springer nature singapore aug 2016 (278 résultats)

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book explores the importance of strategy and how to make it work in an environment characterised by constant change. With a specific focus on the Asia Pacific region, anticipated to become the epicentre of global economic activity, it offers insights into the optimisation of economic potential and social cohesion enabled by leaders, which is crucial to the global economy and living standards. It highlights sound foresight, strategic thinking and innovation as the critical underpinnings of successful business and provides a comprehensive guide to combining practice and theory to ensure successful strategies, from formulation to execution.The book also builds on the concepts of change, the purpose of business, foresight, strategic thinking, strategic planning and innovation to present a holistic view of how these essential elements can be integrated in practice. Combined with a special contribution by Chaly Mah, the CEO of Deloitte Asia Pacific, the book carefully balancesprofessional and academic insights to optimally benefit its readers and will be of interest to industry practitioners, researchers and students alike.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -The book selects Guangzhou, which has the highest crime rate in China, as a research site to study patterns of crime and social disorganization. It combines methods of content analyses with ethnographic fieldwork. The research first selected 1422 crime cases reported by the influential Southern Metropolis Daily in 2013 to identify the general crime-distribution pattern. The findings suggest that both spatial and demographic-density distribution of criminal cases in Guangzhou show a gradient circle pattern from city center to suburb. Focusing on three selected typical communities, the thesis finds important patterns of crime and social disorganization that are very different from Western research. These findings are organized according to major correlates of social disorganization, including unemployment, marriage and family, residential stability, ethnic heterogeneity, social equality, social capital, social control, social isolation and social exclusion, community cohesion, trust and fear, traditions, morals and beliefs, language. These findings extend and elaborate Social Disorganization Theory in urban China. This book can be used as a textbook for college and Ph.D. students majoring in law and sociology, as well as a reference book for professionals in related fields. Although academic, this book is written in such a way that it will also appeal to a general audience.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 192 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book is intended for researchers and postgraduates who are interested in the consensus reaching process in group decision-making problems. It puts forward new optimization-based decision support approaches to help decision-makers find roadmaps to consensus with minimum adjustments. Simulation experiments and comparison analysis are subsequently conducted to assess the validity of the proposal. After reading this book, readers will possess a number of valuable tools for building consensus with minimum adjustments in the context of group decision-making. Further, the proposed approach can effectively reduce costs in consensus building.¿Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 216 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book is based on the author's work in the T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, in which neutrinos are generated by a proton beam and are detected by near and far neutrino detectors. In order to achieve the precise measurement of the neutrino oscillation, an accurate understanding of the neutrino beam and the neutrino interaction is essential. Thus, the author measured the neutrino beam properties and the neutrino interaction cross sections using a near neutrino detector called INGRID and promoted a better understanding of them. Then, the author performed a neutrino oscillation analysis using the neutrino beam and neutrino interaction models verified by the INGRID measurements. As a result, some values of the neutrino CP phase are disfavored at the 90% confidence level. If the measurement precision is further improved, we may be able to discover the finite CP phase which involves the CP violation. Thus, this result is an important step towards the discovery of CP violation in the lepton sector, which may be the key to understanding the origin of the matter¿antimatter asymmetry in the universe.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book first introduces the background of spatial audio reproduction, with different types of audio content and for different types of playback systems. A literature study on the classical and emerging Primary Ambient Extraction (PAE) techniques is presented. The emerging techniques aim to improve the extraction performance and also enhance the robustness of PAE approaches in dealing with more complex signals encountered in practice. The in-depth theoretical study helps readers to understand the rationales behind these approaches. Extensive objective and subjective experiments validate the feasibility of applying PAE in spatial audio reproduction systems. These experimental results, together with some representative audio examples and MATLAB codes of the key algorithms, illustrate clearly the differences among various approaches and also help readers gain insights on selecting different approaches for different applications.