springer international publishing apr 2022 (Plus de 1 000 résultats)

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Globally, women are having half as many children as they had just fifty years ago. Why have birth rates fallen, and how will low fertility affect our shared future In Decline and Prosper!, demographic expert Vegard Skirbekk offers readers an accessible, comprehensive and evidence-based overview of human reproduction. Readers learn about the evolution of childbearing across different populations and how fertility is related to (changes in) our reproductive capacity, contraception, education, religion, partnering, policies, economics, assisted reproduction, and catastrophes. Readers will explore the future of family size and its impact on human welfare, women's empowerment and the environment. Skirbekk argues that low fertility is on the whole a good thing, while recognizing the challenges of population aging and 'coincidental' childlessness. A balanced, integrative examination of one of the most important issues of our time, Decline and Prosper! drives home the fact that we must ultimately adapt to a world withfewer children.The book will be invaluable to anyone who is interested in the far-reaching effects of global fertility, including researchers and students of demography, social statistics, medical sociologists, family and childhood studies, human geographers, sociology of culture, social and public policy. 432 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Conservation and balance laws on networks have been the subject of much research interest given their wide range of applications to real-world processes, particularly traffic flow. This open access monograph is the first to investigate different types of control problems for conservation laws that arise in the modeling of vehicular traffic. Four types of control problems are discussed - boundary, decentralized, distributed, and Lagrangian control - corresponding to, respectively, entrance points and tolls, traffic signals at junctions, variable speed limits, and the use of autonomy and communication. Because conservation laws are strictly connected to Hamilton-Jacobi equations, control of the latter is also considered. An appendix reviewing the general theory of initial-boundary value problems for balance laws is included, as well as an appendix illustrating the main concepts in the theory of conservation laws on networks. 248 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -\*\*Winner of the2023 Skystone Partners Research Prize from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP).This book includes evidence-based insights and recommendations to help academicians excel in raising philanthropic support for their institutions and units. The book provides historical and contemporary perspectives on core concepts and data, research revealing donors' giving motivations, engagement strategies and tactics for academic units, and guidance on management challenges including strategic plans, campaigns, and measuring performance. The authors include case studies in each section as examples of successful fundraising and volunteer-driven initiatives. The final section, contributed by Dean David D. Perlmutter, reinforces the book's many practical and theoretical approaches to the fundamental responsibilities academic leaders face in raising philanthropic support. This book is grounded in the growing academic literature on philanthropy and written by scholars who were successful higher education fundraisers. 272 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Unraveling the stereotype that men's friendships are unemotional and shallow, this book provides the first detailed account of the bromance that exists among young men. Drawing on one year of ethnography and 20 in-depth interviews among a university sport team, the authors show that these men reject traditional masculine boundaries, instead prioritizing an emotional and tactile form of friendship. Chapters detail the cultural shift in society's views on bromances, showing that bromances exists as an elevated, more emotional and intimate form of friendship, existing as a further positive consequence of decreasing cultural homophobia. By focusing on sport-which has traditionally been seen as a homophobic environment with toxic constructions of manhood-the authors show that even in the most traditionally masculine of settings, young men are rethinking what male friendship looks like, what it means to be a man, and the positive impact this can have on their mental health.This book will be relevant to a number of audiences including scholars and students in masculinity studies, queer studies, and friendship studies; LGBTQ+ activists and allies with interest in straight men's friendships and sports cultures; and men's mental health advocates. 292 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book addresses the many ethical issues and extraordinary risks that nurses and others are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, which creates physical, emotional, and economic burdens, affecting nurses' overall health and well-being. Nurses are essential front-line clinicians across all health care settings and in every nation. The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel SARs-CoV-2 virus has affected children, adults, and communities within and across all societies. Nurses, too, have contracted the virus and died from the disease. They have also seen their colleagues, family members, and friends hospitalized or in intensive care units struggling to survive. Nursing's professionalism and disciplinary resolve to care for patients and families amidst confusion, misinformation, and shifting guidelines has been called 'heroic' by the public.How much risk should nurses be expected to accept during a pandemic How do nurses help patients and families find comfort and dignity at the end-of-life How do we help nurses who are suffering from moral distress and mental health concerns from what they have seen, been asked to do, or are unable to provide And, how does society move forward from a pandemic that has challenged our basic ethical principles of justice and what is 'fair, good and right' in caring for those who need care, including the most vulnerable and nurses themselves This book addresses these and other ethical concerns that nurses are facing in their day-to-day clinical practice; experiences shared with patients, families, and colleagues. Although this book was written while the pandemic was still raging across the United States and globally, the events needed to be told as they were unfolding.This book helps us to learn from both the successes and failures that are affecting so many across the globe, including those on whom the public relies on to provide quality, compassionate, and expert care when they are sick: nurses. 