springer springer dez 2011 (Oltre 8.300 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This volume gathers the invited talks of the XIII International Work shop on Condensed Matter Theories which took place in Campos do Jordao near Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 6-12, 1989. It contains contributions in a wide variety of fields including neutral quantum and classical fluids, electronic systems, composite materials, plasmas, atoms, molecules and nuclei, and as this year's workshop reflected the natural preoccupation in materials science with its spectacular prospect for mankind, room tempera ture super-conductivity. All topics are treated from a common viewpoint: that of many-body physics, whether theoretical or simu1ational. Since the very first workshop, held at the prestigious Instituto de Fisica Teorica in Sao Paulo, and organized by the same organizer of the 1989 workshop, Professor Valdir Casaca Aguilera-Navarro, the meeting has taken place annually six times in Latin America, four in Europe and three in the United States. Its principal objective has been to innitiate and nurture collaborative research networks of scientists interested in the IDultidisciplinary aspects of many-body theory applied to problems in con densed-matter physics. Financial as well as moral support is gratefully appreciated by all: of the CLAF in Rio, the CNPq in Brasilia, the FAPESP and the FUNDUNESP in Sao Paulo, and the U.S. Army Research Office in Durham, NC, USA.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The development of immunization has been one of the most striking features in the control of infectious disease in the twentieth century. This book takes into account the need for a simple, concise account of immunization procedures not only in the UK and USA but also in other countries, and to this end a special chapter on immunization in developing countries has been included. Following two introductory chapters, there are nine chapters on various diseases and the vaccines that have been developed to combat them. In each of these chapters, a short discussion of the epidemiology of the disease and the history of immunization against it is followed by a description of the vaccine, its efficacy, contraindications to its use and future developments. These are followed by four general chapters on vaccines for travel, vaccines for selective use, passive immunization and immunization in tropical environments and the book concludes with a chapter on the smallpox vaccination and one on new vaccines. The demand for this book follows the popularity of a series of articles on immunization which appeared in Update. These have been expanded and largely rewritten. I have drawn on many expert sources and have made an effort to provide a balanced and non-controversial opinion with a discussion of alternative procedures where indicated.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This volume is on 'modem geometric computing for visualization' which is at the forefront of multi-disciplinary advanced research areas. This area is attracting intensive research interest across many application fields: singularity in cosmology, turbulence in ocean engineering, high energy physics, molecular dynamics, environmental problems, modem mathe matics, computer graphics, and pattern recognition. Visualization re quires the computation of displayable shapes which are becoming more and more complex in proportion to the complexity of the objects and phenomena visualized. Fast computation requires information locality. Attaining information locality is achieved through characterizing the shapes in geometry and topology, and the large amount of computation required through the use of supercomputers. This volume contains the initial results of our efforts to satisfy these re quirements by inviting experts and selecting new research works through review processes. To be more specific, this book presents the proceedings of the International Workshop on Modem Geometric Computing for Visualization held at Kogakuin University, Tokyo, Japan, June 29-30, 1992 organized by the Computer Graphics Society, Japan Personal Com puter Software Association, Kogakuin University, and the Department of Information Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo. We received extremely high-quality papers for review from five different countries, one from Australia, one from Italy, four from Japan, one from Singapore and three from the United States, and we accepted eight papers and rejected two.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -During the last annual meeting of the Austrian Society for Electron Microscopy it was decided to organize scientific symposia dealing with basic problems of cytology. If possible such symposia should be arranged in cooperation with other scientific societies. We intended to arrange symposia on special fields, to be presented on several aspects by excellent scientists invited. 