global attractors, strong attractors, and pullback attractors in time-dependent spaces, as well as the ideas and methods for dealing with these problems that can be used in other related models.

Biosystematicsis the science of studying biodiversity and its relationships in nature. Itaims to divide the biodiversity into monophyletic taxa of different gradesbased on their relationships, such as species, genera, families, orders,classes, phyla, and kingdoms.

Homologousbiosystematics is to comb diverse organisms in nature into different classes ofmonophyletic taxa according to their homologous characteristics. The homologouscharacteristics are inherited from both the genotype and phenotype of the sameancestor, and they have been associated with divergent evolution. In this book,the author presents the result of a homology analysis of homologouscharacteristics in the specimens of the Umbilicariaceae from the world. Itcontains an introduction, biosystematics, and taxonomy, which contains 125 speciesrespectively belonging to the genera Lasallia and Umbilicaria including 34 newspecies with one new form and one new name. Each species has one or more colorphotographs attached. The references cited and index of scientific names fortaxa are also attached.

A consistent amount of patients with stroke and other brain injuries complain for the damage of their visual field. This defect, called hemianopia, is a dramatic event: half of the world seems to disappear all of a sudden. And the Moon is always crescent or waning. Never full.
Within the current clinical setting, to date there is nothing ophthalmologists can do to return patients the wonderful sight of a full Moon. The Dogma is: “In the brain what is lost is lost”. And the Dogma cannot be broken. Yet, since the past century research has been challenging the Dogma. Investigations reveal that the repetitive stimulation of the blind region of the visual field may restore, albeit partially, the neuronal function, and may improve the scanning ability. This treatise is a translational journey that sets out from the pioneering studies on the effects of brain lesions in wounded soldiers, passes through the mechanisms of spontaneous compensation of hemianopia, continues with the laboratory results, and comes to describing the rehabilitative techniques devised in the last decades.
This fascinating journey, with its shadows, stops and go, reverses, confirmations and denials, has not yet come to an end. But it is firmly determined to re-illuminate the dark side of the Moon in these unfortunate patients. And you, dear Reader, are going to be the traveler.

This work is a comprehensive monograph of Cremanthodium Benth. (Asteraceae, Senecioneae), a typical high-alpine genus endemic to the Sino-Himalayan region. Two species and one variety are described as new, seven names are treated as synonyms, one new combination is proposed, the independent specific status of four species is reinstated, lectotypes of 39 names are designated, and infrageneric placement of 14 species at sectional or series levels are adjusted. In addition, the geographical distribution of most species and varieties is clarified. In total, 80 species and nine varieties are recognized in the genus. The taxonomic treatment of each entry comprises a full synonymy with bibliographic citations, details of nomenclatural types or necessary new typifications, a full description, information on phenology, habitats, altitudinal ranges, geographical distribution, etymology, chromosome number, conservation status, detailed taxonomic notes, a full citation of herbarium specimens examined, and a distribution map. Type specimens and color photographs of herbarium specimens and living plants are, when available, also given for most species and varieties. Historically, plants of Cremanthodium received relatively little attention. Although incomparable in reputation with those most well-known high-alpine genera, such as Gentiana, Meconopsis, Primula, and Rhododendron, Cremanthodium gains, however, more and more attention from botanists and alpine plant enthusiasts due to the loveliness and magnificence of plants of the genus, especially from those who are in deep love with plants in the Himalayan region. The publication of this book represents another important contribution by Chinese botanists to the field of plant taxonomy. The book should be of important value of reference for experts and scholars at research institutes, teachers and students from related fields in colleges, professionals, and amateurs in botany and horticulture, and those engaged in plant resource utilization and nature conservation.

This book presents the latest advances for the frontier cross disciplinary field of robotics, intelligent control and learning. Seven chapters are provided to cover the key common theories and technologies of robots, including the robot mapping and navigation, robot recharging and smart power management, robot arm manipulation, unmanned vehicle control, intelligent manufacturing systems, etc. The book proposes a unique new perspective using time series prediction to control robots. Especially with the fast increasing of various data in robotics, this new robot control mode using time series prediction has become very important. The book provides the complete cases for the most popular application scenes of robot predictive control. By this first monograph on the topic of robot time series predictive control in the world, author provides important references for the engineers, scientists and students in the field of robotics and artificial intelligence.

