bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bird extinctions in the central Pacific
Authors: Pimm Stuart L , Moulton Michael P , Justice Lenora J
Published: November 2023

The Pacific islands faunas and floras are well known for their high extinction rates (Diamond 1984a,h; Smith et al. 1993; Milberg and Tyrberg 1993; Humphries and Fisher 1994). Human colonization has driven these changes in the last few millennia. The first wave spread eastwards from the East Indies reaching Melanesia and Micronesia about 4000 ya (years ago), Fiji and Samoa 3500 ya, the Marquesas 2000 ya, and the outliers of Hawai’i, Easter Island, and New Zealand within the last 1500 years. European exploration started with Magellan and Mendana in the 16th century and was all but complete when Cook died at Kealakekua, Hawai’i in 1779. Colonization started later: the first missionaries arrived in ‘Tahiti in 1795 and Hawai’i in 1820, for example. Both waves brought alien species to the region although the peak period of introductions is much more recent. Most bird introductions to Hawai’i occurred since 1920.
Mate fidelity in swans: an interspecific comparison
Authors: Rees Eileen C , Lievesley Pia , Pettifor Richard A , Perrins Christopher
Published: November 2023

Of the three swan species that occur in Britain, the Bewick’s and Whooper Swans are migratory and the Mute Swan resident throughout the year. The Bewick’s Swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii (see drawing above) breeds on tundra in the Russian arctic, and birds from the western population fly some 4000 km each autumn to wintering sites located primarily in the Netherlands, Britain, and Ireland. British-wintering Whooper Swans Cygnus cygnus, on the other hand, are predominantly from the Icelandic breeding population, and have a comparatively short migratory journey of some 800 km between the breeding and wintering grounds. They nest in a variety of habitats ranging from lowland marshes, amidst areas of intensive farming, to upland sites, where pools and lakes in the glacial moraine support aquatic vegetation, thus providing a food supply for the birds. Differences between Bewick’s and Whooper Swans in the timing of their arrival and departure in Britain each season reflect the different migratory distances undertaken; Whooper Swans generally return to their wintering sites earlier than the Bewick’s Swans in autumn, and leave later in the spring. In Britain the Mute Swan Cygnus olor is very sedentary; only some 3 % of individuals move more than 100 km from their natal area (Birkhead and Perrins 1986). It occupies a wide range of waters including ponds, rivers, and gravel pits, and often frequents urban areas.
Between- and within-population variation in mate fidelity in the Great Tit
Authors: Dhondt Andre a. , adriaensen, frank , plompen werner
Published: November 2023

The Great Tit Parus major is a small (18 g) hole-nesting passerine that readily uses nest boxes. It has been extensively studied in Western Europe. In this chapter we present results from two long-term studies carried out in nine different study plots in northern Belgium where we provided a superabundance of wooden nest boxes. The quality of food and shelter varies considerably between study sites and seasons and this may be linked with the birds’ social behaviour. The Great Tits in these sites are socially monogamous, but extra-pair nestlings are found in about one-third of the nests. During the breeding season males defend a multi-purpose territory in which females alone build the nest and in which the pair collects all food for the chicks. Outside of the breeding season (July to January) Great Tits often live in flocks in which the pair bond is not maintained.
Causes and consequences of mate fidelity in Red-billed Gulls
Authors: Mills James a. , Yarrall, john w. , Mills deborah a.
Published: November 2023

The Red-billed Gull Larus novaehollandiae scopulinus is a small coastal breeding gull, which nests colonially in high numbers at high densities. Red-billed gulls are highly philopatric, and usually pair with the same partners each successive breeding season. In the autumn and winter months most adults and young disperse from the breeding colony, but pair bonds are seldom maintained outside of the breeding season. New pairs are formed either at nest sites defended by unattached males, at sites within or adjacent to the colony where unemployed birds gather temporarily. Pairs reunite at the nest site they occupied the previous season, but may not necessarily breed at that site. This study, based on data collected between 1964 and 1993 in a population of known age individuals, examines the causes and consequences of mate change and the advantages of retaining the same partner for a number of breeding seasons. We draw on a sample of 4062 colour-marked individuals that were involved in 34 459 breeding attempts. We also explore the relationship between courtship feeding by males and extra-pair behaviour in their mates. The Red-billed Gull population is rather unique in that there is a large excess of females and this induces major differences in the demography of the sexes.
The Jordan River and the Litani
Authors: Murakami Masahiro , Musiake Katsumi
Published: November 2023

The current basic framework for allocation of Jordan river water is enshrined in the ‘Main Plan: 1953’ and the ‘Johnston Plan: 1955’ which were negotiated with the United Nations but never formally endorsed by the governments concerned. The two plans basically agreed with the diversion from the Jordan river system to the coastal plain along the Mediterranean in Israel, but denied the integration of the Litani as a part of the Jordan system as proposed by Cotton in 1954.
Parasite-mediated sexual selection: endocrine aspects
Authors: Hillgarth Nigella , Wingfield John C
Published: November 2023

