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Beyond the Balance: Ethics, Justice, and Governance in the Environment-Society Nexus
This chapter discusses the dynamic relationship existing between the environment and human societies, conceptually defined as the Environment-Society Nexus. It explores how different environmental conditions come to shape social structures, policies, and cultural narratives while documenting the ways in which human activities and institutions shape environmental outcomes. Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach, this study synthesizes key findings emanating from ecology, sociology, political science, and economics to put forward a holistic understanding of this interrelationship. It does so by pointing out critical themes, such as resource governance, environmental justice, and sustainable development, through an explanation of how decisions developed by society pertaining to land use, resource extraction, and economic development contribute to or detract from ecological resilience and biodiversity. The book chapter also looks into the changes that result from environmental changes, such as climate change, pollution, and habitat degradation, with regard to social inequalities and how resilience occurs among communities. It then gives case studies and theoretical models to show how often marginalized communities bear the brunt of environmental degradation when, as a matter of fact, they are those who contribute the least to its causes. It supports the argument for equitable policies. This chapter concludes by saying that an integrative perspective on the solution of contemporary environmental problems defines the need for frameworks of ecological sustainability combined with social equity for the long-term resilience and well-being of human and natural systems. 2026 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved. -
The Establishment of Quantum Networks
The establishment of quantum networks marks an important revolution in quantum information science. This chapter delivers an exploration of the basics, building blocks, architecture, challenges, and future directions of quantum networks. The chapter starts with an introduction to quantum networks, the importance of quantum networks, and potential applications. Quantum networks influence the principles of quantum mechanics, including quantum entanglement and superposition, to facilitate secure communication, quantum computing, and quantum key distribution. The objective and scope of the chapter are defined, providing the first step for a comprehensive analysis. Essential concepts in quantum information science are conferred in the second section. Readers are familiarized to quantum mechanics and its significance to quantum networks. The quantum entanglement and superposition are explained, as they form the basis for several quantum message protocols. Quantum computing and quantum key distribution are the integral components of quantum networks and are also explored. The building blocks of quantum networks are covered in the next section. The Quantum hardware including quantum bits, quantum gates, and quantum processors is also discussed. The purpose of quantum communication channels, such as quantum optical fibers, quantum links, and satellite-based quantum communication, is inspected. These components are essential for transmitting as well as processing quantum information reliably and efficiently. The architecture of quantum networks is detailed in the subsequent section. Various network topologies, ranging from point-to-point connections to quantum indigenous area networks, quantum metropolitan area networks, and quantum wide area networks, are explored in this section. The functions of quantum network nodes and the use of quantum repeaters, quantum switches, and quantum memories are explained. Furthermore, quantum network protocols, including quantum teleportation, routing and switching, error correction, and key distribution, are discussed in detail. The establishment of quantum networks presents a number of challenges, which are addressed in the fifth section. Quantum noise, essential obstacles to quantum communication, are studied. Approaches for quantum error correction are explored. The considerations for network scalability, security, synchronization, management, and monitoring are also discussed. Solutions to these challenges are essential for the effective deployment of quantum networks. The current state of quantum network progress is presented in the sixth section. Investigational quantum networks and real-world implementations are also discussed. Case studies and success stories highlight the practical applications and potential impact of quantum networks. Future directions and emerging trends in quantum networks are outlined in the seventh section. Exploration includes the interoperability of quantum networks, the expansion of a global quantum internet, the development of quantum networks worldwide, quantum cloud computing, quantum sensor networks, and the incorporation of quantum machine learning into network operations. These improvements have the potential to reshape industries and scientific fields, providing a concrete path for transformative technologies. In conclusion, this chapter delivers an outline of the establishment of quantum networks. It covers the fundamentals, building blocks, architecture, challenges, and future directions of quantum networks. By investigating into these topics, this chapter aims to encourage researchers and engineers to explore the enormous opportunities presented by quantum networks and contribute to their improvement and realization. 2025 Scrivener Publishing LLC.. -
Exploring Quantum Computing in Weather Forecasting: Leveraging Optimization Algorithms for Long-Term Accuracy
