springer netherlands springer netherlands feb 2014 (134 resultados)

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -An updated and revised edition of the 1986 title Convexity and Optimization in Banach Spaces, this book provides a self-contained presentation of basic results of the theory of convex sets and functions in infinite-dimensional spaces. The main emphasis is on applications to convex optimization and convex optimal control problems in Banach spaces. A distinctive feature is a strong emphasis on the connection between theory and application.This edition has been updated to include new results pertaining to advanced concepts of subdifferential for convex functions and new duality results in convex programming. The last chapter, concerned with convex control problems, has been rewritten and completed with new research concerning boundary control systems, the dynamic programming equations in optimal control theory and periodic optimal control problems.Finally, the structure of the book has been modified to highlight the most recent progression in the field including fundamental results on the theory of infinite-dimensional convex analysis and includes helpful bibliographical notes at the end of each chapter.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 380 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -In the past decades asset intensive companies have witnessed a number of regulatory changes and especially industry is facing ever increasing competitiveness. To overcome these challenges different asset management methods have been developed aimed to improve the asset life cycle. Especially the design phase and operation and maintenance phase have seen a rise in tools and methods. Smarter design can lead to improved operation. Likewise, improved operation and maintenance leads to lower replacement costs and may provide the basis for better design.This book brings together and coherently presents the current state of the art in asset management research and practice in Europe from a life cycle perspective. Each chapter focuses on specific parts of this life cycle and explains how the methods and techniques described are connected and how they improve the asset life cycle, thus treating this important subject from a unique perspective.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This book samples recent andemergingtrust research in education including an array of conceptual approaches, measurement innovations, and explored determinants and outcomes of trust. The collection of pathways explores the phenomenon of trust and establishes the significance of trust relationships in school life. It emboldens the claim that trust merits continued attention of both scholars and practitioners because of the role it plays in the production of equity and excellence. Divided into four parts, the bookexplorestrust under the rubrics of learning, teaching, leading and bridging.The book proposes a variety of directions for future research. These include thesimultaneous investigation of trust from the prospectives of various trusters, and at both the individual and group levels, longitudinal research designs, and an elaboration of methods.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 360 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -The Ukraine faced two very different kinds of health crises during the twentieth century. First, in the 1930s and 1940s, famine, war and political upheaval caused massive population losses. Previous evaluations of overall losses have given an idea of the scale of these catastrophes but do not distinguish between crisis mortality, birth shortfall and loss through emigration. Based on a painstaking work of reconstitution, this study is the first to provide a detailed estimation of the hecatomb in terms of number of deaths and life expectancy. The famine of 1933 was alone responsible for the deaths of 2.6 million Ukrainians and reduced male and female life expectancies to 7 and 11 years respectively. Once the crises of the 1930s and 1940s were over, the earlier trend in health resumed and mortality declined steadily until the 1960s. At this point, however, a new type of crisis appeared that caused a sustained reversal in the existing trends. Life expectancy for women stopped increasing altogether, while that for men began a relentless year on year regression. Notwithstanding the confusing picture created by the fluctuations of the 1980s and 1990s, the long-term trend is to further deterioration. To understand the factors involved, this study analyses in detail the combined effects of different causes of death at different ages.¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 292 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This detailed analysis of the content and configuration of civil codes in diverse jurisdictions also examines their relationship with some branches of private law as: family law, commercial law, consumer law and private international law. It analyzes the codification, decodification and recodification processes illuminating the dialogue between current codes ¿ and private law legislation in general ¿ with Constitutions and International Conventions.The commentary elucidates the changing requirements of civil law as it shifted from an early protection of patrimony to a support for commercial and contractual law. It also explains the varying trajectories of civil law, which in some jurisdictions was merged with religious legal tenets in its codification of familial relations, while in others it was fused with commercial law or, indeed, codified from scratch as a discrete legal corpus. Elsewhere, the volume provides material on differing approaches to consumer law, where relevant legislation may be scattered across numerous statutes, and also on private international law, a topic of increasing relevance in a world where business corporations have interests in multiple jurisdictions (and often play one off against another).The volume features invited contributions from leading scholars in the field of private law brought together for an in depth analysis of the current regulatory attitude in this field of the law in jurisdictions with diverse legal systems and traditions. In current times we are witnessing the adoption of diverging regulatory solutions. Through the analysis of the past and present of private law regulation, the volume unveils the underlying trends and relevance of the codification method across the world.