springer us nov 2000 (57 resultados)

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book emerged from teaching a graduate level course in propagation and smart antennas at the Naval Postgraduate School. In its present form, it is suitable not only as a graduate level text, but also as a reference book for industry and research use. The area of radiowave propagation and smart antennas is highly interdisciplinary, extracting material from electromagn- ics, communications, and signal processing. This book is useful to workers in electromagnetics who would like to supplement their background with relevant communicational aspects and to workers in communications who would like to supplement their background with relevant electromagnetic aspects. Anyone with a basic understanding of probability, wave propagation, digital com- nications, and elementary signal processing should be able to appreciate the contents of the book. The book consists of nine chapters with several worked out examples d- persed throughout. Chapter 1 covers the basics of cellular communications. Chapter 2 covers the basic principles of electromagnetic wave propagation relevant to path loss predictions in wireless communications. Students with little prior background in electromagnetics should find the first few sections of Chapter 2 self-sufficient. Empirical path loss models that are used in system design are treated in Chapter 3. The chapter includes the traditional models as well as some of the newer models. Chapter 4 has a thorough discussion on the causes and characterization of small scale fading. The topic of spatial c- relation that is very important for antenna arrays is discussed there in detail. 334 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -DARE To Be You (DTBY) is a program that has both a conceptual foundation and is demonstrably effective in building assets linked to a decrease in problem behaviors. Its success is based on working not only with the individual child, but also with multiple systems that affect the child. These systems include family, peers, school and the broader community. The DTBY curricula is age-appropriate and adapted to account for changing developmental needs. While this volume focuses on the DTBY program for families with 2 to 5 year old children, references are made to the programs for school aged children and teens. This program has proven effective in diverse settings including a Native American community; an urban setting of mixed cultures; a traditional Hispanic and Anglo rural community; and a poor, isolated agricultural region. 160 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In When Work Disappears, Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson (1996) notes that African Americans in Chicago who attended Catholic schools are viewed more favorably by employers than African Americans who attended public schools. Such findings corroborate a widely though not univer sally-held view that Catholic schools succeed in boosting mobility for children of less-privileged families. Can its success bebroadened Nobel-prize winning economist Robert Fogel (2000) drawing upon the research by Wilson and oth ers suggests that Catholic schools might play a larger role in promoting an egalitarian society, if grants were made available to poor students that could be used in the parochial school sector. Nobel-prize winning economists Milton Friedman (1962) and Gary Becker (1989) also make strong cases for education vouchers and for more competition in primary and secondary education in the United States. From a different perspective, Archbishop of Chicago Francis Cardinal George argues that Catholic 'education that is faith-based, that pro vides values and discipline, that is Jesus-centered, has the potential to trans form the world' (Archdiocese of Chicago, 2000b). Despite such opinions, there is controversy concerning the measured effects of Catholic schooling on educational attainment, academic achieve ment, and other tangible outcomes. 164 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Any numerical subsurface model is comprised of three components: a theoretical basis to translate our understanding phenomena into partial differential equations and boundary conditions, a numerical method to approximate these governing equations and implement the boundary conditions, and a computer implementation to generate a generic code for research as well as for practical applications. Computational Subsurface Hydrology: Reactions, Transport, and Fate is organized around these themes. The fundamental processes occurring in subsurface media are rigorously integrated into governing equations using the Reynolds transport theorem and interactions of these processes with the surrounding media are sophisticatedly cast into various types of boundary conditions using physical reasoning. A variety of numerical methods to deal with reactive chemical transport are covered in Computational Subsurface Hydrology: Reactions, Transport, and Fate with a particular emphasis on the adaptive local grid refinement and peak capture using the Lagrangian-Eulerian approach. The topics on coupled fluid flows and reactive chemical transport are unique contributions of this book. They serve as a reference for research as well as for practical applications with a computer code that can be purchased from the author. Four computer codes to simulate vertically integrated horizontal solute transport (LEMA), contaminant transport in moving phreatic aquifers in three dimensions (3DLEMA), solute transport in variably saturated flows in two dimensions (LEWASTE), and solute transport under variably saturated flows in three dimensions (3DLEWASTE) are covered. These four computer codes are designed for generic applications to both research and practical problems. They could be used to simulate most of the practical, real-world field problems. Reactive chemical transport and its coupling with fluid flows are unique features in this book. Theories, numerical implementations, and example problems of coupled reactive transport and flows in variably saturated media are presented. A generic computer code, HYDROGEOCHEM 3.0, is developed. A total of eight example problems are used to illustrate the application of the computational model. These problems are intended to serve as examples for setting up a variety of simulations that one may encounter in research and field-site applications. Computational Subsurface Hydrology: Reactions, Transport, and Fate offers practicing engineers and scientists a theoretical background, numerical methods, and computer codes for modeling contaminant transport in subsurface media. It also serves as a textbook for senior and graduate course on reactive chemical transport in subsurface media in disciplines such as civil and environmental engineering, agricultural engineering, geosciences, soil sciences, and chemical engineering. Computational Subsurface Hydrology: Reactions, Transport, and Fate presents a systematic derivation of governing equations and boundary conditions of subsurface contaminant transport as well as reaction-based geochemical and biochemical processes. It discusses a variety of numerical methods for moving sharp-front problems, expounds detail procedures of constructing Lagrangian-Eulerian finite element methods, and describes precise implementation of computer codes as they are applied to subsurface contaminant transport and biogeochemical reactions. 348 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book is a collection of extended versions of the papers presented at the Symposium on Next Generation Wireless Networks, May 26, 2000, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ. Each chapter includes, in addition to technical contributions, a tutorial of the corresponding area. It has been a privilege to bring together these contributions from researchers on the leading edge of the field. The papers were submitted in response to a call for papers aiming to concentrate on the applications and services for the 'next generation,' deliberately omitting the numeric reference so that the authors' vision of the future would not be limited by the definitive requirements of a particular set of standards. The book, as a result, reflects the top-down approach by focusing on enabling technologies for the applications and services that are the defining essentials for future wireless networks. This approach strikes a balance between the academia and the industry by addressing new wireless network architectures enabling mobility and location enhanced applications and services that will give wireless systems the competitive edge over others. The main theme of the book is the advent of wireless networks as an irreplaceable means of global communication as opposed to a mere substitute for, or a competitor of, wireline networks. Geolocation emerges as the facilitator of mobility and location sensitive services. The fields of geolocation and wireless communications have been forced to merge, following the Federal Commission of Communications' (FCC) ruling that obliges wireless providers with emergency caller geolocation. 276 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Probabilistic and percentile/quantile functions play an important role in several applications, such as finance (Value-at-Risk), nuclear safety, and the environment. Recently, significant advances have been made in sensitivity analysis and optimization of probabilistic functions, which is the basis for construction of new efficient approaches. This book presents the state of the art in the theory of optimization of probabilistic functions and several engineering and finance applications, including material flow systems, production planning, Value-at-Risk, asset and liability management, and optimal trading strategies for financial derivatives (options). Audience: The book is a valuable source of information for faculty, students, researchers, and practitioners in financial engineering, operation research, optimization, computer science, and related areas. 324 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Coding and Modulation for Digital Television presents a comprehensive description of all error control coding and digital modulation techniques used in Digital Television (DTV). This book illustrates the relevant elements from the expansive theory of channel coding to how the transmission environment dictates the choice of error control coding and digital modulation schemes. These elements are presented in such a way that both the `mathematical integrity' and `understanding for engineers' are combined in a complete form and supported by a number of practical examples. In addition, the book contains descriptions of the existing standards and provides a valuable source of corresponding references. Coding and Modulation for Digital Television also features a description of the latest techniques, providing the reader with a glimpse of future digital broadcasting. These include the concepts of soft-in-soft-out decoding, turbo-coding and cross-correlated quadrature modulation, all of which will have a prominent future in improving efficiency of the next generation DTV systems. Coding and Modulation for Digital Television is essential reading for all undergraduate and postgraduate students, broadcasting and communication engineers, researchers, marketing managers, regulatory bodies, governmental organizations and standardization institutions of the digital television industry. 