ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: "One of the world's leading economists of inequality, Branko Milanovic presents a bold new account of the dynamics that drive inequality on a global scale. Drawing on vast data sets and cutting-edge research, he explains the benign and malign forces that make inequality rise and fall within and among nations. He also reveals who has been helped the most by globalization, who has been held back, and what policies might tilt the balance toward economic justice. Global Inequality takes us back hundreds of years, and as far around the world as data allow, to show that inequality moves in cycles, fueled by war and disease, technological disruption, access to education, and redistribution. The recent surge of inequality in the West has been driven by the revolution in technology, just as the Industrial Revolution drove inequality 150 years ago. But even as inequality has soared within nations, it has fallen dramatically among nations, as middle-class incomes in China and India have drawn closer to the stagnating incomes of the middle classes in the developed world. A more open migration policy would reduce global inequality even further. Both American and Chinese inequality seem well entrenched and self-reproducing, though it is difficult to predict if current trends will be derailed by emerging plutocracy, populism, or war. For those who want to understand how we got where we are, where we may be heading, and what policies might help reverse that course, Milanovic's compelling explanation is the ideal place to start."--Provided by publisher

Description / Table of Contents: This proceedings contains a selection of peer-reviewed papers presented at the IAG Scientific Assembly, Postdam, Germany, 1-6 September, 2013. The scientific sessions were focussed on the definition, implementation and scientific applications of reference frames; gravity field determination and applications; the observation and assessment of earth hazards. It presents a collection of the contributions on the applications of earth rotations dynamics, on observation systems and services as well as on imaging and positioning techniques and its applications.

Description / Table of Contents: Front matter -- Copyright -- Contents -- Figures -- Tables -- Contributors -- 1. They've 'never had it so good': the rise and rise of the super-rich and wealth inequality -- 2. Reconsidering the super-rich: variations, structural conditions and urban consequences -- PART I WEALTH, SELF AND SOCIETY -- 3. Historical geographies of wealth: opportunities, institutions and accumulation, c. 1800-1930 -- 4. On plutonomy: economy, power and the wealthy few in the second Gilded Age -- 5. Interrogating the legitimacy of extreme wealth: a moral economic perspective

Description / Table of Contents: 6. Billionaire philanthropy: 'decaf capitalism' -- 7. Making money and making a self: the moral career of entrepreneurs -- 8. Taking up Caletrío's challenge: silence and the construction of wealth eliteness in Jamie Johnson's documentary film Born Rich -- 9. 'One time I'ma show you how to get rich!' Rap music, wealth and the rise of the hip-hop mogul -- 10. Biographies of illicit super-wealth -- PART II LIVING WEALTHY -- 11. Capital city? London's housing markets and the 'super-rich' -- 12. The residential spaces of the super-rich

Description / Table of Contents: 13. Reconfiguring places - wealth and the transformation of rural areas -- 14. Performing wealth and status: observing super-yachts and the super-rich in Monaco -- 15. Flights of indulgence (or how the very wealthy fly): the aeromobile patterns and practices of the super-rich -- 16. Looking at luxury: consuming luxury fashion in global cities -- 17. The luxury of nature: the environmental consequences of super-rich lives -- PART III WEALTH AND POWER -- 18. Attracting wealth: crafting immigration policy to attract the rich -- 19. Sovereign wealth and the nation-state

Description / Table of Contents: 20. Super-rich capitalism: managing and preserving private wealth management in the offshore world -- 21. Troubling tax havens: multi-jurisdictional arbitrage and corporate tax footprint reduction -- 22. No change there! Wealth and oil -- Index

Description / Table of Contents: Fewer than 100 people own and control more wealth than 50 per cent of the world's population. The Handbook on Wealth and the Super-Rich is a unique examination of both the lives and lifestyles of the super-rich, as well as the processes that underpin super-wealth generation and its unequal distribution. Drawing on a multiplicity of international examples, leading experts from across the social sciences offer a landmark multidisciplinary contribution to emerging analyses of the global super-rich and their astonishing wealth. The book's 22 accessible and coherently organised chapters cover a ran

