springer netherlands springer netherlands mär 2001 (38 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Photosynthesis: Photobiochemistry and Photobiophysics is the first single-authored book in the Advances in Photosynthesis Series. It provides an overview of the light reactions and electron transfers in both oxygenic and anoxygenic photosynthesis. The scope of the book is characterized by the time frame in which the light reactions and the subsequent electron transfers take place, namely between 796 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Relationships abound in the library and information science (LIS) world. Those relationships may be social in nature, as, for instance, when we deal with human relationships among library personnel or relationships (i. e. , 'public relations') between an information center and its clientele. The relationships may be educational, as, for example, when we examine the relationship between the curriculum of an accredited school and the needs of the work force it is preparing students to join. Or the relationships may be economic, as when we investigate the relationship between the cost of journals and the frequency with which they are cited. Many of the relationships of concern to us reflect phenomena entirely internal to the field: the relationship between manuscript collections, archives, and special collections; the relationship between end user search behavior and the effectiveness of searches; the relationship between access to and use of information resources; the relationship between recall and precision; the relationship between various bibliometric laws; etc. The list of such relationships could go on and on. The relationships addressed in this volume are restricted to those involved in the organization of recorded knowledge, which tend to have a conceptual or semantic basis, although statistical means are sometimes used in their discovery.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 248 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The study of atomic systems exposed to super-intense laser fields de fines an important area in atomic, molecular and optical physics. Although the concept of super-intense field has no absolute meaning, it is now usual to call an electromagnetic field super-intense when it exceeds the atomic binding field. In the case of the simplest atomic system, hydrogen in its 16 2 ground state, this occurs above an intensity of 3. 5 x 10 Wattfcm which is the atomic unit of intensity. Presently at the laboratory scale and in ex tremely short and tightly focussed laser pulses, the electric field strength 16 18 2 reaches peak values which are of the order of 10 - 10 Wattfcm in the infrared frequency regime, the prospect being that such peak intensities may be reached within a few years in a regime of much higher frequencies (XUV or even X). The interaction of such electromagnetic fields with an atomic system has a highly non-linear character which has led to the observation of to tally unexpected phenomena. There are three fundamental processes which have marked the beginning of an intensive research in the field of super intense laser-atom physics (SILAP). These processes which only involve one atomic electron are (i) the so-called above-threshold ionisation i. e.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 440 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Noncommutative differential geometry is a new approach to classical geometry. It was originally used by Fields Medalist A. Connes in the theory of foliations, where it led to striking extensions of Atiyah-Singer index theory. It also may be applicable to hitherto unsolved geometric phenomena and physical experiments.However, noncommutative differential geometry was not well understood even among mathematicians. Therefore, an international symposium on commutative differential geometry and its applications to physics was held in Japan, in July 1999. Topics covered included: deformation problems, Poisson groupoids, operad theory, quantization problems, and D-branes. The meeting was attended by both mathematicians and physicists, which resulted in interesting discussions. This volume contains the refereed proceedings of this symposium.Providing a state of the art overview of research in these topics, this book is suitable as a source book for a seminar in noncommutative geometry and physics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -A team of researchers centred at the University of Melbourne, each with particular areas of expertise, contributed their analyses of a shared collection of videotape, interview, and documentary data. The result is a variegated picture of science and mathematics classrooms that challenges a research tradition that converges on the truth. In this book, we surround you with different images of the classroom. It is hoped that some will address issues of interest, some will confirm beliefs you have long held, some will challenge these same beliefs, and some may surprise you.The resulting account should appeal to educational researchers, research students, and practitioners with an interest in optimising the effectiveness of classrooms as environments for learning.