springer netherlands springer netherlands nov 2010 (235 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -South Asia is home to a diverse range of prehistoric and contemporary cultures that include foragers, pastoralists, and farmers. In this book, archaeologists, biological anthropologists, geneticists and linguists are brought together in order to provide a comprehensive account of the history and evolution of human populations residing in the subcontinent. A wide range of topics and issues are addressed in this book, including hominin adaptations, behaviours, and dispersals; the origin and spread of food producing economies; and the cultural, biological and genetic relationship of foragers and settled communities. New theories, methodologies and interpretations presented in this book are bound to have a profound effect on the way in which the cultural record of South Asia is perceived and how this evolutionary history relates to events in the wider world.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 480 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -An understanding of the uniquely human behavior of stone tool making tackles questions about hominins¿ ability to culturally transmit and expand their base of social and practical knowledge and their cognitive capacities for advanced planning. The appearance of stone tools has often been viewed as a threshold event, impacting directly and profoundly the later course of cultural and social evolution. Alternatively, it has been understood as a prelude to significant succeeding changes in behavioral, social and biological evolution of hominins. This book presents a series of recent enquiries into the technological and adaptive significance of Oldowan stone tools. While anchored in a long research tradition, these studies rely on recent discoveries and innovative analyses of the archaeological record of ca. 2.6¿1.0 million years ago in Africa and Eurasia, dealing with the earliest lithic industries as manifestations of hominin adaptations and as expressions of hominin cognitive abilities.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 176 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Since The Theory of the Moiré Phenomenon was published it became the main reference book in its field. It provided for the first time a complete, unified and coherent theoretical approach for the explanation of the moiré phenomenon, starting from the basics of the theory, but also going in depth into more advanced research results. However, it is clear that a single book cannnot cover the full breadth of such a vast subject, and indeed, this original volume admittently concentrated on only some aspects of the moiré theory, while other interesting topics had to be left out. Perhaps the most important area that remained beyond the scope of the original book consists of the moiré effects that occur between correlated random or aperiodic structures. These moiré effects are known as Glass patterns, after Leon Glass who described them in the late 1960s. However, this branch of the moiré theory remained for many years less widely known and less understood than its periodic or repetitive counterpart: Less widely known because moiré effects between aperiodic or random structures are less frequently encountered in everyday¿s life, and less understood because these effects did not easily lend themselves to the same mathematical methods that so nicely explained the classical moiré effects between periodic or repetitive structures.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 512 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Over the past decade there has been an increasing demand for suitable material in the area of mathematical modelling as applied to science and engineering. There has been a constant movement in the emphasis from developing proficiency in purely mathematical techniques to an approach which caters for industrial and scientific applications in emerging new technologies. In this textbook we have attempted to present the important fundamental concepts of mathematical modelling and to demonstrate their use in solving certain scientific and engineering problems. This text, which serves as a general introduction to the area of mathematical modelling, is aimed at advanced undergraduate students in mathematics or closely related disciplines, e.g., students who have some prerequisite knowledge such as one-variable calculus, linear algebra and ordinary differential equations. Some prior knowledge of computer programming would be useful but is not considered essential. The text also contains some more challenging material which could prove attractive to graduate students in engineering or science who are involved in mathematical modelling. In preparing the text we have tried to use our experience of teaching mathematical modelling to undergraduate students in a wide range of areas including mathematics and computer science and disciplines in engineering and science. An important aspect of the text is the use made of scientific computer software packages such as MAPLE for symbolic algebraic manipulations and MA TLAB for numerical simulation.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 304 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This is a comprehensive overview of the basics of fuzzy control, which also brings together some recent research results in soft computing, in particular fuzzy logic using genetic algorithms and neural networks. This book offers researchers not only a solid background but also a snapshot of the current state of the art in this field.