Recent studies have demonstrated that males with high mating success often have relatively low parasite intensities. It is possible that this may be explained, at least in part, by the direct or indirect effect of parasites on reproductive behaviours and the production of secondary sexual characters. This, in tum, has raised interest in possible mechanisms behind parasite mediated sexual selection. Testosterone, the steroid hormone, has been shown to play an important role in regulating aggression, nuptial display, and secondary sexual characters in vertebrates. The finding that parasites can differentially affect secondary sex characters more than other morphological characters (Zuk et al. 1990a) bas added weight to the suggestion that parasitism may alter, directly or indirectly, the levels of hormones, such as testosterone, that regulate the expression of some secondary sex characters.
Host-parasite co-speciation, host switching, and missing the boat
Authors: Paterson Adrian M , Gray Russell D
Published: November 2023

‘I do indeed believe that it is a commonness of the genealogy rather than a commonness of adaptation that is the chief explanation of this restriction of certain parasite groups to certain host groups.’ (Kellogg 1913).
Hole in one
Authors: Berridge Michael
Published: November 2023

Michael Berridge is probably Britain’s most quoted scientist. The winner of a whole batch of international awards, and widely tipped for a Nobel prize, he remains virtually unknown outside the scientific community. This is even more surprising given that his discovery is central to understanding many aspects of biology. By unravelling a mechanism by which cells respond to the signals they receive from hormones, the chemical messengers which enable different parts of an organism to communicate with each other, Berridge has cast light on processes as diverse as growth, and why lithium acts to alleviate manic depression. He began his research in Cambridge, doing his Ph.D. under the distinguished insect physiologist, Sir Vincent Wigglesworth. But he was born and grew up in Rhodesia, which is now called Zimbabwe.
Other minds
Authors: Holton Gerald
Published: November 2023

Scientists, on the other hand, have tended to be suspicious of such activities. There is, perhaps, a feeling that unless someone has actually done serious scientific research, he or she cannot possibly understand it. That’s why Gerald Holton’s work is so interesting. He is both a successful physicist and a historian of science. His studies of Einstein’s correspondence, and the laboratory notebooks of Robert Millikan, the American physicist whose famous oil-drop experiment determined the charge of the electron, have provided convincing insights into the way great science operates. His work on other founders of modern physics, such as Rutherford, Planck and the Italian nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi has also, among many other things, revealed much about the phenomenon of great scientific schools.
Social parasitism and its evolution in Polistes
Authors: Cerva Rita , Dani Francesca R
Published: November 2023

Wasps in general, and Polistes in particular, constitute for West-Eberhard (1991) a group of organisms especially suited to inspire and inform the study of social evolution. Not by chance was Polistes one of the first groups on which kin selection theory was tested (Hamilton 1964a and b). Though this theory is today the most accredited for explaining the origin of eusociality, it is possible that various selective factors may have operated together in determining its several appearances, making a single explanation unlikely (West-Eberhard 1975; Andersson 1984; Brockmann 1984).
The evolution of exocrine gland function in wasps
Authors: Jeanne Robert L
Published: November 2023

Fifty years ago, when Leo Pardi was doing his landmark studies of dominance in Polistes, most of the exocrine glands we know of now in wasps had already been described, often in minute anatomical detail (Bordas 1908; Heselhaus 1922). Understanding of gland functions, however, was limited largely to the venom gland and some of the glands producing structural products-silk production by the labial gland of last instar larvae, and nest construction cement by the labial gland of the adult female. The rest of the glands opening in the head were assumed to produce secretions related to feeding, and the function of Dufour‘s gland was unknown. Virtually nothing was known of the existence of pheromones and allomones and their glandular sources.
Wetlands
Authors: Gilbert Oliver L , Anderson Penny
Published: November 2023

Ponds, lakes, rivers, and streams have long been valued for their recreational and amenity values. But wetlands also include other habitats, such as swamps, marshes, fens, reed-beds, bogs, and mires, that may be less ‘attractive’ or ‘romantic’ but still evoke a particular sense in that they represent areas in which water plays a key role. Defined in simple terms, wetlands should be considered as representing those habitats that occupy the transitional zones between true terrestrial (dry) areas and fully aquatic (wet) environments.
Patterns of morphologic diversification during the initial radiation of the “archaeogastropoda”
Authors: Wagner Peter J
Published: November 2023

