Providing useful insights on the use of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in natural resource management, this book examines a number of empirical applications for several countries and a variety of natural resources. It is shown that using MCDA in the management of water, forestry, wetland and other natural resources can substantially improve the design and implementation of natural resource and environmental policies. Stakeholder involvement is also an important determinant of successful resource management and MCDA provides a useful and effective framework for getting stakeholders involved in resource management decisions. Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Natural Resource Management gives in-depth analysis of the potential problems in applying these techniques, including difficulties eliciting required information, lack of suitable measures for environmental variables and the need to develop innovative methods to simplify the use of MCDA.

Grounded in the user-centered design movement, this book offers a broad consideration of how our civilization has evolved its technical infrastructure for human purpose to help us make sense of the contemporary world of information infrastructure and online existence. The author incorporates historical, cultural and aesthetic approaches to situating information and its underlying technologies across time in the collective, lived experiences of humanity. In today's digital information world, user experience is vital to the success of any product or service. Yet as the user population expands to include us all, designing for people who vary in skills, abilities, preferences and backgrounds is challenging. This book provides an integrated understanding of users, and the methods that have evolved to identify usability challenges, that can facilitate cohesive and earlier solutions. The book treats information creation and use as a core human behavior based on acts of representation and recording that humans have always practiced. It suggests that the traditional ways of studying information use, with their origins in the distinct layers of social science theories and models is limiting our understanding of what it means to be an information user and hampers our efforts at being truly user-centric in design. Instead, the book offers a way of integrating the knowledge base to support a richer view of use and users in design education and evaluation. Understanding Users is aimed at those studying or practicing user-centered design and anyone interested in learning how people might be better integrated in the design of new technologies to augment human capabilities and experiences.

This book explores how to use generative adversarial networks in a variety of applications and emphasises their substantial advancements over traditional generative models. This book's major goal is to concentrate on cutting-edge research in deep learning and generative adversarial networks, which includes creating new tools and methods for processing text, images, and audio. A Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) is a class of machine learning framework and is the next emerging network in deep learning applications. Generative Adversarial Networks(GANs) have the feasibility to build improved models, as they can generate the sample data as per application requirements. There are various applications of GAN in science and technology, including computer vision, security, multimedia and advertisements, image generation, image translation,text-to-images synthesis, video synthesis, generating high-resolution images, drug discovery, etc. Features: Presents a comprehensive guide on how to use GAN for images and videos. Includes case studies of Underwater Image Enhancement Using Generative Adversarial Network, Intrusion detection using GAN Highlights the inclusion of gaming effects using deep learning methods Examines the significant technological advancements in GAN and its real-world application. Discusses as GAN challenges and optimal solutions The book addresses scientific aspects for a wider audience such as junior and senior engineering, undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, and anyone interested in the trends development and opportunities in GAN and Deep Learning. The material in the book can serve as a reference in libraries, accreditation agencies, government agencies, and especially the academic institution of higher education intending to launch or reform their engineering curriculum

New Work and Industry 4.0 have matured and this book takes a practical, experience-based approach to project management in these areas. It introduces methods and covers the practical aspects. It critically examines existing approaches and practices and shows their limitations. The book covers appropriate methods as well as human and social aspects. It contributes to the ongoing discussion of business practices and methods. It also aims to stimulate dialogue in the professional community. Digital Project Practice for New Work and Industry 4.0 begins by introducing basic concepts in the context of Industry 4.0 and discussing how they might influence organizational communication and impact the work environment. After examining the possibilities and challenges of remote work and collaboration in distributed teams all over the world, the book looks at a company's fundamental changes related to New Work from a practical business perspective as well as legal and ethical perspectives. It reviews the case of the VW emission scandal and recommends ways to improve corporate culture. Legal issues include New Work and hybrid forms of collaboration as well as liability for automated decisions (i.e., the potential need for an 'electronic person'). Other implications for the workplace include how: Industry 4.0 might influence the potential demand for "Digital Unions" Industry 4.0, and lean production, and their applications can change industrial practices Open Banking presents new approaches and new business models Work structures and systems can empower employees' work self-management This book also looks at how New Work effects individual workers. It addresses digital stress, introduces strategies for coping with it, and discusses related topics. It also explores the benefits of meditation and the economics of mind, body, and spirit. In essence, this book cover appropriate methods along with human and social factors. It also covers practice, different perspectives, and various experiences from all around the globe. Contributing to the ongoing discussion on business practices and methods, this book will nourish and stimulate dialogue in the professional community.