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 492 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This volume presents a variety of both normative and descriptive perspectives on the use of precedent by the United States Supreme Court. It brings together a diverse group of American legal scholars, some of whom have been influenced by the Segal/Spaeth 'attitudinal' model and some of whom have not. The group of contributors includes legal theorists and empiricists, constitutional lawyers and legal generalists, leading authorities and up-and-coming scholars. The book addresses questions such as how the Court establishes durable precedent, how the Court decides to overrule precedent, the effects of precedent on case selection, the scope of constitutional precedent, the influence of concurrences and dissents, and the normative foundations of constitutional precedent. Most of these questions have been addressed by the Court itself only obliquely, if at all. The volume will be valuable to readers both in the United States and abroad, particularly in light of ongoing debates over the role of precedent in civil-law nations and emerging legal systems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 240 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -Human security is becoming increasingly pronounced in recent years due to changes in the security landscape of world politics. Yet, inter-state relations have continued to dominate security concerns in East Asia. This has, unfortunately, eluded the broader understanding of issues and challenges facing the peoples of East Asia.Home to nations with rapid economic growth and development, East Asia is at the core of what some individuals have termed as the coming Asian Century. Years of economic liberalization and exposure to globalization have permitted the region to achieve high levels of interconnectedness from within and without in unprecedented ways. This has certainly reduced state control and opened up spaces for cross-border human activities. While economic wealth have increased substantially over the years, it has also brought about bigger income disparities, unsustainable safety nets and a surge in social problems from health issues to migratory concerns that threaten the safety and well-being of individuals.Human Security: Securing East Asiäs Future timely examines the fundamental issues causing human insecurities and evaluates the extent of which human security plays a role at the state and regional levels. Covering the different areas of threats to humans and applying case study materials, this volume provides an intellectual mix ofperspectives that captures the relationship between people, state and region. This book will be of interest to those studying traditional and non-traditional security/threats, Asian human development and critical policy analysis.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -¿The classical field dealing with earthquakes is called ¿earthquake engineering¿ and considered to be a branch of structural engineering. In projects dealing with strategies for earthquake risk mitigation, urban planning approaches are often neglected. Today interventions are needed on a city, rather than a building, scale. This work deals with the impact of earthquakes, including also a broader view on multihazards in urban areas. Uniquely among other works in the field, particular importance is given to urban planning issues, in conservation of heritage and emergency management. Multicriteria decision making and broad participation of those affected by disasters are included.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 328 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -The collective, inclusive, and intersectional framework used in this book speaks to the significance of understanding aging across diverse cultures from multiple perspectives, but still as a shared human experience.The underlying message of the book is that although we are unique and different in our aging processes, we are ultimately connected through this physical, mental and spiritual experience of aging.Thus, regardless of whether we are service providers, service recipients, educators or merely fellow human beings, it is important that we approach the aging experience through a collective lens for discovering and sharing resources as we age; honoring the past while simultaneously accepting that the future is here. A few select examples of key findings from this collaborative work are as follows.First, despite progress in the field, certain issues remain to be addressed including the challenges of racism and sexism, mistreatment, the digital divide, poverty, and other social and economic crises in urban and rural communities as they relate to our aging population.Second, the need for sustaining a sense of independence among the aged and interdependence among supportive systems is warranted.Third, our elders continue to benefit from culturally competent services community-based health interventions and social services that addresses normative and emerging challenges for them.Fourth, spirituality in both indigenous and contemporary perspectives remains important for our elders¿ development and quality of life.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 300 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This book deals with planning issues in landscape architecture, which start at the evaluation of the existing fabric of society, its history and memory, approached and conserved through photography, film and scenographic installations, a way in which the archetypes can be investigated, be it industrial derelict sites or already green spaces and cultural landscapes. It provides approaches to intervention, through rehabilitation and upgrade, eventually in participative manner. To such evaluation and promotion a couple of disciplines can contribute such as history of art, geography and communication science and of course (landscape) architecture. The field of landscape architecture reunites points of view from such different disciplines with a view to an active approach a contemporary intervention or conservation. The book presents case studies from several European countries (Romania, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal) mostly for large landscape in the outskirts of the cities and in the parks.