springer us springer feb 2013 (219 risultati)

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The state of health care is reflected by perinatal and neonatal morbidity and mortality as well as by the frequencies of long-term neurological and developmental disorders. Many factors, some without immediately recognizable significance to childbearing and many still unknown, undoubtedly contribute beneficially or adversely to the outcome of pregnancy. Knowledge concerning the impact of such factors on the fetus and surviving infant is critical. Confounding analyses of pregnancy outcome, especially these past 2 or 3 decades, are the effects of newly undertaken invasive or inactive therapeutic approaches coupled with the advent of high technology. Many innovations have been introduced without serious efforts to evaluate their impact prospectively and objectively. The consequences of therapeutic misadventures character ized the past; it seems they have been replaced to a degree by some of the complications of applied technology. Examples abound: after overuse of oxygen was recognized to cause retrolental fibroplasia, its restriction led to an increase in both neonatal death rates and neurologic damage in surviving infants. Administration of vitamin K to prevent neonatal hemorrhagic disease, particularly when given in what we now know as excessive dosage, occasionally resulted in kernicterus. Prophy lactic sulfonamide use had a similar end result. More recent is the observation of bronchopulmonary dysplasia as a complication of re spirator therapy for hyaline membrane disease. The decade of the eighties opened with the all-time highest rate of cesarean section in the United States.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - As much by chance as by design, the present volume comes closer to having a single theme than any of our earlier volumes. That theme is the properties of nuclear strength functions or, alternatively, the problem of line spreading. The line spreading or strength function concepts are essential for the nucleus because of its many degrees of freedom. The description of the nucleus is approached by using model wave functions-for example, the shell model or the collective model-in which one has truncated the number of degrees of freedom. The question then is how closely do the model wave functions correspond to the actual nuclear wave functions which enjoy all the degrees of freedom of the nuclear Hamiltonian More precisely, one views the model wave functions as vectors in a Hilbert space and one views the actual wave functions as vectors spanning another, larger Hilbert space. Then the question is: how is a single-model wave function (or vector) spread among the vectors corresponding to the actual wave functions As an example we consider a model state which is a shell-model wave function with a single nucleon added to a closed shell. Such a model state is called a single-particle wave function. At the energy of the single-particle waVe function one of the actual nuclear wave functions may resemble the single-particle wave function closely.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Engineering has long been thought of by the public as a profession tra ditionally categorized into such branches as electrical, mechanical, chemical, industrial, civil, etc. This classification has served its purpose for the past half century; but the last decade has witnessed a tremendous change. A continuous transition from the practical to the theoretical has made technology overlap with science, and the enlargement of scope and broad ened diversification have smeared the boundaries between traditional engi neering and scientific fields. Engineering is rapidly becoming a diversified, multidisciplinary field of scientific endeavor. This has prompted us to regard modern engineering as a science, which has as its ingredients materials, energy, and information. In our complex and technologically-oriented society organizations are flooded with an enormous amount of management information. We are now faced with problems concerning the efficient use of communicated knowledge. The steady growth in the magnitude and complexity of informa tion systems necessitates the development of new theories and techniques for solving these information problems. We demand instant access to pre viously recorded information for decision making, and we require new meth ods for analysis, recognition, processing, and display. As a consequence, information science has evolved out of necessity. Concerned with the theoretical basis of the organization, control, stor age, retrieval, processing, and communication of information both by natural and artificial systems, information science is multidisciplinary in character. It covers a vast area of subject matter in the physical and biological sciences.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences was first conceived, published, and dis seminated by the Center for Information and Numerical Data Analysis and Synthesis (CINDAS) \* at Purdue University in 1957, starting its coverage of theses with the academic year 1955. Beginning with Volume 13, the printing and dissemination phases of the ac tivity were transferred to University Microfilms/Xerox of Ann Arbor, Michigan, with the thought that such an arrangement would be more beneficial to the academic and general scientific and technical community. After five years of this joint undertaking we had concluded that it was in the interest of all concerned if the printing and distribution of the volume were handled by an international publishing house to assure improved service and broader dissemination. Hence, starting with Volume 18, Masters Theses in the Pure and Applied Sciences has been disseminated on a worldwide basis by Plenum Publishing Corporation of New York, and in the same year the coverage was broadened to include Canadian universities. All back issues can also be ordered from Plenum. We have reported in Volume 24 (thesis year 1979) a total of 10,033 theses titles from 26 Canadian and 215 United States universities. We are sure that this broader base for theses titles reported will greatly enhance the value of this important annual reference work. While Volume 24 reports these submitted in 1979, on occasion, certain universities do report theses submitted in previous years but not reported at the time.