Springer nature jul 2018 (630 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In this book, academics, policy makers, developers, architects and landscape architects provide a systematic review of the environmental, social, economic and design benefits of dense and green building types in high-density urban contexts and discuss how these can support higher population densities, higher standards of environmental sustainability and enhanced live ability in future cities. 140 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.This book describes the history, structure and institutions of open and distance education in six countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US. It discusses how open and distance education is evolving in a digital age to reflect the needs and circumstances of national higher education systems in these countries, and explores the similarities and differences between the ways in which they are organized and structured. It is the first book to make such comparisons and draw conclusions about the nature of open and distance education in the context of various national higher education systems. In a digital era with growing use of online education as well as open and distance education, this book is particularly useful for policy-makers and senior administrators who want to learn about organizing and expanding open and distance education provision. It is also a valuable reference for researchers, academics and students interested in understanding the different approaches to open and distance education. 131 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book investigates the political context and intentions behind the trialling of Japanese war criminals in the wake of World War Two. After the Second World War in Asia, the victorious Allies placed around 5,700 Japanese on trial for war crimes. Ostensibly crafted to bring perpetrators to justice, the trials intersected in complex ways with the great issues of the day. They were meant to finish off the business of World War Two and to consolidate United States hegemony over Japan in the Pacific, but they lost impetus as Japan morphed into an ally of the West in the Cold War. Embattled colonial powers used the trials to bolster their authority against nationalist revolutionaries, but they found the principles of international humanitarian law were sharply at odds with the inequalities embodied in colonialism. Within nationalist movements, local enmities often overshadowed the reckoning with Japan. And hovering over the trials was the critical question: just what was justice forthe Japanese in a world where all sides had committed atrocities 308 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This open access collection examines how higher education responds to the demands of the automation economy and the fourth industrial revolution. Considering significant trends in how people are learning, coupled with the ways in which different higher education institutions and education stakeholders are implementing adaptations, it looks at new programs and technological advances that are changing how and why we teach and learn. The book addresses trends in liberal arts integration of STEM innovations, the changing role of libraries in the digital age, global trends in youth mobility, and the development of lifelong learning programs. This is coupled with case study assessments of the various ways China, Singapore, South Africa and Costa Rica are preparing their populations for significant shifts in labour market demands - shifts that are already underway. Offering examples of new frameworks in which collaboration between government, industry, and higher education institutions can prevent lagging behind in this fast changing environment, this book is a key read for anyone wanting to understand how the world should respond to the radical technological shifts underway on the frontline of higher education. 252 pp. Englisch. …

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -With a Foreword by the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani.This book sheds light on the political dynamics within the EU member states and contributes to the discussions about Europe. Authors from all member states as well as Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey assess how their country could get more involved in the European debate, taking the reader on a journey through various political landscapes and different views. The chapters cover issues ranging from a perceived lack of ambition at the periphery to a careful balancing act between diverse standpoints at the geographical centre. Yet, discussions share common features such as the anxiety regarding national sovereignty, the migration and border discourse, security concerns as well as the obvious need to regain trust and create policies that work. The book contributes vigorously to the debate about Europe in all capitals and every corner of the continent, because this is where itsfuture will be decided. 172 pp. Englisch. …

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -As the first book about software culture, this book discusses software culture from three perspectives including historical perspective, the classification of software and software applications. This book takes credit from the view of science and technology development. It analyzed scientific innovations and the social areas promoted following the growth of technology. And according to the fact that information helps to build human cultural form, we proposed the concept and researching method of software culture. The aim of writing this book is to strengthen the connection between software and culture, to replenish knowledge system in the subject of software engineering, and to establish a new area of study that is the culture of software. 