springer new york springer us jun 2012 (186 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -There have been many developments in the field of light pollution over the last few years, and this second edition of 'Light Pollution - Responses and Remedies' will introduce them in detail. Examples include the appearance of anti-light pollution legislation in various countries, new departures in lighting design, human health implications, and the growing realization among the general public that lighting is not always a good thing.In this title, author Bob Mizon discusses the various ways in which wasted artificial light has damaged the quality of modern life, and suggest solutions. This book is for anyone who has experienced glare, discomfort, or nuisance from poorly directed lights; has wondered why we waste so much money lighting the sky; or anyone who simply wants to see the stars instead of a baleful urban glow.'Light Pollution, 2nd Edition' offers practical and inexpensive solutions to the world-wide problem of wasted artificial light, and emphasizes that light pollution is not just an astronomers' problem, but affects everyone in various ways.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 304 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Computer processing and image analysis technologies have improved substantially over the course of the past decade. This rapidly advancing technology along with the emphasis on video surveillance since 911 has propelled the development of effective video image detection (VID) systems for re. Fire protection system designers initially employed these VID systems for use in large facilities, outdoor locations and tunnels. However, video-based detection is being used for a broadening range of applications [e. g. , 1]. For example, these systems are c- rently installed in electrical power plants, paper mills, document storage facilities, historic municipal buildings, nuclear research facilities, automotive plants, wa- house/distribution centers, and onshore and offshore oil platforms. The 2007 edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code [2], recognized the use of VID systems for ame and smoke detection. Although recognized, there is limited prescriptive installation and use requirements and there is a general desire by many for the development of performance criteria that ultimately could be utilized for the design of systems or the creation of standards. Since the underlying VID technology and development of standard and network-based camera systems are in a period of fairly rapid advancement [3¿5], it is not possible to de ne a comprehensive set of stand-alone prescriptive requirements. The performance of VID systems depends on both the video hardware and the software algorithms; there is no basic underlying principle, such as there is for ionization or pho- electric detection for smoke detectors. Consequently, performance-based inst- lation and operation requirements are needed.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 64 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 416 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Mars, popularly known as the Red Planet because of its distinct color, is visible with the naked eye and is one of very few planets in the Solar System in which it is possible to see weather phenomena and surface features and thus is a favorite for amateur and practical astronomers. Commercially made telescopes can reveal its dusty surface markings, brilliant polar ice caps, and atmospheric phenomena. Many of Mars's features appear to change shape and intensity with the seasons: its polar caps grow and shrink cyclically, clouds billow above the Martian surface, and sometimes great dust storms obscure vastsections of the planet.The first part of Mars and How to Observe It sets out our current knowledge of Mars as a planet - its orbit, physical characteristics, evolution over time, and current geology. A planet-wide tour of Mars's topography is featured, along with clearly labeled maps and close-up images of a variety of features. The second part of the book explains how amateur and practical astronomers can observe Mars successfully. Many aspects are considered in depth, including preparing to observe, calculating phase and tilt, and making observational sketches and drawings. Thereare also plenty of details about how best to make high-resolution CCD images.Since Mars changes in its apparent size in the sky according to its position in relation to Earth, it is best observed during its closestapproaches. Future apparitions (appearances of the Red Planet) are therefore featured.