'Neural Transmission' was chosen as a central topic for this first symposium. The subject represents a most rapidly expanding field of research and is of particular interest to morphologists, physiologists, pharmacologists, biochemists and clinicians. We are indebted to all the invited speakers for contributing their interesting papers. I feel bound to thank once more the firm of Bender, a subsidiary company of Boehringer Ingelheim and of Arzneimittelforschung Ges. m. b. H. Wien, for the generous financial support which made possible to realize the symposium. The publication of this volume, representing the papers and discussions originally read at the symposium and elaborated by the authors in detail and more extensively, was only made possible by the generous cooperation of the Springer-Verlag Vienna.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Ischemic colitis is becoming increasingly one of the most important conditions involving the colon. This is due to a combination of multiple factors: (1) increasing age of the world population due to improved public health conditions and advances in medicine; (2) diagnostic advances in recognizing the condition; and, (3) education of physicians who suspect the disease in elderly individuals with colonic symptoms. The disease is a great masquerader of other conditions and can be mistaken for ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease or almost any other inflammatory disease of the large bowel. It can have shallow ulcers, deep ulcers, filiform polyps, and pseudomembrane. It can produce fistulae or toxic megacolon. The thumb printing and other acute findings are not always seen and the site of involvement may be atypical. It is therefore so important to have a book dealing with this condition extensively and in detail. This scholarly presentation based on large clinical experience significantly contributes to the knowledge of this important disease that will assume even more importance as other conditions involving the colon are successfully treated. As physicians, radiologists and even pathologists have difficulty in diagnosing this condition that appears under multiple guises the information contained here should be invaluable. Alexander R. Margulis, M. D. March 1984, San Francisco PREFACE First of all, I would like to congratulate the authors on their successful publication of this monograph with many diagnostic radiographs of new touch taken by the modern technique.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The design and analysis of data structures and efficient algorithms has gained considerable importance in recent years. The concept of 'algorithm' is central in computer science, and 'efficiency' is central in the world of money. I have organized the material in three volumes and nine chapters. Vol. 1: Sorting and Searching (chapters I to III) Vol. 2: Graph Algorithms and NP-completeness (chapters IV to VI) Vol. 3: Multi-dimensional Searching and Computational G- metry (chapters VII and VIII) Volumes 2 and 3 have volume 1 as a common basis but are indepen dent from each other. Most of volumes 2 and 3 can be understood without knowing volume 1 in detail. A general kowledge of algorith mic principles as laid out in chapter 1 or in many other books on algorithms and data structures suffices for most parts of volumes 2 and 3. The specific prerequisites for volumes 2 and 3 are listed in the prefaces to these volumes. In all three volumes we present and analyse many important efficient algorithms for the fundamental computa tional problems in the area. Efficiency is measured by the running time on a realistic model of a computing machine which we present in chapter I. Most of the algorithms presented are very recent inven tions; after all computer science is a very young field. There are hardly any theorems in this book which are older than 20 years and at least fifty percent of the material is younger than 10 years.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -1 The Cardiac Conducting System and Its Autonomic Control.- Anatomy of the Conducting System.- Autonomic Innervation of the Heart.- 2 The Pathophysiology of Atrial Fibrillation.- Pathology.- The Electrophysiology of Atrial Fibrillation.- The Ventricular Response in Atrial Fibrillation.- The Role of the Autonomic Nervous System in Atrial Fibrillation.- Fibrillatory Waves in Atrial Fibrillation.- The Brody Phenomenon in Atrial Fibrillation.- The QT Interval in Atrial Fibrillation.- Atrial Fibrillation and the Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.- Aberration in Atrial Fibrillation.- 3 Models of the Atrioventricular Node.- The Electrophysiological Model of the Atrioventricular Node.- Analogue Models of the Atrioventricular Node.- Mathematical Models of the Atrioventricular Node in Atrial Fibrillation.- The Atrioventricular Node as a Biological Oscillator.- More Electrophysiological Phenomena: Ventricular Extrasystoles.- Phase Resetting: An Achilles Heel.- 4 The Measurement of Cardiac Output in Sinus Rhythm and Atrial Fibrillation.- Assessment of Cardiac Function.- The Assessment of Cardiovascular Function.- Measuring Volumetric Cardiac Output by the Fick Method.- The Indirect Fick Technique.- Thermodilution.- Reproducibility of Thermodilution.- Measurement of Cardiac Output by Echocardiography and Doppler Ultrasound.- Linear Cardiac Output.- Expectations of Linear Cardiac Output.- Comparison between Thermodilution and Doppler Ultrasound.- Application of Linear Cardiac Output Measurement to Atrial Fibrillation.