This book focuses on interdisciplinary issues of human health in the changing urban environments of India's largest megacities-Delhi and Mumbai. The authors explore human health concerns related to increased temperatures and air pollution in these cities in a study based on primary data collected through interviews, as well as secondary data on causes of mortality from 2001 to 2012. During this period, the surface temperatures for both megacities were mapped using Landsat Images. The rapidly increasing populations of cities and urban centers alter ecosystem services such as water, air and land cover, with disastrous impacts on health and wellbeing, particularly in megacities. In 2015, polluted air was estimated to have been responsible for 6.4 million deaths worldwide, and it is projected that it will cause between 6 and 9 million deaths per year by 2060. In 2017, outdoor air pollution resulted in 1.2 million deaths in India and brought about a 3% loss in GDP. The increase in population, vehicles, and industries has led to changes in land use and land cover and a rise in city temperatures and air pollution, creating urban heat islands (UHIs). Together, UHIs and air pollution have damaging impacts on human health that range from stress and headache to asthma, bronchitis, and chronic diseases, and even to death. Delhi has been experiencing emergency conditions in terms of environmental health over the past two years. At the same time, both the Delhi and Mumbai urban agglomerations are growing at a rapid pace, and the United Nations has projected that they will be the second and third most populous cities in the world by 2025. In this context, the book offers significant insights into the past patterns and responses to the present global urban health emergencies, and explores sustainable means of combating the problem to enable college and university researchers to develop innovative solutions. Further. It presents trans-disciplinary research that cuts across the WHO Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Habitat III to help policymakers gain a better understanding of the global challenges of urban health and wellbeing. The book is especially useful for students and researchers in geography, urban demography, urban studies, environmental studies, health sciences, and policy studies.

Many students at undergraduate level struggle with the basic concepts of thermodynamics and statistical physics such as entropy, phase space, y-space, micro-canonical, canonical and grand canonical ensembles, statistical weight (thermodynamic probability), accessible states, density of states, partition function. In this book the author has made every effort to explain these basic concepts and notions in the simplest possible way, keeping in mind the limitations and difficulties of an average student. The book begins with the kinetic theory of gases and transport phenomena and gives the students a thorough grounding in the fundamental aspects of the topics such as Maxwell's law of distribution of molecular speeds, mean free path, viscosity, thermal conduction and diffusion. Next, the topics on equation of state and critical constant are discussed. The chapters from 4 - 9 are devoted to the development of thermodynamic concepts and the application of the laws of thermodynamics to the thermodynamic processes. A sufficient number of solved examples enable the students to test their conceptual understanding and analytical skills. A comprehensive discussion of on the failure of classical theory of radiation and the emergence of quantum concepts viz. the particle nature of radiation is presented in the chapters on radiations. Part II of the book presents a lucid and systematic exposition of the fundamental principles of the most fascinating, exciting, stimulating and challenging subject - statistical physics. The understanding of statistical physics requires knowledge of quantum mechanics at introductory level and a little bit of mathematics of undergraduate level. Though this book provides a self-contained study material, the knowledge of more advanced mathematical tools will make the learning process of statistical physics easier.

This book discusses various issues relating to water resources, climate change and sustainable development. Water is the main driving force behind three major pillars of sustainable development: environmental, social and economic. As stated in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, development of these pillars rests on the availability and management of resources to fulfill the demand for water. By identifying the various challenges in the context of water resources and climate change, the book offers insights into achieving a better and more sustainable future. It provides a unique forum for practitioners and academics to exchange ideas on emerging issues, approaches, and practices in the area of water resources, climate change, and sustainability, while also presenting valuable information for policymakers on the changing contours of water management and climate change mitigation. As such it is a useful resource for decision-makers at the local as well as the global level.