The initial radiation of the “Archaeogastropoda” produced a high degree of taxonomic diversity. True “archaeogastropods” (defined for this study as anisostrophically-coiled, sinusbearing gastropods plus all of their descendants through the Silurian) first appeared in the Late Cambrian. Seven suborders and nine superfamilies evolved by the middle of the Early Ordovician but higher taxa appeared at a much slower pace after this time. Evolutionary radiations of this sort have been observed at all levels, from the diversification of phyla in the Cambrian to more recent radiations of fruit flies and cichlid fishes. One hypothesis explaining this pattern is that it reflects evolution and that there was a burst of “large” evolutionary transitions during the initial phase of “archaeogastropod” evolution. A second hypothesis is that morphologic diversification was more gradual and that the apparent “burst” is a taxonomic artefact. Taxonomy always has had a phylogenetic context, if only loosely. Even if supposed “subordinal” or “superfamilial” traits evolved over long periods of time, the recognition of earlier-appearing members of particular clades would push the apparent origins of the higher taxa back in time (Ridley, 1993).
Herons
Authors: Kushlan James A , Hancock James A
Published: November 2023

Herons and their close relatives, the egrets and bitterns, comprise sixty species in total and are found all over the world except in polar regions, and are a strikingly beautiful part of the wetlands they inhabit. They are particularly abundant and popular in South West USA, especially Florida. Herons are a diverse group, easily recognised by their long legs, necks and bills. Many species are notable for their sociality as they feed, roost, and nest together in single or mixed species assemblages. The authors have extensive experience of research and observation of these birds and this book provides an up to date comprehensive review of the herons of the world. Covering their biology, distribution, description, systematics, breeding, feeding, and conservation, James Hancock and James Kushlan have distilled their lifetimes’ research on the heron into one volume. This volume is complemented by beautiful colour paintings especially painted for the book, colour photographs, and distribution maps.
Using interspecies phylogenies to test macroevolutionary hypotheses
Authors: Purvis Andy
Published: November 2023

Have species differed in their chances of speciating and going extinct? If so, do any features, either of organisms or of environments, correlate with the differences? Have speciation and extinction rates changed significantly over the course of history? Such macroevolutionary questions have held an obvious fascination for centuries but, while the study of evolution within gene pools has moved on apace, attempts to study rigorously evolution at any higher level have generally been thwarted by a lack of information about the past. Recently, the cladistic and molecular revolutions have caused phylogenetic research to snowball. These new phylogenies, coupled with the development of suitable statistical null models, are enabling evolutionary biologists to revisit with profit fundamental questions about the evolution of diversity. Interspecies phylogenies differ from within-species genealogies in two respects that impact upon how they can be used: they can include all living members of a clade, but they are usually small. Within-species genealogies, which are considered in other chapters of this book, generally include only a very small fraction of extant lineages but this may none the less be a large number. Complete phylogenies allow more questions to be asked, but the small size of the datasets will limit the precision of the answers.
Defects in crystals and their influence on X-ray structure analysis
Authors: Aslanov L A , Fetisov G V
Published: November 2023

It may seem that the topic to be discussed is only slightly associated with experimental methods of X-ray structure analysis considered in this book. However, an experimentalist, especially one who is carrying out precision crystal structure studies, must understand the nature of the results obtained and avoid any artefacts arising from the fact that he has to deal with a real crystal, not with its idealized model. Having an idea what defects can be in the crystal, one can better plan the diffraction experiment and choose the methods for data processing. A knowledge of defects in crystals and their diffraction effects is also essential for the improvement and development of methods for X-ray structural analysis. The high sensitivity of X-ray diffraction with respect to the distribution of valence electrons makes it an attractive method for investigation of the electron density redistribution in crystals under the action of electric, electromagnetic and magnetic fields. This problem has been an important one for a long time in studies of the properties of ferroelectric, non-linear and laser crystals. Experimental techniques for X-ray diffraction nowadays can provide researchers with the opportunity to solve the problem.
Drift Flux Model
Authors: Whalley P B
Published: November 2023

The drift flux model is a type of separated flow model which looks particularly at the relative motion of the phases, and was developed by G. B. Wallis. The most complete reference available to the method is undoubtedly Wallis (1969). It is most applicable to flows where there is a well-defined velocity in the gas phase, for example in bubbly flow and plug flow. It is not particularly relevant to a flow like annular flow which has two characteristic velocities in one phase—the liquid film velocity and the liquid drop velocity. Nevertheless it has been used for annular flows, though with no particular success.
Annular Flow Models
Authors: Whalley P B
Published: November 2023

Here we consider the physical modelling of annular flow in the absence of evaporation and condensation. It is assumed that the physical properties are independent of z, (10.1)dGgdz=0, and (10.2)dG1dz=0,
Flooding in Two-Phase Flow
Authors: Whalley P B
Published: November 2023

The terms ‘flooding’ and ‘flow reversal’ are explained with reference to Fig. 11.1. The liquid flow rate is held constant while the gas flow rate is changed as shown. The events are then as follows.
Critical Heat Flux in Pool Boiling
Authors: Whalley P B
Published: November 2023

In pool boiling the critical heat flux occurs when the heated surface is covered with vapour bubbles, and these bubbles form a barrier to incoming liquid. For a heat-flux controlled surface the temperature rise when the critical heat flux is exceeded can be very large (sometimes more than 1000 K).
The Assembly-configurations of Serial Robot-arms
Authors: Davidson Joseph K , Hunt Kenneth H
Published: November 2023

