springer netherlands aug 1997 (58 risultati)

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In t.lw fHll of !!)!)2, Professor Dr. M. Alt.ar, chairman of tIw newly established dppartnwnt or Managenwnt. wit.h Comput.er Science at thp Homanian -American Univprsity in Bucharest (a private univprsil.y), inl.roducod in t.he curriculum a course on DiffenHltial Equations and Optimal Cont.rol, asking lIS to teach such course. It was an inter8sting challengo, since for t.Iw first tim8 wo had to t8ach such mathemaLical course for st.udents with economic background and interosts. It was a natural idea to sl.m't by looking at pconomic models which were described by differpntial equations and for which problems in (pcision making dir! ariso. Since many or such models were r!escribed in discret.e timp, wp elecüled to elpvolop in parallel t.he theory of differential equations anel thaI, of discrete-timo systpms aur! also control theory in continuous and discrete time. Tlw jll'eSPlü book is t.he result of our tpaehing px!wripnce wit.h this courge. It is an enlargüd version of t.he actllal lectuf(~s where, depending on t.he background of tho St.lI(('Ilts, not all proofs could be given in detail. We would like to express our grat.itude to tlw Board of the Romanian - American University, personally 1.0 the Rector, Professor Dr. Ion Smedpscu, for support, encouragement and readinpss to accept advancnd ideas in tho curriculum. fhe authors express t.heir warmest thanks 1.0 Mrs. Monica Stan . Necula for tho oxcellent procC'ssing of t.he manuscript.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 380 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -During the last years international cooperation on environmental issues has increased, especially after UNCED in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The efforts made by the United Nations or groups of states to solve more or less global problems through negotiation has brought up a number of questions of interest for the research community. How are inter national agreements achieved Which roles do governments, ministries, diplomats, researchers, experts and NGO's play Is the negotiation process of today effective or would we get better results through regional, national or local actions How should we understand the interplay between the different societal levels where environmental 'governance' is created And what constitutes a successful implementation of a conven tion or bilateral agreement in practical policy The Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research (FRN) has since the early 1980's initiatated and funded environmental research, and in particular for research problems with a focus on the interplay between humans~society-natural resources. In order to get a picture of on-going research with relevance to an understanding of inter national environmental governance, and to stimulate the research com munity towards addressing new issues, the FRN arranged an inter national workshop for August 17-19, 1994 at Krusenberg Manor, near Uppsala. The workshop could also be seen in the context of FRN's long term interest in the issues of 'the Human Dimensions of Global Environ mental Change', including the activities of the Human Dimensions Programme (now IHDP) at the international level.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -How ought we evaluate the individual and collective actions on which the existence, numbers and identities of future people depend In the briefest of terms, this question poses what is addressed here as the problem of contingent future persons, and as such it poses relatively novel challenges for philosophical and theological ethicists. For though it may be counter-intuitive, it seems that those contingent future persons who are actually brought into existence by such actions cannot benefit from or be harmed by these actions in any conventional sense of the terms. This intriguing problem was defined almost three decades ago by Jan Narveson [2], and to date its implications have been explored most exhaustively by Derek Parfit [3] and David Heyd [1]. Nevertheless, as yet there is simply no consensus on how we ought to evaluate such actions or, indeed, on whether we can. Still, the pursuit of a solution to the problem has been interestingly employed by moral philosophers to press the limits of ethics and to urge a reconsideration of the nature and source of value at its most fundamental level. It is thus proving to be a very fruitful investigation, with far-reaching theoretical and practical implications.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 228 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -On January 22, 1990, the late John Bell held at CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics), Geneva a seminar organized by the Center of Quantum Philosophy, that at this time was an association of scientists interested in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this seminar Bell presented once again his famous theorem. Thereafter a discussion took place in which not only physical but also highly speculative epistemological and philosophical questions were vividly debated. The list of topics included: assumption of free will in Bell's theorem, the understanding of mind, the relationship between the mathematical and the physical world, the existence of unobservable causes and the limits of human knowledge in mathematics and physics. Encouraged by this stimulating discussion some of the participants decided to found an Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies (lIS) to promote philosoph ical and interdisciplinary reflection on the advances of science. Meanwhile the lIS has associated its activities with the Swiss foundation, Fondation du Leman, and the Dutch foundation, Stichting Instudo, registered in Geneva and Amsterdam, respectively. With its activities the lIS intends to strengthen the unity between the professional activities in science and the reflection on fun damental philosophical questions. In addition the interdisciplinary approach is expected to give a contribution to the progress of science and the socio economic development. At present three working groups are active within the lIS, i. e. : - the Center for Quantum Philosophy, - the Wealth Creation and Sustainable Development Group, - the Neural Science Group.