springer netherlands jun 2014 (58 results)

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book demonstrates how the conceptual resources of contemporary French philosophy from the early 20thCentury to the present day can be applied to give us new perspectives on business ethics and the ethics of organizations. In providing an overview of possible applications, the book covers a wide range of philosophers, philosophical movements and perspectives and provides detailed analyses of core materials relevant to business ethics. It explores and analyzes French philosophy, taking into account phenomenology, existentialism, French epistemology, structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction and postmodernism as well as recent discussions of philosophy of organizations and management.Each chapter contains suggestions for further reading and educational illustrations of possible applications to the mainstream business ethics and ethics of organization literature. 324 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is a treatise on the thermodynamic and dynamic properties of thin liquid films at solid surfaces and, in particular, their rupture instabilities. For the quantitative study of these phenomena, polymer thin films (sometimes referred to as 'ultrathin') have proven to be an invaluable experimental model system. What is it that makes thin film instabilities special and interesting First, thin polymeric films have an important range of applications. An understanding of their instabilities is therefore of practical relevance for the design of such films. The first chapter of the book intends to give a snapshot of current applications, and an outlook on promising future ones. Second, thin liquid films are an interdisciplinary research topic, which leads to a fairly heterogeneous community working on the topic. It justifies attempting to write a text which gives a coherent presentation of the field which researchers across their specialized communities might be interested in. Finally, thin liquid films are an interesting laboratory for a theorist to confront a well-established theory, hydrodynamics, with its limits. Thin films are therefore a field in which a highly fruitful exchange and collaboration exists between experimentalists and theorists. The book stretches from the more concrete to more abstract levels of study: we roughly progress from applications via theory and experiment to rigorous mathematical theory. For an experimental scientist, the book should serve as a reference and guide to what is the current consensus of the theoretical underpinnings of the field of thin film dynamics. Controversial problems on which such a consensus has not yet been reached are clearly indicated in the text, as well as discussed in a final chapter. From a theoretical point of view, the field of dewetting has mainly been treated in a mathematically 'light' yet elegant fashion, often making use of scaling arguments. For the untrained researcher, this approach is not always easy to follow. The present book attempts to bridge between the 'light' and the 'rigorous', always with the ambition to enhance insight and understanding - and to not let go the elegance of the theory. 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into all types of cells within the body, thus have great therapeutic potential for regenerative medicine to treat complicated disorders, like Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury. There will also be many applications in drug development. However, several roadblocks, such as safety issues and low efficiency of pluripotent stem cell (PSC) line derivation need to be resolved before their clinical application. This thesis focuses on these two areas, so as to find methods to overcome the limitation. It covers deriving embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from several different species and reports an efficient system to generate induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and the first iPSC mice in the world. The results in this thesis confirm that somatic cells can be fully reprogrammed with the four Yamanaka factors. In addition, we have found that the Dlk1-Dio3 region can be a potential molecular marker to distinguish the fully reprogrammed iPSCs from partially reprogrammed ones. All of these results will help improve the safety of PSCs in the clinical applications and increase the current low induction efficiency of their production. 108 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) are asserting their growing role in curricula around the world, yet how deeply embedded are they in the learning systems of the Pacific nations Building on an earlier analysis in China and Taiwan, this volume expands its purview to examine the quality and extent of environmental and sustainable development education in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including China itself, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia. As well as offering detailed national analyses provided by Asian-Pacific academics and professionals, this work includes examples in the US and Canada and an introduction that assesses the contrasting challenges and positive commonalities among diverse education systems.The chapters reflect leading-edge practice, innovation, and depth of experience and at the same time as detailing locally relevant and culturally appropriate strategies they also provide clear models and strategies for expanding the application and influence of education for sustainable development elsewhere. In doing so, they mirror the global nature of environmental issues as well as the local nature of the solutions. 