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 324 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -The IGISOL group at the University of Jyväskyla studies the properties of nuclei far off the line of beta stability. These studies are performed locally at the Jyväskylä Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility, as well as at a number of other laboratories such as the ISOLDE facility in CERN, at GANIL and in Helmholzzentrum GSI, the location of the future radioactive beam facility FAIR. The group is also actively involved in work to support the development of international future facilities EURISOL and aforementioned FAIR. This book presents carefully selected papers to portrait the work at IGISOL.Previously published in the journals Hyperfine Interactions and European Physical Journal A.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 404 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This volume is an interdisciplinary mix of perspectives and studies on social issues in fisheries from a diverse range of case studies and research disciplines. The case is made regarding the dearth of attention to socio-cultural considerations which to date have been largely treated as an externality of fisheries policy. It will be valuable to researchers and decision makers interested in understanding the social dimension of fisheries and provides a timely and relevant compilation of research and analysis on some of the critical socio-cultural issues facing fisheries management and fishing communities today.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 372 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -It is now widely recognized that there is a need for long-term secure and suitable sustainable forms of energy. Renewable energy from the marine environment, in particular renewable energy from tidal currents, wave and wind, can help achieve a sustainable energy future. Our understanding of environmental impacts and suitable mitigation methods associated with extracting renewable energy from the marine environment is improving all the time and it is essential that we be able to distinguish between natural and anthropocentric drivers and impacts. An overview of current understanding of the environmental implications of marine renewable energy technology is provided.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 188 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This book describes recent developments in the modeling of hydro-climatological processes in time and space. The topic brings together a wide range of disciplines, such as climatology, hydrology, geomorphology and ecology, with examples of problems and related modeling approaches. Parsimonious hydro-climatological models hold the potential to simulate the combined effects of rainfall intensity and distribution patterns in the absence of precipitation records for short time intervals (e.g. daily to sub-hourly) and over large areas (e.g. regional to continental). In this book, we show how the principle of parsimony can be followed without sacrificing depth in seeking to understand a variety of landscape and surface processes that include hydrologic phenomena. Geographically speaking, the focus of the book is on Mediterranean environments. In this region, which is characterized by a complex morphology, soil erosion by water is a major cause of landscape degradation and the fragility of ecosystems is abundantly documented. By exploring interactions between erosive storms and land with the help of modeling solutions created at a variety of scales, the book investigates in detail the climatic implications for the Mediterranean landscape in an effort to bridge historical and contemporary research, which makes it unique in its approach.The book provides a valuable resource for environmental scientists, while also providing an important basis for graduate and postgraduate students interested in research on hydrological cycles and environmental changes.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 300 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -Computational intelligence techniques have enjoyed growing interest in recent decades among the earth and environmental science research communities for their powerful ability to solve and understand various complex problems and develop novel approaches toward a sustainable earth. This book compiles a collection of recent developments and rigorous applications of computational intelligence in these disciplines. Techniques covered include artificial neural networks, support vector machines, fuzzy logic, decision-making algorithms, supervised and unsupervised classification algorithms, probabilistic computing, hybrid methods and morphic computing. Further topics given treatment in this volume include remote sensing, meteorology, atmospheric and oceanic modeling, climate change, environmental engineering and management, catastrophic natural hazards, air and environmental pollution and water quality. By linking computational intelligence techniques with earth and environmental science oriented problems, this book promotes synergistic activities among scientists and technicians working in areas such as data mining and machine learning. We believe that a diverse group of academics, scientists, environmentalists, meteorologists and computing experts with a common interest in computational intelligence techniques within the earth and environmental sciences will find this book to be of great value.