Search

This two-volume set LNBI 14881-14882 constitutes - in conjunction with the 13-volume set LNCS 14862-14874 and the 6-volume set LNAI 14875-14880 - the refereed proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Intelligent Computing, ICIC 2024, held in Tianjin, China, during August 5-8, 2024. The total of 863 regular papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 2189 submissions. The intelligent computing annual conference primarily aims to promote research, development and application of advanced intelligent computing techniques by providing a vibrant and effective forum across a variety of disciplines. This conference has a further aim of increasing the awareness of industry of advanced intelligent computing techniques and the economic benefits that can be gained by implementing them. The intelligent computing technology includes a range of techniques such as Artificial Intelligence, Pattern Recognition, Evolutionary Computing, Informatics Theories and Applications, Computational Neuroscience & Bioscience, Soft Computing, Human Computer Interface Issues, etc.

This fully-updated third edition of Scleroderma: From Pathogenesis to Comprehensive Managementbuilds upon the well-regarded approach in the previous editions to provide integrated, concise, and up-to-date synthesis of current concepts of pathogenesis and modern approaches to management of systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). With a multidisciplinary approach to comprehensive care, this book is easily accessible for health care professionals in many fields. Comprised of the authoritative work of international experts, the new edition includes extensive updated material reflecting major developments in the field. It presents a succinct and thoughtful synthesis of current pathomechanistic concepts, providing a valuable reference tool for basic and translational investigators working in the field. Scleroderma: From Pathogenesis to Comprehensive Management serves as an essential, all-inclusive and fully up to date resource for rheumatologists, pulmonologists, cardiologists, gastroenterologists, nephrologists and all those involved in the care of scleroderma patients.

Ankylosing Spondylitis is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects about 1-3% of the world population. This debilitating disease affecting primarily young males exerts considerable socio-economic consequences. The exact pathogenesis of AS has not yet been fully understood; therefore, novel, detailed information sources are required. This book offers cutting-edge knowledge about the molecular basic and immunological mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of Ankylosing Spondylitis. It is one of the scarce scientific resources discussing the environmental factors triggering the disease, along with the clinical manifestations, diagnostic methods, and treatments. This book covers the most recent and reliable researches and developments about spondyloarthropathies in order to provide elaborated, integrated guidance on the molecular mechanisms of Spondyloarthropathies. It will prove helpful for rheumatologists, immunologists, biologists, geneticists, and medical science students who wish to learn more about SpAs.

This book summarizes recent advances in antibody glycosylation research. Covering major topics relevant for immunoglobulin glycosylation - analytical methods, biosynthesis and regulation, modulation of effector functions - it provides new perspectives for research and development in the field of therapeutic antibodies, biomarkers, vaccinations, and immunotherapy.Glycans attached to both variable and constant regions of antibodies are known to affect the antibody conformation, stability, and effector functions. Although it focuses on immunoglobulin G (IgG), the most explored antibody in this context, and unravels the natural phenomena resulting from the mixture of IgG glycovariants present in the human body, the book also discusses other classes of human immunoglobulins, as well as immunoglobulins produced in other species and production systems. Further, it reviews the glycoanalytical methods applied to antibodies and addresses a range of less commonly explored topics, such as automatization and bioinformatics aspects of high-throughput antibody glycosylation analysis. Lastly, the book highlights application areas ranging from the ones already benefitting from antibody glycoengineering (such as monoclonal antibody production), to those still in the research stages (such as exploration of antibody glycosylation as a clinical or biological age biomarker), and the potential use of antibody glycosylation in the optimization of vaccine production and immunization protocols. Summarizing the current knowledge on the broad topic of antibody glycosylation and its therapeutic and biomarker potential, this book will appeal to a wide biomedical readership in academia and industry alike.Chapter 4 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This reference work provides a comprehensive and authoritative overview of functional polymers and polymeric materials, ranging from their synthesis and characterization, to properties, actual applications and an outlook on future perspectives. Including over 30 comprehensive review chapters, all written by leading international experts, this reference is also a sound introduction to this exciting field. The book is carefully edited by an international team of experts in the field, ensuring complete coverage of the relevant topics and concise representation.Functional polymers and smart polymeric materials play a decisive role for new innovations in all areas where new materials are needed. Optoelectronics, catalysis, biomaterials, medicine, building materials, water treatment, coatings, and many more applications rely on functional polymers. This work is a major reference for researchers, scientists, and practitioners working in any of these fields, or entering this vibrantresearch area.Key topics of this reference work include:Polymerization methods and polymer synthesisCharacterization and properties of new functional polymers and smart materialsFunctional polymer composites and blendsApplications of functional polymers and smart materials: for electro-optics and optoelectronics, in biology and in medical research, as coatings and adhesives, for gas sensing, in functional membranes for separation or proton conduction and many more

