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Unravelling the Soil Microbiome: Perspectives For Environmental Sustainability (SpringerBriefs in Environmental Science)
by Dhananjaya Pratap Singh Ratna Prabha Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash Rama Kant Dubey Vishal Tripathi Rajan Chaurasia Ch. Srinivasa Rao Ali El-KeblawyThis book explores the significance of soil microbial diversity to understand its utility in soil functions, ecosystem services, environmental sustainability, and achieving the sustainable development goals. With a focus on agriculture and environment, the book highlights the importance of the microbial world by providing state-of-the-art technologies for examining the structural and functional attributes of soil microbial diversity for applications in healthcare, industrial biotechnology, and bioremediation studies. In seven chapters, the book will act as a primer for students, environmental biotechnologists, microbial ecologists, plant scientists, and agricultural microbiologists. Chapter 1 introduces readers to the soil microbiome, and chapter 2 discusses the below ground microbial world. Chapter 3 addresses various methods for exploring microbial diversity, chapter 4 discusses the genomics methods, chapter 5 provides the metaproteomics and metatranscriptomics approaches and chapter 6 details the bioinformatics tools for soil microbial community analysis, and chapter 7 concludes the text with future perspectives on further soil microbial uses and applications.
Unreal City: Las Vegas, Black Mesa, and the Fate of the West
by Judith NiesAn epic struggle over land, water, and power is erupting in the American West and the halls of Washington, DC. It began when a 4,000-square-mile area of Arizona desert called Black Mesa was divided between the Hopi and Navajo tribes. To the outside world, it was a land struggle between two fractious Indian tribes; to political insiders and energy corporations, it was a divide-and-conquer play for the 21 billion tons of coal beneath Black Mesa. Today, that coal powers cheap electricity for Los Angeles, a new water aqueduct into Phoenix, and the neon dazzle of Las Vegas. Journalist and historian Judith Nies has been tracking this story for nearly four decades. She follows the money and tells us the true story of wealth and water, mendacity, and corruption at the highest levels of business and government. Amid the backdrop of the breathtaking desert landscape, Unreal City shows five cultures colliding-Hopi, Navajo, global energy corporations, Mormons, and US government agencies-resulting in a battle over resources and the future of the West. Las Vegas may attract 39 million visitors a year, but the tourists mesmerized by the dancing water fountains at the Bellagio don’t ask where the water comes from. They don’t see a city with the nation’s highest rates of foreclosure, unemployment, and suicide. They don’t see the astonishing drop in the water level of Lake Mead-where Sin City gets 90 percent of its water supply. Nies shows how the struggle over Black Mesa lands is an example of a global phenomenon in which giant transnational corporations have the power to separate indigenous people from their energy-rich lands with the help of host governments. Unreal City explores how and why resources have been taken from native lands, what it means in an era of climate change, and why, in this city divorced from nature, the only thing more powerful than money is water.
Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science
by Erin Zimmerman"Evolutionary botanist Zimmerman discusses her passion for plants and inveighs against sexism in the sciences in her marvelous debut memoir...Throughout, Zimmerman&’s enthusiasm and expertise make the science accessible even to those without a background in the subject. The results are as edifying as they are galvanizing." - Publishers Weekly STARRED Review"Erin Zimmerman has exposed a rooted gender failure in science. Her book is important not for this alone. Her work is essential for understanding the future resilience of all flora on this planet." -Diana Beresford-Kroeger, author of To Speak for the TreesAn exploration of science, motherhood, and academia, and a stirring account of a woman at a personal and professional crossroads . . .Growing up in rural Ontario, Erin Zimmerman became fascinated with plants—an obsession that led to a life in academia as a professional botanist. But as her career choices narrowed in the face of failing institutions and subtle, but ubiquitous, sexism, Zimmerman began to doubt herself.Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science is a scientist&’s memoir, a glimpse into the ordinary life of someone in a fascinating field. This is a memoir about plants, about looking at the world with wonder, and about what it means to be a woman in academia—an environment that pushes out mothers and those with any outside responsibilities. Zimmerman delves into her experiences as a new mom, her decision to leave her position in post-graduate research, and how she found a new way to stay in the field she loves.She also explores botany as a &“dying science&” worth fighting for. While still an undergrad, Zimmerman&’s university started the process of closing the Botany Department, a sign of waning funding for her beloved science. Still, she argues for its continuation, not only because we have at least 100,000 plant species yet to be discovered, but because an understanding of botany is crucial in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss.Zimmerman is also a botanical illustrator and will provide 8 original illustrations for the book.