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 374 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Modern information systems differ in essence from their predecessors. They support operations at multiple locations and different time zones, are distributed and network-based, and use multidimensional data analysis, data warehousing, knowledge discovery, knowledge management, mobile computing, and other modern information processing methods. This book considers fundamental issues of modern information systems. It discusses query processing, data quality, data mining, knowledge management, mobile computing, software engineering for information systems construction, and other topics. The book presents research results that are not available elsewhere. With more than 40 contributors, it is a solid source of information about the state of the art in the field of databases and information systems. It is intended for researchers, advanced students, and practitioners who are concerned with the development of advanced information systems. 364 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume contains most of the contributions presented at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Rare Earth Transition Metal Borocarbides (Nitrides): Superconducting, Magnetic and Normal State Properties, held in Dresden, Germany at 13 - 18 June 2000. The Workshop was chaired by K. -H. MUller and V. N. Narozhnyi. This was the first meeting specially focused on the quaternary rare-earth transition-metal borocarbides and nitrides - a new class of magnetic superconductors discovered in 1994. The motivation for organizing this workshop was to bring together scientists (both experimentalists and theoreticians), actively working in this field in different countries, using different methods, to exchange their points of view on the properties ofthese materials and to recognize the directions for future research. Totally 48 participants from 17 countries ofEurope, the United States, BraZil, India, Israel and Japan took part in this meeting. In addition about 15 observers (mainly from Germany) attended. The scientific Programme of the Workshop was composed of 7 sections. The section Introduction and Overview was followed by the Electronic Structure and Properties and Phonon Spectra; Magnetic Properties and CEF Effects; Interplay between Superconductivity and Magnetism; Vortex Lattice; Thin Films; Nature of the Superconducting State in Borocarbides sections. Totally 50 presentations were given (45 ofthem in oral form). Considerable attention was devoted to the characterization of the particular place of borocarbides amongst the other magnetic and superconducting systems and, especially, magnetic superconductors. 460 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -In this book we study sprays and Finsler metrics. Roughly speaking, a spray on a manifold consists of compatible systems of second-order ordinary differential equations. A Finsler metric on a manifold is a family of norms in tangent spaces, which vary smoothly with the base point. Every Finsler metric determines a spray by its systems of geodesic equations. Thus, Finsler spaces can be viewed as special spray spaces. On the other hand, every Finsler metric defines a distance function by the length of minimial curves. Thus Finsler spaces can be viewed as regular metric spaces. Riemannian spaces are special regular metric spaces. In 1854, B. Riemann introduced the Riemann curvature for Riemannian spaces in his ground-breaking Habilitationsvortrag. Thereafter the geometry of these special regular metric spaces is named after him. Riemann also mentioned general regular metric spaces, but he thought that there were nothing new in the general case. In fact, it is technically much more difficult to deal with general regular metric spaces. For more than half century, there had been no essential progress in this direction until P. Finsler did his pioneering work in 1918. Finsler studied the variational problems of curves and surfaces in general regular metric spaces. Some difficult problems were solved by him. Since then, such regular metric spaces are called Finsler spaces. Finsler, however, did not go any further to introduce curvatures for regular metric spaces. He switched his research direction to set theory shortly after his graduation.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Carbon filament, vapor grown carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes have been discovered to have remarkable properties, opening they way for their use in intriguing and novel applications in electronics, chemistry and materials science. There are many similarities between nanotubes and filaments, leading many researchers to critically compare the two materials, their production, and potential applications. The two materials are compared and contrasted in depth in the present book, which is a comprehensive review of current research activity, growth mechanisms, physical properties, industrial production, and applications. The structures are discussed using a unified approach, which helps to compare growth mechanisms, contrasting morphological differences, and detailing how novel properties depend on such differences.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 392 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Carbon filament, vapor grown carbon fibers and carbon nanotubes have been discovered to have remarkable properties, opening they way for their use in intriguing and novel applications in electronics, chemistry and materials science. There are many similarities between nanotubes and filaments, leading many researchers to critically compare the two materials, their production, and potential applications. The two materials are compared and contrasted in depth in the present book, which is a comprehensive review of current research activity, growth mechanisms, physical properties, industrial production, and applications. The structures are discussed using a unified approach, which helps to compare growth mechanisms, contrasting morphological differences, and detailing how novel properties depend on such differences.