This first-of-its-kind volume addresses the myriad of issues relating to-and reviews the plethora of responses to--premature births in the United States, both in national context and compared with other countries. In addition to current clinical data, it examines how preterm births in the U.S. fit in with larger social concerns regarding poverty, racial disparities, reproductive rights, gender expectations, and the business of health care. Comparisons with preterm birth phenomena in Canada, the U.K., and other Western European countries illustrate cultural narratives about motherhood, women's status, differences across social welfare and abortion policies , and across health care financing and delivery sytems, and how these may affect outcomes for newborns. The book sorts out these intersecting complexities through the following critical lenses: * Clinical: causes, treatments, and outcomes of preterm birth * Population: the distribution of preterm births * Cultural: how we understand preterm birth * Health care: delivering care for high-risk pregnant women and preterm infants * Ethical: moral decision-making about preterm births Preterm Birth in the United States synthesizes a wide knowledge base for maternal and child health professionals across diverse disciplines, including public health, social work, nursing, medicine, and health policy. Social scientists with interests in reproduction and gender issues will gain access to historical, clinical and epidemiological knowledge that can support their work. There is also an audience for the book among childbirth activists such as supporters of midwifery and less medicalized childbirth.

Numerical Geometry of Images examines computational methods and algorithms in image processing. It explores applications like shape from shading, color-image enhancement and segmentation, edge integration, offset curve computation, symmetry axis computation, path planning, minimal geodesic computation, and invariant signature calculation. In addition, it describes and utilizes tools from mathematical morphology, differential geometry, numerical analysis, and calculus of variations. Graduate students, professionals, and researchers with interests in computational geometry, image processing, computer graphics, and algorithms will find this new text / reference an indispensable source of insight of instruction.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-conference proceedings of the Third International Conference on Scale Space Methods and Variational Methods in Computer Vision, SSVM 2011, held in Ein-Gedi, Israel in May/June 2011.
The 24 revised full papers presented together with 44 poster papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 78 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on denoising and enhancement, segmentation, image representation and invariants, shape analysis, and optical flow.

Recent advances in hardware performance and software technology have made possible a wholly different approach to computational mathematics. Symbolic computation systems have revolutionized the field, building upon established and recent mathematical theory to open new possibilities in virtually every industry. Formerly dubbed Scratchpad, AXIOM is a powerful new symbolic and numerical system developed at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center. AXIOM's scope, structure, and organization make it outstanding among computer algebra systems. AXIOM: The Scientific Computation System is a companion to the AXIOM system. The text is written in a straightforward style and begins with a spirited foreword by David and Gregory Chudnovsky. The book gives the reader a technical introduction to AXIOM, interacts with the system's tutorial, accesses algorithms newly developed by the symbolic computation community, and presents advanced programming and problem solving techniques. Eighty illustrations and eight pages of color inserts accompany text detailing methods used in the 2D and 3D interactive graphics system, and over 2500 example input lines help the reader solve formerly intractable problems.

This first-of-its-kind volume addresses the myriad of issues relating to-and reviews the plethora of responses to--premature births in the United States, both in national context and compared with other countries. In addition to current clinical data, it examines how preterm births in the U.S. fit in with larger social concerns regarding poverty, racial disparities, reproductive rights, gender expectations, and the business of health care. Comparisons with preterm birth phenomena in Canada, the U.K., and other Western European countries illustrate cultural narratives about motherhood, women's status, differences across social welfare and abortion policies , and across health care financing and delivery sytems, and how these may affect outcomes for newborns. The book sorts out these intersecting complexities through the following critical lenses: * Clinical: causes, treatments, and outcomes of preterm birth * Population: the distribution of preterm births * Cultural: how we understand preterm birth * Health care: delivering care for high-risk pregnant women and preterm infants * Ethical: moral decision-making about preterm births Preterm Birth in the United States synthesizes a wide knowledge base for maternal and child health professionals across diverse disciplines, including public health, social work, nursing, medicine, and health policy. Social scientists with interests in reproduction and gender issues will gain access to historical, clinical and epidemiological knowledge that can support their work. There is also an audience for the book among childbirth activists such as supporters of midwifery and less medicalized childbirth.

The four-volume set LNCS 8925, 8926, 8927, and 8928 comprises the refereed post-proceedings of the Workshops that took place in conjunction with the 13th European Conference on Computer Vision, ECCV 2014, held in Zurich, Switzerland, in September 2014. The 203 workshop papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the proceedings. They were presented at workshops with the following themes: where computer vision meets art; computer vision in vehicle technology; spontaneous facial behavior analysis; consumer depth cameras for computer vision; "chalearn" looking at people: pose, recovery, action/interaction, gesture recognition; video event categorization, tagging and retrieval towards big data; computer vision with local binary pattern variants; visual object tracking challenge; computer vision + ontology applies cross-disciplinary technologies; visual perception of affordance and functional visual primitives for scene analysis; graphical models in computer vision; light fields for computer vision; computer vision for road scene understanding and autonomous driving; soft biometrics; transferring and adapting source knowledge in computer vision; surveillance and re-identification; color and photometry in computer vision; assistive computer vision and robotics; computer vision problems in plant phenotyping; and non-rigid shape analysis and deformable image alignment. Additionally, a panel discussion on video segmentation is included. .