316 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents a unique collection of the most relevant perspectives in contemporary human rights philosophy. Different intellectual traditions are brought together to explore some of the core postmodern issues challenging standard justifications. Widely accessible also to non experts, contributions aim at opening new perspectives on the state of the art of the philosophy of human rights. This makes this book particularly suitable to human rights experts as well as master and doctoral students.Further, while conceived in a uniform and homogeneous way, the book is internally organized around three central themes: an introduction to theories of rights and their relation to values; a set of contributions presenting some of the most influential contemporary strategies; and finally a number of articles evaluating those empirical challenges springing from the implementation of human rights. This specific set-up of the book provides readers with a stimulating presentation of a growing and interconnecting number of problems that post-natural law theories face today.While most of the contributions are new and specifically conceived for the present occasion, the volume includes also some recently published influential essays on rights, democracy and their political implementation. 352 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Health and the environment are important learning areas in science education and their significance is growing. Not only do they have high social relevance, but they are also close to students' interests and needs. They provide many opportunities to unlock science with questions that are personally relevant to boys and girls and that inspire them to engage in science. This book contains a selection of papers from prominent professionals in science, health and environmental education, who reflect on science education, each from their specific point of view. The core idea is to present well-founded perspectives on how science education may benefit from challenges stemming from both health and environmental education. Specific reasons are discussed as to why these two areas are particularly legitimized to challenge science education, and their potential impact on a revision of science education is evaluated.A new pedagogy for science¦environment¦health that yields interesting and relevant science education for students and teachers, and addresses the grand challenges of this century: what an attractive and rewarding project! The book will motivate teachers, teacher educators and science education researchers to take part in this on-going project. 204 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -While a sharp debate is emerging about whether conventional biometric technology offers society any significant advantages over other forms of identification, and whether it constitutes a threat to privacy, technology is rapidly progressing. Politicians and the public are still discussing fingerprinting and iris scan, while scientists and engineers are already testing futuristic solutions. Second generation biometrics - which include multimodal biometrics, behavioural biometrics, dynamic face recognition, EEG and ECG biometrics, remote iris recognition, and other, still more astonishing, applications - is a reality which promises to overturn any current ethical standard about human identification. Robots which recognise their masters, CCTV which detects intentions, voice responders which analyse emotions: these are only a few applications in progress to be developed.This book is the first ever published on ethical, social and privacy implications of second generation biometrics. Authors include both distinguished scientists in the biometric field and prominent ethical, privacy and social scholars. This makes this book an invaluable tool for policy makers, technologists, social scientists, privacy authorities involved in biometric policy setting. Moreover it is a precious instrument to update scholars from different disciplines who are interested in biometrics and its wider social, ethical and political implications. 364 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -'Although standards-based reform emerged in the United States and the United Kingdom, the idea has spread across the world, as an approach to systemic reform. It might appear that there is a world-wide 'tsunami' of standards-based reform that will standardize and homogenize the educational system across the globe. This volume makes it very clear, however, that there is no one approach to standards-based reform and countries change - there is a danger in paying attention to its evolution and impact in only one context. That's what makes this volume so valuable. Louis Volante has drawn together descriptions from a wide range of countries, all involved in large-scale reform and using standards and assessments as part of their process. What becomes very obvious is that the language may be the same but the words reflect different contexts and can represent very different ideals, values, and processes. I'm sure you will find this book as interesting and challenging as I have - a gem that pushes your thinking and does not allow readers to remain neutral.' (Lorna Earl) 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book develops a conception of science as a multi-dimensional practice, which includes experimental action and production, conceptual-theoretical interpretation, and formal-mathematical work. On this basis, it addresses the topical issue of scientific realism and expounds a detailed, referentially realist account of the natural sciences. This account is shown to be compatible with the frequent occurrence of conceptual discontinuities in the historical development of the sciences. Referential realism exploits several fruitful ideas of Jürgen Habermas, especially his distinction between objectivity and truth; it builds on a in-depth analysis of scientific experiments, including their material realization; and it is developed through an extensive case study in the history and philosophy of quantum mechanics. The new postscript explains how the book relates to several important issues in recent philosophy of science and science studies.'I highly recommend this book. Radder is probably the first philosopher of science to make productive epistemological use of the notion of 'experimental system'. The postscript is most valuable since it connects his work not only to the topical debates in philosophy of science, but also to history of science and science studies.'Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, BerlinAbout the first edition:'The debate on realism has recently become rather stale by repetition, but Radder introduces original insights and has written a lively and well-argued contribution to it. The book is to be recommended also as a clear introduction to the complex of relevant issues.'Mary Hesse, University of Cambridge'Radder presents an ingenious approach to the issue of scientific realism and conceptual discontinuity. I believe his idea that conceptual discontinuity presupposes other types of continuity is extremely important.'Mark Rowlands, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa Hans Radder is professor of philosophy of science and technology at VU University Amsterdam. He is the author of In and About the World and The World Observed/The World Conceived. He edited The Philosophy of Scientific Experimentation and The Commodification of Academic Research: Science and the Modern University, and is coeditor of Science Transformed Debating Claims of an Epochal Break. 228 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume is dedicated to Leo Esakia's contributions to the theory of modal and intuitionistic systems. Consisting of 10 chapters, written by leading experts, this volume discusses Esakia's original contributions and consequent developments that have helped to shape duality theory for modal and intuitionistic logics and to utilize it to obtain some major results in the area.Beginning with a chapter which explores Esakia duality for S4-algebras, the volume goes on to explore Esakia duality for Heyting algebras and its generalizations to weak Heyting algebras and implicative semilattices. The book also dives into the Blok-Esakia theorem and provides an outline of the intuitionistic modal logic KM which is closely related to the Gödel-Löb provability logic GL. One chapter scrutinizes Esakia's work interpreting modal diamond as the derivative of a topological space within the setting of point-free topology. The final chapter in the volume is dedicated to the derivational semantics of modal logic and other related issues. 348 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The first book entirely devoted to the practice and ethics of the emerging methodology of ethnocinema, this volume brings vividly to life not only the Sudanese young women with whom the author has collaborated for two years, but her own struggles as researcher, teacher and intercultural fellow traveller. A superb resource for anyone interested in conducting their own ethnocinema research project, the contents will be welcomed too by classroom teachers who recognise a need for alternative pedagogies within diverse classrooms, and peripatetic researchers and students who search for authentic representations of their own experiences within the academy and education system.With access to online filmed material included, this publication is part handbook and part theoretical treatise framing a new creative ethnographic methodology. One of a rare breed of books covering the visual research techniques that are gaining traction in the academic community, it also introduces ground-breaking intercultural research into Sudanese women who have resettled in the West. Functional as pedagogic material in university and high school classrooms, this package has broad appeal in the academic and educational sectors.'It is innovative, gutsy, practical, useful, critical and follows principles of socially just research.'Prof Carolyn Ellis, University of Southern Florida, USA 'This is an ambitious and passionate work. The author has taken on the task not only of exploring the difficult experiences of a group of young refugee women but has also reflected bravely on her own personal and professional life.'Assoc Prof Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia'This is an ambitious and passionate work. The author has taken on the task not only of exploring the difficult experiences of a group of young refugee women but has also reflected bravely on her own personal and professional life.'Assoc Prof Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia'This is an ambitious and passionate work. The author has taken on the task not only of exploring the difficult experiences of a group of young refugee women but has also reflected bravely on her own personal and professional life.'Assoc Prof Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia'It is innovative, gutsy, practical, useful, critical and follows principles of socially just research.'Prof Carolyn Ellis, University of Southern Florida, USA 'This is an ambitious and passionate work. The author has taken on the task not only of exploring the difficult experiences of a group of young refugee women but has also reflected bravely on her own personal and professional life.'Assoc Prof Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia'This is an ambitious and passionate work. The author has taken on the task not only of exploring the difficult experiences of a group of young refugee women but has also reflected bravely on her own personal and professional life.'Assoc Prof Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia'This is an ambitious and passionate work. The author has taken on the task not only of exploring the difficult experiences of a group of young refugee women but has also reflected bravely on her own personal and professional life.'Assoc Prof Greg Noble, University of Western Sydney, Australia 224 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents an attempt to understand the nature of technical artefacts and the way they come into being. Its