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 144 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -The book will cover the past, present and future developments of field theory and computational electromagnetics. The first two chapters will give an overview of the historical developments and the present the state-of-the-art in computational electromagnetics. These two chapters will set the stage for discussing recent progress, new developments, challenges, trends and major directions in computational electromagnetics with three main emphases:a. Modeling of ever larger structures with multi-scale dimensions and multi-level descriptions (behavioral, circuit, network and field levels) and transient behavioursb. Inclusions of physical effects other than electromagnetic: quantum effects, thermal effects, mechanical effects and nano scale featuresc. New developments in available computer hardware, programming paradigms (MPI, Open MP, CUDA and Open CL) and the associated new modeling approachesThese are the current emerging topics in the area of computational electromagnetics and may provide readers a comprehensive overview of future trends and directions in the area.The book iswritten for students, research scientists, professors, design engineers and consultants who engaged in the fields ofdesign, analysis and research of the emerging technologies related to computational electromagnetics, RF/microwave, optimization, new numerical methods, as well as accelerator simulator,dispersive materials, nano-antennas, nano-waveguide, nano-electronics, terahertz applications, bio-medical and material sciences.The book may also be used for those involved in commercializing electromagnetic and related emerging technologies, sensors and the semiconductor industry. The book can be used as a reference book for graduates and post graduates. It can also be used as a text book for workshops and continuing education for researchers and design engineers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 340 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book documents the findings of a 3-year longitudinal study on the quality of family life, personal well-being and risk behavior in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. It presents the profiles of quality of family life (family functioning, parental behavioral control, parental psychological control and parent-child relational qualities); personal well-being (positive youth development and life satisfaction measures) and adolescent risk behavior (substance abuse, delinquency, self-harm and suicidal behavior and behavioral intentions to engage in risk behavior) in different adolescent populations across time. It also examines theoretical issues concerning the interrelationships between family quality of life, psychological well-being and risk behavior in adolescents. Practically speaking, the findings can help youth workers appreciate the importance of family quality of life and positive youth development in shaping the personal well-being and risk behavior in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -Manifolds fall naturally into two classes depending on whether they can be fitted with a distance measuring function or not. The former, metrisable manifolds, and especially compact manifolds, have been intensively studied by topologists for over a century, whereas the latter, non-metrisable manifolds, are much more abundant but have a more modest history, having become of increasing interest only over the past 40 years or so. The first book on this topic, this book ranges from criteria for metrisability, dynamics on non-metrisable manifolds, Nyikos¿s Bagpipe Theorem and whether perfectly normal manifolds are metrisable to structures on manifolds, especially the abundance of exotic differential structures and the dearth of foliations on the long plane. A rigid foliation of the Euclidean plane is described. This book is intended for graduate students and mathematicians who are curious about manifolds beyond the metrisability wall, and especially the use of Set Theory as a tool.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -Among the various multi-level formulations of mathematical models in decision making processes, this book focuses on the bi-level model. Being the most frequently used, the bi-level model addresses conflicts which exist in multi-level decision making processes. From the perspective of bi-level structure and uncertainty, this book takes real-life problems as the background, focuses on the so-called random-like uncertainty, and develops the general framework of random-like bi-level decision making problems. The random-like uncertainty considered in this book includes random phenomenon, random-overlapped random (Ra-Ra) phenomenon and fuzzy-overlapped random (Ra-Fu) phenomenon. Basic theory, models, algorithms and practical applications for different types of random-like bi-level decision making problems are also presented in this book.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 416 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book is comprised of two parts, both of which exploremodular systems: Pipe-Z (PZ) and Truss-Z (TZ), respectively. It presents severalmethods of creating PZ and TZ structures subjected to discrete optimization.The algorithms presented employ graph-theoretic and heuristic methods. Theunderlying idea of both systems is to create free-form structures using theminimal number of types of modular elements. PZ is more conceptual, as it formssingle-branch mathematical knots with a single type of module. Conversely, TZis a skeletal system for creating free-form pedestrian ramps and ramp networksamong any number of terminals in space. In physical space, TZ uses two types ofmodules that are mirror reflections of each other. The optimization criteriadiscussed include: the minimal number of units, maximal adherence to the givenguide paths, etc.