springer springer dez 2000 (391 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Since the time of surfaces -+ in differential Gauss, parametrized (x, y) P(x, y) have been described a frame attached to the moving geometry through TI(x, y) surface. One introduces the Gauss- which linear dif- Weingarten equations are , ferential equations = U = TIX T1, VT', !PY (1. for the and their condition frame, compatibility - = V + [U, V] 0, UY (1.2) which the Gauss-Codazzi For surfaces in three-dim- represents equations . a sional Euclidean the frame T1 lies in the usually or space, group SO(3) SU(2). On the other a of a non-linear in the form hand, representation equation (1.2) is the of the of of starting point theory integrable equations (theory solitons), which in mathematical in the 1960's appeared physics [NMPZ, AbS, CD, FT, More the differential for the coefficients of AbC]. exactly, partial equation (1.2) the matrices U and V is considered to be if these matrices can be integrable , extended to U V non-trivially a one-parameter family (x, y, A), (x, y, A) satisfying - = + U(A)y V(A). [U(A), V(A)] 0, (1-3) so that the differential is and original partial equation preserved.' . Usually U(A) V are rational functions of the which is called the (A) parameter A, spectral param- In soliton the eter is called the Lax . theory, representation (1.3) representation the Zakharov-Shabat or representation [ZS].Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 124 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This expanded version of the 1997 European Mathematical Society Lectures given by the author in Helsinki, begins with a self-contained introduction to nonstandard analysis (NSA) and the construction of Loeb Measures, which are rich measures discovered in 1975 by Peter Loeb, using techniques from NSA. Subsequent chapters sketch a range of recent applications of Loeb measures due to the author and his collaborators, in such diverse fields as (stochastic) fluid mechanics, stochastic calculus of variations ('Malliavin' calculus) and the mathematical finance theory. The exposition is designed for a general audience, and no previous knowledge of either NSA or the various fields of applications is assumed.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 132 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -From April through December of 1945, ten of Nazi Germany's greatest nuclear physicists were detained by Allied military and intelligence services in a kind of gilded cage at Farm Hall, an English country manor near Cambridge. The physicists knew the Reich had failed to develop an atomic bomb, and they soon learned, from a BBC radio report on August 6, that the Allies had succeeded in their own efforts to create such a weapon. But what they did not know was that many of their meetings and private conversations were being monitored and recorded by British agents. This book contains the complete collection of transcripts that were made from these secret recordings, providing an unprecedented view of how the German scientists, including two Nobel Laureates, thought and spoke about their roles during the war.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 420 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book is devoted to the presentation of some flow problems in porous media having relevant industrial applications. The main topics covered are: the manufacturing of composite materials, the espresso coffee brewing process, the filtration of liquids through diapers, various questions about flow problems in oil reservoirs and the theory of homogenization. The aim is to show that filtration problems arising in very practical industrial context exhibit interesting and highly nontrivial mathematical aspects. Thus the style of the book is mathematically rigorous, but specifically oriented towards applications, so that it is intended for both applied mathematicians and researchers in various areas of technological interest. The reader is required to have a good knowledge of the classical theory of PDE and basic functional analysis.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Until the Apollo-Soyuz flight of 1972, the Russian Space Program was shrouded in such complete secrecy that only rumors of failures (or catastrophes) reached the West. This comprehensive history of the Russian Space Program, from its Sputnik origins to the privatized Mir Space Station, addresses the technical, political, historical, human, and organizational issues and provides a balanced focus on the manned and unmanned programs. It is the first book to assess the Russian Space Program including the 10-year period since the fall of communism.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Affective computing is a fascinating new area of research emerging in computer science. It dwells on problems where 'computing is related to, arises from or deliberately influences emotions' (Picard 1997). Following this new research direction and considering the human element as crucial in designing and implementing interactive intelligent interfaces, affective computing is now influencing the way we shape, design, construct, and evaluate human-computer interaction and computer-mediated communcation. This book originates from a workshop devoted to affective interactions. It presents revised full versions of several papers accepted in preliminary version for the workshop and various selectively solicited papers by key people as well as an introductory survey by the volume editor and interview with Rosaling Picard, a pioneer researcher in the field. The book competently assesses the state of the art in this fascinating new field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 244 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This is the first book to present a model, based on rational mechanics of electrorheological fluids, that takes into account the complex interactions between the electromagnetic fields and the moving liquid. Several constitutive relations for the Cauchy stress tensor are discussed. The main part of the book is devoted to a mathematical investigation of a model possessing shear-dependent viscosities, proving the existence and uniqueness of weak and strong solutions for the steady and the unsteady case. The PDS systems investigated possess so-called non-standard growth conditions. Existence results for elliptic systems with non-standard growth conditions and with a nontrivial nonlinear r.h.s. and the first ever results for parabolic systems with a non-standard growth conditions are given for the first time. Written for advanced graduate students, as well as for researchers in the field, the discussion of both the modeling and the mathematics is self-contained.