springer netherlands okt 2016 (365 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The main focus of this monograph is to explain the important role of soil and the environment to a broad audience. Soil is one of the five essential factors crucial for human life. On the one hand the authors describe a responsible approach and use of soil, established on a basic knowledge of the nature of soil and the countless ongoing processes within soil. On the other hand they explain the precarious link between soil and regional environment, which is indispensable for plant and animal communities. In addition to these topics its chapters describe the unique roles of soil texture, soil structure and soil pore systems in hydrologic cycles, plant nutrition and conditions affecting the preservation or eventual extinction of soil. This book concludes with the principles of soil protection and revitalization. General readers with an interest in biology, chemistry, physics or geology will find this book highly informative.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 248 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Here is a systematic and clearly laid out text on structural and continuum mechanics. Containing hundreds of diagrams, drawings and examples, this work dovetails theoretical developments and figures in a beautifully conceived treatment of the subject. The book also covers stresses and strains in simple elements subjected to extension, bending, shear and torsion. For elementary structures, simple load displacements are obtained using both classical mathematics descriptions and engineering methods like Williot diagrams.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 896 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The human footprint on the global environment now touches every corner of the world. This book explores the myriad ways that environmental archives can be used to study the distribution and long-term trajectories of chemical contaminants. The volume first focuses on reviews that examine the integrity of the historic record, including factors related to hydrology, post-depositional diffusion, and mixing processes. This is followed by a series of chapters dealing with the diverse archives and methodologies available for long-term studies of environmental pollution, such as the use of sediments, ice cores, sclerochronology, and museum specimens.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 528 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The statics and mechanics of structures form a core aspect of civil engineering. This book provides an introduction to the subject, starting from classic hand-calculation types of analysis and gradually advancing to a systematic form suitable for computer implementation. It starts with statically determinate structures in the form of trusses, beams and frames. Instability is discussed in the form of the column problem - both the ideal column and the imperfect column used in actual column design. The theory of statically indeterminate structures is then introduced, and the force and deformation methods are explained and illustrated.An important aspect of the book¿s approach is the systematic development of the theory in a form suitable for computer implementation using finite elements. This development is supported by two small computer programs, MiniTruss and MiniFrame, which permit static analysis of trusses and frames, as well as linearized stability analysis. The book¿s final section presents related strength of materials subjects in greater detail; these include stress and strain, failure criteria, and normal and shear stresses in general beam flexure and in beam torsion.The book is well-suited as a textbook for a two-semester introductory course on structures.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 520 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book advances understandings about and practices for effectively integrating practice-based (e.g. workplace) experiences in higher education programs. This issue is becoming of increasing salient because higher education programs globally are increasingly focussing on preparing students for specific occupations. Such imperatives are reflected in the cooperative education movement in North America, the foundation degree programs of the United Kingdom, the work integrated learning approach within Australian higher education and initiatives in a range of other countries. There are clear and growing expectations that graduates from such should be able to move smoothly into being effective in their occupational practice. These expectations rise from the imperatives and interest of government, employers, community and students themselves. The book achieves a number of important goals. Firstly, it identifies and delineates the educational worth of students and engagement in practice-based experiences and their integration within their programs of study. Secondly, it advances conceptions of the integration of such experiences that is essential to inform how these programs might be enacted. Thirdly, drawing on the findings of two teaching fellowships, it proposed bases and propositions for how experiences in higher education programs might be organised and augmented to support effective learning. Fourthly pedagogic practices seen to be effective in maximising the learning from those practice experiences and integrating them within the curriculum are identified and discussed. Fifthly, a particular focus is given to students¿ personal epistemologies and how these might be developed and directed towards supporting effective learning within practice settings and the integration of that learning in their university programs.