Unruly Waters: How Rains, Rivers, Coasts, and Seas Have Shaped Asia's History
by Sunil AmrithFrom a MacArthur "Genius," a bold new perspective on the history of Asia, highlighting the long quest to tame its watersAsia's history has been shaped by her waters. In Unruly Waters, historian Sunil Amrith reimagines Asia's history through the stories of its rains, rivers, coasts, and seas--and of the weather-watchers and engineers, mapmakers and farmers who have sought to control them. Looking out from India, he shows how dreams and fears of water shaped visions of political independence and economic development, provoked efforts to reshape nature through dams and pumps, and unleashed powerful tensions within and between nations.Today, Asian nations are racing to construct hundreds of dams in the Himalayas, with dire environmental impacts; hundreds of millions crowd into coastal cities threatened by cyclones and storm surges. In an age of climate change, Unruly Waters is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Asia's past and its future.
Unsaponifiable Matter in Plant Seed Oils
by Didier FontanelHere, the author has compiled data on about 550 oil-bearing plant species with respect to their content of unsaponifiable matters and oils. This unique information resource offers important information for research and development of food products such as neutraceuticals as well as cosmetics. Unsaponifiable matters have varying effects: Conservation and stability (e.g. lignans, tocopherols, tocotrienols), anti-inflammatory properties (triterpene alcohols), cholesterol-lowering (sterols), well tolerated occlusive effect on the skin (squalene). Information is provided in a clear and systematic fashion, including data on relevant chemical families and pertinent chemical structures. Also included is a thesaurus of English, Latin and French plant species names as well as 655 references to the scientific literature.
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics - from Theory to Practice: Proceedings of the 6th Asia Pacific Conference on Unsaturated Soils (Guilin, China, 23-26 October 2015)
by Changfu Wei Zhenghan Chen De’an Sun Yongfu XuIn the past decades advances have been made in the research and practice on unsaturated soil mechanics. In 2000 the first Asia-Pacific Conferences on Unsaturated Soils was organized in Singapore. Since then, four conferences have been held under the continued support of the Technical Committee on Unsaturated Soils (TC106) of the International Socie
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice
by D. G. Fredlund H. Rahardjo M. D. FredlundThe definitive guide to unsaturated soil-- from the world's experts on the subjectThis book builds upon and substantially updates Fredlund and Rahardjo's publication, Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils, the current standard in the field of unsaturated soils. It provides readers with more thorough coverage of the state of the art of unsaturated soil behavior and better reflects the manner in which practical unsaturated soil engineering problems are solved. Retaining the fundamental physics of unsaturated soil behavior presented in the earlier book, this new publication places greater emphasis on the importance of the "soil-water characteristic curve" in solving practical engineering problems, as well as the quantification of thermal and moisture boundary conditions based on the use of weather data. Topics covered include:Theory to Practice of Unsaturated Soil MechanicsNature and Phase Properties of Unsaturated SoilState Variables for Unsaturated SoilsMeasurement and Estimation of State VariablesSoil-Water Characteristic Curves for Unsaturated SoilsGround Surface Moisture Flux Boundary ConditionsTheory of Water Flow through Unsaturated SoilsSolving Saturated/Unsaturated Water Flow ProblemsAir Flow through Unsaturated SoilsHeat Flow Analysis for Unsaturated SoilsShear Strength of Unsaturated SoilsShear Strength Applications in Plastic and Limit EquilibriumStress-Deformation Analysis for Unsaturated SoilsSolving Stress-Deformation Problems with Unsaturated SoilsCompressibility and Pore Pressure ParametersConsolidation and Swelling Processes in Unsaturated SoilsUnsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice is essential reading for geotechnical engineers, civil engineers, and undergraduate- and graduate-level civil engineering students with a focus on soil mechanics.
