First published in 2001. This is Volume VII of the Foreign Policies of the Great Powers eleven part series and focuses on on the policies of France from 1914 to 1945. It includes sections on French diplomacy of the War 1914 to 18, the Peace Settlement, from Versailles to the Ruhr and the Dawes Plan, the Franco-Italian Rapprochement, the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance and the policies around the beginning of the next War.

First published in 2001. This is Volume VII of the Foreign Policies of the Great Powers eleven part series and focuses on on the policies of France from 1914 to 1945. It includes sections on French diplomacy of the War 1914 to 18, the Peace Settlement, from Versailles to the Ruhr and the Dawes Plan, the Franco-Italian Rapprochement, the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Mutual Assistance and the policies around the beginning of the next War.

This comprehensive Handbook focuses on the most used polytomous item response theory (IRT) models. These models help us understand the interaction between examinees and test questions where the questions have various response categories. The book reviews all of the major models and includes discussions about how and where the models originated, conceptually and in practical terms. Diverse perspectives on how these models can best be evaluated are also provided. Practical applications provide a realistic account of the issues practitioners face using these models. Disparate elements of the book are linked through editorial sidebars that connect common ideas across chapters, compare and reconcile differences in terminology, and explain variations in mathematical notation. These sidebars help to demonstrate the commonalities that exist across the field. By assembling this critical information, the editors hope to inspire others to use polytomous IRT models in their own research so they too can achieve the type of improved measurement that such models can provide.

Part 1 examines the most commonly used polytomous IRT models, major issues that cut across these models, and a common notation for calculating functions for each model. An introduction to IRT software is also provided. Part 2 features distinct approaches to evaluating the effectiveness of polytomous IRT models in various measurement contexts. These chapters appraise evaluation procedures and fit tests and demonstrate how to implement these procedures using IRT software. The final section features groundbreaking applications. Here the goal is to provide solutions to technical problems to allow for the most effective use of these models in measuring educational, psychological, and social science abilities and traits. This section also addresses the major issues encountered when using polytomous IRT models in computerized adaptive testing. Equating test scores across different testing contexts is the focus of the last chapter. The various contexts include personality research, motor performance, health and quality of life indicators, attitudes, and educational achievement.

Featuring contributions from the leading authorities, this handbook will appeal to measurement researchers, practitioners, and students who want to apply polytomous IRT models to their own research. It will be of particular interest to education and psychology assessment specialists who develop and use tests and measures in their work, especially researchers in clinical, educational, personality, social, and health psychology. This book also serves as a supplementary text in graduate courses on educational measurement, psychometrics, or item response theory.

Due to their unique properties, rubber materials are found in multiple engineering applications such as tires, engine mounts, shock absorbers, flexible joints, seals, etc. Nevertheless, the complex nature of the behavior of such material makes it difficult to accurately model and predict the performance of these units. The challenge to correctly reproduce the observed characteristics of rubber elements necessitates detailed experimental investigations, development of accurate constitutive models, validation of techniques to identify material parameters and efficient numerical methods. Aspects regarding fatigue and damage in elastomers are not to be left aside, as they influence the durability of the products. State-of-the-art technology in terms of constitutive modeling, numerical implementation, damage and fatigue resistance are strongly represented in these Proceedings, along with insights into advanced elastomers to be used in novel applications. Topics included in this volume are: Ageing, Friction and abrasion, Adhesion, Swelling, Continuum mechanical models and numerical implementation, Hyperelasticity, Micro-mechanical approaches, Fracture and fatigue, Mullins effect, Strain induced crystallization, Thermal effects, Reinforcement and vulcanization, Design and applications, Smart elastomers. Constitutive Models for Rubber VIII is of interest not only for undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and researchers in the discipline, but also for all those design and development engineers in the industry.

In the last decade unsupervised pattern discovery in time series, i.e. the problem of finding recurrent similar subsequences in long multivariate time series without the need of querying subsequences, has earned more and more attention in research and industry. Pattern discovery was already successfully applied to various areas like seismology, medicine, robotics or music. Until now an application to automotive time series has not been investigated. This dissertation fills this desideratum by studying the special characteristics of vehicle sensor logs and proposing an appropriate approach for pattern discovery. To prove the benefit of pattern discovery methods in automotive applications, the algorithm is applied to construct representative driving cycles.

This revision of a well-known text includes more sophisticated mathematical material. A new section on applications provides an introduction to the modern treatment of calculus of several variables, and the concept of duality receives expanded coverage. Notations have been changed to correspond to more current usage.

Polytomous Item Response Theory Models provides a unified, comprehensive introduction to the range of polytomous models available within item response theory (IRT). It begins by outlining the primary structural distinction between the two major types of polytomous IRT models. This focuses on the two types of response probability that are unique to polytomous models and their associated response functions, which are modeled differently by the different types of IRT model. It describes, both conceptually and mathematically, the major specific polytomous models, including the Nominal Response Model, the Partial Credit Model, the Rating Scale model, and the Graded Response Model. Important variations, such as the Generalized Partial Credit Model are also described as are less common variations, such as the Rating Scale version of the Graded Response Model. Relationships among the models are also investigated and the operation of measurement information is described for each major model. Practical examples of major models using real data are provided, as is a chapter on choosing an appropriate model. Figures are used throughout to illustrate important elements as they are described.

Die rasch wachsende Zahl neuerer Studien zum, Korper' spiegelt die akute Umformung der Wahrnehmung von, Korper' im Zuge trivialisierter Genetik, Medizin- und Reproduktionstechnologie, virtueller Reprasentation in den industrialisierten Landern einerseits und der wachsenden Bedeutung des, Korpers' in ethnischen Konflikten, fundamentalistischen Politiken kollektiver Identitat, in Burgerkrieg, Militarismus und Gewalt gegen Frauen andererseits. Der Projektbereich KORPER der Internationalen Frauenuniversitat lud Wissenschaftlerinnen zu einer, Korper-Akademie' ein, um ihren Ansatz, ihr Vorgehen und ihre Resultate zur Diskussion zu stellen. Der Band versammelt die besten Aufsatze dieses Gesprachs uber das zeitgeschichtliche Schicksal des Frauenkorpers von bisher im Deutschsprachigen nicht zuganglichen Autorinnen. Unsere Uberzeugung, dass die zeitgeschichtliche Problematik verfehlt wird, wenn der Frauen-, Korper' als Resultat von Produktions- und Konstruktionsleistungen behandelt wird, leitet die Suche nach den somatischen Erfahrungen von Frauen in einer technogenen Welt: Die, Subjekt-Position', die, Stimme' hat Vorrang."

Translation and communication between cultures can sometimes be a difficult process. Image-based assessments can offer a way for large populations to be tested on different subjects without having to create multiple testing programs. Cross-Cultural Analysis of Image-Based Assessments: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an innovative resource that offers insight into the application of visual assessments across a global and intercultural context. Highlighting applicable topics which include visual literacy, psychological assessments, assessment development, and equivalency measurements, this publication is ideal for psychologists, therapists, and researchers who would like to stay current on the most efficient way to test multi-cultural populations in various fields of knowledge.