springer us okt 1997 (92 risultati)

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Intelligent Image Databases: Towards Advanced Image Retrieval addresses the image feature selection issue in developing content-based image retrieval systems. The book first discusses the four important issues in developing a complete content-based image retrieval system, and then demonstrates that image feature selection has significant impact on the remaining issues of system design. Next, it presents an in-depth literature survey on typical image features explored by contemporary content-based image retrieval systems for image matching and retrieval purposes. The goal of the survey is to determine the characteristics and the effectiveness of individual features, so as to establish guidelines for future development of content-based image retrieval systems. Intelligent Image Databases: Towards Advanced Image Retrieval describes the Advanced Region-Based Image Retrieval System (ARBIRS) developed by the authors for color images of real-world scenes. They have selected image regions for building ARBIRS as the literature survey suggests that prominent image regions, along with their associated features, provide a higher probability for achieving a higher level content-based image retrieval system. A major challenge in building a region-based image retrieval system is that prominent regions are rather difficult to capture in an accurate and error-free condition, particularly those in images of real-world scenes. To meet this challenge, the book proposes an integrated approach to tackle the problem via feature capturing, feature indexing, and database query. Through comprehensive system evaluation, it is demonstrated how these systematically integrated efforts work effectively to accomplish advanced image retrieval. Intelligent Image Databases: Towards Advanced Image Retrieval serves as an excellent reference and may be used as a text for advanced courses on the topic.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Discretionary Managerial Behavior presents a quantification of the managerial behavior within decentralized organizations. The volume provides practical insights into the internal functioning of the firm, the relationships between the managers at different organizational echelons, and the conditioning effects of the organizational controls and the market environment external to the firm. It forms a basic contribution to the theoretical modeling, methodological and estimation procedures, and empirical insights into the nature and operation of managerial discretion in decentralized organizations. Both theoretical and empirical literature of organizational economics have not come to grips with the decision making process in such organizations. With this in perspective the volume describes four fundamentally new contributions. It presents: an approach to defining proximate objectives of managers at the divisional levels in a decentralized organization and the coordination by managers at higher levels, an approach to developing a modelling framework from a sound theoretical perspective in order to reflect the postulated behavior, an approach to defining an estimation technique to operationalize both (a) and (b) in a specific empirical context, and the richness of empirical insights which remained elusive for over thirty years. As such this study is an important step to make fundamental progress in the area of interface between business policy and microeconomic theory.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Wireless personal communications, or wireless as it is now being called, has arrived. The hype is starting to fade, and the hard work of deploying new systems and services for personal communications is underway. In the United States, the FCC propelled the wireless era from infancy to mainstream with a $7.7 billion auction of 60 MHz of radio spectrum in the 180011900 MHz band. With the largest single sale of public property in the history of mankind mostly complete, the resources of the entire world are being called upon to develop inexpensive, rapidly deployable wireless systems and sub scriber units for an industry that is adding slbscribers at greater than 50% annual rate. This growth is commonplace for wireless service companies throughout the world, and in the U.S., where as many as 7 licensed wireless service providers may be competing for cellularlPCS customers within the next couple of years, differentiators in cost, qual ity, service, and coverage will become critical to customer acceptance and use. Many of these issues are discussed in the papers included in this book.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - From the Chapman & Hall Microbiology Series this unique resource offers specific experimental and practical applications of mathematical modeling in microbial ecology. The text presents a variety of systems, ranging from subcellular systems to ecosystems, and shows how to test whether the models provide a good representation of the system. The book also encourages further development and application of modeling to burgeoning problems associated with microbial ecology, such as the pollution and destruction of pesticides and herbicides.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - CHARM '97 is the ninth in a series of working conferences devoted to the development and use of formal techniques in digital hardware design and verification. This series is held in collaboration with IFIP WG 10.5. Previous meetings were held in Europe every other year.