This volume explores several aspects of how antibodies mediate their activity in vivo, ranging from cancer immunotherapy to autoimmunity, infection, and vaccination. Divided into seven chapters, it provides in-depth insights into how antibodies and especially the antibody fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain modulate immune responses and antibody activity. The book begins by discussing evolutionary aspects of how the family of Fc receptors that are the key molecules for antibody activity evolved. In turn, it addresses the molecular and cellular pathways underlying IgG activity in cancer immunotherapy, and focuses on how IgG glycosylation regulates IgG and IgE activity in autoimmunity, allergy and infection. In closing, it presents strategies for developing novel antibody-based vaccination approaches. The book is intended for a very broad readership, including graduate students, postdocs and principal investigators with a basic grasp of immunology.

This comprehensive text collects the progress made in recent years in the fabrication, processing, and performance of organic nanophotonic materials and devices. The first part of the book addresses photonic nanofabrications in a chapter on multiphoton processes in nanofabrication and microscopy imaging. The second part of the book is focused on nanoscale light sources for integrated nanophotonic circuits, and is composed of three chapters on organic nano/microcavities, organic laser materials, and polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs). The third part is focused on the interactions between light and matter and consists in three chapters, including the propagation of light in organic nanostructures and photoswitches based on nonlinear optical polymer photonic crystals and photoresponsive molecules, respectively. The final chapter of this book introduces the integration of miniaturized photonic devices and circuits with various organic nanophotonic elements.The practical case studies demonstrate how the latest applications actually work, while tables throughout the book summarize key information and diagrams and figures help readers to grasp complex concepts and designs. The references at the end of each chapter can be used as the gateway to the relevant literature in the field. Moreover, this book helps researchers to advance their own investigations to develop the next generation of miniaturized devices for information processing, efficient energy conversion, and highly accurate sensing.Yong Sheng Zhao, PhD, is a Professor at the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS), China.

The Optical Society of America Conference on Applications of High Fields and Short Wavelength Sources, held in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, from March 20-22, 1997, was an exceptionally exciting conference. This conference was the seventh in a series of topical con­ ferences, held every two years, which are devoted to the generation and application of high field and short wavelength sources. The meeting was truly international in scope, with equal participation from both within and outside of the US. In the past two years, there has been dramatic progress in both laser and x-ray coher­ ent sources, both fundamental and applied. The 1997 meeting highlighted these advances, which are summarized in sections 1 and 2 of this volume. Terawatt-class lasers are now avail­ able in the UV or at high repetition rates. Michael Perry (LLNL) presented a keynote talk on petawatt class lasers and their applications in inertial confinement fusion, while Jorge Rocca (Colorado State University) presented a keynote talk on tabletop soft-x-ray lasers. Genera­ tion and measurement techniques are becoming very sophisticated throughout the UV and x­ ray region of the spectrum, and coherent sources have been extended to wavelengths below 30A. Phase control in the x-ray region is also now possible, and new phase-matching schemes in the UV have been experimentally demonstrated. It is clear that a new field of x-ray nonlin­ ear optics will deveiop rapidly over the next few years.