264 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Held December 16-919, 1999, this proceedings is derived from the Global Foundation Inc.'s Orbis Scientiae 1999. Topics include: cosmological parameters, unifying elementary particle physics, cosmology, superstrings, and black holes. 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -As the telecommunication industry introduces new sophisticated technologies, the nature of services and the volume of demands have changed. Indeed, a broad range of new services for users appear, combining voice, data, graphics, video, etc. This implies new planning issues. Fiber transmission systems that can carry large amounts of data on a few strands of wire were introduced. These systems have such a large bandwidth that the failure of even a single transmission link: in the network can create a severe service loss to customers. Therefore, a very high level of service reliability is becoming imperative for both system users and service providers. Since equipment failures and accidents cannot be avoided entirely, networks have to be designed so as to 'survive' failures. This is done by judiciously installing spare capacity over the network so that all traffic interrupted by a failure may be diverted around that failure by way of this spare or reserve capacity. This of course translates into huge investments for network operators. Designing such survivable networks while minimizing spare capacity costs is, not surprisingly, a major concern of operating companies which gives rise to very difficult combinatorial problems. In order to make telecommunication networks survivable, one can essentially use two different strategies: protection or restoration. The protection approach preas signs spare capacity to protect each element of the network independently, while the restoration approach spreads the redundant capacity over the whole network and uses it as required in order to restore the disrupted traffic. 232 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -DARE To Be You (DTBY) is a program that has both a conceptual foundation and is demonstrably effective in building assets linked to a decrease in problem behaviors. Its success is based on working not only with the individual child, but also with multiple systems that affect the child. These systems include family, peers, school and the broader community. The DTBY curricula is age-appropriate and adapted to account for changing developmental needs. While this volume focuses on the DTBY program for families with 2 to 5 year old children, references are made to the programs for school aged children and teens. This program has proven effective in diverse settings including a Native American community; an urban setting of mixed cultures; a traditional Hispanic and Anglo rural community; and a poor, isolated agricultural region. 160 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The solution of eigenvalue problems is an integral part of many scientific computations. For example, the numerical solution of problems in structural dynamics, electrical networks, macro-economics, quantum chemistry, and c- trol theory often requires solving eigenvalue problems. The coefficient matrix of the eigenvalue problem may be small to medium sized and dense, or large and sparse (containing many zeroelements). In the past tremendous advances have been achieved in the solution methods for symmetric eigenvalue pr- lems. The state of the art for nonsymmetric problems is not so advanced; nonsymmetric eigenvalue problems can be hopelessly difficult to solve in some situations due, for example, to poor conditioning. Good numerical algorithms for nonsymmetric eigenvalue problems also tend to be far more complex than their symmetric counterparts. This book deals with methods for solving a special nonsymmetric eig- value problem; the symplectic eigenvalue problem. The symplectic eigenvalue problem is helpful, e.g., in analyzing a number of different questions that arise in linear control theory for discrete-time systems. Certain quadratic eigenvalue problems arising, e.g., in finite element discretization in structural analysis, in acoustic simulation of poro-elastic materials, or in the elastic deformation of anisotropic materials can also lead to symplectic eigenvalue problems. The problem appears in other applications as well. 292 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The modern electronic testing has a forty year history. Test professionals hold some fairly large conferences and numerous workshops, have a journal, and there are over one hundred books on testing. Still, a full course on testing is offered only at a few universities, mostly by professors who have a research interest in this area. Apparently, most professors would not have taken a course on electronic testing when they were students. Other than the computer engineering curriculum being too crowded, the major reason cited for the absence of a course on electronic testing is the lack of a suitable textbook. For VLSI the foundation was provided by semiconductor device techn- ogy, circuit design, and electronic testing. In a computer engineering curriculum, therefore, it is necessary that foundations should be taught before applications. The field of VLSI has expanded to systems-on-a-chip, which include digital, memory, and mixed-signalsubsystems. To our knowledge this is the first textbook to cover all three types of electronic circuits. We have written this textbook for an undergraduate 'foundations' course on electronic testing. Obviously, it is too voluminous for a one-semester course and a teacher will have to select from the topics. We did not restrict such freedom because the selection may depend upon the individual expertise and interests. Besides, there is merit in having a larger book that will retain its usefulness for the owner even after the completion of the course. With equal tenacity, we address the needs of three other groups of readers. 