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book explains how collective bargaining has changed in important and lasting ways over the past decade. We are now seeing a new and powerful strain of the concession bargaining that traces its roots back to the early 1980s. The collective bargaining of the past decade can be characterized as ultra-concession bargaining because it is an intense and self-perpetuating deviation from earlier concession bargaining. Employers now act and unions react, rather than the other way around. Employers no longer have to establish a credible case of financial hardship, or commit to the traditional quid pro quo of saving jobs in return for lower labor costs, or guarantee singularity (that concession bargaining is a single even that will not have to be repeated). Not all collective bargaining occurs as this extreme variant but it has become the prevailing form. Essentially, there has been a sea change in collective bargaining in America.The book describes the transformation of collective bargaining in a lively and readable manner, avoiding academic, legalistic or technical jargon, and it will appeal to persons interested in the future directions of collective bargaining and unionism in America, (e.g., the general public, graduate and undergraduate students in human resource management and industrial relations courses, and labor relations managers and union activists and staff). The book deals with aspects of union revival as it asks whether ultra-concession bargaining is cause or outcome of the unions¿ declining influence in the American economy and society. Above all, by using published reports on bargaining and interviews and surveys of bargaining settlements, the book shows where the concession bargaining is now and where it is heading.¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 80 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This volume contains the contributions to the INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INSTITUTE ON THEORETICAL PHYSICS 1980 held from September 1st to September 12th in Bad Honnef, Germany. This Institute was organized by Wuppertal University. It was the eleventh in a series of Summer Schools on particle physics carried out by German Universities. The Institute was aimed to review the present status of gauge theories in elementary particle physics, with emphasis both on the phenomenological and formal aspects. The first part of the volume covers the recent progress in the development of perturbative methods both in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and flavor dynamics (QFD). Applications to available data from electron positron storage rings and deep inelastic scattering are discussed. The second part presents new results on classical solutions and non-perturbative methods in gauge theories and related field theories like non linear a-models. A very topical account is given on the application of Monte Carlo methods within lattice gauge theories. At present these methods appear to be the most promising technique to establish the quark confinement hypothesis within the framework of non-Abelian gauge theories. The volume is closed with a progress report on the present understanding of sup~rgravity and its relation to grand unification schemes. The lectures on Grand Unified Theories given by Dr. D. V. Nanopoulos at the Bad Honnef meeting can be found in the proceedings of the 1980 Rencontre de Moriond (Ed. J. Tran Thanh Van).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 352 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -'Gulliver's Travels' describes the shipwrecked Gulliver's encounters with the inhabitants of four extraordinary places: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the country of the Houyhnhnms.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 544 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Quantitative Evaluation of Fire and EMS Mobilization Times presents comprehensive empirical data on fire emergency and EMS call processing and turnout times, and aims to improve the operational benchmarks of NFPA peer consensus standards through a close examination of real-world data. The book also identifies and analyzes the elements that can influence EMS mobilization response times. Quantitative Evaluation of Fire and EMS Mobilization Times is intended for practitioners as a tool for analyzing fire emergency response times and developing methods for improving them. Researchers working in a related field will also find the book valuable.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 108 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The purpose of the book is a dual one: to detail the nature and results of Tunguska investigations in the former USSR and present-day CIS, and to destroy two long-standing myths still held in the West. The first concerns alleged ¿final solutions¿ that have ostensibly been found in Russia or elsewhere. The second concerns the mistaken belief that there has been little or no progress in understanding the nature of the Tunguska phenomenon. All this is treated by the author in a scholarly and responsible manner. Although the book does present certain unusual findings of Russian and Ukrainian scholars, it is important to stress that this is not a sensational book; it is, rather, a serious exposition of the results of rational investigations into a difficult scientific problem. We are demonstrating the true complexity of the problem that is now entering its second century of existence. Simple meteoritic models cannot explain all the characteristics of this complicated event, and therefore certain so-called ¿unconventional hypotheses¿ about the nature of the Tunguska explosion are to be considered as well.