The ability of storing, managing and giving access to the huge quantity of data collected by astronomical observatories is one of the major challenges of modern astronomy. At the same time, the growing complexity of data systems implies a change of concepts: the scientist has to manipulate data as well as information. Developments of the World Wide Web bring answers to these problems. The book presents a wide selection of databases, archives, data centres and information systems. Descriptions are included, together with their scientific context and motivations. This volume should prove a...

The coconut palm is a very important plant in the tropical regions, both as a cash crop and in subsistence agriculture. Although most coconut production is dedicated to copra and its subsequent oil extraction, the number of products that can be obtained from the palm is seemingly limitless. However, the coconut industry has several problems that affect its productivity, especially: the use of unimproved planting material, the old age of existing plantations, and various pests and diseases. This book deals with the most severe of the diseases, lethal yellowing, which has killed millions of...

This volume comprises the proceedings of the First International Rehovot Conference on Modern Agriculture and the Environment. It covers the broad spectrum of environmental problems related to agriculture, such as chemical pesticides, means to reduce their utilization, and some of the main alternatives to their overuse and misuse; pollution caused by chemical fertilizers, aquaculture and heavy metals; treatment of wastewater; recycling of municipal and agricultural wastes; modelling and bioremediation of agricultural pollution; as well as economic and policy aspects of natural resources....

'Et moi, ..., si j'avait su comment en reveni.r, One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point aile.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs. on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled 'discarded non 111e series is divergent; therefore we may be sense'. Eric T. Bell able to do something with it. O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a...

Generalized functions are now widely recognized as important mathematical tools for engineers and physicists. But they are considered to be inaccessible for non-specialists. To remedy this situation, this book gives an intelligible exposition of generalized functions based on Sato's hyperfunction, which is essentially the boundary value of analytic functions'. An intuitive image -- hyperfunction = vortex layer -- is adopted, and only an elementary knowledge of complex function theory is assumed. The treatment is entirely self-contained.
The first part of the book gives a detailed...

Integration in infinitely dimensional spaces (continual integration) is a powerful mathematical tool which is widely used in a number of fields of modern mathematics, such as analysis, the theory of differential and integral equations, probability theory and the theory of random processes. This monograph is devoted to numerical approximation methods of continual integration. A systematic description is given of the approximate computation methods of functional integrals on a wide class of measures, including measures generated by homogeneous random processes with independent increments and...

This study focuses on the emerging class of new materials characterized by ultra-fine microstrucures. The NATO ASI which produced this book was an international scientific meeting devoted to a discussion of the mechanical properties and deformation behaviour of materials having grain sizes down to a few nanometers.

Stochastic hydrology is an essential base of water resources systems analysis, due to the inherent randomness of the input, and consequently of the results. These results have to be incorporated in a decision-making process regarding the planning and management of water systems. It is through this application that stochastic hydrology finds its true meaning, otherwise it becomes merely an academic exercise.

In this work, leading physicians; hepatologists; pharmacologists; pathologists; and transplant surgeons discuss the most recent advances in the field of liver disease and its treatment. Attention is focused on epidemiology; the diagnosis of disease (clinical chemistry, histopathology, medical imaging analysis); prognosis; prediction; and clinical management. Pathogenesis of diseases such as liver cirrhosis following viral disease or alcohol abuse are discussed at length, and special attention is dedicated to high risk patients (children, fulminant hepatitis). The other major topics include...

Rapid advances are taking place in the application of density functional theory (DFT) to describe complex electronic structures, to accurately treat large systems and to predict physical and chemical properties. Both theoretical content and computational methodology are developing at a pace which offers researchers new opportunities in areas such as quantum chemistry, cluster science, and solid state physics.
This volume contains ten contributions by leading scientists in the field and provides an authoritative overview of the most important developments. The book focuses on the...