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 388 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -In recent years, our knowledge about the pathogenesis, pathophysiology and treatment of hepatobiliary diseases has increased considerably. The molecular basis of cholestatic disorders as well as of gallstone disease is increasingly recognized. This has resulted in improved diagnosis, for instance in hereditary forms of intrahepatic cholestasis, and advances in treatment, for example in primary biliary cirrhosis and other chronic cholestatic disorders. This book, the proceedings of a Falk Workshop held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, on June 9-10, 2000, brings together contributions from scientists and clinicians to highlight the most recent advances in molecular biology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and therapy of diseases of the hepatobiliary system. World experts cover a broad spectrum of topics from genetic studies to endoscopy and from medical treatment to liver transplantation.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 192 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Seeing a patient die under his hands because there is no adequate treatment causes an emotion and a frustration in a doctor, which sometimes stimulates him to try to develop a new type of treatment. Seeing so many wounded young soldiers die due to renal failure in World War I incited the German doctor Georg Haas to try to develop an artificial kidney. He had to give up in despair in 1928.Ten years later doctor Willem Kolff saw a young man die in his ward in the University Hospital of Groningen due to renal failure. By that time two essential factors for an artificial kidney had become available: a drug to keep the blood from clotting outside of the body and an efficient dialysing membrane through which waste substances can pass from the blood into the dialysing fluid. Kolff succeeded in creating the rotating artificial kidney which he started using in the town hospital of Kampen in 1943. The rotation of this artificial kidney started a revolution that made it possible for thousands of kidney patients all over the world to keep on living - and sometimes to forget their disease for the time being. In addition it gave rise to the development of other artificial organs such as the heart-lung machine, the artificial heart and the artificial eye.Doctor Jacob van Noordwijk, the author of this book, was Kolff's first assistant in the treatment of the first 15 patients. How Kolff succeeded in spite of all the limitations imposed by the German occupation of the Netherlands and in spite of the absence of antibiotics and other medical tools which are common nowadays makes a story which may sound incredible. Yet it did happen and visitors to the town of Kampen can still see the hospital building where it all took place.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 132 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Seeing a patient die under his hands because there is no adequate treatment causes an emotion and a frustration in a doctor, which sometimes stimulates him to try to develop a new type of treatment. Seeing so many wounded young soldiers die due to renal failure in World War I incited the German doctor Georg Haas to try to develop an artificial kidney. He had to give up in despair in 1928.Ten years later doctor Willem Kolff saw a young man die in his ward in the University Hospital of Groningen due to renal failure. By that time two essential factors for an artificial kidney had become available: a drug to keep the blood from clotting outside of the body and an efficient dialysing membrane through which waste substances can pass from the blood into the dialysing fluid. Kolff succeeded in creating the rotating artificial kidney which he started using in the town hospital of Kampen in 1943. The rotation of this artificial kidney started a revolution that made it possible for thousands of kidney patients all over the world to keep on living - and sometimes to forget their disease for the time being. In addition it gave rise to the development of other artificial organs such as the heart-lung machine, the artificial heart and the artificial eye.Doctor Jacob van Noordwijk, the author of this book, was Kolff's first assistant in the treatment of the first 15 patients. How Kolff succeeded in spite of all the limitations imposed by the German occupation of the Netherlands and in spite of the absence of antibiotics and other medical tools which are common nowadays makes a story which may sound incredible. Yet it did happen and visitors to the town of Kampen can still see the hospital building where it all took place.Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 130 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -'I cannot define coincidence [in mathematics]. But 1 shall argue that coincidence can always be elevated or organized into a superstructure which perfonns a unification along the coincidental elements. The existence of a coincidence is strong evidence for the existence of a covering theory. ' -Philip 1. Davis [Dav81] Alluding to the Thomas gyration, this book presents the Theory of gy rogroups and gyrovector spaces, taking the reader to the immensity of hyper bolic geometry that lies beyond the Einstein special theory of relativity. Soon after its introduction by Einstein in 1905 [Ein05], special relativity theory (as named by Einstein ten years later) became overshadowed by the ap pearance of general relativity. Subsequently, the exposition of special relativity followed the lines laid down by Minkowski, in which the role of hyperbolic ge ometry is not emphasized. This can doubtlessly be explained by the strangeness and unfamiliarity of hyperbolic geometry [Bar98]. The aim of this book is to reverse the trend of neglecting the role of hy perbolic geometry in the special theory of relativity, initiated by Minkowski, by emphasizing the central role that hyperbolic geometry plays in the theory.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 464 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Atomically dispersed metal cations and small polyatomic cationic structures co-ordinated to the surface of porous matrices exhibit different properties from the same cationic species contained in a bulk oxide or supported on amorphous carriers. This subject is treated to an extensive review, showing how an understanding of it is essential to the development of a new generation of solid catalysts. There are also exciting opportunities to shape the catalytic properties of the transition metal cations in microporous and mesoporous matrices.The book covers both theoretical and experimental aspects, including the distribution of framework Al atoms in Si-rich zeolites, distribution and siting of charge-exchanged metal cations, electronic, adsorptive and catalytic properties of metal cations, and correlation of metal cation structure and siting with catalytic activity. 344 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The NATO Advanced Study Institute on 'Functional Gradient Materials and Surface Layers Prepared by Fine Particles Technology' was held in Kiev (Ukraine) on June 18- 28, 2000 where more than 90 participants, ranging from Ph.D. students to experienced senior scientists, met and exchanged ideas. This meeting was aimed at stimulating the research work across traditional disciplinary lines by bringing together scientists from diverse research areas related to functional gradient materials and surface layers. It also intended to give opportunities for initiating collaborative works between scientists from NATO and Partner countries and to trigger fruitful and exciting discussions between experienced and young researchers. In this respect, this NATO-ASI has been quite successful. The term of functional gradient materials which originates from Japan in the 1980's describes a class of engineering materials with spatially inhomogeneous microstructures and properties (MRS Bulletin, 1995,20, N°l). These materials can be successfully utilized in various applications like electronic devices, optical films, anti wear and anti-corrosion coatings, thermal barrier coatings, biomaterials, to name only a few. Although these functional gradient materials are not fundamentally new, the use of nanoparticles in their fabrication and in surface layers as well has greatly improved their performances to meet challenging requirements for industrial applications. 332 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Biotechnology is vital to counter biological and toxin weapons. Without biotechnology, the detection, identification and diagnoses of, and medical countermeasures to such weapons would be virtually impossible. As biological and toxin agents occur in natural outbreaks of disease or intoxications, there are both civil and military benefit to be had from the use of biotechnology in providing effective countermeasures to such agents.The role of biotechnology in countering biological and toxin weapons is here addressed under seven major headings: The wider political and economic contexts;Enabling technologies for BTW agent detection;The applicability of biotechnological methods for BTW agent detection on the battlefield, in a terrorist incident, and in an inspection environment;Pre-exposure medical countermeasures;Diagnosis and identification;Post-exposure treatment and decontamination;Contribution of biotechnology to strengthening international conventions against BTW agents.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 336 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Atomically dispersed metal cations and small polyatomic cationic structures co-ordinated to the surface of porous matrices exhibit different properties from the same cationic species contained in a bulk oxide or supported on amorphous carriers. This subject is treated to an extensive review, showing how an understanding of it is essential to the development of a new generation of solid catalysts. There are also exciting opportunities to shape the catalytic properties of the transition metal cations in microporous and mesoporous matrices.The book covers both theoretical and experimental aspects, including the distribution of framework Al atoms in Si-rich zeolites, distribution and siting of charge-exchanged metal cations, electronic, adsorptive and catalytic properties of metal cations, and correlation of metal cation structure and siting with catalytic activity.