- Average Stroke and Minute Distance in Atrial Fibrillation.- Beat-to-Beat Measurement of Stroke Output.- 5 The Haemodynamics of Atrial Fibrillation: The Development of a Model of Left Ventricular Function.- The Relationship Between Time and Volume of the Pulse.- Derivation of a Mathematical Model of Left Ventricular Function.- The Physiological Basis for the Mathematical Model of Left Ventricular Function.- Application of the Mathematical Model of Left Ventricular Function.- Haemodynamic Consequences of Atrial Fibrillation.- Endocrine Consequences of Atrial Fibrillation.- 6 The Haemodynamics of Atrial Fibrillation: The Effect of Ventricular Rate on Cardiac Output.- Further Information from Multiple Regression Analysis.- The Ventricular Rate for Maximum Cardiac Output.- What is Meant by 'Control' of Ventricular Rate .- 7 The Use of the Haemodynamic Model of Atrial Fibrillation for Evaluating Drug Action.- More Haemodynamic Profiles.- Additional Haemodynamic Data Derived from Stroke Distance.- A Pilot Study of the Effect of Enoximone in Atrial Fibrillation.- A Placebo Controlled Trial of Enoximone and Digoxin in Atrial Fibrillation.- Conclusions.- 8 The Autonomic Control of Ventricular Rate in Atrial Fibrillation.- Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia.- Measurement of Baroreflex Function.- A Systems Approach to Heart Rate Control.- Conclusions.- 9 Clinical Aspects of Atrial Fibrillation.- Epidemiology.- Aetiology.- Thromboembolism.- 10 The Management of Atrial Fibrillation.- Presentation.- Control of Ventricular Rate.- Cardioversion.- Chemical Cardioversion and Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation.- Anticoagulant Therapy.- The Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.- New and Experimental Techniques in Atrial Fibrillation Pacing.- Appendix. A Simple Computer Model of the Electrophysiological System of the Heart, Considering the Sinoatrial and Atrioventricular Nodes as Sine Wave Oscillators.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Cardiovascular Biomaterials presents current research material developed by contributors from universities and professional laboratories in the UK, USA, Canada, and Germany.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Features 25 different scientists and the ideas which may not have made them famous, but made history¿Typically, we remember our greatest scientists from one single invention, one new formula or one incredible breakthrough. This narrow perspective does not give justice to the versatility of many scientists who also earned a reputation in other areas of science. James Watt, for instance, is known for inventing the steam engine, yet most people do not know that he also invented the copier. Alexander Graham Bell of course invented the telephone, but only few know that he invented artificial breathing equipment, a prototype of the ¿iron lung¿. Edmond Halley, whose name is associated with the comet that visits Earth every 75 years, produced the first mortality tables, used for life insurances. This entertaining book is aimed at anyone who enjoys reading about inventions and discoveries by the most creative minds. Detailed illustrations of the forgotten designs and ideas enrich the work throughout.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Earth observation is the field of science concerned with the problem of monitoring and modeling the processes on the Earth surface and their interaction with the atmosphere. The Earth is continuously monitored with advanced optical and radar sensors. The images are analyzed and processed to deliver useful products to individual users, agencies and public administrations. To deal with these problems, remote sensing image processing is nowadays a mature research area, and the techniques developed in the field allow many real-life applications with great societal value. For instance, urban monitoring, fire detection or flood prediction can have a great impact on economical and environmental issues. To attain such objectives, the remote sensing community has turned into a multidisciplinary field of science that embraces physics, signal theory, computer science, electronics and communications. From a machine learning and signal/image processing point of view, all the applications are tackled under specific formalisms, such as classification and clustering, regression and function approximation, data coding, restoration and enhancement, source unmixing, data fusion or feature selection and extraction. This book covers some of the fields in a comprehensive way. Table of Contents: Remote Sensing from Earth Observation Satellites / The Statistics of Remote Sensing Images / Remote Sensing Feature Selection and Extraction / Classification / Spectral Mixture Analysis / Estimation of Physical ParametersSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 264 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) algorithm is one of the most successful audio formats for consumer audio storage and for transfer and playback of music on digital audio players. The MP3 compression standard along with the AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) algorithm are associated with the most successful music players of the last decade. This book describes the fundamentals