IOS Press – serie

A general trend in our modern society is a growing complexity. It is therefore logical that in most countries there has been a definite tendency to give weight to issues of adapting also the physical space to this complexity and to find methods to do this in an efficient way, giving satisfactory use of land and other natural resources. During the twentieth century we have seen a very active development of legal instruments for this purpose, aimed at steering spatial planning and plan implementation according to the objectives and policies chosen.This book tries to present basic information of how different countries within the chosen area have tried to solve the problem of establishing suitable systems of steering spatial development by means of planning and implementation measures. For this purpose summary descriptions of the connected formal regulations in each country are given in an appendix while a comparative presentation and discussion forms the main text. This will give the interested reader an overview of the current systems in Western Europe, how they have influenced each other but still in many parts differ from each other.

Advances in Mathematical Modeling for Reliability discusses fundamental issues on mathematical modeling in reliability theory and its applications. Beginning with an extensive discussion of graphical modeling and Bayesian networks, the focus shifts towards repairable systems: a discussion about how sensitive availability calculations parameter choices, and emulators provide the potential to perform such calculations on complicated systems to a fair degree of accuracy and in a computationally efficient manner. Another issue that is addressed is how competing risks arise in reliability and maintenance analysis through the ways in which data is censored. Mixture failure rate modeling is also a point of discussion, as well as the signature of systems, where the properties of the system through the signature from the probability distributions on the lifetime of the components are distinguished. The last three topics of discussion are relations among aging and stochastic dependence, theoretical advances in modeling, inference and computation, and recent advances in recurrent event modeling and inference.

The Knowledge Creation Potential of Management Consulting interprets management consulting from a knowledge perspective, and proposes a general conceptual framework for investigating and interpreting that potential. To begin with, the main dynamics of change that characterize today’s demand for management consulting is outlined, and is it suggested that firms are becoming increasingly aware of the real cognitive (rather than only the economic) value generation potential that can be activated through the consulting relationship. Also, the possible pathways for evolutionary transformation of consulting practices, models and roles that consulting firms could follow if they want to take advantage of the important changes that are taking place, are looked at. Next, a definition of management consulting is proposed, which aims to identify the distinctive ontological (real, essential and relatively stable) features of this particular service and emphasizes the mainly cognitive nature of its value-creation potential. Furthermore, two approaches to interpreting management consulting are discussed: the diachronic approach, and the synchronic approach. To conclude, the theories interpreting knowledge creation processes as knowledge conversion processes are explained, and applied to the specific context of management consulting relationships.

The origin of Aerodynamic Design of Transport Aircraft stems from the time when the author was appointed part-time professor in the Aerospace Faculty of Delft University of Technology. At the time his main activities were those of leading the departments of Aerodynamics, Performance and Preliminary Design at Fokker Aircraft Company. The groundwork for this book started in 1987 as a series of lecture notes consisting mainly of pictorial material with a minimum of English explanatory text. After the demise of Fokker in 1996 one feared that interest in aeronautical engineering would strongly diminish. As a result of this, the course was discontinued and the relationship between the author and the faculty came to an end. Two years later the situation was reappraised, and the interest in aeronautical engineering remained, so the course was reinstated with a former Fokker colleague Ronald Slingerland as lecturer. The lecture notes from these courses form the foundation of this publication.

This book deals with the revolution of containerization, a breakthrough in maritime transport. Until World War II, maritime transport and transshipment of general cargo had been virtually unchanged for decades. Mechanization and the introduction of small unit loads improved productivity and working conditions in the shipping business. A real breakthrough came from outside the maritime sector: railway and trucking companies launched the transportation of ‘vehicle-sized’ loads. Malcom McLean, a trucking magnate who had acquired the Pan-Atlantic Steamship Corporation, envisaged land-sea-land services, door-to-door, with ‘trailer bodies’. He equipped two of his tankers with spar decks and purchased 200 aluminum containers. On April 26, 1956 the Ideal X left the port of New York with 58 containers destined for Houston. This event triggered a revolution in maritime general cargo transport: ‘containerization’. Economies of scale, enhanced transshipment, no pilferage and less damage resulted in fast and low cost transportation. Over time, containerization accelerated the growth of worldwide trade and facilitated just-in-time logistics. Nowadays containerized transport is a real utility, indispensable for a global economy.Development of Containerization shows how the container-sector coped with the challenges it was facing. Entrepreneurial spirit and technological creativity were at the core of its success. The authors uniquely combine these two elements: the general economic and transport developments are chronologically structured per decade and pivotal technological changes are described in greater detail. The text is illustrated with many pictures because ‘seeing is believing’. The book is of interest to students in transportation, designers of terminals and intermodal transport systems and all those who are fascinated by the spectacular impact of containerization.