Description / Table of Contents: Die sozialwissenschaftliche Dissertation nimmt den derzeitigen DIY-Trend, konkret den Handarbeitstrend, in den Fokus. Welche individuellen Gründe und gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen bewegen die Menschen, wieder gemeinsam und/oder allein zu nähen und zu stricken, alte Dinge aufzuwerten oder anders zu nutzen bzw. einfach kreativ zu sein? Ist es der Wunsch nach dem Besonderen, die Abgrenzung von Anderen, der wiedererwachte Sinn für Gemeinschaft oder die Freude an der praktischen Arbeit? Und nicht zuletzt, gibt es eine Verbindung von Handarbeit zu einer nachhaltig orientierten Lebensweise? Ist Handarbeit eine soziale Innovation? Die Untersuchung basiert auf dem bereichsspezifischen Lebensstilkonzept, welches verschiedene gesellschaftliche Ebenen, die individuelle, gemeinschaftliche und gesellschaftliche Ebene, einschließt. Nach einer historischen Betrachtung der Handarbeit und einer ebenen-spezifischen Literaturschau einschließlich der Auswertung von Experteninterviews zum Thema Handarbeit erfolgt im empirischen Teil die Inhaltsanalyse von zwölf leitfadengestützten problemzentrierten Interviews mit Personen, die in ihrer Freizeit handarbeiten. Die Untersuchung bestätigt die forschungsleitenden Annahmen. Es wird deutlich, dass bei der Herausbildung der Affinität zur Handarbeit alle drei gesellschaftlichen Ebenen relevant sind: Individuelle Vorerfahrungen und Motivationen spielen ebenso eine Rolle wie die Gemeinschaft und Vernetzung mit Anderen.Gesellschaftlich betrachtet zeigt die Arbeit, dass die historischen Brüche in der Bedeutung der Handarbeit für deren heutigen Stellenwert relevant sind. Handarbeit - und im weiteren Sinne DIY - wird als soziale Innovation wahrgenommen und kann bewusstseinsbildend hinsichtlich nachhaltig orientierter Lebensweisen wirken.

Description / Table of Contents: Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- CONTENTS -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- PART I FROM CUNEIFORM TO CLASSICAL CIVILIZATION -- 1 Finance and Writing -- 2 Finance and Urbanism -- 3 Financial Architecture -- 4 Mesopotamian Twilight -- 5 Athenian Finance -- 6 Monetary Revolution -- 7 Roman Finance -- PART II THE FINANCIAL LEGACY OF CHINA -- 8 China's First Financial World -- 9 Unity and Bureaucracy -- 10 Financial Divergence -- PART III THE EUROPEAN CRUCIBLE -- 11 The Temple and Finance -- 12 Venice -- 13 Fibonacci and Finance -- 14 Immortal Bonds

Description / Table of Contents: 15 The Discovery of Chance -- 16 Efficient Markets -- 17 Europe, Inc. -- 18 Corporations and Exploration -- 19 A Projecting Age -- 20 A Bubble in France -- 21 According to Hoyle -- 22 Securitization and Debt -- PART IV THE EMERGENCE OF GLOBAL MARKETS -- 23 Marx and Markets -- 24 China's Financiers -- 25 The Russian Bear -- 26 Keynes to the Rescue -- 27 The New Financial World -- 28 Re-Engineering the Future -- 29 Post-War Theory -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Illustration Credits -- Index

Description / Table of Contents: This manuscript sets out a process for estimating fatalities in collapsed buildings due to ground shaking in an earthquake. The aim of this research is to supplement current earthquake loss estimation with fatality rates (percentage of occupants killed) for use in models which are based on recent empirical information on deaths from earthquakes. This document specifically explores the lethality potential to occupants of collapsed structures. Whilst earthquake casualty modeling has admittedly suffered from a lack of post-earthquake collection of data and rigour in assessing these data, recent earthquakes such as 2008 Wenchuan (China) and 2011 Christchurch (New Zealand) have brought to light some important findings. Under the auspices of US Geological Survey’s PAGER, empirical fatality data related to collapses of buildings from significant earthquakes in the past 40 years have been thoroughly examined. Through detailed investigations of fatal building collapses and the volume reductions within these buildings, important clues related to the lethality potential of different failure mechanisms of global modern and older construction types were found. The gathered evidence forms the basis of the derivation of a set of fatality rates for use in loss models. The set of judgment-based rates are for 31 global building types. This significant advancement in casualty modeling, the resolutions and quality of available data, the important assumptions made, and the final derivation of fatality rates are discussed here. This document contributes to global efforts to develop a way of estimating probable earthquake fatalities very rapidly after an earthquake has taken place. The fatality rates proposed here can be incorporated directly into earthquake loss estimation models where fatalities are derived from collapses of different types of buildings