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Nonlinear Optimization is an intriguing area of study where mathematical theory, algorithms and applications converge to calculate the optimal values of continuous functions. Within this subject, Global Optimization aims at finding global optima for difficult problems in which many local optima might exist.This book provides a compelling introduction to global and non-linear optimization providing interdisciplinary readers with a strong background to continue their studies into these and other related fields. The book offers insight in relevant concepts such as 'region of attraction' and 'Branch-and-Bound' by elaborating small numerical examples and exercises for the reader to follow.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Among the unresolved topics in evolutionary biology and behavioral ecology are the origins, mechanisms, evolution, and consequences of developmental and phenotypic diversity. In an attempt to address these challenges, plasticity has been investigated empirically and theoretically at all levels of biological organization¿from biochemical to whole organism and beyond to the population, community, and ecosystem levels. Less commonly explored are constraints (e.g., ecological), costs (e.g., increased response error), perturbations (e.g., alterations in selection intensity), and stressors (e.g., resource limitation) influencing not only selective values of heritable phenotypic components but, also, decisions and choices (not necessarily conscious ones) available to individuals in populations. Treating extant mammals, the primary purpose of the proposed work is to provide new perspectives on common themes in the literature on robustness (¿functional diversity¿; differential resistance to ¿deconstraint¿ of conserved elements) and weak robustness (the potential to restrict plasticity and evolvability), plasticity (variation expressed throughout the lifetimes of individuals in a population setting ¿evolvability potential¿), and evolvability (non-lethal phenotypic novelties induced by endogenous and/or exogenous stimuli). The proposed project will place particular emphasis upon the adaptive complex in relation to endogenous (e.g., genomes, neurophysiology) and exogenous (abiotic and biotic, including social environments) organismal features discussed as regulatory and environmental perturbations with the potential to induce, and, often, constrain variability and novelty of form and functionSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 124 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -vi These categories seem to represent the basic breakdown by field of present-day research in this area. Though each paper has been classified into one of these categories (for conference organization purpose), many papers overlapped two or three areas. It is also interesting to note that not only are scientific results being communicated, but the latest techniques and the state-of-the-art tools of the trade (existing and in development) are also being presented. The forty-six papers presented at this conference represent the work of seventy scientists working at universities, government laboratories, and industrial laboratories in seven different countries . We would like to thank the contributors for their efforts and especially for their promptness in providing the editors with their final manuscripts. William A. Kuperman Finn B. Jensen La Spezia, Italy July 1980 CONTENTS GEOACOUSTIC PROPERTIES OF MARINE SEDIMENTS Attenuation of Sound in Marine Sediments . ¿ 1 J. M. Hovem Directivity and Radiation Impedance of a Transducer 15 Embedded in a Lossy Medium . ¿¿ ¿¿¿¿¿¿ G. H. Ziehm Elastic Properties Related to Depth of Burial, Strontium Content and Age, and Diagenetic Stage in Pelagic Carbonate Sediments . . ¿ ¿ . ¿ ¿ ¿ . 41 M. H. Manghnani, S. O. Schianger, and P. D. Milholland Application of Geophysical Methods 'and Equipment to Explore the Sea Bottom . ¿¿ ¿¿¿. ¿ 53 H. F. Weichart The Acoustic Response of Some Gas-Charged Sediments in the Northern Adriatic Sea ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ . ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ 73 A.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 732 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -There is a unique nutritional commonality developing in research relating to coronary heart disease and cancer. The primary aim of this conference was to provide a forum for the leading researchers, clinicians, educators and administrators in these two fields to present a program on heart disease and cancer which included a) the major historical milestones, b) the present areas of greatest interest in research and therapy, c) the latest nutritional, molecular, and biotechnological advances, and d) a perspective on the most promising areas for future research and therapy. Scientists have long contended that research marches on the feet of methodology. Thus there are numerous examples of research fields opening secondary to methodological advances. Some examples are: 1) thin layer and gas-liquid chromatography which, along with high pressure liquid chromatography have broadened the line of advances in lipid research and 2) peR and the resultant impact on molecular biological approaches to several fields of science. The organizers of this conference thought the time was propitious for bringing together knowledge on newer aspects of molecular biological research with current advances in the two major areas of degenerative disease--coronary heart disease and cancer. Our knowledge of these 'killer diseases' has expanded greatly in the past few years and the advance has been catalyzed by use of an array of molecular biological techniques. Thanks to these, medical thinking in these areas is changing from considerations of treatment to strategies for prevention.