712 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -It is a real pleasure to write the Foreword for this book, both because I have known and respected its author for many years and because I expect this book's publication will mark an important milestone in the continuing worldwide development of microsystems. By bringing together all aspects of microsystem design, it can be expected to facilitate the training of not only a new generation of engineers, but perhaps a whole new type of engineer - one capable of addressing the complex range of problems involved in reducing entire systems to the micro- and nano-domains. This book breaks down disciplinary barriers to set the stage for systems we do not even dream of today. Microsystems have a long history, dating back to the earliest days of mic- electronics. While integrated circuits developed in the early 1960s, a number of laboratories worked to use the same technology base to form integrated sensors. The idea was to reduce cost and perhaps put the sensors and circuits together on the same chip. By the late-60s, integrated MOS-photodiode arrays had been developed for visible imaging, and silicon etching was being used to create thin diaphragms that could convert pressure into an electrical signal. By 1970, selective anisotropic etching was being used for diaphragm formation, retaining a thick silicon rim to absorb package-induced stresses. Impurity- and electrochemically-based etch-stops soon emerged, and 'bulk micromachining' came into its own. 720 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Since the advent of the Human Genome Project, an increasing number of disease-causing genes have been discovered and, in some cases, genetic tests developed. However, this is only the first step. The second, much larger phase is the analysis of the total sequence. What does the rest of the DNA do The answer to this question will be determined by computer prediction, expression profiling, and comparative genome analysis. Comparative Genomics covers such topics as identifying novel genes, determining gene function, control sequences, and developmental switches. The book aims to demonstrate how different approaches taken with model organisms, such as mutation studies, expression profiling of cDNAs, in situ localization of message and comparative genome analysis (both at the gene and nucleotide level) will aid in our understanding of the results coming out of the Human Genome Project and contribute significantly to our understanding of how genes function. 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -From the time questions about the impact of wireless technology on public health were first raised in 1993 through the present, Wireless Technology Research, LLC (WTR) has been the largest independent surveillance and research program trying to identify and solve human health problems associated with wireless phones. In 1995 at the University 'La Sapienza' of Rome, WTR sponsored the first comprehensive forum for the discussion of these issues. Papers from the 1995 State of the Science Colloquium were collected andpublished in Volume I ofthis series, Wireless Phones andHealth: Scientific Progress. This second volume assembles papers presented at WTR's Second State of the Science Colloquium in Long Beach, CA, in June 1999; it contains the most comprehensive research on the public health impact of wireless phones to date. The operating words for the proper understanding of these data are science and public health. Science is a tool for making public health decisions, but the framework in which we are operating is truly that of public health. We are looking for problems that have to do with wireless technology. We are trying to decide how this technology impacts on the public for one purpose and one purpose alone, and that purpose is to solve problems that are identified. I would like to challenge you, the reader, to suspend your parochial orientation as you consider these latest findings. 308 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Consumption of food products based on or containing fruit is increasing as consumers in the developed world seek a diet which they perceive to be healthy. At the same time, developing countries are increasing their volumes of value-added fruit processing in order to earn important foreign currency. This book provides a concise, thorough and authoritative coverage of the technology of fruit processing from a worldwide perspective. Detailed coverage of the use of fruit by-products, environmental issues, quality assurance and hygiene reflect the importance of these topics. New chapters cover biochemistry and implications for processing, packaging, and quality management systems and HACCP. Food technologists, production managers and technical staff in the fruit processing industry and its equipment suppliers will find the book an important information source, while those in academic and research establishments will use it as a key reference. 