springer us okt 2001 (122 results)

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -This book introduces computer-based testing, addressing both nontechnical and technical considerations. The material is oriented toward practitioners and graduate students. The practical emphasis will be useful to measurement professionals who are or will be responsible for implementing a computerized testing program. The instructional information is also designed to be suitable for a one-semester graduate course in computerized testing in an educational measurement or quantitative methods program. While certain theoretical concepts are addressed, the focus of the book is on the applied nature of computerized testing. For this reason, the materials include such features as example applications, figures, and plots to illustrate critical points in the discussions. A wide range ofnontechnical issues need to be considered in implementing a computer-based testing program. Separate chapters are provided on test administration and development issues, examinee issues, software issues, and innovative item types. Test administration and delivery issues include the location of exam administration, selection of hardware and software, security considerations, scheduling of administration frequency and time limits, cost implications, and program support as well as approaches for addressing reliability, validity, comparability, and data analysis. Examinee issues include the influence ofexaminees' reactions to adaptive testing, the effect ofcomputer based task constraints, and the impact of examinees' prior computer experience. Software issues include usability studies and software evaluation as tools in selecting and developing appropriate software, based on the test program needs.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 240 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Updated, revised, and reorganized, the Second Editions in the Clinical Sciences reflect the format of the USMLE Step 2. Each volume systematically presents the core information of a single segment of the medical curriculum, from Family Medicine to Psychiatry. You will also learn time-honored tricks of the trade, as well as the latest advances in clinical medicine: new diagnostic tools, new therapeutic interventions, and new pharmacologic options.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Volcanic eruptions are fascinating manifestations of the Earth's dynamic inte rior which has been cooling for the past several billion years. The planets of the solar system originated some 4.5 billion years ago from the same gas and dust cloud created by the big bang. Some of the gas collapsed by the gravitational force to form the Sun at the center, while the whirling disk of gas and dust around the Sun subsequently cooled and lumped together to form larger and larger lumps of materials or planetesimals. These planetesimals collided fre quently and violently and in the process liberated heat that melted the material in them. With time this material gradually cooled and formed the planets of the solar system. During the second half of the twentieth century the theory of plate tectonics of the Earth became established and demonstrated that our planet is covered with six large and many small plates of the lithosphere. These plates move over a highly viscous lower part of the Earth's upper mantle and contain the continental and oceanic crusts. The lower mantle extends below the upper mantle until it meets the core that is more than half the diameter of the entire globe (12,740 km). The inner core consists mostly of iron and its temperature is about 5000 kelvin, whereas the liquid outer core is turbulent, rotates faster than the mantle, consists primarily of iron, and is the source of the Earth's magnetic field. 624 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Mathematics in Medicine and the Life Sciences grew from lectures given by the authors at New York University, the University of Utah, and Michigan State University. The material is written for students who have had but one term of calculus, but it contains material that can be used in modeling courses in applied mathematics at all levels through early graduate courses. Numerous exercises are given as well, and solutions to selected exercises are included. Numerous illustrations depict physiological processes, population biology phenomena, models of them, and the results of computer simulations.Mathematical models and methods are becoming increasingly important in medicine and the life sciences. This book provides an introduction to a wide diversity of problems ranging from population phenomena to demographics, genetics, epidemics and dispersal; in physiological processes, including the circulation, gas exchange in the lungs, control of cell volume, the renal counter-current multiplier mechanism, and muscle mechanics; to mechanisms of neural control. Each chapter is graded in difficulty, so a reading of the first parts of each provides an elementary introduction to the processes and their models. Materials that deal with the same topics but in greater depth are included later. Finally, exercises and some solutions are given to test the reader on important parts of the material in the text, or to lead the reader to the discovery of interesting extensions of that material.