Description / Table of Contents: International Order At Sea : What It Is. How It Is Challenged, How It Is Maintained / Jo Inge Bekkevold and Geoffrey Till -- Challenges to Public Order and the Law of the Sea / Mark E. Rosen -- Global Power Shift, Geography, and Maritime East Asia / Øystein Tunsjø -- China's Naval Modernization, Strategies, and Capabilities / Andrew S. Erickson -- Maritime Security and Order at Sea in the Indian Ocean Region / Sarabjeet Singh Parmar -- NATO and the Maritime Domain / Jo G. Gade and Paal Sigurd Hilde -- Maritime Security and International Order at Sea in the Arctic Ocean / Katarzyna Zysk -- The Changing Dynamics of Seapower and Concepts of Battle / Geoffrey Till -- The Maritime Strategies of the United States after the Cold War / Bernard D. Cole -- Maritime Security Cooperation in the South China Sea / Chu Hao and Chen Quinghong -- A Question of Balance : Warfighting and Naval Operations Other Than War / Jo Inge Bekkevold and Ian Bowers -- Managing Maritime Affairs : The Contribution of Maritime Security Forces / Sam Bateman -- The Role of Coast Guards in Conflict Management : The Norwegian Experience / Arild-Inge Skram and Jo G. Gade -- Conclusion : International Order at Sea in the Twenty-First Century / Jo Inge Bekkevold and Geoffrey Till

Description / Table of Contents: GNSS, multipath, gain pattern, Jones vector, signal power. - Mehrwegeffekte, Antennengewinndiagramm, Jones Vektor, Signalstärke

Description / Table of Contents: 1. Climatic Adaptation of Boreal and Temperate Tree Species -- 2. Dynamic Modelling of the Annual Cycle -- 3. The Annual Phenological Cycle -- 4. The Annual Cycle of Photosynthesis in Evergreen Conifers -- 5. The Annual Cycle of Frost Hardiness -- 6. Evolutionary Aspects of the Annual Cycle -- 7. Upscaling to Higher Levels of Organisation -- 8. The Annual Cycle Under Changing Climatic Conditions -- 9. Concluding Remarks

Description / Table of Contents: This book provides an overview of how boreal and temperate tree species have adapted their annual development cycle to the seasonally varying climatic conditions. Therefore, the frost hardy dormant phase, and the susceptible growth phase, are synchronized with the seasonality of the climate. The volume discusses the annual cycle, including various attributes such as timing of bud burst and other phenological events, seasonality of photosynthetic capacity or the frost hardiness of the trees. During the last few decades dynamic ecophysiological models have been used increasingly in studies of the annual cycle, particularly when projecting the ecological effects of climate change. The main emphasis of this volume is on combining modelling with experimental studies, and on the importance of the biological realism of the models

Description / Table of Contents: This work summarizes the historical progression of the field of lithium (Li) isotope studies and provides a comprehensive yet succinct overview of the research applications toward which they have been directed. In synthesizing the historical and current research, the volume also suggests prospective future directions of study. Not even a full decade has passed since the publication of a broadly inclusive summary of Li isotope research around the globe (Tomascak, 2004). In this short time, the use of this isotope system in the investigation of geo- and cosmochemical questions has increased dramatically, due, in part, to the advent of new analytical technology at the end of the last millennium. Lithium, as a light element that forms low-charge, moderate-sized ions, manifests a number of chemical properties that make its stable isotope system useful in a wide array of geo- and cosmochemical research fields.  

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction -- Repression, ignorance, and undone science -- The epistemic dimension of the political opportunity structure -- The politics of meaning: from frames to design conflicts -- The organizational forms of counterpublic knowledge -- Institutional change, industrial transitions, and regime resistance politics -- Contemporary change: liberalization and epistemic modernization -- Conclusion