The over-exploitation of important earth resources such as land and water has led to a number of environment-related problems the world over. At the same time, land-use change caused by various human activities has led to extinction of many plant and animal habitats and species. In this context, the relevance of biodiversity for human survival is becoming a major international political issue as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss. These issues are closely linked with the issue of climate change, as many of the health risks due to climate change are associated with rapid degradation of biodiversity. This present work focuses on holistic natural resource-based spatio-temporal planning, development and management and considers them as essential to save the degraded ecosystem for sustainable resource management. Contributions are compiled in two volumes: 1. Climate Change and Biodiversity and 2. Landscape Ecology and Water Management. Geoinformatics along with its tools such as remote sensing and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been used in assessing the results of various environmental problems both physical and social. These volumes will be useful for geographers, geoscientists, hydrologists, landscape ecologists, environmentalists, engineers, planners and policy makers.

This book identifies and analyzes livelihood impacts of recent environmental and socio-economic changes in urban and rural settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, north western Himalaya, India. The findings of the research deal with the broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural production with special reference to diversification, as well as forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and non-governmental organizations and the benefits and shortcomings of tourism as a livelihood source. These tasks are studied by using an exploratory approach, with participant observation, interviews through random and cluster sampling among villagers, local land users and officials, as well as with land cover interpretation and secondary statistical data. This book is relevant for educational use together with policy input on the issues exploring livelihood security in a rapidly growing developing country.

This book brings together the emerging trends and techniques incorporated in regional science during the first two decades of this millennium. The book includes systematic and analytical notes making scientific commentary on the innovative methods of regional development, measurement of the development, regional development models, and policy measures that have significant implications and wide applicability instrumental for India as well as the other global south countries. There is clear evidence in the global south of the uneven spatial distribution of resources, economic activities, literacy, and health conditions. The most striking fact is the coexistence of development and underdevelopment that makes the planning process complicated. This can hardly be explored without taking a deep insight into the matter of how the regional parameters are impacting regional society or economy to shape the development of that region. There can be no effective global policy framework that will be effective equally for each and every region to mitigate local issues of society or economy. It is here that the book integrates the efforts of practitioners working towards addressing these regional issues and striving for sustainable regional development through their innovative ideas. Through its contributions, the book addresses development issues, regional impact of climate change, social justice, migration, well-being, livelihood vulnerabilities, and regional urban-environmental issues from the standpoint of regional science. It is a significant resource for researchers of spatial science, and policy makers.

In this book, an interdisciplinary research group of faculty members, researchers, professionals, and planners contributed to an understanding of the dynamics and dimensions of emerging challenges and risks in megacities in the rapidly changing urban environments in Asia and examined emerging resilience themes from the point of view of sustainability and public policy. The world's urban population in 2009 was approximately 3.4 billion and Asia's urban population was about 1.72 billion. Between 2010 and 2020, 411 million people will be added to Asian cities (60 % of the growth in the world's urban population). By 2020, of the world's urban population of 4.2 billion, approximately 2.2 billion will be in Asia. China and India will contribute 31.3 % of the total world urban population by 2025. Developing Asia's projected global share of CO2 emissions for energy consumption will increase from 30 % in 2006 to 43 % by 2030. City regions serve as magnets for people, enterprise, and culture, but with urbanisation , the worst form of visible poverty becomes prominent. The Asian region, with a slum population of an estimated 505.5 million people, remains host to over half of the world's slum population . The book provides information on a comprehensive range of environmental threats faced by the inhabitants of megacities. It also offers a wide and multidisciplinary group of case studies from rapidly growing megacities (with populations of more than 5 million) from developed and developing countries of Asia.

Nanomaterials in Bionanotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications offers a comprehensive treatment of nanomaterials in biotechnology from fundamentals to applications, along with their prospects. This book explains the basics of nanomaterial properties, synthesis, biological synthesis, and chemistry and demonstrates how to use nanomaterials to overcome problems in agricultural, environmental, and biomedical applications. Features Covers nanomaterials for environmental analysis and monitoring for heavy metals, chemical toxins, and water pollutant detection Describes nanomaterials-based biosensors and instrumentation and use in disease diagnosis and therapeutics Discusses nanomaterials for food processing and packaging and agricultural waste management Identifies challenges in nanomaterials-based technology and how to solve them This work serves as a reference for industry professionals, advanced students, and researchers working in the discipline of bionanotechnology.