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 472 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The papers that comprise this book could hardly been conceived of 10 years ago. The idea of commercial republics having a positive impact on peaceful international relations was, of course, not new. Kant and Montesquieu argued for the idea and the idea that trade and peace might be linked has been standard political rhetoric in the west for decades. These were macro-level analyses of commerce and peace.This remains a field in its infancy and this book provides a foundation for further in-depthanalysis and inquiry.Previously published in the Journal of Business Ethics, Volume 89 Supplement 4, 2009Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 276 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology offers a succinct and self-contained treatment of general relativity and its application to compact objects, gravitational waves and cosmology. The required mathematical concepts are introduced informally, following geometrical intuition as much as possible. The approach is theoretical, but there is ample discussion of observational aspects and of instrumental issues where appropriate.The book includes such topical issues as the Gravity Probe B mission, interferometer detectors of gravitational waves, and the physics behind the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Written for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students in (astro)physics, it is ideally suited for a lecture course and contains 140 exercises with extensive hints. The reader is assumed to be familiar with linear algebra and analysis, ordinary differential equations, special relativity, and basic thermal physics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 308 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This monograph is intended as a concise and self-contained guide to practitioners and graduate students for applying approaches in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to real-world problems that require a quantification of viscous incompressible flows. In various projects related to NASA missions, the authors have gained CFD expertise over many years by developing and utilizing tools especially related to viscous incompressible flows. They are looking at CFD from an engineering perspective, which is especially useful when working on real-world applications. From that point of view, CFD requires two major elements, namely methods/algorithm and engineering/physical modeling. As for the methods, CFD research has been performed with great successes. In terms of modeling/simulation, mission applications require a deeper understanding of CFD and flow physics, which has only been debated in technical conferences and to a limited scope. This monograph fills the gap by offering in-depth examples for students and engineers to get useful information on CFD for their activities. The procedural details are given with respect to particular tasks from the authors¿ field of research, for example simulations of liquid propellant rocket engine subsystems, turbo-pumps and the blood circulations in the human brain as well as the design of artificial heart devices. However, those examples serve as illustrations of computational and physical challenges relevant to many other fields. Unlike other books on incompressible flow simulations, no abstract mathematics are used in this book. Assuming some basic CFD knowledge, readers can easily transfer the insights gained from specific CFD applications in engineering to their area of interest.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 304 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Ancient China was outstanding in mechanical technology before the 15th century. Numerous ingenious machines were invented. However, due to incomplete documentation and loss of finished objects, most of the original machines cannot be verified and many of the inventions did not pass down to later generations. This book, based on the author¿s research and teaching experiences over the last 20 years, is devoted to presenting an innovative methodology in the area of mechanical historiography for the systematic reconstruction design of ancient Chinese machines that have been lost to time. Its purpose is to generate all possible design concepts of lost machines. If the defined and/or concluded design specifications, topological characteristics, and - sign requirements and constraints are feasible, one of the resulting rec- struction designs should be the original design. Such an approach provides a logical tool for historians in ancient mechanical engineering and techn- ogy to further identify the possible original designs according to proven historical archives. However, this work will not deal with the credibility of historical literary works. It supposes that the lost machines existed, and tries to demonstrate the feasibility of reconstructing the lost designs. The book is organized in such a way that it can be used for teaching, research or self-study. Chapter 1 introduces the study, classifications, and process for the reconstruction design of ancient machinery.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 324 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This is the first of two volumes introducing structural and continuum mechanics in a comprehensive and consistent way. The current book presents all theoretical developments both in text and by means of an extensive set of figures. This same approach is used in the many examples, drawings and problems. Both formal and intuitive (engineering) arguments are used in parallel to derive the principles used, for instance in bending moment diagrams and shear force diagrams. A very important aspect of this book is the straightforward and consistent sign convention, based on the stress definitions of continuum mechanics. The book is suitable for self-education.