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 248 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The subject of this book is the first person in thought and language. The main question concerns what we mean when we say 'J'. Related to it are questions about what kinds of self-consciousness and self-knowledge are needed in order for us to have the capacity to talk about ourselves. The emphasis is on theories of meaning and reference for 'J', but a fair amount of space is devoted to 'I' -thoughts and the role of the concept of the self in cognition. The purpose is to give a picture of how we think and talk about ourselves in a wide range of circumstances. The topic has been discussed in numerous articles during the last decades, but rarely in the form of a monograph. I felt the need for a book of this kind while working on my dissertation. The manuscript is the result of many years of reflection on the self and indexicals. Some of the theories that I advance have developed as a result of my teaching an undergraduate course in the philosophy of language the last couple of years.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Data fusion or information fusion are names which have been primarily assigned to military-oriented problems. In military applications, typical data fusion problems are: multisensor, multitarget detection, object identification, tracking, threat assessment, mission assessment and mission planning, among many others. However, it is clear that the basic underlying concepts underlying such fusion procedures can often be used in nonmilitary applications as well. The purpose of this book is twofold: First, to point out present gaps in the way data fusion problems are conceptually treated. Second, to address this issue by exhibiting mathematical tools which treat combination of evidence in the presence of uncertainty in a more systematic and comprehensive way. These techniques are based essentially on two novel ideas relating to probability theory: the newly developed fields of random set theory and conditional and relational event algebra.This volume is intended to be both an update on research progress on data fusion and an introduction to potentially powerful new techniques: fuzzy logic, random set theory, and conditional and relational event algebra.Audience: This volume can be used as a reference book for researchers and practitioners in data fusion or expert systems theory, or for graduate students as text for a research seminar or graduate level course.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 524 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Kantianism, Postmodernism and Critical Legal Thought presents a challenging alternative theory of legal philosophy. The central thesis of the book suggests an accommodation between three of the most influential contemporary theories of law, Kantianism, postmodernism and critical legal thought. In doing so, it further suggests that the often perceived distance between these theories of law disguises a common intellectual foundation. This foundation lies in the work of Immanuel Kant.Kantianism, Postmodernism and Critical Legal Thought presents an intellectual history of critical legal thinking, beginning with Kant, and then proceeding through philosphers and legal theorists as diverse as Heidegger and Arendt, Foucault and Derrida, Rorty and Rawls, and Unger and Dworkin. Ultimately, it will be suggested that each of these philosophers is writing within a common intellectual tradition, and that by concentrating on the commonality of this tradition, contemporary legal theory can better appreciate the reconstructive potential of the critical legal project.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 184 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The origin of granite has for long fascinated geologists though serious debate on the topic may be said to date from a famous meeting of the Geological Society of France in 1847. My own introduction to the subject began exactly one hundred years later when, in an interview with Profes sor H. H. Read, I entered his study as an amateur fossil collector and left it as a committed granite petrologist - after just ten minutes! I can hardly aspire to convert my reader in so dramatic a way, yet this book is an attempt, however inadequate, to pass on the enthusiasm that I inherited, and which has been reinforced by innumerable discussions on the outcrop with granitologists of many nationalities and of many shades of opinion. Since the 1960s, interest in granites has been greatly stimulated by the thesis that granites image their source rocks in the inaccessible deep crust, and that their diversity is the result of varying global tectonic context. So great a body of new data and new ideas has accumulated that my attempt to review the whole field of granite studies must carry with it a possible charge of arrogance, especially as I have adopted the teaching device of presenting the material from a personal point of view with its thinly disguised prejudices.