Relevant examination of the interrelationship of environment, economics, and individual and communal happiness and sustainability Constructive reconceptualization of labor, consumption, and human happiness Crisp, clear, and accessible for students and general readers

Science Communication in a Crisis: An Insider's Guide identifies the principal challenges that scientists face when communicating with different stakeholder groups and offers advice on how to navigate the maze of competing interests and deliver actionable science when the clock is ticking. If a scientist's goal is to deliver content and expertise to the people who need it, then other stakeholder groups-the media, the government, industry-need to be considered as partners to collaborate with in order to solve problems. Written by established scientist Christopher M. Reddy, who has been on the front lines of several environmental crisis events, the book highlights ten specific challenges and reflects on mistakes made and lessons learned. Reddy's aim is not to teach scientists how to ace an interview or craft a sound bite. Rather, through exploring several high-profile case studies, including the North Cape oil spill, Deepwater Horizon, and the 2021 Sri Lanka shipping disaster, he presents a clear pathway to effective and collaborative communication. This book will be a great resource for junior and established scientists who want to make an impact, as well as students in courses such as environmental and science communication.

Building Safe Systems in Aviation provides a single source for those who need to progress beyond current models of Crew Resource Management (CRM) to developing safe systems in critical industries. Although the primary focus is on airline pilots, the principles apply to all sectors of aviation, particularly maintenance and cabin crew, as well as other high-risk industries. It systematically sets out the context of CRM and safe systems, the conduct of training, the resources needed by the facilitator and the processes required for the measurement of outcomes. Part One reviews the development of the human factors/CRM domain and examines the concepts of risk and safety. Part Two, primarily for new instructors, gives a guide to training delivery and also considers non-classroom situations, the role of debriefing, facilitation and the design of human factors courses. Part Three examines the measurement of training effectiveness, the design and implementation of behavioural markers and standardizing assessors. It concludes by looking at some of the broader issues associated with the management of CRM. The book's readership includes those who design, deliver or manage CRM and safety-related training within airlines and other companies.

With the boom of big data and machine learning and the subsequent need for parallel processing technologies, fork-join queues are more relevant now than ever before. In this book, new estimates of the average response time in fork-join queues are proposed, which form the basis for new research opportunities. Analysis of Fork-Join Systems: Network of Queues with Precedence Constraints explores numerical approaches to estimate the average response time of fork-join queueing networks and offers never before published simple expressions for the mean response time as conjectures. Extensive experiments are included to demonstrate the remarkable accuracy of the conjectures and algorithms used in the estimation of the average response time. Graduate students, professors, and researchers in the fields of operations research, management science, industrial engineering, computer science, and electrical engineering will find this book very useful. Students, as well as researchers in both academia and industry, will also find this book of great help when looking for results related to fork-join queues

In recent years, the Green New Deal has moved from relative obscurity to front and centre of policy discussions and public debates about how to respond to the climate crisis. It has been credited with radically changing the nature of the conversation on climate change and with re-energizing the environmental movement at a critical time. All Green New Deal proposals share an emphasis on the need for governments (rather than markets) to lead the energy transition. However, they differ in other respects. This Handbook analyses the fundamentals underlying all Green New Deals as well as exploring national and regional variations. It is divided into three parts. The first part examines the political economy of the Green New Deal focussing not just on how proposals will be costed but also on opportunities for a fundamental transformation of both national economies and the global economic system. The second part explores issues of justice, which are central to many Green New Deal proposals, including Indigenous rights, racial and gender equity, and justice for the Global South. In the third part, authors detail case studies of Green New Deal proposals and plans at the local, national, and regional level. This book will be an invaluable research and reference volume for students and scholars in economics, politics, sociology, geography, and environmental studies. It should also be of interest to those actively involved in climate and environmental policymaking.

