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Interaction of Symbols is a book for everyone engaged with icon design. It presents a theory of how icons work: symbols in an icon interact to evoke meaning. From this theory flow design principles and practices based on evidence from Design and other disciplines such as Psychology, Perception, and Cognition. The theory, principles, and practices impact how all symbol-based communications are conceived, designed, and applied.The book focuses on icons that elicit a concept without any previous training or use of language. Findings from twenty years'worth of empirical design research studies explore, illustrate, and support each principle, process, and recommendation. The book begins with a review of icon research from various fields before laying a conceptual foundation that grounds the theory of the book. After and elaborating on that theory are chapters that demonstrate how to Establish Contexts to Guide Comprehension, Glean Which Symbols to Draw, Learn How to Draw Understandable Symbols, Clarify Metaphor, and Use Icons to Decipher Icons in Icon Systems. Written and carefully designed for a broad audience, the book's scholarly level is elevated while the presentation is approachable. Scholar or professional can skim, scan, or dig, it's up to them.Heavily illustrated and supported with ample citations, it is not only a book for students and professionals within the field of communication design, but also for anyone who communicates with visual symbols, from healthcare professionals to software engineers, affecting all kinds of graphic communications from advertisements to assembly instructions.

The book titled Sustainable Production Technologies for Horticultural Crops is a distinctive and comprehensive resource that covers all aspects of horticulture. It compiles and organizes scattered information in an easily understandable format, complete with practical recommendations for stakeholders. The book is authored by renowned experts in their respective fields, who have contributed to its 24 chapters. These chapters address topics such as genetic resources, varietal wealth, crop improvement, plant health management, biotic and abiotic stress management, and value-addition of horticultural crops. Additionally, the book delves into general horticultural science. The book covers a wide range of horticultural crops, including fruits, vegetables, spices, and ornamental and plantation crops. Each chapter is well-illustrated with figures and tables and is cited with the latest references. The critical R&D gaps identified in different research areas are also addressed in each chapter. Sustainable Production Technologies for Horticultural Crops is a valuable resource for students, teachers, researchers, scientists, policymakers, and entrepreneurs. It serves as a comprehensive reservoir of information that can be utilized by all stakeholders in the horticultural industry.

Jungle Seeds Sprout explores how ancient Guarani agriculture, emphasizing biocultural diversity, offers vital lessons for sustainable technology and food security. The book highlights the Guarani people's profound understanding of seed diversity and ecological balance, revealing how these practices, refined over centuries, can be augmented with modern technology to address contemporary environmental challenges. For example, the Guarani's traditional soil management techniques, when combined with data-driven analysis, show great promise in enhancing soil health and improving crop yields. This book uniquely integrates traditional indigenous knowledge with cutting-edge technology, offering a balanced perspective on sustainable development. It progresses by first introducing the Guarani culture and their farming practices, then examining specific technologies like drone-based monitoring and GPS-guided planting used to augment these practices. The final section synthesizes these findings, providing practical recommendations for implementing similar integrated approaches globally, making it a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners alike.

This book presents the European Common Agricultural Policy by tracing its crucial stages from its conception to the present days. It reconstructs the negotiating processes that have taken place at the political and institutional level over the years. At the same time, the book brings together the results of analyses made by agricultural policy scholars to propose solutions, and to evaluate the policies adopted and the results they produced. The book takes on a twofold objective: to understand how many of today's problems have roots whose branches extend back in time, and to draw, from the lessons of history, useful insights for endowing the European Union with an ambitious agricultural and rural development policy, suited to the challenges ahead.

This book addresses a range of water resources management issues, especially those that are relevant to the water quality in Libya. It covers topics such as the assessment and prediction of water quality, salt-water intrusion, treatment of wastewater for reuse, and desalination as an alternative source of water. It provides up-to-date information on the impact of climate change on water resources in Libya and summarize the latest results of several systematic investigations and assesses the occurrence and quality of surface and underground waters in the country to help decision-makers plan for sustainable development. The methods presented in this book can also be applied in other regions with similar climate conditions. This book will share the knowledge and experience of experts and scientists who apply high-quality findings and input from their research to issues concerning the management of water resources and their quality in Libya.

This edited book is an effort to compile the research advances in the field of soil science particularly relevant to Manipur an important North Eastern state of India. It comprises four sections having ten chapters contributed by research scholars who have worked at the ground level and generated first hand information about the different aspects of soil management in this extremely delicate region in terms of climate change challenges and demand for development of strategies to mitigate the deleterious impacts of intensive agriculture practices. It is a novel effort to compile first hand research efforts conducted in the field of soil science research in this region. Editors hope that this book shall be beneficial to all stakeholders in the field of soil science research.

