This book brings together a diverse range of international scholars to highlight recent developments in research on collaborative learning. The emphasis is on research that has a strong evidence base for the work that is presented and includes empirical studies, best evidence synthesis of the relevant research, case studies, and theoretical reports. It also highlights how different technologies have been used to facilitate group interaction, dialogue, and learning. There is much to be gained by sharing and learning about what happens in different disciplines and contexts and how different collaborative pedagogies can be implemented when needed to promote understanding and learning. This book will have strong appeal to pre-service and experienced teachers and researchers who are interested in how different collaborative pedagogies can be embedded in course curricula to promote student engagement and learning.

The advent of transnational economic production and market integration compels sociologists of work to look beyond traditional national boundaries and build an international sociology of work in order to effectively address the human, scientific, and practical challenges posed by global economic transnationalism. The purpose of this volume is to promote transnational dialogue about the sociology of work and help build a truly international discipline in this field.

The book is intended to provide a definitive view of the field of humor research for both beginning and established scholars in a variety of fields who are developing an interest in humor and need to familiarize themselves with the available body of knowledge. Each chapter of the book is devoted to an important aspect of humor research or to a disciplinary approach to the field, and each is written by the leading expert or emerging scholar in that area. There are two primary motivations for the book. The positive one is to collect and summarize the impressive body of knowledge accumulated in humor research in and around Humor: The International Journal of Humor Research. The negative motivation is to prevent the embarrassment to and from the "first-timers," often established experts in their own field, who venture into humor research without any notion that there already exists a body of knowledge they need to acquire before publishing anything on the subject-unless they are in the business of reinventing the wheel and have serious doubts about its being round! The organization of the book reflects the main groups of scholars participating in the increasingly popular and high-powered humor research movement throughout the world, an 800 to 1,000-strong contingent, and growing. The chapters are organized along the same lines: History, Research Issues, Main Directions, Current Situation, Possible Future, Bibliography-and use the authors' definitive credentials not to promote an individual view, but rather to give the reader a good comprehensive and condensed view of the area.

Scientific advances in this field have not only given us a better understanding of what is an optimal diet, but has allowed food and nutraceutical companies to market products with specific health claims, fortify existing foods, and even create new foods designed for a particular health benefit. Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Second Edition, compiles the latest data from authoritative, scientific sources. It provides hard evidence on the prophylactic and medicinal properties of many natural foods. This handbook reviews more than 200 nutraceutical compounds. Each chapter includes the chemical properties, biochemical activity, dietary sources, and evidentiary findings for each compound. New topics include the use of exopolysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria, protein as a functional ingredient for weight loss, and nutraceuticals to be used in the adjunctive treatment of depression. Two new chapters discuss recent evidence on oxidative stress and the antioxidant requirements of athletes as well as the use of nutraceuticals for inflammation. The scientific investigation of nutrition and lifestyle changes on the pain and debilitation of osteoarthritis is the subject of another new article. The book concludes with a look at future marketing opportunities paying particular attention to the alleviation of obesity. With contributions from a panel of leading international experts, Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, Second Edition, provides instant access to comprehensive, cutting edge data, making it possible for food scientists, nutritionists, and researchers to utilize this ever growing wealth of information.

A comprehensive treatment of the skills and techniques needed for visual psychophysics, from basic tools to sophisticated data analysis. Vision is one of the most active areas in biomedical research, and visual psychophysical techniques are a foundational methodology for this research enterprise. Visual psychophysics, which studies the relationship between the physical world and human behavior, is a classical field of study that has widespread applications in modern vision science. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this textbook provides a comprehensive treatment of visual psychophysics, teaching not only basic techniques but also sophisticated data analysis methodologies and theoretical approaches. It begins with practical information about setting up a vision lab and goes on to discuss the creation, manipulation, and display of visual images; timing and integration of displays with measurements of brain activities and other relevant techniques; experimental designs; estimation of behavioral functions; and examples of psychophysics in applied and clinical settings. The book's treatment of experimental designs presents the most commonly used psychophysical paradigms, theory-driven psychophysical experiments, and the analysis of these procedures in a signal-detection theory framework. The book discusses the theoretical underpinnings of data analysis and scientific interpretation, presenting data analysis techniques that include model fitting, model comparison, and a general framework for optimized adaptive testing methods. It includes many sample programs in Matlab with functions from Psychtoolbox, a free toolbox for real-time experimental control. Once students and researchers have mastered the material in this book, they will have the skills to apply visual psychophysics to cutting-edge vision science.