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Robotic systems are characterized by the intersection of computer intelligence with the physical world. This blend of physical reasoning and computational intelligence is well illustrated by the Tetrobot study described in this book. Tetrobot: A Modular Approach to Reconfigurable Parallel Robotics describes a new approach to the design of robotic systems. The Tetrobot approach utilizes modular components which may be reconfigured into many different mechanisms which are suited to different applications. The Tetrobot system includes two unique contributions: a new mechanism (a multilink spherical joint design), and a new control architecture based on propagation of kinematic solutions through the structure. The resulting Tetrobot system consists of fundamental components which may be mechanically reassembled into any modular configuration, and the control architecture will provide position control of the resulting structure. A prototype Tetrobot system has been built and evaluated experimentally. Tetrobot arms, platforms, and walking machines have been built and controlled in a variety of motion and loading conditions. The Tetrobot system has applications in a variety of domains where reconfiguration, flexibility, load capacity, and failure recovery are important aspects of the task. A number of key research directions have been opened by the Tetrobot research activities. Continuing topics of interest include: development of a more distributed implementation of the computer control architecture, analysis of the dynamics of the Tetrobot system motion for improved control of high-speed motions, integration of sensor systems to control the motion and shape of the high-dimensionality systems, and exploration of self-reconfiguration of the system. Tetrobot: A Modular Approach to Reconfigurable Parallel Robotics will be of interest to research workers, specialists and professionals in the areas of robotics, mechanical systems and computer engineering.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Compiler technology is fundamental to computer science since it provides the means to implement many other tools. It is interesting that, in fact, many tools have a compiler framework - they accept input in a particular format, perform some processing and present output in another format. Such tools support the abstraction process and are crucial to productive systems development. The focus of Compiler Technology: Tools, Translators and Language Implementation is to enable quick development of analysis tools. Both lexical scanner and parser generator tools are provided as supplements to this book, since a hands-on approach to experimentation with a toy implementation aids in understanding abstract topics such as parse-trees and parse conflicts. Furthermore, it is through hands-on exercises that one discovers the particular intricacies of language implementation. Compiler Technology: Tools, Translators and Language Implementation is suitable as a textbook for an undergraduate or graduate level course on compiler technology, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners interested in compilers and language implementation.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Mycobacteria is divided into two volumes. The first volume deals with the basic biology of mycobacteria. With its emphasis on the state of the art outlook, this volume includes taxonomy and molecular biology of mycobacteria, modern approaches for detection of mycobacteria, and immunology and immunization against tuberculosis. The second volume covers drug trestments for mycobacteria anad tuberculosis. It outlines trends of discovery and development of chemotherapy, starting from the mid-50's to present day uses of chemotherapy in treating AIDS, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and other non-tuberculosis mycobacterial diseases.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Angioplasty has completely transformed the treatment of coronary artery disease and is widely used, with more than 800,000 procedures performed worldwide per year. However, the enthusiasm for angioplasty is shadowed by restenosis, which remains a critical problem after the procedure, resulting in clinical recurrence in over a third of patients. Recently, the mechanisms of restenosis have been completely reappraised with an enriched understanding that the original concept of neointimal hyperplasia may not be accounting for the bulk of the problem. There is a desperate need to heighten understanding of the remodeling process at the molecular, cellular, and arterial level. Vascular remodeling is a well established concept in the field of atherosclerosis and hypertension, but only in recent years has its applicability to the field of restenosis become pivotal. Accordingly, the editors perceived the need to assemble the first book dedicated to the concept of coronary artery remodeling in restenosis, in order to clearly review the experiments leading to the remodeling hypothesis and integrate this with the neointimal hyperplasia (tumor) model for the development of the restenotic lesion. The authors of this book present their experience to facilitate the understanding of the mechanisms for coronary restenosis and remodeling. The various experimental models, clinical issues, and basic mechanisms are reviewed in detail, resulting in a fresh approach to a vexing clinical problem. Arterial Remodeling: A Critical Factor in Restenosis will be useful to the physician and trainee who have an interest in restenosis, and specifically in the major pathophysiologic process which determines the fate of arterial healing in patients following percutaneous coronary revascularization. It is hoped that this book will lay the foundation for more effective therapies that will reduce the chance of constrictive remodeling and improve the long-term efficacy of non-surgical coronary revascularization in the future.