204 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Clear and concise, this easy-to-use book offers an introductory course on the language of gene cloning, covering microbial, plant, and mammalian systems. It presents the nuts and bolts of gene cloning in a well-organized and accessible manner. Part I of this book outlines the essentials of biology and genetics relevant to the concept of gene cloning. Part II describes common techniques and approaches of gene cloning, ranging from the basic mechanics of DNA manipulation, vector systems, process transformation, to gene analysis. Part III & IV present application technologies of major impact in agriculture, biomedicine, and related areas.The ABCs of Gene Cloning,Third Edition contains updates including a tutorial chapter on gene-vector construction, methodologies on exome sequencing in finding disease genes, revised topics on gene therapy and whole genome sequencing, new developments for gene targeting and genome editing, as well as the current state of next generation sequencing. With more than 140 illustrations, this new edition provides an invaluable text for students and anyone who have interest in gaining proficiency in reading and speaking the language of gene cloning. 280 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book serves as an easy-to-read, up-to-date practical guide on professional corporate communication. The key market for this book is the Asia-Pacific region, mainly because there is a gap in know-how in corporate communication among many industry sectors. In addition, at present, one cannot find a lot of educational literature about corporate communication in the market. Therefore, this guidebook closes that gap. In Asia, companies are starting to realize the importance of corporate communication in all areas (external and internal corporate communication, crisis communication (Example: TEPCO) and political communication / government relations / lobbying). This is triggered not only by the recent high profile and success of targeted (political) communication in the USA, but also by the notorious export-orientation of many Asian companies and their increasingly multi-national orientation (fostered by M&A and foreign investments). In addition, the increasing importance of online communication and digital/social media is an important reason why existing guid Elektronisches Buch on corporate communication have to be reassessed and modernized. This book focuses on all major aspects of modern corporate communication, including online / digital communication, and covers new developments, such as 'fake news', 'post-truths', 'political correctness', 'the art of bridging' and other new phenomena in the world of (corporate) communication. Simple cartoon-style drawings supplement the text in order to facilitate reading and learning. Corporate communication professional, as well as students and professors in business/management programs, will be given tools to effectively and successfully plan and implement corporate communication strategies and tactics in all major areas. 692 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book uses the spiral shape as a key to a multitude of strange and seemingly disparate stories about art, nature, science, mathematics, and the human endeavour. In a way, the book is itself organized as a spiral, with almost disconnected chapters circling around and closing in on the common theme. A particular strength of the book is its extremely cross-disciplinary nature - everything is fun, and everything is connected! At the same time, the author puts great emphasis on mathematical and scientific correctness, in contrast, perhaps, with some earlier books on spirals. Subjects include the mathematical properties of spirals, sea shells, sun flowers, Greek architecture, air ships, the history of mathematics, spiral galaxies, the anatomy of the human hand, the art of prehistoric Europe, Alfred Hitchcock, and spider webs, to name a few. 272 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This beautifully illustrated book explains how water influences our culture; the many phases of water from ice to gas, its simple but still so unpredictable nature, and water resources on Earth; how water is distributed in ice, oceans, rivers, lakes and more; how it creates transport possibilities; how it produces and absorbs energy; how it is constantly changing the surface of the Earth; how there is enough water on Earth, yet sometimes there is too much or too little; the role of water in recreation; and how water supplies us with food in a myriad of ways. Few things are like water - a subtle and thought-provoking element, so simple and yet complicated, so conspicuous yet unpredictable, so soft and peaceful yet powerful, and so universal yet unique. Water is by far the world's largest commodity. Though it belongs to all of us, it is still not shared by all. We very seldom take time to reflect on the many ways that water affects our lives. Though it would be too ambitious to believe that it claims all the meanings and roles of water, this book, by showcasing water's versatility and by sharing the experiences and insights gained by the two authors during their many travels across the globe, contributes to a greater awareness of the most important substance in our society - water. The book offers an insightful and intriguing read for anyone interested in science and culture related to water, from laymen to students and decision-makers. 