In typical applications of robots, the tool must move through a succession of locations. Often it is sufficient to specify these locations with a succession of positions for a point, a plane, or a line; sometimes a combination of two or more of these geometrical elements is used. For a ball-ended milling cutter or an acoustical sensor in an anechoic chamber, it is sufficient to specify a succession of positions for a point, namely the geometric center of the cutter or sensor. As noted in §§5.7.4 and 6.6, when the tool is a welding rod or the conical nozzle of a spray-gun, both the location of the axis of symmetry (a line) and the distance of the nozzle (represented by a point) from the surface are important, but angular location about the symmetry axis is unimportant. In another application, a sanding disk (a plane) that is used for removing flash from a casting must be orientated properly and positioned along its spin-axis, but the tangent point of the disk to the casting can be anywhere within a range of radii (for efficient removal of material) and be at any angular location about the spin-axis.
Finite Element Procedures for Contact-Impact Problems
Authors: Zhong Zhi-Hua
Published: November 2023

This is the first book on FEM modelling of contact-impact events and deals with finite element procedures for solutions to both static and dynamic contact-impact problems. Langrangian formulation is introduced and explicit and implicit solutions are presented. Numerical algorithms are implemented in computer programs to simulate industrial applications such as metal-forming processes and crashworthiness analysis of automobiles. This book is strongly engineering oriented and contains much new work and analysis based on practical experience which will make it invaluable to engineers, researchers and students.
Theoretical Treatment Of Component Elements
Authors: Sashida Toshiiku , Kenjo Takashi
Published: November 2023

We presented a general outline of the ultrasonic motor in the previous chapter. In this chapter, we shall study the basic principles governing the action of each component of a motor to develop an overall theory of the ultrasonic motor in later chapters. In a social context, ‘friction’ denotes something undesirable, such as ‘trade friction’ or ‘friction among people’. However, mechanical friction is not only desirable but indispensable to us. For instance, friction between rubber tyres and the road surface allows an automobile to run. Similarly, friction between steel surfaces enables a train to travel fast. If friction and gravity did not exist, we would not be able to walk.
Equivalent-Circuit Analysis For The Travelling-Wave Motor
Authors: Sashida Toshiiku , Kenjo Takashi
Published: November 2023

The basic principles of the ultrasonic motor, which were discussed in Chapter 1, are not difficult to grasp, at least qualitatively. They are much simpler than the principles of a.c. electromagnetic motors such as the induction motor or the hysteresis synchronous motor. (This is the subject of Chapter 8.) A mechanical engineer, for instance, should have no difficulty in understanding how the ultrasonic motor works. However, as we have seen in Chapters 2 to 5, the details involved are fairly complex and many aspects of the motor are as yet unresolved. In this chapter we present a method that allows us to determine the characteristics of a travelling-wave motor in a quantitative manner, while leaving room for a few unresolved problems. For this purpose, we shall advance the theory of equivalent circuits discussed in Chapters 2,3.
Transmission Lines For Quasi-Tem Fields
Authors: Olyslager Frank
Published: November 2023

In this chapter, the transmission line equations are derived immediately from Maxwell’s curl equations. This will not be possible for all types of waveguides and under all circumstances. The discussion has to be restricted to electric wave guides and, furthermore, for these waveguides, to the fundamental propagation. By fundamental propagation is meant propagation that reduces to the classical wire interconnection picture at zero frequency, where one conductor guides the return current and where the other conductors carry the signal currents. In modal language, the fundamental propagation is propagation by the fundamental modes of the waveguide. In an electric waveguide with N + 1 conductors, there are N fundamental modes.
Bitransmission Lines For Quasi-Tem Fields
Authors: Olyslager Frank
Published: November 2023

In this chapter, the theory of Chapter 2 is generalized to bi-isotropic and bianisotropic waveguides. It will be shown that for electric waveguides and fundamental wave propagation, the Maxwell equations yield a unequivocal generalized transmission line representation, at least under certain restrictions. These generalized transmission lines are called bitransmission lines.
A
Authors: Perrot Pierre
Published: November 2023

Absolute—Without reference to any particular system, as opposed to ‘relative’. Among the physical quantities characterizing a system, some, such as volume or entropy, are defined in absolute value and are directly accessible to experiment. More often, thermodynamic quantities (energies, potentials) can only be defined in relative value, experiment giving access only to their changes. An absolute scale of temperature is a scale defined independently of any material. The expansion of mercury, the electrical resistance of platinum, or the potential difference of a thermocouple do not allow the definition of an absolute scale, but only of a relative scale of temperature.
G
Authors: Perrot Pierre
Published: November 2023

Galvanic cell—A device able to turn chemical energy into electrical energy. The first galvanic cell, demonstrated by Volta in 1800, was made by piling up alternate copper and zinc sheets separated by cloth dipped in acid. It is possible to construct a galvanic cell around any redox reaction separated into two half-reactions.
H
Authors: Perrot Pierre
Published: November 2023