164 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Conservation and balance laws on networks have been the subject of much research interest given their wide range of applications to real-world processes, particularly traffic flow. This open access monograph is the first to investigate different types of control problems for conservation laws that arise in the modeling of vehicular traffic. Four types of control problems are discussed - boundary, decentralized, distributed, and Lagrangian control - corresponding to, respectively, entrance points and tolls, traffic signals at junctions, variable speed limits, and the use of autonomy and communication. Because conservation laws are strictly connected to Hamilton-Jacobi equations, control of the latter is also considered. An appendix reviewing the general theory of initial-boundary value problems for balance laws is included, as well as an appendix illustrating the main concepts in the theory of conservation laws on networks. 248 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Terror warnings, fake news, spectacles and scandals in real time - the networked world has wound itself up into a nervous frenzy, where everything has become visible: the banal and the terrible, the uninhibited abuse and the anonymous attack.Translated for the first time into English, Digital Fever analyses the patterns of outrage and agitation that have come to define social media and the Internet, exposing their devastating impact on our notions of truth, debate, authority and power. In this endless cycle of outrage, Poerksen argues that the intelligent use of information must become part of the general education provided by schools: the digital society must be transformed into an editorial one. In order for democracy to survive, we must as a society achieve media maturity. A blazing tour of the contemporary landscape of fake-news, echo chambers, disinformation, manipulation, and the turbulence that democracy is undergoing, this book not only analysesthis digital economy of outrage, but serves as a guiding light to overcome it. 228 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book serves as an introduction to the extraordinary diversity of women's activism. Paula Bartley's original research is supported by a range of writing to provide a powerful impression of the actions taken by groups of women from across the social and political spectrum, making the book invaluable to both students and interested readers. These women set out to make a difference to their locality, their country and sometimes the world. The story of women's activism embodies stimulating accounts of progress and reversals, of commitment and uncertainty, of competing rights and challenging wrongs. The story of women's activism is not tidy or well-ordered. It is messy and unorthodox. And full of surprises. 300 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book examines the work of psychological illusionist Derren Brown to understand the significance of storytelling and ancient philosophy in our society. Reflecting on the social disconnection and political polarisation of recent times, Darren Kelsey considers how we can rebuild a sense of collective cohesion and common good, weaving together contemporary psychology with ancient Stoicism to cut through the noise of modern life. Kelsey shows that Brown is more than a stage performer: he's an enlightened magician who offers us guidance for navigating the challenges life throws at us, using his skills and wisdom to help us better understand ourselves and enable human flourishing. In this rigorous examination of Brown's work, Kelsey makes a compelling case for paying closer attention to our personal, cultural and political stories and beliefs to help create a better future - for ourselves, our communities, and the planet. 224 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book shows how persecution is a condition that binds each in an ethical obligation to the other. Persecution is functionally defined here as an impinging, affective relation that is not mediated by reason. It focuses on the works and personal lives of Emmanuel Lévinas-a phenomenological ethicist who understood persecution as an ontological condition for human existence-and Sigmund Freud, the inventor of psychoanalysis who proposed that a demanding superego is a persecuting psychological mechanism that enables one to sadistically enjoy moral injunctions.Scholarship on the work of Freud and Lévinas remains critical about their objectivity, but this book uses the phenomenological method to bracket this concern with objective truth and instead reconstruct their historical biographies to evaluate their hyperbolically opposing claims. By doing so, it is suggested that moral actions and relations of persecution in their personal lives illuminate the epistemic limits that they argued contribute to the psychological and ontological necessity of persecuting behaviors. Object relations and intersubjective approaches in psychoanalysis successfully incorporate meaningful elements from both of their theoretical works, which is used to develop an intentionality of search that is sensitive to an unknowable, relational, and existentially vulnerable ethical subjectivity.Details from Freud's and Lévinas' works and lives, on the proclivity to use persecution to achieve moral ends, provide significant ethical warnings, and the author uses them as a strategy for developing the reader's intentionality of search, to reflect on when they may use persecuting means for moral ends.The interdisciplinary nature of this research monograph is intended for academics, scholars, and researchers who are interested in psychoanalysis, moral philosophy, and phenomenology. Comparisons between various psychoanalytic frameworks and Lévinas' ethic will also interest scholars who work on the relation between psychoanalysis and The Other. Lévinas scholars will value the convergences between his ethics and Freud's moral skepticism; likewise, readers will be interested in the extension of Lévinas' intentionality of search. The book is useful for undergraduate or graduate courses on literary criticism and critical theories worldwide. 