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 280 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This edited volume explores the interplay between philosophies in a wide-ranging analysis of how technological applications in science inform our systems of thought. Beginning with a historical background, the volume moves on to explore a host of topics, such as the uses of technology in scientific observations and experiments,the salient relationship between technology and mechanistic notions in scienceand the ways in which today¿s vast and increasing computing power helps scientists achieve results that were previously unattainable.Technology allows today¿s researchers to gather, in a matter of hours, data that would previously have taken weeks or months to assemble. It also acts as a kind of metaphor bank, providing biologists in particular with analogies (the heart as a ¿pump¿, the nervous system as a ¿computer network¿) that have become common linguistic currency. This book also examines the fundamental epistemological distinctions between technology and science and assesses their continued relevance. Given the increasing amalgamation of the philosophies of science and technology, this fresh addition to the literature features pioneering work in a promising new field that will appeal both to philosophers and scientific historiographers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This bookoffers an original contribution towards a new theory of intersubjectivity which places ethics of breath, hospitality and non-violence in the forefront. Emphasizing Indian philosophy and religion (Vedas and Upanishads) and related cross-cultural interpretations, it provides new intercultural interpretations of key Western concepts which traditionally were developed and followed in the vein of re-conceptualizations or revitalizations of Greek thought, as in Nietzsche and Heidegger, for example. The significance of the book lies in its establishment of a new platform for thinking philosophically about intersubjectivity, so as to nudge contemporary philosophy towards a more sensitive approach, which is needed in our times. Its originality lies in its innovative approach, which searches for the origin of ethical gestures (represented in respecting the breath/breathing) through the newly introduced concept of ¿mesocosm¿ as a space of a ritual, or a new ethical space of intersubjective encounters. The book also introduces the possibility of an original ethics based on breath. Intended for philosophers, feminists and others concerned with intercultural philosophy and comparative religion, the book will appeal to readers interested in contemporary ethical and political theories of peaceful conflict resolution and concepts of hospitality. A Breath of Hospitality will benefit all who seek a more sensitive approach in philosophy, including philosophy of religion, and often-neglected practical and educational layers of our everyday intersubjective relations.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 228 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Focusing on air pollution, energy efficiency and climate change, this book provides an introduction to Japan¿s environmental policies and regulations, and offers economic analyses and RIAs (Regulatory Impact Analysis) of environmental regulations implemented or planned by the national and local governments. The opening chapter reviews environmental economics and outlines the current status of RIAs in Japan. Chapter 2 analyzes the NOx-PM Act, which prohibits the use of old and polluting vehicles in metropolitan areas. Chapter 3 examines a Tokyo metropolitan government regulation which requires installation of pollution control equipment in older trucks that fail to meet emission standards. Chapter 4 traces the impact of the NOx-PM Act on the used car market and used vehicle exports. Chapter 5 presents an economic analysis of a highway toll reduction, revealing an unexpected negative social impact: it increased traffic congestion and associated environmental problems. The final three chapters address policies and regulations related to energy efficiency and climate change Chapter 6 evaluates the effectiveness of Japan¿s Energy Conservation Act, originally introduced in 1979 and amended numerous times to address climate change. Chapter 7 anticipates the impact of a proposed economy-wide carbon tax, using input-output analysis to assess short-term economic impacts in each sector. Also presented here is an examination of the effectiveness of a reduced carbon tax for energy-intensive industries, with a discussion of the impact of the proposal on households. The final chapter discusses the role and limitations of economic models for evaluating Japan¿s mid-term GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emission target during the post-Kyoto period. This is the first book to evaluate Japanese environmental policies from an economic perspective, using a variety of current quantitative approaches. Its findings and suggestions will benefit students, policy makers and government officialsin developing and developed countries where the public faces similar environmental problems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 208 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book presents a collection of extended contributions on the physics and application of optoelectronic materials and metamaterials.The book is divided into three parts, respectively covering materials, metamaterials and optoelectronic devices. Individual chapters cover topics including phonon-polariton interaction, semiconductor and nonlinear organic materials, metallic, dielectric and gyrotropic metamaterials, singular optics, parity-time symmetry, nonlinear plasmonics, microstructured optical fibers, passive nonlinear shaping of ultrashort pulses, and pulse-preserving supercontinuum generation.The book contains both experimental and theoretical studies, and each contribution is a self-contained exposition of a particular topic, featuring an extensive reference list. The book will be a useful resource for graduate and postgraduate students, researchers and engineers involved in optoelectronics/photonics, quantum electronics, optics, and adjacent areas of science and technology.