With the fast development of big data and artificial intelligence, a natural question is how do we analyze data more efficiently? One of the efficient ways is to use optimization. What is optimization? Optimization exists everywhere. People optimize. As long as you have choices, you do optimization. Optimization is the key of operations research. This book introduces the basic definitions and theory about numerical optimization, including optimality conditions for unconstrained and constrained optimization, as well as algorithms for unconstrained and constrained problems. Moreover, it also includes the nonsmooth Newton’s method, which plays an important role in large-scale numerical optimization. Finally, based on the author’s research experiences, several latest applications about optimization are introduced, including optimization algorithms for hypergraph matching, support vector machine and bilevel optimization approach for hyperparameter selection in machine learning. With these optimization tools, one can deal with data more efficiently.

This book in two volumes provides an overview of continuous, discrete and functional optimization techniques. This second volume is devoted to discrete optimization (problems with integer variables) and functional optimization (problems where the unknown is a function). The topics covered are: • mixed linear programming: cutting methods and tree methods; • combinatorial optimization based on graphs: path, flow, assignment problems ... ; • the computation of variations based on Euler-Lagrange conditions and their extensions; • optimal control based on the Pontryaguin maximum principle and its extensions; • numerical methods: differential equations, direct and indirect methods. The emphasis is on understanding the principles rather than on mathematical rigor. Each concept or algorithm is accompanied by a detailed example to help you grasp the main ideas. This book is the result of 30 years of experience and is intended for students, researchers and engineers wishing to acquire a general knowledge in the field of optimization.

This book is the English translation of «Techniques d'optimisation tomes 1 et 2» which was part of the final selection of «Prix Roberval 2023» in the «Higher Education» category.

Here is the ideal book to grasp the basic concepts of spin-dependent electron transport and to develop a deep physical understanding of the subject. A careful selection of key notions provides a concise and effective framework. Learning how to use these notions is successfully supported by ten extended exercises with complete solutions. Common terms and specialist jargon are clearly explained, and the way in which subtleties complicate phenomena, without altering their physical basis, is pedagogically addressed. The rigorous and harmonised system of notation and units adopted throughout the book allows the reader to navigate easily between concepts and to gain a broad view of the subject. Based on a series of lectures given to MSc and PhD students, this book will appeal to a wide range of readers, from students at the graduate level to researchers and engineers.

This book presents recent results on global well-posedness including asymptotic behavior of global solutions to some fluid models, such as combustion model of radiative gas, radiation hydrodynamics model, Navier-Stokes equations with capillary and p-th power Newtonian fluid model. These models have the similar structures, which consist of Navier-Stokes equations coupled with other equation or with other effects. Results collected in this book are established by the authors and their collaborators in recent years.

This book contains a set of solved problems on the thermodynamics of phase transformations, diffusion and kinetics in alloys. These problems, preceded by a reminder of the course, are completed by answers detailing each stage of the calculations. The topics covered in the book (precipitation, ordering, segregation on crystalline defects, growth of a thin film, oxidation, creep, doping of semiconductors, etc.) are essential for the design of materials and the optimisation of heat treatments and properties, whether for structural materials (steels, Ni, Al, Cu, Ti-based alloys, etc.) or functional materials (semiconductors, alloys and magnetic multilayers, etc.). They often lead to an industrial problem (aeronautics, nuclear power plants, microelectronics, etc.). This book is intended for teachers and students of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, but also for engineering students, PhD students and researchers.