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 372 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Hon. Orrin G. Hatch United States Senate Electronic commerce will be pivotal to the United States economy in the 21 SI Century. With the advent ofelectronic commerce, some consumers have become concerned about the disclosure, transfer, and sale of information which businesses have collected about them. These concerns purportedly are slowing the rate ofexpansion ofelectronic commerce, thereby putting at risk the future growth of the New Economy. To reduce this risk, a variety of schemes have been proposed under which the government would regulate online privacy. Congress currently is in the midst ofa vigorous debate as to whether the government should regulate on-line privacy standards, and, ifso, what form such regulation should take. This succinct yet powerful book by Paul Rubin and Thomas Lenard goes to the heart of these issues. It explains that there is no evidence of actual consumer harm or market failure that could justify burdensome government regulation of online privacy. It describes the tremendous advantages consumers currently receive from the free flow of information collected on line, advantages which could be eliminated if the government unnecessarily regulates and stops this flow of information. It argues that the free market provides businesses with compelling incentives to adopt their own measures - such as seal programs and novel technologies - to assuage consumer privacy concerns. This book presents compelling evidence to support these and many other points central to the continuing debate in the halls of Congress and elsewhere concerningonline privacy.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 128 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -In the past 10 years extensive effort has been dedicated to commercial wireless local area network (WLAN) systems. Despite all these efforts, however, none of the existing systems has been successful, mainly due to their low data rates. The increasing demand for WLAN systems that can support data rates in excess of 20 Mb/s enticed the FCC to create an unlicensed national information infrastructure (U¿NII) band at 5 GHz. This frequency band provides 300 MHz of spectrum in two segments: a 200 MHz(5.15¿5.35 GHz) and a 100 MHz (5.725¿5.825 GHz) frequency band. This newly released spectrum, and the fast trend of CMOS scaling, provide an opportunity to design WLAN systems with high data rate and low cost. One of the existing standards at 5 GHz is the European high performance radio LAN (HIPERLAN) standard that supports data rates as high as 20 Mb/s. One of the main building blocks of each wireless system is the f- quency synthesizer. Phase¿locked loops (PLLs) are universally used to design radio frequency synthesizers. Reducing the power consumption of the frequency dividers of a PLL has always been a challenge. In this book, we introduce an alternative solution for conventional flipflop based xiv MULTI¿GHZ FREQUENCY SYNTHESIS & DIVISION frequency dividers. An injection¿locked frequency divider (ILFD) takes advantage of the narrowband nature of the wireless systems and employs resonators to trade off bandwidth for power.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -It is well known that embedded systems have to be implemented efficiently. This requires that processors optimized for certain application domains are used in embedded systems. Such an optimization requires a careful exploration of the design space, including a detailed study of cost/performance tradeoffs. In order to avoid time-consuming assembly language programming during design space exploration, compilers are needed. In order to analyze the effect of various software or hardware configurations on the performance, retargetable compilers are needed that can generate code for numerous different potential hardware configurations. This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of the fast developing area of retargetable compilers for embedded systems. It describes a large set important tools as well as applications of retargetable compilers at different levels in the design flow.Retargetable Compiler Technology for Embedded Systems is mostly self-contained and requires only fundamental knowledge in software and compiler design. It is intended to be a key reference for researchers and designers working on software, compilers, and processor optimization for embedded systems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -The challenges currently facing particIpants m competitive electricity markets are unique and staggering: unprecedented price volatility, a crippling lack of historical market data on which to test new modeling approaches, and a continuously changing regulatory structure. Meeting these challenges will require the knowledge and experience of both the engineering and finance communities. Yet the two communities continue to largely ignore each other. The finance community believes that engineering models are too detailed and complex to be practically applicable in the fast changing market environment. Engineers counter that the finance models are merely statistical regressions, lacking the necessary structure to capture the true dynamic properties of complex power systems. While both views have merit, neither group has by themselves been able to produce effective tools for meeting industry challenges. The goal of this book is to convey the fundamental differences between electricity and other traded commodities, and the impact these differences have on valuation, hedging and operational decisions made by market participants. The optimization problems associated with these decisions are formulated in the context of the market realities of today's power industry, including a lack of liquidity on forward and options markets, limited availability of historical data, and constantly changing regulatory structures.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Limulus in the Limelight: A Species 350 Million Years in the Making and in Peril contains 14 chapters covering the horseshoe crab's biology, ecology and evolutionary development. The book is a result of three mini-conferences held between 1996 and 2000 celebrating the populations in NY harbor. This book exposes the impacts of over fishing on this species; clarifies the future research agenda for the species worldwide and emphasizes the need for conservation of this fascinating creature's estuaries/ocean habitats.Biologists, ecologists, science educators, and conservationists will welcome this book because it is aimed at the preservation of Limulus, not only for its pharmacological interest but for the mystery related to its longevity. Limulus is a unique animal which has provided numerous uses for man over the years, from fertilizer to bait to medical research. However, if this species is not protected soon, it will be lost for the future.