Description / Table of Contents: Part I Lincei session -- Opening remarks for the 2013 Hotine-Marussi symposium -- Fernado Sansò laudation -- Global Reference Systems: Theory and open questions -- Part II Geodetic data analysis -- Noise analysis of continuous GPS time series of selected EPN stations to investigate variations in stability of monument types -- Improvement of Least-Squares Collocation error estimates using local GOCE Tzz signal standard deviations -- Multivariate Integer Cycle-Slip Resolution: A Single-Channel Analysis -- Theory of Earth Rotation Variations -- Variable seasonal and subseasonal oscillations in sea level anomaly data and their impact on prediction accuracy -- Permanent GPS networks in Italy: analysis of time series noise -- VADASE: state of the art and new developments of a third way to GNSS Seismology -- On the spatial resolution of homogeneous isotropic filters on the sphere -- On time-variable seasonal signals: comparison of SSA and Kalman filtering based approach -- Extensive analysis of IGS REPRO1 coordinate time series -- Part III Geopotential modeling, boundary value problems and height systems -- Determination of W0 from the GOCE measurements using the method of fundamental solutions -- Combination of GOCE gravity gradients in regional gravity field modelling using radial basis functions -- Rosborough representation in satellite gravimetry -- Combining Different Types of Gravity Observations in Regional Gravity Modeling in Spherical Radial Basis Functions -- Height Datum Unification by Means of the GBVP Approach Using Tide Gauges -- Computation of Zenith Total Delay Correction Fields using Ground-Based GNSS -- Rigorous interpolation of atmospheric state parameters for ray-traced tropospheric delays -- Comparison of different techniques for tropospheric wet delay retrieval over South America and surrounding oceans -- Part V Gravity field mapping methodology from GRACE and future gravity missions -- The role of position information for the analysis of K-Band data - experiences from GRACE and GOCE for GRAIL gravity field recovery -- Gravity field mapping from GRACE: different approaches - same results? -- The effect of pseudo-stochastic orbit parameters on GRACE monthly gravity fields - insights from lumped coefficients -- On an iterative approach to solving the nonlinear satellite-fixed geodetic boundary-value problem -- An OpenCL implementation of ellipsoidal harmonics -- A remark on the computation of the gravitational potential of masses with linearly varying density -- The observation equation of spirit leveling in Molodensky’s context -- Reference station weighting and frame optimality in minimally constrained networks -- Atmospheric loading and mass variation effects on the SLR-defined geocenter -- Part VIII Digital Terrain Modeling, Synthetic Aperture Radar and new sensors: theory and methods -- Radargrammetric Digital Surface Models Generation from High Resolution Satellite SAR Imagery: Methodology and Case Studies -- Principles and applications of polarimetric SAR tomography for the characterization of complex environments -- Merging local DTMs: methodological problems and practical solutions on heli-dem case study -- Part IX Inverse modeling, estimation theory -- Single-Epoch GNSS Array Integrity: an Analytical Study -- Global to local Moho estimate based on GOCE geopotential model and local gravity data -- An overview of adjustment methods for mixed additive and multiplicative random error models -- Cycle slip detection and correction for heading determination with low-cost GPS/ INS receivers -- Adjusting the errors-in-variables model: linearized least-squares vs. nonlinear total least-squares -- Multivariate GNSS Attitude Integrity: the Role of Affine Constraints -- Integrating geological prior information into the inverse gravimetric problem: the Bayesian approach -- Effects of Different Objective Functions in Inequality Constrained and Rank-Deficient Least-Squares Problems

Description / Table of Contents: This volume contains the proceedings of the VIII Hotine-Marussi Symposium on Mathematical Geodesy, which was held June 17 to 21, 2013, in Rome, Italy. Since 2006 the series of Hotine-Marussi Symposia is under the responsibility of the InterCommission Committee on Theory (ICCT), a cross-commission entity within the International Association of Geodesy (IAG). The overall goal of the Hotine-Marussi Symposia has always been the advancement of theoretical geodesy. The 39 papers in these proceedings areindeed testimony to the width and vibrancy of theoretical geodesy. The Symposium was organized in 8 topical sessions reflecting all branches of geodesy: from geodetic data analysis through potential field modeling to estimation theory. Also theoretical aspects of reference frames and of novel sensors were covered. During a special session at the AccademiaNazionaledeiLinceiFernando Sansò was put into the spotlight in order to acknowledge his long-term commitment and dedication as the driving force behind the series of Hotine-Marussi Symposia over the past decades

Description / Table of Contents: Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. China’s Arctic Policy -- Chapter 3. Japan’s Arctic Policy -- Chapter 4. Arctic Policy of South Korea (Republic of Korea) -- Chapter 5. Singapore’s Arctic Policy -- Chapter 6. India’s Arctic Policy -- Chapter 7. Conclusions

Description / Table of Contents: This book examines the growing interest by Asian states, which are normally considered as ‘outsiders’ in the Arctic governance system. Whilst existing research asserts that Asian states are mostly interested in the economic aspect of the changing Arctic, including its mineral and fossil sources and the opening up of new sea routes, the book argues that the relation between Asian states and the Arctic is much more complex and dynamic, grounded in their unique perspective on national security and the role of economic development in securing their national interests. Aki Tonami is Researcher at the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She received her Ph.D from Kyoto University, Japan, and has worked as Research Advisor for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. She has written extensively on East Asian environmental foreign policy, and her research interests include environmental governance, economic diplomacy, and the Polar Regions

