This book covers the method of metric distances and its application in probability theory and other fields. The method is fundamental in the study of limit theorems and generally in assessing the quality of approximations to a given probabilistic model. The method of metric distances is developed to study stability problems and reduces to the selection of an ideal or the most appropriate metric for the problem under consideration and a comparison of probability metrics. After describing the basic structure of probability metrics and providing an analysis of the topologies in the space of probability measures generated by different types of probability metrics, the authors study stability problems by providing a characterization of the ideal metrics for a given problem and investigating the main relationships between different types of probability metrics. The presentation is provided in a general form, although specific cases are considered as they arise in the process of finding supplementary bounds or in applications to important special cases. Svetlozar T. Rachev is the Frey Family Foundation Chair of Quantitative Finance, Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, SUNY-Stony Brook and Chief Scientist of Finanlytica, USA. Lev B. Klebanov is a Professor in the Department of Probability and Mathematical Statistics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. Stoyan V. Stoyanov is a Professor at EDHEC Business School and Head of Research, EDHEC-Risk Institute-Asia (Singapore). Frank J. Fabozzi is a Professor at EDHEC Business School. (USA)

For historical and socio-economic reasons, the countries of the southern Black Sea region are facing mounting and apparently intractable problems in managing their solid waste, with increasingly serious implications for public health and quality of life, as well as the wider socio-economic development of the region. Hitherto, no comprehensive, systematic study of the problem seems to have been conducted, to determine the underlying causes and suggesting how it might be alleviated in socially and economically viable ways, aiming at sustainability. The present book analyzes the causes of the poor state of solid waste management in the region, identifying feasible modalities with which at least a degree of sustainability could be achieved in the management of the region's solid waste. Readership: Environmental managers, scientists, planners, policy makers, technical and investment consultants, businesses and other enterprises and institutions concerned with sustainable solid waste management in the region.

"This book contains overviews on technologically important classes of glasses, their treatment to achieve desired properties, theoretical approaches for the description of structure-property relationships, and new concepts in the theoretical treatment of crystallization in glass-forming systems. It contains overviews about the state of the art and about specific features for the analysis and application of important classes of glass-forming systems, and describes new developments in theoretical interpretation by well-known glass scientists. Thus, the book offers comprehensive and abundant information that is difficult to come by or has not yet been made public." Edgar Dutra Zanotto (Center for Research, Technology and Education in Vitreous Materials, Brazil) Glass, written by a team of renowned researchers and experienced book authors in the field, presents general features of glasses and glass transitions. Different classes of glassforming systems, such as silicate glasses, metallic glasses, and polymers, are exemplified. In addition, the wide field of phase formation processes and their effect on glasses and their properties is studied both from a theoretical and experimental point of view.

The book explores various aspects of existing and emerging fiber and waveguide optics sensing and imaging technologies including recent advances in nanobiophotonics. The focus is both on fundamental and applied research as well as on applications in civil engineering, biomedical sciences, environment, security and defence. The main goal of the multi-disciplinary team of Editors was to provide a useful reference of state-of-the-art overviews covering a variety of complementary topics on the interface of engineering and biomedical sciences.

Modern physics is confronted with a large variety of complex spatial patterns. Although both spatial statisticians and statistical physicists study random geometrical structures, there has been only little interaction between the two up to now because of different traditions and languages. This volume aims to change this situation by presenting in a clear way fundamental concepts of spatial statistics which are of great potential value for condensed matter physics and materials sciences in general, and for porous media, percolation and Gibbs processes in particular. Geometric aspects, in particular ideas of stochastic and integral geometry, play a central role throughout. With nonspecialist researchers and graduate students also in mind, prominent physicists give an excellent introduction here to modern ideas of statistical physics pertinent to this exciting field of research.