H theorem—A famous theorem, established by Boltzmann in 1872, on which is based every discussion about the irreversibility of the behaviour of a large number of particles. Letf(p, q,t) be a distribution function, or probability of finding, at a given time t a particle with position q and momentum p. The distribution evolves with time, owing to the proper motion of molecules and their collisions.
L
Authors: Perrot Pierre
Published: November 2023

Lagrange, Joseph-Louis, Comte de (1736-1813) —French mathematician. Of his considerable work, thermodynamicists will recall the development of differential calculus and the method of Lagrange multipliers, together with the introduction of the notation f’(x), f”(x), still in regular use.
T
Authors: Perrot Pierre
Published: November 2023

Temperature—The concept of temperature, a tension associated with entropy, follows from the zeroth law of thermodynamics. In the SI system, temperature is expressed in kelvins (symbol K);
U
Authors: Perrot Pierre
Published: November 2023

Uncompensated heat—The entropy created during an irreversible process is given, according to the second law, by: A sphere on a frictionless plane surface is a good example of a mechanical system in an undifferentiated equilibrium state. In thermodynamics, such states occur when it is possible to modify an extensive parameter while keeping intensive parameters unmodified. At constant temperature, a liquid-vapour equilibrium is undifferentiated with respect to a change in volume of the system. In a more general way, an invariant equilibrium is undifferentiated with respect to any change in an extensive parameter. This is also true for a monovariant equilibrium, provided that an external constraint keeps (n -1) intensities constant; the nth intensity will be then kept constant by the system.
Infinite Series, Improper Integrals, and Infinite Products
Authors: Andrews Larry C
Published: November 2023

Because of the close relation of infinite series and improper integrals to the special functions, it can be useful to first review some basic concepts of series and integrals. Infinite products, which are generally less well known, are introduced here mostly for the sake of completeness, but in some instances they are also useful.
The Gamma Function and Related Functions
Authors: Andrews Larry C
Published: November 2023

Because it is a generalization of n!, the gamma function has been examined over the years as a means of generalizing certain functions, operations, etc., that are commonly defined in terms of factorials. In addition, the gamma function is useful in the evaluation of many nonelementary integrals and in the definition of other special functions.
Bessel Functions
Authors: Andrews Larry C
Published: November 2023

The German astronomer F. W. Bessel (1784-1846) first achieved fame by computing the orbit of Halley’s comet. In addition to many other accomplishments in connection with his studies of planetary motion, he is credited with deriving the differential equation bearing his name and carrying out the first systematic study of the general properties of its solutions (now caUed Bessel functions) in his famous 1824 memoir. Nonetheless, Bessel functions were first discovered in 1732 by D. Bernoulli (1700-1782), who provided a series solution (representing a Bessel function) for the oscillatory displacements of a heavy hanging chain (see Sec. 6.7.1). Euler later developed a series similar to that of Bernoulli, which was also a Bessel function, and Bessel’s equation appeared in a 1764 article by Euler dealing with the vibrations of a circular drumhead. J. Fourier (1768-1836) also used Bessel functions in his classical treatise on heat in 1822, but it was Bessel who first recognized their special properties.
Flow Around Circular Cylinders
Authors: Zdravkovich M M
Published: November 2023

Flow Around Circular Cylinders, Volume 2: Applications is a comprehensive guide through flow phenomena, experiments, applications, mathematical models and computer simulations. Aimed at practising engineers in industry and research laboratories; it deals with several parameters including the effects of aspect ratio, finite height, free end step change in diameter, taper, cooling towers, rotation cylinders, and suction.
The many faces of cohomology
Authors: Guest Martin A
Published: November 2023

This chapter is a brief essay on homology and cohomology, emphasizing those aspects which will reappear when we study quantum cohomology. The chapter can be skipped by the knowledgeable reader, although a brief glance at the notation in section 1.5 should be helpful, as we shall use it systematically throughout the book. In addition, section 1.6 mentions a less well known ‘function-theoretic’ point of view which contains a hint of our eventual approach to quantum cohomology.
Quantum differential equations
Authors: Guest Martin A
Published: November 2023

In section 1.6 we mentioned the curious fact that the cohomology of certain symplectic manifolds can be computed by ﬁnding the differential operators which annihilate the symplectic volume function. According to A. Givental (see [47] and [48]), the symplectic volume function for the Floer homology of the free loop space of a symplectic manifold should play the same role for quantum cohomology. It should be a formal generating function for Gromov–Witten invariants, and the differential operators annihilating this function should produce the quantum cohomology algebra.
Quantum cohomology as an integrable system
Authors: Guest Martin A
Published: November 2023