Abstract algebra is an essential tool in algebra, number theory, geometry, topology, and, to a lesser extent, analysis. It is therefore a core requirement for all mathematics majors. Outside of mathematics, abstract algebra also has many applications in cryptography, coding theory, quantum chemistry, and physics.This book is intended as a textbook for a one-term senior undergraduate or gradate course in abstract algebra to prepare students for further readings on relevant subjects such as Group Theory and Galois Theory. Abstract algebra being the field of mathematics that studies algebraic structures such as groups, rings, fields, and modules, we will primarily study groups, rings, and fields in this book. The authors invite readers to experience the beauty of mathematics by studying Abstract algebra which offers not only opportunities to work on complex concepts and to develop one’s abstract reasoning abilities, but also a preliminary understanding of what it is like to do research in mathematics.Libin LI is professor at School of Mathematics, Yangzhou University in China. His research interests include Representation theory in Hopf algebras and Tensor category, Decoding theory and Ring theory, Weyl algebras and isomorphism problems, etc.

This book introduces complete and systematic theories of infinite-dimensional dynamical systems and their applications in partial differential equations, especially in the models of fluid mechanics. It is based on the first author’s lecture “Infinite dimensional dynamical systems on nonlinear autonomous systems” given to graduate students in Donghua University since 2004. This book presents recent results that have been carried out by the authors on autonomous nonlinear evolutionar yequations arising from physics, fluid mechanics and material science such as the Navier–Stokes equations, Navier–Stokes–Voight systems, the nonlinear thermoviscoelastic system, etc.

The titanium industry is developing at a fantastic speed in China, which is promoted by the increasing demand for high-quality titanium resources. Thus, our research group led by Prof. Guo CHEN in Yunnan Minzu University is devoted to developing microwave heating applications in the production chain of titanium, and the corresponding results are summarized in this book.This book is divided into six chapters which initially look at the response and amenability of titanium-based elements tomicrowave power. Upon establishing its potential usefulness in titanium processing, the book assesses and introduces the various effects of microwave for different titanium related processes, including preweakening, drying, carbothermic reduction, leaching and roasting. A wide variety of analysis tools to determine the effects of microwave on these processes were utilized to support and explain the results. These include DSC, Raman, FTIR, SEM, EDAX. Finally, life cycle analysis was used to evaluate and to optimize microwave heating devices to provide information for further development of this process in the titanium industry. We hope this compilation can provide researchers and professionals working in the general minerals processing field the benefits of the microwave technique.

This book presents the research and applications carried out by the Vegetation Remote Sensing & Pest and Disease Application Research Team of Aerospace Information Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences (AIR-CAS) in the field of pest and disease monitoring and forecasting during the past ten years. Organized in five parts, this work covers crop pest and disease remote sensing monitoring and forecasting mechanisms, algorithms, models, system development and applications. The first part introduces the importance and current research status of crop pest and disease monitoring and forecasting. From the second to the fourth parts, the authors engage readers with various subjects related to non-imaging and imaging remote sensing monitoring, remote sensing forecasting. The construction and application of crop pest and disease remote sensing monitoring and forecasting system are described in the last part. This book can be used as a reference book in the areas of agricultural information technology, 3S technology application, agricultural plant protection, agrometeorology and agricultural extension.Being internationally prestigious experts and young scientists, the authors provide an essential view of their important work supported by multiple major research funding programs (National Key R&D Program of China, Newton-UK-China Agri-centers, Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Beijing Nova Program of Science and Technology, National special support program for high-level personnel, Ten-thousand TalentsProgram, Youth Innovation Promotion Association CAS, Hainan Provincial High level talent Program of Basic and Applied Basic Research Plan, etc.).

In a world where intergalactic wars are a common topic for movies, it is hard to imagine that the discovery of galaxies was made less than a century ago. In fact, it was one of the key astrophysical milestones of the first half of the 20th century, along with the revelation of the expansion of the Universe and the understanding of the source of the stars’ energy.

The second half of last century saw the unexpected discovery of fantastic objects and extreme events in the Universe including neutron stars, black holes, radio galaxies, quasars, exoplanets, or stellar explosions. Modern cosmology was simultaneously established with the Big Bang model, leading to an astonishingly precise determination of the parameters of the Universe.

