"Individualized medicine" is a catchphrase currently used to denote efforts in medical research and practice to establish tailored healthcare. The vision of "personalized" medicine has proved to be highly ambivalent, reflecting hype and hope - compared to the great expectations only very few applications have been realized up to now. The contributions to this volume discuss the challenges for patients, doctors, and the healthcare system and examine ethical and societal issues arising from one the most promising and most controversial developments in medical science and biotechnology. (Series:...

Land use and land cover (LULC) as well as its changes (LUCC) are an interplay between bio-geophysical characteristics of the landscape and climate as well as the complex human interaction including its different patterns of utilization superimposed on the natural vegetation. LULC is a core information layer for a variety of scientific and administrative tasks(e.g. hydrological modelling, climate models, land use planning).In particular in the context of climate change with its impacts on socio-economic, socio-ecologic systems as well as ecosystem services precise information on LULC and LUCC...

Land use and land cover (LULC) as well as its changes (LUCC) are an interplay between bio-geophysical characteristics of the landscape and climate as well as the complex human interaction including its different patterns of utilization superimposed on the natural vegetation.