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - This book is intended as an introductory exposition of those nuclear energy systems concepts which are characterized by an integrated utiliz ation of complementary nuclear processes. Basic to such systems is the notion of synergism, which herein implies the cooperative interaction of selected nuclear reactions and system components so as to provide overall advantages not possible otherwise. While the concept of nuclear energy synergism has in recent years become the focus of an increasing number of conferences, scientific papers, and institutional in-house reports, no text which encompasses the major topics of the subject at a conceptual and analytical level has appeared. It is our aim to present a systematic characterization of these emerging nuclear energy concepts suitable for the senior university student of nuclear science and engineering as well for the active pro fessional involved in nuclear energy systems planning and analysis. In addressing the subject of nuclear energy synergism we have become most conscious of the tension between realism and vision in nuclear energy technology. As developed here, our perception of nuclear energy synergism is firmly rooted in the present and then seeks to proceed toward a heightened degree of compatibility and efficacy based on an enhanced integration of relevant nuclear processes. It is our view that such conceptual considerations must assume a greater role in the emerging techological orientation of nuclear energy systems planning.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The papers at the General Symposia of the Joint Oceanographic Assembly were presented by authors who had been invited to deal with topics of broad interdisciplinary interest. Together they gave a valuable account of the present state of marine research, its proQlems and potential. There seems merit in publishing them in one volume and we are grateful to the authors who kindly agreed to prepare their papers for publication. This has taken some time (and not all authors found it possible) but we hope the resulting volume is still indicative of trends in modern oceanography. Particularly noticeable is the way in which the applied aspects are beginning to play a more important part in spite of worries about the effects of the Law of the Sea on our freedom to make observations. We are especially grateful to the four authors who agreed to give lectures summarising the work in their own field which was reported at the Assembly. We also wish to thank the other authors, as well as all concerned with the Assembly and with the production of this volume.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - It has been recognized for more than a thousand years that the function of the brain, like the function of the other organs of the body, is determined by its physical, chemical, and biological properties. Evidence that even its highest functions could be explained by these properties was gathered only in recent years, however; these findings, which clearly have to be confirmed by a great deal of further experimental evidence, indicate that most, if not all, of the functions of the brain are based on its bio chemical and biophysical mechanisms. This at first hearing may sound rather simple, but the ability to understand learning, emotion, perhaps even creativity, on biological terms may well be the most important scientific discovery of all time. Few pieces of knowledge can influence our future health and well-being to the degree that understanding of mental mechanisms will. It has been clearly shown in many ways in the previous volumes of this Handbook that from the biochemical or neurochemical point of view the brain is one of the most active organs. The brain seems stable and in some respects permanent; this is evidence not of inactivity but of carefully controlled homeostasis, of dynamic rather than static equilibrium, with most components undergoing metabolic alterations.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Membrane Physiology is a soft-cover book containing portions of Physiology of Membrane Disorders, published in larger, hard-cover form in 1978. The parent volume was divided into five parts, described in detail in the Preface to the hard-cover edition, which is reproduced in this volume. The present version of Membrane Physiology incorporates the first three of these parts, including a section on the Nature of Biological Membranes, a section on Methods for Studying Membranes, and a section on General Problems in Membrane Biology. It is the hope of the Editors that this smaller volume will be of value to individuals interested in general physiology, the methods for studying general physiology, and its potential application to problems of clinical and physiological relevance. The Preface to Physiology of Membrane Disorders indicates our general reasoning for developing such a volume. THOMAS E. ANDREOLI JOSEPH F. HOFFMAN DARRELL D. FANESTIL Vll Preface to Physiology of Membrane Disorders The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a rational frame of reference for assessing the pathophysiology of those disorders in which derangements of membrane transport processes are a major factor responsible for the clinical manifestations of disease.