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Increasing Intelligence
Increasing Intelligence
The finding that working memory training can increase fluid intelligence triggered a great number of cognitive training studies, the results of which have been fiercely debated among experts. The finding also prompted a surge of commercial versions of these working memory training programs. Increasing Intelligence overviews contemporary approaches and techniques designed to increase general cognitive ability in healthy individuals. The book covers behavioral training and different electrical stimulation methods such as TMS, tDCS, tACS, and tRNS, along with alternative approaches ranging from neurofeedback to cognitive-enhancing drugs. It describes crucial brain features that underlie intelligent behavior and discusses theoretical and technical shortcomings of the reported studies, then goes on to suggest avenues for future research and inquiry. - Summarizes the history of attempts to raise intelligence - Describes the intelligence construct and the cognitive mechanisms thought to be at the core of intellectual functioning - Provides an overview of the neurobiological underpinnings of intelligence - Discusses the efficacy and limitations of behavioral training approaches and brain stimulation methods aiming to increase performance on working memory and intelligence tests - Examines the effects of neurofeedback, exercise, meditation, nutrition, and drugs on cognitive enhancement
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Contemporary Metabolism
Contemporary Metabolism
It is abundantly clear that a number of subtle abnormalities in hypothalamic function are associated with human obesity. Some hormonal abnormalities-the diminished growth hormone responses, for example-are critically dependent on increased caloric intake and are quickly reversible with weight loss. Others, such as the blunted prolactin response to acute hypoglycemia, may persist in the reduced-obese state. Still others (e. g. , the blunted ACTH responses to insulin induced hypoglycemia) may, in some patients, first appear in the reduced-obese state. It remains uncertain whether any of these abnormalities is ever antecedent to the presence of obesity. Obviously, it is difficult to plan experiments in which the amounts of stored triglyceride, the level of caloric intake, and the state or his tory of obesity can all be individually evaluated. The issue is made even more complex by the fact that there may be subgroups of obese in whom hypothalamic function may be abnormal, whereas many obese may have nearly normal hypo thalamic function. It should be remembered that for years clinicians and investigators, working with available research tools, have ruled out pituitary or hypothalamic abnor malities as a cause of human obesity. These tools have oftentimes been no more sophisticated than skull roentgenograms and samples of excreted steroid hormones in 24-hr urine. The advent of radioimmunoassays for peptide hormones and the availability of synthetic releasing hormones have offered possibilities of studying hypothalamic function undreamed of just a few years ago.
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Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases
Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases
This clinical reference for practitioners offers a new and comprehensive look at chronic obstructive lung disease. Global in scale and importance, it is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Bringing together a roster of internationally renowned contributors from the front lines of pulmonary medicine and research, it is aimed at practitioners in pulmonary medicine, pathology, thoracic radiology and epidemiology. Its focus is on the pathobiology of chronic obstructive pathology disease and emphysema and its exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and on treatment options. This reference works to 'connect the dots' by collating and centralizing the various data on the subject.
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Culture and Cognition
Culture and Cognition
"The subject matter is very timely for such a book. The field of culture and cognition is in a state of considerable flux, and it requires the kind of knowledge that Ross has not only of cognitive anthropology but of cognitive psychology to make a synthesis and to develop guideposts and steer the field towards viable future objectives. Ross possesses complete familiarity with the literature.... This should make for an excellent contribution." --Douglas White, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine "Norbert Ross is a fine scholar, and the book does something useful and new.... an important contribution by a respected researcher who knows what he is talking about and who has done creative basic work in the field." --Roy D′Andrade, Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego "In view of a current trend to integrate knowledge re ′culture′ and ′cognition′ in psychology (particularly marked) and anthropology, there is a growing demand for good textbooks in these fields. The ideas proposed by Ross are interesting and potentially productive." --Chizuko Izawa, Department of Psychology, Tulane University Culture plays an important role in our everyday lives, yet the study of cultural processes and their impact on thinking and behavior is still in its infancy. Research in anthropology generally lacks the clarity and specificity of cognitive processes and is therefore usually ignored by most psychologists. On the other hand, most cognitive research in psychology either ignores culture as an important factor to be taken into account or treats culture as yet another independent variable. Recent trends indicate an increasing interest in "culture" as a topic of psychological inquiry. Culture and Cognition: Implications for Theory and Methods combines the study of culture with an understanding of relevant cognitive processes and the challenge of studying high-level cognition as embedded into culture. Author Norbert Ross engages both anthropology and psychology, with the belief that any successful research in culture and cognition must embrace insights from both fields. Culture and Cognition fills a void in the cross-disciplinary area of culture and cognition by offering a clear overview of approaches from varying disciplinary perspectives, discussing methodological problems as well as theoretical implications of these approaches. The author illustrates real research examples and discusses a specific research strategy that details the necessary methods of data gathering and analysis methods for understanding cross-cultural differences. The book establishes the foundation for sensible cultural and cross-cultural research and provides important insights into both cultural processes in cognition and cognitive aspects of culture. Recommended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, scholars, and researchers in the fields of Psychology and Anthropology.