340 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The intrinsic or natural fluorescence of proteins is perhaps the most complex area of biochemical fluorescence. Fortunately the fluorescent amino acids, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan are relatively rare in proteins. Tr- tophan is the dominant intrinsic fluorophore and is present at about one mole % in protein. As a result most proteins contain several tryptophan residues and even more tyrosine residues. The emission of each residue is affected by several excited state processes including spectral relaxation, proton loss for tyrosine, rotational motions and the presence of nearby quenching groups on the protein. Additionally, the tyrosine and tryptophan residues can interact with each other by resonance energy transfer (RET) decreasing the tyrosine emission. In this sense a protein is similar to a three-particle or mul- particle problem in quantum mechanics where the interaction between particles precludes an exact description of the system. In comparison, it has been easier to interpret the fluorescence data from labeled proteins because the fluorophore density and locations could be controlled so the probes did not interact with each other. From the origins of biochemical fluorescence in the 1950s with Prof- sor G. Weber until the mid-1980s, intrinsic protein fluorescence was more qualitative than quantitative. An early report in 1976 by A. Grindvald and I. Z. Steinberg described protein intensity decays to be multi-exponential. Attempts to resolve these decays into the contributions of individual tryp- phan residues were mostly unsuccessful due to the difficulties in resolving closely spaced lifetimes. 336 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book describes the theory and design of high-accuracy CMOS smart temperature sensors. The major topic of the work is the realization of a smart temperature sensor that has an accuracy that is so high that it can be applied without any form of calibration. Integrated in a low-cost CMOS technology, this yields at the publication date of this book one of the most inexpensive intelligent general purpose temperature sensors in the world. The first thermometers could only be read by the human eye. The industrial revolution and the following computerization asked for more intelligent sensors, which could easily communicate to digital computers. This led to the development of integrated temperature sensors that combine a bipolar temperature sensor and an A-to-D converter on the same chip. The implementation in CMOS technology reduces the processing costs to a minimum while having the best-suited technology to increase the (digital) intelligence. The accuracy of conventional CMOS smart temperature sensors is degraded by the offset of the read-out electronics. Calibration of these errors is quite expensive, however, dynamic offset-cancellation techniques can reduce the offset of amplifiers by a factor 100 to 1000 and do not need trimming. Chapter two gives an elaborate description of the different kinds of dynamic offset-cancellation techniques. Also a new technique is introduced called the nested chopper technique. An implementation of a CMOS nested-chopper instrumentation amplifier shows a residual offset of less than lOOn V, which is the best result reported to date. 136 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Nonlinear Assignment Problems (NAPs) are natural extensions of the classic Linear Assignment Problem, and despite the efforts of many researchers over the past three decades, they still remain some of the hardest combinatorial optimization problems to solve exactly. The purpose of this book is to provide in a single volume, major algorithmic aspects and applications of NAPs as contributed by leading international experts. The chapters included in this book are concerned with major applications and the latest algorithmic solution approaches for NAPs. Approximation algorithms, polyhedral methods, semidefinite programming approaches and heuristic procedures for NAPs are included, while applications of this problem class in the areas of multiple-target tracking in the context of military surveillance systems, of experimental high energy physics, and of parallel processing are presented. Audience: Researchers and graduate students in the areas of combinatorial optimization, mathematical programming, operations research, physics, and computer science. 332 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -'International Energy Forum 1999' was held in Washington D.C. during November 5-6, 1999 in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Crystal City. Once again the main topic was Nuclear Energy. Various papers presented contained pros and cons of Nuclear Energy for generating electricity. We were aiming to clarify the often discussed subject matter of the virtues of Nuclear Energy with regard to Global Warming as compared to using fossil fuels for the generation of electricity. The latter is also currently the only way to operate our means of transportation like automobiles, planes etc. Therefore emission into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases constitutes the main source of Global Warming, which is absent in the case of Nuclear Energy. These arguments are often put forward to promote the use of Nuclear Energy. However not all is well with the Nuclear Energy. There are the questions of the waste problem so far unsolved, safety of Nuclear Reactors is not guaranteed to the extent that they are inherently safe. If we aim to construct inherently safe reactors, then the economics of a Nuclear Reactor makes it unacceptable. 