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Nobel symposium No. 54 on High Latitude Magnetospheric/Iono spheric Plasma Physics was organized in Kiruna, Sweden on March 22-25, 1982 by Kiruna Geophysical Institute and EISCAT Scientific Association. Some 50 leading experts from Western Europe, America and USSR were invited to the Symposium. One main purpose of the Symposium was to prepare for the intense European research effort in space plasma physics in the middle 1980's, in which the EISCAT facilities and the Swedish satellite Viking are two of the more important constituents. The prograuune of the symposium was tied to the physics of those regions of near space where EISCAT and Viking are expected to pro vide important new observational results. This is rather well covered by the t it Ie of these proceedings: High Lat itude Space Plasma Physics. The first two sessions dealt with the physics of the high latitude ionosphere and the third one with how this part of near space is affected by the properties of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field. The remaining three sessions covered fairly extensively the high latitude magnetospheric physics at altitudes of 1-2 earth radii, which is the main scien tific object of the Viking project. The Prograuune COllDlittee of the Kiruna Nobel Symposium was composed of the following European scientists: P. Bauer (Issy-les-Moulineaux), R. Bostrom (Uppsala), C. G. FalthallDlar (Stockholm), T. Hagfors (Kiruna, Cochairman), o. Holt (Troms,s), B. Hultqvist (Kiruna, Cochairman), H. Kohl (Lindau), J. Oksman (Oulu), H. Rishbeth (Chilton), and L. Stenflo (Ume!).

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Everyone working in a problem as complex as continental drift, must at some time have feit the need for an objective data summary in fields other than his own. It is a scientific dilemma that, aIthough there is evident need for researchers with competence in many fields (the classical natural scientist), the time in volved in acquiring such broad experience is so great as to ren der the task largely impossible. The alternative seems to be the team approach, and we have espoused it in tbis volume. Editors and contributors alike have tried in this book to keep the accent upon factual information and to reduce interpretation to a minimum. Interpretation there must be, however, since without it science is but an inteHectual pastime comparable to pbilately. The librarian's need to classify results in the appearance of our names upon the spine oftbis volume, however, we would like to make it clear that the book has been a truly cooperative effort and could not have succeeded but for the active help of the individual contributors, whose assistance seldom was re stricted to their chapters. Special thanks must be given to our South American coHeagues, for the tolerance with which they viewed out editorial attempts, and to Dr. E. Machens, for his careful review of the translation of his manu script. We wish also to acknowledge the help of Dr. C. W.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The purpose of the World Psychiatric Association is to coordinate the activities of its Member Societies on a world-wide scale and to advance enquiry into the etiology, pathology, and treatment of mental illness. To further this purpose, the Association organizes mono- or multithematic Regional Symposia in different parts of the world twice a year, and World Congresses dealing with all individual fields of psychiatry once every five or six years. Between these meetings the continuation of the Association's scientific work is assured through the activities of its specialty sections, each covering an important field of psychiatry. The programs of the World Congresses reflect on the one hand the intention to present the coordinating functions of the Association and on the other to open a broad platform for a free exchange of views. Thus, the VII World Congress of Psychiatry, held in Vienna from July 11 to 16, 1983, was composed of two types of scientific events - those structured by the Association and those left to the initiative of the participants. The first type comprised Plenary Sessions, planned by the Scientific Program Committee, and Section Symposia, organized by the WPA sections; the second embraced Free Symposia, free papers, video sessions, and poster presentations prepared by the participants. Altogether, 10 Plenary Sessions, 52 Section Symposia, and 105 Free Symposia took place, and 78 free papers and poster sessions and 10 video sessions were held.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - The NATO Advanced Study Institute held in the Hotel Metropole Llandrindod Wells, Powys, Wales from July 26th to August 4th 1981 provided an excellent platform for presentation and appraisal of our current knowledge of neurotransmitter systems. The proceed ings comprise the present volume and these were arranged to allow study of the pathways and the interactions of specific transmitter systems, one with another, in the various sub-regions of the central nervous system. In addition several of the key factors involved in neurotransmitter release were highlighted. These include the structural and molecular organisation of the nerve terminal, its organelles (such as vesicles, neurotubules and synaptic densities) and the mechanisms involved in neurotransmitter release including the participation of calcium. The organisation of transmitter synthesis, storage and transport were discussed together with their linkage to other streams of metabolism, and the cellular compartmentation of these processes. In addition to the principal lectures given at the Institute, many part1c1pants presented short reports for discussion and these are all included in this volume. The success of the Study Institute was due to the careful planning of the scientific programme to allow a smooth flow and integration of the topics included and this is reflected in the organisation of this book. The programme committee members were, R. Balazs (London), H. F. Bradford (London,Director), J. B. Clark (London), J. E. Cremer (MRC, Carshalton), J. S. Kelly (London), L. Lim (London), M. J. Neal (London) and P. J. Roberts (Southampton).