204 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -All You Need to Know About SpidersSpiders are super predators and devour everything they can overpower. To do this, they have developed incredibly good catching techniques and, with spider silk, a tool that makes material technology green with envy. The males are usually smaller than the females and, in order to have sex, they have to come up with a lot to avoid being misunderstood as easy prey: Dancing, drumming, and gifts almost always help. Spiders use their venom in very precise doses, and since humans are not on their menu, they are harmless to us. Many people's (unnecessary) fear of spiders finds cultural roots as early as the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, spider fear is easily treatable. There is no habitat or building without spiders. And that's a good thing, because spiders have fascinating properties and their world is full of surprises. Everything you need to know about them is explained in this book in understandable language by experts for laymen. In addition, some of the most common spider species in the house and garden are briefly presented with tips for observation.The authorsThis book is authored by eight scientists, all of them members of the Association for the Promotion of Spider Research: Wolfgang Nentwig, Jutta Ansorg, Angelo Bolzern, Holger Frick, Anne-Sarah Ganske, Ambros Hänggi, Christin Kropf und Anna Stäubli 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -The monetary system is the indispensable missing link in the debate of sustainability, and whether the current financial system can handle these evolved needs. To date, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) primarily have been financed either through the private sector, through conventional public sector taxes and fees, or through philanthropic commitment. Assuming a need of 4 to 5 trillion dollars annually in the 10 to 15 years left to finance our future, these conventional sources of finance are insufficient in terms of both the scale and speed of funding required to finance our future. Furthermore, the inherent instability of our financial system forces the world community to focus first and foremost on repairing and stabilizing the existing system.The development of cryptocurrencies using distributed ledger technologies (mainly blockchain) has prompted leading central banks to study the potential application of this approach to independently create purchasing power. In this vein, this book offers a new approach, namely introducing a parallel electronic currency specifically designed to finance global common goods and provide the resources necessary to achieve the SDGs. Furthermore, this mechanism would have a stabilizing effect on the existing monetary system.The book argues that one way this could be achieved is by giving central banks a modified monetary mandate to inject new liquidity into the system using a top-down approach. Alternatively, liquidity could come from corporate or communal initiatives with crypto- or communal currencies in a bottom-up approach. The author maintains that by issuing a blockchain-enabled parallel electronic currency earmarked for SDG-related projects and using other channels for monetary flow rather than the conventional ones, the future could be financed in a different manner. In the long run, abandoning our current monetary monoculture and introducing a monetary ecosystem would stabilize international financial markets, increase monetary regulatory efforts, reduce negative externalities, create a social Pareto optimum and stabilize democracies. This book presents, in the same spirit as Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, a Tao of finance-an outside-of-the-box approach to financing global common goods. 256 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Thisopen accessbook offers a comprehensive view ofthe phenomenon of volunteer work: itexaminesmotivationalfactors andquestionsof corporate organization and the socialenvironment. In particular,thisis the first book to present volunteerwork in detail as a psychosocial resource and a source of well-being thatshould not beoverused or abused. The bookis based on the authors' 15years of research into volunteer work in Europe. Itprovides clear instructions on designing volunteerwork tasks,andonwhereboundariesmust berespected.The findings includeinsights into cultural and national differences,andoffer practicaladviceonthe organization of volunteerwork.This book answers questions like: How do we understand voluntary work Howessential is it that this kind of work remains unpaid and carried out byso-calledlaypersons with special motives And what follows from this for theinteraction between voluntary work and professionalized, paid employment Theanalysis draws onperspectives from wellbeing research, organizational andindustrial studies, social work,andrelated social sciences. 