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 796 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Fred Van Dyke¿s new textbook, Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications, 2nd Edition represents a major new text for anyone interested in conservation. Drawing on his experience as a conservation biologist, college teacher, and successful textbook author, Van Dyke¿s organizational clarity and readable style make this book an invaluable resource for students in conservation around the globe.Presenting key information and well-selected examples, this student-friendly volume carefully integrates the science of conservation biology with its implications for ethics, law, policy and economics. In addition to rigorous examination of the scientific theory supporting conservation biology and its applications, this unique book includes a number of features which set it apart from others. These include its chapters on aquatic conservation, landscape ecology, and ecosystem management, and its direct explanation and invitation to students on how to enter the work of conservation as a professional and personal vocation.Aimed primarily at undergraduates studying courses in conservation and conservation biology, this book will also be useful to practicing conservationists and natural resource managers. 508 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Forest mensuration is one of the most fundamental disciplines within forest and related sciences. It deals with the measurement of trees and stands and the analysis of the resultant information. During the early days of sustained forest management simple measurement and estimation methods and with the analysis of inventory and research data were available. The middle of last c- tury, however, witnessed a worldwide increase in the need for more quan- tative information about trees and stands. This generated the need for more sophisticated methods to obtain and analyze forest data. This development was followed by a phenomenal explosion of information. During the past decades there has been fruitful cooperation between the Institute of Forest Inventory and Forest Growth, formerly ¿Institute of Forest Management and Forest Yield Sciences¿ of the University of Gottingen, ¿ Germany and the Faculty of Forestry of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. This book is one of the results of this fruitful cooperation between these institutions.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 404 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Following the recent developments in the field of absolute stability, Prof. Xiaoxin Liao, in conjunction with Prof. Pei Yu, has created a second edition of his seminal work on the subject. Liao begins with an introduction to the Lurie problem and Lurie control system, before moving on to the simple algebraic sufficient conditions for the absolute stability of autonomous and non-autonomous ODE systems, as well as several special classes of Lurie-type systems. The focus of the book then shifts toward the new results and research that have appeared in the decade since the first edition was published. This book is aimed to be used by undergraduates in the areas of applied mathematics, nonlinear control systems, and chaos control and synchronisation, but may also be useful as a reference for researchers and engineers. The book is self-contained, though a basic knowledge of calculus, linear system and matrix theory, and ordinary differential equations is a prerequisite.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 396 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The dilemma facing Cyprus-that of limited water supplies (both in terms of quantity and quality) in the face of steadily increasing water demand, coupled with a fragmented institutional structure of the water sector-is characteristic of most arid and semi-arid countries all over the world. Another common characteristic of Cyprus is that the water management administrative boundaries there do not coincide with the hydrological ones, while the ongoing political problem of the island creates significant administration problems.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 180 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Collaborative decision making processes are a form of communication inside organizations. Their functioning can teach lessons for the design of electronic office systems. Those processes are open ended and therefore decide themselves on their form. Like oral deliberations which cannot be modelled in advance any open ended communication process needs means for common control over the further advancement and the ending of the process. The history of German administrative practice and its special methods of using disposals for the control of common processes shows the creation of records as based on communication needs generated by the intention of joint actions. For electronic decision making processes the purposes remain the same, but the means have to follow the effects of electronic communication on messages. The book is a reworked English version of a thesis for the official qualification for university professorship accepted by the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. Germany.