286 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book investigates how strategic marketing is influencing organizations' innovation performance. It presents a structured study conducted on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to identify the correlation between innovation and strategic marketing in both Indian manufacturing and service organizations. Strategic marketing, which achieves excellence in organizations, is at the heart of improving productivity, profitability and market sustainability, while also supplying organizations a much sought-after competitive advantage. It has been observed that strategic marketing can significantly help any manufacturing firm to attain the required level of growth, and can specifically be used by Indian firms as a means of deriving differential advantages. Indian organizations that pursue more traditional approaches to strategy are now feeling the intense market pressure to modify their policy with respect to quality. The result has been a shift to 'Strategy with Innovation'. As market competition has again increased, providing quality products and services alone is no longer sufficient; companies are additionally expected to provide products with a touch of innovation to attract customers. This calls for innovation in terms of products, processes, technologies, systems and practically every other area of an organization, which can only be achieved by combining strategies and innovation.This book identifies the variables of strategic marketing that can help companies significantly boost their innovation performance, making it a valuable resource for students, researchers, professionals and policymakers alike. 131 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book (Volume II) brings together lectures given by eminent educationalists between 1983 and 2008 in memory of the work of Ruth Wong, an influential figure in the field of education in the 1970s and early 1980s. Addressing learning, schooling, teaching, teacher education, educational research and policy innovations, it is a must-read for educators, education leaders and policy makers interested in making education more uplifting and successful for the next generation of learners. 125 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is a quarterly forecast and analysis report on the Chinese economy. It is published twice a year and presents ongoing results from the 'China Quarterly Macroeconomic Model (CQMM),' a research project at the Center for Macroeconomic Research (CMR) at Xiamen University. Based on the CQMM model, the research team forecast major macroeconomic indicators for the next 8 quarters, including the rate of GDP growth, the CPI, fixed-asset investment, resident consumption and foreign trade. At the same time it focuses on simulation of current macroeconomic policies in China. In addition to helping readers understand China's economic trend and policy guide, this book has three main goals: to help readers understand China's economic performance; to forecast the main macroeconomic indicators for the next 8 quarters; and to simulate the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies. 61 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book describes the cognitive and interpersonal effects of group model building, and presents empirical research on what group model building achieves and how. Further, it proposes an integrated causal mechanism for the effects on participants. There have been multiple previous attempts at explaining the effects of group model building on participants, and this book integrates these various theories for the first time.The causal mechanisms described here suggest a variety of design elements that should be included in group model building practice. For example, practitioners typically try to reduce complexity for clients, to make the process feel more accessible. In contrast, the findings presented here suggest that the very act of muddling through complexity increases participants' affective commitment to the group and the decisions made.The book also describes implications for theory and practice. System dynamics has traditionally been interested in using technical modeling processes to make policy recommendations. Group model building demonstrates that these same techniques also have implications for group decision making as a method for negotiating agreement. The book argues for the value of group model building as a mediating or negotiating tool, rather than merely a positivist tool for technical problems. 138 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The main focus of this book is on ruptured uterus which is a potentially fatal complication during pregnancy. The risk factors and clinical presentation of ruptured uterus vary widely. This book gives an insight into the various possible causes and their presentation. This book aims to sensitize the practicing obstetricians about the need for high level of cautionin the deceptive scenarios. The readers would be able to translate the clinical experience and shelf knowledge into every day practice. The cases with similar risks and background will be compiled together under one chapter and at the end of each chapter key points will be highlighted. 66 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The book initially presents the basic concepts related to the Semantic Web, Semantic Web-based applications, Web applications, Ontology,and their qualitative aspects. It then presents the evaluation of the structuralquality of modular ontologies andreview onmetrics for the evaluation of ontology behavior.Further, the book discusses the qualitative evaluation of Semantic Web applications deployed on the Cloud, helping readers understand, maintain, integrate, and reuse these applications. The book offers software engineers in general and ontology engineers in particular a single, valuable guide to help them find the best modularization on the basis of goodness of (re) use. It can also serve as an initial source of information for starting research in this domain. 