Description / Table of Contents: At last, the first systematic guide to the growing jungle of citation indices and other bibliometric indicators. Written with the aim of providing a complete and unbiased overview of all available statistical measures for scientific productivity, the core of this reference is an alphabetical dictionary of indices and other algorithms used to evaluate the importance and impact of researchers and their institutions. In 150 major articles, the authors describe all indices in strictly mathematical terms without passing judgement on their relative merit. From widely used measures, such as the journal impact factor or the h-index, to highly specialized indices, all indicators currently in use in the sciences and humanities are described, and their application explained. The introductory section and the appendix contain a wealth of valuable supporting information on data sources, tools and techniques for bibliometric and scientometric analysis - for individual researchers as well as their funders and publishers. Roberto Todeschini is full professor of chemometrics at the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University of Milano-Bicocca (Milano, Italy), where he constituted the Milano Chemometrics and QSAR Research Group. His main research activities concern chemometrics in all its aspects, QSAR, molecular descriptors, multicriteria decision making and software development. President of the International Academy of Mathematical Chemistry from 2008 to 2014, president of the Italian Chemometric Society and 'ad honorem' professor of the University of Azuay (Cuenca, Ecuador), he is author of more than 170 publications on international journals and books. The latest is 'Molecular Descriptors for Chemoinformatics' R. Todeschini and V. Consonni; Wiley-VCH, 2009. Alberto Baccini is professor of Economics at the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Siena (Italy). He started his research activities by working on various aspects of applied economics and of the history of economic thought. He focused his attention on the history of the theory of choice under uncertainty, becoming an expert of the works of the British economist Francis Y. Edgeworth. More recently, he has been working on application of network analysis techniques to the study of scientometric data, and on topics at the boundaries between scientometrics, statistics and economics, such as the statistical properties of scientometric indicators; researchers' productivity and research evaluation.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume defines, illustrates, and challenges the field on environmental political theory. Through a broad range of approaches, it shows how scholars have used concepts, methods, and arguments from political theory and closely related disciplines to address contemporary environmental problems.

Description / Table of Contents: How relevant are the classic theories of agrarian change in the contemporary context? This volume explores this question by focusing upon the defining features of agrarian transformation in the 21st century: the financialization of food and agriculture, the blurring of rural and urban livelihoods through migration and other economic activities, forest transition, climate change, rural indebtedness, the co-evolution of social policy and moral economies, and changing property relations. Combined, the eleven contributions to

Description / Table of Contents: Widespread landscape changes are presently observed in the Arctic and are most likely to accelerate in the future, in particular in permafrost regions which are sensitive to climate warming. To assess current and future developments, it is crucial to understand past environmental dynamics in these landscapes. Causes and interactions of environmental variability can hardly be resolved by instrumental records covering modern time scales. However, long-term environmental variability is recorded in paleoenvironmental archives. Lake sediments are important archives that allow reconstruction of local limnogeological processes as well as past environmental changes driven directly or indirectly by climate dynamics. This study aims at reconstructing Late Quaternary permafrost and thermokarst dynamics in central-eastern Beringia, the terrestrial land mass connecting Eurasia and North America during glacial sea-level low stands. In order to investigate development, processes and influence of thermokarst dynamics, several sediment cores from extant lakes and drained lake basins were analyzed to answer the following research questions: 1. When did permafrost degradation and thermokarst lake development take place and what were enhancing and inhibiting environmental factors? 2. What are the dominant processes during thermokarst lake development and how are they reflected in proxy records? 3. How did, and still do, thermokarst dynamics contribute to the inventory and properties of organic matter in sediments and the carbon cycle? Methods applied in this study are based upon a multi-proxy approach combining sedimentological, geochemical, geochronological, and micropaleontological analyses, as well as analyses of stable isotopes and hydrochemistry of pore-water and ice. Modern field observations of water quality and basin morphometrics complete the environmental investigations. The investigated sediment cores reveal permafrost degradation and thermokarst dynamics on different time scales. The analysis of a sediment core from GG basin on the northern Seward Peninsula (Alaska) shows prevalent terrestrial accumulation of yedoma throughout the Early to Mid Wisconsin with intermediate wet conditions at around 44.5 to 41.5 ka BP. This first wetland development was terminated by the accumulation of a 1-meter-thick airfall tephra most likely originating from the South Killeak Maar eruption at 42 ka BP. A depositional hiatus between 22.5 and 0.23 ka BP may indicate thermokarst lake formation in the surrounding of the site which forms a yedoma upland till today. The thermokarst lake forming GG basin initiated 230 ± 30 cal a BP and drained in Spring 2005 AD. Four years after drainage the lake talik was still unfrozen below 268 cm depth. A permafrost core from Mama Rhonda basin on the northern Seward Peninsula preserved a full lacustrine record including several lake phases. The first lake generation developed at 11.8 cal ka BP during the Lateglacial-Early Holocene transition; its old basin (Grandma Rhonda) is still partially preserved at the southern margin of the study basin. Around 9.0 cal ka BP a shallow and more dynamic thermokarst lake developed with actively eroding shorelines and potentially intermediate shallow water or wetland phases (Mama Rhonda). Mama Rhonda lake drainage at 1.1 cal ka BP was followed by gradual accumulation of terrestrial peat and top-down refreezing of the lake talik. A significant lower organic carbon content was measured in Grandma Rhonda deposits (mean TOC of 2.5 wt%) than in Mama Rhonda deposits (mean TOC of 7.9 wt%) highlighting the impact of thermokarst dynamics on biogeochemical cycling in different lake generations by thawing and mobilization of organic carbon into the lake system. Proximal and distal sediment cores from Peatball Lake on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska revealed young thermokarst dynamics since about 1,400 years along a depositional gradient based on reconstructions from shoreline expansion rates and absolute dating results. After its initiation as a remnant pond of a previous drained lake basin, a rapidly deepening lake with increasing oxygenation of the water column is evident from laminated sediments, and higher Fe/Ti and Fe/S ratios in the sediment. The sediment record archived characterizing shifts in depositional regimes and sediment sources from upland deposits and re-deposited sediments from drained thaw lake basins depending on the gradually changing shoreline configuration. These changes are evident from alternating organic inputs into the lake system which highlights the potential for thermokarst lakes to recycle old carbon from degrading permafrost deposits of its catchment. The lake sediment record from Herschel Island in the Yukon (Canada) covers the full Holocene period. After its initiation as a thermokarst lake at 11.7 cal ka BP and intense thermokarst activity until 10.0 cal ka BP, the steady sedimentation was interrupted by a depositional hiatus at 1.6 cal ka BP which likely resulted from lake drainage or allochthonous slumping due to collapsing shore lines. The specific setting of the lake on a push moraine composed of marine deposits is reflected in the sedimentary record. Freshening of the maturing lake is indicated by decreasing electrical conductivity in pore-water. Alternation of marine to freshwater ostracods and foraminifera confirms decreasing salinity as well but also reflects episodical re-deposition of allochthonous marine sediments. Based on permafrost and lacustrine sediment records, this thesis shows examples of the Late Quaternary evolution of typical Arctic permafrost landscapes in central-eastern Beringia and the complex interaction of local disturbance processes, regional environmental dynamics and global climate patterns. This study confirms that thermokarst lakes are important agents of organic matter recycling in complex and continuously changing landscapes.

