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Meaning of Life, Human Nature, and Delusions: How Tales about Love, Sex, Races, Gods and Progress Affect Our Lives and Earth's Splendor
by Rui DiogoWhatever are your beliefs, background, education, political views or interests, one thing is sure: this book will engage you, teach you something new, and more importantly make you to re-think deeply about critical aspects of your daily-life, including sex, love, food, physical activities, diseases, work and stress, and how you see and deal with other people, other animals, and the planet in general. Indeed, it focuses on topics that have fascinated people from all places and historical periods since times immemorial: Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Are we progressing, and will we thrive? It does this by integrating in a unique fashion information from ancient Greek, Sumerian, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Christian and Muslim texts to high-tech brain research, facts about near-death experiences, Covid-19, QAnon conspiracies, virtual reality and dating aps; from Adam and Eve to the rise of misogyny and racism to Black Lives Matter, Me-Too, Hollywood romantic movies and Disney fairy-tales. Contrary to notions about 'human progress' and 'Homo Deus' defended by authors such as Harari, Pinker and Dawkins, it shows that human history instead involves the repetition of similar imaginary tales created by a combination of traits found in other animals and the uniquely human obsession about 'cosmic purpose' stories related to our awareness of death's inevitability. Organized religions appeared later, chiefly during the rise of agriculture and 'civilizations'. Diogo navigates mesmerizing untold stories revealing a paradox: these events and the industrial 'revolution' increased inequality, oppression, slavery, subjugation of women, famines, plagues, 'work', stress, and suicides. Data from psychology, biology, neurobiology, and cross-cultural studies of hunter-gatherers and so-called 'developed' societies reveal an even more profound paradox: within all forms of life, the 'sapient being' is the one immersed in Neverland's world of unreality - truly a Homo irrationalis, fictus and socialis believing in fictional tales about cosmic 'duties', 'romantic meant to be', demons, inferior 'races' and 'genders', conspiracies, and 'justified' slavery, warfare, genocides, and animal abuses. Importantly, such tales play, on the other hand, crucial functions such as help coping with death and a plethora of societal troubles, decreasing stress, or preventing drug and alcohol abuse. An optimist and passionate wondered and wanderer, Diogo provides enthralling details about the history of religion, discrimination, romantic love, warfare, diseases and Earth's biodiversity illustrating how 'virtue is in the middle' and that we - with our intriguing combination of beliefs, bodily needs and desires, artistic abilities, and mismatches between our senses' illusions and the cosmos' reality - are not 'better' or 'worse' than the other millions of captivating living species. This powerful and urgently needed message has critical repercussions for how we understand, care about, and mindfully enjoy living in this splendid planet, in the reality of here and now.Pre-publication comments: "I applaud the enormous work that Diogo has invested in this follow-up to his widely acclaimed Evolution driven by organismal behavior book, and the challenge of getting people to think beyond and outside of our usual set of definitions and expectations. The case-studies provided in the book are fascinating and insightful" (Drew Noden, Award-winning Emeritus Professor, Cornell University)"Rui Diogo is becoming the Slavoj Zizek of evolutionary biology" (Marcelo Sanchez-Villagra, Director of the Paleontological Institute and Museum of the University of Zurich)
Meaning, Discourse and Society
by Wolfgang TeubertMeaning, Discourse and Society investigates the construction of reality within discourse. When people talk about things such as language, the mind, globalisation or weeds, they are less discussing the outside world than objects they have created collaboratively by talking about them. Wolfgang Teubert shows that meaning cannot be found in mental concepts or neural activity, as implied by the cognitive sciences. He argues instead that meaning is negotiated and knowledge is created by symbolic interaction, thus taking language as a social, rather than a mental, phenomenon. Discourses, Teubert contends, can be viewed as collective minds, enabling the members of discourse communities to make sense of themselves and of the world around them. By taking an active stance in constructing the reality they share, people thus can take part in moulding the world in accordance with their perceived needs.