and the MATLAB implementation details of the MP3 algorithm. Several of the tedious processes in MP3 are supported by demonstrations using MATLAB software. The book presents the theoretical concepts and algorithms used in the MP3 standard. The implementation details and simulations with MATLAB complement the theoretical principles. The extensive list of references enables the reader to perform a more detailed study on specific aspects of the algorithm and gain exposure to advancements in perceptual coding. Table of Contents: Introduction / Analysis Subband Filter Bank / Psychoacoustic Model II / MDCT / Bit Allocation, Quantization and Coding / DecoderSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 132 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -As conventional memory technologies such as DRAM and Flash run into scaling challenges, architects and system designers are forced to look at alternative technologies for building future computer systems. This synthesis lecture begins by listing the requirements for a next generation memory technology and briefly surveys the landscape of novel non-volatile memories. Among these, Phase Change Memory (PCM) is emerging as a leading contender, and the authors discuss the material, device, and circuit advances underlying this exciting technology. The lecture then describes architectural solutions to enable PCM for main memories. Finally, the authors explore the impact of such byte-addressable non-volatile memories on future storage and system designs. Table of Contents: Next Generation Memory Technologies / Architecting PCM for Main Memories / Tolerating Slow Writes in PCM / Wear Leveling for Durability / Wear Leveling Under Adversarial Settings / Error Resilience in Phase Change Memories /Storage and System Design With Emerging Non-Volatile MemoriesSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 136 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Where were the amino acids, the molecules of life, created: perhaps in a lightning storm in the early Earth, or perhaps elsewhere in the cosmos This book argues that at least some of them must have been produced in the cosmos, and that the fact that the Earthly amino acids have a specific handedness provides an important clue for that explanation. The book discusses several models that purport to explain the handedness, ultimately proposing a new explanation that involves cosmic processing of the amino acids produced in space. The book provides a tour for laypersons that includes a definition of life, the Big Bang, stellar nucleosynthesis, the electromagnetic spectrum, molecules, and supernovae and the particles they produce.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 228 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -This Synthesis Lecture presents a discussion of Quality of Service (QoS) in wireless networks over unlicensed spectrum. The topic is presented from the point of view of protocols for wireless networks (e.g., 802.11) rather than the physical layer point of view usually discussed for cellular networks in the licensed wireless spectrum. A large number of mobile multimedia wireless applications are being deployed over WiFi (IEEE 802.11) and Bluetooth wireless networks and the number will increase in the future as more phones, tablets, and laptops are equipped with these unlicensed spectrum wireless interfaces. Achieving QoS objectives in wireless networks is challenging due to limited wireless resources, wireless nodes interference, wireless shared media, node mobility, and diverse topologies. The author presents the QoS problem as (1) an optimization problem with different constraints coming from the interference, mobility, and wireless resource constraints and (2) an algorithmic problemwith fundamental algorithmic functions within wireless resource management and protocols. Table of Contents: Preface / Basics of Quality of Service in Wireless Networks / QoS-Aware Resource Allocation / Bandwidth Management / Delay Management / Routing / Acknowledgment / References / Author BiographySpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 176 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Spatial database management deals with the storage, indexing, and querying of data with spatial features, such as location and geometric extent. Many applications require the efficient management of spatial data, including Geographic Information Systems, Computer Aided Design, and Location Based Services. The goal of this book is to provide the reader with an overview of spatial data management technology, with an emphasis on indexing and search techniques. It first introduces spatial data models and queries and discusses the main issues of extending a database system to support spatial data. It presents indexing approaches for spatial data, with a focus on the R-tree. Query evaluation and optimization techniques for the most popular spatial query types (selections, nearest neighbor search, and spatial joins) are portrayed for data in Euclidean spaces and spatial networks. The book concludes by demonstrating the ample application of spatial data management technology on a wide range ofrelated application domains: management of spatio-temporal data and high-dimensional