springer netherlands jul 2012 (198 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 116 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -It is hardly necessary to define the concept of receptors to readers of this series, but it should be born in mind that in several instances receptors are undefined entities, whose molecular details remain to be established. On the other hand the ligand, which reco~izes the receptors, has been identified and characterized in most cases. The current interest in the structure and function of biological membranes gives great expectations that in the near future we may understand the details of ligand-receptor interaction. This interaction involves two defined steps: the first, usually referred to as recognition, is followed by the second step, transduction, in which the ligand-receptor interaction is translated by the cell into a biochemical action. The present two volumes which cover prokaryotic and eukaryotic virus receptors, have been published together in order to illustrate the specificity of virus receptor recognition which appears to be a guiding principle for both bacteria and higher cells. The identification and characterization of the receptors for phages of gram-negative bacteria has to a large extent relied on the genetic techniques available for these organisms. In a similar way the availability of genetic systems has also clarified the interrelationship between animal retrovirus receptors even if the molecular structure remains to be determined. The paucity of defined genetic systems may therefore explain part of our ignorance concerning the molecular details of virus receptors on human cells and possibly also on gram positive bacteria.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 164 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Flavorwise and texturewise pecans are the 'Queen of the Edible Nuts. ' This has been verified by salters, bakers, confectioners and ice cream manufacturers in America and western Europe. Hickory nuts and macadamia nuts are close behind, but are available only in limited supply. Pecans are among the nuts highest in oil content. In general, the varieties of nuts with the highest oil content are also rich in flavor and tender in texture. Some varieties of pecans (i. e. , Schley and Curtis) have been shown to contain as much as 76% oil. The oil in pecans is highly unsaturated, which means it is desirable from a nutritional standpoint but that it is also highly susceptible to oxidation which can cause pecans to tum stale and rancid. Pecans used in confections, bakery goods, cereals, or in snacks are more subject to staleness and rancidity than most nuts because these products are often stored at ambient temperatures. For this reason, pecans are considered to be semi-perishable and are not used in some 'fine' products due to their limited shelf-life. Research at the Georgia Experiment Station has shown that raw pecans or most pecan products may be held in good condition for more than 20 years if freezing is the mode of preservation. However, development of new products demands that pecans be stored at ambient temperatures for extended intervals. Pecan 'meat' is easily bruised during shelling and handling.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book offers educational experiences, including reflections and the resulting essays, from the Roberta Kevelson Seminar on Law and Semiotics held during 2008 ¿ 2011 at Penn State University¿s Dickinson School of Law. The texts address educational aspects of law that require attention and that also are issues in traditional jurisprudence and legal theory. The book introduces education in legal semiotics as it evolves in a legal curriculum. Specific semiotic concepts, such as ¿sign¿, ¿symbol¿ or ¿legal language,¿ demonstrate how a lawyer¿s professionally important tasks of name-giving and meaning-giving are seldom completely understood by lawyers or laypeople. These concepts require analyses of considerable depth to understand the expressiveness of these legal names and meanings, and to understand how lawyers can ¿say the law,¿ or urge such a saying correctly and effectively in the context of a natural language that is understandable to all of us. The book brings together the structure of the Seminar, its foundational philosophical problems, the specifics of legal history, and the semiotics of the legal system with specific themes such as gender, family law, and business law.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Phytoremediation consists of using plants and their associated microbes for environmental cleanup. Over the past 10 years, this treatment has gained recognition as a cost-effective, non-invasive, alternative or complimentary technology to engineering-based remediation methods. Biofortification, on the other hand, is an agricultural process that increases the uptake and accumulation of mineral nutrients in agricultural products through plant breeding, genetic engineering, or manipulation of agricultural practices.This book shows how, despite having different goals, both phytoremediation and biofortification technologies can be closely connected as they are both based on the phytoextraction process that involves plant uptake, accumulation, and transformation of nutrient elements from soil. More specifically, this brief offers a comprehensive introduction to Phytoremediation and Biofortification of selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), cadium (Cd) and copper (Cu), and illustrates the emerging integration of these two bio-technologies.Phytoremediation and Biofortification: Two Sides of One Coin is a valuable resource to students, technicians, and academics who are interested in the treatment of environmental problems (bioremediation) through the use of plants, and in the field of biofortification.