Weather forecasting holds immense importance for businesses and society, necessitating accurate long-term predictions. Conventional computing faces challenges in achieving this precision due to the complexity of weather data processing. This study explores the potential of quantum computing and optimization techniques to enhance long-term weather forecasts. It delves into the foundational principles of quantum computing and the capabilities of optimization algorithms, highlighting their aptitude for addressing weather forecastings intricate optimization problems. Quantum computing, with its unique features of parallelism and advanced optimization, offers exciting opportunities for improving the precision of longrange weather forecasts. Examining the complexities of weather data analysis, the study emphasizes challenges arising from enormous datasets. It explores the potential of quantum optimization algorithms to extract insights and enhance meteorological data analysis. Additionally, it investigates quantum optimization methods for specific challenges in weather forecasting. This section compares quantum algorithms with traditional methodologies, evaluating their impact on forecast accuracy. The study concludes by showcasing the transformative role of quantum computing in advancing weather prediction capabilities, laying a robust foundation for future research and advancements in quantum computing technologies, and driving the evolution of more accurate long-term weather forecasts. 2025 Scrivener Publishing LLC. -
Liquid Crystal as a Potential Biosensing Material
Liquid crystal (LC) biosensors are based on the mechanism of ordering transformations of LC molecules. Because of the anisotropic nature of LC molecules, LC has an extraordinary response to external stimuli and has highly responsive optical properties. The elastic force between LC molecules helps them for their orderly arrangement, which changes in response to a multitude of external stimuli such as temperature, adding biomolecules, and applying electric and magnetic fields. LC biosensors can be classified into LC-solid, LC-aqueous, and LC-droplet interface biosensors based on the LC-interaction surfaces. LC biosensors can detect target molecules such as nucleic acid, proteins, amino acids, and glucose. Aptamer-based LC biosensors have also been developed because of their high sensitivity. The advantage of LC in making a label-free biosensor lies in the fact that it requires minimal instrumentation, which heavily reduces the expense. There, it is one of the most promising types of biosensing techniques that are being developed. 2025 Scrivener Publishing LLC. -
2D Pnictogens for Biosensing and Imaging Applications
2D pnictogens are considered the most promising nano agents among the family of 2D materials. The pnictogens contain phosphorus, arsenene, antimonene, and bismuthine. It has inherent tunable midrange band gaps and unparalleled mobility. It is popular due to its efficient photothermal behavior, loading capability the drug, high charge carrier mobility, in-plane anisotropic properties and less toxicity. The pnictogens nanosheet is obtained by using the Shear exfoliation method. The exfoliation is feasible when there is the existence of weak van der Waals forces between individual layers and during covalent interactions between layers, these elements will adopt the rhombohedral structure. Raman spectroscopy acts as the molecular fingerprints in identifying the number of layers and temperature dependence peak shift of pnictogen substances. The biosensor device can be made by using a layer-by-layer method for each pnictogen, cross-linking agent, and enzyme. Pnictogens can be employed in the application of photothermal therapy (PTT) to overcome the hinder which is because of the lack of efficient cell perception and cell toxicity. It can be used in biomedical applications to make the candidates absorb the ultraviolet and infrared lights as preferable. It can also be used in Biosensors, diagnosis, therapy and in anti-bacterial, anti-inflammation, anti-tumor, neurodegenerative treatment, and tissue repair. Pnictogen has many advantages in the application of biosensing and imaging techniques, but the main disadvantage of pnictogens are low thermal and chemical stability and degradation in ambient conditions. Therefore, this chapter focuses on different characteristics and various applications of pnictogen. 2025 Scrivener Publishing LLC. -
Silicene and Germanene for Biosensing and Imaging Application
The discovery of two-dimensional materials creates an immense effect in the field of biomedicine especially in sensing applications. Silicene and germanene are group 14 elements, analogs of graphene. Several experiments and theoretical information have proven the excellent properties of silicene and germanene as semiconductors, capacitors, photocatalysts, and sensors. Computational and other studies show the ability of these two-dimensional materials in biosensing applications. These graphene analogs have fascinating characteristics there are no band gaps in the semiconductors which leads to a lack of stability and is liable to oxidation. Since there is an essentiality of band gap for biosensing applications which can be corrected by making some modifications in these analogs using certain metal substrates. In this chapter, we will summarize silicene and germanene elements, their various properties and their applications in biosensing and bioimaging. This suggests silicene and germaneneas promising nanoelements for the evolution of new electronic equipment for biosensing and other uses in future. 2025 Scrivener Publishing LLC. -
Designer Crops for Biotic Stress Tolerance: Technologies and Applications