feature vectors, multi-criteria ranking, data mining and OLAP, privacy-preserving data publishing, and spatial keyword search. Table of Contents: Introduction / Spatial Data / Indexing / Spatial Query Evaluation / Spatial Networks / Applications of Spatial Data Management TechnologySpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 152 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Discourse Processing here is framed as marking up a text with structural descriptions on several levels, which can serve to support many language-processing or text-mining tasks. We first explore some ways of assigning structure on the document level: the logical document structure as determined by the layout of the text, its genre-specific content structure, and its breakdown into topical segments. Then the focus moves to phenomena of local coherence. We introduce the problem of coreference and look at methods for building chains of coreferring entities in the text. Next, the notion of coherence relation is introduced as the second important factor of local coherence. We study the role of connectives and other means of signaling such relations in text, and then return to the level of larger textual units, where tree or graph structures can be ascribed by recursively assigning coherence relations. Taken together, these descriptions can inform text summarization, information extraction,discourse-aware sentiment analysis, question answering, and the like. Table of Contents: Introduction / Large Discourse Units and Topics / Coreference Resolution / Small Discourse Units and Coherence Relations / Summary: Text Structure on Multiple Interacting LevelsSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 168 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -'Interplanetary Outpost' follows the mission architecture template of NASA's plan for Human Outer Planet Exploration (HOPE), which envisions sending a crew to the moon Callisto to conduct exploration and sample return activities. To realize such a mission, the spacecraft will be the most complex interplanetary vehicle ever built, representing the best technical efforts of several nations. A wealth of new technologies will need to be developed, including new propulsion systems, hibernation strategies, and revolutionary radiation shielding materials. Step by step, the book will describe how the mission architecture will evolve, how crews will be selected and trained, and what the mission will entail from launch to landing. However, the focus of 'Interplanetary Outpost' is on the human element. The extended duration, logistical challenges, radiation concerns, communication lag times, isolation, and deleterious effects on the human body will conspire to not only significantly impair human performance but also affect the behavior of crewmembers. This book addresses each of these issues in detail while still providing the reader with a background to the necessary elements comprising such a mission.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -We are at the dawn of a new era in the study of space, all thanks to the Galileo space probe. Mission Jupiter brings us the exciting story of the Galileo mission to investigate Jupiter. The noted astronomer Daniel Fischer, co-author of Hubble: A New Window to the Universe and Hubble Revisited: New Images from the Discovery Machine, weaves together the many disparate facts learned about Jupiter and its satellites into a coherent description of this most fascinating planet, after stepping back to review the history of planetary exploration. Mission Jupiter tells the entire story of Galileo: a behind-the-scenes look at its difficult course from idea to reality; its launch; the problems it encountered early on and how these were resolved; and finally, what will become of the probe. Along the way, the author describes what wee learned about Jupiter, including what the Jovian atmosphere is really like, and the peculiar reality of the planet's magnetic field. The story of the journey to Jupiter is combined with interesting details about Galileo's capacities and a graphic description of the solar system, with an entertaining episode on how Galileo would judge the chances of finding life on Earth. The book concludes with a look to the future, closing on the Cassini probe to Saturn, launched just last year. Beautifully illustrated and well written, Mission Jupiter shows us space exploration at its best and conveys the essential science clearly and vividly. 'Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 368 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Before the arrival of penicillin in the 1940s, phage therapy was one of the few weapons doctors had against bacterial infections. It saved the life of Hollywood legend Tom Mix before being abandoned by Western science. Now, researchers and physicians are rediscovering the treatment, which pits phage viruses against their natural bacterial hosts, as a potential weapon against antibiotic-resistant infections.The Forgotten Cure traces the story of phages from Paris, where they were discovered in 1917; to Tbilisi, Georgia, where one of phage therapy¿s earliest proponents died at the hands of Stalin; to the Nobel podium, where prominent scientists have been