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Geotechnical Practice
by Geoffrey E BlightThere are other books on unsaturated soil mechanics, but this book is different. Unsaturated soil mechanics is only one aspect of a continuous range of soil mechanics studies that extends from the rheology of high water content soil slurries to the mechanics of soft soils, to stiff saturated soils, to unsaturated soils, and, at the far end of the r
Unsaturated Soil Mechanics with Probability and Statistics
by Ryosuke Kitamura Kazunari SakoSoil is fundamentally a multi-phase material – consisting of solid particles, water and air. In soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering it is widely treated as an elastic, elastoplastic or visco-elastoplastic material, and consequently regarded as a continuum body. However, this book explores an alternative approach, considering soil as a multi-phase and discrete material and applying basic Newtonian mechanics rather than analytical mechanics. It applies microscopic models to the solid phase and fluid phases, and then introduces probability theory and statistics to derive average physical quantities which correspond to the soil‘s macroscopic physical properties such as void ratio and water content. This book is particularly focused on the mechanical behaviour of dry, partially saturated and full saturated sandy soil, as much of the physicochemical microscopic characteristic of clayey soil is still not clear. It explores the inter-particle forces at the point of contact of soil particles and the resultant inter-particle stresses, instead of the total stress and effective stress which are studied in mainstream soil mechanics. Deformation and strength behaviour, soil-water characteristic curves, and permeability coefficients of water and air are then derived simply from grain size distribution, soil particle density, void ratio and water content. A useful reference for consultants, professional engineers, researchers and public sector organisations involved in unsaturated soil tests. Advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics courses will also find it a valuable text to study.
Unsaturated Soils - Advances in Testing, Modelling and Engineering Applications: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Unsaturated Soils, 23-25 June 2004, Anacapri, Italy
by A. Tarantino C. MancusoThis volume contains the Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Unsaturated Soils, which was held in Anacapri, Italy, from 23 to 25 June 2004. This meeting was organized by the Department of Geotechnical Engineering of the University of Naples Federico II and the Department of Mechanical and Structural Engineering of the University of
Unsaturated Soils - Volume 3: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, UNSAT 2002, 10-13 March 2002, Recife, Brazil
by J.F.T. Jucá; Tácio M.P. de Campos; Fernando A.M. MarinhoUnsaturated materials comprise residua, collapsible and expansive naturally occurring soils, compacted soils and, more recently, residues of solid wastes. The engineering problems associated with unsaturated materials range from those related to conventional geotechnical works (e.g. foundations, pavements, slopes and excavations, retaining structures, earthdams, irrigation canals, tunnelling, compacted embankments) to those included in the environmental area (e.g. natural slope instability, erosion and subsidence processes, tailings, residues or solid waste disposal, contaminant transport, remediation of contaminant sites, engineered barriers for environmental protection, re-use of residues). This book, published in three separate volumes, comprises a selection of selected and invited papers presented at the Third International Conference on Unsaturated Soils – UNSAT ‘2002 – that took place in Recife, Brazil, form 10th to 13th March 2002. The book is of interest to consultants, researchers, practitioners, lecturers and students with a background in geotechnical engineering, environmental engineering and engineering geology.
Unsaturated Soils for Asia
by H.Rahardjo, D.G.Toll & E.C.LeongThis is a collection of articles from the Asian conference UNSAT-ASIA 2000, covering topics such as: historical developments; numerical modelling; suction measurement techniques; permeability and flow; mass transport; and engineering applications.
Unsaturated Soils. Advances in Geo-Engineering: Proceedings of the 1st European Conference, E-UNSAT 2008, Durham, United Kingdom, 2-4 July 2008
by D. G. Toll C. E. Augarde D. Gallipoli S. J. WheelerUnsaturated Soils: Advances in Geo-Engineering comprises 136 contributions from leading international researchers and practitioners, presented at the First European Conference on Unsaturated Soils (Durham, UK, 2-4 July 2008). The papers report on the latest advances in geo-engineering aspects of unsaturated soils. It is the first collection to focu
Unsaturated Soils: Research & Applications
by N. Khalili; A.R. Russell; A. KhoshghalbThis book contains the contributions to the Second European Conference on Unsaturated Soils, E-UNSAT 2012, held in Napoli, Italy, in June 2012, and includes more than one hundred papers, addressing three thematic areas: experimental, modelling, and engineering.
