Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations

Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations

Why do some people collapse under certain life conditions, while others remain relatively unscathed? What accounts for the marked variations in people’s responses to stress and adversity? The second edition of this groundbreaking how-to guide has been extensively updated to reflect the field’s growing understanding of the importance of resiliency and protective factors — the positive poles of the human experience — and the importance of their role in forming balanced assessments and responsive interventions.

Handbook of Social Work Practice with Vulnerable and Resilient Populations

Male Homosexual Behavior and the Effects of AIDS Education

Male Homosexual Behavior and the Effects of AIDS Education

Since the AIDS epidemic was recognized, information on safer sex has been assumed to be the most crucial means of preventing further spread of the disease. But how well has AIDS education worked? What kinds of education work best and for whom? This study is the first to provide an in-depth analysis of the results of AIDS education programs and to explore the psychosocial factors that affect behavioral responses to education.

Male Homosexual Behavior and the Effects of AIDS Education

Biodiversity of West African Forests

Biodiversity of West African Forests

This book focuses on the biodiversity and ecology of West African forests. The first part of the book includes 8 chapters which analyse the factors that give rise to biodiversity and structure tropical plant communities. It emphasizes the distribution and state of the forests and analyses vegetation gradients, determines hotspots of plant diversity, and treats distribution patterns of rare and endemic species in the Upper Guinean forests which extend from Senegal to Togo. The main part of the book is an atlas with ecological profiles of 280 rare and endemic plant species and 56 large timber species, each with a one-page entry including a coloured photograph and distribution map. This book will appeal to researchers working in forestry, biodiversity, plant ecology and conservation.

Biodiversity of West African Forests

Postoperative Critical Care for Cardiac Surgical Patients

Postoperative Critical Care for Cardiac Surgical Patients

Cardiac surgical procedures are among the most common and most complicated forms of surgery worldwide and the postoperative period is characterized by complex challenges. Among the factors determining ultimate clinical outcome, postoperative critical care is of major importance. This book adopts a clinical approach in explaining and analyzing the course of clinical care in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Since the postoperative clinical status is directly influenced by preoperative and intraoperative factors, the early chapters briefly examine preoperative issues and the intraoperative course of cardiac surgery, with particular attention to anesthesia and the process of cardiopulmonary bypass. Subsequent chapters primarily address the critical care of patients by means of an organ-oriented approach, which will enable the reader to use the text as a ‘cookbook’ of cardiac intensive care. This book is intended for use in daily practice by cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, intensivists and cardiac intensive care nurses.

Postoperative Critical Care for Cardiac Surgical Patients

Encyclopedia of Adolescence

Encyclopedia of Adolescence

The period of adolescence involves growth, adaptation, and dramatic reorganization in almost every aspect of social and psychological development. The Encyclopedia of Adolescence offers an exhaustive and comprehensive review of current theory and research findings pertaining to this critical decade of life. Leading scientists offer accessible and easily readable reviews of biological, social, educational, occupational, and cultural factors that shape adolescent development. Issues in normative development, individual differences, and psychopathology/maladjustment are reviewed. Over 130 chapters are included, each covering a specific aspect or issue of adolescence. The chapters trace differences in the course of adolescence in different nations and among youth with different backgrounds.

Encyclopedia of Adolescence

Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes

Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes

The legalities of particular religious practices depend on many factors, such as the type of occult or religious activity, the current laws, and the intention of the individual practitioner. Written by the director of the Institute for the Research of Organized and Ritual Violence, Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes is the first complete resource to assist in crime scene identification, criminal investigation, and prosecution of religious terrorism and occult crime. It analyzes occult and religious terrorist practices from each groups theological perspective to help you understand traditional and contemporary occult groups and domestic and international terrorist religions, demarcate legal religious practice from criminal activity, and acquire techniques specific to occult and terrorist religion crime scene investigation.

Investigating Religious Terrorism and Ritualistic Crimes

Stereoscopic HDTV

Stereoscopic HDTV

This book focuses on the two psychological factors of naturalness and ease of viewing of three-dimensional high-definition television (3D HDTV) images. It has been said that distortions peculiar to stereoscopic images, such as the puppet theater effect or the cardboard effect, spoil the sense of presence. Whereas many earlier studies have focused on geometrical calculations about these distortions, this book instead describes the relationship between the naturalness of reproduced 3D HDTV images and the nonlinearity of depthwise reproduction. The ease of viewing of each scene is regarded as one of the causal factors of visual fatigue. Many of the earlier studies have been concerned with the accurate extraction of local parallax; however, this book describes the typical spatiotemporal distribution of parallax in 3D images. The purpose of the book is to examine the correlations between the psychological factors and amount of characteristics of parallax distribution in order to understand the characteristics of easy- and difficult-to-view images and then to seek to create a new 3D HDTV system that minimizes visual fatigue for the viewer. The book is an important resource for researchers who wish to investigate and better understand various psychological effects caused by stereoscopic images.

