springer netherlands apr 2011 (71 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume presents the work of researchers at many sites spanning the East African Pliocene. The authors take a broad approach that seeks to compare paleoenvironmental and paleoecological patterns across localities and among various taxonomic groups. This volume aims to synthesize large amounts of faunal data, and to present the evolution of East African vertebrates in the context of environmental and climatic changes during the Pliocene. 376 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume contains the latest developments in the use of iterative methods to block Toeplitz systems. These systems arise in a variety of applications in mathematics, scientific computing, and engineering, such as image processing, numerical differential equations and integral equations, time series analysis, and control theory. Iterative methods such as Krylov subspace methods and multigrid methods are proposed to solve block Toeplitz systems. One of the main advantages of these iterative methods is that the operation cost of solving a large class of mn × mn block Toeplitz systems only requires O (mn log mn) operations.This book is the first book on Toeplitz iterative solvers and it includes recent research results. The author belongs to one of the most important groups in the field of structured matrix computation. The book is accessible to readers with a working knowledge of numerical linear algebra. It should be of interest to everyone who deals with block Toeplitz systems, numerical linear algebra, partial differential equations, ordinary differential equations, image processing, and approximation theory. 232 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The science of wetlands and our understanding of these complex ecosystems have improved considerably. The emergence of multidisciplinary strategies is providing new opportunities and innovative approaches to address issues such as climate change and coastal protection. This book, with contributions from 19 specialists from academia, government, and industry, provides a trans-disciplinary approach to the understanding wetlands science, drawing together a wide range of expertise. Topics covered include the physical aspects that shape different wetlands around the world, as well as wetlands ecology, regulation, policy, and related social and economic issues.Featuring contributions from some of the world's leading wetlands researchers and practitioners, this book provides an invaluable resource for undergraduate and post-graduate training in all aspects of wetlands management, conservation, and construction. It is also a useful auxiliary text for researchers working across disciplines in fields such as wetlands science, law, landscape architecture, environmental engineering, conservation ecology, and related disciplines. 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This volume contains the latest developments in the use of iterative methods to block Toeplitz systems. These systems arise in a variety of applications in mathematics, scientific computing, and engineering, such as image processing, numerical differential equations and integral equations, time series analysis, and control theory. Iterative methods such as Krylov subspace methods and multigrid methods are proposed to solve block Toeplitz systems. One of the main advantages of these iterative methods is that the operation cost of solving a large class of mn × mn block Toeplitz systems only requires O (mn log mn) operations. This book is the first book on Toeplitz iterative solvers and it includes recent research results. The author belongs to one of the most important groups in the field of structured matrix computation. The book is accessible to readers with a working knowledge of numerical linear algebra. It should be of interest to everyone who deals with block Toeplitz systems, numerical linear algebra, partial differential equations, ordinary differential equations, image processing, and approximation theory.Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 232 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This volume presents the work of researchers at many sites spanning the East African Pliocene. The authors take a broad approach that seeks to compare paleoenvironmental and paleoecological patterns across localities and among various taxonomic groups. This volume aims to synthesize large amounts of faunal data, and to present the evolution of East African vertebrates in the context of environmental and climatic changes during the Pliocene.Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 376 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware 296 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book focuses on the academic foundations, trends and traditions of environmental education for sustainable development principally in Chinese contexts. It highlights contexts and case studies that illuminate recent Chinese initiatives. It includes case studies of green schools and reports on recent initiatives in school-based ESD curriculum development programmes in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The book concludes with an overview chapter that points to likely future developments.The assumption underpinning the book is that experiences gained in such a major country as China will be of real interest to geographical and environmental educationists, professional educators and teachers elsewhere. Not only will it generate interest and create greater awareness but also it is hoped that these experiences will provide a platform for scholarly exchange and contribute insights on education policy and curriculum changes across Asian-Pacific communities in an increasingly globalised world. 