This book presents interdisciplinary advances in theory and practice pertaining to rural sustainability and sets forth an action research agenda and policy prescriptions to support rural sustainability with special emphasis on the Accession Countries to the EU. The book will address four themes.

This is the second part which highlights the role that various imaging techniques play and/or might be able to play in detecting markers of disease. Cancer is often used as the example disease, but tumors exhibit many properties in common with other tissue, so it is possible to see how the techniques could be used in the diagnosis and management of other disease. There are also examples of the reverse of this flow of hypothesis and knowledge from one discipline to another. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to detect the chemical milieu of the nucleus being focused on, be it phosphorus-31 (Arias-Mendoza) or protons (He). Phosphorus is intimately involved in carbohydrate, phospholipid metabolism and energy transfer. The brain has been the testing ground for ideas in MRI and MRS; it continues to be so today, with extension to tumor diagnosis as insights are reached and assimilated. This issue contains three techniques that rely solely or partially on optical characteristics of tissue. The supplement, in 2 issues, has mostly emphasized possibilities rather than clinically available techniques.The final chapter attempts to draw together the modalities of medical imaging and push the frontiers yet further to show how imaging and markers can be used together in the screening, diagnosis, and management of patients' disease.

In this edited open access book leading scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds wrestle with social science integration opportunities and challenges. This book explores the growing concern of how best to achieve effective integration of the social science disciplines as a means for furthering natural resource social science and environmental problem solving. The chapters provide an overview of the history, vision, advances, examples and methods that could lead to integration. The quest for integration among the social sciences is not new. Some argue that the social sciences have lagged in their advancements and contributions to society due to their inability to address integration related issues. Integration merits debate for a number of reasons. First, natural resource issues are complex and are affected by multiple proximate driving social factors. Single disciplinary studies focused at one level are unlikely to provide explanations that represent this complexity and are limited in their ability to inform policy recommendations. Complex problems are best explored across disciplines that examine social-ecological phenomenon from different scales. Second, multi-disciplinary initiatives such as those with physical and biological scientists are necessary to understand the scope of the social sciences. Too frequently there is a belief that one social scientist on a multi-disciplinary team provides adequate social science representation. Third, more complete models of human behavior will be achieved through a synthesis of diverse social science perspectives.

This study presents authentic data compiled from field experiments and investigations, and provides a point of reference for any future changes associated with anthropogenic activity in semiarid ecosystems. Three years of continuous and rigorous empirical research on biodiversity (from phytoplankton to higher plants and from zooplankton to higher animals – all flora and fauna) in India’s semiarid region have culminated in this work. Though there are many studies available on issues related to biodiversity, the majority cover either specific groups of plants or groups of animals; with the exception of this book, studies that include all flora and fauna including the phyto- and zooplanktons in a given ecosystem are not readily available. Further, the book focuses on an extremely important topic, firstly because semiarid landscapes are highly vulnerable to climate change, and secondly because other developmental activities will be undertaken in the region in an effort to meet its energy requirements. As such, the results of the current study will provide a standard protocol for subsequent monitoring and mapping of biodiversity for conservation and management. The book explores, quantifies and surveys plant and animal species from aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, assessing and quantitatively analyzing the diversity indices of different vegetation strata. Further, it investigates the conservation status of each species (flora and fauna) in keeping with IUCN categories. The study also examines landscape dynamics using RS and GIS for vegetation analysis, and discusses traditional ecological knowledge related to the use, conservation and management of biodiversity. As such, it offers a unique and valuable resource not only for researchers from the environmental/ecological sciences but also for conservationists and policymakers.

Strong atmosphere-hydrology-biosphere feedbacks including human activity affect the rate and sign of changes in the Earth’s system and have impacts on socioeconomic relationships. These processes are related to atmospheric circulation, climate and land use changes. Satellite-based and in situ monitoring systems have greatly increased our understanding of variations and changes occurring in the regional climate, atmospheric regime, land cover and water circulation. Coupled numerical models are invoked to describe features, which cannot be caught by observation systems or to predict a future state. This book summarizes the state-of-the-art researches on land cover, atmosphere and water resources of the Eastern Europe region, sets up priorities of major researches in these fields, outlines deficiencies in data and their processing, and develops recommendations for further research directions. Selected papers of the Non-Boreal Eastern Europe NEESPI meeting cover five topics: Observational issues in the non-boreal Eastern Europe Regional climate changes Air pollution aspects Land cover and land use changes Changes in the Black Sea and its coastal zone.