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In this book common sense computing techniques are further developed and applied to bridge the semantic gap between word-level natural language data and the concept-level opinions conveyed by these. In particular, the ensemble application of graph mining and multi-dimensionality reduction techniques is exploited on two common sense knowledge bases to develop a novel intelligent engine for open-domain opinion mining and sentiment analysis. The proposed approach, termed sentic computing, performs a clause-level semantic analysis of text, which allows the inference of both the conceptual and emotional information associated with natural language opinions and, hence, a more efficient passage from (unstructured) textual information to (structured) machine-processable data.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Having last year published ¿Up from Clinical Epidemiology & EBM¿ and also ¿Epidemiological Research: Terms and Concepts,¿ Miettinen now ¿ this time with collaboration from his junior colleague I. Karp ¿ brings out this further introduction into epidemiological research; and he is now working on an introduction into clinical research, for publication next year. It evidently is Miettinen¿s felt time to crystallize the basic understandings he has come to as the culmination of a half-century of concentrated effort to advance the theory of epidemiological and ¿meta-epidemiological clinical¿ research.In accord with its title, this book focuses on research to develop the knowledge-base for preventive medicine, which mainly is knowledge about the causal origin ¿etilogy, etiogenesis ¿ of illness. It first illustrates how wanting this knowledge still is, despite much research; and it then aims to guide the reader to more productive etiogenetic research.This book places much emphasis on the need to assure relevance by principles-guided objects design for the studies, which now remains conspicuously absent from epidemiologists¿ concerns. And as for methods design, this book exposes the fallacies in the still-common ¿cohort¿ and ¿case-control¿ studies, defines the essentials of all etiogenetic studies, and then addresses the true options for design in this framework of shared essentials.A good deal of attention is also given to the still commonly-held, very major, twin fallacies that screening for an illness is a preventive intervention, to be studied by randomized trials, and that research on it can imply rational guidelines orrecommendations regarding decisions about the screening.While Miettinen already is regarded as ¿the father of modern epidemiology,¿ he now appears to have become the father also of post-modern epidemiology, where ¿epidemiology¿ still means epidemiological research.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 200 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Improved dating methods have increased our ability to more precisely determine the timing and durations of glaciations. Utilizing glacial and loess deposits, we have compared glaciations that occurred in North and South America in order to determine if events are synchronous or not, to explore forcing mechanisms, and to compare glaciations with cold periods of the Marine Oxygen Isotope stages and the loess/paleosol records of China. Stratigraphic sections containing a variety of glacial deposits, some with interbedded volcanics, as well as loess deposits, were used in reconstructing the glacial history. The Late Pleistocene (Brunhes Chron) Last Glacial Maximum is recognized in mountain and continental areas of North America but only in the mountains of South America. Commonly our comparisons indicate roughly synchronous glaciations on the two continents, whereas other glaciations are more elusive and difficult to compare. Although our comparisons are at low resolutions, the results suggest that Milankovitch forcing is most likely the dominant trigger for hemispheric glaciation modified by local factors.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 84 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Neurologic illness represents a major portion of clinical medicine and challenges the diagnostic and therapeutic acumen of all physicians. It is the purpose of this series to familiarize our colleagues with common clinical disorders and to emphasize not only examination techniques but also to discuss therapeutic and investigative implications. Pitfalls will also be emphasized. In this way, we hope to create a practical set of volumes that will stimulate the reader to 'use' these books routinely rather than to set them on the shelf as a reference text. In the past few years, there has been a revolution in the field of neurology with the development of new techniques for brain imaging and further understanding of the role of neurotransmitters. We hope to meet the needs of our colleagues by this practical clinical series. MICHAEL I. WEINTRAUB, M.D. April,1983 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Hysterical conversion reactions (HCR) are among the most common clinical states confronting the physician. Despite the ubiquity of this condition there has been a virtual absence of a standard text on the subject. For over twelve years I have reflected on this topic and have felt the need for a book that would instruct my medical colleagues to deal accurately and effectively with this problem. I was fortunate to work with Dr. Bernard H. Smith who introduced me to the wide spectrum of HCR. Drs. Gilbert H.