Mathematical Tools

The oceans and atmosphere interact through various processes, including the transfer of momentum, heat, gases and particles. In this book leading international experts come together to provide a state-of-the-art account of these exchanges and their role in the Earth-system, with particular focus on gases and particles. Chapters in the book cover: i) the ocean-atmosphere exchange of short-lived trace gases; ii) mechanisms and models of interfacial exchange (including transfer velocity parameterisations); iii) ocean-atmosphere exchange of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; iv) ocean atmosphere exchange of particles and v) current and future data collection and synthesis efforts. The scope of the book extends to the biogeochemical responses to emitted / deposited material and interactions and feedbacks in the wider Earth-system context. This work constitutes a highly detailed synthesis and reference; of interest to higher-level university students (Masters, PhD) and researchers in ocean-atmosphere interactions and related fields (Earth-system science, marine / atmospheric biogeochemistry / climate). Production of this book was supported and funded by the EU COST Action 735 and coordinated by the International SOLAS (Surface Ocean- Lower Atmosphere Study) project office.

This thesis lays the groundwork for the automatic supervision of the laser incision process, which aims to complement surgeons’ perception of the state of tissues and enhance their control over laser incisions. The research problem is formulated as the estimation of variables that are representative of the state of tissues during laser cutting. Prior research in this area leveraged numerical computation methods that bear a high computational cost and are not straightforward to use in a surgical setting. This book proposes a novel solution to this problem, using models inspired by the ability of experienced surgeons to perform precise and clean laser cutting. It shows that these new models, which were extracted from experimental data using statistical learning techniques, are straightforward to use in a surgical setup, allowing greater precision in laser-based surgical procedures.

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.