Government, civic organizations, and religion (the church) all play a major part in finding ways to help the plight of the homeless. This is displayed on a daily basis by so many who are constantly doing their part through service, financial giving, and voluntary work. However, the challenge still remains. Like the millipede with many body parts/compartments (government, civic, church, volunteers) and many legs (the people driving the groups), there is much misinformation about what is going and even greater fear about problems. We take a look at the successes and challenges that this age-old problem of finding ways to help the homeless, stranded, and down-and-out.

The primary focus of this book is to educate the reader on the Matching Person and Technology (MPT) model and assessment process that will guide the reader on consumer-centered assistive technology assessment and outcome measures designed to be used for individuals of all ages and all types of disabilities. The first section of the book introduces the MPT and Matching Assistive Technology and CHild (MATCH) assessment process and discusses key documents that align with the assessments including the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health and the Occupational Therapy Framework III. The second section of the book focuses on the international emphasis of the MPT and MATCH assessments. At present, there are eight countries that are represented in this section. Each chapter includes information on the assessment translations (with access to copies if available or at least access on how to obtain copies). The authors discuss research on the use of the assessment within their country to support the assessment use. Lastly, a case scenario is discussed in each chapter to provide the reader with an example of how the assessment was used with an actual consumer. The last section of the book includes a focus on outcome studies in the areas of early childhood, education (primary secondary, and postsecondary), work, and functional independence. This section provides the reader insight into how to outline outcome measures within the MPT and MATCH process. There is an additional section on future works that includes a brief introduction to the Service Animal Adaptive Intervention Assessment. This book is targeted to the Assistive Technology Providers (ATP) and policymakers (health care, education, and rehabilitation engineering), the university student pursuing a career in these areas, and the consumer of assistive technology.

The periodic flood pulse of the Amazon River has been the main controlling factor in the local ecosystems for at least two million years. Numerous adaptations, in some cases along with speciation, have evolved in local terrestrial invertebrates. The small millipede Poratia obliterata (Kraus, 1960), which probably originates from the Andes, is currently known from a remarkably broad range of Central Amazonian biotopes, i.e. various seasonal inundation forests, upland forest and plantations. Like most native millipedes, P. obliterata appears to escape flooding by tree ascents. Such developed survival strategies adaptive to annual inundation can either reflect ecological plasticity or implicate ecological speciation, .i.e. 'biotope-specific races' or ecotypes. To assess the causal mode of adaptation, ecological studies with genetic analyses are combined in this work. Comparing the distribution, biotope range, population subdivision and genetic diversity of different millipedes, the species P. obliterata appears to feature a generalist strategy. and widespread species, which seems to cope well with various biotopes and thus successfully invaded seasonal inundation forests. The book is addressed to specialists in evolution, ecological genetics, ecology and conservation of wetlands, millipede research and conservation.

A detailed analysis of acidification effects on forest soil, rhizosphere and plant life and on the processes connecting them such as nutrient uptake and mineral cycling. Presents findings from the Solling project, an important long-term study on acid rain results in Germany's Black Forest, as well as other European forests which have experienced severe acid rain damage as a means of evaluating and predicting similar harm to U.S. forests.

The book focuses on major aspects of Norbert Elias's social theory through research on supposed “minor” topics, such as manners, sports, leisure and cultural practices. While many of his publications became essential for scholars in the different disciplines concerned, the development of the figurational approach towards these fields was not always completed. The edited volume picks up some lose ends by including archive manuscripts by Elias on the genesis of sport, developments of cultural practices, and the sociology of the body, which are published here for the very first time. Based on critical reviews of these texts, international experts show how the new material adds up to Elias’s oeuvre and how it can be fruitfully applied to current research.