springer netherlands aug 2008 (19 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Abstract. This introduction sets the scene for the remainder of the book by considering first the international context of widespread concern about the improvement of numeracy skills. This is related to reform movements in the UK, the US and other countries aimed at modernising primary (elementary) school mathematics curricula. A detailed account is given of the National Numeracy Strategy in England, a systemic government-imposed response to concern about standards implemented in 1999/2000. This includes a discussion of the alternative meanings of numeracy. An earlier initiative sponsored by a UK charitable trust reacting to concern about primary numeracy was the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme. This large-scale longitudinal study and linked set of case-study projects, focusing on reasons for low attainment, took place during 1997-2002. This book, and each other in the same series, is based on results of that research. The timescale fortuitously enabled the research team to also report on some effects of the systemic reform in the National Numeracy Strategy. 1. THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT In many countries, there are recurring periods of national concern about the low standards of calculation skills shown by children in primary (elementary) schools. Recently these concerns have become more urgent and more political with the publication of international comparisons of mathematical achievement, first at secondary and more recently at primary level (e. g. Lapointe, Mead et al. 1992; Mullis et al. , 1997). 244 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -A long time has passed since the war act on Cancer declared by former USA president Nixon, almost half a century ago. Today, after so many years of feverish research and uncountable efforts worldwide, the end of the war appears far as ever, whereas the fight is leading researchers to newer and newer battlefronts while frontiers in bioscience are continuously being surpassed.In this scenario, 'The Selfish Cell' is a script record of the most important strategic points gathered during these years of war, with the goal to provide solid ground onto which to step ahead for future assaults against this terrible disease. At the same time, it is an attempt to shift the debate on cancer toward a more peaceful and possibly productive semantic terrain, where to reflect with the aid of superior wisdom to finally get out of that terrible chaos of fight and death dominating our days. In this perspective, 'The selfish cell' becomes an occasion for reflecting the limits of our human selfishness and their consequences on both our social and natural environment. 108 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Advances in Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering includes a set of rigorously reviewed world-class manuscripts addressing and detailing state-of-the-art research projects in the areas of Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Systems Engineering and Sciences.Advances in Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering includes selected papers from the conference proceedings of the International Conference on Systems, Computing Sciences and Software Engineering (SCSS 2007) which was part of the International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information and Systems Sciences and Engineering (CISSE 2007). 612 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -E. Dijkgraaf and R. H. J. M. Gradus 1. 1 Introduction In 2004 Elbert Dijkgraaf nished a PhD-thesis 'Regulating the Dutch waste market' at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. It was interesting that not much is published about the waste market, although it is a very important sector from an economic and environmental viewpoint. In 2006 we were participants at a very interesting conf- ence on Local Government Reform: privatization and public-private collaboration in Barcelona organized by Germa ` Bel. It was interesting to notice that researchers from Spain, Scandinavian countries, the UK and the USA were studying this issue as well. From this we brought forward the idea to publish a book about the waste market. Because of its legal framework we want to focus on Europe. In this chapter we give an introduction to this book. In the next paragraph we present a short overview of the waste collection market. Since 1960 the importance of the waste sector has increased substantially both in the waste streams and the costs of waste collection and treatment. Furthermore, we discuss policy measures to deal with these increases and give an overview of the different measures in - countries. In the last paragraph we present different chapters of our book. 1. 