300 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Susan Groundwater-Smith is one of the most influential voices in the world of educational practitioner inquiry. The convener in Australia of the Coalition of Knowledge Building Schools, she is a staunch advocate of innovative methods of practitioner inquiry with a particular emphasis upon student voice and the use of images in capturing young people's perspectives on their learning experience. So it is more than fitting that this unique text on practitioner inquiry and teacher professional learning is dedicated to her. Rethinking Education Practice Through Reflexive Inquiry is a compilation of essays that explore contemporary issues in practitioner inquiry and action research from the perspective of both university-based and school-based authors. The essays discuss the practical, political and theoretical dimensions of practitioner inquiry, advancing the argument that the adoption of an inquiring approach to practice is both an integral dimension of teachers' work in the modern school as well as critical to effective and authentic professional learning. And the essays draw on the work of Groundwater-Smith to demonstrate the benefits brought to bear on schools, teachers and learners when the complex nature of the relationship between inquiry and practice is understood and acted upon in pursuit of democratic knowledge interests. 280 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Semiring theory stands with a foot in each of two mathematical domains. The first being abstract algebra and the other the fields of applied mathematics such as optimization theory, the theory of discrete-event dynamical systems, automata theory, and formal language theory, as well as from the allied areas of theoretical computer science and theoretical physics. Most important applications of semiring theory in these areas turn out to revolve around the problem of finding the equalizer of a pair of affine maps between two semimodules. In this volume, we chart the state of the art on solving this problem, and present many specific cases of applications.This book is essentially the third part of a trilogy, along with Semirings and their Applications, and Power Algebras over Semirings, both written by the same author and published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1999. While each book can be read independently of the others, to get the full force of the theory and applications one should have access to all three.This work will be of interest to academic and industrial researchers and graduate students. The intent of the book is to bring the applications to the attention of the abstract mathematicians and to make the abstract mathematics available to those who are using these tools in an ad-hoc manner without realizing the full force of the theory. 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Embedded systems have an increasing importance in our everyday lives. The growing complexity of embedded systems and the emerging trend to interconnections between them lead to new challenges. Intelligent solutions are necessary to overcome these challenges and to provide reliable and secure systems to the customer under a strict time and financial budget.Solutions on Embedded Systems documents results of several innovative approaches that provide intelligent solutions in embedded systems. The objective is to present mature approaches, to provide detailed information on the implementation and to discuss the results obtained. 324 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume offers a selection of papers presented at the final meeting of Working Group # 120 'Phaeocystis, major link in the biogeochemical cycling of climate-relevant elements', of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR). It features papers by various top authors in the field, covering topics that reach from the organism level to ecosystem dynamics. It also includes a synthesis of all the presentations of the meeting. 336 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Our book is devoted to the topological fixed point theory both for single-valued and multivalued mappings in locally convex spaces, including its application to boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations (inclusions) and to (multivalued) dynamical systems. It is the first monograph dealing with the topo logical fixed point theory in non-metric spaces. Although the theoretical material was tendentially selected with respect to ap plications, we wished to have a self-consistent text (see the scheme below). There fore, we supplied three appendices concerning almost-periodic and derivo-periodic single-valued {multivalued) functions and (multivalued) fractals. The last topic which is quite new can be also regarded as a contribution to the fixed point theory in hyperspaces. Nevertheless, the reader is assumed to be at least partly famil iar in some related sections with the notions like the Bochner integral, the Au mann multivalued integral, the Arzela-Ascoli lemma, the Gronwall inequality, the Brouwer degree, the Leray-Schauder degree, the topological (covering) dimension, the elemens of homological algebra, . Otherwise, one can use the recommended literature. Hence, in Chapter I, the topological and analytical background is built. Then, in Chapter II (and partly already in Chapter I), topological principles necessary for applications are developed, namely: the fixed point index theory (resp. the topological degree theory), the Lefschetz and the Nielsen theories both in absolute and relative cases, periodic point theorems, topological essentiality, continuation-type theorems. 780 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Climate change and ongoing transformation processes in economy and agriculture will have strong and multiple impacts in the Baltic region. In particular coastal zones face increasing hazards, e.g. due to sea level rise or changes in riverine nutrient loads and eutrophication. These changes also offer a wide range of new opportunities in the Baltic Region. Adaptation measures are needed but require a thorough and spatially differentiated understanding of underlying ecological, economic and social processes. Sixteen contributions by authors from eight countries give a comprehensive overview of these changes, their consequences and practical challenges with focus on coastal zones. Besides risks, the chances and opportunities of changes for the region are addressed and adaptation examples and strategies are given. The practitioners' perspective and their demands are integrated in the various contributions. 