primary focus is the kind of technical artefacts designed and produced by modern engineering. In spite of their pervasive influence on human thinking and doing, and therefore on the modern human condition, a philosophical analysis of technical artefacts and engineering design is lacking. Among the questions addressed are: How do technical artefacts fit into the furniture of the universe In what sense are they different from objects from the natural world, or from the social world What kind of activity is engineering design and what does it mean to say that technical artefacts are the embodiment of a design Does it make sense to consider technical artefacts to be morally good or bad by themselves because of the way they influence human life The book advances the thesis that technical artefacts, conceived of as physical constructions with a technical function, have a dual nature; they are hybrid objects combining physical and intentional features. It proposes a theory of technical functions and technical artefact kinds that does justice to this dual nature, analyses engineering design from the dual nature point of view, and argues that technical artefacts, because of their dual nature, have inherent moral significance. 216 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The proposed monograph on 'Geomorphological Landscapes of India' will aim to describe and explain in simple words the geomorphological characteristics and the origin of the above-mentioned landforms and landscapes. The proposed monograph will provide the background information about the geology, climate and tectonic framework of the Indian region, as well as cover Indian climates of the present and the past. It will mainly cover the four main morphotectonic regions of India and about 15-20 distinct landforms of the Indian region as well as the major geomorphosites in India. 288 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book investigates soil ecology and biodiversity for its ability to maintain a balance of beneficial organisms to support plant growth. This subject is discussed by a group of international authors in natural, agricultural and urban systems. The importance of biodiversity per se and, specifically, the feedbacks between the plant and soil biota in mediating soil function are emphasized. Examples are selected from allelopathy and invasive plant species along with the, hitherto overlooked, role of viruses in soil. The book is intended to provide a framework for a holistic understanding of the essential role of soil organisms in promoting plant growth. 244 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book gives a comprehensive presentation of our present understanding of the Earth's Hydrological cycle and the problems, consequences and impacts that go with this topic. Water is a central component in the Earth's system. It is indispensable for life on Earth in its present form and influences virtually every aspect of our planet's life support system. On relatively short time scales, atmospheric water vapor interacts with the atmospheric circulation and is crucial in forming the Earth's climate zones. Water vapor is the most powerful of the greenhouse gases and serves to enhance the tropospheric temperature. The dominant part of available water on Earth resides in the oceans. Parts are locked up in the land ice on Greenland and Antarctica and a smaller part is estimated to exist as groundwater. If all the ice over the land and all the glaciers were to melt, the sea level would rise by some 80 m. In comparison, the total amount of water vapor in the atmosphere is small; it amounts to ~ 25 kg/m 2 , or the equivalent of 25 mm water for each column of air. Yet atmospheric water vapor is crucial for the Earth's energy balance. The book gives an up to date presentation of the present knowledge.Previously published in Surveys in Geophysics, Volume 35, No. 3, 2014 420 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Having indicators to assess the effect of zootechnical, sanitary, economic or political intervention or the impact of environmental risks makes it possible to draw up strategies for improving domestic animal populations. This handbook is a compilation of the main concepts relating to the definition and calculation of demographic rates for largely non-intensive tropical animal farms. It is intended to be educational, and should help students, technicians, engineers, researchers and development staff to understand the definitions and formulas encountered in the literature more clearly and make them more self-sufficient in terms of analyses. 112 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Measurement plays a fundamental role both in physical and behavioral sciences, as well as in engineering and technology: it is the link between abstract models and empirical reality and is a privileged method of gathering information from the real world.Is it possible to develop a single theory of measurement for the various domains of science and technology in which measurement is involved This book takes the challenge by addressing the following main issues: What is the meaning of measurement How do we measure What can be measured A theoretical framework that could truly be shared by scientists in different fields, ranging from physics and engineering to psychology is developed. The future in fact will require greater collaboration between science and technology and between different sciences. Measurement, which played a key role in the birth of modern science, can act as an essential interdisciplinary tool and language for this new scenario.A sound theoretical basis for addressing key problems in measurement is provided. These include perceptual measurement, the evaluation of uncertainty, the evaluation of inter-comparisons, the analysis of risks in decision-making and the characterization of dynamical measurement. Currently, increasing attention is paid to these issues due to their