This edited book comprises chapters that describe the IoT, machine learning, and blockchain technologies for renewable energy and modern hybrid power systems with simulation examples and case studies. After reading this book, users will understand recent technologies such as IoT, machine learning techniques, and blockchain technologies and the application of these technologies to renewable energy resources and modern hybrid power systems through simulation examples and case studies.

Urban Planning for Social Justice in Latin America explores how urban planning can be used as a tool for social equity. The book examines several Latin American cities, each with specific challenges, and explores how they have gradually overcome these difficulties through policies, planning, and design, and with private/public sector coordination. The cases include: The built environment and social mobility in Bogotá; Mexico City and its difficulties with water scarcity; Addressing air quality and environmental justice in Lima; Santiago de Chile’s energy consumption and carbon footprint; Buenos Aires and the issue of urban agriculture and food security; Connectivity as a social transformation device in Medellín. The book goes beyond simply identifying the challenges and explains some of the practical day-to-day planning efforts, including interviews with staff from those municipalities, illustrations, and strategies that have been successful. As a result, this book will be helpful to planners in the region, as well as outside Latin America, because it demonstrates how fruitful results can be achieved in areas typically perceived as underdeveloped. Although based on research and data, this book offers a positive perspective on the possibilities rather than the limitations, hoping to inspire new generations of planners to pursue careers in search of social change.

This book theorizes the role of optimism in anthropological thinking, research, writing, and practice. It sets out to explore optimism's origins and implications, its conceptual and practical value, and its capacity to contribute to contemporary anthropological aims. In an era of extensive ecological disruption and social distress, this volume contemplates how an optimistic anthropology can energize the discipline while also contributing to bettering the lives, communities, and environments of those we study. It brings together scholars diverse in background, career stage, and theoretical approach in a collective attempt to comprehend the myriad intersections of anthropology and optimism. The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have recently underscored the larger, longer-term catastrophes of climate change, ecosystemic collapse, social injustice, and antipathy towards scientific knowledge and those who produce it. In this context, exceedingly few anthropologists feel comfortable observing and documenting passively while their research communities face unrelenting waves of (un)natural disasters. We need to act. But we also need to hope. Discontent with the state of the world and cultural anthropology's turn to increasingly positive, future-oriented, and engaged work have converged to unleash a courageously optimistic anthropology. This book is a timely springboard for this impactful and emergent approach.

Airline Operations and Management: A Management Textbook presents a survey of the airline industry, with a strong managerial perspective. It integrates and applies the fundamentals of several management disciplines, particularly operations, marketing, economics and finance, to develop a comprehensive overview. It also provides readers with a solid historical background, and offers a global perspective of the industry, with examples drawn from airlines around the world. Updates for the second edition include: Fresh data and examples A range of international case studies exploring real-life applications New or increased coverage of key topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, state aid, and new business models New chapters on fleet management and labor relations and HRM Lecture slides for instructors This textbook is for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of airline management, but it should also be useful to entry and junior-level airline managers and professionals seeking to expand their knowledge of the industry beyond their functional area.

Updated to integrated modular avionics, and cabin and aircraft information systems Ideal for students gaining EASA Part 66 licences, particularly the B1 or B2 licence One of Routledge's core aircraft maintenance titles.

Having a team that knows how to adapt and innovate quickly can make all the difference in these challenging and competitive times -- for your organization and you personally as a leader. Leaders as coaches are crucial for a true learning organization, and high-performance teams need and want their leader to coach -- not tell. But not just any kind of coaching! Coaching that is enabling and inspiring because it increases adaptiveness and creativity -- with each individual and the whole team -- so they achieve important goals together. That's what the Coaching Kata helps leaders to learn. Take a fresh look at this five-phase, dual-purpose coaching model, become the leader you always wanted to be, and your team needs you to be. This business novel will transform the way you see and lead your team.

