Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Since Kurt Vonnegut passed away aged 84 earlier this year (11th April 2007), his life and work received considerable media recognition. While FOX-news could not refrain from expressing rather hostile criticism in their Vonnegut obituary, admirers of Vonnegut's works reacted with angry comments to the aforementioned programme. All over the internet bloggers expressed their regrets and wrote their own obituaries commenting on Vonnegut's life as well as his books. Why does the death of an 84 year old author leaving a body of 14 novels, three collections of short stories, one compilation of fictitious interviews with dead celebrities, four works of non-fiction, five plays and one requiem lead to public reactions which differ so widely? How can the works of an author who persisted to write his last book on an old typewriter be so relevant for the technophiles of the blogosphere? These questions alone justify the continuation of an academic discourse on the works of Kurt Vonnegut which has been going on four almost forty years following the publication of Slaughterhouse-Five in 1969. Ever since that novel, critics rarely fail to mention the considerable influence of science fiction on Vonnegut's writing. Man's relationship to technology and the effects of technology on inter-human communication are central motifs in science fiction: hence, the web 2.0 generation's reaction to Vonnegut's death provides an extraordinary indication that the problems pondered upon in Vonnegut's science fiction are still relevant today. However, it has to be said that most critics' references to science fiction elements in Vonnegut's works remain limited to a surface level and evoke the impression that either the scholar is not well informed about the implications of the term 'science fiction' or fails to name his or her references. The effect of such an approach is that the works on the subject will either seem to be apologetic annexions of Vonnegut's novels by science fiction buffs and space opera fans or attempts to minimise the role of science fiction in the works of Kurt Vonnegut to mere parody. Neither impression is adequate for a thorough understanding of the role of science fiction in the works of Kurt Vonnegut. Therefore, in this paper a coordinate system discussing the implication of the term science fiction will be set up, in which Vonnegut's works can be located. In order to find a valid reference point, a fixed set of aspects will be [...]
Murtada al-Zabidi was a Humanist scholar and a Muslim, whose twelfth-century writings are here examined in the context of their geographical and historical setting. The period when Zabidi was writing saw a shift in the balance of power from the Muslim empires to the Western world, reflected in the stories he told of his travels from India on to Cairo, across vast distances and coming across an extraordinary range of people. The five chapters in this work look at various aspects of Zabidi's life and times, the first one focusing on his life and career and forms a background to studies of his work. The second looks at Zabidi's writing and publishing and the third at his notes on his friends, teachers, students and acquaintances. Chapter four assesses his two largest works; his Arabic lexicon and his commentary on Gazzali's Ihya . Finally, chapter five explores his second major literary achievement, his large commentary on Gazzali's Ihya ulum al-din .
The ESC Textbook of Heart Failure is the latest addition to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) publications portfolio and is fully supported by the European Heart Failure Association. The textbook brings together internationally renowned experts in the field of heart failure to present an up-to-date understanding of all aspects of this chronic condition that worsens with time. It is estimated that the worldwide population of patients suffering from heart failure is approximately 26 million. This clinically oriented work reflects contemporary European guidelines from the ESC and the European Heart Failure Association and summarizes the latest evidence from clinical trials. Made up of eighteen different sections the textbook covers the epidemiology, etiology, prevention, pathophysiology, and clinical phenotypes of heart failure. The assessment and management of chronic, acute, and advance heart failure are all discussed in detail. As well as chapters dedicated to self-care and patient education, the multidisciplinary approach to heart failure management, and clinical trial design and interpretation. The future direction of the field is discussed throughout with separate chapters on digital health, big data, and telemedicine/remote monitoring in heart failure also included. A must read for cardiovascular healthcare specialists in Europe and across the world it should also appeal to those in training, general physicians and those caring of the elderly, cardiothoracic surgeons, primary care doctors, and specialist nurses too.
In this interdisciplinary textbook, which bridges the gap between the natural and social sciences both, the scientific principles of restoration ecology and practical aspects of ecosystem restoration are comprehensively presented. The diversity of land-use types with a focus on Central Europe is highlighted and case studies of practical restoration projects are presented. The textbook offers students who deal with the environment as well as scientists and practitioners a profound and up-to-date, but also critical overview of the state of knowledge. This book opens up the broad spectrum of degraded ecosystems of Central European natural and cultural landscapes. In further chapters, marine ecosystems and their restoration as well as development potentials and the limits of restoration are discussed in more detail. The ecological fundamentals are expanded through an interdisciplinary perspective taking into account environmental ethics, sociology, anthropology, and economics. In addition to an up-to-date overview of the various areas and fields of activity in restoration ecology and ecosystem restoration, the textbook provides a valuable basis for studies, science, and practice. The students also receive assistance in searching for literature and critical fact analysis, and the lecturers on teaching formats and interdisciplinary approaches to discussion in restoration ecology.