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -The topic of this book is homogenization theory and its applications to optimal design in the conductivity and elasticity settings. Its purpose is to give a self-contained account of homogenization theory and explain how it applies to solving optimal design problems, from both a theoretical and a numerical point of view. The application of greatest practical interest tar geted by this book is shape and topology optimization in structural design, where this approach is known as the homogenization method. Shape optimization amounts to finding the optimal shape of a domain that, for example, would be of maximal conductivity or rigidity under some specified loading conditions (possibly with a volume or weight constraint). Such a criterion is embodied by an objective function and is computed through the solution of astate equation that is a partial differential equa tion (modeling the conductivity or the elasticity of the structure). Apart from those areas where the loads are applied, the shape boundary is al ways assumed to support Neumann boundary conditions (i. e. , isolating or traction-free conditions). In such a setting, shape optimization has a long history and has been studied by many different methods. There is, therefore, a vast literat ure in this field, and we refer the reader to the following short list of books, and references therein [39], [42], [130], [135], [149], [203], [220], [225], [237], [245], [258].Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 480 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Every year Earth is bombarded with about 40,000 tons of extraterrestrial material. This includes microscopic cosmic dust particles shed by comets and asteroids in outer space, meteorites, as well as large comets and asteroids that have led to catastrophic events in the geologic past. Originally considered only a curiosity, extraterrestrial matter found on Earth provides the only samples we have from comets, asteroids and other planets. Only recently mankind has started to actively collect extraterrestrial matter in space (Apollo program, Stardust mission) rather than to wait for its delivery to Earth. Still, most of our knowledge of the origin and evolution of our solar system is based on careful studies of meteorites, cosmic dust, and traces of large impact events in the geologic record such as the mass extinction that terminated the Cretaceous Period and led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.This book summarizes our current knowledge of the properties, origin, orbital evolution and accretion mechanism of extraterrestrial matter accreted on Earth and sheds light on accretion processes and fluxes in the geologic past. The chapters in the first part of the book are arranged in order to follow extraterrestrial matter from its origin in space, its orbital evolution on its way to Earth, its interaction with the Earth magnetosphere and atmosphere to its more or less violent collision with the Earth's surface. In the second part of the book several chapters deal with the present day flux of cosmic dust and meteorites to Earth. Finally, several chapters deal with the reconstruction of the accretion history of extraterrestrial matter on Earth, starting with the most recent geologic past and ending with the very early, violent accretion period shortly after the formation of Earth, Moon and other solid planets in our solar system.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 496 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -by Phil Moorby The Verilog Hardware Description Language has had an amazing impact on the mod em electronics industry, considering that the essential composition of the language was developed in a surprisingly short period of time, early in 1984. Since its introduc tion, Verilog has changed very little. Over time, users have requested many improve ments to meet new methodology needs. But, it is a complex and time consuming process to add features to a language without ambiguity, and maintaining consistency. A group of Verilog enthusiasts, the IEEE 1364 Verilog committee, have broken the Verilog feature doldrums. These individuals should be applauded. They invested the time and energy, often their personal time, to understand and resolve an extensive wish-list of language enhancements. They took on the task of choosing a feature set that would stand up to the scrutiny of the standardization process. I would like to per sonally thank this group. They have shown that it is possible to evolve Verilog, rather than having to completely start over with some revolutionary new language. The Verilog 1364-2001 standard provides many of the advanced building blocks that users have requested. The enhancements include key components for verification, abstract design, and other new methodology capabilities. As designers tackle advanced issues such as automated verification, system partitioning, etc., the Verilog standard will rise to meet the continuing challenge of electronics design.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 152 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -In the field of psychology, research areas often develop in relative isolation. Researchers in different areas are either not aware of, or seem to fail to see the relevance of findings from other areas even though it would seem that the findings are directly relevant to their own. One striking example of this is to be found in research that focuses on the effects of evaluation on performance.This volume integrates thinking from five different research traditions - Achievement Goals, Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation, Goal Setting, Social Loafing, and Social Facilitation - through the unique format of a give-and-take conversation between leading academics from each.