76 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) underlies many lifesaving medical devices, such as magnetic resonance imaging scanners, neural stimulators, and heart pacemakers. But E&M also attracts its share of bogus health claims, such as biomagnetic therapy. How do you separate the good from the bad Sometimes it's not easy: experiments are prone to artifacts, theories are limited by assumptions, and clinical trials can result in ambiguities. In this book, the author separates the wheat from the chaff, showing which applications of E&M are bogus and which are not. This book takes the reader on a tour through a range of fascinating phenomena, from effects that are constant in time at one extreme, such as transcranial direct current stimulation of the brain, to the millimeter-wave whole-body scanners which are familiar to frequent flyers at the other. Along the way, the author looks in depth at the dispute about power line magnetic fields and leukemia, a case study in what can go wrong when dubious claims inflame unjustified fears. The debate about cell phones and brain cancer still rages today, particularly for the microwave frequencies encountered with new 5G technology. Recently, the so-called Havana Syndrome has been attributed to microwave weapons, but the underlying biophysics of such weapons is unclear. For all these encounters with electricity and magnetism, the author, an eminent biophysicist, uses science and evidence to sort out fact from fantasy. This book is aimed at general readers who want to make sense of the mysterious and often controversial ways in which E&M interacts with the human body. It is also ideal for students and professionals in bioscience and health-related fields who want to learn more without getting overwhelmed by theory. 136 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This open access book presents a methodology for the assessment of structural building details, taking into account the contemporary guidelines for earthquake-resistant and energy-efficient buildings. A review of structural details for energy-efficient buildings revealed that in some cases the structural system is interrupted, leading to solutions which are not suitable for earthquake-prone regions. Such typical examples would be the use of thermal insulation under the building foundation and reduction of the load-bearing elements' dimensions - also at the potential locations of plastic hinges which are crucial for the dissipation of seismic energy. The proposed methodology of assessment favours a collaboration of architects, engineers, contractors and investors in the early stage of building design. By this the methodology enables efficient decision-making and contributes to a selection of optimal building structural details.The book starts by presenting the typical structural details of the thermal envelope of energy-efficient buildings together with the scientific background required for understanding the process of detail development from all the relevant aspects. Over 20 examples of most frequent details are described and analysed to raise awareness of the importance of earthquake resistance, sustainability, energy-efficiency and thermal comfort for users. 216 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book explores the contours of the code of silence and provides policy recommendations geared toward creating an environment less conducive for police misconduct. It responds to the recent calls for police reform, in the wake of the perceived illegitimacy of police actions and the protection that the code of silence seems to provide to the police officers who violate the official rules.Using a case study of a medium-sized U.S. police agency, this book employs the lens of police integrity theory to provide empirically grounded explanations of the code of silence. It examines the potential effects of organizational factors and the attitudes of individual police officers on their willingness to adhere to the code of silence in cases of police corruption, the use of excessive force, interpersonal deviance, and organizational deviance. The book focuses on the following factors that could influence the police code of silence in the times of change: The impact of organizational rule dissemination, discipline, and disciplinary fairness on the scope of the code of silence The role organizational justice plays in shaping police officer willingness to report misconduct The effect that police officers' self-legitimacy has on their decisions to adhere to the code The influence of peer culture on individual police officer amenability to maintain the code The relationship between officers' views of themselves, the organization, and the community on their willingness to report misconduct 136 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This textbook provides an overview of the long reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), a highly significant female ruler in a time of great change. It offers an accessible yet detailed survey of the events of her life and reign, followed by thematic chapters exploring key aspects of her time in power and the wider context of politics, culture and society in early modern England. Topics covered range from the composition of the queen's Privy Council; the 'Other' in Elizabethan England; assassination attempts; friendship; entertainment; and dreams. Gathering a great deal of cutting-edge and original research from one of the foremost scholars of Elizabeth's reign, this book is an essential companion for students and a crucial reference work for researchers. 324 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In this book, Boston University Professor of Astronomy Michael Mendillo takes readers deep into the annals of history, showing how visual depictions of the heavens evolved in tandem with science and religion throughout much of Western culture.With unprecedented scope and scale, Professor Mendillo explores how cave art, illuminated manuscripts, sculptures, paintings and architecture reflected some of the great religious and secular battles taking place over the course of centuries. Enter a world of biblical proportions, where constellations of ancient heroes and pagans were thoroughly recast as Christian saints and the Twelve Apostles. This nontechnical narrative brings vitality and accessibility to some of the most enduring subjects in human history, offering a lively new exploration of the visual connections between celestial phenomena and artistic expression.'Ever wonder how religion and art became forces of imagination on our nightskies Or how the night skies became forces of imagination on our religionand art In this brilliant study of constellations and culture, Michael Mendillo,professor of astronomy at Boston University, reveals that the canopy of stars has been an ideologically contested space from the beginning, ensuring thatthe next time you look up, the sky will look completely different to you.'