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 160 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 240 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Das Buch ist eine analytische Darstellung der Hauptideen der Erkenntnistheorie Ingardens. Es basiert zum größten Teil auf dem bis vor kurzem noch unpublizierten bzw. ausschließlich in polnischer Sprache verfaßten Material und wendet sich vor allem an die Phänomenologen aber auch an die analytischen Philosophen, die sich für die Erkenntnistheorie und Ontologie der Intentionalität interessieren. Die Ingardensche Erkenntnistheorie, seine Theorie der Intentionalität und die Hauptzüge seiner Ontologie werden auf dem Hintergrund der Brentanoschen und Husserlschen Tradition präsentiert und mit den begrifflichen Werkzeugen der zeitgenössischen analytischen Philosophie analysiert.Die Erkenntnistheorie Ingardens bildet das Ergebnis einer Synthese der Husserlschen phänomenologischen Methode mit der ontologischen Präzision, die für die Schriften Ingardens so charakteristisch ist. Sie besteht aus zwei Disziplinen: der reinen und der angewandten Erkenntnistheorie. Die reine Erkenntnistheorie ist eine absolutistische, Cartesianische Disziplin. Sie formuliert die Definition der Erkenntnis und beruht auf einem besonderen, selbstreferierenden Bewußtseinszustand, den Ingarden Intuition des Durchlebens nennt. Die angewandte Erkenntnistheorie untersucht dagegen die konkreten Fälle der (angeblichen) Erkenntnis und ist eine empirische, hypothetische und fehlbare Wissenschaft.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book provides an introductory overview to the social debate over enhancement technologies with an overview of the transhumanists' call to bypass human nature and conservationists' argument in defense of it. The author present this controversy as it unfolds in the contest between transhumanists proponents and conservationists, who push back with an argument to conserve human nature and to ban enhancement technologies.This book provides an overview of the key contested points and present the debate in an orderly, constructive fashion. Readers are informed about the discussion over humanism, the tension between science and religion, and the interpretation of socio-technological revolutions; and are invited to make up their own mind about one of the most challenging topics concerning the social and ethical implications of technological advancements.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 104 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This textbook takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject of thermodynamics and is therefore suitable for undergraduates in chemistry, physics and engineering courses. The book is an introduction to phenomenological thermodynamics and its applications to phase transitions and chemical reactions, with some references to statistical mechanics. It strikes the balance between the rigorousness of the Callen text and phenomenological approach of the Atkins text.The book is divided in three parts. The first introduces the postulates and laws of thermodynamics and complements these initial explanations with practical examples. The second part is devoted to applications of thermodynamics to phase transitions in pure substances and mixtures. The third part covers thermodynamic systems in which chemical reactions take place. There are some sections on more advanced topics such as thermodynamic potentials, natural variables, non-ideal mixtures and electrochemical reactions, which make this book of suitable also to post-graduate students.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 360 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The book is a graduate text on unbounded self-adjoint operators on Hilbert space and their spectral theory with the emphasis on applications in mathematical physics (especially, Schrödinger operators) and analysis (Dirichlet and Neumann Laplacians, Sturm-Liouville operators, Hamburger moment problem) . Among others, a number of advanced special topics are treated on a text book level accompanied by numerous illustrating examples and exercises. The main themes of the book are the following: Spectral integrals and spectral decompositions of self-adjoint and normal operators Perturbations of self-adjointness and of spectra of self-adjoint operators Forms and operators Self-adjoint extension theory :boundary triplets, Krein-Birman-Vishik theory of positive self-adjoint extensionSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 452 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Until recently, a handbook on neurosociology would have been viewed with skepticism by sociologists, who have long been protective of their disciplinary domain against perceived encroachment by biology. But a number of developments in the last decade or so have made sociologists more receptive to biological factors in sociology and social psychology. Much of this has been encouraged by the coeditors of this volume, David Franks and Jonathan Turner. This new interest has been increased by the explosion of research in neuroscience on brain functioning and brain-environment interaction (via new MRI technologies), with implications for social and psychological functioning. This handbook emphasizes the integration of perspectives within sociology as well as between fields in social neuroscience. For example, Franks represents a social constructionist position following from G.H. Mead¿s voluntaristic theory of the act while Turner is more social structural and positivistic. Furthermore, thishandbook not only contains contributions from sociologists, but leading figures from the psychological perspective of social neuroscience.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 420 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The Ethics of Banking analyzes the systemic and the ethical mistakes that led to the crisis. It keeps the middle ground between excusing all failures by the argument of a systemic crisis not to be taken responsibility for by the financial managers and the moralistic reproach that only moral failure is at the origin of the crisis. It investigates the role of speculation in the formation of the crisis and distinguishes between productive speculation for hedging and for securing market liquidity on the one hand, and unproductive and even detrimental hyper-speculation going far beyond of the degree of speculation that is necessary in a developed economy for the liquidity of financial markets, on the other hand. Hyper-speculation has increased the risks of the financial system and is still doing so.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 232 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The book series, ¿Child Maltreatment: Contemporary Issues in Research and Policy.