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 300 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Published research and conference presentations on the Chinese language in the last decade have tended to focus on adult language processing. This book provides a comprehensive resource for the critical discussion of major issues in learning to read Chinese from a child acquisition perspective.The combined contributions from researchers in Asian studies, linguistics, psycholinguistics, psychology, cognitive psychology, reading, and education inform international comparative studies of literacy by making apparent the features of the Chinese culture, language, writing system, and pedagogy that may facilitate or impede the acquisition of literacy.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -There is hardly any book that aims at solving problems typically encountered in the laser field, and this book intends to fill the void. Following some initial exercises related to general aspects in laser physics (Chapt. 1), the subsequent problems are organized along the following topics: (i) Interaction of radiation with matter either made of atoms or ions, weakly interacting with surrounding species, or made of more complicated elements such as molecules or semiconductors (Chapters 2 and 3). (ii) Wave propagation in optical media and optical resonators (Chapters 4 and 5). (iii) Optical and electrical pumping processes and systems (Chapter 6): (iv) Continuous wave and transient laser behaviors (Chapters 7 and 8). (v) Solid-state, dye, semiconductor, gas and X-ray lasers (Chapters 9 and 10). (vi) Proper ties of the output beam and beam transformation by amplification, frequency conversion and pulse compression or expansion (Chapters 11 and 12). Problems are proposed here and solved following the contents of Orazio Svelto's Principles of Lasers (fourth edition; Plenum Press, New York, 1998). Whenever needed, equations and figures of the book mentioned above are currently used with an appropriate reference [e. g. , Eq. (1. Ll) of the book is referred to as Eq. (Ll. 1) of PL]. One can observe, however, that the types of problems proposed and discussed are of general validity and many of these problems have actually been suggested by our own long-time experience in performing theoretical and experimental researches in the field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware - This volume contains refereed papers based on the lectures presented at the XIV International Conference on Mathematical Programming held at Matrahaza, Hungary, between 27-31 March 1999. This conference was organized by the Laboratory of Operations Research and Deci sion Systems at the Computer and Automation Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The editors hope this volume will contribute to the theory and applications of mathematical programming. As a tradition of these events, the main purpose of the confer ence was to review and discuss recent advances and promising research trends concerning theory, algorithms and applications in different fields of Optimization Theory and related areas such as Convex Analysis, Complementarity Systems and Variational Inequalities. The conference is traditionally held in the Matra Mountains, and housed by the resort house of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This was the 14th event of the long lasting series of conferences started in 1973. The organizers wish to express their thanks to the authors for their contributions in this volume, and the anonymous referees for their valu able comments. Special thanks are directed to our sponsors, the Hun garian Academy of Sciences, the National Committee for Technological Development, the Hungarian National Science Foundation, and last but not least, the Hungarian Operational Research Society. We would like to thank John Martindale from Kluwer Academic Publishers for helping us produce this volume, Eva Nora Nagy for cor rections and proof-readings, and Peter Dombi for his excellent work on typesetting and editing the manuscript.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware - In recent years, there has been considerable interest in highly integrated, low power, portable wireless devices. There are three primary areas to be addressed when higher performance and lower power is desired. The first area is the device technology. Scaling of devices has realized steady improvements for many years. The second area is improved circuit design techniques. The final area is at the architectural level. This monograph focuses on the problem of low power GFSK/GMSK modulation and presents an architectural approach for improved performance. The new architecture is a modulated S-D fractional-N frequency synthesizer. The key innovation is an automatic calibration technique, which operates in the background. The availability of the calibration circuit makes high data rate, low power modulation possible. From the Foreword: 'The key contribution of the work presented in this monograph is a technique for in service automatic calibration of the modulated frequency synthesizer by ensuring that the digital emphasis filter and analog loop filter characteristics are matched. The automatic calibration circuit operates while the transmitter is in service and compensates for process and temperature variation. GFSK and 4-GFSK modulation was demonstrated at data rates of 2.5 Mb/s and 5 Mb/s respectively at an RF output carrier frequency of 1.8 GHz. . In addition, he presents some valuable tools for the practicing engineer in this field.' by Charles G. Sodini.