scientific, technical, economic and social impact. The book proposes a unified probabilistic approach to them which may allow more rational and effective solutions to be reached.Great care was taken to make the text as accessible as possible in several ways. Firstly, by giving preference to as interdisciplinary a terminology as possible; secondly, by carefully defining and discussing all key terms. This ensures that a wide readership, including people from different mathematical backgrounds and different understandings of measurement can all benefit from this work. Concerning mathematics, all the main results are preceded by intuitive discussions and illustrated by simple examples. Moreover, precise proofs are always included in order to enable the more demanding readers to make conscious and creative use of these ideas, and also to develop new ones.The book demonstrates that measurement, which is commonly understood to be a merely experimental matter, poses theoretical questions which are no less challenging than those arising in other, apparently more theoretical, disciplines. 300 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Digital geometry emerged as an independent discipline in the second half of the last century. It deals with geometric properties of digital objects and is developed with the unambiguous goal to provide rigorous theoretical foundations for devising new advanced approaches and algorithms for various problems of visual computing. Different aspects of digital geometry have been addressed in the literature. This book is the first one that explicitly focuses on the presentation of the most important digital geometry algorithms. Each chapter provides a brief survey on a major research area related to the general volume theme, description and analysis of related fundamental algorithms, as well as new original contributions by the authors. Every chapter contains a section in which interesting open problems are addressed. 440 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book gives a comprehensive overview of our present understanding of the Earth's cryosphere, its changes and their consequences for mean sea level changes. Since the middle of the 19th century there has been an increase of sea level height by 20-25 cm. Some 8-10 cm of this is due to net losses from glaciers, the remainder being due to mass losses from land ice and thermal expansion of the oceans. The mean sea level rise is slowly accelerating; at present it is some 3 mm/year. Recent space observations made by the GRACE satellite combined with ocean temperature and volume measurements have enabled the separate contributions to sea level rise from melting ice and from thermal expansion to be better estimated. The estimation of mean sea level change is complicated by changes in land level due to tectonic effects and to ongoing changes following the latest major glaciation. The book gives an up-to-date survey of our present knowledge of this crucial subject. 352 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume presents recent developments in the theory of defects and the mechanics of material forces. The book constitutes a selection of the contributions presented at the International Symposium on Defect and Material Mechanics (ISDMM2011), held inSeville,Spain, June 2011. The ISDMM series of symposia provides a rare and much needed forum for bringing together a diverse group of researchers from various areas ranging from theoretical, experimental and computational modeling of the mechanics of materials. The present volume constitutes a valuable snapshot of the field of the mechanics of materials and their defects, and a window to its many accomplishments, challenges and opportunities, and open questions. The volume is intended to motivate the young research community interested in the field.Reprinted from International Journal of Fracture, Vol. 174:1 (2012) 108 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This atlas shows the relationship between water pollution and cancer in the Huai River Basin in China over the last 30 years. Drawing on a five-year study conducted by the China Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Professor Gonghuan Yang & Dafang Zhuang present a spatial and longitudinal analysis of regular pollution monitoring and disease surveillance data. A review of variation in trends in the causes of death in the Huai River Basin over the past 30 years shows that precisely those areas which were the most seriously polluted for the longest time were the areas with the highest increase in digestive cancer deaths - several times that of the national average increase for the respective cancers. Spatial analysis shows a high level of correspondence between the seriously polluted areas and areas with high mortality from cancer, the most important finding in the atlas.Dr. Gonghuan Yang is a Professor at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. She serves as Director of the Center of NCD & BRFS of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China. She is an expert on Public Health and an epidemiologist focusing on chronic non-communicable diseases.Dr. Dafang Zhuang is a Professor at the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. He is an expert of geographical information system and its application in correlating public health with environmental changes. 