recognized for breakthroughs stemming from phage research. Today, a crop of biotech startups and dedicated physicians is racing to win regulatory approval for phage therapy before superbugs exhaust the last drug in the medical arsenal. Will they clear the hurdles in time Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 148 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - 'Neuromuscular Quick Pocket Reference' provides easy and efficient access to common physical examination techniques and other neurological tests performed in a broad range of specialties. Mainly composed of tables, charts, and photographs, this handy reference puts together and organizes the information that clinicians use on a daily basis. The first part of the book covers musculoskeletal physical exam by region. Each entry is formatted and includes test name(s), purpose, techniques, clinical findings for positive test, sensitivity, specificity, and sources. Photographsshowing proper placement and action accompany most entries and provide a visual blueprint for successfully replicating tests in the exam room. The second part of the book is devoted to common neurological tests and scales for onthe-go reference, including muscles, motor points, dermatomes and myotomes, spasticity findings, radiculopathies, traumatic brain injury assessment, stroke scales, pressure ulcers, and much more.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In this study we are concerned with Vibration Theory and the Problem of Dynamics during the half century that followed the publication of Newton's Principia. The relationship that existed between these subject!! is obscured in retrospection for it is now almost impossible not to view (linear) Vibration Theory as linearized Dynamics. But during the half century in question a theory of Dynamics did not exist; while Vibration Theory comprised a good deal of acoustical information, posed definite problems and obtained specific results. In fact, it was through problems posed by Vibration Theory that a general theory of Dynamics was motivated and discovered. Believing that the emergence of Dynamics is a critically important link in the history of mathematical science, we present this study with the primary goal of providing a guide to the relevant works in the aforemen tioned period. We try above all to make the contents of the works readily accessible and we try to make clear the historical connections among many of the pertinent ideas, especially those pertaining to Dynamics in many degrees of freedom. But along the way we discuss other ideas on emerging subjects such as Calculus, Linear Analysis, Differential Equations, Special Functions, and Elasticity Theory, with which Vibration Theory is deeply interwound. Many of these ideas are elementary but they appear in a surprising context: For example the eigenvalue problem does not arise in the context of special solutions to linear problems-it appears as a condition for isochronous vibrations.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The center of our Solar System is a star, one among billions of stars in our own galaxy. This star, which we call the Sun, gives rise to all life on Earth, is the driver of the photosynthesis in plants, and is the source of all food, energy, and fossil fuels on Earth.For us humans, the Sun as seen with the naked eye appears as a static and quiet yellow disk in the sky. However, it is in fact a stormy and variable star and contributes much more than only light and heat. It is the source of the beautiful northern and southern lights and can affect our technology-based society in many ways.The Sun is, like astronomy in general, a good entrance to natural science, since it affects us in so many ways and connects us to many other fields of science, such as physics, chemistry, biology, and meteorology.The book includes additional material on Springer Extras, a large number of animations and video material. A PowerPoint presentation of the book is also included there as a useful resource for teachers.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -Topology is a relatively young and very important branch of mathematics. It studies properties of objects that are preserved by deformations, twistings, and stretchings, but not tearing. This book deals with the topology of curves and surfaces as well as with the fundamental concepts of homotopy and homology, and does this in a lively and well-motivated way. There is hardly an area of mathematics that does not make use of topological results and concepts. The importance of topological methods for different areas of physics is also beyond doubt. They are used in field theory and general relativity, in the physics of low temperatures, and in modern quantum theory. The book is well suited not only as preparation for students who plan to take a course in algebraic topology but also for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduates interested in finding out what topology is all about. The book has more than 200 problems, many examples, and over 200 illustrations.