2 Empirical Update of the Waste Collection Market The Dutch case provides a nice example why studying the waste market is int- esting from an economic point of view. 168 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The petroleum age began about 150 years ago. Easily available energy has s- ported major advances in agriculture, industry, transportation, and indeed many diverse activities valued by humans. Now world petroleum and natural gas s- plies have peaked and their supplies will slowly decline over the next 40-50 years until depleted. Although small amounts of petroleum and natural gas will remain underground, it will be energetically and economically impossible to extract. In the United States, coal supplies could be available for as long as 40-50 years, depending on how rapidly coal is utilized as a replacement for petroleum and natural gas. Having been comfortable with the security provided by fossil energy, especially petroleum and natural gas, we appear to be slow to recognize the energy crisis in the U. S. and world. Serious energy conservation and research on viable renewable - ergy technologies are needed. Several renewable energy technologies already exist, but sound research is needed to improve their effectiveness and economics. Most of the renewable energy technologies are in uenced by geographic location and face problems of intermittent energy supply and storage. Most renewable technologies require extensive land; a few researchers have even suggested that one-half of all land biomass could be harvested in order to supply the U. S. with 30% of its liquid fuel! Some optimistic investigations of renewable energy have failed to recognize that only 0. 1% of the solar energy is captured annually in the U. S. 528 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In 1998, my colleague, Forrest Mims, and I began a project to develop inexpensive handheld atmosphere monitoring instruments for the GLOBE Program, an international environmental science and education program that began its operations on Earth Day, 1995. GLOBE's goal was to involve students, teachers, and scientists around the world in authentic partn- ships in which scientists would develop instrumentation and experimental protocols suitable for student use. In return, data collected by students and their teachers would be used by scientists in their research. This kind of collaboration represented a grand vision for science education which had never before been attempted on such a scale, and we embraced this vision with great enthusiasm. Between 1998 and 2006, Forrest Mims and I collaborated on the development of several instruments based on Mims' original concept of using light emitting diodes as spectrally selective detectors of sunlight, which was first published in the peer-reviewed literature in 1992. These instruments have evolved into a set of tools and procedures for monitoring the transmission of sunlight through the atmosphere, and they can be used to learn a great deal about the composition of the atmosphere and the dynamics of the Earth/atmosphere/sun system. If measurements with these instruments are made properly, they have significant scientific value, as well. 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Die vorliegende Arbeit zielt darauf ab, Momente der Husserlschen Phänomenologie hervorzuheben, in denen diese an ihre Grenzen stößt. Der Ausweis dieser Grenzphänomene, die in der Husserl-Literatur bisher noch nicht systematisch untersucht worden sind, steht im Zentrum der Arbeit. Der Autor hat sich systematisch mit phänomenologisch orientierten Autoren zeitgenössischer Philosophie auseinandergesetzt u. a. mit der Absicht, die Fruchtbarkeit der Husserlschen Analysen für die zeitgenössische Philosophie hervorzuheben. 264 pp. Deutsch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Mass spectrometry (MS) along with its hyphenated techniques is capable of high throughput, sensitivity, accuracy and selectivity for the analysis of structure and composition of almost any product. Like in electrophoresis, MS separates mo- cules based on the mass-to-charge ratio. In case of gel electrophoresis (SDS- PAGE), a well-known and efficient bioanalytical technique, proteins bear negative charges but have the same charge density, so proteins are separated according to their size. Similarly, in case of MS analysis, proteins carry the same charge, and are separated by their molecular weight. Unlike SDS-PAGE, however, modern ultra high resolution MS discerns very small mass differences and can resolve and completely identify in a single experiment species of the same nominal mass in complex biological mixtures. Consequently, MS can be used for the structural characterization, identification and sensitive detection of mixtures of biomolecules or for assessing the quality of isolated proteins (purity, integrity, or post-translational modifications, for example), carbohydrates, nucleic acids, drugs, metabolites, pollutants etc. In the post-genome era, MS is continuously developing as one of the most re- able analytical method for elucidating the structure of molecules originating from various biological matrices. The potential of MS for high-sensitive structural a- lyses became unsurpassable after the introduction of electrospray (ESI) and matrix assisted laser/desorption ionization (MALDI) methods, on one hand, and the pos- bility to deduce in detail unknown biopolymer structures by highly accurate mo- cular mass measurement followed by sequencing using dissociation techniques based on multiple stage MS, on the other. 