Meaningful Information
by Anthony ReadingThe book introduces a radically new way of thinking about information and the important role it plays in living systems. It opens up new avenues for exploring how cells and organisms change and adapt, since the ability to detect and respond to meaningful information is the key that enables them to receive their genetic heritage, regulate their internal milieu, and respond to changes in their environment. It also provides a way of resolving Descartes' dilemma by explaining the workings of the brain in non-mechanical terms that are not tainted by spiritual or metaphysical beliefs. The types of meaningful information that different species and different cell types are able to detect are finely matched to the ecosystem in which they live, for natural selection has shaped what they need to know to function effectively in those circumstances. Biological detection and response systems range from the chemical configurations that govern genes and cell life to the relatively simple tropisms that guide single-cell organisms, the rudimentary nervous systems of invertebrates, and the complex neuronal structures of mammals and primates. The scope of meaningful information that can be detected and responded to reaches its peak in our own species, as exemplified by our special abilities in language, cognition, emotion, and consciousness, all of which are explored within this new framework.
Meaningful Technologies: How Digital Metaphors Change the Way We Think and Live
by Eric Chown Fernando NascimentoAs smartphones mediate more of our activities, they are changing our relationship with meaning. To a teenager, for example a “conversation” is just as likely to refer to an exchange of text messages as it is a face-to-face discussion. Meanwhile, Facebook has redefined what friendship means, Snapchat what a memory means, etc. The kinds of changes smartphones bring are happening at rapid pace: TikTok reached a billion users in just over three years, whereas it took the telephone 75 years to reach a tenth of that number of people. Meaningful Technologies: How Digital Metaphors Change the Way We Think and Live by Eric Chown and Fernando Nascimento offers systematic reconsideration of the ways in which digital technologies impact our lives both individually and collectively. Metaphors aren’t just a clever way to describe technology, they are also changing the way we think. When we click on a picture of a shopping cart it connects a complex set of technologies to represent a simple idea that we’re all familiar with. A heart icon under a photo is understood as an easy way to express appreciation. We aren’t required to understand how technology works, just how we interact with it. The ambiguity of metaphors, and the complexity of technology can also hide important realities about what is being described. “The cloud,” for example, actually consists of very real data centers, which consume huge amounts of natural resources to keep running. Meanwhile, pressing that heart icon on a photo is a signal to the artificial intelligences running in your app that you want to see more things like that photo and that it should adjust what it knows about you accordingly. There is a constant feedback loop between us and the digital technologies we use. We are constantly using them and they are changing us through their usage. Meaningful Technologies focuses on this loop from the perspectives of hermeneutic philosophy and cognitive science. Through the former, the authors examine meaning and how it changes over time. Through the latter, they gain understanding of how this feedback loop impacts individuals, especially in terms of learning and attention. Chown and Nascimento argue that, on the one hand, apps have a kind of agency never before possible in a technology, but also that, armed with a critical framework for examining such apps, we can regain some of our own agency. This book will appeal to scholars of digital media digital and computational studies, and those interested in issues related to ethical impacts of digital technologies.
Meanwhile Back on Earth . . .: Finding Our Place Through Time and Space
by Oliver JeffersA spectacular new picture book from the creator of international bestsellers Here We Are and What We&’ll Build that will give readers perspective on our place in space.A father takes his two children on a thrilling out-of-this-world adventure into space and invites them to look back at Earth and the conflicts that have taken place since the beginning of time. This becomes a brief history of the world and a guide to the universe, told with Oliver Jeffers's inimitable perspective, wit, and exquisite artwork.Meanwhile Back on Earth gives a unique look at life on Earth with a cosmic perspective—and an enduring message that what binds us together matters more than what sets us apart. A timely story for families everywhere.
Measles and Related Morbilliviruses: Methods and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology #2808)
by Dzwokai Z. Ma Christian K. PfallerThis volume covers the latest protocols used to study the molecular biology of morbilliviruses, including cell entry, replication, and virus-host interactions. The chapters in this book also cover methods for studying morbillivirus infection through the use of novel tissue culture and in vivo models; analyzing the biological implications of infection by using primary tissues isolated from infected animals; and exploring diagnostic tools to evaluate humoral immunity against human-pathogenic measles virus (MeV). Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Measles and Related Morbilliviruses: Methods and Protocols is a valuable resource for researchers studying MeV,and will be useful to researchers studying other members of Paramyxoviridae and Mononegavirales.