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 244 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The current volume is comparative and inter-disciplinary, and it provides a reflection on what thinking might become after Heidegger¿s philosophy. Its aim is to critically expand the current field of research by presenting unfamiliar and unchartered avenues that will guide and carry the Heidegger scholarship into the twenty-first century. By doing so, it addresses fundamental questions in the Heideggerian scholarship, including its problems, restraints, and future direction. It also engages and broadens the increasingly disparate approaches to Heidegger¿s work, whether those approaches are traditional in their employment of phenomenology and hermeneutics or whether they apply to Heidegger¿s thinking in new and surprising ways. The first section of the volume emphasizes the importance of methodology for the future of Heidegger studies while the second section examines the historical, ethical and vocal-poetical in Heidegger¿s thought and draws conclusions relevant to the Heidegger scholar of today. The final section demonstrates Heidegger¿s appeal to a variety of other discourses besides philosophy and the way his thinking could be creatively approached, utilized and implemented in our century. Contributions come from cutting-edge scholars such as Babette E. Babich, Dermot Moran, François Raffoul and Trish Glazebrook.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 212 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book is focused on the examination of the particular relationship between developments in neuroscience and commonsense concepts, such as free will, personal identity, privacy, etc., which feature prominently in moral discourse. In the book common sense is recast as an ever-shifting repository of theories from many domains, including science. Utilizing this alternative characterization of common sense, the book reexamines the impact of neuroscience on commonsense moral conceptions.Neuroethics is one of the newest, developing branches of Bioethics. Topics often raised include issues of free will, personal identity and the self; the possible ethical implication of memory manipulation; brain imaging and mind-reading; brain stimulation/enhancement and its impacts on personal identity; and brain death.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This anthology is about the signal change in Leibniz¿s metaphysics with his explicit adoption of substantial forms in 1678-79. This change can either be seen as a moment of discontinuity with his metaphysics of maturity or as a moment of continuity, such as a passage to the metaphysics from his last years.Between the end of his sejour at Paris (November 1676) and the first part of the Hanover period, Leibniz reformed his dynamics and began to use the theory of corporeal substance. This book explores a very important part of the philosophical work of the young Leibniz.Expertise from around the globe is collated here, including Daniel Garber¿s work based on the recent publication of Leibniz's correspondence from the late 1690s, examining how the theory of monads developed during these crucial years. Richard Arthur argues that the introduction of substantial forms, reinterpreted as enduring primitive forces of action in each corporeal substance, allows Leibniz to found the reality of the phenomena of motion in force and thus avoid reducing motion to a mere appearance.Amongst other themes covered in this book, Pauline Phemister¿s paper investigates Leibniz¿s views on animals and plants, highlighting changes, modifications and elaborations over time of Leibniz¿s views and supporting arguments and paying particular attention to his claim that the future is already contained in the seeds of living things. The editor, Adrian Nita, contributes a paper on the continuity or discontinuity of Leibniz¿s work on the question of the unity and identity of substance from the perspective of the relation with soul (anima) and mind (mens).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book brings together the relevant interdisciplinary and method elements needed to form a conceptual framework that is both pragmatic and rigorous. By using the best and often the latest, work in thanatology, psychology, neuroscience, sociology, physics, philosophy and ethics, it develops a framework for understanding both what death is ¿ which requires a great deal of time spent developing definitions of the various types of identity-in-the-moment and identity-over-time ¿ and the values involved in death. This pragmatic framework answers questions about why death is a form of loss; why we experience the emotional reactions, feelings and desires that we do; which of these reactions, feelings and desires are justified and which are not; if we can survive death and how; whether our deaths can harm us; and why and how we should prepare for death. Thanks to the pragmatic framework employed, the answers to the various questions are more likely to be accurate and acceptable than those with less rigorous scholarly underpinnings or which deal with utopian worlds.