Bryn Davies

This international comparison of pension plans lends great understanding to the transformation taking place in almost every nation around the world. It covers ten of the twelve countries of the European Union, as well as the United States and Japan. The project is interdisciplinary, covering a number of fields, such as economics, law, actuarial science, sociology, and political science, that contribute to the analysis of retirement income systems. The chapters vary in scope - some are comparative, some are restricted to a single country or to one type of plan in one country. Despite their diversity, the chapters share a common awareness of three aspects of pension plans: the importance of actors' roles in shaping each system, the different economic and social domains affected by retirement plans, and the interconnections between social security and supplementary plans.

Metamaterials are advanced composite materials which have exotic and powerful properties. Their complicated microstructures make metamaterials challenging to model, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical techniques. This book uses a from-first-principles approach (based on boundary integral methods and asymptotic analysis) to study a class of high-contrast metamaterials. These mathematical techniques are applied to the problem of designing graded metamaterials that replicate the function of the cochlea.

Debate ranges over the effects of the growing utilization by the young of interactive screen-based technologies and the effects of these on vulnerable young chldren. This text is based on two years' research on 100 children, with entertainment screen technology in their homes, following them from home to school and examining the difference in culture in the two environments. The question is asked whether children are developing the necessary IT and other skills required from the maturing learner as we approach the 21st century. Issues such as gender, parenting, violence, censorship and the educational consequences of their screen-based experiences are at the forefront of the text's coverage.

Debate ranges over the effects of the growing utilization by the young of interactive screen-based technologies and the effects of these on vulnerable young chldren. This text is based on two years' research on 100 children, with entertainment screen technology in their homes, following them from home to school and examining the difference in culture in the two environments. The question is asked whether children are developing the necessary IT and other skills required from the maturing learner as we approach the 21st century. Issues such as gender, parenting, violence, censorship and the educational consequences of their screen-based experiences are at the forefront of the text's coverage.