312 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The historical and empirical project presented here is grounded in a desire to theorize 'religion-state' relations in the multi-ethnic, multi-religious, secular city-state of Singapore. The core research problematic of this project has emerged out of the confluence of two domains, 'religion, law and bureaucracy' and 'religion and colonial encounters.' This work has two core objectives: one, to articulate the actual points of engagement between institutions of religion and the state, and two, to identify the various processes, mechanisms and strategies through which relations across these spheres are sustained. The thematic foundations of this book rest on disentangling the complex interactions between religious communities, individuals and the various manifestations of the Singapore state, relationships that are framed within a culture of bureaucracy. This is accomplished through a scrutiny of Hindu domains on the island nation-state, from her identity as part of the Straits Settlements to the present day. The empirical and analytical emphases of this book rest on the author's engagement with the realm of Hinduism as it is conceived, structured, framed and practiced within the context of a strong state in Singapore today. Ethnographically,the book focusses on Hindu temple management and the observance of Hindu festivals and processions, enacted within administrative and bureaucratic frames. 304 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Action leadership is a creative, innovative, collaborative and self-developed way to lead. It eschews the hierarchical structure usually associated with leadership and is based instead on the democratic values of freedom, equality, inclusion and self-realization. It take responsibility for, not control over, people through networking and orchestrating human energy towards a holistic outcome that benefits the common interest. Action leaders are passionate people who abide by the motto that 'Learning does not mean to fill a barrel but rather to ignite a flame' in others. And in this time of rapid economic, political, technological, social and ecological changes, action leadership and action leaders are precisely what's needed to improve how people and organizations engage constructively to address the myriad complex issues challenging society at all levels. Action Leadership: Towards a Participatory Paradigm explains and illustrates how action leadership can be developed through participatory action learning and action research (PALAR). It addresses real-life issues by people who choose to work collaboratively towards shared goals while developing their learning, insights, knowledge, people skills and personal relationships through involvement in a PALAR project. The book provides a conceptual framework for action leadership and for the integrative, practical theory of PALAR; and examples of applications in higher education, management education for organization development, and community development. Readers are encouraged to adopt, adapt and further develop the evolving concepts of action leadership and PALAR in a participatory paradigm of learning, research and development. 288 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Geostatistics Rio 2000 includes fifteen contributions, five of which are on applications in petroleum science and ten are on mining geostatistics. These contributions were presented at the 31st International Geological Congress, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 6-17 August, 2000. Stochastic simulation was the key theme of these case studies. A wide range of methods was used: truncated gaussian and plurigaussian, SIS and SGS, boolean methods and multi-point attractors. Audience: The volume will be of value to scientists, researchers, and professionals in geology, mining engineering, petroleum engineering, mathematics and statistics, as well as those working for mining and oil companies. 252 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 296 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This book focuses on the academic foundations, trends and traditions of environmental education for sustainable development principally in Chinese contexts. It highlights contexts and case studies that illuminate recent Chinese initiatives. It includes case studies of green schools and reports on recent initiatives in school-based ESD curriculum development programmes in China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The book concludes with an overview chapter that points to likely future developments. The assumption underpinning the book is that experiences gained in such a major country as China will be of real interest to geographical and environmental educationists, professional educators and teachers elsewhere. Not only will it generate interest and create greater awareness but also it is hoped that these experiences will provide a platform for scholarly exchange and contribute insights on education policy and curriculum changes across Asian-Pacific communities in an increasingly globalised world.Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 300 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Europe is the cradle of the modem international chemical industry. From the middle of the nineteenth century until the outbreak of World War I, the European chemical industry influenced not only the production and control of science and technology, but also made significant contributions towards economic development, as well as bringing about profound changes in working and living enviromnents. It is a highly complex heritage, both rich and threatening, that calls for close scrutinity. Fortunately, a unique opportunity to explore the historical development of the European chemical industry from a variety of novel standpoints, was made possible during 1993 as part of the European Science Foundation (ESF) programme called 'The Evolution of Chemistry in Europe, 1789-1939.' This process of exploration has taken place through three workshops, each dealing with different time periods. The workshop concerned with the period 1850-1914, which corresponds roughly to the so-called Second Industrial Revolution, was held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, on 23-25 March 1995. This volume is the outcome of that workshop. The other workshops dealing with European chemical industry were held in Liege in 1994, covering the First Industrial Revolution period, 1789-1850, and Strasbourg in 1996, covering the period between the two World Wars. 360 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The global food-supply chain is vulnerable to threats from a variety of directions. Hence food security and safety remains a hot topic worldwide in academic research arenas and food industry practices. This book describes efforts from academia, government, and industry to counter food terrorism and to protect the food supply against any threat. In addition, it evaluates the global food supply, production capabilities, and food availability during and after disasters. Articles in the book assess food safety emergencies, and the prevention of, and response to deliberate contamination by microbial or chemical substances. Minimization of health and economic risks following a terrorist act or unintentional contamination is likewise discussed. The book alsoexamines novel preservation techniques, methods to produce safe food products, and other concerns for ensuring a stable and safe food supply. 