The interplay of population growth and climate change makes the creation of specialized crops in a context teeming with both biotic and abiotic hazards exceptionally challenging. Despite the optimism surrounding integrated pest and disease control based on host plant tolerance, the ongoing appearance of novel races and biotypes of major plant diseases and parasites poses a significant and growing threat to global agricultural output. Crop plants sustain severe harm from biotic stressors like diseases and pests. Managing these pressures has an influence on ecosystems and the environment in addition to raising production costs. Growers, exporters, and the health of both people and animals are concerned about the growing usage of chemical agents to combat biotic stressors. To address this, the most efficient approach is to employ resistant cultivars, as they offer cost-effectiveness, health benefits, and environmental friendliness. For enhancing global food security, the utilization of genome-editing tools requires close collaboration and dialogue among scientists, policymakers, regulators, and journalists. This concerted endeavor aims to simultaneously tackle public apprehensions about genetically modified crops. This chapter offers a comprehensive examination of the impact of biotic stress on crop plants and underscores the significance of developing crops with the ability to withstand such stresses. Additionally, it delves into diverse technologies created for crop enhancement and explores the economic significance of currently available engineered crops in the market. 2026 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. -
Multilevel Inverter-Fed Closed Loop Control and Analysis of Induction Motor Drive
Multilevel inverters have discovered more extensive extent of utilization in moderate and also in high-power adjustable-speed drives. This chapter introduces a vector control scheme of induction motor drive which includes pulse width modulations for reducing harmonics and total harmonic distortion (THD). For better control of induction motor, indirect vector control has been applied which offers advantages such as removal of flux sensor, more dynamic responses, and minimum torque pulses is applied. The inverter named neutral point clamped inverter is applied for observing dynamic control of the motor drive along with efficiency. The main attention of this chapter is to improve the performance of indirect vector controller. The THD analysis proves the better operation of induction motor as compared to conventional voltage source inverter-fed induction motor drive. By the help of MATLAB simulation, the dynamic performance as well as steady-state of multilevel inverter-based drive are analyzed. 2024 Scrivener Publishing LLC. -
Silicene and Germanene for Biosensing and Imaging Application
The discovery of two-dimensional materials creates an immense effect in the field of biomedicine especially in sensing applications. Silicene and germanene are group 14 elements, analogs of graphene. Several experiments and theoretical information have proven the excellent properties of silicene and germanene as semiconductors, capacitors, photocatalysts, and sensors. Computational and other studies show the ability of these two-dimensional materials in biosensing applications. These graphene analogs have fascinating characteristics there are no band gaps in the semiconductors which leads to a lack of stability and is liable to oxidation. Since there is an essentiality of band gap for biosensing applications which can be corrected by making some modifications in these analogs using certain metal substrates. In this chapter, we will summarize silicene and germanene elements, their various properties and their applications in biosensing and bioimaging. This suggests silicene and germaneneas promising nanoelements for the evolution of new electronic equipment for biosensing and other uses in future. 2025 Scrivener Publishing LLC. -
Designer Crops for Biotic Stress Tolerance: Technologies and Applications
The interplay of population growth and climate change makes the creation of specialized crops in a context teeming with both biotic and abiotic hazards exceptionally challenging. Despite the optimism surrounding integrated pest and disease control based on host plant tolerance, the ongoing appearance of novel races and biotypes of major plant diseases and parasites poses a significant and growing threat to global agricultural output. Crop plants sustain severe harm from biotic stressors like diseases and pests. Managing these pressures has an influence on ecosystems and the environment in addition to raising production costs. Growers, exporters, and the health of both people and animals are concerned about the growing usage of chemical agents to combat biotic stressors. To address this, the most efficient approach is to employ resistant cultivars, as they offer cost-effectiveness, health benefits, and environmental friendliness. For enhancing global food security, the utilization of genome-editing tools requires close collaboration and dialogue among scientists, policymakers, regulators, and journalists. This concerted endeavor aims to simultaneously tackle public apprehensions about genetically modified crops. This chapter offers a comprehensive examination of the impact of biotic stress on crop plants and underscores the significance of developing crops with the ability to withstand such stresses. Additionally, it delves into diverse technologies created for crop enhancement and explores the economic significance of currently available engineered crops in the market. 2026 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. -
Occupancy improvement in serviced apartments: Customer profiling