The author here retraces the adventure of twentieth-century astronomy and describes how it has changed our vision of the cosmos. By assessing the major successes of this undertaking and highlighting the fundamental questions that still remain, he puts into perspective the recent progress at the dawn of the new millennium including the acceleration of the expansion of the Universe and dark energy, dark matter, exoplanets, black hole mergers and gravitational waves, to name only the most spectacular discoveries. This book thus offers, in a concise and accessible form, a synthesis of our current knowledge of astrophysics, including many beautiful images from leading observatories.

A true practical guide, this book brings together all elements necessary for the practice of PID control in industries. The first part presents the different characteristics of the PID controller: continuous, digital, architectures, realization algorithms implementation. The second part describes different adjustment methods that are practiced in the industry, all illustrated with numerous response curves to show their specificities. We will also find elements concerning simple methods, often graphic, to identify the usual processes to be controlled, without identification software. The book is intended to be practical with many summary tables, for immediate use of knowledge with as few calculations as possible. This book is aimed at students wishing to learn the practice of PID control, as well as teachers, engineers and technicians of the profession.

This book aims to address cutting-edge progress in the area of synthesisand biomedical applications of magnetic nanomaterials. It compiles a broadspectrum from fundamental principles to technological advances, from synthesisand modification to biomedical applications along with biocompatibility. Themain topics include principles in nanomagnetism, technologies for magneticnanomaterials fabrication, developments in their biomedical applications, andthe challenges in the toxicity in clinical translation. The first partintroduced the principles of nanomagnetism and specific properties in magnetic nanomaterials.Then, some typical fabrication strategies in magnetic nanomaterials forcontrolled composition, morphologies and sizes are reviewed; and surfacemodification methods with better hydrophilcity and biocompatibility arepresented. Next, magnetic nanomaterials-based applications in biomedical fieldare highlighted in detail, mainly including magnetic resonance image, magnetic hyperthermia,cancer therapy, multi-mode imaging, imaging-guided therapy and manipulatebiological objects. Finally, biocompatibility issues caused by magneticnanomaterials are also overviewed.

Le livre ‘The Chinese Botanical Gardens’ résume de manière exhaustive le développement historique, la distribution et la subordination, l'introduction et la collecte des plantes, la conservation ex situ, l'enregistrement des informations sur les plantes, la recherche scientifique et l'état d'utilisation des jardins botaniques en Chine, avec une présentation détaillée du développement et de la conservation de 161jardins botaniques en Chine. Les jardins botaniques chinois ont joué un rôle actif dans la protection, l'exploration et l'utilisation des plantes et ont apporté un soutien important à la recherche botanique. Ils sont devenus une attraction touristique de grande qualité et une base d'éducation scientifique populaire en Chine. Ce livre fournira des informations de base sur la construction, la gestion et le développement des jardins botaniques chinois. Il peut être utilisé comme matériel de recherche et de référence pour les enseignants et les étudiants professionnels concernés, les institutions d'éducation scientifique et les agences de voyage. Il peut également servir de référence pour la coopération entre les jardins botaniques chinois et étrangers.

La collection de plantes vivantes et la conservation ex situ ne sont pas seulement la mission principale des jardins botaniques modernes, mais aussi la base de la mission scientifique des jardins botaniques et la responsabilité de sauvegarder la diversité végétale par la communauté botanique. La flore ex situ de Chine est un projet de plusieurs décennies qui a permis d'obtenir des résultats significatifs et a suscité l'intérêt du public. Basé sur les dernières avancées du projet, ce livre fournit un résumé et des ressources actualisées sur la conservation ex situ des plantes dans le monde et principalement en Chine. L'ouvrage comprend quatre grandes parties : (1) Aperçu de la recherche basée sur les jardins botaniques, (2) Flore mondiale des jardins, (3) Flore ex situ de Chine, (4) Introduction à 312 familles d'Angiospermae,Gymnospermae et Pteridophyta. Ce livre profitera grandement à la conservation ex situ mondiale et fournira des informations précieuses pour l'agriculture, la sylviculture, l'horticulture et les industries des plantes médicinales.

