Media have been central to government efforts to reinforce sovereignty and define national identity, but globalization is fundamentally altering media practices, institutions, and content. More than the activities of large conglomerates, globalization entails competition among states as well as private entities to dominate the world's consciousness. Changes in formal and informal rules, in addi…
"In recent years, many approximate methods have been developed for analyzing queueing models of complex computer systems. These ad hoc methods usually focus on specific aspects of system operation, and appear to be different from one another, making it difficult to see the underlying principles of model development, to understand the relationship between different models of the same system, or …
In "The Metaphysics of Meaning, Jerrold J. Katz offers a radical reappraisal of the "linguistic turn" in twentieth century philosophy. He shows that the naturalism which emerged to become the dominant philosophical position was never adequately proven. Katz critiques the major arguments for contemporary naturalism and develops a new conception of the naturalistic fallacy. This conception, inspi…
The study of child language and, in particular, child syntax is a growing area of linguistic research, yet methodological issues often take a back seat to the findings and conclusions of specific studies in the field. This book is designed in part as a handbook to assist students and researchers in the choice and use of methods for investigating children's grammar. For example, a method (or com…
Theoretical psychology stands in the same relation to psychology as theoretical physics does to physics. The traditional way to study theoretical psychology is to take up one approach after another—behavioral, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and so on. The aim of this book is not to impart a substantive knowledge of core psychological theories, or even to analyze critically selected theories. Inst…
Functional genomics--the deconstruction of the genome to determine the biological function of genes and gene interactions--is one of the most fruitful new areas of biology. The growing use of DNA microarrays allows researchers to assess the expression of tens of thousands of genes at a time. This quantitative change has led to qualitative progress in our ability to understand regulatory process…
Microcircuits, functional modules that act as elementary processing units bridging single cells to systems and behavior, could provide the link between neurons and global brain function. Microcircuits are designed to serve particular functions; examples of these functional modules include the cortical columns in sensory cortici, glomeruli in the olfactory systems of insects and vertebrates, and…
The debate over genetically modified organisms: health and safety concerns, environmental impact, and scientific opinions. Since they were introduced to the market in the late 1990s, GMOs (genetically modified organisms, including genetically modified crops), have been subject to a barrage of criticism. Agriculture has welcomed this new technology, but public opposition has been loud and scient…