¿ will consist of a state of the art handbook (to be revised every five years) and two to three volumes per year. The first volume in this seriesis a legacy to C. Henry Kempe. This is a timely publication because 2012 marks 50 years after the appearance of the foundational article by C. Henry Kempe and his colleagues, ¿The Battered-Child Syndrome.¿ This volume capitalizes on this 50 year anniversary to stand back and assess the field from the perspective that Dr. Kempe¿s early contributions and ideas are still being played out in practice and policy today. The volume will be released at the next ISPCAN meeting, also in 2012.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 296 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -As a new interdisciplinary research area, ¿image-based geometric modeling and mesh generation¿ integrates image processing, geometric modeling and mesh generation with finite element method (FEM) to solve problems in computational biomedicine, materials sciences and engineering. It is well known that FEM is currently well-developed and efficient, but mesh generation for complex geometries (e.g., the human body) still takes about 80% of the total analysis time and is the major obstacle to reduce the total computation time. It is mainly because none of the traditional approaches is sufficient to effectively construct finite element meshes for arbitrarily complicated domains, and generally a great deal of manual interaction is involved in mesh generation.This contributed volume, the first for such an interdisciplinary topic, collects the latest research by experts in this area. These papers cover a broad range of topics, including medical imaging, image alignment and segmentation, image-to-mesh conversion, quality improvement, mesh warping, heterogeneous materials, biomodelcular modeling and simulation, as well as medical and engineering applications.This contributed volume, the first for such an interdisciplinary topic, collectsthe latest research by experts in this area. These papers cover a broad range of topics, including medical imaging, image alignment and segmentation, image-to-mesh conversion, quality improvement, mesh warping, heterogeneous materials, biomodelcular modeling and simulation, as well as medical and engineering applications.This contributed volume, the first for such an interdisciplinary topic, collects the latest research by experts in this area. These papers cover a broad range of topics, including medical imaging, image alignment and segmentation, image-to-mesh conversion, quality improvement, mesh warping, heterogeneous materials, biomodelcular modeling and simulation, as well as medical and engineering applications.This contributed volume, the first for such an interdisciplinary topic, collects the latest research by experts in this area. These papers cover a broad range of topics, including medical imaging, image alignment and segmentation, image-to-mesh conversion, quality improvement, mesh warping, heterogeneous materials, biomodelcular modeling and simulation, as well as medical and engineering applications.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 316 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book studies and compares quality of life in 29 countries/societies in Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Korea(South), Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. We utilize the AsiaBarometer Surveys conducted annually from 2003 through 2008. We focus on the notion of subjective quality of life and conceptualize it as two levels, global and domain. After we explain about the AsiaBarometer Survey Project, we explore current country profile, demographics, lifestyles, value priorities, specific life domain assessment and overall quality of life. We then estimate the independent effects of demographics, lifestyles, value priorities, life domain assessment on the overall quality of life within each society. As well as comparing the results between nations, we look for key generalized characteristics of life quality for the entire and sub-regions of Asia.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book offers an overview of state-of-the-art in non amplified DNA detection methods and provides chemists, biochemists, biotechnologists and material scientists with an introduction to these methods. In fact all these fields have dedicated resources to the problem of nucleic acid detection, each contributing with their own specific methods and concepts. This book will explain the basic principles of the different non amplified DNA detection methods available, highlighting their respective advantages and limitations. Non-amplified DNA detection can be achieved by adopting different techniques. Such techniques have allowed the commercialization of innovative platforms for DNA detection that are expected to break into the DNA diagnostics market. The enhanced sensitivity required for the detection of non amplified genomic DNA has prompted new strategies that can achieve ultrasensitivity by combining specific materials with specific detection tools. Advanced materials play multiple roles in ultrasensitive detection. Optical and electrochemical detection tools are among the most widely investigated to analyze non amplified nucleic acids. Biosensors based on piezoelectric crystal have been also used to detect unamplified genomic DNA. The main scientific topics related to DNA diagnostics are discussed by an outstanding set of authors with proven experience in this field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 332 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The field of microRNA biology is really emerging in the last couple of years. Several investigators highlighted the importance of miRNAs in cancer. Although there is so much literature on microRNAs exist, a comprehensive book is still not available. Thus this book will be a great use to the scientists in the field of cancer biology. In addition, this book will be a good source of information for undergraduate, graduate students who want to develop their research careers in cancer biology.