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 344 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The reader shall find in the offered monograph a systematic presentation of scientific effects in the field of anisotropy studies reached by the author and his collaborators in the period of recent four decades: published and discussed in a number of papers and conference contributions. The central construction line of discussion is to be sought in the full and comprehensive analysis of ret:) function defining the anisotropy coefficient varying during the tensile test. No doubt, this function can be considered as a nutshell carrier ofcomprehensive information about the essential features influencing the directionality of the studied material's plasticity. The function also provides the basis to elaborate methods used in the determination of such characteristics. In the historical presentation of literature in the field of plastic anisotropy, the original input was offered by W.M. Baldwin Jr., already in 1946, who observed the differentiated strain rates in three mutually perpendicular directions of the sample subjected to static tensile test. In the following years, further and expanded analysis of the problem was undertaken by Lankford, Hill, Gensamer, Jackson, Low and Smith.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -'I cannot define coincidence [in mathematics]. But 1 shall argue that coincidence can always be elevated or organized into a superstructure which perfonns a unification along the coincidental elements. The existence of a coincidence is strong evidence for the existence of a covering theory. ' -Philip 1. Davis [Dav81] Alluding to the Thomas gyration, this book presents the Theory of gy rogroups and gyrovector spaces, taking the reader to the immensity of hyper bolic geometry that lies beyond the Einstein special theory of relativity. Soon after its introduction by Einstein in 1905 [Ein05], special relativity theory (as named by Einstein ten years later) became overshadowed by the ap pearance of general relativity. Subsequently, the exposition of special relativity followed the lines laid down by Minkowski, in which the role of hyperbolic ge ometry is not emphasized. This can doubtlessly be explained by the strangeness and unfamiliarity of hyperbolic geometry [Bar98]. The aim of this book is to reverse the trend of neglecting the role of hy perbolic geometry in the special theory of relativity, initiated by Minkowski, by emphasizing the central role that hyperbolic geometry plays in the theory. 464 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Atomically dispersed metal cations and small polyatomic cationic structures co-ordinated to the surface of porous matrices exhibit different properties from the same cationic species contained in a bulk oxide or supported on amorphous carriers. This subject is treated to an extensive review, showing how an understanding of it is essential to the development of a new generation of solid catalysts. There are also exciting opportunities to shape the catalytic properties of the transition metal cations in microporous and mesoporous matrices. The book covers both theoretical and experimental aspects, including the distribution of framework Al atoms in Si-rich zeolites, distribution and siting of charge-exchanged metal cations, electronic, adsorptive and catalytic properties of metal cations, and correlation of metal cation structure and siting with catalytic activity. 344 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The word tribology was fIrst reported in a landmark report by P. Jost in 1966 (Lubrication (Tribology)--A Report on the Present Position and Industry's Needs, Department of Education and Science, HMSO, London). Tribology is the science and technology of two interacting surfaces in relative motion and of related subjects and practices. The popular equivalent is friction, wear and lubrication. The economic impact of the better understanding of tribology of two interacting surfaces in relative motion is known to be immense. Losses resulting from ignorance of tribology amount in the United States alone to about 6 percent of its GNP or about $200 billion dollars per year (1966), and approximately one-third of the world's energy resources in present' use, appear as friction in one form or another. A fundamental understanding of the tribology of the head-medium interface in magnetic recording is crucial to the future growth of the $100 billion per year information storage industry. In the emerging microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industry, tribology is also recognized as a limiting technology. The advent of new scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques (starting with the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981) to measure surface topography, adhesion, friction, wear, lubricant-fIlm thickness, mechanical properties all on a micro to nanometer scale, and to image lubricant molecules and the availability of supercomputers to conduct atomic-scale simulations has led to the development of a new fIeld referred to as Microtribology, Nanotribology, or Molecular Tribology (see B. Bhushan, J. N. Israelachvili and U.