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware - The 1980s and 1990s have seen a growing interest in research and practice in the use of methodologies within problem contexts characterised by a primary focus on technology, human issues, or power. During the last five to ten years, this has given rise to challenges regarding the ability of a single methodology to address all such contexts, and the consequent development of approaches which aim to mix methodologies within a single problem situation. This has been particularly so where the situation has called for a mix of technological (the so-called 'hard') and human centred (so-called 'soft') methods. The approach developed has been termed mixed-mode modelling. The area of mixed-mode modelling is relatively new, with the phrase being coined approximately four years ago by Brian Lehaney in a keynote paper published at the 1996 Annual Conference of the UK Operational Research Society. Mixed-mode modelling, as suggested above, is a new way of considering problem situations faced by organisations. Traditional technological approaches used in management science have suffered criticisms relating to their adequacy in the past few decades, and these hard approaches have been replaced by soft methods, which consider process more relevant than outcome. However, the sole use of human centred approaches to organisational problems has also proved to be inadequate. Mixed-mode modelling accepts the importance of both process and outcome, and provides enabling mechanisms for hard and soft investigation to be undertaken.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware - This work began in 1995 as an outgrowth of the InfoPad project which showed us that in order to reduce the energy consumption of a portable multimedia terminal that something had to be done about the consumption of the microprocessor subsystem. The design of the InfoPad attempted to reduce the requirements of this general pur pose processor by moving the computation into the network or by the use of highly optimized integrated circuits, but in spite of these efforts it still was a major consumer of energy. The reasons for this became apparent as we determined that the energy required to perform a function in dedicated hardware could be several orders of magnitude lower than that consumed in the InfoPad microprocessor. We therefore set out on a full fledged attack on all aspects of the microprocessor energy consumption [1 J. After considerable analysis it became clear that though better circuit design and a stream lined architecture would assist in our goal of energy reduction, that the biggest gains were to be found by operating at reduced voltages. For the busses and VO this could be accomplished without significant degradation of the processor performance, but this was not a straightforward solution when applied to the core of the processor sub system (CPU and memory).

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -This second book on financial and economic simulations in Swarm marks the continued progress by a group of researchers to incorporate agent-based computer models as an important tool within their disci pline. It is encouraging to see such a clear example of Swarm helping to foster a community of users who rely on the Swarm framework for their own analyses. Swarm aims at legitimizing agent-based computer models as a tool for the study of complex systems. A further goal is that a common base framework will lead to the growth of user communities in specific areas of application. By providing an organizing framework to guide the development of more problem-specific structures, and by dealing with a whole range of issues that affect their fundamental correctness and their ability to be developed and reused, Swarm has sought to make the use of agent-based models a legitimate tool of scientific investigation that also meets the practical needs of investigators within a community. 344 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Since the introduction of genetic algorithms in the 1970s, an enormous number of articles together with several significant monographs and books have been published on this methodology. As a result, genetic algorithms have made a major contribution to optimization, adaptation, and learning in a wide variety of unexpected fields. Over the years, many excellent books in genetic algorithm optimization have been published; however, they focus mainly on single-objective discrete or other hard optimization problems under certainty. There appears to be no book that is designed to present genetic algorithms for solving not only single-objective but also fuzzy and multiobjective optimization problems in a unified way. Genetic Algorithms And Fuzzy Multiobjective Optimization introduces the latest advances in the field of genetic algorithm optimization for 0-1 programming, integer programming, nonconvex programming, and job-shop scheduling problems under multiobjectiveness and fuzziness. In addition, the book treats a wide range of actual real world applications. The theoretical material and applications place special stress on interactive decision-making aspects of fuzzy multiobjective optimization for human-centered systems in most realistic situations when dealing with fuzziness.The intended readers of this book are senior undergraduate students, graduate students, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of operations research, computer science, industrial engineering, management science, systems engineering, and other engineering disciplines that deal with the subjects of multiobjective programming for discrete or other hard optimization problems under fuzziness. Real world research applications are used throughout the book to illustrate the presentation. These applications are drawn from complex problems. Examples include flexible scheduling in a machine center, operation planning of district heating and cooling plants, and coal purchase planning in an actual electric power plant.