256 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book reports the majority of lectures given during the NATO Advanced Study Institute ASI-982440, which was held at the European Scienti c Institute of Archamps (ESI, Archamps - France) from November 9 to November 21, 2006. The ASI course was structured in two parts, the rst was dedicated to individual imaging techniques while the second is the object of this volume and focused on data modelling and processing and on image archiving and distribution. Courses devoted to nuclear medicine and digital imaging techniques are collected in a c- plementary volume of NATO Science Series entitled 'Physics for Medical Imaging Applications' (ISBN 978-1-4020-5650-5). Every year in autumn ESI organises the European School of Medical Physics, which covers a large spectrum of topics ranging from Medical Imaging to Rad- therapy, over a period of ve weeks. Thanks to the Cooperative Science and Te- nology sub-programme of the NATO Science Division, weeks two and three were replaced this year by the ASI course dedicated to 'Molecular Imaging from Physical Principles to Computer Reconstruction and Practice'. This allowed the participation ofexpertsandstudentsfrom20differentcountries,withdiverseculturalbackground and professional experience (Africa, America, Asia, and Europe). A further positive outcome of NATO ASI participation is the publication of this book, which contains the lectures series contributed by speakers during the second week of the ASI. 304 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Signi cant technological advances have been few and far between in the past approximately one hundred years of soil survey activities. Perhaps one of the most innovative techniques in the history of soil survey was the introduction of aerial photographs as base maps for eld mapping, which replaced the conventional base map laboriously prepared by planetable and alidade. Such a relatively simple idea by today's standards revolutionized soil surveys by vastly increasing the accuracy and ef ciently. Yet, even this innovative approach did not gain universal acceptance immediately and was hampered by a lack of aerial coverage of the world, funds to cover the costs, and in some cases a reluctance by some soil mappers and cartog- phers to change. Digital Soil Mapping (DSM), which is already being used and tested by groups of dedicated and innovative pedologists, is perhaps the next great advancement in delivering soil survey information. However, like many new technologies, it too has yet to gain universal acceptance and is hampered by ignorance on the part of some pedologists and other scientists. DSM is a spatial soil information system created by numerical models that - count for the spatial and temporal variations of soil properties based on soil - formation and related environmental variables (Lagacheric and McBratney, 2007). 472 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Mass spectrometry (MS) along with its hyphenated techniques is capable of high throughput, sensitivity, accuracy and selectivity for the analysis of structure and composition of almost any product. Like in electrophoresis, MS separates mo- cules based on the mass-to-charge ratio. In case of gel electrophoresis (SDS- PAGE), a well-known and efficient bioanalytical technique, proteins bear negative charges but have the same charge density, so proteins are separated according to their size. Similarly, in case of MS analysis, proteins carry the same charge, and are separated by their molecular weight. Unlike SDS-PAGE, however, modern ultra high resolution MS discerns very small mass differences and can resolve and completely identify in a single experiment species of the same nominal mass in complex biological mixtures. Consequently, MS can be used for the structural characterization, identification and sensitive detection of mixtures of biomolecules or for assessing the quality of isolated proteins (purity, integrity, or post-translational modifications, for example), carbohydrates, nucleic acids, drugs, metabolites, pollutants etc. In the post-genome era, MS is continuously developing as one of the most re- able analytical method for elucidating the structure of molecules originating from various biological matrices. The potential of MS for high-sensitive structural a- lyses became unsurpassable after the introduction of electrospray (ESI) and matrix assisted laser/desorption ionization (MALDI) methods, on one hand, and the pos- bility to deduce in detail unknown biopolymer structures by highly accurate mo- cular mass measurement followed by sequencing using dissociation techniques based on multiple stage MS, on the other. 