springer netherlands springer netherlands sep 2012 (114 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Our book introduces a method to evaluate the accuracy of trend estimation algorithms under conditions similar to those encountered in real time series processing. This method is based on Monte Carlo experiments with artificial time series numerically generated by an original algorithm. The second part of the book contains several automatic algorithms for trend estimation and time series partitioning. The source codes of the computer programs implementing these original automatic algorithms are given in the appendix and will be freely available on the web. The book contains clear statement of the conditions and the approximations under which the algorithms work, as well as the proper interpretation of their results. We illustrate the functioning of the analyzed algorithms by processing time series from astrophysics, finance, biophysics, and paleoclimatology. The numerical experiment method extensively used in our book is already in common use in computational and statistical physics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 144 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This bookcarries out an epistemological analysis of the decision, including a critical analysis through the continuous reference to an interdisciplinary approach including a synthesis of philosophical approaches, biology and neuroscience. Besides this it represents the analysis of causality here seen not from the formal point of view,but fromthe'embodied' point of view. ¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 112 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The aim of the book is to argue for the restoration of theoretical and practical reason to economics. It presents Nancy Cartwright and Amartya Sen¿s ideas as cases of this restoration and sees Aristotle as an influence on their thought. It looks at how we can use these ideas to develop a valuable understanding of practical reason for solving concrete problems in science and society. Cartwright¿s capacities are real causes of events. Sen¿s capabilities are the human person¿s freedoms or possibilities. They relate these concepts to Aristotelian concepts. This suggests that these concepts can be combined. Sen¿s capabilities are Cartwright¿s capacities in the human realm; capabilities are real causes of events in economic life. Institutions allow us to deliberate on and guide our decisions about capabilities, through the use of practical reason. Institutions thus embody practical reason and infuse certain predictability into economic action. The book presents a case study: the UNDP¿s HDI.¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 120 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Reunification is a primary goal of foster care systems and the most common permanency planning decision.It isdefined as the return of children placed in protective care to the home of their birth family and used to describe the act of restoring a child in out-of-home care back to the biological family. Yet reunification decision-making and the process of reintegrating children into birth families remains under researched.This Brief takes a look at family reunification knowledge and research in Australia wherethere isevidence that most children placed in protective care are eventually reunited with their birth parents.It explores how a knowledge of reunification decision making and outcomes can contribute to strengthening practice and informing policy formulation and program planning in Child Welfare.¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 168 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Palaeobiogeography is a complex subject which processes information provided by both Biology and Earth Sciences. It is conceptually and philosophically equivalent to neobiogeography. Nevertheless, its methods are somewhat different, since it is limited by the incompleteness of the fossil record. On the other hand, it has direct access to the time dimension, a key ingredient of organic evolution. Mesozoic benthonic mollusks, and especially bivalves, have a great potential for palaeobiogeographical analysis due to their commonly good preservation, abundance, diversity and high dispersion potential at the larval stage. From a merely descriptive point of view, the analysis of their distribution shows latitudinal gradients and distributional patterns, both at regional and global scales, which are the basis for the recognition of biochoremas or palaeobiogeographical units of different ranks. Moving forward towards a causalpalaeobiogeography, these organisms also provide interesting insight into particular biogeographical questions, such as bipolarity and its origin. The evolution in time of therecognized biochoremas can be discussed in relation to palaeoclimas and extinction events. Finally, some of the results obtained from the analysis of the distribution of pastbivalve biotas were even used to propose and discuss the development of marine corridors and argue about the distribution of continents in the past.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 148 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Paradoxes provide a vehicle for exposing misinterpretations and misapplications of accepted principles. This book discusses seven paradoxes surrounding probability theory. Some remain the focus of controversy; others have allegedly been solved, however the accepted solutions are demonstrably incorrect. Each paradox is shown to rest on one or more fallacies. Instead of the esoteric, idiosyncratic, and untested methods that have been brought to bear on these problems, the book invokes uncontroversial probability principles, acceptable both to frequentists and subjectivists. The philosophical disputation inspired by these paradoxes is shown to be misguided and unnecessary; for instance, startling claims concerning human destiny and the nature of reality are directly related to fallacious reasoning in a betting paradox, and a problem analyzed in philosophy journals is resolved by means of a computer program.¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -These are turbulent times in which it becomes increasingly important to survive and thrive despite stressful circumstances. Hardiness is the pattern of attitudes and skills that provides the courage and strategies that helps people be resilient by turning potential disasters into growth opportunities and fulfillment, thereby enhancing their performance, sense of fulfillment, and health. Hardiness as the pathway to resilience under stress has become of considerable interest, it is beginning to have an influence on the emerging emphasis of positive psychology by expanding this approach beyond mere happiness, to the courage and strategies needed to make the most of difficult times.The book starts with the special value of hardiness in being resilient by not only surviving, but also thriving under stress, and thereby achieving fulfillment in living. The book then elaborates on the pattern of attitudes and skills of hardiness that form the pathway to this needed resiliency. It discusses the 30 years of validational research and practice that is available concerning hardiness. The book offers various applications of hardiness assessment and training that can contribute to a better life. These include, among others, how hardiness can be trained in school and emphasized in psychotherapy, how hardiness facilitates the intimacy and longevity of relationships, and what organizations need in order to perform successfully in these turbulent times.The book is of interest to academics, industrial and organizational psychologists, clinical psychologists, mental health professionals, and professionals in public health, social work, sociology and human resources.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 100 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Die vorliegende Untersuchung verfolgt hauptsachlich systematische Zwecke. Sie verlaBt jedoch an keiner Stelle den Weg einer Interpretation der Phanomenologie der Erfahrbarkeit fremder Subjektivitat im Ge samtzusammenhang des Husserlschen Projektes einer transzendental phanomenologischen Philosophie aufder Grundlage der aus dem Nach laB verOffentlichten Schriften zu einer Phanomenologie der Intersubjek tivitat. Das systematische Ziel gibt jedoch die Erlaubnis, aus den ge danklichen Bestanden dieses Werkes einen philosophischen Gedanken gang zu entwickeln, der in vielem nicht mit den bisherigen Auslegungen iibereinstimmt. Die Untersuchung ist nicht in erster Linie bemiiht, den Text nur getreulich nachzuzeichnen, sondern nimmt Gewichtungen vor und stellt Zusammenhange her, die es erlauben, zu einem neuen Entwurf zu kommen, der in mancher Hinsicht so nicht in den zu Husserls Lebzei ten veroffentlichten Texten steht. Die Aufgabe lautet folglich: auf der Grundlage von Husserls NachlaB-Texten zum Thema Intersubjektivitat eine philosophische Theorie auszuarbeiten, die iiber ein historisches In teresse hinaus systematische Bedeutung gewinnen kann. Aufgrund des systematischen und rekonstruktiven Interesses bleibt im folgenden die Entwicklungsgeschichte des Husserlschen Denkens weitgehend unberiicksichtigt. Dariiber hinaus beschrankt sich die Un tersuchung auf das transzendentalphilosophische Stadium der Husserl schen Philosophie und beschaftigt sich nicht mit dem Versuch einer rein deskriptiven Phanomenologie. Fiir die Interpretationen werden ohne Ausnahme nur die bereits verOffentlichten Schriften einschlieBlich der in den Gesammelten Werken edierten Texte aus Husserls NachlaB be nutzt.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Deutsch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The concept of religious freedom is the favoured modern human rights concept, with which the modern world hopes to tackle the phenomenon of religious pluralism, as our modern existence in an electronically shrinking globe comes to be increasingly characterised by this phenomenon. To begin with, the concept of religious freedom, as embodied in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, seems self-evident in nature. It is the claim of this book, however, that although emblematic on the one hand, the concept is also problematic on the other, and the implications of the concept of religious freedom are far from self-evident, despite the ready acceptance the term receives as embodying a worthwhile goal. This book therefore problematizes the concept along legal, constitutional, ethical and theological lines, and especially from the perspective of religious studies, so that religious freedom in the world could be enlarged in a way which promotes human flourishing.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The Mechanisation of Natural Philosophy is devoted to various aspects of the transformation of natural philosophy during the 16th and 17th centuries that is usually described as mechanical philosophy .Drawing the border between the old Aristotelianism and the « new » mechanical philosophy faces historians with a delicate task, if not an impossible mission. There were many natural philosophers who actually crossed the border between the two worlds, and, inside each of these worlds, there was a vast spectrum of doctrines, arguments and intellectual practices. The expression mechanical philosophy is burdened with ambiguities. It may refer to at least three different enterprises: a description of nature in mathematical terms; the comparison of natural phenomena to existing or imaginary machines; the use in natural philosophy of mechanical analogies, i.e. analogies conceived in terms of matter and motion alone.However mechanical philosophy is defined, its ambition was greater than its real successes. There were few mathematisations of phenomena. The machines of mechanical philosophers were not only imaginary, but had little to do with the machines of mecanicians. In most of the natural sciences, analogies in terms of matter and motion alone failed to provide satisfactory accounts of phenomena.By the same authors: Mechanics and Natural Philosophy before the Scientific Revolution (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science 254).Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 360 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Compared to how it looked 150 years ago at the eve of the colonial conquest, today¿s India is almost completely unrecognizable. A sovereign nation, with a teeming, industrious population, it is an economic powerhouse and the world¿s largest democracy. It can boast of robust legal institutions and a dizzying plurality of cultures, in addition to a lively and unrestricted print and electronic media. The question is how did it get to where it is now Covering the period from 1800 to 1950, this study of about a dozen makers of modern India is a valuable addition to Indiäs cultural and intellectual history. More specifically, it shows how through the very act of writing, often in English, these thought leaders reconfigured Indian society. The very act of writing itself became endowed with almost a charismatic authority, which continued to influence generations that came after the exit of the authors from the national stage.By examining the lives and works of key players in the making of contemporary India, this study assesses their relationships with British colonialism and Indian traditions. Moreover, it analyzes how their use of the English language helped shape Indian modernity, thus giving rise to a uniquely Indian version of liberalism. The period was the fiery crucible from which an almost impossibly diverse and pluralistic new nation emerged through debate, dialogue, conflict, confrontation, and reconciliation.The author shows how the struggle for India was not only with British colonialism and imperialism, but also with itself and its past. He traces the religious and social reforms that laid the groundwork for the modern sub-continental state, proposed and advocated in English by the native voices that influenced the formation Indiäs society. Merging culture, politics, language, and literature, this is a path breaking volume that adds much to our understanding of a nation that looks set to achieve much in the coming century.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 280 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -'Complexity' has been part of the academic discourse for a decade or two. Texts on Complexity fall mainly in two categories: fairly technical and mathematical on the one hand, and fairly broad, vague and general on the other. Paul Cilliers¿ book Complexity and Postmodernism. Understanding Complex Systems (Routledge 1998) constituted an attempt to bridge this divide by reflecting more rigorously on the philosophical implications of complexity, and by making it accessible to the social sciences. This edited volume is a continuation of this project, with specific reference to the ethical implications of acknowledging complexity. These issues are pertinent to our understanding of organisations and institutions and could contribute significantly to the development of a richer understanding of ethics in business and would be a useful tool for teachers, researchers and post-graduate students with ethical concerns in disciplines ranging from Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Sociology, Organisational Studies, Political Science, Anthropology and Cultural Studies.The central theme which binds all the contributions together is: the inevitability of normative and ethical issues when dealing with complex phenomena. The book should thus be useful in the development of Business Ethics on two levels: in the first place on the level of developing a strong theoretical foundation, in the second place in providing specific examples of this theory in action in the real world.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 316 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This collection of essays is the outcome of a workshop with Scott Shapiro on The Planning Theory of Law that took place in December 2009 at Bocconi University. It brings together a group of scholars who wrote their contributions to the workshop on a preliminary draft of Shapirös Legality. Then, after the workshop, they wrote their final essays on the published version of the book. The contributions clearly highlight the difference of the continental and civil law perspective from the common law background of Shapiro but at the same time the volume tries to bridge the gap between the two. The essays provide a critical reading of the planning theory of law, highlighting its merits on the one hand and objecting to some parts of it on the other hand. Each contribution discusses in detail a chapter of Shapirös book and together they cover the whole of Shapirös theory. So the book presents a balanced and insightful discussion of the arguments of Legality.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 224 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Determining the earliest point in time at which international law authorises a state to exercise its inherent right of self-defence is an issue which has been debated, but unsatisfactorily reasoned, by scholars and states since the 1960¿s. Yet it remains arguably the most pressing question of law that faces the international community. This book unravels the legal and factual complications which have obscured the answer to this question. In contrast to most other works, it takes an historic approach by tracing the evolution of the rights, rules and principles of international law which have governed the use of force by states since the 16th century. Its emphasis on self-defence provides the reader with a new and complete understanding of how and why the international legal framework limits defensive force to repelling an imminent threat or use of offensive force which is directed at the territory of a state.Taking an historic approach enables this book to resurrect an understanding of the human defensive instinct which has guided the formation of the international law of self-defence. It also explains the true legal nature and scope of the inherent right of self-defence, of anticipatory self-defence and provides a definition of the legal commencement of an armed attack for the purpose of Article 51 of the Charter. Finally, the reader will receive a unique source of research materials and analysis of state practice and of scholarly works concerning self-defence and the use of force since the 16th century, which is suitable for all readers of international law around the world.