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book specifies the foundation for Adapted Primary Literature (APL), a novel text genre that enables the learning and teaching of science using research articles that were adapted to the knowledge level of high-school students. More than 50 years ago, J.J. Schwab suggested that Primary Scientific Articles ¿afford the most authentic, unretouched specimens of enquiry that we can obtain¿ and raised for the first time the idea that such articles can be used for ¿enquiry into enquiry¿. This book, the first to be published on this topic, presents the realization of this vision and shows how the reading and writing of scientific articles can be used for inquiry learning and teaching. It provides the origins and theory of APL and examines the concept and its importance. It outlines a detailed description of creating and using APL and provides examples for the use of the enactment of APL in classes, as well as descriptions of possible future prospects for the implementation of APL. Altogether, the book lays the foundations for the use of this authentic text genre for the learning and teaching of science in secondary schools.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 256 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This combination of historiography and theory offers the growing Anglophone readership interested in the ideas of Gilbert Simondon a thorough and unprecedented survey of the French philosopher¿s entire oeuvre. The publication, which breaks new ground in its thoroughness and breadth of analysis, systematically traces the interconnections between Simondon¿s philosophy of science and technology on the one hand, and his political philosophy on the other.The author sets Simondon¿s ideas in the context of the epistemology of the late 1950s and the 1960s in France, the milieu that shaped a generation of key French thinkers such as Deleuze, Foucault and Derrida. This volume explores Simondon¿s sources, which were as eclectic as they were influential: from the philosophy of Bergson to the cybernetics of Wiener, from the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty to the epistemology of Canguilhem, and from Bachelard¿s philosophy of science to the positivist sociology and anthropologyof luminaries such as Durkheim and Leroi-Gourhan. It also tackles aspects of Simondon¿s philosophy that relate to Heidegger and Elull in their concern with the ontological relationship between technology and society and discusses key scholars of Simondon such as Barthélémy, Combes, Stiegler, and Virno, as well as the work of contemporary protagonists in the philosophical debate on the relevance of technique. The author¿s intimate knowledge of Simondon¿s language allows him to resolve many of the semantic errors and misinterpretations that have plagued reactions to Simondon¿s many philosophical neologisms, often drawn from his scientific studies.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 264 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Up to now there have been scarcely any publications on Leibniz dedicated to investigating the interrelations between philosophy and mathematics in his thought. In part this is due to the previously restricted textual basis of editions such as those produced by Gerhardt. Through recent volumes of the scientific letters and mathematical papers series of the Academy Edition scholars have obtained a much richer textual basis on which to conduct their studies - material which allows readers to see interconnections between his philosophical and mathematical ideas which have not previously been manifested. The present book draws extensively from this recently published material. The contributors are among the best in their fields. Their commissioned papers cover thematically salient aspects of the various ways in which philosophy and mathematics informed each other in Leibniz's thought.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Volume 8, the third of the historical volumes of A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jurisprudence, offers a history of legal philosophy in common-law countries from the 17th to the 19th century. Its main focus (like that of Volume 9) is on the ways in which jurists and legal philosophers thought about law and legal reasoning. The volume begins with a discussion of the ¿common law mind¿ as it evolved in late medieval and early modern England. It goes on to examine the different jurisprudential traditions which developed in England and the United States, showing that while Coke¿s vision of the common law continued to exert a strong influence on American jurists, in England a more positivist approach took root, which found its fullest articulation in the work of Bentham and Austin.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book provides a comprehensive review of environmental benefit transfer methods, issues and challenges, covering topics relevant to researchers and practitioners. Early chapters provide accessible introductory materials suitable for non-economists. These chapters also detail how benefit transfer is used within the policy process. Later chapters cover more advanced topics suited to valuation researchers, graduate students and those with similar knowledge of economic and statistical theory and methods. This book provides the most complete coverage of environmental benefit transfer methods available in a single location.The book targets a wide audience, including undergraduate and graduate students, practitioners in economics and other disciplines looking for a one-stop handbook covering benefit transfer topics and those who wish to apply or evaluate benefit transfer methods. It is designed for those both with and without training in economicsSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 608 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This