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 1008 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Over the past decade the scientific activities of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), which focuses on the role of the oceans in controlling climate change via the transport and storage of greenhouse gases and organic matter, have led to an increased interest in the study of the biogeochemistry of organic matter. There is also a growing interest in global climate fluctuations. This, and the need for a precise assessment of the dynamics of carbon and other bio-elements, has led to a demand for an improved understanding of biogeochemical processes and the chemical characteristics of both particulate and dissolved organic matter in the ocean.A large amount of proxy data has been published describing the changes of the oceanic environment, but qualitative and quantitative estimates of the vertical flux of (proxy) organic compounds have not been well documented. There is thus an urgent need to pursue this line of study and, to this end, this book starts with several papers dealing with the primary production of organic matter in the upper ocean. Thereafter, the book goes on to follow the flux and characterization of particulate organic matter, discussed in relation to the primary production in the euphotic zone and resuspension in the deep waters, including the vertical flux of proxy organic compounds. It goes on to explain the decomposition and transformation of organic matter in the ocean environment due to photochemical and biological agents, and the reactivity of bulk and specific organic compounds, including the air-sea interaction of biogenic gases.The 22 papers in the book reflect the interests of JGOFS and will thus serve as a valuable reference source for future biogeochemical investigations of both bio-elements and organic matter in seawater, clarifying the role of the ocean in global climate change.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 572 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The NATO Advanced Study Institute on 'Functional Gradient Materials and Surface Layers Prepared by Fine Particles Technology' was held in Kiev (Ukraine) on June 18- 28, 2000 where more than 90 participants, ranging from Ph.D. students to experienced senior scientists, met and exchanged ideas. This meeting was aimed at stimulating the research work across traditional disciplinary lines by bringing together scientists from diverse research areas related to functional gradient materials and surface layers. It also intended to give opportunities for initiating collaborative works between scientists from NATO and Partner countries and to trigger fruitful and exciting discussions between experienced and young researchers. In this respect, this NATO-ASI has been quite successful. The term of functional gradient materials which originates from Japan in the 1980's describes a class of engineering materials with spatially inhomogeneous microstructures and properties (MRS Bulletin, 1995,20, N°l). These materials can be successfully utilized in various applications like electronic devices, optical films, anti wear and anti-corrosion coatings, thermal barrier coatings, biomaterials, to name only a few. Although these functional gradient materials are not fundamentally new, the use of nanoparticles in their fabrication and in surface layers as well has greatly improved their performances to meet challenging requirements for industrial applications.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 332 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Due to the long-term planning horizons and the great variety of natural, economic, and operational hazards affecting forest ecosystems, uncertainty and multiple risk are typical aspects of forest management. Applications of risk analysis are surprisingly rare, in spite of the rich assortment of sophisticated forest planning tools that are available today. The objective of this particular volume within the book series Managing Forest Ecosystems is to present state-of-the-art research results, concepts, and techniques regarding the assessment and evaluation of natural hazards and the analysis of risk and uncertainty relating to forest management. Various aspects of risk analysis are covered, including examples of specific modelling tools. The book is divided into three sections covering ecological perspectives, applications in engineering and planning, and methods applicable to economics and policy.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 264 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This is this, this ain't something else, this is this -Robert De Niro, Deerhunter his book may to some extent be viewed as the continuation of my T Doctoral thesis Epistemology, Methodology and Reliability. The dissertation was, first of all, a methodological study of the reliable performance of the AGM-axioms (Alchourr6n, Gardenfors and Makin son) of belief revision. Second of all the dissertation included the first steps toward an epistemology for the limiting convergence of knowledge for scientific inquiry methods of both discovery and assessment. The idea of methodological reliability as a desirable property of a scientific method was introduced to me while I was a visiting Ph. D. -student at the Department of Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University in Pitts burgh, Pennsylvania, USA in 1995-96. Here I became acquainted with formal learning theory. Learning theory provides a variety of formal tools for investigating a number of important issues within epistemology, methodology and the philosophy of science. Especially with respect to the problem of induc tion, but not exclusively. The Convergence of Scientific Knowledge-a view from the limit utilizes a few concepts from formal learning theory to study problems in modal logic and epistemology. It should be duely noted that this book has virtually nothing to do with formal learning theory or inductive learning problems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 412 