Level Crossing Methods in Stochastic Models
Since its inception in 1974, the level crossing approach for analyzing a large class of stochastic models has become increasingly popular among researchers. This volume traces the evolution of level crossing theory for obtaining probability distributions of state variables and demonstrates solution methods in a variety of stochastic models including: queues, inventories, dams, renewal models, counter models, pharmacokinetics, and the natural sciences. Results for both steady-state and transient distributions are given, and numerous examples help the reader apply the method to solve problems faster, more easily, and more intuitively.
Let's talk : How English conversation works
Banter, chit-chat, gossip, natter, tete-a-tete: these are just a few of the terms for the varied ways in which we interact with one another through conversation. David Crystal explores the factors that motivate so many different kinds of talk and reveals the rules we use unconsciously, even in the most routine exchanges of everyday conversation. We tend to think of conversation as something spontaneous, instinctive, habitual.
Les vérités du cancer : Partager l'information, installer la relation = The truths about cancer : Sharing information, building the relationship
Les médecins et les équipes soignantes perçoivent comme une nouvelle pression la nécessité de transmettre le diagnostic de cancer et de discuter des options thérapeutiques avec un patient qui n’est pas toujours prêt à s y confronter. Bien que l’on puisse saluer le partage de l’information et encourager la transparence, le médecin prend le risque du blocage de dialogue, d’une indifférence, au pire d’un traumatisme. L’idée d’une diminution d’un certain pouvoir médical s’insinue dans le « dispositif » d’annonce qui renvoie la clinique à des apprentissages techniques. Au contraire, certains médecins cherchent à s’inscrire dans un mouvement plus démocratique. Ils constatent que pour le malade, savoir n’est pas choisir, et que dans les cas difficiles, ils restent encore décideurs. Cet ouvrage fait le point sur les changements obtenus par les lois et leurs conséquences sur les pratiques et incite à une réflexion philosophique sur la vérité et les vérités des interlocuteurs de la scène médicale.
Leonhard Euler
Euler was not only by far the most productive mathematician in the history of mankind, but also one of the greatest scholars of all time. He attained, like only a few scholars, a degree of popularity and fame which may well be compared with that of Galilei, Newton, or Einstei .This book is based in part on unpublished sources and comes right out of the current research on Euler. It is entirely free of formulae as it has been written for a broad audience with interests in the history of culture and science.
Leonardo´s Lost Robots
Reinterprets Leonardo's legacy of notes, showing that apparently unconnected fragments from dispersed manuscripts actually comprise cohesive designs for functioning automata. Using the rough sketches scattered throughout almost all of Leonardo's notebooks, the author has reconstructed Leonardo's programmable cart, which was the platform for other automata: a Robot Lion, a Robot Knight, and a hydraulically powered automaton for striking a bell.
Leibnizs Metaphysics of Time and Space
Leibniz’s metaphysics of space and time stands at the centre of his philosophy and is one of the high-water marks in the history of the philosophy of science. In this work, Futch provides the first systematic and comprehensive examination of Leibniz’s thought on this subject. In addition to elucidating the nature of Leibniz’s relationalism, the book fills a lacuna in existing scholarship by examining his views on the topological structure of space and time, including the unity and unboundedness of space and time. It is shown that, like many of his more recent counterparts, Leibniz adopts a causal theory of time where temporal facts are grounded on causal facts, and that his approach to time represents a precursor to non-tensed theories of time.
Leibniz and the natural world : Activity, passivity and corporeal substances in Leibniz's Philosophy
In the present book, Pauline Phemister argues against traditional Anglo-American interpretations of Leibniz as an idealist who conceives ultimate reality as a plurality of mind-like immaterial beings and for whom physical bodies are ultimately unreal and our perceptions of them illusory. Re-reading the texts without the prior assumption of idealism allows the more material aspects of Leibniz's metaphysics to emerge. Leibniz is found to advance a synthesis of idealism and materialism. His ontology posits indivisible, living, animal-like corporeal substances as the real metaphysical constituents of the universe; his epistemology combines sense-experience and reason; and his ethics fuses confused perceptions and insensible appetites with distinct perceptions and rational choice. In the light of his sustained commitment to the reality of bodies, Phemister re-examines his dynamics, the doctrine of pre-established harmony and his views on freedom.
Leibniz and the English-Speaking World
These essays comprise a first attempt to assess overall the attention awarded to Leibniz’s philosophy in the English-speaking world in his own time and up to the present day. In addition to an introductory overview there are fourteen original and previously unpublished essays considering Leibniz’s connections with his English-speaking contemporaries and near contemporaries as well as the later reception of his thought in Anglo-American philosophy.
Legitimacy in International Law
In recent years the question of the legitimacy of international law has been discussed quite intensively. Such questions are, for example, whether international law lacks legitimacy in general; whether international law or a part of it has yielded to the facts of power; whether adherence to international legal commitments should be subordinated to self-defined national interests; whether international law or particular rules of it – such as the prohibition of the use of armed force – have lost their ability to induce compliance (compliance pull); and what is the relevance of non-enforcement or failure to obey for the legitimacy of that particular international norm? This book contains fresh perspectives on these questions, offered at an international and interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Law and International Law.