This book consists of 26 contributions presented at the International Geographical Union Study Group meeting, to understand the limitations and opportunities provided by natural and human environments of different marginal regions and the potential strategies for successful spatial planning.

The over-exploitation of important earth resources such as land and water has led to a number of environment-related problems the world over. At the same time, land-use change caused by various human activities has led to extinction of many plant and animal habitats and species. In this context, the relevance of biodiversity for human survival is becoming a major international political issue as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss. These issues are closely linked with the issue of climate change, as many of the health risks due to climate change are associated with rapid degradation of biodiversity. This present work focuses on holistic natural resource-based spatio-temporal planning, development, and management and considers them as essential to save the degraded ecosystem for sustainable resource management. Contributions are compiled in two volumes: 1. Climate Change and Biodiversity and 2. Landscape Ecology and Water Management. Geoinformatics along with its tools such as remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS) have been used in assessing the results of various environmental problems both physical and social. The volume will be useful for geographers, geoscientists, hydrologists, landscape ecologists, environmentalists, engineers, planners and policy makers.

Geosphere-biosphere interaction of certain elements and compounds is a major factor in global environmental change. This guide to the role of geographical monitoring in ecosystem modelling contains papers presented at the International Geographical Union Seminar on monitoring geosystems.

Next-Generation Antimicrobial Nanocoatings for Medical Devices and Implants provides a detailed, up-to-date overview of nano-based antimicrobial coatings used to combat medical device-related biofilms. An introduction to biofilms and how they infect medical devices is included, as well as strategies/modification techniques used to target these biofilms. This book evaluates the various antimicrobial coatings formed using nanomaterials such as silver, inorganic materials, organic materials, carbon dots, surfactants, and electrospun fibers, specifically for us on medical devices and implants. Numerous coating methods are discussed along with the biological characterizations of these coating materials, and their toxicological and environmental impact.Next-generation Antimicrobial Nanocoatings for Medical Devices and Implants is a useful reference for materials scientists, biomedical engineers, and those working on the development of novel biomaterials for use in medical devices and implants.

This book brings together the emerging trends and techniques incorporated in regional science during the first two decades of this millennium. The book includes systematic and analytical notes making scientific commentary on the innovative methods of regional development, measurement of the development, regional development models, and policy measures that have significant implications and wide applicability instrumental for India as well as the other global south countries. There is clear evidence in the global south of the uneven spatial distribution of resources, economic activities, literacy, and health conditions. The most striking fact is the coexistence of development and underdevelopment that makes the planning process complicated. This can hardly be explored without taking a deep insight into the matter of how the regional parameters are impacting regional society or economy to shape the development of that region. There can be no effective global policy framework that will be effective equally for each and every region to mitigate local issues of society or economy. It is here that the book integrates the efforts of practitioners working towards addressing these regional issues and striving for sustainable regional development through their innovative ideas. Through its contributions, the book addresses development issues, regional impact of climate change, social justice, migration, well-being, livelihood vulnerabilities, and regional urban-environmental issues from the standpoint of regional science. It is a significant resource for researchers of spatial science, and policy makers.

We are witnessing an unprecedented global outbreak of COVID-19, which has been devastating in its consequences. Beyond the acute health hazard, the pandemic has carried with it other threats for mankind associated with the human economy, society, culture, psychology and politics. Amidst these multifarious dimensions of the pandemic, it is high time for global solidarity to save humankind.Human society, its ambient environment, the process of socio-economic development, and politics and power - all are drivers to establish the world order. All these parameters are intimately and integrally related. The interconnections of these three driving forces have a significant bearing on life, space and time. In parallel, the interrelationship between all these drivers is dynamic, and they are changed drastically with time and space. The statistics serve to align the thought, based on which social scientists need to understand the prevailing equation to project the unforeseen future. The trajectory of the future world helps in planning and policymaking with a scientific direction.The practitioners of all academic disciplines under the umbrella of the social sciences need a common platform to exchange ideas that may be effective in the sustainable management of the crisis and the way forward after it is mitigated. This book provides multidisciplinary contributions for expressing the solidarity of academic knowledge to fight against this global challenge. It is crucial that there should be an on-going discussion and exchange of ideas, not only from the perspective of the current times but keeping in view the preparedness for unforeseen post-COVID crises as well.