Unser Klima und das Energieproblem: Wie unser Energiebedarf klimaschonend gedeckt werden kann (essentials)
by Klaus StierstadtDieses essential gibt einen Überblick über die Veränderungen unseres Klimas, ihre Ursachen und ihre Folgen. Der Energiebedarf der Menschheit wird heute weitgehend auf klimaschädliche Weise gedeckt. Die Alternative dazu, die Sonnenenergie, würde unseren Bedarf tausendfach befriedigen. Aber diese Option wird aus überwiegend wirtschaftlichen Gründen viel zu wenig genutzt. In diesem essential werden anschließend die Energiewandler besprochen, mit denen man die Sonnenenergie verfügbar machen kann. Einige andere moderne Energiequellen, wie zum Beispiel die Kernenergie, sind entweder nicht ausreichend, noch utopisch oder auf andere Weise umweltschädlich. Ein Ausblick zeigt, dass unser Energieproblem mit ökonomischer Vernunft durch globale Nutzung der Sonnenenergie leicht zu lösen wäre. Das Klima könnte so noch rechtzeitig stabilisiert werden
Unsere digitale Zukunft
by Carsten KönnekerDroht die ferngesteuerte Gesellschaft?Dieses Buch greift das weithin diskutierte, zum Jahreswechsel 2015/16 veröffentlichte „Digital-Manifest“ auf und führt die Debatte entlang vielfältiger Themenlinien weiter. Es geht hierbei um nicht weniger als unsere – digitale – Zukunft: Welche Chancen eröffnen künstliche Intelligenz und digitale Technologien, welche Risiken und ethische Herausforderungen bergen sie? Wie schützen wir unsere Daten und die Privatsphäre? Wie sichern wir individuelle Freiheit und Demokratie vor Gefahren der digitalen Verhaltenssteuerung? Wie sollen selbstfahrende Autos, Roboter und autonome Agenten unser Leben prägen? Als Gesellschaft und als Individuen müssen wir uns mit verschiedenen Projektionen in die Zukunft auseinandersetzen. Dabei sollten wir die Einschätzungen führender Experten in der Zusammenschau vernehmen und diskutieren. Den kritischen Dialog zu beflügeln, ist das Ziel dieses Sammelbands mit den wichtigsten Beiträgen namhafter Wissenschaftler aus Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Spektrum – Die Woche und Spektrum.de.
Unsicherheiten, aber sicher!: Vom kompetenten Umgang mit ungenauen Daten
by Burkhard PriemerDieses Sachbuch gibt eine allgemeinverständliche Einführung in den Umgang mit Unsicherheiten von Daten und sensibilisiert dafür, Daten nicht unreflektiert als richtig hinzunehmen. Es macht die Leser darauf aufmerksam, wie Unsicherheiten in Daten in vielen Alltagssituationen auftreten und höchst relevant sein können, z.B. um persönliche Entscheidungen zu treffen, an politischen Wahlen teilzunehmen und wissenschaftliche Studien einzuschätzen.Gespickt mit zahlreichen Beispielen aus Naturwissenschaft, Gesellschaft und Alltag vermittelt das Buch ohne viel Formeln und mathematische Kenntnisse das dafür notwendige Grundwissen. Es versetzt die Leser in die Lage, im Alltag nach Unsicherheiten zu suchen, diese zu erkennen, zu hinterfragen und zu bewerten.
