The development of new biocompatible implant materials as well as the advances in operative techniques in spinal surgery raise the question as to the prosthetic replacement of degenerated, herniated or injured intervertebral discs. Although 'disc-surgery' accounts for the vast majority of all surgical procedures of the spine, the idea of an artificial disc has not yet found a final and satisfying solution. The purpose of the book is to give a survey of the state of the art concerning the concept, design, experimental investigations and, in some cases, clinical application of different kinds of disc prostheses. Only few scientific groups are dealing with this problem. Protagonists and representatives of all these groups have made contributions to this book, presenting their individual views, experimental approaches and clinical experience with different kinds of artificial discs.

At times it appears that a whole industry exists to perpetuate the myth of origin of the Beatles. There certainly exists a popular music (or perhaps 'rock') origin myth concerning this group and the city of Liverpool and this draws in devotees, as if on a pilgrimage, to Liverpool itself. Once 'within' the city, local businesses exist primarily to escort these pilgrims around several almost iconic spaces and places associated with the group. At times it all almost seems 'spiritual'. One might argue however that, like any function myth, the music history of the Liverpool in which the Beatles grew and then departed is not fully represented. Beatles historians and businessmen-alike have seized upon myriad musical experiences and reworked them into a discourse that homogenizes not only the diverse collective articulations that initially put them into place, but also the receptive practices of those travellers willing to listen to a somewhat linear, exclusive narrative. Other Voices therefore exists as a history of the disparate and now partially hidden musical strands that contributed to Liverpool's musical countenance. It is also a critique of Beatles-related institutionalized popular music mythology. Via a critical historical investigation of several thus far partially hidden popular music activities in pre- and post-Second World War Liverpool, Michael Brocken reveals different yet intrinsic musical and socio-cultural processes from within the city of Liverpool. By addressing such 'scenes' as those involving dance bands, traditional jazz, folk music, country and western, and rhythm and blues, together with a consideration of partially hidden key places and individuals, and Liverpool's first 'real' record label, an assemblage of 'other voices' bears witness to an 'other', seldom discussed, Liverpool. By doing so, Brocken – born and raised in Liverpool – asks questions about not only the historicity of the Beatles-Liverpool narrative, but also about the absence of historiography concerning disparate popular music activity within the city of Liverpool. In turn, he questions Liverpool's image as a 'music' city – what does this latter expression really mean? And from what genres of music does this apparently 'natural' musical font spring? Such questions ultimately bear crucially on issues relating to scenes, locality, race and identity, and periodization: all matters currently of great interest to the popular music researcher; in turn the veracity of institutionalized popular music histories is also brought into question.

These lectures concentrate on (nonlinear) stochastic partial differential equations (SPDE) of evolutionary type. There are three approaches to analyze SPDE: the 'martingale measure approach', the 'mild solution approach' and the 'variational approach'. The purpose of these notes is to give a concise and as self-contained as possible an introduction to the 'variational approach'. A large part of necessary background material is included in appendices.

This book examines non-Gaussian distributions. It addresses the causes and consequences of non-normality and time dependency in both asset returns and option prices. The book is written for non-mathematicians who want to model financial market prices so the emphasis throughout is on practice. There are abundant empirical illustrations of the models and techniques described, many of which could be equally applied to other financial time series.

Packing an off-kilter sense of humor and keen scientific minds, authors Margaret Mittelbach and Michael Crewdson take off with renowned artist Alexis Rockman on a postmodern safari. Their mission? Tracking down the elusive Tasmanian tiger. This mysterious, striped predator was once the world's largest carnivorous marsupial. It had a pouch like a kangaroo and a jaw that opened impossibly wide to reveal terrifying choppers. Tragically, this rare and powerful animal was hunted into extinction in the early part of the twentieth century. Or was it?

Journeying first to the Australian mainland and then south to the wild island of Tasmania, these young naturalists brave a series of bizarre misadventures and uproarious wildlife encounters in their obsessive search for the long-lost beast.

From an ancient cave featuring an aboriginal painting of the tiger to a lab in Sydney where maverick scientists are trying to resurrect the animal through cloning, this intrepid trio comes face-to-face with blood-sucking land leeches and venomous bull ants, a misbehaving wallaby who invades their motel room, and a crew of flesh-eating, bone-crunching Tasmanian devils gorging on roadkill.