The four-volume set LNCS 8925, 8926, 8927, and 8928 comprises the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the Workshops that took place in conjunction with the 13th European Conference on Computer Vision, ECCV 2014, held in Zurich, Switzerland, in September 2014. The 203 workshop papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the proceedings. They where presented at workshops with the following themes: where computer vision meets art; computer vision in vehicle technology; spontaneous facial behavior analysis; consumer depth cameras for computer vision; "chalearn" looking at people: pose, recovery, action/interaction, gesture recognition; video event categorization, tagging and retrieval towards big data; computer vision with local binary pattern variants; visual object tracking challenge; computer vision + ontology applies cross-disciplinary technologies; visual perception of affordance and functional visual primitives for scene analysis; graphical models in computer vision; light fields for computer vision; computer vision for road scene understanding and autonomous driving; soft biometrics; transferring and adapting source knowledge in computer vision; surveillance and re-identification; color and photometry in computer vision; assistive computer vision and robotics; computer vision problems in plant phenotyping; and non-rigid shape analysis and deformable image alignment. Additionally, a panel discussion on video segmentation is included.

The four-volume set LNCS 8925, 8926, 8927 and 8928 comprises the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the Workshops that took place in conjunction with the 13th European Conference on Computer Vision, ECCV 2014, held in Zurich, Switzerland, in September 2014. The 203 workshop papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the proceedings. They where presented at workshops with the following themes: where computer vision meets art; computer vision in vehicle technology; spontaneous facial behavior analysis; consumer depth cameras for computer vision; "chalearn" looking at people: pose, recovery, action/interaction, gesture recognition; video event categorization, tagging and retrieval towards big data; computer vision with local binary pattern variants; visual object tracking challenge; computer vision + ontology applies cross-disciplinary technologies; visual perception of affordance and functional visual primitives for scene analysis; graphical models in computer vision; light fields for computer vision; computer vision for road scene understanding and autonomous driving; soft biometrics; transferring and adapting source knowledge in computer vision; surveillance and re-identification; color and photometry in computer vision; assistive computer vision and robotics; computer vision problems in plant phenotyping; and non-rigid shape analysis and deformable image alignment. Additionally, a panel discussion on video segmentation is included.

The four-volume set LNCS 8925, 8926, 8927, and 8928 comprises the thoroughly refereed post-workshop proceedings of the Workshops that took place in conjunction with the 13th European Conference on Computer Vision, ECCV 2014, held in Zurich, Switzerland, in September 2014. The 203 workshop papers were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the proceedings. They where presented at workshops with the following themes: where computer vision meets art; computer vision in vehicle technology; spontaneous facial behavior analysis; consumer depth cameras for computer vision; "chalearn" looking at people: pose, recovery, action/interaction, gesture recognition; video event categorization, tagging and retrieval towards big data; computer vision with local binary pattern variants; visual object tracking challenge; computer vision + ontology applies cross-disciplinary technologies; visual perception of affordance and functional visual primitives for scene analysis; graphical models in computer vision; light fields for computer vision; computer vision for road scene understanding and autonomous driving; soft biometrics; transferring and adapting source knowledge in computer vision; surveillance and re-identification; color and photometry in computer vision; assistive computer vision and robotics; computer vision problems in plant phenotyping; and non-rigid shape analysis and deformable image alignment. Additionally, a panel discussion on video segmentation is included.

Communication is no longer considered an optional soft" skill for climbing the corporate ladder. More and more businesses are placing emphasis on being able to communicate effectively. Communicating Effectively For Dummies gives you the tools and insight you need to manage conflict, build teams and communicate persuasively at work."

You can get there
Where do you want to go? You might already be working in a business setting. You may be looking to expand your skills. Or, you might be setting out on a new career path.
Wherever you want to go, Business Communication will help you get there. Easy-to-read, practical, and up-to-date, this text not only helps you learn fundamental business communication concepts; it also helps you master the core competencies and skills you need to succeed in the classroom and beyond. The book's brief, modular format and variety of built-in learning resources enable you to learn at your own pace and focus your studies.
With this book, you will be able to:
* Incorporate active listening, assertive speaking, and non-verbal communication techniques into your daily communications.
* Resolve conflicts effectively.
* Choose the best words and voice for your audience.
* Craft persuasive business letters.
* Avoid common writing mistakes.
* Plan and lead successful business meetings.
* Overcome your fears of public speaking.
* Write winning business proposals.
* Create a resume that helps you get the job you want.
* Present yourself professionally in an interview.
Wiley Pathways helps you achieve your goals
When it comes to learning about business, not everyone is on the same path. But everyone wants to succeed. The new Wiley Pathways series in Business helps you achieve your goals with its brief, inviting format, clear language, and focus on core competencies and skills.
The books in this series--Business Communication, Finance, Marketing, Business Math, and Real Estate--offer a coordinated curriculum for learning business. Learn more at www.wiley.com/go/pathways.

Deformable objects are ubiquitous in the world surrounding us, on all levels from micro to macro. The need to study such shapes and model their behavior arises in a wide spectrum of applications, ranging from medicine to security. In recent years, non-rigid shapes have attracted growing interest, which has led to rapid development of the field, where state-of-the-art results from very different sciences - theoretical and numerical geometry, optimization, linear algebra, graph theory, machine learning and computer graphics, to mention several - are applied to find solutions. This book gives an overview of the current state of science in analysis and synthesis of non-rigid shapes. Everyday examples are used to explain concepts and to illustrate different techniques. The presentation unfolds systematically and numerous figures enrich the engaging exposition. Practice problems follow at the end of each chapter, with detailed solutions to selected problems in the appendix. A gallery of colored images enhances the text. This book will be of interest to graduate students, researchers and professionals in different fields of mathematics, computer science and engineering. It may be used for courses in computer vision, numerical geometry and geometric modeling and computer graphics or for self-study.