Kirjahaku

There is more sugar in the world's diet than ever before, but life is far from sweet for the exploited producers making nature's 'white gold' and the unhealthy consumers eating it. Why has the billion-dollar sugar trade created such inequities? In this insightful analysis, Ben Richardson argues that the most compelling answers to this question can be found in the dynamics of global capitalism. Led by multinational companies, the mass consumption of sweetened snacks has taken hold in the Global South and underpinned a new wave of foreign investment in sugar production. The expansion of large-scale and highly-industrialised farms across Latin America, Asia and Africa has kept the price of sugar down whilst pushing workers out of jobs and rural dwellers off the land. However, challenges to these practices are gathering momentum. Health advocates warning against costly diseases like diabetes, trade unions fighting for better pay, and local residents campaigning for a cleaner environment are all re-shaping the way sugar is consumed and produced. But to truly transform sugar, Richardson contends, these political activities must also address the profit-driven nature of food and farming itself.

There is more sugar in the world's diet than ever before, but life is far from sweet for the exploited producers making nature's 'white gold' and the unhealthy consumers eating it. Why has the billion-dollar sugar trade created such inequities? In this insightful analysis, Ben Richardson argues that the most compelling answers to this question can be found in the dynamics of global capitalism. Led by multinational companies, the mass consumption of sweetened snacks has taken hold in the Global South and underpinned a new wave of foreign investment in sugar production. The expansion of large-scale and highly-industrialised farms across Latin America, Asia and Africa has kept the price of sugar down whilst pushing workers out of jobs and rural dwellers off the land. However, challenges to these practices are gathering momentum. Health advocates warning against costly diseases like diabetes, trade unions fighting for better pay, and local residents campaigning for a cleaner environment are all re-shaping the way sugar is consumed and produced. But to truly transform sugar, Richardson contends, these political activities must also address the profit-driven nature of food and farming itself.

La pianificazione del movimento senza collisioni in tempo reale in un ambiente non stazionario un problema importante in molti sistemi autonomi, tra cui la robotica e i sistemi intelligenti. I sistemi robotici intelligenti hanno la capacit di pianificare i movimenti e di navigare autonomamente. Questa capacit diventa fondamentale soprattutto per i robot che operano in ambienti dinamici, dove possono verificarsi cambiamenti imprevedibili e improvvisi. Questo progetto affronta le questioni fondamentali associate alla pianificazione del percorso di un robot in un ambiente che cambia dinamicamente e che soggetto a incertezze. Questo libro presenta una metodologia basata su una combinazione unica di tecniche di reti neurali e dinamiche e di automi cellulari. Le Reti Neurali Cellulari (CNN) prendono il meglio di entrambe le metodologie di pianificazione del percorso, in modo da poter effettuare con successo una navigazione autonoma, condotta in tempo reale all'interno di un ambiente dinamico. Sfruttando le eleganti propriet delle funzioni armoniche e l'interconnettivit locale non lineare dei neuroni all'interno di una CNN, possibile ottenere la completa eliminazione dei minimi locali, producendo una metodologia di pianificazione del percorso stabile e convergente.