Thanks to improved performance and lower manufacturing costs, lithium batteries originally marketed in 1991 by SONY to power portable equipment now play a key role in the expected massive development of electric mobility.Connected to the power grid via the electrified vehicles in which they will be onboard, lithium batteries will also be used as a massive buffer for renewable energy, as well as network support tools (erasure of peak hours, frequency regulation, etc.), allowing, beyond their primary function (ensuring the mobility of the vehicle), to increase their usefulness.These developments will profoundly transform our societies, and will allow not only to significantly reduce CO2 emissions and the consumption of fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal), but also, if they are conducted and coordinated effectively, contribute to economic growth.The purpose of this book is to provide the reader an overview of lithium battery technologies, current initiatives around the world, and some perspectives for the future.Researchers at the CEA and the CNRS, the authors of this book have, all, an expertise based on several years of experience in the development of lithium battery systems and post-lithium-ion systems, on all the elements of the value chain, from the design and synthesis of electrode materials to the integration into the vehicle.

This book reports on the state-of-the-art in terms of dosimetric, ionizing radiation metrology and radiation protection through exercises related to practical applications. For each problem, the book provides resolutions by means of analytical and semi-empirical formulas stemming from nuclear physics theory and the latest research contributions. For most applications (cavity theory, absorbed dose calculation for protons, quantities and dimensioning of X-ray generators…) the most recent data and calculation methods are part of the tools used. Moreover, in most applications/problems discussed, an inter-comparison with the numerical results obtained with a Monte-Carlo code commonly in worldwide use, MCNP, is presented. This code allows providing “actual” values in order to test the accuracy of the whole of analytical or semi-empirical results. For each case study, the numerical model is discussed, the input file is fully provided, and its structure is detailed. Some complex geometries involved in the modeled radiological scenes as well as the features used to generate, transport and track particles are described. On another note, emphasis is placed on the raw MCNP results normalization and on variance reduction techniques employed to improve or enable the convergence of statistical estimators toward the end result.

This book is aimed at an audience having a solid background in the addressed themes and is recommended for students from Physics Bachelor’s degree. It can provide theoretical and technical information to engineers carrying out calculations and to graduate students performing their research work as well. The book is intended to be instructive and each problem is treated independently. The reader can therefore study the applications of interest in the desired order.

As a body of theoretical knowledge, urban morphology in the West principally emerged within two disciplines and two parts of Europe. On the one hand there is the Anglo-German geographical school, associated with M.R.G Conzen. On the other hand there is the Italian architectural school, associated with Gianfranco Caniggia and Saverio Muratori. Based on an introduction to the theoretical tradition of the two morphological schools and their relationships, this book explores their application in empirical research and planning practice. In relation to the making of Chinese urban landscape, this book particularly focuses on the advancement of urban morphological theory and its significance for urban conservation.

Definitively, the textbook is intended to share the knowledge toward inter and trans disciplinary approaches.

Definitively, the textbook is intended to share the knowledge toward inter and trans disciplinary approaches.

There is a broad consensus in considering that the loss of biodiversity is accelerating which is due, for example, to the destruction of habitats, overexploitation of wild species and climate change. Many countries have pledged at various international conferences to take swift measures to halt this loss of biodiversity. Among these measures, the creation of protected areas – which also contribute to food and water security, the fight against climate change and people’ health and well-being – plays a decisive role, although it is not sufficient on its own. In this book, we review classic and original problems associated with the optimal design of a network of protected areas, focusing on the modelling and practical solution of these problems. We show how to approach these optimisation problems within a unified framework, that of mathematical programming, a branch of mathematics that focuses on finding good solutions to a problem from a huge number of possible solutions. We describe efficient and often innovative modellings of these problems. Several strategies are also proposed to take into account the inevitable uncertainty concerning the ecological benefits that can be expected from protected areas. These strategies are based on the classical notions of probability and robustness. This book aims to help all those, from students to decision-makers, who are confronted with the establishment of a network of protected areas to identify the most effective solutions, taking into account ecological objectives, various constraints and limited resources. In order to facilitate the reading of this book, most of the problems addressed and the approaches proposed to solve them are illustrated by fully processed examples, and an appendix presents in some detail the basic mathematical concepts related to its content.