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 224 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Just war theory is the traditional approach taken to questions of the morality of war, but war today is far from traditional. War has been deeply affected in recent years by a variety of social and technological developments in areas such as international terrorism, campaigns of genocide and ethnic cleansing, the global human rights movement, economic globalization, and military technology. This book asks whether just war theory is adequate to the challenges these developments pose. Just war theory provides rules for determining when it is justified to fight a war. But some have argued that the nature of contemporary war makes these rules obsolete. For example, genocidal and aggressive regimes may require the use of military force that is not strictly in self-defense, as just war theory requires. In addition, the theory provides rules for determining what the limits are on justified conduct in war. But the random violence of terrorism and the deliberately inflicted violence of torture seem endemic to our age, yet take us beyond the limits set by these rules of conduct in war. By carefully examining the phenomena of intervention, terrorism, and torture from a number of different perspectives, the essays in this book explore this set of issues with insight and clarity.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 340 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book started its life during a symposium we organised on Quality of Life in Old Age at the Fifth Conference of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) in Frankfurt in July 2003. We are extremely grateful to Alex Michalos for sponsoring that session, encouraging us to use the symposium presentations as the basis for a book and for his support during the commissioning and editing process. We are also very grateful to the authors of this volume for the prompt delivery of their manuscripts and responses to our editorial comments. Finally our special thanks to Marg Walker for her expert and efficient preparation of the manuscript for publication. Heidrun Mollenkopf Alan Walker Heidelberg Sheffield ix SECTION I UNDERSTANDING QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLD AGE ALAN WALKER AND HEIDRUN MOLLENKOPF 1. INTERNATIONAL AND MULTIDISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON QUALITY OF LIFE IN OLD AGE Conceptual issues Quality of life (QoL) is a multidimensional, holistic construct assessed from many different perspectives and by many disciplines. Moreover, the concept of QoL can be applied to practically all important domains of life. Thus, QoL research has to include social, environmental, structural, and health-related aspects, and be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. This holds even more when QoL in old age is the focus because ageing itself is a multidimensional process.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -'Adhesion of Cells, Viruses and Nanoparticles' describes the adhesion of cells, viruses and nanoparticles starting from the basic principles of adhesion science, familiar to postgraduates, and leading on to recent research results.The underlying theory is that of van der Waals forces acting between cells and substrates, embodied in the molecules lying at the surfaces, together with the geometry and elasticity of the materials involved.The first part describes the fundamental background to adhesion principles, including the phenomenology, the important equations and the modeling ideas. Then the mechanisms of adhesion are explored in the second part, including the elastic deformations of spheres and the importance of the energy of adhesion as measured in various tests. It is demonstrated that adhesion of cells is statistical and depends on Brownian movement and on the complex multiple contacts that can form as cells move around. Then, detailed chapters on cell adhesion, contact of viruses and aggregation of nanoparticles follow in Part 3. Finally, the last chapter looks to the future understanding of cell adhesion and points out some interesting directions of research, development and treatment of diseases related to these phenomena.This book is an ideal resource for researchers on adhesion molecules, receptors, cell and tissue culturing, virus infection, toxicity of nanoparticles and bioreactor fouling. It can also be used to support undergraduate and Masters level teaching courses.'This is a fascinating book and it is an invaluable resource for understanding particle-particle/surface adhesion at micro- and nano- scales. I intend to keep one for my future reference and highly recommend it to my students.'(Prof. Zhibing Zhang, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK)Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 300 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Viewed as a flashpoint of the Scientific Revolution, early modern astronomy witnessed a virtual explosion of ideas about the nature and structure of the world. This study explores these theories in a variety of intellectual settings, challenging our view of modern science as a straightforward successor to Aristotelian natural philosophy. It shows how astronomers dealt with celestial novelties by deploying old ideas in new ways and identifying more subtle notions of cosmic rationality. Beginning with the celestial spheres of Peurbach and ending with the evolutionary implications of the new star Mira Ceti, it surveys a pivotal phase in our understanding of the universe as a place of constant change that confirmed deeper patterns of cosmic order and stability.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Heavy metals can be emitted into environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources, mainly mining and industrial activity. Human exposure occurs through all environmental media. Infants are more susceptible to the adverse effects of exposure. Increasing attention is now being paid to the mental development of children exposed to heavy metals. The purpose of this book is to evaluate the existing knowledge on intellectual impairment in children exposed to heavy metals in their living environment and to identify the research needs in order to obtain a clearer picture of the situation in countries and regions at risk, in which the economy is closely related to metallurgy and heavy metals emission, and to recommend a strategy for human protection. In greater detail the main objectives could be formulated as follows: to review the principal sources of single, and complex mixtures of, heavy metal pollutants in the environment; to identify suitable methodology for chemical analyses in the environment and in humans; to evaluate the existing methods for measuring mental impairment, including their reliability and validity; to recommend a standard testing protocol to be used in future research; to assess the future role of environmental heavy metal pollution in countries and regions at risk and its effects on children¿s neurological development; to recommend a prevention strategy for protecting children¿s health and development.