- Neil deGrasse Tyson, Director, Hayden Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History'Saints and Sinners impressionistically reveals the connections of art, astronomy, and religion in Western culture to illuminate the age-old quest for celestial-terrestrial connections.' -Roberta J.M. Olson, author of Giotto's Portrait of Halley's Comet and Cosmos: The Art and Science of the Universe'Professor Mendillo's book does a priceless service, opening the doors of our minds to images that will stir us, because the heavens are partof us, and we all long to know how and why.'-Rev. David R. Thom, MIT Chaplain and Convener of the Cambridge Faculty Roundtable on Science, Art & Religion'Over a lifetime devoted to astronomical research and teaching, Michael Mendillo has indulged a parallel passion for artistic representations of the heavenly bodies. In this sumptuous volume, he explores the projection of our changing belief systems onto the constant stars.' -Dava Sobel, author ofLongitude,Galileo'sDaughterandTheGlass Universe 268 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book outlines the current development of geoethical thinking, proposing to the general public reflections and categories useful for understanding the ethical, cultural, and societal dimensions of anthropogenic global changes.Geoethics identifies and orients responsible behaviors and actions in the management of natural processes, redefining the human interaction with the Earth system based on a critical, scientifically grounded, and pragmatic approach. Solid scientific knowledge and a philosophical reference framework are crucial to face the current ecological disruption. The scientific perspective must be structured to help different human contexts while respecting social and cultural diversity. It is impossible to respond to global problems with disconnected local actions, which cannot be proposed as standard and effective operational models. Geoethics tries to overcome this fragmentation, presenting Earth sciences as the foundation of responsible human action toward the planet. Geoethics is conceived as a rational and multidisciplinary language that can bind and concretely support the international community, engaged in resolving global environmental imbalances and complex challenges, which have no national, cultural, or religious boundaries that require shared governance. Geoethics is proposed as a new reading key to rethinking the Earth as a system of complex relationships, in which the human being is an integral part of natural interactions. 136 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents a strategic decision-making process (i.e., scenario planning) to help managers build supply chain infrastructures that can adapt to uncertain shifts in the business environment. The authors detail the process for developing and applying scenarios for strategic planning in organizations playing three different roles in supply chains. Using three cases in which the process was applied in association with the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, this primer also explains how companies can monitor their business environments to decide when to take the necessary steps to adapt their supply chain strategies and assets.The lessons learned are applicable globally: in first-world free-market economies, emerging countries and poorer nations, as well as the states where the government plays a strong role in the economic activity. For companies looking to assess the numerous drivers shaping their supply chains and use that information to makeliving strategic plans, this book will teach you how to build adaptable and agile supply chains. It will explain how to approach long-term investments in your organization. 252 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Thisbookis an enthralling account of the role played by the destroyer ARABouchardin the Falklands/MalvinasWar. Over forty years after its construction, with obsolete technology, scarce maintenance and many out-of-servicemachineries, it was still present during the whole campaign with a prominent role that, for several reasons, remained hidden until today. During the Falklands/Malvinas conflict, it patrolled the north of the archipelago to allow the recapture of the islands. It was noteworthy together with the Cruiser and another destroyer in the attack on the British fleet, without being able to find it. On its return, it was hit by the third torpedo launched by the submarineConqueroraimed at the cruiser ARAGeneral Belgrano. It suffered damage and, although it could still sail, was forced to dry dock to change a part of its hull. For two consecutive nights, it stopped British commandos from making an incursion into the Río Grande airport, in order to destroy the Navies Super Etendard attack aircraft and assassinate its pilots. With its main gun battery, it fired with combat ammunition on enemy targetsand was the only main battery to have the opportunity to do so. It was irradiated and used for missile target practice; they were unable to sink it during the firing practice. Later, it was decommissioned and scrapped. 