Multivariate analysis is a popular area in statistics and data. This book provides a good balance between conceptual understanding, key theoretical presentation, and detailed implementation with software R for commonly used multivariate analysis models and methods in practice.

Even in the age of Internet, when information and knowledge are just a click away, few probably know what is psychophysics and what is it for. Psychophysics can be romantically defined as the science that measures the soul, namely the sensory soul. Psychophysics estimates the sensibility and looks for the threshold, that ephemeral limit between the sensed and the not sensed, the perceived and the not perceived, the seen and the not seen. It is a challenging task, since this limit is like a butterfly twirling over a flowery meadow, and psychophysics is the tool aimed at measuring as exactly as possible the height of its flight. At the boundary between experimental psychology and sensory neuroscience, psychophysics is not confined within a theoretical framework, but has great importance also in the clinical setting: audiologists, ophthalmologists, optometrists, orthoptists as well as neuropsychiatrists make use of psychophysics in many of their diagnostic protocols. This book aims at describing the principles of this discipline in a simple yet rigorous form, so as to make psychophysics understandable to the broad audience of non-psychophysicists. And, why not, even to reveal its hidden charm...

Urbanization is the one of the most evident forms of anthropization. With most of the world population living in cities, the need of thinking about a more sustainable urban lifestyle has become an imperative. This is why present and future generations of scholars, urban managers and policy makers should be prepared to work together to support the reduction of impacts generated by urban activities, while pursuing the goal of an equitable and sustainable well-being within the planetary boundaries. In this respect, the use of different methods and tools can support the implementation of roadmaps and policies. Besides that, different communication languages can be used to enhance the development of a shared reflective vision about the future of cities among citizens, as major actors of the urban life and its transformation. This book provides an accessible overview of some key methods to deal holistically with the analysis of urban resources flows to readers with an interest in the academic or professional reference of the different approaches for studying urban metabolism. It presents some of the most important tools along with relevant case studies to illustrate their potential application. Experts in the field and holding the belief that visions and hopes trigger decisions and behaviors beyond the knowledge, the authors introduce readers to the use of different art-based methods to engage with citizens towards a common outlook on the future of our cities. The book also offers an enhanced reading experience by featuring a soundtrack composed by one of the authors and available through the QR code at the beginning of each chapter.

The first two volumes of the Chinese Plant Names Index (CPNI) cover the years 2000 through 2009, with entries 1 through 5,516, and 2010 through 2017, with entries 5,517 through 10,795. A unique entry is generated for the specific name of each taxon in a specific publication. Taxonomic treatments cover all novelties at the rank of family, genus, species, subspecies, variety, form and named hybrid taxa, new name changes (new combinations and new names), new records, new synonyms and new typifications for vascular plants reported or recorded from China. Detailed information on the place of publication, including author, publication name, year of publication, volume, issue, and page number, are given in detail. Type specimens and collections information for the taxa and their distribution in China, as well as worldwide, are also provided. The bibliographies were compiled from 182 journals and 138 monographs or books published worldwide. In addition, more than 400 herbaria preserve type specimens of Chinese plants are also listed as an appendix. This book can be used as a basic material for Chinese vascular plant taxonomy, and as a reference for researchers in biodiversity research, environmental protection, forestry and medicinal botany.

Magnetic field is a ubiquitous physical field. Humans have long been aware that certain birds can use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate. Indeed, such phenomenon inspired people to explore the biological effects of magnetic field and the underlying mechanism. The man-made ultra-high or ultra-weak magnetic fields provide excellent experimental conditions for material sciences and life sciences. Since the beginning of the 1990s, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely introduced as a stand-alone diagnostic technique in hospitals. As the image quality of MRI is positively correlated with the strength of the magnetic field, MRI instrument equipped with ever stronger magnet has been built, from 1.5 to 3 Tesla and higher. There is an urgent need to understand the safety limit of the maximum magnetic field strength on human health. This book mainly focuses on the progresses of inter-disciplinary researches of high magnetic fields and life sciences by researchers from mainland China. The topics covered can be roughly divided into two major categories. One is to study the effects of high magnetic fields on biological samples, such as cell, humans and animals. The other is to utilize techniques that based on high magnetic field to study biological questions, such as using NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in structural biology and medical imaging. The researches about the biological effects of high magnetic fields are very interesting and inspiring, but still at a very initial stage. More studies are needed to promote the scientific development of this field, and their potential applications in medicine.