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - A color time-varying image can be described as a three-dimensional vector (representing the colors in an appropriate color space) defined on a three-dimensional spatiotemporal space. In conventional analog television a one-dimensional signal suitable for transmission over a communication channel is obtained by sampling the scene in the vertical and tem poral directions and by frequency-multiplexing the luminance and chrominance informa tion. In digital processing and transmission systems, sampling is applied in the horizontal direction, too, on a signal which has been already scanned in the vertical and temporal directions or directly in three dimensions when using some solid-state sensor. As a conse quence, in recent years it has been considered quite natural to assess the potential advan tages arising from an entire multidimensional approach to the processing of video signals. As a simple but significant example, a composite color video signal, such as the conven tional PAL or NTSC signal, possesses a three-dimensional spectrum which, by using suitable three-dimensional filters, permits horizontal sampling at a rate which is less than that re quired for correctly sampling the equivalent one-dimensional signal. More recently it has been widely recognized that the improvement of the picture quality in current and advanced television systems requires well-chosen signal processing algorithms which are multidimen sional in nature within the demanding constraints of a real-time implementation.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - IWPTS'95 (International Workshop on Protocol Test Systems) is being held this year at !NT (Institut National des Telecommunications), Evry, France, from 4 to 6 September, 1995. IWPTS'95 is the eighth of a series of annual meetings sponsored by the IFIP Working Group WG6.1 dedicated to 'Architecture and Protocols for Computer Networks'. The seven previous workshops were held in Vancouver (Canada, 1988), Berlin (Germany, 1989), Mclean (USA, 1990), Leidschendam (The Netherlands, 1991), Montreal (Canada, 1992), Pau (France, 1993) and Tokyo (Japan, 1994). The workshop is a meeting place where both research and industry, theory and practice come together. By bringing both researchers and practitioners together, IWPTS opens up the communication between these groups. This helps keep the research vital and improves the state of the practitioner's art. Forty-eight papers have been submitted to IWPTS'95 and all of them have been reviewed by the members of the Program Committee and additional reviewers. The completed reviewers list is included in this Proceedings. Based on these reviews, the Program Committee selected 26 for oral presentation and 4 to be presented as posters. Two specially invited papers complete the Workshop Program, which is composed of ten sessions: Testing Methods (Session 1), Test Environments (Session 2), Theoretical Framework (Session 3), Algorithms and Languages (Session 4), Test Generation 1 (Session 5), Testability (Session 6), Test Generation 2 (Session 7), Industrial Applications (Session 8), Distributed Testing and performance (Session 9) and Test Management (Session 10).