first volume of the Collected Works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi represents his work on Art and Creativity. Starting with his seminal 1964 study on creativity up to his 2010 publication in Newsweek, the volume spans over four decades of research and writing and clearly shows Csikszentmihalyi¿s own development as an academic, psychologist, researcher and person. Unconventional and unorthodox in his approach, Csikszentmihalyi chose the topic of creativity as a field of study believing it would help him be a better psychologist and advance his understanding of how to live a better life.The chapters in this volume trace the history of the study of creativity back to the days of Guilford and research on IQ and Jacob Getzels¿ work on creativity and intelligence. Firmly grounded in that history, yet extending it in new directions, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi started his life-long study on artistic creativity. His first extensive study at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago enabled him to observe, test and interview fine art students drawing in a studio. The study formed the very basis of all his work on the subject and has resulted in several articles, represented in this volume, on such creativity-related concepts as problem solving versus problem finding, the personality of the artist, the influence of the social context, creativity as a social construction, developmental issues and flow. The main contribution to the topic of creativity and also the main concept explored in this volume, is the Systems Model of Creativity. Seven chapters in this volume discuss the development of this conceptual model and theory.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 344 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book covers classical and modern aerodynamics, theories and related numerical methods, for senior and first-year graduate engineering students, including:The classical potential (incompressible) flow theories for low speed aerodynamics of thin airfoils and high and low aspect ratio wings. The linearized theories for compressible subsonic and supersonic aerodynamics. The nonlinear transonic small disturbance potential flow theory, including supercritical wing sections, the extended transonic area rule with lift effect, transonic lifting line and swept or oblique wings to minimize wave drag. Unsteady flow is also briefly discussed. Numerical simulations based on relaxation mixed-finite difference methods are presented and explained. Boundary layer theory for all Mach number regimes and viscous/inviscid interaction procedures used in practical aerodynamics calculations.There are also four chapters covering special topics, including wind turbines and propellers, airplane design, flow analogies and hypersonic (rotational) flows.A unique feature of the book is its ten self-tests and their solutions as well as an appendix on special techniques of functions of complex variables, method of characteristics and conservation laws and shock waves. The book is the culmination of two courses taught every year by the two authors for the last two decades to seniors and first-year graduate students of aerospace engineering at UC Davis.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 644 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This textbook aims to be a one stop shop for those interested in aerosols and their impact on the climate system. It starts with some fundamentals on atmospheric aerosols, atmospheric radiation and cloud physics, then goes into techniques used for in-situ and remote sensing measurements of aerosols, data assimilation, and discusses aerosol-radiation interactions, aerosol-cloud interactions and the multiple impacts of aerosols on the climate system. The book aims to engage those interested in aerosols and their impacts on the climate system: graduate and PhD students, but also post-doctorate fellows who are new to the field or would like to broaden their knowledge. The book includes exercises at the end of most chapters.Atmospheric aerosols are small (microscopic) particles in suspension in the atmosphere, which play multiple roles in the climate system. They interact with the energy budget through scattering and absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation. They alsoserve as cloud condensation and ice nuclei with impacts on the formation, evolution and properties of clouds. Finally aerosols also interact with some biogeochemical cycles. Anthropogenic emissions of aerosols are responsible for a cooling effect that has masked part of the warming due to the increased greenhouse effect since pre-industrial time. Natural aerosols also respond to climate changes as shown by observations of past climates and modelling of the future climate.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 332 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The book addresses this critical need by providing a straightforward and easy to read primer to key elements of at-risk butterfly conservation programs including captive husbandry, organism reintroduction, habitat restoration, population monitoring, recovery planning and cooperative programs.Impacts from habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive species, and climate change continue to accelerate the rate of imperilment and necessitate increased conservation action.Zoos, natural history museums, botanical gardens and wildlife agencies are progressively focusing on insects, particularly charismatic groups such as butterflies and native pollinators, to help advance local conservation efforts and foster increased community interest and engagement.Today, many institutions and their partners have