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 192 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Daniel Quillen's definition of the higher algebraic K-groups of a ring emphasized the importance of computing the homology of groups of matrices. This text traces the development of this theory from Quillen's fundamental calculation of the cohomology of GLn (Fq). The stability theorems and low-dimensional results of A. Suslin, W. van der Kallen and others are presented as well as recent results for rank one groups. A chapter on the Friedlander-Milnor-conjecture concerning the homology of algebraic groups made discrete is also included. This marks the first time that these results have been collected in a single volume. The book should prove useful to graduate students and researchers in K-theory, group cohomology, algebraic geometry and topology.Springer Basel AG in Springer Science + Business Media, Heidelberger Platz 3, 14197 Berlin 208 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Relativistic effects are of major importance for understanding the properties of heavier atoms and molecules. Volumes I-III of Relativistic Theory of Atoms and Molecules constitute the only available bibliography on related calculations. In Volume III, 3792 new references covering 1993-1999 are added to the database. The material is characterized by an analysis of the respective papers. The volume gives the user a comprehensive bibliography on relativistic atomic and molecular calculations, including studies on the Dirac equation and related solid-state work.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 372 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This is a book for the general reader about the world of fungi. We should know more about fungi. They have killed us, saved us and served us since before written records began. We have been making bread, brewing ale, and fermenting wine for millennia. Our crops have been at the mercy of fungal diseases since we became farmers, and they still are. Fungal diseases have caused large demographic changes - from the great plague of 'St. Anthony's Fire' of the Middle Ages (caused by a fungal toxin) to the Irish mass migration to the Americas during the famine (caused by a fungal disease of the potato crop).We can also thank fungi for antibiotics, but do we fully appreciate the revolution in life style (and life expectancy) that these taken-for-granted treatments permit One of the first people to receive penicillin treatment in England in the 1940s was a policeman in Oxford. He died of septicemia when the supplies of the antibiotic ran out after he had been scratched by a rose thorn.Fungi enabled plants (by a mutualistic combination that persists today) to invade the land during the evolution of life on Earth. Higher fungi are almost unique in their ability to decay the chemical components of timber. Without the wood-rotting fungi we would be up to our eyes in dead trees. Fungi give us the opportunity of treating plant diseases and killing specific weeds, as well as being very useful for cleaning up polluted environments and for producing chemicals. In short, this book will show you why it is wise to look again at fungi and appreciate these extraordinary organisms for what they are: a vital component of our lives and of the Earth's ecosystem.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -0. In this work of we the Lie- and Jordan on an study interplay theory and ona level.Weintendtocontinue ittoa algebraic geometric systematicstudy ofthe role Jordan inharmonic In the of theoryplays analysis. fact, applications the of Jordan to theharmonic on cones theory algebras analysis symmetric (cf. of the wereatthe theauthor'sworkinthisarea. Then monograph[FK94]) origin Jordan in of turned the causal algebras up study many symmetric (see spaces Section and clearthat all soon itbecame XI.3), 'generically' symmetric spaces have Since a relation toJordan Jordan does not significant theory. theory (yet) to the standard tools inharmonic the is text belong analysis, present designed to self-contained introduction to Jordan for readers a provide theory having basic Lie and Our ofview some on knowledge groups symmetric spaces. point is introduce first the relevant structures geometric: throughout we geometric anddeducefromtheir identities fortheassociated propertiesalgebraic algebraic structures. Thus our differs from related ones presentation (cf. e.g. [FK94], the fact thatwe do not take an axiomatic definition ofsome [Lo77], [Sa80]) by Jordan structureasour Let us nowanoverviewof algebraic startingpoint. give the See alsothe introductions the contents. at ofeach given beginning chapter. 0.1. Lie and Jordan Ifwe the associative algebras algebras. decompose of the matrix in its and product algebra M(n,R) symmetric skew-symmetric parts, - XY YX XY YX + XY= + (0.1) 2 2 then second the term leads to the Lie with algebra gf(n,R) product [X,Y] XY- and first the termleadstotheJordan M with YX, algebra (n,R) product - X Y= + (XY YX).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 292 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The interest of researchers, clinicians, practitioners and surgeons in critical care medicine is growing. Clinical pharmacology and new technologies now allow more appropriate therapies, and the commitment of all those involved in this field is of fundamental importance for reaching high interventional standards, in both the prevention and treatment of critical conditions, but also for satisfying the concept of cost-effectiveness in critical care. In this volume advances in critical care medicine are described, including the application of new technologies in the clinical setting, the full integration of computers and informatics, and the continual training of physicians and technicians.