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 280 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -For centuries the 'treatment' of mentally disturbed individuals was quite simple. They were accused of collusion with evil spirits, hunted, and persecuted. The last 'witch' was killed as late as 1782 in Switzerland. Mentally disturbed people did not fare much better even when the witchhunting days were gone. John Christian Reil gave the following description of mental pa tients at the crossroads of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: We incarcerate these miserable creatures as if they were criminals in abandoned jails, near to the lairs of owls in barren canyons beyond the city gates, or in damp dungeons of prisons, where never a pitying look of a humanitarian penetrates; and we let them, in chains, rot in their own excrement. Their fetters have eaten off the flesh of their bones, and their emaciated pale faces look expectantly toward the graves which will end their misery and cover up our shamefulness. (1803) The great reforms introduced by Philippe Pinel at Bicetre in 1793 augured the beginning of a new approach. Pinel ascribed the 'sick role,' and called for compas sion and help. One does not need to know much about those he wants to hurt, but one must know a lot in order to help. Pinel's reform was followed by a rapid develop ment in research of causes, symptoms, and remedies of mental disorders. There are two main prerequisites for planning a treatment strategy.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 936 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book describes appropriate statistical models that are commonly utilized in neuropsychology. The book discusses such issues as developing normative data for neuropsychological measures, assessing the validity of neuropsychological tests, and quantifying change ¿over time¿ through longitudinal analyses. The rationale for and allure of the volume is the fact that there are no publications that dovetail the two subdisciplines of applied statistics and neuropsychology. The overall objective of this book is to provide a pragmatic and concrete source for applying methodological and statistical techniques in research studies whose emphasis includes neuropsychology. Since there are a plethora of technique to arrive at similar answers, each method with its strengths and weaknesses will be delineated. The beauty of the book will be that it will hopefully demystify commonly encountered issues faced with researchers. More specifically, it will provide a ¿how to do it¿ approach.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 120 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -General Editor: Peter Calow, Department of Zoology, University of Sheffield, England The main aim of this series will be to illustrate and to explain the way organisms 'make a living' in nature. At the heart of this - their func tional biology - is the way organisms acquire and then make use of resources in metabolism, movement, growth, reproduction, and so on. These processes will form the fundamental framework of all the books in the series. Each book will concentrate on a particular taxon (species, family, class or even phylum) and will bring together informa tion on the form, physiology, ecology and evolutionary biology of the group. The aim will be not only to describe how organisms work, but also to consider why they have come to work in that way. By con centrating on taxa which are well known, it is hoped that the series will not only illustrate the success of selection, but also show the constraints imposed upon it by the physiological, morphological and develop mental limitations of the groups. Another important feature of the series will be its organismic orien tation. Each book will emphasise the importance offunctional integra tion in the day-to-day lives and the evolution of organisms. This is crucial since, though it may be true that organisms can be considered as collections of gene-determined traits, they nevertheless interact with their environment as integrated wholes and it is in this context that individual traits have been subjected to natural selection and have evolved.