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 156 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In the international literature there is a broad scope for comparative research on the welfare regime, family change and gender relations, but we have no book that comprehensively collects the main research that has been conducted from the perspective of family well-being. Thus, this volume focuses on the comparative analyse of family and well-being in a European perspective, a dimension which literature has not covered till the present.This book collects the researches done in Europe on family well-being and compares family change and well-being in different institutional and cultural contexts. It takes a deeper look at early evidence of family well-being and presents a compilation of findings from the main researchers on this topic.A broad range of topics is covered from the theorizing of children¿s well-being to the development of specific measures of family well-being. The book also outlines pivotal methodological and conceptual issues. A distinguished, international group of researchers provide insights into the dynamics of family change and well-being, using indicators as a means to confront new phenomena as well as to bridge data and theory.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 316 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Machines have always gone hand-in-hand with the cultural development of m- kind throughout time. A book on the history of machines is nothing more than a specific way of bringing light to human events as a whole in order to highlight some significant milestones in the progress of knowledge by a complementary persp- tive into a general historical overview. This book is the result of common efforts and interests by several scholars, teachers, and students on subjects that are connected with the theory of machines and mechanisms. In fact, in this book there is a certain teaching aim in addition to a general historical view that is more addressed to the achievements by ¿homo faber¿ than to those by ¿homo sapiens¿, since the proposed history survey has been developed with an engineering approach. The brevity of the text added to the fact that the authors are probably not com- tent to tackle historical studies with the necessary rigor, means the content of the book is inevitably incomplete,but it nevertheless attempts to fulfil three basic aims: First, it is hoped that this book may provide a stimulus to promote interest in the study of technical history within a mechanical engineering context. Few are the co- tries where anything significant is done in this area, which means there is a general lack of knowledge of this common cultural heritage.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Quantum Simulations of Materials and Biological Systems features contributions from leading world experts in the fields of density functional theory (DFT) and its applications to material and biological systems.The recent developments of correlation functionals, implementations of Time-dependent algorithm into DFTB+ method are presented. The applications of DFT method to large materials and biological systems such as understanding of optical and electronic properties of nanoparticles, X-ray structure refinement of proteins, the catalytic process of enzymes and photochemistry of phytochromes are detailed. In addition, the book reviews the recent developments of methods for protein design and engineering, as well as ligand-based drug design. Some insightful information about the 2011 International Symposium on Computational Sciences is also provided.Quantum Simulations of Materials and Biological Systems is aimed at faculties and researchers in the fields of computational physics, chemistry and biology, as well as at the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 208 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Transport engineering structures are subjected to loads that vary in both time and space. In general mechanics parlance such loads are called moving loads. It is the aim of the book to analyze the effects of this type of load on various elements, components, structures and media of engineering me chanics. In recent years all branches of transport have experienced great advances characterized by increasingly higher speeds and weights of vehicles. As a result, structures and media over or in which the vehicles move have been subjected to vibrations and dynamic stresses far larger than ever before. The author has studied vibrations of elastic and inelastic bodies and structures under the action of moving loads for many years. In the course of his career he has published a number of papers dealing with various aspects of the problem. On the strength of his studies he has arrived at the conclusion that the topic has so grown in scope and importance as to merit a comprehensive treatment. The book is the outcome of his attempt to do so in a single monograph.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 516 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The 'aging' of the world population is by now a well-recognized phenomenon. It has become a matter of concern to the social planner and deliverer of services, as weil as to the clinician. On aper capita basis, the aged-that is those 65 and older-appear in outpatient health care facilities at a rate wh ich is approximately fifty percent greater than their adult peers, stay about three times as long in general medical and surgical facilities, and represent more than 90 percent of the long-term-care beds in the United States. In addition, at a time when they represented approximately 10 percent of the total population, the aged were the recipients of 25 percent of all prescriptions for medication. Thus, an understanding of the drug use consequences, misuse and abuse of drugs among older persons, has become a salient issue for the scientist, clinical physician, and other health care professionals. The aged are a group at heightened risk for a number of disorders and often present with clinical problems not usually encountered in an aging population. Many such problems are the direct consequence of multiple, concurrent, and complicating disorders; drug/drug interactions, com pliance with physician prescription, the use of concurrent non-prescribed substances such as alcohol or over-the-counter medication, and a variety of other behaviors. There is also a growing interest in the well recognized, but poorly understood, pattern of organic changes which occur in later maturity.