160 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume conceptualizes caregiving as an emerging sociological issue involving complex and fluctuating roles. The authors contend that caregiving must be considered in the context of the life span with needs that vary according to age, developmental levels, mental health needs and physical health demands of both caregivers and care recipients. As the nature and functions of caregiving evolve it has become a critical and salient issue in the lives of individuals in all demographic, socioeconomic and ethnic categories. This volume frames caregiving as a sociological issue and addresses a number of central concerns, such as: - Caregiving is a life span experience associated with aging and the roles of spouses and adult children. - Caregiving involves a complex of social system variables that influence the social support and services to caregivers and care recipients. - The nature of the relationship among family caregivers, professional caregivers and the care recipient are embedded in their interaction and dynamics influenced by the internal and external variables that inhibit or facilitate the care situation. - How can caregiving be integrated with a public health agenda - What disparities or inequalities exist in caregiving and what are the barriers that sustain them - What community-based interventions need to be developed to improve caregiving 240 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Global Perspectives on Subsidiarity is the first book of its kind exclusively devoted to the principle of subsidiarity. It sheds new light on the principle and explores and develops the many applications of the principle of subsidiarity. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the principle in all its facets, from its philosophical origins in the writings of Aristotle and Aquinas, to its development in Catholic social doctrine, and its emergence as a key principle in European Union Law. This book explores the relationship between subsidiarity and concepts such as sphere sovereignty and social pluralism. It analyses subsidiarity in light of globalisation, federalism, democracy, individual rights and welfare, and discusses subsidiarity and the Australian, Brazilian and German Constitutions. 240 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Key Demographics in Retirement Risk Management argues that the weakening of public and employer-sponsored social safety nets in several countries will permanently increase pre-retirees' risk-anxiety and create pressure towards readjustment of their expectations about the quality of their lives in retirement. The result will be to raise the priority of achieving effective comprehensive retirement related risk management. This achievement requires an emphasis upon the cascading of linked risks, and careful attention to the optimization of scarce resources used to manage those linked risks. Professional financial and retirement planning advisors comprise a key source of help. This book develops new knowledge concerning the factors that help to explain three important aspects of access to these professional advisors. The results of this analysis are used to illustrate the process of identifying distinctive population segments, key demographics, on the basis of multiple population attributes treated simultaneously. The illustration is further extended with an identification of distinctive population segments relative to performance on a composite indicator of the conduct of multiple retirement risk management activities. The book also discusses implications of the pattern of gender differences in preparedness to address retirement's challenges, highlighting subgroups of women in which inadequate preparedness is pronounced. 164 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Rhetorical Ways of Thinking focuses on how the co-construction of learning models the interpretation of a mathematical situation. It is a comprehensive examination of the role of sociocultural-historical theory developed by Vygotsky. This book puts forward the supposition that the major assumptions of sociocultural-historic theory are essential to understanding the theory's application to mathematical pedagogy, which explores issues relevant to learning and teaching mathematics-in-context, thus providing a valuable practical tool for general mathematics education research. The most important goal, then, is to exemplify the merging of the theory with practice and the subsequent applications to mathematics teaching and learning. This monograph contains five chapters, including a primer to Vygotsky's sociocultural historic theory, three comprehensive empirical studies examining: prospective teachers' perception of mathematics teaching and learning and the practice of scaffolded instruction to assist practicing teachers in developing their understanding of pedagogical content knowledge. Finally, the book concludes with a contextualization of the theory, linking it to best practices in the classroom. 112 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In the heart of Africa, a unique lake attracts the attention of scientists since the beginning of the 20th century. At the foot of the Virunga volcano chain, Lake Kivu harbors a vast amount of dissolved carbon dioxide and methane, making this lake the most dangerous lake on Earth. But the lake furnishes also many goods and services for surrounding populations and may soon become the most important energy supplier in the area. At the beginning of gas exploitation, the time has come for gathering the large amount of scientific information acquired during past and present research on Lake Kivu. The eleven chapters cover many aspects of the physics, geochemistry and biology of the lake, with a particular focus on the unique physical and geochemical features of the water column and on the ecological functioning of the surface waters. The impacts of the introduced fish species and the potential impacts of methane exploitation are also summarized. This multi-disciplinary book may also be used as an introduction to the limnology and biogeochemistry of large tropical lakes, as it covers various aspects of the physics, geochemistry, biology and ecology of the African Great Rift lakes. 