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 408 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book introduces the general principles of reaction equilibria and kinetics involved in marine geochemical cycles. The major electrolytes dramatically affect the rates and equilibria of the chemical reactions in the sea. In order to understand these interactions, it is necessary to have a detailed knowledge of the major, minor and trace chemical components.This volume is also focused on the development and applications of analytical techniques for accurate determination and speciation in seawater, and on the effect of pollution on the marine environment, since small quantities of other elements may have a significant influence on global chemical cycling.Audience: This book is of value for marine chemists, biogeochemists, ecologists, oceanographers, environmental engineers and analytical chemists.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 420 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This study is a revised version ofa book, published in February 1990 under the same title, as my Ph.D. thesis at the University of Stockholm. Revision of an earlier work poses specific problems, some of which deserve mentioning. After the appearance of the first version of this book new literature on related subjects and a new version of the principal HusserI text involved in the discussion have appeared. The newer literature contains both accounts of Twardowski's thought and its relations to HusserI's philosophy, though without referring to my study from 1990, largely because the texts concerned were con ceived parallell to it, though published later, or independently of it. It would seem anachronistic, in this situation, to enter into new and ex tensive discussions with the authors of this literature. The choice made here has been to update the original study, adding references to texts published after my study, and to take account of points of views expressed. I have retained the major part of the basic information giv en in the 1990 version, although some of it might now be more famil iar to interested students than it was in 1990.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 276 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Qualitative reasoning about space and time - a reasoning at the human level - promises to become a fundamental aspect of future systems that will accompany us in daily activity.The aim of Spatial and Temporal Reasoning is to give a picture of current research in this area focusing on both representational and computational issues. The picture emphasizes some major lines of development in this multifaceted, constantly growing area. The material in the book also shows some common ground and a novel combination of spatial and temporal aspects of qualitative reasoning.Part I presents the overall scene. The chapter by Laure Vieu is on the state of the art in spatial representation and reasoning, and that by Alfonso Gerevini gives a similar survey on research in temporal reasoning. The specific contributions to these areas are then grouped in the two main parts. In Part II, Roberto Casati and Achille Varzi examine the ontological status of spatial entities; Anthony Cohn, Brandon Bennett, John Gooday, and Nicholas Gotts present a detailed theory of reasoning with qualitative relations about regions; Andrew Frank discusses the spatial needs of geographical information systems; and Annette Herskovits focuses on the linguistic expression of spatial relations. In Part III, James Allen and George Ferguson describe an interval temporal logic for the representation of actions and events; Drew McDermott presents an efficient way of predicting the outcome of plan execution; and Erik Sandewall introduces a semantics based on transitions for assessing theories of action and change. In Part IV, Antony Galton's chapter stands clearly between the two areas of space and time and outlines the main coordinates of an integrated approach.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 418 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Axiomatic Formal Ontology is a fairly comprehensive systematic treatise on general metaphysics. The axiomatic method is applied throughout the book. Its main theme is the construction of a general non-set-theoretical theory of intensional entities. Other important matters discussed are the metaphysics of modality, the nature of actual existence, mereology and the taxonomy of entities.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 412 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Papers presented at a symposium on philosophy and medicine at the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1974 were published in the inaugural volume of this series. To help celebrate more than 20 years of extraordinary success with the series, another symposium was convened in Galveston in 1995. The convenors asked the participants these questions: In what ways and to what ends have academic humanists and medical scientists and practitioners become serious conversation partners in recent years How have their dialogues been shaped by prevailing social views, political philosophies, academic habits, professional mores, and public pressures What have been the key concepts and questions of these dialogues Have the dialogues made any appreciable intellectual or social difference Have they improved the care of the sick Authors respond from a variety of theoretical perspectives in the humanities. They also articulate conceptions of philosophy of medicine and bioethics from various practice experiences, and bring critical attention to aspects of the contemporary health policy.