Adaptive Scalarization Methods in Multiobjective Optimization
This book presents new adaptive solution methods for multiobjective optimization problems based on parameter dependent scalarizations. With the help of sensitivity results an adaptive parameter control is developed so that high-quality approximations of the efficient set are generated. These examinations are based on a general scalarization approach for arbitrary partial orderings defined by a closed pointed convex cone in the objective space. The application of the results to many other well-known scalarization methods is also presented. Background material of multiobjective optimization and scalarization approaches is concisely summarized at the beginning. The effectiveness of these new methods is demonstrated by test problems and a recent problem in intensity-modulated radiotherapy. The book concludes with a further application: a procedure for solving multiobjective bilevel optimization problems.
A Successful Transformation? : Restructuring of the Czech Automobile Industry
This book investigates the complex processes of the post-1990 transformation in the Czech automotive industry and its selective integration in the West European automobile manufacturing system. The post-1990 restructuring of the Czech automotive industry is analyzed in the context of its pre-1990 development and in the context of the Central and East European automobile industry as a whole. Specifically, the book examines the development and post-1990 restructuring of the Czech passenger car industry, the components industry and truck manufacturing. Major topics covered include the development of the Czech automotive industry before 1990, the detailed case study of Škoda Auto, the effects of the post-1990 privatization in the Czech automotive industry, the role and effects of foreign direct investment during the post-1990 restructuring, the restructuring of the Czech truck industry, and the rapid development of the automotive components manufacturing.
A Stakeholder Rationale for Risk Management : Implications for Corporate Finance Decisions
Ordinarily, only the interests of shareholders, debtholders, and corporate management are taken into account when analyzing corporate financial decisions while the interests of non-financial stakeholders are often neglected. Gregor Gossy develops a so-called stakeholder rationale for risk management arguing that firms which are more dependent on implicit claims from their non-financial stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, and employees, prefer conservative financial policies. In order to perform panel data analyses of the determinants of corporate financial decisions, the author uses data from Austrian and German industrial companies. He shows that variables for a firm’s most important non-financial stakeholders explain the firm’s capital structure and cash holding decisions. His findings suggest that a firm’s choice of accounting standards have a moderating effect on the determinants of corporate finance decisions.
A Contingency-Based View of Chief Executive Officers' Early Warning Behaviour : An Empirical Analysis of German Medium-Sized Companies
Organizations need to identify risks and chances of environmental changes in order to adapt to or possibly even to influence them. Early warning which comprises scanning and interpretation plays an important role in this process. Whereas the traditional contingency approach considers early warning as a part of the organizational structure, the extended contingency theory assumes the additional influence of an individual’s personality on early warning. Andreas Kirschkamp empirically analyses the early warning behavior of Chief Executive Officers in German medium-sized companies. First, he presents the design variables of early warning, then the influencing contingency variables. On the basis of the scholarly research on psychological and contingency theory, the author deduces hypotheses and tests them. The results show that early warning behavior is not only influenced by traditional contingency variables but also by personal attitudes.
Bioclimatic housing : Innovative designs for warm climates
In the search for sustainable architecture, there is growing interest in the relationship between nature and design. In this context, Bioclimatic Housing covers creative, vernacular architecture to present both the theory and practice of innovative, low-energy architecture.The book interweaves the themes of social progress, technological fixes and industry transformation within a discussion of global and country trends, climate types, solutions and technologies. this is a truly international and authoritative work, providing an essential primer for building designers, builders, developers and advanced students in architecture and engineering.
Light Shadow Space : Architectural Rendering with Cinema 4D®
The visualization of light in space, its effect on model cubature and scenery, is one of the great challenges in architectural rendering. This is a decisive reason for the use of 3D tools – both for architecture offices and students. This volume features a number of exercises that enable the reader to learn how to light architecture models correctly. Complete virtual 3D scenarios are included that allow for the step-by-step construction of a lighting set up with the help of Cinema 4D® software that creates a realistic spatial impression. The tutorials are complemented by a chapter on the use of Cinema 4D®, importing CAD models and light sources as well as shadow types, which have been revised and expanded in the 9.5 and 10 version.
Bourses fédérales de design Eidgenössische Förderpreise für Design Swiss Federal Design Grants 2007 = Bourses fédérales de design Swiss Federal Design Grants 2007
On the occasion of the annual Swiss Federal Design Competition, the Federal Office of Culture is realizing a publication and an exhibition - this year in collaboration with the Musée de design et d'arts appliqués contemporains in Lausanne. They serve as platforms to present and document all award winners and their award-winning works. Works from the fields of fashion, textiles, graphics, illustration, photography, product design and jewelry can be seen.
Mathematical Modelling of Biosystems
This volume is an interdisciplinary book, which introduces, in a very readable way, state of the art research in the fundamental topics of mathematical modelling of Biosystems. These topics include: the study of Biological Growth and its mechanisms, the coupling of pattern to form via theorems of Differential Geometry, the human immunodeficiency virus dynamics, the inverse folding problem and the possibility of analysing true protein backbone flexibility, the Biclustering techniques for the organization of microarray data, the analytical approach to the modelling of biomolecular structure via Steiner trees, the action of biocides on resistance mechanisms of mutated and phenotypic bacteria strains, a description of the fundamental processes for the distribution and abundances of species towards a unified theory of Ecology, and a special introduction to Protein Physics aiming to explain the all-or-none first order phase transitions from native to denatured states.
Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems ; Vol. II : Epidemiology, Evolution and Ecology,Immunology, Neural Systems and the Brain, and Innovative Mathematical Methods
This two-volume, interdisciplinary work is a unified presentation of a broad range of state-of-the-art topics in the rapidly growing field of mathematical modeling in the biological sciences. Highlighted throughout both works are mathematical and computational approaches to examine central problems in the life sciences, ranging from the organizational principles of individual cells to the dynamics of large populations.
Mathematical Methods in Time Series Analysis and Digital Image Processing
The aim of this volume is to bring together research directions in theoretical signal and imaging processing developed rather independently in electrical engineering, theoretical physics, mathematics and the computer sciences. In particular, mathematically justified algorithms and methods, the mathematical analysis of these algorithms, and methods as well as the investigation of connections between methods from time series analysis and image processing are reviewed. An interdisciplinary comparison of these methods, drawing upon common sets of test problems from medicine and geophysical/enviromental sciences, is also addressed.
Mathematical Methods for Engineers and Geoscientists
This book introduces and explains classical and modern mathematical procedures as applied to the real problems confronting engineers and geoscientists. Written in a manner that is understandable for students across the breadth of their studies, it lays out the foundations for mastering difficult and sometimes confusing mathematical methods.
Mathematical Epidemiology
Based on lecture notes of two summer schools with a mixed audience from mathematical sciences, epidemiology and public health, this volume offers a comprehensive introduction to basic ideas and techniques in modeling infectious diseases, for the comparison of strategies to plan for an anticipated epidemic or pandemic, and to deal with a disease outbreak in real time. It covers detailed case studies for diseases including pandemic influenza, West Nile virus, and childhood diseases. Models for other diseases including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, fox rabies, and sexually transmitted infections are included as applications. Its chapters are coherent and complementary independent units. In order to accustom students to look at the current literature and to experience different perspectives, no attempt has been made to achieve united writing style or unified notation.
Mathematical Control Theory and Finance
This book highlights recent developments in mathematical control theory and its applications to finance. It presents a collection of original contributions by distinguished scholars, addressing a large spectrum of problems and techniques. Control theory provides a large set of theoretical and computational tools with applications in a wide range of fields, ranging from "pure" areas of mathematics up to applied sciences like finance. Stochastic optimal control is a well established and important tool of mathematical finance. Other branches of control theory have found comparatively less applications to financial problems, but the exchange of ideas and methods has intensified in recent years. This volume should contribute to establish bridges between these separate fields. The diversity of topics covered as well as the large array of techniques and ideas brought in to obtain the results make this volume a valuable resource for advanced students and researchers.
Mathematical Control Theory : An Introduction
Mathematical Control Theory: An Introduction presents, in a mathematically precise manner, a unified introduction to deterministic control theory. With the exception of a few more advanced concepts required for the final part of the book, the presentation requires only a knowledge of basic facts from linear algebra, differential equations, and calculus. In addition to classical concepts and ideas, the author covers the stabilization of nonlinear systems using topological methods, realization theory for nonlinear systems, impulsive control and positive systems, the control of rigid bodies, the stabilization of infinite dimensional systems, and the solution of minimum energy problems.
Mathematical Analysis I
The purpose of the volume is to provide a support for a first course in Mathematical Analysis, along the lines of the recent Programme Specifications for mathematical teaching in European universities. The contents are organised to appeal especially to Engineering, Physics and Computer Science students, all areas in which mathematical tools play a crucial role. Basic notions and methods of differential and integral calculus for functions of one real variable are presented in a manner that elicits critical reading and prompts a hands-on approach to concrete applications. The layout has a specifically-designed modular nature, allowing the instructor to make flexible didactical choices when planning an introductory lecture course. The book may in fact be employed at three levels of depth. At the elementary level the student is supposed to grasp the very essential ideas and familiarise with the corresponding key techniques.
Materials Issues for Generation IV Systems ; Status, Open Questions and Challenges
Global warming, shortage of low-cost oil resources and the increasing demand for energy are currently controlling the world's economic expansion while often opposing desires for sustainable and peaceful development. In this context, atomic energy satisfactorily fulfills the criteria of low carbon gas production and high overall yield. However, in the absence of industrial fast-breeders the use of nuclear fuel is not optimal, and the production of high activity waste materials is at a maximum. These are the principal reasons for the development of a new, fourth generation of nuclear reactors, minimizing the undesirable side-effects of current nuclear energy production technology while increasing yields by increasing operation temperatures and opening the way for the industrial production of hydrogen through the decomposition of water.
Material Agency : Towards a Non-Anthropocentric Approach
This book is a groundbreaking attempt to address questions of non-human and material agency from a wide range of perspectives and disciplines: archaeology, anthropology, sociology, cognitive science, philosophy, and economics. The editors and authors demostrate that a distributed, relational approach to agency, incorporating both humans and artifacts, has important ramifications for how we understand material culture.
Matematica e cultura 2008 = mathematics and culture 2008
In this new book, the tenth of the series that began in Venice with the meetings "Mathematics and culture" that many have tried to imitate, we talk about all this and among others Simon Singh (author of the best seller "The last theorem di Fermat "), in her third presence in Venice, and Siobhan Roberts (author of" The king of infinite space. History of the man who saved geometry "). Venice bridge between mathematics and culture.
Mass Extinction
The present book combines three main aspects: five major mass extinctions; contributions on some other minor extinctions; and more importantly contributions on the current mass extinction.
Masonry Constructions : Mechanical Models and Numerical Applications
This monograph firstly provides a detailed description of the constitutive equation of masonry-like materials, clearly setting out its most important features. It then goes on to provide a numerical procedure to solve the equilibrium problem of masonry solids.



