They bond with trappers, bushwackers, and wildlife experts who refuse to abandon the tiger hunt, despite the paucity of evidence. Sifting through local myths, bar-room banter, and historical accounts, these environmental detectives sweep readers into a world where platypus' swim, kangaroos roam, and a large predator with a pouch was–or perhaps still is–queen of the jungle.

Filled with Alexis Rockman's stunning drawings of flora and fauna–-made from soil, wombat scat, and the artist's own blood–Carnivorous Nights is a hip and hilarious account of an unhinged safari, as well as a fascinating portrayal of a wildly unique part of the world.


From the Hardcover edition.

Help your child learn 'zee' importance of good manners!In the village of West Manor, you can stay, if you please, in a well-mannered townpopulated by Peas. All the natives are friendly---they go out of their way. When you stop to say, 'Thank you!' -- 'Why, you're welcome!' they'll say.In the village of South Boorish, on the North side of town, lives a rude population---the rudest around. They're, so very ill-mannered, such impolite Beans. If you stop to say, 'Thank you,' they won't know what you mean!As these delightfully fun Peas and Beans head out to collect sunflower seeds, children discover that everyone wins when you learn to be polite and take turns.Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun. Now that's the Big Idea!Through imaginative and innovative products, Zonderkidz is feeding young souls.

Wine tourism is a rapidly growing field of industry and academic interest with changes in the consumer markets in recent years, showing an enormous interest in 'experiential' travel. Wine Tourism Around the World is therefore an invaluable text for both students and practitioners alike and provides:

* The first comprehensive introduction to wine tourism from a business, social science and policy perspective
* An international perspective on wine tourism and includes detailed examples from Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Hungary, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, UK and the USA
* Detailed information on the growth and development of wine tourism from both supply, demand, marketing and management perspectives


Academic researchers and students in tourism and hospitality fields, as well as anyone connected with the wine industry, will find this book an essential guide to understanding the global impacts of wine tourism and the consequent economic, social and environmental impacts and opportunities.

C.Michael Hall is based at the University of Otago in New Zealand and is Visiting Professor in the School of Leisure and Food Management, Sheffield Hallam University. He has written widely on wine, food and rural tourism and has a major interest in cool-climate wine tourism.

Liz Sharples is a lecturer in the School of Leisure and Food Management, Sheffield Hallam University. She has extensive practical and academic experience in the hospitality industry and has major research interests in the interrelationships between cuisine, tourism and rural production.

Brock Cambourne is the owner/operator of multiple tourism award winning National Capital Wine Tours and principal of Benchmark Tourism Consulting. He has researched and published extensively on wine and culinary tourism and is a member of the Australian National Wine Tourism Working Party.

Niki Macionis is a lecturer at the University of Canberra's Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism. Her graduate studies focussed on the development of wine tourism and she has researched and published extensively on wine and culinary tourism.


the first comprehensive introduction to wine tourism from a business and social science perspective
an international perspective on wine tourism including examples from around the world
detailed examination of the growth and development of wine tourism from both supply and demand perspectives

'This is a superb work of scholarship, impossible to overpraise.... It marks a milestone in the 20-year rise of gay and lesbian studies.'--Martin Duberman, The Advocate

The men of Renaissance Florence were so renowned for sodomy that 'Florenzer' in German meant 'sodomite.' In the late fifteenth century, as many as one in two Florentine men had come to the attention of the authorities for sodomy by the time they were thirty. In 1432 The Office of the Night was created specifically to police sodomy in Florence. Indeed, nearly all Florentine males probably had some kind of same-sex experience as a part of their 'normal' sexual life.

Seventy years of denunciations, interrogations, and sentencings left an extraordinarily detailed record, which author Michael Rocke has used in his vivid depiction of this vibrant sexual culture in a world where these same-sex acts were not the deviant transgressions of a small minority, but an integral part of a normal masculine identity. Rocke roots this sexual activity in the broader context of Renaissance Florence, with its social networks of families, juvenile gangs, neighbors, patronage, workshops, and confraternities, and its busy political life from the early years of the Republic through the period of Lorenzo de' Medici, Savonarola, and the beginning of Medici princely rule. His richly detailed book paints a fascinating picture of Renaissance Florence and calls into question our modern conceptions of gender and sexual identity.