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 364 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Feminism, Science, and the Philosophy of Science brings together original essays by both feminist and mainstream philosophers of science that examine issues at the intersections of feminism, science, and the philosophy of science. Contributors explore parallels and tensions between feminist approaches to science and other approaches in the philosophy of science and more general science studies. In so doing, they explore notions at the heart of the philosophy of science, including the nature of objectivity, truth, evidence, cognitive agency, scientific method, and the relationship between science and values.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 340 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This is the first Supplementary volume to Kluwer's highly acclaimed Encyclopaedia of Mathematics. This additional volume contains nearly 600 new entries written by experts and covers developments and topics not included in the already published 10-volume set. These entries have been arranged alphabetically throughout. A detailed index is included in the book. This Supplementary volume enhances the existing 10-volume set. Together, these eleven volumes represent the most authoritative, comprehensive up-to-date Encyclopaedia of Mathematics available.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 600 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book is addressed to designers of photodetectors and photodetecting systems, designers of focal plane arrays, charge-coupled devices, specialists in IR technologies, designers of optoelectronic detecting, guiding and tracking systems, systems for IR direction finders, lidars, lightwave communication systems, IR imagers. All these specialists are united by one common purpose: they are all striving to catch the weakest possible optical signal. The most important characteristic of photosensitive devices is their detectivity, which determines the lowest level of optical signal they are able to detect above the noise level. These threshold characteristics define the most important tactical and technical parameters of the entire optoelectronic system, such as its range, resolution, precision. The threshold characteristics of optoelectronic system depend on many of its components; all designers agree, however, that the critically responsible part of the system is the photodetector [1]. By the end of the 1960s the physicists and the engineers were able to overcome many obstacles and to create photodetectors (at least single-element or few-element ones) which covered all the main optical bands (0. 4 . . . 2,2 . . . 3, 3 . . . 5,8 . . . 14 J. . Lm), carried out the detection almost without any loss (the quantum yield being as high as 0. 7 . . . 0. 9), and reduced the noise level to the lowest possible limit.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 484 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -While working on this project I have received institutional support of several kinds, for which I am most grateful. I thank the Institute for Advanced Study at Stanford University, and the Spencer Foundation. for a stimulating environment in which the basic idea of this book was developed. The Max Planck Institute for Psycho linguistics at Nijmegen enabled me to spend several months working on the the manuscript. A National Science Foundation grant to develop Discourse Representation Theory, and a grant from The University Research Institute of the University of Texas, also gave me time to pursue this project. I thank Helen Aristar-Dry for reading early drafts of the manuscript, Osten Dahl for penetrating remarks on a preliminary version, and my collaborator Gilbert Rappaport for relentless comments and questions throughout. People with whom I have worked on particular languages are mentioned in the relevant chapters. lowe a special debt of gratitude to the members of my graduate seminar on aspect in the spring of 1990: they raised many questions of importance which made a real differ ence to the final form of the theory. I have benefitted from presenting parts of this material publicly, including colloquia at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at San Diego, the University of Pennsylvania, Rice University, the University of Texas, and University of Tel Aviv. I thank Adrienne Diehr and Marjorie Troutner for their efficient and good-humored help throughout the work on the first edition.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 378 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book develops a quantitative structured methodology for managing the development of new products for highly competitive markets. Particular attention has been given to integrating a number of experimental tools and concepts within a common framework including marketing research. Taguchi methods, value benchmarking, value engineering, total quality management, activity based costing, concurrent engineering, statistical quality control, systems engineering, and organization treated today as related but separate tools and concepts. The reader should gain an understanding of how these tools complement each other and when they can be used most effectively to aid product decision making.