Description / Table of Contents: From the Contents: Material and Immaterial Cultural Transformation -- A Social Contract for Sustainability -- The Climate Paradox: Policy Declarations and Lack of Implementation; The G-20: Security & Peace Impacts -- Persistence and Transformation of Mindsets: The Canadian Case -- Theories of Transitions to Sustainable Development: Approach of the Dutch Knowledge network of Systems Innovation

Description / Table of Contents: In this book 60 authors from many disciplines and from 18 countries on five continents examine in ten parts: Moving towards Sustainability Transition; Aiming at Sustainable Peace; Meeting Challenges of the 21st Century: Demographic Imbalances, Temperature Rise and the Climate-Conflict Nexus; Initiating Research on Global Environmental Change, Limits to Growth, Decoupling of Growth and Resource Needs; Developing Theoretical Approaches on Sustainability and Transitions; Analysing National Debates on Sustainability in North America; Preparing Transitions towards a Sustainable Economy and Society, Production and Consumption and Urbanization; Examining Sustainability Transitions in the Water, Food and Health Sectors from Latin American and European Perspectives; Preparing Sustainability Transitions in the Energy Sector; and Relying on Transnational, International, Regional and National Governance for Strategies and Policies Towards Sustainability Transition. This volume is based on workshops held in Mexico (2012) and in the US (2013), on a winter school at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand (2013), and on commissioned chapters. The workshop in Mexico and the publication were supported by two grants by the German Foundation for Peace Research (DSF). All texts in this book were peer-reviewed by scholars from all parts of the world

Description / Table of Contents: The Yukon Coast in Canada is an ice-rich permafrost coast and highly sensitive to changing environmental conditions. Retrogressive thaw slumps are a common thermoerosion feature along this coast, and develop through the thawing of exposed ice-rich permafrost on slopes and removal of accumulating debris. They contribute large amounts of sediment, including organic carbon and nitrogen, to the nearshore zone. The objective of this study was to 1) identify the climatic and geomorphological drivers of sediment-meltwater release, 2) quantify the amount of released meltwater, sediment, organic carbon and nitrogen, and 3) project the evolution of sediment-meltwater release of retrogressive thaw slumps in a changing future climate. The analysis is based on data collected over 18 days in July 2013 and 18 days in August 2012. A cut-throat flume was set up in the main sediment-meltwater channel of the largest retrogressive thaw slump on Herschel Island. In addition, two weather stations, one on top of the undisturbed tundra and one on the…

Description / Table of Contents: This report examines the scientific basis for the use of remotely sensed data, particularly Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), primarily for the assessment of land degradation at different scales and for a range of applications, including resilience of agro-ecosystems. Evidence is drawn from a wide range of investigations, primarily from the scientific peer-reviewed literature but also non-journal sources. The literature review has been corroborated by interviews with leading specialists in the field. The report reviews the use of NDVI for a range of themes related to land degradation, including land cover change, drought monitoring and early warning systems, desertification processes, greening trends, soil erosion and salinization, vegetation burning and recovery after fire, biodiversity loss, and soil carbon. This SpringerBrief also discusses the limits of the use of NDVI for land degradation assessment and potential for future directions of use. A substantial body of peer-reviewed research lends unequivocal support for the use of coarse-resolution time series of NDVI data for studying vegetation dynamics at global, continental and sub-continental levels. There is compelling evidence that these data are highly correlated with biophysically meaningful vegetation characteristics such as photosynthetic capacity and primary production that are closely related to land degradation and to agroecosystem resilience.