93 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is a quarterly forecast and analysis report on the Chinese economy. It is published twice a year and presents ongoing results from the 'China Quarterly Macroeconomic Model (CQMM),' a research project at the Center for Macroeconomic Research (CMR) at Xiamen University. Based on the CQMM model, the research team forecast major macroeconomic indicators for the next 8 quarters, including the rate of GDP growth, the CPI, fixed-asset investment, resident consumption and foreign trade. At the same time it focuses on simulation of current macroeconomic policies in China. In addition to helping readers understand China's economic trend and policy guide, this book has three main goals: to help readers understand China's economic performance; to forecast the main macroeconomic indicators for the next 8 quarters; and to simulate the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies. 112 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book discusses the Chinese nation's spiritual home in a modern context. It analyzes various aspects of the problem, including background, theory, history, recent advances and solutions, from a global view. In discussing the development of Chinese national spirit, it also refers to western experiences of national culture and national spirit. To build the spiritual home, the traditional culture, values and faith need to be learned, analyzed and adapted to the modern context. Doing so helps to maintain the traditional characteristics while at the same time reinforcing new characteristics. This model can be applied to many countries around the globe. Additionally, the author points out that in the construction of Chinese national spirit it is also important to consider positive elements from different cultures in other nations. 220 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Through the analysis of Indian metropolises, this volume critiques the reality of 'entrepreneurial governance' that has emerged as a major urban development practice in cities of the global south. In neoliberal India, the use of management rhetoric in urban development has rapidly led to the growth of urban/peri-urban structures and spaces that are supposedly 'smart' and 'entrepreneurial', which are networked within global systems of production, finance, technology/ telecommunication, culture and politics.Through diverse empirical evidence from India, particularly from the metropolises of New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, this volume focuses on the fallout of the deployment of 'entrepreneurial governance' practices at national, state and local levels. Foremost, it explores the impact of specific institutional and organizational reorientations and changing urban spatial landscapes at the local level; secondly, it discusses the socio-economic implications of rollback of the state and involvement of non-state organizations in governance as part of urban entrepreneurialism; further, it discusses the regulation of urban development projects by local governments and the impact of 'entrepreneurial governance' for citizens, often resulting in social exclusion and inequality. Finally, it explores the inherent contradictions within political and institutional landscapes that can be described as 'entrepreneurial'. Written by scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, and focusing on different facets of entrepreneurial governance in Indian metropolises, this book is of interest to researchers of urban politics, public policy, urban sociology, anthropology, urban geography, planning and architecture. 240 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book analyses the metaphysical and poetical notions and the processes of 'rooting into a culture' and 'routing out of a culture' in the context of South Asian diaspora in Australia. These diasporic narratives are often characterised by bifurcated and dislocated identities that exist in a liminal space, in-between two identities, two cultures, and two histories. Yet, 'home' remains, through acts of imagination, remembering and re-creation, an important reference point. The author argues that a clearer notion of politics of location is required to distinguish between the different kinds of 'dislocation' the immigrants suffer, both psychologically and sociologically. The diaspora is Australia is an under-studied topic, and this book fills a lacuna in South Asian diaspora studies by analysing and calling upon a wide range of works in this field from historical, anthropological, sociological, cultural, and literary studies. 200 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book explores the adaptation processes of German-speaking immigrants and their descendants into New Zealand's predominantly Anglophone society. Specifically, it considers the experiences and long-term consequences of the migration of more affluent European immigrants to New Zealand, where migration was predominantly a lifestyle choice. A comprehensive four-year study adds insights into the social integration and assimilation processes of the immigrants and their descendants, including intercultural marriage behaviour, work and educational achievements and community enrichments. It also considers the institutional and social reception of these immigrants and their children in New Zealand, and the effects these have had on them. Nexus Analysis reveals that strong motives for lifestyle migration enabled the immigrants to cope with unexpected institutional setbacks in New Zealand, and finds both shifts and maintenance in language and culture, and explores feelings of belonging and identities across three generations. 284 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book offers one of the first detailed anthropological studies of emergent ecotopianism in urban contexts. Engaging directly with debates on urbanisation, sustainability and utopia, it presents two detailed ethnographic case studies of inner urban Australian eco-communities in Adelaide and Melbourne. These novel responses to the ecological crisis - real social laboratories that attempt to manifest a vision of the 'eco-city' in microcosm - offer substantial new insights into the concept and creation of sustainable urban communities, their attempts to cultivate ways of living that are socially and ecologically nourishing, and their often fraught relationship to the capitalist city beyond. These studies also suggest the opportunities and limitations of moving beyond demonstration projects towards wider urban transformation, as well as exposing the problems of accessibility and affordability that thwart further urban eco-interventions and the ways that existing projects can exacerbate issues of gentrification and privilege in a socially polarised city. Amidst the challenges of the capitalist city, climate change and ecological crisis, this book offers vital lessons on the potential of urban sustainability in future cities. 