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 302 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Radio network system planning is a comprehensive optimisation task where different planning targets - coverage, capacity and quality- have a direct influence on each other and where optimised solution is a compromise of these planning areas. In order to find out the cost effective and high quality radio network plan the well-known theoretical details have to be bound with practical radio planning issues like planning phases and planning parameters. At the same time the long-term network evolution paths and the possible changes of the radio propagation environment have to be well understood.Radio Interface System Planning for GSM/GPRS/UMTS introduces the radio system planning where these theoretical and practical details have both been emphasized and then utilized for the planning of GSM, GPRS and UMTS mobile networks. The key planning parameters for these systems are explained and the typical values for power budget, various margins, gains and losses, andfrequency reuse are given. Also, the book describes the common tasks in radio system planning. The planning methods and phases introduced in the book can also be applied to other mobile communication systems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 296 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Every year, in the United States and the third world combined, 13.3 million boys and 2 million girls are circumcised. Whether because of perceived medical, cultural, or religious necessity, most of these parents feel they have no alternative but to allow their children to undergo this surgery. Sparking intense debate, the circumcision of children is a highly controversial and complex phenomenon that touches a variety of sociological areas, such as religious beliefs, identity issues, medical conceptualizations, fear, and superstition. The contributors to this volume comprise an international panel of experts in the fields of medicine, psychology, law, ethics, sociology, anthropology, history, theology, and politics. In 18 chapters they discuss the history of circumcision; document the physical and psychological consequences of circumcision; present the latest anatomical discoveries about the male prepuce; analyze the role of circumcision in various traditions; reveal the medical industry's investment in the practice; describe current legislative efforts to protect children from circumcision; and outline effective, culturally sensitive methods that are being implemented today to safeguard the human rights of at-risk children.For its insights into this troubling aspect of culture, Understanding Circumcision: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to a Multi-Dimensional Problem is a critically important contribution to the growing body of literature on this subject.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 428 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Fluid-membrane material interfaces, morphologies of membrane surface and the sub-layer underneath the membrane surface, and fluid transport through the membrane governed by the above interface and morphology parameters, and driving forces involved in process operatio- all these three aspects together constitute the fundamental physico-chemical and engineering basis for the practical success of Membrane Separation Technology (MST) in all its applications. Quantitative data on the above interface and morphology parameters and applicable transport equations involving the above parameters, are needed for membrane design, specification of membranes, modules and systems, and prediction of their performance for any given separation application. Even though more than 40 years have elapsed since the emergence of the field of MST, there are very few books which deal with all the above three aspects of the subject in an integrated manner. This simply shows that the field of MST is still in its early stages of development and only a small fraction of its vast potential has been practically realized to-date. Still, what has already accomplished is extraordinary both in its scope, and in its impact, on scientific research and service to society at large.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 348 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -This Fourth Edition of Principles of Seed Science and Technology, like the fIrst three editions, is written for the advanced undergraduate student or lay person who desires an introduction to the science and technology of seeds. The fIrst nine chapters present the seed as a biological system and cover its origin, development, composition, function (and sometimes nonfunction), performance and ultimate deterioration. The last nine chapters present the fundamentals of how seeds are produced, conditioned, evaluated and distributed in our modern agricultural society. Two new chapters have been added in this fourth edition, one on seed ecology and the second on seed drying. Finally, revisions have been made throughout to reflect changes that have occurred in the seed industry since publication of the Third Edition. Because of the fundamental importance of seeds to both agriculture and to all of society, we have taken great care to present the science and technology of seeds with the respect and feeling this study deserves. We hope that this feeling will be communicated to our readers. Furthermore, we have attempted to present information in a straight-forward, easy-ta-read manner that will be easily understood by students and lay persons alike. Special care has been taken to address both current state-of-the-art as well as future trends in seed technology.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 488 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -The enormous advances in molecular biology and genetics coupled with the progress in instrumentation and surgical techniques have produced a voluminous and often bewildering quantity of data. The need for a second edition of Cardiovascular Physiology in the Genetically Engineered Mouse is underscored not only by these rapid advances, but by the increasing numbers of scientists who have focussed their research on genetically engineered mice. It is the primary objective of this second edition to interpret critically the literature and to provide a framework for the enormous amount of information in this burgeoning field. As in the first edition, the monograph serves as a practical guide for the investigator interested in the functional methods used to characterize the murine cardiovascular phenotype. However, this guidebook is a more comprehensive text than its predecessor; although the major objectives enumerated in the first edition have not substantially changed, they have been refined in keeping with the increased sophistication of the molecular biologist, geneticist, and physiologist in each other's discipline. Each chapter has been expanded and updated, richly enhanced with original tables and figures, and in many cases, extensively rewritten. Eight chapters written by internationally recognized experts have been added; this represents a 43 % increase from the first edition.