The first two volumes of the Chinese Plant Names Index (CPNI) cover the years 2000 through 2009, with entries 1 through 5,516, and 2010 through 2017, with entries 5,517 through 10,795. A unique entry is generated for the specific name of each taxon in a specific publication. Taxonomic treatments cover all novelties at the rank of family, genus, species, subspecies, variety, form and named hybrid taxa, new name changes (new combinations and new names), new records, new synonyms and new typifications for vascular plants reported or recorded from China. Detailed information on the place of publication, including author, publication name, year of publication, volume, issue, and page number, are given in detail. Type specimens and collections information for the taxa and their distribution in China, as well as worldwide, are also provided. The bibliographies were compiled from 182 journals and 138 monographs or books published worldwide. In addition, more than 400 herbaria preserve type specimens of Chinese plants are also listed as an appendix. This book can be used as a basic material for Chinese vascular plant taxonomy, and as a reference for researchers in biodiversity research, environmental protection, forestry and medicinal botany.

The genus Microtoena is a lovely and enigmatic member of the mint family. This new monograph is a comprehensive taxonomic revision, based on extensive field observations, population sampling, specimen examinations, scanning electron microscopy observations, statistical analysis of characters, and molecular phylogenetic analysis. Detailed species descriptions are enhanced by 20 maps, 18 full page line drawings and numerous field photos. This is an essential reference for taxonomists, growers, breeders and horticulturalists. Qiang WANG. Associate Professor at the State Key Laboratory of systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. A young taxonomist, his main interests are taxonomy, phylogeny and evolution of Lamiaceae, and his passion for Microtoena stretches back 10 years.

The theory, methodology, technology, and achievements of research on botanical gardens worldwide are for the first time systematically reviewed and summarized, and form the foundation of Botanical Garden Science, PHYTOHORTOLOGY. Chapters 1-8, as Part One, are the “General Introduction and Fundamental Theories and Principles of Botanical Garden Science, PHYTOHORTOLOGY,” and Chapters 9-11, as Part Two, are the text for “Individual Botanical Gardens.” Major achievements in botanical gardens, including research on plant introduction and acclimatization, economic plants, and environmental plants, were presented in this book. Principles and methods for plant conservation in botanical gardens were suggested. Based on the achievements of the authors’ studies of innovations in concepts, theories and practice on plant introduction and acclimatization, ex-situ conservation and stress cultivation of medicinal plants, and plant diversity conservation and utilization in cities were presented. Owing to the importance of visualization, more than 2,000 pictures were selected for this book to show and transfer the information, thought, feelings, and inspiration that could not be expressed by words and text alone. In addition, there are introductions to more than 200 individual botanical gardens all over the world in order to allow readers to easily recognize those botanical gardens, and to deepen their feelings and understanding as well as to create the thought leap in their minds. Many of those pictures were especially provided by botanical gardens both domestic and abroad. This book is appropriate for readers including those who work in botanical gardens, on plant conservation, for landscape and scenery areas and natural protected land, on city construction, on landscape art and architecture, in gardening and landscaping, on education, and policy makers and administration leaders. This English version is translated from the Chinese version published in 2005.