We have seen that the quantum cohomology of a manifold can be described as a flat connection or D-module. We have hinted that this puts it on the same footing as a solution of an integrable system. In this chapter we shall describe the WDVV (Witten–Dijkgraaf–Verlinde–Verlinde) equations, which provide suitable partial differential equations.
Island Biogeography
Authors: Whittaker Robert J , Fernández-Palacios José María
Published: November 2023

Island biogeography is the study of the distribution and dynamics of species in island environments. Due to their isolation from more widespread continental species, islands are ideal places for unique species to evolve, but they are also places of concentrated extinction. Not surprisingly, they are widely studied by ecologists, conservationists and evolutionary biologists alike. There is no other recent textbook devoted solely to island biogeography, and a synthesis of the many recent advances is now overdue. This second edition builds on the success and reputation of the first, documenting the recent advances in this exciting field and explaining how islands have been used as natural laboratories in developing and testing ecological and evolutionary theories. In addition, the book describes the main processes of island formation, development and eventual demise, and explains the relevance of island environmental history to island biogeography. The authors demonstrate the huge significance of islands as hotspots of biodiversity, and as places from which disproportionate numbers of species have been extinguished by human action in historical time. Many island species are today threatened with extinction, and this work examines both the chief threats to their persistence and some of the mitigation measures that can be put in play with conservation strategies tailored to islands.
Island environments
Authors: Whittaker Robert J , Fernández-Palacios José María
Published: November 2023

Islands come in many shapes and sizes, and their arrangement in space, their geology, environments, and biotic characteristics are each extremely variable, simply because there are vast numbers of them in the world. If this makes them marvellous experimental laboratories for field ecologists and biogeographers, it also means that attempting to make generalizations about islands holds the danger—almost the certainty—that one will be wrong! Defining the term ‘island’ for the purposes of this book is not as straightforward as it seems. Many biogeographical studies treat isolated patches of habitat as de facto islands, but if we take the simplest dictionary definition then an island is a ‘piece of land surrounded by water’.
The biogeography of island life: biodiversity hotspots in context
Authors: Whittaker Robert J , Fernández-Palacios José María
Published: November 2023

The term biodiversity is a contraction of biological diversity, and broadly defined refers to the variability of life from all sources, including within species, between species, and of ecosystems (Matthews et al. 2001). We may at times be concerned with higher or lower points in the taxonomic hierarchy, such that familial, generic, subspecific, or even gene frequency data may be analysed under the header ‘biodiversity’, but the most commonly used diversity unit is undoubtedly the species. As a first-order generalization, islands are species poor for their size but rich in forms found nowhere else, i.e. endemic to that island or archipelago. They are thus ‘hotspots’ of biodiversity (see Box 3.1).
The physiology of preference
Authors: Berthoz Alain
Published: November 2023

Unable to decide between two bales of hay, Buridan’s ass1 died a victim of its inability to choose. This happens to us when, faced with a sumptuous buffet, dazzled by so many dishes, we do not know where to start. Feeling gluttonous, but also desiring not to gain weight or to appear greedy to the other guests, we must decide what will satisfy us for an evening. Deliberation is difficult; it means choosing between the possibility of returning for a second serving, the fear that the dishes will be removed or consumed, and taking our ‘preference’ into account.
Music for children in zones of conflict and post-conflict: A psychobiological approach
Authors: Osborne Nigel
Published: November 2023

The idea of using the creative arts to help children deal with experiences of danger and conflict is by no means new. Therapeutic art was a focus of activity for the children’s colonies (colonias infantiles) of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), and work of courage and vision was initiated by artists for children in the camps and ghettos of Nazi-occupied Europe; examples include painter Friedl Dicker-Brandeisová and composer Hans Krása in Terezin (Theresienstadt), and physician Henryk Goldszmit, alias writer ‘Janusz Korczak’, in the Warsaw ghetto.
Musicality in talk and listening: A key element in classroom discourse as an environment for learning
Authors: Erickson Frederick
Published: November 2023

I will begin by reviewing some basic principles. I assume as a premise that human social interaction is organized musically, i.e., speaking and listening behaviour is performed in real time in patterns of regular rhythm, and pitch and volume changes in speech are part of the same verbal and non-verbal timing frame. This ‘musicality’ is what linguists call ‘speech prosody’. The musicality of social interaction functions to enable participants to coordinate their attention and action and to signal interest in various kinds of information to one another (Auer et al. 1999; Scollon 1982).
Quadrilateral and triangles
Authors: Bradley Christopher J
Published: November 2023

The First problem that we consider in this chapter is the analogue for parallelograms of the Heron triangle. That is, we consider when a parallelogram has integer sides, integer diagonals, and integer area. Since such parallelograms are the union of two triangles with integer sides and integer or half odd integer area, the difflB01culty lies in making the second diagonal an integer. Solutions in particular cases are given below, but a general solution seems unlikely. Since the problem is trivial when the parallelogram is a rectangle, we exclude this case from consideration.
More on triangles
Authors: Bradley Christopher J
Published: November 2023