Sustaining and improving higher occupancy and generating steady revenue by bringing the experience of Home away from Homefor the Customers is the business model of ServicedApartments Industry. Serviced Apartment Industry has to be highly competitive. Its performance is governed by many factors such as competition, technology, social factors and lastly Customers themselves. This study focuses only on Customer profile. To achieve results, the Serviced Apartment Owners/Managers will need to study Customers profile and their needs. Customer satisfaction and retention lead to better customer loyalty, occupancy rates, and revenue. In this paper a methodological framework to analyze and profile Serviced Apartment Customers is discussed, focusing on the factors and particularly the Customer information which could help in increasing the Occupancy. There is a trend that would normally go unnoticed if analysis of data is taken at the aggregate level but looking at them individually, it provides interesting information. 2012 Taylor & Francis Group, London. -
The reality of distribution faced by SMEs: A UK perspective
[No abstract available] -
Counseling and psychotherapy in india: Professionalism amidst changing times
India is a melting pot of diversity in castes, communities, geographical regions, languages, religions, and practices, within a geographical area of 32,87,263 kilometers, with 28 states and seven union territories. Although the notions of counseling and psychotherapy are Western, the process of mentoring and assisting individuals through their developmental issues was already present in ancient models of care in India, such as the Guru Shishya System,1 the Joint Family Network,2 and traditional healing. Counseling and psychotherapy do not exist as completely distinct disciplines in India. Although counseling grew out of a strong guidance format and led to a proliferation of trained and lay counselors and psychotherapy arose from a strong theoretical clinical psychology background, these differences are blurred in society. As Arulmani (2007) points out: all that is termed as counseling today was embedded within a complex support system of social relationships (p. 70). Although these fields progressed, difficulties with accreditation exist. The Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists (IACP), along with other bodies such as the Counseling Association of India, offer discussions of matters related to psychotherapy counseling and clinical psychology, and provide the code of conduct in India (IACP, 1993). Varma (1982) highlighted seven distinct features of the Indian population that strongly infiuence how counseling and psychotherapy are practiced and received by clients: Mutual interdependence, lack of psychological sophistication involving introspective and verbal abilities, social distance between the doctor and the patient due to class hierarchies, religious belief in rebirth and fatalism and related accountability, guilt attributed to misdeeds in past life and social approval-related shame, and lower emphasis on confidentiality as society can be therapeutic allies. India is a collectivistic society wherein the self is relational (Roland, 2005), though recent socio-economic changes have resulted in a contradictory mix of traditional and modern elements in families (Murthy, 2003). Shah and Isaac (2005) note that relationship problems dominate themes in clinical interviews and in the process of individual, couple and family therapy sessions in India. 2013 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Knowing human gaze
Studies have examined the understanding of human gaze in animals. Gaze following in human infants has been successfully demonstrated, showing that infants can follow the eye direction of another though the ability to represent the intentions of gaze behaviour emerges only after the onset of object permanence or a period over eighteen months of age. Comparative studies indicate that gaze following or gazing at humans vary in different species of animals. Wolves for example were observed to look least at human experimenters during a performance task, whereas dogs turned to look more often and monkeys looked to a lesser extent at their experimenters. It is of interest to discuss that gaze following is different from understanding gaze. Dogs have been observed to be successful in gaze following and almost at par with young children. However, the intention of another's gaze is not as clearly understood by dogs as in humans. We (Ittyerah and Gaunet 2009) have shown that the response of dogs to the gaze of their caretakers did not differ between guide dogs of the blind and pet dogs of sighted people. Both groups of dogs seemed to have responded to the head direction of their caretakers during a search task, indicating that the visual status of the caretaker did not affect the dog's understanding of human gaze. Further some breeds of dogs may respond more often to gaze, while larger inter ocular distances in large dogs could facilitate their response to visual cues. Therefore awareness of interactions between breed and physical size could contribute to studying gaze and cognition among dogs. -
Key management solutions for database as a service: A selective survey
In todays scenario, efficient data processing is a fundamental and vital issue for almost every scientific, academic, or business organization. To tackle this issue, organizations end up installing and managing database systems to satisfy different processing needs. In case of adopting a traditional solution, the organization needs to purchase the necessary hardware, deploy database products, establish network connectivity, and hire professional people who run the system. But this solution is getting impractical and expensive as the database systems and problems become larger and complicated (El-Khoury et al., 2009). Again, traditional solution entails different costs from the perspective of the investments involved. These concerns are handled efficiently to a great extent by the fast developing technology that goes by the name, cloud computing.. 2014 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. -