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The state of the Northeast Atlantic fisheries in recent years has highlighted - plementation as the Achilles heel of modern fisheries management: discards and unreported or misreported landings are in many cases recognised to effectively subvert sound conservation goals. Social science literature on fisheries mana- ment has tended to regard the implementation of resource conservation policies mainly as a question of effective enforcement. This literature regards surveillance and penalty as the key mechanism through which fishermen keep to catch restr- tions and loyally report their catches. This book emerged because several years of research on fishermen's compliance had made us uneasy about this rather narrow approach to the problem of implementation. This uneasiness motivated us to widen the approach to the question of implementing conservation policies in the fisheries. Taking Norway as an example, its fishing fleet consists of some 7,000 vessels spread along a coastline of more than 20,000 km, populated by less than 5 million people. The idea of ensuring desirable behaviour through surveillance and - forcement alone is almost absurd in such a context, as the task is impossible by any reasonable means. The Norwegian implementation system has thus had to rely heavily on the incentives provided by the rules and legitimacy created through a century of state/industry collaboration. Different coastal states face very different conditions in terms of solving typical implementation problems such as discards and misreporting. 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book reports the majority of lectures given during the NATO Advanced Study Institute ASI-982440, which was held at the European Scienti c Institute of Archamps (ESI, Archamps - France) from November 9 to November 21, 2006. The ASI course was structured in two parts, the rst was dedicated to individual imaging techniques while the second is the object of this volume and focused on data modelling and processing and on image archiving and distribution. Courses devoted to nuclear medicine and digital imaging techniques are collected in a c- plementary volume of NATO Science Series entitled 'Physics for Medical Imaging Applications' (ISBN 978-1-4020-5650-5). Every year in autumn ESI organises the European School of Medical Physics, which covers a large spectrum of topics ranging from Medical Imaging to Rad- therapy, over a period of ve weeks. Thanks to the Cooperative Science and Te- nology sub-programme of the NATO Science Division, weeks two and three were replaced this year by the ASI course dedicated to 'Molecular Imaging from Physical Principles to Computer Reconstruction and Practice'. This allowed the participation ofexpertsandstudentsfrom20differentcountries,withdiverseculturalbackground and professional experience (Africa, America, Asia, and Europe). A further positive outcome of NATO ASI participation is the publication of this book, which contains the lectures series contributed by speakers during the second week of the ASI. 304 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -2 In China, there are more than 2,759 lakes with surface area greater than 1km , and 2 the total lake area is 91,019km . One-third of these lakes are freshwater lakes, and the majority are situated in the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River or in eastern China's coastal areas. These lakes function as drinking water supplies, ood control systems, aquaculture and tourism resources, navigation channels, etc. Recently, many shallow lakes in China have been subject to rapid eutrophication and suffer from algal blooms. This issue has resulted in a shortage of drinking water and in degradation of their ecosystems. The control of eutrophication of shallow lakes is one of the main issues with which the local people and Chinese governments are concerned today. Lake Taihu is the third largest freshwater lake in China, with an area of about 2 2338km and a mean depth of 1. 9m, a typical shallow lake located in the delta of Changjiang River, the most industrialized and urbanized area in China. Its main function is supplying drinking water for the surrounding cities, such as Wuxi, Suzhou, and Shanghai, but tourism, aquaculture, sheries, and navigation are imp- tant as well. However, with economic development and increased population in the lake basin, Lake Taihu has suffered increasingly from serious eutrophication. The environmental issue of Lake Taihu is now a very common one, as most lakes from eastern China are confronted with it. 356 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Atmospheric ice takes a wide range of fascinating forms, all beautiful in their own ways but many posing severe risk to the security of overhead networks for electric power, communications and other systems. Thiscomprehensive book documents the fundamentals of atmospheric icing and surveys the state of the art in eight chapters, each written by a team of experienced and internationally renowned experts. The treatment is detailed and richly illustrated. The presentation follows a logical sequence, starting with the icing climate and meteorological conditions, proceeding through development of observations and models of accretion and release of ice and heavy snow, then considering static and dynamic mechanical loads, the effects of ice and snow on electrical insulation, de-icing, ice prevention and mitigation methods. The statistical analysis of icing data and the mathematical and numerical modelling support appropriate mechanical and electrical design processes for icing conditions on overhead