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 436 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -While working on this project I have received institutional support of several kinds, for which I am most grateful. I thank the Institute for Advanced Study at Stanford University, and the Spencer Foundation. for a stimulating environment in which the basic idea of this book was developed. The Max Planck Institute for Psycho linguistics at Nijmegen enabled me to spend several months working on the the manuscript. A National Science Foundation grant to develop Discourse Representation Theory, and a grant from The University Research Institute of the University of Texas, also gave me time to pursue this project. I thank Helen Aristar-Dry for reading early drafts of the manuscript, Osten Dahl for penetrating remarks on a preliminary version, and my collaborator Gilbert Rappaport for relentless comments and questions throughout. People with whom I have worked on particular languages are mentioned in the relevant chapters. lowe a special debt of gratitude to the members of my graduate seminar on aspect in the spring of 1990: they raised many questions of importance which made a real differ ence to the final form of the theory. I have benefitted from presenting parts of this material publicly, including colloquia at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at San Diego, the University of Pennsylvania, Rice University, the University of Texas, and University of Tel Aviv. I thank Adrienne Diehr and Marjorie Troutner for their efficient and good-humored help throughout the work on the first edition.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 376 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -PREFACE The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the g- ernments of the participating countries, is acomparative study of education in mathematics and the sciences conducted in approximately 50 educational systems on six continents. The goal of TIMSS is to measure student achievement in mathematics and science in participating countries and to assess some of the curricular and classroom factors that are related to student learning in these subjects. The study is intended to provide educators and policy makers with an unpar- leled and multidimensional perspective on mathematics and science curricula; their implem- tation; the nature of student performance in mathematics and science; and the social, econ- ic, and educational context in which these occur. TIMSS focuses on student learning and achievement in mathematics and science at three different age levels, or populations. - Population 1 is defined as all students enrolled in the two adjacent grades that contain the largest proportion of 9-year-old students; - Population 2 is defined as all students enrolled in the two adjacent grades that contain the largest proportion of 13-year-old students; and - Population 3 is defined as all students in their final year of secondary education, incl- ing students in vocational education programs. In addition, Population 3 has two 'specialist' subpopulations: students taking advanced courses in mathematics (mathematics specialists), and students taking advanced courses in physics (physics specialists). 312 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -tests the suitability of using mannitol as an osmoticum during experiments. Pressure probe and SiCSA techniques The expanding maize root tip Use of the cell pressure probe (Htisken et aI. , 1978) and single-cell sampling and analysis (SiCSA; Tomos Individual cells expand to many times their ongl et aI. , 1994) provide an approach to study plant water nal length as they progress from the meristem to the and solute relations at the resolution of the individual mature zone of root tips. The expansion first accel cell. In the case of water relations, the pressure probe erates and then decelerates, stopping at the proximal provides the only technique that measures cell tur end of the expansion zone (Pritchard, 1994). This is gor pressure, and hence turgor adjustment processes, accomplished at constant ceJl turgor (P) and with a loss directly. In some cases, such as the motor cells of pul of osmotic (7l'j) pressure in the order of 15% (wheat: vini or in the stomatal complex, turgor varies between Tomos et aI. , 1989; maize: Pritchard et aI. , 1993; adjacent cells - making analysis at single cell resolu Pritchard and Tomos, 1993). The constant turgor indi tion essential for understanding mechanisms (Irving et cates that changes in cell-wall mechanical properties, aI. , 1994). Correlating turgor pressure measurements rather than driving force, are responsible for the imme with cell expansion rate permits unique measurement diate control of expansion-rate in roots (Pritchard et aI. 168 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -To a certain extent, this book is a translation of Recht, verhaal en werke lijkheid, published by Coutinho (Bussum, 1993). Chapters 1, 5 and 9, however, differ considerably from the original. At the basis of the Dutch book were arguments already submitted in 'Narrative coherence in legal contexts', in C. Faralli and E. Pattaro (eds.), Reason in Law, vol. III., Milano, A. Giuffre Editore, 1988, pp. 159-170; 'Justice, Rights, and Hu man Dignity', in The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice, 7, 1987, pp. 46-65; 'Narrative coherence and the guises of legalism', in P. Nerhot (ed.), Law, Interpretation and Reality, Dordrecht - Boston, Kluwer Aca demic Publishers, 1990, pp. 310-345; 'The Instituting of Brute Facts', in The International Journal for the Semiotics of Law / Revue internationale de semiotique juridique, 4, 1991, pp. 279-308. For chapters 1 and 9 I used the following materials: 'Law is narrative, not literature', in W.l. Witte veen (ed.), Law, Rhetoric and Literature (Special Issue of the Dutch Jour nal for Legal Philosophy and Legal Theory), 23, No.3, 1994, Zwolle, Tjeenk Willink, 1994, pp. 221-227 (with a response by R. Weisberg, pp. 228-229); and 'Seeing Places: On Prepositions in Law', The International Journal for the Semiotics of Law / Revue internationale de semiotique juridique, 6, 1993, pp. 249-270. Chapter 5 was rewritten on the basis of 'The Instituting of Brute Facts'.