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Knowledge and Technology Integration in Production and Services presents novel application scenarios for balanced distributed and integrated systems based on knowledge and up-to-date technology and provides a great opportunity for discussion of concepts, models, methodologies, technological developments, case studies, new research ideas, and other results among specialists. It comprises the proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Information Technology for BALANCED AUTOMATION SYSTEMS in Manufacturing and Services (BASYS'02), which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in September 2002 in Cancun, Mexico.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. Neuware - Due to increasing practical needs, software support of environmental protection and research tasks is growing in importance and scope. Software systems help to monitor basic data, to maintain and process relevant environmental information, to analyze gathered information and to carry out decision processes, which often have to take into account complex alternatives with various side effects. Therefore software is an important tool for the environmental domain. When the first software systems in the environmental domain grew - 10 to 15 years ag- users and developers were not really aware of the complexity these systems are carrying with themselves: complexity with respect to entities, tasks and procedures. I guess nobody may have figured out at that time that the environmental domain would ask for solutions which information science would not be able to provide and - in several cases - can not provide until today. Therefore environmental informatics - as we call it today - is also an important domain of computer science itself, because practical solutions need to deal with very complex, interdisciplinary, distributed, integrated, sometimes badly defined, user-centered decision processes. I doubt somebody will state that we are already capable of building such integrated systems for end users for reasonable cost on a broad range. The development of the first scientific community for environmental informatics started around 1985 in Germany, becoming a technical committee and working group of the German Computer Society in 1987.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -International Monetary Cooperation among the United States, Japan, and Germany offers a first - and overdue - book- length study of counterproductive cooperation. It takes to task the critical importance of conducting systematic theory-guided empirical research to examine the validity of arguments that international monetary cooperation could be highly counterproductive. This book combines various methods - formal, quantitative, and qualitative - to study the theories of counterproductive monetary cooperation by focusing on the cooperative episodes among the major industrial countries - the United States, Japan, and Germany. For the first time, this book presents all theories of counterproductive cooperation in one place, subjects them to systematic, empirical scrutiny in the light of the experience of G-3 (U.S., Germany, and Japanese) cooperation since the 1970s, and suggests policy recommendations in the light of the findings. 132 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Science and technology are cultural phenomena. Expert knowledge is generated amid the conflicts of a society and in turn supplies fuel to fire yet further change and new clashes. This essay on economic entomology is a case study on how cultural events and forces affected the creation of scientific and technical knowledge. The time period emphasized is 1945 to 1980. My initial premises for selecting relevant data for the story were ultimately not of much use. Virtually all debates about insect control since 1945 have been centered around the environmental and health hazards associated with insecticides. My first but inadequate conclusion was that the center of interest lay between those who defended the chemicals and those who advocated the use of nonchemical control methods. With this formulation of the problem, I was drawn to an analysis of how the chemical manufacturers had managed to dominate and even corrupt the work of entomological scientists, farmers, members of Congress, and regulators in the USDA and EPA. My own contribu tions to a policy study at the National Academy of Sciences were based 1 on this premise. More recently, Robert van den Bosch developed the 2 'corruption theme' in considerable detail. 328 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The 39th Annual Denver X-Ray Conference on Applications of X-Ray Analysis was held July 30 -August 3, 1990, at the Sheraton Steamboat Resort and Conference Center, Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The 'Denver Conference' is recognized to be a major event in the x-ray analysis field, bringing together scientists and engineers from around the world to discuss the state of the art in x-ray applications as well as indications for future develop ments. In recent years there has been a steady expansion of applications of x-ray analysis to characterize surfaces and thin films. To introduce the audience to one of the exciting and important new developments in x-ray fluorescence, the topic for the Plenary Session of the 1990 Conference was: 'Surface and Near-Surface X-Ray Spectroscopy. ' The Conference had the privilege of inviting five leading world experts in the field of x-ray spectroscopy to deliver lectures at the Plenary Session. The first two lectures were on total-reflection x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Professor P. Wobrauschek of Austria reviewed 'Recent Developments and Results in Total-Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence. ' Trends and applications of the technique were also discussed. Dr. T. Arai of Japan reported on 'Surface and Near-Surface Analysis of Silicon Wafers by Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence. ' He emphasized the importance of using proper x-ray optics to achieve high signal-to-noise ratios. A mathematical model relating the x-ray intensity to the depth of x-ray penetration was also described. 