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This book is a critical edition of John Bale's The Image of Both Churches (c. 1545). The Introduction provides a thorough overview of this sixteenth century work, explaining its relationship to the apocalyptic tradition and to Bale's important inspirations, from Augustine to Erasmus and Luther. Topics such as Bale's language, the place of the Image in his oeuvre, his use of medieval chronicles, and the influence of his exegesis are also discussed.The Image has often been called Bale's most important work; it articulated and developed the English Protestant view of the Apocalypse, influencing other Reformers both in England and on the continent. This book offers the first critical edition of the Image, including fully modernized spelling and punctuation as well as extensive explanatory notes.The five sixteenth-century printed editions of the Image are collated here, with textual notes that illustrate the relationship between variant readings and provide information on the choices made in this particular edition. This book also reproduces the striking woodcut illustrations from the Image in their original placements; examples from two different woodcut series are offered, as well as an overview of the history and importance of these images in the early printed texts.Five appendices, including a glossary of unfamiliar terms and a chart outlining Bale's periodization of history, also provide a wealth of information that enables readers to understand and use this edition. The largest appendix, on historical names and terminology, gives biographical information for 450 individuals and explains their importance, both to Bale and to the sixteenth-century Reformers in a broader context.This critical edition of the Image offers the most thorough study of the work to date, opening up the opportunity for a deeper understanding of this monumental text and for many further avenuesof research.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 516 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -Although modern medicine enjoys unprecedented success in providing excellent technical care, many patients are dissatisfied with the poor quality of care or the unprofessional manner in which physicians sometimes deliver it.Recently, this patient dissatisfaction has led to quality-of-care and professionalism crises in medicine.Inthis book, the author proposes a notion of virtuous physician to address these crises.He discusses the nature of the two crises and efforts by the medical profession to resolve them and then he briefly introduces the notion of virtuous physician and outlines its basic features.Further,virtue theory is discussed, along with virtue ethics and virtue epistemology, and specific virtues, especially as they relate to medicine.The author also explores the ontological priority of caring as the metaphysical virtue for grounding the notion of virtuous physician, and two essential ontic virtues¿care and competence.In addition to this, he examines the transformation of competence into prudent wisdom and care into personal radical love to forge the compound virtue of prudent love, which is sufficient for defining the virtuous physician.Lastly, two clinical case stories are reconstructed which illustrate the various virtues associated with medical practice, and it is discussed howthe notion of virtuous physician addresses the quality-of-care and professionalism crises.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -Despite the topic¿s urgency and centrality, this is the first edited volume to offer a comprehensive assessment of the varying approaches to early engagement with new technologies, including nanotechnology, synthetic biology, biotechnology and ICT. Covering five main approaches to early engagement¿constructive technology assessment (CTA), value-sensitive design (VSD), midstream modulation (MM), the network approach for moral evaluation, and political technology assessment¿the book will be a pivotal text in the rapidly developing research field of ELSI, which explores the ethical, legal, and social implications of new technologies.Featuring leading scholars who discuss each early engagement approach in turn, the chapters cover both theory and applications, and include evaluative assessments of specific instances of early adoption of technologies. Further contributions focus on theoretical issues relevant to all approaches, including interdisciplinary cooperation, normativity and intervention, and political and public relevance. The publication has added profile due to the requirement of multi-billion-dollar research programs in the US and Europe to engage in ELSI research alongside that of the technical development itself, even in the early stages. Its comprehensive scrutiny of the core factors in early engagement will ensure a readership of policy makers as well as scientists and engineers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 268 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -These chapters on ¿Responsible Leadership¿ represent the latest thinking on a topic of increasing relevance in a connected world.There are many challenges that still remain when it comes to establishing responsible leadership both in theory and practice. Whilst offering conceptualisations for the improvement of leadership is a first and perhaps easier response, what is more difficult is to facilitate the actual change to happen.These chapters will not only generate interest in the emerging domain of studies on responsible leadership, but also will pave the way for future research in this area in the years to come. Previously Published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 98 Supplement 2, 2011¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 140 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This is the state-of-the-art report prepared by the RILEM TC ¿Application of Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP) in concrete construction¿. It gives a comprehensive overview of the properties of SAP, specific water absorption and desorption behaviour of SAP in fresh and hardening concrete, effects of the SAP addition on rheological properties of fresh concrete, changes of cement paste microstructure and mechanical properties of concrete. Furthermore, the key advantages of using SAP are described in detail: the ability of this material to act as an internal curing agent to mitigate autogenous shrinkage of high-performance concrete, the possibility to use SAP as an alternative to air-entrainment agents in order to increase the frost resistance of concrete, and finally, the benefit of steering the rheology of fresh cement-based materials. The final chapter describes the first existing and numerous prospective applications for this new concrete additive.