successfully initiated at-risk butterfly conservation programs, and numerous others are exploring ways to become involved. However, insufficient experience and familiarity with insects is a critical constraint preventing staff and institutions from adequately planning, implementing and evaluating organism-targeted activities.The information provided is intended to improve staff practices, learn from existing programs, promote broader information exchange, and strengthen institutional ability to develop new or improve existing butterfly conservation initiatives.The information provided is intended to improve staff practices, learn from existing programs, promote broader information exchange, and strengthen institutional ability to develop new or improve existing butterfly conservation initiatives.This book will be useful to professionals from zoos, natural history museums, botanical gardens, wildlife agencies, conservation organizations, land managers, students, and scientist in conservation biology, ecology, entomology, biology, and zoology.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 200 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Written to teach students the nature of transonic flow and its mathematical foundation, this book offers a much-needed introduction to transonic aerodynamics. The authors present a quantitative and qualitative assessment of subsonic, supersonic and transonic flow around bodies in two and three dimensions. The book reviews the governing equations and explores their applications and limitations as employed in modeling and computational fluid dynamics.Some concepts, such as shock and expansion theory, are examined from a numerical perspective. Others, including shock-boundary-layer interaction, are discussed from a qualitative point of view. The book includes 60 examples and more than 200 practice problems. The authors also offer analytical methods such as Method of Characteristics (MOC) that allow readers to practice with the subject matter.The result is a wealth of insight into transonic flow phenomena and their impact on aircraft design, including compressibility effects, shock and expansion waves, shock-boundary-layer interaction and aeroelasticity.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 572 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The book addresses the interactions between wetlands and human health and well-being. A key feature is the linking of ecology-health and the targeting of practitioners and researchers. The environmental health problems of the 21st Century cannot be addressed by the traditional tools of ecologists or epidemiologists working in their respective disciplinary silos; this is clear from the emergence and re-emergence of public health and human well-being problems such as cholera pandemics, mosquito borne disease, and episodic events and disasters (e.g. hurricanes). To tackle these problems requires genuine cross-disciplinary collaboration; a key finding of the recently concluded Millennium Ecosystem Assessment when looking at human well-being and ecosystem health. This book brings the disciplines of ecology and health sciences closer to such a synthesis for researchers, teachers and policy makers interested in or needing information to manage wetlands and human health and well-being issues.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 276 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book is primarily intended as a research monograph that could also be used in graduate courses for the design of parallel algorithms in matrix computations.It assumes general but not extensive knowledge of numerical linear algebra, parallel architectures, and parallel programming paradigms.The book consists of four parts: (I) Basics; (II) Dense and Special Matrix Computations; (III) Sparse Matrix Computations; and (IV) Matrix functions and characteristics. Part I deals with parallel programming paradigms and fundamental kernels, including reordering schemes for sparse matrices. Part II is devoted to dense matrix computations such as parallel algorithms for solving linear systems, linear least squares, the symmetric algebraic eigenvalue problem, and the singular-value decomposition. It also deals with the development of parallel algorithms for special linear systems such as banded ,Vandermonde ,Toeplitz ,and block Toeplitz systems. Part III addresses sparsematrix computations: (a) the development of parallel iterative linear system solvers with emphasis on scalable preconditioners, (b) parallel schemes for obtaining a few of the extreme eigenpairs or those contained in a given interval in the spectrum of a standard or generalized symmetric eigenvalue problem, and (c) parallel methods for computing a few of the extreme singular triplets. Part IV focuses on the development of parallel algorithms for matrix functions and special characteristics such as the matrix pseudospectrum and the determinant. The book also reviews the theoretical and practical background necessary when designing these algorithms and includes an extensive bibliography that will be useful to researchers and students alike.The book brings together many existing algorithms for the fundamental matrix computations that have a proven track record of efficient implementation in terms of data locality and data transfer on state-of-the-art systems, as well as several algorithms that are presented for the first time, focusing on the opportunities for parallelism and algorithm robustness.