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 136 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book offers a comprehensive overview of ZnO-nano carbon core shell hybrid issues. There is significant interest in metal oxide/nanocarbon hybrid functional materials in the field of energy conversion and storage as electrode materials for supercapacitors, Li ion secondary battery, electrocatalysts for water splitting, and optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes and solar photovoltaic cells. Despite efforts to manipulate more uniform metal oxide-nanocarbon nanocomposite structures, they have shown poor performance because they are randomly scattered and non-uniformly attached to the nanocarbon surface. For higher and more effective performance of the hybrid structure, 3D conformal coating on metal oxides are highly desirable.In the first part of the book, the physical and chemical properties of ZnO and nanocarbons and the state-of-the-art in related research are briefly summarized. In the next part, the 3D conformal coating synthetic processes of ZnO templated nanocarbon hybrid materials such as ZnO-graphene,-C60, single-walled (SWCNT) are introduced with the aid of schematic illustrations. Analysis of their chemical bonding and structure are also presented. In the final section, several applications are presented: UV photovoltaic cells and photoelectrochemical anodes for water splitting using ZnO-C60 and ZnO-graphene, white-light-emitting diodes based on ZnO-graphene quantum dots(GQDs), inverted solar cells using ligand-modified ZnO-graphene QDs, and P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer with mixed with nano-ring SWCNT.The book describes how strong anchoring bonds between a ZnO core and carbon nanomaterial shell will ultimately prevail over the main drawbacks of ZnO with high charge recombination and poor electrochemical stability in liquid solutions. Due to the moderate energy states and excellent electric properties of the nanocarbons, ultrafast charge carrier transport from the ZnO core to the nanocarbon shell is guaranteed with the use of thephotoluminescence (PL) lifetime measurement.Given the growing interest and significance of future research in optoelectronic and electrochemical devices applications, the contents are very timely. This book is targeted towards researchers looking for highly efficient metal oxide-nanocarbon hybrid functional materials in the fields of nano-optoelectronics, photoelectrochemistry, energy storage and conversion.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 88 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This unique book explores school improvement policy ¿ from its translation into national contexts and school networks to its implementation in leader and teacher practices in individual schools and classrooms within this network of schools and its impact on students¿ learning. It draws on multiple conceptual and theoretical resources to explore the complexities attached to a school improvement process in a network of schools in Australia. These conceptual and theoretical resources include discourse, practice, representation and network, concepts common to both policy research as well as studies of leadership and classroom practice. They lead to a more detailed understanding of the intersections between educational policy and intervention processes, and the complex reality of school processes and teaching practices. In the book we trace the implementation of school improvement policies through its multiple phases, levels and contexts. Our data-collection and analysis methods draw on a variety of perspectives in the way different players perceive their roles and the nature of the initiative and the ways in which these intersect. The research findings are used to seek productive approaches to school improvement that combine policy integrity with local flexibility. The book contributes to the school improvement literature through its exploration of tensions between global and systemic settings and local practices and histories.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 160 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book examines the beliefs, attitudes, values and emotions of students in Years 5 to 8 (aged 10 to 14 years) about mathematics and mathematics education. Fundamentally, this book focuses on the development of affective views and responses towards mathematics and mathematics learning. Furthermore, it seems that students develop their more negative views of mathematics during the middle school years (Years 5 to 8), and so here we concentrate on students in this critical period. The book is based on a number of empirical studies, including an enquiry undertaken with 45 children in Years 5 and 6 in one school; a large-scale quantitative study undertaken with students from a range of schools across diverse communities in New Zealand; and two related small-scale studies with junior secondary students in Australia. This book brings substantial, empirically-based evidence to the widely held perception that many students have negative views of mathematics, and these affective responses develop during the middle years of school. The data for this book were collected with school students, and students who were actually engaged in learning mathematics in their crucial middle school years. The findings reported and discussed here are relevant for researchers and mathematics educators, policy makers and curriculum developers, and teachers and school principals engaged in the teaching of mathematics.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 156 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book reviews and analyses the issues and policies of internationalization and exportation of higher education and investigates the strategies and models of education hub development in the context of globalization, with Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific region as a case study. It examines the close relationship between education hubs and higher education, as well as the strategic functions of an education hub in the future development of a society in a competitive global environment. It also analyses the major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Hong Kong¿s higher education in relation to its potential for exporting higher education to Asian markets. In particular, it reviews the current state of higher education services offered by Hong Kong in three target markets and their segmentation and proposes the most appropriate market entry strategies for education service providers.