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 976 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences, provoking a blurring of boundaries between scientific disciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as well as the clas sical techniques of applied mathematics. This renewal of interest, both in research and teaching, has led to the establishment of the series: Texts in Applied Mathematics (TAM). The development of new courses is a natural consequence of a high level of excitement on the research frontier as newer techniques, such as numerical and symbolic computer systems, dynamical systems, and chaos, mix with and reinforce the traditional methods of applied mathematics. Thus, the purpose of this textbook series is to meet the current and future needs of these advances and encourage the teaching of new courses. TAM will publish textbooks suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses, and will complement the Applied Math ematical Sciences (AMS) series, which will focus on advanced textbooks and research level monographs.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 576 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Early and accurate fault detection and diagnosis for modern chemical plants can minimise downtime, increase the safety of plant operations, and reduce manufacturing costs. The process monitoring techniques that have been most effective in practice are based on models constructed almost entirely from process data.The goal of the book is to present the theoretical background and practical techniques for data-driven process monitoring. Process monitoring techniques presented include: Data-driven methods - principal component analysis, Fisher discriminant analysis, partial least squares and canonical variate analysis; Analytical Methods - parameter estimation, observer-based methods and parity relations; Knowledge-based methods - causal analysis, expert systems and pattern recognition.The text demonstrates the application of all of the data-driven process monitoring techniques to the Tennessee Eastman plant simulator - demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of each approach in detail. This aids the reader in selecting the right method for his process application. Plant simulator and homework problems in which students apply the process monitoring techniques to a non-trivial simulated process, and can compare their performance with that obtained in the case studies in the text are included. A number of additional homework problems encourage the reader to implement and obtain a deeper understanding of the techniques. The reader will obtain a background in data-driven techniques for fault detection and diagnosis, including the ability to implement the techniques and to know how to select the right technique for a particular application.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 296 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - effectiveness and creativity in different contexts. In this issue this will be presented in full detail in the articles which refer to different aspects of the Israeli educational context. This special issue of Studies in Philosophy and Education concentrates on the intellectual impotence, moral devotion, cultural willingness and social and techno logical efforts for the preservation and enhancement of the tyranny of normalizing education over human beings in a specific arena. The various studies in this issue, with all their differences of orientation and issues under consideration, will recon struct the ways for forcing subjects and communities to commit themselves to destroy the otherness - or the human potential - of the inner and external Other. They reveal this phenomenon as a characteristic of both the victimizers and their 8 victims. Normally philosophy of education supports this process and justifies or hides this reality. As will be shown in this special issue, however, at the same time philosophy of education might also become a non-productive or even a rebellious element in the culture industry and present a serious challenge to the present order. It can address and challenge the perpetual success of normalizing education, in all its versions, among all rival communities, narratives and armies of teachers, consumers, soldiers, and intellectuals. This, of course, does not guarantee that such a critique or resistance will not become another dogmatic or nihilistic blow to the free Spirit, or nothing but another version of normalizing education.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Creating and delivering superior customer value is essential for organizations operating in today's competitive environment. This applies to virtually any kind of organization. It requires a profound understanding of the value creation opportunities in the marketplace, choosing what unique value to create for which customers, and to deliver that value in an effective and efficient way. Strategic marketing management helps to execute this process successfully and to achieving sustainable competitive advantage in the market place.Creating Customer Value Through Strategic Marketing Planning discusses an approach that is both hands-on and embedded in marketing and strategy theory. This book is different from most other marketing strategy books because it combines brief discussions of the underlying theory with the presentation of a selection of useful strategic marketing tools. The structure of the book guides the reader through the process of writing a strategic marketing plan. Suggestions for using the tools help to apply them successfully. This book helps students of marketing strategy to understand strategic marketing planning at work and how to use specific tools. Furthermore, it provides managers with a practical framework and guidelines for making the necessary choices to create and sustain competitive advantage for their organizations.