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 176 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -A growing body of research has given critical attention to diverse theories and practices of environmental education, and its potential contribution to addressing pressing global issues such as sustainable development and climate change. While much of this work has focused on perspectives and practices in Europe and North America, this book explores environmental learning within formal education, in programmes by non-governmental organisations, and in public education spaces in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The discussion also highlights the need for more research to understand the broader social and economic interactions between such efforts and the communities in which they are located.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -In this book we outline an optimistic, aspirational and unashamedly ambitious agenda for schooling. We make cautious use of the concept of ¿future proofing¿ to signal the commitment of the various authors to re-thinking the purposes, content and processes of schooling with a view to ensuring that all children, from all backgrounds are prepared by their education to make a positive contribution to the futures that are ahead of them. The book focuses on issues relating to technology and social justice to re-examine the traditional relationship between schools and technology, between schools and diverse learners, and between schools, children and knowledge. Drawing from examples from around the world, the book explores practical ways that diverse schools have worked to celebrate diverse understandings of what it means to be a learner, a citizen, a worker in these changed and changing times and the ways different technologies can support this agenda.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 252 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -The focus of this book is the fundamental influence of the cyphering tradition on mathematics education in North American colleges, schools, and apprenticeship training classes between 1607 and 1861. It is the first book on the history of North American mathematics education to be written from that perspective. The principal data source is a set of 207 handwritten cyphering books that have never previously been subjected to careful historical analysis.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 244 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -In this book, the design of two new planar patterns for camera calibration of intrinsic parameters is addressed and a line-based method for distortion correction is suggested. The dynamic calibration of structured light systems,which consist of a camera and a projector is also treated. Also, the 3D Euclidean reconstruction by using the image-to-world transformation is investigated. Lastly, linear calibration algorithms for the catadioptric camera are considered, and the homographic matrix and fundamental matrix are extensively studied. In these methods, analytic solutions are provided for the computational efficiency and redundancy in the data can be easily incorporated to improve reliability of the estimations. This volume will therefore prove valuable and practical tool for researchers and practioners working in image processing and computer vision and related subjects.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 176 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - The language of science has many words and phrases whose meaning either changes in differing contexts or alters to reflect developments in a given discipline. This book presents the authors' theories on using 'conceptual profiles' to make the teaching of context-dependent meanings more effective. Developed over two decades, their theory begins with a recognition of the coexistence in the students' discourse of those alternative meanings, even in the case of scientific concepts such as molecule, where the dissonance between the classical and modern views of the same phenomenon is an accepted norm. What began as an alternative model of conceptual change has evolved to incorporate a sociocultural approach, by drawing on ideas such as situated cognition and Vygotsky's influential concept of culturally located learning. Also informed by pragmatist philosophy, the approach has grown into a well-rounded theory of teaching and learning scientific concepts. The authors have taken the opportunity in this book to develop their ideas further, anticipate and respond to criticisms-that of relativism, for example-and explain how their theory can be applied to analyze the teaching of core concepts in science such as heat and temperature, life and biological adaptation. They also report on the implementation of a research program that correlates the responsiveness of their methodology to all the main developments in the field of science education. This additional material will inform academic discussion, review, and further enhancement of their theory and research model.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This book offers a timely analysis, and a novel and nuanced argument about post-neoliberal models of regional governance in non-European contexts. It provides the first in-depth, empirically-driven analysis of current models of regional governance in Latin America that emerged out of the crisis of liberalism in the region. It contributes to comparative studies of the contemporary global political economy as it advances current literature on the topic by analysing distinctive, overlapping and conflicting trajectories of regionalism in Latin America. The book critically explores models of transformative regionalism and specific dimensions articulating those models beyond neoliberal consensus-building. As such it contests the overstated case of integration as converging towards global capitalism. It provides an analytical framework that not only examines the 'what, how, who and why' in the emergence of a specific form of regionalism but sets the ground for addressing two relevant questions that will push the study of regionalism further: What factors enable or constrain how transformative a given regionalism is (or can be) with respect to the powers and policies of states encompassed by it and: What factors govern how resilient a given regionalism is likely to be under changing political and economic conditions Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 212 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -New essays in science history ranging across the entire field and related in most instance to the works of Charles Gillispie, one of the field's founders.