Measure Solar System Objects and Their Movements for Yourself!
by John D. ClarkInstead of taking somebody's word for it about the basic size and distance statistics for the solar system, this book shows amateur astronomers how to measure these things for themselves. This is an enriching experience for any amateur astronomer - to understand and personally measure some fundamental astronomical quantities and distances. A basic knowledge of geometry is required, but it is amazing how simple the geometry can be. Readers are led through the geometry as gently as possible - and in a light-hearted way - presuming that most non-academics will have half-forgotten most of their mathematics. The practical astronomical equipment recommended is no more than a typical commercially-made amateur telescope and a camera of some sort - these days a webcam works very well. Apart from that all the reader will need is access to a computer, the know-how to download free software, and an enthusiasm to expand his knowledge of the basis of scientific astronomy.
Measure-Valued Solutions for Nonlinear Evolution Equations on Banach Spaces and Their Optimal Control
by N. U. Ahmed Shian WangThis book offers the first comprehensive presentation of measure-valued solutions for nonlinear deterministic and stochastic evolution equations on infinite dimensional Banach spaces. Unlike traditional solutions, measure-valued solutions allow for a much broader class of abstract evolution equations to be addressed, providing a broader approach.The book presents extensive results on the existence of measure-valued solutions for differential equations that have no solutions in the usual sense. It covers a range of topics, including evolution equations with continuous/discontinuous vector fields, neutral evolution equations subject to vector measures as impulsive forces, stochastic evolution equations, and optimal control of evolution equations. The optimal control problems considered cover the existence of solutions, necessary conditions of optimality, and more, significantly complementing the existing literature.This book will be of great interest to researchers in functional analysis, partial differential equations, dynamic systems and their optimal control, and their applications, advancing previous research and providing a foundation for further exploration of the field.
Measured Tones: The Interplay of Physics and Music, Third Edition
by Ian JohnstonMost books concerned with physics and music take an approach that puts physical theory before application. Consequently, these works tend to dampen aesthetic fascination with preludes burdened by an overabundance of algebraic formulae. In Measured Tones: The Interplay of Physics and Music Third Edition, Ian Johnston a professor of astrophysics and
Measured Words: Computation and Writing in Renaissance Italy
by Arielle SaiberMeasured Words investigates the rich commerce between computation and writing that proliferated in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy. Arielle Saiber explores the relationship between number, shape, and the written word in the works of four exceptional thinkers: Leon Battista Alberti’s treatis on cryptography, Luca Pacioli’s ideal proportions for designing Roman capital letters, Niccolò Tartaglia’s poem embedding his solution to solving cubic equations, and Giambattista Della Porta’s curious study on the elements of geometric curves. Although they came from different social classes and practiced the mathematical and literary arts at differing levels of sophistication, they were all guided by a sense that there exist deep ontological and epistemological bonds between computational and verbal thinking and production. Their shared view that a network or continuity exists between the arts yielded extraordinary results. Through measuring their words, literally and figuratively, they are models of what the very best interdisciplinary work can offer us.
Measurement Across the Sciences: Developing a Shared Concept System for Measurement (Springer Series in Measurement Science and Technology)
by Mark Wilson Luca Mari Andrew MaulThis open access book proposes a conceptual framework for understanding measurement across a broad range of scientific fields and areas of application, such as physics, engineering, education, and psychology. It addresses contemporary issues and controversies within measurement in light of the framework, including operationalism, definitional uncertainty, and the relations between measurement and computation, and describes how the framework, operating as a shared concept system, supports understanding measurement’s work in different domains, using examples in the physical and human sciences.This revised and expanded second edition features a new analysis of the analogies and the differences between the error/uncertainty-related approach adopted in physical measurement and the validity-related approach adopted in psychosocial measurement. In addition, it provides a better analysis and presentation of measurement scales, in particular about their relations with quantity units, and introduces the measurand identification/definition as a part of the "Hexagon Framework" along with new examples from the physical and psychosocial sciences. Researchers and academics across a wide range of disciplines including biological, physical, social, and behavioral scientists, as well as specialists in measurement and philosophy appreciate the work’s fresh and provocative approach to the field at a time when sound measurements of complex scientific systems are increasingly essential to solving critical global problems.