We now embark on an analysis of some more advanced properties of integer-sided triangles. Though there are a large number of problems that could be treated, it is hoped that the selection covered in this chapter is representative of the difflerent types of problem that exist and includes an account of the most signiFB01cant ones. There are nine sections in this chapter, each covering a difflerent problem. They include problems involving transversals, Cevians, the pedal triangles of a point, the pivot theorem, and the symmedians. An account is given of the Euler line and another line in the triangle in which the ratio 2: 1 also appears. Finally, we consider whether certain distances between key points in the triangle can be made integers by choosing the sides of the triangle suitably.
Finite Geometries
Authors: Bradley Christopher J
Published: November 2023

In Section 4.2 it was shown how to embed R2 into the projective plane P2 by writing x = X/Z and y = Y /Z, and making the equations of lines and curves homogeneous in X, Y , and Z. The points (x, y, z) and (kx, ky, kz) (k = 0) are identiFB01ed as the same point. In this way Z = 0 is regarded as the line at inFB01nity, and the line lX + mY + nZ =0 meets Z = 0 at a point P at inFB01nity with co-ordinates (m, l, 0). Likewise, two lines which are parallel in R2, with equations lx + my + n = 0 and lx + my + p = 0 (p n) meet in P2 at P . This procedure served the purpose it was needed for in the sections on cubic curves and elliptic curves. The disadvantage of proceeding in this way is that points with Z = 0 are singled out as being something special, and one might rightly ask the question why X, Y, and Z are not on an equal footing.
Nonlinear models in social processes: the model of Volterra-Lotka and some of its variants in ecology
Authors: Bertuglia Cristoforo Sergio , Vaio Franco
Published: November 2023

Around the mid-1920s, the American biologist Alfred Lotka (1925) and the Italian mathematician Vito Volterra (1926) independently proposed a nonlinear model of the dynamics of a prey species interacting with a predator species, which although still rather abstract, like the linear model (11.1) described in 11, was more realistic than the latter. The model, which is very well known and which has been extensively applied in a variety of areas, is known by the name of the Volterra-Lotka model.
Riemann’s Habilitationsvortrag at the Crossroads of Mathematics, Physics, and Philosophy
Authors: Ferreirós José
Published: November 2023

Et his principiis via sternitur ad majora. And by these principles the road is open to higher things. (Newton, quoted by Riemann in 1861)1 With Dirichlet and Riemann, Göttingen has remained the plantation of the most profoundly philosophical orientation in mathematical research that it became with Gauss. (Wilhelm Weber)2 There is no doubt that Bernhard Riemann was one of the main architects of modern mathematics, a visionary planner who delineated new outlines for quarters like complex analysis or abstract geometry, and designed magnificent modern avenues to link mathematics with physics. Riemann’s work emerged from a most noteworthy interaction between the three disciplines of physics, mathematics, and philosophy – the ‘magic triangle,’ as Sánchez Ron has aptly put it in a paper about Einstein. In fact, the evolution of Riemann’s ideas affords a better example of the magic triangle at work than Einstein’s in 1905–1916. We shall examine this in the relatively localized domain of mathematical and physical geometry, but also at the more global level of Riemann’s epistemology of mathematics.
The Riemannian Background to Frege’s Philosophy
Authors: Tappenden Jamie
Published: November 2023

There was a methodological revolution in the mathematics of the nineteenth century, and philosophers have, for the most part, failed to notice. My objective in this chapter is to convince you of this, and further to convince you of the following points. The philosophy of mathematics has been informed by an inaccurately narrow picture of the emergence of rigour and logical foundations in the nineteenth century. This blinkered vision encourages a picture of philosophical and logical foundations as essentially disengaged from ongoing mathematical practice. Frege is a telling example: we have misunderstood much of what Frege was trying to do, and missed the intended significance of much of what he wrote, because our received stories underestimate the complexity of nineteenth-century mathematics and mislocate Frege’s work within that context. Given Frege’s perceived status as a paradigmatic analytic philosopher, this mislocation translates into an unduly narrow vision of the relation between mathematics and philosophy.
Probability and random variables
Authors: Stirzaker David
Published: November 2023

Randomness and probability are not easy to define precisely, but we certainly recognize random events when we meet them. For example, randomness is in effect when we flip a coin, buy a lottery ticket, run a horse race, buy stocks, join a queue, elect a leader, or make a decision. It is natural to ask for the probability that your horse or candidate wins, or your stocks rise, or your queue quickly shrinks, and so on.
Introduction to stochastic processes
Authors: Stirzaker David
Published: November 2023

We have looked at single random variables, and finite collections of random variables (X  1, … , Xn), which we termed random vectors. However, many practical applications of probability are concerned with random processes evolving in time, or space, or both, without any limit on the time (or space) for which this may continue. We therefore make the following definitions, confining ourselves in the first instance to processes evolving in one dimension that we call time, for definiteness.
Oncogenes
Authors: Knowles Margaret A
Published: November 2023

