This monograph contains the advances achieved based on the content of our previous monograph published in 2011. In other words, the present monograph can be considered as "Part II" containing new results accomplished in the last decade. These were published in several reputed international journals based on the concept of natural time discussed in detail in our earlier monograph. The analysis in natural time enables the study of the dynamical evolution of a complex system and identifieswhen the system enters a critical stage. A wide range of applications are discussed, such as the cases of environmental extreme events-disasters and sudden cardiac death. More light is shed on changes of natural time features before major earthquakes like the 2011 M9 Tohoku earthquake in Japan and the 2017 M8.2 Chiapas earthquake in Mexico. Hence, natural time analysis plays a key role in predicting impending catastrophic events in general with a primary audienceResearchers and Academics in Physics, Earth Sciences, and Medicine.

This book deals with the theory and the applications of a new time domain, termed natural time domain, that has been forwarded by the authors almost a decade ago (P.A. Varotsos, N.V. Sarlis and E.S. Skordas, Practica of Athens Academy 76, 294-321, 2001; Physical Review E 66, 011902, 2002). In particular, it has been found that novel dynamical features hidden behind time series in complex systems can emerge upon analyzing them in this new time domain, which conforms to the desire to reduce uncertainty and extract signal information as much as possible. The analysis in natural time enables the study of the dynamical evolution of a complex system and identifies when the system enters a critical stage. Hence, natural time plays a key role in predicting impending catastrophic events in general. Relevant examples of data analysis in this new time domain have been published during the last decade in a large variety of fields, e.g., Earth Sciences, Biology and Physics. The book explains in detail a series of such examples including the identification of the sudden cardiac death risk in Cardiology, the recognition of electric signals that precede earthquakes, the determination of the time of an impending major mainshock in Seismology, and the analysis of the avalanches of the penetration of magnetic flux into thin films of type II superconductors in Condensed Matter Physics. In general, this book is concerned with the time-series analysis of signals emitted from complex systems by means of the new time domain and provides advanced students and research workers in diverse fields with a sound grounding in the fundamentals of current research work on detecting (long-range) correlations in complex time series. Furthermore, the modern techniques of Statistical Physics in time series analysis, for example Hurst analysis, the detrended fluctuation analysis, the wavelet transform etc., are presented along with their advantages when natural time domain is employed.

Irregular engineering structures are subjected to complicated additional loads which are often beyond conventional design models developed for traditional, simplified plane models. This book covers detailed research and recent progress in seismic engineering dealing with seismic behaviour of irregular and set-back engineering structures. Experimental results as well as special topics of modern design are discussed in detail. In addition, recent progress in seismology, wave propagation and seismic engineering, which provides novel, modern modelling of complex seismic loads, is reported. Particular emphasis is placed on the newly developed rotational, seismic ground-motion effects. This book is a continuation of an earlier monograph which appeared in the same Springer series in 2013 (http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789400753761).

This is the second of two volumes devoted to earthquakes and multi-hazards around the Pacific Rim. The circum-Pacific seismic belt is home to roughly 80% of the world’s largest earthquakes, making it the ideal location for investigating earthquakes and related hazards such as tsunamis and landslides. Following the Introduction, this volume includes 14 papers covering a range of topics related to multi-hazards. The book is divided into five sections: viscoelastic deformation, earthquake source models, earthquake prediction, seismic hazard assessment, and tsunami simulation. Viscoelastic relaxation can play an important role in subduction zone behavior, and this is explored in the first section, with specific examples including the Tohoku-oki earthquake in Eastern Japan. In addition to laboratory rock friction experiments, the second section examines earthquake source models for the 2016 MW 6.6 Aketao earthquake in Eastern Pamir and two earthquakes in Eastern Taiwan, along with strong ground motion studies of the 2008 MW 7.9 Wenchuan, China earthquake. The Load/Unload Response Ratio (LURR), Natural Time (NT), and “nowcasting” are earthquake prediction techniques that are analyzed in the third section, with nowcasting predictions performed for a number of large cities globally. Viscoelastic relaxation can play an important role in subduction zone behavior, assessment are the focus of the fourth section, with specific applications to the Himalayan-Tibetan region and the Xianshuihe Fault Zone in Southwest China. In the last section, a new approach in modeling tsunami height distributions is described. Rapid advances are being made in our understanding of multi-hazards, as well as the range of tools used to investigate them. This volume provides a representative cross-section of how state-of-the-art knowledge and tools are currently being applied to multi-hazards around the Pacific Rim. The material here should be of interest to scientists involved in all areas of multi-hazards, particularly seismic and tsunami hazards. In addition, it offers a valuable resource for students in the geosciences, covering a broad spectrum of topics related to hazard research.

As evidenced dramatically and tragically in 2011 alone,earthquakes cause devastation and their consequences in terms of human suffering and economic disaster can last for years or even decades. The VAN method of earthquake prediction, based on the detection and measurement of low frequency electric signals called Seismic Electric Signals (SES), has been researched and evaluated over 30 years, and now constitutes the only earthquake prediction effort that has led to concrete successful results. This book recounts the history of the VAN method, detailing how it has developed and been tested under international scrutiny. Earthquake Prediction by Seismic Electric Signals • describes, step by step, the development of the VAN method since 1981; • explains both the theoretical model underpinning the research and the physical properties of SES; • analyzes the SES recordings and the prediction for each major earthquake in Greece over the last 25 years; • introduces a new time domain, natural time, which plays a key role in predicting impending catastrophic events.

Part of a two-volume set, this book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third Iberian Conference on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis, IbPRIA 2007, held in Girona, Spain in June 2007. It covers pattern recognition, human language technology, special architectures and industrial applications, motion analysis, image analysis, biomedical applications, shape and texture analysis, 3D, and image coding and processing.

This book gives new insight to the study of the global environmental changes using the ecoinformatics and microwave remote sensing tools together with the adaptive-evolutionary technology of geoinformation monitoring. The main advantage of this book consists in the accumulation of the interdisciplinary scientific knowledge for the parameterization of the global biogeochemical cycles and other environmental processes in the context of globalization and sustainable development. In this regard, the crucial global problems of the dynamics of the climate-nature-society system have been considered and the key problems of ensuring its sustainable development have been addressed. An analysis of the present trend in changing ecological systems has been discussed, including different types of forest ecosystems and ocean aquatories. The emphasis has been given to the accomplishment of the global geoinformation monitoring, which could provide a reliable control of the environmental processes development with reliable prognostic estimates of the consequences of human activities. A new approach to the numerical modelling of the climate-nature-society system has been presented and demonstrative results have been given about the modelling of the dynamics of this system‟s characteristics, in cases of realization of some scenarios of the anthropogenic impacts to the biogeochemical cycles, the land ecosystems and oceans. Methods and algorithms for the big data manipulation and processing in the remote sensing environmental monitoring systems have been described.