Total costs and benefits of biomass in selected regions of the European Union

The paper describes results of the BioCosts project in which a comprehensive analysis of the economic and environmental performance of the energy use of biomass was carried out for selected existing facilities throughout the European Union. It is demonstrated that the appropriately organized use of biofuels has significant environmental advantages compared to the use of fossil fuels. Mitigation of global warming is the largest single incentive to use biofuels. However, only a few technologies are economically competitive under prevailing conditions, while others lead to up to 100% higher energy production costs than fossil fuels. Employment effects of using biofuels are small but positive.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V2S-41JM99D-4/1/514a3253589af4590f84544e2966bcb

Ornamental plants: annual reports and research reviews

Ohio State University Extension Nursery, Landscape, and Turf Team Directory: 1998 / Jack Kerrigan -- Floriculture Industry Roundtable of Ohio: 1998 / Charles Behnke -- Ohio State University Extension Buckeye Yard and Garden Line / James A. Chatfield, Pamela J. Bennett, Joseph F. Boggs, Gary Y. Gao, Jane C. Martin, David J. Shetlar and Randall H. Zondag -- Environmental and cultural problems of ornamental plants in Ohio: 1997 / Pamela J. Bennett and Jane C. Martin -- Insect and mite activity noted in Ohio nurseries and landscapes: 1997 / Joseph F. Boggs, David J. Shetlar, Jane C. Martin, Pamela J. Bennett, James A. Chatfield, Gary Y. Gao and Chris Carlson -- Summary of ornamental diseases in Ohio: 1997 / James A. Chatfield, Nancy J. Taylor, Stephen N. Nameth, Chris Carlson, Joseph F. Boggs, Jane C. Martin, Dan Balser and David Madison -- Weed problems in Ohio landscapes and nurseries: 1997 / Gary Y. Gao, Joseph F. Boggs, Pamela J. Bennett, Jane C. Martin, Mary Ann Rose, Joseph W. Rimelspach, Randall H. Zondag and William E. Pound -- Wildlife problems in Ohio landscapes: 1997 / Gary Y. Gao, Joseph F. Boggs, Jane C. Martin, Charles T. Behnke and James A. Chatfield -- Summary of turf cultural and disease problems in 1997 / Gary Y. Gao, Joseph F. Boggs, Pamela J. Bennett, Jane C. Martin, Joseph W. Rimelspach and James A. Chatfield -- Master Gardeners serve Ohio / Marianne Riofrio -- The greening of Poland's nurseries / Kenneth D. Cochran and Wojtek Grabczewski -- The marketing potential of Ginkgo biloba in the United States / Kenneth D. Cochran -- Composts in the Landscape: Effects on Soil pH and plant growth / Mary Ann Rose and Hao Wang -- How to optimize disease control using composts / Harry A. J. Hoitink, Wei-Zheng Zhang, David Y. Han, Alexandra G. Stone, Matthew S. Krause and Warren A. Dick -- The flowering sequence of ornamental plants as a tool for predicting the phenology of insect pests / Daniel A. Herms -- Reducing maintenance costs may mean selecting plants with the fewest flaws / T. Davis Sydnor-- Comprehensive aesthetic evaluations of crabapples at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster: 1993-1997 / Erik A. Draper, James A. Chatfield, Kenneth D. Cochran, Peter W. Bristol and David E. Allen -- Precision control of microirrigation for container-grown mini-roses / Robert C. Hansen, Ted H. Short, C. C. Pasian and R. Peter Fynn -- Red thread (Laetisaria fuciformis) control study on perennial ryegrass / Joseph W. Rimelspach, Kerry Kline, Karl Danneberger and Michael Boehm-- Red thread (Laetisaria fuciformis) control study on Kentucky bluegrass / Joseph W. Rimelspach, Kerry Kline, Karl Danneberger and Michael Boehm -- Red thread - from novelty to nuisance / Joseph W. Rimelspach -- Chrysanthemum cultivars differ in response to photoperiod when grown under far-red absorbing filters / M. J. McMahon -- Improving fuchsia cutting performance by grafting / D. M. Napier and M. J. McMahon -- Paint/paclobutrazol mix on the inside surface of rooting wedge cells to control poinsettia cutting height / Claudio C. Pasian -- Response of poinsettias to paclobutrazol in paint applications / Claudio C. Pasian and Daniel K. Struve -- Dynamic transpiration of highly stressed container-grown Acer rubrum / Ted H. Short, Ahmet Irvem and Robert C. Hansen -- Effects of temperature on the development of Asiatic Lilies / J. Steininger and C. C. Pasian-- New publications for 1997-199

Towards Comprehensive Foundations of Computational Intelligence

Abstract. Although computational intelligence (CI) covers a vast variety of different methods it still lacks an integrative theory. Several proposals for CI foundations are discussed: computing and cognition as compression, meta-learning as search in the space of data models, (dis)similarity based methods providing a framework for such meta-learning, and a more general approach based on chains of transformations. Many useful transformations that extract information from features are discussed. Heterogeneous adaptive systems are presented as particular example of transformation-based systems, and the goal of learning is redefined to facilitate creation of simpler data models. The need to understand data structures leads to techniques for logical and prototype-based rule extraction, and to generation of multiple alternative models, while the need to increase predictive power of adaptive models leads to committees of competent models. Learning from partial observations is a natural extension towards reasoning based on perceptions, and an approach to intuitive solving of such problems is presented. Throughout the paper neurocognitive inspirations are frequently used and are especially important in modeling of the higher cognitive functions. Promising directions such as liquid and laminar computing are identified and many open problems presented.

A survey of intelligent assistants for data analysis

Research and industry increasingly make use of large amounts of data to guide decision-making. To do this, however, data needs to be analyzed in typically non-trivial refinement processes, which require technical expertise about methods and algorithms, experience with how a precise analysis should proceed, and knowledge about an exploding number of analytic approaches. To alleviate these problems, a plethora of different systems have been proposed that ``intelligently'' help users to analyze their data.This article provides a first survey to almost 30 years of research on Intelligent Discovery Assistants (IDAs). It explicates the types of help IDAs can provide to users and the kinds of (background) knowledge they leverage to provide this help. Furthermore, it provides an overview of the systems developed over the past years, identifies their most important features, and sketches an ``ideal'' future IDA as well as the challenges on the road ahead