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 240 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book provides a comprehensive examination of the complex issues surrounding the regulation of the medical profession. It offers up-to-date information on the current legislative framework and institutional arrangements surrounding the regulation in the United Kingdom. Well organized and written in an accessible way, it offers an insight into key sociological theories surrounding medical regulation. It gives a historically situated analysis of the contemporary relationship between medicine, the state and the public, and an overview of relevant social scientific research. Case studies highlight the practical or applied circumstances in which issues can occur. Readers will gain insight into possible future directions for medical governance.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -If, as John Rawls famously suggests, justice is the first virtue of social institutions, how are we to understand the institution of contract law This book proposes a Rawlsian theory of contract law. It argues that justice requires that we understand contract rules in terms of the idea of reasonable, terms of interaction ¿ that is, terms that would be accepted by reasonable persons moved by a desire for a social world in which they, as free and equal, can cooperate with others on terms they accept. On that basis, the book explains the main doctrines of contract law, including those governing third parties, in both the Common Law and the Civil Law.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 192 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -The essays in this volume consider issues at the intersection of freedom of expression and racial, cultural, and gender diversity. The claims of those whose cultures and beliefs differ from our own are no longer the exclusive province of diplomats, as the Danish newspaper that published cartoons ridiculing Mohammed quickly learned. Negotiating the claims of freedom of expression as they come into open conflict with a wide diversity of viewpoints, both domestically and internationally, has become an increasingly complex task. The present volume seeks both to provide fresh insight into the philosophical grounds for limiting government restriction of expression and to address current tensions between freedom of expression and pluralism. The suppression of ideas by government is no doubt as old as government itself. Ideas help to keep governments in power, and opposing ideas can help them to lose it. As well, through most of the history of the world, the belief that some know b- ter than others what is true, what is right, and what is valuable has been sufficiently widespread to make it seem natural for those betters to dictate for the rest what they should believe. Just as clerics did not hesitate to dictate to their congregations, Christians did not hesitate to impose their beliefs on non-Christians in order to save their souls.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 244 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Cigarettes are under political attack at all_levels of government in the United States. From Washington, D. C. to state capitals to local govern ments, proposals abound to increase the cigarette excise tax, to impose smoking bans, to prevent cigarette advertising, to restrict the sale of cigarettes through vending machines, to cut off the export of cigarettes, to earmark the cigarette excise tax for health programs, to divest the stock of cigarette companies, and so on. And all of these are purportedly being advocated in the name of health. Undergirding and abetting the health argument is an economic argument that claims to place a value of up to $100 billion per year on the alleged health costs of smoking to the American economy, which is more than $3 per pack of cigarettes smoked. As our title suggests, our interest lies in the economics of smoking and not in the health issues surrounding smoking. We are professional economists and not medical scientists. We will focus on what, if any, economic consequences arise for nonsmokers when smokers smoke. For purposes of our discussion, we simply accept the premise that smoking damages health and proceed with our analysis. Since we have not studied the issue ourselves, we have no way of knowing whether such a premise is true. But it really does not matter for getting the economics of smoking right. The important point resides in who pays for whatever to smoking.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -`This is a book about a well-known writer, Lewis Carroll, and about a little-known subject, the theory of voting' (from the Editors' Introduction).This book has been edited from the manuscripts of the late Scottish economist Duncan Black. Shortly after the publication of The Theory of Committees and Elections Black started to collect material for papers and a book on Lewis Carroll's theory of proportional representation. Black's chapter plans made it clear that the book was to be in three parts, written by himself, followed by a reprint of Carroll's Principles of Parliamentary Representation and its main sources. Part I is biographical, introducing Lewis Carroll and giving relevant details of his life. Part II is Black's already published work on Lewis Carroll. Part III comprises the more detailed arguments about Carroll's reasoning, and Part IV contains reprints of rare original material on proportional representation by Carroll, James Garth Marshall, and Walter Baily. Taken together, the editors have provided a complete reference source for the theory of voting and proportional representation.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -In Chinese societies where both ¿money¿ and ¿gender¿ confer power, can a woman¿s economic success relative to her husband¿s bring about a more equal division of household labor Lui¿s qualitative study of ¿status-reversed¿ Hong Kong families, wherein wives earn more than their husbands, examines how couples re-negotiate household labor in ways that perpetuate male dominance within the family even when the traditional gender expectation that ¿men rule outside, women rule inside¿ (nanzhuwai, nuzhunei) is challenged. Going beyond the dyadic negotiation of household labor, this important study also explores the role of ¿third parties,¿ namely the couples¿ children and parents, who actively encourage couples to conform to traditional gender norms, thereby reproducing an unequal division of household labor. Based upon the experiences of families with stay-at-home dads, Lui further identifies a new mechanism of deconstructing gender, by which couples concertedly construct new norms of 'work' and 'gender' that they maintain through daily interactions to fit their atypical relative earnings. As a result, there are sparks of hope that bothmen and women can be liberated from a set of traditional social norms. Re-negotiating Gender: Household Division of Labor When She Earns More than He Does is essential reading in the fields of family and gender studies, sociology, psychology, and East Asian studies.