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This book arose out of a conference on 'Epistemic Logic and the Theory of Games and Decisions' that took place in January 1994 at the Centre Inter national de Recherches Mathematiques in Marseille. The convergence of game theory and epistemic logic has been in progress for two decades. The aim of the conference was to explore this rapprochement further by gathering spe cialists from different professional communities, i. e. , economics, mathematics, philosophy, and computer science. Also, the organizors aimed at fostering the work centered on the issues of knowledge and belief that has recently been pursued amongst game theorists and decision theorists. The conference was funded by the following institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Sci entifique (France), Ministere de l'Enseignement Superieur et de la Recherche (France), Association pour Ie Developpement de la Recherche en Economie et Statistique (France). It was also supported by the Human Capital and Mobility Programme of the EU, as well as, locally, by the Ville de Marseille. We would like to express our gratitude to these institutions for their generous help. Despite the success of the conference, it was not the editors' intention to circulate just another volume of proceedings in the usual style. Throughout the more than two-year editorial process, they have pursued the goal of providing a no doubt non-exhaustive, but hopefully thorough and accurate, state of the art account of a promising field of research.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - In the latter half of the 20th century, forces have conspired to make the human community, at last, global. The easing of tensions between major nations, the expansion of trade to worldwide markets, widespread travel and cultural exchange, pervasive high-speed communications and automation, the explosion of knowledge, the streamlining of business, and the adoption of flexible methods have changed the face of manufacturing itself, and of research and education in manufacturing. The acceptance of the continuous improvement process as a means for organizations to respond quickly and effectively to swings in the global market has led to the demand for individuals educated in a broad range of cultural, organizational, and technical fields and capable of absorbing and adapting required knowledge and training throughout their careers. No longer will manufacturing research and education focus on an industrial sector or follow a national trend, but rather will aim at enabling international teams of companies to cooperate in rapidly designing, prototyping, and manufacturing products. The successful enterprise of the 21st century will be characterized by an organizational structure that efficiently responds to customer demands and changing global circumstances, a corporate culture that empowers employees at all levels and encourages constant communication among related groups, and a technological infrastructure that fully supports process improvement and integration. In changing itself to keep abreast of the broader transformation in manufacturing, the enterprise must look first at its organization and culture, and thereafter at supporting technologies.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. Jonathan Shimony (illustratore). This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Tibaldo and the Hole in the Calendar is the story of how an eleven-year old boy growing up in 16th century Italy loses his birthday when the Gregorian calendar replaces the Julian calendar in 1582, and how he fights to prevent this loss. The author cleverly weaves elements of the cultural and scientific milieu of his time into an engaging and intelligent tale. Tibaldo's father is a medical assistant, and his sister is a midwife. He grows up learning about current medical practices by watching his father and sister and by listening to the great Professor Turisanus, for whom his father works. Tibaldo is fascinated by medicine and proves himself to be a fast learner, quickly gaining the respect of Professor Turasanus, who becomes a mentor for Tibaldo and sends him to the very best of schools. However, when Tibaldo learns that the Julian calendar is about to be revised, he realizes that he is about to lose his 13th birthday and determines to do something about this. The result is amusing and informative.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 184 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -David Gabel and David F. Weiman The chapters in this volwne address the related problems of regulating and pricing access in network industries. Interconnection between network suppliers raises the important policy questions of how to sustain competition and realize economic efficiency. To foster rivalry in any industry, suppliers must have access to customers. But unlike in other sectors, the very organization of network industries creates major impediments to potential entrants trying to carve out a niche in the market. In traditional sectors such as gas, electric, rail, and telephone services, these barriers take the form of the large private and social costs necessary to duplicate the physical infrastructure of pipelines, wires, or tracks. Few firms can afford to finance such an undertaking, because the level of sunk costs and the very large scale economies make it extremely risky. In other newer sectors, entrants face less tangible but no less pressing constraints. In the microcomputer industry, for example, high switching costs can prevent users from experimenting with alternative, but perhaps more efficient hardware platforms or operating systems. Although gateway technologies can reduce these barriers, the installed base of an incumbent can create powerful bandwagon effects that reinforce its advantage (such as the greater availability of compatible peripherals and software applications). In the era of electronic banking, entrants into the automated teller machine (A TM) and credit card markets face a similar problem of establishing a ubiquitous presence. 