This book explores the geographical, geomorphological, ecological, touristic and socioeconomic aspects of natural heritage, argues for the dynamic conservation of that heritage and explains its key characteristics, promotion, conservation and management to achieve sustainable development goals. Emerging concepts such as geodiversity, geographical heritage sites, geomonuments, geoparks and geotourism are increasingly being used by conservationists. At present, the development of geoparks is a major global theme involving the application of geosciences to promote the inclusive growth of society and the protection and conservation of our unique geoheritage. Currently, there are 147 UNESCO global geoparks across 41 countries, in addition to a number of national-level geoparks. Pursuing a holistic approach towards such sites will sensitise the general public to the need for geoconservation of significant geosites and promote it through geotourism. It is a crucial issue, as various countries around the world are eager to develop their geoparks and are working for the conservation of geoheritage sites at the national level. This unique book gathers contributions from 15 countries in the form of case studies analysing the realities on of geographical heritage, geoparks and geotourism. The respective chapters address the role of geoparks as essential tools for education, recreation and nature conservation. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable guide for geoscientists, planners, policymakers, civil society and anyone concerned about the conservation of geoheritage sites and geoparks for a sustainable future Earth.

This book focuses on understanding urban vulnerability and risk mitigation, advancing good health and wellbeing, and analysing resilience measures for various Asian cities. Today, cities are the dominant human habitat, where a large number of environmental, social, cultural and economic factors have impacts on human health and wellbeing. Cities consist of complex, dynamic, socio-ecological, and technological systems that serve multiple functions in human health and wellbeing. Currently half of Asia's population is urban, and that figure is expected to rise to 66 percent by 2050. Since urban areas are often most vulnerable to hazards, the people living in them need good health infrastructure facilities and technological support at various scales. As such, the need of the hour is to enhance the adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, reduce vulnerability, and take risk mitigation measures in urban areas, which requires a systematic approach based on science-policy interface that is transformative, trans-disciplinary and integrative for a sustainable urban future. Global sustainable development goals are closely tied to urban human health and wellbeing: (1) the third of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals is to "Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages" and (2) the eleventh is to "Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". By addressing these goals, this book offers a highly useful resource for anyone concerned with healthy and resilient cities in Asia, today and tomorrow.

This book provides an overview of the ecological indicators of landscape dynamics in the context of geographical landscape integration. Landscape dynamics depicts every change that occurs in the physical, biological, and cognitive assets of a landscape. To understand and interpret the complex physical, biological, and cognitive phenomena of landscapes, it is necessary to operate conceptually and practically on a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. Rapid land use changes have become a concern to environmentalists and planners because of their impacts on the natural ecosystem, which further determines socioeconomic dynamics. In this regard, the book discusses case studies that share new insights into how landscape patterns and processes impact small creatures, and how small creatures in turn influence landscape structure and composition. In turn, the relevant aspects of land use and land cover dynamics are covered, and the multi-faceted relationship between the substrata and ecological community is highlighted. The book is unique in its focus on the application of spatial informatics such as automatic building extraction from high-resolution imagery; a soil resource inventory for meeting the challenges of land degradation; hydrological modeling; the temporal variation analysis of glacier area and the identification and mapping of glacial lakes; morphometric analysis of river basins; and the monitoring and modeling of urban sprawl, among other features.