This book introduces physical effects and fundamentals of piezoelectric sensors and actuators. It gives a comprehensive overview of piezoelectric materials such as quartz crystals and polycrystalline ceramic materials. Different modeling approaches and methods to precisely predict the behavior of piezoelectric devices are described. Furthermore, a simulation-based approach is detailed which enables the reliable characterization of sensor and actuator materials. One focus of the book lies on piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers. An optical approach is presented that allows the quantitative determination of the resulting sound fields. The book also deals with various applications of piezoelectric sensors and actuators. In particular, the studied application areas are · process measurement technology, · ultrasonic imaging, · piezoelectric positioning systems and · piezoelectric motors. The book addresses students, academic as well as industrial reseachers and development engineers who are concerned with piezoelectric sensors and actuators.
One of the major challenges in science is to study and understand the human brain. Numerous methods examining different aspects of brain functions have been developed and employed. To study systemic interactions brain networks in vivo, non-invasive methods such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been used with great success. However, each of these methods can map only certain, quite selective aspects of brain function while missing others; and the inferences on neuronal processes and information flow are often rather indirect. To overcome these shortcomings of single methods, researchers have attempted to combine methods in order to make optimal use of their advantages while compensating their disadvantages. Hence, it is not surprising that soon after the introduction of fMRI as a neuroimaging method the possibilities of combinations with EEG have been explored. This book is intended to aid researchers who plan to set up a simultaneous EEG-fMRI laboratory and those who are interested in integrating electrophysiological and hemodynamic data. As will be obvious from the different chapters, this is a dynamically developing field in which several approaches are being tested, validated and compared. Currently, there is no one best solution for all problems available, but many promising techniques are emerging. This book shall give a comprehensive overview of these techniques. In addition, it points to open questions and directions for future research.
Activities performed in organizations are coordinated via communication between the people involved. The sentences used to communicate are naturally structured by subject, verb, and object. The subject describes the actor, the verb the action and the object what is affected by the action. Subject-oriented Business Process Management (S-BPM) as presented in this book is based on this simple structure which enables process-oriented thinking and process modeling. S-BPM puts the subject of a process at the center of attention and thus deals with business processes and their organizational environment from a new perspective, meeting organizational requirements in a much better way than traditional approaches. Subjects represent agents of an action in a process, which can be either technical or human (e.g. a thread in an IT system or a clerk). A process structures the actions of each subject and coordinates the required communication among the subjects. S-BPM provides a coherent procedural framework to model and analyze business processes: its focus is the cooperation of all stakeholders involved in the strategic, tactical, and operational issues, sharing their knowledge in a networked structure. The authors illustrate how each modeling activity through the whole development lifecycle can be supported through the use of appropriate software tools. The presentation style focuses on professionals in industry, and on students specializing in process management or organizational modeling. Each chapter begins with a summary of key findings and is full of examples, hints, and possible pitfalls. An interpreter model, a toolbox, and a glossary summarizing the main terms complete the book. The web site www.i2pm.net provides additional software tools and further material.
Hereditary or genetic diseases featuring involuntary movements constitute a major aspect of the practice of neurology, functional neurosurgery, genetics, and many areas of basic and applied neuroscience research. Describing the current knowledge on these disorders, Genetics of Movement Disorders brings together information essential for clinicians, geneticists, and neuroscientists in one source. Utilizing a convenient and accessible format, the book is designed to allow easy identification of relevant information, with the overall organization of topics following established phenotypic classifications of movement disorders such as Parkinsonian syndromes, chorea, ataxia, and major categories of diseases grouped by gene locus. This book broadly appeals to neurologists, neuroscientists, geneticists, as well as cell and molecular biologists and hematologists. Consistently formatted to present a clinical description of the disorder, followed by an in-depth analysis of the mutation and function of the mutated gene including cellular and animal models Emphasizes the use of DNA tests for each respective disorder Provides up-to-date, easily accessible information for clinicians, geneticists, and neuroscientists
In the Cold War era, sport was not just a symbol of the power and strength of a nation-state, but of certain ideological systems of politics. With the pressure for athletes to succeed at its zenith, many East German athletes were given anabolic steroids by their country’s own sport federation. While doping in East Germany has been intensely researched in the past decades, the state of West German athletics during this time has remained largely a mystery. In fact, doping was a common practice on both sides of the Iron Curtain. But how many athletes were involved? And who knew about these practices? In order to answer these questions, the Federal Institute for Sport Science in Germany supported a research project to shed light on the other, West German side of doping history. Based on analyses of authentic documents and archives, German Sports, Doping and Politics: A History of Performance Enhancement is a unique study spanning from 1950-2007. Translated from its original German, and supplemented with new material written especially for an international audience, this innovative book addresses many important questions about a topic with worldwide implications. Part I deals with the history of doping in the post-war period of the 1950s and ‘60s; Part II focuses on the apex of doping, as well as the beginnings of the anti-doping movement; and Part III considers the development of doping since the Reunification and the foundation of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the National Anti-Doping Agency in Germany. Written for a global audience, German Sports, Doping, and Politics explains and reveals the truly remarkable processes of doping and anti-doping that have evolved since the Cold War. While sports historians will find this book of great interest, it is also a significant study for anyone who wants to look beyond the surface of sports and doping as reported by the media.
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