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 156 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -For anyone artistically inclined, observing the Moon and attempting to sketch or paint it can easily become a passion. The Moon presents a broad array of tone, texture, and form. Capturing this in a painting or sketch at the eyepiece of a telescope ¿ or even with binoculars ¿ develops observational skills, leaves a record of the observation, and can also be a delightful and rewarding pastime. However, the choice of media available is extensive (acrylic paint, oils, pen, charcoal, etc., and even computer art programs), and there is no existing text that fully explains all lunar sketching and painting techniques in each respective medium. This beautiful and graphically rich book fulfills this requirement. It presents detailed step-by-step instructions, in the form of illustrated tutorials for every major medium employed to represent the Moon. It also provides practical advice on how to sketch outdoors at night (not ideal conditions for an artist!).This is easily the most extensive book on the subject of lunar art for amateur astronomers, particularly those observing through a telescope. The diverse features of the lunar surface will attract and entice readers to review the number of different media presented, exciting and inspiring them with the possibilities of learning to depict all of the fascinating aspects of Earth's very own satellite.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 268 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -I wrote this book because I wanted to learn more about interstel lar flight. Not the Star Trek notion of tearing around the Galaxy in a huge spaceship-that was obviously beyond existing tech nology-but a more realistic mission. In 1989 I had videotaped Voyager 2's encounter with Neptune and watched the drama of robotic exploration over and over again. I started to wonder whether we could do something similar with Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. Everyone seemed to agree that manned flight to the stars was out of the question, if not permanently then for the indefinitely foreseeable future. But surely we could do something with robotics. And if we could figure out a theoretical way to do it, how far were we from the actual technology that would make it happen In other words, what was the state of our interstellar technology today, those concepts and systems that might translate into a Voyager to the stars Finding answers meant talking to people inside and outside of NASA. I was surprised to learn that there is a large literature of interstellar flight. Nobody knows for sure how to propel a space craft fast enough to make the interstellar crossing within a time scale that would fit the conventional idea of a mission, but there are candidate systems that are under active investigation. Some of this effort begins with small systems that we'll use near the Earth and later hope to extend to deep space missions.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 320 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Living with serious illness can have profound emotional effects both on patients themselves and on those close to them. With clarity and compassion, this text explores the difficulties and dilemmas those who are ill and their families face, offering specific guidelines for the professionals who work with them.Building on its successful first edition, this text draws on recent developments in research and clinical practice in providing a theoretical and practical framework for working with illness. Thoroughly revised in its second edition, this book:. Features new chapters on the cultural constructs of illness, working with migrant families, illness in later life, death and palliative care and supervision. Explores issues of working with diversity, covering gender, class, race and sexuality. Discusses the impact of working with those facing serious illness on health care professionals, offering strategies for reducing the risks of burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatisation Written by a recognized expert in the field, this innovative and challenging book provides essential insights for professionals working or training to work with those facing illness and death, including doctors, nurses, counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The choice of financial performance measures is one of the most critical challenges facing organizations. The accounting-based measures of financial performance have been viewed as inadequate, as firms began focusing on shareholder value as the primary long-term objective of the organization. Hence, value-based metrics were devised that explicitly incorporate the cost of capital into performance calculations. Despite the increasing emphasis on these value-based measures, no definitive evidence exists of which metric works better than others, and on the extent to which any of them is superior to traditional accounting measures. In this scenario, the objective of this book is contributing to the ongoing dialogue on the appropriateness of different financial performance measures, by providing a systematic and updated review of the major value-based measures, by highlighting their respective strengths and weaknesses and by comparing the main international empirical evidence on theireffectiveness. This book can be a powerful tool for guiding managers and graduate students in the ¿tangled forest¿ of the existing metrics, by providing them with the quick, but adequate knowledge for consistently adopting them.