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 164 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This volume brings together academic economists and lawyers to evaluate and compare the regulation of telecommunications markets in Germany and the United States. The unifying theme in all of the pa pers is that the goal of public policy in this area should be to make the broadest and most functional competition possible by means of an ap propriate regulatory framework. Because the European and American telecommunications markets are becoming more intertwined each day, the issues addressed in this volume will be topical to the business, government, and academic communities for some time. For the chairman of the Monopoly Commission, Wernhard Moschel, the opening of the German telecommunications market has been successful in principle. This is clearly recognizable in the case of the competition in long-distance transport. Based on the view that the regulatory authority should make itself obsolete, Professor Moschel advocates an incremental review and gradual reduction of regulation.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 96 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -While preparing the first edition of this textbook I attended an extension short course on writing agricultural publications. The message I remember was 'select your audience and write to it. ' There has never been any doubt about the audience for which this textbook was written, the introductory course in crop breeding. In addition, it has become a widely used reference for the graduate plant-breeding student and the practicing plant breeder. In its prepa ration, particular attention has been given to advances in plant-breeding theo ry and their utility in plant-breeding practice. The blend of the theoretical with the practical has set this book apart from other plant-breeding textbooks. The basic structure and the objectives of the earlier editions remain un changed. These objectives are (1) to review essential features of plant re production, Mendelian genetic principles, and related genetic developments applicable in plant-breeding practice; (2) to describe and evaluate established and new plant-breeding procedures and techniques, and (3) to discuss plant breeding objectives with emphasis on the importance of proper choice of objec tive for achieving success in variety development. Because plant-breeding activities are normally organized around specific crops, there are chapters describing breeding procedures and objectives for the major crop plants; the crops were chosen for their economic importance or diversity in breeding sys tems. These chapters provide a broad overview of the kinds of problems with which the breeder must cope.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 744 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book is concerned with the question of inequality - which points to a major structural problem in intra-national and inter-national respect. It covers the tension between the rich and poor in less developed countries as well as within richer countries in the process of globalisation. The main topics are the scope of disparities between the rich and poor, people's perception of wealth and poverty, and the concomitants of inequality which shape this relationship and influence its socio-economic consequences. In the tradition of social reporting, the book brings together authors from 15 countries, documenting a broad range of the international inequality debate. The results are related to the trends of socio-economic development, to statistical problems of measuring inequality, and to socio-political problems of integrating society in the facing the challenge of dividing forces. The book is of interest for everybody who wants to understand the tensions of modern world.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 288 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Over the past decade, much research effort has been devoted to the design and synthesis of new reagents and catalysts that can influence carbon-hydrogen bond activation, mainly because of the prospect that C¿H activation could enable the conversion of cheap and abundant alkanes into valuable functionalized organic compounds.Alkane C-H Activation by Single-Site Metal Catalysis presents the current state-of-the-art development in the catalytic systems for the catalytic trans-formations of alkanes under homogeneous conditions. Chapter 1 offers a comprehensive summary of the main discoveries realized so far. Chapter 2 reviews the so-called electrophilic activation, initiated by Shulpín in the late 60s, and the base for the Catalytica system. Chapter 3 examines the catalytic borylation of alkanes, discovered by Hartwig, whereas chapter 4 provides an updated vision of the alkane dehydrogenation reaction. Chapter 5 covers the oxygenation of C-H bonds, a field of enormous interest with bioinorganic im-plications, and finally chapter 6 presents the functionalization of alkane C-H bonds by carbene or nitrene insertion.The history of C-H bond activation, and the current research described in this book, highlight the current research and present the reader with an outlook of this field which continues to be explored by an increasingly visionary and enthusiastic group of organic, organometallic, biological and physical chemists.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book documents the influence of nongovernmental organizations on the rise of the sustainable development movement in international politics. It adds to the body of scholarly research on non-governmental organizations, by examining their political influence during the first two decades of international environmental politics - from the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 to the establishment of the World Conference on Environment and Development in 1982. NGOs wielded their rational moral authority to achieve their goals in attending environmental mega-conferences. In turn, these successes gave rise to a symbiotic relationship with the United Nations Environment Program and secured a seemingly permanent position at not only the negotiating table, but also the inner hallways and back rooms of the United Nations.