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 288 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (PAC) are a broad class of compounds whose wide distribution in the environment results from incomplete combustion processes of fossil fuels in power generator, industrial plant and domestic heating, from car exhaust gas and from tobacco smoke. Many PACs are biologically active and in particular many of the PACs with three or more fused rings are carcinogenic. Currently there is concern of the occurrence of these pollutants at ppb (ug.kg-1) le vel. However the predicted 2 to 3% annual increase in the rate of their release into 1 the environment could lead to ppm (ug.g-) levels in the next century. The move to wards stricter control of these pollutants brings with it the need for accurate monito ring of their environmental occurrence. Reliable identification and quantification of these compounds in complex environ mental samples depends greatly on the availability of reference values for their phy sicochemical and biochemical properties. This second volume results from a close collaboration within the General Directorate for Science, Research and Development of the Commission of the European Communities between the Joint Research Centre, Ispra Establishment, the Community Bureau of Reference and expert laboratories of the Member States.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 876 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This volume offers contributions by thought leaders from a variety of disciplines and different perspectives, which are brought together in a final chapter. The contributions give insight in the role of large-scale international assessments as change agents. As national leaders recognize the growing importance of human capital and how it is distributed, policymakers, economists and decision makers in education have become increasingly interested in results from comparative international surveys. These assessments offer important information on the development of cognitive skills and the consequences of differences in the distribution of these skills. Researchers use the data to assess the role of human capital in predicting outcomes and to identify factors that may contribute to the development of more human capital.An invaluable resource for researchers in international comparative education, policy studies, economics, civics education, educational technology, and policy makers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 172 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -A logic is called 'paraconsistent' if it rejects the rule called 'ex contradictione quodlibet', according to which any conclusion follows from inconsistent premises. While logicians have proposed many technically developed paraconsistent logical systems and contemporary philosophers like Graham Priest have advanced the view that some contradictions can be true, and advocated a paraconsistent logic to deal with them, until recent times these systems have been little understood by philosophers. This book presents a comprehensive overview on paraconsistent logical systems to change this situation. The book includes almost every major author currently working in the field. The papers are on the cutting edge of the literature some of which discuss current debates and others present important new ideas. The editors have avoided papers about technical details of paraconsistent logic, but instead concentrated upon works that discuss more 'big picture' ideas. Different treatments of paradoxes takes centre stage in many of the papers, but also there are several papers on how to interpret paraconistent logic and some on how it can be applied to philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, and metaphysics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 392 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The transferability of vocational education and training qualifications across international borders is a live issue in this heterogeneous field. Key to this goal is defining a common methodology for measuring vocational competences. This publication sets out a proposal for just that, based on the results of a pilot project known as ¿COMET¿ on competence diagnostics in the field of electrical engineering. The study deploys longitudinal analysis to explore issues of competence development, the development of vocational identity, and occupational commitment. It focuses on two discrete occupational profiles in electrical engineering in an ambitious test of a model currently applied to other professions as well.The model¿s success in its first phase is detailed in the second part of the volume, where the authors show that the transfer of the competence framework into an empirical model was successful. They also demonstrate that the methodology can be applied to designing and evaluating vocational education and training processes, making the material relevant to VET teachers and trainers as well as academics. With its first section comprising a full description of the theoretical framework, this book is a significant step forward in an urgent task facing administrations, labor forces and employers around the world. The achievement is in proportion to the notorious complexities of a field whose diversity makes tough demands on large-scale methods of assessment.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.