lines. Technical specialists, researchers and students in engineering and environmental science will all find value throughout the text. 400 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Surprisingly what separates us from the open environment all around us sometimes is a single layer of epithelial cells. It is at these seemingly fragile sites that most pathogens, including HIV, influenza, emerging and biodefense agents, gain access to our inside milieu. While there are major similarities between the cells and the immune responses generated at the mucosal membranes of the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts together with the genitourinary tract, there are also important differences. Knowledge of these differences and similarities is required in order to understand the interactions between us, as the host, and the pathogens that attack through each tract, and how our immune system reacts to each of them. Whether we want to devise rational prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines or treatments to either prevent or treat mucosal infections we must acquire such knowledge. This is the rationale behind putting this book together.This book will provide the readers in the areas of vaccinology, virology, bacteriology, epidemiology, immunology and mucosal immunology within academia (undergraduate, graduate, post doctoral fellows and professors), as well as preclinical and clinical scientists in vaccine and drug industries a thorough appreciation of the mucosal immune system and its importance in protecting humans against mucosal pathogens. 544 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book contains a selection of papers presented at the Advanced Research Workshop on 'The Socio-economic causes and consequences of desertification in Central Asia' held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in June 2006. The meeting provided a forum for twenty-six scientists from Central Asia and NATO countries to discuss the human dimensions of the desertifi- tion process. Papers presented to the meeting examined recent scientific evidence on the impact of desertification on livestock production, public health, and biodiversity, and contributed to the formulation of coh- ent national and regional policies for the management of watersheds, rangelands, and irrigated agriculture. The meeting was co-directed by Roy Behnke of the Macaulay Institute, UK, and by Lapas Alibekov of the Samarkand State University, Uzbekistan. Both the workshop and this subsequent publication have been financed by the NATO Scientific Affairs Division and we gratefully acknowledge this support. The Bishkek meeting was ably hosted by the Kyrgyz Sheep Breeders Association under the dir- tion of Akylbek Rakaev who contributed substantially to the successful running of the workshop. Deliberations at the workshop emphasized that policy failures at national level had promoted desertification within the region. 272 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Environmental and Human Security: Then and Now 1 2 ALAN D. HECHT AND P. H. LIOTTA \* 1 U. S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development 2 Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy Salve Regina University 1. Nontraditional Threats to Security The events of September 11, 2001 have sharpened the debate over the meaning of being secure. Before 9/11 there were warnings in all parts of the world that social and environmental changes were occurring. While there was prosperity in North America and Western Europe, there was also increasing recognition that local and global effects of ecosystem degradation posed a serious threat. Trekking from Cairo to Cape Town thirty years after living in Africa as a young teacher, for example, travel writer Paul Theroux concluded that development in sub-Saharan Africa had failed to improve the quality of life for 300 million people: 'Africa is materially more decrepit than it was when I first knew it-hungrier, poorer, less educated, more pessimistic, more corrupt, and you can't tell the politicians from the witch-doctors' (2002). While scholars and historians will debate the causes of 9/11 for some time, one message is clear: An often dizzying array of nontraditional threats and complex vulnerabilities define security today. We must understand them, and deal with them, or suffer the consequences. Environmental security has always required att- tion to nontraditional threats linked closely with social and economic well-being. 504 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This handbook offers a comprehensive review on career guidance, with an emphasis on the applied aspects of guidance together with research methods and perspectives. It features contributions from more than 30 leading authorities in the field from Asia, Africa, America, Australasia and Europe and draws upon a wide range of career guidance paradigms and theoretical perspectives. This handbook covers such subjects as educational and vocational guidance in a social context, theoretical foundations, educational and vocational guidance in practice, specific target groups, testing and assessment, and evaluation. 768 pp. Englisch.