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 504 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The present book is the result of a three year research project which investigated the creative act of composing by means of algorithmic composition. Central to the investigation are the compositional strategies of 12 composers, which were documented through a dialogic and cyclic process of modelling and evaluating musical materials. The aesthetic premises and compositional approaches configure a rich spectrum of diverse positions, which is reflected also in the kinds of approaches and methods used. These approaches and methods include the generation and evaluation of chord sequences using genetic algorithms, the application of morphing strategies to research harmonic transformations, an automatic classification of personal preferences via machine learning, and an application of mathematical music theory to the analysis and resynthesis of musical material. The second part of the book features contributions by Sandeep Bhagwati, William Brooks, David Cope, Darla Crispin, Nicolas Donin, and Guerino Mazzola. These authors variously consider the project from different perspectives, offer independent approaches, or provide more general reflections from their respective research fields.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 432 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Since its third edition in 1980, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association has acquired a hegemonic role in the health care professions and has had a broad impact on the lay public. The publication in May 2013 of its fifth edition, the DSM-5, marked the latest milestone in the history of the DSM and of American psychiatry. In The DSM-5 in Perspective: Philosophical Reflections on the Psychiatric Babel, experts in the philosophy of psychiatry propose original essays that explore the main issues related to the DSM-5, such as the still weak validity and reliability of the classification, the scientific status of its revision process, the several cultural, gender and sexist biases that are apparent in the criteria, the comorbidity issue and the categorical vs. dimensional debate.For several decades the DSM has been nicknamed ¿The Psychiatric Bible.¿ This volume would like to suggest another biblical metaphor: the Tower of Babel. Altogether, the essays in this volume describe the DSM as an imperfect and unachievable monument ¿ a monument that was originally built to celebrate the new unity of clinical psychiatric discourse, but that ended up creating, as a result of its hubris, ever more profound practical divisions and theoretical difficulties.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book describes the human amniotic membrane from its origin, characterization and medical applications, summarizing all the latest developments and findings related to this tissue with contributions from some of the leading researchers in the field. The book addresses issues for its preservation, separation and identification of amniotic membrane-derived cells, as well as the potential ethical issues involved in their use. The topic of this book is particularly pertinent for clinicians and researchers involved in the research and use of this tissue.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 264 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -When considering biosphere¿atmosphere exchange of trace gases and volatile aerosols, significant advances have been made both from an experimental and modelling point of view and on several scales. This was particularly stimulated by the availability of new datasets generated from improvements in analytical methods and flux measurement techniques. Recent research advances allow us, not only to identify major mechanisms and factors affecting the exchanges between the biosphere and the atmosphere, but also to recognize several gaps in the methodologies used in accounting for emissions and deposition in landscape and global scale models. This work aims at (i) reviewing exchange processes and modelling schemes, parameterisations and datasets, (ii) presenting a common conceptual framework to model soil-vegetation-atmosphere exchange of reactive trace gases and aerosols accounting for in-canopy transfer chemical interactions and (iii) discussing the key elements of the agreed framework.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 248 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book examines information processing performed by bio-systems at all scales: from genomes, cells and proteins to cognitive and even social systems. It introduces a theoretical/conceptual principle based on quantum information and non-Kolmogorov probability theory to explain information processing phenomena in biology as a whole.The book begins with an introduction followed by two chapters devoted to fundamentals, one covering classical and quantum probability, which also contains a brief introduction to quantum formalism, and another on an information approach to molecular biology, genetics and epigenetics. It then goes on to examine adaptive dynamics, including applications to biology, and non-Kolmogorov probability theory.Next, the book discusses the possibility to apply the quantum formalism to model biological evolution, especially at the cellular level: genetic and epigenetic evolutions. It also presents a model of the epigenetic cellular evolution based on the mathematical formalism of open quantum systems. The last two chapters of the book explore foundational problems of quantum mechanics and demonstrate the power of usage of positive operator valued measures (POVMs) in biological science.This book will appeal to a diverse group of readers including experts in biology, cognitive science, decision making, sociology, psychology, and physics; mathematicians working on problems of quantum probability and information and researchers in quantum foundations.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.