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 158 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Multiple criteria decision-making research has developed rapidly and has become a main area of research for dealing with complex decision problems which require the consideration of multiple objectives or criteria. Over the past twenty years, numerous multiple criterion decision methods have been developed which are able to solve such problems. However, the selection of an appropriate method to solve a particular decision problem is today's problem for a decision support researcher and decision-maker.Intelligent Strategies for Meta Multiple Criteria Decision-Making deals centrally with the problem of the numerous MCDM methods that can be applied to a decision problem. The book refers to this as a `meta decision problem', and it is this problem that the book analyzes. The author provides two strategies to help the decision-makers select and design an appropriate approach to a complex decision problem. Either of these strategies can be designed into a decision support system itself. One strategy is to use machine learning to design an MCDM method. This is accomplished by applying intelligent techniques, namely neural networks as a structure for approximating functions and evolutionary algorithms as universal learning methods. The other strategy is based on solving the meta decision problem interactively by selecting or designing a method suitable to the specific problem, for example, the constructing of a method from building blocks. This strategy leads to a concept of MCDM networks. Examples of this approach for a decision support system explain the possibilities of applying the elaborated techniques and their mutual interplay. The techniques outlined in the book can be used by researchers, students, and industry practitioners to better model and select appropriate methods for solving complex, multi-objective decision problems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The Eurogang Paradox is the first comprehensive collection of original research reports on the status of street gangs and problematic youth groups in Europe, as well as a set of special, state-of-the-art reports on the current status of American street gang research and its implications for the European gang situation. Seven American papers are joined with reports from England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Russia, Holland, Belgium, France, and Slovenia. Summary chapters by the American and European editors provide overviews of the street gang picture: the associated issues and problems of definition, community context, comparative research procedures, and implications for prevention and intervention. Professionals and students will find these papers easy to comprehend yet fully informative on comparative street gang studies.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 360 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Purchasing .Fabrication Assembly Distribution Figure 1.1: Multi-Level Manufacturing System for Make-to-Order Products specific resources of a type, i.e., a certain machine or a single worker, the determination of the sequence operations are processed on a ma chine, and the assignment of start and finish times to operations. We will modify this framework to be specifically suited for multi level make-to-order manufacturing systems. We assume that the facil ity design issue is settled, i.e., the location and the layout of the facility as well as the capacity ofthe three main resource types of the company are determined. These resource types are the engineering department, the fabrication department, and the assembly department. The engineering department is concerned with the construction of new products as well as the modification and customization of ex isting products. This entails the generation of engineering documents such as blue prints for manufacturing. The capacity of the engineering department is determined by the the count and qualification of engi neers and by the availability of construction devices such as computer aided design (CAD) systems etc.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 276 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -International financial markets play an increasing role in the mind of the general public, much more than they did a few decades ago. There can be no doubt that the size of financial markets has grown at a faster pace than the markets for goods and services in the past ten or twenty years. However, it is still unclear whether this is a desirable development, or whether it indicates looming risks. The book documents and classifies the debate about the potential decoupling of the financial sector from the real economy, and then to introduce it into the context of established scientific lines of research. We try to provide a logical structuring of the heterogeneous arguments by postulating a decoupling hypothesis (phenomena, causes, consequences). Various models are presented in this structure and stylized facts can be isolated. 248 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Delivering MPEG-4 Based Audio-Visual Services investigates the different aspects of end-to-end multimedia services; content creation, server and service provider, network, and the end-user terminal.Part I provides a comprehensive introduction to digital video communications, MPEG standards, and technologies, and deals with system level issues including standardization and interoperability, user interaction, and the design of a distributed video server. Part II investigates the systems in the context of object-based multimedia services and presents a design for an object-based audio-visual terminal, some of these features having been adopted by the MPEG-4 Systems specification. The book goes on to study the requirements for a file format to represent object-based audio-visual content and the design of one such format. The design introduces new concepts such as direct streaming that are essential for scalable servers. The final part of the book examines the delivery of object-based multimedia presentations and gives optimal algorithms for multiplex-scheduling