768 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The present monograph is not a self-contained introductory text. Instead it presupposes to a large extent that the reader is not only thoroughly familiar with the special theory of relativity, but that he or she has studied the standard aspects of the general theory, as weIl. Starting from local and global formulations of the principlcs of inertia and relativity, we discuss the microscopic ancl telcscopic aspects of gravitation. Our central goal has been to demonstrate that the foundations of gravitational theory laid by Newton and Einstein imply questions on thc relation betwecn the micro- and macrocosm. The discussions surrounding these physical points can be rather weH understood without an elaborate mathcmatical formalism. All the same, we have attempted to make the main theme of our presentation accessible also to readers outside the circle of pundits by including two appendixes of a largely instructional nature. Appendix A gives a brief review of the basic concepts of four-dimensional spaces, for the convenience of readers who need 9 Preface such a recapitulation, while Appendix B deals with the more exotic notions of tetrad theory, which admittedly stands in wider need of elucidation. Both appendixes are meant in any event to serve the useful purpose of establishing our notation and collecting formulas for easy reference in the main body of the book. The general reader may accordingly find it helpful first to peruse one or both of the appendixes before turning to the Introduction and Chapter 1. H. -j. 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The molecular theory of water and aqueous solutions has only recently emerged as a new entity of research, although its roots may be found in age-old works. The purpose of this book is to present the molecular theory of aqueous fluids based on the framework of the general theory of liquids. The style of the book is introductory in character, but the reader is presumed to be familiar with the basic properties of water [for instance, the topics reviewed by Eisenberg and Kauzmann (1969)] and the elements of classical thermodynamics and statistical mechanics [e.g., Denbigh (1966), Hill (1960)] and to have some elementary knowledge of probability [e.g., Feller (1960), Papoulis (1965)]. No other familiarity with the molecular theory of liquids is presumed. For the convenience of the reader, we present in Chapter 1 the rudi ments of statistical mechanics that are required as prerequisites to an under standing of subsequent chapters. This chapter contains a brief and concise survey of topics which may be adopted by the reader as the fundamental 'rules of the game,' and from here on, the development is very slow and detailed. 492 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The research reported in this volume was designed to provide estimates of the extent of damages and injuries from certain natu ral hazards inflicted on households in the United States. In addi tion, it reports on sources of aid proffered to households and the extent to which there are differences among households in the receipt of help. This volume represents the latest installment in a series of monographs stemming from the Social and Demographic Re search Institute's (SADRI) program of research on the effects of natural hazard events in the United States. The first volume in our series (Wright, Rossi, Wright, & Weber-Burdin, 1979) reported on the long-range effects of natural hazards on the population and housing stocks of neighborhoods and communities. The second volume (Rossi et aI. , 1982) assessed the support for hazard mitiga tion policies existing among local and state political elites in a sample of states and local communities in the United States. The main findings of these two monographs can be summarized as follows. First, long-range effects (up to 10 years postevent) of nat ural hazard events are minimal: Local communities and neighbor hoods that have been impacted by floods, tornadoes, or hurricanes appear to be no different in their population and housing growth patterns over the period 1960 to 1970 than comparable commu nities that went unscathed. Apparently, household and communi ty resources plus outside aid were sufficient ordinarily to restore impacted areas to normal growth patterns. 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Natural language is easy for people and hard for machines. For two generations, the tantalizing goal has been to get computers to handle human languages in ways that will be compelling and useful to people. Obstacles are many and legendary. Natural Language Processing: The PLNLP Approach describes one group's decade of research in pursuit of that goal. A very broad coverage NLP system, including a programming language (PLNLP) development tools, and analysis and synthesis components, was developed and incorporated into a variety of well-known practical applications, ranging from text critiquing (CRITIQUE) to machine translation (e.g. SHALT). This books represents the first published collection of papers describing the system and how it has been used. Twenty-six authors from nine countries contributed to this volume. Natural language analysis, in the PLNLP approach, is done is six stages that move smoothly from syntax through semantics into discourse. The initial syntactic sketch is provided by an Augmented Phrase Structure Grammar (APSG) that uses exclusively binary rules and aims to produce some reasonable analysis for any input string. Its `approximate' analysis passes to the reassignment component, which takes the default syntactic attachments and adjusts them, using semantic information obtained by parsing