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Particle Detectors
Particle Detectors
Introduction -- Overview, history and concepts -- Interactions of particles with matter -- Movement of charge carriers in electric and magnetic fields -- Signal formation by moving charges -- Non-electronic detectors -- Gas-filled detectors -- Semiconductor detectors -- Track reconstruction and momentum measurement -- Photodetectors -- Cherenkov detectors -- Transition radiation detectors -- Scintillation detectors -- Particle identification -- Calorimeters -- Detectors for cosmic particles, neutrinos and exotic matter -- Signal processing, readout and noise -- Trigger and data acquisition systems -- Appendix A Dosimetry and radioactive sources -- Appendix B Weighting potential of segmented electrodes -- Appendix C Diffusion effects in drift chambers -- Appendix D Ionisation statistics in drift chambers -- Appendix E Position resolution of structured electrodes -- Appendix F Fitting of track models -- Appendix G LPM effect -- Appendix H Laplace transform -- Appendix I Physical noise sources -- Bibliography -- Abbreviations -- Index.
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Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary Hypertension
Pulmonary hypertension is a world�wide problem which is gaining greater attention and is more frequently diagnosed now, more than the past ten or twenty years, because of the use and interpretation of echocardiograms. Pulmonary Hypertension raises questions and discusses concepts which will address the issue of etiology of pulmonary hypertension, its pathobiology with its close proximity to cancer, and the consequences of severe PH which is right heart failure and death.
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Bilingual and Multicultural Perspectives on Poetry, Music, and Narrative
Bilingual and Multicultural Perspectives on Poetry, Music, and Narrative
Poetry, music, and narrative are the three aesthetic genres based on uniquely human verbal and vocal capabilities. Universal across all languages and cultures and accessible to all developing children, their foundation must be primary and essential. How did they arise among our early ancestors, and what does this origin imply about our participation in their creation and performance? How do we learn poetic, narrative, and musical abilities? Studying these questions from a scientific point of view requires a cross-cultural approach that also considers contact and interaction between different languages. Research in recent years has made significant progress toward a better understanding of the underlying competencies in literature and music and of the acquisition of artistic sensibility in each case. Bilingual and Multicultural Perspectives on Poetry, Music, and Narrative reviews the relevant research and, at the same time, challenges popular views in academia associated with cultural studies and related fields that have rejected the methods of modern science. Its contributions will be of particular value to students and scholars of linguistics, literary studies, and musicology.
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Magnesium Technology 2014
Magnesium Technology 2014
The Magnesium Technology Symposium, the event on which this collection is based, is one of the largest yearly gatherings of magnesium specialists in the world. Papers represent all aspects of the field, ranging from primary production to applications to recycling. Moreover, papers explore everything from basic research findings to industrialization. Magnesium Technology 2014 covers a broad spectrum of current topics, including alloys and their properties; cast products and processing; wrought products and processing; forming, joining, and machining; corrosion and surface finishing; ecology; and structural applications. In addition, there is coverage of new and emerging applications in such areas as hydrogen storage. The collection includes more than 70 papers, including unpublished papers from the 2013 symposium.
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