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 128 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book examines the application of geotechniques to address a wide range of issues facing urban water resources. Growing populations leading to urbanization and related development have lead to problems associated with water quality, storm water management, flood control, environmental health, and related ecosystem impacts. Major cities and other urban areas are facing challenges in addressing the implications of impacts to water resources. Recent innovations in geotechnologies, including Geographic Information Science (GIS), remote sensing, and other spatial tools and techniques, provide great opportunities and potential to assist in dealing with these problems. This volume provides a series of case studies that examine the application of new methods and approaches in a range of geotechnologies as utilized to better understand and resolve urban water resource concerns in communities throughout the world. Computer based mapping, spatial analysis, satellite imagery, decision support systems, web based applications, aerial photography, and other methods are highlighted by their development and application. The research presented in this volume will provide for an excellent source of knowledge and learning to assist professionals, experts, and students with a better understanding of how the use of geotechnologies can be used to assist urban communities to address water resource challenges.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 208 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This unique collection highlights the importance of landscape, politics and piety to our understandings of religion and place. The geographies of religion have developed rapidly in the last couple of decades and this book provides both a conceptual framing of the key issues and debates involved, and rich illustrations through empirical case studies. The chapters span the discipline of human geography and cover contexts as diverse as veiling in Turkey, religious landscapes in rural Peru, and refugees and faith in South Africa. A number of prominent scholars and emerging researchers examine topical themes in each engaging chapter with significant foci being: religious transnationalism and religious landscapes; gendering of religious identities and contexts; fashion, faith and the body; identity, resistance and belief; immigrant identities, citizenship and spaces of belief; alternative spiritualities and places of retreat and enchantment. Together they make a series of important contributions that illuminate the central role of geography to the meaning and implications of lived religion, public piety and religious embodiment. As such, this collection will be of much interest to researchers and students working on topics relating to religion and place, including human geographers, sociologists, religious studies and religious education scholars.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 236 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Since the early 20th century, medical imaging has been dominated by monochrome imaging modalities such as x-ray, computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging. As a result, color information has been overlooked in medical image analysis applications. Recently, various medical imaging modalities that involve color information have been introduced. These include cervicography, dermoscopy, fundus photography, gastrointestinal endoscopy, microscopy, and wound photography. However, in comparison to monochrome images, the analysis of color images is a relatively unexplored area. The multivariate nature of color image data presents new challenges for researchers and practitioners as the numerous methods developed for monochrome images are often not directly applicable to multichannel images.The goal of this volume is to summarize the state-of-the-art in the utilization of color information in medical image analysis.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 216 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -Yoque en el campo he nacido dig6 que mis cantos son para los unos sonidos, y para otros intencion. H. Hernandes - Martin Fierro. The period of active influence of the people on desert environments in Central Asia counts more than 2,000 years. It includes several stages of the social and the economic development of human society - from primitive culture of hunters to developed modern society with great changes of envi ronment and 'nature remaking'.Heritage of the past is one of the main causes of land degradation in Central Asia.So, only historical analysis of relations between the man and the desertcould give infor mation for awareness of desertification. What an idea have the people about the desert In the mind of many people 'desert' is identified with a sterile, lifeless and gloom land unsuitable for life. The mass media, specially the cinema sup ports this idea. Very popular subject of many films is the death of travelers in the desert from thirst. Eventhe names of hot winds (the 'gibly' inSahara, the 'samum' inArabian desertand the 'afganets' inCentral Asia) fill the minds of peoplewith horror. There are many legends about armies buried inthe sand,aboutflourishing oases and towns covered with sand drifts. Inthese legends the truth is mixed with fiction. But as known, 'the truth isstronger than fiction'.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 204 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware -This book offers a methodical explanation of our biomass-driven ecosystem, the undeniable uncertainties posed by the response of vegetation to changes in environmental conditions and the fact that humans everywhere have an interest, even an obligation, to cooperate in a global campaign to combat climate change.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 124 pp. Englisch.