268 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Integrated studies on the assessment and improvement of soil and water quality have to deal almost inevitably with issues of scale, since the spatial support of measurements, the model calculations and the presentation of results usually vary. This book contains the selected and edited proceedings of a workshop devoted to issues of scale entitled: `Soil and Water Quality at Different Scales', which was held in 1996 in Wageningen. It is intended for environmental researchers, scientists and MSc and PhD students. Part 1 covers current issues and methodologies with scale related soil and water quality research. Part 2 covers agroecological and hydrological case studies in which scale transforms form an important part of the research chain. Part 3 consists of papers focusing on methodologies and up and downscaling. Part 4 contains review papers based on modellers' and statisticians' considerations as well as the papers and posters presented during the workshop. Part 5 consists of short research notes. 344 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Macrocyclic Chemistry: Current Trends and Future Perspectives illustrates essential concepts in this expanding research field covering both basic and applied studies. Written by well-known experts from around the world, the topics of the chapters range from new macrocyclic architectures with different functions and self-assembly processes through to the modeling and dynamics of such systems. The content also reflects on application possibilities in analytical chemistry, separation processes, material preparation and medicine. Thus this book serves as a creative source of research strategies and methodic tools.Providing an excellent overview of the field, this book will bea valuable resource for researchers in industry and academic institutions as well as for teachers of science and graduate students.This book is devoted to the long-standing tradition of the International Symposia on Macrocyclic Chemistry (ISMC) and published to coincide with the 30th meeting, Dresden, Germany. 460 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Glew, John R. (illustratore). This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Chrysophycean algae are a diverse and often abundant group of primarily freshwater phytoplankton, characterized by the endogenous formation of siliceous cysts or stomatocysts (also called statospores or statocysts). Cyst morphology is highly variable, but believed to be species-specific. Recently, cysts have received considerable attention from phycologists and especially paleoecologists who wish to use these indicators for assessments of environmental change. Nonetheless, attempts at using cysts have often been hampered by taxonomic problems. This Atlas dispels some of the mystery surrounding stomatocysts, facilitating the accurate identification of individual cyst morphotypes, and encouraging other workers to begin using these important indicators. The terminology used to describe cysts is outlined in detail, followed by detailed descriptions of cyst morphotypes, following International Statospore Working Group (ISWG) guidelines, complemented by scanning electron and light micrographs, as well as line illustrations. Any available biogeographical and ecological information is also provided. These descriptions will further accelerate the continued effort to link cyst morphotypes to the algae that produce them. For paleoecologists who wish to include stomatocysts in their studies, researchers working with living chrysophycean algae, and those interested in the morphology and ultrastructure of cyst morphotypes. 200 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book describes the author's view of how the mind 'thinks' at various levels of operation. These levels include nonconscious mind (as in spinal/brainstem reflexes and neuroendocrine controls), subconscious mind, and conscious mind. In the attempt to explain conscious mind, there is considerable critique of arguments over whether or not free will is an illusion. Finally, the author summarizes current leading theories for consciousness (Bayesian probability, chaos, and quantum mechanics) and then presents his own theory based on patterns of nerve impulses in circuits that are interlaced coherently into larger networks. 376 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Books about printing written for printers or would-be printers go back over 300 years. The earliest of them were almost exclusively concerned with books; this century, however, there has been more emphasis on other kinds of documents, and particularly their design. But no shift in document production has been more sudden than the one that has happened most recently. ConSequently, the last five years have witnessed a substantial movement away from books written for professionals to ones whose aim is to help would-be authors produce their own documents. The opportunities for authors to do this have been opened up by the advent of desktop publishing (a term coined as recently as 1984). As most exponents of desktop publishing have come to realise, the term is something of a misnomer because the provision of facilities that allow authors to produce their own material for publishing is not quite the same thing as publish ing. Nevertheless, it has been useful in focussing attention on author-produced documents, and what might be described as the democratisation of document production. This book is different from others in the field. Its target audience is the busy scientist engaged in teaching or research who uses computers in the ordinary course of work. The world of scientific publishing is rapidly moving towards the day when journals will expect contributions from authors on disc, or even by direct transfer of data from the author's computer to the output device of an editor via telephone and satellite. 