definitions and example sentences from machine-readable dictionaries. This technique is an example of one facet of the PLNLP approach: the use of natural language itself as a knowledge representation language -- an innovation that permits a wide variety of online text materials to be exploited as sources of semantic information. The next stage computes the intrasential argument structure and resolves all references, both NP- and VP-anaphora, that can be treated at this point in the processing. Subsequently, additional components, currently not so well developed as the earlier ones, handle the further disambiguation of word senses, the normalization of paraphrases, and the construction of a paragraph (discourse) model by joining sentential semantic graphs. Natural Language Processing: The PLNLP Approach acquaints the reader with the theory and application of a working, real-world, domain-free NLP system, and attempts to bridge the gap between computational and theoretical models of linguistic structure. It provides a valuable resource for students, teachers, and researchers in the areas of computational linguistics, natural processing, artificial intelligence, and information science. 348 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Activity in any theoretical area is usually stimulated by new experimental techniques and the resulting opportunity of measuring phenomena that were previously inaccessible. Such has been the case in the area under consideration he re beginning about fifteen years aga when the possibility of studying chemical reactions in crossed molecular beams captured the imagination of physical chemists, for one could imagine investigating chemical kinetics at the same level of molecular detail that had previously been possible only in spectroscopic investigations of molecular stucture. This created an interest among chemists in scattering theory, the molecular level description of a bimolecular collision process. Many other new and also powerful experimental techniques have evolved to supplement the molecular be am method, and the resulting wealth of new information about chemical dynamics has generated the present intense activity in molecular collision theory. During the early years when chemists were first becoming acquainted with scattering theory, it was mainly a matter of reading the physics literature because scattering experiments have long been the staple of that field. It was natural to apply the approximations and models that had been developed for nuclear and elementary particle physics, and although some of them were useful in describing molecular collision phenomena, many were not. 400 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The third International Symposium on the Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management was held in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 17-20, 1980, as part of the Annual Meeting of the Materials Research Society. The purpose of this Symposium was to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the discussion of scientific research dealing with all levels and types of radioactive wastes and their management. Since its inception in 1978, this annual Symposium has provided a unique opportunity for scientists of widely differing backgrounds to share in such discussions. The proceedings of the first two meetings were published as Volumes 1 and 2 in this series. The fourth Symposium is scheduled to be held in the autumn of 1981. The efforts of many people went into making this meeting a success. The scope of the 1980 Symposium was guided by the follow ing Steering Committee: K. J. Notz (Chairman), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA G. H. Daly, Department of Energy, USA D. E. Ferguson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA R. H. Flowers, Atomic Energy Research Establishment, UK F. Girardi, Ispra Establishment, Italy T. Ishihara, Radioactive Waste Management Center, Japan R. W. Lynch, Sandia Laboratories, USA S. A. Mayman, Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. , Canada G. J. McCarthy, North Dakota State University, USA E. Merz, Kernforschunganlage Jillich, FRG L. Nilsson, KBS Project, Sweden D. M. Rohrer, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USA R. Roy, Pennsylvania State University, USA T. 'E. Scott, Ames Laboratory, USA C. 652 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -For there is hope of a tree, If it be cut down, That it will sprout again And that the tender branch Thereof will not cease. Job XIV (7) Mankind has been blessed with a multitude of resources. In the beginning he utilized almost soley replenishable items such as vegetation and animal protein, for both nourishment and shelter. Gradually, such metals as copper and iron were developed and replaced wood as a material of construction. Cement and glass, although more plentiful than other minerals, also replaced the use of growing sub stances. Coal and oil became the primary sources of heat and power. Closer to the focus of this book, petroleum products began to replace the vegetable oils, tannin, wool, cotton, leather, silk, rubber, etc. in a host of applications. Surely, it was argued, the new materials did the job better and cheaper. What they didn't say is that soon we would run out of oil. In any case, research on growing natural products, now called renewable resources, slowed, and these industries sought only to maintain their status quo. The 20th Century saw an unprecedented emphasis and dependence on nonrenewable resources as energy sources (petroleum, coal, ura nium) and the fabric of technology (drugs, clothing, shelter, tires, computer parts). The predawn of the 21st Century brings a reali zation that a cyclic shift back towards the use of renewable re sources for technological application is in order. 