of object-based audio-visual presentations, showing that the audio-visual object scheduling problem is NP-complete in the strong sense. The problem of scheduling audio-visual objects is similar to the problem of sequencing jobs on a single machine. The book compares these problems and adapts job-sequencing results to audio-visual object scheduling, and provides optimal algorithms for scheduling presentations under resource constraints, such as bandwidth (network constraints) and buffer (terminal constraints). In addition, the book presents algorithms that minimize the resources required for scheduling presentations and the auxiliary capacity required to support interactivity in object-based audio-visual presentations.Delivering MPEG-4 Based Audio-Visual Services is essential reading for researchers and practitioners in the areas of multimedia systems engineering and multimedia computing, network professionals, service providers, and all scientists and technical managers interested in the most up-to-date MPEG standards and technologies.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 120 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking - Attacks and Countermeasures deals with information hiding. With the proliferation of multimedia on the Internet, information hiding addresses two areas of concern: privacy of information from surveillance (steganography) and protection of intellectual property (digital watermarking).Steganography (literally, covered writing) explores methods to hide the existence of hidden messages. These methods include invisible ink, microdot, digital signature, covert channel, and spread spectrum communication. Digital watermarks represent a commercial application of steganography. Watermarks can be used to track the copyright and ownership of electronic media.In this volume, the authors focus on techniques for hiding information in digital media. They analyze the hiding techniques to uncover their limitations. These limitations are employed to devise attacks against hidden information. The goal of these attacks is to expose the existence of a secret message or render a digital watermark unusable. In assessing these attacks, countermeasures are developed to assist in protecting digital watermarking systems. Understanding the limitations of the current methods will lead us to build more robust methods that can survive various manipulation and attacks.The more information that is placed in the public's reach on the Internet, the more owners of such information need to protect themselves from theft and false representation. Systems to analyze techniques for uncovering hidden information and recover seemingly destroyed information will be useful to law enforcement authorities in computer forensics and digital traffic analysis.Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking - Attacks and Countermeasures presents the authors' research contributions in three fundamental areas with respect to image-based steganography and watermarking: analysis of data hiding techniques, attacks against hidden information, and countermeasures to attacks against digital watermarks.Information Hiding: Steganography and Watermarking &endash; Attacks and Countermeasures is suitable for a secondary text in a graduate level course, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 164 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Simulation models enable land and watershed managers to make precise, authoritative determinations about the affects of various changes on the environment over time. This book discusses the role of modeling in the management process and gives an overview of state-of-the-art modeling applications. The first chapters provide background on the benefits and costs of modeling and on the ecological basis of models, using historical applications as examples. The second section of the book describes the latest models from a wide selection of environmental disciplines. Since management frequently requires the integration of knowledge from many different areas, both single discipline and multidiscipline models are discussed in detail. The author emphasizes the importance of understanding the issues and alternatives in choosing, applying, and evaluating models. Land and watershed managers as well as students of forestry, park management, regional planing and agriculture will find this book a thorough and practical introduction to all aspects of modeling.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 208 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Probabilistic and Statistical Methods in Computer Science presents a large variety of applications of probability theory and statistics in computer science and more precisely in algorithm analysis, speech recognition and robotics. It is written on a self-contained basis: all probabilistic and statistical tools needed are introduced on a comprehensible level. In addition all examples are worked out completely.Most of the material is scattered throughout available literature. However, this is the first volume that brings together all of this material in such an accessible format.Probabilistic and Statistical Methods in Computer Science is intended for students in computer science and applied mathematics, for engineers and for all researchers interested in applications of probability theory and statistics. It is suitable for self study as well as being appropriate for a course or seminar.