Unsurpassed in the scope of its coverage, this book explores like no other the roles of policy entrepreneurs and the causes of policy change across diverse political systems ranging from the developing world to the largest western democracies. The studies show how entrepreneurs work with outside donors, take advantage of windows of political opportunity, create those windows, and push the policy process in the direction they hope. They also show the limits to these strategies, and strategies that tend to fail. The book dramatically advances our understanding not only of change and stability in water policy, but of the policy process more generally. Frank R. Baumgartner, University of North Carolina, US This book is a theoretically and empirically grounded analysis of one of the world s most pressing problems: the management of water resources. The editors have assembled a remarkable collection of authors with a truly global outlook and an excellent grasp of contemporary water issues as well as modern theories of public policy and decision-making. The volume also demonstrates excellent applications of policy theory to current and pressing matters. It is a must-read for students and practitioners in water resources and will be influential to water policy and in environmental resource management and policy for years to come. Thomas A. Birkland, North Carolina State University, US This volume is a major achievement. It advances our knowledge of stability and change in water policy through case studies from around the world. Its focus on transitions instances of really major shifts in policy is particularly welcome at a time when challenges such as climate change force water policy makers to reconsider the very foundations of their regulatory frameworks and infrastructural policies. The volume goes beyond water policy, however. It makes a major contribution to the study of policy dynamics in general by offering an empirically grounded comparative analysis of policy entrepreneurs as change agents in policy networks. There has been much loose talk about policy entrepreneurs in the fields of public administration and public policy, but a dearth of empirical work underpinning the various claims made. This volume goes a long way towards filling that gap. Highly recommended for water experts and policy scientists alike. Paul t Hart, Australian National University, Australia and Utrecht University, the Netherlands This major volume focuses on the role of policy entrepreneurs in revolutionizing water management worldwide. Adopting an international comparative perspective, the authors explore the changes taking place in water policy across fifteen countries, at both the global level and within the European Union. Their analysis highlights the importance of groups and individuals in stimulating progress and reveals the crucial part played by policy entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs use various strategies to initiate and implement change, including the framing and reframing of issues, the assembly of coalitions, venue shopping and the exploitation of windows of opportunity. In showcasing the role of entrepreneurs in achieving transitions and explaining their approach, this groundbreaking book presents an optimistic message for those who desire improvements in the way water is managed. This book will not only make a unique contribution to the current literature on transition management, but will also prove an invaluable tool for those keen to influence water policy management at the regional, national and international level. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of water resources and environmental management and governance, as well as practitioners in the fields of water and climate policy.

Parks face intense pressure from both environmental and developmental perspectives to conserve biodiversity and provide economic opportunities for rural communities. These imperatives are often in conflict, while potential solutions may be subject to theoretical and practical disagreement and complicated by pressing economic, political and cultural considerations. Parks in Transition collects the work of the most distinguished scholars and practitioners in this field, drawing on insight from over 50 case studies and synthesizing them into lessons to guide park management in transitional economies where the challenges of poverty and governance can be severe. The central message of the book is that parks are common property regimes that are supposed to serve society. It analyses and sheds light on the crucial questions arising from this perspective. If parks are set aside to serve poor people, should conservation demands over-rule demands for jobs and economic growth? Or will deliberately using parks as bridgeheads for better land use and engines for rural development produce more and better conservation? The issue that arises at all levels is that of accountability, including the problematic linkages between park authorities and political systems, and the question of how to measure park performance. This book provides vital new insights for park management, regarding the relationship between conservation and commercialization, performance management, new systems of governance and management, and linkages between parks, landscape and the land-use economy.

Agriculture is vitally important to humanity. Climate change, environmental pollution, global warming, and the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the importance of food safety and food security. This book discusses sustainable agriculture and its importance in combatting the adverse effects of climate change and meeting the world’s food demand. And essentially the technologies to be used for CE to prevent climate change should be “common property of humanity”. This may be a new paradigm, but the real issue is the future of the earth and ensuring the continuity of sustainable life. It is a fact that the creation of such a culture of sharing will serve all the SDGs put forward by the UN.