Description / Table of Contents: TThis book presents interdisciplinary evaluation criteria for MWEPs and applies the criteria to the Lower Jordan Valley (Middle East) and the Fergana Valley (Central Asia). Both cases are characterized by transboundary conflicts, challenges caused by demographic and climate change, and by political and societal pressures. Based on the findings, the book provides recommendations for science and political decisions makers as well as for international financing institutions. It also outlines research gaps from an interdisciplinary perspective. In the past, major water engineering projects (MWEPs) have been used as an instrument to cope with the demands of growing populations and for enhancing development progress. Experiences with MWEPs have shown that a purely technical approach has not always brought about the desired results. In many cases, MWEPs even had negative implications for society and environment. Therefore, improved management strategies and enhanced technologies for a sustainable water resource management system are needed in order to meet present and future challenges. Furthermore, the continuous evaluation and optimization of these measures is essential. This book presents the results of the Interdisciplinary Research Group "Society – Water – Technology" of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Description / Table of Contents: Introduction: Theories of governance / Christopher Ansell and Jacob Torfing -- Part I Theoretical foundations of governance -- 1. Collective action theory / Robert Holahan and Mark Lubell -- 2. Organization theory / Morten Egeberg, Åse Gornitzka and Jarle Trondal -- 3. Public management theory / Zoe Radnor, Stephen Osborne and Russ Glennon -- 4. Planning theory / Thomas Hartmann and Stan Geertman -- 5. State theory / Bob Jessop -- 6. Democratic theory / Andreas Klinke -- 7. Public law and regulatory theory / Shauhin Talesh -- 8. Development theory / Jennifer N. Brass -- 9. International relations theory / Kerstin Sahlin -- Part II Basic theoretical concepts -- 10. Heterarchy / Karen Stephenson -- 11. Network / Patrick Kenis -- 12. Public participation / Kathryn S. Quick and John M. Bryson -- 13. Representation / Lucy Taylor -- 14. Deliberation / Per Ola Öberg -- 15. Power / Mark Haugaard -- 16. Legitimacy / Sylvia I. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen -- 17. Accountability / Yannis Papadopoulos -- 18. Transparency / Jenny de Fine Licht and Daniel Naurin -- 19. Learning / Tanya Heikkila and Andrea K. Gerlak -- 20. Innovation / Jean Hartley and Jacob Torfing -- 21. Risk / Ortwin Renn and Andreas Klinke -- 22. Steering / Renate Mayntz -- 23. Soft and hard governing tools / Paula Blomqvist -- Part III Theoretical modes of analysis -- 24. Information-based governance theory / Graham Bullock -- 25. Discourse theory / Steven Griggs and David Howarth -- 26. Institutional theory / B. Guy Peters -- 27. Public choice theory / Lina Ericksson -- 28. Economic theory / Klaus Nielsen -- 29. Governmentality / Peter Triantafillou -- 30. Complexity theory and systems analysis / Christopher Koliba, Lasse Gerrits, Mary Lee Rhodes and Jack W. Meek -- 31. Narrative and interpretative theory / Nick Turnbull -- 32. Pragmatism / Christopher Ansell -- 33. Normative theory / Jurian Edelenbos and Ingmar van Meerkerk -- Part IV Forms of governance -- 34. Democratic network governance / Eva Sørensen -- 35. Regulatory governance / John Yasuda -- 36. Network governance / Robyn Keast -- 37. Collaborative governance / Alison Gash -- 38. Private governance / Marija Isailovic and Philipp Pattberg -- 39. Urban and regional governance / Jon Pierre -- 40. Multi-level governance / Ian Bach, Ian Bartle and Matthew Flinders -- 41. EU and supranational governance / Diana Panke and Miguel Haubrich-Seco -- 42. Transnational economic governance / Walter Mattli and Jack Seddon -- 43. Metagovernance / Jacob Torfing -- 44. Adaptive governance / Toddi Steelman -- Epilogue: the current status and future development of governance theories / Christopher Ansell and Jacob Torfing