196 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The global food-supply chain is vulnerable to threats from a variety of directions. Hence food security and safety remains a hot topic worldwide in academic research arenas and food industry practices. This book describes efforts from academia, government, and industry to counter food terrorism and to protect the food supply against any threat. In addition, it evaluates the global food supply, production capabilities, and food availability during and after disasters. Articles in the book assess food safety emergencies, and the prevention of, and response to deliberate contamination by microbial or chemical substances. Minimization of health and economic risks following a terrorist act or unintentional contamination is likewise discussed. The book alsoexamines novel preservation techniques, methods to produce safe food products, and other concerns for ensuring a stable and safe food supply. 268 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In the 1960s, it was believed that no more than about 4,000 orang-utans remained in the wild. Consequently, IUCN - The World Conservation Union - declared the ape an endangered species, demanding its world-wide protection. Nevertheless, the orang-utan today faces extinction because it is dependent on a rain-forest habitat that is rapidly being demolished due to human greed, and a growing human population. Rijksen was among the first to make a detailed study of the ape in the wild, emerging as an authority on orang-utan conservation. In the late 1980s he became so alarmed by local rumours of the rapid decline of wild orang-utans that he initiated the study leading to this book. Meijaard conducted the ambitious, island-spanning surveys in Borneo and Sumatra to reveal the ape's whereabouts. This is the story of their findings. It is the first comprehensive study of the ape's distribution and status based on a wealth of first-hand field data, and a frank, disturbing account of a mixture of good intentions, ignorance and greed, spelling doom for our Asian relative. Nevertheless, the authors emphasise that the orang-utan can survive. A realistic plan to save the ape, and with it thousands of unique wild animals and plants, does exist. It is the authors' hope that Our Vanishing Relative, so urgent and eloquent in its description of the deadly net of problems descending over our helpless relative, will awaken attention and empathy in order to safeguard the future of the orang-utan. 480 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents 53 independently reviewed papers which embody the latest advances in the theory, design, control and application of robotic systems, which are intended for a variety of purposes such as manipulation, manufacturing, automation, surgery, locomotion and biomechanics. Methods used include line geometry, quaternion algebra, screw algebra, and linear algebra. These methods are applied to both parallel and serial multi-degree-of-freedom systems. The contributors are recognised authorities in robot kinematics. 512 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Mongolia is an expansive land-locked country, tilted by tectonic forces to the North, that experiences extremes of continental climate. Moisture-carrying wind currents are scarce so that the land has extended highs and lows in its environment. Culturally the people are mostly nomadic, having been sustained for centuries by an economy based on domestic livestock grazing. There is a saying that, `As the noses go, so goes Mongolia', referring to the domesticated grazing noses of sheep, goats, camels, yaks or horses, and wild ungulates such as gazelles. The vast fenceless steppes of Mongolia furnish the vegetation for grazing. With such extremes in climate it is clear that the vegetation must be resilient and dynamic to cope with the dictates of its extremely harsh environments. Pollen profiles from lakes, plant macrofossils and other data over the last 15,000 years show the dynamic nature of Mongolian vegetation. Currently Mongolian society is experiencing much human-driven economic development which increases pressure on its vegetation. The Great Khural Laws of 1995 forcefully addressed such environmental concerns with the expanded establishment of National Reserves and Parks. But continued effort and vigilance must be expended to insure that Mongolian society will continue to be sustained by its vegetation. This book highlights work such as conserving and restoring plant diversity in various ecosystems and makes recommendations for sustaining the vegetation basis of the nomadic Mongolian society. 252 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -A few disorders have some of the same symptoms as schizophrenia including schizoaffective disorders, schizophreniform disorder, schizotypal and schizoid personality disorders, delusional disorder, and autism (schizophrenia spectrum disorders). Since the 2000 there has been significant progress in our understanding of the early presentations, assessment, suspected neuropathology, and treatment of these disorders. Recent technological breakthroughs in basic sciences hold promise for advancing our understanding of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. This collective monograph reviewers recent researches regarding the origins, onset, course, and outcome of schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In particular, this book will be illustrate new developments in terms of conceptual models, and research methodology, genetics and genomics, brain imaging and neurochemical studies, neurophysiology and information processing in schizophrenia spectrum disorders patients. Also will be highlighted new developments in our understanding of the childhood psychosis, prodromal and first-episode states, in treatment and rehabilitation. Thus, the purpose of this book is to provide up-to-date overview of the rapid advances made in the clinical and basic science studies supporting our understanding of the relationship between cerebral processes and clinical, cognitive and other presentations of the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. In addition, this book aims to monitor important research developments, which may be relevant to treatment, and rehabilitation of patients. 512 pp. Englisch.