"For ideas fundamental to the emergence of object-oriented programming, through their design of the programming languages Simula I...

The 13 revised full papers presented together with 9 revised short papers and 3 invited lectures were carefully selected during two rounds of reviewing and...

The significance of natural language texts as the prime information structure for the management and dissemination of knowledge is - as the rise of the web shows - still increasing. Making relevant texts available in different contexts is of primary importance for efficient task completion in academic and industrial settings. Meeting this demand...

The main role of grasses, clovers and alfalfa in temperate agriculture is still to provide forage for ruminant animals but, in the last decades, the importance of amenity grasses increased markedly and, in the near future, new developments in the areas of energy and biomass use can be envisaged. Fodder Crops and Amenity Grasses, fifth volume in...

Mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and coral reefs are circumtropical ecosystems that are highly productive, and provide many important biological functions and economic services. These ecosystems cover large surface areas in the shallow tropical coastal seascape but have suffered from serious human degradation, especially in the last few decades....

The increasing use of computer technology in many areas of economic, scientific, and social life is resulting in large collections of digital data. The amount of data which is created on and stored in computers is growing from day to day. Electronic database facilities are common everywhere and can now be considered a standard technology....

The book addresses the problem known in the literature as Open and Distance Learning (ODL). ODL describes new concepts of the process of learning-teaching organization. ODL is becoming very popular at universities that offer education via online and/or distance learning, both in synchronous or asynchronous modes. More precisely, the...

In contemporary globally competitive markets, the development of new products is considered a critical success factor for organizations. Significant efforts have been invested in the development of methods and tools for improving the management of design processes, being a key element in development processes, especially those related...