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Existing software applications should be redesigned if programmers want to benefit from the performance offered by multi- and many-core architectures. Performance scalability now depends on the possibility of finding and exploiting enough Thread-Level Parallelism (TLP) in applications for using the increasing numbers of cores on a chip.Video decoding is an example of an application domain with increasing computational requirements every new generation. This is due, on the one hand, to the trend towards high quality video systems (high definition and frame rate, 3D displays, etc) that results in a continuous increase in the amount of data that has to be processed in real-time. On the other hand, there is the requirement to maintain high compression efficiency which is only possible with video codes like H.264/AVC that use advanced coding techniques.In this book, the parallelization of H.264/AVC decoding is presented as a case study of parallel programming. H.264/AVC decoding is an example of a complex application with many levels of dependencies, different kernels, and irregular data structures. The book presents a detailed methodology for parallelization of this type of applications. Itbegins witha description of the algorithm, an analysis of the data dependencies and an evaluation of the different parallelization strategies. Then the design and implementation of a novel parallelization approach is presented that is scalable to many core architectures. Experimental results on different parallel architectures are discussed in detail. Finally, an outlook is given on parallelization opportunities in the upcoming HEVC standard.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 116 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -There is no question that the cohomology of infinite dimensional Lie algebras deserves a brief and separate mono graph. This subject is not cover~d by any of the tradition al branches of mathematics and is characterized by relative ly elementary proofs and varied application. Moreover, the subject matter is widely scattered in various research papers or exists only in verbal form. The theory of infinite-dimensional Lie algebras differs markedly from the theory of finite-dimensional Lie algebras in that the latter possesses powerful classification theo rems, which usually allow one to 'recognize' any finite dimensional Lie algebra (over the field of complex or real numbers), i.e., find it in some list. There are classifica tion theorems in the theory of infinite-dimensional Lie al gebras as well, but they are encumbered by strong restric tions of a technical character. These theorems are useful mainly because they yield a considerable supply of interest ing examples. We begin with a list of such examples, and further direct our main efforts to their study.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 352 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Guide to Effective Grant Writing: How to Write a Successful NIH Grant, 2nd edition is a fully updated follow-up to the popular original. It is written to help the 100,000+ post-graduate students and professionals who need to write effective proposals for grants. There is little or no formal teaching about the process of writing grants for NIH, and many grant applications are rejected due to poor writing and weak formulation of ideas. Procuring grant funding is the central key to survival for any academic researcher in the biological sciences; thus, being able to write a proposal that effectively illustrates one's ideas is essential. Covering all aspects of the proposal process, from the most basic questions about form and style to the task of seeking funding, this volume offers clear advice backed up with excellent examples. Included are a number of specimen proposals to help shed light on the important issues surrounding the writing of proposals. The Guide is a clear, straight-forward, and reader-friendly tool. Guide to Effective Grant Writing: How to Write a Successful NIH Grant Writing is based on Dr. Yang's extensive experience serving on NIH grant review panels; it covers the common mistakes and problems he routinely witnesses while reviewing grants.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 104 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This Brief defines competitive intelligence (CI) as a tool for making investment decisions within the pharmaceutical industry.It provides an overview of processes that the regulatory affairs professional must take into account when evaluating data impacting product-based risk evaluations. These apply particularly to evaluations that focus on outputs such as regulatory approval, or the commercial impact of product labeling on the sales forecast over a limited timeframe. The Brief also provides an overview of intellectual property assessment that can impact a product¿s lifespan on the market due to patent protection itself (or loss of patent protection) or via regulatory exclusivity. Case examples are discussed to illustrate theimportance of keeping up with the ever-changing regulations, andhow to interpret them in the context ofCI. In addition, there is a section on virtual data rooms (VDRs) which currently function as the cornerstone of due diligence investigations. While aimed primarily at regulatory affairs professionals in the United States, this publication provides a useful adjunct for other pharmaceutical executives, especially those new to product-based investments, and regulatory affairs professionals in other regions. ¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 100 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Festschriften, when they are haphazard collections of pieces written by colleagues and well-wishers on the occasion of a major anniversary in the life of a distinguished man, tend to be tedious. One can more profitably go directly to the writings of the celebrant, as well