Stereoscopic HDTV

Convergence in Shareholder Law

Convergence in Shareholder Law

On the one hand, it can be argued that the increasing economic and political interdependence of countries has led to the convergence of national legal systems. On the other hand, advocates of the counterhypothesis maintain that this development is both unrealistic and unnecessary. Mathias Siems examines the company law of the UK, the USA, Germany, France, Japan and China to see how this issue affects shareholder law. The author subsequently analyses economic and political factors which may or may not lead to convergence, and assesses the extent of this development. Convergence of Shareholder Law, which was originally published in 2007, not only provides a thorough comparative legal analysis but also shows how company law interconnects with political forces and economic development and helps in evaluating whether harmonisation and shareholder protection should be enhanced.

Convergence in Shareholder Law

More Than Moore

More Than Moore

In the past decades, the main stream of microelectronics progress has been mainly powered by Moore’s law which focuses on IC miniaturization down to nanoscale. While the microelectronics community around the world continues to invent new solutions to keep Moore’s law alive, there is a fast increasing need for non-digital and mixed-signal ‘More than Moore’ (MtM) type technologies that are still based upon or derived from silicon technologies, but do not simply scale with Moore’s law. Typical examples are devices incorporating RF, power/high voltage, passive components, sensors and actuators, MEMS, Bio-chip/bio-systems, microfluidics, solid-state lighting, etc.. The increasing momentum of MtM is triggered by the increasing needs for high level heterogeneous system integration including non-digital functions, the necessity to speed up innovative product creation and to broaden the product portfolio of IC fabs, and the limiting cost and time factors of advanced system-on-chip (SoC) development. It is believed that MtM will add value to society on top of and beyond advanced semiconductors technologies, with fast increasing marketing potentials, and that it will drive paradigm shift for technologies, applications and business models.

More Than Moore

Seafood and Freshwater Toxins, Second Edition

Seafood and Freshwater Toxins, Second Edition

The occurrence of marine and freshwater toxins is a rapidly evolving problem due to ever-changing circumstances. Expanding international commerce is forcing cargo ships into virgin territory, deforestation and pollution violate the natural ecological balance, and a changing climate holds unknown potential to alter current factors and trigger toxic blooms in new forms, at new rates, and in new places. Fortunately, with notable advances in analysis technology, the body of knowledge in the field is equally dynamic. In just six years since the first edition, toxins that warranted only line listings, including pfiestra, gambierol, and polycavernoside, are now worthy of entire chapters, requiring a new edition to encompass the expanding scope of the field.

Seafood and Freshwater Toxins, Second Edition

Language Culture and Identity

Language Culture and Identity

How language shapes and is shaped by identity is a key topic within sociolinguistics. An individual’s identity is constituted through a variety of different factors, including the social, linguistic, cultural and ethnic contexts.

Language Culture and Identity

Socio-Economic Considerations in Biotechnology Regulation

Socio-Economic Considerations in Biotechnology Regulation

Within the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (CPB) was established as an implementing agreement. The CPB is an international agreement establishing the rights of recipient countries to be notified of and to approve or reject the domestic import and/or production of living modified organisms (LMOs). Decisions regarding import/production are to be on the basis of a biosafety assessment. Article 26.1 of the CPB allows for the (optional) inclusion of socio-economic considerations (SECs) into that biosafety assessment process. This book compiles expert assessments of the issues relevant to SEC assessment of LMOs and fundamental for decisions regarding whether to undertake such assessments at all. It includes an overview of the inclusion of SEC assessment in the regulation of LMOs that looks at the rationale for the inclusion of SECs, in the context of the existing science-based risk assessment systems. This book reviews the various factors that can and have been suggested for inclusion in SEC assessment, and provides a meaningful dialogue about the contrasts, benefits and tradeoffs that are, and will, be created by the potential move to the inclusion of SECs in the regulation of LMOs, making it of interest to both academics and policy-makers.

Socio-Economic Considerations in Biotechnology Regulation

Academic Literacy and the Languages of Change

Academic Literacy and the Languages of Change

This book is an analysis of student literacy in an academic setting, and how this has changed due to political, economic and social factors. The contributors, who are all engaged in academic literacy work at a South African university, use the theoretical tradition of New Literacy Studies as developed by theorists such as James Gee, Brian Street and Gnnther Kress, and apply this to a case study of one university in the changing context of South Africa.

Academic Literacy and the Languages of Change

Advanced Methods of Fatigue Assessments

Advanced Methods of Fatigue Assessments

In five chapters, this volume presents recent developments in fatigue assessment. In the first chapter, a generalized Neuber concept of fictitious notch rounding is presented where the microstructural support factors depend on the notch opening angle besides the loading mode. The second chapter specifies the notch stress factor including the strain energy density and J-integral concept while the SED approach is applied to common fillet welded joints and to thin-sheet lap welded joints in the third chapter. The forth chapter analyses elastic-plastic deformations in the near crack tip zone and discusses driving force parameters. The last chapter discusses thermomechanical fatigue, stress, and strain ranges.