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Neural networks have a learning capability but analysis of a trained network is difficult. On the other hand, extraction of fuzzy rules is difficult but once they have been extracted, it is relatively easy to analyze the fuzzy system. This book solves the above problems by developing new learning paradigms and architectures for neural networks and fuzzy systems.The book consists of two parts: Pattern Classification and Function Approximation. In the first part, based on the synthesis principle of the neural-network classifier: A new learning paradigm is discussed and classification performance and training time of the new paradigm for several real-world data sets are compared with those of the widely-used back-propagation algorithm; Fuzzy classifiers of different architectures based on fuzzy rules can be defined with hyperbox, polyhedral, or ellipsoidal regions. The book discusses the unified approach for training these fuzzy classifiers; The performance of the newly-developed fuzzy classifiers and the conventional classifiers such as nearest-neighbor classifiers and support vector machines are evaluated using several real-world data sets and their advantages and disadvantages are clarified.In the second part: Function approximation is discussed extending the discussions in the first part; Performance of the function approximators is compared.This book is aimed primarily at researchers and practitioners in the field of artificial intelligence and neural networks.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 352 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Dissipative Quantum Chaos and Decoherence provides an overview of the state of the art of research in this exciting field. The main emphasis is on the development of a semiclassical formalism that allows one to incorporate the effect of dissipation and decoherence in a precise, yet tractable way into the quantum mechanics of classically chaotic systems. The formalism is employed to reveal how the spectrum of the quantum mechanical propagator of a density matrix is determined by the spectrum of the corresponding classical propagator of phase space density. Simple quantum--classical hybrid formulae for experimentally relevant correlation functions and time-dependent expectation values of observables are derived. The problem of decoherence is treated in detail, and highly unexpected cases of very slow decoherence are revealed, with important consequences for the long-debated realizability of Schrödinger cat states as well as for the construction of quantum computers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 152 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book is designed as a textbook for students who need to fulfil their science requirements. Part I explores classical physics from its beginnings with Descartes, Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, to the relativity theories of Einstein. Special emphasis is given to the development of the objective, materialist, and deterministic worldview of classical physics. The influence of Newtonian physics on other fields of science and on society is emphasized. Finally, some of the problems with the worldview of classical physics are discussed and a preview of quantum physics is given.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 368 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In the last three decades, bioethics has matured into a field of study with several areas of concentration, including medical ethics, environmental ethics and more recently, genetic ethics. For reasons related to both the developmental history of the subject and to the poignancy of the problems presented, most textbooks and collections of essays have dealt with only a single area, medical ethics. In fact, to many not in the field, the word bioethics has become synonymous with medical ethics. The aim of this collection of essays, entitled New Dimensions in Bioethics: Science, Ethics and the Formation of Public Policy, is to enlarge this restrictive vision of the field as it is usually studied at universities. By combining essays relevant to medical ethics with companion essays on environmental ethics and genetic ethics, the book emphasizes similarities in the methods of analysis used in diverse bioethical problems, whether dealing with genes, with people or the environment. In this way, New Dimensions in Bioethics: Science, Ethics and the Formation of Public Policy, hopes to contribute to the intellectual unity of the subject and to suggest changes in the way bioethics can be taught and studied at both the graduate and undergraduate level.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 250 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Foliations is one of the major concepts of modern geometry and topology meaning a partition of topological space into a disjoint sum of leaves. This book is devoted to geometry and topology of surface foliations and their links to ergodic theory, dynamical systems, complex analysis, differential and noncommutative geometry. This comprehensive book addresses graduate students and researchers and will serve as a reference book for experts in the field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 480 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -It is safe to say that without Jeffrey Klein, who first described tumes cent local anesthesia, this book would never have been written. This technique of local anesthesia, originally designed for use in outpatient liposuction procedures in the United States of America, was intro duced into clinical practice in Darmstadt in 1990 and is now employed in a growing number of areas of surgical dermatology. Eight years of experience have shown it to be a particularly elegant and safe method of local anesthesia, especially in the treatment of large areas of skin. A large number of scientific studies have improved our under standing of tumescent local anesthesia. The administration of large quantities of a dilute local anesthetic into lipophilic tissue is no longer seen as a risk to the patient, although further discussion at the inter national level will be required over the next few years in order to standardize the tumescent solution. Until then, the widely varying dosages reported around the world should be regarded with caution. The progress made and experience gained in recent years make it likely that tumescent local anesthesia will become firmly established in all branches of surgery. One important factor is the economy of the tumescent technique, the material costs of which are very low. In comparison to general anesthesia, enormous savings can be made in the costs of postopera tive care,owing to reduced staff requirements and fewer complications of wound healing.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 232 pp. Englisch.