as other, more voluntary publications of his well-wishers. However, the editors wish to claim that this Festschrift is different. This is so first of all because of the almost unique combination of interests and competence of Henry Margenau. He is at once a distinguished physicist, an equally distinguished educator, and a prominent philosopher. These broad areas of his extraordinarily active and fruitful career are each represented in this volume in his honor, and this constitutes the particular interest of the collection. Without limiting themselves to paraphrases or empty compliments, the contributors to this book range over the scope of interest of Margenau's work, and, acknowledging its influence and significance, present their own viewpoints and conclusions. Since they include some of the most distinguished men in science and philosophy today, the privilege of having them speak to some broadly defined common concerns in a single volume is a rare one, for which our thanks must go to Henry Margenau, who inspired the papers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 244 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -As device dimensions decrease, hot-carrier effects, which are due mainly to the presence of a high electric field inside the device, are becoming a major design concern. On the one hand, the detrimental effects-such as transconductance degradation and threshold shift-need to be minimized or, if possible, avoided altogether. On the other hand, performance such as the programming efficiency of nonvolatile memories or the carrier velocity inside the devices-need to be maintained or improved through the use of submicron technologies, even in the presence of a reduced power supply. As a result, one of the major challenges facing MOS design engineers today is to harness the hot-carrier effects so that, without sacrificing product performance, degradation can be kept to a minimum and a reli able design obtained. To accomplish this, the physical mechanisms re sponsible for the degradations should first be experimentally identified and characterized. With adequate models thus obtained, steps can be taken to optimize the design, so that an adequate level of quality assur ance in device or circuit performance can be achieved. This book ad dresses these hot-carrier design issues for MOS devices and circuits, and is used primarily as a professional guide for process development engi neers, device engineers, and circuit designers who are interested in the latest developments in hot-carrier degradation modeling and hot-carrier reliability design techniques. It may also be considered as a reference book for graduate students who have some research interests in this excit ing, yet sometime controversial, field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 356 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In Europe, the liberation of the serfs was a project initiated in 1806 with a scheduled completion date of 1810. It was obvious to those who planned the project that the liberation of the serfs involved a complete overhaul of agriculture as it was then known as Europe moved from feudalism to capitalism. For this reason, Prussia was careful in implementing the reform, and did not rush, after seeing the Kingdom of Westphalia perishing under its crushing debt accumulated in part from Napoleon¿s failed Russian campaign.The basic hypothesis of this book is that slave labor can never be efficient and will therefore disappear by itself. However, this process of disappearance can take many years. For instance, two generations after the importation of slaves to North America had ended, the states still fought over the issue, and this despite the fact that Ely Whitney had invented the Cotton Gin in 1793 and already then made slavery in cotton production literally superfluous. While there have been several books on the economics of American slavery, few studies have examined this issue in an international context. The contributions in this book address the economics of unfree labor in places like Prussia, Westphalia, Austria, Argentina and the British Empire. The issue of slavery is still a hotly debated and widely studied issue, making this book of interest to academics in history, economics and African Studies alike.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 84 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Product and service innovations are the result of mutually interacting creative and coordination tasks within a system that has to balance technical decisions, marketplace taste, personnel management, and stakeholder commitment. The constituent elements of such systems are often scattered across multiple firms and across the globe and constitute a complex system consisting of many interacting parts.In the spirit of the 'butterfly effect', metaphorically describing the sensitivity to initials conditions of chaotic systems, this book builds an argument that 'innovation butterflies' can, in the short term, take up significant amounts of effort and sap efficiencies within individual innovation projects. Such 'innovation butterflies' can be prompted by external forces such as government legislation or unexpected spikes in the price of basic goods (such as oil), unexpected shifts in market