148 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The Eastern Enlargement of the EU identifies the major fiscal challenges facing Central European countries on the road to European Union accession. The Introduction and three other chapters are on broad macro-economic issues, and four `sectoral' chapters follow these on such questions as the fiscal impact of pensions, health reform, taxation and agricultural policies. A comprehensive analysis of tax systems and of the major elements of public social expenditures (pensions and health care systems) is presented. This analysis helps to identify the key factors determining the present size of governments and the need for, and prospects of, fiscal adjustment. In addition, a comparison of fiscal policy is carried out, followed by a long-term fiscal projection until year 2010. The book is relevant to academics in macroeconomics, European studies and transition economics, as well as in public finance and public policy sciences. It should also appeal to a significant professional audience. Policy makers and economists interested in the accession process in EU countries - at ministries, National Banks, research departments of banks, international organizations (the EU Commission, World Bank, IMF, OECD) - will have a strong interest in this book. 256 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Based on a comprehensive review of human and societal evolution the book develops an approach to conscious, self-guided evolution. In the course of the evolutionary journey of our species, there have been three seminal events. The first happened some seven million yeas ago, when our humanoid ancestors entered on the evolutionary scene. Their journey toward the second crucial event lasted over six million years when - as the greatest event of our evolutionary history - homo sapiens sapiens, started the revolutionary process of cultural evolution. Today, we have arrived at the threshold of the third major event, `the revolution of conscious evolution,' when it becomes our responsibility to enter into the evolutionary design space and guide the evolutionary journey of our species. The book tells the story of the first six million years of the journey in just enough detail to understand how evolution had worked in times when it was primarily biological, driven by natural selection. With the human revolution some fifty thousand years ago, with the emergence of self-reflective consciousness, the evolutionary process transformed from biological into cultural. From this point on, the book follows the journey with detailed attention, in order to learn how cultural evolution works. The book is organized in three parts. Part One commences with an exposition of a brief history of the evolutionary idea through time with a focus on a review of the science of general evolution and specifically social and societal evolution. Next, the book unfolds the `evolutionary story' of our species from the time when the first humanoids entered the evolutionary scene to our current era. Part Two develops a systems view of evolution, explores the ways and means of how evolution works, characterizes evolutionary consciousness and develops the idea of conscious evolution. Part Three builds upon the knowledge developed in the first two parts and sets forth the key conditions of conscious, self-guided evolution, elaborating the core condition, which is the acquisition of evolutionary competence through evolutionary learning. The focus of this part is on an approach to the design of evolutionary guidance systems that our families, neighborhoods, communities, organizations, social and societal systems can use to design the future they aspire to attain. The work is set aside from other statements in three important ways. It provides: (1) a comprehensive review of how evolution has worked with a focus on socio-cultural evolution, (2) an explanation of evolutionary consciousness and the conditions of engaging in conscious evolution, and (3) most significantly, it develops a detailed approach and a methodology to the design of evolutionary guidance systems. 444 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The problems arising from the existence of asymmetric information in public decision making have been widely explored by economists. Most of the traditional analysis of public sector activities has been reviewed to take accountofthe possible distortions arising from an asymmetric distribution of relevant information among the actors of the public decision-making process. A normative approach has been developed to design incentive schemes which tackle adverse selection and moral hazard problems within public organisations: our understanding of these problems is now much better, and some of the mechanisms designed have had important practical implications. While this analysis is still under way in many fields of public economics, as the papers by Jones and Zanola, and Trimarchi witness, a debate is ongoing on the possible theoretical limitations ofthis approach and on its actual relevance for public sector activities. This book encompasses different contributions to these issues, on both theoretical and practical areas, which were firstly presented at a conference in Catania. The innermost problem in the current discussion arises from the fact that this normative analysis is firmly rooted in the complete contracting framework, with the consequence that, despite the analytical complexities of most models, their results rely on very simplified assumptions. Most complexities of the organisation of public sector, and more generally, of writing 'contracts', are therefore swept away. 228 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Thisbook is the fruit of a number of years of assimilating another culture and learning about the evolution of its institutions, altogether an incr- iblyrich andrewarding experience. Ihopetopassonto the reader some of that richness in the belief that, even in a 'globalizing' context, learning