As long as humans write software, the key to successful software security is making the software development program process more efficient and effective. Although the approach of this textbook includes people, process, and technology approaches to software security, Practical Core Software Security: A Reference Framework stresses the people element of software security, which is still the most important part to manage as software is developed, controlled, and exploited by humans. The text outlines a step-by-step process for software security that is relevant to today's technical, operational, business, and development environments. It focuses on what humans can do to control and manage a secure software development process using best practices and metrics. Although security issues will always exist, students learn how to maximize an organization's ability to minimize vulnerabilities in software products before they are released or deployed by building security into the development process. The authors have worked with Fortune 500 companies and have often seen examples of the breakdown of security development lifecycle (SDL) practices. The text takes an experience-based approach to apply components of the best available SDL models in dealing with the problems described above. Software security best practices, an SDL model, and framework are presented in this book. Starting with an overview of the SDL, the text outlines a model for mapping SDL best practices to the software development life cycle (SDLC). It explains how to use this model to build and manage a mature SDL program. Exercises and an in-depth case study aid students in mastering the SDL model. Professionals skilled in secure software development and related tasks are in tremendous demand today. The industry continues to experience exponential demand that should continue to grow for the foreseeable future. This book can benefit professionals as much as students. As they integrate the book's ideas into their software security practices, their value increases to their organizations, management teams, community, and industry.

Digital Image Processing with C++ presents the theory of digital image processing, and implementations of algorithms using a dedicated library. Processing a digital image means transforming its content (denoising, stylizing, etc.), or extracting information to solve a given problem (object recognition, measurement, motion estimation, etc.). This book presents the mathematical theories underlying digital image processing, as well as their practical implementation through examples of algorithms implemented in the C++ language, using the free and easy-to-use CImg library. Chapters cover in a broad way the field of digital image processing and proposes practical and functional implementations of each method theoretically described. The main topics covered include filtering in spatial and frequency domains, mathematical morphology, feature extraction and applications to segmentation, motion estimation, multispectral image processing and 3D visualization. Students or developers wishing to discover or specialize in this discipline, teachers and researchers wishing to quickly prototype new algorithms, or develop courses, will all find in this book material to discover image processing or deepen their knowledge in this field.

This book explores interdisciplinary perspectives on socioecological challenges and offers innovative solutions at both a European and global level. This book critically reflects on the latest scientific knowledge regarding the increasing instability of the Earth System caused by human activities during the Anthropocene and the Great Acceleration. It focuses on the global and European challenges regarding climate, resources, bio-integrity, and environment. The authors assess the obstacles to overcoming these challenges and examine the risks posed by path dependencies, lock-ins, and trade-offs between global and regional goals. They also drill down into the complexities of the European Green Deal, specifically the similarities and differences between the scientific analyses and recommendations from the European Environment Agency and the content of the Deal. Finally, the book looks at the Just Transition put forward by the European Green Deal. The authors discuss this in a context of global and European ecological and socioecological challenges and put the question of equality, recognition, and democratization at the center. Outlining new pathways to broaden the scope of scientific collaboration between the natural and technical sciences and the social sciences and the humanities, this volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of sustainable development, environmental policy and governance, and environmental justice.

Milan and Lombardy have played an important role in the Italian country since the Roman period. This importance is reflected also by the diffusion of stone architecture: a persisting trait of Milan architecture was the use of different stones in the same building. Milan lies in the middle of the alluvial plain of the Po, far from the stone quarries; some waterways were dug out in order to supply the building stones from the surrounding territories. The study of stone as building material was significant at the end of 19th century, but then it was largely neglected by both architects and geologists. So it is significant to suggest a study about the stones employed to build in Milan (Volume 1) in relationship with a petrographic study about the features of the stones quarried in the whole Lombard territory (Volume 2). Volume 2 contains the description of the features of the stones reported in the Volume 1. These features include: metamorphic and magmatic rocks of the Alpine area; sedimentary rocks and loose materials of the Prealpine area; sedimentary rocks of the Apennine area; loose sediments of the Padania plain. Some stones, coming from other northern Italian regions, and used in Lombard architecture, are also described. Each stone is described in a "card" containing: commercial and historical names, petrographic classification, macroscopic features, mineralogical composition, microscopic features, geological setting, quarry sites, transport to yards, morphology of dressed elements and surface handworking, use in architecture in the whole Lombard territory and abroad, decay morphologies. A particular investigation is addressed to the stones used during the 20th century, a great part of them was never used before in Milan and in Lombardy.