Measurement Science and Technology in Nuclear Engineering (Nuclear Science and Technology)
by Hong Xia Yongkuo LiuThis book highlights the fundamentals and advances in measurement science and technology applied in nuclear power engineering. Inspection of main parameters is an essential part of the operation and control of nuclear power plants. Measurement science and technology in nuclear engineering have experienced fast upgrades with the rapid advancements in computer science, sensors, lasers, and other related technologies. The book not only describes basic theories and widely used techniques but also presents novel experimental findings, newly applied techniques, and future trends that emerge with the higher and more specialized requirements of today’s nuclear power plants and other nuclear projects. The book serves as a valuable information source for scientists and a good handbook for engineers. It also contains well-arranged questions and exercises after each chapter, which makes it an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate students in nuclear science and technology.Additional questions and answers via app: Download the Springer Nature Flashcards app free of charge and use exclusive additional material to test your knowledge.
Measurement Techniques and Practices of Colloid and Interface Phenomena
by Masahiko AbeThis book is a manual of measurement of colloids and interfaces designed especially for new researchers who have just begun research on these topics. The book is written by active researchers in the field of colloids and interfacial chemistry, based on the practical experience of the authors. In each chapter, the key points of measurement, how to analyze data correctly, points to be careful about, and merits of a particular method are concisely explained from the point of view of the readers. Not only in industries such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals but also in academic studies of nanotechnology, correct understanding of colloid and interface phenomena is vital because the properties of these items, however small, are affected by the nature of interfaces. This book will be particularly useful for researchers who are not yet fully confident of the measurement techniques that are clearly explained here.
Measurement Techniques for Radio Frequency Nanoelectronics (The Cambridge RF and Microwave Engineering Series)
by Pavel Kabos T. Mitch WallisConnect basic theory with real-world applications with this practical, cross-disciplinary guide to radio frequency measurement of nanoscale devices and materials. • Learn the techniques needed for characterizing the performance of devices and their constituent building blocks, including semiconducting nanowires, graphene, and other two dimensional materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides • Gain practical insights into instrumentation, including on-wafer measurement platforms and scanning microwave microscopy • Discover how measurement techniques can be applied to solve real-world problems, in areas such as passive and active nanoelectronic devices, semiconductor dopant profiling, subsurface nanoscale tomography, nanoscale magnetic device engineering, and broadband, spatially localized measurements of biological materials Featuring numerous practical examples, and written in a concise yet rigorous style, this is the ideal resource for researchers, practicing engineers, and graduate students new to the field of radio frequency nanoelectronics. The first book on radio frequency and microwave nanoelectronics. Promotes the use of quantitative measurements through accurate modelling, numerical verification, reliable calibration, and determination of measurement uncertainties. Provides numerous practical examples linking the theory with current applications.
Measurement Uncertainty in Forensic Science: A Practical Guide
by Suzanne BellIn the courtroom, critical and life-changing decisions are made based on quantitative forensic science data. There is often a range in which a measured value is expected to fall and, in this, an inherent uncertainty associated with such measurement. Uncertainty in this context is not error. In fact, estimations of uncertainty can add to the utility and reliability of quantitative results, be it the length of a firearm barrel, the weight of a drug sample, or the concentration of ethanol in blood. Measurement Uncertainty in Forensic Science: A Practical Guide describes and defines the concepts related to such uncertainty in the forensic context. The book provides the necessary conceptual background and framework—a baseline—for developing and deploying reasonable and defensible uncertainty estimations across forensic disciplines. Information is presented conceptually, using easily understood examples, to provide a readable, handy reference for scientists in the laboratory, as well as investigators and legal professionals who require a basic understanding of the science underpinning measurement results.