Advanced Methods of Fatigue Assessments

Practical Paediatrics

Practical Paediatrics

This is a comprehensive textbook of paediatrics that describes childhood disease within the context of social determinants of illness, such as genetic origins and social factors. The emphasis is on differential diagnosis from a presenting-problem viewpoint, making it suitable for any problem-based learning style of curriculum. The new 6th edition is more comprehensive and more concise; the clinical focus is made even stronger with clinical examples. There are more images, and the full text is online at StudentConsult, along with self-assessment, further reading and web links.

Practical Paediatrics

Decoding the New Mortgage Market

Decoding the New Mortgage Market

The housing market is in turmoil, but if theres a silver lining, its the fact that purchase prices are at historic lows. Sure, there are still plenty of predatory lenders waiting to exploit the nave potential buyer, but those who do their homework will be rewarded with a fair price and manageable mortgage terms. Decoding the New Mortgage Market is a map to finding the best and most realistic mortgage deals while navigating past potential obstacles and traps. Filled with money-saving advice, this practical guide will help prospective buyers understand: How new lending and underwriting rules affect todays homebuyer Different loan types and lending institutions Credit issues and other qualifying factors Creative down-payment solutions How to reduce closing costs and other fees Because lenders and buyers alike have gotten burned in the mortgage crisis, finding and qualifying for a manageable loan may now be more difficult. Readers will find that Decoding the New Mortgage Market makes the search both easier and more fruitful, and that their dreams of home ownership are still within their reach.

Decoding the New Mortgage Market

Readicide

Readicide

Read-i-cide n: The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools. Reading is dying in our schools. Educators are familiar with many of the factors that have contributed to the decline–poverty, second-language issues, and the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment. In this provocative new book, Kelly Gallagher suggests, however, that it is time to recognize a new and significant contributor to the death of reading: our schools. In Readicide, Kelly argues that American schools are actively (though unwittingly) furthering the decline of reading. Specifically, he contends that the standard instructional practices used in most schools are killing reading by: valuing the development of test-takers over the development of lifelong readers; mandating breadth over depth in instruction; requiring students to read difficult texts without proper instructional support; insisting that students focus solely on academic texts; drowning great books with sticky notes, double-entry journals, and marginalia; ignoring the importance of developing recreational reading; and losing sight of authentic instruction in the shadow of political pressures. Kelly doesn’t settle for only identifying the problems. Readicide provides teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators with specific steps to reverse the downward spiral in reading–steps that will help prevent the loss of another generation of readers.

Readicide

Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology

Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology

Humans represent just one of many species that constitute the planet’s biodiversity. Nevertheless, as the dominant species, humans have been the primary agent of the transformation of natural spaces. Therefore, the study of human interactions, biodiversity, and the environment that surrounds them is a basic tool for understanding the factors that bind human societies to natural resources. Within this context, ethnobiology is a promising discipline that can play a key role as a mediator of dialogue between different academic disciplines and traditional knowledge, a union essential in enabling contextualized and sustainable alternatives to exploitative practices and biodiversity management.

Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology

Complex Automated Negotiations

Complex Automated Negotiations

Complex Automated Negotiations are a widely studied, emerging area in the field of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. In general, automated negotiations can be complex, since there are a lot of factors that characterize such negotiations. For this book, we solicited papers on all aspects of such complex automated negotiations, which are studied in the field of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. This book includes two parts, which are Part I: Agent-based Complex Automated Negotiations and Part II: Automated Negotiation Agents Competition. Each chapter in Part I is an extended version of ACAN 2011 papers after peer reviews by three PC members. Part II includes ANAC 2011 (The Second Automated Negotiating Agents Competition), in which automated agents who have different negotiation strategies and implemented by different developers are automatically negotiate in the several negotiation domains. ANAC is an international competition in which automated negotiation strategies, submitted by a number of universities and research institutes across the world, are evaluated in a tournament style. The purpose of the competition is to steer the research in the area of bilateral multi-issue, closed negotiation. This book includes rules, results, agents and domains descriptions for ANAC2011 submitted by organizers and finalists.

Complex Automated Negotiations

Clinical Guide to the Use of Antithrombotic Drugs in Coronary Artery Disease

Clinical Guide to the Use of Antithrombotic Drugs in Coronary Artery Disease

Appreciation of the importance of platelets and coagulation factors in therothrombotic events has led to the widespread use and continuous development of new antithrombotic agents. This field of cardiovascular pharmacology has advanced at a very rapid rate.

Clinical Guide to the Use of Antithrombotic Drugs in Coronary Artery Disease