488 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Once again, it gives me a great pleasure to pen the Foreword to the Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Thermal Conductivity. As in the past, these now biannual conferences pro vide a broadly based forum for those researchers actively working on this important property of matter to convene on a regular basis to exchange their experiences and report their findings. As it is apparent from the Table of Contents, the 15th Conference represents perhaps the broadest coverage of subject areas to date. This is indicative of the times as the boundaries between disciplines be come increasingly diffused. I am sure the time has come when Con ference Chairmen in coming years will be soliciting contributions not only in the physical sciences and engineering', but will actively seek contributions from the earth sciences and life sciences as well. Indeed, the thermal conductivity and related properties of geological and biological materials are becoming of increasing im portance to our way of life. As it can be seen from the summary table, unfortunately, proceedings have been published only for six of the fifteen con ferences. It is hoped that hereafter this Series will become increasingly well known and be recognized as a major vehicle for the reporting of research on thermal conductivity. 516 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The subject matter of this book is not entirely new in that much has been written about the state of the interfacial chemistry in other textbooks. However, the authors have found that there is really a need for a book which can lead an investigator, a student, or a beginn er through the in-depth understanding and descriptions involved in the derivations and usage of the adsorption equations based on the unified concept of the Gibbs surface excess. The derivation of the original Gibbs equation for the liquid interface has been amplified with reformulations and criticisms. Attempts have been frequently made to relate the surface excess quantities with the thermodynamic properties of the physically defined interfacial phase. In the last two decades, useful applications of the Gibbs equations have been made for the study of adsorption at solid-liquid as weIl as liquid-gas interfaces formed in the presence of the multicomponent solutions in the bulk. These recent treatments become useful for the experimental studies of the adsorption of electrolytes and interfacial properties related to neutral and charged monolayers. The consistency of the experimental results with those to be expected from the theories of the electrical double layer needs careful examination. An attempt has been made to present in a single volume all these developments based on the unified concept of the Gibbs surface excess. The study of the adsorption from solution is of considerable importance in the field of biology and in many other branches of applied science. 488 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Hallucinations, a natural phenomenon as old as mankind, have a surprisingly wide range. They appear under the most diversified conditions, in the 'normal' psyche as well as in severe chronic mental derangement. As a symptom, hallucinations are a potential part of a variety of pathological conditions in almost all kinds of psychotic behavior. In addition, lately, various psychological and sociological circumstances seem to favor widespread use and abuse of hallucinogens, substances able to produce hallucinations in the normal brain. They not rarely lead to serious psychopatho logy such as toxic, and mobilized or aggravated endogenous psycho ses. While such development adds to our scientific knowledge, it also contributes to our current social troubles. Neurologists and neuro-surgeons, psychiatrists, psychologists and other specialized researchers constantly have been dealing with the phenomenon, its roots and branches, and yet, its primary mechanisms are largely un known. However, investigators of hallucinations now seem to enter common ground on which meaningful discussions and joint approaches become feasible and more promising. We have come a long way from the Latin term 'hallucinari', meaning to talk nonsense, to be absent-minded, to the modern con cept of 'hallucinations'. While the Latin word was descriptive of what may be due to hallucinations, the modern concept defines hal lucinations as subjective experiences that are consequences of men tal processes, sometimes fulfilling a purpose in the individual's mental life. 504 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condizione: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Analytical flame spectroscopy is a rich and growing disci pline, rooted in the broad fields of physics and chemistry. Its applications abound not only in these large areas, but also thrive in the geosciences, materials science, and clinical and biochemical analysis. As an inevitable corollary of the field's growth, the scientist seeking to develop a fluent expertise has been forced to assimilate and master a rapidly increasing quantity of information. Our guiding hope in creating the present work has therefore been to provide the investigator with a single reference source for nearly all the material ever likely to be required in the daily conduct of basic or applied research. Flame spectroscopy is not a new analytical field. It has seen at least three major eras, in each of which much new information was developed - the Bunsen-Kirchhoff years, the Beckman D. U. years, and finally the atomic absorption years. In the Bunsen-Kirchhoff era, several new elements were discovered. During the Beckman years - nearly all the early flame emission data were taken on modified Beckman D. U. spectrometers - trace metal analysis for the alkaline metals and for many alkaline earth elements reached a new high (low ) - the parts per million level. More recently, trace metal analysis has in general achieved a new maturity with the advent of atomic absorption analysis, which was co-discovered by C. Th. J. Alkemade and Alan Walsh in 1955. 496 pp. Englisch.