about other nations and cultures is more and more necessary. The reasons andvalues behind this belief are perhaps evident,but I amconvincedthat they bear repeating here. To begin with, the hasty generalizations that often liebehind the cynicism-and ultimately the violence-of ethnocentrism and xe- phobia are still being aired today and still need to be fought, even in 'unified and advanced' regions of the world like Europe and the United States. The historical and social sciences disciplines need to be solicited constantly in this combat, even though they themselves are terrains of controversy and contestation. I personally have not lost faith in their 'progressive' potential and character. Second, my belief is that only through this process of appeal to these disciplines and their findings can we resist a dangerous contemporary slide into simplisticand sensation- ist pictures of the world-viewpoints often associated with an implicit assumption that social and economic change are linear processes, so- how unfolding according to the same neat 'logic' wherever they are at work. 260 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Principles of Public Policy Practice was written with policy makers, concerned citizens, and students of public policy in mind. Striving to avoid technical language, the author introduces a new paradigm that starts from the commonality of human nature and the assumption that public policy should be impartial. Rather than playing the interests of one group versus those of another, he argues convincingly that public policy should aim at enhancing the ex ante welfare for everyone if everyone did not know the position or the identity one would assume. Using this conceptual device of the representative individual, the analysis readily leads to policy implications that are both reasonable and concrete in diverse areas ranging from health care, crime and punishment to macroeconomic and financial market stability. The book concludes with a chapter summarizing the various principles of public policy practice that will meet the challenges of the new millennium. These principles, certainly of interest to academics in social sciences who are studying public policy, political economy, international financial systems, and capital markets, should appeal equally to practitioners, including public policy makers, consultants, advisers, administrators, and public service trade unions. 252 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -1. 1 Motivations Deciding is a very complex and difficult task. Some people even argue that our ability to make decisions in complex situations is the main feature that distinguishes us from animals (it is also common to say that laughing is the main difference). Nevertheless, when the task is too complex or the interests at stake are too important, it quite often happens that we do not know or we are not sure what to decide and, in many instances, we resort to a decision support technique: an informal one-we toss a coin, we ask an oracle, we visit an astrologer, we consult an expert, we think-or a formal one. Although informal decision support techniques can be of interest, in this book, we will focus on formal ones. Among the latter, we find some well-known decision support techniques: cost-benefit analysis, multiple criteria decision analysis, decision trees, . . . But there are many other ones, sometimes not presented as decision support techniques, that help making decisions. Let us cite but a few examples. - When the director of a school must decide whether a given student will pass or fail, he usually asks each teacher to assess the merits of the student by means of a grade. The director then sums the grades and compares the result to a threshold. - When a bank must decide whether a given client will obtain a credit or not, a technique, called credit scoring, is often used. 292 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) continue to be the subject of concern amongst the public, as well as the scientific and policy-making communities. These concerns are exemplified by the international efforts co-ordinated by the United Nations' Environment Programme and the +Economic Commission for Europe. Whilst the ultimate origin of this concern is the adverse effects of persistent organic pollutants in both humans and wildlife, there are other factors involved. In particular, whilst ambient concentrations of POPs in air and water present little direct hazard via inhalation and ingestion respectively, their propensity for transfer through the food chain means that species at the top of the ecological pyramid - including humans - can be exposed to concentrations of concern via their diet. Furthermore, their ability to undergo long-range atmospheric transport means that they represent a truly cross-boundary problem for mankind. Persistent Organic Pollutants focuses on the sources, atmospheric behaviour, terrestrial and aquatic food chain transfer, and human exposure and fate aspects of this important class of chemicals. Other topical issues are addressed, namely: temporal trends in contamination; their transport to polar regions; and the significance of the former Warsaw Pact nations of Central and Eastern Europe as both a global reservoir and source of POPs. Whilst the main focus is on PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and PAH; other organochlorine POPs such as DDT, lindane, and dieldrin are covered. Persistent Organic Pollutants also provides up-to-date, detailed, and authoritative coverage required by academics, environmental consultants, and policy-makers. Sufficient introductory material is also included to be of relevance to final year undergraduates, Masters and PhD students in Environmental Science/Chemistry. 