tastes, or from a company manager¿s decisions or those of its competitors. Even the smallest change, the smallest disruption, to this system can steer a firm down an unpredictable and irreversibly different path in terms of technology and market evolution.In the long term, they can shift the balance of the entire innovation portfolio into unplanned directions. More importantly, we describe how innovation leaders can influence the emergent behavior of the system for good or ill.The first half of the book draws parallels from physics, economics, and sociology as well as evidence from multiple industries to describe the structural and behavioral causes of emergent phenomena in innovation settings as well as their often negative impacts. In the second half of the book, we turn to distributed management of innovation under emergence. We show that innovation butterflies, if improperly managed, most often lead to negative outcomes. On the other hand, it is also argued that while the complexity of the innovation system and the desireto experiment and try new and emergent alternatives precludes precise planning, innovation leaders can actually tame innovation butterflies through the design and implementation of appropriate processes, strategies, tools and leadership choices.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This book presents various video processing methodologies that are useful for distance education. The motivation is to devise new multimedia technologies that are suitable for better representation of instructional videos by exploiting the temporal redundancies present in the original video. This solves many of the issues related to the memory and bandwidth limitation of lecture videos. The various methods described in the book focus on a key-frame based approach which is used to time shrink, repackage and retarget instructional videos. All the methods need a preprocessing step of shot detection and recognition, which is separately given as a chapter. We find those frames which are well-written and distinct as key-frames. A super-resolution based image enhancement scheme is suggested for refining the key-frames for better legibility. These key-frames, along with the audio and a meta-data for the mutual linkage among various media components form a repackaged lecture video, which on a programmed playback, render an estimate of the original video but at a substantially compressed form. The book also presents a legibility retentive retargeting of this instructional media on mobile devices with limited display size. All these technologies contribute to the enhancement of the outreach of distance education programs.Distance education is now a big business with an annual turnover of over 10-12 billion dollars. We expect this to increase rapidly. Use of the proposed technology will help deliver educational videos to those who are less endowed in terms of network bandwidth availability and to those everywhere who are even on a move by delivering it effectively to mobile handsets (including PDAs). Thus, technology developers, practitioners, and content providers will find the material very useful.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 192 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -There is increasing recognition of the biological importance of taurine. Disturbances in taurine metabolism are seen in dysfunction al states as diverse as epilepsy, cardiomyopathy, Friedreich's ataxia and congestive heart failure, which combined with the antiepi1eptic and cardiotonic actions of taurine underscore the emerging clinical importance of this fascinating substance. This is the third book to appear on taurine since 1976. The last book (Taurine and Neuro1oeica1 Disorders, Raven Press, 1978) emphasized the involvement of taurine in central nervous system phenomena. These actions are further explored in this volume. In addition, nutritional aspects of taurine, particularly as these re late to development, have been increasingly recognized to be im portant parts of the taurine story. The marked emphasis placed on nutrition by a number of contributors to this volume is recognition of the meteoritic growth of this area. Are the multitudinous actions of taurine differential expres sions of a universal mechanism There is surprising unity of opinion expressed by the scientists contributing to this volume, despite their differences in viewpoint and background, as the reader, tanta lized we hope by this remark, will discover.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 568 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -InhaltsangabeListing of Protein Spectra.- Name Index.- Source Index.- Additives/Modifiers/Modifications Index.- Corrections to Atlas of Protein Spectra in the Ultraviolet and Visible Regions, Volumes 1 and 2.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 540 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Calorimetric Studies of the Fusion of Linear Polyethylene.- Measurement of the Heat of Fusion of Crystalline Polymers by a Calorimetric Melting Point Depression Technique.- Calorimetry of Fuming Nitric Acid Treated Polyethylene.- The Thermodynamic Dissolution Temperature of Suspensions of Polyethylene Single Crystals by DTA.- The Equilibrium Melting Temperature and Surface Free Energy of Polyethylene Single Crystals.