This book focuses on the function of antibodies in vivo. Recent years have seen an exponential growth in knowledge about the molecular and cellular mechanisms of antibody activity. These new results dramatically changed our view of how antibodies function in vivo. The importance of this class of molecules is demonstrated by the heightened susceptibility to infections of humans and mice with an altered capacity to generate pathogen specific antibody responses. Thus, the majority of our currently available vaccines, such as vaccines against influenza, measles and hepatitis focus on the generation of long lasting antibody responses. Recent evidence from a variety of in vivo model systems and from human patient cohorts has highlighted the exclusive role of cellular Fc-receptors for certain immunoglobulin isotypes and subclasses. With the recent discovery of a human Fc-receptor for IgM all different human immunoglobulin isotypes now have a cellular receptor, providing a feedback mechanism and link between antibodies and the cellular components of the immune system. Moreover it has become clear the complement and Fc-receptor system are tightly connected and regulate each other to ensure a well balanced immune response. Among the immunoglobulin isotypes IgG plays a very important protective role against microbial infections and also as a therapeutic agent to kill tumor cells or autoantibody producing B cells in autoimmune disease. Transfer of our knowledge about the crucial function of Fc-receptors has led to the production of a second generation of therapeutic antibodies with enhanced binding to this class of receptors. Binding of antibodies to Fc-receptors leads to the recruitment of the potent pro-inflammatory effector functions of cells from the innate immune system. Hence, Fc-receptors link the innate and adaptive immune system, emphasizing the importance of both arms of the immune system and their crosstalk during anti-microbial immune responses. Besides this pro-inflammatory activity immunoglobulin G (IgG) molecules are long known to also have an anti-inflammatory function. This is demonstrated by the use of high dose intravenous immunoglobulins as a therapeutic agent in many human autoimmune diseases. During the past five years several new insights into the molecular and cellular pathways of this anti-inflammatory activity were gained radically changing our view of IgG function in vivo. Several lines of evidence suggest that the sugar moiety attached to the IgG molecule is responsible for these opposing activities and may be seen as a molecular switch enabling the immune system to change IgG function from a pro- to an anti-inflammatory activity. There is convincing evidence in mice and humans that aberrant IgG glycosylation could be an important new pathway for understanding the impaired antibody activity during autoimmune disease. Besides this tremendous increase in basic knowledge about factors influencing immunoglobulin activity the book will also provide insights into how these new insights might help to generate novel therapeutic approaches to enhance IgG activity for tumor therapy on the one hand, and how to block the self-destructive activity of IgG autoantibodies during autoimmune disease on the other hand.

There are numerous criteria for measuring the growth and development of branches of chemistry. This valuable book illustrates a particular aspect of the growth of organosilicon chemistry. The extent of this field has developed so greatly in recent years that it now is desirable to reclassify parts to bring together hitherto frag­ mented and relatively disparate sections. This has been accomplished by the presently available large units which have been deSignated as'organosilicon heterocompounds.'Simplified expressions of such classification are structural units of the general type C - Si - heteroelement and heteroelement-C - Si, in which there are attached to the organosilicon moiety elements such as oxygen, nitrogen, metals, etc. This arrangement per­ mits the correlation of extensive material, which will be invalu­ able to chemists in many areas, both in and out of organosi- con chemistry. Because of the wealth of information, the authors are currently engaged in the preparation of companion volumes arranged on this general principle. The scope is broad, and includes material which will prove highly interesting and useful to those in academic, industrial, and governmental circles. There is not only a wide coverage of the literature generally, but the listings of patent references and of general reviews and books are among the most complete so far presented.

Device Architecture and Materials for Organic Light-Emitting Devices focuses on the design of new device and material concepts for organic light-emitting devices, thereby targeting high current densities and an improved control of the triplet concentration. A new light-emitting device architecture, the OLED with field-effect electron transport, is demonstrated. This device is a hybrid between a diode and a field-effect transistor. Compared to conventional OLEDs, the metallic cathode is displaced by one to several micrometers from the light-emitting zone, reducing optical absorption losses. The electrons injected by the cathode accumulate at an organic heterojunction and are transported to the light-emission zone by field-effect. High mobilities for charge carriers are achieved in this way, enabling a high current density and a reduced number of charge carriers in the device. Pulsed excitation experiments show that pulses down to 1 µs can be applied to this structure without affecting the light intensity, suggesting that pulsed excitation might be useful to reduce the accumulation of triplets in the device. The combination of all these properties makes the OLED with field-effect electron transport particularly interesting for waveguide devices and future electrically pumped lasers. In addition, triplet-emitter doped organic materials, as well as the use of triplet scavengers in conjugated polymers are investigated.

The interactions between environmental change and human societies have a long, complex history spanning many millennia, but these have changed fundamentally in the last century. Human activities are now so pervasive and profound that they are altering the Earth in ways which threaten the very life support system upon which humans depend. This book describes what is known about the Earth System and the impact of changes caused by humans. It considers the consequences of these changes with respect to the stability of the Earth System and the well-being of humankind; as well as exploring future paths towards Earth System science in support of global sustainability.