204 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The African Seas include marginal basins of two major oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian, a miniature ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and an infant ocean, the Red Sea. Understanding the wide spectrum of environmental features and processes of such a varied collection of marine and coastal regions requires that in situ observation systems be integrated and actually guided, by the application of orbital remote sensing techniques. This volume reviews the current potential of Earth Observations to help in the exploration of the marginal seas around Africa, by virtue of both passive and active techniques, working in several spectral ranges i.e. measuring either reflected visible and near-infrared sunlight, as well as surface emissions in the thermal infrared and microwave spectral regions, or again the surface reflection of transmitted lidar or radar impulses of visible or microwave radiation. The in-depth evaluation of the advantages offered by each technique and spectral region and in particular by the development of advanced multi-technique systems, contributes to the assessment of the abundant natural resources that the Seas of Africa have to offer, of those in dear need of being sustainably exploited and of others that should be protected and maintained in their still pristine conditions. 460 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This volume is the first in a new Springer series to examine one of humanity's most pressing concerns: global migration and its implications for development. As population mobility grows in an ever more crowded world, the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) has emerged as the most important global mechanism to deal with the urgent challenges it presents. This book explores fresh strategies proposed by the GFMD in its fourth year of operation in Mexico and beyond. Interrogating the relationship between migration and development, the papers advance the Global Forum's aims of reducing poverty and empowering low-income families everywhere. In 2010, there were 214 million international migrants worldwide, nearly two and a half times the number in 1965. By 2050, international migration is likely to expand sharply in scale, reach and complexity, due to growing demographic disparities, environmental change, shifting global political and economic dynamics, technological innovations and social networks. Migration can bring substantial gains to families in less-developed countries, and mobile labor is an axiomatic feature of the global economy. Yet outward migration of skilled workers can seriously retard development at home, and exert pressure on wages in host nations. Balancing these and other conflicting concerns requires the substantive and expert discourse offered in this book. Contributors discuss, and propose concrete solutions to, vital issues such as the debilitating costs of cross-border labor recruitment and the provision of social and income protection for foreign contract workers. With suggestions on how to facilitate connections between transnational families, and gender- and family-sensitive immigration regimes, this book aims to foster collaborative intergovernmental links as well as partnerships between governments, civil society and international organizations. It shows how the GFMD can positively influence policy and institutional behavior while addressing wider systemic factors in protecting mobile workers. 264 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This is a completely revised and updated second edition of Rights Before Courts (2005, paper edition 2008). This book carefully examines the most recent wave of the emergence and case law of activist constitutional courts: those that were set up after the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. In contrast to most other analysts and scholars, the study does not take for granted that they are a 'force for good' but rather subjects them to critical scrutiny against a background of wide-ranging comparative and theoretical analysis of constitutional judicial review in the modern world. The new edition takes in new case law and constitutional developments in the decade since the first edition, including considering the recent disturbing disempowerment of the Hungarian Constitutional Court (which previously was probably the most powerful constitutional court in the world) resulting from the fundamental constitutional changes brought about by the Fidesz government. 476 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Digital gaming is today a significant economic phenomenon as well as being an intrinsic part of a convergent media culture in postmodern societies. Its ubiquity, as well as the sheer volume of hours young people spend gaming, should make it ripe for urgent academic enquiry, yet the subject was a research backwater until the turn of the millennium. Even today, as tens of millions of young people spend their waking hours manipulating avatars and gaming characters on computer screens, the subject is still treated with scepticism in some academic circles. This handbook aims to reflect the relevance and value of studying digital games, now the subject of a growing number of studies, surveys, conferences and publications.As an overview of the current state of research into digital gaming, the 42 papers included in this handbook focus on the social and cultural relevance of gaming. In doing so, they provide an alternative perspective to one-dimensional studies of gaming, whose agendas do not include cultural factors. The contributions, which range from theoretical approaches to empirical studies, cover various topics including analyses of games themselves, the player-game interaction, and the social context of gaming. In addition, the educational aspects of games and gaming are treated in a discrete section. With material on non-commercial gaming trends such as 'modding', and a multinational group of authors from eleven nations, the handbook is a vital publication demonstrating that new media cultures are far more complex and diverse than commonly assumed in a debate dominated by concerns over violent content. 720 pp. Englisch.