Dedicated to the investigation of fortifications as important and integral elements of ancient built space, the present volume results from the activity of the German based international research network Fokus Fortifikation. Ancient Fortifications in the Eastern Mediterranean and is intended as a guide to research on ancient fortifications and a source of inspiration for new research. Ancient city walls and other fortification structures have long been underestimated. Since the early years of the 21st century, research on ancient fortifications has experienced an international boom, particularly amongst young researchers. They approached the study of fortifications with fresh ideas and new aims, and felt the need to discuss the problems and potentials of these monuments and to develop harmonized research methods and objectives. The outcome is the present bilingual (English and German) book, which offers a condensed view of the network’s extended conversations. The goal is not so much to offer an overview on the development of ancient fortifications, but rather to present versatile and diverse approaches to their research and interpretation and to serve as a kickoff for a new understanding of this category of ancient buildings. The book is divided into two parts: the first part includes 12 chapters on methods of interpretation, documentation, and field project organization; the systematic description and presentation of fortifications; the ‘building experience’; masonry forms and techniques; defensive, symbolic, and urbanistic functions and aspects; on fortifications in written sources, the visual arts, and as a historical source; and on regional and rural fortifications, and regionally confined phenomena. Part two is a catalogue that offers exemplary presentations of fortifications studied by network members; it is arranged in four sections: regions, sites, architectural elements and architectural details. The book is Volume 1 in the new series Fokus Fortifikation Studies. Volume 2 in the series, Focus on Fortification: New Research on Fortifications in the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East (Oxbow Books), the proceedings of an international conference held in Athens in December 2012, will also appear in 2015.
Papers presented at the First International Symposium on Science and Technology of Dielectrics in Emerging Fields, held from 27th April to 2nd May, 2003 in Paris, France"--Pref.
The first full-length biography of a brilliant, self-taught inventor whose innovations in information and energy technology continue to shape our world. The Economist called Stanford R. Ovshinsky (1922–2012) “the Edison of our age,” but this apt comparison doesn't capture the full range of his achievements. As an independent, self-educated inventor, Ovshinsky not only created many important devices but also made fundamental discoveries in materials science. This book offers the first full-length biography of a visionary whose energy and information innovations continue to fuel our post-industrial economy. In The Man Who Saw Tomorrow, Lillian Hoddeson and Peter Garrett tell the story of an unconventional genius with no formal education beyond high school who invented, among other things, the rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries that have powered everything from portable electronics to hybrid cars, a system for mass-producing affordable thin-film solar panels, and rewritable CDs and DVDs. His most important discovery, the Ovshinsky effect, led to a paradigm shift in condensed matter physics and yielded phase-change memory, which is now enabling new advances in microelectronics. A son of the working class who began as a machinist and toolmaker, Ovshinsky focused his work on finding solutions to urgent social problems, and to pursue those goals, he founded Energy Conversion Devices, a unique research and development lab. At the end of his life, battered by personal and professional losses, Ovshinsky nevertheless kept working to combat global warming by making solar energy “cheaper than coal”—another of his many visions of a better tomorrow.
Global Change and the Earth System describes what is known about the Earth system and the impact of changes caused by humans. It considers the consequences of these changes with respect to the stability of the Earth system and the well-being of humankind; as well as exploring future paths towards Earth-system science in support of global sustainability. The results presented here are based on 10 years of research on global change by many of the world's most eminent scholars. This valuable volume achieves a new level of integration and interdisciplinarity in treating global change.
Human-Animal Medicine is an innovative reference exploring the unprecedented convergence of human, animal, and environmental health, triggering global pandemics and requiring new clinical paradigms. The "One Health" approach calls for greater communication and cooperation between human health care providers, public health professionals, and veterinarians to better address vital issues of emerging diseases and environmental change. This incredibly timely book provides, for the first time, practical guidelines for "One Health" collaborations in a wide range of clinical human-animal health issues, including the H1N1 virus, zoonotic diseases, the human-animal bond, animal allergy, bites and stings, and animals as "sentinels" for toxic environmental health hazards. UNIQUE! For each condition, specific steps human health care providers, veterinarians, and public health professionals must take to prevent and manage disease. UNIQUE! Comparative tables of disease signs, diagnosis and treatment in humans and animals for easy reference. UNIQUE! Guidelines to detect and improve environmental factors affecting the health of humans and animals. Occupational health guidelines for preventive care of animal workers including veterinary personnel, farmers, pet store employees, and zoo workers. Treatment of emerging disease issues including zoonoses, H1N1 virus, harmful algae blooms, and animal-related pesticides UNIQUE! Sample protocols facilitate professional communication between veterinarians, human health clinicians, and public health professionals. Legal and ethical aspects of "One Health" that human health providers and veterinarians need to know.
Thin-film solar cells are cheap and easy to manufacture but require improvements as their efficiencies are low compared to that of the commercially dominant crystalline-silicon solar cells. An optoelectronic model is formulated and implemented along with the differential evolution algorithm to assess the efficacy of grading the bandgap of the CIGS, CZTSSe, and AlGaAs photon-absorbing layer for optimizing the power-conversion efficiency of thin-film CIGS, CZTSSe, and AlGaAs solar cells, respectively, in the two-terminal single-junction format. Each thin-film solar cell is modeled as a photonic device as well as an electronic device. Solar cells with two (or more) photon-absorbing layers can also be handled using the optolelectronic model, whose results will stimulate experimental techniques for bandgap grading to enable ubiquitous small-scale harnessing of solar energy.
Currently this is the book providing a thorough introduction and a unified theoretical basis for the interpretation of equilibrium transport processes in amorphous hydrogenated tetrahydrally coordinated semiconductors - a topic of great interest to physicists and material scientists (first devices for practical applications are already being manufactured). Most of the relevant literature is reviewed with particular emphasis on the approach developed by the authors. It explains most of the experimental data and allows the extraction of information about microscopic transport processes and parameters from equilibrium transport data. This work treats electronic transport in the mentioned type of semiconductors and in particular in a-Si:H and a-Ge:H. From elementary concepts the theory is developed towards higher degrees of completeness and sophistication. Further refinements for coping with the complexity of real systems are given. The comparison of theory with experiment is an important part of the book.
The invention ofthe laser 25years ago resulted in powerfullight sources which led to the observation of unexpected and striking phenomena. New fields of science such as holography and nonlinear optics developed constituting the basis of this volume. The classical principle of linear superposition of light wavesdoes not hold anymore. Two laser beams crossing in a suitable material may produce a set of new beams with different directions and frequencies. The interaction of light waves can be understood by considering the optical grating structures which develop in the overlap region. The optical properties of matter become spatially modulated in the interference region of two light waves. Permanent holographic gratings have been produced in this way by photographic processes for many years. In contrast, dynamic or transient gratings disappear after the inducing light source, usually a laser, has been switched off. The grating amplitude is controlled by the light intensity. Dynamic gratings have been induced in a large number ofsolids, liquids, and gases, and are detected by diffraction, 'forced light scattering' of a third probing beam, or by self-diffraction of the light waves inducing the grating. The combined interference and diffraction effect corresponds to four-wave mixing (FWM) in the language of nonlinear optics. The process is called degenerate ifthe frequenciesofthe three incident wavesand the scattered wave are equal. Degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) is a simple method to achieve phase conjugation, i.e. to generate a wave which propagates time reversed with respect to an incident wave.
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