Arts education, academic achievement and cognitive ability
Although art is often considered to be a means for maximizing human potential, the causes and consequences of artistic experiences are poorly understood. The present chapter reviews the relevant literature concerning the consequences of participating in the arts. It is clear that training in the arts improves performance on arts-specific tasks. For example, children who take music lessons perform better than their untrained peers on musical tasks such as perceiving musical key and harmony (Corrigall and Trainor, 2009). But training in the arts may also be associated with performance in non-arts domains. This chapter examines the possibility of four such associations, namely whether arts education is associated with academic achievement, general cognitive ability, language processing and visuospatial skills. In each case, the literature is evaluated in terms of the consistency of the findings and the evidence for claims of causation. Training in the arts and academic achievement Training in the arts is associated positively with academic achievement. For example, in a sample of Canadian high-school students, participation in musical activities in the eleventh grade predicted academic achievement in the twelfth grade (Gouzouasis, Guhn and Kishor, 2007). Other results point to similar associations between academic achievement and involvement in any type of arts-related activity. In one study that included more than 25,000 American high-school students, arts participation and school grades were recorded during the eighth, tenth and twelfth grades (Catterall, Chapleau and Iwanaga, 1999). At each point in time, students who were involved in the arts had better grades than other students. A similar positive association emerged in a meta-analysis of five correlational studies (Winner and Cooper, 2000). In a larger meta-analysis of 10 years of data from the American College Board (198898), Vaughn and Winner (2000) concluded that compared to students without arts training, students reporting any form of arts involvement (dance, drama, music and visual arts) obtained higher scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). This advantage for the arts group was evident for the verbal score, the mathematics score and the composite score. Students with drama lessons showed the strongest association, followed (in descending order) by students studying music, painting and dance. Even enrollment in theoretical classes (e.g., music or art history courses) was predictive of better SAT scores. Cambridge University Press 2014. -
Mobile Apps for Enhanced Bleisure Tourism Experiences: Exploring the Prospects and Challenges
Mobile applications play a pivotal role in enabling and enhancing bleisure travel experiences. These apps offer solutions for communication, itinerary planning, transportation booking, and leisure discovery, reflecting the evolving expectations of modern travelers for efficiency, flexibility, and customized experiences. Despite their benefits, challenges such as data privacy concerns and information overload persist. Looking ahead, the future of bleisure travel is poised for further transformation through advances in mobile technology, including augmented reality and artificial intelligence. However, a research gap exists in understanding the full spectrum of mobile apps catering to bleisure tourists' needs. This chapter aims to address this gap by classifying mobile apps for bleisure tourism, exploring their advantages, and identifying challenges and opportunities for innovation. By doing so, it seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the role of mobile technology in shaping the landscape of bleisure tourism in the digital age. 2024 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. -
Corrosion behaviour in friction stir processed and welded materials
This chapter presents a comprehensive study on the influence of friction stir processing/welding (FSW/FSP) on corrosion behaviour. It briefly discusses the different aspects of corrosion including corrosion types, measurement techniques and data analysis. The corrosion behaviour of a wide range of friction stir processed materials, including light weight metals such as magnesium and aluminum alloys, as well as high strength metals such as steel, has been discussed in detail. The influence of FSP parameters on the microstructural evolution, comprising grain-size and precipitate refinement along with its correlation with the corrosion properties, has been described for different materials. 2014 The authors and contributors. All rights reserved. -
Parallel organizations and subversion of the grass-roots democracy in Andhra Pradesh
[No abstract available] -
Counseling and Psychotherapy in India: Radha's Story
This chapter discusses the case of Radha, who presented with depression and infertility. The focus of counseling was to alleviate Radha's psychological distress, help her redefine her identity, and explore alternatives to infertility in the individual and marital context. The counselor's suggestion to use traditional healing practices, especially Pranayama, greatly helped the client, as she used these practices as for preventive coping. Handling the sensitive issue of infertility was challenging for the counselor, especially dealing with the ingrained cultural resistance to infertility and the client's value system that contributed to her own psychological state. Classical approaches to counseling and psychotherapy are indeed useful but require contextualization and an understanding of eclectic practice. Along with eclectic practice, integration of alternative systems of care, such as traditional healing practices, is seen as essential in the practice of counseling and psychotherapy in India. 2015 by the American Counseling Association. All rights reserved.