In the summer of 1982, hospital emergency rooms in the San Francisco Bay Area were suddenly confronted with mysteriously “frozen” patients – young men and women who, though conscious, could neither move nor speak. Doctors were baffled, until neurologist J. William Langston, recognizing the symptoms of advanced Parkinson’s disease, administered L-dopa – the only known effective treatment – and “unfroze” his patient. Dr. Langston determined that this patient and five others had all used the same tainted batch of synthetic heroin, inadvertently laced with a toxin that had destroyed an area of their brains essential to normal movement. This same area, the substantia nigra, slowly deteriorates in Parkinson’s disease. As scientists raced to capitalize on this breakthrough, Dr. Langston struggled to salvage the lives of his frozen patients, for whom L-dopa provided only short-term relief. The solution he found lay in the most daring area of research: fetal-tissue transplants. The astonishing recovery of two of his patients garnered worldwide press coverage, helped overturn federal restrictions on fetal-tissue research, and offered hope to millions suffering from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other degenerative brain disorders. This is the story behind the headline – a spellbinding account that brings to life the intellectual excitement, ethical dilemmas, and fierce competitiveness of medical research. This new updated edition of the classic neurological mystery tale, “The Case of the Frozen Addicts,” illuminates how the solution to a baffling mystery of the brain’s chemistry opened a new frontier in medicine and restored life to people without hope. “It begins with a series of quixotic discoveries, escalates to providing possible solutions for one of humanity’s most intractable medical problems, and then catapults the reader into the center of America’s hottest political arena – abortion and fetal sanctity. Bravo! A brilliant read.” – Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague “[Langston and Palfreman] weave a highly readable and spellbinding medical detective tale… It is as absorbing as a good mystery, as entertaining as an exciting novel, and as enlightening as a good biography.” – Stanley Fahn, New England Journal of Medicine “I could not put it down… it is the lives of the ‘frozen addicts’ themselves – and the fullness with which this is presented – which makes the whole thing overwhelming.” – Oliver Sacks

Therapeutic architecture can be described as the people-centered, evidence-based discipline of the built environment, which aims to identify and support ways of incorporating those spatial elements that interact with people physiologically and psychologically into design. Architecture is an important factor in people's lives when they are well; when they experience ill-health and are less able to cope it becomes even more important.This book explores the design of specialized residential architecture for people with mental health problems. It sets out to show how building design can support medical and health related procedures and practices, leading to better therapeutic outcomes and an enhanced quality of life. Based on almost two decades of research, it aims to understand how architectural design interacts with the therapeutic milieu, the care programs, and actually living in the spaces.The book is divided into two main parts covering theory and research. Part one consists of three chapters: a brief introduction to old practices, current medical psychosocial and architectural thinking, and alternative thinking. Part two explores the research and conclusions derived from fieldwork.This book provides a fascinating insight into the effect that architectural design can have on all of us, but particularly on those with mental health problems.""Dr. Evangelia Chrysikou explains the many aspects of mental health and its relation to the quality of the built environment and I strongly recommend this very enjoyable book to anyone who would like to find out more about this important topic.""Prof. Alan Dilani, Ph.D.International Academy for Design and Health ""This book provides important, evidence-based data that will help to drive the design of new and refurbished psychiatric facilities and will no doubt become a highly-regarded resource for medical planners and architects.""Jo Makosinski Editor, Building Better Healthcare

This book describes the blast furnace process for operators. As a starting point, the blast furnace is seen as a simple iron ore melter, while gradually the physical, chemical and metallurgical background is clarified. Operational observations, challenges and remedies are explained from this perspective. Optimization of the blast furnace process is not only based on “best practice transfer”, but also requires conceptual understanding of what works when. In other words: operational improvement is not only based on know–how, but on know–why as well. With Modern Blast Furnace Ironmaking – An Introduction (Third Edition, 2015) the reader has a compact compendium of the blast furnace process available: by operators and for operators and for those who are preparing to become operators.