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Coalition Formation and Social Choice provides a unified and comprehensive study of coalition formation and collective decision-making in committees. It discusses the main existing theories including the size principle, conflict of interest theory, dominant player theory, policy distance theory and power excess theory. In addition, the book offers new theories of coalition formation in which the endogenous formation of preferences for coalitions is basic. Both simple game theory and social choice theory are extensively applied in the treatment of the theories. This combined application not only leads to new theories but also offers a new and fresh perspective on coalition formation and collective decision-making in committees. The book covers the fundamental concepts and results of social choice theory including Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. Furthermore, it gives a coherent treatment of the theory of simple games. Besides more traditional topics in simple game theory like power indices, it also introduces new aspects of simple games such as the Chow parameter, the Chow vector and the notion of similar games. 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -We hear a lot about dynamical systems theory these days-'chaos dy namics' is the popular idiom-but very little of this abstract discipline is taught in undergraduate or even in graduate school, unless that happens to be one's own field. People may have heard some of the terms, but they may not understand what a dynamicist does. Just what does a dynamicist do Although I've been through the training, I spend much more time talk ing and thinking about dynamics than actually doing it, which is a circum stance that affords me an interesting perspective. Some time after defending my dissertation, when I stopped back by my alma mater on a visit through Boulder, I ran into one of my advisors, a practicing dynamicist, and he was excited to show me his new workstation and its resident software. Hope fully, by relating what I experienced then, I may in part help to answer my opening question. He sat down in front of a very large screen, at least 19 inches across, so closely, that it filled his field of view completely. At his fingertips were the usual mouse and keyboard. He fired up the software and chose a model; I think we were out to explore 'just the standard map. ' As the program began, the screen remained black, except for a small blinking cursor at the middle. 194 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -One area of science that has shown an explosive growth over the last few decades is materials science. Inherently by nature products of both basic and applied research, materials make possible life and society as we know it today. Materials, ranging from ceramics to semiconductors to composites, are such that new ones must not only be designed and made . they must also be characterized in terms of their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. Thus, many new state of-the-art techniques involving spectroscopy, microscopy, and other approaches are now routinely used. Modem materials have wide applications in many sectors of technology. Films, for example, constitute an enormous area of materials and are used extensively. Films in tum can be integrated with other systems such as superconducting metal oxides and organic superconductors. Additionally, ceramics can also be synthesized and fabricated as films for different applications. Catalysts, too, can vary widely in both composition and form. The number of applications for catalysts in industry must easily rank as one of the highest number of applications for any class of materials. Catalysis is impOltant for a wide range of activities in industry, from petroleum refining to the synthesis of a large number of industrial feedstock materials. Researchers in this area of materials are constantly trying to unravel new approaches to making better catalysts. 228 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Fuzzy hardware developments have been a major force driving the applications of fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic in both science and engineering. This volume provides the reader with a comprehensive up-to-date look at recent works describing new innovative developments of fuzzy hardware. An important research trend is the design of improved fuzzy hardware. There is an increasing interest in both analog and digital implementations of fuzzy controllers in particular and fuzzy systems in general. Specialized analog and digital VLSI implementations of fuzzy systems, in the form of dedicated architectures, aim at the highest implementation efficiency. This particular efficiency is asserted in terms of processing speed and silicon utilization. Processing speed in particular has caught the attention of developers of fuzzy hardware and researchers in the field. The volume includes detailed material on a variety of fuzzy hardware related topics such as: Historical review of fuzzy hardware research Fuzzy hardware based on encoded trapezoids Pulse stream techniques for fuzzy hardware Hardware realization of fuzzy neural networks Design of analog neuro-fuzzy systems in CMOS digital technologies Fuzzy controller synthesis method Automatic design of digital and analog neuro-fuzzy controllers Electronic implementation of complex controllers Silicon compilation of fuzzy hardware systems Digital fuzzy hardware processing Parallel processor architecture for real-time fuzzy applications Fuzzy cellular systems Fuzzy Hardware: Architectures and Applications is a technical reference book for researchers, engineers and scientists interested in fuzzy systems in general and in building fuzzy systems in particular. 