Unspoken: A sexy, emotional second-chance romance (Start Up in the City #2)
by Kelly RimmerUnspoken is a unforgettable new romance from bestselling author Kelly Rimmer, in her Start Up in the City series, perfect for fans of Jill Shalvis and Nora Roberts.'Simultaneously deliciously intense and achingly tender. The authentic push and pull of this complex relationship is sure to resonate with readers' Publishers WeeklySometimes it's what you don't say that can change everything...Isabel Winton had planned to spend the last few days of her marriage at her vacation home, intending to reflect, regroup...or maybe just do some solitary sulking. Instead, she collides with her almost ex, Paul, who has the same idea. Too stubborn to leave, Isabel figures this is a chance for them to get some closure. But she's astonished to see that months apart have transformed her emotionally aloof husband into 'Paul 2.0', more open than ever before.Paul was blindsided when Isabel left him. He had no idea she felt he was more committed to his career than to their marriage. With his new, hard-won self-awareness, he blames himself for letting her walk away. But winning her back will take more than simple words. It'll mean finding the courage to grow, to trust, and grab a second chance at life by each other's sides.Praise for Kelly Rimmer: 'Guaranteed to please... Kelly Rimmer should be at the top of the must-read list' Fresh Fiction 'Will delight fans of extremely modern romance' Publishers Weekly
Unsteady Aerodynamics: Potential and Vortex Methods (Aerospace Series)
by Grigorios DimitriadisUnsteady Aerodynamics A comprehensive overview of unsteady aerodynamics and its applications The study of unsteady aerodynamics goes back a century and has only become more significant as aircraft become increasingly sophisticated, fly faster, and their structures are lighter and more flexible. Progress in the understanding of flow physics, computing power and techniques, and modelling technologies has led to corresponding progress in unsteady aerodynamics, with a wide range of methods currently used to predict the performance of engineering structures under unsteady conditions. Unsteady Aerodynamics offers a comprehensive and systematic overview of the application of potential and vortex methods to the subject. Beginning with an introduction to the fundamentals of unsteady flow, it then discusses the modelling of attached and separated, incompressible and compressible flows around two-dimensional and three-dimensional bodies. The result is an essential resource for design and simulation in aerospace engineering. Unsteady Aerodynamics readers will also find: MATLAB examples and exercises throughout, with codes and solutions on an accompanying website Detailed discussion of most classes of unsteady phenomena, including flapping flight, transonic flow, dynamic stall, flow around bluff bodies and more Validation of theoretical and numerical predictions using comparisons to experimental data from the literature Unsteady Aerodynamics is ideal for researchers, engineers, and advanced students in aerospace engineering.
Unsteady Combustor Physics
by Tim C. LieuwenDeveloping clean, sustainable energy systems is a pre-eminent issue of our time. Most projections indicate that combustion-based energy conversion systems will continue to be the predominant approach for the majority of our energy usage. Unsteady combustor issues present the key challenge associated with the development of clean, high-efficiency combustion systems such as those used for power generation, heating or propulsion applications. This comprehensive study is unique, treating the subject in a systematic manner. Although this book focuses on unsteady combusting flows, it places particular emphasis on the system dynamics that occur at the intersection of the combustion, fluid mechanics and acoustic disciplines. Individuals with a background in fluid mechanics and combustion will find this book to be an incomparable study that synthesises these fields into a coherent understanding of the intrinsically unsteady processes in combustors.