Measurement While Drilling (MWD) Signal Analysis, Optimization and Design
by Wilson C. Chin Rong Shi Yinao Su Lin Li Hailong Bian Limin ShengTrade magazines and review articles describe MWD in casual terms, e.g., positive versus negative pulsers, continuous wave systems, drilling channel noise and attenuation, in very simple terms absent of technical rigor. However, few truly scientific discussions are available on existing methods, let alone the advances necessary for high-data-rate telemetry. Without a strong foundation building on solid acoustic principles, rigorous mathematics, and of course, fast, inexpensive and efficient testing of mechanical designs, low data rates will impose unacceptable quality issues to real-time formation evaluation for years to come. This book promises to change all of this. The lead author and M.I.T. educated scientist, Wilson Chin, and Yinao Su, Academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering, and other team members, have written the only book available that develops mud pulse telemetry from first principles, adapting sound acoustic principles to rigorous signal processing and efficient wind tunnel testing. In fact, the methods and telemetry principles developed in the book were recently adopted by one of the world's largest industrial corporations in its mission to redefine the face of MWD. The entire engineering history for continuous wave telemetry is covered: anecdotal stories and their fallacies, original hardware problems and their solutions, different noise mechanisms and their signal processing solutions, apparent paradoxes encountered in field tests and simple explanations to complicated questions, and so on, are discussed in complete "tell all" detail for students, research professors and professional engineers alike. These include signal processing algorithms, signal enhancement methods, and highly efficient "short" and "long wind tunnel" test methods, whose results can be dynamically re-scaled to real muds flowing at any speed. A must read for all petroleum engineering professionals!
Measurement While Drilling: Signal Analysis, Optimization and Design
by Wilson C. ChinTrade magazines and review articles describe MWD in casual terms, e.g., positive versus negative pulsers, continuous wave systems, drilling channel noise and attenuation, in very simple terms absent of technical rigor. However, few truly scientific discussions are available on existing methods, let alone the advances necessary for high-data-rate telemetry. Without a strong foundation building on solid acoustic principles, rigorous mathematics, and of course, fast, inexpensive and efficient testing of mechanical designs, low data rates will impose unacceptable quality issues to real-time formation evaluation for years to come. This all-new revised second edition of an instant classic promises to change all of this. The lead author and M.I.T.-educated scientist, Wilson Chin, has written the only book available that develops mud pulse telemetry from first principles, adapting sound acoustic principles to rigorous signal processing and efficient wind tunnel testing. In fact, the methods and telemetry principles developed in the book were recently adopted by one of the world’s largest industrial corporations in its mission to redefine the face of MWD. The entire engineering history for continuous wave telemetry is covered: anecdotal stories and their fallacies, original hardware problems and their solutions, different noise mechanisms and their signal processing solutions, apparent paradoxes encountered in field tests and simple explanations to complicated questions, and so on, are discussed in complete “tell all” detail for students, research professors and professional engineers alike. These include signal processing algorithms, signal enhancement methods, and highly efficient “short” and “long wind tunnel” test methods, whose results can be dynamically re-scaled to real muds flowing at any speed. A must read for all petroleum engineering professionals!
Measurement across the Sciences: Developing a Shared Concept System for Measurement (Springer Series in Measurement Science and Technology)
by Mark Wilson Luca Mari Andrew MaulThis book proposes a conceptual framework for understanding measurement across a broad range of scientific fields and areas of application, such as physics, engineering, education, and psychology. The authors, who themselves span these disciplines, argue that the justification of the public trust attributed to measurement results can in principle apply identically to both physical and psychosocial properties. They further argue that the lack of a common conceptualization of measurement hampers interdisciplinary communication and limits the ability to share knowledge. They advance their views by first surveying the conceptual history of the philosophy of measurement and arguing that classical, operationalist and representational perspectives on measurement each make important contributions but also each have important shortcomings. A synthesis is then offered as the foundation for a new conceptual framework. The authors describe how the framework, which operates as a shared concept system, supports understanding measurement’s work in different domains, using examples in the physical and human sciences. They consider connections and consequences with respect to causality, objectivity, and intersubjectivity, among other topics, and how measurement science concepts and issues are construed across these disciplines and settings. They also address contemporary issues and controversies within measurement in the light of the framework, including operationalism, definitional uncertainty, and the relations between measurement and computation. The book concludes with a justification for the basic claim that measurement is an empirical and informational process that produces explicitly justifiable information. Researchers and academics across a wide range of disciplines including biological, physical, social and behavioral scientists, as well as specialists in measurement and philosophy will appreciate the work’s fresh and provocative approach to the field at a time when sound measurements of complex scientific systems are increasingly essential to solving critical global problems.