448 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Ceramic products are fabricated from selected and consolidated raw materials through the application of thermal and mechanical energy. The complex connec tions between thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, fabrication processes, phase development, and ceramic properties define the undergraduate curriculum in Ceramic Science and Ceramic Engineering. Phase diagrams are usually introduced into the engineering curriculum during the study of physical chemistry, prior to specialization into ceramic engineering. This creates an artificial separation between consideration of the equilibrium description of the chemically heterogeneous system and the engineering and physical processes required for phase, microstructure, and property development in ceramic materials. Although convenient for instructional purposes, the separa tion of these topics limits the effective application of phase diagram information by the ceramic engineer in research and manufacturing problem solving. The nature of oxide phases, which define their useful engineering properties, are seldom linked to the stability of those phases which underlies their reliability as engineered products. Similarly, ceramic fabrication processes are seldom dis cussed within the context of the equilibrium or metastable phase diagram. In this text, phase diagrams are presented with a discussion of ceramics' properties and processing. Particular emphasis is placed on the nature of the oxides themselves-their structural and dielectric properties-which results in unique and stable product performance. Any set of systematic property measurements can be the basis for a phase diagram: every experiment is an experiment in the approach to phase equilibrium. 204 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -A book blending evolution and trophic dynamics, taking into account recent advances in both behavioral and population ecology, is long overdue. A central objective of this book is to consider whether adaptive behavioral decisions on the individual organism level might tend to stabilize trophic interactions. A second major goal of the book is to explore the implications of presumably adaptive behaviors on trophic dynamics and the implications of trophic dynamics for the evolution of adaptive behaviors. All evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and behavioral ecologists should find this exciting volume essential reading. 216 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -David Gabel and David F. Weiman The chapters in this volwne address the related problems of regulating and pricing access in network industries. Interconnection between network suppliers raises the important policy questions of how to sustain competition and realize economic efficiency. To foster rivalry in any industry, suppliers must have access to customers. But unlike in other sectors, the very organization of network industries creates major impediments to potential entrants trying to carve out a niche in the market. In traditional sectors such as gas, electric, rail, and telephone services, these barriers take the form of the large private and social costs necessary to duplicate the physical infrastructure of pipelines, wires, or tracks. Few firms can afford to finance such an undertaking, because the level of sunk costs and the very large scale economies make it extremely risky. In other newer sectors, entrants face less tangible but no less pressing constraints. In the microcomputer industry, for example, high switching costs can prevent users from experimenting with alternative, but perhaps more efficient hardware platforms or operating systems. Although gateway technologies can reduce these barriers, the installed base of an incumbent can create powerful bandwagon effects that reinforce its advantage (such as the greater availability of compatible peripherals and software applications). In the era of electronic banking, entrants into the automated teller machine (A TM) and credit card markets face a similar problem of establishing a ubiquitous presence.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) into the European Union (EU) has become more a question of timing than a question whether it will or should be made. Since one of the objectives of the EU is to establish a system ensuring competition in the internal market is not distorted the question arises if the CEECs can be integrated into such a competitive system. Which rules of competition are appropriate to improve the economic integration of the CEECs and to promote at the same time the enduring transition process The relationship between competition policy and East-West integration is the general theme of the contributions in this book.One central issue of this volume is the way of integrating the Central and East European countries into the EU and supporting their development by liberalizing trade with the EU. A second issue is the implementation of a market economy in the post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe and in particular the aspect of implementing competition rules at a time when markets are just emerging. The twelve selected papers are organized in three sections: -Competition Policy and Integration (part 1); -Competition Policy During Transition (part 2); -Competition, Trade Policy and East-West-Integration (part 3).Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Seniors housing improves the quality of life for an increasingly significant segment of the population. The number of people in the United States over sixty-five years of age is projected to double in the next thirty years, and the number of people aged eighty-five and over - the ones most in need of seniors housing - is projected to increase three-fold. The business implications of this demographic change are significant.This volume provides an introduction to seniors housing, and an industry analysis, with the ultimate goal of expediting needed investment. It provides information for industry analysts on product lines, complementary products, and substitute products. In addition, it examines buyers and their behavior; the growth potential of the industry; the growth patterns and determinants of growth; the economics of the different product types; and the market analysis techniques. Finally, an article on health care REITs and health care stocks investigates the performance of the larger players in the industry.Springer-Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 268 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Environmental Systems Engineering explains how to use new computerized tools to tackle problems in systems engineering.This book covers: expert systems, fuzzy logic, networks, process dynamics, control and statistical approaches to systems analysis. Computer simulation, mathematical models, and newer methods that apply artificial intelligence and neural networks to environmental problems are emphasized.Each book topic is supported by an interactive web site featuring computer graphics, teaching games and navigational aids. Topics are developed through the use of computer exercises using practical problems as examples.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 228 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -The annual research conference for 1996 of the American Institute for Cancer Re search was again held at the Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, DC, August 29 and 30. The topic for this, the seventh in the series, was 'Dietary Fat and Cancer: Genetic and Molecular Mechanisms. ' Two separate presentations were given as the conference overview. 'Fat and Cancer: The Epidemiologic Evidence in Perspective' noted that die tary fat can be saturated, largely from animal or dairy sources, or mono- or polyunsatu rated, mostly from plant sources. Unlike animal fats, fish contain relatively high levels of protective omega-3 fatty acids. Although the hypothesis that dietary fat is associated with cancer is plausible, the mechanisms involved are reasonable, and many animal studies support the hypothesis, there are many obstacles in any direct extrapolation to humans, in cluding imprecise measures of dietary fat intake, variability in individual diets, and spe cies variations. Despite these limitations, there is a weak positive correlation between colon cancer and dietary fat intake, but with substantial differences for various ethnic groups. In the case of breast cancer, there is substantial variation among countries and eth nic groups, but the overall evidence indicated an association with fat in the diet. Epidemiologic studies of dietary fat and prostate cancer are more consistent and most show a positive relationship. However, it was not clear which types of dietary fat were im plicated in the effect.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Ceramic products are fabricated from selected and consolidated raw materials through the application of thermal and mechanical energy. The complex connec tions between thermodynamics, chemical equilibria, fabrication processes, phase development, and ceramic properties define the undergraduate curriculum in Ceramic Science and Ceramic Engineering. Phase diagrams are usually introduced into the engineering curriculum during the study of physical chemistry, prior to specialization into ceramic engineering. This creates an artificial separation between consideration of the equilibrium description of the chemically heterogeneous system and the engineering and physical processes required for phase, microstructure, and property development in ceramic materials. Although convenient for instructional purposes, the separa tion of these topics limits the effective application of phase diagram information by the ceramic engineer in research and manufacturing problem solving. The nature of oxide phases, which define their useful engineering properties, are seldom linked to the stability of those phases which underlies their reliability as engineered products. Similarly, ceramic fabrication processes are seldom dis cussed within the context of the equilibrium or metastable phase diagram. In this text, phase diagrams are presented with a discussion of ceramics' properties and processing. Particular emphasis is placed on the nature of the oxides themselves-their structural and dielectric properties-which results in unique and stable product performance. Any set of systematic property measurements can be the basis for a phase diagram: every experiment is an experiment in the approach to phase equilibrium.