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 252 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Diamond-based composites, with their advantages of hardness, high Young's modulus and the like, have demonstrated new and unusual features, such as stability to high temperatures and pressure shocks and a large internal surface that can be controlled to offer customised electrical, magnetic and optical properties, leading to efficient filters, absorbents, sensors and other tools for environmental control and monitoring.The current book covers the synthesis of materials, their characterization and properties, trends in high pressure and high temperature technologies, low pressure technologies, basic principles of DBC material science, and future developments in electronics, optics, industrial tools and components, biotechnology, and medicine. Wide band-gap materials are considered, ranging from molecular clusters, nanophase materials, growth, processing and synthesis.The processing of composite based materials can be classified into six basic methods: in situ growth, high pressure/high temperature catalytic conversion; mix and sinter (c-BN plus metal-ceramic polymer mix); direct sintering; direct polymorphic conversion; shock detonation; and SHS sintering. 404 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -ELlA M. LEIBOWITZ Director, Wise Observatory Chair, Scientific Organizing Committee The international symposium on 'Astronomical Time Series' was held at the Tel Aviv University campus in Tel Aviv, from December 30 1996 to January 11997. It was organized in order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Florence and George Wise Observatory (WO) operated by Tel Aviv University. The site of the 1 meter telescope of the observatory is near the town of Mitzpe-Ramon, some 220 km south of Tel Aviv, at the center of the Israeli Negev highland. There were two major reasons for the choice of Time Series as the sub ject matter for our symposium. One is mainly concerned with the subject matter itself, and one is related particularly to the Wise Observatory. There is hardly any doubt that astronomical time series are among the most ancient concepts in human civilization and culture. One can even say that astronomical time series preceeded astronomy itself, as the impression of the day /night cycle on Earth is probably the first and most fundamental effect that impress a. human being, or, in fact, most living creatures on this planet. An echo of this idea. can be heard in the Biblical story of Creation, where the concept of night and day preceeds the creation of the astronomical objects.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 320 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -PREFACE The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the g- ernments of the participating countries, is acomparative study of education in mathematics and the sciences conducted in approximately 50 educational systems on six continents. The goal of TIMSS is to measure student achievement in mathematics and science in participating countries and to assess some of the curricular and classroom factors that are related to student learning in these subjects. The study is intended to provide educators and policy makers with an unpar- leled and multidimensional perspective on mathematics and science curricula; their implem- tation; the nature of student performance in mathematics and science; and the social, econ- ic, and educational context in which these occur. TIMSS focuses on student learning and achievement in mathematics and science at three different age levels, or populations. ¿ Population 1 is defined as all students enrolled in the two adjacent grades that contain the largest proportion of 9-year-old students; ¿ Population 2 is defined as all students enrolled in the two adjacent grades that contain the largest proportion of 13-year-old students; and ¿ Population 3 is defined as all students in their final year of secondary education, incl- ing students in vocational education programs. In addition, Population 3 has two ¿specialist¿ subpopulations: students taking advanced courses in mathematics (mathematics specialists), and students taking advanced courses in physics (physics specialists).