212 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -Earth is, to our knowledge, the only life-bearing body in the Solar System. This extraordinary characteristic dates back almost 4 billion years. How to explain that Earth is teeming with organisms and that this has lasted for so long What makes Earth different from its sister planets Mars and Venus The habitability of a planet is its capacity to allow the emergence of organisms. What astronomical and geological conditions concurred to make Earth habitable 4 billion years ago, and how has it remained habitable since What have been the respective roles of non-biological and biological characteristics in maintaining the habitability of Earth This unique book answers the above questions by considering the roles of organisms and ecosystems in the Earth System, which is made of the non-living and living components of the planet. Organisms have progressively occupied all the habitats of the planet, diversifying into countless life forms and developing enormous biomasses over the past 3.6 billion years. In this way, organisms and ecosystems 'took over' the Earth System, and thus became major agents in its regulation and global evolution. There was co-evolution of the different components of the Earth System, leading to a number of feedback mechanisms that regulated long-term Earth conditions.For millennia, and especially since the Industrial Revolution nearly 300 years ago, humans have gradually transformed the Earth System. Technological developments combined with the large increase in human population have led, in recent decades, to major changes in the Earth's climate, soils, biodiversity and quality of air and water. After some successes in the 20th century at preventing internationally environmental disasters, human societies are now facing major challenges arising from climate change. Some of these challenges are short-term and others concern the thousand-year evolution of the Earth's climate. Humans should become the stewards of Earth. 584 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book examines how a predominantly negative view of community has presented a challenge to critical analysis of community performance practice. The concept of community as a form of class-based solidarity has been hollowed out by postmodernism's questioning of grand narratives and poststructuralism's celebration of difference. Alongside the critique of a notion of community has been a critical re-signification of community, following the thinking of philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy who conceives of community not as common being but as being-in-common. The concept of community as being-in-common generates questions that have been taken up by feminist geographers, J.K. Gibson-Graham, in theorising a post-capitalist approach to community-based development. These questions and approaches guide the analyses in researched case studies of community performance practice. The book revises theoretical debates that have defined the field of community theatre and performance. It asks how the critical re-signification of community aligns with these debates and, at the same time, opens new modes of critical analysis of community theatre and performance practice. 212 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -In the age of 'publish or perish,' this book provides everything one needs to know about conducting research and successfully publishing it in a scientific journal.The reader learns about the complete process of scientific publishing: from selecting the most appropriate research design, to obtaining permissions and funding, to resourcefully presenting the research results in a poster and oral presentation. Additionally, the practical tips provided here help the reader formulate a compelling scientific article and choose the most suitable journal (subscription vs. the various open access modalities) for their publication.This book also addresses 'invisible aspects' of scholarly publishing that are nonetheless important and that everyone should know and understand: avoiding predatory journals, understanding the editor's perspective, and becoming familiar with the various research metrics (from author to journal) that can all determine success or failure of a publication.Written in an informal style in which the author shares personal perspectives and experiences, the book is easily accessible to the reader. The book offers early career scientists in biomedicine and medicine a unique perspective on publishing research articles and how this process can enhance the authors' 'scientific value' within the scientific ecosystem as well as their personal CVs. 136 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This book presents a unified theory of convex functions, sets, and set-valued mappings in topological vector spaces with its specifications to locally convex, Banach and finite-dimensional settings. These developments and expositions are based on the powerful geometric approach of variational analysis, which resides on set extremality with its characterizations and specifications in the presence of convexity. Using this approach, the text consolidates the device of fundamental facts of generalized differential calculus to obtain novel results for convex sets, functions, and set-valued mappings in finite and infinite dimensions. It also explores topics beyond convexity using the fundamental machinery of convex analysis to develop nonconvex generalized differentiation and its applications.The text utilizes an adaptable framework designed with researchers as well as multiple levels of students in mind. It includes many exercises and figures suited to graduate classes in mathematical sciences that are also accessible to advanced students in economics, engineering, and other applications. In addition, it includes chapters on convex analysis and optimization in finite-dimensional spaces that will be useful to upper undergraduate students, whereas the work as a whole provides an ample resource to mathematicians and applied scientists, particularly experts in convex and variational analysis, optimization, and their applications. 