Pulse is possibly the only crop on this planet that can cater to all the three primers of agricultural livelihoods, economy-ecology-technology, on a single go. It adds nitrogen to soil, protein to human body and income to wallet of farmers, both small and marginal, and people at large. To earn self reliance in pulse production, an array of initiatives has been triggered up to ensure both food and income security for the millions of rural people in India. The book offers deep insights to delve into and examine the technology socialization process of pulse crops and their a marketability level in terms of marketable surplus generated by the growers after meeting their household needs. A count of 150 pulse growing farmers have been interrogated and interacted with to estimate and interpret the cause, direction and level of socialization of pulse crop at the grass root reality, and thus, hard evidences, generated therewith from a new alluvial agro-ecological setting of India, have been extrapolated to a reference book for scholars and academia in agriculture and ecology across the planet

It is a comprehensive basic book on farm management and designed to introduce students to the key concepts on how to effectively manage a farm business. The book is written in a very simple form with the basic information needed to measure management performance, financial progress, and the financial condition of the farm business. It provides valuable insight on the impact of the pandemic on agriculture and the rural economy. This book would be an invaluable asset for the students, teachers and researchers associated with farm management.

The proliferation of energy, agricultural, water and food insecurity can be attributed to a multitude of factors, including advancements in technology that have facilitated the technical and economic utilization of energy and water resources, environmental degradation, climate anomalies, mounting pressure on water resources due to escalating demand, and surging energy requirements. These challenges have been addressed from multiple perspectives, ranging from Islamic social finance to large scale project finance. Large corporations are also involved in tackling the environmental impact of climate change or operating in water stressed regions. This book argues, however, that there is little value to be gained from this activity when sustainability initiatives and frameworks are not being measured.The book surveys Islamic finance and sustainability theories, setting the stage to detail the actual work of businesses, banks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multilateral agencies addressing water, food and energy insecurity. It examines case studies, which cover diverse aspects of sustainability, mostly, in the context of fragile economic and ecological situations, and discusses practical cases from an Islamic perspective, in which local and regional problems are addressed. An important feature of the book is the description of how Islamic social finance builds pathways to scale for the mobilization of funds as well as the expansion of sustainable ventures. Further, the unique issues of carbon markets are explored from the perspective of Shariah compliance as well as managing adverse events. The cases present replicable, scalable solutions. These unique stories align theory to reality and sometimes, they highlight the shortfalls in the theory.The cases allow researchers, academics and policy makers an opportunity to examine the effectiveness of theories and policies opposite real-life experiences and also give business and NGO leaders clear examples to follow.

The book on dryland agriculture endeavors to acquaint readers with the unique characteristics of dry farming while delving into subjects such as drought management, soil and water management, crop production techniques, crops and cropping patterns, intercropping systems, suitable plant varieties, biodiversity, and climate-resilient practices to counter the challenges posed by climate change and dryland agriculture. The overriding objective of the book is to offer practical solutions to the challenges confronting dryland agriculture. The book targets the requirements of agricultural scientists, students, educators, extension workers, and knowledgeable farmers.

Canine Dermatopathology is a comprehensive resource for veterinarians, clinicians, students, and faculties that delves into the dermatological disorders in dogs. As dermatology constitutes a significant portion of daily caseloads in small animal practice, this book emerges as an invaluable tool in providing a logical and sequential approach to tackling the challenges presented by various skin conditions. The canine skin, being the largest organ with multifaceted functions, demands a nuanced understanding. This book recognizes the complexity of dermatological cases and emphasizes the importance of a structured diagnostic approach. In addition to addressing common health problems in pet animals, particularly dogs, the book explores a myriad of aetiologies, including ecto/endoparasitic infestations, contact allergens, physical causes, radiation, infectious causes (bacterial, viral, fungal infections), immunological causes, nutritional/metabolic disorders, and endocrine imbalances. It also emphasizes the prevalence of secondary infections and guides veterinarians in successfully managing dermatological cases. The book highlights the significance of specific tests, such as skin scrapings, fungal and bacterial culture, cytological evaluation, and skin biopsy. Cytology emerges as a highly efficient and valuable examination that facilitates rapid lesion evaluation and guides subsequent diagnostic steps. Histopathology, when coupled with clinical findings, leads to definitive diagnoses, especially in cases involving neoplastic nodules or conditions with poor responses to previous therapy. With a focus on cytology, gross morphology, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry, the book equips veterinarians with the knowledge needed for accurate and early diagnosis and treatment of various skin conditions in dogs. It serves as both a ready reckoner and an educational tool for the readers.