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The NATO Advanced Study Institute on 'Functional Gradient Materials and Surface Layers Prepared by Fine Particles Technology' was held in Kiev (Ukraine) on June 18- 28, 2000 where more than 90 participants, ranging from Ph.D. students to experienced senior scientists, met and exchanged ideas. This meeting was aimed at stimulating the research work across traditional disciplinary lines by bringing together scientists from diverse research areas related to functional gradient materials and surface layers. It also intended to give opportunities for initiating collaborative works between scientists from NATO and Partner countries and to trigger fruitful and exciting discussions between experienced and young researchers. In this respect, this NATO-ASI has been quite successful. The term of functional gradient materials which originates from Japan in the 1980's describes a class of engineering materials with spatially inhomogeneous microstructures and properties (MRS Bulletin, 1995,20, N°l). These materials can be successfully utilized in various applications like electronic devices, optical films, anti wear and anti-corrosion coatings, thermal barrier coatings, biomaterials, to name only a few. Although these functional gradient materials are not fundamentally new, the use of nanoparticles in their fabrication and in surface layers as well has greatly improved their performances to meet challenging requirements for industrial applications. 328 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Research on alcohol-related consequences has traditionally focused mainly on health aspects of alcohol consumption or effects which can be more easily quantified or measured. It is evident that alcohol has many consequences which can be characterised as `social' in nature and which are not, or not only, medical and are directly health-related. Such consequences include violence, crime, and psychosocial factors. The increasing relevance of consequences of alcohol consumption other than medical is also reflected in the second European Action Plan 2000-2004 of WHO, aiming at the prevention and reduction of harm done by alcohol to the health and wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities.This book attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of social consequences of alcohol consumption on the individual, group, organisational, and societal level. It is a result of a two-year collaborative study under the leadership of WHO-Euro with the participation of alcohol researchers from Finland, Germany, Norway, Scotland, and Switzerland. Although the book was written by experts in the field, it is targeted not only at scientists, but at all people dealing with alcohol-related problems in practice.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Modern information systems differ in essence from their predecessors. They support operations at multiple locations and different time zones, are distributed and network-based, and use multidimensional data analysis, data warehousing, knowledge discovery, knowledge management, mobile computing, and other modern information processing methods.This book considers fundamental issues of modern information systems. It discusses query processing, data quality, data mining, knowledge management, mobile computing, software engineering for information systems construction, and other topics. The book presents research results that are not available elsewhere. With more than 40 contributors, it is a solid source of information about the state of the art in the field of databases and information systems. It is intended for researchers, advanced students, and practitioners who are concerned with the development of advanced information systems. 364 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Background InformationRetrieval (IR) has become, mainly as aresultofthe huge impact of the World Wide Web (WWW) and CD-ROM industry, one of the most important theoretical and practical research topics in Information and Computer Science. Since the inception ofits first theoretical roots about 40 years ago, IR has made avariety ofpractical, experimental and technological advances. It is usually defined as being concerned with the organisation, storage, retrieval and evaluation of information (stored in computer databases) that is likely to be relevant to users' informationneeds (expressed in queries). A huge number ofarticles published in specialisedjournals and at conferences (such as, for example, the Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Information Processing and Management, The Computer Journal, Information Retrieval, Journal of Documentation, ACM TOIS, ACM SIGIR Conferences, etc. ) deal with many different aspects of IR. A number of books have also been written about IR, for example: van Rijsbergen, 1979; Salton and McGill, 1983; Korfhage, 1997; Kowalski, 1997;Baeza-Yates and Ribeiro-Neto, 1999; etc. . IR is typically divided and presented in a structure (models, data structures, algorithms, indexing, evaluation, human-eomputer interaction, digital libraries, WWW-related aspects, and so on) thatreflects its interdisciplinarynature. All theoretical and practical research in IR is ultimately based on a few basic models (or types) which have been elaborated over time. Every model has a formal (mathematical, algorithmic, logical) description of some sort, and these decriptions are scattered all over the literature.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 304 pp. Englisch.