236 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book investigates the implementation of the education policy for migrant children, arguing that it has been selectively implemented: while some policy themes have been effectively implemented, others have not. Four factors underlie this selective implementation: specificity of policy goals, funding for education, local incentives in an exam-oriented education system, and intergroup relationships between migrant and urban children. 115 pp. Englisch. …

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The book examines the extent to which the sustained population growth of Australia's heartland regional centres has come at the expense of demographic decline in their own hinterlands, and, ultimately, of their entire regions. It presents a longitudinal study, over the period 1947-2011, of the extensive functional regions centred on six rapidly growing non-metropolitan cities in south-eastern Australia, emphasising rapid change since 1981. The selected cities are dominantly service centres in either inland or remote coastal agricultural settings. The book shows how intensified age-specific migration and structural ageing arising from macro-economic reforms in the 1980s fundamentally changed the economic and demographic landscapes of the case study regions. It traces the demographic consequences of the change from a relative balance between central city, minor urban centres and dispersed rural population within each functional region in 1947, to one of extreme central city dominance by 2011, and examines the long-term implications of these changes for regional policy. The book constitutes the first in-depth longitudinal study over the entire post-WWII period of a varied group of Australian regional cities and their hinterlands, defined in terms of functional regions. It employs a novel set of indices which combine numerical and visual expression to measure the structural ageing process. 136 pp. Englisch. …

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents a general conceptual framework to translate principles of system science and engineering to service design. Services are co-created immaterial, heterogeneous, and perishable state changes. A service system includes the intended benefit to the customer and the structure and processes that accomplish this benefit. The primary focus is on the part of the service system that can reproduce such processes, called here a Service Machine, and methodological guidelines on how to analyze and design them. While the benefit and the process are designed based on the domain knowledge of each respective field, service production systems have common properties. The Service Machine is a metaphor that elicits the fundamental characteristics of service systems that do something efficiently, quickly, or repeatedly for a defined end. A machine is an artifact designed for a purpose, has several parts, such as inputs, energy flows, processors, connectors, and motors assembled as per design specifications. In case of service machine, the components are various contracts assembled on contractual frames. The book discusses Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Departments (ED) as cases. They illustrate that service machines need to be structured to adapt to the constraints of the served market acknowledging the fact that services are co-created through the integration of producers' and customers' resources. This book is highly recommended for those who are interested in understanding the fundamental concepts of designing service machines. 100 pp. Englisch. …

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book discusses the experiences of cooperative enterprises in India that have been operated by or influenced to a significant extent by trade unions. It describes the origins of these movements in India presenting a political-strategic view of their development and, in some cases, their decline. The book also presents case studies of groundbreaking social experiments conducted in India in which trade unions have formed cooperatives for production and service provision for the working class movement. It also offers lessons learned from previous social experiments and explains how to use them for future strategies in the working class movement by using primary research undertaken on trade union cooperatives in India. With globalization often given as a reason for the decline of trade unions and transformative social movements, this book demonstrates that where movements declined it was due to their own internal weaknesses, while presenting successful case studies of movements which have shown resilience in the face of globalization. The book also gives an extensive criticism of India's Self Employed Women's Association as a model of a depoliticized trade union cooperative. The main lesson of this book is that cooperatives represent a viable strategy to build working class power in the 21st century in India, and elsewhere. 