As industry power demands become increasingly sensitive, power quality distortion becomes a critical issue. The recent increase in nonlinear loads drawing non-sinusoidal currents has seen the introduction of various tools to manage the clean delivery of power. Power demands of medical facilities, data storage and information systems, emergency equipment, etc. require uninterrupted, high quality power. Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and active filters provide this delivery. The first to treat these power management tools together in a comprehensive discussion, Uninterruptible Power Supplies and Active Filters compares the similarities of UPS, active filters, and unified power quality conditioners. The book features a description of low-cost and reduced-parts configurations presented for the first time in any publication, along with a presentation of advanced digital controllers. These configurations are vital as industries seek to reduce the cost of power management in their operations. As this field of power management technology continues to grow, industry and academia will come to rely upon the comprehensive treatment found within this book. Industrial engineers in power quality, circuits and devices, and aerospace engineers as well as graduate students will find this a complete and insightful resource for studying and applying the tools of this rapidly developing field.

Light has always played a significant role in the synthesis of materials and formation of small-scale solid structures. The invention of holographic and phase mask projection has enabled engineers to fabricate devices with characteristic features much smaller than the wavelength of the light used for processing. A further reduction of device dimensions has been achieved by implementing the processes that rely strongly on the non-linear effects of light-matter interaction. The intention of this book was to provide the Reader, primarily graduate students and young researchers in materials engineering, bio(chem)physics, medical physics and biophysics, with a set of articles reviewing state-of-the art research and recent advancements in the field of photon-matter interaction for micro/nanomaterials synthesis and manipulation of properties of biological and inorganic materials at the atomic level. Photon-based nanoscience and related technologies have created exciting opportunities for the fabrication and characterization of nano(bio)material devices and systems, and it is expected to significantly contribute to the development of Nanobiophotonics and Nanomedicine.

The morphology of spatially stuctured materials is a rapidly growing field of research at the interface of statistical physics, applied mathematics and materials science. A wide spectrum of applications encompasses the flow through porous and composite materials as well as microemulsions and foams. Written as a set of lectures and tutorial reviews leading up to the forefront of research, this book will be both a compendium for the experienced researcher as well as a high level introductory text for postgraduate students and nonspecialist researchers working in related areas.

The study of heavy-tailed distributions allows researchers to represent phenomena that occasionally exhibit very large deviations from the mean. The dynamics underlying these phenomena is an interesting theoretical subject, but the study of their statistical properties is in itself a very useful endeavor from the point of view of managing assets and controlling risk. In this book, the authors are primarily concerned with the statistical properties of heavy-tailed distributions and with the processes that exhibit jumps. A detailed overview with a Matlab implementation of heavy-tailed models applied in asset management and risk managements is presented. The book is not intended as a theoretical treatise on probability or statistics, but as a tool to understand the main concepts regarding heavy-tailed random variables and processes as applied to real-world applications in finance. Accordingly, the authors review approaches and methodologies whose realization will be useful for developing new methods for forecasting of financial variables where extreme events are not treated as anomalies, but as intrinsic parts of the economic process.

This book is the result of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Frontiers in Planar Lightwave Circuit Technology, which took place in Ottawa, Canada from September 21-25, 2004. Many of the world's leading experts in integrated photonic design, theory and experiment were invited to give lectures in their fields of expertise, and participate in discussions on current research and applications, as well as the new directions planar lightwave circuit technology is evolving towards. The sum of their contributions to this book constitutes an excellent record of many key issues and scientific problems in planar lightwave circuit research at the time of writing. The reader will find detailed overviews of experimental and theoretical work in high index contrast waveguide systems, micro-optical resonators, nonlinear optics, and advanced optical simulation methods, as well as articles describing emerging applications of integrated optics for medical and biological applications.

Ikujiro Nonaka’s A Dynamic Theory of Organisational Knowledge Creation outlines the creation of organisational knowledge through the constant conversion of the two types of knowledge, tacit and explicit, which Nonaka believes has the potential to guide managers’ knowledge creation strategies. This argument is centred on the conviction that companies are not passive parties that simply utilise existing knowledge for providing solutions to the customers, and that organisations and environments simultaneously influence knowledge creation. This text is considered fundamental for the knowledge management field and as such, it has been utilised by a large number of academics.

Argyris’s Integrating The Individual and the Organization is part of a series of essays and books considering how organisations should be run. This essay explores the lack of congruence between the needs and expectations of individual employees and the organisations that employ them. Grounding his argument in studies on human nature, Argyris highlights that demands of greater independence, an expansion of interests, and re-orientation of goals usually accompany maturation, which is at odds with higher control stemming from formal organisations. This frustration, he contends, is detrimental to productivity, increases the chance of failure and causes conflict.