604 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This open access book presents research and evaluation results of the Austrian flagship project 'Connecting Austria,' illustrating the wide range of research needs and questions that arise when semi-automated truck platooning is deployed in Austria. The work presented is introduced in the context of work in similar research areas around the world. This interdisciplinary research effort considers aspects of engineering, road-vehicle and infrastructure technologies, traffic management and optimization, traffic safety, and psychology, as well as potential economic effects. The book's broad perspective means that readers interested in current and state-of-the-art methods and techniques for the realization of semi-automated driving and with either an engineering background or with a less technical background gain a comprehensive picture of this important subject. The contributors address many questions such as:Which maneuvers does a platoon typically have to carry out, and how How can platoons be integrated seamlessly in the traffic flow without becoming an obstacle to individual road users What trade-offs between system information (sensors, communication effort, etc.) and efficiency are realistic How can intersections be passed by a platoon in an intelligent fashion Consideration of diverse disciplines and highlighting their meaning for semi-automated truck platooning, together with the highlighting of necessary research and evaluation patterns to address such a broad task scientifically, makesEnergy-Efficient and Semi-automated Truck Platooninga unique contribution with methods that can be extended and adapted beyond the geographical area of the research reported. 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This open access book explores the impact of Covid-19 on universities, and how students, staff, faculty and academic leaders have adapted to and dealt with the impact of the pandemic. Drawing on experiences from Britain, Australia and Sweden, it showcases how Covid has challenged routines and procedures in universities, and thrown them into a disarray of ever-changing events and short-term adaptations. The authors pay particular attention to how students, staff, faculty, and leaders have coped with Covid, through a series of autobiographical portraits of their strains but also heroic efforts in the harshest of circumstances.This important book explores the exceptional ramifications of the pandemic but also how universities may contribute to a fairer and more robust society and concludes with a set of prescriptions for universities that aim to be proactive and resilient forces in society. It will be of interest to scholars interested in higher education, governance and organizational studies.This is an open access book. 196 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This is an open access book.Statistical machine learning (ML) has triggered a renaissance of artificial intelligence (AI). While the most successful ML models, including Deep Neural Networks (DNN), have developed better predictivity, they have become increasingly complex, at the expense of human interpretability (correlation vs. causality). The field of explainable AI (xAI) has emerged with the goal of creating tools and models that are both predictive and interpretable and understandable for humans. Explainable AI is receiving huge interest in the machine learning and AI research communities, across academia, industry, and government, and there is now an excellent opportunity to push towards successful explainable AI applications. This volume will help the research community to accelerate this process, to promote a more systematic use of explainable AI to improve models in diverse applications, and ultimately to better understand how current explainable AI methods need to be improved and what kind of theory of explainable AI is needed.After overviews of current methods and challenges, the editors include chapters that describe new developments in explainable AI. The contributions are from leading researchers in the field, drawn from both academia and industry, and many of the chapters take a clear interdisciplinary approach to problem-solving. The concepts discussed include explainability, causability, and AI interfaces with humans, and the applications include image processing, natural language, law, fairness, and climate science. 408 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This open access book presents the rise of technology-enabled methods and tools for objective, quantitative assessment of Quality of Life (QoL), while following the WHOQOL model. It is an in-depth resource describing and examining state-of-the-art, minimally obtrusive, ubiquitous technologies. Highlighting the required factors for adoption and scaling of technology-enabled methods and tools for QoL assessment, it also describes how these technologies can be leveraged for behavior change, disease prevention, health management and long-term QoL enhancement in populations at large.Quantifying Quality of Life: Incorporating Daily Life into Medicine fills a gap in the field of QoL by providing assessment methods, techniques and tools. These assessments differ from the current methods that are now mostly infrequent, subjective, qualitative, memory-based, context-poor and sparse. Therefore, it is an ideal resource for physicians, physicians in training, software and hardware developers, computer scientists, data scientists, behavioural scientists, entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders and administrators who are seeking an up-to-date resource on this subject. 620 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. This item is printed on demand - it takes 3-4 days longer - Neuware -This open access book explores how policy makers draw on national, regional and international expertise in issuing school reform within five Nordic countries. In an era of international comparison, policy makers are expected to review best practices, learn from experiences from elsewhere, and apply international standards propelled by international organizations. Do they do so What counts, for them, as evidence and expertise The chapters draw methodologically on bibliometric data, network analysis, document analysis and expert interviews. They show compellingly how governments use 'evidence' strategically and selectively for agenda setting and policy decisions. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of education policy, specifically within the Nordic region, and international and comparative education. 456 pp. Englisch.