- Melting Behaviour of Linear Polyethylene Fractions.- Measurement of the Crystallization Rates of Polymers by Differential Scanning Calorimetry.- Analysis of Polystyrene Samples in the Liquid Phase by Differential Scanning Calorimetry.- Transition Studies of Poly(2,6-dimethyl 1-,4-phenylene ether).- Melting Point Relationships for Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Systems.- Thermal Analyses of Polymers. I. Polycarbonate and Polyethylene Terephthalate.- Calorimetric Studies of Drawn Polyethylene Terephthalate.- Crystallization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate).- Differential Scanning Calorimetry of Polyurethanes.- Glass Transition Temperature Measurement of Elastomers.- The Temperature Dependence of the Gr¿neisen Ratio of Polymeric Materials Determined by Thermal and Ultrasonic Sound Velocity Measurements.- Thermal Properties of Inorganic Polymer Systems.- Thermal Effects in Ion-Exchange Reactions: Heats of Ion Exchange.- Use of Microcalorimetry for Determination of Order in Polymers.- Differential Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry of Waxes.- Calorimetric Studies of Milk Fat by Differential Thermal Analysis.- Thermal Studies of Milk Fat.- Measurement of the Kinetics of Dissociation of Dicyclopentadiene Derivatives With the Differential Scanning Calorimeter.- Thermal Analysis of Kaolin Clays: Correlation with X-ray Crystallinity Data.- Calorimetric Measurements on Metal Sulfates and Their Hydrates: Electrode Potentials and Thermodynamic Data for Aqueous Ions of Transition Elements.- Enthalpimetric Analysis.- A Simple Generalized Theory for the Analysis of Dynamic Thermal Measurement.- Thermal Analysis of Mesophases.- Determination of Purity and Phase Behavior by Adiabatic Calorimetry.- Instrumental Considerations for Thermal Methods.- Differential Enthalpic Analysis as a Calorimetric Method: Evaluation by a Statistical Design.- Thin Film Thermocouples for Differential Thermal Analysis.- Purity Determinations Using a Differential Scanning Calorimeter.- The Use of Dynamic Differential Calorimetry for Ascertaining the Thermal Stability of Polymers.- Thermal Analysis of Friction Materials.- Heats of Reaction for Carbonate Mineral Decomposition.- Study of the Thermal Behavior of Solid Propellants by Differential Scanning Calorimetry.- Analysis of Highly Exothermic Reactions by DSC.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 336 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The three of us, working in different institutions but in the same city, were very aware of the differences between our diverse approaches to the biology of aging and our perceptions of the sub ject matter. However, three years ago we began to hold informal meetings to discuss our research. These meetings eventually be came more frequent and, with this association, we became increas ingly cognizant of the commonality of our research problems de spite our separate perspectives. The idea for this symposium, therefore, grew from our aware ness that the underlying problem of the biological basis for aging was a common denominator in our research. The papers presented here represent three areas of active investigation: cell divi sion, biological membranes and hormonal regulation. They are sub mitted with the expectations that a greater understanding of the role of each of these separate approaches will help clarify, not only the interrelationships between our fields of research, but more importantly, the biology of aging itself. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to extend our sincere thanks for the interest and contributions of the companies listed below: Abbott Laboratories Hoffman-LaRoche Arthur D. Little McNeil Laboratories Bristol Laboratories Mead Johnson & Company Burroughs H'ellcome Co. Merck Sharp & Dohme Research Labs. Charles River Breeding Labs. Rom-Amer Pharmaceuticals Dow Chemical Co. Sandoz Pharmaceuticals E.R. Squibb & Sons, Inc. Schering Corp. Eli Lilly Research Laboratories Smith Kline Corp.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 320 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -We are especially grateful to Dr. Philip Corfman and his colleagues of the Population and Reproduction Grants Branch of NICHD for making this Conference possible. The format of this volume follows in general the order in which the papers were presented during the Conference. The Conference was divided into four sessions, each of which was presided over by a capable and distinguished scientist. Each of these chairmen, Drs. T. H. Hamilton, G. A. Puca, R. L. Vande Wiele and H. G. Williams-Ashman provided valuable discussion and for their services we are most appreciative. The Editors are indebted to Mr. Robert Colligan for his help in organizing and in redacting the manuscripts. A special commen dation is also extended to Ms. Mary Jane Fowler who cheerfully and efficiently typed this entire volume. Finally, we express thanks to the individual participants of the Conference for their cooperation and prompt submission of the manuscripts and to the Plenum Press for ensuring the rapid publica tion of this volume. Anthony R. Means, Ph.D. Bert W. O'Malley, M. D.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 476 pp. Englisch.