This title was first published in 2001. A comparative overview and analysis of the economic performance, structure and trade relations of the Balkan region. Using original, detailed and up-to-the minute data, the contributors detect basic trends and developments with respect to trade relations, foreign direct investment, the performance of industry, the level and quality of infrastructure, the domestic policies of transition as well as the European Union policies for the region. The evidence provided indicates that should current trends continue in the future, the Balkan region will diverge further from the more advanced European countries, forming a new expanded and much weaker European periphery. In that respect, mainstream economic thinking of the integration-transition dynamics needs to be re-evaluated, as multi-speed and multi-direction performances generate a more fragmented economic space than the very essence of the European idea may possibly tolerate.

A critical analysis of Argyris's Integrating The Individual and the Organization, which forms part of a series of essays and books considering how organisations should be run. The essay explores the lack of congruence between the needs and expectations of individual employees and the organisations that employ them. The impact of the work depends heavily on reasoning skills. Chris Argyris used strong, well-structured arguments to make his point. His reasoning has strong implications for solving a problem that many organizations experience: disengaged and disloyal employees. Grounding his argument in studies on human nature, Argyris highlighted that demands of greater independence, an expansion of interests, and re-orientation of goals usually accompany maturation, which is at odds with higher control stemming from formal organisations. This frustration, he contends, is detrimental to productivity, increases the chance of failure and causes conflict.

What makes a good manager? Though we can probably all point to someone we think of as a good manager, what precisely makes them so good at their job is a complex question - and one central to good business organization. Management scholar Douglas McGregor's seminal 1960 book The Human Side of Enterprise is perhaps the most influential attempt to answer that question, and provides an excellent example of strong evaluative and reasoning skills in action. Evaluation is all about judging the strength and weakness of positions: a critical evaluation asks how acceptable a line of reasoning is, how adequate, relevant and convincing the evidence is. McGregor sought to find out what makes a good manager by evaluating different management approaches, their assumptions about human behavior, and effects they had. In his view, management approaches could be roughly broken down into two "theories": Theory X, which held a negative idea of employee motivations; and Theory Y, which made positive assumptions about them. In McGregor's evaluation, Theory Y produced markedly better results in productivity and other measurable areas. On this basis, McGregor reasoned out a strong, persuasive argument for adopting Theory Y strategies on a grand scale.

US psychologist Abraham H. Maslow's A Theory of Human Motivation is a classic of psychological research that helped change the field for good. Like many field-changing thinkers, Maslow was not just a talented researcher, he was also a creative thinker - able to see things from a new perspective and show them in a different light. At a time when psychology was dominated by two major schools of thought, Maslow was able to forge a new, third paradigm, that remains influential today. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis had developed the idea of understanding the mind through dialogue between patient and analyst. The behaviorism of Ivan Pavlov and John Watson had focused on comprehending the mind through behaviors that could be measured, trained, and changed. Maslow, however, generated new ideas, forging what he called "positive" or "humanistic psychology". His argument was that humans are psychologically motivated by a series of hierarchical needs, starting with the most essential first. Maslow thought it important for the advancement of psychology to identify, group and rank these needs in terms of priority. His belief in the value of this third way was important in leading those who studied psychology to redefine the discipline, and so see it in new ways.

This book contains an Open Access chapter Scholarship in management and strategy is paying increasing attention to the domain of aesthetics. Companies routinely make aesthetic choices and there is growing recognition that aesthetic considerations are fundamental for successful performance in competitive markets. Stylistically sophisticated products may appeal to demanding customers, yielding higher profit margins. Style and beauty can also be applied toward enriching organizational cultures, informing leadership visions or motivating employees to defy conventions in designing new products. Aesthetics and Style in Strategy constitutes the first systematic survey of the interface between the aesthetic and strategic domains. Motivated by the rise of aestheticism in contemporary culture, it lays the foundations for an "aesthetic" turn in strategy, which interrogates the use of aesthetic features as a source of competitive advantage and provides examples of connecting design and engineering, style and technology. The "aesthetic turn" is not simply about creating value, but about sharing value among employees and infusing organizational activities with a purpose that transcends principles of efficiency. Volume 42 of Advances in Strategic Management documents the variety of ways in which the useful and the beautiful can be brought together, making a valuable contribution to the sustainability of business in the 21st century.