The book investigates the intersection of agriculture and development in Africa and how it impacts rural industrialisation prospects. It provides a comprehensive view of the position of agriculture in African socio-economic activities and the agricultural sector's potential as the source for continental development and industrialisation prospects. Significant research has been done on African development with a focus placed on the problematic role played by slavery, colonialism and later by incompetent African leaders who failed to steer development of the type that delivers a progressive, sustained and sustainable transformation of lives and societies. There is limited focus on the possibility of agriculture being the potential basis of African development and the chance for industrialisation. This is a matter of concern, considering the dominance of agriculture as a livelihood and income source for many people on the continent. In contributing to the debate on development in Africa, this book aims to show how agriculture can serve as the basis for African development and industrialisation. This will be achieved by (i) providing a detailed historical description of the position of agriculture in African socio-economic activities, (ii) outlining the trajectory of African development with a focus on agriculture, innovation, and mechanisation, (iii) identifying challenges to the development of African agriculture, (iv) exploring the opportunities for agricultural development in Africa, and (v) providing practical and policy recommendations to improve African agriculture and make it the engine for development and industrialisation. Utilising a multidisciplinary approach which combines political economy, social policy, financial inclusion, and empowerment approaches, the book also shows how engagement of youth and women, digitalisation, and the provision of support (by public and private actors) can jump-start agriculture as the engine of African development and industrialisation. Taken together with this conscious effort to promote a multi-disciplinary discussion, the book is valuable reading for students, policymakers, and activists interested in emerging new directions in African development thinking and research.

This book explores the crucial transition from conventional to regenerative agricultural practices, focusing on the key drivers and indicators of soil health management. Regenerative agriculture is an approach that aims to restore and enhance soil health, focusing on practices that promote soil fertility, biodiversity, and ecosystem resilience. The theme of the book captures the growing recognition of the urgent need for sustainable agricultural systems that prioritize soil health to address environmental challenges, improve food security, and ensure the long-term viability of agricultural practices. The book covers a wide range of topics related to soil health management in the transition from conventional to regenerative agriculture. It covers the principles and concepts of soil health, the challenges and limitations of conventional agriculture, the assessment of soil health using various indicators, and the importance of cover crops, crop rotation, conservation tillage, nutrient management, and water conservation practices. In addition, the book addresses the role of soil biodiversity, policy frameworks, and scaling up regenerative agriculture, providing practical strategies and case studies. The book provides farmers, policy makers, researchers, and students with the knowledge and tools to implement sustainable agricultural systems that prioritize soil health and promote the transition to regenerative practices.

This book is specifically designed for agricultural educators, extension professionals, policymakers, and anyone passionate about utilizing extension services to empower farming communities and promote sustainable agricultural development. We invite you to join us on this journey to transform agriculture and ensure a sustainable future.

This book delves into the transformative power of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in reshaping the landscape of sustainable development in one of the world's most vibrant regions. This edited volume explores the synergy between cutting-edge digital technologies and innovative financial strategies to drive responsible business practices that align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).This book navigates the complex interplay between technological advancements, financial inclusion, corporate social responsibility, environmental stewardship, and ethical governance. It critically assesses how digital innovations—ranging from artificial intelligence, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to green technologies and fintech—alongside novel financial instruments such as green bonds and impact investing, can address key concerns such as poverty alleviation, gender parity, and environmental sustainability. With a wide range of expert contributions, this volume offers useful insights and practical solutions to promote financial inclusion and encourage sustainable growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. It achieves this through a combination of empirical research, case studies, and policy analysis.This resource is crucial for policymakers, scholars, and development practitioners who are dedicated to advancing inclusive and sustainable development.

Smart Irrigation Tech explores how technology can combat water scarcity in agriculture, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. It highlights the importance of precision irrigation, which delivers water directly to crops based on their needs. This method, along with sensor technologies that monitor soil moisture and weather conditions, can significantly improve water use efficiency. The book emphasizes using data analytics and machine learning to optimize irrigation strategies, showcasing how these technologies offer a path to sustainable agriculture. The book argues that traditional irrigation often wastes water, leading to runoff and soil degradation. By integrating smart irrigation technologies, farmers can achieve better crop yields while minimizing environmental impact. Smart Irrigation Tech begins with an overview of global water scarcity and historical irrigation practices, then delves into precision irrigation technologies and sensor applications. It dedicates a section to data analytics and concludes with real-world case studies, demonstrating the practical benefits of smart irrigation in various agricultural settings.

Soil health is a state in which a soil fulfills its range of ecosystem functions appropriately in its environment. In simpler terms, the well-being of soil arises from favorable interactions among all its components, such as micro-biota, plants, and animals. The book Soil Health Management for Sustainable Development Goals primarily addresses the issue of soil management at the grassroots level. Soil fertility is the capacity of soil to sustain plant growth and optimize crop yield. This can be enhanced through the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers in the soil. As is widely recognized, the management of soil fertility is a prime concern for crop production and can be improved through the adoption of several sustainable management practices. Several techniques are suggested that enhance soil fertility and crop production while minimizing environmental impact. Soil fertility can be further improved by incorporating cover crops that add organic matter to the soil, leading to improved soil structure and promoting a healthy, fertile soil; by using green manure or growing legumes to fix nitrogen from the air through the process of biological nitrogen fixation by microbes. Healthy soils produce healthy crops that, in turn, nourish people and animals. Indeed, soil quality is directly linked to food quality and quantity. Soils supply essential nutrients, water, oxygen, and root support that our food-producing plants need to grow and thrive. The present book focuses on such global issues and offers possible solutions specifically related to UNSDG-17 goals. It also focuses on global strategies with possible solutions to manage sustainability.