Description / Table of Contents: "In the past two decades, governance theories have arisen semi-independently across multiple disciplines. In law and regulation, planning, democratic theory, economics, public management, and international relations, among other disciplines, scholars have sought to describe new strategies of governing. As a result, the term 'governance' is one of the most frequently used social science concepts in the world. No single theory encompasses this diverse body of work, but rather multiple theories with different aims and perspectives. The Handbook on Theories of Governance collects these theories of governance together as an analytical resource for scholars, students and practitioners. The Handbook advances a deeper theoretical understanding of governance processes while illuminating the interdisciplinary foundations of the field. By reviewing key theoretical concepts, the Handbook provides a basic conceptual toolkit for analyzing contemporary governance and offers important insights into how governance research contributes to social science theory development. By canvassing the different forms of governance, the chapters also reveal the diversity of contemporary governing practices. An epilogue identifies common themes across the chapters and points to opportunities for future research. In our increasingly complex, fragmented and dynamic society, this Handbook is a key resource for those who seek to deepen or broaden their theoretical understanding of governance. It will be a powerful aid for scholars, students and practitioners who wish to gauge the theoretical depth and breadth of governance studies"--Back cover

Description / Table of Contents: Constitutive Equation -- Micromechanics -- Variational Energy Formulation -- Anisotropy -- Governing Equation -- Analytical Solution -- Fundamental Solution and Integral Equation -- Poroelastodynamics -- Poroviscoelasticity -- Porothermoelasticity -- Porochemoelasticity -- Appendices -- Index

Description / Table of Contents: This book treats the mechanics of porous materials infiltrated with a fluid (poromechanics), focussing on its linear theory (poroelasticity). Porous materials from inanimate bodies such as sand, soil and rock, living bodies such as plant tissue, animal flesh, or man-made materials can look very different due to their different origins, but as readers will see, the underlying physical principles governing their mechanical behaviors can be the same, making this work relevant not only to engineers but also to scientists across other scientific disciplines. Readers will find discussions of physical phenomena including soil consolidation, land subsidence, slope stability, borehole failure, hydraulic fracturing, water wave and seabed interaction, earthquake aftershock, fluid injection induced seismicity and heat induced pore pressure spalling as well as discussions of seismoelectric and seismoelectromagnetic effects. The work also explores the biomechanics of cartilage, bone and blood vessels. Chapters present theory using an intuitive, phenomenological approach at the bulk continuum level, and a thermodynamics-based variational energy approach at the micromechanical level. The physical mechanisms covered extend from the quasi-static theory of poroelasticity to poroelastodynamics, poroviscoelasticity, porothermoelasticity, and porochemoelasticity. Closed form analytical solutions are derived in details. This book provides an excellent introduction to linear poroelasticity and is especially relevant to those involved in civil engineering, petroleum and reservoir engineering, rock mechanics, hydrology, geophysics, and biomechanics

Description / Table of Contents: Adair Turner became chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority just as the global financial crisis struck in 2008, and he played a leading role in redesigning global financial regulation. In this eye-opening book, he sets the record straight about what really caused the crisis. It didn't happen because banks are too big to fail--our addiction to private debt is to blame. Between Debt and the Devil challenges the belief that we need credit growth to fuel economic growth, and that rising debt is okay as long as inflation remains low. In fact, most credit is not needed for economic growth--but it drives real estate booms and busts and leads to financial crisis and depression. Turner explains why public policy needs to manage the growth and allocation of credit creation, and why debt needs to be taxed as a form of economic pollution. Banks need far more capital, real estate lending must be restricted, and we need to tackle inequality and mitigate the relentless rise of real estate prices. Turner also debunks the big myth about fiat money--the erroneous notion that printing money will lead to harmful inflation. To escape the mess created by past policy errors, we sometimes need to monetize government debt and finance fiscal deficits with central-bank money. Between Debt and the Devil shows why we need to reject the assumption that private credit is essential to growth and fiat money is inevitably dangerous. Each has its advantages, and each creates risks that public policy must consciously balance.

Description / Table of Contents: "In 2006, Chile teemed with protesters after finance minister Andres Velasco invested budget surpluses from the nation's historic copper boom in two Sovereign Wealth Funds. A year later, when prices plummeted and unemployment soared, Chile's government was able to stimulate recovery by drawing on the funds. State-owned investment vehicles that hold public funds in a wide range of assets, Sovereign Wealth Funds enable governments to access an unprecedented degree of wealth. Consequently, more countries are seeking to establish them. Looking at Chile, China, Australia, Singapore, and numerous other examples, including a comparative analysis of Britain and Norway's use of oil revenues, Angela Cummine tackles the key ethical questions surrounding their use, including: To whom does the wealth belong? How should the funds be managed, invested, and distributed? With sovereign funds--and media attention--continuing to grow, this is an invaluable look at a hotly debated economic issue."