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 312 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The 1997 European Conference on Spectroscopy of Biological Molecules (ECSBM) is the seventh in a biennial series of conferences devoted to the applications of molecular spectroscopy to biological molecules and related systems. The interest of these conferences rests mainly on the relationship between the structure and physiological activity of biological molecules and related systems of which these molecular species form part. This volume ofECSBM contains articles prepared by the invited lecturers and those making poster presentations at the seventh ECSBM. The reader will find mainly applications of vibrational spectroscopy to protein structure and dynamics, biomembranes, molecular recognition, nucleic acids and other biomolecules and biological systems containing specific chromophors. Biomedical applications of vibrational spectroscopy are expanding rapidly. On the other hand, a significant number of the papers describe applications of other methods, such as NMR, circular dichroism, optical absorption and fluorescence, X-ray absorption and diffraction and other theoretical methods. One aim has been to achieve a well balanced, critically comparative review of recent progress in the field of biomolecular structure, bonding and dynamics based on applications of the above spectroscopic methods. A great part of the contributions included in this volume are devoted to biomedical and biotechnological applications and provide a broadly based account of recent applicationS in this field. The content of this book has been organized in sections corresponding mainly to the different types of biological molecules investigated. This book includes also another section related to theoretical methods where MO calculations of vibrational frequencies dominate clearly the topic. 680 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This symposium on 'Boron in Soils and Plants' completes a quartet of reviews of the behaviour in soils and plants of four trace elements, copper, manganese, zinc and boron, selected for their importance in agriculture. The series had its genesis in a suggestion from Professor Robin Graham of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute that it would be appropriate in 1981 to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the publication in 1931 of the first definitive evidence for the essentiality of copper in plants. The previous decade had seen a resurgence of interest in copper deficiency and toxicity in agriculture and an expansion of our understanding of the behaviour of copper in soils and plants. We therefore decided to promote a review of our understanding of the behaviour of copper in soils and plants by inviting appropriate authors to prepare reviews of 14 topics for publication in a book and presentation at a Golden Jubilee International Symposium on 'Copper in Soils and Plants'. Posters of current research were also displayed and published. Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia was chosen as the venue because of its then current research on copper, the importance of copper in Western Australian agriculture, and the presence in Perth of many international nutritionists due to the fortuitous scheduling in 1981 of the 'Fourth International Symposium on Trace Element Metabolism in Man and Animals'.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -One of the major problems associated with the disposal of chemical weapons is that the agents have degraded over time, some quite seriously. Detecting and identifying the products of this decomposition are necessary prerequisites to the safe, complete and environmentally benign destruction of stockpiled weapons. The book presents and discusses both basic and novel techniques in a variety of areas of analytical chemistry which are relevant to achieving the ultimate destruction of chemical weapons. Presentations address sample collection and preparation, mass spectrometry, chromatographic techniques, NMR, and air monitoring techniques.The work shows that analytical methods do exist to effectively support the destruction of chemical munitions. While further research is needed, the book provides an excellent baseline for further advances in the field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 372 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -This book is concerned with Intelligent Control methods and applications. The field of intelligent control has been expanded very much during the recent years and a solid body of theoretical and practical results are now available. These results have been obtained through the synergetic fusion of concepts and techniques from a variety of fields such as automatic control, systems science, computer science, neurophysiology and operational research. Intelligent control systems have to perform anthropomorphic tasks fully autonomously or interactively with the human under known or unknown and uncertain environmental conditions. Therefore the basic components of any intelligent control system include cognition, perception, learning, sensing, planning, numeric and symbolic processing, fault detection/repair, reaction, and control action. These components must be linked in a systematic, synergetic and efficient way. Predecessors of intelligent control are adaptive control, self-organizing control, and learning control which are well documented in the literature. Typical application examples of intelligent controls are intelligent robotic systems, intelligent manufacturing systems, intelligent medical systems, and intelligent space teleoperators. Intelligent controllers must employ both quantitative and qualitative information and must be able to cope with severe temporal and spatial variations, in addition to the fundamental task of achieving the desired transient and steady-state performance. Of course the level of intelligence required in each particular application is a matter of discussion between the designers and users. The current literature on intelligent control is increasing, but the information is still available in a sparse and disorganized way.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 588 pp. Englisch.