The business of upstream oil and gas industry is a complex process that involves multidisciplinary participation. Producing crude oil and natural gas from the subsurface reservoir rocks to the point of the selling terminal requires stage by stage processes that costs several hundreds of millions of dollars to the operating companies. Because of the capital intensive nature of upstream investments, every required process is challenged of its economic impact or benefits it will have on the project’s net present value (NPV). The techniques applied in determining the economics of these processes and their selection criteria are addressed in the book. This book guides the reader through these strategic processes, and presents the participants involved in the business of upstream oil and gas prospecting and the conditions that dictate the field development and investment decisions by investors. It also reveals the shared interests and relationships that exist between international oil companies (IOCs) and national oil companies (NOCs) in the exploration and exploitation of their hydrocarbon resources and reserves. This text will serve the purpose of teaching and learning to those in the energy and financial sectors, as the methods, tools, and techniques discussed throughout the chapters will equip students, tutors, experts, and professionals with the necessary skills and knowledge of Exploration and Production (E&P) projects and energy financing and investment. The principles of project management as it applies in upstream oil/gas projects are discussed as well. And the criteria for project ranking, selection, and budgeting which are sine qua non to project financing and execution are well documented in this book.

The significance of the existence of the system is to realize its function and maintain its stability, that is, the reliability and stability of the reliability. Reliability is affected by factors, component properties and system structure, and its changes are complex. In order to solve this problem, the authors proposed the space fault tree theory in 2012. This book is the first time that the fundamental part of the theory has been presented internationally. The authors of the book are Pro. Tiejun Cui and Dr. Shasha Li. Tiejun CUI was born in Shenyang, Liaoning, China in 1983. He received a Ph.D. degree in safety technology and engineering from Liaoning Technical University, China in 2015, and received two postdoctoral degrees. His research interests include safety system engineering, system reliability and system fault evolution processes. He is the author of several books and author and co-author of several publications in international journals, including papers that are indexed by SCI and EI. Shasha LI was born in Panjin, Liaoning, China, in 1988. She received a Ph.D. degree in safety management engineering from Liaoning Technical University, China in 2018. Her research interests include safety management engineering and system reliability. She is the author and co-author of several publications in International journals and Chinese journals and books, including papers that are indexed by SCI and EI.

The description of ocean water masses is based on the study of their temperature, salinity, and density, virtual genetic imprints which provide identity and movement to water masses. Ocean characteristics and processes involved in exchanges with the atmosphere together with simple dynamic balances give an understanding of a large part of the vast oceanic system. This book is enhanced with numerous colored illustrations. It is a reference on regional oceanography updated with extensive results from the last twenty years. The presentation underscores the specificity of each ocean basin using a precise and global approach. Beginning with a brief historical context, it explains the interactions and the role of each ocean basin in the functioning of the planetary ocean. How do we recognize Antarctic Bottom Water in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean? What is the densest water mass? The warmest? Why doesn’t dense water form in the largest ocean basin? What becomes of water that sinks in the Labrador Sea? Why does the ocean play such an important role in climate variations? … Answers can be found in this book. Beyond a course in regional oceanography, the text is aimed at students in all fields of marine and environmental science as well as interested secondary school teachers. It also provides a guide to exploring the «ocean planet» that is comprehensible to any well-informed amateur eager to know the basics.

Group action analysis developed and applied mainly by Louis Michel to the study of N-dimensional periodic lattices is the central subject of the book. Di erent basic mathematical tools currently used for the description of lattice geometry are introduced and illustrated through applications to crystal structures in two- and three-dimensional space, to abstract multi-dimensional lattices and to lattices associated with integrable dynamical systems. Starting from general Delone sets the authors turn to di erent symmetry and topological classi- cations including explicit construction of orbifolds for two- and three-dimensional point and space groups. Voronoï and Delone cells together with positive quadratic forms and lattice description by root systems are introduced to demonstrate alternative approaches to lattice geometry study. Zonotopes and zonohedral families of 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-dimensional lattices are explicitly visualized using graph theory approach. Along with crystallographic applications, qualitative features of lattices of quantum states appearing for quantum problems associated with classical Hamiltonian integrable dynamical systems are shortly discussed. The presentation of the material is presented through a number of concrete examples with an extensive use of graphical visualization. The book is aimed at graduated and post-graduate students and young researchers in theoretical physics, dynamical systems, applied mathematics, solid state physics, crystallography, molecular physics, theoretical chemistry, ...