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 364 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Heavy metals can be emitted into environment by both natural and anthropogenic sources, mainly mining and industrial activity. Human exposure occurs through all environmental media. Infants are more susceptible to the adverse effects of exposure. Increasing attention is now being paid to the mental development of children exposed to heavy metals. The purpose of this book is to evaluate the existing knowledge on intellectual impairment in children exposed to heavy metals in their living environment and to identify the research needs in order to obtain a clearer picture of the situation in countries and regions at risk, in which the economy is closely related to metallurgy and heavy metals emission, and to recommend a strategy for human protection. In greater detail the main objectives could be formulated as follows: to review the principal sources of single, and complex mixtures of, heavy metal pollutants in the environment; to identify suitable methodology for chemical analyses in the environment and in humans; to evaluate the existing methods for measuring mental impairment, including their reliability and validity; to recommend a standard testing protocol to be used in future research; to assess the future role of environmental heavy metal pollution in countries and regions at risk and its effects on children¿s neurological development; to recommend a prevention strategy for protecting children¿s health and development.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 364 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book discusses a new class of photonic devices, known as surface plasmon nanophotonic structures. The book highlights several exciting new discoveries, while providing a clear discussion of the underlying physics, the nanofabrication issues, and the materials considerations involved in designing plasmonic devices with new functionality. Chapters written by the leaders in the field of plasmonics provide a solid background to each topic.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 280 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -For centuries people have been puzzled by the inevitability of human aging. For most of the second half of the twentieth century aging remained a mystery, or an unsolved biological problem. At the end of the 20th century a remarkable scientific discovery emerged. It was not a single discovery in the usual sense, because it was based on a series of important interconnected insights over quite a long period of time. These insights made it possible for the very first time to understand the biological reasons for aging in animals and man. It can already be said, however, that the many observations and insights that explain aging will not be accepted as established knowledge for a long time. The field is still full of scientists, and non-scientists, who are just happy to go on speculating about the 'mystery' of aging. The aim of this book is to dispel ignorance by explaining in non-technical language what are the reasons for aging and the myth of excessive prolongation of life.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 148 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The journal Boundary-Layer Meteorology was started in 1970 and has become the premier vehicle for the publication of research papers in its field. Dr R.E. Munn served as Editor-in-Chief until recently. The special 25th Anniversary volume, on which this book is based, was compiled from review and other articles solicited and selected as a `Festschrift' to honour Ted Munn's achievement as editor of the journal over that time. Articles by leading contributors to the field include reviews of field studies (Askervein, HEXOS, Cabauw) and their impacts; numerical modelling (large-eddy simulation of the surface layer, frontal structures); analyses and critical discussions (of the von Karman constant, bulk aerodynamic formulations, air-sea interaction, vegetation canopies); and reviews or previews of progress in our understanding of the atmospheric boundary layer, turbulence simulation, Lagrangian descriptions of turbulent diffusion and remote sensing of the boundary layer. The collection provides an excellent perspective on the state of the subject and where it is headed. It should provide fascinating and stimulating reading for researchers and students of boundary-layer meteorology and related areas.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 424 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book contains extended versions of papers presented at the international Conference VIPIMAGE 2009 ¿ ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Computational Vision and Medical Image, that was held at Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Portugal, from 14th to 16th of October 2009. This conference was the second ECCOMAS thematic conference on computational vision and medical image processing. It covered topics related to image processing and analysis, medical imaging and computational modelling and simulation, considering their multidisciplinary nature.The book collects the state-of-the-art research, methods and new trends on the subject of computational vision and medical image processing contributing to the development of these knowledge areas.