Lectures on the Automorphism Groups of Kobayashi-Hyperbolic Manifolds
Presents a coherent exposition of recent results on complete characterization of Kobayashi-hyperbolic manifolds with high-dimensional groups of holomorphic automorphisms. These classification results can be viewed as complex-geometric analogues of those known for Riemannian manifolds with high-dimensional isotropy groups, that were extensively studied in the 1950s-70s. The common feature of the Kobayashi-hyperbolic and Riemannian cases is the properness of the actions of the holomorphic automorphism group and the isometry group on respective manifolds.
Lectures on Symplectic Geometry
Provides a fast introduction to symplectic geometry for graduate students with some knowledge of differential geometry, de Rham theory and classical Lie groups. This text addresses symplectomorphisms, local forms, contact manifolds, compatible almost complex structures, Kaehler manifolds, hamiltonian mechanics, moment maps, symplectic reduction and symplectic toric manifolds. It contains guided problems, called homework, designed to complement the exposition or extend the reader's understanding.
Lectures in Supercomputational Neurosciences : Dynamics in Complex Brain Networks
The present volume is an introduction, largely from the physicists' perspective, to the subject matter with in-depth contributions by system neuroscientists. A conceptual model for complex networks of neurons is introduced that incorporates many important features of the real brain, such as various types of neurons, various brain areas, inhibitory and excitatory coupling and the plasticity of the network. The computational implementation on supercomputers, which is introduced and discussed in detail in this book, will enable the readers to modify and adapt the algortihm for their own research.
Lectures in Supercomputational Neurosciences : Dynamics in Complex Brain Networks
The present volume is an introduction, largely from the physicists' perspective, to the subject matter with in-depth contributions by system neuroscientists. A conceptual model for complex networks of neurons is introduced that incorporates many important features of the real brain, such as various types of neurons, various brain areas, inhibitory and excitatory coupling and the plasticity of the network. The computational implementation on supercomputers, which is introduced and discussed in detail in this book, will enable the readers to modify and adapt the algortihm for their own research.
Lectures in Astrobiology ; Vol. II
Based on material delivered at several summer schools, this book is the first comprehensive textbook at the graduate level encompassing all aspects associated with the emerging field of astrobiology. Volume II gathers another set of extensive lectures covering topics so diverse as the formation and the distribution of elements in the Universe, the concept of habitability from both the planetologists' and the biologists' point of view and artificial life. The contributions are held together by the common goal to understand better the origin of life, its evolution and possible existence outside the Earth's realm.
Learning, philosophy, and African citizenship
This book discusses and addresses the compelling questions concerning the ideals of citizenship, the processes of learning to fulfill these ideals, and possibilities of education in fostering citizenship. Rather than advocating for one framework, the authors demonstrate the continuously contested nature of the concept of citizenship as theoretically discussed and practically experienced. The monograph combines, in an unconventional way, selected philosophical accounts and everyday experiences from certain locations in Tanzania and Uganda.
Learning to Diagnose with Simulations : Examples from Teacher Education and Medical Education
Presents 8 novel approaches to measure and improve diagnostic competences with simulation. The book compares the effects of interventions on these diagnostic competences in both teacher and medical education. It includes analyses showing that important aspects of diagnostic competences and effects of instructional interventions aiming to facilitate them are comparable for teachers and doctors.
Learning through Community : Exploring Participatory Practices
A collection of case studies that explore the learning that people do through community engagement. Developed within a network of Canadian researchers and their community partners, it explores learning that is organized by the learners themselves, collectively, rather than as individuals. Reflecting the contributors’ political priorities, the volume begins with groups that are highly marginalized in our society: immigrant women, sex trade workers, senior citizens, garment workers, women doing community economic development, and people who identify with disability and anti-poverty movements.
Learning in Modern International Society : On the Cognitive Problem Solving Abilities of Political Actors
Claudia Hofmann engages in a theoretical modelling of international learning processes and the substantiation of this model through three cases from international politics. She answers two questions: How may international actors learn as a collective? And how may the lessons learned influence actor behaviour and problem solving processes? As a foundation for answering these questions she examines the nature of actor behaviour within a social international system and integrates the diffusion of norms and values among macro-level actors.
Learning from clusters : A critical assessment from an economic-geographical perspective
Edited volumes run the danger of being a hotchpotch of contributions on a wide variety of topics. Here, we have explicitly focused on a central theme in contemporary economic geography and regional science, namely the relationship between learning, innovation and clustering. Internationally renowned scientists made both theoretical and empirical contributions to this volume. We think this book constitutes a broad palette of contemporary thinking and research on the relationship between spatial concentration and innovation and hope it will play a significant role in future debates on this issue.
Learners in a Changing Learning Landscape: Reflections from a Dialogue on New Roles and Expectations
Today's learners face constant change. Adaptive learner expertise is key to their survival on a learning journey that lasts a lifetime. This requires new thinking of all actors in the learning environment. The fundamental process through which this book was created is an extended in-depth dialogue among researchers, lifelong learners, educators, and thinkers.


