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 204 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Over the course of just a few decades, magnetic resonance (MR) has evolved from an analytical tool to a premier imaging mod ality. The ability of MR to provide cross-sectional images, as well as chemical and physiological information, has attracted students from many disciplines. Because applied MR is multidisciplinary, it is generally taught in an informal setting rather than as structured course work. During my years of teach ing the subject, I felt the need for an appropriate text for students from diverse backgrounds. The materials now available are ei ther basic introductions for the lay person or detailed reference resources providing detailed coverage of one or more aspects of MRI. I wrote this book to supplement informal teaching with a text that will provide a detailed conceptual overview. This approach to presenting the concepts will be useful for graduate students in the physical, chemical, and biological sciences who are making the transition to MRI. In addition, medical residents, fellows, and experienced MRI technologists will benefit from this de scriptive approach to MRI, which is briefly summarized in the next paragraph. Chapter I, an introduction to the magnetic resonance phenom enon, is followed by principles of image formation in Chapter 2.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -One area of science that has shown an explosive growth over the last few decades is materials science. Inherently by nature products of both basic and applied research, materials make possible life and society as we know it today. Materials, ranging from ceramics to semiconductors to composites, are such that new ones must not only be designed and made . they must also be characterized in terms of their physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. Thus, many new state of-the-art techniques involving spectroscopy, microscopy, and other approaches are now routinely used. Modem materials have wide applications in many sectors of technology. Films, for example, constitute an enormous area of materials and are used extensively. Films in tum can be integrated with other systems such as superconducting metal oxides and organic superconductors. Additionally, ceramics can also be synthesized and fabricated as films for different applications. Catalysts, too, can vary widely in both composition and form. The number of applications for catalysts in industry must easily rank as one of the highest number of applications for any class of materials. Catalysis is impOltant for a wide range of activities in industry, from petroleum refining to the synthesis of a large number of industrial feedstock materials. Researchers in this area of materials are constantly trying to unravel new approaches to making better catalysts.Libri GmbH, Europaallee 1, 36244 Bad Hersfeld 228 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -Coalition Formation and Social Choice provides a unified and comprehensive study of coalition formation and collective decision-making in committees. It discusses the main existing theories including the size principle, conflict of interest theory, dominant player theory, policy distance theory and power excess theory. In addition, the book offers new theories of coalition formation in which the endogenous formation of preferences for coalitions is basic. Both simple game theory and social choice theory are extensively applied in the treatment of the theories. This combined application not only leads to new theories but also offers a new and fresh perspective on coalition formation and collective decision-making in committees.The book covers the fundamental concepts and results of social choice theory including Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. Furthermore, it gives a coherent treatment of the theory of simple games. Besides more traditional topics in simple game theory like power indices, it also introduces new aspects of simple games such as the Chow parameter, the Chow vector and the notion of similar games.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - Print on Demand Titel. Neuware -A book blending evolution and trophic dynamics, taking into account recent advances in both behavioral and population ecology, is long overdue. A central objective of this book is to consider whether adaptive behavioral decisions on the individual organism level might tend to stabilize trophic interactions. A second major goal of the book is to explore the implications of presumably adaptive behaviors on trophic dynamics and the implications of trophic dynamics for the evolution of adaptive behaviors. All evolutionary biologists, ecologists, and behavioral ecologists should find this exciting volume essential reading.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 216 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Integration of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) into the European Union (EU) has become more a question of timing than a question whether it will or should be made. Since one of the objectives of the EU is to establish a system ensuring competition in the internal market is not distorted the question arises if the CEECs can be integrated into such a competitive system. Which rules of competition are appropriate to improve the economic integration of the CEECs and to promote at the same time the enduring transition process The relationship between competition policy and East-West integration is the general theme of the contributions in this book. One central issue of this volume is the way of integrating the Central and East European countries into the EU and supporting their development by liberalizing trade with the EU. A second issue is the implementation of a market economy in the post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe and in particular the aspect of implementing competition rules at a time when markets are just emerging. The twelve selected papers are organized in three sections: -Competition Policy and Integration (part 1); -Competition Policy During Transition (part 2); -Competition, Trade Policy and East-West-Integration (part 3). 256 pp. Englisch.