Cloud based Multi-Modal Information Analytics: A Hands-on Approach discusses the various modalities of data and provide an aggregated solutions using cloud. It includes the fundamentals of neural networks, different types and how it can be used for the multi-modal information analytics. The various application areas that are image-centric and video are also presented with deployment solutions in the cloud. Features Life cycle of the multi- modal data analytics is discussed with applications of modalities of text, image, and video. Deep Learning fundamentals and architectures covering CNN, RNN and its types for learning for different multi-modal networks. Applications of Multi-Modal Analytics covering Text , Speech, and Image. This book is aimed at researchers in Multi-modal analytics and related areas

Now in its 10th edition, Electrical Installation Calculations: Basic has been updated to include any changes required to bring it in line with the 18th edition of the IET electrical wiring regulations (BS7671:2018). Electrical calculations required for exams can prove difficult to master, but for more than 40 years, this book series has proved very helpful to students and professional electrical engineers studying for electrical qualifications. It covers all the calculations required for Level 2 electrical qualifications, along with other useful calculations that may be used in the electrical industry but may not feature in the syllabus of some exams. Although the calculations in this book are referred to as 'basic', they form the foundation of all calculations carried out in the electrical industry, which have been set out simply with worked examples along with additional questions and answers. Key terms are explained in a glossary, which can be used to assist with the reader's understanding.

Digital Image Processing with C++ presents the theory of digital image processing, and implementations of algorithms using a dedicated library. Processing a digital image means transforming its content (denoising, stylizing, etc.), or extracting information to solve a given problem (object recognition, measurement, motion estimation, etc.). This book presents the mathematical theories underlying digital image processing, as well as their practical implementation through examples of algorithms implemented in the C++ language, using the free and easy-to-use CImg library. Chapters cover in a broad way the field of digital image processing and proposes practical and functional implementations of each method theoretically described. The main topics covered include filtering in spatial and frequency domains, mathematical morphology, feature extraction and applications to segmentation, motion estimation, multispectral image processing and 3D visualization. Students or developers wishing to discover or specialize in this discipline, teachers and researchers wishing to quickly prototype new algorithms, or develop courses, will all find in this book material to discover image processing or deepen their knowledge in this field.

Computer vision-based crack-like object detection has many useful applications, such as pavement surface inspection, underground pipeline inspection, bridge cracking monitoring, railway track assessment, etc. However, in most contexts, cracks appear as thin, irregular long-narrow objects, and often are buried into complex, textured background with high diversity which make the crack detection very challenging. During the past a few years, the deep learning technique has achieved great success and has been utilized for solving a variety of object detection problems. However, using deep learning for accurate crack localization is non-trivial. This book discusses crack-like object detection problem in a comprehensive way. It starts by discussing traditional image processing approaches for solving this problem, and then introduces deep learning-based methods. The book provides a comprehensive review of object detection problems and focuses on the most challenging problem, crack-like object detection, to dig deep into the deep learning method. It includes examples of real-world problems, which are easy to understand and could be a good tutorial for introducing computer vision and machine learning.

Accessible, friendly style, accentuating real-life experiences and ground-level practicalities for those already working within or hoping for a career in the business of air logistics. Packed with personal reports from global industry leaders for revealing insights into the industry and a rounded understanding. Addresses the reality of the impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and adds new content focusing on security and crime, the role of airports and road feeder services, and the range of typical air cargo products.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence have led to significant advances in science and medicine, but have also facilitated new forms of repression, policing and surveillance. AI policy has become without doubt a significant issue of global politics. The Global Politics of Artificial Intelligence tackles some of the issues linked to AI development and use, contributing to a better understanding of the global politics of AI. This is an area where enormous work still needs to be done, and the contributors to this volume provide significant input into this field of study, to policy makers, academics, and society at large. Each of the chapters in this volume works as freestanding contribution, and provides an accessible account of a particular issue linked to AI from a political perspective. Contributors to the volume come from many different areas of expertise, and of the world, and range from emergent to established authors.