?berzeugtes Festhalten an deutschen Werten, praktizierte Treue zur Heimat, pochen auf deutsche Eigenart, ?berlieferung, Kultur, Sprache, Widerstand gegen ?u?ere Einfl?sse und Ablehnung von Modernisierung, Globalismus (Amerikanisierung), Masseneinwanderung sind hohe Ma?st?be die er sich selbst immer wieder setzte und setzt. [..] Heimat ist f?r ihn nicht etwas Diffuses und Verschwommenes. Nein, es ist f?r ihn ein allumfassender Begriff der Familie, der Freunde und Bekannten, der Natur, der Berge, die Kultur, die Sprache, die Umwelt, die Tradition, das Brauchtum, das nationale Verst?ndnis, Aufkl?rung, Bewu?tsein und das Soziale Gef?ge mit einschlie?t. Zu Hause f?hlt er sich mit K?rper und Seele wohl und geborgen. Die deutsche Heimat und ihre Jahrtausende alten Werte gilt es zu bewahren, zu verteidigen und so weiterzugeben, wie wir sie von unseren V?tern und M?ttern erhalten haben. Das ist Stoyans Lebensinhalt! Es gibt bei ihm keine halben Sachen.

The interstellarum Deep Sky Atlas set a new high standard for modern celestial cartography. The same team now presents the interstellarum Deep Sky Guide, its unique observing companion. Taking an intuitive visual approach, for each spread of the Atlas, the Guide focuses on carefully selected objects, either as colored composite POSS plates or through the authors' own eyepiece sketches. They allow you to estimate the visibility of features in the telescope while planning observations. Stars and other objects in the vicinity are highlighted, so they also serve as finder charts at night. An index map on each spread allows you to quickly find each object's location in the Atlas. The interstellarum Deep Sky Guide takes all the hassle out of preparing for observing sessions - there's no need to print star charts or photos. Simply grab your Atlas and your Guide, and go observe!

"This book contains overviews on technologically important classes of glasses, their treatment to achieve desired properties, theoretical approaches for the description of structure-property relationships, and new concepts in the theoretical treatment of crystallization in glass-forming systems. It contains overviews about the state of the art and about specific features for the analysis and application of important classes of glass-forming systems, and describes new developments in theoretical interpretation by well-known glass scientists. Thus, the book offers comprehensive and abundant information that is difficult to come by or has not yet been made public." Edgar Dutra Zanotto (Center for Research, Technology and Education in Vitreous Materials, Brazil) Glass, written by a team of renowned researchers and experienced book authors in the field, presents general features of glasses and glass transitions. Different classes of glassforming systems, such as silicate glasses, metallic glasses, and polymers, are exemplified. In addition, the wide field of phase formation processes and their effect on glasses and their properties is studied both from a theoretical and experimental point of view.

US psychologist Abraham Maslow’s A Theory of Human Motivation is a classic of psychological research that helped change the field for good. Like many field-changing thinkers, Maslow was not just a talented researcher, he was also a creative thinker – able to see things from a new perspective and show them in a different light.

At a time when psychology was dominated by two major schools of thought, Maslow was able to forge a new, third paradigm, that remains influential today. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis had developed the idea of understanding the mind through dialogue between patient and analyst. The behaviorism of Ivan Pavlov and John Watson had focused on comprehending the mind through behaviors that could be measured, trained, and changed. Maslow, however, generated new ideas, forging what he called “positive” or “humanistic psychology”. His argument was that humans are psychologically motivated by a series of hierarchical needs, starting with the most essential first.

Maslow thought it important for the advancement of psychology to identify, group and rank these needs in terms of priority. His belief in the value of this third way was important in leading those who studied psychology to redefine the discipline, and so see it in new ways.