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 360 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In this book, we are concerned with studying the co-design methodology, in general, and how to determine the more suitable interface mechanism in a co-design system, in particular. This will be based on the characteristics of the application and those of the target architecture of the system. We provide guidelines to support the designer's choice of the interface mechanism.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 252 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Heat Shock Proteins: Potent Mediators of Inflammation and Immunity currently provides the most up-to-date review on new mechanisms and provides exciting insights into how heat shock proteins modulates the hosts immune response. Written by leaders in the field of heat shock protein immunobiology, the chapters systematically and in a step wise fashion takes the reader through the fascinating sequence of events by which heat shock proteins activate immune responses and provides answers as to its biological significance to the host. From the early stages of binding and receptors-mediated signalling, to new paradigms by which heat shock proteins are released into the circulation, to antigen processing and presentation, and finally to the immune response itself this book is a must read for graduate and postgraduates in the field of Biology (plant and mammal), Biochemistry (pro- and eukaryotic), Immunology, Microbiology, Exercise Medicine, Physiology, Inflammatory diseases, Autoimmunity, Pharmacology and Pathology.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 372 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -What is exactly ¿Safety¿ A safety system should be defined as a system that will not endanger human life or the environment. A safety-critical system requires utmost care in their specification and design in order to avoid possible errors in their implementation that should result in unexpected system¿s behavior during his operating ¿life¿. An inappropriate method could lead to loss of life, and will almost certainly result in financial penalties in the long run, whether because of loss of business or because the imposition of fines. Risks of this kind are usually managed with the methods and tools of the ¿safety engineering¿. A life-critical system is designed to 9 lose less than one life per billion (10 ). Nowadays, computers are used at least an order of magnitude more in safety-critical applications compared to two decades ago. Increasingly electronic devices are being used in applications where their correct operation is vital to ensure the safety of the human life and the environment. These application ranging from the anti-lock braking systems (ABS) in automobiles, to the fly-by-wire aircrafts, to biomedical supports to the human care. Therefore, it is vital that electronic designers be aware of the safety implications of the systems they develop. State of the art electronic systems are increasingly adopting progr- mable devices for electronic applications on earthling system. In particular, the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices are becoming very interesting due to their characteristics in terms of performance, dimensions and cost.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 164 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Even though mathematics and physics have been related for centuries and this relation appears to be unproblematic, there are many questions still open: Is mathematics really necessary for physics, or could physics exist without mathematics Should we think physically and then add the mathematics apt to formalise our physical intuition, or should we think mathematically and then interpret physically the obtained results Do we get mathematical objects by abstraction from real objects, or vice versa Why is mathematics effective into physics These are all relevant questions, whose answers are necessary to fully understand the status of physics, particularly of contemporary physics. The aim of this book is to offer plausible answers to such questions through both historical analyses of relevant cases, and philosophical analyses of the relations between mathematics and physics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 256 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -As a natural continuation of the first volume of Algebras, Rings and Modules, this book provides both the classical aspects of the theory of groups and their representations as well as a general introduction to the modern theory of representations including the representations of quivers and finite partially ordered sets and their applications to finite dimensional algebras.Detailed attention is given to special classes of algebras and rings including Frobenius, quasi-Frobenius, right serial rings and tiled orders using the technique of quivers. The most important recent developments in the theory of these rings are examined.The Cartan Determinant Conjecture and some properties of global dimensions of different classes of rings are also given. The last chapters of this volume provide the theory of semiprime Noetherian semiperfect and semidistributive rings.Of course, this book is mainly aimed at researchers in the theory of rings and algebras but graduate and postgraduate students, especially those using algebraic techniques, should also find this book of interest.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 412 pp. Englisch.