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 88 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -The ancient Chinese scholars are fond of applying theYinandYangdiagram to correlate almost everything.This bookcontinues that tradition and uses the modelto study other non-¿dialectical¿ theories and models.The major findingquacontribution in this publication is to point out that the four diagrams are equivalent to theBaGuaorBaGuaTu(BG),a set ofeightancient China symbolic notations/gossip.Another finding is thatdialectical/crab and frog motion remark is just the opposite of a non-dialectical/crab and frog motion (usually deductive, linear, or cause and effect) remark, or, at best, they must meet half-way.The two major tasks of this book are to,first, apply the author'sone-dot theory, which is shored up by the crab and frog motion model, to convert other theories and models as well as studies and,second, apply his theory and model to reinvent some well-known western-derived theories and models and studies, such as game theory.The attempt is to narrow down the gap between the East and the West scholarship/XueShu, broadly defined, making the book of interest to Eastern and Western philosophers and scholars alike.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 128 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -¿¿The trend is your friend¿is a practical principle often used by business managers, who seek to forecast future sales, expenditures, and profitability in order to make production and other operational decisions. The problem is how best to identify and discover business trends and utilize trend information for attaining objectives of firms.This book contains an Excel-based solution to this problem, applying principles of the authors¿ ¿profit system model¿ of the firm that enables forecasts of trends in sales, expenditures, profits and other business variables. The program, called FIRM, which runs on Windows with Microsoft Excel 2010, useshistorical time series of total sales, total costs, and total assets of the firm from its financial statements (income statements and balance sheets), estimates relationships among these variables, and then employs the estimated relationships to forecasts trends in these vital business variables. Featuring step-by-step case examples, the goalis to equip business managers and students with easy-to-use tools for understanding and forecasting trends in important business variables, thereby empowering them to make better business decisions.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 60 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware -In most developed countries, the epidemiological disease profile has changed from infectious to degenerative, causing major alterations in epidemiological thinking and public health policies. Less developed nations have to deal with a more complex situation, because social disparities create highly unequal health conditions, the affluent being afflicted by degenerative conditions, whereas the poorer social segments continue to suffer infectious diseases, but also begin to feel the effects of chronic illness. At the turn of the 21st century, equity in health care is not being served, and social justice has lost credibility as a conceptual driving force of public health policies. Rampant injustice confirms that theories, reality and suggested practices of just social orders are flawed, leaving the needy without help or hope in a world of flagrant ethical inadequacy. And yet, mainstream bioethics loses meaning and relevance as it clings to the principle of justice and hails such concepts as global justice and universal health-care equity, misleadingly focusing on justice as a desideratum. This book pleads for an urgent turn towards directly addressing injustice as a reality that requires pressingly needed arguments and proposals to inspire realistic public health policies and programs based on an ethics of protection. Ever since Hobbes, all shades of political philosophy accept that the basic obligation of the ruling power is to protect its subjects. The ethics of protection emphasizes aiding the needy and the disempowered in obtaining access to basic goods and services related to health-care. Public health is called upon to fulfill protective obligations to guarantee disease prevention and medical services to the population, taking special care to safeguard those unable to cover their health-care needs in market-oriented medical services and institutions. The bioethics of protection developed in this text presents specific and explicit guide-lines to assure that protective public health actions be efficacious (problem-solving), efficient (sustainable cost/benefit relation) and ethically sound (respecting human rights and the common weal). These guide-lines are designed to give ethical support and justification to public health policies even when they require some unavoidable limitations of individual autonomy to promote social health benefits.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 116 pp. Englisch.