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 220 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -Professor Stephen Lerman has been a leader in the field of mathematics education for thirty years. His work is extensive, making many significant contributions to a number of key areas of research. Stephen retired from South Bank University in 2012, where he had worked for over 20 years, though he continues to work at Loughborough University. In this book several of his long standing colleagues and collaborators reflect on his contribution to mathematics education, and in so doing illustrate how some of Steve¿s ideas and interventions have resulted in significant shifts in the domain.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 260 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -Given the increasing global interest in Chinese culture, this book uses case studies to describe and interpret Chinese cultivation in contemporary Taiwanese schools. Cultivation is a concept unique to Chinese culture and is characterized by different attitudes towards teaching and learning compared to Western models of education. The book starts with a discussion of human nature in Chinese schools of philosophy and levels of goodness. Following the philosophical background is a presentation of how cultivation is practiced in Chinese culture from prenatal through high school education. The case studies focus both on how students are cultivated as they become members of Chinese society, and on what role teachers play in cultivating the children in school. In addition, supports from Chinese educational institutions, including public schools, families, and organizations such as private cram schools, are introduced and explained. In closing, the book presents a critique of the modern school reform movement and the conflicts between the reform proposals and traditional practices. Based on the collective work of Taiwanese researchers in the fields of education, history and anthropology, the book identifies the purpose of education as cultivating virtue in a process of creating an ideal person who serves society, and describes the way teachers have carried on this tradition despite its faltering status in contemporary educational discourse and in the face of reform movements.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 296 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book uses a mixed-method approach to address the topic of personal epistemology among Chinese engineering doctoral students from U.S. institutions.--It presents a broad view of the epistemological development among Chinese engineering students from five U.S. Midwestern doctoral programs. Meanwhile, it provides practical examples from students¿ academic experiences to showcase their thinking development and behavioral patterns.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 208 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -The book mainly investigates the challenges that confront France¿s unique dual system of higher education in facing internationalization and the recruitment of international students. This book focuses on the development of the institutional strategies in two groups of higher education institutions: University and Grande École in responding to the opportunities and stresses of both Europe¿s Bologna process and globalization.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -Utilizing a case study method and a Multiperspectival Approach, this volume presents a pioneering, in-depth study about Chinäs teacher education policy since the 1990s. It critically investigates the rational, dynamic and complex implementation process taking place at the micro institutional level for the transformations of teacher education institutions. The book first introduces the sociopolitical and cultural background of Chinäs teacher education system and its challenges under the condition of globalization, and illustrates major national initiatives for nurturing highly qualified teachers. It then explores new teachers¿ identities in an era of enhanced professionalism, uncovers the ways they reflect Chinäs teacher education reform, and distills the rationales behind these policy actions. This is followed by an analytic presentation of the findings of the case study of a provincial normal university, with a particular focus on such core pieces of the implementation jigsaw as policy flow, the dynamism of implementation, sociopolitical and cultural confluence, and institutional barriers in the complex process. Lastly, the book unravels key recommendations and implications for policy implementation studies from the China policy case, and constructs a Chinese Zhong-Yong Model of policy implementation, and sheds new light on policy studies of teacher education reform in particular and public policy in general, which may be transferable to other sociopolitical contexts seeking to nurture world-class teachers and achieve educational excellence in a global age.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 276 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book brings together diverse perspectives from the newest generation of scholars from Canada and China to better understand China in the 21st century. It examines China's socio-political structure, its particular relationship with Canada, and interaction with the international community; and discusses how to overcome the ideological differences between the two countries to establish positive and sustainable Canada-China bilateral relations for the future. Importantly, the perspectives are from young authors, with a different relationship to China (and Canada) than more established authors. This compilation helps breathe new life into the study of Sino-Canada relations from both countries, and to reassess and re-frame issues related to China in the 21st century.