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 460 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -The majority of the world¿s population live in environments with artificially weakened wind as buildings in urban areas form wind-breaks and reduce wind speeds. Anthropogenic heat is also generated and during the summer dense urban areas suffer from the urban heat island effect, a known urban climate problem. This book discusses how to evaluate the urban wind environment, including ventilation performance and thermal comfort. This book is organized in two parts; Wind Environment and the Urban Environment and Criteria for Assessing Breeze Environments. It includes chapters on sea breeze in urban areas; thermal adaptation and the effect of wind on thermal comfort; health risk of exposures; pollutant transport in dense urban areas; legal regulations for urban ventilation and new criteria for assessing the local wind environment.Keywords: urban wind environments, urban heat island, urban climate, land use change, thermal comfort, risk assessment, urban air pollution, urban ventilationSpringer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 208 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -This book addresses the possibilities and challenges in mimicking biological membranes and creating membrane-based sensor and separation devices. Recent advances in developing biomimetic membranes for technological applications will be presented with focus on the use of integral membrane protein mediated transport for sensing and separation. Itdescribes the fundamentals of biosensing as well as separation and shows how the two processes are working in a cooperative manner in biological systems. Biomimetics is a truly cross-disciplinary approach and this is exemplified using the process of forward osmosis will be presented as an illustration of how advances in membrane technology may be directly stimulated by an increased understanding of biological membrane transport. In the development of a biomimetic sensor/separation technology, both channels (ion and water channels) and carriers (transporters) are important. An ideal sensor/separation device requires the supporting biomimetic matrix to be virtually impermeable to anything but the solute in question. In practice, however, a biomimetic support matrix will generally have finite permeabilities to water, electrolytes, and non-electrolytes. These non-protein mediated membrane transport contributions will be presented and the implications for biomimetic device construction will be discussed. New developments in our understanding of the reciprocal coupling between the material properties of the biomimetic matrix and the embedded proteins will be presented and strategies for inducing biomimetic matrix stability will be discussed.Once reconstituted in its final host biomimetic matrix the protein stability also needs to be maintained and controlled. Beta-barrel proteins exemplified by the E. Coli outer membrane channels or small peptides are inherently more stable than alpha-helical bundle proteins which may require additional stabilizing modifications. The challenges associated with insertion andstabilization of alpha-helical bundle proteins including many carriers and ligand and voltage gated ion (and water) channels will be discussed and exemplified using the aquaporin protein. Many biomimetic membrane applications require that the final device can be used in the macroscopic realm. Thus a biomimetic separation device must have the ability to process hundred of liters of permeate in hours ¿ effectively demanding square-meter size membranes. Scalability is a general issue for all nano-inspired technology developments and will be addressed here in the context biomimetic membrane array fabrication. Finally a robust working biomimetic device based on membrane transport must be encapsulated and protected yet allowing massive transport though the encapsulation material. This challenge will be discussed using microfluidic design strategies as examples of how to use microfluidic systems to create and encapsulate biomimetic membranes. The book provides an overview of what is known in the field, where additional research is needed, and where the field is heading.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 308 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware -Structural realism has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, but it has splintered into many distinct denominations, often underpinned by diverse motivations. There is, no monolithic position known as ¿structural realism,¿ but there is a general convergence on the idea that a central role is to be played by relational aspects over object-based aspects of ontology. What becomes of causality in a world without fundamental objects In this book, the foremost authorities on structural realism attempt to answer this and related questions: ¿what is structure ¿ and ¿what is an object ¿ Also featured are the most recent advances in structural realism, including the intersection of mathematical structuralism and structural realism, and the latest treatments of laws and modality in the context of structural realism. The book will be of interest to philosophers of science, philosophers of physics, metaphysicians, and those interested in foundational aspects of science.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 228 pp. Englisch.