The involvement of multiple genetic events in the generation of human cancers has been discussed in previous chapters and the terms oncogene and tumour suppressor gene have been used to describe the two major classes of cellular genes that are genetically or epigenetically altered. In this section we will examine the discovery and characterization of those genes classified as ‘oncogenes’ and will consider their role in the process of carcinogenesis and their potential use as therapeutic targets.
Growth factors and their signalling pathways in cancer
Authors: Prigent Sally A
Published: November 2023

The organization of cells into multicellular organ- isms depends upon sophisticated communication systems. During development, and in the mature organism, cells need to be able to sense the appropriate time to grow, divide, migrate, differentiate, survive, or die. These processes are all controlled by families of growth factors, which bind to specific receptors on the surface of their target cells. Once activated, these receptors initiate signalling path- ways, which determine the response of the cells. Aberrant activation of one or more of these path- ways can lead to unregulated cell division, and the formation of a tumour.
Mechanisms of viral carcinogenesis
Authors: Farrell Paul
Published: November 2023

There are many controls on proliferation and survival of cells. These prevent development of cancer unless multiple genetic or epigenetic changes accumulate in the cells. As part of their normal growth strategy, certain viruses happen to cause changes in infected cells that are equivalent to some of the changes required to make a cancer cell. In this way these viruses make an important contribution to certain types of cancer, to the extent that prevention of the virus infection may effectively prevent the cancer. About 14% of all human cancer worldwide has this type of viral component to its aetiology (Stewart and Kleihues, 2003). Studies on viruses associated with cancer have been central to the discovery of the mechanisms of cancer development and may provide novel approaches to prevention or treatment of cancers.
Monoclonal antibodies and therapy
Authors: Geldart Tom , Glennie Martin J , Johnson Peter W M
Published: November 2023

Over the past 25 years, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have revolutionized experimental and diagnostic laboratory techniques. More recently they have established themselves as the most rapidly expanding class of therapeutic agents for a wide range of human diseases (Carter, 2001).
Conclusions and prospects
Authors: Selby Peter , Knowles Margaret
Published: November 2023

The ultimate goal of all cancer research is to provide benefits for cancer patients, and those at risk of cancer. The immediacy of those benefits from research will vary from the long-term pro- ducts of basic biomedical research through to the direct benefits to patients that come from clinical trials. The process of editing this book has allowed us to take an overview of what has happened in recent years, when new knowledge and new tech- nologies have been firmly established and great progress has been made in translating these into real advances in prevention and treatment.
Dynamically guided learning
Authors: Gómez Rebecca L
Published: November 2023

Recent research on human learning has revealed a pervasive ability to track statistical structure in adulthood and infancy. Because statistical information abounds in visual and linguistic structure, statistical learning has potential for playing an important role in the acquisition of complex skill. This chapter summarizes the literature on statistical learning and evaluates it in terms of its potential for circumventing problems that have been traditionally posed for learners, such as over generalization and how learners choose among multiple forms of structure.
Vector spaces
Authors: Cameron Peter J
Published: November 2023

By the time you reach this point, you will probably have met vector spaces in another course: perhaps matrices, geometry, mechanics, or linear algebra. The treatment here may be somewhat diﬀerent. A vector space is an algebraic object like a ring or a group, and we will start with a collection of axioms, as we did in the chapters on rings and groups. Then we turn to subspaces and homomorphisms, and ﬁnd that homomorphisms between vector spaces can be represented by matrices, and indeed by matrices of a particularly simple form. In the last section, we see that for matrices with elements in a Euclidean domain (such as the integers), similar results apply.
Integrability of ASDYM and twistor theory
Authors: Dunajski Maciej
Published: November 2023

The ASDYM equations played an important role in the last chapter because of their connection with the YM instantons. In this chapter we shall explore the integrability of these equations using the twistor methods. The twistor transform described in Section 7.2 is a far reaching generalization of the inverse scattering transform studied in Chapter 2. All local solutions to the ASDYM equations will be parameterized by certain holomorphic vector bundles over a three-dimensional complex manifold called the twistor space. Some solutions to ASDYM can be written down explicitly as the equations can be reduced to a linear problem. The class (6.4.26) is one example. While one cannot hope to write the most general solution in terms of ‘known’ functions, the twistor methods will allow to reduce the problem to a number of algebraic operations like the Riemann–Hilbert factorization.
Gravitational instantons
Authors: Dunajski Maciej
Published: November 2023

Gravitational instantons are solutions to the four-dimensional Einstein equations in Riemannian signature which give complete metrics and asymptotically ‘look-like’ flat space, in a sense to be made precise in the remainder of this chapter. Gravitational instantons cannot usually be analytically continued to Lorentzian signature. They are nevertheless physically relevant as they can allow a semi-classical description of the as-yet-unknown theory of quantum gravity. Our discussion in this chapter assumes familiarity with basic general relativity, but we shall summarize the standard definitions in Section 9.2.