Measurement and Analysis in Transforming Healthcare Delivery
by Harry C. SaxThis volume is complementary to Volume 1: Quantitative Approaches in Health Systems Engineering which provides in-depth analysis of the statistical and quantitative aspects of Health Systems Engineering. Volume 2: Practical Applications to Engage and Align Providers and Consumers builds upon these concepts with the integration of additional economic, performance and quality measures. Stressing the importance of changes in the economics of health care financing, it will serve as a resource for not only leaders of organizations, but also providers who will be practicing a different type of medicine from that of which they were trained. After defining the challenges, the authors will quantify and define funds flows and various margins necessary for viability, how providers will be measured and rewarded for quality, and the importance of accurate dashboard of physician performance. Types of payment systems, including capitation, ACOs, risk contracts, and hybrid forms of fee for service will be defined and their relative advantages discussed. Lessons from other countries that provide high quality care at a lower cost will be examined for applicability to our challenges. Finally, experts in leadership will focus on influencing behavior to achieve results while remembering that healthcare is about the patient. This textbook will serve as a useful resource for clinicians, healthcare executives, governmental agencies, and emerging leaders in organizations.
Measurement and Analysis in Transforming Healthcare Delivery
by Peter J. FabriThis volume provides the important concepts necessary for a physician to participate in a reengineering process, develop decision-making skills based on probability and logic rather than "rules," and to measure and analyze meaningful outcomes of care delivery. This approach has been developed over ten years in a medical student-based program and has been enthusiastically embraced by medical students without backgrounds in engineering or statistics. More specifically, this text will introduce physicians to relevant and available computer software, combined with an in depth knowledge of measurement, variation, and uncertainty. It provides a basis for the transformation of data into information, information into knowledge, and knowledge into wisdom. The first quarter of the book will address understanding and visualizing data, using statistical and graphic analysis. The next quarter addresses the fundamentals of applied statistics, and the application of conditional probability to clinical decision making. The next quarter addresses the four "cornerstones" of modern analytics: regression, classification, association analysis, and clustering. The final section addresses the identification of outliers and their importance in understanding, the assessment of cause and effect and the limitations associated with retrospective data analysis. This toolbox will prepare the interested physician to actively engage in the identification of problem areas, the design of process-based solutions, and the continuous assessment of outcomes of clinical practice. Armed with this toolbox, the reader will be "prepared to make a difference" in the rapidly changing world of healthcare delivery. Measurement and Analysis in Transforming Healthcare Delivery is an excellent resource for general practitioners, health administrators, and all medical professionals interacting with healthcare delivery.
Measurement and Analysis of Human Locomotion (Series in Biomedical Engineering)
by Vladimir MedvedThis book addresses instruments, methodologies and diagnostic methods used to evaluate and diagnose human movement, locomotion and physical status in general. Starting from historical perspective, the idea of understanding human locomotion by applying technical measurement devices and incorporating measurement data into physical representation of gross body movement is presented and explained, an approach known as inverse dynamics. With this approach as a kind of umbrella concept, components of measurement systems including relevant signal and data processing methods are described. Modern instruments to capture body movement by measuring its kinematics, kinetics and surface electromyography (sEMG) are thus described; all systems being used dominantly—if not exclusively—in a movement analysis laboratory setting. Focusing mainly on human posture and gait, but including also examples of movement patterns from selected kinesiological and sports activities, the book attempts to present essentials of biomechanics and biomedical engineering approach to this subject matter. It illustrates how data collected and elaborated by modern engineering technology can complement traditional expert knowledge of a kinesiologist or a medical doctor. The book is applicable in the fields of sports, physical activities, as well as in medical diagnostics and rehabilitation. The examples of this book’s practical application might be in evaluation of efficiency of human gait, in evaluation of skeletal muscle fatigue in physical exercise, in biomechanical diagnostics of traumatological conditions requiring orthopaedic treatment and the like. This book can also be used in planning and executing research endeavours, particularly in a clinical context as a reference for various diagnostics procedures. It presents the lecture notes of a course carrying the same name within Medical Studies in English at the University of Zagreb for more than a decade.
Measurement and Detection of Radiation
by Nicholas Tsoulfanidis Sheldon LandsbergerAs useful to students and nuclear professionals as its popular predecessors, this fifth edition provides the most up-to-date and accessible introduction to radiation detector materials, systems, and applications. There have been many advances in the field of radiation detection, most notably in practical applications. Incorporating these important developments, Measurement and Detection of Radiation, Fifth Edition provides the most up-to-date and accessible introduction to radiation detector materials, systems, and applications. It also includes more problems and updated references and bibliographies, and step-by-step derivations and numerous examples illustrate key concepts. New to the Fifth Edition:• Expanded chapters on semiconductor detectors, data analysis methods, health physics fundamentals, and nuclear forensics.• Updated references and bibliographies.• New and expanded problems.
Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance
by Jr. Dale P. Mood James R. Morrow Allen W. Jackson James G. DischMeasurement and Evaluation in Human Performance, Fourth Edition, paves the way for students and professionals to identify and solve human performance problems in the areas of kinesiology, physical education, health, and fitness. Focusing on the concepts of reliability, objectivity, and validity, the text introduces students to tests and measurements and guides them through statistical decision making and accurate interpretation of data. Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance, Fourth Edition, is designed with student learning in mind with its practical approach, easy-to-read style, and minimal mathematics. Like previous editions, the text combines introductory algebraic concepts with explanations of reliability and validity to assist students in developing the knowledge and tools to gather and analyze data for decision making. The fourth edition also features many upgrades: • An updated online study guide that incorporates more student activities, computer tasks, and quiz questions to help students comprehend the concepts • A realignment of chapters into four cohesive sections leading from background knowledge and basic statistical concepts to supportive theories and practical application • Greater use of Microsoft Excel to assist with statistical calculations, including an appendix of directions, screen captures, and templates for complex calculations • Inclusion of large sample data sets with each chapter’s online study guide content that help students review concepts and emphasize the value of computer skills in the field of measurement and evaluation • More information on physical activity assessment incorporated into all chapters • A new contributor who lends expertise to teachers and coaches in a chapter addressing performance-based assessment In addition to incorporating use of MS Excel, this edition continues to use Predictive Analysis Software (PASW), previously known as Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). These computer applications provide students with the skills to quickly complete time-consuming and difficult calculations for large amounts of data.
Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance
by Minsoo Kang Dale P. Mood James R. Morrow Weimo ZhuMeasurement and Evaluation in Human Performance, Sixth Edition With HKPropel Access, guides students through the essentials of collecting and analyzing data of human performance and using that data in practical application. Introductory algebraic concepts are combined with the technological capabilities of Microsoft Excel and IBM’s SPSS software to aid students in calculations and data analysis. Focusing on the core concepts of reliability and validity of data, the text provides all the necessary tools for evidence-based decision making to apply in kinesiology, sport and exercise science, physical therapy, allied health, physical education, health, and fitness. The sixth edition of Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance has been reorganized to offer a logical progression of information that makes it easy for instructors and students to apply the content to their specific courses and career goals. It is enhanced with added expertise from new coauthor Weimo Zhu, an internationally known scholar in Kinesmetrics who served as the chair of the Measurement and Evaluation Council of SHAPE America. The amount of information on physical activity assessment has been increased across all chapters, and the text includes new content about sport video analysis apps, employment-related testing, and more. The text is divided into four parts. Part I introduces the concepts of measurement and evaluation and their importance for decision making in human performance. Part II explains the use of statistics as core tools and resources for these evaluations and explains the various forms of statistical procedures often used in measurement. Part III presents reliability and validity from theoretical, comprehensive, and criterion-referenced perspectives. Skills gained through previous sections are applied to human performance issues such as evaluating a person’s aerobic capacity or muscular strength. Part IV applies all of the content from the previous sections to practical settings where students will use the knowledge gained in the text, covering topics like fitness assessment, performance assessment, motor behavior, and sport and exercise psychology. To enhance student comprehension and retention, related online learning aids are delivered through HKPropel. Sample data sets allow students to practice data analysis, as do a wide range of study and practice activities. Chapter quizzes may be assigned to students by instructors and are automatically graded within HKPropel. In addition, Mastery Item sidebars throughout the text include problems and activities that test student knowledge, while Measurement and Evaluation Challenge sidebars provide scenarios that can be evaluated with the information from the chapter. Measurement and Evaluation in Human Performance, Sixth Edition, continues to provide students with the tools and confidence they will need to gather reliable data, analyze it, and apply it in their work with clients.
Measurement and Safety: Volume I
by Béla G. LiptákThis handbook is dedicated to the next generation of automation engineers working in the fields of measurement, control, and safety, describing the sensors and detectors used in the measurement of process variables.