160 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This study analyzes the impact of the revision of the Indian Patent Act (2005) on the Indian pharmaceutical industry, which has been achieving healthy growth over the past 30 to 40 years or more. As of 2005, the Indian pharmaceutical industry was ranked as No. 4 in the world in terms of volume and 15th in terms of value. WTO/TRIPS required India to revise its patent law, however, and to introduce product patents in the pharmaceutical field.Many not only in India but also in the worldhad argued that the local pharmaceutical industry could deteriorate once a strong patent law (such as a product patent) was introduced. However, the Indian pharmaceutical industry has continued to develop rapidly even after the revision of the patent law in 2005. This present study started with efforts to work out the reason the Indian pharmaceutical industry successfully expanded even after the introduction of product patents. The study found that a unique article (the so-called '3-d') inserted in the Patent Act 2005 might have played a role in diminishing or preventing a negative impact from the introduction of a strong patent system, such as a product patents. The study also considers that a change of the business model adopted by the Indian pharmaceutical industry might have contributed to diminishing the effect of the negative impact from the introduction of a strong patent law. This study also covers recent developments in India regarding intellectual property rights and the pharmaceutical industry. One is India's very first compulsory license granted to an Indian pharmaceutical company, Natco, against the large German pharmaceutical firm Bayer; and the second is the Supreme Court decision on Novartis' Gleevec. The study analyzes the fundamental problems that caused these two events: access to medicine and gaps in the concept of intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry. As possible solutions to these fundamental issues, this book explores the ideas of voluntary licensing and tiered pricing. 128 pp. Englisch.…

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This open access book presents a comprehensive analysis of biofuel use strategies from an interdisciplinary perspective using sustainability science. This interdisciplinary perspective (social science-natural science) means that the strategies and policy options proposed will have significant impacts on the economy and society alike. Biofuels are expected to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, revitalizing economies in agricultural communities and alleviating poverty. However, despite these anticipated benefits, international organizations such as the FAO, OECD and UN have published reports expressing concerns that biofuel promotion may lead to deforestation, water pollution and water shortages. The impacts of biofuel use are extensive, cross-sectoral and complex, and as such, comprehensive analyses are required in order to assess the extent to which biofuels can contribute to sustainable societies. Applying interdisciplinary sustainability science concepts and methodologies, the book helps to enhance the establishment of a sustainable society as well as the development of appropriate responses to a global need for urgent action on current issues related to biofuels. 265 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This is the first book to provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to a newly developed smoothing technique using asymmetric kernel functions. Further, it discusses the statistical properties of estimators and test statistics using asymmetric kernels. The topics addressed include the bias-variance tradeoff, smoothing parameter choices, achieving rate improvements with bias reduction techniques, and estimation with weakly dependent data. Further, the large- and finite-sample properties of estimators and test statistics smoothed by asymmetric kernels are compared with those smoothed by symmetric kernels. Lastly, the book addresses the applications of asymmetric kernel estimation and testing to various forms of nonnegative economic and financial data. Until recently, the most popularly chosen nonparametric methods used symmetric kernel functions to estimate probability density functions of symmetric distributions with unbounded support. Yet many types of economic and financial data are nonnegative and violate the presumed conditions of conventional methods. Examples include incomes, wages, short-term interest rates, and insurance claims. Such observations are often concentrated near the boundary and have long tails with sparse data. Smoothing with asymmetric kernel functions has increasingly gained attention, because the approach successfully addresses the issues arising from distributions that have natural boundaries at the origin and heavy positive skewness. Offering an overview of recently developed kernel methods, complemented by intuitive explanations and mathematical proofs, this book is highly recommended to all readers seeking an in-depth and up-to-date guide to nonparametric estimation methods employing asymmetric kernel smoothing. 110 pp. Englisch.…

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Key definitions and results in symmetric spaces, particularly Lp, Lorentz, Marcinkiewicz and Orlicz spaces are emphasized in this textbook. A comprehensive overview of the Lorentz, Marcinkiewicz and Orlicz spaces is presented based on concepts and results of symmetric spaces. Scientists and researchers will find the application of linear operators, ergodic theory, harmonic analysis and mathematical physics noteworthy and useful.This book is intended for graduate students and researchers in mathematics and may be used as a general reference for the theory of functions, measure theory, and functional analysis. This self-contained text is presented in four parts totaling seventeen chapters to correspond with a one-semester lecture course. Each of the four parts begins with an overview and is subsequently divided into chapters, each of which concludes with exercises and notes. A chapter called 'Complements' is included at the end of the text as supplementary materialto assist students with independent work. 280 pp. Englisch.…