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 292 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book reveals the secrets of Yamato Transport¿s success in maintaining and extending its leadership in Japan¿s domestic parcel delivery market. It presents six cases that illustrate how Yamato's flagship service, TA-Q-BIN, has evolved since the 1970s to the benefit of consumers, particularly urban dwellers, and how TA-Q-BIN has become an integral part of Japanese daily life. Each of the six unique cases serves as an independent teaching case for undergraduate and graduate students, describing the particular service design, operations management, innovation, supplier management, and social responsibility within the context of an Asian last-mile logistics service provider. The book also includes insightful presentations of the challenges facing supply chain and logistics service providers in Asia, and their innovative responses to these challenges using real-world cases. Besides featuring interviews with Yamatös key stakeholders and their strategic clients, Japan-based and other Asia-Pacific Yamato operational centers make up the field method included in this book, while secondary data is drawn from trade and academic domains. Some of the cases are written in a didactic fashion, with suitable stopping points for students to pause and deliberate over the managerial issues confronting the decisions that Yamato makes during the course of its business and operational strategies. The results are particularly useful to readers interested in how operations and logistics decision-making are practiced in a homogeneous Asian context and in an urban environment. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and MBA students, as well as practitioners in industry.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 204 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book adopts the method of grounded theory in studying national communication campaigns in China, referred to as propaganda campaigns in the Chinese linguistic context. The study provides an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the ways in which the media in China fulfilled their function of building a Socialist spiritual civilisation and maintaining national integration during state propaganda campaigns. Explanations for the success and limitations of the campaigns are clearly expressed and combined with cautious statements on the limited role of the media in the process of national integration. The three major communication campaigns detailed in this book offer revelations regarding how to maintain mass morale and revive the national spirit at a time when economic pursuits and aspirations seem to be the top priority for individuals and institutions. A chief premise underpinning this study is that economic growth is not to be equated with social progress or human development, the latter encompassing a far more profound spiritual dimension, which takes far more delicate efforts to accomplish.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 252 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book explores the identities, embodied experiences, and personal relationships of young people experiencing homelessness, and analyses these in relation to the material and symbolic position that youth homelessness occupies in modern societies. Drawing on empirical research conducted in both urban and rural areas, the book situates young people¿s experiences of homelessness within a theoretical framework that connects embodied identities and relationships with processes of social change. The book theorises a ¿symbolic economy of youth homelessness¿ that encompasses the subjective, aesthetic, and relational dimensions of homelessness. This theory shows the personal, interpersonal and affective suffering that is caused by the relations of power and privilege that produce contemporary youth homelessness. The book is unique in the way in which it places youth homelessness within the wider contexts of inequality, and social change. Whilst contemporary discussions of youth homelessness understand the topic as a discrete ¿social problem¿, this book demonstrates the position that youth homelessness occupies within wider social processes, inequalities, and theoretical debates, addressing theories of social change in late modernity and their relationship to the cultural construction of youth. These theoretical debates are made concrete by means of an exploration of an important form of contemporary inequality: youth homelessness.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 184 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This anthology analyzes societal and cultural aspects of modern Japan. It identifies the dynamic trend and undercurrent in Japan by addressing three key areas: modernization, internationalization, and memory and imagination. Using interdisciplinary and multi-language approaches, it discusses topics such as religion, ethnicity, civil society, art, public health, popular culture, war, identity and education. It is a valuable resource for scholars and graduate students with an interest in cutting-edge research analyses of Japanese / Asian studies.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book is an ethnographic work that uses a critical medical anthropology approach to examine the concept of fever care in the context of southern India. Through a study of fevers, the study provides a critical overview to medical practice itself, as it is said that the history of fevers is also the history of medicine. This association between fevers and medicine is as relevant today, as this in-depth study of fever care reveals. Acknowledging the central role of health institutions in creating and propagating notions about illness in society, the author examines fever care through a study of hospitals.The study examines various discourses on fevers prevalent in the southern state of Kerala, which influence policy and programmatic dimensions of the state health services system. Fever care implies those aspects related to provisioning and cost involved among public and private sector hospitals. A second and more important dimension of this book is a critique of the culture of biomedical practice, informed by the social constructivist framework and approaches in the field of science studies. Overall, the book studies the processes by which physical symptoms like fever are treated as epidemics to be controlled, and are therefore brought within a biomedical system, thereby opening up options for commercialization of care.