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 420 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Optimization is of central importance in all sciences. Nature inherently seeks optimal solutions. For example, light travels through the 'shortest' path and the folded state of a protein corresponds to the structure with the 'minimum' potential energy. In combinatorial optimization, there are numerous computationally hard problems arising in real world applications, such as floorplanning in VLSI designs and Steiner trees in communication networks. For these problems, the exact optimal solution is not currently real-time computable. One usually computes an approximate solution with various kinds of heuristics. Recently, many approaches have been developed that link the discrete space of combinatorial optimization to the continuous space of nonlinear optimization through geometric, analytic, and algebraic techniques. Many researchers have found that such approaches lead to very fast and efficient heuristics for solving large problems. Although almost all such heuristics work well in practice there is no solid theoretical analysis, except Karmakar's algorithm for linear programming. With this situation in mind, we decided to teach a seminar on nonlinear optimization with emphasis on its mathematical foundations. This book is the result of that seminar. During the last decades many textbooks and monographs in nonlinear optimization have been published. Why should we write this new one What is the difference of this book from the others The motivation for writing this book originated from our efforts to select a textbook for a graduate seminar with focus on the mathematical foundations of optimization.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 292 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -Data Mining for Design and Manufacturing: Methods and Applications is the first book that brings together research and applications for data mining within design and manufacturing. The aim of the book is 1) to clarify the integration of data mining in engineering design and manufacturing, 2) to present a wide range of domains to which data mining can be applied, 3) to demonstrate the essential need for symbiotic collaboration of expertise in design and manufacturing, data mining, and information technology, and 4) to illustrate how to overcome central problems in design and manufacturing environments. The book also presents formal tools required to extract valuable information from design and manufacturing data, and facilitates interdisciplinary problem solving for enhanced decision making.Audience: The book is aimed at both academic and practising audiences. It can serve as a reference or textbook for senior or graduate level students in Engineering, Computer, and Management Sciences who are interested in data mining technologies. The book will be useful for practitioners interested in utilizing data mining techniques in design and manufacturing as well as for computer software developers engaged in developing data mining tools.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 548 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -African trypanosomes are tsetse-transmitted protozoa that inhabit the extracellular compartment of host blood. They cause fatal sleeping sickness in people, and Nagana, a wasting and generally fatal disease, in cattle. While trypanosomes are most common to Africa (about 30% of Africa's cattle graze on the fringe of the tsetse habitat), some species have spread beyond its boarders to Asia, the Middle East and South America.The African Trypanosomes, volume one of World Class Parasites, is written for researchers, students and scholars who enjoy reading research that has a major impact on human health, or agricultural productivity, and against which we have no satisfactory defense. It is intended to supplement more formal texts that cover taxonomy, life cycles, morphology, vector distribution, symptoms and treatment. It integrates vector, pathogen and host biology and celebrates the diversity of approach that comprises modern parasitological research.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condition: Neu. Neuware -In this new millenium it may be fair to ask, 'Why look at Wundt ' Over the years, many authors have taken fairly detailed looks at the work and accomplishments of Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920). This was especially true of the years around 1979, the centennial of the Leipzig Institute for Experimental Psychology, the birthplace of the 'graduate program' in psychology. More than twenty years have passed since then, and in the intervening time those centennial studies have attracted the attention and have motivated the efforts of a variety of historians, philosophers, psychologists, and other social scientists. They have profited from the questions raised earlier about theoretical, methodological, sociological, and even political aspects affecting the organized study of mind and behavior; they have also proposed some new directions for research in the history of the behavioral and social sciences. With the advantage of the historiographic perspective that twenty years can bring, this volume will consider this much-heralded 'founding father of psychology' once again. Some of the authors are veterans of the centennial who contributed to a very useful volume, edited by Robert W. Rieber, Wilhelm Wundt and the Making of a Scientific Psychology (New York: Plenum Press, 1980). Others are scholars who have joined Wundt studies since then, and have used that book, among others, as a guide to further work. The first chapter, 'Wundt before Leipzig,' is essentially unchanged from the 1980 volume.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 324 pp. Englisch.