This book focuses on interdisciplinary issues of human health in the changing urban environments of India's largest megacities-Delhi and Mumbai. The authors explore human health concerns related to increased temperatures and air pollution in these cities in a study based on primary data collected through interviews, as well as secondary data on causes of mortality from 2001 to 2012. During this period, the surface temperatures for both megacities were mapped using Landsat Images. The rapidly increasing populations of cities and urban centers alter ecosystem services such as water, air and land cover, with disastrous impacts on health and wellbeing, particularly in megacities. In 2015, polluted air was estimated to have been responsible for 6.4 million deaths worldwide, and it is projected that it will cause between 6 and 9 million deaths per year by 2060. In 2017, outdoor air pollution resulted in 1.2 million deaths in India and brought about a 3% loss in GDP. The increase in population, vehicles, and industries has led to changes in land use and land cover and a rise in city temperatures and air pollution, creating urban heat islands (UHIs). Together, UHIs and air pollution have damaging impacts on human health that range from stress and headache to asthma, bronchitis, and chronic diseases, and even to death. Delhi has been experiencing emergency conditions in terms of environmental health over the past two years. At the same time, both the Delhi and Mumbai urban agglomerations are growing at a rapid pace, and the United Nations has projected that they will be the second and third most populous cities in the world by 2025. In this context, the book offers significant insights into the past patterns and responses to the present global urban health emergencies, and explores sustainable means of combating the problem to enable college and university researchers to develop innovative solutions. Further. It presents trans-disciplinary research that cuts across the WHO Action Plan, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Habitat III to help policymakers gain a better understanding of the global challenges of urban health and wellbeing. The book is especially useful for students and researchers in geography, urban demography, urban studies, environmental studies, health sciences, and policy studies.

This book identifies and analyzes livelihood impacts of recent environmental and socio-economic changes in urban and rural settings of the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh, north western Himalaya, India. The findings of the research deal with the broader objectives of the changing patterns of agricultural production with special reference to diversification, as well as forest-based livelihood outcomes, Clean Development Mechanism forest project activities, the roles of different ethnic groups and non-governmental organizations and the benefits and shortcomings of tourism as a livelihood source. These tasks are studied by using an exploratory approach, with participant observation, interviews through random and cluster sampling among villagers, local land users and officials, as well as with land cover interpretation and secondary statistical data. This book is relevant for educational use together with policy input on the issues exploring livelihood security in a rapidly growing developing country.

This volume synthesizes critical environmental challenges of dynamic earth and human environment systems in South Asia emphasizing geographical dimensions. It deals with spaceborne monitoring, climate, ecohydrology, forests and biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change (LUCC), natural hazards, and disasters in order to contribute towards a sustainable future. The contributions range from traditional field techniques to the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems. The book integrates environmental attributes relating the past, present, and future of South Asia broadly based on biophysical and human dimensions in spatio-temporal perspectives. The monitoring of natural hazards and climate issues is considered a vital component in the context of environmental geography, especially in observation and understanding of climate and water-induced disasters. It is important to communicate the advances in geoscience techniques to increase the resilience of the vulnerable society of South Asia and to promote livelihood security. The sustainability of South Asia depends strongly on the earth environment, and thus the development of geo-environmental monitoring is critical for a better understanding of our living environment. The aim of the book is to present dynamic aspects of environmental geography to contribute to future earth initiatives in South Asia.

Nanotechnological Aspects for Next-generation Wound Management provides detailed, up-to-date literature on nanotechnology's role in wound management and its applications using nanoparticles, nanocomposites, carbon-based nanostructures and nanomaterials. Scaffolds, three-dimensional approaches, skin tissue engineering, and polymer-based films are discussed to treat wounds. This one-of-a-kind reference is ideal for health practitioners, clinicians and researchers who will find the book to be excellent reference material for updates on recent trends in nanotechnology for wound management.

Nanobiotechnology for Bioremediation: Fundamentals and Mechanisms provides detailed information on nanomaterial applications for the bioremediation of a heavily contaminated environment. Relevant information is provided on the application of nanofibers, nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI), nanocomposites, carbon nanotubes for rejuvenation of a heavy environment from different pollutants, such as heavy metals, chlorinated compounds, organic compounds, polyaromatic hydrocarbon, and hydrocarbons. The book also explores the application of nanomaterials as a sustainable green solution that help prevent various high levels of contamination in the environment. Each chapter addresses the application of nanomaterials as a sustainable tool for managing innumerable environmental challenges. This helps readers translate their research findings into sustainable innovations to resolve their immediate environmental challenges.