292 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Wolf's discovery demonstrating that a reporter gene is expressed in myocytes subsequent to injection of naked DNA, was exploited by immunologists and vaccinologists to develop a new generation of vaccines. This observation galvanized the research and in a short lapse of time, an oceanic volume of knowledge has been accumulated. The research carried out in a variety of animal models showed the efficacy of genetic immunization against viruses, bacteria, and some parasites by the ability to induce a strong priming effect resulting from long-lasting persistence of plasmid as episomes. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that newborn or infant immune unresponsiveness to classical vaccines can be corrected by genetic immunization. The applications of genetic immunization for prophylaxis of infections was extended to immunotherapy, namely, cancerous, auto immune, and allergic diseases. Immunologists have provided pertinent information on the cellular basis of the immune responses elicited by genetic immunization, and molecular biologists have established the molecular basis of intrinsic adjuvant properties of plasmids. 188 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -It is clear that our environment is changing, and not for the better. Companies cannot ignore environmental issues anymore. Public awareness is growing, legislation is tightening, and demand for ISO 14000 compliance is rising. For many, however, the field of environmental management (including ISO 14000) is full of unfamiliar terms, high learning curves, unproductive approaches, much frustration, and often little action. If environmental management is to become widely accepted and self-motivated in industry, it must connect to the basic motivators for business: increased competitiveness and profitability. Activity-Based Cost And Environmental Management: A Different Approach to the ISO 14000 Compliance demonstrates how environmental assessment and management can be performed based upon familiar principles: cost accounting and cost management. Specifically, this book describes how the well-established Activity-Based Costing and Management principles can be extended with non-monetary environmental dimensions. The result is a single, integrated framework called Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management that provides the tools and abilities to do both environmental management and cost management in an integrated manner and according to modern management principles. This integration of economic and environmental dimensions based upon familiar cost accounting and management principles makes it easier for decision-makers to not only include the environment in their decision-making, but also to identify, rank and prioritize opportunities for win-win situations where competitiveness is increased and environmental impact reduced at the same time. In this book, the basic concepts of Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management are described, as well as how to make your own integrated Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management implementations and how to get the most out of them using uncertainty distributions, Monte Carlo simulations, and sensitivity charts. Among others, the book includes chapters on environmental management and Activity-Based Costing, as well as several real-life case studies from companies for which the authors implemented Activity-Based Cost and Environmental Management systems. 344 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Condición: Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Since the computing revolution, modelling has become the most important way in which we further our knowledge about how the sea moves and how the processes in the sea operate. The coast and the continental shelf are two of the most important areas of the sea to understand. Coastal and Shelf Sea Modelling is therefore very timely and important. In this text, modelling the processes that occur in the sea is motivated continually through real life examples. Sometimes these are incorporated naturally within the text, but there are also a number of case studies taken from the recent research literature. These will be particularly valuable to students as they are presented in a style more readily accessible than that found in a typical research journal. The motivation for modelling is care for the environment. The well publicised problem of global warming, the phenomenon of El Niño, more localised pollution scares caused by tanker accidents and even smaller scale coastal erosion caused by storms all provide motivation for modelling and all get coverage in this text. Particularly novel features of the book include a systematic treatment of the modelling process in a marine context, the inclusion of diffusion in some detail, ecosystems modelling and a brief foray into wave prediction. The final chapter provides the reader with the opportunity to do some modelling; there are many worked examples followed by exercises that readers can try themselves. All answers are provided. Throughout, the style is informal and the technicalities in term of mathematics are kept to a minimum. Coastal and Shelf Sea Modelling is particularly suitable for graduate marine and oceanographic modelling courses, but will also prove useful to coastal engineers and students at any level interested in the quantitative modelling of marine processes. It is stressed that only a minimal level of mathematics (first year calculus or less) is required; the style and content is introductory. 276 pp. Englisch.