Unsteady Computational Fluid Dynamics in Aeronautics
by P. G. TuckerThe field of Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and hybrids is a vibrant research area. This book runs through all the potential unsteady modelling fidelity ranges, from low-order to LES. The latter is probably the highest fidelity for practical aerospace systems modelling. Cutting edge new frontiers are defined. One example of a pressing environmental concern is noise. For the accurate prediction of this, unsteady modelling is needed. Hence computational aeroacoustics is explored. It is also emerging that there is a critical need for coupled simulations. Hence, this area is also considered and the tensions of utilizing such simulations with the already expensive LES. This work has relevance to the general field of CFD and LES and to a wide variety of non-aerospace aerodynamic systems (e.g. cars, submarines, ships, electronics, buildings). Topics treated include unsteady flow techniques; LES and hybrids; general numerical methods; computational aeroacoustics; computational aeroelasticity; coupled simulations and turbulence and its modelling (LES, RANS, transition, VLES, URANS). The volume concludes by pointing forward to future horizons and in particular the industrial use of LES. The writing style is accessible and useful to both academics and industrial practitioners. From the reviews: "Tucker's volume provides a very welcome, concise discussion of current capabilities for simulating and modellng unsteady aerodynamic flows. It covers the various possible numerical techniques in good, clear detail and presents a very wide range of practical applications; beautifully illustrated in many cases. This book thus provides a valuable text for practicing engineers, a rich source of background information for students and those new to this area of Research & Development, and an excellent state-of-the-art review for others. A great achievement." Mark Savill FHEA, FRAeS, C.Eng, Professor of Computational Aerodynamics Design & Head of Power & Propulsion Sciences, Department of Power & Propulsion, School of Engineering, Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, U.K. "This is a very useful book with a wide coverage of many aspects in unsteady aerodynamics method development and applications for internal and external flows." L. He, Rolls-Royce/RAEng Chair of Computational Aerothermal Engineering, Oxford University, U.K. "This comprehensive book ranges from classical concepts in both numerical methods and turbulence modelling approaches for the beginner to latest state-of-the-art for the advanced practitioner and constitutes an extremely valuable contribution to the specific Computational Fluid Dynamics literature in Aeronautics. Student and expert alike will benefit greatly by reading it from cover to cover." Sébastien Deck, Onera, Meudon, France
Unsteady Supersonic Combustion
by Mingbo Sun Hongbo Wang Zun Cai Jiajian ZhuThis book describes the unsteady phenomena needed to understand supersonic combustion. Following an initial chapter that introduces readers to the basic concepts in and classical studies on unsteady supersonic combustion, the book highlights recent studies on unsteady phenomena, which offer insights on e.g. interactions between acoustic waves and flames, flow dominating instability, ignition instability, flame flashback, and near-blowout-limit combustion. In turn, the book discusses in detail the fundamental mechanisms of these phenomena, and puts forward practical suggestions for future scramjet design.
Unstoppable: True Stories of Amazing Bionic Animals
by Nancy FurstingerChris P. Bacon was born with malformed legs, but with the help of a wheelchair made of construction toys, he’s become a hero to people with similar challenges. Nancy Furstinger profiles Chris P. Bacon and many other animals in Unstoppable—all of whom are making their way around with the help of prosthetics, braces, orthotics and wheelchairs! Readers will meet the caretakers, prosthetists, vets, and loving families that help to make recovery possible. Furstinger offers a glimpse into the cutting-edge technologies, such as 3D printing and brain-controlled prosthetics, that are helping to improve the lives of animals and humans alike.
Unsupervised Feature Extraction Applied to Bioinformatics: A PCA Based and TD Based Approach (Unsupervised and Semi-Supervised Learning)
by Y-h. TaguchiThis book proposes applications of tensor decomposition to unsupervised feature extraction and feature selection. The author posits that although supervised methods including deep learning have become popular, unsupervised methods have their own advantages. He argues that this is the case because unsupervised methods are easy to learn since tensor decomposition is a conventional linear methodology. This book starts from very basic linear algebra and reaches the cutting edge methodologies applied to difficult situations when there are many features (variables) while only small number of samples are available. The author includes advanced descriptions about tensor decomposition including Tucker decomposition using high order singular value decomposition as well as higher order orthogonal iteration, and train tenor decomposition. The author concludes by showing unsupervised methods and their application to a wide range of topics. Allows readers to analyze data sets with small samples and many features;Provides a fast algorithm, based upon linear algebra, to analyze big data;Includes several applications to multi-view data analyses, with a focus on bioinformatics.
Unsupervised Feature Extraction Applied to Bioinformatics: A PCA Based and TD Based Approach (Unsupervised and Semi-Supervised Learning)
by Y-h. TaguchiThis updated book proposes applications of tensor decomposition to unsupervised feature extraction and feature selection. The author posits that although supervised methods including deep learning have become popular, unsupervised methods have their own advantages. He argues that this is the case because unsupervised methods are easy to learn since tensor decomposition is a conventional linear methodology. This book starts from very basic linear algebra and reaches the cutting edge methodologies applied to difficult situations when there are many features (variables) while only small number of samples are available. The author includes advanced descriptions about tensor decomposition including Tucker decomposition using high order singular value decomposition as well as higher order orthogonal iteration, and train tensor decomposition. The author concludes by showing unsupervised methods and their application to a wide range of topics.