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 196 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This volume looks at how accumulation in postcolonial capitalism blurs the boundaries of space, institutions, forms, financial regimes, labour processes, and economic segments on one hand, and creates zones and corridors on the other. It draws our attention to the peculiar but structurally necessary coexistence of both primitive and virtual modes of accumulation in the postcolony. From these two major inquiries it develops a new understanding of postcolonial capitalism. The case studies in this volume discuss the production of urban spaces of capital extraction, institutionalization of postcolonial finance capital, gendering of work forms, establishment of new forms of labour, formation of and changes in caste and racial identities and networks, and securitization¿and thereby confirm that no study of contemporary capitalism is complete without thoroughly addressing the postcolonial condition.By challenging the established dualities between citizenship-based civil society and welfare-based political society, exploring critically the question of colonial and postcolonial difference, and foregrounding the material processes of accumulation against the culturalism of postcolonial studies, this volume redefines postcolonial studies in South Asia and beyond. It is invaluable reading for students and scholars of South Asian studies, sociology, cultural and critical anthropology, critical and praxis studies, and political science.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 272 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book provides in-depth information on clusterbean, its cultivation, genetic improvement, plant protection measures, management of abiotic stresses, molecular aspects etc. It is divided into seven chapters including an introduction to the crop, prospects, constraints, genetic improvement, variability, application of clusterbean gum and its byproducts, cultivation, plant protection, physiological and abiotic stress aspects, along with related genetic markers and biotechnological advances.Clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.), commonly known as ¿guar,¿ is an important leguminous crop grown for seed, green fodder, vegetable and green manuring in arid and semi-arid regions and has a special commercial role due to the gum content in its seeds. Indiäs arid environment provides ideal agro-climatic conditions for the successful cultivation of clusterbean, as the plant needs little surface water, long-duration sunshine and low relative humidity during the cropping season. India accounts for nearly 82 percent of global clusterbean seed production, making it an important export product.Based on essential industry and market data, the book offers a comprehensive overview of this unique crop, and will be of interest to researchers active in the field of clusterbean breeding.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 168 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book approaches the concept of geo-architecture from the perspective of functions of architectures by analyzing the cases of traditional Chinese houses and tombs as well as palaces and places of worship. Houses and tombs, the ¿Yang¿ dwellings and ¿Yin¿ dwellings of human beings in traditional Chinese interpretation, are the two types of architectures that reveal the wisdom with which different ethnic groups adapted to different geographic environments at different times throughout the long history. Palaces are connected with various religious architectures throughout the Chinese history. The connection between imperial power and religion, along with its geographic and cultural connotations, are implicated in the pattern and layout of religious and imperial architectures. This book is the second of a 4-volume book series. The series develops the innovative concept of ¿geo-architecture¿ by exploring the myriad influences of natural, human and historical factors upon architecture. These influences are considered in three categories, namely, interaction between architecture and nature, interaction between architecture and its human users and change in architecture over time--each category serves as a lens. Augmenting these lenses is the Time-Person-Place concept applied different geographic. The analysis ultimately focuses on two aspects: geographic influence on architecture and architectural response to geography. The over 1000 pictures of case architectures enriches the study with stunning and unique visual angles.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 284 pp. Englisch.

Buch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book describes the scale and complexity of Chinäs energy system, using Sankey diagrams to visualize the energy flows across the economy and categorizing the differences between provinces. Chinäs provinces extend over a vast area and are at different stages of economic development. Regional planning and inter-regional optimization will be essential for planning a future infrastructure that will allow China as a whole to optimize and avoid overcapacity and inefficiency.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 168 pp. Englisch.

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware -This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 11th Chinese Conference on Image and Graphics Technologies and Applications, IGTA 2016, held in Beijing, China in July 2016.The 27 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 69 submissions. They provide a forum for sharing progresses in the areas of image processing technology; image analysis and understanding; computer vision and pattern recognition; big data mining, computer graphics and VR; as well as image technology applications.Springer Verlag GmbH, Tiergartenstr. 17, 69121 Heidelberg 264 pp. Englisch.